Chapter 2: Egghead
"A huge bird! And it's got a gold ship!," shouted the long-nosed Usopp as a massive avian came out from the curtain that began to close before disappearing.
Luffy looks excited with stars in his eyes as he shouts, "Amazing!"
Nami however, is more concerned about the odd warp space that resembles a curtain as she says, "What the hell is that?!"
"Doesn't seem native to this region.," Sanji noted as he saw the bird didn't resemble a bird suited for cold climates.
"It actually doesn't seem to resemble any species of the New World I've read about.," Robin noted.
It then notices the Straw Hats as it looks hungrily. It dashes towards them as it drops the other ship.
Brook looks shocked as Jinbe pulls the ship away from its clutches.
"You jerk! Gear 5: Snakeman!" Luffy shouted as he turned into his darkened, tattooed form with elongated Haki-covered limbs.
The bird seemed to pause before noticing Sanji and Zoro also join in.
"Bœuf Burst!" Sanji declared.
"Three Sword Style Secret Technique: Billion-fold World Trichiliocosm!" Zoro stated.
Despite the strikes, something odd occurred: The body seemed to bend around as if it were free.
"What the hell is this bird?!," Sanji shouted as he fell down as did Zoro.
"What a super weird buzzard.," Franky noted.
"If that's the case, then-," Luffy stated before suddenly, a giant robot shark proceeded to chomp on the bird.
"Bring it here. Don't eat it!," commanded a voice as the Straw Hats turned to see a massive robot rising from the depths.
Suddenly, several Sea Beasts except mechanized emerged as well.
"Tch, just what we need. More trouble...wait, it sounds...like a woman!," shouted Sanji as he realized with glee.
"Could it be?," asked Robin.
"Oh, collect that sample.," the robot said as the Sea Beasts proceeded to generate special beams to hover the golden ship.
"Awesome!,"
"I wouldn't touch it without protection. Only certain individuals can touch it without turning to gold.," the voice of the robot said.
"You must be Dr. Vegapunk.," Robin noted.
"Wait, that famous doctor. Clown complained about him several times! He's really famous.," Chopper noted.
"The light thingie is making it float!," Luffy noted.
Suddenly, Luffy noticed a Warm Eddie and sensed something. He instinctively dashed it and entering his Gear 5 form, he opened it and picked up an unconscious pink-haired woman before returning to the ship.
"Wait, that's Bonney of the Su-," said Robin before the robot interjected.
"Now that we've got that out of the way...Hand over all of ya loot!," shouted the robot as the chest opened to reveal a brown-haired woman in a tight pink suit with hair covering one of her eyes.
"Eh?!," shouted the Straw Hats before they too were shot by the light beam and then zapped unconscious.
Unknown Location
When Luffy came to, he found himself in a brightly lit laboratory, the smell of burning metal and electricity filling the air. The pink-haired woman, now identified as Bonney, was lying next to him, groaning in pain. The robot had them both secured in metal restraints.
They were dressed in odd clothing- something far beyond the current standards of current society.
"What's with her?! Seastone so annoying!," Luffy complained.
"Where's the rest of my-," he added before seeing the rest of the crew dressed in either futuristic clothing or tacky summer shirts.
"Oh, that's good. Where's the bird and ship?.. Where's our ship?!," Luffy noted.
"So this is the World's smartest man's capabilities.," Robin noted.
"Wait, we're in a lab. Isn't Vegapunk a Government-," Nami realized.
"We're on Government property! Oh no!" Usopp shouted.
"He's not gonna report us or anything right?!," Chopper asked.
"It's safely secure. We had to take precautions. You are an Emperor's fledgling crew after all.," said a deep voice.
Zoro looked up to see 6 individuals-
An average-sized man, standing at about the same height as Sanji. His head was covered by a futuristic metal helmet bearing the number 01 over the face. He wears a very long dark blue coat with yellow patterns; the jacket has the words "Vegapunk 01" written at the bottom, "Caution" written on the left sleeve, and two light blue horizontal stripes on the right side. He also wore a pair of very large black odd-looking shoes that ran up to where his jacket ends, leaving little to no skin exposed.
Vegapunk- Shaka- 01- Understanding (Good).
