One Piece – Halfway Broken

Summary: Queue training montage!

Chapter 67: Funerals, Unexpected Encounters, and Training

Despite their complete victory over Shichiseiken, the few days that immediately followed after were solemn affairs. In addition to the many locals lost in the initial chaos, Elder Izaya had passed away the moment the curse was destroyed. She'd obviously been hanging to life, powering the barrier protecting the survivors, by pure stubborn willpower, and nothing even Kaya and Chopper could do would have prevented her death by the time they arrived on the island. Her funeral had doubled as a mass service for all of those lost, a tear-filled day of mourning that the Strawhats felt awkward at, despite everyone insisting they come as the 'saviors of the island.'

Nor had that been the only awkward affair, as the Marines on the island slowly regained themselves over the course of that same day. They were all, frankly, horrified by what had happened. Worse, the poor bastards found themselves in the incredibly problematic position of being between duty, orders, angry locals, and their own gratitude. There apparently existed blanket, extremely non-discretionary orders for all bases on the Grand Line to report the present of the Strawhats when they turned up, yet they owed the group their very sanity along with their lives.

It might well have become a serious problem if Hina hadn't predicted it and led the crew who'd remained on the Discovery on their own mission while the fight again Shichiseiken was going on. Admittedly, she'd done so without approval from Luffy or Kuina, but both of them easily dismissed that detail given the results. She'd seen the problem coming and had taken advantage of the distraction as the cursed sword focused all its efforts on the main group fighting it. Using the fact no one was focusing there during that fight, she'd led the rest of the crew into sneaking into the Marine base and ships. There, they'd stolen all the Marine Den Den Mushi. As well as, for that matter, all of their Eternal Poses.

The result was that the local base had no way at all of quickly contacting their superiors, giving them an out of sorts as they were forced to send a ship via an ordinary log pose onward with a description of events. Given the only useful place that could be locked onto from Asuka for that purpose was the Sabaody Archipelago, and it was a week and a half away by the fastest Marine ship they had, it would be some time before any sort of response could arrive. Potentially a full three weeks or more, assuming they didn't send someone like Kizaru. Which didn't even account for the fact that the local Marines would need to repair a ship first, as Hina had done some light sabotage while she was at it, and not many of the surviving Marines were exactly qualified shipwrights.

If not for the fact that there had been 'restored' Marines already working with the locals, there might have been a great deal more tension between the groups once that sabotage had been discovered. As it was, there still could have been, if it hadn't turned out that the most senior remaining member of the base was a vaguely familiar face in one Lieutenant Tashigi, formerly of the East Blue. After meeting Kuina, the former petty-officer had apparently reconnected with and learned from the main branch of Shimotsuki family. Something that had allowed her to progress far enough, fast enough, in her skills that Captain Clay to enroll her as an Ensign and forward her to the Grand Line.

Here she'd ended up being promoted again by the local Commadore of Asuka Island Base and snapped up as one of his personal officers. Since that Commadore, as well as the two Captains on the island, had all been killed by T-Bone in his initial Shichiseiken-fueled rampage, Lieutenant Tashigi was the highest-ranking officer left. She had, predictably, passionately demanded an explanation why Kuina had 'turned pirate.' Only to experience a brutal shock to her system as both Kuina and Hina, who she'd met as a friend of her former CO, explained just what had happened regarding Alabasta. Something which, since word of Alabasta cutting their trade route off for any World Government or Marine ships had reached them, she was left with little choice but to believe.

Frankly, between those revelations and the events here on Asuka, the poor woman looked like her worldview was shattering, even as she'd promised there would be no trouble from the remaining Marines. At least not until they got word from higher authority. With the tension between the Marines and the Strawhats easing at least somewhat, and the tension with the locals and Marines high enough to keep the Marines from casually coming around, an equilibrium had been reached that Luffy felt would likely remain for at least a couple of weeks.

