Luffy's New Game Plus

So, before this story begins, I would like to get some things clear. First of all, this entire story will be a big spoiler for all of One Piece, so if you don't want to be spoiled, then I wouldn't suggest reading this. Anywho, this story will basically follow the canon plot of One Piece, with some minor and slightly major differences here and there. The major difference is that Luffy will start off with all of his strength and abilities he has as of the latest chapter of One Piece. This statement will always stay true, because I will just naturally use other abilities he gains and/or uses as One Piece continues. However, the Straw Hats will not start off this way, but will become as strong as they are earlier, and gain their abilities earlier, too. All of them will gain new abilities they do not have currently in canon. However, this statement could easily become false by the time One Piece ends, so yeah. Also, One Piece is not owned by myself, it is owned by Eiichiro Oda. I will be working on this for a while, and not every chapter (post) will be completely finished when it is posted. I hope you like this, and feedback is welcome. Just PM me any comments you have about my story, and I'll hopefully reply withing a few days. Anywho, onto the story!


There was an island in the East Blue where a young boy named Monkey D. Luffy had been living for half of his life. This boy was enamored with the freedom of the life of a pirate, and aspired to become the Pirate King one day himself. Because of this, he befriended a Yonko, one of the four greatest pirates alive, who came to the island every now and then whenever he was in the East Blue.

The pirate was "Red Hair" Shanks. True to his epithet, his unruly hair was a crimson red. He also had a scar on his left eye, which looked like he had been clawed there. Other than those defining features, he looked fairly average.

Luffy had been trying to get Shanks to bring him along as a crew member, but he wouldn't let him go. He said that he was too young right now. Today, Luffy had an idea to prove that he could be a pirate and join his crew.

"Hey!" The red haired pirate yelled down from his docked ship. "What're you doing, Luffy?"

"I'm showing that I can be a pirate!" The young boy screamed back, his face filled with determination. He waved a small knife in the air next to him. "I'm not joking, either!"

"Go for it!" Shanks yelled down to him, chuckling. "We wanna see what you're gonna do!"

"Luffy's doing something funny again!' One of the pirates yelled to no one in particular.

As soon as he said that, however, the laughing stopped, and was replaced with a sound of pain and then screams of shock. Luffy had plunged his small dagger into his face just underneath his eye.

"Ow!" The boy said as he pulled the blade out of his face.

"You idiot!" The red haired pirate yelled at him. "What do you think you're doing?!"


"Let's make a toast!" A pirate yelled in the bar with his fellow crew members. "To Luffy's craziness and to our greatness!"

A few of the others shouted in agreement, some yelling at others about food and other such things.

"It didn't hurt at all." Luffy said in a strained voice, tears forming in his eyes, a small bandage underneath his left one.

"You liar!" Shanks screamed at him in anger. "Don't do anything like that ever again!"

"But I'm not afraid of pain. Next time bring me out to sea! I wanna be a pirate!."

"You can't handle being a pirate!" Shanks seemed to lighten up, now smiling and holding the spoon he was using to eat up. "You can't even swim. How do you expect to be a pirate if you can't even swim?"

"Simple." The boy said with a grin. He stood up on his stool at the bar, punching the air. "I'll just stay on the ship. Besides, my fighting is really good. My punches are as strong as pistol fire!"

"Wow, a pistol? Really?" The red haired man said in a dull voice.

"What kind of a tone is that?!" Luffy yelled at Shanks, upset that he isn't impressed at all.

"Luffy, you seem unhappy." One pirate said, standing up with a few others, grabbing each others' shoulders, dancing a bit.

"Yeah, be happy to face anything!"

"A pirate's life is free and great!"

"You can go anywhere you want on the sea."

"Nothing's as great as freedom!"

"Stop giving him any ideas." Shanks said to them, obviously bored. Luffy was in awe at what they were saying, however.

"But it's true, isn't it?"

"Captain, why don't you just let him come once with us?" One of the sitting pirates spoke up. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Yeah, it's fine!" Another nodded his head while Luffy was getting excited.

"Fine then. If we take him along, one of you will have to stay here and take his place." Shanks told them, grinning.

"OK, we've said enough! Let's drink some more!"

"Some friends you are!" Luffy yelled at them.

"Anyways, you're too young. You're still a kid." The man looked down at the boy. "Wait at least another, say, 10 years, then I'll consider letting you join."

"Damn it, Shanks!" Luffy got back on his stool, angry at Shanks. "I'm not a kid anymore!"

"C'mon, don't be mad." The red haired captain told Luffy. 'Here, have some juice."

"OK, thanks." The boy said, gulping down the juice quickly.

"You really are a kid!" Shanks started laughing loudly, hitting the bar with his fist.

"That was dirty!" Luffy yells at him from behind. He got up and walked away, mumbling to himself. "I even cut myself today and he still won't let me join. I'm so tired."

"Luffy, you should try to understand how the Captain feels." Benn Beckham, the first mate to Shanks, spoke up to the boy.

"Understand how Shanks feels?" Luffy cocked his head, confused.

"Yes. He is our leader. He knows what being a pirate is like most of all. He knows that it is fun and free, but it's also hard, and very dangerous. You understand? He doesn't mean to mock your dreams?"

"I don't understand! He just makes a joke of me!" Luffy said angrily.

"Cant swim!" Shanks's voice could be heard a few meters away, his mouth slightly covered by his hand while he looked over at Luffy.

"See?!" Luffy cried out.

"Captain, you seem to be happy, as always." The bar owner appeared in the main room from a storage closet with barrel of alcohol. She had short brown hair and was wearing a dress that seemed handmade, and well done at that.

"I am, Makino! Making fun of him is my joy." The red haired pirate said while laughing.

"He really is very happy!" The boy said in victory.

"Luffy, would you like something to eat?" Makino asked Luffy in a sweet voice.

"Sure! I'll pay you with my treasure!"

"What treasure?" Shanks asked him. "You're lying again."

"I am not!" Luffy stated loudly. "I'll become a pirate one day. I'll pay her with the treasure that I find!"

"I'll be waiting." She said happily, giggling lightly.

"So, Shanks." Luffy looked at the man.

"Yeah?"

"How long are you staying this time?"

"Well, it's been about a year since we've used this town as our base..." Shanks thought to himself for a minute. "We'll probably sail off a couple more times before we come back for the last time to gather our things , say goodbye and then leave for a good while."

"Only a couple more times, huh?" Luffy looked down. "Then I'll learn to swim by then!"

"Alright! Good luck!"

A thud could be heard at the entrance to the bar. A man kicked open the door and strolled in casually. He was a tall man, and he has a thin figure. His face looked menacing, as if he was ready to attack at any moment, but it also looked a bit bored at the moment. A few other men followed behind him into the tavern.

"Excuse me!" The man yelled out, looking around. "So, these are pirates, huh? I've never seen them before. They look pretty dumb, though."

No one really responded that much, besides Luffy, who looked curiously at them while he ate a fruit. Shanks and his crew either ignored the man or just looked at him while they continued to eat and drink.

"We're bandits from near here." The man said calmly and sure of himself. "We're not here to cause any trouble. We only want ten barrels of sake."

"Oh, I'm sorry, but we're out of sake right now." Makino bowed her head at the man.

"Oh, really? What are they drinking then? Water?" The man looked down at Shanks.

"It is sake. However, that was the last of it. I am sorry."

"Ah, sorry about that. It seems like we finished off all of the sake. Sorry." Shanks looked up at the man, smiling. He grabbed a bottle and handed it to the man. "If you want, you can have the last bottle, on us."

The man grabbed the bottle slowly. Then he smashed it on Shanks's face, pieces of the bottle and sake falling on the floor. Makino and Luffy looked shocked, and Luffy also looked angry. The men behind the man looked smug, and Shanks's crew looked mostly indifferent.

"Just who do you think I am?! On bottle is not enough for me and my group!" The man yelled at Shanks.

"Oh no, now the floor's all wet."

See this?" The man held up a bounty posted that showed his name, Higuma, and the bounty on his head. "I'm worth 8 million beli! I'm one of the prime criminals here! I've killed over 50 people before, you cocky bastard! Now that you know who I am, don't go messing with us again. After all, mountain bandits and sea pirates don't do well together."

Shanks got out of his seat and bent down, picking up some of the pieces of the broken bottle. "Sorry about that, Makino. Do you have a mop?"

"It's alright." Makino squeaked out. "I'll clean it up."

Higuma unsheathed his sword, swung and broke more bottles on the counter.

"Since you seem to enjoy cleaning so much, I gave you more to do." He said, leaving with his men. "Later, you bunch of chickens. What a pathetic town. It doesn't even have sake. Let's move on to the next one."

"Are you alright, Captain? Are you hurt?" Makino had already gone around the counter and held out a hand for Shanks to grab.

"No, I'm fine."

The room suddenly roared with laughter.

"Did you see that?! He got you good!"

"Our Captain looked silly!"

Shanks joined in, laughing at the whole ordeal, too. However, one person there was very much upset over what had happened.

"Why are you all laughing?!" Luffy yelled at everyone in the room. The laughter died out almost instantly. "That was disgraceful! Who laughs after being attacked by someone like that?! Why didn't you fight him?! You're not a man, and you're not a pirate, either!"

Shanks looked at the boy, a serious look on his face. "Luffy, I know how you feel. But it's just a bottle. There's nothing to get mad over."

"I never want to see you again, you coward!" Luffy screamed, waking away.

"Oh, c'mon, don't go." Shanks grabbed onto Luffy's arm as he walk away. However, that didn't stop Luffy from walking. It only stopped his arm from going with him. His arm stretched as he continued walking, and everyone gasped in shock. "His arm is stretching!"

"What's happening?!" Luffy asked loudly, starting to panic.

One of the crew members looked into a treasure chest. "It's gone! The Gomu Gomu no Mi!" The large man took out a notebook and showed Luffy a picture of a round purple fruit with swirling patterns on it. "Did you eat this fruit?!"

"Well, yeah. But wasn't that just dessert?" The boy asked the pirate. "It tasted pretty bad, though."

"That's no dessert, Luffy!" Shanks got in Luffy's face yelling in shock. "That's the Gomu Gomu no Mi! Whoever eats it will take on the properties of rubber! It's one of the Devil Fruits, one of the rarest treasures in the world! Whoever eats one will lose the ability to swim forever!"

"You're kidding me!" Luffy's jaw hit the floor in shock, his now rubbery body allowing that to happen.

"You idiot!"

A few weeks later, Luffy had learned a bit how to cope with his new body and his inability to swim. Shanks and his crew had left town by this time, and hadn't returned yet.

Luffy went to the fish market in town, talking to the store owner while he bought his fish.

"Hey, Luffy. You sure seem to be in a good mood today." The store owner said. "Did the pirates leave you behind again? Either way, you can't swim anymore, anyways."

