Marching Beside The King

Summary: Inspired by Xomniac's This Bites! I get a chance to join the king on their march to the throne. There's only one thing that can throw a wrench in what I know, well two things I guess. One, that king isn't Oda's version. And two, the 'higher plane' being that sent me there is more than happy to throw a guy with a few out of the box skills into the mix.

Acknowledgements: I'd like to thank Tsume Yuki for allowing me to use their 'uncanon' Haki abilities. Check out their story Tell It To The Marines for proper in depth explanations, and for a very good read. Also check out Nouin's account on Deviantart. After loving his Cross and Soundbite picture for Xomniac's This Bites! he's the one who I commissioned for this story's cover art, the art for my Flesh to Metal Version 1 stories and I plan to commission him for quite a few pictures that will be related to this story and maybe a few more cover art commissions for my other stories.

1. Rather Abrupt Travel Plans

Story Start: Our Universe, My Family Room

I let out a cackle as I once more read Xomniac's This Bite's story, or more specifically, Cross and Soundbite's actions against the Buster Call. I had read the entire story two times before but I sometimes couldn't help but come back to certain parts and just become a laughing mess all over again. Shaking my head, I went back to my Word documents and began working on the next chapter of my stories. Or at least I was going to before the whole screen of my laptop went snowy like a tv set on a channel it wasn't set to receive.

I blinked once before I deadpanned, "Great, someone's either decided to make my life hell again by completely screwing up my computer erasing everything on it a second time or someone's got a flair for the dramatics and is about to talk to me through the computer."

"You're pretty genre savvy. That's good, you're going to need it where you're going." A voice said as a black silhouette appeared on the screen. The voice seemed familiar but for the life of me I couldn't place it.

I let out a sigh and said "And this is the part where I get tossed into another universe I take it."

Chuckling came from the speakers as the figure said "That does seem to be the M.O. for most self insert fics doesn't it? I think you'll prefer this than dying while being a hero in a giant highway pile up though."

My eyes narrowed as I said "You've actually done your homework on me, or at least took the time to look through my stories."

"I believe that the words written by a person can give you a decent look into their thought processes. Speaking of, you know you've got quite the Gary Stew problem with how you write? Over ten years so far and none of your characters have suffered a truly crippling loss yet. And that's not getting into those RPs on Deviantart you've done." The figure said and I got the feeling he had a raised eyebrow right now.

I crossed my arms as I leaned back against the love seat that was my 'office chair' and said "What can I say, I don't like to lose."

"I don't think anyone likes to lose, it's in not only human nature but sentient nature as a whole to be selfish, even if just a very little for some species." The figure commented with a careless gesture of the hand.

"And where do you fall on that scale?" I asked raising an eyebrow as I continued "You can't tell me you intend to drop a common Joe like me into another universe for some vague 'life lesson' that will do that person some good. So what's riding on all of this, is there a bet you have going on with another higher being or are you like Zelretch and B.R.O.B. and just want to have a laugh by sticking some poor shmuck in some kind of situation that's way over their heads?"

"You've been reading one too many Translocation Self Inserts my friend." The figure said and I finally noticed that the static on my screen was beginning to settle into different shades of white and the black figure was becoming slightly more defined. It pulled the hood of the cloak it was wearing forward much like someone would pull the bill of a cap downwards and continued "However, that doesn't make you wrong. The truth is, I want to put a little 'out of the box' variable into a world and see how far the ripples of change go. Don't worry though, I'm not completely heartless. You'll be given a few, shall we say 'upgrades' to help you along the way, along with a partner to help you."

I gave the screen a deadpanned look and said "If you drop me off on the same island as Soundbite, I swear I will have Luffy kick your ass."

The cloaked figure threw his head back and let out a full bellied laugh for a full minute before settling down again and after one last chuckle said "Whoo, I needed that. Interesting that you automatically assumed it would be a One Piece world you're going to, though I suppose the fact you were just now rereading part of a Self Insert story to said world plays a part in that. Anyway, no, you're not winding up with a devil fruit transponder snail as your partner, that'd be a rather blatant bit of plagiarism, think more Aztec."

