#fusing devil fruit

[apphiarothowrites]

insane idea I'm pulling out because I'm rewatching Steven Universe with my friends

Fusion between Devil Fruit users is a thing, but rare because most DF users do not trust others and most types do not mix well across type-i.e. logias and paramecias are very rarely compatible power wise. Zoans are more apt to fuse across type, because animals rarely if ever have an elemental aspect tied to them in the fruit but it's still rare because having Giraffe That Can Belch Soap Bubbles (a griaffe zoan and a paramecia) isn't that great in combat actually and it also reduces the number of fighters on your side if you have a fusion who isn't a heavy physical hitter.

Enter Marco. Every DF user who's even remotely friendly to the Whitebeards wants to fuse with Marco. Who wouldn't??? He's the fucking phoenix, his fusions heal and you turn into the most badass bird on the seas. Why wouldn't you want to become one with that guy?

Marco is not that keen on it. Back when he was younger he experimented around with it and found that the fusion state was....not the best, mentally, for him. The awe of his power, the excitement, and the thrill of battle were heady of course, but it did not take long for him to realize the partners he would fuse with were...Well, covetous. They were fusing for battle and the combination made sense at the time, of course, but in the aftermath he could distinctly tell that the fusion wasn't about him resonating with his partner. It wasn't about maintaining a connection because he and his partner were on the same wavelength or of a same mind about something or because they even liked him at all. It was all about his power and his fruit.

He swore off Fusing with anyone who wasn't Pops after the age of 25. Pops respected him, Pops loved him as a son, and Pops not only didn't want his power but was happy to give it up and give it away back to him when they pulled the fusion apart. They still only very rarely pulled it off-the Fusion more difficult as Pops got older and became physically taxing on him but also because there was almost never a real need for it.

Then, after almost a decade of no fusing at all, Ace came to the Moby Dick. Suddenly, after the first time-on complete accident during a raid-fusion was exciting again. Because Ace didn't give a damn about keeping Marco's power close and on hand, didn't give a damn about the phoenix really at all. All Ace cared about was how much harder they could hit together to keep everyone safe and make their enemies pay.

Suddenly, Marco's fire was *hot* and could literally burn the hurt away. Suddenly, Ace's fire didn't hurt if he accidentally spat at someone. Suddenly, fire had form and warmth deeper than heat and felt like an old friend and was feathery soft. Suddenly they were the burning phoenix and nothing could stand in their way. (Even if one man on the crew whispered to himself at night, wondering what it would take to burn them out completely and leave naught but ash behind, nothing could stand up to them)

[swampstew]

Turn Back Time ~ Devil Fruit Reveal

Thanks to the amazing @apirateslifeforbudgie for helping bring this bizarre fruit to life! In my brain the design was more pretzel-like held together with a cherry stem, but tbh if I saw something like that irl I wouldn't eat it, much less make my girls eat it!

I call it the fuse fuse fruit but maybe I should call it the Rebecca Sugar fruit considering the concept is entirely inspired by Steven Universe :3 Like most devil fruits, it was destined to reach both Candy and Andrea, and even has the audacity to be dual colored exactly to the besties color schemes.

This weird lil thang gives its user (or in my AU - users) the ability to fuse organic and non organic items to other items to create something entirely new. It only works for organic x organic or non-organic x non-organic fusing -- so far anyways.

Additionally, it also has the power to defuse an item back to its base components. Think a pie - it can be reverted back to all the original ingredients used to make it.

Awakened - this fruit is fucking terrifying. It can fuse anything big or small to be whatever the user wants it to be. It defies the line of fusing organic and non-organic matierals together, going as far to even fuse different species together! It all depends on the image the user has in mind as the final result. That said, its de-fusing power is even more terrifying. Not only can it be used to reduce an item to its base components - but shit - AWAKENED? that shit will revert an item to fucking minerals and ATOMS.

:D That's all for now folks!

[writingoddess1125]

The Buggy Twins as Adults pt. 2 🤡 🤡

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Check out the rest of The Old Man Series

• When the guys get their incredibly high bounty they realize quickly- They actually need a crew and ship.

• It was only the blessings of some sick God that was keeping them alive and pure stupid luck. But they needed a ship-

• Which for them was easier said then done.

• In truth Buggy had gifted them a ship when they first set sail- However it burned down after Bee was trying to make a new bomb and it quite literally exploded it his face-

• Which was what lead them to the Marine Base, which was also accidently exploded by you guest it- Bee

• So a ship was needed Pronto

Dee looked over the maps to the nearest village, their small dingy bobbing him side to side as he looked over his compass.

"This is so fucking stupid-" He groaned, looking to his brother who was snoring barely a foot from him. Dee kicking his brother hard on the shin making his twin shoot up in surprise.

"Hey watch it!-" Bee grumbled as he glared at his brother, fixing the hat on his head as he saw Dee glare at him.

"Watch it my ass- We need a real fucking ship yesterday. How come you manage to blow up a damn navel base but can't find a proper ship!?" He screamed as his brother shrugged it off in a lazy matter.

"Lucky!? We have a 500,000,000 berry on our head and no God damn ship! We are fucked"

"Lucky I guess?-" Bee said which made Dee damn near blow a fuse.

"Well maybe we don't have to be-"

Bee said with a smirk as he pointed ahead, Seeing a growing mass right in the distance. Dee's eyes widened at this, looking at the map in confusion.

"Wait- There are no islands for at least another day or two what is that?-"

Bee smirked at this as he winked at his twin.

"It's a floating military base dear brother. Aka our ticket to supplies and a ship-"

• The twins despite better judgment rowed their little dingy to the side of the massive tanker and climbed up- Thanks to Dee's devil fruit abilties.

• Bee whistled at the sight of her, She was hot to say the least- Long red hair and face that was soft and delicate paired with the guns at her hip he wondered if she was good with her han-

• In truth it was far easier then they expected-

• The twins slinked through the ship, Fortunate that they were able to disguise themselves far better as it just required removing their makeup and stashing the fake red nose in their pockets. Deciding shirtless was better since they looked like lazy cadets who had rolled out of bed-

• Snagging a few hats and rushing with other groups they separated. Bee to make a distraction and Dee to find some supplies and hopefully take over the ship.

• Bee walked through the corridors of the ship, hiding in random spots to hopefully get to the helm.

• She turned the corner and he realized she was sneaking around too... deciding that it was best to leave her be.

• He had other things to do anyway-

• Dee went down below and saw that the ship was towing another- clearly a captured pirate ship of sorts. Which ment there was a crew on board.

Going down to the brig he snuck through, his head lowered like some cadet who was terrified. Glancing about he noted the lazed security, sneaking in he didn't see a whole crew but instead a lone guy chained up- each arm chained seperate and he had clearly been well beaten.

"If you're here to try again you aren't getting squat- You hit like a girl" He stranger grumbled-

"No im not a Marine- I'm not going to do whatever they've done to you" Dee said calmly, glancing around to look for keys.

"Is that your ship they are towing?" Dee questioned, the man glancing up and he saw yellow for a split second.

"Yes?.."

"If I get you out of here, can we all use your ship to go? Me and my brother need one" Dee admitted, feeling like honesty was the best option.

"Whats you and your brothers name?" He questioned.

"Dee and Bee... the Buggy Twins" He heard the man snort a laugh at this and nodded in agreement to the terms.

Dee stared at the man, Hesitant for only a moment before pulling out two pins from his hair and cracking the cage open. Starting on each arm of the chain to get him out, till pausing when he felt cold metal touch his head.

"Woah Woah-" Here helping Dee said calmly, glancing to see some red head girl pointing the gun at his face.

"Hold it Vi- He's with us.." The black haired man said quickly.

"Besides I'm Bullet Proof so let's lower the gun. We can all board the ship and get out of here before we get executed? Sound like a Deal?" Dee said quickly.

She lowered the gun quickly and sighed- "And here I thought you were anti-social Alu.." She said with a roll of his eyes. "This is Vivian, my gunner and hopefully first mate" The prisoner introduced as Dee finished taking off his final restraints.

The red head rolled her eyes "In your dreams... and Let's go-"

• The trio ran through the corridors. Hiding whenever solider passed them by and keeping low-

• However it seemed they were having better luck then the other twin. While had found himself at the haul of the ship all right- along with the Vice-Admiral of the ship.

"H-Hey There Cap just passing throu-" She cut him a look and held a hand up up.

"That is by far the worse get up of a pirate sneaking on my ship... are you stupid?" She questioned.

Bee stared at the Vice-Admiral watching as she pulled a sword and glared at him, noting he didnt even have a chance to lie.

"Fucking Pirates.. getting lazier by the day" She hissed at his idiocy, blade raised already to cut him down but he held up his hands with a dazzling smile.

"Woah Woah- before you off me Wanna see a magic trick?" Bee said with a wink making the women look at him comfused- Before in less then a second he pulled put 3 balls suddently and tossed them her way, her immediate reaction to swipe them away with her sword that was till mid air she saw the skulls painted on them.

"Shit-!"

BOOM!-

• The trio jumping from the massive ship to the lower towed away ship- As they Fell Vivian shooting at the rope connecting them to seperate.

• As the exposition hit the trio heard it and the alarms that rang out. Dee grabbing the two of them quickly already knowing it was his twin

• "MOVE Move!" He yelled as they went to the back of the ship were the smaller pirate vessel was being towed.

"GO GO! NOW!" Vi screamed as the three started to set sail to get as far away as possible.

The Marines seeing this as the sounds of Marines yelling 'THE PRISONER IS ESCAPING' Sounded and gunfire rang out from the Marines trying to shoot at them.

"DONT FORGET ME YOU ASSHOLES!" Bee screamed as the Marines shot behind him- soot covering his face as he clearly was caught in the explosion. Swan diving onto the smaller ship face first into solid wood. But it was better then being shot at!

• The prisoner helping the other blue haired teen to his feet-

• "Did you cause that fucking explosion?" He questioned as the twin of the man who saved him groaned and nodded.

• "Not spooky dude.. Alucare.. Dracule Alucare" He dark haired man grumbled, pushing back his dark locks as he looked at the twins. Both seeing the undeniable yellow eyes of the famed pirate lord son.

• "Damn right spooky dude.." Bee groaned out, The prisoner sighing as he helped him up.

• Canon fire rocking the ship as they all yelled and tried to stay put. As the ship groaned and creaked from the attack- Vivian jumping up quickly to help set the sails to get the ship moving faster.

• "Dracule? Like Mihawk? Holy shit dude your dad is like super famous!" Bee said in shock, Alucare shrugging at this. "Same goes with you.. The Buggy Twins, sons of a Yonko and having 500,000,000 Berry for the both of you. Not bad" The two men nodding in agreement of fluffing egos.

• Vivian rolling her eyes at both of them.

• "Wait how were you even arrested? You and your family are kind bad asses?" Bee questioned amused, The dark haired man sighing heavily.

• "Better term would be hunted down-" Alucare grumbled, rolling his shoulder with a heavy sigh.

• "Hunted? By who man!?" Bee yelled, Alucare glancing back at the massive ship thay they were sailing away from- Clearly the explosive damage from the Buggy Twins forcing the Marine Boat to stop for repairs completely and forcing the pirates to sail on woth minimum damage.

• "By her-" Alucare explained as he pointed out to the massive ship and the person who was clearly fuming standing at the front of the ship, Dressed in ger vice admiral uniform she glared hard down at the group of small time pirates- Fist clenched over her sword as she knew it was foolish to chase them.

• "The youngest and probably most brutal Vice-Admiral in history.. Lyra Beckman-" Alucare said with a hearty sigh- Bee jaw dropping.

• "WE FINALLY HAVE A CREW!" Bee yelled as the rest stared at the Clown, even Dee rolling his eyes.

• "Fuck dude-"

• "Fuck indeed... Now let's get some distance before she decides killing me is more important then ship repairs"

• They all agreed and began to haul ass away- until they were sure they were safe enough from the ship and it was a dot in the horizon. Vi glaring at Alucare before tossing a wrapped bundle at him, Opening it to glance and see some clothes and his sword.

• "Don't expect me to rescue you again-" She said shortly. Alucare brushing her off as he went to get changed.

• Bee took note of this- A swordsman... a Gunner.. his brother as a Navigator-

• "We are not a crew!" They all yelled at him.

[karinzany]

SPOILERS: Chapter 1094 of ONE PIECE

We've finally seen St. Jaygarcia Saturn's real form on chapter 1094, and it is absolutely diabolical. It seems to be inspired by a yōkai called Ushi-oni. So I went back to chapter 1085 and tried to connect the rest of the Gorosei with other yōkai. Here are my predictions:

Ushi-oni: In Wakayama Prefecture, ushi-oni are mountain-dwelling beasts. Legend says when a hiker or traveler makes eye contact with the ushi-oni, the person cannot avert his or her gaze. The person's soul or energy is drained and he or she dies. This is called “Kage wo kuu (影を食う)” or sometimes "Kage wo nomu (影を飲む)", which translates to “eating the shadow” or "drinking the soul".

Aosaginohi: Aosaginohi, or Aosagibi (青(あお)鷺(さぎ)火(び), "blue heron fire") is a phenomenon illustrated by Toriyama Sekien in his Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki. It depicts a night heron with a mysteriously illuminated body. Folklore built around the phenomenon tells a story of an old black-crowned night heron transforming into a yokai. The herons' feathers fuse into shining scales that give off an iridescent blue light in the dark of night. The yokai's breath is also said to release golden powder into the air that collects to form a heat-less fiery light, though this light eventually dissipates in the wind. The harmless creature is said to flee from human contact, retaining a normal heron's shyness. Legend also warns to not confuse the glimmering blue-white light with onibi lights.

Baku: Baku (獏 or 貘) are Japanese supernatural beings that are said to devour nightmares. According to legend, they were created by the spare pieces that were left over when the gods finished creating all other animals. They have a long history in Japanese folklore and art, and more recently have appeared in manga and anime. The Japanese term baku has two current meanings, referring to both the traditional dream-devouring creature and to the Malayan tapir. In recent years, there have been changes in how the baku is depicted.

