A.n I own Nothing.
Happy Christmas to everyone. I am so glad that everyone stuck with me this year so thank you all. Sadly this will be the last Chapter up for 2016, I will be back next year with more Straw Hats Creed. As I said at the end of Last year if you have any suggestions on how i can improve the story or you want to see a certain Assassin make an appearance please do not hesitate to let me know.
I will be away on holiday for a few weeks in January so I will not be posting until I get back near the end of the 1st month. So until then Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Edward and Luffy approached the entrance to the downed tower, there was a steadily growing pile of treasure just past the entrance and two guards guarding the entrance. Edward ran up to them and waved his hand in front of their necks. Blood poured out of their throats and they fell down dead. Luffy came up and stared at the bodies.
"How did you do that?" Luffy asked Edward.
Edward gave his wrist a flick and a small blade extended out of his wrist brace, he it held up so Luffy could get a look at it.
"Hidden wrist blade," Edward smirked.
"That's….SO COOL!" Luffy shouted his eyes turning to stars.
"It is very useful," Edward agreed.
"I want one where did you get it?" Luffy asked.
"They were a gift,"(1)
"They?"
Edward held up his other wrist and gave it a flick a second hidden blade came out.
"They came in a pair," Edward smiled.
"Give me one," Luffy demanded.
"What No!"
"Why not, you have two so give me one," Luffy whined.
"Luffy I am not giving you my Hidden blades," Edward said, he flicked his wrists again and the blades went back into the braces.
"PPPllleeeaaassseeeee," Luffy begged.
"No, besides I think Kid would literally kill me if I gave them to a pirate," Edward claimed.
"Who's Kid?" Luffy asked.
"James Kid, he's a friend of mine. He's the one who…" Edward hesitated for a second and Luffy waited.
Edward did not want to put his friend in danger but as 50yrs had past Kidd would likely be dead or retired somewhere…most likely the first.
"…who told me that my sight could evolve," Edward finished.
"Oh so dose this Kid guy have the same sight as you and Connor?" Luffy asked.
"No he doesn't possess it…but he did know all about it," Edward admitted.
Luffy nodded, he still wanted the braces but he figured that he could get his own or find some for himself; right now Luffy had more to worry about than some fancy weapon.
Edward turned his attention to the tower and the entered; a conveyor belt that carried piles and piles of treasure towards them was active. A nearby guard came over and pointed his weapon at them.
"You what are you dining here?" the guard demanded.
Luffy stretched over and grabbed him by the collar of his uniform and pulled him close to his face.
"What's going on? Why are you stealing Lappuni's treasure?" Luffy demanded.
"Who?" the guard asked.
Luffy got angry and was about to punch the man when he screamed.
"I don't know who you're talking about! Mayor Wetton ordered the treasure to be loaded onto the conveyor belt so we could get it out of the mist," the guard cried.
"So that's it," Edward said.
"What?" Luffy asked.
"These guys are using this tower as a tunnel, as long as it's here they don't have to worry about getting lost in Apies," Edward claimed.
"So if we follow this tunnel we'll get back to the others?" Luffy asked.
"Most defiantly," Edward agreed.
"I wouldn't get your hopes up, most of the towns militia is already in the mist and the Mayor and his sons are there two. Anyone in the mist is dead," the guard claimed.
Edward and Luffy looked at each other for a second before looking back at the guard; big grins appeared on their faces.
"Matey, you have no idea who your messing with," Edward claimed.
Luffy tossed the guard aside and ran back outside the tower confusing Edward.
"Uhhh the mist is that way," Edward said pointing into the tunnel.
"I know but I want to get back to my crew as soon as possible," Luffy said.
"Me too, then shouldn't we get going," Edward urged.
"Nah I have a faster way," Luffy grinned.
Edward wondered what Luffy meant and watched the other captain stretch his arms and grab the sides of the tower, he then pulled back and his arms stretched further.
'He looks like a living slingshot,' Edward joked to himself.
And then he saw Luffys big grin. Edwards face fell and he quickly looked behind him and then back to Luffy now realising what was about to happen.
"Oh no…No No No No," Edward said.
"Gomou-Gomou Rocket," Luffy cried and jumped off the ground.
