In a house somewhere.
"Alright, I'm heading there now. Wait for me there, 'Mochi'." says Dex, mashing his keyboard furiously.
"Hurry up, and stop calling me 'Mochi'." snaps 'Mochi', their voice crackling slightly through the Discord call.
Dex smirks, moving his microphone closer, his fingers dancing over the keys. "Not a chance. It suits you."
A frustrated sigh echoes through his headset. "Just get here already. We're losing time."
"Relax, relax, we're here to test the new update for Blox Fruits, are we not? Didn't you see the dragon leaks already?" says Dex, leaning back in his chair with a grin.
Mochi groans through the call. "Of course I saw them. That's why I've been waiting here for twenty minutes while you were probably scrolling memes."
Dex chuckles, his fingers resuming their rapid assault on the keyboard. "Hey, hey, research is part of the process. Gotta stay informed, right?"
"Right" Mochi deadpans. "Because scrolling TikTok really counts as research."
"Hey, I saw a guy solo a raid as a dragon, so yeah, it does," Dex fires back. The game finally loads, and his avatar spawns on the screen, the familiar tropical backdrop of Blox Fruits bursting into view.
"Alright," Dex stretches, cracking his knuckles. "Time to test the power of this dragon fruit rework! I also heard the yeti fruit is coming this Christmas!" he says excitedly, his voice brimming with anticipation.
"Shut up, and go to Hydra Island already!" Mochi snaps, their tone half-irritated, half-impatient.
"Alright, alright, geez," Dex mutters, guiding his avatar toward the docks. "No appreciation for festive hype, huh?"
Dex navigates his avatar to the dock, grinning as he selects the Miracle boat. "Time to put my fast boats game pass to use," he says.
"Seriously? The Miracle?" Mochi scoffs. "You could just fly as a dragon."
"Why waste energy when I've got speed and style?" Dex quips, steering the boat at breakneck speed. "Gotta make sure this pass was worth it."
Upon arriving, he heads straight to the portals and lands on the island, immediately traveling to the PvP arena.
"Wow, they changed the arena!" Dex mutters, taking in the revamped design.
"I know! I was surprised when I got here too," Mochi replies, his avatar already waiting near the center.
"Go there and initiate the PvP!" Mochi says, pointing to a black tile on the far side of the platform. "Let's test this dragon damage out."
Dex smirks, guiding his avatar toward the tile. "You sure about this, Mochi? You're about to feel the full wrath of the dragon."
"We both have the dragon fruit! You've got the Western, and I've got the Eastern, alright? I believe the Eastern is better!" Mochi declares, his confidence clear.
(The Eastern version is a long, snake-like dragon with arms near its head and the ability to fly, while the Western version resembles a wyvern with two back legs and two front wings.)
"Nu-uh," Dex counters, guiding his character onto the PvP tile. "Western is definitely better since the 'X' move is long-range and a massive AoE attack!"
"Wait! You haven't charged your fury!" Mochi suddenly says, noticing Dex's unpreparedness.
"Oh, you're right. I forgot about that," Dex replies, pausing his character. "I'll go do that now."
Dex quickly moves his avatar toward a nearby group of NPCs, slashing through them to build up his fury meter. "Give me a second, then we can get this started."
After charging up his fury, Dex moves his character back to the PvP tile. The moment he steps on it, both his and Mochi's avatars are surrounded by a glowing green square. A countdown timer appears above their heads.
"Here we go," Dex says, cracking his knuckles.
Mochi grins. "This will be interesting."
The countdown ticks down: 3... 2... 1...
The arena erupts as both dragons unleash their fury.
As soon as Dex transforms into the Western Dragon, he slams the 'Z' key, unleashing a massive fiery blast in Mochi's direction. The attack hits just as Mochi finishes transforming into the Eastern Dragon.
The fight wasn't as exciting as they thought. Both Dex and Mochi spent most of the time flying around, waiting for their 'Z', 'X', and 'C' cooldowns to finish. They exchanged occasional attacks, but the real action was in the anticipation.
As far as Dex and Mochi were concerned, though, it was a blast. They were both grinning through their headsets, enjoying the chaos they had created in their own way.
In the end, Dex's Western Dragon emerged victorious. "I told you!" Dex shouts into his microphone. "The Western is better!"
Mochi groans, but there's a hint of a smile in their voice. "Yeah, yeah, you were right. But the Eastern still has potential."
Dex laughs. "Maybe. But today, the west version reigns supreme!"
They continue PvPing for a while, enjoying the battle, until suddenly, a bounty hunter appears out of nowhere. Without warning, the hunter strikes, swiftly eliminating both Dex and Mochi right after with one combo each.
