Disclaimer: I don't own one piece
"Listen up men! Today we have an important job. A job we must succeed at all costs because if we fail, then I'm sorry to say, but all of your lives, myself included will be forfeit. That masked Fucker made sure that threat was clear."
"What have I told you about swearing in my presence?"
"Oh, awww.. I. I mean that masked jerk made sure that threat was clear, haha yeah."
Looking at the supposed pirate captain's crew, I can see them grinding their teeth and giving me sneaking glances of fear as if even the slightest trigger could mean their death.
"Speaking of I'm still kind of hungry, I'll take a meal that could feed about 6 people and I want half a gallon of orange juice with it. Oh and a plate of apples, preferably the green ones if you have them. Please and thank you" As soon as I voiced my request (ahem, orders) the crew immediately rushed to get it done posthaste.
Turning my attention back to the captain I give him a nod of approval. If a random vulgar passerby would give this crew even a single glance they would say one thing 'They look like shit.' And they would be right considering they had just fought me. The crew is covered in bandages, nasty bruises, and burns that ranged from 1st to 2nd degree.
"Good, keep it in mind captain that I do not like cursing, please if you must humor your crass mouth, then do it out of earshot away from me. Since we're going to be traveling with each other for the foreseeable future it's good that we set some boundaries, do you understand?" I said while I loomed over him.
The man (because for the life of me I just can not recall his name) took an audible gulp before hastily nodding.
Good, now that we understand each other, will you please get me some comforters. It's nighttime and I'm pretty sleepy right now because someone decided it was best to invade at night.
It looks like the man finally understood his position because he hastily nodded and scurried off to fulfill his orders.
Now leaning against the ship's mast, I decided to wait until my unwilling company brings me my accommodations.
I know some people might be wondering why I'm on a random ship and a pirate ship at that. Well these thoughtless halfwits, thought it was a good idea to try and raid Santorini island while we're still having our celebration.
Haha, I guess it was a pretty funny story.
(-)
Great sea: North blue, Location:Santorini Island, 3 hours earlier
"You are dimwitted, a smooth-brained Neanderthal, a staggering mutation of the aurochs smeared richly with the effluvia and offal accompanying your wretched birth into this world. How many times have I told you, you impudent cow to stop. eating. MY APPLES! As I said my final piece I couldn't help but ignite the flame on my back to a staggering degree, unknowingly giving myself the comedic look of a raging inferno.
I swear to God this thing (because I refuse to refer to it as any living entity) is pissing me off. This is supposed to be my farewell party and it has the earth-shattering balls to look me dead in my eyes as it takes another bite.
Crunch!
"That's it! Congratulations, you just made it on tonight's entree." Pointing my hand at the contemptible mound of fat. I prepare myself to let loose a focused blast of flames in order to leave that cow as nothing more than charred remains.
Yes, everything will be right in the world in 3, 2, 1, fir-
Or everything would have been right in the world if a literal bucket of ice water wasn't thrown at me effectively putting out my flame.
The cow's bored expression didn't move a single centimeter as it finished the last green apple we had available and walked at a leisurely pace to my water bucket assailant.
"Ririka I will never understand why you defend that cow." Looking down at her and wow even after 23 years I still can't get over the fact of how huge I am.
When people think of being reborn and or transported to the one piece world. I'm pretty sure most would imagine themselves to retain their own height or be Slightly taller, and there's only one reason why anyone wouldn't want to be anything more than 6 ft. The absolutely staggering inconvenience of being over 17 ft tall is mind-blowing.
I mean seriously you would think that people would try to accommodate people my height, but that's only in the grand line, out here in any one of the 4 blues only normal-sized people reside with the rare variant of slightly oversized humans, but that's it really. So it makes sense why the people never really built any bigger accommodations for people my stature. Even when I made it to this island I was taller than most of the buildings here and nearly as tall as a 2 story house.
"Only you seem to have a problem with her Atlas, everybody else in this village has never once voiced a complaint about my beloved Noiva". Looking around I see the villagers respond to that comment with nervous whistling and shaky laughter.
