O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.
One might think that the group of wayward Strawhats had wandered off together.
They would be forgiven for thinking so; in fact, the expedition into town had started off as such, Luffy leading the charge while aggressively sniffing in the air, but it was in the town square when this group split in two.
"Something smells good!" Luffy and Sanji said in unison, looking around eagerly for the source of the smell.
"Is this…Spain?" Leo muttered, absolutely stupefied, "But…we're technically in Japan?"
Percy watched a crowd of excitable dolls amble past their group, whooping and hollering like school children, "Just go with it, man; nothing ever makes sense here."
Luffy gaped, open-mouthed at a stuffed animal running after a dog, demanding its arm back before the dog ruined it.
He took Zoro's hand in his, "Hey, Zoro, can we-,"
"No, he can't join the crew," Zoro said firmly, "I don't care how cool he looks."
Luffy looked ready to pout, but a marionette soldier coming towards them diverted his attention.
"Hola! Hello!" the soldier greeted the Strawhats, "I'm a soldier but…have we met before? You look familiar… Oh!" The marionette snapped to attention, startling Percy enough to form his sword, "You were in the paper this morning!"
Sanji hissed at Percy to put his sword away before someone saw it as the marionette spun around and fell to the ground, thoroughly tangled in his own strings.
"Oi, Luffy, look at that!" Zoro tugged on his captain's arm.
Luffy looked in shock at a family strolling along the promenade. The mother was human, but the dad was a toy. The two were pushing a toy baby in a stroller.
"This place is unreal," said Franky, "I wonder how the toys work…"
"The toys are moving but who cares?" Luffy giggled, stretching his fists in the air, "Let's go eat!"
The Strawhats wandered off, following the distinct smell of paella wafting from a quaint-little side street. Percy was about to follow when Leo held him back.
"Dude, look over there."
Nestled between a butcher's shop and a store selling colorful fans sat what appeared, at first glance, to be another souvenir shop.
A closer look however, revealed something odd about the way the door handle glinted under the hot sun.
It was celestial bronze.
Percy fished out Riptide, "Looks like a trap."
Leo grinned, "We need the celestial bronze, man; if it's a trap, I say we spring it."
P.E.R.C.Y. J.A.C.K.S.O.N.
Trafalgar Law at 6 years old never fit the mold of a typical demigod. He hadn't been gifted with ADD or dyslexia like most, but he had something that most young demigods only dreamt of: safety-a life void of tragedy.
If you read stories of greek heroes to Trafalgar Law at 7 years old, he would wonder how anyone else could have experienced the same kind of despair that he had.
For Trafalgar Law, at 7 years old, became a true demigod, baptized in the blood and suffering of his loved ones.
"MOM! DAD!"
"SISTER! EVERYBODY!"
"LAMMY!"
A man with legs longer than Law's entire body peered at the child through purple, rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses.
"I said it before and I'll say it again: there's something about this kid. Ne, Corazon?"
A blonde man in a dark-feathered cape scowled at Law as if he were a rather large cockroach, but he said nothing.
Doflamingo grinned as wide as a Cheshire Cat, "Well, alright then. Welcome to the family, Law."
Trafalgar Law, at 7 years old, with the world around him going up in flames, learned how to survive.
O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.
Sanji, Zoro and Franky were each the type never to claim any skills in stealth; quite the contrary, in fact. Still, even they had the good sense to know that when in disguise, in public in enemy territory, it was best to lay low.
Unfortunately, nobody thought to tell that to Luffy.
"It's even."
Franky elbowed Zoro sharply in the ribs.
"Ow! Will you people stop doing that? I looked away for one second!"
"And you should know that was one second too long," Franky hissed back at the swordsman, "Now look what he's done," he waved at Luffy, munching on a plate of squid-ink pasta while surrounded by irate, sketchy mafiosi.
"It doesn't seem to matter," Kin'emon tried reassuring the Strawhats, "Luffy's picked a powerful stranger to help; I can feel it."
Nobody could argue with that; especially not when the blind man used the power of gravity to create a crater in the floor so deep that nobody could see the bottom.
"You're pretty strong, mister," Luffy remarked through a mouthful of pasta, "What's your name?"
Zoro was up and at Luffy's side, ready to defend him, but the blind man merely sighed and shuffled out the door.
"For all of us, I think it best if we remain strangers."
The Strawhats gaped, open-mouthed as the stranger proceeded to walk headfirst into several people and toys, leaving a trail of chaos behind him all the way down the street until finally, he rounded a corner and disappeared.
"What are you thinking?"
Zoro glanced at his captain, "I think that's not the last we'll see of this guy."
Luffy swallowed his last gulp of pasta and, with a serious face, snaked a rubbery arm under Zoro's dress shirt and pulled him close.
"You look good in a suit," he murmured in Zoro's ear, splaying his palm on the small of Zoro's back and digging his nails into its tanned skin.
The hairs on the back of Zoro's neck tingled in excitement; he wanted nothing more than to take Luffy somewhere secluded for some sorely-needed quality time, but he knew they had more important things to worry about.
Namely, the fact that there were only two of his swords resting against their table.
