I apologize in advance for any OOCness... I will get better at this... hopefully.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1 - Renewal of Vows

He wasn't particularly a fan of being on watch duty.

It meant that he had to stay up while all the others were asleep. While the beauty of the moon glimmering down on the sea was pretty and interesting, nothing could beat the exuberant daytime that was filled with noise of joy and annoyance of his crew mates. Most of the times when he was on watch duty, he couldn't wake everyone up to make his boredom vanish. His crew deserved a good night's sleep because they were the best crew a captain could ever have. Though, not many of them could see the captain's gratitude for them through his never-ending mood to bother them for food or to play.

But man… just sitting in the crow's nest alone was boring and lonely. Well… on the bright side, it was slightly easier to sneak into the kitchen when he was on watch duty.

Luffy grinned as he pushed his straw hat off his head so that it hung off from his neck. He then jumped down from the crow's nest and gracefully landed on the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny. Quickly, but quietly, he made a dash for the kitchen.

He stared at the fridge. It was tightly secured, with dozens of locks and chains wrapped around it, on top of it only opening if five correct passwords were inputted.

Luffy pouted. Sanji, that jerk. The cook added more security to his haven.

He rolled his eyes as he was about to start trying to unlock everything… again… but he froze when he caught a glance at the calendar that was squished between the fridge and the chains.

He furrowed his eyebrow. Tomorrow… was that day. He glanced at the clock. It was a couple of hours before midnight. A small smile tugged at his lips.

He gave up the idea of raiding the fridge (for today), and he headed straight for the cabinets. Taking a bottle of sake and a red bowl, he ran out the kitchen and toward the lion-sunflower figurehead of the Sunny. He leaped to sit on his favorite seat. Only the moon and the sea could bear witness of what seemed like a boy about to get drunk on a lion-sunflower head.

Luffy grinned once more. He sat between a mystery sea of water and a mystery sea of stars. He held the red bowl up above his head. It wasn't the same as the one used twelve years ago, but it's only the thought that counted.

"Hey Sunny," the straw-hatted captain spoke with a wide grin to his ship. "Tomorrow's the day I swore to be brothers with Ace and Sabo."

The ship didn't respond. It just continued to gently sway back and forth on the unusual calm seas.

"You probably don't really know who I'm talking about. After all, neither of them have stepped foot here."

The only thing that could be heard was the waves rolling against the ship.

"They're both amazing brothers," Luffy smiled as he put the bowl on his lap. "You'll meet Sabo one day and you'll see what I'm talking about. As for Ace… well, just take my word for it!"

Luffy patted the figurehead like it was an animal. "...They're truly awesome and amazing brothers."

Grey clouds started rolling across the sky, blocking out the stars. Luffy paid no attention to it. If it was something to really worry about, Nami would wake up immediately and start barking out orders. She did have some kind of sense or radar for dangerous weather.

"We have dreams, like the crew. Ace wanted to become a great pirate— and he did. Sabo wanted to write some kind of book about… everything, I think. As for me, you know what it is already," Luffy smirked as he stood up, bowl and bottle of sake in his hands. He took a deep breath and smiled. "I'm gonna be… PI— "

Luffy stopped mid-sentence as he suddenly felt the urge to check the deck. He jumped back on the deck, carefully placing the bowl and sake on the grassy floor.

Luffy was in confusion. With his observation haki, he should have felt any new presence before it even got on the ship. In fact, he could only feel eight auras, excluding his own. It was probably only instinct that allowed him to notice this stranger's presence.

It was a stranger that wore a dark brown cloak that covered his whole body, as well as shadowed his entire face. There was a naginata on his back. The only thing that Luffy could determine was that the stranger was a man.

"Hi, I'm Luffy," the captain smiled, even though this stranger wasn't exactly sending signals of 'I come in peace.'

"I know," said the gruff voice of the stranger. Suddenly, the stranger rushed forward, brandishing the naginata he grabbed from his back, and aimed its tip toward Luffy's heart. As if on some cue, winds started to gust from every direction, and a heavy downpour started. It was only a few seconds before the ship and the two men on deck were completely soaked.

Luffy dodged with ease, a little surprised that this man would try to kill everyone on this ship by himself. The man continued to attempt to stab, but all the work was in vain as Luffy could predict all the movements the man could make.

Luffy then pouted. The sudden and loud storm should have awoken someone up. But no presence, other than the two on deck, have moved an inch. Then Luffy considered the weather. He was no Nami, but even he could tell that they were in a storm and an orange-haired navigator should have been yelling at everyone to escape the storm since minutes ago.

Ughh… too much thinking, but there was definitely something wrong.

He stopped dodging, and quickly grabbed the man's throat, causing the man to drop his weapon.

"What did you do to my friends?" Luffy growled.

The man only smirked, only earning a tighter grip on his neck.

