Twelve Red Lines

by Vikingr

I expected to die when I went into the water. Instead, I was rescued by a crew of people who I knew only as characters in a story. But what does it take to become worthy of being a Straw Hat? And why are so many little details not matching up to what I know?

30. Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro: an effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling unevenly or from a particular direction on something.

Gamelover41592: Thank you very much!

sdkop21: Don't worry, I intend to. Thanks!

Lightsbane1905: *glomps back* I missed everyone too!

The Keeper of Worlds: Yeah, jailbreaking Devil Fruits is lots of fun. So much fun. I love my Devil Fruit.

Dragondancer81: Thank you very much! I'm glad I can make people so happy!

ScarletCatnip: Thanks for your tips on the language! So... Would Baryshnya Ved'ma be better, for as long as Robin is trying to distance herself?

Glassdrop: Thanks. Here's hoping that the good work has been kept up.

Tombs456: Thanks. Here it is.

Unca Bob: Thank you very much. ^_^

keishinaruka: Thanks! It's not wrong to love the parts where I'm torturing Jones, no, as long as the happy parts are okay too. As far as math... I don't particularly like it myself, but I'm good at it, and it's useful. Jones' calculations were off because she's never used a slide rule for trig before, only a calculator, so while she knew the math, she was having trouble with the application. But it got her close enough, ne? And yes, shit is indeed about to go down. *grins*

Ultimate Student: Sorry about that. I thought it was a nice shoutout to how similar yet opposite Teach and Luffy are. Thanks!

The Pyro Jawsome: *grins and bows* If I've managed the unexpected, that means I'm doing my job. As for the rest of it... Is there a particular psychological facet I should be rooting for as they duke things out?

Krazyfanfiction1: Thanks!

starelight: Sorry... On the plus side, there's no need to wait long.

SirTinal: Sorry you feel that way. I didn't think the plan particularly complicated, but, to each his own.

Gerbilfriend: No plan survives contact with a D, aye... But if we use the fuller form of that statement, "No plan survives contact with the enemy," well... Jones isn't the only one on Jaya with convoluted plans, is she?

Draco Oblivion: Indeed. Luffy and company don't necessarily mind Jones taking *some* of the lead on planning, but they certainly think she's going too far— particularly since she didn't even *tell* them anything until it was already time to go.

Anime no Akuma: Sorry... Jones has a hard time keeping still, being me and all. Sitting still too long actually hurts us, with how many times I've broken my tailbone. Thank you very much! And I guess your wait is a lot shorter than you thought it was going to be, eh?

Bombadillo Baby: Your request for more is granted.

A/N: *casually performs a double tap before peacing out*

Blue-grey scales constantly drew her eyes as Nami recorded their course. She couldn't… Every time she saw Namur, a shiver of fear ran down her spine. She had to remind herself each time that this wasn't Arlong, that it was one of Ace's crewmates there to help them. But her heart, pounding at the back of her throat, didn't listen very well.

It was worst when Nami just caught a glimpse of Namur out of the corner of her eye. If she looked at him dead on, he was different enough that she could calm herself down. But if it was just the scales flashing at the edge of her vision, without getting a look at his face to reassure herself…

Gunshots louder than thunder. Blood. Nojiko screaming. Bellemere- so cold. Strong hands grabbing her arms, pulling her away. "Shahahahahaha!"

"You okay, Nami?"

The sailing master was pulled from her flashback by Luffy's voice. Her captain stood beside her, brows furrowed with concern as he bounced in place. Shaking her head, Nami forced a smile.

"Of course. We're sailing, the sun is shining, Jones' calculations gave me the numbers I need to get us where we're going- why wouldn't I be okay?"

Luffy's frown deepened. "Cause you keep looking at Namur like you 'spect to see Arlong. D'you wanna talk about it?"

Nami thought about that for a moment. Did she want to-? Back when she'd first met Luffy and Zoro- or even when they went over Reverse Mountain, with her freedom newly gained and everything still fresh- she would've said no. Aggressively. But… While talking about it was still hard, she wasn't sure if it was necessarily painful anymore. Still…

"Not right now, Luffy."

The captain's frown deepened. "But… You're never gonna get a better time."

That was… confusing. "What do you mean?"

"Cause Namur's here." Luffy said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world- and maybe to him, it was. But Nami had no idea how he thought Namur being there would make it any easier for her to talk about her time with Arlong.

She forced her smile wider in an attempt to deflect the conversation. "So… Since the log pose was pointed at something in the sky, do you think we'll be heading to a flying island soon?"

"I hope so!" Luffy's frown disappeared for a moment; his bouncing intensified. "I wanna see what kinds of things live in the sky! Maybe there's treasure up there! Or some kind of meat I've never had before! And Sanji can cook us all a yummy lunch and we can have a party in the sky!"

Then Luffy shook his head, his frown returning as he placed a hand on Nami's shoulder. "Saa… You tried to disa- distro- make me think about other stuff. But you're still scared. But I don't want you to be scared… You'll tell me if I can help, right?"

This time, Nami's smile was genuine. "Of course."

Impulsive, she reached out and hugged her captain. Luffy let out a strange little noise that was both concerned and happy, wrapping himself around Nami like a rubber hybrid of monkey and snake. It was uncomfortably warm, and the rubber chafed at her skin, but at the same time… comforting. Nami wiggled one hand free of the embrace to pat Luffy on the head.

The rubber boy released his sailing master after a minute. He looked like he had something he wanted to say, but wasn't sure how to do it. A few seconds passed. Then Luffy shrugged.

"We're all here if you need us. I don't think you need to be afraid, though. Not of Namur. He's one of Ace's crew, and he seems pretty good."

Nodding slowly, Nami turned her attention back to her charts. She could still feel Luffy standing there beside her though. He sighed once, ground his knuckles into his forehead, then placed a hand on Nami's shoulder. It felt… Nice. Warm.

Her first instinct was still to demand to know what he wanted. Before the Straw Hats, people always wanted something when they were trying to help. Nami still took a second, sometimes, to remember that not everyone was like that. And with Namur being there…

Nami sighed as Luffy pulled away. She could feel her captain's disappointment when she focused on their route rather than immediately going over to talk to the Whitebeard pirate fishman. But… She didn't know what to say. Didn't know if there was anything she could do or say. So she ignored it.

The winds were picking up, gathering dark clouds in their wake. Nami could feel the air pressure changing- there was a storm on the way. A fairly big one. Something felt… odd, though. Like the storm wasn't quite natural.

Glancing up, Nami checked their heading against the sun while she could still see it. Hopefully they'd be able to see the island before the clouds covered the whole sky- with the log pose pointing upwards more and more steeply, their usual method of navigation was getting more and more uncertain. As she made her check, the sailing master saw one of her crew mates also staring at the sky. Unlike her, though, Toma wasn't checking their course.

No, the boy was staring at the clouds ahead unblinking, as if transfixed. Toma looked frightened; his lips moved in the same pattern over and over. Squinting, Nami made use of the lipreading skills she'd picked up during years of tracking marks. Not that what Toma was saying helped her figure out what was going on in that head of his.

"White-gold?" Toma hissed again and again, "Why white-gold? And- pink?"

Unable to make heads or tails of the boy, Nami shook her head. Well, regardless of what was happening with Toma, at least they were still on course. Nami marked down their coordinates. According to the information she had, they should be within sight of land in just a few minutes. And then…

Well, after that, she wasn't sure.

The waves were growing larger as the wind rose, whistling through the lines. One particularly large wave broke over the railing. It caught Chopper up, nearly washing the reindeer overboard; only Namur's quick hands saved the little doctor. Squeaking, Chopper popped into Heavy Point and clung to the rail.

"Thanks, Namur!"

"You're welcome, Little One." Namur nodded at the doctor with a toothy smile. Or at least, Nami thought it was a smile. Even after years under Arlong's crew, she wasn't always confident in her ability to read fishman expressions.

Something dark became visible on the horizon as the clouds blocked out the sun. At first Nami thought it might be the island- but no, this was too soon for that. And drawing nearer far, far too quickly. Too small too… More like a ship than an island.

A few drops of rain spattered on the deck as Nami looked to the crow's nest. "Usopp! Horizon check! I think I see something!"

"Aye-aye Nami!" There was a brief moment of silence as Usopp pulled down his long-distance lenses and scanned the sea. Then… "Ship off the starboard bow! Galleon! Monkey figurehead!"

More rain poured down as the ships drew closer together. Soon they were bobbing alongside one another, the Going Merry in the shadow of the larger ship. Nami looked up at the galleon's rail as a large man came into view. He stood and stared down at the Merry with the air of a man preparing to squash an insect that had invaded his home, his ship drifting across the bow of the smaller pirate vessel.

Luffy stood at Merry's bow, arms folded, feet apart, back ramrod straight. Zoro stood to his right, and Ghin at the captain's back. There was a space to the captain's left, as if a third person was meant to be standing with them- someone thin and blond, who always smelled faintly of smoke.

As it was, when the captain of the galleon stared down at them, he was met with defiant glares from three of the strongest members of the crew. And everyone else too, really. Still, the fact that they had several members missing was… noticeable. Something didn't feel right.

He resembled a gorilla, if gorillas could have orange hair. Great green eyes glared downwards. "Oi! Who're you and what're you doing on Saruyama Alliance territory? Don't you pirates know we own the seas around here?"

"No one can own the sea!" was Luffy's reply. His eyes burned in the shadowy light, shining with the reflections of the rain.

That took the gorilla man aback. He froze, staring down at Luffy with a dazed expression on his face. But… Marco, Haruta, and Namur- who had all hidden conspicuously behind the mast as the ships drew closer together, now that Nami thought about it- all looked at Luffy with approving eyes. Especially Marco.

Nami wondered what all that was about.

Shaking his head, the gorilla man brought himself to his senses. "We don't own the sea- just this part of it! Which means you better behave! And if you've been salvaging around here, hand it over! After all, you're facing Shoujou of the Saruyama Alliance- if you don't do as I ask, things'll get ugly fast!"

Sabo stepped forward to stand on Luffy's left, one hand on the rubber boy's shoulder. But while that did fill in the space there with a tall, blond body, it wasn't the right one. Wasn't Sanji.

This was an important distinction, to Nami.

But Luffy didn't need the support. Seemingly ignoring his brother's presence, the young captain reached up and placed his hand on his hat. "You can't own part of the sea either! And no way're we giving you anything! We found it, fair and square!"

Shoujou's crew stepped up behind him, several dozen men. The gorilla man folded his arms, looking smug. "I have an army, boy. You might wanna reconsider your position."

His words made Luffy shrug. "I've got my crew. Each of us is as good as an army. I bet Zoro could kick your ass all on his own."

That sent a surge of strange pride through Nami's chest, even though she wasn't the one Luffy mentioned by name. Just knowing he had that level of confidence in all of them… Warmth flooded from the sailing master's heart, out and down her arms. Before she registered what she was doing, Nami had snapped her Clima-Tact together and was spinning it around.

She wasn't the only one either. All around her, all her crewmates looked like they were preparing for a fight.

A brief spark of worry flashed across Shoujou's face. And that solidified it- from that look, Nami knew they could easily beat this Saruyama Alliance if it came to a fight. Then the gorilla man closed his eyes, opened his mouth… and screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Nami rubbed her ears; Shoujou's scream left them ringing. And rocked the ship- even the Going Merry looked like it left her in pain, rain splattering on her figurehead like tears. Most of her passengers were rubbing their ears in sync with their sailing master, weapons dropped. Robin had sprouted an extra pair of hands in order to protect her hearing.

Luffy wasn't affected, though- or if he was, he didn't show it. Without looking back, the rubber boy motioned towards Ruatha. The little dragon chirped inquiringly. White scales rasped against each other as the reptile scrambled over to stand beside the captain. Nodding, Luffy rested one hand on the dragon's head.

"Ruatha… Screech."

"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!" Ruatha stomped one foot and braced himself on the deck. Craggy jaws split wide, fangs dripping, saliva flying out to spatter amid the raindrops under the force of Ruatha's scream.

Shoujou and his men were left stunned, their galleon bobbing erratically as the waves settled. Luffy continued to stare up at them, unblinking despite the rain dripping on his face. "Even my quartermaster's baby can match you. Now move."

Blood drained from a large, gorilla-like face. Shoujou looked like he was about to faint. Nami could practically see the thoughts running through his mind- how could he compare to a captain who could command a dragon? Maybe even two dragons, if he thought that referring to Ruatha as the quartermaster's baby meant the quartermaster was a dragon too.

Actually, that image made Nami smile, imagining Jones as a dragon. Amusing… And oddly appropriate.

The monkey-headed galleon quickly started to move as Shoujou and his crew scrambled to comply with Luffy's orders. Every once in a while, one of them would glance down at the Going Merry, then pale and redouble their efforts as the rubber boy glared up at them and Ruatha preened.

Once the ship was almost out of the way, Marco and his brothers emerged from their hiding place. While Haruta and Namur went to help Zoro and Ghin get the Merry underway again, the Phoenix wandered over to lean on the rail beside Luffy. Marco didn't say anything- just leaned on the rail and waved, a sleepy, mischievous smile on his face. If possible, Shoujou paled even more.

The rain came down harder as the Going Merry started moving forward again. Nami couldn't see the sun anymore; the clouds were too thick and dark. It was shaping up to be a serious storm, too. The sky was nearly black, and the wind made a whistling noise as it blew through trembling lines.

Nami shivered. Moments later, Ghin was beside her with a grey, waterproof coat. The rigger was garbed in similar attire, and holding an armful of even more. After Nami accepted and donned her oilskin, Ghin moved to prepare the rest of the crew. He even had a few extra for Sabo and the Whitebeard pirates- although Namur refused the offered coat.

Wiping sopping bangs out of her face, Nami looked once more to her charts. This would be the hardest part- keeping the Going Merry sailing true until Jaya came into sight. So close, but yet so far. No log pose, no sun… Nothing she could trust. Just her gut and a few pieces of paper covered in calculations, promising land not far away. From the tales she'd heard growing up, that was practically a death sentence on the Grand Line.

But Nami didn't see it that way. No… She could feel it in the flow of the wind- the island's presence. If anyone had asked her, she wouldn't have been able to explain it properly, but when she closed her eyes… something about the temperature and the pressure and the direction of the breezes told her they were getting close. She actually trusted the feeling more than the math.

Raising one hand in the air, Nami felt the different layers in the wind. Her eyes were still closed when she called a course correction to Johnny at the helm. "Two degrees to port!"

"Aye-aye, Sis!" The blue hunter made the minute adjustment- minute now, but a difference of several hundred meters by the time they got to their destination. If not more.

"What are you doing, Baryshnya Navigator?"

Nami opened her eyes to see Robin standing on the other side of her charting table. Lowering her hand, the sailing master smiled and let out a faint chuckle. "Feeling the wind. Jones' calculations were a little off, but not bad. I'd say she knows her math, but isn't used to using a slide rule. Weird."

"You… can feel the location of the island?" Robin raised one eyebrow, the closest she ever seemed to get to looking impressed.

