The Future Pirate King and Riddle King

"What did I do? What did I do?" panicked Viola as she jumped back rushing back into the trees. She was ashamed with herself…she couldn't believe what she just did! It was forbidden in her village to do such a thing to interfere with 'fate'. But she did it. She snuck into the kid's timeline and made a mistake. She interrupted with it, she saved him from the fall! She couldn't believe it! She felt ashamed, her face turning a bright red. On her home island this deserved the same punishment as high treason! She couldn't believe it! However, punishment be damned! She quickly turned back to the fight and watched the young captain continue his fight. She didn't come out from behind her hiding space, she didn't want to interfere with fate more than she already had.

Mikoto paused as he looked around. He tried to figure what had happened. He was falling than he hit something and he suddenly stopped…but it wasn't like the ground or anything it was almost as if someone had prevented him from falling to the ground. He paused and looked to both sides. He didn't see anything. He looked up at the dragon, who had his cocked to the side. He thought Mikoto was going to go splat against the ground and when he didn't he became confused. When Cain noticed that Mikoto was staring back up at him his confusion vanished and was replaced with anger, the dragon tilted its head back and let loose a fearsome roar. Cain backed up and spread its wing. It was riddled with scars where the skin had been torn, but had healed over after all this time. Mikoto smiled. He was thankful to whoever just saved him and now, Mikoto thought as he brought his two fists together, he was ready to get back in the game.

Mikoto dashed forward, immediately bringing his speed back up to par already. The dragon bellowed some unspeakable words in dragon-speak, of which Mikoto could not decipher, but that didn't stop either one. The dragon's tail lashed out from its hiding place, which was behind the beast's bulk. The tail slithered forward and struck out at Mikoto. Mikoto bobbed and weaved to the side, bringing his head out of the tail's path before continuing his speeding along. He didn't have Haki like Trevor's to predict an enemy's movements, but Mikoto did have his instincts. He could sense the dragon's next movement on a primal level and with that in mind he headed in. Mikoto hit the dragon's leg and propelled himself up. His last time was a sham, but he was ready this time. He tensed his left and then right hands; he could feel the life in both of them. The Rapid-Fire's side-effect had worn off.

The dragon's head turned downwards to lock onto him. Mikoto smirked and he could make out the same look on the dragon's face. They both were thinking the same thing. 'I won'. The words echoed in both of their heads as their fight was brought to its climax. Mikoto was racing up the beast's belly for the final time, that's what they were both planning to make happen! Mikoto knew that whatever saved him the first time wouldn't save him again. He felt his leg muscles tense up and he was reminded of the fight he just had with Abel. He looked to his side and saw that Zesiro, Ridley, Hiro-Shu, and Rosa were coming towards him along with who appeared to be Sage, Enma, and Maria. Though the last three looked different. He remembered their names now…he suppose he had to thank the dragon for that. Maybe it happened when he was last thrown back. He just felt bad that his payback would be a heavy-handed punch to the face.

The dragon let loose a stream of flames that coated its belly. Mikoto vanished beneath the flames. However, Cain knew that meant nothing anymore. He remembered Mikoto vanishing right before his eyes twice already. Cain wasn't planning on that attack being the finishing blow. His tail anxiously wavered off to the side, ready to move in at the drop of a dime to spear Mikoto when needed. The dragon's head snapped to its side when it felt something press up against his arm. He saw the kid there, bent down, compressing his legs against its own arm. Cain roared loudly as its tail snaked forward.

"I'm going to need to borrow you arm!" shouted Mikoto as he leapt forward and off of the beast's arm. He knew he couldn't jump off of air, but that didn't mean he couldn't jump twice. He just needed a platform! Cain's tail zoomed in, intent on piercing straight through Mikoto's flesh and tearing him apart without a second of hesitation.

Mikoto had it. He was thankful enough time had passed for his Rapid-Fire to have its side-effect wear off. He had two shots now and he knew exactly how he was going to use them. He shot forward towards the tail; the tail zoomed by him aiming at his chest. Mikoto spun around and brought his fist forward, "Rapid-Fire x 25!" Once more the dragon's ordinarily scale covered tail turned to stone readying itself for the moment of impact. Mikoto's fist came into the stone tailed and smashed it! The ordinarily solid stone couldn't hold up against 25 compact punches blended into one. With the tail out of the way Mikoto wasn't done just yet. He flipped around and onto the tail, another platform and this one was in just the right place! Mikoto shot forward, pushing himself off of the dragon's tail and at his head. Mikoto rotated around bringing his fist around and at the dragon's skull, right between the eyes.

The dragon blinked back to stone. Its stone form was much more solid than its regular form. The several layers of thick stone that supported its head meant that it held more resistance to blunt attacks than its thin tail. That meant nothing. Mikoto's fist swung forward, "Rapid-Fire x 25!" There was a loud and deafening crack as it came into contact with the solid stone. The stone began to fracture from the force, but it appeared that it would hold together for the most part. Mikoto's attack wasn't done though, "Nature's Rampage!" Mikoto swung his leg down following the path that his fist had took and brought it again into the already cracking stone dragon. The force of his leg traversed down the broken body, further destroying it.