He was shot forward and Edward was unfortunately in his way so he was brought along for the ride. They flew at amazing speed straight through the tower, over the guards who were overseeing the conveyor belt and the treasure on it. They were very surprised to see two men flying through the air, Edward screamed the entire way while Luffy just laughed.
Apes Concert
Not long after Edward and Luffy had disappeared the top end of the tower had appeared in the mist and solders started to come out of it on inflatable rafts.
They quickly began raiding the shipwrecks for the hidden treasure and attacked the Merry. Usopp, Robin, Zoro and Connor did an impressive job of guarding the ship and protecting the other kids. Lappuni had wanted to fight as well but after it was made clear that these invaders were intending to kill them he let the pirates handle it.
Adéwalé had transformed into his dragon form and begun an Ariel assault on the invaders and it was working until the Wetton and Phillip had appeared in metal suits that shot fire and electricity.
Zoro charged in to take on the one with electricity and Adéwalé went for Wetton. He had innately planed on using his dragon form but that made him to big of a target and increased the risk of getting lost in the mist.
So he switched to his hybrid form instead to give him more manoeuvrability, Adéwalé had instantly me with a stream of fire from Wetton but he blocked it by using his wings as a shield and thanks to the thin layer of scales that covered his body his hybrid form(2) he did not feel the heat or take any damage. Adéwalé hovered in the air over Wetton, in his hybrid form; he glared at the invading mayor.
Before the Wetton could attack again something crashed into the back of his suit knocking him down the ramp and stopping just before the water.
"Whoo that was fun," Luffy said sitting on the ramp, Edward was lying not far away dazed from the flight and landing.
"Who dares knock me over?" Wheton demanded as some solders helped him up.
Edward sat up rubbing his head, glared at Luffy.
"What the hell was that?!" he yelled at Luffy.
"A short cut," Luffy answered.
"Are you trying to get us killed?!"
"Why are you angary? We're back in the mist," Luffy pointed out.
"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Edward yelled back.
Adéwalé shook his head as he watched the two pirates argue completely ignoring everyone and everything around him.
"HEY DON'T IGNORE ME!" Wetton yelled angrily.
Luffy and Edward stopped arguing and looked at the mayor.
"Who's this Darn o cachu?(3)" Edward asked.
"Huh?" Luffy asked confused.
"How dare you ignore me and speak in a language that I don't understand. You must pay the not paying attention and speaking in a different language Tax of 50,000 beli," Wetton demanded.
"No," Luffy said.
"Is this guy a retard or something?" Edward asked.
"How dare you, if you don't pay you'll…you'll…" Wetton trailed off and he stared at Edward.
Edward and Luffy waited for Wetton to continue but he just studied Edwards face, he had a suspicion that he had seen the pirate somewhere before.
"You look familiar have we met before?" Wetton asked Edward.
"I'm sure I would remember you," Edward said "But then again I tend to forget stuff after drinking,"
Edward looked up and saw Adéwalé in his hybrid form hovering above them.
"Ade have we met this guy before?" Edward called out.
"No Edward we haven't," Adéwalé answered.
"Well there's your answer," said to Wetton.
Wettons face instantly paled as he finally recognised the name.
"Edward…y…y…your name is Edward? Is that…Edward Kenway?" Wetton asked fearfully.
"Aye that's me," Edward confirmed.
"Y…Y…You can't be here…Your dead," Wetton claimed.
Edward quickly took his pulse.
"Nope defiantly still alive," Edward claimed.
"Well in that case you must pay the coming back from the dead Tax," Wetton demanded.
Edward honestly did not know how to react to this so he did the only thing he could think off.
"I'm going to start attacking you know and I don't know when I'll stop," Edward claimed and charged in.
On the Merry,
Zoro was fighting Phillip in his Electricity suit, it wasn't going well as Zoro's swords would conduct and draw the Electricity to him making it a hard fight. Usopp and robin were picking off the invading Militia; Robin used her powers and Usopp used his slingshot.
Connor would swiftly defeat anyone who boarded the ship, Nami cheered in the background. Zoro was having a hard time with Philip as it was near impossible to land a hit on the suit without getting shocked.
"Wa Ha Ha Ha. You can't beat me, this suit is constantly generating Electricity," Phillip claimed.
"Then I'll just cut through your Electricity," Zoro declared.
