Chapter 71: Mothball
Cross-Brain AN: Much as we would have loved to make this a Christmas present, the winter season was quite busy for all of us. But hey, we're here now. Hope that this chapter is worth the wait…and while we could ask you to forgive us for what's at the end, hey, we know better than that.
The atmosphere in the Rip-Off Bar was uncomfortable. After two consecutive run-ins with overpowered enemies, the news of Ace's capture, and the obvious despair Cross had been in, the entire crew had crammed into the bar upon arrival, only for Chopper to kick out everybody that didn't need treatment—that is, Nami, Zoro, Boss, Sanji, Luffy, and Brook—apart from Robin, whose helping hands helped to speed the process along.
Even Shakky and Rayleigh felt the atmosphere, Rayleigh brooding over a mug of booze and Shakky idly cleaning a glass.
Idly, Nami's hand drifted to the bandaged burn on her side, and she glanced over at Luffy. Still slumped over the bar, the plate of meat Shakky had placed in front of him still untouched. A toxic brew of guilt and anxiety churned in her stomach; to find out like this, of all ways, when she'd known, could have said someth—!
Zoro's hand clamped onto her shoulder, and he shook his head. Later. Grimacing, Nami slumped down even further, hoping for a distraction.
Thankfully, the swordsman was at least keen enough to pick up on that. Or maybe he just needed a distraction himself.
"So, how the hell did we even end up in that position?" Zoro groused, eyeing Boss. "And I mean at the very start. Weren't you and your students supposed to make sure that the Nobles didn't get a chance to try anything?"
"Hold on, let me finish this bandaging," Chopper muttered, yanking some gauze tight around Boss' right shoulder. "Right. Go wild with the signing, Boss."
"'The last thing any of us remember is getting our skull plates slammed together. And now that I think about it, I'm almost positive we weren't just slammed together, we were yanked together. Next thing we knew, we were waking up underwater on the brink of running out of breath, and Cross was already in the middle of it,'" Robin translated, her frown deepening as a thought struck her. "Boss, I'm assuming that this phenomenon repeated itself when you cornered the Nobles in the Auction House, yes?"
The dugong nodded, and Robin grimaced. "An invisible force applying the minimum amount of effort for maximum effect. Well, we can safely conclude that Cross literally stumbling into Charloss' path was no accident," she sighed in exhaustion, massaging the bridge of her nose. "For all the good it does us to know this after the fact…"
"Hn," Zoro grunted, leaning back against the wall.
"You get used to it," Shakky remarked, placing a glass back on the shelf.
The uncomfortable silence fell again; no one really wanted to get used to that sort of feeling. Thankfully, a fresh distraction arrived shortly afterward. A decidedly less welcome distraction, mind.
"HACHI!" Nami yelped, bolting from her chair as Chew and Kuroobi carried Hachi in between them. Duval trailed behind, a shivering Keimi in his arms (Sanji, in his current condition, could only glare in annoyed envy) and Pappug on his shoulder. Shakky followed her, a concerned frown on her face.
"Do you have a couple of beds free? Both of our friends need to rest after this much trauma," Kuroobi said, directing his question to the couple behind the bar.
"Keimi can use my bed, lay Hachi down over there," Shakky replied, pointing them to a large booth. She led Duval to the back while the fishmen shuffled over to the booth, draping Hachi carefully on the seat where the octo-man sagged in relief.
"Seriously, though, Hachi? I thought that reindeer's medicine was supposed to be freakishly effective," Chew muttered, spitting a blob of water into his hands in an effort to wipe off the layer of blood on them.
"It is," Chopper answered mildly as he walked over. "But it can lose some edge when A. the patient is still walking immediately after he's treated, and B. when he's dumb enough to not let me take the bullet out of him! Lay down, now!"
Hachi winced and complied, reclining in the booth's seat as the other two fishmen stepped out of the doctor's way.
"N-Nyuu… s-sorry for all the trouble…" Hachi moaned. "I j-just wanted you guys to get out before—NYUAAAOOW!" A needle jammed into his neck, all six of Hachi's hands clenching into agonized fists.
"Part of me appreciates the sentiment, the other part is grousing about how this is the last of the anesthetic I keep on hand because that head start turned out to be completely useless," Chopper muttered darkly as he removed the rough temporary bandaging.
With a wince, Hachi looked away. That just meant another wince when his gaze met Nami's. But the navigator's expression was gentle.
"Hachi… I'm sorry."
The octopus's pained expression fled in favor of naked, wide-eyed shock.
"I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance when you so obviously deserved it," Nami continued. "I'm sorry for refusing to see that you're really not the same person who helped Arlong terrorize my home… and I'm sorry that it took seeing you jump in front of a gun for one of ours for me to finally get it. I've been beyond unfair to you, and for that, I am so sorry."
She turned her gaze to the wound, her expression darkening with worry.
"Chopper… how bad is it?"
"Bad, especially since it's been untreated for this long…" With a grunt of effort, the reindeer pulled the bullet out of Hachi's chest, his expression lightening considerably as he started re-bandaging him. "But no, you didn't just give him a deathbed redemption. He'll live, he's just going to be in a lot of pain for… a few weeks? Yeah, let's go with weeks. But even so…"
Chopper closed his eyes, turning his memory back to the brawl in the auction house. He'd looked over the moment that he heard Cross get shot, and so he had seen the angles line up. He opened his eyes and gave both Hachi and Nami a grave look.
"I'll be honest, I don't know how good Charloss's aim would have been, but Hachi didn't do this for nothing. There was a chance that if he hadn't stepped in, Charloss could have hit Cross somewhere that I couldn't have fixed." He focused more on the octopus, and for the first time in what felt like a short eternity, Chopper allowed himself an honest smile. "Thank you, Hachi."
"…yeah. Thank you," Nami agreed, smiling again. Then, slowly, she held out a hand. "I… this won't be easy, and there are still some things… but. I'm… I'm willing to at least talk. Alright?"
Tears sprung in Hachi's eyes that had nothing to do with the pain. Reaching out, he took Nami's hand in his own. "Th-Thank you, Nami. Thank you."
The mood of the crew present lifted some at the sight. Notably, two people in the building didn't share in the new happiness, but they wished they did. Kuroobi and Chew exchanged looks of pain, regret, and perfect understanding, then turned for the door.
"And where are you two going?" Zoro asked, quietly but with an unmistakable intensity. All attention zeroed in on the two fishmen, who, to their credit, neither flinched nor turned back.
"…Fisher Tiger really would be ashamed of us if he saw us now," Kuroobi croaked. "Hatred killed him, and we almost lost the only friend we have left from his time because he took a bullet…for someone who's working to undermine that hatred…our hatred."
"We already lost everything once," Chew picked up, arms trembling. "If the only way to keep it from happening again is to get rid of this resentment… then there's no other choice. But if even Big Bro couldn't do it himself, we'll need more help. We're going back to Grove 77… see if we can help. If we can find help. And from there… we'll find out what we want to do with the rest of our lives."
Their heads shifted, as though to look at Hachi once more. But no, they stayed looking ahead.
"…we don't expect to ever earn a chance to be friends with you all like Hachi," Kuroobi got out. "But maybe… just maybe we can come close enough to be worth having the sun on our skin again."
They opened the door and took one step out.
"Is that so?"
Koala's cool voice froze them in place, the Revolutionary leaning on the doorframe that led to the back of the Bar. They felt her eyes boring into them, an almost palpable force.
"I didn't have any hope left for you two," she said bluntly. "And there's still not much, either; you've got a long road ahead of you if you really want to try making up for Arlong's crimes and Hody's."
Kuroobi and Chew's fists clenched, though it was hard to say what they were feeling. After a few seconds, the tension left them and they stood as defeated as they were moments before.
And it was that that switched Koala from stoic anger to head-shaking pity.
"But hey, what are pirates if not dreamers who chase the impossible? Get going, then. If you have any shred of the Sun Pirates left in your bodies, don't let this epiphany go to waste. There'll be no chance of forgiveness for you if you let this pass. Be it from me…" She graced them, ever so slightly, with a teary smile. "Or from our Big Bro."
With their backs to the bar, nobody could see the expressions the two fishmen wore. But their steps as they left the bar behind were steady. Whether it was from the harshness of their ex-friend's words or the hope that said words had inspired, no one could say.
Only one thing was clear: it was the last time the Straw Hats would ever meet the two Arlong Pirates.
…But of course, a moment like that couldn't last forever.
"Yohoho… I hate to break up the moment," Brook interjected, his tone and expression saying anything but. "But may I ask where you and your lovely companion were when everything went wrong? As I recall, you were supposed to be our failsafe for exactly that sort of situation."
Koala's stern demeanor almost instantly melted away, leaving a very sheepish Revolutionary poking her fingers together. "Yeeeah… that was the plan, wasn't it? But, ah… we ran into some… unforeseen hurdles before we could help."
"Hurdles such as…?" Robin prompted, cocking an eyebrow.
"Weeeeell…" Koala glanced away with a nervous chuckle. "Tuuuurns out that when you see the supposedly untouchable monsters of your nightmares getting touched damn hard, right before your eyes? Your brain tends to… skip a beat or few, just a bit." She capped her 'explanation' off with a nervous shrug. "Who knew, huh?"
There was a long moment's pause…
{Are you saying your excuse is that you two fainted?!} Raphey barked indignantly, translating her words with some harsh signs. All eyes darted to her, and the open door she was standing in, and she went red as her headband and carefully closed it.
Robin, tilting her head, eyed one of the windows and then crossed her arms. Outside, a barely-visible tuft of blue hair vanished, accompanied by a startled yelp.
"In their defense, 'fainting' is putting it mildly," Shakky chuckled as she re-entered the room. "These two gave me quite the fright when it happened, up and dropped as though their stri—ahem!" She hastily coughed into her fist and glanced aside. "Er, you get the point. Anyway, they both went down and they wouldn't wake up no matter what I did, so all I could do was let them sleep it off. And trust me, this one—" She jabbed her thumb at the ginger rebel. "—got it lighter than Sonia. Poor thing's still out cold from the shock of it all, and from the looks of things I don't expect her to wake up for a good long while."
Everyone sweatdropped, aside from the veterans behind the bar… and the still-silent Luffy.
The captain's lasting and wholly uncharacteristic silence swiftly dragged the mood right back down, and Nami and Zoro exchanged nervous glances as subtly as they could manage.
Nervous glances that quickly got a lot less subtle as an entire non-verbal argument broke out over who'd be least at risk to prod the elephant in the room. A debate that was over remarkably fast.
"Uh, Luffy?" Nami said, tentatively stepping towards her captain. "You've been really quiet for a while, and you haven't eaten your meat, and, well… to be blunt, it's scaring the hell out of everyone. What are you thinking about?"
The silence stretched on, Luffy's head still bowed. One minute… two…
{…Maybe he just fell asleep again,} Sanji signed, getting to his feet to administer a typical leather-clad wake-up call—
"Brook. Go get Vivi and Merry."
—and hurriedly sat down again, right as Brook shot to his feet and skittered right out the door. Chopper nervously glanced between Luffy, Nami, and the door, before asking, tentatively, "Uh, Luffy, should I go or—?"
{We're staying,} Boss and Sanji signed simultaneously, drawing a sign from the good doctor.
"Okay, guess I'm staying," he said, before matching the glare Sanji threw his way with one of his own. "Sanji, your faceis detached from the rest of your skull. I'm staying so you don't tear it off entirely by accident."
Huffing, Sanji sat back down, idly batting Boss's outstretched flipper.
It was this that Vivi and Merry walked in to. "Hey, so Brook wasn't very clear—" Merry began.
"He could have killed us."
The two newcomers froze like they were staring down an oncoming Sea Train, and Nami wasn't feeling much better. Even Zoro and Robin visibly tensed.
"His crew was here the whole time, and he was right there when we were fighting the guards," Luffy continued. "Probably when we were fighting Kizaru, too. But he didn't. He left all of us alive, but he made sure we knew that he could have killed all of us if he wanted to. And this isn't the first time this has happened to us." The rubber man's shadowed gaze turned to the side, toward his first mate. "Mihawk did the same thing."
With a sharp 'tsk', Zoro looked away, his hand falling to rest on his white blade. "Not even close to the same thing, Luffy."
"Less respect, yeah, but was it really that different?"
Zoro grit his teeth, but couldn't produce a good answer.
"And all the other times too," Luffy continued in his flat voice. "Crocodile messed around in our first fight, and he would have killed me if Robin hadn't been there. Moria would have done it too if Cross hadn't flipped the script, and Kuma almost killed everyone without even trying. Every time we've met one of the Warlords, the first thing that they've done is show off their power, how they're better than us. Even Jinbe did it. But that String guy… Doflamingo, he was just like Shiki. He wanted to watch us try to beat him so he could kill us when we didn't have any hope left. But he didn't. And it wasn't just so the Marines could take all the credit. So why? Why didn't he kill us?"
Luffy got to his feet, staring at the wall opposite the bar, still not showing his face to any of the crew. And while it surprised them that his focus wasn't on Ace, none of them were about to bring it up.
"…from what I can tell, I think he's similar to… Cross's 'benefactor,' among other… like-minded individuals," Vivi said after a moment of silence, her words hesitant and careful. "He has the power to do whatever he wants, but he doesn't do everything he could because it would be boring that way. With the SBS… we've become too entertaining for him to want to kill us." She rubbed at her neck with a self-conscious wince. "At least, for now…"
{But that doesn't tell us why he put on that whole show,} Boss signed with a grunt, Robin translating. {What was the point of showing off how easily he could have killed us if he wanted to leave us alive?}
The answer to that question slowly dawned on Cross's five confidants in a symphony of widened eyes and further muscle tension. A silent exchange passed between them, but none spoke up, each one hoping Luffy would come to the conclusion himself…
{…the only Warlords close to our level.}
But of course, they weren't the only ones to draw the conclusion.
{Cross said it back on Thriller Bark, and then he said it again earlier today,} Sanji signed, Robin translating. {This is showing off what a Warlord can do just like Mihawk did at the Baratie. He's showing off and sparing us for the same reason that Mihawk left Zoro alive.}
"Wait, you're saying he was trying to show us just how outclassed we are… to make us want to get stronger?" Chopper asked, incredulous.
"'Don't leave me hanging.'"
And with that, all attention returned to Luffy.
"That's what it is," Luffy answered in a chilling voice. "We're keeping him entertained and he doesn't want to lose that. So he showed us how weak we are compared to him… so that we wouldn't go into the New World right away like we planned. Like I planned."
He paused, then he removed his hat and stared down at it.
"…Shanks is waiting somewhere on the other side of the Red Line. I promised him that I would be strong enough to beat him when we met each other again… and this isn't enough. Lucky showed me on Skelter Bite, even if he didn't want to say it. So did Izo and those other guys from the other Emperors. And I still couldn't beat Ace in a fight, not if I had to." He looked up at the Revolutionary leaning against the wall. "And I wouldn't be able to beat Sabo either, would I?"
Koala didn't answer verbally, but the nervous tug at her collar and inability to look him in the eye was more answer than any words, and the room fell silent once more.
"You're correct, Straw Hat," said Rayleigh, the first he'd spoken since their arrival, his expression grim. "If you were to enter the New World as you all are now… you would die. That's all that there is to it."
The beating he'd laid on Kizaru was all that kept back any complaints about any condescension...for a few moments, anyway. Despite his discipline, it was Boss who couldn't hold the knee-jerk reaction back.
{And who the hell are you to talk down to us like that!?}
"He sailed with Roger."
And like that, the Straw Hats present froze again, this time in awe as they properly put a name and a reputation to the old man's face. Rayleigh, for his part, merely raised a questioning eyebrow at Luffy.
"I heard what you said to Kizaru," the rubber man elaborated. "You said Roger was your captain."
"…yeah. Yeah, he was," Rayleigh confirmed with a wry half-smile. "And I was his first mate. 'Dark King' Silvers Rayleigh, a name and face that I'm sure many of you still recognize. Impressive, Straw Hat. But it's more impressive that you can see reason like this. I've tried to warn off plenty of rookies like you before I coated their ships, but almost none of them listen."
He let out a wistful sigh, slipping his glasses off so he could polish them. "Make it this far on their first try, they think they can go all the way in one shot. But they only have to see five minutes' worth of that place to know that they're not ready yet. 'Paradise'…the name didn't come from nowhere, and neither is it an exaggeration."
Silence fell once more, and the five confidants felt dread stirring in their hearts from what Rayleigh had just said, so plainly that even Luffy would be able to connect the dots. They kept their expressions as neutral as they could, praying that he wouldn't make one further connection.
"Cross already knows, doesn't he."
Their prayers were not answered. They all froze stiff. And all too soon, Merry, Vivi, Zoro, Nami, and Robin were made acutely aware that everyone else in the crew was now staring at them in askance, along with other, more… volatileemotions. Luffy was no different, finally turning around to stare at them, his gaze somehow worse for how unerringly, placidly neutral it was.
"And he already has a plan for it, doesn't he," Luffy said, asking and answering his own question.
Slowly, the five of them nodded. "He… broke the news to us a few weeks ago," Merry started, timidly. "We wanted to bring it up, b-but…"
"We didn't keep it a secret because we wanted to," Zoro cut in, his voice firm, the only one able to meet Luffy's eyes.
The rubber man stared at them before replacing his hat on his head, hiding his eyes once more. Another lengthy pause, made all the more unsettling by the lack of any apparent strain or the sound of grinding gears.
"…He wasn't going to tell the rest of us until it was too late to say no, was he," the rubber-man concluded, disappointment clear in his voice.
The confidants' silence was deafening.
Surprisingly, it was actually Boss who broke the silence.
"Why, that silver-tongued—GERK!"
But he only spoke a few words before clapping his flippers over his mouth in surprise, realizing that he had, in fact, actually spoken them.
