Ultimate Fruit

A young man with a whitish blonde hair blinked repeatedly as he stared at the scenery around him.

Wherever he looked, as far as he can see, it seems there is nothing but the vast waters of the sea.

The dazzling sky-colored sea reflected in his eyes as he felt the indescribable freedom it offered.

There was just one problem though.

"Why the hell am I floating in the middle of nowhere!?"

Lucas shouted in frustration.

"Alright Lucas, think. What was the last thing you remembered!"

He closed his eyes in a desperate move to recall the events that took place before this.

"I was at home. Reading mangas as usual. I think there was an update in One Piece but I don't remember reading it...ah!"

Lucas exclaimed as he started to remember.

"Right! I was about to start reading it then...uhh, I can't remember. I think I fell unconscious? Wait, am I in a dream?"

Just as he was about to start panicking, suddenly, he felt something grab on to him and was pulled out of the waters!

"Eh? Ehh? Ehhh!!??"

As soon as he turned back to see what had grabbed him, he saw an overstretched arm actually latch onto him!

"What the hell is going on!!!???"

Lucas screamed once more as he flew through the air with the arm attached to him and speedily retracting.

Meanwhile, a few distances away, a ship was sailing the waters.

At the helm of the ship was a figure of a sheep's head. On top of it sat a young man with a red opened vest and a straw hat.

"You guys! I think I caught something!"

"Woah! I didn't expect your Gomu Gomu no Fishing to actually catch something Luffy!"

Another young man with a long nose and goggles on his head exclaimed, seemingly excited.

"Shishishishi! I told you I'd catch something Ussop! Sanji! Get ready for today's lunch!"

A curly eyebrowed man rolled his eyes at the side.

"Luffy, you better not catch anything too weird!"

"Maybe it's a treasure!"

On another side, a small reindeer standing on its two legs started to shine his eyes.

"Haha! Chopper, if this is a treasure, I'm keeping it!"

"Nami! I'm the one who caught it so I should keep it!"

The straw hat-wearing boy shouted at a young girl with orange hair with a pinwheel and orange tattoo on her shoulder.

"Zzzz"

As usual, ignoring everything in his surroundings was a green-haired man with three swords at the side was sleeping on the side.

"Umm...guys, I don't think it's a fish or a treasure."

"Quak!"

A blue-haired young girl standing beside a large bird said as she pointed towards the incoming arm.

"What're you saying Vivi? If it's not a treasure or fish, what is it?"

The straw hat-wearing boy tilted his head in confusion then turned to look at his own arm that's still retracting.

Everyone else on the ship also did the same.

"Aaaa…"

"Hm? I think I heard something!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*Boom*

The retraction of his arm came at great speed causing it to recoil and smash to deck along with whatever he caught.

When everyone took a look, they all glared at the straw hat-wearing boy.

"LUFFY! Look who you just kidnapped!"

"Eh!? It's not a fish!"

"Where's my treasure!?"

"Sanji! Can we eat him?"

"HELL NO!"

As the rest started to shout among each other, the blue-haired girl came to the unconscious man's side and examined him.

"He seems unconscious. I think we should at least treat him for now."

"Eh!? We need a doctor! Where's the doctor!?"

The small reindeer panicked exaggeratedly and started to shout. Seeing this, the long-nosed boy slapped his head.

"You're the doctor here!"

"Ah, that's right."

After a few bustles here and there, they finally managed to settle the unconscious man to a room inside.

"Well, I guess I'll go cook something from what's left for when he wakes up."

"Sanji! Mine too!"

"Yeah yeah."

Hearing about food, the straw hat-wearing boy immediately ignored everything and demanded for food. To which the curly eyebrowed man can only nod helplessly.

"Usopp, let's use Carue as bait. Maybe we'll catch something this time!"

"Hey!"

It was at this time that they seemed to have passed through a steamy hot spot and encountered a weird person.

The person dressed weirdly and had the ability of the Mane Mane no Mi. The clone clone devil fruit.

When he touched someone, he is able to save their image for him to copy when he touches his own face.

The ability was, in a sense, incredible as not only the image is copied, but even the physique of the person!

Be it a boy or girl, he can become them so long as he wished!

By the time he left the ship, Lucas has just awakened.

When he woke up, he was now inside a wooden room but there was no one in it at the moment except for him.

"Where?"

Lucas muttered and suddenly heard voices from outside.

"What's wrong Vivi? You look serious?"

"Nothing...it's just that...one of the man's faces he showed earlier...was my father!"

"Eh!? You mean the King!?"

"...I think the person we just met is the man called Mr.2 from Baroque Works! Bon Clay!"

"What!?"

It wasn't just them who shouted in exclaim. Lucas also shouted as his eyes turned wide and his mouth almost dropped to the floor.

Seeing him out of the room, everyone else also looked towards him.

Lucas wondered if he was still in a dream.

