– Rivers –

Rivers didn’t deem himself to be a particularly philosophical person. In fact, for the longest time, he hadn’t even known the word existed. In his defense, he’d grown up as a fisherman’s son, living in a rather impoverished village out in the middle of nowhere. It simply hadn’t been part of the local vocabulary. Moreover, it was questionable if Rivers would have picked it up later in life had Mani not entered his life. In hindsight, attempting to sound posh to impress a girl from the red-light district had perhaps not been the best motivation to pick up a dictionary, but at least Rivers wasn’t a completely uneducated country bumpkin anymore.

“Stop them! We can’t let them get any further!”

Instead, he was merely a barely educated country bumpkin, who knew what philosophy meant. Anyways, the point he was trying to make, was that he didn’t deem himself to be a particularly philosophical person. The proper way arguments were supposed to be laid out still eluded him. However, this didn’t mean he wasn’t capable of philosophizing to some degree. In as far as the act of wandering down random trains of thought could be deemed to be philosophizing, that is.

Contemplating the nature of purpose probably qualified.

“Hold, dammit! HOLD!!!”

At its most basic, the purpose of all living things was to survive, which usually invited conflict. They struggled because resources were scarce and they needed to compete for the best fishing spots, access to new nets and better prices from the vendor. To give up the struggle was to starve or be relegated to the scraps of others. If one were of a mind to be cynical about it, one could go as far as to state that the Law of the Jungle ruled supreme.

“For the trust placed in us!”

The strong took what they wanted and did as they pleased. This was undeniable. The law was often nought but another tool for those in power to wield against the masses. On the other hand, the weak…they folded. Not always, of course, but often enough. So long as a certain minimum was not breached, submitting usually offered a higher chance of survival than launching a futile resistance and inviting retribution. There simply was no logical or, at least, no material point in doing otherwise.

“For love! For honor! And for my handsome face!”

So… what was it about the immaterial things that drove people to act counter to this common wisdom? Immaterial things such as honor, love, ideas, religion and all manner of other concepts which were said to be bigger than oneself? To sacrifice life and livelihood, to throw themselves against impossible odds for no visible material gain?

“Harry! Nooooo! You bastards!”

Now, it should be noted that this wasn’t a completely foreign notion for Rivers. He’d witnessed first-hand how much motivation a seemingly impossible dream could provide. Ever since deciding that he’d unite the New World under Bellamy and use that as a springboard to eliminate child exploitation everywhere, Nero (the insane bastard) had become a changed man. It wasn’t that he trained more or harder than before. Nero’s training regimen already was the most taxing amongst the entire crew, after all, and Muret had warned that increasing its intensity would have more adverse effects than benefits.

“Do not falter! We can do it!”

However, Nero had become a happier man. Paradoxically, dreaming big had visibly lessened the tightly wound aura of their rokushiki instructor. Ross had interpreted it as a sign that Nero had thrown off the uncertainty of not having a goal or direction in life. That giving himself a purpose had allowed the man to stop brooding about everything little thing and focus on the big picture. In other words, despite the increased challenge Nero had set before himself, Nero had regained the ability to enjoy the process. Something which had been wholly missing in the man’s life since he’d stepped foot in that government boot camp.

“Remember the trust the young master placed in us!”

The results spoke for themselves. Mastering the Rokuogan and Jabra’s Tekkai Kenpo had been just the beginning. Determined to see how far the rokushiki could take him, Nero had begun by successfully recreating what he’d either seen or heard of during his time with the CP9. Then, he’d gone on to invent his own. A prominent example being the soru variant Nero liked to call Sound Twins.

“Deploy the nets! Deploy the nets!”

With it, Nero continued the Crew’s tradition of preferring a speed focused style of combat. What had initially started as a way to increase the speed of a normal soru, had evolved into the ability to create hyper realistic afterimages. For the sake of all that was sacred, darn things bled when stabbed and could stab in return. Getting attacked by something that had no presence was not fun, even if they only lasted a couple of seconds. If Nero weren’t limited to a single clone (for now), Rivers would have called it a cheat like ability. Honestly, he was tempted already.

“It’s impossible! They’re too fast!”

To move slightly back on track, Rivers didn’t deny that purpose could motivate people to attempt or even achieve impossible feats. The positive effects of proper motivation were obvious. However, did it guarantee it? Not at all. For every successful case study, there were a dozen failures.

