"Usopp, Chopper, Ruby, look, look!" Luffy called to the three youngest of the Straw Hats Pirate. The four looked at the South Bird caged on Going Merry as Luffy slowly moved the South Bird's head, "If we move his head away from the south..." He grinned as the South Bird's face slowly turned sour.
The South Bird's face turned from sour to pained expression before it turned toward back South, "It will immediately turn his head toward the south!" Luffy laughed out loud.
Usopp put his hand on his chin. "Gee, there sure are weird birds in this world..."
Ruby nodded, "This world is full of astonishing things!" She grinned happily while patting the head of the South Bird. The South Bird gave an annoyed expression and chirped, "What did he say?" She asked turning towards Chopper.
Chopper looked up at Ruby. "He said, I will move my head towards another side to mess with your voyage."
Luffy and Ruby looked at the South Bird before the two burst into a fit of laughter.
"Hahahaha! Just try it, if you can!?" Luffy taunted as the bird clicked his tongue and turned his head toward the north.
"Hey, he moves his head toward north..." Ruby commented as the South Bird's face turned sour, uncomfortable, and hurt. Seconds later he turned his head back to South, much to the four's delight. "He has to face the south, or he will get uncomfortable!" She said while laughing alongside Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp.
Nami and Blake appeared behind the four and without warning hit them each on the head.
"Take this journey a little seriously..." Nami said, annoyance clear on her face.
"Don't bully that poor animal... " Blake said.
The South Bird looked at the four on the ground and squawked in delight. Nami sighed, turning towards the crow nest.
"Yang! Do you see anything!?"
Yang looked around with a pair of binoculars and shook her head. "Nothing to see here except the warm weather... AH!?"
"What's wrong!?" Nami asked as the four on the ground got up.
"There is a vast thundercloud to the Southwest!?" Yang shouted toward Nami.
"Are you sure, blondie? This is not the time yet!?" Masira shouted from his ship.
Yang huffed in annoyance.
"If you don't believe me, just look at it yourself!?"
A crewmate of Masira walked toward him with binoculars.
"S-She is right, boss! There are thunderclouds in the Southwest!?" The crewmate said in disbelief.
Yang gave Masira a smug smile.
"Damn it! Can we make it, Shoujou!?" Masira turned to Shoujou's ship.
"We have to!" Shoujou turned toward his diving crewmates. "Hey, all of you, hurry up, dive, and check the current streams!" He shouted at his crewmates who immediately did as they were told.
Usopp walked up toward the front of Merry and used his goggles to look at the vast thundercloud.
"So that's the Emperor cloud..." Usopp said, a slight hint of fear in his voice.
Luffy looked at the Emperor's cloud, his eyes shining like a child as he cheered loudly. The sea suddenly became wild moving their ships left and right.
"What's wrong!?" Weiss asked as she and Sanji walked out of the kitchen with trays full of food.
Weiss was desperately trying to find good footing so as not to drop the food while Sanji looked unaffected by the rocking of the ship.
"The Emperor Cloud has been sighted! But we still haven't located the knock-up stream!" Nami shouted from her place at the front of the ship.
"What!?" Weiss immediately closed her ears as Shoujou started to use his voice to locate the knock-up stream. "What now..." She muttered, a bit irritated as she looked down to see the divers of the Monkey Alliance pop out from the sea.
"Reverberation confirmed! Giant current discovered twelve o'clock!?"
"Giant creature also detected, Nine o'clock! Possibly a sea monster!?"
"Wave detected ten o'clock coming against the direction of current! Possibility of a giant whirlpool!?"
"That's it! Turn the prow to ten o'clock! That's the sign of the knock-up stream! Head for that giant whirlpool, all of you! " Masira shouted as the Straw hats crew started to move.
Ruby immediately took control of the ship while Zoro and Yang held the wings of Merry. Blake moved to prepare the sail. Just as she was about to start she suddenly froze.
"Wait, did he say a giant whirlpool... KYAH!"
Blake gripped the pole of the mast in fear as the waves suddenly got rougher again.
"AAAAGH! WE'RE GONNA SINK!" Usopp shouted with Chopper running around behind him in a panic.
"It's the tremor before the explosion! Watch out!?" Masira pointed out as Nico Robin held onto the ship and looked toward Nami, "Navigator! What about the log pose?"
Nami looked at her log pose.
"It's pointing straight at that cloud... KYAH!" She screamed as she held the ship tightly.
Their ship, Going Merry, suddenly flew in the air.
"We're flying!?" Yang shouted, her eyes going wide in a mix of exhilaration and fear.
"What the heck!?" Usopp screamed.