"We could've taken him..." Dex mutters in frustration, respawning. "If only he wasn't in the 25M bounty range. That damage boost combined with the Cursed Dual Katana... it just tore through us." (In Blox Fruits the higher bounty you have the more damage you do)
Mochi sighs. "Yeah, the katana's insane. It ignored most of the dragons' damage reduction. We didn't stand a chance."
"In any case, we could've still won if we didn't stop playing for a year or two," Dex chuckled, shaking his head.
"Maybe..." Mochi replied, a hint of amusement in their voice. "But at least we got to have some fun before getting wrecked."
"That's right, let's go to Tiki Island and grind to max level," Dex says excitedly. "We can use the new 2x exp codes to make the grind faster!"
"Good idea," Mochi replies, sounding more enthusiastic. "I'll go change server so we don't steal each other's npc spawns"
A few hours later around 2AM
"Finally!" Dex exclaims, his character standing triumphantly. "We're done! That took forever!"
Mochi, also finishing up the grind, sighs in relief. "Yeah, but it was worth it. We're max level now"
Mochi yawns, stretching in his chair. "Yeah, me too. Let's continue tomorrow. I'm too tired now."
Dex nods, his back hurting slightly. "Same here. We'll pick it up fresh in the morning."
But as they try to log off, they realize they can't. The usual log-off button is unresponsive, and the game's interface seems frozen.
"Uh, what's going on?" Dex says, his voice filled with confusion. "I can't log off."
Mochi clicks frantically, trying to exit the game. "Same here... This isn't normal."
They quickly open the server menu, scanning for other players. Their stomachs drop as they see the player list: only two names remain—Dex and Mochi.
"Uh... we're the only ones here," Dex says, his voice shaky.
"What? No way," Mochi mutters, refreshing the list, but it stays the same. "Where did everyone else go?"
Dex gulps, staring at the empty server list. "I don't know, but this is getting weird. First, we can't log off, and now... this."
"I don't like where this is going. I'm gonna turn the PC off directly," Mochi says, his voice tense.
Dex replies. "Good idea. Let's bail on this."
Mochi reaches for his PC's power button and presses it, but nothing happens. The screen stays on, the game still running. "What the... it's not shutting down!"
Dex tries the same, repeatedly tapping the power button. "Mine's not working either!" he shouts, panic creeping into his voice.
Suddenly, both of their PCs emit a blinding white light, flooding their rooms and forcing them to shield their eyes.
"Whoa! What the hell?!" Dex yells, stumbling back from his desk.
"Mochi? Are you seeing this?" he shouts, but there's no reply. The sound of static fills his ears, growing louder by the second.
The light intensifies, and just as Dex feels like it's too much to bear, everything goes silent. When he opens his eyes, he's no longer in his room.
Instead, he finds himself stranded on a small, unfamiliar island. The sand beneath his feet feels real, and the salty sea breeze brushes against his face. The island is lush and overgrown, with towering trees and strange rock formations in the distance. Nothing about it looks like anything from the game.
His heart races. "Where am I?" he mutters to himself, spinning in place, trying to make sense of what's happening.
"Mark!" Dex shouts, panic overriding any sense of playfulness. No time for calling nicknames now.
From somewhere nearby, he hears a familiar voice call back, "I'm here!"
Dex spins toward the sound, relief flooding through him. He sprints toward the source, pushing past thick foliage until he finds Mark—his friend and gaming partner—sitting on a rock, looking just as disoriented.
Mochi now knows as Mark looks up, his face pale. "Dex? What's happening? Where the hell are we? And... do you see this too?" he asks, darting his eyes toward a glowing blue screen hovering in front of him.
Dex stops in his tracks, noticing a glowing screen floating in front of him. The text on it reads:
"Unavailable."
"Unavailable?" Dex mutters, swiping at the screen. It doesn't respond.
Mark, standing nearby, furrows his brows. "Wait... mine says the same thing," he says, pointing to his own screen, which also displays "Unavailable."
They exchange uneasy glances.
"I don't like this at all," Mark mutters, his eyes scanning the unfamiliar surroundings with growing unease.
"Me neither," Dex remarks, his voice tense. He looks around, trying to make sense of their situation. "Let's stay here for now, collect our thoughts, and calm down."
Mark nods, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, you're right. Panicking won't help. We need to figure this out logically."
The two of them sit down on the soft grass, the silence stretching between them. The island feels still, almost too quiet, as if waiting for something to happen.
"First things first," Dex says, breaking the silence, "we need to understand why we can't log off or interact with anything properly. It doesn't feel like a game anymore."
Mark looks around, deep in thought. "True. Whatever this is, it's way more real than we thought. We've got to stick together and keep our heads clear."
