AN: Here it is! It's taken me a lot longer than I thought it would. I've been dealing with a lot of distractions lately and I'm trying to work past those. So again, I still don't have a solid writing schedule, and I'm trying to fix that. But we'll see what happens. XD

The Grand Fucking Line

The Black Tail was ready for departure. Halcen, Max, and the rest of the Demon Buster Corps stood at the docks looking over its magnificence. The keel was fully coated in a nice strong layer of Kairoseki. The rear had a motor with a propeller on the bottom that dipped into the water. It was big enough to get them through the windless doldrums that guarded the Grand Line.

Halcen looked upon his ship, excited. He was eager to get it into the water and out on the seas. This was a pinnacle moment for him. All of his experiences in the last several months had culminated to lead him to right here. It was time to go. The Grand Line awaited them.

Halcen looked to Max and held out his hand to shake.

Max eyed Halcen curiously, but still took the hand.

"It's been real." Halcen wouldn't admit it, but he was feeling sentimental. This would likely be the last time they saw Max in a long while. Once they got set up in the Grand Line, they would have little reason to come all the way back to Corteano. Most of their demands could be met at their new headquarters.

"Sure has. Just remember what I told you out there."

"Yeah, yeah. I can handle it."

"I'm sure you can." Then Max took something from his pocket. "Before I forget…" It was a log pose. "An eternal log pose. As you know, the Grand Line doesn't allow the use of standard compasses, due to each island's unique magnetic field. This will allow you to find the new HQ and return to it whenever you want with relative ease."

Halcen took it and examined it. "Great. This will come in handy." Then he turned and handed the pose to Morkine. "You got it?"

Morkine nodded and said "Yes."

Then the crew got aboard the Black Tail and pulled their anchor. It was time. They pulled away from the docks, and Morkine went about heading them directly south toward the Calm Belt.

Halcen watched from the crow's nest as they pulled from Corteano. Max disappeared from sight and the rest of the island as well, slowly.

As they sailed through the windy sea toward their doldrum, Halcen looked upon the horizon with anticipation and nostalgia. Sure, he knew coming to the East Blue was only temporary, but he still had grown to feel a connection to this place. It was where he had found his new calling, his new means of taking on the world: Devil Fruit Hunting. There was a lot about these last several months that he grown to actually care about. This place had gained him new allies and a few enemies as well. There had been many new struggles and obstacles he had to fight through. It had challenged him, and he had come out on top.

This place was his new beginning. It was where he regrouped after his betrayal from Marco and his departure from Whitebeard's crew. He had thought in that moment that the world was over. But now he saw so much more to life. There were so many new opportunities to get ahead. He knew that he didn't need them anymore. But a burning hatred still remained in his heart.

"Director!" Morkine shouted up.

"What's going on?!"

"We're about to hit the Calm Belt. We need to make the ship ready!"

"Here we go," Halcen said to himself. Then he climbed down to the deck to his crew.

"Alright, let's furl the sails!" Morkine shouted.

Everyone went to the ropes and began pulling them until the sails rolled up and out of the wind. They were left staring at the bare masts. They allowed the ship to coast by its own momentum for a moment until they got the motor ready to go.

Jin readied his remote for the motor, another clever solution so they didn't have to manually operate it. He pressed the button and they all waited for the motor to kick on, and it did, with a lurch. The propeller in the water began to spin with gusto and they all began to move forward and into the Calm Belt.

Halcen looked at Jin with a huge grin. This is a great fucking moment.

The motor had controllable speeds, of course, but for the moment Jin allowed a moderate speed to be set it to get them safely through without trying to rush. He didn't want to burn through their fuel just trying to zip through as fast as they could. This whole thing was an experiment. He wanted to take it slowly.

Morkine kept control of the wheel on the quarterdeck and kept them flowing straight through. He kept them aimed in a line parallel to the eternal pose's direction. He figured it was better than going straight through the Calm Belt just end up further away from their destination and have to sail further through the Grand Line and try to manage their way around other islands and obstacles.