Benzaiten: Benzaiten (shinjitai: 弁才天 or 弁財天; kyūjitai: 辯才天, 辨才天, or 辨財天, lit. "goddess of eloquence"), also simply known as Benten (shinjitai: 弁天; kyūjitai: 辯天 / 辨天), is a Japanese Buddhist goddess who originated mainly from Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of speech, the arts, and learning, with certain traits deriving from the warrior goddess Durga. Due to her status as a water deity, she was also linked with nāgas, dragons, and snakes. Apart from being a patron of music and the arts, she was eventually also worshiped as a bestower of monetary fortune and was reckoned as one of the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin).

Ōkubi: In Japanese folklore, Ōkubi (大首) are giant heads of either men or women. An Ōkubi appearing in the sky is a sign of impending disaster, which may be a typhoon, earthquake, tsunami, or fire. These disasters are often attributed to the Ōkubi. Ōkubi are otherwise harmless and will disappear soon after the first sighting. They are thought to be sky spirits who protect the sky's or people who died during a natural disaster. They are said to protect people from the natural disasters and protect the sky from demonic sky spirits. It is said if one does not pay respect for the Ōkubi, they will be turned into sky spirits and their face will appear in the sky immediately. Those who do pay respect are said to get good fortune and gifts.

PS.: This silhouette probably belongs to Imu themselves, but I can't figure out what yōkai or supernatural being it represents. What are your theories?

EDIT: Thank you @ozo-blog and @marimo-kyun for your suggestion!

On chapter 1069, Vegapunk said that Devil Fruits earned the ire of Mother Nature, which is the Sea itself. The name Imu can be read as Umi backwards, meaning "Sea" in Japanese. So, maybe Imu has a power that controls the sea? Umibozu would be on theme for them.

Umibōzu: Umibōzu (海坊主, "sea priest") is a paranormal phenomenon or yōkai from Japanese folklore. Other names include Umihōshi (海法師, "sea priest") or Uminyūdō (海入道, "sea priest"). Little is known of the origin of umibōzu but it is a sea-spirit and as such has multiple sightings throughout Japan. Normally, umibōzu appears to sailors on calm seas which quickly turn tumultuous. It either breaks the ship on emergence or demands a bucket or barrel from the sailors and proceeds to drown them. The only safe way to escape an umibōzu is to give it a bottomless barrel and sail away while it is confused.

Alternative: I've also seen another theory that says Imu could be Satan (from the Bible, yes) because he has a Red Dragon form that could relate to the Celestial Dragon's symbol, a red dragon hoof.

Red Dragon (Biblical Satan): The Red Dragon is a form of the Biblical Satan, otherwise known as Lucifer, the former Seraphim that rebelled against the Creator and became evil in Christianity and Hebrew religions. His alias, the Red Dragon, was described in the Bible to have seven heads, ten horns, seven crowns, and a massive tail that knocks one-third of the stars out of the sky. The Red Dragon is mentioned to have other names like the Serpent of Old and the Devil. It is said in the Bible that Satan will take the form of the Red Dragon and will along with the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the Beast, deceive most of Humanity. After that the Red Dragon will be set free upon the world in which he will rule alongside demons for three long years. After that God will cast the Red Dragon, demons, and other dammed evil souls into Lake of Fire, thus finally destroying the evil of Satan forever.

During the time-skip, we've seen Brook being accidentally summoned by a Satanic cult, which implies the existence of Satan in the One Piece world. Now, on chapter 1094, we've seen again a summoning circle, this time for St. Jaygarcia Saturn. I think it's pretty obvious the connection between real world devils and the Gorosei and Imu.

It's all going to come to the ironic conclusion that the D. clan, the enemies of the Gods, are Gods themselves (like Nika) and the Celestial Dragons, the Gods of the world, are actual Devils.

[mooneln0ne]

Thats your captain

Info on the au below

This au is focused on the final war (Don’t take this a canon lol) where everything goes so wrong and in the worse way possible.

To summarize this, Blackbeard, Imu, and Luffy were in a clash, the winner being the one to take all.

But their combined power and impact caused a crack in the sky, a blackhole of sorts. This fused all three of them, turning into a giant amalgamation that sits on top, and will eat devil fruit users to add to its hands and collection of abilities.

This ofcourse, leads to the world of One piece changing and all hell breaking loose as The False Sun begins its reign.

[mutant-distraction]

Hydnellum peckii is a fungus in the genus Hydnellum of the family Bankeraceae. It is a hydnoid species, producing spores on the surface of vertical spines or tooth-like projections that hang from the undersurface of the fruit bodies. It is found in North America, Europe, and was recently discovered in Iran (2008) and Korea (2010). Hydnellum peckii is a mycorrhizal species, and forms mutually beneficial relationships with a variety of coniferous trees, growing on the ground singly, scattered, or in fused masses.

Bleeding tooth fungus

The fruit bodies typically have a funnel-shaped cap with a white edge, although the shape can be highly variable. Young, moist fruit bodies can "bleed" bright red guttation droplets that contain a pigment known to have anticoagulant properties similar to heparin. The unusual appearance of the young fruit bodies has earned the species several descriptive common names, including strawberries and cream, the bleeding Hydnellum, the bleeding tooth fungus, the red-juice tooth, and the Devil's tooth. Although Hydnellum peckii fruit bodies are readily identifiable when young, they become brown and nondescript when they age.

[rollinouttahere-writes]

Lucky Break Chapter 3

Yandere Straw Hats x fem!Reader

4.5k words

Beginning / Previous / Next

I was really hoping to get Orange Town Arc wrapped up in this chapter, but it appears that writing for One Piece has given me Oda’s pacing.

How could this even be possible? How did a disembodied arm stab Zoro? You clung onto the cage Luffy was in, feeling nauseated at the sight. Unlike when he had cut Buggy, blood was immediately flowing from the wound. Zoro stumbled from the attack and reached behind him to try and remove the dagger, but the arm ripped it out and flew away.

You could only watch in abject horror as Buggy’s body floated until he was in an upright position. He laughed loudly at the confusion on your faces, “The Chop-Chop fruit is the name of the devil fruit I ate, so now I’m a person who can never be cut!” His body readily attached itself back together (and his clothes too somehow), all while he continued to cackle.

Another one of those weird fruit things? Are all of them this disturbing to witness? You hope you never have to see another person with these cursed abilities ever again. 

“A chop-chop person? Is he some kind of monster?” Luffy was, as per usual, not reacting to the given situation with anywhere near the severity required. 

You reached through the bars to swat at him, “You’re all rubbery! Are you a monster too?”

“No, I’m a rubber person, it’s different,” he says like you’re dumb and simply didn’t understand. Well, to be fair though, you didn’t understand a damn thing going on right now. Was your life always filled with such bizarre events? Surely this wouldn’t be so shocking if you had been used to such things.

Wait, there is way too much going on right now for you to be getting distracted like this, you look up only to see Zoro lifting the cannon, flipping it so that it’s aimed towards the other pirates. How he was able to casually lift that is beyond you, especially when taking his wound into account.

Nami rushed over and lit the already very short fuse. Buggy and co immediately panic at this, and are apparently so terrified that they forgot how to move because they just let it fire at them. The explosion was deafening from this short distance, and the wave of heat felt like it was burning your lungs. All you could do was try and shield your face with your arms, but it really didn’t help much.

“Come on, we need to get out of here,” Zoro shoved past you and grabbed the cage, putting all his strength into dragging it away. You can’t let him do this by himself when he’s so injured, he really shouldn’t be doing this at all, so you push it from the other side. It’s so heavy, you can’t imagine you’re really helping him all that much, but you don’t give up. 

Zoro is either in shock and can’t feel anything, or is a glutton for punishment because he continues to drag the cage further than you thought necessary. You’re not sure why, it’s not like those other guys are going to come after you. If there was anyone that survived the blast, there’s no way they’d be in any shape to give chase.

He finally called it quits in front of some abandoned pet store, immediately collapsing onto the ground upon letting go of the cage.

“Zoro!” You rushed over and knelt next to him. Instinctively, you reach into your bag for the first aid kit, but then freeze. What are you supposed to do with it? Slap some bandaids on the gaping wound? For all you know some of his organs were pierced, too. At the very least, he would need stitches, and you didn’t know how to do that.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about this. I’ll sleep it off,” Zoro placed his hand over yours, forcing you to put the kit back in your bag.

You looked at him incredulously, “Sleep it off?! You didn’t sprain an ankle or something, you got stabbed! You can’t sleep off a stab wound!” He must be delirious from blood loss, that’s the only explanation for how he’s this nonchalant.

“Quit worrying so much, I’ve slept off worse.”

“You’ve what?”

“Just quiet down so I can sleep,” he yawned and stretched out on the ground as if he were on a bed. His eyes flickered open again and back on you, “Can I have that back now if you’re done using it?”

“Have what?” Your hand reaches up to follow where his gaze is focused, landing on the fabric of the bandana, “Oh!” So you were right, it was his. You’re quick to untie it and return the bandana to its rightful owner.

“What’s with this weird dog? Why isn’t it moving?” Luffy was currently in a staring contest with a tiny white dog sitting in front of the store. The poor thing looked filthy. A stray, probably.

“That’s what you’re focused on right now? Seriously?!” You scolded him while gesturing at Zoro. What’s with this guy? How is he this laid back about everything going on around you? Were you the weird one here?

Luffy just tilted his head at you, further making you question if you were the odd one out, “What? He said he’ll be fine after he gets some sleep.” Zoro wordlessly nodded along with this sentiment from his (bloodied) spot on the ground, giving you an ‘I told you so’ look. 

It’s official. They’re both insane. Was it too late to listen to what Nami said and go your separate way? You hazard a glance back at Luffy, only to see the dog biting his hand and him screaming while trying to shake it off.

You… Would probably be better off on your own.

“So that’s where you three ran off to,” you whip around to see the sanest person you’ve met so far, Nami, watching you all with an amused grin. She strolled closer and dropped a large key onto the ground, “I figured you guys might want this.”

“The key!” You and Luffy shouted in unison. You pray it’s the correct one this time, but at least it won’t be your fault if it isn’t. Luffy goes to grab it, but can’t. Not because he can’t reach it or anything, but because the dog leapt forward and snatched it up first. He didn’t just pick it up, no. The damn thing swallowed it, much to everyone’s shock and horror. 

Luffy was the first to snap out of it. Surprise turned to anger as he grabbed the dog, yelling at him to spit it out, even though it was too late for that. 

Ah. Of course. This might as well happen.

Crestfallen over the realization of how strange the company you’re keeping really is, you look at Nami with what must have been an extremely exasperated expression. All she does is smirk, visibly taking joy in your palpable regret towards your life decisions. 

“Are you having fun helping your friends here?” Her tone was saccharin and her smile was conniving. 

Suddenly, your resolve hardens and spite bubbles to the surface. If she’s going to be like this, then you don’t want to let her in on how you’re really feeling. You won’t give her the satisfaction of being right. “Yes. I’m loving every second of it, thank you very much,” you huffed and looked away from her, hoping she didn’t see right through you. Nami snorted at your effort.

“Hey! You kids leave Chouchou alone!”

Everyone turns their attention to the new voice. It belongs to an old man wearing some crude attempt at armor. Who’s Chouchou? The dog?

“Who are you?”

“I’m Boodle, the mayor of this town,” he stated very matter of factly. You couldn’t help but take a look at your surroundings. He’s mayor of this town? A ghost town? You suppose that would make getting elected easier.

He stomped his way closer, sizing up all of you before his eyes settled on Zoro. His eyes shot wide open, “That’s a terrible wound you’ve got there, we need to get you to a doctor immediately! I take you young’uns had a run in with Buggy and his crew?” The old man knelt down and began to try and lift Zoro onto his feet. 

You pitched in and hooked his other arm over your shoulder. You’re not sure where you’re headed, but you assume it’s to wherever the doctor is. It’s surprising that there’s still a doctor here, but you suppose it’s not that much of a reach if the mayor is still lurking around.

He enters a nearby building, but it looks more like someone’s personal home than a doctor’s office. There also isn’t anyone in here. You follow the mayor’s lead into a bedroom and let Zoro lay down on one of the beds in there. You glance around and strain your ears, but you don’t see or hear anyone. You decide to ask, “So where’s the doctor at?”

“Oh, he’s not here,” Boodle didn’t pay you much mind, leaving the room to grab some supplies. He came back with a first aid kit and a glass of water. 

Zoro in the meantime had shuffled himself under the covers and waved his hand dismissively at Boodle, “I don’t need any of that, just let me get some sleep.” Within seconds of finishing the sentence he was out cold.

“When is the doctor coming back?” You pried.

“Not anytime soon, I imagine. Not while Buggy is still ‘round these parts.”

“Then why did we bring him here???” Talk about pointless, this was like going shopping in a store that’s out of stock.

“It’s better than leaving him on the street, young lady,” he explained. His eyes focused on the haphazardly placed bandages on your forehead, “Oh dear, it looks like you could stand to see a doctor, too.”

“What? The doctor that isn’t here?”

Boodle scowled at your response, muttering under his breath, “Kids these days and their sass.” He huffs and turns to the door, “I’m going to go talk to the others, you’re welcome to stay here and rest if you want.”

The mayor is quick to leave after that, so you focus your attention back on Zoro. He’s sound asleep, looking surprisingly peaceful despite the circumstances. Despite his insistence that all he needs is sleep, you’re not so convinced. You shake Zoro’s shoulder, but he doesn’t even flinch. The blood loss must have him in a very deep sleep right about now. Maybe you could treat him now? There’s probably no harm in that.

You pull the covers back and roll up his shirt to assess the wound. If you remember right, he got stabbed from behind, so you decide to roll him onto his side to look at that part of the injury, too. There’s blood everywhere, and also some dirt and debris around it. You’ll need to get this cleaned up so it doesn’t become infected. 

The bathroom should have what you need for that. You leave the room and try a couple of doors in the hallway before getting the right one. There’s a wash bin on the counter that you fill with warm water, and you snag a couple of rags on your way out of the room.

