Chapter 115: Return to the Red Line

A/N

I'm ba~ck! And boy has it been a while. Far too long, I'll admit. Did y'all miss me? And would you believe it wasn't any of the big fight scenes that held me up, but Shakky? For the longest time I couldn't get a grasp of her dialogue and character but I refused to get it wrong. Still, while I was caught on that little snag, a friend of mine gave me some information I didn't know and (honestly) it makes by job easier. As a result, I'm going to have to RETCON something throughout everything up to this point.

Coby and Grace are 16 years old!

Holy Goda, who knew? I sure didn't. I labored under the delusion he was 12 or so, and that Ms. Goldenweek was the same age. They certainly didn't look 16 when they were introduced, but the Wiki confirmed it. Both would be 18 post-timeskip, which explains everything about Coby's growth spurt.

I'm not changing the spelling to Koby, though. Sorry, that's stupid-lookin'. And yeah, I know Oda has said Ms. Goldenweek's name is Marianne. Too bad, I'm not changing.

But yeah, Coby and Grace have been 16 up to this point, which makes their hormonal dance around each other SOOO much easier to write. Thank you, Lieutenant Kenneth, for making my nerves ease so I could get over that writer's block.

Chapter 119:

Of Whales and Mermaids,

Return to the Red Line

It was a sunny day on the Grand Line, the waves around the ship nothing but a calm, undulating blue. Most of the crew were spread out along the grassy deck, amusing themselves with training or pleasure activities. The only crewmembers unaccounted for were the captain and navigator, the navigator having never shown up since the storm that night and the captain claiming he was "feeling sick and needed a nap." This was the worst excuse many of the crew had ever heard, but he never told them the truth before disappearing.

Either way, the weather was much too nice to be holed up indoors. Zoro, Gin, Sanji, Merry, and (surprisingly) Usopp found something to do in a free-for-all battle royal on the grass, focusing on hand-to-hand or hand-to-foot combat. By the looks of things, Sanji was winning with Zoro as a close second. Usopp continued yelling about protecting Merry, but gave almost as good as he got with a pair of Dial-studded gauntlets to give him a handicap. Brook stayed out of the fighting, playing a swift battle tune on his violin.

Off to the side, Coby and Chopper examined Coby's new transformations, studying each one and discussing the possible pros and cons each one offered while comparing them to Chopper's. The doctor and Grace had stolen Indigo's notes and several IQ plants from the greenhouse where the Clown had met his demise, so Coby now cultivated a field of the small bulbs in Robin's flower garden. It was a lucky turn since it appeared he needed them to force his transformation until his body or Fruit-they weren't sure which-adjusted to the mutation. A packet of IQ gummies now bounced against the roset's hip.

Up on the top deck, Franky sat beside Billy's nest just within Nami's tangerine orchard, the cyborg putting the finishing touches on a leather saddle strapped to the duck's back. Sure, Billy was comfortable with people riding him without one, but having a saddle meant he could carry provisions, weapons, and ammunition for the rest of the crew. The saddle also came with a pair of steel-and-copper talons that strapped over Billy's feet, not that he knew how to use them yet.

Amy, Robin, and Grace watched the brawl from a trio of deck chairs on the second level, Grace covered in bruises where she had tried to match the fighters with her limited training. Amy had to admit her sister did better than she had been expecting duue to Coby's training, admitting as much when the poor girl had been launched from the fight by Merry. Around the artist's neck hung a necklace with a seed on it, an emergency plan for the future.

Said seed was from a mutated tangerine Nami had found after their escape from Shiki, though the pirates didn't know if it had been the Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit or something else. Based on its design, they suspected not. Whatever Devil Fruit it was, it had been extremely colorful with a grey, mushroom-like stem and the crew had agreed that if any of them needed a power-up, it would be Grace.

"Any luck, Ms. Valentine?" Robin asked, snapping the blushing blonde out of her starring at a certain Logia.

"N-Not yet. They just keep breaking."

