"No no no! Centered!" Luffy called from the figurehead, wanting the new throne as high up and centered as possible. He was still likely to spend more time atop the Going Merry's head, but he couldn't deny that with something as luxurious as an actual throne of an actual king he would be using it to its fullest.
"Why aren't you the one doing this than?!" Zoro yelled, angry at his captain for using them as physical labor for the throne he asked for.
"Because… I don't wanna." Luffy said with a smile. "There! That's good!" Luffy yelled, causing them to drop the throne. He laughed as he launched himself into it. "So cool! It's super comfy you guys!" He bragged as he wallowed around in the throne, practically sinking into the ostentatious sign of royalty.
"Let me sit in it! I carried the thing!" Usopp lied as naturally as he breathed. Of the three who Luffy got to help put it in place he contributed the least. During moments of it in fact he merely mimed holding it up, keeping his arms just under the seat.
"Like hell! It's Luffy's throne! Besides you didn't do anything!" Gin argued, pulling Usopp back to little effect. Usopp may have been far weaker, but he was good at squirming away.
"I, the great Captain Usopp, demand to be treated with respect! Let me in it, dammit!" Usopp yelled once more, trying to pull Luffy off. He pictured himself looking so cool in a throne, like a real king of snipers, but Luffy hardly took notice of the attempts.
"This thing is great! Hey Nami! Robin! Isn't it cool?!" Luffy asked, getting their attention with a big wave as Gin wrestled Usopp away.
"Yeah Yeah." Nami replied, focusing on the steering of the ship.
"It suits you, Luffy." Robin replied with a smile before going back to her book.
"I knew it." Luffy laughed, proud of himself for getting it in the first place. "Nami! How long to the next island?"
"Give me a break Luffy we just left. Can you not go a day without an adventure?" She asked, glaring back at him.
"Nope!" He replied, laying across his throne all smug. "Hey what is it people get fed like this?" Luffy asked Sanji, who was staring at him in anger for his luck.
"Did you forget what grapes are you dumb carnivore?" He asked, almost disgusted by Luffy and his apparent goal of getting scurvy.
"Yeah that's what it is! I want grapes!" Luffy demanded, though no one was going to heed it.
"When fish fly." Sanji said, heading back to get the ladies some drinks for the hot day.
As he stepped into the kitchen a ship was spotted ahead of them. A large ship decorated with various monkey-themed décor. The crew sailed hesitantly closer, keeping up their guard in case they were hostile.
"You there! Do not interfere! We're salvaging!" A large monkey man called out to them as a warning.
"Salvaging?" Nami asked, then yelled over. "What is there to salvage?! We're in the open ocean!"
The monkey man responded in an annoyed tone. "A ship of course! What else would Masira, King of the Salvagers be doing?! This one fell from the sky not too long ago!" He proclaimed, sparking the interest of the crew.
"Fell from the sky?" Luffy asked, eyes twinkling at the crazy sound of it.
"That could explain our log pose as well." Robin added, pointing at Nami's Log Pose. "It sounds like the ship fell from a Sky Island."
"Sound like a bunch of nonsense to me." Zoro said, looking up to try and spot said island. Seeing nothing but a few normal clouds and the blue sky.
"Well wherever it came from don't get any ideas! This is our salvage!" Marisa yelled, sticking to his claim on the treasures.
"Hey monkey guy! Can we look at it at least?! I wanna see the sky boat!" Luffy yelled, bounding from his throne to the figurehead to make his request.
"Hey, I'm not a monkey! But sure! If you lot want to see how it's done I don't mind. But we won't be giving anything out for free!"
"Thanks monkey guy!" Luffy responded, then watched as they hoisted up the ship with a special cradle device.
The more immature of the crew gawked at the display, screaming out how cool it was. When the ship was finally hoisted, some of them took advantage and rushed to the ship. Namely Usopp and Luffy, the most eager for adventure, and Robin, the one most eager to see the ship before it was salvaged for valuables and parts.
"So cool." Luffy commented as he walked around the ship. Looking at all the old stuff like an old mirror and a rusty sword.
"Masira was it? Do you have any use for these old texts?" Robin asked, finding a stash of documents.
"Huh? No, I don't believe so. But like I said, nothing is free. If you want them it'll cost ya!"
"Of course. We can negotiate once I gather all of the ones that catch my eye."
Luffy bounced with excitement and as a result was repeatedly scolded when he tried to mess with things. A suit of armor or an octopus here and there that he wanted to mess with.
