Below the Clouds

Back to the Blue Sea
One week earlier...

Amaka walked through the doors Legs' marvelous estate. She said nothing to any of the Royal Guard but they knew her well enough to not stop her. They'd met Amaka plenty of times in the past and each time she was granted access by their queen. Why would today be any different? She had a stern look on her face and they didn't want to get in the way of that.

Reaching Koyuki's office, Amaka was quiet to begin with. She held her hands up and looked at them from front and back. It appeared as though she'd been looking for something, but she found nothing. She finally broke her silence with a sad face.

"I apologize, Princess Koyuki." Amaka said, eyes locked onto Koyuki though not in an intimidating manner. In a more respectful manner. "If I could have.. if I would have chosen to not be selfish and raise that lot, this would have never happened. For you know, Lucas was a great comrade of mine as well."

Koyuki looked down at Amaka from her desk.

"Amaka, as you know, there is no need for you to apologize for the sin of another. You especially know how I feel in regards to that....Lucas fought until the end. That is what he wanted."

The purple-haired pirate couldn't help but to feel bad. She was aware of Lucas' illness and had plans to go and visit him, but due to the clog of events she just couldn't. Amaka had traveled from almost the other side of the World just to see Koyuki and speak on this matter because, while Koyuki didn't say it, Amaka knew that Koyuki wanted much more than an apology.

"Every member of the Black Widow Pirates is your family, just as every member of the Royal Pirates were my sisters. Those that hurt our family are burdened with the debt of having to repay that hurt with their own blood. I stand behind that philosophy one hundred percent and refuse to have you change that philosophy for a Zombified comrade."

Without another word, Amaka reached to her hip and threw both of her blades to the ground. She reached inside her pockets and threw her seastone bullets next to her swords and held her arms out. "But, despite my son's sins, I can not allow him to be killed. As a mother, I want to protect my children with every breath in me."

Amaka extended her arms out to her side, "Please, Koyuki, as a friend. Do not spare Kobe's life for free, but in the place of my own. The sins of a child rest on the parents until that child has reached adulthood. For that I am willing to meet the Grim Reaper once more if it means I have completed my protective duties as a mother until my dying breath."

"....." Koyuki was appalled. So, this was a mother's love. Even Amaka, a warrior beyond all other had no choice but to fall prey to her maternal instincts. She had already died once fulfilling her motherly duties, and here she was ready to do it all again.

"Amaka, it seems I've misjudged the situation. For the time being, I'll put a temporary hold Kobe's execution. I won't execute you either. Not now."

From the sky, a vessel collided with the Blue Sea in the form of an explosion which caused an eruption thanks to the opposing force against the ocean. The ship rocked and on the deck of it laid a dark-skinned purple-haired teen, bleeding profusely from an open wound across his chest.

The ship's flag blew in the wind, a skull and crossbones resting in front of an array of clouds—the Jolly Roger of the Cloud Pirates. The boy lying on the deck, fighting for his life, was none other than Bryant D. Kobe the Captain of this ship. He gasped for air, struggling to life his hand up and allowing a clouded substance to spit from his hand in the form of a single giant cloud that almost covered the entire ship.

As the cloud faded, Mont Blanc Drake and Badger Charlotte both appeared. Drake had been on a single knee, his hand resting over his eye that had been temporarily dealt with by Charlotte. The duo wasted no time rushing over to their fallen Captain. "Captain!" They shouted in unison, happy to be back at his side.

"Oh no," Charlotte began, eyes looking from one end of Kobe's wound to the other. Though it wasn't as big as it could have been, it was much deeper than she had imagined and could see from her previous distance.

Drake looked to Charlotte, placing his mallet onto the deck to use as some sort of prop to hold himself up. "What is it?" Drake asked, ready to lend his hand in any way possible.

Before responding, Charlotte looked to her left and right. At the front of the ship, she saw a bag. A bag that had been prepared for her by the people of Angel Island. She wondered if they had stocked it with medical supplies, but she couldn't take such a risk at the moment. Reaching into her pocket, she drew a dial. "I need to close the wound, even if temporary!" With the dial in her hand, Charlotte pressed down on the release button while tracing his wound releasing a thick cloud from the device.

Almost instantly the blood is sucked up by the clouds, but they served as a temporarily gauze and bandaid to close Kobe's wound. "If he hadn't sucked us into that Sky Dimension, he'd be okay.." Charlotte thought to herself, panting as though she had used any bit of extra work.

"He lost a lot of blood." She said to Drake. "He's going to need a doctor, otherwise... he won't make it."

Drake bit his lip, "Damn.. I knew I should have grabbed him and ran when I had the chance." the First Mate couldn't help but to feel as though it were his fault.

"It is not your fault, Drake. I warned Kobe of the outcome and he was aware. He must've taken the best route he could." Charlotte added, eyes locked onto her Captain. "We need to get him to a doctor or a blood donor asap." Charlotte instructed.

With a simple nod, Drake lifted himself to his feet and took the helm. Another cloud appeared and from it revealed a Marine. It seemed even in his near-dead state, Kobe wanted to help his crew in every way he could. "Where's the nearest island!" Drake asked in an intimidating manner towards the Marine.

"From here," The Marine said, looking left and right. "The nearest island is about a kilometer from here. However, the waves here are very violent and sea kings are abundant. It'll be hard to get there without a proper navigator, Drake sir!"

Cursing, Drake spun the helm and manned the ship. "Our navigator is currently fighting for his life." Drake shouted, "I'll guide the Flying Nimbus!"

While Drake guided the ship, Charlotte sat at Kobe's side. Her hands pressed against his wounds with enough pressure and under the assumption, that she could halt the bleeding. "Hold on, Kobe!"

---

The Cloud Pirates' journey on the sea was an easy one. Luckily, the weather and ocean currents were on their side long enough for them to reach the nearest island in question. At the spotting of land, through his single eye, Drake wasted no time in guiding the ship in that direction.

"Land ahead, Char!" Drake shouted, physically ordering the ship to move towards it.

It didn't take long for Drake to dock the Nimbus and as such, he rushed over to Charlotte's side ready to lend his helping hand. During that entire ride, Charlotte kept Kobe from closing his eyes by engaging in conversation with him. He hadn't given her any verbal responses, but the fact she continued to ask him questions kept his mind stimulating enough so that he wouldn't pass out. She also kept the pressure on his chest and had managed to temporarily halt the bleeding but if she moved even an inch it'd all spill out.

"Drake, we need a way to move myself and Kobe as a single unit so that I can continue to apply pressure to his wound. I fear that if I remove my hand, then we will suffer misfortune." Though it was an unwanted ending, Charlotte felt it would be best to give it to Drake straight. That was the kind of woman she was.

Again, Drake gave her a nod and took no time to back talk. It wasn't about him. No, not this situation at least. This was all about Kobe and what they could do as a team--no--a crew in order to save their captain. Cuffing his hands, he lifted both Charlotte and Kobe from the deck together and placed them onto his giant-like broad shoulder.

With a single step, his foot left the Flying Nimbus and landed on the earth with his other foot following. Without another wasted second, Drake ran along the passage to the town looking to the citizens around. "Excuse me!" He shouted to a group of townfolk. "Doctor? Can you point me to a doctor!?"

He either got the silent treatment or people were outright terrified of him. Many read the newspapers in the past, they were well aware of Drake's background and felt it would be best to keep their distance. Even then, Drake continued to run around the town hoping. Just hoping that someone would set aside their fears and lend a hand not to him, but to his captain at the very least.

"Why?" He asked, peeking through the window of a doctor's office who'd flicked their lights off on sight of the Titan. If he really wanted to, Drake could have reached to his back, grabbed his mallet, and destroyed half the town since they all wanted to ignore him, but what would that solve in this current moment? Nothing.

Charlotte rubbed her hand along the back of Drake's head. "Calm down, Drake. If you get too anxious and rowdy, you'll begin to feel the only route is violence. It's best you control that anger."

The red-haired Mont Blanc heeded Charlotte's advice and continued his endless journey. In about ten minutes, Drake had approached nearly every open doctor's office he could, only to be rejected. The crew had come to a dead end and Charlotte's arms began to slowly tire out.

Drake and Charlotte sighed in unison. They had nothing more they could do, but neither wanted to give up. "You can't hope to get help on this island." The smothered voice of someone stuffing their mouth said below them.

As the Cloud Pirates would look down, they would see a little green-haired girl holding a lollipop in her mouth. "She slipped here? I didn't sense her a moment ago..." Charlotte thought to herself, keeping the pressure on Kobe's wound but to be honest, her arms could give out at any moment.

"Is this island looked over by the Marines?" Drake asked.

"Mhm!" The girl said, almost as though she were excited. "It's probably why a lot of people shut you out. The Marines are here regularly and if they see anyone even conversating with a Pirate.. they'll cut protections from it. So they rather not take the risk."

Then she disappeared. Reappearing on Drake's shoulder looking over Charlotte's own to the injured Kobe. "Oh, your friends hurt really bad. Mind if I-"

"You may not!" Drake shouted, lifting his opposing hand to reach over and flick the girl from his shoulder.

"She can." Charlotte said and with those set of words, Drake lowered his hand. Though Drake was not fully trustworthy of this "wisdow" Kobe claimed that Charlotte possessed, he remembered that had it not been for her, Kobe would have died a while ago and felt he owed her at least that.

The green-head walked around Charlotte and took a knee at Kobe's side. Reaching into her mouth, she pulled her lollipop out and extended it out towards Charlotte, non-verbally asking her to hold it. "Don't lick it!"

Interlocking her fingers, the small girl cracked them and then held her palm out. "Healing: Aloe Vera..." She uttered as a stem of Aloe Vera sprout from her palm. Splitting it in half with her nail, she lifted Charlotte's hand up and rubbed the opened plan up along Kobe's wound.

"Healing: English Marigold" she uttered again, an orange marigold appearing in her opposing palm. Smashing both of her palms together, the girl smeared the flower. "Can you open his mouth, please?" Squeezing her hand together, a small droplet of liquid fell between the crack and into Kobe's mouth.

With a smile, she reached for her lollipop and stood back to her feet. "That's a pretty big wound, ya' know. He'll be fine though, I'm sorta' doctor. I'd suggest taking him back to the ship, he's gonna' need a lot of rest."