Nodding, Nami leaned forward on her table. "Only when we're close and I've got a good wind or current to work with, but yes. I've always been able to. When my sister and I were little, it was just a cool trick- I could map the bottom of the harbour by our village just by feeling the currents coming up on a warm day. When I got older, it was… less fun."

Robin's initial reaction was a long, slow blink- like a cat disturbed at its nap. Then the archaeologist favoured Nami with a small smile. "You're quite the talented navigator. Gospodin Captain is very lucky to have you on his crew."

"Thanks." Nami smiled back at Robin through the rain. The archaeologist wiped sopping bangs out of her eyes and glanced up at the sky.

"I don't suppose you can tell when the storm is going to end?"

"Of course." Closing her eyes, Nami raised her hand again. The wind whipped past, feathery and bubbling. It told her where the pressure systems were around the island, how quickly they were moving… Just like it always had.

"There'll be a break in about an hour… But things will pick up again a couple hours after that. I think it'll be a few days before everything stops completely." Dropping her hands, Nami opened her eyes again and shrugged.

KRA-KACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Thunder boomed as white lightning split the sky. The rain poured down even harder, raising mist from the surface of the sea. In the brief second the sky glowed bright, Nami saw strange shadows dancing in the clouds. They looked like… people, albeit far larger than even the giants Bellemere used to tell her stories about. With impossibly long, gangly limbs and short, winged bodies, like the distorted shadows of angels.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Usopp screamed as the figures faded from view. The gunner nearly fell out of the crow's nest; he pointed at the sky with shaking hands. Johnny and Yosaku weren't much better; while the blue hunter hadn't leapt into his partner's arms like he often did, his knuckles were white as he gripped the whipstaff. Meanwhile the green hunter had startled himself out of the rigging, to the point where he was dangling upside down over the side, a line wrapped around his ankle the only thing keeping him from going overboard.

Ruatha stared at the sky, transfixed, jaws open. A small corner of Nami's mind wondered if the dragon was going to drown if he didn't close his mouth. Most of the rest of the crew were staring as well, albeit without the drowning bird open mouths. Toma was shaking as his wide eyes flicked around the sky, searching for the figures. Ghin wandered over to hug the terrified boy; Zoro looked a bit jealous at the contact.

Marco, Haruta, Namur, and Sabo looked completely unaffected.

"Do you have any idea what those were?" Nami asked, still searching for the figures herself.

Robin smiled wryly. "The ancient Asuran people believed that the souls of the dead danced in the lightning, and that if you saw them, they would capture you and force you to dance with them for all eternity."

That sent an involuntary shiver up Nami's spine. Not that she was superstitious, or shared in the beliefs of a long-dead people, but the tone of voice Robin used… Creepy. The sailing master shook her head. "Anything else?"

Thinking for a minute, Robin shrugged, her wry smile fading into a wistful expression. "Hundreds of years ago in O- Ohara, we used to believe that fairies lived in the sky, and that lightning was made when the good fairies fought the bad ones, protecting humanity from their mischief."

The archaeologist closed off after that, her gaze turning inwards. Nami flinched. She hadn't meant to bring up bad memories. Reaching out, the sailing master placed her hand over the archaeologist's. Robin pulled away before she could say anything.

"I- It's fine, Baryshnya Navigator. Ohara… It all happened a very long time ago."

"That doesn't mean it hurts any less."

Robin's lips drew into a thin line. "No… No, it doesn't."

Nami sighed and ran a hand through her sopping hair. "But… Having a crew can help. When it's the right one."

"You say that like it's the easiest thing in the world," Robin replied, wiping her own soaked bangs away from her eyes. "But it's not… Not even close. And… Why? Just… Why?"

The archaeologist didn't seem capable of properly voicing her thoughts, but that was okay. Nami had been in a similar enough position that she could guess what was going through the older woman's head. "Why are we trying to make you belong? To get you to be our friend?"

Unable to speak, Robin just nodded. She was shaking. Nami tried once more to place a reassuring hand over Robin's; once more, the archaeologist pulled away.

It was a far cry from the vision in the Mists.

"Let's just say that while she's the one who does it most, Jones isn't the only one who's seen the future." No longer able to meet Robin's eyes, Nami looked back down at her charts. "I can't- you had to be there to understand."

Was this what it was always like for their quartermaster? Unable to say what she wanted and be believed, to act the way you wanted to around someone you knew would someday be a friend? If so, Nami could forgive the otherworlder for acting out sometimes. Or at the very least understand it.

"I see…" Robin stood in silence by Nami's chart table, unwilling or unable to say more- but also not moving away like she so often did. The sailing master counted that was a win.

"Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Geier rose from her place at the rails, swooping across the length of the ship. Drifter held up a sign as his partner performed a barrel roll. Land ho!

His announcement was followed up a second later by Usopp's voice. "Land ho! Island dead ahead!"

Folding his arms, Drifter scowled and held up another sign as Geier landed on the mizzen boom. Stupid English-speaking hosers with your voice boxes and your lips and your ability to use spoken language… You wouldn't be laughing so hard if I could write as fast as you talk.

Chopper scampered up into the rigging to perch beside the police officers. His furry hands nearly slipped off the rain-slicked wood. The doctor reached out to pat Drifter on the head. "No one's laughing at you… And I can translate, if you don't wanna use your signs anymore."

Hissing, the otter slapped the reindeer's hand away. One paw reached up to adjust his Stetson; the other held up yet another sign. For all his complaints, Drifter seemed capable of quickly producing a near-endless supply.

Don't touch the hat, Hoser! And I don't need your translation. I've managed fine on my own for almost twenty years; I'll keep managing for as long as it takes.

"Sorry…" Chopper flinched and pulled back. Popping into Brain Point, the doctor scuffed at the boom with his hooves. Wide brown eyes glittered darkly in the dim light. "I didn't mean to offend you…"

For a moment, Drifter was stiff, still scowling. Then the otter melted like butter, holding up another sign as he rubbed his temples. You- No- I wasn't offended. I just… Prefer to manage on my own. And… I can't always rely on you, can I? Even if we're on the same crew, there's no guarantee that you'll always be there when I have something to say.

"Oh…" Chopper looked down sadly. "That- That's true, I guess. Sorry."

Aww, don't apologize so much. It's alright; you didn't do anything wrong. Drifter reached out and patted Chopper on the head. Geier joined him, spreading one of her wings to wrap around the little reindeer's shoulders. Chopper closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. Something about his smile almost looked smug to Nami, as if cuddling like that had been the doctor's goal all along.

Up at the bow, Marco stepped up beside Luffy as the Going Merry slowly drew nearer to the island. The Phoenix stood near the figurehead, hands in his pockets, looking for all the world like he was about to fall asleep. But his voice, when he spoke, was anything but sleepy.

"Ace doesn't seem to be in Mock Town," Marco informed Luffy. "I sense him at a bay further in- along with somebody else, yoi. One of your crew?"

Luffy nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. Ace took his fire boat and went ahead with Sanji and Lisa to set a trap." Then the rubber captain's eyes turned to stars as he spun to face his brother's crewmate. "Wait- you can sense Ace? Using that Haki stuff Sabo tried to teach us about?"

"Yep." Marco smirked and shot Sabo a sidelong look. "Dead useful stuff, yoi. You say your brother's teaching you? Have any of your crew had any luck with it yet?"

Pouting, Luffy shook his head. "Nope."

"Hmmph… Then maybe you should let us deal with Teach." Marco took his hands out of his pockets and rested one on top of Luffy's head. "He's more powerful than he seems, and with his new Fruit… Fighting him without Haki is a suicide mission."

"We know about his powers," Luffy shot back. "We know he's strong. But we've been working on a way to beat him, so as long as we're together, it'll be fine."

"Your faith in your crew is admirable, yoi." Marco sighed. "I just hope you're right. Last thing I want is a bunch of kids dying on my watch. Especially Ace's baby brother. He'd haunt me forever if I let that happen, yoi, even if you kids weren't practically family."

X

I clenched my fists, my whole body going stiff at that voice. It hurt, the amount of adrenaline I was being flooded with. A single word rang through my head, louder than cannon fire.

KILL.

My vision narrowed to pinpricks, most of the world blocked out by white. Hot and cold ran up and down my spine as I spun on my heel. I absorbed the friction beneath my feet without even thinking about it, building up a charge; one of my fists was raised to strike, despite not actually being able to see Blackbeard through the angry haze of my vision.

Warmth wrapped around me from behind before I could charge Teach- the invisible arms that followed me everywhere. But this time… This time, rather than protecting me, it felt like they were trying to hold me back. Large and warm and strong, although not as strong as me, holding me tight around my shoulders and waist. They were insubstantial- I could probably break free easily- but just the shock of it stopped me dead, forced me to lower my arm.

Not that I wanted to. No, I wanted to kill, to punish Teach for what he had done, what I knew he would do. All my careful planning lay forgotten at the back of my mind.

How dare this man, one of Ace's killers, speak to me?!

The arms squeezed tighter, holding me close against an insubstantial chest. The grip on my shoulders shifted, so that invisible fingers were running through my ponytail as the arms clung to me. I shook and strained, taking a couple of steps towards the target of my ire. My hand came up again.

Patience, whispered a soft voice, so deep and quiet I could barely hear it. Remember your plan.

Warm arms squeezed me tighter still. The contact was calming… Soothing. Enough that the boiling anger receded to my chest, carrying the white away from my eyes so I could see again. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to lower my hand as the arms continued holding and petting.

Blackbeard was looking at me with interest, dark eyes sparkling beneath heavy brows. "So, little girl, what'll it be? Join my crew? Or be put down like the rabid dog you seem to be?"

Rabid-? Well, he had just seen me Force Choke one of his crew off a church roof, then turn as if I meant to attack him. Although since he'd threatened to kill me if I didn't join his crew, I thought that might be justified. I wondered what he saw in my face, though, when I spun around in fury. But there was no way I was going to ask.

"Who are you?" I demanded, my voice rasping more than usual as I fought to keep myself under control. Lowering my face so I didn't have to look at Blackbeard, I received the added bonus of a nice, dramatic shadow being cast over my eyes. My glasses flashed as well- I really needed to figure out how to do that on demand.

"Name's Marshall D Teach." Blackbeard's voice was cautious and dark, but as amicable as could be expected from someone who was threatening my life. "I run a pirate crew- but not like that Bellamy idiot you sent flying. Zehahahahaha! Glad someone put him in his place! I would've liked to, but I've gotta keep a low profile right now- one of my men's off on a mission, and I've got some dangerous bastards after my head."

Trying to make the Whitebeards sound like a threat… Oh, he was clever. If I knew less about what was going on, I might actually have sympathized with him. As it was, I really wanted to punch his sorry face in until he had more gaps than teeth. Backpfeifengesicht. I hadn't imagined, when talking to Ace about his temper, that mine would be so hard to keep under control.

The invisible arms hugged me tighter.

"Not that it should matter who I am," Teach added darkly. "After all… No matter what you think of me, your options don't change, now, do they? So why would you bother asking?"

I bit my lip, hard enough to draw blood. The invisible arms around me loosened as I started to move. Slowly, shaking, I rolled up my sleeves, putting twelve red lines on display for all the world to see.

"I've offered myself to death in the past, multiple times, and I'm still here. I've accepted that fate has something in store for me, and I doubt it's just someone else taking my life instead. I'm not scared of you, Marshall D Teach- you or your threats."

Something about my words- perhaps the mention of fate- made Teach's eyes light up with interest. His eyes scanned me, picking me apart… It felt like he was trying to look through me, past my scars and armour, into my soul.

"And who are you?" Teach asked after a minute. "Unless a rabid puppy like you doesn't have a name?"

He took a few steps towards me, triggering my anxiety. The wash of fear helped calm my anger further, sending shivers of cold where once there was heat. Invisible arms holding me tight kept it from getting out of control; my vision flickered as Teach came closer, but didn't go black. I trembled, but didn't faint.

Teach smelled like sour cherries.

"Keira," I rasped out. Not using my full name, or even the one I'd gone by recently. Didn't want him to be able to identify me too easily- which the name Jones might do. White Lion… I'd chosen the white lion rampant because it was the symbol of my family. Whether that was the same in this world, I wasn't sure, but if it was, Teach was the sort of person who'd know.

"Little dark one…" I could hear the smile in Teach's voice. "That fits someone on my crew, more than you could possibly imagine. Zehahahahahahahaha! It must be fate that I found you here."

Fate… Yeah, right. Like I would ever join this asshole's crew. I already had a captain.

The invisible arm around my waist moved, instead reaching down to lace warm fingers through my own. It helped me focus.

"Very well, Captain," the word tasted like ash in my mouth, "I'll- Gyah!"

A warm weight hit my back mid-sentence, setting me coughing and stumbling. Teach actually took a step back in alarm as small arms wrapped around my waist. The invisible ones that had been holding me vanished as Lisa squeezed me tight from behind.

Panic surged through me. I'd been just about to start a deception- Lisa was going to ruin it! She didn't even know my first name… Even her addressing me would-!

"Mia sorella! Why did you leave me?" Lisa squirmed around in front of me and stared up with watery eyes. My brain froze momentarily. Was- was that Italian? I blinked, quickly bringing my brain back online.

Okay, maybe Lisa had more of an idea what was going on here than I'd thought.

I hugged the little painter tight, as if she really was my little sister. Or… Well, more closely than if she'd been my little sister; I wasn't particularly close to my sister back on Earth. Different interests, different ways of thinking…

"Desolée, ma petite soeur…" I didn't speak Italian, even if I understood a few words, but hopefully even if Teach knew the difference, the foreignness of it all would throw him off. "But you should've waited for me. I told you I'd be back when I was done my errands."

"I didn't want to wait…" Lisa pouted up at me. Then she glanced over Teach. "Sorella… Who's that?"

"Captain Marshall D Teach…" I looked over at the man who I hated so much, gritted my teeth, and bowed, presenting my crewmate. My right arm twitched; a small charge of force surged unbidden to my hand. "Captain… This is my little sister, Lise."

Lisa's eyes went wide at my use of a fake name for her- and probably also from me calling Teach Captain. She gathered herself quickly, though. "Captain? Does… Does that mean we'll finally be moving on, once you've picked up your package?"

"Oui, ma cherie…" I ruffled Lisa's hair. One hand rose to fiddle with my necklace, hoping she'd get the message as our Jolly Roger flashed. "Don't worry. We'll be back on the road soon enough. Just let me finish up my business here."

Teach looked on with interest as Lisa nodded. His eyes narrowed and hardened, like points of flint. "Your business? We? Keira… Remember what I said…"

Shadows coalesced around one of Teach's hands. I instinctively charged up myself in response, muscles tensing. But… I couldn't strike, not yet. Instead… Instead, I kept my eyes on his chest, alert for any signs of movement. "Captain… I will join your crew- your offer isn't one that I could exactly refuse- but I must insist that if I accompany you, my little sister be allowed to as well. I'm all she has; I can't leave her alone."

