Chapter 2: Chapter Two
William groaned as he made his way into his private lounge. An animated coat-hanger came over and removed his hat, overcoat, and suit jacket, and William sat down on the large comfy, semi-circular sofa that faced the large-wall-sized window. He leaned back and groaned again, this time much louder and more frustrated.
Duros' clanging armor revealed his presence as he, too, entered the lounge. As William's personal guard, he often spent his days up here with the captain.
"What the hell, Duros!? You were supposed to protect me!"
"...I did? I'm sorry, Captain, but did I do something wrong?"
"Oh, you protected me? Then explain the firework that exploded by my head!"
"It did miss didn't it?" Duros chuckled a bit.
"Dammit. I looked like an idiot! I'm gonna have to- like- violate the Geneva convention to get that rep back!"
"Pardon, Captain, but I don't believe I'm familiar with Geneva. Is it near Dodge?"
"Yes, actually. In fact the treaty was actually meant to punish Dodge for- Hey! Don't interrupt me when I'm blaming you for my problems!"
Pearl rushed in suddenly, "I'm so sorry, William, I-"
William raised his hands to stop her mid-sentence, "It's fine Pearl, I was already blaming Duros."
"Yes, Pearl, don't trouble yourself. It's my responsibility to shield you all from the Captain's insecurities."
"Well said, Duros."
"But-" She sighed, "Verona told me about Rockefeller, but I didn't know about his fruit and-"
"Rockefeller? You mean the firework-man? I wouldn't worry about that. From what he said, he probably would've attacked anyway sooner or later."
"But if he'd attacked later, I at least could've finished my speech."
"And it was a fine speech, Captain. I'm sure they would've loved it."
"I didn't even get to Atom's redemption arc!" William turned back to Pearl, his demeanor shifting significantly, "Besides, you saw how I was rolling; it was all complete shit! Like- look, let me roll again just to prove my point."
"No, William-"
"Too late!" The roulette wheel appeared on his arm and he spun it.
After it settled and disappeared again, an exasperated look crossed William's face, "Watch this." His arm stretched, reaching over to the bar across the room. It grabbed a bottle of champagne and snapped back to William, making him stumble a bit. "My body's rubber now. What the hell am I supposed to do with this!? At least with the jacket fruit I could've had Ragnar or Magnus put me on to increase my stature."
He popped the champagne and took a swig, "I swear, this fruit would be overpowered if not for all the shitty Paramecias." He lost himself in thought. "The point is, it was inevitable, you can't blame yourself."
Pearl stood there silently, stubbornly ashamed of herself.
Verona approached behind her, "Hey Cap'n, what do you wanna do with that firework's crew?"
"What've we got?"
"In addition to him and his Fizzle-powers, there's a Paramecia that can manipulate speed and some kind of Bronze Lion Zoan, plus a swordsman and a mink, and then like 20 nobodies."
"Hm. Those are some cool Devil Fruits; see if you can get 'em on board. If they aren't fond of the idea, just put Ragnar on the job."
"Aye, aye, Cap'n." Verona turned and left again, taking a Den-Den Mushi out of his pocket as he did.
William stretched again, taking a bottle of strawberry wine from the shelf and handing it to Pearl. "Here, treat yourself. It's a celebration!"
She smiled sadly at the bottle, and then back up at William, "And will the captain be joining us?"
"Of course! Just give me a few minutes to recharge and- uh- recover from the... excitement of the the evening." He looked at the floor and took a deep breath.
She giggled, "Very well, then. I'll see you all in a few." She turned and left, closing the door behind her as she did.
William took another deep breath. "Right.... right, right, right. I just have to think about the future!" He walked over to the window and looked out, drinking far too much champagne as he walked. He turned back to the armored Duros with a mischievous grin, "Hey, Duros."
"Yes, captain?"
"Guess what."
"...What?"
"I got in contact with a club on Fishman Island, and they are sending their most be-a-utiful mermaids to keep us company! Eh?"
"Ah, yes, I remember Fishman Island. Those mermaids make great company! They're such great conversationalists, I wish I could befriend all of them! That is wonderful news Captain."
William laughed, "Ahhh... never change, Duros." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Speaking of which, you've seemed moody lately, you good?"
"Of course, a knight never wavers."
William examined Duros with narrow eyes.
"It's just-"
"There it is!"
"What?"
"Nothing, Duros. Please continue."
Duros hesitated somewhat, "Well... I vowed long ago to combat injustice, and protect those I love. The latter I get to do everyday, and I'm very thankful for that, and yet... I can't help but feel like I've lost my way. There is so much injustice in the world, but I'm here, living in luxury; a life more comfortable than any knight ought to have."
"Okay, so a mid-life crisis?"
"I- I wouldn't say that captain...it's just-"
"Duros."
"..Yes?"
"Take off your helmet."
"Um- alright I suppose." He took off the helmet and set it on the bar. His somewhat long hair was pressed against his head from the helmet. He looked back and met his captain's gaze.
"Look, we're emperors now-"
"Well.. you are an emperor."
William waved his hand, "Same difference, the point is: we can protect ourselves. If there's something you want to do, go do it! You'll have whatever resources you need, and if something goes wrong, we can come and get you, no problem! Well, maybe problem, but hopefully not."
"I appreciate your concern, Captain, but I made a vow to protect all of you, my family. I won't renege on that promise now. Any other desire of mine is insignificant in comparison."