Drake and Charlotte both smiled, "Thank you."

Rising Cloud
The group had returned to their ship where Kobe had been laid down to rest. Charlotte prepared a meal for the group while Drake spent time recouping and aiding to his own eye. About two hours had passed since they met the little girl who'd claimed she helped heal Kobe, but there was no immediate sign of his awakening.

After patching up his eye, Drake moved to tweak and tinker his mallet in ways that could benefit him. He learned, though he only struck once, that his linear roundabout tactics would no longer be useful on the sea.

Crawling onto his shoulder like a rodent, the green-haired girl seemed to have chosen to stick around the group. "Hey!" She said, eyes following whatever it was Drake had been focused on. "Oh, you're fixing your weapon?" She asked, tongue sliding up and down the base of the popsicle given to her by Charlotte.

"Yeah.." He said, twirling its handle within his grasp. "Mjollnir has been through a lot, but the foreseeable future tells me it'll need more changes if I would like to use it on the upcoming enemies."

The girl smiled, "I see, that's nice. But how do you swing such a thing around? It looks like it'd be so difficult!" She pointed her free hand to herself, "A little lady like me would never be able to wield something so barbaric." Frowning slightly, "The size may be a hindering point for you, ya know!"

Suddenly, the sound of shouting could be heard as a flame-haired girl walked throughout the docks as each step she took caused the once damp wood to suddenly dry up. The young woman stopped in front of the ship belonging to the Cloud Pirates and shouted out fiercely, "I know you are up there, Flora! What the hell are you doing on this ship?"

Crawling her way up to Drake's head, the green-haired girl stood on it as though it were a canvas made for that very purpose. With her hand on her forehead, she looked to the dock and could see the red-head calling her name. Before responding, she licked her popsicle once again. "Hey, Flannery!" She screamed, waving in the process. "I had to help this pirate kid! He was in pretty bad shape!"

She then swung her hand as though she wanted her to board the ship. "Come on! There's a young lady here! She's super nice!"

The door on the ship flung open and from behind it emerged Charlotte. "Kobe is waking up!" Turning to run back into the room, Flora leaped from Drake's head while Drake positioned himself to peek into the room.

Head throbbing, Kobe lifted his left hand and gripped his forehead. "Damn, my head hurtin' like hell." He said, golden gaze falling upon Charlotte and Flora, the latter he had never met before. "Oh would you look at that, I ain't dead! And who're you, kid?" Kobe asked, eyebrow lifting at the young girl.

Charlotte smiled wide, "She is Feeld Flora. She was the one responsible for your recovering. She has a rather useful power."

"Yup, that's me! Feeld Flora! But don't ask me how old I am, I older than you think!" She exclaimed, licking the popsicle once again before giving Kobe a wink.

"I ain't gonna question anyone with the power to heal my wound. Clahahahahaha!" Kobe laughed, smirking while slowly regaining his sanity. It felt as though the world's gravity had increased, he struggled to breathe or even move for that manner, so he opted to remain in his spot on the couch.

Drake met Kobe's laugh with his own, "Mahahahahaha, it's good to see ya back up. I thought for sure we lost ya, Kobe."

"Ha, it's gone take more than that to keep me down."

Flora walked over to Kobe, licking her popsicle in the process. "Hey... Kobe? I read about you in the newspaper, ya' know. They've said some terrifying things about you. Destroyer... blah blah blah... "Gawd" blah blah blah... But you seem like a pretty good guy.. in your own way."

Kobe grinned, "There's one thing," Kobe said, pausing before stretching and letting out a sigh. "The media paints me in the way I want them to. They may think they're doin' it how they want, but everything they write about me is being controlled by me. I am a good guy, a good bad guy."

"I see..." Flora said, word dragging as she held her popsicle tight in her grip. "My friend and I, Flannery.. We've been looking for a place to call home. Everywhere we go, we are chased out just because the "World Government" has something out for her. I could just separate from her, but what kind of friend would I be?"

Giggling, Flora continued on. "I want to know, can we join your crew. Flannery is really strong, like really strong! She has a 70,000,000 bounty, but she can't provide much beyond combative capabilities. But just as Char said, I'm a doctor. I can heal just about any wound you suffer from... just try not to get another Yonko-level one."

"Clahahahahahahahaha!" Kobe laughed, leaning back in the couch to sulk with excitement. "I never thought my doctor would be someone so little!" Slowly rising to his feet, Kobe walked over to the door and Drake moved aside for his captain to reach the deck. Charlotte and Flora both followed behind him. Turning his head slightly, Kobe looked to Drake and held his fist out hoping to give his First Mate a fist bump to which Drake returned.

Flannery had already infiltrated his deck and Kobe looked her in her eye. Holding his hand out, Kobe created a Nimbus cloud underneath his feet so that he could sit on it. "Today is a great day..." Kobe said, guiding the cloud to the upper deck of his ship so that he could see the whole group. "Yer damn right ye can join my crew, Flora and yer friend Flannery!"

Looking down he asked, "What'dya say, Flannery?"

