Chapter 51: Passing The Torch

Yggdrasil

Asgard

Luffy felt the surge of Haki from both Imu and Shanks from miles away.

He was about to stop everything when the witch girl, Minerva blocked his path. Luffy clenched his fists...only to be reminded of his limitations with his artificial limb born from his encounter with Cortez.

"You have no idea of what Haki can do beyond what you learned...you graduated from an average Conqueror to above average...there's levels beyond that still...so you're not prepared for what HE can do if you thought of fighting him soon...let alone what the other fellow can do...especially he starts getting stronger...even if you could and would go there...you'd get it in the way...like that time.," she said.

"Move.," Luffy said, after sensing Rayleigh's death, he feared the worst.

"No. You have to become Pirate King your way. He's fighting to become Pirate King his own way and right now, it's a fight that matters to him more than anything. You'd be insulting his path if you went and made it about you. And barging in while the momentum is going in his favor will just prove you're still a child in his eyes. If you want to somehow make a miracle, reach a level he can respect. Do it when he can see you as an equal...nah, a successor to surpass him Then you can give him back his hat...it seems like that's the vibe you're giving off with Red Hair...thought you should get another one...it feels weird not seeing you without one. The one we're sensing.," the purple-haired witch girl explained.

"And it'd just be a repeat of something...that you're still carrying deep down...," she said as she noticed Luffy's scar.

Her words hit Luffy like a sledgehammer. It was as if she had peered into the deepest recesses of his soul and laid bare his insecurities. He looked at her, his eyes filled with a mix of surprise and respect. It was clear that Minvera wasn't just some random girl with extraordinary ability; she was someone who understood the gravity of the situation of being a Pirate King and the kind of person it would take to claim it.

Luffy then sat down with his legs crossed.

"I'll have faith in him.," Luffy said bluntly.

Shortly Before the Execution of Ace

Two Years Ago...

Whitebeard and his 16 commanders all were saying when he saw Shanks teleport onto his ship.

"We had this talk before...we can't stop it...you know why. Besides, this is the worst timing.," said the moon-mustache captain.

He then saw the Revolutionary leader, Dragon of all people whirl onto the ship with a familiar Red Poneglyph.

Newgate's yellow iris eyes widened.

"Dragon," he greeted with a heavy sigh.

The stoic man said bluntly, "You're essentially trapped in a role due to THEIR influence. This conflict has only one option where they see you both dead, but at least give it meaning. And once you die...it's either Kaido or Linlin who will claim to your territory. And this potentially."

"I'm not interested in that.," Whitebeard noted before seeing other familiar faces a blue-haired woman, a draconic figure, and a shadowy mafia boss.

"It's going to be a game of shells...a very risky one...with the players not being aware they're playing it," explained Shanks. "And a certain party underground is gonna help out."

Present

Mary Geoise

The red skies went back to normal as the people of the Red Port looked up in confusion at the sight of Shanks flying- with most being unable to see his Armament Regalia.

"When you go Full Armament- you turn into a metal guy? Why'd Shanks turn into a really awesome armor?!," asked Rockstar.

"We reached a plateau of what we could do in the New World...till we stumbled upon a gap...and ventured out of curiosity. And this is one of the things we got from it.," Beckman explained to the newcomer.

Shanks narrowed his eyes in slight annoyance as he realized the attack just phased through Imu. Whatever this World Elder was now, far exceeded the capabilities of a Logia, let alone the other Elder's regeneration. But there had to be some weakness because the world would've been on Imu's terms if he could casually use it all the time.

Imu's eyes went from tiny dots back to full red ripples.

"You all planned this together? Adversity makes strange bedfellows" explained the spherical angel.

"I can't say what motivates all of them, but...," Shanks explained. "But it's about setting the stage for THEM..."

Imu's eyes twitched.

"You have the gall to say that when you're neophyte granulating-," Imu said.

"You don't need to sound fancy. Just call it as it is, rookie-crushing. If they can't come back from struggles, they aren't ready for the big time anyway. But it's THEIR time now. And you're just remnants of a time that the world needs to move on from.," Shanks explained.