"That's fine. I'll just become a pirate that doesn't fall into the sea!" Luffy smiled and grabbed the sides of his mouth, stretching it widely. "I've become even happier ever since I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi!"

"And what's so good about that?" An old man appeared behind Luffy, a slight scowl on his face. "Maybe everyone thinks that it's cool, but what good does having a body made of rubber do?"

"Chief!"

"I'll tell you again, Luffy! Don't become a pirate! It'll ruin this town's reputation! That captain may seem cool, but stop hanging out with him!"

Another week passed before anything exciting happened. Luffy was sitting in the bar with Makino, just talking.

"They've been away for a while now." Makino said softly. "Do you feel lonely, Luffy?"

"Why would I? I still haven't forgiven them for the bandits!" The boy said angrily. "I overestimated Shanks. I thought he was a brave man. I guess I was wrong."

"Oh, but I thought that being able to laugh off hardships was pretty brave." The bar owner said, smiling.

"That's because you just don't understand." Luffy set his chin on the table, still upset. "There are times when a man should fight back!"

"Then I guess I don't know anything about that." Makino said, still wearing a smile on her face.

"That's right."

"Excuse me." A man walked into the tavern. When Luffy turned around, he saw that it was the bandit from before, Higuma, and his group. "It looks like the pirates aren't here today. It sure is quiet. We're back."

The bandit and his men all sat down around the bar, ready to be served. "Well, what are you waiting for? We're customers. Bring us some sake!"

Luffy immediately tried to fight them, only to fail quickly. The bandits grabbed him and decided they didn't need the sake anymore. They only wanted to kill this kid, now. Makino, meanwhile, ran to the chief's house, telling him about how the bandits took Luffy. Some of the people in the town where the fuss was going on were hiding in buildings, contemplating whether or not to help Luffy.

"What an interesting body. Punching and kicking him won't do anything."

"Damn it! Apologize to me right now!" Luffy yelled at them all while he was thrashed around. He tried to punch them, too, but it wouldn't work.

"It's like he's made of rubber. Who would've though such a person could exist?" Higuma pondered to himself as he threw Luffy's body to the ground. "A different kind of person. I wonder how much I could get if I sold him to the circus."

"Damn it! You'll be sorry for this!" Luffy got back up and grabbed a nearby branch. He charged at the bandit, and tried to swing at him.

"What a strong brat." Higuma said calmly as he stomped on Luffy's head. "We were just having a good time drinking and talking. Did we say something to upset you?"

"Yes! Apologize right now!" Luffy screamed at the man.

"Stop!" The chief yelled out to the bandits. "Please! Stop this. Give us Luffy back. I'm sorry for whatever he's done, and I don't want to argue with you. Please, I can pay."

"Good, you can always expect that the elders know what to do in these situations." Higuma said smugly. "But it's too late now. He's made me angry, and I can't just let him go after that. When a weakling like him insults me, it makes me so angry. So angry that I think I'm gonna kill him." The bandit drew out his sword, and started getting ready to kill Luffy with it.

"It's your fault, you wild baboon!" Luffy yelled up at him from under his foot.

"Luffy!" Makino yelled in anguish.

"I was wondering why no one was at the port when we arrived." Shanks walked past Makino and the chief, along with his crew. "You guys are the bandits from before. What's wrong Luffy? I thought your punch was like pistol fire?"

"Shut up!" The boy yelled at the pirate.

"So, you're still here, you pirate?" Higuma said in disgust. "You gonna clean the whole town this time? Or just the blood from this boy's body? I suggest you leave. Come any closer, and you're a dead man."

Shanks didn't seem to listen, and continued walking forward towards the bandits. One pulled his gun out at him, pointing it at the side of his head.

"Didn't you listen? I told you not to come any closer!"

The bandit with the gun laughed. "You wanna get shot?"

"Well, now that you've pulled out a gun and pointed it at me, we have to fight." Shanks said calmly.

"What?"

"I said, don't use this thing to scare people." Just then, a gunshot could be heard, and the bandit fell dead. One of Shanks's crew members had gone up right beside the bandit and shot him in the side of the head. Makino and the chief gasped, Luffy smiled, and the bandits were furious.

"Now you've done it, you bastard!"

"Damn you, that was dirty!"

"Dirty? Don't make us laugh. Did you think we were some kind of saints?" Beckham said, standing in front of the entire crew, minus Shanks.

"The people standing before you are pirates." Shanks slowly started walking towards them. "Listen well, bandits. You can through food or sake at me. You could even spit on me. I can laugh that off. However! I don't care why you would do it, if you hurt my friends, I will never forgive you!"

"Shanks!" Luffy looked up at the pirate captain from the ground.

"You won't forgive me?" Higuma laughed heartily at that. "What a joke! You, a bunch of pirates who do nothing but sit around on a ship all day, want to challenge us? We'll wipe the floor with you!"

The bandits, besides Higuma, charged at Shanks, yelling at him and insulting him in various ways.

Beckham stepped forward. "Let me deal with them, Captain. I can take them."

Beckham took the cigarette out of his mouth dodged a sword swing, and stuck the burning end into the eye of one of the bandits. The rest of them were easily taken out by him. All he had to do was dodge and swing the end of his gun at them all, knocking them out.

"Don't overestimate yourselves, bandits. If you want to fight us, you'd better get a fleet of Marines to help you."

"Wait a minute! This brat messed with us first!" Higuma yelled, trying to get Shanks to back off, who was now approaching him.

"It doesn't matter. After all, there's a bounty on your head, right?" Red Hair spoke calmly, but with a hint of rage in his voice. His face was menacingly calm as he walked towards the bandit.

Higuma was scared at this point. He threw a smoke bomb down on the ground then ran away with Luffy in his arms.

"Luffy..." Makino said softly.

"OH NO WE WERE CARELESS! HE GOT AWAY WITH LUFFY! WHAT DO WE DO?!" Shanks yelled, looking at his crew for answers.

"It'll be fine, Captain. Don't panic. We'll split up and search for them."

On the sea, Higuma now felt safe. He felt weird being on a small dingy, but he knew that the pirate wouldn't find him there. "Finally got away. Who would've thought that a mountain bandit would run away by boat, huh?"

"Go to hell!" Luffy yelled, punching his shin.

"Gah! You little brat!" Higuma grabbed his leg, rubbing it to ease the pain. "I only used you as a hostage. I'killed kids before, so off you go!" The bandit kicked Luffy into the ocean, laughing lightly.

"Damn you! You said that they're cowards, but you couldn't even fight them yourself!" Luffy yelled at him as he fell. Higuma didn't stop laughing at all. "You said he was a cowards in that bar, that he couldn't even stand up for himself against you! You underestimated him! Never underestimate Shanks!"

Luffy splashed into the ocean, but not before he saw a huge monster rise up from the ocean. The sea king ate Higuma and the boat, while Luffy tried his hardest to stay afloat. It wasn't working that well, and the sea king charged at him while the boy started sinking.

Then Shanks pulled Luffy out of the way. He looked at the monster, a death glare in his eyes. He released his will, destroying the sea king's own will to attack. "Get lost."

The sea king stopped, and a second later, it turned around, diving back into the depths of the ocean.

"Shanks! You saved me!" Luffy said, but then he noticed something. We started to cry, and he couldn't speak.

"Thank you, Luffy. Makino told me how you stood up for us in the bar. Thank you for that." Shanks looked at the boy. "Oh, c'mon, don't cry."

"B-but Shanks!" Luffy hugged the pirate tightly. "Your arm!"

'That's nothing compared to your life. It's just an arm."

A couple of months later, Luffy and Shanks were at the harbor. Luffy had realized why Shanks wouldn't take him to the sea, and he was OK with that. He would just become a pirate on his own later on.

"So you're really leaving this time?"

"Yep." Shanks looked at the town, remembering the good times he and his crew had there, along with Luffy. "We've stayed here lone enough. It's about time to move on, now."

"Are you upset?" Shanks continued.

"Yeah, I am. But it's OK. I'll just become a pirate on my own. I'll have my own crew one day."

"I wouldn't take you even if you begged me to. You don't have what it takes to be a pirate!"

"Yes I do!" Luffy yelled at him. "One day, I'll find a crew of my own that's just as strong as yours is. No, even stronger! And then I'll find the world's biggest treasure, and become the Pirate King!"

"Oh, so you want to become bigger than even us?" Shanks bent down as he grabbed the top of his straw hat. He spoke his next words as he set the hat upon the boy's head. "Then this hat is my gift to you Luffy. It's my favorite hat, you know."

Luffy started crying. He couldn't move at all, other than when he sniffed, he shivered a bit.

"When you become the biggest pirate, return that hat to me." Shanks walked up the ramp to his ship.

"That kid's gonna be big some day." Beckham said softly to his captain.

"I know." Shanks said back. "He reminds me of myself back in the day."

And Shanks and his crew left. They didn't return to that town in the next ten years Luffy stayed there. Ever since, Luffy made sure his straw hat was never damaged.


The fourteen year old boy waved to his brother goodbye. It would be three more years until he would leave the island to go on his own adventure as a pirate, just like he planned with his brothers. He couldn't wait, but he knew he had to grow stronger. Maybe Garp could teach him some things so he could learn how to fight. He'd have to ask him later. For now, he was busy watching Ace sail off to be free. To be a pirate.


For the next three years, Monkey D. Luffy trained under his grandfather, Monkey D. Garp, and learned the ways of Haki. He had mastered all three types, even though one of them, Conqueror's Haki, is very rare. During his training, he also learned that, using the powers of the Gomu Gomu No Mi, he could make himself stronger and faster for a time, and even make parts of his body larger for a few seconds. By the time he was seventeen, he had become insanely tough and strong. He was a natural born fighter made of pure willpower. And it was time for him to finally leave his home as a pirate.

His boat may have been small and dinky, but he was dead set on going to the Grand Line and becoming the Pirate King. However, the world decided to add a bit of fun into his life, and set a whirlpool in his way, which he was caught up in. Not being able to swim due to eating a Devil Fruit, he hid inside of a barrel, floating nowhere in particular. Eventually, he fell asleep, and woke up inside of a ship.

A small ship was docked at an island in the middle of East Blue. The boat wasn't that big, but it wasn't small, either. The sails had red hearts painted on, and the jolly roger was a sideways skull with a heart on the side, two bones crossing behind it. At the front of the ship, a swan head with heart shaped eyes stood out with a long neck, which was adorned with a pearl necklace. Cannons decorated the sides of the ship, and the masts had crown shaped crow's nests.

"I wonder why there's so much dust." A large woman said with a menacing tone, wiping her ringed finger on the edge of her ship. She glared at the man who was supposed to clean the area. She really wanted to show her crew a lesson. She was not someone who tolerated slackers and messes.

"I-I'm sorry! I thought I cleaned the entire deck!" The frantic man cowered in fear caused by his captain. "I-I'll do it again. J-just please d-don't do-"

"Don't do what?" Sick amusement drenched her voice. She loved the power she had over her entire crew.

