As a general rule, schemers and planners did not like surprises. Kuro was no exception to this. Indeed, he had a particular dislike of surprises.
A random pirate crew appearing on a moored ship, along with a small mountain of treasure, was more than just a surprise. It was something that defied reason, and Kuro had never been to the Grand Line.
Fearing for his plans, he tried to bring the situation back to familiar territory.
"What kind of charade have you concocted this time, Usopp?" He asked disdainfully. "Did you trick these people into playing along with your lies, or did they take pity on you?"
His intention had been to sow dissent, but the results were very much not what he had been expecting.
"Oh, it's you again." Usopp said, none of his usual bluster in his tone. He actually sounded dangerous
Kuro could not believe it, and so he dismissed it. Usopp? Dangerous? Preposterous.
That was why he failed to react in time to the explosive projectile fired from a slingshot.
XXXXX
"Klahadore really was Kuro." Kaya said as they found the fake butler's Cat Claws, feeling betrayed and heartbroken.
"I wouldn't lie to you about something like this." Usopp said gently.
"You shouldn't be lying to a lady at all!" Sanji growled, some emotion that he refused to identify flaring within him at the sight of the ship's liar having managed to gain the affection of a woman before him.
"I like his lies." The young lady said.
"As it turns out, not all of the stories I told you were lies." The sniper said in amusement. "Remember my story about the giant goldfish? We actually ran into one. As well as giants and dinosaurs and all kinds of things."
"Oh, I would love to hear about your adventures!" Kaya beamed, mood improving rapidly.
"Before we get too carried away, I think we must consider the implications of all of us being here." Robin interjected.
"Implications?" Luffy asked, tilting his head. He was in a visible better mood than normal thanks to having his nakama with him.
"Yes, implications." Robin repeated. "We were not supposed to be here in this point in time. So, did we disappear from wherever we were to appear here? Is there another instance of each of us out in the world?"
"W-well, that should be easy enough to check." Nami said, stuttering a bit as she realized what kind of problem this could be. "If there's another Usopp here on Syrup Island, then it's the latter."
"True." Robin nodded. "I think it is obvious that our presence here has something to do with the Rainbow Mist and Merry, but that is all we know for certain."
It took only a few minutes to confirm that Usopp had suddenly vanished from where he had been playing around with his friends.
"Huh, I wonder what the shitty old man will think of me suddenly disappearing?" Sanji pondered while Usopp boasted to his disciples.
XXXXX
A little earlier.
Zeff stroked his long mustache thoughtfully while all his employees ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. Quickly getting irritated, he swung his peg leg and bowled them all over.
"Shut up!" He snapped. "There's no need to panic."
"But, Owner Zeff!" Patty protested. "Sanji just vanished into thin air!"
They might not always see eye to eye, but they were still fellow chefs of the Baratie.
"So?" The elderly former pirate asked. "This is obviously some kind of Grand Line nonsense."
It may have been a long time since he left that sea, but he still remembered the kind of surprises it could throw at you. If you lost your wits every time it happened, then you never got anywhere.
"But… we aren't on the Grand Line?"
"So?" Zeff shrugged again, refusing to be perturbed. "More importantly, start keeping track of how many work hours the shitty eggplant is missing. No sense in paying him if he's not doing his job."
XXXXX
"So, we have been transported, then." Robin said mostly to herself, deep in thought. "In many ways, this is both the most convenient and the most problematic possibility."
"Robin, you're not making any sense!" Luffy whined, completely lost. "How can it be both convenient and problematic?"
He sounded like a confused five-year-old and Robin gave into the urge to pat him on the head like one. "It is convenient because we are all together and in the same situation. But it is problematic because our sudden change in location may draw unsavory attention."
Not the rest of the crew, perhaps, but her own disappearance from Crocodile's sight would put the man on guard.
"Better than there being two of us in the world." Nami frowned. "I'm not sure if there's enough meat in the world for two of Luffy."