"Imumumumumumu. My omniscience is lacking due to my age causing senility. I should've been able to anticipate it like when I was younger.," commented Imu.

Shanks smirked, "Is that so? I really doubt that. And even it was, I'd find it boring to live by a set path. Going on detours to the destination makes it more unique than the straightforward road. That's what makes this world interesting. Now, let's get back to the real business."

"To each their own...Pink Hair.," Imu replied.

Shanks then caught a glimpse via his Observation Haki to look in a mirror as he saw a surreal sight- his hair was not scarlet red, but a cherry blossom pink...as if it was always this color. Yet Shanks in his soul knew otherwise.

Yasopp gritted his teeth as he also figured what was going on.

Before he could comprehend what was happening, he saw two rotating light-based crosses summoned from the energy gathered from Imu's six wings as they honed in on the Emperor of the Seas.

The crosses were blocked by tangible music notes summoned by a frilled lizard humanoid wearing a purple tunic with brown boots while playing the lute.

Aneirin- Singer of the Red Hair Pirates.

"Oh, frabujous day! To aid my Captain, esteemed Emperor Shansk!" Aneirin exclaimed in a melodramatic fashion. Shanks gave a slightly annoyed sigh.

Imu then noticed a well-built man with a greying brown beard shirtless while wearing gladiatorial armor otherwise drawing a long blade on him.

Attilius- Combatant of the Red Hair Pirates.

Imu then was "shot" by a rifle fired by an anthropomorphic toad in gunslinger attire.

"The Toad" Ribbet- Master Gunner of the Red Hair Pirates.

Attilius failed to capitalize on slashing Imu as the attack phased through him.

"Dagnabit. He's really like a ghost now.," explained Ribbet. Gab froze when this was mentioned.

"Sorry for getting you all involved. People tend to look at you all with apprehension. That's why we try to keep you away unless it's very important," the armored Emperor noted.

"Don't fret. We'd be ashamed if we didn't help you out as part of our debt. We all have our roles," explained Attilius.

"If you use flames...then let me return the favor...," Imu said as he inhaled his cheeks swelled with Shanks darting around to avoid multiple locations where he could get hit by the onslaught.

"Honest Fire!," Imu declared as he emitted holy flames as he exhaled from his mouth as a white torrent illuminated the sky as the people of the Red Port looked in awe.

Shanks watched as his crew members reacted swiftly to the attack. Aneirin played a dramatic melody on his lute, causing the flames to bend and dance around him like a fiery ballet, while Attilius raised his sword to shield himself, the blade glowing with a mysterious energy that repelled the fire. Ribbet took cover behind an alley of the city, his eyes narrowed as he took aim with his rifle, waiting for an opening.

Lucky Roux, Beckman, and Yasopp took strategic points to fire while he was distracted...only to see that the wings had eyes on the back...staring at the trio as they fired light beams.

Gab roared a yellow condensed sound wave to cancel out the attack.

"Thanks.," the plump chef mentioned.

"Don't mention it...could he be a g-ghost?," asked Gab.

"No, he's definitely attacking us with tangible attacks. So he ain't one of those hologram thingies from Egghead. Is that right?," observed Rockstar.

"Allow me good sir to see how his phantasm works...," explained a portly man with a handlebar mustache, monocle, and dark blue suit.

Percy Neville- Quartermaster of the Red Hair Pirates.

He pulled out a massive boomerang as he swung at the angel, it phasing the first loop as Imu reflexively went looser but as it winded back, it hit the wing and sliced through, causing a ripple of pain through Imu as he regenerated his wing.

"By Joy. It actually works. Now to see-," he said before noticing with some dread, the appearance of a young woman of average height. She has light pink hair and appears to have heterochromia, with a red iris with white pupil eye, and a light blue left one. The lower half of her face and her knees are wrapped in bandages. She wears a dark green newsboy cap with goggles, a double-breasted green jacket with extremely long sleeves, a dark panty underneath it to leave her legs exposed, a dark cape, and dark boots.

Charlotte Gunko- Holy Knight of Umi Faction.

