Justice

by Black' Victor Cachat

Dealing with villains is all part of being a superhero, the Justice League knows this. So how do they handle the new supervillain gang that can't decide whether they're good or evil? And said gang, the Straw Hat Pirates, are just desperate to get home to fulfil their dreams, whatever it takes. And they have no problems with fighting more believers in 'Justice' along the way

10. Blackbeard

I do not own either One Piece or Justice League Unlimited.

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Beta read by the wonderful rose7anne101 and MasterQwertster. Make sure to check out their stories!

Also thanks to Lincoln Time and many more of you who provided such wonderful suggestions!

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Guest Review answers :-D

Creation Teller

No worries, I perfectly understand being impatient for writers to just HURRY UP and get the next chapter out X-P

As for chapters, at present count there will be a total of 76 chapters. But in all honesty I would not be surprised if we hit 100 at the rate my wonderful readers keep giving me such wonderful suggestions!

Do please keep up your character suggestions, you have really helped expand not only the cast, but their interactions as well! :-D

You will have to see below for Blackbeard ;-)

Agreed, and it would be fun to see Luffy abuse and misuse the Green Lantern Ring too. However, what kind of foe would then be a challenge for him?

Very sweet of Grinder :-) But yes, he does not really fit the criteria I put in for the end of chapter 5. Captain Alchemy is a possibility given his brief scene in the DCAU. Kudos to Mirror Master for managing to keep a secret like that despite all the effort that would have been put into finding him. Have you seen Captain Cold vs. Johnny Quick? Mind you, I think the DCAU uses the weaker type of gun, but still love the 'mutual respect' part. And yeah, I respect his code and how he makes sure the rest follow it too. That code of course being what keeps them from going too far.

Knight of Shadows, barring any further changes, will be chapter 14.

For Blackbeard, you will have to read this chapter ;-)

I will be consulting the comics indeed, although I will have to be careful adapting in details, if only because of how relatively few readers have looked through them, and the wiki does not cover the details either.

Alright, so the Straw Hats somehow encounter Lobo and hire him on to go steal stuff for them. Not sure how they would have the right currency or something they could trade though. Although I admit now I am wondering about maybe someone else hiring Lobo to go after the pirates, but unsure of where to take it from there . . .

*Facepalm* I had completely forgotten about the hyenas! Thanks! Why I love wonderful readers like you! You will see them shortly ;-)

I am still debating with myself about Luffy getting a Power Ring in general. At the very least I might have to escalate the threats they face if I do . . .

Interesting idea for the Straw Hat Grand Fleet Divisions, although it would have to be something that the newbies would have to initiate themselves since Luffy sure would not. I like how you divided them up (although Harley should be with the Gotham one I feel), and at the very least definitely 'teams' or 'squads' that they would follow. Less sure about the magic users though, if only because they can be pretty over-powered, and even bringing in Justice League ones to counter the pirates' could make them dominate the story I fear. Hmmm, if I do decide to take this Grand Fleet path, I know *just* the chapter.

In terms of Justice League recruits, I confess that I have little knowledge of Creeper. Fire was not someone I had considered developing further, but now definitely considering it more. Heck, she had a big role in an episode, and one possible place to put her in too. As for Vigilante, you can be sure I will not be breaking up his bromance with Shining Knight! ;-) Not so sure what the three would offer in diverse points of view however.

Those might be useful additional false trails to leave in addition to the ones Nightwing already mentioned, especially since they do not know the League thinks they are aliens. And yeah, there will be assumptions that either Jinbe has connections to Atlantis, is an aquatic alien, or is a meta-human changed to look like that.

The casino outfits, including the later leather heist ones, will definitely have an appearance, but I had forgotten about the mafia ones which definitely have to show up!

In regards to the Justice League figuring out the truth of the Straw Hats, I will simply say that the DCAU Question is one of my favourite characters from the show, and he will be demonstrating just what the 'crackpot' is capable of. On a very related note, I SERIOUSLY recommend to you and other readers, "From the Ashes" by AgentMalkere on Archives of Our Own. Not only is it an awesome fic in its own right, but it has heavily influenced certain plans of mine. Be sure to leave a Comment for it!

Incidentally, one of your Reviews was #500! Congratulations! :-D

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

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wormrepo

A totally understandable reason to disable your PMs, even if regrettable I cannot consult with you more readily.

Well I can definitely emphasize with hating it when the groove is disrupted!

Glad the part with the public response is going well, I confess that was a detail I had initially overlooked when I started this, so glad I adapted it in well. Also happy to hear I am doing the bulk of the Straw Hats nicely :-)

In all honesty, I have been trying to *shorten* the chapters, and failing miserably at that so far :-P I will be working to improve upon the characters were I can, but when you get serious about superheroes in general the situation quickly becomes complicated. That is me admitting I am struggling a bit to keep the Justice League in a believable fashion at times as it is. They really do believe what they are doing is right, and given what they are usually up against they have very good reason to do what they are doing. On the flipside, it really is easy to see why Cadmus was able to garner such support. I will however do my best to develop and expand upon the characters, as well as doing my best to keep the Idiot Ball well away from my stories. Except for comedic purposes like someone thinking they can ruin Luffy's meat and get away with it :-P Moreover, the League is going through their equivalent of 'evolve or die,' with the Straw Hats. Nothing like losing to start teaching you how to handle your job properly. Or alternatively you feel driven to take up increasingly more extreme methods until you become the Justice Lords…

I can totally emphasize with you regarding how authors can respond to Reviews. I tend to like to leave detailed ones myself, unless the author does not respond back with later chapters. One time I was even told my suggestions were insulting, despite all the work I had done to try and help. Very infuriating to say the least. X-( While I disagreed with some of your points, you had put a lot of effort into them, which I appreciate, and sincerely hope you continue! :-)

More importantly, your Reviews really did help a lot for this chapter. The bit about the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree was directly from you, and you helped inspire my theory as to why Batman is 'only' a part-timer. So a good part as to why he was a more solid character was thanks to your help :-)

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and support! :-D

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DrHeartStealer

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

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Curious Kit

Here comes more! I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

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Revan

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

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SargentEpsilon

Actually we are already past that episode by now. Diana has been banished too. I did not see any real need to involve the Straw Hats for that episode, although in hindsight I have some ideas. As for the rogue Amazon Aresia, I think she assumed that killing all the men would force the gods to intervene, and hopefully turn all the remaining women into immortal Amazons as well.

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

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HatethePlayer-NevertheGame

I really appreciate hearing that I have made a One Piece crossover that works :-)

No, the whole build-up with Luffy and Gotham and bad food was held off until that very moment for maximum impact.

I feel that while Luffy is indeed dumb, people still underestimate him too much. He reminds me a lot of a character from Discworld, who was noted to appear smart because he was just so cunning. And yeah, Luffy has been through a lot to learn from.

If I keep getting great suggestions, the number of chapters may go up ;-)

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and support! :-D

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Dust Bunny

I am honestly unsure if Law's DFP could changer he like that, as it would involve modifying what is essentially her natural state. Same for Bonney, as her Dahl's issue is that she only ages externally, so getting older would not help her on the outside. Regardless, she does not know about those abilities, and the Straw Hats are still aiming to keep their origins totally secret . . .

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

.

Evil Reviewer

Future responses should be shorter, if only because I realized that if I was going to start responding than I would have to go back several chapters. Especially since some earlier Guest Reviews had been so helpful. Hopefully will not be as long in the future.

As I understand the font is standard across FF, but will see about another form of dividing. Although the way the set-up changes for the chapter title and preview seems like enough for now.

If you figure out a plausible way for me to introduce 'Batman Beyond,' then I will jump right on that! And yes, all those episodes including 'Static Shock,' although a lot less for that one, if only because I have barely watched that series.

Yes, by this point in the series we are not dealing with a Dr. Freeze who is trying to cure his wife, which is admittedly a shame. By this point, episodes like 'Cold Comfort' have happened, which, to quote the DCAU Wiki: "'Cold Comfort', the third episode of The New Batman Adventures, is all about — as the name suggests — Mr. Freeze. Unlike the past, when his ultimate goal was to cure and be reunited with his wife, this time he is only bent on malicious and spiteful vengeance as a way to lash out against all humanity, because he decided that if he can't have happiness then nobody can, and makes the big mistake of targeting Bruce Wayne's loved ones." Which I admit is sad, especially since frankly the dude's 'Batman Beyond' episode is one of my favourites . . . That said, your other review made me realize I was being lazy regarding him, and I have some new ideas now ;-)

Kudos to you for finding that mention about 'Paradise Lost' in an earlier chapter. But yeah, it has already happened in-universe, and when I started and decided I would not be covering every episode, I had decided to leave that one alone to be like canon. Slightly kicking myself over it due to some newer ideas :-P And you are thinking of Tala, who also worked for Cadmus.

