g

You send a quick message to her letting you know that that would work perfectly for you, before letting out a breath you hadn't realized you'd been holding. Some good news on that front. You try to distract yourself. Is Dad home just yet? You've been assuming not, but - you listen for sounds from downstairs - yes! He is. In the kitchen. It's about dinner time anyway!

You're too naturally stealthy for him to notice you coming down the stairs, and he's distracted anyway, so when you do emerge into the kitchen, he's caught a bit off guard. "Taylor!" he exclaims, leaning back in surprise. "You're- you're really alright!"

Ouch. "Yeah. I'm.. sorry I made you worry."

"It-" he shakes his head. "I don't even know where to begin with how I've been feeling the past few days on that front. But that's besides the point. Are you alright?"

You nod. "It's getting better. The First Stretch was really scary at first, but we're getting used to it. I'm a better bosun than when we started, and only improving"

He gives you a funny look, a goofy, too-wide smile on his face. "You're a bosun?"

You frown. "Yeah. Why?"

He adjusts a dial on the stove. "Just not what I expected since I heard my daughter got superpowers, that she'd wind up a bosun, of all things. But I've been having thoughts along those lines ever since you told me about Headway."

You take that in. "I… I'm sorry that I've been worrying you. I know we've talked about this before, but… I feel the need to say it."

He makes an expression that's somewhere between a grimace and a soft smile. "No helping it. You're growing up. I just wish it wasn't happening so damn fast, or in such a damn weird way." He gives you a belated hug, which you return. "Want some dinner? I'm no super cook, but I can try my best."

"That would be great," you beam at him. "I missed you."

Dad reaches over and ruffles your hair. "Come on. I'll need your help to make dinner. You can catch me up on things while we work."

It's nice. Dad's almost a bit disappointed to hear you asking about mundane things at work, and partway through, you realize why. It's depressing. Sixty jobs available, eighty guys in need of work. Shifting things around, cold calling employers, never getting enough done. You aren't sure what you can do about that as you are now, not without overexposing yourself and probably endangering yourself and Dad, but it's unlikely that you'll ever stop thinking about it.

His mood is both raised and worsened when you start telling him about the First Stretch. There's a certain fantastical whimsy attached to the idea of moving coral, for instance, and he gawks at your sample, but then you can tell he starts to absorb the fact that this creature - more of a collective of alike creatures, really - the size of a football field wanted to eat you, your crew, and your ship.

And that's to say nothing of the 'normal' climatic hazards, whatever role Baroque Works will eventually play, and… well. You'd be worried in his shoes, too. All you can do is give him proof that you're rising to the occasion.

"I told you I'm meeting New Wave this evening, right?"

He practically chokes on his tea. "Are you serious?!"

You smile. "Yeah. I reached out to them on Prima earlier."

He stares at his empty plate. The two of you have been talking for a while. It's only about forty-five minutes until your rendezvous with Brandish and Lady Photon. "Well… good luck, I guess?" Dad chuckles nervously. "There's so much going on in your life that I no longer have a framework for. That meeting's just one of them."

You wish you knew what to say to that. "I love you. And I'm glad I can come home and… just have somewhere to relax."

His expression changes, and he takes a moment to respond. "Yeah. I'm glad about that, too." He purses his lips as he thinks. "I love you, Taylor. Please stay safe."

"I will," you say, in what you hope is a convincing tone of voice.

–

You take a shearwater form and make your way over to the Richford Tower, around ten minutes early for your 7:30 appointment with New Wave. Finding a secluded spot with no cameras or watchful eyes, you instantaneously take human form, having already changed into your Factota outfit.

A few people on the street give you looks, one enterprising woman snaps a picture of you with her phone, and you give a polite wave, before entering the building. Sure enough, the receptionist recognizes you, and walks you to a hidden elevator away from the Richford lobby. Thankfully, since people were staring, and you were starting to feel a bit self-conscious.

The elevator leads you to the eighth floor, and you thank the clerk before you stride forward into a hallway. You find a small conference room overlooking the business district, not at the highest level of the city skyline, but high enough that you feel a bit intimidated. You've been at the top of Brockton Bay's taller buildings before, tourist attractions your parents brought you to when you were very young, or places you went with Emma and her family, but this is an entirely different context.

