Hello everybody. Before we start, I just wanted to address one review made by VoteDonaldTrump2024.

Firstly, my deepest apologies for the users' offensive language. I have blocked and reported them, but (since they are a non-guest reviewer) I am unable to delete it so it will, unfortunately, stay there.

I do not care about who you are or what your opinions are (you are more than welcome to have them) but please keep them to yourself. This is a fanfiction story, not a toxic Reddit thread. We all came here to read a One Piece story and not listen to anybody's political beliefs. Thank you.

Secondly, I know for a fact that Luffy would never vote for any politician. So the user is just plain wrong.

Thirdly…that's a stupid username.

Sorry again and I hope you'll enjoy the chapter.


Anyway, here's the next chapter.

JimmySG0 - I'm so happy to hear that. Thank you so much.

Guest - Thank you so much, I'm glad that you enjoy the new Cavalier. Interesting suggestions, I see what I can do. However, I do like the idea of Marines chasing him all over the place; kind of gives me an idea of what he can be doing during the time skip.

I'll see if I can write up that new story when I have the time. It's still in the planning stages at the moment.

Thanks so much for reading.

phillyitalian - I have to look up what you meant and…yeah, that's pretty spot on. Cavalier is just a mixture of constant cheeriness and confusion. Thanks for reading

Fiction Fan 369 - I know what you mean. We'll definitely see a difference in the way Cavalier and Sanji flirt in this story…as well as seeing Sanji grow more and more irritated with each new family member (harem member) he gets. You're also right about Zoro. I guess all of them are weirdos in one way or another.

Dragoul Mayol - Funny that you mention that, because I partially based Cavalier's fighting style on Captain Jack Sparrow. Writing slapstick is much more difficult than watching it on a film so I'll have to make sure to find a good way of demonstrating that in my writing. Thank you so much for your support. I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter.

Foxfire573 - Muchas gracias, estoy muy feliz de que te haya gustado. Pensé que ya era hora de explicar el título de la historia. Jajaja!

Gracias también por la lista, te será muy útil. También planteas un punto muy interesante sobre Kikunojo y Bonney y, después de pensarlo un poco, descubrí qué hacer. Antes de Egghead Island, definitivamente habría tenido a Bonney en el harén, pero ahora... Sí, no me siento cómodo con eso. Sin embargo, podría hacer que Cavalier interactuara con ella como si fuera una niña (acariciando la cabeza, ofreciéndole dulces, etc.) pero no sabe por qué lo hace. Él solo tiene la sensación de que ella es mucho más joven de lo que parece y por eso la trata como una niña de diez años. Podría crear algunas escenas divertidas en la historia. Kikunojo, por otro lado, es un poco diferente. No tengo intención de hacerlo bisexual, porque siento que le convendría. Sin embargo, él quiere una familia masiva a la que pueda amar y ellos también lo aman, por lo que dudo que realmente le importe su género original. No tiene prejuicios en absoluto y, por lo tanto, es muy tolerante con las personas, sin importar quiénes sean.

Perdón por escribir mucho. He estado pensando mucho en esto y necesitaba decirle a alguien, espero que disfrutes del próximo capítulo.

Djinn - Thank you so much, I really did have fun making the battle scene. Cavalier's fighting style is something I never really written before so it's great to come up with little slapstick moments. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Ramen Sensei - RS - Thank you so much! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Phoenix Keyblade - Thank you so much. I'm so glad you liked Cavalier's new personality. I've got to be honest, but I was a little worried how everybody would react to the change, but I'm so relived that it was well received. In this chapter, we will see him settle in alongside Robin and so we're got plenty of mingling with the Straw Hats. Although, I do have to wonder what the Secret Empire has planned. It can't be good at all. Thanks again for reading.

joseskywalker02 - You're more than welcome, I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter and Cavalier. You described him pretty much accurately and I think it'll be funny to have him interact with other One Piece characters. At first they think he's intimidating and serious, but then he pulls the rug out from underneath them by being really kind. I am currently working on the harem and, honestly, I need to stop myself by putting almost every woman in it, but it's kind of hard. At his point, he's going to have a bigger family than Big Mom...although it would built on love rather than having an army to conquer the world. Thanks so much for reading.

wellingtonlucas282 - Sorry for the wait. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Guest - There are definitely going to be more mysteries to be unravelled with the Secret Empire. Thank you so much.

FanSuperAnime - Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, Cavalier really deserve all that cruelty, but now he's free to laugh and be happy and now he can find his home and his family. You're quite right, there's so much places to see and things to do. Skypiea, Water 7, Enies Lobby, Thriller Bark, Saboady, Impel Down Marineford and then the New World; I can't wait to write my own version of them. Thank you also for the harem list; it's a really big help. I hope you enjoy this filler chapter.

GreatAsura - Thank you so much. I hope you will enjoy the next chapter.

theultimateknight mk 2 - Whoops! Didn't spot that at all. Thank you, I've corrected it.

Thank you all for reviewing :)


Chapter 8: Ripple Becomes Tsunami

Marine HQ (Arabasta Branch), Southern Arabasta

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Vice-Admiral Teranga looked up from his paperwork as somebody knocked on his office door and raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

He was a tall man with black hair that was starting to grey at the sides, big bushy eyebrows, Wray brown eyes that had seen many battles and had wrinkles that were beginning to become more apparent. Serving the Marines for almost forty years now, he spent most of him time on land in his nice suits and his Marine white coat over his shoulders and preferred to lead his sailors from the comfort of his own desk rather than out in the sea. He was one of the few sent to supervise the rebuilding of Arabasta after the war and was hoping to have another easy day…but something about those knocks suggested that, whatever was behind the door, was anything but relaxing. He cleared his throat and called out in loud voice.

"Come-"

SLAM!

His suspicions were correct.

The door slammed open and a very angry and very wet Hina stormed inside with a burning fury in her eyes. She approached his desk and smacked an entire stack of photos over his paperwork before she placed both hands on the edge of his desk and glared at him; her soaked pink hair dripping water all her the place.

"…in," Teranga finished as he frowned in concern, "Hina. Good to see you. How can I help y-"

"Hina wants to put up a new bounty," she hissed like a snake, "But Hina needs to know if there's a limit to how a captain can give out."

Teranga blinked in surprise, "Well, not necessarily. Any Marine whose rank is captain or higher is allowed to submit a bounty and give a suggested amount, based on their own judgement and the seriousness of the crime, to the board and to which they would judge whether it's reasonable. Why? What were you thinking of suggesting?"

"One hundred billion Berries," Hina snarled as he fingernails scratched the desk and the fire in her eyes blazed wildly.

"Right…" Taranga uttered, "…I don't think the board would allow that."

Hina slammed her hands on down on the desk, "Hina doesn't care about the amount! Hina cares about getting this piece of scum behind bars!" she shouted at him, "So, make it happen now before he gets too far away!"

Taranga sighed, "I'm guessing this has something to do with your report from earlier. Nine Marine ships destroyed including your very own flagship," he said, earning a savage growl from the captain, "I know that your frustrated, Hina, but we have to keep calm in these situations. We'll catch him soon enough," he reassured her as he looked through all the photos, "Why are there so many photos of him?"

"According to Attach…he was willing…to do a photoshoot," Hina told him through gritted teeth, really trying hard not to lose her temper.

The vice-admiral hummed, "Well, he looks polite enough…"

"He's a demon!"

"…yes, yes," he said as he looked up from the photos, "These are all…great, but we may need more information on his crew. Do you remember what is Jolly Roger looks like?"

"He didn't have a crew."

He hesitated slightly, "…by which you mean, he attacked the armada while his crew supported him from afar."

"No…" she hisses, "It was just him."

"Just him?"

"Yes. Just him. No previous criminal records, no evidence of him associating with any current pirate crew, Hina wasn't even able to find a single fragment of where he had come from. He winked in existence, destroyed Hina's ships and then made Hina's life a living hell all in a space of ten minutes," she told him as her fingernails dug into the desk.

"…I understand why you're angry now."

Before Hina can yell anymore, they heard a knock on the door and turned to see two familiar figures standing at the door.

"I thought I heard yelling in here," Captain Smoker said as he stepped inside the office, followed quickly by an anxious Tashigi. Smoker took notice of Hina's damp clothing and hair and raised an eyebrow at her, "Did you swim all the way here or something?"

Hina fixed him a cold glare, "Smoker, do Hina a favour and tie a ton of bricks around your neck and jump off the nearest pier," she snarled at him.

Tashigi gulped in fear while Smoker raised both eyebrows at her tone.

"Damn. Haven't seen you this pissed since you decided to quit smoking for a day. What's the matter with you?"

"We were just discussing a new bounty for the pirate who destroyed a fleet of ships off the coast of Alubarna," Taranga informed them as he sipped a cup of tea he had on his desk, "Perhaps you can shed some light on the investigation," he suggested as push the stack of photos towards them.

Smoker and Tashigi walked up and studied the photos with a critical eye; the younger Marine having to adjust her glasses slightly to see the image better. Smoker took a drag of his cigars before he glanced at his feel captain.

"Where did you get these? From a fashion magazine or something? Why are their so many of them?"

"These look great," Tashigi commented, "Attach did a really good job on these."

She felt a cold chill run down her spine. She gulped fearfully as saw Hina glaring at her with deadly eyes and stepped away from her.

"…by which, I mean, he did a great job…profiling this pirate. It's hard sometimes to get a good shot, so now we have a…better chance of catching this guy," she nervously stammered with a sheepish grin, "I've never see him. Sorry captain."

"Me neither," Smoker grumbled.

Hina huffed in annoyance and snatched one of the spare cigars Smoker kept on his pocket, earning an annoyed cry from the captain, "If you must know, this pirate is more dangerous than your average piece of scum. He may look stupid, but Hina has seen him in action. He's cunning, quick and, worst of all, shows no semblance of fear in actions," she told them as she reached into her pocket for a match…only to find a small dead fish instead. She grunted in annoyance and thew it over her shoulder and accepted a match that Taranga had lit up for her, "A pirate that doesn't fear the Marines is a danger to all of us. He might as well be laughing in the face of death," she said as she lit the cigar and took a drag of it, "Hina's captured pirate scum for years now…and Hina has never met somebody quite like him before. You might also want to know, that the reason he destroyed Hina's armada was because we were in the pursuit of the Straw Hats and he wished to join the crew," she told them, making Smoker and Tashigi flinch, "So, are you done making your little jokes…or are you going to start acting like proper Marines now?"

Smoker growled furiously, "Damn it. Another Straw Hat we have to deal with."

"And we were so close to catching them," Tashigi hummed.

"Ahem!"

Their attention was brought back to Taranga who reclined in his office chair with his cup of tea in his hand.

"Does this pirate have a name, captain Hina?"

"He called himself Cavalier," she said as she puffed on her cigar, "Have you come to a decision to what should be put on his head?"

"Yes, twenty million Berries for the capture of Cavalier the pirate," he decided.

"Twenty!?" Hina cried out, "Did you not hear Hina!? That's far too low!"

"I'm trying to be realistic, Hina. What we have here is a man who seemingly came out of nowhere, destroyed Marine property, but with, miraculously, no casualties reported. There are pirates out there who had done far worse in the Grand Line; HQ is not going to be interested with this rookie. I mean, it was yesterday that Eustass Kidd ransacked several towns on the Pimu islands; this, in comparison, is a minor offence. They have far greater concerns right now."

"Stealing apple pies from windowsills is a minor offence; graffiti is a minor offence; what he did was practically declaring war on the Marines."

"That may be so, but, in the eyes of HQ, he just a reckless pirate. And reckless pirates don't live long. They are not going to pour funds in finding somebody who is one slip up away from getting killed."

"He isn't reckless. His actions are calculated and precise; he knows what he's doing and knows how to cause damage if he wants to."

Tananga leaned back in his chair and sighed, "You're arguing with the wrong person, Hina. Write a report to the board and they'll consider what you have to say. Until then, I can only recommend that his bounty will be no higher than twenty million."

Hina took a deep breath and glare at the floor in anger. After a few seconds, she finally spoke.

"Fine," she said calmly, "However, I would like one request?"

The vice-admiral raised an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

She raised her head and grinned sadistically, her eyes wide and blood shot, "Hina will be the one who executes him."

"…Hina, you're starting to worry me."

Tashigi looked at the captain in concern before she spotted something; pushed her glasses further up her nose to get a better look at Hina's leg and hummed in interest.

"Captain Hina, if I may ask, how did you get the cut on your leg?"

Hina looked down and saw the cut she was pointing; she huffed in annoyance.

"That demon got Hina. Lucky shot," she muttered bitterly as she took a drag of her cigar.

"Really?" Tashigi mumbled as she studied the cut closely, "It looks rather shallow and the blade is really thin. What sort of sword did he he use?"

Hina frowned in thought, "It was one of those…what do you call it…a rapier. Yes, a rapier."

The younger woman's eyes widened, "A rapier?" she repeated, "About one and half feet long, two centimetres wide and a bronze handle basket?"

"Yes," Hina answered, raising an eyebrow in intrigue.

"Did he also have two pistols with him?"

"Hina only saw one, but it's possible that he had two."

"And was he fast? Impossibly fast? About six and half feet, agile and spoke in dark voice."

