Nick reveals his secrets! Untimely family reunion!
AN: Ok, I admit I didn't explain too much about how the suit reacted to the Devil-fruit. But I promise this chapter will help clarify some things.
Nick felt pain along his left side; he slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in a room. He looked around and saw Zoro in the bed next to him. He tried to sit up but two pairs of hands stopped him, he looked up that one pair belonged to a doctor and the other was Nami.
"Easy, you'll reopen your wounds if you move too much." The doctor said as he was helping Nick sit up.
After helping him sit up, the doctor told him how bad his wounds were and that he was healing at an impressive rate. He told him that he and Zoro should be ready to move in two more days. Nick told him that he would heal long before that.
Sanji and Usopp came in with some food in their hands, and before they could say "Hello," Nick had snatched up their food right out of their hands.
"Glad to see that you're back to your old self." Zoro said as he tried to sit up too.
"Hey Captain, I think now's a good time as any to tell us about your self, like you said you would." Sanji said as he let out a puff of smoke.
Nick looked to all of his crewmates in the room and saw that there was no way he could keep anything from them at this point. "Lock the doors and close the blinds. What I have to say can't leave this room."
He looked to his right to see the suitcase all closed up, but there were a lot of scratches on it. "Can you hand me that?" Nick asked Nami as the others were doing as he asked.
"Now, what I'm about to tell you, sounds crazy. Hell, if it hadn't seen it myself I wouldn't think it was true either." Nick said as laughed slightly.
"After what we just say, I think we can keep an open mind." Nami said as she sat down in a chair at the foot of his bed.
"Alright… I was raised in the East Blue, that part is true." He took a deep breath. "But I was born in the year 2056." He stopped to look at their faces.
Usopp's jaw dropped to the floor, Nami and Sanji's eyes widened, and Zoro was able to keep his straight face.
"How did you get here?" Nami asked first.
"Near my village, there a time portal. Every now and then it opens and closes, my family discovered it when I was 4. I've lived here ever since." Nick said.
"What is this thing?" Usopp pointed to the suitcase.
"This is a suit; it was given to me by my grandfather. I was hoping not to use it until we reached the Grand Line. Plus I was hopping we had a bigger crew by then too." Nick said with a guilty look on his face.
"Who is Jarvis?" Nami asked. Nick was surprised when she asked that, she added, "I saw you talking to someone a few days ago, I thought you had a transponder snail, but you didn't have one when you were fighting Arlong."
Nick fist reached for his sunglasses and put them on, he then put the suitcase down. "Jarvis, introduce yourself." The suitcase slowly turned into the suit on it's own.
"Hello, everyone. I am Jarvis." The suit said in Jarvis' voice.
Everyone was in complete shock that the suit was talking on it's own without anyone inside. "How are you doing that?!" Usopp said with slight fear and excitement.
"I am remotely controlling the suit." Jarvis answered as he opened the face plate to revile that there was no one inside, and then closed it to keep them from freaking out too much.
"So are you the suit, or are you in it." Sanji asked with a confused look on his face.
"Both really. I am as much in this suit as Nick was when he fought Arlong."
"Jarvis has been my partner in combat for the past 10 years. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't know how to use the armor as well as I did." Nick said.
"Do you have more of these suits?" Usopp asked with stars shining in his eyes.
Nick turned to Jarvis and gave him a head nod, telling him to answer, "There are a total of 45 suits available. All the suits, but this one in particular, are in lockdown in the mobile armory, hidden in the East Blue. There is even a 'armor repair bay' and workshop to build future suits if needed." Jarvis said as he pointed to 'himself'.
"Lockdown?" Sanji asked.
"There is a security lockout that is preventing me from launching any other suit. Which is why Nick was forced to use this one in his fight with Arlong." Jarvis said as he gestured the suit he was using to speak with.
"What's wrong with this one? You did a good job with it." Usopp said.
"This suit is the weakest. I was given this one to train with and to use for emergencies for the past 10 years. It's getting old and outdated. I was lucky to win the fight with Arlong, in the shape it was in." Nick said
"How are you able to swim? I thought Devil-fruit user couldn't." Zoro asked.
"The Devil-fruit that I ate was from the same time that I came from. And in that time, this Devil-fruit was modified in so many ways. From what I have learned, it was originally a Paramecia-type. But they modified it so much that I have two abilities instead of just one: to be as hard as iron or stretchy as rubber."
"But how did you make your suit stretch too? I saw your leg stretch upward with the suit still around it." Sanji asked.
"The suit is no different than cloths, so like Logia-types, it can stretch too. Although there is a limit to it, I was lucky to be able to stretch it that far in the fight." Nick said with clueless expression on his face.
"You still didn't answer my question on why you can swim." Zoro pointed out.
"On that, I have no clue really. Jarvis thinks it's one of two things; either its because of the Devil-fruit modifications or something about my genetics." Nick said with a slight clueless face.
"If you have all these special powers and suits why did you come here? Why did you come to the Pirate Era?" Nami asked.
"Jarvis, show them." Nick said with a somewhat guilty look on his face.
Nick narrates as Jarvis projects a hologram of the future that he and his family escaped 24 years ago. "The world that we come from isn't a good place. The World Government has control of everything. Within the next 200 years, a great war will break out that would cause the World Government to be the first to gain a weapon that makes it the world's strongest Superpower." After saying that, Jarvis projected the resulting explosion of a nuclear warhead.
"With that weapon, it didn't take long for them to conquer the rest of the world without resistance." Nick continued as Jarvis then projected images of concentration camps, large prisons, and reconditioning camps.