Masira felt the wind, and grinned, "The wind is perfect! The emperor cloud is heading straight for the whirlpool?" He shouted at the Straw Hat Pirate.
"Huh!? What Whirlpool!?" Weiss said as the ship reverberated. She looked up front to see a rope attached to the head of the Going Merry.
"We will tow you to the whirlpool!?" Masira said as Weiss turned toward him.
"Then what do we do!?" Weiss asked placing the food down to try and tighten the rope.
"Sail into the current! If you can make it to the center of the whirlpool, you should be fine!" He shouted as the giant whirlpool, more extensive than anything they had ever seen appeared in front of them.
"Wait, wait, I don't sign up for this shit!?" Blake shouted her mouth hanging agape in horror.
"No one! Said anything about this!" Nami cried.
"Hahaha! This world is full of so many fun things..." Yang chuckled, in an attempt to keep herself calm.
"So we will get blasted up in the middle of that whirlpool..." Chopper said in amazement, but then he realized what he had just said. "WE ARE GOING TO DIE!?"
"I've never seen such a big whirlpool before," Robin commented.
"Stop! Stop! Let's go back!?" Usopp screamed while crying.
"It's pointless, Usopp. You know who's already on board." Weiss pointed at Luffy.
"We just have to take our chances here." Zoro grinned.
"Let's go!" Luffy shouted.
"Luffy." Ruby said, her voice portraying a slight horror.
"Hm?"
Ruby pointed from her spot next to him out towards the whirlpool where a colossal sea monster was struggling against the current. The beast struggled for a few seconds before inevitably drowning.
Behind them, Usopp, Nami, and Chopper shook with fear at the sight.
"Okay then..." Zoro said, his voice calm.
The three turned and much to their disbelief found Zoro, and Weiss cutting the rope.
"All right, guys! You're on your own from this here! Good luck!?" Masira shouted pulling his rope back.
Luffy stood on the top of Merry's head, "Thank you! Bye! Give the diamond head old guy our regards!?" He shouted while waving at them with Ruby.
"What the heck!?" Usopp and Blake shouted. "Agh! Gimme a break! I'm scared! We are going to die!? I want to go home! We're all going to die!?" Usopp shouted.
"This is bullshit! Nobody said anything about a giant whirlpool!?" Blake screamed in panic.
"Stop bring us back!" Nami screamed, reaching out for the Monkey Alliance ship that was quickly moving away. Then the boat swayed. "AAAGH! WE ARE BEING SUCKED INTO THE WHIRLPOOL!?"
"Let's turn around, Luffy! There is still time." Usopp shouted, but his Captain ignored him. "What are you doing!? Don't you see! We're getting swallowed."
Luffy remained silent, his back towards his crew as he stared up at the sky.
"T-That's right. Sky Island is just a dream, a myth!" Chopper suddenly said.
"He's right, Luffy! I think it's impossible to reach there!?" Nami said as Blake nodded her head off behind her.
"This is getting very dangerous Luffy, perhaps we should turn back." Weiss said.
Ruby grabbed onto the hem of Luffy's vest pulling it slightly.
"Luffy, I love these adventures too, but maybe the others are right. This one's too dangerous, and we don't know if the sky island is real or not." Ruby said.
"A dream, huh?" Luffy turned towards his crew.
His voice was calm, and he was smiling like he almost always was. In his eyes, however, there was an undeniable fire that cut off any more complaints and froze them all in their tracks.
"Now that sounds like an adventure."
Not for the first time Ruby looked at Luffy like he was one of those legendary heroes from the books her mother used to read to her as a child. As she continued to stare at him forgetting the situation they were in currently, she had just a single thought.
'I want to be like you.'
It wasn't the first time in her life that she'd thought this way. As a little girl she of course looked up to her father, uncle, and big sister, but they were her family. She was supposed to look up to them. There was also her mother of course and while Ruby wanted to be like Summer Rose she didn't know what that entailed exactly.
This was a different circumstance, however. Luffy didn't have a blood relation to her. She had no reason to want to look up to him which meant that when she did in a moment like this, it could only have been brought about through Luffy's own doing.
While everyone continued to stare at Luffy Zoro tapped Nami on the shoulder.
"When you finished whining, check this out..." He pointed ahead of them. "We are going to be swallowed up."
"What the!? Since when!?" Nami shouted in fear.
"Since now, brace yourself," Weiss said as Merry flew out of the whirlpool stream.
"We're going to fall!" Most of the crew screamed before suddenly the whirlpool disappeared as if it was never there to begin with.
"What happened?" Luffy asked.
Blake's ears twitched as she looked down. Her horror slowly growing again.
"No way." Blake said.