"P-please don't hit me over the head with your bludgeon! I don't want to die!"

"Coby, what's the most beautiful thing in all of the seas?" The woman turned towards the young boy behind her. This young boy was short, and had pink, straight hair. He wore round, black glasses, a white shirt similar to that of a Marine's, and black trousers. He was quite runty and wimpy.

"W-well, of course that'd be you, Alvida-sama." The young boy stated with a nervous laugh.

"Exactly correct! And that's why I hate dirty things! I don't want a speck of dust on this ship! You got that!?" Alvida swing her foot in front of Coby. Setting it down, she continued talking. "I've only kept you alive so long because you know more about navigation."

"Y-yes, Ma'am, thank you, Ma'am." The pink haired boy kneeled down before the towering woman, his entire body covered in nervous sweat.

"Other than that you're useless! Now clean my shoes!" She kicked her foot into his face aggressively

"Y-yes! Right away, Ma'am!" He began shining her shoes when she spoke up again.

"Now get to cleaning, everyone! Don't leave even a little bit of dust behind!"

The entire crew yelled out "Yes Ma'am!' before returning to work. The large woman kicked Coby, screaming that that was enough, and told him to go clean the wash room.

"Iron Bludgeon" Alvida was a pirate who was incredibly large, with curly black hair. She wore a lot of jewelry, too much make up, a hat similar to that of a cowboy's, and typical clothing for a captain of a pirate crew. In her belt was a pistol, and her right hand carried a large, black iron club, the end of which was spotted with large spikes. She was cruel, menacing, and narcissistic to the bone, believing herself to be the most beautiful thing in the entire world.

Coby went to the wine cellar with a barrel he found on the shore. Three men were cleaning the room, and decided that they would take the barrel for themselves, believing it to be sake. Coby, out of fear, said he didn't see anything, and just seconds later, a young man wearing a red sleeveless shirt, blue shorts, and a straw hat burst out of the barrel.

"Man, what a nice nap! And I thought I was gonna die!" The man exclaimed cheerfully. Then he noticed the other men in the room. "Wait, who are you?"

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" They all screamed in unison, just before a large crash broke the walls down. The man with the straw hat in the barrel ended up flying off onto the island the ship was docked at, and Coby went after him.

Alvida stormed in seconds later and asked why they were disobeying her, stating that she could hear them say "What a nice nap." all the way from the other side of the ship.

"Oh, that's right, there was an invader!" One of the men said, and the whole crew started whispering about a bounty hunter who had been captured in a marine base.

"So, the infamously evil Roronoa Zoro!" Alvida said with an ugly grin stretched on her face.


In the forest, Coby found the man in the barrel knocked over on his side. He looked fine, but he wanted to check, just to be sure.

"Are you alright?" He asked the mysterious man. He was really curious as to why he was in a barrel, and where exactly he came from.

"Yeah, just surprised, is all! My name's Luffy, what is this place?" The man now known as Luffy looked around the forested area.

"This is the base of the pirate Iron Bludgeon Alvida. I'm a caretaker on her ship." He didn't really like that he was a part of her crew. He hadn't even meant for it to happen at all.

"I see. Actually, that's not important. Do you have a small boat? Mine got destroyed in whirlpool." Luffy looked so casual about the fact that he was swept away in a whirlpool and survived in a barrel.

"Whir-whirlpool?! You were in a whirlpool?!" Coby asked, astounded that he was even able to tell him about it.

"Yeah, that whirlpool was scary." Luffy let out a little huff as he said that. He didn't want to experience that again any time soon.

"A normal person would have died by now... I have a boat, but..." Coby said, motioning Luffy towards a clearing in the forest, still amazed at the fact the man was alive.

"What is this, a coffin?" Luffy stated bluntly, looking down at a sloppily crafted row boat. The planks used to make the boat were nailed together haphazardly, and the oars were no different. It looked like it would barely be able to float, let alone carry someone in it.

"It's a boat I've been working on for two years secretly." Nervously, Coby looked at the man. He didn't need it anymore.

"Two years?! Are you sure don't want it anymore?" Luffy asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I was gonna run away with it, but I don't have the guts to do it. I'm going to be a caretaker all my life. Though there is something I want to do." The pink haired boy was just nervous talking about running away. There was no way he could ever do that. He was just a scared kid who found himself in the unluckiest position ever.

"Then you should leave." The straw hatted man was still as blunt as ever. He didn't see the problem with just taking the boat and sailing away.

Coby started shaking his head rapidly. "N-no, it'll never work! My legs turn to mush just thinking about Alvida finding out! I'm too scared!" He stopped his head, and looked at Luffy, a somewhat serious look on his face. "That day... I was only going to go fishing, but I walked onto their ship. For the past two years, I've been a caretaker on the ship just to keep my life."

"You're pretty stupid and useless. And you seem like a wimp. I don't like you." The black haired man smiled as he said that. His abruptness knew no bounds.

"Heh heh heh..." The nervous kid looked away from Luffy and down towards the crudely built dingy. "You're right... If only I were brave enough... Hey, Luffy, why are you sailing?"

Luffy wore an even wider grin than before, and took a seat on the small rowboat. "That,s easy! I want to become the Pirate King!"

Coby was shocked. He hadn't expected something like that from the man. "What?! 'Pirate King' is the title of someone who has everything! Are you telling me you're looking for the 'World's Greatest Treasure'?! The 'One Piece'?!" The pink haired boy couldn't believe it. "Do you want to die or something?! Every pirate in the world is looking for that treasure!"

"So am I."

Coby went on for a few seconds, repeating that it was utterly impossible. "To become the Pirate King in the Pirate Era. Unthinkable!" He only stopped when Luffy hit him over the head, stating that he couldn't stand him.

"Well, I'm used to it, at any rate."

"I'm not afraid of dying." Luffy stated, grabbing his straw hat and taking it off. "It;s my dream, so I don't mind dying for it!"

"What amazing resolution." The words wormed through his mind, just before he repeated the idea behind Luffy's words. "Wouldn't even mind death..."

"Besides, I think I can do it. Though, it'll be pretty tough."

"Will I also... be able to accomplish my dream? Will I be able to become a Marine?!" Coby said with tears running down is cheek and determination hidden behind his glasses.

"A Marine?"

"Luffy, I know it will make you and I enemies, but to become a Marine and catch bad guys has always been my dream!" He looked at Luffy with the most serious face he had ever made. "Do you think I can do it?"

"I wouldn't know." Luffy said, brushing it off.

"I have to at least try! I'd rather die trying to get out of here and join the Marines than be a caretaker on this ship any longer!" Coby yelled out loud, resolve strong in his voice. "And then I'll be able to arrest someone like Avlida!"

A large crashing sound came through the trees. The large female pirate had broken down a good portion of the surrounding forest. "Who did you say you were going to arrest?!?!"

Taking a swing at the pink haired boy, Coby dodges, but Alvida managed to destroy his dingy with her spiked bludgeon.  "Did you think you could escape from me?!" She looked over at Luffy and laughed. "Is this who you hired to capture me? He doesn't look like Roronoa Zoro. Now the, Coby, who's the most beautiful woman in all of the seas?"

"Heh heh heh... Of course that would be-" He began, before he was interrupted.

"Who's this rude woman?" Everyone's jaws dropped at once when the straw hatted man said that. Alvida's face was filled with rage, and her crew was scared out of their wits.

"Did he just..."

"Luffy, quick, repeat after me!" Coby said quickly, trying to fix the situation. "In all the seas, this lady is the most..." Then he remembered what Luffy had said moments ago... "THE RUDEST DAMNED BITCH!!" He screamed that at the top of his lungs, which caused Alvida to become even more pissed off, and Luffy started laughing. He was beginning to like this kid a bit more now.

"YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

"Don't regret it! You've already decided to fight for your dreams!" He thought to himself, screaming fiercely at Alvida.

"Well said, Coby! Now, get behind me!" The black haired man got in front of the determined kid.

"Luffy!"

"Both of you!!" Alvida screams, swinging down her spiked club. It landed right on Luffy's head, but didn't do anything to him.

"That won't work! My body's made of rubber!"

"Im-impossible!"

The large pirate was in shock, but she went to attack him again. This time, Luffy dodged it, and grabbed it with his hand. His entire arm turned into a dark shade of purple that almost looked as black as a starless night sky. Applying only the tiniest bit of pressure, the iron club broke into millions of pieces and chunks. Alvida looked down in horror at the man.

"M-m-monster!" She was petrified. She could do nothing as Luffy wound up a punch, and basted it at her.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Alvida was shot off far into the forest, her hat floating down in front of Luffy.

"His arm extended!" "He beat Alvida! He's a monster!"

"Prepare a boat for Coby! He wants to join the Marines, and you will stay out of his way!" The straw hat wearing man looked dead serious. There was no arguing with him.

"Y-yes!"


"So, you actually ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi. That's amazing." Coby stated as the two sailed away from the island on the boat that Alvida's crew had given them. "But, Luffy, if you're actually after the One Piece, that means you'll have to go into the Grand Line."

"Yep!"

"But that place is known as the Pirates' Graveyard." The kid was worried for Luffy, but he had a feeling that he could accomplish his dream.

"Yep, and that's why I need to get a string crew." Luffy said simply. "And one of them is being held captive at where we're going!"

"You mean... Roronoa Zoro?!"

"If he's a good guy, I'll ask him to join!" The man said with a smile and a laugh.

"You're dreaming again! He's a monster!" Coby was once again shocked by Luffy. He couldn't imagine how someone could be so carefree.

"We don't know that yet."

"It'll never work!"

And with that, they sailed off to the island where Luffy planned to get his first crew member and where Coby hoped to join the Marines.

"Monster, you say?"

"Yeah, Luffy. Roronoa Zoro is also known as the 'Pirate Hunter'. He's a really scary person."

The interaction between the man with the straw hat, Luffy, and the pink haired boy, Coby, continued the next morning. Coby was still adamant on Luffy giving up on recruiting Zoro.

"Rumor has it he's as bloodthirsty as a hound. He wanders around the seas, taking out pirates all the time. He's a monster in the form of a man." The boy was shaking in his boots just thinking about Zoro. "So let's just drop the idea of recruiting him."

"Oh really? Well, I haven't decided if I'm gonna recruit him or not. If he's a good guy, I'll ask him!" Luffy said this as if being held captive didn't mean the Pirate Hunter had done illegal things.

"He's arrested because he's bad!" Coby couldn't believe how stupid this guy could be. It was almost like talking to a rock. At least the rock wouldn't say idiotic things.


A few hours later, the duo docked at the island they had planned to get to. Getting off the little dingy, Luffy was glad that they actually got there. He was half expecting for them to get caught by a storm or something. Things like that always seemed to happen him.

"We're finally at the Marines' base!"

"Yep, finally."

"You're amazing, Coby! We actually arrived at our destination!"