"I was born years after the war; in a world ruled by fear. Those that tried to oppose the World Government's rule were either publicly executed or taken away, never to be seen again."
Jarvis scanned Nick face after noticing his face change, "It's ok, Nick. I'll tell the rest." He then showed an image of the letter 'A' with a circle around it. "A few years before Nick was born, a group of people, who each had extraordinary abilities and backgrounds, banded together to oppose the World Government. They set out to avenge any and all things that the World Government had taken. They were known, to all the people that they inspired, as 'The Avengers'."
Jarvis showed recruitment posters from the resistance: 'Captain America: The Soldier', 'Iron Man: The Knight', 'Thor: The God', 'The Hulk: The Beast', 'Black Widow: The Spy', 'Hawkeye: The Archer', 'Black Panther: The King, 'Ant-Man: The Thief', 'Wasp: The Pixy', and 'Scarlet Witch: The Sorcerer'.
Jarvis projected the Avengers fighting as a team against World Gov. armies, protecting refugees. "They stood for the people that suffered under the World Government's harsh rule. These actions were carried out by the World Gov. enforcers." Recruitment posters from Obadiah Stane, Justin Hammer, Victor von Doom, Wilson Fisk, and a few others. "The Avengers' war against them lasted nearly two decades."
"All but a few died fighting to protect the others, and the ones that survived helped form the 'Avengers Resistance' not long after." A film clip was shown of squads that wore the Avengers 'A' on their shoulder as they were fighting the armies of World Gov.
"Not saying that place is like a 'Paradise', but why did you and your family leave? You don't seam like the kind of guy to run away." Usopp asked.
Jarvis turned to Nick, "My mother… joined the Resistance a couple of months after I was born. I watched an enforcer kill her when I was 4."
The room went dead silent after that last part. Nick then looked to Nami who looked at him with a face that said, 'I'm so sorry'.
"I know how it feels to watch someone you love most get killed and you couldn't do anything to stop it." Nick said as he lowered his head. "Immediately after she died, my family took me, the armory, and Jarvis through the portal… and here we are 24 years later."
Zoro knew that now would be a good time to change the subject. "I'm going to guess that one of those 'Avengers' created you?" Zoro asked Jarvis.
"Correct, I was created by Tony Stark. Codenamed: Iron Man. In fact the suit that you saw Nick use, along with the others in the armory, are all of his creations. Unfortunately, he was one of the Avengers that were killed in the uprising. His wife gave the suits to us, thinking they could do more good here in the past than the future." Jarvis said as he showed a picture of Tony and Virginia 'Pepper' Stark together in the armory. The date stamped at the left corner showed '2045'.
"Before 'The Avengers' started their uprising, they realized something that only they could. The world was not as it should be." Nick added.
"What do you mean?" Sanji asked after letting out a puff of smoke.
"I'll just say it bluntly to save time. The World Government should not have even existed at all." Nick said as he drank some water that was on the table next to him.
Everyone, even Zoro, was shocked by that statement. "What do you mean 'should not have existed'? It's existed for the past 800 years!" Nami shouted.
"Somehow, someone… At the moment, the Avengers, Jarvis, not even I know who… Someone or some people went back that far and changed everything!" Nick said with his hands up.
"So your mission is to save the future by altering the past on your own terms." Sanji said as he let out a puff of smoke. "What would have happened to us if you hadn't interfered?" he asked with slight caution in his voice.
Nick looked to him, he knew there was no way to lie to any of them now. He took a deep breath, looked to the suit and said, "Jarvis… tell what would have happened to them, starting with Zoro."
Jarvis posted Zoro's original obituary that Nick saw when he recruited him. "According to history, Roronoa Zoro was executed at the hands of Axe-hand Morgan for standing up to his spoiled son."
Zoro winced at the thought of what would have happened. "To think I was going to die like that."
"Usopp's village was originally going to be burned down and Kaya's fortune passed on to her butler, Kuro. Usopp himself was killed in the attack on the village."
Usopp hands on his lap started to grip tight as he lowered his head and shut his eyes tight. "Kaya…"
"The Baratie was supposed to be attacked by Don Krieg, all the crew and cooks onboard were killed, including you Sanji. Don Krieg was later killed by Mihawk afterwards, and in that fight, the Baratie went down in pieces."
Sanji stopped staring at Nick and looked to the images projected and dropped his cigarette. "He saved everything… The restaurant, the crew, the old geezer…"
"And the latest change we made would be here, in Cocoyasi Village. Everything that happened when we got here was going to happen. History says that when the villagers stood up to Arlong, they were all wiped out."
"What would have happened to me?" Nami asked with slight fear in her voice.
Nick turned to her with sad eyes, "You would have killed yourself if I hadn't stop that blade when I did," his voice was soft and sorrow.
Nami's hands started to shake, "For a second there, I almost thought I would have too."
Nick then turned to Sanji, who lit a new cigarette. "I did what I did for all of you because I saw something in all of you that reminded me of what I once was; someone desperate for hope." He said as he looked to the floor. "And that we all have a dream that we are willing to fight for."
"How does becoming the next 'King of the Pirates' help you change history for the better?" Sanji asked.
Nick started to laugh a little, "Well that part was actually wasn't my 'mission' so to speak. It was a promise I made to two people. When my mother was alive, she use to tell me stories of pirates… and I would always say that I would become the king of them." He said with a slight smile. Nick then turned to Nami, "And the other person was the man who was the closest thing I had to a father, Shanks."
