Characters read Yet Another
By: FunahoMisaki
(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)
When the Straw Hats landed upon Raftel"
"Huh another misprint. I wonder why everyone calls Laugh Tale Raftel?" Nami asked tilting her head curiously at that.
"You're the new Pirate King?!" More than a few people were stunned at that as they stared at Luffy who just laughed.
"they hadn't been expecting for the fabled treasure of One Piece to be able to send them back in time due to all of the regrets they had and how guilty the crew had felt over not being there for their captain in his darkest moments."
The entire crew bowed their heads at this but Luffy just waved it off.
"It's alright. I never once blamed any of you." Luffy assured his nakama who smiled sadly at that. Yeah they knew he didn't blame them. They blamed themselves.
"They weren't going to let it slow them down or stop them from doing everything over again and this time they'd make sure that they did things the right way and were there for the man who gave them all hope and a reason to live."
"You bet your ass we are." Usopp said with a small grin.
"Just because he became the Pirate King once didn't mean he wouldn't want to do it a second time after all, in fact he'd be very happy to redo his journey the right way. Especially since his three wives had been sent back in time with the rest of the crew."
"And we definitely want to be there for everything! Experience most of it ourselves instead of just hearing you all talk about it!" Galette said beaming at that.
"As one the crew regained the memories of the future that hadn't happened yet.
Luffy"
"Yeah?" Luffy answered to his name and Robin smiled at him.
"I believe the story is following each of us with our own little segments since we aren't all together again yet. This just means that this is your segment." Robin explained making Luffy 'ohhh' and nod his head.
"He Awoke on Dawn Island a week before he was to set sail and as soon as he Awoke he took off into the woods to check and make sure all of his abilities were still there and able to be used.
Dadan and the bandits-"
"You were raised by bandits?" Amande asked and Ace and Luffy both nodded their heads at that.
"That explains a lot." Izo said quietly and the rest of the Commanders nodded their heads.
"damn near had a heart attack at the already monstrous boy (for the East Blue at least) suddenly being even more monstrous and able to actually blow air into his bones to make them more than ten times their normal size."
"Wait really!?" More than a few people asked staring at Luffy who just laughed and unwound his arm to show them. More than a few of the taller Charlotte women were jealous of Galette's luck for getting someone with that kind of ability.
"So that's where the Gum Gum fruit went." Kaido narrowed his eyes on the rubber captain.
"Much less his strange ability that made every animal on the island fear him and do as he said. He could barely wait to set sail again. He wanted, needed, to see his Nakama again. He needed to see his family again…he needed to have his wives back in his arms. He refused to wait more than two whole years to see them again."
"You think we could survive two whole years without you and each other?" Reiju asked raising an eyebrow at her husband who grinned and kissed her on the nose.
"Do you think I have the impulse control to wait that long to see you three again?" Luffy asked in return as he kissed Galette and Yamato as well, making his whole crew start to snicker even Amande.
Luffy? Impulse control? Since when!?
"He should probably find a jewelry store or smith soon too to get their rings, it felt weird to not have his ring on his finger. He was the King and he was going to make sure that this time, he did things like a King should. He was the Pirate King and it was time that the world learned why."
"That's our king!" The Grand Fleet captain cheered while the rest of the room were observing this Pirate King confused and curious about just what kind of person he was.
"Zoro
He Awoke just as he killed the wolf in Shells Town and blinked for a moment, he had both of his eyes back…and his muscles weren't as far developed as he'd prefer them to be but he was also missing his swords aside from Wado."
"Yeah only reason I couldn't take Hawkeye's head then but eh. Just means I still need to get stronger." Zoro said and he didn't look bothered as he shrugged at that while Tashigi was glaring at him.
"Zoro smirked slightly. That's fine. He'd be able to get back into shape in no time. And since he was about to be put on the cross in the execution yard for killing the wolf, that meant his captain would be showing up soon enough."
"Your deal was a month and you only had ten days left when I got there." Luffy recalled as he looked at Zoro who grinned back at him.
"And we gave those marines hell." Zoro said with a snicker, making Luffy snicker as well.
"Hmph. Well this ought to be fun. Since this time they had a hell of an advantage and he refused to be anything but the best.
It was what the Pirate King deserved in his first mate. He was the King's Sword and he was more than ready to cut down all who stood in his Captain's way of his goals."
"That's Zoro-senpai for you!" Bartolomeo said and he was shamelessly cheering on each of the Straw Hats and praising them at every chance he got.
"Of course…if anyone dared tried to hurt his Captain…well…the Queens had once joked that he was like a demonic dog for his master and he'd show everyone that this dog had a hell of a bite."
