Chapter 5 - Regrouping
In light of the current incident, all five groups decided to discuss what their next course of action should be, splitting off to different parts of the ship. Mustang and Snowy had to stay at the lawn since they were not allowed inside. The Karasuno first-years were in the Aquarium.
Hinata was finished getting healed up by Yachi and quickly propped himself up in joy. Yachi was relieved to see him alright, but was a little saddened at the loss of contact on her lap.
"Heck yeah! Back to full strength!" Hinata hollered, pumping his arms up.
"And still annoying." Kageyama grumbled, only to be met face-to-face with an annoyed Hinata.
"Whatcha call me?!" Hinata asked, in a comically angry manner.
"Annoying! That's what, dumbass!" Kageyama answered, locking heads with Hinata.
"You're both annoying." Tsukishima said, using a cleaning wipe on his glasses before putting them back on.
"HUH?!" Hinata and Kageyama snapped, now looking at the tall middle blocker.
Yamaguchi pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I wish Daichi-san were here."
A giggling sound caused the four volleyball boys to see Yachi in good spirits. Even Hinata lightly blushed to see her smile.
"Sorry. It's just seeing you guys go at it made my worries wash away." Yachi commented.
"You recover faster than usual." Kageyama commented, which Yachi nodded with a smile.
Hinata felt a small ounce of guilt for making her worry after the battle with Jackal. Seeing her cry is something he never wanted in her, despite herself having the right when she's sad. He walked over and gently took her hands, rubbing them with his fingers to her surprise.
"I'm sorry for making you worry like that again." Hinata apologized, which got Kageyama, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and especially Yachi surprised. Yachi managed to smile and blush, returning the holding hands in kind.
"You always make me worry, you dummy." Yachi said.
"But… that reckless nature is what makes you our team's heart." Yachi added, fully understanding Hinata taking action is more of his protective nature towards the friends he loved.
Hinata was genuinely touched and leaned forward, kissing Yachi on the lips that caught her by surprise again, but just accepted for a few seconds before he released the kiss, now leaning his head with hers'.
"Ya know, looking at this aquarium makes me wish we could've gone to one back on that island." Hinata explained.
"Even for a tiny moment, we can just enjoy the fishes." Yachi said, feeling at peace.
Kageyama, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi just deadpanned in the background, not liking in being ignored.
"Are we like third wheels or something?" Kageyama and Tsukishima thought together.
"I gotta get a girlfriend." Yamaguchi thought, thinking differently.
XXX
"For a pirate ship, this is actually cleaner than I was expecting." Weiss said, in the library with her teammates.
"But they aren't bad pirates." Ruby said, feeling a little offended of how Weiss portrays the Straw Hats, also feeling better in mere seconds.
"Well, check out this wanted poster I saw." Weiss argued, showing Luffy's wanted poster.
Ruby, Blake and Yang saw Luffy's poster and were surprised by how much his bounty's worth.
"1.5 million?!" Blake squawked.
"But what are 'berries'? That's a fruit, not money." Yang said, confused by the unknown currency.
"Money's not the issue here, Yang." Weiss said, having a sweat drop on her forehead.
"Well, he may have stood up to some government jerk who prey on innocent people. Or maybe picked a fight with a big shot pirate." Ruby explained.
"I may not argue with that, but we don't know for sure. I would normally be against allying with pirates, but I will trust your judgement." Weiss explained, showing a side of empathy and trusting her leader's judgement.
Yang whistled. "Seems going home really softened you a little, Ice Queen." Yang teased, only to get a head chop by Weiss in response.
"Shut up, Yang." Weiss said.
Blake sighed, before looking at the books. Being curious, she's tempted to read one, but refrained and let out a sigh. Ruby noticed and walked up to the cat Faunus.
"Look at this makes me miss Beacon." Blake softly said.
"Yeah." Ruby said in agreement, still feeling sad about the Battle of Beacon and the aftermath that left Team RWBY, among many others, scarred.
XXX
In the kitchen/dining room, Soma, Erina, Takumi, Megumi, Akira, Hisako, Ryo and Alice were marveled at how it looks despite being on a pirate ship; each couple were sitting together and in different spots.
"This kitchen looks fancy." Alice commented, sitting on Ryo's lap with the two sitting on the couch, who didn't budge or mind.
"I can almost imagining having a Shokugeki right now." Soma said, also sitting on the couch Erina with Erina on his lap and arms around her waist, with a confident smirk on his face now that his injuries are healed.
"And I would be the winner in this Shokugeki!" Takumi declared, pointing at Soma while sitting next to Megumi at the bar near the kitchen area.
"Big words, man. Shame we can't do it now." Soma teased, causing Takumi to fume in irritation.
"We can't be talking about a Shokugeki right now, you two." Akira said, sitting next to Hisako at the table with their hands locked under the table.
