A bit of behind-the-scenes regarding how I chose the ship girls for this story… Most of them are based on their popularities and relevance to the series. Characters like Javelin, Laffey, Z23, Ayanami, Enterprise, and Belfast are some of the most well-known characters in the series, even being the mascots, especially Enterprise. They also have relevance in the anime.
Some of the others are chosen because they seem to have something interesting to offer. Akashi is a scientist-type character, and seeing how they are in a different world, it seems important for her kind of character to tag along in order to provide support in times of need.
Alabama and Graf Spee have weaponries that make them interesting. Alabama was mainly chosen because one of her chibi animations has her jumping and moving around at a fast speed while attacking with her scythe, so I thought she would be great in combat against One Piece opponents. Graf Spee's claws just scream awesome.
And then there are ship girls I decided to use simply I like them (Shigure) or I want to use ones that don't seem that interesting, just so I can see if I can make them interesting in some way (Hood).
I also wanted a Russian ship, and it was either Pamiat or Gangut. I went with the latter because she looks more powerful compared to Pamiat.
There were some others that I had planned but didn't make the cut. I originally wanted to have a submarine girl present (either I-19 or I-26), but dropped the idea when I planned the story in a way so that most battles will be on land rather than in water, and I don't think the submarines can fight to full potential, especially when compared to normal ships, when on land.
Roon was also heavily considered and was in fact in an early draft, but she got replaced by Hood because I thought there weren't enough Royal Navy ships and also didn't want to exceed 20 ship girls. Though thinking about it, I sort of regret leaving Roon out… Her psychotic and murderous personality would be interesting to see in this world!
Chapter 14
Power Up
Sakazuki wasn't happy when he received a phone call regarding the state of Jack, who was supposed to be on his way to Impel Down. Apparently, another member of the Beast Pirates, the All-Star King, attacked the Marine ship carrying Jack, and rescued him and his crewmates. The pirates were able to escape afterwards.
"Darn it! I'm surrounded by incompetent people! Why can't anyone get their jobs done right?!" he said angrily while hitting the table hard. Parts of his body were glowing in reddish-orange light and releasing steam as he did this.
Garp, Sengoku, and Tsuru were in the room when they heard the news. "Calm down," Tsuru told him. "You're going to burn down the whole place if you don't."
"It's time like this that I'm glad I'm no longer the fleet admiral," said Sengoku, sounding relieved.
"Should you be saying that out loud here…?" Garp asked him.
Outside, the ship girls were watching several engineers performing maintenance work done to their warships. They were mainly applying Seastones to the ships. They could be seen attaching and hammering gray, metallic-looking plates onto parts of the deck, mainly parts that seem to be damaged. The guns also had Seastones applied to them.
"Seeing this sight reminds me of the Manjuu performing maintenance work on our ships back home," said Javelin. "It also makes me wonder how everyone is doing back there. They must be worried that we are gone for quite a few days…"
"Not like there's anything we can do about this until Akashi figured out how to use the Wisdom Cube to get us back," said Laffey while drinking from a beer bottle.
"Nobody is gonna believe our story when we get back and tell them all this…" said Z23.
"I'm sure they will," insisted Ayanami.
Graf Spee was watching maintenance done to her ship when Akashi went over to her from it and said, "I got word from the maintenance crew that your ship is the first one to be finished refurbishing-nya! They've got all the Seastones onto the parts I told them to!"
"I see," said Graf Spee with a nod.
"You can to try it out and see if there is any different-nya," Akashi asked her, and the latter nodded. Akashi then told everyone on board the ship to get off as soon as possible. After about a minute, everyone had left the ship, and then Graf Spee approached her true form, while everyone watched from the side, eager to see if there would be anything different.
Graf Spee pointed her hand at the ship, disintegrating it into cubes and having them gather around her body to become her rigging and giant claws that fit around her hands.
Graf Spee inspected her claws and also the rigging, especially the shark-like heads. "Do you feel any different?" Bismarck asked her.
"I feel an aura…" replied Graf Spee. "It's like I'm surrounded by the sea."
"Isn't that basically being underwater…?" asked Z23. "How exactly is that going to help us in combat?"
