A/N: Review Replies
Spritely: Thanks for your concern! It's been tough, but I will continue uploading as soon as possible.
You liked the Cora-Law scene? It's one of my favourite parts as well. However, Punk Hazard is still giving me a tough time, so here's a summary of the last twenty chapters! And a bonus, see if you can derive some extra information that I have intentionally left in!
And who the Fleet Admiral is? Well, from what we can tell, he smokes a cigar, and is Jacob of the Self-Defense Force. Does that help? And we do know that the Straw Hats are disappointed in him. But you must remember, the Straw Hat Pirates haven't seen him in person yet, so who could it be?
And Whitebeard...I have plans for him. Plans! And it's fun to see the different reactions that the twenty might have towards whoever their stuck with. Not all are as obliging as Shirahoshi, and there are some like Vivi, who are temporary occupied. Fact: Though the twenty have agreed to future Luffy's demands, some may disagree with their present predicament.
OnePieceDoesExist: While Punk Hazard is still being finished, here's a summary! But beware, it's done by a character that hasn't appeared yet, so some of the information here might be more than what it seems...I do love foreshadowing... (evil smirks!)
BlueMew24: Thanks! May you continue to review onwards, and may I be able to finish Punk Hazard!
LongPastMidnight: Men who stare at goats? Never heard of this movie, but thanks! I do agree, if one were to look from afar, then it might be strange to see a battle of Conquerer's Haki when the two are staring at each other. It's like Killing Intent in the Naruto fandom I guess?
ScarletRoofs: Caesar may or may not be there...It's really hard to tell.
Jarjaxle: I do agree, and that's why Ro told Law not to destroy the island. Whether the other characters are careful not to destroy this island...Is another thing to be seen.
BlackGryphon101: Careful there, see Chapter 20. It's a bit of a throw up who the Fleet Admiral is at this moment, but I can safely tell you that the smoking part? Is done in remembrance of someone.
Time travel chaos? Due to the world falling into chaos, (With the Pirate King's Crew we all know and love dead) Luffy and a group of twenty go back in time in order to change their past. However, being complete neophytes at this time travel thing, they've gone back fifty years too early. Uh oh!
Fifty years after this incident, and several years before they took the trip back in time, Luffy reappears, this time on board the Moby Dick. Hiding his name, he stays aboard the ship for a few months, and ends changing things. Saving Thatch for one, and restoring one of his guardians memory whilst en route to Marineford for another.
It looks like his original crew's back! The Pirate King's Crew comes back in time as well, and they're a bit confused about the whole matter. Namely their captain having a guilt complex the size of Reverse Mountain for one, and moping on board for another. As their swordsmen puts it, that doesn't sound like their captain at all.
Marineford. Tut tut tut. It becomes more chaotic than it originally is. Luffy, or Goku as they know him, warns them in advance as to how they had prepared the battle in this time. The Whitebeard Pirates go into battle thinking they've got this situation handled. But as they arrive, the main participant of this battle, one Portgas D. Ace isn't here? Where is that hot-blooded no-good brat?
Meanwhile, another group appears. It's this time Luffy to the rescue! Or perhaps not, because an outlying ship discovers their whereabouts. Lucky for them, it's the Revolutionary Army, and furthermore, Luffy's long lost brother Sabo returns to the ship.
But what's this? Sabo doesn't know Luffy? No matter, Luffy can fix the problem by pulling out…a bounty poster. Great job, Luffy, way to make a brother worried. Sabo faints, and another outlying ship comes across them. But what's this? It's an enemy! The Marines capture the ship, and while the other prisoners flee, Luffy and the members of the Revolutionary Army on board get captured.
Hooray for the Marines! They've got another famous prisoner to execute! Though it isn't the one they were looking for, no matter, because Straw Hat had declared war on the World Government and burnt their flag! Good for them…
Or not. Just in the knick of time, the star of the show reappears! Ace comes barging in, rescuing his 'stupid little crybaby brother' as he puts it, and destroys the execution platform. Home free! Luffy is still a person who can't read the atmosphere, and unexpectedly falls asleep. Boo~! Admiral Akainu dashes along to kill the two no-good brats, but another no-good brat reappears! Yes, it's Sabo, with full possession of the memory. The ASL brothers have reunited! Go home boys, nothing to see here!
And Akainu turns his attention to Public Enemy Number One, aka Edward Newgate himself. Boy, isn't our hothead Fire Fist pissed off now!
And time for our troll! Blackbeard, fresh with convicts from Level 6 arrives at Marineford. He's a bit confused as to Ace's continued survival, but no worries, he's got this situation handled! He turns to Ace, ready for round two of their battle.
