Chapter 4: The Little King's Story

I was a month shy of 16 when Brook and I finally set sail to meet our future Captain for the first time. We would be operating under a tight schedule, but I was determined to make sure everything worked out fine. The plan was very simple. Introduce ourselves early. Watch over him as he trains. Offer to educate him and his brothers. We couldn't stay on Dawn Island forever of course, so lessons would happen whenever possible.

The plan was to set off weeks in advance, arrive roughly around when I estimated Shanks would be there by having a Whitebeard Commander drop us off in the North Blue, cross the rough ocean currents that separated the North Blue from the East Blue, then sail to Dawn Island. This was Phase 1 of our plan for the year.

12 years before Luffy's first voyage

Brook was playing a slow, calm tune on his violin while observing his nakama. Robin stood at the helm, steering the ship with a pair of arms sprouted on either side of the wheel to steer it as she gazed at the island their boat was steadily approaching. It was a small galley at most, with only a small cabin and a medium-sized sail, unimpressive and unmarked in any way. As Robin looked away to smile at Brook, he detected the small hint of nervousness she felt.

"Robin-san, you should relax. I'm excited to meet Captain-san too, but you're so tense it's making my nerves tingle. But I have no nerves which can tingle, yohohoho! Skull Joke!" exclaimed Brook's high voice as he continued to play a calming melody.

Robin nodded, and took a slow, deep breath. Brook was right. There was nothing to fear, and it'd be hard to disrupt someone like Luffy from being who they were. But she couldn't help but worry, both about the possibility that she'd change her Captain for the worse by altering his childhood, and the nervous butterflies she felt in her stomach when she thought back to their fearless leader as an adult. What would she feel? Joy? Disappointment? Calm? Attraction? That last thought in particular made her shudder in fear at what could come next once she saw him again. She already had confidence issues in accepting her attraction and love for the fully grown Luffy because of her age and past. The last thing she needed was to literally feel like a cradle robber and pedophile.

"It's not your bounty that's got you down, is it?" asked Brook as he looked at the wanted poster pinned up against the cabin door, showing a picture of a 15-year old Robin, arms crossed and eyes closed in a purple top, with Saul clearly visible and grinning in the background.

Flower Oracle Robin

Wanted Alive – 17,000,000 Beli

Ah, yes. The World Government had finally caught on to her existence. She wasn't sure how or why, but the story had managed to leak to the higher ups that she had predicted the oncoming Buster Call that wiped the island of Ohara barren. Her bets were on a Cipher Pol mole in Whitebeard's family, as it wouldn't be the first time their agents had infiltrated a pirate crew. Just look at Byrnndi World; between Cipher Pol, the Marines, and allied pirates the infamous man had been brought down near bloodlessly. The World Government's wild success with the operation led to both the creation of the Shichibukai and the creation of additional Cipher Pol units, numbered 0 through 9. Just her luck. So much for a low profile before the crew assembled. Now the government wanted her for questioning.

Snapping out of her pessimistic thoughts when Brook tapped her on the shoulder, she steered the boat carefully into the Foosha Village wharf as Brook took down the sail. Stepping across onto the dock, the duo took a long look around, making note of reddish mahogany pirate ship docked by them, the Jolly Roger of the Red Hair Pirates clear as day on several flags hanging off of the ship. Looks like they'd be stepping into a party, if Luffy's stories were right.

Robin was wearing her training outfit with a lightweight purple hooded jacket on and pulled up to hide parts of her face, while Brook wore a similar outfit to what she'd found him in with a snappy open coat, pants, top hat, cane and cravat although the usual blue one had been replaced by a bright red cravat embedded with green gemstones. He felt no need to disguise his presence, as he had yet to make any waves beyond his skeletal appearance.

Following the loud laughter they could hear echoing throughout the town, the two made their way to a building labeled 'Party's Bar'. Gesturing for Brook to follow her, the two stealthily made their way behind the bar as Robin willed an ear to form underneath one of the open windows and an eye to form behind the barmaid on the bottle rack, hidden between two bottles of gin. Robin sat down in the grass, leant against the bar, and closed her eyes peacefully. Brook stood by her, patiently waiting against a wall where no one looking from the inside would be able to see him.

The two sat there for about an hour or so as they head the pirates laughing loudly as an indignant, squeaky-sounding Luffy complained about not being taken seriously. At that moment, Robin had never felt so relatable to her captain after all the years she spent being mothered. She smiled, beyond happy at their excellent timing. From the sounds of it, Luffy hadn't eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi fruit just yet which meant today was the perfect day to introduce themselves.

