Chapter 15: In A Newborn Kingdom That Still Has No Name

Former Drum Castle; Former Drum Kingdom

Paradise; Grand Line

"They must've have set sail by now! The Reindeer continues Hiriluk's legacy!"

His name was Dalton, former Captain of the Drum Royal Guard. He was a compelling tall man, with slicked black hair and a goatee. He wears a long, white fur-lined green tunic and has armor plates on his arms.

"If that fool could bring cheery blossoms to a frozen island, then I suppose his son can become a pirate! He thinks he's a man!"

Next to Dalton was Kureha, the notoriously Witch Doctor. She was a slender woman whose exceptionally advanced age shows in her well-wrinkled face. She dresses in a style more suited to women one-seventh her age. This includes a naval ring, a shirt that bares her midriff, a purple blazer, and purple low-riding pants. She has a pair of small sunglasses that, when they are not over her eyes, she wears on her forehead even when she is using glasses. She wears bracelets and rings on her left hand.

The two of them were seated outside Drum Castle, the highest summit in the island. They were enjoying the lovely transformation of their island—white snow converting into pink Sakura snow—all according to Hiriluk's plan.

But they were also watching the Straw Hat sailing away, containing watching as they disappeared from the sight of the island. Both owe the Straw Hats, especially their captain, Monkey D. Luffy, a great debt. Thanks to him, their homeland was saved from Wapol, who attempted to restore his tyranny.

"This country will change itself!" Dalton vowed. "And it will change for the betterment!"

"Dalton!"

Hearing his name called, Dalton turns around and sees two villagers from Robelle Town, running towards him.

"What is it?" Dalton asked.

"I'm sorry," the first villager apologized. "I forgotten something very important to show you—look at this!"

He shows Dalton a piece of paper. Looking at it, Dalton discovered that it was a wanted poster. He also discovered who it was in the wanted paper.

Wanted: Monkey D. Luffy.

Bounty: 30,000,000 berries

"That's him!" he'd recall. "No mistaken! There is a bounty of 30,000,000 berries on that boy's head!"

"That's a very impressive bounty for one from the East Blue Sea." Kureha says with a sway tone.

"Where did you get this bounty?" Dalton asked the man.

"Well," the first villager begins to recall. "It was about a week ago. A traveler appeared in Robelle Town. It was a strange day because it didn't snow. We don't know how he got there!"

"He says he was hunting down Blackbeard," the second villager added. "The pirate that ravaged our island!"

The mention of Blackbeard made Dalton edgy and ill. He still cannot forget how the man and his crew single-handedly destroyed their entire kingdom. Dalton tries to defend the island as best he could, yet he was no match for the Capatin of the Blackbeard Pirates, and it nearly killed him.

Still, Blackbeard's coming did more good than harm. Wapol, completely recognize how dangerous it is to fight the Blackbeard Pirates and was the first to abandon the country, followed by his army of stooges. With Wapol gone, so was his reign of terror.

"He was looking for Blackbeard, but we told him he was not here!" the first villager added. "Then he showed me this wanted poster and asked if this boy ever appeared on this island. I told him no; we hadn't seen someone like that!"

"Is there anything else?" Dalton asked.

"Well," the first villager contained. "He says his name is Ace and he wants us to pass him a message to that boy, to let him know he will be meeting him in Alabasta. Afterward he left and we never saw him again."

"I see," assumed Dalton. "Well, there is no need to pass on the message. The boy and his crew are already on their way to—"

A strange, loud, powerful sound was cut through the entire air itself, completely interrupting Dalton. Whatever it is, it was a powerful shuddering, which the whole island feels it.

"What the hell is that?" Kureha reacted.

"I—I don't know," Dalton responded, confused of what just happened. "It felt like—"

"Dalton! Look up in the sky!' cried the second villager.

His tone startled Dalton, but he looks up anyway. It was at that moment he was shocked of what he was seeing.

Dalton doesn't know what the hell it is, but from his perspective, it looks like a fracture or something. Like a crack in the glass, yet it is almost as if it was a crack in reality itself. It was heavily irradiated with violet electrical energy of unknown origin.