However, let's not forget the time travelling Pirate King himself! Future Luffy lands a blow on him, because like hell he's going to let this happen again! Hey wait a second, Admiral Kizaru's just about snuck on him! Luckily, Luffy has learnt something over the years and swats the light user to the blackhole. Take that, physics!
Oi! Whitebeard is struck clean through by Akainu, who's definitely not involved in the ongoing melee there. Whitebeard tells him that no, he's going to die on Marineford. To future Luffy, that's not going to happen. He knocks Whitebeard out with a single blast, and protects their retreat. Some members of the Warlords help out as well, most notably Hancock and Jinbe.
And here comes the Pirate King's Crew! Luffy once again proves his straight forward attitude…by asking if future people poop. Luffy, please observe the situation. You are being protected by him. You do not ask the poor swordsman if he defecates.
Coby calls a halt to this battle, but the fun's just starting, Coby! Akainu attacks the boy, but another stops him! It's Red-haired Shanks, here to save the day!
…The Pirate King's Crew once again sows havoc and creates chaos. With the song 'We Go!' playing in the background, the crossfire between our moss-head and perverted cook causes most of those who hasn't already fallen to Ace's earlier Conquerer's Haki in the background. Future Sanji's firey passion ignites…only the actions of a level-headed Nami causes him to fly into a crowd of Marines. Strike! Akainu tries to go for another round, but what's this? A turned back? The king of snipers seizes the opportunity and strikes him while he's down. Go Usopp! Anyway, future Luffy's rescued, the Whitebeard Pirates are long gone, and it's time for a party! Hooray Straw Hat!
Future Luffy awakens on board the ship. His anxious but delighted crew members greet him, and he retells his own story. Looks like the Marines went after the Isle of Women. And Fishmen Island. And Alabasta and Drum Kingdom together. That was what had led him to craft a 'path' through time in which he and his new companions went through.
Turns out, what Luffy means by destroying his island meant 'eating everything that was in sight'. Typical Roger. Typical Luffy as well. The Straw Hats grin good naturedly, because their captain is still the same old person after all!...But what's this? Their captain can't eat anything? How come? Why? The captain throws the gloves he's been wearing this whole time onto the deck as someone arrives. Future Luffy tries to allay their worries with a smile, but unexpectedly bursts into water.
On board the Moby Dick, the Whitebeard Pirates stare. And stare, because their Second Division Commander's self-proclaimed brother is devouring food at an unprecedented rate. In the meantime, Ace's arguing with Sabo about who rescues who. All three of their dads suck by the way. But that momentary peace shatters as the Blackbeard Pirates sail towards them, intent on finishing the job that Marineford had done on them.
Future Luffy reappears once more, this time to protect the family that's so close to his heart now. He's working on a time limit however, so he's got to finish this fast. He takes out most of Blackbeard's original crew, but is caught from behind by Shiliew of the Rain. Blackbeard manages to entrap him within the powers of his Devil Fruit, and Luffy reflects on what relationships he had made, both in his past, and after his time trip.
Being alone was more painful than being hurt. But Luffy wasn't alone in the end. And he smiles as he draws his last breath.
Ace's heart is filled with regret, but at the same time he realizes how much value his life had. He was born on this world for a purpose after all. That fills him with hope. He exchanges Sakazuki once more with his brothers as Marco looks on.
The trio are visited by Dark King Rayleigh who swims from Sabaody and reaches the Whitebeard Pirates. What a tough guy indeed. They decide to make their way back towards Marineford, in order to give the message to Luffy's crew. While dining and dashing, and ringing the Ox Bell, Garp catches them. The trio frantically screeched (Ace would later go on to say that he had not done so. So had Sabo. Luffy was quite happy to acknowledge the fact that he had panicked upon seeing his grandfather, and who would not have done so?)
Marco comes to a realization that the Whitebeard Pirates have to grow stronger, because Marineford, Blackbeard and Goku has shown that their world would become stronger than ever. A curious message has appeared, and Raftel reappears on maps once more. But there isn't any such island? The big news of Ace's parentage is overshadowed by the ripples that the death announcement of future Luffy, not that they know that Goku is from the future of course. (Or is it?)
In the meantime, Shirahoshi's come to a decision. She isn't the scaredy cat of a Mermaid Princess after all this time! She has work to do! And she's going to train harder and harder! So that she would be able to protect her beloved Luffy-sama once more! You go girl! She makes her debut into society, but what's this? That bastard captain of the Flying Dutchman, Vander Decken IX is here! Luckily, future Luffy's removed his mark, so the axe he throws after being rejected by her misses her completely. While in shock, he's arrested. Hooray for Shirahoshi!