Sigh, it's not that they don't have a complaint, it's just that they don't want to disappoint the flower child of the village. This girl, it's almost disgusting how pure she is. The innocence she radiates is just appalling. When I first met her I wasn't in the best of shape. And had trouble with many menial things, yet she assisted me without protest, despite me telling her to leave me alone. Yet her only response was…. It just makes me shudder thinking about it. In conclusion, Ririka is too good for this world that's why everyone endures the utter insanity her cow induces. It makes her happy, and sadly(unfortunately) they are inseparable.
" Well, what am I supposed to do? That bottomless pit effectively ate the last of my apples, Granny Smith would be disappointed."
"Who?"
"Nobody relevant, the point is, why is your cow vindictive? I really, really want to kill that cow, or at least punch it one good time in the face. Maybe a few missing teeth will be enough of a reminder to stop crossing me.
"Now I understand, but she was just hungry. Noiva was just hungry was all, besides I still have a couple of red ones that were just harvested".
"Ririka, are you really trying to console me with red apples? I mean don't get me wrong I love them, but not as much as the green ones that I lost to that sorry excuse for a mammal. Gosh, I envy everyone that cow has never met." At this point, my rant is becoming a bit comical not to mention kind of obtuse, but I'm past the point of caring. That thing is really doing something to me.
"So that's a yes on the apples." She smiled sweetly as she offered two plump red apples in my direction.
Looking at the shiny red rubies she held in her hands, despite how hard I tried to fight back I just couldn't resist.
"Yes." I did not grumble like a child. I'm far above such foolish practices.
Giggling like a schoolgirl she handed me the apples and skipped away with Noiva to the direction of the forest.
"You poor sod. Don't worry she's got us all wrapped around her little finger."
"Haha, grandma Maggie, what brings you here? I thought you didn't like social gatherings such as these. Did you come to watch my repeatedly failed attempts to kill that cow?"
"NAHAHA, don't be absurd you cheeky hatchling, although I have to admit it was entertaining to watch." Looking closely I noticed she was carrying a cream-colored drawstring bag that was nearly 3 times her size.
"What's that you got there if you don't mind me asking? Huh, is that the bag we're gonna put Noiva's body parts in? It's a little small, but I'm pretty sure we can manage." I was speaking in jest or at least half in jest.
"The day that cow is killed is the day I quit smoking and become a Saint. Unfortunately for others, that's never gonna happen. I'm just here to make sure a brain-dead crow can have at least a chance of surviving these treacherous seas. So out of the kindness of my black hole, I decided to gift you with these."
Loosening the drawstring, what she revealed nearly made my eye sockets pop out of my mask.
"No way!" My voice unintentionally elevated, catching the attention of the villagers.
Trying to get myself under control I extended a shaky arm to grab one of my gifts.
"You got this for me really?" I couldn't help but ask, these things are truly beautiful and honestly more than I deserve.
" I remember how you were talking about how your last one broke years ago, and judging from how you play with those folding fans with the kids I could tell you're no amateur so I had these made, tailored to your unique composition." I think I might actually cry, these things are so awesome that they even made me forget about the stupid cow.
I mean seriously she got me two beautiful crafted war fans. Oh my gosh, I'm so happy. I was planning to have a blacksmith make them for me on my journey, but this is way better than what I could imagine. If we were back in my old world then I believe these fans would be called tessen.
Looking back at grandma Maggie she does nothing but give me an affirmed nod.
Grabbing the second one I notice that they have a surprising amount of weight on them as well as how sturdy they appear to be. There's also an obvious contrast between the two as while one fan is Entirely black the other is shockingly all white. Slowly but surely I unfurl the fans to really get a look at them. They had 10 iron ribs and my experienced eye could tell that they were of high quality. Not to mention that it appears she was thinking of me because when fully unfurled the black fan shows multiple starch white tragedy masks all connected by what looked to be a ribbon while the white fan showed multiple black comedy masks with the same ribbon design as well.
