DISCLAIMER: EIICHIRO ODA OWNS ONE PIECE, I OWN THIS STORY.

"Luffy, what was all that about?" Zoro stared at his captain with a questioning look on his face.

Luffy was still internally seething from the sight of the man who killed his sniper in more than one World long before.

0~o~0

They were halfway across the Grand Line. It was long after Luffy lost track of how many worlds he'd been in, and when he was at the point where his age was such a high number that he just… lost track.

In this world, he made so many mistakes. Mistakes that he just could not be forgiven for. If his nakama ever remembered what he did, he just knew that they would never forgive him.

Although, the biggest mistake he had ever committed…

Was leaving Kuro alive.

0~o~0

Luffy almost shuddered just thinking about the brutal, and completely inefficient way Kuro tortured his sniper, navigator, and first mate. In that world, Kuro had been a bit less conceited, a tad more stubborn, and had an endless pool of vengeance.

That didn't mean that what Luffy did in that World any more excusable.

"—ffy! LUFFY!"

Luffy jumped, and fell backwards, "Eh?" he said dumbly, although he already had a feeling of what his Navigator was going to say next.

"What was all that about?" she gritted out; no doubt agitated at having to repeat herself for what was probably the fiftieth time.

"…You'll find out later," Luffy resolved.

Nami's face puffed up and turned so red, that Luffy almost feared that she would explode, but she didn't explode, and she didn't say anything either. Zoro just looked strangely at his captain before nodding and looking forward.

"How?"

Everyone stopped, at the quiet wonder in Usopp's tone.

Luffy sent a questioning look at Usopp in response.

"How were you able to get under Klahadore's skin so easily?" Usopp asked, "I've tried for years, but he always keeps his cool, but when you spoke that… gibberish, it was like the persona he built up for the past 6 years or so gave way to something different, so," Usopp took in a deep breath, "How?"

Luffy was silent for a moment, no doubt carefully measuring and choosing what he should say next.

"I've seen, heard, and experienced many things. When you've gone through as much as I have, you know things that you otherwise would not know," Luffy answered cryptically. It was true. Nothing he said was a lie. With the years he's lived, anything he says could be the truth within plausible barriers of common sense.

Unless you count an outright lie, like when he tried his hand at calling himself Richard. That was a terrible lie. At least that hasn't changed about me, he thought, masking the emotions of his thoughts with a classic D-smile on his face.

If his memory served correct, and it always does, then Jango would make an appearance pretty soon. Jango… Luffy just barely restrained himself from wringing his fists and gritting his teeth into white powder. That man… no matter in what world, no matter how badly Kuro treated him, he always served Kuro with all his heart. To try and implant seeds to doubt inside his mind to incite a revolt against Kuro was a fruitless endeavor.

Jango feared Kuro. Jango respected Kuro. And in a few worlds…

Jango loved Kuro.

Love can make you blind to the recipients' faults. Luffy understands that now. He didn't know about this particular world—his original, but he knew that trying to turn Jango against Kuro was a lost cause.

That was a pretty big shame, too, because Jango was a pretty nice guy if you got to know him.

Luffy was snapped out of his musings when the three kids that were part of Usopp's pirate crew decided to show up. Onion, Pepper, and Carrot, his mind supplied.

"There… was a backwards walker, weird talker there!" Onion gasped, "He was a weirdo!"

Luffy hummed, "I suppose so," he muttered.

"Hey, Usopp?" Usopp's head turned at his name being called, and quirked an eyebrow up in a questioning manner, "Come here, I need to talk with you,"

Usopp sweat for a bit, but nodded nonetheless, mutely following the one that would soon be his captain in the future. Not that he knew that, though.

Soon, they reached the opposite shore from where Luffy docked, and Usopp's patience burned out, "Where are you taking me? What's going on?". At this point, the long-nosed liar was getting nervous, and was sweating buckets, "Wha—"

Luffy slapped a hand on his mouth, effectively cutting him off before he could say anything, "Shh!", he whispered before mutely pointing towards the ground, where Kuro and Jango were having their meeting.

