The Ultimate Worst Generation

by stringdog

The Straw Hats have arrived on their final stop before descending to Fish-man Island and onto the New World, the Sabaody Archipelago. However, they're not the only big name rookies present, they are just one of 14 rookie crews present and the other 13 all have big names as well. Mass deep crossover with Fairy Tail, My Hero Academia, Black Clover, Akame ga Kill, and RWBY.

8. Chapter 8: Flight from Sabaody

Here is the eighth chapter in this story released in accordance with my upload schedule for this story. Due to various reasons I don't expect to get another chapter out in this or any of my stories before the end of January at the earliest, and more likely it will be early February, but such is the real world. Anyway, the chaos still rages on Sabaody and the Straw Hats are dealing with an Admiral and a Warlord but the rest of the crews aren't and so they have to get away from the archipelago. There are a few things to still sort out but that's all part of the flight that these new crews are making and it's time to see how these 5 crews set sail from Sabaody in the wake of Straw Hat Luffy's actions. That is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions that need answers but there is a guest review that needs a response and a question to posed to y'all that was asked in another review so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.

To KGBeastboy (guest), thank you for your review and suggestions. On the first one, while Esdeath likely wouldn't be angry at Kizaru don't forget that in the filler part of the anime, which for this story will receive more weight than the manga when determining things like personality, that Esdeath actually seemed to be upset at Tatsumi's death unlike any other death around her showing that she really did love him and it was the one thing that she couldn't understand. That and she'll know that Kizaru wasn't trying to kill Tatsumi but capture him and ship him off to Impel Down right away which she would be pissed about because she wants him with her. Course now that he's survived Kizaru she's still got a chance when she next sees him and who knows this survival may make her fall for him even harder. As for X Drake, I've already got plans for their meeting when it happens so stay tuned for that though Najenda is a former Vice Admiral not Rear Admiral. Certainly she knows about his backstory, she was there when he was taken in, so no doubt she's already suspicious as to what he's up to given that he's now defected like his father did. As for trying to kill him, that waits to be seen as their meeting will dictate a lot of things and I've already planned the general outline for that meeting. There is a list of known marines who are acceptable to the Night Pirates, Tatsumi alluded to it, whether or not X Drake is on it or can be on it you'll have to be patient to see as more about the selection process for valid targets amongst the marines will come in time. Lastly, that is an interesting idea for Charlotte and not a bad one. I will have to tweak it slightly, very likely if I do go down this route it won't be that Charlotte was a temporary Empress but a rival claimant for the throne. It's heavily implied that the position of Empress of Amazon Lily is not a hereditary one as the 3 known leaders don't seem to be related and it is known that the leader before Hancock died of lovesickness, the only one of the 4 to do so. Plus Hancock was only 12 when she was taken and 16 when she was freed and given that Shakky was on Sabaody at the time based on her own statements the Empress between them was alive at the time of Hancock's slavery. Thus it would make more sense for them to be rivals, in fact they're only 2 years apart at the moment as Hancock is 29 pre-time skip and Charlotte 27 so they could have vied for the throne when it became vacant 2 years after Hancock came back based on what Gloriosa said (Hancock was freed from slavery 13 years prior to her introduction and became Empress 11 years prior) but thanks to her stories Charlotte has her hatred of men. The results led to a schism and to rectify it Charlotte willingly went into exile with her own crew and that can explain other things about her as I do have plans for her going forward but her being from Amazon Lily along with a few members of her crew works. The Jolly Roger is interesting, I'll keep it in mind for when the Blue Rose Pirates are first seen. Side note on ages are set at what they are before any time skips with the exceptions of major characters like Ruby, Asta, Noelle, and the Might Pirates bar 1 who are 15 at their time of introduction and are aged up to 17 to be the same age as Luffy and Natsu with only Ruby's crew aged up in proportion to it. Finally the Devil Fruits. While I am hesitant to oversaturate this story with Mythical Zoan types as I've just reclassified 5 of my new ones from Mythical to Ancient while adding at least 6 new ones and maybe 7 depending on things, I will admit that Mereoleona was always going to get a Mythical Zoan because it fits her personality and broadens the fire so the suggestion is useful for sure and I'll look into it to see more. While I'm not sure when Mereoleona will be introduced this helps a lot. As for Charlotte, I already have the name for her Devil Fruit that works better than Rose-Rose (plus it might get confusing with Ruby's Petal-Petal Fruit) but the description is good and while I may tweak it I can work with that. Sol I'd not thought about what her Devil Fruit would be so this does help with her and I'll consider it. I hope this clears some things up and do keep reading and making suggestions.

As for my question to y'all, it's simple: do you want a separate side piece like the Databook but for the new Devil Fruits that I've added? This will be a little shorter and simpler as it will just be the fruits names, current/last user, appearance, and powers. It won't include awakened powers for Paramecia and Zoan types though those may be added later on if those fruits awaken in the series in new updated cards (until there is a canon Logia awakening I will not awaken that type but I hope there is one soon). I will also update it more than just one per chapter but rather it will be updated with any Devil Fruits who's powers have been actively seen so it would start with several chapters and likely grow in spurts throughout. That said there are two exceptions that won't be added to yet if I do this; 1 – any new Devil Fruit who's appearance is set in stone for this series which so far is one of the ones already seen as it will appear in a flashback chapter later on, and 2 – any Devil Fruit that falls under the same situation as the Gum-Gum Fruit of which there will be at least one if not two that do and aren't declared as such right at the start of their appearance as one will be when it first appears after Marineford (that will also be the first new non-canon Devil Fruit to actually be seen physically in this series). If you want to see this let me know and it can be created, it's not hard.

Anyway, that is enough for this long pre-chapter note so sit back and enjoy the eighth chapter in The Ultimate Worst Generation.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these great franchises.

Chapter 8: Flight from Sabaody

"There it is!" Weiss said from Ruby's arms and pointing off to the side as Ruby flew through the air. "I just saw it between the trees, loop around Ruby. It looks like the others are already there."

"Good." Ruby said her voice slightly off and blood still running from her nose to stain Weiss's dress as she turned around a tree before them, it was easier for Blake and Yang as Blake was just running on the ground in her full beast form as Yang rode her but with Ruby flying it was a like a slalom with all the trees that Sabaody was known for though it could also be Ruby's injury. "That means we can set off soon so long as the others are on it like they should be."

Weiss just nodded at that as their ship came into view and let out a sigh of relief at the sight, a sigh that was shared by Ruby as the younger girl pushed harder with her Devil Fruit to speed up and get to it as soon as possible. Of course, their ship wasn't hard to miss given Ruby's personal styles in designing it and they'd docked it in the lawless area in one of the many out of the way places that pirates favored while on the archipelago. Still, Weiss couldn't help but smile when she looked at the ship that was more her home than the palatial estate that she'd grown up in had ever been.

The ship of the Rose Pirates had served them since the start of Ruby and Yang's journey in the West Blue as it was once their parents' ship in their pirate days but had been renamed by Ruby, modified, and extensively improved upon in a ship yard in the West Blue in the wake of Ruby saving Weiss and their crew officially being formed. It had all been part of the day that they voted to name Ruby their Captain, take the name Rose Pirates in honor of Ruby's family name, and rechristen the ship the Summer Rose in honor of Ruby and Yang's late mother, well step mother in Yang's case but she saw Summer as her real mom.

In that vein they'd redone the figurehead so now it was the upper body of a woman in a white, hooded, cloak with a red interior that was seamlessly integrated into the prow so that it looked like the figurehead was rising out of the bow with the railing around the ship white to match the cloak. To add to it the hood was pulled up and low so that her face was hidden in the cowl allowing only her pale jaw and mouth to be seen. On her chest she wore a simple dark red dress in a similar style to Ruby's only it was strapless leaving her shoulders and upper chest bare.

However, the most striking feature of the figurehead was that the figure had arms under the cloak that were holding a blood red scythe with a black crook so that it was diagonally across her body so that the crook was to the left of her head and over the water. This was an homage to Ruby's personal weapon that had been the source of her epithet and was just the first of many tributes worked into the ship for the crew who called it home.

The first was clear from the white cloak as the top part of the hull that was under the railing around the ship was also painted white and extended all around the ship in a band while the deck atop the forecastle where the help was was also painted white though the main deck and poop deck atop the aftercastle and the quarterdeck around the upper part of the aftercastle were the standard brown wood though it was as close to yellow as possible.

This was of course a nod to Weiss's preference for white. Meanwhile on the hull below the white band was a band of red wood that went down to where the waterline was on the ship with a black wood hull for Ruby and Blake's colors with both parts also pained to really show it off.