Giving my new weapons a test run I expertly furl and unfurl them experimentally before I blaze through a series of combative movements, movements I learned from that place, and movements that allowed me to reach where I am now. My maneuvers are reminiscent of a dancer and right now I hear and see nothing but these two war fans.
Slowly but surely I am getting a grip on these weapons. Letting them know that I command them and that if they stay with me they'll only know a path of greatness.
These weapons are sharp and I know that a single misstep In my movements could cost me my fingers right now since I don't have my flame ignited, Yet I feel no fear, it has been explicitly expressed in this world that weapons have a degree of sentience, but that's only weapons that have lived through the ages, newly made weapons can be compared to a newborn baby, their alive, but one could say their unaware of what alive even means.
The user determines how strong the weapons can be. How useful they are will all be decided by me, having a weapon is basically the same as nurturing a child. Just like how a parent can determine whether a child will live or die, it is up to me and my prowess that will determine whether these weapons thrive or shatter.
Now for the finisher. Have you ever seen that move in any anime or tv show where the person who wields war fans can throw them with such expertise that they can cut their opponent and return right back to the owner? Well when I first gave that technique a try, well let's just thank the heavens for my unique composition. You see there are multiple factors when throwing a war fan, but there's one factor that makes all the other factors sporadically change and that's wind.
Ever wonder what wind actually is? It can get long and complicated, but the short version of the explanation is that gases move from both high-pressure and low-pressure areas. The bigger the difference between the pressure the faster the air will move from the higher to the lower pressure. This is wind.
Now, this brings us back to our throwing move. The wind can be a real jerk, often messing around with your fans every time you want to launch them. Some try to brute force this making their launch so strong that the wind can do nothing to impede it, but if you ask me that's wrong.
If you truly want a powerful and effective throw then your answer isn't to fight the wind but to work alongside it. Simple, but so many people don't ever listen to the simple things. You have to focus on the direction the wind is blowing, the direction you and your opponent are facing, as well as the speed of the wind. Then comes the other factors such as how much strength to use as well as the angle you should throw.
Once you determine all that, all that's left is to practice your throws until you get it right. Practice from different angles, to different wind speeds, to different environments, to different situations, then you'll get the perfect throw.
Launching my fans into the starry night, they travel, and travel, and travel, reaching distances that could rival the length of a football field before swiftly turning in opposite directions and coming right back to me. Carefully I brace my hands trusting my intuition and trusting my weapons and soon my fans smoothly came right back into my hand doing me no harm as if it were only natural.
Slowly but surely I finish my movements and furl my fans suitably satisfied with them.
All of a sudden I heard clapping followed by a roar of applause.
"That was amazing!"
"10 out of 10!"
"How did you do that?"
"Can you teach me?"
The villagers roared their approval and awe at my supposed performance and the only thing I could do was rub my head bashfully, taking it all in.
"Well, it seems I was right to get you those, after all, they make a perfect fit. Now then, all that is left is to give these children a name. "
"A name huh, I'm a simple person with simple goals, but just because something is simple doesn't mean it's easy just like everything else in the world. That is why it is quite obvious what these children are gonna be called. The black one will be called tragedy the voice of rage and aggression while the white one is comedy, the voice of love and compassion. Neither can live without the other and yet they never seem to agree on anything which is why I'll play as the medium and make sure we all get along.
" Honestly you're such a sap, but I guess it's a decent name with some kind of reason."
'Is it really that hard to say you like it?' Of course, I said this in my head. I would never call her out on her stubborn behavior after she gave me such an awesome gift. But just because she is afraid to show it doesn't mean I am. Scooping her small frame up effortlessly I bring her close in a nuzzling hug.
"Nyaa! Let go of me, you bastard!" My only response was to laugh at her struggles as I continuously thank her over, and over again. I didn't stop until she tried to kick me in the mask and I didn't want a dirty boot print on one of my most cherished items so I rested her down.
"Don't ever do that again! That's the last time I ever give you anything." I chuckled at her antics, I couldn't help it. I was over the moon with these weapons. This pushed my plan ahead a couple of weeks.
