I do not own Fairy Tail, One Piece or the Nasuverse.
A Skirmish In The Slums District
/Fishman Island Entertainment District – Early Morning/
It was still dark when Natsu reappeared at Shyarly's place. Although the party was still going strong, he couldn't see her anywhere. Looking around, he noticed one of her workers make a beeline in his direction.
"Mister Dragneel!"
"That's me. And you are," Natsu asked the Barracuda Fishman who seemed like he was one of the bartenders.
"I'm Zushi. I work for Madame Shyarly Sir!"
"Ah, right. I assume she's asleep?"
"Indeed Sir. She retired only an hour ago, with orders to wake her upon your return," Zushi explained before shaking his head. "However, as I'm sure you'll agree, it is best to let the Madame have her rest."
"I said as much when I left," Natsu replied with Zushi nodding energetically.
"You need not fear missing out on any important leads due to her slumber however. We've already alerted her contact and informed her that you'll be meeting with her."
"Her contact?"
"Ah, right. I suppose the Madame wouldn't have had a chance to mention it, would she? You are aware that the Madame is only part Mermaid, right?"
"I'm well aware, yes. Her Brother Arlong is a Sawshark Fishman so it would make sense she shares some sort of shark DNA."
"Indeed Sir. The Madame is a Shortfin Mako Shark Mermaid, an extremely rare type of Mermaid as most are either purely Mermaid, or share DNA with more docile sea creatures."
"I assume that's why she's so big then? Because she's got Shark DNA?"
"You would be correct Sir, but that isn't my point. The Madame has a Sister who currently resides in the Slums District who is also a Mermaid that shares Shark DNA. However, unlike the Madame, she runs some … less than legal operations down there."
"For Shyarly?"
"Yes. Please keep that bit of info private Sir, I'd appreciate it."
"No problems here," Natsu laughed. "You're talking to a guy who has pissed off the Celestial Dragons, remember."
"Ah yes, that is very true. Well then, I'd best send you on your way to meet the Madame's Sister. She isn't hard to spot, as she is about the same size as the Madame."
"Fair enough. Where would the Slums District be?"
"Underneath Fishman Island, Sir."
"Underneath," Natsu repeated with a raised eyebrow, not entirely sure if he'd understood what Zushi had said correctly. "You mean its physically underneath Fishman Island, or just on a lower area?"
"The former, Sir," came the curt response. "And yes, it is most likely what you're thinking as to why it is beneath Fishman Island."
"Right. I expect I'll not be welcome there given my Human appearance then?"
"You would be correct once again," Zushi responded, his tone now one of grim understanding at Natsu's clear distaste for the Slums District.
"Right then, I'm going. I have to say though, I'm not impressed. At all."
And just like that, he vanished before Zushi's eyes. The Fishman knew Natsu wasn't directing said disappointment in his direction. No, he'd seen that look on many faces before when he'd mentioned the Slums District.
For a species that deals with hatred from Humans constantly, the fact that they could be racist to their own kind is rather appalling in hindsight. Reactions like Natsu's were rightfully earned.
Zushi sighed and shook his head as he turned and began making his way toward the staff room. It wouldn't do to have the Madame uninformed of the goings on should he be preoccupied, after all.
/Fishman Island Residential District – Same Time/
"Luffy, we've been wandering around all day. Pretty sure he's not here-."
"There's no way he's not here," Luffy snapped back as both he and Nami stopped at an intersection. "Jimbei told Natsu he'd be going back to Fishman Island and we'd meet up!"
"That was two years ago you idiot! He might not even be anywhere near Fishman Island right now!?"
"If he's not around this area, he'll be somewhere else," Luffy replied in a much firmer tone that surprised Nami somewhat.
"You're that confident he'll be in Fishman Island still?"
"Yeah. Jimbei is a good person, I know he'll be here."
Nami blinked. The way Luffy spoke, it was as if Jimbei meant a lot to him. In fact, it reminded here of how he spoke about the crew to others.
"Alright Luffy, I believe you," Nami replied with a small smile. "But I don't think he's in the Residential District. I think we should start asking some of the Guards and see if they know where he is?"