The two sat patiently as they heard Higuna bust into the bar, cause a scene, then depart when Shanks deescalated the situation, followed by Luffy's frustrated outburst. Once she heard Shanks exclaim about the Gomu Gomu no Mi, she stood up, causing Brook to stand up straight and step in behind her. Calmly, the two made their way to the front and stepped inside quietly. Due to Shanks' uproar over Luffy eating the Devil Fruit, nobody but Benn Beckmann seemed to notice them. Beckman gave the two a once over before grinning widely when he saw Brook. He could already tell this'd be a riot.

Sitting down by Luffy's side, the two managed to get everybody, even Shanks and Luffy who was still upside down, to focus on them when Brook raised a bony finger and asked if they served sangria.

Everybody stopped what they were doing and gaped at the duo(mostly Brook), to the point where Shanks dropped Luffy on his head and even Luffy didn't seem to notice as he sat up, his rubbery jaw stretching all the way to the floor and his eyes popping out of his head.

"SUGOI!" exclaimed the excited boy as he gestured wildly at Brook, making the skeleton titter like a schoolgirl and making a shooing motion to stop. Like a dam, the silence broke.

"WHOAAAAAAA!" exclaimed the bar patrons in shock and surprise as conversation broke down into excited gasps and shouts over the newcomer. Shanks stood up, a determined look in his eye as he walked up to Brook and stared at the now laughing skeleton as Luffy continued to gush over him.

"SUGOI! Skeleton-san, join my crew!" exclaimed Shanks with stars in his eyes, causing the other pirates in the bar to roar out a cheer in agreement.

"Ara, sorry, no can do. I've already got a crew," said Brook apologetically, causing Shanks to completely deflate along with much of his crew, "Oh."

Makino watched on with big eyes as she brought Brook his drink and he took a sip. Robin eyed the nervous girl that was about her age and offered her an understanding smile. The bartender however, kept her wits about her and offered Robin a small grin as a reply before asking, "Anything for you?"

"Coffee, if you have any," requested Robin as she made to pull down her hood. Makino nodded as the Red Hair Pirates turned their attention to her. Most just shrugged or went to gossiping about the pretty nee-san next to the skeleton, but Shanks grinned at her before offering a small bow.

"Hello, the name is Shanks. What's a lovely lady like you doing here, taking a vacation?" questioned Shanks, wagging his eyebrows.

Robin smiled, "Something like that. A girl has to avoid the Marines somewhere nice if at all possible." The man was nice and from everything Luffy'd mentioned about him(which was a lot) the man was Luffy's role model. But, she already had a Captain.

Shanks' eyebrows scrunched a bit in confusion before Beckmann spoke up from the back of the bar, "It's Oracle Robin Captain," said the man as he took a puff of his cigarette, "You know, the one everyone in the New World is saying can see the future?" Robin's countenance didn't change but internally, Robin crouched down ground as a rain cloud poured over her; 'It's worse than I thought. Everybody knows that I'm from an alternate dimension' moped the girl as she drew a circle in the dirt.

"Oh!" exclaimed Shanks, slapping a fist into his palm in understanding. Lucky Roo was, as always, eating a piece of ham from the bone with an eternal grin on his face as Yasopp gave Robin and Brook the once-over. "I dunno Captain, sounds like a lot of hocus pocus to me."

Shanks laughed before asking, "So Robin-san, got anything we should know about?"

Robin thought it over for a moment before mechanically turning her head at Yasopp, crossing her arms, and causing an arm to appear from the roof, pointing straight down at Yasopp. "This one needs to go visit his family before you leave the East Blue to spend some time with his son. Otherwise I see incredible pain and hardship in that boy's future, especially if he doesn't learn how to fight bravely." She had long since learned that playing the part of a seeing mystic made people take her far more seriously than if she rationally explained how she knew things she shouldn't and that she was from an alternate dimension, as sad as it was.

Yasopp looked visibly uncomfortable and torn before bolting up and racing out of the tavern, heading straight towards the Red Hair Pirates' ship. In the distance, a few words were faintly heard, "See ya later Captain, I'm going on vacation! I'll take the dingy! Pick me up from where we first met when we're ready to leave the East Blue! Yahoooo!"

Everyone stared in shock before they all began roaring in laughter.