Usopp's blood ran cold.

"Oh my god, they're going to kill Kaya," he mumbled, after Luffy took down his hand from Usopp's mouth.

"We need to tell everyone!" Usopp panicked, and for a moment, Luffy frowned, but it was so quick, Usopp didn't catch wind of it.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Luffy countered, No one would believe him, anyway, and I'd rather not have my sniper being shot instead of doing the shooting…

All at once, Usopp suddenly had an epiphany, and he slumped to his knees. "No one would believe me…" he cried, "No one will believe me because I cry pirate every day! What is different?"

Luffy frowned at the odd choice of wording, and briefly entertained the idea that maybe a fragment of their future selves were inside them before dismissing it. There's no way, he thought somberly, They died before they could see her, and in a way, I'm glad.

Glad that they didn't have to suffer like me.

"Well…" Luffy drawled, "Maybe, perchance, there's another super strong pirate that you know of, that could probably help you with chasing Kuro off the island?" he quirked up an eyebrow with a silent question.

Usopp looked at him strangely before slowly answering the (rhetorical) question, "The only strong pirate that I know of would be my father," Luffy died a little inside, "but… You don't feel like the person you try to portray yourself as, now do you?"

Try as he might, Luffy could not stop the bloodthirsty grin from spreading across his face, "No," he said, "I'm really not,".

Usopp couldn't stop the shudder from snaking its way down his spine at Luffy's smile, and the sheer malice inlaid with his words.

"So, what do you propose we do?" Usopp asked hesitantly, and for a moment, just after he saw the glint in Luffy's eyes, he regretted asking for his help.

What did I unleash?

0-o-0

Jango was loafing around on the beach where he was supposed to meet Kuro. I wonder what's taking him, he mused, as he absently kicked a rock into the ocean's waters.

He raised his head and looked to the sea. I don't understand why Captain would abandon the sea. Why did he become a pirate if he wanted to be peaceful?

He was snapped out of his musings when he heard a very slight crunch of sand behind him. His fingers subtly twitched towards his chakrams, and he turned around, every muscle tensed and coiled, just in case there was an enemy getting ready to ambush him.

It was his captain.

"Hey! Kuro!" Jango smiled and relaxed, "So, are we going to proceed with the 'Assassinate Kaya' plan?".

Jango watched his captain grimace and stiffen, "I'd prefer if you don't call it that… I'd like to call it, 'Divert Riches to Kuro' plan," he said in a rare moment of humor.

All at once, red flags rose in Jango's mind. He may not have truly been his captain's friend, but he was much closer to him than anyone else in the crew, and he knew that whenever his captain uses his nigh-nonexistent sense of humor, he's stressed.

So, like any good first mate, he pried, "What happened?"

Kuro's grimace deepened, and he reached a hand up to knead what might've been a headache, "There… is one kid there…" he began, and Jango nodded, urging his captain to continue, "He must die,"

For a second, Jango's mind blanked out.

"What?" he said flatly, "Wait, why?"

Kuro turned to stare at Jango, all previous traces of humor, familiarity, and whatever was gone, "I am your Captain, Jango, do not question me,"

All at once, Jango was cowed, "As you wish, captain," he murmured, just barely loud enough for Kuro to hear.

Kuro nodded triumphantly, but didn't smile, (he never did), "You take the ship, the crew, and dock tomorrow. Storm the island tomorrow morning. Don't kill too many people, but be sure to kill Kaya. Killing Meri is fine too, I never really liked that guy," Kuro muttered.

Jango just nodded along, and once Kuro's spiel was done, a comfortable silence descended upon them. Jango hesitated for a moment, before opening his mouth, "For what it's worth, it was… fun… sailing with you as our captain,"

Kuro stared at his former first mate for a moment before snorting, "You were all just pawns in my plans, Jango. If it was fun for you, then you lot are more messed up in the head than me,"

With that being said, he spun on his heel and stalked away from the shoreline, back towards the village, in the direction of Kaya's mansion.

