Fleet Admiral Sengoku absently bit into a rice cracker as he tapped the piece of paper in front of him. He wrote the formal report himself on how Viridian had broken out of Impel Down, shattered one of their Sea Prism gates, lured him and Aokiji into chasing a ship full of prisoners, then backtracked to the empty Marineford, freed the slaves held there awaiting transport to Mariejoise, and incapacitated the Celestial Dragons who had come for a preview of the impending entertainment. Given no choice but to retreat in the face of direct orders from a Celestial Dragon, Sengoku resigned himself to a thorough dressing-down from the Five Elders while he considered the words Viridian had left for him.

"You can either have a ship ready for me," Izuku had told the sniveling noble, "Or I'll go farther than Fisher Tiger ever dared."

The pirate had broken finger bones until the noble could recite the ultimatum word for word.

"You must really be rattled if you're taking my crackers without comment," Garp piped up.

Sengoku shot him a glare. "You realize I might have to make you an Admiral."

"Why bother? I'm past my prime anyways, and everyone knows it. Not like slapping a badge on my coat will make me any tougher."

Sengoku growled under his breath. "We have two Admirals deadlocked in a different world. If it weren't for the Straw Hats holding Linlin's attention, Blackbeard scrambling to secure Whitebeard's assets, and Shanks locked against Kaido, we'd lose the entire New World. As it is, Paradise is hanging by a thread. Pirates springing up like weeds, kingdoms dissenting, and the Revolutionaries taking full advantage of our shortened manpower. What else would you have me do?"

"Make some other sap an Admiral." Garp plunged his entire hand into the bag. "That, or give up on poking some other place."

"We do that, and they'll turn right around and attack us." Sengoku eyed the report. As tempting as it was to hand Viridian a boat and rid himself the headache, he knew the higher-ups wouldn't accept it. They couldn't keep the lid on the Impel Down breakout, not with so many reported captures loose and wreaking havoc, which meant they needed to make an example out of the escapees, and Viridian in particular.

Garp mashed a huge wad of crackers between his teeth. "Then maybe we shouldn't had done that," he said, voice garbled by the crackers.

Sengoku had said as much to the Five Elders, but they dismissed his concerns over the reduced manpower from splitting the Marines in half. It had seemed the perfect time to make such a move. Now, one loose variable threatened to upset the delicate balance that allowed the Marines to manage the entire world.

His first question to Vegapunk had been if they could rig a ship to either kill Viridian or send him somewhere else. The good news was, he could do it. The bad news was, he doubted the change could be hidden from someone with the Straw Hat's mastery over the Rumble Fruit and familiarity with the original technology. Any extraneous devices would be easily spotted, and if they overloaded the machine to make it go haywire, Viridian could adjust the power surge. That left the option of using it as bait, but Viridian would be on guard for such a trick.

The transponder snail rang, a sound Sengoku had been dreading. He let the call connect through. The screen on his desk lit up, giving him a view of the Five Elders seated and staring at him.

"You have failed spectacularly, Fleet Admiral."

Sengoku swallowed. The rice cracker made his mouth sticky, but he didn't dare reach for a drink. "I have no excuse to make, only amends."

"An admirable attitude, but empty words will not spare you punishment."

The silence after felt deliberate, like a trap. Sengoku said nothing, standing still as a statue while he awaited judgement.

"How do you plan on making your amends?"

Sengoku dipped his head. "I do not know. Viridian desires a Worldcrosser."

"Unacceptable. His return to his homeworld would deny us victory."

With a nod, Sengoku said, "I have considered using one as bait."

"Sensible, but predictable. Why use one of them as bait, when we could use them all?" the Elder asked. "Leak the location of Egghead Island. We'll use his presence there as an excuse to torch the island."

"We're killing Vegapunk?"

"He has outlived his usefulness. I will see to his demise myself. You need only concern yourself with making sure Viridian goes where we want him to and keep the damage at a minimum in the meantime."

Before Sengoku could get another word in, the call disconnected with a click. Sengoku sighed and held out his hand. Garp generously shook out another cracker and said, "Welp, sounds like you'll have your hands full."

"Don't make me call them up and say you agreed to a promotion."

Garp guffawed and stepped out the hole he had made in his office. Sengoku grumbled, realizing he would need to fill out another requisition form for a new wall, and mulled over how he would corral a walking ball of lightning.