When the finally left the ship, they were shocked to discover the sky was dark, despite the fact that they were only in it for a short time. The straw hats and Masira asked what was going on and were greeted with murmurs and frantic breathing. Following their eyes to the horizon they gazed upon the sight before them.
Enormous figures whose very existence blocked out the sun were standing at seemingly the world's edge, looking down upon them. They had long spears and wings, like vengeful angels come to cleanse the Earth. Even with their combined prowess and strength, no one could stand before them. Even captain Luffy did not know what to do in that instance. He couldn't detect blood and they were too much to even try to overcome. Luckily it wasn't long before the giants disappeared into the clouds, leaving everyone left swallowing the hearts that hopped into their throats.
"What. What were those…" Zoro asked, staring off into the distance with dread oozing out from him.
"They were bigger than the sky…" Usopp added, eyes threatening to roll into the back of his head.
"They looked completely otherworldly…" Robin said, unable to maintain her typical calm.
"They didn't even have blood…" Luffy caused them all to look in confusion at him. "I couldn't feel anything…"
"I've seen a lot of strange things but that was the worst… Men! We're getting out of here! Grab only the most valuable things and let's get moving!"
With their captain's orders the Masira pirates, still shaking with fear, rushed to clear the valuables from the ship with the speed only the terrified can muster. With that same energy Usopp rushed back to the ship and got everyone ready to move.
"Hey! Masira! Do you know the way to the next island?! Our log pose is pointing us to the sky!" Nami called over to the ship. Luckily her duties as navigator shook her from her fear quickly when she realized they may be stranded in the open ocean.
"Huh? Yeah, I have an eternal pose for one! Follow us!" Masira yelled, trying to seem heroic for the orange haired lady. It was a little cringey, but if it meant getting to the next island they would endure. In the confusion of it all he forgot to charge for the seemingly inconsequential documents, a small turn of fortune for the pirates.
While all of this was happening, Tashigi was below deck in spare quarters. The going merry was an okay ship in a bad way that certainly didn't have the space to accommodate the people they were getting. Tashigi, Valerie, and Grace for example were all bunking together. The former marine in particular was wide awake but staring up from her hammock. "A pirate…" She muttered to herself. She had only just joined the crew that same day, and her entire life and possessions amounted to the clothes on her back, her sword, and the hammock they hung up for her.
Valerie was redoing a braid in Grace's hair when she heard the ex-marine talking to herself. "Yeah. Not where I expected to end up either…" She said, wanting to talk to someone who wasn't a child for once.
"Yeah but you were an assassin. It's not a big transition." Tashigi responded, sitting up a bit to look at her now that this had become a conversation.
"I went to places, killed the people I was told, reported in and got paid. Everything else was essentially my call. You on the other hand were part of a 'crew' reported to a 'captain' fought people who wanted you dead and got peanuts to show for it. You flew a different flag but the work is the same." Valerie responded, starting up another braid.
"That's not… Okay yes functionally working on this ship would be the same but that's not what I meant. Before… this, I was trying to protect people. Fight for justice."
"Yeah well things change. If it wasn't for that lovesick cook I'd be in the worst place on the planet till someone worse than I am killed me. You weren't even forced to join. They were willing to let you go back. So why would you join just to complain?"
"I… Couldn't go back…" Tashigi responded, slumping back down in her hammock and sighing.
Valerie patted Grace to get her to move. "Sounds bad. Tell me."
"Why? You don't care." Tashigi responded by the opposite direction.
"I may. I certainly can't until I know if it's worth caring about. I won't tell. Nobody but the cook would listen anyway…"
Tashigi sighed and rolled back. "My captain. Former captain… He confessed to horrible things he did in his search for them. He had gone from a man I respected and looked up to to a… a…" Tashigi struggled to finish the sentence, but Valerie did it for her.
"A monster, huh? Damn…" Valerie looked away for a moment. "I feel like asking what he did would be bad here…" She looked at Grace, who nodded. "Yeah. So I'll just say… You were probably right to not go back. He can't undo the damage he did, and probably doesn't think he even should. As much as you marines preach about your damn Justice, a lot of you sure don't give a damn about those who never see it." Valerie got up and stretched. "Well. I'm going to head up and see what I can get to eat. Coming Grace?"
Tashigi watched as they left and went back to looking at the ceiling. 'Doesn't think he should… Lives lost were a means to an end…' She thought to herself before gripping her sword's scabbard for support.