"Aztec?" I muttered before I felt my eyes unconsciously widen. There was only one creature from Aztec mythology that I actually knew, if only the 'common' idea of it. Giving the figure on my screen an incredulous look, I said "A freaking Quetzalcoatl?! What the HELL do you expect me to get into that your partnering me with a several hundred-foot-long storm god!?"

"Oh don't be so dramatic, your partner won't even be five feet long at first. It'll be just like a Pokémon, getting bigger and stronger through training by your side." The figure said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Like that makes me less nervous about what we'll get into." I muttered as I remembered all of the places in the Grand Line the Straw Hats went to before I glared at the screen and said "And another thing, how the SCRAP do you expect me to actually survive in a One Piece world?" I gave a meaningful pat of my stomach area and said "I may not be fluffy, but I'm definitely big, if not healthy. I'm pretty sure even pre-marine Coby could kick my ass."

The cloaked figure chuckled and said "You give yourself too little credit Matthew, you could easily handle Coby. After all, he didn't make Orange Belt in Karate in his teen years."

"Well ok, maybe Coby's an exaggeration, but the fact remains, former minimal training or not, at this point in my life, I am NOT combat capable. Especially when it comes to fighting others who are either a, trained marines, or b, pirates who have learned their skills while causing havoc on the high seas with said marines doing their best to kill them." I said with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll manage with the 'care package' I'm giving you. Those upgrades I mentioned before? They'll be unlike anything else in that world." The figure said chuckling ominously.

I gave him a flat look and said "You're not going to turn me into some magic boy or power ranger knock off are you?"

The figure snorted and said "Hell no, who do you take me for, Zelretch? You know what, don't answer that." I closed my mouth with a click of my teeth as he continued "You'll find out more when you get there but just know for now that if you play your cards right you'll be able handle yourself just fine. Now then, I think I've been a lot more nice about this than that bastard of a R.O.B., but it's time get things rolling." The figure held up three fingers on his right hand and said "I'll give you three minutes to pack that bookbag beside your seat with what you want to bring. And don't be skimpy with your electronics, you're going to be stuck on a boat for long periods of time and I'm going to be kind enough to provide a wind up handheld generator for you and you'll be able to access the internet as well. Wouldn't want you falling off the FanFic grid again after all."

"That's generous of you." I said in surprise but still grateful to have my gear with me.

"Isn't it just." The figure said with a chipper tone in his voice before he grew serious and said "So then, let's get started eh?"

"Hang on, before you start the clock, what the heck do I call you?" I asked even as I tensed my muscles in anticipation to start grabbing everything on the family room table that was my 'work station'.

All of a sudden, I could see a mouth under the cloak's hood that seemed impossibly wide and grinning like anime characters would when they were either going to absolutely humiliate someone or do something incredibly badass. The figure let out a soft but ominous chuckle as he said "Call me Taifun."

"Isn't that Czech for Typhoon?" I muttered to myself with furrowed eyebrows.

Taifun's grin somehow got even bigger as he said "Your time starts now Matthew." His image disappeared only to be replaced by a three minute timer on the screen. The sight of the timer snapped me out of my shock and I pushed the power button on the laptop before quickly closing the lid. With the practiced speed that came from saving packing my electronics till the last minute before a road trip I snatched my bookbag from the ground and quickly put the laptop and the Flash Drive that had been previously connected to it in before I grabbed my four external hard drives holding tv shows and movies and tossed them in as well. Next in was my pair of reading glasses. I saw the half roll of duck tape on the table and remembering the three episodes the Mythbusters did on it grabbed that as well. I then grabbed the power cords that were in the power strip on a nearby table, Laptop, Iphone, and Nintendo 3DS XL and tossed them in without rolling them, I'd untangle them later. Next was said Iphone and 3ds before remembering Gibb's Rule #9 had me grabbing the Leatherman Fuse multi tool knife off the table and tossing it in. I quickly snatched my Carheart jacket off the nearby chair along with the army camo hat that was on top simply because it was there before I put the Sun/Moon guide and pokedex books that were by the power strip in. (They were there and I had Moon currently in my 3DS) A quick moment of thought had me bolting down the hall towards my room, using the doorway to the master bedroom as a jumping point to make the ninety degree turn faster and I quickly ran to the end into my room where I grabbed my nose less polarized mask (I was going into a world predominately made of ocean, I WANTED that mask.) before I dumped all of my 3DS game cartridges into the book bag before I quickly shot over to the other side and grabbed my rarely used backup Samsung Galaxy 2 tablet and its power cord. A quick look around had me grabbing the half full 10.5 oz pouch of Reese's Pieces since I didn't know where I was going to be dropped off or how long I'd have to wait for the Strawhats, or other humans for that matter, to find me. Hopefully I could source some water there because I probably didn't have time to make a run for the fridge.