Luffy nodded in agreement as they walked over to the nearest Seahorse Fishman who was standing guard at the intersection. Seeing them approach, the Fishman stood at attention.
"Hi. We're just wondering if you can help us find someone?"
"Are they lost?"
"No. No, we're just trying to find someone who we know that lives in Fishman Island-."
"I'm looking for my friend, Jimbei!"
"Jimbei? The former Warlord," the Guard asked in surprise. Hold on a moment. Tell me, are you Straw Hat Luffy?"
"Yep," Luffy replied with Nami tensing slightly, hoping they weren't in trouble.
"I see. All members of the Neptune Guard have been asked to give you a message from King Neptune."
"From the King of the Fishmen," Nami asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why? Have we done something wrong?"
"No, nothing like that," the Seahorse Fishman replied quickly. "You see, there was an attack on the palace earlier that was foiled by Natsu Dragneel-."
"Well, that explains where he vanished off to," Nami replied with a shake of her head. "Sorry, continue Sir."
"Its alright. His ability to seemingly teleport must cause all kinds of trouble for his friends I'd wager?"
"You don't know the half of the kind of problems a guy like Natsu can cause," Nami replied before smiling. "But we wouldn't trade him for anything."
"That's good to hear. He saved a lot of my Brothers in the Guard up at the Palace today, we owe him quite a lot. I'm glad to hear he's well liked by his crew," the Guard replied before suddenly shaking his head and chuckling. "My apologies, I'm meant to be conveying a message!"
"That's alright," Luffy grinned. "What's the message?"
"King Neptune would like to request the assistance of the Straw Hat Pirates in a sensitive manner pertaining to our Kingdom. I am not allowed to specify what said matter is openly, however. Therefore, King Neptune has asked that any Straw Hat members be redirected to Madame Shyarly's in the Entertainment District so that they may be filled in on the situation there."
"I assume Natsu is already helping you guys out with whatever this is, right," Luffy asked with the Guard nodding curtly in response.
"King Neptune initially asked Natsu if all the Straw Hats could aid us. However, his response was that he was not the Captain of the crew and thus he couldn't make that decision. He did however pledge the support of himself, as well as Mordred and Seilah."
"Glad to see he's keeping his promise," Luffy muttered before shaking his head and grinning again. "Guess we'll head over. "But can I ask you a favour?"
"Me? Uh, I suppose it depends on what it is."
"Do you reckon you can have your Guard buddies keep an eye out for Jimbei for me?"
"Oh, right. You were searching for him," the Guard replied before nodding. "I see no reason not to do that. We'll let him know Straw Hat Luffy is searching for him."
"Thanks," Luffy grinned. "We'll head on over to this Shyarly place."
"It's Madame Shyarly's … Establishment," the Fishman replied that had Luffy merely cock his head to the side, but drew a slight blush from Nami. "It is in the Entertainment District. If you get lost, just ask another of the Guard to point you in the right direction."
"We will Sir. Thank you so much for your help," Nami replied as the Guard motioned to an area off in the distance that was lit up by bright neon signs.
"That is where the Entertainment District is located."
"Thank you, Sir, have a nice day," Nami replied as the pair began walking off in the direction of the Entertainment District. "I wonder what this matter the King wants us to deal with is?"
"If Natsu's helping out then its probably something we'll wanna help with too."
"You sure about that?"
"You know how Natsu is Nami. He isn't one to just stand around and do nothing if people need help."
"Well … yeah. But he's changed since we last saw him," Nami sighed as they casually strolled through the early morning streets. "He seems … toned down. I don't really know how to describe it but … well … I mean when we last saw him two years ago, he was always active, always at the front of things. But now he's just laid back and mellow."
"He's different, I'll give you that. But I mean, is it really a bad thing?"
"Well…"
"He even said it himself. The longer he went without rest, the more insane he got. He joined us with that weird Soul issue thing, yet he still tries his best to help even if it blows up in his face sometimes."
"That's a fair point. He wasn't, and still isn't, mentally well. In fact, the way he behaves now is almost like someone with a mental illness who is medicated."
"I doubt he actually is though. I reckon he's just somehow managed to reign in his mental problems for the time being."
"The question is though, for how long," Nami asked.