The lady from before. A young woman with wild ginger hair and purple eyes, with her hair covering her right eye. She wears a pink full-body jumpsuit that bears her designation of Punk-02 on the left breast; she also wears a purple hooded jacket with sleeves that are baggy around the forearm area, purple DOM shoes, black gloves, and a red aviator helmet. She wears an earpiece and antennae.
Vegapunk- Lillith- 02- Independance (Evil).
A small mechanical creature, being similar in size to a young child. His head is shaped like an American football with two appendages on top of it resembling rabbit ears or a power plug, and eyes bulging out of an opening in the front; the number 03 is branded on his forehead. Over his body, he wears a green jacket on the left side and white on the right; the kanji for "idea" is printed on the right breast, and the left side has a pattern resembling a spear. He possesses metallic fingers, thin rod-like legs, and blocky feet.
Vegapunk Edison- 03- Curiosity (Thinking).
A large mechanical being with a sphere head with a turn-key protruding from the top and a space in the front containing his eyes which always appeared drowsy; his main body was metallic, with the top part being red and the bottom cream. His designation, Punk-04, was printed on his left breast and the kanji for "wisdom" (知?) was printed on the center of his chest. His arms, hands, and legs were composed of bendable metal rods.
Vegapunk- Pythagros 04- Wisdom.
An extremely large girl, appearing to be as tall as Kaido with a young appearance. She had floppy downward ears, blue eyes, and short curly hair that was white on the left and pink on the right; she had a very long curl of hair on each side of her head that ran down to her belly. She had a long, bushy tail on her abdomen. She wore a short pink dress with her number on it as well as a downward-pointing arrow on the front. She also wore pink DOM shoes, brown gloves with white sleeves attached, an earpiece enabling communication with the other satellites, and a large red jetpack with a red-and-white checkered pattern around the middle of the engines on her back.
Vegapunk- Atlas- 05- Passion (Anger).
A young-looking woman of incredible size, standing twice the height of Brook. She has long and wavy blonde hair, aqua eyes, and patches of freckles under her eyes. Her mouth is very broad, and she has rosy, chubby cheeks. She wears a purple top cut off just below her breasts with her designation Punk-06 written on the front. She also wears an orange hooded jacket over her top, a pair of purple bikini bottoms, black gloves, orange shoes with cyan and black-striped socks that go up past her knees, an earpiece enabling communication with the other satellites, and a pair of red goggles on her forehead.
Vegapunk- York- 06- Instincts (Gluttony).
"Hey it's you!," Luffy shouted, singling out Lillith.
"You didn't need to go that far, Lillith.," noted Pythagros.
"You can't ever be too cautious.," the ginger argued.
"So where are we?," asked Jinbe.
"Egghead.," explained Lillith as the room opened to reveal a scientific marvel of advanced buildings as Luffy looked on with amazement.
"Looks so cool!," Usopp noted.
"I've never seen anything like it.," Nami said in awe.
Jinbe however, was less convinced.
"Why did you kidnap us and not kill us when you had the chance!," he asked.
"Hey! Hey! It's Vegapunk. He's a really smart guy.," Franky argued.
"He's still on the government payroll.," the Fishman noted.
"Not for much longer. The copy of Kaido's Devil Fruit was revealed on Wano and Greenbull told the report to the W.G. And they see it as a massive blunder among other things that make me no longer seem the most ideal brain of the operation despite all the work that's been done for their services.," explained Edison.
"Me? You're Vegapunk aren't you. Excuse me for saying this, but none of you actually give off the air of an elderly man.," Brook noted.
Suddenly, they each revealed robotic parts with York/Lillith's hand having mechanical parts mixed with organic tissue, Shaka's face as well as Atlas' being robotic features as Chopper fainted.
"We're more like cyborg creations to house the additional brain power of Punk Records to do the additional idea work for the main body.," explained Shaka as he restored his head.
"So cool!," shouted Luffy.
Bonney awoke to see the Vegapunks and gave a nasty glare.
"Where's the geezer?!," she snapped.
"Oh, you're here for Kuma.," York noted flatly.
"Kuma!," shouted Luffy as he remembered the giant man- feeling conflicted as he separated the crew but also protected the Sunny for two years.