"FINALLY!" exclaimed Lucky Roo as he set down a piece of mutton, "That man has only talked about three things since I met him. His son, his aim, and his son. Maybe he'll add a third thing to talk about after this!" Everyone laughed harder at that.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Shanks chuckled before responding, "True enough. He was pretty sore when we ended up docking here instead of his hometown, Syrup Village. He was torn between his ties as a pirate and his need to see his son, but it's no problem at all if he wants to take a vacation while we're all on vacation. He could have just asked, and he'd have been there a week earlier! Hopefully he doesn't get into too much trouble on his own…"

Luffy was now staring at Robin with stars in his eyes at how cool her power was.

"Ne, ne! What can you tell me about MY future, Robin!" asked the boy excitedly.

Robin looked down at the boy and got her first real look at his smiling face and felt a warm, happy feeling in her stomach that thankfully, had not a trace of eroticism attached. This boy was clearly the person she fell hard for in his mannerisms and way of speaking, but that love was strictly emotional at the moment. Internally, she breathed easy. This would be far easier on her nerves, now that she was certain she was no pervert.

Robin offered the boy a warm smile in return before placing a hand on his head and gently messing with his hair as she closed her eyes, the smile never leaving her face. "Tell me, what's your name?"

"Luffy!" exclaimed the boy, his excitement palpable. Brook, having finished with his drink turned to look at the boy, studying him with an eager smile.

"Mhm, Luffy…what a nice name. I see so much. More than I think I've ever seen for anybody else. You ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi? That fruit will make you very powerful. You're going to take its power to a level never seen before," said Robin in an eerily calm voice which she'd mentally dubbed her 'trance' voice.

"SUGOI! Now I'm REALLY glad I ate that fruit, even if it tasted like dirt!" exclaimed Luffy happily. Shanks just shook his head bemusedly at the boy's singlemindedness.

Robin opened her eyes and offered the boy another smile, eyes crinkling as she stared at him and took in his features. Yes, this was definitely Luffy, if his behavior hadn't given it away already. Her childish Captain had always had a youthful element to him in his face that was notable on the young five-year old standing next to her seat. By the time she was through, he'd hopefully be just a bit happier than when he first set off, with the knowledge that both of his brothers were awaiting him out on the Grand Line.

A cough interrupted her train of thought as Brook bowed deeply to the boy, bonking him lightly with his top hat as he introduced himself to which her future Captain enthusiastically returned his greetings, and asked him if he pooped. Robin giggled. Yup. This was Luffy alright.

"A toast! To this happy meeting between us all!" exclaimed Brook as he stood up straight and pulled out his violin. The Red Hair Pirates cheered as they scrambled to locate something with which to make music.

The first note played, then the second, before Brook broke into Bink's Sake and the Red Hair Pirates caught on, using the tables, chairs, window panes, and even a few instruments they had on hand to play along, singing loudly with Brook as Luffy stared in awe, mesmerized, before a few verses in he joined into the chorus.

We spent the next week or so visiting Luffy at Makino's bar every day. We rented some rooms from the local inn and settled in, laughing with our future Captain who took to us like a fish to water while the Red Hair Pirates went out to explore the East Blue and check up on Yasopp. This eased a lot of the tension I'd been feeling for years, ever since I woke up as my eight-year old self now that I could visibly see myself making a difference in my nakama's childhoods. Brook had taught Luffy how to play a small ukulele he'd brought along from Foodvalten, while I'd managed to keep Luffy until late at the bar as I told him, Makino and Brook accounts from some of the books I'd brought along of some historical events, fascinating Luffy and leading him to declare that history was cool. Brook had a good laugh later at my expense due to my inability to get my smile off my face after he'd said that to me.

We made a point of showing up every day at around noon for lunch because of a specific event I felt that I shouldn't alter; how Luffy got his straw hat. I did my best to write down everything I could think of related to the story I'd heard him tell us, as Brook and I sat down to brainstorm what to do and not do to make sure everything went as planned. And so, we showed up at noon knowing that one morning, Higuna would return. Brook was against letting the man we'd befriended, Shanks, lose an arm, but I reasoned that Shanks made that choice that day of his own volition to lose that arm, and that it was no accident. A Yonkou doesn't simply lose an arm to a small Sea King. There had to be a reason for it. Brook eventually agreed to let happen what may happen, against his better judgement. Then that day finally arrived.

"I've decided to become a pirate on my own now!" said Luffy as gazed out over the men preparing the Red Hair Pirates' ship for voyage. Shanks stuck his tongue out at him.

