◎𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫◎

Chapter 24: The Battle Begins!

"Thatch I'm going to go restroom I'll be right back."

No you weren't actually going to the restroom, you were waiting for Teach to attack.

And of course, Teach did end up sneaking behind Thatch, with a knife in hand.

"Oh hey Teach, what are you doing up this late?"

Teach smiled and almost struck Thatch with the knife. Not until you came in and stopped Teach.

But it was too late, he had stolen the fruit. But Thatch was ok, which was a relief.

"Sorry, I couldn't protect the fruit, Thatch."

"No it's not your fault (Y/n). I just didn't think Teach would betray us like this..."

Oh Thatch, if only you knew what happens to the future if he got that fruit...

~flashback end~

___________________________________

"I'll give a proper introduction of myself. Hello, my name is (Y/n), formally part of the Red Haired Pirates and is a childhood friend of Ace and Luffy. Nice to meet you"

Their jaws dropped to the floor.

"R-red haired Pirates?! You mean like Shanks' crew!?"

"Yes, you're Yassop's son, correct? I believe your name was Ussop?"

"Yes that's m-"

"Sorry to tell you this, but your dad won't stop talking about you when he's drunk. He's very annoying."

You interrupted him and he choked on his spit (in a comical manner of course).

"Wait you're the (Y/n) in the Red Haired Crew?! The one with a 500 million bounty?!"

"That's me!"

The group was too shocked about how Luffy knew someone as popular as you. Their eyes were popping out of their sockets and their mouths were wide open.

___________________________________

~an hour later~

"Would you like any food or drinks m'lady~?"

"I want food Sanji!"

"I'm not talking to you! You shitty captain..."

"My, how sweet of you, but no thank you."

You smiled, liking the atmosphere of this crew.

Sanji was currently carrying the food bags to make sure Luffy doesn't eat them, and you were all currently walking towards the kingdom, where Crocodile and Miss All Sunday, aka Robin, was.

You were planning on searching for Blackbeard with Ace, but you needed Luffy to rampage in the underwater prison, Impel Down.

I'll probably save Ace when he's out up the scaffolding, and hope no one would notice... Who am I kidding, of course no one would notice-! I have this Devil fruit. I'm so dumb...

Yes, you were planned already for the whole Marineford Arc. So, you decided not to go with Ace to find Blackbeard.

Ace was walking until you realized.

Isn't this where he leaves?

And yes, you were right. As soon as you said that, Ace was talking to Luffy about his Vivre Card.

Once he was done talking, he walked up to you, and gave you half of his Vivre Card too.

"Whenever you guys need me, this piece of paper will bring us together."

"I already know what this is, but I'll let a Luffy find out what it is in the future."

Luffy whined.

"How come you guys know what this is but I don't?"

"Because it's too early for you to know! But you'll know later on ok?"

"Fineeee.."

Before he left, you gave him half of your Vivre Card too.

"Visit me sometime Ace!"

"Okayyy."

When he separated from the group, you decided to go ahead to see the meeting happen.

"Hey Luffy! I'm going ahead so I'll meet you in Alabasta!"

Lufff was so confused about what you said, until you started running full speed to Alabasta, leaving the group in the dust/sand.

Their mouths hung agape. Amazed and in shock about how you could run that fast.

"Shishishi, as expected of (Y/n)!"

___________________________________

~at the bar~ (where the meeting was held)

You were hidden in the corner of the bar, and hiding your presence so none of them could tell you were there. They weren't even that strong.. you could handle all of them but you needed the Straw Hats to get stronger by defeating them themselves.

Their talk was boring, no information. Nothing. So you decided to follow them to where Crocodile was. After all, you wanted to see the actual meeting be held in the kingdom. Not the small talk with the small fries.

Entering the room with them was simple, and passing through the guards was even simpler.

Are they even trying to keep out intruders at this point? Their so bad...

Shaking your head, you went to the darkest corner in the room and hid your presence.

Oh. Since the meeting is already here.. doesn't that mean he already stabbed Luffy?! Ah I want to beat him so bad.

You were stopping yourself mentally, you knew that this was for Luffy to get stronger. This is also the start of where Robin joins their crew. You almost chuckled out loud due to the funny pictures the Unluckies took of their crew.

Mr. 2 met them on his way to the meeting, but didn't know which made it even funnier. Especially since he even had their faces. The only face he didn't have was Sanji's though, and this is the start where he calls himself ✨Mr. Prince✨ which you found hilarious.

Watching Crocodile throw Mr. 3 into his crocodile tank, you silently left the room, as you knew Luffy was about to be here.

___________________________________

~3 hours later~

Luffy was in a cage, but recently just escaped with Smoker and the others. You weren't in the cage, but you were watching them from afar.

What should I do after this..? Maybe visit the Whitebeard Pirates? It's been a year after all..

You shook your head, thinking that you'll decide later. The fight goes on, and Luffy is currently now fighting Crocodile. Without a plan of course, he never has a plan.

Time is ticking.

The battle has just begun.

A/n: I tried making it longer than usual, I'm still so sorry that I posted this late! Have a nice day 👋🏻

(1456 words)