"You've seen him," Hina proclaimed, "That's almost accurate account. Why did you lie?"

"I-I didn't," Tashigi stammered as Hina rounded on her, "I just…haven't technically seen him."

"Explain."

"A few days ago, when we were investigating Rainbase, I came across a man with the same sort of weapons. I thought he looked suspicious so I followed him, ordered him to stop and then he attacked me with a rapier just like the one that attacked you. Look," she said as she lifted up the sleeve of her uniform to show an almost identical cut, "We fought and he killed several Marines and defeated me. He was about to kill me…but somebody stopped him. I can't remember who it was. I reported this all to you, Smoker."

"She did," Smoker confirmed, "Although, I didn't think too long about it, considering we were in the middle of a war."

Hina grabbed one of the photos of the desk and held it up to her, "And you can confirm that it was him."

"Well, that's what technical about it," she answered, "He wore a white mask and a black and white uniform. I don't recognise his face, but I recognise his weapons."

Smoker frowned at that, "Mask? Did it look like one of those theatre masks. It had a smiling face on it."

"Yes, that's right," Tashigi answered.

"Damn it," he grumbled, "I think I know him as well."

"So, you both lied to Hina!"

"Get off my back, Hina. Of course I didn't. But I know who Tashigi is talking about. He was at Rainbase working with Sir Crocodile and had captured the princess Vivi for him as part of his 'Operation Utopia'. He then took one of the swords from the Straw Hats' swordsmen. He said it was called Sandai Kitestsu."

"Ah! Of course!" Tashigi cried, "That must be how he got it! I saw him later on with it. That's how I know something was wrong with him."

"So, he's a former member of Baroque Works," Tananga hummed as he sipped his tea, "Must have slipped through the net before we could round up all the members."

Smoker shook his head, "No. I don't think he was. He wasn't working for Crocodile, but with him. Their relationship seemed strained though. It was clear that they didn't get along."

"Assuming that at they are the same person," Hina sighed, "Why the hell did he join the Straw Hats crew. They must have been enemies."

"Actually, now that I think about it, I did recall some eye witness at the battle claim that they saw a man in a white mask fight alongside the Straw Hats," Tashigi hummed thoughtfully, "I didn't think much of it then, but it's possible that he…changed sides? I don't why or how, but it's a possibility."

Tananga rubbed the bridge of his nose and gave a weary sigh, "Captain Smoker, Officer Tashigi, is there anything else you information you can provide about this individual? This could be a potential breakthrough in Captain Hina's investigation."

"I'm sorry, sir. I don't know anything else," Tashigi said.

Smoker grumbled to himself before his eyebrow arched as he remembered something, "Huh, wait. Crocodile called him something. I don't know if it's a codeword or-"

"Any information is fine," Hina said impatiently, "Spit it out."

Her fellow Captain rolled his eyes, "Alright. He called him Black Feather. Are you happy n-"

SMASH!

The Marines were startled by the sound of a teacup falling and smashing on the ground and turned to their superior. Tananga's face had turned deathly pale, he shook like a leaf, sweat poured from his brow and his jaw was open slightly in a gape. He ignored the broken cup and the splattered tea all over his floor and stared out ahead with his wide horrified eyes. As long as they had know the Vice-admiral, they had never seen Tananga so shook up; it was as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Vice-admiral?" Hina questioned.

Tananga didn't respond at first, but, after a few seconds, he managed to find his voice, "Smoker…what did you say?"

"I said that Crocodile called him Black Feather," the captain said, "Why?"

"B-Black…Feather," he repeated in a whisper, "Are you sure that's what he said?"

"I'm certain," Smoker insisted, "Why? Do you know-"

Before the captain could finish his question, Tananga stood up from his desk chair and quickly walked towards one of the windows. He opened it, looked outside as if he was checking if anybody was listening in before he slammed it shut and closed the blinds. He proceeded to do the same thing for the other widows and then finally the door; locking it tightly so no sound could be heard from the outside world. He took a deep breath and turned back to his subordinates.

"Captain Smoker, Captain Hina, Office Tashigi, for the rest of the time you spend in this office you will keep your voices down and maintain vigilance on your surroundings," he whispered before he looked towards Smoker with a deadly serious expression, "Smoker… one more time, are you a hundred percent certain that is what he called this individual."

"I already told you I-"

"My life is on the line" Tananga said in an even tone, "If I make a false report, I will have my rank stripped and I will be executed on authority of the Gorosei. So, when I ask you if your certain, I mean it, Captain Smoker," he told him, keeping his eyes trained on him, "Now. Let me ask you this one last time…are you sure that this man was called a Black Feather."

Smoker hesitated slightly. He glanced at Hina and then at Tashigi from the corner of his eye before he took a deep breath and answered.

"If both Hina's and Tashigi's descriptions are true and this was the person who wore the mask…then yes, I'm very sure that this is a Black Feather."

Silence fell over the room; nobody daring to utter a single word of even breath. Tananga stood very still as he stared at Smoker with glazed eyes; it wasn't as if he was trying to find any lie in Smoker's words or trying to figure out what to do with the situation. He did nothing because he was taking in the significance of this discovery. On such a normal, insignificant day; when he thought he would just come into work, do some paperwork and then leave. He would have never had guess that something like this would ever happen to him, not in million years.

Tananga took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. He slowly, but stoically walked across his office, walked around his desk and knelt down to access a small locked compartment inside of it. Using a key he had around his neck, he unlocked the compartment and took out a red transponder snail with the letters 'S.E' written on its shell and placed it onto his desk. He stared at the snail for a few seconds before he cautiously reached out and picked up the receiver; he suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked up at his subordinates.

"Under the secrecy and defence act, I must caution you that what ever you have said or what you are about to hear will not leave this room under any circumstances. If you so much a breath a word of this conversation to anybody that is not of vice-admiral rank or higher, you will be stripped of your ranks and be imprisoned in the lowest level of Impel Down for ten years. Do you three understand?"

"Aye sir," Tashigi answered with a firm nod.

"I understand," Smoker muttered.

"As long as Hina is allowed to pursue him, then Hina agrees."

"We will have to see about that. I'm sure a brief will be issued shortly," he said as lifted the receiver to his ear and placed his hand on the call button on top of the snail's shell, "What I am about to do…will shake the World Government to its core."

He clicked the button and waited for the line to connect.


Council of the Gerosei, Marie Geoise

The sound of ringing echoed through the marble and gilded chamber, alerting its inhabitants immediately. From where they sat on their green cushioned sofas and chairs, they snapped their heads away from their newspapers and their books and their maps and stared in shock at a marble pedestal hidden and forgotten in the far corner. On top of the pedestal was a bell jar containing one red transponder snail which had the letters 'S.E' written on the shell in black ink; they was a thick layer of dust atop of the jar, signifying how long since it had been last used.

However, there was no denying it. The snail was ringing.

The five elderly men stared at it a mixture of disbelief and shock. The subject of their previous conversation now forgotten. Eventually, one of the elderly men were brave enough to stand up and march towards it. He was a heavyset man with a long white beard and moustache as well as dreadlocks that poked out of the black cap he wore on his head. He had a jagged scar over his left eye and wore a black suit and a dark purple tie and carried a walking stick in his hand. The man swiped the bell jar off the pedestal, allowing it to smash to pieces on the floor, and picked up the receiver of the snail and brough it up to his ear.

"Speak. Now," he demanded seriously as he listened to what was said on the other end.

After a few minutes, the elderly man didn't speak a single word. The other men in the room watched in silence until he placed the receiver down on the snail and grip his walking stick tightly.

"Well? What is it, Saturn?" demanded one of the other men.

The man was a tall, muscular man with a pale-greyish complexion and a completely bald head. Unlike the others, he had no facial hair, revealing his wrinkled face, his hooked nose and his narrow eyes hidden behind a pair of round wire-frame glasses. He didn't wear a suit, but wore a white loose-fitting keikogi and a golden obi around his waist. At his side, perched in the crook of his arm, was a large katana which never left his sights for a single second.

The bearded man hesitated for a while before he slowly turned his head towards the others, "They found one."


"...Two billion won't be enough. There are many pirates out there with a bounty higher then that. If we have a chance of catching this creature then we need to raise it to at least ten billion."

"That is an outrageous amount! How are we supposed to raise that sum!"

"Through donations from the Nobles! We'll get the amount in no time."

What they hoped was a simple, relaxing day turned out to be anything but that. The Five Elders called an emergency meeting immediately. The highest authorities in the entire World Government sat around the round table, with the photos that Attach took of Cavalier scattered across the table top, and argued back and forth on how to proceed with capturing the escaped Black Feather. A bounty was necessary; there are hundreds of scoundrels and pirates in the world who would love to inform them of his location. All they need to do is settle for an amount.

"They're not going to be happy about that," the bald Elder muttered as he shook his head, "We've never demanded donations from them before."

"Nusjuro, you are not seeing the bigger picture. This is a member of the Secret Empire. We've haven't had an opportunity like this in a hundred and fifty years."

The man Nusjuro was arguing with was fat, balding man with a large white moustache. He had round sunken eyes, a birthmark on his head and a prominent frown that never seemed to leave his face. He wore a black suit with a black tie and had a brown coat draped over his shoulders.

"Don't be hasty, Warcury. I don't feel comfortable giving that amount to any common street rat. We need to lower it or else our loss would be severe," grumbled another elderly man.

He was a tall, lean man with a long white hair and beard which was split down the middle. He has cold, narrow eyes and a thin nose and, just like most of them, wore a black suit and a black tie.

The last Elder hummed and leaned back in his chair, "I suppose we can always kill the informant afterwards and not give them the bounty. We'll keep the money and get rid of one less pest in the world," he said.

He looked to be the youngest out of the Elders; he has short blond hair and neatly kept beard, tanned skin and a muscular stature. He had sharp eyes, a narrow mouth and has a vicious scar across his right shoulder. He also wore a suit, but doesn't wear a tie. Instead, he wore the top part open to reveal part of his upper torso.

"And what if that pest were to kill the creature before the Marines arrive, Peter?" the Elder with the long beard questioned the blond man, "Since a bounty is halved if the wanted person is killed then they are less likely to kill on sight if the bounty is low enough. I side with Nusjuro. Two billion would be sufficient."

"Then we'll put 'Only Alive' on the posters," Warcury offered, "What about five billion?"

"That's still too much. You're putting this creature on the same level as an Emperor."

"I would argue he was much more important to us then an Emperor of the sea," Peter said.

"Precisely. Now let's stop arguing on it and get these wanted posters made," Warcury said, "We'll put it in every newspaper, every tavern, every public place until the entire world knows that we want him."

"We can't."

Four of the elders turned to the last one in the group. Saturn was not sat at the table, but was staring out through of the many stained glass windows in the palace; there was a thoughtful expression on his face as he leaned heavily on his walking stick. He hadn't said much in the past half hour while they argued; only contributing here and there for advise.

"You think we should lower the bounty to two billion then," the Elder with the long beard questioned.

"No, Mars," he sighed, "I mean that we can't capture this creature."

"What!?" Warcury cried while the others looked at him as if he was insane, "What the hell are you talking about!? Don't you know what this means to us and to the security of the world!?"

"The Secret Empire has been a threat to us ever since they appeared two hundreds years ago," Nusjuro grumbled, "And you don't want to go after him."

"Of course I do," Saturn sighed, "But we simply can't," he turned his head towards them, "Tell me, what do we know about the Secret Empire?"

"They're a threat to us."

"A invisible menace."

"Enemies of the gods."

"A plague that ought to be wiped out from this world"

"All fine points," Saturn said, "But you forget one thing... they are secret. Not a single bit of their identity has ever come to our attention. They are so anonymous that they have almost convinced us that never existed in the first place. So, now that we have identified this...creature, it could only mean one thing. They've made a mistake."

"We know," Warcury muttered, "And we're trying to exploit it."

"No! You don't understand!" Saturn shouted as he slammed his walking stick on the floor, "This is the Secret Empire. They don't make mistakes and if they did then we surely would not know about them. They're the greatest enigma in the entire world, do you really think that they would simply allow him to be free. Don't you see! They made a mistake...and they are not aware of it!"

Silence fell over the chamber as his words sunk in. They had not realised it until then. Something like this was unbelievable.

"T-that's good," Mars said, "That's good for us. We can still use that."

"Damn!" Peter suddenly muttered, his eyes wide in realisation, "No, this is terrible. This is awful."

"Indeed," Saturn said, "It's like a curse. They made a mistake and they don't know about it, however if we try to capture him by sending out bounties and deploying Marines...then they will know that they made a mistake...and they'll fix it before we can get to it. Who knows what sort of agents or weapons they have at their disposal. We can lock the creature up in Impel Down and I guarantee they'll find a way to kill him before we can ask him a single question. He's like self-destructing bomb...one little touch and we lost him forever. And I don't feel like waiting another hundred and fifty years for another opportunity."

"Damn it!" Warcury cried as the gravity of the situation settled in, he slammed his fist on the table "DAMN IT!"

"I can't believe it," Mars muttered, "We're so close and yet so far."

Nusjuro growled in anger and gripped his katana tightly, "Then what do we do? It's not as if we can just let him go. And I know a certain somebody would not like the sound of that," he said, making the others nod gravely in agreement.

