Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Anya had never seen so much blood before. She certainly has seen blood, whether it was in the memories of her Mama or Papa, or at the hospital where Papa worked. She had asked him once, knowing that this was a fake job, if the blood was real as a nurse pushed a cart full of blood bags past them. Papa had informed her that of course the blood was real, because this was a real hospital.
Anya looked down at the boy who was protecting her, shielding her, helping her. He looked like a walking corpse, blood pouring out of holes that were too many to count, cut wounds, and stab wounds from swords he had barely not gotten killed by. The boy who was holding her was obviously a skilled fighter, but Anya had seen in his mind that he was unwilling to kill people he had no reason to kill, even if they were trying to kill him. He was obviously older than her, probably in his late teenage years. The reason Anya was talking to him at all, and had asked for his help in the first place, was because he had pink hair, like she did. But right now, his pink hair, and a very few strands of hers, were covered in his blood. But if was hurting he did not show it. His face was one of pure relaxation and focus, a bit of drool mingling with the blood running down the side of his mouth. It was the same way Mama got when she was focused, but much less murderous, and much more about the thrill of the fight. His stance was powerful, yet defensive, putting his entire body between her, and the giant of a man they were staring down.

Anya had woken up with the bright sunlight blasting her face. She was never a morning girl, and today was no different. What was exceptionally strange about the morning, was that to her memory, it was not in fact, morning, and she was at home, eating dinner with Mama and Papa, laughing because Bond had managed to snag one of Papa’s chicken thighs off of his plate, when Papa had to catch Mama from falling over from the wine she had been drinking, since it was a special occasion. Anya had gotten a B! On her Math test!
Anya sat up, rubbing her eyes. She was fully clothed in a jacket, a pink t-shirt, a little bucket hat, and some maroon shorts, and sneakers. Which made Anya even more suspicious because she does not sleep in those clothes, and even less, she had no idea where she was when she finally opened her eyes. Anya knew she wasn’t the best at geography, even local geography. Mama, Papa, or even Bond seemed to know their ways around better than she did, but she could tell that she was no longer home. Not even close.
On all sides of her were massive trees. Not like the ones in the forests near Eden Academy, but truly, gargantuan trees. Taller than the tallest buildings from where she came from. And they were… numbered? Each tree seemed to have a large, two-digit number stamped onto one side of it. She thought she had learned what kind of tree she thought they were from Master Henderson, when he substituted for her biology class. Mangos? No, she thought, not the fruit. Anya found herself wishing that Papa was here to save her, and tell her that everything was going to be okay. She felt the first tendrils of fear wind around her tiny heart, as her heartbeat steadily increased, and she felt tears welling up in her eyes. But she knew she had to be brave. She knew she needed to at least try and find someone, anyone, that was willing to talk to her.
As her eyes trailed down from the trees, she was shocked to discover that she was not alone on this island, as she saw what she could only think was the ocean in every direction, past the trees. There were buildings! People! But… nothing like what she remembered. The people were dressed strangely, as though some of them were dressed as medieval villagers, but some dressed in fine clothes that looked like merchants, and some even further dressed in modern clothes, similar to what Mama and Papa wore when they were out. The buildings were small, some of them, anyway, and they weren’t very close together. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to how they were constructed. To Anya’s eyes, it looked like buildings were put down where there was room to put them, no matter for future planning or additional construction. It was a start, Anya thought, and she knew she could try to save herself.
She had begun walking, and to her shock, no one paid her very much attention. She was a little girl, roughly four years old, walking through what was probably some sort of city, or country, or something to her. But the people around her were all thinking strange thoughts, with lots of words she didn’t understand. Which wasn’t entirely uncommon for the little girl, she was only four, but even less so now. Everyone in their minds kept talking about… Pirates? It was the most she had ever heard the word before. “Bondman fights Pirates, but not very often.” Anya had thought to herself. But that mattered a little less now, because she was now suddenly trapped in a crowd of people, all parting along down the road.
Anya found herself towards the front of the crowd, in between people’s legs as she struggled to get a decent view of what was happening. And her jaw fell agape when she looked at what everyone was looking at. It was the dumbest, silliest costume she had ever seen. But in Anya’s mind, and with her telepathy she knew she should not laugh. Because the only thing everyone was thinking and feeling…

…Was fear.

The man everyone seemed to be afraid of had long white robes that were too tight for him, but he wore them arrogantly, large, pot belly stuck out like it was something to be proud of. Anya thought it reminded her of some of her friend’s parents from Eden, the snobby look, the arrogance that poured off of them, and the fact that he had several others behind him, some dressed like him, others in chains. And several women who were dressed like him, but bore collars of a sort, denoting their status. Anya read their minds, and their thoughts were all sad. Anguished. Thoughts of the life they could’ve had. Some of them were mildly happier than the others, having learned to enjoy life as whatever-they-were to this man, but many of the women were deeply unhappy, and all were afraid of the man.
The man also wore a fishbowl on top of his robes, around his head entirely. Anya wondered how he could breathe, not that she could have much time to analyze it, but because the man’s eyes had fallen to her.
“What a delicious looking child. I think I’ll make her my wife. The man thought in his head, and Anya’s eyes went wide. Wider than dinner plates, and her mouth shrunk.
“Jives, bring me that girl.” The man snapped at one of his servants, not quite a slave, but obviously not in the same position of authority as the head honcho. “I wish to make her my wife.” The man pointed right at Anya.
“No!” Anya shouted in protest, determined and unwavering, her high pitched voice filled with defiance.
“What?!” The man shouted back, but there was less anger in his voice than true, genuine confusion. “You must listen to me, for I am a Celestial Dragon!”
“I don’t want to be your wife! You’re ugly and you stink!” Anya shouted back, and stuck her tongue out at him, a childish display but the man's face turned beet red in anger. The entire crowd gasped, again entirely in fear. Anya had no idea why they were afraid, but she was not going to let someone take her and kidnap her!
Then, Anya was staring down the barrel of a gun the man had drawn. It wasn’t like any of Papa’s guns, it was something that looked almost comical in nature, but obviously still worked.
“Then I’ll give you a choice. I shall either execute you here, or you shall become the lowest of my wives.” The man snarled at her, his face turning even redder.

Anya did not have the time to read every single person’s mind, but she was still very, very afraid now. She didn’t want to die.
A new voice came, resolute, clear like the sound of a subway train. “She said no, man. Leave her alone.”
Anya looked up at the boy, no, a man, who stepped in front of her. He looked down at her and he smiled. It was a warm, genuine smile, like an older brother who was protecting his younger sister. Instantly, Anya felt more at ease.
“She said no, that’s that.” The boy’s gaze hardened again, and he turned his face back to stare down the man. Suddenly, the boy’s face became one that had seen one thousand battles, and had eyes like Mama’s. Eyes that had claimed many lives. “Who even demands someone to be their wife, randomly on the street? She’s like, obviously, a four year old girl.”
Anya thought that the man’s head would actually shoot off of him like a rocket, his face and neck were so red. The entire crowd was trembling. Anya was still afraid, but when she read the boy’s mind, his mind held no fear. Even staring down the gun, the boy made no move or even flinched when the man shook the gun at him.
“Help Anya… please.” Anya whimpered to the pink haired boy, and was clutching at his pant leg. The boy gently patted the top of her head and whispered back.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re okay.” The pink haired boy whispered back, but his eyes never left the gun and the evil man Anya was afraid of.
“YOU BOTH SHALL DIE!” And the gun was fired.

Anya was roughly aware that it was possible to dodge a bullet, but it was unlikely. Even Papa wore bullet proof vests and suits when he was doing his spy job, and he was amazing! But as soon as the gun fired, the young boy was in motion, faster than any human should’ve been reasonably able to move. He managed to grab Anya before the bullet tore into the boy’s left arm. Anya screamed, but if the young boy was in pain, he made no effort to show it. He had Anya in his arms and then jumped. Not a normal jump, but like how Mama could jump. The boy had her on top of a building before anyone could react.
“I’m Itadori Yuji.” The boy said, almost happily to her. “Don’t worry. Your name is Anya, right? I’ll protect you. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know little girls shouldn’t be getting into forced marriages like that.”
“Anya doesn’t know what’s going on either.” Anya replied, as Itadori began to run across the roof, the building a blur as Anya moved faster than she ever had before. Itadori was obviously some kind of superhuman. “I was eating dinner with Mama and Papa and Bond, and then suddenly I woke up here.”
“Hmmm… Me too.” Itadori replied thoughtfully, as he took a spectacular leap from one building to the next, rolling with Anya in his arms, but Anya felt like she had done a somersault, rather than crash land onto a floor, but Itadori sprung right to his feet and kept sprinting. “I was at school, talking with my friends and teacher, and then suddenly… I woke up here and started walking around. That’s when I found you.”
“Anya is scared.” Anya said, clutching the back of his clothes, as Itadori kept running.
“It’s okay to be scared. I’m scared too. But what’s important is to act in the face of that fear. And to not let it paralyze you. That’s when fear turns into danger.” Itadori replied, breathing evenly despite his physical feats. Anya was beginning to wonder if he was related to Mama somehow.
“How come you can… jump across buildings?” Anya replied.
“Something to do with my parents.” Itadori shrugged. “I never really worried about it. I’ve just always been able to do it.”

Itadori was doing a spectacular job of keeping away from the men running after them, who were still firing guns at them, but Itadori was able to dodge them more easily from the distance. Except the buildings had run out. Itadori did not stop running. He jumped once more, and sailed through the air, into a hard, tumbling fall, still protecting Anya. When he sprang up, he immediately bent over at his waist backwards, bending his knees, and dodging a sword swing that would’ve decapitated him.
Anya and Itadori were more surprised now, because the man who had swung the sword was some type of military man with a white uniform. It said Navy on his hat, which was a baseball cap style. Itadori was faster however, slamming one hand onto the ground and twisting to bring his leg up to kick the man in the head. Itadori’s superhuman strength was not limited to freerunning and parkour, because he sent the soldier flying into a stack of crates that laid around.
“Who was that guy?” Itadori asked. Anya began to grow suspicious of exactly how intelligent Itadori was.
“A Celestial Dragon?” Anya replied, equally confused. “Anya doesn’t know what that means, but he seemed important.”
“Yeah, he did. But important enough to try and enslave a girl? Were all of those girls behind him enslaved too?” Itadori’s brow furrowed as he took off running again.
“Yes. They were all very sad.” Anya replied mournfully. She had read their minds but did not know if she could trust Itadori with her telepathy. She did read his mind again though. And she saw the most bone chilling sight.

A throne made of bones. A sea of piled up femurs, skulls, fibulas and tibias and all manner of bones littered the ground like a macabre carpet. A shrine, from one of Anya’s history books about a far away place, but different. More menacing, more sinister. And atop the throne was a man. He looked just like Itadori. But far, far more evil. His face was tattooed with various markings, lines on his face. He looked so severe and harsh. But almost… bored.
“I hate this.” The new man muttered to himself, resting atop his throne. “So fucking boring being trapped inside this brat again. I spent all that time separating our souls just for me to end up back inside his annoying mind.”
Anya thought the man seemed petulant, like her. Complaining about where he lived? Was he inside Itadori? And then her heart nearly stopped beating.
“Who are you?” The man turned his head and glared directly at Anya. Anya had never been inside someone’s mind this physically before.
“A-a-a-a Anya… F-f-forger.” She gulped. The man in the funny costume was a school yard bully like Second Son compared to whatever monster this man was.
“How are you inside the mind of the brat?” The man asked her, but he wasn’t outwardly being mean to her, but Anya could not read his mind. She wondered if it was because she was already reading Itadori’s? Nothing was making sense.
“T-t-telephony.” Anya replied, shaking in her metaphysical form. She had a sense that she should not lie to this man. Whatever trouble he could cause was going to be disastrous if she didn’t please him.
“Do you mean Telepathy? That’s amusing… your telepathy doesn’t seem to be a Cursed Technique, yet you possess an abundance of Reverse Curse Energy.” The man had the cruelest smile she had ever seen, a combination of sadism and amusement danced among his razor sharp teeth, despite having all the same physical features as Itadori.
“Can I… can I know your name?” Anya asked weakly, not sure of the social rules of talking to an evil being living inside someone else’s head.
“Sukuna. King of Curses.” The man nodded his head, seemingly content with Anya’s presence. She was entertaining him enough for him not to kill her immediately, as it had been a long while since Sukuna had interacted with a child. Especially one with an interesting ability.
“Sukuna? That’s a funny name.” Anya blurted out, and then cupped her mouth with her hands. Her big mouth was always getting her into trouble, and she hoped that Sukuna was feeling generous today.
Sukuna laughed heartily. It was an almost genuine laugh that was laced with evilness yet not towards her. He just seemed evil, but wasn’t acting entirely monstrous to her.
“It has been a long time since someone so weak insulted me so directly.” Sukuna kept chuckling and rose from his throne to go before Anya and crouch in front of her. “I imagine you don’t know what’s happened to the brat or me either?”
“No! Anya is very sorry! I don’t know anything!” She bowed hastily. He said he was a King right? Peasants bow before kings, and Anya decided she would rather be a peasant than dead.
“That’s alright, child.” Sukuna patted her head, and Anya wasn’t more at ease, but she sensed that the immediate threat to her life was over. “Help the brat. I wouldn’t normally care what happens to him, but I have a feeling if I die here, I wouldn’t be able to reform.”
“Anya is… very confused.” She admitted nervously. “What do you mean? I… I’m only four.”
Sukuna raised an eyebrow slightly before standing again and returning to his throne.
“There’s no point in explaining the intricacies of this to you. Not because I think you’re stupid, which I do, but because there’s no point. It won’t help you. Just know that if the brat dies, so do I. And I am much more likely to help you if I am alive.”
“Do you help often?” Anya asked, a bit nervously.
“No. I don’t help the brat. But… if he needs me to switch with him, I might do it if you’re in danger. Maybe protecting a child will redeem me for a few sins I’ve committed.” Sukuna chuckled, and the vision faded, and Itadori was back and running.
“You alright, Anya? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?” Itadori inquired, seemingly unaware that Anya had talked to the King of Curses that was living in Yuji’s head.
Anya wasn’t entirely sure how to answer Yuji’s question, considering she wasn’t sure if she could reveal what she saw to him. But Sukuna was living inside of Itadori, so there isn’t much harm in disclosing it to him.
“There’s… an evil man living in your head…” Anya said quietly, not really sure what Itadori’s reaction would be, but she’s so frightened of everything that’s happening and Itadori is the only friendly person who was able to protect her and talk to her.
“Oh? You met him?” Itadori was shocked, but he didn’t let it override his body, as he had temporarily taken shelter behind a building to avoid the large crowds, and the alarms that had started to go off. Although Itadori couldn’t be certain, he was convinced the Celestial Dragon was looking for them. “Sukuna and I… have a complicated living arrangement. I sort of ate his finger once, and now I have to put up with him.”
“You ate his finger!?” Anya was shocked out of her fear for a moment, her eyes growing wide again. “But he had all of them when I saw him!?”
“Like, I said, it’s complicated. He’s not exactly a liar, he’s really confident in himself, so he doesn't think he needs to lie. What did he tell you? How did you even talk to him?”
Anya suddenly realized that she hadn’t told Itadori that she could read minds, but nor did she have time to do so before a larger crowd of men dressed similarly to one Itadori had kicked ran around the corner.
“Grab them! The Celestial Dragon wants their heads!” The leader of this squadron barked at his subordinates, who raised their swords and charged.
Itadori was fast, but there was nowhere for him to run currently, as the building was too steep for him to leap atop. It appeared like some kind of business, instead of a home. Too high to leap, and Itadori knew if he started to scale, he would be shot to death. So he did the most natural thing for a Jujutsu Sorcerer to do. He fought.
Itadori charged back at them, Anya on his back. Anya knew Itadori was fighting at a disadvantage because he was outnumbered, and with a child on his back, he couldn’t fight as normally could. But that didn’t bother him much, as he dodged the first sword without thinking, grabbing the wrist of the Navy man swinging, and threw him into the rest, knocking them down. And a follow up punch to the second man, and then the third.
That’s when some of the blades started to connect. Itadori couldn’t spin or move in natural ways due to needing to guard his back. He needed to keep his front to the blades at all moments, so he accepted the pain of the slashes. His left arm was still bleeding, but that didn’t stop him. There were about ten soldiers bearing down on them, and Itadori was putting up a fight they hadn’t expected. No one expects a High School aged teenager to punch that hard.
A whirlwind of Itadori’s fists and the blades of the Navy soldiers, with Itadori giving far more than he got, but numbers add up. He was cut in multiple places, bleeding profusely, and then a bullet tore through his stomach before he kicked a box so hard at the shooter, Anya was sure that the man’s head would’ve come off.
“Itadori-kun,” Anya trembled on his back. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding a lot…”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I’ve been hurt a lot worse than this.” Itadori said, and smiled back at her, trying to put her at ease. He was telling the truth, Anya knew, Itadori had suffered far worse than this. But they weren’t safe. They were still on the run, and Itadori took it to heart. He didn’t know where to go, but he knew they couldn’t stay where they were.
He took off running again, trying to find any safety. Searching desperately for somewhere to hide. He didn’t know where he was, or what looked safe, and what didn’t. His wounds were bleeding, and while the pain wasn’t as great, he knew he needed to find somewhere to use his Reverse Curse Technique to keep running. He saw more Navymen running after them, and Itadori ducked into what looked to be a heavily populated area. He knew they couldn’t fire guns on civilians, no matter how evil they seemed.
He was right. He started running through what looked to be some sort of amusement park. He did see what looked to be a very small reindeer-monster with cotton candy in their arms walking around, but he couldn’t stop to ask questions. He needed to move. And move he did.
He ran so fast, bobbing and weaving through the crowd with agility and ease. People were concerned that he was covered in blood, but then seeing who was running after him, they merely turned their heads and looked the other way.
“Anya thinks the people here don’t like those bad soldiers either. But they are afraid of them.” Anya said to Itadori.
“Yeah, I think you’re right. But we still have to find somewhere to hide. I won’t let them take you.” Itadori said, seemingly unaware that his life was on the line too. He wasn’t even thinking about himself, only about the safety of Anya. Anya was genuinely touched. Itadori was a lot like Papa, she decided, even if he wasn’t half as smart.
Their sprint through the amusement park was halted by… a giant. A real one. A man who stood about fifteen feet tall. With the world’s worst haircut. And a giant anchor for a weapon strapped to his back.
Itadori stopped. And focused. He had spent so much Cursed Energy in keeping his body moving that he was tapped for Divergent Fist. He couldn’t use Convergence because his blood control wasn’t as good as Choso’s and Piercing Blood needed a warmup. He had his fists and that was it.
“Why do you defy the Celestial Dragons?” The large man barked, but his voice was much higher pitched than you expected. Not a child’s voice, but a high tenor sound that didn’t match his frame at all.
“I don’t know what they are. Or who they are. But I won’t let you, them, or the world kidnap a child.” Itadori said back, calmly, as he adjusted Anya on his back so he could fight with two hands. Raising them in a defensive stance. He started to remind Anya of Mama.
Anya heard Itadori’s thoughts. Black Flash. She didn’t know what it meant, but she hoped it was something Itadori could do. It sounded cool, like something Bondman could do.
“Itadori… I believe in you.” Anya whispered, and Itadori did not respond, but Anya felt his muscles relax just a bit further. Itadori would keep her safe. She knew that she was safe with him, because she did not sense even a hint of doubt in Itadori. He believed that he would win, without anything at his disposal except for his body and his life.
“I am Sentomaru, Captain of the Navy Science Unit! You will not defy the will of the World Nobles!” He commanded, and then launched an open palm strike at Itadori who did not flinch.
Anya saw time slow down as Itadori didn’t move, but she could sense the calm within him. Itadori was in control.
Sentomaru was used to fighting Haki users, and Devil Fruit eaters. He was not used to fighting Jujustu Sorcerers, who specialized in fighting beings larger than themselves, and with great effect. A human body, no matter how big, always has the same weak points. Itadori moved far too quickly for his injured body to be able to handle, using Sentomaru’s hand as a vault, like a pommel horse, before twisting himself around in a tornado motion, bringing his heel down across Sentomaru’s head. Sentomaru, to his shock, was not expecting this type of reversal, and could not defend himself so easily.
Anya saw the coolest thing she had ever seen.
The moment Itadori’s leg connected a flash made of pure black energy exploded out of the point of contact between Itadori’s heel and Sentomaru’s face. It was as though pure black lightning had struck from Itadori’s body.
For sometimes, the rays of hope shine black.

Sentomaru was sent backwards not anticipating and Anya saw his eyes roll into the back of his head as his body was smashed into the wall behind him. Itadori was not convinced this fight was over. He knew when his leg connected that this opponent would be tough. But that did not matter anymore.
All Jujutsu Sorcerers capable of manipulating Cursed Energy are capable of the Black Flash. A moment of pure release, yet also gain. A distortion is space and time, where the user of the Cursed Energy manages to land a hit within one millionth of a second of their Cursed Energy output. Even Satoru Gojo could not summon the Sparks of Black at will. But the Black Flash has another effect.
Anya witnessed Itadori land and then bite the skin of his hand between thumb and forefinger. In his mind, Anya heard Itadori’s voice “Reverse Curse Technique!” And Yuji’s body glowed briefly with Red light. And then, Itadori’s body began to stitch itself back together. The sword slashes closed themselves, the bullets ejected from his body falling to the ground with a sound not unlike the first drops of rain after a drought. Anya was in awe of this apparent demigod.
“Itadori… what is that? What are you doing?” Anya asked him.
“I’m not really smart enough to explain it to you.” Itadori admitted, unashamed. “If we can find Gojo-Sensei, he can tell you. And everything will be okay. I don’t know if he’s here, not really, but I can feel a huge amount of Cursed Energy on this island. It’s either him or Yuta. One of them should’ve sensed my Black Flash.” Itadori elaborated, his mind still trained the rising form of Sentomaru.
Sentomaru had never been punched that hard before. Not by an Admiral. Not by Vegapunk or a Pacifista or by Kuma. Whatever that boy did made him extremely dangerous. And he was already a proven threat to the World Government. And Itadori Yuji was not the only person who could move at a speed that defied their size. Sentomaru was on top of Yuji before Yuji could counterattack. He could only defend. At least, that was until a new voice was heard.

“BROOOOOOOZZZAAAAAAAAA!!!!!” A loud, baritone voice screamed and shouted, and then Anya heard an unexpected noise.
CLAP

“BOOGIE WOOGIE!”

Anya was on someone new now.

The first thing Anya noticed was that the man was… shirtless? He didn’t look much older than Itadori, maybe a year or two, but the first thing in his mind was “My besto friendo needs me!” He was physically much larger than Itadori, standing several inches taller, with his hair in a samurai bun, with a deep scar on his face. But his smile was one of pure exuberance. Itadori was focused and calm during a fight, but this man, this new fighter, was happy to be joining the fray.
“Todo!” Itadori said, and Anya looked behind her in the split second she had and saw Itadori falling from a great height.
Sentomaru was caught off guard because Todo Aoi was already in motion, moving himself so the strike passed above his torso as Todo bent over backwards to avoid it, because Todo was able to see the strike before it came at Itadori. Todo hit his head into the ground to keep his hands free and he clapped again.
Anya was now the one that was falling, and she was screaming about it and flailing around in the air. She was high up, several seconds to ground impact, and when she looked… Itadori was where she previously was, underneath Todo, piggyback riding him as Anya had been, with Todo still bent over with his head firmly planted on the ground. Itadori slid out from under Todo, and Todo landed a stiff kick to Sentomaru’s chest, while Yuji spun himself to his feet and landed a devastating left hook into Sentomaru’s jaw.
Anya could barely figure out what was happening, as Todo saw a bird fly right next to Anya.
“Perfect!” Todo shouted his masculine voice ringing with all the clarity that testosterone can give. He clapped again, and Todo was then right next to Anya, falling with her.
“I’m Yuji’s brother, little one. Have no fear! Bunch up into a ball!” Todo shouted, and Anya felt like she should probably trust him or she was going to become paste. Todo grabbed Anya’s shirt, and did the most unexpected thing. Todo launched Anya straight at Sentomaru, as Yuji stood to the side and jumped into a ball as well.

Anya had been tossed in the air before. Mama and Papa would regularly toss her into the air when she did well on a school test, or when she had shown great character. But that was a simple up and down. She had never been thrown like a ball before, and she certainly wasn’t expecting Todo to throw her at the speed he did.
Anya could only think “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” before the following events took place.

**CLAP**

Anya was lying on her side, curled up in the ball she had made for Todo to throw her. Just off to the side where Itadori had been. And she looked up where Todo was, and Itadori was rocketing with the same velocity that Anya had been thrown with. Todo clapped again, trading places with a field mouse that had run around Sentomaru, to his back. Todo grabbed Sentomaru around the waist, and lifted him backwards in a German suplex, intending to slam him headfirst into the ground.
At that same moment is when the Sparks of Black flashed again. Itadori’s fist connected with Sentomaru’s center, and the impact from Todo’s slam and Itadori’s second Black Flash had cratered the ground where Sentomaru now laid, incapacitated.
Itadori landed on his feet, and rolled up to Todo. Anya ran to them and jumped into Itadori’s arms.
“That was… so cool!” Anya said in awe of her new friends, eyes wide and smiling so bright her mouth hurt. She was saved by two men who clearly were able fighters, on the same level as Mama, although with wilder abilities. “You punched, and then kicked, and then boom! Black Flash!” Anya was shadow boxing as well as any four year old girl could.
“Itadori, who is this friend? He said he was your broza?” She said, mimicking the way Todo had pronounced it first.
“Todo Aoi!” Todo said excitingly, pounding his own chest. “A third year from Kyoto Jujustu School!”
“Todo, she doesn’t know what that is. Anya here… she woke up like we did. You don’t know where we are either right?” Itadori asked Todo. “And yeah, Anya, Todo is like my brother. He’s my best friend. He’s always there when I need him the most.”
Todo nearly burst into tears immediately and wrapped both of them in a soul crushing bear hug, and Itadori and Anya both felt how much he cared, a little too much.
“Oh Itadori! My brother! I have missed you!” Todo sobbed loudly, clutching them.
“Todo! Your hand!” Itadori said.
“Yes, that’s right. It… grew back? I don’t really understand, but Boogie Woogie’s activation is back with my claps, rather than the vibraphone. Whatever happened has restored us to an earlier version.”
“Same here. Sukuna is back in my head.”
“Hmm. I’m assuming you sensed the large Cursed Energy presence on the island as well?”
“I’m hoping it’s either Gojo or Yuta.” The two boys continued their conversation for a brief moment, while Anya looked on in awe.
“What’s a Boogie Woogie?!” She asked excitedly to Todo who was smiling once more.
“Boogie Woogie is my Cursed Technique. When I clap, I can trade the places of any two objects that possess Cursed Energy. I can do it with most living things, and inanimate objects that I imbue with Cursed Energy.” Todo quickly explained like a real teacher. Anya was enthralled.
“That seems… hard? Always switching?” Anya said, trying to understand. She did just see it in action, so Todo must be very practiced.
“It’s easier to do it with someone who knows how to fight. My Best Friend and I have fought together many times. It’s easy for us to find the rhythm we need to win. That big man didn’t expect me to join in, so it was quite easy to get the drop on him.”
Anya then heard an extremely familiar voice. Someone she loved. Someone she knew cared for her in a way that neither Itadori nor Todo could grasp. A Mother’s love.

“LET GO OF MISS ANYA-SAN, NOW!” Yor Forger screamed, and moved with speeds of murderous intent.
There is one additional feature of the Black Flash. Itadori Yuji was still feeling it. When a Sorcerer lands a Black Flash, their power is increased to 120% of its potential. Yor Forger is an assassin, and a superhuman as well. She had the drop on Yuji, and her attack would have landed, if Yuji was not hyperaware of his surroundings.
Yor Forger threw a punch. As did Itadori Yuji instinctively.
Their fists connected.
For a moment, all the sound in the world vanished.
And then, a loud crash, crack, rumble and boom.
Itadori Yuji and Yor Forger had connected with such insane power, that the very earth beneath them had shattered under the impact.

Both Itadori and Yor had the same thought.
“This fighter is incredibly strong.” And surprise flashed on both their faces.

“MAMA WAIT!” Anya shouted at Yor, waving her arms intensely, having been given to Todo by Yuji to defend himself and Anya.
“Mama?” Itadori and Todo were both shocked by this revelation, as Itadori and Yor were both about to attack each other again.
“Anya-san?” Yor said, her murderous rage dropped immediately, and she went right back to her loveable, sweet, and slightly air-headed nature. Todo and Itadori both began blushing when they saw that Yor Forger was not about to kill them, and was instead far more beautiful than either had expected. Anya jumped from Todo and ran to Mama.
Yor Forger was a 28 year old woman who worked as a city clerk in a town hall in the country of Ostensia. She is quite tall for a woman, standing roughly equivalent height to Todo, with long black hair, and bright, innocent red eyes. She was well-kept, well groomed, and wore a wedding ring, denoting her marriage to her husband, Loid Forger. At night, she kept a dark secret. She was the Thorn Princess, an assassin who worked for the Garden, an alliance of multiple assassins who carried out missions for the betterment of the country.
But most recently, as mentioned, she is a married woman and an adoptive mother to Anya Forger, the little girl who Todo and Itadori have saved. She loved Anya with all her heart, more than she thought she was capable of given her line of work. Yor Forger was in her casual wear outfit, a red sweater with an open back, and black leggings, her hair tied up because she knew she would have to fight.
Behind her was a man not too much older than Itadori and Todo. He was taller than the three of them, with one eye visible, the other covered by blonde hair. He was smoking a cigarette, and was dressed in a full suit. A real three piece suit that looked as though it had been recently dry cleaned.
“YOU DARE HURT A LADY?!” The new man said, and began to walk at Itadori and Todo, who sensed far more danger from this new man than from Sentomaru.
“Sanji-san, wait a moment please!” Yor turned around holding Anya, and said that panicked and quick, almost blubbering.
“But they tried to attack you!” Sanji protested, still seething with rage.
“I thought they had kidnapped Anya! But Anya is right here! Anya-san, who are these boys?”
“Itadori-kun! and … Todo-kun!” Anya said, pointing at the two Jujustu Sorcerers. “They saved me! Especially Itadori-kun!” Anya continued excitedly to Yor, telling her all about it. “They said they’re brothers! I want to be their sister!”
Todo started crying again.
“Itadori! She wants to be part of our family!” Itadori was not spared another crushing hug from Todo, without Anya there to prevent Todo from hugging Yuji full force.
“To---do, she… has a mother.” Itadori struggled out, trying to breath, but not trying to get Todo off of him.
“Hello Ma’am. Anya’s mother.” Itadori bowed to her in respect for the mother of his little friend.
“Oh no! Please call me Yor-san!” Yor protested, and lifted Yuji’s body up with her other hand. She felt weird about being bowed to. She didn’t think she was worthy after Itadori had apparently save Anya’s life. “What happened? How did you end up with Anya?”
“There was some weird guy who tried to enslave her and forcibly marry her. I didn’t want that to happen, so I stepped in and said no. Apparently that’s like a super big crime?” Itadori shrugged.
Sanji’s visible eye went wide, his cigarette nearly falling from his mouth. “You defied a Celestial Dragon?” He said it with almost some respect.
“Uh… Yeah, I guess?” Itadori shrugged, he nor Todo, nor the two Forgers had any indication of how severe that was.
“You guys… are in such deep shit.” Sanji laughed, and he laughed hard. “I can’t explain it all right now, but if you four want to not go to Impel Down, you better come with me.” Sanji motioned for them to join him on a path away from the crowds towards one of the inner islands of this mangrove forest.

Itadori, however, heard a voice from a ghost. A voice he had grown to miss. A memory that he thought would stay in his mind.
“Itadori-kun…?” The ghost said behind him, filled with all the pain and heartache and hope and love that a beloved friend would have after being apart for so long.
Itadori turned around, and then it was his turn to begin crying.

Chapter Text

Nanami Kento was a simple man. He knew when it was time to work, and when it was time to rest. He kept himself on a strict schedule. He would clock in, and then clock out. Clockwork.
But none of that mattered at the moment of his death. Nanami’s final memory was the blood-soaked form of his beloved student, after nearly being killed himself by multiple special grade cursed spirits.
“Itadori… I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Everything went black for Nanami after that.

When he woke, it was on a beach. Somewhere he had always dreamed of living. Of retiring. Of living a simple life, free from the inconveniences of Jujutsu Sorcerers, and of the salarymen of Japan’s workforce. Free from the weight that had held him down from living the life that he always dreamed of.

The sun was shining.
The birds were chirping.
The waves were crashing against the shore.
It was peaceful.
It was everything he thought he always wanted.

