"Alright. The way I see it, we don't have that much time left to get rid of these nuisances. Straw Hat and his friends have already defeated Mr. 9's, Mr. 8's, Mr. 5's, and Mr. 3's pair. That's four pairs too many. It's time to get serious-"
I pushed open the doors leading into Crocodile's meeting room. There was a large dining table in the room with all of his high-ranking agents sitting in various seats. Croc himself and Robin were at the head of the table.
"Hope I'm not too late. What did I miss?"
"As a matter of fact, you're really late. What were you doing all this time? I wanted you to be here days ago."
"I took the scenic route. I decided to go around Alabasta, gathering information on how Baroque Works has been doing so far. And from what I've heard, you could use some serious help." I said, taking a seat at the other end of the table. He growled.
"Calm down. I have a solution for you, and it's quite simple. You've been losing to Luffy and his gang because the agents you send aren't strong enough. And I know how strong they are, too. I'd say the only ones capable of truly stopping them are either you or yours truly."
"Are you telling me how to run my company? I know what I'm doing. I'm not going out there until the time is right."
"There's an old saying: if you want something done right, you do it yourself. If you won't, then I will. After all, I'm only doing this for the money, which by the way, you will pay me. I'll get it either way. Pay me like you're supposed to, and everything is great. Betray me, and I'll kill you and take it by force. Which way would you like?"
"...Fine. Go take care of them, and it's yours." I stood up and faced the door, smirking.
"Good. I'm glad we agree. This will be fun. I haven't had a good workout in a while."
X
I stood outside of the building, at the top of the stairs. I could see Luffy and his circle of friends enter the city. I walked off the steps and onto the ground, deciding to introduce myself.
"Took you long enough!" I said, facing them. They lined up, looking confused at who I was, except for Nami.
"Hello, everyone. I recognize all of you, except for you." I pointed at a reindeer.
"My name is Tony Tony Chopper!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, a talking reindeer. You don't see that everyday. You must have eaten a type of human-human fruit, am I right?"
"I'm a reindeer, not a raccoon dog- wait, you can tell that I'm a reindeer?"
"I've seen a lot of things in my time, Chopper. And wouldn't you know it, the princess herself!" Vivi frowned. I turned to Luffy and smiled.
"My, how you've grown. I haven't seen you in ages."
"Who are you? You know me?"
"Yes, but you probably don't know me. I'm afraid it will take too long to explain now, so I'll tell you later. Right now, why don't we have a little fun? Luffy, I'd like to fight you, if that's okay."
"Fight...me? Well, I guess. But don't get mad when I beat you!"
"Heh. Arrogant brat. You're just like him. It's a wonder you brothers aren't related by blood."
"Wh-What?! How do you-?!"
"I told you that I'd explain later, didn't I? Just fight me. Nami, tell the rest of them to stay back."
"G-Guys, stay back! This will be over soon...trust me." she said, a little sad.
"Don't look so down, Nami! I'll take care of this quick!" Luffy started running at me.
"Y-You idiot! You can't beat him!" she yelled, but Luffy didn't listen.
"Do you know that man?" asked Zoro.
"Yes. That's Aaron Hawthorne, an old friend of mine."
"The devil's child?!" yelled Chopper.
"You know him, Chopper?" asked Nami.
"You can't be serious. Nami, that man is world-renowned! Everyone on the Grand Line has heard of him! Luffy doesn't stand a chance!"
"Unfortunately, our captain is too stupid to know any better, so he'll have to find out the hard way." replied Sanji. They all watched the fight.
"Gum Gum Pistol!" I could see his punch in slow motion. I simply side-stepped. Luffy became frustrated as his arm retracted.
"Gum Gum Gatling!" A flurry of fists flew at me, but I remained calm. I used Observation Haki to predict their movements, and blocked each and every one of them.
"That's impossible! Wait...are you a devil fruit user?!"
"Yes, I am."
"What power was that? What fruit did you eat?"
"That was called haki, Luffy. It was not a devil fruit power. In fact, I haven't even used my devil fruit powers yet. Would you like to see them?" Luffy gasped before I appeared in front of him.
"Earth." I flicked his forehead, sending him flying through the streets and crashing into a building, lying in the rubble.
"Wind." I created a small gust around him and raised my hand, raising him up into the sky.
"Lightning." I stuck my thumb, index, and middle fingers out towards him before a stream of blue electricity went up and electrocuted him.