The ship itself was a two mast ship with a rudder sail at the back to add to steering. The main central mast was had three sails with the largest middle one being black and the other two red while the aft mast had two sails that were bronze and pink with the rudder sail being green with a pink vertical stripe down the middle of it on both sides and done to honor the color preferences of the new crewmembers. To add to it the masts were both yellow wood and painted different shades of yellow with sunshine yellow for Yang and a darker shade for Jaune as both preferred that color.

Naturally, the black sail had the Rose Pirate's jolly roger on it, and two flags flew one for each mast with it and above the two crow's nests, so that all could tell that this was a pirate ship. In keeping with the theme and names, the Rose Pirate's distinctive jolly roger was the standard skull with a blood red hood raised over it over a pair of crossed scythes with a rose emblem behind it and individual rose petals all over the black flag mimicking Ruby's Devil Fruit power. Finally the eyes of the skull wasn't empty but silver to reflect Ruby's own exceptionally rare eye color.

Overall it was an intimidating look with the reaper themes rife throughout the ship and an amusing juxtaposition to the crew's name and Ruby herself but it worked and Weiss was glad to be home as they reached it and Ruby reformed her legs above the deck to fall to it and land still carrying Weiss princess style. They landed on the main deck and from where they were Weiss could see the 8 stones or gems embedded into the main mast in spiral to represent the 8 crew members who made up the Rose Pirates.

The gems were her idea and had gone over well and were done in order of joining with the first one at eye level being a blood red ruby for, well, Ruby. This was followed by a yellow citrine stone and then a black onyx stone before the white diamond for Weiss was there as she'd been the fourth to join the crew. After that there was a yellow garnet for Jaune, a red fire opal for Pyrrha, a green emerald for Ren and finally a pink moonstone for Nora. It was flashy but it showed the crew and if they added more members they'd add more stones that fit the new crew members.

For now though Weiss didn't have much time to admire them as Ruby staggered where she stood, which was not normal as she could easily carry Weiss but she had taken an Armament Haki infused headbutt from Weiss's sister. Quickly Weiss leapt from Ruby's arms, landed on the deck, and turned to her best friend and Captain and saw that Ruby's eyes were a little vacant and she was swaying slightly where she stood blood still running down her nose that was now dropping on the deck and not Weiss's white dress.

As Ruby swayed there, there was a roar and Blake leapt from the archipelago and onto the ship with Yang leaping off in midair so that Blake could turn back to human, well faunus for her, form, and land in a crouch on the deck while Yang landed next to her trying to look cool with the landing. However that failed as the moment that both girls landed Blake collapsed to the side with a groan and Yang fell to a knee as both were really feeling the injuries they'd suffered at Winter's hand, or foot in Blake's case.

Thankfully the other four crewmembers were already on the deck with the tall, tanned, black haired Ren on the forecastle deck by the helm with the ginger Nora next to him annoying him in their usual way that anyone with eyes could tell was Nora covering up her feeling for Ren. Meanwhile the blond Jaune was just coming out of the forecastle, a one story raised part of the foredeck that housed the navigation room and medical suite, the latter being where Jaune had been as he was the ship's doctor, while Pyrrha was on the quarterdeck in the aftercastle though Weiss wasn't sure why the redhead warrior was there as she often hung out with Jaune when alone due to her own not so subtle feelings for the ship's doctor.

"Jaune, we need you." Weiss called out the moment she saw him as she grabbed Ruby's shoulders to steady her. "We've had a small engagement with a strong enemy."

Jaune had begun rushing over to the girls before Weiss had even finished talking as he could tell that they were all in bad shape, well other than Weiss. However it was Weiss who he addressed as he reached then and she quickly leapt out of the way so that he could get a good look at Ruby as his Captain seemed to be the worst for wear of the three.

"Ruby? Ruby can you hear me?" Jaune asked as he put his hands on Ruby's shoulders to steady her just as Weiss had done and she blinked and looked to him but didn't speak. "Weiss, what happened to her? She's a Logia type, she shouldn't be like this. In fact tell me what happened to all of you for that matter so I know where to start my examination."

"It's a long story that I'll have to tell specifics later but the short of it is that Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon and caused a major incident at the Human Auction House." Weiss said that along getting the whole crew's attention. "We fought, well Ruby did as she went outside to deal with the marines that were encircling it, and then we fled after a Night Pirate killed all the marines. However, we ran into my sister on the way back to the ship."

"Wait, isn't your sister a Vice-Admiral? One who's on the fast track for an Admiral position?" Nora asked as she leapt down from the foredeck and came over to help though Ren, who was their navigator and de facto helmsman, remained where he was just in case they needed to go quickly which given what had happened was all but a certainty at this point. "That's not good. Can we even beat her?"

"No it's not and worse she knows how to use Armament Haki." Weiss said. "That's what happened to Ruby. She tried to protect me and Winter cut her but that just revealed Ruby's Logia powers so she then headbutted Ruby in the face with Armament Haki hardening over her forehead, after Ruby shot her in the gut that is."

"Come again?" Jaune asked as he reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a small flashlight that he used on Ruby's eyes as he spoke. "Ruby shot your sister?"

"It wasn't a penetrating round, just one designed to incapacitate Winter, and besides Winter used Armament Haki to protect herself." Weiss said dismissively. "Regardless it led to this for Ruby. Blake and Yang helped but both got hit by Haki infused strikes before I confronted Winter. I, I had to cut her side with aid of my glyphs to show that I wasn't going to go with her and to start the talk that we need to have but it was just to buy the time we needed for Yang to process the blows that she'd taken."

"Right the Burn-Burn Fruit's power." Jaune said was he put the flashlight away and raised his hands to gently hold Ruby's head and examine her nose with his thumbs and got a small hiss of pain from Ruby but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. "So where were the other two hit?"

"Blake was kicked in the head while in her hybrid form so when she was more durable than normal and I got punched in the stomach before taking an uppercut to the jaw." Yang said getting up and rubbing her chin where a bruise was now clear. "Weiss's sister knows how to deliver a punch."

"Winter is highly trained in hand to hand combat though I'd say that you are better without Haki aiding her strikes." Weiss said. "But yes that's what happened. Yang was able to use her power to overcome Winter's Haki and blast her away though I doubt it did more than annoy Winter. Still it was the opening that we needed as it allowed Blake to fully transform and carry Yang while Ruby carried me back."

"I see well that won't have helped the injuries but it was necessary given the situation." Jaune said finishing his precursory exam. "Right, it's clear that Ruby has a concussion though her nose isn't broken and I wouldn't be surprised if Blake is concussed as well. Yang, take Blake to the sick bay and I'll take Ruby, I need to patch them both up and then I'll look at you as you likely have some internal injuries but your Devil Fruit mitigates damage somewhat."

"No shit, I can feel the bruises." Yang said as she bent down to scoop Blake into her arms. "But yeah I get that."

"Good." Jaune said as he did the same with Ruby, which caused Weiss a pang of jealousy that she didn't understand seeing Ruby in Jaune's arms the way she'd been in Ruby's even if she knew that it was purely platonic and for medical reasons before she pushed all that to the side as Jaune turned to her. "Weiss, I'm invoking my authority as the ship's doctor to temporarily relieve Ruby of her duties due to her injuries as she's in no state to give orders. As first mate that means you're in charge now. Get us out of here."

"Right." Weiss said with a nod. "I understand, make sure that they're ok."

"I will." Jaune said as he turned and followed Yang to the forecastle.

Weiss took a breath as she took command of the ship. There had been some tension when Ruby was named Captain as Weiss had had some attitude issues stemming from her upbringing despite Ruby saving her from that but she quickly got over them and threw her full support behind her Captain. Then, when Ruby named her first mate, with a vote of approval, after they entered the Grand Line and began to recruit new crewmembers Weiss had been honored and she fully committed herself to the role and the trust that Ruby had put in her.

The others had their own roles, Blake was the scholar due to her voracious reading and love of knowledge, which indirectly made her the intel officer of the crew, Yang was the cook, and when the other 4 joined all had their own roles as well but not Weiss until then. It was a big honor and she'd not let her best friend down.

"Ren, take the helm and get us clear of here and away from the area between Sabaody and Marineford as these ships are no doubt from there." Weiss said beginning to give orders. "We're not coated yet so we can't go to the New World but we can get clear of this mess for the moment. Once the heat dies down we can come back for the coating. Pyrrha, you're on ship control and defense, same for you Nora. Let's get moving."

