Spinning around in shock, their jaws dropped and their eyes widened as they saw...
A boy. He couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve, and he looked up at them irritably from behind thick glasses as he tossed a crumpled paper bag into a bin. He seemed about to say more, but noticed that his gesturing hands were still coated in grease, and started to rub them against his red jumper in a grunt of annoyance.
Sanji and Zoro shared mystified glances, and both found their voices as the same time.
"Your cousin?"
They asked each other in perfect unison, blinked, then glared at the boy as they realised he wasn't supposed to be there.
"Who are you?"
Sanji demanded, and the boy gave up on his hands and instead gave a very wide grin.
"I'm so glad I finally found you,"
He said, eyes glinting at them behind thick lenses,
"I only just got wind of you, but it still took a while. I guess I'm sorry for being incompetent."
The others exchanged weird looks, and the boy sighed.
"I guess I better introduce myself, then..."
He slid the glasses off his nose, pocketed them, then looked up with a very, very familiar grin.
"I don't think any of you can pronounce my name, so you can call me Kale."
Nami was frozen in shock. There was something very strange going on. She could recognise the boy - she was absolutely positive she knew this boy, but something seemed distorted... and the name 'Kale' didn't ring any bells.
"Kale?"
Usopp repeated, and Nami could see him wearing the same expression as her - and everyone else, for that matter.
"Yep. You guys can sit down, by the way."
He scooted off the bed to straddle a chair, and the others looked at him with guarded suspicion and not very well hidden curiosity.
"How did you get in here?"
Sanji asked with an edge of warning to his voice. Kale blinked almost confusedly for a second, paused, then shrugged. He pointed at the bathroom door and startled everyone else as the door swung open without warning to bang on its hinges. It shut again with an invisible push.
No one said anything as they continued to gape at the door for a minute. The boy gave an impatient noise, and they turned to face the stranger slowly.
"Okay. Who the hell are you?"
Sanji reiterated, looking and sounding shocked.
"Would you please sit down? You're making me nervous,"
The boy said edgily, and the others complied reluctantly as Nami sat on Zoro's bed with Usopp and Sanji and Zoro took residence on the floor. The boy ran a hand through his hair before biting his lip nervously.
"You guys won't believe me now,"
Kale said, looking a little hesitant as he rubbed the back of his neck,
"But you could call me a holy manifestation of the Big Guy."
There was a very long silence. Zoro finally broke it as he said, with a hint of amusement and a slightly bewildered tone,
"A what?"
The boy sighed.
"In your words, I might be what you humans call an 'angel'."
A long silence followed his announcement, and the boy groaned.
"God told me you'd react like this,"
He muttered, running a hand through his hair frustratedly,
"I knew I should have listened to Him...."
"Well, you can't trespass uninvited into some person's room and expect us to believe the fact that you're an, uhm, 'angel'."
Nami used her fingers as quotation marks, raising her eyebrows in emphasis. Kale called Nami something someone his age shouldn't really know how to say, and Sanji had to be knocked down by Zoro in an act to restrain him from strangling the kid.
"She's right,"
Zoro said, addressing the boy, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed the boy did not look the least bit thwarted. He only looked a little annoyed, as though things weren't going the way he wanted them to go.
"I suggest you either give a proper introduction, or you leave."
"You can't be serious."
Kale said in disbelief, causing the others to look rather surprised at the forcefulness in his voice,
"I mean, don't tell me you can't recognise me."
That caught their full and undivided attention.
"You mean... you know us?"
Usopp asked carefully, and Kale snorted.
"You should know me the way you people know each other. Besides Usopp and Nami, of course - they were friends already - but every one of you didn't know Zoro until rather recently, wouldn't you say?"
Now they were staring at him as though he had sprouted leeks out of his ears.
"Wh-wha-- who--"
Nami started to splutter, but gave up trying to phrase the multitude of questions exploding at random in her head. Everyone was acting likewise, save for Zoro, who simply looked dumbfounded. Kale took a very deep breath as he shut his eyes, muttered something that sounded like 'keep calm', then opened them to fix the others with a piercing look.
"I know it sounds ludicrous to you guys, but give me a chance, okay?"
