Onigashima
"So they are in the East Blue." The Beast, Kaido, sat on his throne, at the center of Onigashima. He took the bounty of his beloved protege along with his daughters observing them.
The news was delivered by Morgan's damn birds, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
"Straw Hat Luffy." That damned straw hat belonged to Roger. He remembered from his time with Captain Rocks. It was funny how it ended up in his hands. "Dead or Alive: 100 Million Beri." Kaido snickered, knowing full well that his adoptive son would not take kindly to such a pitiful bounty.
"Demon Heir Yamato." He liked the moniker for his daughter. He was just glad that it wasn't something stupid like Oden or something. "Dead or Alive: 50 Million Beri." Kaido was outraged, his own daughter was getting such a low bounty. If he was pissed about it, he was sure they must be mad about it as well.
Fuel, that's what it will be, to better themselves. Such disrespect will not sit well with his children. To urge them to the right direction, he felt like sending them some additional adversities.
"Joker..." Kaido spoke into a messenger snail. On the other end, the underground broker known as Joker.
"Yes Kaido." Responded the man on the other end of the line.
"I want you to retrieve two people." Kaido then proceeded to place the wanted posters on an envelope, and sent it away on a messenger bird. "Bring them to me dead or alive."
That will heighten their urgency. For their betterment. He swore to not chase after them, but that didn't stop him from sending others to do the job.
"I got just the personnel for the job...Kaido." On the other end of the line, behind Joker, in his home of Dressrosa, two figures had a smirk over their face. One was a big man, his hair was memorable for it shot straight up, with sideburns on both sides extended out as far as the hair, and a goatee to match, just like a helicopter propeller. Then there was a girl, her appearance was fair as she wore a maid outfit along with two deadly looking bazooka on her back. She had aviator goggles over her black hair and she looked like she meant business.
"Go and get the job done." Commanded Joker, the two nodded their head and prepared for flight. The man got on all four, his combination of hair began to spin like a propeller and the woman stood on his back. The man then began to fly towards the sky, heading off to their mission.
Whole Cake Island
"Katakuri!" A thunderous scream of agony erupted in the island of food. Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin sent her son to deal with the disrespect from Arlong the Saw, but her son had now defected, and to one of Kaido's play things at that.
Her rampage was not due to hunger, it was calculated, though she still managed to turn half of the island into a wasteland. The only being that could slow her rampage was one of her most trusted allies.
"Linlin, by destroying your own land, you are not enacting revenge against Katakuri, you are only hurting your own stock." Her eyes darted at the voice. A whale shark fishman stood his ground, unwavering from the gaze of the yonko.
"How dare you speak so casually with me Jinbei!" Big Mom retrieved Napoleon, her bicorn blade from her head, and slammed it against the fishman. But instead of succumbing to death, the warrior of the sea blocked the strike with his foreman, black and red haki clash erupted from the duo. And after the clash, Big Mom finally relaxed, retrieving Napoleon from smiting Jinbei.
"You always calm my nerves when I need it Jinbei. Are you sure you won't become my 44th husband?" In her better days, no man would ever dare decline the request of a woman her stature. And yet she had aged, and she was no longer the vixen she once was.
"I have a kingdom to overtake Linlin, I wouldn't have time for things such as marriage." He politely declined and surprising enough, Big Mom did not take offense to this. Instead she laughed.
"Mamamama! Alright then Jinbei, then be on your way. I expect that if I summon the Sun Pirates..." Behind Jinbei, in the clear ocean water around Whole Cake Island, heads began to pop out of the members of the infamous Sun Pirates. "...will come."
"Of course Linlin, and when it's time I take Fishman Island for myself, you will also bring aid to my cause." Jinbei began to make his way to the sea.
"Yes Jinbei as long as you return my son or daughter to me..." With a massive smile on her face, Linlin watched as Jinbei joined his Sun Pirates in the water. Heads of the members of the pirate crew began to submerge along with their captain. Then the water was calm for a moment, until a massive pirate ship emerged from the water, the flag of the burning sun waved freely in the breeze.
Red Haired Pirates
"Look at this Benn, Luffy and Yamato are kicking ass!" Shanks smiled broadly at the progress of the young lad, the man he trusted Roger's hat.
"They're gonna be pissed that their bounty is so low." Responded Benn, taking a bite out of the food before him. Although their conversation was put to a halt by a pissed off clown and his three goons.
"Fucken Shanks can you shut up for two seconds about Mugiwara!" Buggy the Clown has joined the Red Haired Pirates as 'co captain'. From their defeat in LogueTown, Shanks happened to stumble upon Buggy, Alvida, Mohji and Cabaji. He took them in out of the kindness of his heart but the clown had been a pain in the ass.
