Alternative Start: Someone from the Revolutionary Army

"Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck." I chanted while darting through the busy halls.

"STOP HIM! Even with just that one half of the relic he can do irreplaceable damage!" Came the booming voice of Dragon, thankfully not able to use his powers in such the confined space of his base.

Some people turned to acknowledge his order but by the time they turned I'd already passed them. Using all the speed my legs seemed to possess I hopped over obstacles and darted round corners. They were still gaining on me though.

Looking back was a mistake. This is the angriest I'd ever seen Dragon, I think he's going to fucking kill me.

Why did I do this? Is it even possible to escape? Fuck, why didn't I pay more attention to what they were saying about the earring...

My troubles grew huge when I saw a hole open up in the corridor ahead of me. I only had one chance to escape the guy who was coming out of that hole, I sped up that little bit extra and took a gamble.

"Hya!" I screamed, taking a massive flying leap over the newly formed hole. I crashed my feet hard into the stone floor nearly toppling me over but luckily I stayed up and kept running.

"Did I get him?" I heard Morley ask.

"Morley! You're in the way!" yelled Dragon, not able to continue because of the Push Push fruits destruction.

I looked back briefly to see the status of my pursuers, Dragon and Hack had stopped but behind them Sabo had stepped back to get a running start. The last I saw he began sprinting but I quickly turned the corner.

These halls were just as much my domain as theirs. I zipped round many corners, into barracks and out of kitchens until I thought I was far enough away to at least hide safely, barrelling myself into a laundry hamper in an offshoot room. This place is such a fire hazard, I know it's a secret base for a militaristic resistance but why are there so few exits?

I kept my breathing low, they'd find me soon with that annoying-ass Haki of theirs but if I keep calm it should give me a couple extra seconds... maybe.

Fuck! Okay, clearly I'm not cloaked or whatever, so this is earring 2! Which means I have to say something right? It was some bullshit about making everything the same, like blandness or being regular...

My dark hiding spot was torn from me as the blonde with a scar opened the laundry basket lid. "There you are!"

"Shit! I'm an average dude! This is a plain day! Nothing to see here with this standard human in front of you!" I babbled, **** to find the right phrase as Sabo's hand ruthlessly darkened with power.

"Dragon Claw!" He roared, hand shooting towards me.

"AH!" I yelped in my final moments. "It's normal for me to have this earring!"

My name is Natsuo, and I'm a revolutionary. You might think this is pretty cool of me, that I'm fighting 'The Man' for a brighter future... but nah. It's a destiny that was thrust upon me rather than my moral compass lining with the great Monkey D. Dragon and his merry band of freaks. My parents were revolutionaries that died in the line of duty trying to take the Marines down. And I gotta say, when you miss out on a regular childhood with good parents and are **** to be part of an army taking on the entire world you start to pick apart their goals just as much as the Marines they fight.

Don't get me wrong. The Marines are clearly assholes (trust me I've seen some shit those power hungry monsters have done) but Dragon's hands are far from clean in this war. My heart was just never in it after I saw our glorious leader crush a small marine's head that was begging for their life with his bare hands.

Maybe that's why they had put me as a dishwasher for this many years. Occasionally they let me go on missions, but I'm clearly just one of many in those situations. The fodder weaklings to die in battle if the cause needs us to. People I made friends with over the years often don't return from the grand crusade. Every achievement is quickly ignored for the next goal and each goal is coated in blood and pain.

Suffice to say, I hate it here. If it wasn't that I knew so many secrets I think Dragon would kick me out and make us both very happy. Yet I'm stuck here as much as he's stuck with me. If he's even spared me a thought that is, it's just as likely he just sees me as a number.

Anyway, enough about me and my moping. Life sucks for everyone and you're here for the tale of where I ended up and the fun I had along the way.