Amy was not supposed to be idle, a stack of glass cups on a table beside her. Having been inspired by Luffy's Third Gear and discussed the theory of her powers with Chopper after their defeat of Shiki, Amy was now seeing if her Kilo-Kilo Fruit would allow her to not only change the mass of objects, but also alter that mass to change the object's size or shape. She'd had no real luck so far, but had found that trying sometimes resulted in the cup cracking or shattering, or her fingers expanding. She'd come to the conclusion that if she could alter the mass and shape of a brittle substance like glass, other objects would be easier.

"Does something feel wrong to you all?" Chopper asked suddenly, his fur standing on end. "I don't feel too good."

"I know what you mean," Coby agreed, his animal instincts going haywire. Gin and Merry seemed to pick up on this, calling the fight to an end as the surroundings started to darken.

"That doesn't look good," Franky commented, leaving Billy to hurry to the steering wheel near the front of the ship. "Someone go get Nami! We've got a super storm coming!"

"I'll do it," Robin answered as the rest of the crew started preparing the Sunny for stormy weather. Allowing herself a little smirk and marking something from her Mental Bucket List of Evil Acts, the archaeologist carefully made her way toward the captain's bedroom.

"Oh yes, Captain! YES!"

Standing outside the bedroom door for a few seconds, or as long as Robin could allow to maximize the unsuspecting spouses' embarrassment, the raven-haired woman quietly knocked on the door and opened it.

"Captain! Nami!" Robin called with a smirk. "We've more important things to be doing than each other!"

"ROBIN!" the couple yelled, hastily trying to cover themselves, though Nami found that task a little more difficult from on top of Luffy, wearing only his hat. Robin didn't bat an eye at the situation she had interrupted.

"Sorry to interrupt," Robin said, her smirk showing she wasn't sorry in the least. "I'm afraid we have an incoming storm and need our navigator and captain."

"Give us a minute!" Nami screamed, grabbing Luffy's arm and using its abilities to slam the door. Robin chuckled outside the room as she overheard the couple bantering inside. Luffy bound out of the doorway first, shirtless, leaping into the storm preparations. Nami exited a second later, only dressed in Luffy's red vest that hung down over her hips, buttoned up to preserve her modesty.

"If you say anything about what you saw..." she threatened.

"I needn't say anything," the older woman waved off. "Everyone already knows. Though based on what I just saw, you're a very lucky bride."

"R-Robin!"

"I wonder, can he use his Third Gear to-?"

"Robin!"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about me," she laughed, messing with the younger woman. "I'm not going to go after your husband. I've already got my eye on something just as impressive."

"Robin!" Nami cried, her face glowing.

"What? You don't want to know how I know? I can bloom eyes, and he's very-"

"For the love of Goda, stop!"

"Oh fine," the archaeologist mock pouted. "Anyway, the storm?" Her hand waved, indicating the plumes of spinning water that were rising out of the ocean around them. Each one rose out of a whirlpool spinning so quickly that the water inside was pushed against the flow of gravity, squirming as if alive. This snapped Nami out of her embarrassment, the younger woman bending over the railing.

"These look like Sea Serpent Currents!" Nami yelled down to the crew. As she watched, Zoro and Coby worked together to slice one of the currents apart, the water crashing down on them in a blob rather than a spiral. Amy and Grace pulled on the steering wheel, but it wouldn't budge under the force of the currents. Chopper clung to the mast, panicking. "The magnetic flow of water makes them move as if they're alive, being attracted to ships above water!"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Chopper wailed.

"Weapons Left!"

"Lightning Shot!"

"72 Caliber Phoenix!"

"Cannonball Barrage!"

"Sky Dragon Star!"

"Gum-Gum Gatling!"

The crewmembers with ranged attacks deployed them, beating off the currents as best they could. It was a fine show of teamwork, but it didn't seem like the Sunny was getting anywhere.

"Merry, what's our course?" Nami demanded, hopping from the third story to the second over the railing.

"West by northwest, Mrs. Nami!" the wood Fairy called back from the top of the mast, willing the ropes to secure the sails by themselves while she broke currents above her with cannonballs. She was not alone, Billy clinging to the crossbar and ready to fly should she fall. "We aren't moving very fast, though! Almost backwards!"

"Shit," the orange-haired woman hissed. "Sanji, Gin, go get a Coup de Burst ready! Grace, you're on support; give everyone a chemical boost! Amy, stay on the wheel and put us in paddleboat mode! Robin, help secure everyone. Everyone else, focus on not letting us flip!"