Luffy didn't deign to respond to that. His usual smile noticeably absent as he pondered that very same question. Because, in reality, they all knew the truth to that question.
He had around a year left at the absolute maximum. And that was enough of a thought to give the pair a quick, subconscious, spring in their step as they made their way toward the Entertainment District.
/Fishman Island Slums District – Same Time/
Snapping the neck of another Fishman who tried attacking him, Natsu sighed as he tossed him aside. The large corpse bowled over his friends who quickly scurried away as he looked upward.
"Its so bleak down here," he muttered to himself as his eyes focused on the small specks of light that managed to pierce through the murky blackness above.
He had to admit that Zushi's description of this place wasn't even close to accurate. The Slums District was far worse than even he'd predicted. It was really dark down here. Not pitch black, but more akin to darkness on a full moon kind of dark.
He'd opted to manually make his way down into the Slums District, just to see what it was like. As soon as he'd walked through the front gates, a Fishman had tried to slice his stomach open with a blade.
Naturally, the offender was slain. However, it painted a grim picture of what a mess this Kingdom was. A Guard at the gate had warned him that there were well over one hundred thousand Fishmen down here. Far too many living in such squalid conditions, in his opinion.
Shaking his head with a sigh, he continued walking around the slums. He'd certainly made an impression on the locals after killing over twenty of them with little effort. Now, they chose to stick to the shadows instead of confront him outright.
They did not fear him. Not yet.
Eventually, his walking led him to a street that was almost identical to the one in the Entertainment District, complete with a replica of Shyarly's place. However, there was no pleasant atmosphere here. Only a tense, eerie silence aside from the hum of the neon sign above the entrance door that was also styled identically to Shyarly's place.
"This must be the place," he hummed to himself as his eyes landed on the green neon sign.
He walked right in, the door creaking as he walked into what was clearly an abandoned replica of Shyarly's place. Everything in here was identical, almost to a disturbing degree when he thought about it. Same table placements. Same décor. Same bottles on the shelf behind the bar with the exact same dates on them.
Was this meant to be some sort of hidden message? Why was this street an inverse of the one in the Entertainment District. What was the point?
"You lost?"
He'd sensed him before his eyes rose to meet him. Where there was once an empty bar was now a Lobster Fishman, similar to the ones Shyarly employed, only the patterns on its body were duller.
"Confused, perhaps. But I think this is where I'm supposed to be."
"You've stirred shit up down here mate," the Lobster Fishman replied as he tossed Natsu a vintage bottle which was caught easily. "Just lucky none of that lot can see this place."
Now that had his attention as he stepped up to the bar and sat down on the stool. Popping the cork of the bottle, he took a swig.
"And how exactly is that the case?"
"Not for me to answer. That's the Madame's secret to share … IF she chooses to share it."
"You mean Shyarly? Or … Shyarly's Sister?"
"Upstairs," came the grunt in response. "You know the way, I trust."
To his surprise, the Lobster Fishman just faded away. He continued doing what he was doing as he faded however, which added further questions. Questions he hoped would be answered upstairs.
Following the same route, the similarities continued. Much like Shyarly's, this place was built to be a Brothel. However, it had clearly never been used. Each door that had contained pristine beds, some occupied and others free … were in a state of disrepair.
The velvet covers were grey, faded, dull. The furniture was old and rickety looking. If he had to describe the vibe he got from the place then it would be that it appeared like the life was sucked clean out of the place, leaving only a dull reminder of what once was.
Deciding he'd done enough looking, he closed the door and took a deep breath. Walking forward, he slowly opened the doors that led to where Shyarly's private room was located in the Entertainment District version of this place.
The moment the doors opened; his eyes widened in shock.
"We're dealing with something really strange here," Ahnk mused thoughtfully. "This is interesting though, I must say."
And he wasn't wrong. Because when Natsu opened the doors, he wasn't met with the private living quarters similar to Shyarly's. No, he certainly hadn't expected something like this at all.
"There's … nothing here," he whispered. "It's just a void…"
His fingers traced the pitch-black space in where the room should have been. He could feel that something had happened here. Something had done this to the local spatial area and he couldn't even begin to fathom what.
You're probably the first person I've seen actually touch it.