And with that, an unmistakable sense of dread fell over the crew. No one was quite sure how this confrontation would go, but it couldn't be good. There was a vague sense that someone should be doing something, especially with Shakky, Koala, and Rayleigh just watching the scene play out with stony expressions.
A feeling that intensified when Luffy wordlessly stood and walked up to the bar's entrance, his gaze locked on the door. Zoro tried to stand, tried to do something, but Luffy merely held up his hand. The swordsman could do nothing but sit down, his captain crossing his arms when he did so.
In one last-ditch effort, Vivi sent a pleading look to Rayleigh. But he just shook his head, stood, and walked into the back, Shakky and Koala following, though the latter at least gave them an apologetic look. Internal crew matter, the look said. Sorry, can't help.
After all, the Captain's orders were absolute.
-o-
Soundbite mentioned at some point that stampeding elephants were able to charge at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. I don't know whether Funkfreed exceeded that as he carried us the rest of the way to the bar. I was still out of it, trying to get my mind to show me a way out of this situation, to get my neck off of the chopping block I was about to place it on.
To help me deny the reality that all the effort I had put into making this last day the best that it could possibly be had gone straight to hell and then kept digging.
It wasn't working. It was all that I could do to keep breathing. And it was becoming an increasingly appealing idea to just save myself the trouble and stop doing that, too—
SMACK!
I slapped my cheeks, trying to exorcise the thoughts that had wormed into my head. Honestly, not much help. Because beyond all of the bad memories I was still trying to cope with, whether it was the recent past or the near future, my mind was helpfully and repeatedly reminding me of the living nightmare that I'd have to go through in the present, as soon as I met my crew once more.
My confidants had hated being kept in the middle and forced to choose between truth and life, and that was when it was 'just' splitting up for two years. Now, being forced to split up and train and unable to be of any help to Luffy beyond the fail-safes I'd managed to scrounge up? I knew that it was unchangeable, but I had changed too much to fully believe that. And even I got mad when I thought to myself that my reasoning boiled down to 'it's for your own good.'
CLANK!
I blinked, belatedly realizing we'd arrived as Funkfreed's trunk withdrew from dropping me on the stairs and Lassoo nudged me up them. Around me was a large chunk of the crew, trying way too hard to look innocent. Not that I particularly cared at the moment. Clenching my fists, as much to relieve stress as to keep the jointless gauntlets from falling off, I started climbing.
The absolute worst-case scenario was that I would get kicked off of the crew. I don't know what kind of mercy it was that I didn't consider that likely, because instead of worrying about it, I focused on the much more likely and still very, very bad outcomes, with the second place worst Luffy giving me a one-on-one talk about how disappointed he was.
And distrust—legitimate, scornful distrust would result from this, that was all but inevitable. How many of them would hate me? How many of them would hate my confidants by proxy? In trying to save the crew, had I instead torn them apart from the inside?
In spite of my miserable thoughts—and the fact that I legitimately couldn't feel much of my body—I soon found myself standing in front of the door to the bar. Just a few flimsy inches of wood, separating me from whatever the hell was coming next. Whatever hell I'd brought about…
I'd say I tried to will my arm to move, but that'd require me to, well, know where my arms were to begin with…
"Cross… " a voice I vaguely acknowledged as Soundbite's prodded me gently. "You know you need to do this. You need to go in there. You need to face this now, or you'll run from it forever."
I blinked blearily, the words rattling in my head for a second before they made sense. "Is… that still an option?" I wheezed, daring to hope—!
"CROSS!"
That… wasn't Soundbite. I looked to my left, where Usopp was giving me a worried expression.
"Look," he said. "I don't know what's going on, but unless it's worse than lying about your origins—"
"It is," I said, voice dead.
That threw Usopp for a loop. He staggered back and then turned to the rest of the crewmembers gathered outside with a pleading look.
"Sorry, I got nothing, bro," Franky said, everyone else nodding along with varying degrees of reluctance.
"Fat lot of help Y'ALL ARE," Soundbite sighed. "C'mon, partner. TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC."
I didn't want to do this. I really didn't. But the short conversation had knocked some rationality into me, and I knew I needed to do this. "Ggh, right, right…" And so, with dread I hadn't felt even when staring down Sea Kings, staring down two different Admirals, I raised my hand, grasped the door's handle, and pushed.
I pretty much stumbled forward, into the bar, and damn near ran into Luffy, who was standing directly in front of me, his arms crossed, expression blank, and eyes locked with mine. I didn't move a muscle while my brain caught up with my eyes, and I felt Soundbite shrinking on himself. I couldn't even glance away and look at the rest of the crew to find out how much trouble I was in.
"How long, Cross?"
And just like that, the rest of the world went white. Nothing really existed except the pounding in my ears, my captain, my Captain standing in front of me, and that question. No emotion at all in the words, no context given, striking me right at my core.
I was scared out of my mind. Still, I had to ask, had to be sure.
"How long…what, Captain Luffy?" I responded as evenly as I could. Trying to keep the terror out of my voice, trying to keep out the misery, failing to keep them out—!
"How long do we need to train?"
I felt the bone-deep THROB! that rammed through my core, colder than anything Aokiji could ever dream. H-He was asking… but how—?
DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING.
…damn everything. Doflamingo. I had Doflamingo to thank for opening Luffy's eyes to the cruel truth. I'd focus a lot more on the cruel irony that would be Dressrosa if I wasn't staring into the same eyes and dreading my answer. It took a second or two to unstick my tongue from the roof of my mouth, but…
"…two years," I managed. "Two years… or we all die." I heard murmuring around me, but I couldn't tell if it was real or just more of my mind breaking. Didn't matter. Nothing mattered. Nothing… except…
"And how are all of us going to get as strong as we need to?"
I was trembling. It took me a minute or so to manage to get the words out, and that whole time, Luffy kept staring, unblinking, and the world kept THROB!ing.
"…Kuma scatters everyone where they need to be," I heard… someone, say? Could have been me, hard to say. "No choice. Can't… won't be stopped."
Again, again with the murmuring, more fervent than before. Why couldn't it stop? Why couldn't everything just stop and end and leave me alone…
"Where is he now?"
No… no, of course not, nothing was going my way, nothing had ever gone my way, even up until now, why start now… A failure of a tactician, a failure of a pirate, a failure of a human… didn't even have the spine to look at my Captain… only reason I was doing so was that his Stare wouldn't let me do anything else.
"…here at sunset," I heard my voice croak out. "Scatter us all… and if we resist… same difference…" With that, Luffy's eyes finally closed, and I felt myself fall to the floor. The murmuring didn't persist for long, and I just knelt there, revelingin the silence, the oblivion...
"Cross."
But no. I didn't deserve that. I didn't deserve that mercy. Didn't deserve anything. What I deserved was that one word, and the feeling of a hand on top of my head. Was this the end? Was this finally, finally going to end, and let me go—?
I was… more than a little stunned when rather than feeling my skull cave in, I felt something come off. But… before I could understand, I felt something else go on instead. Something soft, slightly itchy, around my entire scalp—
One hand unwound the bandages from the other, allowing my raw flesh to move to my head and confirm what I was feeling: Straw.
This was… I was—I was wearing Luffy's hat. The Straw Hat. Luffy's Straw Hat, his treasure… the proof that I was one of his true companions. The… The proof of—
"Cross, I want you to keep this safe for me. Give it back to me when we meet again, alright?"
…That was it.
That was… pretty much it. As all of the fears that I had been harboring for the last month dissolved, and as something finally interrupted the cavalcade of trauma and horror that had been my life for the past I don't even know anymore, I did the one thing I'd wanted to do more than anything else.
I let myself completely break down and cry.
Just… cry.
-o-
When Luffy passed his verdict, the crew outside had abandoned any subtlety in favor of watching through the door and windows. So they, along with everyone already in the bar, had their doubts silenced by that one action. Once that was done, Zoro was the first to rise to his feet and walk over to Luffy.
"…just like that? Why?" he asked, relief and disbelief warring in his voice. And indeed, while none of the crew would contest the decision—even the ones who hadn't been in the know were withdrawing with a minimum of grumbling—the confusion as to why he'd made it was palpable.
There was a moment's pause, the third mate oblivious in his sobbing and his partners just as delirious with relief, and then…
"He cried for Ace." was all Luffy gave as an answer.
And that was all that he needed to say.
-o-
Somewhere in the New World, a certain group of pirates was preparing to set sail. The party they'd had earlier in the day had subsided as things went increasingly south for the Straw Hats, and a few minutes after the broadcast suddenly cut off, their captain had hissed in pain, one hand coming to his left eye. The pain there had been a dull ache over the past few months, minor enough to ignore. The sudden spike of pain that rivaled the injury that left them forced him into action; something had gone very, very wrong, and he would soon find out what it was.
And yet, as they disembarked, the grim mood that had fallen over them subsided as Shanks found his hand brushing against his hair. Where the hat he'd relinquished so long ago once sat and where he felt the oddest but most distinct sense of contentment.
Red-Haired Shanks allowed a smile to grace his face. "Guess you're still doing well, Luffy."
"Captain! You'll want to see this!" barked Rockstar as he skidded up to him, freshly delivered newspaper in hand. Shanks scanned the front page, and his smile faded into a dark grimace at the proclamation regarding his protégé's brother.
"…somehow," he quietly tacked on. "Rockstar, get me a snail. I need to call Lucky Roo."
-o-
Cross's breakdown lasted for a good several minutes before he could be considered even remotely coherent. And while the crew's inclination was to give him all of the time that he needed to recover, what little explanation he'd given demanded a bit more haste. A tonic that Shakky provided had Cross calm again in a matter of seconds; she confided afterward while slamming the bottle back in the safe that it was a relic of the slave trade used to pacify victims during relocation. A concept they were all thoroughly disgusted with, of course, but desperate times and all that.
And indeed, in these desperate times, desperate measures seemed to be the theme for the Straw Hats, as Cross detailed exactly what would be happening to them and exactly why it was necessary, despite the crew's disdain. As he finished, he reached up and tipped the brim of Luffy's hat down a tad, refusing to look anyone in the eye.
"I… didn't want to hide this. But I…if I told you… what proof would I have, when we've won everything so far? When you've done so great, we've done so great, I—!… if we could win against the world before, why believe me when I said that this time was the impossible one…" Even through the chemical haze, a shudder racked him. "I'm sorry that I didn't trust you—"
"Cross," Luffy interrupted, his voice firm. "I trust you. I might have listened to you if you said that we needed to stop our adventure and train for two years…" He let out a heavy snort, scratching uncomfortably at his head. "But I don't know if I would have. I wouldn't have liked it, so I might've—I probably would've said no. I still don't like it, but after what happened…" He grit his teeth in a momentary flash of anger before forcing himself back to calm. "I get that we're not ready yet. I don't like it, but I get it. So don't worry about it."
Luffy paused; he wanted to give Cross the time he needed to pull himself together, but he had to ask that one burning question.
"But what about Ace?"
His attempt at a gentle tone didn't stop Cross's entire form from visibly sagging.
"They captured him four months ago and kept him asleep. He was still healthy… so the Vivre Cards didn't give anything away," he croaked out. "I-I thought I'd cut this off, I thought I did enough—!"
"Cross," Luffy cut in again, forcing his voice to stay something like calm. "Forget about the past. Tell me about the future.How do we save him?"
Cross's fists clenched and unclenched sporadically as he spoke on, seemingly unable to stop. "He's in Level 6 of Impel Down, the Eternal Hell. It's the only place they'd even think of keeping him until the execution. If you can save him before they take him, The War will never happen. The Whitebeards won't clash with the Navy, Newgate won't die—for a while, at least—and Teach won't come to power. That's the best-case scenario at this point."
Luffy let himself relax slightly, letting himself feel a glimmer of relief.
"But…"
Only for Cross to do what he did best, and dash it with one word.
"That's… really not likely," he said matter-of-factly. "The floors of Impel Down aren't called hells because they're pleasant vacation spots. And trying to catch him in transit wouldn't be any good either, because at best that means Vice Admirals, and at worst an Admiral or three. You likely won't make it in time, and if you don't, you'll have to charge Marineford instead. And once you're there…" Cross's head sank down even further. "Ace's chances of survival… decrease exponentially."
"Then why can't we help!?"
This time it was Su who jumped into the conversation. Her fur stood on end, the cloud fox never one to accept harsh realities without protest.
"So we have to train for two years before we move on? Fine! I'm going to love and loathe being away from you idiots, but fine!" she snarled. "But can we save the goodbyes for after we help—"
"Wouldn't work. Even Impel Down alone is way beyond our current weight class. Hell, probably beyond even what we'll be capable of. It's just…" A shudder ran through him. "It's hell. Well and truly hell on earth. The guards, the warden, the prison itself… and that's just Impel Down. That's all… not even close to what's coming at Marineford."
Cross shook his head.
"Luffy's survival alone was the fluke to end all flukes. And maybe some of us could claw our way out, maybe… but not unscathed. And not all. Anyone who goes in there with him, anyone at all… would be merely fodder."
The words 'And a distraction' rang loud and clear.
Then, almost as an afterthought, Cross shrugged dismissively. "Plus, that'd all be contingent on convincing Kuma to change his plans. Which is, to reiterate, impossible. He told me so himself…well." Even through his tonic-induced haze, Cross's eye started twitching erratically. "'Told'. He… spoke at me, wou-wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise. Just… talked over me…Flattened my every excuse… every word… before I could even get anything out…"
Koala hastily cleared her throat, both because she had something to say and to put an end to his panicked devolution. "Cross… I don't know if you know this, but—"
"Kuma might have been a Revolutionary once, but I don't know how they're holding him over the barrel now," Cross answered, shaking his head. "Either way, it doesn't matter, he isn't the man you once knew and I mean that literally. He's more machine now than man, twisted and... you can't stop him. Nothing can stop him." Cross lapsed into silence for a moment before shrugging slightly. "Well." He glanced at Rayleigh. "Almost nothing. But you won't. You shouldn't. And you can't."
That got the gray-haired veteran to sit up straighter and give Cross a look of mild surprise. "The first two you're right on the money, but I'm surprised to hear the third."
Cross shrugged again. "Simple logic. You're retired. Not fake-retired, actually retired. Sabaody's your home, but only so long as the 'Dark King' stays off his throne. If you actually operated in an official capacity, all this would be gone, and you couldn't come back to it. You wouldn't give that up for anything. Shouldn't. Not even for us." Cross blinked slowly before tilting his head. "This stuff is actually quite effective, any chance—?"
"NO."
"Worth a shot."
Silence fell over the room, the silence of people who wanted to protest but had deep down realized they really had no choice.
It was Usopp who broke. "Then what can we do?" he demanded, handing off a repaired staff to Nami as he got to his feet. "We still have a little time left, don't we? Are we just going to… to accept that we can't do anything and move on?!"
Cross twitched again, but then… then he looked up, expression hard and at least a little determined. "Of course not," he answered. "Merry?"
The ship-girl shot to her feet and reached into her coat, withdrawing the bags she'd made from her raincoat and setting them out on the table.
{I knew something was going on,} Sanji signed aggressively at one of the bags.
"Thanks mostly to you," Cross added. "You were the one who told me to have fail-safes ready in case my plans didn't work out. And as much as I didn't want to believe that there was any chance of my plans regarding Ace failed, Thriller Bark made me doubt enough that I did it."
He looked over the rest of the crew. "If any of you haven't contributed to Merry's Emergency Care Package yet, now would be the time. And Chopper? Put in as many antidotes as you have; unless we're stupidly lucky, Luffy will be fighting Magellan and his Venom-Venom Fruit."
Fast as thought, Chopper had unfolded his chemistry set and begun frantically mixing.
"As for me… I've written letters for you all, what my knowledge covers. Or, well, as far as my best guess goes for anyone who wasn't with the crew before, to give you some help with your training. Luffy's has a fail-safe letter telling everything I know about what he'll be going through. Beyond that, I've already mustered the Masons; I'll fill them in on this and put all the resources that they've got towards helping Luffy," Cross said, getting to his feet.
A grunt from Sanji interrupted him, prompting Robin to translate again as he signed: {I can appreciate how much it'll help having people on both sides of the law working on this. But this is going to be the biggest event for the Navy since Roger's execution. Forget their abilities, forget their resources, and tell me how you expect to convince a bunch of high-ranking Marines to try sabotaging their entire organization just because we want to stop it.}
"Here's the twenty-five words or less summary," Cross snapped, his temper apparently spiking through his depression. "Either we win this, or it's Enies Lobby times fifty, with the world on the receiving end instead of the World Government."
A chill swept through the room at the implications.
"Yeah. Either that gets everyone moving, or I have grossly misjudged these people."
{...So, your argument is basically 'control the chaos as much as possible?'} Sanji summarized after a pause.
"...yeah, pretty much," Cross admitted as he deflated, sounding utterly defeated. "The avalanche has begun, and it's too late for the pebbles to vote. So… now we do what my world's people did whenever they saw an oncoming natural disaster. Batten down the hatches, stockpile as many supplies as possible… And pray that once the worst is past… you're still around to worry about surviving until tomorrow."
Nobody responded. Cross sighed and looked around. Around… not at despair, but at worry. For him. For Luffy. It didn't lift his spirits. But it at least kept them from sliding down further.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a meeting to start. Anyone wants to eavesdrop, feel free, but think about the best usage of your time; our crew parts at sunset, and whatever we can give Luffy before then is all the help he'll have from us against the world's best efforts. And on that note… where's Sonia?"
Everyone blinked and then facefaulted.
"Ah… she and I both fainted back when your captain punched the Noble's lights out," Koala sheepishly admitted. "I woke up, she… hasn't, yet."
Cross facepalmed, the most energy he'd shown since getting back. "Oooof course…" He then shook his head, which seemed to clear out some of the lethargy he'd been under. "Alright, take me to her. I've got one idea to snap her out of it."