He could feel the sand under his fingers. He could experience the roll of the waves under his back as he lay on the ground. His glasses… were back. The pair he shielded his eyes with. He was in the suit he wore when he first fought Mahito. The thought of the special grade spirit made his stomach churn, as that was one who had brought him to his end.
“Is this Heaven? Did I do enough to deserve this paradise?” He thought to himself.
He sat up and looked out over the ocean. It was beautiful. A shining blue with the sun reflecting off of its surface. “Photogenic” was the next thought in Nanami’s head.
He was convinced he had achieved paradise somehow, but something felt… off. His heart was beating. He was breathing. He had experienced the afterlife, and yet… he could not remember the specifics, but the mechanics of the human body were not something he recalled. He ran his fingers through the sand. It felt different. He had been to many of Japan’s beaches, and had vacationed in Thailand. This sand felt different. The afterlife was supposed to be perfect, but here it felt real. Too real.
That’s when the rest of the noises began to fill Nanami’s ears. Sounds of civilization. Of life. But not of Utopia or Heaven or Elysium. Of… a city. Of people.
He stood on the beach and turned around, and for the first time in many years, Nanami was surprised. A massive Mangrove forest, truly towering trees.
“Each of those trees must be taller than Tokyo Tower.”
And each had a number marked on them. Nanami could see that on the trunks of the trees; each had a two digit code.
“Identifying Markers for whoever lives here to know where they are and how to get around. Clever.” Nanami began to walk away from the beach to see what there was to see. He hadn’t expected this, but he was beginning to piece together that he was alive again. Somehow, someway, Nanami Kento had been brought back to life, and wherever he was, was where he was meant to be.
He didn’t look particularly out of place. He was dressed like some residents, but unlike others. Some wore dirty clothes, and were obviously some type of laborers. Others wore the markings of a merchant class, peddling wares to whoever would they see and sell to. Nanami did not have any money that he thought they would accept, so he kept to himself. Which was easy for him, considering how stern he always looked.
Gojo would often tease him about constantly being too serious for his own good.
“Gojo…” The name brought back far too many memories that he did not have time to process. He needed to figure out where he was and why. He saw signs on some businesses that said “Sabody Tailor!” and “Sabody’s Best Calamari!” Nanami pieced together that wherever he was was a place called Sabody. And he was new here. But no one stopped to ask him who he was or why he was walking around.
He deduced that this was a popular trading outlet for the region, island, or whatever this forest constituted as. He saw large bubbles flowing out of the ground from around the trees, and even from the ground. There were people riding inside of the bubbles as well. Nanami was surprised, as this place was obviously not Japan, or anywhere on Earth he had ever heard of. He was brought somewhere else for reasons unknown.
Perhaps the most shocking thing was when a woman started yelling behind him.
“LOID-SAN! LOID-SAN!” A high pitched, panicked voice was yelling loudly behind him. Nanami knew not to interfere because whatever the problem was, it didn't matter to him, because he was still trying to get his bearings.
Until it was, in fact, his problem.
The woman who was calling had caught up to Nanami quicker than he thought should’ve been reasonable, given the distance of the original voice. She wacked him on the shoulder in panic until he turned around.
The woman, who was unmistakably both beautiful and obviously extremely upset, was shocked that Nanami was not whoever Loid was. She immediately turned super red in the face, and looked embarrassed beyond all words.
“Ohmygoodnessimsosorry youlookedjustlike myhusbandfrombehind andandand Ican’tfind my… daughter… Oh Anya-san!” The woman looked like she was about to cry, real genuine tears from whatever tragedy she was going through.
Nanami sensed extraordinary power in this woman. Similar to what he had felt when he encountered Itadori Yuji for the first time. She didn’t possess an abundance of Cursed Energy, but her body reminded him of the stories he had heard of Toji Zen’in.
“That’s no problem at all, Ma’am.” Nanami’s deep bass rumbled and he put his hand on the woman’s shoulders to steady her briefly. He took off his glasses to look at her, and he softened his face as much as was reasonable given the circumstances.
“Perhaps I can help you look… but I must say I am not from around here.” Nanami said, not really sure how much detail he could give away.
“Oh! Me neither! I have no idea how I got here!” The dark-haired woman said, seemingly much more relieved that Nanami was not mad, and was kind to her. No one else had been listening to her it seemed like. “I just… woke up after eating dinner with my family… and now I’m here. Do you… what happened to you?”
“My story is… more complicated than that. Let’s focus on finding your husband first. I am Kento Nanami.” He introduced himself, and was also relieved that someone else was here experiencing the same things as him. Even if he didn’t know her.
“I’m Yor. Yor Forger.” She said, more resolutely, and Nanami determined this woman was unbreakable, and desperate for her child.
“Your husband looks like me, you said? Roughly my height, and build?” Nanami inquired, making mental notes of all of this to try and track down her husband. He wasn’t used to finding people, more so tracking down cursed spirits, but he would give it a try. Not that Loid Forger could be found, if he didn’t desire to be found, but Nanami had no way of knowing that at this time. Neither did Yor.
“Mhmm!” She agreed emphatically, nodding her head vigorously. “It was your hair color and the cut of it. You have similar hairstyles from the back.”
“Okay. I think I can help you look. You said you were just eating dinner and then woke up here? Nothing bad happened?” He was searching for more details, if Yor was also dead before being brought here, for example.
“No! Nothing at all! It was a completely normal day, and then suddenly, I woke up here. I can… feel that my daughter is here, and I think my husband is too.”
“What does your daughter look like? Is your husband a capable man?” He asked.
“She’s six years old, very short, she has pink hair, and two little caps on her head.” She said, and made a shape with her hands on her head that indicated what Anya had on hers. “And Loid-san is the most capable man I have ever met. He takes care of everything. He only ever asks me to watch Anya when he goes into work. And I can't even do that!” Yor seemed like she was going to burst into tears again.
“If your husband is capable, then he should be more than understanding that this has nothing to do with your abilities as a mother.” He said calmly and reassuringly. “I am unmarried, with no children. My life is… complicated, but I fell into this as well. As did some of my friends, but I trust that they will be okay. I can sense them as well.” Nanami was beginning to detect Cursed Energy being expunged, but not enough for him to tell where or why. “Loid should understand that this is not your fault, and beings far more powerful than either of us have been transported here as well.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m sorry for being so vague. I don’t know how much I can say. But please know that I will do everything I can to save your daughter, and find your husband. It’s part of what I do.” Nanami said honestly.
Yor believed him. Nanami was the first person who really looked at her.
“Thank you, Nanami-san.” Yor said quietly and directly. Her eyes were burning like coals, and she held her arms in front of her, bent at the elbow into fists at the end. Nanami thought of Yuki Tsukimoto, and then wondered what became of his old friend.
“There’s no need to thank me. I do what I can for people who need it.” He said quietly, his eyes growing tired as the weight of his past life rested on his mind. The friends he was unable to save, the missions where too many innocents died, the-
“Nanami-san?” Yor’s voice cut through his spiral, and made him look her in the eyes. “I don’t know you that well, but you have the same look in your eyes as my husband gets sometimes. He always brushes me off, but I can tell when something is wrong. Your life hasn’t been easy has it?” She asked, very gently, consolingly.
Nanami wanted nothing more than to open up to this woman. To tell this stranger his story, to someone that seemed to care. He had, in this moment, never been more glad that he looked like someone else.
Nanami Kento had been killing cursed spirits for a great deal of his adult life. And in his teenage years. Nanami had become a tired man, someone who got up to save people and kill monsters with the same level of enthusiasm as an accountant at a hedge fund. He would know, since he had done both. Somewhere along the way, after the death of his close friend, the light left his eyes. He was a man of iron and rigidity. But when he looked into the eyes of Yor Forger, she had that same empty, vacant, yet tired look in her eyes. The eyes of a killer, but one with a heart. Much like himself.
Yor Forger continued, “Pain is something that we all deal with. But yours seems greater than others. Death weighs heavily on you. You’ve killed a lot, haven’t you Nanami-san?” Yor said, her voice taking on a gentle, yet serious tone. “Not that I would know anything about death or killing or murder or blood?!” She snapped back into the same high pitched panicked tone.
Nanami merely smiled. That same tired, yet extremely genuine smile.
“Thank you, Yor-san. My story… is tiring. I will tell you when I feel we have some more time to talk. But first we should find yo-”
Nanami was interrupted for a second time. But this time it was wildly unexpected and would’ve been unsettling if it weren’t so comical.
A blonde teenager, roughly nineteen or twenty, bent done on one knee before Yor to the side of her and Nanami.
“Mademoiselle, I saw your beauty from afar and knew that I could not resist the urge to speak with you.” The new man said, with Nanami staring at him very confused as he put his glasses back on. “Your wondrous figure and form light up the surrounding area, brighter than the brightest stars in the night sky. I have not seen a pretty lady in many years, and your beauty is absolutely breathtaking in a sense that cannot be replicated.”
Nanami looked over at Yor, who was slowly turning more red, and more embarrassed. Her lips were trembling. She looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“My beautiful swan, may I take your hand an-” Yor slapped this man so hard he went flying in a twirl into a stack of barrels thirty feet away.
“I’M MARRIED! I LOVE MY HUSBAND!” Yor shouted as she slapped him with her eyes closed. Nanami was suddenly very glad that Yor handled it, and was deeply concerned that Loid was in danger.
He decided that Loid was not in any danger when she started apologizing.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” Yor ran over to where this man had landed. The man’s eyes were quite literally hearts. Not in a metaphorical sense, his eyes had become bright, large, pink hearts. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you! I just got so overwhelmed! Are you okay?”
“No pain from a lady can ever hurt me.” The young man said, springing to his feet with relative ease. “It was an honor to be struck by you. And I sincerely apologize for flirting with you and showcasing your beauty.” He was back on one knee in front of Yor. Nanami folded his arms, utterly confused, and not particularly sure if he should intervene. “I am Sanji, a cook.” Sanji bowed reverently to Yor.
“Is that man your husband?” Sanji continued to ask. Sanji, a blonde man, shorter than Nanami, taller than Yor. He was thin and lithe, with longer than average legs, dressed similar to Nanami in a suit. Sanji’s suit was darker on the jacket, a navy blue, and the pants. His shirt was bright yellow. Sanji’s suit was for going to a party, Nanami was off to work.
“No! Nanami-san is… a friend!” Yor decided at that moment, and Nanami felt himself smiling without thinking, before making his face return to a mask of stoicism and problem-solving.
“Yor-san and myself are looking for a little girl, about six with pink hair, and her husband who resembles me.” Nanami informed Sanji, not entirely sure of his intentions, but he seemed committed to Yor for some reason.
“Yor-swan?! Your daughter is missing?” Sanji asked emphatically, as though it were the worst news he had heard all day.
“Yor-Swan?” Yor thought to herself, unsure of exactly why her suffix changed, but figured it wasn’t worth bothering Sanji about. He sort of reminded her of Yuri.
“Sanji-san, will you help me find my daughter?” Yor asked Sanji very softly, and very sweetly, the same way she spoke to her younger brother.
“I COULD NEVER REFUSE A REQUEST FROM A BEAUTIFUL LADY!” Sanji proclaimed. Much like Yor, Nanami could tell this man was strong, but a very different kind of strength.
“Do you know your way around, Sanji?” Nanami asked him, walking up to the two of them finally.
“Well enough. I can get around by looking at the trees, and by… sort of flying. It’s difficult to explain, but you might see it. It’ll be better to search on foot however. I’m… not exactly an easy man to be around in the wrong company. But there’s no better man to find your daughter!” Sanji said with an overabundance of enthusiasm.

Nanami felt something. Something personal. Deeply personal. His face changed as he felt the whispers in the wind. He felt something that he had personally experienced. A young boy he once taught, had once again connected a Black Flash.
“Yor-san, Sanji-san… I can’t explain it, and I need you both to trust me. We need to run. Now. I felt something shift in the wind.” Nanami said very urgently, and without waiting, took off sprinting towards the direction where he had felt the Sparks of Black fly from.
“Itadori-kun… you’re alive!” Nanami Kento was experiencing a tentative form of joy, as Yor and Sanji ran with him, keeping up. Three superhumans were sprinting forth to see the battle between Itadori Yuji, Todo Aoi, Anya Forger, and Sentomaru.
Nanami’s mind was sprinting faster than his legs. He recalled every battle he had with Itadori, including the one that cost him his life. He needed to see the boy. He needed to know he was okay. That Nanami’s teachings had helped him in some way. And then Nanami felt the familiar weight of his blunted sword in his jacket pocket. His life as a Jujutsu Sorcerer was tied to that Cursed Object.
“Nanami-san? Why are we running? What did you feel?” Yor asked, seemingly unbothered by the full sprint.
“My… my student.” Nanami replied.
“Oh! You’re a teacher?” Yor asked, excitedly.
“Not quite like that, but in a sense. I was asked to train a boy. By an old friend.” Nanami elaborated.
“And you… felt him?” Yor asked, confused.
“Once we get there, I’ll be able to explain more. I think that Itadori has already begun fighting for some reason.” Nanami said, tense and focused. Itadori already fighting didn’t spell anything good for him, or any other Sorcerer that happened to be transported here.
“Oh no! What’s he fighting?” Yor asked.
Sanji chimed in. “The place we’re in is called Sabody Park. It’s a collection of all sorts of types of people. He could be fighting the Navy, some pirates, just thugs who thought they could mess with him. Or worse.”
“Let’s hope it’s not someone too weak. Itadori-kun is… quite strong.” Nanami said, and couldn’t resist the urge to sound prideful of his student.
The trio ran faster than three humans should’ve been able to move. Nanami was precise, dodging and weaving through the ground with near mathematical accuracy. Yor Forger was doing some combination of gymnastics and dance. There were no obstacles for her, merely hand holds and vaults. Sanji was quite literally running on the sides of buildings.
“We aren’t having too much attention paid to us… how common is people sprinting this fast through town? Often enough not to spare more than a few glances, I suppose.” Nanami thought to himself.
Yor Forger was the first to spot them. She watched as Todo launched Anya at Sentomaru, and her motherly instincts kicked in. She began to sprint much faster than Sanji or Nanami.
“THAT’S MY DAUGHTER!” She screamed, and suddenly, Nanami and Sanji were very confused.
Nanami watched as another Black Flash ripped from Itadori into the collapsing form of Sentomaru. He smiled, a real genuine smile, as he saw the look of pure concentration on Itadori's face. The sparks of black had truly blessed the boy, and Nanami was happy.
What made him slightly less happy, was when Yor Forger launched a punch that Nanami wasn’t sure he, himself, could defend against, had it been thrown at him at that speed. When Yuji not only saw it coming, and counterattacked, Nanami stumbled for a moment. Itadori had grown so much. How much had he missed?
The crater was impressive, both from Itadori and Yor. He made a mental note to ask Yor about that later, but for now he was happy to see his boy.

“Itadori-kun…” Nanami said, quieter than he wanted, but that did not matter, for Itadori Yuji had heard that voice in his dreams, and when he woke up. It was the voice of a man he dearly respected, as much if not more than Satoru Gojo.
Itadori Yuji had experienced loss like the others in the group had not known. Anya Forger read Itadori Yuji’s mind, and she saw a horrific sight, one she knew she should not have seen. She felt Itadori’s pain, and his hope. A memory she knew she should not read into. She quickly averted her mind to her mother’s because Yor Forger was basking in the joy of holding her daughter. But Anya sensed something else inside Itadori Yuji. Elation.
Itadori began to breathe heavily, his eyes not quite registering what he was seeing. His teacher, his friend, the man who gave his life to save him.
“Nanami-sensei…” Itadori said trembling and almost shaking as he began to walk towards Nanami slowly, tentatively, as though a breeze would take Nanami away from him again.
“It’s me, Itadori. I’m not going anywhere this time.” Nanami said, consolingly as he approached Yuji.
Yor Forger looked up, and saw the two men she had just encountered. She knew she wasn’t the best at reading people’s intentions, she relied on Loid for that, but… she knew that these two men had shared something personal and difficult. And that they hadn’t seen each other for a while.
“Nanami-sensei…” Itadori’s voice choked, and he started to move faster towards Nanami. He was about to cry, and knew he needed to hug his teacher.
Nanami moved faster as well, until the two men met in a hug. A hug that was long overdue. One they did not get before the passing of the elder. Itadori Yuji began to cry. Nanami felt his eyes glistening.
“Itadori… it’s alright. I’m back now. I know I said I would leave the rest to you… but it was time for my shift.” Nanami said, cracking his first joke of his new life.
“Nanami-sensei… I… I’m so sorry…” Itadori was sobbing, clutching at the shirt of Nanami. “I couldn’t… I didn’t save you…”
“It was my time to die, Itadori.” He said quietly and softly, putting his hand on the back of Yuji’s head to comfort the boy. Nanami had never been one for physical affection in his past life. But after dying, he figured a hug every now and again couldn’t hurt. “It’s okay. I do not blame you. Mahito, he planned it. He wanted to destroy you. Yet, you’re still here. You just saved a little girl.” Nanami said, proud of Yuji.
“Itadori.” Todo said, much more contemplatively than before. “We know as Jujutsu Sorcerers that our lives are always on the line, and that we die without any regrets. Nanami-sensei is an example of that. Do you remember our conversation in Shibuya?”
“I do. It’s just… I never got to say goodbye.” Itadori said, crying but smiling again. This moment is the first time this boy has known peace in quite some time.
“Anya thinks that Itadori is very brave!” Anya said, jumping up and down at Itadori’s legs, who had left Yor’s grasp. “And is so cool! So is Tobo!”
“Tobo?!” Todo Aoi gasped in mock surprise. “Who is that? Where is he?!” He dramatically acted out looking around, and then put Anya on his shoulders. “Let’s find him together!” Todo began to lightly jog around, Anya laughing and clapping on his shoulders and loudly saying “Boogie Woogie!”

Itadori looked at Nanami with intensity. Nanami noted that Itadori was slightly taller than he had last seen him.
“Nanami-sensei… how?” Itadori asked softly, and nearly reverently. Itadori viewed Nanami’s death as his greatest personal failing, and even though he had come to terms with what had happened in Shibuya, losing the man who taught him so much about being a good man and Jujutsu sorcerer wasn’t the easiest thing for his mental state at the time.
“I don’t know, Itadori.” Nanami answered honestly, and ran his hands through his hair and looked up towards the sun. “But… I would be lying if I said I wasn’t grateful. I shall not look a gift horse in the mouth, and will enjoy my second shot at life. Because with you being here, it means that my death was not in vain. Did you win?” Nanami asked more seriously.
“Yes. But at an exceptional cost.” Itadori looked down darkly, remembering the final moments against Sukuna, King of Curses.
“Who?”
“Gojo.”
Nanami was dead silent. The color all but disappeared from his face. The strongest man he had ever met, the one who had never lost. The Strongest modern sorcerer, had lost?
“How?”
“Sukuna was far more powerful than we anticipated. More than we could’ve known. But much like you, sensei, Sukuna is… living in my head again. I don’t think this is his doing.
“It’s not.” Sukuna’s deep, annoyed voice rumbled through Itadori’s skull. “Do you think I would willingly enter your pitiful body again, brat?”
“See?” Itadori gestured to his own skull.
“But… you all won in the end?” Nanami asked.
“Yes. Nobara is still alive even! Not because of whatever’s happening here! But because she somehow lived! That Kyoto first year really has a great cursed technique!” Itadori said happily. “But all of what remained of Jujutsu Society came together to fight Sukuna. It took us an extremely long time, and I almost died several times. We still came out on top!”
“I didn’t know Nobara was presumed dead.” Nanami said, his face hardening for a moment. “What else happened?”
“I have a Domain Expansion?” Itadori offered Nanami.
Nanami’s eyes widened behind his glasses.
“You do? Who taught you?”
“Kusakabe.”
“Did he fight? I figured he’d be too afraid.”
“He actually managed to hold Sukuna off until some reinforcements arrived. His simple Domain really threw Sukuna off rhythm for a few critical moments.” The lack of response from the King of Curses indicated that he knew Itadori was telling the truth, but he didn’t have to like it.
“You beat the King Of Curses with your own Domain Expansion?” Nanami asked, damn near cautiously.
“Hey! You two! Sentimental reunions can come later!” Sanji called out, while he was still shadowing Yor who was now happily tossing Anya between herself and Todo like a fun ball game. Yor was very shocked when Todo used Boogie Woogie to save Anya from an overthrown toss.
“Nanami-sensei. Do you feel that presence? Here, on this island as well?” Itadori asked in a near whisper.
“It would stand to reason that if I were resurrected, and so was Sukuna, then… it’s possible.

“Nanami-san, Itadori-kun… thank you.” Yor said, gentle and kind. Anya was back with Todo, riding on his shoulders again. “Sanji-san, what happens now?”
“Now… we look for the rest of my crew!” Sanji said with a smile.
“A crew?” Nanami asked.
“Yes, the Straw Hats.” Sanji elaborated with a smile wide enough to hold multiple meal tickets.
“Sounds like pirates.” Itadori said off-handedly.
“Exactly right!” Sanji said.
“HUH?!” Itadori, Nanami, Todo, and Yor said all at once.
“SHOCK!” Anya said, with her mouth agape. She tried very hard not to read Sanji’s mind. She didn’t really like it there.

Chapter Text

Agent Twilight, Master of 1000 faces, current Alias: Loid Forger, husband, father, psychiatrist. Current Mission: Operation Strix. Current Obstacle: A Whole new world.
Loid’s eyes snapped open and he immediately sat up, and took in his surroundings.
“Giant Mangrove trees, marked with double digits for ease of transport and planning, multiple islands built on the roots of the mangroves to support life. Bubbles from the roots of the Mangrove trees, large enough to fit a person inside, coming from the ground and the water between the trees.
Where am I? Think Twilight. Is this a trick of the West? I am a master spy, I can overcome this.” Loid thought the second he opened his eyes, and then… suddenly… a new emotion overcame him.
Panic.
“WHERE IS ANYA? WHERE IS YOR? New mission, find my family. The fake family, of course.” He reminded himself, and forced himself to stay calm.
“Just looking around, the outer islands appear to have more people. Probably due to the ease of ships getting into the harbor. There can’t be too many of these Mangroves, probably no more than eighty, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to support themselves. The inner islands are probably more crime ridden due to the distance between what looks like the governmental seats of power. Various groups of people, not dressed like any I’ve ever seen before. Where is this place? I need to think. What looks like the best group of people to ask questions to?" Loid Forger did not have much more time to think before a new thought entered his head.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
Much to the dismay of Agent Twilight, Yuri Briar was stirring next to him. Younger brother of Yor Forger, who did not like Loid Forger due to (a relatively unhealthy obsession) him being married to her. And a member of the West’s infamous Secret Police, who was the mortal enemy of Agent Twilight. Yuri Briar did not know that Loid Forger was Agent Twilight, it was merely pure bad luck that Twilight married the only woman he could’ve with a brother in the secret police.
Yuri Briar awoke to a similar thought.
“LOIDY? WHY IS HE HERE?! WHERE ARE WE?! WHERE’S SIS?!” Yuri thought to himself before he turned to Loid and said,
“LOIDY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WHERE ARE WE? WHERE IS YOR?!” He shouted, and Loid took a deep breath.
“Keep up the act, Twilight. It doesn’t matter if this is a foreign land. At least we can rule out a trick of the West if Yuri is here too. It means that whatever happened, happened to Loid Forger, and not Twilight.”
“Yuri, honestly, I don’t know. I also just woke up. Anya is missing too. We can find them. If we both got transported here, then there’s a high likelihood that they got transported as well.” Loid said, and then scolded himself internally for thinking so intelligently. Yuri, however, was none the wiser due to him standing and shouting:
“SIS! YOR! SIS! WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Loid was glad that they were in a less populated part of this place, uncertain as to how he got here, where he was at all beyond what he could see with his eyes, and with his least favorite person on his mission.
“Yuri, I don’t think that will work. This place seems very large. Look at the trees. There’s numbers. All of the trees have them. We can split up to cover more ground, and meet back here in an hour.” Loid said, wanting to be rid of Yuri, but more than that… he did want to be the one to find Yor. And Anya. He hoped they were together.
“I’m only agreeing to do this for Sis, Loidy!” Yuri said harshly and then stormed off.
Loid breathed a sigh of relief.
“Now I can operate freely.” And Twilight began to move.

He walked quickly and quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself, keeping his head down. Being a spy was similar no matter what universe one was occupying. He began to make more mental notes.
“There appears to be a Navy with the guards that are stationed around. They weren’t on the island I was just on, but their presence is heavier in some areas, more than others.” He continued to observe, to analyze, to build a map in his head of where he thought would be the most likely places to find his wife and daughter. Loid was acutely aware of the other species he saw, making mental profiles of the people he saw. “Fishmen?” was a common thought of his.
Loid Forger was continuing on his journey, on the hunt for anything that might appeal to his child or his wife. And then he saw a promising lead. A bar.
"Yor drinks when she’s stressed. Waking up in a new world would be stressful for her, especially if she didn’t already have Anya, although she has no way to know that she wasn’t the only one transported. I can at least think in there, and maybe gather some more information.” Loid moved into the bar, keeping his head low. He was dressed in a cream sweater, light blue slacks, and some walking shoes. He felt his gun, his knife, and his various spy equipment. He was grateful that he was moved with these things, for he felt he would need them.
Loid instantly knew he was out of place. The people in this bar were ruffians, criminals, and pirates. He had identified who the obvious threats were within half of one second walking it, because nearly all of them were threats. Except for one girl at the bar, with orange hair. And a tattoo on her left shoulder.
Loid made his way to the bar.
“Pardon me, Ma’am.” Loid Forger put on his best people greeting face, and was greeted by a young girl, no more than nineteen. She was in a bikini top and jeans, and her hair reached her lower back, and it was very wavy. Loid’s focus did not falter.
“Could you give me some directions? I’ve lost my wife and daughter. I’m new here, and you seem to have a compass on your arm?” He gestured to the strange device that resembled a compass, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Sure! Directions to where? Also, this isn’t a compass, it’s a log pose.” The orange haired girl replied cheerfully, and explanatory.
“Oh… honestly, I’m not sure. We were separated a long distance away…”
Think Twilight! Do we trust this girl? How much do we reveal? Not the mission surely, but what else can I say? I should’ve thought more about this. I must be jet-lagged from the event that brought me here.
“What… what is a log pose?” Loid asked, confused. He had never heard of such a thing.
“You’re not from around here are you?” The girl turned, far more interested than she had been a moment ago.
“No… I’m not.”
“I’m Nami.” She extended her hand for a handshake.
Loid took her hand. “Loid Forger.”
“Well, Loid-san, where exactly are you from? Because it’s not from the Grand Line, I can see that much.”
This girl is smart. She knows the area much better than me. What’s a Grand Line? Sounds like something from Bondman.
“I don’t know how to explain it. It sounds like a crazy story.” He smiled sheepishly and faked a laugh that was extremely convincing.
“Try me.” Nami said, intense and eager.
“I was eating dinner with my family, and my wife’s brother, and we were talking and having a nice dinner. My dog was there as well. And then, suddenly, I woke up about three islands that way. I’m not sure what happened. But, my home isn’t near this place at all. Do you know a country called Ostensia?” Loid inquired.
“Never heard of it. It's either is a lost island, or it doesn’t exist.” Nami replied, shrugging. “I’m a navigator, and I’ve been a lot of places.
Twilight was internally making mental notes of everything Nami was saying. But he couldn’t decipher where he was. He had no idea.
“A navigator? On a ship?”
“Yes, indeed. I am a Pirate.” Nami said proudly.
“What the fuck is going on?” Loid Forger asked himself internally.
“A… pirate?”
“Wow, you’re really not from around here are you?” Nami laughed, a sweet sound that made Loid feel slightly better for some reason. “Yes, a pirate. I travel with my crew on an adventure to find the One Piece.”
“Nami-san, forgive me, but I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about.” Loid Forger sat down next to Nami and got very serious.
“I am not from this world. I’m worried about my family. They were with me when we were transported, and I already saw my wife’s brother, who I’d rather avoid. There’s an extremely high likelihood that they were transported with me. I’m worried because… they don’t do amazing in public situations without me.” Loid explained, slipping more into Twilight. “I need to find them before they find trouble. They have a really bad habit of doing that.”
“You’ve already found trouble, Loid-san. It’s me.” She winked and giggled. “I’ll help you find your wife and kid. I could probably do something positive for once. For a price.”
“I don’t have any money, unfortunately. I will do my best t-”
“Can it, Loid. You’ll pay me back someday. We’ll call it an I.O.U.” She smiled, a devilish grin, and Loid did feel slightly unsettled.
A new man appeared, and hugged Nami before Loid could react.
“Nami!” The man with the extremely long nose said. Loid wondered if he could actually smell more than the average person.
“Usopp!” Nami cried happily and hugged him back. “Wow! You look great!”
Usopp blushed but continued with his entrance. “Two years on a Wild Island will do that to you.”
“They’re friends. They know one another. They haven’t seen each other in two years. Usopp finds Nami attractive, although he’s also slightly afraid of her. He is also slightly afraid of me. And of every person in this bar. But he’s more confident than he used to be. He has a satchel full of what appear to be seeds, and a slingshot. Goggles? This man is a ranged fighter. Nami appears to have some sort of staff in her back pockets. How does she fight? She doesn’t have any of the markings of a close quarter fighter. Maybe she’s only a Navigator…”
“Nami, who’s this?” Usopp asked, gesturing to Loid.
“My new friend, Loid Forger. He’s looking for his wife and kid.” Nami said calmly, and smiling.
“Oh? Do you have any idea where they went?”
“Usopp appears to be easier to sway with only words. Nami is a cunning business woman, she’s probably the mind of whatever group they’re both in."
“I don't, unfortunately. I believe they’re probably on this island somewhere. Are you two friends?” He asks, trying to learn as much as he can before he feels he needs to keep searching on his own.
“We’re more than friends! We’re crewmates!” They both said in synchronicity.
“They really are pirates then. As are probably more than half the people in here.” Loid continued to think, making more mental profiles. These two seemed the most helpful based on all non-verbal cues, so he needed to make a blind leap of faith.
“We’re on the Straw Hats!” Usopp said proudly before Nami wacked him so hard on the head he instantly got a welt. “Nami! What was that for?!”
“Keep your voice down! We’re still wanted, remember?” Nami said, reminding him.
“They’re criminals? So am I, by some definitions, and Usopp seems to be acting out of concern. Maybe they aren’t… bad pirates?” Loid thought to himself.

One of the other men, a man who was dressed in a poorly fitting red vest, and a straw hat that had seen better days began to shamble over.
“Who mentioned the Straw Hat pirates? My crew? My infamous band of pirates.”
That man is not their captain, they would’ve noticed him already. He’s an imposter. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. What a failure of a disguise. I am allowing myself to be personally offended on Nami and Usopp’s captain’s behalf.
“We don’t know what you’re talking about.” Loid said, his easy disarming smile never far from his lips. He exuded nonviolence and peace. Which would work in every other environment on earth. Not this one.
“I’m a pirate, pretty boy! And… I want your girl.” He pointed drunkenly at Nami.
"That didn’t go according to plan." Loid thought.
“I’m not for sale, ugly.” Nami stuck her tongue out at him.
The angry drunkard man lunged. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy, King o’ th-”
The imposter Luffy was interrupted by his vest collar being grabbed, and his wrist grabbed as well, spinning over the top of the bar to be slammed head first into the bar by none other than Loid Forger.
Nami’s eyes were wide, as were Usopp’s. As were the entire bars’.
“Please do not touch a woman without her consent. She said that she wasn’t interested. Now, please leave.” Loid said with the same easy disarming smile.
“WHY DID YOU DO THAT TWILIGHT? WHY ARE YOU GETTING YOURSELF INTO TROUBLE? ONE RANDOM ASSAULT SHOULD NOT HAVE FOILED THE MISSION!”

Loid Forger had just attacked one of the most notorious criminals in the world.
“Loid… thank you.” Nami said.
“We should leave.” Usopp said.
“It was no issue. Now, I do agree with Usopp. We should probably get out of here.” Loid said, and then tossed the man back towards the direction he had come from. The imposter Luffy was holding his face, clearly clutching what must’ve been a broken nose.
“WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR GET THEM!” The fake Luffy barked an order, but his voice cracked from the pain. That didn’t stop the multitude of pirates and thugs at the bar from rising from their seats and looking menacing.
“Why does this always happen to me?” Loid said, muttering to himself.
“Don’t worry about it, Loid. We were absolutely about to do the same thing.” Nami said, patting him on the back, and drawing her staff from her back pocket and connecting the pieces together.
“A bo staff fighter? Makes sense for her frame and how it fits with her body, but what are those strange ba-” Loid’s thoughts were interrupted by thunderclouds that had somehow formed in the bar.
“THUNDERBOLT TEMPO!” Nami yelled, smiling, and Loid couldn’t understand what he was seeing. Nami’s call had called bolts of lightning to strike at multiple of the targets, frying them until they passed out like cartoon characters from Bondman.
“I am clearly out of my depth here, but Nami and Usopp appear to want me on their side. Nami can literally control the weather somehow. What is Usopp reaching a for a seed for?”
“SPECIAL ATTACK: GREEN EATER!” Usopp called out.
“Why do they yell their attack names?”
Usopp fired a small green seed, no larger than a gumball, at the ground near the door. And what could only be described as a Venus Fly-trap on steroids burst through the ground, entangling and ensnaring the enemies that were blocking their escape trap.
“Clearly I have no idea what I’m talking about.” Loid muttered in his head, and then Agent Twilight’s reflexes took over.
The first pirate who made it to Loid swung with a sword. Loid ducked underneath, and delivered a punishing kick to the side of the man’s knee, buckling him. Loid used the off balance man to toss him into another man who was sneaking up on Nami. Loid grabbed a bottle, smashed it over the man’s head who thought he had the drop on him by sneaking around the bar, and then threw the bottle at the sole man who raised a gun in here.
“Wow, Loid you sure know how to fight!” Nami complimented him, and then all three of them ran.
“My life is usually also like this, but not nearly as... direct.” Loid admitted, and ran with them back out onto the street.
“Either way, we have to move!” Usopp said, much more panicked than Loid thought he would’ve been, but yet Usopp still acted courageously.
They all burst through the doors of the bar, and began to take off down the street. Nami, Usopp, and Loid Forger were certainly a sight to behold, if anyone had recognized them.
“That man was an imposter to your captain, why didn’t he recognize that you two were original crew members?” Loid asked them while running.
“Oh you picked up on that?” Usopp asked him, seemingly in awe of Loid’s perception abilities. “We haven’t been a crew in two years. It’s a really long story, and not one we have time for right now. We have to get to our ship, and then we’ll be safe.”
“Usopp is right. The original Straw Hats have been apart for two years. But we’re getting back together after some serious training. And we’re going to find it.”
“The One Piece?” Loid questioned while running.
“That’s right. We’ll be the first crew in history to find it. After 22 years.”
“I need more information about this, clearly it’s worth impersonating a wanted criminal and for these two to be wholeheartedly invested in their mission. I can understand that at least.” And then Loid turned his head and saw a sight that made his blood boil.
“Becky.” Loid pulled on Nami and Usopp. The little girl, the same age as Anya, dressed in very expensive clothes was currently being harassed by a group of armed, large, and very dangerous looking men. “That’s my daughters’ friend. I cannot leave her. Please, help me.” He urged Nami and Usopp.
“Please leave me alone! I don’t know where I am!” Becky cried, she was obviously distraught, having been run into a corner by the thugs.
“We can help you, little girl.” One of the first men said.
“Yeah, just give us all the money you have, and then we’ll be on our way. And if you don’t have any money, then we’ll just sell you.” They all laughed.
“Of course! That’s what the brave captain Usopp does!” Usopp proclaimed loudly, and then drew into his pouch again. “Special Attack! Green net!” This attack from Usopp’s fired and burst mid-air. It became a net of vines which did grab most of the men who were around a crying Becky.
Then it was Loid’s turn who was running behind the net. The final few men standing had no idea what was happening, and had even less of an idea when Loid’s fist connected with the first man’s face, followed by rolling over his back to kick the second man in the liver, dropping him instantly, and the last man Loid wrapped in chokehold until he was knocked out.
“Twilight, you cannot keep doing this in front of people. But it’s Becky. Anya would be devastated. It’s important for Operation Strix. Right, just for Strix, not for Anya…” Loid thought, as he released the man.
“LOID-SAN!” Becky was on top of Loid, clutching him and crying. “I knew you’d come and save me! My hero! Oh they were so scary, Loid! I don’t know what I would’ve done without you!” Becky was really crying, but she was still very much in love with Loid Forger. He was her childhood crush, as she was still a child.
“Becky, it’s alright. Everything will be okay. Have you seen Anya?” Loid asked her, and standing up from the ground after choking the final man out, holding her in his arms.
“N-n-no. Is she here? I haven’t seen her. I hope she’s okay!” Becky said, and burst into harder tears.
“Nami, Usopp. Is there a safe place to drop her off so I can look for Anya and my wife?” Loid asked his new friends.
“There is a place. I don’t know if the ship is ready yet anyhow.” Nami said, and looked towards one of the inner islands.
“I told Yuri an hour, and we’d meet back up. It’s been about 47 minutes.” Loid did some mental math.
“Okay, we’ll head there. I need a safe place for Becky.” Loid said, and started walking with them.
“WOW!” Becky said, looking at Nami. “You’re like, so pretty!”
“Oh thank you!’ Nami said, beaming with pride. “It’s a lot of work to look this good as a Pirate.”
“A real pirate! And you’re so pretty and cool!” Becky exclaimed. “Do you go shopping a lot?!”
“I LOVE shopping!” Nami said, and took Becky from Loid’s arms.
“Some things never change, and I’m grateful for that.” Loid smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t excited to see Yuri again, but he was optimistic that his wife and daughter had hopefully found people to help them. Loid wondered exactly how many Straw Hats there were, and if they were all as helpful as Nami and Usopp.