Good point for Green Lantern. You should see the "ex-marine" in chapter 11 ;-) Thank you! :-D

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

.

Arios

It was a great idea, and thanks again for recommending it! And to just make the credit explicit now, yeah the cookbook was all you! :-D Except the name, but you set me on that path :-)

Yeah, I have a lot to still do. *Cracks knuckles*

Chapter 10 is all about the Straw Hats ;-)

LOL if the League ever wanted to drive Luffy out of America, just make a fake ad campaign that the US is going all tofu! X-D

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth it! Really looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your review and awesome support! :-D

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Justice

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Chapter 10: Blackbeard

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Previously:

The Straw Hats are now working on lying low after all the chaos they have recently caused, drawing the world's attention to themselves. Stuff like Sanji crippling Joker for example . . .

In the meantime, Franky continues his work to return them all to their home dimension.

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Note: To avoid confusion, I do recommend readers first google: One Piece wiki moon. You can get by without it, but you might be pretty surprised and even confused if you do not. I know I was.

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November 4

"Mind telling me why the silent treatment?"

A little surprised, Poison Ivy turned to look at Sanji who was being uncharacteristically serious. Well, serious for him when talking to a woman at least. No swaying around, and no calling her name adoringly and intimately. Something he did even when she made her contempt clear.

They were standing in one of her personal rooms within the ever-expanding underground complex. Walls lined with some of her more . . . exotic hybrids. Muscular, humanoid plants with toxic spines that would fight to protect their mommy or plant-life in general. Such darlings.

For whatever reason, the Straw Hats largely respected her privacy, with only Usopp or occasionally Robin joining her in tending to her babies. Even then, those two did nothing to stop her from amassing her own dangerous, little army. With any other people, she would conclude it was because they were so arrogantly confident in their power that they believed she was too cowed to ever possibly consider betraying them. Except right now she could not deny the feeling it was simply because they trusted her. Which was a new and strange experience for her. Someone actually trusted her without being an idiot or arrogant. Or Harley, who was not quite an idiot.

After some thought, she chose not to abuse it. Yet.

Still, it remained somewhat unusual that one of the others would seek her out like this, much less Sanji. "Mind telling me why you're violating my solitude?"

With careful deliberation he stepped forward into the greenhouse/lab. "I decided if a woman was going to tear out my heart, I'd rather she do it without Mosshead blundering in."

With a soft "Hmm," she checked another of her children. Good. The newest variant of the toxin is coming along nicely. It had been Robin who suggested using different strains for each individual plant, trading greater effort on her part, in exchange for a lessor chance of Batman developing a general vaccine or antidote. He always was terrifyingly adept at that.

After ignoring him for five minutes, his silent presence finally made her resolve wilt, and she told him. "I'm still angry at you for what you did to Harley." Seeing his confusion, she elaborated. "What you did to Joker, while I'm glad it pushed her into leaving him, you also endangered her life by doing so. Who knows what he's capable of now?

"Not only that, she's now forced to live here with all your madness, and the entire Justice League after us all. Even if we left right this instant . . ." she trailed off.

Sanji sighed. "Sorry. I had kind of an idea of who he was, which is why I made him unable to smile, only nothing specific. I know more now, but yeah maybe I didn't think it through enough."

"You should've killed him. For all we know he'll come after her now."

"I'm not that kind of guy, and I'll protect her if he does."

"Man up!" she hissed. "Your or Batman could've killed him anytime, and you haven't! He'll be a threat to her for as long as he lives!"

The chef gave an unapologetic shrug. "While I've killed before, in the heat of the moment against guys who're too weak for my kicks, it's not something I'm in the habit of doing." Pulling out a cigarette, he lit it before finishing, "I grew up with people who were into that, and I've no intention to doing the same. I've seen what it makes them become, and selfish or not, I've no interest going down that road."

At that, she leapt at him for snap-kick that could knock down even Joker's toughest thugs, except Sanji did not even seem to notice the blow. "You have no idea what he's capable of!" Poison Ivy yelled at him.

To her surprise, he backed off, and plopped down on the edge of one of her planters. "No, I don't. Otherwise I'd have made sure he was too afraid to even think of coming near her again. Which is why I need your help protecting everyone."

The sudden humility in a man who tended to act so openly and perverted threw her off. Especially from a man in general. Although, from day one I've known how different they are, she fiercely reminded herself, unsure if she was trying to warn herself or defend them.

In truth, with the Straw Hats and Harley, she felt . . . safe. Happy. Maybe not as happy as she had been as 'Pamela Carlyle,' when she had created her own artificial family until Batman ruined it, yet still happy.

Happier than she had been since then.

Of course, that was not to say she did not have hidden plant replicas of her and Harley within her little garden. If the pirates started showing a darker side, the two of them would switch out and make their getaway.

"For what it's worth," he continued. "I think you're underestimating Harley."

"No I'm not!" she snapped back. "She'll bloom fresh and stronger than ever here, I know that. I also know that with you people, you'll continue to draw in greater and greater threats in turn!"

Another reason for the Human-plant clones stashed away.

!JUSTICE!

Sighing to himself, Sanji took another draw of his cigarette. He knew that Poison Ivy was right in that sense. Every one of the Straw Hats had a tendency to draw in opposing powers. Stronger and more dangerous each time. Their Captain approved of that. No, he was the ringleader calling out a challenge to them all. The only question was if their nakama could remain tougher and more resourceful than whoever came their way. Still, that was not a productive argument with Poison Ivy.

After all, it was Ivy who had dragged Harley to them in the first place. Because they were both so scared of the Joker, which also answered why the redhead did not do in the madman herself. That and the fact that Harley might never forgive her if she did . . .

Trying another track, he said, "We're all lying low for the time being, so that should be good. Nothing to draw attention to ourselves."

"Oh, didn't you hear?" she asked with mild surprise. "Another job just popped up."

Surprised, Sanji took his cigarette from his mouth. "What kind of job would let Nami-swan change her mind?" he queried.

Ivy shrugged. "Robin got a tip that someone's hunting whale sharks. I'm a little tempted to go too, but I'm more for saving plant life, and I agree that I shouldn't advertise our little team-up yet."

He relaxed and resumed his smoking. "Ah, say no more." If Nami had been approached about a job against people endangering animals, she would have refused. However, even if those animals were actually sharks, they were close enough, and it was in the name, to upset Brook. So she would have said it was up to Luffy to decide, and he likely would have agreed. Especially since not only was Jinbe a whale shark Fishman, they were also the species he was most connected to, making it a no brainer. "I'm sure they'll have fun."

Despite herself, she smiled at that. "I'm sure they will."

!JUSTICE!

In another part of the base, the away team was finishing prepping Franky's custom jet.

"All set!" chirped Chopper, confirming he had various life jackets and other buoyancy devices ready. Like many other things, they were all more advanced than what they had back home, with a variety of additional safety features.

"All right," Brook said, dropping the cheerful attitude for that of a warrior preparing for a crusade. This was personal.

"From what Karrade told Robin," growled Jinbe, "if we take the jet we should get there just before the poachers do."

"Honestly," Brook noted, "it's stuff like this that really makes the Justice League's condescension towards us puts my nose out of joint. If they were doing their jobs properly, it wouldn't even be necessary for us to have to deal with stuff like this! Not that I have a nose of course, Yo ho ho ho~!"

"Yeah," grumped Chopper (still adorably). "Why doesn't Aquaman do something more about this! Doesn't he talk to fish or something?"

"That's unconfirmed," Jinbe neutrally said. "It could be just the ability to control them, not talk to them. And from what I've read up on him," –because of course Jinbe would ask Robin for everything she had on another underwater kingdom— "he has indeed made an impact. He has taken to task many of those who have endangered both the oceans, and those who live beneath the waves.

"It's just that he's claimed sole responsibility over too vast a region for one man to handle. It's 70% of the surface of the world, and to all appearances he's chosen to be the sole protector and enforcer of it all.

"His flaw is his refusal to delegate the job of watching over the seas. On top of that, he has to handle ruling his people directly, and apparently he's trying to be a husband and father as well."

"Tsk," the skeleton shook his head.

"Even Luffy knows you're supposed to let other people do the jobs they're good at!" cried Chopper. "What is wrong with the guy!?"

"Well said," nods Jinbe, booting up the jet.

