Something was wrong. Not wrong wrong, but different. Luffy had become quite sensitive to differences. No matter how much he was naturally inclined to ignore small details, when you keep repeating the same events, any differences became quite glaring.
In this particular case, Luffy had noticed that something was different with Robin after they left Alabasta. She was reading, but not what she usually read at this time. It was an entirely different book.
And yet… there was something awfully familiar about it as well. It was confusing and Luffy didn't do well with confusion, so he dealt with it the same way he dealt with everything. Directly.
"Hey, Robin, what's that you're reading?" he asked.
The whole crew gasped in shock. Despite all the repeats, he was still nigh allergic to the written word and more likely to spend his days sparring with Zoro and Sanji than reading. Hell, the only things he ever read was his bounty poster and maybe some street signs.
"It's a series of books about the Rainbow Mist that Nami found in Alabasta's royal library." Robin answered placidly, turning a page.
Rainbow Mist. Rainbow Mist. Why did that sound so familiar?!
It took Luffy a good thirty seconds to remember.
"The mystery fog!" He yelled. "The mystery fog that does mysterious things with time!"
"You know about the Rainbow Mist, Captain-san?" Robin raised an eyebrow curiously.
"We went there the first time." It was all coming back to Luffy now. "It's been so long that I forgot all about it! We met Henzo and the Pumpkin Pirates, and there was some jerk mayor… we went into the mystery fog and ended up in some weird boat graveyard where time stayed still or something."
"And you didn't think to mention this, given your time looping situation?" Now Robin was just plain incredulous.
So was the rest of the crew, but they were content to let her do the talking for now.
"I forgot!" Luffy declared with crossed arms and a stubborn set to his jaw.
"DON'T BE PROUD OF IT!" Everyone yelled at him. Except Robin, she was too cool for that.
"And you say that the Rainbow Mist did not appear in any of the loops until now?" The archaeologist pressed.
"No."
"Interesting…" Robin said thoughtfully.
"You already know what's going on?" Nami and Usopp asked hopefully.
"Robin-swan is so smart!" Sanji simped.
"Woaaaah!" Chopper stared at her with sparkling eyes, super impressed.
"Not at all." She replied with a smile. "But it seems increasingly unlikely that it is our captain's Devil Fruit behind this. Hopefully prodding at this mystery won't make the situation worse."
Nami, Usopp, and Chopper immediately shivered at Robin's twisted smile and dark implication.
"Don't worry, Nami-chwan, Robin-swan, I will protect you from anything!" Sanji declared.
Nobody took him seriously, although Zoro did snort derisively, setting off another fight.
XXXXX
"This is happened the first time, too." Luffy nodded to himself sagely as a small fleet of Marine ships fired cannonballs at them.
"DON'T JUST SIT THERE!" Nami yelled at him angrily. "EITHER HELP ROW OR DEFEND THE SHIP!"
"And then what happened?" Robin asked, just as casual as Luffy.
"Woman, you wanted to join the crew. Why aren't you helping defend the ship?" Zoro demanded.
"DON'T MAKE DEMANDS OF A LADY!" Sanji roared at him, instantly turning his attention away from the cannonballs to chastise the swordsman. "SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING IF SHE DOESN'T WANT TO!"
Chopper rolled around on the deck in his Ball Point like a panicky tumbleweed.
"We got away somehow?" Luffy replied uncertainly. "I can't remember how."
That was when the closest Marine ship suddenly broke in half and started sinking, apparently blasted by their own allies.
"Eh, they fired on their own?" Usopp blinked in confusion. "Of course, I knew this would happen the whole time!"
"Right, they blew up their own ship!" Luffy smacked a fist into his palm as he remembered. "Then we went to Ruluka island to eat."
"You can eat all you want, Captain, just tell me about the Rainbow Mist." Robin directed him.
"There was an old guy scientist called Henzo, and the mayor was a huge jerk." Luffy dug through his memory. "We should go kick his ass, then eat, then talk to Henzo."
It wasn't the way he usually did things. Normally, he would never attack without provocation. But since he already knew that they would end up fighting, there was no reason to hold back.
"Sounds like a plan." Robin agreed.
XXXXX
Henzo was an extremely patient man. He had tolerated working with a man he hated for fifty years. He had endured the scorn of his his fellow Ruluka Islanders for the same amount of time. All of it so that he could get his friends back.
And then some random pirate crew sailed into town and crushed Wetton and his brats like they were nothing.
As it turned out, even Henzo's patience had limits.
