Halfway Broken (Chapters 62-65)
Added 2025-03-07 19:04:24 +0000 UTC*4/6/2025: Typo corrections made thanks to Foreign Traveler!
Alright! Halfway Broken is back after it's break in February! The latest set of chapters brings us to their next island, though I admit I'd expected to get farther into said island. Still, the reason I didn't was due to a solid number of scenes interacting with the new passengers, as well as a reaction chapter showing us some of the fallout from Thriller Bark elsewhere. As I like how all of it went, I'm not particularly sorry we didn't get farther into Asuka Island :-p.
Oh, and by the by, if any of you have actually seen the relevant movie? Forget most of it. I discovered, to my irritation, that the movie isn't actually available anywhere in the US. Not legally and not currently. I even resorted to some thematically appropriate measures, only for my dubiously legal acquisitions to...not have English subtitles T-T. Thus, with only the wiki synopsis of the movie to work with (which is very limited) and realizing that most of it was invalid since Zoro would never have met the critical character on account of butterfly effect...
Well, I decided to just take the bare bones concepts from what is a non-canon movie anyway and rearrange them into something more useful. Still better than sending them to the Hot Springs filler island, I think, which was the alternative option.
Regardless, I think this set of chapters came out pretty well, and I enjoyed doing a bit of an initial dive into Yamato and Perona. They also came out to a healthy size, being nearly 16,500 words, which is why I had to cut it off where I did rather than attempt to keep going farther into the arc. Well, that and it was due to be released today, so I also just ran out of time ;-).
As always, the new bits of story are attached here in various formats, and I'll be updating the Master Files in the Pinned Post shortly. I'll also be posting some author's notes in the comments once I've, you know, actually written them. Enjoy more of Halfway Broken!
*Art Note: An AI generation of Perona this time, simply because I can and she technically features.
Comments
What are the Chances of baby 5 Joining Luffy"s crew and Harem?
Hatehing
2025-08-19 15:20:56 +0000 UTC1a: No to Kuina and Swords. There are already three swordsman aboard, four if Brook fully joins :-p. I don't think we need more of them. It also doesn't fit at all with Kaya's fighting style, which is built all around disabling without killing. Something swords aren't exactly good at. 1b: Hint. The Holy Sword is the only JIAN in One Piece canon. As for Wano wanting their sword back. Bugger on them, they lost it and finder's keepers. 1c: Zoros swords will continue to be ones Luffy makes for him. With him, I honestly think that having a perfectly matched set actually fits him better. Particularly when they are specifically designed to channel his spiritual energy. 2: Usopp will certainly get more types of crystal ammo, though he gets little enough screen time that it's hard to say when it will be mentioned. The downside of the expanded crew, really. Which is, of course, also why Chopper and Hina haven't explicitly been shown in training. Vivi's Peacock Slashers...hmmm, you now I haven't hadn't considered those? I sort of half forgot about them. I suppose they could be upgraded with the Crystals or Dials, but I'm not sure they actually fit with the Door-Door Fruit very well. She might be better off with a revolver like Luffy's since she can open a Door right behind someone's skull. 'Bitches love Handcanons' could be a deadpan line that breaks the rest of the crew's brains hearing her use after her first shot with one... The Clima-tact has already been through its Dial upgrade, but not the farther upgrades it got post time-skip. Nojiko's rifle sort of got pushed aside by the Crystal-Crystal Fruit, to be honest. Which is a shame since I liked the idea of her using it as part of her fighting style. I might possibly think of an upgrade for it at some point... They'll hit up several islands during the Time Skip, but I haven't settled on which ones yet. I'm not even sure about the Boin Archipelago, actually, as in a lot of ways the Crystal Ammo is honestly better than what I remember of the Pop Greens. Some or Most of which I was pretty underwhelmed by...