"It doesn't work like that," Usopp and Nami said at the same time.
"Actually that's not a bad idea," Robin said.
Usopp and Nami looked at her in surprise and then back to Zoro and Phillip.
"Rolling Thunder," Philp said.
Everyone waited for something to happen but noting did.
"Huh…where's my lightning?" Philip asked.
"I cut it," Robin answered with a smile.
Phillip turned to see the cords that connected the suit to its generator was severed by two arms that seemed to be growing out of the generator itself.
"Noooo, Put that back Put that back," Phillip cried.
Philip started throwing a tantrum and he was failing around so much that he fell into the sea and began to sink.
"Help I'm sinking Heellllpppppp!" he cried out as a few solders dove into save him.
"These guys are idiots," Zoro commented and sheathed his sword.
"Yeah kick they're asses, don't let them near my treasure," Nami cheered.
The other kids looked at her.
"It's our treasure," they said together but Nami ignored them.
Suddenly a large explosion came from the tower; it broke apart, crumbled and destroyed. Adéwalé was pushed back by the wind and he franticly scanned the sea and the remains of the tower for Edward and Luffy.
Edward broke the surface carrying Luffy and he swam to the boats, Adéwalé landed and helped pull the two captains onto the rafts.
"What happened?" Adéwalé asked.
"Wetton could not handle losing so he blew his fire suit up," Edward explained "and he took the tower with him so we're no longer connected to the outside,"
"Damn it," Zoro hissed.
"What? Wetton was here and you let him get away?" Lapunni accused angrily.
"Not the time Lapunni," Edward warned.
Apes concert started to shake and the sky started to crackle with Lighting, the inhabitants looked up to see the sky start to swirl.
"What's happening?" Philp panicked.
"What are you still doing here?" Usopp asked.
"Farther just blew up the only way out of the mist…what do you think we're still doing here," Phillip shot back.
"The mist…it's destabilising," Henzo theorised.
"Meaning?" Isoka asked.
"The environment of the Rainbow mist must be very delicate, after all it distorts time. If something were to upset that balance then it would cause the mist to collapse," Henzo said.
"But we're still inside it," Nami panicked.
"We need to get out or we will be killed," Henzo said.
"How this place is a maze,"Usopp claimed.
"If the mist is destabilising then the border between Apes concert and the outside will have weekend significantly, we just might be able to find the exit," Henzo claimed.
"Everyone on board now, Usopp find us a way out," Nami ordered.
Edward, Zoro, Luffy, Adéwalé, Phillip and the remaining militia climbed onto the Merry; Usopp began scanning the horizon with his goggles looking for the exit.
"There," He cried and pointed to a rainbow swirl hovering in the air.
"It looks like the entrance," Robin observed.
"I can see sunlight," Usopp claimed "It has to be the way out,"
"Get the oars and everyone start rowing," Nami ordered.
Comically large oars were brought out and everyone started rowing towards the exit but it started to fade and it became clear that they were not going to make it.
"We're not going to make it," Akibi panicked.
"Do you think we will be cursed, disintegrated or just cease to exist?" Robin asked with a straight face.
"DON'T SAY SUCH THINGS!" Usopp yelled.
"If only we had a strong blast of wind," Nami said.
Adéwalé suddenly let go of his oar, he shifted into his hybrid form and headed back towards the warship that had been used as a base.
"Ade, where are you going?" Edward panicked.
"To blow up the gunpowder reverses," Adéwalé answered "It will give you the boost you need to escape,"
"But you'll be trapped…You'll die," Edward claimed.
"No I will shift into my dragon form and survive the explosion. I don't care what happens," Adéwalé claimed and landed on the ship.
"Damn it, Ade," Edward swore and jumped into the sea, he swam back to the ship.
"Edward!" Lappuni called after him but Edward had disappeared into the ship.
Lappuni jumped into the water and followed Edward. Isoka, Akibi, Longo and Pukau followed him and swam towards the ship as well.
"What are you doing?" Henzo cried out.
"We have to help Adéwalé and Edward," Lauppui declared.
"But..But…" Henzo started.
"It's alright Henzo, we'll come back," Isoka assured.
"Yeah now that we know your waiting for us, we'll defiantly come back," Lappuni promised.
