Rayleigh's past revealed! Bartholomew Kuma attacks!?

"NANIIIIIIII!? YOU WERE ON BOARD WITH THE PIRATE KING!?"

I woke up at my captains outburst, nearly headbutting Nami in the process.

"Yeah, I was the first mate, Silvers Rayleigh, nice to meet ya." Rayleigh said.

"FIRST MATE!?" Everyone except me and Robin yelled, almost making me pass out again.

"You didn't tell them Hacchan?" A new voice said. It belonged to a (I've been scared to do this ever since Kureha) young woman with black hair who was smoking a cigarette.

"Nyuuu...all they wanted was some coating anyway..." The fishman gasped, he was laying on a makeshift bed as Chopper, Camie and Pappug fixed him up.

I felt completely better now that all of the nightmares had got out of my system. I quickly flicked my right wrist and sighed in relief when I saw that my new wristband was still there, then I turned to Rayleigh. "I know all about you. Oren told me."

Rayleigh laughed. "Wahahaha! Oren!? That's a name I haven't heard in a while!"

"Ah, so you didn't notice?" Robin asked the crew.

"I know that name so well!" Usopp wailed about Rayleigh.

"He's in all the books too!" Nami sobbed as I comforted her.

"It's definitely a name everyone's heard at least once." Sanji gasped.

Franky remained silent.

"Gold Roger...back then there might have been a rookie of that name...there might not have been..." Brook mumbled whilst eating some beans.

To be honest, I was hungry too, so I went and sat on one of the high chairs as Rayleigh talked and Luffy raided the fridge. I was still exhausted, so I'd have to take a power nap later.

"He saved this mans life, though he was only a child at the time." I heard the black haired woman say. She must've been talking about how Hachi and Rayleigh met.

Luffy had finished dragging all the fridge items out, so I began taking some things as well, he'd eat it all anyway.

"Still, even though Gold Roger was executed 22 years ago, how come you, the first mate, still have your head attached to your neck? Everyone was captured by the marines, right?" Sanji asked.

"We weren't 'captured', Roger turned himself in." Rayleigh said. "For the government, it was a show of strength, even though they may have publicly announced that they captured him."

"The Pirate King gave himself up!?" Nami yelled. "What the hell for!?"

"...Because we saw...the end of our journey..." Rayleigh said, I became even more interested as I stuffed some bacon in my mouth. "The day he was publicly executed...four years before that day...Roger came down with an incurable disease."

'Sounds like Dr. Hililuk.' I thought, glancing at Chopper.

"An incurable disease that no-one could do anything about, even the mighty Roger suffered from that." Rayleigh continued. "At that time, a doctor, who also happened to be the lighthouse keeper of the biggest lighthouse in all the oceans, Crocus of the Twin Capes was the only man able to ease Roger's suffering. We asked him to accompany us on our last journey as ships doctor. And finally...after 3 years of holding off Roger's death, we were able to do the impossible...and conquer the Grand Line."

"C...C...CROCUS!?" Brook yelled.

'Right...Crocus took care of Laboon, so I guess he must've joined them after he met the Rumbar pirates.'

"Naniiiii!? That old dude was at the lighthouse for 50 years wasn't he!?" Usopp shrieked. "He was actually a part of the Pirate King's crew!?"

"Come to think of it, he did say he was a ships doctor for a few years." Nami added. "So he was a pirate for those 3 years, right?"

"Since he was able to meet you guys, then he hasn't kicked the bucket just yet, huh!" Rayleigh chuckled. "He was always so fond of whales...Crocus said something about wanting to find a certain pirate crew when he agreed to join us..."

"Brook! That matches perfectly with him wanting to find you guys out at sea!" Usopp yelled.

The skeleton was weeping tears of joy at this point. "C...Crocus, to think you'd go that far for us!"

"Even though he was only with the crew for 3 years, he was definitely one of us! At this age, I'd sure like to see him again!" Rayleigh stated whole-heartedly.

