As the Death rider sailed towards Shells Town, Koby started asking the crew a few questions to pass the time.
"Miles, you said that you will be the king of pirates but that means you'll have to go to enter the grand line right?" He asked.
"Yep," Miles replied.
"But that place is known as the 'pirates graveyard', a lot of pirates have tried and failed to even make it to the first island," Koby said.
"That's true, but we've been training since we were kids to go there and we're very strong." "We can handle anything the grand line throws at us." This time it was Erza who responded, with Nojiko chiming in at the end.
Soon Nami's voice was heard over the ship's p.a. <Land dead ahead.> When she said that, everyone looked towards the bow of the ship. In front of them was Shells Town, the home of the 153rd marine branch.
As the Death Rider docked, Miles took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, it was almost 6 pm, meaning they wouldn't make it to the baratie before it closes for the night. He sighed and told his crew the news which in turn made them sigh as well.
"Listen, we will still go to the baratie tomorrow but for today we'll eat here. Zoro, Koby and I will go to the marine base while Kuina, Erza, Nojiko and Nami will go find a restaurant for dinner. When you find one, contact us on the radio." Miles relayed his instructions then they all nodded and split up.
10 minutes later, Miles, Zoro and Koby were standing in front of marine branch 153. The base was shaped like a thin volcano and had been painted sky blue with navy blue scratch like marks painted on top. The base also had a grey brick wall surrounding it along with a large metal double door, and on both sides of the large double door were two normal-sized doors.
"Are you ready Koby?" Zoro asked. Koby looked nervous but nodded his head as he took a step towards the door, but before he could push it open the sound of wood hitting the wall was heard beside the three teens. The three of them turned their heads and saw a young girl with black eyes and brown hair with pigtails, she wore a striped turquoise and purple shirt with a white hood. She looked at the three teens and signalled for them with a shush, she then climbed up the ladder and jumped over the wall.
Seeing this sight made the three of them very confused, this was especially for Miles since he knew who the girl is. In the original timeline, Zoro was imprisoned by the marines because he defended the girl when she was nearly attacked by a wolf owned by the son of the marine captain. Miles and Zoro got close to the wall then jumped up and peeked over. Koby was not athletic enough to do the same as them so he used the ladder that was still there.
The three of them saw the girl trot over to a man that was tied to a cross-shaped pole. The man was tall with tanned skin and long white hair that he wears loosely. He wears a red robe and with a white armband on his left arm along with red shoes on his feet.
'He looks familiar. Where have I seen him before?' Miles thought as he racked his brain trying to figure out who that man was.
"Saga?" Zoro muttered.
"You know him?" Miles asked.
"Yeah. I met him a month or two after I joined Isshin dojo. He wanted to be a swordsman too, but he was in an accident and his right arm was paralyzed. After that, he disappeared.
And with that, it clicked in Miles' head. His eyes went wide and he stared at the man tied to the pole, confirming that it was indeed Saga from the fifth One Piece movie.
'He's not a canon character, how is he here? Chloe, what is going on? Does this mean that all the movies are canon now?
{Yeah, I thought you figured this out already when you met the neo-marines?}
'I thought Zephyr and the neo-marines were cannon?'
{Zephyr is, the neo-marines are not.}
'Oh... Well, this is unexpected, I didn't make any plans for non-canon situations. *Sigh* Well, on the bright side, I will get to visit the Gran Tesoro in the future. I'm sure everyone will love that.
'While Miles was speaking to Chloe, the young girl had pulled out some food and spoke to him.
"I made some rice balls for you! you haven't eaten in a long time right?" She said with a large smile.
"I told you not to come here. Leave or I'll kill you!" Saga responded in an angry tone attempting to scare the kid away. But the only thing it did was make her sad.
"But-" She didn't get to finish because she was cut off by Saga.
"GET OUT!" Saga bellowed.
"Saga, don't pick on children, or else I'll have to report it to my father."
A voice was heard from the gate as a man walked in followed by two marines. He is a skinny and lanky-looking young man with light blonde hair shaped like a sideways oval on top of his head. He also has a cleft chin and wore a dark purple marine uniform with white shoes and a rubber band ring on his left hand.
"Well if it isn't Helmeppo, the idiot son of marine captain Morgan." Saga said in disdain.
"Did you just call me an idiot? A man in your position should watch your tongue or you might lose it." Helmeppo said to Saga as he walked over to the girl.
"Well hello, little girl. Did you bring those rice balls for me? How thoughtful." Helmeppo said as he snatched one of the rice balls from her hands.
"Hey! Give that back!" She said as Helmeppo bit into the rice ball.
"BLEGH. Did you put sugar in this?! It's supposed to be salt!" Helmeppo said as he spat out the rice ball.
"B-But I thought it would taste better if it was sweeter." She said in a low voice.
"How could someone eat this? It's completely inedible!" He said as he took the rice balls, threw them on the ground and stomped them into the dirt.
"Stop it you're ruining them!" The girl pleaded with Helmeppo to stop.
"Th-that's so cruel! That little girl worked really hard making those rice balls." Koby whispered. At this point, Zoro was ready to hop the wall and kill Helmeppo, but Miles held him back,
"Don't worry the ants will eat them," Helmeppo said with a smug smile. The little girl now had tears in her eyes.
"Oh stop crying. This is why I hate kids. It's your own fault, can't you read this sign? Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crimes. -Marine Captain Morgan" Helmeppo said as he pointed at the sign next to him.