"Ruff ruff!" Zoro barked, making a few of the younger Charlottes laugh while Luffy laughed as well.
"Demonic dog. Sounds right for the moss head." Sanji said with a grin towards Zoro who grinned back at him but Robin quickly read louder to stop their impending fight.
"Sanji
He Awoke on the Baratie and paused for half a second before smirking to himself and continuing on with his cooking. So they did end up coming back huh? That was perfectly fine with him. Now he'd be able to be there for everyone, especially his shitty Captain."
"I might call you shitty captain but you're my shitty captain." Sanji said grinning at Luffy who laughed in return.
"Sanji you call everyone who doesn't have boobs shitty!" Luffy said and Sanji just shrugged his shoulders at that. It was true after all.
"This time he won't have to worry about the Germa getting ahold of Zeff either and could tell the old fart about the All Blue!"
"Damn right!" Sanji said his eyes lighting up while Zeff chuckled from where he was sitting away from most everyone.
"You found it after all huh? Good job little eggplant." Zeff said quietly as he stared at his son who was grinning as he thought of the All Blue and how he had told Zeff everything.
"The next pirate that tried to eat for free and bragged about his ability to not take damage cause of some logia fruit he had eaten, a silver one by the looks of it but Sanji didn't really care, the blond cook had shocked the hell out of everyone by being able to slam his foot into the assholes face and knock him flat out with no issues at all."
"Of course I did! I'm the Kings Cook! I'd be ashamed of myself forever if I couldn't deal with some arrogant brat like that!" Sanji said earning nods from the rest of his crew.
"Hmph. He needed to go ahead and start getting ready. He should expect his crew to show up in a few weeks after all. He refused to not be ready for his Family's arrival. He was the King's Cook and he would throw a feast worthy for a King as soon as they arrived."
"Sanji's food is the best!" Luffy said with bright eyes and the rest of his crew, and the grand fleet, proudly agreed with him on that. The Off Color Sanji's and Judge sneered but Sanji just grinned proudly and Reiju was proud of her brother.
"He idly wondered if the Queens would make it here in time as well, he'd better stock up on their favorites too just in case they did."
"Knowing them? I wouldn't have been surprised if they had!" Franky said with a laugh.
"Nami
She Awoke while alone in a small boat on the sea. She immediately twirled her staff and made sure she still had her Armament Haki and Observation Haki, which she did. She smirked a bit at that. So it had worked after all. They were back in time to the start."
"I'm pretty sure you had Armament Haki from the start Nami, after all your punches sure hurt sometimes." Luffy said with a small laugh as he rubbed his head, making Nami look sheepish but proud.
"And judging by where she was and the amount of money she had on hand, it was just a little while before she saw Luffy for the first time on that cruise liner that had been attacked by pirates.
Hmph. Well it was time to live up to her epitaph of Cat Burglar and then later the Weather Witch. She had to wait until they got the proper materials for her Climate Baton again but for now she could work with this. It'd be good practice after all."
"Not going to lie it was pretty fun to use our weaker weapons to take out the small fry." Nami said with a small shrug and grin and the rest of the Straw Hats from East Blue nodded their heads in agreement.
"She refused to be weak ever again even if she knew she'd never be as outright strong as the Monster Trio or even Robin. Her Captain and King deserved nothing but the best and she was his Navigator. She showed him the way forward once and she'll do it again."
"You don't need to be as physically strong as we are. You're a thief and navigator who can control the weather, being physically strong isn't needed for that." Luffy said pulling a face and making Nami smile at him.
"Greedy witch just needs to be sneaky and she's already more dangerous than any pirate in East Blue and half in Paradise." Zoro said with a grin.
"Oh you want me to raise your debt by five thousand? Okay." Nami said and Zoro scowled at her but it was playful, the other pirate crews watching how the Kings Crew interacted curiously and with mild disbelief.
"Besides at least this time they'll have the Queens show up earlier and keep the Captain from being too reckless."
"Wishful thinking." Nami said sighing heavily as she stared at the Queens who all grinned wickedly at that.
"Usopp
He Awoke just a few steps away from his secret path into Kaya's house and smirked slightly. So they were back huh? And that asshole from the cat pirates was still here and planning to kill Kaya in a few weeks most likely. Oh well…he couldn't have that."
"Sniper King Usopp!" Bartolomeo cheered.
"Sneaking into Kaya's mansion with much better skills than before Usopp found her and began to tell her a tale of the second Pirate King and his crew who had gone back in time to change history. Starting with a tale about how the future Pirate King landed upon a simple island and helped his future sniper take out a scheming former pirate who planned to kill a sickly princess.