Egghead's location had sadly not been a part of the intelligence stolen by the Revolutionary Army, and even if they did, there's no guarantee they'd pass that on to someone outside their organization. He could leave copies of the file at Marine bases, hoping Viridian would stumble upon it in a raid, but he'd have little way of knowing if he took the bait in the aftermath. And having a Marine tell him would be suspicious.

He needed a third party involved. And as it happened, he knew that one Warlord dabbled as an information broker on the side. One phone call later, and he had Doflamingo's word that he'd send the Straw Hat a message and an Eternal Pose on its way to Dressrosa.

As big as the stolen vessels were, none of them had room for every person to meet aboard one of them. So, decisions on what to do next waited until they made port at the nearby Sabaody Archipelago. Many pirates itched to leave, given how predictable a port of call it was, but Ivankov was the only one with a spare Pose, and the only way down to Fishman Island was with a coated ship.

Izuku wore prisoner rags like the rest of them, but nobody questioned it when he took center stage at their impromptu conference.

"Here's where we split ways. There's three ships, so you have three choices. Choice one is to set sail with me. We'll be considered partners with the Straw Hat pirates, flying their flag and following their general rules, which involve no wanton murder or otherwise being a dick, do whatever you want otherwise, and no letting Luffy raid the fridge at 3AM. My goal will be to get back to my own world, taking everyone who wants to come with me, and make the Marines miserable in the meantime."

Ivankov twirled into the center. "Behind door number two is the Revolutionary Army. Anyone wanting to fight back against the World Government, or simply needing a safe refuge, is welcome to join us. Mind you, we'll need to vet you once we reach our destination. Can't have the Marine finding out about our little hideout."

Taking back the metaphorical microphone, Izuku said, "If you don't like either of those options, you're welcome to take the third ship and figure it out yourselves. The choice is yours."

Everyone from his world unanimously went with Izuku. Marco joined along, and with him came most of the former Whitebeard pirates. A few of the slaves, having heard tales of the other world, joined up for a destination as far away from the Celestial Dragons as humanly possible. Ivankov got all of their New Kama followers, along with a lion's share of the slaves and a handful of other prisoners, leaving a rowdy bunch of pirates arguing about their next port of call and who would be captain on the third ship.

As the freshly christened Graceful Swan prepared to set sail, Ivankov pressed an Eternal Pose into Izuku's hand. "That's if you ever change your mind on joining the Revolution." With a wink, they added, "Or if you find yourself missing my charming face."

The revolutionaries descended towards Fishman Isle, heading straight for the New World, while the third ship turned towards Paradise. As the ship raised its anchor, Izuku recognized the flamboyant pirate shouting orders and adjusting his oversized captain's hat.

"Hey Buggy!" Izuku shouted. "Long time no see!"

Buggy flinched. "Move faster, lazy bastards! We don't have all day!"

Izuku thought about hopping over for a quick chat, but he could practically feel Buggy begging him to stay as far away as possible. With a shrug, Izuku turned towards the crowd waiting for his orders. It suddenly struck Izuku that he was the captain now. All these people depended on him to give orders. How the heck did Luffy deal with the pressure?

Oh right. Luffy did whatever he wanted. And feeling around the islands, Izuku wanted nothing more to burn the whole place to the ground.

"Listen up." The words cut through the quiet chatter between pirates. "I bet the Celestial Dragons are mad as hell we swiped their slaves right out from under their noses."

"What's this 'we' you're talking about?" Marco piped up. "You're the one who had all the fun, while we were stuck running for our lives."

From the grumbling that rippled around the Whitebeard pirate, it sounded like Marco voiced a common complaint the others were keeping to himself. Izuku hid a smile. Marco set him up perfectly to tackle the problem before it could fester over a long voyage.

"Sure, I got them all out, but all I had to do was waltz through an empty Marine base and take everyone on board. If you all hadn't kept the whole base busy, we would've never pulled it off. The Fleet Admiral himself came out to catch you, and he ran back with his tail tucked between his legs!" Izuku raised an arm, letting his words surge over the crowd like a static charge. "I'd say, for a pack of salty dogs that hadn't seen a speck of sunlight or felt a stiff breeze on their back for however long, you all did a damn fine job. And next time, we won't let them get off so easy! Next time, we'll smash their ships and send them limping home with bloody noses! Next time, they'll raise our bounties so high there won't be a single bounty hunter that would come after any one of us without an army at their back! Next time, they will know for fear the flag of the Straw Hat Pirates!"

