#like what in the grand infinity of time could have startled kin more than that particular series of events

[doctortonytchopper]

Godddd I am so glad I went back and watched the punk hazard arc though.

Partly because WOW I am really blown away by how early and THOROUGHLY Oda started just absolutely laying in on the gear 5 reveal hints. Holy shit.

Also because it's so fuckin great seeing the introduction of Momo and Kin to the crew and Law now that I know the backstory that was revealed in Wano. Like imagine being them (I'm focusing on Kin's POV here to lessen confusion btw).

You've been living under a hellish dictatorship - a shitty piss bitch snake, and this murderous dragon Kaido who's as powerful and unkillable as a god. Your beloved lord fights them and loses despite being literally the strongest fighter you know, by like, several orders of magnitude. He is then brutally executed, and the fight you put up to save him isn't even a fight just a half-failure of a retreat (not everyone made it) and it all ends in utter despair. There is no hope of ever beating this villain.

In an act of pure desperation, as the only option available as an alternative to absolute slaughter, his wife shoots you like 20 years into the future. You find the dictatorship is thriving; your beloved home is a wasteland. There are some people on your side but pretty much everyone is enslaved, weakened by starvation, or dead. You've got like ten people on your side to fight an army, and a fucking invincible dragon.

You take to the sea to see if you can find two guys on an elephant who will probably help you. You are so desperate for any help. This is a last ditch effort. You keep up an air of determination but are convinced you will all die. This man is a monster, an immortal dragon from hell ruling with an iron fist of bloody claws; not even Oden could do more than put a single scratch on him. It was over so fast, Kaido's victory so absolute, his hold on your country so firm. MAYBE these two guys will help you, but it's still just a drop in the bucket. You don't think anyone will be swayed by any plea you could make; no one on this earth will be willing to help you.

You land on a strange island where you're all separated, one guy gets lost, your lord's son (now your new lord) gets abducted, and you try to follow the ship he's on.

[That's what we learned in Wano recently. But I had forgotten the next part since Punk Hazard was so mcfuckin long ago.]

You arrive at this insane island that's half on fire and half frozen and just start killing. Then a guy shows up and dices you like a fucking onion but you stay alive. That's fuckin weird! Then you run into a group of pirates who absolutely INSIST on helping you stay alive despite your vicious complaints and argument.

They help rescue the boy, your lord, and make him smile despite the devastation and utter hell you and he have been through this past two-ish months of your personal timeline. You're so relieved to see him again!! He looks super normal and like he's hungry but is having a normal samurai amount of reluctance to trust food from strangers. Nothing going on there, probably! He probably didn't eat one single thing while on this island, definitely no magic fruits, no sir!

Anyways you hitch a ride with these weird pirates on their weird boat and they feed and clothe you, and they're kinda crazy but they treat you very kindly, despite having no obligation to do so. Oh, they're going the same way as you? Back to that weird island where your friend got lost? How fortuitous! Truly it was fate to meet these strange people!

You wonder if we could ask them for help. Hm, probably not. They'd be great allies but who in the world would ever want to willingly put themselves in that much danger, just to help people they don't know??? Caesar Clown is one thing but this is Kaido, invincible dragon, king of the beasts, emperor of the sea!

But then before you can say anything about it you overhear that insane stretchy boy say: "yeah, so that island's our next stop. After that, our plan is we're gonna go kill Kaido!"

And then Momo gets so startled he turns into a dragon.

How do you cope