More than a few of the recovering crew exchanged cheeky grins and beris as Cross followed Shakky into the back of the bar, shadowed by Koala.
With Keimi resting in bed, the much taller and longer Sandersonia was draped across a table instead, with all the grace you'd expect or this kind of situation. At least she wasn't holding a bouquet or bathed in angelic light. Though the angelic harps strumming through the air certainly weren't helping the situation.
Cross gave his shoulder-borne parasite a glare. "Now? Really?"
Soundbite's response was a shameless, matter-of-fact shrug. "HEY, I CAN CHOOSE TO BE DEPRESSED OR I CAN CHOOSE TO BE AN ASS. Which would you prefer?"
"Ass…" Cross sighed, rolling his eyes. He then gave Shakky a look of total disbelief. "And just to be sure, you didn't think to try the obvious solution?"
Shakky raised her shoulders in a shrug. "Didn't think of it during the panic, didn't think it was my place after." Her lips twisted up in an amused smile. "But if you'd rather give it a go?"
Cross smiled too, but his expression was far more sardonic. "Sure!"
And lo, Cross raised his armored leg and slammed it into Sonia's side, shoving her clean off the table and crashing to the ground with an indignant squawk.
"...you are not that clueless," Koala uttered, staring at him in disbelief.
Cross dropped his smile for a grim frown. "No, but I am that impatient."
Apparently Sandersonia didn't have much patience for explanations, either. She immediately filled over half the room with the bulk of her demi-human form, a feral snarl erupting through her bared fangs. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THATFOR, YOU SKINNY LITTLE—!"
"Cram it, handbag. The world's gone and going to hell in a hamper and your sister is days away from being at Ground Zero, so unless you want her to be at the clusterfuck of the century— counting Roger's Execution—without our help, stow your fangs and move."
It was a testament to both how much Sandersonia respected Cross and the sheer levels of 'do not fuck with me right now' he was exuding that the Kuja's only response to the diatribe was to snap back to her human form wearing a thoroughly cowed expression.
The blond Straw Hat nodded sharply. "Better. Now, let's find somewhere private so that we can do this properly. Shakky?"
While the bartender led him out, Sonia hung back long enough to whisper to Koala. "Would this be a bad time to mention that that take-charge attitude of his just now really got my blood flowing?"
Koala grimaced. "Any other time and I'd probably be right there with you But here, now? Yes, extremely." And with that, she jogged ahead to catch up to Cross, leaving Sonia blinking in total confusion, a single thought running through the snake-woman's mind.
"…what in Set's rotten shedded skin did I miss?!"
-o-
The wine cellar beneath the bar wasn't the most comfortable place to be, but it was the most isolated area available without access to Sunny's secret planning room. Soundbite rested on a small table while four others and I sat on chairs around it.
Most of my usual confidants were helping coordinate preparations for… for what was to come. Nami and Merry were earmarking and divvying up supplies as appropriate for everyone's locations, and Zoro was hashing out rough training regimes for the members of the crew such things would apply to, or who would actually listen to him. And Vivi? Well… she'd shown a stroke of brilliance by hopping on Carue and getting directions to the nearest Transponder Snail store on the archipelago. Said that even if we couldn't all be together, that was no reason for any of us to be alone.
It really was just an incredible bit of both common sense and pure genius. Only natural that I'd missed it, I suppose…
But still, while that was them… there was another reason there was one less person in the room than there could have been. Though I had detailed what brief and necessary facts of the oncoming ordeal that I could in my letter to him, I had outright asked Luffy if he wanted to sit in on the meeting this time. He'd decided against it, in typical wise Luffy fashion:
"You're the tactician. You're the one who knows everything. Tell me what I need to do, and I'll do it. I'll listen if you think I need to. But I can't help you plan, and I don't need to know how it works as long as it works."
He was putting way more faith in me than I was due. But, Captain's orders. As such, I was going all in this time. If only one more plan in my life was going to work, I just had to hope, to pray it would be this one.
…and unfortunately, in this instance, 'praying' was less a calculated risk and more a blind leap of faith. Merry's death, as tragic as it was, had only ever been a side effect of rescuing Robin. I had nowhere near enough bargaining chips to buy a deus ex machina for a front-and-center victim, least of all this one. So, there really was no choice. I'd just have to make use of the tools it had given me already.
"The others are standing by upstairs," Robin murmured, her eyes closed and her arms crossed. "If any resources come to mind that we can utilize, I will pass it on to them."
"Thanks, sis," I said, then turned my gaze to Koala.
The revolutionary gave me a sad nod. "I've already called Karasu; we'll leave for Baltigo as soon as he arrives, and Dragon and Sabo will be the first to hear about all of this."
"Orchid and I will go with her, it'll be the fastest way back to Amazon Lily," Sonia agreed, her expression more solemn than I'd ever seen on her, in this world or the one before.
Finally, I turned to our newest recruit. "I've seen your faithfulness with my own eyes in the years to come," I said quietly. "I've brought you in this fast because of that faith and because matters are that desperate."
"I owe you and yours everything, young master, whatever help I can give is yours. I'll swear it in blood if you ask," Duval said firmly.
I nodded and returned my gaze to the snail before me.
"Are you ready, partner?"
He nodded. "With you ALL THE WAY, partner."
"Then start the call. Let's…" I grunted and pinched the bridge of my nose, as I was once again reminded that right now, I was just so,so tired. "Let's… see what we can salvage."
"Puru—KA-LICK!"
"Ophiuchus. Anaconda and Koala are with me, as is a new associate: Bison, recruited earlier than expected out of necessity," I bluntly started off. "Is everyone else already here?"
"All six of the Divine and all eight of the Damned," Aquarius confirmed before her expression became a tad more… concerned. "Are you… stable now, Ophiuchus?"
"…close enough for this," I sighed morosely. "Under the circumstances, don't have time for anything better. I'm still mad about the reason I called everyone together, but something else that I was worrying myself insane about just turned out better than I ever could have hoped for. For now, I'm functional, and I'll settle for it."
"Then can you get to it?" Smoker huffed. "What exactly had you worried to the point that Aquarius was wary about talking to you?"
"Especially if it's as world-shaking as I'm guessing it is!" Perona frantically jumped, any previous reticence about the other members of the group smothered in panic. "Because I just got an express message from the World Governmentdemanding that I present myself! I was supposed to have another month so that I could get myself at least halfway situated! What in Thanatos's name is going on!?"
"…I would like to state, for the record, that while I think that caution and wariness are the more appropriate reaction to the 'what' we are all dancing around… Dog's reaction is not entirely unwarranted either," Tsuru said. "Sometimes fear is the appropriate response. And this, regrettably, is one of those situations."
"She's right," I agreed. "Let me give you guys a bit of backstory so that you all can appreciate just how truly up shit creek things are."
I clasped my hands together and let my eyes slide shut as I bowed my head in solemn remembrance. "When I first came to this world, I didn't have any plans of becoming the Voice of Anarchy. I was a normal teenager with a body frailer than Spandam's, so my first and only priority was joining the Straw Hats and then surviving until Luffy became the Pirate King. My knowledge was my only advantage, and before I royally screwed up and got Vivi her bounty, I was planning on keeping things as close to what I saw as possible to make sure that I could preserve that advantage…but there was one exception."
I let my eyes open, brows drawn in a determined scowl. "One major catastrophe that I made up my mind to stop long before I got my transceiver: at the time that the Straw Hats assaulted Enies Lobby, a former member of the Whitebeard Pirates named Marshall D. Teach defeated Portgas D. Ace, Whitebeard's Second Division Commander and Luffy's older brother, and turned him over to the World Government to become a Warlord. The Government promptly elected to hold a public execution." I let the choked exclamations of shock from those who hadn't yet known wash over me before continuing. "To rephrase that, the Government challenged the Whitebeard Pirates, challenged Whitebeard himself and all of his allies to an all-out war. A war that shook the world to its core in the worst possible way."
I ground my teeth in a display of the gut-churning mix of frustration and despair I was experiencing. "And not only did I fail to stop it, but the Government hid the warning signs so well that I only just now found out that I failed to stop it."
A pause fell. "Is this why we're being mustered for Marineford?" Jonathan asked with rising dread.
"Cross," Smoker cut in. "With everything you've done on the SBS, the World Government doesn't have the resources or PR to do something like that, and they know it. Even if you know it's true, that still doesn't explain why the World Government would even consider challenging one of the Emperors, either before you got involved or now, when the entire thing is at the lowest point it's ever been."
I grimaced, hesitating, but they'd find out one way or another. Might be told at their next briefing, even. So…
"To finish what they started all those years ago, and what they failed to do then. To accomplish what they set out to do… on Baterilla."
That sunk in, and there was a deep intake of breath from the better number of the listeners, along with a growing visage of horror.
"…Uh, what's Baterilla?" Dorry asked.
"It's a beautiful island in the South Blue. Tropical climate, lovely place for a vacation," Foxy explained airily. "Little-known paradise, I visited it once or twice—"
"And it was the site of a Government-ordered inquisition and massacre twenty-two years ago."
While Foxy gaped openly at Hina, Jonathan picked up the explanation.
"Baterilla was the last known location of Gold Roger before he was captured. After his execution, the World Government scoured the island and slaughtered every infant younger than two years, along with their mothers. The massacre was enacted with the singular intent of ensuring that if the Pirate King bore a child before his death, he or she would be executed in the sweep. Put an end to his bloodline before he could form a legacy."
"And they failed," I snapped. "They underestimated the tenacity of one Portgas D. Rouge. She carried her unborn son for twenty months to save him from being executed. When she finally gave birth, she stayed alive just long enough to hand him off to the only person that Roger trusted with her location: Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp."
You could have bounced a beri off the air, it was so still and tense. Koala and Sandersonia were openly gaping at me, and I think Duval had gone catatonic.
"Fuck me…" Foxy breathed weakly.
"You said it…" Barto agreed.
"Should've known," Law snarled.
"W-Wait…" Tashigi said, obviously still struggling to catch up with the implications. "So, doesn't this mean that Ace and Luffy—?"
"They're brothers in the only way that matters," Koala interrupted.
"And that's the last thing we're going to worry about," I concurred. "The only thing that could make the Government do something as stupid as challenging Whitebeard to a war, especially at a time like this, is their determination to put an end to the bloodline of the worst blight in their history."
A wave of exhaustion suddenly surged through me, and I instinctively rubbed my face to try and get rid of it. This was no time to collapse, especially when a terrifying thought occurred to me. "And to be clear: the main reason I wanted to stop this was I saw Luffy, his spirit completely broken after Ace died in his arms to save him. But now, that's the least of our concerns. They've changed their plans, because if it hadn't been for the Dark King himself saving us earlier, they would have had me up there beside Ace."
"…OK, I'll be the one to ask," Bartolomeo sighed out after a pause. "What's your logic here, Cross? Of course they want to execute you, too."
"Any other time, yes, absolutely," I agreed, replaying what the Yellow bastard had said so I could be sure. "But not like this, not here. Ace is supposed to be center stage, ending the bloodline of Roger. Having anyone else up there, even me, dilutes the message they're sending, and that should be the last thing they'd want. And yet, you heard what Kizaru said."
While Barto and the other Damned who'd been a part of that ass-whooping mulled over those words, Robin cleared her throat. "For the benefit of you who weren't present… once Admiral Kizaru lost his temper and decided that he was actually going to bring his full might to bear, he said that he would kill Cross too. And he also said…" She paused, and swallowed uneasily. "He said that he would do it… in spite of such an action potentially enraging the Elder Stars."
And there it was. Dead silence, as everyone processed just what they'd heard and, more importantly, the dire implications
"…That does paint a different picture as to what the Government is planning," Jonathan said with a ferocious scowl. "But ultimately, it's the same purpose that they had before, just on a higher scale. They intend to showcase the 'evils' of freedom, and how the 'security' of the World Government is the only true peace in life."
"But it's not the motivation that's important here, but the methodology," I groaned out. "And that… that seems to have shifted drastically. If extinguishing Roger's Bloodline isn't the main point here… then I dread to imagine whatever it is they could be planning."
Bartolomeo was the first to break the grim silence, his face set and his beartrap of a jaw grit with steely determination. "Then what are we going to do about it, Cross?"
"I… I don't know," I admitted, my face a mask of misery. "If we'd had more time, if we'd had this information even a week sooner… but we don't have that. There are only ten days until the war, and there's something that I can't stop coming up in a couple of hours that's going to tie up every Straw Hat except Luffy. Myself included. We… We've been railroaded. I can't—I don't have time to plan this out…And… And even if I could, I still wouldn't… nothing I could…"
I lapsed into mumbled ramblings, only for a sharp pinch to send a lance of pain down my shoulder. I hissed and spun around to the one responsible: Sandersonia, a sympathetic look on her face, but also one that brooked no argument.
"Focus," she said. "Not on what you can't do, but what you can do."
A primal urge to tell her exactly where she could shove that idea welled up, but I slammed it and the roiling mass of everything else I was feeling down. I could break down later. And I'd soon have three days and nights with nothing better to do.
"I… I can't help Luffy," I said, the admission like swallowing broken glass. "None of us Straw Hats can, not really… but you can."
I gripped the edge of the table in an attempt to stop the jitters in my limbs. "Thanks to Popora, the war is now as fresh in my mind as the day I first read it. And now that it can't be stopped, there's only one thing I can do to change how it goes down. All of you, get out Tone Dials if you have them or pen and paper if you don't. I'm about to tell you everything I saw of the war. And no interruptions; I don't have time to say this more than once."
A mass of rustling sounded out from Soundbite. Seconds later, it stopped, and—after silently cursing the fact that I had any reason whatsoever to call up these memories again—I began.
"It began when Bartholomew Kuma used his powers to scatter the Straw Hat Pirates across the world…"
-o-
"…and after ten days, Akainu stood victorious, but he had enough sympathy to spare Aokiji's life. When he recovered, Aokiji resigned, unwilling to work under Akainu, and for reasons that I cannot begin to fathom, he joined Blackbeard, who had in the meantime usurped Whitebeard's title and territories and built a reputation of stealing Devil Fruit powers. As for the remaining Whitebeard Pirates, I can't say; that's the extent of my knowledge."
I huffed, rubbing my throat after a good half hour of talking their ears off. It was several minutes before the sound of scratching pens stopped as well, and Tashigi spoke.
"So… what do you expect us to do, Cross?"
I shook my head. "As long as Luffy and Ace survive the war, whatever you decide to do with my knowledge is fine by me. It would be best if Whitebeard didn't die, but given his age and the situation I know how unlikely that is."
"…And what exactly are you planning on doing, Cross? Are the Straw Hats just going to accept leaving their captain alone for this?" Dorry asked sternly.
I shook my head. "I'm arming Luffy with all of the information and resources I can muster to max out his chances of raiding Impel Down and Marineford successfully. But beyond that… Kuma confronted me before I came here. The crew parts at sunset; nothing I do can stop that, nor should I, as much as I hate—"
"You're just giving up?!" Broggy said angrily.
"…And what would have happened if I chose to send him away, even if it was physically possible to stop him?" I responded, letting my exhaustion seep into my voice. "Can I guarantee that we'll make it to Impel Down or Marineford in time? No. Can I guarantee that we'll all survive if we do make it? No. Can I guarantee that if by some miracle we all make it out of there alive and well, we'll still be able to train for the New World in the way that we need to? Hell no." I jabbed an accusatory finger in Soundbite's face, letting him broadcast my spiteful glower. "And neither can any, any of you. And you all know it."
"You can have all of the resources that you could wish for, stack up the odds in your favor, but sometimes, the enemy before you is someone that you just can't defeat as you are," Foxy stated. "I literally had that lesson beaten into my skull. As did you, Sagittarius."
Jonathan grimaced in acknowledgment. "I don't deny it. Planning a winning strategy is simple. But planning to win without any sacrifices along the way is tricky against even a half-decent opponent, let alone an equal one."
"And this fight… isn't equal. At all," I droned in agreement. "Impel Down cheats, the Marines assembled at Marineford will cheat, Blackbeard is bullshit incarnate, nothing about this fight will be fair. No advantages. No openings. Nothing. All I've managed to do is plug a few holes, but other than that… I've done all I can to keep just Luffy afloat. He clawed his way out of two straight hells by the skin of his teeth, and that's my best-case scenario. Anyone else in that mess, if I let anyone even try… I can't, I just can't."
"Honor can come from facing a foe beyond your stature…" Broggy said after a moment of silence. "But having the strength to acknowledge that you lack the might to prevail is wisdom seldom found in young warriors… and we both commend and rue the fact that you have shown that wisdom here today. We concede that you have chosen… if not the better path, then the least horrible one available to you."
"You can rely on us, Ophiuchus, Capricorn swears it," Hina said. "You've shown us all the angles. We'll handle the rest."
"Besides, we succeed and this should put an end to whatever reputation the World Government has left," Lola added, smirking.
My spirits, downtrodden as they were, got a bit of a boost from the rest of the Divine and Damned chiming in with their own words of encouragement. I still felt like shit, but… it helped, it helped. I wiped away a few stray tears as the assurances petered off, and I looked back at Soundbite, almost smiling.
"This means the world to me, all of you," I acknowledged. "But with that out of the way… there are still some immediate problems to address. Namely, I have no idea where on this blue madhouse of a planet Kuma's going to send me, so for all I know, this may be the last time I can contact you all before the two years are up. Assuming I even survive that long. So, I have a few more things to say before I go. First things first: Bison, proper introduction."
"A-Ah, yes, sir," Duval stammered, addressing the snail. "I am Duval, formerly 'Iron Mask' Duval, leader of the Rosy Life Riders, formerly the Flying Fish Riders. I entered the kidnapping business due to a faulty bounty poster and am free again thanks to the Straw Hat Pirates. In light of the slave trade's demise, my knowledge of it won't be of much help, but my boys and I are at your service for whatever we can provide."