“What do you mean, they’re too fast? The bastards are walking past us!”

Thus, the initial question remained unanswered. What was it about purpose, about dreams that encouraged people to challenge the odds? Did it make a difference if that purpose was bigger than oneself? Or could a similar effect be gained with a humbler dream? Not everyone could dream of changing the world for the better, right?

Hewitt wanted to become a great cook and open his own restaurant. Mani wanted to live a glamorous life surrounded by family and friends. Those were everyday wishes. Simple. Uncomplicated. Likewise, Rivers’ inmost desire was to travel the world and sample every sweet and snack in existence. It probably said a lot that Big Mom’s capital had been his dream holiday location for a long time.

“Duval! We can’t stop them!”

He’d likely never discover a truly satisfying answer to this question. At least, not by himself. Again, he wasn’t a philosopher, nor did he possess the insight to view this issue from all relevant angles. All he knew was that it worked. Somehow. People simply did crazy things, objectively idiotic things, for a myriad of reasons. His Captain did it. Rivers did it. As did the members of a random Flying Fish Rider Gang doing their best to stand in their way.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The leader of which was aiming a harpoon gun in Rivers’ direction. He was a strapping, even towering fellow whose handsome, chiseled face was set in the very definition of unbreakable determination. Something that was echoed in his dramatic declaration.

“You. Shall not! PASS!!!”

Rivers shot him in the face. With a rubber bullet.

Frankly, Duval and his gang deserved it for the headache they’d provided Rivers. If they hadn’t decided to attack the Bellamy pirates for some inexplicable reason, when they clearly stood no chance of coming out on top, Rivers wouldn’t have begun contemplating the complex nature of purpose. Like, seriously, why had they turned on the Bellamy pirates in the first place when they’d aided the gang against a small group of marines?

The two groups had exchanged friendly greetings, and the mood had been genial. The gang had even proudly stated why they were fighting the marines. Eager as always, Aisa had helpfully chimed in that they were here to collect Kuma (in order to fix him). Oh, and to pick up the Thousand Sunny while they were at it. Because according to Shakky (and the Captain), Kuma was guarding the Straw Hat ship for some reason.

Considering that their little pirate alliance was here to take Kuma to safety, wasn’t it only right and proper to bring the object he was guarding along? What were they supposed to do? Leave it lying around on its lonesome?

What could have possibly been there to misunderstand?

----------------------------------------

– Mani –

Once they managed to calm Duval and his band of idiots down, all misunderstandings were quickly cleared up. That this had required some arguments persuasion to convince them the Bellamy pirates meant no harm was a non-issue in Mani’s mind. Not long after that, the Crew sent them off to get some treatment for the bruises they’d picked up fighting the marines. After giving the gang some urgently needed advice on not picking random fights. Plus grilling them on the precise location of Kuma and the Thousand Sunny, of course.

Which brought Mani to her current situation. Staring down a motionless Kuma across a small clearing along with the members of four Supernova crews.

“Ok, everybody remembers the plan?” Bellamy asked, looking at them over his shoulder. The response was mixed, to say the least.

“Aye!”

“No.”

“Maybe?”

“We had a plan?”

Aisa giggled.

“Right, not sure what else I was expecting.” Bellamy muttered, palming his face. “Ok, for the daft amongst us and Urouge, I’m going to dumb it down a little.”

“Oi!”

“Number one, don’t die. Number two, keep Kuma alive. And number three, everyone who isn’t fighting a Warlord turned mindless robot is on overwatch. That simple enough? OK? Good.” Bellamy nodded, completely ignoring Urouge’s affronted look. “Then, let’s go nab ourselves a Warlord!”

With that, most of the top combatants of their respective crews stepped forward, loosening shoulders and cracking knuckles. Mani stood back, using her new power to calm her own presence and move into cover. Kuma…did nothing. Not moving a proverbial muscle as twenty pirates formed a loose encirclement around him. Not even blinking as they closed in on twenty meters.

Not, when they edged forward to shrink that to fifteen.

Ten.

Five.

Three.

“Get him!” Nets, chains and canvas shot forward to grab hold of limbs and clothing, only to be blown away. But the first few were soon replaced by more, Urouge’s monks throwing themselves at Kuma with fanatical zeal. Trying to distract the cyborg for Hewitt’s chains to do their work. Or for someone who could withstand Kuma’s mechanically enhanced strength to get close. Someone like Brunhilde.