"It's about to start," Nami said looking down in realization.
"Hold it!" A voice shouted.
Luffy turned to see who it was.
"Hey Zoro, Ruby." Luffy called.
The two in question turned along with the rest of the crew to see a raft moving slowly toward them.
"Zehahaha, we caught up with you, Straw Hat Luffy!" Blackbeard shouted.
"It's him. It's that Mock Town guy." Nami said.
"Zehahaha! We will take that hundred million head of yours and your crews, Straw Hat!?" Blackbeard shouted as Luffy walked toward the railing.
"Wait! A hundred million, me?" Luffy asked as Ruby, and Zoro approached from behind.
"You mean you don't know. Why is it so dark here..." Blackbeard muttered as he took out three wanted posters from his pocket. "Straw Hat Luffy, you have a bounty of 100 Million Berris! Pirate Hunter Zoro, you are worth 60 Million Berries!" Blackbeard shouted before he turned toward Ruby. "And you, Red Huntress: Ruby Rose, you are worth 28 Million Berries!?" He finished with a wide grin.
Usopp put on his goggles and moved to the railing to get a better look at the bounty posters.
"He's right! You become a wanted man, Ruby! And you two also got an increase!"
Two hands slung around the sniper as Yang and Sanji came closer with nervous faces.
"I bet there is a poster of me too, right?" Sanji said while nudging the sniper.
Usopp looked at the Blackbeard's hands.
"Nope."
"Look carefully!?" Sanji shouted before Yang pushed him out of the way.
"Forget about that pervert. I'm sure he is holding my wanted poster," Yang said while nudging the sniper-like Sanji before her.
Once again, Usopp looked at the Blackbeard's hands.
"Nope."
"Look again!" Yang shouted, annoyed while Luffy, and Zoro laughed behind them.
"Did you hear that? 100 Million Berries!?" Luffy cheered.
"60 Million Berries, huh? Not bad." Zoro smiled.
Ruby just stared at the ground in shock.
"A wanted poster... I'm a bonafide pirate now..." Ruby said with a cheerful yet disbelieving face.
"Welcome to this group, Ruby. Now you are a true pirate, unlike curly brows." Zoro grinned while looking at Sanji, who growled at him in anger.
"P-Pleased to join you two." Ruby nervously bowed at Zoro and Luffy.
"Why are you all so happy!?" Nami and Weiss shouted.
"But still... To think Ruby got her wanted poster... Guess that female Marine she fought is not an ordinary marine officer..." Weiss muttered, remembering the pink-haired marine from Alabasta.
"What!? I also defeated that hypnotist and brass-knuckle marine officer! Why don't I get a bounty like Ruby!?" Yang whined as Blake walked up behind her.
"Seems like those guys are small fries," Blake said, a small teasing smile playing at her lips.
"Small Fries!?" Yang shouted in disbelief as Weiss giggled behind her.
"It's coming, you guys! Stay focused." Shoujou warned.
Just as Shoujou finished his warning the Going Merry started to rise.
"Dang it! Everyone grab something or go inside," Sanji shouted.
The Straw Hats frantically grabbed onto the ship.
"Grab on to something!" Luffy yelled, clutching onto the head of Merry along with Ruby.
Just as everyone had gotten hold of something the Knock Up Stream started lifting them into the sky.
"WAAAAH! HEY! WHAT's HAPPENING!?" Usopp shouted clutching the ship harder than before.
"Unbelievable, the ship's sailing vertically up the surface of the water current!?" Weiss commented.
"Yeah! This is fun! But how do you explain this!?" Luffy asked while grinning.
"The wind..." Nami started. "The wind of that stream knocks us up with the pressure." She explained in disbelief.
"Shishishi, We're flying!" Luffy replied excitedly. "Forward, Merry!"
Weiss looked at the water, and felt her eyes go wide as she noticed something important.
"The ship is beginning to float..." Weiss hurriedly warned.
"Huh?" The rest, except for Robin, Blake, and Nami, tilted their head.
"If we tilt back, it's over, you doofus's!?" Weiss shouted in anger.
"What!?" Everyone screamed.
"That can't happen!" Usopp screamed while crying.
"What can we do!?" Blake shouted as she noticed something falling toward them
"Oh, something is falling," Robin said nonchalantly.
The sea creature that had been sucked into the whirlpool earlier fell past them.
"That's what will happen to us if we don't do something." Sanji remarked.
"What do we do!?" The sniper asked, panicked.
"Weiss, you once said something about flying ship in your world, right?" Nami quickly asked Weiss, a strained smile mixed with fear and excitement present on her face. "Do you think we can do it here?"
Weiss thought carefully for a moment before responding with a small smile.
