The Z Pirates (One Piece/Dragon Ball Crossover)

Bulma held the newspaper tightly, her fingers gripping the edges as she scanned the bold, unfamiliar names splashed across the front page. East Blue, Grand Line, Whitebeard, Shanks, Kaido…

Her stomach dropped.

This wasn't their world.

She slowly lowered the paper and glanced at Goku, who stood beside her, looking as clueless as ever, his tattered orange gi drawing stares from passersby. Not that he noticed, of course. He was Goku—he was used to getting weird looks, and more importantly, he didn't care.

Oolong, on the other hand, was unusually not the center of attention. Normally, a talking pig in a vest would have people pointing and freaking out. But here? No one even batted an eye. That was unsettling in itself.

But what really sealed the deal—what confirmed for her that this wasn't just some weird dream or prank—was the damn seagull in a uniform that had just delivered the newspapers.

"What the actual hell…" she muttered under her breath, rubbing her temple.

She exhaled sharply, pushing down the rising panic. Okay, think, Bulma. This wasn't some prehistoric village; this was another world entirely. The architecture, the lack of tech—**not a single TV or mobile in sight—**and the ridiculous concept of a universal government all screamed it.

She peeked at the bounty posters pinned beside the shop.

BILLIONS of whatever currency this place used.

These weren't just criminals. These were monsters.

Her grip on the newspaper tightened again.

They needed to regroup. Fast.

She turned to Goku, who was grinning at her like nothing was wrong. Typical.

Bulma took a deep breath. "Alright, you two. We need to talk."

Oolong, who had been eyeing a nearby food stall, looked up. "Huh? What's up?"

Bulma shook the newspaper at him. "We're not in our world anymore, that's what's up!"

Oolong blinked. "Wait, what?"

Goku tilted his head. "Huh? What do you mean? We're somewhere else, right?"

Bulma sighed. "Goku, listen. I don't mean we're in a different place, I mean we're in a different world. Like, not Earth. Not our Earth, anyway!"

Oolong snorted. "Pfft, how do you know that?"

Bulma smacked the newspaper against his head.

"OW! What was that for?!"

Bulma groaned. "Look at this, you idiot! Look at these names—East Blue, Grand Line, Whitebeard, Kaido! Do any of these sound like places or people we know?"

Oolong rubbed his head, squinting at the newspaper. "…Okay, yeah, that's weird. But maybe we just got dropped off in some super faraway country or something?"

Bulma crossed her arms. "Oh really? Then explain why a freaking seagull in a uniform just delivered the damn newspaper!"

Oolong opened his mouth, then closed it. "…Okay, yeah, that's a little freaky."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "A little? Oolong, we're in deep trouble here! We don't know the laws, we don't have money, and we have no idea what kind of people rule this place! For all we know, we could've been dumped in some pirate-infested world!"

Oolong snorted. "C'mon, what are the chances of—" He stopped mid-sentence, eyes darting back to the bounty posters. Slowly, realization dawned on him. "…Oh, crap."

Bulma pinched the bridge of her nose. "Finally, you get it!"

Goku, meanwhile, scratched his cheek. "So… this isn't our home?"

Bulma shot him a look. "GOKU, WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!"

Goku laughed sheepishly. "Hehe, sorry, Bulma. But it's not that bad, right? We'll just find a way back!"

Bulma threw her hands up. "And HOW do you propose we do that?! We don't have the Dragon Balls, we don't even have a clue where we are!"

Goku grinned. "Well… we just gotta get stronger and figure it out!"

Bulma twitched. "GOKU, THAT IS NOT HOW LOGIC WORKS!"

Oolong sighed. "Welp, guess that means we're stuck here, huh?"

Bulma groaned. "No, we're not 'stuck.' We're gonna figure this out. But first, we need information. We need to find out where we are, what the deal is with this world, and most importantly—" she paused, looking at Goku's ripped clothing and Oolong's very noticeable pig features—"we need to blend in."

Oolong scoffed. "Oh yeah? And how do we do that? You expect me to put on a trench coat and pretend to be some guy's pet?"

Bulma smirked. "That's actually not a bad idea."

Oolong paled. "Wait, wait—I WAS JOKING!"

