AN: This is set after canon, and half the time I'm just making up stuff on the spot. I cannot see the end to Once Piece, and I don't think I want to, because I have years yet to enjoy the story as it unfolds. Maybe years from now I'll come back and rewrite this to fit canon better. In the meantime, I'm doing the best I can with what I have at hand.

At the start of this story Luffy is twenty four and the Pirate King. In this story his crew stays together instead of splitting apart like some people have it.

Enjoy!

- DW

Rated T for violence and language.

00
In which the sky is falling.
.

The last man fell. The war was over.

Allies and Foes watched as the match between the two greatest rivals of the age was decided - the winner the man with the claim to One Piece. Dust and the echoes of one final scream settled. The crews of the two Captains waited with bated breath, gazes shaking and bodies trembling in fear, their own opponents lying at their feet. The people still among the living stood in silence to see the dawn of the new era.

Blood coated the rocks, staining them red and brown. Fire and smoke licked the edge of vision and the smell of sulfur and death clogged noses. The Marines present let their fingers grow slack, and the clanging of weapons hitting the ground cut through the silence. They knew they had failed.

Minutes passed before a silhouette of a man appeared at the summit. A gust of wind blew the debris clear of his face. Tears sprung to eyes, either in horror or in relief. Some dropped to their knees, shaking in fright. For others, wide grins replaced worried scowls. They did not dare speak yet.

Bright red meshed with yellow and blue; black hair and hard eyes; a straw hat firmly placed upon his head. The man took a deep breath and declared, "I AM THE PIRATE KING!"

A cheer rose up from his supporters. Eight people charged up the slope and embraced the man, and in turn threw him up in the air again and again in their delight (effectively ruining the previously serious mood).

That day was to be known as the 'day of rebirth', or the 'day the sky fell' (later revised as 'Sky Fall'). It was the day the Will of D was renewed, the Void Century uncovered and the Grand Line conquered. Raftel was claimed, and the Great War ended.

That was also the day Monkey D. Luffy was named the second Pirate King.