Being separated for two years had been the Straw Hats' greatest challenge. As much as they bickered, fought and got on each other's nerves, they all deeply cared for one another and would go to Hell and challenge the Devil himself to a fight if it meant they could help their comrades. However, their reunion after those hellish two years had been short lived as they were immediately chased by the marines, were caught up in a military coup in Fishman Island, fought to save countless children on Punk Hazard and battled a Warlord in Dressrosa.
At the current moment the Straw Hats were making their way to their next destination.
"Requin?" Usopp repeated. Usopp was dressed in his signature brown overalls but was also wearing a pair of dark gloves as he was experimenting with some new chemicals.
"That's the name of the island we're heading to next." Nami stated. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a blue T-shirt; her hair was tied up in a large pony tail.
"Do we know anything about it?" Brook inquired. Brook was sporting his Soul King attire. He looked from one Straw Hat to the other, hoping for an answer. His eyes (though he has none) eventually landed on Robin – when all else fails, turn to Robin. Robin had been sporting a blue jacket, underneath which there was a black dress shirt, and a pair of dark colored pants.
"Well, I've only heard a little about the island…" Robin begun as the entire crew turned to her expectantly. "… I believe the island was named so due to the fact that it's surrounded by a shiver of sharks." She said in a sing song voice.
"Sh-sh-SHARKS?!" Usopp bellowed.
"How are we suppose to cross shark infested waters?!" Nami bawled immediately after.
"I don't know, Navigator-san, that's for you to decide." Robin gave Nami a mocking grin.
"Sharks don't sound very SUPER!" Franky yelled as he struck his signature pose. "But I wonder, maybe they'll see my Shark Submerge as a fellow shark and accept him into the group. That sounds SUPER!" Once more, the pose was struck.
"Shishishi, sounds fun." The shirtless captain made his remark which earned him an angry glare from the distraught navigator.
"Oi, I think I see it!" Zoro informed them from the crow's nest. They all ran to the side of the ship to catch a glimpse: it was a relatively small island filled with lush greenery and plant life; a few docks were visible, though not many ships were currently inhabiting it.
"Doesn't look like many people dock here." Chopper points out, but as soon as they were about to respond the Sunny started shaking violently. "Woah! What's going on?!" Franky yelled out, trying to keep himself upright.
"Sharks!" Brook responded quite loudly.
At that moment the Sunny was surrounded by a school of sharks: they were all much larger than the average shark and they all seemed to carry a smug grin. One of the sharks jumped high up into the air and crashed onto Sunny's side; Franky saw this as a declaration of war. "Oh, so you wanna go, eh? I'll show you what Sunny can do!"
"Franky, stop, we can't deal with these guys now. Let's just get through 'em quickly and get to the island." Sanji advises and Franky simply grumbles away.
"Ara, seems these sharks have a leader." Robin states, a little too calmly despite their predicament. They all stared at this 'leader' and saw that Robin was, in fact, correct. The shark they were staring at was behind most of the others but had a large vertical scar just between its eyes, reaching from the tip of its nose to just a few meters shy of its dorsal fin. He seemed to be using his pectoral fins to tell his compatriots where to strike and when not to strike. He sneered at the Straw Hats, almost as if it were laughing at them.
"Why that bastard, so that's who I have to beat up?" Luffy's naiveté shining through and through. Nami sighed in vexation. "No, Luffy, what we do is we – Ahhh" Nami falls back as another group of sharks ram the Sunny. "How dare they interrupt a lady!" Sanji jumps off the Sunny and kicks one of the sharks on its head and uses Sky walk to get back on deck. "Shitty sharks, you don't even deserve to end up in one of my dishes." Sanji pulls out a cigarette and lights it.
The shark that had been sneering at them previously is now glaring at them, its eyes a fiery red; he charges at them. The Straw Hats take up defensive positions.
SLASH!
The shark is cut in half: a vertical cut from its side. The Straw Hats look at the gruesome scene before them with wide eyes. They all then turn towards Zoro, the only one of them who could perform such a feat. Zoro, however, looks as surprised as them – his swords were sheathed.
"If it wasn't Zoro-san then…?" Brook asked, his voice trailing off when they all heard a loud yell.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-EEEEEEEEE!"
"We finally got it, captain!" Another voice yelled out.
"Damn right we did! We got our main meal for the party tonight, fellas!" A third voice rang out; it was a strong, vibrant voice but it also held an air of mischief and merriment.
The Straw Hats turned to the source of the noise and saw a large ship – about twice the size of their own – with a large mast and a black sail. Its figurehead was a wolf; the rest of the ship was adorned with a plethora of bright colors: red, blue, yellow and so forth, and on the very top of the mast there fluttered a flag; a pirate flag. The Jolly Roger of this unknown ship had a skull with a large smile, its mouth hanging open, and rather than bones or swords there was a party streamer and an axe that formed the crossbones. All in all, this looked like quite a flamboyant and queer ship.
A few people atop the ship ran to the sides and fired hooks at the dead shark carcasses, reeling them in.
"Oi, you guys alright?" A figure marched up to the front and questioned the Straw Hats. It was a tall man (About 6'5 feet), he had broad shoulders which made him look quite intimidating; dark brown hair that were unkempt and many strands of hair were pointing out in different directions; he had dark brown eyes, high cheek bones, but he had a very large and pointy chin – a person could pierce themselves if they attempted to touch it. He had on a very large pink colored coat that was covered with an assortment of stickers: flowers, horses and rainbows. He also had on black trousers, seemingly the only normal looking thing about this man. On his back there hung a large battle axe, quite plain looking, though the scratches on the haft and blade showed that it had seen a lot of battle. On his sides hung two tomahawks, less daunting than the one that hung on his back but nevertheless were still quite menacing.
"Yeah! Hey, color-ossan, were you the ones who took out that shark?" Luffy answered and pointed to the corpses of the aforementioned sharks.
"Rihahahahaha! 'Color ossan', never heard that before! I like you, kid, and yeah, that was me. My name is Alexander Watting and we are… THE PARTY PIRATES!" He opens up his arms and presents his crew with the utmost pride. At his introduction the rest of his crew yell out in unison; pride in their title clearly apparent.
"Hi, we're the Straw Hats!" Luffy cheered with the same pride and conviction as the person standing before them.
"Eh, Straw Hats? Rihahahaha! I know you lot! You're the guys who stormed Enies Lobby, who punched the celestial dragon back in Sabody. You're one crazy bunch… and you live life to its fullest without regrets! I can see that, in your eyes, in the way you stand now; you regret none of it! Rihahaha! Come, join us in Requin, we're going to have a party!" Alexander yelled out.
"A party? That sounds fun!" Luffy replied.
"Oi, oi, should we really be partying with this weirdo?" Zoro voiced his concerns which earned several grunts of support from some of the other members.
"He seems fun. Let's check it out!" Luffy retorted and that was that, no point in questioning someone like Luffy once he's made up his mind.
"Excellent! Boys, round up the meat and sake, we're gonna party till dawn!" Alexander called out to his crew, earning another round of cheers.
The Straw Hats and Party Pirates now made their way to Requin together.
New alliances have been formed, but another force fast approaches.
"Captain, the Straw Hats were reportedly seen in Dressrosa which means that they only have one place to go: Requin." The slinky blonde man finished reporting.
"Good, we're close, we're oh so close." The 'Captain' responded. "Straw Hat, did you really think you could outrun me forever? You can venture into the bowels of Hell and I would still chase after you. You shall pay for what you did!"
"Captain, I've informed the crew, they're all ready to face the Straw Hats."
"They'll only be staying on Requin for two days, at most. But we can make it, we're almost there."