"I won't let you ruin everything!" He yelled at them, hefting a flamethrower that was supposed to be an upgrade to the current one in Wetton's combat suit.
If these pirates pillaged the island, then he might never get his friends back!
"We're not trying to ruin anything, we just need your expertise as a scientist." The tall dark-haired woman said. She was by far the oldest of the pirates. If not for the straw hat painted on the sails, he'd have thought her to be the captain. "In return, we will gladly help you get to Ape's Concert."
Now she had Henzo's full attention.
"You know about the Rainbow Mist and Ape's Concert?" He asked, rage and frustration giving way to interest.
"Our captain has been there before." She nodded towards the young man in the straw hat. "He has, in fact, met you before."
"I think I would remember that." Henzo gave her a flat look. He might be getting old, but his mind wasn't going yet.
"I'm stuck in a time loop." The man in the straw hat said. "Every time I die or lose one of my nakama, I get sent back to the start of my adventure. It's soooo annoying!"
If it wasn't for the fact that he had spent fifty years studying a phenomenon, Henzo would have dismissed the pirate as insane. Plus, he was desperate enough to get his friends backs that he'd take any chance.
"Tell me about this time loop." He almost demanded.
XXXXX
The Rainbow Mist showed up soon enough that Henzo wasn't able to question Luffy as thoroughly as he would have liked. To be fair, Henzo was a scientist and would probably poke and prod and experiment for years if given the chance. As it was, he only managed to get a mostly coherent overview from Luffy's rambling explanation before it was time to sail into the Rainbow Mist.
Without any interference from Wetton and his brood, they experienced no problems. Even the reunion with the Pumpkin Pirates was handled with a minimum of drama.
It was on the topic of treasure that the problems started.
"The treasures in Ape's Concert belong to the Pumpkin Pirates, we found it first." Rapanui said firmly.
"It only belongs to you if you're strong enough to protect it." Zoro said menacingly.
While he wasn't one for stealing from children, if they were going to declare themselves pirates, then they should understand what that means.
"There's no need for that, we'll just charge a small fee for rescuing you." Nami said, smiling sweetly. "How does 99% sound?"
"IT SOUNDS LIKE ROBBERY!"
"It only sounds like that because you haven't considered that we have the only ship that can take you out of here. We'd have to put all the treasure in our cargo hold anyway, so it's a lot easier to just leave it there. That's not even mentioning passenger fees and cargo fees, plus the food bill."
Shaking his head at Nami's negotiation tactics, Usopp used his hand to shade his eyes despite there being no sun to get into them. "Some of those ships look pretty advanced. Maybe they have some interesting gizmos on them?"
"I think I'll join you in exploring." Robin said next to him, startling him badly because he'd been talking to himself. "I wonder if any of those ships are from the Void Century?"
A thought occurred to her then. "Chef-san?"
"Yes, Robin-chwan?!" Sanji popped up, panting like a dog about to be taken for walkies.
"Could you be a dear and dive under the water for me? There may be many more wrecks under the surface."
She barely had time to finish the second sentence before the cook was jumping off the side of the ship.
That handled, she turned to Luffy. "Captain-san, how long does the passage stay open? We wouldn't want to miss it and be stuck here until we starve to death like the crews of all these other ships."
"Robin, I have asked you repeatedly to stop being so dark!" Usopp protested loudly. "Look at what you did to Chopper!"
Indeed, the little reindeer had frozen in place with an expression of horrified terror.
Robin, of course, ignored him. And kept her focus on Luffy.
Said rubber man adopted an expression of extreme concentration as he tried to remember. "I think it was a few hours?"
It was obviously a very rough guess.
"THEN LET'S GET MOVING!" Nami roared, the fires of greed burning in her eyes. "THERE'S TREASURE TO BE HAD!"
Sanji's head popped up from under the water just then. "Robin-chwan, there's plenty of wrecks down here!"
"Bring back anything that looks advanced!" Usopp ordered.
Robin, knowing that no books, paintings, or similarly fragile historically valuable artifacts would have survived the ravages of the sea water, supported him. Sanji wouldn't listen to Usopp and technology could tell a lot about history as well. "Do as he says, Cook-san."
"Will you give me a kiss if I do well, Robin-chwan?" Sanji made kissy faces at her.
"Sure." Robin agreed, because he hadn't said where or when, and had such low standards that he would be happy even with a trick.
"ZORO, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND START DIVING!" Nami roared. "THERE'S BOUND TO BE TREASURE DOWN THERE AS WELL!"
"Go get it yourself, witch." Zoro grunted, pointedly not moving from his spot against the mast.