"Bleeeh! I wasn't gonna take you anyway! You'll never be a pirate!" exclaimed the man with a grin and a clear twinkle in his eyes. Luffy grit his teeth in frustration at his idol's lack of faith.

"I will!" exclaimed Luffy angrily, "Someday, I'm gonna gather a crew every good as yours, and I'm gonna find the greatest treasure in the world, AND I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES! I'LL SHOW YOU!"

Shanks smiled at his words. "You're gonna surpass us, huh?" Luffy was visibly trying to hold himself together as Shanks lifted his good arm to his head. "In that case…I'll leave this hat to you. It's dear to me. Take good care of it!"

Luffy was shocked silent, before tears started to leak from his eyes as the straw hat on his head covered his eyes. Teeth grit, he watched the Red Hair Pirates leave as his tears flowed. Shanks watched, a pleased smile on his face as he saw Luffy being comforted by Makino, as Robin and Brook stepped forward next to her and each placed a hand on Luffy's shoulders.

'Come bring it back to me some day! Once you've become a great pirate and made some amazing friends! That's our promise, Luffy!'

Robin turned to Luffy, a carefully guarded expression masking the anxiety she felt inside as she readied herself mentally. Something about now just screamed at her that now was the time for this.

"Ne, Luffy? If you're going to be Pirate King, you're going to need a crew. What do you say if I join your crew?" asked Robin as she stubbornly stared at her feet, refusing to look at the boy who'd now stopped leaking tears as he gazed up at her, amazed.

"Me too Luffy-san, me too! I don't know why, but my old bones feel something amazing about you!" added Brook, "I can't wait to be a pirate musician again, yohohoho!"

Luffy stepped away from Makino's comforting hold on his shoulders to stare at the two in shock. It took a few seconds, but a massive, happy grin came to his face as he nodded, "Yosh! Sounds good! Now we're three, and together we'll sail the seas and find One Piece! Take that Shanks, all my nakama are amazing!"

Makino gave Robin and Brook long, searching stares before deciding to hold off on any doubts and instead smiled at Luffy, happy to see that his previously sad mood had completely disappeared thanks to her new friends.

It was several days later that Garp finally arrived and marched Luffy off to Mt. Colubo. Brook and I were…frankly, terrified. Garp the Fist was a legend amongst all pirates, and Brook had heard enough from hanging out with the Whitebeard Pirates to know what was up. I knew fully well that that man was a monster. The man that brought in Roger, Shiki, and Byrnndi World. The Hero of the Marines. If he caught us now, it was the end.

We slowly followed the trail of destroyed foliage Garp left in his wake as he marched up the mountain, Luffy shouting his head off in protest which Garp ignored or silenced with a Fist of Love, saying that the mountain life would be good for him and that if he really wanted to he could go and visit Foosha sometime. But made it absolutely clear that he would be living on Mt. Colubo from now on.

Eventually, we reached a house in the middle of the jungle. We took cover behind some bushes a third of a kilometer away, still incredibly nervous at the thought of being discovered. Eventually, a crash was heard as Garp burst out of the wall. And immediately turned towards our location with a deadly look in his eye.

Brook shrieked shrilly and immediately began to run away, and I followed straight after him in fear. We ran, thundering down the mountain as we heard a crashing noise behind us indicating that trees were falling due to Garp's charge. It wasn't long before he caught up to us however; Garp the Fist was simply not someone you outran unless he got bored or hungry.

A shadow leapt over us and lo and behold, Garp stood, arms crossed, eyeing us gruffly. We immediately turned left and continued to sprint, before Garp stepped out from behind a tree, the same look on his face as we came closer and closer.

We turned again.

Out stepped Garp from the middle of a stream, a frog sitting on his head as it croaked loudly.

Again we ran.

Out stepped Garp from behind a small rock formation.

Again.

Another tree.

Again.

The ground like a meerkat.

Again.

Upside down from the leaf canopy.

Exhausted and terrified, we turned around and bolted towards Foosha Village and our boat. And then out stepped Garp from the mouth of the local megafauna, a giant crococdile. We came to a dead stop, gaped at him in shock, before turning in a different direction and running away before taking cover behind a rock once we were sure we were out of his line of sight.

"Do- *gasp* -do you think we lost him, Robin-san?" asked Brook as he struggled to catch his breath (but he had no lungs with which to catch air, yohohoho! Skull Joke!)

"Why don't you tell me?"