Which was good, as he badly wanted the time ashore on a relatively friendly island to really push his crew. He didn't know if events with Ace would be the same as before, as he still didn't know just where Kuma had sent Ace and Marco. Even if things did go the same way, he wasn't going to try the same plan the original Luffy had. Sure, the Discovery could easily reach Impel Down via the Calm Belt. But knowing just what a death trap that place was made him reluctant to try it. Better to pull an interception while they were moving Ace, if it came to that.

Hopefully, Ace hadn't been caught and he could go through with the alternate plan he'd come up with. One that would both help out a little and cause some chaos he personally approved of. Even if that was the case, though, he needed his crew in top form. Which meant taking as much time as they might yet still have to push them, making them as strong as possible for the backlash his stunt might cause.

… … …

"This is ridiculous."

Luffy's lips twitched, doing his dead level best to avoid pointing out that Nami was flushing rather than blushing. Clearly, going the extra couple of steps with this completely legitimate training method was causing conflicting messages in her brain.

"It's a good way to get a feel for just how strong your hybrid form is, and you know it. Now, I've started you off light, the load on the sled should only be about 15,000 lbs. A decently strong draft horse could pull it, and Devil Fruits are bullshit. So, give it a try."

Nami, currently in her hybrid Pegasus form, was 'locked' into a set of stocks that was halfway between a reasonable way to pull the sledge behind her and a bondage device. The fact that Nami's clothes had transformed her previous tube top and shorts into something akin to a very skimpy breast binding and might-as-well-be-sprayed-on-panties didn't help. Of course, since Fruits seemed, as far as Luffy could tell, to do clothing transformations based on the mindset of the user, he was amused that Nami's own mind had apparently decided to do this the sexy-way all on its own.

Which wasn't to say that the testing itself wasn't important.

They had, of course, spent time before now familiarizing Nami with her two Zoan transformations. First for a short period on Jaya, then several more extended sessions on the Sky Islands. Those sessions had been very much focused on hammering the basics, though. Quick transformations, with Chopper and Luffy both helping Nami with a few mental tricks that sped her form switches up a lot. Use of her ability to create 'springs' of water. Basic training in how to move with her forms in a fight. Those sorts of things had been the main focus. Simple movements were automatic and instinctive, but the Pegasus wasn't a predator species, so combat movement had needed to be almost entirely a trained thing.

In fact, they'd had to rebuild her Clima-Tact three times.

Four, really, if you included the non-dial version they'd made her to get a feel for its potential prior to Alabasta. That version had been, as far as Luffy could tell, at least a bit better than her original would have been at the same point. She'd used it to good effect defending the Discovery from the mass assault of the Baroque Works agents at Rain Dinners. But Luffy had never intended it to be much more than a learning tool, not when he'd known full well that Dials existed. Her second iteration had used Dials…and had also broken the moment she tried to use its undersized form in her Pegasus-hybrid state. Even her regular human body was tougher and stronger than before getting her new Fruit, and the Mythical Zoan transformation had been too much for the hollow staff.

The third iteration had faired a lot better, being a joint project between Luffy, Pagaya, and Nojiko. Even at that time, prior to Wind's Home, Nojiko had been able to grow high-density crystal with non-natural properties. Enough experimentation had allowed her and Luffy to make a version that mixed Lunar Steel, Crystals, and Dials to create a Clima-Tact that could hold up to basic use by even Nami's Hybrid form. The trouble with it had been a size thing. Even making it a bit oversized for Nami's human form had left it hilariously small when she shifted, since she was close to nine feet tall in hybrid form.

The current 'final' version had been created only recently, after both getting access to the knowledge and crystal seeds of Wind's Home and discovering that Nami's fruit had given her at least some limited ability to channel Spiritual Energy. Something Luffy strongly suspected was the case with every Mythical Zoan. That last ability had, with Kaya's inclusion in the design team, allowed them to make a version of the staff that could expand with a bit of spiritual energy. A new twist that Nami was still working on integrating into her combat style.

Of course, absolutely none of that had to do with their current activity, and as the flushing Nami moved forward, dragging the sledge filled with dense metals from Luffy's inventory without seeming effort, he nodded.