Luffy marched toward the men's quarters, dragging along the man with him. Once he opened the door to where his male companions would be, some sort of visible purple gas started to exit from the room. Luffy's eyes widened. He had his own fair share of toxins to know immediately that this mystery gas was poison. Without a second thought, he released his grasp on the man and dove into the quarters full of gas.

At least he was lucky to be resistant to poison.

With one arm, he grabbed Franky and Brook, with the other arm, he grabbed Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp. He finally clenched one of Chopper's antlers between his teeth, before jumping out of the room and creating a massive hole in the wall that stood between the fresh air of the outside and the poisonous air of the inside.

Before he could notice that the man was missing from the spot he left him in, Luffy saw a bunch of wind start to form in the ocean.

What was that called again? Nami said something about whirlpools of air or 'Mystery Winds' being called cyclones or hurricanes or something…

Normally, Luffy would think that witnessing one of these mystery wind things form would be awesome, but without a navigator to steer them away from the danger, Luffy felt like that one time when he had to conceal himself in a barrel to avoid drowning in a whirlpool.

Luffy —not so gently— threw all the men on the deck and bolted to the women's quarters to find that it was also full of gas. He carried Nami on his back and Robin rested in his arms, bridal style.

As he arrived back outside, he saw a brief flash before his eyes. It was a vision of the man shooting a bullet towards him, and it actually pierced through his skin. Whether it was some seastone bullet or some haki-infused bullet, he didn't know, as when the vision ended, the man had already pulled the trigger. Luffy couldn't move, if he did, he knew the bullet would end up striking Nami or Robin.

He took the bullet straight on. As the bullet pierced his collarbone and tore apart the string that held his straw hat around his neck, Luffy could immediately tell that this was a seastone bullet.

He grit his teeth as pain and weakness reverberated throughout his whole body. He gently tossed Robin and Nami to the grass deck, knowing full well that Sanji would scold him for improper care of ladies in the future. He didn't notice his straw hat fly away with the gusts of wind that constantly barraged the ship.

Now with his full attention on the smirking man, he let out a full blast of Conqueror's Haki, all concentrated on the one man, quickly wiping the smirk off. Just because there was seastone lodged in his body, didn't mean Luffy was going down that easily.

The man fell to his knees, and some foam escaped from his mouth, but he was still conscious, barely. Luffy, with all the force he could muster, punched the spot where the bullet entered his body, causing the bullet to forcefully exit through his back.

He noticed that the mystery wind was quickly approaching the ship, but quickly erased the thought from his mind. He could do nothing against that natural disaster, but this man, he could do something about him. Spotting a vial of clear liquid on the floor beside the man, Luffy quickly wrapped his arm around the man a dozen times and snarled, "Is that the antidote?!"

Still under the effects of Conqueror's Haki, the man simply nodded as he tried to get his mind back together.

Luffy grabbed the vial and rushed toward his unconscious friends on the deck. They all seemed to be suffering, like they were having some nightmare added with the effects of the poison. Quickly spotting Chopper, he forced the liquid down the reindeer's throat. Chopper suddenly coughed a bit but was still unconscious. Luffy hoped that this was a good thing.

His feeling of relief only lasted momentarily as the man suddenly threw a fierce kick at Luffy's stomach. The stranger's shoes were partially made up seastone, Luffy realized, since such a blunt attack wouldn't normally affect him or weaken him for that matter.

The force of the kick sent Luffy, and the man entangled in his arm, flying against the railings. More blood and vials of what was hopefully the antidote fell to the ground. Before Luffy could recover, the man shot more seastone bullets in the rubberman's abdomen, provoking Luffy to release a shrill scream. Refusing to release his grip on the man, Luffy punched as hard as he could at the man's face, blood splattering everywhere from Luffy's gut and the man's jaw. The hood fell off the man's head and revealed that the man was faceless… and his skin was… glowing?

"What?" The pirate's eyes widened in surprise. That's so cool!

Shaking away any unnecessary thoughts, Luffy punched the man in the head again. The man was immediately unconscious. He didn't stop to wonder how a man, easily knocked out by two easy punches, could cause so many problems on his ship.

Again, Luffy's relief could only last so long.

The mystery wind was dangerously close to the ship. Luffy couldn't find any more strength with four seastone bullets lodged in his stomach, but he was determined to keep his grip on the man.

Like the heavens wouldn't grant him any mercy, a strong burst of wind attacked the Sunny, lurching it to the side Luffy was. The rubberman was forced over the railing and was quickly falling off the ship, toward the water where all his strength would be no more.

Immediately realizing that no one was going to save him, Luffy stared solemnly at the figurehead of the Sunny. But at least there was someone that could save his crew.

"Sunny… Please… Take care of them…" It felt like time slowed down.

His gaze wandered toward the deck where all his unconscious friends lay. He suddenly had a quick flashback of Loguetown, where his death was also certain.

"Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, Brook," he used the last of his breath. "I'm sorry…"

He plunged into the restless, unforgiving ocean. But he kept his focus on his ship. He felt a strong presence suddenly flare from the ship. He smiled, knowing they were in good hands.

I'm dead.

And with that, the Captain of the Strawhat Pirates sank, with only the darkness to surround him.

As if following its captain's last wishes, an invisible force suddenly caused the sails to furl. Before the mystery winds could trap the ship with its merciless winds. The ship, as a glorious lion, elegantly leaped off from the water, but leaving behind a large shadow of what it lost.

"Mhmmugh…" A certain green-haired swordsman groaned as he rose to consciousness. He sat up and rested his head against his hand. He felt like he had a severe hangover. As his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, he saw a small reindeer tending to some other people on the ground under the night sky. He felt the soft grass under his arm, making him wonder what he was doing, sleeping on the deck. "Chopper..?"

"Ah! Zoro! Don't move, you're still recovering from the effects of the poison!" Chopper ordered with concern as he went to check on Zoro.

"Poison..?" Finally aware of his surroundings, he saw most of the crew laying on the deck, slowly waking up. He jerked his head up. "The hell? What happened?!"

Chopper frowned. "I don't really know. When I woke up, I found a vial stuck in my mouth. I spit it out quickly, only to realize everyone else was sprawled out on the deck. I realized that you all had poison in your systems, as well as I. I figured that the vial that was in my mouth was some sort of antidote since none of you showed any signs of getting better. Fortunately, for some reason, there were more vials, like the one in my mouth, spread across the deck. I ran some quick tests and the liquid in the vials was indeed the antidote, and I quickly gave it to all of you."

"When did… we get poisoned?" Sanji said, groggily.

"Probably from your shit cooking," Zoro snorted.

"What did you say?!" At this moment, the swordsman and the cook were butting heads as usual. Any after-effects of the poison were gone.

"No, the poison came from the dormitories," Franky said, as he appeared from the maintenance room. "In fact, there's still some poison lingering in both rooms, especially in the women's. So not super."

They all looked at where the men and women's quarters were. The women's looked normal, other than the fact that some purple gas could be seen through the window. As for the men's, there was a large, gaping hole where the door and parts of the wall should be. There was little gas airing out through the hole.

"It also appears that during the time we were all unconscious, the Sunny used a Coup de Burst," Franky continued.

"What the..? Only Franky and Usopp really know how to use a Coup de Burst…" Nami groaned as she rubbed her temples.

"Wasn't me," Frank crossed his arms.

"It was not… the great captain Usopp either…" Usopp groaned as he scratched his head.

"Speaking of shitty captains, where's ours?" Sanji asked as he tried to stand up right. His Observation Haki allowed him to only sense eight presences on the ship.

"Not here," Robin said as her arms were crossed and eyes were closed, indicating that she was using her powers to get a visual of the condition of every room in the ship. "However…"

Zoro glanced at a naginata that lay on the grassy deck. He narrowed his eyes. "An intruder."

A cold chill permeated the air around each and every one of them.

"But Luffy's Luffy," Usopp started, sweat visible on his face. "There's no way he'd be defeated by a couple of intruders… right?"

"Right!" Nami agreed with Usopp, only to keep the hope that their persistent captain was still alive.

"It doesn't matter now whether Luffy held up a good fight or not. What matters is that there are only eight people on this ship right now and those eight people are only us."

Sanji took out a cigarette and lit it. "If the intruders were somehow able to poison our rooms without any detection, then they could be able to somehow hold Luffy down."

"Um… everyone..?" Everyone's heads turned to look at their resident skeleton. Brook was shaking as if he could barely find the strength to stand. In one hand was a gun, and in the other was what appeared to be a bloodstained bullet. "Seastone."

That one word blew out the life out of everyone. Sure, Luffy could probably handle fighting a guy with seastone, but taking into consideration that he also had to protect his crew…

Chopper sniffled and his eyes watered as he tried to prepare himself to bring forth new information. "Most of the blood on the ship is from Luffy..."

With the announcement, the crew stared at the ground. Blood trailed on the stairs and on the deck. There were noticeable pools of blood mixed with water in front of the women's quarters and near a railing.

"Unbelievable…" Usopp was breathless as he stared at the pool of blood next to the railing.

As if to seal the deal, a straw hat that could only belong to one person suddenly appeared in the sky, carried by the hollow winds.

Sanji used skywalk to reach the straw hat the fluttered so high in the sky. After he caught it, he landed back on the deck to show everyone.

Chopper couldn't hold in his overwhelming grief anymore. He pulled his hat down to cover his eyes before he released the cried never-ending tears. "LUFFY!"

I don't want to conquer anything. I just think the guy with the most freedom on this whole ocean is… THE PIRATE KING

Chopper kept shaking his head as if trying to wake himself up from a nightmare. How could the man who gave him the friends he so desperately wanted… be gone?