Natsu froze. Someone had walked right up behind him without him being able to sense them.
Someone had managed to sneak up on HIM.
He felt a blade be pushed into his back and yet he still refused to move. Something in him told him that if he moved right now, it would be a very … very bad idea.
"Dad…"
"Yes Aava?"
"That blade that was pushed into your back … has Anti on it."
He remained in place. Hot, wet breath at the nape of his neck as he felt another blade be inserted into his back. He dared not activate his Aura yet. He dared not immediately turn and confront his attack head on.
But his eyes, they wandered.
And, out of the corner of his left eye, was a stained-glass window. It was grimy, dusty and stained green. But that wasn't what mattered right now.
What mattered … was the slight reflection of a strange cloaked figure behind him.
He could feel blood pooling at his feet from the two blades currently stuck into him as whatever it was behind him prodded a third inside. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes … waiting until the blade was fully inserted …
His blood suddenly solidified and shot at what was behind him, a ghastly screech echoing all throughout the building as he immediately spun around. The blades shot out of his back as he activated his Hybrid's Aura, a monstrous, crushing force that had the entire building groaning in distress.
The cloaked figure screeched as it batted aside his solidified blood spikes. Its hands were claw-like and strange tail-like protrusions flailed behind it. They seemingly doubled in size as it dropped to all fours and started scurrying across the floor toward him.
Leaping away from the Void in Space, Natsu knew he had to be careful what he did here. He couldn't start firing off massive attacks and risk piercing the Air Bubble around Fishman Island. A LOT of people would die if he did.
The creature launched itself at him, screeching and howling in a way that made his head hurt. He smacked it away, immediately retreating further back as it smashed through several rooms as his senses adjusted to the use of his Aura.
"The bloody hell is that thing," Natsu hissed as it emerged from within the wall next to him, quite literally just popping out of space and attempting to stab him in the temple with a claw-like blade sticking out of its front leg or arm appendage. He wasn't quite sure exactly what it was yet.
Blocking it expertly, he allowed himself to become entranced in the battle. Without even needing to think, he raised his right arm as a loud clang, followed by a screeching of metal, echoed throughout the room as the thing's claw-like blade made contact directly with his arm.
It roared, or screeched. A strange sound that nearly burst his eardrums as he blocked the blade-like claw from multiple angles at the exact same time. The thing seemed frustrated as ten of its appendages emerged all around him, attempting to skewer him.
Before they could make contact however, swords shot into their arms as several more manifested behind him as he fell back to the stairwell. Holding out his right hand, he summoned a kunai and charged it with Lightning before throwing it, using Gravity to send it up the stairs where it quadrupled and set off a chain lightning reaction.
The creature screeched again as the entire top floor of the building was blown out. Four kunai embedded into the walls with a powerful fence-like barrier set up around where the thing had been.
However. It wasn't contained inside the barrier.
Diving further down the stairs, its cloaked head, followed by an elongated and disturbingly stretched torso shot out of the wall. Using Requip Magic, he fired several more blades at it but was surprised to see them bounce right off.
"Did it adapt!?"
Before he could receive a response, his body rolled as a nine-metre-long arm shot out of the stairs, completely covered in blade-like protrusions as it started spinning around, going through the roof before reappearing out of a door on the second floor and shooting directly at him.
"This confirms it," Ahnk said in a startled state as Natsu dodged the strange arm as another arm emerged from the first arm in an attempt to stab him, only for Natsu to grab it and be tossed back up into one of the rooms on the top floor as it vanished into the ceiling.
"Confirms what!?"
"This thing came from the Antiverse!"
Rolling out of the way, just its torso appeared as its legs shot out of its chest in an attempt to stomp on him. Its legs had become blade-like and spun around fast enough to generate powerful wind gusts.
"This is getting ridiculous," Natsu snapped. "I'm gonna have to step this up a bit!"
Leaping off the third floor, he landed on the second and shoulder charged a door to get into one of the rooms right as over thirty arms flooded the corridor in bladed death, shredding everything in their path.
He heard the screeching sound below him as the thing smashed through the floor of the room he was in. Four elongated arms shooting through all four corners of the room as they sliced the floor clean open.