Hezo couldn't respond he started to tear up as his fends disappeared into the wreaked warship.
The gunpowder storage of the warship
Adéwalé piled barrels of gunpowder together, he took a step back and was about to light them when a hand gripped his shoulder. Adéwalé turned to see Edward standing there with a smile on his face.
"Edward…what?" Adéwalé asked.
"You know the rules Ade. A captain always goes down with the ship," Edward claimed.
"And a good crew always follows their captain," Lappuni interrupted.
Edward and Adéwalé turned to see Lappuni and the others standing there.
"You're all insane," Adéwalé sighed and he lit the fuse.
Outside the mist
Sanji and Chopper were watching the portal into the mist carefully, it had slowly begun to fade and they were worried about their crew. Wetton had come out of the tower earlier, Sanji and Chopper were not happy that he had come out alone; they had been watching the mist ever since and completely faded.
"Sanji the mist…it's gone," Chopper said.
"Damn…they didn't make it," Sanji hissed.
"That's right those brats are dead, they could not stop me there is no limit to my power," Wetton declared.
Sanji and chopper took a threatening step towards the elderly mayor, Wettons face paled as he noticed something behind them.
"What's that?" he cried and pointed to the top of the hill.
Sanji and Chopper turned to see the mist had appeared above the hill and the Merry came fliyng out of it. The ship flew over the town and landed with a splash in the bay, the mast and figurehead broke off.
"AHHHHH MERRRRRRYYYYYY!" Chopper screamed when he saw the damage.
"They made it," Sanji breathe a sigh of relief.
"NNNNNOOOOOOO!" Wetton screamed.
Sanji and Chopper looked back towards the sky and saw a large mansion get sucked into the mist and belis fell from the sky.
"My Mansion,"Wetton cried.
"Serves you right," Chopper said flatly.
The Merry staggered to the docks curtesy of the oars and everyone disembarked. Usopp was in tears over the damage and Sanji rushed up to Nami.
"Nami-Swan, your back," he cried happily.
Nami however hit Sanji on the head so hard that he crashed on the ground making a small creator and Nami stormed off. Chopper panicked and stared at Nami in fear.
"Wh'ts fith der?(What's with Her?)" Sanji struggled to say.
Connor walked over to him and bent down.
"All of the treasure got blown off the ship, I'd keep out of her way for now," Connor advised softly.
Suddenly a cannon was fired, Connor froze up and the others turned to see a Marine warship just behind them. A Marine Major walked up to them, he was an older looking man with blond hair and dark sunglasses, and he wore a Marie officers coat befitting his rank.
Behind him was an older woman with neck length light purple hair, she had a droopy face and wore a Marine uniform of a Lieutenant. There were three other marines behind here all wearing a stranded Marine uninforms and all of them had smiles on their faces.
"Marines!" the straw hats panicked.
Phillip ran up to the Major.
"Thank goodness you're here, these pirates attacked and are trying to steal the town's lively hood," Phillip lied.
The major looked at the straw hats and then back at Phillip, he grabbed the his hand and examined the ring on Philips finger.
"The Ring of Queen Illiua, this ring was stolen over one hundred years ago, where did you get it?" the major demanded.
"Huh…I found it in the rainbow mist," Phillip claimed.
"The Rainbow Mist?" the Major asked sceptically.
"Yes there were hundreds of shipwrecks filled with treasure," Philip claimed.
"You expect me to believe that?" the major asked.
"Sir, we have found a large pile of treasure at the other end of the port. Some apperes to be over 100 years old," the Lieutenant reported with a salute.
"Hey that's mine," Wetton claimed.
"Oh and where did you get it?" the Major asked.
"Like my son said I took it from the Rainbow Mist," Wetton claimed.
"So you got that ring and the treasure from shipwrecks then?" the Major asked.
"Of course, I found it so that makes it mine," Wetton claimed.
"Unfortunately all treasures rediscovered on shipwrecks go to the to the world government so we may sort through it thoroughly and returned any and all national treasures to their rightful countries," the major said.
"What I won't let you have my treasure," Wetton declared.
"If you continue this course of action I will have to take it as an act of Piracy," the major warned.
"That's fine by me, I used to be a pirate anyway," Wetton claimed.