"EEEEEEK!" screamed Brook.

WHAM!

Brook slammed several inches into the ground as Garp jumped down from atop the boulder they were hiding behind and slapped him downwards casually. Robin froze immediately, trapped now that Brook was down. A thousand regrets welled in her heart as she raised her hands in the air, indicating her surrender.

Garp stared at the two before putting a hand to his mouth in shock and pointing at Brook.

"Wah! What happened to you, buddy!?" shouted the startled Marine Admiral as his eyes popped out of his head. Robin was too tired to sweatdrop at that, and Brook was too busy being in pain to say anything. Regaining his composure, Garp stretched out the kinks in his limbs as he looked them over once more.

"Why were you following me?" asked Garp, eyes narrowing.

"W-w-we were trying to find out where Luffy was going," began Robin, "You see, we started tutoring him ever since we met him at Makino's bar. We were surprised to see him leaving the village and into the jungle."

Garp continued to eye them warily as he cracked his knuckles. "Is that so?"

Robin gulped as her life flashed before her eyes. She had two regrets. The first was that Luffy was too young for her to confess her affection for him. The other was that she was going to die without her nakama by her side. And a third, that had just managed to worm its way into her terrified mind was that nobody would find their bodies after Garp got through demolishing them and that they'd be left outside decomposing under the elements….well, she'd decompose, at least. Brook would probably just lay there.

The two were shocked when Garp bowed low rapidly, "Thank you so much for watching after my knuckleheaded grandson! I was wondering how I'd make sure that the boy didn't have rocks for brains while getting strong up here, but this is perfect! You two! Teach my adorable grandsons how to be smart!" exclaimed Garp, a wide grin on his face as Robin just gaped at him like a fish out of water. A faint "ow" could be heard coming from where Brook's face was planted. Garp smiled sheepishly before pulling Brook out of the ground, standing him up, and patting the dirt off him heavily, almost making the skeleton man fall over again.

"…s-sure. Yeah. That's the plan. Will do," said Robin with a glassy, disbelieving look in her eyes as she attempted to salute the man, but instead only managed a sloppy salute to which the grizzled vice admiral grinned and nodded his head in acceptance. Mentally, she was willing all of the craziness of the last twenty minutes to go away and never come back; not even all of the other Staw Hats at their most obnoxious could shellshock her as badly as this.

Garp nodded again, satisfied, before turning away and marching down the mountain towards Foosha and back to his Marine ship as he idly pulled out a bag of crackers and began to chow down.

The two future Straw Hats just stared until he was out of their line of sight before Brook turned to face her.

"Did that really just happen?"

The next day

"Aww…so you won't stay with me?" asked Luffy glumly as he kicked at the pebbles sitting in the dirt clearing in front of Dadan's home. Robin gave him a sympathetic smile before crouching down to his eye level and patting him fondly on the head.

"Don't worry, we'll be back every once in a while for a few days. We promise."

Luffy nodded sadly as Ace watched the two wierdos hanging around Dadan's place suspiciously from a distance up in a tree. He couldn't wait for them to go away; they kept stopping him from doing what he wanted and knocking that stupid smile off of the rubber boy's face for following him around. And what was with their calling him Captain? Weirdos.

Brook laughed lightly before smiling at the boy, "Don't worry Captain-san, we'll be back before you know it, yohohoho!"

Backing away a bit, the two waved at the saddened boy before resuming their journey back down to Foosha Village; it was time for Part 2 of the plan.

A few days after Moriah's loss to Kaido

Hocha stared in confusion as a small dingy pulled into the wharf of Foodvalten, before deciding to head over and see who was arriving. This early in the morning, it was a miracle that she was outside at all but she'd wanted to go and breathe a little fresh air after she'd woken from a rather disturbing dream of what would have happened to the Oharans were it not for Nico Robin's prophetic vision.

As she stepped closer, she heard a pained moan come from the boat as well as a young girl's panicked voice. Once she got close enough, she gasped at the sight. A tall, pale man with purple hair sat in the boat bleeding from what looked like several deep cuts, frozen in his sitting position and a lost look on his face.

The other person was a young girl with pink hair in a black dress desperately trying to get the man's attention and stem the flow of blood, with little success. As she eyed the two over, she felt a resolve to help the desperate little girl save her father.

Stepping into the boat, she tore off a piece of her dress and began to clean one of the many wounds on the large man's person as she began to verbally try and reassure the little girl that her father would be alright.

