DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE
|PROLOGUE
The sun shone brightly against the blue sky. Nothing moved under its heat: the sea was as flat as glass.
As it always was, from morning to night.
Still, Koby, a young cabin boy of sixteen years of age stood on the deck of the Miss Love Duck, staring out at the calm waters. There were no ripples of fish, not even a small breeze.
And it was very, very hot.
That was just a typical day for him now.
The East Blue was like that.
"Nooo! Please, don't! Stop! Stop!" the painful cries of a marine being tortured echoed around the island behind him.
He suppressed a wince, staring out at the ocean. There was nothing he could do for the man. Marines begging for mercy was a common event for the most part.
The Alvida Pirates, after all, were just like that. The crew was filled with some of the roughest and most cruel pirates in the East Blue.
"Ah, the cries of marines, better than birds singing, isn't it?" a cruel laugh from the island drew his eyes behind him.
Followed by cheers of agreement.
The marine being held prisoner, the only one remaining of his crew was some fool who thought himself a big shot because he was a Captain in the East Blue. Neither he nor his crew had lasted more than thirty minutes after they decided to attack the Miss Love Duck and try to capture the Alvida Pirates.
The torturer of the only remaining marine was Captain Alvida herself. A tall and very obese woman with long wavy black hair and freckles on her cheeks, wearing a white cowgirl hat with a large red plume, a red neckerchief, and a pink plaid shirt.
Alvida might have looked like anything but a pirate captain, but her strength was the real deal. At least in a weak sea like the East Blue. She'd crushed the marine captain her crew was tormenting without much trouble.
In the East Blue, she was one of the strongest pirates sailing the sea.
Koby resisted the urge to tell the crew to shut the hell up and put the poor marine out of his misery. His head was pounding and he was feeling very, very lost.
The sickening sound of painful cries started up again, but he ignored it and sighed.
He'd had a lot of practice, so it was easy to block the sound out.
Though the practice was not his.
It was true his name was Koby, but he was not born with pink hair or on the as-of-yet-unnamed planet where One Piece takes place. The Koby born in this world who he had dubbed "Old Koby" had two years ago intended to board a ship for a fishing trip one day, but got on the wrong ship and ended up with the Alvida Pirates. To stay alive, this world's "Old Koby" put himself in servitude to the crew even though he harbored dreams of escaping and becoming a Marine.
Something he personally knew from his own experience, "Old Koby" would have managed to accomplish.
See, Koby wasn't like most people.
He was from a different world and it was no accident that he was brought to this world and dropped into the body of a fictional character.
It all started two months ago...
THEN.
"Huh?"
He had gone to the library after class to do a bit of reading and that's when all the craziness started.
Koby was looking for the next Volume of One Piece in the corner dedicated to Manga. "Sixty, sixty-one..." he muttered to himself skimming his hands along the shelf. "Sixty-three!"
No Volume 62.
Someone had already checked it out which meant that he would have to wait to do a second read-through of the Paramount War.
Sure, he could have skipped to Volume 63, but 62 was such a good one!
Koby went over to where the computers were and sat down. He was glad One Piece was a popular enough manga that it got an anime adaptation. There were a few changes, but they were mostly the same. He could watch the anime until Volume 62 was returned to the library.
He barely had time to start looking for the right episode before the computer screen erupted in a blaze of light.
"What the fu—" Koby started to yell as a tremendous force sucked him headfirst into the screen. It felt like plunging down a massive waterslide, spinning and tumbling through blinding brightness.
Seconds later, Koby landed with a massive thud. His head rattled and his vision went blurry.
"Oh wow..."
He heard the sound of people marveling at something. Groaning, he sat up and looked around. His eyes weren't ready to focus on anything, but he pointed them straight ahead anyway.
As his vision started to clear, he quickly realized that he was definitely not in the library anymore. He saw a strange-dressed man staring at him. The man was wearing a thick full-body white suit that resembled a spacesuit with a green collar adorned with medals and there was a resin bubble over his head.
Celestial Dragon cosplay?
"What's all this?"
Koby turned in the direction of the voice and discovered three other people there. Like him, they didn't seem to know what was going on.