The storm raged, the brig sloop inside it struggling to stay upright through the howling wind. It almost sounded like there was something else roaring, too. Something roaring in defiance.

"There!" Usopp yelled over the wind. "I can see it! The edge of the storm!" The sniper's shout filled the spirits of his crewmates, their force against the storm almost doubling until a massive current rose in front of them.

"Holy shit!" Franky gaped.

"That's not good for our current situation!" Brook cried. "Get it? Current?"

"Amy, just like the Knock-up Stream! Take us up that current!"

"What?!" Franky and Brook gasped, Amy giving a nod to Nami's instruction. Finally wrestling control over the rudder, Amy propelled the Sunny up the rising current, circling the spiral half a dozen times before the top crashed into the ocean, turning the current into an arch with the Sunny on top.

"Now! Coup de Burst!"

Pulling the lever, Amy launched the pirate ship into the air, the Thousand Sunny flying over the rest of the Sea Serpent Currents and into the calm waters beyond. The Straw Hat Pirates flopped to the deck or leaned on the railing, sopping wet and exhausted.

"Oh my Goda," Usopp huffed. "That was almost as bad as the first stretch."

"Almost?" Gin panted. "We're more experienced now. That was worse."

"No kidding," Coby sighed.

"I still think you all are lying about that."

"SHUT UP, ZORO!"

"Shishishi!" Laughter began to bubble from the captain of the ship, slowly spreading through the crew until every member was shaking in an attempt to breathe right.

"G-Guys," Merry panted as the laughter subsided, resting against Billy. "I can hear her. That last current was enough. Sunny's alive."

"Ow, what?!" Franky yelled. "I can't super hear anything!"

"She's so small right now," Merry stated with a smile. "It's not much, but she's there. She's like a faint chanting in my head. 'Nakama, Nakama, Nakama' over and over."

"Sounds like we have a new crewmember!" Luffy smirked. "You know what this calls for? Party!" He paused, yawning. "Maybe a nap first. Then party!"

Pirates groaned as bright daylight pelted them from above, an evil that had been long gone when the rum has stolen them hours before. The sea was calm in this area of the Grand Line, a sure sign that they were approaching the halfway point. Not being a heavy drinker, Coby was one of the first to wake. Shaking himself out of his groggy stupor, he pulled himself out from under a mumbling Grace and tracked down his shirt in short order. He'd only and a couple mugs... he thought. He really wasn't sure. Finding his shirt without too much trouble, Coby turned but jumped away when he came face-to-face with a bat, the rodent-like flier offering a message tied to its leg. An easily-recognizable seal in red wax shone prominently on the paper.

"Captain Luffy?" the roset called over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off the bat. "Captain Luffy! Anyone?"

"What is it?" Nami demanded from the railing outside her and Luffy's room. "Some of us are still getting over that SkyRum we had last night."

"We have a letter. From the Marines."

Nami's eyes widened before she hurried back into the room, hauling a still-shirtless and half-asleep Luffy over the railing. The captain crashed to the deck with a jolt, jumping to his feet. Coby took the letter from the Marine bat, acting as a middleman to not startle his captain more than was necessary.

"Get up, you lazy bums!" Nami yelled, not caring about Coby's worries. "We've got important mail!"

"Nami-swan is beautiful when she's insulting us~!" Sanji noodled from the crow's nest roof.

"Freaking sea-witch," Zoro grumbled from underneath Billy in his nest, the rest of the crew pulling their gear together as Luffy read the letter.

"Well?" Franky questioned. "Don't super leave us hanging!"

"-as does destruction..." Luffy began. "Wait, I should start over, shouldn't I?

"Straw Hat Luffy,

"You hold a powerful reputation in the eyes of both pirates and marines. Fear and admiration ride your wake, as does destruction. We, the Marines, have chosen to offer you a mutually-beneficial deal that will allow you the freedom to fight without the looming threat of the law.

"If you accept this deal, you will be named one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, replacing Gecko Moria. You will be expected to pay a tribute of your plunder to the World Government, steal only from pirates, and attend any meetings called. In return, both you and every member of your crew will be granted full immunity from any legal action up to and including execution for past crimes in accordance with your cooperation. The Marines are also willing to offer you any favor, within reason, for your acceptance.