Flannery blinked in surprise at the sudden request, having not expected Kobe to make such a bold statement. Staring at him with a fiery look, a devilish grin spread across her face. "Do I wanna join the crew of someone who is crazy enough to attack a Yonko? Of course, I fucking do!" Flannery said with enthusiasm, her grin getting wider with each passing second. This is what she had been looking for. A person who wasn't afraid to change the world and showed no fear. Like the stories of the she had grown up on.

Getting up close up in his face, she continued with her grin. "Just know if this journey becomes boring or you turn out to be a chicken-shit, I'll leave you and take Flora with me."

"Clahahahaha!" Kobe laughed, squinting his eyes slightly in pain. "Then it's about time I reveal yer names. Drake, ye are "Ares". Charlotte, ye are "Mnemosyne". Flannery, you are "Hestia". And finally, Flora ye'll be Demeter." Looking up at the sky, he clawed his hands as though he tried gripping the air. "If yer think this'll be borin' then yer wrong. But for now, we gotta lay low. Marines gonna' be on our ass soon. I'm sure this shit'll hit the news real quick, aye?"

Flannery picked her ear in a lackadaisical manner, digging out a piece of earwax and flung it overboard without care, unknowingly hitting a passing pelican in the face as it crashed into the building. Turning her attention back towards Kobe, she clicked her teeth in exasperation before saying. "That is true. At the most, you've got a day or two since your actions would have drawn the attention of the Marines and there is no way the news could resist a scoop like this. We could bring you guys back to where we are staying until we can sail out but it might be cramped."

"Naaaah!" Kobe said, pulling his Marine coat from his Sky Dimension. "We've got tha' Flying Nimbus right here. 'Nuff rooms for tha' all of us here. There's stuff I've gotta' finish workin' on here. But since I have quite a few members to start with, I guess its time I tell you all about a project I'd like to begin before we get into the New World."

Charlotte's eyes squinted as she locked her gaze upon Kobe's still injured figure trying to figure out how he even possessed the will to move. She had no intention of cutting him off and asking, but deep down inside she wanted to suggest that her captain should get a bit more rest before he continued more work. That was just the kind of care she had for him and whether or not it had been a hint of love would have to be left up for time to tell.

"We are listening." She said.

Drake, on the other hand, remained silent and had been so since the awakening of his Captain. He wasn't a man of many words and instead prided himself on his strength, though after being unable to protect the man he called his "captain" he felt as though he hadn't much room to speak. One eye closed and the other opened, he just looked at Kobe and waited for him to continue on.

All while everyone had their individual thoughts, there was Flora, who'd grown a stalk that carried her up to Kobe where she'd find a seat on his fluffy cloud "Nimbus". She tossed and turned in the clouds as though she were an infant trying her best not to interfere with Kobe.

Project: WILD
"Good," Kobe started before transitioning into his signature laugh. "Tha' journeys gonna' have to come to a halt for tha' time being as our time will be spent recruiting members and allies for the Cloud Pirates and work on further developin' tha' technology I've begun." Kobe then reached into his pocket and drew the "Artificial Dial" he created on Skypiea.

"We won't stop until tha' Artificial Dial is fully functional and able ta' support tha' Flying Nimbus on its own. But, like I said... Our main priority... Project: WILD, tha' creation of artificial Paramecia Devil Fruits. CLAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"The creation of artificial what?!" Flannery shouted in surprise, eyes widening. She unknowingly clenched her fist tightly before she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She stared at Kobe with an uncharacteristically serious look on her face before she laughed. "Netsusususu! That's a great way to shake up the world! Though, you would have to find some way to manipulate the of a person to replicate the Paramecia Devil Fruit's ability."

Kobe smiled a wide smile. "Aye, that factor would be necessary if I were tryin' ta' achieve somethin' on tha' scale of full-body manipulation like a Zoan. But I ain't." Holding his left hand up, clouds generated and fruit appeared in his palm. "Ye seem a bit more educated than yer look," His eyebrow lifted following that claim. "Aye, I'm smarter than I look too. Ohhh tha' irony."

Gripping the base of the fruit in his hand, he held it up for all of his crew to see. "I'm from tha' Cloudia Kingdom, come from a long line of Innovators, Scientist, and Doctors in this Kingdom. My devil fruit is like tha' sacred treasure of tha' kingdom passed down through tha' generations to he who's supposed to lead the Kingdom. Some dumbarses stole the fruit before it could be eaten... Aye, this ain't got nothing to do with Project: WILD. Aye, I'm sorry, clahahahaha."

"Like I said, my people are innovators and scientists. I was brought up on these typa' teachins'. Since a youngin', I been fascinated with that devil fruit. We have an annual "Invention Convention" where we show off our creations and the most unique or helpful is tha' winner. I created the WILD using an unorthodox formula of the Lineage Factor. It was... a success for tha' most part, aye? 'Cept tha' bitch I fed tha' fruit too was too weak and went on a rampage like. Meds said he lost his sanity or some shit and told me I could never make another WILD again.. it was too dangerous in tha' wrong hands. They destroyed all of my files them claimed they "didn't want tha' world government to get their hands on it". Bullshit, aye?"

Frowning, Kobe placed his gaze back upon his crewmates. "Sounded like bullshit if ya' ask me." he then smiled again, "But aye! I'll perfect it this time, aye!"

