Armsmaster was confused. He had seen and heard many things in his life. Someone calling North America an island was definitely a first. And marine? It was common knowledge that the USMC was put out of commission and combined into the Coast Guard and what was left of the US Navy. Very suspicious, but Armsmaster would play along for now. That, and Smoker was obviously a cape name.

"I am Armsmaster, leader of the Protectorate ENE. You are on the continent of North America. More specifically, the city of Brockton Bay in the United States of America." Armsmaster said simply. The tall parahuman's face, and his companions, looked confused with every word that came out of his mouth.

"Where are we in the Grand Line?" Captain "Smoker" asked. Now it was Armsmaster's turn to be confused. Grand Line? Did he mean the equator? Perhaps he was a South American mercenary. Time to play ignorant.

"Im not sure what you mean by "Grand Line". Do you have any maps with you? Perhaps we can compare yours with our own." Armsmaster said in reply. He sent a quick message to the PRT agent from earlier to bring a couple maps. Smoker nodded and motioned one of the uniformed men with them to hand him a bundle of paper as well as a weird glass compass.

"Maps don't usually work in the Grand Line, but we have these, as well as our log pose." Smoker said simply. How the two cigars didn't fall out of his mouth while he spoke, Armsmaster did not know. Probably part of his power. Two PRT agents carried over a table, most likely borrowed from the nearby DWA, a third agent placed several maps on it. Most likely from one of the BBPD patrol cars.

Armsmaster stood from one end of the boat, while Smoker stood at the other end with the lady in the hawaiian shirt. After they laid out their map, Armsmaster froze. Their maps were...different. Scratch that. They were completely different, with four horizontal lines, parallel to each other, cutting the map in half. Grand Line? What seemed to be a long vertical continent, split the map into four sections. Smoker and his underling both seemed to mirror Armsmaster confusion.

Sending a silent message to Dragon to analyze the maps for its authenticity as well as to check the 'Marines' background, Armsmaster forwarded pictures of the maps to the necessary personnel.

"He's not on any system. None of them are, it's like they never existed." Dragon said. "The maps do not match any of our own."

Even more suspicious. Though, judging by the ethnicity of the woman at Smoker' side, as well as the skin color of the two uniformed men with him, he wasn't part of the Gesellschaft or going to join the Empire.

After a few seconds of each other analyzing maps, Smoker looked up with a hard gaze. 'What a pitiful attempt to intimidate me.' Colin thought silently to himself. After all, he had faced Lung, Kaiser, and had joined several Endbringer fights. That, and he was part of the strike squad that finally killed the Slaughterhouse Nine. They lost a lot of good heroes that day.

"Where are your real maps?" Smoker grunted, his cigars still not falling out of his mouth. The woman at his side was frozen, with her eyes staring at their maps. Their two 'guards' still standing at attention behind them, obviously confused. That reaction...would be very hard to fake.

Sighing internally, Armsmaster spoke.

"I assure you that these are real. Could you tell us what happened before you arrived?"

Smoker nodded, with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"We were just entering the Grand Line, chasing after a wanted pirate when we ran into a storm. A rogue wave came out of nowhere, when we came to, we were several miles off of the coast."

Hmmm, according to the information Dragon gave him, their ship was spotted close to a weird energy reading. What if they came from an alternate Earth? After all they did receive transmissions from Earth Aleph and learned of the possibility of multiple Earths. Colin did listen to audio recordings of those essays while in the middle of tinkering. They were very interesting.

"I see." Armsmaster replied. Dragon was listening in on the conversation, and would most likely agree with him. He was about to say it to her at the moment though, in case someone who wasn't supposed to was listening at the moment. "Is there any way we can assist you at the moment? I'm sure that this is a lot of information to take in at once."

Smoker still looked at him suspiciously, but grunted in affirmation.

"Several of my men are in need of medical assistance, and my ship is in need of repair."

Armsmaster nodded and motioned several PRT agents forward.

"I'm sure we can provide the accommodations you need. These men will guide you to a place where you can dock your ship. Could you leave someone here as a symbol of good will in return?" Armsmaster said simply. One could never be too careful. Some had tried to take PRT officers hostage in the past. The result...was not pretty.

Smoker stared at him for a few seconds before sighing. Good to see that he understood what Armsmaster implied with that comment.

"Gunderson and Alby will stay here with you." Smoker said pointing to the two behind him. Said people were now staring at their leader in shock, with their jaws dropped to the floor. The woman at his side was still frozen. Did she realize what she was looking at? Most likely guessing by her reaction.

"Very well. Once you and your men are seen to, we can continue our discussion, where...less eyes and ears are around."

Naturally they are going to have to call in Panacea to check if they have any diseases that might be catastrophic to them, as well as to make sure they are immune to Earth Bet's own diseases. The first visitors from another world in the flesh, and they die from the common cold. The media will have a field day with that.