Given how much he treasured that hat, she can understand that he saw Shanks as family more than a role model. It didn't take long for the others to understand, but they got the gist of it.
"Plus, Jarvis said that the only person who ever stood up to the World Gov. and had a chance at winning was 'Gold Roger' himself." He laughed again as he spoke, "So I thought, 'two birds, one stone'. Not to mention, it's been a lot of fun and a hell of an adventure a long the way." Nick finished as he rested his back against the wall and put his hands behind his head.
"Only you could see going up against the World Gov. as fun." Zoro said with a smile.
"And what about Jarvis?" Nami asked.
"My sole purpose now is to help Nick save the future. In any way I can. I guess you can say, it is my dream as well." Jarvis answered.
Everyone else in the room started to laugh in agreement.
"So now that you all know the truth, what are you going to do? You're all free to chose your own destiny, that was something, I wanted to be sure, was your choice." Nick said with a face with slight guilt.
Zoro was the first to speak, "I never would have met, let alone fight, Hawkeye Mihawk if it wasn't for you. I owe you more than my life; I owe you everything for helping me get the chance to reach my ambition. My sword will always be yours."
Nick gave a nod as a 'Thank you'.
Usopp then spoke, "Well… Looks like I will be a very well known 'Warrior of the Sea' now that I'm the vice-Captain of a time traveler."
Nick couldn't help but huff at that part about 'vice-Captain'.
Sanji was next, "Thanks to you I have a chance to find the 'All Blue', and I won't let that go to waist by leaving you guys. Plus I doubt you guys would last a few days without me." He finished with a puff of smoke.
"Well of course, you're the ship's cook." Nick said with a slight laugh as he talked.
Nick looked to Nami for her answer. She looked to the ground, "My home is safe now, because of all of you. If you're willing, I'd like to be your crewmate again."
Nick held out his hand to her, "You never stopped being our crewmate."
Nami then hugged Nick tight and thanked him again.
In the light of their recent victory against Arlong, the whole village threw a massive party that lasted the whole day. By nighttime, Zoro was drunk from drinking a lot of booze, Usopp was singing on a platform, and Sanji was making a lot of the party food. Nick ate a lot of the food that would have made a normal man sick to his stomach.
Nick saw Gen leave the party with a bottle in his hand. Nick followed him all the way to a burial ground with a wooden cross. Gen pored some of the bottle on the cross, Nick couldn't here what he was saying, but he did here the word 'daughters'. After hearing that, Nick decided to walk up to him.
Gen heard footsteps behind him and slowly turned around, he wasn't surprised to see that it was Nick. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw you leave the party. Got curious." Nick said with a smile, the smile went away when he looked to the cross in the ground, "Is this her? Bellemere?"
"Yeah, its her." Gen answered.
Nick took off his hat and placed it over his heart, closed his eyes, "My condolences." He put his hat back on, "She must have been a hell of a woman to raise someone like Nami." Nick said with a slight laugh.
"Yeah." He laughed a little too, "She was."
Nick started to walk away, "Hey, Shepard." Nick turned to face Gen, who was still facing the cross, "I know Nami asked to be in your crew, and where you're all going is going to be dangerous. So if you ever do something to hurt her, I'll kill you."
Nick looked at him for a few seconds, tipped his hat to him as he said, "I believe you," Nick then walked up to him and held up a piece of paper. "Here."
"What's this?" Gen asked.
"That is my transponder signal. If someone like Arlong comes here again, don't hesitate to call. We'll be here as soon as possible." Nick said as Gen took it. "It's the least I can do for one of my crewmates." Nick finished as he walked back towards the party.
The next morning, the crew had all the supplies they needed before they set out to the next island, all they were waiting for now was their navigator. The whole village was there to see them off and to thank them for freeing them from Arlong.
Yosaku and Johnny said their goodbyes to Nick and his crew, as they were making ready to cast off. When they were ready, Nick heard from the distance, "SET SAIL!"
Nick looked to see Nami as she was sprinting towards them. Nick ordered the crew to do as she said while Nami was running though the crowd. Some tried to stop her but she side tracked them and kept running for the ship. Once she reached the end of the dock, she jumped with all her might and landed on the deck of the ship. Once she landed on the deck, she opened the bottom of her shirt as wallets and cash fell from the opening. "Thanks for the money!" She said with a big smile, while looking back at the village.
Nick couldn't help but smile at the fact that she just stole from the whole village in one dash. As they were departing, the villagers were calling her 'thief' 'brat' for a few seconds until they started saying goodbye.
Nick noticed that she had a new tattoo on her shoulder, in place of the old one. "What's that suppose to be?"
"It's a tangerine on a spin wheel. In honor of my family." She said with a smile.
It was nighttime and the crew were setting sail for the Grand Line. Nick had the first watch and was in the lookout.
"So, what changed now?" Nick asked as he looked up to the stars.
Jarvis posted new pictures on Nick's HUD and showed him their alternate history. "Thanks to us, Arlong's little empire in the East Blue will never exist. Cocoyasi Village will become a prosperous village in the East Blue. For all we know sir, stopping Arlong's rise might have changed the future in any number of ways. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."
Right as Nick was about to speak again, he heard his name get called out from below. He looked over to find Nami standing by the door to the cabin, "Hey. You talking to Jarvis up there?"
"Yeah. What are you doing up so late?" Nick asked as he lowered himself down to her. "I thought it was still my watch?"