Your trepidation about the meeting is strong enough that, despite your early arrival, you move slowly enough only make it to the conference room right as Lady Photon and Brandish arrive. They give you a wave and a professional smile respectively.

Brandish stretches out a hand towards you. She's pretty. All of New Wave look almost like TV actors, carefully manicured appearances, skillfully applied makeup whenever they expect to make public appearances - even for the guys in some cases.

Her costume is a white bodysuit with a central orange logo, decorative lines of the same material extending out over the outfit. Her blonde hair is cut short, and split down the middle, a perfect symmetrical functional hardo. You meet her eyes through your own mask, hers an almost bug-like hybrid between a visor and sunglasses.

You return the handshake, trying to maintain a firm enough grip to stay respectable, while also not being rude and crushing her hand. "Brandish. A pleasure to meet you."

Mask hiding your face, you bow your head respectfully, before raising it. "Factota. Likewise."

Lady Photon is next. Like Brandish's, her costume is a white bodysuit with a central logo - a purple starburst - with lines of the same color extending from it. Her hair is parted to the side, and if you were forced to look quickly at the two of their faces and differentiate them, that might be the only way you could have done it. Lipstick a similar shade, hair color the same, costumes are a close fit.

Brandish gestures towards the conference room, and you all take a seat around a table meant for six, the New Wavers sitting next to each other on one side, and you across from them. "Well, I suppose I should start by saying - I love your costume," Lady Photon smiles.

Her sister does the same. "My daughter was gushing about it when she saw the news report," Brandish remarks. Either Panacea or Glory Girl loves your costume? That's… wow. "She has a school project right now, otherwise she might have come to this meeting."

You bow your head again. "Thank you! I made it with my power. I was hoping to go for a look that appeared heroic, but outside of the establishment or any corporate teams." The word you were thinking at the time was 'renegade', but you aren't sure you want to use that specific word when trying to make yourself seem heroic.

Brandish gives a teasing smile. "Yes, you wouldn't want to look like any of those shady corporate teams."

"Who knows what skeletons they have in their closet," Lady Photon adds lightly.

Oh no. Your face burns. "I… that's not-"

"I know, dear. We're just teasing."

"I'll admit I could have phrased that a bit better," you say, raising your hands in submission, cringing inwardly.

Brandish waves it off. "Nothing to apologize for. Now, you said you made that with your power?"

"Yes. I'd like to keep some things close to the vest, if you don't mind, but the simple version of it - I learn skills fast, and I eventually get them 'leveled'-" you do air quotes, "-to superhuman levels. So, I studied sewing and fashion to get to a point where I could casually make a costume like this, even out of substandard materials."

"That's an ability almost tailor-made for being a rogue." You're embarrassed to say - you thought Lady Photon was saying your name for a moment there, and had a brief moment of panic.

"There are a lot of financial possibilities with that power," Brandish agrees. "It's noble that your conclusion when you got your powers was to use that power selflessly."

"Thank you," you say, meaning it. New Wave has been a fixture of Brockton Bay as long as you've been aware of the concept of capes. Receiving compliments like this from New Wave… you feel good. It makes you want to prove yourself worthy of that trust.

"So the question now," Brandish says, "Is where you want to begin with your heroic career. New Wave, of course, isn't recruiting, but we are absolutely open to partnerships, cooperation and collaboration with local heroes. It's part of why we got back to you so quickly. It's critical that we stay on the same page with our allies when it comes to what we do."

You nod wordlessly, trying to take in what she's saying. "Do you have a plan of attack for your hero career? Pardon my saying this, I don't mean to be rude, but as far as I can tell, you've only been preparing for it thus far. How will you get started?"

"I was planning to start small-ish," you reply. "I've got superhuman skill in training my body, and that means I have, essentially, a low-level Brute-Mover rating. Some martial arts mastery, stealth training, that sort of thing. I've made some good progress across the board in that kind of general training. Enough that I'm comfortable going after some of the minor gangs."

The mood in the room becomes a bit more serious. "Who were you thinking?" Brandish asks.

"The Crook Club and the Merchants. I'm unsure as to which is an easier target, and wanted to do some more research, get my investigative 'skills'-" air quotes again, "-up before I went after them in earnest."