It seems to not expanse, yet it almost as if the rift was trying to consume anything within its reach.

"What the hell is that?" Kureha asked, seeing the strange rift in the sky.

"I don't know," says Dalton, who is still confused. "I never seen or heard anything like this before!"

It was when Dalton noticed something was falling from the Rift. It was falling fast. Yet he could tell it was of humanoid shape. People or something.

Several of the people made a rough impact on the ground, near Dalton and the others. Just as they made a hard landing, the Rift that once appeared in the sky, suddenly vanished.

Dalton was standing on a neutral stance between two tough choices. Should he rush to see if these people were hurt or in need of help. Yet he was careful. He doesn't know these people. Are they friends or enemies. And why did they fell from that Rift in the sky?"

"Is everyone all right?"

The one that first to speak was a boy who was in his late teens. He has shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail.

"I'm fine Shikamaru!" replied another boy who was in his late teens. He was a rotund build and markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls. He has spiky, light brown hair that sticks to waist-length. "Also, the landing kind of rough in impact!"

"Rough? I really thought I was going to die! Next time we need look before we jump!" complained a third boy. He has Brown hair, with red lines painted or tattooed or something beneath his eyes, along with a savage appearance.

From the looks of it, it seems like there were twelve people. And nothing their outfit, it appears that they were marines. Yet with Dalton's long years of experience, looks can be tricky.

"All right," Dalton begins to demand, getting their attention. "Who are you people?"

Dalton is still not recovering from the injuries he suffered in the last battle. Yet if these people proved to be a threat, he would not hesitate to fight them.

"Who are you first?" says the third boy, with annoyance in his tone.

"I'm the one asking the questions since you landed uninvited in my country," Dalton responded. "What was that up in the sky that you all fell from?"

"Dalton—is that you?"

Hearing his name called Dalton turn around to come face to face with a tall, blonde, youthful, and beautiful woman with busty chest. At her side was a black-haired mermaid and a man with a small red nose and has blonde hair in a style that resembles a powdered wig. Yet the moment he saw the blonde woman, Dalton quickly recognizes who she is.

"I don't believe it," Dalton reacted with shock. "Tsunade—is that you?"

"Yeah, Dalton it's me," replied Tsunade. "It's been a while!"

"A while?" Dalton repeated in a stunned tone. "How are you still alive? I heard you were dead!"

"Well, I'll be damn!" Kureha also reacted, also recognized someone else. "Kosuke—is that you?"

"Sure, is Kureha," replied the one called Kosuke. "You haven't changed one bit!"

"Look who's talking!" Kureha counter.

Turning his attention back to Tsunade, Dalton says "Tsunade—I thought you were dead! It's been reported by the Marines that you were officially dead after you were lost in sea!"

"I had feeling about that," says Tsunade. "But I'm not dead! Let's says—I was absent somewhere else!"

"Like where?" Dalton asked curiosity.

"Trust me you don't..."Mi~mi~mi~"... you don't want to know," says the man with the strange wig.

Dalton looked at the man, recalling a memory of seeing before. In that moment he quickly recognized him and says his name "Igaram—is that you?"

"It's been a long time Dalton," says Igaram. "I hadn't seen you since—the Levely!"

The Levely was a council formed by the World Government which consists of 50 of the world's leaders out of the over 170 nations affiliated with the World Government.

Every four years, kings and queens from World Government affiliated nations gather at Pangaea Castle in Mary Geoise for a seven-day conference to discuss current events and debate plans for the future. The matters conferred and resolved on at the Levely could influence the entire world.

As this is a meeting of leaders of nations, a war could be initiated between nations if one king simply insults another. An example is when Wapol purposely hit Nefertari Vivi as an act of revenge against her father, Cobra, after he had disciplined Wapol for his selfishness. Due to Vivi's kindness and wisdom beyond her years, she refrained from making a scene, and Wapol was angered and left.

"This really a strange moment," Dalton expressed his words. "What are the odds of seeing you here after Vivi."

