I originally planned for this to have been completed around the 15th, but... long story short, the computer with the file was elsewhere. When I did have access to the file once again, I couldn't get time to finish it and... well, it took me a week to write the final two hundred words of this chapter.
Non-One Piecers: Yeah, I'm too tired to think of something.
Non-Overlorders: Firstly, I took some liberties with Overlord magic. For instance, I am unaware of there being an actual Magic Tractor Beam. Secondly, all titles used to refer to the Overlord are actually from the game.
Brook sighed; they had gotten an interesting new visitor, and he had been told to keep watch while everyone else stayed with the big guy. Glumly, the skeleton hummed a soft tune whilst he viewed the ocean.
The Straw Hat Pirates were not of like mind on what to do with the newcomer. The captain wanted him to join the crew (an option immediately rejected by nearly everyone else on board) or surrender his armor (which he did not seem likely to do).
The navigator, marksman, and doctor got weird 'vibes' off the behemoth, and therefore wanted him to depart as soon as possible.
The shipwright wanted to kick his ass, for making a crater in the deck of the ship.
The chef didn't get much of an opinion, as he was still unconscious.
The musician wasn't present, so he couldn't say much.
The archaeologist and swordsman were both in favor of killing him before he brought them trouble; the captain immediately rejected this option.
They all, however, agreed upon one thing: he was strange. The armor made many of them nervous, the glowing eyes disturbed the softer members of the crew, and the soft light distortion surrounding him made pretty much all of them dizzy. Plus, his voice was weird- it felt like it reverberated through their skulls.
And there was the other voice coming from the guy's helmet.
"Master! Splendid! You're still alive. It seems that if we exert extreme magical power upon the link, we can consolidate it long enough to talk to you for a few minutes. Unfortunately, this drains the Tower Heart rather fast, so it will need to recharge in between communications."
Grunt.
"As far as my estimates go, we actually can transfer some mana through the link! We may be able to replenish some of your energy should you use magic. However, this means we will have to choose per charge: communication, or refill."
Grunt.
"My, you're feeling talkative today, sire. By the way, it seems that you are on a ship of sorts- is there a crew?"
In response, the Overlord turned his helmeted head to look at the assembled audience.
"Sweet Evility on a stick! Sire, you have already stumbled upon two prime options for new mistr-"
The Overlord bonked the helmet with his gauntlet.
"Ahem. Right. Anyway, what is the status of the gem?"
A gauntleted hand withdrew the two shards from the pouch.
"Oooh. Have you tried the repair incantation?"
The helmet shook, side to side.
"Now's a good a time as any, sire."
With a sigh, the two gem shards were set on a table. Withdrawing the repair incantation from the pouch, the Overlord gathered his mana once again.
The assembled onlookers grew cautious at their guest's movements. The tall woman subtly crossed her arms, and the green-haired man's hand twitched towards his weapons. Ignoring these subtle changes, the large man held a hand over the shards, closed his hands, and concentrated.
Eight onlookers next to him, with the several spectators back at the Dark Tower, waited.
And waited…
And stared as the amber pieces shattered.
Every watcher blinked a few times.
"Well… that's certainly not good, Lord. It seems you'll have to stay in Realm B for a while. Is the weather agreeable?"
Grunt.
"Well, that's good to hear. It seems the current charge is running out- it'll be a few days before we can connect again. Stay alive, Dark One; there are no worthy candidates for your replacement yet."
A soft buzz signaled the end of the link a few seconds after Gnarl finished. Standing, the Overlord placed the repair spell into his pouch and turned towards his newfangled 'friends'.
Their cautious demeanor did not change; tensely, the two parties stood apart from one another, waiting for the other to move. The Overlord's eye twitched. The captain's eyes shone as he admired the man's armor.
With a tired sigh, the Dark One took a step forward.
The reincoon suddenly growing into a reindeer-gorilla took the Overlord by surprise, allowing the gorilladeer to punch him in the abdomen before he could react. With that blow, the Overlord realized that a few of his ribs were bruised and possibly even cracked. Eyes rolling back in his head, he collapsed with a CLONK.
