How My Muse Works:

Muse? Muse! Where are you going Muse?

Muse, we're supposed to be working on Supernova or CRUSH! Muse!

MMMMMUUUUUUUSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE

-]|[-

CHALLENGE TIME!

So, I have new challenges for you all!

This first one is pretty simple! The only requirement (other than the standard requirements for my challenges. If you don't know them, feel free to go to my profile and look at the other ones) is that Luffy does NOT eat a Devil Fruit. He MUST become a complete badass like Garp and Rayleigh through only his Haki and maybe Rokushiki. I'm talking One Punch Man here! (Okay, maybe not THAT OP) I want him swimming in the Calm Belt battling Sea Kings people!

The second is that Luffy eats the 'Titan' Devil Fruit. What does this mean? This Fruit can be either simple or complex, depending on you. You can make it a straight out Paramecia and have him simply be INCREDIBLY strong and capable of freely changing his own size to become absolutely massive (San Juan Wolf size or bigger). OR you can go full out Greek Titan with him and make it a sort of hybrid Paramecia/Mythical-Zoan Fruit, where he can both change his size as well as control some sort of element. Pairing: At the very least, I want some Luffy/Shirahoshi action. :D

-]|[-

"Why are they calling you Straw Hat?" The words came from a calm looking, incredibly large man. He looked much like a sumo wrestler, with a pretty feminine-looking face and white eyes. He had a large scar on the side of his face, from eye to lip. His red shirt resembled a giant bib with an emblem meaning 'Heaven' stitched into it. It was secured around him with a large, red-and-white rope. Finishing the look off was a large Marine cape hanging from his shoulders, and the absolutely massive two-headed battle axe he was carrying. He was staring at the smaller – though that was relative – man on his butt in front of him, and he was visibly unhappy.

The man was large and stocky – much like him, though less round. He was just fat. He wore a red shirt that was stretched taut around his obese figure, and he was incapable of closing it. His blue jeans went down to his shins, and his straw hat was frayed and unkept. "Oi oi oi oi oi! Bastard!" The large man stammered and blustered, "Don't you know who I am?" He was sweating buckets, "Get out of my way or I'll kill you and dig out your entrails!" He yelled with a dopey look on his face.

The larger man did not look impressed, so he got to his feet, "I'm the Revolutionary Dragon's son, and Vice-Admiral Garp's grandson!" The last was yelled with a visible bit of snot hanging from his nose as well as increased sweating, "I wreaked havoc during the War of the Best! I'm the man with the 400 million Beli bounty, Straw Hat Lu-" With every word he took a step forward, his face turning increasingly ridiculous.

But with the last statement, the larger man with the axe had enough, "MUGIWARA ISN'T SCUM LIKE YOU!" He roared as he smashed his axe's flat right on top of the fake Straw Hat's head. The fake's eyes popped out of his head, even as blood spewed from his puffed out lips. Every other pirate and Marine there could only stare in abject shock.

"WHAT!" Every pirate there roared, "Boss Straw Hat!" The weaker pirates trembled in horror.

"I see." The unimpressed looking axe-wielder – a man named Sentomaru – commented. "So all of these pirates were tricked and became a part of this guy's crew. I'd feel bad, but if you were stupid enough to fall for this guy's trick, then you damn well deserve to be captured." He turned slightly, addressing the largest man in the entire clearing, "PX-5, who is this guy?"

The huge man stepped forward, and the beeping coming from him suddenly made it clear that I was not, in fact, a human. In his digital vision, it zoomed in on the fake's face and calculated, "Pirate: 'Triple-Tongued' Demaro Black. Bounty of 26 million Beli." Even his voice sounded fake and robotic.

"26 MILLION!" The pirates yelled in horror, "That can only mean…he's an IMPOSTER!" The fake in question mumbled and huffed unconsciously, blood leaking from the massive lump on his head onto his face.

"THEY FOUND OUT!" Yelled the panicking fake's crew, before they all turned tail and ran with a visible smoke trail leading from them.

One angry pirate yelled, "What is this shit! He posed as Straw Hat and tricked us!"

Another roared, "Damn it! I can't believe I almost got ripped off by some asshole with a 26 million bounty!"

"The real Straw Hat must be dead!" Yet another groaned.