"It's worth trying..." Weiss said getting a nod from Nami.
"Unfold the sails!" Nami told her crewmates loudly. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Nami. "Even though it's going up, this is still a sea current. We just need to adjust ourselves. After all, who's this ship's Navigator?" Nami asked with a smirk.
"You are, Nami!?" The crew shouted as they did what Nami said.
Zoro and Yang opened and held the sail.
"Blake, Sanji, hold the wings!?" Nami shouted as the two immediately held Merry's wing. "Keep it straight like that."
Nami turned toward Weiss.
"Weiss, Chopper, and Robin hold the slope!"
The three immediately held the slope of the ship as Nami turned to look straight. "This better work otherwise we're all going to die."
"It's going to work Nami. We trust you!" Weiss shouted.
"We're falling!" Chopper shouted noticing that the ship was moving back just a little more than before.
"Yang, Zoro, Blake, and Sanji! Hold Still!?" Nami shouted as the four tightened their grips on the sail and wings of the Going Merry. "Come on, come on..."
The Merry swayed back even further.
"Zoro, on the third count, we will open it as big as we can." Yang said with a serious look.
Zoro nodded, "Okay! One... Two... Three!"
The two pulled the sail as big as they could, and as soon as the mainsail unfolded, the Going Merry began floating.
"Merry is floating!?" Luffy shouted happily at the sight of their ship flying.
"Incredible!?" Ruby squealed in excitement.
"This is no joke..." Usopp said in disbelief.
"I can't believe it..." Blake said, unable to hold her surprise.
"Wow..." Robin said, a rare hint of amazement in her tone.
"We did it..." Chopper said while crying.
"Well, whaddya know..." Zoro grinned alongside Yang.
"Nami-san did it!?" Sanji said with a lovesick expression. "Going Merry is flying!?"
The ship continued going up at the same pace never losing its speed.
"Nami! Are we on the right track!?" Weiss shouted as Nami looked at her log pose.
"We are on the right track!?" Nami shouted with a huge smile on her face.
"Then... With this speed from the current... We're going all the way to the top!" Yang shouted, excitement in her voice.
"Nami, Weiss, Are we there yet!? Is this the Sky Island?" Luffy asked moving back to the Merry's head.
"Not yet Luffy." Weiss said.
"If there is such a place, it would be on the top of the cloud." Nami answered.
"Top of the cloud!? Luffy, bring me up, I want to see it the second we get there." Ruby said excitedly.
Luffy's arm wrapped around Ruby's torso and pulled her up to where he was.
"I wonder what is up there... Let's head straight into the Emperor Clouds!?" Luffy shouted.
"Yeah!?" The crew responded.
The ship disappeared into the Millennium Cumulonimbus, out of sight. Down below, the Blackbeard pirates continued to stare at the sky in silence for a few seconds. Then that silence was broken by the sound of a laugh.
"Zehahaha, well, what do you know!? They got away!" Blackbeard said as Doc Q coughed beside him.
Looking upward, Doc Q took a bite of his apple, "They are a lucky bunch..."
Clicking his tongue, Jesus Burgess looked at his Captain, "Our prey escaped, and you think it's funny!? I say we go after them, Captain!" He said, but Blackbeard laughed in response.
"Zehahaha... Don't worry, Burgess. They haven't disappeared from this world. If we stay on the Grand Line, We'll meet them again soon enough! Zehahaha!" Blackbeard laughed again.
Van Augur nodded.
"Aye, this world... Is one big endlessly turning wheel..." Van Augur started, "If our will is strong... We will meet them again." He stated as Burgess growled in anger.
Not far from the knock-up stream, a Marine Ship sat stationed in the water. A young woman in a pink Hawaiian shirt, unbuttoned just enough to show her cleavage sat on the deck. Her Marine Coat blew in the wind along with her brown/pink hair as a small smile made it's way onto her face.
"So, did they do it?" Came the voice from a grey-bearded den-den mushi with a scar next to its left eye.
The young woman didn't answer, instead moving her hands over the shell of the den-den mushi.
TAP TAP TAP TAP
The den den mushi laughed.
"Bwahahaha!? That's my grandson, alright!?" It said, then sighed, "You sure you don't want to greet them. You know those four in Luffy's crew, right?"
The woman pondered the question for a second before responding.
TAP
The den den mushi sighed.
"Well, suit yourself then. By the way, Sengoku is asking you to come back to HQ asap. He said he wanted to give you a medal or something." The voice said as the young woman pouted.
TAP
The den-den mushi laughed, "Okay, then I will tell him not to bother you. Hey! Did you hear that Sengoku? She doesn't want to go to HQ."