"Couldn't sleep. Plus I was hoping to talk to you in private." She said as she sat down on the top steps of the deck.
Nick sat on the railing next to the steps and looked down to her, "About what?"
"I've been meaning to ask, how do you talk to Jarvis without a transponder snail?"
Nick pulled his glasses off and handed them to her, "Put them on and find out."
She put them on and then she heard a voice, "Hello miss Nami." She panicked and threw them off her face. Nick caught them before the hit the ground with his extended arm.
"Easy, I only have one of these." He said as he pulled them back.
"What was that? It was like I could hear him but nothing was in my ears!" She said as she put her fingers in here ears to check in case there was something there.
"The sides of the glasses vibrate next to your ear-drum to make sound inside your ear." He answered as he pointed to the part he was referring to.
"Why do you wear them all the time, even at night? How can you see?"
"The lenses can change so that I can see in different ways, like 'night-vision', 'inferred', and a few others that I have yet to use."
"So, how does Jarvis tell what will happen?" She asked.
"Well, the portal that we came from opens up every so often. Jarvis sends a probe to collect new data on what we changed. It doesn't happen right away though, I usually have to wait a day until I see what I've changed."
"And I'm going to guess that you used history to learn about me and the rest of the crew?"
"More or less. It took a while to learn about you, I didn't know what would happen to you until it was happening in front of me. I'm glad it came to me when it did, or we wouldn't be talking right now," Nick said with a relieved face.
"You have a lot of amazing stuff, it still makes me wonder why you need all of us for. Someone with your stuff could become king on their own."
"Yeah, well… what's the point in being 'King' if there's no one around to share the experience with… like friends?" He said as he turned his head.
"I've been meaning to ask you… Who is the girl in your hat?" She asked with a slight nervous look on her face.
He slowly turned around, "You saw that, huh?"
"The hat fell off my head back at the village and I saw the paper. Sorry." She looked slightly guilty.
"It's fine." He said with a calm voice.
"Who is she?"
"She's an old friend. Someone I've been looking for, for a long time." He said as he sighed.
"That poster is 20 years old you know." She said.
"Yeah, I know. They still haven't updated her picture." He said with a slight bummed voice. "Maybe it's because she's been so good a hiding lately." He finished with a slight smile.
"You care about her?" She asked with a cautions look.
"Well, yeah. She's my friend. And I was her first." Nick said with a slight obvious voice.
"So, haven't you asked Jarvis to look through history to find her?" She looked almost hopeful when she asked.
"Already tried. He said history lost track of her 5 to 10 years ago." Nick looked bummed when he said that. "But she's out there. I just know it."
"She could be dead, though."
"History would have said if she was dead." He shook his head, "She's alive, somewhere."
"What will you do when you find her?"
"Hopefully… Ask her to join the crew. It's the safest place on Earth for her now."
Nami started to yawn, "Thanks for the talk, Captain, goodnight."
As she opened the door he then said, "Goodnight, Navigator Nami."
She looked back and smiled, then closed the door behind her.
Back in the 'Mobile Armory' the main door opened with Garp walking though it. He walked into a room of computers, same one he was in last time he was there.
"Jarvis, I suppose you had a part in this?" Garp said as he held up a wanted poster with Nick's face on it.
The poster said 'Shepard D. Nick, Dead or Alive, Bounty of 35,000,000 berries' and at the bottom there was a side note, 'a bonus 10,000,000 for brining the armor he uses intact.' The picture itself showed Nick celebrating at the party, he had his hat and sunglasses on, and he had a pretty confident smile on; the back of Usopp's head could be seen behind him.
"What happened to 'keeping a low profile'?" Garp asked with a disappointed look on his face.
"If I may, sir. You, and Drake gave me direct orders to have Nick's safety as my top priority. He wanted to protect a crewmate and save her town from Arlong. I didn't have a choice."
Garp put his palm to his face and sighed, "Now he has a bounty, which means Marines will be coming after him now! HOW IS THAT ENSURING HIS SAFETY!?"
"Sir, Nick is a grown, 28 year old, adult. He is fully capable of making his own decisions. I will keep him safe as I always have. THAT is what I why i came here, and THAT's what I'll do!"
Garp was surprised at Jarvis for that comment, then he started to laugh, "You really are just as hard-headed as Tony."
"So I've been told." Jarvis said with a sort of smart-alecky voice.
Garp then put his hand on one of the main tables in the room and the other over his eyes and let out a sigh, "Alright, I get it. You didn't have a choice." He then walked over to the monitor that showed a face. "Just keep him safe, ok?"
The face mouthed everything Jarvis said, "Sir, that is still my top priority. I will not let anything happen to him under my watch."
As Garp was leaving, he waved his had to the computer, at the same time, the room was shutting down, "I'm going to hold you to that."
"I'M WORTH 45,000,000 BERRES!?" Nick shouted.
Nami had just got the newspaper for the day and it showed a wanted poster, the same one that Garp had back at the armory.
"Looks like I'm a wanted man now. Ha!" Nick said as he showed the others the picture.
"Once again, you spleddidly fail to understand the gravity of your situation." Nami said as she face-palmed, "Don't you realize this means your life is at risk?"
Completely ignoring Nami, Usopp points at the picture, "HEY! I'm in the picture too!"
"REALY? Am I there too?" Sanji said as he ran up to the pictue. Once he saw that it was only the back of Usopp's head he turned around sat down and pouted, "It was only the back of your head…"
"Don't be jealous, Sanji. Once we become more well known, I'm sure your bounty wont be far along." Nick said with a sympathetic smile.