They all know who they were referring to and they didn't doubt that they have been listening into the conversation ever since the snail rang.

Saturn sighed deeply and took a seat in an unoccupied chair, "I do have one suggestion," he said, "Has anybody been fishing before?"

"I have," Mars sniffed, "Can't say I've enjoyed it. I found it quite a bore."

"Well, then you must be aware of the proper way to catch fish," Saturn said, "once you toss the hook and bait into the water and wait patiently for a foolish fish to get hooked, you reel it back in. However, you don't do the entire way. You let the reel go, allow the fish to think it has got away before you start reeling it back again. This take a few attempts, but once the fish is close enough, you can catch it and drag it out of the water. Allow me to suggest the same solution to our problem," he looked o er the pile of photos with his stern eyes before he picked up one of them and inspected it, "I say that if he wants to play pirate…then we'll allow him to do so. Nusjuro, how much does it cost a single battleship?"

"About five million Berries," the swordsman replied.

"Five million times that by the eight battle ships that vice-admiral Tananga reported that he destroyed would make forty million. Add another ten million for Captain Hina's flagship and that would make fifty million," he hummed thoughtfully, "Yes, that should do. A fifty million Bertie bounty for his capture."

"Fifty is hardly anything," Wercury muttered.

"But a respectable sum for a rookie pirate in the Grand Line, hmm? But that doesn't matter. The point is that, in the eyes of the Marines and the rest of the world, he is nothing more than a common pirate," he explained, "the Secret Empire does not know that we know and it's logical to fake ignorance until it's time to capture him. Letting him think he has freedom when, actually, we're reeling him closer and closer into our net. If we act too soon then we run the risk of losing him, but if we bide our time we could possible capture him at Sabaody Archipelago."

"Sabaody Archipelago?"

"I assume the captain would want to head to New World and that will be the last stop before they can get there. It is also the closest island to Marie Geoise which is where we'll contain him. I doubt that Empire would want to stage an entire attack to get him back from Marie Geoise. As soon as they could make up the plan we will have the interrogation on the way. If he doesn't want to speak, then we'll torture him until he sings."

The other Elders glanced at each other and nodded in agreement. However, Mars didn't look to convinced.

"And what if the Empire discovers the mistake before that could happen?" he questioned.

"Then we just have to hope that they won't attempt to rectify the mistake without wanting to alert us."

He narrowed his eyes crossly, "You're basing this on hope, Saturn?"

"I would rather gamble on a chance then put all my money on a losing bet," Saturn replied, "Unfortunately, we just have to take the risk. Are we all in agreement?"

Nusjuro sighed and raised his hand, "I agree."

"Fine," Wercury grumbled.

"If we're all in then I accept it," Peter said with a nod.

Mars hesitated slightly before he gave a firm nod, "It's a risk…but it's necessary. Fine. I agree."

"Good," Saturn said as he leaned back in his chair, "We'll only let a handful of people know of the plan. We'll inform the Warlords, Sengoku, the admirals and Garp and nobody else of Cavalier the pirate with fifty million Berries on his head."

He raised the photo he had up to his face, scowled slightly before he placed the photo down on the table. The photo showed Cavalier with his right shoulder to the camera and his head tilted to the side to show his face beneath the brim of his hat. In his right hand, his rapier was rested on his right shoulder and his pistol while his left hand held up his pistol with the barrel pointing up the sky. He was growing slightly; a small devious smirk on his handsome face, making him look look as if he was plotting something.

"Use this photo for the poster," Saturn said, "He looks like he's having too much fun in the other ones."


Prison Cell, Unknown Location

Crocodile leaned against his back against the cold wall of his cell and stared at the grey floor with an unreadable expression on his face. He had been silent for days now, not saying a single word when they arrested him, slapped a pair of seastone handcuffs over his wrists and threw him into the dingiest and dampest of prison cells. He was going to stay in the cell until the ship that would take him all the way to Enies Lobby arrives; there he will be judged by the court, deemed guilty of his crimes and be taken to Impel Down for the rest of his life.

He expected that his jailers wanted him to do something. Scream, yell, beg for his freedom or even come up with a scheme to escape…but he didn't want to give them the satisfaction. And so, he would just sit there, stare at the floor and think of nothing until he was shipped away.

However, his attention was caught by the sound of the door to the jail opening and somebody rushing in. The somebody had brought with them the familiar sound of a transposed snail ringing. He didn't take his eyes of the floor, but his sharp ears listened intently to what was going on.

Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru!

"Sir," a Marine sailor called out as he jogged down the corridor, past Crocodile's cell, and stopped in front of the head jailer's table. The head jailer sighed and put his lunch down on the plate before giving his subordinate a questioning look, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I found this in Crocodile's possessions," he told him as he showed him a red baby transponder snail with the letter 'S.E' written in white on the shell.

Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru!

"Who's calling?" the head jailer asked.

"I don't know. We can't get it to stop ringing. It's been like this for twenty minutes now."

Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru!

"Well, let me try," the head jailer said, taking the snail from the Marine and trying to make it stop ringing. After a few attempts, he sighed and gave up, "I can't stop it either. Release it back into the wild. Must be defective."

Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru!

"Can we really do that, sir? What if it's important?"

"If it's important than I should be able to pick up the call."

"It can only be answered by me."

The Marines jumped in surprise and turned to the single barred cell on the other side of the room. Through the bars, they saw Crocodile still sat on the floor with his head tilted down to the floor; a vicious smirk beginning to spread across his lips. He raised his hand at them and waggled his fingers at them and chuckled darkly.

"Fingerprint recognition. It's designed only to be answered by the Warlord it recognises and nobody else," Crocodile drawled.

The jailer got up from his chair and walked up to the bars, "Finally decided to talk, huh?"

"Of course, I thought I stop you before you idiots do something stupid," he dark eyes glared up at him, making the jailer flinch in fear, before he reached out his hand to the bars, "Now if you don't mind. I believe that call is for me."

The jailer sneered and drew the snail back away from, "Yeah, right. As if I would do that."

Crocodile smirked at him, "You might want to reconsider that. That snail was gifted to us Warlords by the Fleet Admiral himself as soon as we joined. And since then, it had not made a single sound…until now," he gave another dark chuckle, "A transposed snail that has only been used once and will only be answered by one person in this entire world given to me by the highest ranking official in the Marines…that's a very important call and I need to answer it," he got onto his feet and stepped up to the bars, towering over the nervous guard and glaring down at him, "If you value your job…then you should give me that snail," he slowly said, sending a chill down the jailer's spine.


Thriller Bark, Somewhere In the Florian Triangle

"MOOORRRRIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA! MOOORRRRIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Somewhere in the Florian Triangle, an dim, misty and mysterious part of the Grand Line several miles long and wide, a ship as large as an island drifted slowly within its dark shadows, a ship known notoriously as Thriller Bark. At the centre of Thriller Bark was a giant, dark, foreboding castle surrounded by a dead forest; resembling something from a horror movie. Within the dingy castle, a shrill cry rang out and echoed through the empty hallways and deserted rooms.

In one of these rooms, the large oak doors were kicked open and a young woman strutted into the room with an annoyed huff. She was short with long pink hair, that she wore in large ponytails, fair skin and unusually big, round eyes. She wore gothic-style clothing consisting of a short black and white shirt that showed off her midriff, a short pink and white skirt, black and white striped tights, a small cape over her shoulders and a small crown perched on her head. She pouted cutely as she stormed across the large chamber to a gigantic bed, a red baby transposer snail in one hand and a wanted poster in the other, and looked up at a massive form covered in a duvet. The form was twenty two feet tall that was round at the bottom end and narrow at the top, resembling an upside-down lightbulb, and was snoring loudly; its fat body going up and down as it slept.

The young woman finally reached the side of the bed and stamped her foot in annoyance, "Moria! Wake up! Your snail is ringing!" she demanded.

The form shifted under the bed sheets and the snoring stopped, "Not now, Perona," it yawned in high scratchy voice, "It's still dark outside."

"It's always dark out! Now wake up and answer the call! It's been ringing for hours and it's getting annoying! Make it stop!"

"Just answer it yourself and tell them I'm busy," Moria sighed as he continued to lay in his bed.

"I tried, but it won't stop," she said before she raised the wanted poster, "It came along with a wanted poster sent by the Marines."

"Huh? Who's is it?" he replied.

"Nobody I've heard of. His name is Cavalier and he's got a bounty of fifty million Berries."

"Bah! Like I care about some rookie pirate," Moria grumbled, "Throw the snail in a pit somewhere and go away."

Perona sniffed and turned away, "Fine," she said before she took another look at the snail, "But it's weird. I never seen this snail before. What does the 'S.E' stand for?"

"What!?"

The giant person shouted in shock, turned over in his bed, shoved the covers off him and snatched the snail from her with grey clawed fingers, surprising the young woman. The dark figure raised the snail to his face and stared down at the red transposer snail with his sharp pale eyes; watching it ring again and again and again. Eventually, a grin spread across his grey face, displaying two rows of razor sharp teeth.

"Kishishishi! Kishishishi!" he reared his head back and roared with evil laughter, "How hilarious! I didn't think this would happen in a million years!" he proclaimed as he raised the transponder snail to his ear.


Muggy Kingdom

In a dark, gloomy island covered in a forest of dead trees, there was a giant black wall castle that was the home of the greatest swordsman in the world. In one of the empty halls, a man sat on an armchair beside a blazing fireplace; sipping a glass of red wine in one hand whilst reading a book in the other.

He was a tall, lean man with short black hair and a beard and a handlebar moustache that pointed upwards. He had a sharp face with glowing yellow eyes that resembled a hawks. Since he was indoors, he wore casually a white chemise that revealed his chest and a pair of black trousers; a pendent shaped like a crucifix hung from his neck. He sipped his wine again and continued to read until something disturbed his peace.

Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru!

His sharp eyes flickered to his nearby bureau and saw that the red transponder snail, that he kept in a bell jar, was ringing. He raised a single eyebrow at it and placed his wine glass and book on the side table.

"How...interesting," he hummed as he got up to accept the call.


King's Plateau, Dressrossa

Far, far away from the Grand Line, past the Red Line and into the New World, there was an colourful, luscious island known as Dressrossa, known for its beautiful buildings, its opulent markets and shops, its passionate citizens and its living toys that roam around freely along the human residents (but that's a story for another time). High atop the King's Plateau, in the centre of the city, is the royal palace of Dressrossa which was currently occupied and ruled over by the pirates known at the Donquixote Family.

In one of the palace's courtyards, a young woman snarled angrily as she stomped away from her annoying pursuer, clutching a ringing transponder snail in one hand and a wanted poster in the other.

"BaHaHaHa! Hey! Hey! Baby 5! Whatcha got there, huh!? Let me see! Let me see!"

"Stop it, Trebol!" the young woman known as Baby 5 shouted, "I'm trying to deliver this to the young master."

"Aww! Come on! Come on! You can tell me! BaHaHaHa! Let me guess, it's a picture of your boyfriend! Oh wait! You don't have one! BaHaHaHa!"

"S-shut up! I would have one by now if the young master hadn't kill them all."

The person trying to escape was known as Baby 5. She was a beautiful young woman in her mid-twenties with long black hair, a curvaceous body and dark eyes. She wore a burgundy-coloured maid uniform, a white lace headband and a white apron around her waist.

Her follower was…less appealing to look at. Trebol was a tall, muscular, hunchback man in his late forties with a long unkempt black beard and hair which resembled globs of goo hanging off his face. He had a shrewd, wrinkled face and his eyes were kept hidden beneath a small pair of sunglasses and from each nostril of his round nose were two trails of snot which swung disgustingly. He wore a long ragged blue coat with a grey trim that trailed along the ground and a pair of blue puffy trousers.

He continued to chase Baby 5 across the courtyard as he teased and laughed at her expense until another voice caught both of their attention.

"What are you whippersnappers arGuinG about over there?" said an elderly voice.

They turned towards a table situated on the side of the courtyard where two more of their family were sat at playing a game of Bride in the shade. One of them was a wrinkly old man with grey skin and narrow sunken eyes: he was bald, but had a grey beard and moustache that was neatly trimmed. Unusually enough, he wore a blue jumpsuit which had a white arrow pointing up to his face, red tights that he wore underneath and a pair of white gloves and boots. The other was an large and fat elderly woman with red and yellow hair (red on the right side and yellow on the left) and a wide wrinkled face. She wore a pair of purple tinted sunglasses over her grey eyes, purple lipstick and a pearl necklace around her neck. She wore a tight purple dress which had orange flower-print on them.

"Honestly, can't you kids play nice," the elderly woman asked before she snapped at them, "Who are you calling beautiful!?"

"Nobody said that Giolla. BaHaHa!" Trebol laughed as he sucked some of the snot trail back up his nose, "Baby 5 has got another boyfriend and she won't show me."

"He's not my boyfriend," Baby 5 murmured, "Lao G, do you know where the young master is?"

"Hmm?" the elderly man hummed, "He's busy preparing to sail out for Marine HQ. Come back later."

"But the snail won't stop ringing. I can't answer it," she told them before he held out the wanted poster, "It also came along with this."