He scratched his head.
Only a moment before he was in the library, but then there was that flash of light...and now he was here?
He twisted left and right to look around and saw that he was in a far more expensive room than the library.
The walls were made of marble.
Regardless, he knew it wasn't anywhere he'd ever been before. And it was certainly not the library.
He looked at the floor. It was made of marble too and was covered in geometric patterns that had been painted in some sort of fluorescent material. There was also an altar of some kind. It looked like something magical and straight out of a fantasy.
And he was standing on the altar!
Where am I? Just as Koby was wondering it, the man next to him asked the Celestial Dragon cosplayer the same thing.
"Where are we?"
"Oh, you four?" the World Noble seemed surprised that any of them had questioned him. "You're here to get me home!"
"What?" the other three and Koby shouted in unison. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"There are many complications in this situation," said the World Noble cosplayer, "but the simple answer to your question is I have just summoned you four to this world."
"Summoned?"
It sounded crazy, and there was a really good chance that it was all some prank, but it wouldn't hurt to hear the guy out.
Besides, if this wasn't a prank, and just some crazy guy losing his mind, it would be safer to play along.
"I've been stuck in this world for over twenty years now. I want to go home, but the only way to get home is supposedly on Laugh Tale," the World Noble smiled. "Because I don't want to risk my life, I've summoned you four."
"Well, it wouldn't hurt too..." Koby began to reply, but the other three guys spoke up quickly.
"I don't think so."
"Yeah, me neither."
"We can go back to our homes, right? We'll talk about your mental problems after that."
Koby stared at them in shock. What is wrong with them?
How did they think it was okay to speak to someone who kidnapped them like that? Someone who was dressed up as a World Noble, and just told them he was okay with all three of them dying?
They must have seen too many movies, Koby glared at the three strangers in silence, and soon the three of them were looking at him with smiles.
What were they smiling about? Couldn't they feel the room growing tense?
"I see, so that's how you're going to be," the World Noble lifted his hand. "Room!"
A transparent bubble covered the room.
"Shambles!"
Koby's jaw dropped as the heads of his three outspoken companions vanished and reappeared in front of the World Noble. The transparent bubble vanished and the World Noble drew the sword from his waist and drove it through all three heads like a shishkabob.
"Ugh, how foul," the World Noble dropped the sword and the heads and walked out of the room.
As he stepped over the three decapitated bodies, he glanced at Koby.
"Follow."
Koby didn't want to die, so he followed.
They walked out of the darkened room and down a hallway that was also made of marble. Outside the room, Koby could feel that the world around him was different. How could he describe it? The air felt...fresh?...and he couldn't think of any other words for it.
As they walked, Koby was able to steal a glance through the window, and the scenery took his breath away.
Below him, a town spread out from the building he was in. All the houses seemed to be made of marble and lined up neatly, just like one of those European cities you'd see featured in a travel brochure.
He wanted to pause for a minute to take it all in, but there was no time.
Koby hurried past the window and down the hall, and soon enough he arrived in a throne room of some sort.
The World Noble went to sit on the throne. "I won't bother introducing myself," he said, leaning forward as he spoke. "We're not friends or partners. You work for me."
Koby somehow managed to resist the urge to yell, "Work implies that I'm getting paid!" But he caught himself just in time.
This guy has been a World Noble for who knows how long and it's obvious he doesn't mind abusing his authority. And a few moments ago, Koby had gotten a front-row seat to his willingness to kill.
"Now then, as I said, the only way for us to get home is to find the One Piece. Supposedly, there's a Poneglpyh there that holds the instructions on how to reverse the spell used to summon us here."
The summary of the World Noble's story was: After Gol D. Roger's execution, he had been summoned to this world by the same spell he used to summon Koby. He didn't say by who, and Koby wasn't going to risk getting stabbed in the brain by asking.
He had been tasked with finding the One Piece—Gol D. Roger's great treasure, but the world of One Piece was dangerous. It was full of pirates, bandits, corrupt marines, slavers, and massive Sea Kings.
