Sloppy Seconds (1)

A/N: I forgot to mention one thing. I am writing under the assumption that as each island is somewhere stated to be as large as a country (I don't remember where I read it) then the distance between them is going to be monstrous, too. Like... how the hell pirates cross islands after islands in a matter of days is not something I care enough to poke into. That's just how one piece is and it's honestly convenient in the canon. In the fanfic, the opposite is true. Why? Because Pinky is one of the fastest 'ships' there is and only lacks a coup burst to be the whole package, not that she already wasn't. So, while Brody and others can get to more islands quickly and explore more, that same time is used by others to just cross the distance.

Again, I'm doing this for later arcs like marineford, skypia, and whatnot.

Now... tell me one thing... aren't all baki characters actually really broken with haki? Like, the top tier one? Heh, think about Ali Jr. going after Devil's harem... will the Nut Cracking Messiah rise again?

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"What are you doing?" Nami, a bit tired after maneuvering yet another storm continued to hug her blanket as the temperature had begun to drop suddenly, looked at Nojiko with a puzzled expression, and stared at the whitish sphere in front of her.

Aura.

Nojiko eventually gained control over absorbing the aura or just extracting it. The aura eventually dissipates if she doesn't absorb it and the extracted aura can also be taken back by the living beings from whom it was extracted.

Looking a little absentminded and similarly covered by a blanket since the crew hadn't purchased any thick clothes, Nojiko replied, "I'm just wondering what else I can do with my abilities aside from Aura Glint... if I can extract aura from snow and water, as little as I can... Will I manage to mimic something else?"

Nami blinked and sighed, "Nojiko... what happened to you," the orange-head whined, "Thinking about training all the time is bad for health. Just... look at him. I don't want to see you THAT obsessed."

They turned their attention to the only one who trained. Even Tashigi chose to rest instead of testing the cold unnecessarily.

But topless, Brody continued to remain in a handstand position with a shivering Valentine covered by a blanket perched atop the sole of his feet. Like usual, Reiju floated next to Brody to overlook the training.

"Curse you!" Valentine cussed under her chattering lips and teeth as she hugged her body a bit more.

Meanwhile, unfazed by the chilly weather, Brody continued to stay true to the position and only felt colder due to being covered in sweat. Thinly layered mist developed around him as the temperature of his body and the cold weather condensed the vapors around him at a quick pace.

Laughing at her words, he couldn't help but comment, "Why the long face? We're making progress! Yesterday, I could only do a handstand midair with your load being 1000 kg but it's 1013 kg today."

"Couldn't you train later?" Valentine reproached with a sour tone. The threat of death was still very real should she anger this monstrous captain but she would rather go out in defiance than bear this man's antics silently and it has only been a day!

"I could train later... but if I train now, I'll be a bit stronger by the time I train later and would be even stronger after training." As always, Brody found his reasoning impeccable but hater's gonna hate as Valentine issued a weary groan, "Does it matter if you're late by a few hours..."

Choosing not to reply, Brody continued with his exercise and soon asked Valentine to turn a bit heavier. Maintaining the position for another 20 minutes, Brody only chose to stop when his figure was unsteadily shifting up and down and causing Valentine's center of gravity to shift as a result which made the exercise harder on his hands and core.

The trio eventually landed on Pinky while Nami reported, "I confirmed with that Miss. Wednesday and with the speed with which we're traveling, we'll reach Whiskey Peak tomorrow. That's almost half the time an ordinary ship would take if not shorter."

"Uh-huh..." Brody nodded, not really caring. After all, he only felt depressed in Twin Capes because he felt he was stagnating but as long as he had Valentine, Brody felt a sense of excitement at the thought of how much more he could train.

---

The Devil Back Pirates soon reached their first Island of Grandline. Pinky slowed down as she realized the fog growing heavier and heavier. Before they entered the carved-out pathway into the Island, Tashigi's surprised yell pulled everyone's attention.

"They ran away!"

The bespectacled former marine quickly rushed back to the structure and reported with a hurried tone, "Miss. Wednesday and Mr. 9 ran away!"

Aside from Valentine who grew a shade paler for a second, others looked rather uninterested. Calming Tashigi down, Reiju smiled, "It's alright. Our Captain allowed them to hitch a ride. They're welcome to leave as they see fit."

Meanwhile, Brody strained his gaze to peer through the fog while Pinky looked around curiously, too. As they made further way into the territory, the fog began to thin out, and finally, Brody's lips parted in surprise. Others were the same including Valentine.

They stared at thousands of men at the edge of the ravine on either side holding guns and swords with their expressions full of malice.

Taking a deep breath, Brody stood over Pinky's head and still looked around. The duo of a vulture and an otter perched upto an errand rock was certainly amusing but not interesting enough for him. And then he couldn't help but question under his breath, "Are they going to shoot or just keep staring at us?"

Under the gazes of the troop, Pinky soon reached an establishment next to the ravine and there were even more men here than before. Valentine's expression was that of pure bitterness at this point as they slowly got off Pinky and found a tall, somewhat portly man with his long blonde hair styled similar to a powdered wig.

"Welcome travelers!" The man spoke in a loud and clear tone as his face still remained stoic, "I'm Mr. 8, the Mayor of Whiskey Peak. With Miss. Valentine on your... ship, I assume she told you everything—"

"I didn't!" Miss Valentine interjected with a scowl as Brody nodded, "Yeah, she told us your boss wanted me dead, then wanted me in his crew, and they were also sent to hunt that blue-haired chick because she was a traitor or something."