That morning I was just washing the dishes like usual. It was one of the small personal kitchens we had for quick bites and hot drinks so plenty of dirty cups. In the centre of the kitchen was a couple of small tables for people to drink at. While I hummed the Soul King's latest track the two guys around one of the tables were murmuring just loud enough.

"Man I heard about that battle Dragon just went through, what was the haul?"

"Something big. Heard it over the radio from Koala, some sorta relic that could change everything."

"That good?"

"Well what else would make Dragon engage with the Marines like this? A battle with freaking Fujitora man! I heard he threw a fuckin' meteor at the ship! If it wasn't for Sabo n' Dragon they'd be toast. Even then they were only able to recover one half of the relic. The other earring got lost in the battle."

"Earring? Tha hell? All this over a little jewellery?"

"Yeah man. Robin did some research on them in that book she likes. The tome claimed it could be the fourth ancient weapon. The only reason it wasn't was because of the power it contains. It's said to have some sort of reality warping capabilities that can turn even the weakest person into one of the strongest players of the world."

"Foockin hell. How does it work?"

"They come in a pair usually. Both revolve around the concept of 'Normality'."

"Normality? Like, what's normal?"

"Yeah. One earring cloaks you and everything you do as Normal. Meaning you could kill a king in front of the world and everyone would ignore it."

"Holy shit... and the other?"

"That one requires a vocal component. It changes what's regular for everyone else, like making us all wear a tracker in our heads for Marines to control us. Even changes reality, so someone can say that shit turns to gold if you mix it with strawberries. Absolutely insane."

I had to agree. They were brining in one of these two earrings right here to the base! Such a power... the revolutionaries were going to wipe the floor with the rest of the world. All his dreams were so very close to coming true.

Which is why I had to steal it. Dragon was probably going to kill a lot of marines with that power, and I mean a lot. Guys with families, teens who enlisted trying to make the world a better place. I'd seen Dragon slay them all a thousand times and with that relic he could speed up the process a thousand times quicker. (I'm not trying to make myself sound like some sort of altruistic hero cause deep down I also just wanted all my dreams to come true as well.)

I slinked away to plan my heist, missing the last question and answer session.

"So why didn't the marines just use them?"

"I think the plan was to give it to a Celestial Dragon before they got ambushed? There's also some warning in here about strong wills so I don't think they're as supremely powerful as they seem."

"Still, wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands."

"You're right. Guess you can hold on to it for now."

My one eye slowly opened. It had already assumed that **** was a certainty so blinking open was a nice surprise. Sabo stood in front of me, arms crossed with a frustrated look on his face. After a minute of staring at each other I started breathing properly again, somewhat accepting that he wasn't immediately going to kill me. Guess Normal was the word.

"We worked really hard to get that relic so don't lose it or break it alright?" He warned, clearly not happy I had the earring but not knowing why. He scrunched his face up in a frown before turning out of the laundry room and leaving me in the hamper.

At the time I was just thankful I was in the dirty laundry cause I was fairly certain I'd wet myself.

So that's where I'm at currently. My life as a Revolutionary has been forever changed now that I have this one earring.

The earring itself was a small golden 'N', almost like it was made for me. People did keep eyeing it up as I walked through the secret base's halls. Scared of it's power yet unable to come up with an argument to why it shouldn't be on my ear.

I was sort of cautious to use the power for a while, just using it for small personal things. Like giving myself my very first room I didn't have to share, with a wardrobe full of clothes and an incredibly soft mattress, having a piping hot steak cooked to perfection from our head chef, reforming the picture of my parents that had become dogeared over time.

Yet even with these small changes that didn't bother anyone... I was being watched like a prisoner the entire time. Sabo would always keep his eyes on me, his body shaking whenever I used the word 'normal' as if it was physically hurting him. An angry scowl following my movements, waiting for me to perhaps push myself that slight bit further and say something that needed stopping.