"Alright, stop. That's clearly nowhere close to your limit. Let's double it and try again."

Smirking as he rewarded her with a grope to the ass that made her squeak, Luffy moved to add more weight. Getting a baseline for Nami's physical stats, to use as reference for how to train her, was something they hadn't gotten to until now. With some time on a friendly island at hand, he was intent on getting that data. Yes, it also obviously also had the enjoyable advantage of getting to dress Nami up as a Ponygirl. But that, and the fact that he'd brought an avidly watching Robin along to watch and 'record results' as she worked on her own training in Haki, was merely a side benefit. If, admittedly, quite a nice one…

… … …

"Ha!"

The latest sound of focused exertion had come from Zoro. Luffy and Kuina, the only others present in the clearing, could only spare a little focus from their own efforts to see the result of Zoro's explosive surge of motion. The basic movement had been the same as his Tatsu Maki spin, but this time Zoro had infused his blades with both Armament Haki and the tiny trickle of Spiritual Energy he'd managed to develop here on Asuka Island. It was something that Kaya, the local Priestess Maya, and Luffy had worked with him on over the last few days. The fact that he'd been able to feel the curse on the island, as well as what they'd done while purging said curse from the Marines on their first day, had told them he had the potential to use at least some level of spiritual energy.

Something which proved true now, as what came out of the effort wasn't the limited dragon-like tornado focusing on himself that Tatsu Maki created. Instead, it was all of that…and then it continued on as a short-lived cyclone that absolutely shredded a couple of trees a dozen meters in front of Zoro's attack. Better, that was the first time he'd pulled it off properly. Meaning that it was barely stable at this point and would get far nastier as he refined his ability. Though, probably not at the moment, as he came out of the attack panting and on one knee. Both he and Kuina nodded acknowledgement of the feat, before returning to their own efforts.

Luffy, who was working on figuring out the abilities of the purified Shichiseiken, was the next to strike out. His clean slice with the shuangshou jian was infused with spiritual energy, attempting to mimic an uncorrupted version of the shockwave projection that the cursed sword had done. So far, he'd accidentally produced a slash with glowing golden around it and unknown effects, and had equally accidentally discovered the blade could convert itself into fire and shapeshift while it was flame, but…

A satisfying crack rang through the clearing, the very air shuddering like jelly as a poorly formed shockwave reduced an entire line of several dozen trees to splinters. The unexpected power of it was enough to cause Kuina to drop out of her own attempt to refine a silver-hued slash of spiritually infused energy that had already sliced through the diamond wall that Nojiko had grown for her. She'd been attempting to speed up the move, rather than create it or recreate it as was the case for Zoro and Luffy respectively.

Now, she joined Luffy and a recovering Zoro in staring at the damage Luffy's shockwave had done.

Finally, Luffy found his voice.

"Huh, unexpectedly potent. But I suppose adding the sound properties of my Zoan fruit to try and help form it this time made a difference? Compounding the spiritual shockwave with a purely physical sonic boom?"

Zoro snorted, shook his head, and shifted to a meditation position they'd taught him to regather spiritual energy. Kuina chuckled at that dismissal, knowing Zoro tended to lack interest in 'tricks' that added Devil Fruit manipulation to the pure art of the sword. Luffy knew that Kuina herself found her lover's dismissal short-sighted. They were all, after all, adding spiritual energy to create these attacks. Since they were aware from Luffy's 'sources' that 'Devil Fruits' were really just training wheels of sorts for using such energy, meaning dismissing a move just because a Devil Fruit was involved was ridiculous.

As for Zoro, he seemed unable to process that little detail and what it meant. Kuina, on the other hand, had long since realized it meant they could eventually learn to replicate anything a Devil Fruit allowed one to do with a sword. Which is why she'd paid very, very close attention to Kaya and Luffy once she'd started to be able to feel some of what they did when they were directly manipulating pure spirit energy, rather than the more tightly focused will involved with Haki. Nodding acknowledgement to Luffy for his success, she returned silently to her own efforts.

