I do not own One Piece

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Beta read by the wonderful rose7anne101, who has written some pretty amazing stuff for One Piece.

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Guest (please choose name/nickname next time)

In terms of either giving me your soul, or throwing it at me, I would ask that you give it. I do not have much use for it, but I know someone who would gladly take it as a late birthday gift :-P

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Sophia

LOL yeah so much craziness from Wholecake Island that I just HAD to do this! :-D

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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WhirlyBird70

Awesome to hear you are having so many laughs, while it still staying on topic!

Uh huh, lots of possibilities for when they meet Chopper ;-)

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Gokou

Awesome to hear I did so well with the reveal of the news about the Fifth Emperor! :-D

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Guest (please choose name/nickname next time)

…Ooooh yes. I have to have the Whitebeard Pirates present Law with a copy of that newspaper! X-D And yes, I had fun mixing in true and false material into the paper! :-D

Here is the newest chapter, and I hope it was worth the wait! Looking forward to hearing your newest thoughts! :-D

Thank you for your Review and Support! :-D

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Rise from the Ashes

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Chapter 17: Jinbe

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Warning: Spoilers for One Piece chapter 981.

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If there was a reason the Straw Hats were never invited anywhere nice, it was because they kept wrecking the event. Or they ended up gatecrashing it anyways.

For example, when they learnt they were not invited to their chef Sanji's wedding, they had snuck in, assaulted dozens of the bride's family members, ruined the layered cake, wrecked the intended mother-in-law's sole surviving photo of her adoptive mom, recklessly endangered the guests, and were being held accountable for knocking half the castle in half.

Now granted, Sanji had been coerced into said wedding as part of a plot to murder him and his blood family, but the point still stands. Wherever the Straw Hats go, it always ends with them responsible for chaos and wide-scale property damage, and running away with the locals chasing after them demanding blood.

Currently their ship, the Thousand Sunny, was sailing at high speeds through the territory of the Big Mom Pirates, having barely escaped Big Mom herself, driven even more homicidal by a crazed obsession for a wedding cake to replace the one they destroyed. The partial crew of Straw Hats intended to rendezvous at Cacao Island where Sanji had gone on ahead with allies to bake a replacement cake to both calm Big Mom down, and to lure her away. There they would also rendezvous with Luffy, who was currently battling Charlotte Katakuri, the strongest subordinate to Big Mom, in an alternate dimension of mirrors.

Nami, the navigator of the Straw Hats, tried not to think about how the summary in the above paragraph highlighted just how surreal and frankly absurd her life had become.

In the meantime, she was scanning the horizon for pursuing ships, as was Brook, their musician. In the crow's nest, their doctor, Chopper, was doing the same, along with Carrot, a bunny Mink warrior who had come along for the adventure. Finally, there was Jinbe, the ex-Warlord of the Sea who had pledged to join Luffy's crew, and had already aptly proven he would be invaluable as a helmsman; being able to make the Sunny perform tricks that would make its builders weep. No seriously, she knew Franky would be blubbering away while denying it. Ah well, it was part of his charm.

Honestly though, Nami was looking forward to when Jinbe officially became a member. Never mind his immense power, it would be nice to have another crewmember who appeared reasonable and sane, to balance out those who were decidedly not. (*cough* Luffy *cough*)

"By the way," said Jinbe, "where's the rest of the crew?"

"Oh," sighed Nami as she was forced to remember something she had frankly been suppressing, "they're at Wano with our allies as part of a plan to take down another Emperor. Kaidou, for the record, who's apparently the strongest creature alive. Ugh! As if we didn't have enough problems as it is."

Instead of blanching like a regular sane being, the Sea Knight proved his worthiness of becoming a Straw Hat by laughing. "You guys don't do things by halves! I'll certainly never be bored with you lot!" After a few more chuckles he calmed down and stroked his beard. "I'll bet Izou's glad to be back in his homeland."

". . . Who?"

"Hrm? Izou. The 16th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

Now Nami and Brook were looking at him in obvious confusion (even with a skull-face).

". . . He's from Wano, and will look forward to taking down Kaidou?"

"What!?" cried Nami. "The Whitebeard Pirates are also aiming for Kaidou!?"

"Luffy won't be happy about that!" said a shocked Brook.

"Oooh, maybe we should leave it to them then," offered Chopper. "Then we can only worry about Big Mom."

"No you can't!" butted in Carrot, looking hurt. "You already promised the others you would help! How do you think Inuarashi, Nekomamushi, and Momonosuke will feel!?"

"She's right," said Nami. "Plus, Luffy wouldn't be happy about it. At least it'll be good to know we've got another Emperor crew we can ask for help."

"Well, they are really one anymore," began Jinbe.

"Close enough!"

"Yo ho ho ho, I'm sure they're still fine enough we'd be dead if we faced them. Oh wait, I'm already dead!"

"I wonder where Nekomamushi will find them?" pondered Carrot.

