Chapter Text
“Hello everyone! It's so nice to meet you in person!”
The dome of the massive theatre roared. Thousands of the guests leapt from their seats and began pumping their fists in the air, stomping their feet, and screaming with a mixture of excitement, adoration and utter delight. Scanning equipment of the marines, upon review later on, would be discovered to have recorded minor tremors that typically proceeded earthquakes as the ocean's most beloved songstress stepped onto the stage in a beautiful white dress.
“It's insane, how they all go mad as soon as she arrives.” The undercover marine muttered to his companion. They had narrowly managed to secure some seats in the lowest rings of the circular dome, giving them a decent view of the stage – much to the fury of the quartermaster when he saw how much late tickets were going for. The younger man's skull was still ringing from the rant. “She's not a member of the World Government, a royal, or a Navy adjutant. She was the host of a demon with a pirate for a 'father'!”
“Will you keep your voice down you idiot?” His partner hissed frantically, driving a violent elbow into his ribs and glancing at the right. Fortunately, the fans sitting in the chairs beside them were too busy screaming and cheering to have picked up on that little bit of heresy. “Do you want us to get lynched?”
“Erk! Sorry, sir... I just...” The marine mumbled. Now barely audible admist the thundering audio assault surrounding them, he continued. “I just don't understand...! How does she have so much power over the masses?! Did we fall under the influence of her devil fruit? Is this a dream world of her conjuring?”
The knowledge of the Sing-Sing fruit and its powers had sit a dozen campfires under the asses of their superiors. The two undercover marines were lieutenants, initially being very much under the impression that command central had lost their minds over a freaking songstress who had been speaking nonsense to justify her becoming a pirate to her fanbase, had not been enthused to hear that they were infiltrating a music concert instead of hunting down the Straw Hats, the Beast Pirate remnants, or anything more important.
Then said higher-ups had, very reluctantly, made an announcement that some of Uta's broadcast had been truthful information – particularly the nightmarish powers of the Sing-Sing fruit. The single highest first-time bounty ever had been issued and they'd been deployed in a hurry to try and capture the woman at her in-person concert.
“Her powers only activate upon singing, when she desires it. We've got a bit of sea stone on our person, so we'll be able to avoid the influence.” His partner said. “As to the public falling for her – what's there to tell? She's a pretty young woman who listens to their woes and spins some nice dreams about her influencing the ocean towards peace; a classic feminine sort of power. You might as well as how Straw Hat has so many allies.”
The marine uttered a small snicker. “I'll grant that she's nice to look at, despite being a pirate.”
Uta walked up to the microphone, waving at the crowd. Her dress was a fairy tale whirl of white and gold, with long lacey sleeves and delicate jeweled butterflies covering the skirt and a crown of red tulips and diamonds gracing her brow. It had a bit of a train, but not one so long she wouldn't be able to dance in it; her long red and white hair was lying loose around her neck instead of being tied up as usual.
She had earrings; pink and red ruby music notes set in the heart of a rising sun of pure gold. Pirate wedding bands, the Marine noted with distaste. She wasn't even attempting to hide it, yet she came to the concert and blatantly put all of her supposedly cherished fans – so many of whom were civilians – in danger anyway.
Uta beamed at the crowd and tapped her mic. “This is the biggest concert I've ever held, and I'm still amazed by how many of you showed up! Let's get this party started, yeah?!”
She clapped her hands together and instantly dozens of spotlights crackled to life, bathing the stage in radiant reds, yellows, blues and oranges. The stage itself lit up like a lighthouse beacon, with hearts and various wedding symbols whisking along the rows of screens below her feet and the crowd roared loud enough to open ever grave from here to the Red Line. The orchestra behind her rose from the floor, and instantly the Marine's eyes clapped onto 'Soul King' Brooke as the skeleton stepped forward with a violin raised to his chin.
“One, two, three, four!”
The Straw Hat Pirate began to play a jaunty, energetic tune that echoed across every inch of the dome venue – practically rattling the Marine's brain in his skull. Wait a second! Can't he also manipulate people with music?! He wondered, adrenaline flaring in his veins. He grabbed the cold sea stone band circling his left wrist, reminding himself to stand strong. He would not be disarmed by pirates!
He was a man of the Navy, an instrument of Justice! He couldn't be brought low by a woman's wiles!