Novus Peregrine
2025-05-01 22:50:53 +0000 UTCOk so I reread all of Halfway Broken since I was bored 😅😂 I have a few comments/questions that I hope you have a bit of time to respond to? (A lot about swords) 1.a: Will Kaya ever learn to use Sandai Kitetsu? Or is this just a gimmick and a writing tool for the development of Kaya’s scary ass personality lol. Honestly though that doesn’t seem to be her fighting style, but if it was, the Holy Sword would definitely be a better fit. Perhaps on this island she will test her purifying skills on Sandai Kitetsu first to refine them before attempting to purify Shichiseiken! Kaya learning to wield the Holy Sword of her ancestors would be a nice parallel to Kuina actually. Obviously she would have to learn a sword fighting style that is drastically different to Kuina’s, and since Kuina has now learnt to use her sword to channel spiritual energy that might be rather difficult to pull off. Especially since her sword use would have to fit in with the rest of her esoteric skillset… (Obviously you don’t have to spoil anything if it will be important in the future) 1.b: It’s a shame that Kuina already has Wado Ichimonji and therefore doesn’t need or want a sword upgrade, because the Sword Saint wielding the Holy Sword would also be an incredible fit. But Brook currently has Shusui, which although is a great upgrade from his weird sword cane, is also a temporary one since Wano will definitely want it back like they did with Zoro in the original timeline. And the Revive DF user using a Holy Sword would be hilarious! Otherwise I guess Priestess Maya could use it, but it would be a shame to leave it out of the story since it has to be an incredibly high quality sword. 1.c: Regarding Zoro’s swords, it seems like you don’t plan to give him any Meito swords. Is he only going to get upgrades via Luffy improving his previous ones each time? Or are the swords he has now the final ones? If so, could we maybe get a stat sheet of them like you gave us one for the Discovery? Since it is hard to realise how powerful they are as weapons when you don’t have the easy metric of Meito swords and their Grades, even if you already somewhat explained that the special metal you used makes them comparable or even better than some Meito swords. Don’t get me wrong, the idea that Zoro will make 3 unknown swords made by his Captain (with great Blacksmithing skills) into famous swords solely thanks to his legacy is pretty badass. I would just enjoy some clarification, or even some kind of comment from Zoro on that subject. 2: Finally, I am really enjoying the varied skill sets the crew is developing and the power ups so far are creative! (Usopp’s crystal seed ammo additions are great, could you give use more info than just the fire one?) I can see you are really trying to give each crewmember the screen time they deserve :) Although training wise, Chopper and Hina haven’t been seen yet :( Will Vivi keep her Peacock Slashers or gain a better weapon? Has Nami’s Clima-tact been upgraded yet? I know you mentioned that Usopp was in the process of upgrading his rifle, but what about Nojiko’s? After the crew reaches Sabaody I know they will probably go to Weatheria (Nami), Boin Archipelago (Usopp), Karakuri Island (Discovery & crew weapon upgrades?) and Torino Kingdom (Chopper & Kaya bonus?) for powerups, but they should also make sure to consolidate whatever powerups they already have (dials, devil fruits, haki and weapons) since everyone has plenty they can improve on already. I don’t think anyone is even close to plateauing yet, except Usopp to some extent and Luffy although Yamato joining solves that. Maybe travelling to Boin Archipelago for Usopp’s ammunition upgrades and then Weatheria for Nami’s final Clima-tact weapon (excluding Zeus) would make sense before they settle down somewhere for a few months of intensive training? Rusukaina might actually be a great location that could challenge even Luffy, Yamato, Zoro and Kuina. I’m so sorry for this long winded comment, you definitely don’t have to reply to all of that, I know you have enough on your plate as it is 😂 I’m just really enjoying this story, thank you so much for all your hard work!
Camille Favre
2025-05-01 21:41:35 +0000 UTCThanks again for these! Managed to pry a bit of time loose to make these corrections and reupload both the chapters here and the Master File version. Started with Halfway Broken since it won't be updated this month :-).
Novus Peregrine
2025-04-07 01:34:28 +0000 UTCIs that a Negative Hollow I see on the far Horizon or a fantastic One Piece story that needs to be read and then politely given edits to it's awesome Writer? LET'S FIND OUT SHALL WE?! One Piece - HB Chapter 62 Page 3 ...spotted the comment about her hoping "her" would form a... Edit: ...spotted the comment about her hoping "he" would form a... Page 5 "...given that both he and Charlotte Linlin "and" monsters..." Edit: "...given that both he and Charlotte Linlin "are" monsters..." Page 10 ...if she hadn't also "be" flirting with Nami... Edit: ...if she hadn't also "been" flirting with Nami... ...,he'd given both Robin and Nami "through" rub downs... Edit: ...,he'd given both Robin and Nami "thorough" rub downs... Page 11 A purpose that wouldn't be served "is" she fell asleep... Edit: A purpose that wouldn't be served "if" she fell asleep... Chapter 63 Page 17 Theirs was the "old"-one out... Edit: Theirs was the "odd"-one out... ...would struggle to concentrate enough power in "once placed"... Edit: ...would struggle to concentrate enough power in "one place"...(?) "...near the "boarders?" Edit: "...near the "borders?" Chapter 64 Page 23 ...of doing that to the discovery... Edit: ...of doing that to the Discovery.. Chapter 65 Page 29 ...straight back into the "depts" of the... Edit: ...straight back into the "depths" of the... So it WAS a Fantastic story after all! Sailing to the next story to read!