I'll give him this much. It stopped me from trying anything huge or fun. I had tried approaching Koala and Betty one day with some less than noble intentions, but he put his hand on my shoulder and sternly asked what I was doing. It had really freaked me out and made me retreat to double check I still wore the earring. At one point I said it was normal for him to leave me alone but that just made him watch from further back.

With his constant presence I knew I didn't want to stay in the base for much longer. It made me strengthen my resolve to finally do what I really wanted to do for so long.

I'd gathered my things in a bindle and headed down to our docks. It was a fairly large hanger that was connected to the open sea, with a few huge galleons amongst several smaller ships we'd liberated over the years. Feeling the sea air and smell of the ocean really made me feel excited, the time to leave this manky hole was finally here.

The plan was to just get on a ship that was leaving and use my powers to convince people to let me stay there until I could ditch. The mission they were on didn't matter, just something to get me out of this base and away from Sabo's watching eyes.

It was the plan anyway, I was distracted by the sight of the tall and dark Dragon talking to a very familiar beautiful woman in front of a small cargo ship.

I approached the two slowly, hiding slightly amongst the crates as I eavesdropped.

“Burn the boat when you’re done with it, no point in keeping it anymore.” came the gruff voice of Dragon.

“I’m sure our shipwright could find a use for it… but as it is your request I will do as you want." She bowed slightly, "You have been a very gracious host to me, Dragon-san.”

The powerful man just stood still through crossed arms. “And you’ve been a useful asset. If you ever want to leave my son's crew you’ll have a high rank in this organisation.”

Man, I've been here 15 years and I'm still just the fucking dishwasher. She's here two years and now she gets a high ranking job? The sooner I'm outta here the better.

Her pretty smile stayed gracious through the offer, “Thank you. That will not happen though, I'm quite content where I am.” She replied, Dragon grunting a grunt of unamused acceptance. “Is there anything you want me to tell Luffy?”

“Nothing to say he doesn’t already know.” He dismissively huffed with his ever powerful voice. “He’ll find me soon enough. Farewell.” And with a swish of his coat Dragon began to walk off. That was until I walked up, shaky legs full of temporary confidence.

“Hey D-Dragon!”

“Hmm?” His piercing eyes glared at me and nearly made me seize up in fear.

Gulping back my nerves. “I-it’s normal that I join Nico Robin back to Sabaody right? Just to keep her company and stuff.”

“Fine." He shrugged turning back to the beauty. "Burn him after too if you want, just save the relic."

And with those incredibly loving words to see me off, the only father figure I've ever known walked away. Leaving me and the incredibly hot woman together.

"So, shall we be off?" She smiled sweetly, "Anyone you need to say goodbye to?"

I looked around to the people all bustling around the port, thinking about my time here.

There had been a farewell party yesterday to Robin, with a small homemade cake and a card that a lot of people had signed. Tears were shed, stories were shared, it was a very nice send off for her.

Last week Sabo asked me what my name was. Even though I was the one who had spotted his ass floating in those East Blue seas after he'd been blown up all those years ago.

Prick.

Years of service and I wasn't even acknowledged as a friend. Barely an acquaintance. I'm leaving today and I don't know if anyone would even remember that I was here. Maybe it wouldn't have bothered me as much if they hadn't gone above and beyond to make this woman feel so welcome. But none of it was her fault, Robin was very nice and had treated me with kindness. Often thanking me for taking her plate and chatting with me about her books when she had her morning coffee. She was clearly the best choice to make my escape with.

The open ocean called my name, nothing was going to hold me back. I took one last look at my home before turning to the ship.

"Nah. Let's just go."

Meanwhile two friends exited a bar. The bar was then struck by lightning.

"Whew! That was pretty impressive Nami!" whistled the long nosed boy. "Your training really paid off didn't it?"

"That's right~" chirped the long haired ginger girl. "Both of us have become stronger now. Me with my Weatheria science, you with your plants... and new abs~" She giggled.

"Oioi, don't make fun. I worked hard to get these." He grumbled while folding his arms in mild embarrassment. "It's not like either of us are doing great in the shirt department right now..."