So instead of setting sail himself, he killed the guy who summoned him and started summoning more people to find the One Piece for him.
Of course, since Koby was here it was clear that everyone before him had failed and most likely died. Either trying to find the treasure or because they refused and were killed on the spot.
Now it was Koby's turn.
"Understand?" the World Noble asked
Koby nodded. It was pretty simple, after all. If he wanted to get home, he had to sail to the end of the most dangerous sea in the world and find the world's most sought-after treasure.
No problem, right?"
"Good," continued the World Noble. "Of course, I also understand that sending you out as you are would result in your immediate death."
The arrogant man snapped his fingers and a door behind the throne opened. A shark Fish-Man entered the room and behind him, half a dozen humans followed pulling a cart of strange-looking fruit with them. They were all malnourished and wearing nothing but rags.
And all of the humans had green gel-like collars around their necks.
Koby felt sick at the sight but held his tongue. He was pretty sure he was in Mary Geoise, which meant these people were just a few of the tens of thousands of slaves being abused by the World Nobles.
Helping them was impossible.
The human-like shark walked toward Koby carrying a large tray with a book and a single fruit on it.
When he was in front of Koby, he stopped and stood as still as a statue. On the front cover of the book read: Devil Fruit Encyclopedia.
"Look through it," the World Noble ordered.
Koby opened the book and saw that it was filled with the names and crude drawings of Devil Fruits. Most of the Devil Fruits were crossed out. Probably the ones he couldn't find, or have been eaten already, he thought as he flipped through the pages.
"Most of these are Zoan Devil Fruits..." Koby muttered to himself. That was a little surprising since Paramecia Types were supposed to be the most common of the three Devil Fruit Types.
"Not many of the people I summon are interested in a Zoan Devil Fruit," the World Noble explained. "Not unless it's Mythical, but those are hard to find."
No one even wanted the Ancient models? Koby wondered, seeing a few Ancient models. He guessed that kind of made sense. Only the Mythical Zoan Fruits gave their user "powers" so to speak. Normal and Ancient Zoans only let the user transform into an animal.
Compare that to a Paramecia type that could literally give you any power other than turning into an animal or a natural element, and it was obvious why so many people chose the Paramecia fruits.
Koby didn't even bother asking why there weren't any Logia Devil Fruits available. Those would have been the first to go, and any the World Noble might have once had were probably lost somewhere in the Grand Line.
As he looked through the book, trying to decide which Devil Fruits he was going to eat—and he was definitely going to eat one—World Noble continued speaking.
"Devil Fruits, they really are amazing."
Koby looked up and saw that half the man's arm had turned invisible. He frowned wondering how it was possible that the World Noble could have two Devil Fruits. Blackbeard was the only one in this world who had accomplished such a thing and how he did it was still a mystery to the fandom.
In canon at least. Koby flipped to the K-section of the book searching for the non-canon Kopi Kopi no Mi. Unless the World Noble had somehow managed to figure out how Blackbeard could wield the power of two Devil Fruits, then the Kopi Kopi no Mi was the only explanation of how the World Noble could use the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi and the Suke Suke no Mi.
When he found the Devil Fruit he was looking for, Koby traced the drawing of the fruit under its name. "I don't understand...?" he said, looking up at the World Noble and then down at the fruit next to the encyclopedia.
It matched the drawing of the Kopi Kopi no Mi.
"You thought I would risk consuming a Devil Fruit?" the World Noble scoffed. "On a planet that is almost completely covered by water?"
The answer hit Koby a moment late.
"Green Blood."
"That's right," the World Noble smiled. "As a World Noble, everything the sun touches belongs to me. Including Vegapunks research."
"How come no one wanted the Kopi Kopi no Mi?" Koby couldn't help but ask. It didn't make sense to him.
"Obviously I haven't had it for long," the World Noble answered, staring at him with derision. "I was only recently able to track down Chamelone and kill him. You were part of the first group I've summoned since then."
The World Noble slumped his fat body down deeper on the throne and let out a disappointed sigh.
"I was going to have the four of you fight to the death to see who got to eat it. Too bad those other guys weren't as smart as you, huh?"
