Straw Hat RWBYs
An: Alright! So, first part of this original arc. I hope it's enjoyable. It's still got a bit of exposition, more than I wanted, but it couldn't be avoided since I want to not only tell a great story, but also build up this version of Remnant and the One Piece world (or as I call it in this story, Susanos).
I'd like to thank all who reviewed on the last chapter. And there are a few I'd like to respond to at this time:
RWBYROSE:
1. I understand your concern. But I don't plan on giving everyone Aura. Just the ones I think can benefit from it, like Usopp and Nami. Zoro, in my opinion, would refuse it because it would be like cheating; likewise, I think Luffy would think it would be boring to have Aura.
2. I don't know either; that's why I have it where they only have two types of movies: Romances and Marine movies. One's entertainment; the other promotional advertisement.
3. Yeah. I hate doing that, but I like to get relevant stuff out of the way fast so's not to disrupt the flow of the story later.
Greymon1000:
1. To me, Aura is a very universal type of power, since everyone has a soul, hence they can theoretically obtain Aura. (And thanks for your opinion on the world name. I originally thought of a Greco-Roman name for it, but I felt it would clash with the Ancient Weapons, and thought about paying homage to the land where One Piece originated and used Susanoo for the name). And Usopp's semblance...Hehehe...Nomadskout8 and myself think we've found the perfect one for a legend such as the Straw Hat sniper.
2. It didn't come up for a reason. It'll come up later. And yes, Classic Luffy. And I agree with you: the comparison to Coby most likely sealed their fates in that regard.
3. Weiss and Blake, typically, are always the hardest to write character arcs for me, but for this story, it wasn't all that difficult, since there's enough in Susanos that wouldn't sit right with them, but a lot that they could empathize and/or sympathize with. The arcs for the girls are going to be interesting to write, to say the least.
4. Oh, it will. Just wait and see. Hehehehe...
Mastergamer14:
I thank you for the Devil Fruit ideas. I already have RWBY's (at least two of them's) DFs planned, but your Devil Fruits may be used by someone else in the story if you'd like.
And with that out of the way, let's get right into the Waterfall Island arc!
Chapter 4: Dark secret of Waterfall Island! Enter Marine Captain Rankin Hogan!
Nami directed the Merry away from the port and off next to the forest on the left side of the island. While they didn't have any pirate symbols flying on the Merry just yet (Luffy had been too distracted trying to recruit Team RWBY to his crew to set up his new Jolly Roger), the navigator didn't want to take any chances. This island did have a Marine base, after all. One could never be too careful when dealing with them.
The four brightly colored girls casually jumped off the ship and landed lightly on the shore next to her. They each began looking around at the forest in unveiled awe, which made Nami smile. Watching them be so impressed by Waterfall Island was really cute. They were like little kids leaving home for the first time.
With a start, the orangette realized that, in a way, they were. They were from a different dimension (and wasn't that a crazy pill to swallow!), so of course they'd be amazed by such alien sights as Waterfall Island. From what she had gathered from her time with them, they hadn't seen much in terms of 'breathtaking wonders' from their own home world.
Ruby and Yang admitted they lived their whole lives on a small island just off the coast of the mainland of their home kingdom, and Blake informed her that she lived on an island that was only inhabitable in certain places. Weiss claimed to have seen at least one (the FLOATING city of Atlas did sound breathtaking), but she still lived a very sheltered life. A sliver of jealousy shot up her spine, but Nami forced herself to ignore it.
She had found herself thinking of how these four girls had much better lives than her, but she forced herself not to think that. It wasn't fair to the four teens, since Nami didn't know a thing about their lives before they came to Susanos. She had no right to judge them like that, and she didn't really want to, to her surprise.
It had been nice to have some female company on the Merry. Their personalities were as different as hers and the Straw Hats, but like them, they sort of clicked together. Blake was similar to Zoro; quiet, yet always alert and searching for threats. The differences, however, were clear. Blake was actually quite the bookworm, and Nami had found her in a corner of the ship reading through some of the books that Kaya had supplied them. She was also very serious with a lone wolf mentality, but at the same time, she was more personable than Zoro.
Weiss came off as haughty, not that Nami blamed her, since she seemed the most incensed about being on a pirate ship. However, she couldn't help but feel some kinship with the white-haired girl. She was smart, didn't take crap off Luffy or Zoro, and despite the aggravation of being on a pirate ship, Weiss was actually very friendly after she calmed down a bit. But like Blake, her eyes were sharp, always watching Luffy and the others for any threatening move or behavior. Nami could tell despite her fancier clothes, Weiss was just as much a fighter as her other friends.