The Foreign Traveler
2025-04-02 10:17:14 +0000 UTCeasier to use if it's on the ground instead of a ship for people without Usopps skill also. Only the target would be moving not the canon itself like it would on a ship.
Derek Palm
2025-03-13 22:30:07 +0000 UTCYeah. Easily bypassed by elite forces, but cannon are useless against them anyway. Being able to sink a Buster Call fleet from outside the range of the Buster Call battleships would be a major edge, though. Hmmm, actually the idea of either a Flak Cannon or an anti-air machine gun might even be dangerous to the various Rear and Vice Admirals. Load the flak cannon with seastone shrapnel and you might just get lucky and kill one or two of the DF using Marines. Though probably not the Logia Admirals...
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-13 21:36:49 +0000 UTCYeah that's what I was thinking when I thought of it being static defenses on the coast
Derek Palm
2025-03-12 22:17:45 +0000 UTC*raises a finger, then slowly lowers it* Huh. That's actually not a bad idea at all. Particularly if they build the initial versions as Harbor Defense guns. Those always tend to be bulkier and longer ranged, so they'd be a good place for Alabasta to experiment with them before trying to put a gun with a metric ton of recoil on their Ex-Baroque works fleet of ships. The Discovery is a metal hulled ship specifically built to take the recoil from guns like that. How a wooden ship would handle it I'm not sure. I don't think a gun like that was even mounted on one. Though even a scaled down version would still be a big edge over standard cannon of the age they are in... As to the Fruits, I have an idea what I want one of the Discoveries to be in the future. The other I'm still thinking through. I'm not sure if either of those really fit or not.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-12 19:40:54 +0000 UTCHey now that the Discovery's guns have been changed by the goro goro no mi he could give the previous designs of the guns to Alabasta and no one would know they came from him. Especially couse I don't think anyone ever really saw them in use. Also I would love to see in maybe 20 chapters or so the dark dark fruit and the shadow fruit be given to the shop I feel they would have amazing synergy but give the ship time to adjust to each fruit between getting them
Derek Palm
2025-03-12 04:31:30 +0000 UTCBecause this is her: https://imgur.com/a/vaEchYQ I mean, Sexy Bikini Priestess is an understandable wish. Even if the crew is a bit overloaded with women for me to consider it :-p.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-11 11:44:20 +0000 UTCWhy do I want a new priestess to join the team?)
Anren
2025-03-11 10:44:29 +0000 UTCLol
swift arrow
2025-03-09 03:21:49 +0000 UTCNo, I don't want him to be murdered! He's not Luffy that would somehow blunder his way into an exception to the No Men rule by getting Hancock to crush on him...
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-09 03:09:34 +0000 UTCCompletely understandable :-(. Yeah, there was one last round, since I felt Yamato was sufficiently compatible with Vivi that I was willing to allow it if people wanted it.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-09 03:08:39 +0000 UTCQuestion did you send ace the the amozon island?
swift arrow
2025-03-09 02:43:24 +0000 UTCWAIT!?!? REALLY?!?! Best day ever, lmao I must have missed that vote. To be fair, my grandma was dying at the time so I was a little distracted
WhatAFungi
2025-03-09 02:12:31 +0000 UTCGreat job I’m ready for more!
J.Rogue
2025-03-08 20:17:24 +0000 UTCThe Kage-Kage Fruit and the Yami-Yami Fruit where why Doffy was still on Thriller Bark. He was looking for them. The battle was over well before the Straw Hats arrived, so only Doffy's fruit could have ended up on the Discovery. But it didn't, since Luffy got the kill, and his System automatically absorbs DFs from killed enemies as DF points in his System Shop. Jinbe actually isn't going to be in Impel Down. I considered it carefully, and decided that the only real reason he was there was because he'd gone willingly as a way to protect Fishman Island. With the Marines not currently having the strength to send someone to get him, they'll just leave him be. The Warlords are always hard to control and don't all respond to every summons. Ivankov won't be escaping...but he never really showed a desire to. He was there on purpose, as an agent for Dragon. I suspect he/she could have gotten out anytime he/she wanted. The DF user that could cut stone could just as easily have cut them a way UP through the floors as he/she did down into the hidden level.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-08 12:01:45 +0000 UTC*blink* But...she didn't? She lost the first round to Yamato, but won inclusion as the last member of the pairing. The final pairing for Halfway Broken is Luffy/Nami/Robin/Yamato/Vivi.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-08 11:55:03 +0000 UTCI’m so sad Vivi lost the vote. She’s so cute!!! The majority are heartless! I love everything else! Great chapter!