!JUSTICE!

Straw Hat Base

Volcana smiled as she brushed Maureen's hair some more.

The once limp and pale girl was now full of life, chatting away about her newest adventure with the Straw Hats. They were all such a . . . interesting group, that there was always something new and fun going on. Listen to Brook's singing, helping Usopp tinker or work with plants, laugh and prank with Luffy, etcetera.

Volcana just kept a loose eye on the girl to make sure she did not get involved in anything too serious. Like stealing Zoro's sake, or Sanji's cigarettes. Not that she thought they would hurt Maureen, it was just that the older woman was unsure how well the young teen would handle getting swept up in it all.

Most the Straw Hats were about her age, or a little older, yet they were all also a lot more, hmm, 'tougher' was not the right word. More how their own layers of scars had given them some extra cushioning, and Volcana wanted to help the girl be strong with as little pain as possible.

Well, without more pain, Volcana admitted to herself. I'd still prefer her to not have to endure those sorts of scars though.

Zoro had one over his chest that should have killed him, and he was missing an eye. They did not seem that old, and he was only twenty-one.

At age nineteen, Luffy had a burn scar over his chest that should have left him dead.

The pyrokinetic knew this, because she had killed people that way.

This young girl she was pampering deserved more from life than that. Just a little longer.

"-ana?"

With a blink she realized she had gotten distracted, and Maureen was looking at her in confusion in the mirror.

"Sorry!"

"What's wrong?"

"I—" she hesitated, and looked away. Brutal honesty seemed the way to go. Half-truths and deceit were all she had known as a teenager herself after all. "I just worrying about you."

"Why? I'm safe here! Besides, Luffy an' the others'll protect us!"

"Not always," warned Volcana. "They're strong, but you can't trust them to always be there every time to save you." A false belief like that was too dangerous.

"I just," she paused once more. "I want you to be happy too . . . And I'm so sure that you will be if you get totally sucked up into the life of Luffy and the others."

While most of them were younger than her, they were all so powerful and charismatic it seemed almost inevitable. Even now Volcana knew that she might never leave. Not unless it was for Maureen maybe, or something else as important. However she felt it might be best for the brunette to be able to do so more freely.

Especially since to this day she had no idea what their final agenda was. Even Luffy was surprisingly close-mouthed about where they were from, or what the purpose was behind all those thefts and schemes. She knew there was some greater plan behind it all, and she had no idea what would happen once they succeeded. Only that whatever it was, the need to accomplish it was almost all-consuming for them at times.

Oh, she had suspicions of course. It was merely that for someone like her, all those secrets put her on edge, despite how wonderful everything else was.

Instead of becoming upset or confused, the younger girl turned around to pull the shocked super-villainous into a surprisingly warm hug. "I'll be fine . . . Big Sis."

Nothing more in her life shocked the redhead, and then catching the searching, hesitant look she was getting, returned the embrace. With interest. "I know you will. I just worry, Little Sister."

Now the teenager looked awkward, and changed the subject. "And besides, I can fight too if I want!" Instantly the room cooled and snowflakes whirled around them. In answer Volcana called forth her fires and evaporated them all, making Maureen giggle.

"Hey, Volcana?"

"Yes? Why do you call yourself that? I mean, so do most of the others. Stuff like Clayface, Poison Ivy, even for Harley. Should I go back to being Permafrost?"

"NO!"

Maureen jumped back at that, and Volcana quickly elaborated. "Our names, our titles, they're our way of saying we're no longer a part of society. Distancing ourselves from our past lives. You don't have to make that choice yet."

Not to mention how when Maureen had been at her most vulnerable and unstable, she had heard 'voices' calling her that ominous name. For her own sake, it was best not to go down that path. Ever again.

"What do you mean not a part of society?"

It only just then dawned on Volcana that no, it was not really clear to her little sister that everyone in her new family was some sort of criminal. Of course not. They were all her heroes.

Right.

Well.

With a pained sigh, she elaborated. "You know how everyone here doesn't really like the superheroes?"

"Well, I don't think Luffy cares. Neither does Zoro. Sanji loves the women like he always does. Robin seems caught between amusement, and well, something else, and—"

"Yes, yes, but what about the law then?"

"Oh, they all treat it as a big joke. I don't get all of Harley's jokes though."

A word might be necessary with the mad blonde.

"Well, Maureen, it's because we're all wanted by the law."

"Huh?"

"We're criminals."

"Oh. . . . Why?"

"That's a long story. For each of us. The short version is, the law caused us all pain, and then tried to blame it all on us."

The ice-user was silent for two minutes, before giving a firm nod, and even firmer hug again. "Well, they aren't taking any of you guys away from me! That's a promise!"

Once more Volcana felt herself melting into those arms. The irony. Who knew this could be her life?

Without another word they went back to sprucing each other up, when they realized two more people had joined them.

"Robin, Nami," grinned Maureen. "What're you guys doing here?"

Both women were dressed in sweatshirts and sweatpants, and were smiling at the younger (although only by a few years in Nami's case) girl with happiness. She was a bright new light in their lives, without the usual stress that accompanied it.

They also looked like night and day right now.

Nami's orange hair and yellow clothes made her look like the sun.

Robin on the other hand, had taken a curious approach to Goth.

Some days she fully embraced it, and others she was back to wearing bright clothing. Today was the former, with her wearing black clothes, lipstick, and eyeliner, with her shirt reading in red, 'How Is Your Blood?'

Well, she still makes a great 'aunt' figure for Maureen, Volcana allowed. Then their outfits fully clicked in.

Faceplaming, Volcana nodded. "Right, it's time for more sparring practice, isn't it?"

"Yes," smiled Robin, while Nami just sighed in resignation.

Not that Volcana had a drop of sympathy.

"Don't you dare give me that look," she groused, catching from her peripheral Maureen's sudden concern. "You pack away just as much of Sanji's delicious food as we do, and never seem to gain a pound!"

"Oh," Nami stuck out a cheeky tongue. "You and the other ladies starting to put on weight?"

A wordless growl was the best Volcana could muster, while Maureen giggled a bit. "Are you getting fat?"

"No!" The other unfair thing was Maureen continued to need to put on more weight after being homeless for so long, so Sanji freely plied her with mounds and mounds of mouth-watering foods, followed by glistening desserts.

Still grinning, Nami patted her toned, flat stomach. "Guess you gals will just have to up your game then! And yeah, exercise is a pain, but overall worth it!"

Glaring daggers, Volcana stalked towards the downstairs gym. She was still wearing her regular super-villainous uniform (which was not getting tight around the waist! At all.), and that was good enough to train in.

As they were walking off to the underground gym, Volcana remembered another 'danger' to keep her charge away from. "And Nami, no more trying to drag Maureen into your insurance scams!"

"It's insurance against Luffy and whatever chaos he causes! Everyone'll be buying it eventually, and we can just run off with the cash!"

"No!"

!JUSTICE!

Harley Quinn gave a depressed sigh, chin resting on her fists. "At this rate, I'm goin' to feel insecure!" Her fellow super-villainesses gave reluctant nods of assent.

In front of them, Robin and Nami were doing their own training, their utterly beautiful bodies rippling with hard-toned muscles as they moved faster and stronger than any of the other ladies present. Light glistened off the sweat coating their bodies.

Robin was doing a series of kicks with weights on. From some cryptic words she had said, and some other comments her crew had made in response, it seemed like there had been an occasion where her arms were bound, and had been unable to use her powers. Hence her desire to expand her repertoire as a precaution.

Overseeing her was Sanji, who was taking the matter so seriously that he was not even complimenting her shapely legs as his keen eyes swept over her every movement. Clearly whatever the past incident had involved, it had been serious business!

As for Nami, she was sparring against Zoro. She was wielding her unique weapon, expanding it into a staff of different lengths, or contracting it into a baton at incredible speeds. While she was showing incredible skill with it, and developing new combinations with her versatile little 'toy,' Zoro was casually matching her with one sword. He was not acting bored however, as he assessed her thrusts and swings with an analytical focus to match Sanji's, and his own verbal critiques and praises were just as piercing.

In comparison, the various super-villainesses who were so feared by law enforcement, felt slow and bloated. Except for Poison Ivy to an extent, whose all vegetarian diet at least managed to keep her smugly slim.

"It's not just that they're supermodels who're also hard-core," Volcana noted. (She would have made a comparison to Lara Croft, except she was persona non grata within hearing distance of Robin . . . which appeared to extend for at least a hundred meters any direction). "It's how fast they get stronger. I mean, I dropped by last week, and Robin's weights were at least five pounds lighter then."