The crew stared in shock at the furry shape shifter.
"… He needs to rest, I couldn't just let him walk around with his injuries…"
"Did you have to punch him, though? You could've damaged his awesome armor…"
"Well… he makes me nervous…"
After four days, the guest still wasn't waking (Not that anybody else would know, but it had been a long, long time since the Overlord had gotten a good nights' sleep. The constant call of Evil kept every Minion awake at night, and the little buggers could be loud). Chopper said that it seemed to be because of background exhaustion on top of recovery rest, whilst Usopp insisted that the newcomer was trying to beat Zoro's long-standing record of eight straight days asleep.
Due to it being a slow week, schedules were flexible enough to allow shifting guards- it had been decided that because he was so suspiciously mysterious, they shouldn't allow him to be left alone for too long.
Zoro mostly napped on guard; Nami sketched drafts for her maps; Robin plowed through books; Franky either tinkered with something that had broken or adjusted a blueprint, and so forth. But none of them, not even Luffy, touched the armor; it radiated a kind of… presence, that made them want to edge away from the large man.
Robin had accurately described the feeling, during a dinner debate: an aura akin to darkness, evil. This statement brought silence, even to Luffy (although this was probably because he was choking on a bone).
"Gnarl! Gnarl!"
"What is it, Quaver?"
"The Tower Heart seems to be fully charged!"
"Splendid! Here, have a cookie."
"Ong nong mnom nyong"
"Try not to get crumbs everywhere, you dolt. This floor was just swept."
Gnarl entered the throne room swiftly- Even from across the hall, he could see that the Tower Heart's pool shone with full magical radiance. Unable to contain himself, his wrinkled face split into a grin and his shuffling gait sped to the water.
"Quaver! Activate the link!"
"Om nom nom…"
The pool's surface shimmered brightly as the Tower Heart expanded the connection forcefully. Eagerly, Gnarl leaned closer to the edge of the pool, anxious to see what sort of havoc and chaos his Master had wrought since the last connection.
He was surprised when, instead of a burning landscape filled with similarly burning and screaming residents, he had a rather nice angle up the skirt of a young woman. Startled, Gnarl pin wheeled his arms and fell over.
Slightly dazed, Gnarl chuckled to himself; the Overlord seemed to have gone and enjoyed himself in a different manner than Gnarl had anticipated. Recovering from the pleasant shock, he leaned back over the pool.
"Master!"
The helmet did not sift.
"Sire!… Dark One!… DARK LORD!" Despite his yelling, the Master's helmet did not move even the slightest.
"What in the bloody blazes…" Gnarl held his head just over the liquid- sure enough, he could hear the Dark One's breathing; he still had the helmet on, so he should be able to hear…
Unbeknownst to Gnarl, the Lord of Evil was still unconscious. Luckily for Gnarl, however, the Master's helmet was perched at such an angle on his head that it was pointed towards the navigator of the pirate ship, who was trying to avoid excess damage from an ink bottle falling over.
Said navigator cursed silently at herself- she thought she had heard a soft buzz from the man sleeping, which had startled her enough to knock a bottle of ink onto the pile of map sketches she had just finished. After several seconds of frantic reorganizing on the table next to the bed, she breathed a sigh of relief- nothing severe, the ink hadn't gotten everywhere everywhere. Although Chopper would be slightly miffed to learn that the still-new furniture in the infirmary had a brand-new ink stain.
She was about to reorganize the stack of maps when she thought she had heard a voice- it sounded like it was coming from nearby, but was quiet. Frowning, she turned back to the armored man. His eyes seemed to be closed –they weren't glowing, at least-, and his breathing was still deep and regular.
The voice seemed to be coming from his helmet. Curious, Nami leaned in close.
"SIRE! SUPRESSOR OF FREE JESTER SPEECH! ELF LOVER! PEASANT PYROMANIAC! WENCH BANE! MOST OVERCONFIDENT MASTER! PURGER OF THE PERVERTED PALADIN! SIRE!"
Nami blinked. A tiny voice, coming from the weird man's helmet, was yelling nonsense. Maybe his self-proclaimed insanity is contagious.