Halcen looked down at the waters and took a deep breath. This was the nesting ground of the Sea Kings. He was unsure if he was strong enough to take them on in a fight should they sense the ship. But with the Kairoseki, he knew they were supposed to be much safer. But seeing that this was the first time he had tried this, he was still somewhat nervous.

"It'll be fine," Grey said, as if reading his thoughts.

"When you guys went into the Gran Line, how did you do it?" Halcen asked.

"Oh, we used Reverse Mountain."

"Really? And risk all that damage to your ship?"

"Yeah… Roger liked taking risks. He thought it was fun! That crazy bastard," Grey started laughing. "The ship did okay, but it was definitely worse for wear afterwards. Man, our first ship… was quite a shit box. Eventually though we made it to Water 7 and had the Oro Jackson made."

"Oh yeah, the legendary ship of the legendary pirate," Halcen said. "How was that?"

"It was incredible. I gotta say that Tom was a master shipwright. His ship was what gave us the edge of the rest of the pirates in our time. Everything on it was so advanced and well-functioning…" And then he got solemn. "It's just a shame that he died… for helping us."

Shit, that got dark, Halcen thought to himself. "Hey! Come on. From what I heard, he had no regrets. Right? He was proud of his work, he respected Roger and your crew. He did what he wanted and said 'Fuck the consequences.' If anything, that makes him a badass."

"That's true…" Grey said, trying to let himself ease up.

"Plus, didn't he have a few apprentices? I'm sure they're carrying on his will."

"You know what? That's a good point. Tom lives on."

Halcen patted Grey's back. "Let's just focus on the next steps in today's world."

"Alright."

They continued through the Calm Belt with little to do but train. Seeing as how the Calm Belt was quite a large chunk of the sea, it would take plenty of time to traverse it. It wasn't such an easy thing as just to step over a line. So they had to find things to do in the meantime. Most of them trained.

Halcen, Grey, Jory, Fein, Shira. They all trained in practice fighting as they had been for months now. This was their usual.

Even Bo and Kazuki got in on it. Being that they were snipers, their physical strength usually didn't matter much, but every once in a while it was a good idea. They knew better than to take their chances and let their bodies diminish.

Jin went to tinkering with his machines and experiments.

Morkine just kept them aimed the right direction.

After several days of travel, they finally neared the edge of the Calm Belt.

"There it is!" Morkine shouted, seeing the clear difference between the calm flats of the doldrum they were in and the natural currents and lively weather of the active sea. "We are near the end!"

Halcen looked down from the crow's nest to peak ahead. Morkine was right. Clear as day, there was the Grand Line. He climbed down to begin giving instructions to his crew. "Alright, Jin! Get ready to shut down the motor! Jory, Fein, Bo, Kazuki! Get ready to raise the sails! We're going in!"

Morkine kept them pointed toward their destination while the rest of the crew got ready to jump into action once they had made the clearing.

"NOW!" Halcen shouted.

And all in one single motion, the engines ceased and the sails fell down from their tied positions. The winds immediately caught their sails and began to pull on the ship. The winds here were drastic and powerful, nothing like the East Blue.

Halcen foggily remembered the weather from his time at sea on Whitebeard's ship, but being away so long and most of his time there having been a haze, it felt like a dream… that he had just been awoken from. Things were clear this time around.

Morkine had been a bit unprepared. He knew that the weather was supposed to be much worse here, but he hadn't quite expected it to be this dramatic and this sudden. He gripped the wheel with all his might and tried to force them to go in their desired direction. "THIS IS IT! LET'S GO!"

He began shouting orders at the others to get them to turn the sails in the right directions, or lose their composure and be lost in this rough sea.

Everyone followed his commands without question because they knew he knew better on this subject that anyone else. But they were surprised at his tenacity and his passion when shouting the orders. It was almost like he was a real living person. For so long they had seen nothing of him but the rigid skeleton man. Now, he was going all out, because he knew their lives were on the line… and in his hands.