"Didn't they say Seastones are effective against Devil Fruit users and whatnot?" asked Prinz Eugen. "I guess we won't know until we try it out against one."
Graf Spee then looked around and waved her claws in the air, saying out loud, "Anyone want to be a volunteer and fight me?"
The Marines looked around in response. None of them have Devil Fruit powers, so they were not the kind of volunteers she was looking for. Eventually, Kizaru stepped forward and said, "I've got time to spare, so I'll help you."
"You are a Devil Fruit user?" the heavy cruiser asked him.
Kizaru nodded. "Yes I am, and a Logia at that! I heard about you girls applying Seastones onto yourselves and now want to test it out. I'm the perfect opponent for you, then!"
"Very well," Graf Spee said with a nod. "How do you want me to test it on you?"
"Just try to hit me in whatever way you see fit," Kizaru told her. "Don't worry; even if I cannot use my Devil Fruit power, I can still defend myself. I didn't become an admiral simply because of my power, you know."
"If you say so, I will not hesitate, but I apologize beforehand if you get hurt," Graf Spee told him. She then swung her claws at Kizaru, who lifted his leg to block it.
"Did it work?" asked Alabama.
"My observation haki was telling me that I have to defend myself fast," said Kizaru. "Looks like it did work after all! Your claw would've actually hit me rather than pass through me if I didn't defend myself in time!"
Graf Spee pulled back her claw and said, "I see, so the augmentation was a success."
"That means we will be able to fight against Devil Fruit users easily!" said Shigure.
"That depends on your opponents," Kizaru told her. "While neutralizing an opponent's Devil Fruit is helpful, it only works if you are in contact with them, and not all of them are reliant on their powers to fight. You don't go into a fight with a sword made of Seastone and expect things to be in your favor just like that. What use is having your opponent's weakness if you cannot use it properly against him?"
"What he said is true," said Bismarck. "Just because you have your opponent's weakness in your hand doesn't mean you are automatically in favor of winning. Our enemies here are skilled fighters who have surely come up with various ways to make up for their weaknesses. Ultimately, we still have to rely on our fighting skills if we want to win fights."
"By the way, I'm curious about what your Devil Fruit power is," Enterprise asked Kizaru.
Kizaru smiled, and then his body glowed in bright yellow light, almost blinding everyone. His body disintegrated into light particles and then gathered behind Enterprise, forming him again. The light died down, and he said, "I ate the Glint Glint Fruit, a Logia type that allows me to turn into light! It's very useful for traveling at the speed of light and kicking people at the speed of light!"
"Incredible!" commented Dido in awe.
"That sounds incredibly broken…!" commented Kaga.
"I can see why you folks desire it despite being surrounded by water all the time," said Hood. "Having such powers is too much of a temptation to pass off."
"Actually, I may have a way to deal with light," said Bismarck with a small smirk.
"Right, you and your black hole ammunitions…" said Akashi.
For the rest of the day and also the days after, Seastones were applied onto each of the warships, and eventually, they were all finished. It was also around the same time they were called by Akashi to head over to Dr. Vegapunk's lab, for she has news regarding how to make use of the golden Wisdom Cube.
The ship girls arrived at the lab and stood around the table that the golden Wisdom Cube was placed on. Looking around, Bismarck asked, "Where's this Doctor Vegapunk? I don't believe we have seen him face to face yet."
"He's been called to an important meeting," Akashi told her, and then she looked at a Transponder Snail nearby and said, "Don't worry; he's got that snail over there to record the whole session so that he can watch it later and not miss out a thing-nya."
"He sure is a busy fellow, is he not?" asked Belfast.
Akashi nodded. "Yeah, he's like the smartest man in this world, so it's no surprise that the Marines and the government crave his knowledge-nya. Many of the things the Marines use are invented by him." She then looked at the cube. "Anyway, at first, there seems to be no progress in getting anything out of this cube. Its properties are almost entirely from the other kinds of Cubes I've worked with…"
"But then something came up, right?" Enterprise asked her.
"That's precisely why I called you over," Akashi told her. "You see, when I touched it earlier, I got shocked, and then some sort of mental image appeared within my head-nya…"
"A mental image?" said Alabama curiously.
Akashi nodded. "Yes, I saw a Siren appearing before me! It was Observer Beta!"