We now turn our eyes towards Sabaody Archipelago. There's a quaint little bar run by the proprietor, Merry, and her employee, Ro, someone we all know but I'm not telling. Garp had destroyed Merry's bar a few years earlier, but Merry's got a soft spot for the old man alright, so that's okay. Come after hours instead, Garp! So Garp decides to take his friend out after the utter disaster that is Ace and Luffy's botched execution (not that he minds it much anyway) and Sengoku comes out of it a lot happier when he entered. Enough not to scold Garp for two hours when he finds out how the three miscreants had created havoc in Marineford with Garp 'unable' to stop them.
But what's this? It turns out that Bartholomew Kuma isn't brain dead after all! Why? He doesn't know, and he's not going to leak out the locations of his comrades to them, but at the same time there's no way Vegapunk's able to cover for him. So he turns to Merry, who he's met before and is popular enough with the Marines not to arouse suspicion. But Jacob of the Self Defense Force, part-time writer and general busybody happens to be there as well. He tries to lure Merry to the dark side, aka the Self-Defense Force, but Merry tells him no~. Jacob is still of the belief that Kuma's a Pacifista, but both he and Kuma himself learns that it was not the case, because of Merry's interference. Kuma receives an elucidation, and you came to see that Merry's one of the twenty companions as well.
Hancock fetches her boyfriend and the old geezer, and Ace tries to reconcile the fact that the arrogant and rude Warlord happens to be Luffy's lover. Which Luffy hasn't denied, but is painfully oblivious to the attention that Hancock's paying him. Boy, would this be a mess later on. As Luffy leaves, Ace is reminded of future Luffy once more, but someone else on board realizes this same fact for the first time. I wonder who is it?
Future Zoro's trying to interrogate Shirahoshi, because not only is she powerful, she's the most likely of what he knows to be their ally to survive as well. In the end, he lets go of the Luffy plush toy and Shirahoshi lets slip the fact that the twenty companions are going to stick to twenty separate captains, none of which are Luffy. Zoro, satisfied with this investigation, leaves.
Garp returns from celebrating his grandsons' continued survival on Dawn Island, and stops by at Arabasta for food, because he's managed to eat all of their supplies. While Helmeppo tries to pick up a girl (and is forced to share later on that he was slapped on the face for his poor pick-up lines), Coby tries to flirt with a girl by telling her stories of Luffy. Who knew that the girl happened to be the Princess of Alabasta, right? Coby learns the truth of Alabasta, and decides to seek out Garp for extra training.
Coby. That is remarkably foolish. I applaud you for your daring, but Garp had punched out eight mountains for training. And you want to ask him for extra training?
Here comes a tale of someone receiving training as well! Luffy, tired out from practicing Conquerer's Haki against giant over-sized animals dreams, and future Robin reveals that the timestream is going astray, and what seemed like complicated events in their past is being warped further and further by their actions. Uh oh, Goku, you've got some explaining to do. Or not, it looks like something is pushing things back to their original position.
Luffy wakes up, and gets chased all over the island as he is reminded by the various landmarks on what his crew mates would have done if they were in his situation. It's nice to think of who you're fighting for.
Thatch is preparing some food. The last time round, his ramen had came alive. This time, it's egg noodles. Egg noodles and dumplings and braised meat…and head. An animated head sticking out of the noodles.
Oh come on! Thatch thinks to himself, bristling. The last time round, Marco had thrown the bowl of noodles down the toilet. There's no way he's wasting this batch of noodles now! And with Marco's help, he threatenes the 'God of Food' into remaining long enough such that he could carry it to the infirmary where the rest of the commanders have gathered, and they interrogate the bowl of noodles.
It's revealed that all of the twenty possess some kind of unique power. However, other than the Pirate King's Crew, there are two other players at work, and they're trying to choose the candidates by limiting the access that any pirate could have towards the companions. Now that's what I call cheating. The Self-Defense Force is making headway by having some already on their side, but the Revolutionary Army's not far behind by managing to isolate two…Wait wait wait, not in the story yet, not supposed to tell the reader yet! Keep this a secret between us, won't you, dearest readers?
The God of Food, aka the Pirate King's cook learns of his captain's recent whereabouts. Viva mermaids! But no, it looks like the swordsman's ahead of him, and he vanishes in between the depths of the noodles while holding an invisible argument with said swordsman. Thatch thinks that they've got more questions than answers now.
Back in the bar, Ro finds out that he's got a new colleague, and he isn't exactly happy with the news. But he tries to engage the guy in conversation, because it's really awkward even when you don't like talking. Along the way, he gently tears Kuma out of his shell, and causes the backroom wall to be accidentally destroyed. Whoops.
Somewhere in the New World, Crocodile finds out that his powers aren't working at all. Seriously, it's like someone's interfering with his powers. Enough for his right hand to reform itself after years of stubbornly refusing to.