Once he was out of earshot, Jango chuckled and shook his head, "Maybe I am," he murmured, before spinning around and walking in the opposite direction, but not before noticing a straw hat inside a bush right at the top of the cliff.

0-o-0

Luffy stilled, his smile frozen on his face, and he robotically turned his head in Jango's direction, staring the hypnotist dead in the eye.

How did I not notice him?!

"Usopp," he said slowly, "Fill my crew in on what's going on,"

Usopp didn't move.

"Now,"

Usopp's eyes widened in fear, and ran in the direction of the village, but not before telling Luffy, "You'd better not die,"

I don't intend to. Luffy's lips set into a grim line, as he continued to stare Jango down.

Is this the brat that Captain wants dead? Jango critically eyed the straw-hatted teen, He doesn't look like much, but then again…

The vibes he's giving me says otherwise.

Instinctively, Jango knew that hypnotist would be useless on the kid, so he discarded that idea. On people like Luffy (not that he knew the name) hypnotism won't work unless the subject lets themselves be hypnotized.

Nonetheless, his fingers twitched towards the chakrams hidden inside his coat, and this time, he didn't restrain himself.

Within three seconds, he was armed, in a fighting stance, and every muscle inside him was coiled, ready to strike.

In those same three seconds, Luffy did nothing but watch blankly. If Jango wasn't unnerved before, he was unnerved now. What is he planning?!

Then, within three seconds, Jango was disarmed, on the ground, and every muscle inside him was slackened. In those same three seconds, Luffy disappeared, and Jango couldn't find him again, no matter how hard he tried.

Ah, well, Jango thought, scratching his head, I'll probably find him tomorrow when we start the raid.

0-o-0

Usopp had just reached the village, when he felt a strange thing rest itself on his shoulder. Now, given with the fact that he just found out that a certain butler that he hated was planning on assassinating his friend, he was understandably jumpy, pissed, and scared.

Therefore, he screamed.

Then, the appendage lifted itself from his shoulder, and he heard a pained hiss from behind him. Jerkily, he turned around, and was met with the scrunched-up face, and mock-betrayed eyes of one Monkey D Luffy.

"You're… here? Already?" Usopp extended a hand out to him in awe, before retracting it, "What happened?"

Luffy stared blankly at him, "Well…" he began, "I knocked Jango to the ground for a bit, and came back here to see if you told my crew yet,"

Usopp raised an eyebrow, "The guy's name is Jango? How'd you know that?"

Luffy's blank stare somehow became even more intense, and Usopp began fidgeting under the gaze, "I have really good hearing," Luffy said.

Usopp shrugged and nodded, "Sure, let's go with that,"

Soon, they both entered the bar where Luffy's crew was waiting at the edge of their seats. The second Luffy entered the room, Nami jumped at him.

"WHERE WERE YOU?!"

Luffy winced from the close proximity, and his fingers twitched erratically, as if fighting the instinct on whether or not he should snap her neck or not.

Sometimes, Luffy really hated the memories that come with time-looping. He was beyond thankful to Norzi for the pendant she gave him, which he deliberately named, 'Pandora' for the curses that it wrought upon him, but the hope that was hidden beneath.

When he told Norzi in a dream that he didn't know what to name his pendant, she smiled and told him the legend of Pandora's box. Of the misfortunes that were released when she opened it, and the hope as well. After a while, Luffy had said that he wished to name the pendant 'Pandora' for the symbolism, and Norzi just smiled and said that it was aptly named.

"I was with Usopp," he said, face still set in a wince.

Nami's eyes widened, before they narrowed in annoyance, "Yes, I know that, but where were you?!"

