Chapter 88: Me? Crazy? I should get down off this unicorn and slap you

“This is nostalgic.” said Zoro.
“What do you mean?” asked Franky.
“Back when we entered the Grand Line at the reverse mountain, the weather was the same.” replied Sanji.
“Yeah, a huge storm, a lot of rain, thunder and lightning .” added Usopp.
“There wasn’t any sea on fire in the horizon though.” chimed in Nami as she raised her hand and used her abilities.

Immediately the sky began to clear out around them. The rain and clouds were gone, replaced by a blue sky with the sun shining. It was a funny sight to see as beyond a certain distance the storm was still raging on all sides.

“Nami! Why did you do that?! Asked Luffy
“That broke the moment!” said Ussop.
“Because I didn’t want Rick to be hit by a lightning bolt while flying!”
““““...”””””

That shut them all up and reminded them that Rick was leaving them, perhaps for good this time. The atmosphere got heavy. They didn’t know if there was a cure for his condition. God knows Chopper tried but never found anything wrong with his body, to his frustration. He couldn’t even begin to understand, especially when Rick's healing factor was even faster than before. It didn’t make sense as two years ago it almost was average. The vice-captain had bullshitted the reindeer with an actual fact. That, like the last moment of a candle’s flame, it suddenly becomes bigger and brighter for a single moment before being snuff out.

“It will be alright. You’re all pretty strong right now.”
“It’s you we're worried about!” said Sanji.
“Meh, don’t be.”
“You got one of your feelings, again?” asked Usopp
“Who knows?”
“Well you! Duh!” stated Luffy
“Yes, but if I told you… Where would be the fun in that?” he said with a smirk.

That answer didn’t sit well with Nami who love-punched his head into the deck, followed by Usopp, Luffy, Chopper and Sanji.

“You idiot!”yelled Chopper
“Don’t make a joke about your own life!” Usopp
They were well into it when hands bloomed stopping them from doing further damage.

“Robin!” Luffy.
“I would appreciate it if you didn’t hurt my husband so much.” she said with a serene smile.
“But Robin-chwan!”
“It’s alright, he’ll be back.” she announced while picking up the man she loved from the ground.
“I will” he answered as he took her in his arms and kissed her. The kiss was interrupted when Nami spanked his ass, making him jump in surprise.
“What the hell, Nami!” he exclaimed.
“Where is my hug!”

For an instant he was tempted to make a joke about that spank coasting her money but decided otherwise. He just hugged her and whispered in her ear.

“When I’m back, I’m marking you all over again, okay?”

She just nodded into his chest and he let her go as he felt Chopper grabbing his pants. Crouching down he hugged him too.

“I’ll try to see if he has any research for you.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”

He stood up and looked at the rest of the crew.

“See you later!” was all he said as he winked at them and took to the sky at high speed.