Lao G took the poster from her hand, put on his glasses and read the poster, "Bah! It's just some hippie with a meaGre bounty all the way in the Grand Line. And that's Grand with a capital 'G!'" he declared, holding out his hands and forming a G-shape with his fingers.

Giolla reached out and snatched the poster out from his hand, "The young master won't care for such a drab thing. Maybe if I were to spice it up a bit…"

"No!" Baby 5 cried as she took the poster, "This is obviously important and needs to get to the young master as quickly as possible. Stop messing around."

She looked down at the poster and study the photo of Cavalier on the front. Her eyes drifted upwards and stopped at the word 'Wanted', making her eyes widened slightly as the word seem to morph and change before her.

Wanted…

…wanted…

…want…

…I want…

…I want you…

…I want you Baby 5…

She gasped and hugged the poster to her chest, "Does this mean he wants me?" she sighed, her cheeks turning red as she smiled happily at her delusion, "I think I might keep it for myself."

"Whose messing around now!?" they shouted at her

"What's going on, huh?"

They all jumped in surprise at the new voice and turned to find its source suddenly appearing behind them. Towering over them was a giant, muscular man with short blond hair, lightly tanned skin and a wide toothy smile stretched across his sharp face. Over his eyes was a pair of purple-tinted sunglasses, concealing them completely. He wore long black trousers with a zigzag pattern on them and an unbuttoned orangish pink shirt with a black line pattern on it; draped over his shoulders was a long pink feathered coat. He confidently strutted over to them, but, as soon as he saw the snail, his smile dropped from his face and he raised a single eyebrow.

"YounG Master," Lao G said, "I thought you were already Gone."

"I've still got some things to do here," he said before he reached out his giant hand towards Baby 5, "I'm glad I did. Otherwise, I would have missed this."

Baby 5 happily placed the snail and the wanted poster in his hand and stepped back. The head of the Donquixote glanced at the poster before he raised the snail to his ear and picked up the call. He listened to the message conveyed to him via the snail.

The more he listened; the larger the wicked smile grew across his face.

"Hey Trebol," he finally said as he glanced at the poster.

"Yes, young master?"

"Is the market still going on?" he asked as he chuckled evilly, "I just found a new piece of merchandise to sell."


Palace, Amazon Lily

"Empress! Empress! We've got an urgent call from the World Government!"

In the grand palace on Amazon Lily, a tropical island somewhere located in the Calm Belt whose residents are only female, a young woman ran thought the marble hallways towards the throne, keeping a hold of the ringing red transponder snail in her hands. The young woman had long blond that was partially tied up by two horns, a oval shaped head, amber eyes and wore two blue straps of fabric that covered her chest, a pair of high waist bikini bottoms under a long white cloak. She ran into the thrown room and almost crashed into another person on the way in.

"Oh Miss Gloriosa. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"It's quite alright, Enishida."

Gloriosa was a short, elderly woman with long grey hair and a small, wrinkled face. She wore a spotted yellow and black short skirt held up by green bead belt; over her shoulders was a red cloak and in her hair was a red flower. She held in her hand an blue scaled snake that was stretched out straight and coiled at the top; the snakes were common item for the Kuja and are used for an assortment of activities such as a bow for archery or clubs. Gloriosa used hers as walking stick.

"What are your rushing for, child?" the elderly woman questioned.

"I've got an urgent call for the empress."

Gloriosa rolled her eyes and pointed at the throne that was sectioned off by a silky veils, concealing it from sight.

"She's in one of her moods. Best to stay away from her for a while," she muttered bitterly, "What's the message?"

"I'm not too sure. I can't pick up the snail. But a wanted poster also came," she informed before she looked down at the poster, "Oh wow! Her hair is so pretty. I wonder what regime she uses," she gushed.

Gloriosa's eyes turned to the snail in her other hand. She gave a sharp gasp in surprise as she snatched the snail from her hands.

"No…no. It cannot be," she uttered in horror.

"Miss Gloriosa?" Enishida asked.

"What was that?"

They turned to the throne in time to see the veils pull away. Lounging on the cushioned throne, with a giant red and white spotted snake wearing a skull coiled around her, was one of the most beautiful women to ever walk the earth. She was tall and slender with long silky black hair that draped over shoulders and fell to her waist and dark blue eyes with long eyelashes. Her skin was snow white and face was sharp and intelligent. She wore a revealing V-neck blouse that showed off her large chest and a long flowing sarong that showed of her long legs. From each ear hung a golden serpent-like earring. The pirate Empress raised a single brow at the snail in Gloriosa's hands.

"Hancock," the elderly woman held up the snail to her, "Do you know what this means?"

The woman known as Hancock nodded solemnly, "I do," she said before her eyes snapped towards Enishida, "Are you saying somebody has prettier hair than me? How dare you!" she snapped.

"That's the thing you're focusing on!?" Gloriosa shouted.


Island, Somewhere In The Grand Line

On a deserted island covered with a calm forest, a large figure sat cross-legged on the edge of a cliff and meditated as the ferocious waves crashed against the cliff face. The figure was a fishman, an humanoid species who are part fish and part man who hail from the Ryugu Kingdom that is situated under the seal. The person was a tall, blue, whale shark fishman with a stocky build and wide face. He had small round eyes, a wide mouth with two large tusks protruding out of them, black, curly hair and blond curly eyebrows. He wore a yellow kimono with a floral pattern printed on them and a red cape draped over his shoulders. Over his left eye was lightning-shaped scar and red sun tattoo on his chest that was partially concealed by his kimono.

The fishman took a deep breath as he mediated, trying to achieve inner peace from himself…when suddenly…

Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru! Purupurupuru!

He groaned in annoyance and reached inside a pocket in obi belt before pulling out a red snail.

"Can't I get a moment's rest he-" the words got caught in his mouth when he noticed which snail was in his hand, "Impossible! Surely that can't be right!"


Ship, Somewhere In The Grand Line

Over the rough waves, a ship gently sailed to nowhere in particular. Grey clouds drifted overhead and the smell of ozone was evident in the air, signifying the coming of a storm. Sat on the deck of the ship was a giant man with a bulky, muscular build, thin legs and curly black hair. He had strong, flat chin, angular cheek bones and eyes hidden behind the grey lenses of his glasses. He wore a black jacket with a white target crosshair design and paw prints, a pair of dark blue trousers with brown spots and grey and black spot conical hat with bear-like ears poking out of them.

In one gloved hand he held a newspaper while, in the other, he held a red snail that was ringing continuously. He blankly stared at the snail in silence, listening to the ringing over and over and over again. Eventually, he laid down the newspaper and raised the snail to his ear; only briefly glancing at the headline story that he was reading before he accepted the call.

The title of the newspaper read,

'Bonney Pirates Sacks Village: Marines turned into children and elderly people'


Around the world, the Warlords were informed of this new threat and what he was to the World Government and the World Nobles. However, that have yet to discover what sort of man this Cavalier was. If he was somebody from one of the greatest enemies of the Gorosei then he must bloodthirsty, vile and cunning. He must be planning his course around the world using no matter what to keep himself hidden; even if it meant killing innocents Who knows...

...maybe he was doing something absolutely dreadful right at that this moment.


Below Deck, The Going Merry

"Amazing! So, this is how you make tea," Cavalier happily said, "I'm learning so much."

The newest member of the Straw Hats was done in the galley of the Going Merry, kneeling beside a table as he closely watched few being brewed in the hot water in excitement; seemingly finding it fascinating. He woke up a few minutes ago and sprang off his hospital bed to explore the Going Merry. He been to the bedrooms, the kitchen, the storage room, the canon deck and even the toilet. He was fascinated with everything. It was so wonderful to be somewhere else; to do, smell, head and see things. He was so excited that he decided that he was going to give his friends gifts as thank yous.

As he watched the steaming water turn a dark brown colour, he laughed lightly and jumped onto his feet with an excited grin.

"Brilliant! All I have to do is make more for everybody and we can have a…sorry what was it again?" he asked the person beside him.

"A tea party," Robin, formally known as Miss All Sunday, kindly reminded him with a gentle smile.

"Right, of course. That sounds lovely. Thanks so much for showing me how to make it," he told her before he blinked in confusion, "Wait…who are you?"

Robin chuckled lightly, "I'm Nico Robin and you're quite welcome. It's nice of you to give your new crew a small gift."

"Whoops! Sorry. I was so excited that I forgot to introduce myself," he said before he gave her his hand to shake, "Hello, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like how beautiful you are and your kindness."

"The pleasure's all mine," she said as she shook his hand.

"When did you join the Straw Hats then?"

"In about ten minutes from now."

"Brilliant!" he exclaimed before he hummed thoughtfully, "Wait…Robin…I know that name."

The smile dropped from her lips as he said that and was replaced with a serious glare, "I believe we met already…Magpie," she said, much to his surprise, "It looks like I was not the only one to escape Arabasta before it was too late. It is a surprise that you turned your back on the Secret Empire so easily…or are you perhaps hiding your true intentions. Biding your time until you're ready to strike once again at your target. You could possibly be a threat to me," she gave him a deadly glare, "Wasn't you who said that the Empire wouldn't mind if you killed me. To get rid of another troublemaker that can threaten its stability. I can only assume that your threat is still very possible-" she stopped suddenly when she noticed that Cavalier was crying. The scathing look disappeared and replaced with a look of confusion, "What are you-"

"I'm sorry!" he wailed as tears streamed down his face, "I'm really sorry that I threatened you! I promise I won't do that again so please don't hate me!" he fell to the ground and began rolling about on the floor dramatically, crying and wailing as he did, "What did I do!? I'm such a bad person and now she doesn't want to be friends with me! This is the worst! I'm really sorry…"

Robin was admittedly taken back by this. She has lied and been lied to for years now and she knew when somebody was putting on a deceitful act…but this was nothing she has ever come across. She sweat dropped in bemusement before she leaned down and gently grabbed him by the leg, preventing him from rolling anymore.

"It's fine. I forgive you. You can stop now," she told him, "I was just being cautious."

Cavalier leaned up, wiped the tears away and grinned, "Right o! I'm glad we made up," he cheerfully said, causing her to swear drop again. He tilted his head and frowned sadly, "Are you sure I can't make it up to you? Magpie really hurt you."

She gave him a strange look but conjured an slightly amused smile, "Alright. You can make me a coffee if you like. That should make up for everything."

He sprang up to his feet happily, "You've got it!" he told her… before he tilted his head at her, "How do you make coffee?"

"I'll show you," she told him with a chuckle.


Deck

Cavalier pushed the galley's door open and carried a tray out onto the upper deck of the ship. On the tray were twelve cups of tea and coffee, managing to balance all of them without spilling a single drop.

"Right chaps. I made tea and coffee for everybody," he declared…only to find the only person there was Zoro, "Where did everybody go?"

Zoro rolled his eyes and pointed behind him, "There are up there being a bunch of sappy losers."

Cavalier looked around and found the rest of the crew on the higher deck with their heads poking through the gaps in the banister. He cocked his head to the side in concern when he noticed the stream of tears rolling down their faces.

"Oh dear. What's wrong?" he asked in worry, "Do you not like hot drinks?"

"We miss Vivi!" they wailed dramatically.

Cavalier smiled awkwardly in response, "I see now. I miss her too," he told them before he grinned, "But don't worry, you've got me now! Hooray!"

"We still miss Vivi!" they complained again, causing him to hum thoughtfully.

"Maybe if I dye my hair blue…" he murmured.

"How exactly would that help?" Zoro questioned him.

Suddenly, Chopper raised his head and glared at Cavalier, "Hey! I thought I told you to stay in bed! You're still healing!"

He blinked innocently and tilted his head to the side, "But how was I suppose to make everyone beverages if I was resting?"

"That's the point! You're not supposed to!"

"Speaking of which," Zoro said as he eyed the tray critically, "Why did you make so many?"

"Well, I didn't know what everybody wanted, so I decided to make both tea and coffee and everybody could choose which one they preferred," Cavalier explained brightly.

The swordsmen huffed in annoyance, "Don't waste water like that. We have a limited supply."

"Oh don't worry. Whichever you chaps didn't want, I'll drink it instead."

"Disposing of it is not the problem here," he grumbled, "How do you even know how to make tea and coffee. Wasn't your mind wiped or something like that."

"Err…sort of. And Robin showed me."

"Huh? Who?"

"I believe he means me."

Zoro and the rest of the crew turned at the sound of the voice and found Robin standing in the doorway of the galley. As soon they recognised her, they cried out in alarm. Zoro and Nami reached for their weapons and aimed them towards her; Sanji leapt to his feet and began to swoon in a lovesick manner, Chopper tried his best to hide behind the mast while Usopp hid behind it properly. Luffy, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at the sight of her.

"Oh it's you. So, you're alive?" he said plainly.

Cavalier looked at them in confusion, "What's wrong chaps?"

Usopp poked his head around the mask, "Get away from her, Cavalier! We've got an enemy raiding our ship!"

"What!?" he exclaimed before he drew his rapier whilst balancing the tray in the other, "Where!?"

"There behind you!"

Cavalier spun around and stared at Robin for a few seconds before looking back at Usopp, "Are they behind Robin?"

"SHE IS THE ENEMY!"