"LUFFY, YOU BASTARD!" Usopp roared at the sky. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE US LIKE THIS. YOU CAN'T— NONE OF US HAVE EVEN ACCOMPLISHED ANY OF OUR DREAMS YET AND YOU'RE KICKING THE BUCKET NOW?!" He stared at the dark sky as if awaiting some sort of reply. Usopp sighed, then tried to console the little reindeer by hugging him, but it only resulted in him releasing the floodgates.

We are NOT asking him where the treasure is hidden! We're not even asking him whether there IS any treasure or not! I'm not sure, but... ...everybody set out to sea, risking their lives to search for it! If you ask this old man anything about it here and now... Then I'll quit being a pirate! I don't want to go on a boring adventure like that!

"The adventure's already boring with you gone," he murmured, before burying his face in Chopper's hat. How could the man who believed in him, his strength, his lies… be gone?

The rest of the members were stiff as they stared at the straw hat. There was still some hope. After all, Luffy would sometimes lose his straw hat in the heat of battle.

"The vivre card," said a gruff voice. All heads turned their attention toward a very enraged Zoro. No actions were taken as everyone was still trying to process everything, only making the swordsman snap and slam his fist against the floor.

"CHECK IF THE DAMN VIVRE CARD IS STILL THERE!"

Sanji clenched his teeth has he grabbed the red ribbon of the straw hat. His eyes widened. Next to a vivre card from Rayleigh was a tiny piece of burning paper. Just as hope returned to the eyes of those who were looking at the revelation, the fire suddenly engulfed the remaining sliver of paper and… vanished… into thin air. In that second, he died. Their captain was dead.

It was like the world was laughing in their faces.

Nami crumpled down to the floor, covering her face with her hands, her sobs adding to the mournful air. "You can't just… suddenly off and disappear forever like that…"

You are the future Pirate King's friend, so stop being such a worrier!

The tears couldn't stop from leaking through her fingers. "IDIOT!" she screamed. How could the man who freed her… be gone?

Robin was the one who tried to comfort the navigator. Her usual indifferent face vanished. She couldn't keep her mouth from frowning, her eyes from watering. She tightened her grip on Nami who was sobbing loudly now.

When I was a kid, I swore to gather Nakama and become the Pirate King. You're already my Nakama. Just like the pirate who protected me, I'll protect you too.

The ravenette shook her head and her lips trembled. How could the man who let her keep living… be gone?

Brook was shaking, his hands tightly squeezing his cane. He was reliving flashbacks of the demise of his own crew. Poison… Crew… Helpless… Death… "Luffy-san…"

We pirates have a dream.

"Where does your dream go now..?" How could the man who gave him hope and a new thing to live for… be gone?

Franky felt anger surge throughout his whole body. He was about to punch a hole in the deck, but restrained himself from doing so. The Sunny didn't deserve to be damaged by his anguish. Settling for just clenching his hands as tight as possible, he sighed, "Seriously?"

I'M GONNA BE PIRATE KING!

"And look where we are now. If you die before achieving your dream, how can you expect us to achieve our own dreams?" The cyborg broke down in sobs. How could the man who let him follow his dream again… be gone?

However, Zoro didn't think about being regretful for harming the Sunny to release his anger as he punched at the grass deck with his fist, leaving behind a small crater. He normally didn't express such intense emotions. But the captain, just suddenly dying on no one's watch. It was the same as him leaving without a word. It felt like Luffy betrayed the trust and loyalty of the crew, even though Zoro knew otherwise. He punched the ground once again. "I should've be—"

The swordsman was cut off when a fierce kick collided with his stomach. The impact forced Zoro to crash into the mast.

"THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"

The culprit behind the kick, Sanji, spit out his cigarette and crushed it beneath his foot. He returned a glare at the furious swordsman. "Don't go blaming only yourself, shitty swordsman." He couldn't lie though, kicking that shitty swordsman did relieve a tiny bit of anger. But not enough. It would never be enough. "All of us here are to blame, including that captain of ours who decided to go off and die."

Zoro looked away, only a tad bit calmer than before. "I… knew that already..."

I've set myself to become the King of Pirates… and if I die trying… then at least I tried!

Did he die trying to become Pirate King? Or did he just die trying to protect his crew? No… Zoro covered his face for thinking that. It was all the same thing. But he just had an urge to just do something. Like, cut up the reaper that dared to take away Luffy's life. Or cut up some non-existent god and force it to bring his captain back to the living.

He closed his one eye. But the man who made it possible to even let him get close to attaining his dream… had died.

Sanji would have to agree with that sentiment. He didn't spend two years running in hell just for him to not be able to anything for their captain again.

Don't make me wait long! Without you, I won't— I CAN'T BECOME PIRATE KING!

"Likewise," he muttered. The man who saved him from his dysfunctional family and let him set sail for his dream… was gone.