Usopp's Observation Haki certainly helped him avoid Kuro a lot easier this time and it wouldn't be long before Kaya put the pieces together on her butler being the scheming pirate in Usopp's stories. The fact that Usopp 'dropped' an old bounty poster he had found of Kuro of a Thousand Plans on his way out for Kaya to find one day certainly helped."
"Hell yeah it did. Kuro's face at being discovered early was hilarious, and his face at me being the one to take him down was downright worthy of a page in the scrap book." Usopp said with a grin and referring to the scrap book that Robin had started for the best reactions to losing amongst their enemies and rivals. Enel's shocked face was still hilarious enough to make them all laugh.
"He refused to repeat his past mistakes or be a coward any longer. He was a Brave Warrior of the Sea, the son of a pirate who was strong enough to be on a Yonko's crew…he was the King's Sniper and anyone who stood in his King's way was in his crosshairs."
"Son of a pirate on a Yonko's crew?" The rest of the uninformed pirates looked confused as they stared at the sniper who grinned.
"My dad is Yasopp, on Red Haired Shanks Crew." Usopp said proudly and Bartolomeo went nuts at hearing that, as did a few others but in a much calmer manner.
"The only one's safe from his range were the Queens because he knew without a doubt that they'd all kick his ass and would only stand in Luffy's way if something big was going on."
"Yeah most of the time we enable him." Reiju said with a sheepish grin and a rub of the back of her neck.
"Enable him? I try to calm you three down a bit and make things a little less hectic. You just spew poison everywhere the second things go sideways. Yamato and Luffy are pretty much cut from the same cloth and more than ready to go apeshit together and wreck havoc." Galette said pointedly to her spouses while Yamato and Luffy blinked at each other and then at her.
"It's what we're good at!" The two chimed in unison, making a few Charlottes and Beast Pirates chuckle while the three Straw Hat Marines were outright laughing. Damn right they were. Each of them remembered the havoc their captain caused at Marineford and Saobody. Adding Yamato to that…oh boy.
"Chopper
Chopper Awoke while he was with Doctrine and blinked a few times before he gave a savage grin that would be more at home on the Monster Trios faces instead of his. Wapol was still here. He was still here and that meant that Blackbeard hadn't come by here yet."
The name had all of the Straw Hats and the captains of the Grand Fleet scowling or growling and Chopper was grinning with sadistic glee.
"Canceling out my devil fruit wouldn't do much…" Chopper said quietly and the rest of the Straw Hats grinned darkly at this. They wished they could have seen the look on Blackbeards face when he came face to antlers with a pissed off reindeer with a grudge to grind.
"Well…when Blackbeard dared show his face Chopper was going to be sure to earn his future title of Monster Doctor."
"Monster Doctor Chopper!" Bartolomeo said happily and everyone was wondering where the hell he got the flags with each Straw Hat members face on it.
"Oh he wouldn't kill Blackbeard, he was a doctor so he avoided fatal shots unless there was no other choice after all, but he'd definitely make sure that Blackbeard had a healthy fear of reindeers when he left. Besides…the honor of killing that Bastard Teach belonged solely to his captain."
"Teach?!" The Whitebeard pirates exclaimed and demanded answers but none of the Straw Hats were talking as they all smiled grimly. Luffy was cracking his knuckles.
"That didn't mean he wasn't forced to spill the beans to the Doctrine, to his mom, as soon as she noticed that he was suddenly a lot better and more knowledgeable about medicine then he should be right now."
"Yeah I don't blame you." Sanji said with a snort as he remembered that crazy old lady.
"He refused to be weak or unprepared ever again. He was the King's Doctor and patched those idiots up after the battles but he was also the Monster Doctor who will disable all who dared try to harm his Captain. Maybe this time since the Queens will no doubt show up earlier then there might be a prince or princess…he hoped so."
"There definitely is at least one on the way. Maybe more soon depending on Reiju and Yamato." Galette said and Chopper was cuddled into her smaller lap space and had one ear pressed to her stomach, listening to the baby's heartbeat.
"You're going to knock up my daughter/son?" Kaido and Judge demanded glaring darkly at Luffy who just grinned and shrugged.
"If they want me to." Both of the non-pregnant queens blushed at this but didn't say anything against the idea as they cuddled Galette close between them.
"Chopper loved kids and he knew that the child of his Captain and his Captains Queens would never be scared of a talking reindeer."
"Of course not. Who could be scared of you Chopper? You're the sweetest member of the whole crew!" Galette asked cuddling the reindeer who smiled and blushed and did his happy wiggle dance while saying he wasn't happy at all.
