P.O.V.????
Not everyone can say they had a second chance at life—and even fewer can say that second chance happened in the world of one of the most beloved anime series ever: One Piece.
Alex was one of those lucky ones. He died suddenly and only realized what had happened when he found himself standing before a massive pair of doors that looked like huge stone slabs carved with murals, floating in an endless white void.
"Huh? I've seen this somewhere before," Alex said as he approached the doors. The symbols carved into the stone were completely alien to him, unlike any language he had ever heard of.
Alex had no idea how much time had passed—this place (which by now felt like a dream, given how bizarre it was) messed completely with his sense of time and space.
Suddenly, the doors opened, revealing an interior that looked exactly the same as the endless white void he was already standing in—except for a black-outlined white silhouette, vaguely human-shaped, without gender or any detail.
"The Truth? Fullmetal Alchemist? What the hell…" Alex murmured, not realizing that his "body" had started to move toward the mysterious figure.
"Not exactly, dear Alex," the entity replied. "I am simply the visual manifestation of what your mind believes superior beings might look like—not a bad choice, in my not-so-humble opinion. Most people see me as Morgan Freeman, which is also a fine choice."
"Most people? What's going on? This must be a dream… no, impossible," Alex muttered. Everything felt too real, despite being fantastical—something he couldn't explain.
"Impossible and inexplicable are things that don't really exist on this plane. If you need a label for what I am, just pick from the many you humans have made up: God, Christ, Buddha, R.O.B., blah, blah, blah," said the being—who seemed to be the very Creator of existence itself.
Alex wasn't exactly religious. He believed there had to be some omnipotent being that created everything and granted humans free will—maybe the greatest mistake that being ever made, if you looked at the history of our world. But it felt unfair to blame everything on that, considering it's the actions of just a few.
He always joked with his cousins, saying, "If God doesn't exist, then who put the idea of One Piece into Eiichiro Oda's head?"
The Truth laughed after reading Alex's thoughts. Maybe some of those thoughts were true, maybe close to the truth, or maybe hilariously far from reality. After all, mortal beings couldn't possibly understand the motivations of the creator of existence itself.
"All right, enough about omnipotent beings and the secrets of the universe. You're here because you died, and as you might've guessed, this is your chance to start a new life, isekai style! I don't want to waste your time—or mine—so let's get to the point!" The Truth snapped its fingers, and a massive roulette wheel appeared between them.
Alex was so stunned that he simply nodded and looked at the wheel. Next to it was a lever he had to pull. Glancing at the wheel, he saw names like Berserk, My Hero Academia, Bleach, Naruto, Narnia, Harry Potter, and many more—but what really caught his eye was One Piece.
That would be his choice, if possible. That universe felt so magical and beautiful, and its characters were so epic. He'd do anything for a chance to eat something cooked by Sanji, mess around with Usopp, Luffy, and Chopper, listen to Brook's songs, have tea with Robin, try not to get robbed by Nami, and train with Zoro. What a dream!
Of course, not everything was sunshine and rainbows. The Emperors of the Sea (Yonkō) were terrifying if you thought from the perspective of that world's people. The World Government and the Marines were also a huge threat to anyone who dreamed too big. And even the Revolutionaries, led by Dragon, Sabo, Ivankov, and the others, didn't always seem morally spotless. Extremes rarely are.
Besides, most pirate crews weren't exactly trustworthy. From what he remembered, the only crews that truly seemed "good" besides the Straw Hats were Trafalgar Law's Heart Pirates, Shanks' Red-Haired Pirates, Whitebeard's crew, and maybe Bonney's. Kid's reputation wasn't exactly good, and the other Supernovas didn't get much screen time—Capone Bege being an exception, but Alex didn't like him. And Blackbeard… well, no comment.
Pushing aside those thoughts, Alex pulled the lever, and the wheel started spinning.
1 minute, 5 minutes, 20 minutes… After what felt like hours, it stopped. And to Alex's infinite joy, it stopped right on One Piece. His soul felt like it was vibrating from sheer happiness.
"Uhum, now let's pick your bonus, and then you can live your new life." The Truth nodded, and another, even bigger roulette appeared. Sensing Alex's shock, the entity explained that this wheel held powers, items, and everything that existed across the multiverse—but not to worry, this time it would speed things up; the first time had just been to enjoy Alex's anticipation.
Repeating the process, Alex watched, fascinated, as the wheel was wrapped in a silvery energy, spun instantly, and stopped on his prize: a vial symbol with a question mark at its center.
"Congratulations! You won a mysterious essence!" said the entity.
"Huh?" Alex stared blankly. "Essence" could mean thousands of things, and he wanted to know. Plus, another question was burning in his mind. "When and where will I be reborn?"