He looked at the broken forms of his crewmates. He almost stumbled and fell, but he forced himself to stand tall. They all had their own fair share of death. But somewhere inside, they all thought that their captain was immune to death. He would always leave behind a trail of miracles and always do the impossible. He would never die.

The fact that he was right here, complaining about food and causing havoc on the ship as always made his death seem impossible. No one saw how he died. It was just a piece of paper that went up in flames. But it was his life that went up in flames.

Despite the circumstances, there had to be someone stay strong since this was the New World. Even that Marimo lost it, even if it was just for a second, so the cook took it upon himself. He started walking toward the kitchen.

Even without a captain, he still had a job.

Before he took a step inside the kitchen, he felt some sort of presence appear on the deck of the ship. It felt non-threatening, even somehow nostalgic. He turned around to see some sort of ethereal form of a hooded child stand on the deck.

Usopp's eyes bulged, recognizing the appearance immediately, "Y-you?! MERRY?!"

"EHH?" Several of the crew exclaimed with shock.

The child shook its head, "Wrong."

Franky rubbed his eyes before doing a double take, "SUNNY?"

The child smiled and put up a thumbs up. "Correct, Franky!"

Several jaws hit the floor. Others were frozen in shock. Their captain just died minutes ago, and now the Klabautermann of the Sunny has suddenly appeared. Wait, but that meant…

"Impossible! You can only appear if you're dying! But I just checked and you should only have a few minor scratches. Nothing fatal!" Franky cried, thinking that somehow the collapse of Luffy's dream was causing the collapse of everyone else's dreams. He cried, "DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE DYING TOO?!"

"No," the Klabautermann smiled. "I'm in Super shape!"

The crew couldn't help but smile at the Klabautermann, though that didn't hide their flabbergasted expressions and obvious sorrow.

"H-how.." Franky didn't know whether to be happy or sad or whatever. Same with the rest of the crew.

"I'm here under different circumstances," the Sunny looked at each Straw Hat in the eye. "One: To fulfill the Captain's last wish."

The mood immediately plummeted.

"Luffy-san's... last wish?" Brook raised an eyebrow, or he would have if he had one.

"Wha... what is it?" Nami whispered in curiosity, yet still under the heavy blanket of guilt.

"Right, it was…" the Sunny grinned. "I WANT MEAT!"

Zoro sighed in annoyance, "Figures he'd still be thinking about meat even as he was dying…"

"Would it bother him to think about us for a second?" Usopp moped. Chopper nodded, with his whole face wet with tears.

"Doesn't surprise me," Nami muttered, also feeling quite annoyed. Robin chuckled while wiping the tear off her face.

"So what, am I supposed to feed you some meat since you're here because of that wish?" Sanji looked mildly confused, yet a bit relieved.

The Klabautermann grinned wider. Somehow, even though the Captain was the cause of their sorrows, he was also what could raise their spirits.

Suddenly, it felt itself be picked by two large, yet blocky arms. "Ow, to think my ship could manifest its own spirit without having to be on the verge of death! This is so super!"

It was then face to face with a skeleton. "Pardon me, Ms. Sunny, but are you a child?"

"No."

"Do you consider yourself a woman?" Brook asked.

Nami suddenly had a look of dread wash over her face. "Why do I have a bad feeling about where this conversation is leading to?"

"Yes," Sunny smirked, knowing what Brook was going to ask next. "I'll show you my panties."

"How graciou—"

"WOULD YOU KNOCK IT OFF!" Nami shouted as she thrashed the skeleton to the ground. "THAT'S OUR SHIP, NO LESS, IN A CHILD'S BODY!"

"I can morph my shape into that of a sexy lady, if that's what you want," Sunny smiled.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" Nami screeched as blood was somehow starting to drip from Brook's nose.

"Oh! Please do, Sun— " Sanji was the next to earn a thrashing from the orange-haired navigator.

"Don't," Usopp murmured. "If she takes characteristics from us, then she's probably wearing something like Franky's speedos."

"Shitty long nose, don't insult a woman! ("Eh? There's nothing wrong with speedos!" said Franky) The Sunny might take after Nami and —-" Resume more thrashing from the orange-haired navigator. Robin simply chuckled at the sight while Usopp and Chopper were commenting on how scary Nami was while hiding behind a certain swordsman's back.

Sunny broke into a laughter and rolled onto the deck as the laughter was uncontrollable. The rest also started laughing too, but it didn't last too long. It didn't feel right to laugh while he was gone.

Sensing the grim mood that the crew all shared, Sunny confessed, "The captain's last words to me was: 'Please take care of them.'" She noticed how they all looked away, all consumed in their own weakness for not being able to take care of themselves. "Since you were all feeling sad, I decided to cheer you all up."

"I- is there something wrong with being sad that he… that he's gone?" Chopper sniffled.

"No."

Even though Sunny's eyes were shadowed by her hood, the crew could tell, feel, that she was making one of those faces. A face a lot like Luffy's thoughtful expression.