"Robin
When she Awoke she paused for half a second to go through her memories and blinked just once as she noticed that she was in a meeting with Crocodile. Ah so she was back to working for him was she? If her Captain hadn't needed to defeat him to gain the respect of Alabasta back and possibly need his help in Impel Down and Marineford again (something she would personally make sure happened differently this time even if she had to do so alone which she knew she wouldn't) then she'd snap his neck right now."
"It's only because of how useful he is to you Captain that he remained alive." Robin said glancing at her Captain who nodded his head once while Bartolomeo was going nuts over Robin now.
"Yeah Impel Down and Marineford aren't happening the same way." Zoro said scowling as he recalled reading about those and how useless he had felt knowing that his captain had been fighting while he had done nothing to help him.
"What are you waiting for? Go and find the one who knows who I am already!" Crocodile snapped at her and Robin gave a practiced smile.
"Of course. I was just trying to run through the list of who the person could be before I waste valuable time and resources." Robin said before turning and leaving and resisting the urge to strangle him right here and now. After all his defeat had earned her Captain quite the bounty increase and some well earned respect."
"It did. From 30,000,000 to 80,000,000 the first time around." Robin said nodding and earning nods from the others.
"God do you all remember when it was that low? I almost had forgotten how small our bounties used to be." Nami said shaking her head slightly.
"If she happened to come across that Bastard Blackbeard during her travels though then she'd not hesitate to incapacitate him and make sure he had a nice little bow around his neck for her captain.
She refused to let her Captain feel the pain that the bastard had caused him ever again."
"So Teach is going by Blackbeard now eh?" Whitebeard asked narrowing his eyes while Ace was starting to hyperventilate. What had Teach done to hurt his little brother so much?!
"She was the King's Archaeologist and, when it called for it, …his Spy and Assassin. She knew he'd never ask her to kill his enemies, he was far too pure and kind for that even if it was more for her sake than his enemies…She knew he'd never ask her to do it but he didn't need to."
"Yeah Luffy never asks us to kill. But we're all more than ready to do it for him if need be." Usopp said nodding along with the archaeologist with the rest of the crew agreeing immediately.
"Letting them live with their dream forever out of reach and their plans up in smoke is so much worse for them." Luffy said and Galette and Reiju sighed happily.
"I love your sadistic side dear." Reiju said giving him a quick kiss.
"She was the King's Assassin and she would kill any who dared threaten her King's smile and happiness with a smile on her face and a laugh on her lips. She briefly wondered when the Queens would arrive and join them though…and how many people would have heart attacks over it."
"Quite a few I imagine." Amande said grinning slightly as she recalled the uproar that it had caused when the world learned that she and Galette had defected from Big Mom in favor of the apparent Rookie and Poison Pink Reiju had joined as well as the 'Child of Kaido' Yamato. God the newspapers went nuts for weeks over that.
"Maybe the Queens arrival would make someone's heart actually implode?
Franky
When he Awoke the first thing he did was start making some adjustments to himself. The second thing he did was start designing the blueprints for the Thousand Sunny. He wasn't able to build her yet, he didn't have the money for the required materials, but he could start designing her and making sure that some of the upgrades were included in the overall design and price."
"Cyborg Franky ready for activation." Franky said in a robot voice that had Chopper and Usopp and Luffy all laughing and squealing. Bartolomeo was squealing as well with stars in his eyes and the rest of the Grand Fleet wondered if the man ever tired of worshiping the Straw Hats every moment of the day.
"He knew he'd have a couple of months at the most before his crew were here but until they got here…well he could start making the family something more respectable and have them set up for when he left.
He just hoped that Robin wouldn't use her hands on him again."
"Fufufufu. As long as you're not fighting us this time Franky then you should be safe from my grasp." Robin said laughing a bit as she looked at Franky who was pale and inching away from her.
"He refused to make the mistakes of the past and if he didn't need to keep the blueprints for Pluton until they could burn them in front of everyone he'd destroy them right now.
He was the King's Shipwright and had seen his ship make it to the finish line once, he'd be more than happy to see it happen again. He was also the King's Robot if need be and would be more than happy to absolutely dismantle anything that got in his Captain's way."
"Damn right." Franky said with a dark grin on his face and one eye glowed an eerie red.
"Although he did make special care to design a Captain's cabin for his King and Queens. Sure they loved sleeping in the crew quarters with the rest of the Crew but…well if they wanted alone time then it'd be easier for them to have their own room rather than try to empty out one of the quarters."
"Thank god for your foresight there. And thank you for putting in sound proofing." Nami said shaking her head as she glared accusingly at the married quartet.
"I'm not apologizing." Luffy said immediately and Yamato nodded in agreement.
"I will apologize for getting some poison on your bed." Reiju said sheepishly.