They did not reply, but Usopp gave a nod. They gave a very pointed look that clearly stated 'this better be good'. Kale perched on Sanji's desk-chair comfortably, taking his time before he asked,
"So, tell me - have you guys figured out your connection with each other?"
There was a pause before Usopp said hesitantly,
"Do you know?"
The small boy grinned.
"That's what I'm here for."
A silence followed this statement, and Kale took the opportunity to catch their attention with a loud cough before speaking.
"Basically, you're all reincarnates from another world. You all belong to another creation of God called the Oda Dimension."
Nami looked inclined to laugh as Sanji questioned with a raised eyebrow,
"The Oda Dimension?"
Shaking his head in disgust and ignoring Sanji's skeptical tone, Kale continued,
"During that certain amount of time God spent in straightening out certain issues with lots of other dimensions. God decided to give certain dimensions into the care of angels He trusted very much, seeing He didn't have much time to take care of them Himself. Dimension 2024, which is your Oda Dimension - was given to Valkrief--"
"Valkrief?!"
Zoro repeated in a half-choked voice. Usopp and Sanji looked like they were smothering snickers, though Nami looked politely bewildered. Kale rolled his eyes.
"So it's a dumb name. I didn't name him. Fine - laugh yourself to death if you want, but in my opinion, the name 'Zoro' doesn't sound like a bag of sweet peas, either. It's a rather common angel name, alright?! I'm not impressed..."
They barely caught his smirk as Zoro scowled before he continued,
"Anyhow... Valkrief... well, he always had a @#$%ing evil streak in him, but God decided to give him a chance. Pft. Giving Valkrief responsibility was a bit of a mistake, in my opinion, but I shouldn't delve into that, so I won't..., so basically..."
"Uh, one question,"
Usopp said with a sweatdrop,
"You say you're an angel, right? Are you actually allowed to swear like that?"
Kale turned a little red, but he replied haughtily,
"Look, I'm not a Guardian Angel or an Arch Angel or a Silver or a Gold Angel, okay?! A-and I have needs to vent out frustration and express myself, right? A-anyways...
"Just know that Valkrief decided to royally screw up a couple of dimensions for the Devil in exchange for some inhumane and un-angelic powers."
"Shouldn't've done it, really - it was a waste of time because God over-powered and killed him once He discovered what Valkrief had done, anyways. Tad bit stupid, really..."
"Didn't he know that?"
Nami asked, and Kale smiled a little crookedly at her.
"Nope. He was always an arrogant and vain thing, though he didn't seem to realise that. And I take this to mean you are starting to believe me?"
This made the others blink as they realised they were completely enraptured in the boy's words. He gave a small chuckle which rang familiarly in their ears before he continued.
"By any rate, God stopped Valkrief a bit too late. He did His best to fix many dimensions, but He was in a very busy time, remember, so He didn't really have the time He wanted to fix each dimension back to perfection..."
"Perfection?"
"Er, well, near perfection. Or at least perfection in God's eyes...
"In the case of Dimension 2024... well, God was near the end of His tether by the time He'd reached Dimension 2024 for repairs, and He was pretty much ticked off to see just how much damage Valkrief had done to it. Totally ruined everything and everyone in the world. Would've taken what He could spend fixing fifteen other dimensions in the time he could use to fix half of yours."
"That bad?"
Sanji asked, and they were surprised to see Kale's eyes darken for a split second into what was unmistakable rage, but they flickered back to normal as he said rather coolly,
"More than three-quarters of population from the Oda Dimension had died for no reason whatsoever but sadistic enjoyment. It was not a pretty sight."
They looked at each other uncertainly, unsure of what to think, and Kale muttered,
"I guess none of you will realise the meaning of this unless I do it, huh?"
"Do what?"
Zoro asked, but Kale ignored him and went on,
"So God, being typically Himself,"
"-- simply froze the dimension and cast the souls to several other dimensions which hadn't been affected too much."
"According to Him, this dimension, Dimension 900Z, was one of the safest He had from His clutch at the moment..."
Kale paused abruptly, as though he had been about to say something but was thinking twice about it. The others looked at him curiously.
Then Kale chuckled to himself before he continued,
"And He chose to use seven of the thousands of souls He'd sent to this world, 900Z, to figure out everything and fix the wrongs from the other world. Apparently, you guys are just perfect for the job."