"Ay-ay first mate!" All three said and Ren turned to the helm and spun it so that they moved starboard while Pyrrha reached her hand up and used her Devil Fruit powers to pull up the anchor, release the sails, and turn the rudder sail to aid Ren while Nora just pulled her war hammer offer her back and grinned.

Weiss moved to the other side of the ship and looked out at Sabaody as they began to sail away from the archipelago. They'd be back to get coated soon and when they did return it would be to the news that there was going to be a major execution in Marineford that was going to be broadcast on Sabaody so they would be able to watch it on the archipelago but that was to come.

For now it was time to get away safely but for a few scratches. However, as they left and Weiss turned to making sure things were good she couldn't help but feel that what had just happened was only the start of something greater to come.

---

Leone and Akame didn't say anything as they fled from the fight with Kizaru and made their way back to the ship. Leone had Tatsumi in her arms and as she was in her hybrid form she was able to run faster than Akame and did so to get him back faster due to his injuries while Akame followed in her wake knowing where to go. They trusted each other so there was no need for words as they hurried back to the ship which was docket in a special place due to its size but with Su on the crew they'd been able to hide it semi-decently.

Like many of the other pirates they'd opted to put anchor in the lawless area but unlike the others that opted for just a place off the coast, or whatever passed for a coast given Sabaody's ecology, they'd actually sailed into a cove of sorts that Najenda knew about that was both large enough for their ship and could be used to somewhat hide it. It wasn't easy but the advantage of being captained by a former Vice-Admiral was that you knew of places to hide that no one else knew about and when your ship was a stolen Navy battleship you needed it.

Well stolen was what the Navy called it, Najenda just called it hers as it had been her battleship that she'd used back when she was a Vice-Admiral so she just saw it as taking what belonged to her when she defected. Now the weapons, Devil Fruits, and documents that she, Lubbock and Bulat had absconded with when they'd defected from the Navy were stolen but that was deliberate so that they had a good start on their new mission. That was beside the point as they were now pirates so they stole what they wanted, so long as it was from the Navy of course.

Of course they couldn't sail the seas in a stolen battleship as that would be too conspicuous so they'd modified it a bit and as Leone closed in she could just make it out as the whole ship was now jet black. Well that. and the fact that the camouflage that had been used was no longer there indicating that the boss had returned before them.

The black caused it to stand out a bit but it fit what they were doing and changed the colors of it to help hide what it was but that was just the start as Najenda had added other things during the period between her defection and the revelation that she was in the North Blue and engaging in piracy there. Those being that she'd added a figurehead, a black owl with glowing red and yellow eyes, and converted all the crows nests into specialized huts similar to how Vice-Admiral Garp had only Najenda's were lined with sea prism stone and included special features for various uses both in and out of combat.

Finally she'd changed the central structure so that it had an additional level and added a house of sorts to the poop deck to change it up though neither structures were for practical purposes other than to try and avoid notice that they were in a stolen battleship. Of course the paddles and sea prism stone lined hull that it still had didn't help hide the ship's origins but they were necessary so they couldn't be changed.

Naturally, they'd also added a jolly roger and what a jolly roger it was as it gave the world no doubt as to the Night Pirates' intentions. Right now it was flying from all the masts, emblazoned on the front sail where normally the word MARINES would be, and painted on the sides of the aftercastle. If Leone wasn't running she'd admire it but she did glance at it as right now it was very appropriate.

After all, it was a skull in a Celestial Dragon's bubble complete with the stupid hair thing they did with a pair of crossed swords, a katana and a straight sword like Tatsumi's piercing it in an X shape with a spear thrust up from below behind it. With a jolly roger like this one no one could deny what their goal was.

All that didn't matter right now, however, as Leone leapt from the archipelago and landed on the deck still holding Tatsumi and looking around. Before Leone could call out, and right after the moment that she landed on the deck a tall man, even taller than Leone, with shaggy blue hair and eyes and a pair of bison horns sticking out from either side similar to the ones Kaido had only less majestic and wearing a white, red, and blue robe with a specially made fang mace strapped to his back came up to her.

Naturally, Leone recognized him immediately as Susanoo, or as Su as they all called him, Najenda's bodyguard and the crew's quartermaster, doctor, cook, and deckhand who was invaluable to them as a friend, warrior, and crew member as he singlehandedly seemed to run the ship. They would feel bad but Su's extreme OCD and other factors meant that he was the best for the job and it was just easier to stay out of his way as he preferred it if they did.

"Leone, give me Tatsumi and I'll take him to the med bay." Su said in his low, monotone, serious voice. "Once we have Akame we'll push off as the anchor is being raised as we speak. The boss has the helm and Lubbock his in the engine to make sure the paddles work but he has Cross Tail active and will pull in the sails the moment the order is given. This way we can set sail as soon as possible."

"Understood." Leone said as she handed over Tatsumi to Su who took the boy the same way she had while Leone transformed back to her normal form. "And the others? Where are they?"

"Mine is in her hide atop one of the masts though won't say which one to provide long ranged cover while Chelsea is in another on spotter duty to make sure we get clear." Su said. "Bulat was injured by Admiral Ironwood though the boss was able to distract the Admiral and get away with him and he's in the med bay recovering with Sheele looking out for him. All we need is Akame and we're good to go."

"I'm here." Akame called out as she leapt onto the ship and landed in a crouch. "Let's go."

Su nodded and hurried to take Tatsumi to the med bay as Leone called that out to the boss who they could all see was on the forecastle with her left hand on the helm. The moment Najenda got the order the pulled out a transponder snail to let Lubbock know that they were going. A moment later the sails were suddenly pulled in and the paddles activated allowing them to start to back out of the cove and sail away.

Akame wanted to be with Tatsumi and make sure that he was ok but right now they had more pressing matters to attend to as the whole area was still active with marines, which included at least 2 Admirals, so they needed to slip past them and out to sea to get clear. That was her focus and trusting that Tatsumi would be fine because she knew he would be as the attack hadn't killed him, Akame and Leone set about their tasks on the ship as it swung around and made for open waters putting the Sabaody Archipelago and the incident there behind them though it was just the start of the events that were to come.

---

"Over there." Shoto said creating a spike of ice from his right palm and extending it out so that Wendy could see the direction to fly in. "That's our ship. It's, er, kinda hard to miss. The Captain is a bit of a fanboy of whoever this is."

"You could say that again and I thought my Captain had odd tastes." Wendy said as she saw the ship that was nestled into one of the many coves favored by pirates in the lawless area. "It's, er, something else."

Wendy wasn't wrong as the first things she'd noticed were its size, it was easily larger than the Mavis by a good bit and likely had four levels below deck, if not 5 as it was hard to tell from above it, with a three story aftercastle and two story forecastle with three masts. However even with the size it was the colors and figurehead that really caught Wendy's eyes and made her blink at what she was seeing.

Unlike most ships which favored either an animal or a woman as their figurehead, the latter being the case with the Fairy Tail Pirates, the Might Pirates' ship, the All Might according to Shoto who'd told Wendy its name on the way, had a male figurehead and the crew actually referred to it with male pronouns which was unheard of for a ship. It wasn't hard to see why, however, as the figurehead depicted the upper body of a super buff man in a blue outfit with red and white markings in a V over the shoulders and neck and yellow cuffs on the wrists where his fists were on his hips and blended into the yellow railing around the whole ship.

However, the most impressive thing was the pair of yellow hair tufts that shot out from the figurehead's head and curved slightly back as they reached into the air that really caught the eye. That wasn't just because of their size but because they were also an exact replica of the pair on the skull of the jolly roger and that was the only affectation to the Might Pirates' jolly roger. Similar to other pirate crews like the Straw Hats it was a simple design to that worked well for them though it was less obvious as the Straw Hat's jolly roger.

The ship itself wasn't as simple, though. Under the yellow railing the hull was painted with blue, red, white, and green stripes in that order all before the water line. Likewise, other than the main sail on the largest mast, which had a large, circular, closed crow's nest on it that had some clear repairs on it, which was white with their jolly roger on it, the sails of the ship were either green with red and black stripes or blue with red and white stripes the former being on the foremast and the latter on the mizzenmast with one of each above and below the main sail.

It was, overall, a distinctive ship that's size only added to it and as Wendy neared she noted that there were several canons in two rows below decks and a few more on the fore and poop decks. She certainly noticed that latter one as there was a bell from the ship and suddenly the canons on the poop deck turned to her as figures that she couldn't quite make out rushed to man them.

Meanwhile the mizzenmast's crow's nest suddenly opened up to reveal a whole swath of weaponry that looked more advanced than most you'd see on a pirate ship and began to swivel to them though no one was on the newly formed platform. As this happened a thought came to Wendy and she couldn't help but voice it.