"Sounds like a tall fucking order and if you were anyone else, I would tell ya to stick your idea up your ass," Flannery said as if she was talking about the weather. "However, you seem to actually know what you are doing and aren't a total psycho like the last people. So, I'm willing to help ya out! What do you think, Flora?"

Rolling around on Kobe's cloud, Flora began to grip the clouds as though they were cotton candy, rubbing them against her face as she cuddled with them. "Sooooo fluffy...." She said, face red from the comfort of the Nimbus. "Potential, yes. But I do agree with the Scholars of his Kingdom, it'll be very sought out by the World Government. Whether its for the better or the rest, it'll cause problems for him soon."

"I agree." Charlotte said, hands resting on her waist. "Flora-chan is correct," Her eyes followed the fruit Kobe held in his hand. "It is possible especially after seeing what you are capable of, Kobe. But it will bring great misfortune to your journey and make it even more difficult."

She then turned to Drake, "What are your thoughts, Drake?"

The red-haired man hummed. "Hm... I'm not to sure of it. I know there exist other artificial devil fruits; SMILE and ACE. Zoan and Logia respectively... but I never really thought of a Paramecia-type." He rubbed the end of his mallet. "I am willing to follow Kobe regardless."

Flora looked to Kobe, "Okay, but how do you plan on regaining your lost formula for WILD? Gonna be hard since you said they trashed it all." She asked.

"Clahahahahaha!" Kobe continued to hold the fruit up high as though he were some sort of evil scientist because, in essence, he actually was. "Yer don't need documents." he began, eyes squinting slightly before bringing his free head to the side of his head and tapping his temple. "When everything is in tha' head."


 * Meanwhile at the Cloudia Kingdom...

Buster D. Amaka stood in the Royal Palace of the Skye Family, her arms folded across her chest as she looked to the woman sitting at the desk with blood-red hair. The duo spent quite a while just staring at each other, though both had different reasons for doing so. Amaka wanted to say something, but she felt as though what she wanted to speak about would be rude to open up with and instead waited for the woman to open up first.

"When Roselia said you were alive, I couldn't believe it. Even for me, a scientist who specializes in biology, I could not fathom that fact. But then she said she met you once you had become a Shichibukai and the joy in her voice couldn't have put me at more of an ease."

Amaka's expression remained blank, "Yes, meeting with Roselia once again lit a kindle to my heart. However, Skye Roserade, I am here seeking information on another matter."

Roserade sighed and then placed her hands on her desk. "Yeah, I figured once you came here with that expression on your face... You want information on, Bryant D. Kobe, right?" Pushing her chair back, Roserade stood to her feet and walked from behind the desk. She then reached into her pocket and pressed a button and upon its pressing, the wall behind the duo collapsed revealing a hidden room.

"Come along with me, Amaka. I will tell you everything." Walking forward, Roserade entered the room and the first noticeable thing the dup would meet were the many images of Roserade and Kobe hung all over the walls.

With a quick glance, Amaka took it upon herself to approach the small desk in the room. There was a framed image of Amaka and Kobe. They were not in the same image, but more so a split picture that someone had pieced together themselves.

"I've read every bit of news that has Kobe's name on it." Roserade began, sliding her hand across the table against the far wall that contained many test tubes and other tools used by scientists. "As a young boy, Kobe had a mind that surprised even the most revered scholars of this Kingdom. His mind would never stop going, he invented things like potato guns, mechanical gadgets would perform basic functions in the lab for him and even make all types of chemicals. He took up meteorology as a specialty very young, learning the wind currents and other weather-related information in a short amount of time, earning him an internship among the scholars. Even though he had a grand mind, he always came off as a dunce at times."

"I pushed it off as him being a bit too smart for his own good and thought it had something to do with his dyslexia." Roserade lifted the "potato gun" Kobe created and handed it to Amaka for her to grasp. "He used to always say 'I'm gonna' be the best! I'm gonna be even better than you, momma!' every time he'd run to me with one of his new inventions. No matter what it was, he always felt he was the best at doing it."

Roserade giggle while she and Amaka continued to look around the room filled with inventions of Kobe. "The better his inventions became, the higher his ego did. Though it didn't become prominent until he turned nine, Kobe had always possessed a bit of a, looking down on those who he deemed not better than him." Her giggle quickly became a sigh, "At that point, he became hard to raise, but with that, he was still deemed next in line for a fruit the Cloudia Kingdom passes down through the generations to the "best" scientist: Kumo Kumo no Mi.

Flannery blinked in surprise at the revelation of Kobe's knowledge regarding Project: Wild. It was impressive to know he was capable of remembering the formula used within the experiment to create Artifical Paramecia Devil Fruits and certainly made the goal more realistic in her eyes. Though, there were several issues she had with it. "So, where the hell are we gonna get the money in order to fund this project and Project: WILD? No offense but that's a rather boring name for something so big." Flannery said, scratching her head in thought.

"Captain, I'll have to agree with Flannery on that regard." Finally, Drake had spoken in his own regard without needing to be addressed and it was to agree with Flannery's statement. "You should rename it, WILD is rather unpleasing."