Chapter Text

Roronoa Zoro, First Mate of the Straw Hat crew, Master of the Three Sword Style, was snoring loudly. He was sleeping, a dreamless slumber. He was napping on a tree somewhere in Sabaody, having been the first to arrive, and titling himself Mr. One. One eye was scarred and closed, the other seemingly still worked fine. His green hair was a signature characteristic, and the source of Sanji’s teasing.
“MOSS HEAD!” Rang in Zoro’s ears, and he grunted in his sleep.
Zoro slumbered in a green robe, his three swords off to the side. The black blade, the gift from his best friend, and a third legendary blade. He knew where all of them were at all moments, and could feel the swords as an extension of themselves. Which is why he snapped awake and jumped from the girl who had just been trying to touch them.
“Oi! Who’re you?” Zoro barked, one eye trained on the woman before him.
She was about as tall as he was, maybe a little shorter. But she was ripped. Shredded musculature, about as defined as Zoro himself. Her hair was short and dark, a messy style that highlighted exactly how disheveled the girl's appearance was. She was in all black, a sleeveless, form fitting top and tight combat pants, and boots. But the features that stuck out to Zoro the most were two things. Her burn marks. All over her body, face, arms, hands, any piece of exposed flesh, there were long scorch marks as though she had been incinerated.
The second were her eyes. Eyes like his. That had seen thousands of battles and won every single one. Eyes that had seen true loss and true pain, and eyes that were studious and analytical, sizing Zoro up.
“Why are you trying to touch my swords?” He asked further, confused and agitated. He couldn’t sense an overwhelming Haki presence from her. He couldn’t sense anything about her at all. His Observation Haki was almost null against her.
“Because I need a weapon.” She answered as if she thought Zoro was stupid. He was, but she didn’t know that.
“There’s a sword on your back.” He grunted, to the massive blade that the girl had strapped to her back, not the same style as Mihawk’s, but more demonic in nature somehow.
“I can’t use this one without reason.”
“Same for my blades.”
“I still need a weapon.”
“You can fight me for them, if you’re so confident.” Zoro said, unfazed, and unbothered. He drew one of his blades. “You still never told me your name.”
“Maki Zenin.”
“Roronoa Zoro.”

The two stared at each other for a long moment, and then suddenly, they were on top of each other. Zoro’s sword clashed against Maki’s.
Both of them held their ground, despite the cracks in the earth around them, the trembling of the very planet as the Pirate Hunter met the Jujutsu Sorcerer. They were both shocked at the other’s sheer physical might. Maki had never encountered anyone not bolstered by Cursed Energy who could keep up with her, and Zoro had yet to meet a swordswoman of this level, especially one who could match his strength.
The impact blew the two back from one another. Zoro drew his second sword.
“What do you need all three of them for?” Maki asked while they both breathed a moment.
“I’m a Master of The Three Sword Style.” Zoro replied proudly.
“There’s no such thing. You’re full of shit.” Maki said snarkily.
Zoro was beginning to like this girl. He smiled, and then drew his third blade, placing it in between his teeth.
“Happy to show you.” Zoro laughed, and then he was much faster than before, on top of Maki almost before her Heavenly Body could keep up. Maki was no slouch though. She had been fighting as long as Zoro had.
Their blades crashed against one another again. And again. And again.
They began to move at speeds that normal humans simply could not keep up with. A blur of green and black, slamming into one another, the sound of swords meeting, a constant ringing and screeching sound. The sheer speed at which they were fighting was mind boggling for any onlookers, which there were thankfully none of.
They began to move through the island, fighting. They were already on one of the inner islands, so there wasn’t much to get in the way. Zoro and Maki were both pushing each other. Both of them began to feel it. The adrenaline. The thrill of combat. Of finally meeting an opponent that wasn’t so easily defeated. For Zoro, it had been years. For Maki, months. Both were feeling their best.
It had only been a few minutes at most before they were both smiling and jeering at each other.
“You fight like a girl.” Maki said, kicking Zoro in the ribs, but her foot may as well have been meeting pure rock.
“Coming from you, I’ll take that as the compliment it is.” Zoro said, and went to elbow Maki in the jaw, except that she ducked, and both swung their swords back to each other, meeting in another powerful clash. “Sorry Maki, I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“You were sleeping when I found you.”
“I would’ve woken up on time!”
“You sound defensive.” She teased him.
“I get a lot of flack for sleeping from my crew.” Zoro said, as they began to run to the next combat arena, a large grouping of trees had made a circle inside on one of the beds of the larger Mangrove trees.
“What are you, some kind of Pirate?” Maki laughed, and launched herself at Zoro, at breakneck speeds.
“That’s exactly what I am!” Zoro smiled and channeled his willpower. “Armament: Hardening. Three Sword Style: Bull Rush.”
Maki Zenin had not expected this type of presence from the Pirate Hunter. As she brought her blade up to meet Zoro’s, whatever this Armament was made his swords feel like she was connecting with three one hundred ton weights. Her grip on her blade was made to falter, as her sword buckled under the weight of the three sword style. Zoro was still faster, and brought his blade to Maki’s throat in his left hand. They were both breathing heavily.
“Why haven’t you killed me yet?” Maki asked, resigned to die in this foreign land.
“You’re too strong for me to kill and feel good about it. You’re a skilled fighter.” He told her after taking the sword out of his mouth.
“Thanks. Still though, you’re insane. How did you do that?” Maki asked, her head still tilted up.
“You’re that strong and don’t know about Armament Haki?” Zoro asked, confused.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not from here. I’m from Japan.”
“Never heard of it. But my sense of direction is nonexistent, so that doesn’t mean much.”
“How did you get so strong?” Maki asked Zoro, feeling a mutual respect beginning to form.
“I trained every day since I was 6. Raised as a swordsman inside a small village in the East Blue. Never knew my parents. My best friend died when we were both young. She was…” Zoro stopped himself. “What about you? How did you get so strong?”
“It’s complicated. In essence, I was born to a family that expected a lot out of my birth. I had a twin sister, her name was Mai. Our father, and our clan, they… hated us. We weren’t strong enough. No matter how much we tried, we couldn’t please them. I couldn’t please them.”
“That’s stupid. You’re strong.”
“I wasn’t always like this. I got these burns in a fight against a special grade curse, and then… I woke up in the jail cell of my family’s estate. Mai was there too. She… she killed herself for me. She took all the Cursed Energy with her, and left me with none. It’s what gave me this body. It’s called a Heavenly Pact.”
“I don’t know what Cursed Energy is, or what a special grade curse is either, but if it was strong enough to hurt you, with or without that body, it must’ve been very strong. Your abilities aren’t from your body. They’re from you.”
“I wish you could tell my family that.”
“What happened after your sister died?”
“I killed my father. And the rest of my clan.”
Zoro dropped the sword from her neck, and sheathed his blades.
“Maki Zenin, huh? You’re strong. And… I don’t say this often, because I hate when people say it to me, but, I’m sorry about your sister. And about your upbringing.” Zoro said, showing a rare moment of genuine humanity.
“Thanks, Zoro.” Maki said, sheathing her Cursed Object, and then put her hands in her pockets. “What now?”
“Remember how I said I have a terrible sense of direction? I have no idea where we are. Do you… want to hang out? I have somewhere to be soon, and we sort of…” They both looked behind them and saw the wanton path of destruction that they had wreaked. Blade marks, explosions, there was a fish flopping on the ground looking for the river that was only a few inches away. They both watched the fish stick its tongue out at them, and then jump back into the water.
“Where are we?” Maki asked, and stepped slightly closer to Zoro.
“Sabaody Park.”
“Where’s that?”
“Beats me. You’ll have to ask Nami.”
“I don’t think you’ve quite grasped the fact that I have no idea about anything in this world. I’m not from anywhere near here.”
“I’m not on my crew for my brains.”
“I can tell.” Maki said, rolling her eyes.
“We should be near a safehouse, if I can remember right?”
“Is it that little shack over there? That little bar?” Maki pointed at the location the Straw Hat crew had agreed to meet up at.
“I’ll be damned. Come on. Someone’s there that can teach you a lot more than I can. At least in the beginning. I can train you to fight with your sword better.”
“Hey, I was keeping up with you.”
“I wasn’t trying that hard.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“You’ll see. You weren’t viewing your sword as an extension of your body. You were treating it as a weapon, not as a part of yourself. You had all the tools to win before I drew my other swords and used Haki.” Zoro said back, still smiling and the monstrous duo began to walk towards the home of Silvers Rayleigh.
“What’s the difference?”
“The fact that you’re asking that question is proof enough. Swords aren’t like other weapons. Especially one so large as yours.”
“Got a problem with big swords?” Maki asked, and Zoro couldn’t quite place the tone of voice she was using.
“Not as much as you do.” Zoro shrugged.
“I wish I recorded that line.” Maki rolled her eyes and laughed. Zoro felt comfortable with Maki. She was someone more like him than he had run into in a very long time. “Anyway, please continue.”
“Your sword should be an extension of your arm. I know it’s cheesy, but cheese is a good food right?”
“Right?”
“So if it’s cheesy, it’s good. You were moving like you didn’t care about what happened to the sword, only the arm it’s attached to.”
“I need the arm to swing the sword.”
“If you don’t care about the sword, then what are you swinging?”
Maki didn’t have a witty comeback for that one. She was caught slightly off guard by Zoro’s philosophy about weapons, and specifically the concept of what a sword is to the end user.
“A weapon?” She replied after a while.
“A sword in a sheath is wall art. A sword unsheathed is dangerous, but it can’t do anything alone. You’re the weapon, Maki.” Zoro replied.
“Is that related to what you did to make your swords… black?”
“That’s called Haki. It’s a manifestation of willpower to have some impact on the world. I can use Armament Haki. So can my Captain, although he has the other two kinds as well.”
“There’s more than one kind?”
“Yeah. Observation, Armament, and Supreme King. The first two are teachable. The Supreme King Haki, someone has to be born with. Luffy has it.”
“Who’s Luffy?”
“My Captain.”
“The great Zoro has a pirate Captain?” Maki asked, a little surprised that someone as strong as him would work for someone else.
“Luffy will be King of the Pirates someday. And he agreed to let me train to be the best swordsman in the world.”
“You aren’t already?” Maki was growing more shocked by the second. Zoro was so strong, how many fighters are there in this world?
“No. There’s one man above me still. Dracule Mihawk. A Warlord of the Sea. I just finished training with him for two years, and now I’m back here to rejoin my crew.”
“So you’re going to leave me so soon?”
“Nah, probably not. Luffy will see your value. You’ll be able to join us, hopefully. Just tell Luffy that you want to go on an adventure and I’ll vouch for you.”
“An adventure?”
“You’ll understand when you meet Luffy.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Maki said, shrugging.
“Oh you have got to be fuc-” Zoro said angrily, looking at the other group of people who had just arrived at the home of Silvers Rayleigh.
“MOSSHEAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH A GIRL!” The man in the dark suit said.
“Who’s that? Maki asked Zoro in a whisper.
“The… cook… of… my… crew…” Zoro said through gritted teeth, clearly displeased. “His name is Sanji, don’t let his bullshit trick you.”
“What kind of bullshi-”
Sanji was kneeling before Maki.
“Mademoiselle, your beauty is unlike any other. You have a strength about you that the moon cannot eclipse.” Sanji had taken Maki’s hand.
“Is he always like this?” Maki asked Zoro.
“Yeah, he is. You’re allowed to hit him if you want.” Zoro replied, rolling his one open eye.

“MAKI-SAN!” Itadori said excitedly, and nearly tackled Maki in a great hug, and Maki hugged back and smiled as though she was seeing her family.
“Itadori-kun! You’re here too!?” Maki said excitedly, retracting her hand from Sanji to hug Yuji back. “Wow, that’s great! I was worried I was alone.”
“Look who’s here!” Itadori said, and Maki saw the same ghost as Yuji.
“Nanami-sensei?” Maki was shocked, and she and Yuji broke their hug. “You’re alive?”
“Much to my shock as well.” Nanami replied warmly, and smiled. “I’m glad you’re still alive too, Maki-chan. You suffered the same burns I did.”
“Shoko put me back together, and then I was given the same Heavenly Pact as my Uncle, Toji.”
“Holy…” Nanami said. “It explains why I can’t sense Cursed Energy in you.”
“Yeah, it was brutal. But that’s not the point right now.”

Zoro and Sanji were bickering like an old married couple, as several Jujutsu Sorcerers looked on, with a mother and daughter as well.
“Anya thinks that Maki is cool!” Anya said, running up to Maki and jumping in front of her.
“Who is this?” Maki asked Itadori.
“She’s… uh…” Itadori wasn’t entirely certain how to explain his relationship to Anya, other than that they were both now wanted individuals. “She’s like a little sister.”
“Hello Maki-Chan. Very nice to meet you.” Yor Forger bowed her head politely and met Maki’s gaze. Both women understand something about the other. If they fought, they would kill one another. “This is my daughter, Anya-chan. And I’m Yor Forger.”
“Very pleased to make your acquaintance, Yor-san.” Maki bowed lower. “You have a cute daughter.”
“How did you get all those cool marks?!” Anya asked, touching Maki’s burn scars.
“Anya!” Yor said, nearly a gasp. “You can’t just ask people that!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay!” Maki said, and then crouched in front of Anya, and held out her arm. “It’s okay to touch. They don’t hurt anymore. I got them when I was fighting.”
“Wow! Fighting like Mama!”
“Are you a good fighter, Yor-san?” Maki asked Yor, looking up while Anya was tracing the large scars on Maki’s body.
“Oh! No! Just… really good at self defense!” Yor said, embarrassed and red in the face, still trying to keep her secret up.
“Don’t listen to her Maki, I punched her, and I swear it was like punching Gojo’s Limitless. Completely immovable.” Itadori said, in complete awe of Yor as well. It was at this moment when Maki noticed that Yuji and Anya both were naturally pink haired. Yor was sweating bullets and still red and embarrassed.
“You two could absolutely be siblings. Brother and sister.” Maki patted them both on the head.
Anya and Itadori both laughed. It was a heartwarming sight for everyone there. Even Zoro and Sanji stopped fighting and both made an unspoken agreement to figure out their differences later.
Maki, Itadori, Todo, Nanami.
Yor and Anya Forger.
Zoro and Sanji.
All of them were outside the home of Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King.

Chapter Text

Trafalgar Law, at this moment in time, is a Warlord of the Sea, located on an island that was quite far from Sabaody. He was in an underground facility carrying a small child, one that he had found on the sensors outside. He had no real reason to save the boy, other than his own past.
He was here to research Ceasar, and the artificial Devil Fruits that were being manufactured here on this island. This was a secret of course, one that he had given up his literal heart to protect.
He walked with the boy under his arm like a football, since the boy had passed out from the cold. Law knew he was still alive; he was one of the best doctors in the world after all. He had learned at a young age how to be a medical doctor, and weirdly, it was a skill he used almost as much as his combat ability.

Damian Desmon woke up on a couch, with a pillow under his head and a blanket covering him, with some warm tea. He looked like he was in some sort of break room or common area. Everything seemed darker than normal, from the lack of windows.
“Where… am I?” He muttered.
The older man, in his mid-twenties sitting across from him, a sword taller than the man propped adjacently on the couch, wearing a long dark coat, and a rather large black and white hat with a cap. He looked stern, severe, and otherwise displeased.
“Somewhere you aren’t supposed to be. Who are you?”
“Damian Desmond, son of…” He began and then realized that wherever he was, his father’s name probably held no power. “Who are you?”
“Law.” Law replied simply.
“What kind of name is Law?” Damion asked, very confused.
“It’s my name.” Law replied, rolling his eyes.
“Did you save me?”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” Law answered honestly and shrugged.
“Did I almost die?”
“You did. Hypothermia had already set in. If I didn’t find you when I did, there was a good chance you were going to lose both your legs.” Law explained casually.
Damian's face went pale. Law sighed.
“Wiggle your toes.” Law said, partially annoyed.
Damian did as instructed, and blissfully, all ten piggies were moving under the blanket. Damian breathed a sigh of relief.
“Are you a doctor?” Damian asked Law, intrigued as to how he knew so much.
“Yeah, I am. One of the best.” Law said, his face remaining unchanged, but there was a glint in his eyes that betrayed that he was proud of his medical skills.
“That’s cool! And what’s the sword for?” Damian asked, gesturing to Law’s extremely long blade, it honestly looked unwieldable.
“I’m a pirate.”
“Come on. I know I’m a kid, but you can’t lie to me that easily.” Damian said to him, folding his little arms across his body.
Law’s face twitched in annoyance. Was he this annoying to Cora-san?
“What you believe is up to you. I’m telling you the truth.” Law said, folding his own arms as well.
“Where’s your ship?” Damian asked smugly.
Law didn’t quite know how to answer that one. He knew where it was, but he couldn’t risk saying the name of the place out loud. Not here. Not on Punk Hazard. His face twitched.
“It’s not here.”
“Where is it then?”
“Somewhere else.”
“Sure it is.”
“I can put you back out into the tundra, if you’d prefer to find my ship yourself.” Law threatened the boy, which seemed to shut him up. Both boy and man looked away from one another, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.
Law was remembering his own childhood. How he was a prick, dejected, and hated the world for what it did to him. A sad, troubled boy who was lost, with no one to love him except one of the most evil individuals on the planet. And Cora-san, who was the reason that he was here at all. And the reason Law needed to fight Doflamingo, starting a war with Kaido aside.
Damion was thinking of Eden Academy, and how his life is now suddenly drastically different than it was even a few hours before. He was playing with his friends, laughing, and having a wonderful time. He missed his father and brother, but a sad look passed in his eyes when he realized that they probably weren’t missing him. Damion began to tear up when he realized that the only people who missed him were probably his two friends, and maybe Master Henderson. He thought of Anya, and wondered if she would miss him. Probably not, but maybe. The thought made him feel a little better.
Damion didn’t realize that Law was looking at him again, watching the boy pass through all the stages of loss and sadness, and Law began to understand the boy a bit better.
“Where are you from?” Law asked, tiredly, relaxing his posture.
“From a country called Ostensia. It’s in the West.” Damian began quietly. “I’m a student at Eden Academy, the place for the ultra elite. My brother goes there too. My father, he…” Damian shut down talking again. Law raised an eyebrow.
“I understand.” Law said, softly. “I have an idea or two. But I don’t know where that country is. I’ve been around for a long while. I’ve traveled throughout the Grand Line. And a few of the other seas. But what ocean is that located in?”
“What do you mean?”
“The four oceans around the world?” Law asked expectantly.
Damian didn’t understand what Law was asking. There were plenty of large bodies of water where he was from, but having only four in the whole world? He was pretty decent at geography, and he knew for certain that there were more than four oceans.
“There’s more than four oceans.” Damian said, like he was answering a trick question in one of his classes.
“No. There’s only four.” Law replied with a sigh.
“No! I’m certain that there’s more than four!”
Law produced a map from a nearby cabinet and laid it out on the table for Damian to look at.
“I know you’re young. This should help.” Law said, partially annoyed he had to break out a map to prove a point to a child.
Damian’s eyes went wide with fear and wonder. He had never seen a map like this before. The world was completely different. Totally alien. Very little land, aside from one strip in the middle of the map, and a large line that ran perpendicular to the landmass. Everywhere else was… water. Vast, sprawling oceans with landmasses sprinkled throughout. It looked more like a discolored map of constellations than of a globe.
“Oh my…” Damion whispered, holding the map in shaking hands.
“Have you never seen that before?” Law asked, confused at Damian’s heightened reaction.
“N-n-no. I have… no idea… what I’m looking at.” Damion replied, even more afraid and trembling.
“Calm down. This is the world I’ve lived in my entire life. I don’t know why, but I’m not going to let you get killed or taken away. Obviously you don’t belong here. Which means we need to get you home.” Law said, earnest and leaning forward.
“Is… is… is being killed… likely, here?” Damion asked, slowly, taking deep breaths and trying very hard not to cry. He is only six years old at this moment in time, and doesn’t have the same emotional capacity as a fully grown man like Law.
“Not if you listen to me.” Law said quietly and intensely. Law was never one to sugarcoat anything, and while he might not be as kind-hearted as Luffy, he still could find soft spots in his soul for wayward children.
The silence that followed was tense and uncomfortable. The boy and the man were seemingly content with this arrangement, both of them knowing that the other being there made it slightly more bearable if they were alone. Damian had always felt alone, even with the support of his friends, because he never felt like the people he wanted to love him did. Law simply had no one to love him at all, except for Luffy, but that really didn’t count, and his crew, but they were also on his payroll.
After a pause that seemed to stretch out for the better part of a season, Law asked, very quietly, “Do you like Ninjas?”
And the room was no longer quiet after that.

Until the entrance of another boy, splitting the difference in age between Law and Damion. This younger man, roughly the age of sixteen, with a spiky mass of black hair, dressed in the same outfit that all Jujutsu Sorcerers wear. He looked tired, lost, and more depressed than anything else. He felt fine. That was just his face these days. After the loss of his beloved sister at the hands of Kenjaku, Megumi Fugishiro was merely trying his hardest to stay alive.
“What’s this about Ninjas?” Megumi asked Law and Damion, who were both utterly confused.
“Who are you?” Law asked.
“I’m Fugishiro.” He replied casually. “And you are?”
“Law.” Law replied simply.
“Where are we?”
“An island called Punk Hazar- why are so many random people dropping by this island? It’s not even supposed to be findable…” Law said, putting his hands together in a prayer motion and leaning forward.
“Did you also wake up randomly in a place that’s unfamiliar?” Damian asked Megumi.
“Yeah, I did. Did you?” Megumi replied, much less concerned by his current surroundings than Damian was initially.
“Yeah, I was at school, eating, and then woke up here.” Damian replied to Megumi, looking at the new boy with a hopeful expression. Megumi wasn’t as old as Law, so hopefully Megumi could understand him a little bit better.
“Oh that’s weird, I was at my school too. There’s supposed to be a barrier around it to prevent things like this from happening, so when I get back, I'll have to look into it.” Megumi shrugged. “What are you on about, Law?” Megumi asked.
“Don’t… don’t worry about it. I’m on a mission. And… honestly, with you two here, it might be easier. Megumi, what can you do? Damian, I imagine you’re quite literally a six year old boy.”
Damian pouted but couldn’t refuse his observation. He was only six, and had no notable combat skills to speak of. He was brilliant though, but compared to Law and Megumi, he probably didn’t hold much of an intellectual candle.
“That’s a complicated question. I’m assuming this island isn’t anywhere close to Japan?”
“What’s Japan?” Law asked, confused.
“This is… going to be such a drag.” Megumi replied, his shoulders slumping. “How can I trust you?”
“Same to you.”
“We’re on the same page then. A healthy mutual distrust then.”
“I’m also not the one here experimenting on children, but I haven’t figured out how to stop them yet.”
“Oh well that’s news to me.” Megumi said, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought.
“They’re… they’re doing what?” Damian asked, now suddenly very concerned.
“I said you’d be useful.” Law told him, reclining back in his seat.
“But I don’t want to be experimented on! What if I change?! What if I become ugly, and then Anya wouldn’t like me anymore?!” Damian clamped his mouth shut and turned him red in the face, steam all but billowing from his ears.
“Who’s Anya?” Megumi asked, the world’s faintest smile playing on his face. Law had the same one.
“A girl… from my class… who punched me in the face…” He muttered, folding his little arms across his chest, and his face was turning redder and redder in embarrassment.
“Little Damian has a crush?” Law teased, and laughed.
“It’s not like that!” Damian said, getting redder and redder. “She’s annoying! She’s loud! She’s punched me in the face! And she’s… she’s… she’s…” Damian was stuttering so bad and just becoming more and more embarrassed at the teasing of these two. Deep down in his heart though, somewhere, it felt nice to have two men who weren’t his fathers age picking on him like an older brother. He felt… like they wanted to talk to him. They wanted to tease him. It didn’t help his embarrassment, but it felt right.
Megumi moved and sat down next to Damian. “Have you told her how you feel?”
“Careful, Megumi, they’re only six.” Law said, rolling his eyes, and relaxing his shoulders.
“Well, childhood friends can often turn into lovers. It wouldn’t hurt to help him build his courage now, so when he’s age appropriate, he doesn’t lose her.”
“I COULD LOSE HER?!” Damian yelled, not caring about the danger or the new scenery, he had trust in these men.
“I’m not the best person to talk to about girls.” Megumi said, placating the boy. He really wasn’t interested in most women that were around him. Nobara was bossy, Maki was his cousin, and Mai was dead. The other Jujutsu girls really never spoke to him.
“Me neither.” Law shrugged. He’s lived the hard life of a pirate. Not a lot of time for romance. “But I’ve heard stories. There’s… one group of people I can think of to ask. But only because they actually have women on their crew.”
“And are they around now?” Damian asked, excitedly.
“No. I haven’t seen them in two years.” Law replied.
“How does that help me?” Damian folded his arms again, still embarrassed, but maintaining a sense of indignancy to maintain some semblance of composure.
“Because they’re getting back together after two years.” Law said. “And I think they’ll probably find this place. Luffy-ya and his crew have to pass through Fishman island, and then there’s a decent chance they’ll end up here.”
“Law, where are we actually? You said Punk Hazard, but I don’t know where that is. You and Damian are very different from me, and obviously have different issues. And what the hell is a Fishman?”
“You still never said what you could do.” Law replied, deliberately not answering some of his questions. It’s healthy to keep cards in one’s hand, even when dealing with friends.
“I’m a Jujutsu Sorcerer.” Megumi replied, gesturing to the uniform.
“I have no idea what that is.” Law replied, unimpressed. Damian echoed the sentiment.
“If you have no idea, I’ll have to explain it more in-depth so you understand what I can do, but that can come later. However, I’ll give you a brief demonstration.” Megumi put his hands together in a symbol that one might use to make a dog in a shadow puppet show, and muttered something under his breath.
An eight foot tall bipedal wolf with claws that are sharper than most swords on this planet melded out from the shadows with a howl, and a growl. It was marked with a crest on its forehead.
“All Jujutsu Sorcerers can perform what are called Cursed Techniques. My bloodline gave me the Ten Shadows Technique, one of the rarest ones. I can summon Shadows to fight for me, and store things within the shadows.” Megumi explained briefly, leaving out several important details that will come up later.
“Holy shit.” Law said, grabbing his sword instinctively.
Damian nearly pissed himself.
“And you, Law?”
“Room.” Law said, opening his hand, palm downwards, and a shimmering blue sphere appeared around them all. “I ate the Op-Op Fruit. This is my Surgeon’s Room. I control everything here. Shambles.” He said, and twisting two fingers, made the couches that are nearby, trisecting them and having them float around.
“WOW!” Damian said, in awe of Law’s power.
Megumi was equally impressed, but needed some more questions answered. “I’m imagining this also works on people, considering you said this was a surgical room?”
“It does.”
“Do you kill with it?”
“Not often.”
“How often is not often?”
“You just summoned a werewolf into our secret lair by conjuring it from the shadows, and I didn’t ask you how many people you’ve killed.”
“Fair point, but the answer is zero.”
“WHAT ELSE CAN BOTH OF YOU DO?” Damian interjected, super excited that his new friends were apparently demigods.
“Anything else I can do is too dangerous to show you.” Megumi replied, ruffling the boy's hair.
“Me too. You’ll probably end up seeing it anyway if you stick around long enough.” Law shrugged again, and dropped the effect of Room.
“Aww, you guys are lame.”
“Says the kid who got punched by a girl.” Law teased. Damian’s face went red again.
“Thanks for letting me in so easy, Law.”
“Honestly, I could tell you aren’t a threat to me or the kid. You don’t have the evil vibe about you that follows everyone else in this place around.” Law said, and opted to get some coffee for him and Megumi, and some juice for Damian. They all sat around again, in a more comfortable silence for a moment, enjoying some needed company for the three broodiest, dark haired men from their respective worlds.
“So about those Ninjas?” Megumi brought up the topic again, as playfully non-subtly subtle as he could.
And the room was once again in deep conversation.

Chapter Text

“ENTERING THE ARENA, THE UNDEFEATED WOMAN, REBECCCAAAAAAAAAAAA!!” The announcer loudly declared over the jeering crowd at Dressrosa’s Colosseum.
Rebecca was used to the boos. To the endless insults. To the hazing, the outright verbal abuse of the crowd of people that she was once in line to help rule over. A princess, ripped of her birthright by one deranged man and his ambitions that are unknown to everyone except himself.
She approached in what was a mockery of armor. It was all she was given, and it was designed to humiliate her in the arena, and make her an easy target. A chainmail bikini, a half-helmet with a large plume. Her greaves were normal, coming up to her knees, but they were high-heeled. Another mockery of armor. This armor would do little to protect anyone in her position. She was also given one of the oldest swords, with the dullest edge, and a shield that had seen better days.
Her long pink hair flew in the wind as she was lifted to the main fighting platform, which contained several dozen other fighters. Some of whom she recognized as her fellow prisoners, and many of whom she did not know at all. That wasn’t entirely unusual for her, but today felt different for some reason. There was some unknown presence around her that was making her Danger Sense scream like crazy, but she did not have a choice. She needed to fight, or she would be killed.
“WE HAVE SEVERAL NEWCOMERS TO THE ARENA TODAY! LET’S SEE IF OUR REGULARS CAN DEFEAT THEM, OR WILL SOMEONE NEW TAKE THE CROWN!!!” The announcer roared over the crowd, the loudspeakers blaring the anthem of Dressrosa loudly after that. Everyone could feel how electric the air was, and there was one man in the arena who was currently getting himself fired up.
Rebecca assumed her starting position, off to one side near the edge of the arena. Her body, despite her armor, was completely unscathed. The rest of the regulars were scarred, many missing limbs, one man missing an eye. Battles fought long ago that left their mark, but they were still standing. Rebecca had been fighting for years and there was not a mark on her. She had yet to be hit.
“LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!”

Rebecca’s fighting style was graceful and fluid, and entirely and utterly defensive. She had a signature style, her Back-To-The-Water Dance. She never swung her sword with the intent to hurt anyone, only to defend, disorient, and trip. The arena of Dressrosa had two ways of defeating your opponent: Rendering them unable to fight, through death or other means, or by knocking them into the water next to the fighting ground.
The fighting ground was a large, circular stone platform, surrounded on all sides by water. It was quite large, but there was no cover. It was a stone circle with losing over the edge, so many fighters didn’t deliberately fight near the edge. Unless they were trying to hurt Rebecca.
The first assault came from a fighter with two maces, swinging brutally. Rebecca was much, much faster, and her weapon was much lighter. The man swung the mace, and Rebecca ducked under, hooking her blade behind one of the balls of the maces and helping him forward with almost a throwing motion. The man was not smart enough to let go of his weapon, and thus Rebecca plunged him into the deep.
The next were two men with spears, as Rebecca had finished with the first man, they lunged, stabbing her feet, attempting to get her to trip over herself. Rebecca was too fast again, jumping on their spears, and using them as tightropes, to sprint up them while the man were holding her aloft. She springboarded off one, and lept over to the backsides of the men. One man sung his spear around to defend against her, but went to fast, and slammed his shaft into the back of his friend, knocking him forward and into the water.
The man who knocked out his friend was stunned, giving Rebecca the opportunity to solidly shove him while he was off balance into the water. She took a deep breath and focused, knowing she was still a likely target for the other contenders. Except, she wasn’t ready for someone else to be a high-value target.
For when she turned around she saw eight or nine fighters, all knocked out in a half-circle formation around a man who she did not recognize. He was shorter than her, not by much, and had the look of a criminal about him. Dyed blonde hair, eyes that could count the change in a register before the cashier could even open it, and a stance that indicated nothing but boredom. He was bored. He turned and looked at Rebecca and pointed behind her.
Rebecca ducked the scimitar swing that would’ve decapitated her. She launched a donkey kick into the groin of her assailant making him grown, and then using her shield to shove him headfirst into the water.
“Why did he help? Why did he go out of his way to do that? I know I need to beat him, but that’s not the behavior of a winner?” Rebecca’s thoughts ran crazy with that. No one helps each other in a battle royale. Unless the helper is so confident that he can win, he’ll do anything he wants.
And that’s just who Hakari Kinji was.

Hakari noticed that people were teaming up against him finally. They all saw him lay out several contenders with one blow each, and wondered what made this boy so strong. He was no older than 18, but something about him was… off-putting. Something was more dangerous about Hakari compared to other competitors. They knew Rebecca was undefeated, but they knew she wouldn’t come after them. They needed to focus on the man who was a clear and obvious threat first.
Seven people ran at Hakari at once. Hakari was fast, he knew it, but Seven was a high number considering they at least knew how to swing their weapons around. Rebecca moved to intervene but Hakari did something that she had never seen before. He made some strange symbol with his hands and heard him mutter some words that did not make any sense.
“Domain Expansion: Idle Death Gamble.”