"Er, did you tell whoever is currently in charge of the ship that you were coming in on a dragon?" Wendy asked worry in her voice as she didn't want to fight, her Mythical Zoan model, Grandine, was a sky dragon so she had command over the winds and that could be an issue if forced to defend herself against an attack from unknown weaponry. "Because this doesn't feel like it."

"Er no, no I did not and our armaments are rather effective." Shoto admitted as he turned to Izuku who was still mumbling about Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits though with the blood running down his face and the injuries he'd taken this might be more due to them then his normal geekiness over Devil Fruits so Shoto ignored that and reached into Izuku's hoodie pocket to pull out the transponder snail that was somehow still alive. "One sec. I'll call our quartermaster, he's in charge of the ship right now with the three of us here. Get high and loop around, the only danger is from the aft weapons deck on the mizzenmast and only if Mei can get to it but for safety reasons she's likely got sea prism cuffs on."

"Come again?" Wendy asked as she tilted her wings and began to climb higher in the air. "You cuff one of your own?"

"Only for the journey to the New World and not with chains just the cuffs." Todoroki said as the snail began to ring. "It's a long story but she's a Devil Fruit user so it drains her and prevents her from working while we're coated so it's a safety precaution. Mei is a gifted engineer and inventor but she has a habit of causing explosions that…wait I'm through."

"Shoto, that you?" Tenya's voice came in over the snail with a note of panic in it. "Are you near? We could use your power and that of Izuku and Katsuki because there's a dragon inbound! We can't tell if it's a Devil Fruit transformation, a power, some tech creation, or the real deal but we're not going to take any chances with it so get back here!"

"Yeah about that, we're, er, riding her." Shoto said. "The dragon that is, her name's Wendy and she's a Mythical Zoan user who's member of the Fairy Tail Pirates. So can you please calm the crew down and get Momo and Ochaco out on deck right away if they're not there already. Katsuki's badly injured and the Captain is a little senseless. I've taken brief command to sort this out."

"What the hell happened!" Ida replied worry in his voice though he at least seemed unsurprised that they were on the dragon, or he may be too shocked to fully process it at the moment Shoto couldn't tell. "Send a blast of fire into the air to confirm that you're on the dragon."

"Long story, I'll explain in a bit." Shoto said as he raised his left fist and blasted fire from it. "But does this confirm it?"

"It does." Ida said and the snail remained connected as he barked orders showing that he was currently on deck or at least in a position to see the dragon and issue commands. "Stand down crew! It's friendlies. I repeat, the dragon is carrying friendlies!"

"Good, Wendy fly in." Shoto said as the panic on the All Might seemed to be dying down and the weapons platform atop the mizzenmast began to close up. "We, er, don't have a place to land but one of the crew has a useful Devil Fruit and I just requested her aid. Once I see her in position I'll let you know."

"That's fine, I've got to head out and get Lucy and Juvia anyway so if I don't have to land it's actually easier." Wendy said as she banked and then dove down to the ship. "Remember you owe us."

"I know, I won't forget." Shoto said the snail still out and he turned to it. "Tenya, I'm going to drop Katsuki and Izuku onto the deck between the fore and mainmasts when we pass by them, have Ochaco slap them so they don't hit it. You don't want to get caught in Wendy's downdraft if she has to flap her wings."

At that Todoroki ended the call with a click and put the snail on his right shoulder trusting that Tenya understood what was needed. He then turned and placed his left hand on the ice that was holding Katsuki to Wendy's back and began to melt it as she swooped down. This was going to be tricky but they had an advantage and Todoroki trusted his crewmates.

"Head for the area between the fore and main masts just like I told Tenya." Todoroki said as he worked. "There should be a brown haired girl standing on the top yard of the foremast. She'll make sure they don't hit the deck."

"Come again?" Wendy asked as she angled her wings so that she could be near where Shoto had said to be and looked down at the ship. "I…huh you're right she's there."

Wendy's eyes in dragon form were good but even without them she'd have seen the short, curvy, brunette standing on the yard of the foremast her right hand out and on the rim of the standard crow's nest that was there and the wind buffering the two longer strands of hair that framed her face as the rest was cut in a short and manageable bob that didn't reach her shoulders.

The girl wore a dark pink t-shirt with a skull floating above the pair of crossbones with 5 pad things in some kind of pattern around it emblazoned over her chest. Between the design on the shirt and the tightness of it, at didn't hide the decently impressive swell of her breasts, though they were nothing compared to the female members of Fairy Tail who, with one exception, gave Wendy insecurity over her own chest.

Wendy pushed that from her mind as she noticed that the brunette, who had to be this Ochaco that Shoto had mentioned, also wore white shorts and that was it save for a pink bracer on her right forearm that was oddly thick and bulged more on the outer side than the inner one and a log pose on her left wrist. With Wendy's eyes she could also tell that the girl was fair skinned with brown eyes and very rosy cheeks.

"Good." Todoroki said as they flew over the ship. "Izuku, jump! Ochaco is there to help you."

Izuku didn't so much as jump as fall to the side off Wendy's neck but it showed the trust he had in his crew to listen to Shoto like that. Meanwhile Shoto shoved the now free Katsuki off right after him as they flew so that he fell to the deck but Shoto had full faith that they'd not hit it. After all, Ochaco's Levitate-Levitate Fruit powers did cancel out gravity when she used them.

Shoto didn't see it but this was the case. Ochaco, Wendy was right that the girl on the yard was her, pressed her left hand to her side so that the 5 pads on the tips of her fingers which had formed there after she ate her Devil Fruit were touching and activated them. They glowed pink for a second and she canceled gravity's hold on her before she leapt off the yard and up at the bodies coming towards her.

The first one was conscious and had green hair so she knew that it was her Captain, and crush though she was suppressing that at the moment, Deku while the other was the first mate who Ochaco found irritating due to his attitude towards Deku but put up with it because Deku trusted him. They were crew mates and he was Deku's childhood friend so she'd be there for him like she would anyone else on the crew and right now they both needed her as she flew through the air towards Deku.

Ochaco had trained hard to master this aspect of her power so was easily able to reach Deku as he fell past her and slap his chest with her left hand activating her power the moment she hit it so that he floated there. However, that was just the start as she tucked her legs in and then planted her feet on Deku's muscular chest before she pushed off it send him flying down to the deck and using his body to change directions and head for Katsuki. She trusted that they'd have something to grab him as there were at least two strong capture Devil Fruit powers on the crew along with just generally strong crew members.

As such she put her faith in the other crew members and flew to Katsuki who she could tell was out cold and in bad shape. She was a little off but she was able to twist in the air and slap him hard across the face, it had to be hard to ensure she made contact, and impart her power into him that way so as to stop his fall by canceling gravity's hold on him. With that done Ochaco turned in the air and held her right arm out, fist clenched and low, and pointed it at Mei's laboratory that was the mainmast's crows' nest just as a strand of tape shot up and wrapped around Katsuki's ankle.

Ochaco didn't see this though as she fired out the spiked grabble from the gauntlet and a thin but strong filament cable made from some experimental metal shot from the end of her bracer and impacted into the side of the lab and stuck there. The gauntlet was a support item that Mei had made Ochaco to help her rapidly change directions in the air and safely return to places, one which Ochaco used at that moment and reeled herself in glad that the coating was tough and could hand the piercing without an issue.

The moment that Ochaco was reeled in she looked down and saw that Katsuki was on a stretcher that was held by Eijiro and Rikido and was being strapped to it with Hanta's tape while Deku had been caught by someone to stop his fall and was now just floating off the ground as Tenya approached him to help Deku out. Knowing that they were safe Ochaco brought her finger pads together as she floated there and connected them as she said a single word.

"Release."

With that she canceled her Devil Fruit power and gravity retook its hold on her, Deku, and Katsuki and they all fell. Deku fell a short distance to the coated deck and landed on his feet before he pitched forward and was caught by Hanta just before he hit it right as Tenya reached them while Eijiro and Rikido took the weight of Katsuki and gently lowered him to the coated deck. Ochaco meanwhile fell but the special mechanism in her gauntlet whirred to life and pulled the cable taut so that she briefly dangled there before she pressed a button on the gauntlet to allow her to abseiled down to the deck.

For as annoying as Mei could be, especially with her lack of personal space around Izuku and habit of feeling up his muscles in front of Ochaco thus causing her to get jealous, she was one hell of an inventor and Ochaco easily reached the deck. Once her feet were on the odd coating material she pressed the release button and the grabble shot back into the gauntlet and she looked around just as Shoto landed on the deck while Momo came down the stairs from the forecastle's quarterdeck with others of the crew, mainly Mei, Mina, and Melissa, already on the deck ready to help.