"My purse is gone!"
"Hey! Where's my watch?"
"Someone took my wallet!"
"Where is Shusui?" Zoro demanded.
Kin'emon and Franky gaped, open-mouthed at the spot between them where the sword had been a second ago.
"Shit, sorry, Zoro-bro," Franky apologized, "I have no idea."
"What? The national treasure of Wano?" Kin'emon spluttered furiously, "This is an outrage! How could you lose it so easily?"
"IT'S MY SWORD, BAKA AND I DIDN'T LOSE IT! SOMEONE MUST HAVE STOLEN IT!"
"Fairies did it."
The restaurant patrons stopped their panic to listen to a marionette with a drum.
"What do you mean, fairies?" Zoro shouted, "Is that the name of a gang?"
"No, silly," the marionette said lightly, "Actual fairies. They are the ancient guardians of Dressrosa. When they get up to mischief there's nothing you can do."
The woman who'd lost her purse chuckled nervously, "Oh, well if it was fairies, then I guess it can't be helped."
"I can always get a new wallet," agreed a stuffed teddy bear.
"Screw that!"
"Moss head, wait-,"
It was too late; Zoro had already charged off. Unbeknownst to any but Zoro, a tiny figure carrying a sack full of stolen goods had been trying to sneak out the back window.
Try being the operative word here.
"Your greed's gotten the better of you, fairy!" Zoro shouted triumphantly at the bag desperately trying to fit Zoro's sword through the window, "Now gimme back my sword."
"Return Wano's national treasure at once!"
"Not you too," Sanji groaned as Kin'emon took off after Zoro, "Guess it can't be helped! Moss Head, wait! We can't afford to go looking for you!"
Luffy was about to follow Sanji, but Franky held him back.
"Hang on a second, Sencho."
Luffy looked up at his older crew mate, "We gotta stick with the others, Franky!"
Franky sighed, "Looks like when it's just the idiots around, it's my job to keep us on track. Come on; I have an idea."
With that, the two remaining Strawhats slipped out of the restaurant in order to chase down one of the mafiosi from earlier. Not once did anyone in this group stop to notice that two of their numbers had disappeared hours earlier.
Then again, that was just how Percy and Leo liked it.
O.N.E. P.I.E.C.E.
Zoro hadn't been there for a day yet and he already hated Dressrosa.
It was too hot, too crowded, too weird…need he keep going?
Oh, and a stupid fairy stole his sword then got itself lost!
"Not a fairy," he grunted, "A stupid thief!"
Zoro skidded to a halt in an airid courtyard, absolutely packed with pedestrians.
"There you are. When are you gonna learn how to hold still? One of these days I'm gonna get Luffy to put you on a leash-,"
Sanji trailed off mid-sentence.
"What, did you find Shisui?"
"Who cares about your sticks," Sanji said in a low voice. Zoro peeked curiously around the blonde's shoulder. When he saw it was some chick though, he lost all interest.
"That way!" he decided, taking off past the fountain, "Oi, thief! Gimme back my sword!"
P.E.R.C.Y. J.A.C.K.S.O.N.
Sanji hadn't been there for a day yet and he already loved Dressrosa. The food was fantastic, but that wasn't why he loved it.
No, his love for Dressrosa stemmed entirely from the dancer with her arms wrapped around his waist.
"Where did she go?"
"She must have escaped down that way!"
Sanji couldn't bother tracking the police as they ran off; he was too busy dying and going to heaven.
A woman had kissed him!
A real woman had her arms around him!
"Thank you for saving me," she said in a thick, Dressrosan accent, "But they'll come back any second now; I must flee."
"Violet-chan," said Sanji, holding the new love of his life by her shoulders, "Wherever you go, I will keep you safe. I'm your bodyguard now, right?"
The hopeful smile on her almond-shaped face was all Sanji needed in this life. Sanji didn't care that she may stab him; if it was in the name of passionate love, he would take a thousand stabs!
Besides, busying himself with Violet helped him not think about the shadow that had been tailing him since he left the restaurant. Anything was better than thinking about that.
In fact, Sanji was so busy NOT thinking about that as he escorted Violet down a set of stairs decorated with brilliantly-colored, mosaic iguanas, that he almost missed the celestial bronze manhole cover popping loose from the cobblestone in front of them and Percy Jackson and Leo Valdez emerging from the sewers.
Almost.
Violet gasped and hid herself behind Sanji, "Sanji, mi amor, who are they?"
Sanji stared, absolutely stupefied at the two demigods, both of whom had frozen in place and were staring right back at the cook.
"Uh…hi?" Percy waved awkwardly before fumbling to catch a celestial bronze hammer before it fell out of the armful of junk in his arms. Sanji felt like he wanted to ask why the two were covered in a mysterious, green goo, but at the same time, Sanji knew that he really didn't want to know.
Ah, hell, "Why are you covered in-,"
A high-pitched, inhuman shriek cut him off.
Leo began shoving armfuls of celestial bronze into his tool bag and Percy grabbed Sanji's hand.
"No time to explain! Gotta go now!"
"Sanji, what-,"
"I don't know, Violet-chan, just run!"