But Shanks took exception to his friend's attics, though Yasopp wasn't so forgiving, slapping Buggy on the back of the head with the back of his pistol, and shoving his rifle barrel inside the mouth of the clown. The Sniper had just returned from his side trip, and he was not looking good.
"Do not disrespect the Captain again." Yasopp had a deep and serious expression on his face, Shanks immediately knew that he wasn't messing around. He intervened, showing between the clown and the sniper, pushing buggy towards his people while he held the tip of Yasopp's rifle with one hand.
"Get out of here Buggy." Without questioning his command, Buggy immediately ran back to their resting area, leaving Benn, Shanks, and Yasopp to hash things out. "What's going on Yasopp?"
Despite the situation, Benn remained calm, having a pipe while awaiting the results of the interaction. But Yasopp dropped his rifle, tears welling up in his eyes.
"My boy...my son...I've lost him..." Yasopp finally let out.
"Oh Yasopp..." All Shanks could do was pat the back of his friend. As he let the tears flow without letting up. For Yasopp, he lost his wife from a disease that he could not find a cure for, and now he lost his son due to his own failure.
Reverse Mountain
The ascent to the magnificent known as the Reverse Mountain, was a truly magical experience. Though the crew were familiar with such crazy phenomena in their own experiences, Reverse Mountain was still amazing.
Pressurize water meeting at one point, the entrance of Reverse Mountain, and then it pushes the ship upward through a very high mountain, and then at the top, a rapid descent to the Grand Line.
"You think there's a chance we're gonna die?" Ace had created a hammock for himself, swinging casually despite the situation. Though who could fault him, none of the Straw hats were taking it seriously.
Katakuri was guiding the ship along the proper current, he had taken the post as the ship's navigator. For if he could go from Whole Cake Island and into the East Blue by himself, then he could travel any sea. He was currently behind the rudder, steering as needed.
"Nope." Yamato had been reading a book, sitting on a chair near Ace. She had been invested in the massive library that the Going Merry was equipped with. As for her, knowledge was power. And the books she found in the library were nowhere to be found in Wano. Though she still keeps the journal of Kozuki Oden close to her, she had phased out of the obsession and rather lived in the present.
Then there was Reiju, who had found a way to make the kitchen into her own personal laboratory. When she was not creating wonderful meals for the crew, she had been experimenting, drawing her own blood to learn the true origin of the lineage factor and how to destroy it completely. It will take time, but she was sure she could achieve it.
Last was the captain, who slept at the figurehead of the Going Merry. He had his eyes close and yet he had multiple things going on in his head. Alas they had descended Reverse Mountain, landing roughly onto the Grand Line. Finally, some formidable opponent will begin to reveal themselves.
A loud booming sound echoed in their surrounding, and before them, a massive whale erected from the deep blue sea. It opened its mouth, as if to swallow the Going Merry. But Katakuri masterfully guided their ship outside of the feeding range of the whale. The monster of a whale closed its mouth, its eyes pearly from fresh tears that flowed freely.
The Merry was able to avoid getting swallowed by the whale, and it now floated on the side of the massive creature. Though Luffy noticed a peculiar thing, for on the side of the whale, were a set of stairs and a doorway. Two people had been ascending said stairs, one a female with blue hair and the other, a male with a lime green attire and a blonde mop hairstyle.
"Captain, there are two people entering the whale." Katakuri was the second person to notice, and now that it was pointed out, the rest of the crew were now watching the duo struggle to climb the stairs on the side of the whale.
Luffy shouldn't care, he shouldn't, but regardless he delivered the order. "Bring them to me."
"Aye." Katakuri said with a smirk. He manifested his trident, pulling it out from his body.
"I can never get used to that." Reiju gagged slightly, watching as the massive metal object was retrieved from within Katakuri's body.
Katakuri then threw the trident, his aim was superb, catching the collar of the man's shirt. The trident embedded itself on the side of the whale, though the whale didn't feel a thing. The blue haired female panicked, retrieving her stringed weapon, but it was too late as Katakuri was able to cover the distance between the Going Merry and the whale in an instant. And just as quickly as he was gone, Katakuri returned, with both people trapped in a mochi binding.
Katakuri then presented the prisoner before the captain, dropping them in front of him, before returning to his post behind the helm of the ship.
The prisoners were on their knees, the look of defiance plastered across their faces. More so on the girl rather than the guy, but they had guts.
"So what were you doing to the whale?" Luffy began, his crew standing around the prisoners as to intimidate the prisoners further.