"Hahaha...Electricity doesn't work... on a rubber man like me!" he choked out.
"I know. I was just displaying the power. This one will. Fire." I held out my whole hand and shot a beam of fire at the young pirate. I used the wind to drop him in front of me. He was badly damaged.
"Water." I held my hand on his forehead before water began to coat my hand and form a bubble around his head, making him hold his breath. Eventually, he couldn't anymore, so I let go and he dropped to the ground, coughing up the liquid.
"And Chaos." He glanced at me, blood trickling from his mouth, prepared to die. A pause.
"Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough yet to utilize that one." Everyone fell over from the anti-climax.
"I ate the Chaos-Chaos Fruit, considered to be the most powerful devil fruit in the world. It gives you the power of Chaos, plus the five earth elements that make it: fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water. You never stood a chance...haki healing." I blasted a bit of haki into him, restoring his body to peak condition. He stood up again.
"Y-You didn't kill me?"
"Of course not. I would never do that. I do mercenary work here and there, so I'm only fighting you for the pay-off. As you are now, you're far from my level. However, I gauged your true powers while we were fighting. I think you're strong enough to beat Crocodile, and one day, you'll be strong enough to fight me again, if you're anything like the rest of your family."
"...Just how much about my family do you know?"
"I know everybody in it: Garp, Sabo, Ace, Dr- never mind. I'll see you later Luffy." I walked back into Crocodile's room, leaving them there.
"It's done. They're dead."
"Already? That was fast. Here then, take the money." He handed me a big sack full of money.
"Thanks. I'll be off, then."
X
I decided to stick around after the whole war played out to see if I could join Luffy's crew. The man had left an impression on me, and my goal might be easier with him running around to every enemy he sees. I might get lucky and run into one of the Templars. I walked into the bathing house of the royal palace after convincing them that I had always been Crocodile's enemy and was a friend of Luffy's. What a coincidence that they were all there.
"Hm? Oh! Aaron! Come and join us!" Luffy exclaimed. I blinked, and sat with the rest of them.
"Why are you so happy to see me? I almost killed you today."
"But you didn't."
"Hmph. Are Nami and Vivi on the other side?"
"Yeah. Hey Nami, Aaron's here!" She acknowledged by yelling hi over the wall.
"Sanji's been trying to figure out how we could catch her naked."
"...You're thinking too hard, then. It's a simple matter when considering her."
"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Sanji.
"What's the one thing Nami loves most in this world?"
"Money." responded Luffy.
"Exactly. Watch and learn." I stood up, and jumped up to the dividing wall. Everyone followed my lead.
"W-What the hell are you guys doing?!" yelled Vivi. Nami only glanced over.
"Hey Nami, I'll pay you 200 thousand berries to flash these idiots!" I told her. Without even thinking, she stood up and dropped her towel.
"HAPPINESS PUNCH!" Everyone fell off with nosebleeds.
"That will cost you 100 thousand berries each." I jumped down and went back into the bath.
"You see?"
X
"You want to join my crew, huh? Well, fine! Welcome to the Straw Hat Pirates, Robin!" I yawned and walked out of the kitchen on the Going Merry.
"In that case, Luffy, you can count me in too."
"A-Aaron?! When did you get here?!"
"I've been here the whole time, like Robin. Are you going to let me join?"
"Well...I don't know. You fought me before and almost killed me."
"I told you that was for the pay-off. I lied to Crocodile after and told him that I killed you."
"What role would you fill on the ship? Zoro's a fighter, Nami is the Navigator, Usopp's our Sniper, Sanji's the cook, Chopper's the Doctor, and Robin is an archaeologist. What are you?"
"Well, it's obvious from before that I'm a fighter. But I'm also a Musician, and I know my way around some guns and I'm decent at navigation as well."
"Well, I always did want a musician..."
I sighed. "...I stocked the fridge full of meat."
"Welcome aboard!" Everyone fell over.
"What about the rest of us? What can you help with?" asked Usopp.
"For Zoro, I could teach him some swordsmanship. I'm a longtime friend and rival of Hawk-Eye." Zoro perked up.
"I suppose for the rest of you, we'll figure that out later. Oh, I almost forgot. Here, Nami." I placed a large sack on the table near her.
"What's this?"
"The 200 thousand berries I owe you from before."
"Y-You actually have it?!"