Cain transformed back into it regular form a brief second, but Mikoto's attack had already done its damage. Cain tossed his head back and roared in pain. Mikoto all of a sudden realized a great flaw in his plan as he looked down to ground and that was how would he be reunited with his precious earth? He was starting to miss it dearly as he was rocked side-to-side by the dragon howling in pain. Mikoto rushed forward and grabbed a hold of one of the two spike protruding from the dragon's skull. He held on for dear life as Cain's body gave out and tumbled on down. Mikoto was dragged behind the falling beast's heavy skull and braced himself for the impact with the ground. The dragon's head shuddered as it slammed into the earth below it and Mikoto was finally wrenched free as he slipped off of the horn and into the ground. He hit the ground with a solid thud and looked around. He stood up and shook his entire body, sending scraps of dirt flying all around him.

"Hey, Mikoto!" shouted Rosa as she waved hello to him as they came over a nearby hill. Mikoto's head snapped over towards the sound and he cocked his head, watching the group come up. His memories were back so he quickly ran all of their names through his head before running up to meet them. He skidded to a halt as he saw who they were carrying. Sage, Maria, and Enma were all in pretty bad shape it looked like. Mikoto sped up and ran next to their side. He didn't stop and return Ridley's offer on a high-five or even check-up on Zesiro, who seemed equally depressed. "As far as we can tell whoever is on this island turned them into mummies," explained Rosa, not quite in the mood to tell Mikoto how they got so extensively injured.

"Abel!" growled Mikoto as he turned his head behind him, a flash of rage appearing in his eyes. His mouth was stretched backwards and his fangs were bared. He was about to rush off and find that son of a gun, when his feet were swept out from underneath him. The old man was back and he quickly jabbed his staff back down against Mikoto's chest, pinning him to the ground. "Let me go!" Mikoto screamed as he struggled against the man's staff. The old man was asking for it. If only Mikoto had enough strength left in his body to give it to him. After fighting with him the first two times, then against Abel and Cain, Mikoto was just too tired to get out from underneath the man's expertly planned staff pin.

"Just soak them in water," the old man declared as he removed his staff from Mikoto's chest and turned to the crew, "go! I heard it straight from the horses' mouth! Water undoes the spell, so go and do it! These guys'll be as good as new." Rosa nodded and quickly scurried off with Ridley and Hiro-Shu in tow. Zesiro looked back behind him and at Mikoto, waiting to see if the old man could be trusted. Mikoto nodded and Zesiro quickly went trotting off after them. "You're gonna be pirate king, huh?" asked the old man flashing Mikoto a look.

"Yup, Pirate King and Riddle King," Mikoto said with smile. The old man paused for a second as he considered this. Yeah, he did say something about riddles, didn't he? "I still got a long ways ahead of me, but I took down one of the Shichibukais recently so I'm getting closer…to being the Pirate King, Riddle King is still a ways down the road."

The old man chuckled to himself and shook his head. Even now after seeing the kid victorious, he didn't believe he could do it. If someone said he had taken down both Cain and Abel, the two monster, reeking havoc on this poor town he wouldn't believe them. "It is a ways down the road for both dreams," muttered the old man. "One Shichibukai means absolutely nothing in these days. There's too many problem children out there…like the Yonkous, the Admirals, the Revolutionaries, all of these are in your way."

"And I'll take them all down," replied Mikoto without missing a beat. He was kidding…the old man recognized that, but still he couldn't help but hold his head in between his shoulders and sigh. He couldn't believe the kid. "I already have my eye on one of the Yonkou," Mikoto growled as if remembering the past. The old man lifted his eyebrow and looked at Mikoto quizzically. He understood the kid's desire to speed things along, but this certainly seemed like a big step. Moving from Shichibukai to Yonkou.

"Who is it," the old man asked. He couldn't help, but be drawn into Mikoto's goal. It was weird, but he didn't mind it. He missed the days of high dreams and his own life at sea, but that was behind him and he wasn't going back. This kid still had a life ahead of him and it should be a good one.

"I know it's a far ways away," Mikoto muttered, as if remembering where he was and the fact that he was definitely not strong enough to be a challenge to the Yonkous just yet. "But that Yonkou has someone on his crew that needs to be taught a lesson." Mikoto pounded one of his fists into his open palm. "I'm gonna take down whatever Yonkou has Shigoro on his crew."

The old man's eyes lit up. That was a name that barely registered with him. He knew the Fishman named Shigoro. Back when he originally settled down on this island he still got the papers and had heard of the Fishman, who had joined the crew of Kai Vonderson, the Yonkou. Suddenly it hit the old man…"You wanna take him out, but you don't even know the name of the Yonkou?"

"Like I said…my goal is to take down Shigoro. The Fishman on my crew…he was a friend of some other Fishman…and Shigoro betrayed them," Mikoto bared his fangs once more and tightened his grip. His knuckles turned a bright white.

