Shakky's Rip-Off Bar, Grove 13, Sabaody Archipelago, Paradise, Grand Line
Shakky, a woman who seemed to never age polished a glass with a clean cloth her eyes scanning the morning newspaper laid out on the bar.
She took a long slow drag from her cigarette, the smoke curling up towards the ceiling.
"Hmmm....." she said to the empty room. "The World Government is getting better at writing fairy tales. They have even created a handsome prince to save the day."
A voice, deep and calm like the bottom of the ocean came back from another room of this bar. "Fairy tales are for children, Shakky. This is something else."
Silvers Rayleigh, the "Dark King" and the former right hand of the Pirate King walked out. His old eyes, which had seen the entire world and all its secrets looked down at the newspaper.
He saw the picture of the serious faced man named "Umi."
"Heh," Rayleigh chuckled a low rumbling sound. "They never change their tricks. When the world starts to get noisy, when people start asking too many questions, they create a monster to scare everyone and then they create a hero to make everyone feel safe."
Shakky blow a smoke ring. "It is a good trick. It's worked for them for a long time. The people will eat it up. They will hate Dragon and they will love this new 'Vice Admiral'."
Rayleigh picked up the paper but his gaze was distant, looking at something far beyond the cheap ink and paper.
He wasn't just seeing a political lie. He was seeing the ghost of a very old pattern a shadow that had stretched across centuries. This level of control, this kind of world shaking manipulation… it felt familiar.
It felt ancient.
"It is not just a trick," Rayleigh said softly, his voice was heavy with the weight of memories he could never share. "It is a system. A system designed to keep the world in a cage and they just put a new shiny lock on the door."
He looked at the picture of Umi again.
The power in those eyes, the way he held himself… it reminded Rayleigh of the old stories, the legends from the Void Century that so few people know in current era.
It was the look of someone who believed they had the right to rule the world, to decide what was right and what was wrong for everyone.
The world had seen a clash like this before.
A clash of wills so powerful it had almost broken the planet.
______________________________________
862 Years Ago
The world was on fire because of war between two factions.
The seas were red with the blood of a great, terrible war.
On a certain island, where the very ground was cracked and split open from the force of mighty battles, two figures stood facing each other.
The first was a young man with a wide irrepressible grin though today, his smile was tinged with a deep sadness. He wore a simple shirt, pants, and a familiar-looking straw hat on his head. His eyes though tired from endless fighting, still sparkled with an unshakeable belief in freedom.
The second was also a young man, but he stood as straight and proud as a king. His clothes were fine and royal, even in the middle of a battlefield. His face was handsome, but it was twisted by a cold righteous anger.
His red eyes glowed with the pain of betrayal.
The man in the straw hat took a step forward, his hand outstretched. "Imu… my friend," he said, his voice full of a weary sorrow.
The majestic man's face distorted with anger. "Joyboy," he said the name like a curse.
Joyboy let out a small sad chuckle. "Who needs an enemy," he said, looking at the destruction all around them, "when someone has a friend like you?"
"Friend?" Imu's voice was a furious hiss. "Don't make me laugh. When the world is in chaos, A friend helps to bring order. Instead of helping me, you joined hands with enemies."
"This is your problem, Imu," Joyboy's voice was suddenly full of fire, his own frustration finally boiling over. "I told you so many times. They are not the enemy. The fish-men, the giants, other races of this world and, the people of the that kingdoms… They just want to be free....they just want to be live on their own way."
"Enough of your hypocrisy!" Imu roared, his patience finally worn out. "You talk of freedom, but bring only destruction. I will create a world of perfect order. A world where there is no war, no chaos. And I will do it without you..."
A terrifying power erupted from Imu.
The very air around him grew heavy and cold. His body began to change and began to grow.
His skin turned a dark watery black like the deepest part of the ocean at midnight. Glowing purple veins spread across his form like lightning trapped under his skin. Two great horns of pure shadow curled from his head. He grew and grew until he was a towering monster, fifteen meters tall a giant of darkness and sea-water.
This was the hybrid form of his Mythical Zoan fruit: the Devil-Devil Fruit, Model: Sea Devil Umibozu.
In his giant hand, his sword, Reidai Kitetsu also grew with him. Its dark red blade now pulsed with an evil black energy. He raised the massive sword high above his head, ready to bring it down and slice the man in front of him in two parts.
"I will erase you and your foolish dreams from history" Imu yelled, his voice like the sound of a tidal wave.
But Joyboy did not run.
He did not even look scared. Instead, a sound burst out from deep within his chest. It was a single sound of drum at first, then it turned into a loud booming contagious laughter that seemed to push back the darkness.
"Hahahahaha...You are always so serious Imu" Joyboy laughed.
As he laughed, a brilliant white light exploded from him. His body became rubbery and free. His hair turned into a white flames and a scarf of pure fluffy clouds appeared around his neck. His eyes glowed with a joyful golden light.
This was the awakening of his own power, the Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Nika, the Sun God.
Imu's giant sword came crashing down.
Joyboy, now a being of pure freedom and imagination simply held up one rubbery fist to meet it.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
A fist met a sword but it was so much more than that.
Two incredible forces of will, two most powerful Conqueror's Haki in the history of the world clashed into each other.
A terrifying wave of pure red and black energy exploded outwards, ripping the island apart even more. The ground shattered. The sea around the island was pushed back, momentarily creating a giant empty crater on the sea floor.
High above, the smoky sky was torn in two. The clouds were ripped apart, creating a perfect shocking split in the heavens.
The two forces were perfectly matched.
"You cannot stop me!" Imu roared. He lifted his other hand, and the very air behind him shimmered. Dozens of massive shadowy spears, each one dripping with a dark watery energy appeared, all of them aimed at Joyboy.
But Joyboy just grinned, his body bouncing with energy.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh" he shouted back.
He took a deep breath and his rubbery arms began to move becoming a blur.
"Rubber-Rubber…" Joyboy yelled, "GATLINGGGGG"
His fists flew forward a hundred, then a thousand of them an impossible storm of punches that filled the air.
Each fist was coated in the brilliant, sun like energy of his power.
The shadowy spears flew towards him. But they were met by a wave of joyful rubbery fists.
Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom-Boom
Each spear was shattered into nothingness by the relentless barrage. The darkness was broken apart by the light.
The two god-like beings stood across from each other on the island, under a sky they themselves had broken.
One was a king of order and darkness and the other was a warrior of freedom and laughter.
It was a battle between two friends.
It was a battle between two ideas.
It was a battle for the fate of the entire world.
And it was a battle that would be erased from history.