Sanji then shot back up and smiled, "Your right! We just have to take on someone like Arlong again and I'll have my bounty!"
Usopp put his hands up with a worried look on his face, "Yeah but I dough that would be for a while." "At least I hope so." Usopp thought as he turned to Nick.
"Relax, Usopp. We can't get into any fights, not yet anyway." Nick said as he showed his serious face, "Before we head into the Grand Line, we need to stop here." He pointed to an island close to the 'entrance' of the Grand Line.
"'Logue Town'?" Zoro asked.
"Yeah, its where every pirate, Marine, traveler, that want's to go to the Grand Line goes before setting out. It's also the place where Gold Roger was born, and executed." Nick said.
"Let me guess… Jarvis told you that?" Nami asked with slight smile.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, he did. Now let's sail." Nick said with a smile on his face.
As they docked at the island, the crew disembarked and made their way into the entrance of the town; Nick was stopped by one of the dockworkers.
"Hey! Hold up!" The dockworker said as he ran up to Nick. "It's 1,000 Berries to dock your ship here. And I'm gonna need a name." He said as he pointed to the Merry.
Nick looked to the crew and gave them a signal that meant 'wait a second'. He turned to the man and pulled out some of the money that the crew divided up from Nami's quick scheme. Nick then remembered that he's wanted now, so that means he'll have to go under the radar as best he could, "How about 2,000 berries? And we forget the name, entirely."
The man took the money, "Welcome to 'Logue Town', sir." He then turned around and walked back towards the docks.
(AN: Pirates of the Caribbean joke, couldn't resist.)
Nick then walked up to the rest of the crew, "Alright, lets go over what we're all going to do."
"I'll take care of buying us some new cloths." Nami said as she was holding a paper with their measurements on it.
"Be sure to get cloths for all environments… don't want to end up in cold weather without jackets." Nick said as he pointed at Nami, he then pointed at Usopp.
"I'll be getting more supplies, gunpowder, and anything else we may need." Usopp said with his hand up in a salute.
"I'll be getting more food supplies and whatever else we may need as well." Sanji said as he lit a new cigarette.
"And I'll be getting new swords for myself." Zoro said as he held his white one tight.
"Great, we'll all meet up here at 2 pm." Nick said as he turned around and walked away.
"Wait! What will you be doing?" Usopp asked.
"Oh, I want to see where Gold Roger was executed." He said as he started to run before they could stop him.
While the rest of the crew were out on their own shopping sprees, Nick wandered around town until Jarvis put up an arrow pointing to where he wanted to go.
As Nick was walking though the crowd, he heard a familiar voice call out to him. "Nick! Hey, Nick!"
Nick turned around with complete shock on his face to find who was calling out to him. It was his brother Sabo, his older brother. He looked somewhat different since the last time he saw him, when he was 18 and decided to go find the man with the tattoo on his face. He still wore the black top hat with goggles on it, and had a pole rapped behind his back.
"Sabo!" Nick said as he ran up to him and gave him a hug, knocking both their hats of their heads. Sabo gave Nick a hug with the same force once he got his balance back.
"Glad to see you haven't changed that much." Sabo said as he started laughing a little.
Nick let go and grabbed both their hats, gave Sabo his, and smiled, "It's good to see you! How have you been?"
"Great." Sabo said as he looked up and down at Nick to see what he was wearing: a black short sleeve shirt, blue genes, black boots and to top it off with his fedora and sunglasses. "I see that you still wear the same kinds of cloths."
"Your one to talk," Nick said as he pointed to Sabo's top hat and the pole on his back.
"What are you doing here?" Sabo asked.
"My crew are out buying supplies before we set out to the Grand Line, while I'm looking for the 'Execution' platform." Nick said with a casual voice.
"You have a crew already? Wow. How many? 12?" Sabo asked with a little excitement in his voice.
"Oh, no. Five, including me." Nick said with confidence.
Sabo had a confused look on his face, but then it looked like he made a realization. "Oh, I get it. Your going for experts." Sabo said with a slight nod.
"Yeah, pretty much. What are you doing here? Did you find that guy you were looking for?" Nick asked with a little excitement in his voice.
"Yeah, I did." Sabo said, and just as he was about to say something else, he got a call from a baby transponder snail. "I'm sorry, Nick. I have to take this."
He pulled out the baby transponder snail and spoke, "Sabo here."
"Sabo? Where did you go? I lost track of you," said a man on the other side of the call.
"Sorry, I thought I saw my-" He was cut off when the man yelled back with irritation in his voice.
"DON'T YOU 'SORRY' ME! The boss wants all crew on the ship incase we need to leave fast."
Sabo then hung up the snail and turned to Nick, "Sorry, bro. I have to go."
Nick gave Sabo a soft hug, "Don't worry about it. I'm just glad to see that you're doing ok. Take care of yourself, bro."
They then broke the hug, "I will. See you soon." Sabo said as he ran towards the docks.
"I'm surprised you haven't told him about me yet." Jarvis said with slight sadness in his voice.
Nick turned back towards the arrow Jarvis set up on his HUD, "Well I would have if he wasn't called away. Maybe when we have more time I'll tell him."
Nick finally reached the main courtyard and found the 'Execution' platform. He climbed to the top, and looked at the view.
"Wow. So this is the view he had before he died." Nick said as he crossed his arms.
"Quite a sight to be hold. Should I take a picture and save it in storage?" Jarvis asked.
"Please." Nick said with a smile.