Zoro is exactly as you left him a moment ago, so you set to work on washing away the blood and dirt. His abdominal muscles twitch involuntarily from the action, but he didn’t wake. It was somewhat difficult to clean the wound due to the fact that it was still bleeding, but you got it good enough to move on to disinfecting it. 

Cracking open the kit, you rifle through it to find what you need. Your hand closes around a bottle and you pull it out to see what it is. Painkillers! You can’t help the relieved grin that spreads across your face. Finally, some relief for your splitting headache! Popping open the bottle, you shake out a couple of pills and use the water on the bedside table to take them. Zoro probably wouldn’t mind. You set a couple more on the table for Zoro to take, too. 

Next, you find a disinfectant and set to work on applying it. The sting of it was enough to rouse Zoro from his slumber. His arm shot out to try and shoo you away and he hissed, “Leave me alone, I’m trying to sleep.”

“I will when I’m done. We need to get this taken care of before it gets any worse. Here, I set out some painkillers for you,” you reached over and grabbed the pills and water cup, holding them out for him.

Zoro made no move to grab them, “I don’t need them, I feel fine.” 

“There’s no way that doesn’t hurt like hell. Quit acting like a tough guy and take the damn things!” You try to push them past his lips, but he wrenches his face away from you like a toddler avoiding taking medicine.

“Knock it off, woman! I’m fine! Just finish what you’re doing and leave me alone!” He grabbed the wrist of the hand that had the pills in it to stop you from trying. 

You scowled at his stubborn antics, but ultimately relented. If he was willing to let you dress the wound without a fight, you’ll take it, “Okay fine, sit up for me.”

This kind of a cut definitely called for stitches at the very least, but you weren’t qualified to do that. The best you could do was bandage it so it stays clean and doesn’t get any worse. You wad up a couple pieces of gauze to put on each side of his stab wound and wind some bandages around his waist to hold them in place.

“Is this too tight?”

Zoro rolled his eyes and grumbled, “It’s not, you worry too damn much.”

“Well excuse me for trying to help you and return the favor,” my god this guy was argumentative. 

“Return what favor?” He looked genuinely confused. It’s not entirely unbelievable that he’d forgotten about helping you before given everything that’s happened in such a short window of time.

“You’re the one that cleaned up this, remember?” You pointed at your head with your free hand. Granted, rinsing it with sea water was hardly an ideal treatment, but it’s the thought that counts.

“Oh, that,” Zoro averted his gaze. “It’s not a big deal, I didn’t do that much. Definitely didn’t harp on you as much as you’re harping on me.” The man apparently couldn’t go two seconds without complaining.

It was your turn to roll your eyes, “Still, I appreciate the effort and wanted to give you the same courtesy, even if you’re being a cranky bastard about it.” His protests of being called ‘a cranky bastard’ was cut off by you tying the bandages in a knot to keep them in place, “There, I’m done. Now you can go back to sleep.”

“Finally,” Zoro falls back onto the pillow dramatically and immediately goes back to snoring. You pull up the covers since he didn’t bother to before passing out again. He must be exhausted to be able to go to sleep so quickly.

There’s another bed in the room and you contemplate laying down in it, but then you hear a terribly loud roar outside. You spare a glance to Zoro, who is unresponsive, then rushed out of the room to see what was going on. That sounded an awful lot like the lion, Richie.

Throwing open the front door, you look around and see Luffy by himself. Nami and Boodle are nowhere in sight, but neither is Richie at least.

Luffy is frantically rocking the cage back and forth in what you think is an attempt to scootch away. When he sees you running towards him, he perks up, “Lucky! Help me out and move the cage!”

There’s no way in hell you can move that cage far enough to get him out of danger, but you think you have an idea, “I can’t do that, but there might be another way.”

He tilts his head curiously, “Another way? What do you- Hey! What are you doing?” He yelps as you reach through the bars to grab his ankle and pull it out.

“You’re made of rubber, so you can squeeze through these bars, right?” If he can stretch, he can squish too. At least, that’s what you’re guessing.

“That’s not how this works! I would’ve gotten out of here by now if I could do that!” Luffy was flailing indignantly, trying to get you to let go.

“Maybe you just needed some help? Work with me here, suck it in!” You grunted from the effort of trying to pull some wriggly rubber boy out of a cage. He wasn’t making this easy on you. His leg was stretching, but he wasn’t any closer to being out of the cage.

“Suck what in? You don’t make any sense!” Luffy was straight up whining at this point.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?”

You shrieked and in your panic, let go of Luffy’s leg. You were so focused on helping Luffy that you hadn’t realized that Richie was now right here. So was that guy with the weird hair. When you let go of Luffy’s leg, it slingshotted back and over the cage, nailing the guy in the chest and sending him flying off of Richie.

“Oh! Good thinking Lucky! You got him good!” Luffy wasn’t even acknowledging the massive lion.

The other guy was coughing and gasping from the impact. Richie was paying him no mind and instead came over to you and licked your face. This successfully distracted you from the situation at hand. You cooed at the overgrown feline and gave him chin scritches.

The dog, Chouchou, was growling like mad. You hadn’t even noticed the small dog was still here before, having assumed it left with the others. 

The weird haired guy staggered onto his feet, visibly furious, “Richie! Quit cuddling up to that liar!”

Richie grumbled, but did listen. He meandered back in no particular hurry, looking unenthused about the whole ordeal.

The man cleared his throat, “I’ll make you all pay for what you did! I am Beast Tamer Mohji, and there isn’t a creature that I can’t tame! Observe!” To prove his point, he approached Chouchou, whose growling got louder with each step. Mohji crouched down and held out his hand to the dog, smirking confidently. 

As soon as he was close enough, the dog lunged forward and bit down hard on him. Mohji screamed and flailed his arm, trying to dislodge the angry dog. You, Luffy, and Richie watched this, all sharing an unimpressed look at the display.

When he did manage to free himself, Mohji took a minute to catch his breath before turning to face you guys again. “Anyways! We have unfinished business here! I’m not about to let anyone get away with disrespecting Captain Buggy!”

Oh, so he’s just gonna sweep that under the rug, huh?

He sicced Richie on you two. You screeched and leapt behind the cage. Why did he have to start acting like a proper lion now?! Richie put all his weight onto the cage, and it crumbled almost immediately.

Luffy cheered and jumped out of the way, dragging you along with him. He stretched and jumped up and down, thoroughly enjoying his newfound freedom. “Finally, now I can actually do something!” He charged at Richie and Mohji, winding up his arm to deliver a blow, but Richie reacts faster. He swipes at Luffy, and the hit quite literally sends him flying. Not just flying a few feet, no, it sent him hurtling through several buildings.

Your mouth was agape. Sure, he’s made of rubber, but how can anyone be okay after something like that?! Praying that Richie likes you enough to not give chase, you sprint towards the rubble, hoping that he’ll be okay.

Much to your relief, you aren’t pursued. Much to your horror, however, you find several buildings toppled from Luffy being thrown into them. When you finally reach the last destroyed house, you catch sight of Nami and Boodle gawking at it.

“What are you doing? Help me dig him out!” Not waiting for them to pitch in, you start pulling off fallen beams and tossing shingles behind you. You can see one of his feet poking out of the rubble.

“Lucky, I don’t think you need to, there isn’t a chance that he survived that,” Nami put her hand on your shoulder and gently tried to pull you away, but you just shrugged her off and continued to dig. You had to at least try!

Suddenly, the fallen building shifted on its own. Then Luffy sprung out of it, looking perfectly fine, if a bit dirty.

“What?! How can you still be standing after that?!” Boodle stepped back in shock from the sight and you could hear Nami gasping behind you. 

“I’m a rubber person! It’s gonna take a lot more than that to stop me,” Luffy declared proudly. He hopped down onto the ground and sprinted back towards where Richie and Mohji were. He sure is fast for someone who just went through what he did. All three of you followed after him, wanting to see where this was going. 

It wasn’t until just now that it dawned on you how strange it was that Mohji and Richie were even here. Didn’t they get hit by that cannon? If they’re okay, then does that mean the others are, too? Damn, how weak was that cannon? Maybe letting it hit Luffy wouldn’t have been that dangerous afterall. 

Up ahead, you catch sight of a rematch between Richie and Luffy. This time, Luffy was more prepared and dodged his attacks with ease. He then twisted his arms around several times over and grabbed the lion. As if Richie weighed nothing, Luffy flung him overhead and drove him into the ground. You couldn’t help but wince at the sight, pitying the lion even if he had previously attacked Luffy.

Mohji was also appalled at the treatment of his lion, but didn’t have time to do much since Luffy knocked him out in one hit.

Nami was horrified at the display. It seems she was as disturbed by Luffy’s powers as you were. “Pirates are insane, why would anyone ever want to associate with these freaks?” She mumbled more to herself than anyone. 

If Luffy heard her, he didn’t react to it. All he did was pick up a box of dog food that was laying on the ground and make his way back to where you guys were initially. 

Curious about what he was doing, you tagged along and could hear the other two not far behind. As you rounded the corner, you finally took notice of the active fire that was going on. That pet store you guys were by before had been set aflame since you’d last seen it. Did Mohji do this? Why? 

Chouchou was howling pitifully in front of it. He looked like he’d been roughed up, with claw marks all over him. You suddenly felt a lot less bad for Richie.

Luffy slowly approached the dog and set the dog food next to him, “That store was your treasure, right? It’s not much, but I was able to save this for you.” He reached out and patted the dog on the head, which Chouchou surprisingly tolerated this time around.

You aren’t completely sure what Luffy is talking about here, you feel like you’re missing an important piece of information. Still, you can’t help but be moved. Did he go out of his way to help the dog even after his previous issues with him? That’s oddly sweet.

Maybe these guys aren’t so bad afterall. Unhinged, yes, but at the very least they’re decent people. Perhaps you will stick around a while longer. 

It would appear that you weren’t the only one moved by the display. Boodle clutched the spear he was carrying tighter, looking like he was on the verge of tears, “I can’t believe I’ve let this get so out of hand. I’ve been a part of this town since it was founded forty years ago. I helped build it. Me and the townsfolk poured so much into this town only for some lowlife pirate to come by and try and take it all for himself.” He cleared his throat and looked off into the distance with a burning resolve, “I’m done letting this continue, this is ending here and now! I’m going to bring an end to his reign even if it kills me!”

Mayor Boodle raised his spear in the air and charged towards where Buggy and his crew were stationed. Nami called out after him, warning that this was a bad idea, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Should we stop him?” You can’t imagine this is going to end well for him. This feels like watching someone’s grandpa go to war.

Neither of them were given a chance to answer. The deafening boom of a cannon going off cut through the air as several buildings toppled in its wake. Horrifyingly, one of them was the house Zoro was in. 

All of you were in a stunned silence. How many times were you going to see people get crushed in collapsing buildings today? What was this? A superhero movie?

… What’s a superhero movie? 

The remains of the building shuddered, then lifted, and you saw a green head of hair pop out. “Can’t get any damn sleep around here,” Zoro looked annoyed more than anything, as if you’d simply woken him up again and not like he’d just survived numerous events that should have been fatal

Luffy cackled, “Let’s go Zoro, we’re gonna kick that big nosed clown’s ass!”

“I don’t think Zoro’s in any shape to be ‘kicking ass’ right now.” Did Luffy forget about Zoro being stabbed?

Zoro, who was still working on climbing out of the rubble, groaned at this, “Didn’t I tell you that you worry too much? Quit fussing. I got some sleep, I’m fine.”

Does he think sleep is a cure-all? He must be able to tell that you’re going to argue with him, because as soon as he steps down, he takes off with Luffy in the same direction Boodle went. You called out after them, but they distinctly ignored you. 

“They’re a bunch of lunatics,” you muttered, staring at their rapidly retreating forms. 

Nami laughed, “Yeah, well they’re your lunatics, right?” 

“I guess so,” you admit. Even if they are insane, you can feel yourself becoming fond of them.

Both of you follow behind them at a light jog. They’re out of sight, but you’re sure you’ll be able to hear them soon enough. You’re not sure what you’re going to do when you get there, but you’ll just have to figure it out as you go along. 

[the-real-treasure]

Treasure Treasure!

An OPLA Sanji x Reader

Master List Here

Previous Chapter: Let Sleeping Cats Die

Chapter Seven: Returning Tides of Home

Summary: A captain learns that prices must be paid and punishments will be dished out accordingly. A duel challenge is issued, and it leaves wounds on more than just the competitors.

Trigger Warnings: Violence, threats and descriptions of violence, swearing, trauma responses, mentions of death, self-harm, branding, scarring, mention of alcohol, duel to the death, Reader's Devil Fruit power is overwhelming and overstimulating Word Count: 9,730 **Edited: 16/09/24**

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"Did you just call that guy Grandpa?" Zoro asked from beside his captain

"Luffy," you scolded from beside Nami, "Seriously?" Luffy looks at you,

"What?"

"He takes his steaks medium rare!"

"So?!" The call comes not just from Luffy but the rest of your crewmates as well.

"So! That's so incredibly," you coil you neck in, having to physically pit out the word "boring."

"Really." Nami sounds incredibly done with you, and you're not sure why. "That's where the concern comes from."

"Where else would it come from?"

"Maybe the fact that HE'S A MARINE AND IS CURRENTLY ATTACKING US!"  Her unimpressed voice turns to a yell as another cannon ball rocks the ship. Everyone stumbles at the shock wave and you end up clinging to Nami.

"YOU MAKE A FAIR POINT, I'LL GIVE YOU THAT." As another cannonball rockets through the air, Usopp screams,

"HIT THE DECK!" Luffy and Zoro fall from the force of the blast as woodchips shower down on them, the blast taking out several spindles of the railing. As they climb to their feet, Luffy calls out,

"Everybody ok?"

"I think so," Nami replies as she pries your clawed hands from her arms, sharp nails leaving indents in the skin, but not scratches thankfully.

"No. Not okay, not even close to okay." Usopp shouts down from behind you both.

"Usopp! Fire back at them!"