Yeah, too bad, Koby lied to himself as he reached for the Devil Fruit. He was glad those other guys acted like idiots and got themselves killed.
"Room!"
Another transparent bubble covered the room. The fruit vanished just as Koby was about to touch it and appeared in the World Noble's hand.
"Naturally," the World Noble continued as he juggled the Devil Fruit in the air. "I also can't have you just taking a Devil Fruit and running off to some isolated island and scratching out some meaningless life farming or fishing...or some other useless thing."
What did that mean? Koby wondered, not liking how ominous the words sounded. Was the World Noble going to stick a tracker in him? Order one of his slaves to follow him and kill him if he tried to run away and live a normal life on some peaceful island far away from the Grand Line.
"Room!"
The World Noble summoned a third operating room.
"Personality-Transplant Surgery!"
Koby blinked and suddenly found himself staring at his own face!
Only he wasn't looking in a mirror, and there was a weight in his hands. He looked down to see webbed hands holding the Devil Fruit Encylopedia.
"Why—"
The World Noble cut him off before he could ask why he was in the fish-man's body. "This isn't permanent. Just a demonstration," the World Noble said and flicked his wrist. "Personality-Transplant Surgery!"
Koby was back in his body. His shoulders sagged as he exhaled in relief.
"I'm sure you know that the humans in this world are vastly different compared to us. They're capable of feats that your body could never achieve no matter how much training you do."
That was true. Humans in One Piece could literally push themselves off the air with superhumanly strong kicks, allowing them to travel through and remain in midair.
With a snap of his fingers, the World Noble summoned a second Fish-Man slave.
This one was carrying a book filled with characters from One Piece.
"Choose your character," the World Noble ordered casually, as if this was really just a game. As if he wasn't playing with people's lives. "We'll set sail with some Cipher Pol agents and swap you with whoever you pick."
Koby stared at the book. Trying to decide which Devil Fruit to eat was simple. Even before he knew he could eat the Kopi Kopi no Mi he had no problem perusing that book.
Picking a person, whose life he was going to end?
His hesitation was noticeable and the World Noble assumed that it came from a selfish place.
"Don't worry, I'm only putting your brain in your character's body with my Personality-Transplant Surgery. Your real body will remain here, in Mary Geoise. Safe and frozen in a Vinsmoke Cloning Tube. If you manage to find the One Piece, I'll put you back before we go home."
Koby had never considered himself a genius, but he didn't have to be Einstein to read between the lines. The World Noble wasn't just giving him a stronger body to help him find the One Piece.
This is how he is going to keep me from running away and trying to live a normal life...
By letting him "choose a character" the World Noble was giving himself the ability to kill Koby no matter where he was in the world. Like what Law did with people's hearts on Punk Hazard.
"Go ahead," the World Noble pointed at the two books. "Create your character."
He's treating this like a game! This isn't a game, this is my life! This is these people's lives!
Despite his disgust at the situation, Koby started looking through the book of "Characters". There was nothing he could do right now. Maybe sometime in the future he could try and fight back, but right now wasn't the time.
If he wanted to live long enough to get the chance to escape, he had to play along.
As he perused through the book, Koby noticed the lack of powerful characters. He knew that Law couldn't switch the personalities of people with stronger Haki than him and looking at the overweight World Noble, Koby decided the man was not anywhere near as strong as Law.
He might not even be able to use Haki at all!
So the fact that the strongest character Koby could pick was Arlong didn't surprise him.
"Might as well keep things simple," Koby said tapping the name of a pink-haired boy currently in the East Blue. "I'd rather not have to relearn my own name."
The World Noble nodded. "And your Devil Fruit?" he asked, holding up the Kopi Kopi no Mi."
"I'm definitely going to eat the Kopi Kopi no Mi," Koby answered immediately. That was a no-brainer.
He wouldn't have the years of experience with any powers he copied, but even just copying Luffy and Buggy's Devil Fruit powers would make him almost immune to swords and blunt-force trauma.
At least in the East Blue and Paradise.
Once he entered the New World, where everyone and their mother could use Haki he wasn't going to be nearly as invincible.