The den-den mushi then transformed to have black afro hair and a braided beard.
"Force her to come!? She is still under your platoon, Garp!?" Sengoku shouted, irritation clear even on the den-den mushi's face.
"I don't wanna..." Garp said making the young woman silently chuckle as Marine soldiers behind her sweatdropped.
"Erm... Rear Admiral..." The young woman turned toward her subordinate. "Do you know those pirates?"
His voice was laced with fear causing her to silently sigh. It wasn't the first time someone had been afraid to talk to her normally. She supposed it was her fault, given how cold-blooded and efficient she was at her job there were of course bound to be people afraid of even talking to her. It didn't help that she also had Akainus's highest regard, something which while nice at times, she didn't really want.
The rear admiral looked at her subordinates for a moment, and then she raised her finger, much to the horror of her soldiers. She made a "shh" gesture.
"A-Alright then, Rear Admiral Neo." The subordinates said before walking off to continue his duties.
Neo silently giggled as she turned back towards where the Knock Up Stream had been.
'Monkey D. Luffy. You certainly take after your grandfather.' Neo thought.
She would have to keep a close eye on him from now on. If he was even half of what her mentor was then at least she'd never be bored.
"What's wrong, Blake? You hardly touched your food." Yang asked.
"I feel weird..." Blake said while eating from her third ramen bowl.
"Weird?" Ruby asked, sipping some of her juice.
"My haki's telling me someone is following us..." Blake clarified.
"So you feel that too?" Weiss asked turning towards her teammate. "I've been sensing 4 people watching us since we walked out of the arena."
Yang looked at them blankly.
"What?" Weiss and Blake asked confused by the look they were getting.
"You should've said something..." Yang muttered as Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Give me a break. I know you haven't mastered the basics yet, but surely you can use it every now and again, and if anyone should have said something it should've been Ruby. Her Observation Haki is almost as good as Sanji, and Luffy's. I bet she sensed them way before any of us. " Weiss turned towards Ruby bopping her lightly on the head. "Oi, dolt. You sensed those 4, too, right?"
"Hm? Oh! Do you mean Jaune's group? Yeah, I sensed them too. They didn't mean any harm, so I ignored them," Ruby said, making her sister sigh.
"You should tell us if you sensed something like that. As the only Observationless user, I could use the heads-up." Yang said.
"We'll find some time to train your Observation Yang as well as Blake's Armament." Ruby said.
"Great, now that we've got that figured out. Why are they tailing us?" Yang asked crossing her arms.
"I believe they are suspicious of us. We're suddenly stronger and have weird skills. It's no wonder they are suspicious," Blake said while munching her fourth bowl.
"I guess it was too much to hope that the story we made up would've convinced them completely." Weiss said before taking a sip of her wine.
"That's why I told all of you to restrain yourself a little," Ruby scolded her crewmates. "We are currently as strong as a monster, so of course, they are curio-"
BANG BANG BANG BANG
"You were the flashiest one!?" The three shouted as Ruby clutched her head.
"O-Ouch..." Ruby muttered rubbing her sore head.
"Hey, guys!" Team RWBY jumped at the sound of Nora's booming, cheerful voice.
They turned just as team JNPR walked up to them.
"Hey," Ruby waved. "Want to join us?" She asked, smiling.
Team JNPR looked at each other for a second before nodding.
"We accept your invitation," Jaune said, and they all took their seats.
They ordered more ramen and ate. When they were done, they discussed their match.
"That was awesome!" Nora exclaimed. "How did you make your weapon like that, Ruby?"
"I..." Ruby felt a glare from her crewmates. "I remodeled it before the match. It's made after a cyborg's attack from a cartoon I used to watch..."
"That's so cool, Ruby! I'm sure it can take a Goliath!" Jaune praised as Ruby smiled sheepishly, embarrassed. "I'm sure you don't get the material from shady places like outside the sea, right?"
"Of course not. It's made from Wapometal, the metal that Wapol made," Ruby said, her teammates spitting out their drinks in reaction to what she said.
Team JNPR glanced at each other and nodded once more.
"Wapometal? I've never heard about it. Pray tell what is so special about it. " Nora asked in fake excitement as she slid into the space in between Weiss, and Ruby.
"Yeah, please tell. I'm interested," Pyrrha said, sitting between Yang and Ruby.
She of course did this to cut Ruby off from any support from Yang, and because she was genuinely intrigued by this Wapometal.
"It's-"
"Are you guys hyped for your match?" Blake cut in, much to the displeasure of the JNPR.