"We have deliberated upon your skills and resources since Ophiuchus mentioned you in our meeting last week," T-Bone replied. "At this point, I believe we have determined the best place for you and yours. One of my associates will arrive at the Archipelago within the next three days to lead you to your first assignment."
Duval nodded. With that handled… "Next, Ox."
"Yeah?/What?"
"Reorganize your priorities for the new ship, focus on its defensive capabilities. Odds are that Akainu is still going to become the new Fleet Admiral, so if you're not fortified enough, Water 7 is going to burn."
"Broggy, pass on the news. I'll stay here until the call is finished," Dorry said.
"Fine, Dorry," Broggy grunted, and there was the sound of a giant quickly leaving. I glanced aside for my next directive.
"Anaconda, if Vice Admiral Momonga is still the one heading for Amazon Lily as Boa Hancock's escort to Marineford, sow the seeds of doubt with him. He's strict but not necessarily cruel, and with any luck, we'll have a new member of the Divine sooner rather than later."
Sandersonia nodded, determination blazing in her eyes. "Understood."
"Monkey, how much can you speed up the preparation of the Free Feather Report?"
Apoo glanced aside, muttering rapidly under his breath before clacking his teeth with a discordant CLANG!
"With the extra manpower we've got now—lotsa journalists and other freethinkers locked away on this hellhole, three guesses how they got there—I should be able to pick up the pace. If you want it ready before the war starts…" Soundbite jerked his head to the side in an approximation of a shrug. "It'll be tight, but I think we can pull that off."
"Good. Then plan on making the war your first cover story." I grimaced and clutched my knuckles, pages of black and white flipping through my head. "No matter what happens at Marineford, it cannot go down in history as the War of the Best; the world must know the truth."
"Got it."
"Tiger, can I rely on you and Monkey to save Luffy and Ace?"
"Of course," Law responded with cold certainty.
"Good. Rooster."
"All ears."
"Join him. Lend him your powers, do whatever it takes to make sure he gets in and out in one piece." I twitched as a certain… irksome thought rammed into my head. "And don't flip out about Luffy until they're in the clear."
"…I'll control myself," he agreed.
I chose to take him at his word and moved on. "Alright. Rabbit, find Izo before he leaves, and tell him to tell Whitebeard about us. Don't share any more details than you have to, obviously, but make sure that the old man knows that there's going to be another group working behind the scenes to help him…" I grimaced as that image in particular struck me, but finished the thought. "And make sure that he knows what Teach has planned."
"Leaving now. Oswald, take notes for me."
"Aye, Captain."
"Puppy, two things. First, you had better spend the next two years training and building your power. You need to be able to stand as a true Warlord when the real show begins. And second… support Luffy. I…I'm not asking you to blow your cover, but… just… do whatever you can."
The Ghost Princess had shrunk slightly at the attention, but with something she could actually grasp put on a mask of confidence. "I'm good at reading openings, Ophiuchus. Whatever I can do, it'll get done."
"Thank you," I said, breathless. "Now… Goat, stockpile your resources, then return to the start of the Grand Line and build a proper base on Cactus Island. If Whitebeard still dies, there's going to be a new influx of pirates sailing into the Grand Line. You'll be tasked with recruiting as many as possible. Start with the bounty hunters that live there, old friends of Copperhead's."
"Excellent," Foxy drawled.
Another thought occurred to me, and my immediate instinct was to throw it out, if only out of spite, but pragmatism forced me to speak. Even if I had to drag out each word like it was a length of barbed wire. "Aquarius, I want to edit that request that I made earlier. The message I want you to pass on to Kuzan is this…"
I spoke fourteen words that only Kuzan would understand the full magnitude of.
"Mmph…" Tsuru chewed her lip thoughtfully. "If he will know that this is from you, I will need to exercise discretion in passing it on."
"Cram it down his throat if you have to, I don't give a damn," I barely restrained myself from snarling back. "All that matters is that I want those words branded into the back of his skull for the rest of his worthless life."
Tsuru grimaced, undoubtedly at the sheer vitriol I was showing, but she nodded nonetheless. "I will do the best that I can."
"Thank you." I let some measure of tension flow out of me in a sigh before continuing. "And to all of the Divine: when the war is over, faith in the Marines for those on the battlefield is going to be at its all-time lowest. Especially if things proceed as I remember, and someone starts a conscription campaign. I don't think it'll be enough to completely sway Sengoku, but it will probably be enough to sway Garp and Helmeppo, and it will definitely be enough to sway Coby. Capitalize on the opportunity. If you can't recruit them, shake them enough that you'll be able to recruit them later, and cull the ranks of the newly recruited before any sort of true indoctrination can set in."
A chorus of agreements sounded out.
"The last advice I can offer now is a few suggestions for who you should try to recruit over the next two years. For the Divine, I have only one, but I'm certain that he'll join. His name is Issho, a blind swordsman with a love of gambling and a gravity-based Devil Fruit. He'll be an Admiral by the time our hiatus ends. For the Damned, I have two, both hazy. The more certain is Cavendish; no better way to describe the guy than 'attention whore', so he probably holds a grudge against…" I heaved out a tired sigh, because I did not have the patience for this… "Well, me in particular for stealing the spotlight, so you may have to wait on him. The other, however, is more immediate: Jewelry Bonney. I don't know her story, but from what I saw? She hates the hell out of Akainu and is on either the World Government's shit list or grab list for whatever reason, so she's at least worth looking into."
I paused, letting it sink in that this was really the end of what I could do before the war. Then I frowned as I considered what was to come after it.
"And one last—no, actually, two last things. Scorpio."
"Yes?"
"Take this down. Way back on Skypiea, I suggested establishing Punk Hazard as a base. Caesar Clown—sponsored by Doflamingo—already has a base set up on the island, so you'll need to move fast once the Admirals' duel is over to avoid detection. And I was remembering something else wrong: there's one scout you'll need to watch out for even in the fiery region." I scowled as the memory of the last few hours burned through my mind. "Monet, the snow Logia of Doflamingo's crew. She probably won't be a big deal on the fiery side unless Tiger still modifies her so that she's a harpy on the outside as well, but either way, that's for you to handle. I should also add that Vergo is the one who monitors the base; if all goes well, it'll be his ignoble grave."
"Noted, Cross," Hina and T-Bone said, venom staining their tones.
"And second, Pisces and Cancer. Make sure that Popora is on Fishman Island when the Straw Hats reform, and make sure that he trains his projection technique over the next two years."
"…So, I guess it's more than just refreshing your memory?" Smoker divined.
"If all goes well?" I allowed myself a faint smile. "It'll be the beginning of the end of hatred between humans and fishmen." And just as swiftly, the smile collapsed. "But that's a worry for the future."
I grimaced and closed my eyes.
"New World Masons… no matter how Marineford turns out, our efforts for rebuilding the world will begin in earnest when the war ends. Good luck to all of you, and whatever else may come… know that it has been an honor and a pleasure to work alongside each and every one of you. This is Ophiuchus—"
"And Knucker—"
"Signing off."
-o-
It was a minute or so after Cross disconnected that the callers spoke again, rather than hang up.
"…So, this is what it's like to know the future," Jonathan mused. "I don't much care for the feeling."
"I knew it. From the very first day, I knew that I was out of my mind to join him," Smoker groused, though without any real hit.
"This is the proof," Law intoned in agreement. "And yet, he passed us the baton. We listened and agreed to give him some peace of mind after all of this, but is that what we're planning to do?"
"Like we've got much other choice, jagoff?" Bartolomeo growled out, sounding disturbingly lucid under his usual zealotry. "In case you missed it, the world's been up shitcreek but good for the past few centuries, and Cross has made the most impact since Roger himself. Luffy's without equal, ain't nobody can deny that, but it's Cross who's changing the world. If he fucks off for good, which after a day like today I sure as shit wouldn't blame him for doing, then we'll all be screwed. So you'd better damn well hope he comes back, you hear!"
"Leaping to conclusions again, Rooster…" Law muttered. "I'm just playing devil's advocate here: he's just gone and left the job of salvaging something of the world from the flaming wreckage it's about to become, while he bows out. That doesn't seem a little mismatched to anyone here?"
"Not particularly," Tashigi, Tashigi of all people, said. "Like Rooster said, today's been the hell of a day to end all hellish days, and while a lot of us got caught in the periphery, Cross was the primary target of it all. Right now, he's scrambling and is going to be scrambling for his life and sanity alike while this all goes down. He… literally can't handle handling all this right now. Which is where we come in."
"Do what you can with your life on the line… and once you're done, turn to your friend and say 'If you don't finish it, I'll kill you myself'."
"Ox?" Jonathan queried in surprise.
"Something I remember hearing Roronoa Zoro say on the SBS," the Blue Ogre replied. "Cross has done all that he could, he's worked himself to the bone, and taken on more than even a Giant's shoulders could bear. And now, it's our duty to pick up the slack. And if we can't find it in ourselves to grit our teeth and bear that burden, that same burden that Cross has been bearing all this time, without complaint? Then why are any of us even here?"
There was a long pause, before Law tsked dismissively. "Hey, like I said: didn't mean anything by it, was just saying it to say it. No way I'd ever let that loudmouth show me up like that, so what the hell: let's see what we can drag out of the ashes."
"Well then, with that settled, there is one matter that I must address before we consider what to do with this knowledge," Tsuru spoke grimly, her mere tone drawing grimaces from her co-conspirators. "I had considered warning Ophiuchus, but in light of everything… the Straw Hat Pirates have been framed for an attack on the World Nobles."
"…Framed for attacking them?" Law said in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but assuming you haven't gone senile, what the hell happened to them that was worse than the puppet show from… the… no. No, you've got to be kidding me. He didn't."
"He did," Tsuru confirmed with a tired sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in an effort to avoid looking at the hellish report she was holding. "When Saints Charloss and Shalria arrived at Mariejois, not one bone in their bodies was unbroken, and their father was scarcely better off. Saint Roswald did, of course, testify who was truly responsible, but as all of us now know, he is the one person that not even the World Nobles can order to be punished, leaving no choice but to issue the cover story he left us."
"One last parting shot, and it cuts the Government themselves along with the Straw Hats," Tashigi grumbled mutinously. "This statement is blatantly false, and all the world will know it, so they'll also know that the World Government either has no clue who actually attacked those monsters or, for whatever reason, is protecting them…" She trailed off, face twisting in uncomfortable ways. "Or… will they… I mean, with where the SBS cut off, couldn't there be some reasonable doubt—?"
"There could be," Tsuru bluntly agreed, before allowing herself the slightest of rueful smirks. "Were it not for the fact that someone just so happened to leak an official report, detailing how the 'venerable' Saint Roswald and his family acquired their injuries after being taken into the World Government's history, to certain… interested outside parties."
Tsuru kept up her smirk for a bit before glowering pointedly at her snail and its lack of reaction. That got it blinking and growing a set of piano-like teeth. "Oh, you mean me, right, right! Ah, yeah, sure, I can do that! Can't actually print it in the Report yet… ah, but if you can really get me that report, then I can run it through our presses and spread it as far and wide as we can manage, use it as a dry run of our network! That should punch a hole clean through their propaganda, no problem!"
"Good. With that sorted… we do not have much time to act on our new knowledge. I ask that all of you use the rest of the day to compile an accounting of your assets so that we know what we have to work with. We will reconvene and plan properly tomorrow morning."
"Agreed."
"Fine by me."
"That works."
"Then this meeting is adjourned," Tsuru said. With that, she hung up, and then she sank back into her chair with a tired, tired, bone-deep tired groan.
"Why, in all the nine circles of hell, couldn't this all have happened forty years earlier, when I didn't have arthritis and I could actually trust my best friends…" she groaned, if only for the sake of it.
-o-
The Damned that were on Sabaody as the call ended were prepared to give the guise of going their separate ways. Apoo had news to blow wide open, Law had maneuvers to practice, Bartolomeo had a crew to rile up, and Foxy had a juvenile Sea King or two to borrow.
There was just the slight issue that came when they returned to where they'd left the rest of their less… well-connected co-conspirators. Co-conspirators who'd taken notice of their absence and were waiting for their return, and were headed up by one of their less… amenable number.
"And where in the hell did you all fuck off to!?"
Faced with someone all too capable of killing him in ten seconds flat, Foxy wisely held his tongue in the face of Kid's fuming. The other three had wisecracks or lies ready to divert Kid's attention via another flare-up of his volcanic temper prepared on their tongues.
But before any of them could present said distractions—
"LOOK OUT—!"
PING! KRA-KOOM!
"—AAGH!"
—a new distraction arose, in the form of Law's newest recruit, Jean Bart flying past the assembled Supernovas and crashing into the nearby mangrove, flash-fried by what the Supernovas all recognized as one of Kizaru's lasers. This was enough to get them ready to run for the hills. Seeing their mystery assailant merely reinforced that decision.
The good news was that Kizaru wasn't back. But that was cold comfort to the pirates when in his place was an androgynous sumo wrestler armed with a massive battle-ax and flanked by Bartholomew Kuma… on both sides.
"If ever we needed proof that we're only halfway through the Grand Line…" Bege muttered grimly as he warily eyed the twin behemoths.
"Uuurgh, just unbelievable…" the sumo wrestler ground out, his free hand pinching the bridge of his nose in clear annoyance. "Not only was someone actually able to beat Uncle Kizaru, even by surprise, but now I need to mop up these weaklings too? Such a pain…"
Snorting, Sentomaru unslung his ax from his shoulders and brought it SLAM! ing into the ground. "But don't think just because I'm annoyed means you're getting another miracle save you this time. Do me a favor and try and last ten seconds so that I can get some decent data, alright?"
"Like we'll need even one against a Government flunky and a pair of your knock-off robots," Law drawled, though his lax tone of voice was belied by how tightly he was gripping Kikoku, and how quickly his Room snapped out to its full size.
Kid glanced at the suddenly-tense Surgeon of Death, but then donned a bloodthirsty grin at the Pacifistas. "Robots, huh? This'll be fun."
Sentomaru's glare snapped to Law. "How the hell did you—?!" Biting his tongue, he shook his head. "Tch, doesn't matter, not my department… but as for the rest of you…" His scowl deepened as he turned his full attention to Kid. "Don't underestimate me, you punk."
"Or what?" the ferrokinetic captain scoffed, leering viciously at the wrestler as he swung up a half-assembled arm of mismatched metal for an ironclad haymaker. "What're ya gonna do, fatass, sit on m—!?"
CRUNCH!
And despite the situation, pretty much everyone else watching felt at least a little catharsis from seeing the metal manipulator getting sent flying by way of the outstretched palm that occupied the very space he once had.
"PX-1, PX-2, take out the others. Kill them all."
The eyes of the twin giants glimmered. Their jaws dropped open and glares of light flared in their open maws.
That killed the catharsis in favor of a mad scramble to survive.
-o-
I huffed as I settled back in the main room of the bar, part of my mind noting that it was a lot emptier than it had been half an hour ago. I answered the questioning looks of the crew that were present with a shake of my head.
"I gave them all the knowledge I have; whatever plan they make with it is out of my control." I slowly raised my gaze to Luffy. "I've done everything that I can do to help you save Ace, Captain."
"I know," Luffy replied. He to the three allies. "Are you guys staying?"
"Not for long. We'll be heading back to the Revolutionaries' headquarters as soon as our ride gets here," Koala answered.
"I'm on my way out now, need to brief my boys about the upcoming trouble," Duval said, giving a cringey un-wink as he headed for the door. "We'll make sure to put 100% toward saving your brother, Captain!"
Luffy managed a small smile and a nod of gratitude as Duval left the bar. The bar went silent again as I furiously wracked my brains for anything else that might help Luffy, that I had forgotten. Only one thing came to mind, and I slowly turned toward the senior pirate in the room.
"Before you say anything, Cross," Rayleigh pre-empted him. "The World Government just broke whatever unspoken agreement we had. My patience is officially at an end. So…" The old man grinned, and it was definitely only by way of his immense restraint that I didn't see him as someone or… something else. "So tell me: how can we make them really hurt?"
I blinked, confusion striking me as I got my heart rate back under control. "…real quick first, a question: despite the reasons I gave you earlier, you were still… rather composed about Ace's execution, the way I saw it. Any reason you're…?"
"Fit to pull a Fisher Tiger with a lot more bodies?" Rayleigh chuckled grimly, his glasses glinting in the light. "Easy: in the circumstances you're describing, I knew I couldn't truly act without ruining my life, so my only choice was to let go of my anger, or be consumed by it. Here? I have you, and thus an alternative. So, I can let loose and… express myself a bit. And as I'm sure I implied, I take it you have an idea for that?"
I swallowed heavily, as I tamped down my 'run you blithering idiot!' survival instincts again. "By telling the truth," I all but spat. "We hurt them by telling the truth they've hidden for so long, and that will hurt them the most."
Rayleigh cocked his brow. "Which would be…?"
"The truth about that day in Loguetown. About his last days."
That rocked Rayleigh back on his heels. He stared at me in unabashed shock for a few seconds before snapping his jaw shut. "…yeah. Yeah, that'd do it…" Thankfully for me, after some thought he just shrugged. "Eh, screw it, that was always their lie anyways, not ours. At this point, he'd probably just point and laugh at us pulling it off like this. Alright, let's do this. You want to do it in here, or…?"
I was sorely tempted to agree with him, to jump right into it, like I had with so many other days before… but… "Go… Go on ahead back to the cellar for a bit," I said with a weak smile. "I'll… I'll catch up with you."
Rayleigh's doubtful frown informed me that I hadn't fooled him even an iota… but, thankfully, he had the good graces to concede, and leave me alone for what little time I needed.
And need it I damn well did, because the second Rayleigh was out of sight, I collapsed into the nearest chair I could find, my face buried in my hands as once more, I felt the sheer weight of… of everything crushing down on me so hard my name might as well have been Atlas.