"Well, that's just the basics of navigation. If you just drift on the sea with no plan in mind or no skills, you'll never be able to become the Pirate King. You need to get a navigator!" The pink haired boy wondered what happened to Luffy that caused him to have no common sense.

"Alright, let's eat!"


Ten minutes later, Coby and Luffy had finished eating at a restaurant known as Food Foo. Luffy was patting his belly, and Coby was just sitting there thinking.

"We'll go our separate ways here! You do your best and become a great Marine!" The straw hatted teen broke the silence with a sigh before he said that.

"I will!" The boy looked up at Luffy, tears forming in his eyes. "Thank you, Luffy! You become a great pirate and become the Pirate King, OK? This this means we'll be enemies from now on." Coby couldn't stop the tears anymore, and rubbed his eyes under hey glasses, his arm becoming wet.

"Say, I wonder if Zoro is still being held at the Marines' base." As soon an the Pirate Hunter's name left Luffy's lips, the whole restaurant went into chaos. The patrons rand to the walls away from the two as plates and food were strewn across the area. Everyone looked scared of Luffy and Coby.

"It seems that you can't say his name too loudly here." Coby whispered to Luffy. The teen made a sort of confused noise. "I just saw a notice on the streets. There's someone called Lieutenant Morgan at the base."

At this, the restaurant's diners, who had just started calming down, caused another panic. Leaving the restaurant, Luffy began laughing.

"Man, what a funny restaurant! I'm going there again!"

"This is odd. I have a bad feeling. I can understand why they would be afraid of Roronoa Zoro's name, since he could escape at any moment, but a Marine? That leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

"Well, he could have done bad things, right?" Luffy spoke up, with a smile on his face, but there was a look in his eye that showed something akin to experience with this.

"That's impossible!"

"I'm serious."

Moments later, the duo arrived in front of the gate to the Marines' base. It looked like a weirdly shaped zebra, with black stripes over a white body, or building in this case.

"It looks pretty ugly up close. Go ahead Coby!"

"B-but, I'm not prepared yet. And that incident at the restaurant got me thinking..." Coby started, but was interrupted by the shock of Luffy just climbing onto the top of the wall guarding the base. "Luffy!"

"Hmm, monster. I wonder where he is."

"You probably won't be able to see him from here. He's probably been locked up in a secret room somewhere in the base." The boy told Luffy, who jumped off of the wall and ran over to another area.

"Nope! I definitely saw something." He replied to Coby. "It could be Zoro. See, look at that person!"

Coby made a nervous sound as Luffy climbed up the wall again. This time, the boy climbed up as well, only to fall back down from shock seconds later.

"T-t-that's him! That black bandana and cloth around his waist. There's no m-mistaking it! He's Roronoa Zoro!" Coby was scared beyond his wits. He wasn't expecting the Pirate Hunter to be out in the open.

The man was tied up to a cross with a long wooden post over two times his height reaching for the sky. The bindings holding him to the post were tied to a smaller and skinnier log fixed into the post. He wore a dark green bandana over his light green hair, which looked like moss. His pants were a similar, if not identical, color as the cloth on his head, and a white t-shirt. The cloth around his waist was a shade of green similar to a leaf in spring, with black stripes running down it vertically. On his feet were black shoes.

Luffy looked on at Roronoa Zoro. "So that's Zoro, huh? Those ropes look like they'd break easy."

"S-stop joking!" Coby screamed, nearly letting go of the wall in shock. "If he's set free, he might make a mess of the town, and even kill you!"

"Hey, you!" Coby let out a screeching sound at the voice. Zoro had spoken up to the duo, and was smiling menacingly. "Could you please come over and untie me? I've been like this for nine days and I'm exhausted."

"Look, Coby. He's smiling." Luffy seemed pretty indifferent about the whole ordeal, while his pink haired companion was scared just about the fact that he talked.

"I'll repay you. Hunt down some fugitive, give you what I find, promise. I always keep my word."

"Don't trust him, Luffy! He'll kill you if you free him!"

"Nah, he can't kill me. I'm strong, too!"

Just then, a thump came from the right of Luffy and Coby. A ladder had been set onto the wall, and a young girl climbed up it. The girl was small, with brown hair that were in twin pig tails. She wore a blue and black striped dress, and had brown eyes. This girl was named Rika. She made a gesture to have the others be quite, and jumped over the stone wall.

"D-don't do it! It's dangerous!" Coby yelled after her. "Luffy, you have to stop her. She'll be killed!"

"Do it yourself."

"Hey, what are you doing here? Do you have a death wish or something, kid?" Zoro told the girl with a glare.

"Uh, Mister, I made you some rice balls. You haven't eaten in a while, right? It's my first time making them..."

I'm not hungry! Go away!" The green haired man yelled at the girl.

"But..." Rika looked as if she were about to cry.

"I said I don't want it! If you don't go, I'll kill you!"

Just then, a man with a blonde bowl cut, without bangs, walked through a gate into the area Zoro was being held. He wore a black suit with leopard print accents on the collar and cuffs, as well as shoes with the same print and a few rings.

"Roronoa Zoro! Don't pick on little kids! Or else, I'm gonna have to report you to my father." The man was named Helmeppo, the son of the Marine Lieutenant at the base. He held the delusion that he could do whatever he wanted simply because of that fact.

"Some weird guy came." Luffy said bluntly.

"He's probably pretty important in the Marine's here." Coby sighed in relief "Thank goodness that girl's safe now."

"Tch, if it isn't the Lieutenant's bastard son." Zoro said through clenched teeth.

"Bastard?! Don't get cocky, you! My father's the Lieutenant here!" Just then, he noticed the rice balls that the little girl had, and decided to take one from her hands. "Oh, little girl, those rice balls look pretty tasty!"

"Hey, stop it!" She cried out, but it was too late, he already took a bite.

After making a disgruntled noise, Helmeppo spat out the food in disgust. "These are horrible! There's way too much sugar in them. They're supposed to have salt, not sugar!"

"I thought they would taste better if they were sweet."

"How could anyone eat something like this? Were you trying to poison someone?" As he said this, Helmeppo threw the remaining food onto the ground and stepped on it repeatedly.

"No, please, stop it! He can't eat them if they've been stomped in the dirt!" Rika looked close to crying at this point.

"How cruel! The girl must have worked so hard to make them!" Coby exclaimed suddenly.

"Don't worry, the bugs will still eat this trash." The man said with a gleeful smile, still squishing the rice balls and laughing.

"That's so... so cruel! I tried so hard to make those rice balls, and you just ruined them!" The girl started to cry, the tears forming in her eyes.

"Aww, c'mon, don't cry. It's no wonder I hate little brats like you." Helmeppo looked down at the girl, and pointed to a nearby sign. "This is why you should've listened to the signs. This is all your fault, because of that. 'Anyone who tries to help a prisoner will be given the same punishment.' You're lucky you're not a grown up, or else my dad would have given you the death penalty."

Helmeppo got incredibly close to the young girl's face with a creepy look on his face. A second later, he barked at one of the Marine soldiers to throw the girl out of the base.

"Huh?!" The man looked at him, shock clearly spread across his face. However, that shock soon turned to fear when Helmeppo got really close to him. "I told you to throw her out! Are you disobeying a direct order? If you are, father's not going to like it!"

"A-aye, sir!" The soldier grabbed a hold of the crying girl and hurled her over the wall. Luffy immediately caught her, landing on his back, and allowing Rika to get on the ground safely.

"Are you alright? Those bastards!" Coby brushed off the dust from the girl's clothes, while Luffy did the same to himself, and listened to the conversation on the other side of the stone wall.

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd have such endurance. I'm gonna keep you alive for one whole month." Helmeppo smirked at Zoro, his plans for the man left unspoken.

"You'd better keep your promise!" The pirate hunter told the man. The only reason he didn't just break out was because of their promise. He probably could get out with enough time and get out of there with his swords, but if he weren't a man of his word, what would he be? Just another piece a scum floating from island to island.

"Of course I'll keep my promise. You live like this for a month, and you'll be as free as a bird. Swear on my life." Helmeppo walked off with the two Marines that had been with him out of the gate and into town. "Good luck, Roronoa Zoro!"

About a minute later, the green haired man looked up to see Luffy standing there. "Still haven't left, huh? Get outta here, or else that bastard'll tell his dad."

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm a pirate and I'm looking for for someone to join my crew."

"Pirate, huh? So, you've given up on the hardships of life and became a crook, did you?" Zoro gave a small chuckle at this.

"No, becoming a pirate was my dream. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" Luffy's face only showed determination. No other emotions were to be found lying in his expression.

"You don't need to tell me. You're gonna free me and force me to join your ranks." Zoro looked on at the man in the straw hat, trying to gauge him.

"I'm not sure, yet. I need to figure out whether you're actually a bad guy or not." Luffy smiled at the pirate hunter, wondering what kind of man he was.

"A bad guy, huh?" Zoro grinned, looking down at his feet. "Well, I'll never join you. I have something I need finish. I could survive here without your help. I only have to stay alive for a month. That bastard promised he'd release me if I can do it. I'm gonna do everything I can to stay alive and fulfill my dreams!" The green haired man was smiling. He was going to do what he needed to do, no matter what would try to stop him.

"Man, if I were you, I think I'd die within a week without food." Luffy laughed a little bit gleefully.

"That's what makes us different. No get out of here. Go find someone different." Zoro barked at the man. As Luffy turned around and started to walk away, he heard something else. "Hey, hold on!"

"Hmm?" He paused for a second, turning his head back to the pirate hunter.

"Could you... pick that up for me?" He nodded at the dirt filled rice balls.

"You want this? But it's all muddy!" Luffy stated bluntly while picking them up from the ground. "Well, I guess you can't be picky when you're starving."

"Just shut up and give it to me!" Zoro yelled at him at loud as he dared without alerting anyone. He opened his mouth up widely for the man. "Let me have all of it!"

Luffy set the dirty rice balls inside of his mouth, and just as he pulled his hand away, the pirate hunter started chewing. After only a couple of moments, he swallowed it all.

"Are you that intent on killing yourself?" Luffy asked him incredulously.

"T-tell the girl..." Zoro coughed after saying that, the dirt irritating his throat. "Tell her "The rice balls were delicious. Thank you very much."

Luffy smiled, and went off to find the little girl back in town.


"Really?!" Rika asked Luffy after he told her the good news.

"Yep, he ate every last bit of it!"

"I'm so happy!" She had a huge smile on her face.

"Zoro doesn't sound like that bad of a guy, actually. Is he really the same person that his reputation says he is?" Coby wondered out loud. He had been expecting much worst from him.

"No, he isn't. He didn't do anything wrong. The people in this town are just scared of him." Rika said, telling the story that lead to his arrest. "It's my fault he's a prisoner now. He killed Helmeppo's wolf because it was scaring everyone."

"So the reason Zoro's been arrested is only because he killed that weirdo's pet wolf?" Luffy asked the girl.