Masira led the Straw Hats to the nearest island, known as Jaya, where the pirates could try and find out about the oddity that was their Log Pose.
"Be safe out there you guys." Kaya waved to the few that were heading inland. They weren't in a big need of supplies since Vivi and Cobra had given them some things so it was only Luffy, who refused to just sit on the ship, Nami, who would ensure they actually got the information they needed, and Robin, who wanted to check for any records the town may have on the ship and the old documents they were able to recover.
"We will. So long as Luff doesn't go drawing any more attention than we're already going to get…" Nami said, looking at her captain as he excitedly ran in place.
"I wouldn't count on that. Luffy is sure to have made some headlines after taking down Crocodile. It's likely trouble will find us whether we want it to or not."
"I guess you're right… Just don't pick any fights, Luffy. I don't want us kicked off the island before we find out what we need."
"I don't look for them!" Luffy protested, crossing his arms. "I just kinda wind up in them.."
"Hopeless." Nami muttered, walking forward. "Don't run ahead, no leaving Robin and I left running in behind you to clean up your mess."
Luffy grumbled at that but complied, keeping his pace far slower than he would have gone on his own.
"Agh!" Roshio screamed as he tried to pull the knife out of the table. It was made difficult due to this hand being between said table and handle. "I didn't cheat! Just take the damn money!" He cried, deciding the winnings of a few thousand belli was not worth his life.
The tan man laughed loudly, filling the entire room. "This isn't about the money now! It's about the principle!" He pulled a flintlock from his waistband and inspected it. Ensuring it had the right amount of black powder. "What would stop you from cheating me again?"
"This damn knife through my hand!" He yelled, pulling desperately to get away, but the blade sunk deep in the table from the powerful stab.
"Hmm. I think you may be right!" With that declaration the man's eyes brightened for a moment. In that moment the gun was turned on him, and the trigger pulled the instant realization flashed over his face. "But I want to be sure!" He laughed and leaned back in his chair. "Get this piece of garbage out of here! I don't want to see his face anymore."
"Yeah. What little face he has!" One of his subordinates added, causing raucous laughter from the entire crew as two men grabbed the late executioner's body and carried it out the back.
Not long after the three Straw Hat pirates entered the bar, having been insulted earlier and then offered fruit by creepy old men, the thought was that at very least the could get a drink. Their captain quickly made his way to the counter to order some food, having seen a sign for their pie.
"Hey. I think I recognize that mug of yours…" The rotund man with horrid teeth and excessive amounts of unkempt body hair said, looking over at the straw hatted captain.
"Huh?" Luffy asked in confusion, and then proceeded to ignore him in favor of eating the pie he had ordered. Just as the man began to speak again, Luffy spat out the bite. "BLEH! This is the worst thing I've ever eaten!"
The fat stranger's entire demeanor changed in an instant. Whatever he was thinking of before was eclipsed by rage. "What did you just say?! Their pie is amazing!" He screamed, standing up and readying a punch.
"Are your taste buds broken?! It's horrible!" Luffy yelled, getting in a stance of his own.
Nami's fist was faster than either of the angry dessert eaters and Luffy was sent down to the ground, grasping his head. "What did I say about fights?!"
"Sorry Nami…" Luffy whined, having not seen the punch coming due to the mouth full of ash tasting pie and his focus on fighting.
"Bah. Just give me something strong to go." With that the scruffy stranger paid his tab and began to leave.
"Ha! That was you!" A yell rung out in the bar as the door shutters flew open. In marched a man with a scar above his eye, a man they met earlier who insulted their clothing, and a slew more people who filled up the bar like the place was there. "Monkey D. Luffy!"
Luffy stopped rubbing his head for a minute the weird guy with huge grin said his name. "Huh? Do I know you or something?" He asked, perplexed at how so many people were recognizing him.
"Ha! Pretending not to know me, huh? Fine. I'm Bellamy, The Hyena!" With that the man laughed and clenched both fist and stuck out his tongue.
"You look like a human…" Luffy commented. After seeing fishmen and Chopper, he expected more than just him being some dude based on that nickname.
"We've heard rumors about you, pretty big stuff. But looking at you now I doubt any of them are true…" Bellamy walked around him as if circling his prey. "You're from the East Blue, right? The weakest sea."
"Yeah." Luffy responded simply to the question, unsure what the weirdo was trying to do.