Wendy saw all of this from above before she banked away and flew off to circle Sabaody as she looked for the Black Bulls' ship. As the brunette, who Shoto confirmed was called Ochaco, had been working, Shoto had leapt off her back with a thanks and a promise of aid in the New World and when safely clear blasted fire from his left hand and foot so as to glide back to the ship. Wendy's role was done here and she flew off to help the rest of her crew but she'd had a good impression of the Might Pirates and was looking forward to seeing them again in the New World.

Meanwhile Shoto didn't look back as he glided down and then cut his power just above the deck and landed on the strange, squishy substance that reminded him of the bubbles on Sabaody just as Momo joined the growing situation at hand and Ochaco reeled in her grabble. They were all on the ship though, or should be as the only other crewmember not confirmed back was Toru and with her power it was always hard to tell, and so Shoto had only one question.

"What is this stuff?" Shoto asked as he looked down at his feet.

"It's the coating membrane, it will protect the ship and cause us to dive once the air from the sack under the ship is moved into it." Momo said as Shoto turned to one of his closest friends on the crew not fazed by the fact that she wore only a red bikini, and a very revealing one that did nothing to hide her impressively sized assets at that. "Mei, Melisssa, and I got the rundown from the mechanic who applied it on how it works. As the navigator Ochaco has the instructions for how to sail underwater with the coating as well but right now we have more pressing matters. How bad are the injuries?"

"Izuku was knocked through a few buildings and is likely concussed." Shoto said gesturing to where their Captain was being supported by Hanta though it looked like he was no longer bleeding. "But Katsuki was shot through by some kind of laser. Between his own body temp causing his blood to clot faster and my ice staunching it it's not as bad as it could be and I don't think anything vital was hit but he needs aid."

"I can tell." Momo said as she hurried over to where Katsuki was on the stretcher on the membrane covered deck, one of the many she'd made with her Create-Create Fruit powers, and knelt down to begin her cursory examination and no one spoke for a few moments while Momo checked Katsuki over before she spoke again. "Yes, he'll live but he needs surgery to repair the damage, likely will lose some of his intestines but that's not too bad, and of course he'll need a transfusion just to be safe. Good thing with a crew this size I have enough blood in his type."

"Shoto, take over." Tenya said looking over at the second mate. "The moment we're all here we can leave. We just need Toru and…"

"Oh I'm here, have been all along." Toru said helpfully as the air next to Tenya shimmered as Toru deactivated her power and appeared there the bags on her bulging and two suitcases in her hands and another bag slung over her back as Tenya jumped a bit. "By the way, who was that dragon? That's the second Mythical Zoan I've seen today though a hell of a lot less scary than the one at the Auction House. Man was that guy scary, going to have nightmares for sure, but then again there is a reason why his epithet is the Adaptive Monster and now I know why the second half of that is applicable."

"Toru stop doing that!" Tenya said as Momo continued her examination of Katsuki using tools she was creating from her body as she worked and revealing the reason for her very skimpy outfit as her Devil Fruit allowed her to create inorganic things from the lipids in her body so she needed exposed skin to maximize her fruit's effectiveness. "It's not good for my heart."

"This membrane gave away that I was here." Toru said defensively as she squished her feet on it. "And now we're all here we can go. Right?"

"Yes we need to move." Shoto said taking charge as he looked around. "Er what do we need to do to get moving. I know you mentioned it a moment ago Momo but, well, there's a lot going on."

"No worries, there's a sack under the ship with air in it that will be our air supply while we're underwater and right now is keeping us buoyant right now." Momo said not looking up from her work. "It needs to be released so that we dive but it can only be done underwater and well most of us can't swim."

"Good thing our shipwright refuse to eat a Devil Fruit." Shoto said as he turned and saw the blonde woman who was their shipwright arguing with a shorter girl with messy pink dreadlocks and wearing a black tank top and blue pants with a white stripe down the edge who was sitting on the deck with her back to the mainmast as if exhausted, which given that the pinkette had a pair of sea prism stone cuffs on her wrists made sense. "Hey Melissa, do you know how to do whatever Momo just talked about."

"Huh, oh the sack yes I got the briefing with her and Mei so I know how to release it." Melissa said turning and Shoto noted that she was only wearing a one piece blue swimsuit and no glasses, which wasn't normal for her but given what she had to do it made sense for her to be ready to swim at a moment's notice. "Sorry, Mei's upset that she has to be cuffed."

"I promise I won't work while we're underwater." Mei complained. "I'm a Devil Fruit user as well so I'd die too if I blew something up and punctured the bubble, well if I couldn't hold my breath until the I reached the surface thanks to the buoyancy device all of us with Devil Fruit powers wear, well if I remember to wear it that is. That said the bubble really sturdy so I'm sure even I'd struggle to burst it, I think."

"Mei, you and I both know that you'd do that if you got an idea." Melissa said looking at her friend and fellow inventor who served as the crew's engineer and assistant shipwright while Melissa was also the assistant engineer to Mei. "There's a reason why I designed the crow's nests like this so that it would be safe for you rather than working below decks like I do. However, we can't do that while underwater, especially because the bubble won't reach the crow's nest, so this is safest as you would use my workshop below deck if the idea hit you. Captain Deku approved it the other day and his word is law on the ship."

"I know but this is so tiring and the cuffs are cumbersome." Mei moaned. "At least let me tinker with the video transponder snail that I've been working on. I'm close to completion, I know it."

"That's fine, it's already past the blowing up phase and I'll help there as we need the right frequency to intercept the Navy's video waves but for now just relax and draw up some blueprints for things you want to make in the New World." Melissa said. "For now I need to help out."

"Thank you Melissa and if you could scrub up and join me in the infirmary when you're back I could use your steady hands helping me out if you don't mind." Momo said as she finished checking over Katsuki to make sure he was stable and looked over to her as Eijiro and Rikido picked up the stretcher and made their way to the med bay in the second level of the aftercastle while Hanta and Ochaco helped Izuku walk there as he'd have to be looked at afterwards. "You're the only one qualified to aid me when I perform surgery and this will be a two person job. Mina, go to the infirmary as well, I you're your disinfecting acid ready as everything needs to be clean and sterile for this operation."

"On it Yao-Momo." Mina said speaking for the first time as she hurried off behind the others.

"Of course Momo." Melissa said more than happy to assist Momo in her duties as the ship's doctor as she walked to the edge of the ship. "I'll be a moment but do start without me if you can."

"I will do what I can by myself before you arrive don't worry." Momo said as she turned and followed the others up to begin preparations while giving orders. "Mina, start by filling the special sink with acid at…"

As Momo did this Melissa hoisted herself onto the ship's railing so that she was sitting on it and then swung her legs over and around it before she pushed herself off so that she fell feet first into the water and plunged into the cold, salty, sea of the Grand Line. She shank a bit and then tipped forward as she began to swim down and under the ship to the air sack that would be their air for the trip to Fish-man island and ensure that they sunk down.

She'd been given the instructions along with Momo, and Mei as to how the coating worked and this was her main role in it as she could actually swim. As Melissa swam under the ship she couldn't help by think back on how she ended up here in the first place.

Like many on the ship, Melissa's journey to a life of piracy and becoming a member of the Might Pirates was a rather odd one and not the life she would have chosen for herself a few years ago as she'd never intended on becoming a pirate. All she'd wanted to be was like her father, a skilled scientist and inventor who made things that helped people but alas events had caused that to change for her in a rather drastic way when her father got desperate and made a mistake that arose the ire of the World Government.

Melissa wasn't sure what that mistake was but she did remember him telling her that the World Government would soon be coming to their home in the West Blue the year before to take him away to pay for whatever he did by working directly for the Navy. It wasn't something that he'd ever wanted but he had to pay for his mistake and this was the best way even if he'd be worked to the bone by the Navy.

What had saved him from prison or slavery though had been his contacts, one of whom who Melissa only knew as Uncle Might, had been key in ensuring that her father's atoned by service to the Navy rather than something worse. As such, it was to him who her father, Shield David, had sent her so that she'd be safe and he'd made sure that Melissa left before he was taken by the World Government so that she couldn't be used against him.

Naturally, Melissa had not wanted to leave her father but she had to and so she did knowing that this was for the best. As such she set sail in a special boat of her own design, she wasn't an official shipwright but she could build ships with ease, and sailed the West Blue where she came from in search of Uncle Might using his vivre card that her father had given her.