"And we're not allowed to touch anything until we understand the current situation." Hisako said.
Soma and Takumi pouted, with Erina and Megumi sigh over their boyfriend's rivalry.
"Jokes aside, we need to figure out what in the world is going on here." Erina explained.
"Yeah. Like all these new people have powers we never thought existed." Soma said, getting back to the conversation at hand.
"Y-You don't think we may have been transported to the other world again?" Megumi asked, getting nervous at the thought of being sent to that world again.
"But we didn't get dragged through a portal." Ryo said, lazily.
"Plus, we were in our world the whole time, right?" Takumi asked.
"That may be a stretch." Alice said, starting to think things over.
"You have something in mind, don't you?" Hisako asked.
"Correct, Hishoko-chan!" Alice replied, her right hand under her chin.
"It's Hisako!" Hisako barked, with sharp teeth.
"Back on topic." Akira said, having a sweat drop on his forehead.
"Did we even know that Blue Sea Resort ever existed as an island?" Alice questioned.
"No. Last I thought, it was built a year ago." Soma said.
"But that was almost around the time we all came to Totsuki. We haven't even heard of it until the start of March." Megumi explained.
"And we never heard of these 'Straw Hat Pirates' in both worlds, right?" Alice asked again, which got the other Elite 10 members, Erina and Hisako to realize one possible answer that they didn't want to admit.
"I think we should ask them first before we say it." Erina ordered.
"Good point. You make me miss your commanding tone." Soma commented, giving a peck on Erina's cheeks that caused her to blush red.
"Really?! I don't need your compliment!" Erina barked, turning to face Soma only for him to catch her off-guard with a kiss on the lips, making her blush more prominent with steam coming out of her ears.
"Did I also mention you're cute when you get flustered." Soma teased.
Alice giggled at her cousin's plight, while Megumi, Takumi, Hisako, Akira and Ryo sighed.
"He really knows her too well." Megumi, Takumi, Hisako, Akira and Ryo thought in unison.
XXX
Natsu and Gajeel were trying to hold on, but unfortanetly, they were still laying on the floor of the Sick Bay for several minutes now.
"I… can't… go on…" Natsu said, weakly.
"Get me… off…" Gajeel said, weakly as well.
"Geez, do you two ever stop complaining?" Gray asked, more focused on trying to get a lovestruck Juvia off him.
"Afraid it's the Dragon Slayer sickness." Happy joked.
"Thanks for pointing the obvious." Pantherlily said.
"Wendy… give me the Troia…" Natsu weakly said, dragging his feet towards Wendy.
"No… me…!" Gajeel weakly demanded, doing the same as Natsu.
"Wendy's not your life support!" Carla snapped, with sharp teeth.
Wendy sheepishly laughed before turning to her fellow Dragon Slayers. "Sorry, guys - you know my Troia spell is less effective every time I use it."
"God help me…!" Natsu and Gajeel groaned.
Lucy became irritated before she turned to see Erza very quiet. She doesn't know if that's a good sign or not.
Evan scooted over to Lucy. "Uh, is Erza-san like that?" He whispered.
"Not most of the time. And I've got a grim feeling why." Lucy whispered.
"That reminds me!" Levy suddenly shouted, getting the attention of the other Fairy Tail wizards. She dug into her left pocket and took out two small white pills. She walked over to Gajeel and kneeled beside him.
"Here, eat this." Levy said, showing the pill to Gajeel. The Iron Dragon Slayer opened his mouth and while a little hesitant, Levy managed to lightly threw one in his mouth. Once swallowed, the pain in his stomach disappeared in an instant.
"What the…" Gajeel said as he stood on his two feet, surprising everyone, especially Natsu. "I feel better…"
Levy lightly blushed before she felt a heavy glare that felt like something piercing her soul. She slowly turned her head to see Natsu with red eyes gazing at the last pill; a dark aura of jealousy was erupting. Not wanting to get the fire wizard's wrath, Levy set the pill on the floor before quickly returning to Lucy and Evan's side.
Crawling on the floor, Natsu managed to grab the last pill and swallowed it. At that moment, Natsu was on his two feet and felt overjoyed.
"HELL YEAH~!" Natsu roared, fire spewing from his mouth. "BACK IN BUSINESS~!"
"And noisy as ever," Carla muttered, annoyed.
"You guys can thank that cute little reindeer who gave them to meet minutes earlier." Levy explained.
"Makes sense, since he's the doctor of these pirates." Evan explained, remembering seeing for a brief moment how Chopper was treating Luffy's injuries from the battle against Jackal. He flinched when he saw Natsu kick Gray in the face, releasing Juvia's grip, who was surprised herself, making the ice wizard stagger.
"The hell was that for?!" Gray asked, in an angry manner.
"Just wanna see what it's like to kick you without puking my guts." Natsu answered, grinning while cracking his knuckles.