As if that thought was the cue, Taifun's voice filled my bedroom as he said "Time's up." The world suddenly whited out and I was forced to slam my eyes shut to avoid going blind.

Scene Change: Snake Island

I let out a groan as I opened my eyes and said "That was rather unpleasant." I blinked when I noticed what looked like the roof of a cave and said "When did I switch from standing up to laying down?"

"You appeared in that position." A female voice said from on my chest. When I looked down, I had to blink at the sight of a two foot long silver snake with blue wings looking at me with a cocked head like a dog looking at something curiously. My hands immediately went to support her as I sat up and said "You wouldn't happen to be my new partner in this whole mess would you?"

The snake shook her head and said "Mh-hm, it was just my turn to watch you while you were unconscious. Now that you're awake, I'm supposed to take you to where your partner is. But first, we were told to tell you to turn on your 'tablet' immediately after you wake up."

I raised an eyebrow at that before I looked around for my bookbag. Finding it beside me on the floor of the cave, I opened the zipper and dug through it one handed before I felt the Otter case it was in. Pulling it out, I popped the case off one handed and turned on the power. As it booted up, I said "So how long have I been out of it?"

"Just under six hours after your arrival." The snake said slithering up to my right shoulder before the Tablet's log on screen popped up. I quickly slid my thumb across the standby screen and the grid menu came up, an icon in the shape of a Straw Hat that wasn't there before flashing. I tapped the button and a text window popped up. My eyebrows furrowed as I read "I had to do a little bit of biomodification when you got here. Nothing much I assure you, but as I'm sure you know from Cross' early experiences, the populations of Earth and this world are fundamentally different when it comes to what they can endure. So I gave your body the equivalent of a mega booster shot along with a couple of other things. For instance, your body is now actually capable of using Haki since it couldn't on Earth. Mind you, you still have to learn how to use it and you don't have Conqueror's Haki, but the option is still there. The other thing I did to your body was give it the Gamer abilities of ID Create and Nav Point setting. Considering the Gamer style fics in your Favorite List, I'm sure I don't need to explain about them. I gave you the ID Create option both for training and resource gathering purposes. In the IDs, and only the IDs, your opponents will leave money and item drops once you've beaten them. This will allow you to take full advantage of the next modification I made. On this tablet you will find a program that allows you to access a trade forum that deals in pretty much anything in the multi-verse. You could even buy a Death Star if you had enough funds for it. Speaking of funds, I took the liberty of linking your checking account to the program so you have just over six hundred dollars to start with. That should be enough to buy you a good starting weapon. I suggest buying something with Iron Wood to start with. It's hard enough to do some damage but won't automatically cut you if you make a mistake while learning how to use a bladed weapon. For the Nav Point option, there is a world map downloaded onto this tablet with an island index provided. It's currently locked for now but when it's time for you to leave it'll unlock after you reach the first nav point that I'll set. Speaking of time, you have three months to prepare before you head out to join the Straw Hats so I suggest you use it wisely. That's everything you need to know at this moment so in the words of the bounciest tiger out there, TTFN, Ta Ta For Now."

As the text window faded away showing that the straw hat icon had turned into a shopping cart, I sighed and said "Three months huh? Something tells me I'm going to have to use all of my money for camping supplies." Glancing to the snake on my shoulder, I said "So where to now?"