"Don't be rude. Your anger is understandable-," Pythagoras said before Bonney snapped.
"I don't want to hear it from the copies. I want the man to talk to me!" the pink-haired girl said.
"You're not the only ones under stress! We need your help! Stella is already under watch by agents stationed here to get rid of him...so...so...," Atlas said before the six bowed to Luffy.
"Save Stella.," Shaka said much to the confusion of the young man.
Meanwhile- Outskirts of Egghead
"Quasar," said an old man as he fiddled with a massive, rusted robot.
A relatively tall elderly man, having stood just under Jinbe in height (without his brain), with slender limbs and red cheeks. He had a noticeably elongated but neatly sliced head and had a shaft driven in to support a structure resembling the top of an apple core and its leaf. His forehead was remarkably wide while his eyes were close to his potato nose. His tongue was incredibly long, reaching to his groin, and was always sticking out of his mouth. He had a bald head on top, but had spiky white hair on the sides, as well as a thick mustache. He wore a short white coat with SSG on the back, a pink shirt with red polka dots, purple pants, and purple odd-looking shoes.
Vegapunk- Stella- World's Smartest Man
"What're you doing? Good doctor?" asked a young man's voice as Stella glanced behind him.
A black dot appeared as a young man with dark indigo hair tied in a rat and dressed in an indigo waistcoat appeared. He wore a bowler hat.
Briefly, Stella gave a hint of suspicion before saying with a smile.
"Tom. I haven't been able to get this to work. Sorry, I can't make it an asset for us.," the man said.
"Shame. This did have some merit since that time and no one's been able to crack it. Not even the smartest man can do it even after all this time.," said the youth.
"The Pacifista project is going smoothly. Both the old models and the ones you had Alber-," Stella replied.
"He's better known as King right? Zoro managed to beat him up. He's hardly a threat now.," Tom replied.
"It's not his power that makes him a threat but what he is. The World Government is very good at making threats on certain races.," Stella spoke.
"Can't be helped. They're deviations from what Mother Sea desires. And being the heirs of Mother Seas, Our World Nobles-," Tom answered.
"Humanity always sees anything that threatens their superiority as dangerous. B-But it's even more so the case for the World Nobles who are above the insects of Humanity.," Stella replied with a laugh.
Tom briefly narrowed his gaze.
"I'm glad you didn't act on stating a vile accusation.," the youth replied, his expression unchanging. "The World Nobles are indeed above the likes of you. But even we need the help of those we consider lesser."
"I'm glad to always be of service.," Stella replied.
"Hey. When is he gonna kick the bucket?," said an orange-haired girl with twin tails in a brown suit who suddenly appeared around Tom.
"Oh, Howell. It's good to see you.," Stella noted.
"Speaking of anything...the original Pacifista is malfunctioning...he protected the Straw Hat's ship for two years. He can't be doing it...since he's barely a person now. Being just gears and screws- something more valuable than his kind ever was.," Howell noted.
Stella paused as his expression darkened for a brief moment which the two youths took note of.
"Y-you're right. His race is no more in this Line. Totally extinct in the New World. The only thing that matters is working because it allows one to gain the favor of the World Nobles to be accepted into their graces.," The old man told them to get them off their suspicions.
The air began to grow tenser before they both received a beep from on their Transponder Snails.
"This talk isn't over.," Tom said as he and Howell entered into the dot.
Stella then took a breath of relief.
"So they're on task by THEM aren't they?" he said before looking at the robot.
"Emeth...how does this era compare to that time...that young man...resembles Joyboy doesn't he.," Stella said to himself.
Elbaf
Kid's ships were arriving as a dot appeared in the sky as Tow observed within it.
The Supernova was about to face Shanks of the Red-Hair Pirates.
Weiner Island
At the same time, Law the former Warlord and Supernova was sailing as he sensed a negative intent.
Above them was a dot with Howell observing with it.
Next Chapter: Strength of Two Emperors
Author Notes: Tom and Howell belong to a different faction of W.G agents that I'll elaborate further on. Things are playing similarly but slightly different to the main story so far.
As for what Vegapunk wants with the bird and the ship- it'll be revealed in due time.