"Which makes sense," Cheetah admitted, gesturing over towards two pairs of clone arms of Robin's. One pair was doing bicep curls with weights, while the other was exercising the triceps. Clearly she was able to gain muscle mass this way. Although since she was not using more arms for it, the scientist had to wonder if the brunette also felt the fatigue from such exertion.

"It's literally not fair," Harley dejectedly nodded. It took the others a few seconds to catch on, and once the egg-headed psychologist turned seasoned fighter saw the comprehension, she continued. "All of the Straw Hats learn and get stronger faster than the rest. You can see it happening. It's like they're anime protagonists or somethin'."

Then Harley blinked, and slapped both sides of her head. "Stop it! I'm wanted in twelve states, and I've taken down Bats before!"

Narrowing her eyes, she grabbed the massive hammer at her side to rest it on her shoulder, and fluidly stood up. With smooth precision, she stalked towards Zoro and Nami, her faithful hyenas, Bud and Lou, growling and snickering as they stalked by her side.

"Hey!" Both fighters stopped to look at her. "When's my turn!?"

She almost regretted it as she saw Zoro's feral grin, yet Harley's determined expression never faltered. She had seen worse. Much worse.

Nami's smile was much friendlier. "Go at Zoro with everything you've got. He'll give you some tips, and then you and I can start sparring."

"Your dogs fight with you?" checked Zoro, mistaking them for actual canines.

"Bud and Lou, sic 'em," was Harley's only reply.

With that, she and her 'babies' leapt into the fray.

!JUSTICE!

The rest of training went very well from there.

Poison Ivy had started up her own kicking regime alongside Robin, with Sanji giving helpful advice. At the same time, Volcana kept shooting fire at him, which he continued to casually dodge. Not once did he give a compliment unrelated to their progress.

Cheetah had gone against Nami, only taking a break once she had been worn and beaten down to the point she had trouble moving. The redhead had generously carried her aside, only giving a single sharp rap on the noggin when Cheetah tried a surprise attack after playing possum.

On Robin's advice, Clayface had separated himself into two independent parts to fight each other, something he was embarrassed he had not thought of before, despite having had the ability for so long. Now one of them had shifted to look like Batman, to practice fighting against his greatest foe.

Off on the other side of the massive underground training room, they could hear constant crashes.

And screaming.

"What's going on over there?" Poison Ivy finally asked.

"Luffy and Usopp," answered Sanji, dodging another burst of fire. "Usopp's been working on a skill called Observation Haki, and it's best developed under stress or duress. So Luffy's—"

BOOM!

The ground shook.

After a moment, the sounds of chasing resumed, with the screams reaching an even higher pitch.

"So Luffy's giving Usopp incentive," deadpanned Sanji.

"I think I'll pass on learning this Haki anytime soon," muttered Volcana, with Ivy giving a quick nod of agreement.

"Eh, who knows," Zoro unexpectedly cut in. "One day you guys might get to the level you can actually use it. One day."

"We'll get there," moaned Harley Quinn, lying exhausted on the ground, her hyenas curled up beside her. Zoro had given her a real workout, with Nami was coming up with a water bottle for her blonde friend. The ex-psychiatrist looked over at the only remaining pair here.

In a brutal, pseudo boxing/wrestling match, Grundy and Franky were trading blows. While the former was clearly the stronger, he lacked the skills and experience of the blue-haired man, and was getting pointers. After always being treated as dumb muscle, Grundy was finally learning how to actually fight for once.

"Huh," grinned Harley widely. "A zombie vs. cyborg match-up in a secret pirate base. Who woulda thunk it, huh?"

!JUSTICE!

After everyone's workouts, Luffy carried in a beaten and battered Usopp over his shoulder.

Weirdly, they were both grinning like loons, even if Usopp kept wincing in pain.

Waving off any concerns of the super-villains, Luffy carried the sniper upstairs, saying he just needed a breather. Feeling rested themselves, everyone went back upstairs to do their own things.

!JUSTICE!

Later

At an abandoned warehouse a few blocks from Franky's lab, a series of large transport trucks drove into another desolate yet expansive building.

All of the drivers were familiar hands with this now, calmly got out of their cabs, and walked over to the line of suitcases in the middle of the room, each sporting one of their names. As one they opened them up to confirm their payment as they counted the pile of bills, including a little extra to pay for a taxi cab home (it was the small things that made them so appreciative), and they walked out.

The next morning they would return to pick up their now empty trucks, and go back to their regular jobs until they were contacted again to move heavy and mysterious shipments that none of them felt tempted to examine.

Up in the roof beams and shadows, a camera recorded all, and deep in his lab Franky grinned as his newest pieces of heavy machinery had arrived.

With this latest delivery, he had enough supplies for months if necessary, as he struggled to find a way back home! Alright, maybe weeks. Still…

A SUPER good haul!

After all, it took a lot stuff for the work he was doing.

The unfortunate fact of the matter was that none of them, including Franky, really knew what they needed as he basically invented a brand new scientific field on his own.

His latest project was trying to study the Vivre Cards they had brought with them, except instead of moving towards whomever they had been made from, all they did was sit there, shaking back and forth. Various scans were not providing any useful clues, and Franky vowed that once they got back home he was going to figure out how to make one, and how exactly they worked.

Not only were a lot of resources eaten up in trial and error, more than a few times they had made a daring robbery for equipment and materials, only to later discover that it was all a dead end and what they had taken was now useless to them except for selling.

Which was also why their financial costs were so high, requiring such massive heists.

Well, that and having to feed our SUPER captain of course, Franky fondly smirked.

!JUSTICE!

Straw Hat Jet

Thank you for coming by the way, Chopper."

Blinking, human-reindeer hybrid looked up from his latest notes at the musician's voice. "Oh, no worry," he quickly assures them. "I'm happy to help."

"Even so," Brook somberly says, "I know that this is difficult for you, and I appreciate it."

Usually Chopper would get all worked up by the compliment, except he knew how sensitive whale hunting is for the skeleton, and both knew how uncomfortable talking to animals is for Chopper.

Well, on this world at least.

Back home, he could have whole conversations with them. Of course, he preferred talking to his fellow Humans more, and not just because of the possibility that whoever he had just connected with might later end up on the dinner table.

The other Humans (if you could call some of them that) tried not to think about how even fish could have full-length discussions if you spoke the right language.

Even Luffy tried his best to be sensitive about it.

Of course if they had just asked Chopper, they would have been surprised to learn he was perfectly accepting of it. Being eaten was just part of how the circle of life worked. The animal kingdom understood this, even if they would do all they could to stay alive. So long as the ones who were killed were eaten to rejoin the cycle, they were fine with it. Wastage was another story entirely.

Like hunting whale sharks wholescale, just for their oils and such, and killing even pregnant mothers.

Hence why it was personal all around.

Things were of course different in this new universe. For instance, while there were some similar animals (i.e. cats and dogs), there were also some missing, like carnivorous rabbits.

(Luffy and Usopp had been horrified to discover dinosaurs were extinct here, and had seriously considered for a bit to send some back when they went home. No place should be without dinosaurs.)

(Fortunately –for this world— Luffy decided to stick to his policy of as minimal exchange as possible. Treating it as a terrible, if necessary burden in this case.)

To his dismay, Chopper had also discovered that none of the animals here were remotely as intelligent as the ones back home. Granted, back when he had been a so-called 'normal' animal, Chopper had been incapable of even concentrating on stuff like medical treatments, yet he had still been self-aware enough to recognize what his lifestyle was like, and remember personal details. Some creatures were brighter than others as well.

All these animals here were just dumb. As in, nothing remotely worth talking about. Unless of course you wanted to be sure they were alright, and were willing to endure a stilted, painful conversation to learn more about their circumstances.

It was not recommended.

Except for dolphins and whales. He could still have a pleasant chat with them. Which only made Humans targeting them all the more disgusting!

"How is your research going?" Jinbe asks, changing the topic.

"Oh, pretty good!" Chopper lights up. "I've been learning so many things here! Especially in researching about the Humans. There's been so much I've learnt, and so many questions to explore now!"

When they had first come to this universe, one of the first things they had done after realizing they were on a different planet, and Luffy got them back on their feet, was do some further research to verify their speculation.

There had been some initial confusion from details like how their system for determining blood-types was generally different from what Chopper was used to, but other than that, everything checked out. An entire planet of normal Humans! Except for the meta-humans. Which were a relatively new thing according to history of this planet, give or take a few decades . . .