As Jarvis took the picture, a man from below, he looked like a police officer, called out to Nick to come down. Out of nowhere, a metal club knocked him out and a woman with a white cowboy hat and a white cloak with red hearts on it appeared.
"Don't be so uptight, officer." She said to the man who was unconscious. She then turned to Nick, "I've been looking for you, Blue-Shade. It's been awhile."
Nick cocked his head to the right, "Do I know you?"
"Don't tell me, you've forgotten my face…?" She said with a pretty smile.
All the other men started to call her 'beautiful' and 'gorgeous', but Nick was still standing there clueless. "I think I would remember someone as petty as you, lady." Nick said with a slight frown.
"Well… I certainly haven't forgotten about you… After all, you were the first man to ever hit my beautiful face." She said, making herself look innocent. "That way you handled me so roughly… It left me breathless."
She then started to go on about how beautiful she was and then said, "I won't let you get away for what you had done to me."
"For pity's sake, I don't know who you are!" Nick said with irritation in his voice.
Before she could answer, an explosion happened at one of the buildings to the right of Nick. He looked to see a large piece of rubble heading right for her from the explosion. And just as the rubble was about to hit her, it looked like it slid across her skin and moved past her.
"What the hell…?" Nick said under his breath.
Right then, a familiar voice was heard not far from where the explosion took place, "My apologies for that, I had a little run in with the police, but with your smooth skin, you would be unharmed, my lovely lady Alvida."
Nick immediately recognized that it was Buggy's voice, but when he heard 'Alvida' his eyes widened. "ALVIDA!? Where? I don't see her!"
"HE'S CALLING ME ALVIDA! YOU IDIOT!" The woman down below yelled out as she removed the cloak to revile that she was not the same as the last time he saw her. "I ate the Smooth-Smooth Fruit. After that, my entire body has become better than ever before."
"Well… Eating a fruit would do that to you." Nick said with a small smile, thinking back to when he first ate his.
Buggy and the rest of his crew revealed themselves in the crowd, "WE'VE COME FOR YOU, BLUE-SHADE!"
Nick looked to him with a blank look on his face, "Oh, hey, Buggy."
"DON'T MOCK ME!" Buggy shouted with razor sharp teeth.
All the pirates scared off the crowd with their guns and threatened to kill anyone who stood in their way. Nick was just about to jump into the mess to stop them, but was stopped when his right arm got locked into something. He quickly turned to find Cabaji there, holding grey handcuffs; one ring was around Nick's right wrist, the other was being held by Cabaji.
"You're not going anywhere." Cabaji said with a devious smile.
Nick then pulled him in and punched him in the face, sending him flying off the platform. Nick noticed that his arm didn't stretch, as he wanted to, he looked to the cuffs as Jarvis scanned them, "Sir, these handcuffs are made out of Sea-Prism Stone. Your powers are gone until you can get them off your arm."
"That's great." Nick said with irritation in his voice.
Then, out of nowhere, a wood headlock came down and pulled him down to the platform. Nick tried to move upward but the headlock was imbedded in the platform floor. Nick looked up to see Buggy at the top of the headlock, he had a very devilish smile on his face as he laughed.
In the Marine base not far from where the fight was being held, the Marine Captain Smoker, and his first officer, Tashigi, were being told about the event.
"I want any and all Marine personal at that courtyard as soon as possible, we have a chance to get both Blue-Shade and Buggy at once. Let's not waste it." Smoker said as he put tow cigars in his mouth and walked off base with a small army behind him.
Nick's crew just heard about what is happening. Usopp and Nami went back to the ship, with the supplies that they all bought, and got the ship ready for cast off. While Zoro and Sanji were sprinting towards the execution stand.
"Looks like we have to save out Captain's butt again." Sanji said with a grown.
"It's not exactly surprising." Zoro said.
Meanwhile, on an unmarked ship, Sabo was talking to a man in a brown cloak.
"What the hell took so long for you to get here, Sabo," The man in the cloak said.
"Sir, he's here. I spoke with him." Sabo said as he saluted to him.
"Really? Well… took him long enough to get here."
"I was just about to tell him that you were here, but I was called back." Sabo said with slight excitement in his voice.
"Where is he now?"
"He said he wanted to go to the 'Excitation stand'."
"I was just told that there were pirates attacking that area. The Marines are on their way to stop the attack. No dough, Nick and his crew are in the middle of it." The man said as he walked past Sabo.
The man walked to the platform that exits the ship, he turned to one of the officers on deck, "Lieutenant, I want the ship ready to go as soon as we return." He then looked to some of the crew, "I need 20 volunteers, everyone else, help get the ship ready."
Sabo then runs after him, making himself one of the volunteers, and walks next to him. "I just hope this won't hurt too much for either of them."
Back at the execution stand, Buggy was at the top of the tower, giving a speech on how great and brilliant he was to finally trap Nick. Nick on the other hand, looked bored.
"Hey, Buggy, are you done with your monologue?" Nick said with a bored look on his face.
"So quick to die, eh?" Buggy asked with a laugh.
"No, I just want you to shut up."
Buggy got even angrier, he raised a large sword to cut Nick's head off, but then Nick spoke up, "Hold on. I just want to say something first before you do that." Buggy stopped and let him speak.
Nick looked to the courtyard, to the pirates and civilians who were watching, "I just want to say one thing, I'M GOING TO BE THE NEXT KING OF THE PIRATES!"
The whole crowd shook at the sound of another 'Pirate King', some of the pirates of below started laughing at his claim.