Robin merely chuckled and made several arms appear on Zoro and Nami which slapped their weapons out of their hands, much to their disbelief. She then offered Cavalier a plain smile.

"Remember what we talked about earlier, Cavalier?" she asked.

"Oh right," he said as he put away his rapier, "Thank goodness. I thought we were being attacked for a moment."

"WE ARE BEING ATTACKED!" Nami roared at him before she turned to the other woman on board, "Since when did you board this ship!?"

"I was here the whole time in the cabin," she causally informed as she retrieved a deckchair that was over on the side and began to set it up, "I read a book, took a bath...oh, I hope you don't mind me borrowing your clothes."

"OF COURSE I MIND!"

Robin ignored her shouts and casually sat down on the deck chair, taking a cup of coffee that Cavalier offered to her, "Monkey D. Luffy," she said, catching the captain's attention, "You didn't forget what you did to me, did you?"

"Hey! Luffy!" Sanji cried out as he began to throttle the captain, "What did you do to this beautiful woman!?"

"Please leave," Usopp whimpered from his hiding place.

Luffy, unaffected by his attack, glared at her, "Don't lie. I didn't do anything to you."

"No, I remember clearly," she said as she sipped her coffee, "You better take responsibility?"

Sanji throttled Luffy even harder.

Usopp gulped, "Leave quickly Baroque Works. I'm calling the Marines!"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Cavalier said as he offered the tray of beverages to him, "Tea? Coffee?"

"Why are you so calm about this!?"

Luffy managed to pull out of the chef's grasp and glared even harder at Robin, "You're really weird. What do you want?"

Robin responded by leaning forwards and resting her head on her hand, "Let me...join your crew."

"EHHHHHH!?"

"Hooray!" Cavalier cried out happily, "Another new friend!"


A little while later and everybody had calmed down. Unpredictably, Luffy accepted Robin almost immediately and she was now officially apart of the Straw Hat crew. The others, on the other hand, needed some convincing. Usopp had set up a table, a couple of chairs and an interrogation lamp on the deck and demanded that Robing would have to sit through an interview before he could start trusting her. Zoro and Nami were sat off to the side and listened in on the conversation while Chopper and Luffy were being distracted by the hands Robin had conjured up for them.

"So," Usopp said as he poised the lamp at Robin who was sat on the other side of the table, "Tell us about yourself. Don't you dare leave anything out."

Cavalier, who had somehow found another chair and was now sat at the same table, leaned towards her, "Don't worry. I was nervous when I first joined. I'll be sure to put in a good word for you."

"Thank you. I'll be sure to the same for you," Robin replied.

"He's already joined," Usopp snapped, "And what are you doing, Cavalier? I'm trying to conduct an investigation here."

"It looked fun so I thought I'll join in."

Robin smiled in amusement, "Well, I began as an archaeologist at the age of eight. Then I had a bounty put on my head."

"Archaeologist?"

"It's a family tradition. So for the next twenty years I was chased by the government. Being just a child I couldn't survive out on the sea alone. That's why I've been with various villainous organisations to protect myself. That's why I'm good at stealthy things. I'm quite good at it."

"Well, we're happy to have you on board. You're safe now so welcome to the family," Cavalier said brightly, "Me next. So, from a few hours ago to now, I was and am a pirate. Before that I was unemployed for three or so days. Before that I was a slave of the Secret Empire for sixteen years and was forced against my will to do pretty evil stuff."

Usopp nodded, "I see, and before that?"

"...Probably busy being a four year old."

"Oh right," he coughed, "Do either of you have any special skills that could help benefit our crew?"

"Assassination," they replied at the same time.

"SCARY!" Usopp shrieked as he fell of his chair.

"But I don't really do those things anymore," Cavalier admitted as he raised a cup of coffee up to his mouth, "Right now, I'm getting a hang on making beverages for everybody," he said as he took a sip of it...and immediately spat it back out into the cup, "Ah! That's terrible!" he exclaimed before he looked sadly down at it, "Did I make it wrong?"

"No, that's just what coffee tastes like," Robin told him.

"But why does it hate my tongue?" he uttered.

She chuckled and conjured an arm on the table top to place a cup of tea in front of him, "Try this one. This might be more to your palette."

He looked sceptical at first, but took a sip of it. Suddenly, his eyes lit up in delight.

"That's fantastic! I love tea," he excitedly said before he observed the arm Robin had created, "Your Devil Fruit power is also amazing."

"It has its uses," she coolly said as she before she made the arms covering Luffy and Chopper tickle them, making them to cry in laughter.

Cavalier laughed at the sight, "I guess my power is quite boring in comparison. All I can do is steal objects in a hundred meter radius. What can I do with that?"

He felt a hand placed on his shoulder, making him look back to see Nami looking down at him with a menacing smile; her eyes were filled with mischief.

"I've got some ideas," she darkly said, "All we have to do is find a bank or two…or three…or four," she said as she licked her lips, "Oh, yes. You'll do nicely."

"Aww, thanks Nami," he chirped, oblivious to what she her intentions, "That's kind of you."

"Hey guys look," Luffy yelled as he pointed to himself with two of Robin's arms protruding on either side of his hat like antlers, "I'm Chopper!"

Usopp and Chopper burst out laughing while Cavalier chuckled at their amusement. Nami rolled her eyes and Robin smiled gracefully as she reclined in her chair as Sanji came up to serve her and Nami some snacks.

'This is great. I wonder if my family is just like this,' Cavalier thought with a happy smile.

Zoro, however, looked at Robin suspiciously on the other side of the ship. She hadn't completely earned his trust just yet, but decided it was better to stay quiet…for now.


Medical Bay

"Okay, say ahh."

"Ahhhhhhh."

Chopper pushed down Cavalier's tongue with a wooden stick as he inspected his throat and his teeth for any sign of damage. Nodding in satisfaction, he retracted the stick, spun around in his chair and began to jot down his discoveries.

"Everything looks alright to me. Give me one moment," the doctor told him.

"Right," Cavalier said with a nod before he inspected the room he was in.

Technically, the medical bay was actually in the boy's quarters of the Going Merry, but Chopper thought it was best to allocate part to act as sick bay since there was no more rooms they could install it in. It made sense to have it in the boy's room; it was one of the larger rooms on the ship, the second most sturdiest (right after the the storage room they kept the gunpowder kegs) in times of rough seas or battles and Chopper's hammock was right next to it; just in case there was an emergency during the night. It was cordoned off from the rest of the room with white sheets that were hung up by string and it contained enough storage for Chopper's equipment and a sturdy hammock in which Cavalier was currently sitting on.

He looked around the room in fascination before focusing on the reindeer himself; he was perched on a chair and was writing in a book on a make shift desk. As he waited for him to be done, he noticed that one of his antlers were fastened together with a metal clasp; his curiosity got the better of him and he leant over and poked the antler…only to fall out of the metal clasp. He snatched it out of the air immediately, looked around to see if anybody saw before he simply popped the antler back in…but accidentally putting it upside down.

It was at that moment that Chopper, noticing the disturbance, looked back at him questioningly; he responded by giving him a grin and pretended nothing happened. Chopper shrugged and turned back to his writing, allowing Cavalier to quickly correct his antler.

"We're almost done," Chopper informed him as he turned back to him, "But from what I can tell, you're all good. You just need a few supplements to boost your immune system and to keep vigorous activity to a minimum. If you continue to rip your muscles than they're going to stop working."

"Thank you so much for treating me. I'll be sure to follow your orders," he gratefully told him. Cavalier then tilted his head to the side thoughtfully, "So, you're a reindeer, right?"

"I'm not a raccoon dog! I'm a-" he snapped at him before he realised what he said, "Wait! Yes, I am a reindeer. How did you know?"

"The antlers are a dead giveaway," he responded, "So, did you eat the Reindeer Reindeer Zoan Fruit."

"Actually, it's the opposite. I was a reindeer who ate the Human Human Zoan Fruit," he said with a chuckle.

Cavalier's eyes sparkled in amazement, "That's brilliant! I didn't know that could happen. I can't believe I'm talking to a real life reindeer," he happily said, making Chopper sweat drop, "So, you have the powers of a human? What's that like? Must be rubbish if you're already human and you eat the Human Human Fruit, right?"

"I guess so. But that's not all," he replied as he jumped off his chair and morphed into his muscular form, "I can also turn myself into this."

"Wow! You're more human than reindeer!"

He then shrunk down into and morphed into a reindeer, "And this is what I call Walking Point."

"Now you're more reindeer than human!"

He then shrunk down even more into his normal form, "And this is the one I prefer to be in."

"Now you're cute and cuddle than human and reindeer," he explained, "That's amazing Doctor Chopper. You've got to be the most brilliant reindeer doctor out there."

Chopper blinked blankly at him before he grinned goofily and began to flutter about, "S-shut up, you jerk. I don't care about that or anything and it doesn't make me happy to hear from you, you jerk. Haha!"

'His words are negative, but his actions are positive. How curious,' he thought as he watched him dance about, "Anyway. Will that be all doctor?"

Chopper stopped his fluttering and cleared his throat, "Just one more thing. I just need to tear your blood sample; just in case there's anything I missed."

"Right," Cavalier said before he took out his rapier and held it to his exposed arm, "how much do you need?"

"Ah! Wait!" Chopper cried out, "Let me use a syringe!"

"Oh okay," he chirped as he put back his rapier, causing Chopper to sigh in relief.


Upper Deck

"Alright! Check out that island!" Luffy cried out as he hung off the edge of the ship, grinning broadly as he looked over the island they had landed on, "Let's explore now!"

After a few hours of sailing, they had come across their first island and decided it was good place to stop for a while. It was a small island, about half a mile in length and width, with white sandy beaches and a thick rainforest that spread over most of the land. There was some high ground near the centre, but that was pretty much it in terms of interesting features. As soon as they set the anchor down, Luffy instantly sprinted off into the forest, much to the annoyance of Usopp who watched him leave.

"Hey! Don't run off like that!" he called after him with a sigh, "Great. I guess he skipped out on work…again."

"Haha!" Cavalier laughed as he stepped up beside him, "I'm sure he doesn't mean to. I'm excited to see the island myself. The first island I get to explore with my new friends," he said, "Do you think this is my home?"

"I don't know. It looks pretty deserted. Also do you really think we'll find it that easily?"

"Well, we better do some exploring to find out," he chirped before he spotted Zoro sleeping as he leaned against the mast of the ship, "Zoro, would you like to join us?"

"Huh?" Zoro groaned, opening one of his eye before closing it again, "Pass. Now don't pester me."

Cavalier frowned and tilted his head sadly, "Was it something I said?"

"Nah, he's just like that sometimes," Usopp told him with a reassuring wave, "Come on. Let's get down there."

They were about to disembark the Merry when they heard the door to the galley open up. Sanji stepped out of the room wearing an apron around his front and holding a cigarette between his fingers.

"Hey you two. If you're going down there then gather some fruit for tonight's dinner. Anything is fine as long as it's edible."

"Will do!" Cavalier chirped.

"How do we know if something's edible or not?" Usopp wondered.

Cavalier grinned and gave him a thumbs up, "I guess we'll just try every fruit until we're sure."

"That's a bad idea!"


A little while later, Usopp and Cavalier ventured through the bushes and the trees of the island, looking for any sort of fruit that they could bring back to the Merry. They had no luck so far, but they were adamant in not going back empty handed.

"So, you haven't eaten a Devil Fruit."

"No, for the last time, my nose has always been this long," Usopp told him, "I don't have super smelling power."

"Fascinating," he chirped before he reached out and poked his nose, "Boop!"

"Stop doing that!"

"Sorry."

Usopp glanced up at the trees and stopped when he spotted an entire bunch of ripe bananas above their heads, "Hey, there we go," he declared pointing up at them, "There has to be at least thirty or forty bananas up there," he said before he scratched his chin, "Now how do we get up there? I guess if I stand on your shoulders than I can shimmy up the tree and then-"

"Usopp," Cavalier said, stopping his train of thought, "I can just use my power," he told him as he stole several bananas from above in one go and passed them to him.

The sniper looked down at the bunch for a few seconds before a wide grin stretched across his face, "Ha! Nice on. That's a pretty cool Devil Fruit Power you've got there."

"Aww, you really think so. How kind of you."

"Right," Usopp nodded, "Get as many as you can and then we'll-"

Squeak! Squeak! Squeak!

They jumped in surprise at the high pitched squeaky sound and turned around to follow the noise. They found, perched on a branch of a nearby tree, a brown and black chipmunk; it was jumping up and down and aggressively shaking its fist at them…as well as some other hand gestures that they wouldn't have thought a chipmunk would know. Cavalier looked up at the bunch of bananas and drew the dots together.

"Oh dear. I think we might have taken his personal stock," he hummed before he offered the chipmunk an apologetic smile, "Sorry chap. We'll put them back now."

Squeak!

"Wait a moment," Usopp said, "We're only taking a few bananas. Can't you let it slide this time."

The chipmunk shook its head.

Squeak!

"It doesn't seem so," Cavalier hummed, "Don't worry. We'll just put them back and keep on looking."

"Ah come on" Usopp complained, "Surely we can take some of them. Besides, he's only a small guy. Why does he need all of them?"

