Hey guys! What a ride, huh? Just a couple years ago Maria was swimming in the canals of Water 7, and now she's gotten all the way to the New World. But now, I'm afraid, she's gonna have to split for a little while.
I cannot guarantee that she will be back, but I would like to say that she will be. It's just going to take me a bit, considering that I have other story things that I intend to work on now that she'll be leaving this world.
Thanks to Straw Hat PiratesFan2018 for the Fav!
Chapter 169 (or 7) – Wrapping Things Up
The sight of the portal had been enough to get the Straw Hats up on their feet, but at Maria's exclamation they stopped short.
"Joshua?" Chopper repeated.
"You mean this guy's your cousin?" Usopp asked.
Maria pushed herself up to her feet from where she'd been sitting and nodded as the Straw Hats relaxed reluctantly.
Joshua – a teenage boy in blue and green armor with electric indigo eyes – walked across the clearing and stood next to Maria. "I thought it would be better if I came and got you in person. Maria, you can't stay here any longer than you already have, you're going to turn the plot on its head and then you're going to be the problem World Jumpers get sent in to fix. You have to come home."
"She's not a problem!" Luffy jumped in front of Joshua, looking like he was about to punch him. "She's a part of my crew!"
"Luffy, it's okay."
Luffy looked back at Maria sharply. "Maria—"
"I know." Maria raised her hands in a placating sort of gesture. "I'm a part of your crew, and I'm not causing you any trouble, but as much as I hate to admit it, Joshua's right. World Jumpers aren't supposed to stay in worlds and become as close to the storyline as I have. We end up causing trouble in our own ways as a result. I mean, if I'd followed you up to Neptune's castle on Fishman Island, I'm pretty sure that getting me involved up there would have not only thrown Hody's plans out of whack, but would have also left Fishman Island in the same state or a similar state to how things were before we got there. And I don't think you would have been able to throw that challenge at Big Mom, either."
Joshua looked at Maria with an odd expression at her words, like he was trying to figure something about her out.
"I-isn't that a good thing though?" Usopp spoke up.
"Depends on how you look at it," Maria replied dryly.
"Which is why I don't think me joining the crew would be a good idea, either," Hiken spoke up. "If the Marines get wind of a second Ace running around, it's going to get you a lot more attention from them than you should be getting."
Usopp paled suddenly at the implications.
"And you're only gonna get more attention if I'm around, too," Maria added. "Especially when the rest of the Marines figure out that I'm a World Jumper. Garp and Sengoku both know, but they're retired and said they'd keep quiet on the matter, but if something else comes up…."
"Y-you gotta go home!" Usopp yelped. "Luffy, please! I don't wanna run into more Marines than we already have! The New World might be bad enough without them!"
"It will be," Joshua said cryptically, which only cause Usopp to squeal even louder.
"Luffy!"
"It might be for the best, Luffy," Robin said gently. "Maria was going to have to disappear at some point. She has other duties to attend to, on top of being a member of our crew."
Luffy frowned at that, not looking like he liked the idea very much. He turned and looked at Maria with a determined expression. "You'll come back?"
"First sign of trouble that means that I can, yes." Maria nodded. "Just…don't cause any on purpose, Luffy? Please? I don't think I'd be able to come then if you did that."
Usopp made similar sounds of begging, quickly joined by Chopper.
Luffy looked somewhat annoyed at that.
"Would it be better if you had her number?"
The Straw Hats, Hiken, and Joshua looked over at Myra, who ducked her head at the stares she was getting.
"I mean, if you could contact her when you think you're having trouble, she might be able to check that way to see if you guys need her or not," Myra added quickly.
"That's not a bad idea, actually," Nami commented. "Maria, you do have a way to contact us, right?"
"Well, we've got the Snail Phone in the kitchen, don't we?" Maria smirked. "You guys can call me with that and I'll be able to pick up no problem." She pulled out a small notebook and pen and wrote out a number before handing the sheet over to Nami. "Here, you'll be able to get me with that when I'm anywhere in the multiverse. If anything big comes up that you think I might be able to help in, make sure to give me a call – or I'll call the ship's phone if I think something's coming up on my end. Sound good?"
"I guess this is the best option we're going to have for this." Nami took Maria's number and looked it over before showing it to Robin, who gave it an interested look.
"You make sure you come back."
Maria looked over at Luffy, who was looking at her with a determined expression. After a moment, she gave a thumbs-up and nodded. "You can count on me coming back, Captain, but only if you guys really really need me. I don't want to make your journey to One Piece too easy."
Luffy grinned as Usopp whimpered. "Good."
"When you come back, make sure to fill me in on what sorts of worlds you have been to," Robin said. "I would like to hear more about the places that you are able to visit."
"Of course!"
"Bring me back riches!" Nami declared.
"Uh…" Maria chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of her head. "I'd rather not disrupt a dimension's economy just for that."
"Bring me back booze," Zoro said flatly. He smirked. "And maybe we can spar when you get back."
"You harm one hair on her head and you're dead moss head!" Sanji snapped.
Maria laughed. "I'm really gonna miss you guys."