"Than why are you here?!" Bellamy suddenly exploded with a sense of primal energy, seeming manic and crazy.
"To become King of The Pirates." That question Luffy understood. He wasn't meaning this island or this bar, he meant his reason for coming to the Grand Line. He hoped.
"HA! You believe that Fairy Tale about the One Piece?! Nothing but lies slung by a dying man with nothing left to give the world. A modern day Noland the Liar!"
Luffy gripped his fists but restrained himself. Nami didn't want him picking any fights, and he could handle the insults from some dumb guy he never met.
Nami wasn't as upset as Luffy, but the situation was making her uncomfortable. "Look we want to get out of here. Do you know anything about the Sky Islands?" Nami asked the bartender, an island town go to source for rumors and information.
Before a word could be spoken another grating laugh filled the bar. "HA! The Sky Islands?! You're all nothing but children playing at pirating! You don't belong in the New Age of Pirates!" He yelled with passion in his heart, but after hearing the stories he didn't want to start a fight, even with some idiot.
"Well when I become King of the Pirates it will be my age." Luffy responded defiantly, then turned away. Done with arguing over what he knew to be true.
"Look I'm not sure if you'll find what you're looking for here. Go outside of town, there's a crazy guy who may know more. Now please leave, before there's trouble." The bartender whispered to Nami. He may have been a tough guy, but even he didn't want unnecessary trouble, especially with Bellamy.
"You think that nonsense about the One Piece is real?!" Bellamy closed the distance, losing a good deal of respect for Luffy, even if he did supposedly beat Crocodile. "That was the babbling of a defeated old man who didn't want people to forget him. We have no place for such silly dreams!"
Luffy stared stoically at the man in response. He could've silenced him long before this point, but it wouldn't have done any good. He'd look like he had no control. He wouldn't take it as far as Shanks, but so long as they just stuck to hurling insults there was no reason to escalate things. "Let's go." He said to Nami and Robin, who were looking on. Nami had great concern on her face, while Robin remained calm as usual.
"I bet you didn't even take out Crocodile." Bellamy spun the boy around, a big smile on his face. "Couldn't see you too well. I bet you just took the credit." Bellamy's voice reflected great concern. He needed that to be the case. For Luffy to be a fraud coasting on someone else's achievements.
"Luffy kicked that guy's ass! Now let go or he'll kick yours!" Nami blurted out, outraged by the display. She hated when Luffy would get them in trouble but this was getting bad. The guy seemed psychotic.
"Ha! Yeah right. Stay out of this before you get hurt, red." Bellamy's first mate was quick to silence the woman, putting a hand on the grip of his large blade.
Luffy shot the man in glasses and fur a hard look, clenching his fist as he debated fighting for the first time. "We'll give you two a choice. Stay and watch your captain get beaten or run away to keep playing pretend."
Before Nami could yell at them that neither of those things were going to happen, Robin put a hand on her shoulder. She whispered to her and then guided her forward towards the door.
"Good choice." Bellamy said, never taking his eyes off Luffy. "You see that, straw hat? They know better than to side with fools with stupid dreams."
Luffy didn't give him the satisfaction of a reaction. He knew Robin had decided that was the best option and trusted the reason.
Bellamy was of course unsatisfied with the response so opted to finally escalate beyond yelling. "Maybe we should make sure they don't have a foolish captain to follow!" Bellamy was overconfident in himself and threw the punch without the aid of his power.
As a result, it was so slow to Luffy he didn't even need to use his own. He simply moved his hand to catch the punch. "Don't try it again." He said, pushing Bellamy back with one arm.
The display embarrassed and enraged the captain, who could take no insult to his image at risk of hurting the image of his superior, his friend. "Ha! Lucky catch! Let's see if you can stop this!" He squatted down for leverage and coiled his arms using his power, planning to deliver two spring punches to the boy's stomach. "Sprrrrrring!"
The preparation did him no good. Luffy didn't bother waiting for him to charge up a punch with whatever weird power he had. He took a single step forward and swung his fist at a downward angle on the man's smug stupid face, sending him into the floor of the bar.
The bar was silent, save for the scrambling backwards of the pirates close to the two captains. With Bellamy on the floor with a broken nose and zero consciousness, they were all too scared to do anything. Luffy stepped back and looked at them. "He's not dead." He assured them before stepping outside. Leaving a stunned crowd behind him.