Nora, Juane, and Pyrrha looked at Ren who was supposed to distract Blake. He looked away nervously, not meeting their eyes. They wanted to pry Ruby for whatever secret team RWBY held, but Blake had ruined their attempt. They could of course ignore her, but they didn't want to make them suspicious of what they were doing.
Nora quickly answered for her teammates, "Of course!" She pointed towards Pyrrha. "We've got one of the world-renowned fighters on our team, " She pointed towards Ren. "One's ninja," She pointed to herself, "I can bench five of me," She glanced at Jaune, "Jaune," She grinned, "We trained all year. Our weapons are awesome. Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh... Jaune!"
Ren nudged Jaune, "Are you going to take that?"
"She's not wrong," Jaune said looking down.
Nora laughed nervously, "I'm kidding. He knows I'm kidding." Her expression suddenly turned worried. "Don't be so nervous! What is the worst that can happen if we lose?" Nora struck a thinking pose. "That is just a few more years of walking around school with everyone knowing we're failures, our friends will slowly abandon us to preserve their social status, we won't be able to show our faces in class, and no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, Ren and I have no parents, we have no home left to go to, we'll be officially renamed Team Lose-iper!"
Nora suddenly slammed her head hard against the counter and began bawling.
Ren sighed, "So, yeah. We're feeling pretty good."
Pyrrha rubbed Nora's back.
"Don't fret," Pyrrha assured. "If anything, we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines and rules, not, well...murderers or plunderers..." She said, emphasizing the word plunderers.
She studied each of their faces closely. Blake, Yang, and Weiss didn't react at all, and Ruby just looked confused.
"Yeah," Yang said. "Don't sweat it. Even if you lose, as long as you keep going, I'm sure you guys will still be able to become a good hunter or huntress." She grinned. "After all, every person has their good qualities,"
Blake nodded. "Yes, some people are born monsters," Ruby looked at Blake. "Some are born leaders," Weiss coughed. "And some are born idiots with strong wills."
"Oi," Yang said.
Blake closed her eyes and in her mind pictured her captain.
'And some very exceptional individuals are born all three.' Blake thought.
"The point is that it's okay for you to lose in this arena," Blake said, ignoring Yang. "As long as in the end all of you become a good hunter or huntress based on your abilities," She smiled warmly.
Team JNPR stared at Team RWBY in a mix of shock and awe.
"Wow... We never thought about it like that..." Jaune said getting a chuckle from Ruby.
"To be honest with you Jaune, I didn't get it the first time either." Ruby said closing her eyes.
Ruby heard Nami click her tongue as they dragged a beaten-up Luffy, and Zoro out of the tavern. She herself wasn't in a very good mood. She didn't understand. Why didn't they fight back?
Those guys were being assholes. They should've kicked their asses. Luffy and Zoro were the strongest of the crew and she believed without a doubt that they could've taken those jerks. Yet Luffy wouldn't let her or Zoro. Unlike her Zoro seemed to understand and back off allowing those guys to beat him as well as Luffy. It didn't make any sense. Why would Luffy allow someone to laugh at his dream.
"The Sky Island does exist..." Ruby and Nami suddenly stopped walking and turned to see Blackbeard sitting in the middle of the road eating his beloved cherry pies. "Zehahahaha! The cherry pies here are the best after all!"
"You're from before..." Nami said.
Blackbeard stopped eating his pies and looked at them, "Why are you so upset, missies?" He pointed towards Luffy and Zoro who were lying on the ground. "Your friends won that fight, without throwing a punch."
Luffy and Zoro slowly got up and fixed their clothes with a blank yet serious look.
"The new age they spoke of is rubbish!?" He said as he opened his hands while grinning from ear to ear. "The age of pirate's dreams is over! Huh!? Hey?" He slammed his beer. "People's dreams! Don't ever end!?"
Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Ruby stared at Blackbeard in silence, "Ain't that right!?" He said the silence that followed being all the answer he needed.
Ruby smiled to herself. She hadn't understood then. Hadn't understood for a while after, but she understood now. There were just some fights that weren't worth picking. There would always inevitably be someone who would laugh at your dream.
"Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, all of you want to become a great hunter, right?" Ruby said her tone much more serious than they'd ever heard before. "Then let them laugh at you! If you're aiming for the top... Sometimes you will find yourself in those spots, and you will understand when you need to take them seriously or not."
Jaune stared at Ruby and the fire in her eyes. He had seen that look only one other time in his life. He was young, but he never forgot the look of determination in the hunter's eyes as he said he would slay a grim horde that everyone said would be impossible, but with a confidence that bordered on arrogance he went and he did slay the horde.