"Hey… You! GIRLIE! Red-head!"
Jumping back in surprise, the navigator almost tripped over the chair she had been sitting in not moments before.
"Quaver, increase the volume! There we go. You there! Can you hear me?"
Shaky nod.
"Ah, at least the transmitter's not broken. What have you done to our Master? Why is he not responding? Or moving?"
"The… big armored guy?"
"Yes! The Dark One!"
"He's… unconscious right now…"
"Oh. That explains it, I su- wait, why would you say 'unconscious' and not 'sleeping'? What have you done to our Lord?"
"Nothing! He's been asleep for several days now!"
"Oh. Really? Strange. Could you please wake him, then? This line won't last too long."
"Uh, how would I wake him without… inducing violent reflexes?"
"How in the blazes should I know? Try poking him with a stick."
Looking around, Nami searched for a suitable 'stick'- she settled for the chair, grasping it by the backrest and using its legs to poke the stowaway.
ClunkClunk
"Try harder?"
Clonk
"Oh, don't be a pansy!"
CLANK
As far as rude awakenings went, the Overlord had had worse; although being beaten with a chair while Gnarl yelled into his ear was certainly one of the more disorienting ones on the list. And damn, was Gnarl being LOUD.
"MASTER! SIRE! YOU'RE AWAKE! SPLENDID! QUAVER, TURN THE VOLUME BACK DOWN! MORE! There you go. Dark One, can you hear me?"
Aforementioned Dark One cradled his ringing head in his hands, grunting in pain.
"Good! From what I've heard from the girl with the chair, you've been having a nice nap. Now's not the time for sleep, Lord! There's Evil to be done and gems to be found! Get a move on, the Minions are getting uneasy in your absence."
Irritated grunt.
"Oh, cheer up, Lord. It's a brand new realm to pollute with your presence! You should be excited! I know I am. Although that may be the aftereffect of the splendid view I had a few moments ago. Nonetheless, you need to get to work, Sire! I'll talk to you again in a few days!"
The audio cut out again as the Tower Heart ran out of energy. Slowly rising from the cot, the Overlord clumsily regained his balance on the rocking vessel. It was a sharp contrast to stable land, and the armor certainly altered the experience.
Wincing, the Purger of the Perverted Paladin placed a hand over his damaged ribs, almost regretting his choice in realm.
The girl still brandished the chair, unsure of what to do. The Purger's wheezing breaths probably didn't contribute helpfully to his already threatening demeanor.
The Wench Bane painfully straightened his stance, slowly raising his gauntleted hand in as much of a soothing manner as he could manage- after a moment, he realized that it probably looked like he was about to try and hit her.
So instead, he backed away from the young woman slowly; this seemed much more effective in calming her down.
Some things never change… I go new places, and the people are already uneasy around me.
It occurred to him that something was missing; turning, he scoured the small medical facility for a large object he hadn't had for some time.
It wasn't there. The Peasant Pyromaniac turned to the girl, who had only just set down the chair.
"Sword?"
Yeesh, the mere mention of a weapon was enough for her to grab the chair.
"Was there a sword with me when I… arrived?"
"N-No…" Nami suppressed a shudder; his voice was extremely unnerving.
The Dark One suppressed a sigh; there were reasons he didn't talk often. But, the lack of his weapon made him nervous- the Arcanium blade was not something he wanted to lose. The thing had been bloody expensive, and several Minion sacrifices had gone into improving it.
The ship was moving- if it had been keeping a steady course for the entire time he had been out, the place where his weapon landed would likely be very far away. But, there was still a small chance, one that he felt he had to take.
Gently pushing the girl aside, the Ruler of the Ruined Tower exited to sickbay. He seemed to be near the back of the ship- the best place he could be, for what he was about to do; anywhere else would risk damage to the vessel.
Calming himself, the Dark One turned to the girl who had followed him out.
"Which way would be where I first landed?"
With a confused look and a second of thought, she pointed back and to the port a little. Nodding in gratitude, he raised his hand, palm facing towards to indicated direction, concentrating and focusing his mana to the task at hand.