Lady Photon glances over at Brandish, who hasn't looked away from you. "Well. That might be a problem," Brandish says. "The Crook Club are gone from town."

What? "Really? I knew they were under pressure from the Empire, but I thought that had died down?"

Brandish shakes her head. "It's a moot point now, but I can give you a general description of the situation, if you're interested."

Well, that's not what you were expecting to hear. You nod. Might as well try to get something out of this. "Yes, please."

"This all started when the Crook Club accidentally did a job against an Empire front. Empire retaliated with a few scuffles in the street, and Bezzy - their real leader, the individual-negotiations thinker, tried to make a deal with Kaiser, to pay back the money stolen and make amends for the damages. He accepted at first, but reneged on the deal several weeks later. There were some sporadic battles between the Club and the Empire, where the Club was initially able to escape and regroup, but Kaiser was eventually able to attack in force.

Bezzy is dead. Kaiser killed her personally. Tommy Gun, maimed, by either Hookwolf, Fenja or Menja, maybe a mix of the three. We aren't sure - he was in a pretty bad state when the Protectorate arrived on the scene, and I'm mostly basing this off of their report. Enforcer was pretty badly hurt, too. They're both in a secure hospital for villain arrestees somewhere. Cardinal and Enterprise fled the city, to parts unknown."

"I… wasn't aware of that."

"The PRT prefers gang wars like that stay hidden. The more attentive cape observers might have noticed some Protectorate activity and loud noises in that area a few weeks ago, but it's not in the PRT's interests for the public to be able to pay too much attention to how bad things really are, in spite of their and our best efforts."

You look off into the distance. "Depressing."

"Yes," Brandish agrees. "But that's what we're here for, isn't it? To be the lights in the darkness."

"Your idea of going after the Merchants is sound," Lady Photon says. "They're slippery, and they aren't as obvious a problem as Lung, Coil, or the Empire. They tend to keep out of the spotlight, their crimes nuisance-level. Relatively speaking, of course."

"Relatively speaking," Brandish nods. "We have a few general areas where we know the Merchants tend to operate. Baerck, Cammell, Boar Avenue. We don't often fight them - the larger gangs of the city tend to draw our focus when we see them."

The matriarch of the Dallon branch reaches over to a small yellow notepad on the table and scrawls down a list of streets and addresses, then tearing a sheet off and handing it to you. "Here. The PRT and Protectorate don't often patrol these areas, but these are areas where we've noticed suspicious activity on our fly-bys. Some of them could be nothing, but some could lead you down the right path."

"Thank you!" you say, with a bit more enthusiasm than you expected. "This is great to have, really!"

Brandish smiles. "Think nothing of it. We'll have to circle back in a few weeks, exchange notes. Hopefully after you get a nice headline about the arrests of some of the Merchants."

"I wish I had more information to repay you with." You worry that telling them about the warehouse on Baerck where you saw Skidmark meeting with his dealers will see yourself receiving criticism for breaking the unwritten rules, even if you did it unintentionally. New Wave was theoretically founded against the principles of secret identities, but… it's probably a whole can of worms to bring up in any case. "If you'd like, in the future, I can help you with costume repair, design. I'm working on raising my teaching 'skill', I might be able to teach things like first aid, hand to hand, stuff like that."

Their expressions grow a bit more strained. "Now… Factota, I'm sorry to bring this up, and I hope it doesn't sound accusatory, but are you registered with the PRT?"

"Um-" you start, hating yourself as soon as the filler leaves your mouth. The question caught you off guard. "Not yet. I've been putting it off. I don't… bureaucracy and I have a bad past," you say, and it sounds like a lame excuse, even as it's close to the truth. You hate this. You feel so out of place and amateurish.

"I don't mean to poke at any wounds here. But," Brandish grimaces. "Here's the thing. Have you heard of Teacher?"

You stare at her. "Yes. He's a villain. In the Birdcage," you say, and your defensiveness must be obvious in your tone, because Brandish holds up her hands as if to ward off your anger.

"I don't mean to insult you or call you a villain. But here's the problem that happened with Teacher. He initially presented himself as a rogue, a cape who wasn't necessarily a hero or villain, and would sell his services to both sides. He had a successful business… until it was revealed that he was mind-controlling his customers. That the so-called 'Taught' were actually his thralls. I don't mean to be blunt, or hostile, but any parahuman out there has reason to be suspicious of a thinker who claims to be able to Teach skills."