Not that Chopper had had any chance to examine 'normal' Humans with his crew itself, and he was not just talking about their ability to survive trauma which should have at least required brand new organs. Frankly, they should all be dead already. Many times over. To name a few examples:

Zoro could chew and swallow razors, or survive on poisonous food and water.

Sanji had trained himself to be immune to fire.

Luffy . . . Where did Chopper even start!? Devil Fruit aside, Chopper was coming to suspect that his friend was subconsciously using that same technique that CP9 had: Life Return, complete control over one's bodily functions. He also seemed capable of converting food and water to heal himself at a frankly absurd rate.

Franky was surviving on Cola. Which made no sense for a cyborg. Never mind the energy requirements for powering all his gadgetry (for which engine oil or something made more sense), but when Chopper had stopped to think about it he realized that the soda alone could not maintain a Human body. Certainly not for the stunts his friend would suddenly be capable of by inserting a bottle inside himself. Except if it was not broken, it was best not to pry into matters too much. So how in the seven seas cola produced enough energy would remain a mystery for the ages. Thankfully they (Robin) had started a company producing the exact same brand he was used to, so as to ensure he never ran out. And it was very popular with youth of today. A SUPER drink for a SUPER day.

And do not even get him started on Brook!

As near as Chopper could theorize, while Brook's skeleton was moved and powered by his soul and will, it had limited energy to do so. Hence why he felt tired, and took the time to actually sleep, all to 'recharge.' . . . If that made a lick of sense.

The rest appeared psychosomatic, in that despite everything Brook 'knew' he needed to eat, could poop (yes, yes he did. The skeleton could stink up the bathroom as much as anyone, and Chopper had samples to prove it!), or be drugged if he 'knew' from seeing others fall unconscious that he should too (they had not really tested that one, except it had happened at Punk Hazard). Although it also appeared that food could provide additional energy to the soul, so when it went down his throat where food was supposed to be digested and broken down into said energy . . . it just did. Plus he could convert milk into fixing bones, because Brook 'knew' that was what milk did.

In theory, the only restrictions Brook had were energy and what limits he let his mind place upon himself. Except given how fragile his mental state had been left after fifty years of isolation, amongst other traumas, it was not something to be experimented with. At all.

Chopper shook his head to readjust his thoughts.

"What's been most incredible," the doctor went on, "is learning about what they've discovered about the Lineage Factor, or DNA as they call it here; the blueprint of life." He had been most interested to learn from Sanji about Doctor Vegapunk and Vinsmoke Judge's discovery.

Yes, Vinsmoke Judge, not 'father.' Their friend had made it very explicit that 'Vinsmoke Sanji' had died at sea years ago.

Regardless, the Germa 66 and Caesar Clown's developments with it had made learning more an obvious priority. Especially as they were at war with Kaidou and his army of artificial Devil Fruit users.

"I know that they're further ahead than us regarding the Lineage Factor," Jinbe said, "so I'm guessing you've figured out what's different between Humans here, and Humans at home?"

"That's just the thing! And weird at that. I can't find any significant difference between us and them! Not only are all the organs the same and everything, I can't find any real genetic dissimilarities between us. Metahumans like Volcana, Cheetah, and the others, are the only ones genetically divergent from Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, Nami, and Franky!"

(Readings from the Devil Fruit Users were still too confusing.)

"So I don't understand why regular people here have a limit to how strong, fast, and tough they can be, and why Zoro's Zoro, and not killing himself with just his exercise regime!" He took a deep breath, and continued more calmly. "I think that what gives us the ability to grow so much is something environmental. Maybe intensifying the further we go down the Grand Line."

"Well, that's fascinating," said a shocked Brook. "It's generally accepted that the reason people get stronger is because their enemies become stronger as they are funneled through the Blues into the Grand Line. Only the strong survive, which means their opponents become increasingly strong as well."

"Indeed," said a distracted Jinbe as he thought it over. "While the growing ferocity of the wildlife is explained by them needing to be tough enough to survive the weather conditions that only worsen the farther down you go. Now though you're saying it might be something else . . ."

None of them were sure what exactly the ramifications of this revelation were, yet they all knew they would be significant. For instance, learning to harness this mysterious outside force that affected people so much.

In this place, barring radiation, magical artifacts, or advanced technology, no Human could beat Superman with their fists. In the Straw Hats' world, theoretically anyone could become as absolutely terrifying as 'Red Haired' Shanks, or 'Hawkeye' Mihawk.

"Any other world-shattering revelations or questions?" Jinbe asked, a drop of sweat on his brow. Brook poured himself some tea from a thermos; he had a feeling he might need it.

"Well, more weird and suspicious than serious," admitted Chopper.

"That doesn't really narrow it down."

"Yo ho ho ho~! That's our life right there!"

Rubbing his small beard, Jinbe pondered further. "Questions and questions. It is clear however we are dealing with two separate worlds, where the inhabitants are so alike, and yet so different, in very curious ways. To the degree this fact is in itself suspicious."

The others nodded in agreement. "Well, we're certainly learning more and more here," Brook said with a happy tone.

"Yep!" clapped Chopper. "As much as we need to get back home, I'm still having fun learning so much! I can't wait to tell others about all of this! Like Law!"

!JUSTICE!

"So what was last night's film about?" asked a fully recovered Usopp (Luffy had been going easy on him really). He had been so busy yesterday with some new potential plant hybrids with Poison Ivy, the two of them had lost track of time and missed it. Or at least he had. Poison Ivy only joined them for movie night if Harley dragged her along. Or Luffy.

Usopp figured she would be joining them regularly in the near future.

Besides, it was not exactly a project they could leave unattended. Their newest product of delicate crossbreeding required regular attention to ensure it did not eat the other flora. Or cement.

. . . I'm going to double-check Maureen knows not to go into that greenhouse. . . . Or any of them for that matter.

"Oh, it was awesome!" panted Sanji. "It was about these three beautiful angels who go around beating people up and being spies and totally incredible! I'd be beaten up by them any day!"

That might explain a few things, Usopp sweatdropped. Well, no. Sanji did not get off on pain, just attention from women. Especially pretty ones.

Coughing, he redirected his focus back to safer topics. "Oh, right, now I remember hearing about it. 'Charlie's Angels,' right? I think Harley said they work as private investigators for a guy named Charlie."

"Yeah," Sanji flatly said, pulling out a cigarette. "There was something about that going on." His gaze became lustful again. "Imagine me having ladies like that working for me! Oooh, or maybe—" he paused to check no one native to this universe was in earshot "—some of the ones we already know!

"Like Pudding!"

The master actress, charming and blushing her way through the crowds.

Three eyes narrowed in careful concentration as she ruffled through the mind of her unconscious mark.

Glaring with a sharp, chilling beauty as she shot her way through a horde of goons.

Princess Charlotte Pudding!

"Viola!"

Dancing tantalizingly before a large assembly of men, every eye on her.

Seeming to be staring out into open space with her hands over her eyes, reading the details of critical documents from four kilometers away.

Dancing through a crowd of men, except this time with a knife in either hand.

Princess Riku Viola!

"And Viv—"

"Bon-chan!" cried Luffy.

The tall and proud transvestite making his way through any party and fortress disguised as one of their officers. Finding excuses to touch the faces of others so he could turn into them as necessary.

Being in a judicial court wearing someone else's body, as he gave a tearful 'confession' to send a criminal mastermind to jail for life.

Laughing as his Ballet Kenpo tore through all the muscular tough guys trying to stop him.

Bentham, a.k.a. Mr. 2 Bon Kurei.

The newly arrived Luffy continued to chatter on. "And they could be Sanji's Angels, going off to do totally awesome spy missions together!"

Usopp ducked under the table to cover his mouth. If Sanji caught him laughing . . . he was a dead man.

Twitching in horror as his brain tried to kill itself at the images of the Okama dancing alongside those two lovely, real angels, Sanji managed to regain a semblance of sanity.

Fighting his urge to puke, he grabbed his Captain by the shirt collar and dragged him through the air. Wrenching the door open, the cook threw him at the first person he saw. "Clayface! Take this sicko someplace else and keep him entertained before I kill him!"

Glancing down at the giggling teen in his muddy arms, Clayface did the prudent thing and beat a hasty retreat.

!JUSTICE!

With a concerned frown, Nami knocked on the door to Robin's private office.

"Come in, Nami," the owner called out.

Totally unsurprised that her best friend and surrogate sister knew who it was, she walked right in.

Nico Robin's private office was not what many would expect for someone of her reputation and status.

Master assassin. Beacon of hope to the Revolutionary Army. The puppet master who managed the Straw Hats growing financial empire and intelligence network.