"Yeah."

"So he might have a bad temper, but he's not really a bad guy! I suppose chasing down fugitives isn't a bad thing, anyways." Coby stated, fascinated by this revelation.

"Yeah, the only bad people here are the Morgans! If you disobey them at all, they'll execute you. Everyone's scared of them!" Rika told the two. Just then, a familiar laugh rang out.

"Who dares raise his head?! I'll tell my father!" Helmeppo's screeches reached the ears of Luffy immediately. Looking behind him, the man in the straw hat watched as the spoiled man walked down the street, everyone bowing down on either side. "Do you really want to end up like Roronoa Zoro? I'm gonna publicly execute him in three days! I'm using him as an example to all of you! It's gonna be pretty interesting!"

"Three days?" Luffy turned around, anger on his face. "Didn't you say you'll give him a month?"

"Who are you? You're so rude." The man made an ugly face in his laughter. "I was joking with him! Only an idiot would have believed that!"

"I only have to stay alive for a month. That bastard promised he'd release me if I can do it." The memory of Zoro's determination to stay alive flashed into Luffy's mind, fresh as can be. His face crumpled up in rage, and his hand clenched into a fist. His arm changed to a glossy black color, and was swung incredibly fast at Helmeppo, knocking him into a nearby brick wall, his face bloody. "You lying bastard!"

Coby ran up to Luffy as quickly as he could. He grabbed onto his shirt and around his arms. "Luffy, calm down, please!"

Dizzily, Helmeppo said he was going to get the entirety of the Marines to capture Luffy, somehow still conscious after that punch, and even getting up, albeit with the help of the two Marines that were by his side.

"Coby, I've decided!" The straw hatted man had a look of pure anger and resolve on his face. "I'm gonna make Zoro join my crew!"

The onlookers were whispered about how Lieutenant Morgan was going to beat the ever living crap out of Luffy now that he hit his son. Coby continued to try to have Luffy calm down, to no apparent avail.

"How... how dare you hit me! Not even my father has hit me before!" Helmeppo yelled at the man. "I'm Marine Lieutenant Morgan's son! I'm going to tell him about this! You'll get the death sentence!" He had to be carried back to the base by the two soldiers, and Luffy had to be held back by Coby.

"Why don't you come and fight me yourself?!" He yelled after him. "It's not even worth it to hit someone like him."

"He ran away." Coby told Luffy, watching him being dragged away.

"Man, you were so cool. I was so scared!" Rika said to Luffy in awe.

"Maybe I should have hit him a few more times, then."

"Ri-Rika! What are you doing? Get in the house, and don't talk to strangers! Someone might mistake you for one of his friends!" A woman came into view and started scolding the girl.

"But he's a nice guy. And so is Zoro!"

"Don't be ridiculous! Did you sneak into the execution site again?"

"No... no I didn't." Rika was worried about getting in trouble, so she just had to lie about it.

"Bye!" Luffy called out to her. "Well, I'm gonna go talk to Zoro, now."

"Are you crazy?! The Lieutenant is going to kill you! And he's probably going to kill me, too!" Coby exclaimed, fearful for his life. He was worried about what Luffy was going to do. He was obviously too reckless for his own good.


At the Marine base, in an office, a large man was sat behind a desk, facing towards the window behind it.

"I am great!" He yelled out suddenly.

"Yes, you are. Because you're the Lieutenant, Lieutenant Morgan!" One of the soldiers had been called to his office, and he was wondering why that was.

"But lately, it seems that the offerings have been lacking lately." He looked behind him out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, you see..." The Marine was becoming nervous, trying to choose his words carefully as to not anger Morgan. "The people have their own financial problems, too, and they-"

"It is not a matter of financial problems. It's a matter of respect!" Seconds after the words leave Morgan's mouth, Helmeppo rushes into his office.

"Father! I want to kill a certain someone!"

Down in the execution site, Luffy walked towards Zoro, greeting him like an old friend.

"You again? I told you, I don't want to be a pirate." He told Luffy again, as he told him an hour ago.

"I'm Luffy." He said, obviously not caring. "If I loosen up those ropes, you're gonna join me, OK?"

"I've already told you clearly! I have things to do! Besides, I'm not going to become a bad guy like a pirate." Zoro was getting exhausted with the man.

"Is that the only difference?" Luffy asked him. "Besides, everyone already thinks you're a bad guy."

"I don't care what any of them say about me. I haven't done anything I've regretted, and I never will!" Zoro exclaimed. "I'll never become a pirate!"

"Don't care!" Luffy said, smiling. "You're gonna join me."

"Don't decide that for yourself!"

"I heard you use katana. That right?"

"Yeah. If I'm not being tied up, I can use a katana."

"Where is it?" Luffy questioned the pirate hunter.

"That bastard took it from me. It's something I treasure the most, besides my life." Zoro told him. He didn't know what he was playing at, but he figured he wouldn't need to hide that information from him.

"Hmm, treasure? It must be something great." Luffy looked at the green haired man, a smirk forming on his face. "I'll go find that bastard and get your katana back for you. But I'll only give it to you if you join my crew!"

"You little... That's dirty!" Zoro yelled at him. Not listening, Luffy took off towards the building. "Oi, wait! Does he really think he can sneak into the base? What a fool."

Meanwhile, at the top of the base, the soldiers were erecting a statue of Morgan. "That's the right place, keep lifting the statue!" The Lieutenant called to the Marines as they worked.

"But father, why won't you let me get my revenge?! He hit me! Even you haven't hit me!" Helmeppo was irritated that Morgan wouldn't do anything about Luffy, especially after he hit him so hard.

"Do you know why I've never hit you?" Morgan glared at his son menacingly.

"Y-yes. Because I'm your-" Helmeppo gulped, feeling fear from his father for the first time.

"Exactly." Interrupting his son, the large man pulled back his arm slightly. "You are a bastard son that isn't even worth hitting!" As he said this, he struck Helmeppo so hard, he flew back ten meters. Standing up and brushing his axe arm, where he gets his nick name "Axe Arm" Morgan from, he sighed. "Why must I always clean up your messes? You can do a lot in my name, but only those that oppose me directly are punished by my hand! Don't get the wrong idea, boy. You are not the powerful one here! I take that role!"

Helmeppo was crying. He had never been so scared of his father in his life. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide away for the rest of his life.

"I heard that a little girl was running about in the execution site. Is this true?"

"Y-yes. I've already-" The sobbing man could barely speak through his fear and crying.

"Have you executed her?" Morgan glared at Helmeppo again, and it nearly made him run right away.

"N-no, she's... she's just a little girl."

"I don't care how old someone is! All who oppose me shall die!" He yelled at his son. He pointed at one of the Marine soldiers. "You! Go into town and kill this girl."

"B-but, sir, I can't. She's so young. She probably didn't know what she was doing."

"You can't do it, huh? You're just a captain, right? And Lieutenant is higher than captain, correct?" Morgan watched as all he could do was nod. "Then you will do as I order! You have no right to disobey me!"

"I-I can't, sir."

At that moment, Morgan swung his axe hand down onto the soldier, cutting into him immediately. Blood pooled onto the floor from opened side.

"You didn't have to do that!" Helmeppo exclaimed in horror.

"Nevermind you all. I will go there myself. It will remind the citizens who's in charge around here." Morgan grabbed a hold of his arm once more. "With this axe arm, I rose to the ranks as a Lieutenant. Ranking and power are all that matter! And since I'm the highest ranking one here, I'm the greatest one at this base! And great people don't make mistakes, do they, men?"

"No, they don't Lieutenant Morgan!" One soldier shouted, the others agreeing.

"This statue is a tribute to my power and greatness! After years of work, it's finally finished! Now, men, lift it up, to its glory!"

"That's odd. There aren't any Marines around." Luffy looked around the entrance to the base. "Are they all having a meeting? I can't even find that idiot like this, let along the katana." Just then, the crowd of Marines up on the roof started chanting.

"Pull! Pull!" The Marines continued to yell this until one soldier accidentally caused the hand of the statue to hit part of the building.

"You damaged the statue!" Morgan yelled, furiously. As the soldier began apologizing, Luffy looked up towards the building.

"I think I heard someone up there. Better check it out!" Sending his arm up to the roof, he grabbed onto the edge. "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"

Luffy was sent flying up to the roof, where Morgan was yelling about how damaging the statue was the same as damaging him, which was an act of treason. Just as he was about to swing his axe hand at the soldier, Luffy came soaring over the Marines. Everyone was shocked, while Luffy needed to stop himself. Looking around, he grabbed onto the ropes holding the statue, which slowed him down. However, the statue fell, and crashed, breaking into two pieces, the upper half falling down from the roof. Everyone froze, Morgan included, with shock on their faces.

"S-sorry." Was all Luffy could say, before Morgan shouted, "Capture him! I'm gonna kill him!"

Helmeppo yelled to his father about how Luffy was the one that hit him, but was grabbed by the straw hatted man and brought into the base.

"You're going to tell me where Zoro's katana is, or else." Luffy said simply as he ran through the halls. Helmeppo gave in to his demands, only asking to not be dragged, while some Marines followed.

"Lieutenant, there's someone at the execution site!" One of the soldiers alerted Morgan of the new person.

"Another traitor? Kill them!" He barked at the men.

"Really, Luffy went into their base? He's way too reckless." Coby said to Zoro.

"Yeah, you're exactly right. Who is he, anyways?" Zoro asked the kid, who started untying the binds without answering the question. "Oi, if you help me, they'll kill you!"

"You shouldn't have been arrested. Marines like that are the worst!" The pink haired boy exclaimed. "I'm going to become a real Marine. Just like how Luffy's going to become the Pirate King!"

"What?! The Pirate King?!" Zoro was shocked. He couldn't believe that a guy like him would want to be the Pirate King.

"Yeah, I was shocked at first, too. But Luffy is really determined." Coby stated, continuing to unbind Zoro. "He's-"

Coby couldn't finish what he was saying or untying Zoro. He had been shot from the roof in the chest. The force was so strong, the boy was thrown back, landing on the dirt face up. Zoro looked up at the roof, a glare on his face.

"Where is Zoro's katana?" Luffy demanded an answer from Helmeppo, who had become scratched and cut from the very intimate meeting with the rough ground of the Marine base. The man had started crying in fear, tears mixing with his red blood, making normally thick fluid much more watery.

"I'll tell you! Just get me off of the floor, please!" Helmeppo cried out, pain evident in his voice. Luffy lifted him up into the air, where he hung limp in the pirate's grip. His face was bloody, bruised and beaten from being bashed multiple times that day. He had never experienced such amounts if harm in such a short time frame. "They're in my room! It's just over that way. We already passed it!"

"Damn it! Why didn't you say so earlier?!" The straw hatted man punched him yet again. This time, however, he didn't use as much force, nor did he apply Haki to his fist.