"Oh, I guess you don't care if your debt just piles up. I thought you had honor." Nami sniffed disdainfully.
The swordsman glared at her with the murderous rage of a man who knew he was being manipulated, but ended up diving for treasure anyway.
Chest after chest was hauled onto the Going Merry, filled with jewels, gold, and all sorts of expensive baubles. Devices of unknown providence were found in much smaller amounts, some rusted beyond all use but others in much better shape.
The ship's hull got ever fuller and Nami watched it all with a flushed face and happy eyes. Eventually, the sight of it became too much and she threw herself on the pile of treasure, stretching and contorting like a particularly satisfied cat. She ignored the fact that gold and gemstones were supposed to be hard and uncomfortable. Disturbing giggles and squees began to escape her mouth, and she panted like a woman who had just run a marathon.
"Let's just get out of this place." Usopp suggested with a disturbed expression on his face.
Nami looked at him with shocked outrage, unable to believe that he would dare suggest leaving anything behind. "But there's still so many wrecks to check!"
"Nami, the loot is spilling over to the main deck."
"Let it!"
"Oi, where's the exit?" Zoro interrupted the escalating argument. In his hands, he held the severed end of the lifeline that had connected to Ruluka Island.
"We stayed too long." Henzo realized with a sense of dawning horror. He had thought that the lifeline would keep the passage open, and he had trusted that Luffy knew when it was time to go. He had also gotten distracted talking to his old friends for the first time in fifty years. "Ape's Concert has trapped us, just like it has trapped so many before."
"Oh dear, how horrible." Robin's tone was very much at odds with her words. She sounded almost amused.
Over the next several days, it became clear that the Rainbow Mist would not be showing up again any time soon and that it was, indeed, horrible. Food was running scarce, and the knowledge that time outside Ape's Concert passed much more rapidly weighed heavily on them.
Many things were attempted to escape. Notable mentions were Nami's attempts to bribe the Rainbow Mist, Usopp's claims that he once built a time machine and could do so again, and Zoro's training to learn how to cut through dimensions.
None of it worked.
XXXXX
"WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY SHIP?!" The indignant, shocked, roar woke them all up from their dispirited slumber.
"MERRY?!" Usopp squawked back, just as shocked.
"USOPP?!"
"Wait, are we back on Syrup Island?" Nami was quick on the uptake. They had all been sleeping on the main deck together.
Luffy just stood there with a huge grin on his face as he slowly realized what this meant. "We're back, we're together, and you guys remember!"
XXXXX
OMAKE
"Could have picked a better day for a wedding." Murtogg, recently joined crew member of the Black Pearl, commented.
"The rain is a bit of a downer." Mullroy, also a recently joined crew member of the Black Pearl, agreed.
"It's unnatural is what it is." Pintel grumbled.
"The rain?" Ragetti looked at him owlishly.
"No, not the bloody rain!" Pintel snapped. "Pirates sitting next to Navy marines. What is the world coming to?"
"To be fair, it's not like all these marines are sitting here quietly because they want to." Murtogg pointed out, looking at his bruised and battered former comrades. "They tried to arrest us."
"You'd think Commodore Norrington would have warned them when he resigned his commission." Mullroy said.
"They probably didn't believe him." Ragetti postulated. "I wouldn't."
"A fair point, but he also might have kept mum, because this Lord Beckett fellow is a bit of a twat." Murtogg theorized.
"You think he set him up to get pummeled by the captain for delaying the wedding feast?" Pintel asked rhetorically, rubbing his chin. "I could see it."
"What is he?" Lord Cutler Beckett, duly appointed representative of His Majesty, King George II, asked in a hollow voice. Also a slightly wheezy one, on account of his possibly broken ribs.
"Hungry." All four of the Idiot Quartet, as christened by a frustrated Elizabeth Swann, chorused.
"Hungry?" Beckett repeated with such flatness that it might have spawned an entirely new school of philosophy were this Ancient Greece.
"Always hungry." Murtogg said ominously.
"I once saw him eat a whole shark, bones and all." Ragetti added.
"Aye, nobody gets between the captain and his food." Pintel nodded sagely.
"Mr. Turner and Lady Elizabeth are lucky that he's willing to wait until the proceedings are done." Mullroy elaborated a bit. "But as soon as the priest pronounced them husband and wife, he'll be off and eating the entire feast."
"We had to warn the governor to set out a second feast for everyone else." Murtogg said conspiratorially.
"Are you telling me that my men, all my ambitions, were defeated by a glutton?"
"Don't feel bad about it, not even God himself could stop the captain." Pintel commiserated.