Thankfully, Uncle Might was in the West Blue at the time, though why he was there or why he looked so gaunt he didn't tell Melissa when they met up, but he did say that he couldn't help her or protect her as he had his own thing to do. That and his body was too weak to protect her, which Melissa could unfortunately see. However, he did give her a vivre card for a boy who he trusted as much as he trusted her father and told her to seek out a teen called Midoriya Izuku as he would protect her and could use her skills.

Melissa had been skeptical at this but her father trusted Uncle Might so she'd done so as well and was shocked to learn that Midoriya Izuku was already an established pirate already on the Grand Line when she finally tracked him down. That had been surprising as she'd never really liked pirates due to their reputation, the West Blue was well known as where Capone 'Gang' Bege had made a name for himself along with the actions of the Rose and Fairy Tail Pirates though they weren't as violent as the Fire Tank Pirates were, but what was equally surprising was that Izuku, or Deku as he was called by some including Melissa, was from the East Blue.

It was all very confusing but Uncle Might had put a lot of trust in Izuku, in fact Izuku was one of only 5 people including her father who had a piece of Uncle Might's vivre card, and his ship was an homage to the man so Melissa trusted him as well. In that vein she asked to join his crew when she managed to run into Izuku right before one of the incidents that boosted his bounty.

It was an incident that she ended up aiding him and the Might Pirates in, mainly by supplementing the crazy engineer on the crew with her own items and showing how to fix the ship, so she'd proved her worth and as Izuku had saved her during the confrontation they were involved in so she knew she could trust him. In the wake of it, and after she revealed her own connections to the man Izuku knew simply as Might, he formally asked her to join his crew which she did becoming the 22nd member and most recent one.

Melissa's expertise was instantly shown as she was a good balance to Mei and her skills with ships got her named the shipwright shortly after she joined making her an officer on the crew. Regardless, she never let it go to her head or saw herself as above anyone on the crew who didn't have an official position yet.

The same was when she earned a bounty following the take down of a Warlord shortly before Sabaody when the whole crew got bounties, hers being 12 million berries which was actually the lowest on the crew, and was given the epithet of 'The Legend's Heiress' once her connection to her father was revealed. That said most of the girls on the crew didn't care for their bounties the way the guys did so it wasn't a big deal and having the lowest didn't bother Melissa at all.

Yup it had been a crazy ride to get to this point but after all their adventures Melissa wouldn't trade it for the world and was glad she'd trusted her father and Uncle Might and sought out Deku so as to join his crew. Now she was a valued member of a crew that was like family to her and she was loving life so she was going to do all she could to help as she flipped the switch that would transfer the air from the sack to the bubble.

Of course one of her biggest, and simplest, ways that Melissa was able to help was swimming as she refused to ever eat a Devil Fruit which meant that Melissa was one of the few who could aid in this regard and the only one who'd made sure she could long term as the others without powers wanted them. As such she was the best choice for things like this and enjoyed doing it as she finished her work and turned to swim back to the surface as the bubble filled with air. She had more jobs to do after all and they had the New World to reach.

The moment that Melissa's head broke the surface of the water, she'd swum through the expanding bubble of coating as she'd returned, and took in a deep breath of air a rope ladder was tossed over the side and she swam to it and began to climb as the bubble continued to fill with air. It was time to leave and she had work to do though she needed to dry off and warm up first before she could help Momo with the operation on Katsuki.

"Here, you'll need this baby that I whipped up a while back." Mei said as Melissa hauled herself over the railing and fell to the deck, unlike the rest of the crew she wasn't in the best physical shape, and panted from the exercise as she lay wetly on the deck and looked up at the grinning face of Hatsume Mei and into her oddly crosshair eyes that were a result of the Zoom-Zoom Fruit that Mei had eaten as Mei laid a heated towel over her. "It's going to be cold when we submerge so I got this out of storage the other day so as to make more but it works for swimming as well, or when I almost drown after being blown into the ocean."

"That's only because you often forget to wear the buoyancy device that you made." Melissa said as a heated towel fell over her and she took a moment to enjoy it. "I'd rather not fish you out of the sea every few days."

"Yeah but you can swim so it's fine." Mei said with a grin. "Now get dry. Remember, Momo needs you and I'm not allowed to help."

"Soft touch is not your specialty but you can do first aid better than most so see if Deku needs it as we need our navigator on deck for this and not worried over her love as he's patched up." Melissa said as she sat up and pulled the towel around her as she began to dry herself. "But we should go, the bubble is now up."

"That it is." Ida said looking up at it. "Very well, anchors up and take us down Mezo."

Mezo, the tallest member of the crew and their helmsman nodded from behind the mask he always wore over the lower half of his face as he spun the wheel and brought them out as they began to sink. It was time to head to the New World and the Might Pirates were ready for all that it would entail as they left Sabaody behind them unaware of what was about to come that would shake the foundations of the world as they knew it.

---

"Noelle, take the helm, Finral make a gate to the infirmary, Nero get there and tend to Asta's injuries." Yami said as his legs reformed on the other side of the portal and he landed on the squishy deck of the coated ship and turned to see Finral coming through and the gate closing behind him while Nacht melded into the shadows to no doubt return to his own room and relax after spending most of the day in shadows spying on various things throughout Sabaody. "Magna, swim down and release the air so we can sink, we're heading to the New World."

"Er, Captain, we can't do some of that right now." Noelle said though Finral did create a portal that Yami tossed an unconscious Asta through, something that worried Noelle but Nero put a comforting hand on her shoulder and squeezed her reassuringly before walking through the portal after Asta without a word to tend to him and Noelle trusted the other girl as the ship's doctor to make sure that Asta was ok so she continued to address her Captain. "We, er, had to help out some other pirates and now they need to be picked up by one of their crew mates."

"Come again, what do you…oh I see." Yami said as he turned and noticed for the first time that with Noelle were two unknown girls, a blue haired girl in a blue dress thing and wearing a strange hat and a blonde girl in a blue and white ensemble with a familiar looking tattoo in pink on the back of her right hand that Yami recognized as he'd seen it recently only the one he'd seen had been in red. "Care to explain why two Fairy Tail Pirates are on my ship?"

Said ship wasn't actually fully Yami's and was odd to say the least, which was what Lucy and Juvia had noticed upon stepping onto the coated deck with Noelle and Nero moments before. That's because while the main body of it was what you'd expect from a ship on the Grand Line though the hull was black with gold accents on the railing and around the cannon holes, and the deck was a dark wood, it was the interior of the ship that was unlike any the girls had seen. Then again how many ships did you see that had actual stone buildings on it.

That was what didn't make sense to the girls. The deck in the center of the ship was wood, as was the lone, tall mast with 5 sails alternating between black and gold with the latter being the top bottom and middle ones showing the black bull skull over a pair of crossed katanas that was their jolly roger in an odd, but not unheard of, deviation from the usual white and black jolly roger, which was also confirmed by the flag above the small hut-like crow's nest, but the fore and aftercastles were actual stone buildings.

They looked segmented with no real rhyme, reason, or architectural style to them and they were built up in different levels though the aftercastle was larger than the forecastle and they were complete with chimneys, one of which was smoking, patios and slanted roofs. Even the figure head was a blocky stone bull's head, well it looked like that anyway and given the crew's name it was almost certainly that.

To add to it all the helm wasn't on either of the castles but on the main deck right in front of the sole mast, which meant that vision was nonexistent. Noelle had been told to go to the helm so clearly her Juvia level unique Devil Fruit power allowed for the helm to be there and while the fairies didn't know it, it was specially designed for Noelle and her Devil Fruit as part of her role as helmswoman of the crew. Regardless, the whole ship made no sense and they couldn't begin to figure out how it would sail even if it clearly could sail as it was here.

"Sorry for the intrusion Captain Yami but due to the incident on Sabaody and our own moronic Captain charging into battle for no reason other than pride we had to make our own way back to our ship." Lucy said her tone respectful as she bowed formally to Yami while he looked at her while Juvia did the same next to her. "Annoyingly we ran into some marines along the way who tried to stop us. Naturally, we beat them but then Juvia was dragged into Noelle's fight by her Devil Fruit power and when that was over your crew members offered us a quick way off the archipelago to avoid more marines while our Captain got his fight out of his system. We know we should have asked but, well, the situation was dire."

"I see well I've sparred with your Captain and he's strong though I didn't get to see his beast form so I'm not surprised that he decided to test his limits with an Admiral on Sabaody and see if he could push past them like I did." Yami said as he lit a new cigarette and the girls rose from their bows. "He's my kinda guy, I can tell. I take it your ship was docked farther away and so it was easier to us Finral's Gate-Gate powers to get here and be picked up than make your way back to your ship after your little spat with the marines."