THUMP!

The ground shook beneath their feet as if something very big and very heavy landed behind them.

SQUEAK!

Usopp gulped while Cavalier raised his eyebrows in surprise at the deep menacing roar. They turned their heads around and saw, towering over them like a giant, was a ten foot brown and black stripped chipmunk with yellow eyes and drool dripping from its mouth. It's arms were crossed over its mighty chest and it looked down at them in seething rage. Usopp gave a strangled gasp while Cavalier tilted his head to the side in surprise.

"Huh? I didn't know they grew that big."

"THEY'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO!" Usopp yelled as he hid behind him, "IT'S A CHIPMUNK MONSTER!"

SQUEAK! SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

The giant chipmunk bellowed deeply as it snarled and growled at them, its giant rodent teeth poised to snap down on them. However, Cavalier furrowed his brows in determination and looked over his shoulder at Usopp.

"Don't worry. I've got this," he said as he stepped towards the giant chipmunk.

"Wait. You might make it even more angry if you fight," Usopp hissed in fear.

Cavalier didn't listen to him and stepped before the giant chipmunk, staring intensely up at it. The chipmunk glowered down at him; it's yellow eyes burning into him. They stood opposed each other for a for a few seconds; the tension so great that Usopp and even the smaller chipmunk could feel it radiating off them. Slowly and cautiously, Cavalier raised his hand up, looking as if he was reaching for his rapier, but then he stuck his hand out in front of him.

"Hello. My name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you," he greeted happily, a massive friendly smile on his face, "I like your fluffy tail. Terribly sorry for the mix-up. We're just looking for fruit for our crew."

Usopp and the smaller chipmunk face faulted comically.

"Don't greet it!" Usopp yelled at him, "Do you think you can just politely get away from this-"

SQUEAK

The giant chipmunk reached out and shook his hand with a big grin and a blush on its furry cheeks.

"IT GREETED HIM BACK!?" Usopp yelled as his eyes bugged out of his head.

The giant chipmunk rubbed the back of its head sheepishly before it used its paw to point a little further into the forest.

"Aww, how kind of you," Cavalier said before he turned to Usopp, "I think he's going to show us where we can find unclaimed fruit. Isn't that nice of him."

"…Cavalier," Usopp uttered, "Sometimes I don't think you're real."

"I'm sorry? How do you mean?"


Cabin, Going Merry

Using the sunlight coming through the porthole window, Nami poured over the parchment she had stretched out on the writing desk, expertly and carefully adding the island they had landed on to her collection of maps. Whenever she had any sort of free time, she would be tending to her maps. Adding every single bit of land they come across with a scribble of her quill. She hummed to herself with a soft smile on her face as she began to draw the outline of the island and, without taking her eyes off the parchment, reached out and picked up the glass of tangerine juice she had on her desk and sipped it.

Suddenly, the door to the cabin slammed open, causing her to jump and accidentally spill her juice all over her map. Cavalier poked his head in and gave her a bright grin.

"Hi Nami, just to let you know that we're ready to set sail-"

"Cavalier!" Nami shouted at him angrily, as she looked down at her soaked map, "Why the hell would you do that!?"

His eyes widened when he saw what he done, "Ah! I'm sorry. I was just excited to talk to you," he told her as he stepped in, "Here let me fix it."

Nami was about to shout at him more when he saw him cup his hands together and used his power to steal every drop of juice off the soaked parchment and into his hands. He then reached over and poured the juice carefully into her cup, making sure not to spill a drip. Nami blinked in astonishment before she used a finger to test the parchment; only to find it completely dry. Some of the ink was smudged a little, but it's nothing that she couldn't fix. Other than that it was perfectly alright.

"Huh…interesting," she hummed lightly while Cavalier bowed his head sadly to her.

"I'm really sorry. It might smell like tangerine for a little bit," he apologised.

She glanced at her map before giving him a coy smile, "It's fine. At least you fixed it for me," she said as she put the glass of juice to the side, she can't really drink it after all that. Her eyes turned towards his hands and how easily he was able to clean up everything…and a mischievous smile spread across her face, "So…" she drawled out, "That Devil Fruit Power is pretty useful, isn't it? Tell me…does it have a limit?"

"Well, I have a perimeter of a hundred meters..."

"Good, good."

"...I can only steal as much as I can hold. And I'm quite strong so I can hold a lot."

"Great," she chuckled wickedly, "Do you have to see the thing you are trying to steal?"

"Not necessarily. I just need an approximate location. For example, I can steal bullets in a barrel of a gun. Why do you ask?"

"Oh no reason~" she smoothly said, "But, hypothetically, I were to bring you to a bank and showed you where the money is kept. Would you be able to steal it and how much?"

Cavalier tilted his head to the side and frowned in concern, "Nami...do you want me to rob a bank for you?"

"No...several banks, at least. Would you do it?"

He hummed softly, "I don't know...isn't that morally wrong?"

...

...

...

...

Nami's eyes twitched in anger, "Morally...wrong," she repeated, "Cavalier...we're pirates. What do you think pirates do?"

"Hmmm..." he thought deeply, "Having adventures and doing fun things. That's what Luffy says."

"No!" Nami snapped at him, "Pirates raid and pillage villages! They steal treasure from other pirates and cause destruction wherever they sail off to."

"...I see...but do we do any of those things? You know raid and pillage villages."

"...Well, no."

"But we call ourselves pirates."

Nami slumped in her chair, a cloud of misery hanging over her head, "Yes we do. You have a point," she muttered before she smirked, "Okay then, would you change your mind if I do this?"

She raised her head up, brushed her hair with her hand seductively and gave him a saucy wink all before she blew a kiss at him.

"Happiness punch~" she cooed in her sexiest voice, "Now why don't we break into a few banks, huh~"

...

...

...

Cavalier tilted his head to the side in confusion, seemingly unaffected to what she just did, "Happiness punch? What's that?"

"Ack!" she flinched in shock, her eyes wide in confusion and astonishment. No man had ever resisted her strongest attack. He didn't even get a nosebleed, "Why weren't you affected!? You should have been enthralled by my feminine charm now!"

He laughed at that and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Oh, is that what you were doing. I guess you're just so pretty all the time that I couldn't tell the difference."

A red tick mark appeared on her forehead as she growled in anger. She raised her fist to hit him...but instead gave up and slouched forwards.

"Damn it. He's too innocent. It's like punching a puppy in the face," she muttered.

As Nami sulked and mutter to herself, Cavalier took notice of a tattoo on her left shoulder. It looked like a large blue 'S' but it has a curled line crossing over the middle. The top part of the 'S' shape was round and had a leaf-like shape poking out of it, resembling that of a tangerine fruit. Nami looked up and noticed what he was looking at, making her smile gently.

"That's a tattoo I got at my home village back in the East Blue," she told him, snapping him out of his staring, "I had another one before it...but I didn't really like it," she sighed, trying not to recall that memory.

"It's lovely. What does it mean?"

"It represents a pinwheel and a tangerine," she explained, "The tangerine represents Genzo, who was kind of a father to me, and the tangerine represents my sister Nojiko and my mom Bellemere."

"You have a mother and a sister," he gasped in excitement. He used his power to retrieve a chair from the other side of the room and sat down next to her, "How exciting. What's it like to have family?"

Nami gave him a odd look, "Is it really that special?"

"It…It is to me."

She saw his eyes shone brightly, eager to learn what she had to say. She felt her heart clench a bit as she thought about his situation and realised that talking about family was more than precious to him. Nami offered him a gentle smile.

"Well…Bellemere was the strongest and bravest person I have ever known," she said, "She didn't back down from any challenge no matter who they were and she'll beat them to a pulp," she chuckled slightly, "I…I drove her insane sometimes and she'll always scold me when I stepped out of line…but I know she was doing it because she loved my sister and I. She was the best mom ever."

"Well, she sounds amazing. I would love to meet her."

Nami hesitated slightly before she nodded, "Yeah…she was the greatest," she warmly said, "She adopted me and my sister when I was still a baby and we lived happily together ever since…well, most of the time."

He tilted his head in confusion, "Sorry. What's adopted?"

"Huh?" she uttered in confusion, "You don't know? Well, it means someone who accepts and raises a child that's not their own. Me, Nojiko and I are not related at all."

"Really?" he hummed curiously, "But that still means you're still a family, right?"

She blinked blankly at him, processing his words for a few seconds, before she smiled sweetly, "Yeah. Yeah it does. That's a good way of thinking about it, Cavalier."

"Thanks," he said before he chuckled, "Who knows. Maybe somebody would adopt me someday… and then they can meet my blood related family… and then we can be one big family all together!"

Nami giggled happily, "Yeah, definitely."

"Hey Cavalier!" they heard Usopp shout come from outside the cabin, "Come and help me with this!"

"Be there in a moment!" he called back as he stood up and headed to the cabin, "Let's talk more about family later."

"Sure. I would love to. See you later," she said as she turned back to her map.

Cavalier opened the door and was about to leave when he noticed the look on her face as she carefully drew the island on the roll of parchment. She had a soft smile on her lips that seemed much different than the ones he seen, her eyes seemed to shine softly and, with the evening light coming through the porthole, Nami looked as if she was glowing; her orange hair shimmering in the sunlight. He blinked in astonishment before he laughed lightly, making her look up at her.

"Making maps really makes you happy, doesn't it?"

She gave him a curious look, "What do you mean?"

"People are at their most beautiful when their happy," he told her, closing his eyes and smiling handsomely at her, "That's why, right now, you look absolutely gorgeous."

Nami's face blushed in embarrassment and steam seem to emit from her ears. She reached for the pillow she was leaning her back against and threw it at his head.

"Get out!" she yelled.

Cavalier managed to duck and leap out the door before the pillow hit him. He then reached back and pulled the door close behind him. Nami sighed and rubbed her forehead in annoyance.

"Damn it," she grumbled, "He used Happiness Punch against me."


After his quick escape, Cavalier helped Usopp repair parts of the ship from damage suffered during the bombardment. Once they were done and the holes repaired, Cavalier sat on the side of Merry and watched the evening sky and the pink fluffy clouds as they drifted overhead. He hummed contently before he looked down and spotted something unusual.

He saw Robin reading a book while lounging on a deck chair underneath a parasol; beside her was a table with another cup of coffee and a slice of cake that Sanji had baked for her. That wasn't what was unusual. What was unusual was that the others seemed to be cautious of her; specifically Chopper, Usopp and Zoro. The swordsman would often open one eye and glare at her whenever he woke from his nap, Usopp gave her a wide berth whenever he walked past her while Chopper, who was using the deck to make more medicine, nervously glanced at her from the corner of his eye. The only people who interacted with her was Nami, Sanji and Luffy. Cavalier frowned sadly when he saw how weary of her they were and decided to do something about it.

He jumped onto the deck and approached Robin. She took notice of his presence, closed the book she was reading and focused her attention on him.

"Hello Cavalier. How can I help?"

He glanced back to see if the others were watching before he answered, "I just wanted to know what you were reading?"

She showed him the cover of the book, "It's called the Rainbow Mist Vol 5. Nami borrowed them from King Nefertari's library back in Arabasta and I've been reading them all. It's interesting…but a little too bloated in its narrative. I can lend you the books sometime."

"Brilliant! I'll make a note of it in my 'To Do' list," he said as he made a notebook and pen appear in his hand and began scribbling in it.

"You have a 'To Do" list?"

"Yeah, Vivi thought it would be a good idea to note down everything that I wanted to do and then find time to do it," Cavalier chirped as he passed it to her, "See."

Robin took the notebook and read the first page…only to find that it was nothing but intelligible scribbles. She blinked at it before she looked back up at his goofy grin.

"Cavalier…do you know how to read and write?" she asked.

"Nope," he chirped, "Why? Is that important?"

"…yes it is."

"Well, I just thought I would learn all the words later on. How hard can it be?"

"Quite a bit harder, unfortunately," she said as she placed the notebook down, "You can learn every single word in the dictionary, but you won't be able to properly form sentences. You would need to learn about adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns and so on."

"What's a dictionary?"

Robin smiled patiently, "It seems you still retain the same level of knowledge you had when you were four. Why don't you pull up a chair and I'll teach you."

"Really? Thank you so much," he said as made a chair appear in his hand and put it underneath him, "Then we can read books together," he said. At the corner of his eye, he noticed Chopper looking this way and waved to him, "Chopper, why don't you join us. You can sit on my lap," he said as he patted his lap.

"Err…" Chopper uttered, casting a nervous look at Robin.

"Please," Cavalier pleaded, "You can teach me interesting medical words."

"Yes, why don't you join us, doctor," Robin said with her own friendly smile.

Chopper gulped anxiously but worked up the courage to get onto his hooves and trot over to them, "Well…okay."

"Great," Cavalier said as he picked him up and sat him on his lap, "Let's have fun learning."

"Hey! I didn't agree to sitting on your lap! I'm not a pet!"

"But you're so cute and cuddly," Cavalier said as he hugged him tightly, making him squeak, "Isn't he, Robin?"

"Very," Robin agreed with a small chuckle as he petted his head.

"Stop that, you jerks!" Chopper complained as he tried to push his face away with his hoof.