"Or," the sharp shooter suggests, "how about we sail away as fast as we can?"

"I like that plan, second Usopp's plan!" You shoot your hand into the air as a vote, only to stagger and grab a desperate hold of the rigging as everything around you shakes. "Reminder Luffy, we can not swim! I do not want to try drowning out for a third time in my life, thank you!!" Luffy stares at you both in disbelief.

"Run from the Marines? No. Never! Nami, trim the-the sail thing. Let's sink their ship." You calmly ignore your captain's insane plan and barely legible request, instead checking the ropes of the sail at their base, before clambering on to the rigging up towards the crow's nest as Nami begins to argue.

"We don't have time. They're stealing our wind. If they pull up alongside us, we're finished." As he and Usopp start manoeuvring the cannon the face the Marine ship, you scamper nimbly across the head of the sail, ducking under the tack of the cross tree.

"You're the navigator. Do something." She sighs at him and begins yelling to you and the green haired swordsman.

"Zoro, sheet in and hard to port!" Leaning back, she blocks the sun from her eyes as she yells up to you, grabbing the rudder control, "Y/n, make sure the clew lines are loose! And when you've done that, get down here and secure the kicker."

"AYE!" You call back over the winds, checking that the lines running down the sail aren't jammed in the clewgarnets, as Zoro queries,

"Which ways port?"

"The left!" She yells, and you slide easily back to the deck, the years of clambering about the Orbit and Baratie's masts and rigging leaving it as a near thoughtless exercise. You couldn't cook, but you had a sharp eye and a good ear for instructions, so you were often directed to work amongst the lines and tack. The bandages around your hands, leather gloves abandoned back in Syrup Village, stank and burned slightly from the friction, but it had never stopped you before. "Usopp!" Nami yelled as you skittered past to secure the control lines, "Load the cannon in the barrel, light the fuse, then get the HELL OUT OF THE WAY!"

You look up from checking the ropes, as cannon balls bounce merrily down the stairs, perfectly happy to not be loaded up and shot at high speeds. Eyeing the mess of ropes Zoro had abandoned, you pick your way through the rolling carnage and start on the gordian knot that your crew mate had left.

"Oh man." Luffy sighed at the butchering a simple attempt at a counterattack had left the ship in already. From the Marine ship you hear a loud voice transmit across the sea to you.

"Pirate vessel, by order of the Marines, lower your sails and submit to my authority." You were getting really sick of being ordered by Marines. Luffy didn't seem to care for his grandfather's commands either as he screams in reply.

"NEVER!" You watch stunned as the man lifted a cannon ball, and chucked it towards your ship. Open mouthed, you gaped as it sailed through the air towards you, only for Luffy to begin to inflate like a balloon, catching it in his chest and sending it flying back and striking the mast of the enemy ship.

"That was," Usopp gasped, "amazing! You saved us!" He cheered excitedly. Nami gawked at him.

"You didn't tell me you could do that."

"I didn't know I could." Luffy replied, eyes never leaving the Marine vessel as Usopp bounced down the stairs to him, the pair laughing and cheering together. "Nami! Get us out of here!"

"On it!" Steering the Going Merry into a thick bank of fog, she muttered, "Let's disappear."

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"How's the ship look?" Zoro walked up alongside you and Nami as she steered and you peered over the edge, staring into the fog to keep an eye out for rocks or other dangers that might appear suddenly.

"Broken railing, minor damage. Could've been a lot worse."

"Could've been better." She shot down.

"Can't see the Marines anywhere." Usopp called over his shoulder.

"You can't see anything, this fog is too damn thick." You answer, barely able to make out his figure through the soup.

"What we need is a place to lay low, wait out any reinforcements they send after us." Nami figured.

"I know the perfect place, it's just trying to find it from here. Wherever here is."

"Let me guess," Nami smirked at you, "the best restaurant in the whole of the East Blue."

"With the best cooks, the best staff." Usopp chimed with a grin at you,

"And a sardine shaped boat called the Guppy." Zoro and Nami grinned at each other,

"Yeah, what's it called? Pure Ratty or something?" The pair sniggered as you whirled on them.

"You know its name, don't make fun of me!"

"I'm honestly starting to doubt this place's existence." Nami said, head shaking. You mouth the words at the back of her head, wiggling your head at her mocking. "It doesn't matter either way, my charts are useless in this fog."

"What did Luffy say?" Zoro asked

"He's up on the bow. He hasn't said anything since we hightailed it." Usopp answered, still staring out into the fog.

"Well, somebody needs to talk to him. About this and that other thing." Zoro swayed slightly with the ship and looked at her.

"What other thing?"

"Oh gee, I wonder. The vice-admiral-of-the-Marines-is-my-grandfather thing."

"Oooh, that." Usopp pursed his lips. "Yeah, I don't really know the guy that well."

"Doesn't seem like a big deal." Zoro shrugged. Nami glared at him.

"You're his first mate. Kind of seems like that falls under your job description, hmm?" He looked at the pair, before glancing over at you in your perch in the rigging.

"Y/n's known him longer than me, Y/n you go talk to him." You shake your head.

"Nope. That's veering into guy talk territory and I don't do guy talks, I've had enough of that for six lifetimes. I do offer a guy talk clean up service, so if it doesn't go well, I can sort it out after, but that's it. Besides," You shooed him away, "I'm just the magic compass. It's not in my job description. Off you go, First Mate."

He rolled his eyes and turned away, disappearing into the fog.

"Fine."

You, Nami and Usopp follow shortly behind, meeting Zoro halfway as he returns to your group.

"Seems fine to me."

"Did you even ask him?" Nami asked incredulously. 

"Hey!" Luffy barks, standing and sniffing at the fog. "You guys smell that."

"Smell what?" You crossed your arms,

"Please don't say smoke," Nami side eyes you, "I haven't been down to the galley, don't look at me!" Luffy takes in another long sniff.

"No, no. There's something on the breeze. Smells like butter," he continues sniffing and moves further along the boat, "Soy sauce." Another long hard sniff. "And meat!"

Usopp moves onto the bow.

"I can't smell anything."

"Think he has brain damage?"

"I think that everyday."

You push past your crewmates and move up beside Luffy as he leans against the sheep figurehead.

"Look Luffy, playing follow the smell is fun and all, but we really gotta get out of this fog."

"I know, but I smell food, which means, there's someone somewhere cooking!"

You grab Luffy by the shoulders, turning him towards you.

"The butter, was it just butter, or infused with something," his mouth pulls and he give you a shrug,

"Maybe?"

"Thyme? Garlic maybe?" He takes another sniff and nods, "The soy sauce? Dark? More for colour than for flavour?" The nodding continues as you describe the food more and more, "The meat, a full boar, cooked medium to well done, in a red wine and rosemary marinade?"

The others were looking at you weirdly now as a grin spreads across your face. You turn to look at Nami.

"I told you it was real. That is one of Zeff's signatures." You grab your captain's shoulder and give them an excited shake. "Can you lead us to the smell? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO THAT?!" Screaming in his face was a bit weird but you were nearly home and could hardly contain it. He smiled at you confused.

"Yea, why?" You release him with a smirk and peer into the fog ahead of you.

"Well, we can hadrly miss our dinner plans, can we!"

"Five degrees starboard!" Luffy was perched on the figurehead of the Merry, sniffing at the air wildly, your own excitement rubbing off on him. "No! No! Three degrees back to port." Nami's words don't register to you at all as you peer into the fog.

"Add food to the equation and suddenly he knows how to navigate." A beaming smile grows across your face as familiar lights shine through the thinning fog. You hear Zoro move behind you as he asks,

"What is that? Is that land?"

"Can't be. There aren't any islands anywhere near here." You turn back to your navigator, skipping across the deck as you move closer to the railing. You hear Usopp.

"What's a... baratie?" You spin to face Nami, a smug grin meeting her bewildered face through the fog.

She stares ahead as you emerge from the fog, the dipping light of the sun sending warm oranges and pinks dancing across the calm waters surrounding Baratie.

"You said it was a restaurant," she begins, steering the ship into dock along side the fish head bar. "You never mentioned it was a floating restaurant." You shrugged at her.

"Does it matter?"

"Well, yeah, I thought it was on an island. You know? Land? Not bobbing around in the middle of the ocean with nothing to mark it's location." You smile at her.

"I've never needed to look for it on a map, it's never been hard to make my way back here." You shrug, "It's home."

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You all crowd the railings as you look over the dock.

"Everyone's going to that fish ship." Nami leans on the rail beside you with a small smile.

"That smell. I can't believe it, it's actually a restaurant."

"Then I know what we're gonna do next."

"Disguise the ship so the Marines can't find us?"

"Sail back to Syrup Village where it's safe?" You snorted, your and Luffy's first conversation coming to mind.

"Nope." He whacks you on the shoulder and hops off the rail.

"Let's eat!" Zoro squints against the setting sun.

"That fish better have a bar."

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As the group filled in ahead of you, you scanned the docks for any sign of your baby, but it doesn't look to be out the front. That isn't unusual, more often then not you docked her out the back instead, so Patty may have left her back there.

Deciding to get your crew at least seated before you go galivanting off, you head in to find Luffy and Usopp trying to sweet talk the fish-man maître d'.

"Monkey D. Luffy? Perhaps you've heard of him?" Usopp shmooshes. He sighs.

"Well, in that case, we'll find a table." They both cheer and rush to peer over the railing into the main dining room. "In three weeks."

"Sorry about them, Akito." You slip past Nami and Zoro as they stand unimpressed with their captain's shenanigans. "They're with me. All of 'em."

His eyes brighten.

"Ah, Y/n, you're finally back." As you approach the host desk, he grabs your wrist and pulls you in, "Next time you leave for such an extended period, would you mind letting someone know? I don't think any of us can stand Zeff and Sanji's attitudes for a second more." He whispered. "And maybe don't get involved with pirates!"

You raise your eyebrows at him and smile.

"Akito, Zeff was a pirate. And I haven't been gone that much longer than planned, five days, a week at most. You can all survive without my dishwashing services that long." He glared at you.

"Still five days too long." You smile innocently and bat your eyelashes at him.

"Can I please have a table for my crew, my bestest most wonderful excellent glorious phenomenal fishy friend?" You clutch your hands together and drop your chin on to them, blinking up at him. He gives a beleaguered sigh. "With his lovely top fin and sparkly scales?"

"Flattery will not work on everyone, you know." He still slides out from behind the desk, waving for you all to move down the stairs. "Come along, we'll get your," he eyes the others, "crew seated." You clap your hands excitedly.

"You're the best Aki, I wanna go and check out the state of my loveliest baby, if you could please let me know where Patty deserted her?" He rolled his eyes.

"At the tail, where else?" You give his arm a squeeze in thanks and move to rush out the door again, "He says he won't be fetching her again, you know!"

"He always says that!"

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"Get a move on. You're slowing the line." The blue haired chef passes the blonde one staring at the dish he's creating.

"Gotta wait for the sauce to cool."

"I didn't see this on tonight's menu."

"It's called imagination, Patty, I wouldn't expect you to understand." Patty rounds on him.

"You wanna take this outside?"

"Are you asking me to dance? 'Cause I kinda had my eye on that blonde at table eight." The blue haired man huffs at him.

"It won't be staying there long, not if what Akito said is right."

"Oh?"

"Oh yeah, cute little thing just came traipsing in with a whole crew of pirates, 'parently." Sanji pouts his lips, waiting for him to get to the point.

"So?"

"So, apparently this little sweetheart has long h/c hair, aqua and gold eyes and a very fancy embroidered jacket to match." Sanji whirls on him immediately, nearly dropping the plate in his rush to tug the dish cloth off his shoulder and pull the tie on his collar loose.

"Y/n? They're back?" Patty nods.

"Sounds like it. But hey, hey hey hey!" He calls as Sanji shucks off his apron and fumbles with the chefs' white's buttons. "Don't go leaving the line just yet, we're in the middle of service!"

"And they've been missing for days!"

"So a few more hours won't hurt, they're not going anywhere. Just keep your eye on the menu, whatever the hell that is, boss man ain't gonna like it." Sanji passes him with a scoff, putting the plate at the pass.

"Order up!" His call draws the head chef out of the pantry.

"Aye, aye, aye, aye. What the hell is this?"

"I call it a True Bluefin Sauté. It's elephant tuna, seared asparagus in a sweet soy reduction." Zeff chuckles

"Is that so?"

"Yeah."

"Well I call it crap." Sanji drops his hand back to the pass and rolls his eyes. "The day Baratie serves a dish like that, little eggplant, is the day that hell freezes over."

"If I gotta sling one more prime rib medium-well, I am going to drop dead of boredom, you OLD SHITBAG!" Zeff drops the plate on a pile of dishes to be washed.

"It's what we serve."

"It's an insult to the meat."

"You don't like cooking our menu? Fine. 'Cause I'll be more than delighted to give you other work elsewhere. Maybe you can reduce Y/n's workload for when they get back, take over dishwashing for a while."

"They're already back, so if you're that desperate to get rid of the meal, let me give it to them! They'd eat it happily!"

"You so excited to get out of the kitchen for five seconds, congratulations you've got your wish! You are off the line! Now get out there and wait tables. Move!"

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You prance across the dock that loops the Baratie, pressing yourself close to the bobbing restaurant as you turn the tight corner - the one that isn't meant to be a corner, but you've always used it, ignoring the continuous warnings that Zeff wouldn't save you (Sanji would)- to head for the back, passing the kitchen's back door as you go. The smells wash over you and you can hear yelling as you go, but it doesn't bother you as spot your most prized possession.

The Guppy wasn't very impressive in comparison to some of the giants you had seen while sailing her, but she was perfect for you. Smaller than Nami's schooner, she could probably fit four people if you wanted to push. She lacked a figurehead, instead her bow comes up and cups the space around the deck, making a small hideaway of a bowcastle in the shadow of an intricately carved sardine head, large bulbous portholes acting as eyes as the mouth gaped and allowed the fish tackle shaped bowsprit to protrude out, the shape mimicking Baratie's bar. The railing around the edge and the deck of the ship were sitting barren of the messy ropes and stock boxes that usually travelled with you, her triangular sail lowered and droppable mast leaning on the low stern cabin.