"So...what happened after you conquered the oceans?" Sanji questioned the 'Dark King'.

"That was when Roger became known worldwide as the Pirate King. It wasn't just that he was called the Pirate King...for a man who is just about to die, titles are meaningless. But Roger was happy about it...he was a man who loved to do anything and everything with flair and passion, it was the same for partying, fighting, he enjoyed it. Saw it as a way to work out aplan for the unseeable future."

I glanced at Luffy as we both continued to eat. Don't judge me! You try becoming half nightmare! 'Sounds like a certain friend I know...'

"In the end, at his orders, the Jolly Roger pirates were secretly disbanded, one after another they disappeared. No-one knows where the men who risked their lives for him are now, or what they're doing. And one year after the breakup...Roger turned himself in. He was arrested...taken to the town where he was born, Loguetown, in East Blue, where his public execution was announced."

I couldn't tell what Rayleigh was feeling as he spoke, it's like he's a master at keeping his feelings in check.

"That day, in the square, I heard that the young faces of the pirates who are making names for themselves all over the ocean now, were watching...waiting...the execution of the Pirate King took the world by storm."

"I didn't go...this is what his last words were to me:"

"'I ain't gonna die...partner!'"

"The World Government, the marines...must have been surprised. They had planned for the execution to be a warning to all other pirates. But Roger's words, before his death, changed the event into the raising of the curtain for the 'New Pirate Era'!"

I used all of my Dream-Dream powers to make a perfect daydream of the man himself, kneeling on the platform yet taller then ever. And saying those era changing words: 'My hidden treasure? If you want it it's yours...Go and find it! I left it all in that place.'

"In those last few seconds, he transformed the fire of his life, into the raging flames that burned the whole world." Rayleigh was truly a good first mate to talk about his captain so. "There was naver a day with so much laughter! So many tears...so much free-flowing booze! He was my captain...and a great man."

Rayleigh, the first mate of the Pirate King Gold Roger, is without a doubt, one of the greatest people I've ever met in my life.

"That was some amazing story...it's totally different when you hear it from someone who was there." Nami gasped.

"So...it's almost like Roger intended all along to start the 'New Pirate Era'." Usopp breathed.

"That's something...that can't be answered, Roger is dead." Rayleigh threw back another swig of his drink. "The only ones who can create this age, are the people living in it right now! There are certainly a few people still alive today who took something away from what Roger said that day. Shanks, the man you knew so well, is one of them." He finished, looking at Luffy.

"Hm? You know Shanks?" Luffy asked whilst still stuffing his face.

"If we're talking about East Blue, then you guys must know a pirate named Buggy, right?" Rayleigh asked.

"Buggy..." Me, Nami and Zoro sighed, that guy was just annoying.

"Both of them apprenticed on our ship."

"EHHHH!? SHANKS WAS ON THE PIRATE KINGS SHIP!?" Luffy yelled with a full mouth, spitting food all over my face.

"I'm more surprised a guy like BUGGY was on his ship." I mumbled, grabbing a napkin and wiping various meats off of my face.

"About 10 years ago, I ran into him on this island, he was missing his trademark straw hat...and an arm." Luffy swallowed the rest of his food as Rayleigh continued. "When I asked him what happened, he started talking about you!"

"Shanks did that? Luffy, he must really-" I dropped off to sleep before I could finish.

Don't look at me like that, I said I needed a power nap.

Anyway, once I used my loudspeaker to convince them I was still listening, Rayleigh came totally off topic and got to the point of his coating, for free too as we helped rescue Hachi!

It was then that Robin asked Rayleigh about the 'Will of D.'

"The Will of D..." I said to myself in my inner cinema. "Like what Luffy and Ace have..."

"Is it possible that you people know what happened during 'Blank Century' nine hundred years ago!?" Robin asked, obviously needing to know.

"Sure, I know." Rayleigh replied.