What the fuck? How? That… that's such an unfair comparison to make! You're just really good at teaching! That's all!

You shift uncomfortably in your seat, stewing in that thought, the instinctive anger at being compared to Teacher, of all fucking people, before you eventually speak up. The mask hides your features, but you're almost worried your body language will give you away.

"I… I understand your concern. I hadn't made the connection between my abilities and Teacher's, myself."

"That's understandable. He hasn't been in the public eye for a long time. It's reasonable that he might not come to mind. But there are a lot of things capes have to keep an eye out for. If you register with the PRT, if you submit to power testing and their scientists confirm that everything there is above board, no mind control or enthralling effects - we would love to have you training us. It would save a lot of time, it would make our lives more convenient."

Brandish continues. "We just can't take the risk of your powers working similarly to Teacher's. Even if you have only good intentions, you're, I presume, a newer cape, and don't really know the full extent of how your power works. Frequently, things like this take time to show themselves."

You meet her eyes again. "I'll try to make time to start that process. I… I really do want to help, in any way I can. I want to get out there and start making the world a better place."

"The world would be better off if more people thought like you," Brandish says.

Lady Photon interjects. "I know my sister can be a bit cautious, and, well, I love you, Carol, but… intense-"

"I am not," Brandish retorts, but there's a smile on her face.

"-but I really hope that this doesn't dishearten you. We aren't saying you're a villain, or that we won't work with you. I'm with my sister on this - we just can't risk exposing our family to those kinds of powers without being reasonably certain that it's safe."

Reasonably certain? Well. There's no one hundred percent sure with parahuman powers.

"Thank you," you say. This meeting feels like it's run its course, you doubt they wanted a long meeting anyway. You stand. "I will reach out in the future. My goal is to begin investigative work against the Merchants in… shortly," you say. With all of your projects and responsibilities, you don't feel comfortable giving an exact date, but that doesn't help with your feeling unhappy about being unable to give them a concrete time.

The two of them also stand. "I wish you nothing but the best of luck," Brandish says. "Do you mind if I have that paper back, just for a second?"

You hand her the yellow notepad paper, and she writes down a string of numbers. "This is a specialized phone number we use. If you're ever in a catastrophic situation, or you see a situation where you feel like you could use some help, call this number. I can't guarantee that we'll be there any faster than the PRT or the Protectorate, but we'll do our best to get to you."

"Thank you," you say, not for the first time in the evening. You almost feel like a charity case they're keeping at arms length. That Teacher comparison… you're going to try not to dwell on that. You can't help but feeling resentful about it.

The three of you exchange goodbyes, and you head home, saying good night to Dad, before transitioning back to Mayim and spending the night. No catastrophes while you were gone, thank God.

Location: First Stretch, Paradise, Grand Line, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-jcw3

Date: Friday, May 27, 1532

At least you don't wake up to the sound of explosions this morning. By Straw Hatstandards, it could be a boring day.

Chores go as usual - you and Usopp manage to make the most of the new tools and lumberware. 'This is so cool!' is a very worrying thing to hear a teenage boy say about an electric saw. You're terrified Usopp is going to accidentally cut off his own nose or something.

"No, I mean it, Taylor, this is great! You know how many days I spent before you joined with my arms all sore from that freaking saw?" he giggles boyishly and pats the side of the saw affectionately. "This is a lifechanger!"

You smile. "I'm glad you're happy with it. Feeling any more confident about your carpentry with that?"

He fondly strokes the power tool - alright, it's getting more than a little weird now. "Absolutely! Thanks again for showing me those tricks, and how to use this thing. That wood filler stuff is way more convenient than oakum."

"Anytime. Headway appreciated it, to-"

There's a rumble in the distance. The ocean ascends in a way they don't normally, even during the worst Grand Line storms, and it's clear skies now. There's a uniformity to it that terrifies you. It takes you less than a second to draw the connection. "Monster!" you shout, at the top of your lungs, bear vocal cords letting your voice carry further, even into the depths of the ship. Usopp whimpers a little, clutching the rechargeable saw and clumsily pressing the ON button.