A Whitebeard pirate chose that exact moment to unfurl the new flag over the Storm's Fury. The Straw Hat jolly roger, with thunderbolts in place of crossbones, flew proudly over the Marine frigate. The cheer had been half-hearted at best, given old loyalties and foreign customs, but it had straightened spines and cleared grievances.

"With that out of the way, Marco's first mate. Marco, take whoever you need to get stocked up and organized. Ryukyu, Hawks, and anyone else free to make some noise, you're with me. All other pro heroes, find a pirate buddy, stay glued to them, and make yourselves useful."

The Whitebeard division commander made quick work of organizing the crew. Valuables looted from Marineford got unloaded and sold to fences lurking in the archipelago, while others loaded up weapons, foodstuffs and spare parts to repair the ship. Mirko glowered as a pirate helped her towards a doctor, while Gang Orca got coached on Devil Fruit duty by a fishman.

Ryukyu strode up to Izuku's side as he picked his way across the small islands. "And what, exactly, do you mean by making some noise?"

"Marines will be looking for us. If they find our ship before we can get it coated, we'll be stuck on this side of the Grand Line."

"So you're planning to commit piracy," she committed flatly.

Izuku smiled. "I used to have the same doubts. Pirates bad, laws and government good, right? The moment I tried asking a Marine for help, I got shot at." Izuku pulled up his shirt. "Still got the scars. And I'm betting those cuff burns on your wrists and ankles will scar too."

Ryukyu balked at that, but she said, "That doesn't mean it's okay to drag innocent people into that."

"And we won't. Probably. It's kinda implied in the Straw Hat rule of not being a dick."

"So then what is the plan?"

Finding the first building he was looking for, Izuku cracked his knuckles with pops of electricity and said, "Making sure anyone involved in the slave trade has a very bad day. Think you can handle that?"

Ryukyu's smile took on a draconian edge, and scales grew across her cheekbones. "Aye aye, captain."

"That's the spirit! Let's see how high we can get your bounty, shall we?"

Izuku kicked down the door. The door flew over the auction seats and crashed through the stage next to the auctioneer. To the woman's credit, she shouted back, "What's the big idea? I don't care what kind of threats you make, nobody's allowed in the auction without the boss' approval!"

"Oh really?" Izuku asked, smiling. "Then how about this?"

In full draconic form, Ryukyu crashed through the wall. Some people screamed and ran, some cowered under their chairs, and some drew swords and guns. The auctioneer sneered at them. "You've just made a big mistake."

Izuku let lightning flicker across his arms. The woman went pale and backed away. "Anyone feel up for a fight?" Izuku asked.

Some still had their swords raised, but most dropped their weapons at the sight of his Devil Fruit power. Izuku looked them all over and shouted back, "Don't let me hog all the fun! Go wild!"

A dozen pirates roared and ran into the room. The slavers barely offered any resistance as hardened Whitebeards laid into them with Haki and steel. With everyone else occupied, Izuku led Ryukyu through the building, making a point to smash everything in their path. In the back of the auditorium, a staircase led down to a stone basement full of occupied cages.

Ryukyu made a move towards one of the cages, but Izuku held his arm out. "The collars are explosive. I think. I don't sense any electronics in them, and we don't have time to find a key."

A prisoner quivered as Izuku grabbed the collar. With a frown of concentration, Izuku made his fingers glow with purple wisps. With a firm yank, the Sea Prism split apart, and the explosive blew a hole through the far wall. One by one, Izuku pried the rest of the collars apart, while the other pirates guided them through the wreckage of the auction hall.

"Got Marines coming up the bridge," one pirate said. "Three minutes."

Izuku nodded. "Hawks, got a mental map of the place?"

With feathers scattered across the island, Hawks quickly felt around and found bridges connecting to other areas. "Closest bridge is to the northeast."

"Good. Let's give the Marines a little hint where we are."

With everyone outside, Izuku reached for the air. There were no clouds, but he conjured lightning into existence regardless. The bolt slammed into the auction house, leaving a smoldering crater and piles of splintered timber.

The escaped slaves hurried off in one direction, sticking to alleys and avoiding attention, while Izuku brazenly led his merry band of pirates through the main street. Island after island, they sought out the largest auction house, beat up everyone inside, set all the slaves free, and ripped apart the building. When the Marines managed to corner them by taking all the bridges, he had Ryukyu fly everyone half a dozen islands over, starting the carnage anew.