"Loyalty- an admirable quality." Teach's voice grew darker. "I couldn't help but notice, though, that you and your sister seem to be speaking different languages. Fleylin Italian and Drum French, unless I miss my guess. Odd combination…"

"We're half siblings," Lisa offered before I could say anything. "Mia sorella lost her mother when she was little, then our father remarried years later. Keira was raised in Drum Kingdom until Papa met Mama and Tio Lovino; then he fell in love with Mama and moved to the Fleylin Archipelago to be with her."

"I see… And what business do a pair of painter girls from Fleylin have in Mock Town?" Oh dear, Teach was getting suspicious. "A little far from home, don't you think?"

"We…" Come on brain, think. What excuse could I give that would be believed? Once more, Lisa jumped in before I could find the words.

"We… When the Fleylin Archipelago was attacked four years ago, Papa put us out to sea in one of Tio Lovino's boats." Lisa's voice was shaking; the little girl blinked back tears. Which… Either she was a very good actor, or what she was saying was based in something that had actually happened.

"It drifted for days… We were picked up by a ship just before we ran out of food. They told us…" Lisa wiped her eyes on the hem of her painting apron, "They told us that Tio Lovino's boats had all been burned, that our family was deep in debt and our country had been destroyed. That the only way we'd ever be able to have a life back home was if we worked for them to earn money to rebuild things…"

Burying her face in my coat, Lisa sobbed. "But they dropped us on some random island without any pay… Mia sorella's been looking for work ever since, signing on with whoever'll take us… But even if she'd strong, nobody wants me cause I'm so little…"

I held Lisa closer as she sobbed into my coat, her tears staining my leather armour. Teach looked on as I rubbed the little girl's back. He and I were probably thinking the same thing- trying to decide how much of the story was true.

"Well, I'm willing to take you on," Teach said at last, "Both of you. Keira, I'm interested in your Devil Fruit; Lise, you're old enough to start learning ship work. Finish up your business in town, then come meet me and my crew at the Ball and Chain. You can get to know the men while we wait for Lafitte. And Keira…" Here, Blackbeard's voice grew darker and more dangerous, "If you fail to show… I will find you, and you know what I'll do."

"Aye-aye Sir." Nodding, I squeezed Lisa's shoulder and gently tugged her away. "Come on Lise; let's go pick up that package."

"S-Si, sorella…" Lisa followed close, clinging to my hand so hard her knuckles went white.

We continued that way for quite some time, wandering aimlessly just to get away from Teach. Even once we were well out of sight and earshot, I was nervous- I'd bet my bottom dollar Teach had Haki, but I had no idea how good he was with it. Hopefully not as good as Enel… I'd like to believe we'd be safe if we had to cross the island.

"You okay, Lisa?" I paused in the shadow of a leaning building. Squeezing her shoulder gently, I made the young painter look up at me.

"Yeah…" Rubbing her eyes on her sleeve, Lisa blinked rapidly a few times. Soon enough, only a faint hint of redness showed that she'd been crying. "I'll be fine. We, um… We need to head this way. Sanji's waiting with Ace by the mines…"

Now Lisa was pulling me, her grip on my hand slowly loosening as she tugged me out of Mock Town. Her footsteps were stuttering and arrhythmic, like she couldn't quite control her feet. I wondered if that was nerves for the future… Or sorrow for the past.

"Is… Jones, is Keira really your name?" Lisa glanced up at me as she asked the question, probably to distract herself from whatever she was thinking. She nearly tripped when she took her eyes off the ground in front of her.

I flinched as Teach's voice echoed again in my head. Little dark one. "Jones Faye Keira. But I don't like it… Never have. Doesn't fit. So I prefer to just go by Jones."

And… I didn't say it, but my full name fit even less now. Not going by it, not using it… It was so easy to distance myself now. I wasn't Keira anymore, was I? Everyone called me Jones now, so that was my name. One corner of my mouth quirked up.

"No," I decided quietly as we worked our way through a narrow copse. "No, Keira isn't really my name. Not anymore. But it does make for a convenient false identity, doesn't it?"

"I guess…"

We emerged from the trees to an open area of rocks and loose soil. Sanji was sitting on a boulder, smoking, The Pie in a box by his side. Not far away, Ace dozed face-down in the dirt.

Unable to tell where the mines were buried, I left Lisa at the edge of the trees and absorbed the force of my own footsteps as I walked. It left me feeling… oddly light, as I ghosted over the uneven ground to where Sanji sat. I looked at the dirt, unable to meet the cook's eye.

"Is… Is everything ready?"

"Yeah…" Sanji blew a smoke ring at me; the smell made me cough. "Your shitty pie's all ready to go, soon as someone wakes up the shitty fireball. Everything ready on your end?"

"As much as it can be." I winced and rolled my shoulders, trying in vain to relieve the force building up in my muscles. "Got a clearer shot to present The Pie than what I was really planning on, but… I sort of lost track of my plans for a minute, so that's probably for the best."

Sanji shot me a flat look. "You're not exactly filling me with confidence here. I told you- you need to promise me we can beat this guy."

"We can," I insisted, with more confidence than I actually felt. A bundle of nerves was growing in the pit of my stomach, shaking like a leaf. Sanji sighed again.

"You're starting to remind me of my sister, Jones. Poisons, clever plans, sneaking everywhere… Just take care you don't fall off that shitty high wire you're running on."

I flinched, taking an involuntary step backwards. Sanji rolled his eyes at me, saying nothing. But… I couldn't bring myself to go closer. I could sense the anger rising off my crew mate in waves. Feared it. Enough to wish I'd never concocted this plan…

Except I had to. Blackbeard had to die, and this was the only way I could think of to be sure it would happen. But now one of my friends was angry at me… I wanted to die. All this would've been easier if I was properly dead, if I hadn't been pulled from the water. Why had my writer decided to do this? Why couldn't she have just left me dead? At least in death, I would've had peace, wouldn't have had to worry so much.

…

To fear so much.

Sanji turned to look at something in the bay below- even that slight movement was enough to set me jumping back. That made the cook flinch as I landed somewhere in the middle of the minefield. Of course, I absorbed the force of it, so I didn't set anything off. I love my powers.

"Dammit Jones, what's gotten into you?!" Sanji snapped as he turned his attention back to me. Down in the bay, the Going Merry bobbed as she made landfall. "This was your shitty plan! I poisoned food for this! You sure as Hell better not be losing your nerve now!"

"I'm not!" The words barely came out, and when they did, my voice was high and squeaky. I clenched my fists, fingernails biting into my palms even through the fabric of my new gloves. The pain helped me reign myself in- for now.

Darting forwards, I grabbed The Pie. "I'm not losing my nerve! We can win this! I just… Anxiety flare-up."

Was… Was this what Zoro was worried about when I first joined the crew? That I'd have anxiety attacks and lose my nerve during something important? Well… It wasn't going to happen. Anxiety, yes, but I wasn't going to let it keep me from doing what I needed to do. No matter where the anxiety came from.

Footsteps and wingbeats thundered up from the beach as the rest of our crew arrived- along with some new recruits. Sabo was there, as well as Haruta, Namur… And of course, the Phoenix himself, in full, avian glory. Marco perched on a rock by Ace, shifting back into human form gracefully before giving the sleeping firecracker a few rough pokes.

Ace didn't wake up.

Sanji jumped off his rock, landing in front of the others before they could wander onto the minefield. "Oi! Stay back from here. Don't want any of the lovely ladies stepping on one of the shitty mines and getting themselves hurt, now do we?"

The cook took Nami's hand and kissed it as he spoke, his eyes turning to hearts. The sailing master let out a good-natured sigh and swatted him over the head with a third of the Clima-Tact. "Sanji, focus."

"Right." Dropping her hand- and his infatuated demeanor- Sanji turned to look at the rest of those assembled. "Alright. We buried all those shitty mines Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku made- buried 'em good, so you can't see. So everyone, try to avoid stepping in this general area unless you've got powers that'll keep the shitty things from blowing your legs off if you step on one."

Sanji waved at the minefield, tracing a circle to show its rough size and shape. One by one, everyone nodded their understanding- even Ruatha. My dragon bounded around the edge of the minefield, squawking in frustration when he realized he couldn't get to me without stepping in the danger zone.

"Monah… Vopaaz."

Marco continued prodding at Ace, to no avail. "Straw Hat… How'd you wake your brother up, yoi? As long as he's been with us, only Thatch ever figured it out. And he never shared, yoi."

Luffy opened his mouth to answer, but was stopped when Sabo stepped forward. The revolutionary's eyes danced; he took one of the pipes off his back and spun it like a baton. "May I have a go?"

Huh. Why did Sabo have two pipes? And where did Luffy get one? I didn't ask, though; I'd find out later.

Marco leaned away from Ace, his sleepy eyes glittering with the same mirth as Sabo's. "Be my guest, yoi."

A grin lit up Sabo's face, his scars twisting it into a mad hatter's smirk. He held out his hand to me as if asking me to dance. "Jones… Your assistance, for a moment."

"Oro?" I reached out for his hand, confused. Did Sabo know how my powers worked? The answer to that was apparently yes, as he strode without fear across the minefield, forcing me to absorb force through him to keep him from blowing us all up.

I'd never used another person as a medium before. It was… Unnerving. The force changed as it came through Sabo's body, in ways I couldn't describe. It never felt like that coming through my clothes or weapons- or the ship.

Once safely standing beside Ace, Sabo let go of my hand. Leaning on a nearby rock, the revolutionary tapped his elder brother on the head with a pipe. "Ace… Time to wake up. Otherwise I'm leaving you here while Luffy and I go hunting- and I'm giving him your share of the gator."

"Sabo, you asshole!" Ace sat bolt upright, reaching up to grab Sabo's pipe. Still blinking back sleep, the freckled pirate nearly fired his brother across the minefield before remembering where he was. He froze suddenly, face lit up like the sun.

"Sabo! You made it!"

Jumping to his feet, Ace somehow managed to hug Sabo without setting off any mines. The revolutionary chuckled and hugged the freckled pirate tightly. "I wouldn't have missed it for the world. And I'm not the only one."

Glancing up, Ace froze again. If we had been doing anything less serious than arranging the brutal overkill of Blackbeard, I think he would've jumped up and started laughing. As it was, he grinned at Namur, Haruta, and Marco. Although it definitely had a bit of a dark tinge to it… I think Ace was looking forward to taking revenge for Thatch.

"You guys ready?"

Namur nodded; he looked grim, but that could've just been his face. I didn't have much experience with fishmen, so I wasn't confident in my ability to read their facial expressions. Haruta was much easier- the boy's face lit up with vicious, malicious delight as he reached for his sword. And Marco… Marco no longer looked so sleepy. Droopy eyes opened wide and bright, shining like a raptor's as the Phoenix looked towards Mock Town.

"What're we waiting for, yoi?"

Yosaku, staring at the assembled Whitebeard pirates as if his eyes were about to pop out of his skull- and the redness in said eyes suggested he'd been doing this for some time- pointed at me. "I think we're waiting for Big Sis to do something to that Blackbeard guy and bring him here."

Clenching my hands tighter around the box that held The Pie, I looked to Luffy and Zoro. The bosun was… unreadable. I curled in on myself; even without him showing it, I could feel Zoro's disapproval of my tactics. And Luffy… He didn't have the same sort of disapproval, but he didn't seem happy with me either. When he noticed me looking at him, my captain's face went dark. He tilted his head forward so his hat shadowed his eyes.

"Do what you have to, Jones. But… After this, we've gotta talk. Okay?"

Zoro reached over and rested a hand on Luffy's shoulder. I nodded, unable to speak, curling in on myself even more before I backed out of the minefield. Nami flinched; Robin looked at me with interest.

Ruatha tried to climb on my shoulders as I headed back towards Lisa and the copse of trees. I shoved the dragon off. Couldn't have Teach seeing him.

My dragon whined and held out his wings as if trying to hug me. "Monah… Fahvos? Zu'u lokaal hi. Zu'u praag hi. Zu'u laan suyah hi."

"Sorry bud… I've gotta go do a thing with Lisa. We'll be back soon." My voice was flat as I fought to keep it even. Ruatha whined again as I took Lisa's hand and headed back towards town.

My feet, my heart… Everything felt heavy as I made my way under the trees. Lisa didn't speak, just clutched my hand tightly. Behind us, I heard the faint sounds of Nami's voice- presumably giving everyone instructions on where to hide before the ambush. Johnny and Yosaku occasionally chimed in to help her.

All too soon, Lisa and I were surrounded by buildings rather than trees. My mind kind of blanked out on the in-between. I was shaking, eyes constantly flicking about in search of the Ball and Chain, breath becoming ragged. Fear of the upcoming fight… And of my own crew mates, who I was just starting to realize I'd maybe pushed a bit too far.

A bell chimed over my head; Lisa led me into a dim room that smelled of spilt alcohol and sweaty sailors. Warm, invisible hands rested on my shoulders, squeezing gently. Biting my lip, I forced back the lump in my throat and did my best to reconnect my brain. Just in time too- Blackbeard was waving at us from a corner table.

"Keira! Lise! Glad you could make it! Get over here and meet my men!"

Teach himself was seated in the corner, where no one could attack him from behind. Van Auger was propped up on a wall beside him- still unconscious, but moaning like he might come to at any second. On Teach's other side was Doc Q, hunched by a window; the not-so-good doctor's horse wheezed outside. Lafitte was missing, of course. Gone to the Government to request that Blackbeard be given Crocodile's commission as a Warlord.

As Lisa and I slowly made our way across the bar, Jesus Burgess appeared from a nearby door- washroom, by the smell- and swaggered over to the table. There was an audible thud as he sat down. Waving one arm high, the wrestler called for one of the barmaids.

"Oi! Let's have a pint over here!"

I sidestepped carefully as a harried young woman rushed past me to fill the order. She was gone by the time Lisa and I reached Blackbeard's table. We stood, awkwardly facing the men across beer-stained wood, Lisa clinging to my hand and the hem of my coat, as Teach and his crewmates looked us over.

Teach raised one eyebrow. "Well, sit down."

Every bone in my body was shaking as I did what I was told; the chair made an unnaturally loud scraping sound as I pulled it out to sit. Lisa climbed into my lap, still acting perfectly as my scared younger sister. I placed The Pie on the table in front of me so she'd have more room. With one hand, I pushed it towards Teach.

"Tribute, Captain. As thanks for letting my sister accompany me." I kept my head bowed, not looking Teach in the eye. Instead, I focused on the brim of my hat.

Teach took the box with a grunt of interest. The noise was repeated when he opened it. "Cherry pie… My favourite."

"I know."

"And how is that?" Teach asked, voice going dark with suspicion. "We only met today, and I'm not exactly well-known in these parts. Or around Fleylin."

"It's my business to know things," I answered quietly, "I'm a witch, after all. It's what we do."

"A witch?" Burgess half-rose, one hand coming up as if he was considering striking me. "Like Hell."

"No, like Madame Shyarly from Fishman Island." My voice was still quiet, but at least I could keep it even. Teach hummed in understanding, his suspicion fading.