Zoro's the first one you spot rising to the occasion, but Sanji and Luffy aren't far behind. "Do you see it, Taylor-chan?" Sanji asks. You're relieved they trust you immediately, but now you're worried you were wrong about it.

"That wave-" you begin, but Zoro cuts you off.

"It was one change. One motion. Massive, a kilometer wide as far as I can tell," he looks out at the ocean warily. He's right. Rude, but right.

Sanji cautions a glance over the railing, while Luffy leans back, looking inappropriately bored. "I can't see anything. Water's too dark."

"Means it's either a really big Sea King way down below or a smaller Sea King close to the surface," Zoro agrees, the two of them on the same page for once.

Right after the Merry returns to a regular sea level, the wave receding almost calmly, the five of you lose your balance abruptly as another wave hits, this one bigger than the last, originating from a different spot to the west. Putting on your best boatswain voice, you yell out "Emergency positions!"

The crew follows your command, taking to the sails. Nami and Miss Wednesday finally burst out from the women's room, glancing in every direction as they try to catch up on the situation. Mr. 9 emerges from the storeroom, looking in your direction. "What's going on? Are we under attack?"

"There's a mystery monster!" Luffy calls out.

"Oh, that's helpful!"

Let's see… it came from there, and then changed over to there - "Hard starboard!" you call out, as you realize what's about to happen. Just as the Merry starts picking up wind, another wave hits, bigger, heavier than the last, reinforcing and overtaking the second wave. It catches the ship in its grasp, and lurches it to the side, almost tipping it over all the way. Almost everyone loses their balance or at least their grip.

Usopp, who still has the fucking saw going, yelps as he flies towards you, clumsily dropping the saw as it launches in your direction! You catch it and press the power button in one deft motion, before grabbing him by the back of his suspenders, and from the yelp, you realize you accidentally tightened them a bit hard.

You can apologize later, because for now Nami and Miss Wednesday are clinging to the railing! Giant albatross form taken, you swoop down and grab the both of them in your talons, abruptly shifting a terrified Usopp to your back, and as you do, the ship rights itself and the wave passes.

Dropping the three of them off, you stand by while a few more minutes pass and no waves come. That's it. A gigafauna beneath the waves, just passing by in the course of its regular life, probably just bobbing up and down casually, and it nearly killed three people. Anticlimactic and unnerving all in one, that there are creatures that can kill you accidentally, without having even seen you or your having offended them.

You allow yourself a chance to rest, and the rest of the Merry's passengers take that as an invitation to relax themselves. The saw, to your relief, did not fall overboard after you just bought it yesterday, and you hand it back to Usopp with a warning, before letting him know you're going to your homeworld for a while. Seeking out a spot you've secured in the storeroom for this very purpose, you change worlds.

Location: Brockton Bay, New Hampshire, United States of America, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Bet, Parahumans Multiverse, Parahumans-jcw3

Date: Saturday, January 25, 2011

New Hampshire requires those under sixteen aspiring for a driver's license to take a tedious, time-consuming online course that slowly and methodically goes over every possibility they may face on the road. It's optional if you're over sixteen and have a hundred hours of driving experience signed by multiple adults, or if you're eighteen, but for you, you'll likely have to pass this course to be able to sit for the test in June when you're sixteen.

It's the mundane skill of mundane skills, but it's the sort of thing that could come in handy. The course isn't what you would describe as difficult, but it is annoying. It feels like a waste of your time, busywork designed by some bureaucraft just to tick boxes, and you're frustrated the entire time.

You're sitting through videos that you sometimes can't speed up (you can do that for ninety percent of them, but for some reason, maybe one in ten won't let you). The interface is outdated, sometimes links don't work, you have to click to the right of a button to advance rather than on the button itself - like you said. Annoying.

The whole experience sucks, but the information itself is valid, and Headway seems to find it an easy skill to work with. In about an hour and a half of studying, you manage to reach the level of a typical fifteen year-old who's spent maybe thirty hours on the road, without having ever been behind the wheel. That, in and of itself, is almost good enough to pass the exam in June, but you still have to finish the stupid course before you can do that. You could probably finish the entire thing tomorrow if you put your mind to it.