"Eh?" A much smaller male in a fluffy overcoat wearing black-rimmed glasses and a fake nose-and-mustache was blinking rapidly, "He was pretending to be me? That means Zoro and Sanji were fake too? But they looked just like the real ones!" He turned and started walking away, "Better get out of here then before it's too late…" He turned, bringing his absolutely massive backpack with him.

Sentomaru smirked lightly, "So, you were all tricked huh? That's just too bad. The one who tried to fool you all was an idiot, but you're all just as unlucky!" He said strongly, "Under my authority, you are all under arrest! You all have to come with us!" The massive cyborg behind him took one step forward, literally shaking the ground. The pirates all stepped back in horror, "And I don't know why, but the real Straw Hat is here too!" The pirate's eyes all widened, "PX-5 locked onto him as soon as we arrived! Shoot at him, PX-5!"

The massive cyborg took another step, before his eyes started blinking as his targeter observed the entire area in search for Straw Hat Luffy. Finally, he acquired a signal, and opened his massive mouth. A yellow beam shot out, flying faster than the eye could see at his target.

But Luffy was prepared as his Observation warned him of the impending danger. He had already hopped away long before the beam hit and exploded the area he had occupied. He spun through the air, before landing on the massive raised platform in the area. His overcoat had fallen off, landing beside him. It revealed a young man with tight, rippling muscles covering his body. He was pretty skinny. He was wearing an open, red cardigan with flared sleeves exposing his heavily scarred chest, some blue jean shorts with furry cuffs, and a long, yellow sash around his waist. He had a well-kept straw hat with a red band on it, which he was pressing into his head, "That was close." He muttered. His glasses, nose, and mustache all fell off his face, revealing them to be fake. He raised his head, "Hey, what's the big idea! You almost hit my precious bento!" He yelled out angrily.

Every pirate and almost every Marine stopped and stared. The fake Sanji turned and looked over with his eyes popping out of his skull in shock. One pirate was trembling, with a piece of paper held loosely in his shaking fists, "H-here's his poster!" It fell to the ground, revealing a face that looked exactly like the one looking down at them, "IT'S THE EXACT SAME!" The terrified screams rang through the air!

Every single one of the fake Straw Hat crew nearly passed out in shock, almost foaming at the mouth, "SO HE WAS THE REAL STRAW HAT?!"

"Brace up!" A well-dressed Marine with a Captain coat – signifying that he was at least a Captain himself – yelled out to his fellows, "We came here prepared to catch the real one anyway!" The rest of the marines roared their approval and readied their rifles.

"Mugiwara!" Sentomaru yelled up at him.

Luffy looked down, instantly recognizing the man, "Oh, it's you. Are you going to get in my way again?" Luffy looked a little irritated, "She warned me to not cause trouble so I could set sail." He mumbled, seemingly to himself though Sentomaru heard him all the same.

"Don't worry! You don't have to set sail!" He yelled back at the young man, "Unlike two years ago, I'm a full-fledged Marine now! I'm catching you here! PX-5!"

The huge cyborg opened his mouth as he hunched over. Yellow light was shining from his insides, even as an increasingly loud and rapid beeping sounded from him. The being trembled for a few seconds, before three beams of light shot forward. Luffy, who had been crouching, stood up. In the time it took to blink, he had inclined his head in three different ways, easily avoiding the three beams. His hat was shadowing his eyes, "Too slow." The giant mangrove tree behind him exploded, and a second later the shockwave ruffled his hat and hair.

"What!" Sentomaru gaped, his eye twitching momentarily in shock.

Luffy lifted his head with that signature grin of his starting to break lose. PX-5 leapt at him, light shining from his mouth. Luffy disappeared entirely, before popping up in front of the flying behemoth. He snickered, "Bye bye!" And then he punched forward. His fist impacted the relatively hard metal shell of the cyborg right in the stomach. A visible ripple of energy blew through the cyborg, almost like a shockwave.

The cyborg cracked, before the metal titan literally split in half. Metal flew and some sort of fluid sprayed through the air before both halves of the malfunctioning robot impacted the ground in separate areas. It audibly shorted and crackled before exploding. "HE BEAT THE Pacifista IN ONE PUNCH!?" Every single pirate and most of the Marines looked utterly terrified on the tiny-looking boy. Their eyes were popping right out of their skulls.

"That…that was…!" Sentomaru gasped.