On the opposite end of the two, Yang was a bit like Luffy. She was loud, boisterous, cheerful, and apparently liked to solve her problems with her fists. However, she wasn't as scatterbrained as the rubber-bodied pirate, which Nami felt was a plus. It was surprisingly pleasant to hang out with her, though she found quickly the younger girl had a love for bad puns.
And then there was Ruby. The youngest of the interlopers. Yet, despite her age, she was apparently the leader of their team. Nami would freely admit that was impressive. Besides that, the orange-haired thief had also could tell, with some shock, Ruby was a lot like Luffy. She may have been a tad childish (her freely joining Luffy and Usopp's games of tag and hide and seek proved that), but anyone who could create and wield a massive weapon like Crescent Rose could afford to be a bit childish, in Nami's eyes. Also, like Luffy, Ruby had a personality that just drew people in. It made Nami hate herself more.
Why did she have to become friends with two people who were so hard to hate? Why did the world despise her so much?
She shook her head of such thoughts and turned to the four girls and smiled. "So! How's about we head to the Marine base?" she asked them. Ruby, ever the team's spokesperson, smiled and nodded.
"Sounds good!" she chirped. Nami chuckled and motioned for them to follow her.
"Well, then? Let's go! Town's this way!" Nami turned back to the ship and shouted, "Listen up! I want the Merry repaired when I get back, got it?!"
"Yeah! Yeah! Don't worry yourself, Nami!" Usopp shot back. "Nothing's too damaged! I'll just need some things from town, and I'll have her fixed up in a jiffy!"
"Alright! We'll meet up here in two hours!" she told him.
Luffy jumped off the Merry and surveyed his surroundings, his usual grin on his face. Nami turned to him and frowned. "And just where are you going, Luffy?" she asked.
"This place is super cool! I wanna explore a bit!" he told her easily, his grin not faltering. Her frown deepened.
"Luffy! We can't stay here long!" she admonished him. "We need to get our supplies, fix the Merry, and leave!"
"I'll be back soon!" he told her and ran off. "I'm off to climb to the top of the mountain!"
"Luffy!" But he ignored her shouting. She sighed in exasperation. "That…idiot!"
Blake looked over in amusement, momentarily stopping her gawking at the remarkable island. "He seems like a hand full," she commented. Nami groaned in misery.
"Don't remind me," she mumbled.
"I'll keep an eye on 'em," Zoro said causally as he jumped off the Merry and started walking after Luffy.
"Great. Keep him out of trouble!"
"Wait! Zoro! What about me?!" Usopp shouted.
"You'll be fine," the swordsman replied.
"B-But…! The Merry! It's still…!"
"I'm sure you'll have it fixed by the time I drag our captain back."
"D-Don't leave! M-My 'theremightbehideousmonstersonthisisland' disease is acting up!"
Weiss spared a skeptical look back at him as they began walking towards the nearby town. "Is he really fit to be guarding your ship?" she asked in disbelief.
"He may be a coward, but you shouldn't underestimate him," Nami told her. "He did help take down the Black Cat pirates, and even defeated their vice-captain."
Ruby turned to Nami with wide, starry eyes. "He did?!" she asked excitedly. Nami turned her way and smiled.
"Oh, yeah! I didn't see it personally, but Zoro told me about it, how even after getting pretty beat up by Kuro, the Black Cat's captain and the guy who was trying to kill his girlfriend, Usopp still had a steady enough hand to shoot the guy in the face with only his slingshot and a homemade firework pellet!"
"Whhhhoooooooooaaaaaaaa!" Ruby exclaimed, imagining the fight in her head. It sounded so cool! She wished she could have actually seen it! Yang grinned alongside Ruby as she too imagined the cowardly long-nosed teen have a badass moment.
Blake hummed at that. "Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover," she mumbled as she dug out her book from her backpack.
Weiss huffed at that. "I'm sorry, but it's hard to see Usopp doing that," she commented.
Nami shrugged. "No problem. I didn't believe it until I saw him in action, as well," she explained. "Like I said, underestimating him is a bad idea. Especially now that you've given him a literal invisible shield."
Weiss conceded to that. "That's probably true. Not to mention, he does seem to have a rather impressive amount of Aura, from what I could sense. So, if nothing else, he should be fine until Luffy or Zoro come back to bail him out."
Nami chuckled at that. "Agreed." She turned back to face forward. "Actually, that's something I wanted to talk to you girls about."
"Hm? About what?" Weiss asked.