The giant Rear Admiral turned first mate of the Mad Monk Pirates charged forward with a battle cry, an open hand coming down to squash Kuma against the ground. Kuma’s answering Ursus Shock did precious little to slow her down, the giantess barreling through the blast. The first paw shaped bubble was quickly followed by more. Some of which were batted aside by a giant haki infused spear while the others were cleaved in half by Eddy’s emerald blade. Undaunted, Kuma continued laying down more suppressing fire until Brunhilde had no choice but to pivot to defense.

Mani intentionally ignored the slightly maniacal look sported by their navigator in favor of creeping forward to hide behind a fallen log. Slowly, she circled from cover to cover; using rocks, craters and sometimes people to hide behind, gradually approaching a small, quiet corner near the Thousand Sunny. Pouring all her skill and ability into staying beneath Kuma’s notice.

Now, despite Brunhilde’s charge having been thwarted, keeping Kuma’s hands busy was no small thing. Eddy’s presence alone was a variable capable of creating an opening. One which didn’t go unnoticed by Mani’s friends. Chains burrowed through the ground to wind themselves around Kuma’s legs. Ross dropped out of the sky to tightly wrap sheets of canvas around Kuma’s chest while Bepo clambered onto an arm like a koala. Nobody was surprised when the cyborg’s response was to open his mouth.

“Laser! Scatter!”

“On it!”

The first laser was intercepted by Nero, the beam ricocheting off a hand-held mirror into a tree. The second fizzled away in its infancy as Kuma’s field of vision was blocked by a Bonney shaped obstacle. Meanwhile, Captain Law was busy repositioning the remaining members of their crews, spreading them out to cover most of the clearing.

Not long after that, the warlord teleported out of his embittered position with a small pop to a more lightly defended part of the clearing. Lightly defended, however, meant fewer of their own allies in the way, which in turn meant there was nothing to stop Laki and Rivers from carpet bombing the area. Throwing up clouds of dust to cover Kuma’s optical sensors and making enough noise to confound his acoustics, too. Rather than weather the storm on his metal exoskeleton, Kuma warped away again.

And so things continued. The alliance would doggedly assault Kuma, using every tool at their disposal to tie Kuma down. Kuma would fight, hesitate to use lethal force with Bonney in the way, and be overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers before teleporting. If there were enough pirates nearby, they’d dogpile him. If not, Laki and Rivers would pressure Kuma until he repositioned or buy enough time for Law to shuffle their available manpower around.

This worked… surprisingly well. The few casualties were quickly patched up by Muret and returned, reinvigorated, to the fight. The alliance had even successfully cooperated in keeping Kuma’s padded palms away thanks to Captain Law using his own abilities to pull endangered pirates to safety. Which meant the number of pirates sent flying to who-knows-where remained a solid zero…for now.

Through it all, Mani waited. Unseen and hopefully unnoticed. Just like the Captain had ordered.

“Kuma is controlled by an AI algorithm. A very advanced AI to be sure, but an algorithm nonetheless.” Bellamy had said. “Doesn’t matter if it’s a near sentient artificial intelligence. In the end, it’s an algorithm.”

Calming her movements to halt the tiniest twitches of her muscle fibers.

“By its very nature, an AI is perfectly rational if the data used to train it is unbiased. And I can’t imagine a brilliant man like Dr. Vegapunk tolerating such imperfections in his creations.”

Calming her breathing, reducing it down to barely anything.

“Kuma is going to make the most optimal decision in any situation, in accordance with his mission parameters. Which probably are to stay in the vicinity of the Thousand Sunny until one of the Straw Hats returns to retake ownership. Potentially, also not to harm a select list of individuals. Which possibly includes known allies of the Straw Hats like us. It definitely includes Bonney.”

Calming her body’s metabolism, slowing it on a cellular level.

“However, always choosing the most optimal option also makes him predictable. With a bit of planning, we can even control what that optimal choice is. Thus, when given a choice between repositioning to a heavily defended area or one we intentionally left empty…”

Calming her heartbeat, until Mani had effectively entered her body into a state of stasis.

“…where do you think Kuma is going to go?”

The answer, as it turned out, was right next to her prone body. Maybe he’d judged her a corpse. Or perhaps he’d deemed her the smallest threat. Normally, he wouldn’t have been wrong. Today, he would be, and he’d pay for it.

Reaching out, Mani slapped a pair of sea stone shackles onto the Warlord’s ankle.