Jaune looked at Pyrrha, and she also thought the same. This wasn't the same 15-year-old, nervous, introverted Ruby they had met at the beginning of the school year. The way she looked in that moment, the way she spoke, even the way she held herself reminded them of the type of hunters people talked about in legends.
"R-Ruby, I-" Pyrrha started only to be cut off by the loudspeaker.
"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately!" Port announced from the arena.
"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!" Oobleck continued, a bit annoyed.
Team RWBY stood up.
"Sorry if we keep you here," Weiss smiled
"Try and reach the top. We'll meet you there." Ruby said before turning.
"W-Wait!?" Jaune shouted standing from his seat.
They turned back to look at him and Jaune found himself at a loss for words. He wanted to say something. To let them know what he felt in that moment whether Pirate or not, these were his and his team's friends.
Yang raised her eyebrow while smiling,
"Hm? What's wrong, Jaune?" Yang asked.
He was pathetic. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't pour it out. Just then a hand rested on his shoulder, and Jaune turned his head toward Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren, who stood with him, "We will meet all of you on the top." Pyrrha said.
Jaune looked at her and the rest of his teammates before he slapped his face.
"Yes! We will meet all of you on the top! So don't lose, okay!?" Jaune said.
"I see, alright then..." Ruby said as she pulled her hood over her head.
Jaune's eyes widened. Suddenly the Team RWBY he knew was gone. Replaced with them was a Team RWBY he'd never seen before. All of them stared at them with a look of intensity that couldn't belong to just hunters, and huntresses in training. "Then it promises. The next time we meet. It will be at the top." Ruby said with a smile.
Jaune was flabbergasted for a moment before he answered, "Y-Yes!?"
Blake looked at Ruby as they parted away, "Nice word there, Ruby. You completely blew their nervousness away."
Ruby raised her eyebrows.
"Say what?" She smiled. "I said that because I'm sure the JNPR will become a great team. Jaune and Pyrrha especially, people with haki like them, are not meant to be here."
Yang whistled, "Do you think Jaune has Conquerors Haki?"
"I'm sure he has it. Jaune had a clear conviction to become the very best from the start. If he learns not to listen to what people say and is himself, he will become stronger. What do you think Dolt?" Weiss asked.
"Maybe. There have been plenty of people with clear convictions who don't have Conquerors though." Ruby said.
"True." Blake said.
"Man watching him like that makes me want to introduce the JNPR to Luffy and the others. I'm sure they will have a blast!" Ruby said before a hand lightly smacked the back of her head.
"As if. We're fighting against Kaido here, we can't afford to put them in danger." Weiss said with an annoyed look.
Yang and Blake nodded.
"If it's the usual voyage, then I'd bring them to meet Luffy and the others, but this is Kaido we're talking about. A monster called the World's Strongest Creature. We can't let them enter our war when our opponent is more dangerous than anyone we've encountered so far,." Blake said.
Out of all the current Yonko, Kaido was the strongest based on his bounty. A whopping 4,611,100,000 Berries. While the four knew that the bounty system couldn't be a good measure of strength. There must be a reason why the World Government put that high bounty on his head. Even that old hag, Big Mom, didn't have a bounty as high as him, and she became an Emperor of the Sea in the era of Gold Roger and Whitebeard.
A monster that some even called immortal due to his insane durability.
If they could beat Kaido, then the Wano Country would be free from his oppression, and Luffy would be on the verge of becoming Pirate King.
In one of the abandoned warehouses in Vale, two shadows were sitting on the boxes, "I want you to be frank with me, Neo. Can you beat Team RWBY?" Cinder Fall asked the girl in front of her, but to her annoyance Neo seemingly ignored her. "Neo!"
Neo rolled her eyes and tapped at her scroll. After a few seconds, she showed it to Cinder.
"I can defeat Blake Belladonna or Yang Xiao Long though not without taking some damage, Weiss Schnee I can fight to a standstill, and Ruby Rose will beat me."
Cinder narrowed her eyes.
"They are that strong?" She asked as Neo typed on her phone.
"If it's a fair fight, Each of the girls could have a prolonged fight with Salem and possibly beat her." Cinder's eyes widened. "Ruby Rose is the only one with an ability that would put Salem down for a prolonged time though." The Ice cream girl typed.
Cinder clicked her tongue. It is supposed to be not like this. Those four shouldn't come back into this world, yet it turns out the power of the Holy Relic was not as almighty as the tale they were told, and here they are back to Remnant as a monster. She turned toward Neo, who was also transported back thanks to a coin that should have sent Pyrrha Nikos alongside Team RWBY.
What she did there or how she knew about Team RWBY was a secret. Neo didn't want to say anything, much to her annoyance. Even her best friend and supposed lover, Roman Torchwick, seemingly couldn't make the ice cream girl open her mouth. Nonetheless, Neopolitan was the best shot for Cinder beating Team RWBY.