"Very well…I will treat you as such," the Major said.
He walked up to Wetton raised his hand and flicked his forehead; Wetton was thrown backwards crashing into one of the guards towers.
"Father!" Phillip panicked.
"Oh you are his son?" the Major asked.
"So what?" Phillip asked.
"If you have a relative that is a pirate you are also herby considered a criminal," the Major claimed.
"WHAT! BUT I HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING!" Phillip claimed.
"Well you did help your father and the militia oppress and kidnap the townsfolk for 35yrs," Henzo claimed.
"I see...so you are a criminal as well," the major claimed.
"What No! I had the authority of the mayor" Phillip said.
"A former pirate cannot become a elected official let alone a Mayor. You have been acting under the authority of a pirate therefore you are one," the Major claimed "Arrest Wetton, his son and his men for acts of piracy,"
The straw hats and Henzo watched as Wetton and his men were arrested and led to the Mairne ships, the Marines then loaded up the treasure before they came back and approached the Henzo; the major took of his sunglasses and smiled.
"Didn't I promise we'd be back," He smiled.
Henzo stared at the Major carefully; his eyes went wide as he recognised him.
"L…L…Lapuni?" Henzo gaped.
"Yep it's me," Lusspuni answered.
"HUH!" the straw hats who had been in the mist yelled together in shock.
"But if you're here then that means…" Henzo started and looked at the Marines behind Lappuni "Your…Your…Isoka, Akibi, Pukau and Longo,"
"Yep it's us," Isoka confirmed.
"Guys…" Henzo said and started to cry.
He pulled Lappuini into a hug and cried into his friend, Lappuni returned the hug and let his old friend cry on him; they remind that way for a few minutes. The straw hats smiled and moved closer knowing that these marines were not their enemies.
"Excuse me but how did you get out of the mist?" Robin asked.
"When we blew up the ship we were ejected from the mist as well, but it was 50yrs ago," Lappuni explained.
"Of course, the mist must've returned everyone to their proper time," Henzo said.
"Well we were a week out but yes it did. We wound up on a nearby Island" Isoka claimed.
"Edward and Adéwalé's ship was nearby so he took us to the next Island. We knew that Ruluka would survive Wettons first attack but we could not let him get away with it. So we decided to join the marines,"
"Why?" Henzo asked.
"With Wetton as mayor we could not touch him so we needed the power to overrule him, the Marines can overthrow any government official if that offiacl is caught doing criminal activates," Isoka claimed.
"But how did you join? Wouldn't your ties with Edward make you unable to join?" Usopp asked.
"Well he staged a fake kidnapping and when we were rescued we told the Marines that pirates had burnt down our town and we had nowhere to go. So they sighed us on as chore boys and girl," Lappuni
"You lied to the Marines?" Zoro asked.
"No, our town was attacked by pirates and they did set it on fire," Isoka smiled "We just neglected to mention that it would be rebuilt,"
"So you came back here knowing that Wetton would screw up his mayor act and catch him," Robin finished "Clever,"
"Thank you, but unfortunately I have to arrest the Straw hat Pirates as well," Lappuni announced.
"WHATTT!" the straw hats cried.
"You big bully and after we fed you too," Usoop yelled from hiding behind Zoro.
"But…Ahh we just don't have the room," Lappuni cried.
"Between Wetton, his men and the treasure, our ship is full. Not to mention I have to make a report and deliver them to the closet Marine base which is two days away that means the straw hats will have a four day head start and who knows which way they will go," Lappuni ranted.
"Oh well I guess we'll just have to take our chances and hope that they're still here when we get back," Isoka sighed.
"Your right…there is nothing we can do," Lappuni agreed "Everyone back on the ship and you lot had better be here when we get back,"
The Marines turned and headed to their ship, Connor who had recovered from being momentary frozen ran up to Laapuni and tugged his uniform; the Marine looked down at him.
"He did that on purpose," the straw hats said together.
"Umm….what happened to Edward after you parted ways?" Connor asked.
"Oh well, he continued his pirating ways for a few years and then got married," Lappuni answered.
"He got married?" Connor asked in surprise.
"Yes we were very surprised to get the invitation to his wedding. Apparently he was pardoned for his crimes as a pirate and settled down,"
"So…is he still alive now?"