"Vivi?" Igaram repeated the name with a surprised look. "You saw Vivi?"

"She left with the Straw Hat pirates a half hour ago," Dalton told him. "You just miss her!"

"Then she safe!" Dalton reacted with relief. "And there is still time to—"

"Hey—hold on a second!"

Everyone turns to the direction of a average-sized young woman with light blue hair and eyes, and tanned skin.

"What is it Nojiko?" Kosuke asked the girl.

"Has anyone seen Naruto?" she asked them.

0o0o0

It was several minutes later, Dalton was Kureha escorting the group into the castle, where the injuries were being treated. Helping, Kureha Isshi-100, the twenty most skilled doctors on the island.

While their injuries are not serious, Dalton could tell that the group been through Hell and back. Whatever it is, it seems to harden their undergo like a razor-sharp edge.

"This is ridiculous!" The boy known as Kiba complains. "We're wasting time here! We got to go back and saved Naruto!"

"That's impossible Kiba!" Shikamaru responded. "With the Rift closed there is no way in hell we can go back!"

"But we can't just abandon Naruto back in that Reality!" Tenten also objected.

"Shikamaru is right you two," says Tsunade. "With the Rift closed, there is no way in hell we can get back to that other dimension to saved Naruto, unless it reopens again!'

"But the odds of it reopening it again are a one in billion," Tsunade added. "It could happen anywhere in the world or happened in next ten or one hundred years."

"So, you're saying we can't saved Naruto?" Nojiko tearfully asked.

"Come on people, do you all honestly think we're going to believed that you all escape from another division that connected from various universe or different worlds?" Kureha pointed out.

"Hey old lady," Kiba retort. "You weren't there! So, you got no right to say otherwise of what he experiences!"

"Old lady?" Kureha repeated the hated name. A second later, Kiba was flat on his ass, Kureha superhumanly punch him for his disrespect.

"Careful of who you're calling Old Lady dog boy!" Kureha warned Kiba. "Otherwise, I'll neuter you right here on the spot!"

Dalton voices his point of view in the conversation "So you people are trying say that you escape from another dimension that existed from beyond our world?"

"We did Dalton," Tsunade says in a convincing tone. "I and Shizune had been trapped in that other world for years!"

"The rest of us been taken to that world as well," Chōji added. "That place was crazy world. A living nightmare that has no end!"

"Yeah," Tenten agreed. "Luckily, we were able to escape that place—but not all of us escape together."

Dalton noticed the sad look on their faces and asked, "You says his name was Naruto Namikaze—is he related to the legendary Marine Admiral Minato Namikaze?"

Dalton recalls his first meeting of the Marine Admiral, Minato Namikaze. He was one of the most powerful and renowned Marine officers in the world. His abilities were so fearsome, many pirates would try fleet on sight with he was coming their way. There are a few people in the world that could match his vast strength and prowess.

But Dalton also has a chance to get to know Minato personally. Minato was a very humble and collected man. He was very respectful to anyone around him, even his enemies. A very polite individual, Minato would address others with the appropriate honorifics. He was something that Dalton looked up to and admired.

"Yeah, he's his son," Tsunade replied. "When I first met him, I really didn't know Minato has a kid!"

"Neither do I," Shizune agreed. "Yet, he really is his father's son, for like Minato, he wouldn't hesitate to make sure his companions would escape.

Looking around, Tsunade faces Dalton and asked "Is this really Drum Castle? If it is, and if Wapol is here—"

"There is no need to worry about Wapol, Tsunade," Dalton told her. "Wapol is no longer King."

"No longer King?" Igaram repeated, looking confused. "What does that supposed to mean?"

Dalton told them everything, started from the beginning. From the start when the Blackbeard Pirates came and invaded the island that caused Wapol to flee in fear. To the part when Luffy used devil fruit powers to knock Wapol out of the kingdom. After finishing his story, Tsunade couldn't help but laugh hard and loud.

"I always knew that fat idiot was going get thrown off from his high horse," Tsunade laughed. "I'm just sad that I miss it!"