"We were going to harvest its meat, just a small chunk of it." Responded the woman.
"Set us free, our home town is just several hours away from here. We'll guide you to it." Though their leverage literally fell out of the pocket of the guy. Reiju was the one to pick up the strange looking compass. Though she knew exactly what it was.
"An eternal post to Whiskey Peaks. Looks like we won't need these clowns." The two prisoners looked mortified. Reiju handed the eternal post to Katakuri and he immediately set course to the location known as Whiskey Peak.
"Now wait a minute." The blue haired female before to crawl forward, ending at the foot of the Straw hat Captain. "Just bring us back to our people, you will all be handsomely rewarded!" She was desperate. Everyone can recognize that.
"Miss Wednesday." Began the blonde mop head. "They have no plan of keeping us alive." The man regrettably admitted, falling into deep despair.
Miss Wednesday had matched the grief which Mr. 9 had recognized. "No...no..."
The Strawhat Captain raced the face of Miss Wednesday, looking her directly in the eye. He observed her, realizing that she was hiding something more than she was letting up.
"I keep you alive if you tell me your secret." He raised her on her feet, she was desperate and so she immediately blew her cover.
"I am Princess Nefetari Vivi of the Kingdom of Alabasta. I have been undercover in the operations of a crime agency known as Baroque Works in order to obtain information...I finally learned of Mr. 0's identity..." Luffy urged her to continue, the information was interesting. "Sir Crocodile of the Royal Shichibukai." The Captain released his grasp of the princess, dropping her on the ground. The look of excitement filled the Straw hat captain.
"Excellent, looks like a formidable opponent at such an early part of my quest to become King of Pirates." Luffy was beyond happy at the information. "Katakuri, release the Princess and her friend."
To the shock of the prisoners, the mochi binding had disappeared from their hands. No longer were they bound.
"Now Princess, tell me about the operations of this Baroque Works."
On the hatch where Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 were trying to enter, a stocky muscular old man opened the door to identify the commotion on the outside. His eyes travelled the wide ocean, finally landing on a ship several knots from Laboon. The black hair, the sharp eyes, the posture.
Crocus, the caretaker of Laboon, had an epiphany. "Captain Roger?" He remained fixated for longer than he needed to, but eventually, the pirate ship was farther than his eyes could see, and so Crocus the caretaker shook off the chills, and returned to taking care of Laboon.
Several Hours Later…Whiskey Peaks
"Land ho-" Exclaimed Katakuri, sighting countless cactus shaped mountains to what he could assume was Whiskey Peak. Vivi had revealed the entire operation, at least from what she knew. Mystery was still present of the other members of the operations, but the main bad guy was known by his name, Crocodile.
"Didn't you say your friends were here?" Ace looked around the dock, finding the land to be deserted. Not a single soul present.
"They are supposed to be here." Vivi ran to have a look, realizing that something must have gone wrong. Finally, Vivi was able to spot a man and a woman on the shores. Then the man dug his own nose, flicking it to the direction of the Going Merry. "Watch out! That's one of the agents of Baroque works!" Vivi ducted into the deck of the ship, expecting the ship to explode from the power of the man known as Mr. 5.
But nothing ever came to the attack. Vivi was slow to get up, shaking slightly in fear as to what had happened.
Aboard the ship only the Captain, Katakuri, Mr. 9 and Reiju remained on board. Were the other two members of the pirate crew dead from impact? Vivi looked once more where Mr.5 and his partner stood. Her jaws dropped as she found that they were both handily defeated by the woman named Yamato who held Mr. 5 by his shirt. Meanwhile Ace had his foot on the face of the woman known as Miss Valentine.
On the shores, Yamato had a good laugh taking out the booger flinging idiot. But their troubles were yet to end there. The other agents of Baroque Works had finally revealed themselves to trap the pirates.
Despite losing one of their top officers, the agents remained motivated for outnumbering the pirates one hundred to one. All except a small group of the undercover agents, all of which were loyal to the kingdom of Alabasta. Igaram, the agent known as Mr. 8, and his partner Miss Monday, had decided to blow their cover and sail out to retrieve their princess. For Igaram had spotted the blue hair of Princess Vivi, even at such a distance from the pirate ship. He immediately went to action, rather than rationale. He was there for the princess, and her alone, it was his duty.
"Seems like a good time to go our separate ways." Ace launched the fallen Miss Valentine to the sea of Baroque works agent, using her as a projectile. "Goodbye for now Yamato." Once more Ace embraced Yamato, but this time, he planted a kiss on her cheeks. He then separated from the quick embrace and winked at her before surrounding himself with a great ball of fire.
