"Something's off," Perona muttered, her eyes narrowing. "I don't like this one bit."
Perona was clearly in a bad mood. She watched Hina, Ezio, and Conis as they moved around the island, helping villagers, tending to the wounded, and fixing the damage the pirates (and, let's be honest, especially Conis) had caused.
Hina was in full command mode, barking out orders with the precision of a military general. No one dared question her, not even the unpredictable Ezio. She had a natural authority, and everyone followed her lead without hesitation.
A couple of hours later, Ezio passed by with a strange black fruit in his hands, looking oddly casual. Perona's eyes shot wide in disbelief.
"Another Devil Fruit?" she asked, her voice dripping with incredulity.
"Yep," Ezio replied, shrugging as sweat glistened on his forehead from a day of hard work. "I've gotta hide it. Hina's obsessed with this thing. It's that cage fruit from that crazy captain. I don't get it. Why would she want to eat that? Sure, it's useful, but there are so many better options. No way is my crew member going to become some walking cage, of all things."
With that, he stormed off, disappearing into the depths of the island with the Devil Fruit—an artifact many would kill to possess.
Perona pouted, crossing her arms. "What's his problem? When do we get to do the fun stuff?!"
After all, the whole point of their crew was to curse places, wasn't it?!
After another long hour of waiting, Perona was fuming. She stormed over to Ezio—who was busy helping some random girl—and without hesitation, grabbed him by the ear.
"Puff!" Her cheeks inflated in frustration like an angry balloon.
Before she could unleash her fury, a thunderous roar echoed across the island, freezing everyone in place.
From the skies above, a man descended.
He wore a flowing white cape and a bizarre dog-shaped mask that barely concealed his wild energy. Clutched in one hand, as casually as if it were a loaf of bread, was a massive cannonball. He wasn't falling—he was flying, propelled by nothing but pure, chaotic determination.
"DON'T WORRY, CITIZENS!" the dog-masked man bellowed. "I HEARD PIRATES WERE TERRORIZING THIS ISLAND! BUT GRANDPA GARP IS HERE TO SAVE THE DAY!"
All heads turned skyward, stunned. Perona squinted in disbelief.
Still soaring, Garp scanned the ground for villains—and locked eyes with the last person anyone expected.
Ezio.
"SO IT'S YOU!" Garp roared. "PREPARE YOURSELF, SCOUNDREL!"
Before anyone could react, he hurled the cannonball with terrifying force.
"Wha—NO!" Perona shouted, but it was too late.
The cannonball struck Ezio dead-on, launching him through the air like a ragdoll and slamming him into the very wall he had painstakingly repaired just hours earlier.
A cloud of dust rose. Silence fell.
Then Garp landed dramatically in front of the dumbstruck crowd and pulled off his mask, revealing a wide, confident grin.
"Relax," he said, flashing a thumbs-up. "I've taken care of the evil pirate!"
There was a beat of stunned silence.
Then chaos erupted.
"EZIOOOO!" the villagers screamed in horror, Perona's voice loudest of all.
"HOW DARE YOU, YOU LUNATIC?!"
"HE'S NOT A PIRATE!"
"ARE YOU BLIND?!"
Enraged citizens hurled anything they could find—rotten fruit, old shoes, even someone's lunch—at the so-called Marine Hero.
"What the—?!" Garp ducked as an egg exploded on his forehead. "Why are you mad at me?! I just saved you!"
"I'LL SHOW YOU SAVING!" Perona growled, her eyes blazing with rage. She summoned her largest, most grotesque ghost and sent it flying toward him.
The ghost slammed into Garp—and instantly, his bravado melted.
"I'm a worthless father..." he mumbled, sinking to his knees. "...a worthless grandfather too...!"
Tears poured down his face as he crumbled, broken not by cannon fire—but by guilt.
"I'm even... a worthless Marine…"
Ignoring the sobbing wreck that was Garp, Perona rushed to Ezio, who was half-buried beneath the massive cannonball.
Her heart sank.
"Shit, shit, oh shit…" she muttered, hands trembling as she tried to lift the heavy metal off his battered body. Ezio was unconscious, blood trickling from his mouth. His clothes were torn, his skin bruised and scraped. Despite his strange powers, Perona knew the truth: Ezio was human—painfully human—and that attack was anything but ordinary.
In a sudden flash of white light, Conis appeared at her side, lightning crackling faintly in her wake.
"What happened?" she demanded, kneeling beside him. Her eyes—normally so soft—now sparked with raw, electrical fury. Lightning danced across her pupils, betraying an anger uncharacteristic of the gentle girl.
Perona didn't answer. She couldn't. She was too focused on Ezio, trying to keep him awake, trying not to scream.