Robin and Nami were waiting outside, leaning against a building across the street and talking. When they saw him leave the bar unscathed they let out a collective sigh of relief. Rather than ask any questions about what happened inside, they focused on the road ahead. "We asked a couple people about the weirdo the bartender told me about. We know where he is now, so we just have to sail over."
As the three of them left the fat man who was inside watched with a smile and a drink in his hand. Swigging from the bottle as he watched, amused, as the pirates carried their captain to the doctor. "Fools. Thinking the dreams of pirates will die?! My age is just about to begin!"
The man was flanked by a number of odd-looking individuals. A body builder, a mime enthusiast, and a sickly man and a sicklier horse. "That's the one, right?" The body builder asked, smiling wide under his mask.
"Straw Hat Luffy… He's got a fat bounty and the World Government wants his head for humiliating them with Crocodile." The man casted aside his empty bottle and laughed once more. "He's our ticket!"
The trio didn't take long to arrive back at the ship. Nami and Robin were on board ahead of Luffy for once, who was dragging his feet, still upset at the altercation he was forced to be in. He'd get over it soon, of course, with the help of Sky Island and this weirdo they had to go find.
"They said he was on this part of the island." Nami said, pointing to a part of the coast on a map they attained of the island.
"Why would this guy know anything about the sky islands?" Usopp asked, not particularly a fan of the idea since seeing the sky beasts that felt like a bad omen.
"Well he's the best lead we have. The bartender seemed to think it was a good place to start." Nami reasoned in response.
"From the sound of it he just wanted you guys to leave…" Usopp argued back, upset that the plan was moving forward.
"Yeah well it won't hurt to-"
"Straw Hat Luffy!" The unfamiliar voice rang out, not quite hostile but certainly not friendly. It attracted the attention of everyone on the crew. "We've come for your head!" That made it lose all semblance of peace.
The fighters of the crew and the more 'cowardly' alike responded swiftly. Zoro, Sanji, Gin, and Alvida armed themselves accordingly and waited at the edge of the ship. Bellemere and Usopp took position slightly higher up due to their preference for range, while Nami, Robin, and Chopper took a more support oriented middle ground. The other three did not hear the threat from their spots inside the ship.
"Cherry pie guy?!" Luffy's response was not equal to the situation, and it left the cherry pie guy's crew looking at him oddly in confusion on the nickname.
"Blackbeard!" He responded in anger, still furious on the kid's awful taste in pie. "But that's not why I'm here. The government wants your head, and they're sure to reward me for bringing it to them! Your crew aren't part of this, so they can go." Blackbeard offered, confident in his ability to take out a loan rookie pirate with the crew and power he had, seeing no reason to slaughter the rest.
"You threaten our captain and say we aren't part of this? You're out of your mind you fat bastard." Sanji responded, setting his cigarette on the railing for when this was over.
"I agree with curly brow. You're dumber than you look thinking we'll ignore that." Zoro responded, unsheathing his swords now that he was sure this was more than some stupid argument Luffy had with the guy.
Usopp and Bellemere had their respective weapons ready when they noticed the man farther back with a much higher-grade rifle. Before either of them could respond Blackbeard made a signal and a shot rang out. Bellemere jumped as her rifle was shot out of her hand with expert precision.
"You sure?! I'm feeling generous after seeing his little display! Honor your deceased captain's name!" Blackbeard laughed at his own morbid attempt at humor before refocusing on the situation. "Last chance." He said, all sense of humor gone from his tone.
"I'm tired of this, let's go!" Alvida yelled, jumping down with her mace, ready to fight.
Usopp was the first to respond with a smoke star on their sniper. He couldn't assure a single hit take out, and did not want to risk a counter from someone with that kind of expert aim. He was best used keeping him from shooting everyone else.
Zoro initially charged the wrestler but was intercepted by the scythe wielding horseman, who had far more strength than his sickly body would have let on.
Sanji, Gin, and Alvida then took it upon themselves to take on the massive masked man. His physical strength proved more than adequate as he blocked all their attacks on his own.
That only left Blackbeard, who laughed at the sight of the boy's crew facing his own. They were inadequate in every way. A sniper without a real weapon, a swordsman who couldn't handle an old man, and three fighters who together could not overpower his one. With his power he alone could wipe out the rest. "Your crew are fools. I bet they think of you as family." He said condescendingly, commenting on his own experience.
Luffy curled his fists in pure anger in response. "Shut up!" He said, running at the man, blood pumping through him, ready for a fight.
"Zehaha! Touched a nerve!" He laughed, then centered himself, preparing something.