Because above all else she was the Straw Hat's archaeologist.

Which meant she was supposed to know any relevant history.

The small room held only a single desk and two chairs, with thick books piled everywhere. Stacks of paper covered the desk, yet right now she was sitting with her fingers laced together, thinking.

At the tender age of eight, the older woman had earned the distinguished title of Scholar, this world's equivalent of a full doctorate professor. Ergo, memorizing and bringing together stray pieces of data in her mind was literal child's play for her. What some called a Mind Palace.

As a fellow prodigy, Nami could properly appreciate all that.

Plopping down into the comfortable seat, Nami placed amongst all the papers her own contributions: a thick folder, and an animal encyclopedia with a few sheets of paper tucked inside.

Opening her eyes, Robin looked at Nami's expression, and sighed as she saw confirmation written there. "I see." The concern on her face made the redhead a little nervous.

Ever since they had reunited after that painful, two year separation, the raven haired woman had become far more open about her emotions. That said, her response to ominous news was generally a smile, and a cheerful suggestion as to how it could get worse. Or grim threats of her own. Serious, contemplative silence was now out of character.

"Robin, what do you know? And, well, how long has this being going on?"

She was well aware that there were many things Robin did not tell them back home, except that was okay since none of them really cared about what she had done when she had been on her own, or about the ancient secrets she kept safe. They were, as hard as it may be for an outsider to comprehend, unimportant.

Now though, it was apparent that there were details warranting further attention by her and the rest.

"Nothing concrete," Robin said. "Just a growing list of coincidences that I cannot explain."

She picked up the folder Nami had brought, and looked through it in surprise, as it was full of sheets and sheets of paper covered in fine, precise equations. "What is this?"

Now Nami perked up a bit. "Well, y'know how I'm the best navigator there is? Period?"

(Or close enough. Besides, at the rate they were going, by the time they were done claiming the One Piece, most of the rival pirate crews would be crushed along with their own navigators, probably under the heels of the Straw Hats, so there went the competition.)

(Or had been going, since now they were stuck here and not in the New World!)

"Of course," Robin genuinely smiled. "I daresay, you even taught the people of Weatheria a thing or two."

"Maybe," she cheekily grinned. "I certainly left with all their secrets."

(Not that it had been hard. The nice old men there had not even been trying to hide them.)

Her expression became harder, "As well as some of their deepest questions and concerns. They've been studying meteorology all over the world, and still had some pretty serious mysteries. Since coming here, to this place, and learning what they know, when I first started figuring out their meteorology, a lot of it made no sense at all."

"Because our worlds are so different?" offered Robin, except that Nami knew her well enough to know that even without this context it was clear there was more to that question then readily appeared.

Rubbing her forehead, Nami confessed, "When we first got here, we thought this place was messed up. Because it didn't follow the rules we were used to. Except I knew that there had to be some sort of fundamental similarities between universes, or else we wouldn't be able to survive here." She groaned at the memory of all her work. Learning all that new information, including entirely new fields of study, had been incredibly trying for even her genius intellect to soldier through. "Honestly, if it wasn't for Franky doing similar stuff to get us home, I probably would've given up already."

"I've talked to him about it," Robin quietly said. "Their understanding of the underlying structure of the universe, of so many scientific fields," she shrugged, "it's impressive."

"And forced me to consider," she sighed in turn, "that looking at things from their perspective might be the right idea. That the truth was that we do not fully understood our own world . . ."

Silence reigned for a minute, before Robin gently touched her arm, jolting out of her reverie. Coughing into her fist, Nami gave her report:

"On some level, they are the same. The Blues," the four calmest and oceans, "are pretty much what we've got here on a global scale. Their explanations for how the weather works though were big surprises, and it took a lot of work," she gestured at the thick pile of sheets, "to figure out how to merge Weatheria's equations with this world's."

"Oh?" Now Robin looked more impressed. Which she should. Proper Navigation was not just an art, it was a science too.

"Yeah, for example, my first big surprise –and this is apparently pretty basic knowledge here— was that the moon's gravity influences tides." The archaeologist did look surprised at that. While Robin was no expert, she had been forced to learn how to navigate herself over the years, and had never heard of that before. Especially since . . .

"Yeah, I know. I guess Haredas and his fellow weather scientists just spent too much time looking down from their sky island, and never up. I've gone over the equations though, and it checks out."

"So that's why you've been so busy lately," Robin concluded. "You've been teaching yourself all the relevant math for this."

"And a pain it was too. Especially since . . ."

"Especially since we have seven celestial satellites," Robin finished. "Clover and the other scholars back home in Ohara had a big model of the planet in the middle of the library."

While a little thrown off by the carefully precise words, Nami nodded. "Uh huh. And you know how useless they are for trying to navigate."

Those seven bodies, much smaller than the local moon here, skimmed through the night sky at irregular orbits (which she now believed was from their individual gravity influencing each other) which not only made them impossible to use to navigate at night, but also kept blocking off the stars. One of the various reasons travelling by the star-charts on the Grand Line had never really caught on.

"I couldn't be precise," she admitted. "But I plugged in what I could remember about the satellites, and made some estimates about their composition and mass, and other stuff. Needed Franky to build me a computer to help, but the results do vaguely confirm it."

Yes, 'Cat Burglar' Nami was just that much of a genius. Live with it.

Robin looked impressed again, yet Nami cut in before her friend could say anything. "Confirms for the Blues at least.

"They do nothing to explain why on the Grand Line you can go from bright sun and no breeze to dark clouds and full-force tornadoes in literally 3 seconds flat –and yes, we both know I am unfortunately being perfectly accurate about that—, nor the Calm Belt.

"The best I can figure there is that somehow all the gravitational pulls are cancelled out near the equator, which contributes –and this is obviously not the full explanation— to the lack of currents or tides in the Calm Belt. Except then they're somehow concentrated and amplified within the Grand Line?

"Ugh! It makes no sense!

"Seriously! I just finished reading up about the magnetic poles of this world, and apparently they have a 'North' and 'South' one, one positive and one negative, meaning there is only one 'North.' For whatever reason, we seem to have two North poles back home. Or two positive magnetic poles. So while a compass to the North of the Grand Line points North, if you were under the Grand Line the needle would point straight south. If you ignore how this violates fundamental rules of physic, it helps explain why a compass is useless smack dab in the middle with the Grand Line, as the needle is being pulled simultaneously in two different directions! And that's without getting into the issue of how the individual islands there are all individual miniature magnetic poles as well!"

She stopped to suck in a deep breath, and Robin calmly said, "And that is why proper Navigators are so prized. I honestly don't fully understand how the Barto Club has lasted as long as they have."

Snorting, Nami said, "Well, as Luffy proves, something special looks after fools."

Giggling, Robin offered, "Or by their hero worship of him, some of his luck has rubbed off onto them."

Then the archaeologist became serious once more, "What is your overall conclusion from what you've learnt?"

Tilting her head back, Nami stared up at the ceiling.

.

.

.

After five minutes she blew out a breath, and looked Robin square in the eye. "It's completely insane and implausible, and the more I learn, the more I don't understand how our planet even exists.

"Sometimes it even seems like we've come from some sort of fantasy lands, with islands in the skies, magical fruit, mermaids, princesses to rescue, and all the rest of it."

Her expression hardened. "And that is without a few other little tidbits I've come across that's been bugging me. Ones you should know about."

Sighing, Robin nodded. "Like how our seven moons back home are called: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Titan? The exact same names as some of the planets of this solar system, and the two most well-known moons?

"Or are you talking about Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto?"

Slowly Nami ticked off her fingers. "Uranus and Pluton, two names of the Ancient Weapons back home."

"More precisely," Robin corrected, "Neptune is the Roman name for the Greek god Poseidon, the name of the third Weapon. Moreover, the name of our world, Gaea, is an older name for this one: Earth. Also from ancient Greek."

Despite already knowing all of this, archaeologist was visibly concerned by this knowledge.

Nami could sympathize.

The Three Ancient Weapons; each able to destroy entire nations with ease. Named after deities of old to reflect their power.

Deities supposedly from their world! Not this one.

How was it that two different universes, with (supposedly) no previous connection to each other, develop the same names for myths and legends?

It strained all credibility.

"Our worlds have likely interacted before," she softly concluded.

Robin solemnly nodded.

"There's more, isn't there? That's why you had me look through this encyclopedia on animals, and list every breed of Mink I saw."

