The Flash was fast.

Saying that often went without saying. It was what he was known for, after all. But mere mortals didn't truly grasp how fast he truly was. To him the speed of light moved about in super slow motion. He could be on opposite ends of the planet within fractions of a second. All of his enemies fell before him before any of them even knew what hit them.

And so Superman had decided that the best person to manually search each and every nook and cranny on the entire planet… was him. Great. It was tedious, mind numbing work to break into a home, identify its occupants, and then leave even if it only took him less than a fraction of a second to do so.

They had hoped that they would find traces of these mysterious 'Straw Hat' pirates by doing this, but so far he had had no luck. There were no clues, no signs of illegal activity, and certainly no history of these criminals. He really had no idea where to begin… other than Gotham City, which Batman had flatly refused to allow him to search.

But he was sure, now that he had thought about it a little, that they were here. Regardless of what the Batman said, the Straw Hats were here. And he would be the one to bring each and every one of them here.

Restaurants in Gotham had been completely shut down after the Justice League had taken control of all of the world's governments. All members of the commune had to gather and prepare all of their own food, paid for and provided by the government. Of course, as a member of the Justice League, the Flash was exempt from all that. He didn't have time to prepare his own meals. He had bad guys to fight.

As such, the League had prepared a handful of small, well kept establishments to provide for those with status in the community. Such as himself.

He passed by thousands of starving people in the streets before being shown to his table. He sat down, and without even bothering to look at the menu made his order.

"I'm in a hurry." He said to the blonde waiter. "Can you make it quick?"

"You can't rush food." The man told him, before turning and making his way back to the kitchen. The Flash watched him, annoyed. He was the Flash. He didn't do anything slowly. Once the food was made he would scarf it down in a second, and be on his way.

The food took a disgustingly look time to make. He voiced his displeasure as the man set the steak in front of him. Before the man had even turned around The Flash had scarfed down the entire thing.

"Wow." He said, patting his stomach. "That was the best meal I've ever had. Who made it?"

The man turned to face him. "I did."

"How'd you like to be my personal chef?" The Flash asked, getting to his feet. "I've had meals all around the world, but none are as fine as yours."

The man turned away. "Not interested."

"Being the personal chef of the Justice League comes with a lot of benefits." The Flash said, standing up. "What does this place have to offer someone like you, anyway?"

The man turned back around and gave him a dark look.

"I feed hungry people." He said. "Even if they don't have ration tickets."

The Flash's smile fell from his face.

"That's illegal." He said. "I'm going to have to bring you in for that."

The man turned his back to the Flash and lit a cigarette. He raised it to his mouth and leaned his head backward.

"You're starving this entire city in hopes that it will make them easier to control." The man said. "It isn't going to work. Even many of your underlings are becoming disillusioned with your methods."

"First of all." The Flash said, becoming very annoyed now. "They aren't MY methods. This is Batman's idea. Secondly…" He appeared right in front of the man's face, staring right at him. "Last chance."

The chef raised his cigarette and flicked it in the Flash's face. It hit his nose and then fell straight to the floor.

"Oh, you're going to regret that." Flash said.

He unleashed a furious series of punches on his enemy, so fast and so hard that they broke the sound barrier. An ordinary person would have been killed by the sheer force he was using, but the chef seemed stronger than most. He merely flew back, slamming into a nearby table where Bruce Wayne and his girlfriend Selina Kyle were having dinner.

"Watch it." The Billonaire said, annoyed, as the chef sat up.

"Ah…"

The chef quickly stood, turned to Miss Kyle and bowed.

"My apologies, miss." He said, his voice tender. "I would love to make it up to you… Could I have your name, please?"

"She's with me, buddy." Bruce said, annoyed.

"And you're in the middle of a fight, chump." The Flash said, as he raised his fists and bounced energetically on his heels.

The Chef, however, had already straightened the table and was already pouring the woman another bottle of wine.

"My deepest apologies…"

"Enough!"

The Flash raced forward, at his fastest possible speed at the chef. Faster than lightning, faster than the speed of light, nothing could possibly-

BOOM.

The Chef raised his leg and kicked outward, a split millisecond before he could get out of the way. With massive force, The Flash found himself flying backward, through the walls of the restaurant and out through to the city below.

"Excuse me." Sanji said quietly, as he set the bottle down. "Please ask for me if you need anything else."

He straightened his tie and walked, almost casually, to the side of the building. But before he could follow the Flash, he reappeared again the restaurant, nursing a broken nose.

"That was just a lucky shot!" The Flash cried. "No one is faster than me! No one!"

He rushed him again, this time feinting to the left before moving in to the right. Although he was moving faster than the speed of light again he was kicked, this time right under his chin.