A grin stretched across your mouth as you hopped on board. No, you thought, Patty won't be having to go and fetch her again if you can help it.

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Being outside, you don't see Sanji leaving the kitchen in a huff, or take down the squabbling pirates right outside the doors.

You're not at the table as Sanji drops the dish of complimentary rolls and begins his spiel. 

"Hi, welcome to our shitty restaurant, where the only thing worse than the ambience is the food. My name is Sanji. What can I get for you?" Luffy stuffs one of the rolls into his mouth and orders,

"One of everything, please."

"Any drinks? One of our signature cocktails to help choke down your meal?" Nami lounges back in the booth, watching him.

"Giving us the hard sell, huh? Too bad, our friend raved about this place." Sanji's eyebrows rose and he smirked.

"Apologies, madam, I didn't see you there. What was it your friend said about us?"

"Only that this is the best restaurant in the East Blue." And Zoro tacked on,

"With the best chefs and staff."

"And a friend of theirs who's gonna find this thing called the All Blue!" Luffy talked through his mouth full of bread. Sanji's smirk falls as Nami's rises, realisation and hope hitting him, but before he can speak again, a yell rings out from behind them as a customer gets bowled over by a blur in an aqua coat.

"NAMI! I FOUND THE GUPPY AND SHE'S COMING WITH US TO THE GRAND LINE IF IT KILLS ME!" Sanji hops out of the way before you send him flying as your hands slam down on the table so hard all the glasses rattle. You're out of breath from rushing down the stairs and knocking over the patrons, trousers and bandaged hands wet with sea spray before you glance up at your server. "Sanji! Hi, I missed you!"

You don't give the man a chance to speak before you leap up to hug him, arms wrapping around his middle as you tug him into you, and you lift him clean off his feet for a moment. A smile splits his face, his cheeks burning as he drops back to the floor, and he hugs you back tightly, hands gripping the back of your coat hard.

"Where," he starts as he pulls back, "have you been? We've all been going out of our minds, the harbour master in Shells Town sprouted some nonsense to Patty about you raiding a Marine base and Akito said you came in with a load of pirates."

"Yeah!" You replied cheerfully, "'Cause I did!" You gesture at your crew sat around the table staring at you two. He glances at them. "Sanji, this is my crew, Zoro, Nami, Usopp and Luffy, guys this is my Sanji!" Sniggering erupted around the table as they watched his face redden. 

"Right.. Makes complete sense for you to hitch a ride home with 'pirates.'" Luffy finally looks up from the now demolished bread basket and 'ooohs' at the pair of you.

"This," he points to Sanji, "this is your friend, the cook! The one who's coming with us." You nod happily as Sanji looks between you and the captain.

"I," Sanji replies, "am not going anywhere except to take your orders to the kitchen, and you," he grabs a hold of your arm, pulling you tight against him, "are coming with me. Are there any drink orders before we go?" Zoro clears his throat.

"Can I get a beer, and something for my friends?" Sanji's eye twitches as Zoro's sweep over the rest of the table.

"Two beers. I usually have three, but-" Luffy interrupts before Usopp can begin a tangent.

"And a milk."

"Three beers and a milk. And, uh, for madam?" You look up at Sanji as he teasingly looks to Nami.

"Water."

"That all? We have lots of options."

"Yeah, still, sparkling, mineral? With ice or without? Cubed or crushed?"

Nami's wide eyes look to you for help and your own roll back.

"Normal water will do fine, let's go. I've missed you guys, I want to see Zeff!" As you pull a chuckling Sanji along with you, you hear the boys teasing Nami about being called 'madam' and feel bad for leaving her for a moment.

It passes quickly though, as Sanji slips his arm through yours to guide you into the kitchen.

The usual chattering between the chefs quiets down for a moment and silence rings. Sanji completely ignores it besides a small smirk, calling out the order of "one of literally everything on the menu, 3 beers, a milk and a water, thanks" as the moustachioed head chef comes out to see why everyone's gone quiet.

"Y/n." Zeff calls across the kitchen and you duck around the pass to look at him.

"Hi Zeff! I'm home!" You smile cheerily as he approaches, peg leg forcing an awkward gait as he crosses the kitchen. Sanji steps away from you as you stretch your arms out in a hug, not really expecting one, but you can hope. You don't expect him to whip out a rolled up newspaper and smack it down on your head with a loud 'thwack!'

"Where have you been, you little donkey? What did you do?!" You rub your head and back into Sanji, pushing your arms back to shield him.

"Nowhere! Nothing! Well not nowhere, I've been a few places but-"

"Nothing?!" Zeff yells, flattening out the paper to reveal your face, blood on your cheek and eyes wide and unfocused, staring back at you from a wanted poster listed with a bounty of twelve million Berries. "NOTHING?!"

You look at the poster, bewildered for a second before you grimace, turning your head away and peeking at Sanji over your shoulder. He's staring, aghast, at the paper.

"Ok, maybe not nothing." The edge of the paper creases under Zeff's grip.

"My office." He barks. "Now."

You hunch your shoulders and start moving. Zeff has an incredible ability to make you feel like a child caught causing trouble at any given moment. Normally, it's just the feeling but, for once, you know you messed up.

"Not you." He puts a firm hand on Sanji's chest pushing him back to the doors. "There are still tables needing served, hop to."

"They just got back," Sanji argues, "and I'm not going to leave them alone to get yelled at by you, you curmudgeonly old sack of rank cabbage!"

"That was a good one." Sanji shoots you a smile,

"Thanks."

"MOVE, NAKAYOSHI!"

"I'M MOVING!" You roar back in equal volume and march ahead into his office, slamming the door closed behind you.

You drop into the stool next to the desk, the one that's too small for you now, the one reserved primarily for you because the big chair was for Zeff, and Sanji is more likely to perch moodily -on the desk as a child, putting himself between you and the older man, now, as an adult, against the wall, like some kind of long, blonde poser.

You look over the papers scattered across the desk, inventory and stock, receipts and changes to be implemented to the menu. In the corner, partially hidden by the dry brown plant you bought him as a birthday present a year ago and just in sight below the map of the East Blue, is where two pictures are tacked, one of the three of you at the grand opening of the Baratie, and the other from your 13th birthday, five years ago now, a 14-year-old Sanji's arm draped across your shoulders. Your nose itches and your eyes start to burn.

The door behind you slams open and shut, but your eyes don't drift from the photographs as Zeff collapses into the chair with a huff. He takes a heaving breath and leans forward on his knees, pulling the chef's hat from his head and dropping it on the desk, and moves into your eyeline of the photos.

"What did you do, little donkey?"

If Sanji could hear him, he wouldn't believe the softness in Zeff's voice. The gruff man always was a bit gentler around you. As a child you barely spoke, following Sanji like a sentient shadow, only moving away because you sensed anger or danger being directed at him, and even then it was only to bite or claw at the cause, the scars littering his skin acting as proof. You had always been viciously protective of him, of your Sanji, and though he never asked, Zeff always wondered why. So, while he kept up the facade of tough love with Sanji, pushing him to fulfil his dream and achieve bigger and better things than hanging about the restaurant, in private with you, he softened. His rougher behaviour had only distanced you at the beginning, even after the display of your Devil Fruit power revealed his own dream about the All Blue. It took months of gentle prodding and tales of his adventures in search of it before you began to open up.

To him, you were still a bit too achey, too broken to be treated roughly, a unknown but violent history obvious in the stark brands of '66' and a crossed out '3' on your hands that he had only discovered after hearing a clatter of falling objects in the kitchen at night, where he found you, not even a teenager yet, wielding a large sharp knife and scoring at them with thick deep slices in complete silence, to his horror. They had scarred over, too deep to properly heal and had left a fierce shaking in their wake. Sanji had never seen them, as you kept them wrapped tightly in bandages or otherwise covered, even now when they'd long since healed. You hadn't cried that night, sitting completely soundless as he had sewn up and wrapped them best he could. You weren't crying now, but the tears were gathering in your water line. 

"I messed up."

"I noticed."

"No, I-" your voice cracked and the humour from Zeff's couldn't do much to combat it. "I meet this boy, he's a pirate," Zeff sits up eyeing you dangerously. "Not like that, you old shitbag. His dream knocked me off my feet. He wants to be King of the Pirates, to find the One Piece, and its on the Grand Line and I thought," your lips trembled, "I thought I could help, that I could be useful for once with this stupid, stupid power, and I thought Sanji could come and we could finally look for the All Blue, the two of us, like we said we would, but everything just-"

The tears were coming now thick and fast and you gasped for breath as you rubbed at them, Zeff's eyes burning into your head as you worked your fists over you face, rubbing it raw.

"-everything just kept getting worse. We had to sneak into a Marine base and steal a map," His eyebrows rocked up, "and there were the Marines at Dye Town, they sucked, and then there was the stupid fucking clown who nearly drowned me, and the Black Cats in Syrup Village trying to kill a girl and there was this man-" you sucked in another breath and squeezed your eyes shut as Roku's face, first vengeful and enraged, and then empty and lifeless flashed through your mind, "-he was going to kill me. He was going to kill me, and he said I wasn't from the North Blue, and I didn't understand, and I wasn't going to get to see Sanji again or you or Patty or anybody, and I didn't mean to, I thought I was gonna die, it wasn't me you have to believe me, I didn't want to-"

You collapsed into Zeff chest, sobs ripping your entire body and he dropped the half crumpled wanted poster on to the desk, wrapping you up and pulling you into his lap like you were still that achy broken little kid that left scars on his cheeks to try and save the one thing that still held some meaning. He rocked you, slow and gentle, not shushing you, just petting your head and rocking, like he had wanted to so badly, like he would have if you had cried that day as a child.

He let you cry yourself out in his lap, face red and runny from tears, and he didn't let you go until you finally pulled back yourself. You settled back into the stool, knees bent awkwardly, and you looked at each other. You cleared your throat.

"Also Luffy's grandfather," you look at Zeff's raised eyebrow, "the pirate boy, his name's Luffy." He oh'd, "his grandfather is a vice-admiral in the Marines, the tall scary one that eats, like, twelve steaks in one go." He ignores your "all medium-rare too" and snorts.

"Yeah. I know the one." He looks you over again, sitting with your arms crossed like you were only barely holding yourself together. "Guessing that's what the bounty's for then?" You look at him. "The first man?" Your lips thin out and you nod.

"He was one of the Black Cat Pirates. He was nasty."

"Still doesn't feel good that you've killed him though, aye?" You shake your head, eyes to the ground. "Good. You don't want it to. Hold on to that feeling. Winning a fight to the death because you want to live is one thing, winning it because you want to kill..." His eyes go distant, memories fogging over his mind for a second before he shakes them away. "Just," he sighs, "don't let yourself enjoy killing. That feeling in your gut, the one making you sick of yourself, that keeps you human. Don't you loose that." You only nod in response as you both sit, quiet once again. He flattens the poster again, smoothing out the creases as he looks it over. "Not bad for a first bounty. Not the worst picture of you either." You snort at him as he chuckles, lifting it clear of his desk.

"I look deranged. Terrifying."

"You look," he takes a tack and pins it to the wall alongside the other pictures and the map, "like a pirate. Definitely one that could take on the Grand Line."

You give him a watery smile, the man who has stood with you for most of your life at this point, and his eyes soften and watch you warmly.

There's a knock at the door. You cough and wipe your face again as Zeff pulls it open, revealing a chuckling Sanji holding a bill. His smile drops when he sees your red face, the swirling aqua and gold more watery then usual and he glares hotly at Zeff for a moment. You both ignore him as Zeff snatches the bill from him to read.

"I'll say Y/n," he flicks his hair from his face, "I didn't know what to make of that 'crew' of yours, but they're turning out to be absolutely hysterical." You watch as Zeff's face slowly turns red, and peer over his shoulder. On the bill is signed 'IOU' and the name 'MONKEY D. LUFFY'.

"Oh no."

"Oh yes!"

"Where they sat?" Zeff is quiet, that's never a good sign.

"Zeff-" You try but Zeff is already heading for the doors to the dining hall.

"Table 11." Your head snaps to Sanji, glaring at the grin he was sporting. "What? He asked!" You ignore him,

"Shit. Zeff!" He busts through the doors calling

"Who the hell is Monkey D. Luffy?" You see his head, straw hat and all, pop out from the booth.

"Here!"

"You seem to be confused about the rules of the house," The entire kitchen staff had poured out behind you, but you ignored them as you grabbed Zeff's arm, tugging it desperately for his attention,

"Zeff, no! I'll cover it, take it from my pay, my money! I can cover it, just leave him be!" He shushed you and you fell off his arm, shuffling back into Sanji who stood, smiling like a merry fool at the show.

"Baratie doesn't offer credit. You eat, you pay."

You could roll up into a ball and die as you hear your captain begin to speak.

"I think you're confused. The meal has already been paid for. I just haven't given you the money yet." Sanji looks down at you chuckling gently.

"You ok, mon Cœur?"

"I think I'm going to cry again, this is awful."

Zeff sneered at the boy.

"Yeah, and how's that?"

"You can add it to my treasure tab." You had sunk to the floor at this point, your desperate grip on Sanji's leg the only thing keeping you partially upright.

"Please make him stop."

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"I may not look like a big deal yet, but you're talking with the future King of the Pirates. And as soon as I find the One Piece, I'm gonna come back here, pay this bill in full and with interest."

"Ha, I got a better idea." And Zeff grabs Luffy by the shirt, pulling him with him, past your prone form and the still laughing Sanji, into the kitchen. "What're you chuckling about?" Sanji sobers immediately, helping pull you to your feet as Zeff watches him, "Back to work."

Pushing through the doors behind your captain and your head chef, you listen to him rant.

"You, Mr Future-King-of-the-Pirates, are gonna be my new chore boy. You're gonna pay off your debt washing dishes." With a yelp, Luffy is pushed forward, barely avoiding the tall pile of dishes left by all the patrons.

"All of these?"