"We look forward to your answer,

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku

"P.S. You should accept this deal, brat! Come visit your dear, old grandpa!"

"Luffy, this is amazing!" Nami smiled. "They want to make you a Warlord!"

"That shows that they respect you," Grace commented. "If you take this deal, we would all be safe from the Marines for as long as you did what you were told, but..."

"But that involves taking orders," Zoro finished. "Those meetings would drag us away from our adventures and you'd end up going off without them anyway. If you accept and then leave, they might come down on us harder."

"What do you think, guys?" Luffy asked, turning to his crew. He knew what his answer would have been if it was just him, but some of his crew might want immunity. "Is the protection worth becoming dogs of the Navy?"

"Of course not," Robin answered, surprising several members of the crew.

"Out of everyone, I thought you would be most likely to want this deal," Merry blinked.

"They would take away my bounty, sure," Robin waved off, "but they'd demand I translate the Poneglyphs for them or teach someone to. Besides, I'd never work for the group that destroyed my home."

"I'd never be able to look my old man in the eye of I worked for the Government," Usopp frowned.

"Having a bounty brings in more fear," Amy smirked. "If we accepted, our bounties would never rise and we couldn't do things like Enies Lobby again!"

"Yohoho," Brook chuckled, running his bow across the stings of his violin. "I suppose we have our answer."

"Yup," Luffy smiled, taking the pen Nami offered and writing a quick response on the back of the paper. Nami stole the message and pen afterward, translating her husband's writing into readable letters. She then handed the paper to the bat which promptly took off.

"What did you super say?" Franky asked.

"I said," Luffy began, "as kindly as I could, 'go to Hell'!"

The Red Line loomed above them, the Straw Hats staring at the great land mass with awe. No one spoke for a good while, each speechless in the face of the massive strip of land that split the world in two. Those from the East Blue had seen it before, but they didn't exactly have time to bask in the shadows of the Red Line when they were sailing over it and dealing with an Island Whale afterward. For others, they had never seen such a sight, leading every member to dwell on how far they had come.

"We've covered half the world," Luffy smirked with a rare show of brainpower. "One more stretch and I'll be the King of the Pirates!"

"Then I'll be the Queen of the Pirates," Nami smiled beside him, taking his hand in her own as her eyes took on a gleam. "Then we'll be the richest couple in the world and I can map everything!"

"I came to be the World's Greatest Swordsman," Zoro nodded. "The Pirate King deserves no less."

"I'll be strong enough to correct every wrong I see!" Coby yelled.

"I'll be a great warrior worthy of Elbaf and my father!"

"I'll find the All Blue."

"I'll've conquered tha sea tha' stole some o' my crewmates, with real friends beside me," Gin grinned.

"We came from the South Blue three years ago as slaves," Amy began.

"Now," Grace finished, "we're chasing our dreams with reckless abandon! To become the best across the globe!"

"I'm going to find a cure for every disease!"

"I came to this sea five years ago from the West Blue," Robin sighed. "I'm halfway to learning the true history."

"I came over Reverse Mountain when I was just a baby over 30 years ago," Franky commented. "My super dream is coming alive beneath us! My ship is going to reach the end of the world! OW!"

"Baahaha!" Merry laughed. "I'm on the adventure of a lifetime on my own two feet!"

"Yohohoho! To feel the sun on my face as I sail to meet Laboon once more!" Brook smiled. "Not that I have a face anymore. Yohohoho!"

"Wah!" Billy yelled, joining in. "Wah!"

"Wait," Coby frowned. "Did... Did you just say Laboon?"

"Oh, indeed," Brook nodded. "He's a friend my crew left behind at the start of the Grand Line. We promised to come back for him after our adventure, but I'm all that's left."

"THAT WAS YOU?" the East Blue members of the crew and Merry yelled.

"What's going on here?" Franky questioned. "Have you all super met his friend?"

"Yeah," Coby spoke up, resting an elbow on Grace's shorter shoulder. His eyes stared into the distance. "We almost sunk running into him. Laboon is an Island Whale by Reverse Mountain. He's massive and we're lucky Captain Luffy managed to slow us down enough that we only lost Merry's figurehead in the crash."