"Kind of hard to be the king if you're dead, Blue Shade." Buggy said as he lifted the sword over his head, getting ready to decapitate Nick. "THIS IS THE END FOR YOU!"
"WAIT!" shouted one of the people below. Buggy got irritated to stop again as he and Nick looked down to see Zoro and Sanji running through the crowd and making their way to the platform.
"Took you guys long enough." Nick said with a smile.
"YOUR TOO LATE, RORONOA!" Buggy yelled as he moved to a better position to decapitate Nick.
Zoro and Sanji were fighting their way through all of Buggy's crew but were moving too slow to reach Nick. Even so, they were giving it their all to try and reach the platform before Buggy could end it. Even some Marines showed up from up the street and joined the fight against all the pirates, including Zoro and Sanji.
"Sir, I can send the suit and-" Nick cut off Jarvis before he could finish.
"I dough it'll get here in time." Nick whispered. Nick looked to the crowd, the sky, the way the sun shined down to the ground, "If I do die, I can only hope it would be with a hell of a view like this." Nick said with a smile.
The sun was covered by the clouds overhead and it started to rain just as Buggy was about to swing the sword. At the same time, down below, Sabo was there with his pole ready, "You always did get yourself into the worst situation." Sabo then swung his pole at two of the platform's supports, causing the whole tower to collapse to its right side.
Buggy dropped his sword when the supports were hit, when they hit the ground Buggy was unconscious. Nick tried to pull himself off the headlock but it wouldn't budge. He heard someone walk up behind him and help pull the headlock off. Once he fell off the platform and landed on the ground, he turned to see Sabo and hugged him.
Nick let go, "You know I had it under control."
"No you didn't." Sabo said with a slight smile.
"Yes I did." Nick said like a child.
From above, the Mark V. suit landed right next to him, "No you didn't."
"So you're the famous 'Jarvis', I heard about." Sabo said as he pointed to the suit.
"You know Jarvis?!" Nick asked with shock in his voice and on his face.
"Yeah." Sabo said as if it was common knowledge.
They hear an explosion behind them as they turn to see Zoro and Sanji fighting Marines and Pirates alike in a big battle. "I'd say we've overstated our welcome." Nick said as he walked to Buggy and found the key to the handcuffs and took them off, Nick then put one on Buggy's hand and threw away the key.
The suit opened up and Nick walked into it as it wrapped around him. The helmet didn't form over his head because he was still wearing his hat.
The fight in the courtyard was was big; Zoro and Sanji were fighting enemy Pirates and Marines alike. But then a group of cloaked men and women joined in the fight, every time a Pirate or a Marine looked as though they had a striking blow for Zoro or Sanji, they blocked it and aided them. The cloaked men and women led Zoro and Sanji out of the courtyard and out of sight, leaving the Pirates and Marines to fight each other.
Just as Nick was about to go after his crew, Sabo stopped him, "Don't worry, my friends will take care of your crew. We need to leave now before the Marine Captain gets here."
"What's so bad about the Marine Captain?" Nick asked with confusion.
Out of nowhere a massive pile of smoke came through the crowd of fighters, at the top was the upper half of a man wearing a Marine Captain's uniform. The Captain looked around and stopped when he saw Nick and Sabo standing at what was left of the platform. He then made his way there, with the smoke below him moving as well.
"That's why! RUN!" Sabo said as he took Nick's arm and pulled him down the street behind them.
As they were running, some smoke came around them and blocked their path, "THIS WAY!" Sabo said as he pulled Nick right to another street.
Nick then grabbed Sabo and started to fly, Sabo made a look of realization, "Oh, I'm an idiot. Of course you can fly, that's how the suit got to us."
"How do you know all this?" Nick asked with complete confusion.
Before Sabo could answer, Nick was knocked to the ground by something solid. Nick moved his body so that he would hit the ground first before Sabo, the impact made a small crater.
Sabo came out and helped Nick out of it, they look to see the Marine Captain land in front of them. "You're not going anywhere, Blue-Shade Shepard."
"And who would you be?" Nick asked as both he and Sabo got ready for a fight.
"I'm Marine Captain Smoker. And I won't allow you to leave this place." Smoker said as he unleashed a large cloud of smoke from his arms.
Nick tried to dodge the smoke but was rapped in it, like it was rope. Smoker pulled him in and attempted to use his Jitte on Nick, but was stopped by Sabo's pole.
(AN: 'Jitte' is Smoker's weapon he always carries with him that's made out of Sea-Prism Stone.)
Sabo then proceeded to use his 'Polearm' skills against Smoker but he wasn't even able to hit him. Smoker then used his smoke as a sort of tentacle and grabbed Sabo and through him at one of the buildings. Nick was pulled up to Smoker, "REPULSER!" Nick used his repulser on Smoker's chest and head in an attempt to get him to let go. It didn't work; the blasts went right through him like he wasn't even there.
"That's the thing about Logia fruits, we turn into elements." Smoker said as he turned Nick around and pinned him to the ground.
Nick tried to use his thrusters to lift off but the smoke above his body was keeping him down like they were chains.
"Hmph, looks like your days of being a pirate are over." Smoker said as he grabbed his Jitte.
As he was pulling it out of its holster, it started to rain hard, and a hand grabbed Smoker's arm. "I don't think so."
Smoker looked over his shoulder to see who was holding him and found the same man in the cloak that Sabo was talking to earlier. "You… Why are you here?"
"I'm here to see my son off." The man said.