"Follow me." The feather serpent chirped eagerly before diving off my shoulder before opening her wings and flying out of the cave we were in. I quickly picked up my book bag and took off after her, putting my tablet in standby as I tossed the bag over one shoulder and put the tablet in the bag before zipping it closed (Not an easy task to do over the shoulder) and glanced around as I followed my guide.

What I saw was truly an impressive sight. We were about halfway up a mountain on an island predominately filled with forests. The mountain we were on seemed to be the only one and was chock filled with thin but rapidly moving rivers that had several waterfalls in them as they made their way to the forest below us and continuing on into the sea. Said rivers were being supplied by the giant snow cap so high above us a cloud was parting as it passed by showing how it could remain in place even with it feeling like early summer where I was. Speaking of where I was, the mountain was pockmarked with dozens if not hundreds of caves, some of them with winged serpents of all sizes and colors passing through them. There were even more serpents flying over the forest, diving, weaving, flying like fighter jets dog fighting each other, and in one area without trees half way to the far off shore creating weather events, the scale of said not so natural disasters growing quite big at times.

"Oda never showed any of this." I said in awe as I took in the thriving island even as I somehow kept walking after my guide.

"Well I can't speak for this Oda of yours but we Quetzalcoatl really like our privacy. We've got an island wide mirage up at all times so anyone who sees this place from a ship just sees an island with incredibly dangerous craggy mountains." My guide said looking back towards me even as she continued flying forward showing in my opinion a not so unimpressive amount of flying skill.

"Then why are you guys helping me and even allowing one of your own to leave the island?" I asked. An isolationist community like theirs seemed to be usually had strict laws about their members leaving.

The snake twisted in the air so that way its body was vertical as it flew backwards and seemed to shrug as she said "We can leave whenever we want so long as we use our mirage skills to maintain the secrecy of our race's existence, although that is not an iron clad rule, more like an extremely serious suggestion. But as for helping you, well," The snake shrugged again and said "when a being that has the power to literally tear open as big a hole in space and time as he wants 'suggests' you help someone, it's best you do so before he decides to displace your island from your world and replace it with one that's more willing to do what he says."

"So, he threatened you guys." I said with a frown.

"Oh no, no, no. Not threatened, explained just what he was capable of and let us draw our own conclusions. There's a small but no less important for it difference." My guide said wagging her tail like a finger a little as she explained.

"Fair enough." I said though my frown remained in place until we reached what looked to be for all intents and purposes a medical bay. There were dried herbs hanging from old snake skin 'ropes' along the walls with honest to Oda and Primus doctor's beds of various sizes carved into the rock of the cavern with some filled with water while others had softly glowing coals under their occupants that I assumed came from the ten-foot-wide fire that was slowly burning at the just barely sustainable level in the middle of said coal holding beds.

As I looked around, my guide shot straight to a bed where a four foot black snake with a set of greyish green wings just over half a foot behind his head and a white stripe going down his back was being looked over by a twenty foot long snake that just screamed stereotypical witch doctor with their old aged appearance and what looked suspiciously like a bear tooth hanging from a snake skin cord just over its first of three set of wings. Landing on the bed next to the two, she said "Tyrus, your partner's awake."

Tyrus glanced over at me and said "You're the one I'm supposed to be keeping safe? Don't look like much do you?"

"To be honest, I don't feel like much either." I admitted as I walked over before crossing my arms and said "But I'm willing to work at becoming much. Besides, you don't look like much either but you know what they say about judging packages by their size."

"Heh, well said. Tyrus." The snake said before offering his tail.

"Matthew, though I prefer Matt." I said taking the tail and shaking it before I glanced to the medic and said "Anything wrong with him?"

The medic shook their head and said "Just giving him a quick physical to make sure he's healthy enough to start his new duties." The medic then sharpened his focus on me as he said "But if he's going to be traveling the world with you then it would do well for you to know some of our biology. What do you know about Quetzalcoatl?"

"Not much to be honest. I know that their based off an Aztec god whose domain is wind and wisdom. Depending on which version you're looking at they have the ability to create storms and other weather related events. All of them though have the ability to create illusions that make them look like birds." I said with a cocked head.