As they followed him, they leveled out into the waters and they got the wind working for them. He sighed with relief, but he kept his guard up. They couldn't be sure that was the worst of it. They had just gotten into the Grand Line, after all. They corralled over the tough water and began sailing again toward their destination. The whole time the eternal pose kept guiding him.

As they raced across the Grand Line, the ocean kicked and bucked and tried to fight them continuously.

Everyone was nervous except Halcen and Grey. They had been through rough waters many times and they were still alive.

"Well look at him go," Grey said about Morkine.

Halcen looked at Morkine with a grin. This was his chance to prove himself. To show that he was the man for the job. To show that he could keep them afloat under dire circumstances. He watched keenly as he wrestled with the wheel and continued barking orders. Halcen also felt the concern from the rest of the crew.

This was the first time any of the others had been in a greater sea like this. This was a large jump from the storms that they had grown up with in the East Blue. Even Morkine was unseasoned being in charge in such a dramatic situation. There was worry that he couldn't hack it and they would drown at sea in their first moments in the Grand Line. They had these feelings brewing, but knew they couldn't show their nerves. It was time to buckle down. They had to go with everything he said and just do their parts. If they tried to deviate from his plan, however inexperienced he was, it would only spell doom for them all.

The winds howled and the sky began to turn gray as clouds culminated above.

"Shit," Halcen said.

"It's fine," Morkine said calmly. "We will be able to handle the worst of it."

Then the sky cracked with thunder above them and the sky began to pelt heavy rain.

"We knew it was going to be worse here," Morkine said.

"Yeah, but how much worse, I had no idea," Jin said.

"Ow!" Jory shouted from the side of the ship.

"What?!"

"I think it's hailing!"

They all looked around and saw that the deck of the Black Tail was being pelted with hail as well as rain. They were all getting soaked and now the ice posed an actual danger.

"Are we going to be okay?" Jin asked.

"I'm no weather expert, but this looks bad," Kazuki said.

"I agree," Bo said.

"Oh, you're all being babies," Fein said.

And then lightning struck the water to the immediate port of the ship.

CRACK!

The sound of thunder filled the air and reverberated across the ship, and Morkine jerked the ship to the other side to try to avoid the strike.

"OH SHIT!" Fein shouted, putting his arms over his head in reflex.

"You were saying?" Kazuki joked.

"Fuck off."

The waves around them began swelling up and pushing harder and harder against the ship. Lightning came down in frenzies around the Black Tail.

"Dear God," Grey said, looking around. He felt the familiar tinge of his old pirating days. He remembered this all too well. But as he was so much older and wiser, as he looked upon the scene, he saw beauty. "It's glorious."

"You've gone mad!" Halcen shouted over the rain and the thunder. The storm had become deafening and they could barely hear each other's words anymore.

And through it all, Morkine kept their ship aimed true. He kept glancing back at the eternal pose to make sure of their heading.

"Are we going the right direction?!" Halcen asked him.

"We are!"

Halcen looked around in the storm. He couldn't tell which way they had come from or which way they were even going. With all the waves pushing them around and the storm overhead, he had no idea what was going on. "Are you sure?!"

Morkine just looked at Halcen and said "Trust me!"

Halcen smiled and let it go. This was Morkine's moment. He had done well so far, it wasn't Halcen's place to second guess him. Morkine could do this. That much he had to be sure of. If he didn't trust the man to do his job, then he wouldn't have him on the crew with all their lives in his hands.

They continued to fight against the storm for a while, until Morkine finally said, "We're there!"

"What?! Where?!" Halcen looked ahead and could see nothing in the distance but fog.

"Straight ahead!"

They continued straight into a thick fog, through it and out the other side, where the weather suddenly broke and the sun began beaming down on them again. And there on the horizon was an island.

"Holy shit!" Halcen shouted. "Finally!" Halcen went around to the crew. "Is everyone okay?"

Everyone checked themselves. They were all relatively uninjured, aside from being soaking wet and a couple welts from where hail had hit them.