"It ain't like ye to be vocal, Drake. Is it really that damn bad?" Kobe tapped his finger against his temple as Flora continued to cuddle around on his cloud. "A'right, a'right!" Kobe said, twirling the fruit on the tip of his finger as though it were a ball. "What about callin' 'em JOKERs? Some shit to do with tha' originator of artificial devil fruits, Donquixote?" Smiling, Kobe looked for approval from the rest of his crew.

Eyes rolling, Charlotte poked her hips out and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "JOKER seems to have more of a meaning, I approve it, Kobe. If you plan on selling these products, the name alone would also bring more customers. You may have just come up with a ten times better name."

"I agree," Drake said.

Flannery grinned as she punched her fist in her palm, resulting in an explosion of heat and fire. "I like it. So, we've got the damn name fixed." She paused for a moment before speaking up once more. "So, where exactly are we gonna run this whole operation? The World Government is already looking for ya and if I overheard correctly, ya pissed off one of the Yonko."

"Ha, pssshhh.." Kobe released a breeze of air from his mouth, turning his head away from Flannery while waving his wrist. "Yer can always tie up loose ends, tha' Yonko can be repleased!" The ebony then lowered his hand. "What'dya mean where? This all started in my damn room at the Cloudia Kingdom, I can do this shit anywhere! Yer got my shit, can rent a plot..." Kobe paused as a lightbulb switched on in his head.

"Yer know... I might just have a new place for us." The cloud he sat about branched off into a stream onto the deck before the rest of his crew.

Seeing this, Flora lifted herself up to crawl along it's soft make until she had reached the deck herself and walked over to Charlotte. Gripping onto Charlotte's leg, she pulled on the Skylander's pants leg.

At the end of the cloud's stream, a Marine appear hand resting at his forehead as he had been ready to abide by Kobe's orders. He had been one of the many Kobe held captive to do a few things and guide him in ways and things he had been unfamiliar with. "Lieutenant Cruise here, sir!" The marine said, ready to take his orders.

"Aye, give me the information on Mount Olympus," Kobe brought his hand up to his chest and rubbed his bandaged wound slightly. "My damned chest is startin' to hurt!"

Reaching for his tie, the Marine fixed it so it sat in the middle of his chest. "Mount Olympus is a mountain-like island that reaches past 7,000 meters in the air. It is uncharted territory, guarded by the Giants and tons of other mysterious creatures. It is located on the opposing side of the red line from the Holy Land. The hazards and obstacles that occur when attempting to reach the mountain are too severe and not worth the risk." He had finally ended.

"Aye, yer see? It has hazards and obstacles that only a Navi can get yer through." Kobe looked left and right with a big smile, "And who's the Navigator? Me! I control tha' weather! Only yers truly can get us there!"

Base on the Peak
Two weeks had pasted since Kobe and the Cloud Pirates had decided they'd set out on their journey to conquer Mount Olympus. As he mentioned, Kobe reached out to an old friend of his Benjamin Tabart who'd said he'd meet with Kobe at Ninden Island an island that had been a few kilometers away from the mountain. He'd also met with Himeji Silas, a member of his crew who hadn't seen in a few days catching him up to speed with his "master plan" and what they'd been destined to do.

While they waited for Tabart, Kobe tasked his crewmates with gathering things such as food, clothing, and medical items that would help aid them in caring for his wound that even to this day continued to cause him great pain. At random times it found ways to leak blood and to be honest, it began to piss the ebony teen off.

Resting on the couch in the main gathering area of the Flying Nimbus, Charlotte stood over Kobe applying new bandages to his chest. "Thank you, Char!" Kobe exclaimed, rubbing her hand before removing it from his chest to sit up.

"You should be fine for quite a white. Flora-chan will bring you more plants to help treat it. For now, you should rest up for the journey. You're going to need to be actively watching the sea the entire time and rest is a big part of that." Charlotte suggested, but she had already known what Kobe what do.

"Yer right!" Kobe said, lifting himself to his feet before dropping his hand to Charlotte's head. "But I gotta start on tha' map. I've got it all already remember, but yer need to chart a map for safekeepin'."

In the midst of their conversation, the doors of the ship flung up. "We're back, Captain Kobe!" Flora shouted as she moved closer to Kobe while resting on top of one of his Nimbus cloud. It was inevitable that Flora would end up with her own personal nimbus cloud, the only downside was that while Kobe had been resting, she did not have it and also had opted to sleep and only to be awake while Kobe was.

Drake stuck his head into the door so that he could see what had all been going on while pushing bags of items through the frame as well. He looked to his bandaged captain and gave a simple nod before speaking.

"It seems we are on territory that is owned by a pirate by the name of "Purplebeard". The people were more than compliant without force, but they told us to be careful." Removing himself from the door frame, he pushed the Marine guide given to the by Kobe into the room.

With a slow closing of his eyes, Kobe didn't say anything out of his own mouth he simply waited for the Marine to speak, as it was clear he had valuable information.

""Purplebeard--Captain of the Purplebeard Pirates," Lifting his hand, he held up a bounty poster that gave a clear image of the man as well as his bounty. "Worth at least 500,000,000. He holds the power of a Paramecia-type devil fruit and is originally from the South Blue. He's been making a name for himself in the New Wor-."

"Ye don't care." Kobe said, cutting him off. "As long as yer got what I requested, then we ain't got any problems, aye?" Kobe said.