"I'm not sorry for the butter…or any other food stuff we used." Galette said flatly and Amande closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I know she's a grown woman with a baby of her own on the way… but I really do not want to hear about my daughters sex life thank you." Amande said and not a single member of the Straw Hats were bothered by that, Galette just looking a bit embarrassed.
"Sorry mom." Galette apologized and Amande sighed and waved it off while the rest of the Charlottes aside from Monder, Effiler, Hachee, and Brulee looked confused as they looked at each other. Mom?
Compote and Perospero exchanged looks but remained silent. After all they had suspected...
"Brook
When he Awoke he was still in the darkness, his shadow long gone and for the longest moment he thought it all a dream."
Each of the Straw Hats reached out to touch and reassure Brook quietly.
"A figment of his imagination that he had made up to help him with his loneliness. But then…he remembered a smile as wide as the ocean and as bright as the sun. He remembered a gangly thing with a big smile, a bigger dream, and the biggest heart."
The entire Straw Hat crew smiled fondly at their captain. They could never forget him.
"That's when the rest flowed back to him.
The smell of sake and sweat and a man with three swords and unwavering loyalty, Zoro."
"Heh." Zoro smirked.
"The small furry reindeer who knew more about medicine and bones than Brook ever could, Chopper."
"That doesn't make me happy at all you bastard!"
"The smell of mikan's and a love of weather and money, Nami."
"I might just let you have a mikan later Brook."
"A trembling scared sniper who could hit any target and loved his Nakama fiercely, Usopp."
"I'm not that scared kid anymore!"
"A woman who loved asking him about history and the time he had lived through that he could remember and who smelled faintly of flower blossoms, Robin."
"Of course I did. Hearing about things from your perspective is fascinating!"
"A large man with mechanical enhancements more advanced than anything Brook could ever dream of, Franky."
"Yeah technology changed a lot in the years you were in that triangle."
"A large blue skinned fishman who was a master of karate and had rough skin but gentle hands, Jimbe."
"Hehe." Jimbe looked a little embarrassed but definitely happy at hearing that.
"A black suit and a curly eyebrow and the smell of the most delicious food Brook had ever smelled with a faint hint of smoke as well form his ever-present cigarette, Sanji."
"Hmph." There was a small fond smile on his lips.
"A curly eyebrow and pink hair and two large wings to go with a poisonous seductive smirk and all the bearings of the Queen she was born to be, Reiju."
"Aww aren't you sweet?"
"A pair of horns and a small tail and darker pink hair pulled into curls and red lips that almost never smiled before she joined them but still had royal bearing from her heritage as a pirate princess, Galette."
"Pirate princess sounds so badass."
"A tall figure in a mask that wielded a club and had only recently stopped thinking she should be male, Yamato."
"Yeah I still struggle with my gender identity though!"
"And finally…the straw hat and the scarred chest and the wide bright smile that melted into a serious look whenever his nakama was threatened. A man who followed his dreams and saw them through to end and loved his whole crew fiercely as if they were his own flesh and blood family. A man who married two and a half beautiful women and became the King. Luffy. Brook's Luffy. Brook's King."
"Shishishi!"
"Brook clutched his sword tightly as he felt tears flow from his empty eye sockets. His Nakama. His crew. His Family. They were going to come and find him."
"We would have but you came to us first!"
"He knew they were…but until they got here…well he'd have plenty of time to practice his Haki and make sure his sword skills from the future were engrained in his muscle memory…not that he had muscles anymore! Yohohoho!
Skull joke!"
Most of the crew smiled or laughed and Brook gave a Yohohoho aloud as well with tears in his eyes.
"He refused to believe them to be a dream. He knew they were real and were going to come for him. He was the King's Musician and he'd throw his King a most wonderous concert once they were reunited. And the Queens! When they showed up he'd throw another concert for them and had dibs on being the main musician at the wedding once more!"
"Of course! We wouldn't want anyone else!" Yamato said beaming brightly at Brook who wiped his tears.
"I shall play the most wonderous music!" Brook promised them and Luffy just laughed.
"You always do!" Brook nearly started crying again at the belief from his captain.
"Jinbe
He Awoke in the middle of a Warlord meeting and he was grateful for his iron tight control over his emotions and body. He showed no sign that he had just gained memories of things that hadn't happened yet. He was also grateful that he didn't often speak in these meetings."
"I just listen most of the time." Jinbe said shrugging his shoulders slightly at that.
"He wasn't sure he could keep his rage at the sight of Akainu under control if he had to talk to the man, and the less said about how much he wanted to beat the hell out of Garp the better."
All of the Straw Hats tensed as did those who remembered Garp the Fist or rather Garp the Hero.
"Shitty gramps? Why?" Ace asked tilting his head slightly and the Whitebeards whipped around to stare at him in disbelief. Gramps?!