Shira shook herself off from the water she had. Then she began panting happily.

"Ugh, wet dog," Bo said.

"Always gross," Jin said, agreeing.

"But she's still so adorable," Fein said, hugging Shira. Then he kissed her head. He got hair in his mouth and started trying to spit it out. "Ugh."

"Ew," Halcen said. "Anyway... if nobody is harmed…" He looked up to Morkine.

"May I have your attention please?"

Everyone looked up at Morkine on the quarterdeck behind the wheel. "We have arrived. Welcome to Agoros Island."

The island was close enough to the edge of the Calm Belt so there were no other islands they needed to navigate around to get to their destination. That had been a small part of why Max had picked it.

As they neared it and got closer and closer, they all saw there was very little there. It was a relatively small island, especially when comparing it to the size of Corteano's city. There was mostly flat grasslands around the island with a small town in the middle.

"It doesn't look like much," Bo said.

"Well you know what they say," Grey said, "don't judge a book by its cover."

"Oh, hell," Halcen slapped his face. "Really? Busting out those old cliches? Can we not?" He shook his head and continued to watch as the island got closer. But he did have to admit to himself, that as they neared, it did look less than exciting. We come all this way for such a small island?

They all went down into the ship to dry off from the storm and change into fresh clothes. Then they came back up and got ready to approach the island.

Morkine found the docks on the edge of the small town. "Here we are."

They all filed off onto the wooden docks and began wandering into the town.

Suddenly a young woman came up to the group. She was pretty attractive. Long brown hair lying flat in the back, and curvy rimmed glasses. She had on a long dress that prevented much skin from being seen, but her curves were most definitely visible. She was carrying a book in her arms. "Hello all," she said, bowing. "You must be the Demon Buster Corps. I am Veronica. I am here to bring you to the store." Her voice was rich with a sophisticated and elegant accent. It gave her a mature characteristic that was quite a surprise given her youthful appearance.

"My, my," Halcen said. "You're certainly a lot nicer to look at than the last aid we were working with. Pad was an ugly mug."

"So then that's not much of a compliment, is it?" Veronica said with poise.

"I just meant…" Halcen was flustered. "…You're quite attractive," he finally got out. It sounded more pathetic than charming.

"Are you quite finished?"

Halcen closed his mouth and nodded.

"Then, if you would, please follow me."

Everyone looked at Halcen, trying to stifle their laughter.

"Alright, well you heard her," motioning after the woman, quite embarrassed.

They all began following behind Veronica away from the Black Tail. They headed through town, where exactly she was taking them, they didn't know.

"You know," Halcen said, looking about the town, "Agoros is a lot smaller than I thought it would be."

"Being one of the outermost islands of the Grand Line, Agoros is bound to be smaller and less developed than some of the central islands like Water 7 or Alabasta. But just because we're small, doesn't mean we can't put up a fight."

"It's not a fight I'm worried about. It's being able to get a customer base way out here in the sticks…"

"That's something you're going to want to speak with Jensen about," she said, not breaking her stride. "I'm sure he'll be able to console all your concerns." They continued following her all the way down through to the heart of the town. It wasn't a long walk, but it was enough to get them to see a decent amount of town.

They stood in front of a building. A single-story building with a large glass front. The door and walls were all glass with only metal being there to hold the joints. On top of the door was a storefront sign that said "DB's Consumables."

Halcen looked upon it curiously. Interesting. "And this is…?"

"Your new store front," Veronica said. "Come on in." She opened the door and held it for the crew to follow her.

They all filed in one at a time. The inside was nice and bright, like a good store should look. It was clean and the floors were grey tile and the walls were a simple off-white. There was a small store inside with numerous shelves set up around the area, all filled with groceries and the like. It wasn't a particularly large store, but big enough to make it look believable. Off to the side was a nice thick dark brown wooden desk with a register and a man standing behind it. There was no one else in the store except him.