WhatAFungi
2025-03-08 06:13:31 +0000 UTCSooo First yes Wonderful perona is in the crew I am now happy 😁 now we just need the perona-hina ship to happen 😜 Second T-Bone was a Rear Admiral in the water seven arc but butterflies soo not much of a problem I think just that he should be one of the weaker vice admirals at this moment I think Zoro beat him of when the strawhats boweld him over with the rocketman seatrain if I remember right Third yamatos strength is okey I think she had less time to train with the time skip not having happened and actually leaving wano and our Luffy is definitely stronger than the original at this point in time so I think you handled that perfectly.... So personally I do like the spiritual energy stuff and I think perona and Brook could actually work for that as well as there fruit seems to lend themselves to more esoteric applications but I do like the spiritual angle for kuina ..... Also I kind of like the idea of the whole crew learning about and using spiritual energy as kind of a gimmick/niche for them and as a reason for them all to actually be stronger without the time skip of the original actually happening but with personal twist for each of them .... Ah yes the dead donflamingo and dead mora and dead Blackbeard mh soo the fruits of them .... As they reappear in the closet compedabel fruit the kage-kage and yami-yami fruit could actually have appeared on thrillerbark and sunk with it and doffy s fruit could be on too or In a fruit on the discovery...... Last the butterflys will be interesting 🤔.... especially for impel down as jimbay and ivankov will not be escaping without someone actually breaking into there ..... Of course you could have the revolutionary attack it while the Marines are distracted or shikki could do so...it could be as revenge on the marines for garp showing up while he was preparing and setting back that plan of his .... I'm also not sure how far the SMILE production should actually be at this point ad punk hazard should at this point not be an Ice and Lava hell as that happened because of that sakazuki vs kuzan fight and ceasar should not be there yet I think... Mh I think that is all the brain vomit that came to me will reading this update.....it was wonderful as always keep up the amazing work,👍🤯
Dominique Brassel
2025-03-08 03:06:33 +0000 UTCHey, at least I'm not cruel enough to leave them mid-combat or something :-p.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-07 23:39:33 +0000 UTCGod damnit I curse you this cliffhanger is terrible I need more😭😭😭😭
Derek Palm
2025-03-07 23:18:02 +0000 UTCI didn't watch any of the One Piece movies (because I was too lazy at the time and now I'm worried of how they will be like) but I very interested in what you will do with only a little of the bare bones of one and how it will help developt a few of the crew!
Érica C. Assunção
2025-03-07 21:04:05 +0000 UTCHmmm, not too surprised. It's still a fairly common word in some parts of the United States (namely the South), but I mostly know it myself from reading historical novels and such. It's essentially just a thin tree branch traditionally used for corporal punishment Here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switch_(corporal_punishment) Note, the description is good, the images don't really match though. Typically it's more of a natural riding-crop, single flexible branch in my understanding. Rather than the bundle shown in the images.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-07 19:47:14 +0000 UTCChapter 65 Author's Notes: AN 1: As I warned in the release post, I'm reusing characters, locations, and ideas from The Cursed Holy Sword movie but not the actual plot. Things are significantly different here, including how the Sword got unsealed. T Bone, who is a Vice Admiral that appeared in the Water 7 arc. I'm actually not entirely sure he's supposed to be a Vice Admiral yet, but I couldn't find a quick reference for what his rank was at Water 7. I'm thus choosing to say he's already a Vice Admiral, in part to give a sufficiently dangerous enemy with Luffy and Yamato around. If this isn't accurate...just consider it another butterfly effect that he got stronger quicker. As for what made the Marines send him...for those that didn't immediately connect the dots? It's the fact that things have been steadily going to shit for the Marines and they are looking for any extra edge they can find.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-07 19:41:57 +0000 UTCChapter 64 Author's Notes: AN 1: Yes, Kaya is still calling Sandai Kitetsu humiliating nicknames. She's been using it to make sandwiches with cute heart cutouts for Usopp and cutting paper for her sealing tags. Why? Because those are the most humiliating things she can make the high-grade sword with a bloodlust curse do. She's certainly not going to let 'Grumpy Baby Knife-kun' fight ;-). AN 2: So, the one things I'm not Entirely happy with for the Asuka Island arc is leaning quite so hard into the 'Spiritual Energy' everything. That said, it makes too much sense not to, particularly as it lets me develop AT LEAST three separate characters towards their upgrades. Bare with me if I start using 'Spiritual Energy' as much as Xiania novels use the word Cultivation T-T. I'm trying not to make it TOO irritating...