"Don’t worry, Kobe! We got your shit with no issue." Flannery said, giving her trademark grin as she walked through the doorframe with several bags within her hands. She placed them on the floor and peaked over to Drake’s shoulder to see this Purplebeard. "Wow, this guy looks like an older bootleg version of you, Kobe."

“If this Purplebeard decides to cause any problems, I’d gladly eat ‘em, he seems like he would make a great specimen!” Silas exclaimed, now appearing in the door way alongside Flannery. “Let’s hope he tastes better than he looks bakukukuk!” Silas laughed, peering past Drake’s large body, now staring at the poster along with the rest of the crew.

"Huh, it seems you have as weird of a crew as I have," an unfamiliar voice spoke. The shadow of the man speaking came into view as he begun to come around the corner into the door frame, and among the group, there was only one person who would even come close to recognizing who it was: Kobe.

Finally, his purple hair came into view.

Tabart smiled gently as he entered the residence. Although the last time Kobe and he met, Tabart was decorated in silk turbans, decorated by precious gems and jewelry, his attire had become far more humble. He adorned a black cloak, with a purple inner lining that matched the color of his hair, a white v-neck sweater over a turquoise, button-up, collared shirt. He wore jean-pants, bearing the insignia of something along the lines of True Religion, and finally, turquoise colored dress shoes formed from alligator skin.

This was the usual attire, or form of dress that Tabart adorned, because most of it was forged alongside companies that he had eventually bought out and adopted under his own, Jack's Bean Corporation, which had risen in the last two years to become one of the top companies in the world. Although his outfit was far more humble in terms of appearance, there was no doubt to anyone in the fashion world that this stuff was quality, and expensive.

"Nice to see you again, Kobe." Tabart walked forward, stepping further into the room, towards Kobe.

"Ignore the guy behind me if you can," he continued, gesturing to Peterson Mort, a renown assassin throughout the Underworld who had become an employee of Tabart not too long after the founding of his company. "He's a weirdo too."

Before Tabart could even reach Kobe, the ebony teen approached his purple-haired adversary with haste. Without a moment's breath, Kobe flung his arm around Tabart's shoulder. "Aye!" He said, squeezing the Shichibukai how he did when the two were a bit younger. Though they had a five-year gap in age, Kobe appeared to be the older if the prediction had been based on height.

"Brobart! Been forever since I've seen yer, aye?" Kobe smiled before releasing Tabart and looking to Mort. "Didn't think yer Celestial Dragon folk would employ such ugly things. Then again, ye've become a Fallen Dragon over the past few years, Horseman Horseman, ye that's you."

Kobe reached to his pocket and pulled out a map and held it up for Tabart to see. It was supposed to be what contained the routes to Mount Olympus, but because the land had yet to be discovered, it was blank. "We're gonna conqueror it together, Brobart. Are ye ready to fight and slay giants? Ye've gotten stronger, aye? This'll be good, good, good, good."

The Marine behind the group look in awe as Tabart entered the ship's domain. As a worker of the Marines, he knew exactly who the opposing purple-haired man was and couldn't believe he'd been so casual with Kobe. If he had been affiliated with the World Government, shouldn't he be trying to capture Kobe? "Tabart's here to save us! He'll save us! All hail the Shichibukai!" The Marine burst out.

Tabart blinked blankly. The marine dumbfounded him. Surely he didn't expect a Shichibukai to go out of his way to arrest a pirate that he just walked into and greeted? There was no way that marine was that naive!

He looked back at Kobe and smiled. "Yeah, I am. I'm not called the Giant Slayer for no reason, Kobe. I would have never imagined that you would have managed to find me via the Underworld though. But, as soon as I really thought about that epithet, Zeus, it makes a ton of sense that it was you."

Tabart gave a pointed look to Mort. "Besides, he's far more capable than you would think just looking at him. I don't hire just anyone. We got all the firepower between you and me, but this guy is going to be our shield. There ain't no punch that can take him out."

"Woah, I don’t care if you are one of the Shichibukai! Ya just don’t ignore me! I’ve got some serious firepower too!" Flannery exclaimed before pointing over to Flora. "Plus we’ve got a healer right here and uhhh, I don’t know what sharp-tooth can but I’m sure it must be good!"

“He may be able to take a punch, but there’s nothing my teeth can’t chew and nothing I can’t swallow!” Silas exclaimed, alongside Flannery, aiming to fuel her flames, a large sharp tooth filled smile on his face. “Tuff tits for you though, Marine. Between you and me...I don’t think he’s here to save you.” Silas remarked jokingly, whispering as he finished his statement, sure to drive the marine even more mad then he may have been already.

The Marine dropped to his knees in disappointment, before looking down at the floorboards of the ship. "There goes that."

"Then," Kobe began, looking past Mort to Drake giving him the signal. "We lift the anchor and set sail to the uncharted territory!" With that command, Drake lifted himself and pulled the anchor before rushing over to the Helms and manning the ship. Holding his own hand out, clouds generated and jet through the door frame stationing themselves underneath the ship, lifting it into the air as it glide across the sea.