"You're telling me," the Klabautermann scoffed, feeling her choker. "I've got the scar to prove it."

"You've..." Brook swallowed (somehow). "You've seen Laboon? How is he?"

"He's doing great!" Luffy chimed in. "He's giant! He was real lonely when we met, slamming his head into the Red Line and all that, so I got into a fight with him. After that, I painted our flag on his snout so he couldn't hurt himself anymore and promised to come back and fight him again when I became the Pirate King."

"Yohoho," Brook chuckled, tears running down his cheekbones. "Is it coincidence your crew saved me, or is it fate that brought us together? Laboon! I'm coming back for you! I promise you!"

"Sunny's growing," Merry announced. "Her chant's changed. 'Nakama, promises, Nakama, promises.' When she can talk, those will probably be her main philosophies. Those and naps and raging parties."

"I never thought to ask," Robin thought aloud, "but do you have all of our knowledge, or just a mix of our personalities?"

"Well, that's a hard question to answer," the Wood Fairy responded with a so-so gesture. "See, I don't have any of your memories, but I have bits of your most prominent knowledge and muscle memory, proportional with how long you were on the crew while I was forming. I've got a lot of East Blue in me, but only a little bit from you, Robin, and zip from Big Bro Franky. Maybe an idea of the language of the Poneglyphs, but not enough to understand off the bat. I've also got you're best physical aspects, like Uncle Usopp's blood pressure and Captain Luffy's immune system."

"Unfortunately," Chopper put in, "you picked up some of our worst traits, too. How Zoro's sense of direction fails to work with some of Robin's intelligence and Nami's navigational skills is a mystery."

"Hey!" Merry pouted. "I'm not that- brace for impact!" The Klabautermann hit the deck, some of the faster members finding something to grab before the Sunny rocked. Waves sloshed over the railing, dousing the pirates as a rabbit Sea King rose off their starboard bow. It growled at the pirates, receiving blank, half-lidded stares in response.

"Hey, Zoro, Coby," Luffy said. "I'm hungry. Let's catch lunch."

The Sea King started to back away worriedly as the collective stomachs of the whole crew growled in unison, every member realizing they hadn't had breakfast after their late morning.

"I've got a better idea, Captain," Amy smirked, raising her umbrella. "Let Sanji and me handle this. We'll pre-tenderize the meat."

"Ready, Amy-chan?" Sanji asked, the woman balancing on the chef's leg. "Parasol Shoot!" Amy slammed into the stomach of the monster, lifting the beast out of the water as she reduced both her mass and it's own, carrying the gagging monster toward the Sunny. She dropped it on Gin's waiting tonfa before falling on its neck, the beast coughing up something before relinquishing its hold on life.

"AAAHHHHHH!" whatever the Sea King had eaten screamed, plowing into Sanji. Next to them landed an orange starfish with a Rastafarian beanie.

"I made it!" the starfish cheered.

"Is..." Gin stuttered. "Is that...?"

"It's got a tail," Grace gaped.

"But..." Franky gawked. "But..."

What had landed on Sanji sat up, showing lime-green hair down to its shoulders. From above the waist, it was human, clothed in a yellow-and-pink t-shirt that hugged its voluptuous form and contrasted with the orange, clam-shell-shaped backpack she wore. From the waist down, however, there was nothing but a tail covered in shiny, pink scales. Her worried, black eyes widened as she began to fret over the chef.

"A MERMAID?!"

End of Chapter 119

It feels so good to be back! That being said, I've gotten into a few shows over the break, and one of them gave me a Plot Bunny that I want to offer to those writers who read my story:

Crossover: One Piece x Rising of the Shield Hero

Summary: (During timeskip) Summoned to another world as the Hero of the Bow, Luffy learns the only way to get back to his crew is to beat the Wave-thingies. He sets out armed with his Gum-Gum Fruit, a vague understanding of Haki, a weapon he doesn't know how to use, and a sense of direction second only to Zoro. Look out Melromarc; Luffy has no clue what he's doing! I'm not a Hero! Heroes have to share their meat!

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods