History Fridge / ThisBites

* How Uta is going to react when Cross, as is his habit, provokes her and her view and convictions. She was already extremely unhinged toward a beloved childhood friend, Luffy. How much worse will she be toward a strange pirate that she does not have an emotional attachment to and is even more charismatic than she is?

** In the same conversation, Foxy reveals that Pickles was won via Davy Back Fight from the crew of an unnamed pirate captain, who Foxy describes as a berserker with ''an Elephant Zoan Fruit''. Shortly after they parted ways with Foxy, Pickles' old crew was apparently wiped out by the Marines... which ''must'' be how Spandam got his hands on the Elephant-Elephant Fruit he needed to create Funkfreed.

** Had he killed Robin in his fit of rage, without Vivi's interference, he would have probably personally ended the story in a sour note. Cross' knowledge of the original story ''doesn't'' extend to the very end, just to Dressrosa, so Robin is still utterly vital to the way for the One Piece itself ''and'' the true history of the world. Worse, Spandam probably knows this, and with any chance of Pluton being revived, he could present himself as no longer a potential threat to the Five Elders and [[KarmaHoudini lessen his punishment]].

** Meta in-universe FridgeHorror: Gol D. Roger was going to die from an unspecified incurable disease. Keep in mind that cancer is genetic as well as environmental. If they manage to save Ace from execution he might end up developing what Roger had.

* Kaido training. Since Cross can do nothing to him apart from helping sabotage Doflamingo, unaware of what Kaido can do, and Kaido is already a very tough challenge in canon, this will make the Wano arc even ''harder'' than canon.

* Cross's color scheme is grey: not only because he dresses mostly with this shade, but because he forces the world to acknowledge there’s no Black and White morality in everyday's life: [[GreyAndGrayMorality Marines can be monsters just as pirates can be heroes]].

* Blackbeard has always been set up as a {{Foil}} to Luffy as his greatest threat and competition for the title of Pirate King. Now an extra layer has been added to that {{Foil}} status. Throughout the fic, everyone who knew Gol D. Roger [[YouRemindMeOfX sees the man in Luffy]], to the point where you might think Luffy was Roger's {{Reincarnation}}. Now Teach has a similar description, as Gold Lion Shiki sees in him the spirit of his former captain, [[PredecessorVillain Rocks D. Xebec]].

** "We have enough bad publicity, so what's wrong with a little overkill?" he says about his accidental Buster Call. And the Five Elders, later, create the [=BioMEGAs=] as overkill in response to their bad publicity. Had he not been exposed as [[TheStarscream not loyal to them]], the Five Elders would have ''taken his side''.

* Cross had no idea about the movie Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island. Which, naturally, means he could be corrupted and save nobody for once.

** "We have enough bad publicity, so what's wrong with a little overkill?" he says about his accidental Buster Call. And the Five Elders, later, create the BioMEGAs as overkill in response to their bad publicity. Had he not been exposed as [[TheStarscream not loyal to them]], the Five Elders would have ''taken his side''.

* According to Vegapunk Devil Fruits are 'born from the desires of humanity', so what kind of desire would the Noise-Noise Fruit come from? [[InformationWantsToBeFree The need to be heard and to be free to express yourself]] (freedom of speech and freedom of the press). If this is true, then it would explain why Soundbite was able to awaken his Devil Fruit so quickly, as he's constantly [[VoiceOfTheResistance aiding Cross with exposing the truth behind the excessive censorship of the World Government]], and acting as a TranslatorBuddy for animals, enabling him to get in sync with his Devil Fruit much better than others are. Moreover, Soundbite Awakened happened when he was forcibly silenced by Hattori, so the Awakening came from Soundbite literally refusal to be silenced.

** It could also explain why Soundbite specifically got the Noise-Noise Fruit, instead of any regular pirate or marine. If the Noise-Noise Fruit has some agency over who eats it, like the Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika, than Soundbite, as a Transponder Snail, who's very species are essentially a living communication device, and who would later actively work against the censorship of a dogmatic regime, would be the perfect vessel. Plus, the Fruit would never want to be consumed by a marine, or anyone else working for an organization which is actively suppressing the voices of the world's people.