Whatever. You're tired of looking at the state's interface. You've been meaning to study engineering a bit more - it could act as a springboard for understanding tinkertech from Bet and Mahon. If it was so easy to understand tinkertech by being a good engineer, the world would look a lot different, but you can't imagine it would hurt, and having this skill is inherently a good thing.

You're sure Headway would agree with your decision, but unfortunately, the online videos and courses you're reviewing don't sink in all that well, and you don't feel like you've hit any sort of milestone. Progress made, certainly, but not capital-p progress.

A bit let down, you-

Location: First Stretch, Paradise, Grand Line, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Earth-Mayim, One Piece Multiverse, One Piece-jcw3

Date: Friday, May 27, 1532

-return to Mayim. Even from the storeroom, buried underneath wood and a tarp behind some barrels, you can hear a blizzard pummeling the Merry. "Fuck," you swear under your breath.

Rushing upstairs, you arrive in the midst of one of the worst snowstorms you've ever experienced. You count your blessings that the sea didn't have time to freeze or develop an icy layer, and that you 'only' have to deal with the heavy snow pounding the caravel.

"Shovel!" you shout at Mr. 9, who's panickedly shoveling snow overboard. A look of relief on his face, he tosses the shovel your way, and, using more martial arts training than you'd expect, start clearing the deck expeditiously. Sanji had a similar idea to you, you can tell - he's just kicking it overboard. Luffy scoops it up with rubber limbs that can cover a third of the ship in mere moments. Zoro is asleep. Somehow.

The snowfall begins to dampen, and after a very hectic half-hour (longer for the rest of the Straw Hats, you imagine), you finally see an end to the blizzard. Phew. Even with your Cold Resistance, you're chilly- and right as you think that, you no longer are. Another growth in Cold Resistance, making you as resistant to the cold as it's possible for a human to be.

"Where the hell were you?" Mr. 9 demands, eyes wide.

You give him a quick glance as you scrape off the railing. "Sorry. Was asleep in the storeroom. It's my happy place."

"You-" he makes a frustrated verbalization, before grumbling and walking away. You take a minute to rest against the railing next to Zoro, absent-mindedly brushing some accumulated snow off of the swordsman's head. He opens one eye and gives you an annoyed look, and you snort.

You stretch a bit as you rise from your relaxation, spotting Miss Wednesday working on the crew's laundry out on the deck. From the looks of it, just getting started, thankfully. Yeah, that… you've been putting this off for a while too long. You think for a while, and make a beeline for the women's room.

Nami's cross-referencing some of her notes with one of the books from the shelf when you enter the room and shut the door behind you. Her eyes flicker over to you, and she leans back in her chair, accepting the opportunity for a reprieve.

You start the conversation with some small talk. "Should I be worried about the weather playing games with us?"

She starts to shake her head, but then seemingly thinks better of it. "Ah… well, I don't think it's as much of a concern as when we started on the Grand Line. But I wouldn't want you to disappear for days, if that's what you're asking."

You smile. "Don't plan to leave entirely. Just maybe half a day from now on, sometimes a bit more."

That could still be life or death for the Straw Hats as they are now, but your default will be to train on the Merry if it's an option. It'll have to do. Regardless, you'll be supporting them as much as you're capable. "That's a relief," she says, dog-earing the page she's on before closing the book. "You have a serious look on your face. Is something wrong? Yest-"

"It's not that," you reply, maybe a bit too quickly. "Really," you insist, when she looks skeptical. "It's about Miss Wednesday."

Nami grimaces. "I've told her about her the snoring probl-"

"Not that. It's… something else. I kind of talked to Luffy about it back at Twin Cape, but I didn't tell him the full story because of how I know."

She lets out a little exhalation. "The comic?" she says quietly.

"To an extent. I've found some evidence here, on Mayim, and I really do think it's importa-"

She raises a hand. "Stop acting like you have to be nervous around me," she sighs, saying it gently but firmly.

You look down, mustering the willpower to not instinctively say 'sorry'. "It's the kind of thing that would put the crew at risk, but I think we're already sort at risk. From Baroque Works, I mean."

Nami makes a face. "That ninja girl. Our houseguests."

"Yeah. I have more details about Miss Wednesday, in particular. Details that might impact the whole crew. I'd talk to Luffy about it, but it… it involves more spoilers than I'd be comfortable bringing up with him."