A rough hand reached out to grab Burgess' shoulder, shoving him back into his seat. "Stand down. Her claim isn't that far-fetched; there are stranger things on the seas. Just because you haven't seen them yet doesn't mean they're not there." Teach stared his crewmate hard in the eye until Burgess sat. Grunting in approval once he had, Teach dug into The Pie with all the reckless abandon of a D presented with their favourite food.

The wrestler grumbled, drinking half his pint in one gulp before slamming it back down on the table. "I still don't like it. And, I mean… This is the powerful new crewmate you told us about? Some wet behind the ears girl who can barely speak, but goes off spouting nonsense about being a witch? Just look at her! She's so little… I bet Ol' Doc's better in a fight!"

"Looks can be deceiving," Doc Q croaked, pulling his cloak tighter about himself as if warding off the cold. Teach grunted in agreement through a mouthful of pie.

"Or…" And now Doc Q was smiling. It was a frightening, Jonathan-Crane-like expression. He turned to address me and Lisa. "Or, looks can tell you quite a bit. Faces painted with the fires of war… If you two are from Fleylin like the captain said, that means you were related to a Painted Warrior. Never properly trained, though…"

Lisa nodded mutely; I scowled at the table. "So what?"

"Nothing," Doc Q said pleasantly, "Merely an observation."

For a few seconds there was awkward silence. Even those few seconds were enough to drive me mad. I fidgeted in place, unable to occupy my mind, focusing far more than I was comfortable with on the sounds of Teach eating The Pie because there was nothing else for me to think about. Van Auger groaned a few times, eyelids fluttering. He wasn't quite awake yet, though.

Apparently Teach didn't like the awkward silence any more than I did, since soon enough he was striving to fill it. "So, Keira… How about a demonstration of your powers? Once Auger wakes up, of course. Put the men's minds at ease, you know; can't let Burgess keep thinking you're some useless little tart."

I bit my lip at those words. Or, one in particular. Useless. "Of course, Captain. What would you like me to do?"

"Hmmm…" Teach chomped thoughtfully on a bite of pie. "I'm not really sure. What Fruit is it you have, anyways? Not sure what kind of power sends a man flying, then suffocates another. Some sort of Air-Air Fruit?"

"The Force-Force Fruit, actually." There was no point in trying to hide it- and he'd be dead soon enough anyway, so what harm could it do? For the first time, I raised my head enough to meet Blackbeard's eyes, grey locking onto black.

There was a sharp intake of breath from Doc Q's direction. It was followed by a burst of coughing. Burgess looked at his crewmate with… Not concern, I don't think, but something similar. I don't know the name of the emotion, and neither does my writer.

"What's wrong, Doc? Snake in your grandpa panties?"

"Don't laugh, fool!" Doc Q took a half-hearted swipe at Burgess' head. He didn't make contact. "The Force-Force Fruit is a thing of myth, even more volatile than most other Fruits. For many, it does barely anything- maybe makes them into a human Impact Dial, but even that's not always a sure thing. Every once in a while, though… Every once in a while, a wielder surfaces who uses that Fruit to control the very fabric of the universe."

Burgess scoffed and raised his tankard to drink. "A fairy tale. Besides, every Devil Fruit gives the ability to control the fabric of the universe or what have you- just gotta use them right."

"No." There was a loud clink as Teach set his fork down in the now-empty pie tin. "This one's different. When I read about it, I thought it was a fairy tale too, and ignored it. There haven't been any confirmed users in several hundred years. But if Keira's telling the truth…"

Teach's eyes hardened, burning into mine. "Which are you, girl- a tool… Or a god?"

Lisa gripped my coat tightly, her body stiffening as her breathing sped up. One hand inched towards her paints.

But it wasn't time to act yet. I considered my options quickly. Call myself a tool and Blackbeard might just decide I was disposable- that he could kill me and take my Fruit for himself, what with his unusual physiology that allowed him to eat two. Whatever unusual physiology meant, in the One Piece world. And if I called myself a god… Not only was that untrue, but Teach might decide to kill me as an act of pre-emptive self-defence. So really, there was only one thing to tell him.

The truth.

"I'm neither a tool nor a god. What I am is a loyal soldier- a witch and shinobi in service to the future Pirate King." Bowing my head, I broke eye contact with Teach as a sign of submission. "I live to protect my crew and see my captain take Roger's throne. It's his fate, after all."

"ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Teach roared with laughter, clutching his belly and throwing his head back to strike the wall behind him. His eyes twinkled with dark light. "That, Keira, is the perfect answer. Welcome aboard the Blackbeard Pirates! Now… I don't think I properly introduced you."

One by one, Teach pointed to his crewmates. "The old fellow with the cough is our doctor, Doc Q. His horse, Stronger, is outside. Go to them if you ever need patching up."

"This big guy here's Jesus Burgess, wrestling champion and resident hothead. Also takes forever to get ready in the mornings, so shipboard he has his own bathroom. We'll show you around later."

"Lafitte's out at the moment- running an errand for me in Mariejois. Should be back in a couple days. He's a little… Odd, but I'm sure you'll get on fine. As long as you don't mind him playing with your hair, that is."

"And you've already met Van Auger." Teach clapped the sniper heartily on the shoulder. This was finally enough to wake Auger up; the sniper startled, fumbling around for his rifle when he caught sight of me. I forced a mad grin onto my face, my scars twisting it into something sinister. Van Auger glared.

"Captain, what is she doing here?" Van Auger made a point of turning away from me to address Teach. His captain clapped him on the shoulder again.

"Zehahahahaha! Don't worry about it, Auger. Keira's one of us now."

"No hard feelings, eh?" Forcing my grin wider, I held out a shaking hand. Van Auger stared at me in disbelief.

"You attacked me out of nowhere. You strangled me, and threw me off a roof!"

I shrugged, quickly coming up with a story that should fit. "Eh, don't worry about that. It was just a contract- you were disturbing my client, shooting all those birds." Shrugging again, I played with the end of one of Lisa's pigtails.

"Keira and her little sister were wandering mercenaries, of a sort," Teach explained when Van Auger continued to display nothing but disbelief. "I just hired them on permanent-like."

Van Auger sniffed. "Noted. I don't like it, though. And I wouldn't trust that girl any further than I could throw her."

"Sesehihihihihi!" My burst of laughter took everyone by surprise, even me. I actually had tears in my eyes from the force of it. Hugging Lisa close, I shot Van Auger a dry look. "Then it's a good thing for me that you can throw me as far as I want you to."

All the Blackbeard pirates looked at me in confusion. Lisa and I both shrugged and spoke in unison. "Gravity is a force."

Teach's eyes narrowed. Which, yeah, okay, gravity was part of his Fruit's portfolio too- I was either a threat, or competition. "Is it now? And what else counts as a force, hmm?"

"Lots of things." I continued hugging Lisa- although more like a teddy bear now. Her presence helped ground me; I couldn't believe I'd ever planned on doing this without her. "Gravity. Magnetism. Electrostatic forces, AKA static electricity. Friction. Impact, or applied force. Pressure. Tension. Air resistance. Normal force- the force exerted between two solid objects as they touch. Spring force. Buoyancy. Centripetal, centrifugal, and Coriolis forces. Weak and strong nuclear forces."

And weren't those last two a scary prospect. If I could control nuclear forces… That did more than just blowing things up- although the thoughts of nuclear fission and fusion were plenty scary indeed. But controlling weak and strong nuclear forces also opened up particle physics and quantum mechanics.

Tabarnak, my writer gave me a stupidly, frighteningly overpowered Fruit.

Nodding, Teach continued to eye me with suspicion- much like one watches a large dog who, while they've never bitten, continually growls and shows their teeth. "I see. And which of those have you managed to make use of so far?"

"Impact, gravity, friction, pressure, spring," I listed off. "Although my control with gravity is… lacking. I nearly broke the mast on the last ship we were on. Training exercise."

Lisa fidgeted on my lap, possibly due to impatience. Which… She had a point. We needed to get moving; our crew- our ambush- wouldn't last forever. Besides, Teach would start showing symptoms soon. Didn't want him getting suspicious of The Pie before we got him to the battlefield.

"Well," Teach grunted, "I guess I should lay down some rules, eh Keira? Like no practicing new forces on the ship."

"Fair enough." That was actually a rule I'd need to keep in mind on the Going Merry in the future. Thousand Sunny too, when we got her.

Yes, I know Sunny is often considered to be male. But she's still a ship, so she's female in my mind. Bite m- oh wait. Wrong fic.

Groaning slightly, Teach got to his feet. He closed his eyes as he did, one hand reaching up to rub his temples as he swayed almost imperceptibly. Dizziness and a headache- it was starting. "Alright, Keira, why don't we head out of town a bit? Find a nice open space for you to show what you can do."

"Of course, Sir." Lisa and I rose, followed soon after by the rest of Teach's crew. We left the bar as a group, with Burgess tossing some coins on the table and whistling to one of the barmaids.

Van Auger watched me like a hawk as we made our way outside. Eyes narrow, one hand on his gun- he didn't like me at all. Which made sense. And I didn't care anyway; it wasn't like I'd have to fool him for long, and I didn't like him either.

Stronger whickered tiredly as we approached, the poor old hack. I flinched inwardly, though I didn't show it on my face. He was part of the enemy crew, but… I hated the idea of hurting a horse. Even one who appeared to be on his last legs anyway. Stronger had never hurt anyone… But I had to assume that he would fight on Doc Q's behalf if asked, which unfortunately made the old hack an enemy.

At least Doc Q seemed to treat the horse well. As skinny and shaky as Stronger was, he was clean and well-groomed- I didn't see any sores anywhere, and his saddle fit properly, not chafing as Doc Q mounted up. The old doctor even had a gentle hand on the reins, barely moving them as he directed Stronger to start walking beside Teach. And Stronger whickered happily in response. His voice was hoarse (pun!), but eager.

Unable to help myself, I moved closer as we walked, resting one hand on Stronger's blue-grey flank. The horse flicked his ears in my direction, but otherwise didn't respond. His hooves clopped steadily along, a heavy, dragging pace that ate up ground surprisingly quickly.

Teach's symptoms worsened rapidly as we made our way through Mock Town. His face flushed; he was panting heavily despite the fact that all we were doing was walking on relatively flat ground. Every once in a while he looked around dazedly, as if he'd forgotten something, or was looking for someone who wasn't there. And from the way he was walking, his stomach was paining him almost as much as his head.

At one point, we passed a bunch of collapsed buildings. Bellamy's crew was there, digging their captain out of the rubble. I could see just enough of the spring man to notice that his eyes were spinning, the iris morphed into a spiral shape. Which was… Still weird, even if I'd been here for months and had Chopper explain how those sorts of things worked.

Bellamy's crewmates glared as we went past- particularly the women who'd pulled me out of the water. I forced a smile and waved at them; the blonde one I'd knocked out earlier gave me the finger. My forced smile morphed into a grin.

By the time we were out of town, Teach was staggering occasionally. His crewmates were looking at him with concern- although Van Auger seemed to have made the connection and had readied his gun, looking from it to me as if wondering if it would do any good. Doc Q raised a hand, indicating for everyone to halt.

"Captain, you're showing several symptoms commonly associated with altitude sickness and cyanide poisoning. We have an assassin in our midst."

Ka-chik. Despite having no success with it previously, Van Auger cocked his gun and pointed it at my head. Burgess reached out and grabbed one of my wrists- which looked so small in his giant hands- while Doc Q spun his scythe with unexpected dexterity for a man in such seemingly ill health. Teach blinked, taking a moment to comprehend the situation through the haze of the poison. As soon as he figured out what was going on, though, shadows began to gather around his hands.

I made a few quick calculations in my head and started absorbing the force of Burgess' grip.

"Shoulda known," Teach slurred. "Can't trust people… When strong Fruits're involved."

The dark captain reached out to grab me, intending to keep me from using my powers. But the poison was doing its job- he was slow and unsteady. I wasn't, and Burgess only controlled one of my arms.

An important thing to remember when punching someone- never let your punch sit. If you do, the force comes back up your arm into your own body. Contact should be as short as possible, with the maximum amount of power behind the blow. Force=Transferred Momentum/Time on Target. I grinned. Thank you, Sensei, for drilling that into me over and over for years.

"LISA, NOW!"

Another important thing to remember when punching- aim through the target if you want to break it. Or, in this case, launch it several hundred meters. I didn't aim at Teach when I hit him- I aimed at the minefield my crew had set up on the other side of the trees.

The combined principals worked. It was the hardest I'd punched someone in my life- my knuckles smarted from the contact with Teach's ribcage. But it did its job. Blackbeard flew as I released my entire charge in a fraction of an instant.

And I wasn't the only one moving, either. Almost as soon as I opened my mouth, Lisa had a tube of paint open, spattering a large, messy dollop onto her palette and swiping her brush through. Black smears spun out across Blackbeard's crewmates' faces even before I was finished retracting my punch.

"NEWTON'S SECOND!"

"BETRAYAL BLACK!"

Van Auger, Burgess, Doc Q, and Stronger all startled as the thick black paint splashed across their faces. The three men moved as if to attack us- only to find themselves hitting each other at the last minute. Van Auger's bullet bounced off the horn of Stronger's saddle; Burgess' punch aborted as he was forced to catch Doc Q's scythe with one hand.

The not-so-good doctor glared at Lisa. "What did you do?"

"My job," she responded with a dark smile.

Lisa and I took off through the trees towards the minefield; Blackbeard's crew followed. Whether because Betrayal Black was forcing them to see us as their leader, or because following us was the closest they could do to killing us with it active, I wasn't sure.

The lack of boom surprised me. Had Blackbeard somehow managed to land without activating a single mine?

Apparently, the answer was yes. The soil of the minefield was completely undisturbed as Lisa and I broke through the trees, though Teach was sprawled out on the ground with spinning eyes. Our crew- plus Sabo, Ace, Marco, and Namur- moved to surround the darkness man before he could stand; Haruta was a second slower, blinking up at the sky in surprise for a moment before he realized what was going on.

"You little-!" KRA-CHOW!

Van Auger tried to shoot me in the back, but Lisa's Betrayal Black wouldn't let him take aim. Or at least, not at me. Instead, the sniper's bullet struck his own captain, piercing into Blackbeard's shoulder as Teach rose to his feet. Blackbeard flinched and grunted, eyes going wide; a small stream of blood leaked out from a dark, round hole.

The look of horror on Van Auger's face when he realized what he'd done was priceless. Not as good as the Enel face, though.

Blackbeard looked around for a moment, still dazed from poison. His words were slurred. "Auger… wha' wazzat for? S'mutiny…"

Van Auger didn't answer, still looking horrified by what he'd done. Ace spoke in his place. The freckled pirate's voice came out a bitter snap. "You'd know all about mutiny, wouldn't you? Hijo de puta!"

"Was different…" Teach slurred, turning slowly. A bit of colour drained from his face when he realized he was surrounded and who was there. Not much, though; he still seemed to think he could win this.

Fool.