"You mean... we're supposed to be responsible for our original dimension?"
Nami asked. Kale was rather surprised at the fact that none of the people before him appeared to be shocked at the fact they belonged to another universe. However, Usopp's mutter of,
"I guess the Alternate Reality Theory was a fluke,"
Answered his unasked question. They'd already considered possibilities to their peculiar predicament. So God does have a reason for having chosen these people... They're pretty perceptive, for one thing. Kale nodded in Nami's direction as he said,
"That would be about right."
"I don't get it,"
Sanji said, and he sounded almost uneasy as he spoke,
"Why didn't we know anything until now? I mean, if we're supposed to recover a whole other world... and just how exactly are we meant to do anything about an entire dimension?"
Kale waggled his finger at Sanji as he said,
"Two very, very good questions, Sanji-kun. Let me think about how to answer that."
He tapped a finger to his chin momentarily before he sighed and said,
"I guess there's only one way to go."
"You mean, only one way to prove you're not just some freaky little spy wasting our time?"
Zoro asked, and the boy narrowed his eyes as they flashed in anger at the green-head.
"I'm an angel. Not a very high-rank one - I'm just a Messenger Angel, but that doesn't mean you can look down on me like that. Besides, didn't the 'door trick' prove anything to you?"
"Not really."
Usopp said, and Kale blinked before laughing.
"A typical answer from an engineer, I guess. What can I do to prove I'm an angel to you?"
Zoro and Sanji said in unison,
"Make Sanji punch himself."
"Have Nami-san settle in my lap."
There was a second of silence as everyone realised what the other had said, then chaos as Sanji yelled 'HEY!' to Zoro, who was chortling to himself, and Nami glaring at Sanji for even suggesting something like that - especially when they were still on thin ice. Sanji wasn't aware of Nami's irritation, and Usopp was trying his best not to laugh and resisting the urge to make Sanji turn and see Nami burning holes through his head.
Kale silenced them by letting out an extremely recognisable, hearty laugh. They stared at him as he spoke in a rather light-hearted tone just as familiar,
"Okay, let's see."
His hands clasped and Kale began to mutter with his eyes shut in a strange language. It didn't sound remotely human. Then they distinctly heard him mutter 'Amen' before he opened his eyes and looked at them expectantly.
There was a long silence as nothing happened. Zoro looked bored, Sanji looked skeptical, and Usopp looked strangely disappointed as Nami rolled her eyes.
Then, without warning, Nami lunged towards Sanji, startling him out of his wits as she flung her arms around his neck in a strangling grip as she settled in his lap. His face flushed pink with sheer pleasure -- then his own fingers curled into a firm fist before punching himself across his face. He fell onto the floor, Nami still on a death-grip on his throat. Zoro was obviously highly amused, but Usopp was a bit louder in his expression and was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
Then Nami sprung off Sanji like a bullet, looking scandalised as she hastily settled back on Zoro's bed. Sanji, sucking in breath gladly, glared daggers at Zoro, who took no notice of his anger. However, Sanji promptly decked him with Zoro's own MD player he found conveniently placed by the bed.
"Hah! Watch what you wish for!"
Sanji said with a triumphant grin, when Nami chucked the MD player back at his temple as she snarled,
"Speak for yourself!"
He gave her a wounded-puppy look as Zoro snatched his MD player and set it on the bed looking annoyed, but Nami looked frostily back before staring pointedly at Kale. Usopp caught the crimson on her ears, however, and smirked, earning a sharp jab in the abdomen.
"I believe you."
Usopp said with a smile. Zoro blinked before shrugging.
"I guess I do too. Thanks for the entertainment, by the way."
Sanji glowered at Zoro and Kale, but muttered embarrassedly,
"Me too."
"I'll believe you if I find your reasoning to be plausible."
Nami said. Kale let out a hearty laugh that sounded terribly familiar to the others before he said in a rather breathless voice,
"Right, then. Let me know first, though - just how much have each of you awoken?"
"Sorry?"
"I mean -- alright, tell me all you know so far about yourselves. Your past selves."
Each blinked and furrowed their brows slightly. Usopp spoke first.
"Well, from my dreams, I know we protected my village, and then I went to join a pirate crew. Zoro and Nami were there..."
"I was a swordsman,"
Zoro offered, and Nami added,
"I was a thief."