"I'm still not convinced that Captain Luffy really invaded Heaven and 'kicked God's ass' as he put it." Murtogg said dubiously.
"A man made of lightning sounds pretty godly to me." Ragetti countered.
"Yes, but why would he have earlobes hanging down to his waist? Why would he want to fly to the moon?" Mullroy backed up his friend. "Frankly, there is a great deal about the captain's tale that I find very confusing, and not just because it was told in no particular chronological order."
"Well if Hell can be filled with nothing but pirates, marines, and crossdressers, then why can't God be made of lightning and heaven filled with gold?" Pintel argued.
"Lady Elizabeth seems convinced that Captain Luffy didn't go to 'Hell' Hell, merely a prison referred to as Hell, but in truth called Impel Down." Murtogg said.
"A place with blood-soaked grass that will slice up your feet? Where horrible beasts will hunt you? Where you'll starve until you turn to dust? With pools of boiling blood and freezing pits and eternal darkness where you'll be forgotten by everyone and all the guards are there just to torture you forever?" Pintel listed out disbelievingly. "And she thinks that's not Hell?"
"It does sound pretty horrible." Mullroy admitted. "What do you think, Lord Beckett?"
The foursome turned to their unwilling conversation partner, who had simply been put there after he and his men were beaten to submission and could not move away.
"I think you should all go there." The bitter man spat.
"If it really is Hell, then we might." Ragetti giggled. "And so will you."
"When you think about it, Heaven doesn't sound much better." Murtogg postulated. "I mean, yes, there is a distinct lack of constant torture, which is certainly a plus, but who wants God looming over them every minute of every day, just waiting for an excuse to smite you? Sounds awfully stressful, that."
"So you're saying that we should give up on religion?" Pintel asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
"Captain didn't mention anything about atheists going to Hell, despite what the priests say." Mullroy said.
"But we'd still be pirates." Ragetti pointed out.
"The Captain said he's trying to get home." Murtogg nodded to himself. "We can just ride on his coat tails, so to speak, until he does, get rich, and then retire. Then we wouldn't be pirates anymore, we'd be wealthy gentlemen of leisure."
"This devil captain of yours is leaving?" Beckett's voice had turned distinctively conniving.
"Oh aye! As soon as his navigator finds him, he said."
"I see."
"Shhhhh!" Governor Swann shushed angrily, having siddled over to them when he saw them talking. "Did nobody ever tell you that it's rude to talk during a wedding ceremony?"
"Oh, have they started already?" Ragetti asked back, genuinely surprised. "I couldn't hear over the rain."
The governor wilted visibly at that. "Yes, I suppose the timing could have been better, but Elizabeth insisted on holding it as soon as possible."
"Hehe, the poppet was eager to get popped." Pintel said crudely, elbowing a giggling Ragetti.
"I say, that is no way to speak of a lady!" Murtogg sputtered indignantly.
"Don't bother, sir." Governor Swann sighed. "I expect nothing else of a pirate. Of course, I expect that my daughter will now be forced to become a pirate as well, seeing as Lord Beckett has an order for her arrest signed by the king."
He was obviously not pleased by this, and the way he was staring at the battered leader of the East India Company was a clear solicitation for a negotiation.
Well, clear to any politician, which meant that it flew right over the heads of the Idiot Quartet.
Cutler Beckett absolutely did not want to make any deals. He had expected to arrive the conquering hero, arrest Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann on the day of their wedding, along with any other pirates he could get his hands on, use them to lure out Jack Sparrow and this newcomer Monkey D. Luffy, see them all hanged so that they couldn't get in the way of his ambitions, and then continue expanding his wealth and power.
But it wouldn't be the first time he'd made a deal he didn't like for the sake of his ambitions.
"I'm sure we can come to agree on something." He said with as much dignity as his battered and bruised face would allow.
"MEEEEEAAAAAT" The roar made all of them jump in shock, turning to see Luffy launching himself into the building where the feast was waiting.
The rubber man had shown enough restraint to wait until the wedding was over, albeit looking wretched and squirming impatiently the whole time, but that restraint only lasted the absolute minimum amount of time.
"Umm, yes, as I was saying." The rattled priest ran a shaky hand over his head, his voice barely audible above the rain. "I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride!"
That last bit was a bit rushed, Luffy's shout having cut off half of it.
"Well, at least Elizabeth looks happy." Governor Swann consoled himself, seeing the smile on his daughter's face as she kissed her new husband.
Would have looked better if she was less waterlogged, though. Would it really have been so terrible to wait for the rainy season to end?