"It wasn't different to us, yoi, or to Pops." Droopy blue eyes narrowed as Marco kicked at the ground. "The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers. Time to pay your dues, yoi."

With those words, it was like a dam broke. The first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates moved almost faster than I could follow, leaping into the air and transforming with a burst of flame, raking golden claws across Blackbeard's face before the man had time to blink. "SCAAOOOOOREEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Fire Fist!" Marco was followed instantly by Ace; if he'd been any other bird but a phoenix, the huge fireball that roared after him would've burnt him to a crisp.

Teach staggered to the side as he tried to avoid the second attack. He was only partially successful.

Doc Q, Stronger, and Burgess all immediately moved in to help their captain, seemingly forgetting what had happened to Auger a moment before. Burgess looked like he was gunning for me, leaping forwards in a flying tackle, while Doc Q's scythe made an eerie whistling noise as he rode at Ace. Unfortunately for both of them, Betrayal Black was still going strong. No matter what they intended, what actually happened was Burgess tackling Stronger, putting the horse in a headlock. Doc Q just barely managed to maintain his seat. Stronger reared and flailed, whinnying in panic as Burgess dangled from his neck.

Teach growled, finally regaining his senses enough to do something. Reaching for his belt, he slipped a set of wicked tiger claws onto each hand. A massive ball of darkness coalesced as he leapt forwards, somehow still not setting off any of the mines; it covered the battlefield as Teach spun with a snarl.

"Black World!"

I couldn't see anything; in an instant, it was like my sense of sight was just gone. One of my greatest fears… For a brief second, I was frozen. And during that second, something swished past my face, drawing a stinging, arrow-shaped patch of pain on one cheek. I leapt backwards, drawing a sai in one hand.

"ARGH!" Not far from me, Ace's voice cried out in anger. A phoenix called somewhere above.

"Lead Star! Lead Star!" Pting-thud. Pting-thud. In the darkness, I couldn't see if Usopp had hit a person, or just the ground. There was no cry of pain, though, so I expected the latter. Then off to the side I heard a loud crunch, followed by Chopper's voice.
Krch! "RUMBLE!"

I was starting to be able to see a bit; not far, though. The darkness was near-complete; I was lucky if I could see five feet through the swirling shadows. Hot and cold air rushed through the blackness, accompanied by the smell of ozone as Nami set up her part of the battlefield. Somewhere to my left, Ruatha screamed. This was followed by the sound of several pairs of hands clapping over ears.
"MAAAAAAAARZUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!"

There! Something absolutely massive moved in the darkness at the edge of my vision. I spun towards it, launching a force-enhanced kick and rolling my sai through a prolonged, flicking strike.

"Newton's Second! Demon Fang!"

No effect; Teach took the attacks like they were nothing as his outline solidified against the blackness. He had one arm raised. Before I could move, his tiger claws descended towards my head- too fast, too fast! I was going to be cut in half!

I couldn't get out of the way.

"Bla - ARGH!" Something barrelled out of the shadows, knocking me out of the way of what should've been a fatal blow. Blood spattered across my face as I fell on my ass.

The shadows were clearing… But though I could see again, I wished I couldn't. For a moment, the world, the fight… Everything seemed to pause so I could take in the gruesome scene.

An arm. A single arm, highlighted in my view by its own blood, red drops oozing slowly down my glasses. An arm that was no longer attached to the person it belonged to, but rather, lying on the ground. Twitching. A red-stained tonfa lay beside it.

Ghin stood where I had been a moment before, in a stance that suggested he'd tried to push me out of the way and hit Teach at the same time. Red dripped from one shoulder that was little more than a stump; his whole body was shaking. Eyes glowing white with pain, he keeled over- slowly, so slowly- and landed on the ground beside me. His breath came in ragged pants. I could just barely hear the words he gasped out as he stared up at Blackbeard.

"Don't touch my sister, you son of a bitch."

Fuck… Blood. So much blood. Ghin was hurt and it was my fault- protecting me- from Teach. Teach's fault. Teach hurt Ghin. Teach hurt Ghin bad.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr… GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!"

Suddenly, it wasn't just blood that was covering my vision in red.

Luffy POV

When Marco and Ace made the first move, Luffy was expecting the darkness guy to do something with gravity. That's what Jones had been preparing them for. So when everything went black, he was caught totally off guard. He couldn't see! The rubber boy ducked and rolled on instinct, in case something attacked while he was blind.

Nothing happened anywhere near him, but he heard Ace cry out in anger and pain.

The darkness started to fade fairly quickly, with the outlines of people becoming clear once more. The sky was still dim, though, like a gathering storm.

"Bla- ARGH!" One of the first things Luffy saw was the man who created the darkness, standing over Jones and Ghin. His quartermaster struck the ground ass first as blood flew through the air; Luffy's rigger stayed standing… Except one of his arms. Huge claw blades tore through flesh and bone with a wet noise. Ghin's arm hit the ground with a quiet- yet somehow deafening- thud.

Luffy's pulse roared in his ears.

Chopper was running before Ghin's arm hit the ground. The crack of bones filled the air as the reindeer moved, transforming several times in quick succession. It was accompanied by the click of his hockey stick extending.

"Brain Point! Scope! Heavy Point! Slapshot!" With the flick of two powerful wrists, a piece of black rubber flashed through the darkness to hit Blackbeard in the forehead, forcing him to take a step back. "Jump Point!"

The reindeer bounded across the ground as one of Ace's crew mates- Haruta- rushed in from the other. But Chopper's hooves did what Blackbeard had been supposed to do when he landed…

FPOW! FPOW! FPOW! FPOW! FPOW!

Five mines went off with deafening noise. Grease splashed out over the ground, covering a circle of earth and stone larger than the deck of the Going Merry. A fountain of acid spurted up too, showering everyone with drops that stung. Luffy closed his eyes as he dove forwards, not wanting any of it in them. That didn't keep him from seeing what happened next though, as the last mine made the darkness light up orange, so bright it was visible through his eyelids.

Heat. Fire. The entire battlefield was suddenly ablaze. Luffy winced at the burning, still scrambling forward. Part of him remembered that he was supposed to stay back, that if this guy grabbed him, he'd lose his powers. But that didn't matter right now.

Blackbeard had hurt his family- badly. Luffy was angry.

Chopper knelt beside Ghin, quickly binding the rigger's arm with a strip of heavy fabric so he didn't bleed out. Blackbeard moved to strike the doctor in that moment, but was stopped as a light sabre jabbed into his side. Haruta grinned up at the dark man sadistically, flipping a small, hidden dagger out of his sleeve.

"This's for what you did to Thatch!" Dragging the dagger across the underside of one heavy arm, Haruta leapt back an instant before tiger claws would've split his skull like a melon. Ace's crewmate danced through the flames, nearly untouchable.

Bullets, pachinko balls, and knives flew overhead. Usopp, Robin, and the weird sniper with Lisa's paint splashed across his face. The sniper looked like he was trying to hit Jones, but Lisa's paint forced him to aim at Blackbeard- his own captain. Usopp's pachinko balls glanced off the dark man's head, distracting him from pursuing Haruta; one of Robin's knives sliced a chunk out of Blackbeard's hair, while a second embedded itself in the back of one of his hands.

There was no blood though. The knife was wedged into the ridges of the darkness man's tiger claws.

And then Luffy was there, staring up at Blackbeard as the flames roared around them. This dark man, who'd hurt his rigger, who Jones said would kill Ace, if given the chance… As close as he was, Luffy could smell sour cherries, accompanied by something faint and bitter. Dark eyes, glazed with poison- but still keen enough. And angry. Luffy could feel the anger rolling off the man in waves.

He matched it with his own. Luffy's eyes narrowed as he focused on what Blackbeard had done, one of the most hated words a pirate could say roaring in his brain. Mutineer. Even if Jones hadn't said this man would kill Ace, even if Blackbeard hadn't crippled Ghin, attacking a crewmate- a man who saw you as a brother- was unforgivable.

For a second, time seemed to stand still.

When Luffy's eyes met Blackbeard's, the rubber boy felt a brief sensation of… loss. As if the tapestry of fate had had a thread pulled. The feeling was gone quickly, though, replaced by a faint pressure. Like with Ace and Bluejam in another fire, so long ago… But nowhere near as strong. Luffy was able to brush the pressure off as time started moving again.

"Gum-Gum Gatling!"

Fwip-ting! Fwip-ting! Fwip-fwip-ting-fwip-ting-ting-ting-fwip-fwip! One hand still holding his pipe, Luffy lashed out with a storm of blows. Flames blew outwards around him, his punches whipping up wind. Heat flooded through his arms, anger… Blackbeard's nose gave in with a satisfying crunch. One hand lashed out to grab Luffy's wrist; he snapped his arm back, so quick and close that the man's tiger claws skimmed the back of his hand. Another set of tiger claws descended towards his head. Luffy jumped back, flicking his pipe up to send the blades glancing off to one side as he resumed his position in the middle distance. The rubber boy's place was immediately taken by Sanji and Toma, leaping in from either side.

"Collier! Épaule! Côtelette! Selle! Poitrine! Gigot! Mouton Shot!" Neck, arm; drop into a handstand and spin back and forth to strike chest and lower back. Up, aiming for the chest again, followed by a heavy kick to the middle. Each of Sanji's kicks was blocked, steel-toed shoes pinging against tiger claws. Sparks flew.

"Ryutsuisen!" Toma came down like a hammer, but the dark man spun fast enough to block him too, tiger claws catching on the boy's too-long sword. And tearing through the blade, sending shards of metal flying across the burning battlefield. Hot steel struck Yosaku with a hiss; the green hunter yelped.

"GAH!" The darkness man's tiger claws didn't stop with Toma's sword, though. One hand caught the boy in the face, sending him tumbling across the ground. Rolling and bouncing, Toma's head struck a rock as he came to a stop.

The boy wasn't moving.

"Walk Point!" Chopper cantered across the battlefield, Ghin clutching weakly to his back with his remaining hand. Charred, red-stained fabric bound the rigger's shoulder tight; Chopper's work was rough, but thorough. The reindeer grabbed Toma and sprinted out of the flames with his patients, striking out wildly with his hockey stick as he did so. "Heavy Point! High Stick!"

He hit nothing.

"Tatsumaki! Oni Giri!" Zoro stepped in, flames spiralling around him as his blades whipped up wind. Like his apprentice, the bosun's swords were caught by Blackbeard's tiger blades. None of Zoro's katana broke… But both Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu twisted strangely. It was as if the snow sword was trying to go on the defensive, to protect Zoro's face from the piercing ends of Blackbeard's claws- but at the same time, the cursed sword wanted the darkness man's blood.

The result was both swords lodging between Blackbeard's tiger claws, allowing the darkness man to throw Zoro backwards. Luffy's bosun tumbled end over end, crashing into Lisa as the little painter prepared a blob of blue paint. Both went down, with a brief spatter of blood as Kitetsu stabbed into Zoro's leg. There was a brief flare of frustration from the sword.

"SCAOOREEE!" Turquoise flames cut through the orange with the speed of a bullet. Marco slammed into Blackbeard from behind, delivering a heavy peck to the back of the darkness man's head. The phoenix shifted with a burst of flame, from avian form into a more humanoid one- although still with wings and talons. Golden claws kicked out, sending Blackbeard stumbling forward…

Right into a heavy palm strike from Namur. The fishman growled deep in his throat. "Shark Brick Fist!"

Blackbeard staggered off to the side. For a moment it looked like he might fall- then he regained his balance, swinging back to rake his tiger claws across Namur's chest. Shadows coalesced around one of Blackbeard's hands, and with it came the increase in gravity Luffy had been expecting, pulling everything towards the darkness man with gradually increasing force.

But Jones wasn't countering it, though. The otherworlder was snarling like an animal, eyes glazed over, chasing Blackbeard through the flames. She never quite caught him, though, as he moved and fought with others. Luffy wanted to be angry- this was her plan, dammit!- but… Ghin's blood was spattered across her face.

So he was angry at Blackbeard instead.

"SCHREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Geier flashed across, a sooty streak in the flames. She snapped at Blackbeard with beak and talons, just barely missing as the darkness man spun and ducked to slam his gravity shadows into Sanji's chest, sending Luffy's cook crumpling to the ground.

"Dark Matter!"

Aerial Ace! Four-Leafed Clover!

Drifter launched himself off Geier's back as she swooped up an away. He flung his signs out to the sides; they burned up before even hitting the ground. Chipped clam blades glinted orange as the otter spun through the air. Blackbeard snapped one hand up at the last instant, though, catching Drifter before he could make contact. Snarling, the otter twisted to dig his blades- and his teeth- into Blackbeard's wrist. The darkness man threw the otter away with a forceful, startled flick.

Behind Blackbeard, two more fast-moving shapes appeared through the shadows and flames. Twin pipes- one lit from within by deep blue fire different than what surrounded them- crashed into the darkness man's head before he could turn to face them. Grinning despite his anger, Luffy leapt forwards to join his brothers.

"Dawn Island Hunting!"

TONG! KANG! PUNG! Blackbeard's eyes morphed into spirals as he was struck simultaneously by three pipes- a blow that had killed many an alligator once upon a time. It didn't kill the darkness man, though- at least, not if the fact that Blackbeard was able to spin and grab Ace's bicep was any indication.

The flames in Ace's pipe sputtered out. Luffy's eldest brother snarled, twisting and wrenching at his arm in an attempt to free it.

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA!" A still dazed and enraged Jones darted between Luffy and Sabo, launching what looked like a wild version of her Pentagon Punch. Five heavy strikes slammed into Ace as Blackbeard turned, using Luffy's brother as a human shield.

"Tornado Tempo!" Nami's weather systems were finally ready to go. Wind blasted across the battlefield, extinguishing parts of the blaze- but fanning others even higher. A large tongue of flame leapt to catch on Luffy's shoulders; he rolled across the ground to put it out.

"Lead Star! Blasting Cactus Star!" Usopp's ammunition exploded into needles at Blackbeard's feet. Some of the needles hit the darkness man in the ankle; many others hit the horse that came rearing and wheeling through the fire. Plate-like hooves crashed to the charred ground with a whinny of pain.

The horse's rider swung a great scythe. For a moment, Luffy thought the man was aiming for him- the rubber boy ducked and flung himself to the side. But the huge blade didn't come down anywhere near where he'd been standing. Instead, the scythe dug into the back of the huge wrestler who was still clinging to the horse, burying itself in thick muscle next to the man's spine. The wrestler twisted, punching the rider and flinging the horse aside with a yell of pain.

"GRAH!"

Somehow, the rider managed to keep his seat. Luffy lost sight of the men as fire and shadow danced. Last he saw, the horse was kicking the wrestler in the chest as the trio wheeled around.

The shadows grew more intense again, centered on a patch of complete blackness forming on Blackbeard's chest. This time the gravity turned up high, the way they'd been training for. And higher- Jones had never gone this high, whether because she couldn't, or because she was afraid of damaging the ship. Luffy braced himself with his pipe to keep from being pulled in. All around him, his friends and crew mates stopped and held firm as well.