** By contrast, the MightMakesRight philosophy that Kidd (and to a lesser extent, the other rookies like the Straw Hats and Barto Club) follows makes them have to earn and gain the respect of their enemies and the loyalty of their allies through their own capabilities or their collective strength, a strength that’s always growing due to always pushing themselves to do better than before. As a result, not only are they willing to challenge those much stronger than themselves, but they're able to push forward in spite of the challenges because of their bonds built through their deserved strength.

** By contrast, the MightMakesRight philosophy that Kidd (and to a lesser extent, the other rookies like the Straw Hats and Barto Club) follows makes them have to earn and gain the respect of their enemies and the loyalty of their allies through their own capabilities or their collective strength, a strength that is always growing due to always pushing themselves to do better than before. As a result, not only are they willing to challenge those much stronger than themselves, but they're able to push forward in spite of the challenges because of their bonds built through their deserved strength.

** The second aspect, ironically comes as a result of his twisted variant of his MightMakesRight Philosophy that he spouts in Chapter 57. Specifically, he believes that the strong should stand over the weak, and the weak should serve and die with no questions asked. However, as a result of this philosophy, he surrounds himself with powerful, but not as powerful as him pirates, and it is clear that he does not allow anyone to challenge him, if his reaction to Nami standing against him is any indication. But this proves to work against him, as because he is never challenged by those he perceives as weak, he never has any reason to push himself, which in tandem with the above, means that when he is finally faced with those who ARE willing to challenge him, he is underprepared and is much weaker for it, since all he is capable of doing is beating down those who are weaker than him, and it's likely he would have ran into greater difficulty if he were to ever face his old contemporaries again.

* Cross's color scheme is grey: not only because he dresses mostly with this shade, but because he forces the world to acknowledge there is no White or Black morality in everyday's life: [[GreyAndGrayMorality Marines can be monsters just as pirates can be heroes]].

*** A fear that is well-founded. He really does fail to prevent it. However, the end result is drastically different.

*** A fear that is well-founded. [[spoiler:He really does fail to prevent it. However, the end result is drastically different.]]

* Cross has another function on the crew: he's the lightning rod, and it's not only because he tanked the brunt of Eneru's wrath. A lightning rod diverts the electrical charge by taking it on himself to protect the house to suffer damage, just as Cross serves as a ButtMonkey by enduring misfortune which should have fallen on his crewmates. Dipping into FridgeHorror, however, it also means Cross is likely the first to fall due to his more human physiology, best demonstrated during the events of Anime/BaronOmatsuriAndTheSecretIsland. There, Cross is the ''first'' to be affected by [[spoiler:Lily Carnation's spores and eventually devoured]].

* Vivi's [[spoiler: Sovereign's Will]] was foreshadowed long before Enies Lobby: she managed to make Smoker and Eneru listen and obey to her. One could argue that Smoker doesn't count since he only bowed down when she revealed how prestigious her bloodline was, but Eneru has no such excuse.
* Moria [[spoiler: Awakening his Devil Fruit]] makes sense if one remembers his backstory. His first pirate crew was utterly '''decimated''' by Kaido and left him broken ([[DespairEventHorizon mentally]] and [[BodyHorror physically]]). He then chose to create an immortal pirate crew made of the undead, along with his trump card of Oars, to take the Yonko on again. Moria would have been well on his way to get his revenge if it weren't for the Straw Hats showing up and annihilating his zombie crew. The mere thought of having a second crew annihilated while he was sedated and unable to do a thing about it was possibly a [[VillainousBSOD sufficiently traumatizing event]] to [[spoiler: [[TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening trigger the Awakening]]]].
* The name of Oars's DeadGuyPuppet form [[spoiler: controlled by Awakened!Moria]] is ''[[Myth/NorseMythology Jotun]]''. This has a double meaning as Jotun are referred to as "frost giants". Oars is both a very giant creature ''and'' [[HumanPopsicle he was stored in a giant freezer]] making him a literal [[VisualPun frost giant]].