"Of course. I'm a man of my word."
"Well, great, but I said it cost 100 thousand each."
"Then consider both mine and Luffy's debt paid."
"Done." she smiled. "You all could learn a lesson from this! This is a man who actually pays off his debts!"
"How the hell are the rest of us supposed to pay an 100 thousand beri debt when we have no idea how to get 100 thousand berries!" yelled Zoro.
"Figure it out yourself." she taunted.
"So, Aaron, you said you're a musician, correct?" asked Robin.
"Yeah."
"What do you play?"
"I play Euphonium, Trombone, Guitar, and Piano. And I can sing a bit too."
"What's a Eup-Eupon-"
"Euphonium, Luffy. It's a tenor tuba." replied Nami.
"How would you know?" asked Usopp.
"He used to play for Nojiko and I when we were younger. He's quite good. Why don't you play something now? I haven't heard you in a while."
"Well, alright. Sanji, could you make us some drinks?"
"Get your own damn drinks."
"I'll get Nami to give you another Happiness Punch."
"I'll be right back!" He stormed into the kitchen. Nami was slightly annoyed.
"You don't really expect me to do that again, do you?"
"Don't worry, I'll pay off his debt next, when I have another 200 thousand berries." Everyone laughed.
"Hey, Aaron..." began Luffy.
"Hm?"
"I don't know if you knew, but we all have individual dreams to accomplish here."
"Pirate King, Strongest Swordsman, Map of the World, Brave Warrior, All-Blue, Cure All Diseases, Ancient Poneglyphs."
"How did you know?"
"I have my ways. I have my own dream as well. I plan to become a legendary member of the Assassin Brotherhood, and kill every Templar in this world." Chopper hid behind Nami. A few others became worried as well. Zoro started listening, and even Nami was taken back a bit.
"Templar? What's that? And why do you want to kill all of them?" asks Luffy.
"I suppose you should all hear this. Everyone, sit somewhere comfortable. It's storytime." Once they took their seats, I began.
"Well, the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order are both secret organizations that go far back to the beginnings of history."
"Secret Organization? Like Baroque Works?" asked Nami.
"Kind of, but they serve a higher purpose than Crocodile ever did. The Templars are a group that work behind the scenes and want control of the world. Politics, Military, Money, the works. They want everyone to bow down before them and accept their ways. I suppose they're like the Celestial Dragons, only they have the strength to back up their beliefs. That and they aren't oblivious bastards. The Assassins fight against them, believing that the freedom of humanity is necessary. They are in some ways more powerful than the Templars, as each and every soldier is trained to be a professional killer lurking in the shadows."
"Hey, wait a minute." interrupted Robin. "That sounds a lot like the Revolutionaries and Marines."
"You're catching on. The Assassins are the elite members of the Revolutionary Army, while the Templars are the strongest officers of the Navy."
"So who are some of the Templars?" inquired Zoro.
"Well, one of them you've already met. Dracule 'Hawk-Eye' Mihawk." Everyone flinched and gasped.
"Right. And you know then that he's reputed as the world's strongest swordsman. He was only toying with Zoro when they fought, and you saw how that worked out." I motioned to his scar.
"There are 6 in all: Warlord Bartholomew Kuma, Warlord Donquixote Doflamingo, and I already mentioned Hawk-Eye. They are the lowest ranked."
"B-B-But those three are monsters, and they're the weakest?!" screamed Chopper.
"Right. The next three are Admirals of the Navy, the strongest men on the planet, excluding the Four Emperors. Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu, who I'm convinced is their Grandmaster."
"How strong are they?" asked Sanji.
"I had a run-in with Aokiji before, when I was young." replied Robin. "He effortlessly took down a giant named Saul, who was my best friend."
"And although I've met all three, I've only ever fought one. I took Akainu on one-on-one before, and lost easily." Everyone turned grim.
"They also recently were considering inducting both Crocodile and Arlong into the Order. After Arlong's tactic to steal the money under Nami's nose, and Crocodile's way of stealing rain and becoming ruler of Alabasta, they became interested. However, after they both lost to Luffy, they gave up on them, since they only take the best. Don't worry about it too much. I'll cheer you up by playing something, okay?"
"Yeah!" shouted everyone.
End.
Fun Fact: I actually am a musician, and play every instrument that I mentioned before. I am going to Berklee College of Music in Boston this fall, and I'm going to study Film Scoring.