After all...the ones in front of him right now are...

"Oh, you're awake! Shishishi!"

That straw hat...Strawhat Pirates' captain Monkey D. Luffy!

"Oi Luffy! You better have a good explanation to him for suddenly kidnapping him like that!"

That long nose...God Usopp!

"Ah, are you feeling better now?"

That tanuki sized reindeer...Cotton candy lover Chopper!

"I wonder if we should charge him with Berries for the treatment?"

That orange hair...Cat burglar Nami!

"Hn? Oh, lunch is over there. Eat it if you're hungry."

That curly eyebrow...Blackleg Sanji!

"Huh? Who's this guy and why is he on our ship?"

That green hair and three swords...Santoryuu Roronoa Zoro!

"You should rest up if you're still not feeling well."

"Quak!"

Eh? That blue hair and princess-like aura...Alabasta Princess Vivi Nefertari!? And Carue!?

Lucas was confused. It seems that he is in the world of One Piece now...but these two shouldn't be a part of the crew?

Hold on. These looks...Robin, Franky, and Brook are also not here...Eh? Could it be!?

The start of the Alabasta arc!?

This...this is when Luffy is finally recognized as a great threat! The time he defeated Crocodile!

It took some time but Lucas finally managed to get a hold of himself.

"I…"

*Growlll~*

Lucas blanked out for a moment and suddenly blushed.

"A-ahaha...I guess I am hungry."

"Hahaha! Come on then! Let's eat!"

"Luffy! You just ate!"

As such, Lucas joined everyone to eat.

"Right, what was your name again?"

"Lucas. You can call me Lucas."

"Lucas huh? I'm Luffy! I'm the captain of this pirate ship!"

"Pirate...is it?"

"Ah! Oi Luffy! Don't just go running around saying you're a pirate!"

Usopp quickly admonished Luffy for his carelessness..

Lucas just smiled wryly and pointed at the logo on the sail.

"It's alright. I already figured as much when I saw that logo. You guys seemed different from the normal ruthless pirates so I don't have any issues."

"Ah, you're right haha! I'm called Usopp! But you can call me Captain Usopp!"

"Hey! I just said I'm the captain!"

"Don't mind those two idiots. Say, where did you come from? Ah, by the way. My name is Nami."

Nami rolled her eyes at the two then smiled at Lucas.

Lucas was dazed for a while at her beauty. He knows just from the drawings that she would be beautiful, especially so after the 2-year time skip but meeting her directly was another thing.

Realizing that he has been staring for a bit longer than he should, Lucas coughed and averted his gaze.

"I'm not really sure. When I came to, I was already floating in the middle of the sea. Then I was pulled and...well, I guess you know the rest."

"Hmm...that's really strange...And you don't remember what happened before that?"

"How I got there? No, I don't remember. The last thing I remembered was that I was still at my house."

"Eh? Where is that?"

Lucas thought for a moment before finally deciding.

Anyway, this is another world, there was no use if they knew where he came from.

"That...I think I'm from another world."

Everyone went silent at that before laughing.

"Ahaha! What do you mean another world!?"

"Hey kid, are you still asleep or something!?"

Lucas can only smile wryly at their reaction.

He placed his hands on his pockets to see if there was something.

Sure enough, there was indeed something. His smartphone.

When he pulled it out to see if it was still working despite having been submerged in the water awhile ago, it turns out that it was indeed still working.

Thinking he was just lucky, he tapped on the camera button and snapped a picture of Nami's laughing expression.

"Hm? What's that?"

Being suddenly pointed at with a weird object, Nami stopped laughing and asked.

Lucas smiled and showed her the screen.

"Eh? This is...me?"

"Nami-swaan~"

Sanji, seeing the beauty of Nami's smiling face captured immediately had hearts as his eyes.

"Wow! What's this thing!?"

"This is a smartphone. It's a gadget from my world. You can use it to take a picture, video, play games, and a bunch of stuff."

"Heeeh. I guess you are from a different world. I don't think technology like this exists here. Even in the Grand Line."

Usopp nodded as he looked at the smartphone from all angles.

Nami took the smartphone and started fiddling with it along with Vivi.

After a while, they discovered that they can touch the screen and the image would change accordingly.

They also found the other pictures saved on the phone.

"This is?"

"That's my house. Those are my family and friends."

Lucas looked at the pictures and sighed thinking he may never see them again now that he is in this new world.

However, he didn't stay depressed for long as he quickly snapped out of it.

After all, this is the world of One Piece!

In here, maybe his dreams would come true!

"Alright. Back to the original topic at hand."

Zoro spoke in a deep voice

"About that Mr.2 just now. I think we're lucky that we met him. Now we can use countermeasures."

After some planning, they all continued their journey as the sea drifted them off to the sand kingdom, Alabasta.

Suddenly, a strange cat looking fish appeared from behind.

"Meowwwww!"

"What is that!?"