"I recall early that you say Vivi and the Straw Hats left this island," Igaram recalls. "Are they on their way to Alabasta?"

"They're heading there as we speak," says Kureha. "If you have a ship you might catch up to them before they reach Alabasta. But I'm afraid there are no ship in this kingdom."

"Then I'll swim after them—or die trying!" Igaram declared.

"Hold on there Igaram," Shikamaru stops Igaram. "You seem to forget. Vivi has the most reliable bodyguards in the world—the Straw Pirates. It proved that they're trustworthy in escorting her Alabasta!"

"But she is not aware of the danger she is in," Igaram told him. "She not aware that Orochimaru is in league with Crocodile."

"Orochimaru?" Dalton repeated the name in horror. "You mean—the Butcher of Devil Fruit Users!"

"That correct," said Shino. "He is working with Crocodile to destroy Alabasta. That's why we need a ship to take us to Alabasta!"

"Even if what you say is true," Dalton assumed. "There is no ship on the island to take you to Alabasta. You have to wait for the next the ship and the odds of it arriving are—

It was without warning, a man busted in the room, interrupting him.

"Dalton—we have a problem!" the man cried out in panic. "They're back!"

"Back?" Dalton responds. "Don't tell me…"

"Wapol!" he told him. "He and his men are back! We've just saw their ship arrived at shore!"

Getting angry, Dalton snarls "I thought he has better sense to never come after what happened to him! I guess I—"

A sudden stab of pain occurs and Dalton moans, falling on his knees. The doctors of the Kureha Isshi-100 rushed to his side.

"I'm sorry Dalton, but you are in no condition for battle," says the first doctor of Isshi-100.

"Your injuries are still not recovering," another doctor added. "If you try to fight Wapol and the others, you'll risk reopening them, that will lead to serious consequences!"

"No!" Dalton protested fiercely. "I'm not going sit here and do nothing while Wapol and his stooges walked back in here and—"

It was without warning, Kureha got in front of him, stopping him in his track with a stern look.

"It's best you listen to them Dalton," Kureha told him. "In your current state, you won't last a minute against Wapol and the others. Don't forget, you got injured after they pulls a dirty trick on you."

"Kureha is right Dalton," Tsunade agreed. "As a marine doctor myself I happened to agree with them. Just let us handle Wapol and the others. We'll make sure we kick him and his stooges off this island!"

"We?" Shikamaru repeated. "What do you mean We?"

"As Marine officers," Tsunade reminded. "It's our job to help people who are in trouble when pirates attack."

"But Vice Admiral Tsunade," Lee pointed out. "Wapol is not a pirate! He's officially a King. And we can get in trouble for attacking a monarch."

"Not really," Shizune started with the details. "Wapol has publicly left the Drum Kingdom, which means he legally abandoned his throne."

"Plus," Shizune added. "He is sailing a pirate flag, a Jolly Roger that depicts a skull with a round, metallic jaw licking its own lips and wearing a large crown, as well as the standard crossbones located behind it. All those traits mean he's breaking the law for flying a pirate flag and he's now a pirate!"

"You see!" Tsunade pointed out to the others. "That means we're doing something legal—not illegal. Wapol and his men are officially pirates—and as marines it's our job to beat up pirates and bring them to justice!"

Though he understands what she means, Dalton was still worried and asked "Are you sure about this Tsunade? Fighting Wapol and the others? I'm not doubting your abilities but—

"Of course, I'm Dalton," Tsunade cuts him off. "And besides—I been waiting for the excuse to knock out hungry, hungry hippo for a long time!"

Turning to the rest of the group, Tsunade begins to give orders "Ok we're going to divided into two groups. Nojiko, Kiba, Akamaru, Tenten, and Kosuke are with me. Shizune, Shino, Lee, Chōji, Shikamaru, and Igaram you stay behind at Bigborn Village as backup."

"Why not full force?" Chōji asked. "Why divided our forces?"

"And why me?" Nojiko asked. "I'm not a Marine?"