"Anyway, you'll find that I had the weapons forged with heat-resistant materials. The blacksmith informed me that he embedded a mixture of both tantalum and hafnium carbide along with his own personal blend to get the best results, he said it could probably withstand around 6000 to 8000 degrees, and if you touch me one more time I'm taking them back."
"Tch, stingy." I said in jest. But seriously I'm no expert, but I thought both hafnium and tantalum could only resist about 4000 degrees, there's either one piece logic at work here or whatever that blacksmith mixed in was much more effective than I thought.
Satisfied with her explanation, I thanked her one more time. Looking around at the crowd I decided to speak.
"Everyone this has been a wonderful present: the celebration, the company, the gifts, I just want to say thank you all for what you've done for me, for these past three years and I will try to pay you back when I become a rich and famous pirate."
"Haha, you're awfully optimistic about all this. What are you even gonna do when you become a pirate?" Grandma Maggie asked
"Haha, I would tell you, but that'll ruin the surprise, just know that it's gonna make history." My voice for once was still as light and airy as it ever was, but the way I conveyed my words left an air of seriousness around us that wasn't meant to be taken lightly. Clapping my hands I decided to break the mood.
"Now that that's all settled I'm not gonna lie to you guys it's past midnight and I have an early day tomorrow so I think it's about tim-
BAM! BAM!
And just like that my good mood crashed right back down to the metaphorical ground.
The crowd grew quiet instantly and everyone looked in the direction the sound of the gunshots came from.
"Who did that?" I question yet, unfortunately, I got no answer. Everyone started trading nervous glances with each other and I knew someone had to investigate. The entire village is here so there is no way it could be anyone of us. Random gunfire is not permitted in this village, grandma Maggie made sure of that.
"Everyone calm down, go back to the celebration, I'll check it out. There is honestly nothing to be nervous about." It was quite obvious that they were worried, but they nonetheless did as they were told.
Glancing at grandma Maggie she did nothing, but gave me a wave and went back to the festivities.
Walking in the direction I heard the gunshots come from I brought comedy and tragedy with me enveloping both of them in bright orange flame.
Despite the apparent seriousness of the situation, because let's face it, there is obviously an enemy where the gunshots went off. I couldn't help but admire my weapons. They're just so cool, and if I have my way they'll become the famous weapons that helped bring me to the top of this world.
Pretty soon my gait brought me to the heavily forested region of the forest. Now despite what some might think not every island is composed of those freakish monsters that inhabit dawn island. That place is a literal hell zone and while there are animals in this forest they are expectedly normal. And like all normal animals, they are wary of intruders. It would be easy for them to hide unseen to the naked eye, because not only is this island mostly composed of trees but the height these things reach is quite staggering. The bare minimum they achieve is around 30 ft. The reason why this island is never attacked is that from an outsider's perspective it just looks like an island with a lot of overgrown trees. The village is located right in the center of this forest, so you could say it's a natural barrier.
However, one could say it works both ways because while people from outside can't see us, we can't really see them either. The only path we can see from is the little clearing I use to overlook the ocean.
My guard is up. I can't hear a single sound from around me. There are no creatures inhabiting this area which means somebody is here.
"You guys can come out now, I know you're there." Nothing but silence answered me, but soon shadows started to emerge and those shadows led to people.
"HASASASA, well ain't you a big fella. In all my years sailing the seas of North blue I've never once seen a creature as big as you." The man, presumably the captain, emerged.
Honestly, it took a lot of willpower to make no changes in my stance, because oh my gosh this man is the picture-perfect stereotype of what a pirate looks like. Long dark hair braided in random areas and a pirate's bandanna wrapped tightly on his head, a Scraggly unkempt beard, an eyepatch attached to his left eye, a lean yet strong frame with a black captain's coat, he even has a wooden peg leg. The only thing this guy is missing is a parrot.
"Now then, listen here big guy. Were the 'Basking pirates' I bet the villagers sent you here because they thought we would be intimidated by your size, fake appendages, and little light show, but you're dealing with pirates here, and if you need a little proof, hey boys show em."
"Soon 4 figures emerged, two obviously belonging to the man's crew, the other two are residents of this island." Ririka and her pain in the wing cow were held at gunpoint.