"Black Hole!"

Trees, dirt, rocks, burning grease- everything nearby started flying through the air, spiralling into Blackbeard in a burning storm of rubble. Luffy flung himself to the ground to avoid being hit by one of the flying trees. Johnny and Yosaku weren't so lucky; the hunters got bowled over by a flaming log. "Yow!"

Of course, some of what Blackbeard sucked up was a few more undetonated mines. A small explosion went off; the darkness man flinched as burning caltrops embedded themselves in his skin. It wasn't enough to make him release his grip on Ace, though. Luffy's brother was still twisting and struggling, clawing at Blackbeard's arm as he kicked at the darkness man's side. A few kicks even landed on the stab wounds Haruta had delivered. Those made Blackbeard cough and curl in on himself.

"Liberation!"

Blackbeard dropped to one knee, slamming Ace into the ground face-first and releasing his hold on gravity in a huge burst. Shrapnel flew everywhere- shards of wood and metal and stone, droplets of grease. All on fire. Stinging, burning shards fell like rain on Luffy's crew, charring holes in clothing and raising painful blisters.

"Guard Point!" Chopper stood over Toma and Ghin, thick fur absorbing the worst of the flaming rain to protect his patients. Then the reindeer shifted again as Luffy darted in to try and free Ace.

"Heavy Point! Slapshot!"

Blackbeard's gravity thing seemed to have returned Chopper's puck. The heavy rubber flew back immediately, although it soared harmlessly over the darkness man's head.

"Gum-Gum Bazoo- GYARGH!"

For someone so huge, Blackbeard was fast. Tiger claws flashed in before Luffy could snap his arms forward to strike. Four times- twelve lines of burning pain as the rubber boy's chest was torn open. His vest was left shredded, buttons disappearing into fire and shadow. The cuts formed a gaping, painful X.

"Acid 75 Jet!"

"Base 75 Jet!"

Johnny and Yosaku, out from under the log that had squashed them, fired on Blackbeard. The corrosive splashes did little more than eat holes in the darkness man's clothes as he covered his head, but it gave Luffy the time he needed to catch his breath. And they weren't the only ones.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAARZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!"

It felt like his ears were exploding; Luffy nearly dropped his pipe as he covered them. Ruatha was planted solid, wings flared and claws digging into bedrock. His scream froze the battle momentarily as everyone tried to protect themselves. Blackbeard, Zoro, and Haruta- none of whom could protect themselves without dropping what they were holding- began bleeding from their ears.

One of Blackbeard's crew- the wrestler- barrelled through the flames. The black paint appeared to have burnt off his face, no longer forcing him to attack his own allies. One heavy elbow slammed into Sanji as Luffy's cook came in to kick Blackbeard; a fist the size of a large ham sent Johnny flying. All around them, the ground shook.

"Shockwave Elbow!"

"Nueve Fleur Twist!"

Robin caught the wrestler in a tangle of arms, yanking him up and around in a way no one without a rubber spine should have been able to move. Bone cracked loudly.

"Hah! Yah!" Haruta darted in again, sabre and dagger catching Blackbeard in the arm as the darkness man moved to claw him. Two bullets whizzed past- Blackbeard's sniper trying to hit Haruta, being forced to aim for his own captain instead, and missing both.

"Gum-Gum Alligator Shears!"

Luffy swung his pipe back and forth as he ran in this time, the wounds on his chest still burning. Coughing and bloody, Blackbeard raised a hand to block. The hand that held Ace. Luffy's attack hit his brother at the same moment Ace launched a particularly powerful kick at Blackbeard's bleeding side. The combined efforts left Ace with a massive bruise covering the side of his head- but also sent him tumbling free. Flesh turned to flame as Ace regained use of his powers.

"Conca- AGH!" Sanji flipped overhead, aiming a kick at Blackbeard's skull. But the darkness man ducked out of the way at the last second, sending Luffy's cook somersaulting past. Nami skipped out of the way as Sanji nearly landed on top of her.

Ace

Pain. Luffy actually had gotten stronger; that pipe to the head hurt. Ace shook himself to get rid of the ringing in his brain. He was free now, and he had his powers back. It was time to finish this. Anger flooded through his chest. Teach had crippled Thatch, had nearly ripped Luffy's chest open. Ace struggled to hold on.

Can't lose my temper, he growled internally, Have to be careful. Teach is dangerous. If I'm not careful, we could still all die.

Of course, it was hard to keep calm when the person who'd insisted on how important that was had lost her own cool. Jones was a snarling, growling mess, face hard, eyes blank with rage as she kept charging at Blackbeard. And missing. Her face and glasses were coated in dark, drying red; Ace wondered if she could even see what she was doing.

"Mouton Shot!"

"Tora Gari!"

And Blackbeard… finally seemed to be flagging. His breathing came loud and heavy. After ducking the cook, Teach managed to just barely block Luffy's bosun, knocking Zoro down with a kick that seemed to do almost as much harm to Teach's balance as to the swordsman's. A move that left him vulnerable to another strike from behind.

"HYAAAAAAH!"

TONG! CRCHK! Sabo's pipe slammed into Teach's side, hard enough to break one of the man's ribs. Blackbeard stumbled and rolled, coming to his feet right in front of Luffy- but not for long.

"GUM-GUM BAZOOKA!"

FWIP! THUD! Luffy's strike sent Teach flying towards Ace. The freckled pirate lit his fist up with white-hot fire, preparing for a point-blank version of his signature technique. Ace jumped forward to meet Teach as the dark man crashed into the ground.

"FIRE FIST!"

It was the first time Ace had performed that technique at such close range. His fist smashed into Teach's chest as the flames expanded in a sphere- and then kept going. Flesh and bone gave under Ace's knuckles, grossly squishy. Like jamming his hand through rotten wood and congealed fruit pulp.

And then air; his arm had gone all the way through.

Ace pulled back in shock and disgust. Stepping away, he saw Teach staggering, a hole pierced through the center of his chest. Ace's arm dripped red. The freckled pirate shuddered, twitching at the feeling.

Jones skidded to a halt beside him, panting. Her eyes were still glazed, but she seemed to be slowly gaining coherence as she stared up at the bloody hole Ace had punched in Teach's chest.

"Did… Did we win? Is he dead?"

"Dying," Ace croaked out. All his anger, all his strength, everything- it all seemed to be flowing out through that hole in Teach's chest. The freckled pirate blinked slowly. They'd done it. The mutineer was dead. Thatch was avenged. But… It wouldn't let him walk again. It would keep Teach from hurting anyone else- Ace flinched as he thought that, remembering the jagged, gaping wounds on Luffy's chest- but killing Teach still wouldn't help Thatch.

His contemplative mood was broken, though, when the small woman beside him suddenly darted forward. Ace jerked in surprise; the look on Jones' face was venomous. The freckled pirate really wondered how she got off lecturing him about his temper when hers could be so vindictive.

Jones

Teach was dying? That wasn't good enough. I darted forward with a snarl as my senses returned, shoving my sai back into place on my belt. My eyes were fixed on the large, dark man in front of me. I knew it was possible to be dying and yet recover from it. Not easy, but possible. And if it was likely to happen to anyone in this world, it would be Blackbeard.

The snake.

"I will not have this bastard Rasputinning his way out of this! GAAAAAME!"

Tackling Teach forced him to stumble back to the edge of the slope. Below, while not a cliff, was still steep enough that a body rolling down was unlikely to be halted on its way to the sea. Water lapped loudly against sand and stone.

Stunned, dying, Teach stared at the hole in his chest with dazed fear. His whole body shook, fighting to stay alive despite the fact that he was bleeding out and missing a large chunk of one lung. And that's not even counting the poison, or the other wounds he'd sustained over the course of the battle.

"I- But- It was my fate," Teach rasped out, "To be King of the Pirates."

Panting heavily, I shook my head. "Not yours," I pointed at Luffy, "His."

"No, mine!" Blackbeard's voice was wet and gurgly as he tried to keep talking. And filled with… Panic. He was afraid to die. A bubble of blood burst at the corner of his mouth. "You changed-!"

"No." In contrast to the dying man before me, my voice was flat and even. "I didn't change your fate, Blackbeard. I changed how soon it would come to you, and how many lives you ruined along the way. You would have come close, maybe you would have even gotten what you wanted- for a brief while. But you're the villain of this story; in the end, you could never win."

Reaching out, I poked one of the broken rib ends that stuck out of the hole in Teach's chest. He screamed. That's for Ghin's arm, you bastard.

"Marshall D Teach," I let out a sound that was equal parts a sigh and a snap, "I will admit you had a good plan. Scummy, disgusting, and cruel, but tactically sound. Use Whitebeard as cover while biding your time, searching for the Dark-Dark Fruit. Gain a position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea- I bet if Luffy hadn't taken out Crocodile, you would've seen to it that one of them conveniently disappeared, if you couldn't talk the World Government into adding an eighth position. Access the sixth level of Impel Down so you could stage a breakout, recruiting some of the most infamous criminals in history to your crew."

Blackbeard's face, already pale as death approached, went chalk white as I revealed what I knew of his plans. I jabbed my finger into the exposed hole in his chest again, prompting another scream. "But for all your years of patience, for all your careful plotting and scheming, there was one thing you couldn't possibly have planned for."

"Wha-?"

"Me." Raising one foot, I planted it on the part of Teach's chest that was still whole. "Newton's Second, you son of a bitch."

As my foot made contact, Teach's face morphed through numerous emotions. Shock. Fear. Understanding. And… amused madness. His face split into a wide grin, as if to laugh at his own downfall, his hubris. I didn't give him the chance, though. A burst of force sent Blackbeard keeling over as his eyes rolled up in his head. His body- dead or alive at this point, I couldn't tell- tumbled and bounced down the slope.

Splash!

I sank to my knees as I heard that surprisingly quiet noise, burying my face in my hands. Tears ran down my cheeks, hot and wet, mixing with the blood streaked across my face. We'd… We'd done it. We'd really done it. Blackbeard. Was. Gone.

Marco

Marco landed beside Ace with a quiet thump. The entire battlefield was momentarily frozen, everyone staring at Teach as the life seeped out of him. Everyone except the bloodstained little girl who was scrambling through the dying flames, her breathing heavy. Marco raised an eyebrow at the look of unadulterated hatred on her face, as well as the words she snarled as she raced forward.

"I will not have this bastard Rasputinning his way out of this! GAAAAAME!"

Ah. This must be White Lion. Marco remembered seeing her earlier, but he hadn't made the connection. She was… smaller than he would've expected, even shorter than Straw Hat. All in purple and black, a long coat covering light leather armour and an aggressively violet shirt- the sleeves of which had been shredded at some point during the fight. A black fedora stuck to dirty blonde hair- whether through force of will or the stickiness of sweat and blood was impossible to tell. A long ponytail streamed behind her as she ran, dark gold spattered with crusty red. Between the thickness of her glasses and the blood smeared across them, Marco was surprised she could see where she was going.

As for the rest of Straw Hat's crew, they looked… Tired. Marco supposed this was only to be expected- they were a bunch of rookies, and Teach was a New World veteran, with Pops since he was sixteen. And there had been things during that fight even Marco hadn't been expecting- like a brief moment of Haoshoku Haki, too weak to do more than slow people up, but definitely there. Neither Marco nor Pops had known Teach could do that at all.

The little reindeer that wore a hockey jersey trotted over to Straw Hat on shaking legs. His first two patients were safe for now. Shrinking into his teddy bear like form, the exhausted doctor pulled a needle and thread from the blue knapsack bouncing on his back. Tiny hooves did their best to sew up the ugly, gaping wounds on Straw Hat's chest.

Marco knew enough about injuries to know it was a poor job. Such large slices, so close together… It was going to make a large, ugly scar.

Straw Hat himself looked… A bit grim. He toyed with his pipe as his doctor sewed him up, and kept glancing over at his two injured crewmates. Relieved that they were alive, but also concerned… There was something eating at him.

Probably the fact that one of his men had lost an arm. That was… Ghin, right? The rigger… A job that was difficult to perform with only one arm. Marco flinched in sympathy. He himself didn't have to worry about losing limbs or anything, thanks to his Devil Fruit, but he'd known enough pirates who had.

The phoenix wondered how this little crew of rookies would adjust.

Beside the scowling, one-armed rigger, the little swordsman boy was still unconscious. Quick, but well done, stitches held together a set of cuts just under the boy's hairline and across a freckled cheek. An X, like Straw Hat's chest. The boy groaned and twitched a little, his consciousness starting to return.

Ghin scowled at Marco when the one-armed man noticed the phoenix watching the wounded pair. Ducking his head in apology, the phoenix moved on.

Most of the girls of Straw Hat's crew looked relatively unharmed, as did his gunner. The redheaded sailing master was a bit shell-shocked, clutching her staff tight; the boy with the slingshot was shaking like a leaf. He stared at the battlefield with wide, unblinking eyes. Opposite them, the tall, dark woman- who Marco was almost certain was Nico Robin, the demon child of Ohara- dug slowly through ash and rubble in search of the knives she'd thrown throughout the fight.

Straw Hat's little painter girl had a splatter of blood on her cheek, but it didn't belong to her. No, it was from the bosun. The muscular, green-haired man had removed the black bandanna he wore during the fight, using it to bind the stab wound on his leg until the little reindeer doctor got to him. Or possibly to try and hide the wound completely, but Marco doubted that would be allowed.

Off to one side, the cook was limping slightly. The blond man didn't seem to care for his own injuries, more concerned with making sure the sailing master was alright. She leaned into his touch when he rested a hand on her shoulder, her stiff posture finally softening.

Squawking and scrabbling drew Marco's attention to the otter and vulture team. Somehow he found them even odder than the reindeer- at least the doctor had a Devil Fruit to explain why he acted so human. The pair preened each other, doing their best to clean away ash, dirt, and grease.

Not so different from one of the human pairs, which brought a wry smile to Marco's face. The two young men with electric swords had spun some knobs on those giant sprayer tanks they carried, and were now squirting each other with cold, pure water. Although while it did clean them off, it made the ground muddier for everyone else.

And then there was the dragon. Marco had always heard that there were dragons somewhere in the world, but this was the first time he'd seen one himself. It appeared to be related to the dinosaurs of Little Garden, from the shape of its head and talons. And just a baby too. The large reptile was possibly the only member of the crew who didn't seem exhausted, bounding eagerly around, tail lashing like a puppy. Clawed wings sent gobs of filth flying as the dragon scampered from person to person.

Overall, the gang of rookies brought a smile to Marco's face. They were a good little group. Unusual, but with lots of potential. It would be hard on them, one of their number losing an arm, but they'd get through it. Just like his brothers always did when something happened to one of their own.

Marco reached out with one hand and gave Ace's shoulder a firm squeeze. "Your brother's got himself a good little crew here, yoi. You should be proud."

Smiling, Ace reached up to play with the medallion hanging from his hat. "Yeah… I am."

"We both are." Sabo came over and squeezed Ace's other shoulder. Haruta and Namur weren't far behind him. "Lu's gonna be King of the Pirates someday, after all."