"But the Captain wished for me to help you all move on without him. So here I am, helping."

"How did he die?" Chopper asked, but he looked like he was going to regret asking.

"Drowned," the Klabautermann deadpanned. "Once he defeated the enemy, I… the ship… suddenly lurched over to one side because of the storm… and they… he… fell off. I'm sorry, I should've been able to withstand the gale."

The crew all noticed how Sunny's tiny fists clenched. Even the ship felt guilty.

"So you're the one who did the Coup de Burst to escape from the storm?" Franky asked.

Sunny nodded, not being able to hide a sniffle.

"Thank you," Nami's said, as she patted the spirit on the shoulder. She realized that the ship had to choose between crew and captain, and it must've been a heartbreaking decision. "We would all be dead if not for you."

"You're not… mad?" Sunny asked.

They all shook their head.

"Luffy-san did tell you to save us… Captain's orders, right? Yohohoho," Brook forced himself to chuckle.

"Yeah, I'll just drag him back from hell if I have to, no big deal," Zoro yawned.

"Um… are we actually going to try to go to hell?" Usopp asked, even though he felt it was a dumb question with these people.

"Of course! It's going to take a lot more than drowning to escape us!" Zoro growled. "His fault, he won't let us die, so we won't let him stay dead."

"Right!" Chopper exclaimed, with newfound resolve.

"I'll make sure he eats until he explodes," Sanji mumbled. "Then kick his ass for dying on us."

"Hell? I wonder if they have some interesting metal there," Franky wondered, pushing his sadness away to make room for a new goal.

"I hope the people there like music," Brook hummed. "If not, I'll make sure to move their souls as Soul King!"

"Oi, oi…" Usopp sweatdropped. The melancholy feelings from losing their captain was slowly vanishing, being replaced by thoughts of saving him.

"Before any of that, do any of you know if we can even enter hell?" Nami inquired in disbelief.

"Fufufu… I might have some books on it," Robin chuckled.

And just like that, after grieving over the loss of their lovable captain, the Straw Hat crew all had a new resolve to bring back their captain from wherever he was, whether it be some afterlife or some other world, nothing could stop them. From the outside, it would seem that they all can't accept their captain's death and are delusional. But, it was the New World and anything could happen. Also, they were pirates, so they could do whatever the hell they wanted to do.

"From hell… huh…" Sunny whispered to herself as if those keywords triggered something in her memory. The Straw Hats all looked to her, wondering what she was thinking about. "Oh, that's right!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Usopp asked.

"I forgot to tell you the other reason why I am able to manifest myself right here," Sunny said, regaining her composure. "Two: the intruder that caused this whole mess didn't belong here."

"Of course not, only the Straw Hat Pirates belong on this ship," Franky said.

"No, I mean that he didn't belong in this world, or at least, in this time," Sunny elaborated. "He's not supposed to exist here, as he is. When he appeared, he just appeared out of nowhere, like he was coming out of some invisible portal. It's possible that something he did must have had an effect on my spiritual connection with the physical world, hence, allowing me to control things on the ship and being able to manifest myself in front of you all."

"Does that matter now? He's dead now, right?" Nami said.

"No, but… Listen, that guy couldn't be detected by Observation Haki, but I could sense his presence because, well, you could say we're on the same wavelength."

"So..?" Usopp was wondering where this was leading.

"Well, there's another presence like his, on this ship too," Sunny revealed with a straight face.

"WHAT?" All of the Straw Hats readied themselves in attack stances, whilst trying to find the presence. "You should've said that earlier!" Usopp screamed.

"Sorry, I just forgot."

"HOW DO YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

I really can't detect another presence with Observation Haki, Sanji verified the Sunny's words.

"Took you long enough to notice," a cloaked figure revealed his voice as he jumped down from the crow's nest. All members of the Straw Hat Pirates were shocked, except for Sunny, since she saw this before. The man's hood was down, to reveal a faceless head and oddly growing skin.

"G- GHOST!" Usopp screeched as he pointed directly at the man-thing.

"WHAT?" Chopper followed Usopp's example.

"SCARY!" Brook screamed.

"Shut up!" Zoro ordered as he pointed two of his katanas towards the man. "So you're here to come kill us all too?"

"Great, I'm in the mood for some ass-kicking," Sanji said as he raised his leg.

"No, I come in peace," the stranger said, raising his arms as if to say he won't try to do anything. None of the Straw Hats calmed down though. "I'm here to help you."

"Help?" Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I'm here to help you get your captain back," the stranger said.

"What? You know where the entrance to hell is?" Franky asked, earning a couple of sweat-drops from Usopp and Nami.

"Nope, I got something even better," the man said, with a mischievous tone.

"What could be better than venturing into hell?" Sanji inquired.

"I can name a lot of things," Usopp muttered.

"Time travel," the man answered.