** This goes even deeper when you remember that plenty of Marines deserted due to Cross' actions, even in places that didn't leave the World Givernment; what will happen to the villages, towns and countries which relied on them for protection? The Great Age of Piracy is still ongoing, and those who do keep on helping people might not be enough, especially without the support of the World Government. [[spoiler: Worse still, in Marineford Misery, it's mentioned that no one deserts following TheReveal of why they're ''really'' [[SinsOfTheFather executing Ace]], because those who would have cared have already become turncoats or left. In trying to destroy an authoritarian government, Cross might very well have made them even more extreme.]]
* Cross had no idea about the movie [[spoiler:Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island.]] Which, naturally, means he [[spoiler:could be corrupted and save nobody for once.]]
* Ever wonder why Buggy the Clown, a guy who sailed the Grand Line with Gol D. Roger, would wind up fleeing into the safety of East Blue -- widely acknowledged as "The Weakest Sea" -- and hiding there instead of going after One Piece himself? Well, in this version of the setting, [[spoiler:he saw his whole first crew eaten alive by Lily Carnation]]. In all likelihood, he was ''scared out of the Grand Line'' entirely by the trauma; despite his claims of claiming One Piece when they first met, Buggy probably never intended to go back near the New World again if he could help it.
** Which raises another thought: could Buggy's weakness be a result of his skills naturally declining through a lack of a challenge combined with sheer trauma at what he went through on [[spoiler:Omatsuri]] Island? Sort of an [[BadassDecay inversion]] of TookALevelInBadass? And with [[spoiler:Lily Carnation]] now dead... could the catharsis give Buggy a chance to heal from his trauma, and maybe start getting back in the game for real?
** As it turns out in Marineford, that and [[spoiler:having his past exposed]] ''does'' put him back into the game, crossing with FridgeBrilliance.

* Throughout the Sabaody Revolution arc, Cross runs into various expies (Miror B, Yzma, and Psycho-Mantis). It is then revealed that all of them were Doflamingo's executives disguised (Dellinger, Monet, and Gladius respectively). Not only that, but Gladius (who was dressed as Psycho-Mantis) correctly guesses that Cross was thinking of a video game, a term he shouldn't know. WordOfGod later confirms that Gladius discerned the term with Observation Haki.

* Throughout the Sabaody Revolution arc, Cross runs into various expies (Miror B, Yzma, and Psycho-Mantis). It is then revealed that all of them were Doflamingo's executives disguised (Dellinger, Monet, and Gladius respectively). The Brilliance is that all the expies are Antagonists just like how the Doflamingo Family are the Straw Hat's enemies.

* Kaido training. Since Cross can do nothing to him apart from helping sabotage Doflamingo, unaware of what Kaido can do, and Kaido is already a very tough challenge in canon, this will make the Wano arc even ''harder'' than canon.

* Why is Scrachman Apoo a hero in this universe? Well, consider what he said when he first introduced himself to Cross and the crew of the Going Merry- Long Arm people love making money and causing chaos. While in canon, he worked for Kaido, there's way more money and chaos to be made in helping tear down the old world and usher in a new one- and Apoo's made plenty of money in his partnership with Cross already, with more on the way with his Newspaper coming out.

* In canon, Doflamingo was able to get ahold of Ace's Devil Fruit sometime after the latter's death at Marineford. It's possible that given the plethora of fruit users present, and his dealings in the underworld, he likely had several "funeral bouquets" ready just in case to market them off after the War.

** Blackbeard has always been set up as a {{Foil}} to Luffy as his greatest threat and competition for the title of Pirate King. Now an extra layer has been added to that {{Foil}} status. Throughout the fic, everyone who knew Gol D. Roger [[YouRemindMeOfX sees the man in Luffy]], to the point where you might think Luffy was Roger's {{Reincarnation}}. Now Teach has a similar description, as Gold Lion Shiki sees in him the spirit of his former captain, [[PredecessorVillain Rocks D. Xebec]].

* In canon, Doflamingo was able to get ahold of Ace's Devil Fruit sometime after the latter's death at Marineford. It's possible that given the plethora of fruit users present, and his dealings in the underworld, he likely had several "funeral bouquets" ready just in case to market them off after the War.
** Given the Ace was SparedByTheAdaptation, Doflamingo won't be able to follow up with this plot point... until you realize that Blackbeard couldn't get Whitebeard's fruit this time. Meaning that the Tremor-Tremor fruit is now completely up for grabs.

** In the same conversation, Foxy reveals that Pickles was won via Davy Back Fight from the crew of an unnamed pirate captain, who Foxy describes as a berserker with ''an Elephant Zoan Fruit''. Shortly after they parted ways with Foxy, Pickles' old crew was apparently wiped out by the Marines... which ''must'' be how Spandam got his hands on the Elephant-Elephant Fruit he needed to create Funkfreed.