[Author Note: Hey it's me again…with a new fic. Hope y'all enjoy this one.✌️]
The air in the West Blue was usually so clear, so clean. It was one of the things Vortex D. Ragnar had come to appreciate in this new life. But right now, standing on the weathered planks of his modest sloop, The Tidereaver, all he could see was the glint of gold in his palm.
It was a simple thing, really. A card. Sleek, cool to the touch, and utterly, terrifyingly powerful. This was the Time Travel Card. The final, most absurd cheat the faceless entity in that black, featureless reincarnation space had given him before tossing him into the world of One Piece.
He'd already gotten used to the other gifts, the thrum of Conqueror's Haki that simmered just under his skin, like a restless ocean waiting for his command, and the incredible, liquid power of his Water-Water logia Fruit that made him almost a god on the seas, almost.
His body, modified to handle a second Devil Fruit, felt like an empty slot, a hunger waiting to be filled. He ran a thumb over the card's smooth surface.
A one-time use. No take-backs, no do-overs. The pressure was immense. He could go anywhere, anywhen. He could stop Ace's death at Marineford. He could warn the Whitebeard Pirates of Blackbeard's betrayal.
He could sail to Laugh Tale a century early.
But then it hit him, a memory surfacing from the deep well of his meta-knowledge from earth, that was his true greatest weapon. The God Valley.
The name alone sent a thrill of revulsion and opportunity through him. The Celestial Dragons' hunting ground. The place where the future Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, had teamed up with the future Marine Hero, Monkey D. Garp, to take down the monstrous Rocks D. Xebec.
But Ragnar knew that this was false, as the true reason they fought Rocks should be due to Imu transforming Rocks into a demon by using Domi Riversi.
It was a chaotic, bloody mess where the world's balance was shattered and reforged in a single, brutal day. And the Celestial Dragons… they treated Devil Fruits like party favors.
They would have brought dozens, maybe even the very fruits that would later define the world's strongest.
His golden eyes, the color of molten treasure, lit up with a fierce, greedy light.
That was it. That was the play. He wouldn't just get a Devil Fruit, he'd have his pick of the litter from the most concentrated collection of power in history.
And with his Logia devil that can control water? He could move unseen, flow through the chaos, snatch what he wanted, and vanish without a trace. Even if Imu was there, lurking in the shadows, what were they going to do? The whole island was a warzone. He'd be a single drop in a hurricane.
A slow, confident grin spread across his handsome face. The plan was perfect. No more hesitation. This was why he was here. To seize the future by rewriting the past.
From a small chest in his cabin, he pulled out a plain white mask, featureless save for two narrow slits for his eyes. It was unnerving, anonymous. Perfect. He held the golden card aloft, focusing all his will, all his intent.
He pictured the island, the violence, the specific moment when the Rocks Pirates descended upon the unsuspecting nobles. He aimed for the heart of the storm.
"Take me to God Valley," he whispered, the words swallowed by the sea breeze.
The world dissolved.
It wasn't a gentle transition. It was a violent, gut-wrenching lurch. The serene blue of the West Blue vanished, replaced by a blinding, all-consuming gold. For a moment, he was nothing, formless, adrift in a river of time. Then, just as suddenly, he was slammed back into reality.
The first thing that hit him was the noise. A cacophony of screams, explosions, clashing steel, and bestial roars. The second was the smell, copper-rich blood, acrid gunpowder, and the sweet, cloying scent of burning sugar from Big Mom's homies.
He stood in the shadow of a crumbling marble archway, part of some opulent Celestial Dragon structure now being pulverized into dust.
All around him, pirates in mismatched gear, the hodgepodge army of the Rocks Pirates, clashed with Marines in crisp white uniforms who were already looking hopelessly outmatched. In the distance, he felt the earth-shaking tremors of titans fighting.
'Okay, Ragnar,' he thought, forcing his breathing to steady. 'Discretion. Be a ghost.' He let his body loosen, the edges of his form blurring. He became less solid, a man-shaped mist, a shimmer of heat haze in the air.
He flowed, not ran, moving through the battlefields like a current, avoiding the major clashes. His Observation Haki, while not yet top-tier, was enough to give him a few seconds' warning, letting him slip past swinging swords and flying cannonballs.
He was looking for something specific, a memory from the manga, the three children, running for their lives.
And then he saw them. Ducking behind a smoldering carriage, he spotted them.
A boy with a massive, disproportionately large head, his face a mask of terror and ...determination. That was Bartholomew Kuma. Beside him ran a lanky, dramatic-looking boy with a prominent nose, Ivankov. And a third, a smaller girl he didn't immediately recognize. His heart hammered against his ribs. This was it. The source.
He became pure water, a puddle sliding through the mud and gore, clinging to the shadows of shattered statues and burning mansions, like a silent predator following the frantic children.
They were desperate, their eyes wide with a fear that was all too real, scrambling towards a large, ornate chest that had been flung from a noble's overturned chariot. The lid was broken, and inside, nestled amidst silks and jewels, were several bizarre, swirling-patterned fruits.