"Bullshi—"

"Sounds more plausible than finding and entering hell," Nami interrupted the cook. She then turned her attention to the stranger. "Why would you do this for us?"

The man, even without a nose or mouth, deeply and slowly inhaled… and exhaled. "Monkey D. Luffy was not supposed to die today."

"Elaborate," Robin said as she narrowed her eyes with interest at the man.

"I apologize, but I'll have to tell you a bit about my backstory," the man said. "I, and the man who tried to kill you all are Managers of Fate."

"So you are supposedly spirits who control the destinies of living things?" Robin questioned.

"Tch, I don't believe that other things control our fate. We control our own fates," Zoro mumbled.

"You're both right. We can't control your decisions. But we control the path that your decisions lead you to. Think of it as we throw rocks at you. Depending on how you deal with it, we throw different kinds of stuff at you."

"Not the best analogy, but I kind of understand," Usopp sweat-dropped.

"That man and I are in charge of supervising the fates of those who carry the will of 'D'." The stranger crossed his arms as everyone's— except Robin— eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Most of those who have the will of 'D' have the power to drastically change the fate of the entire world, which makes them such a pain to deal with."

"The will of 'D,' what is it?" Robin asked.

The man shook his head, "You'll find out for yourself soon enough… Well, if you're able to save your captain. But, bottom line is, your captain wasn't supposed to die today."

"But he did die, and it's because of one of your companions. Why's that?" Sanji asked.

The man gave a deep sigh. "That man who got your captain killed, Cyril, didn't like a fate in store for the world that could result from your captain's actions in the future. I shouldn't be really telling you this, but those who have the 'D' initial — especially your captain at this point— have the power to destroy the entire world. Cyril didn't like the possibility of that happening, so he tried to kill him along with others who bear the same initial."

Half of the crew gasped at this revelation. Zoro just snorted, "Luffy can pull off many things, I'm not even surprised that he's capable of world destruction. But he can't be the King of Pirates if the world is destroyed. No way he'd allow himself to destroy the world"

"It's all more complicated than how I make it sound, and I'm afraid I can't explain further. Monkey D. Luffy's death is already causing the world to go down a dark path already. At this rate, there'll be a repeat of the void century, and I would prefer that to not happen."

Robin's eyes sparkled at the mention of the void century, but she kept her mouth shut, knowing she wouldn't get any answers.

"Since one of us, the Managers of Fate, directly intervened with your captain's life, and all of your lives, I am able to make an exception and give your captain a second chance at living," the man said.

"And your solution is time travel?" Brook asked.

"Great, then just turn us back in time a few hours and then we'll take care of things there," Zoro said.

"Sorry, it's not as easy as that. I'll have to turn you all back 5 years back in time. Oh, and Cyril will be alive, trying to kill him."

Chopper did a spit take, along with a few other members, "5 YEARS? That's almost three years before we even got to meet Luffy!"

"How the heck are we supposed to protect him from this Cyril guy if we were not supposed to even know about his existence by then?" Usopp exclaimed in confusion.

"We can just go to his island immediately and protect him there," Zoro said.

"Not so fast," the man held up a finger. "If you change too many events, not only might you drastically change the world you know now, but you may change the Luffy you came to know and love."

"Then doing something significantly different from the original timeline is probably not a good idea," Nami muttered as she rubbed her forehead. "How can we prevent the man from killing Luffy or changing the history of the world?"

"I can guarantee Monkey D. Luffy's life, at least, until his fateful encounters with you all," the man said. "I also doubt that Cyril will resort to drastic measures… unless he's gone insane, then you'll have to deal with it."

"Seriously, are you leaving the fate of the world in our hands," Franky exclaimed in disbelief. "We may be super pirates, but we're still pirates. You do know that, right?"

"It's this cruel world's humor that I must entrust the fate of the world to a bunch of misfit pirates like you. Even I can't do anything about it. If you all end up creating an entirely different timeline, then I'll deal with it when I have to" the man chuckled. "If you manage to kill Cyril and set this world back on the right track, then you'll all return back here in this time, in a world slightly changed by the actions you take in the previous five years."

"What?"

The man sighed, "If you succeed, then the current timeline and the new timeline created by you time traveling will combine and you'll find yourself back here without having to live out the whole five years.

"So all we have to do is kill that bastard so we can go back here?" Zoro summed up.

"Most of it. So, will you do it?"

There was no hesitation.

"OF COURSE!" the whole crew jumped up as they vowed to save their captain.

"Before we time travel though, we need to have a strategy for the three years we're separated," Nami said. "Should we all keep in contact or something?"

"No," Zoro said, "It wouldn't be fair to Luffy."

"Right, but…" Chopper's eyes watered. "That won't stop me from missing all of you!"

"Yohoho… Chopper-san, think of it as like the time we spent two years trying to get stronger for each other."