(The moon Moon was the one that empowered their furry allies, as well as being the one that a certain crazy, wannabe god had wanted to reach. Which made sense as it was the biggest, brightest, and closest to the planet. Could that even be the basis for prevalent myths about werewolves in this universe?)

"Correct. You had more time to meet everybody. Still, from what I observed, each and every one of them was based upon lions, dogs, giraffes, monkeys, and other species found on Earth, yet none of them exhibited traits of the more exotic creatures of Gaea. Like Cloud Foxes, Linear Foxes, or the Komainu of Wano.

"It is the same with the many Zoan Devil Fruits. Between what I've memorized of the official catalogues, what we have all experienced ourselves, and even the SMILE Devil Fruits that we fought on Wano, I am fairly familiar with that class of Devil Fruit. All of them are based solely on animals that are also found on Earth. Even the results of Ancient Zoan Fruits could be found within the paleontology here, and the Mythical Zoans have connections to local mythology as well."

Rubbing her forehead, Nami tried to think of any alternatives. "What if it really is just the result of two different planets developing similarly in some ways?"

Forehead actually showing creases now, Robin shook her head. "There's many other examples, if not as dramatic. Moreover, there are growing questions about our own world. For instance, I've been confused about how our entire planet has the same language, even isolationist Wano having only a few differences from everybody else to the point we easily blended in there. In contrast, Earth has dozens and dozens of them. There's . . . too many questions."

". . . We're going to have to tell Luffy about this, aren't we?"

Both of them were well aware that while their Captain was far from the smartest book on the shelf (and given his level of education it would be a miracle to see him actually read a book), he was still a lot smarter than he appeared.

Which was not to say they would not have to simplify their long, long, loooooong lectures for him. One that would have to be more substantial than: 'This mystery means our world makes no sense. The end.'

". . . Yes."

!JUSTICE!

Clayface was rather proud of his choice of movie to watch with Luffy.

Make no mistake, film selection was both a critical and risky enterprise with these sorts of critics.

Zoro rejoiced in bloody violence, while the others complained. Romance was a no-go, with Nami leading the pack in mocking the (often comedic) attempts to form a relationship.

Then there was Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider . . .

He shuddered in memory in a way that even Batman had never managed to make him feel.

When Nico Robin had seen one of each film, right then and there Clayface knew she had not been bluffing about once having been actively complicit in the attempted murder of thousands of people.

Darkly livid, each time she had chewed out the 'so-called archaeologists' who kept 'destroying precious ruins,' in clipped, coldly precise terms that left everyone else shivering.

If not for Harley and Chopper's puppy-dog eyes, she would have even banned the original Star Wars films just because Harrison Ford was in them. Now that would have been a tragedy.

(It was clear she had still given serious thought to tracking down all the cast and crew for both Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider, making them suffer for the crime of 'teaching impressionable children that it is fine to destroy priceless historical artifacts!')

Still, Clayface felt justifiably proud with his latest pick: Pirates of the Caribbean.

After making their escape from Sanji, he and Luffy were watching the third one, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

As anticipated, Luffy had loved the idea of freedom loving, pirate protagonists.

So both of them were chomping through a pile of hot dogs and bags of popcorn, having the time of their lives.

It gave Clayface a funny feeling in his chest to feel so at ease with someone else once more.

One thing did catch his attention though. "Hey, Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Is your whole body rubber? Even your teeth?"

"Huh? That's right! How'd you guess?"

"I was just wondering why you chose to swallow your food so much."

Annoyance flashed across Luffy's face, yet Clayface knew it was not directed at him. "Ugh, uh huh. It was a real pain when it first happened, since they couldn't really bite anything. I figured out how to get my jaw just right so I could chew again, which I like. Heck, I bit through steel bars once! It's just that it's still nice sometimes to just swallow whole and taste it go down like that." He cocked his head. "Were you the same when you were first made into clay?"

Sighing, Clayface nodded, realizing he should have known this would bring back bitter memories. "Yep," he simply said, before turning his attention back to what Captain Jack Sparrow –Although Johnny Depp's overrated, the ex-actor knew—was up to.

They were nearing the climax of the film as the Nine Pirate Lords were assembled to decide what the Brethern Court was to do. Jack was advocating they fight a war against the approaching fleet of the tyrannical East India Trading Company.

Captain Barbossa, Jack's ex-friend and temporary ally derided that suggestion, saying that Jack always ran away, leading to a little comedy routine until the Pirate Lord of the Caribbean Sea claimed:

"I have only ever embraced that oldest and noblest of pirate traditions. I submit that here now that is what we all must do: We must fight . . . to run away."

The other pirates quickly broke out into shouts of agreement, until Barbossa ruined their fun.

"As per the code," said he, "an act of war, and this be exactly that, can only be declared by the Pirate King."

What followed was an extended scene as the book containing the pirate's code was brought forth, but Clayface missed it as a snort of contempt caught his attention. Looking at Luffy, he was surprised by the derision on his usually sunny face. Like he was watching a bunch of children merely playing at being pirates.

So confused was Clayface, that he merely missed the next major part, as the French Pirate Lord spoke up. "There has not been a King since the first Brethren Court, and that is not likely to change!"

"Not likely," agreed the intimidating keeper of the Code.

"Why not?" said Elizabeth Swann, played by Keira Knightley, an actress that the man who had once been the famed star Matthew 'Matt' Hagen, also thought overrated.

Gibbs, whose character generally served to provide exposition, dutifully answered, "Because the Pirate King is elected by popular vote—"

"—and each pirate only votes for hisself," finished Barbossa.

"Turn it off," scoffed Luffy.

Really surprised now, Clayface still just paused the movie. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Tch. If you have to ask, then you also don't know anything about pirating," Luffy dismissed, looking for an untouched bag of popcorn.

"Hey now! I take exception to that!" snapped Clayface. "When I was an actor, I always made a point to carefully research my roles to get into the proper mind for them. That includes being a pirate!"

"That so?" mumbled Luffy, clearly not really paying attention.

"That's right! I studied all the famous ones, especially the ruthless and bloodiest like Blackbeard, and—"

Clayface looked Death in the eye.

Gone was the cheery, and easy going, so-called 'Captain' of the most powerful band of super-villains he had ever met. A guy who seemed to only hold that title because he was the strongest, and maybe because people like Robin and Zoro were humouring him.

Now he saw the Monster.

Dark, expressionless, with eyes that stabbed into his very soul while emitting an aura of violence that scared him more than he had ever known in his life.

This,

This,

This was the Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates.

Here and now he knew why people might hear the title 'Straw Hat' and know not mockery, but fear.

A relentless presence that would never stop in search of its goal, and heaven help any who got in the way of him or his family.

His nakama.

"What did you say?" asked the emotionless voice.

For all that the Gotham supervillain towered over and out-massed the teen before him, he was now overshadowed by a relentless force that crushed down all that came before it. Throat bobbing, it took him three attempts before he could find his voice. "I-I studied famous pirates like, like Blackbeard?"

"Who is that?"

"The m-most f-famous one! R-real name C-captain T-Teach!"

He blinked, and Luffy was gone.

!JUSTICE!

Precisely one minute later

Never had Luffy ever called together an emergency meeting, so Robin and Nami both knew the world may very well be ending.

The utter cold fury on Luffy's expression was the next clue this was Serious. They only saw him like that when people were insulting Ace, hurting siblings or their own crewmates, slavery in general, pointless deaths, Akainu, and of course Blackbeard.

That Clayface was literally doing his best not to collapse in terror in the corner of the kitchen where they all met, was the other hint. The other supervillains seemed nervous too at the transformation that had taken over the Captain, even though Robin knew they had all known Luffy was very powerful. It was only now that they were coming to terms with the terrifying Will behind that power.

To the inhabitants of Earth, he gave a single, flat order:

"Tell me about every pirate in the world you know of. Not actors or stuff like that."

So the names spilled out, especially when privateers (which sounded a lot like the Seven Warlords' system) were added in. Certain ones quickly came to stand out:

Captain Drake.

Captain Kidd.

Captain Hawkins.

Captain Bonney.

Captain Teach. A.K.A. Blackbeard. Except his full name was either Edward Teach, or Edward Thatch. Robin was fully aware that the former Fourth Division Commander who Marshal D Teach had murdered, had been named Thatch. Not to mention how Whitebeard's true name had been Edward Newgate.

The other names were those of fellow members of the Worst Generation. The newest era of rival captains who had thrown the status quo of the Golden Pirate Era into such turmoil.

Most of them are the same surnames, with the exception of Eustass Kidd. Except his epithet is 'Captain' for reasons that were never made clear. Hence, 'Captain Kidd.'