My jaw hit the floor "He KNOWS!? The answers to all the questions Robin has been searching for since she was a little girl!?"

But, Rayleigh wouldn't let anything slip, saying that both them and the people of Ohara were...'a little too hasty'. Though I believe it was so Robin could continue to pursue her dream. Robin said she wanted to continue her journey to find out with a smile. I'm glad Robin made that choice. Rayleigh said that Roger couldn't read poneglphs, but instead he had the 'Voice of all things'.

Usopp complained that Robin was letting an incredible chance slip away, so he began asking the big one. If the legendary treasure One Piece-

"USOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPP!"

My captain shouted so loud I woke up and fell off my chair, landing on the floor with a bump.

Luffy stood on the table and I quote, shouted this: "We are NOT asking him where the treasure is hidden! We're not even asking him if there really is any treasure at all! I'm not sure, but...everybody set out to sea, risking their lives to search for it! If you ask this ossan anything about it here and now...then I'll quit being a pirate! I DON'T WANT TO GO ON A BORING ADVENTURE LIKE THAT!"

Of course...only Luffy can say something as awesome as that. My respect for him never stops growing.

"I-I-I-I'm sorry...I-I knew that really! My mouth just...it opened all on its own! I just slipped! I-I don't want to hear anything about it either! That's right! I've got I'll-die-if-I-find-out-about-one-piece disease! Hey ossan! You better not tell us anything!" Usopp replied frantically while waving his arms around like a madman.

"Can you do this?" Rayleigh asked Luffy. "The Grand Line is just going to keep on surpassing your wildest imaginations! And the enemies will be strong. Can you really conquer this ultimate ocean?"

Luffy just smiled at him. "I don't want to conquer anything. I just think the guy with the most freedom in the whole ocean is the Pirate King!"

See? Why can't the rest of us say awesome stuff like that?

Rayleigh just smiled. "...Is that right?"

"I think I really am becoming a big fan of yours, Monkey-chan." The raven haired smoker said.

Rayleigh got up and walked over to the door. "Your ship is over at Grove 41 right? I'll go and handle that myself, what about you guys? There may be an admiral here on this island already you know."

"Well, we don't want to cause any more trouble." Nami pondered, glancing at me. "Shall we just go shopping somewhere?""

'Oh dear lord no...'

"What's with that crazy laid-back attitude!?" Usopp shrieked with a face-fault. "They're after US you know! We have to hide ourselves away!"

"Mmmm, yeah...if we all went with him, we just might end up drawing the guys chasing us over there as well." Franky murmured. "If we want this to go nice and smoothly, our best bet is to run wild all over town..."

"So what? We split up and meet back at the ship when it's finished?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah, like your one to talk about 'meeting up' according to plan." Sanji muttered.

"Shakkie, you have that don't you?" Rayleigh asked the smoker, who I presume was Shakkie.

"Yes, I have one sheet." She replied.

So soon we had gathered outside with Rayleigh, who was carrying a bunch of massive tools on his back. "I'm a wanted man myself you know, I think I'll be taking your ship elsewhere to work on it."

He then handed all of us a piece of familiar paper each. "That's a vivre card!" I gasped.

"Oh? You know about them? That makes things quicker."

Chopper took the vivre card and showed it to Zoro. "So yeah, Zoro, here's how you use the card."

"I know how to use it! Shaddup already!" He yelled with shark teeth.

"I'll need three days to finish coating your ship." Rayleigh stated.

"It'll take that long?" Luffy complained.

"Your lives depend on the quality of my work, that's the quickest I can manage." Rayleigh explained.

"So we just have to survive for three days, correct? Yohohoho! How scary!" Brook said.

Rayleigh went on: "We'll meet up three days from now, in the evening. I don't know what grove I'll end up in, if you just follow the vivre card, you'll find me waiting for you there. I suggest you prepare yourselves for the underwater voyage to Fishman Island, gather anything you need."