"Soundbite," I croaked out, not even looking up at my partner. "I've never asked you this before because it's never been in question… but right now, I need it bad: what's my motivation?"
It took Soundbite a second to process my question, but when he responded?
"…The past six-to-twelve hours of your life have been an utter shitshow and everything you know and hold dear is spiraling down in flames, so you might as well drag a few of the worthier bastards responsible down with you so that you can share the misery with some bastards who really deserve it, and in so doing make any victory they might be trying to get out of your downfall as hollow as you can. THAT HELP?"
With those words, I felt a new fire raging in my skull. Standing, I marched to the cellar door with a new spring in my step. It wouldn't last, the pressure would see it extinguished within the hour, but for what I had planned, it would be enough.
"Perfect."
-o-
"Well, at least after all of this the worst of this nightmare has finally—!"
"Don don don don!"
"SOMEONE EITHER KILL HIM OR SHUT HIM UP!"
"HUP!" Coby promptly side-tackled his friend to the floor, one hand clamped over his mouth while his other arm snaked around his neck to lock into a sleeper hold. For his own good, of course.
Though if only in his mind, he had to admit that it was hard to imagine exactly how much worse things could get at this point.
And then someone picked up the snail. Coby took one look at the infuriated madness raging in that snail's eyes, and all his skepticism evaporated into nothingness.
-o-
"Alright, you ancient astral bastards," Jeremiah 'Voice of Anarchy' Cross sneered around the world, his eye twitching and his voice straining with an undeniable overtone of raw murder. "You wanna play hardball? Let's play fucking hardball. Joining us here today on the Straw Hat Broadcast Station, which is starting right here, right now, we have the man renowned as the Dark King, and one of the strongest pirates alive today: Gol D. Roger's First Mate, Silvers Rayleigh. Mister Silvers, I believe you've got an exclusive tale you'd like to share with the world?"
And then the snail's expression shifted, ever so slightly. It still held madness and hellfire, but now, the burning hatred it bore was ice-cold. Ice-cold, and to so many, chillingly familiar.
"Ohohohoh... Cross, you better believe it," a wizened, experienced voice crooned out, promising nothing but pain. "Because this? This has been a long time coming. Finally, after all these years… time to bring things to a head."
Even safely hidden away from the world at the Twin Capes, Crocus couldn't help the instinctive shiver that shot down his spine. He had seen that smile and heard that tone enough times to know that this was going to be a lot of trouble and leave a lot more broken bodies in its wake.
He might have expected mischief with a hint of malice from Rayleigh when he eventually got on the SBS, sure, but nothing quite on this scale. This… This was pure malice, and there were only a couple of things that he could blab to the world that justified that. And for just a moment, Crocus felt doubt that his old superior would go that far.
"Caw!"
The caw of a News Coo drew his attention skyward, right as it fluttered down. Long-trained reflexes had him reach for a couple of coins to pay for the paper. He glanced at the front page, turned his attention back to the snail… and then slowly turned back to the front page with a darkening visage as the bird flew off and he properly registered what in the hell he was reading .
No, Crocus decided, his superior was going just far enough. If anything, the only reason to show any restraint in light of this news would be to conserve the real damage, the namesake of the final island, for if the Government actually succeeded. And even then… well, perhaps it was time for the kindly old lighthouse keeper to 'remember' some old memories, the next time a strapping crew of intrepid adventurers passed by. Just, you know, for old times' sake.
-o-
"Much as I'd like to give a full monologue, I'm afraid that time is short and not all of this story is mine to tell, so I'll need to keep it brief. So…" Rayleigh cleared his throat, then addressed the world with a sharp look and a vicious grin that kept everyone listening pinned to their seats with an overwhelming sensation of 'or else' echoing through their minds. "People of the world, I'm sure you're wondering how it is that I escaped from the Marines while my captain ended up captured and executed. Or, quite frankly, how it is that any of we Roger Pirates could possibly still be alive and free. Quite the mystery, isn't it? How there are so many questions surrounding Roger's final days, no records of any grand battles momentous enough to mark the end of his freedom. Isn't it just a bit convenient that shortly after Roger was named the 'King of Pirates', mere months after, he was caught without a whisper?"
The truth that would become public knowledge in a matter of moments had never circulated outside of the highest echelons of the Navy. As such, the likes of Base 153 gave the broadcast their rapt attention despite the pits of dread in their stomachs.
"The answer is simple: the Navy never captured Gol D. Roger."
With that, the dread crystallized into something tangible. The world seemed to freeze over, two decades of history upended like a top-heavy ship. Eyebrows rose, fists clenched, jaws dropped, and disbelief abounded, both at Base 153 and the world over.
"Yes, you heard me right," Rayleigh chuckled, sounding honest-to-god nostalgic at what he was saying. "It wasn't a 'capture'. Gol D. Roger, the 'King of the Pirates', turned himself in. And not because of a trick or a threat, nothing like that. No, Gol D. Roger, of… mostly sound mind, turned himself in to the World Government of his own volition."
"…what kind of 'sound mind' would have an unrepentant pirate commit suicide by Marine?" one grunt breathlessly demanded.
"If you're wondering why, well… that's quite simple: he did it so that he could end his life on his own terms."
The grunt that had spoken froze, and Ripper himself began sweating. "No… it can't have been…" he breathed, not even believing his own words.
"You see, well before he turned himself in, my former captain had a terminal disease," the Dark King blithely revealed without a hint of remorse. "Do you all understand? The man who shook the world, who conquered the Grand Line, who claimed everything that the world had to offer… was dying throughout it all. So, once his adventure was over, he turned himself in to the Navy, who held a public execution and ended his life before the eyes of the world. Which was exactly what he wanted. The Government intended to kill the spirits of pirates, and Roger turned the situation on them with his last breath. Stoked the final sparks of his life into a raging inferno that engulfed the world, the consequences of which we're still feeling today… heh, which we're even feeling right now!"
The gaze on the other end of the snail sharpened, a taste of Haki brushing against all who heard the conclusion of Rayleigh's revelation.
"Engrave this one truth in your minds, people of the world: The greatest victory of the World Government, the proudest, crowning achievement of the Navy… was nothing but a lie."
"…sooo, anyone wanna bet that we're the only base left in the East Blue who the locals actually like anymore?"
Ripper dropped his face into his hand with a groan of bone-deep weariness. "Start swabbing the halls, Seaman," he ordered morosely.
"No betting, Captain?"
"No… just no placing fools' bets."
"Aye, sir…"
-o-
"And, just to clarify while that's all still sinking in: in regards to one Monkey D. Garp. The stupid, reckless old man that stuck me with a ten-figure bounty," Cross droned on. "I want you all to consider this: the Navy said as much… but did, or has, he ever said that he captured Roger?"
It was a heavy silence in the six seconds before Rayleigh answered.
"Given what I know, allow me to confirm it for the world: I do not believe that he ever did or has. I'm not sure he's ever denied such claims, but I can't recall him ever making them himself."
Cross's eyes closed for a few moments and he nodded to himself. "It's becoming an increasingly short list of Marines that I thought were good men that turn out to be… lacking. I'm grateful that Garp remains on it…"
His eyes opened again and glared at the world once more.
"For now."
The Anarchist's gaze then immediately sharpened further into a flinty deadpan. "Oh, but everyone else in that generation lied through their teeth about the entire thing, carte blanche on them."
"Puru puru puru puru!"
The World Government's Military Commander jumped in his seat as his snail, which he'd been watching with dread for the past—he glanced at a clock and only narrowly missed having a heart attack; five minutes?! This hell had only been going on for five minutes?!—five minutes, apparently, suddenly started ringing. His mood dropped even further, as it was a very short list of people who had the number to this specific snail and an even shorter list of reasons they could be calling him, precisely none of them any good. The only question right now…
"Puru puru p—KA-LICK!"
…was how bad it was going to be.
"Yes?" Kong asked warily.
"You're listening to the final straw."
Kong's eyes shot wide as the last voice he'd wanted to hear said the last words he'd ever wanted them to speak. "W-What?!"
"You heard me: I. Am. Done," Sengoku snarled. "The exact instant that Fire-Fist's execution is over and done with, I resign. Find someone else stupid enough to put up with this PR death sentence, because I don't intend to. To put it as politely as possible, I quit, deal with it. KA-LICK!"
Kong stared blankly at his newly silent snail for another quick eternity, both trying to get his thoughts in order and to blink the spots out of his eyes. And once he succeeded… he had only one thing to say.
"Damn it."
-o-
"Anyway, that's all we wanted to say, but, ah… one more thing… before I close this off," Cross concluded, because of course he wasn't done talking yet, of course not.
"People of the world, I'm sure that most of you are wondering why I sound as angry as I did back in the Strong World and am being as actively antagonistic to the Government as I was back in Enies Lobby. The answer to both of those questions is something that I'm keeping to myself for now, because there's still a chance… however small of one, that my anger is all for nothing. Maybe… this will be enough. Maybe someone will grow a heart, or a conscience, or a brain… and this… will all be over soon."
For one second, the world was witness to a broken and exhausted man who couldn't even keep his eyes open. Then he reopened them and the cold fire returned.
"But. If that doesn't happen… If this isn't for nothing, and somebody decides to do the very not-smart thing and call my bluff… then you'll hear from me again in ten days, and I promise you this: before my next broadcast comes to an end, this world… will never be the same again. See you real soon… on the Day of Reckoning."
"Enjoy your FINAL DAYS OF PEACE," Soundbite hissed in agreement. "This is Jeremiah Cross and Soundbite… GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN."
The broadcast ended, and atop the peak of the world, five old men sat in livid silence as the consequences of provoking someone who knew too much sunk in.
It was clear now that any victory that they sought could only be pyrrhic in nature. Either the enemy they had worked too hard to crush slipped through their fingers, or retaliation would surface that, at worst, could undo 800 years of hard work. It was proven now that driving a rat into a corner was hazardous. Succeeding in the execution would be less driving him into a corner and more putting him in a bucket, placing that bucket against their own stomachs, and putting a torch to the bucket's underside.
In the face of this threat, one that compromised all that they were, the thought crossed their minds to cut their losses. Another blemish against their reputation, but one that would ensure more time to rebuild their resources, less hostility from the biggest pain in their necks since… ever.
For a brief moment… they considered calling off the war.
And then the thought was gone without vocalization. Because in the end, why should they wait? What had they to fear? They had endured for eight centuries already, they would endure for eight more if that was what it took. They would claim a victory from this, and that would be enough. They would not, could not fail. And when this farce had passed, it would be that much easier to bury in the annals of history and never speak of it again should worse come to worst.
This was their darkest era, but it would pass with time. As all things, eventually, did.
They knew that their Order would withstand whatever Anarchy could produce.
…And two weeks later, when the war was done, the New Order was taking hold, and the Voices of Anarchy fell silent, possibly forever, they would curse the knowledge that waiting just one more day would have reduced that to nothing.
-o-
The sight that awaited me as I returned from the cellar a second time was not one I expected, even forewarned by the telltale scent in the air from Sanji's cooking. The crew was back together, nobody missing, and all of the tables in the bar were set to serve.
Luffy smiled when he saw me again. "Alright, now that everyone's here, let's have some fun."
"Indeed," Brook declared, drawing his violin and bow. "In the face of the inevitable, there is no finer way to make use of your remaining time than to enjoy yourselves. All the more when we know that this goodbye is only fleeting. We shall look to the future with hope and promise, and enjoy the gift of the present."
And with that, he began to play, the cadenza of Binks' Brew filling the air with hope and sorrow.
It was… all a quiet thing, really. I just sat down and… and we talked.
I mean, there were some games and such, some antics, but overall… we just talked.
About recent events and old, about jokes half-remembered and adventures regarded fondly, ideas of possibilities, a handful of things that could have gone differently, and wonders of what would be to come.
Sometimes tempers flared, sometimes moods dropped, but generally, most everyone kept a smile on their face and an even keel.
And we just… enjoyed each other's company. Each other's presence. Whether anything was said or not didn't matter, whether anything was done… all immaterial. All that mattered was that in that one… final moment… we were all there. Together.
It wasn't a rambunctious party. But it was the best sendoff that we could ask for.
It was also, sadly, a sendoff on a clock. A clock that ran out way too soon, as the shadows lengthened and the light glared in from the window. A clock that finally ran out when everyone with Observation in the room stiffened all at once.
The good cheer, happy energy that had built up, fragile as it was, just… died. Straight-up died, replaced by an overwhelming aura of… of sheer dread that choked everything out. I became acutely aware of the weight still on my head. I hadn't wanted to ask this question, wanted to still pretend I could avoid this, but… it was time to stop procrastinating.
"Luffy… I need to ask, are you sure you want me taking care of this?" I nervously fingered The Hat's— The Hat's!— brim. "Because if you keep this, it will be safe for the next two years. After the war, it won't be in any danger. But I don't know where I'll end up, for all I know it could be in the middle of a battleground until—OW!"
I looked up at Luffy, trying to ignore the goose egg growing beneath the straw. He had no right to look that exasperated!
"You can be pretty stupid sometimes, Cross," he deadpanned, which, let me tell you, actually managed to spike my temper even through my lingering mood. "I trust you and you deserve it. And more importantly, when you give that back to me in two years, you won't doubt it anymore. My treasure is safe with one of my crew."
There was… a hell of a lot going unsaid there, and I couldn't even tell if he knew he was not-saying half of what he was not-saying. I did know there was one thing he wasn't saying intentionally, and I got that message loud and clear.
Then Luffy brought up his right arm in a motion I recognized, getting everyone's attention in the process, so apparently he had a lot more he wanted to say. I had brought that scene up, both during the party and a few times before, but I didn't expect this. Though in retrospect, I don't know why.
"No matter what happens," Luffy declared, in a tone that brooked no argument. "No matter how we change, we'll always be friends. We'll all get stronger. And then we'll all meet back here again. It's a promise."
Nobody said anything in reply, but then, nobody needed to. All they needed to do, all we needed to do… was stick our arms up. Holding them in the air, firm and proud. After all, Luffy was the one who'd said it. Who'd declared it. We would meet each other again, and that was that. No question, no doubt. Not even actually a promise. Just… a fact.
The fact hung in the air while we packed up, one final lock-and-load before we headed out to wherever we were headed out to. Weapons were prepped and checked, supplies secured, packs strapped on and ready to go, including Merry's duffel bag on Luffy's back loaded with all of our hopes for him. None of us were really prepared to part, we never could have been, but at least no regrets remained in the air. At least there was that.
And then, at long last, it was time.
One by one, we marched out of the Rip-Off Bar. One by one we reached the bottom of the staircase, and one and all we stood ready as the orange rays of the evening set the archipelago aflame.
And then, between one breath and another, he was here. Just… here. Towering over us. Shadowing us, as one gloved hand slid the covering off the other. No emotion on his face, no antagonism. Just silent, dispassionate judgment.
"…go ahead of me, everyone."
Luffy's order was quiet, but with no more than a glance back at him, the crew nodded and moved forward.
Or specifically, I was moved forwards, the first to go, by no attempt of my own. I turned questioningly, the answer coming to me as all of the crew's eyes met mine. This… This was the last time we'd see each other for two years. And like this, the last memory of them I'd have would be all of them together, facing the future.
So… I nodded and accepted it. Held my hands out, and accepted Lassoo and Funkfreed as they placed themselves in my hands once more, and secured them in place.
It… was time.
The straw hat fell to shadow my face as I turned back, lacking the strength to raise my head to the Tyrant's mercy. Not rising as Kuma finished removing his glove and reared back his hand. Not rising as Bartholomew Kuma brought down his hand to banish me to the end of the planet—
"If you have any regrets, now would be the time to share them."
—and a moment before his paw would have connected, I found my voice.
I only managed that one sentence, the only sentence that I would ever say to him...but it was enough that I managed to give him pause. He remained motionless for a few seconds, his face as unreadable as ever and his paw inches away from sending me flying. Then he withdrew his hand and his lips moved, conveying words quietly enough that I doubt even his cybernetic ears could detect them. And in response to his last request, with wide eyes at the revelation, I nodded. The whisper of gratitude in return was just audible enough for the crew to hear.
Then, in a final moment of doubt, I turned my attention to my shoulder. "No last words, Soundbite?" I asked.
"…Only five."
The cyborg pulled his hand back once more, and this time nothing aborted its motion. Barely enough time elapsed for the snail to voice his parting words:
"I don't want to go."
And like that… we were gone.
-o-
Luffy stood back enough that he could watch them all. Zoro and Nami, who had taken the full brunt of the Warlord's wrath to save them, were the next to go. Neither one showed any fear, the former standing straight as an arrow with his bandanna around his head and the latter atop her mount, gripping the reins tightly with her Clima-Tact disassembled and strapped to her thigh.
"…I must admit that I am surprised that you both survived," Kuma stated.
"Thanks to your mercy," Zoro replied, pumping the last word with enough venom to put down a Sea King.
"Don't expect it to come to that again," Nami quietly agreed, firmly winding her partner's reins around her fist. Billy, without his voice, could only nod.
"Do not expect that you will always have a say in the matter, even after this," Kuma responded after a moment. He then brought his hand down and swiped twice, and the three of them were gone, though not before everyone saw them reach for their weapons.
The departures that followed were less momentous than the officers, but held their own weight.
"I… I want to say I'll be alright, that this'll all be fine… that there's no problem… but for once in my life, I don't, I-I won't lie: I hate this and I wish it didn't have to happen… but once we're back, I won't ever have to lie again! Whatever I say I can do, I'll be able to get it done! And that's a promise, from the King of the Snipers! But… until then… goodbye."
[Tread through hell in order to reach heaven, huh…? Tch, I don't know what you knew, Cross, but once we're all back together, you're eating my boot leather for three weeks straight… and hey, shitty captain! You get in trouble or too hungry, you damn well call us, got it? We'll come running with bells on, and that's a promise!]