"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed as he gathered up his bag of lunches and started running away. "See you later! Thanks for clearing my name! I'm sure I'll see you again!" Luffy called back at Sentomaru cheerfully.

"Mugiwara! Wait!" Sentomaru yelled. The rest of the Marine were ordering themselves to not let him get away.

"Oiii! Luffy!" A voice Luffy instantly recognized called out. His eyes had been closed, but they snapped open instantly in surprise.

Another immediately familiar voice called out, "Luffy! It was you after all! How can you already be in trouble!" Sanji and Zoro were both running towards him with big grins on their faces.

Luffy's face almost split open in joy, "Ooooooohhhhhh! Zoro! Sanji! There's no mistaking it this time! I really missed you guys so much!"

Sentomaru grit his teeth, "Roronoa! Black Leg! They are alive! PX-7!"

Another one of the massive cyborgs flew forward, light shining in his mouth. Both Zoro and Sanji grew serious. Sanji span quickly, his legs igniting in what seemed like flames. He looked as if he was wearing molten lava on his legs. Zoro merely drew all three of his swords. They vanished, and a moment later the Pacifista was going down, Sanji's molten leg in his head and Zoro behind him with sparking cuts torn into it. "I sliced him!" Zoro called out.

"No! I broke his neck!" Sanji roared back.

The pirates were all screaming! "THE STRAW HAT PIRATES! IT'S REALLY THEM! THEY'RE NOTHING LIKE THE FAKES!"

The Pacifista sparked and shook before exploding in a massive fireball as Sanji landed next to Zoro, "Hey Luffy. You're ninth!" Zoro smirked while pointing at his Captain.

"Will you shut up about that!" Sanji roared, shark teeth in his mouth. He turned back, "Let's hurry Luffy! Everyone is waiting on the ship!"

Luffy yelped in excitement, before speeding off after his two friends. The Marines roared angrily, before following in determination to stop the Straw Hats once and for all. Luffy had his eyes closed in happiness, "It's been so long! I wonder how everyone is! I'm so ha-" He stopped, drawing the confusion of his two crewmates.

"Huh? Luffy?"

Luffy merely grinned as he stared off over the hill, where an old man was sitting calmly. Zoro and Sanji watched with smiles of their own as Luffy set the huge bag on his shoulders down, "RAYLEIGH!" Everyone other than the three Straw Hats stared in abject shock and horror now, at the old man. He had long white hair and a funny, striped beard that ended in a puff just below his chin. He wore glasses and a worn-looking hoodie.

He chuckled, "I came here to have a look, but it looks like you're doing just fine, Luffy. You've gotten much stronger since I last saw you. Hurry up and get going! Go see your friends!"

"Right!" Luffy called back. He had a massive grin, "Rayleigh! Thank you for everything these past two years!"

Rayleigh laughed, "Get going! This isn't like you!" He had a smile all the same at Luffy's good-bye.

"I'm going to do it Rayleigh!" Rayleigh quirked an eyebrow in confusion, "I'm going to become the Pirate King!" Luffy had his arms thrown into the air, fists pumped out. Rayleigh only smiled, a single tear in his eye.

The Marines finally got their wits about them, and resumed their headlong charge at Luffy and his crewmates. Rayleigh didn't like that very much, as his student ran with his crewmates. He drew his sword and slashed the air. In front of the Marines, a small gash opened up in the earth, forcing them to halt. Rayleigh was standing in front of the coughing Marines, "My apprentice is setting sail. I would appreciate it if you did not interfere." The Marines growled, some backing away.

"Th…this line…"

"I would advise not crossing it." Rayleigh only had confidence in his voice and an easygoing smile on his face..

Behind him, Luffy was running next to Sanji and staring hungrily at the floating Bubble Bags the man was holding. After a few bullets passed by them, Zoro up in front called out, "Looks like they have us surrounded." He sounded entirely unconcerned.

Suddenly, one of the charging Marines slumped over with blue in his face, "I…I want to become a flea."

"What are you doing?" Another yelled at him, before turning and seeing every single one of his comrades on their hands and knees.

"I want to become a mite…" They droned listlessly.

"WHAT!" Finally, a translucent ghost passed through his body, and he slumped over, "I want to become a louse."

"Hey!" Sanji said, "Isn't that…!"