For her, learning this was just one step closer to becoming the Greatest Swordsman in the world…

… … …

Chopper was sweating as he worked through the forms Luffy had taught him. Luffy was ashamed to admit he'd neglected Chopper on the training front until now, for the most part. Not entirely, as he and Kaya had been working with the Reindeer to improve his Rumble Balls. With Kaya and Luffy able to actually detect what the drugs were doing to have the effects they did, as well as being familiar with numerous teas, tinctures, and medicines that could affect the spirit, they'd improved the formula a lot. They were now both safer and more effective.

Better yet, Kaya had taken the time to work with their youngest crewmember on his ability to reproduce those effects without the drugs. Chopper could, in fact, actually make his more exotic form switches now without a rumble ball, though it took him several minutes to do so. Training would make that faster, which meant that he'd had something to work on…and Luffy had been so involved with other areas of training that he'd left it at that.

Now, he was correcting his previous oversight as much as he could. Chopper's weakest area, by far, was a lack of battle intuition or instincts. Which there was really only one way to fix. Training, training, training. Moves for any sort of combat needed to be ingrained so you didn't have to think about them. Chopper's shifting combat style as he changed forms meant that no existing martial art was going to be a perfect fit for him. Even training him to use some basics that were suited for each form, though? That would drastically uptick his ability to defend himself.

Luffy was also cursing himself for not bothering to try and figure out Tekkai. He'd dismissed it at useless when you could just learn Armament instead. But, while that was technically still true for most people, Tekki would be immensely useful for Chopper's various points. It should, for example, enhance many of the uses of his Guard and Horn Point forms. Haki would do the same, but was much harder to learn and took more out of the user besides. Meaning he wanted to teach Tekkai to Chopper first.

He just, you know, needed to figure out how to actually use it, so that he could teach it. Ah well, at least Soru and Geppo would be great for enhancing the movement aspects for the reindeer-human. Which meant it was time to break out the weights and get the young reindeer's leg muscles into shape. Seriously, most of his forms made him really look like he'd skipped Leg Day. They were going to have to fix that…

… … …

"I'm fairly certain this might be Mad Science, you know."

Kaya blinked, then giggled a bit at Luffy's comment, her giggling only doubling down when Usopp raised a finger, paused, then nodded and lowered it. Once she got her giggles under control, she tried to look sternly at Luffy, but failed.

"It's not mad science! It's just Spirit Fruit science with a side of human experimentation!"

Usopp, currently sporting wolf ears and exotic looking golden-orange eyes, both of which Kaya had given him using the Sick Sick Fruit, was grinning as he waved towards those features.

"I'm pretty sure that combination is Mad Science, Kaya. Not that I'm complaining, I'm liking the enhanced senses without needing a Devil Fruit. The eyes took some getting used to, but are much better than having to use a scope, in a lot of ways. The ears actually aren't taking as long as the eyes did, probably because they don't make as much of a difference to my existing skills?"

Kaya and Luffy both nodded at that. Kaya had made the adjustments to Usopp's eyes during their travel from the wreck of the Thriller back to Asuka Island, and he'd needed to spend quite a lot of time and ammo adjusting to the effects they'd had on his shooting. The ears were new, Kaya taking the changes very slowly to make sure the increasingly enhanced senses didn't overwhelm Usopp. Both were based partially on the work she and Chopper had done on Wind's Home, but were quite a bit simpler since she wasn't trying to correct someone else's Mad Science.

Instead, she was simply creating changes to Usopp that could be counted as 'sickness.' She was stretching the Fruit's usage to its breaking point, and might well not have been able to do so without first studying the effects of MIQ. That drug had easily qualified as a disease, given its detrimental effects on the body. So, taking a refined concept of it to make non-harmful mutations? It was doable, but only by stretching her mental concept to include some things both he and Chopper had taught her about.