"OOOF!"

Blood spurted out of the Flash's nose as he glared downward at the man, who had just casually lit another cigarette.

"This isn't possible!" The Flash screamed. "I'm the fastest in the entire Multiverse!"

"You may be fast." Sanji said, in a bored voice. "But you're predictable… I can see you coming from a mile away." He blew smoke out at him. "In a fight all that matters is who gets it."

"Then I'll just have to hit you." The Flash flung himself at him again, but for a third time he was kicked away. This time, with such intense force that it ended up breaking his spine. The Flash gasped in pain and agony as he crumpled, unable to move his legs as the Chef stared down at him, coldly.

"You'd have me be your personal chef when there are children starving in the streets right outside?" Sanji asked, his voice disgusted. "You-"

"That's enough."

The crowd turned as Billionaire Bruce Wayne got to his feet. He stared at the Chef.

"That man is a member of the Justice League. He's sacrificed his civilian life and well being to protect us all from the threats throughout the Universe. If you kill him… who will defend us?"

Sanji adjusted his cigarette.

"You call this protection?"

The Flash gave one last, final cry, and then he was dead.

Sanji flicked the cigarette at Bruce Wayne.

"Protect yourself." He said shortly, before making his exit.

There were five members of the Justice League to go.

…

"This isn't possible." Wonder Woman breathed. "Flash…."

"His body sustained too much damage during his fight with that man." Batman said, his voice toneless and cold. "Because of his powers making him faster than everyone else, he died before anyone could help him. How pitiful."

"This is no laughing matter." Aquaman said, his voice grave. "The people are beginning to revolt. They no longer see us as the arbiters of morality, and are questioning everything we do. Several members of the League have been injured during riots."

"How dare they…" Wonder Woman whispered. "After all we have done for them…" She scoffed. "Man's world is such a pathetic place. This would never happen on MY island."

"Was that man one of the Straw Hats?" Superman inquired. "What do we know about him?"

"His name is Sanji." Batman said. "He has worked for several high profile restaurants in the Gotham Area and has recently become a global favorite. He is considered one of the best rising stars in the culinary world right now, but he has spent his rising fame and career in illegally feeding the population more than they are legally allowed. He has become kind of a kingpin in that industry."

'That monster." Wonder Woman growled. "If man's population keeps growing, this planet will become completely uninhabitable! The population needs to be culled!"

"Truly feeding the hungry makes him the most dangerous enemy we have every faced." Batman agreed. "Flash was klled for trying to stop him…"

The group fell silent.

"If he is one of the Straw Hats…" Cyborg said. "Could he be their leader?"

"Monkey D. Luffgy… Roronoa Zoro… and now this third man, Sanji." Superman said. "How many more could there be? And how did they become powerful enough to destroy the almighty Justice League?"

…

Waves were beginning to spread around the world. Supervillains everywhere were being struck down left and right, and the Justice League were unable to identify and detain the culprits. Emboldened by the new radically shifting landscapes, ordinary citizens rose up and fought back against the Justice League forces that were sent to detain and control them.

"We can grow our own food!"

"We can provide our own entertainment!"

"You aren't gods! You are men!"

Although millions of members strong, even the Justice League had problems controlling the growing restlessness of the public.

"We're going to war soon." Dick Grayson told his girlfriend. "It's them, or us. And I'm telling you… it's not going to be us." He was already fantasizing about all the violence he was about to inflict on the people trying to rise up against them.

His friend and mentor, Batman, was thinking much along the same lines.

"We are dealing with people more terrible than we have ever encountered before." Batman said, as he lowered his gaze to his new batsuit. All of the wealth in the world had been siphoned from ordinary people to help create this one hundred trillion dollar batsuit that could help him punch gods in the face. "It is best that we be prepared."

Superman himself flew directly into Earth's yellow Sun to supercharge himself for the coming conflict, and Wonder Woman returned to her island to rally her women for battle. Deep under the sea, Aquaman consulted his top advisors on whether or not it would be necessary to unleash Cthulthu himself into the world to stop the Straw Hats.

And throughout it all, Monkey D. Luffy smiled.

"It is incredible, what lengths tyrants will go to maintain their power." He said to Nico Robin.

"They are all the same." Robin agreed, as she surveyed the great map in front of them. "And it will always end in the same way. Someone… rises up to challenge them. Whether they win or lose, the flames of rebellion will never die."

Monkey D. Luffy laughed.

"In other words… the Adventure never ends!" He cried. "Whether we win or lose, our adventures will continue forever!"

Robin nodded, and smiled. He had changed so much over the years, but in some ways he had stayed exactly the same. And, perhaps, the same could be said for the world as well.