"A Sea Cat!"

"Let's eat it!"

"No!"

Vivi shouted as she smacked Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro who were about to kill the sea monster.

"You can't eat it! In Alabasta, Sea Cats are sacred animals!"

Lucas laughed as he heard that.

Truly the world of One Piece.

Nami walked towards Vivi and said.

"Vivi, the wind and temperature seem to be stabilized."

"Yes, we've entered the Alabastan Climate Zone. The Sea Cat is more proof."

"I bet those things behind us are even more proof we're close to Alabasta."

Zoro grinned as he looked behind.

Vivi and the rest also looked behind and exclaimed!

"Ships!!!"

Right. Behind them, numerous ships lined up with a unique logo on their sails.

"Hey, they all have Baroque Works signs on them!"

"All the members are coming together!?"

"Those are probably the Billions. Servants of the Officer Agents."

Everyone looked solemn as they looked at the number of enemies behind them.

"Stop getting worried. They're nothing."

Zoro grinned and Sanji nodded as well.

"Yeah. All is lost if we lose sight of our true objective. There's only 9 of us."

9...Lucas wondered if he had already begun to change the story.

This time, it wouldn't be just 8 of them who will attack Crocodile, but 9! And that included Lucas!

Lucas began to think of everything he could change in the story...and people he can save! His resolve to stay only grew.

"Right, what do you plan to do, Lucas?"

Nami asked Lucas as they began to tie up bandages on their left arms.

"Hm?"

"I mean. You don't really have any part in this. I bet you don't even know what's going on. It would be dangerous if you stick with us."

"RIght. In the beginning, this was my fight...It's selfish enough that I asked Luffy and the rest to help me but...you are totally unrelated to this. In fact, none of the officers of Baroque Works knows about you yet."

Vivi added as well.

Hearing this, everyone on the ship looked at Lucas silently, waiting for his response.

Lucas smiled and looked at the bandage on his left arm.

"I know. You guys are probably about to fight this big war...and that the enemies would have mysterious powers or something…"

He paused for a while then finally sighed.

"As I told you before. The world I came from is very much different from this one. There's no devil fruits or any kind of power...heck, I haven't been to any kind of fights...it's a completely normal world."

He touched the bandage covering his left arm and said.

"I'll...keep this for now. In case we happen to meet each other. At least you won't think I'm a fake...But I'll be separating with you guys once we landed."

Everyone was silent for a while but Luffy just laughed.

"Shishishishi! Then that's that! Let's meet again sometime, Lucas!"

He brought forward his hand and shook Lucas.

Lucas smiled as well and said.

"Yeah. But who knows? Maybe that would be sooner than you think."

"Haha, maybe."

Luffy looked into the horizon and saw the island near them.

Vivi also looked and pointed to a direction.

"We're coming up to the harbor. Let's stop in that inlet to the west. We need to hide the ship."

Luffy grinned and stretched his fist forward.

Knowing what he wanted to do, everyone smiled and did the same.

Lucas only smiled and watched from afar.

Nami saw this and pulled him closer.

"What're you doing? Come here!"

"But…"

"Shishishi! Don't sweat the details and show your fist!"

Lucas can only smile wryly and brought his fist forward as well.

"Okay! Whatever happens from now on, this left arm…"

"Is proof of friendship!"

Lucas was excited to be a part of this. He felt that he really is a part of the team. A part of the Strawhat Pirate crew!

"Now...let's get onto dry land! To a restaurant! Then Alabasta."

"Shut up, you idiot!!!"

While the crew made a ruckus, both Vivi and Lucas touched the bandage on their left arms and smiled.

As soon as they reached land, Luffy immediately jumped off and ran!

"Restaurant!!!!"

"Wait!!!"

They tried to stop him but who was Luffy? He just ran off and ignored everyone as usual at his own pace.

"What should we do? Nanohana is a large town. It will be very hard to search for Luffy!"

"Don't worry Vivi-chan, we'll look for the noisiest spot in town. He'll be there."

Sanji assured Vivi who sounded concerned.

Nami sighed as well.

"Anyways, I wish he would pay more heed to the bounty on his head. Especially in a big country like this one!"

"Just let it take care of himself. Let's go eat. We can think things through after that."

Zoro said and was about to move when Vivi noticed a strange ship near them.

"Wait! That's Mr.3's ship!"

"You mean...he's not dead!?"

"That ship can only move through the Doru Doru fruit. He must be in the Kingdom."

Vivi was worried but Lucas knew what will happen so he didn't mind it too much.

"Well, I guess this is where we will part ways…Everyone, Vivi, I wish you all the best of luck."

With a curt bow, Lucas smiled and headed elsewhere.

Everyone looked at each other and sighed.

"Do you think we'll still see him next time?"

"I don't think so...Unless…"

Zoro looked at the distant back of Lucas and trailed off.

"Unless?"

"...No, it's nothing."