Smoker nodded again before turning towards their boat, the two PRT officers following after him. Panacea would have to give them a check up too, despite the filter in their helmets. One could never be too safe.

"Let's go Tashigi." He said simply. Smoker voice seemed to have snapped the woman, Tashigi, out of her stupor.

"I'm coming Captain!" Her light voice said as she started jogging back, all while ignoring the two who had come with them. Heh, they were being treated like background characters from an Earth Aleph anime. Such a shame Leviathan essentially ruined their own Japan.

Turning his attention to the two background characters. Colin coughed internally. He meant the 'Marines'. Both men stared at Armsmaster, confused, but still willing to obey their captain. Motioning a third PRT agent forward with the wave of a hand, the two men only flinched a little.

"Agent Walker will lead you to your temporary accommodations."

With that, Armsmaster began walking away.

Director Piggot was going to have a field day with this.

Smoker POV

It took a few minutes but they eventually managed to reach Smoker' storm damaged ship. Leaving Tashigi to guide their 'guides', Smoker headed to his private quarters to think.

Growing up he had heard many stories about the Grand Line, about the exploits of Gol D. Roger the Pirate King, and Monkey D. Garp, his Marine rival. Many pirates had gone to Loguetown in hopes of reaching the Grand line. None of them made it...until Luffy arrived. Smoker clenched fist made contact with his desk. Not strong enough to break it, but enough to make a loud thud.

Now, if he was correct, Smoker and his crew were stuck in another world. Smoker had certainly heard of such an idea, in the books he used to read as a child. Take a deep breath, and a few puffs of his twin cigars, Smoker calmed himself down.

Was he going insane? Was he actually under the spell of a Devil fruit user who had him drugged? A hard pinch to his arm quickly proved it wasnt that. Smoke began to fill the room. Some of it from the twin cigars, the other from Smoker's fist which he used to lean against his desk.

Smoker had a lot of questions. The self proclaimed Armsmaster armor, this Protectorate, city and country he spoke of. Everything was so foreign, from what buildings he saw, to those ships that were following his own from a distance.

A knock at the door took Smoker out of his thoughts. Smoker sighed, took a few more puffs from his cigars, and got rid of the smoke that his fist caused in case it was one of those 'guides.' He wasn't about to reveal his secret weapon. Especially since Smoker didnt know if this Protectorate had Devil fruit users of their own.

"Who is it?" Smoker grunted loud enough for the person on the other side to hear.

"It's me Sir." Tashigi's voice answered. Smoker stared at the door for a few seconds before closing his eyes.

"Come in."

Smoker didn't bother to turn around when Tashigi walked in. After a few more seconds, Smoker finally turned around.

Tashigi stood there, with the door closed behind her. Her normally happy eyes looked downcast, sad, scared. Who wouldn't be? They were not in a land that was theirs. However dangerous the Grand Line was, at least it was theirs.

"Sir, is it what I think it is?" Tashigi said calmly. His eyes met his protege's. Smoker looked away and inhaled the smoke from his cigar.

"That we're in another world? Yes." Was Smoker's reply. With no way home, they were now stuck here, and it was all his fault. He was sure most of the crew would be mad at him, more than mad actually.

Tashigi took another deep breath and nodded. She just continued to stand there silently.

"I understand if you want to blame me." Smoker began. It was his decision to chase after Straw Hat Luffy into the Grand Line. It was his decision to sail directly into that wave. "I understand if you hate me, for dooming this ship and crew."

Tashigi slapped him hard.

"I'M SORRY SIR, I'M SORRY , I'M SORRY." Tashigi shouted bowing deeply over and over again. Smoker stared at her impassively confused. Tashigi eventually stopped and looked up at him, her face changed.

"I don't blame you, and I don't hate you. I chose to come along Sir. If I wanted I could've requested a transfer, or refused to come." Tashigi said, her voice becoming more emotional with every word. "I chose to come because I admire you Captain Smoker. I want to become stronger, just like you. And...I WILL FOLLOW YOU TO THE END CAPTAIN SMOKER SIR." She shouted with tears streaming down her face. Tashigi bowed deeply again, her eyes shut as her tears formed a puddle on the floor.

Smoker continued to stare at her, before he started to smile. Patting Tashigi's head, she looked up at him with tears forming streams down her face.

"Thank you."

A/N

WOW. I tried writing FTHRC and I kept getting distracted by this story. Sorry if anyone seems OOC. The main problem I'm having right now has to do with Tashigi and how she would be rated by the PRT. She's obviously a pretty decent swordswoman, nowhere near the most powerful in One Piece, but she's more skilled than the average marine. I keep thinking Brute 1-3 with a Mover 1-3. Subcategory striker because of her sword. Be aware, I am in the middle of Alabasta arc, but I know a lot of spoilers and stuff. So I kinda have an idea of how strong Tashigi is post timeskip.

Thank you for reading.