Goku, however, just grinned. "Sounds like a plan! Let's go find out more about this place!"

Bulma sighed, rubbing her temples again. "Kami, give me strength…"

This was going to be a long day.

________________________________________________

Bulma stood at the edge of the clearing, arms crossed, staring at the setting sun as streaks of orange and pink painted the sky. The ocean breeze from the nearby shore rustled through the trees, bringing with it the salty scent of the sea. It was peaceful—deceptively so.

She let out a deep sigh. "Alright, listen up, you two," she said, turning to face Goku and Oolong, who were sitting on a fallen log. Goku was idly twirling a stick between his fingers, while Oolong looked far less amused, still sulking over the whole "trapped in another world" thing.

"I talked to this lady at the bar earlier," Bulma began, tapping the folded newspaper in her hand. "Didn't get much, but I got the basics. First off, we're in some place called East Blue. Apparently, this world is mostly made up of oceans—like, huge oceans, with islands scattered around. There's no big landmass like back home."

Goku blinked. "Whoa, so it's all just water?"

"Mostly, yeah," Bulma confirmed. "We're on a small island called Huniba Village. It's part of a group of islands called the Conomi Islands."

Oolong groaned. "Great. So we're stuck on some tiny island in the middle of nowhere? Just fantastic."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "It's not just that. See, this world has pirates."

Goku's eyes lit up. "Pirates? Like, the cool kind with swords and treasure?"

Bulma shot him a deadpan look. "No, Goku, not the storybook kind. These pirates are real and dangerous. The woman at the bar told me there's a pirate named Arlong who runs this island—and a bunch of the other ones nearby."

Oolong tensed. "Wait… runs it? You mean, like, a mayor or something?"

Bulma scoffed. "No, you idiot. Controls it. As in, he and his pirate crew show up, take what they want, and nobody can do anything about it."

Oolong's face paled. "Oh. That's worse."

"Yeah, no kidding." Bulma sighed. "Apparently, he's been doing it for a while. The Marines—the ones who are supposed to be stopping guys like him—don't do much here. Either they're too weak to fight him or just don't care."

Goku frowned, gripping his power pole. "That's not right."

Bulma nodded. "Yeah, well, that's the reality of this world. It's basically one big war between pirates and Marines. The pirates do whatever they want, and the Marines are supposed to stop them, but it sounds like a lot of them are either corrupt or just useless."

Goku scratched his head. "So, are pirates bad guys?"

Bulma hesitated. "…Not always? I mean, from what I heard, some of them aren't evil, but a lot of them are just straight-up criminals. And the really big ones? They've got bounties on their heads worth billions of whatever currency they use here. That means they're really dangerous."

Oolong whistled. "Billions? Damn, how bad do you have to be to get a bounty that high?"

Bulma shrugged. "No clue. But names like Whitebeard, Shanks, and Kaido keep coming up, and from what I can tell, they're huge deals in this world."

Oolong rubbed his temples. "Great. So we're stuck in some lawless ocean world full of murder-happy pirates and lazy Marines. This just keeps getting better."

Bulma sighed, tucking the newspaper under her arm. "Well, at least I did have the foresight to always carry these."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a Hoi-Poi Capsule.

Oolong's eyes widened. "Wait, you still have those?!"

Bulma smirked. "Of course I do. You think I go anywhere without them?" She pressed the button on top of the capsule and tossed it onto the ground.

With a POOF! and a cloud of white smoke, a two-story house appeared in the clearing.

Oolong's jaw dropped. "Oh, thank Kami! I was worried we'd be stuck sleeping on the dirt!"

Goku, on the other hand, barely reacted, simply grinning. "Heh, that's cool!"

Bulma dusted off her hands. "At least now we've got shelter. No idea how long we'll be here, so might as well get comfortable."

She then glanced at the dead carcass of the leopard from earlier, wrinkling her nose.

"Goku," she said, pointing at it. "You take care of that. I guess we'll be eating roast meat for now, like the old days."

Goku's eyes sparkled. "You got it!"

He grabbed the carcass by the leg and slung it over his shoulder, already thinking about how good it was going to taste.

Bulma exhaled, looking at the darkening sky.

Stranded in a strange world with no way back, surrounded by pirates and who-knows-what-else… This was just perfect.