The Rules of Idle Death Gamble were delivered to all contestants within the battlefield of the arena, but none of the crowd. For Hakari’s domain had expanded large enough to cover the stone circle.
The rules of Idle Death Gamble are as follows:
The game begins in normal mode, where those inside appear on a neutral stage. As the battle begins, the user can manifest three different types of visual effect indicators in battle: shutter doors, reserve balls, and consecutive effects. Conjuring doors and balls are offensive attacks, but consecutive effects are defensive indicators that redo a sequence to revert damage. Doors and reserve balls come in a green, red, or gold rarity to symbolize a higher chance at a jackpot. Rainbow-colored indicators or re-doing four consecutive effects guarantees a jackpot. The user can choose which visual indicator to manifest, but their success is up to luck. Generating one or more visual indicators progresses the stage to a riichi scenario and reveals two of three of the numbers needed for a jackpot.
There are four riichi scenarios with different chances of hitting a jackpot, with the final train riichi having over an eighty percent chance. Each of the scenarios changes the stage and uses the characters of Private Pure Love Train in a different way. For example, the transit card riichi scenario takes the user and their opponent to a different part of the train station where Yuki must pass through the gate and get to work on time to hit the jackpot. This is a low-chance scenario and is likely to fail without rare visual indicators. The user's opponent cannot obstruct the visualization of the riichi scenarios and must watch it unfold or defeat the caster before it ends.
Failure to hit a jackpot within a scenario will revert the stage back to the start. This will repeat until the user wins or runs out of chances to do so, with the number of possible spins decreasing with every missed jackpot. On the first activation of consecutive expansions, the probability of hitting the jackpot is over twenty percent.
If a jackpot is hit, the domain disappears, and Admiring You plays out loud around the user, who receives a bonus of unlimited cursed energy for the duration of the song. The user has no restrictions on cursed energy and can receive bonus amounts randomly throughout the round. The unlimited cursed energy causes the body to reflexively heal itself even if the user never learned to perform reverse cursed technique. This prevents the user's body from retaining damage and makes them effectively unkillable for four minutes and eleven seconds.
By the end of the song, the user's cursed energy recedes back to normal and their cursed technique has already been replenished. This allows them to open their domain repeatedly as long as a jackpot is achieved. The conditions of the game carry over from consecutive uses as well. If the user lined up three odd numbers, the stage will open in advanced probability rather than the neutral state. If the user lined up even numbers, they will start on a stage with faster spins. There is also a chance for the stage to begin in hidden probability, a pachinko mode similar to faster spins but actually carries an increased probability to hit the jackpot.
The Private Pure Love Train game began playing, but no one was sure exactly what was happening. For the rules of Idle Death Gamble had been inserted into the heads of the other fighters, Rebecca included, but none of them knew what a Pachinko game was. Or what a train was beyond the legendary Sea Train around Water Seven. Or what a Subway was. Where Tokyo is. These were all questions that they did not have time to figure out, because there were several reasons why the other fighters didn’t have time, and all of them were Hakari.
The Seven Men began to hack and slash at the arena, which was clearly visible to the audience. And the audience was in uproar at the sudden display of borderline magic.
“WHAT IS THIS? WHAT’S A DOMAIN EXPANSION! THE NEWCOMER, HAKARI KINJI, HAS UNLEASHED SOME TECHNIQUE AND MADE AN ENTIRELY NEW ARENA! BUT WAIT! THE OTHER FIGHTERS! THEY AREN’T WATCHING THE TRAIN!!!!!”
Hakari had already spun two number 2’s in his game, and the third one was spinning. He began to fight and Rebecca began to watch Hakari. He did not have a weapon, but that did not matter. For he was clearly the most experienced fighter in the field, aside from maybe herself.
He ducked, dodged, bobbed and weaved, and when he saw an opening, a fist flew, and connected. It didn’t matter if it hit armor, it looked like. Whatever was imbuing his fists was probably whatever was making this strange game play.
Private Pure Love Train had turned the arena into a Tokyo Subway station, with the visual and sound effects of the game. No one was entirely sure what to do until they saw Hakari beating the shit out of the ones attacking him, and learned that this was his doing. And it was frightening.
Rebecca also moved towards Hakari, although she wasn’t sure why. To repay him? Was she afraid too and needed to get rid of him? She did not know but her legs carried her onwards. And then Hakari stopped caring about what was happening to his body. He threw himself wholeheartedly at his attackers and suffered wounds that would’ve crippled lesser men, but he didn’t seem to feel it or care.
Rebecca got caught in the crossfire as well. She could see the moves happening, but even for her, without adjusting for Hakari’s sheer speed and strength, suffered a glancing blow off her arm from a stray kick that knocked her back slightly. But it felt like agony. Even the lightest graze had hurt like someone had taken 30-grit sandpaper to her skin.
Hakari’s number hadn’t stopped spinning yet.
But Hakari wasn’t the only target, even still.
Rebecca, while injured from Hakari’s Cursed Energy output, recovered, a large man, nearly fifteen feet tall, had raised a massive axe behind her. She didn’t know how to get out of this one. She couldn’t move, the axe was too close behind her. Except Hakari could move. He shoved Rebecca out of the way, knocking her to the ground to the crowd’s shocked faces, and then the axe fell.
Hakari’s left arm hit the ground, severed, and bleeding.
Pure Love Train, however, alerted the entire arena to Hakari’s numbers inside the Domain.
Three 2’s. Hakari had hit the jackpot. A robotic voice of a woman came through the Domain, and informed the audience.
“For four minutes and eleven seconds, during the playing of Pure Love Train’s theme song, admiring you, Hakari Kinji is effectively immortal.”
Rebecca couldn’t believe her eyes. Hakari’s wounds healed nearly instantly. His arm grew back in front of her, and he punched the giant of a man so hard he flew off the arena, and into the water. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Hakari was nearly glowing, and no matter what anyone was doing to him, he simply shrugged it off. Was this the effect of the Jackpot?
Rebecca stood slowly as Hakari dispatched competitor after competitor. Men and women fell before him in droves during the theme song. The crowd was going wild. Screaming, frothing at the mouth. Rebecca stood idly by for a minute taking a breather, before someone else came along to test her.
The next three minutes were a blur to her, bodies in the water, and around the arena everywhere.
“You. Girl.” Hakari said after kicking the last contender he was fighting off the arena. “You and me now. I saved you before, but don’t let that stop you from trying to kill me. I want to see someone with some passion.”
“You’ve got it. You only have Eleven Seconds left of your jackpot.”
“Good thing you were counting, however… you must have forgotten the other part of this. Jackpot gives me infinite cursed energy. So, Rebecca, right? I hope you’re a better fighter than the rest of them.” Hakari said, with a genuine smile on his face as he made the same hand sign as before. Rebecca was not fast enough to stop him.
“Idle Death Gamble.”
The game reset for Hakari, with him already in his Unkillable State, Advanced Probability mode took over. He was more likely to hit the Jackpot, and his luck was already undeniable.
“You have a 1/239 chance to hit again.” Rebecca said, trying to understand the game’s rules a second time.
“Not in Advanced Probability mode. The chance for me to Jackpot is raised!” Hakari said with a grin that Rebecca met with a stern face of determination.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll still win!” She said resolutely, her mind resolved, and already had a plan that didn’t involve killing or even wounding Hakari.
“I respect that! Let me feel your determination! Let that fever inside you burn!” Hakari eagerly said, and then the real duel for the victor began.
Rebecca was always an exceptionally fast fighter. Hakari was quick, but Rebecca had the advantage of a sword, whereas Hakari only had his fists. Every time Hakari tried to close the gap, Rebecca deflected his arms away. Every time he tried to kick, Rebecca would find a way to evade. She could nearly see his blows coming before he had even swung at her. However, this was not to say that Hakari wasn’t wearing her down.
Rebecca could only dodge for so long and she knew that. So did Hakari. With unlimited Cursed Energy coursing through him, four minutes and eleven seconds may as well have been an eternity. She was slowing down. Hakari was speeding up. Rebecca was drawing closer to the edge of the arena. Time was running short for both of them. Rebecca knew that as long as Hakari could hit the jackpot, he could fight indefinitely. Could she bank on him missing? He had already landed his Jackpot twice, and he was more than ready to keep fighting.
Rebecca needed a plan and she needed one fast. But there was something she noticed about Hakari. The way he moved. The way he recklessly gave up his arm. He didn’t know it was going to grow back, not unless he hit the jackpot it seemed. He banked everything on his luck, and it always worked for him. But that made him easy to read. It made him overconfident. It made him beatable. Hakari Kinji was one of the most stellar Jujutsu Sorcerers that Tokyo could offer, but Rebecca didn’t need to kill Hakari. She knew she couldn’t even if she really wanted to. She just needed him to make one mistake. One mistake that she could force him to make.

She sidestepped.
He followed.
She took a step back.
He was following her lead.
She took another step to the side.
He kept swinging, every blow designed to throw her off rhythm.
She was getting tired.
He was just getting started.
She took one more step back, hell at the water’s edge.
He followed her in the dance they were performing together.
The crowd was utterly silent for them. They could only hear each other’s movements. The other’s breath.
Hakari Kinji left himself wide open for an all out assault on Rebecca.
Rebecca welcomed it eagerly, feigning a misstep. A slight off balance that she had planned, that Hakari didn’t have time to see through. His jackpot was running out. He could either restart the Domain, or end her now. He wanted to go out in style.

Hakari Kinji was the luckiest man in the world. Both worlds he knows. But right now, this wasn’t about luck. This was about Rebecca maintaining her title as the Undefeated Woman. She took Hakari’s punch on her helmet, grabbing his arm with both of hers after dropping her weapons, and then vaulted him over her, using his superior momentum and strength to his disadvantage. Hakari hit the water like a cannonball fired directly into the blue depths.

Rebecca’s helmet had been thrown off and she had a killer headache from Hakari’s punch. But she had done it. She had won.

Chapter Text

Utahime Iori was a tired woman. She is, or now was, a teacher at Kyoto Regional Jujutsu High School, and was the direct student supervisor for a lengthy period of time. A semi-first grade sorcerer, with a kind heart and endless patience for everyone not named Satoru Gojo.

That being said, Utahime was unused to suddenly waking up in the middle of a foreign land with no idea where she was, how she got there, or anything that happened in the interim between her leaving her workplace to go out drinking with Shoko.

“I need to stop drinking so much before I end up dead in a ditch somewhere. How the hell did I get here?” Utahime thought to herself, before standing up and trying her best to take in her surroundings, which by all accounts, were utterly alien to her eyes. Massive trees, marked with numbers. Bubbles floating out of the ground. Half-man, Half-fish people, mermaids, and people who were probably technically classified as human, but to Utahime, she had no way of differentiating them from mythical creatures and curses. She didn’t believe herself to be in any immediate danger, and so she stood up, dusted herself off, and began to concentrate to see if she could sense the presence of any other person she might know.

She felt a faint tingling sensation as she concentrated, registering the activity of the expulsion of cursed energy, but a long distance away. She was relieved to know that she was not alone, however, the idea that other sorcerers were already fighting didn’t make her feel much better. Utahime didn’t have much to contemplate the matter, before one of those alien inhuman humans came running up to her to talk to her. She did her best to be polite and not to stare at the man’s arms, which had an extra section in between the forearm and upper arm, so his arms were very, very long. He did however, have on a cheaply made suit, complete with pinstripes and fake gold jewelry to simulate wealth, but Utahime had seen enough counterfeit pieces in Kyoto where she could recognize that this… man probably had some amount of money, but desperately wanted other people to think he had more.

“Lady!” He said, breathless, his extra long arms resting on his knees while he caught his breath. His accent sounded like a Brooklyn accent, despite her being from Japan, which meant that she really had no idea where she was. She had seen pictures of New York City when she was a student, and teaching, but this obviously wasn’t the place. “Are you… interested… in making.. Some money?” He said panting, continuing on.
“Oh dear, you must forgive me. I have no idea where I am, and I do-” She was cut off by the man
“Two thousand berries can be yours! I just need… to find a backup dancer for Soul King!” The long-armed man sounded desperate.
“Who is… Soul King? What’s a berry?” She asked, patiently, trying to glean more information from this man, maintaining a perfect, polite, womanly smile.
“Soul King? How’ve you not heard of Soul King?!” The man threw his extra long arms to the sky in exclamation. “He’s only the biggest new artist of the last two years! We’re doing a tour all along the Grand Line! Also, what do you mean, ‘what’s a berry?’ It’s… it’s the worldwide currency!”
Utahime contemplated his words. Soul King was some kind of musical artist, she still didn’t have any idea where she was, but the promise of some kind of money was enticing to her. She figured that whatever money she had on her was suddenly useless. Despite having no idea of the exchange rate between the yen and the berry, two thousand was probably enough for a meal and a drink.

“Why me?” She asked, curious about why this man picked her out of all people. There were dozens of other women walking around, and other men as well.
“Because you look lost, and you’re sexy as hell.” The man said crudely. Clearly, he had no manners. Utahime’s eye twitched in annoyance. “I just need you to be eye candy for this show, and then you’ll get paid. If you do it well enough, there’s money in there for you.”
“I’m not wearing anything stupid.” She said, much more stern and folding her arms over her chest. “But fine. Only if I can meet this… Soul King ahead of time.”
“Sure, sure, whatever. He’s through that stage door.” He said, turning his attention to some paperwork and muttering to himself about vendors and how annoying regulations were about how many people he could fit into the arena. “Your outfit is fine. We don’t have time to resize anything for you. You just look… the most presentable.”

Utahime rolled her eyes, and then stalked off. She had no idea why she agreed to this, but she could dance. And was very, very good at dancing. Just her luck that she just needed to spend a couple of hours performing, and then she’d have enough money and time to figure out what to do next. She figured that the others would be fine without her, considering she had no idea who was actually on the landmass with her, and maybe they weren’t even her friends, and were just others who could use Cursed Energy. But she didn’t have much time to think about that before entering the backstage door into what must’ve been the dressing room where she was greeted by the strangest sight she had ever seen.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” She screamed in abject shock and partial horror as a real, animated skeleton was standing there, adjusting his afro in the mirror before he turned around and went:
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” And leapt behind the couch in the dressing room to hide himself from Utahime. “Wh-wh-who are you?!” The Skeleton Man asked, cowering behind the couch, barely peeking over it to stare at Utahime with the empty eye sockets.
“ME? WHO AM I? WHAT ARE YOU?!” She pointed and yelled at him, adopting a fighting stance, ready to exorcize this curse.
“I-I-I am the Soul King!” He said, cowering a little further. “Popular rock artist! Talented musician!” He said quickly, and his voice was almost musical in nature, with lots of variation on pitch and tone. She had no idea how he was talking, considering that he was… quite literally all bones, minus the hair.
“YOU… you’re Soul King?” She asked, more confused by the second, but lowering her guard only slightly.
“Yes!” He said springing upright, and bowing. Utahime noticed for the first time that this skeleton had to be at least seven feet tall, but he wore all the clothes a rock artist in the 80’s would’ve worn, down to the feather boa around his neck. She looked around the room, and noticed all the concert posters, which had the skeletal image of the man-thing before her, in a traditional rock and roll style, around. Clearly, he was well known. “I am Soul King, beautiful lady!”

Utahime rolled her eyes, and lowered her defenses for a moment. “Okay… so… what… are you?”
“A man!”
“You’re literally a skeleton!” She replied, hands on her hips.
“Yes! I am a Skeleton! YO-HO-HO-HO!” He laughed, a whimsical, almost cartoonish laugh. “I cannot divulge anything further, lest I invite you into danger.” He said, sounding like he was trying to tell her a scary story. Utahime was unimpressed.
“Look… Soul King… I have no idea where I am, or how I got here. I came here to get paid so I can figure out how to get home.”
“Where are you from?” He replied.
“Kyoto.”
The Soul King just stared at her. It was unsettling to talk to him, considering he didn’t blink. Or have eyes. Or anything at all on him besides clothes.
After a beat he replied, “Never heard of it. And I am quite old. Old as Bones! YO-HO-HO-HO!”
“Great. He likes bone puns.” Utahime rolled her eyes internally, but at least he seemed to be helpful in some regard.
“It’s in Japan. Big city?”
“Haven’t heard of Japan either. Are you feeling ill?” He asked, somewhat actually concerned.
“No! I’m not sick! You’re sick! Actually, I might be crazy, considering I’m trying to get traveling advice from a talking Skeleton.” She said, putting her hand on her head and massaging her temple.
“I have been all around the world! Not a better man to ask for help from!” He proclaimed emphatically.
“How can you claim you’ve been all around the world, and yet you don’t know where Japan is?!”
“Because Japan does not exist. I am very old, young lady. Nearly 100! Though I don’t look a day over 80! YO-HO-HO-HO!”
“So where are we now then?”
“Sabody Park! Home to all manner of ruffians, ne’er-do-wells, pirates, navymen, Celestial Dragons, and one singing Skeleton! YO-HOHOHO!”
Utahime was stunned. Sabody Park? What the hell was Sabody Park?
“Is… Sabody Park… this big collection of mangrove trees?”
“Exactly right! The roots go all the way down to the bottom of the ocean! Technically, all of Sabody Park is one living organism. How interesting! I wish I were a living organism!” Soul King chuckled.
“Okay. So. I have either gone truly crazy, or I have died and this is some kind of afterlife.” Utahime said, nodding her head as though she were agreeing with her own insanity.
“Neither, young lady! You are very much alive, and we are experiencing the same reality. Neither of us are insane. I might be a little insane. But that’s from solitary confinement on a boat for forty years with all my dead crew!” Soul King laughed again, but it was much quieter and less enthusiastic. And Utahime felt… sympathy. He must’ve turned into a Skeleton somehow.
“I’m… sorry to hear about that.” Utahime said, quietly. “I know what it’s like to have lost people. To need to continue onwards, even when all you want to do is curl up into a ball and die.”
“I did die.” Soul King replied quietly. “Death… was quieter than you might expect it to be.” He turned away from her, and began to tune his guitar strings.
“Is your name actually Soul King? Or is it a Stage Name?”
“Stage name. The men with the long arms came up with it.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Brooke.”
“Brooke. It’s a… very simple name for whatever is going on. That’s… honestly quite refreshing. Brooke… I honestly don’t know where I am, or how I got here.”
“I know. You’re different from anyone else I’ve ever met.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I can hear the reverberations of people’s souls. It’s complicated to explain, but your soul is… stronger than most. You’ve trained it somehow. And you were… sent in here to be a dancer?”
“I was, yeah. By the same man who named you Soul King, I guess.”
“Why did you accept?”
“Because I have no money, and no idea where I am. I do know how to dance, so I figured that it would be easy enough to get money to sustain myself.”
“Fair point. Do you have any ideas about what to do in the long term?”
“No, not really. I figured some money wouldn’t hurt, and having stable employment to get my bearings wouldn’t hurt.”

Brooke simply stared at her. He didn’t have any musculature, so his emotions couldn’t be betrayed on his face, which was infuriating to Utahime, because it meant she had no idea what he was thinking. But he was talkative. Chatty, even. And yet, that line of reasoning seemed to make him clamp up.

“Is everything okay?” Utahime asked, concerned and suspicious.
“Your employment with the Soul King brand will be short-lived unfortunately.” He replied quietly, almost regretfully. “I am sorry to disappoint you. But my talents are needed elsewhere.” He said with a remarkably fierce determination, an incredible display compared to the bones that had jumped behind a couch at a loud noise.
“What do you mean?” She asked, wanting to know more about this, both to figure him out, and to decide whether or not she should be annoyed.

Just then, Brooke sprung up and clamped a Skeletal hand over her mouth. This was shocking for two reasons. Firstly, she had never actually touched this much bone at once. She truly gave a valiant effort to fight the gag reflex that threatened to bring up last night's alcohol. The second reason was that… Brooke was fast. Much faster than he should’ve been, and fast enough to surprise Utahime, who was used to fighting very fast enemies.
“Please, be quiet for a moment. Do you hear that? Navy soldiers… outside the door.” He whispered, not quite fearfully, but he also wasn’t exactly radiating self-assuredness. Like he was scared he might be interrupted. Utahime strained her ears, imbuing her senses with Cursed Energy to listen closely to the conversation on the other side of the door.

The first Navy soldier was a younger man by the sound of his voice, and he spoke with the rigidness that all soldiers had when addressing a superior officer.
“SIR! Sentomaru has recovered and given us a description of his attackers! The ones who defied the Celestial Dragons!”
“Give it to me.” The older, commanding officer boomed, clearly displeased with how things had been going on the island.

“Why does Brooke care about this so much? It’s not like it could be anyone we kn-” Utahime’s thoughts went blank as the younger soldier began to list out what he knew.

“Sir! They were in a group of three! A teenaged boy with pink hair, strong build, and an extremely capable fighter. A different teenager, although older, who the pink-haired boy had called Todo! And a young little girl also with pink hair, who the boys seemed to be protecting for reasons unknown!”
“And how did they defeat Captain Sentomaru?” The older man asked intensely, and Utahime felt the quiver of the young man’s boots.
“Captain Sentomaru has not been forthcoming with that information, sir!”
“Anything else?”
“Sir! They were spotted with two other individuals who are at this time unknown. And Sir, they were spotted with Black Foot Sanji of the Straw Hats!”

Brooke and Utahime gasped audibly, and then put each other’s hands over the other’s mouths, in an act of both secrecy and comedy.

“Do you know them?” Brooke asked her, quietly and intensely.
“Todo, yes. The Pink Haired boy is probably Itadori Yuji from Tokyo, one of Gojo’s students… was once, one of Gojo’s students…” She muttered. She hated that Gojo was gone. He always got on her nerves, and made her so angry with him… but she would give anything to see that dumbass grin he always had on his face. “I don’t know about the girl, or the others. Who’s Sanji?”
“We are now on the same team, Utahime. I am Brooke, musician of the Straw Hat pirates!” He said proudly, but still in hushed tones. “We are all gathering here after two years apart from one another, at the order of our captain, Monkey D. Luffy.”
“Okay. But.. actually, if Itadori and Todo trust your man, then I should trust you. What’s a Celestial Dragon?”
“The Celestial Dragons are the original royal families that rule the world. They have unlimited power when it comes to average people, and are very important people. Commoners like us aren’t even supposed to touch them, let alone defy them openly. Your Itadori must be incredibly brave.”
“Incredibly stupid is more like it. And of course Todo is right there with him.” She said, rolling her eyes, but the faintest hint of a smile played on her face.
“And Sentomaru is not a weak opponent. He’s the Captain of the Navy Science Unit and can use Haki. My crew was defeated by him two years ago. For Itadori and this Todo you speak of to defeat him and escape so easily… without Sanji even there to fight… how… how strong are you? And your friends?”
“I’m a Semi-First Grade Sorcerer. Itadori and Todo are both First Grade Sorcerers. They have more direct Cursed Techniques, which makes them better for direct confrontation. I’m not a pushover, but my technique is better for supporting.”
“I have no idea about anything you just said.” His eye sockets just stared at her blankly. “What’s… what’s a Cursed Technique? What’s your Cursed Technique?”
“Mine’s called Solo Forbidden Area. When I dance, I can boost the power output of willing Sorcerers in range up to 120%.”
“YO-HOHOHOHOHO!” Brooke exclaimed loudly. “Amazing! We have to try and work together. The Navy is onto me, that’s why I had you be quiet. They’ve just about figured out I’m on the Straw Hat crew. We have to do this show, and then escape. Can your powers work with mine?”
“I figured you had some type of ability, but what can you do? Is it related to you being a skeleton?”
“Yes! Exactly! Here, in this place, we have what are called Devil Fruits. No one knows where they came from, but each one is unique and grants the eater a certain ability. I, when I was still flesh and bone, rather than just bone, ate the Revive-Revive Fruit. I died. I came back to life. But, my powers also let me influence the souls of people that can hear my music. And I can do various other things as long as there is an instrument within my hands.”
“You can interact with the soul… our powers should work together then. How long until the show?”
“Twenty minutes until I’m called. You can walk out with me. It’s not a very long set, and I think we’ll be interrupted anyway. When the Navy comes, use your… technique, and I will subdue them. We’ll run really fast after that, YO-HOHOHO.” Brooke chuckled.
“How do I know I can trust you?” Utahime said, warily. She had been burned before.
“I don’t have a lying bone in my body! You can check all of them if you want! YO-HOHOHO!” Brooke replied, unconcerned. Utahime figured that he trusted her implicitly, if he was willing to share the fact that he was a criminal opposed to the people who supposedly ruled the world. She was going to scold Todo if he put her on the wrong side of history. But Brooke was genuinely a likable skeleton. She found herself hoping that whoever Luffy was, he was just as good as Brooke.

Twenty minutes had passed, and Soul King took the stage on a rising platform. He loudly addressed the audience,

“Sabody Park! Welcome to the Soul King Around the Grand Line Tour!” He called out through the microphone. Utahime was impressed. This was a large performing space and Brooke had sold out the entire arena.

“Tonight! One show only! We have a special guest! A dancer from a long way away! Utahime!” He gestured to her, and she bowed to the crowd, more nervous than she’s ever been before. She was sweating quite badly. She had danced for Gojo in front of Ryoumen Sukuna when the world was about to end and had been less nervous. But, she knew she had to get to wherever Todo and Itadori were. Somehow, Utahime noticed that a group of people had already made t-shirts, somehow, with her face on them, and were cheering like mad for her.

“OUR BIGGEST HIT: BAD TO THE BONE!” and a chord so powerful it could’ve split the heavens came ripping out of the amplifiers. Utahime wondered if trademark laws were interdimensional.

Utahime was a traditional Japanese dancer, which didn’t ordinarily pair with (what to her ears sounded like) American rock music. But, like all great collaborations, it simply just worked. Utahime’s dancing told a story. One of exuberance and joy. One of love and longing. She activated Solo Forbidden Area, and within the range of her technique, she found Brooke, and his soul was… loud and bright. A shining star in what was normally a dim ocean of lights. She could feel him, his spirit. Utahime’s Solo Forbidden Area was a supporting technique, and because it was an inherently human technique bolstered by other people, Brooke’s ability washed over her. She was affected by his music as much, if not more, than the crowd because she had been pouring herself into her dance, and he into his music. Both artists had opened their souls up to one another, as all artists do when they work together, but Brooke and Utahime’s artistic abilities are inherent to their own spirits. Both bring out their own souls when they use their powers, and both have created a positive feedback loop. Utahime felt her own dancing intensify, and Brooke felt his music had that much more bite to it, that much more reverb. The louder parts were louder, his voice was more resonant, and even the quiet ballad moments were softer; more meaningful to the audience.

The ability of the Revive-Revive Fruit and Solo Forbidden Area made for a positively electrifying, and powerful show. Better than any live music event than Utahime had ever been to. She found herself laughing and smiling, and dancing with a passion she hadn’t felt in years. Her dancing was always when lives were on the line, always when another sorcerer needed just that much more to give to win the fight. But for the first time, Utahime was not destroying. She was creating. Creating a memory that would last forever in the hearts of the audience and in the eyes of the children who were in attendance.

That was until, right after the second to last song, the doors of the arena burst open, and the music quieted down but did not stop playing. A man in a white uniform stepped in front of the rest, clearly the Commanding Officer, perhaps the one from before. He spoke in a loud, booming voice.

“Soul King Brooke! You are wanted in relation to crimes and associations with one Monkey D. Luffy! I hereby order your arrest on the charges of piracy, evading law enforcement, and being a general nuisance to the World Government.” The man’s voice rippled out through the audience, many gasped, but Utahime felt something strange in the audience. There wasn’t… enough shock. If a recording artist in her world was found out to be an apparent notorious criminal, people would be fleeing in terror. But Brooke’s audience barely moved, and Brooke took the microphone from it’s stand.

“People of Sabody Park! You all were a fantastic audience! Captive and electric. I fear the show must end for now, but it will go on elsewhere! I have a ship to catch! Monkey D. Luffy will be King Of The Pirates!” Brooke said with so much conviction, Utahime believed him without knowing anything about Luffy. For when an artist says something with so much conviction, combined with being able to feel Brooke’s soul, she knew that Brooke was telling to truth.

“Utahime-san! If you would please!” Brooke said, pulling up his guitar, and in one skeletal long hand, held a pick that would change her life forever.

Utahime head bashed for her dance, to reactivate the properties of Solo Forbidden Area, her hair flailing wildly in the arena’s atmosphere. She danced with reckless force, and because of all the stored energy from the concert, Brooke hit a Power Chord so gnarly that all the Navy Soldiers were literally blown away and knocked out. The crowd was completely untouched, but Brooke didn’t stop there.

“Sabody! Goodnight! If you see us running, you know what to do!” He shouted to the audience who shouted all the way back to him, in one massive, nearly choral voice.

“WE LOVE YOU SOUL KING!”

Brooke jumped off the stand, nodded to Utahime, and then they both took off running for the stage door.

“NOW WHAT?” She asked Brooke in a huff, wondering what his plan was for when they were finally out.
“WE RUN AS FAST AS WE CAN TO FIND MY FRIENDS!” He said joyfully.
“THAT’S YOUR WHOLE PLAN?!” She asked, nearly shrieking.
“You’d be surprised at how often that plan works, YO-HOHOHOHO!”

Chapter Text

Loid had met up back with Yuri a while ago, who was still unhappy to see him, but he clammed up when he saw Nami, Usopp, and Becky with Loid. It took some amount of convincing, but Yuri eventually agreed to walk with them.

“Thank God Nami is so intimidating. I had no idea Yuri could be put in his place like that.” Agent Twilight thought to himself. Yuri was walking back with Usopp, discussing the weather or some other inane topic so Loid could finally have a moment to think. Nami was leading their little group through Sabody, after they had finally stopped running, and managed to leave their pursuers behind in the little town they had come running from.

“Nami, where are we going?” Loid asked, still keeping his head on a swivel. He was still worried about literally any number of people following them, considering the more he had heard from Nami and Usopp, the less sure he was of his decision to follow them.

“We’re going to a bar on one of the innermost islands. It’s run by an old friend. Silvers Rayleigh.” She said with a smile. “We’re all already supposed to meet there, and our crew will be more than happy to help you find your wife, if we aren’t already being run out of town.” She giggled after that, without a care in the world.

“She’s either completely insane, or her faith in those friends of hers is unwavering. Nami and Usopp are formidable fighters, but if these two are the theoretical weakest of their crew, then the others must be incredible.” Twilight thought to himself. “They could certainly be useful in locating Yor and Anya.”

Loid and his team were walking through the inner islands of Sabody Park. It was clear what Nami was saying, that the further they walked inland, the less anyone seemed to go there. It did seem like a decent place to hide, especially if this Rayleigh person was anywhere near as notorious as the Straw Hats.

“And who is Silvers Rayleigh?” He asked cautiously.
“Honestly I keep forgetting that you aren’t from here at all.” She giggled again. “About two decades ago, there was one man who did everything. He reached the end of the Grand Line, to an island called Raftel. There he put down everything he had ever collected. The One Piece is that treasure. That man was called Gol D. Roger. He was the King of the Pirates. He was executed 22 years ago, and with his death sparked the age of Piracy that we now live in.” She explained briefly.
“Okay, that’s… a very interesting story. And how does that explain who Rayleigh is?”
“Oh! Silly me! He was the second man in charge of Gol D. Roger’s Crew!”

Agent Twilight felt a familiar ache in his head, the kind he got when a mission had gone awry or when Anya had felt yet another math test. He had somehow stumbled into the den of the most infamous group of Pirates in the world, and yet they were so… nice? Kind? Polite even?

“And why is he… here? On Sabody Park?”
“He retired after Roger’s death, and settled down here with his wife, Shakky.”
“Oh. That’s pretty normal.”
“He’s also the Bubble Setter for our ship. We’re going down underwater after this, to Fishman Island, since that’s the next stop of the Grand Line. We can’t get to the next part of it without going through it, so! Rayleigh has been putting the bubble on our boat.” She explained to him like it was common knowledge that massive, sailing ships could be coated in bubble to explore depths like a submarine.
“Right.” Loid said. “And… what do you mean by a giant bubble?”
“Well, ships can’t normally go underwater, but Fishman Island is 10,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. So, we have to coat the ship in a bubble, since that’s the only way to get down to the island.”
“And why do you use bubbles?” Loid inquired further. This world was entirely alien to Loid, and the idea of using a bubble as an airtight seal, didn’t quite sit well with him.
“It’s been practiced for as long as we can remember. The bubbles of Sabody park contain a strange mixture of chemicals that make it impermeable to water. We just can’t pop it with blades of anything, or we all die. But, that’s a risk we’re all willing to take! Also, to put your mind at ease, this is extremely routine. There’s lots of bubble setters on this island, and it’s a common industry. Fishman Island is protected by the Big Mom Pirates right now, so it’s safe to travel there.”
“Who’s Big Mom? What… I’m sorry, Nami. This is extremely out of my depth.” Loid said, muttering, and serious.
“Don’t worry, Loid.” Nami said, reassuringly, putting a hand on his shoulders to be kind to him. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you. Or your wife and child. Hopefully, we can figure out how to get you home before anything else happens and we have to leave. Don’t worry about Big Mom right now. With any luck, you’ll never meet her.”
“Thank you, Nami.” Loid replied, grateful, but internally panicking.
Twilight thought, “I have to figure out a way to get away from them to find Yor and Anya, this is simply too dan-” Twilight’s thoughts were cut short by a familiar, pink haired ball of energy.

“PAPA! PAPA! PAPA!” Anya howled with the biggest smile on her face, and tears in her eyes, and she sprinted up to Loid without a care for anything in the world. She ran as fast as her little legs would take her, and Loid found himself running as well, no thought in his head other than “That’s Anya! She’s safe! She’s safe!” Loid scooped up Anya as Anya threw her arms around his neck, and sobbed.

“Papa…” Anya said with a watery voice, overjoyed at seeing her father. She read his mind, and all she could feel was love, and relief. No thoughts about being a spy or his mission. He was happy to see her, and Anya knew that she was loved. And she loved Papa so much. They hugged in a tender moment. “I missed you so much, Papa. Mama is here too!” She said, pointing backwards to the most beautiful sight Loid had ever seen. Anya climbed down off her Dad to go hug Becky; she knew Mama and Papa needed to be reunited.