"You little…!" Gray said, getting into his Ice-Make stance.
"Natsu. Gray." Erza said, causing the two to stop what they're doing and slowly turned to see the still and quiet Erza, who even without facing them, her voice alone always makes the two rivals whimper like scared puppies. "Would you care to explain what happened when you were at the water slide?"
"Well uh…" Natsu and Gray trying to come up with a good excuse. "It was his fault!" Natsu and Gray hollered in unison, pointing their fingers at each other. "My fault?! You're the one wh-"
"SILENCE!" Erza ordered, giving off a dangerous aura and glare. Natsu and Gray comically shrunk in fear. "It doesn't matter who's fault it is. You're equally responsible for the damage you caused."
Erza started to get up and walked over to Natsu and Gray, cracking her knuckles. Despite being top-level Fairy Tail wizards, the two always fear Erza over any foe. "Stand still and accept your punishment!"
Erza started delivering a pounding to Natsu and Gray, generating a dust cloud as the other Fairy Tail members sweat drop at the sight.
"Some things never change." Lucy said, having a sweat drop on her forehead.
"My darling Gray-sama. I'll never forget you!" Juvia cried, giving a salute.
Carla froze for a second and starting having her strange visions.
XXX
A massive island that became a battlefield.
A black and blue dragon letting out a roar that echoed the sky.
Luffy, Natsu, Ruby, Hinata, Soma and all their friends beaten brutally.
Evil laughter heard from a mysterious figure.
A cry of a child heard in a nearby cave.
XXX
When the visions were done, Carla became puzzled and horrified by what she saw. Wendy noticed Carla's expression and picked her up.
"Are you okay, Carla? You seem to have a precognition to be this scared." Wendy explained, out of concern.
"It's fine," Carla said, trying to not Wendy be concerned. "Just thinking about the current situation."
Before Wendy could ask more, the door to the Sick Bay opened, revealing Robin as everyone in the room had stopped, including Erza with the half-to-death beaten Natsu and Gray.
"Sorry for interrupting a good time, but you and everyone else need to meet up with our crew at the workshop." Robin explained.
Hoping to ask what the Straw Hats know, the Fairy Tail members decided to follow with Erza dragging the KO'ed Natsu and Gray by their legs.
XXX
Marine Headquarters, the main base of operations for the World Government's main sea police force, was in a state of emergency. Every Marine from every branch, from the lowest rank all the way to the Vice Admirals were scrambling around to handle the situation that happened with the destruction of Blue Sea Resort.
Outside on a balcony were two legendary Marines that have history with the Straw Hats: Inspector General and former Fleet Admiral Sengoku, and Vice Admiral and Marine Instructor, and Luffy's grandfather Monkey D. Garp, also aware of the situation, but with deeper insight to know what is really going on.
"To think… he's alive after nearly 12 years." Garp said, chewing on a rice cracker.
"And just after the Bullet incident was solved, he appeared and make things worse." Sengoku said.
"Yeah. And my grandson's crew is now at the epicenter for his plans." Garp explained.
"While I have no love for pirates, it is concerning one of his men made contact with them along with 29 other individuals that aren't even in any record of the world." Sengoku explained.
"This can only mean one thing, old friend." Garp said in a grim tone. "The possibility of other worlds are opening to our world thanks to that man."
XXX
At the workshop, the room became silent. Everyone were staring at Luffy who had his signature grin.
"That damn idiot," Zoro mumbled, facepalmed.
"We're dead… We're so dead…" Nami and Usopp clung to each other, crying anime-like tears.
"Yohohoho." Brook laughed.
Sanji (having hearts for eyes), Robin, Franky and even Soma were the only ones smiling, while Natsu, Chopper and Alice stare with puzzled looks. For Ryo, he's just his usual lazy self.
Erza, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Tsukishima and Akira were startled, but nothing would compare to everyone else who had their jaws drop to the floor and eyes completely widened in absolute disbelief.
"Y-You want us to what?" Megumi asked, hoping this was all just a dream, but Luffy's grin grew bigger when he answered the 10th Seat's question.
"I decided you're all joining my crew! No exceptions!"
Next time: Chapter 6 - Cast Introductions.
Did some moments of HinaYachi and SouEri, and for the record, the main ships in this story will mostly be HinaYachi, SouEri, TakuMegu, RyoAli, and AkiSako, with hints of LuNa, NaLu, Gruvia, Gajevy, WhiteRose and Bumbleby. Next chapter will be longer, so it will take mostly a week to get done since there will be explanations in order.
Yes, everyone. This whole story is taking place in the One Piece world after the 2019 film One Piece: Stampede, and before Jimbei joined the crew in the Wano Country, since it's non-canon right now. I will be doing a lot of One Piece characters that I never used in all my previous stories, so I'm gonna try my best to match the expectations, but I'll need time when they play in this story.