"Will that's the extreme basics, so let me give you a little more information. Quetzalcoatl are all born at the same size of one foot long. If they grow longer is completely up to the individual but every foot of growth requires an exponential amount of energy. The same is true about the amount of wings they can grow. As you said before, we do have the ability to manipulate weather events, but the scale is based both how long we have lived and our body length and width which dictates how much energy we can put into the weather manipulation. Our eating habits are incredibly similar to other serpents although unlike them we can gain nourishment from natural weather events though the best amount comes from thunder storms."

"Or Logias." Tyrus said with a grin that I think was supposed to come off as Jokerish only to yelp and rub the top of his head with his tail after the doctor slapped the back of his head with a wing. The doctor gave him a disapproving look before turning towards me and said "Ignore the young one please, for obvious reasons, we haven't actually had contact with humans, never mind Devil Fruit users on this island in decades if not centuries."

"What about those who have left the island?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

The doctor waggled his top wings in a so-so manner as he said "Well they rarely come back but when the ones who are big enough to actually eat a human do they never mention eating anyone Logia or otherwise."

I nodded at that and the impromptu lesson continued as the doctor told me about basic health care for Quetzalcoatl and the signs to look out for when it came to common health problems and what to do if Tyrus managed to break any of his bones in his upcoming adventures.

One hour later Tyrus and I were settled down in a cave that would be reasonably comfortable for me to stay in at the night, not too small as to be claustrophobic inducing but not too big to become absolutely drafty at night when the air cooled. There was even a small fire pit with a bit of kindling and bigger fire fuel that the Quetzalcoatl had thoughtfully left for me and one of the small rivers passed not ten feet to the right of the cave entrance giving me a nearby source of fresh water. I'd have to buy something to separate me from the floor when I slept by the slightly raised bed that could hold warm coals Tyrus would be sleeping on of course but Taifun had made that a non problem when he gave me access to a trade forum and my previous funds so I already had that covered in the extremely durable blow up mattress that 'serious' hikers used in my 'shopping cart'.

The two of us were currently debating which weapon I should get as a starter. I was convinced that all I would need was to get a staff that I could duck tape my knife to if I needed something with a bit more bite. Staves weren't known for chopping off the limbs of anyone foolish enough to make a mistake wielding them after all. Tyrus was of the opinion that said staff was lame and I needed something that made a bigger statement to in his words 'match the same level of badass that I have.'

Giving a sigh as the argument went for its fifth minute, I said "Tyrus, I've never been trained in melee weapons and I certainly don't think my minimal training in archery is going to allow me to last very long against whatever opponents we'll face in my IDs. A staff gives me reach and is relatively simple to learn. I need to start small before I can go big."

"It's just a giant stick though!" Tyrus said with a pout.

Giving another sigh, I decided to try compromise and said "Look, if I get a Taiaha will you drop this?"

"A tia-what now?" Tyrus asked with a cocked head.

I tapped the weapon's name into the trade forum's search bar and a group of five-foot-long wooden weapons with stone spear heads on one end and sharpened wooden clubs on the other. Tyrus leaned in slightly and said "Why'd they sharpen the wooden end?"

"The sharp edge adds more damage when you whack someone with it. So, does this meet your standards?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose so." Tyrus said with a slight sigh.

Nodding once, I selected a basic version of the weapon, (They were $385 and up, I'd have to do a bit of grinding before I got to the better ones. The adamantium tipped one was an astounding 400 THOUSAND dollars.) and put it in my cart. With the weapon selected leaving me with about two hundred dollars left, I bought a holder sheath for the Taiaha to keep on my back so I wouldn't have to carry it at all times before I bought a thirty five pack of water bottles and enough trail mix and other assorted dry camper's food to last me for a week before I purchased everything.

There was a flash of light before everything appeared in a pile in front of me. I pulled the Taiaha out of its sheath and gave it a once over before I sheathed it again. I put it across my back before I dug out my mask from my book bag and placed it over my eyes. Standing up, I looked down at Tyrus who glanced up at me curiously and said "Well, let's see how good of a level designer Taifun is. ID CREATE!"

END