"Ow, don't hurt me, please!" The broken shell of a man pleaded and groaned softly. He continued crying, pain overtaking the fear at this point. "How was I supposed to tell you where to go if my face was being dragged on the ground?"

This remark earned Helmeppo another attack from Luffy.

"Freeze! Put your hands up!" A Marine soldier yelled out to Luffy, point his gun at him. Two others followed suit, as Luffy turned around to look at them.

"Nope." That was all Luffy said before he spun back around, Helmeppo now being held against his back. The hostage froze in shock before realizing the situation he was in now. Screeching, Helmeppo tried to struggle out of Luffy's iron grip. The straw hatted man called back to the Marines before running off to find Zoro's sword. "OK, now you can shoot!"

"Unbelievable! He's actually using Helmeppo as a human shield!" One soldier stated, his expression clearly showing his disbelief. All three Marines dropped their aim and watched the pirate run away, Helmeppo still crying and screaming.

"I've been shot! They shot me! Blood! I'm bleeding!" Coby's shouts carried far into the distance. He had never felt such amounts of pain before. He had falling back from the force of the bullet, and was now lying on his back. He was holding his wounded shoulder, pressing into it to try and stop more blood from exiting the hole in his arm. He held up his hand, for a moment, and saw it thick with a red liquid, and started panting slightly. "I'm gonna die!"

"Hey, are you alright?" Zoro looked down at the crying kid. "You should run and save your own skin. They're gonna be here any second now."

"No! I can't do that!" Coby started pushing up off of the ground, the movements sending slight jolts of pain through his left arm. When he got up, he staggered a tiny bit, and started walking towards the bound up man, panting from the effort.

"But I'm going to be set free if I survive one month. He said he'd keep his word." Zoro told Coby, but to no avail. He continued making his way towards the green haired man.

"That was a lie!" The pink haired boy fell to his knees in front of Zoro. "He never intended to hold up to that promise!"

"That bastard said he'd let me go in a month. He promised!" Zoro gritted his teeth, anger and shock replacing the worry he had for Coby moments ago.

"That's exactly why Luffy had punched him. He did on your behalf!" Coby looked at Zoro dead on.

"Wait, what did you just say? Luffy did that?" Zoro was in awe. He never would have expected a pirate to attack someone for a broken promise in the name of someone they had only just met that day.

"The Navy would never let you two go after that." Coby looked into Zoro's eyes, the serious tone greatly achieved. "Please, when I get you out of those binds, help rescue Luffy. I'm not asking you to join his crew or anything, but Luffy is my savior. He's incredibly strong. He beat up the pirate Alvida, which set me free, and made me want to set out for my dream. If both of you combine your powers, I have no doubts that you'll be able to escape with your lives!"

"That's enough! You two have both betrayed Lieutenant Morgan!" Marine soldiers lined up, all aimed right at Coby and Zoro. "For that, you will be executed!"

"Is this the room?" Luffy asked Helmeppo as he peered into a bedroom filled with expensive looking furniture, and carpeted with red velvet. On the far wall, three katana stood, leaning on the wall. One was in a white sheath and had white fabric wrapped around the handle, while the other two were the same, except with black instead of white. "Oh, there's the katana! But there are three here. Which one's the right one?"

"Damn, you can't help me now." He looked down at a fainted Helmeppo. The straw hatted man grabbed all of them at once "Oh well, I'll just grab them all, just in case."

Noises from outside could be heard in the room. Luffy gazed down at the execution site, and saw Coby and Zoro trapped. Thinking of only one solution, he grabbed onto the window, the swords and Helmeppo on his back.

"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"

"Surround the base! Don't let that Straw Hat outside these walls! Your life depends on it!" Lieutenant Morgan shouted at his men. "How interesting. The three of you were planning to cause a rebellion, weren't you? Roronoa Zoro... I've heard of your feats before. Don't underestimate me, however. Before my great strength, you're just trash! READY!"

Coby froze in place, crying out of fear. Zoro looked down the barrel of one of the guns, fearing that he won't be able to fulfill his dream. "No, I can't die here. I can't die yet!" The thought rushed through his brain as quick as a hummingbird. "I made a promise!"


"Kuina wins!" The teacher announced the results of the match between is two students. The green haired boy had fallen on the ground, his face in his hands, his practice sword laying in the dirt. "Zoro, the user of two swords, has lost! This brings Kuina's winning streak up to 2000, while Zoro hasn't won a single duel!"

"What a shame." The girl known as Kuina looked down upon Zoro. She had dark blue hair which looked almost black, and looked to be slightly older than Zoro. While he looked like just a kid, she seemed to be in her early teens. She was taller than the boy, and acted more mature. "You're a boy, and yet you still lost to me."

A few of the other boys who were watching the fight shouted at her about how Zoro was strong, and that he could even contend among the adults.

"Really?" She said with a bored tone. "Well, that still doesn't make him stronger than me. Even with two swords, he can't compete against me."

The other boys became flustered, and started saying how angry she makes them and how she feels entitled because her father is the dojo's master, but she walked off. Moments later, their master appeared.

"So, you lost again, Zoro?" He said with a genuine smile. He was tall and a bit skinny, with long hair in a pony tail, the same color of Kuina's. He wore a black gi and round glasses. "What a pity."

"Sensei! You've been giving special lessons to Kuina, haven't you?" One of the boys yelled out immediately. "Don't lie to us!"

"No, of course not."

"Damn! Why can't I beat her?!" Zoro slammed his practice swords onto the ground in anger.

"Zoro, Kuina is older than you." The master said softly.

"But I can beat all of the adults here!" He yelled at his teacher. "I'm going to sail around and become the world's greatest swordsman! I won't lose to anyone ever again!"

Later than night, Zoro found Kuina, who was practicing on her own with some hay-filled dummies. "Zoro?" She called out in between breaths.

"Kuina! Fight me with real katana! I've brought some with me!" He yelled at the older girl.

"With me? You're on."

Under the moon light, the two unsheathed their swords, getting into their stances. The both charged at each other at the same time, their swords clashing only once. Kuina immediately unarmed the green haired boy, sent him crashing to the ground with her foot and stabbed her katana into the ground to the left of Zoro's face. The air was cool, and time seemed to still at that moment. The silence was thick before Kuina cut through it.

"That makes 2001!"

"Damn it! Why can't I defeat you?!" Zoro covered his face in his hands and started crying. Kuina stopped him with her next words, however.

"The one who she be the most upset is me." Zoro froze in shock. "I may be able to best you today, but I'll fall behind. I'm not a guy. Guys will always end up being stronger than girls physically. If only I were like you. Then maybe, I would be able to become number one, just like what you want to do." Kuina started crying softly, hugging her chest tightly.

"Are you kidding me?!" The green haired boy screamed out in anger. "You can't just say this stuff after you just beat me! My entire ambition is to become like you! If I beat you one day, is it not because of my strength? Will all my training go to waste?! Let's make a promise! One of us will become the strongest swordsman in the world! We'll see who will reach that goal first!"

"You're an idiot. You're the one who lost to me." Her words weren't a insult, just a little joke. She laughed a bit before grabbing Zoro's outstretched hand. "You're on. I promise!"

The next morning, the master told Zoro the worst news he could hear. "It's terrible! Kuina! She... She fell down the stairs and died!"

Zoro couldn't say anything, and was motionless for a while. He went to see the body, and started yelling at it. "How could you go and die like that?! We made a promise last night! Now you're just running away?!

The master held back Zoro with some help, trying to calm him down. "Zoro, you must stop! Humans are incredibly fragile creatures. It's not her fault."

"Sensei, please, gift me her sword." The green haired boy said later, after he had calmed down a bit. The master handed him Kuina's katana, the one in the white sheath with the white hilt. Holding it tightly, Zoro started tearing up. "I will become even greater! I will keep our promise! I will become the world's greatest swordsman!"


"I made a promise! I can't die here!"

"AIM!" Morgan yelled out at the top of his lungs. He hadn't noticed the crashing sound from the broken window, nor the falling pirate flying straight in front of Zoro and Coby. "FIRE!"

Just then, Luffy landed, every single bullet hitting his body. Everyone was in shock as the bullets didn't phase Luffy at all, instead stretching the parts of his body that were hit back. Looking up, he grinned, and all of the bullets came flying back at the Marines.

"What the hell are you?!" Zoro screamed at him, his jaw dropped open.

"I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King!" Luffy looked back at Zoro, a smile plastered on his face. He turned around fully and held out the three katana towards Zoro. "So, which one is yours? I grabbed them all since I didn't know."

"All three are mine. I use them all at once when I fight." Zoro glanced down at Luffy, who was holding the three swords out towards the pirate hunter.

"Going against the Marines with me will make you an outlaw. You may as well join me now!" The straw hatted man grinned while looking at the soldiers who were still in shock after Luffy had rebounded all of the bullets right back at them. "Or maybe you just want to die here."

"Man, you must be the offspring of a demon. Forget that... Rather than die here for no reason, I'll accept your offer!" The green haired man smiled back at Luffy. "I'll become a pirate and join your crew!"

"Aha! I have a crew member!" The man yelled out in glee.

"That's great and all, but could you get these ropes untied now?" Zoro sighed at Luffy's child-like demeanor.

The Marines, still astounded, spoke among themselves about their disbelief. "Did that kid actually do that? How?!"

Morgan walked to the front of the soldiers, ready to explain. "That kid's no ordinary guy. He must have eaten a "Devil Fruit!"

"So that's it! He ate one of those fruits!" The soldiers started shouting. "Look, he's untying the Pirate Hunter!"

"Stop him, and kill him!" The Lieutenant ordered his men with his booming voice.

"If guns won't do us any good, then we'll just have to use swords!" The Marines charged, taking out their blades and swinging them in the air.

As the soldiers ran at them, Luffy struggled to untie the rope holding Zoro. "Damn, this knot is hard to untie!" The man whined at his inability to get Zoro out of his binds.

"Hurry up, you idiot!" The green haired man was screaming at Luffy, worried that his new captain was incompetent.

"Did I faint or something? What happened" A groaning boy stood up from where he had fallen. Looking forward, he let out a loud screech of fear, seeing the legion of Marines charging at them. "Luffy, Zoro! Watch out!"

"Could you shut up?" Luffy said loudly to both of them. "I need to take my time!"

"We don't have any time for you to take your damn time!" Zoro exclaimed at the man in the straw hat.

"Oh, I got one side untied!" Luffy smiled innocently as Zoro yelled at him to give him his swords.

As Luffy handed the swords to the pirate hunter, Morgan started yelling more. "All who dare to oppose me shall perish where they stand!" Seconds later, the attacking soldiers all crashed down with their swords at once, but each and every single one of them was stopped. Zoro, in a mere instant, had freed his other arm and blocked all of the swords before they hurt anyone. Two swords were in each hand, and his third sword, Kuina's sword, was being held by his mouth. With a slight smile, he pushed all of the Marine's back with great strength, sending them flying.