It was only once the wounds were provisionally wrapped that any semblance of life seemed to return to Moriah. Shifting slightly, he got a look at her exhausted expression as she offered him a small smile. The sun, now rising behind her, caught her golden hair in the light and gave her an angelic appearance that made the man's eyes widen.

Several months later

"Thank you, for all of the help you've given me," said Moriah, a sad smile on his otherwise harsh face as he stared at the woman that'd aided him so. "Yeah!" chimed Perona after her father figure, "Thank you so much! I don't know what we would have done without your help!"

Hocha blushed lightly at the praise, before taking a good look at Moriah's face. "So you're off, huh?"

Moriah nodded woodenly, as he recalled the last wish of one of his last crewmembers to live. "Yeah. My crew may be gone but…they died so that I could live to fight again. I can't let this be the end," said Moriah with far more emotion than he'd ever expressed before.

"…" Hocha was silent as she stared down at her feet and the trio settled into an awkward silence. And then…

"…take me with you," said Hocha shyly, making Moriah's eyes widen while Perona whooped loudly in excitement and tackled the woman around the middle in a tight hug. Moriah's face, normally so clouded by painful past thoughts, broke into an honest smile as he realized what was being said, and what was not being said by the kindly woman.

In the Sabaody Archipelago

Hogback was not having a good year. His one true love, dead. His passion, finished. And the one man with the power to make everything right again, banished off the face of the earth after he was fool enough to face Kaido. Slumped over a drink in the bad side of Sabaody, he weighed his options. He could either try and find out if Moriah was dead or not, try and track down Moriah's devil fruit on the assumption he was dead, or he could turn to science in order to try and resurrect his beloved. Hogback easily opted for the third; he was not one for traveling on the seas or chasing rumors. But in order to try and resurrect his beloved, he'd need many test subjects, both living and dead…how would he get the money to pay for all that, or the subjects?

"Damn it! This bastard had to try and fight back and now he's riddled in cuts. If he dies he's worthless!" exclaimed a man walking past the bar. Hogback cocked an ear, listening intently.

"If we can patch him up, a fishman will be worth a fortune! Where are we going to find a doctor around here though?" asked his compatriot, walking by his side.

Hogback's grin became sinister as he began to laugh at the good fortune that befell him. Standing up, he ran to catch up with the duo.

"Excuse me, I heard that you needed somebody to patch up a slave for you. I am Doctor Hogback. Let's talk terms, shall we?" stated the rotund man as he firmly grabbed onto the two men by the shoulders and lead them back into the bar.

On Water 7, one year earlier

"Hm?"

Crocodile sat lounging on the open roof bar of a building, cigar smoke rising as he observed the waterways that made up the city. He absolutely loathed it, even if he could admit to himself that the architecture was impressive. So much water, and so little sand…this entire city was a danger to him, but in order to track down the so-called Oracle, he had no choice but to follow her here.

And there she went, taking a boat ride with…a walking skeleton? Whatever. Closing one eye, a trickle of sand left his finger and floated towards the girl. An eye and ear formed in secret, and he observed the duo intently as he focused in on their conversation, piecing it together via sound and lip reading.

"…have to tell Franky now. I should have probably done this earlier, but now's better than never and it will give him a few years to sort out his inventions," said Robin as she looked about in appreciation of the canals.

Brook sat up at the back of the ship, one leg crossed over the other as he played his violin and drawing appreciative glances from the locals who appreciated the added atmosphere.

"Right. Do you think Franky-san will listen?" asked Brook. Robin bit the inside of her lip in thought, as she thought about the boisterous and eccentric shipwright. If that was him as an adult, what would he be like as a teenager?

"No," conceded Robin, "But we still have to try our best for the sake of Franky and his master, Tom." Brook nodded in agreement.

"We can't leave the possibility of the World Government obtaining one of the Ancient Weapons to chance," concluded Robin determinedly. At that, Crocodile ceased his espionage.

An ancient weapon that the government was pursuing, hidden by a couple of shipwrights? Oh yes, Nico Robin had proven useful. True, it would be best to persuade her to join him sooner than later but beating the World Government to seize this price came first.

Crocodile took a deep drag of his cigar as he sat back, contemplating what the best way to go about getting his hands on this weapon would be, then let loose the smoke slowly as he looked up at the sky. What a weapon indeed.

Let me know your thoughts, as reviews help both motivate me and give me new ideas to implement. As you can see, canon is about to get turned on its head.