"Agreed," Dex replies, glancing at Mark. "We'll figure this out, one step at a time."
"With that said, let's go explore this island," Dex suggests, standing up and brushing off his pants.
Mark looks around, his eyes narrowing as he scans the dense foliage and rocky terrain. "Yeah, we need to find something—anything—that can explain what's going on."
The two of them start walking, their footsteps the only sound on the island.
...
...
...
Not long after, they hear a sound from above and look up to see a bird flying above them, it has a red bag with newspapers under one of it's wings. They stare at the bird, confused, until Dex's eyes widen in recognition.
"It's a news coo," Dex grumbles. "We're in One Piece, aren't we?"
"No way? That can't be!" Mark exclaims, his voice filling with excitement. He looks up at the bird with wide eyes, as if hoping the impossible might be true. "We're really in One Piece?!"
Dex nods, still trying to wrap his mind around it. "I don't know how or why, but this feels... too real to ignore."
Mark grins, already caught up in the possibility. "This is insane! We're really here!"
Then, out of nowhere, they hear a ding sound. They both turn to look at their screens, which have finally changed. The message now reads:
"Log-In."
Mark's eyes widen in disbelief. "Wait, it changed! This is it, we can finally log in!"
Dex steps forward cautiously. "But log in to what? We've been stuck here for who knows how long."
Mark says sarcastically, "Definitely more than an hour," then giggles, shaking his head. "But seriously, it feels like we've been here forever."
Dex can't help but chuckle, though his nerves are still on edge. "Yeah, it's hard to say how long it's really been. Time's kind of messed up in this place."
Mark takes a deep breath and looks at the screen again. "Alright, let's just log in and see what happens. We can't get stuck in limbo forever."
Dex takes a look at the system screen, still unsure. "Normally, people who get sent to an anime world end up super overpowered with all these cheats and powers, right? Is this our cheat?" he muses aloud, trying to make sense of it all.
Mark raises an eyebrow. "I mean, that would be pretty convenient, but I'm not sure if we're getting any special powers just yet."
Dex taps the screen lightly, trying to figure out how to log in. "Well, we're not exactly getting a glowing sword or some ultimate power. Maybe the cheat is just... getting to log in at all."
Mark shrugs, his excitement tempered with confusion. "Guess we'll find out if we actually 'log in' or if this is just some weird waiting room."
Dex nods, still staring at the screen. "Let's hope it's not the second option."
Dex adds, "Wish we actually got some money though, so we can figure out what timeline we're in."
Mark chuckles, looking around. "Yeah, that would be nice. It'd be good to know if we're dealing with the Straw Hat crew or... a whole different timeline."
Dex shakes his head. "Exactly. It's hard to make sense of all this without knowing where—or when—we are." He taps the screen again, frustration creeping in. "A little more information would've been helpful."
Mark nods in agreement. "Yeah, but at least we're not completely in the dark. We've got a chance to figure this out."
...After a while...
Dex exclaims, "Finally! I managed to 'log-in'!" His voice filled with a mix of relief and excitement.
Mark looks at Dex, still processing. "What did you use??"
Dex grins, already tapping through the options on his screen. "Use your Blox Fruits account!"
Mark stares at him, blinking in disbelief. "Wait, you're saying that worked for you? How did you log in so fast?"
Dex shrugs, casually glancing at the system. "I just tried it. Figured it couldn't hurt."
Mark glances at his own system and enters his Blox Fruits account, watching in disbelief as it links successfully. "It actually worked... Now what?"
Dex looks at him, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Well, for starters, our levels are back to level 1500, which makes me annoyed, especially since we just farmed to 2600 before all this happened."
Mark winces, glancing at his own stats. "Yeah, that's a pretty big setback."
Dex mutters, "There's also a shop..." He takes a closer look at the screen, his eyes widening as he sees all the fruits available from the game, along with their exact prices.
His irritation quickly grows as he scans the prices, which are far higher than what he expected. "You've got to be kidding me," he grumbles, shaking his head. "These prices are ridiculous."
Mark glances at the screen, raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
Dex glances back at Mark, frustration in his voice. "Check the shop, it's all expensive."
Mark looks over at Dex's screen, his eyes scanning the list of items and fruits. His expression mirrors Dex's as he sees the absurd prices. "No way... this is ridiculous. How are we supposed to get anywhere with prices like this?"
Mark looks over at Dex's screen, scanning the list of items and fruits. His expression mirrors Dex's as he sees the absurd prices. "No way... this is ridiculous. How are we supposed to get anywhere with prices like this?"