"No, he disappeared 30 years ago," Isoka answered.
"What?" Connor gasped.
"We kept in contact after his wedding but one day we stopped hearing form him. We went to his house to find his wife dead and his two children missing, though we did find his youngest son," Lappuni explained.
"According to him Edward went out to sea on some business with Adéwalé and never came back…it was right before his wife was killed," Isoka claimed.
"So he could still be out there somewhere," Connor said hopefully.
"I doubt it, we looked for him but no one ever saw or herd form him again. It's more than likely he died at sea," Lappuni reasoned.
"Oh..." Connor said and looked down sadly.
"We should go, we'll be back in a few days take care Henzo," Lappuni said and boarded his ship.
The straw hats watched as the marine ship sailed off out to sea. The next two days the straw hats spent the day repairing the Merry, the treasure Connor had pocketed was more than enough to pay for some quick repairs, it wasn't much but it would hold until the next Island so they could get a proper job done.
Nami was thrilled that Connor had saved some treasure and what wasn't spent on the ship repairs was spent on restocking the Merry's supplies and Robin also found some early learning activity books basic reading books and a chalk board. Robin was pleased with her find as she was able to get everything she needed to start teaching Connor.
Usopp had also spoken to Sanji and he agreed to teach Connor how to cook, Connor was not thrilled about it but Sanji was insistent that the boy learn some basic cooking.
On the third day the Merry set off from Ruluka town with Henzo watching them leave.
"Thank you my friends," he said as the Merry sailed out of sight.
Island in the Grand Line, 50 years ago
The Jackdaw sailed into port to resupply, Edward was eager to get off the ship and hit up a local bar while the rest of his crew traded in the various Rum and Sugar that they had plundered form other ships.
Edward and Adéwalé walked down the street and Adéwalé was being overly cautious.
"Ade relax I'm just going for a drink," Edward assured.
"Edward you know whose ship that was docked right?" Adéwalé asked.
"Of course, that's why I want a drink," Edward smiled.
Adéwalé sighed; he knew this was not going to end well.
They found the local bar and entered, it was packed with people though most of them were pirates. Edward scanned the room and spotted who he was looking for, he walked over to a gentleman sitting at the bar.
He was a tall man with thick black hair. He wore a blue shirt and had a green sash around his waist, a white cravat around his neck, dark blue pants, and what appeared to be black sea boots and a very familiar straw hat.
Edward walked over and sat next to the man ordering a drink.
"Haven't seen you in a while, what have you been up to?" the man asked.
"Oh not much, just having an adventure in a time traveling mist," Edward responded.
"Ah business as usual then,"
"Aye…so I heard this amazing story about a Pirate King who hid his treasure at the end of the Grand Line," Edward claimed.
"Really?" the man asked curiously.
"Yeah it's on an Island called Raftel and it's up for grabs, the person who finds it will be the next Pirate King," Edward claimed.
"Raftel huh…never heard of it," the man responded.
"Me either, so how about Gol. D Rodger(4)…want to race to see who can become King first?" Edward asked.
The man turned to Edward and a fierce grin he appeared on his face.
"You're on," Rodger answered "What's the name of this fabled treasure?"
"One Piece," Edward grinned.
(1) Edwards Hidden Blades were given to him by the Templar Gist, who mistook him for an Assassin traitor he was supposed to meet. Gist later went on to become Shay Cormarcs most trusted friend and introduced him to Haythem thus setting young Shay on the path of the Templars.
(2) Adéwalé's hybrid form offers him flight and increased strength; it also gives him a very thin layer of dragon scales making him resistant to all damage. The best way to describe it is it's like Adéwalé is wearing Bilbo's Mithril shirt under his skin. Though it can be priced with Seastone
(3) Translates to Piece of Shit in welsh. Edward was born and raised in Wales.
(4) Before anybody PMs me about putting Rodger in this arc and the inaccuracy of him being alive at this time. I would like to point out Rodger was born 77 years before the present day (post time skip) and was executed 22 years before the story began.
This means he was alive for 53 years before he was killed, and as it took him 2 years to find Raftel and hide One Piece this means that at the time Lapunni and his friends escaped from the Rainbow mist Rodger was 51 years old. This makes it perfectly viable for him to be alive at the time.