"HASASASA, we caught this bitch and her cow walking around. We thought this was just a random forest island that we could use to lay low from the navy after pulling off our latest haul today, but look here it seems lady luck is smiling upon us, because it appears we're making two big hauls in one day. So here's what you're gonna do pal, you're gonna go back to your village tell everyone what happened here, and tell them to fork over everything they have of value. If you do that then we will let the little missy go. The longer you take the more antsy we get and trust me we have ways of getting rid of all this pent-up energy, ain't that right boys!"
"Hahaha! You tell them, captain."
"Show them we're not messing around."
"Well treat them real nice"
"Hahaha."
Collective laughter and dirty hints ring all around me. Now an outsider might look at all this and think I'm bubbling with violent, uncontrollable anger, that my friend is used as a hostage by such filth, but I'm not. Getting angry really wouldn't do any good here, it'll just goad them on.
Looking over at Ririka, one would think she's completely at home, even at gunpoint with her life and chastity dangling on a rope she still holds an angelic smile, as for the cow it's still as apathetic as ever. Unbeknownst to anyone I cracked a light smile. These girls' lives are in danger and yet they show no fear because they know they'll get out of this in one piece, they know that I'll save them.
Soon the laughter died down and the captain looked at me with supposed smugness. "Now then why don't you scurry back to the village and relay the message. I'll admit you certainly do look strong but you can't honestly think that-
That is all he was able to say before he collapsed on his knees, and it wasn't just him, pretty soon everyone started to collapse, everyone except for Ririka, Satan, and myself of course.
Obviously, I did something, but despite what most may think, it wasn't the obvious answer. If one were to look they would see that all these men are indeed still conscious just groaning, wheezing, and some even vomiting.
No, I just used one of my favorite techniques, because not only is it extremely effective, but it also makes me look cool, and yes just like 90 percent of anime characters. I do name my attacks.
I call this one
Sovereigns Gift: Poignant Reminder.
Some might call me cringe, or even stupid, but I would tell those people that I. Don't. Care. I'm in an anime universe now where that kind of thing is widely accepted and even encouraged. You can bet your lucky socks I'm shouting out my names for the world to hear, and I'll do it with my head raised high.
As for what I actually did, hundreds have asked me that question, I usually just tell them something along the lines of 'I use fire, figure out the rest for yourselves.' Or, 'I just used my fire really, really hard, or even Fire magic of course.'
Yup, I don't plan to tell anybody except for my crew how my abilities and techniques work. Because in this sea information is power.
Motioning Ririka to come to me, I carefully watch all the pirates to make sure they can't try anything. I saw one try to fight through the sensation, but a single concentrated look from me made that man vomit his dinner, lunch, and possibly breakfast.
Ririka and Satan came to my side and she said nothing, but a simple thank you, as if she expected nothing less, before heading back to the village.
"You shitbag, burgh arghhh, what… what did you do to us."As expected of the captain he's keeping himself together expectedly better than the rest of his crew.
Chui, Chui, Chui
My heavy footprints reverberated across the forest as I loomed over the down captain.
"Shhhh, haha, what you did was completely unforgivable. I don't like it when people threaten what I deem as mine. So do me a favor." Pretty soon I ignited tragedy in searing hot flames and pointed 'him' right at the captain.
"Can you just please accept my gift?"
(-)
"Ririka there you are, we were worried something might have happened to you."
Emerging from the darkness of the forest Ririka and Noiva rejoined the festivities.
When they were questioned about where they were. She simply said.
"Oh, it's nothing." She answered sweetly as she clasped her hand together.
"I was just taking a walk with Noiva and we wound up experiencing something interesting."
"Wow, must have been quite something, you were gone for a while." Mr. Santo said.
"AAAAHHHHHHHH!"
A bone-chilling scream that sounded like it came from multiple people erupted from the forest.
"Hihihi." Ririkia couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, it was quite the experience in fact one could say it was an experience to die for." With her piece said she walked off into the crowd on her way to find Noiva more treats.