Just as Robin began to use her powers on the man to at least distract him, she watched as a black mist shrouded him and her arms turn to flower petals. Panicking at the response she called out a warning. "Luffy watch out!"
But it was too late. The man held out his palm towards the boy, and the fat lump of hand turned into a bottomless swirling void. "Black Vortex!" He called it, using the unknown power on the area in front of him, which included Luffy.
Before Luffy could respond he felt his feet lift up in tandem. He had no traction, and more terrifyingly no power. Within seconds his throat was in the greasy paw of the man, his throat squeezed to the point of suffocation.
"Zehaha! How does it feel, Straw Hat?" The man reared his arm back and shocked the straw hat pirates deeply. He punched Luffy. His meaty fist connected with his face audibly, something normally impossible. "To be touched by Darkness!"
Luffy's head spun. Not as much from the punch, but more so from the sensation of being powerless. He had experienced it only a few times, but never out of the sea. When the third of the man's punches landed he was sent backwards, body grinding into the dirt.
"Luffy! Get up! Get up!" Various crewmates yelled encouragement at their captain, needing him to get up. Zoro was far more defensive than he would like. The sickly reaper was fighting dirt, the Sniper was getting angsty, and the wrestler had begun batting around the three with only moderate issues.
"What… Was that…" Luffy asked, pushing himself up. He felt sick, like he had a high temperature and the energy was sapped out of him. It was slowly coming back but it was a feeling he never wanted again.
"Your demise." Blackbeard responded ominously by holding his hand up, palm to the sky. "Behold! Blackhole!"
Luffy heard the cocky bastard name another attack the same was as before and responded before he could finish it. He locked his arm in place, prepared to do far more if he didn't need to move it for the move.
Fortunately for Luffy the move did require more. Blackbeard stared in confusion for a moment, unaware of why his hand wouldn't move. But when he discovered that not only could he not move it, his hand wasn't shifting for the attack like he planned. His eyes widen with fear as he fought to free his arm from the invisible hold. "Ahhh! Ow ow ow ow!" Of course, he also tugged on it, which caused a lot of bruising.
The other Blackbeard crewmembers felt a hit to their moral as their captain screamed in pain and failed to execute his signature attack. It made them sloppy, allowing Zoro to push back the senior citizen reaper and the others to land a few decent blows.
"What did you do?!" Luffy yelled back, angry and confused by what he felt. His power been overwhelmingly present in his life from the moment he ate the fruit. But the few moments he was without it he felt blind to the world he'd grown accustomed to, where he felt every living thing around him.
"Me?! Gahhh! What the hell are you doing?!" Blackbeard was arguably more confused and scared than the teen before him. He had studied countless Devil Fruits, he had picked the most powerful one and searched for it. It was supposed to be the only one with this kind of power.
"TELL ME!" Luffy's emotions overwhelmed him. He felt uncharacteristically, painfully weak. He would not let that go. As a result, he let himself go beyond his normal limitations, restricting the entirety of the Blackbeard crew as he mimicked the move that had taken his power with terrifying accuracy. A swirling mass of blood pulling in a fearful Blackbeard until his fat throat was gripped by Luffy's hand.
The strawhat's who were fighting took the moment of respite to breathe deeply and step back. They had all seen someone under the influence of Luffy's power at one point or another, but not like this. Fights they were having were taken away from them with a level of ease that made it almost insulting. It also gave them a chance to see the reactions of a person affected by the power of their captain. The amount of emotions shown through nothing but eyes, as no other part of them was allowed to move.
Those who weren't fighting merely watched the situation shift dramatically. For a few fearful moments they were all overwhelmed, but now it would take an act of god to make this go wrong.
Blackbeard's breathing became quick, shallow, and frantic. He was powerless, at the mercy of a boy he tried to kill. "Yami Yami no Mi. Darkness." He responded, looking to see if any of his crew were still fighting. He had to fight through the grip on his windpipe, as Luffy certainly wasn't giving him slack.
"How. How did it do that?!" The fear slipped through, overshadowing the anger. He was terrified, but he had more power. He may not have been in full control of it, but his progress was quickly growing. Ten long years had resulted in a swelling of backlogged power that the newly powered Blackbeard couldn't match.
"It can suck in anything. Even your powers." He responded honestly, knowing now wasn't the time to lie. "What about…" He was going to ask what power Luffy had in response. All of his research, the documentation on known Devil Fruits, told him his was the most powerful. He could obtain the unachievable. But before he could discover what rivaled his own power, his world faded to black and he crumpled to the ground, along with the rest of his crew.