"What?!" said most of the ship girls in shock.
"She told me that since we crave power so much, she is more than happy to give it to us-nya," continued Akashi.
"I can't see anything good coming out of this…" said a worried Kaga.
"Indeed, as we have learned it the hard way…" said a concerned Prinz Eugen.
"This also raises something interesting," said Hood. "Is it possible that the Sirens are observing us even as we speak? After all, they are the ones who sent us here in the place, so it makes sense for them to be able to somehow observe us."
"That is indeed a possibility," said Enterprise. "They must have some kind of plan to send us here. I also can't see them willingly giving us a power boost without any kind of price to pay first…"
"Did she say anything else, like how we are supposed to receive power from this cube?" Gangut asked Akashi.
The latter shook her head. "She didn't-nya. This is why I called you over to see if we can find out anything together."
"You're an expert in this sort of thing, so I don't see how we can be of help…" said Z23.
"Maybe she wants us all to be here so that we can hear what she wants to say," said Akagi. "This is just a hunch, but I think she may be wanting to hear from you…" She said this while eying Enterpriser, and when the others noticed this, they looked at the Eagle Union aircraft carrier as well.
"What? Why me?" asked a confused Enterprise.
"You're the famous Gray Ghost, one of the most powerful and successful warships of all time," Zuikaku told her, sounding rather unpleasant, as if she hates saying this. "When fighting against the Sirens and when we fought against each other, you always came out on top. I'm sure the Sirens are aware of how terrifying you are."
"It is not wrong to say that you are our commander at the moment," Belfast told her.
"No, I'm not that good at being a leader… Bismarck makes a better leader than me," said Enterprise humbly while looking at said Iron Blood battleship.
"But even so, your fighting skills are not to be looked down upon. You have the spirit of a warrior, even more so than me," Bismarck told her.
"Yeah! I have never seen such a skilled ship than you in fighting! You truly are strong, Miss Enterprise!" Javlelin said to her.
"Can you please get back on topic-nya…?" asked Akashi.
"Right, we should…" said Enterprise. "So assuming that Observer Beta does indeed want to speak to me, what should I do?"
"Um… Maybe touch the cube-nya?" suggested Akashi.
Enterprise hesitated a bit, fearing that something bad might come out of it, but seeing that there were no other suggestions and that the others were expecting her to do it, she slowly reached her hand towards the cube until they came in contact.
All of a sudden, Enterprise felt a jolt running down her entire body, and then the scenery around her changed. She found herself standing on golden shallow water, and all around here were the same color. She looked around in confusion until she saw a pale-skinned woman in front of her, sitting on a mechanical seat with tentacles coming out all around it.
"Observer Beta!" said Enterprise angrily as she readied her bow, only to remember that she doesn't have it with her at the moment.
Holding up her hand as like a stop sign, Observer said to her, "Don't be so rash. We are not actually physically present with each other. This is all in our minds!"
"You! What is the meaning of this?!" Enterprise angrily asked her. "Why did you send us to this world?! What are you planning?!"
"My, my... So much anger! I guess that is to be expected! Heehee!" said Observer, chuckling. "Honestly, this is not my idea, but the idea of the higher ups. They were the ones who decided that it would be a fun idea to pluck you out of your own world and put you in another one so that we can observe your reactions and actions. It's a test, you see."
"What kind of test?" asked Enterprise.
"To see if you are capable of surpassing your limits and become stronger," replied Observer. "After all, one becomes stronger through facing hardships. The danger of this world is nothing like the ones back in your own world. We Sirens are curious to see how you warships will adapt to the high-level dangers found in this world and what sort of growth you will obtain."
"So you want us to get stronger?" Enterprise asked her. "How is that productive to foul beings like you that want to wipe out humanity? You're basically begging for us to wipe you all out!"
"If you do wipe us all out, then good for you! But assuming we survive, then it will give us the opportunity to learn from our battles against you and become even stronger... until we become..." Observer then disappeared and reappeared right in front of Enterprise out of nowhere. "...UNSTOPPABLE!" This made the aircraft carrier flinch.
Observer leaned back on her tentacle-covered seat and moved back a bit. "So things are too hard here for you, right? Don't worry; I'll grant you the power that will help you fight on par with the folks here! All you have to do is put this Wisdom Cube in the navigation room of your respective ships, and then watch magic happen!"