"Speaking of strength," Sanji turned to the man, "Will we still have the strength we have now when we go back in time?"

The man shook his head. "You will all be transported back to the bodies you had five years ago. You will still have the knowledge of everything you have here, so you could use those three years to strengthen your body and polish your skills."

"The great Captain Usopp will take the East Blue by a storm," Usopp nodded, but then a concerning thought struck him. "If we use these three years to become as strong as we are now, then won't Luffy be significantly weaker than the rest of us?"

"We'll deal with it when we have to," Zoro muttered. "But it's not like we want to repeat Sabaody."

"But if we avoid what happened on Sabaody, then that would be a major change, right?" Franky asked.

"Like the crap swordsman said, we'll deal with that when we have to," Sanji said.

Robin nodded, before looking at the man. "Is there anything about Cyril that we should have to know about?"

"Cyril has the strength of a typical New World Pirate," the man answered. "The only danger is that he's able to procure resources that he's not supposed to have. Like those seastone bullets and poison, he shouldn't have had that. I can only imagine what else he could get his hands on."

Sunny, who had been unusually quiet, decided to speak up, "Good luck guys! I look forward to being born again!" An infectious smile appeared on her face.

"Right Sunny! When I build you, you'll be 500% as perfect and super as you are now!"

"Alright! Let's do this guys!" Usopp yelled as he carried and placed a barrel in the center of the deck. He placed a foot on the barrel, bringing back nostalgia to the original East Blue members.

"To save Luffy! And to become a Brave Warrior of the Sea!"

"To find the All Blue!"

"To draw a map of The Whole World!"

"To become the World's Greatest Swordsman!"

"To find a Cure For All Diseases!"

"To learn the True History of the World!"

"To Travel the Whole World with The Sunny!"

"To meet up with Laboon!"

With all their legs on the barrel, they all nodded their heads. Once they raised their legs above the barrel, they made a resounding declaration.

"AND TO MAKE LUFFY THE PIRATE KING!"

The sound of a barrel exploding through the sky echoed throughout the dark skies as a blinding light consumed the ship.

She found herself on a ship talking to Sir Crocodile by a den den mushi. She was tense for most of the conversation, but she regained her composure once Crocodile started to dish out some orders for her. After that, Robin left not a second wasted and tried to gain a contact with the Revolutionaries.

She definitely did not do this in the original timeline, but something like having a connection with the Revolutionaries shouldn't prove to be world-changing. She would still be working with Baroque Works, just while also secretly working with the Revolutionaries.

It took a half a day until Robin made contact with a Revolutionary Officer, she asked about information on Dawn Island, Luffy's home. She expected something mundane like the weather or how the nobles were continuing to be asses in Goa Kingdom.

Her breath hitched and her eyes widened at the answer she received.

"The reasons are unknown, but the fate of the island ended with a Buster Call," the officer lowered his voice as he guessed that the topic was sensitive to the Archeologist.

"Buster… Call..?"

"Ugh…" Zoro groaned. He had been dealing with a hangover for the past few hours. He apparently wasn't very good with alcohol at this time. He was laying on the floor of the dojo while his teacher, Koshiro, just shook his head in shame.

"This is a dojo, not a tavern. You're setting a bad example for my students," Master Koshiro scolded the green-haired swordsman.

"Shut up," Zoro muttered as he rubbed his eyes. "It's night time so you're closed right now."

Master Koshiro opened his mouth to verbally assault his disciple further, but he paused. He noticed there was a commotion occurring somewhere on the island, where the docks were. He decided to spare Zoro from a lecture and headed toward the docks.

Zoro, also noticing that something was wrong, followed after his former master.

Once they reached the docks, Zoro was greeted with a sight he was pretty sure never happened in the previous timeline. A medium sized ship was docked in the island and it carried enough people to fully occupy a small town. They were all injured and crying, and they were all of different class statuses. Homeless, poor, middle, and noble class people all occupied the same ship, a sight not often witnessed in the world.

"What happened?" Master Koshiro asked one of the lesser injured people.

"Marine ships… suddenly out of nowhere… started bombing the whole island! They even attacked some of the nobles. Before… they destroyed the whole island… I reckon that the people on this ship are the only people who survived..."

"Which island?" Zoro inquired, having a bad feeling about this.

"Dawn Island."

Not sparing a second, Zoro dashed off into the ship to search for a certain rubber boy, ignoring the concerned shouts of his Master. He searched every spot of the ship twelve times— not because he kept getting lost, of course— and found no sign of him.

"THE HELL?" He roared in confusion, startling everyone nearby. It had only been a few hours since the time travel and everything was already messed up.

HOW THE FUCK DID WE SCREW UP SO BADLY ALREADY?

Oh well, they tried.

If anyone is willing, could you tell me when Dr. Hiluluk died and when Brook lost his shadow? (I'm not really great with timelines, yet here I am, making a time travel fic). Your help is much appreciated.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. :)