She turned to him with an eyebrow raised. "What was that? Where was it you're looking?"

He wanted to snap back at how she'd practically shoved his face into her breasts earlier, but he held his tongue. "N-nothing..." He sheepishly mumbled and looked away. Missing the cheeky grin the minx had on her face.

"I'm only te~asing Usopp." She smiled then grabbed his arm. "I just missed you and wanted some fun. Come on, let's go back to the Sunny and settle in. I think we're the first here by a few days."

He sighed but relented quickly, regaining some more pep in his step as they locked arms proper. "Alright yeah. It's going to be nice to see the ship again!"

"This ship sucks."

"Agreed."

Floating in a coffin in the middle of open waters were one swordsman and one ghost. They were packed in quite tight, staring at each other from opposite ends of their tiny dingy.

"It's barely even a ship! How does that big sworded freak get anywhere in this!?" screeched the pink haired girl kicking her half of the boat.

"I have no idea." Gruffed the three sword wielder. "I'm going to get some shut eye before we get there, try not to rock the ship too much again."

"EVERYTHING I DO ROCKS THE SHIP! THIS THING IS TINY!" She yelled to bored ears. Perona then floated over to her shipmate and kicked him in the head. "KEEP ME ENTERTAINED DAMMIT!"

"Ahh~ what a good meal!" exclaimed a rubber boy, rubbing his big belly with a large grin.

"I'm so happy you liked it Luffy. To think that I can only treat you to such delicacies for a few more days before we reach your crew..." sighed the Pirate Empress. "Unless of course...?"

"I'm not marrying you."

"Ah~! So many rejections a day, yet my love for you only burns brighter!" She swooned, collapsing to the floor.

The two were surrounded by some of her most trusted advisors and warriors. All of which loved watching their queen and favourite male talk and eat.

"Sister please! You need to keep your decorum up for our guest!" hissed her green haired sister worryingly.

"It's fine I don't mind." Smiled Luffy earning a second swoon from the woman on the floor. "I'm just excited to see everyone again soon! I can't wait to get back to adventuring!"

"He's leaving." growled Sabo, staring down from the watchtowers R&R room.

"That he is." said Dragon, turning the page on his newspaper.

"I'm glad he's going. He always looked so miserable, maybe getting out there will do him some good!" Chirped Koala, munching down on her cereal.

Sabo just frowned. "It's that relic though. I just can't lose this feeling that I shouldn't let him have it."

"While absolute power does corrupt absolutely, I never got the impression that kid was evil. I wouldn't have kept him around otherwise." reasoned the older gentleman. "That and his parents were damn good people."

"Fine." Sabo relented. "If you trust him enough then I'll let him go." He sighed and sat down with the other two at the table. "Dunno why you didn't want me to get him to use that relic for us though."

Dragon shrugged. "I just didn't want the damn Marines to have it. Anyone's better than them."

"But couldn't we have stopped the Marines forever with that thing? It had so much power."

They say Dragon's grin grew three sizes that day. "That'd make the adventure of stopping them too easy. And I don't want to make my life boring."

Well well well, here we go again. This is gonna be sort of different from the other (probably better) One Piece routes but also quite similar. Mostly cause of the same kind of main character.

You can kind of tell where the hook of the story is going near the end. I wanted to tell a story where the Normality earrings affected the whole One Piece world, which is why we're just at the beginning of post timeskip when the spread of characters was most unique. It won't be as much harem as much as just wide spread affection.

Also yeah, he only has one earring this time. Might change later but I couldn't think of any interesting scenarios with them in that wouldn't be more interesting without it. I probably could have switched to the Rulebook or a different MC item but I still like the vocal aspect of the earrings.

Here's an updating character list for if you don't want to look up every character I mention: https://imgur.com/a/w4H5f1V

Anyway I hope everyone enjoys. I'm still fairly new to writing erotica so take the good with the bad and let's do this.