Suddenly, two arms made by Robin grew from his body and began to tickle him all over, making him laugh hysterically. Robin seemed happy to see him getting more comfortable with her which made Cavalier more than happy. All he had to do is make the others get along with Robin and everything would be perfect…

…he also got a free lesson out of it. Which was also good.


Galley

"Wow, I didn't know they grew trees this small."

"That's broccoli, Cavalier," Sanji told him, not looking up from what he was frying up.

"Oh no, this tiny tree is dead."

"That's just cauliflower," the cook sighed as he rolled his eyes, "Now are you going to help me or not."

"Right. Sorry, what do you need."

The evening sun has descended over the horizon and the night was ushered in, ending a long day for the Straw Hat Pirates. Most of the crew have taken shelter inside the cabins as they waited for Sanji to be done with dinner in the lounge area. So, Cavalier decided that it would be best to help; which was great because he never cooked anything before.

Sanji looked over his shoulder and pointed to a pile of vegetables piled up in the corner, "Wash them, peel them, dice them and then stick them in the pot," he ordered as pointed to the boiling pot on the stove beside him, "Take your time with them. I don't want any mistakes."

"Okay," he chirped.

He quickly washed the vegetables under the cold tap before putting them all on a chop board. Once he was ready, he drew his rapier from its sheath, picked up a potato and…Sanji grabbed his wrist before he could get a chance, glaring at him though his fringe intensely.

"That's unhygienic," he growled as he blew smoke into his face. He picked up a knife from the kitchen counter and placed it in his hand, "This is knife is for cooking and that's all you use it for. Just like that rapier is used for fighting and only fighting."

Cavalier smiled sheepishly and sheathed the rapier before he felt the weight of the cooking knife in his hand, "I'm not used to such a heavy blade."

"It's simple," he said as he took the knife from his hand and began to expertly peel the potato, "Keep a sturdy grip, always peel away from you and glide the blade smoothly across the surface. If you do it right, you'll get the peel off in one go," he explained, demonstrating by holding up the skin to him, "Now you try."

Cavalier hesitantly took the knife and began to peel the next potato as demonstrated. It took him several goes and the potato was cut roughly instead of the smooth one Sanji did, but he eventually got it done and showed it to Sanji proudly.

"Not bad. It's better than some people on this ship," he said, giving him a thumbs up, "Now do the rest."

"Yes chef!"

Thirty minutes later and the crew were sat around at the table with Sanji and Cavalier setting their meals down in front of them. The chef smirked as he set the last two dishes in front of Nami and Robin, whose portions seemed to be much larger than the others.

"There, katsudon with rice and mixed vegetables," he declared before his eyes turned into love hearts, "I made it especially for you Robin-swan~! To celebrate you joining~!"

"I helped peeled the vegetables," Cavalier called out, "And made sure the pot didn't boil over."

"Thank you, Sanji. Thank you, Cavalier," Robin gratefully said, "It looks delicious."

"Hey! Why are their portions bigger than mine!" Luffy complained.

"Shut up and just eat it," Sanji muttered at him.

"Aw man!"

Cavalier sat down at an occupied seat, in between Usopp and Nami, and placed his own portion in front of him. He looked down at his meal and wondered how he would eat it: he looked at the others and saw them using knives and forks (except for Luffy who just ate with his hands) and followed suit with his own cutlery. He took a few bites of the hot rice, humming in delight at the taste, when Zoro caught his attention from across the table from him.

"Hey," the swordsmen said, "You still any good with that sword of yours?"

Cavalier blinked curiously, "I guess so."

Zoro pointed his knife at him, "Tomorrow I want a rematch from our battle on the island. This time I want a fair fight where do you don't crush me with a tree, okay? You better be ready."

He stared at him for a few seconds before a smile broke out across his face, "Yeah, of course. I would love to…even though that was Magpie who fought you. I've got to warn you, my sword battling style is completely different than yours."

"Don't care. A sword battle is a sword battle," Zoro replied as a ghost of smile appeared on his lips.

Cavalier grinned as well, but, before he could get back to his meal, Luffy slammed both hands down on the table.

"Ah! I just remembered," he cried, "We haven't given Cavvy a position yet!"

Cavalier looked around in confusion, wondering who this 'Cavvy' person was. When he suddenly noticed everybody was looking at him.

"He's talking about you," Usopp whispered to him.

"Me?"

"He tends to not remember names that well. I partially think he invited us aboard because none of us have names no longer than two syllables long."

"Oh, I see," he said, "But what do you mean position?"

Luffy leaned back in his chair as he shovelled more rice into his mouth, "Well, I'm the captain, Zoro's the swordsman, Nami's the navigator, Usopp's the marksmen, Sanji's the chef, Chopper's the doctor and Robin's the…err…"

"The archaeologist," Robin said as she sipped a glass of wine provided by Sanji.

"Yeah…one of those. But you don't have a position yet. Can you play an instrument? We need a musician."

"Sorry, I don't think I know anymore" he admitted, "Do I need a position?"

"Yeah," Luffy said, "You can't call yourself part of the crew if you're not," he hummed and scratched his chin in thought, "What can you be…"

"Well, he's pretty observant," Usopp said.

"And, for somebody who doesn't understand most things, pretty quick witted," Nami added.

"Very fast and strong," Chopper piped up.

"And good at picking up new skills," Sanji said.

Zoro sighed and shrugged, "Why doesn't he be a look out or something? You need a keen eye for that, especially at night."

"A look out?" Cavalier asked.

"It means that you keep watch," Robin explained, "looking out for enemy ships, Marines, islands and, of course, watch over us when we sleep. It's a tough position, but-"

"I'll do it!" Cavalier cheered in excitement, "I get to watch over my friends… as a job…everyday! That's brilliant!" he declared as he jumped from his seat and gave whoop in joy.

The others chuckled at his little celebration while Luffy grinned at him.

"Okay, Cavvy. From now on, you're our look out."

"Woohoo!" he cheered as he sat back down and ate another bit of rice…

…before he's face turned a pale green and he fell face first on the table with a painful groan.

"Ahh! Cavvy!" Luffy cried while the others stood up in shock, "Are you alright!?"

"Mmm mmmmm," replied Cavalier, his words slightly muffled by the table.

"What?" Usopp said as he pulled him up by his side cape.

Cavalier leaned back up before he slouched back in his chair. His eyes were swirling and his mouth was slightly open, his head leaned all the way back as he released a small burp from his lips.

"So…full…" he moaned, making them look at him in confusion.

"Full? You barely had three mouthfuls," Sanji commented.

"Hold on."

Chopper leapt from his seat and ran around the table to Cavalier's seat. He climbed up onto his lap and felt his torso with his hooves. He felt his stomach area for a few seconds, causing his eyes to widen in shock.

"No way. I can't believe I missed this," he uttered.

"What's wrong? Did the cook poison him?"

"Shut it, moss head! Like I would do that!"

"It's his stomach," Chopper said, "It's small. Very small. At least a tenth of the size of a regular human's," he explained in shock, "That's unbelievable. I've only seen atrophy in books before, but this is a much severe case," he rubbed his chin in thought, "The mask you wore had been keeping you alive for sixteen years. It must have only provided you enough nutrients in order for you to survive causing some internal organs to shrink because of underuse. But that would mean…" he reached his hooves up and felt the upper part of his torso, "…yep, my theory's correct. His lungs are almost five times as big than normal. All that space reserved for your digestive system is now reserved for your respiratory system. It now makes sense how you're able to run so fast without losing energy. More oxygen is being pumped through his body. Another unfortunate byproduct of his mask."

"Will he be alright?" Nami asked in concern.

"Well, I guess he's fine. He doesn't seem to be in any sort of pain so I'm sure he could live with it. Cavalier is what we call a 'medical marvel'," Chopper said as he leapt of his lap, "He just has to have a much smaller diet. I don't think his body is capable of dissolving large amounts of food in one go."

Luffy sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye, "How sad. He can't eat normally."

"That's rich coming from you," Usopp said, "You eat way too much."

Suddenly, Cavalier sat straight up again into full consciousness and grinned as if nothing happened, "Sorry, must have blanked out for a moment. That caught me off guard," he said before he picked up his fork, "This meal is wonderful Sanji. Thank you."

"Oh no you don't," Sanji suddenly said as he snatched his plate away before he could dig in, "If you're going to eat smaller portions then I have to make it a nutritionally balanced. Give me a few seconds and I'll cook you up something."

"Oh, thank you," Cavalier said.

"Looks like you dissolve food quickly," Zoro said, It's almost as fast as- Hey! Give that back, Luffy!"

While he wasn't looking, Luffy had stretched out his arm and taken the meat of the katsudon and shoved it in his mouth, swallowing the whole thing in one gulp.

"Oh…we're you about to eat that?" he asked dumbly.

"Of course! I was, you bastard!" the swordsmen shouted as he began to throttle Luffy.

The others laughed as the two fought it out at the table; apparently this was a normal thing for them. Even Robin seemed amused by what was going on. Cavalier looked around at his crew and watched the faces filled with joy and happiness. He felt his heart beat a little faster and gave a deep sigh as he started to feel as if he was part of them now.

He may not know what his home is like yet. But he really hoped it would be something like this.


Crow's Nest

Cavalier couldn't be happier.

Now that he a proper role aboard the Going Merry; he really felt as if he was part of the crew now. Sure it was dark, cold and windy, but the view was spectacular. He looked out across the choppy waters and the night sky embroidered with countless twinkling stars, while a crescent moon hung silently in the inky darkness. He gave a sigh in satisfaction and looked the other way, using a lantern that had given him earlier as a source of light, and saw no signs of ships or trouble. They Straw Hat crew can sleep peacefully tonight.

"North is clear. West is clear. East is clear. And south is clear," he happily said to himself, "I'm doing such a good job," he leaned over the side of the crow's nest and smiled at the thought of his crew having a good rest, "Don't worry, chaps. I'll be sure to look for any-"

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck rose and his eyes widened in shock. As quick as whip, he drew his rapier and swung it at the figure that stood behind him; only for the figure to catch the blade in her hand.

"Good evening, Magpie," Raven drawled before she leapt back before he could land a kick in her, "Or should I now call you, Cavalier?" she asked as she leaned against the crow's nest railing lazily.

Cavalier responded by drawing his pistol and pointing it at her mask, "Get off now," he snarled at her, "Or I'll kill you."

"There's no need for hostilities," she sighed with a wave of her hand.

"There is every need for hostilities," he said as he pulled back the hammer with a solid click, "I am free now. I won't come back with you."

"That's not why I'm here. As far as the emperor knows, you are dead. You managed to survive the termination and this is your reward," she said as she looked up into the sky, "Congratulations. You did it."

"Liar!"

"Whether I am lying or not is your concern. Choose to believe me or don't, there will always be true answer. Isn't that the beauty of freedom? The opportunity to have choice for everything."

He narrowed his eyes at her. The finger pressing the trigger was so tight that one little twitch of his finger could make it fire the pistol, "Then why are you here then. You better not hurt my friends."

Raven proceeded to raise her hand and open up to reveal a purple pouch with a gold coloured drawstring. She tossed it over to him and he caught it mid-air before he inspected it, making sure the pistol was still on her.

"What's this?"

"It's a storage pouch," she told him, "You had one when you were Magpie…but you lost it. I had cuckoo make you another one and had Bower make you a new hand canon. You're welcome."

"Why...why would you give me this?"

She tilted her to the side, "You're still as stupid now then you were as Magpie," she sighed, "I am time itself. You shouldn't question why I give it you, but rather when you're going to use it. And you will. Quite frequently actually. I know that for a fact. Also, I know you're planning to throw into the sea at the first chance you get, so let me make this clear," she suddenly appeared in front of him and got in his face, "If you try to get rid of it...then I'll just have to tell you how your new friends die," she whispered, making Cavalier flinch in fear, "Such a shame as well considering how you just met them and you will live your entire life with that knowledge. That's the thing about knowing the future. It's not a blessing...it's a curse."

Cavalier gritted his teeth in anguish and sighed reluctantly, "Fine. I'll keep it."

"Good boy," she said before she turned around and took a few steps away from him, "Now I must lea-"

"Raven..."

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. Most of his face was cast in shadow as he stared at the floor. His arms were now at his sides, but his fists were tightly grasping at both the pouch and the handle of the pistol.

"...whatever you or the Empire does...I will stop it. I don't know how or when...but I will free everybody...including you," he raised his head and revealed that he was smiling warmly at her with tears in his eyes. There was no hint of hate or anger on his face, but there was love and compassion in his features just as if he was making a promise to long known friend, "Everybody can enjoy this freedom just as I did and we can live with our family and friends forever without any fear. If that means defying the powers of the universe itself than...so be it. I'll do anything to find my family and I bet you would like to find yours as well."

Raven gave him a cold expression. She was, admittedly, surprise by his bold declaration, but did well to hide it. Instead, she huffed and looked away from him.

"Gold, Davy, Train, Buster, Oars, Separation," she said cryptically.

Cavalier frowned in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"You'll find out soon enough," she told him, "However, just to give a bit of warning. You have upset the scales between the Secret Empire and the rest of the world. You're an anomaly. An error. A mistake that should have never been made and it's all because of your ignorance. You have no idea what you've done," she darkly said in a cold voice, "This freedom you've found; it'll fall apart. Everything will fall apart... when you finally slay the dragon."