"I was a cook,"
Sanji said, and Usopp nodded as he continued,
"Yeah, then we go and we infiltrate Arlong's base--"
"Wait-- how about me?"
Sanji interrupted, sounding a bit offended.
"Oh yeah... you're recruited at the Baratie. But I don't remember doing it myself - I went to Arlong's base first. I guess Zoro..."
"No, I went with you."
Zoro reminded the engineer, and Usopp looked very confused.
"Huh? Then when did Sanji join? He didn't come with us."
"Don't you remember your captain?"
Kale asked. There was a pause. Nami whispered into the silence quite suddenly,
"Arlong..."
The others turned to looked at her in surprise, and the girl continued in a rather unfocused haze,
"...He was the one who defeated Arlong and let me be free...!"
She looked directly at Kale, her eyes widened as she said in a jolt of shock,
"Monkey D. Luffy!"
"Bingo!"
Kale cheered, and the guys gave collective inhalements of surprise as the name penetrated the very confines of their minds.
"Luffy! Of course!"
Zoro muttered. Kale looked a little disturbed as he said,
"You mean you didn't even remember your captain? Then... what else do you know?"
"Uhm... I don't have very good relations with Zoro,"
Sanji said, and Nami added,
"Neither do I with Sanji-kun."
"No, that's not right,"
Kale said a little strangely, surprising Nami and Sanji,
"Sanji and Zoro -- correct, but for you and the cook -- It might be awkward but that-- that's because -- Usopp, didn't you get that dream yet?"
Usopp blinked.
"What dream?"
"Gahh! You mean you haven't gotten it yet?? No wonder you're all so confused!!"
Kale wailed as he pressed his forehead into his palms. The others looked bewildered.
"Uhm, Kale?"
"I'm sorry... but I can't believe you didn't get that dream yet. When did Zoro enter the university?"
"Uhm... this Thursday,"
Zoro said vaguely, and Kale's jaw dropped open.
"What?! Thursday? Four days? You've progressed loads then..."
Shaking his head, Kale gave them another crooked smile.
"No wonder you guys are still confused."
Nami exchanged a glance with Usopp before saying a little tentatively,
"Uh, Kale, now we know you're an angel and all, but... uh, how exactly do you fit into all this? Were you sent here by God to tell us how everything is?"
Kale nodded, but looked slightly troubled.
"It's not exactly that..."
He sighed, leaning back on the desk chair as he said,
"It's not that simple."
A silence met this statement, and Kale suddenly fixed them all with a very sharp and serious look.
"I suppose there is no other way. If Usopp hasn't gotten the dream - which would have been very distorted, but still enough - then you would have all been at least a little aware of what you are about to see now. Doing this is an extremely harsh way of doing things, but hey, it'll awaken you all very, very fully. Plus I'll be able to explain everything to you guys."
"What do you mean?"
Usopp asked, worry lacing his words as he asked nervously,
"What are you planning to do?"
Kale sighed and replied,
"I'm going to give you all a very vivid vision of yourselves in Oda Dimension version... an exact account of how each of you died."
The room froze. They had never given any consideration to the idea they might have died before coming onto Earth before. Kale seemed unaffected very their response, and closing his eyes, he said,
"Be prepared for a good shock."
And clasping his hands together, he muttered a short prayer.
Suddenly, an icy chill ran up each of their spines, and before anyone could say or do something to stop anything, their vision cracked and fell apart as their minds were plunged into a cold, inky blackness that swallowed them up. With their mouths open in silent cries of shock, their bodies slumped listlessly against the bed and the floor, and eventually, the boy's conciousness also left his body to join the others.
A/N: Egads. I'm going in and out of conciousness a lot with fanfiction these days... =.=;; Oh well. Bear with me like you've done 'till now - I sincerely thank you for your patience and your time. *bows* By any rate, I'm sorry that I couldn't cram the entire explanation into one chapter. But let me tell you, instead, that the next chapter just may have the answers you want. *laughs* I'll update really soon, because I've finally reached a breaking point in the story. *smiles* I've been waiting to write some of these chapters since last summer! *sweatdrops* Nyaaaah. [EDIT] Yeah, I revised and reposted the chapter. You can grab the old chapter at: if you feel like it... [/EDIT]