Chopper lunged forward and grabbed Maria's leg in a hug. "I'm gonna miss you too!" He looked up at her, teary-eyed. "Make sure you stay safe, okay?"
"I will."
Joshua rolled his eyes; Maria ignored him.
"Yohohohoho! Make sure that you come back with all sorts of new music for me to explore, hmm? I would love to hear what other dimensions are capable of!"
"And bring back plans for new inventions!" Franky added. "I'd like to see what these other dimensions are up to, if they can come up with a super design for your body!"
Maria chuckled and rubbed the back of her head at Brook's and Franky's requests. "I'll see what I can do."
Myra clapped a hand on Maria's shoulder. "Keep an eye out? I don't think the Dark Arms are going to lie down and play dead just because you managed to put a stop to them the first time."
Maria's expression became serious at the request; she nodded. "I don't intend to let them sneak up on us again, count on that."
Myra nodded, then pulled back and looked over at Hiken. "You want to hang out with us for a while? That Memory Isle my crew's on might be a pretty good place to hide."
Hiken shrugged, smirking. "I don't see why not. It'll give me an excuse as to why I'm around, at least."
Joshua put a hand on Maria's shoulder. "It's time to go."
Maria looked over at her cousin, and her expression became a little more somber. She nodded. "Yeah, we…we've gotta go." She looked over at the rest of the crew – some of whom were getting quite teary-eyed and trying to hide it. "I'll be back, guys. It may take a bit, but if there's anything that comes up that you think shouldn't be, let me know."
Most of the others nodded – except for Luffy, who simply looked at her with a serious expression.
Maria gave a small smile. "See you guys later."
She looked over at Joshua and nodded again, and Joshua stepped aside and motioned to the portal.
Maria took in a breath, then breathed out slowly as she looked at the glowing, bright blue circle of energy that stood in front of her.
"Okay. Time to go home."
With that, Maria stepped through the portal, disappearing from sight.
Joshua looked around at the group standing in the clearing, then fixed his eyes on Luffy. "I hope you're ready for what the New World's going to throw at you. It will be even more difficult than what you've faced so far."
"We're ready," Luffy replied seriously, nodding.
Joshua nodded in return, then turned and stepped through the portal. It swirled shut behind him like water going down a drain, leaving the clearing in near-darkness, except for the stars above.
Myra looked up at the sky, smiling a little. "Maria'll be okay. She's a hero across multiple dimensions."
"She is?" Luffy blinked in surprise.
Hiken chuckled. "Hero is putting it a bit mildly, I think."
"Yeah, well, there are still a lot of people who have bounties out on her head, so things sort-of even out a little." Myra sent the two of them a knowing smirk, then looked over at Hiken specifically. "You ready to head out?"
"No!" Luffy clung to Hiken instantly. "Stay tonight!"
"Luffy's right; it's too late to go traveling," Nami agreed. "Spend the night on Sunny, and you can head for that island tomorrow morning."
Myra hesitated, but Hiken laughed.
"All right, all right. And you can fill me in on what exactly happened down in Fishman Island." Hiken grinned. "Must've been some adventure, right?"
"Yeah!" Luffy started bounding back towards the ship, dragging Hiken behind him as he started to talk about Camie and sea monsters and Jimbei.
Myra smiled a little as the two of them disappeared, then blinked in surprise when Sanji appeared in front of her and held out his hand.
"Myra-chan, if you would accompany me to the Sunny, I will prepare for you a meal that you have never tasted before," Sanji said.
Myra blinked as Nami rolled her eyes as Robin chuckled. "Uh…okay?" She took Sanji's hand – which caused him to nearly melt into a puddle – before he refocused and started to lead Myra back towards the ship herself.
The others started to follow.
"So, what's it like, finding another version of yourself?" Chopper asked.
Myra looked down at him with a somewhat surprised expression, before looking down at the black crystal that she held in her other hand.
The thing that she was going to have to destroy if she was going to be able to find any peace.
"It's…interesting." Myra looked up at the sky, thinking of the worlds beyond and where Maria might be now. "And really fun. It's like finding the other half that you didn't realize you were missing."
"That sounds so cool."
Myra chuckled to herself, and nodded. "Yeah. It really is."
*wipes sweat off brow* Hoo, that was a long bit to work through. I had the One Piece arcs split up into two documents - just two - and it ended up totaling somewhere around...500,000 words or so. Probably the longest fic that I've ever written over two years, split into multiple entries online for easier reading.
We will see Maria again - Myra, maybe; I do want to figure out her story, but I want to get Maria to a certain point first. I've got two more stories planned for Maria, and I'm 11 chapters into the next one. I'm not going to post it right away, though. Instead, I'm...probably gonna wait until late January or early February to give myself a bit of a break. I may have some chapters written, but I don't want to end up running out of steam too soon. And besides, I'm working more off the manga than the anime for the next one, and working my way through that is a bit trickier than I expected.
So keep an eye out for the story Smoking Gun, which will be a Trigun fanfiction with some Transformers involved, within a few weeks! I'll see you then!