"It is." Lucy said a little disturbed by how the Black Bulls' Captain praised Natsu as it seemed like Yami might be as crazy as Natsu and wondering if there was anything standing from a sparring match between the two, which in fact there was not. "But one of our crew mates is coming for us, we, er, have a good fast travel system though not as good as yours."

"Well Finral ate the Gate-Gate Fruit which is second only to the Warp-Warp Fruit for fast travel from what I understand though distance wise I've heard that the Paw-Paw Fruit is the fasted, not that I can claim to have tested that." Yami said. "And I know your Captain has the Fish-Fish Fruit, model: Igneel which enables him to fly. Very well, I don't mind helping but your Captain owes me for this. Now to start the repayment how about you two tell me what your Devil Fruits are, if you have one."

"We both do." Juvia said understanding that this exchange of information was necessary after what the Black Bulls had done for them. "And, um, I am like your crew member Noelle in that my Devil Fruit is one that many don't believe exists."

"Water based then." Yami said as he took a drag of his cigarette. "Noelle's proof they exist and given that blondie said Noelle grabbed you with her power I'm going to presume you've eaten the Logia fruit that many believe is just a myth."

"Correct sir." Juvia said holding her arm out and turning it to water. "I ate the Wave-Wave Fruit and became a Water Woman. Of course this does nothing to negate my weakness to other sources of water but I can at least create my own."

"Figured, so you're a fellow Logia type and one that is rather annoying to deal with." Yami said and both girls understood the implications of his words though they'd ask Natsu later if he knew exactly what Logia type Devil Fruit Yami had. "Reinforces the need for my crew to learn Haki. Right and you blondie."

"My name's Lucy and my crew mate is called Juvia; I apologize for not introducing ourselves." Lucy said rectifying that mistake. "And I ate the Key-Key Fruit. It's a Paramecia type that allows me to create keys tied to constellations that serve various purposes when I use them on myself. It's, er, complicated and esoteric."

"Sounds it but there are Devil Fruits like that so this is good to know." Yami said. "One last thing, I take it you're being picked up by Salamander in his beast form. Right?"

"Um maybe but, well, he's not the only Mythical Zoan user on our crew." Lucy said. "And Wendy was with us so it could be her. Actually knowing Natsu it's almost certainly going to be her. Also her Devil Fruit is also from the Fish-Fish line so it will be a dragon that arrives for us."

"So you have more well that's good to know, no wonder you're a notorious bunch." Yami said a hint of respect in his voice. "Very well we'll sort it out. Henry, make a landing pad atop the aftercastle that is large enough to handle something as big as a mid-sized Sea King."

The girls blinked at this as Yami shouted the last part to the air but as he did there was a grating sound from off to the side and they turned to see that midway up the aftercastle the stones were moving apart to reveal a man standing there in nothing but white pajamas under the Black Bull robe that they all seemed to wear. He had an absolute mass of messy, unkempt, light blue hair that fell to past his knees and covered his eyes but it didn't seem to bother him as he stood there, his hands glowing and on a plinth that was in front of him.

"Yes Captain." Henry said his voice slow and enunciating every word as he spoke. "One moment, I need to be delicate what with the coating but it should hold."

"Of course be as careful as possible then." Yami said as the aftercastle began to shift and change shape as stones broke from the sides moved up while the top flattened so as to expand the roof of it such that a large animal could land on it while more moved from the sides to add support to it as they didn't know how heavy Wendy was in her dragon form. "We need to get moving if we want to reach out destination soon so we can't afford to waste time recoating the ship."

"What's going on?" Juvia asked her eyes wide. "That's got to be a Devil Fruit, right?"

"It is, the Recombine-Recombine Fruit." Yami said as he took another drag of his cigarette. "It allows Henry to control whatever he's designated as his dwelling as he sees fit. This ship was specially made to incorporate it so only the hull, deck, helm, keel, and mast were actually built by a shipwright, the rest is Henry's home recombined into it so now he can control that aspect of it as well. He serves as our shipwright because of it and it gives us some added versatility that most don't have. Add in Noelle's Sea-Sea powers at the helm and we've got a ship few can match. That is the strength of the Raging Black Bull."

"Impressive." Lucy said and meaning it. "And our ship is only our ship because the stupid first mate tried to eat the original figurehead and Natsu had to buy it because of the damage that Happy caused. Still big enough for us even if we're constantly in debt because of it."

"Well it's still better than the first ship I sailed on and we've got someone like Henry in our crew so it's not too bad." Juvia noted as the platform finished. "Um, can we go up there and wait, it will be easier to spot Wendy from it and we can confirm it's her so as to avoid a panic."

"Sure, Finral, gate." Yami said not looking at the man. "Noelle, stand by, the moment that they're gone we're going to expand the coating and go under which will be when your power will be needed."

"Yes Captain." Noelle said with a nod before looking at Juvia and Lucy. "Juvia, Lucy, it was nice to meet you."

"You too Noelle." Juvia said with a smile. "I hope to meet you in the New World."

"Same." Lucy added.

"I'm not your personal taxi you know." Finral complained as he made a gate before the girls with the corresponding one appearing on the landing pad that Henry had made.

Yami just chuckled at Finral's complaint as the girls walked through the gate before he did as well causing Finral to groan but say nothing as he closed the gate and hung around. He knew he'd have to as soon Yami might need to go to the toilet and that was often too close for anything but his Gate-Gate powers to prevent.

Meanwhile Yami and the girls stepped out onto the coated platform and looked out. As they did there was a spec in the distance that began to come towards them though Yami couldn't make it out at first so he pulled out a spyglass from a pouch on his hip and looked through it to confirm that it was what he thought it was. Sure enough the moment he did he saw a graceful white dragon with wings the way dragons were depicted outside of Wano was flying towards them with fur or feathers covering it. It clearly wasn't Salamander so it had to be the other person, Wendy, if he recalled.

"There's a white dragon coming." Yami said. "Is that your crewmate?"

"White means that it's Wendy." Juvia said as Yami handed the spyglass to Lucy who looked through it. "Red is Lucy's love Natsu."

"I don't love him." Lucy said defensively her cheeks flaring red as she denied what she wasn't ready to confirm to herself let alone anyone else and focused on the dragon. "And yes that's defiantly Wendy. She's smaller and has less destructive power compared to Natsu but she's faster."

"Alright." Yami said before he turned and raised his voice so that those present could hear, especially whoever was in the crow's nest at the moment though as it was likely Zora it wouldn't matter as the guy usually napped when he was up there. "Attention, the white dragon coming to us is friendly, don't fire at her or attack her in anyway."

"I wish I could say that I was surprised by that." Finral said with a groan. "But I'm not."

Yami just ignored another of Finral's complaints as he turned back and watched the dragon approach in silence so that he could get a good sense of her. It didn't take long, this dragon was swift in the air, possibly even faster than Kaido, and was soon visible without the spyglass so Yami put it away.

As he did the dragon tucked her wings in and dove only to morph back to human form as she neared the platform and Yami was actually blinking in surprise as a blue haired girl who couldn't be older than 14 and wearing only a blue and green dress with the Fairy Tail jolly roger tattooed in blue on her left shoulder landed on the platform in a crouch. She was panting and staying in her crouch for a moment before she rose a little unsteadily and blinked at the tall, buff, man before her.

"So this is Wendy." Yami said not showing his surprise at her human appearance. "Not what I was expecting."

"Oh, well, um, sorry to disappoint." Wendy said with a hint of embarrassment and taken a little aback by the man which was made more confusing by how much he sounded like her crewmate Elfman though he wasn't as buff as Elfman was. "I'm the youngest member of my crew but Captain Natsu is busy and I had to drop off some other pirates on their ship after Natsu aided them back on Sabaody so I'm here instead."

"It's not a bad thing, just a surprise that's all as you clearly know your power well." Yami said. "I'm Yami Sukehiro, Captain of the Black Bull Pirates. You're here to take your crewmates I presume."

"Yes and while I'd like to chat I do have to get them back to the Mavis as we need to get underway given the current situation." Wendy said opting not to add that she wasn't the most sea worthy person and even anchored she could have issues on a ship if it rocked too much so needed to be off it as soon as possible. "So if you don't mind, I'll do that now. We owe you for this though."

"That you do and I will collect from your Captain in time but I understand, we need to leave as well." Yami said with a nod. "We'll no doubt see you in the New World."