"You'd better not get up, or I'll kill you right then and there!" Zoro menacingly glared at each of the fallen soldiers.

Morgan and Coby were shocked with disbelief, while Luffy just watched in awe.

Without looking away from any of the Marine's, Zoro spoke up to Luffy. "I know that I had already told you I'd be a pirate with you, whether I went with you or not, I'd be an outlaw anyways because of this whole ordeal. That's fine, but remember, I have my own goals. If you get in the way of my dreams, I will leave your crew without a second thought!" He turned his head to look properly at the young man, to show that he was serious. "I am going to become the world's greatest swordsman. I'll join your crew and help you become the Pirate King, so long as you promise to help me achieve my own goal!"

"Good!" Luffy smiled at the green haired man. "A Pirate King needs a great swordsman on his crew, so the greatest swordsman is the whole world is nothing less than what I would want for my crew!"

"Well said!" Zoro grinned, and looked back at the soldiers.

"What are you waiting for?! Get them!" Morgan yelled at his men, no worry for their lives at all. They're just replaceable. Anyone can do their jobs.

"Zoro, watch out. I'd like them to live, so I'll take them out. There's no reason I shouldn't stop them from following any dreams they might have." Luffy made a motion at Zoro, signaling him to move out of the way. As he did this, the soldiers got up, afraid of both the pirates and their Lieutenant. Getting ready for his attack, he covered his leg in Haki, coating it in a pure black color. With his leg fueled by Haki, he swung it around the soldiers, knocking them all away with the single blow. "Gomu Gomu no Leg Sweeper!"

Some of the Marines were knocked out by that attack, while the others were too scared to move again. Luffy smiled as he pulled back his leg. Morgan sighed, knowing that he would have to do the dirty work this time.

"So cool!" Coby squeaked out. He was less scared than he was before, but fear still plagued him now.

"What the hell are you?!" Zoro asked the straw hatted man.

"I'm a rubber man!" Luffy said excitedly. "I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi years ago. I have the properties of rubber now!"

At hearing this, some of the Marines started exclaiming that they couldn't beat the two, and that they were too strong. At this, Morgan snapped more than he had already snapped.

"This is an order, and your final order!" The Lieutenant yelled out at the top of his lungs. He was so loud, he even woke up some of the unconscious men. "Anyone who said that, take your gun, and shot yourselves! I have no need for useless soldiers like you! If you don't do it, I'l take matters into my own hands!"

The Marines looked around at each other nervously, fear in their eyes. Some of them pulled out their guns, and pointed them at their heads.

"What do those dumb Marines think they're doing?!" Zoro exclaimed, running to stop them from killing themselves.

"You're Marines! You're suppose to kill pirates like me! You don't kill yourselves!" Luffy ran after Zoro, aiming to help stop the guns from firing. After getting them all, the straw hatted man turned his attention towards Morgan, sending a punch his way. "You don't go telling your men to go and die! Everyone has the right to live! You can't just take that away from people like that!"

Morgan blocked the attack with his axe arm, taking most of the force away from his body.

"Luffy! Defeat that Marine!" Coby yelled out, worried for his friend's life.

"People like you have no right to oppose me! You have no status! I am a Lieutenant! I am Axe-Hand Morgan!" The Marine swung his axe at Luffy multiple times, but the young man dodged them like they were nothing. It was as if he knew exactly where they were going to be.

"My name's Luffy. Nice to meet you!"

"Go to hell!!!!" Morgan yelled, swinging with all of his might. Luffy jumped up easily, and the Lieutenant cut the concrete fence in half as if it were made of butter. At this, Coby screamed, even more worried now.

Luffy, in mid air, kicked off of Morgan's face with blackened legs, forcing him deep into the ground while at the same time sending him far away. The soldiers looked on in awe. Morgan, however, was not down for the count yet. He got up, his iron jaw dented with foot marks. He charged at Luffy, who, instead of dodging, stopped his next swing with his hand. Morgan was pissed at this point. With a blackened hand, Luffy broke his axe by gripping it harder, and punched Morgan in the face with enough force to break solid steel. The Lieutenant was knocked down once more, and Luffy got on top of him.

"You're a bastard of a Marine. You ruined Coby's dreams and goals!" Luffy grabbed onto Morgan's shirt, and just stared down at him. Helmeppo screamed at Luffy

"Wait!" He yelled at Luffy. When Luffy ignored him and punched Morgan again, he yelled again. "You idiot! I told you to wait! If you want the kid to live, then stop what you're doing right now!" Helmeppo held a gun at Coby's head, ready to shoot.

"Luffy! I... I'm not afraid of death! I don't want to be in your way, so don't worry about me!" Coby exclaimed, telling Luffy to continue.

Luffy smiled, and got ready to send a a punch at Helmeppo. "Stupid bastard! Coby's not afraid of death!"

"Stop! I'll shoot him!" The blonde man yelled.

"Behind you, Luffy!" The pink haired boy screamed out.

Morgan had gotten up, and had his broken axe ready to come down.

"Oh, I already know he got up!" Luffy yelled." I also know that he won't even get a chance to hit me, and I don't even have to move!" Luffy smiled as he sent his fist flying into Helmeppo's face, knocking him back into the fence.

"Go to hell!" Morgan yelled once more, but barely moved before Zoro slashed into him, knocking him down once more.

"Told you so!" Luffy laughed. "Good job, Zoro!"

"Leave it to me, Captain!" Zoro grinned back at the straw hatted man.

"The Lieutenant has been defeated! Morgan has lost!" The Marines shouted in unison, looking down at the beaten bodies of Helmeppo and Morgan.

"If you still want to arrest us, come and get us." Zoro said calmly, his swords still out. He and Luffy stood still, looking at the soldiers  around them.

For a brief moment, the men looked at each other, the started cheering. They yelled out about how they were finally free from Morgan's rule in glee.

"They're happy that their Lieutenant is down?" Luffy said, disbelief across his face.

Coby spoke up immediately. "They must have hated Morgan! Of course!"

Just then, Zoro collapsed on the ground out of exhaustion, Luffy simply saying "Zoro?"


"Ah! I'm full!" Zoro yelled out after eating a large meal at Rika's home. With a large smile, the green haired man continued. "I haven't eaten in nine days! I've been starving!"

"Then it would have been impossible for you to last a whole month!" Luffy laughed loudly at Zoro.

"You,re so scrawny, yet you can still eat more than me! How?!" The man asked his captain. However, Luffy either didn't hear or just ignored him and continued laughing.

"I'm sorry, I ate quite a bit, too." Coby bashfully rubbed the back of his head in shame.

"Oh nonsense! You saved our town. It's the least we can do." Rika's mother smiled at the pink haired boy.

"Man, you're so strong!" Rika came up to Luffy, grateful for saving the town.

"Yep, and I plan on getting even stronger, too!" The man in the straw hat smiled at the young girl.

"That reminds me." Zoro spoke up after taking a drink of his water. "What are your next plans?"

"That's an easy one!" Luffy wore a face wide smile, laughing a bit. "We're going to the Grand Line! Though, I do hope to find more crew members before then."

"What?!" Coby slammed his hands on the table in surprise. "That's suicide! All of the world's greatest pirates are found there! And it's just you two!"

"Well, we're going to get the One Piece. It makes sense to head for there." Zoro said with a grin.

"You're saying this rubbish, too, Zoro?!" The pink haired boy pushed his body across the table to get in Zoro's face.

"Why do you care, anyways? It's not like you're coming with us." The former pirate hunter sighed.

"That doesn't matter! I'll still worry! Can't I worry about you guys?!" Coby stood up and walked a little ways away from his seat. He looked directly into Luffy's eyes. "Luffy, even though I just met you, I think of you as a friend. We are friends, right?"

"Of course we are!" The straw hatted man smiled again. "No matter what, we'll always be friends!"

At this, Coby smiled happily. "I never had friends when I was growing up. Everyone always made fun of me. No one would help me, and no one would stand up for me. But you two, you showed me that I can live by my dreams, too!"

"And that's exactly why we're going on the Grand Line!" Luffy laughed while Zoro agreed, nodding.

"Uh, that's true..." Coby sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. Then he realized what he was saying. "Wait, no! What I meant was that it's too reckless!"

Picking up one of his swords, Zoro tapped Coby's head with the end of the sheathed katana. "You should stop worrying about us and worry about yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Even though you were only doing chores and you were forced to, you were still a small pirate. Don't think little of the Marine's intelligence gathering abilities. If they find out, you definitely won't be able to join them."

A moment later, a Marine soldier opened the door to the house, followed by others.

"Excuse me!" He said stiffly, his arms both behind his back. "We were wondering. Are you really pirates?"

"Yeah!" Luffy said simply. "I just found my first crew member, so that would make it official."

"Well, if that's the case, we must ask you to leave. Even though you saved this town and our base, we cannot allow pirates to continue to reside on this island with our knowledge." He looked on, barely moving an inch. "Please leave immediately. We will not apprehend you as you did do us a great help, but we will report what has transpired here."

A few people outside of the house who could hear this go on were angry. The people started yelling about how the two of them had saved their town and how grateful they should be.

"Well, let's leave then, Zoro." Luffy said, grabbing the edge of his straw hat and pulling it over his face. As Luffy passed Coby, who had been frozen in suspense, the Marine asked him if he was with Luffy.

Coby was shaking from his nerves. As he was speaking, he remembered Luffy announcing their never-ending friendship "I-I-I'm not... I'm not with them!" He yelled out. Luffy smiled slightly as he walked out. However, the soldier seemed to notice.

"Hold on for a moment!" He yelled at the straw hatted man. "Is he telling the truth?"

"Well..." Luffy looked down at him and pointed towards Coby. "I met him while he was working for this big fat and ugly female pirate. I don't remember where, but I think her name was Alvida."

While he was saying this, Coby was quietly trying to tel him to stop, his thoughts flying about how he won't be able to join if they knew he was a pirate at one time.

"He spent two years with her, I think." Luffy continued, either ignoring or not hearing Coby. "She was really fat and ugly!"

"Shut up!" Coby yelled out, punching Luffy in the face with all of his might. Everyone there froze in shock besides Luffy and Zoro.

In fact, Luffy smiled while he was falling, and pulled himself back up. "You deserve a beating!" He yelled, punching Coby multiple times, knocking him to the ground.

"Both of you, stop this! I will not allow any more fighting in this town!" The Marine yelled out loudly.

"Hey, I think you went a bit overboard. Stop it." Zoro grabbed Luffy's shoulder and pulled him off of the pink haired boy.

"I can tell you two aren't friends!" The Marine yelled at Luffy. "Get out of this town now!"

Luffy and Zoro walked out of the house, both smiling. "Hey, weren't you gonna arrest me before?" The green haired man taunted the soldiers standing outside while walking away.

"He did it for me. He wanted me to get mad, to hit him." Coby thought to himself as he got up off of the ground. "Even in the end, I still needed his help. I'm so useless. If I don't take this chance now, I'll never follow my dreams."