Camie, Pappug and Hachi apeared then. "Luffy-chan and everyone, thank you so much for everything!" Camie said.

"We really mean iiiiit!" Pappug sobbed.

"I'm sorry everything had to turn out like this just because of me! I just don't know how to thank you all!" Hachi called to us from his bed. "We'll show you the way to Fishman Island, so don't worry about that! You watch out for the marines for the next few days!"

"Well...we'll see you then." Shakkie said. "I'll be there to see you off."

"We're up against an admiral!" Luffy chuckled. "We've gotta be careful nobody dies!"

"Are you trying to jinx us or something!?" Usopp wailed.

"I will protect you guys even if I die trying!" I proclaimed.

"Hachi, you make sure you get some proper rest!" Chopper called to the fishman.

"Three days, huh?" Franky grumbled.

"Indeed...I think I'll just play dead." Brook sighed.

And so we all set off, waving goodbye for now to our new friends.

"Who'd've thought we'd end up running into one of the Pirate Kings crew in a place like this?" Franky spoke up. "It sure surprised me. And he sure has an incredible presence, even for his age."

"Well, he is the first guy you'd think of when you hear 'Roger's nakama' after all." Usopp said.

Franky smirked. "I'm glad I met him."

"I never knew you were the elder-respecting type." Usopp said.

"Hey! I'm allowed to be like this sometimes!"

"Hey! Anyone want to go back to the park?" Luffy asked.

"You just be quiet!" Demoness Nami yelled.

"I'd like to..." Chopper and Brook whispered.

"I would also like to check out the theme park." I said whilst raising my hand.

"We can't hide in a theme park." Nami sighed. This is a perk of being her boyfriend, you don't get hit or shouted at AS MUCH as everyone else.

"You'd just go all out and have fun!" Usopp yelled.

Suddenly I heard a large stomp. "Hm? Who are you?" Luffy asked the figure.

We all looked forward, and our eyes widened in horror.

It was Bartholomew Kuma.

Flashback

Me and Nami just stared, that guy had hardly done anything, but Perona was now...gone.

"M-Mistress Perona!" Some zombies yelled out.

"She...she just vanished." Nami gasped.

"He must have some sort of Devil Fruit." I gasped.

He then appeared to notice us. "Crud! He's spotted us!" I yelled.

Then he vanished. "Nani!? Where did he go!?" Nami yelled.

I happened to glance next to me to see the man who had just looked at us. "Ahhh! He's up here!" I yelled with a face-fault.

"Is it true...that Monkey D. Luffy has a brother?" He asked.

"Y-You mean Ace?" Nami asked nervously. "Yes, what about him?"

"...Nothing." He said. He then looked at me, this guy had paw marks on all of his clothing and a hat with bear ears on it, and why was he carrying a bible?

"Your taller." He stated.

My eyes widened. "What...?"

He then seemed to dash off. I turned to Nami. "Nami! I need to talk to that guy!"

"Nani? But Ellix-"

"I'm sorry, but this is personal." I gave chase with Geppo into the forest.

I dashed through every which way possible, but I couldn't find him. I stopped and panted heavily, I'd lost him.

"Damn it!"

xxxSummitxWarxxx

I was exhausted, fighting a giant can do that to you. Kuma and Zoro had gone off into the forest, luckily I'd 'played dead' in order to watch the whole thing. Kuma eventually came back without Zoro, so I stood up.

"Where's Zoro?" I asked.

He looked at me with those same expressionless eyes. "Preoccupied."

I panted heavily. "Alright...I'm just gonna come out with it...do you know who I am?"

He paused for an actual minute before answering. "...Yes."

I looked at him with saucer eyes. "How?"

He stared at me. "I knew your mother."

"My...mum...?" I asked shakily.

"...Correct."

I tried to stand up but just fell on my butt again. "Who...are you to me...?"

"...I cannot tell you that."

"Then...who is my mother?"