"I—! I want… I want to let myself lose control so bad right now. To lose myself in the madness, escape into my genius… Just let the fear be washed away… But! But I know that-that I can't do that right now! So I won't! I'll face this head-on, with my head held high with pride! And once I come back, I promise… I'll be good enough that everyone knows my name! The name of the doctor, who treated the next King of the Pirates!"
"This crew was my first family in… you are the first family I've ever had. Don't worry about me, I know how to take care of myself on my own. Whatever I might become in the process… but no matter what, know that I'll always look forward to the day we see each other again. When we all see each other again, both our immediate family… and extended alike. Do svidaniya, Captain."
"…c'mon, don't make me follow up with all of these… heartfelt goodbyes, you know that I… can't… just send me already you damn rustbucket, before I lose my SUPER coo—!"
"It has only been three months since you and yours rescued me from purgatory, but it has been the best three months of my second life. Now I have a reason to continue living beyond the promise that I made. Captain, I vow to you that I shall put my very soul into ensuring that our crew does not suffer the fate that my previous one did. Farewell until we meet again alive and well - even though I'm already dead."
"I… I know this hurts. I know it hurts to say goodbye, I know that better than… than anyone on the planet! You know that! So… so you know that I know what I'm talking about… when I say that it'll be alright. This is goodbye, but it's not farewell. I'll be back before you know it, we all will, I promise! Because this crew… is our home. And if you know me even a little… then you know that I never abandon my home."
{Thanks to this glorious stunt of yours, I can't even say goodbye to my captain beyond an Oceanus-damned salute. You've taken enough from us. No more. Whatever you have planned, you're not breaking us up. Not me, and not my boys. Either we go together…or we don't go at all… hmph, smart choi—}
"It's been amazing so far, everything that I could have dreamed of and more. I'll do my best to get even more firepower for us when we come back. And I know that whatever sights I'll see, they'll pale in comparison to what I see when I'm all back together with you. You do your best in return, Captain… you know, I haven't said this until now, because it means both hello and goodbye… but I'll say it now. I'm sorry to say heso, Luffy, but I can't tell you how much I look forward to when I say it again."
…until at last, only one remained. And in the face of the inevitable, she couldn't stop herself from running. Running back to her captain, and hugging him with enough force to snap a skeleton.
"Come back to me," she whispered viciously, burying her face in his leg. "Because you promised, remember? Back then, when you said we'd go all the way, and that I could stay with you, and right now. That always, every time, you'd come back… so no matter what, you have to keep your promise. You have to come back."
A comforting hand on her head and a nod of reassurance later, Merry grudgingly turned away from him, closing her eyes as Kuma sent her away.
And at last… there was one.
A faint part of Luffy's mind felt gratitude for the forewarning. It hurt, watching his precious crew vanish one by one to who-knows-where. But he knew what it was for, and that was the difference between a sobbing wreck and a pirate captain standing strong as he was meant to do.
But that gratitude was buried under the knowledge he wouldn't have known in another future, held in the responsible part of his brain that had woken up a few hours prior. And each time the Warlord brought his hand down, whether the next one was trembling, stiff, steadfast, or visibly fighting the urge to run, his resolve to remain reasonable weakened.
As the last of his crew vanished, he raised his head to look Bartholomew Kuma in the eyes and allowed his buried anger to surface as he spoke."If Cross hadn't talked to you… you'd have attacked us, wouldn't you? You'd have forced us to go, no matter what, without giving us any chance to say goodbye."
"Correct," the Warlord calmly answered.
Luffy grit his teeth. "And even now, if Cross had asked for just one more minute, even if he hadn't had a chance to say goodbye, you'd still have forced him."
"Correct."
Luffy grit his teeth further . "Why."
"Because according to all calculations, this was the most logical course of action to ensure the survival of the Straw Hat Pirates. Emotionally, this course of action was best defined as…" The Tyrant paused, before tilting his head as an answer presented itself. "A kindness."
And it was at that precise moment that something in the air just… snapped.
Either ignorant of or ignoring the shift, Kuma lifted his foot —
—And blinked in honest confusion as his systems all spontaneously rebooted.
The cyborg took stock of the data his mind was now processing: his body had been displaced by 18.56 meters, his cranial case was registering severe damage to his facial muscles, three of the spinal servos in his neck were reporting significant damage, his aft hull was buried nearly 1.78 meters into a Sabaody Mangrove, and the ocular camera had identified a fist occupying the exact position his face had held before the surprise reboot.
All told, it took 0.3 milliseconds for Bartholomew Kuma to reach a conclusion: Monkey D. 'Straw Hat' Luffy had just punched him into a tree.
-o-
Standing a few feet behind the last Straw Hat standing, watching as the smoke wafted off his outstretched fist, Rayleigh let out a polite cough into his own fist. "Just for the sake of an old man's peace of mind…" he stated slowly. "You do know that you can't win, correct?"
Luffy let out a grim snort as he waved his fist out, clenching and unclenching his knuckles. "I know," he growled. "And I don't care."
-o-
'The Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma gripped the edges of the crater he was in and easily shoved his way out, towering over the rubbery pirate that was glaring hellfire at him. He noted absently that said pirate's fist was bleeding as well as smoking. At Luffy's level of strength, the force needed to send Kuma flying like that would have shattered half the bones in his body if they hadn't all been made of rubber.
And in response to this blatant wrath, Kuma was impassive. An impassiveness that stood, even as he grasped his own dislodged jaw and wrenched it back into place. "This is… illogical. You accepted all this less than a minute ago. Explain."
'Straw Hat' Luffy snorted out a cloud of steam as his grip on the pipe slung across his back tightened and flexed violently. "You're an idiot. Do you really think I was happy to see my crew go away? No… I was angry. I've been angry for hours, and I barely even fought that Light-Monkey, so I'm still at my strongest. And then, on top of all that…" 'Straw Hat's face darkened visibly, and trembling overtook his body. "You not only hurt my crewmates— broke my Commie— but you sent them away, meaning I don't need to worry about hurting them anymore. I don't need to hold back anymore."
The air slowly grew heavier and heavier, and for the first time in decades, for the first time since he'd grown so strong, for the very first time since they'd started putting metal into his brain and soul… Kuma felt something. The slightest, barest, most animal twinge of emotion. Machine logic overrode it, but the moment had come to pass.
For the first time in years and years, Kuma felt a twitch of fear.
"That was the last mistake…" Luffy rammed his fist down, and steam blazed off of his body as reality rippled around him. "You'll ever make!"
Silence stretched on while that statement was fully processed. And the Tyrant's eyes glinted as he squared his shoulders and planted his feet, every artificial muscle in his body tensing with anticipation. "You are more correct than you realize, Monkey D. Luffy," he muttered, if only to himself.
And that was that.
In a blur, a blast of movement, began the beginning of the end.
-o-
SHA-BOOM!
"Argh!" Trafalgar Law howled as he went tumbling, his clothes singed and smoking. Overall, the fight was not going well. Everyone was still worn out and banged up from fighting Kizaru, and all three of their opponents were tough sons of bitches with hitting power to match. Levering himself up into a sitting position, ignoring the pull of the laser burns on his skin, Law eyed the spot where Kid was fighting.
SKRANG! "ARGH!"
Correction. Where Kid was getting his ass handed to him on an aluminum platter.
Law recognized what this Sentomaru was doing: Haki. Mostly Armament, but very strong Armament. Everything Kid could throw at him was being deflected, and only the raw mass of metal covering his body had saved from being knocked out already. And his opponent was smart enough to not let Kid build up enough metal to try and punch through.
Ideally, the other Supernovas would've helped him. Sentomaru hadn't shown any signs of Observation yet and there were several abilities in their group that could've done something even through the Armament. But the two Pacifistas were almost as bad. Law himself had gotten zapped by lasers any time he'd tried to set up a decent Room once his first one had ended after dropping a building on one of them, and they were absurdly tough.
They were winning, though. Slowly, but they were winning. The one on the right was being triple-teamed by Black Bart, Urouge, and Drake, and it was bleeding and sparking ominously. Still functional, though, Law dryly noted, as it punched Urouge square in the gut and folded him like an accordion.
Meanwhile, the one the Surgeon was fighting had been ganged up on by the remaining Supernovas, and it was aggravatingly functional despite himself, Apoo, Hawkins, Bonney, and Bege unloading into it. And they were all spent.
Slowly, Law tensed to throw up a Room as the Kuma look-alike started to slowly advance on them. "I hope someone has an idea, because for once in my life I'm fresh out of them," he drawled. "And I gotta be honest? Don't really care much for the experience."
"I've got no ammunition left and way too many casualties," Bege growled, eyeing the sprawled and twitching forms of Bonney and Apoo as he gripped his own gut. "And those two aren't doing anything anytime soon."
"I am looking," Hawkins snapped, voice tense. His tarot deck was arrayed on several stalks of straw, the cards blurring as he rearranged them over and over to find something to get them out of this mess. "Keep that machine off of me for—"
Abruptly, all tension in Hawkins' body fled him, leaving only his usual placid deadpan. "Do not despair," he proclaimed, sweeping the deck away. "Our voyages shall not end this day. Salvation is at hand."
Bege and Law both nodded. "So, what's the plan?" the mafioso asked. "What do we need to do?"
"Absolutely nothing."
The other two Supernovas both whirled on Hawkins, their expressions ones of poleaxed incredulity. But before they could ask Hawkins what in Davy Jones' Locker he was thinking, the Kuma look-alike opened its mouth—
"Aye-aye-aye-AYE!"
—and right on cue, Bepo came crashing down feet-first on its head, slamming the mouth shut right as the laser fired.
SHA-BOOM!
The cyborg staggered back, its mouth a shambles of machinery and the tortured wail of mangled electronics screeching out from its… well, everything . For a brief moment, Law actually dared let himself hope it was nonfunctional.
It disproved that notion a few seconds later when by mostly regaining its balance and firing its palm-lasers indiscriminately. Bepo yelped and scrambled away, while Law hastily called up a Room and swapped everyone out of… well, immediate danger.
"Great," he breathed, staggering to his feet as the cyborg drunkenly waddled about, lasers still flying. "Now it's even more dangerous. Any other bright ideas, witch doctor?"
"That was not the salvation to which I was referring."
"Excuse me?"
The Straw-Man ignored the question, and instead ticked down on his fingers. "Three… two… one…"
No sooner had Hawkins said "one" when a black and tan blur slammed into the cyborg in front of them, crushing it under its weight. That blur soon resolved itself into yet another Kuma cyborg—no, wait, Law could see the paw pads, this was the real Tyrant Kuma. Kuma stood in the wreckage of his doppleganger, and Luffy came careening in, steaming in Gear Second and punching as fast as he could.
Right. Luffy could fight Tyrant fucking Kuma if he wanted. Time to go disengage the rest of the Supernovas and get the fuck out.
In the midst of the chaos of the hasty retreat everyone started beating, Hawkins took a moment to nod with complete certainty.
"Exactly as predicted."
Well. Bugging out could wait a moment, because no, Law was not going to let that slide. "Oh, bull-shit!"
-o-
Sentomaru batted away another scrap-metal arm of Kid's, shattering it to pieces, and sighed as he saw Monkey D. Luffy offhandedly smash the other Pacifista he'd brought out of the corner of his eye. It wasn't even intentional by the looks of it, the rubber pirate just backhanded it hard enough to cave its chest in when it tried to approach him! Either way, with that on top of the damage the other pirates had already done, the cyborg toppled over. And given the other Supernovas immediately laid into it, it wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon either.
"Vulnerable to blunt force trauma…" the sumo muttered as a mental note, before cocking his head to the side in a concession. "Well, that or the moron's just that strong. Either way, still good intel." And indeed it was, for though the fight had cost two Pacifistas, it had gotten them a wealth of information on the machines' current parameters. And it wasn't like anyone particularly cared about two Pacifistas. Not anymore, at least.
Overall they were effective peace-keeping weapons, but were thus far proving to be a little too reliant on their stout frames. They had little ability to dodge, and a strong enough blow seemed to have a tendency to smash delicate internal components by sheer force transfer. And the mouth lasers… yeah, those were a straight-up weakness. Unacceptably so, frankly.
Honestly, it was infuriating to see a weapon-series as sophisticated as the Pacifistas be deemed outmoded before they were even properly put into manufacturing, especially when their replacements had been conceived by that pack of degenerates. But, at least there was (professional) comfort in the fact that the series hadn't been totally scrapped and would still see usage, as well as the fact that the series that would be replacing them most certainly deserved the title of 'bleeding edge'.
SKRANG!
"PAY ATTENTION TO ME YOU FATASS—!" CRUNCH! "ARGH!"
But, ultimately, these musings would probably be better had elsewhere. For now…
Palm-slapping away another pseudo-arm, Sentomaru finally pressed in and slammed his other palm into the center of the pirate's defenses. Spewing blood from his mouth, Kid went flying, shedding his metallic exoskeleton as he skidded and bounced along the ground. And where he came to a halt, he did not get up again.
Sentomaru turned towards the remaining pirates. To a man, they were exhausted, injured, and in no fit state to fight him. If he wanted to, he could've captured them all right there.
But instead, he simply bent down to pick up his ax and then turned to rummage through the remains of the unlucky prototypes that had been caught in the crossfire of the fight between Monkey D. Luffy and PX-0, looking for their black boxes. His job was to test the Pacifistas, not capture pirates, after all.
-o-
"GUM-GUM JET GATLING!"
Luffy's fists crashed against Kuma's body like water and with about as much effect. That had been the pattern for this fight: Luffy hitting Kuma and Kuma just… standing there, taking it like it was no trouble at all. Which, in fairness, it wasn't. The bruise from the first punch aside, Kuma still lacked any sort of sign that he'd been at all hurt. Were he less pissed off, the rubber man would've thought it eerie. Instead, it just kept him pissed off.
The exchange done, Luffy skidded back, panting as Gear Second passed. And Kuma just… stood there. Not saying anything. Not doing anything.
Scowling even harder, Luffy racked his brains for something that might work. Gear Third might get through that mystery metal, but Kuma could decide to dodge at any point. Cross had said to remember the feeling when he'd knocked out those animals back on Strong World, but Cross also said that that power was all about the willpower to win and conquer, and he couldn't see that working when he knew, in his heart, that he was going to lose this fight. So that just left…
…Oh, Chopper was going to be so mad at him if he ever found out about this.
Leaning over again, he pumped his legs.
And then, he brought his thumb up to his mouth and bit.
In his mind's eye, Luffy could hear his crew shouting at him and calling him seven different shades of stupid for pulling a stunt like this. But they were nothing to the sensation of his body trying to tear itself apart. Air in his bones, blood rushing beyond its capacity, heart straining to keep up… Luffy closed his eyes and pushed the air away from his torso and into his arms.
"GUM-GUM—!" he shouted, wrenching his giant arms back. "GIANT JET BAZOOKA!"
Both arms surged forward, all the speed of Gear Second and all the power of Gear Third—and Kuma split the attack with his hands and casually batted them aside with his palms. Eyes wide, Luffy tried to punch again, to the same result. The air rushed back into his torso then, unable to be contained, and Luffy tensed his legs and sprang off.
"GUM-GUM JET SHE—!"
"No."
SLAM!
"—GRAH!"
Paw palm met Luffy's back and slammed him into the ground, all the air rushing out. In the end, Luffy could only lay on the ground, shrunken, quivering, gasping for breath, and tasting the dirt.
"A valiant effort, Straw Hat Luffy," Kuma intoned. "But ultimately… futile."
Luffy snarled and wheezed as he started to—as he so often did—bounce back, twisting his head to glare up at Kuma with a snarl and a vicious, downright piercing glare. "I'm going…" he swore vindictively. "I'm going to go to Impel Down. I'll go to Marineford if I have to... I'll save Ace, I'll get stronger... and then, in two years…" He rammed his fist into the ground with a bone-rattling growl. "I'll beat you!"
And in response to this inhuman conviction, this declaration of purest intent, Kuma did as he always did, and stared. "Incorrect. While you will indeed become strong enough to endure the trials ahead, what you will fight will only be my body. This... is the last time we will ever meet."
'The Tyrant' Bartholomew Kuma raised his hand, brought it down—
—and for the second time that day… paused.
"Goodbye… Luffy."
And then, before anyone watching could even blink, it was over. The cyborg's paw met the captain's form, and he was gone.
And with that, the last of the Straw Hat Pirates disappeared from Sabaody Archipelago. With that… the Straw Hat Pirates were utterly defeated, whether by Kuma, by fate, or by the world.
Kuma straightened, his work complete, and slowly turned to regard his audience. Sentomaru and the Supernovas stared back at him with a kaleidoscope of expressions, but there was only one person that his eyes truly met. And she met his.
For an endless moment, Bartholomew Kuma and Jewelry Bonney stared at each other. For the last time, his eyes met hers, and there was life behind them.
…And then he was gone.
And that, as they say, was that.
-o-
Or at least, very nearly that.
As the sun sank below the horizon, a small craft dropped anchor a short distance away from the archipelago, directly beside a larger ship. A blue-haired swordswoman and mallet-toting hybrid came aboard the larger ship and saw their (or at least her) commander on the deck a short distance away, his back turned to them as usual.
"So, Lieutenant," he rumbled without turning around, causing the swordswoman to instinctively snap to attention. "Welcome back. And now that you are back, care to give me a sitrep?"
"The short of it? A full garrison's worth of corrupt Marines brought to task, the slave trade crippled in a way it will never recover from, the local populace have been liberated from a regime of fear and corruption, and what had to be several thousand enslaved men, women and children of all sorts going free." Her report delivered, the Marine allowed herself to all but collapse against the ship's mast, what little energy she had left drained out of her. "And yet… none of what should be literally historical accomplishments stands out. Not compared to the fact that the world is about to tear itself apart and we're about to draw lines in the sand while standing at ground zero. Did I miss anything, Commodore?"