“I've been hearing your heart beat inside of me,” Uta sang, picking up a familiar straw hat from the floor and grabbing the mic with her other hand. She pulled it from the pedestal and began to dance, her sensual voice rushing over the listeners like a tide of warm water. “I keep your photograph beside my bed... livin' a world of fantasy, I can't get you out of my head...”
The crowd shrieked and applauded, stamping their feet; enthralled with no devil fruit power being necessary. This, the Marine reminded himself, was why the Navy was needed. The innocent were easily taken in and needed to be guided by hand away from all that threatened them.
“What do we do first?” He hissed at his partner, itching to go for the sea stone gun he'd been given. It had been a pain in the ass to smuggle past security. The older man was one of the many who'd been given the tranquilizer darts that would safely subdue the Sing-Sing fruit user before she could cast her deadly spells, and they were both good shots. “Take her out, then target the Soul King? What's the word?”
“Idiot; if he's here, so are the rest of the Straw Hats.” His partner growled back. “If we dart her now and fail to secure her, this whole mission is for nothing.”
The marine bristled at the sharp rebuke, adrenaline and impatience to restore the battered and bruised honor of the Navy he served demanding immediate action. “But sir-!”
The man glowered at him and retorted, “Do you honestly think Straw Hat Luffy can be taken down by the likes of us at this point?”
“Unless she's become immune to sea stone-!” The marine began to retort angrily, about to reach for his gun-
The screen behind Uta lit up with various innocent cartoon animals, bopping to the beat and shaking back and forth as messages flashed between them. One of them, which lasted for a few seconds, read 'remember, there are no weapons permitted on the premises.' The two marines blinked in surprise, briefly frozen before someone behind them tapped the younger, more impulsive of the two on the back of the head.
The man bristled and whipped around. “Hey! Watch yourself, you-”
His words sputtered out when he met the gaze of the man responsible. Marco the Phoenix smiled at the pair of Marines in an entirely too-amused manner, his shimmering wings folded against his back. “Me?” He asked innocently, pointing at himself. “You should be watching yourself. Bringing guns to my little cousin's concert.”
The two men were decently quick on the draw; neither were political officers, despite their quick promotions, it was more the result of the quickly, violently implemented draft that had happened after the embarrassment at Marineford. This in no way stopped Marco from slamming their heads together before they could get their guns out of their coat.
“Man, oh, man...” Marco sighed whimsically, grabbing the two men and lifting off from the seats. The fans around him didn't even acknowledge the brief scuffle; he wouldn't be surprised if none of them had so much as noticed. Uta had every single scrap of their attention. “You'd think the Navy would have some manners, at least. What happened to the standards of 'an officer and a gentleman?'”
He flew low to the ground, heading for one of the tunnels where Whitey would be waiting to take the mooks from him. His siblings had planted themselves throughout the crowd (and free of charge, despite Nami's spirited attempts to convince Uta to insist on ticket sales when she thought Pops wasn't listening) partly because of this very eventuality; Shanks had predicted that the Navy would react to Uta's broadcast in their usual 'potentially deadly for innocent bystanders' way and Pops agreed to discreetly follow the Straw Hats just this far to ensure the concert wasn't spoiled.
For bonus points, they got to enjoy Uta's singing in a mostly stress-free environment. And she was so incredible at it, Marco was not surprised that some fans of hers, upon noticing that there were Marines among them, had immediately dogpiled them and beaten them silly before his brothers had even noticed them.
“...baby, I shouldn't get so hung up on you~” Uta sang, fondly flipping Roger's hat in her hands and regarding it with pure adoration. “I remember the way that we touched, I wish I didn't like it so much~!”
Marco flew into the tunnel and dumped the two mooks at Whitey's feet, then spun around and hurried back. He'd just made it back into the sunlight when Uta tossed the hat up into the air. A long, stretchy arm reached out and grabbed it; quickly followed by the rest of Monkey D. Luffy as she dropped down from amongst the green crystals surrounding the stage and landed with a thud next to her fiancé. The crowd, now seeing one of the heroes of the Battle for Life in person and their beloved songstress's new fiance in person, went absolutely bananas.