"Aura. You mentioned it was quite versatile," she explained. "I was hoping to get a little more information than what you mentioned the other night."
Weiss turned and stared at her. The huntress in training noticed Nami looked a tad inquisitive, though there was something in her expression that she couldn't identify. It was familiar, but she couldn't recall why. She shook her head to clear her mind. "I don't see any harm in that," she said. "What would you like to know?"
"Well," Nami began, "for starters, just how strong is Aura, anyways? I mean, if you're using it to defend yourselves against vicious monsters, it's gotta be pretty tough."
Yang turned to the orange haired navigator and smiled. "I can answer that!" she replied.
"Really? You can?" Weiss asked disbelievingly.
"Yes really! I'm not stupid, Weiss!" Yang snapped at her. She turned back to Nami and said, "To answer your question, it varies from person to person. Aura durability depends on several factors like the person's physical health, their Aura control, strength, a ton of factors really. I can't really say what Aura's top end limit for shield durability is, but I know for me, Beacon tested my Aura's shield, and it was shown to be able to withstand blows with 1,400 tons worth of pressure."
Nami's eyes widened. "T-That's a lot!" she stammered out. Yang chuckled mirthfully.
"Oh yeah! Aura's pretty neat!" Yang commented.
"While that is only Yang's Aura shield's durability," Weiss spoke up, reentering the conversation, "it is still a pretty decent standard to use. Aura is dependent on the person utilizing it, and shields are sometimes weaker or stronger, depending on the person. However, most Auras are capable of the same feat. Mine was measured to withstand around 1,289 tons of pressure."
"Mine was 1,344 tons," Blake commented, deciding to join in.
"And mine's 1,312!" Ruby announced with a smile. Nami stared at the younger girls in a state of shock. For a normal human being like her, the idea that mere humans could conjure up such a powerful shield was incredible. Suddenly, her mind flashed to Arlong leveling a building with just his hand. She forced down a shudder and smiled at the four teens.
"That is very impressive!" she told them. "What else can Aura do?!"
Blake shrugged. "Beyond augmenting your physical abilities, it can also heal wounds," she mentioned.
"Really?!" Nami gaped at the amber-eyed Huntress-in-training. Seriously, was there any limit to this stuff?! Blake nodded.
"It's not perfect, but minor wounds are healed perfectly by Aura," she explained. "So well in fact, you wouldn't even know you got hit."
"W-Wow…" Nami was speechless. "It sounds so unbelievable…"
"Well, believe it, Nami!" Yang told her with a grin. "Because it's saved our pretty butts more than once!"
"Even still, there must be some drawbacks, right?"
Weiss nodded. "There are," she confirmed. "Aura is not indestructible. It can be broken with enough force, and when it runs low, the shield will shatter. It can recharge, but that could take hours, depending on how wounded and fatigued you are. And the healing, as well as Semblances and physical augmentation, greatly drain your Aura reserves."
Nami nodded to that. She knew there had to be some weaknesses to Aura. Nothing is perfect, after all. She was about to ask more when Ruby gasped loudly. "Girls! We've arrived at the town!"
Everyone turned to see the stone buildings and roads stretched out before them. Team RWBY gasped in awe as they stared out at the beautiful architecture of the town. Nami whistled, impressed herself. She looked up at a sign above them. "'Welcome to Hannoki Town,' huh?" she read. She looked around and saw a road sign. The pirate thief turned to the girls and grinned. "Looks like we're almost there! According to the that road sign, the Marine base is just down this road a piece before turning at the first right we come across!"
Ruby smiled widely. "Awesome! Let's go!" she said nodding. Nami nodded herself and motioned towards the road. The group of five began walking down the road, admiring the monolithic buildings around them.
Yang in particular found it interesting that the stones themselves looked like they haven't been moved. In fact, they looked like they were never cut in the first place. With a bit of shock, the blonde brawler realized the buildings were actually natural rock formations, and the insides were just hollowed out for businesses and homes. She whistled. "Talk about your 'rock solid' foundations, eh?" she commented with a smirk. All the girls around her groaned.
"Terrible pun aside," Weiss drawled out, getting Yang to whine. "It's…accurate. I didn't think these buildings were all-natural rock formations!"
"Ooh man! This place is sooo cooool!" Ruby gushed. She looked up and gasped. "And the spray of the waterfalls makes rainbows stretch across the sky! So pretty!"
"Yeah! It's nice!" Nami smiled just as brightly as the black-red haired girl. "It's weird, for a long time, I think I've been…desensitized to the beauty some of our islands have." Weiss turned to her and noticed Nami had a faraway look on her face. She smiled slightly.