"For starters. You gotta remember something, the meal you had with your friends? That's one year's worth of dishes. I'd get a move on if I was you. Second service is in one hour." Behind him the door opens as Sanji re-enters the kitchen, and Zeff turns to him pulling off the suit jacket. "Oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy, oy! What you think you're doing?"

"Come on, old man. Enough's enough."

"Put the jacket back on, little eggplant. You're not done with your shift yet."

"Let me back on the line or I walk." Your head snaps round to him, eyes wide while he avoids looking at you, focusing squarely on Zeff.

"You can walk right back into the ocean for all I care. You cook another meal like that in my kitchen, it's going right where the last one did." You look away from the argument, one you heard variations of for years, and followed Luffy's line of sight. Sat precariously on the piles of dishes, is one meal that you don't recognise, still perfectly plated. Two cuts of tuna, seared asparagus resting in a sauce or reduction of some kind.

"You can kick me out of the kitchen all you like. I'll never be a waiter." You join Luffy in tasting the sauce, sweeping a touch up on your pinkie like Sanji and Zeff always did.

"Well that's fine by me. You sure as hell are never gonna be a cook in my restaurant. Have you got it?"

The sweetened sauce makes you smile gently, throwing a wild guess out that this was Sanji's dish. Zeff snarls after him as he walks out the back door, leaving the cooks to their job and you and Luffy to yours. He turns to look at you both as you slip an apron over your head as well, the dark navy matching the one donned by your captain.

"Don't you do his work for him." You ignore him, pulling your long hair from the loop and twirling it from a curly mess of a pony tail into a crooked bun.

"I'm not, I'm a crewmember helping their captain." Zeff's eyes flash to the beaming Luffy as you grab two scrubbers and pull a pair of yellow dish washing gloves up your arms.

"Well," he mutters, "let him do most of the work then, if he's gonna call himself a captain."

"Heard, chef." Zeff snorts and walks out.

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Luffy puffs as he rolls another trolley of dishes into the kitchen, pulling to a stop alongside where you were working, at a much slower pace than normal, with Sanji perched on the counter beside you, handing you dishes.

"Hey choreboy," he snickers, "how's that dish pile coming along?" You don't wait for Luffy to answer.

"It would've been better if somebody had kept up with the pile while I was away, don't you think?" You give him a stink eye as he shies away from you, mouth pulled into a tight apologetic smile. Luffy sighed.

"It never seems to get any smaller."

"You get used to it," you mumble, "It's better at night when service is done. And hey," you nudged him with your elbow, your hands still soapy, "at least this water won't catch fire as easy."

"Yeah, the old man's a real piece of work."

"He's not that bad Sanji."

"Mon cœur, he made you cry."

"That wasn't him, it was..." You sigh. "Other stuff that happened, don't worry about."

"Well now I'm worried. Bet your captain regrets that IOU."

"I don't really do regret. No point in looking back,"

"Lucky you. Sometimes, when I try to look ahead, all I see is back." Luffy lifts another pile of dishes into the water.

"So how long you been a waiter?"

"Oh please don't start." Sanji's finger covers your mouth and he leans forward to correct him.

"I'm not a waiter, I'm a cook. Best one in the East Blue."

"Oh! I knew that already, Y/n told me!" He scoffed, a slight smile on his face as he looked down at you, continuing your scrubbing.

"Not that it matters. As long as the old man's in charge, I'm banned from the line."

"But that meal you cooked was incredible." Your eyes widened and you groan in agreement.

"Soooo good."

"The True Bluefin Sauté?" 

"Yeah."

"You both tried it?"

"Yeah, of course we did! I couldn't help myself." You nudged his knee with a smile.

"Knew it was yours, was too good to be anyone else's'."

"I didn't think the food here could get any better. You know," Luffy spoke thoughtfully, "you're a really good cook. Why is Zeff making you wait tables?" Your eyes roll back at this topic again and mouth along with Sanji as he replies,

"'Cause he's jealous. I should be running this place, but the old man's so stubborn, it'll never happen."

"Is that your dream? To be head chef of the Baratie?" He looks down at you, it was different from what you had said. Sanji laughed and disagreed.

"Nah."

"So you love to cook. You just don't want to cook here?" Sanji flicks his lighter open and lights a cigarette.

"There's, um, this place, Y/n might have told you about it, where you can find ingredients from all four seas. East Blue, West Blue, North and South. They call it the All Blue." Luffy's eye zip to you in recognition, but you're smiling up at Sanji, the familiar thrumming warmth of his dream washing over you in waves. "Nobody knows where it is, but there's fish there that have never been seen. Ya know, rare seaweeds, spices that have never been tasted. It is a cook's paradise, and," his eyes drop from Luffy to you and the small smile on his face grew bigger, "we're gonna find it one day. That's my dream."

"If you want to cook, you should cook. Don't let some stubborn old man get in the way of your dream. Stand up to him, tell him what you want." Sanji's lips press together and you both look at Luffy.

"It's more complicated, than that."

"I don't really do complicated either."

"We noticed, Luf." A small smile twists up your lips.

You're disturbed by a banging against the back door as a voice calls out.

"Help me. Help." Sanji snuffs out his cigarette as the man lets himself in, dirty white tracksuit emblazoned with snakes, and he stumbles, falling to the floor, "Please, help me." He begs as Sanji helps him to sit at the small table.

"You okay?" Sanji mumbles to him as they sit him down.

"I'm so hungry, please." Sanji claps him on the shoulder, moving around the kitchen to grab up ingredients as you set out clean dishes for him to use.

"Okay, you got it, man. How does some corned-beef friend rice sound?" As Sanji paces through the kitchen, Patty comes through wiping his hands.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"At Baratie, everyone eats."

"And who's gonna pay for that? This is a business. We can't be giving handouts to every down-on-his-luck pirate that washes up." You left the opened bag of rice onto the counter and push it towards him, and he fills his pot, shaking out the excess and topping it with water to cook.

"If a man is hungry, I feed him." Sanji moves past the blue haired chef, grabbing the wrapped pack of corned beef.

"Zeff kicked you off the line."

"I don't see the old man here. Do you?"

"Just drop it Patty, come on." He throws his hands up at the pair of you.

"Your funerals." You and Luffy look at each other as Sanji begins to cook.

As the older pirate scarfs down the bowl of rice he breathes heavily.

"I was drifting out there for a week. You saved my life tonight." Sanji smiles up from where he's cleaning his station, you further behind him, trying to finish the still huge pile of dishes Luffy had abandoned.

"You're not only a good cook, you're a good guy." Your captain was perched beside the older man as he ate. "If Zeff doesn't appreciate you, you should join my crew." You shake your head with a smile, you're sure it will take more than that to convince your Sanji to leave the old man. "I'm serious. For real."

You call over your shoulder,

"That doesn't happen often Sanji!"

"Sorry chore boy. I've already got a job." Knew it.

"But you're not happy here. Neither of you are, and Y/n's already agreed to join!" You don't see Sanji's smile drop. "Their family lives on the Grand Line, we can look for them too! And we're gonna need a great cook if we're gonna find the One Piece." You don't notice that Sanji had completely stilled as the pirates spoon clatters into the bowl.

"The One Piece?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna find it and become King of the Pirates."

"We're were searching for it too. I was part of a mighty pirate armada. Our captain was hell-bent on finding Gold Roger's treasure, but the Grand Line was his undoing. We lost 50 ships and 5,000 men. I was the only survivor." The man looks pleadingly at Luffy. "Save yourself. Forget you ever heard of the One Piece."

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Sanji had long since left the kitchen, and you let him. His fury at you was never loud, even when stranded together or raged at by customers and co-workers alike, if he had anger towards you, it always sat, simmering silently. He never yelled, not like he did with Zeff. He and the old man were alike like that, always softening for you to avoid hurting you further. He would stand on the docks or up on the small outcrop outside your shared window and would smoke and fume and fume and smoke, before coming to talk to you.

You knew he wasn't pleased about Luffy saying you were leaving, so you left him to think and smoke and fume. You would find him later, or he would find you. You always did.

You had finally given up doing the dishes. Leaving the rest to Luffy, you were sitting off to the side stretching your shaking hands, now devoid of washing gloves. Being tired always made the shaking and stiffness worse, and scrubbing for hours on end always left them aching, so you dug your curled and stiff knuckles into the palms to relieve the aching.

"Right, we done yet?" You turn to Zeff as he walks up and wince as Luffy sends plates crashing to the ground to shatter. You drop your forehead on to your hands. Zeff snorts at him. "You're lousier at it then Y/n, but at least you do as you're told in this kitchen."

"If you think Sanji's gonna give up on his dream because of you, then forget it." Zeff peered down at you and you shook your head defeated. Luffy wasn't going to give up on this tirade until he was given the full story, and that wasn't up to you alone. You would let one of the two men share it with him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Luffy advanced on to Zeff, standing nearly toe-to-toe with the man. "You may have banned him from the line, but you can't stop him from cooking."

"Oh really?

"Luffy-" you tried to cut in but he was on a roll.

"Yeah, really. This starving pirate washed up earlier, and you know what Sanji did? He cooked for him! Right here in your kitchen, because your rules matter less to him than making sure a hungry man got fed." You release a long sigh and prop your head on your hand, watching as Zeff lets out a quiet laugh.

"He did that, did he? What a good kid."

Before he could continue, Usopp barges through the doors swaying dangerously. You stand to right him as he gestures back behind him.

"Luffy, we've got a problem."

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"Maybe you can convince him to call it off." Nami's voice sounded from the galley as you Luffy and Usopp walked in.

"I won't do that."

"Did you see the size of that guy's sword? He will slice you into sashimi."

"What's going on?"

"Yeah, who are we talking about here?"

"I'll tell you what's going on." Nami rounded on Luffy, "Your big, bad Marine grandpa sent a Warlord of the Sea to bring you in, and instead of getting the hell out of here when he had the chance, Zoro challenged him to a duel."

"Which he accepted."

"Oh." The noise fell from your mouth before you could stop it. "Mihawk then."

Nami and Zoro's eyes snap to you.

"You knew?"

"I saw him when I saw your dream. He's..." you hesitated looking for the right word. "...good. The best, really." You wring your hands together and squeeze, "I don't know if this is the right time for you to fight him though."

"So you're a magical alarm clock now too?" Zoro sneered. Nami turned her arguments to him again.

"You are a fly to him. Something to be swatted and forgotten."

"Not if I win."

"You're not going to win."

"Guys, guys, maybe we need more drinks." You stare at him as he waves his hat.

"Usopp, you smell like one of the fish bowl cocktails we serve, you don't need anymore alcohol." You look around the table, "None of us do, not at the moment." Nami looks to Luffy.

"Tell your first mate he's going to get himself killed." Zoro interrupted her sentence before she was done.

"Tell your navigator and your compass to butt out." Luffy shrugged.

"Maybe this isn't such a great idea Zoro."

"When you met me tied up on that cross, what did I say?" You and Luffy begin to answer.

"'Get lost.'."

"'What makes you think I wanna play pirates with you?'."

Zoro rolled his eyes at you both.

"No the other thing."

"'You don't know anything about me.'?"

"'I kill your kind for a living.'?"

"No! Come-" he groans but looks up at you. You realise what he's saying and turn away, looking at the floor as Luffy 'oh's beside you.

"That you made a promise to someone a long time ago to be the world's greatest swordsman."

"The only way to do that is to beat Mihawk in a duel and take his title. I intend to do just that."

"But," you stutter out, "you don't have to do it now." You glance at Nami and Usopp who are nodding in agreement, "You can take a bit longer, there isn't a time limit on these things-"

"SHUT-" You flinch as he slams his fist down on the table and growls to himself, "You have no idea what you're talking about. All this spouting of wanting to help people achieve their dreams and whatever and you're sitting here completely aimless, following around whoever decides to give you the time of day. You have," he spits out at you, "no idea."

You stand frozen as the argument continues around you. Nami tells off Zoro and Luffy, yelling that he's her friend before he snubs her too. As she pushes back from the table, she walks out and you follow her, returning to Baratie for the night.

Walking down the stairs to the staff quarters above the restaurant and dining room, you pass Zeff and a few of the other cooks, including Patty, eating quietly in the small kitchen/dining area that you all use. The large pot of fried rice with egg and whatever meats that could be chucked in sat on the stove pot. 

Your stomach turned at the smell, appetite none existent after the argument. You don't see them turn to watch you, or Zeff stopping them from calling out to you as you wander up the stairs to your room.

You push open the door to see the window wide open and Sanji's back is to you, already dressed for bed as he leaned against the railing, looking over the water with a cigarette in his hand. You don't bother turning on the lamp. When he didn't turn to greet you, you left him be, instead shuffling behind the changing screen to slip on some of random strewn-about clothes to sleep in. You hang up your coat on the coat hook on the back of the door and move to your bed, the blankets and pillows littering the single mattress. It was messier than you left it, but you assume at some point Sanji had decided to swap, his own crisply pressed sheets tucked in tight and untouched, the only spot of colour being the fluffy blue cushion you always left there when he makes his bed. He did so sometimes, if you were away longer than intended, commandeering your space until your return.

You drop face down on to the bed, and lay there, arm hanging off the side, crossing the halfway point of the tiny box room you and Sanji have shared since forever. Your calves are bare in the sleep shorts you donned, the scratches littering them from the gravel at Kaya's mansion and the bruising from the fall down the hill are left to the open air, and scruffy old t-shirt leaving your chains uncovered too, the spot where they meet your wrists still red raw. You hear Sanji shuffle, snuffing out his cigarette and clambering back inside, pulling the window closed behind him. You hear the sheets rustle as he pulls them down and slips into them, probably shoving your cushion into the wall so he didn't lie on it.

Then you both lie, in silence, the only sound being each others breathing.

A beat.

"I think," you break the silence, quiet voice louder than you meant in the stillness, "my friend is going to die."

Sanji doesn't reply.

But in the darkness, you feel as his hand drops into your palm, fingers interweaving with yours.

And you fall into the most comfortable sleep you'd had in days, eased by the smell of home and the warmth of his hand in yours.