"Jeez." The ghost stopped close to a floating young woman. She had long, curly pink hair falling in four spiral braids down her back. She was wearing a long black strapless dress with lavender frills which accentuated her (finally) growing bust, red high heeled boots, and a big black top hat with white floral decor. Continuing with the pink theme, she had a pink bat tattooed onto her left arm with a watch on her wrist, and pink nail polish on her fingernails. She had big round eyes and was carrying a big stuffed teddy bear in one hand and a Mini Devil umbrella in the other, "So you guys were the ones causing trouble, huh?"

Sanji's eyes immediately turned into hearts, "OH! You're the woman from Thriller Bark! Perona!" She looked a lot less childish than the last time they had encountered her, and she was quickly ticking off Sanji's checkboxes. He noodled over towards her, hearts flying above his head.

She ignored him entirely, "I was waiting for you." She declared, which instantly sent Sanji off into la-la land, thinking she was speaking to him. She wasn't.

"Eh, waiting for me?" Luffy asked, pointing to himself, "What do you want with me?"

She smiled, "That's right." She floated closer, entirely ignoring Sanji around her. "I want to join your crew!" She declared loudly.

Silence. "I APPROVE!" Sanji roared, steam coming out of his nose.

"Eh? You want to join." Zoro asked in surprise.

She smirked at him, "That's right. Did you think you could get rid of me that easily?" Zoro smirked back at her, returning to his calm confidence.

"Why do you want to join?" Luffy asked curiously. He wasn't really against it, but he really wanted to know why.

"Who cares?! Let her join us!" Sanji was still all for it, dreaming of her beauty.

That dream was about to be shattered.

She smiled and floated over to Zoro, settling into his arms. He pulled her in with his left, before she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

Now not only was Sanji's dream shattered, but so was he. He cracked like glass and shattered into a million pieces. Perona blinked, "Is he alright?"

"Who cares?" Zoro smirked.

Luffy chuckled as he picked up Sanji and threw him over his shoulder, "Well, I can't refuse a request like that. Welcome aboard!"

She smiled happily, "Thank you! You won't regret it, Captain!" She turned serious, "We really should get out of here though. Marines are surrounding the Island!"

Luffy laughed, "You let me worry about that."

-]|[-

"You!" Sanji roared, getting into Zoro's face. They were now flying on a giant bird with their Doctor Chopper, who looked even cutesier than he used to! "How did you of all people get a girlfriend! WERE YOU EVEN TRAINING YOU BASTARD!"

"Of course I was." Zoro looked irritated.

"Is there something wrong with him?" Perona asked Zoro while pressed against his chest.

"The better question would be what isn't wrong with Dartbrow over here." Zoro laughed. Sanji could only glower as Luffy and Perona joined him in chuckling.

Finally, Luffy called out, "HEY! EVERYONE!"

Instantly, all of the people on the ship below him sprang to their feet, "LUFFY!" Everyone looked excited and happy. Usopp even was tearing up a little bit. Despite that, he looked manlier with larger musculature. His curly hair was underneath a white suncap. He looked like he had headphones over his ears. He also wore a new pair of rolled-up yellow pants with red suspenders, and a pair of boots. His yellow, red-lensed sniper goggles hung from his neck.

"Looks like you've gotten kinda manly!" Franky looked huge and robotic. He was much more massive than he had been and his blue hair was in a buzz-cut. Other than that, he was the same old, speedo wearing Franky. He just looked much more awesome!

"Luffy! You guys!" Nami waved her arms back and forth above her head. She had a simple bikini top on low cut, low riding jeans that were practically painted on. She had also let her hair grow out, and it was now nice and wavy.

Sanji instantly locked on to the two beautiful women of his crew. First he looked at Nami's bust, then Robins'. He closed his eyes and took a deep drag of his smoke. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU STUPID PERVERT!" Perona screamed in horror as he turned into a bottle rocket. Blood spewed in massive quantities from his nostrils and he rocketed up and off the bird. He would have landed in the water, if Luffy hadn't appeared under him and then on the ship with him in his arms. Sanji was blue, and still leaking blood.

Usopp cradled his head in his arms, "Sanji! Chopper! Stop the bleeding!"

Franky was in his standard Franky Pose, with a starry-eyed Luffy looking at him in complete awe, "F-F-Franky! You!"