“I get so emotional, baby~” Uta sang, putting the hat on Luffy's head and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Luffy giggled and started to sing along with her, spinning her around the stage with the lights catching on her amazing sun-covered wedding dress. “Every time I think of you~!” They looked like royalty in that moment – a pirate king and her new bride.
Marco chuckled fondly, looking upwards. The Thousand Sunny was hidden pretty well behind the green crystals. How Franky had got it up there, he had no idea; but he couldn't deny that it was a perfect escape route the Marines couldn't barricade off. Nor could he deny that the planned escape was ridiculously in-character for Luffy and her crew – never could go anywhere without making a stupid huge scene.
Law had sent his own ship ahead, since it wouldn't be as easy for them to slip through the Marine's hastily assembled blockade and keep up with the Sunny as it quite literally 'took off'. He was somewhere aboard the ship, likely muttering about how silly this risk was while smiling down at Luffy. They'd agreed a meet up point and their honeymoon would last at least a week.
Ace had to be argued down to a week with a pointed reminder that he was captain now, they needed him on the Moby's deck sooner rather than later. His little brother had sulked adorably before acknowledging that with grace.
“Ain't it shocking what love can do~? Ain't it shocking what love can do~”
Marines were creeping onto the stage – they must have gotten in through the back and intimidated the backstage workers into letting them pass. Marco was ready to fly straight ahead and deal with them, but he didn't have to; no sooner than they stepped onto the stage, a wash of pink glitter fell down from openings in the ceiling. As soon as it landed on the men, they began to stagger drunkenly, then collapsed in an undignified heap.
Reiju dropped down elegantly from the ceiling, brushing her hair over her shoulder. She was wearing a violet dress; less fancy than Uta and Luffy's, but very flattering, and the crowd whistled when she made her appearance. She joined the dance on stage as Brook played transcendent music, her attention evenly divided between her captain and songstress and making sure no more Marines got on stage.
“The more you stand around, the more the fans are doing your job for you,” Izo joked, snapping Marco back to the present.
Marco blinked, followed his gaze and laughed when he spotted a sphere of people wearing Uta merch completely swarming a hapless troop of marines, and disarming them with the kind of terrifying efficiency you saw in army ants. “Geez! We've got a protective bunch here, don't we?” He said.
“It's humbling to watch them work,” Izo agreed with a helpless snicker. “If she hadn't kept them far away from the battle, I bet they would have torn Tot Musica apart with their bare hands.”
“Well, let's not make them do all the work,” Marco said. “Where to next?”
“The tickets and concession money has all been bagged, miss, but are you sure-?”
Nami snapped her treasury account book shut and snapped the men at the tills a look of pure fire and death. “Why is it still here instead of on the ship?” She demanded with a terrifyingly level voice. “Get moving!” Instantly ten of the men were grabbing sacks and running for their lives. “So help me if you spill a single berry, you'll be joining Kaido in honourable death!”
The organizer sputtered something incoherent, probably begging for mercy, before hastening to obey her. Nami sighed and turned towards Jinbe and Page One, who she'd shanghaied into being her proper muscle, and gestured wearily. “It's so hard to find good help these days,” she said.
“No, you're just impatient and terrifying.” Page grumbled, singing more bags heavy with berry, gold and jewels over his back.
“What was that?”
“Nothing!” The dinosaur zoan yelped, half shifting and grabbing one of the bags between his teeth. “Headed up now!” He darted off fast enough to leave indentations of his footsteps in the floor.
Jinbe gave Nami a mildly quelling look. “You know he still half expects you to seriously follow up on that threat, right?” He asked pointedly. “Try to reign it in a little when giving him instructions.”
Nami frowned. “I am,” she said a little defensively. “Threats with little to no follow through are part of our banter; the more he's exposed to it, the sooner he'll figure out that he's not going to get put in the infirmary for innocent screw ups – or for bantering back!” She grabbed the bag nearest to her and slung it over one shoulder. “I'm trying to ease him in.”
“That... will do him some good,” Jinbe acknowledged, “but it might also reinforce his anxiety and cause him to continue walking on eggshells.” He'd been keeping an eye on Page ever since they left Wano, and he could tell that while the young man was starting to come out of his shell, it would take time before he fully shed the anxiety that the Beast Pirates had pounded into him. “Try to mix in some reassurances that you won't actually fry him with lightning for sassing you?”