In reality, she was doing something alone the lines of gene-alteration via a rhinovirus vector. The 'sickness' was 'attacking' Usopp's genetic structure and mutating it to include carefully chosen combinations of animal DNA. Without the data from the MIQ experiments and multiple examples of Zoan alterations which did something different but similar via a spiritual energy vector, it would have been too risky. But the Sick-Sick Fruit's nature covered any gaps there would have been, and they did have the data on a bunch of successful cases of animal DNA integration from helping the people of Wind's Home. Not to mention the aforementioned Zoan samples from Chopper, Luffy, and Nami.

She was still being cautious as heck, given who she was doing it to. Kaya would never forgive herself if she screwed up and hurt Usopp. But the fact it was Usopp was also an equally strong motivator. She was making him safer with the improvements, slowly giving him the sorts of advantages normally reserved for Devil Fruit users, without him having to consume a Devil Fruit and gain the related weaknesses. The fact that the Sick-Sick Fruit could reverse the changes it made helped, of course. Without that little detail she'd never have risked it at all. Shaking the thought off as Kaya continued to go over the latest medical data they'd taken from Usopp, to confirm the changes weren't hurting him, Luffy changed the subject.

"So, how is the experimentation with the Crystal Ammo going? I admit, I have a few ideas for now to improve my revolver, but ammunition is just as important…"

Usopp brightened, reaching for a pouch and pulling out a case of bullets. Opening it up, showing that it was subdivided by several labeled types, he cheerfully started pointing them out.

"With Nojiko's help, it's really going well. See, look at this one? Just fire bullets was sort of boring, so I mixed a few more exotic crystals into a powder and grew the bullets around them. It took some effort to get them right, so that the bullet holds up to being fired without being so strong that it doesn't crush on impact. But once I got it right, well…I call these Freeze rounds! They cause ice, enough to equal roughly a foot of diameter and about two inches thick, to encase whatever they hit. So far, it's just regular ice, but I'm hoping to make it much denser with some additional experimentation. Then, of course, there's this next one. Acid rounds are sort of nasty, but I can see some uses for…"

Luffy nodded along and Usopp described the results of his Mad Science experiments. Some of these sounded quite promising. Combined with Usopp's Observation Haki and his attempts to learn Armament finally starting to pay off to the point he could infuse it in at least the occasional bullet, Luffy was satisfied that Usopp was well on track to become his own sort of monster. Doubly so if even half of what Kaya was likely cooking up for him panned out!

… … …

"…I'm pretty sure I don't want to know."

Sanji had not been the person he'd expected to find training with Hina. Nor had he expected to see her having somehow managed to get him to fight her. Mind you, he was crying as he did so, but he was seriously fighting her…and occasionally saying something about 'how could you cage a man's manhood!' Given the awkward way Sanji occasionally moved, and her taunts back about not undoing something until he managed to hit her, he was fairly certain he understood and wished he didn't.

Deciding that the two of them were similar enough in skill level that they would make good opponents for each other, and that Hina was somehow managing to work Sanji through one of his main problems, Luffy turned right around. He did not want to ask any questions about that. Nor about their potential relationship if Sanji proved to be into that sort of thing. Nope. He'd find someone else that needed help with training, thank you very much!

… … …

It was a good thing that the Discovery had gained a bit of additional size when it ate the Goro Goro no Mi, as most of that extra space was taken up by a much more expansive internal workspace. One which would have been overkill for Luffy's projects, but which now needed to house some ongoing efforts of others. Nojiko and Usopp were experimenting with crystal ammo on one workbench and Kaya had a small area carved out for herself as well. The biggest and most important addition, though, had been Pagaya's considerably more involved projects and the storage needed for them.

Luffy, having been busy training with others for the last several days, hadn't been by the workshop. Stopping in now, he spotted Nojiko and Pagaya working and blinked as he took in their project. The last he'd known, Pagaya had created an exosuit that was mostly intended to help work under and around the ship. What he was seeing now was considerably more martial than that. Looking quite a bit like the Crystal Power Armor of Wind's Home, there were still some pointed differences.