Behind them, Hina stepped forward, her arms crossed and jaw clenched.
"And to think I once wanted to join the Marines," she said bitterly, glaring down at the weeping man who still sat in a puddle of self-loathing. "That's the Hero of the Marines? Pathetic."
"We need a doctor," Perona snapped, voice sharp with desperation. "Not just any doctor—someone who can work miracles. He won't last long like this."
Suddenly, Ezio stirred.
His lips moved, barely more than a whisper: "...Dressrosa…"
Perona leaned in, holding his face gently. "What? What about Dressrosa?"
"B-Bring me... to Dressrosa…" he rasped. "Search... for the princess… the little…"
His eyes fluttered. He reached for Perona's hand—and the moment their fingers touched, a surge of something otherworldly rushed through her.
Her breath caught in her throat. A strange warmth—no, energy—pulsed from him into her. It wasn't physical. It was deeper than that. Like something ancient had brushed against her soul.
Then Ezio's eyes rolled back, and he went limp.
Perona sat frozen, clutching his hand.
Something had passed between them.
Something she couldn't explain.
Suddenly, space rippled beside them—twisting and warping—until a glowing, purple portal tore itself open.
From the swirling light stepped a woman dressed in shades of soft pink, her hair a matching hue that flowed like silk. Her eyebrows curled in spirals, giving her an almost whimsical appearance that sharply contrasted the serious air she carried.
"Huh," the woman said, eyeing the unconscious Ezio with a slight frown. "To think you'd get into a situation like this without the luck to worm your way out…" She tapped a finger against her chin, thoughtful. "You've grown complacent, Ezio."
Perona's eyes narrowed. "You."
"Who is she?" Hina asked, stepping protectively in front of Ezio.
Perona sighed. "According to Ezio... she's part of our crew."
The woman smiled warmly, completely unfazed by the tension. "Indeed, I am. Vinsmoke Reiju—at your service."
"The Germa princess?!" Perona gasped, eyes widening.
"Former," Reiju corrected with a wink. "Let's not get stuck on titles. We don't have time."
Her gaze turned to Ezio, assessing, calculating. "Dressrosa, right? Hmm… not ideal. But I might just be able to get you there—if fortune smiles on us." She looked at Perona and grinned, her eyes gleaming. "And I have a feeling it will."
"You're not coming with us?" Conis asked, surprised.
Reiju shook her head, the smile fading slightly. "I can't. Opening a portal to the New World is no small feat—it drains everything from me. After this, I'll be out of commission for days."
She looked down at Ezio, then back at the others.
"I'm trusting you to protect him until I can catch up."
Without waiting for approval, she snapped her fingers.
Another purple portal opened, this time beneath their feet. In a single moment, Perona, Hina, Conis, and the unconscious Ezio were swallowed by the light—vanishing from sight.
Silence fell over the street.
A long beat passed before Garp rose from where he sat, brushing dust and dirt from his pants.
"What an interesting bunch," he muttered to himself, chuckling. Then, more softly, "A worthless Marine, indeed…"
He reached into his coat and pulled out a Den Den Mushi. It blinked slowly, awaiting command.
He dialed.
"Garp," came Sengoku's voice on the other end, calm but tinged with frustration.
"I failed," Garp said with a crooked smile.
There was a heavy sigh. "So you let them go."
"You expected any different?" Garp chuckled. "You know me."
"The World Government won't be pleased. Not after what we learned about that boy's power."
"He's not a warrior," Garp said, his tone serious now. "No Haki. No combat skills. Just a strange Devil Fruit that even your scholars can't explain. A power that saved this island from pirates—yet no one understands how."
There was silence on the line. Then Sengoku spoke again, voice grim.
"That fruit… it's only mentioned once. A fragment in an ancient text. A legend—nothing more. No detailed abilities, no records. Just a single line: 'The one who bears this fruit shall carry the power to twist fate itself.'"
Garp's laughter rumbled like distant thunder.
"And isn't that terrifying in its own right?"
Sengoku didn't respond immediately.
Garp's voice dropped to a murmur, thoughtful. "I don't think he's evil. But I do think the World Government's going to try to make him an enemy. Maybe they already have."
"Then your actions today—" Sengoku began.
"Were not in favor of the Marines," Garp finished. "But maybe, just maybe... they were in favor of something better."
He hung up.
The Den Den Mushi blinked off.
Garp stared at the horizon, eyes narrowed.
"Change fate, huh?" Garp muttered to the wind, his gaze distant. "Seems my own foolish son is trying to do the same."
A small, weary smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Maybe one day, the two of you will cross paths… Let's see what you make of that legend, Ezio."