"Everybody that was lucky(unlucky) enough to witness the scene had a single question floating around in their heads.
'What in the absolute hell was that?'
(-)
Present time
After that little fiasco, the rest of the story could be inferred. I said my goodbyes to everyone, thanked them all for the amazing gifts and food, grabbed my traveling bag that was filled with all my essentials, and threatened the pirates to take me off the island with them, and here we are.
Now I'm basically freeloading on their ship until we get to the next island. Now I could always fly, I mean these wings aren't for show. I could make it to the next island no problem, but what's the rush, this is supposed to be a journey, and like a favorite redhead said.
'A rushed adventure is doomed to fail.'
"Umm. Excuse me, sir." Looking down at the surprisingly timid voice I see that a man covered in bandages has brought me an entree of a random assortment of food, with a jug of orange juice, and Green Apples.! There is a god in this twisted world.
Sitting crossed legged I help myself to, well I suppose it's breakfast now. Grabbing an apple I expand my wings and use them to envelope both myself and the food as I unfastened my mask and dug in.
Like I'll ever let these guys see my face. I have standards.
"Umm excuse me, sir, I uh. I just want to know what is going to happen to us now."
"Why do you want to know?" I mean seriously, he lost, he's so pathetically weak what right does he have in asking me about his fate?
"Listen, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's hypocrites. How many villages have you raided, people you've murdered, women you've raped." With each example, I give the man visibly winced.
"I bet you can't even give me a number, why? The answer is simple. It's because it didn't matter to you. To you, those people were weaklings that were meant to be used for your own personal gain. Whether it was physically, financially, sexually, or socially you name it, they were nothing more than personal stepping stones that you could use to achieve your goals, and they were made into those stones all because they were weaker than you. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying this to demean you I'm simply stating the truth. Stepping stones don't have feelings. At least they don't to you. So let me ask you a question Mr. Pirate, would you ever bother to answer the pleas of your own stepping stones?"
With my piece said I went back to my meal. The atmosphere around the ship could be described as nothing other than depressing. It seems that Mr. Pirate wasn't the only one that wanted an answer to that question.
Now that it's settled, time to go back to my dinner/breakfast.. or I would have if not for the sword strike that was used to stab at my backside. Obviously, it did no damage to me and the sword effectively shattered.
Groaning in annoyance I put my mask back on and allow my wings to retreat to my back. Looking at my attacker all I see is a quivering mess, while ugly globs of angry tears are streaming down their face. They were obviously shocked their attack didn't work.
"Let me guess." My voice was as chipper as usual. "You believe that since you're practically an ant under my thumb you think it's better to die than to listen to my commands for the foreseeable future." looming over them I give them a bone-chilling statement
"Well, who's stopping you?" Shocked silence. Nobody was expecting that response to come out of my mouth," If you want to die so badly you don't need my help you have a perfectly usable blade right next to you or if you can't do that then have a friend do it or better yet just jump off into the ocean and let the sea kings eat you all up." Every word I spoke made them sink deeper and deeper into themselves.
"You can't. You won't, and you want to know why?" My voice cut through the night like a burning knife through a stick of butter.
"It's because you're weak, all of you, even your captain. You're all weak physically and mentally. You're all so quick to give up in the face of adversity, and only willing to pick on those weaker than you. Those who can't possibly offer up a fight and you know what that makes you guys, nothing more than, dime a dozen bullies. So do us a favor if you really are serious about dying then do it quietly. I don't want my meal to be spoiled."
Finally, I think everything is alright now, well besides the depressing silence, but hey you can't have everything in the world.
(-)
Well, here's the next chapter. I don't know about you guys, but I think it turned out well and I'm pretty satisfied with it. Well I did want to make it longer, but felt like that would have been forced so I stopped here, anyway, this gives more of an insight into Atlas's personality he can be really kind in some moments, but otherwise ruthless and uncaring in other moments. This is his own brand of selfishness that I cultivated because let's be real if you're not selfish in one piece, then you'll get chewed up and spit out.
That's all, I hope you guys enjoyed it.