"This makes things more difficult. Could this be causality telling us not to be consumed by hubris?," asked a closed-eyed man with back-length black hair, wearing a green martial artist attire with long sleeves, black pants and black tai chi shoes.

Gouqi Jiu- Merchant of the Red Hair Pirates.

She then looked at the sphere, unafraid of the form as if she had seen it beforehand.

"Lord Imu...for them to force you to fight...the audacity of these insects scurrying in the Holy Land!" Gunko shouted, her eyes flashing with anger as she saw the pirates' disrespectful behavior towards the Celestial Being.

Shanks attempted a Conqueror's Haki wave, but she showed immunity as she then generated bandages that then sharpened into arrowhead points towards the Red Hair group.

So she's a Holy Knight and a really stubborn lady...a bad combination for a short encounter..., thought Beckman as he fired at her. She then summoned a coffin to engulf Rayleigh's remains, something that had been left unchecked due to the fighting.

"Damn it, the fight was so intense we forgot about our surroundings. Shanks shouldn't face this...like I did," cursed a dark-skinned, short male with a round nose, a green headband, a brown tunic with a dull green shawl, brown pants, and open-toed dull green leggings with gray sandals. His most unusual feature was the antennae of green growing from his head peeking out of the headband. His completely black pupils with no irises looked with horror.

Amarula- Spymaster of the Red Hair Pirates.

Shanks...we've located THAT in the castle...Umi's unconscious so we've been able to find it without trouble...especially since you're drawing in the lions out of the den., communicated the short fellow to Shanks telepathically as he nodded.

"That KATANA girl assumes she's a master of raising the dead- even better than that pirate in Thriller Bark...however, my method is more refined.," said the woman as it opened to reveal a reverant Silvers Rayleigh with grayer skin with a trance-like state as if a remote-controlled doll.

This caused Shanks to freeze in place. The sight of his mentor in such a state was something he had not anticipated, not even moments after his passing, being used as an undead toy by the enemy. He was almost possessed with the desire to incinerate her for mocking his memory.

Shanks then glanced as he looked to see Imu warp above him as he saw the angel fire star-shaped projectiles down on him, forcing Shanks to generate a flame barrier. It then dissipated as Imu realized it was a distraction.

He looked at Gunko as he told her-

"I was perfectly capable of defending myself. As for you...don't have the sleeping queen to attend to?"

"We defend Umi's cabal When it looks like they can't handle things..," Gunko replied.

"Well, I already have my own guard. They just need a wake-up call to be reminded of their duties. More importantly, they're not here for just revenge now...you've been allowing all sorts of whelps to infest the holy land for two decades. To get what they want. And to make sure we have to have exert ourselves due to our bodies' limitations at times with our advanced age when we did it.," explained the Angel.

"We didn't have a reason to deal with minor-," Gunko reported before Imu pointed a razor-sharp wing at her.

"Never look down on low-class vermin that manage to slip into your base. It will lead to you being overwhelmed when a true beast arrives.," he said as he phased into the marble street...but not before his eyes flashed as the building restored themselves and the World Nobles were reborn much to Gunko's nonsurprise.

Besides...the fact that they stuck around after their mentor died...means they have an ulterior motive., Imu's voice said in Gunko's head. She then pulled out a Transponder Snail as she reluctantly tried to call for the other Holy Knights of THAT Faction.

Lost Chambers

Shanks and the others warped into the frozen chambers, avoiding the massive Straw Hat room and focusing on the hidden lore of the sealed library made of such material that the W.G could never destroy it even after centuries of implied attempts.

They found a stout man with a brown beard, monocle, a light blue military jacket worn open to expose his upper torso, dark blue pants with brown boots, and a mechanical right arm. He had a series of green peas on a leaf growing from his head. He had beat them to it, being familiar with the terrain.

Hohenheim/Jaygarcia Jerome- Veterinarian of the Red Hair Pirates.

"Sorry for the divide and conquer tactics. I did genuinely want to save Rayleigh- he was never a secondary option...," Shanks said now back in his normal form.