The moment the floor collapsed, exposing the first floor, he saw the full form of the thing again. Immediately, he tossed a single kunai at it from his Requip Space which the beast smacked aside.
"Big mistake!"
The creature screeched, immediately attempting to scramble backward as the kunai flipped over to show something etched into it in Natsu's own blood. The symbol glowed before a large explosion rocked the building, blasting Natsu out of a nearby window and onto the street.
The entire building was quickly overtaken by a blood red explosion as hundreds of arms, legs and torsos shot out of it. The creature, roared, screeched, squealed and made countless other noises he didn't even want to think about before something froze him in place.
Thank You
Hybrid
All of the limbs suddenly froze as the explosion suddenly cancelled out, not by his own doing. He watched in shock as all the torsos, arms, legs and whatever else were all stuffed into one singular torso as the strange white tails detached themselves from the rest of the horrific amalgamation.
Amidst the rubble, a single body fell. Looking back up, the tails seemed to connect to each other like a propeller and began spinning around rapidly. To his horror, they opened up a portal and vanished.
"The body! Check the body, quickly!"
Natsu didn't even respond to Ahnk. He immediately was at the corpse left behind by whatever that thing was. Or rather, he was there to see what was left of it.
"Holy shit," Ahnk muttered as all three processed just what they were looking at.
"What the hell is this," Natsu said aloud as he knelt down over the corpse.
It was a young girl, perhaps no older than twenty. At least, that was clearly what the base of this … monstrosity was. The base Human for it was a young girl, but the numerous other limbs attached to her were certainly not ones belonging to her.
The girl had pale white skin. Yet, there were limbs of all types connected together in a strange and twisted fusion of flesh and metal. Black, White, Yellow, Blue, Green, Orange… Some had fur, others had chitin attached to them indicating insectoid origins.
"We need to commit this to memory," Natsu muttered as he scanned every detail of the corpse. "Quickly."
Its body was quickly being devoured by Anti. A familiar Aqua Blue hue eating away at everything attached to the corpse. It was the same thing his leg had, but arguably worse. They watched as the Anti devoured the young girl and all the body parts attached to her, before finally daring to blink.
"Well…"
"Well indeed," Natsu sighed as he looked upward to the Void in Space that was still there. "The Council will need to be informed about this. Lord Space will also need to send some of the Spatial Class out here to fix that."
"I'm glad you didn't just go and obliterate the entire area this time," Ahnk replied. "It was crafty, but not extremely powerful."
"Speaking of that thing," Natsu hummed as he examined the area around the destroyed building. "Those white tails that the thing had…Are we gonna talk about how those things seemed to be sentient to a degree? About how they were able to just open a portal to the Antiverse?"
"Those certainly are a mystery, to be sure. But what I want to know is why here? Why this place and why now? But more importantly, why did Shyarly have us sent to this location?"
"Something doesn't add up here," Natsu said aloud as he floated upward to the Void in Space, Ahnk manifesting next to him. "I have … a theory."
"About why this place was identical to Shyarly's one?"
"Yeah," Natsu nodded slowly. "Its still an early theory, mind you."
"What is it?"
"What if … this small area we're in," Natsu said as he motioned to the area that looked like it had been taken straight from the Entertainment District. "What if this is from an Alternate Timeline?"
"…Go on."
"A reality where things went wrong. Where Shyarly's was abandoned. Where the Entertainment District was left in ruins…"
"And that Lobster from the bar? What about him?"
"Temporal Anomaly. He flickered in and out, hence why we couldn't properly get a read on him. He possessed memories from both this Timeline, and his own. These memories fused together and he spoke as if both Timelines ran as one."
"And Shyarly? And Zushi? What of them sending us here?"
"The Timeline attempting to adjust, much like it did with the bartender. Two streams temporarily merging together to create false memories within anyone tied to this location in particular."
"That … I see, that does check out. This is a relatively small area, so Time wouldn't have to do much to fix itself in this case," Ahnk agreed before frowning once again. "But the Antiverse being involved?"
"Unknown," came the curt response as the two hovered around the Void in Space for another few minutes, merely eyeing it in silence. "If I return to Shyarly, I wonder if she'll remember the whole Sister thing?"