Yamato instinctively grabbed hold of Mr. 5, knowing that he could have some useful information for them, and brought him along to the Going Merry.
Meanwhile aboard the Going Merry, a group of the Baroque Works agents had gotten on board, pointing their pistols at the Strawhat Pirates. They could be killed in an instant, but Luffy decided to see how it would play out.
"Fa...Fa...Fa...Miss Wednesday, come aboard, we are to return home." A massive man with multiple curled hair on his head, was trembling in anticipation, he feared for the life of the Princess but had to seem menacing. Vivi took a quick glance at Luffy, knowing full well that he could slaughter them all in an instant, but he didn't move. He must be letting them go. Mr. 9 followed behind Vivi as they got aboard Igaram's ship. Then as soon as they arrived, Vivi and her people were gone.
"Why didn't we just end them here?" Katakuri asked.
"Isn't it obvious, they were not worth the time to kill." Responded Reiju with a smile. It was then that Yamato arrived back on the ship along with Mr. 5 in her hands. She then revealed that Ace decided to part ways with the crew there, using himself as a distraction to allow the crew to escape.
"What an idiot, we didn't need his distraction, we could have ended all of those agents in 10 minutes tops." Said Luffy.
"I know Captain, but he felt cool doing it." Yamato said with a smile, although deep inside, she was sad to see Ace go.
"So then what do we do with this idiot now?" Katakuri bound the prisoner once more, to ensure that he wouldn't try his nasty trick.
"He will take us to Crocodile." Said Luffy, another eternal post in his pocket for an island known as Little Garden.
Little Garden
Inside a wax house, two people were listening in on orders from the boss.
"Mr. 3...once Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine arrive, kill them." The order came from the highest pinnacle of Baroque Works, Mr. 0 himself. Who was he to decline?
"Yes sir." Responded Mr. 3 though his voice was a bit wavering. But Mr. 0 dismissed it as typical Mr. 3 nonsense. The call then dropped with Mr. 3 looking up at his captor. "I did what you asked, now set me free." Over Mr. 3, Yamato and Reiju had found his headquarters, beating him into doing as they ask.
"What do you think of Reiju?" Yamato gave the decision to her crewmate.
"Are you a betting man Mr. 3?" Reiju challenges the agent.
"What...what do you mean..." He asked nervously, not that she would've made a difference but Miss Goldenweek had run away as soon as trouble began to brew.
"Our Captain has decided to challenge the giants of this island. Do you think he will beat one or two? Your answer will determine whether you survive or not."
Mr. 3 did not believe anyone could beat the giants, they would be killed by them if they tried to attack them head on, even one man. Yet he felt like he needed to take the riskiest part of the bet. "Two."
"Excellent." Reiju unleashed her poison around the room. "Any misstep and my poison will kill you."
"Don't forget I'll know if you try to escape, and your skull is going to cave in." Yamato revealed her kanabo to Mr. 3 who grimaced at the thought of getting hit by such a blunt object.
The two female members of the Strawhat then went out of the wax structure with Mr. 3 trembling in fear for his own life.
In the center of the island known as Little Garden. Two massive giants have just exchanged a hearty laugh.
A small man, not even the size of their toe, had extended a challenge to the both of them.
"So it will be three of you tiny creatures against the two of us then?" The giant with the axe known by the name of Brogy. His dueling partner and friend, Dorry, laughed along with such a ridiculous challenge.
Beside the straw hat wearing captain, Katakuri had no doubt about the capabilities of the challenger. Though the former Mr. 5 of the Baroque works, Gem, was happy at the chance of escape. Once the giants have killed the boisterous captain.
"No giants, I will defeat the both of you." Said Luffy, his confidence caused another round of laughter by the two giants.
"What is in it for us?" Asked Dorry, thinking that the young lad was just wasting their time.
"I will serve you both for the rest of my life. My crew included." Luffy knew that his victory was imminent. Though they laughed at his claims once more.
"So then if by some chance it is our loss, we will serve you."
"Do as you please." Replied Luffy, retrieving his blade from his hips. He debated on whether he should use the dragon wings, but quickly dismissed the idea as he refused to acknowledge that power. He already trained endless nights to beat the option of using that power, out of his system. "Shall we begin?" Katakuri and Gem cleared out of the battlefield.
"Go on then tiny human, do your worst." Brogy opened himself for an attack, thinking that whatever the human will do, it will not affect him. Though he was sharply mistaken, as Luffy was quick, his strike impacted the center of Brogy's chest. Even such a tiny creature was able to take the breath out of the giant, causing him to fall on his back.