"Been around a lot?" she asked. Nami nodded absently, but before she could say anything, Blake spoke up, breaking their train of thoughts.
"Is it just me, or is it…too quiet?" she asked as she looked around. Ever since walking into town, she noticed it was unnervingly quiet. Not only quiet, but deserted. Other than them, there was no one else on the streets. The hairs on the back of her neck stood as she took note of this, as her paranoia started to creep into her consciousness.
Ruby at the question. "Huh?" She tilted her head and frowned. "Now that you mention it, it is. And I don't see anybody either."
Yang looked confused as well and looked around. "How did we miss that?" she mused aloud.
"We were possibly too preoccupied admiring the town and talking with Nami to notice," Weiss commented, though she looked a bit unsure herself.
"Yeah. Probably best not to worry about it," Nami agreed. In truth, she was worried about it herself (past experiences with Arlong and scared villagers), but she tried to ignore it. They reached the turn, and Nami smiled as their destination came into sight. "And there it is!" The all-girl team turned the corner and saw the massive Marine base in all its glory. The girls gasped at the massive stone structure with a large wooden sign nailed across the face proclaiming "MARINES" in bright, light blue lettering.
Team RWBY stared at the building for several seconds, taking note of the white and blue uniforms of what could only be Marine uniforms worn by men and women stationed outside of the building. "Wow!" Ruby gushed, her head turning from side to side excitedly. "These are Marines?!"
Weiss hummed at the sight of the soldiers. "Almost feels like I'm back in Atlas," she mused, a soft frown on her face. The scene before her was familiar, and not in a relatively good way. Blake noticed this, but she didn't say anything. She had her own reservations seeing the cold callous looks on the faces of the Marine officers, thanks to her lingering paranoia from being a former criminal.
Yang turned to Nami and smiled. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, huh?" she asked, a tad melancholy. Despite it only being shy of two days, the tiny band of pirates had grown on her. Nami gave her a sad smile as well.
"I guess so," she replied. It was going to be sad to not have them around anymore, but it was for the best. "And I was just getting used to having some intelligent conversation, too!" she joked, getting giggles and smiles out of the younger girls.
"Do try and keep those knuckleheads straight, ok?" Yang told her with a grin. Nami chuckled.
"No promises!"
Blake came up to her and nodded once. "Take care," she said simply. Nami nodded.
"You too." Weiss came up after Blake and held out her hand.
"I know that I…didn't react well to Luffy's…profession, but thank you for getting us here unharmed, Nami, and tell him I'm grateful for his generosity."
"I'll do that," the navigator said. "Take care of your team." Weiss nodded as Ruby walked up to Nami with a big smile. The orange-haired teen suppressed a wince.
"Take care, Nami!" she said brightly. "And tell Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp I said goodbye, please!" Nami smiled at her.
"I'll do that!" The all-girl team nodded and waved at her as they turned towards the Marine base.
"Take care, friend!" Ruby called back. Nami waved back and watched them go with a sigh. It was for the best, her mind rationalized. It was bad enough on her that's she'd have to betray Luffy and the others. At least this way, there would be less people around that she'd hurt.
Still, it didn't soothe the ache in her heart.
She watched as the four entered the Marine base before she lightly slapped herself and turned around. Now that that errand was complete, it was time to resupply the Merry. She walked down the street, absently catching the conversation of two Marines coming up behind her.
"Where did the Lieutenant say the pirate stash was again? I don't remember."
"Huh? Oh. Down Clarity Street. Fifth building on the left, I believe."
"Thanks. For some reason, I was thinking Opacity Lane at the old coffee shop."
"There's one there too."
"All this treasure, and not a single Berri taken? Theses pirates must've been really stupid, or something."
Nami stopped listening at that point. Treasure? Pirate treasure at that? She gave a wild grin as her eyes turned into Berri signs. Perhaps she should…"relieve" some of that treasure before the Marines confiscated it all.
At the same time, on the other side of town
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Look at this pitiful place! Utterly disgusting wouldn't you agree, Captain?"
"It most certainly is, milord."
"I pity you for having to be stationed here! It's so dull compared to home!"
"I must agree. Mariejois is a magnificent place."
Walking down an abandoned street, a small group of Marines marched on at a sedative pace. Leading the assembly was a tall man wearing a red pinstriped suit, a black trilby and dress shoes, and a white Marine coat over his shoulders. His green eyes were cold as he lifted his hat to run a hand through his slicked back blue hair. He placed his hat back on his head and stared at the back of the man in front of him, who was wearing an outrageously bulky suit with a glass bowl over his head.