Word had spread of Izuku's rampage across the archipelago. They found auction houses emptied of customers, with the owners scrambling to relocate their most valuable merchandise. Once that started, Izuku split off from the others, hitting auction after auction at random points across the island while the others carved their own path.

At his final stop, on island one, the auctioneer was waiting for him, arms crossed, glaring through star-shaped sunglasses. Doflamingo's jolly roger was draped across the hall.

"You've caused a lot of trouble today, Straw Hat," Disco said. "You know the Marines will be after you. Do you really want Doflamingo on that list?"

Izuku cocked his head. "He's a Warlord. Wouldn't the Marines send him after me anyways?"

Disco cackled. "There's a world of difference between him doing it to appease those jackasses and doing it because you personally trashed a solid chunk of his income. But fair enough. How about this instead? Turn right around, and I'll put in a good word for you with the captain. Intel, weapons, Devil Fruits, there's a lot the family can offer you if you're open to doing us a few favors."

Izuku made a show of thinking about it. "Nah, I'm good."

The bolt he threw nearly took Disco's head off. It flew straight into the jolly roger, leaving a smoldering hole that grew wider as it caught fire. The embers of Doflamingo's flag drifted onto the cushioned seats and wooden floor. Disco scrambled to stamp out the fires, but a few spots were already growing out of control.

"I told him you were coming!" Disco laughed like a madman as his auction hall burned before his eyes. "He will see what you have done with the place. And he will make you suffer for it! No one screws over the Doflamingo family. Nobody!"

"Bring it. I'd enjoy a rematch."

Strings lashed out from the ceiling. Izuku hopped back as long gashes appeared where he was standing. Other strings carved out burning chunks of the auction house and tossed them away.

"Been a while, brat," Doflamingo said.

"Wow, that was fast. I know I said I'd like a rematch, but I am a bit busy right now."

"So was I, but when I heard someone wanted to steal valuable merchandise and destroy a reputable place of business, what could a noble soul like mine do but step in?"

Izuku cracked his knuckles. "Alright. Guess we're doing this then."

An opening volley of lightning and string clashed in the center. Disco shrieked as sparks crackled around him and ran out of the building. With the room empty, Doflamingo curled a finger, revealing a lethal labyrinth of strings pulled taut across the entire building.

"I can tell you've gotten stronger," Doflamingo said. "Strong enough you'd probably win that fight at Alabasta, out on open ground. But here? I built this place. Every splinter of wood and sliver of metal is a weapon I can shove into your throat."

"Sounds like I'll just have to break the place then. Gear Second!"

Izuku's arm ballooned out. With an enlarged, haki-coated fist, Izuku swung through the entire building. Threads snapped and wood shattered, leaving a stump of a foundation and debris scattered across the island.

"There he is! Open fire, men!"

Doflamingo tsked at the new arrivals and made a wall of string to stop them. "As fun as this was, looks like your time's up."

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "You're not going to help them catch me?"

"And let them steal all the credit? Besides, that wouldn't be any fun at all. No, I have a much better idea."

"Not interested."

"No? A shame. And here I was, willing to tell you about a certain place I overheard the Marines saying they had to absolutely make sure you never found out about. Something to do with a new kind of ship they had there."

Izuku froze mid-way through turning away. With a heavy sigh, he asked, "What do you want?"

"Don't look so glum, Viridian, I think this'll be a lot of fun for both of us! You see, I have a gladiator tournament on Dressrosa, with a Devil Fruit as the prize. Participate, and I'll let you know which island. Win, and I'll throw in an Eternal Pose."

Doflamingo dangled the Pose from his fingers and snapped it back up. Then he took out another one and tossed it to Izuku. Cackling, Doflamingo said, "Better hurry, brat! Tournament starts in a week."

Izuku examined the glass orb. Dressrosa's name glimmered in bright pink across the placard, and the needle pointed across the Red Line. A bullet nearly punched a hole through it as Doflamingo's string wall fell apart.

Taking that as his cue to leave, Izuku disappeared in a thunderclap, leaving a pack of Marines staring slack-jawed at the shattered remains of Sabaody's largest auction house. By the time they spread out enough to lock down every island, Izuku and everyone else was already gone.

Back at the Thousand Stormy - Izuku didn't feel a former Marine ship deserved to share a name with the work of beauty wrought by Franky's hands, but he didn't have any better ideas - he ran a hand over the side, feeling the viscous, rubbery coating over the wood. "Who'd you get to coat the ship?" he asked Marco.

Marco twitched. "He said you sent him. It was payment for springing him from an auction house."