"How do I know that you're not lying to us and instead trying to destroy us using this method?" asked a skeptical Enterprise.
"Don't be so skeptical! It was our technology that brought forth your existence after all! Have a little faith even in your enemies, will you?" said Observer. "Well, I guess that's it for now. Once we've seen enough, we'll consider bringing you back to your own world. Don't disappoint us! Perhaps some of us will drop by over there and have a bit of fun too! Teehee"
"You're not going to get away with this!" Enterprise angrily said to her.
The whole place then flashed brightly and Enterprise found herself back in the lab. The others were still gathered around her. "Are you all right?" Bismarck asked her.
"I'm... all right..." replied Enterprise.
"You were in a trance just now," Kaga told her. "What happened?"
Enterprise told them everything she saw and heard. The ship girls were skeptical when they heard this, however. "This sounds too good to be true…" said Prinz Eugen.
"Indeed," agreed Belfast. "I cannot imagine that the Sirens would give us a boost in power without anything in return."
"But I find it tempting…" said Alabama.
"So… what are we going to do?" asked Ayanami. "Are we really going to put the Wisdom Cube in our navigation rooms?"
"I'll try it," Enterprise told everyone.
"Are you sure? It may be dangerous-nya…" Akashi said to her.
"It's a risk," said Enterprise. "But it seems like that unless we do this, we will never make any progress both in this world and also returning to our own."
"Well, then it's off to your ship it is," said Akagi.
The group headed outside and over to Enterprise's aircraft carrier. All the people onboard who were still applying Seastones to it were told to leave. In fact, everyone except for Enterprise was told to leave the ship.
Everyone else watched the aircraft carrier from the dock, while Enterprise went aboard it with the golden cube in her hand. "Are you sure we really should let her be doing this?" asked Zuikaku.
"She seems adamant in doing this," said Bismarck. "We'll just have to trust that nothing bad comes from this…"
Enterprise went into the navigation room of the aircraft carrier. "Just put it in this room, she says…" Enterprise said to herself, recalling what she was told by Observer Beta. She approached the control panel where the steering wheel is and took a deep breath before placing the cube onto it.
Almost immediately after doing so, the cube glowed brightly and then released a shockwave that spread across the surface of everything in the room, leaving behind sparkles on everything it touched.
From the outside, everyone was in awe as the shockwave spread across the entire aircraft carrier. "What is happening?!" gasped Javelin.
"She actually did it?!" said Kaga in disbelief.
Inside, Enterprise was in panic as she watched the room glow brightly. All of a sudden, she felt a jolt run through her entire body. Her eyes also glowed in golden light, and she felt as if a large amount of information was being forced into her head. It almost felt painful.
After several seconds, all the light on the ship disappeared. Enterprise fell to her knees while breathing heavily, and she placed one hand on her forehead. "What… What was that feeling…? All these new information… I… I can't believe it…!"
Outside, everyone was curious as to what happened to Enterprise now that the light had disappeared. The ship girl eventually appeared on the deck, holding the cube in her arms, and jumped onto the harbor to join them. Her comrades went up to her in concern.
"Are you all right?" Dido asked her.
"I'm fine," replied Enterprise. "It was… quite an experience…!"
"Did anything change?" Akashi asked her.
"I suddenly have knowledge of things I previously didn't have of in my mind," said Enterprise, looking satisfied. "I think I can now do things I couldn't before!"
"Then I take that it is a success?" asked Hood.
"It seems so, and there doesn't seem to be anything negative, at least for now…" said Enterprise. "So… why don't we see what I can now?
TO BE CONTINUED
Coming up next is a training chap… No, we're NOT doing a training chapter of any kind! I don't like those kinds of chapters when reading manga. Why waste chapters on showing the characters learn new techniques when you're going to see them use them in the end? That's one reason I like One Piece; it doesn't have a single training chapter. Everyone learns new moves out of nowhere most of the time, and if there are training moments, they all have happen off-screen.
Also, because Vegapunk has yet to make an actual appearance in the series, I purposely avoid having him actually appear in the story, even if he is supposed to be present on New Marineford with everyone else. Smart, eh?