Loid wanted to say more to Anya, but when he saw Yor, his breath caught in his throat. She looked the same. Totally unharmed, her skin the same porcelain complexion, the same gentle loving smile, but her lips were trembling, and her eyes were watery.
“Loid-san… I… I didn’t protec-” She tried, and Loid was on top of her, and they hugged. Yor was shocked, but hugged him right back around his waist while his arms were wrapped around her shoulders.
“It doesn’t matter, Yor. We’re together again. That’s all that matters.” He murmured to her.
“Oh Loid-san, I’ve… I’ve really missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, Yor. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you. How did you find Anya?”
“Loid… these are our new friends.” She gestured behind her to the strangest collection of teenagers, and one singular adult man, he had ever seen.
“We’ll have to talk more later, Yor.” He whispered to her.
“Yes, we will. I don’t…” She whispered back, and her fingers found his.

Loid and Yor were blushing and then looked away from one another, but their hands never quite left the others grasp.

“BECKY!” Anya cheered
“ANYA!” Becky said, utterly relieved and emotional.
The two little girls collided in a devastatingly cute hug, wrapping their arms around each other’s bodies as both of them teared up, hugging one another. They were both shaking slightly, going through a lot of emotions as a couple of elementary school aged children who had suddenly been thrust into a very alien and very adult world, would.
“How did you get here?” Anya asked Becky, the two girls still hugging one another, while the parents who were in charge of them stood off to the side.
“I don’t know! I was with Martha, and she was giving me dinner! And then I suddenly woke up and started being harassed by the ugliest men I’ve ever seen!” Becky exclaimed. “They told me they wanted to sell me!”
“I know! I had the same thing happen! An ugly man in a fishbowl hat tried to make me go with him!” Anya replied, emphatic and sharing in Becky’s confusion and state of heightened emotion.

Loid and Yor were too busy being bashful to notice the little girls’ conversation.

“Are you scared, Anya?” Becky asked Anya, whispering softly, before moving to hold Anya’s hands for her own comfort.

Anya knew she had to be strong. She knew she had to be brave. So she answered honestly.
“Yes.” She nodded fiercely. “Anya is very scared. But Mama and Papa are here now. And they are so brave.”
“But you just ran into them, didn’t you?” Becky replied, tearful, and Anya did her best to put on a brave face and pointed at Itadori and Todo who didn’t move but did notice Anya pointing at them. They assumed it was a harmless conversation between two children who knew each other. And it was.
“I did just see Mama and Papa for the first time in a couple of hours. But! Those big boys over there are also very strong! They beat up a giant! Itadori and Tobo will keep us safe!” She reassured Becky, who looked like she felt a little better, and did her best to wipe her tears and smile.
“I’ll believe in the people you believe in, Anya.” Becky whispered.

The Forgers looked over to the Straw Hats who had been assembling slightly away from them, where Yor smiled, and introduced the younger man who had been traveling with her.
“Loid-san, that’s Sanji-san. I was told he has a thing… for women.”
“What do you mean?” Loid asked, genuinely confused, and then felt Anya tug at his pant leg.
“Curly-brows is weird around Mama.” Anya said, darkly, staring at Sanji from behind Loid’s leg, with Becky also attached to Loid’s leg, but with a much happier expression on her face, as she took a deep breath of contentment, feeling leaps and bounds better now that she finally had her arms around Loid again, even if it was only his leg.

Loid looked up as Sanji, this teenager with a cigarette in his mouth, and in a suit “He looks quite strong, despite his frame, I wonder why Anya and Yor are saying those things about him.” Loid didn’t have to wait for long, as when Sanji’s eyes landed on Nami, the whole world stopped spinning for him.

“I can’t believe I forgot about this.” Nami muttered, looking unimpressed with Sanji, who was turning beet red, as his eyes turned back into hearts. His nose started bleeding profusely as she rocketed up towards the sky with the force of his nosebleed.

“NAMI-SWAN” Sanji shouted from the sky, prolonged and musical, as though he was singing a song that was closest to his heart, as he landed back to earth with a crash and with a flash was in front of Nami with a plate of drinks, and hors d'oeuvres that seemed to appear out of nowhere. Sanji was still bleeding from the nose with hearts in his eyes, but he seemed otherwise unharmed from his crash landing. All other eyes were watching this exchange with either shock from Loid, Yor, Anya, Becky, and the Sorcerers. Zoro, Yuri, and Usopp were looking at them with either snickering or outright disgust.
Agent Twilight thought to himself “How on earth did he do that and not die? He just expunged liters and liters of blood, enough to propel himself at least twenty feet into the air? How hard was he bleeding? Is this normal? Does he have extra blood? Is that his ability?” He ran through a thousand possibilities, while watching Sanji reenact a scene straight from a B-list romcom that Snowfall had insisted they see when they were working together on a mission once.

“Nami, I cannot believe that two years could’ve made you this beautiful.” Sanji began, before Zoro rolled his visible eye and began walking towards the inside of the house. “Your hair, your beautiful body, your stunning voice, oh Nami, I have missed everything about you.” Sanji said while swooning.
Loid half-expected Nami to slap him the same way she did everyone in that bar, but she simply smiled and shook her head.
“You’ll get this once from me, Sanji. Don’t waste it.” She cupped his face in her hands, and Loid thought Sanji might have a heart attack and die. “I missed you too, you foolish cook. We have guests, and some of them are children. Please behave.” She said to him, sweetly, but Loid could tell she was just playing Sanji. Yor was right, Sanji was completely infatuated with Nami. Nami then did something that shocked even Usopp who was watching.

She kissed Sanji on the cheek. “Don’t make a fool of yourself, Sanji.” She winked at him, and then started walking past him. Sanji was there motionless, still kneeling with the tray of food in front of him. He was smiling, and tears were pouring down from the hearts that had replaced his eyes.

“THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!” He jumped up and shouted. “SO MANY BEAUTIFUL WOMEN! I WAS STUCK WITHOUT A PRETTY FACE TO LOOK AT FOR TWO YEARS! I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE ROBIN-SWAN!” He shouted to the sky. He then turned and looked at the Forger family.

“Ah! You must be Loid Forger!” Sanji said, while bowing gracefully to him. “I apologize for proclaiming your wife’s beauty earlier today!” He said while walking towards him.
“YOU DID WHAT TO SIS?!” Yuri spoke up, having been rather stunned with everything happening. Clearly, no one had told him exactly what kind of mess he would be walking into.
“Yuri!” Yor’s voice chimed in sweet and melodic, adopting the tone she always takes with her brother. “Sanji is just a nice boy. He’s being sweet. Don’t worry. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Loid saw the man that was standing with the other group of teenagers, watching the interaction with curiosity. When Yor said that Sanji had done nothing wrong, Loid swore he watched the man roll his eyes with a bemused half-smile on his face.
“Do you have something wrong with proclaiming a woman’s beauty!” Sanji retorted to Yuri, ready to defend Yor’s honor at a moment's notice. Loid thought he saw the ground heat up near Sanji’s feet.
“SANJI! BEST! BEHAVIOR!” Nami snapped over her shoulder, and kept walking.
“Yes, Nami-Swan!” Sanji said, slipping back into his lovey-dovey persona and twirled after Nami.

“How did his legs do that? Why is he literally spinning after her? How do his eyes do that? Why are they hearts? Is he like this with all women? Was he like this with Yor?” Twilight thought to himself, and then a pang of an unfamiliar emotion washed into Loid’s body. He had thought himself above this emotion. It was almost like… jealousy.

“What on Earth have we walked into?” Loid muttered out loud.
“Papa. Those people aren’t from here either.” Anya said, pointing to the crowd of Jujutsu Sorcerers that have been idling nearby, also very confused as to what exactly is happening. “Maybe ask them?”
“Okay, Anya. We’ll see what we can come up with.” Loid said to his daughter, before putting her on his shoulders, and holding Becky’s hand while they all walked together.
“Papa, that boy saved me.” She said, pointing right at Itadori. “He really did! He saved me from a Dragon!”
“That’s very wonderful, Anya. Yor can you…” Loid asked, before giving the children to Yor who nodded gracefully, and took Anya and Becky from Loid to walk towards the house, Yuri following close with Yor, and Anya stuck her tongue out at Yuri while they walked.

“Hello. I am Loid Forger.” Loid began introducing himself to the unfamiliar group of people.
“Yo! I’m Itadori Yuji, and this is my teacher, Nanami-sensei.” Itadori began, taking Loid’s hand to shake. Loid noticed that Itadori had an iron grip. He didn’t crush Loid’s hand, but Itadori’s muscles didn’t even conform to Loid’s at all during the handshake. It was like shaking hands with a stone golem. “That’s Todo Aoi, and Maki Zenin.”
“My daughter said you… saved her from a Dragon?”
“It’s complicated to explain.” Itadori began, scratching his head.
“Allow me!” Usuopp began, loud and proud. “Celestial Dragons are the number one enemy of pirates, and most people around the world! Nobody likes them! They enslave people! They kill without thinking! They think they’re above everyone else! All because they were rulers over eight centuries ago!” Usopp nearly cried.
“What kind of world lets their leaders do this? What kind of oppressive regime do these people live in?” Twilight thought to himself.
“Yeah! And one of them tried to make your daughter his wife.” Itadori added, like an afterthought
“What?!” Loid said, incredibly shocked
Twilight was suddenly panicking internally, on a higher alert than he has ever been during Operation: STRIX. “WHAT ON EARTH DID THIS BOY JUST SAY? FORCED CHILD MARRIAGES? WHAT TYPE OF CRIMINALS IS THIS PLACE RUN BY? WHO COULD BE SO DISGUSTING AND PERVERTED TO WANT MY DAUGHTER AS A WIFE? I must speak with Anya about this.” Twilight’s internal monologue was not normally so intense, but he was starting to lose the distinction between Loid and Twilight for a moment. Rightfully so.
“Yeah, it was super weird.” Itadori continued. “Nobody else in the crowd moved to intervene, so I did. I got shot running away, and then just kept fighting. It was lucky that we ran into your wife and Sanji when we did, or I might have been captured, along with Anya.”
“But why… why did you stick your neck out for a little girl you didn’t know?”
“Who is this boy? What exactly can he do? Is he like Nami and Usopp? His hand didn’t move when I shook it? He seems polite enough, easily high school aged. As do the rest of them. They all are moving their heads like they’re searching for danger. This boy and his teacher seem like two people I could meet normally. The intense girl seems like she could care less what happens. And the shirtless one… I have no idea what to make of him yet.”
“Because she’s a little girl.” Itadori answered without blinking. Without hesitation. “My life is worth less than nothing if I can’t protect one girl.”
“That was an incredibly intense answer for a sixteen year old boy. Who are these people?”
“What Itadori is trying to say…” Nanami said, calmly. “Is risking our lives in our line of work in the defense of others is common practice. Itadori is a good person. One of our best. It wouldn’t make any sense to him to abandon a child in her time of greatest need.”
“You said you were shot?” Loid continued on, this conversation confusing him more than anything else. “And forgive me for asking the both of you, but what job do you all have for a grown adult, as well as several teenagers, have?”
“We’re Jujutsu Sorcerers.” Nanami replied evenly, as though those simple words were enough to quell the maddening and morbid curiosity of one overworked and sleep-deprived spy. “Do you not have those where you’re from?”
“Yeah, I was shot a couple times. But please don’t worry! Anya was never touched. I made sure to protect her as best I could. I’m glad she’s okay.” Itadori said, most relieved. “I wouldn’t have been able to do without Todo, though.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, brother.” Todo chimed in, sitting peacefully, meditating off to the side. “You didn’t need me. I just didn’t feel like letting you fight alone.”
“That doesn’t answer any of my questions? Where are your injuries?” Loid inquired further. “What is a Jujutsu Sorcerer?”
“His clothes are torn, there’s bullet holes, marks where blades pierced cloth, and he’s incredibly disheveled, but he looks like he just woke up from a nap! What kind of inhuman monster is he? He obviously follows an extreme code of ethics, and is extraordinarily courageous, with the power to back it up, but what is he?”

The girl that was there, the severe looking one with the burn scars finally spoke up, shoving Itadori backwards.

“I’m Maki. We are Jujutsu Sorcerers.” Maki said, her voice sounding not quite bored, but more like a college professor who had given the same lecture during Physics 101 a hundred thousand times. She gave a brief summary of what a Jujutsu Sorcerer was, what they can do, what Cursed Energy is, and what Reverse Curse Technique is. She explained roughly how innate techniques work, and how barrier techniques work. “Itadori fought with Cursed Energy and healed himself with Reverse Curse Technique. Does that make sense?”
“Yes it does, Maki. Thank you.” Loid said, putting everything together in his head.
“So I am now friends with a group of pirates, and magical demon killers. But Itadori and Todo saved my daughter? From a child slaver who’s in charge of the world, no less. They are clearly not afraid of consequences, and I’m grateful, but I’m concerned about how their actions will affect Anya and them.”
“Do you all have any ideas as to what’s happening?” Loid asked the group of them.
All of them just shrugged.

“I was dead prior to this.” Nanami informed Loid, who just openly stared at Nanami.
“What do you mean?” Loid asked, almost stuttering, but he was slowly losing the ability to be surprised.
“I died fighting a cursed spirit in my own world. It had apparently been several months for my fellow sorcerers.” Nanami said.
“My soul is back to being shared with the most powerful sorcerer in history. We defeated him once, but he’s returned to share my soul. It’s not anyone from our world doing this at least. Sukuna couldn’t even resist whatever it was.” Itadori said, putting his chin in his hand in deep thought.
“Okay… so no one has any ideas about how we got here, what the goal of it all is, and we are all now on the wrong side of the One World Government body, and our only hope is…”
“The weirdest group of people I have ever met.” Maki said, shrugging and unconcerned. “I know that they’re all freakishly strong. The green haired one, Zoro, is some kind of monster in human form. He defeated me, and I don’t think he was actually trying.” She muttered, pride a little wounded.

Itadori and Nanami were shocked by this, but they didn’t say anything about it. They clearly respected Maki’s fighting prowess.

“Oh! And your wife is super strong!” Itadori said after a moment.
“What?” Loid snapped back to reality after being lost in thought trying to put together any plan that would get his family out of danger.
“What the hell happened when I wasn’t around? I sincerely hope that their lives aren’t normally like this when I’m at work. My heart couldn’t take it.” Twilight thought inside himself, quickly trying to piece together everything around him.
“Yeah! She thought I had kidnapped Anya at first, so we punched each other. Just in the fists, but honestly, I thought my arm might break.” Itadori said, rubbing his knuckles in the memory of the blow. “Anya stuck up for me, but Yor is… something else.” He said, and Todo nodded in agreement.
“Okay…” Loid said, and Twilight thought, “Everything is going more and more insane as we keep talking. Will there ever be an end to this nightmare?”

“I’m glad you’re all around my home.” A new voice said. He was the biggest man among them, not too towering, but obviously well-worn and well traveled. A smiling face with glasses, and a deep scar running along his face. His circular rims betrayed nothing about the man that had come forward. But his sheer presence was intimidating at first. Twilight knew that this was the strongest man he could come face to face with. “I am Silvers Rayleigh. And you all must be friends of the Straw Hats. Come inside.”

Shakky’s Rip-Off Bar was run down. Worn in. Beaten. Battered. But it still stood, and Shakky made a killer selection of cocktails. The Straw Hats, Sorcerers, and Forger family all mingled together. There wasn’t much room for anything else. The conversation had been long, with Rayleigh explaining what needed to be explained to the Sorcerers and Forgers, while the Straw Hats added details about their own lives and experiences with Nami doing most of the talking. Sanji served everyone food and drinks as well, and the collective thought of the currently assembled crew was that this was the best food they’ve ever had. Rayleigh himself had taken to explaining the world in detail, to the various ruling powers, the Warlord system, the Four Emperors of the Sea, the Navy and its Admirals, the Celestial Dragons, and he told them an abridged version of the story of Gol D. Roger. He also explained Haki to everyone who didn’t already know, but paid special attention to Yor Forger during his explanation, like he could see something that the rest of them could not. Loid picked up on it, and wondered why Rayleigh did that. Yor was an incredibly skilled fighter sure, even for a City Clerk, which Loid never quite understood, but then again, their first date was Loid beating up bad guys in front of her, and calling it Concussive Therapy, so he gave her some grace on her secrets as well.

But he couldn’t help but wonder exactly how strong Yor really was.

“Papa.” Anya whispered to Loid while sitting on his lap while Becky was with Yor. “I think these are good people.”
“What do you mean, Anya?” Loid whispered back. His child was young, but her intuition was something that Loid had come to respect and appreciate.
“The Straw Hats, Itadori and Tobo… they are good people. The other people in this place… bad people.” She whispered, holding onto his shirt. She couldn’t say much more, without revealing her telepathy, but she hoped she could put her father and his racing thoughts at ease.
“Okay, Anya. I don’t think we have much choice about what’s happening right now, because of that Dragon from earlier.” Loid whispered back while there was a soft lull in conversation. “Can you tell me your side of the story? I spoke to Itadori and Todo about it, I just want to make sure.”
“First! I woke up! It was so bright and scary! So I started wandering around, because I was alone with no one around. And then! I came to a big parade! There was a man with a funny fishbowl hat! He pointed at me and said “You will be my wife! And you’ll like it!” Anya said, standing on the table and doing her best Celestial Dragon impression. The rest of the Straw Hats and Rayleigh just nodded along while Shakky just shook her head with a smile.
“And then! Itadori came from behind me! He called the fishbowl man stinky! And then we ran off together! It was so scary! But Itadori protected me from start to finish! Even when we were attacked by a giant!” She said very emphatically.
“A giant?” Loid asked, in the same tone a father uses when he’s humoring his child, but not nearly as convinced as he usually is.
“She’s not lying.” Todo said, while taking a sip of what was presumably sake. “There was a giant. He must’ve been at least fifteen feet tall. Had a big axe on his back. Yuji and I managed to dispatch him before he could draw that thing.”
“It would’ve made beating him a lot harder, that’s for sure.” Itadori muttered, and he was hiding his face, but Loid saw that the boy was blushing from Anya’s story. Loid smiled softly.
“Itadori was so cool, Papa! He looked like you do sometimes! He grabbed his hand and kicked him so hard in the face the world turned black!” She threw her little arms up in the sky as though she were attempting to conjure a Black Flash. Loid nodded along, and glanced at Nanami who nodded approvingly, seemingly confirming that there was truth to Anya’s tale.
“Then Tobo came… and then he clapped a lot! Boogie Woogie! And I couldn’t see what was happening too much, since everything was really fast! Tobo threw me like a baseball! And then Itadori punched him really hard!” Anya said, out of breath from talking so much and so fast. Loid looked at Todo, who was doing everything possible to avoid looking Loid in the eyes and whistling a cheerful tune.
“That sounds like a grand adventure, Anya. I’m glad you’re safe. But what does this mean?” Loid asked around.

“Loid-san.” Yor said from across their small, wooden table off to the side. “I think we should trust them. They’ve all been nothing but helpful.”
Yuri scoffed and threw his head to the side in disbelief. He shot Sanji an angry look, but Sanji was too busy worshiping Nami to notice or care. Nami was just smiling, enjoying the attention as a girl who knew she didn’t have to do anything to get Sanji to do whatever she wanted.
“They’re criminals!” Yuri snapped.
“Oh Yuri, don’t be like that!” Yor said, playfully aghast. Loid could tell when Yor was just manipulating Yuri, against when she was just being sweet. She was currently manipulating him. “The Straw Hats have been helpful! And they’ve given us such wonderful memories.”
“Okay Sis!” Yuri was powerless against his sister.

“Oi! Pops.” Zoro said to Loid, his eye softening at Anya momentarily before looking back at Loid. “Your kid is the target now of one of the biggest bastards in the world. She’s not going to be safe.”
Loid was both appalled by the news, and thankful for Zoro’s bluntness. He seemed to be the straightest talker of the group of pirates, which was both unnerving and refreshing. But he was the second strongest person in the room, Loid could tell, even though he wasn’t sure how he could. Zoro was only behind Rayleigh in terms of whatever he could sense. Maki wasn’t lying, this man was a monster.
“It’s nothing we haven’t done before.” Zoro added and took a sip of his drink. Loid was now even more confused. They’ve encountered this before?
“Could you elaborate a little bit?” Loid asked Zoro, who replied in the same gruff tone. Loid was learning that Zoro was not actually constantly angry, he was simply never taught how to speak to other people properly.
“Luffy punched one of them once, in a similar circumstance. Someone tried to enslave our mermaid friend, and one of the Celestial Dragons tried to buy her. Luffy walked right up to him and punched him in the face. It’s why we all got separated in the first place. An admiral was summoned to us, and the Warlord Kuma sent us all flying off in different directions. We haven’t seen each other in two years.” Zoro summed up quickly.
“Your captain… punched… one of the leaders of the world? In the face?” Loid asked slowly, his hug on Anya tightening.
“Yup. We’re all still alive, aren’t we? And your little girl is now one of the biggest targets in the world. Probably less than that boy.” He gestured at Itadori who looked a little shocked, but not entirely concerned. “They’ll both have bounties on their heads. So will top-knot over there. You’re criminals now, same as us.”
Loid, Anya, and Yor were all shocked. They were a good family, who went to a prestigious academy and had a normal life. Espionage, assassinations, and telepathy aside, they were normal. And now, in this brand new world, they were already criminals.
“Zoro!” Nami barked at him, glaring at him. “Be nice!”
“I am being nice!” Zoro replied, more agitated. “What? Was I supposed to let them walk back out there without them knowing that every single Navy soldier is going to be looking for a pink-haired girl and her parents?” He asked her, knowingly. Nami didn’t have a great response, so she just stuck her tongue out at him. “We’re still missing people anyway. We can’t leave even if we wanted to.”

“Yeah, I know.” She replied, rolling her eyes, but then spoke to the others. “We’re waiting mostly for our captain, Luffy, to show up.”
“Brooke is on the island.” Rayleigh said, while nursing a cup of something dark and strong. Loid couldn’t tell what it was, but he guessed it was some old whiskey or bourbon from this world. He made a mental note to memorize all the food and drinks of this place. He was certain it would help him. “Franky and Robin are as well. Both of them went to the Thousand Sunny to get it started. Luffy will be arriving soon, as Boa Handcock’s ship was spotted not too long ago. And Chopper is-”

“Right here!” said the cutest thing Yor, Anya, and Becky had ever seen, as Tony Tony Chopper burst through the door.
“OH MY GOD!” All the Forger girls said, as they jumped up to go see him.
“You’re the cutest thing in the world!” Yor said.
“Will you be friends with Anya?” Anya asked Chopper, petting him with Becky.
“You’re just like, the cutest little guy!” Becky said.
Chopper was blushing nervously before saying, “You idiots! Who are you? It’s not like I like the attention or anything.” Chopper was in fact, liking the attention, and was doing his wavy-arm dance he did whenever he was complimented.

“What the hell is that?” Loid whispered to Nanami.
“I have no idea. Some type of… creature?” Nanami whispered back.
“Clearly it’s sentient… and on the crew?”
“Chopper is our Doctor.” Sanji said to them, dispelling any worries. “And a damn good doctor too! He’s patched us all up more than once.”
“How does a reindeer-creature-thing earn a medical degree?! Wait… are there degrees here? Is there any form of actual education across the islands, or is every island responsible for every facet of daily life? How do people live around here?” Twilight was thinking through every possible civilization building technique he could, while Anya just stared at him dumbfounded that he was thinking these things when there was a talking reindeer who seemed to be in good spirits, willing to let people pet him wandering around.

Zoro fistbumped Chopper as Chopper climbed onto the seat next to Zoro, took a sip of a drink, and then got back down to let Anya pet him. “I’ve really missed you guys! There are imposter versions of us!” Chopper said suddenly, like he just remembered.
“Oh yeah, we ran into a couple of them at a bar.” Nami said, gesturing to herself, Usopp, and Loid.
“They tried to sell me!” Becky chimed in. “It was so scary!” And then jumped into Loid’s lap, now that Anya had gotten off to play with Chopper.
“What were they doing, Chopper?” Nami asked her reindeer friend. Tony Tony Chopper is a Reindeer that ate the Human-Human Devil Fruit, and thus, gained the powers of a human, with some added benefits. He was and is, very cute.
“They were gathering a ton of pirates in one area, I think to form some type of Pirate Alliance!” Chopper exclaimed. “They’re going to use our name to wreak havoc!”
“Who cares.” Zoro said, shrugging. “People will know the real us.”
“No, I don’t think they will.” Nami said, sternly to Zoro. Maki watched in earnest as Zoro simply huffed, without even so much as being angry with Nami. It was an interesting dynamic to watch the strongest fighter she had ever faced not even give more of an argument to someone she could only view as human, without any other special powers or strength like he and Sanji had. “Me and Usopp weren’t recognized by the imposter Luffy. I don’t think anyone will care here, but it could make it harder for us in the long run. If islands ahead of us think we’re maniacs and bloodthirsty killers, it could make our journey more difficult.”

The room went silent. Each was lost in thought. Until Loid had spoken up.

“Why don’t you all just send a message?” Loid began with, thinking very hard. Anya was struggling to keep up with all the thoughts racing through Loid’s mind. “If you are all the real ones, and are worried about your reputation, while already being famous, perhaps a simple ‘We’re Back’ is all that’s needed. That way you don’t have to draw any more unwanted attention to yourselves, while maintaining your freedom.” He finished.
“Not a bad plan at all.” Zoro remarked simply, and took a drink of his beer.
“That will be harder than you think.” Rayleigh said laughing.
“Why is that?” Loid asked.
“Luffy has just walked into the meeting with the imposters. I suggest every single one of you start running there. I don’t think you’ll have enough time to come back here to meet with me again. I will be at the Thousand Sunny for any lingering questions or concerns before you have to depart completely.” He said with an easy tone. “Please. Luffy is about to do the thing you all know him well for. Cause a lot of trouble.” The Dark King laughed very, very heartily at that.

The Straw Hat crew, which now included a lot more people, at least for the time being, rushed to where Silvers Rayleigh had pointed when he had them rush out the door. A multitude of groups of people, a family, a group of sorcerers, and the original Straw Hat crew. They ran fast and far. Becky and Anya were riding on the back of Chopper, who was in his usual Reindeer form. They were having the time of their lives.

Sabody was a big place. Vast, easy to get lost in, and they kept watching Nami grab Zoro’s collar to point him back in the right direction. Loid and Maki wondered if that would cause an issue later. But for right now, their eyes were all trained forward. The first thing they all heard was a large crowd speaking in unison.

“AHHHH! HE LOOKS EXACTLY THE SAME!”
Nami laughed, Sanji chuckled, and Zoro smiled. “Our Captain.” All the Straw Hats said in unison.
Itadori and Todo heard a familiar voice. “STRAW HAT! I am the Captain of the Navy Science Unit now! You will be coming with me! Pacifista!”

The entire group rounded the corner, cresting the hill to witness the boy that must’ve been one Monkey D. Luffy.

Luffy was short for his age, but his smile was unmistakable. He wore a red shirt that he kept open to showcase the X scar that lined his chest, with blue shorts, and a pair of flip flops. His eyes were bright and energetic, and of course, on his head lay a straw hat.

The crowd, the Navy, and Luffy were all standing on what must’ve been an old amphitheater. It was massive, with a large stone stage that was clearly once used for more important events. It had a large field in front of it, with stone braziers on either side of the stage that were lit with flame. Luffy stood above the Navy, center stage, with the crowd of onlookers and Sentomaru in front of him. Luffy looked totally unbothered and unconcerned, almost like he was enjoying himself.

“That’s the Captain?” Was the collective thought amongst those that did not know Luffy. That thought was quickly answered by the following sequence of events. A Pacifista, a giant man, which was actually a robot, unhinged its jaw to an inhuman degree where it charged a laser beam that fired three shots at Luffy.

Luffy barely moved. It was like he didn’t need to. Like he knew exactly where the shots were going before they had even been fired. He simply moved his arm down and away, moved his head slightly to the side, and then the other side.

“Too Slow.” Luffy said, and then flung his arm out to the side.

“Sanji-san, what does Luffy actually do?” Yor asked Sanji while they were all running.
“You’re about to find out.” Sanji said proudly.

“Second Gear!” Luffy shouted, and everyone who wasn’t a Straw Hat saw the strangest sight. Luffy’s arm suddenly had a bubble passing through it. Like when a garden hose in a cartoon gets stepped on, and a large bubble of water passes through the hose, except it was Luffy’s arm. It hit his hand and went back into him, and then… Luffy’s skin turned pink, and he started steaming.

Loid and Yor Forger had excellent eyes, due to their professions. Itadori, Maki, Todo, and Nanami had enhanced senses from fighting Curses for their lives. And none of them saw Luffy move. The Pacifista had launched itself at him under Sentomaru’s orders, but Luffy had somehow simply appeared above the Pacifista.

“GUM-GUM: JET PISTOL!”

The Pacisfista was dribbled off the ground, instantly cratering the ground where it hit. No one had been able to see Luffy’s hand move. It was like he simply created enough air pressure to hit it. The Pacifista exploded a half second later. The large crowd of various Pirates gathered around once again said in a collective

“HE BEAT THE PACIFISTA IN ONE PUNCH?”
Suddenly, Zoro and Sanji following orders made a lot more sense.

“Guys!” Luffy said, turning his head, and no longer even remotely focused on the enemies that were around him. “You’re here! And you brought friends!”

“Yes, we are!” Nami shouted. “Zoro! Sanji!”

“Straw Hat… and the Straw Hat crew…” Sentomaru mumbled under his breath.
“You’ve got more problems than just them!” Itadori shouted back to Sentomaru, who was rubbing his head where Itaori had kicked him earlier.
“You brat! You’re coming in too! I’ll take special pleasure in breaking you myself! PX-5! PX-6! PX-7! PX-8!” Sentomaru barked, and several Pacifista flew forward to engage with the Straw Hats.

Each of them watched in amazement as Zoro drew his swords, and Sanji quite literally ignited his leg on fire in a tornado motion. Both of the Monsters of the Straw Hat crew launched themselves at the first Pacifista. Zoro’s swords sang in the key of a tornado warning, spinning around in a 360 to let all three of his blades cut deep, clean wounds in the metallic body. Sanji’s leg had literally ignited into a molten hot heat, where the bottom of one of his legs was glowing. He delivered several punishing, rapid fire, searing hot kicks into the side and head of the metallic foe, making it explode. Both men finished their attacks then glared at each other.
“It was my swords that did!” Zoro snapped at Sanji.
“Not even a chance! My kicks are what did it in!” Sanji snapped back. They started bickering amongst each other again. Until Nami slapped them both on the back of their heads.
“Rivals. Of course, they’re rivals.” Twilight thought to himself. “Now focus and analyze the enemy. Oh no! Yor!” Twilight thought too late, but he’s always surprised when he realizes exactly how capable a woman his wife is.

The second Pacifista appeared in front of Yor and Maki, who both immediately turned to one another, and then with all the grace they had between them, dodged the initial blows of the Pacifista's assault. Yor flipped and jumped into the back of the Pacifista, and grabbed its head to yank upwards. Maki Zenin moved with a similar blinding speed, before severing the head of the robot with the blade she had on her back. The audience was shocked, and Loid felt his heart beat a little faster looking at his wife.

“Just the thrill of the fight. Not Yor. Just the thrill of the fight.” Twilight chanted in his own mind.

Yor caught him staring, and blushed, looking a bit sheepish and averted her eyes away before she started to take off running again.

“Maybe she's just nervous to be fighting in front of others?” Twilight asked himself.

Loid realized he was also blushing.

“You’ve got some moves for a mother.” Maki complimented Yor with a smile.
“Oh! Thank you, Maki-san! You’re incredibly talented as well!” Yor said with a gleeful smile before they both began moving again.

Itadori and Todo had their Pacifista handled as well. Itadori and Todo were too fast, and Boogie Woogie kept activating. It was a strange thing to hear during a large battle, constant applause by one man. But The Pacifista couldn’t keep up. Itadori’s physical blows were too strong, and before five seconds had passed, Todo and Itadori had reduced the robot into scrap metal in no time flat, between fists and feet.
“We really ought to train together some more, Todo.” Itadori said, cracking his knuckles, not looking particularly worse for wear.
“I wholeheartedly agree, brother! Perhaps they’ll have some training quarters wherever we end up next. We usually end up just using our incredible brotherly bond!” Todo said, and they had one hell of a fistbump.

Nanami and Loid were paired together by circumstance, and Loid was an incredibly skilled combatant, and he had analyzed every movement the robot could make. Loid jumped the first punch, landing on the arm of the robot, having it open its mouth. Loid reached into his belt, and grabbed a small EMP grenade he kept inside of it, and jammed it into the mouth of the machine, before jumping off. He heard the click as it fired and the robot was stunned, while Nanami drew his sword, a blunted object, wrapped in ink-stained paper. Nanami drove his blunted blade into the side of the Pacifista wordlessly, barely grunting, but Loid saw how the machine crumbled and burst on impact. Loid would make sure to ask Nanami about that later, as it looked like he had aimed for a specific point on the body of the robot.
“Do you often fight robots?” Loid asked after Nanami adjusted his tie.
“Not even once. There’s a first time for everything.” Nanami replied, unconcerned.
Both men smiled and chuckled.

“THEY’RE ALL THAT STRONG?” The crowd asked, unbelievably shocked.

“We did it!” Luffy shouted to all of them. “Who’s everyone else!” Luffy turned his head towards Nami who was still running.
“Friends! Now move, Luffy! We’re all here!”
“You heard Nami! Run for the Thousand Sunny!” Luffy jumped up, and then everyone started to run, and the Straw Hat crew were finally back in action.

Chapter Text

For Monkey D. Luffy, Freedom was the ultimate joy. He did what he wanted, no matter the consequences for himself, as long as he knew it was the right thing to do. He hated being called a hero. Luffy was a Pirate. But anyone who looked at him, could tell that he had a heart of gold.

The Straw Hats were running through the roads of Sabody Park now, all their belongings either on Luffy’s back, or already on the ship. The crowds of people were thickening the more they ran towards the outer edge of the island.

Itadori sprinted forward to Luffy.
“Hi! I’m Itadori!” He said while running
“Nice to meet you, I’m Luffy!” Luffy said with a wide grin.
“I don’t mean to intrude… but where are we going?”
“My ship! The Thousand Sunny! Why are you with us?” Luffy asked, and Itadori didn’t quite have an immediate answer.
“He defied the Celestial Dragons and then beat the crap out of Sentomaru!” Sanji chimed in, smiling and somehow running with a lit cigarette in his mouth, smoking while running. “He’s alright in my book, Luffy! He even saved a little girl from slavery while doing it.”
Luffy’s smile grew wider when he turned back to Itadori. “You defied a Celestial Dragon? That’s awesome!”
“Thanks! I really appreciate it. Are you stuck with all of us now?”
“I don’t know! Running is a hard time to make important decisions.” Luffy said, and then all turned a corner to blast through a main road, running away from the gathering crowd of Navy personnel. “We’ll talk on the ship!”