Frustrated, Mark goes back to his own system. His eyes catch a gift icon next to the shop, and curiosity gets the better of him. He presses it.
The screen flickers for a moment, and a message appears:
"Beginner's Gift: Contains a random Devil Fruit."
Mark raises an eyebrow, his excitement growing. "A random Devil Fruit? This could be exactly what we need!"
Mark glances at Dex, a grin spreading across his face. "Claim yours as well!"
Dex hesitates for a moment, then, seeing Mark's excitement, taps the gift icon to claim his own.
"If I get a good fruit, I'm going to main fruit," Dex says with a grin. "If not, I'll go sword main."
Mark grins. "Perfect, let's do this. I'm getting mine first!" He eagerly opens the gift, and the screen reveals a Devil Fruit.
Mark's eyes widen as he sees the result:
"Magma Magma Fruit (Magu Magu no Mi)"
He jumps in excitement. "No way! Magma Fruit! This is amazing!"
Dex smirks. "Looks like you're definitely going fruit main then."
Mark nods, still grinning. "Absolutely! I'm ready to burn everything down."
Dex, with a mock-serious look, starts to pray to the "rng gods." "Please, grant me a decent fruit. I need something good... or I'm going sword main."
With a deep breath, he claims his gift, watching the screen spin. When it finally stops, the result appears:
"Mochi Mochi no Mi (Dough Dough Fruit)"
Dex exclaims, bursting into laughter, "Mark! It's you, 'Mochi'! Hahaha!"
Mark looks at him, confused for a moment, before the realization hits. "Oh, you've got the Dough Fruit! That's... that's fitting!"
Dex grins widely. "You know, with this fruit, I can stretch and shape things however I want. Guess I'll be the *dough* to your *magma*."
Mark chuckles, shaking his head. "Alright, alright, I see what you did there. Let's just hope this works better than it sounds."
Dex nods, still grinning. "Hey, at least I didn't end up with a crappy fruit."
After claiming the gift, the system flickers, and a countdown appears, counting down from 3 to 1.
"Integrating previous races: Countdown Initiating... 3... 2... 1..."
Dex's eyes narrow as he watches the countdown, confusion growing. "Races? I remember being a Sharkman... Am I gonna be a Sharkman again??"
Mark looks at him, puzzled. "Wait, you were a Sharkman? What does that mean for us?"
Dex shrugs, still uncertain. "I don't know. But if the system's integrating races, maybe we'll get something tied to our past forms from the game... or it could be something entirely new."
As the countdown hits 1, an intense surge of pain shoots through both Dex and Mark. It's unlike anything they've ever felt before, as if their very existence is being torn apart and reassembled. The agony overwhelms them, and before they can even react, everything goes black.
Both of them collapse to the ground, their bodies falling unconscious as the world around them fades into darkness.
... At nighttime ..
Dex slowly regains consciousness, his vision blurry, and his head throbbing with intense pain. He groans, clutching his skull as the waves of discomfort wash over him. With every ounce of strength, he manages to sit up, trying to push through the pain.
"Mark… Mark, wake up!" Dex calls, shaking his friend's body desperately, trying to rouse him.
After a few more moments, Mark stirs, groaning in pain, his eyes flickering open. "What... what happened?" he mutters, disoriented.
Dex looks at Mark in surprise, his eyes widening. "Wait a minute... you're a mink now?"
Mark, still trying to process the change, looks down at his new form. His body has transformed into a large, rabbit with long ears and powerful legs. He bounces slightly, testing out his agility. "What the heck? A mink? This is... new."
Dex frowns, scanning the system again. "There's no way to remove the appearance... looks like we're stuck with these forms."
Mark hops over to Dex, chuckling. "Well, you're a shark, I'm a rabbit. Guess we're stuck with what we got."
Dex sighs, looking at his shark tail. "Yeah, no going back now. We'll just have to make the best of it."
Mark grins. "Hey, at least you look cool. And I can jump higher than ever before!"
...
Dex gazes at the moon, puzzled. "We arrived during the day... why am I not hungry or thirsty?"
He looks around, noticing neither he nor Mark seems to feel any discomfort.
Mark notices Dex's expression. "What's up?"
Dex frowns. "We've been here for hours, but I don't feel any of the usual needs. Something's off."
Mark shrugs. "Maybe the system's adjusting us. Like with our forms."
Dex nods slowly, still unsure. "Could be. But it doesn't feel right."
He looks up at the moon, lost in thought.
After a while, Dex sighs and looks at Mark. "Let's go to sleep. We'll figure out how to get off this island in the morning."
Mark nods, too tired to argue. "Yeah, sounds good."
They find a safe spot, settle down, and close their eyes, hoping the morning brings some answers.