Chapter 49

[Couple hours later]

I woke up and looked through the window.

'The sun should rise at any minute now.'

I stood up out of bed. I left Deuce's office and went to my own room.

'Walking hurts, but I can put up with it.'

I entered my room and went to the closet.

I took out a long black coat, with gold accents. I put it on my shoulders and walked out onto the deck.

I breathed in the fresh air.

'Another beautiful day in this messed up world.'

I walked to the front of the ship and sat on the bow.

I looked at the island.

'If I remember correctly, there should be a hidden passage or something to get to the city of gold. But I don't remember how Robin got there.'

*WOOSH*

Suddenly a guy on a weird purple bird appeared on the island in front of me. He is wearing orange clothes, an old-style pilot hat, and he has a lance in his right hand.

"You bastard! What did you do to Lord Enel!"

'Is this one of his priests? I don't really remember them or their abilities really well.'

"Answer me!"

"Sigh. You're too loud. The sun isn't up yet. Quiet down a little."

He looked pissed of, and his lance suddenly lit on fire.

"This is your last chance to talk. Or I'll burn you and your ship to ashes!"

I smirked.

"If you're looking for your "Lord", you can search for him in the stomach of all the fishes swimming around."

"You bastard!"

He flew towards me on his bird with his weapon pointed at my head.

*BAM*

Before he made it close to me, he got hit in his face with a pipe.

He flew back.

*WOOSH*

Suddenly fist made out of flames flew past me and hit him and his bird, burning them to a crisp.

Sabo and Ace appeared next to me, and they sat down.

"What are you doing out of bed? Deuce said that you need to rest." said Sabo

"I don't need rest."

Ace touched my wound.

"Argh, you bastard!"

"You can probably not even walk without feeling pain, and you're talking about not needing rest." said Ace

"I'll rest when I feel like it."

"It seems like Luffy and Ace's stubbornness have rubbed off on you." said Sabo

"You can be pretty stubborn yourself." said Ace

"But, you're way more stubborn."

"But, Luffy is ten times worse."

"Don't suddenly start talking about Luffy. Out of the three of us, you're definitely the most stubborn." said Sabo

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I'm not!"

They started butting heads.

"Hahahaha."

I grabbed their shoulder and pulled them closer.

"It's good to see that you two are still as energetic as ever."

They smiled.

"As long as the four of us are okay, I couldn't be happier." said Ace

"Aw, you're such a softie."

"Shut up, Ken."

"Hahahaha."

I let go of them.

"So which of you idiots let that guy get away?"

"It wasn't me. Laffitte and I took care of one of them."

I grabbed Ace, who was trying to sneak away.

"So, what's your excuse?"

"When I heard about you, I searched for Deuce and immediately came to you. I didn't have time to worry about my opponent when my precious brother was dying."

He showed me his biggest smile.

"You bastard, how can I be mad at you for that."

We stayed on the bow, talking and watching the sunrise.

[10 am]

We are all sitting at the table, eating breakfast.

"Ken." said Van Augur

"Yeah?"

"I still haven't thanked you for saving me, so I want to say it now. Thank you very much for saving me."

"There's no need to thank me."

"How can I not. And if I may ask, why did you save me? I'm basically a stranger, and I almost killed you once."

"Well, first, there is no way that you would have been able to kill me back then. And second, I just felt like it when I saw you chained up behind Enel."

"I see. Well, I heard something different. I heard that it was your plan from the beginning to save me."

"Sigh. You got captured because of me, so it's only normal for me to save you."

"It must have been fate. From meeting you on Jaya to you saving me from Enel."

He stood up and bowed 90° to me.

"Please allow me to join your crew and pay you back."

"If you want to join me just to pay me back, there is no need for that."

"It's not only that. This is what fate must have wanted to happen. I believe that I can achieve all my dreams by joining you. So please let me join your crew."

'He looks to really mean it, and I remember that he was really loyal to Blackbeard, so I don't think that he'll betray me. And I'm also in need of a sniper, so this just works out perfectly.'

"Our meeting must have been fate. You're most welcome on my crew."

"Thank you very much, Captain."

"Hahaha, we need to hold a party for our new crewmate!" said Ace

"We'll do that when we get back to Angel Island."

I went back to eating.

Urouge suddenly stood up.

His smile disappeared, and he had a serious look.

"You want to say something, Urouge?"

"I have the same request as Van Augur. Plea-"

"No."

"Huh!?" everyone had surprised looks

"Is there a reason for you not accepting my request? Is it because I'm not from the blue sea?"

"I don't care where you're from or what race you are. I just don't know how you'll help the crew. What is it that you have going for yourself."

"I have strength, and I believe in GOD."

"Then show me your strenght."

"How?"

"After we finish breakfast, you'll have a spar with whoever you want. If you show me that you're strong enough, I'll let you join my crew."

He started smiling again.

"Hahaha! That's more like it."

We continued eating, and after we were done, we all went to the upper deck.

'I know that he is strong enough, but I can't just invite people like that.'

"So, who are you choosing?"

He pointed at Sabo.

"Why have you chosen him?"

"I can feel that he is the strongest here, besides you."

"There is no way that Sabo is stronger than me." said Ace

Sabo stuck out his tongue to Ace.

"Hahaha, he is right, Ace. If Sabo could hit you, he would be stronger."

"That's just because I need to train my Devil Fruit, together with my physical strength and techniques. He has more time to focus on the last two."

"Normaly, that would be true, but Sabo is something else. He trains harder than everyone here. Even if you didn't have a Devil Fruit, he would still be training harder than you. And from what I've seen, he is ready to go to the next step."

"Did you watch me train!?"

I smiled.

"I might have. So how about you give me your pipe, and give him a chance to fight back."

Sabo smirked and threw me his pipe.

"Are you sure that you'll be fine without your weapon?" asked Urouge

"You heard Ken, didn't you. You stand no chance."

"Hahahaha, let's start the fight already."

The two of them stood opposite of each other in the middle of the deck, and the rest of us stood around them.

"Alright, are you two ready?"

They nodded.

"You guys can start on go. 3… 2… 1…"

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[If Sabo could hit Ace, he would be able to beat him. And I don't care if you say "But in canon bla bla bla". I don't care about canon. They grew up a little different in this story, and they have had more opportunities to become stronger.

What would you do if you saw the two people you grew up with and had basically the same start as, grow stronger than you and leaving you behind in terms of strength. You would, of course, train your ass off. And that is what Sabo did.]

(I understand that you guys are getting bored from this arc. But ideas keep filling my head, and I just write them down.

I will take it into consideration to finish this arc next chapter :). )

One Piece Quotes:

"I love heroes, but I don't want to be one. Do you even know what a hero is!? For example, you have some meat. Pirates will feast on the meat, but the hero will distribute it among the people! I want to eat the meat!"

- Monkey D. Luffy

"When do you think people die? When they are shot through the heart by the bullet of a pistol? No. When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No... It's when they're forgotten!"

- Hiluluk Doctor

"Maybe nothing in this world happens by accident. As everything happens for a reason, our destiny slowly takes form."

- Rayleigh Silvers