The armored man grew more and more strange when he was awake. The first time would have been when he slammed aboard, the second when he had caused that weird gem to shatter, and now, where he stood, hand outward, eyes closed, concentrating on nothing in particular.
He seemed intent on what he was doing. Taking advantage of this, Nami hurried to the nearest Straw Hat crewmember.
The news that their passenger was moving around brought all but one crewmember to the back of the ship (Zoro expressed more interest in his nap).
The Dark One hadn't noticed the girl leave, let alone return with several of her friends. His senses were straining backward, combing the seas for the magical aura of his weapon.
It took several minutes, but he did eventually come across its faint signature. Opening his eyes, he allowed himself a victorious smile before blasting all the mana he had into pulling his weapon towards his outstretched hand.
The assembled crew members felt their hair stand on end (except for the living skeleton, who couldn't really feel his hair nowadays) as the shimmering light distortion surrounding the man-in-a-can intensified greatly- instead of making them just a little bit dizzy like normal, it made their eyes burn and water as their sixth senses screamed at them.
It didn't seem to be affecting just them, either- the local seagulls were scattering, and the few fish to be seen near the surface of the water immediately swam away. Had they paid any attention, the crew would have also noticed ripples in the water, moving away from the concentrating individual aboard the Thousand Sunny.
Captain Vonvarr of the Marine caravel Bucket sniffed the air; something didn't seem quite right. There was some sort of soft, electrical feeling in the air, and such a feeling never bode well for Justice.
Scratching his head, he looked around- the only other things out of place were the panicking birds, frantic fish, and the weird, distant whooshing noise he could swear he was hearing, and getting closer.
Squinting off the port bow, he tried to make out where the noise was coming from. It certainly didn't sound like a cannonball; they normally whistled, not whooshed.
His curiosity wasn't answered in quite the way he was hoping, as he was knocked unconscious by the pommel of a flying sword that hit him in the face.
Silence was not something to be suspicious of. However, when Monkey D. Luffy is your captain, that generally meant that A, something interesting was happening, B, the idiot had fallen overboard, or C, the captain's narcolepsy had kicked in. For pretty much all of those options, Roronoa Zoro felt he could safely ignore the events happening elsewhere on the ship.
However, when this silence was accompanied by his hair trying to stick out in more directions than normal, his curiosity grew just a tad.
But, still not enough for him to abandon his nap. Closing his eyes, the swordsman went back to sleeping the afternoon away.
It was not extremely difficult to conceal oneself, when so many of your crew are bigger and of higher priority than you. Usopp, for instance, had found out he could hide behind many of the smaller crew (save Chopper, half the time), and go unnoticed because he looked weak and had a low profile.
Currently, he was watching the spectacle from behind Brook –who seemed to be trying to keep his afro from going spiky-, speculating on how the Sunny's guest was doing what he was going.
This electric feeling… the Rumble-Rumble fruit? No, Enel had that… plus, he didn't make our eyes hurt when we looked at him. He has to have some kind of Devil Fruit, though; it's pretty much the only way to explain what he's doing; although it may just be me going crazy. Except that I'm probably one of the sanest people on this ship...
The rest of the spectators were thinking similarly to Usopp –similar to most of his train of thought, at least-, and were considering what type of Devil Fruit their guest had. It would help if they knew more about him, though; it was difficult to determine ability based on: 1: wavy, 'evil' aura, 2: glowing eyes, 3: making nearby people feel like they were being exposed to low-voltage electricity, 4: talking helmets, 5: falling from the sky, and 6: having a voice that made them all cringe on the inside.
But, he wasn't giving them any help in that regard. He just stood there, palm outstretched, for several minutes. Some of the Straw-Hats were even thinking of going back to what they were doing, until Usopp moved to the railing next to the can-man.
"Usopp…?"
The marksman didn't answer, instead lowering his goggles towards where the armored man's hand pointed. He was completely oblivious to the fact that he was standing next to the man he was 'somewhat' terrified of at the moment, his curiosity taking priority over fear for the time being.