Everyone watched him leave in silence.
“He’ll be back” stated Robin once more.
“Robin is right. He died back on Skypiea, he died back at Marineford. Death can’t get a hold on him, for long.” said Zoro.
“And even if she does… Who knows maybe he’ll be back as a skeleton like me? Yohohoho.” joked Brook.


~~~~~

With Fishman island directly under the Red Line, the crew surfaced close to it. It wasn’t difficult then for Rick to know where to go. He rose up in the sky far above the tall ring of rocks and flew over it. In less than a quarter he was back on the first side of Grand Line. Not far from his location he could see Sabaody Archipelago, his destination.

“Get in contact with Rayleigh, get him to teach me the basics of Haki as fast as possible. Find a way to announce to the world I’m alive why fucking over the navy and the W.G.. Then finally see Hanock and our daughter. Goddess, I can’t believe I’m a dad.”

That piece of information was revealed to him by Robin and Nami during their ascension to the New world. At first he looked at Robin thinking she was the one, remembering their talk about pregnancy during their date on Sabaody but she quickly denied it. He then turned to Nami who denied it too. He was at a loss when he remembered the short time he spent with the pirate queen. Both ladies confirmed that it was indeed her who was the lucky one and that only Hancock knew who the father was until his girls saw his daughter instantly knowing he had fathered her. He was ecstatic at the news. While he was scared of being an awful dad, he was happy to be one.

That brought up a long discussion with Nami and Robin. Did they want children? Robin answered she would love to rebuild O'hara and bequeath to their children her knowledge of the poneglyphs. Of course that it would be his children was the main reason she wanted some in the first place. Nami opted out, for now. She felt too young to think about having and raising children, especially while they were on their adventure. She wasn’t against the idea to have some someday in the future, just not right now to which Robin agreed. Until then they would both enjoy training at making one they joked.

He stopped remembering this conversation and flew towards Shaky’s bar. He had a lot of things to do and little time for it as he had planned to join back the crew at Dressrosa or on their way to it. Remembering the map of the new world he memorized back in his marines days it was at least 3 weeks of journey from Punk Hazard to Dressrossa. He was anxious about that place. While in his first life he had read over and over many times One piece, Dressrossa’s arc was the latest and after all the time that had passed he couldn’t remember very well what happened there. Furthermore after that, he didn’t know what was happening. He’d be totally in the dark and that terrified him a bit.

Landing in front of the bar, he used his gravity to open the door violently and entered.

“Good morning! A pint of beer please Mrs Shakky.”

Rayleigh was sitting at the counter reading the newspaper and didn’t care for his entrance, probably not caring who this new customer was. Shakky on the other hand dropped the glass she was cleaning as she froze recognizing the young man. A young man who died two years ago.
Rick took the seat right next to the Dark King and started a conversation.

“How you doing, old man? Busy? ‘Cause I could use your help for a while.”

Getting annoyed to be disturbed Rayleigh turned his head to look at the annoyance and was so shocked he fell from the seat onto the ground on his ass.

“You.. You..”
“Are alive? Yes. I found death boring so I came back. It’s more fun on this side. I mean, after dying twice you’d think that you’d get used to the boredom but nope.”
““HOW?!”” exclaimed Rayleigh and Shaky who finally finished her reboot.

Rick raised himself from his seat and extended a hand towards Rayleigh, which the latter took, and raised him on his feet.

“It’s a long story, about clouds, flowerpot and true love.” the ex-marine answered with a smile.

He spent the next quarter to half hour talking about his last stand at Marine ford, his death and resurrection.

“Wait, wait, wait. So you.. Grew? Out of a seed.” asked Shaky.
“That’s about right. I mean, that is the only explanation we have and it's not so far fetched. After all, I can sprout other parts of me replacing everything that’s missing.”
“Damn! You’re practically immortal.” commented Rayleigh.
“In a fight more or less. As for outside of fights… Well Robin nurtured the plants for two years and it wasn’t anywhere close to bloom. So unless you have a shit load of clouds full of nutrients…”
“I see.”
“What I’m more curious about is the ring on your hand. You didn’t have one last time you were here.” Asked Shaky pointing at his wedding ring.
“That’s because it's a fairly recent acquisition.” Rick said with a smile, proudly showing her his hand so she could see the ring better.

“You’ve been resurrected for less than a week. You move fast.” stated Rayleigh.
“Who proposed, you or Robin?” asked Shaky, shocking Rick and Rayleigh but not for the same reason.
“She did first but how did you know?”
“Woman intuition.” the bar owner replied with a smirk.

Finally the Dark King spoke about business.

“You said you needed my help, what for?”
“I want you to teach me Haki.”
“Sorry I don’t have six months to teach you.” replied the first mate of the pirate king as he brought his mug to his mouth and started drinking whatever was inside.
“You have a week.”

That answer made what was drinking Rayleigh go down the wrong way. He coughed for a bit before turning to Rick.

“A week?! Are you mad!”
“Of course I’m mad. And I just need you to teach me the basics, the rest I’ll figure out on my own.”

The Dark King looked at him as if a second had popped up on his shoulders, then started laughing.

“My god, life is never boring when you’re around. You’re just like Roger and Luffy.”
“Well, Luffy and I are brothers and with Roger with both a D.”
“Ha! That’s true. Always doing something crazy those D. To think you were one all along. I laughed when I saw you announcing it to the world via the video feed.”
“That’s the only thing I could remember actually. My name.”

Rayleigh finished his drink and started leaving.

“Let’s go! We only have a week.”

Rick tried to pay for his pint but this proved to be difficult as he didn’t have any money. Thankfully Shaky was gracious.

“It’s on the house, as a celebration for your return.”

Rick leaned over the counter and kissed her on the cheek.

“Thank you.” he said and followed Rayleigh outside.


~~~~~

“So… Let's start our lesson with: What do you know about haki?”
“A lot.”
“Go on.”
“There are three types. Observation, Armament and Conqueror. The first two are innate to all living beings but very few ever awaken it during their lives. The last one is seen only in one of several millions people. It’s also the only one you can’t train.”
“Continue.” said Rayleigh, gesturing with his hand.
“Observation is about reading the spiritual energy of things giving the possibility of predicting others actions. The advance version is said to allow a short glimpse into the future.”
“That’s correct so far. What about Armament?”
“Armament is… the ability to cover a body part, or the entire body or even a weapon with one’s spiritual energy. It’s an armor of sorts that also can be used in offense as it makes attacks more potent. At high level it’s possible to emit it in a short range without a medium. At the highest level it’s possible to infuse it in things or people and destroy them from the inside out.”
“Good good! The conqueror?”
“Conqueror haki the ability to unleash one’s own will power and dominate another if his will is weaker.”
“Anything else?”
“Not that I know of.”
“What about spiritual energy?”
“Spiritual energy comes from the will. The stronger the will, the stronger spiritual energy. Or the stronger the soul the stronger the will.”
“The soul?” asked Rayleigh, not knowing what Rick was talking about.
“Two years ago when we got separated, I landed on the island of Dr. Vegapunk. There I learned that the will comes from the Ego which is one's own existence. And the Ego comes from the soul. Without a soul there is not Ego and without Ego there is no will. Without will there is no haki.”
“That’s… rather interesting information.”
“Vegapunk had tried for years to create artificial humans capable of eating two devil fruits…” began Rick as he went on to explain what he learned back then.