Unbeknownst to Mikoto, but Zesiro was thinking of the same thing as he carried Maria in his arms to the nearest bit of sea. He was boiling up as he was returned to his thoughts and what happened to his trust-worthy friends. They had met under bad circumstances, circumstances that would've twisted most normal people into hideous fiends and yet they were still good to him. They were as much as Zesiro, hated the nickname they called him, they were his brothers.

(-Back on the ship, a few days ago-)

'What happened with Shigoro' were the last words that were spoken…and they were spoken well over five minutes ago. Both Nito and Ichi looked uncomfortable with the question that came up. They didn't look Zesiro in the eyes and they were looking away. Finally Ichi choked down his own words… "We'll tell you." Nito twisted around and looked aghast at Ichi's words. "We'll tell him…he's our brother…he needs to know of our other brother and how he betrayed us." Zesiro stood up, knocking his chair down and choking up on his shoulder. A look of anger had flashed over his face. Someone betrayed these guys…and Sanada? They betrayed a little kid?

"Shigoro had told the master of our plans to escape…in exchange for his own freedom," choked out Ichi as he looked away from Zesiro, once more refusing to meet his gaze. "We learned of it later on when we met up with him in the Grand Line, figuring we could be brothers again." Ichi forced an uncomfortable smile onto his face, how much he wished they could've been brothers again…

"It happened when they were torturing him or so he told us…" Nito continued and started to stray off almost immediately. He couldn't stop shaking! He felt terrified; he felt like choking, he felt like this conversation would've been better never being brought up again. "Apparently he originally tried bargaining with him to stop…the punishment got too rough for him. He couldn't stomach it anymore. So he used the one bargaining chip he had." Nito continued to shake horribly. "He told me about the keys as bait. The master knew of it and he let me steal it from him…my brother used me as a bargaining chip to give the master someone to torture…he tortured us! All because of him…" Nito clammed up again, his mouth was dry.

Ichi continued from there. "Timmy, the little guy who let us out knew, but he didn't have the heart to tell us. The one man we trusted above all us, betrayed us! He couldn't tell us, he looked upon us with pity that's why he let us out of there! He pitied us, miserable creatures! Locked up in a cell trusting the man who betrayed us! He felt like we deserved something! Some way to regain our dignity! He gave it to us! He gave us an out! He let us be free, free from that terror out there! Free from the psychopath who allowed us to call him 'brother' all the while he plotted to serve us up, to sell us out!" Ichi hands were balled up into fists, he felt like pounding them against the floor.

However, somebody else beat him to the punch. Zesiro had brought his own fist straight down into the floorboards of the ship, ripping one of the planks straight up into the air. He paused for a second, he was breathing heavily in rage. He looked over at the rest of the crew, who were all showing signs of concern for him on their faces, although Maria also looked a little bit annoyed that the ship had suffered more damage, "I'm sorry," he stuttered out as he wiped some of the dust from the floorboards off of him. "I'm sorry…I'm just…I'll…" Zesiro remembered back at the URA. Where Buraku had stepped in and offered to 'take care' of Sanada for him. Zesiro paused for a split second, "I'll take care of him."

Ichi and Nito froze for a second and looked at him, they were wavering a bit both of them were getting angry and confused and…and…and terrified remembering the past, Zesiro's anger seemed to have snapped them out, but his words still confused them greatly. The paused unsure of how to respond to it. "Wha…what do you mean?"

Zesiro's words were short and to the point. He didn't feel like mincing words with them anymore, he had heard enough as is to know what he meant, to know what he wanted to do. He expressed his anger to their horrible past, his redemption for his failure to save Sanada, and his gratitude for them in three words. "I'll kill him."

(-Back to real time, the next day-)

The old man was seeing the crew off along with the little captain he had grown to respect and admire. His days at sea were over, but it felt nice to have someone out at sea chasing the same dream he once chased. He was standing by the gravestone, belonging to one 'Red Haired' Shanks. He sat down next to it and laughed, "it looks like stupidity, dreams, and greatness all go hand-in-hand, huh?" Suddenly he heard some rustling in the foliage behind him. He turned around and saw Viola walk up behind him. "If you're looking for the kid he done set out."

"I need to talk to him," she said as she wrapped her arms around her chest. She was visibly shaken, her entire body seemed disturbed. The old man looked at her and was about to ask her what's wrong, when she continued her speech, "he…he…he…he ruined me!" she whined loudly.

The Next Shichibukai?

A Turning Point

Yeah, I honestly don't think I can have a completely serious moment and then not throw a horrible joke in after that. It is just who I am.

Anyways...yes, I finally answered the question about what happened to Shigoro and why the Fishman brothers aren't with him. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it as I pictured it going down like a hundred different ways, but I think I am rather quite happy with how it happened. Also, yes, the biggest question so far in Saga will be answered in the next chapter. Will Mikoto become a Shichibukai? So, stay tuned!