“Y...Yeah, I will,” Nami acknowledged, looking a little abashed for a moment despite the gold fever currently coursing through her veins. “Sorry, Jinbe.”
“Well, don't apologize to me,” Jinbe said with a touch of warm humour. “Now, I believe these are the last of the bags? You wanted our share of the concert revenue to be taken up in one go, if I remember correctly.”
That got the fire back in Nami's eyes. “Oh, yes. Now grab the last of them – chop chop!”
Jinbe shook his head with amusement, reaching down and picking up the fruits of their labours. Uta had made the somewhat unwise decision to let Nami in on the financial side of the concert after wringing a promise from the navigator to not unduly scalp her fans for their every last penny; Nami had kept her word in that respect, but the ruthless efficiency she'd applied to everything outside of that had practically been black magic.
Frankly Jinbe wasn't wholly certain it would all fit in the Sunny's treasure room!
Nevertheless, he headed after Nami and let her lead the way up the stairs and ladders to the highest point of the theatre, where the Thousand Sunny was sitting.
“-see the Marine ships, shouldn't we get going soon?” Ussop was complaining nervously when Jinbe drew close to his new home. “Like, in a minute, maybe?”
“Lighten up, Ussop! Let the girls finish their last song.” Franky called back. “Even if they'd brought their whole fleet, they wouldn't be able to stop our SUPER exit! The Coup de Burst is ready to be fired and everything fragile is secured – get your flight suit on!”
Ussop uttered a comically nervous whine. Jinbe hauled himself over the railing and dropped down on the deck with a satisfied sound. “Come now, isn't this a bit of a let down compared to having flown into the sky with the Merry previously?” He asked the sniper good-naturedly.
“Says the man who's never travelled up a knock-up stream...” Ussop groaned. “Can we be sure no one will go flying off the ship?”
Jinbe patted him on the head. “Have faith in your shipwright.” He said. “The glider system Franky constructed is a feat of modern ship construction. We'll be just fine. Now, would you mind helping me get the treasure below deck?”
“Yes sir,” Ussop sighed, grabbing some of his burden and following him into the ship's interior. They passed by Page One, who threw Ussop a sympathetic look before immediately zeroing in on Pudding. The Straw Hat's new lookout beamed when he appeared at her side, wrapping one arm around her waist and kissing her hair.
Zoro was napping at the foot of the main mast; how he was managing to sleep with the booming chorus of the concert right below them, Jinbe couldn't figure out, but his peaceful posture hinted that he truly was either sleeping or meditating. As they passed him by, Ace emerged from the interior on the level above them humming the tune of the current song. “So, do we know where we're headed, or is Luffy letting the wind pick for her?” He asked.
“Oh, who even knows?” Nami responded a little long-sufferingly. “Luffy's almost always picked directions on a whim.”
Ace laughed at that, the playful sound following them into the ship. “Lovesick fool,” Nami grumbled without any bite.
“He's in the honeymoon phase,” Jinbe said sagely.
“I need more men with functioning brain cells on this ship,” Nami responded with a hint of pleading. “The common sense here is drastically outnumbered! Law is going off on his own after the honeymoon! What am I gonna do with just Katakuri and Alber to manage Luffy and the little starry-eyed galaxy she has spinning around her?!”
“I suppose I'll have to do my best to help out,” Jinbe responded, teasingly pretending to be hurt. “Do I not count, Nami?”
Nami blushed and stammered out an apology that was nearly drowned out by cheering from below. It was almost time to go, it seemed.
Luffy loved this concert. It was a blast!
The cheering of the crowd was a little dizzying; it was so cool how much they loved Uta. She deserved it! The future pirate king wrapped both her arms around her songstress and kissed her enthusiastically, ending the last song in fairy tale fashion. Reiju's gentle applause and the last rift from Brook's guitar was almost swallowed up by the roaring applause, but Luffy never missed a gesture from her nakama.
“Mmmph,” Uta giggled when their lips broke apart, violet eyes bright and starry. “Oh, Luffy...” She coughed, forgetting whatever she was about to say as a blush colored her cheeks.
“Thirsty?” Luffy guessed. Uta had been singing almost non stop through the whole concert, and they'd run out of water a little while ago.