Said rubber man's jaw dropped in horror as he realized that he might have needed to share his meat with himself! For the first time ever, he understood the feelings of his crew when it came to sharing the table with him.
"Two of Nami-swan and Robin-Chwan…" Sanji daydreamed, making kissy faces at the air.
"What about my swords?" Zoro suddenly asked, holding up the Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri. "Are they still in the store in Loguetown or did they get transported as well? My scar is gone, but my swords are here… this makes no sense."
"Or our clothes…" Nami also realized, looking down at what she was wearing. Clothes that had been bought in Alabasta or Loguetown.
"It may be worse than you think." Henzo spoke up ominously.
He had been checking on the Merry when the shift happened, because that was where his instruments had been. Being separated from his friends again weighed heavily on him.
"How so, Henzo-san?" Robin asked, always up for hearing how things can get worse.
Instead of answering the scientist waved one of his instruments in their direction, causing it to give off a buzzing, crackling sound. "We are all saturated with exotic temporal particles. There is no telling what kind of effect this will have, but the fact that we have been physically moved across the world is a bad sign. I would need to do more tests, perhaps get to my laboratory on Ruluka Island, before I could say more."
"So the very fabric of space and time might unravel, or we could find ourselves erased from existence?" Robin hummed in appreciation of the scientist's pessimism.
"It is possible." He confirmed, not mentioning that anything was possible until he started ruling things out.
"HIIIIEEEEE!" Usopp, Nami and Chopper exclaimed fearfully, hugging each other as if that would prevent them from being erased.
XXXXX
It was easy enough to convince Kaya to part with the Merry again. The hard part was deciding where to go.
"We could just go towards the Baratie and then towards the Conomi Islands like before, but that would leave Buggy in Orange Town. And what about Coby?" Nami asked. "He only got away from Alvida because of you."
Luffy frowned, conflicted. He didn't like weaklings and Coby was kind of weak right now, but he knew that the pink-haired boy had deep reserves of courage. He just needed a little push to find them.
"They'll say I went back on my word to hold out for a month on that post." Zoro also had a deeply conflicted scowl on his face.
While not normally one to care about what anyone thought of him, this was a bit different. He had agreed to hold out on that post for a month, and now he had technically broken his word. Sure, That brat with a butt chin would eventually have broken his and released him from that agreement, but it hadn't happened yet, so it was technically his word that had been broken.
And he didn't even know what he should think of his swords. The shopkeeper had technically given them to him as a gift, but now they were in a time before that had happened, and yet the swords were still with him. Did that count as stealing the swords, or were they still a gift?
The swordsman could already tell that this time travel nonsense was going to piss him off.
XXXXX
The final decision regarding their course of action was a mix of practical and sentimental. Zoro wanted to fight Mihawk again, to see how much he had improved, but the World's Greatest would not arrive at the Baratie for quite some time yet and it would be silly to wait for him there.
Luffy never really bothered to keep track of time aside from the bare basics, but Nami and Robin kept meticulous track. They were able to narrow down the exact amount of time they had to within the hour.
They set sail in the direction of Shell Town, scuttling Alvida's ship and freeing Coby, then casually smacked down Captain Morgan while dropping him off. After that it was off to Orange Town to boot out Buggy.
They made a quick stop to visit Kaya again, since they had extra time, then it was off towards the Baratie.
On the way there, Luffy breathed a sigh of relief when no gold-obsessed cat guy showed up. He was not in the mood to be dealing with El Drago.
"El Drago?" Nami echoed when he mentioned it.
"Yeah, it was part of a dumb mini adventure about Woonan's treasure." Luffy explained, shaking his head. "The oden was the only good part of that. Mmmm, oden…"
"There is no Woonan's treasure." Nami snorted. "I tried to find it a couple of years ago and there was nothing there except a skeleton in an empty room."
