John was astounded by the figures he saw gathered at the dock. In front of the ship that had just ported were the familiar faces of the famous Roger Pirates.

There had to be 20…no closer to 30 of them. A good number of them were faces that he’d never seen before. Most of the others looked…familiar. They were the designs you would see in the back of a scene. The faces that would be given names in the SBS question corner. But that only the youtubers or crazy fans would actually memorize. He was in college when he was getting into One Piece. He didn’t have time to remember what the one fish-man on Roger’s crew was called.

But then there were the handful of faces he could recognize.

First there was the always cool Scopper Gaban. Black hair that went long in the back tied up in a bushy ponytail. And letting two strands of hair fall on either side of his face. And sunglasses to hide his eyes. He also had two axes on his hips. It was a shame we hadn’t ever gotten to see much of the dual wielder in the manga.

Behind him was the surprisingly young Vice-Captain of the crew. Combed blonde hair on top with a black goatee that was made up of 4 lines of facial hair. He had on a purple coat with brown pants and an under shirt. There was a katana at his hip. And he had a determined look on his face as he instructed men to place boxes in certain places.

Standing taller than any of the men was a…strange sight. The fans had agreed that one of the strangest hairstyles in the manga was the one he was looking at right now. Kozuki Oden. Standing at twelve foot six inches tall. He wore an orange kimono that left his legs exposed. One of those feudal japan belts that were tied to look like butterfly wings. He had sharp triangular sideburns. And his black eyes were sharp enough to cut just by looking.

John turned his head to try and find the big cheese himself. The king of the pirates. Bane of the normal man. The man of legend himself. Gol D- “Buggy!” John’s ear rang as they were screamed in.

With his eyes vibrating a bit after the loud noise. A hand grabbed the collar of his shirt. And lifted him off of the ground. John’s eyes went wide as he felt his body come off the ground. Though he instinctively detached his legs from his feet. Leaving them on the ground.

“What are you doing out of bed you idiot! You could have died from that fever!” The man currently shaking John by his collar was the doctor of the crew. Crocus had a stocky build. Muscular with a dad bod. He wore a hot pink tank top and beige shorts. A dark pink hat with darker spots. And frills on the back of his neck that looked like yellow flower petals.

Holding the pre-teen in his hand. Crocus made his way towards the ship that had docked. John kicked and flailed the whole time. With his feet following after Crocus. “I’m giving you a proper medical exam right now!”

Walking onto the deck of the ship John could see some of the crew had filed back onto the deck. Specifically he saw a large blue skinned fish-man with a large fin on top of his head. Drinking and talking to a short man in a light gray buttoned up coat. Its collar went above his mouth. And his brown-ish orange hair went straight-up. Looking similar to flames.

Crocus brought John below deck and to the room that he did all the medical examinations in. Setting John down on the floor. “Open your mouth, Buggy. And tell me what symptoms you still have.” Crocus closed the door behind him. Keeping Buggy’s feet out of the room.

As soon as John opened his mouth. A tongue depressor came out of one of Crocus’ pockets. And pressed John’s tongue flat while Crocus inspected his throat for any sign of illness. John spoke to the best of his ability past the depressor. “Ah-ah don hab ani simtums!”

John’s cries were mostly ignored by Crocus. The doctor moved the depressor around a little bit to get a good look into John’s mouth. To his surprise there was no sign of any kind of infection. “Remarkable! You somehow managed to overcome all of your symptoms! Even if you had survived the virus. You should be on the tailend of their debuff timers. When did your debuffs end?”

Crocus continued to examine John while he waited for a response. “I don’t know. I just woke up one day and I felt fine!”

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

“Hmm. Then you must be one lucky son of a bitch!” Crocus let out a belly laugh. “Alright then. I guess if you really don’t have any side effects. I suppose you’re free to go.” Hearing that John stood up and tried to walk right out the door. Before he could pass Crocus. The man grabbed the back of his shirt’s collar and threw John back onto the chair. “That is! Unless there’s anything else you want to tell me about.”

Crocus’ glare was stabbing into John’s heart. He could feel the wrath of a doctor who had to tell the Pirate king what to do. “A-ah. Well. Now that you mention it. I was having problems remembering things.” Crocus’ eyes went wide as he got his face close to John’s.