"What is it? Is there something cool over there?" The captain sounded eager, as usual.
"No… well, maybe… it looks like there's something flying towards us…"
"Is it another guy in armor?"
"No, it looks to be too small for OH MY GOD IT'S A FLYING SWORD!" Terror regaining immediate priority over even common sense, the marksman dove for cover behind Nami.
"Why are you hiding behind me? And what did you mean by a flying sword!"
"E-Exactly what is s-sounds like…"
None of the other crewmembers had quite the eyesight of the scared sniper; they couldn't see anything detailed about the little dot on the horizon. The tension rose even further as the assembled crew leaned ever-so-slightly forward, curious to see what had terrified Usopp and what the armored man was doing.
Several seconds passed, and one by one, the crewmembers' jaws dropped as they witnessed a rather large sword flying rather fast towards their ship. As they realized the speed at which it must have been moving, several of them either took defensive stances or hid inside the sickbay.
A few more seconds passed…
Sanji, the chef, set one foot on the rail, preparing to jump and kick the weapon to redirect it; Franky, the shipwright, prepared to unleash some of his cyborgian arsenal; Robin, the archaeologist, raised her hands to… do something; the captain's eyes still shone brightly at yet another cool thing to happen that week, and everyone else… well, they were watching through the sickbay window.
The weapon wasn't showing any difference in speed or direction. With a low growl, Sanji tensed his muscles and prepared to jump and intercept.
"No." It was the first time the chef had heard the man speak. While he had heard exaggerated rumors of the man's voice, he hadn't anticipated such… force behind just a single word. The shock alone ended the cook's movement.
Franky fired several shots from his arm, but they all missed the narrow and fast-moving target- with a growl of his own, the tall shipwright expanded one of his shields and moved to cover the frozen chef.
Robin did not do anything, for two reasons- the man had indicated, with a single word, that the weapon should not be interrupted; second, the same man had changed his stance- from extreme concentration to a more relaxed posture; like seeing the sword brought relief and ease. This did not stop her, however, from scooting slightly to the side of the weapon's trajectory.
The Exploder of Melvin Underbelly was indeed relieved- the reality of the Arcanium blade before him assured his mind that he was not, in fact, going bonkers. Bracing himself once again, the Overlord moved, as fast as he could, and grabbed the flying weapon out of the air.
The transfer of motion sent the Overlord skidding backwards, gouging furrows in the deck. The force of the weapon wrenched his arm, and he nearly hit several of the assembled crew- but, he had his trusty sword back.
Holding his aching shoulder, he turned back to his new acquaintances. All but one were staring at him in shock (that last one was staring at him in amazement); apparently, flying swords weren't particularly common in this dimension. Heck, they weren't common in his dimension.
"So... COOL! Can you teach me how to glow? Or make weapons fly at you?"
The Overlord stared at the straw-hatted boy in wonder. He must be extremely dense, or fearless...
In an attempt to raise his weapon, the Overlord realized that the sword had been moving very, very fast. Dropping the item he had just gotten back, the man fell to his knees and cradled the arm that was burning with six kinds of pain.
"Awesome-man! Are you all right? Is your armor damaged at all?"
"I think he's injured again, Captain." From brief shock back to her standard, calculative gaze, the tall woman didn't seem to be fazed by much.
Every time I awaken, I just get hit with more and more pain...
Ocean's pretty, though.
-Clonk-
I'll have you all know that when you subscribe/favorite a story of mine, it puts me under pressure to maintain/increase quality, which can make me stressed. However, if you don't subscribe/favorite, it makes me think that my story is absolute crap, which makes me want to discontinue it. I think I will call this "Emo Writer Syndrome".
And the "-Clonk-" at the end was the Overlord passing out. Again. Quick question, should I use hyphens on the sides of sound effects like that? I was thinking it could get confusing otherwise, since I am italicizing thoughts in this story.
Finally, expect another delay for Chapter 3. I realized earlier that I have more than ten weeks of schoolwork to do, and a little over two weeks to do them in. Plus I've recently grown addicted to Arrested Development. Man, I'm really bad with priorities.