Drums roll please. It's Miss Wednesday! The princess of Arabasta who's swearing that there's no way that she'll ever nominate him to be her king, and she'll block any attempts at mass-slaughter, thieving and raping…the usual pirate spiel. In pure spite, she swaps his hand back, but Crocodile didn't head Baroque Works just because of his powers alone. He figures out that even as his Devil Fruit was turns him into a sand man, that's not all his powers are restricted too, and successfully turns his hand back. Miss Wednesday reluctantly tells him about what had happened to the world at large.
It looks like someone is plotting again! Jacob reveals himself to Newgate, and has trapped him within a nightmare. Screw the Fleet Admiral, because causing a man be trapped in a place where he's alone, especially one who values his family like Whitebeard…that's ultimate jerk face right there. Control freak. Asshole.
Fortunately, the Whitebeard Pirates have got a way of contacting the Straw Hat Pirates, because Jacob has left them a note. How convenient. Future Sanji, due to long hours spent in the kitchen, has a more sensitive nose when it comes to processed goods, and thus can make out who had caused this.
The Pirate King's Crew hold a discussion on board their ship, and it looks that the base is Punk Hazard people! Would you look at that? One and a half years in advance!
It's a typical busy Friday night, and Ro's triggered, but that's okay, because Merry's there. However, a new problem has arose. Asshole Jacob strikes once more, this time threatening to make the children on Punk Hazard sicker than they really are. Merry really doesn't want to do this, but she doesn't think that she's got a choice, because both a bartender and a doctor have one thing in common other than privacy—they're people who care for those that they serve.
Ro knows one doctor that would be happy to help them, however.
It's been half a year since Marineford, and the Marines have been stagnating. Akainu is pissed off, because frankly, he knows that Sengoku's too weak. As Machiavelli once puts it, strike your opponents with overwhelming force, and what Sengoku did was to let some go, and persecute others lightly. The Marines aren't a viable threat, but Akainu would change that, because once he becomes the Fleet Admiral, he's going to choke the livelihood of the New World Pirates, starting with the Four Emperors. But first, he's got a showdown with his other Admiral, Aokiji. At Punk Hazard.
Because sharing is caring and all of that, the Pirate King's Crew agreed to join forces with the Whitebeard Pirates. While the Pirate King's Crew and the more well-known members of the Whitebeard Pirates such as Marco, Ace, Jozu and Vista would be distracting the two fighting Admirals, Haruta, Thatch and future Sanji would be heading towards the abandoned base where the Self-Defense Force is suspected to be held at.
Marco knows that they're walking into a trap, but anything's better than facing the fact that he might be the next captain. He doesn't want to, but he feels pressured to do so.
Merry and Ro have arrived on Punk Hazard, hitchhiking with the Heart Pirates. The Surgeon of Death is shown to be extremely protective of his guardian, so Ro makes him promise that he won't destroy the island. They hug, before Law tells him that he's going to wait offshore, because no way is he sticking around even to watch a pissing contest between two Admirals.
The two meet the dynamic duo of Kitsuen, a broad-chested chain smoker, and Sniper, a dark-haired swordswoman with glasses. I guess you all know who those two are, I mean, it's painfully obvious that no battle on Punk Hazard's going to leave the two of them out, right? Merry puts the pieces together and comes to a realization that Jacob's been playing them all for a fool. Setting the Whitebeard Pirates up against them, it's evident that either the Whitebeard Pirates and the Pirate King's Crew are beaten to a men, which is highly unlikely, or she, Ro, Kitsuen and Sniper are killed.
Taking down at least one guardian of Raftel, and thus preventing another Pirate King from being found. Merry could applaud that if she wasn't the one who Jacob tried to kill.
Who am I? Hmm, that's an interesting question. Breaking the fourth wall hasn't been one of my talents, but it's better to start later than never after all. And I won't be appearing here just yet, because the Revolutionary Army hasn't gathered all of its members right now, and unlike the twenty guardians, the Pirate King's Crew, or the Self-Defense Force, we're a bit less showy.
Luffy's my amigo, capiche? And it would really make us all sad if such a valuable soul were to be wasted due to the actions of the two other powers. If they're changing things so much, then what's the point of going to the past then? It's better to keep things straight right up until a pivotal event before changing stuff around.
One thing's for sure though. Luffy and I would have the last laugh in the end. Because that's the way the Pirate King rolls.
Who is the speaker? Well what clues have you derived from this spiel? Reply in your review! Also, Punk Hazard is delayed further as I try to settle who's where. It'll be a bit easier to split into parts, so I'll upload Part 2: Clam (Letting Chapter 20 be Part 1: Snipe) by Friday 19 February. Part 3: Fisherman would be found sometime next week.