"Luffy had never talked about his past, not because he was ashamed of it or anything but simply because he didn't care about anyone else's past and no one asked him about his own."
"Unless there's someone from the past who needs their asses kicked then who cares about things that can't be helped now? Focus more on the present!" Luffy said shrugging his shoulders and the rest of the pirates in the room felt like they were punched in the gut. Stop…focusing on the past?
"One time when Jinbe had asked though…the whole crew damn near tried to track down and kill Garp."
"Oh yeah I remember that. Yeah we came real close to kicking his ass, shame he seemed to realize what danger he was in and ran away." Nami said scowling as did the rest of the Straw Hats while the others were wondering what the hell had Garp done to piss them all off to the point where had ran away?!
"The forest, the ravine, the balloons into the sky and the injuries that Luffy had told them he had gotten, the feeling of loneliness from having no one to take care of him or care about him aside from a bar owner until he was seven and met Ace and Sabo."
"Gramps did what?!" Ace demanded in outrage and shock, having never known about this before.
"Jinbe's hands clenched into tight fists on his lap, so hard that they drew blood. He wouldn't move a muscle to attack though. His Captain would be upset with him for doing so…well actually probably not but his Captain might need his help later if things happened the same regarding Impel Down."
"You're a pirate! We do what we want!" Luffy said shrugging his shoulders at that and Jinbe gave a fond smile down to him.
"He would hold himself in check. His Captain, his King, was depending on him and he refused to let his King down. He was the King's Helmsman and he would make sure his Captain could get where he needed to go and do what he needed to do, no matter what."
"And we call Zoro the loyal dog." Usopp said and Jinbe looked him dead in the eyes before barking. They were all loyal dogs for their Captain and Jinbe was not ashamed to admit it.
"Maybe he could come up with a reason to go by the Queen's home islands and pick them up as well? He was sure that his King wouldn't mind and would in fact be happy to see all three of the Queens much sooner than before. How to get them past everyone else though."
"I didn't need to." Jinbe chuckled.
"Galette"
The Big Mom pirates all leaned forward eager to hear about this.
"When she Awoke she was in the middle of a spar with her older sister Smoothie. She paused for just a moment as her memories came back and during that moment her sister jumped near her attacking with her sword although she was using the flat of the blade."
"I remember this!" Smoothie said her eyes widening as she recalled that spar. It was less than a month before the birthday bombing!
"Don't get distracted!" Smoothie yelled at her little sister only to be stunned and wonder if her sister had baited her when her baby sister jumped up higher than normal and landed on the sword easily."
"Practiced fighting against sword and club wielders with these guys a lot." Galette said smirking slightly as she looked pointedly at her Nakama.
"Smoothie recovered admirably, she wasn't a Sweet Commander just because of her Devil Fruit after all, but her brief second of shock was all the time Galette needed. Using her powers over butter she made the grip of the sword too slippery for her sister to hold onto and then jumped up when her sister tried to grab her with her free hand."
"Huh. That trick is a good way to disarm weapon using opponents, especially sword wielders. I'll have to train against that." Smoothie said narrowing her eyes as she considered how easy it was for her little sister to disarm her.
"Landing on her sisters arm Galette stared unafraid up at her big sister and hesitated for just a second, until she noted Smoothie's other hand coming down near her and jumped to the side."
"Please tell me that I didn't…"
That's when Smoothie effectively hit herself hard enough to leave an almost immediate bruise on the skin."
"I did." Smoothie said sighing.
"Galette wasted no time in jumping up on her bigger sisters shoulder and socking Smoothie right in the jaw with Armament Haki coating her tiny fist."
"You already have a hell of a punch already! Adding Armament to it was just overkill!" Smoothie said to her sister who stuck her tongue out.
"No such thing! There's only 'She's still moving' and 'hit her harder'." Galette shot back and Amande snorted, reaching forward to pat Galette's head.
"That's my girl."
"The rest of her siblings present watched stunned as Galette put up a good fight but then seemed to slip up and get caught by Smoothie who had more than a few bruises on her."
"Better luck next time little sister!"
"They never knew that Galette had thrown the fight"
"Wait you what?!"
"I'm one of the Pirate Queens and not just because of marriage! Of course I threw the fight to let you win!"
"to try and keep their interest in her new abilities down a bit. All the better to slip away if they weren't watching her so closely. After all she needed to get to her true family as well as her fellow Queens and her King.
She refused to wait two years to see them again. It's only been minutes after she Awoke and it already felt weird to not have her golden band on her finger."
"God did that feel weird." Galette said and everyone noticed that the married quartet had golden wedding bands on their fingers.