For a moment, Marco expected Ace to answer no, that Pops would be. Which was… Well, the old man always found it flattering and amusing that so many of his younger sons thought that way, but… Marco had been with him long enough to know. Pops had no interest in Roger's throne, other than to make sure it went to someone who would honour his old friend's memory.

But because Ace didn't know Pops' feelings the same, Marco was a little surprised to hear how the second division commander answered his blond brother. With a laugh.

"Bwahahahahahaha! You bet! And we'll be right there to see it when it happens, eh Sabo?"

Ace's words were met with a Haki-enforced pipe to the head. "Quit laughing like Gramps! You're gonna give me a heart attack!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" Ace covered his head with a pout.

Haruta burst out laughing at the brothers' antics, while Namur cracked a toothy smile. Marco shook his head, a ball of fond exasperation warming his chest. Ah, these crazy kids. He must be getting old, if they were able to surprise him like this. Well, Pops wouldn't mind yielding to the new generation soon.

Soon. But not yet. They may have potential, but they still had a lot to learn.

Marco- and everyone else for that matter- was drawn back to reality after a second as a soft splash sounded from near where Straw Hat's ship was docked. At the top of the slope, White Lion fell to her knees, bloody face buried in greasy, ash-coated hands. Her shoulders were shaking with relief.

And then, from one of Teach's crew mates, came an angry roar.

Jones

A yell from Burgess- bestial and angry- forced me back to reality. Right. Teach may have been gone, but his crew was still very much alive. And apparently freed of their hypnosis, from the yelling and footsteps I could hear behind me.

Everything felt heavy, worn, as I forced myself to my feet. I was too slow. Half-turned, I saw Doc Q and Stronger charging towards me, the horse's hooves sucking and splashing as he cantered through the ashy mud. Doc Q's scythe gleamed as he raised it high.

I was too slow to get out of the way. Just like with Ghin…

"Thunder Tempo- Chain!"

A bolt of lightning leapt to strike Doc Q's scythe, running down the haft into his hands. Some of the electricity arced to Stronger's bridle; the horse whinnied and stiffened. He and his rider went down, rolling and sliding, mud flying everywhere in their wake.

Adrenaline surged through my bloodstream, giving me the energy to finally pick up some speed. I leapt back towards everyone else, kicking off Doc Q's face as I aimed for a bigger threat.

"Newton's Second!"

"Galleon Lariat!"

Burgess' arm smashed into my chest, firing me into one of the few trees left standing. My back slammed into wood hard enough that both made a loud cracking sound; the tree broke in half as I struggled to get my breath back. I felt sick… But at least I was alive. I love my powers.

KRA-CHOW!

"Lead Star! Exploding Star!"

Pting! FOOM! Metal struck metal in midair, deflecting Van Auger's bullet before it could hit Nami. Usopp's second shot exploded in Auger's face; the other sniper reeled, nose bleeding, face covered in burns and soot.

"Electroblade!"

Johnny and Yosaku rushed Burgess from either side, their dadao crackling with bluish sparks. The huge wrestler ducked between the hunters, sending them tripping into each other- only to come face to face with a toothy grin from Ruatha. My baby leapt backwards as Burgess tried to punch him, wings flaring and claws spreading as he let out a scream.

"MAAAAAAAAAAAARZUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH!"

Burgess shook his head, eyes spinning- and I could only imagine how much that hurt, having a dragon scream at you while your head was practically in its mouth. Ruatha scrambled away before Burgess could refocus, darting through the man's legs and knocking him off balance.

KRA-CHOW! Van Auger fired at Haruta as the boy raced at him. The bullet missed by a hair's breadth, Haruta twisting just to the side. That twist was enough to let Van Auger slip away, though, Haruta's sabre and hidden dagger tearing through Auger's cloak without harming skin.

Not that the sniper got away totally unharmed. Three hands bloomed from his shoulders, thumping him heavily on the head. Off to one side, Robin stood with her arms crossed. "Tres Fleur!"

Burgess lunged for her, fist raised. Luffy and Chopper intercepted, my captain's chest full of half-done stitches dangling from red, shredded flesh.

"Gum-Gum Gatling!"

Crnch. "Rumble!"

Unfortunately, this was Chopper's second Rumble Ball in six hours. He popped into Guard Point when he'd meant to use Arm Point, pausing for a moment in surprise before charging at Burgess with all the power of a giant, angry pom-pom. Luffy and Burgess both tripped over the little reindeer as they tried to punch each other.

"Recepti- OW!" Sanji raised his leg to kick Burgess as the wrestler got to his feet. A hoof the size of a plate crashed towards him as Stronger and Doc Q re-entered the fight, the horse breathing heavily. The cook tried to both jump out of the way and keep attacking Burgess at the same time, with the result that he ended up slipping in the greasy mud and toppling end over end, kicking himself in the face as he came down hard on his back.

Oxygen was finally started making its way back to my lungs. Breathing again… That was nice.

"Toro Nagashi!"

"Wah! Um, Arm Point! Cloven Roseo!"

Zoro stepped in close, blocking with two swords as Burgess turned to punch him. The flat of Wado Ichimonji slammed into the wrestler's temple as Zoro twisted around, knocking him back on his ass. Burgess head bounced off a rock with a loud crack.

Chopper, meanwhile, popped into Arm Point when it really looked like he'd been hoping for Jump Point. He lashed out with his hooves at the nearest living thing- which at this point was Stronger the horse. A flower-like bloom of hoofprints appeared on Stronger's flank.

Chopper's escape technique when the horse kicked at him in response was probably one of the strangest I've ever seen. Using Arm Point's massive upper body strength, he performed what appeared to be a clap push up that launched him several meters into the air.

"Hallucination Hot Pink!"

Lisa's paint splattered across the battlefield, an eye-burning shade that put highlighters to shame. The burst appeared to be centered on Van Auger; he ducked behind Stronger to avoid it. That didn't save the sniper, though. Stepping that way put him in range of a kick from Marco; Van Auger went down with the imprint of giant bird talons on his forehead.

"SCHREEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Geier blurred past like a feathered missile, Drifter dropping from her back as she raked her talons through Doc Q's hat. The impact and new burden sent the vulture careening into the stump of a broken tree. Her partner had more success, flipping through the air to club Doc Q over the head with his tail, waving two signs as he did so.

Aerial Ace! Bell Toll!

"Hundred Brick Fist!" Namur's fist slammed into Stronger's head as Drifter rolled free. I winced as I dragged myself to my feet. Hitting a horse like that, even an enemy warhorse… Stronger staggered back, eyes blank and spinning, barely able to keep his footing.

TONG! PANG!

Ace and Sabo hit Doc Q with their pipes as the not-so-good doctor knocked Drifter away and swung his scythe at Namur. The fishman leapt back, out of the way; Stronger, in pain, bucked and kicked at Ace with both rear hooves. Keratin passed through flame with a harmless crackling noise.

Blood trickling down the side of his head, Doc Q lost consciousness with a groan. Somehow he remained in the saddle, despite leaning limply to the side of Stronger's neck. That seemed to be too much for the horse. Faced with a number of dirty, dangerous people and animals, without the assistance or direction of his rider, Stronger turned and bolted. Great clods of mud flew up behind him as Stronger cantered away, far faster than I would've expected from such a broken looking nag.

And then… it was done. There was no one left to fight. My crew mates looked confused, on edge, as if they were expecting someone else to attack out of the blue. And really, I wouldn't have been so surprised if Lafitte had gotten back at that moment and made a move to avenge his captain. He didn't, though.

Chopper was the first to break the spell, popping through several transformations in quick succession until he finally reached Brain Point. The little reindeer stumbled wearily over to Luffy and grabbed the captain's arm, pulling the rubber boy down into reach.

"Sit. I'm not done stitching your chest up yet."

"Worry about Ghin and Toma first." Luffy sat as ordered, but pushed Chopper away when the reindeer tried to actually start sewing him up. The little doctor rolled his eyes.

"I did that during the fight. They're stable; I fixed them up as much as I could with what I have here. Anything else I need my stuff from the Merry for. You're next- let me finish sewing up your chest before you bleed out."

"Not gonna bleed out…" Luffy mumbled. He relented, though, leaning back so Chopper could get a good angle to finish stitching those ugly, gaping wounds. Brown eyes flicked over to where Burgess and Van Auger were lying, unconscious. "Someone tie them up so they can't surprise us, ne?"

"Aye-aye, Captain!"

"On it, Big Bro!"

Usopp, Johnny, and Yosaku scrambled to fulfill Luffy's request. Soon enough, the two Blackbeard Pirates- could they even be called that still, now that Blackbeard himself was dead?- were wrapped up like mummies. Except, you know, with rope instead of bandages. Which looked really stiff and uncomfortable.

Everyone seemed exhausted- well, not the Whitebeard Pirates and Sabo so much, but my crew mates definitely were. And filthy… Mud and ash and grease and blood. Nami looked around at everyone, then pointed her Clima-Tact up at the localized cloud still hovering over the battlefield. A cloud she hadn't gotten to use with how close together everyone had been.

"Rain Tempo!"

Clear, warm water showered down, washing away the filth of battle. And a good portion of the ground beneath our feet as well. But I don't think people minded slipping in the mud, if it meant no more grease, ash, and blood coating their skin.

Especially blood.

Tired, nauseous, and somewhat lost, I wandered across the battlefield in a daze. My shaking steps brought me to a halt beside Ghin; I knelt, head bowed, unable to look him in the eye. Because… It was my fault. He'd gotten hurt because of my plan, because he was protecting me.

"I'm so sorry."

My eyes burned; red-stained water dripped off my face, some of it much hotter and saltier than Nami's rain. My hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms. How could I let this happen? I should've been better, faster. I'd- Crisse de câlice de tabarnak d'osti de sacrament de trouvvierge! I'd been wearing my weights the whole fucking time! If I'd remembered to take them off… Maybe I'd have been fast enough to get out of the way. Maybe Ghin wouldn't have gotten hurt.

Fucking shit! I was so stupid!

A heavy hand rested on my head as I bit my lip so hard it bled. Ghin's voice rattled through the rain, hoarse and strained, barely audible over the falling water. "It's al- alright. I'll be okay."

"It's not alright," I mumbled, my voice cracking. "You got hurt, and it's my fault. If I'd been smarter… Faster…"

"It might still have happened." Ghin shifted his hand to give my forehead a weak poke. "Even you can't predict the whole future. That bastard might still've got me if we'd done things different. As it is… I'll live. I'd rather lose my arm than another little sister."

He choked out what was probably meant to be a rueful laugh, but it just sounded painful. "Just… Try not to let it happen again, eh? I've heard of one-armed pirates before, but never a no-armed pirate."

I didn't have anything to say in response. All I could do was grab Ghin's remaining hand and hold it tight. He felt so… Cold. And he was shaking. Chopper had said Ghin and Toma were stable, but still… My big brother was probably going into a little bit of shock. I should keep an eye on him, make sure it didn't get too bad. Fuck… I shouldn't have let this happen.

A warm hand rested on my shoulder. The voice that accompanied it was solemn. "Now's probably not a good time for that talk, ne?"

Sabo. I didn't- couldn't- even turn to face him. "No. It's not."

"I understand." Sabo's voice was low, heavy. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I keep pushing. Can you tell me when will be a good time? Dragon won't wait forever…"

Fuck it, Sabo, thinking wasn't my strong suit right now! I let out a strangled whine, not sure how to respond. All I could think about was Ghin's arm, though, how he wouldn't have lost it if it wasn't for me…

"Water Seven," I finally choked out. "After Enies Lobby falls… Meet us in Water Seven. Hell, Dragon can come himself if he wants. Might even be better."

"Enies Lobby is going to-?!" Sabo's hand slid off my shoulder in shock. "How? Why? Are you sure?"

Well, the CP9 agents had been under cover at Galley-La since long before I arrived in this world, so… "Yes. Robin's on our crew, so unless I can pull off a bloody miracle, Enies Lobby will fall. And I'm fresh outta miracles at the moment."

"Very well. I'll tell Dragon."

Ghin made a small noise of confusion at my words. It quickly turned to a noise of pain, though, as water ran over the stump of his arm. I released his hand for a moment to move around to his other side, trying to shield the roughly bound limb from the rain.

I draped my coat over Toma too, as I resettled. Best to keep him as warm and dry as possible. The boy was making noises, groaning and twitching a little. He might wake up soon. He'd have wicked scars on his temple and cheek, when all was said and done.

Shifting around gave me a better view of the former battlefield. Chopper had moved on from Luffy at this point; currently, the reindeer was bullying Zoro into sitting down so he could have a look at the swordsman's leg. My captain was now searching through the mud with help from Drifter. For what, I couldn't tell, until the otter held up something small and shiny, accompanied by a sign.

Found one!

Oh. The buttons from Luffy's vest. Not that there was much vest for them to be sewn back onto… The garment was almost as shredded as his chest. Still, they could always be used for something else.

Something purple shone wetly through the dimness, tangled in the branches of a shattered tree. Funny… The only purple I remembered seeing anywhere on the battlefield was Robin and myself.

I wasn't the only one who saw it. Namur wandered over and picked up the purple object, turning it over in his hands. A frown creased the fishman's face as he examined the purple, lumpy fruit. Like the unholy offspring of a pineapple, a raspberry, and a bunch of grapes.

Beside me, Toma suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes wide open, and screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Calming Green!" Lisa slapped her paintbrush across Toma's forehead on reflex as she approached. This had the desired effect, in that he immediately calmed down enough to stare at her with an aura of dazed bitterness.

"Please don't do that…" Toma whispered. "I've… had enough things playing with my head, recently."

Lisa went pale. Pulling out a cloth, she quickly wiped the smear off Toma's forehead. "Sorry! I just… You were gonna tear your stitches if you didn't calm down…"

"My-? Oh." Toma reached up to touch his face, flinching as his fingers met puffy, ridged flesh.

Marco, Ace, and Haruta had gathered around Namur, now, all staring at the fruit in the fishman's hands. Haruta reached out with his little knife and poked it, as if afraid to touch with his bare skin.

"What- what do we do with it?"

"Take it home, yoi." Marco shook his head with a sigh. "It'll be proof, for Pops, that Teach was dealt with. And it belongs to Thatch, yoi. If he wants to eat it, or sell it, or hide it, or try to destroy it… Up to him."

"He said before that he might sell it," Namur said quietly. "But that might change now."

Ace said nothing. Luffy's brother was glaring at the Devil Fruit as if it had killed his family- which it very nearly had. He probably wished he could light it on fire and never have to see it again. Huffing in disgust, the freckled pirate spun on his heel and stomped over to where I sat with Toma and Ghin. He lit himself aflame to provide warmth for them until they could be moved.

"That thing is just as evil as Teach himself."

Toma nodded fervently. That aggravated his injuries, though; the boy flinched and laid back on the ground, face white as a sheet. Hopefully he didn't have a concussion… Ghin groaned, returning my grip on his hand tightly.