For one thing, it had a gatling gun on one shoulder.

It also had a polearm weapon, which Pagaya had informed him at one point had been his own choice of weapon while serving in the White Berets and learning Sky Combat. A quick glance at some blueprints on the wall showed that his thoughts on that were correct. The slightly-too-large calves and feet of the suit, along with a backpack-like bulge on its back, apparently contained the sorts of cloud dials that would allow the Crystal Suit to move through Sky Combat style maneuvers.

Shaking his head, he decided that this was one person he didn't need to pay too much attention to, when it came to getting stronger. Despite likely not being one of their main combatants, it was clear that the older man had taken the idea he might need to fight seriously and was making sure he had a way to genuinely contribute. Still, none of that was what he'd come for. Waiting for the two of them to come to a stopping place, he called out to them when they did.

"Nojiko? Pagaya? I have a project I want your input on. I think it will help both of you too. My revolver has, increasingly, fallen behind my sword and Spirit Fruit in usefulness. An issue I know you were already dealing with, Nojiko. You've barely used your rifle at all, despite all the training you've done with your mother's style of combat. With Dials, the new crystals from Wind's Home, and some of the research Kaya, Usopp and I did for Nami's Clima-Tact, though…I think we can come up with something better for both of us. All three of us, really, since you built a gun into that suit."

Both of them looked instantly interested, and Luffy began to lay out a few ideas for what he had in mind. They each immediately had their own suggestions to add, and the trio were soon deep in discussion about how to upgrade Nojiko and Luffy's weapons…

… … …

Dodging another Negative Hollow, Luffy sent three stones flying out at high speed. One resulted in a yelp as Perona was tagged again, but the other two were dodged and blocked by Vivi and Robin respectively. Interestingly, the latter two actually seemed to be improving faster in the more chaotic environment he'd set up for this exercise. Possibly because it simulated proper combat better, and both of them had hard-won combat instincts to pull from?

He hummed, considering that thought, even as he punched out and used the Emission variant of Armament to disrupt a Hollow trying to sneak up on him. It wasn't a Negative, instead being one of the larger, round Toku Hollows that could explode rather violently. Of course, that could only happen if it still existed, and he'd discovered with some experimentation that Emission could disrupt whatever held Perona's Hollows together, causing them to pop like a balloon.

Rather important, really, since it was much more efficient than attempting to block the things with Haki. Particularly the Negative Hollow. A little testing had quickly shown that you essentially needed to be capable of getting full-body armament coverage with just Armament, or else the odd spiritual energy constructs that were Negative Hollows just flowed around the 'armor' of your Haki. Like trying to stop the rain with a hand-size shield, really, if you tried to punch one. It made Perona potentially devastating against even most Haki users…if they could get her to the point she wasn't so physically vulnerable, at least.

As he threw another set of rocks and she yelped again, he knew that part was going to be a work in progress. At least, even if she tended to whine about the bruises, her current motivation was strong enough to get her to properly train. He'd been a bit worried that her rather spoiled nature would prevent that. But, so far at least, the recentness of the loss of her father-figure and her desire to carry through on some of his legacy was acting as decent motivation. How long that would last, and if the desire to get stronger would become a proper habit before her resolve wavered, was something only time would reveal…

… … …

Luffy slammed through a tree, skidded into a crater, and only just managed to recover enough to avoid being Gum Gum Stomped into the hole of that crater even more deeply. In fact, the only way he managed to generate a miss for Yamato's attack was by shifting to the much smaller form of a smallish snow leopard and using the explosive jumping strength of a four-legged feline form to push off with. He shifted back to his Stormtiger hybrid form halfway through the jump's arc, just in time to cross his arms to block a Haki-laden blow from Yamato's fist. The block brought her just enough out of position that he was able to spin into a kick that caught her side. It gave, of course, blunt force being nearly useless against her Fruit, but since he continued his spin her body was dragged through a whirl and thrown away from him.