"Oh, what is it Luffy? Mecha!" Franky pushed his nose in for a few seconds, before his hair sprang out of his head and settled into a flattop haircut.

"Mecha! I WANT TO PUSH IT!" Luffy threw himself forward with his arms extended, but Nami caught him from behind.

"I have no idea what you're so excited about Luffy, but we have problems!" Nami told him, "The Marine warships are almost here!"

"Oh, that's a problem." Luffy said, "If the Marines are here, we won't be able to meet with her before we go to Fishman Island."

The entire ship stilled, "Her?" They all asked collectively.

Sanji even woke up from his sudden bout of abnormal sinus syndrome and got right in Luffy's face, "Her? HER? YOU TOO LUFFY! WHERE DID YOU GET SENT TO?"

"Me?" Luffy blinked, "I got sent to Amazon Lily, the Island of Women. I made a lot of friends there! Shishishi!"

Sanji trembled, before he burst into flames, "YOU RUBBER BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!" He was shaking Luffy back and forth, crying with a weird face.

Luffy laughed, "Sorry Sanji! You're going to have to think of a new nickname for me!"

"E…eh?" The whole crew stopped in shock. Sanji even let go of his shirt in his surprise.

"W-what do you mean?" Nami stammered as Luffy turned to face the rest of his crew. That was when Nami and Robin finally got an eyeful of the massive scar on his chest. "Oh Luffy…" She held her hand up to her mouth in horror.

Robin – who was dressed in a tight, partially-zipped purple leather vest with a V-neck line that exposed her stomach and a long pink sari-like skirt – ran her fingers along his scar with a troubled look on her face. She was probably the only one who fully realized what that statement meant. The other members of the crew either looked confused or flat out somber.

Luffy sighed, but he was smiling softly, "During the War…I kinda died for a few minutes…" A horrified, strangled sound escaped Nami's throat before she was hugging him for all she was worth, sobbing into his chest. Robin wrapped her arms around him, and idly mused that he was almost as tall as she was now. "Hey, none of that. I'm still here." He rubbed their backs. He grinned, "I can't die without becoming the Pirate King, remember?"

Nami choked out a laugh, "You damn idiot." She finally let go of him, and backed away slightly, wiping her watery eyes. "I don't care about that…I'm just glad you're okay."

Robin backed away and smiled at him, "Hey, at least you can learn to swim now, right?" She made one of her kinda-morbid jokes.

Luffy chuckled, "Not exactly." But before they could ask him what that meant, a cannonball struck the water close to their ship.

"Ah, Marines!" Nami yelled, thoughts of Luffy's not-death and possible new power chased away momentarily, "Crap! There are three ships!"

Luffy grinned, "I got this." He walked forward confidently, "We'll be setting sail in a moment guys! I suggest you hold onto something."

"Hold on to…Luffy what?" Nami asked in surprise.

But Luffy didn't answer her, he merely raised his arm in front of his chest, before clenching his fist. His new muscles bulged slightly, even as he let out an almost maniac grin, "Kaishin!" He swung his fist, even as the jaws of his crew – even Robin – dropped. The air where his fist stopped started to crack, as if there was an invisible mirror breaking there. The cracks expanded, before the entire ocean in front of them rose and rocketed off towards the Marine ships. The men there were panicked and terrified, and stood absolutely no chance as the massive tidal wave engulfed their miniature fleet.

The ships all capsized and went into the deep, even as the wave raced on. "Shishishi! Told you I wouldn't be able to swim!" Luffy laughed. He turned as he heard a thump behind him, and panicked as he saw Usopp foaming on the floor with Perona. "Usopp! Perona!" he yelped in shock, "Crap, did I use that? Usopp! Are you alright?! Speak to me!" He shook Usopp hastily.

Nami was as white as a ghost, staring into the air, "We gave a complete idiot the power to destroy the world…"

Robin could only laugh.

-]|[-

Hey everyone! Trying something new out here! This will be a collection of shorts that I wanted to write, but do not yet have any intention of writing into a full story. Yes, that does mean that anything in here MIGHT be turned into a full story eventually, but really these are just to get my Muse off my back so I can get back writing my other stories. As you can plainly tell, she does what she wants.

This was a self-response to the challenge I first gave out in CRUSH! I wrote it back in November, but it's just been sitting here since then. I figured I would go ahead and post it. Hope you all enjoyed!