"Oi, throw this brat out," Helmeppo said to one of the marines with him.
"Huh!? B-But..." The marine stuttered not knowing what to do.
"Hurry up! If You don't do it, I will tell my father!" Helmeppo yelled at the marine.
"Y-Yes, sir!" The marine replied quickly as he grabbed the girl and tossed her over the wall.
"Ahh!" She screamed but Miles teleported and caught her, landing safely on the ground. Zoro and Koby got down to check on the kid while Miles climbed the wall again.
"I didn't think you had this kind of endurance. If you can last until the end of the month We will release you. Good luck. hahaha." Helmepo laughed as he walked away with the two marines. Once he was gone, Miles jumped the wall and landed a few feet from Saga.
"Who are you?" Saga asked as he scanned the handsome man in front of him.
"I'm just an observer. The real question is, who are you? And why are you here?" Miles asked him.
"Why do you care?" Saga asked in annoyance.
"Because I do, Now talk," Miles said. It felt like a command to Saga and for some reason he thought something bad would happen if he didn't answer the man standing in front of him
"...My name is Saga, I'm a bounty hunter. I came to Shells Town so I could join the marines and give up hunting so I could have solid financial support for when I marry my fiancé." Saga said.
"Okay Saga, that explains why you came to Shells Town but not how you got arrested."
"*Sigh* That's because..." Saga explained why he got arrested and it was just like what happened to Zoro in the original timeline.
"I see. Well, I would bust you out of here, but that would make you a fugitive. I guess you will need to tough it out for the month. That doesn't mean I can't help you a bit though." Miles said as he used [Perfect Heal] on Saga, healing his wounds and even fixing his paralyzed right arm, of course, Saga didn't notice it since he was tied up.
"Well, I better go before that moron Helmeppo gets back," Miles said as he turned to leave.
"Hold on! Can you pick that up for me?" Saga asked gesturing to the crushed rice balls.
"That's more dirt than rice now..." Miles said.
"Just give it to me" Saga insisted. Miles smiled then used his Time-Time fruit to reverse time around the rice balls, making them whole again.
"How did you-"
"Don't worry about it and eat." Miles cut Saga off by stuffing the rice balls into his mouth. A few minutes later, Saga was finished eating.
"Tell that girl, they were delicious." Saga said.
"Sure. See you next time." Miles said as he teleported to the other side of the wall where Zoro and Koby were still calming down the little girl.
"Hey kid, what's your name?" Miles asked the girl.
"Rika." She answered, still sad and scared about what just happened. Miles then kneeled in front of her and told her what Saga said.
"He ate the rice balls, he said they were delicious."
"Really?" She asked immediately brightening up. Miles nodded his head to answer her question.
"Why do you think Saga was arrested?" Koby asked. Rika was about to tell them but before she could, Miles covered her mouth.
"Let's find the girls first then Rika can tell us right?" Miles said as he looked at Rika. She nodded understanding they three had more friends with them.
<Hey, guys, we found a bar, It's called food foo. Meet us there.> Erza's voice was heard from Miles' walkie talkie.
"Speak of the devil and she shall appear," Zoro said.
"Rika, do you know a bar named food foo?" Miles asked her.
"That's my mom's bar, I can take you there!" Rika said in a hurry.
"Great"<Alright we're on our way.> Miles replied to Rika, then to Erza through his radio.
----
The guys and Rika had met up at Food foo and Rika had told them the story of how Saga got arrested. Rika's Mother Ririka also told them about Helmelpo's father, marine captain Morgan. She said that he was a dictator who ruled over Shells Town with an Iron fist. Apparently, he even raised the taxes so that he could build a statue of himself and line his own pockets.
This made everyone very angry, except for Miles and Koby. Miles knew the story from the original timeline, and Koby was more confused than mad.
'How could the marines let this happen? Marines are meant to stand for justice.' Thought Koby. Then he remembered what Miles had told him when they first met. "Not all marines are good and not all pirates are bad. Not everything is in black and white..."
While Koby was having his inner turmoil, Helmeppo barged into the bar, sat down and put his feet up on the table.
"I'm hungry, bring me whatever you got, and keep the check for yourself. Oh, and get me a bottle of your finest moonshine or whatever crap you serve, and put some speed to it, lady, I don't have all day. I still need to have that moron Saga executed later hehe." Helmeppo chuckled as he demanded from Rika's mother, who was standing behind the counter. The two marines that were with him looked very uncomfortable with his actions but didn't say anything.
Once the Black Heart Pirates heard what Helmeppo said they were ready to put the hurt on Helmeppo, But Zoro was the fastest to act. He got up and ran towards Helmeppo, he raised his fist and punched Helmeppo directly in his cleft chin sending him flying into the wall *BAM*. Zoro then pulled out his sword and was about to kill Helmeppo but Miles grabbed him stopping him.
"Let me go! I'm gonna kill 'em." Zoro yelled.
"No. He'll get what's coming to him later, just wait and see," Miles replied.
"YOU HIT ME!? YOU ACTUALLY HIT ME!? I'M GOING TO TELL MY FATHER ABOUT THIS, THEN HE'LL HAVE YOU ALL KILLED!" Helmeppo screamed in hysteria as he ran out the door towards the marine base.
"Why did you let him go?" Nami asked, a bit angry with Miles for preventing Zoro from killing Helmeppo.
"Because I have an idea," Miles said with a devilish smile.
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