"Yeah, because he gave back all the gold he stole." Luffy nodded. "But how do you know about that, Nami?"
"Why wouldn't I know about that?" She barked back, confused. "It was a legend about a massive amount of gold in the East Blue! It was practically begging me to find it! If Woonan hadn't been dead already, I would have strangled him for teasing me like that!"
"That's not right…" Luffy mumbled, even more confused.
"Damn right it isn't!" Nami fumed at the memory. "How could that bastard play with a pure maiden's heart like that?!"
Luffy decided to stop thinking about this for now. The rest of his crew was better at thinking, and now that they were together, he didn't have to force himself to figure things out.
XXXXX
"Shitty Eggplant." Zeff said, unimpressed as his adopted son rolled in with a pirate crew. Secretly pleased, though.
"Shitty Old Man." Sanji said back, just as unimpressed.
"You missed almost a week of work."
"I quit."
"Fine, you were a shit cook anyway."
"Don't insult my chef!" Luffy butted in. "He's the cook for the future Pirate King, so he's obviously the best!"
Zeff was pleased at the conviction in the young captain's voice, but refused to let it show.
"Uh huh." He harrumphed, Eyeballing the crew of young pirates, he noted the refined and rather familiar older woman among them. Now how in the world did this crew of newbies get the infamous Nico Robin to join up with them? "What kind of Grand Line nonsense did you get mixed up in?"
"Time travel."
Zeff nodded, accepting the explanation immediately. It made as much sense as anything that happened on the Grand Line. "How far did you get?"
"Not far, we ran into the Rainbow Mist just past Alabasta." Sanji explained then nodded towards his captain. "Luffy here has been stuck in a time loop for much longer than the rest of us. We figure it was his fault we got dragged into it. Wouldn't be the first time he's dragged us into trouble."
"Rainbow Mist, huh?" Zeff stroked his mustache thoughtfully. "I've heard of it. Something about a promised land full of treasure?"
"Yeah, about that…" Sanji smirked. "We'll be staying as guests for a while."
XXXXX
The World's Greatest Swordsman announced his presence by slicing up Krieg's already battered ship, but kept his gaze on the other pirate crew that was clearly waiting for him. His Kenbushoku Haki had told him that the weaklings who had interrupted his nap had been defeated easily by this crew, and he could tell why.
Their spirits were much too strong to be tarrying in the East Blue. He also recognized Nico Robin's face among them.
"Dracule Mihawk!" The green-haired man with the three swords called out. All three were Named Blades, he noted. "I challenge you!"
Mihawk jumped from his coffin raft onto one of the larger pieces of Krieg's ship, standing opposed to the swordsman.
"You are not ready for this fight, you know this." He said, knowing it to be true. He was not called Hawk-Eyes merely for the color of his eyes, but also for his perception. His Kenbushoku Haki was among the greatest in the world, strong enough to see the truth of things.
"I know." The green-haired swordsman nodded.
"You may die." Mihawk warned.
"I know that, too."
Not a shred of fear. Despite himself, Mihawk was starting to become interested. He had met many greater swordsmen who had less spirit than this one.
"Very well." He agreed, and drew his little necklace dagger. That always got rookies riled up.
But not this one. The green-haired man almost seemed to have expected it. No, he had expected it, his eyes had flicked towards his cross pendant more than they had to Yoru. How intriguing.
Then the battle was on. For an East Blue swordsman, the green-haired man was beyond excellent. He was exceptional even for a Grand Line newbie. He was, however, by no means ready to take on the world's strongest.
But he didn't lose his temper. He didn't swing wildly and he didn't overcommit. He didn't rise to the silent taunts and insults Mihawk was giving him. There were even times where Mihawk might have been caught off guard if his opponent was faster and had Haki.
"We have fought before." Mihawk said conversationally. "I can you see reacting to some of my moves before I make them."
Granted, he was deliberately moving slowly enough for that to be possible, but it was still noteworthy.