"She was one of the three Pirate Queens and she had earned her title, and not just because of marriage either. Soon the world will know the power of the Devil Queen."
"And before anyone asks! That is what the Marines called me after Luffy was crowned King because of my horns and tail and parentage!" Galette said immediately at seeing some of her aunts and uncles look confused or curious about the title.
"That was probably my fault." Smoker said with a wince but a smirk.
"You were talking to Hina about the queens and how Galette was like a Devil when angry and we were overheard by a low ranking officer who reported the Devil title back to HQ." Hina said dryly to Smoker who shrugged his shoulders at that. Yeah…whoops?
"The question remained though of how she would get to her wives much less get to her husband without the rest of the family noticing and trying to drag her back."
"That…is a good question." Oven said and the Charlotte's eyes widened as they stared at Galette. She…the bombing had been faked?
"Wait a second…Galette was glad she was alone after getting her injuries treated when the idea struck her. The bastard Teach, the asshole who became a Yonko in the future after the death of Whitebeard."
"WHAT?!" The Whitebeard commanders were up in arms immediately over that.
"Yeah that asshole orchestrated Whitebeards death for the world to see and took the title of Yonko afterwards." Reiju said glaring darkly at the ground as she recalled that although now she had the new knowledge of her husband being in the middle of the whole mess and how heartbreaking it had been for him.
"If she was remembering right then he'd be killing his Nakama and abandoning Whitebeard right about now if he hadn't already.
Galette's evil devious grin fit the devil horns and tail she had perfectly. Oh was this going to be good! No one would suspect a thing either until either she was long gone and safely with her husband and wives or Blackbeard was dead! Maybe even both!"
"And it worked better than I thought it would! Honestly while I did set you lot to go after him, you're the ones who came up with the rest of the conclusions on your own after that Newspaper article!" Galette said smirking slightly at her aunts and uncles who were gaping at her in disbelief.
"Oh was her husband going to be ever so happy if she managed to keep the War of the Best"
"War of what?!" The rest of the room asked startled and confused. War of Best? What could that mean?
"The war where Blackbeard had Whitebeard killed." Reiju quickly gave them the bare basics of it.
"from ever happening just by making two problems take each other out. Now how to make sure one of her wives was in position to extract her…she couldn't send a letter or call on a snail but…
The News! She and both of her wives loved to read the ads in the news out of boredom"
"I love training as much as the next battle nut but you can't spend every waking second training!" Yamato said when everyone glanced at her for that curiously, after all she didn't seem like the news kind of person.
"so it'd be easy to put out an ad under a false name that they would both recognize that contained a code that they'd know! This might take a few weeks to plan out but it'd be worth it to see her loves and true family again.
Oh was this going to be epic."
"Biggest prank ever!" Galette said smirking slightly.
"Although I am sorry that it hurt you all so much." Galette said looking apologetic as she glanced at the Charlottes who were gaping at her in disbelief.
"Reiju"
Here Judge leaned forward interested while the other three Vinsmokes were merely listening bored out of their minds. After all they didn't care.
"She Awoke while in her room at the castle in the New World and smirked as the memories of things that hadn't happened yet entered her mind. It had worked, they were back and better than ever. Sanji was still unknown to her so called brothers and sorry excuse for a father,"
"What?!" Judge demanded and Reiju just gave him a flat look.
"I didn't fucking stutter."
"and her mental conditionings and brainwashing had been shattered the very second she Awoke."
"Brainwashing and mental conditioning?" Compote asked frowning at that and Reiju waved idly at Judge.
"He did it to all of us in order to make us the perfect emotionless killers." Reiju said casually.
"Hmm now how should she plan to handle this? Should she go ahead and kill her father while beating it into her other brothers heads that since she was the strongest she was in charge?"
"What?" Judge demanded and Reiju raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm the eldest child and therefore the one to inherit after you pass and after everything you've done to me and my brother you deserve the worst poison I can give you. You also forget that I've trained longer than those three since I'm older than them. I can defeat all three of them with ease, especially after joining and training with my real family. And isn't always you who says that the strongest is the one with the right to rule? So you have no room to complain." Reiju said and Judge gaped at her wordlessly while her three emotionless brothers frowned but the rest of the Straw Hats reached out to try and reassure Reiju who closed her eyes with a sigh before cuddling Galette again.
"Yes that sounded good. They were murderers yes, but they were still her baby brothers and they had grown up with the conditioning and mental alterations that not just took away their emotions and made them empty shells from birth but also meant that they would follow whoever the strongest was."
"That's true. Sanji was the only one spared from that fate because of our mother." Reiju said and she was genuinely upset that her other three brothers couldn't be saved from that fate even if she wanted to save them, and she definitely wanted to save them.