"What does the name 'Trafalgar,' mean to you?" Robin asked.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I know! I know! Ask me!" cried Harley, jumping up and down with her hand raised, throwing off the grim atmosphere. Of course, living with the Joker probably meant she was fairly resistant to it.

"Yes, Harley?" smiled the historian.

"It's the name of a famous naval battle!"

"How famous?"

"Super famous! Like, I don't know how you don't know about it! It was for the Napoleonic Wars and junk!"

"I see. 'Capone'?"

"Famous gangster. Like, the most famous."

For the rest of the Worst Generation, Killer's name was too generic, and nothing concrete was gained for Apoo or Urouge. Still, it was more than enough to see the pattern.

"Robin," Luffy quietly said. "I need answers."

"Yes, Captain."

Like a switch, the sunny Luffy was back, and he turned to Clayface. "Sorry about that. You wanna try a different movie instead?"

"Uh, sure. Uhm, uh, maybe something light like Disney?"

"Oooh," now Maureen was getting involved. "Me too!"

"Me three!" waved Harley.

Chuckling, Luffy nodded. "Of course you guys can come! C'mon Mauri, let's make some more popcorn!"

With that, Robin slipped away.

!JUSTICE!

A slaughter.

Fish in the barrel.

That was what it was like for the band of whalers.

Laws, licenses, and bribes meant nothing before the rage of Brook and Jinbe.

And Chopper too obviously, but frankly he was a candle compared to the inferno of his friends' wrath.

"P-please!" whimpered one of the poacher captains.

"Silence!" hissed Brook, before knocking the man unconscious. As tempting as it may be, while the ships would be scuttled, the men would be left alive. An investigation would be conducted afterwards, and doubtless evidence of the extent of their poaching would be uncovered. Of course, Brook was not so naïve to assume that whichever authorities did do said investigation would not be the very same ones Robin had reported had been paid off; however he was confident that said crooks would not want a similar 'visit' if they did not report the proper truth.

Green activists had watched the savagery with open-mouthed terror, having come to protest and record the crimes against nature. Instead they had gotten a demonstration of Nature's Champions.

They were equally stymied by the sight of Chopper talking to the whale sharks, and giving slow, measured, and repeated directions. It even seemed like the whales were listening and talking back!

"Who are you!?"

The regal demand carried across the waves, and the Straw Hats turned to see a muscular, blonde man standing half out of the water.
Aquaman.

Jinbe was not impressed.

Far from it.

He had grown up under King Neptune, and more importantly had seen the greatness of Queen Otohime. Compared to what she had accomplished for peace, Aquman was a spoiled child. One who chose to dictate through threats of violence to the United Nations, oblivious to what kind of future that led to.

The Darkness that it created within one's own people.

"Those who were forced to do the job you were incapable of doing!" he barked, before turning his back. With a quick command to a remote, Franky's jet settled down beside them, ramp lowered to board.

With a splash, Aquaman leapt out of the water to land in front of him—

—so Jinbe grabbed him mid-air and tossed him aside.

Landing lightly on his feet, Aquaman glared daggers at them, steeling himself for a fight. In all likelihood he had only meant to get in their faces to continue dictating to them, yet Jinbe was in no mood. The mission was complete, and it was time to go.

Besides, maybe a taste of humility might be of help. For all that he was a pirate, he owed it to this world's oceans at least.

So he stopped to stare at man, while Brook and Chopper casually boarded and prepped the plane. "Who do you think you are?" Then turned to walk up the ramp himself.

"I'm the King of the Seas!" roared Aquaman.

Jinbe never looked over his shoulder as his calm voice fired back, "Then act like it!"

With a roar, the jet took off, leaving only a glaring monarch behind.

!JUSTICE!

Robin had retreated back to her room to think, trying to put all the pieces together.

All she knew for sure was that they were past the point of mere 'coincidences.' The signs were adding up like a glaring message.

Or maybe a sick parody.

Either way, she was not sure of the entirety of what it was trying to convey.

At the very least, she knew that when they had first arrived to this alternate dimension, Luffy had been explicit that they should minimize contact between their two realities. Let them remain in their natural state. As time had gone by though, they had found more and more interesting discoveries, and decided that some should come back with them instead. On their terms.

Now it was looking like they were not the first.

That someone had crossed over at some point, and a terrifying exchange had been made. There were just too many possibilities however.

Were Devil Fruits really magic in origin? They were the only things that resembled it back home, yet here there were many signs of it.

Did the super-advanced Pluton originally come from here? Or even an alien civilization, landing on this world in the past, and appear for the shipwrights of Water 7 to claim as their own?

The power of Poseidon was strongly reminiscent to Aquaman's, which begged the question of how deep the possible parallels between Atlantis and Fishman Island went.

Neptune?

The names of the Worst Generation that concerned her so much were largely family names, so maybe it was possible that an ancestor took up that name in honour of pirates and criminals they knew and respected? Maybe even passing down some of that history?

All this and more fired through her mind, yet the darkest and most terrifying stayed at the forefront.

. . . Is it possible that Marshal D Teach is from Earth?

Everyone had always assumed he took his name as a reference to Whitebeard, and he was not the first to do so either. But what were the chances it was also the name of the most infamous pirate of this dimension?

From what she had already learnt about Earth's Blackbeard, he was rather dissimilar to the Emperor they knew. Except, Earth's had been romanticized after his death, and became the inspiration for an archetypal pirate in works of fiction across many genres. Maybe that was the basis of Marshal's choice of identity?

His past was a complete mystery. Perhaps his entire name was a fallacy.

More importantly . . . He was capable of feats beyond what anyone should be capable of. To be able to harvest and use multiple Devil Fruits, his supposedly 'odd' biology, and a few other curious, or even supposedly impossible, feats.

It's not impossible, Robin thought as she admitted her greatest fear. That he could be from this world . . . and a metahuman.

Someone with powers beyond just that of the Devil Fruits and Haki.

If so, what other secrets might he have?

There were so many mysteries piling up, that Robin did not even know where to start.

Then her resolve hardened. This was an issue of history, and she was the archaeologist of the Straw Hat Pirates. She would find the answers for her Captain.

No matter who or what got in her way.

!JUSTICE!

Silently the stolen government stealth jet came to stop on the beach.

From it came two terrifying villains:

Parasite, one of Superman's greatest foes.

Scarecrow, the master of fear.

However, even they were nervous in the presence of the figure in front of them.

"Alrighty, let's get this show on the road."

!JUSTICE!

Author Notes:

I know some of you are disappointed at not having Marshal D. Teach here, and I know you were hoping for something more exciting than a bunch of talking. Action starts next chapter.

Still, the main point of this chapter was introducing some serious elements that will have major implications in the future, including regarding the Blackbeard we all know and loathe.

More importantly, this chapter marks a departure from some of my original plans, and some of my earlier Review answers are no longer accurate. And no, I am not saying which ones because that would be spoiling. More will make sense as this story continues on, including hopefully more on why I chose the title for this chapter.

.

Poison Ivy's little thought about 'Pamela Carlyle' is from the Batman: The Animated Series episode 'House & Garden.' Not mandatory, just if you are curious.

.

While the reference to anime protagonists is meant for humour, it also highlights why I am accelerating the pace of the Justice League timeline. In canon, there were weeks or months between episodes, except in that sort of timeframe the Straw Hats' growth would continue, and threaten to make them too overpowered.

.

All the stuff about Brook's 'biology' is thanks to MasterQwertster, who has given a lot of thought to their favourite character.

.

The comments about Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley do not reflect my own opinion. They are those of a man embittered by how he was thrown out of the acting business despite formerly being a grand sensation.

.

I know that Pirates of the Caribbean 4 may have been a better intro for Blackbeard, except if I was going to do that film I would really want to compare their mermaids to 'real' ones (as Luffy and Co. define it), and that would come after Blackbeard was revealed and the subsequent diversion. Also, I own nothing of those films.

.

Yes, the knowledge of the similarities to the Worst Generation names are incomplete, except I am not expecting knowledge like that to be known by the Straw Hat's new allies. Even Clayface would have studied European pirates more given that is the sort of roles he was shown doing. That includes how some members of the Worst Generation have names drawn from two sources. Robin will have a chance to research further later, yet she still has plenty to go by already.

.

The adventures of Aquaman and Jinbe will continue!

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Next Chapter: 'Injustice for All'

(An adaption of the Justice League episode by the same name, which may be helpful to catch up on beforehand, even if just with the wiki.)

(Also recommended: The 'Justice League' episode: 'Secret Society.')

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Please Review, and I will get back to you!