"Yeah." The green-haired man grunted, not elaborating. He continued to attack at a measured pace, ferocious but controlled.
"And yet I do not remember you." Mihawk continued to speak, paying more attention to his opponent's face and spirit than to his swordplay. "What is your name?"
There was an off chance that he had encountered this man years ago and simply forgotten about him. After all, he did not bother to remember every insect he crushed.
"Roronoa Zoro."
The name rang no bells at all. It was possible that he had crushed some weakling who had been spurred on by that defeat, but it was unlikely. A spirit like this was rare, and not something that could be trained. Mihawk sensed the dormant will of a Conqueror within this man, and that was something you had to be born with.
That left very few possibilities as the answer to this mystery.
"I do not know you, yet we have fought before." He spoke, trapping all three of Zoro's swords with his dagger. "How far back in time did you travel?"
It was the only reasonable explanation.
Zoro grinned like a demon around the hilt in his mouth. "Just a few weeks, and this is my first time, but I'll come back again and again. I'll challenge you every time. Even if I can't train my body, I've learned more from this spar than I would from a dozen battles and I can still train my spirit. I'll learn Haki before I even get to the Grand Line."
Mihawk backed off and raised an eyebrow, putting away his dagger in favor of Yoru. "Tell me how that works out for you."
With a single slash, the promising young swordsman was slain.
XXXXX
"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT, YOU IMBECILE!" Nami roared, having woken up back on the Merry's deck on Syrup Island.
"Someone had to test out if all of us would come back from now on, witch!" Zoro retorted unrepentantly.
"Zoro, you can's kill yourself just because of a time loop!" Chopper scolded, the little reindeer doctor poking at the swordsman to see if there was any sign of the massive wound Mihawk had carved into him.
"It's fine, we're all here aren't we?" Zoro complained.
"We are not, actually." Robin piped up. "Henzo isn't here."
They all looked around to confirm that, and it turned out that the scientist was indeed gone. Although his instruments were still on the ship.
"Maybe it's because he's not part of out crew?" Usopp theorized cautiously. "It seems pretty obvious that the time travel thing is tied to the Merry now? Could she not bring him back with us unless he was actually on the ship when it happened?"
Henzo had been in the Baratie when it happened this time.
"That's probably the case." Robin agreed.
"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON MY SHIP?!"
Ah, Merry, the butler, had discovered them again.
XXXXX
OMAKE -
Franky lifted up his sunglasses and squinted at his environs.
"Where the hell am I?" The cyborg demanded of nobody in particular.
"Tortuga, mate." A drunken man lying in a ditch slurred.
"Thanks, bro." Franky said politely to the helpful man.
Of course, the answer didn't actually help at all. He had no idea where Torturga was or how he got here. The only upside was that it was obviously a pirate haven.
Mentally shrugging, he walked into the town. No sense in just standing around.
His appearance immediately attracted a lot of attention. Even pirates could be baffled by the sight of a huge man with weird proportions and crazy blue hair, among his other notable features.
"Hey, Big Boy, did you lose your pants?" An amused prostitute called out, to much hooting and cackling from everyone nearby.
"I'm too SUUUUPEEER for pants, baby!" Franky made finger guns at the woman, utterly shameless.
Having not gotten the embarrassed reaction she'd been aiming for, the prostitute instead put on a sultry smirk. "Is that right? Then how would you like to lose the rest of it with me?"
"I appreciate the offer, but I need to find my crew." Franky went into his signature pose. "Have any of you seen a SUUUPEEER ship with a sun figrehead? Or a slightly less SUUUPEEER caravel with a goat figurehead? The Straw Hat Pirates?"
"Straw Hat?" The crowd muttered. Some fearfully, some in awe, others in confusion.
"Straw hat?" Another voice came and a disheveled man approached. "You mean Monkey D. Luffy."