Jerome replied, "There's no need to apologize, Shanks. I understand your sentiment. For the sake of the budding chicks, whether human or not, is something that those willing to see past our narrow conceptions can understand." His mechanical arm whirred as he gestured around the room, filled with ancient texts and artifacts that spoke of a world long forgotten. "But it seems we have bigger fish to fry than my past indiscretions."

"It's a shame Mjosgard died before he could fully be freed from that mindset after being foregone since birth. Then we could've built trust between the citizens and the people on the Red Line to at least make the transition easier rather than outright violence.," explained Shanks, knowing of Garling's actions.

"Yeah, our fathers are monstrous assholes who like things as they are. Even if they have to step on the "Dragons" that fall out of line.," Jerome remarked as he gestured his mechanical arm before picking up a specific reading tome of ancient lore.

"So...you actually found it?," asked Punch. "We gotta get outta here...so chilly!" Monster the monkey agreed as he shivered.

Limejuice stared emptily as Building Snake noticed his electrically charged staff generating red electrical sparks.

"Are you detecting any enemies...why are you...please don't...come to your senses!," said a Nidavell Dwarf with a bushy white mustache, wild white hair sticking on the sides of his head, wearing round glasses, a teal long cap, a large nose, and dark blue-green robes with brown shoes. His Advanced Observation picked out the oddness of his teammate before anyone else in nanoseconds, but it was too late to prevent it.

Wayland- Blacksmith of the Red Hair Pirates.

Building Snake was then stabbed from behind by Limejuice much to the bewilderment of the main crew. Their ally of decades suddenly attacked one of their own. The atmosphere turned immediately more menacing.

"So-So I was right...you have been acting off...lately...," said Building Snake.

"T-this has to be some sort of illusion or shape-shifter with a Devil Fruit. There are so many types with this kinda power that it's baffling. Limejuice must've been captured. L-let's beat this imposter and save him so we can ignore this," argued Rockstar.

"Use your Observation, Rockstar, it's the real deal...Limejuice...what the hell? To think you're acting on your own...no, it has to be with either of the guys that want us dead? By elimination...it's the World Government...What reasons do you have for this bullshit? It can't be because of the money? We've been around to know you're motivated by that.," asked Hongo as he pulled out his quarterstaff.

"The details are simple...the will of Imu found out my weak point despite going away from it like everyone did...and your dream...has already failed in the past by someone of the same good intentions. And all signs point to this Government being the safer option compared to what you plan for yourself or your bet on Luffy for his idea of solving the problem. Both of which, I don't put stocks on.," spoke the man with the long blond hair as he shucked the rod out from Building Snake's back as Cobbler the reindeer centaur rushed to do surgery on him to save him.

"This is worse than Teach...at least, he was honest about his ambitions and did not need to lie with some implied grander vision of peace- he's at least got that for him.," Yasopp noted. "What're they doing to your loved ones? We can go and save them once we knock some-"

"The fact they found them...you know exactly what World Nobles do to those they fancy...and you don't comprehend the power of Imu's real top forces...I thought like everyone did...till I experienced it...and was shown the truth, that became more and more obvious with evidence...which I can't say...sorry, but I've been a spy for a while since that time...you figure out when...," Limejuice replied.

Shanks gave a pained smile, being betrayed like this hurt just as much as losing a mentor if not more so. And on the same day.

He remembered how they used to have fun partying, and adventuring the seas, and wondered if he had been planning this since that time that he had to now guess. Hiding it behind a smile.

Limejuice was then punched by a dark-skinned man of a large muscular mass, wearing gloves, a dark coat over a brown vest with a brown belt, gray pants, and brown boots. His most unusual feature was the third eye in the middle of his bald head which also had a goatee of brown, thick eyebrows over his two normal eyes and a bulbous nose.

Jora- Tailor of the Red Hair Pirates.

"Jora!," Rockstar shouted.

"Once we meet again, you're going to get a beating for this messy nonsense. That's just the warmup since everyone else is too nice to really do anything!," Jora remarked with a flamboyant flick of his wrist, his punch having knocked Limejuice into the air. "How could you, of all people, betray your comrade? Did you forget who saved your hide all those years ago?"