Nick's eyes widened and his heart started to jump a little. Smoker let Nick go, Nick turned around to Smoker as they stood there. "I'll let you go this time, Blue-Shade. But next time I see you, I will take you in." Smoker said as he turned his lower half to smoke and flew away.
Nick and his father were left alone, standing there. Nick's face looked like a mix of anger and irritation. "Who are you?"
The man removed his hood and revealed his black hair and a facial tattoo. "Well… you can call me 'dad'. If you want."
"I don't have one. He left me when I was 4." You could tell by Nick's voice that he mad.
"An unfortunate choice I had to make to guarantee your safety." His father, Drake, said.
"I don't believe that. You came back 20 years ago, Sabo saw you," Nick said. "The fact that your hear and he is, isn't a coincidence." Nick started to pace back and forth, "Now it makes sense why Sabo knows about the suit's and Jarvis, you told him. And you used Jarvis to know that we were coming here."
"Actually no, I knew you were coming here, I just didn't know when. And as for Sabo, of course I told him, he asked." Drake said.
Nick stopped after Drake said that, "He asked?"
"He never told you because he wasn't sure, but he remembered Jarvis saving him back then." Drake answered.
"So your willing to take in Sabo, but leave my life for the past 24 years?!" Nick asked with full anger in his voice.
"I left you in the care of your Grandfather and friends." Dragon answered.
"It wasn't them that I needed, though!" Nick yelled as a lightning crackled overhead. "I had just lost my mother before my eyes, AND YOU LEFT!" More lightning crackles happened. "I didn't need friends to comfort me, I needed some kind of hope, I needed a FATHER!" Nick shouted. "Shanks was the closes thing I ever had to a dad, while you ran off doing whatever the hell you've been doing for the past 24 years," he said with irritation.
"Your grandfather or Jarvis never told you?" Drake asked with confusion.
"I don't care." Nick said with anger. "Whatever you're doing, it's not going to work. She's not coming back... Whatever you may change in this time won't bring her back! I accepted that a long time ago!"
At first Drake was confused, but then he realized who Nick was referring to and lowered his head, "I know."
Nick was surprised when he said that.
"And by the time I had realized that, it was already too late. I knew you would have hated me then, as you do now." Tears started to fall off his face.
Nick gripped his fists tight then let go, and took a deep breath, "I don't hate you… But that doesn't mean I'm going to forgive you for leaving."
Drake started to smile, "You don't know how happy I feel, hearing you say that." Drake started to laugh a little, "You know, for a minute there, you actually sounded like her."
They both heard explosions not far from where they were standing. Drake then held out his hand, "Let me see your glasses."
Nick hesitantly gave them to him, when Drake got them, he put them on, "Hello, Jarvis."
"Hello, sir. It's good to see you again."
"It's good to hear from you. I want you to input a code for me."
"Ready."
"Access code: Sarah-2056."
"Code confirmed. Will there be anything else?"
"No, that'll be all." Drake said as he handed the glasses back to Nick.
"What did you just do?" Nick asked in confusion.
"A parting gift. You'll need it in the Grand Line." Drake said with a smile. An explosion happened not far from them, "You might want to leave now. I ordered my men to escort your crew to your ship and help them escape. You might want to join them." Drake said as he pointed behind him.
Nick nodded in agreement and few off, while holding his hat in his hand to keep it from falling off.
Sabo ran up to Drake as he watched Nick fly away, "How did it go?"
Drake continued to look up at Nick as he answered, "It was rough at first, and it may be for a while, but I'm glad I was here to see him. And relived to learn that he doesn't hate me after all." "He's more you than me, Sarah. You'd be proud of him."
As Nick flew towards the Merry the storm started picking up, causing big waves. Nick landed on the ship and helped the crew keep the ship together from the harsh waves.
As Nick was helping, he got a few earfuls from the crew about getting himself into trouble, but what Drake did still bothered him. "Jarvis, what was that code for?"
"The code he gave me unlocked the whole armory, sir. We now have access to the 'Hall of Armors'." Jarvis answered as he showed the entire armory being unlocked on Nick's HUD.
"Parting gift, indeed. Thanks… dad." Nick thought as he looked to Logue Town as they were leaving and smiled.
After an hour of keeping the ship from being taken by the storm Nami looked ahead and saw a lighthouse, "Guys! That's 'Light of Guidance'! It's the entrance to the Grand Line!"
Zoro looked to Nick, "Orders, Captain?"
Everyone else looked to Nick when Zoro said that. Nick smiled, "Full speed ahead, lets get going while the going is good."
"I'd say this calls for celebration." Sanji said as he brought up a barrel of booze from the cargo hold.
Sanji placed his right foot on top of the barrel, "To find the 'All Blue'."
Nick did the same, "To become the 'King of the Pirates'!"
Through the suit, Jarvis spoke, "To save the future!"
Zoro was next, "To become the Greatest Swordsman."
Nami was next, "To draw a map of the world!"
Usopp was hesitant, but got his foot up as well, "T… T-TO BECOME A BRAVE WARRIROR OF THE SEAS!"
They then broke the top off the barrel, and Nick shouted, "OFF TO THE GRAND LINE WE GO!"
TO BE CONTINUED
On the next 'Marvels of One Piece', 'A promise to a whale! First Friend's Return!'
AN: To be completely honest, I feel that there may have been a few questions that were still left unanswered.
Please tell me if I did, if I did, I will try to answer those questions later in the story.
Now that the armory has been unlocked, Nick can use more than just the Mark V!
Looking forward to the next chapter!
R&R