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-07 19:35:57 +0000 UTCChapter 63 Author's Notes: AN 1: Ah, poor Sengoku just can't catch a break, huh? Luffy passing on mention of Shiki's location was actually something a reader brought up. I decided to 110% made sense. Not only does he understand that Shiki is dangerous to the world as a whole, but he'd also be somewhat maliciously amused by the Marines having yet ANOTHER thing to worry about in the lead up to the War he's fully expecting them to start. AN 2: I went back and forth on if the WG would known Doffy died. Ultimately, I decided that, given the situation between him and the WG, there's no way they wouldn't have agents around his crew. Since, as a New World pirate, he almost certainly had a Virve card? It makes sense that his own crew would discover his death quickly, and those agents discover it through the possibly-not-very-quiet panic that caused. AN 3: Whitebeard. If he went after Ace when Ace was caught due to his own stupidity? There's no other possible reaction to the WG very blatantly pulling their ambush. As a Yonko, it just flat out isn't something he can ignore. AN 4: This is also why Shanks' reaction is different than canon. With such a blatant gauntlet being thrown down, he's not stupid enough to even try and talk Whitebeard down. As such, he moved immediately into 'Okay, what do I do about it' mode. His interception of Kaidou if Kaidou moves will remain...but he has others steps he can take this time as well. Remember, THIS version of Shanks never lost his arm and has continued to clash with Mihawk as a result. I've also chosen to interpret their clashes in a way I think makes sense for Shanks' personality. Unless Mihawk resorted to threating his crew, I can't see Shanks ever really being anything but delighted that Mihawk kept giving him good fights. Which equally means I doubt he was actively going for the kill. Given that he was still drawing with Mihawk constantly, I personally read that as Shanks probably actually being stronger, but not wanting the fun to end. Something upheld by the fact Shanks could go toe to toe with people like Kaidou and Whitebeard, whereas I'm not at all convinced Mihawk would survive either.
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-07 19:29:49 +0000 UTCWhat is a switch? You use it in the training scene and I have no idea what you’re talking about
Matthew Robar
2025-03-07 19:22:03 +0000 UTCChapter 62 Author's Notes: AN 1: Several sub notes on the topic of Yamato. First, I'm not going over the gender thing again. It's been established both in previous author's notes and now, firmly, in story. From here forward, she'll always be referred to as female and treated as such. Second, we don't actually know that much about her, since she really only featured heavily in a single arc then stayed behind on/in Wano. As such, I'm trying to flesh her out in bits and pieces. One example being the drawing scene in this chapter. Samurai were supposed to be 'patrons of the arts,' and I've decided that Yamato's personal interpretation of that is that she should be good at an art. Since she's still very much on the Samauri thing, she's chosen drawing/painting as the thing to be good at. I think it sort of fits what we've seen of her, honestly. It's also somewhat in keeping with Oden having been a crafter in his own way, specifically a Stonemason. Thirdly, apparently Oden was pretty colorful. According to his wiki details, at one point in his youth even kidnapping many women from the Capital to form his personal Harem. (They were free to leave, thankfully, but apparently preferred to stay with him -_-). Obviously, given she's been voted into the pairing, that was too good an opening to pass up as a building block ;-). Fourthly, a quick note regarding her strength...she was able to seriously fight Kaidou during the Wano arc and was arguably pretty close to on par with canon Luffy pre-Joyboy-awakening. If anything, I may have underpowered her slightly here, despite making her stronger than current Luffy. I think that where I put her, strength wise, is a decent compromise. AN 2: Perona. So...um...I was originally uncertain I was going to keep Perona around. Crew is getting kind of crowded, you know? But then, as I was doing research on her and Moria to flesh her out, the scene with her practically wrote itself as. It gives the perfect excuse to modify her behavior to fit in a bit better, while keeping the core of her character the same. It also adds an interesting element, I think, because she's now the only one on the crew who is properly 'piratey.' AN 3: Nami and Luffy finally discuss Robin! Well, I say 'finally,' but it's really only been a couple of months since she joined. Still, she's been making her interest more and more obvious, so they were due to have the needed conversation. Which also gets the snowball rolling downhill on Luffy's acceptance of what he still considers an odd situation...
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-07 19:11:00 +0000 UTCThis comment is for author's notes! Beware spoilers! And if you want to comment on one of them, please do so in a separate comment NOT nested here, in order to keep these orderly!
Novus Peregrine
2025-03-07 19:06:47 +0000 UTC