"Oh, no, I got all that," the Commodore dismissed with a wave of his hand. "No, what I'm unclear on is why, exactly, I needed to rush a gag order on this?"
The Commodore turned around with a scowl of annoyance and brandished a poster at the Lieutenant. Said Lieutenant stiffened at the picture, and especially at the name emblazoned below it.
"The bounty of one Cabin Girl T. A. Shigi?" Smoker grunted, sounding like he was stuck between enraged and entertained. "Who it would seem is very lucky Attachan didn't recognize her?"
Tashigi stared, eyes twitching, for a few moments. Then, ignoring Popora's polite show of amusement (read: the rodent, rolling on the deck, howling ) beside her, she drew her sword and, heedless of her commander's fingers, shredded the poster into ribbons.
"When I see Cross again…" she swore vehemently, a fire raging in her eyes. "I am going to teach him an entirely new meaning of the words pain and—!… and…"
And just like that, the energy spike was gone. She sagged, Shigure almost falling out of her limp fingers as she collapsed back against the mast again.
"...ugh…" she ground out, thunk! ing her head back and clamping her hand over her eyes, her voice gradually breaking as she spoke. "And now… I can't even properly smile at the idea of that …"
Tashigi's breathing hitched, and a few stray lines of moisture slipped past her fingers. "We… We worked so hard , did so much and now…" she choked out. "Damn it. Damn it and damn them all to hell…"
Smoker allowed Tashigi a moment.
Two.
And then he stomped his boot hard enough to shake the deck, and the Lieutenant flinched. Looked up at her superior with a tear-stained expression.
"Steady on, soldier," he both reassured and ordered at once, his jaw hard-set. "Steady on. There'll be time for tears later. But for now…"
"Ergh…" Tashigi hastily swiped her sleeve across her eyes and mustered her composure. "Apologies, Commodore. I… tch. Damn that Cross, he always manages to find new ways to get under my skin, doesn't he…" Wiping her eyes, she steeled her expression, sheathed her blade, and saluted. "Lieutenant Tashigi, reporting for duty, sir!"
It said volumes that Popora mimicked the action without comment.
"At ease, Lieutenant," Smoker waved her off, turning to stare out over the ocean. "And enjoy it while you can. We both know that this will be the last ease we enjoy…"
The Smoke-Man's jaw clenched, digging deep into his cigars.
"For a long time to come."
-Three Days Later-
The forces of the Marine Base G-8 had left their island under the guard of the former admiral stationed there as they departed for Marineford. With the acres of sail Marine battleships had, plus more efficient navigation by Eternal Pose, they were expected to arrive the day of the war, even with the detour that they had to take under orders from headquarters.
A detour that, despite the dread of what the war would bring, had them downright eager to set sail again considering the hostility and labor that they were faced with. Because while Hellbeast —
"PRINCESS!"
—Perona had agreed to come with them to Marineford, it was only with a flood of complaints and a lot of heavy lifting. Because in addition to some of the best and strongest of her 'pets' that necessitated five large cages—for the Marines' protection, of course—there was also the matter of Perona's… personal protection.
'Protection' in this instance referring to a very large box of what looked to be pure metal whose sheer weight was causing the vessel it was on to list, and that had been flown onto the battleship by a dozen oversized birds, supervised by her specter.
"…Is this really necessary?" Jonathan asked with genuine wariness as he watched his men rush around, trying their damndest to rearrange the cargo on the ship to rebalance the ship.
That question turned out to be a mistake . For his troubles, Jonathan was rewarded with an irate ghost up in his face. "My contract with the Navy guaranteed me three months to myself on my island before I would be required to exercise my abilities elsewhere, explicitly due to the fact that I am nowhere near as strong as my colleagues yet," Perona hissed, the sheer malice in her voice actually causing Jonathan to jerk back in shock. "You're reneging on your side of the bargain by calling me out one month early, meaning that you and yours are beyond lucky that I didn't have my pets turn the surrounding waters into a Thanatos-damned thresher."
She slammed her fist against the bunker, a Mini Hollow detonating in tandem with the motion to provide the noise. The metal was unscathed.
"You're lucky I had this prepared a few weeks ago for just this situation: a mobile bunker, a few days' worth of food and water and a wonderful bedroom locked behind two solid feet of metal, capable of weathering a stampede from my pets. If I couldn't stash my body in here and let my spirit or my darling pets coming along—who will be prioritizing my protection above all else—do all the hard work for me, I'd be taking my chances with whatever retaliation the Government could potentially scrounge up after Whitebeard finishes cleaning his naginata with your entrails. An option which, mind you, I have yet to dismiss. In short?"
The specter suddenly grew to proportions that utterly overshadowed the battleship's deck, and her volume spiked to match.
"DEAL WITH IT OR BITE ME!"
Jonathan blinked in mute shock, digging his finger in his ear before nodding solemnly. "I'll… do my best to accommodate, then."
Just as fast as she'd grown, Perona snapped back to normal size with a haughty sniff. "Good. Now then! If you don't mind, I'd like to discuss the guard detail you will be setting up for the protection of both myself and my pets during this voyage." She cast a withering glare over the sailors that were still on the deck. "In private. Please join me in your quarters forthwith." And that was the last she said before drifting off, heedless of who or what she passed through on her beeline to the aftcastle.
For a moment or two, Jonathan blankly stared after her before massaging his face with a bone-tired groan. "What is it with me and strong-willed women…" he despaired to himself.
He then took a few minutes to relay a few final orders to his men before marching after. A few Marines he passed on his way were visibly spooked from the ghost that had just flown through the walls, but none moved to stop him or question him. He found Drake waiting outside of his door with his usual frown.
"It will most likely not be a regular occurrence, Drake," he said.
"That's not what I'm frowning about, sir. They stowed away."
Jonathan's face immediately pinched up, but he nodded in confirmation. "I suspected as much. We are sailing into hell, so why, pray tell, were you expecting a reprieve from our eternal torment?"
Drake loosed a miserable groan, adjusting his cap as he walked off. "Let a man dream, sir. Even if we have to abandon all hope, just let me dream."
Jonathan spared a moment to chuckle at the suffering of his subordinate, before sighing and entering his office to face his own demon.
Upon opening the door, Perona, lounging on her back in thin air, cracked an eye open. "Took you long enough."
"Was the tinnitus really necessary?" Jonathan groused, thwacking the side of his skull. "Most of the men on this ship are Masons that are aware of our plans and allegiances for Marineford—the broad strokes, at least—and those who aren't I would still trust with my life."
Perona shrugged, not a hint of remorse on her face, even though it was lacking her earlier venom as well. "Hey, I've got a persona to uphold and there's no telling who's listening where. Trust me, I have experience with these things and I could have done a lot worse. Also…" Her mood visibly soured. "I wasn't entirely blowing smoke out there. I would have told the Government to sit on their orders and spin in any other circumstances, I'd have even told you all as much, because this is war against an Emperor and I know for a fact that when it comes to them or their crews, two feet of metal is nothing and—!"
"But you're still coming," Jonathan noted.
Perona choked on her words and spun away, popping and hiding in her umbrella. She was silent for a minute until…
"Luffy is going to be there, and Luffy is important to Nami," she solemnly intoned. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try and help. And you know it."
"And it is admirable that you would risk your life for something that so many would consider to be so little, and I thank you for it," Jonathan replied.
The two were silent before Perona sighed explosively. "Keep your thanks and just focus on keeping me alive. I'll let you know if I need to replenish my pantry."
"Very well, but I seriously recommend you stop by the mess hall at some point," Jonathan said. "Jessica's cooking is phenomenal, as anyone aboard this ship will tell you."
A half-smirk from the specter conveyed a 'maybe' before she floated towards the wall.
"Ah, and just so you know!" Jonathan added as the thought occurred to him. "I have a man on Momonga's ship who I'm waiting to hear from. He'll need to allow himself to be petrified to avoid blowing his cover, but if all goes well, he should be able to keep us apprised of when things start to get underway. I'll keep you informed."
Perona paused long enough to nod in acknowledgment before phasing through the nearest wall, and out of his sight. She moved carelessly through the ship, spiraling aimlessly through floors, walls, and ceilings on her way back to her bunker.
Before abruptly stopping and doubling back for the pair of familiar faces she spotted in a cargo hold: a young girl in a refitted Marine uniform and a massive and massively armored beetle whose horn she was sitting on. Both of them barely looked up as she approached them, their expressions somber.
"Wait, I remember you…" Perona mused, brightening up when she did, in fact, remember. "Marine junior and her runaway beetle, right?" She winced as soon as the words left her mouth. "Oooh, sorry, forgot about… Let me guess, being back isn't doing him any good, huh?"
"Boss K isn't happy about it, no," Yoko mumbled, neither herself nor Boss deigning to look up. If anything, her mood grew more dour with the addition of an audience. "But it… it's something else. We… Boss K and I, we have a choice coming up soon… and we still don't know what side of the line we're going to be on."
Perona frowned and nodded in understanding. "Well, I'll keep my pets away from your friend, no matter what happens. And…" She grimaced, trying to find the right words. "And this really isn't my thing, but… follow your heart? If you pick the wrong side, it'll drive you crazy until you choose the right one. Thanatos knows it did to me…"
"But which one is right?" Yoko moaned, sinking to her knees.
Perona winced again. She didn't want to just leave the girl like this, but she had no idea what else to do or say to try making things easier.
A minute or so of indecision later, however, a distraction arrived in the form of Jonathan. Though his frown was not a comfort.
"We have a problem, you three," the Vice-Admiral declared. "Remember that source I mentioned?"
"The one on Momonga's ship, yeah," Yoko confirmed, sitting up and plastering on at least a veneer of professionalism. "Bad news?"
"Yes," the Chessmaster nodded, his expression grim. "In that there is any news to be had right now."
-o-
Since the de facto declaration of war against Whitebeard, Marineford had been locked down tightly enough that it could and would have impressed Magellan. Nothing and no-one was getting out, and anything or one that came in was inspected thoroughly, and that was if it wasn't already scheduled to be there. Moving nearly 100,000 troops, dozens of ships, and just about every elite officer this side of the Red Line to Headquarters, on top of preparing a few special surprises Sengoku had planned, was a herculean logistical endeavor. It was a credit to the Marines that, despite the losses post-Enies, they were still on track to pull it off.
And as such, the absolute last thing they needed on their plates was the alert that came screaming over the Transponder Snails about unscheduled—and unfamiliar—ships. Ships that were somehow flying ad-hoc Marine flags. Marine officers promptly boiled out of the central pagoda, ready to meet these intruders at the waterfront if they proved hostile.
Tsuru and Kuzan, who had been about in the middle of the pack, arrived on a balcony in time to overlook Sengoku marching down to the waterfront, Garp flanking him as the ships rowed themselves in and an honor guard of Marines behind with rifles at ready.
There were roughly thirty-five vessels in all, each making use of single square-sail masts, overlapping planking, and bearing ornately carved dragon-head bows and more carvings along their hulls. The wizened Vice-Admiral counted sixty crew in the first ship alone. Bearded men and stout women, all clad in armor and horned helmets, and thoroughly unperturbed by being confronted by the Fleet Admiral while under the guns of three battleships that had cut off their retreat.
Vague memories of where she'd last seen these cultural markings prickled in the back of Tsuru's mind. Then they came to her, and a horrible suspicion bloomed in her chest.
It was a suspicion that was confirmed when a veritable mountain of a man, all red beard, and dark furs and a massive hammer slung over his back, stepped off the lead ship when it bumped up against the pier, immediately going to shake Sengoku's hand. And Sengoku, who started off coldly polite, slowly switched to all but sucking on a lemon in reaction to whatever the man was saying, while Garp's already perpetually grim demeanor seemed to somehow worsen with every word.
Despite that, the man was still allowed to bellow to his ships, and the fleet started to dock.
"So, that's what he was doing," Tsuru noted in a bone-dry tone. "That damn rabid mutt… He wasn't just sent to the New World as punishment."
With a cheer audible from the battlements she and Kuzan were standing behind, the ships all nosed towards the piers, to disgorge the better part of what Tsuru calculated to be, at the least, two thousand soldiers.
"He was there to recruit," Kuzan concurred, watching the stream of very, very powerful muscle that was marching towards them, marching to join and bolster their side, with icy dread in his heart.
Tsuru glanced searchingly at him, considered his tone, then hummed in discontent as she came to a decision. "Watching this," she mused, speaking more to herself than her nominal superior. "I find myself thinking of something a friend of mine once said. A phrase that seems to have made quite the resurgence of late."
Kuzan turned to look at her, but her eyes remained locked dead ahead at the column of soldiers, of warriors joining them, as she spoke fourteen words:
"Is this what you call justice? Can you take pride in something like this?"
Tsuru waited, her eyes still not wavering from the sheer 'might' that was reinforcing the ranks of those supposedly in the 'right'.
But if she had deigned to look up, then the sight of Kuzan's motionless form, frozen more completely than any amount of ice could ever have managed, would not have surprised her in the least.
-o-
As the third night of her aerial pilgrimage came to an end, Conis ran a final check on her weapons. Not that there was anything wrong with them, she'd done it dozens of times over the last three days for something to do other than sleep, but this time, the preparation felt like it had weight. Meaning. Because this… this was it. Landing day. The day she would meet whatever fate was lined up for her.
Conis had decidedly mixed feelings about that. She had left her father and her old life behind on Upper Yard and embraced the Straw Hats as her new family, and now they were all gone to different places. At the same time, however, she had wanted to see more of what the Blue Sea had to offer in contrast to the White, and if the place that she was going to land was going to train her hard enough to prepare her for the next ocean, it would be absolutely perfect for that.
And now, she determined as she slotted a final shell into her shotgun, she would be ready for it.
Still, speaking of what she was looking for, her destination should have been coming into view sooner or later, so where—?
FWOOF!
"GAH!"/"SU!" Conis and Su both yelped in shock and confusion as they were suddenly engulfed in darkness. They flailed in terror as their senses were y assaulted by an olfactory onslaught. Their Paw-Paw projectile had passed through clouds before, but none had smelled like rotting eggs!
And then, just as swiftly, the reeking darkness disappeared and Conis saw a brief flash of off-color light—
THOOM!
Before there was a heavy impact, and for the first time in days, the Angel of Destruction touched down on solid earth.
Once her head stopped spinning, Conis groaned and moved, hauling herself out of the crater her landing had created—right to the site of a gleaming bayonet six inches from her face. Yelping, Conis leaped back, then had to twist out of the way of a salvo of musket balls. The air was thick with the stench of gunpowder, blood, and feces, and only the occasional roar of cannons drowned out the droning drums. Much to her horror, the gunner found herself between two thin lines of men—one in red, one in blue—with fixed bayonets and obvious intent to stab each other until one side broke - and perhaps more alarmingly, no care for anyone who so happened to get in their way.
Her head on a swivel, Conis pulled her bazooka off her back and aimed at one army—then another—and with a snarling growl, stowed the bazooka and pulled out a pistol. She hastily toggled one of her Flash Dials and fired it at the advancing line. Men yelped in pain, stumbling about with their hands clutching her eyes, and she took the opportunity to run between them, shoving aside whatever men didn't get out of the way in time.
A light thwack to the side of her head both confirmed Su's presence, as well as pointed out an available refuge, much to her relief. She could see now that they were in a wide square, equally wide streets radiating out from it. And more importantly, both were lined with battered four-story stone and brick buildings. Su had pointed out one of them, one that looked more structurally sound than the others despite the cannonball holes in it, and she jogged towards. She quickly switched to running at the sound of hoofbeats behind her. Lots and lots of hoofbeats.
Her next few minutes were a blur of running and dodging a dozen different projectiles. Musket balls, rocks, cannonballs, arrows, javelins, was that a potted plant? But she reached the building, burst inside, scrambled up the stairs, and then collapsed into a panting heap.
Finally, after several minutes, Conis felt energetic enough to haul herself upright and get a look at the situation. The building she was in seemed to be situated on a hill, which gave her a good look at the surrounding urbanization and the countryside just beyond it.. In most situations, it would've given her clarity.
Instead, it was simply more confusing.
There, a thousand men on horseback and wearing furs were shooting arrows at a pursuing army of three-man chariots. And were promptly set upon by another thousand men in gleaming plate and wings of eagle feathers on their backs.
There, a squat, low-set building bristling with cannon was being besieged by a battery of trebuchets defended by a pack of spear-and-shield soldiers in bronze. One of the cannons landed a shot against the trebuchets, blowing it to splinters.
And then there, in one of the streets another group of those blue-coated soldiers frantically backpedaling from a mob of nude madmen painted blue and brandishing swords and axes.
Also, the island was on fire. No, there wasn't a fire on the island. The island was on fire. Walls of flames rose from the horizon and the air was choked with smoke and— yes, the earth just ripped open and swallowed a column of soldiers with a belch of flames, what the hell.
Everywhere Conis laid her eyes, she found carnage, madness, and death. Armies upon armies ramming full-tilt into one another, without rhyme reason, or even the barest hint of mercy. And if the way the air sang—roared, raged, HOWLED— with the sounds of death and devastation, even from across the horizon? This, all of this, every bit of it, was nothing but the tip of the iceberg.
There was only one word for it: Bedlam.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but what the hell?!" Conis blurted out, sweeping her shocked and confused gaze across the maddened hellstorm raging as far as her eyes could see. "I know we weren't expecting anything easy for the next two years, but this is ridiculous! I-I'm counting one, two—oh you have to be kidding me, eight different colors out there! What kind of nightmare island is this, Su!?" The angel waited for an answer—provided she could hear it over the din of gunfire, cannonfire and just plain fire all around her—and blinked in confusion when one wasn't forthcoming. "Su? Su, where are you?"
"S-Su…"
The feeble response drew Conis' attention to the other side of the room she was in, and she turned to see what was the issue. The answer was, in a word, confusing. Her companion seemed to be unharmed, apart from her silvery fur stained a dirty grey from the smoke and ash choking the air, but that begged the question of why her usually vain fox wasn't more concerned with her appearance.