The girls just nodded at that before Wendy changed back into her full beast form, which was a sight to behold, and lowered her neck so that Juvia and Lucy could leap on with the former not using her Devil Fruit powers just to be safe. Then with a final thanks, Wendy turned and tensed her legs and foreclaws as carefully as she could given the coating, really happy to be on a stone surface and pushed off it her wings extended to glide for as far as she could before flapping them and taking her crew mates away.

Yami watched them for a moment not sure what to think but given their powers, one of which was a legendary Logia that many thought couldn't exist and another a second Fish-Fish Mythical Zoan model, it showed Yami one thing; the Fairy Tail pirates had some strong talent on their crew. Their Captain's bounty and reputation was clearly well earned and Yami was looking forward to what they could bring to the New World and with a favor to cash in he might be able to entice Salamander into aiding him in a few years but that would come in time.

Right now, however, they had to head out and Yami turned and looked down on his ship, well his and Henry's, and gave the orders. They had one stop to make and then it was to the New World and all that that entailed.

"Magna, get into the water and pull the lever on the air bubble to expand the coating." Yami said as the stones began to shift back to normal showing that Henry was already on it without needing to be told. "Henry, as soon as it's up raise anchor and let's sink. Noelle, you have the helm and keep your powers ready as we'll be rising the sea currents as soon as we're submerged. It's time to head to the New World."

With that those crew members present, basically the ones who Yami had named plus Finral who as the navigator had the instructions for how to sail a coated ship underwater, cheered before Magna dove over the side and into the water to release the bubble as he was one of the few on the crew without a Devil Fruit power, and the trip to the New World began. The Black Bulls were leaving Sabaody behind them and soon they'd reach a place where they'd learn of what was about to happen and from there witness the events that would reshape the world in the years to come.

---

Wendy flew high into the air with Juvia and Lucy on her back so that she could use the white clouds and light blue sky as cover just to be safe. There was a Navy Battleship moored just off the archipelago and she'd been flying long enough to potentially draw attention though thankfully it was far enough away from where the Mavis was anchored that it shouldn't be an issue. Still it was better to be safe and Wendy made sure to remain high in the sky as she circled around the archipelago until she saw their ship and dove for it while Juvia and Lucy held on not talking due to the speed Wendy was flying at.

Even from this high up Wendy would recognize the Mavis anywhere. It was a large and wide pirate ship though it only had two masts, a central one and a rear one that exited the top of the poop deck and carried on through the four story aftercastle with a rudder sail out the back of it to aid in steering the ship.

Said rudder sail had a green, white, and orange color scheme in vertical stripes while the main sails, all 8 with the 5 on the central mainmast and the three on the mizzenmast, being white with their jolly roger in orange on the center sail of the center mast and flying from the two standard crows nests that they had though there was a covering for the central one that could be raised if need be. By contrast, the prow of the ship was wide and clear but for the helm atop the two story forecastle with a quarter deck between the levels.

This had been a useful coincidence because when Natsu, along with Happy, Gray, Erza, and Lisanna, had founded their crew they'd needed a ship with enough space and strength to handle Natsu's full beast form if he landed or transformed on the ship but they'd been forced to buy the Mavis because at the time it had an apparently very tuna figurehead that Happy, a Cat Mink, had though it was real and subsequently tried to eat it as his favorite food was raw fish. It hadn't helped that the design on the hull of the ship was fish scales which had added to Happy's confusion.

As a result they had to buy it and they were still paying it off by sending over half of what they earned back to the West Blue to the shipyard via special couriers designed for that purpose. That was on top of the damages they usually had to pay for with the destruction they caused, when they stayed long enough to get any money to pay for said damages, so they were almost constantly broke.

Still, it was a fun adventure and the crew was one big family so none of them minded too much. Such was the life of a pirate, they lived free and how they wanted to live and at least food was not an issue as they could hunt and fish for what they needed.

Of course after the incident of the ship Natsu had had the figurehead changed as soon as possible. It helped that one of his first recruits was a shipwright called Laki who'd eaten the Wood-Wood Fruit which allowed her to manipulate any wood she was in contact with. Thanks to her power, and after Laki had been prevented from turning an entire room into a torture suite, they'd reshaped the broken figurehead from a tuna into the upper body of a girl with long flowing blonde hair that ran into the railing around the ship and wearing a light pink dress of sorts with her eyes closed as if in prayer.

This was supposed to be the representation of 'Mavis' who the ship was named after but like with the odd choice of an orange on white jolly roger, though they were allowed to chose any color for their personal tattoos that all crew members had to have, Natsu didn't explain the reason behind the ship's name or the likeness used for the figurehead. It worked though and fit better than the damaged fish even if Happy personally preferred the fish figurehead.

In addition Natsu had had the scales pained red to match his own rather than look like standard fish scales but when first Gajeel and then Wendy joined the crew lines of scales were changed to be dark gray and white as well to show the three Fish-Fish Mythical Zoan fruits on the crew. Other colors were haphazardly splashed over the deck, mast, and railing for the other members of the crew to show the family unit that they were.

It was a comforting sight and Wendy let out a happy roar to alert the ship that she was incoming though they should notice as she dove down as Carla likely had a lookout in one of the crow's nests due to how efficient she was as the ship's quartermaster. Thankfully, they did and as she banked so that she could come in on the prow where there was space, Wendy saw the anchor being raised and the sails lowered which meant that they'd soon set sail though as the ship wasn't coated this was just to clear our for a bit while the heat on Sabaody died down.

"Right I'm changing back." Wendy called out to her passengers. "Juvia, grab Lucy."

"On it." Juvia said and before Lucy could object the other woman grabbed her around the waist and tipped sideways off Wendy. "Come on let's see if your lover is on his feet and if not then I'm sure you can tend to him while his cat runs the ship."

All Lucy could do was let out a wail of protest as they fell through the air before Juvia turned her lower half to water the moment it was safe to do so. She then flew down to the main carrying Lucy before dropping her onto the deck to land in a crouch and then fly up to the helm to take it. She was the helmswoman after all and with the usual issues that Natsu had it was safer to just be in position.

Wendy didn't see any of this as she banked around and flew down lower as the wind caught the sails and shifted back to her human form the moment she knew it was safe to do so. It was still a decent drop to the foredeck from where she changed back but as a Mythical Zoan user and a dragon type at that Wendy was a lot sturdier than most and easily landed in a crouch on the foredeck but as she did they hit a swell and the seasickness that she suffered from overtook her in that instance and she crashed to the side with a moan while Juvia turned her head around using her Devil Fruit powers to make sure that Wendy was ok.

Other than the nausea Wendy was fin but such was the curse that she, Natsu, and Gajeel lived with. For whatever reason, those who'd eaten the more specific Fish-Fish Fruits like they had gained enhanced senses that were damned useful but had the tradeoff of making them prone to motion sickness, in this case seasickness, which made sailing an issue.

The fact that their Captain was like this meant that most journeys were run by his first mate Happy, which in reality meant that Erza ran the show while Carla did the administrative work, but it was a small side effect that could clear up after a few days to be manageable. Alas, after any extended time on dry land the seasickness always hit hard for the first day or two.

As such Wendy just moaned there feeling like she was in hell and not because of all the flying that she'd just done and knowing that Natsu was like this below on the main deck as Lucy tended to him while Wendy's best friend and partner, one of the other cat minks on the crew, was no doubt rushing to her as soon as she was finished with her duties as the crew's quartermaster. That would be good because it was time to lay low and get away from Sabaody but as they sailed one of their crew came onto the deck with a newspaper that held the news that would signal the war to come, a war that would change the world.

I think that that's a good place to end this chapter on, a good little glimpse of the 5 new crews fleeing while Kuma separates the Straw Hats in the background and we see some of the interplay between three of the crews. More on their next stage plans and how the internal layouts of the ships look to come in the next chapter which will be the first of two bridge chapters to close out the Sabaody arc and set up the Marineford arc though there will be a short arc between now and Marineford to look forward to as well. Lastly, I know that Laki's Devil Fruit sounds like the new Admiral from the end of Wano's Devil Fruit but his is the Woods-Woods Fruit in English and a Logia type, Laki's is the Wood-Wood Fruit singular and is a Paramecia type that works similarly to Pica's Stone-Stone powers. Also, remember that in addition to other suggestions I will listen to personal jolly roger suggestions and if I like them I may use them as designs on t-shirts that characters wear similar to how Perona had one that Nami stole and the one that Killer wears in canon and what Ochaco was wearing in this chapter. Anyway, that's all that I have for y'all, however, so I'll leave this chapter off here. If you liked this please favorite, follow, leave a review, or let me know in a PM and if there are any questions will posed in reviews and PMs I will try to answer them as best I can. Until next time.

Stringdog