His spectral form tightened with anticipation. He could see them clearly now. One fruit was deep crimson, shaped like a cluster of grapes, thrumming with a strange, doughy energy.
The other… the other was a breathtaking shade of azure and white, sculpted like a twisting serpent-dragon, scales etched into its skin.
It pulsed with a raw, mythical power that called to the empty slot in his very soul. The Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryu. The fruit that would make Kaido the "Strongest Creature in the World."
'That one,' he thought, his entire being screaming for it. 'It has to be that one.'
Just as the children reached the chest, a shadow fell over them. A mountain of a woman, with vibrant pink hair and a voracious gleam in her eyes, blocked their path. The air grew thick and sweet.
"MAMA MAMA! Hand that over, you little brats!" Big Mom's voice boomed, a terrifying mix of childish glee and absolute menace.
Little Ivankov flinched but stood his ground, his hands darting into the chest. He snatched the two most prominent fruits, the azure dragon and the crimson meatball. Big Mom's massive hand shot out, easily prying the gorgeous dragon fruit from Ivankov's grasp.
"It's mine!" she cackled, holding it up to the fire-lit sky. "Such a pretty fruit!"
But as she reached for the second fruit, the Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, still in Ivankov's hand, the child made a split-second decision. He wasn't going to let this monster have them both. With a desperate cry, he shoved the crimson fruit towards Kuma. "Kuma, eat it!"
The fruit tumbled through the air in slow motion. Kuma's eyes widened, his large hands fumbling. Big Mom roared in outrage, her other hand swinging down to intercept it.
She never got the chance.
From the shadows of a nearby ruined wall, a massive, articulated hand made of shimmering, pressurized water erupted.
It was silent and impossibly fast. It snatched the tumbling Meat-Meat Fruit out of the air an inch from Kuma's fingertips, closed into a liquid fist, and retracted back into the darkness in the blink of an eye.
The entire theft took less than a second.
Big Mom froze, her hand closing on empty air. Her Observation Haki flared, a monstrous wave of spiritual pressure. She sensed it then, a presence, not a solid body, but a flowing, watery essence, already moving away at incredible speed, the unique energy signature of the Devil Fruit disappearing with it.
"WHO DARES?!" she shrieked, her voice shaking the very ground. Her head whipped around, homies swirling around her in a frenzy. She took a single step to pursue the invisible thief, her rage promising utter annihilation.
But fate, it seemed, had other plans.
"LINLIN!"
A thunderous voice echoed, followed by a kanabo club the size of a tree trunk smashing into her side with enough force to crater the earth. Big Mom grunted in pain and surprise, stumbling sideways.
Standing there, young and already a beast of a man, was Kaido. He saw the beautiful azure fruit still clutched in Linlin's hand, his eyes glinting with primal desire. "That looks strong!" he bellowed.
In her moment of distraction and pain, Kaido lunged. He didn't snatch it; he simply bit down, taking a huge chunk of the Uo Uo no Mi directly from her hand.
He chewed once, his face contorting at the legendary foul taste, then swallowed with a grimace that quickly morphed into a wide, maniacal grin as the power flooded his system.
The opportunity to chase the mysterious water-thief was gone, replaced by a new, more immediate fury.
"KAAAIDO!!" Big Mom's scream was one of pure, unadulterated betrayal. Her dream of an invincible, family-made crew was shattered in an instant. With this Devil Fruit, how strong would her Katakuri be?
All her rage, her immense power, now focused entirely on the traitorous young brute who had stolen her prize. She forgot the stolen meatball fruit, forgot the fleeting water-logia, and charged after Kaido with the intent to kill.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the crumbling palace grounds, Ragnar reformed, his body solidifying from a rushing stream back into his human shape behind the cover of a half-demolished wall.
He leaned against the cold stone, his chest heaving not from exertion, but from a bitter cocktail of triumph and profound disappointment.
He opened his hand. There it was. The Nikyu Nikyu no Mi, the Paw-Paw Fruit, is the source of Kuma's incredible powers. It was an amazing fruit, truly.
The ability to repel anything, even pain and fatigue, to travel at light speed, to create devastating shockwaves… it was a top-tier Paramecia, a treasure beyond measure.
But it wasn't the one he wanted.
He stared at the crimson fruit, its swirls seeming to mock him. He had the Azure Dragon in his grasp, he'd felt its call, and it had been ripped away by the chaotic tide of history.
Kaido had it now. The future Strongest Creature was born right here, right now, partly because of his own intervention. The irony was a bitter pill to swallow.
He had one of the most powerful fruits in the world in his hand, a fruit that could literally push the suffering out of people, and all he could feel was the hollow ache of missing out on the mythical zoan.
His modified body yearned for that second fruit, and while the Paw-Paw Fruit was a king's ransom, it felt like a consolation prize.
He looked up at the smoke-choked sky, the sounds of the epic battles echoing in the distance.
He was a time-traveling ghost with a stolen prize, stranded in the most dangerous place on the planet, his grand plan only half-successful.