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As the sun rises in the morning, you walk on to the Going Merry and go down into the galley, where Zoro stood arming himself.

He stands with his back to you, and doesn't turn except to slide the trio of sheaths into his belt loops. You pull and squeeze at your fingers, twining them together and cracking your knuckles, the pain shooting across them a welcome distraction, if only for a second.

"I don't think you'll listen to me," you begin, voice soft but your words desperate to escape, "I'm not surprised. I felt your dream, I felt the pain it brings you, and the determination." He turns his ear closer to you, black bandana obscuring his hair. "I don't know her name, but I could feel how important she was to you, how important she still is to you. And me asking you this isn't to lessen her importance, or to make you give up on your dream all together. I just think," you stumble for the words, tongue growing heavy as he stands completely rigid, "would it not be better, to train, and to know you can beat him easily, rather than just saying 'screw it he's here now' and dying in the process?"

His hand rests on the hilt of his sword. You purse your lips and hesitate, but the words come out anyway.

"Would she want you dead too?"

It was the worst thing to say.

You know that as soon as it comes out of your mouth, but you don't have time to regret it, as Zoro pulls the sword, the one with the white hilt she had wielded, free of its holding, and swipes at you. You drop to the ground, rolling away from his next swing and back out the door. He follows, stopping in the door frame and filling it completely.

"Don't you ever ask me something like that-" he growled out,

"I'm sorry, it wasn't-"

"-you know nothing about me," he marches on you again, and you move back further, scrambling up the stairs backwards as your hands hit them,

"-I know, I'm sorry-"

"You know nothing about her, about my history, my promises-"

"-I just-"

"-don't you dare show your face at this duel, or I will-"

"-I JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO DIE!" You cut him off completely, and you both stop, panting as he glared down at you. You swallow harshly, your eyes beginning to water in frustration. "Winning a fight to the death because you want to live is one thing, doing it, fighting him like this just because you want to the title..." You shake your head of the thoat, "No matter what promises you made Zoro, you're just as scared as we are, you just can't let yourself admit."

His face darkens with anger again.

"Don't-" You cut him off.

"Don't try and tell me you're not. I've seen this plenty of times, I was raised on it." You take a deep breath and stand, putting yourself toe-to-toe and face-to-face with him. "You can't fulfil your dream if you're dead Roronoa Zoro. I respect that you want to win," your voice cracks, "but you cannot become the greatest swordsman dead." You blink and pull back, turning to walk up the stairs and leave him to his preparations.

"Nakayoshi." You stop at his voice and turn to look down at him, face blank. "Don't come down to the duel this morning. Stay with your waiter. I'm sure they'll have some use for you, scrubbing dishes or something." His words leave him with bite, but your face doesn't shift.

You're so tired.

"Please don't die Zoro." You reply with no emotion, "for her sake, and your own." You turned.

And you left.

Next Chapter: Mon Cœur Est Un Petit Âne

[nervousstarlightobserver]

Seraphim Eye Practice + Headcanons

(I made these well before the official episode came out so these are older designs)

These are the eyes that I have finished and I’m proud to share with the world. I have given the seraphim names and some head canons to go with them. I also aged up all of the seraphim outside of S-Snake because I love how baby she is.

S-Hawk is actually one of two. I don’t know how I got it into my head, but I liked the idea of Mihawk having twin seraphim. They came about like regular twins, but if they were tube babies.

They are both called S-Hawk and they were separated when they were very young. Both are overprotective of each other because of being separated. The one you see at the very top is Crowley and the one at the very bottom is Montoya. Inigo Montoya and Crowly. Both of the twins eyes were replaced with robotic ones. They can even change color! Blue for Docile, Yellow for Alert, and Red/Pink for Danger. There is also Green, but none of the Punks know why they turn green since they rarely flash green. 👀

Crowley has the cloned devil fruit; but Montoya, on the other hand, ate an actual devil fruit. I call it the Fuse-Fuse fruit! It is a paramecia type that can fuse two or more things together. Both organic and inorganic materials can be fused. He typically fuses with S-Gecko. Montoya and S-Gecko were placed together while Crowly was placed with S-Crocodile and S-Catapiller. Crowley doesn’t use a sword, instead he uses a guitar that doubles as both a gun and a battle ax. It is the turducken of weapons. I kept their eyes similar to their original design (manga) since that’s what I stared with. Not much to talk about. But both of their wings are like that of a crow and not a hawk. The Punks don’t have a lot of knowledge on bird wings apparently 🤷 Crowley has tons of piercings I just didn’t add/you can’t see any of them. He is very much punk rock vs. Montoya who is very elegant vintage.

I’ve been calling S-Crocodile Dharma. Dharma Al Dini. I had a different name that started with a D for Dharma but I forgot to write it down so I had to change it. After watching a play through of Venba, I got the idea of Crocodile being able to speak Tamil and eating Indian food and that’s how Dharma came to be. Dharma knows how to speak Tamil and how to cook. I also gave him an Italian last name because of the whole mafia theme Crocodile’s got going on.

I had an outline of S-Crocodile way before it was revealed and what I have written down is so far off from the original that when I look at the seraphim I’m like, “Why are you so different?” And then I remember that when I first met these characters we only knew S-Hawk, Snake, Shark, and Bear and we didn’t even know if they were conscious. Dharma is very soft spoken and is very muted compared to Crocodile. Crocodile exudes confidence and superiority. Dharma is a very gentle presence and, while confident, lacks the same authority and charisma his prime does. (I’m calling the OGs Primes so I don’t have to constantly write out their names).

I made his eyes a star bursts with light coming out of them. Kinda like a start shooting light. I changed his eyes to be more of a warm honey color than Crocodile’s harsh gold (before Toei decided to change Crocodile’s eye color for no reason). I really wanted to show the difference in their personality in an obvious way. I also gave him makeup around his eyes because I thought his face looked to bare and it became a theme for nearly all the seraphim. I made Dharma’s wings that of a sparrow’s due to that one cover story, also his wings are closer to his hips than his shoulders. His aesthetic is a casual glam. He look effortless and like an average guy, but also extremely expensive.

S-Snake is a very curious child. She is very sweet, adventurous, self-assured, and bossy. She is trusting to a fault that her older brothers are over protective of her. I have named her Yumi. Yumi Stone. She and the others discovered that her devil fruit doesn’t require that they actually look at her, in fact, you don’t even need to see her for her devil fruit to work. The only qualification is that there is love. She can petrify the other seraphim because they love her and each other. She has used her powers on couples and parents to try and test how far her powers can go. Her powers also have some healing properties to it. She is interning under S-Gecko to become a doctor (This is due to trauma which I will get to maybe never).

Okay, to start off, I love how cute I made her!!!! Look at her, look at my baby! She is the definition of adorable. Her eyes were the most fun and, shockingly, the easiest to come up with because I had the idea of making each of the seraphim have unique eyes (by the time I hit S-Flamingo I had officially run out of ideas and just said fuck it close enough). I made her eyes a light purple because I thought it would break up all the warm colored eyes I was doing. I added the rings and the mini-stars because I loved the idea of her having like a sorta planetary eye. I nearly did the rings for Dharma and S-Gecko, but I scrapped the idea because it was not working. I gave her some small eye liner because all of the others had some form of make up. I didn’t want it to be to extreme and wanted to keep it simple for her and it ended up in her eyes looking more owlish and it’s just—mwuah!❤️ Not on purpose but I fell in love with it. That small little thing has also made me head canon that her wings are like an owls. Her eyes are easily my favorite over all. Yumi doesn’t have any specific aesthetics, she just wears whatever she thinks is cute or what her brothers pick out for her. She can really be any of the boys aesthetics when she wants to be. Like one day she can have a biker jacket on and the next she’s wearing a gardener outfit.

Next Batch! And I won’t be starting with S-Caterpillar, I’m saving him for last 😉

S-Gecko’s name is Frankenstein. At this point you can already tell the second theme that I picked out for the seraphim is that they are all of their names are based off of different fictional characters because I like to think that they choose their names from their favorite characters!

Frankenstein was also the first one to be created. We literally do not know how long he was a warlord for, but we do know that he lost a shit ton of blood to Kaido way back when! I like to believe that Gecko Moria was the entire reason the seraphim program exists because waaaaayy too many people forget that in his prime he was an actual candidate for becoming an emperor/the pirate king.

Frankenstein (just Frank or Stein depending on whose talking to him) is very similar, yet extremely different from his prime. • Similarities include : both work with the dead, are tacticians, and are very heavy sleepers. Stein is a workaholic and the other seraphim rarely, if ever, see him since he mainly stays in his room. He is very abrasive and is regularly seen wearing a scowl, but he also has a wicked sense of humor that you don’t get to hear often and is even funnier because you don’t expect it. He is an actual certified doctor which is important to know because he is the other seraphim’s primary doctor, but his day job is to work as a mortician. Despite his job as a mortician, he’s very delicate with the bodies. He has never attempted to raise the dead like his prime. He has never held any shame or disgust towards a body. He will do small things that seem illogical to some, but he was always superstitious type. He will sing lullabies to dead and gently push hair out of their faces. He will recount his day like he was talking to an old friend or a patient. Stein is a religious person in a loose sense. He won’t pray to any god and swears like a sailor but he won’t go out of his way to actively piss off a spirit. Stein is Montya’s best friend. In my head their relationship changed from two people that knew each other in passing to closer than anything. Montya developed some pretty serious separation anxiety after he was separated from Crowly. Once he was placed with Stein he just clung onto him and never let go. Stein, despite being very much a loner and not really a people person, let him cling to him. When Montya’s eyes were replaced with robotic ones and were malfunctioning, he used his devil fruit to create a sort of cooling agent to stop them from overheating. They had small little moments like these that built up over the years in captivity that made them inseparable…literally. After Montya ate his devil fruit he was forced to go under a series of experiments to test the limits of his devil fruit. One where they used Stein as a “motivator”. After one world government agent took it too far, in a panic, Montya fused himself and Stein together. It took several weeks to get them to unfuse forcing the WG to drop the experiment altogether. The two of them still fuse from time to time just to feel close. Frankenstein is the only person Montya has ever fused with. Not even Crowley.

Stein’s pupils are actually two different colors! They are two, three way triangles. I originally tried making his eyes like an atoms but I scrapped that idea. His wings are similar to an albatross. He also looks like Moria at his prime. Also I do realize that I gave him eyebrows even though he doesn’t have any, but they looked too good to discard. His aesthetic is yeehaw goth (Mihawk better watch out cause he’s side eyeing your territory). It is polarizing to see him and Montoya together because of how different their personalities are but still are best friends, yet him and Crowly absolutely hate each other with a burning passion and only really tolerate each other when Montoya is around. The second he turns around they are already throwing down and throttling each other into the stratosphere.

S-Flamingo. Better known as Donquixote Sancho. He is the very antithesis of Doflamingo. Not in a “they look exactly the same but we are totally different” but in a “Everything I do, I do to spite you” kinda way. Sancho is a priest and is respectful to literally everyone but the people in power. He lives modestly and refuses to live outside of the bare necessities. He refuses to use Doflamingo’s devil fruit and doesn’t even see it as his own power. He uses a god damn sword that is made out of seastone all the way through just because he doesn’t want to use Doflamingo’s devil fruit. Sancho loathes Doflamingo with such a passion that he takes everything he knows about him and flips it on its head just so he can avoid being reminded that he’s technically his son (brother. Him-Something?). Doflamingo has short hair? He grows his out. Doflamingo has an atrocious, outrageous sense of style? Wears nice, plain clothing. You can see where this is going. The only reason I gave him sunglasses was because I didn’t think he looked like Doffy enough without them. Each of the seraphim are supposed to be recognizable despite not even having the same color palette as their primes so just ignore the sunglasses (now that I’m looking at the photo again I realize that I forgot to give him makeup). His wings are similar to a swans.

Now is the little bastard’s turn. S-Caterpillar.

Or better known by the others as Godbrand Puck.

Now let’s get one this straight about Godbrand. He is almost exactly like Buggy. In fact the world government would consider him their first perfect, and only, total success. He emulates Buggy to a T. He is loud, eccentric, and all around flashy. Normally the world government would consider this to be a flaw that they can just beat out of him if it wasn’t for one very special factor. He is physically incapable of feeling pain. He isn’t just called Godbrand for shits and giggles. He has been branded with both the Slave brand and the Word Government’s symbol multiple times. Not once did he scream out in pain. In fact he stared giggling the first time it happened. He even fell asleep during one of these “sessions”.

Puck is the only one without green blood because when Vegapunk was first experimenting he decided to lace the artificial devil fruit with the DNA to make the seraphim automatically born with the devil fruit. This lead to the interesting discovery that due to the nature of Buggy’s devil fruit and the inherent nature of devil fruits permanently changing a users body, Puck’s pain receptors were completely severed. They tested this theory on several other Buggy clones that ended up in total failures because of the Chop-Chop fruits nature to split apart. Some of them were missing limbs or organs, others simply didn’t form correctly like an arm coming out of the head or the eyes were placed on the neck, sometimes there were an extra set of something like a row teeth or more than one head. Because Vegapunk tampered with re-adding the devil fruit into Buggy’s DNA none of his clones came out right leaving only Puck. The Golden Child. A Miracle. The Best out of a series of total and utter failures left with an extremely desirable trait in the World Government’s eyes. A solider who could continue on without being held back by something as trivial as pain. Of course until you realize that “desirable trait” leaves him with the inability to seek treatment. Biting his own fingers off. Swallowing his teeth and chewing on his own tongue till it’s bloodied. Ripping out stitches and IVs. Walking on a infected leg that has completely rotted bellow the knee. After that Vegapunk vowed to never clone another the same way he did Puck. Both too risky and high rate of failure. Even if the clone does survive, their could be some unforeseen complications down the line. With him being unable to feel pain, he feels no fear. Remember when I said he was almost exactly like Buggy? What is Buggy’s most notable traits? He is a complete and utter coward terrified of pain and will do almost anything to avoid it. But Puck? With him unable to feel pain, he feels no reason to fear anything. Why feel fear a fate worse than death when that “fate worse than death” is just feeling pain? That little chip the WG and Vegapunks invented to make them unable to feel anything or disobey orders? That is merely a controlled shock that will make them feel excruciating pain. So with that in mind, can you see where this is going? That little desirable trait that they oh so loved in the beginning has bitten them in the ass because this insufferable little shit doesn’t follow orders unless he wants to. Oh sure he won’t be able to “properly” move for a while but can just use his devil fruit to still make it work. What “fate worse than death” can they make him feel? He can’t even experience something so universal to the human experience that he believes himself to be above it all. He’s better than humanity. He is better than the other seraphim because they are all held down by the temporary emotion known as pain. They are below him because they are held back by something so…unnecessary.