“What? Why didn’t you start with that? You had a fever in the low hundreds. This memory loss could be related to that!” Standing up Crocus went to grab a pad and pencil. “Alright. Now then. Go over with me what all you remember. Just from off the top of your head.”

John blinked a bit but didn’t see any reason to say no. “Uh. Well. I remember you, Captain Roger, Vice-Captain Rayleigh, Shanks, Oden, uuuh…oh! Scopper. Uh…” John scratched his head which was covered by a wool cap. “That’s kinda all that’s on the top of my mind.” This could be exactly what John was looking for. An excuse to be taught the tricks of the system. And what all everything on his status page meant.

Crocus wrote down on the piece of paper what he was told. And looked back up after Buggy stopped talking. “Tell me, Buggy. What’s your highest attribute?”

John raised an eyebrow at that question. That was a weird thing to ask. But he wasn’t going to get out of this room without a clean bill of health. So he figured he’d answer. Pulling up his status page he confirmed which attribute was the highest. “It’s…luck.”

“Hmm. Good you remember how to access your status page. Also luck is an interesting choice. I assume you’re banking on that stat helping you find treasure?” Crocus made some additional writings on his clipboard. “Now then. Buggy do you remember most of the things that you’ve learned over your time sailing with the crew?”

John leaned forward a bit. If he wasn’t careful with his words then they might assume he was some kind of impostor. Which…fair enough he kind of was that. But he certainly didn’t want to get killed over it. “Well uh…bits and pieces.” He looked Crocus in the eye. “To be frank. I don’t really remember the names of most of the crew,” John started putting out fingers with each thing that he listed. “I’m a little spotty on some of the things on my character sheet, and…overall it feels like I'm looking at all this stuff for the very first time.”

Crocus stroked his goatee as he listened. “Hmm. Buggy. I don’t want you to freak out. But what you’re describing sounds like amnesia.” With a swallow John looked Crocus in the eye. He felt his nerves begin to act up as he sat there. Not sure where the doctor’s speech was going. “There’s two forms of amnesia. Retrograde and Anterograde. The first is when you lose access to old memories. And the second stops you from making new memories.”

Setting down the paper Crocus leaned forward and looked into the eyes of the pirate apprentice. “Retrograde amnesia is incredibly rare…” The doctor’s eyes sharpened as he stared Buggy down. “If you’re lying to me Buggy. And this is some hairbrained scheme to get out of your chores. I’ll hang you from the figurehead by one of my harpoons. And let the sharks share your toes.”

Crocus spoke with an intensity John had never heard come from one person before. John felt his body swallow on instinct. His sweat built up as he felt himself in the hot seat. If he didn’t convince Crocus right now. Then he would most likely be screwed going forward. This loss of memory would certainly be the best chance John would get at learning the ins and outs of this world.

“Well…I can tell you for sure.” John looked directly into Crocus’ eyes. Trying to steady his voice and make sure that his words were true. “Outside of the other day when I woke up. I can remember very little of what’s taken place on our adventure. And with that,” John adjusted his hat and puffed his chest a tiny bit. “I’d like you and the other senior officers to train me! And help me relearn the basics!”

A moment of silence filled the air. But after a full minute went by. Crocus broke a small smile on his face. “Oh boy. What a pickle I've found myself in. Alright!” Crocus put both of his hands up in the air before resting them on his knees. “I apologize for insinuating that you lied. I can just never be too sure with you. But as a show of good faith. When I talk to the captain about your condition. I’ll recommend some training time between you and some of the other crew. Now then. They’ve probably got the food ready in the mess hall. Go ahead and get some grub. I’m sure you’ll get started on your new training before we sail out.”

At the sound of a confirmation to leave and some food. John got onto his foot stumps and made his way towards the door. “Thanks Crocus! You won’t regret this!” John stumbled after saying that as he got to the door. Opening it to find his feet tapping impatiently for him. “Ah! There’s where these were.” John stepped onto the feet like they were shoes he was slipping on. Then ran off out of sight of Crocus.

Crocus sighed as he leaned back in his chair. He pressed his hand against his forehead. “That boy will be the death of us all…”