The first person to help The Straw Hats was Usopp’s friend, Heracles. A warrior with a mysterious past that had trained Usopp! He was waiting off to the side, and when the Navy was about to ambush the main group, a huge number of oversized insects burst from the ground to cause destruction and havoc.

“Go, Usoppun. Find the One Piece with the Straw Hats’n!” He said, while leaning back against the wall, remembering all the fond moments he had, training Usopp. Heracles did not mourn the loss of his friend, for he truly believed that Usopp was where he belonged.

The next person to help the Straw Hats was far less kind than Heracles. Zoro was running ahead, Maki right behind him, mostly to steer him while the others were making sure everyone was okay, and to keep the very large group moving. A swath of Navy rounded a corner, and before Zoro and Maki could unleash death, a bunch of cartoon ghosts passed through the Navymen’s chests. Little white fellas with dopey faces, and all of them passed out onto the ground, moaning and groaning about the hardships of life. One man was half crying about how his wife left him, and she took the kids while he was struggling to make ends meet, and he gets sent out to capture the strongest member of the worst generation.

“What the hell was that?” Maki asked Zoro.
“Oh no…” Zoro muttered, before wincing as the most Goth girl who has ever goth’d appeared, floating before Zoro and Maki.

“YOU IDIOT!” Perona screeched. She was obviously their peer, and everyone’s eyes were now forward. “IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SIMPLE TO DROP YOU OFF! AND NOW HERE YOU ARE, MAKING A GIANT MESS OF EVERYTHING!” Perona was yelling right in Zoro’s face, who looked more annoyed than angry.
“Thank you… Perona…” he mumbled under his breath, while Maki was trying her best not to laugh at the sight before her. The Great Pirate Hunter getting continuously scolded by every other woman in his life. She was smiling brightly.
“IT’S ALWAYS THANK YOU, PERONA WHEN IT’S TOO LATE! HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT NOT BEING SO STUPID?” She asked him and then took a deep breath. “Look… I’m… I’m not sorry! But I will miss you.” She mumbled, blushed, kissed Zoro on the cheek, and then stopped next to Maki.
“I don’t know who you are, but Zoro respects you. Take good care of him for me. Literally always keep an eye on him, I’m amazed he can find his way to his shoes in the morning.” Perona said, before disappearing into the ether.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Maki replied, confused, but she and Perona passed an understanding between them.
“I’ll miss you too, Perona.” Zoro mumbled with his eye closed, and then took off running again, Maki steering him as best she could.

Anya and Becky were holding onto Chopper for dear life, flanked by Loid and Yor, who to the shock of the Straw Hats and Jujutsu Sorcerers, were able to keep up completely fine with a reindeer moving full speed.

“Loid-san?” Yor asked her husband while they were running.
“Yes, Yor?” Loid replied, soft and tender, despite the overwhelming physical exertion.
“Are we doing the right thing?” She asked, softly and tenderly. “Following this… Luffy?”
“Luffy is good!” Anya chimed in, resolute and certain of it. She had been reading Luffy’s mind for a while now, and she saw nothing but joy, exuberance and freedom. “Luffy is a good man! A good pirate!” She said, almost shouting.
“How do you know, Anya?” Becky asked.
“Look at him.” Anya pointed to Luffy, who was radiating joy at being around his crew again, smiling like there was nothing wrong in the world.
“Luffy has saved each and every one of us.” Chopper said while running. “He saved Zoro from certain death. He saved Sanji’s restaurant, his home, and his life too. He saved Nami’s life, her village, and her sister. Usopp, Me, Franky, Robin, and Jimbe. He’s saved us all so many times after the first. He’s saved so many lives. There’s no one else in the world I’d rather die for.”
Loid and Yor shared eyes once more, and an understanding passed between them. They would throw their cards in with the Straw Hats, come hell or high water. Because they believed what Chopper was saying. They believed that Anya was telling the truth. And they believed it because Monkey D. Luffy was just that good of a Captain.

“Nanami-sensei.” Itadori began while running with his pack of Sorcerers. “Are we really just… joining them this easily?”
“I don’t think we have much choice.” Nanami answered, shrugging. “You’re already a wanted criminal, Itadori. Apparently, everyone here is a wanted criminal, save for our family to over there.”
“At least Luffy seems sort of happy.”
“That he does.”
“I wonder what kind of women he likes…” Todo muttered under his breath while running. Not so no one could hear him, he was simply thinking out loud.
“What could it hurt?” Maki asked, chiming in, looking unbothered. “They seem like good people. And the way you explained it, you defended a child from being forced into a marriage with a dude who keeps his wives as slaves. I think that we’re on the team of the good guys.” She reasoned out.
Nanami, Itadori, and Todo all nodded in agreement. Maki had a point. If Luffy was criminal, but the man keeping women as slaves in more ways than one was the man who held all the power, they all would much rather be criminals. Pirates.

“THERE IT IS!” Luffy shouted exuberantly. “THE THOUSAND SUNNY! WOOHOO, IT LOOKS JUST LIKE HOW I REMEMBER IT!”
The Straw Hats all cheered in their own way for this. Nami, Usopp, and Chopper, all outwardly jumped for joy, real, unadulterated joy! Sanji and Zoro cheered loudly. And then, an entirely new face to the majority of the group ran in and tackled Luffy in a hug.

“LUFFY-SAN! OH I HAVE MISSED YOU!” The Forgers and Sorcerers were shocked and screamed, barely having time to process the ship, which was gargantuan in stature, with a large Lion’s head on the front, that looked very cartoonish, but very well crafted, when a real, oversized skeleton jumped onto Luffy, who kept running.
“Brooke! It’s good to see you! I’m so glad you could make it!” Luffy cheered, and as did the rest of the Straw Hats.
“Oh Luffy-san, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you!” Brooke was nearly sobbing while being carried by Luffy.

“YOU BUCKET OF BONES, STOP RUNNING SO FAST!” Utahime shouted angrily after Brooke, before noticing the other Sorcerers running with them.
“Utahime?” Itadori, Nanami, and Maki all questioned.
“Utahime-sensei!” Todo exclaimed loudly, as Utahime joined the pack of running Sorcerers.
“Where have all of you been?” Utahime asked as they all scrambled forward, feeling the presence of the large Navy Force behind them.
“With the other Straw Hats? And you?” Nanami replied, cool and calculated, looking over his shoulder at the advancing forces.
“With the world’s weirdest skeleton.” Utahime mumbled.
“PAPA! WHY IS- WHY IS THERE A SKELETON!” Anya screeched, as did Becky who was mostly screaming in abject horror.
“I am a Skeleton, YO-HO-HO-HO!” Brooke shouted back to Anya, and waved. “Don’t worry! I am a good skeleton!”
“ARE THERE BAD SKELETONS, PAPA?!” Anya was still in abject horror.
“No! Only me!” Brooke said to Anya, jumping off Luffy and bowing for half a second before launching into a full sprint towards the boat, kicking up a dust trail as he moved at speeds someone with flesh simply couldn’t match normally.
“He seems attached to Luffy.” Yor said, confused as to all these new faces joining the fray. “Who’s the new woman? She seems nice. And the… skeleton?” she questioned, much less frightened than the others.
“That’s our musician.” Sanji explained. “He’s quite the character. Don’t worry. You get used to the empty eye sockets and the other… quirks he has pretty quick.”
“That woman is my teacher, Yor-san!” chimed in Todo Aoi, who was running particularly close to the Forgers. “Utahime-sensei is a wonderful lady! She is a very formidable sorcerer.”
“Oh! I see.” Yor said, agreeing wholeheartedly. Loid thought to himself “Sometimes I forget how easy to persuade Yor is… I’ll have to keep that in mind in case there are a lot of liars in this new world.”
“Nothing to fear, Anya, Becky.” Loid said, making a natural smile happen on his face for them. “He’s clearly one of our friends’ friends. He’s not even the weirdest thing we’ve seen all day.” He wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince the children or himself.

Atop the deck railings of the Thousand Sunny, there stood a massive figure. Incredibly large chest, inhumanly large arms, shoulders bigger than wrecking balls, and a very skimpy pair of legs adorned with a speedo, topped with a face that radiated manliness and a killer hairdo. He slammed his massive, metal forearms together over his head, leaned over on side, one leg bent at the knee and loudly proclaimed:

“SUPERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!” Franky bellowed out to the crowd. “L-L-LUFFY! COME ONBOARD! SAME TO THE REST OF YOU!”
“FRANKY!” Luffy and all the Straw Hats cheered.
Anya, Itadori, Becky, and Todo all shouted in unison “A SUPER-COOL CYBORG?!”
“THAT’S EXACTLY RIGHT! A SUPER COOL CYBORG!” Frankly loudly proclaimed, flexing his robotic arms for all show. Franky was a motley medley of colors and shapes, part-man, part robot, and all Super. “AND THIS SUPERRRRR COOL CYBORG IS GOING TO GET US ALL OUT OF HERE!”
“WOW!!!” The majority of the children in the group went, teenagers included.

Yor turned to Loid and whispered to him, “Is it normal? His… his swimwear? Do men usually wear such things?” Yor asked, not blushing, just concerned.
“Honestly, Yor, at this point, there is a talking reindeer our daughter is riding on, a skeleton with a guitar case, and a field trip from the world’s most dangerous high school. The speedo-wearing cyborg is probably in the middle of the list of concerns. And he looks like an adult at least.” Loid said, shrugging and running up the gangplank.

The Thousand Sunny suddenly came alive with activity, with a grand group of pirates, sorcerers, and one very out of place family scurrying about as they all hustled onto the ship. The Straw Hats sprang into action, with Luffy leaping to the front of the ship to bark some orders at his crew, but they were mostly just general words of encouragement!

“Good job, Sanji!” Luffy would shout!
“Go Chopper!”
“Nami! I’ve missed you! Your hair got longer!”

His crew was super enthralled to see him. He and Zoro exchanged a powerful handshake. Same with Sanji. Usopp and him cheered together. Chopper gave Luffy a big hug. There was a dark haired woman that Loid didn’t recognize off to the side, who wasn’t actively moving, but that’s when Loid noticed all the disembodied hands all over the ship, tying knots and pulling ropes, and getting the sails rigged.

“A woman’s hands? Every single pair is the same pair of hands. It must be from the same person. But all of them are moving independently, accomplishing each individual task without slowing the others down. Every time I think it can’t get any weirder, even after the Skeleton, it does.” Twilight thought to himself, making a mental note to ask about that woman later. She was clearly a Straw Hat. And then he saw Sanji doing his kneeling, swooning routine. Unlike Nami however, this woman merely listened to Sanji with a soft smile. She murmured something that only he could hear, with a big, soft smile on her face.

Loid swore he saw the cartoonish outline of Sanji’s heart beating through his chest.

Loid himself went to work, having worked on several ships during his time as a spy. His hands moved without thinking, while Yor was attending to the children, trying to follow the orders of the Straw Hats to get them below deck, following Franky who had disappeared below decks shortly after everyone else had climbed on board.

Anya was resistant. Because she was the first to notice.

“BAD PEOPLE!” Anya shrieked, and pointed her little hand at the approaching group for someone to notice the Navy Men that had lined up on the shore, away from the Thousand Sunny. “BAD PEOPLE!”

Sentomaru had returned, not swayed by the Straw Hats flash escape. And he had a lot of Pacifista Robots. There must’ve been dozens of them. Along with a massive cohort of regular navy soldiers. Armed to the teeth, there were several hundred of those men. All of them were furious that the Straw Hats had humiliated the Navy again. Especially when they were this prepared.

Luffy stood on the railing of the Thousand Sunny and shouted to them, after seeing what Anya was pointing at.
“SENTOMARU! We’re leaving! Looks like you can’t catch us!”
“I DON’T NEED TO CATCH YOU, I ONLY NEED TO SINK YOU! HALF YOUR CREW ARE DEVIL FRUIT EATERS. YOU’RE DEAD, STRAW HAT. PACIFISTA’S, CHARGE SUPER WEAPON!”

Even Luffy was a little stunned by those words, until everyone on board saw what was perhaps the scariest thing today. All of the dozens of Pacifista robots had opened their mouths, and pointed their heads at the same point in the sky. And began to emit the same laser that had fired at Luffy earlier. But they were doing it in one

Large

Energy sphere.

A massive ball of crackling, swirling yellow energy had formed over the Navy soldiers. Who were all loudly cheering for Sentomaru and his Pacifisita’s. It was huge, nearly dwarfing the size of the Thousand Sunny. Everyone on board the ship knew that if that energy ball hit the ship, they were dead. One way or the other.

“FRANKY!” Luffy shouted, now very seriously. “COUP DO BURST!”
“WE CAN’T!” Franky shouted back, muffled by the ship. “THE COLA ENGINES AREN’T WARMED UP ENOUGH FOR THAT! IT’LL BLOW THE ENGINE AND THEN WE’LL REALLY BE SITTING DUCKS!”

Itadori Yuji stepped alongside Monkey D. Luffy and put his hand on Luffy’s shoulder.
“I’ll catch it.” Itadori said.
“WHAT?!” Luffy turned to him in shock. “You can catch that!?”
“Yes, I can.” Itadori looked Luffy dead in the eyes, and understanding passed between the two young men. All eyes were on the Straw Hats Captain, and the Vessel of Sukuna.
“Do it, then.” Luffy replied, clapping Yuji on the back and jumping off the railing.
“LUFFY WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Nami shrieked at him.
“He said he can catch it. Yeah, I believe him.” Luffy said, shrugging and unconcerned.

Loid turned to Maki and asked “Can he… can he really catch it?”
Maki looked Loid in the eyes, and he saw doubt. “Not with his hands. Yuji is the only Sorcerer here that can expand a Domain. Imagine a pocket dimension where you set the rules. I haven’t been inside Yuji’s, but he can definitely catch the ball. I just don’t know what’ll happen after.”
“Is he trying to kill himself?”
“He’s already decided he’s killing himself.” Maki replied, looking at Yuji with sadness and determination. “It’s just whether or not he’s good enough to save the rest of us with his own death.”
“YUJI!” Loid shouted to the boy. “DO NOT DO THIS! DON’T DO WHATEVER YOU’RE THINKING! WE CAN FIGURE IT OUT! I’LL FIGURE IT OUT!” Loid was unreasonably pankicked for this young man, who’s already risked so much for Anya. And he was doing it again without a second thought.
“Like I said, Loid.” Itadori turned to him and smiled, before making a hand sign with his index and middle fingers pressed against each other, third and pinky finger intertwined. “If I can’t save one girl, what’s my life worth?”

Anya felt something ripple in the sky. She had no idea what it was. Who it was. But she felt the entire world shift, ever so slightly. Everyone was panicked, still rushing around her. Yor was desperately trying to drag in the anchor with Zoro, both of them were sweating profusely since they were dragging in something that was normally done by machine. Becky was being held by Chopper. Anya was standing alone.

She looked up, and squinted her little eyes. She saw a shape falling. Rocketing through the clouds. Falling quicker, and quicker, accelerating before it was going to hit the ground. It looked like the person was going to land in the water. But she remembered Master Henderson saying that hitting water from that high would be like landing in solid ground.

She felt drawn to that presence. She had no idea why. She knew she had to do something, anything to stop that man from falling. But what could she do? The person falling was obviously unconscious. But she needed to try, and so she channeled whatever little energy she had in her body, and was directed by a darker presence. She didn’t have time to think about that, or the consequences, but before she knew it, she was reading the mind of the falling person.

Anya opened her eyes again, and she was somewhere totally new to her. No longer on the Thousand Sunny. It looked like… a train station. But all the words were funny. They were weird strokes, and lines, and symbols. But she could make out what they were saying. Like understanding without prior knowledge of where she was. She knew she was probably underground, somewhere. She looked around a little bit, and began to walk through the station. Whatever hold time had on the real Anya did not matter here.

It wasn’t crowded, but the station looked like it was built for a lot of people. There was actually almost nobody around. She had assumed there should be employees, attendants, even just regular commuters, but there were none. It was just her, until she heard some voices coming from down a hallway. She walked towards the noise, unsure of really where else to go or why she was there. And then she saw the first person. He didn’t pay her any attention, he was reading something in a newspaper. But he was tall, and muscular. He was in a black tshirt, and white baggy pants. He sort of reminded her of that girl with Itadori, Maki. They even looked sort of similar. But he just looked at her, frowned, shrugged, and then kept walking.

Anya was shocked when she saw a group of people, sitting around. They couldn’t have been that old. Only one of them was a fully grown adult, but he was wearing dark sunglasses and looked rather severe. The others were laughing and joking. One with white hair and a cheerful smile, one that sort of looked like the blonde man that resembled Papa, if he were ten years younger, a black haired boy with a bun in his hair, and one more, more normal looking boy, but he was the most joyful.

She couldn’t make out the details of the conversation. It was like she was listening through water. She assumed she wasn’t reading thoughts, but seeing a memory of someone. The blonde haired boy, the one called Nanami, eventually got up, and boarded a train that Anya didn’t remember seeing. And then, a while after, the white haired boy checked his phone, got confused, and then looked up at a different train that had appeared in the station.

“I guess… this is my train?” The White Haired boy said, confused.
“Don’t keep them waiting.” The black haired boy said, pushing the white hair off of the bench towards the train. “You might be needed.”
“Fat chance. Probably a mistake.”
“There are no mistakes here.” The severe looking adult said. “You already have someone waiting for you there. And one right here.”

The White Haired boy was wearing glasses, dark glasses, so Anya couldn’t see his eyes. But they exchanged eye contact. And the White Haired boy waved to her happily, and then boarded the train.

The severe looking adult man stood up, and then went to talk to Anya, who was rooted the spot in fascination and fear.

“I am Principal Yaga of Tokyo Jujutsu Regional High School.” He began by crouching down in front of Anya.
“Oh! Itadori’s school!” Anya said excitedly. Yaga’s eyes softened.
“That boy lived, did he?”
“He did! He’s so cool!” Anya said, happy to be discussing her newest friend with someone who seemed to know him.
“He is cool, isn’t he?” Yaga said, and ruffled Anya’s hair.
“Yeah… but where are we?” Anya asked him. “I’m Anya!”
“We are… in a place that your little mind shouldn’t be able to handle. This is the space between life and death. Looks like a train station to us.”
“I see a train station too! And wait… are you…?”
“Dead? Yes, child. But I’ve made my peace with that. I lived a fulfilling life. But you… you have a long way to go. And you need to help that boy that just got on that train.”
“But… who is he? How do I help him?” Anya asked nervously.
“That boy… he’s a man now. But he was everything we believed in. He was our best. Our strongest. And he’s lost his way a little bit. Help him find it again. Help him wake up, Anya. You’re the only one who can do it.” Yaga said, and then he held her hand and walked her onto the same train that the White Haired boy got on.

A name sprung into her mind as she opened her eyes again on the Thousand Sunny. The energy sphere was only getting larger. Yuji was locked onto the ball, ready to expand his Domain when he needed to. No one had seen the falling man. The man that Anya knew she needed to wake up.

She did something she had never tried before. Anya is a telepath, which means she can read people’s minds. But telepathy is a two way street. She pushed her little soul, her entire being to scream into the mind of Gojo Satoru.

“WAKE UP GOJO! WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!” Anya screamed in the mind of a very groggy sorcerer. Anya ran over to the woman in the White Dress who’s name she had almost forgotten.

“Utahime-san!” Anya shouted, and tugged at the woman’s sleeve, and forced her to look up. “Look! Look at that!”
“Oh my God…” Utahime said, and her eyes focused again, gaining a clarity that she hadn’t felt in months. “That’s him… BROOKE!” She screeched, sounding furious.
Brooke dropped everything he had in his hands to look at Utahime. “Yes?”
“PLAY ME A GODDAMN SONG! RIGHT NOW!” She shouted, and without waiting for any further prompts, Utahime actived her longest range Solo Forbidden area, just as Brooke produced his electric guitar from almost thin air to shred the gnarliest power chord that any of them had ever seen.

“What’s happening?!” Luffy shouted, while asking. He saw Utahime dancing, Anya’s eyes trained on the sky, and felt Brooke’s music wash over everyone, urgent, empowering, and loud.

All the Jujutsu Sorcerers looked up. Nanami, Maki, Todo, and Itadori. And to the surprise of the Straw Hats and Forgers, they all relaxed. The tension in their bodies melted away. On their faces, instead of panic and shock and grit, they all seemed to be smiling suddenly. Like this was a miracle they didn’t know they could get.

“Gojo…” Nanami began.
“That idiot.” Maki said laughing and smiling for real for the first time.
“What a man.” Todo said, cracking his neck. “Always showing up when we need him the most.”
“GOJO-SENSEI!” Itadori bellowed, nearly losing his balance from the railing, but his eyes trained on the man that saved his life more times than he could ever count.

A pair of crystalline blue eyes shot open. He had heard the voice of the little girl, and had seen her in the moments before true death. He was falling. He could feel the air around him rocketing, so loud, and yet so peaceful. He could smell the salty air, breath again. His body was his again. He could feel his legs, reattached to himself. He felt his eyes adjust, and reorganize themselves with all the new information. His Cursed Energy levels were perfect. He was himself again.

And he was Gojo Satoru, the almighty strongest.

“Who is that?” Luffy asked anyone around him.
“The strongest man who ever lived.” Itadori answered honestly.
“Is he going to save us?” Nami asked.”
“If he can’t, no one can.” Maki said, folding her arms, content to watch.

The effects of Brooke’s music and of Solo Forbidden Area hit Gojo like a shot of everything someone needs to wake up after the worst day of their lives. Gojo stopped himself from falling, above the water, right in line with the Thousand Sunny and the energy ball. All the Straw Hats were shocked by this suddenly, as were Loid and Yor, who were holding Anya and Becky together while they watched this.

“Nine Ropes.” Gojo chanted, smiling, and began moving his hands in what was a practiced rhythm.
“Polarized Light.”
“Crows and Shomyo.”

“FIRE THE SUPREME NAVY SCIENCE WEAPON!” Sentomaru shouted, and the energy ball launched itself at the Thousand Sunny, and Gojo.

“Between Within and Without.” Gojo finished his chant, and on his fingertips, was a small bead of purple light.

Every Sorcerer on the ship mouthed it with him.

“Hollow Purple.”

And the entire world went white.

Chapter Text

The Thousand Sunny was a large ship. Its decks were still fresh, built with the wood from an Adam Tree. It was the ship of the future Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy. And right now, as the ship descended underwater, into the murky depths of the Grand Line, it was the stage for so many reunions it was hard to keep track of.

Gojo Satoru had blown away the Navy’s energy ball with a 200% Hollow Purple. He had sheared through it with pure force; his Hollow Purple blasting it away, and sending all the Navy soldiers flying backwards, along with Sentomaru and the Pacifista’s. And The Thousand Sunny escaped completely unharmed, and everyone was celebrating and cheering.

Gojo landed onto the decks after a brief moment of making sure his attack worked. His smile was huge and his blue eyes were alight with joy. He stretched and flexed, and jumped a little bit.
“I’m alive… hahaha!” He said, pumping his fists. “I’M ALIVE!”
“GOJO-SENSEI!” Itadori was the first one to tackle and hug him, wrapping Gojo up. And then Maki joined in on the group hug. As did Nanami, although only from the side.
“You really are an idiot. Couldn’t you have timed that better?” Maki chastised Gojo, but there was no venom in her voice. She was happy to see him.
“You guys didn’t seriously think that I would leave you to fight your own battles, did you?” Gojo beamed and was laughing, holding his two students like they were the most precious things in the world to him. He was starting to cry almost. “Oh my Goodness… thank you both.”

“Ahem!” Utahime said, arms folded under her chest, and tamping her foot impatiently. She wasn’t looking at Gojo but had a very pouty face on her.
Gojo extricated himself from Itadori and Maki, and punched Nanami on the arm with a wink, and then walked over to Utahime.
“Did you miss me?” Gojo asked, smiling and without fear.
“Whenever you’re done doing what you’re doing here… come and talk to me.” Utahime said, low and intense, staring directly into the Honored One’s eyes. Her emotions were all over the place. “Actually, it might need to wait until tomorrow. Because all I can see when I look at you is the headstone we buried you under.”

Utahime walked off, down below decks, presumably to find the kitchen. Or the alcohol storeroom. Whatever came first.

The Straw Hats were on the other side of the ship, and they were having a much more joyful reunion. They were all hugging and laughing. The nine of them together again. All of them were ridiculously happy. All of them were hugging each other but most importantly, they were all hugging Luffy.

“Luffy… we have something important to discuss.” Nami said after a moment, breathless, and happy.
“Yeah.” Luffy said, looking at the Forgers, and then the Sorcerers, especially the white haired one who had seemingly fallen from the sky, and then saved everyone. “We do. Are they good people?”
“Yeah, they are.” Zoro was the first to speak up. “I can only speak for that woman, Maki. But based on how she interacts with the others, I’d say they’re all about as strong, if not stronger than her.”
“Loid-san saved me, too.” Nami said. Usopp nodded in agreement and then spoke up. “Loid is clearly super smart! He had so many great ideas, and he seems really clever.”
“Yor-swan is so kind and nice!” Sanji chimed in, serving more drinks that he could always somehow be found with, having already given Utahime a glass, a very brief tour of the ship, and then got her settled into the dining room to drink alone. “And she’s very protective of that little girl.”
“We can’t have kids on board the ship.” Luffy said, frowning.
“She resisted a Celestial Dragon.” Sanji interjected. “And that pink-haried boy openly defied one of them. Just like you did.”
“That was for Camie!” Luffy replied, sounding a bit like a petulant child.
“Itadori did the same thing for Anya.” Zoro replied, shrugging. “He acts a lot like you do.”
“And the tall one?” Luffy asked, pointing at Gojo.
“We don’t know anything about him. He just fell out of the sky like you saw.” Nami said, shrugging. “But he’s clearly the strongest among them. Remember how they all relaxed and smiled the second they realized who it was. They all believe in him, like we believe in you.” Nami finished.

“Hey!” Luffy called to the group of Jujutsu Sorcerers.
“Yo!” Gojo called back, and began to walk to meet with them, his team behind him.

Gojo and Luffy stood face to face, with Gojo the much taller of the two.

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy.”
“I’m Gojo Satoru.”
The two men shook hands. Luffy looked towards the Forgers, and Loid passed Anya off to Yor, and then stood up.
“I’m Loid Forger.”
“Good, we’re all here then.” Luffy said and folded his arms. “I’m the Captain of the Straw Hats. They’re all my friends. We’re hunting for the One Piece.”
“What’s that?” Gojo asked, confused.
“Whoever holds the One Piece is said to be King of The Pirates.” Luffy replied, wholeheartedly. Gojo’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

Gojo Satoru’s birth changed the very fabric upon which Jujutsu Society had built itself. He was the first child born to the Gojo clan that possessed both the Path of Six Eyes, and Limitless. His Path of Six Eyes could see Cursed Energy down to the molecular level, and he studied Luffy intensely. His mind couldn’t quite process what it was seeing.
“And what exactly… does this One Piece do?” Gojo asked cautiously, with the rest of his team standing behind him, confused as to where this line of questioning he had was going.
“I have no idea.” Luffy said, just as firm. “But we know it’s real, and that the original King of The Pirates left all his treasure at the end of the Grand Line for the next person to find it. It’s said that whoever holds it, will be crowned King of the Pirates.”
“I’ve had a lot of experience with Kings who crown themselves.” said Gojo very seriously. Luffy’s eyes darkened as Loid thought to himself “I don’t really know why I’m standing here. These two are near demigods and I am a spy. A well-trained spy, sure, but what the hell am I supposed to do if these two start fighting?”
“Yeah, so what?” Luffy replied, stepping a little closer to Gojo, and all the Straw Hats and Sorcerers began to tense, but none moved a muscle or uttered a word otherwise. Whatever was going to happen, was going to happen whether they wanted it or not.
“Who do you get to rule over if you become King? Why do you want to become King?” Gojo asked, his blue eyes unmoving and shimmering with power that has had a long time to recharge.
“Oh!” Luffy replied, smiling again and laughing suddenly. Gojo was taken aback. Was Luffy mocking Gojo? “There’s no lands that come with it. I don’t want to rule over anyone. It’s the most free man on the seas that’s King of the Pirates!”

Gojo just stood there, almost dumbfounded. He blinked a couple times and righted his posture, having been unconsciously leaning down.

Gojo did notice something odd about the man they were calling Loid Forger next to him. His body was… completely empty. With the Path of Six Eyes, Gojo Satoru was able to see Cursed Energy down to the molecular level. And because Cursed Energy was the reflection of the negative spectrum of human emotion, Gojo could often tell what a person was feeling, and thus, could almost tell what they were thinking.

Not Loid Forger.

The man was a blank. Like Maki, he seemed to possess no Cursed Energy at all. But Gojo knew that couldn’t have been the case, because Loid didn’t have Heavenly Pacts where he came from. That much, Gojo was certain of. If he really peered at Loid, focusing his own immense energy into searching, he could detect traces of it throughout Loid’s body; perfectly distributed. A level of emotional control that even Gojo himself did not have. Loid Forger was dangerous, despite his easy eyes and handsome face. Gojo could see how his hands weren’t shaking in fear right now, despite the situation. Was Loid trustworthy?

“You there, pops.” Gojo asked Loid directly. “Why do you want to join up with a gang of criminals?” The question wasn’t asked accusatory. The Straw Hats were criminals. And proud of it.

“Because I believe that the Straw Hat Crew are good people. You are the one that is the most revered by those who know you, correct?” Loid asked Gojo, evenly, calmly. Gojo noted that, considering Loid had also just watched him blast apart an enemy force with his sorcery. But Loid wasn’t phased by him.

“Yeah, you could say that.” Gojo replied, smiling and shrugging. The confidence was unmistakable.
“Don’t listen to him, Loid!” Itadori called out, waving his hand. “Gojo is the strongest sorcerer to ever live!”
“Itadori!” Gojo scolded him, but Gojo was trying hard not to smile, and sound like a proper teacher. “I’m negotiating!”
“Good luck with that.” Muttered Zoro, who was leaning against the deck railing. “Negotiating with us is like talking to a wall.”
“I don’t believe that’s true.” Loid interjected, still calm and very presentable. Gojo saw nothing move inside of Loid. Everyone else’s Cursed Energy was fluid and fluctuating, easy to read, and shifted based on every word spoken in the conversation. Even for Gojo, the input was sometimes too much to be useful to him. But Loid? Nothing moved inside of him. It was like he had an iron padlock around his heart. “You all have been nothing but helpful and amazing.”
“Stop it!” Chopper said blushing, and Gojo raised his eyebrows at the little reindeer. Gojo pointed at Chopper and looked at Nanami who simply replied with,
“Doctor.”

Gojo shrugged again, and went back to the conversation between Loid and Luffy.

“Why did you ask me if I was the most revered?” Gojo asked Loid.
“Because your student, Itadori, saved my daughter. From being turned into a child bride.” Loid replied.

Only then did Gojo see sparks fly from Loid’s Cursed Energy. Not much. But there was anger in his heart. And by God, did Gojo see inside of Loid Forger someone who had been hurt in so many different ways, it wasn’t a shock that he didn’t seem to feel much of anything at all. But when he mentioned his daughter’s plight, his emotions moved. He was human after all.

“Nice work, Itadori!” Gojo called over his shoulder with a bright smile and a thumbs up.
“Thank you, sensei!” Itadori called back, and Maki slapped him on the back of the head.

“That being said, if it weren’t for Sanji, and Nami, and Usopp, my family would be hunted down. Anya is now a criminal for resisting the powers that be.” Loid gestured to the pink-haired girl sitting on the other young woman’s lap. Gojo noted that the woman had an abundance of Cursed Energy. But even more strangely, Gojo noted the same thing that Sukuna did. That Anya had the highest amount of Reverse Curse Energy that he had ever seen. Perhaps more than Shoko Ieiri. There was something else about the little girl that Gojo was struggling to remember… But he figured that he would have plenty of time to talk to the child later.

“Your Itadori is now also a criminal for helping Anya. So is that other boy, Todo. But the Straw Hats have saved many of us. Already, we have all only been here a few hours, and yet they have risked everything to invite us onto their ship. Luffy is not a liar. I know liars. I’m a psychiatrist.” Loid explained to Gojo.
“How do I know I can trust you?” Gojo asked Loid.
“Because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would kill me if I was lying.” Loid replied and stared down Gojo. “And it seems you have more than enough of whatever it is you possess to be a problem for the world we all now inhabit.”

“Understatement of the century.” Nanami said, incredibly dryly. Maki and Itadori had to suppress their laughter by coughing.

Loid continued. “I don’t know you beyond what I just saw. But what I saw around you was more important to me than watching you… do whatever it is you just did. You must forgive me, all of your powers and abilities, both from your group and the Straw Hats are very alien to me.”
“But so cool!” Anya chimed in from Yor’s lap. Becky nodded in agreement, who had somehow convinced Chopper to let her pet him again.
“Yes, very cool, Anya.” Loid replied with a gentle smile for his daughter before keeping his soft face to look at Gojo.
“When you appeared, Gojo Satoru, everyone who knew you, including Itadori who I view as one of the most powerful individuals I’ve ever met, relaxed.” Loid said to Gojo. “There are not many people who have that kind of calming effect. Because what I saw is called belief. They all believed in you to do the right thing. To save all of us. The only other person I’ve ever seen that happen with was literally about thirty minutes before.” Loid gestured to Luffy.

“When all the Straw Hats saw him, their Captain, I saw every one of them smile and cheer. It was like they were all looking at their home for their first time in many years. I cannot emphasize to you, Gojo, how rare of an effect that is to have on such a large group of people. And such a large group of extremely powerful and capable individuals.” Loid will say to Gojo, and gently reach out to put a hand on his shoulder.

“The Straw Hats are a force that opposes those who would enslave others, force children into marriages, and blow up half a civilized island to catch a group of people, who I can honestly tell you haven’t done anything wrong except fight for what’s right.” Loid said to Gojo, quiet and honest.

Gojo looked at Loid, and with Six Eyes, he couldn’t read Loid’s energy. But he could tell that whatever was happening in Loid’s mind was for the best. Loid appeared to have everyone’s best interests at heart. And then, Gojo felt a little hand tug at his pant leg, and he looked down to see the little pink haired girl, the one who was called Anya.