"Brother, remind me why we're putting up with this a-hole?" a quiet voice hissed at his side. He turned to see a girl, slightly younger than himself, with blue bob-cut hair, green eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses, and wearing a grey corset with black jean shorts and high heeled boots under a pristine white Marine coat. A saber was strapped at her side.
He turned back forwards and replied just as quietly, "He's a World Noble. Not much we can do about him."
"Rankin, he's made a pass at me. Five times."
"Be thankful he's at least considerate enough not to demand you leave the Marines so he can make you his slave, Nova," the newly named Rankin replied. Nova huffed quietly.
"When is his 'tour' going to be done?" she asked impatiently.
"When we get back to his ship, which will be in about twenty to thirty minutes at the next right," he answered. She groaned quietly.
"It's better than nothing, I guess," she grumbled. Just as she finished saying that, a Marine came up to Rankin's side.
"Captain Rankin, sir!" the Marine exclaimed, quickly falling into a salute.
"Yes? What is it?" Rankin asked, turning to the soldier.
"Sir! HQ is calling you, sir!" The Marine held up a Transponder Snail. "They need to speak to you ASAP!" The captain sighed and grabbed the snail.
"Is something wrong, Hogan?" the world noble asked patronizingly.
"Nothing to be worried about, milord," Rankin replied. "It just seems that Headquarters has an urgent message for me. If it is alright with you, I will answer this in private, while my sister takes over your tour for me."
"What?" Nova hissed, her hand twitching towards her sword. The noble smiled brightly at that.
"Oh! That's perfectly fine, Captain Hogan!" he told him. "By all means, take all the time you need!" He winked at Nova, who involuntarily shivered in revulsion. "It gives me more time to get to know Captain Nova!"
"Rankin…!" she hissed, but Rankin interrupted her.
"Don't stab him," he whispered to her as he walked off. After he rounded a corner, he held up the Transponder Snail up to his face.
"This is Captain Rankin Hogan, what's the message from Headquarters?" he asked.
"Captain Rankin, I'm not sure you've noticed, but little under two days ago, we received several reports from all around the world of massive earthquakes," the Marine on the other line responded.
"I can confirm the earthquakes on this end," Rankin answered. "You said they were worldwide?"
"Affirmative," was the reply. "But that's not the real issue. Accompanying these tremors was an unexplained phenomenon that, even by New World standards, is beyond bizarre."
Rankin raised an eyebrow. "Bizarre, how?"
"Reports state that the sky opened up and that rainbow-colored mist fell from said opening," the Marine explained. Rankin looked doubtful at the claim.
"Forgive me, but that sounds like a load of crap, sir," he said. "Do the higher ups really believe this?"
"Your skepticism is forgiven, Captain. Fleet Admiral Sengoku was uncertain of this at first as well, until the event happened above Marineford," the Marine replied.
Rankin was actually surprised now. "Do we know how this happened?" he asked.
"No. The only expert in this field has only researched the Rainbow Mists," was his reply. "It was a, previously, thought fictitious phenomenon that occurred around an island in the first half of the Grand Line. Fleet Admiral Sengoku has sent the scientist whatever he needs to further his research, since the only clue to this situation is that Rainbow Mist."
"And what are my orders concerning this?" Rankin asked.
"We have reports of…monsters falling out of these 'sky holes'. Reports claim they're black furred beings in the shape of animals with bone-like armor and red eyes. The expert I mentioned that they might be from an entirely different world from our own. An extreme opinion, I'll grant you, but what else can we truly say about it? Fleet Admiral Sengoku wants you and other captains in the area to investigate any and all reports of Rainbow Mist, should it continue to pop up, as well as confirm any of these unidentified threats in the East Blue." Rankin nodded.
"Anything else?" he asked.
"Yes sir. It might not happen, but the expert claims that we might even have…'visitors' from this other world, as in people. If you do, indeed, come across such individuals, you are to send them to Marineford immediately."
"Understood."
"Good luck, Captain Hogan," the Marine said, and he hung up.
Rankin looked down at the snail for a moment before he turned out to the sea. He frowned when he saw a boy in a straw hat jumped from building to building. He clicked his teeth together. "Stupid kid," he muttered, and turned around to reconnect with his sister and the group.
An: Yes. I totally am using a Celestial Dragon to introduce RWBY to just how bad the World Government can be. I did this because I felt that they needed more than just a corrupt Marine officer to refuse joining the Marines and agree to join Luffy's crew.
Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! Next one will be sometime in November, I'm afraid. I'm now inspired to write in some of my other stories. Until then!