Luffy stayed silent for a moment, then answered, "We were overlooking the cliff on the other side of the village from where we docked, and watching Kuro speak with his first mate about how he wanted to assassinate Kaya and claim her riches as his own in a completely legal way,"

"You're kidding, right?" Nami questioned skeptically.

"Not at all," Luffy replied.

"Yeah, he's not lying, I was there, too, you know!" Usopp piped in.

"You lie to an innocent girl every single day, how am I supposed to know you're not lying to me?" Nami shot him down.

Luffy watched as Usopp became seething red with his temper, before he stepped in, "Look," he said, inlaying his voice with so much authority, he might as well have used Conqueror's Haki to freeze the room, "This village will be raided by pirate tomorrow morning. They'll be coming from the North shore, where we docked. We're gonna stop them, mk?"

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the revelation, but said nothing, while Nami was grumbling unintelligible things under her breath.

"Why do we have to risk our lives fighting for a village we probably won't even be coming back to?" Nami questioned.

Luffy stayed silent for a while, carefully choosing his words, "You don't have to join us, you know, you can just sit back and relax, while we save a village from being raided by pirates who will kill someone very close to Usopp,".

He carefully worded that sentence. He built every word of it in his mind before saying it out loud. By saying it, he was effectively toying with her mind. He didn't like using these… psychological tactics, but needs must.

He probably gave her a flashback of her childhood. Where she wasn't able to do anything but watch as her mother was shot right in front of her eyes during a pirate raid by Arlong. Then, of her having to join Arlong's crew to save her village. She was probably reliving the arguably most painful moments of her lifetime again in front of him, and Luffy knew he could do nothing but watch.

It's necessary, a small part of him whispered. Luffy felt like retching. I'm a monster.

Nami shook her head and sighed, oblivious to Luffy's turmoil, "Fine, I'll join,"

Luffy smiled wryly, "Good,".

Zoro hopped up, "So, Captain," he stretched his arms, feeling the popping of bones and joints, before staring Luffy in the eye, "When's the invasion going to happen?"

Before Luffy could answer, he was launched into a flashback—

0~o~0

In this world, his crew lost their innocence early with Nami's death. It had hit Sanji particularly hard out of all of them, which was understandable. In 9/10 worlds that he'd regressed into, Sanji loved Nami with all his heart, but he masked it by catering to all the other females equally.

Luffy hadn't noticed that Nami was the only one whom he put -swan at the end of the name until now.

Another thing had changed, as well. Each of the seas had one big supercontinent in it, save for the Grand Line. At one point, they were visiting West Blue, and got caught up in a war there. There was another Yonko, too. This Yonko could twist peoples' minds.

He could do that without a Devil Fruit.

Luffy grimaced at the thought of fighting people who didn't know what they were fighting for. He didn't want to kill them, but he felt a sense of obligation. Obligation that he should keep this in the West Blue, and not let it spread to the other seas, and that sense of obligation scared him.

Who's to say that it wasn't the Yonko manipulating his mind to feel that way?

"Hey Captain!" Luffy turned his head towards the voice, which he now realized belonged to Zoro.

"What?" that came out harsher than intended, and Luffy winced, but if Zoro noticed it, he just didn't care.

Zoro clutched his sword and smiled a grim smile, while pulling his scarf a bit more up, "When's the next invasion going to happen?"

Luffy paused and turned to him fully, rubbing his mitten-clad hands together, despite it being summer. "I don't know," he said nervously.

It was never warm anymore—

0~o~0

Luffy gasped as if cold water had been dumped on his head, and he was welcoming the feeling with open arms.

He turned to his front and saw his crew not-yet, he reminded himself, staring at him with worried eyes.

"Hey, Luffy," Nami reached out to him, and this time, Luffy couldn't hide the flinch. Nami's hand jerked backwards, and for a split second, her eyes became glassy, before she snapped back to reality, "Are you okay?" she went on unsurely.