“Gojo-sensei!” Anya said, and threw her arms up to the sky as though she wanted to reach out to hug Gojo, but it was more for emphasis. “You’re so cool! Luffy is so cool! You are a good person! Luffy is a good person! Trust Papa!” She said with the certainty of a child that could read minds.

“Why did you call me Gojo-sensei?” Gojo crouched and asked the little girl quietly.
“Because that’s what Itadori-kun calls you. And he really likes you.” Anya replied to him, her voice dropping but not her emotional intensity. “And because he likes you, I like you! And Anya thinks that Gojo would be better helping his friends.”

Gojo looked into Anya’s hopeful eyes, and saw nothing but fierce determination. This little girl had the same level of intensity as her father, and probably her mother too. The Forgers were convinced that Luffy and the Straw Hats were the horse to race with. And Gojo looked back, and saw Itadori and Nanami nod.

“Alright then. Can we join you?” Gojo asked, holding out his hand again.
“My family would like to come as well.” Loid said.
“Any man who can blow up a robot army like that, and any man who raises his daughter to stand up to Celestial Dragons is alright in my book! Welcome aboard!”

And everyone cheered. The Straw Hats numbers had grown. And the world was shaking with anticipation.

It became a meet and greet after that. With everyone getting to know everyone and pairing off or wandering around the ship in groups. Anya and Becky were set loose together and they were excitedly playing with Chopper, with Brooke supervising while playing Violin, along with Yuri who seemed mostly content to stay in his room, and read whatever political books the Thousand Sunny had in store for him. He was determined to figure out what exactly was happening in this place, considering that he was not on the side of the child slavers, but was on the side of pirates.

Itadori and Todo had gone off with Sanji to get fed, because they were exceptionally interested in his cooking, as well as Luffy who joined them. Utahime and Zoro had found themselves at the same table, silently drinking together. Both of them were quite happy with the arrangement. Maki was content to simply watch the ocean drift by as they descended into the darkness.

Loid and Yor and Nanami had all taken a booth seat in the dining hall to discuss matters of differences between their worlds, to try and solve some of the mystery behind their appearances. Especially with Gojo falling in after the rest of them. Franky was down in the engine room, getting all systems back online.

Gojo had found himself on the bow of the ship, well away from anyone else. His shoulders slumped, and his head was bowed. He was taking deep, shaky breaths. His fists were shaking, clenched together, white knuckled and he was sweating. Relieving memories he didn’t want to live. His final moments. The second time he had ever lost and it had meant his death. He couldn’t come to grips with the fact that a weakling like him had been chosen to be brought back to li-
“Something troubling you?” Nico Robin asked Gojo Satoru, who snapped up and looked her in the eyes.

Nico Robin was a striking woman. The oldest woman on the Straw Hat crew at thirty, and she looked like she had all the wisdom the world had to offer at that moment. Tall, elegant, and with a grace that belied her occupation.

“How much have you heard about me?” Gojo asked, trying to laugh it off.
“Only what you want to tell me.” Robin replied.
“I… I’m Gojo Satoru. It’s very nice to meet you.” Gojo said, bowing politely.
“I’m Nico Robin, the archeologist on the ship.” She replied, nodding politely as well. “I overheard a few things. You died?” She asked, more interested than anything else.
“I… did. I think I did. It’s all sort of a blur.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“I don’t want to scare you or-” Robin held up a hand in polite dismissal to Gojo.
“Try me.”
“Alright.” Gojo said and took a deep breath. He was suddenly acutely aware of every single thing on his body. His Six Eyes were not helping him right now. He could feel every molecule of cotton stretch across his body. He thought that his shoes were too tight. His pants felt like they needed to be adjusted. He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening.
“Take a deep breath, Gojo.” Robin murmured quietly to him. Gojo did as instructed. “Good. Have you never told anyone before?”
“I haven’t really had a lot of time to process everything. You saw how the others looked at me. How they always look at me. Before I died, I reveled in it. I was so confident, Robin.” Gojo said, almost cursing himself. “My abilities were second to none. I literally cannot even be touched if I don’t want to. You just watched me blast away a nuclear bomb.”
Robin nodded along, having Gojo sit down at her tea table with her, the one she keeps near the bow of the ship when the weather is nice. It was… under the ocean’s surface at current, so the skies were for all intents and purposes, clear.

“I died fighting someone who died a thousand years before I was born.” Gojo said with a whisper, his arms on the table, his hands still clenched but not nearly as tightly. Robin sat and was listening to him, and when she noticed that he was struggling, she put a hand over his. Gojo calmed down slightly. “All I’ve ever been is the Strongest. The Almighty. The Honored one. And I loved it. Every moment of it. I only lost one fight in my entire life. It was to someone who had abilities that I had never seen before. I got surprised, and I wasn’t half as strong then. I was so much stronger now. I fought him. For hours.”
“May I ask who?”
“The King of Curses, Ryomen Sukuna.” Gojo replied quietly. “He’s back sharing a space with Itadori, inside his soul. He got out on technicality last time, and Itadori is much more aware of how to keep Sukuna down. He won’t be any trouble unless Itadori loses it completely.”
“And how did he beat you?” Robin asked.
“He changed the way his innate technique worked at the last second. He had a binding vow on his largest range attack. It was a blade that severed through time and space, rending atoms apart.” Gojo explained softly. “I didn’t see it coming. I was in two pieces after that.”
“I am terribly sorry to hear about that Gojo.” She said quietly, and gently held his hand. “But what’s got you acting like this now?”
“I don’t lose. I don’t lose, and I lost!” Gojo said emphatically. “What am I? If I’m not the strongest? If I’m not what everyone needs to me to be?” He asked her, seeking anything from her. Anything at all.
“When you were falling down, I watched the entire thing, Gojo.” Nico Robin began. “I watched every person who knew your name, who knew you had died and how, and all the circumstances that you just told me… and I watched them smile when that little girl pointed at you. I watched every single one of them smile when they saw you do what you do.” She informed him quietly. “They never stopped believing in you. Even in your death, they still all valued you, and your abilities. But I think you’ve missed something in this emotional spiral of yours.”
“And what is that?”
“That they weren’t only missing you because you were their hero, Gojo. Did you see what Itadori did? He didn’t greet you like a child would in a children’s tale. He hugged you. I saw him cry. He missed you the way he missed his friend. Maki too. Utahime… I’m not sure how she really feels about you but I know it’s intense. Even the very serious Nanami-san was brought to a smile when he realized it was you. And I imagine you two have known each other for a long time.” She said, smiling gently at him.
“But still… who am I to me?” Gojo asked, looking out onto the ocean’s depths.
“Who were you before?” She asked gently.
“A weapon.” Gojo said, in a near whisper. “I was a weapon. A weapon for Jujutsu Society to use against the rise of curses. I was told my birth changed the way curses formed. I obviously wasn’t old enough to understand until later, but curses got stronger as a result of my birth. I was the single strongest person on the planet. All I did, every single day, was train to be a weapon. Everything else about me was secondary. What I liked, who I liked, who I loved… none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was that I killed the curses that needed to be killed. And I lost my best friend over that too.”
“You’ve lost a lot of people.” Nico Robin said gently.
“Geto was the man who I lost. I tried not to get too attached to anyone who hadn’t proven themselves at least a little bit after him.”
“What happened with Geto?”
“He… he went crazy. He was fully lucid, and I had even spoken to him… he wanted to end the world as we knew it. And I wasn’t emotionally strong enough to stop him, because he was the only one who ever understood what it was like to be me at that moment in time. He wanted to kill everyone who wasn’t a sorcerer. We aren’t that many people.” He shrugged, and explained further. “And you, Robin? Have you lost someone?”
“Everyone I ever knew died in a single night.” She replied evenly, and quite sadly.
“Holy shit.” Gojo said, his own problems feeling less significant. “What happened? If you’re okay telling a total stranger.”
“You’re not a total stranger anymore, Gojo. You’re a crewmate, and a friend.” She replied insistently, with a lot of fire in her eyes, that Gojo was very appreciative of, if not a little frightened. “There’s a lot you don’t know about the world.”

It was Robin’s turn to take a deep breath.

“When I was a little girl, my mother had left on an expedition to find something called a Poneglyph. These are large stone monoliths that are written in a language no one understands. It is illegal in this world to research them.” She began.
“Why? That seems strange.” Gojo replied, interested.
“Because it is rumored that the Poneglyphs reveal the true history of the world. Eight hundred years ago, there was something called the Void Century. There is no written documentation from those 100 years. Right after that, the World Government was formed, and that’s where history begins. The Poneglyphs are an indestructible record of that time. But no one can read them.”
“No one?” Gojo asked, raising an eyebrow. Robin smiled shyly.
“Except for me. I was the daughter of NIco Olivia, and was the daughter of the island of Ohara, the Archaeology Island. We were academics. Scholars who tried so hard to bring knowledge to the people of the world. Including the Poneglyphs. We had cracked it. We had learned to decode the language. And I am the last remaining survivor of that island.” She said, choking up slightly. Gojo rested a second hand on top of hers.
“You don’t have to tell me too much more.” Gojo said softly.
“No, I do.” Robin said, determined. “You told me earlier that you didn’t know who you were. I didn’t know who I was for a long time. The World Government assaulted my island, killed every single person I had ever known, including my mother and Professor Clover, the man who raised me in her absence. They initiated a Buster Call, and destroyed everything. I am the only survivor. The World Government is to blame for all the evils and cruelty that take place in this world. I just spent my two years away from the Straw Hats fighting with the Revolutionary Army, who’s sole mission it is to fight against the World Government. But I believe that helping Luffy is where I am best suited.” She explained to Gojo. “Everyone in the Straw Hat fights for a reason. We were all wronged. We were all hurt in some way. Our lives, for some of us, were already forfeit. Luffy himself pulled me out of a crumbling temple, because he couldn’t let me die. I had tried to kill him twice at that point in time. He still tried to save me.”
“Why did he do that?” Gojo asked her, confused.
“Because that’s the kind of man he is. Don’t worry, Gojo. You may not know who you are now, but I promise that if you stick around with Luffy long enough, you’ll figure it out.”
“Thank you for talking to me, Robin.” Gojo said quietly after a moment. “I haven’t really ever spoken to someone like this before.”
“It has been a long time since I’ve had an adult conversation.” Robin laughed politely. “You see who I choose to spend my time with. But that comes with its drawbacks as well.”

They just sat together for a while. Holding hands as friends, and as people who’ve endured horrible, terrible things. Gojo had found something in Robin he thought he would never find in another person again. Understanding and acceptance. As equals.

Gojo said after a moment to Robin, “I think I want to be free. I’ve never been free before.”
“Welcome to the Straw Hats, Gojo.” Robin said softly with a conspiratorial smile.

Chapter Text

The interior of the Thousand Sunny was… confusing to say the least. The ship seemed much bigger on the inside, considering how much stuff and bits and bobs, and a rather absurd amount of rooms, that Franky had crammed into it. Everything from a fully functional library, to an engine room, fuel storage room, weapons rooms for the ships various systems, a separate engine room specifically to power the Coup De Burst. Every crewmate has a bedroom, and now, somehow, Franky had already erected more bedrooms for the additional crewmates.

Somehow. Somewhere Zoro had never seen anything but a wall. He didn’t trust himself, not truly, to know if anything had been there or not, but he decided it really didn’t matter to him, as long as his bedroom was in the same place, and his training area hadn’t been moved. It hadn’t. Yet.

Zoro had finally found his way down to his favorite place in the entirety of the Thousand Sunny. His booth in the kitchen. While he shared his meals with the crew, he often preferred the solitary nature of his drinking.

The kitchen and dining area were separated, with a big double door that was labeled KITCHEN. The rest of the dining area was flanked by a massive fish tank that was often filled by Luffy and Usopp’s regular fishing trips for Sanji to cook up later. It was empty right now, as the crew hadn’t actually been on the ship for quite some time. So it gave an even emptier vibe to the already, mostly deserted kitchen.

Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, and Brooke all either didn’t like drinking, or literally couldn’t consume alcohol. Nami and Robin would sometimes drink with him, but it wasn’t a normal occurrence, and Robin was more common than Nami. Franky was a robot who only seemed to drink cola. Which meant that Zoro was commonly found drinking alone.

At least, that’s how it is normally. Until Zoro looked up and saw what was perhaps the most tired and distressed woman he had ever seen. He wasn’t the best with names, but Maki seemed to know this woman. Utahime, was her name, and she was a teacher? Something like that.

“Room for one more?” Utahime asked him tiredly. Zoro went under the floorboards, and found where he had stored some of his favorite sake, and pulled a few bottles onto the table. The fridge and cabinets were locked. Zoro wasn’t particularly angry at Sanji for this, as it meant that Luffy couldn’t consume thirty days worth of food in about 30 seconds. Zoro didn’t respond verbally, but he poured another drink out of the bottle he had just pulled out of the floor, and poured another drink. And then he poured her a double after taking another look at her.

“You know that white haired guy?” Zoro asked her, after she and he had taken their first few sips in silence. “The one who stopped that big energy bomb, or whatever?”

“Yes. Yes, I know him. He’s an insufferable man-child.” Utahime replied, her cheeks already slightly flushed, from a small, quick chug and a few deep breaths. She clearly wasn’t used to Pirate alcohol. “But he’s also the strongest man in the world. Even here, I’m not super convinced that Gojo isn’t still the strongest.”

Zoro looked up at her with his eye. She seemed to be speaking from a place of conviction, even with having seen what most of the Straw Hat crew can do. Then again, Zoro did watch that white haired guy meet a Navy energy attack with his own, albeit strange, ability. He clearly wasn’t weak.

“Maki had mentioned him in passing. He was dead before this?” Zoro asked her bluntly, and continued to drink with her.

“Yeah, he died in front of everyone here, except for Nanami, who was already dead when Gojo died.” Utahime said, and took a big swig of the drink she was given. Zoro poured her more. He wasn’t her dad, if she wanted to drink, he would keep it going until one of them passed out. “Gojo lost. When he wasn’t supposed to lose.” Utahime slammed her hand down on the table in what could’ve been anger. Or grief.

“Someone that strong died? He must’ve not been the strongest.” Zoro remarked, looking to see what Utahime would say. She glowered at him for a moment, and then sighed and slumped back.

“He was the strongest modern sorcerer. Itadori, that pink haired kid who’s with Luffy right now, was the Vessel of Sukuna, King of Curses. Sukuna had some big, grand, bullshit plan involving Megumi Fugishiro, who was another student in the Tokyo school, and basically he wanted to exterminate the planet.” Utahime explained, as she was getting more and more drunk.

“Sukuna is a thousand years old. He was so evil and powerful that he was turned into cursed objects, his fingers, and spread around the country. Until Itadori, like a true dumbass, ate one.” Utahime said, with a swig.

Zoro raised an eyebrow. “He ate a finger of a dead man who was evil?”

“I wasn’t there. I was told that’s what happened. I originally advocated for Itadori to be executed. I didn’t know him at the time, but because he didn’t instantly die from eating the finger, it awaked both Itadori’s abilities and let Sukuna grow in power. Eventually, Sukuna had eaten enough fingers to do whatever he wanted. So he ripped himself from Itadori, into Megumi, killed a lot of fucking people, and then we eventually put him down. Itadori put him down. After Sukuna killed Gojo. Gojo, to give you an idea, brought Sukuna down roughly halfway to death. It took everyone else, and I mean everyone else that was left in all Jujutsu Society, to fight an already half-beaten Sukuna. We lost a lot of people. But Gojo… he wasn’t supposed to lose. He was winning… and then… and then he was in two pieces…” She said, tearing up, and drinking to conceal her emotions.

Zoro wasn’t sure what to say. People died around him all the time. Not recently at least, but he wasn’t unfamiliar with loss.

“But you won.” Zoro said, simply. “Gojo fought to win. But he wasn’t fighting a solo battle. Gojo couldn’t have won without any of the rest of you. If it was just him, everyone would’ve died right?” Zoro asked her.

“His death wasn’t in vain.” Zoro elaborated. “And now, he’s not even dead. I don’t know what that means. I’m not some philosopher or wiseman that can glean some meaning from all of this. It sounds like everyone is getting a happy reunion. And from what I saw on the deck, Gojo seems to be thrilled to see all of you. It gave his death some meaning. Lots of people never get to see the impacts they had on others. Gojo’s impact on you was that you all got to live.” Zoro explained to her, as well as he could.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. But why is he back now? Why is Nanami back? And Sukuna?” Utahime murmured, having those drunk thoughts. Zoro also started to get a bit flushed himself, as they were just drinking and talking, with a heavy emphasis on the drinking.

“Those aren’t questions we’ll find the answer to in the bottom of a bottle. But it’ll make finding the answers more fun.” Zoro said, raising his glass. Utahime raised hers and clinked their glasses together. “And you, Utahime? What about you?”

“What about me?” She looked at him quizzically, as though she had never been asked that question before.

“I mean, you say your strongest guy is up there right now. But I’ve seen the rest of you fight. I fought Maki personally. Itadori and that shirtless kid are natural fighters. Along with that serious looking dude.” Zoro gestured vaguely, and pointed at his eyes to indicate he was talking about Nanami, due to the glasses. “But I haven’t seen you fight. You did that dance, and something happened, but I couldn’t tell what. I don’t know anything about you. The others I shared a drink and conversation with way earlier.”

“You’re way different from that skeleton.” Utahime said, with a smile on her face, looking at Zoro lazily now. “So much more serious. And less stressful to talk to. I swear every time he opened his mouth I couldn’t tell if he or I were having a heart attack. I do like him though.” Utahime said, giggling.

“Yeah, Brooke can be like that.” Zoro shrugged in agreement.

“But you asked about me… okay… I’ll tell you. Only if you promise to talk about you after.”

“Deal.”

“My name is Utahime Iori. I’m 28 years old, and a Semi First Grade Jujutsu Sorcerer.” She did a mock bow. “The dance you saw is my technique. Solo Forbidden Area. I can empower allies within my range. The fewer targets, the stronger the effect. It’s a multiplicative power, meaning the stronger my target, the stronger the effect my own ability has.” She explained to Zoro who was nodding along.

“As for me personally?” She asked him, and he nodded again. “I was a regular girl. I went to school in my early years, did well. My parents loved me, and I had fine relationships with the people around me. I wasn’t anything too special, but I loved to dance. It was my passion. I wanted to be a ballerina when I grew up.”

Zoro didn’t know what ballet was, but he couldn’t tell if this was another multiversal difference, his own incompetence, or the alcohol doing the thinking.

“You’re good at dancing.” Zoro said, wanting to participate enough to show that he hadn’t fallen asleep.

“Thank you! Yeah, and then my school was attacked by curses. All my friends were slaughtered in front of me.” She said, and Zoro nearly spit out his drink with how casual she sounded. “It was really brutal. Super gruesome. You don’t really ever think about how many organs are in someone’s body until they’re laid out for you to count.” Utahime said morbidly. Zoro had a striking thought that she and Robin would get along excellently. And maybe that other dark haired woman.

Were all dark haired women obsessed with blood, guts, and gore? The mother of Anya, Yor Forger, Zoro recalled, had eyed his swords with appreciation, instead of possessiveness. He could tell she was imagining using them with a smile on her face while she did so. It was rather unsettling. Zoro decided he wasn’t going to ask that question out loud.

“My parents were there too. But they lived, sort of.” Utahime continued onwards. “They were both super fucked in the head from what they saw there. It was supposed to be a ballet recital for me. But after everything was said and done, I got transferred to a new high school. Secret paperwork, secret transfer, basically everything except for a secret goddamn handshake. I ended up at Kyoto Regional Jujutsu High. And there I learned how to fight curses so that never happened to me again.” Utahime continued on. Zoro was glad they were both drunk, because this probably would’ve been a much more emotional conversation without the haze of alcohol clouding their minds. He hated emotional conversations.

“I’m… really sorry to hear about all that.” Zoro said after a beat, trying to remember what Nami would probably say in this situation. “I’m glad that you’re able to sit here and drink with me.”

“Me too, green-hair!” Utahime said, and she laughed. A pure, nearly melodic sound. Zoro was surprised. It’s clear that from her life, she was utterly desensitized to most violence, even her formative memories that were stained with blood. “I’m also glad to be here with you. Alright, big guy. Your turn. Who are you? It’s clear that everyone around here respects you. Maki respects you, and that’s huge, considering how big of a bitch she is.” Utahime mumbled, and then blushed.

“Don’t tell her I said that! Not like a bitch, like bad! But like… that’s my bitch, you know!” Utahime was turning more red. Zoro could only laugh.

“I won’t tell her. I promise. Swordsman’s honor.” Zoro said, with a fake Navy salute. Utahime chuckled at that. Some things were universal after all.

“Alright, alright. But seriously. You’re the least talkative one! Everyone else, aside from that dark haired beautiful woman, wants to yap my fucking ears off. Especially that blonde fuck.” Utahime said, her language getting progressively more vulgar as she got drunker. “Is he like that with literally every girl? He fucking twirls around like the Tazmanian Devil whenever someone with tits is around.”

Zoro snorted, and almost choked on his drink. He hadn’t been able to laugh like this in a very long time. It was wonderful being around someone else who drank, and was willing to not scream constantly.

“Yeah, that’s the cook. Sanji. I call him Curly-brows. He calls me Moss-head, cause he’s unoriginal.” Zoro said, mocking the words Moss-head with a bad French accent. “He is like that with every woman we met. I’m not kidding. It’s fucked us more than once. But, because Luffy eats like a goddamn sinkhole, we keep that fucker around.”

“You keep getting off topic!” Utahime said, pouting and puffing her cheeks out.

“You brought up the cook!”

“Well, now I wanna know about you! Moss-head!” Utahime said emphatically, replying. And both of them made eye contact and then burst out laughing. “Especially why do you need three swords? Are you compensating for something?” Utahime said, her eyes carefully unmoving, but it’s clear what she’s implying.

“No, no. I’m not compensating for anything.” Zoro said, not entirely certain why. He felt his face heat up, and prayed it was from the alcohol.

“I was trained as a swordsman a long time ago, on an island a long way away from here. I had a friend… my best friend. Her name was Kuina. She was much better than me at sword fighting. I could never beat her. But I was young and stupid, so I just kept grabbing more swords. Eventually, I stuck with three.” Zoro explained, swirling his drink around in his cup.

“We kept training. And training. And one night, she brought me into the woods to tell me that she never thought she could be the best in the world because she was a girl.” Zoro said, his eye darkening.

“What did you say?” Utahime replied, leaning forward eagerly.

“Exactly what I thought. That it was a load of bullshit. She was better than me. If she were alive, she would be better than me still!” Zoro said, and slammed his cup down on the table, ratting nearly the entire ship with his strength. Miraculously, the cup survived the ordeal.

“Oh Zoro… I’m sorry.” Utahime said, and reached across the table to pat his hand. “Do you want to talk about how she died?”

“It’s the dumbest fucking thing. So fucking stupid. She tripped!” Zoro barked out, still angry at the memory. Not at her. But at what could’ve been for not coming to pass. “She tripped and broke her neck. She died instantly, because it had rained the day before, and one of the rocks we used as a stair to a dojo was slippery. She died, and I never beat her. I never will now.”

Utahime just sighed deeply, and then gently scooched closer to Zoro to pet his hair, because Utahime was now very, very drunk. They had cleared most of the bottle together. “I’m sorry, Zoro. I’m sorry about Kuina. But from what I can see now, she’d be very proud of the man that you are. You’re a great swordsman.”

“You’ve never even seen me fight.”

“You’re right. I haven’t. But you lived through fighting Maki. That’s already impressive. And you beat Maki, that’s more impressive to me. Also, I can see those bounty posters on the wall.”

Zoro had turned his head to look at what Utahime was looking at. And he nodded his head. The dining area of the Thousand Sunny, which was large and uniquely furnished to accommodate such an eclectic crew, had their bounty posters prominently displayed over the door to the upper decks. Luffy’s bounty was the highest at 400 Million Berry. Zoro’s however, was not overly far behind at 120 Million Berry.

Pirate Hunter Zoro

It read.

“Why are you called the Pirate Hunter when you’re a pirate?” Utahime asked him, now that they were sitting alongside each other.

“I used to hunt them. I still do, I guess. We fight a lot of other pirates, and the Navy. And whoever else gets in our way.” Zoro shrugged. “I used to hunt them for money. There’s a lot of pirates in this world, and if you turned them in, the Navy would give you the bounty for them. It’s how I made a living after leaving the island where I was raised. I fought a lot. Broke a lot of swords. It was a living.”

Zoro was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol himself. He didn’t normally drink this much when he was alone, but despite the heavy topics of conversation, he did find that he was enjoying finally having someone to talk to who wasn’t constantly being loud.

“That sounds like a hard life.” Utahime said, looking over at him over the edge of her glass. “Constantly on the move. Constantly fighting. From what I’ve learned in my… few hours in this place, the whole word is a collection of islands. Where I’m from, there’s far more land. Hell, Japan is larger than most nations I’ve seen on the maps I’ve seen in that orange haired girls room.” She continued on.

“No harder than yours.” Zoro replied, shrugging. “I don’t envy you. I’d happily take a life of wandering and fighting, rather than constantly watching civilians die from… evil spirits. It sounds miserable.”

“It is. I don’t disagree with you. It sucks. There’s a lot of… culture surrounding the core of Jujutsu Society about the meaning of our lives and our deaths. And that we sorcerers should die without regrets. I never knew if I agreed with that. We only get this life. Am I supposed to be okay with everything that’s ever happened to me? Around me? Choices I made that I wished I could change?” Utahime began, rather philosophically for a woman who is quite deep in the cups. “But… I saved a lot of people. All of us have, we Jujutsu Sorcerers anyway. So, I don’t think I have many regrets. That being said… I don’t know if I’d choose this path again. Watching your friends die horrible painful deaths constantly weighs on a soul.”

“I’m glad you’re here, then.” Zoro said, shrugging again and relaxing.

“What do you mean?” Utahime asked, genuinely confused in her drunken state about his response.

“People here do die. But it seems like it’s much less random, or at least, the level of evil in our world doesn’t actually manifest itself to kill people. Our enemies are humans like us. And even our cruelest enemies aren’t murdering psychopaths who kill at random. I’ve fought murderers, I’ve fought psychopaths, hell, I’ve even fought a Fishman Psychopathic Murderer. I fought an assassin who could turn his whole body into blades.” Zoro said, explaining his point emphatically. “But… even the worst among those I’ve fought and defeated, there isn’t anything like what you’re describing. And that pink haired brat has the worst one of them all inside of him?”

“Sort of… Sukuna isn’t a Cursed Spirit. He’s something else. A man. But so powerful that he’s basically a Special Grade Cursed Spirit?” Utahime tried to explain.

“Special Grade?” Zoro asked, it being his turn to be confused.

“Remember how I said I am Semi-First Grade?”

Zoro nodded.

“We have a… ‘power ranking’ system. It’s decided by a few things, but raw strength and cunning are big parts of it. Also, the innate technique of the user, and how powerful that individual is. Gojo is currently the only living Special Grade Sorcerer here, for reference. There were a few others. Yuta is the only one alive back in our world. Suguru Geto and Yuki Tsukomo were the other two. They’re dead now. Nanami, Todo, Maki, and Itadori are all first grade sorcerers. I’m actually, technically, the lowest rank at Semi-First Grade. But I’m only semi-first because my innate technique doesn’t directly harm the Cursed Spirits, at least, that’s what the Elders tell me. It only empowers others, which hurts my ability to climb the ranks. Even when Gojo requested I be made into a First Grade, they said they were ‘processing the request.’ They all died pretty shortly after that. The Elders, I mean.”

“That’s still an extremely potent ability.” Zoro said, his brows furrowing. “I saw what it did to Gojo. And Brooke was raving about it when he was wandering around too, to anyone that would listen. He said he felt his own soul be empowered, whatever that means. And fuck those elders. They wouldn’t know their ass from their elbow if they shit themselves.”

Utahime was silent for a moment, just staring at Zoro. Zoro stared back, and although he wasn’t a master of emotions (or of women) he was certain that what he said was kind and a compliment. He relaxed slightly when she smiled softly at him.

“That’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said about my ability.” Utahime said, and wiped a tear from her eye. “Sorry, I’m… a little drunk.” She giggled.

“Don’t worry about it.” Zoro said, reassuring her. “It’s nice to have someone that doesn’t scream-cry around. The rest of the crew, when they cry, it’s nonstop wailing except for Robin.”

“That dark-haired woman?” Utahime asked.

Zoro nodded again.

“Oh, sorry, you were making a point about… about Sukuna?” Utahime reminded herself.

“Not really just about him, but that the people that we fight aren’t genocidal maniacs most of the time. And when they are genocidal maniacs, they’re crackpots with no real power or authority. Our most dangerous foes have been bent on domination and power, but they don’t randomly slaughter people. When they do kill people, they’ll usually have some evil reason, but it sounds like you’re constantly under attack from horrors from Beyond that just like to eat flesh and kill children.” Zoro said.

“Yeah… I suppose it’s better to be fighting for a just cause rather than survival on its own.” Utahime said.

They both sat quietly for a while, just drinking and enjoying the peaceful silence of the ship gently creaking inside of the bubble. Utahime spoke again after a while.

“How did… how did the Straw Hats form?” She asked, confused.

“You’re all so different from one another. I mean… even just looking at you, I wouldn’t be able to tell you were friends from a distance, let alone a group of people that defy the world’s government and would die for each other.” Utahime continued.

“Weirdly enough, I am the best person to ask about this, because I’m the first crewmate Luffy ever had. I’ve been here for all of it.” Zoro said, feeling slightly smug. It was something that he could forever hold over Sanji. Zoro was the very first crewmate of the Straw Hats.

“The short version is that every person you see here, minus your friends and that… really weird family… was saved by Luffy. In some form or fashion, Luffy saved them. We all have our stories about how we got to where we were when Luffy found us, but he saved all of us from death, or close enough to death that we wished we would’ve died.”

“What about you?”

“I made a stupid mistake trusting the word of some brat on an island a long way away from here.” Zoro said, his brows twitching as he thought of Helmbeppo for the first time in two years and some change. “I put some smug prick in his place, except he was the son of some important Navy officer at the time. He said that if I survived being strapped to a cross for thirty days with no food or water, then he wouldn’t kill a little girl that I was trying to protect from him.”

“What happened?” Utahime was suddenly very, very interested, leaning forward, putting her chin in her hands. Zoro was taken aback slightly; no one has ever shown this much interest in his specific story before.

“Well… I did it.” Zoro shrugged.

“No you fucking didn’t.” Utahime said, in total disbelief.

“Yes, I did!” Zoro replied, emphatic. Not aggressive, but he hated being called a liar. What Zoro was unaware of was that Utahime was from an entirely new place with different linguistic tendencies, and that can screw with communication.

“No, I mean that’s literally impossible. People die without food in like a week! Water, in three days. You weren’t there for thirty.”

“What, do you want a witness testimony?” Zoro asked her, sarcastically.

“Are you human?”

“Nothing but.”

Utahime was convinced that Zoro was either lying, a madman, or some type of monster. She assumed monster, since no one in this world seemed to know how to lie, and he clearly wasn’t crazy.

“Okay, I’ll assume you aren’t lying, but I do think you’re crazy. What happened after that?”

“Luffy.”

“I need a bit more than that, bone head.” Utahime reached across the table and flicked Zoro in the face. Zoro normally would’ve gotten angry, but Utahime giggled after, and all the anger suddenly left his body. He just sighed, took a sip of his drink, and continued speaking.

“Now, what I’m going to say does actually sound fucking nuts. Because… I honestly still can’t believe it happened. Luffy, apparently, heard that I was being held, and that I was a good swordsman.” Zoro began, Utahime following along with bated, alcohol-smelling breath.

“He just popped up over the wall of the Navy base. In the middle of the prison yard. He walked right up to me and asked me to join his crew.” Zoro said, taking a drink.

“Like that?” She asked, snapping her fingers.

Zoro snapped his fingers as well. “Like that.”

Utahime just shrugged, and took and asked. “What did you say?”

“Fuck no!” Zoro laughed heartily. “I told him no. And he asked why, and I explained what I was doing. He said that the same little prick lied to me, and he overheard it in the bar, and he was going to execute the little girl anyway.”

Utahime’s eyes went wide.

“Luffy asked me where my swords were. I said that little asshole keeps them in his room as trophies, from the ‘Great Pirate Hunter’.” One could feel the sarcasm radiating from Zoro as he did his air quotes. “Luffy basically made a deal that if he got my swords, I’d join his crew. I thought he had a death wish. I couldn’t stop him. So he went. Didn’t think I’d ever see him again. Imagine my shock when he crashed through a window, threw me my swords, and then made sure I kept my promise.”

“And… you’ve stuck with him for one promise you made?”

“Like I said, he saved my life. He saved a little girl and her mother. And then, over and over again, I’ve seen him do the right thing. We aren’t heroes, and we shouldn’t be called heroes, but what kind of man would I be if I didn’t smile when children get to hug their parents again because of us?” Zoro said, and drank a dip chug.

Utahime visibly relaxed. She had been harboring subconscious doubts about the morality of joining a self proclaimed group of pirates. But Zoro had managed to put her at ease, without even really trying. She could tell that he, like the rest of them, had a good heart. She could sense the immense power in the young man, and he was certainly more angry than the rest of them, by and large, but Roronoa Zoro, Pirate Hunter, was one of the best men she had ever met.

He could still use a little help talking to girls though.

Chapter Text

Bond had a much more quiet opening to his new world. Bond being a massive mastiff of an undisclosed breed that at one point, was a test subject for some rather inhumane experimentation that Bond doesn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to fully unravel. For Bond doesn’t go to therapy.

He’s a dog.

Bond awoke in a pile of hay on a cart, pulling through Sabody Park. He looked around, sniffed a little bit, and then hopped off the cart. The person who was riding the cart, which were being pulled by what appeared to be teal oxen, paid no heed to the dog who had appeared in his carriage, and continued on his merry way.

Bond was a bit freaked out. He was looking around, swiveling his head back and forth looking for anyone who he recognized. Every smell that was hitting his enhanced senses was new, strange, and different. He quickly pieced together that he was not Home. He was Somewhere Else. And this Somewhere Else was nowhere close to anywhere he had been before.

He knew he wanted to get from Somewhere Else to Somewhere Familiar. But how? He had a nose, and figured he would sniff his way somewhere quieter, for Bond was not a normal dog. Due to those test subjects, he had… a rather unique ability.