“Okay, you do know a lot indeed. Not all but more than most, at least more than me on specific aspects. I mean the part about the soul… Quite unbelievable. Anyway, I’m guessing you want to train both Observation and Armament, so which one do you want to start with?”
“Which one? Old man, why not both?” Rick said with a grin.
“Yes, you’re definitely insane, but it’s your time, use it however you want.”



~~~~~

Silvers Rayleigh, has been the first mate for the Pirate King, he has roamed the ocean and Grand Line for decades, saw plenty of extraordinary things, reached the last island on Grand Line, Laugh Tale, learned about the secrets of the world and the missing history and yet… Never has he been as shocked, as dumbfounded, as bewildered that he was right now.

At the end of the first day Rick had awakened his Observation Haki. While blindfolded he had to dodge or black attacks from Rayleigh. As the sun set he succeeded about a tenth of the time.

Armament Haki came naturally to the ex-marine. The principle was simple: use his will to make part of his body covered in armor. At the end of the second day he could recover his hands with it. It was a small area and not that strong but it was a success nonetheless.

As the week came to an end Rick’s progress has been exponential. He could dodge the simple blows from Rayleigh ten out of ten perfectly and coat any part of his body with an acceptably strong armament. He hadn’t dabbled into the advanced forms but that was okay. He could use Haki moderately well and that was enough. His mastery would only grow with experience and time.

“If I hadn’t witnessed it with my own two eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. What kind of monster are you?” Asked the Dark King.

“Since my soul had probably crossed over countless worlds and lived many lives it must be strong, hence make my Ego and will strong. That’s probably why I learned Haki that fast, but I can’t tell you that.”

“Remember my story about artificial humans?”
“Yeaaaahhh. “
“I’m giving you three guesses at what I am.”
“But you said that those experiments all failed.”
“Yes. I don’t know where I come from or who made me, neither does Vegapunk in that regard, but after plenty of tests he certified me that I was indeed an artificial human. Just one with a soul.”
“If the World Government starts to mass produce soldiers like you…”
“Not happening. While the W.G. funds Vegapunk, all that matters to him is to verify his ideas and theories. He couldn’t care less about what they want. I don’t see him sharing that knowledge, especially since it’s not his findings and still didn’t make any success yet. He just… fixed me, but didn’t create me from scratch.”
“Fixed you?” wondered Rayleigh aloud, not understanding.
“Let’s go back to Shaky’s. If I am to talk about this subject I’m gonna need a drink or ten.”

~~~~~

“So if I get it right, you were supposed to be one of those mindless dolls.”
“Yep.”
“But somehow your body got a soul and you became… you.”
“Correct.”
“But since your body is artificial your life expectancy is or rather was short.”
“That’s right.”
“And you just came back from Vegapunk, who, after your last visit two years ago, worked and found a way to extend it to the point of being the same as regular humans.”
“You got it all right.”

Rayleigh took a long sip of his drink to deal with what he just learned.

“It’s one thing after the other with you.” he joked.
“You have no idea.” replied Rick with a sigh making Shaky laugh behind the counter.
“How does your crew deal with it?”
“They don’t, they’re too busy dealing with Luffy.” he joked, making his audience laugh heartilly.

Suddenly Rick’s tone turned serious. He put his hands into the right pocket of his overcoat and was ready to use the object he had bought in the system’s shop.

“You know, it’s time for me to keep my word.”
“Hmm?”

In a flash the ex-marine put handcuffs around the Dark King’s wrists.

“Really?” said the prisoner, not amused.
“I promised to catch you and even though it took me more than two decades I finally did.” said Rick with a grin before removing the cuffs from a Rayleigh rolling his eyes.
“So… The week is over, you learned haki, miraculously I might add, I guess it’s time for you to go back to your crew?”
“Not yet.”
“You still have things to do?”
“A few, one of them I hoped to rope you in. Some kind of last adventure where you get to stick it to the Navy. Deep with no lube.”
“... I’m not interested.”
“And if I tell you that the reward for your help is an eternal pose to O’hara, where you could pay your respect to Olvia?”
“...”
“...”
“I’m listening.”
“Great! So, I intend to tell the Navy and the W.G. that I’m still alive, and I have the perfect idea to make it the flashiest possible.” he announced with an evil smile.

Hrist_Waltz

Is the speed he learned Haki, bullshit? Yes, totally.