He wanted to follow up, but the truth was he was considerably more battered than she was, and needed the moment to catch his breath. He was extremely glad that his previous sparring with her, along with the fight against the Shichiseiken possessed T-Bone, had shaken him loose from his building arrogance. It hadn't been a conscious thing. Not with Garp as a measuring stick. But with no one besides Enel having given him a serious fight in so long, and that fight in retrospect only having been as hard as it was because he'd fallen into dangerous patterns, his subconscious had stopped considering the idea that he could lose.

Yamato and the possessed T-Bone had shaken him loose from a stagnancy that he hadn't even realized he'd fallen into. Even now, after having managed a level up during the fight with the cursed sword, he was below Yamato's power. Something which forced him to actually dig deep into his bag of tricks, to start using all aspects of his Spirit Fruit, including the shapeshifting and sound attacks he'd kept mostly hidden before. Those, along with momentary boosts from things like his Spirit Manipulation and Power Strike, abilities he hadn't used significantly in years, were the only things keeping him in shouting range of Yamato.

Worse, she learned damn near as fast as he did, despite him having several perks specifically for learning. Still, as she returned and launched a Haki-Infused Gatling attack at him, combining it farther with what he recognized as a non-traditional application of Shave to speed them up, he met her again with a grin on his face. She might be better than him right now, but that only made her the perfect whet stone to sharpen the skills he'd unintentionally let degrade against. The perfect way to push himself into the truly big leagues, and bring her with him as she gained from the experience too.

He'd was pretty sure he'd found a perfect sparring partner and, from the wild grin on her face as she tried new tricks of her own, he was pretty sure she felt the same…

... ... ... ... ... ...

A/N 1: As readers of My Hero Automata will already know, there was a poll last month to determine if that story or this one was actually the more popular. With Halfway Broken rather decisively winning, it and My Hero Automata had swapped places. Halfway Broken will now update every month, on the 1st and 15th (roughly), for a total of around 15,000 words each month. Automata, sadly, will be relegated to the various stories which my patrons vote on which one get's updated each month. Displaced Hero, meanwhile, will remain as it has been, getting 15k updates around the 22nd of each month.

AN 2: Training montage of dooooomm! In part, this was a chance to show the everyone on the crew actually DOES interact, I just can't show everything that happens! I'm not Oda who want's to draw this out until five years after I die for tax reasons! It also does a decent job of showing the direction that each character is drifting in, though. Hinting at how each of them is going to develop.

AN 3: Just as importantly, I had Luffy address something that a lot of people have commented on, thinking I was underselling him or not using his Devil Fruit fully. That itched at my brain, since I knew it was on purpose, but I couldn't fully explain without spoilers. Luffy is NOT perfect. He might know how far away the Top is, in some ways, but he also hasn't REALLY been challenged all that hard aside from Garp. He tried, really, seriously, tried, to not let himself stagnate. But it seeped in over the course of YEARS, when no one else could REALLY push him. Combined with the VERY STRONG desire to not let the WG know he has a Mythical Zoan fruit until he HAS to, he self-sabotaged a bit. It was something I did intentionally, building it in as a flaw that Luffy would eventually have to correct. With Yamato acting as the perfect wake up call. It's something that happened to canon Luffy as well, with it being Ace's death that knocked him out of the fantasy that he was strong enough. Since I'm not running that plot line the same, I planned for an alternative. That this also let me keep Luffy from being TOO over powered in the earlier portions of the Grand Line, while leaving room to grow into that OPness, was also important. Whew. Been wanting to say that for a while, after SO MANY people complained, and now I finally can.

AN 4:Once per release, I remind people that...I have a Page! Nothing I write, fanfiction wise, is ever permanently paywalled. That said, I do have Early Access chapters. There is currently roughly another 15,000 words of One Piece - Halfway Broken in Early Access (Chapters 68-71). Also, of course, you also get access to my other Early Access chapters for my other stories. There is typically around 45-65k words of various works in early access at any one time. I always appreciate any support, since it helps me free up more writing time...but most of all I hope you just enjoy the stories!