Instead, Su was just… sitting there, staring into the air and not twitching a whisker.
Concern filled her mind. Even in the middle of the neverending devastation surrounding her, Conis gently approached her lifelong friend. "Su? Is everything alright? What's wrong?"
That roused the Cloud Fox, and slowly, ever so slowly, Su's head turned to Conis, all while her paw twitched up and nervously jabbed out. "S-Su… Su, suuu!"
Conis spared a moment to weather the renewed pang of loss she felt without her friends and crewmates, and then followed her instincts and looked at where Su was pointing.
Looked, and froze. Froze as the sheer weight of the implications washed over her like a blast from Eneru himself.
"…Su?" the angel whispered, desperation lacing her every word. "Th-There isn't any chance we're back on Upper Yard, is there?"
"Suuuu," the fox meekly replied, shaking her head.
"Then… That means this is…" Conis audibly gulped, trying and failing to dislodge the heavy lump that she felt lodged in her throat as she stared up. And up. And up.
Up at the sheer pillar that defined the horizon. Up at the ancient entity that stood undaunted and unbowed amongst the flames of war, and pierced the smoke-choked heavens.
Conis stared up at the immortal, invincible tree that defied the carnage waging around it, resisted even the brace of what she knew was mortar fire that detonated against its trunk without leaving so much as a scratch…
And in that moment, she truly, utterly comprehended the sheer scale of what she'd been thrown into.
"Oh, no…"
Located in an oft-forgotten corner of Paradise, there is an island. It is said that on this island, a war was once waged… but that is inaccurate, for it implies that the war ever ended. Upon this once-beautiful island, war and wrath have been the sole culture for untold centuries, and for untold centuries the singular goal of these wars has remained unchanged: The Jewel Tree Adam.
On this land, all except for that blessed tree has been burned away, so thoroughly that even of its name, only a charred husk remains.
DESTINATION REACHED
THE ISLE OF PARADISES LOST
EDEN'S CINDERS
-o-
SPLASH!
"ACKPHBT! WHAT THE HELL—!"
THOOM!
"WAGH!"
It was a rather disturbing parallel, Merry would later consider, that her new life for the next two years began in much the same way that her newfound lease on life had: with an unexpected dunk in the suddenly unforgiving water, followed by a maddening burst of disorientating movement.
But that would be a musing for later, as for the moment, Merry was left sprawled-out and groaning in her paw-shaped crater as she tried to wrap her brain around what the hell had happened.
"Dumbass bear-cyborg," Merry wheezed, if only to voice her frustrations and hear the sound of her own voice. "'Send you to where you'll grow stronger', then the fucking bubble chooses to smack me down in the middle of the fricking ocean and right into… into…"
Her brain finished rebooting, Merry's face screwed up. If she was in the ocean, how was she breathing? And talking? And living? The ship-girl gripped some of the surface she was laying on and held it up to her face, identifying it as—
"Sand?" Merry blinked, confusion intensifying. " After I blasted into water? Where the hell am I?"
In search of answers, she climbed out of her landing crater and was immediately struck by yet another incredible impossibility: the fact that she was nestled at the foot of a titanic tree of… well, if she didn't know any better, she'd say it was coral of some sort. And not just one tree, but well over a dozen of the aquatic titans, stretching off and around in such a way that Merry could only assume they formed a circle of some sort.
And a good thing too, because when she looked up, she saw that the branches were curved to form a dome overhead. A dome that, unless she was gravely mistaken, looked to be holding back water. A lot of water. A lot of pitch-black, empty water—
Merry gulped audibly as the glow of a passing creature the size of a Sea King briefly lit up the ocean in a flare of bioluminescence. Mostly empty pitch-black then. Located at what she could only assume was…
"Okay…" she nodded weakly, fighting to shove down the rising sense of primal dread she was feeling. "Bottom of the ocean. I am at the bottom. Of the ocean. Bottom of an ocean trench, no less, if the lack of light is anything to go by. Wonderful. Wonderful. With nothing but cold and dark and… and…"
Merry trailed off in confusion as a new incongruity hit her. If she was at the bottom of a trench, then where was the light she was seeing with coming from? Granted, it was an off-color greenish light, but it was light nonetheless. And if her shadow was anything to go by, it was coming from… behind her?
The ship-girl turned around—
And it was at that point that the world stopped making sense and Merry was all but struck down by an overwhelming wave of shock and terror and oh-God-please-no.
Once she was done dry-heaving in naked panic, Merry looked down again, and confirmed what she was terrified she'd seen. Looked down into the basin upon whose lip she was standing at. Down into the graveyard that was laid out before her, stretching as far as she could see.
A graveyard littered with the bones and corpses… of ships.
Hundreds of them, from all walks of life, be they Marine, pirate or civilian, in varying states of disrepair—some ancient and barnacle-crusted, some new and only just starting to decay—but all plainly unable to sail again. There, a toppled sail, there, a breached hull, there—Merry dry heaved again—a… a snapped keel…
The air reeked with the smell of wood crumbling and rotting in the moist, salt-choked air, and was filled with whisper of hundreds of ragged sails barely fluttering in what little breeze there was. And it wasn't just smell wafting through the air, but things too. Particulates, the smallest specks of rotten wood and rust drifting along and infecting the taste of every breath Merry took.
And underneath it all, underlying everything and on the very edge of her notice now that she was paying attention, Merry could hear a… creaking. An almost subliminal groaning and scraping. It scrubbed at her skull, rattled her ribs, and set her fingers a-twitching in a dire, primal urge to rip her own ears off and make it stop.
And at the very center, at the very core of the macabre nautical hellscape laid out before her was an eerily silent maelstrom of water. A massive pillar of revolving water, fit in size to rival the Knock-Up Stream she'd once sailed upon, that pierced down through the ceiling of the coral dome and glowed with the light that had first caught Merry's attention—sunlight from the surface, a part of her deduced.
The reason why the maelstrom hadn't long-since filled up the bubble was that it was already being drained away. In fact, the entire graveyard seemed to be centered around the black, yawning void that encompassed half the total area of the 'floor' of the coral basin that the maelstrom was emptying into. A floor Merry could only now numbly realized was pitched ever so slightly down.
It was only then that it hit her. The sound she was hearing, the one rattling in her very bones, was the steady settling of the hundreds of wrecks. Their slow, droning creaking was their march, inch by inch, inexorably downwards and into that pit. Destination: the void.
And that was the final confirmation she needed to know that she was in the absolute last place on the face of the planet that she'd ever wanted to be.
"…no…" Merry whimpered, tears of terror slowly rolling down her face. She shook her head in denial, weakly at first but then faster and faster. "No… No, I didn't want to come here, I-I never wanted to come here, not here, anywhere but here! This can't be happening, THIS CAN'T BE HAPPE—!"
And it was right in the middle of her terrified wail that Going Merry's blood pressure spiked, and she keeled over, dead to the world and, for the moment, insulated from the horrific truth laid out before her.
"All roads lead to Mariejois." This saying is one oft-stated, but ultimately false. No roads lead to Mariejois, as none truly ever lead anywhere that isn't on their own island. Some might amend this saying to account for this fallacy, claiming that 'all currents lead to Mariejois', but they would be erroneous as well.
For you see, it is only the deepest of currents, at the very depths of the ocean, deeper than any fish dares to swim, that all lead to one place. And the place they lead to is most definitely not Mariejois. The culmination of the deep is a place of darkness, a place of departure…
And ultimately, a place of Death.
DESTINATION REACHED:
THE LAST GRAVE OF ALL VESSELS
DAVY JONES'S LOCKER
-o-
A peaceful day in the capital city—blessedly peaceful, after the events of several months prior—had taken a turn for the violent when an impact that shook the palace attracted the attention of several guards in the palace courtyard. When they arrived, all that they discovered was a conspicuous pattern of craters shaped like a paw print. One large enough that a fully grown human could have fit inside.
"The Paw-Paw Fruit," muttered a commander, straightening from where he'd kneeled down. "The World Government has sent an intruder. Put the palace into lockdown and send the Kicking Claw Force to guard King Cobra. And send word to Accino's forces, I want them to redouble their watch on the coast!"
"Yes, Lord Chaka," the guards bowed, rushing off to obey their orders.
Not too far away from this scene—barely a few meters, even!—yet unseen to any of them, a conspicuously unguarded wall hid a blue-haired woman and her companion, a duck whose wing was slung comfortingly around her shoulders. She stared down at the letter she had unfolded, paralyzed as her mind made a desperate attempt to try to reconcile it with her current situation.
Nefertari Vivi, Princess of the Desert Kingdom of Alabasta and bearer of the Gust-Gust Fruit, a wind-woman who was the essence of freedom incarnate, had returned home.
And yet, she had never felt more trapped or isolated in her entire life.
A land so defined by what once was, even though what is and what can be seen is ever-shifting, ever-changing, ever-adapting.
A land whose fate has veered radically from what should have been, and whose immediate future is radically steeped in the unknown.
DESTINATION REACHED:
THE KINGDOM OF SAND AND HISTORY
ALABASTA
-o-
The largest group to be sent together had one of the tamest awakenings among them. They awoke lying on green grass, no unfamiliar entities around to attack them, the pleasant sound of waves lapping on the shoreline soothing their nonexistent ears.
One after the other, each one of them opened their eyes but remained motionless for several seconds more. Finally…
[I had the worst nightmare last night,] Mikey said, smiling wryly at the sky. [I dreamed that all of us had to break up for two years so that we could survive the New World.]
[It wouldn't be the first time that all of us had the same wacky dream,] Raphey murmured as she scratched beneath her snout. [And I mean, it was really realistic… but it had to have just been some kind of wild party, right?]
[I do kind of feel a headache, must've been some strong stuff,] Leo chuckled as he rubbed the back of his skullplate.
[I want to say that all of this denial is unhealthy, but this has to be real,] Donny reasoned, crossing his flippers beneath his head. [I mean, we're not dreaming right now, right?]
Without missing a beat, all four of them sprung up to their tails and slugged each other in a cross-counter.
[…ooowwwww…] they groaned, but slowly broke into matching grins.
[It WAS just a dream! We're all still together!]
[Cross must just be off somewhere and he took Soundbite with him!]
[And Zoro must be sleeping!]
[And Nami is working on her maps!]
[And Luffy is being completely—!…and utterly… quiet…]
[…and neither Franky, Merry, nor Usopp are ripping our heads off for the crater in the deck…which looks a lot like a paw…]
The dugongs slowly trailed off into silence as that observation slowly sank in.
Boss remained where he was, not having yet risen to celebrate and deny with the rest of them, but staring upward at a sight that he would have recognized with his eyes gouged out.
But when his students moved to a nearby railing, Boss rose to waddle behind them and take in the sight that lent credence to their denial.
There were two undeniable facts about the current situation.
First, the five of them had been sent flying by Kuma, along with the rest of the crew, three days ago.
And second, despite this fact, they were in the middle of a pawprint-shaped crater in the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny. The Thousand Sunny, which was still moored exactly where it should have been, without moving even an inch.
A fact which was further confirmed by the sight of Silvers Rayleigh blinking up at them in honest surprise.
"Well," the wizened veteran stated bluntly. "You Straw Hats certainly never fail to disappoint. I, for one, did not see this coming. And coming from me, that's saying something.
The guard force took a moment to process all this. And then…
[So… this is where we're going to be spending the next two years, Boss?]
[Yes, Donny. Yes, it is.]
[One question then, Boss.]
[I've got the same one in mind.]
[Well, then, allow me to vocalize it. Ahem…]
A moment's pause and then every bubble for a good quarter-mile was blasted away through sheer wind force.
[WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT BUCKET OF BOLTS THINKING?!]
A final destination, a final end, a final escape before a final voyage down, down, down towards the mouth to Hell itself.
And yet, in the same breath, these groves will come to be home to a new beginning.
In due time. All in due time…
DESTINATION REACHED:
THE CROSSROADS OF THE WORLD
SABAODY ARCHIPELAGO
-o-
DESTINATION REACHED
■■■—■■■■—■■—■■■■■■■■
-o-
It had taxed every fiber of Luffy's being to preserve his consciousness as he flew, but his injuries were not grave enough that his will couldn't compensate for his body's state.
It had taken even more strain on his mind to perform the task that Cross had set him: memorizing the letter that he'd written.
A broken and defeated Luffy with too much confusion and not enough drive would never have awakened before he landed. A Luffy that was well aware that his best effort was the difference between Ace living and dying, however, spent the first day of his flight going over every resource he had in the duffel bag he carried until he could pick each one by touch and the second day reading and rereading Cross's letter to memorize it.
Only when he was satisfied did he allow himself to sleep, his body resting and recovering for the next 24 hours. And when the paw-shaped air bubble impacted and released him onto terra firma, his eyes snapped open as though the sound, smell, and feel of the jungle around him was an alarm.
Slowly, he rose to his feet and stepped out of the hole he had landed in. His hands verified the presence of his pipe and his bag on his back, before he turned to glare down at the paw-shaped imprint.
For a moment and an eternity, he stood there, glaring at that hole. At what it represented, both in specific, and in a far, far grander sense.
"If you think I'm weak because I lost, then you're an idiot," he spoke.
Not a growl, not a yell. He just spoke.
"If you think I'm going to give up because of the challenge ahead of me, then you don't know anything about me at all. Because I am not weak. And I am not finished. What I am…"
Luffy slowly closed his eyes and bowed his head, hands curling into shaking fists at his sides.
"What I am… is scared."
And with that, his fists relaxed.
"I. Am. Scared. I'm scared I'm going to lose. Scared I won't be strong enough. Scared that right when everything's going right, something's going to go wrong. I'm scared that I'm going to let my crew down, let my brothers down, let the world down…"
Luffy swallowed.
"Let myself down…"
Another eternity, and then Luffy looked up, eyes blazing.
"But I'm going to do it anyway. I'm scared, but I'm going to fight anyway. Because they're all counting on me. More than that, they're all with me. No matter how scared I am, I'll fight. No matter how much I hurt, I'll fight! Even if it kills me, I'll fight! No matter what, until I can't fight anymore, I will fight! Because that's what I do! That's my part! Everyone else, they've all done what they can, they're all looking to me, and I won't let them down, no matter what!"
Luffy snarled as he pounded his fists together, the sheer impact blasting back the foliage around him.
"So bring it on! Send everything you have at me, every bit of it! Make it as hard as you want, make it impossible, make it impossible a hundred times, a thousand, it doesn't matter! Because I'll take it all on, every bit of it, and I'll win too! And no matter what happens, I know what's going to happen!"
Luffy threw his head back and bared his teeth, snarling at the heavens.
"I'M GOING TO GO, AND I'M GOING TO FIGHT! I'LL GO TO IMPEL DOWN, AND I'LL GO TO MARINEFORD IF I HAVE TO! BECAUSE NO MATTER WHERE THIS FIGHT TAKES ME, I SWEAR: I'M GOING TO SAVE MY BROTHER! AND WHEN I DO, I'M GOING TO SAVE CROSS TOO! WE'RE ALL COMING BACK FROM THIS, YOU HEAR ME?!"
Monkey D. 'Straw Hat' Luffy shot his fists into the air and roared.
"I'M GOING TO WIIIIIN!"
DESTINATION REACHED:
THE ISLE OF WOMEN
AMAZON LILY
SABAODY REVOLUTION
-o-END-o-
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No sooner had the last echoes of Luffy's declaration faded away, a crashing sound came from beside him, heralding the arrival of a sizable party of women in immodest clothing carrying large serpents and quivers full of arrows tearing through the brush to reach his location.
And leading them was a panther so big that it would have looked at home on Mt. Corvo… and upon whose head was perched a blonde woman wearing a cape and holding a green snake.
Luffy's expression brightened considerably as his memorization paid off, and he recognized the giant cat's rider. "Hey!" he yelled with honest joy, overjoyed that at least something was going right, and started waving his arms in excited greeting. "Hey, you! Are you Marguerite!? Man, am I happy to see—!"
TWANG!
"—GAH!" Luffy cut off his joyful shout into a panicked yelp, narrowly ducking an arrow that almost went clean through his head, but most definitely went through the trunk of the tree behind him in a less than clean fashion.
Luffy snapped his head back up in an effort to identify where the attack had come from… and saw, with no small amount of alarm, that it had originated from the snake-bow of Marguerite herself, who was glaring at him with a look of incredible hatred.
"Hey, why are you—?!" the rubber-man started to protest, before stiffening as a thought struck him. He hastily clapped his heads down on his head in panic. "Ah! Oh, no, I know why you don't recognize me!" he started to wave his arms frantically, backing up from the advancing Amazons. "Look, I know I don't have my hat anymore, but it's for a really good reason, you gotta believe me! I'm—!"
"Monkey D. 'Straw Hat' Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, worth ฿475,000,000," A dark-haired woman wearing an open jacket and what looked to be a salvaged Marine cape growled around a cigarette. "We know who you are, man."
"Oh! That's great!" Luffy sighed in oblivious relief, grinning as he started to allow himself to relax. "Then, can you take me to see—?"
Luffy was cut off by all the Amazons nocking and drawing arrows, glaring at him with sheer hate. And not just the ones in front of him, but ones behind him and in the trees too and… yep, he was surrounded.
The good news was that he had definitely landed in the right place.
The bad news? Oh, nothing that he wasn't used to.
"Monkey D. Luffy, you are guilty of trying to assassinate our empress, the Snake Princess Boa Hancock!" Marguerite spat viciously, hissing out as much poison as her serpent with every word. "Prepare to die!"
AMAZON TREACHERY
-o-BEGIN-o-
Patient AN: I'm sure many of you want to know where Cross ended up. To those people, I quote Marluxia from Kingdom Hearts:
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"Your hopes are doomed to the Darkness."