"You just… blanked out," Usopp began, after Nami couldn't speak anymore, "Right when he said, 'invasion,'—"

It was never warm—

He was snapped out of his memories with a snap in front of his eyes. It was a testament to his immense self-control that he did not grab the hand that did the motion, and break it in half.

"See!" Usopp exclaimed, "It happened again!"

Luffy winced, clutching his head, "Sorry, my head hasn't been very clear recently,"

Zoro snorted, "Yeah, we can see that, now you mind explaining to us why your pendant glowed?"

Luffy's mind blanked out, and he responded with a very intelligent, "Huh?"

"Your pendant," Zoro drawled, "Glowed," he stared at Luffy pointedly, "Mind telling us why?"

Luffy sighed, "Remember when I said that this pendant keeps me sane?"

Zoro nodded.

"This is how it keeps me sane," Luffy gestured to himself helplessly, "If it didn't do that… I'd probably be there for the next three years reliving all my most traumatic moments once more,"

Nami raised an eyebrow, "I have gone through a bunch of trauma in my life, and it takes only three minutes to sift through all of it, so why would it take you, who probably looks my age, if not younger, three years?"

Luffy smiled mysteriously, "Looks can be deceiving," was all he said.

For a moment, all was silent, before Usopp suddenly had an epiphany, "How did you know that they would come from the North Shore, if we saw them at the South?"

For a split second, Luffy froze, what do I say?

As if on cue, Zoro came to his rescue, and Luffy felt like he could cry from happiness, "Captain knows many things. It's weird. Just don't question him,"

Usopp and Nami were still skeptical, but they didn't say anything.

0-o-0

Skip to tomorrow morning, (AN—Because there is no way I am writing that much).

Luffy was loafing around the slope on the North Shore, absently kicking rocks and waiting for the pirate ship to come and start the raid. His crew were also in similar positions, lounging around. For a brief moment, he entertained the idea that perhaps he was wrong, and this was another alternate world in which they ambush at the South Shore instead of the North one, but he discarded that idea when he felt a bunch of chaotic presences rise right at the very edge of his Haki.

They were in range.

Luffy grinned, and stopped pacing, the rest of his crew jumping to attention. "They're near," he said simply, and began doing arm exercises to loosen up.

Out of curiosity, Zoro asked, "You're made of rubber, why would you try to loosen yourself up if you can literally already tie yourself in knots?"

Luffy grimaced and muttered, "Let me believe,"

Zoro's eyebrows raised up a little, but said nothing, as he unsheathed his swords to deal with the first wave of pirates coming up the slope.

Within five seconds, they were knocked down., and Zoro was wearing a thoroughly disappointed look on his face.

"Really? Is that it? I thought that a pirate crew so well known as yours would actually have some strength," Zoro said disappointedly, and Luffy choked on a laugh. Does he know that he's unintentionally taunting them?

Whether Zoro knew, or didn't know, it didn't matter, because the pirate were riled up anyways. Seeing that action, Luffy snorted. If they knew how pathetic they were in my presence back then… he reminisced, unintentionally falling back into old memories.

"Luffy, pay attention!" Zoro shouted, swinging one unnamed katana in a graceful arc, taking three pirates out in one go.

Luffy snapped back to attention, and hid his stormy emotions behind a blank mask. I'm back at the beginning now. There is no thinking of 'what there once was'. There is only now, he quoted, desperately trying to keep himself sane.

See, the issue with 'Pandora' is that he is only sane, when he wants to be sane. If he doesn't want to anchor himself in the present, then the pendant won't do it for him. It's a 'team effort' as he liked to call it, but Norzi called it 'symbiosis,'.

Personally, Luffy thought it was too long and confusing of a word to remember, so he just chose to use 'team effort' instead.

Absently, Luffy cocked back a fist and let it fly, letting the slight wind pressure on his fist roll off of it, decimating everything in its path. Granted, Luffy was pretty weak at this moment, so all it did was take out around… 5, maybe 6 or so pirates?