"Hello," he said. He had the same accent as Veronica, regal and posh. It made his voice feel very smooth. He was almost six foot tall, just a smidge shorter than Halcen, with thick gray hair up on end and blue eyes. But he still looked young, early twenties. His skin was rosy pink and he had sparkling eyes and a dazzling smile. He walked around the counter, showing that he had a slight limp in his left leg, and met Halcen with. He grabbed Halcen's hand and said "You must be Halcen. I'm Jensen."

"Oh, you're Jensen," Halcen said in surprise. "You seem so much younger than what Max described."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he said with a chuckle. "But you're one to talk. You must be about my age as well. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Twenty-two," Halcen said.

"Well mark me, I'm only twenty-one."

"Cool."

"But you're not here to talk about age. You're here for business."

Halcen was thrown off by how very composed this young man was. He was so distinct and respectful about the way he interacted. He was so used to Max's roughness and Pad's ineptitude.

"So, let me tell you a little about our setup here."

"Okay."

"When Max got ahold of me and laid out the idea of expanding your operation out here, I loved it. I just wasn't a big fan of the way he wanted to model the set up. So I came up with something better."

"Oh…? Because we had very specific ideas on how we wanted to do this."

"Yes, and of course no offense to Max, but he's never been in the Grand Line for longer than a week. He's very skilled at what he does but he doesn't understand the way things operate out here long term. Most of his crew work in the East Blue, and the few that work out here, don't do very well without constant supervision. Then he had to keep hiring more and more people to manage situations like this one, seeing as how he had other things to deal with. What we need is a fresh approach. And with the very nature of your operation, it allows for so many possibilities. So I cobbled together the best parts and… ta-dah!"

Halcen looked around. "It's a grocery store…"

"Yes," he sat smiling. "Right?"

"I don't get how that's better than our idea."

"Well think about it. Another bar? On this side of the Grand Line? You're not gonna get much interest in it. It's the new age man. People want real food these days. Real pirates and adventurers need sustenance too, not just alcohol. This will drive people in looking for stuff to take with them on the sea. They're going to ask about any suggestions, being that they're pirates, and that's when we put the word out. We say "Hey, we got something extra, if you're looking to spice things up." Then he winked.

Halcen watched this man explain the way his idea worked with such charisma. He really believed in this idea. But Halcen just wasn't sold.

"Okay, but look around you. Agoros is such a tiny little island on the edge of the Grand Line with only this small town. Where are the pirates and adventurers you think are gonna walk in and just start buying Devil Fruits?"

"Yes, it is a small town. For now. But with the current rush, the new revitalization of the Pirate Age, if you put even the smallest point on the map, people are going to want to explore it. We just gotta get the word out and this place will explode. Sure, the town is small, but the island has so much room for growth. And once word gets out, other businesses and ventures are gonna want to get a piece of the action. And we make bank on them trying to buy their way in. We're on the ground floor of a huge money maker."

"But how exactly do you plan to get the word out? It's not as easy as simply marking a map as you say."

"No, of course not. Max had a list of people he wanted involved in that as well, but I've got my own circles I run in. I'll go around, put on a little show, make them take notice… and then BOOM! We start getting hits."

"I see what you're saying," Halcen said. "And it all sounds nice and easy. But nothing is ever easy, especially in this game. So say it fails, say you can't pull off this boom you seem so confident in being able to make happen?"

"Then we can always try Max's way. And hey, people always need groceries, even the people of a small town. That won't make us nearly as rich as quick as the Devil Fruit business, but the people in this town need a reliable grocer. Trust me, I've been here long enough to know how this place works."

"I see," Halcen said. Then he stood for a while looking over the store and thinking over the plan. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. This guy might really know what he's talking about. He was intelligent, Halcen had to give him that. It would be great to work with a partner whose sole focus was on their operation. "And I take it you'd like to renegotiate your terms as well?"

"Well seeing as how all this is my idea, yeah. If it works, I feel like my share should be significantly higher."

"We should talk specifics, just the two of us. I'm going to have to let Max know the new deal. But l like it. You're on." Halcen said, holding out his hand.

Jensen took it happily.