Cinder looked at the ice cream girl.
"So, do you know how to defeat them?" Cinder asked getting a sly smile in return.
"I do, but I need that coin." Neo typed.
Cinder raised her eyebrows in confusion.
"The coin, why do you want that thing? Do you think you can convince those four to abandon their home again?"
Neo nodded.
"I know the circumstances of their pirate group. They will beg to go back there as soon as I tell them what I know. For this to work I need at least two coins to strike a bargain."
"Yeah! Go get them, Jaune," Ruby cheered.
"Well, he's certainly improved," Yang commented rubbing her chin.
"Yeah, but he ain't got nothing on Pyrrha," Blake commented.
Team RWBY watched Team JNPR in their match against Team BRNZ. It was clear that three of them favored close combat while one specialized in sniping. After getting charged by electric dust, courtesy of Nolan, Jaune sent Nora to the mountaintop to get more power from the dark storm cloud. Ren distracted the sniper while he and Pyrrha engaged the rest.
When Ren took Nolan as a human shield, the sniper switched targets to Nora. It would've been a kill shot had Jaune not launched Pyrrha up into the air using his shield as a platform. With each shot blocked, Nora fired every grenade she had the sniper. The battle ended when Nora single-handedly hammered them all at once.
Yang closed her eyes, "Ouch," She commented. "That has got to hurt." She grimaced.
"No kidding," Ruby whistled. "With that amount of electricity pumping in her, she could crush the skull of a sea king." Ruby suddenly shot straight up. "Hey, do you think Nora can defeat Enel?"
"Enel? Not a chance. As weak as he is in close combat, he is still intangible to anyone without Haki except for Luffy," Weiss said as her eyes narrowed.
She remembered the God of Skypiea who nearly kidnapped her. If not because of Luffy, she didn't know what would happen to her.
The next match started. It was Team NDGO vs. Team SSSN. Weiss wanted their friends' team to win, but after Neptune flirted with the ladies of NDGO, the heiress wished for them to kick their butt. Things quickly became a problem when it was revealed that Neptune has a case of aquaphobia.
"He's not going to last long at sea," Weiss said dryly as Neptune scampered to the enemy side.
"Yep," The others said with a small pop.
"So," Weiss said. "While we wait for Neptune to get his act together, what should we talk about?" She turned toward her teammates.
"How about not to fall into more debt?" Ruby asked, earning a smack from the sous chef.
"Or we could strategize for the raid." Blake offered.
"Or we could talk about what clothes we could bring back with us so Nami can't screw us out of more money." Yang said.
The bell klaxon sounded as the match ended. Neptune ironically used the water to act as a conductor for the electricity shout-out from Tri-Hard. This shocked the rest of NDGO into submission, taking them down.
"That was close!" Ruby said as she leaned back in her seat.
Yang nodded.
"Looks like the dorks made it to the next round!"
The ninja looks down at the arena where Sun and Neptune are dancing like fools. The monkey Faunus gave her a special double-gun gesture with a wink.
"Emphasis on dork," Blake gave a strained smile as she waved back at Sun, much to his happiness that he messed up his dance and fell with Neptune.
Team RWBY watched their antics with sweatdropped then a coughing sound could be heard from the announcement.
"That concludes the matches for today," Oobleck said over the sound system. "Please leave the coliseum IN A CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!"
Team RWBY flinched at the unexpected volume change.
"Does he have to do that?" Weiss complained rubbing her ears.
Yang chuckled dryly, "He just wants to ensure that the message is received. Come on, let's go congratulate JNPR and SSSN." The four girls got up and started to head out. J
ust then, they saw something that should be impossible.
There among the audience of the stadium, was a slim young woman of average height with orange hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a frilled halterneck and a pleated frilled skirt with round studs around the waistline and a small decorative bow in front. She wore her hair back in a ponytail with a scrunchie and kept her pearl earrings and high-heeled sandals. In her left hand was a white parasol.
The orange-haired girl smiled at them. A smile unbefitting of her beautiful face and vanished into the crowd. Upon seeing the orange-haired girl vanish, ignoring the voices and presence of Team JNPR or SSSN who called for them, Team RWBY quickly rushed toward the crowds.
"NAMI!" The four girls shouted.
Hearing their call, the orange-haired girl sadistically grinned, one of her eye colors turning to pink.
A/N: The only big change made in this chapter was that I took out Ruby to understand what Luffy was trying to do at the tavern. In my opinion, it would make no sense for someone as young as Ruby to understand a lesson like that at the time.