Coughing into his fist, Jinbe regained their attention. "There's some misunderstanding, I fear. They aren't looking to take on Kaidou," and his personal authority kept the others from interrupting long enough to add, "but rather they're already looking for you guys, so as to ally with you."

". . ."

". . ."

". . ."

". . ."

". . . Wait, what?" Nami finally managed. "They already want to be our allies?"

With a small groan as he confirmed his suspicions, Jinbe took one hand from the wheel to rub his face. "Yes, and they apparently missed you when they tried to meet up. After Luffy's display at Marineford, both times actually, they were planning to ally with you guys when you returned to the New World. They were supposed to find you after Fishman Island!"

Nami blinked, and then covered her face with both palms while moaning. "Uhm," Brook politely coughed, "we got caught up in a White Strom, taking us far off course." The massive underwater current washing them far off course from the usual starter islands in the New World.

"Ah that explains it," Jinbe sagely nodded.

"You're telling me," Nami finally gritted out, trying to control her temper towards a future crewmember she had considered sensible, and thus a priceless ally, "that we could've been allied with an Emperor-level crew from the start!?"

Wisely Jinbe kept silent.

"And you knew about this!?"

"They asked me to keep silent," he hurriedly said. "I had to respect their wishes." Best not to mention it was for a better 'surprise,' which he knew Luffy would appreciate.

Sucking in a deep breath, Nami said, "One of our allies, Nekomamushi, one of the Kings of the Minks of Zou, went looking for him. He assumed Marco would be in one place, except instead Marco could be anywhere!"

"Perhaps not," said Brook. "If they are looking for us, then the Whitebeard Pirates would be following the trail we have left since Fishman Island. So it's possible we'll meet up. Or they'll encounter one of our allies."

"Indeed," hummed Jinbe. "Don't underestimate them. They weren't just feared as the most powerful crew of their time solely because of Pops." His eyes darkened a little, "And I understand they have a history with Wano they'll wish to rectify."

"What do you—"

"Hey guys!" Carrot suddenly called out. "I see a number of ships in the distance!"

Sure enough, they could all now see the vague outline of distant sails. In short order, they would have an entire armada after them again, hungry for blood. Their blood.

All business, Jinbe said, "So they've come at last. Prepare to fire cannons! We can't always be on the defensive!"

Things got much more chaotic from there.

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A few days later

"Jinbe, what's wrong!?" gasped Aladine in concern. Both the former and newest Captain of the Sun Pirates had been sharing another drink during Jinbe's Going-Away-Party (privately also We-Fought-The-Big-Mom-Pirates-And-Didn't-Die-Party), when his friend had suddenly slapped his face. This uncharacteristic display made the (technically former) ship's doctor worry he had missed a head injury.

Reluctantly, the new helmsman for the Straw Hats confessed, "I . . . forgot to give Luffy and the others the number to call Marco on the Den-Den Mushi. So they can't call each other."

". . . Oh."

"Yes."

"Well, hopefully nothing too chaotic will happen before they meet up and what am I saying your new Captain is chaos incarnate."

While Aladine was sucking in a breath, Jinbe roared with laughter. "That he is! I can't wait to see him again!"

One of the crew called out, "Well then we'd better hurry up and drink all the booze so we can finish your party!"

"You can't wait to get rid of me, huh?"

"Damn straight," winked Aladine.

"AYE!" cheered the others, and the celebration was back in full swing.

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Author Notes:

Yes, this chapter is fairly short, but also meant to give you guys an update:

This story has grown so far beyond the one-shot it was originally supposed to be, so when I started getting requests to continue it, I did not have a plan initially, and frankly I was still a newbie at writing. Not to mention how trying to keep pace with canon for an ongoing story is easier said than done.

I do have plans for the Wano Arc where I am planning to finish this, but it will be an AU from canon. That said, at the same time I want to keep actual facts and historical events accurate to canon. Even before chapter 981, this current arc caused me to keep changing my plans given what we were seeing with the Whitebeard Pirates. So I will be holding off on writing more until said arc is complete. Also planning to go back and re-write chapter "The Fifth Emperor" when I do, to better reflect the canon information. For example that Izou was originally from Wano, although Marco is going to remain being actually ancient, as opposed to somebody who basically grew up on his Pop's ship.

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"Chef's Notes," by Ishvallan

"The Archaeologist," by Moonlight Blue Rose

"When all is darkest we find each other," by Glaux Bryonia

"a present that's a mystery (giving you your history)" by midnightluck (AO3)

"A Few Choice Words," by Pte. Mighty Mouse

"Paperwork of a phoenix," by ventusleone (AO3)

"Hey, Nami," by Olivia Wren

"A Worthy Ship," by anubislover

"Issues of Infamy," by grainjew (AO3)

"Purple, like Memory," by grainjew (AO3)

"Like Ink Through Her Veins," by grainjew (AO3)

"Rising suns, free waters," by Amazaria (AO3)

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Next chapter: "Wano, Part 1"

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Please Review, and I will get back to you!