"That's the guy, YOW!" Franky exclaimed in excitement. "What's your name, bro?"
"James Norrington, and I am not your bro." The man said flatly. Despite his generally unkempt appearance and the aura of a drunkard, he still held himself with a rigidity that reminded Franky of a Marine.
"Norrington-bro." The cyborg ignored the implied admonishment. "Can you take me to Luffy?"
"No." The possibly former Marine refused him flatly. "I have no idea where that menace is, but he might come back here if he hears that one of his crewmates is present. If he does, can you please take him back to wherever he came from?"
"That's the idea!" Franky nodded enthusiastically. It sounded like Norrington-bro had an encounter with Luffy and got the worst of it. Business as usual. "I guess I need to make a bit of a ruckus to get his attention."
Those words caused everyone in Tortuga to hold their breath in fear. They still remembered what Luffy had been like, and he hadn't been trying to cause a ruckus.
Franky ignored their reaction and produced a hammer. "Alright, who needs some carpentry done? I'm the best shipwright in the world, and I can make your ships the terror of the seas!"
There was a pause as the pirates processed these words. Then they remembered Luffy's stretching and the stories they'd heard about his adventures.
XXXXX
Franky quickly became a very wealthy man. He didn't really care about money, but he knew how useful it could be. By the time he was reunited with Luffy, he already knew that this wasn't their world and had been working on a way to get back. That's when the money came in.
Tortuga rapidly grew into a fortified pirate stronghold, instead of a dingy little port. Luffy and Franky often sailed out to collect stuff or out of sheer boredom, but many other pirate crews paid for his services by delivering exotic materials.
James Norrington, seeing what was happening early on and still holding a sense of duty to the innocent people of the Carribean despite resigning his commission in the Navy, knew that he needed to step in. Franky's skills as a shipwright were so ridiculous that they would cause a massive resurgence of piracy if left unchecked.
But trying to stop him directly was useless, he had already learned that from his encounters with Luffy.
So he sobered up and became the new Pirate Admiral of Tortuga, allowing him to indirectly control who received Franky's new ships. There were few pirates in the world that were cunning and intelligent enough to match him, and none of them had been in Tortuga at the time, nor did any of them want to deal with the administrative duties such a position required.
The Royal Navy branded him a traitor of course, and put a huge bounty on his head, but he didn't care. The woman he wanted to marry was already lost to him and his reputation as an officer tarnished, so what did it matter what they called him?
This development had repercussions. While Norrington did his best to rein in the predations of the pirates nominally under his flag, they were still pirates in the end. Even secretly sending out warnings had limited effect.
The new Franky series of pirate ships had a devastating effect on the suddenly inferior Navy. Where pirates might have previously run away, they were now far more often willing to fight.
In response, the various kingdoms and empires of Britain had to pour more money into heir navies to increase their size and power. More dangerously, however, was what happened when some of the Franky-built ships were captured intact.
The cyborg hadn't made them anything particularly advanced by his standard, but his standard was skewed. The seas became a battlefield as everyone scrambled to grab as much technology as they could get their hands on.
Some years after Franky and Luffy mysteriously disappeared from Tortuga, a massive war erupted as greed and fair got the better of every king in Europe and beyond.
Every country with colonies experienced massive rebellions as they tried to overtax them in their eagerness to gain gold to fund their armies and navies. Rebellions that they could do nothing about, because every other country started supporting those rebellions to cripple their enemies.
The Americas declared independence early, and with much less fuss. However, the lack of a proper enemy also meant that they were less united. Even centuries later, both North and South America would remain a fractured mess, never growing into the global superpower it could have been.
The kingdoms of Europe and Asia, initially fighting only at sea, would eventually drag each other and their neighbors into land wars as well, to devastating results. Technology did advance, thanks to Franky's leftovers and the pressures of war, but the social consequences were dire.
Thus did the first World War start a few centuries early, all because of a couple of careless pirates from another world.