"A fruit, evil or not, can't do anything on its own. It's just a weapon. The man… Making sure the man is gone is what's important." Pausing, Ghin hissed in pain. He pulled his hand momentarily free of my grip to poke Ace in the forehead. "You can stop worrying, Firecracker. We're all gonna live. You, me, Don Luffy, even your Thatch… We're all gonna be alright."

"Yeah…" Ace forced a smile, although it turned into more of a wry smirk. It vanished quickly, though, turning into a solemn look as he glanced over at me. "All thanks to you, Jones."

EH?!

I shook my head violently, my ponytail stinging my face as it whipped back and forth. "No, no, not thanks to me. I screwed up… I'm the reason Thatch is crippled and Ghin got hurt…"

"You're the reason Thatch is alive," Ace countered. "Crippled, we can deal with. He's got his chair for moving around, and ramps to get to different levels of the ship. And there's a chance we could find a doctor who could heal his back, someday."

"And if Red-Haired Shanks can still be a pirate with one arm," Ghin said with a wince, "So can I. Just… Once it stops hurting…" Shaky, sweating, my big brother leaned against me to keep from falling over. Whatever adrenaline and energy had kept him sitting up was apparently running out.

"Plus…" Here, Ace's voice went very quiet, "If what you said is right, you saved me too… Whether or not someone with my blood deserves saving."

"You do." I frowned, wishing I could somehow get this through Ace's head. "Don't let what you heard as a child colour your vision of your family- most of those people didn't know Roger, and the government propaganda is a pack of lies. Talk to the people who knew him before you judge him. Pops. Shanks. Silvers Rayleigh, in Sabaody."

Ghin reached up and gave me a weak poke in the forehead while Ace shook his head in exasperation. "Stop trying to turn things on others and let him finish," my big brother admonished with a groan. I flinched.

"Sorry…"

Ace reached over and poked my forehead too- his was much stronger than Ghin's, even at full strength. Hard enough to leave a bit of a bruise. "I'm trying to thank you, casquivana. Sure, things aren't perfect, but everyone's alive. Which you said wasn't true before… So… Thanks."

Then Ace did something very strange. He held his pipe out in front of him, staring at me expectantly. I blinked in confusion. What…? Had I missed something somewhere? Apparently not, as Sabo sighed and reached over to tap Ace on the head with the end of his pipe.

"Use your words, Ace. I thought you said Makino taught you how to do things like this."

Tanned skin lit up bright red beneath its coating of freckles. Ace shot his brother a quick glare before turning back to me. "Look… I know you had a staff that broke at Little Garden- Lu told me. And… With Teach gone, I don't need this. Sabo only brought it cause you said it was dangerous for Fruit Users to touch him. And your dream was to master as many martial arts as you could, wasn't it? You'll need a staff for some of them. So I want you to have it."

Ace was… giving me his pipe? I reached out and rested my hand on warm metal. Ace let go, a small smile on his face. The pipe was… heavy. Not unbearably so, but noticeably heavier than a wooden staff. Although I wasn't sure how much of that was actual weight and how much was… weight. Ace's pipe felt… important, somehow. Or maybe I was imagining things…

I couldn't speak. My throat felt like it was closing up. Tears came harder, faster… I bowed my head.

Around us, the rain was coming to a stop. The sky was still dark, though. There were other clouds besides Nami's.

Ghin went limp and heavy on my shoulder, losing consciousness with a quiet groan. A surge of panic flew up my spine; my heart started racing. "Chopper! Ghin just passed out!"

"Is he warm enough?" Chopper jumped up from where he was rubbing burn ointment on Johnny and Yosaku, cantering over. "How's his pulse? How does his skin look?"

Warm skin, slightly paler and more greenish than usual, pulse slow, but fairly strong. Chopper breathed a sigh of relief as he examined our rigger. "Shock and pain. Ghin's tough, but he still has limits. He's okay, though. No bleeding, no injuries that I missed."

Blue nose twitching, Chopper sniffed Ghin a few times and nodded. "Just keep doing what you're doing for a few more minutes. When we get back to the ship, I'll think of a more… permanent way of protecting his…"

Chopper trailed off, ears flattening against his skull. Usopp wandered over and picked him up, petting the little doctor silently. He was followed by Ruatha, who came to curl around me, Ghin, and Toma with a soft croon. My baby rested his head on Ghin's lap.

"I could cauterize-?" Ace offered, looking at the tightly wrapped stump of Ghin's arm. Chopper shook his head.

"The fire from the battle already did a decent job of that, and I've got everything cleaned and sewn up as much as I could. It'd do more harm than good, at this point."

Nodding, Ace fidgeted in place, as if not knowing quite what to do with himself at this point. Chopper squirmed for Usopp to put him down; rather than doing so right away, the gunner carried the doctor back to Johnny and Yosaku. I squeezed Ghin's remaining hand, wishing there was a way to fix this. But… I couldn't turn back time. The best I could do was get Ghin to Franky, and see if the cyborg would be willing to make him a prosthetic arm.

See if Ghin would accept one. I had no idea how he'd feel about such things; they weren't common in the East Blue.

Sucking splashes through mud; Marco came over to tap Ace on the head. "Come on. We should get back to Pops, yoi. He'll want to know what happened."

"Yeah…" Ace stood up- and immediately had Luffy latch onto him with a rubber twang. My captain was pouting.

"Do you have to go?"

Ace laughed and ruffled Luffy's hair, squashing his hat down over his eyes. "Yes, I have to go. So let go, Lu."

"Don't wanna." Luffy squeezed Ace tight, wincing as that rubbed the multitude of stitches on his chest. Snickering, Ace dissolved into a pillar of fire and slipped free, reforming a couple meters away.

"You'll need to learn Haki if you want to keep me from leaving, Lu." A broad smirk crossed that freckled face. "Maybe next time."

Luffy nodded eagerly- then frowned. "When's next time, though?"

That made Ace frown thoughtfully too. "Well… We're pirates. It could be a while… But we're always connected by the sea, however far apart we are. That said… How about I come see your crew at Sabaody? Give you a proper welcome to the New World. You can show me if you've managed to learn Haki by then."

"And if I have, Ace will join my crew?" Luffy shot his brother a sly look.

A fist wreathed in sparks slammed down on his head, Ace jumping in close to deliver the punch. "No way! I could never sail under my baby brother! That'd just be weird!"

Namur marched over before Luffy could respond. Large, blue-grey hands hefted Ace like a sack of potatoes, draping him over the fishman's shoulder. "Come on. Let's get going. If we wait too long, we'll miss Thatch's birthday party. And we can't do that now of all times, can we?"

Not waiting for an answer, Namur headed down to where the Going Merry was anchored. Haruta was already down there, retrieving Ace's Striker and a small skiff from the deck of the ship. Ace flailed the whole way, squirming and struggling- but never hard enough to actually break free, or to risk hurting Namur.

"Put me down! I don't like to be manhandled!"

His protests went ignored.

Marco was the last of that group to head down to the shore. The phoenix paused, hands in his pockets, eyes roving over the entirety of the Straw Hat Crew in one long, appraising look. Then he smiled. "I think Pops would like you kids. Take care, yoi."

Arms turned to enormous wings; feathers grew and feet became talons with a crackle of turquoise flame. Wind gusted around Marco as he took off, soaring down to the boats to fly above his crew mates as they headed out to sea.

They passed another boat as they were leaving the bay- a small vessel that looked like a Norse faering, its small, square sail full of wind. The small boat rocked in the wake of Ace's passing as he darted ahead of his crew mates. Its sole occupant- whose vibrantly clashing ginger hair and mulberry top were visible even from far away- stood unsteadily and waved a fist at the departing pirates.

"Watch where you're going, you flame-brained moron!"

If Ace responded, I didn't hear it. I was too focused on trying to figure out that voice. It was familiar, but not one I could easily place- someone who hadn't had a whole lot of screen time. But who?

I was still trying to figure it out when a ginger blur in black pants, a mulberry military jacket, and matching newsboy cap came tearing up the slope and grabbed Sabo by the face. His cheeks stretched painfully as gloved hands pulled them in a way no one but Luffy was meant to be pulled. Any protests the blond revolutionary made were muffled and incoherent… As well as covered by the angry voice of the new arrival anyways.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED DRAGON WAS? HOW WORRIED I WAS? PIPE-BRAINED MORON! I NEED TO GET YOU A LEASH! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE BACK AT BASE ALMOST A MONTH AGO!"

Ah. Koala.

"Mmph mmmmmble frrbrr mrr!" Sabo answered inelegantly. Nami raised an eyebrow at Koala's antics.

"You know… He'll have an easier time answering you if you let go of his face."

"Right…" Koala released Sabo with a scowl. Folding her arms under her impressive bust, she tapped one foot impatiently in the mud. "You're a month late, Sabo! Do you know how long it took me to find you? I thought you'd died! And then I get here, and you're playing in the mud with your brother's crew. Dragon is not going to be happy."

"We weren't playing!" Sabo protested, rubbing his reddened cheeks. "We were killing an asshole who would've killed Ace if he'd been allowed to live!"

"And you couldn't have called? Didn't you take a den-den with you when you went on leave in Alabasta? Or did you enjoy falling off the radar and nearly giving me a heart attack?"

Scarred skin lit up redder than before, embarrassment making it glow. Blue eyes flicked guiltily off to the side. "I may have forgotten my den-den in the castle in my rush to fetch a couple things from Dawn Island."

"You. Utter. Moron." Koala groaned and clutched at the sides of her hat, casting her eyes skyward. "How did you end up as the chief of staff, again?"

"Because I'm handy in a fight and know more about politics than anyone except maybe Dragon?" Sabo offered weakly, taking a step back. "And my handwriting is more legible than Ivankov's?"

Koala sighed, deflating. "You're lucky you're cute."

Luffy jumped up on Sabo's back, wrapping his arms around his brother multiple times. Head resting on Sabo's shoulder, he peered at Koala from under the brim of his hat. "Ne… Sabo, who's this?"

"She's my partner, Lu. Koala." Smiling, Sabo patted Luffy's head. "Koala, this is my little brother."

"I know. You never shut up about him." Koala looked over my captain, one eyebrow raised. "Somehow I thought he'd be… taller."

That made Luffy pout. He snuggled into Sabo's shoulder, wincing as fabric rubbed against his stitched-together chest. "You're not here to make Sabo leave, are you? Cause he's gonna join my crew."

"What?! No I'm not!"

"No he's not!"

Sabo and Koala thumped Luffy over the head simultaneously. Although while Koala looked annoyed, Sabo wore a fond smile. "You know if I was here, I'd always want to protect you, right Lu? And how would it look if the Pirate King had his big brother looking after him all the time?"

Luffy made a face at that, hugging Sabo even tighter. "Boo… You know I'd look after you too, right? That's what a crew does."

"I'm sure you would." Sabo patted Luffy again.

Koala's hand turned black with Haki; she reached up and jabbed Luffy in the brachioplexus. One of his arms went limp, unwrapping from Sabo and falling to the ground. He yelped in surprise.

"As adorable as this is," Koala drawled, "We do have places to be. Sabo, you're a month behind on paperwork, and Dragon told me to tell you you're on snail duty until further notice."

"What?! That's no fair!"

"Neither is disappearing off the face of the planet without telling us!" Jabbing a few more pressure points, Koala peeled Luffy off Sabo's back and bundled him into Zoro's arms. The bosun took grunted and set our captain on his feet… Although he did take hold of Luffy's shoulder to prevent the rubber boy jumping on his brother again.

Grabbing Sabo by his cravat, Koala began dragging him down to her little faering. "Come on. We have to go. I left Bunny Joe in charge of my unit while I came to get you."

Sabo winced at that. "Not even Terry?"

"He was visiting his mother for her birthday!"

"Grk!" Sabo flailed as Koala yanked harder on his cravat, forcing him to follow her lest he be strangled. Then, before heading down the slope, the revolutionaries paused. Turning to face the whole crew, Koala smiled brightly.

"It was nice to meet you all. I wish we had more time to get to know each other."

She then turned and continued dragging Sabo away before anyone could come up with a response. By the time anyone- namely, Usopp- found their tongue, the revolutionaries were already well on their way out of the bay below.

"I- Wha-? More time to get to know each other? None of us even introduced ourselves!"

Nami placed a hand on the gunner's shoulder. "Usopp?"

"Yeah?"

"Calm down."

Nodding, Usopp took a few deep breaths. "Sorry, I just… Ergh…" The gunner reached up to massage his temples. He was shaking.

Lisa blinked at the retreating boat. "Well… That was a thing that happened."

"She was gorgeous," Sanji muttered dreamily, his eyes turning into glowing hearts. "Not as beautiful as you, Nami dear, but still… Gorgeous. What did the shitty captain's brother do to get a girl like her?"

Johnny snickered. "Looked more like she has him, Big Bro. By the- meep!"

"Don't finish that sentence." Sanji glared and looked like he was considering kicking the blue hunter. He didn't, though. Nami sighed and shook her head at the both of them.

Across the muddy plateau, Robin had sat down on a rock to clean her throwing knives. The archaeologist stared at the battlefield in a daze, as if she couldn't believe what had just happened. Drifter and Geier sat down with her, the vulture perching on her shoulder while the otter sharpened his clam blades at her side.

This little crew's pretty tough, aren't they? Drifter asked with a knowing look. And they'll do anything to protect their family.

Robin didn't reply. She just kept staring at the unconscious forms of Burgess and Van Auger, and the muddy flats where Blackbeard had once stood. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Hopefully, she was realizing that she didn't have to worry, that our crew could- and would- be a place she could call home without fear of it being taken away.

"Monah…" Ruatha raised his head and butted it against mine. I blinked.

"Eh? Oh, you want scritches." Slipping Ace's pipe across my back where my staff had once gone, I freed one hand to give my dragon the rubs he desired. Ice blue eyes closed; Ruatha settled his head back on Ghin's lap, purring in contentment. His tail draped across Toma, adding the warmth of dragon body heat to that of my coat.

Soon after that, Chopper was finished performing first aid on everyone's injuries. It was time to go back to the ship so he could take a more detailed look at Ghin's arm. I nudged Ruatha to the side, carefully lifting my big brother up as I stood. Beside me, Zoro helped Toma to his feet. The boy was still conscious, but having a hard time walking straight.

Heavy footsteps approached, though, as we started making our way down to the Merry. Only a single set, from the opposite direction as Mock Town… I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Who was my writer contriving for us to meet now? Wasn't Koala and the fact that we fought alongside a few of the Whitebeard commanders enough?

Apparently not, as a tall, muscular figure appeared around a mud-splattered boulder.

This one, however, made more sense, even as he dropped his walking stick and pulled out a pistol. Panning around, unsure where to aim the gun, narrowed eyes took in the sight of charred rocks, shattered trees, and mud that contained equal parts ash and grease. A chestnut-shaped growth bobbed over blond hair; the newcomer put his gun away with a frown when he realized none of my crew mates were hostile- that in fact, several of us were in no condition to fight at all.

"What in blazes happened here?!"