To him, it was nothing, but to his inexperienced crew, it looked as if he was a god on human ground. Of course, Luffy didn't know that. He distantly noted that his fist was steaming, not the white, misty steam of Gear Two, but the gray, slightly blue-ish glow that was the tell-tale sign that he was using that particular fighting style.

In one world, Norzi had come down personally, probably for the storyline, he mused, and she had taught him her style of fighting. Not a single ounce of energy was wasted when she fought. It harnessed the four elements, fire, wind, water, and earth, and occasionally, maybe lightning.

Although, you had to be nigh-superhuman in order to withstand the effects. The more you manipulated the fire to your advantage, without being able to withstand the heat, you get burned, if it was earth, your bones would get crushed, water? It would get harder to breathe. Wind, though… That element can kill if it isn't used right. It's so versatile, so invisible, and so, undeniably, deadly.

How was Zoro able to cut the air? How was he able to propel it forward? It was a mix of his own swordsmanship, and the fact that he was in tune with the element of wind. How was Sanji able to do Diable Jambe? He was in tune with the element of fire.

If Zoro cut the air without being in tune with his element, the backlash would give him the same amounts of cuts he did to his opponent. If Sanji used Diable Jambe without being in tune with his element, he would burn alive.

Very few, Luffy mused, are as lucky as me, he watched as his body fought on. Very few are so lucky as to be in tune with all four elements. Granted, I was taught by the creator of the style, but… he stopped thinking as he watched Zoro slash away at another opponent.

I'm very lucky to be me.

A few moments later, after Zoro finished unceremoniously hacking away at every pirate within his reach, he turned his attention towards his captain, who was still. What was that? Zoro was suspicious of his captain, and it wasn't exactly anything new, but now it seemed to run much deeper.

His captain, created a pseudo-crater in the middle of the battlefield. It wasn't so big, like a meteor, but it wasn't exactly small either.

What's more is that his captain's fist was steaming from the impact. Almost as if the strain of doing that move was too much for him to handle. Zoro scowled; Just how much is he hiding from us? Does he not trust us? He pointedly ignored the tiny voice in the back of his head that told him that he didn't quite reciprocate the trust that he wanted from Luffy for Luffy.

Luffy on the other hand, was waiting for the steam to fade, so the backlash could hit him. He needed to get a feel for how weak he was before he could actually use this style with ease. Even if he couldn't use it all so often. What comes with power, is responsibility, he mused, and even the name sounds powerful! I mean, how cool is DragonStyle?!

Luffy hid a smile at the thought, but then it faded away, as the beginning aches for the wind element backlash started showing up in his body. He noted the steam around his fist dissipated, leaving it normal. After a few painless moments, Luffy frowned, "I'm not so strong that I can bear the backlash, am I? No, I'm not supposed to—" he didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence before he erupted in pain.

It felt like his limbs were searing open, and hot, sticky blood flowed down his chest, onto his stomach, and dripped on the ground. He could feel the biting, cold air, which was normally so refreshing, seem to attack his innards. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain stopped.

Luffy looked around, taking in the surprised faces of his crew and the other pirate crew, as well as Kuro (when did he get here?). Then, he looked at himself. It was another testament to his immense self-control that he didn't hyperventilate, or scream, or do anything of the sort, at the sight of what was formerly once his chest.

"Well," he mused aloud, "Not going to do that again,".

AN: I'm not dead! I should probably focus more on writing my fanfiction instead of reading them, though... Thanks for reminding me to continue, though! A healthy dose of nagging should remind me. I try to alternate between my stories that I update on. Although, some certain stories get more love than others, and I naturally find myself drawn to them. Sorry! I'll try to pay more attention! Although... Considering that another science project, as well as another history project, and a music group project, as well as a SEL test was dumped on me, it wasn't really easy to pay attention. At least I liked the Math chapter we were doing.

~~Oracle Norzi