Luffy sat down, breathing heavily before falling back, arms spread. That entire ordeal was only a few minutes long, but it felt like hours. The stress, the fear, and their strength compounded to take a toll on the entire crew, not just Luffy.
"Are you okay?" Chopper asked first, jumping down with his first aid kit to help with the minor injuries he sustained.
Luffy didn't have a response. He just looked to the sky as his doctor patched up the cuts on his face from the man's punches. He could've patched them himself, such was the nature of his power, but he didn't have the will to do trivial selfcare.
"Who the hell were these guys?" Zoro responded, sheathing two of his three swords, not wanting to go completely unprepared in case they were to pop back up. Though in truth it wouldn't have done much use. The old weirdo was insanely strong, nearly taking Zoro's life with a single hand on his weapon.
"We saw one of them in town but… He didn't want to cause a big scene…" Robin recalled, looking at their collapsed captain. "He must've thought it best to follow us here and take us out where no one would interfere. It seems he underestimated us."
"You mean they underestimated Luffy." Usopp corrected, looking at the way their friends were exhausted from a short encounter with the four men. The mountain of muscle took on three of their strongest, and the weakest looking one had Zoro on the ropes.
Gin hoisted his weapons and holstered them on his back, arms weighted like lead from the way his strikes seemed to reverb back into his limbs. He pulled his gun from his boot and checked to ensure it was loaded. "You can say that again. Let's avoid them trying that again." He said, pulling back the hammer.
"Hold on!" Nami yelled, rushing down to stop him. "We don't just execute people!" Nami pushed his arm down to keep the gun from being in the unconscious man's face. "They're no threat to us now. Look at them." She said, motioning to the men, who hide rolled back eyes and gaping mouths.
"Key word now. Either way, they tried to kill us." He raised it again only to have it forced back down.
"Plenty of people try to kill us! If Luffy wanted them dead, he would've done it just now." Nami said, trying to get trigger happy Gin from spilling more blood. The only person in her life she ever wanted dead was already that way. Any more than that felt wrong.
That vein of reasoning made Gin holster his weapon. She was right after all. Luffy could kill as easily as they could breathe, so if that was what he wanted he would've done it.
Zoro walked to his collapsed captain, watching as he had bandages affixed to his face. "You really want to leave them? You looked scared." He said after finally sheathing his last sword so he wasn't mumbling through his teeth.
"I don't know." Luffy said as he sat up, looking at the unconscious men. "He. I didn't know anything could do that. Smokey's weird stick could but that guy… He was just as scared of me. I don't think he'll try anything again." Luffy rationalized the choice, as he got up to his feet. He didn't wholly believe what he said, but seeing Nami's hesitance had an effect.
Everyone responded with mumbling. It was a split issue. The more violent of them clearly wanted to eliminate the threat before it got bigger, but those who favored more pacifistic approaches wanted them spared. However, the captain's word was law so they returned to the boat and sailed towards the spot they were told of.
Gin leaned against the railing by Luffy, who sat on his throne in thought. "You really are different, captain." He said, staring off back towards the shoreline. "Sparing men who would kill you?"
Luffy looked up at him and laughed. "You know a lot of you guys have been like that. You, Alvida. Robin. Tashigi." Luffy said, pointing out this wasn't a new phenomenon.
"Yeah but… Could we have killed you?" Gin asked, focusing his attention once more. "Are any of us a threat?"
Luffy wanted to answer correctly but found it tricky. As enemies, none of them did. His friends however could easily hurt him, as he would likely never give it his all.
"All the answer I needed." Gin responded, looking away once more. "I know you're all different from what I'm used to, but some of the things we did were necessary."
"And a lot more wasn't." Tashigi's voice piped up, coming up with Zoro, who went and informed them of the situation. "You're Gin, I recognize you from your poster." She sounded almost proud of herself for remembering that, something as a marine she needed to do constantly. "Your crew were infamous, you almost more so than your captain."
Gin gave the woman a glance before sighing, resigning himself to dealing with her. "What's your point?"
"My point is you may be biased, as am I. I think limiting the lives taken is for the best. It leaves the chance for Justice to be served." Tashigi had abandoned the marines but not the credo she joined them for.