"And Reiju knew without a doubt in her mind that she was the strongest person on the island right now.
After she had them firmly in hand then she could move on to getting her fellow Queens, her wives, out of TottoLand and Wano respectively and then going to find her husband and King.
She refused to wait two years to meet them and meet them the way she had last time."
"I mean…getting to kiss Luffy wasn't bad, although I'd prefer not to let him get poisoned this time…but us stealing Sanji and being both his enemies and enemies with Galette…not fun." Reiju said with a wince and everyone who wasn't there was wondering what the hell had happened.
"She was one of the Pirate Queens and though her finger felt empty without her ring she was going to prove to everyone just why exactly she had gotten that title, and it wasn't just because of her husband either! The world would soon know that she wasn't just Poison Pink, she was the Poison Queen."
"Okay to be fair I had that title after taking the throne of Germa after Fathers death. There was a bit of confusion when they used it as my title after Luffy became King though." Reiju said shrugging.
"Now…how to get ahold of her wives to come up with a plan to get them away from their false families…she had to be very careful because of the Homies and Sweet Commander Katakuri's ability to see a few seconds into the future as well as the fact that Kaido no doubt kept his daughter under close watch."
"He did unless it was one of the time he sent the lower ranking ones to watch after me and I could scare them away or beat the hell out of them." Yamato said with a wild and fierce grin that showed she did take after her father a little bit.
"Hm…wait…oh she had a hell of an idea. She wouldn't have to take out her father or brothers herself. No…she could just make two problems cancel each other out! She just had to get a letter to her wife's ministry building without anyone else checking it or at least make sure she used a code to keep others from knowing about the true contents of the letter…or better yet…
The news. It'd be easy to have a small ad in the paper written under a false name that her wives would recognize and since both of her wives read the paper from cover to cover she'd see it immediately."
"I read the paper from cover to cover. Yamato reads the funny bits or the bits about fights."
"This was going to be fun.
Yamato"
Kaido and the Beast Pirates leaned forward interested to hear about the Beast Prince/princess.
"When she Awoke she was alone like she usually was at this time, it was her daily training after all, and she froze for all of a minute before she smirked behind her mask and hefted her large kanabo and made another swing, taking out two dozen trees with just the air pressure from the swing."
"That's my- Yamato boy or girl?" Kaido asked looking at his child.
"Girl today dad!" Yamato said beaming at the fact that her father was respecting her choices about her gender at least.
"That's my girl!" Kaido said proudly.
"So it had worked. They were back. Well this ought to be fun.
Of course fun was a relative term since she knew what she had to do to achieve Oden's dream of opening Wano's borders again...but she could also fulfill her own dream now as well."
"Work with me instead of trying to open Wano and I'll let you travel without restriction with your crew!" Kaido said glancing at his child who stuck her tongue out at him.
"Sorry dad! That didn't work last time I won't work with it this time! Open up Wano and I'll be happy to work with you!"
"A dream of traveling with her fellow Queens and her King and his crew, their true family, instead of being stuck in Wano for the rest of her life simply because of who her father is.
Hmph. As if. Not when she knew who was waiting for her. After all she refused to wait two whole years and then some to meet her lovers again.
She was one of the three Pirate Queens and it was timed the world learned that she hadn't gotten that title simply by marrying the King. No...she was the Beast Queen and they were going to learn to respect her no matter if she hid her gender again or not."
"Less hiding it and more because I feel like a girl some days and feel like a boy others!" Yamato clarified and Kaido glanced at his daughter.
"Make sure you tell me which pronoun to use for you each day so I don't misgender you." Kaido said and Yamato grinned at her father and nodded. If there was one good thing to be said about her father it was that he respected pronouns.
"But how to get away from Wano and her father? She'd probably need her two wives help with that but how could she contact them...the news of course! They all three loved reading the news and especially the ads to see what kind of things they can pick out of it and if she used a fake name that only her true family and wives would recognize and spoke in codes...well...this ought to be fun.
And if things ended up going as she thought they would then not only would her father be most pissed at that fruity flamingo he kept around for whatever reason (maybe even pissed enough to kill the psychopath if they were lucky enough)"
"Probably would if he killed my child." Kaido rumbled although he was kind of proud at how much his daughter was acting like him.
"but he would also not even look for her if he thought her dead. And it wasn't like most of the Beast Pirates or in fact most of Wano knew of her real gender, much less her real appearance even if they knew her name."
"True most of us have never seen your face before young master even if the upper ranks do know of your birth gender." Ulti said nodding at that.
"Hmph. This was definitely going to be interesting."
"That's the end of the chapter." Robin announced and the book immediately flashed from her hand to Amande's.