"That, my dear floating soul, you'll find out once you arrive! Hahaha, don't make that face; I'll at least tell you what your prize is." The Truth smiled wickedly, clearly enjoying this. "The essence is what you humans might call a meta-essence—like the power to learn anything, gain powers and systems from other anime, and so on. The possibilities are literally endless! Some might have drawbacks or make your journey more complicated, but overall, every grain counts, right?"
"Well, it's still a bonus… I guess?" Alex replied, worried. His dream destination had come true, but it came with the cold reality of an unknown future. Still, his prize promised a chance, and adulthood had taught him to adapt.
"All right, all right… Ah! One last thing—you'll only get the essence when you turn five in that world. I could explain why, but honestly, I don't feel like getting into dimensional synchronization mechanics and all that jazz." The Truth snapped its fingers, and Alex felt like he was being sucked into the most powerful vacuum cleaner ever created.
"I just hope I don't die before then." Alex swallowed hard, remembering the tragic pasts of many One Piece characters. That world wasn't kind—even to children.
"Heh." The Truth chuckled and snapped its fingers again, engulfing Alex in a blinding light. In the next moment, only the entity remained in its domain.
P.O.V. Alex
"Wano? You've got to be kidding!" thought the little baby with white hair and black horns.
Alex woke up in the arms of what, by intuition, was his mother: a beautiful woman with white hair, purple eyes, and red horns. She wore a gorgeous silver kimono with purple details and was running through the streets of a poor village with houses reminiscent of feudal Japan.
"Don't worry, my little Oni, Mama won't let anything happen to you." Her voice was so beautiful it felt divine; her tired smile and messy hair only made her charm shine more.
"What era did I arrive in?! Post-time skip? Pirate King era? Rocks Pirates era? Please, let it be during Luffy's time! I want to meet Robin, Yamato, and the others…" Overwhelmed by emotion, Alex started crying uncontrollably—his newborn physiology messing with his self-control.
"Don't cry, little Raikoh. Mama's right here," said his mother—Ranako—kissing his forehead and calming him slightly.
"Raikoh? That's my name? Since when do I understand Japanese? Is this Japanese? Does the whole world speak Japanese, or is it just Wano?" Raikoh wondered. He stopped crying and got lost in his thoughts, ignoring the chaos around him.
"Ranako! Get to the ship as fast as you can! We'll hold off Kaido's men and that worm Orochi's lackeys!" shouted a man—an ordinary human by One Piece standards, meaning built like a warrior, muscles and scars everywhere.
"But—" Ranako started, but the man cut her off, insisting she go and saying something that shocked Raikoh:
"Hurry! Don't let them get our son." The man smiled sadly, then ran toward the approaching samurai and Beast Pirates. He wasn't alone; the men beside him wore kimonos marked with a broken full moon.
"Genji…" Ranako bit her lower lip and ran on, tears streaming down her face—her husband was sacrificing himself so she and the baby could have a future.
She reached the ship safely and wasted no time ordering the captain to set sail for the great waterfall. It wasn't safe for a baby, but it was their only chance.
The ship left without trouble—Kaido and Orochi's men wouldn't catch up in time. But Ranako knew nowhere in the New World was truly safe, and days later, she sensed something with her Observation Haki.
"Someone's coming!" Ranako said in panic. She grabbed an ancient chest from her clan, stuffed it with clothes and blankets, then gently placed her son inside after kissing his forehead one last time. The chest had hidden air holes, so even against her will, she left him there.
The chest was a relic from the Void Century, able to conceal any presence—though not completely. Ranako gambled that she could win and return for her son.
It didn't take long for the enemy to arrive: a rising star in Kaido's crew known as Bishop—a cruel man who had eaten the Mythical Zoan, Model Ikrandraco, turning him into a terror of the skies.
Bishop had barely set foot on deck when he was struck by a kanabo coated in powerful Armament Haki. He dodged a blow that would've crushed his face, yellow eyes flashing with fury as he counterattacked.
Ranako gripped her kanabo tightly. Her opponent was fast, strong, and—judging by his Devil Fruit—extremely durable.
For minutes, the ship was filled with the screams of crewmembers caught between them, most dying instantly—their bodies no match for the collision of the woman's weapon and the flying dinosaur's claws.
The ship was falling apart—Bishop's plan. Ranako knew this, so she gambled everything in one desperate strike, pouring all her Haki and rage into it.
The attack connected, crushing Bishop's head, but at the same time, his claw tore into her abdomen. A dinosaur corpse plunged into the sea, and a bleeding Oni with a massive hole in her stomach fell in after.
"Rai…koh…" were Ranako's last words before sinking beneath the waves.
In the cabin, inside the chest, baby Raikoh somehow sensed his mother's death and cried until he passed out. And on the horizon, Bishop's allies' ship approached—but fate intervened: a hero, late to save a mother and her crew, arrived just in time to save a single life.