"She might," Ahnk shrugged. "In my own experience messing with Timelines, such effects are temporary. However, they leave an imprint behind of the temporary crossing of Timestreams."
"We should head to Equilibrius first and inform the Council so that they can fix this area," Natsu muttered softly. "Something about this just … it doesn't make sense. How is this related to the Sea Titan?"
"Perhaps it's not?"
"Your theory?"
"What if we've stumbled across something wholly unrelated by complete chance?"
"Not … impossible."
"I think this will make more sense once we go back and see what Shyarly has to say to us. I'd also be curious to see what was once in the area that this section of the Entertainment District once was."
"Hey Ahnk?"
"What?"
"I have … an idea."
"Oh no…Please don't even think about doing that."
"I'm gonna ask her for permission-."
"No need," a new voice chimed in. "However, I must say that I'm glad you are using that head of yours, Natsu."
"Hey Tim," Natsu replied as the Time Primordial floated next to the Void in Space, a small smile on his face. "Now then…I'd like to hear your idea."
/Fishman Island Restaurant District – Same Time/
"And that's the gist of it," a Seahorse Fishman concluded. "If you could both head to Madame Shyarly's as soon as possible, the King would most appreciate it."
"Sounds like there's some trouble brewing," Usopp sighed. "Because of course there is whenever we're around."
"Ah, its not that bad Usopp," Mordred laughed. "You wanna come along Drake?"
"Hell yeah! If everythin is gonna go to shit, I'm gonna sail right into the middle of it!"
"That's what I'm talking about," Mordred grinned as the pair hi-fived. "Now-."
"Oi, turn that up," a voice called out frantically as the bartender turned up the volume for the Snailvision above the bar.
"Something going down somewhere," Mordred hummed as the small group decided to watch the broadcast.
-is Juliette Jarcim reporting live as tensions here in the Tinsel Kingdom have erupted!
Just moments ago, World Government Forces were suddenly caught off guard by a fleet of the Servant State of Ede-!
"Arch God's Aura: Noble Phantasm Release – Abu el-Hol Sphinx!"
The camera shook violently as the reporter and her cameraman ran for cover. A colossal, two-hundred-foot-tall sphinx that looked to be comprised of stars manifested itself and tore through half a fleet of Marine ships.
THIS IS BREAKING NEWS!
Another explosion rocked the area as the camera footage stuttered slightly before clearing up to see Juliette looking windswept, yet still eager to continue the coverage. She was however, forced to shout due to the sheer volume of what was going on.
-PHAROAH OZYMANDIAS HAS ENTERED THE BATTLEFIELD! THIS IS BREAKING NEWS! THE PHAROAH WITH A BOUNTY THAT IS ALMOST ONE POINT SIX FIVE BILLION AS BEGUN LAYING WASTE TO THE-!
The camera feed shook violently once again as chaotic laughter could be heard. It sounded more like that of a child than an adult however. And as the camera feed cleared up, it made more sense.
-GENERAL TANYA VON DEGURECHAFF HAS ARRIVED AND IS RETURNING FIRE UPON EDEN FORCES-
Chaotic laughter was heard as the child-like Servant tore apart multiple Eden warships with an aerial bombardment. The camera shook again as Ozymandias' Noble Phantasm began to target her directly.
The sound of a man laughing nearby was heard as Juliette's voice could be heard yet again, the camera feed becoming rather grainy.
-EDEN AND WORLD GOVERNMENT FORCES ARE LOCKED IN A VICIOUS BATTLE AS MARINE REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVE LED BY NEWLY APPOINTED ADMIRAL RYOKUGYU!
Just as the Admiral was about to step in, the footage cut out entirely and changed to a stunned news station.
"Damn! Looks like Ozy decided to go have a bit of a party," Drake grinned. "He couldn't stand being cooped up for ages."
"That was pretty wild for sure," Usopp agreed. "Do you know why Eden attacked there Drake?"
"Of course! Tinsel couldn't afford to pay the fucked-up tithe to the Celestial Dragons this year," Drake huffed, clearly annoyed by it. "Those bastards were gonna have the Government take that whole country down. Enslave most and kill the rest!"
"So, Eden stepped in to help," Usopp responded with an understanding nod. "I hope they win then. But, isn't that normally the Revolutionary Army's thing?"