Kobe walked back to the coach and took a seat, he rubbed on the coach's velvet red material whilst looking to Tabart and Mort once again. Charlotte entered the area with drinks and chips of multiple varieties and placed it on the table for anyone to grab. From the tray, Charlotte lifted a raspberry-flavored popsicle and handed it to Flora who'd still been resting on top of the cloud Kobe created for her. Guiding the cloud to Kobe's side, she crawled onto Kobe's lap whilst utilizing the cloud as a pillow.

"Guess we should talk 'bout what'll happen while we're there, aye?" With a gesture, Kobe was handed a glass of water. "He can take a punch? Some kinda of nullification power? I know its got its own limitations, but I ain't too fond of what they are. If yer vouched for him, I'll trust it, Brobart."

Charlotte sat next to Flora and Kobe, "Excuse his manners you two, feel free to take a seat." He hand extended out to the couch on the opposing side that she'd been on.

Lips poking out, Kobe mumbled a few things under his breath before speaking out loud. Pointing to Charlotte, Kobe gave her an introduction. "This 'ere is, Badger Charlotte. She got some wisdom on her and she'd been guiding me through tha' right and wrongs. She's been holdin' off her plan with me until yer got 'ere, so I'm sure she ready to speak."

Throating clearing, Charlotte straightened her back and looked to Tabart. "Originally, I thought it would be ill for Kobe to go onto this land in attempts to conquer it alone and had devised a plan where we could split the forces in an equal effort. Divide and conquer if you will. Though, once he shared he'd be enlisting the aid of you, I did full research of your abilities and combined it with the Marine knowledge to propose an efficient plan that does not sacrifice the might of everyone, yet uses everyone in strong suits fitted for them. With the addition of someone who could nullify and/or absorb shock, it just broadens my possibilities of placements on the board."

First, she lifted her finger and pointed to Tabart and Flora. "These two will serve as transport to the top of the peak. Through the combination of your Mosa Mosa no Mi and Kusa Kusa no Mi, I do not see why you two would not be capable of creating a sustain trunk that could take the assault group to the top. It would be much easier for Kobe to create Nimbuses, though thanks to his wound. It'll be hard for him to sustain them all the way up the peak if it is as high as the Marines claim while trying to breathe as well as guiding the ship and manipulating the weather actively during the voyage. He struggles the breathe as it already is."

Then she pointed to Mort and to the doorframe at Drake. "Drake and Mort? Will serve as the two who will battle the Giants who safeguard the peak. I am unclear about how many there are, but I can guess an entire civilization. Drake possesses great might, but" Kobe reached to the side of the couch and pulled forth a devil fruit and placed it on top of the table. "It'll be amplified by the power of Kogo Kogo no Mi-a fruit that grants the user the ability to crush whatever it is they come into contact with. I've informed Drake of what it is he can achieve with this power and he's prepared to give his ability to swim in exchange."

Pausing, she pointed to Silas and Flannery. "Silas and Flannery will remain among the ship to guard myself and Flora. The Marine has told me that there are unidentified sea monsters within at last a 15-mile radius of the mountain. These two will use their powers to actively keep the sea monsters away from attacking the Flying Nimbus Silas can chew whatever may be capable of leaping on the ship, while Flannery can superheat the ocean."

"That alone should be more than enough to get you two to the top of the mountain and plant you "base". All while this is unfolding, you will all be attached with Den Den Mushi to report any difficulties. We will devise a quick plan to act accordingly to what has happened. I would highly suggest not killing, as if you want to conquer a land, one must beat the people into submission and then brought back to their feet. Killing brings fear and builds and unstable population. Keep that in mind."

Bursting out into laugh, Kobe sunk into the couch. "Clahahahahaha! See what I mean, Brobart? She ain't just cute!" Tapping the side of his head, he continued. "She's got a mind on her as well!"

Tabart nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it sounds like a really solid plan so far. I like the sound of it. However, what's this breathing issue that she's talking about Kobe?"

"Tch," Kobe bit his lip as he turned his head. Reaching to his chest, he pulled the badges to the ground and for the first time revealed the wound to his other crewmates aside from Drake and Charlotte. "It was a battle of the gods!" He said, his chest poking out as the wound began to breathe as though it were its own living organism inside of Kobe.

The scar stretched from Kobes right nipple all the way down to his left hip. Though nothing had been happening at the moment, the wound leaked small fuses of blood down his body, yet the ebony teen simply smiled. "That Yonko Daddy L. Legs gave me a wound that only those in my plan could--no--those beyond my plane could give me in a single strike with no effort." Kobe stopped as his piratey accent had completely dropped.

"For those curious of what happens when you fight a Yonko, when you are out of your league. This is it." He said, pointing to his wound. "All it took was one might blow of hers to give me this wound and there was no effort behind it. At night, I grime of pain as this wound throbs and beats louder than my own heart." Kobe cuffed his hands and gripped the air, "I've been told all my life that I possess a god complex. I've been obsessed with the creation and controlling people, even using my power as a Prince to control the people of the Cloudia Kingdom like they are mongrels. But this single strike here shows me that there is still more power I need to achieve before I become an untouchable being on this sea."

"I have identified that power and once it is obtained, I will seek out that Yonko and take her life as the rightful god I am and as the son of "Kronos", put dust on those who look at me otherwise."