And not nearly strong enough to fight a Yonko. Without the years of experience and training, even with the Kopi Kopi no Mi, he was going to be fodder to people like Kaido and Big Mom.
Koby frowned and he started flipping through the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia again. A plan started to form in his head. He glanced up at the Fish-Man in front of him. He was the only slave not wearing a green gel-like collar.
"Does he have the Peto Peto no Mi?" Koby asked the World Noble.
"Recognize the collars, huh?" the World Noble snorted, but he did nod. "He does. Even with bomb-collars some slaves still try and run. Why waste life when it can still yet be controlled?"
Who does this guy think he is, Vandal Savage? Koby wondered doing his damnest not to roll his eyes.
Instead, he held up the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and asked, "Would you mind if I copied his power? And if one of your slaves ate this Devil Fruit so I could copy that power too?"
NOW.
Things could be worse, Koby sighed as he rubbed his temples. At least as he was now he had a real shot at making it home. He felt bad for the "Old Koby" who would have gone on to become a great marine, but but the World Noble had been right—no normal human had a chance of finding the One Piece. Even the weakest people in this world could take astronomical damage and not die.
He needed the base durability of a character from this world, and he needed the opportunity to get stronger.
No, not just stronger, Koby thought. As Luffy once said, I need to be lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...lots...stronger!
One Piece was a world filled with people who could slaughter thousands of trained marines without breaking a sweat. Incapacitate 50,000 fighters with nothing but their Haki.
Right at this very moment, somewhere in the Grand Line there was literally a guy, who if he wanted to could create a sea quake strong enough to destroy the entire world.
And people who were strong enough to fight him and have an actual chance of winning!
Kaido was literally building an army of Devil Fruit users for an all-out war against the World Government!
"Oh, he's dead already?" the disappointed voice of Captain Alvida broke Koby from his thoughts and he looked behind him to find...yep, the screaming marine captain was dead.
He watched as Captain Alvida ordered two of her crew to drag the corpse over to the ocean and toss it in. Turning away from the sight, he decided to focus on something else. Like the last "ability" the World Noble had gifted him before abandoning him in the East Blue.
Koby focused.
There was a sound like jingling bells and in front of him, a translucent box appeared floating in the air.
One that only he could see apparently because none of the Alvida Pirates noticed.
Name: Koby
Strength: 5/500
Endurance: 15/500
Speed: 10/500
Durability: 5/500
SKILLS
Hand-to-Hand Combat: 2/1000
Swordsmanship: 0/1000
Marksmanship: 0/1000
Color of Armament Haki: 0/1000
Color of Observation Haki: 0/1000
Color of the Supreme King Haki: -/1000
DEVIL FRUIT
Kopi Kopi no Mi
?
The screen looked like something straight out of a video game, or a story where the MC has a Gamer-System ability. Except it only listed his name and abilities. There was no Exp or level system. He couldn't see any quests or missions that he could take. There wasn't even an inventory. All the box did was show him his stats, and all he could do to interact with it was bring it up.
Though he was surprised to see Conqueror's Haki on his SKILLS list. He knew that all living beings in the world are capable of learning Observation and Armament Haki; however, most people do not notice them or fail to awaken them.
Conquerors Haki was the only Haki that could not be learned, only controlled if you were one of the one in several million people born with it
Did that mean he had it and just awakened it?
Koby sighed and ran a hand through his newly pink hair. There were so many things to think about…and that wasn't even getting into the biggest part of it all.
He was in One Piece!
I know! I know...the Kopi Kopi no Mi?
How Cliche!
Truth is, when I watch One Piece I always think about how I'd use certain Devil Fruit Powers differently if I had eaten the fruit. And when I was planning this story, I had a hard time choosing just one, so why not them all?
P.S. Can anyone guess what the extra Devil Fruit is?
Hint: It's a normal Zoan Fruit...however! It gives an "extra power" like a Mythical Zoan. The animal has appeared in the Manga and was expended on more in the Anime it is canon!
Feel free to guess in a review, but I don't think anyone will be able to guess right!
Good Luck!