The battle in Loguetown's marketplace was unlike anything the town had ever witnessed. Golden light clashed with creeping shadows while a giant Marine played an improvised game of shadow-creature whack-a-mole, his booming laughter echoing off the surrounding buildings despite the supernatural terror of their situation.
"This is completely insane!" Marina shouted, ducking as one of the shadow hounds leaped over her head, only to be intercepted by Atlas's energy wing.
"I know!" Atlas called back, grinning as he spun through a cluster of shadow creatures, his partial transformation allowing him to move in three dimensions. "Isn't it wonderful?"
His Gear Second form was a perfect balance of power and restraint—divine energy wings that could solidify for offense and defense, enhanced physical abilities that put him on par with superhuman opponents, and a radiant aura that seemed to cause the shadow creatures actual pain. But he was still recognizably himself, still thinking tactically instead of just overwhelming everything with raw power.
Judgment watched this display with what might have been professional interest. "Fascinating. You're deliberately limiting yourself. Most Devil Fruit users seek maximum power output."
"Most Devil Fruit users," Atlas replied, catching a shadow creature's claws on his solidified wing, "weren't raised to believe that maximum power means you automatically win. I'm more interested in earning my victories."
He spun, using the creature's momentum to hurl it into two more shadows, dispersing all three into wisps of darkness. "Besides, this is more fun!"
Vice Admiral Crusher had adapted his own fighting style to the supernatural threat, using his massive size to literally stomp shadow creatures flat before they could reform. "You know, boy, for an ex-World Noble, you're not half bad!"
"Thank you! That's the nicest thing anyone's said about my piracy career!"
"Your piracy career is three hours old!" Marina protested, swinging her wrench at a shadow that got too close.
"Which makes it an even more meaningful compliment!"
Judgment had remained motionless throughout the chaos, studying Atlas's fighting patterns with mechanical precision. Now he raised his hand, and the remaining shadow creatures suddenly froze in place.
"Initial assessment complete," the assassin announced. "Subject shows significant combat capability but maintains exploitable psychological weaknesses. Recommendation: target civilian companion to force predictable protective response."
Every shadow creature in the marketplace suddenly turned toward Marina.
Atlas felt his Devil Fruit power spike in response to the threat, his protective instincts screaming at him to go beyond Gear Second, to unleash enough power to obliterate every shadow in a hundred-meter radius.
Instead, he made a different choice.
"Marina! Crusher! Group up on me, now!"
The mechanic and the Marine moved toward him without hesitation, trusting his judgment despite barely knowing him. As they reached his position, Atlas spread his energy wings wide and poured power into them—not for attack, but for protection.
"Heavenly Sanctuary!"
A dome of golden light erupted around the three of them, solid enough to stop the shadow creatures' assault but transparent enough to see through. The shadow hounds crashed against the barrier like waves against a seawall, dissolving on contact with the divine energy.
"Impressive," Judgment admitted. "But ultimately pointless. You cannot maintain that technique indefinitely, and my shadow hounds are unlimited in number."
"You're right," Atlas agreed cheerfully. "Which is why I'm not planning to maintain it indefinitely."
"Oh no," Marina muttered. "I know that tone. That's his 'I have a completely crazy idea' tone."
"You've known me for four hours. How can you possibly recognize my tones already?"
"Call it mechanic's intuition. What's the crazy plan?"
Atlas looked up at the dome of energy surrounding them, then at Crusher, then at Marina. His hazel eyes were cycling rapidly between gold and green as his mind raced through possibilities.
"Crusher, how good is your throwing arm?"
The Vice Admiral blinked. "My... what now?"
"Your throwing arm! Can you launch someone accurately over a distance of, say, fifty meters?"
"Well, sure, but why would I—" Understanding dawned on the Marine's scarred face. "Oh no. No, no, no. You are not seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting."
"Marina, how do you feel about flying?"
"I don't!" she said immediately. "I feel very negative about flying! I'm a ship mechanic, not a cannonball!"
"But you said you wanted to join my crew!"
"I said I'd stand with you in a fight, not get launched through the air like a projectile!"
Atlas's grin was becoming positively radiant. "Trust me! I have a plan!"
"Your last plan involved asking permission to rob someone!"
"This is completely different! This plan involves strategic aerial deployment!"
Judgment was watching this exchange with what might have been confusion. "Are you... formulating an escape strategy? Through the air? While surrounded by my shadow hounds and trapped in your own defensive barrier?"
"Not an escape," Atlas corrected, his energy wings beginning to shift and reconfigure. "A recruitment drive."
Before either of his companions could object further, Atlas grabbed Marina around the waist with one arm and gestured to Crusher with the other.
"Vice Admiral! If you've ever wanted to throw a Celestial Dragon through a window, now's your chance!"
"That's..." Crusher paused, considering. "That's actually been a lifelong dream of mine."
"Excellent! Marina, grab onto my neck!"
"This is the worst first day of piracy ever!" Marina complained, but she wrapped her arms around Atlas's shoulders.
"Judgment!" Atlas called out to the assassin. "Thank you for this learning experience! I've discovered something very important about my leadership style!"
"Which is?"
Atlas's golden barrier suddenly contracted, pulling inward until it was just large enough to encompass the three of them. Then it began to spin, faster and faster, until they were enclosed in a whirling sphere of divine energy.
"I work best with a crew I can trust to catch me when I fall!"
Crusher's massive hand closed around the energy sphere, and with a grunt of effort that shook nearby buildings, he hurled them straight up into the air.
The sphere shot skyward like a golden comet, carrying its three passengers far above the marketplace, over the rooftops of Loguetown, and out toward the harbor where dozens of ships lay at anchor.
Inside the spinning barrier, Marina was either laughing or screaming—possibly both.
"Atlas!" she shouted over the wind. "Please tell me the rest of your plan involves landing safely!"
"Landing safely is definitely part of the plan!" Atlas confirmed, his wings reconfiguring once again as they reached the apex of their trajectory. "Right after the part where we steal a ship!"
"I take it back! This is the BEST first day of piracy ever!"
As they began their controlled descent toward a particularly promising-looking sloop in the harbor, Atlas felt something settle into place in his chest. This was what he'd been searching for—not subjects or servants, but true companions who would trust him with their lives and call out his crazy ideas in the same breath.
Seraphim D. Atlas, former World Noble and current pirate captain, was finally beginning to understand what it meant to have a crew.
Even if that crew currently consisted of a ship mechanic and a temporarily allied Marine who were both screaming as they plummeted toward their commandeered vessel.
It was a start