Valentine's lips parted and despair flickered in her gaze but more exaggerated seemed Mr. 8's reaction as his eyes widened in horror and he looked around, "Where is Miss. Wednesday? What did you do to her?!"

Before Tashigi could speak up, Reiju patted her shoulder and winked as others watched Mr. 8 descend to hysteria, "Where is she?!"

Brody blinked and rubbed the back of his head with a cheeky smirk, "Last I remember, she was let off of this ship."

His words left a lot to be considered, much of it ominous, as Mr. 8's breathing hitched up and he reached for his bowtie. Eyes red with anger for reasons that still confused Brody, the man almost did something stupid until a shout pried his attention away, "Igaram! We need to leave now!"

Mr. 8 looked back and found Miss. Wednesday. Though she was drenched, she looked fine otherwise, and Mr. 8 found many people staring at him with confusion and suspicion.

"We need to leave now!" Wednesday spoke again with a much more severe tone while cautiously eyeing others. Valentine was the same and so were others who realized the situation did not seem the way described by the Boss' order.

Mr. 8, or rather Igaram, took a step back and commented, "Right... welcome to Whiskey Peak. I must attend to another matter of great importance."

Yet, it was at this moment Wednesday issued a pained scream. Everyone turned to look at her only to find her being 'dragged' through the ground by an invisible force and this interested Brody greatly who looked around for a second and then smiled, "Reiju... Alvida... they don't look like normal citizens to me... Shop around. Take anything that catches your attention. And a jacket for me, please."

The duo smiled while Tashigi looked a bit conflicted. Meanwhile, Reiju turned to Nojiko and whispered, "After you do your thing... find a somewhat safer place. I reckon bullets would hurt a lot."

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" Others shouted as Igaram chased after Wednesday without care while Nojiko shouted, "Close your eyes."

Aside from Valentine, others decided to heed Nojiko's words when a blinding light caused almost everyone in the vicinity to groan and reel back.

Aura Glint.

As many covered their eyes, Nami and Nojiko quickly broke out of the encirclement while Carmen rushed into the nearest house and straight to pick a pan out from the kitchen. On the other hand, Valentine only heard shouts and pained screams. She wanted to just jump and lower her weight to stay afloat but that would be dangerous and never did she expect Nojiko to have such... flashy skills. Then again, Valentine didn't know all that much about the crew, too.

As her vision slowly adapted in a minute or so, Valentine found Tashigi picking a sword from one of the fallen individuals with a scowl while Reiju and Alvida were nowhere to be found.

"W-what happened?" Valentine questioned while Tashigi still studied the sword in her hand, muttering about it being a superior sword or something like that and not paying to anyone else.

And then Valentine saw Carmen walk out of the nearby house with a pan. Yet, the flame-haired woman was equally stunned as she found everyone on the ground.

"Huh... they're quick..." Carmen muttered and looked at Valentine, "Didn't you hear Captain's order? We are to shop. Find anything you like. See? Even Tashigi found something for herself."

"T- This isn't a robbery," Tashigi stammered and then lowered her head, "But... I can't let someone like this man who would point a sword at innocent individuals own a Meito..."

Carmen blanked for a second and realized that Tashigi still hadn't fully come to the fact that she herself was a full-blown pirate now.

"Kyahahaha! You pirates are really foolish! Now that Brody or others aren't here. No one here can stop me from leaving! I appreciate the ride but we part ways here." Valentine laughed and others stared at her with a frown. Yet, this laugh was cut short by a boorish growl.

"Damn it... all this noise woke me up!"

The entrance to one of the bigger brick houses was torn away from its hinges by a large fist, causing the wooden frame to slam into the body of the nearest bounty hunter as a slightly dark-skinned bearded man with a red scarf around his neck and his fat body covered by a green shirt walked out. His eyes went wide for a second as he saw the trio surrounded by unconscious individuals.

"L- Ladies, what beauty you possess!" He blinked with his large round eyes. "Would you honor me by marrying me? Not you. You're in the way." He looked at Tashigi with scorn, causing her eyes to go blank for a second before she silently clenched the handle of her sword tighter and pushed her glasses over her forehead, "You're the infamous Bear King of the Trump Pirates. The one who destroyed the Clockwork Island by having a conflict with Straw Hat Pirates... what are you doing here?"

It was Valentine who frowned as he revealed, "Well, I go by Mr. 5 now. My partner, Miss. Syrup are here to deal with traitors," he scoffed, "Or so we're ordered..."

Carmen raised an eyebrow at this and looked at Valentine, "Wasn't Mr. 5 your partner?"

"As you can see, he's not anymore..." Valentine stated with her heart growing unsure by the second. Yet, Bear King, or rather, Mr. 5 revealed two things— that he wouldn't survive in this organization for too long and the fact that Miss. Valentine was no longer 'needed'— when he spoke, "I can't give a shit about this Mr. 0's orders. Marry me and I won't kill you as ordered In fact, I and my partner plan to steal a ship for ourselves and leave for a different island!"

***

Alternate Title: Spirited Away

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Shoutout to Basilisk Basilisk, runningFree, Thed Nilson-strang, Sakuya, Matthew S Crowe, Franzisko, and Brandon Dixson!!

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