Puck is everything the Buggy pretends to be. Puck is confident, powerful, and better than everyone else. He’s basically God. At least in his own eyes. Puck is a raging narcissist, like clinical textbox definition of a narcissist. He like Buggy, but everything is cranked up to an eleven. If crazy was a kind of clock, Buggy would be a single full rotation. Luffy would be like twenty full rotations and then clockwise and then back again on the perfect level of fun crazy and absolute Eldrich abomination. PUCK would be the exact opposite of Luffy landing on the worst amount of self import delusional asshole. He thinks himself a God with the power to back it up. His blood is that of the seraphim, a species that was once considered godlike, and Buggy, an emperor of the sea. He is the nepotism of blood. He is every last one of Buggy’s WORST possible traits. He is a narcissist, psychopathic, asshole. None of the other seraphim like him or understand him. And he doesn’t like or understand them. Worst of all, he is just as much of charismatic genius as his prime.

This brat has the critically thinking skills as Crocodile mixed with Buggy’s chemical expertise and Shank’s level of haki control. On my first post, you can see Puck with four wings. Because Buggy’s devil fruit already allows him to fly, he uses his wings as living armory. He can separate his feathers to create either daggers or swords depending on the situation. He uses his armament haki to make his feathers as strong as steel. Or he can uses his feathers for recon missions (think Hawks from MHA). He can also use his devil fruit for a variety of other situations. He uses it for espionage and undercover missions. He can cut his hair or limbs to appear taller or shorter. He removes his wings, nose, his own dick and Adam’s apple (if the situation calls for it) to go better under cover. He’s also knowledgeable enough about surgery to perform top and bottom surgery to easily switch between male and female when going under cover. He has entire rooms fill of wigs, makeup, clothing, dyes, jewelry, and other accessories specially for him. All his years undercover has made him an excellent actor. He knows what to say to get them to do what he wants. He knows how to persuade someone. No matter how much the others hate him, they have to admit, he is damn good at what he does.

For his design to most important thing to me was clown. I wanted to nail that performer look without making it too much or too bland. Buggy’s makeup is iconic. I’m like 90% sure Buggy has an egg. So I wanted to nail that Star of the Show look without butting into his territory. Of course I gave him Star first to not alone tie in the whole celestial feel, but it was thematic. I originally wanted to add in a moon since he already has a Star and a Sun but it just wouldn’t turn out how I wanted so first thing I asked myself was, “What is some of the most iconic clown makeup?” Then I remembered. TEARS! You can see a small blue tear on his left eye for 1.)Buggy is a bit of a crybaby and 2.)I didn’t want it to distract from the star too much. For the heart and the spade on the top of his forehead, it ties into playing cards. The heart and the spade are from a childhood drawing of mine where I made a monster using the four suits. Diamond and Club for the eyes. Heart on the forehead. And Spade as the nose. I took that idea and simplified it down to make the forehead not look as big. His eyes are easily my second favorite because we have a lot of warm colored eyes so that made him standout a lot more. His eyes are also the only ones that aren’t totally connected. All of the other seraphim’s eyes are very soft in some kind of way, Frankenstein being somewhat of an exception. All of their eyes are rounded in some kind of way. Dharma has a lot of curves to his eyes. The pointed edges of the twins, Yumi, and Sancho has been rounded off. Hell, even Frankenstein’s eyes have rounded lines in them to make appearance softer. Pucks eyes are completely sharp, there are no soft or rounded edges. Even the smaller stars are very straight and stiff. There is no softness in his eyes. There is nothing soft about Puck. His eyes are radioactive green. They are toxic. They are dangerous. They are tempting. He is the prettiest poison you’ve ever seen. His makeup, his nose, his hair and clothing are all attempts to make him appear softer than he really is. And of course, if you’ve seen my drawing of him, his wings are based off of duck wings. 1.) It’s a pun because Duck>Puck. Pretty self explanatory. And 2.) To make him appear weaker than he really is. You don’t look at a duck and think, “Total Murder Monster Hellbent on Making the World Kneel to Him”

Sorry for the long post. This is the longest I’ve ever written on this website so far and I had a lot I wanted to say before we got any new chapters or episodes that totally debunks any of my theories or lore. Maybe I’ll add on to this post by making the seraphim and their primes interacting with each other for the first time. And I hope you enjoyed! You can ask me questions if you want.

[hatchetmanofficial]

When you say Jules sells edible arrangements do you the fruit? Or the devil lettuce fused arrangements?

Yes, the fruit edible arrangements!

[as-i-watch]

Do you know what the biggest lie ever told in one piece is?

"There are only 5 devil fruits that can fly"

I mean Pell sounded cool when he said it but it has gotten worse over time with every devil fruit that appears.

Let's go down the list from least to most ridiculous DF users who can fly.

ACTUAL BIRDS:

-Pell [Bird Bird fruit: Model Falcon]

-Marco [Bird Bird fruit: Model Phoenix]

-Morgans [Bird Bird fruit: Model Albatross ]*

*Morgans is flightless in his hybrid form, but Albatrosses can naturally fly for long distances*

-Buzz [Bird Bird fruit Model eagle]**

**Buzz is a noncanon character from the movie One piece strawhat chase. He is a dog**

OTHER FLYING ANIMALS:

-Cub [bug bug fruit: Model rhinoceros beetle]

-Bian [bug bug fruit: Model hornet]

While bugs are known for crawling, these two tontatas have DFs who's species can naturally fly.

-King [Dragon Dragon fruit: Model Pteranodon]

Flying is the only natural thing that King does with his fruit. All the fire stuff is unique to King

-Kaido/Momonosuke [DF NAME UNKNOWN]

Momo can fly by summoning clouds and walking on them but dragons appear to have the innate ability to fly as shown with Kaido

BIRD BY TECHNICALITY:

-Toragatsu [Bird Bird fruit Model: Nue]

Torgatsu is a noncanon character from the One Piece x Kyoto art show. The nue is a chimera like creature from Japanese folklore that has the body of a tiger, head of a monkey and a snake for a tail. Alternatively it can be described as having the back of a tiger, the limbs of a tanuki, the tail of a fox, the head of a cat, and the torso of a chicken. It is a bird fruit because the name Nue also refers to the scaly thrush bird that the chimera mimics. Torgatsu can fly by summoning rainbow colored flames.

LOGIAS:

All known logia users [with the exceptions of Aokiji, Akainu*, Blackbeard &Caribou ] can fly via elemental propulsion. [*Akainu is in a different category]

-Ace/Sabo [flame flame fruit]

-Smoker [plume plume fruit](smoke)

-Crocodile [Sand sand fruit]*

*the presence of these 3 fruits alone in alabasta immediately invalidated Pell's statement*

-Kizaru [glint glint fruit] (light)

-Enel [Rumble Rumble fruit] (Lightning)

-Caesar Clown [Gas Gas fruit]

-Monet [Snow snow fruit]

PARAMECIA SHENANIGANS

-Shiki [Float Float fruit]

man can just straight up fly

-Trafalgar Law [Op Op fruit]

-Fujitora [Press Press fruit]

-Eustass Kid [Magnet Magnet Fruit]

The above manipulate their environment to create platforms that they ride on.

-Big Mom [Soul soul fruit]

Can use her soul to create constructs that she rides on

-Perona [Hollow Hollow fruit]

Can fly by turning herself into a ghost.

-buffalo [Spin Spinf Fruit]

Can fly by helicoptering his body parts.

IS IT FLYING IF I DON'T TOUCH THE GROUND?

-Akainu [Mag mag fruit]

Has been shown to use his magma to propel himself short distances but hasn't shown the ability to fly

-Magellan [Venom Venom fruit]

Can create pathways of poison that allow him to fast travel around impel down

FLIGHT BY TECHNICALITY

-Buggy [Chop chopper fruit]

his body parts can Float around within a certain radius of him, excluding his feet.

DOESNT COUNT AS FLYING

-Ms. Valentine [Kilo Kilo fruit]

Reducing her weight to 1Kg allows her to jump really high into the air and slowly fall down

??????

Karasu [DF UNKNOWN]

Can turn himself into a murder of crows and fly.

SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO FLY AT ALL

-Doflamingo[string string fruit]

He flies by spidermaning his way through the air, sticking his strings to clouds

-Robin [flower flower fruit]

Grows several dozen arms that she fuses into a pair of wings

-Luffy [Gum Gum fruit]

Gear 4. Contracts and expands his legs with so much speed and force that it generates thrust.

There are probably some others that I missed but these are the major ones for where you are.

This a really cool categorization and also

Perhaps it was meant that only 5 DF like actually come with wings and the other ones just elevate their powers to do all that crazy shit

Or perhaps is further evidence Oda makes it all up as he goes along (most likely lol)

[sorenblr]

hi can you rate different portrayals of mothman in media pls 🥺🥺

sure

Roger Scarberry Sketch (1966)

Looking at this for the first time and throwing my head back in a spasm of jealous ecstasy like Salieri reading Mozart's score in Amadeus.

10/10

Bob Roach Statue (2003)

The people of Point Pleasant, in their exceeding wisdom, have deemed that Mothman would be obliterated by a Kamen Rider on the outskirts of a public park in Odaiba. More man than moth in the details. I'm thinking... 5 inches, flaccid.

7/10

The Mothman Legacy (2020)

Who the fuck are you trying to fool with this design?

1/10

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2005)

This Mothman hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

10/10

MonsterQuest (2010)

Pictured moments before being annihilated by a 2004 Kia Sorento. Slightly unusual for a humanoid design to favor the fused shoulders. Looks like he should be getting spear-tackled while running through Wrigley Field. This Mothman also lays pipe.

6/10

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner (1995)

I am going to put you down like a dog.

8.5/10

[q-ueen-potato]

hi just found your fusion au! If you don't mind my asking, got any fun facts about it you'd like to share?

Hii, sorry it took so many time. My ask box was weird and u couldn't look into it.

Yes I have some fun facts about the fusions.

So, when a fusion happens it will always look for balance and similarities, so what the people have in common will also fuse and what it is differently(if is like opposing) will anule each others. So we have a example Luzo that is really strong, uses his swords on instincts(Luffy's impulsiveness against Zoro's techniques) and has zero self preservation.

Every fusion between two devil fruit users got a weakness even more strong to sea water while is is a fusion between devil fruit user and a no user, the fusion can swim but not well(still get tired)

Fusions share memories, so when they are in a fusion they just know everything about the other and when it is broken they forget immediately what was shared, only feeling sensatios or blurred glimpses. It can also be a problem when spending so many time fused they can miss some skills, like Nami after a long fight fused with Luffy feeling her arms weird for missing the rubber feeling.

For some reason, immediately after splitting the fusion they feel a urge to be close each other so, they instinctly gravitate around each other and the most they spend fused more they will spend side by side.(so is really funny after a Monster Trio fused fight seeing Zoro and Sanji just walking behind Luffy for no reason)

The fusions have their own mind, the union of two or more minds turn into a independent being and Luffy treat them like family. And name all of them.

This one is not funny, but a fusion can be forced to save a life(it happened on a fusion between Luffy and Ichiji)

[mooneltwo]

your constellations au is sooo cool.. agh can you tell me about the constellations themselves

First of, The constellations are genderless!!

Luffy just fused with Nika by eating the devil fruit, and Ace n’ Sabo tried their best to replicate their preferred human looks!

Anyways, Because of Earth’s gravity, it made Luffy smaller and weaker, but he can negate that if he had a cosmic item with him!

Ace and Sabo wear one and it makes them a somewhat normal and stable size to roam around and disguise as human :]

The constellations themselves are made out of pure plasma, and can be used as powering fuel, but they can run out and die if it’s used in a wrong way.

Oh and they’re immune to most temperatures and don’t really need oxygen too much because they’re technically a foreign object wandering about in space

[quinloki]

Here is the last one of my ladies :3

Name: Anouk

Nickname(s): diamond, dove

Height: 7,5" / 2,26m

Age: 40 (after time-skip)

Infos:

- is a star accountant (and business woman)

- highly intelligent

- has either her resting bitch face or looks angry, rarely shows other emotions

- has a short fuse when dealing with idiots

- absolutely detests clowns

- doesn't eat fish and most seafood

- loves a good wine or cognac

Devil fruit (yes?/no?): [redacted]

-> Devil fruit type: [redacted]

-> extra infos about devil powers: [redacted]

(often stares at the ocean, lost in thought, but never goes swimming, it's suspicious)

Occupation: civilian but works for pirates / the Cross Guild

Bounty (yes?/no?): no

Bounty amount: no bounty

Fighting: doesn't fight, although very often inclined to punch buggy (once kicked him in his balls)

Shipping (yes?/no?): yes

-> Shipping with whom: Mihawk and Sir Crocodile

-> kind of ship: casual - superiors and subordinate with benefits

Backstory (bullet points):

- knows Sir Crocodile for around 6 - 7 years

- has worked for some underworld bosses, like Doflamingo and Gild Tesoro, she ended her business relationship with both of them on good terms, though both are too strange for her liking

- has also worked for Sir Crocodile for a few years, he's the only person she ever really liked to work for, because he listened to her input

- they parted ways around half a year before he got defeated by Luffy (she hated the heat of Alabasta and got a very good offer)

- Crocodile is the only one she offered to come back to work for

I don't have much to add, but I do like the vibes on this one XD

[littledarlingbunbun]

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