After stealing a kebab off a cart salesman who was haggling with a group of Navy soliders over a bulk order of kebabs, Bond trotted off to find a peaceful quiet taste. He’d rather be eating Yor’s cooking instead of whatever was happening to him now. He finished his kebab and closed his eyes.

Bond could see the future.

It wasn’t perfect. And it could be altered. But he trusted that ability enough to know what to do. He sat down and concentrated. He concentrated really hard, his cute dog face furrowing while he thought long and hard about what the future would be. He focused on Anya, and then Loid and Yor. He knew that he wanted them back. He had no idea if they were here, but he knew that if this future were possible, he would go through with it no matter what he needed to do.

He loved his family.

And then the vision came. Hazier than normal. He saw… a large boat? With a lion on the front. And it looked like something he would watch with Anya on the television. But when he looked harder, he saw a large man in a speedo working around the boat. He was focusing on Anya but got a strange pervert instead? He must be important, Bond decided.

So he got up, and started to run around the island. He saw in the vision the number on the large trees that were around him. Bond could count, more or less. He could at least recognize symbols. He hoped that it would be enough. He knew that boats could leave. And that his family would have no way of knowing if they left him behind.

The thought filled him with dread. And fear. He ran faster.

Bond was a huge dog. Big and shaggy. But he could run. And he was in shape. So ran he did, tongue out of the side of his mouth. He ran for what could’ve been hours in his mind (it was a few minutes, no more than ten) before he saw it. The large boat from his vision.

He wandered through the path down to the boat before he reached the end of the gangplank. He just walked right up and looked around.

__________________________________________________________________________

Franky, our loveable cyborg, had been working on redoing the sails on the mast. While Kuma had protected the boat from adversaries, seawater and wind and weather had an effect on even the strongest and mightiest of modern day, current Earth, Aircraft carriers. The Thousand Sunny is not an Eisenhower Class Aircraft Carrier, but it was still a sizable, strong ship. Franky was singing along to some song in his head about girls in skimpy bikinis before he noticed the large, white dog that was just sitting there. Looking at him.

“Oh… a dog?” Franky muttered, scratching his own head. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This is a pirate ship for pirates.” Franky said, looking up and pointing to the jolly roger.

Much to Franky’s surprise, the dog literally shook his head. Saying no.

“What?” Franky said, his eyes going wide as he pulled his sunglasses down to look at the dog incredulously. Chopper could talk and be a person, obviously, but he had eaten the Human-Human Fruit, this was just… a large, white, shaggy dog.

“What do you mean no?” Franky asked.

“WOOF!” Bond barked, indignantly. Bond, maintaining eye contact with Franky, laid down.

“Hey! Don’t back talk me!” Franky said, indignantly, with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. He put his massive hands on his very normal sized hips. “You need to leave! This is a pirate ship, not a place for a dog.”

Bond shook his shaggy head again, and said “WOOF!” Which translates too “I’m not leaving you, oversized tin can! My family is coming here!”

“What a strange dog.” Frankie said, and moved to go and scoop up Bond to put him off the ship. Bond, being ever the intelligent dog, rolled out of the way, and raised himself to all four paws and made a deep growling noise. Not baring his teeth, but his fur is raised.

“Hey! Get back here!” Franky said, moving much faster towards bond, hands outstretched.

Bond was ready, and took off at a sprint. Franky pursued, arms outstretched as though to hug the dog. Bond leaped and bounded over the various boxes and barrels that littered the deck of the Thousand Sunny, and Franky was suddenly cursing under his breath after he stubbed his toe.

Again.

Bond kept a careful eye on Franky, always wary. He had no idea how long he would have to keep up this game, but nothing would take him away from Anya. Nothing.

Until Bond suddenly felt a whole bunch of hands wrap around him. Suddenly, he was sprouting limbs. He had no idea this was coming, and he started howling loudly and incessantly. He couldn’t bite the hands, and he was very, very afraid. The hands were very feminine, and actually smelled quite nice. It didn’t help the fact that he couldn’t move at all.

“Franky.” A new voice said, confused but amused. “Is there any reason you are struggling to catch one dog?”

Bond looked up at the newcomer. She sort of resembled Yor, with the long dark hair, and lithe body. Both possessed that aura of lethality masked by years of practice. The difference between them, as far as Bond could tell, was that Yor Forger much more often smelled like blood. This new woman smelled like the sea and old books.

“Robin!” Franky said, jolting out of the crashed boxes Bond had just led him through. Bond didn’t usually understand emotions from new people, but the large being looked downright embarrassed. He got as red as Mama did sometimes when she was caught doing random things.

“He’s uh… a very smart, and well trained dog.” Franky said, putting his hands on his hips and trying to save face. “A super dog!”

“Much like my favorite cyborg.” Robin said, brushing by Franky on her walk to Bond. “Now, you large fluffy man, what are you doing on this ship?”

Robin crouched down, legs together so her weight was resting on her high heels. While Bond wasn’t the brightest when it came to women’s fashion, he did understand that wearing even slight heels on either a ship or the terrain of the land was a brave thing to do. He wondered why she was wearing those. Although, he had seen Yor wear even taller, and more stiletto heels when she crawled in through the windows at night. It’s not like Bond could ask her.

Bond was trembling with fear, and then Robin scratched behind his ears. All the fear melted away as she closed her eyes and smiled at him. “You’re not a usual sight around here, you know?” Robin said softly.

Franky had come over to watch the exchange.

“Robin, that is a dangerous, wild animal!” Franky exclaimed, pointing at Bond with a large, metal finger. Bond couldn’t tell if he was still trying to save face in front of Robin

Robin turned her head up to look at Franky with a coy smile. “No, dear Franky, this animal is neither wild nor dangerous. Look at him! He’s cuter than you are.”

“That’s not true!” Franky protested blushing.

“Which part?” Robin replied, smiling still. Bond wished he could understand the intricacies of human communication, because he would then know that Robin is actively flirting with, and toying with, Franky.

Franky turned so red Bond thought all that metal on his body would melt straight off.

“Uhh… the engines are overheating!” Franky said, and suddenly ran with a speed that would’ve caught Bond in under 3 seconds if he had used it. Bond wondered why he couldn’t do that on command. Maybe it only happened when he was embarrassed?

“What a silly, silly man. It’s a pain to care for him sometimes.” Robin said, shaking her head. There was no heat to her words, only a tender, playful affection. “Back to you, big fluff ball. Who are you?”

Robin reached for the collar to examine the name tag.

“Bond? What a strange name. That’s your name?” Robin said, and Bond felt all the hands on his body release. He sat properly on his hind legs and nodded.

Robin just blinked at him.

“Can you understand me?” Robin asked again, quietly.

Bond could really only answer in yes or no, and he couldn’t qualify his answers with words, but he also wasn’t sure how to do the correct charades to let her know that while he can understand language at the same level as a first grader (at least), he couldn’t reason out essays on comparative literature. Not that that is a big problem for Bond in his day to day life, but his regular activities were clearly going to be put on hold.

Bond gave a tentative nod.

“Okay. I already have a talking, cute, furry animal in my life, but you don’t seem to talk. Do you have a family?” Robin asked softly.

Bond nodded again.

“Do you know where they are?”

Bond shook his head.

“Why are you here then?”

Bond just stared at her.

“Oh, gosh darn. I wish Chopper were here.” Robin said, snapping her fingers in a moment of playful frustration. “Do you know that… you’re supposed to be here?”

Bond nodded his head.

“How?”

More staring.

“Right. Hmm… I haven’t played a game like this in a long time, much less with a dog.” Robin chuckled softly, before standing up and beckoning Bond to follow her. He did, and she sat at a very out of place tea table that stood on the starboard side of the ship.

“Is your family coming here?” Robin asked.

Bond nodded.

“How do you know? Damn, I keep for-”

Bond lifted his paw and pointed at his own head.

“What?” Robin said, utterly bewildered.

Bond did the dog equivalent of a shrug.

“You know your family is supposed to be here… because you thought about it?” Robin asked, leaning forward on the table, her head resting on her palm, elbow on the table.

Bond took a moment to think, and then nodded again.

“What an interesting creature you are. You’re welcome to stay, Bond. I don’t think Franky will mind if I tell him you’re welcome.” Robin’s eyes flashed to the door that led below decks with that same coy, borderline predatory smile on her face.

Bond sighed in relief, and then curled up at Robin’s feet.

_____________________________________________________________________

Bond had eventually wandered below decks. He was exploring and sniffing around. It appeared the large metal man, named Franky, and the kind woman, Robin, were the only two people aboard the ship right now.

While Bond was no sailing expert, he had seen the saga of his namesake, Bondman, board countless vessels of similar size, and they always had a much larger crew than two people. He wondered how many others like Robin and Franky there were, and if they were all as strange and wonderful as those two. Anya loved the sailing episodes for some reason.

The thought of Anya had made him pause and lay down on his belly for a while, against some wall in the Thousand Sunny. He really, really missed her. He didn’t really have much before her, and only because of her, did he have a loving family. Where he was fed and loved. But he knew they were coming, just not when. So he got up and continued on his way.

Bond had found his way all the way to the kitchen, where he had gorged himself on the meat in the meat locker. There was way more than he could eat, and he wondered if that other animal, seemingly named Chopper, was some kind of terrifying monster that only ate raw meat. Bond shuddered, but then thought better because he assumed that Robin would protect him from anything trying to eat him. She had protected him from Franky, and all he wanted to do was set Bond down off the boat.

He had eventually fallen asleep. Bond, to no one’s shock, is a very deep sleeper. He slept through all the events of the Straw Hats, The Jujutsu Sorcerers, and his beloved Forger family running on board. He slept through the battle. He slept through the emergence of the strongest modern sorcerer, and his great, devastating attack. It was only until someone had literally landed on top of him, did he startle awake.

“Ah!” A deep, bellowing male voice barked out.

A different, female voice, not Robin, started cackling with laughter.

“You fell on your ass!” the new woman howled with laughter. Bond woofed slightly, and turned to see what was possibly the scariest fucking dude on the planet staring back at him.

With one eye. The other, closed with a deep scar running along his face.

Bond froze. The man looked pissed. The man turned his gaze away, back to the woman.

“You made me spill my drink!” The man barked back at the woman, who couldn’t stop laughing. “Wait… who’s dog is this?”

Zoro got off the dog, and to Bond’s utter shock, brushed his head and patted him.

“Who are you? How long have you been here?” Zoro asked, his voice slightly slurred.

“That boy has been there since we came in! How did you not notice him! He’s huge!” The voice said.

Bond looked over to see, yet another, dark haired, tall woman with a menacing aura around her. Bond briefly wondered if he was attracting these women to him. He had no idea why.

Bond barked quietly at Zoro, and jingled his collar at him. Zoro sloppily reached for it and grabbed it. Bond was yanked forward. Not maliciously or painfully, but Bond was shocked that this man had moved all of him with seemingly minute effort.

“Bond… Bond… Bond…” Zoro said, mulling the words over in his head. “Utahime, wasn’t that little pink-haried girl talking about… about a Bond?”

“Yeah, she was.” Utahime said, suddenly not laughing and looking over at the dog with interest. “Why do you ask?”

“This dog’s name is Bond, it’s on his collar.”

Bond, the real dog, started wagging his tail and trembling. He looked excited, his eyes totally dilated. Zoro wasn’t that great with people, but he understood what instinct looked like. He met eyes with the dog, and somehow, someway, Roranoa Zoro was the first person who spoke Bond’s language.

“Ah. That little girl is yours?” Zoro asked him, smiling, and it was perhaps the most tender and genuine smile anyone had ever seen. Bond nodded. “She’s upstairs. Run to her.”

Bond didn’t wait for another word, before bolting off and barking like crazy. Loud, almost manic barking.

___________________________________________________________________
It was not Anya who had first heard Bond’s loud barking of the Forger Family. Both adults had noticed it at the same time.

Loid and Yor Forger both stopped their conversations with their fellow crewmates, and ran straight for the door to below decks. The others were confused, but didn’t want to cause a scene. Loid looked anxious, Yor was on the verge of tears.

There was something to be said for how they knew, with Loid being a master spy and requiring himself to be able to distinguish between every dog breed, and their specific characteristics. And Yor knowing all about dogs from dodging them as they were often used to guard her assassination targets, but the true reason that the parents of the Forger family knew it was their dog…

… is because he’s their dog.

“Bond!” Yor screamed. “Bond, come here!”

The dog snapped towards the sound of Mama, turning left and right. If he had time to stop and think, he wondered how so many rooms fit inside this ship. But his mind was on more important things.

“I’ll grab Anya.” Loid said, turning down a corner and making his way towards where Anya and Becky were currently enraptured by Chopper’s medical bay.

Loid burst through the door, and grabbed Anya wordlessly to a shocked Anya, Becky, and Chopper. Yuri was also there, and shouted “LOIDY!” before Loid had sprinted back down.

“Papa! What’s wrong! No one can hurt us here! Luffy said so.”

“Nothing’s wrong, Anya! You’ll see in a few-”

Loid didn’t get to finish that sentence before a hundred and fifty pounds of canine slammed into him with the force of a freight train, and then followed by the weight of his wife crashing on them as well, making a Forger family sandwich in the middle of the Thousand Sunny.

Anya did what little girls do. She screeched and burst into tears, burying herself into the fur of the world’s happiest dog. She was trying to talk, but it just came out as loud, incoherent wailing. Babbling, snot running down her face as she desperately tried to tell Bond how much she loved him. And how much she missed him.

Loid finally managed to sit up, and hug both Anya and Bond. Yor sat off to the side before Loid motioned for her to join him too. Yor wrapped her arms around her daughter, her husband, and her beloved dog. They stayed like that for a long, long time.

“We’re a complete family again.” Loid said, whispering it. Although even he wasn’t sure if he was saying it for Anya, Yor, Bond… or himself.

Chapter Text

Marineford. The HQ of the Navy, two years after the attack of The Whitebeard Pirates, and the death of the notorious Fire Fist Ace, two years after the disappearance of the Straw Hat Pirates, was still being rebuilt. The amount of destruction wrought by those events was plastered all over the world, and into the memories of every Navy Soldier who fought that day. Who died that day. Who lost brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, husbands and wives.

Many soldiers would tell you it would be worth it. They would be lying through their teeth.

“Those pirates had it coming, for daring to challenge the Navy, its Admirals, and the World Government!” They would say to you, if you had asked them.

But those same ones, those same once bright-eyed soldiers, would say those words without being able to meet your eyes. They, who would cast a downward glance, or a sideways look when they said it. Because they didn’t know if it was actually worth it. How could it be?

How could the life of one man, even one with a bloodline, even one with a criminal record as long as the Grand Line, even one who may have killed or bested a brother or friend, such as Fire Fist Ace, be worth the lives and spirits of the hundreds who had perished on that fateful day? For the Whitebeard Pirates, every sacrifice was worth it. Ace was their brother, their son, their friend. They all had personal investment in Ace, and his life and his abilities, as a fighter, and as a man.

The son of Gol D. Roger, empowered with the Flare-Flare Fruit was truly a force of nature. But Ace had been around the block, so to speak, in Paradise and the New World. He made his mark on dozens of lives. Including several of the Piratical Emperors of the New World. Ace was a great man, but it took a ruthless one to kill him. A man who had never, not once, doubted his place in the world.

At least one man was still a firm believer in the ideals of the Navy. Of the World Government.
__________________________________________________________________________

Sergeant Yuldo had never been so terrified in his life.

Never seen so much death and destruction, wrought by horrors his brain was struggling to comprehend.

Normally, humans couldn’t see Cursed Spirits, even ones as powerful and solidified as the one standing not too far away now. But whatever had brought this creature here had made him visible to all those that looked upon him. Not that the creature seemed to care. It was laughing.

At the Navy.

Yuldo had joined the Navy as soon as he could, right at the cusp of when a boy became a man. He wanted to see the World. Fight some pirates after a few bad raids on his home island left he and his family devastated. He lost friends, family members, and loved ones to those wretched, awful pirates, right before the death of Gol. D Roger. After Roger was executed, Yuldo went to the nearest recruitment office to sign up. He was sixteen at the time.

He is 38 years old now. A twenty-two year long career spent training younger recruits, who’s corpses now lay around him scorched. Missing limbs. Screaming. Immolation always caused men to scream at the end.

No pirates he had ever fought were this… grotesque. Even the worst of the worst pirates seemed to have some amount of humanity left inside of them; they didn’t butcher as badly as whatever this new entity was doing.

Even the Devil Fruit users amongst the Navy were at a loss. No amount of Haki from those present could cut through the flames that boiled skin off muscle, and torched muscle off bone. Bones turned to ash like wood from flames, drifting away on the sea breeze.

Men he had trained personally were carbonized before him. There wouldn’t be anything left to bury. Yuldo would have screamed, if the air around him was breathable.

His left arm was missing, burnt off at the shoulder from a stray fireball. He held his sword shakily in his right hand. He was trembling. Terrified. He was a man. Just a man. Whatever this thing was, this… cyclops monster, with a large grin and a manic look in its one, huge eye was far more terrifying than anything he had ever seen.

He had fought the Whitebeard Pirates two years ago. Clashed swords with Pirate Hunter Zoro at Enies Lobby. He had lost that fight and was blasted into the water, sure, but he lived. And Pirate Hunter Zoro wasn’t exactly a slouch.

But none of that was about to matter. Not if he died. He didn’t want to die. He had a wife and kids at home. Back home. Somewhere in the West Blue. He had found love while stationed there, on an island famed for its various fruit juices. Somewhere safe. Somewhere far away.

And that was all he wanted. He wanted to go home, so badly, more than anything else in this moment. He wasn’t even sure if he’d be allowed to scream before he died. To call out his wife’s name. To let her know, one final time, that he loved her.

Jogo cared not. Why would he? He hated humans. All of them. It didn’t matter the world, or where they were from, how many kids they had, how much they loved their wives. Love was not something that befit Cursed Spirits. It was a weakness. Love was never born out of the fears that comprised Jogo. He was born from fear of disaster. Of sudden, harsh loss. Of mankind’s innate fear of things that go Boom.

Yuldo didn’t know any of that. Only that if he ran, there’d be no one left between Jogo, and the rest of Marineford, including all the Civilans who were on the island for one reason or another. Yuldo, and a group of men that were barely more than adults. Freckled faced, and weak-armed.

They arrived for training last week. All they had been doing was shooting practice, and chores. And now they were staring down one of the deadliest threats the Navy had ever faced. Even Whitebeard had spared more life. Jogo seemed to be targeting the weakest amongst them.

He turned to Yuldo, and his group of scrawny, teenage soldiers.

“Humans always scream before the end. It’s my favorite sound. It is a shame my abilities snuff life out so quickly.” Jogo said loudly, cackling with laughter as he raised both his hands to end the lives of men who only wanted to keep the world safe.

______________________________________________________________________

A giant of a man, one who fought for his position against men he once called friends, and against enemies he has always sworn to face, whose face never showed more than an absolute rigid scowl. His uniform, once a cherry red suit, now pure white with gold adornments, and a forward facing baseball cap, marched through the halls of the Navy’s HQ.

“Fleet Admiral Sakazuki!” A terrified Private said, saluting as soon as he saw the man.

“What?” Akainu barked back, arms folded over his broad chest.

“We’re under attack, sir!” The younger man nearly shouted back.

“By who?” Sakazuki’s eyes narrowed, voice a near growl.

“We’re… we’re not sure! He doesn’t have a flag and he hasn’t said he’s part of any crew!” The Private said.

“We’re only under attack by one person? And you think this is worthy of bothering me?” Sakazuki barked out.

“Sir! It’s not a person! It’s… it’s something else! Something monstrous! He’s… he’s got your abilities, Sir!” The Private’s voice raised an octave as Sakzuki loomed over him, like a building that was inevitably going to fall and crush the poor Private.

“What?” Sakazuki was taken by surprise at that information.

“Not just the magma, sir! He can also control flames! He’s not de-powered when hit with sea water, and our Sea-Prism stone weapons don’t seem to have an effect on it! It’s still unbreakable, but it doesn’t stop his flames. We are running out of options, sir!” The Private was visibly vibrating with terror, although Sakazuki wasn’t sure if it was himself, or the enemy, doing this to his soldier.

Either way, it mattered not. The Fleet Admiral knew he needed to attend to this matter personally. Because the fate of the Navy’s Reputation hung in the balance. After the humiliation suffered at Marineford two years ago with how many lives were lost for what was supposed to be a simple execution, and then the immediate reappearance that blasted Straw Hat Luffy, The Navy was no longer as respected as it once was.

Akainu was about to change that.

___________________________________________________________________

Cursed Spirits are graded on the same scale as Jujutsu Sorcerers. From the lowly, non-sapient Grade 4 spirits, to The Ultra Powerful Special Grade Cursed Spirits, which are immensely gifted. No individual Cursed Spirit is as powerful as Gojo Satoru, keep in mind, however that does not mean that they are not incredibly lethal.

Even amongst Special Grades, there is a range of power. The more intelligent a Cursed Spirit, the more powerful it usually is. Mahoraga reigns supreme amongst those Curses, despite its inability to speak.

Jogo is a Special Grade Cursed Spirit. And he is a vicious one.

“What a pathetic world this is!” He screeched while laughing as he incinerated yet another Navy soldier.

Yuldo himself barely moved out of the way, shoving several more soldiers with him. The pain was screaming at him to lay down. To die. He refused.

The smell of burnt flesh hung low and thick in the air, however the most prominent smell of all was fear.

The soldiers were terrified, repeatedly firing at Jogo, who they simply couldn't hit. He was too fast, and even with his single eye, was able to track the movements of bullets and swords with precision unlike any had ever seen.

Several captains had already fallen to Jogo, their faces scorched off, frozen in their final terrifying, agonizing scream of death. Soundless at the end, cut short by a force that this world was never meant to see. Men were turning and fleeing. Jogo pursued them, because he knew no other motive than death.

No other reason to exist except to destroy.

Which is the antithesis of the World Government. Of the Navy.

Jogo had launched his assault on Marineford, with multiple cameras pointed at him, capturing every moment of his relentless destruction. Every terrified soldier, every man who was bathed in flames of despair and agony. Every woman who dared to try to harm one who thought himself above humans.

Yuldo was running out of room to run. His soldiers were cornered. He was cornered. He thought of his wife, his beautiful wife at home.

“She’s probably baking right now.” He thought to himself. It was a comforting thought. As Jogo raised his hands, Yuldo closed his eyes. His only regret was not being able to hug his family one more time. And that the last thing he would hear was that awful, terrible, howling laughter.

CRRRRAASSSHHHHHHHH!

Was the noise Yuldo heard next, immediately followed by a deafening,

THUD!

When Yuldo opened his eyes, he thought he might piss himself all over again.

Fleet Admiral Sakazuki himself had appeared.

“WHO DARES ASSAULT MY BASE!?” The Fleet Admiral roared at Jogo, who was getting up and dusting himself off. Jogo wiped his lips, and looked at the cursed blood.

“That was… an impressive punch for one without Cursed Energy.” Jogo muttered to himself. The laughter had stopped. He was narrowing his eye at Sakazuki, who glowered back at him.

“I am the Fleet Admiral of the Navy! I represent the strongest fighting force of the World Government. I would ask for more details, but you have already signed your own death warrant!” Akainu barked at Jogo.

“Fleet Admiral? Is that what that ridiculous getup is for?” Jogo sneered back at him.

If any soldier in earshot of that comment had not yet been scared shitless, they certainly were now. Insulting the Fleet Admiral of the Navy? There were few crimes anyone was allowed to get away with. Even with all the fighting with the Straw Hats, the Blackbeard Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates, even amongst the Warlords and Emperors of Pirates… none of them had ever personally insulted Akainu about his bespoke and well decorated Navy uniform.

Akainu was quiet after that. Very quiet. Deathly quiet.

Jogo lowered his head and raised his hands. Jogo screamed as he fired two massive fireballs at Akainu. Akainu knew he had his men behind him. He also knew, from previous experience, that magma was a lot hotter than fire. He simply raised both hands, and caught them.

The entire ball of fire was suspended for the briefest moment, and then dragged inside the body of Akainu.

Jogo simply stared, confused. That hadn’t happened before. Even fighting the King of Curses, Sukuna couldn’t simply absorb the direct blows. He had to block. This man caught his attack, and then… ingested it into his body somehow?

“You… have committed crimes so great that there is no need for a trial.” Akainu said, voice quiet, but it carried throughout all of Marineford. “All those in favor of immediate execution, say Aye.”

One voice. Then more. Dozens joined the Chorus. Hundreds. Thousands. The entire island was screaming one word.

“DEATH! DEATH! DEATH!”

Over and over again.

“I have heard the will of my people. And while I normally do not derive personal pleasure from putting down miscreants, however you have personally insulted me, my men, and the World Government.” Akainu pointed at Jogo.

“So what?” Jogo replied, shrugging.

“You’re about to find out.” Akainu said, and the ambient temperature, which was already quite high, skyrocketed.

Yuldo and his men turned and ran after saluting, not wanting to be any closer to this. Yuldo began barking orders at those of lesser ranks, trying like hell to save anyone he could. Because the Fleet Admiral was about to unleash hell.

Jogo had fought many fast opponents. But never one so dedicated to his undoing. Satoru Gojo, curse his name, was barely trying when they fought. Same with Sukuna, King of Curses. Jogo knew he was outmatched by them, after fighting them briefly. He did not think that anyone in this new place was about to match him.

Akainu’s fist turned black. That was new to Jogo, who raised his arms to block. It didn’t really matter. He felt his bones shatter on impact. And Akainu’s fist drove directly into Jogo’s face, punching him through several walls that were designed to withstand cannon fire.

Jogo impacted against the outermost wall of Marineford, with a thunderous crash and a craterous impact into the wall. Jogo slid off and landed on his feet, coughing more blood out. He could sense Akainu’s approach.

This time, Jogo was ready. Akainu tried another punch, Jogo ducked, and slammed an elbow into Akainu, who, while tough, hadn’t anticipated a counterblow so quickly. Akainu grunted, and moved to hit Jogo again, who moved faster.

Jogo brought his foot up to Akainu’s chin in an uppercut kick that would make Sanji nod in appreciation.

Akainu responded by simply letting Jogo’s foot pass through. Jogo had powered the elbow with Cursed Energy, and Akainu hadn’t thought to desolidify himself. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. Jogo’s foot passed through the head of Akainu.

Where Jogo’s foot had connected, Akainu’s face was molten, dripping magma. Jogo backflipped away, shaking off his foot.

“OW! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?!” Jogo screamed at Akainu.

“You don’t know what a Logia type Devil Fruit is?” Akainu asked, genuinely baffled that a combatant this strong wouldn’t know who he is, or what he could do.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS A DEVIL FRUIT?” Jogo asked. But that was a misstep. A blunder on this battlefield. Jogo had given up valuable combatant information. Akainu now knew that Jogo didn’t know how to fight him. He didn’t have Haki. Whatever was in that first blow now wouldn’t be an issue.

Even if Akainu was hit, he could roll the punch in his magma. And if that wasn’t a powered blow, Jogo seemed to possess some kind of natural heat resistance. Much like Ace, and that thought had Akainu grinning.

“Something you won’t live long enough to hear the details of.” Akainu growled, and lowered himself into a fighting stance. The ground below Akainu began to erupt, but around him. Jogo could sense the tension of the Earth, as though the tectonic forces were being coiled. Wound like a spring. It was too late.

Akainu burst forth from the ground, his lower half a pure stream of lava. Jogo dodged the first punch but was shocked when a leg came out of the magma, detached from the main body, and hit his defense. Jogo tried to counter by grabbing the leg, which melted in his grip. Only to be dealt another blow by Akainu’s monstrous right hand. Jogo was suddenly losing.

He didn’t like that. He attempted to maintain distance and try more ranged attacks, probing for a limit he wasn’t sure existed. Akainu’s magma body was strange to his singular cyclopean eye. The Magma was both alive and inert. Teeming with potential energy, yet only the parts that were actively being manipulated had Cursed Energy flowing through it. But it would move instantaneously. Even when looking at his adversary directly, the flow of energy was nearly completely random. Clearly directed by the man in the stupid outfit, but Jogo couldn’t see a pattern. He didn’t have time to figure it out either.

Jogo, however, was not a weak entity. He smashed his hands together. Formed a symbol. One Akainu didn’t realize was going to be his doom.

“DOMAIN EXPANSION!” Jogo roared, half screeching in pain, and half shouting in rage.

“What?” Akainu asked, more to himself than any other. A dark sphere formed around him and the monster before him. Locking them inside.

“COFFIN OF THE IRON MOUNTAIN!” Jogo said, with sadistic, manic glee. A rat catcher who has sprung his best trap.

The Rules of the Domain Sprung into Akainu’s head. A sealed environment where hits couldn’t be deflected. He suspected that his Logia powers may reduce the damage, but he couldn’t feel the outside world to draw power from either. No rock to melt into slag and lava. Until the actual Domain Formed.

For the first time since he had eaten his Devil Fruit, Akainu’s skin burned.

The Coffin of the Iron Mountain Domain was formed by the Cursed Spirit that represented all of Humanity’s fear of Volcanos, and by extension, fire based natural disasters. The Domain itself was the interior of a volcanic cave system, with lava spurting and flowing out and about. Akainu was splashed by some, but he couldn’t absorb it. His natural heat resistance kept him from dying instantly, but it still… burned him.

Akainu now knew that he was in an incredible amount of danger. But this merely strengthed his resolve to fight.

“Let me explain something to you.” Jogo said, holding up a hand. “I don’t care about whatever it is you represent. You’re all nothing to me. Every single one of those insects I killed? Meaningless in the face of the true inhabitants of this world.”

“Meaningless?” Akainu growled. He was trying to formulate a plan of attack. Of escape. Of survival.
“Let’s make a deal. I’ll tell you how my Domain works, in greater detail, if you tell me how you can turn your body into lava.” Jogo said. He was only asking this because he was now confident he could kill the magma man. Akainu knew this.

“Deal.” Akainu said.

“Good. My Domain is simple. It is a Sure-Hit, Sure-Kill technique. My attacks cannot be blocked or resisted by normal defenses. Even your enhanced body seems to be affected by this attack. That’s good. It means you’re able to be killed.”

“And if I try to break out?”

“Impossible. A Domain is nearly impossible to break from the inside. The only way out is to summon another Domain yourself. And you can’t do that.” Jogo said with a laugh.

“And how do you know I can’t?” Akainu asked, still stalling.

“Because you would’ve done so already.” Jogo said with a smile that would’ve curdled milk.

“And how exactly does one beat this ability without a Domain, as you called it?” Akainu asked, looking around, prepared to dodge from any angle. For the first time in a very long time, Akainu felt… uncomfortably hot. It was a strange sensation, for a man made of magma to sweat. He was made of boiling hot rock, and yet, he perspired not in nervousness. He was too tough for nerves. But for exceedingly hot temperatures.

“That’s the neat part.” Jogo said, eye going wide, and his teeth entering a frothing mania of laughter, shrill and unsettling. Like a thousand rabid seagulls fighting to the death over one Dorito chip. “You don’t! You just die!”

It was at that moment when the heat intensified, and a volcano erupted underneath Akainu’s feet.

He was blasted away, and actually felt himself get burned for the first time since he could remember as a man. He never remembered getting burned as a child. Feeling it now, he almost could empathize with those he was putting down, except they were filthy, murderous, lecherous, disgusting pirates. Whatever he was fighting now, was worst than almost all of them put together.

But Akainu had something that Jogo did not. While not a true friend, coworkers sometimes can surprise you in the strangest of ways. After Akainu had suffered some rather severe burns and pains from a sadistic Jogo, content on playing with his food, a new voice was heard.

A casual, carefree voice. One that made Jogo stutter from its calmness.

“Lightspeed Kick.” And then a beam of pure yellow light burst through the side of the Domain, shattering the extra dimension. It fell apart like two-dimensional, hexagonal rain. A strange optical sight.

Jogo was dumbfounded. He had no idea what had happened. He had even less idea when a very polished white shoe found its way directly into his single eyeball at speeds that would make Gojo Satoru salivate with envy.

Following a WHOOSH and a loud CRASH, Jogo’s limp body lay in a crater made by Kizaru’s foot impacting with Jogo’s head.

Kizaru lowered his leg from the right angle he had extended it and turned towards the prone body of his boss, Akainu. Kizaru made a noise that was somewhere between a hum and a whine with an O vowel shape, as he approached the Fleet Admiral.

“What was that?” Kizaru asked Akianu, not bothering to extend a hand, which had not even left their assigned pockets. Kizaru stood roughly nine feet tall, in a yellow, pinstripe suit with a green pair of sunglasses on his face. For those not well acquainted, imagine if we put Jeff Goldblum on the stretcher and it worked. He had a casual air about him, and his posture reflected it. His suit was wrinkled in several places, and he wore the coat of the Admirals over his shoulders, but his arms were not pushed through the coat.

“That… was a lethal threat to the World Government.” Akainu replied, coughing and pushing himself to his feet as he reforms his body out of magma. He got to his feet and cracked his neck.

“Did he say something about Cursed Energy?” Kizaru asked, and picked a glob of earwax out of his ear, and flicked it off to the side.

“He did. Why?” Akainu asked gruffly, and urgently. Kizaru languidly produced a newspaper from his coat and held it out for Akainu to inspect. It was a detailed report on the escape of the…

Straw Hat Crew. And a bunch of newcomers. Including several eyewitness accounts of Navy soldiers being overpowered by a bunch of never before seen abilities. Nothing like Devil Fruits, or Haki. Something one eyewitness said was called the same name as what the monster that lay incapacitated a few feet away had called its own power.

“Those… fools.” Akainu snarled, crushing the newspaper in his fist, while Kizaru gave the impression that he was only bothered that he was going to have to find another newspaper. “Straw Hat Luffy and his idiot pirate crew have adopted a bunch of horrible monsters. Just like them.”

Akainu began to march over to Jogo, which was closely followed by Kizaru who was there to serve as a witness for whatever was about to happen. Akainu did not wait to gloat. Akainu did not wait to deliver a sentence. He simply reached down, grabbed Jogo’s head, and tore it from its body. With a sickening squelch and a pop, Jogo’s head popped free in a pool of Purple blood. Jogo did not flinch.

Akainu took the head, and with a superb mighty throw, launched the head off Marineford. Kizaru held his hand over his eyes to watch the head disappear to a point where his eyes could no longer follow it. Akainu turned around and began to walk back towards the headquarters of the Navy.

“What now?” asked KIzaru.

“The same mission as before. Kill Straw Hat Luffy.”