Her songstress nodded. Luffy smiled and waved eagerly for Reiju and Brook to come closer. “Well, let's fix that!” She said. “The Marines seem to be getting a little cranky.” It wasn't obvious from their current vantage point, but she could sense a steadily increasing sphere of controlled chaos outside of the dome. She's grateful that Uncle Ed kept those busybodies out for them.
How dare those jerks try and ruin Uta's concert! It made her so happy! The way Uta was beaming, happy tears occasionally dripping down her cheeks before Luffy could kiss them away, the light shining in her eyes... Luffy could just swoon. Uta didn't look tired anymore. There was no slump in her shoulders, no persistent sign of tiredness – she was shining like a star.
“I think our captain is right,” Reiju said. “More men are trying to get through the crowd than before...”
“This feels familiar, yohohoho!” Brook said whimsically. “Why, my last concert as the Soul King ended in this exact same fashion. Nostalgia is a funny thing, isn't it?”
“Nostalgia? That wasn't even a year ago yet, Brook!” Luffy laughed.
Uta looked like she agreed; she tapped the floor three times with her foot and began waving to the crowd, thanking them for coming and that she'll see them again out in the ocean of dreams. When she started talking, the mechanism in the ground began rolling, propelling them up into the air on a raised platform until they were level with the Thousand Sunny.
“Hold on right!” Luffy said, extending her arms and wrapping them around Reiju, Uta and Brook. “Gum-Gum...!”
“Oh dear,” Uta mumbled before taking a deep breath. Seconds later, Luffy rocketed off the platform with them in toe, flying across the distance and landing on the deck of the Sunny – narrowly avoiding smashing through the wall of the kitchen. That would have been embarrassing!
“Sanjiiiii!” Luffy called, her arms snapping back to normal length as her passengers stumbled and laughed breathlessly, trying to find their center of gravity again. “Sanji, Sanji, water for Uta please!”
No more than a second later, Sanji burst out of the kitchen with a beaming smile on his face, tray of drinks in hand. “At once, my dearest wife!” He cried, hearts in his eyes as he rushed forward and knelt down to offer the beverages in a dramatic fashion. Uta snorted and giggled, thankfully taking the tall glass of water
Katakuri and Sabo followed him out of the kitchen, both looking a little amused. “You know, if you'd waited a second I could have made a bridge for you to cross.” Katakuri commented lightly.
“Shishishi! Sorry, I was too excited to wait!” Luffy said, grabbing a glass of her own and knocking it back. “This was one of the best parties ever!”
“No arguments there,” Sabo said, “but it's high time we made our exit, don't you think?”
Luffy clapped her hands together. “Yup! Hey, Franky! Fire up the canon!” She called out, running down the stairs and heading for her special seat. She wanted to see the whole way down!
Unfortunately, before she could reach it, a strong arm caught her and lifted her off her feet. “Unless you plan on growing wings, sunlight, that would be quite unwise.” Alber told her, lifting her up and holding her in one arm. “Wait until we're gliding at least.”
Luffy pouted in protest. Boy, he's lucky he's so pretty! “I've never fallen off my special seat,” she protested. “Besides, you'll be there to catch me!”
“Of course I will,” Alber said, carrying her back towards the ship rigging. “But we don't want to be left behind now, do we?”
Luffy grumbled, though part of her knew that he was making a good point; the Coup de Burst would sent them flying into the horizon and if she fell off here, it would take... a while, to catch up. “Fiiiine,” she whined, relaxing against his shoulder.
“Menace,” Law uttered, walking over. He'd been about to teleport her back before Alber managed to get ahold of her. “Why are you like this?”
What a silly question! And he kept asking it, too; it was a running bit of flirting between them. “Silly Traffy,” she responded as the deck shivered beneath them. The blast was about to fire.
“Who's being silly? Hold on to something, will you?” Law retorted, tossing Alber a line.
“I can't wait to fly!” Yamato cried in excitement, gripping the rigging like a cat and beaming at the horizon. “The world is so incredible looking from up here!”
Luffy beamed. “This is just the beginning, Yamato!” She called out to them. “We're off into the seas of adventure!”
The Coup de Burst roared and the Sunny flew out of the theater like it had been given wings. The crowd screamed in awe and excitement, and Vice-Admiral Doberman stared in disbelief as his quarry vanished into the horizon.
Fleet Admiral Sakazuki was going to kill him.