He took a step back in shock, "Was that a prophecy?" he gasped in horror, "Raven!" he cried...

...but she disappeared into thin air.

Cavalier paled in horror at her words and shivered slightly, feeling the chill run down his spine. However, before he could think more about it. He heard another voice call out to him.

"Hey Cavalier!"

He jumped in surprise and looked over the edge of the crow's nest to see Usopp on the deck, looking up at him with a tired yawn.

"I heard you talking? You okay up there?" he asked in concern.

Cavalier blinked blankly down at him before he pretended to smile, "All good. I was talking...to...this bird."

He gave him an odd look, "You know it's only parrots who talk. The rest really don't."

"Really? Huh? I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Usopp shook his head as he wondered back to the boys' bedrooms, "You always keeps us guessing," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Cavalier waited until he had left before he stood up straight and he began his patrol again, his eyes never once tearing away from the surroundings. He was not going to let anybody get the jump on him again, not when he had his crew to protect. However, Raven's words still echoed in his head.

'Gold, Davy, Train, Buster, Oars, Separation. Everything will fall apart... when you finally slay the dragon'

Unfortunately for him, he was unaware of the other threat that was happening across the known world.


Prison Cell, Unknown Location

Once the message had been given, Crocodile pulled the transponder snail away from his ear and tossed it though the bars at the jailor who caught it after fumbling it for a few seconds. The former Warlord hummed deeply in thought before he went back into his corner of the cell and sat back down. The jailor gave him an nervous look.

"So…what did they say?"

Crocodile grinned as he stared at the floor, "Nothing important," he simply said.

Before the jailor could inquire anymore, the door the jail opened up and a Marine urgently stepped in and saluted.

"Vice-admiral Tananga and Captain Hina are here to see the prisoner, sir," he informed.

The jailor looked questioningly at the prisoner and wondered what was happening. Crocodile, on the other hand, chuckled darkly and leaned back against the wall of his cell.

"Tell them I'm busy," he said with a malicious smirk.


Thriller Bark

"What!? That's it!?" Moria barked before he laid back onto his bed again, "Doing nothing sounds good to me. Kishishishi! Best order ever!" he laughed while Perona looked on in confusion.


Muggy Island

"How troublesome," the swordsman said sighed as he placed the snail back onto the table and leaned back on his armchair, "I suppose it may be challenge. Let's see what sort of a swordsman this…Cavalier is."


Royal Palace, Dressrossa

Somewhere in the deepest depths of the palace there was a room filled with the constant ringing of transponder snails and low ranking grunts of the Donquixote crew accepting the calls.

"Yes, hello? You want two hundred more guns sent to the Bowler Kingdom? Please hold please."

"…Your shipment of Smile Fruit will be ready for you arrival…"

"…we're currently waiting on a new shipment of toxic gas. Can I interest you with some new missiles…"

"…Joker is unavailable at the moment. Can I put you through to my supervisor?"

The never ending selling of weapons and other harmful tools occurred in this room. So, many deals to so many island and nations who desperately need supplies to carry out their wars.

One grunt was situated at the far end of the room and was in charge of keeping track of deals on a large whiteboard. He quickly rubbed off an incorrect statistic when he noticed the large door open up; he turned his head around and flinched when he saw his boss enter with a wicked smirk on his face. Doflamingo's unexpected appearance made the rest of the grunts stop what they doing and step away from the snails in respect, leaving behind some unhappy costumes on the line. Doflamingo reached out and grabbed the main transponder snail, that links to the rest of the fifth or so snails, and raised the receiver to his mouth.

"Good morning, this is Joker speaking," he said, causing the rest of the snails to fall silent, "I hate to disturb the market at this hour, but something has appeared before me…that may be of some interest to some of you. Mainly the representatives of the Big Mom pirates and the Beast pirates," he unfurled the wanted poster in his other hand and looked down at the photo, "I've currently have a newly issued wanted poster for a pirate in the Grand Line with a bounty of fifty million Berries on his head and I am willing to sell it to the highest bidder. Shall we start the bid at…one hundred million Berries?"

The room, for the first time in ages, was completely silent. The buyers didn't see the point of buying a wanted poster of some rookie pirate on the other side of the world. Doflamingo waited for a few seconds before a malicious grin stretched across his face.

"Oh…did I mention that this pirate is an assassin of the Secret Empire?"

"One hundred and fifty million!" one of the buyers cried urgently, "One hundred million and fifty million for the Beast Pirates!"

"Non, non, non! Two hundred million for the Big Mom pirates!"

"Three hundred!"

"Five hundred!"

"Eight hundred million!"

The buyers yelled and cried even harder than before. The larger kingdoms and bigger pirates groups all knew the sincerity of what he was proposing while the smaller ones, who had no idea what he meant, but didn't want to be outdone, also threw their hats in the ring; after all, it must be important if everybody else wants it.

Doflamingo basked in the symphony of bids and money sums that was thrown out the place while his underlings dealt with the demands. His smirk growing wider as it started to grow past the billion marker.

This couldn't have come at a perfect time for the Warlord.


Palace, Amazon Lily

"So, Empress, what should we do?" Gloriosa asked as soon as Hancock put down the snail on her bedside table.

Hancock glanced at the wanted poster in her hand with a disgusted look before she ripped it in half and tossed in over her shoulder with a sigh.

"Empress!" the older woman cried out in alarm, "What are you-"

"You heard the call," Hancock interrupted sharply as she back down on her throne; her snake coiling around her protectively, "We are not to pursue this…man until they finally decide what to do. In other words, I will do nothing," she leant her beautiful face on her hand and looked down at her with a sharp look, "If we don't come across the fiend, then we don't do anything…but if he finds himself onto our shores…" an eerie smile appeared on her face, "…then I'll break him in thousands of pieces. By the time I'm done with that man, he would wish he gave himself up to the Marines."


Island, Grand Line

"This is quite vexing," the fishman grumbled as he stood up and stepped up to the cliff edge, "I know that this is confidential…but I can't keep it a secret. I must inform King Neptune, right away," he said to himself before he dived into the water below.


Ship, Somewhere In The Grand Line

The giant man pulled the transponder snail away from his ear, set it down on the table and looked out to sea for a few seconds; contemplating what he was just told. His stern face showed no reaction; not even a flicker of emotion in eyes. Eventually, he reached for his pocket and pulled out another transponder snail that was linked to a white (add name) and raised the snail to his mouth and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

Click!

"Hello Kuma," a voice like thunder spoke through the snail, "It's been a while."

"Hello Dragon…" the man known as Kuma greeted back.


What has been released, can never be restrained again.

In less than a day, one name shook the world to its core and yet only a handful of people knew about it. And even less knew what consequences it would bring along with it. For the first time in two hundred years, a crack had appeared in steel walls of the Secret Empire and everybody, from the high ranks of the Marines to the mysterious Cipher Pol 9 to the Warlords and to the four Emperors of the sea, rushed to exploit its weakness.

Like a line of dominoes colliding with each other, one thing spread like a wildfire across the seas. One simple thing that will throw the known world into a state of confusion and panic. One thing that hadn't shaken the world since Gol D. Roger proclaimed the existence of the One Piece over two decades ago.

That one thing was a simple message. Possibly the most important message that everybody who knows of it will ever receive.

And that message read,

'Get Cavalier'


That's it for now.

I hope you enjoyed this little filler chapter. I felt that it was best to have him interacting with the Straw Hats before we move on.

Anyway, we're skipping Goat Island and Rainbow Mist arcs (because they were a little boring in my opinion) and moving straight onto Jaya arc and the Skypiea saga.

See you and happy holidays! :)


Omake - Daily Lives of Victor Soul's OCs

Living Room, Victor Soul's House

"So," Victor said to his OCs who he had gathered together, "So, you might be wondering why I brought you all here."

"Does it have something to do with the giant Christmas present?" Edgar asked, pointing to said present next to Victor.

"…Partially. You might have noticed that I haven't updated your stories as frequently as I used to."

"Is it because you started writing a new story?" Lewis questioned, "Despite promising you wouldn't."

"I'm…getting to that. Well, the reason for that is because I would like to introduce you to a new member of the family…"

"Is he inside the present?" Night Terror asked, pointing a metal claw at the present.

"Err…"

Suddenly, the present burst open and Cavalier leapt out of it and landed in front of all of them.

"Surprise! Happy Christmas new (non-canonical) family!" he cheered brightly.

Victor leaned over in front of him and raised a single finger, "I will like to point out that this was entirely his idea," he said with a sweat drop.

Cavalier smiled brightly, "I'm so excited to…see…you…all…" he leaned forwards and placed his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths, "Sorry…not a…lot…of air…in there. Phew!" he sighed before he straightened up with a grin, "I'm fine now."

Victor raised an eyebrow at him, "You now see why I told you not to stay in there until Christmas Day."

"Yeah, I understand," he laughed, "I genuinely thought I was going to die. That wouldn't have been fun, would it? Anyway," he zipped towards Edgar and shook his hand, "Hello, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like you're leather jacket."

"Thanks."

He moved onto Charles, "Hello, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like you're kindness to animals."

"It's nice to meet you to," Charles greeted back, "Glad to finally meet you."

He moved onto Lewis, "Hello, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like you're teleporting power."

"I'm glad somebody does," Lewis muttered, recalling certain mean reviews he got in his past.

He moved onto Night Terror, "Hello, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like how spooky you are?"

"I thank you Mister Cavalier," the Phobos greeted before he looked up at Victor, "Are you just copying and pasting his dialogue and just changing the last word?"

"It's easier this way. Don't acknowledge it," Victor shrugged.

He moved on to Michael, "Hello, my name is Cavalier. It's a pleasure to meet you. I like you're red hair. It's long, like mine," he said before his eyes widened in shock and held his hands over his mouth, "Does this mean we're related? Are you my (non-canonical) brother?"

"No," Michael sighed, "I've already got one annoying distant relative. I don't need another."

"Hey!" Lewis cried.

"Wow!" Cavalier uttered as fluttered back and forth in joy, "You're all so amazing. I love you guys already. I can't wait to be part of you (non-canonical) family."

The OCs sweat dropped as they watched him dance about, smiling awkward as he did.

"He's…certainly different," Charles said.

"It's a nice change of pace from the usual serious and gloomy OCs like them," Edgar said as he nodded towards Night Terror and Michael, making them grumble in response.

Victor stepped forwards and chuckled as he placed a hand of Cavalier's shoulder, "I'm so glad you like him. If you want to know more about him…then please read the info page on my profile."

"Now, that's just lazy writing!"

"Ah! I just remembered!" Cavalier said before he turned to Victor, "What's my eye catcher song?"

"You're what?"

"Eye catcher song. You know in the middle of each episode of One Piece there's a title card which has the character's theme. I was wondering if I have one."

"Huh. Good point. Hmmm…oh! Let's go with 'The Legend Of Xanadu' from 3:29 to 3:33 minutes. You can find it on YouTube."

"What the Olivia Newton John song from the 80s?" Edgar asked.

"No, the hit song from 1968 by the band 'Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch'."

"Talk about obscure."

"It's a good tune. Check it out."

"Hey Cavalier," Edgar said as he stepped in front of him, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah! Of course!"

"Does your franchise have fan service?"

"…errr…sometimes yes. Why?"

In response, Edgar bowed his head and placed both hands on his shoulders, much to his surprise. He was about to ask him wheat he was doing, he heard a sad sniff coming from him whilst tears started to fall from his eyes. Cavalier frowned in concern when suddenly Edgar raised his head to show his tear-stained face.

"I WANT TO LIVE!" he cried with all his heart, "I WANT TO LIVE IN YOUR FRANCHISE! TAKE ME WITH YOU! TAKE ME AWAY WITH YOU SO I CAN EXPERIENCE FAN SERVICE!"

Cavalier blinked in surprise, "Is that a reference to something?"

"Pervert," everybody muttered.

"Hey! Can you blame me," Edgar said as he wiped the tears from his eyes, "I'm the only the story whose franchise who doesn't have any form fan service. Fairy Tail does. My Hero Academia has some. Even Demon Slayer has some moments. What's the point in that? It's not like Michael can see anything."

Michael began to draw his sword, but Night Terror stopped him before he could do anything rash.

Charles shook his head, "You're not the only one. My franchise doesn't have any fan service."

"I've seen the first season of Pokemon. You can't tell me that some parts are pretty sketchy."

Charles smiled sheepishly, "Yeah, the 90s were a weird time for anime."

"Some parts are sketchy?" Cavalier questioned, "I thought all of it was hand drawn."

Lewis patted his shoulder, "Not that type of sketchy. Come on guys. Why don't we give him a tour of the house."

"Brilliant!" Cavalier said before Lewis led him out of them, followed by the other OCs.

Victor sighed happily and rubbed the back of his head, satisfied that they were all getting along. He then turned to the readers and gave them a bright smile.

"Thank you so much for reading this story. I wish you all a happy holiday and happy new year. Bye everybody!" he said with a wave.

CRASH!

"Whoops sorry!" Cavalier cried out from somewhere in the house.

"Oh god," Victor muttered as he ran out of the room.