Izuku bent to examine the coating. "You think it's a setup?"

"Well, they did say to remind you not to fall off another ship."

"Oh. It's probably fine then. And I've got a good feeling about this time. I'm a lot stronger and faster than I used to be. At this point, I don't think there's anything that could possibly get me into the water."

"Really tempting fate, aren't you?"

The ship plunged into the water. The membrane surrounding the vessel ballooned out, sealing the ship in a giant bubble. As the coating on the deck floated upwards, it pushed on Izuku's feet. Izuku grunted, pushing back, but he kept rising, the ship kept falling, and he found himself floundering in the ocean.

Once Gang Orca dragged him back to safety, Izuku checked his shoes. The soles were coated like the ship. Tossing them into the sea, Izuku said, "That was rude, Rayleigh. You didn't even say hi."

"Rayleigh," Marco said flatly. "Dark King Silvers Rayleigh. Gold Roger's first mate. That Rayleigh?"

"Are you really surprised? He's the third person from Roger's crew you've run into so far."

"Third? Wait, what do you mean third?"

Izuku slapped his shoulder. "Now come on, did you figure out who the chef is yet? I'm starving!"

"Don't you ignore me, Midoriya. Third?"

"I wonder if they're as good as Sanji."

"Midoriya!"

Once the excitement died down, the Marines slunk back to their quarters, and Viridian was confirmed on their way to Fishman Island, Doflamingo returned to the auction house. The loss of the upper levels was a shame, but at least his presence had served as distraction enough to protect the real valuables in the basement. They had even recently caught a mermaid easily worth tens of millions. Doflamingo snickered at the thought of the impending sale. It would merit fixing up the place better than ever, and after the breakout at Marineford, the Nobles would be salivating at the prospect of such a valuable specimen.

He found Disco hurrying out of the slave pens. Stopping him with a single string, Doflamingo said, "You seem awfully tense, Disco-san. I do hope nothing's the matter with our precious cargo."

Disco gulped audibly. "Well, I, I don't know how it happened, but-"

"But what?"

"They're gone! I swear, no one else was here but Viridian, and we know where the rest of his crew was. No one could have broken in!"

Doflamingo strode down to the dungeons. Bent bars and shattered shackles littered the scene, and a massive hole was dug into the side.

"That's very unfortunate, Disco. It seems I have no further use for this place."

"B-but sir! We can get more slaves! It's just a temporary setback, I swear we'll make back whatever goes into fixing it up tenfold!"

As Doflamingo started the long trip back to Dressrosa, he decided that Viridian wouldn't be making it to Egghead Island after all.

A/N: it feels good to get a chapter done on time for once. All written in only a week, no less!

So, I got a new microwave for Christmas. Plugged it in, watched it run for a bit, then the breaker tripped. Took out my fridge too. Did some tinkering, the breaker kept tripping, made some calls, and found that either the breaker needed replacing or the microwave needed a dedicated circuit. Got an electrician over, and they offered to throw in a dedicated circuit with the upgrade. So, circuit breaker all nice and spruced up, new outlet in the kitchen, plug it in, and… tripped the breaker. Turns out my bright, shiny new microwave has a faulty circuit. Yay. Here's hoping I can get a return on it. But hey, at least the new circuit breaker wasn't a total waste. It would've needed replacing sooner or later and adds to the property value.

Battlesny: "is Ace 'apparently' alive or 'supposedly' alive? what happened on Marineford if Ace wasn't being executed to start the war?"

Bardothren: Ace's survival is the beautiful butterfly effect at work. And no, it's not Luffy being stronger that did it. It's the fact Crocodile was never kicked out of the Warlords. Handing Ace over was Blackbeard's plan to become a Warlord and gain access to Impel Down. No spot open, no need to hand Ace over.

As for what exactly happened… I suppose we'll have to see if Izuku ever finds out.

Kishinokurobi: "I don't really understand how non-lethal Izuku's being at this point, but I never really do with one piece."

Bardothren: that you can chalk it up to Izuku still having hang-ups over killing people from the two separate times. As for the Celestial Dragons, Izuku knows exactly what kind of heat he'd get killing them. Breaking bones is plenty enough for him.

Dakrakboy: "Please stop hanging my brither(His name is Cliff by the way.) I need Moar!"

Bardothren: *hides rope behind back* I would never!

And that's it for now. Here's hoping that next time I post, I'll have a microwave big enough for my dinner plates.