She thinks for a moment. "I'd suggest we talk to Sanji, but he's got a freaky blindspot when it comes to women. Do you know where Zoro is?"

Sleeping against the railing on the deck. Where else? You almost literally drag the uncomfortable, protesting swordsman to the women's room - apparently 'we need to talk in private' is unclear to him - but thankfully neither Mr. 9 or Miss Wednesday seem to care. Both are inured to the Straw Hats' antics by now.

"Hey, you!" he says to Nami, a bit more loudly than you'd like. "What's the big idea? Using her as your errand girl to fetch me-"

"It's important, Zoro," she says, cutting him off. "Remember the spoilers chat? On Twin Cape?"

There's something about the way she says that implies that the Straw Hats discussed that conversation when you weren't around. You could take a week and not be able to describe the ways the thought of that makes you feel, or why it makes you feel those ways.

"...oh." His almost frothing annoyance recedes, and he gives you a thoughtful look. You meet it. "Something big?"

"Mmhmm. Our captain forbade spoilers. He doesn't want the comic deciding our course towards Raftel. I get that. But this is important to me." You hate feeling like this. Every word spews out - you want to put intent into it, but there's that niggling thought - will this be what alienates them? Will this be what makes them see you in a different light? You do your best to silence those thoughts.

Zoro and Nami are silent, so you let it out. "Miss Wednesday's real name is Vivi Nefertari. She's the princess of Alabasta."

Nami's eyes boggle, while Zoro just lets out a low whistle. "Where's Alabasta?" Zoro asks.

Are they serious? Huh. You think they are. "Big country in the Grand Line. Their princess went missing a while back, she looks suspiciously similar to Miss Wednesday, to the point where I'm wondering how she even managed to infiltrate at all. One of my skills - World Events - it lets me know these things about the royals of the more prominent countries in the world. And this isn't just my theory - there was a reveal in the comic along those lines, too." You let them absorb that, heart pounding just a bit. "And so far, the comic's been pretty close."

"How's this our problem?" Zoro replies. "Some spoiled royal gets bored going to balls or whatnot, decides it'd be fun to become a bounty hunter. You said this was something that was putting us in danger."

"Getting to that," you say, again, a bit too quickly for your liking. "Baroque Works - their boss, Mr. 0, he's aiming to create some sort of utopia. We've all met people from Baroque Works, I think we can all agree that their idea of a utopia would be really, really shitty. They're going to do something to Alabasta. The ninja that attacked you and me-" you gesture towards Nami, "-she mentioned that Baroque Works was going to be operating in a desert climate. Alabasta is a desert country."

You continue. "Mr. 0's going to attack Alabasta. At some point in the near future, most likely. They know that Miss Wednesday is Princess Vivi, and that her bodyguard has also infiltrated them. I only know that because of the manga, but I'd bet almost anything-" you try to ignore Nami perking up at that, "-that they know that in real life, too."

"I want to fight Baroque Works. They're bad people, they're trying to make the world a worse place. I, um, I know that this is a lot to ask the crew to agree to - Miss Wednesday, Vivi, she's a stranger." You look at your crewmates, hoping you don't look as desperate as you feel, getting all of this out.

"They're almost guaranteed to be a challenge, Zoro. We've only met the weaker ones so far, but the ninja that attacked me told me they control several routes. You don't control bits of Paradise if you aren't strong in at least some respects." Nami now. "And obviously a Princess would pay us a lot of money if we saved her kingdom."

Zoro and Nami exchange a stare, both with hard looks on their face. Oh no. Come on. Please. "I-"

Zoro holds up his hand. "You're forgetting something."

Your heart sinks. "W-what am I forgetting?" Fuck. You stuttered. You actually stuttered.

He doesn't break eye contact. "You're a member of the Straw Hat pirates, and Baroque Works attacked you. This conwoman-" Nami looks bizarrely happy at that compliment, "-was attacked too, for whatever that's worth." Not happy anymore, she gives him an annoyed look. "Baroque Works fucked with us. Luffy's not the sort to brood over vengeance, and I doubt he's said anything outright about it… but their fate was sealed the minute that lousy ninja tried to kill you."

…oh. "I didn't… I didn't think… or know about that."