"In case Wapol and his clowns try any tricks!" Tsunade told Chōji. "As much as he is a coward, he's also smart. After getting his fat ass kicked off the island a second time, he wouldn't risk coming back unless he got a plan to help him out! Whatever it is, we need to be ready."

Turning to Nojiko, Tsunade added "And the reason why I'm bring you with me because I wants to see that devil fruit power that I gave to you, back in that other dimension."

Nojiko looked a little nervous and said "I still don't how to activate it when I eaten it. And don't know the name of it."

"To be honest I don't make it habit of handing out devil fruits to civilians," Tsunade told her. "But begin stranded in that other world tells me I need to improvise. You'll find out when we confront Wapol and the others! But I suggested you do it quick as possible!"

0o0o0

Meanwhile, at the island's shore, former King Wapol was preparing his forces to invade Drum Island once again, reclaiming what rightfully belong to him.

Wapol was an obese man with a bizarre appearance. He has dark violet hair and a cylinder-shaped jaw made up of tin plates, hence his epithet. He was dressed in tin-plate armor and a hooded cape made from White Walkie skin. He was also wearing thick brown gloves. He spotted a pair of purple and orange woolen shorts and a brown belt around his waist and a pair of thick short boots.

Wapol was in a vile mood. A viler and angrier mood than before. All because Monkey D. Luffy knocked him off the island. He was here for two things—his kingdom and revenge. And this time he was ready.

"Uh…King Wapol!"

The first to speak to him was Chess. a former minister of defense serving under Wapol. Chess was a man who is a bit taller than average. He has wavy lips and a sad expression. He wears a checkered jester-like green-blue costume with purple lining at the end of the sleeves, a white winter cape with purple lining, that he ties against his chest, and grey buttons, with a light brown bow and a bag of arrows on his back. He has dark green pants, and blue shoes with white buckles.

"What is it?" Wapol snapped, not in a good mood.

"I been meaning to ask you something," Chess asked nervously. "Are you sure it's a good idea to—"

"—come back to Drum Kingdom?" Wapol angrily fished his words. "Is that what you're going to say? You think I should stay away? Is that it? You thinking I should stay away or Monkey D. Luffy will get me?"

"No King Wapol! That's not what Chess means!"

The second to speak to him was Kuromarimo, the former magistrate during Wapol's rule on Drum Island, and the highest-ranking law officer below Wapol. Kuromarimo sports a long, orange cloak, with white lining, and black afros at each end, and white afros hanging from the front. He wears gloves that cover all fingers but his thumb, and resemble an afro. He has a large black afro on his head, and three small ones on his beard. He is of medium height and normal weight. He wears a shirt that's orange in the middle and white on the sides with light yellow buttons, along with orange shorts. He has hairy legs, and black boots with white laces. Overall, Kuromarimo resembles a boxer.

"What he trying to say—is it a good idea to hire that guy?" Kuromarimo asked. "If the World Government finds out—"

"It's worth the risk!" Wapol declared angrily. "I want Straw Hat Luffy dead! And this time I am paying serious muscle to take care of him!"

"But the prices he asked is too outrageous," Chess complains. "We'll be completely broke!"

"On top of that, we really don't know who he really is!" Kuromarimo added. "Not to mention what he did—"

"I really don't care!" Wapol angrily cuts them. "I want Straw Hat Luffy Dead and my kingdom back!" And he's man suited for the job—am I right Sasori?"

Entering the scene was a man in his mid-twenties. He has wide greyish brown eyes and short, mousy red hair. He has a hazy, dreamy look on his face. His outfit was cause, that would mistake him as a pirate.

"Don't worry Wapol," Sasori replied. "I guarantee—you'll get your kingdom back—along with Monkey D. Luffy's head."

AN

Which two devil fruit powers should I give to Nojiko? Should it be the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Valkyrie or the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Amazon. I am planning to turn the members of Naruto's crew into badass fighters in comparison with the Straw Hat pirates, all the way to end of the story, and Nojiko is an example. I want to turn her into a One-Piece Version of Marvel's She Hulk and DC's Wonder Woman. So I'm asking which devil fruit should I choose?