Gin however had seen the sort of Justice they would often subscribe to first-hand. "According to that logic, you should turn yourself in to serve Justice." He turned to face her, a scowl forming on his face. "The punishment for treason is death, right? Than why don't you just go k-"
"GIN!" Bellemere shouted at the top of her lungs at the man before giving him a hard shove to spin him facing her. "Back off." Bellemere felt just as attacked by his words as Tashigi, but she couldn't deny something. She looked past him to Tashigi. "That goes for you too. You're a member of the crew now so stop acting like we're some strangers or that's how you'll be treated."
Gin would have normally gritted his teeth and bared the threat but coming from Bellemere seemed to fire him up. "You aren't my captain." He spat as he walked away.
"Yeah well he is!" Bellemere shouted to Luffy, who was observing the confrontation and waiting for a time he'd need to jump in, or rather where he could without making it worse. "He took us all on and that means treating each other with some respect!"
"Respect?! She's done nothing to earn my respect! She tried to kill our captain and turned on the marines after a few days!" Gin voice was beginning to shake, and Zoro the ever vigilant man that he was jumped in.
"She helped save my life. And what about you? You turned your back on your captain after a few hours."
The wave of emotion that washed over Gin's face drowned everyone in front of him. Pain, sadness, and an overwhelming sense of anger not directed outward at any of them. "You're right. I'm just as bad as her." The fire of his rage was extinguished, replaced with smoldering calm. "A traitor." The fact he had been refusing to confront reared its ugly head once more, and Luffy finally moved.
"You didn't betray him. He betrayed you." Luffy said, motioning for everyone to back away. The way Gin's heart was beating and the way his hands were twitching were overwhelming alarming for Luffy, who could feel the tiny movements.
"He was my captain. I follow orders. If I can't I…" Gin was about to move when the rest of the crew started to speak up.
"You shouldn't follow bad orders. No good captain gives orders he knows serve no purpose." Bellemere wasn't there for what happened but she'd been given the details from Nami about what happened before they got there. "He sounded like a man with no concern for his crew."
Tashigi piped up after. "I agree. I didn't just decide to join. My captain was doing horrible, unforgivable things when I wasn't there. I couldn't serve under someone who could do those things. I wouldn't. So, I joined you all because you seem to do good."
Usopp was the last to speak up. He and Gin had the gotten close through their technical pair ups and occasional fights. "And besides you're not a bad guy! I mean, anymore… You're our friend, right? That's why we aren't all rules and punishments!" His frantic, breaking voice showed the most emotion as he tried desperately to keep him from doing something he couldn't take back.
"That's right…" Gin finally stopped moving, pulling his hand away and looking up. "You're more than just fellow crew…" Gin had a hard time accepting the concept. The isolation he felt prior to his life as a pirate then the cold life he got there never allowed him to get close enough to anyone to claim them as a friend. He had some camaraderie with his crew, but he would have killed any of them if given a proper prompt or if they had failed in too many tasks. But not here.
"That's right." Luffy reiterated, smiling a little. "You're all my friends, and we're all yours, right?"
"Yeah." Gin sighed and looked back at the two former marines. "Sorry about that. It was.."
"Apology accepted." Bellemere said, followed by Tashigi who punctuated it with a bow. As they all got past this altercation a familiar voice yelled out.
"You guys again?! Hey, you never paid for that stuff!" A voice from earlier rang out.
"The monkey guy?!"
A10riddick- 24 hour immunity granted to those when offered the title of Warlord. A show of good faith on behalf of the World Government as a way of saying "We want to work with you." The grace period stays in place in case they may change their mind.
Lobisomen616- Smoker is opporating under the Absolute Justice morality that what he is doing is right, and those who disagree with him are wrong. He's not listening to reason. He's not lashing out at everyone persay, but who he considers against him is growing. He sufferred a much greater defeat than when he canotically encountered them, and is suffering for it. If them escaping was enough for him to break the rules, abandon his post, leave Reverse Mountain and Louge Town without their head marine and storm after Luffy across the Grand Line, whos to say what he'd do if it was more than just sneaking past by the skin of their teeth and some luck?
Notsae- I considered something like that but I decided against it. It would have served no purpose. He could've killed him on the spot, but Zoro would never have wanted it. For the same reason I believe that if he had left him with some scar or Injury Zoro would have also resented him for it. He got that scar fair and square in an honorable, albeit one sided, duel. Luffy acting in retaliation on his behalf would have stolen the sense of accompolishment he would have gotten from it himself.