Dorry shouted in protest, bringing down his blade along the direction in which Luffy was going. But the straw hat captain was much faster than a giant.
"You have to defeat all ten of them."
"How?" A mere teenager, forced to consume a devil fruit he never wanted, was put to the test. Ten giants stood before him, angered by the young boy and the favoritism he was getting from lord Kaido.
"Do not ask stupid questions boy. If you do not defeat them, then do not come back." Kaido transformed into a dragon, leaving the boy to the pit of the numbers.
"We're going to finally move up in the eyes of lord Kaido!" One of the giants attacked Luffy. But the young man was pissed off. The first to fall was 10, his chest caved in at a single punch from the young man.
"He's so fast!" But the giant 9, felt its right arm bend in a way that it should not. Luffy grabbed it by the thumb and used his superior power to drag the arm of 9 farther than it was supposed to. The giant flayed its detach limb but was quickly knocked out when Luffy punched it in the face.
8 would fall by having both kneecaps busted. 7 had its jaw broken from a high kick. 6 and 5 would be taken out by their own weapons as Luffy dodged their attempted combined strike, timing it so that the two idiots of giants would strike one another. 4 took three punches to knock out, each strike aimed at pressure points. 3,2,and 1 had given up, getting on their knees and begging to be spared.
Luffy then spat at the ground, before following after Kaido, he was beyond pissed off at the way Kaido would 'train' him, it was stupid, he was always told to fight someone or something. And that was the training.
Dorry brought down his massive blade, but Luffy decided to overwhelm the giant with his own power. So in an act of pure power, Luffy received the strike of the giant with his own sword. The impact caused a shockwave to travel swiftly to all ends of the island.
Reiju, and Yamato joined Katakuri, the duo snickering at the sight of Gem, who was gabstruck at the power of the captain named Luffy.
It was not enough that Luffy took the giant's strike, he was also able to generate enough power to push the sword back, causing Dorry to stumble back slightly. But this was enough opening for Luffy to catch the giants right cheek, his fist covered in armament haki. Though his fist never collided with Dorry, the impact was still there.
The giant fell right next to his friend, the two giants easily manhandled by the Straw hat captain.
It was only for a few minutes, but the giants were both out. They both groggily sat up, forgetting where they were for a moment.
"So then..."Dorry began.
"We have lost."Brogy finished. "We are therefore your servant."
"Nah, forget about it. Go home to your land giants, relay to them that I will come one day, and that I will defeat them all one by one." The traumatic experience he had against the numbers of Onigashima, caused Luffy to hate giants with passion. This was no exemption.
Luffy then left the confused giants, with his crew following close behind their captain. Though a once non believer, Gem had begun to finally understand the power of the Straw hat captain.
Though in the sky, an incoming vulture and otter duo came flying down onto the trio. Luffy noticed them but paid no attention, while Katakuri did the same, turning their back on the pair. Gem knew the danger of the assassin duo, the otter and the vulture were agents of Baroque Works. Mr. 13 and Miss Friday, the unluckies. The vulture swooped down while the otter released a heavy round of explosives onto the trio. Gem looked back to see that both people could care less about the unluckies. And so he jumped into action, catching the bombs head on. The massive explosion was noticeable, causing both Luffy and Katakuri to finally look at what had transpired. Luffy didn't have to say anything for Katakuri to toss his trident through the vulture, his aim was top notch. The trident went into Miss Friday and stopped just as it pierced through Mr. 13. The unluckies spiraled into the ground falling to their death. Katakuri then retrieved his trident and wiped the blood of the unluckies along the feather of the vulture.
Luffy looked at Gem, his clothes destroyed from taking the explosions head on. Though he had a look of determination.
"I wish to sail with you." Asked Gem, the fresh explosive still remained on his skin but he was completely unaffected. He then went out of his way by falling into the ground and bowing before Luffy. Yamato expected Gem to be rejected , but the Straw hat Captain saw potential in a man that could withstand heavy explosives.
"If you're weak, I will kill you myself." Well then, Luffy must have felt that he could be groomed to be a powerful crewmate, otherwise why would the captain take him in?
The Straw hat crew then left the island known as Little Garden.
Dorry and Brogy did as they were told, being the losers of their duel with Luffy, and returned to their home land. Ending the feud that had lasted for a decade. They wondered, how was life in Elbaf?
Yamato had thought that she forgot something, though it must not have been that important if she could not remember it.
For inside a wax house filled with poisonous substance, Mr. 3 awaited the result of the duel, fearing the death that was promised to him by the two ladies that captured him. Little did he know that duel had been long over, and Mr. 3 had simply been...forgotten.