"You know we're allied with them," Drake replied easily. "We both hate the way the World Government treats its people."
"Well, that makes sense-."
"Oi, look," one of the patrons shouted as footage changed to a press conference that said it was at Mariejois.
/The Sacred Holy Land Of Mariejois – The Room Of Projection/
The room was tightly packed with reporters from all across the world as the Fleet Admiral stepped into the room, flanked by the Air Marshall.
Almost immediately, the reporters scrambled to ask their questions. The pair hadn't even reached the podium yet, though a glare from the Fleet Admiral silenced them all.
"I'm calling this press conference today to address several incidents across the world. The world shall know what actions we're taking to enforce Justice!"
"Fleet Admiral Akainu! Can you start by telling us about the unfolding situation at Tinsel!?"
"The Tinsel incident has only just occurred, but was predicted to turn volatile by our analysts. We did what we could to ensure the appropriate resources were allocated to the area."
"Fleet Admiral? Is it true that you deployed TWO Admirals and a General to contain the situation at Tinsel?"
"It is. Admiral Ryokugyu and Admiral Fujitora were deployed alongside General von Degurechaff."
"But Fleet Admiral!? It has been reported that Admiral Fujitora is no long on the scene! What comments do you have on this!?"
"Admiral Fujitora and his fleet have been reassigned to another area in order to assist with an upcoming operation. I cannot comment on this matter further."
"Fleet Admiral! What is the legitimacy of Admiral Kizaru being deployed to detain the Neo Marine defectors and their leader, former Admiral Zephyr!?"
"The terrorist organisation known as the Neo Marines are a threat to international security. I'm not at liberty to discuss specifics, but have full confidence in Admiral Kizaru to get the job done."
"Fleet Admiral! Do you have any comments regarding the recently reported revival of the Straw Hat Pirate crew at Sabaody!?"
"The matter pertaining to the Straw Hat Pirates is being examined and monitored closely by Headquarters. Expect to see their new, updated bounties being issued over the coming weeks and make no mistake! We shall enforce Justice upon them!"
"Fleet Admiral! You say you plan on enforcing Justice? But what does the World Government plan on doing about Natsu Dragneel? It has been widely speculated this his strength is on par with Emperor Shanks or Emperor Kaido? What does the World Government plan on doing about this dangerous individual-!?"
"I'm afraid our plans regarding him are classified. However, he will be brought to Justice for his crimes against the world. No one, not even someone like him, will escape Absolute Justice!"
"Fleet Admiral! Will Natsu Dragneel be one of the topics at this year's meeting of the world's Kings and the Celestial Dragons at the Reverie!?"
"I cannot answer that question as I don't know what any topic will be at the Reverie. However, I would like to remind you all that the Reverie will host many topics, not just that of criminals! Next question."
One after the other, questions came as the press conference in the Holy Land continued.
/Fishman Island Restaurant District – Same Time/
"Wow," Usopp grinned as he downed his mug. "To think we actually got mentioned in a press conference with the Fleet Admiral."
"Ha! I think Natsu copped it a lot more than the rest of ya did," Drake laughed. "Guess you'll all be gettin new bounties soon by the sounds of it!"
"Natsu, Seilah and I are probably gonna go right up," Mordred chimed in. "Ours are terribly outdated. I think since Enies Lobby two years ago."
"Oh yeah, that's a good point. Mine still says I'm Sogeking," Usopp laughed. "Man, that feels like ages ago…"
"Because it was, dumbass," Drake barked as she gave him a playful shove. "Still. I'll be bettin my ship Natsu's goes over a billion."
"Seilah probably will too. She did a lot of damage to the World Government as well."
"Man. Ain't bounty speculation always fun!"
The trio laughed as they all finished their drinks and slowly rose to their feet.
"Right. We should probably head over to Shyarly's place," Drake sighed as she dropped a sack of Berries on the table. "I've been there before so I'll lead us right there."
"Cool. Didn't really feel like wasting time trying to find the place," Mordred sighed as they went outside. "Lead the way, Drake."
"You got it," Drake grinned as she wrapped an arm around both of their necks as they slowly made their way toward the Entertainment District.
Hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!