William used his rubber powers to spin his arms until they snapped back to finger guns, "Or- and this is just an idea- forget your stupid promise and live your best life! Honestly, you're holding yourself back, man."
"Captain, once more I appreciate-"
"Duros! You know how selfish I am. You know how much I rely on you. But I am making an exception for you, as my friend. I am offering a compromise, and compromise isn't even in my vocabulary! You should just take this opportunity with gratitude and go do what you wanna do!"
Duros chuckled, "I certainly don't want you to think me ungracious, but-"
"Fine! Fine, I give up. If you want to be miserable, just go ahead and do it 'cause I can't stop you." William ran his fingers through his hair. "I need a drink."
"There's a bottle of champagne in your hand, Captain."
William sighed, "Thank you, Duros." He paused again before returning to his chipper self, "C'mon Duros, let's party, eh?"
"Yes, let's."
William wrapped his arm around Duros from across the room and pulled him close with his powers, and they walked out towards the private party they were having with the other members of the crew.
.....
Five days later, after the festivities had long ended, William had the oldest crewmembers join him in his private lounge for drinks. Duros, Ragnar, Verona, Pearl, The Head Chef (no bounty) Gravy, and Louis all stood around, drinking and talking, less celebratory and more casual than the drinking of the last few nights.
William watched them all talking with a satisfied smile before clinking his champagne glass with a spoon. The talking died down and they all turned their attention to their captain. "Well, everybody, congratulations on the festivities. I started out.. rough, but we pulled it back now didn't we?"
Sounds of agreement came from the small group, one particularly louder than the rest, "Cha-had, I can't believe you got those Mermaids, Cap'n! I just wish Hertha would've let me see the private show, cha-had."
Pearl rolled her eyes and Duros spoke up, "Well, that's the price of marriage, my friend, Besides!" He wrapped his arm around Ragnar, "What's a mermaid to the company of brothers!"
"Still, man. Mermaids are every man's dream! This is so sad."
William took control of the conversation again, "Well, said, both of you!" He laughed, "It was a week of merriment, one of the many gifts this place has given us."
Everyone smiled thoughtfully, thinking back on the five years they had spent on Gold Nucleus.
"Duros! This place got you that fancy new armor! Verona! You got to use your Devil Fruit like never before! Pearl, you got to put your education to use! Ragnar, you got to live here with your family!"
Ragnar smiled especially brightly, "My whole family."
"Gravy! Louis! You..uh.." He couldn't think of anything.
Gravy laughed joyously and patted his belly, "A state-of-the-art kitchen and hundreds of people to eat my cooking!"
Louis chuckled, "A home, if that is how you say, hon-hon."
"Exactly! We've made a home for ourselves here, and we've done a damn-fine job of doing it!"
Here everyone smiled with severe sentimentality. Several of them began to tear up, but this air was cut off rather quickly-
"-But I think we've outgrown this small island."
Everyone turned to William, the only noise a soft "Cha-ha-had."
"Well? We're pirates aren't we? We aren't meant to sit on our asses and drink champagne all day, and from glasses no less!" William took the glass in his hand and broke it against the window behind him. He gestured towards Duros, who was holding a bottle from when he'd been filling glasses not long prior. Duros understood and threw his captain the alcohol. William chugged as much as he could before pulling it away from his lips and chucking it across the room.
Pearl and Louis were shocked.
Duros and Gravy looked on with soft smiles, finding a William they hadn't seen for a long time.
Verona and Ragnar had tight, delightfully malicious grins as they anticipated their Captain's next words,
"There are plenty of treasures here, in fact, this Casino itself is a treasure. Certainly for me, and I know for all of you too. But it's lacking a certain... center-PIECE."
Duros bust out laughing; Ragnar and Verona let out a simultaneous "Hell yeah!" Pearl, Gravy, and Louis could only look on in shock.
William laughed along with his First Mate, "How can I call myself King of the Gamblers, when I haven't even taken on the ultimate gamble? The greatest game of chance in all the four Blues and the Grand Line?!"
He looked towards his navigator, "Get your maps and shit ready, Verona, for tomorrow we set sail, for the One Piece!"
"Aye, aye, Cap'n!" Verona saluted dramatically.
Pearl began to stammer, "B-but what about the casino? Who's going to run it?"
"We have people for all that, Pearl, but right now, we need a MAD-G."
She was left at a loss, but couldn't help the tears of joy that crossed her cheeks.
"Ragnar, any objections?"
"Of course not, Cap'n. With everything we've done already, I bet we can find it in a year! Cha-ha-had!"
"Anyone else?"
William was met only with smiles and excited eyes. Duros nodded with great satisfaction.
"Alright, then! Tomorrow morning we set sail for enemy territory!"
William widened his stance. He held is arm across his chest and tensed it. He slammed his fist against the window behind him as cracks seemed to form in the air itself, shattering the window entirely. Ambition shone in his brown eyes.
"Gentlemen!
Pearl.
We have some unfinished business with the Emperors of the Sea."
.....
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
HikikoHermitage
HikikoHermitage For those wondering, here are the unamed Fruits that appeared as members of Rockefeller's crew:
The Rover-Rover fruit; A Paramecia that turns the user into a "traffic-light human". The user's left hand makes things stop while their right makes things go.
The Mythical Dog-Dog Fruit, Model Shishi (Komainu). Turns the user into a Guardian Lion-Dog that appears frequently in Asian iconography.
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