"...She told me not to tell you that either."

"My mum sounds pretty secretive." I chuckled.

"...Yes...but she...is...a good woman."

I looked at him. "Will you...tell me one thing?...Do I have...to go to the New World...to find out who my family is?"

"...Perhaps."

"There is another way?"

He stared down at me. "...Two."

"Which are?"

"...Force me to tell you."

"...And...?"

He raised his palm at me and I gasped as it started glowing. "...Ask Donquixote Doflamingo."

He fired, and I passed out.

Flashback End

"Get back, Luffy!" Zoro yelled. "He's one of the Shichibukai!"

Kuma began to slip his gloves off of his hands.

"Shichibukai!?" Luffy yelled to us. "How come you guys all know him!?"

"Don't let that attack hit you Luffy!" Sanji called out. "It's a shockwave!"

But instead of a shockwave coming out of Kuma's palm, it glowed brightly and shot out a yellow laser that created a massive explosion. We only managed to get away just in time.

"Guoah!" Franky said.

"What's going on!?" Nami shouted.

"What was that!? Since when could he do that!?" Usopp shrieked.

"Heeeey! That wasn't a shockwave!" Luffy yelled.

Chopper gasped. "That was..."

"A beam!" The two idiots said together with sparkles round their heads.

"This isn't the time for that you morons!" Usopp told them with shark teeth.

"Bartholomew Kuma...not him again!" Robin said to herself.

"That bastard!" Zoro growled.

"Is that the guy who came after I was knocked out at Thriller Bark!?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah! This is the guy! That time, he got us by shooting shockwaves from the paws on his palms!" Usopp explained.

"He meant to finish us off at the time..." Chopper said as he shifted to Heavy Point. "But he must've realized we survived! So he came after us again.

I just stared, I don't know why, but I had this weird feeling in my heart that this...

"That's not Kuma." I stated.

"Nani? What do you mean, Ellix?" Nami asked.

"He sure looks real to me!" Usopp shouted.

"That ISN'T Kuma!" I stated more firmly. "Hey you! Don't throw mud at Kuma's name by thinking you can rip him off like some kinda wannabe!" I shouted at the imposter.

The faker didn't respond as Franky was preparing an attack. "You really did a number on us...back then! COUP DE VENT!"

The cyborg shot a blast of compressed air at the rip-off, sending it flying back into a mangrove tree. No WAY Kuma would get knocked back that easily!

I'd had enough of this guy already, so I slammed my palms into the sides of my face. "Daydream!" My body glowed a rainbow colour as matching strandsfloated off of me.

"Eh!? Luffy-san!? Ellix-san!?" Brook yelled.

Luffy was giving off a lot of steam as his body glowed a hot pink. "Gear...Second!"

Both of us glared at the imposter.

"I won't let you copy that man..." I said.

"I know your strong..." Luffy said. "So I'll go all out from the start!"

xxxSummitxWarxxx

And so another chapter is finished, and we learn something new about Kuma, what exactly is he hiding? Not telling just yet! Hey! If you guys have the time and/or are interested, check out my first crossover, Paper One Piece: The Thousand Year Meat. It's a crossover between One Piece and Mario.

To xJustified, I believe this is the first review I've got from you. Anyway I'm glad you liked that chapter! Please keep reading and I'll try my best to do loads more good chapters.

To TheRealEvanSG, yep, Ellix acting nutso while half-nightmare was what I was aiming for. To be honest I just thought up random stuff and wrote that down.

Me: Hey Ellix, I was thinking you could tell the readers what your first two bounties were before Enies Lobby, you know, just for the info?

Ellix: Really? Okay, my first bounty was after Arlong Park and was 10,000,000 berris, then my second one after Alabasta was 70,000,000. Does that help?

Me: Sure, thanks!

Luffy: Nani? Where's the meat?

Me: HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!?

One Piece is Oda's, Ellix is mine, Thank you for reading!