"This situation is all the more reason why Luffy needs to know this to avoid this scenario...," explained Shanks.

"You don't mean they too had a...," said Lager as they began to sense Imu approaching. The way he was speaking, implied the worst with his mentor in Shanks' mind.

Jerome tossed the ancient book to a purple-haired, attractive man with red irises eyes dressed like a stage magician complete with a top hat. and black cape with a red interior. He unusually had a set of green antennae and a pair of green leaf-like wings growing from his back.

Porter- Entertainer of the Red Hair Pirates.

"This is going to make for an interesting show-stopper. If we were the mustache-twirlers, this would be really dumb to give them such an advantage.," Porter remarked as he placed the scripture inside the hat as the crew outside of Limejuice warped away from the room.

But not out of Mary Geoise because they knew that Imu would target their crews or loved ones if they didn't distract him and his forces with a potential opportunity to remove a throne from their side.

Imu saw Limejuice then bow to him with a serious look much to his mild amusement.

"Aragon, you sly silver-tongue...managing to tell them the truth...but they don't realize, I set up insurance to prevent their plans from happening with the boy...who reminds of someone..." remarked the sphere.

Yggdrasil

Asgard

Lufft and Minerva then saw a strange book called "Mantle: The Power of a Pirate Crew." with a note suddenly appearing in the grasslands.

Minerva picked it up as she read-

"Sorry, I failed to save Rayleigh...and unlike you, I'm not able to patch things up with a crew mate of mine...since we have different ways of doing things... much like how a man I admired faced a similar dilemma that cost him everything... I envy you for those bonds...and this is why you need to practice this... this belongs to a time that your Robin wants to know... about a certain someone who had the same power as you... what I'm saying is... practice this... and we'll meet soon... Shanks..."

Luffy then smiled about hearing from Shanks, feeling a warmth spread through him. He knew that his captain was fighting his own battles, but it was reassuring to know that he was still looking out for him and the crew.

He then noticed that Minerva's face went red as she covered herself with her hat to hide her expressions. Luffy looked at her with curiosity, wondering what the book could have said to elicit such a reaction.

"To be like you...he must be...," Minerva observed.

Zoro then walked to them, having decided not to engage with the festivities in the Vahalla section.

"Huh?," asked the green-haired swordsman.

"Dunno.," Luffy asked. "Kinda reminds me of what Wapol did to Afro and Squiggle-Lip guy. Chopper beat him up- just remembered that Chopper told me that once."

"It's called Mantle.," Minerva explained. "And it's going to be needed for a bigger stage...in the OLD WORLD..."

Suddenly, she generated the aura of an experienced veteran with centuries of experience that made the two apprehensive.

"Let's go down to Midgard...I think that you two need to know...exactly why you need it at your current level...since you're gonna die at this rate in Vira before you even reach Lodestar or OLD WORLD where One Piece resides- where Laugh Tale is...I won't say the location, it definitely needs power I know you can rise to. You just need a demonstration of where to improve. And it's going to be hell to go through it the first time.," explained the witch.

Next Chapter: Terror of OLD WORLD

Author Notes: The title refers to Shanks' intentions with Luffy

The fight between Shanks and Imu will continue as we jump back and forth between Luffy and Shanks' groups- the latter of which gets further and further expanded on.

I initially had the Holy Knights be just Imu's lackeys, but the introduction of Gunko and Shamrock made me think that there's more intrigue of having two separate factions vying for control for their respective leaders- the World Nobles being at odds with each other, so they can't get anything done due to being so ununified.

The betrayal of Limejuice, while shocking, was to really make him stand out alongside Building Snake who definitely wants payback. Those two aren't the composed Beckman, the iconic Shanks, the jovial yet deadly Lucky Roux, the deadbeat till proven otherwise Yasopp, Gab's easily frightened persona beneath his frightening appearance, Punch and Monster being a Human-Monkey duo, and Rockstars' adorably inept ways to prove himself- being sort of there for a head count. So doing so, gave them more character until Oda does something more with them in the original manga. It also might highlight why Luffy will succeed where Shanks and Roger failed.