"Please allow me to join the Marines! Even if it's just chores, I will still do them!" Coby yelled out, bowing down.

"I am against it, Captain!" One soldier spoke up and walked into the doorway. "We cannot accept someone with an unclear past. Pirates have joined the Marines as spies before. We must do a background check on him before any decisions are made!"

"My dream is to become a member of the Marines! I want to become one of the best!" Coby yelled out immediately. Everyone was silent as the Captain and the boy looked each other in the eye. Then the soldier turned around.

"Don't think we don't know you were a pirate before. You underestimate us." He said clearly. "But I will still allow you to join!"

"Yes Sir! Thank you, Sir!"


"Nice acting!" Zoro said aloud when they got to the harbor where Luffy's dingy was. "Even if he was a pirate before, it shouldn't be too much trouble for him to get in with the Marines now."

"I think Coby will become much stronger and independent before long." Luffy laughed gleefully. He untied the rope from the port holding his boat.

"Well, we'd better go now. No telling what might happen if we don't leave now." The green haired man looked out towards the ocean. "Can't leave anything behind. It's a pirate's life, alright!"

"Exactly what I'm thinking!"

"Lu-Luffy!" A yell came from behind the two pirates. Looking at the source, they found Coby standing there, breathless. Standing straight up and as stiff as a board, Coby took his right hand and saluted the crew. "Thank you very much! I will always remember you for my entire life!"

"If I'll be damned." Zoro said with a chuckle. "I've never seen a Marine salute a pirate before."

"We'll meet again someday, don't you worry!" Luffy said with a large smile covering half of his face.

"Group salute!" The Captain yelled out behind the pink haired boy. Without his knowledge, all of the other Marines had followed him to the harbor, and were now saluting Luffy and Zoro with him. Coby was so surprised. As Luffy and Zoro sailed off in their small boat, the Captain spoke up again. "You have great friends!"

"Thank you, Sir!" Coby said, his arm still in salute and his eyes flowing with tears.

"We have just saluted pirates, and thereby have violated the codes of the Marines!" The Captain yelled out to his men after taking his hand away from his face. "Our punishment will be no food for a week!"

"Yes Sir!" Everyone yelled out immediately.

Meanwhile, on the small boat, Luffy was ecstatic. "Yahoo! Grand Line, here we come!"

Now on his adventure again, with his first crew member, the former Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro, he set off. However, there were still many challenges waiting for him along the way to achieve his dream.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry."

"It's funny how you have absolutely no navigational skills." Zoro said to his captain. He looked off into the distance all around. There was still no land. All he could see was the sea.

"I've just always been wandering. Sort of like you, just that I wasn't hunting bounties." Luffy smiled at his first and only crew member.

"Hey, I never said I was hunting bounties. I just needed money every now and then." The green haired man sighed a bit. "The real reason I took to the sea was to find someone. I just don't know my way home."

"I get it." Luffy grinned widely. "You're lost!"

"I am not! You're the one who's lost!" Zoro yelled at him. "Pirates should know how to navigate, damn it! How do you expect to get to the Grand Line like that? You should find a navigator, and fast."

"And someone who can cook, oh, and a musician!"

"What are you going on about, you idiot?!"

"So hungry!!!!" They said in unison, flopping on the floor of the ship.

"Hey, look. A bird." Luffy said tiredly. "Let's eat it!"

"How're you going to catch it?"

"Simple!" He said, grabbing the small mast of the dingy with his stretchy arms. Then he pulled himself back, yelling while letting go of the mast. "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"

Luffy flew at the bird, ready to grab it  and bring it back down with him to the small boat.

"I can't believe he though of that!" Zoro said, looking up at him. However, instead of Luffy grabbing the bird, the bird bit his head. The bird was much bigger than Luffy had thought at first, and now he was taken away towards somewhere else on the sea.

"Heeellllpppp!" A screaming Luffy waved his arms and legs, trying to free himself from the bird.

"YOU IDIOT!" Zoro yelled at the straw hatted man from the ship, beginning to row after him and the bird. He picked up speed quickly, using his inhuman strength to more or less glide on the water. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Hey! Stop the boat!" Zoro heard a man yell at him from the direction he was going. There were three men stranded in the ocean in the path the green haired man.

"Now there are people in trouble? Damn it!" Zoro said under his breath. "I don't have time to stop! If you want to get on, do it yourselves!"

"What did you say?!" One of the men yelled in shock.

As Zoro blew past them, they all grabbed on, and were pulled along with the dingy. It was a struggle for them to get on, but they were able to do it.

"Damn, your climbing skills aren't half bad." Zoro said to the three, chuckling a bit.

"Were you trying to run us over?!"

"Thank God."

"Why is this guy so reckless?"

The three men looked like pirates, and one of them had a hat on that had someone's Jolly Roger printed on it. They all got up, and looked ready to attack.

The one with the hat spoke up, drawing out his sword. "Stop this boat. You are in the territory of the pirate, Buggy."

"What?" Zoro said casually.

A minute later, Zoro didn't need to row anymore. Now the three pirates were doing the hard work, beaten and bloodied by the Pirate Hunter.

"Oh, we are very sorry!" The one with the hat said, smiling. "We didn't know you were 'Pirate Hunter Zoro'!"

"You three made me lose track of my friend. If we don't find him, you three are in for it." Zoro said calmly. He didn't even look like he had just gotten into any sort of fight. "Why were you three drifting in the sea, anyways?"

"Ah, yes, a good question! I'm glad you asked!" The hat one said, eagerly trying to please the Pirate Hunter. "It was a girl, cute, but horrible."

One of the others continued. "We were robbing a ship when it happened."

"Look at all of this treasure!" There were a few chests with plenty of gold and loot. "Who would've thought such a small ship could have so much of value on it?"

"Maybe Buggy will reward us for this!"

"Oh, look at the dingy over there!" The biggest of the three had said. "There's someone on it,
and she looks like she fainted!"

They pulled in the dingy once it got close enough. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you dead?"

"W-what?" She said softly. "Is this a dream? Did I finally find someone in this large ocean?
I don't know who you are, but could you spare a cup of water? I-if you could, I'd like a small piece of bread, too. I have money if you want it. Please, save me."

"Sure, we'll help you out. But first, could we see that chest?"

"Yeah, of course, but could I have that water, please?" The girl said weakly, pushing the chest a little towards them.

"What's the rush? This will only be a moment." One said, getting on the boat, the others following him.

"Yeah, we'll definitely help you, don't worry."

That's when the girl got onto their ship silently and quickly. She already started sailing off before she said anything or the others even noticed.

"Since you seem to love it so much, that boat can be a bonus for your help!" She said, laughing at the three pirates.

"Our ship! She's taking it!" The one with the hat yelled. "And out treasure, too!"

"And this chest is empty!"

From the ship, she spoke to herself about the dark clouds approaching. "The clouds are coming from the south, and there will be a storm in just a minute back there. The wind will pick up, and that dingy will sink."

Along with the screams, seeing the boat dive into the water confirmed her prediction. "Bingo!"

"Damn you! You planned this!"

"See you! I'll be taking your treasure now!"

"And that's what happened!"

"It's terrible, right?!"

"Hmm, she can predict the weather. That's pretty useful. I wonder if she'd join us." Zoro said, sitting back casually.

"If I find her, I'm gonna kill her!" One of them said.

"We have to get our treasure back, first, you idiot." The hat pirate scolded him.

"Yeah, if we go back to Buggy empty handed, then we're doomed!" The big one said, weeping slightly.

"Who's Buggy?" Zoro asked them.

"Haven't you heard of the great pirate, Buggy the Clown? He's one of those that ate a mystical Devil Fruit!"

"He ate a Devil Fruit, huh?"


Meanwhile, in a small village knows as Orange Town, a girl with orange hair was running away with a map from pirates of Buggy's crew, who had decided to take over the place for his own.

"You can't run from us!" One yelled at her.

"Give us back our map, you thief!" Another called out.

"I finally have it!" She said to herself while she ran. "A map charting the path to the Grand Line!"

"Damn it! If we let that map get away, we're dead! We can't let Captain know what happened!"

On the other side of town at the port, a man was looking trough a telescope. He saw a bird carrying a person in its beak. "There's something flying up there. I can't identify it, Captain!"

"Shoot it down!" He yelled at his subordinate.

The was a loud bang that came from the sky, and a man in a straw hat came flying down in between the girl and the pirates chasing her, landing with a crash.

"A man fell from the sky?!" A pirate yelled in shock.

"What?" The orange haired girl looked back. Everyone had stopped in their tracks, both curious and scared.

"They shot me with a cannon?! Why?" The man got up. "Finally landed!"

"He's still alive?!" One of the men yelled, while everyone fell back in surprise.

The girl suddenly had an idea that would help her escape.

"Oh, 'Boss!' You're here!" She said in glee. "You can handle this from here!"

"She ran off again." One of the three pirates said.

"That doesn't matter anymore. Her boss is right here!"

"That's true. They're together, anyways." The man yelled as he punched Luffy in the face, sending his hat flying away. "Am I right, boss?! That was Captain Buggy's treasure!"

Luffy barely moved from the impact, his only motion of his head being to look back at his hat. As soon as he saw it fly away, his fist blackened, and he punched the guy in the face, knocking him away into a brick wall. His legs turned black as his arm went back to its normal color, and he swept his legs at the other two pirates, knocking them down. He stretched his arm to grab his straw hat, which he set on his head. "Don't you dare mess with my hat!"

The two who were knocked down got up, and drew out their swords. Luffy immediately punched them in the faces, knocking them out.

"Wow!' The girl from before had reappeared, now on the side of a building, sitting on a window sill. She had a smile on her face as she spoke. "You're pretty strong. You beat those guys up bare-handed, even though they had swords."

"Who're you, anyways?" Luffy looked up at girl, who was about his age.

"I'm a thief who only steals from pirates." the orange haired girl said, pointing at herself with her thumb. "The name's Nami. Want to be partners?"

"You only steal from pirates, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm a thief who steals from pirates." Nami told Luffy again. "If we team up, we could get a whole lot of money."

"Nah, I don't want to team up with you." Luffy stated, walking away from her.

"Wait, hold on!" Nami said as she jumped down to the road. "What's with that hat? When you were fighting, you got so mad when they knocked it off your head."

"Oh this is my treasure." Luffy stated, Nami now following him.

"Oh, are there jewels in it? Or maybe it's a treasure map!" Nami continued guessing as they walked along the path.

Meanwhile, on the roof of a building near Buggy's ship, Buggy was quite upset.

"You still haven't found the map or the thief?" He said menacingly.

"We were in the middle of searching, Captain!" One pirate said right away.

"How on earth did it get stolen? The map to the Grand Line should have been under lock and key! We were going to go to the Grand Line soon, and then we would take it over!"

"Well, you see, an idiot in the crew left the key in the drawer that is was being held in." The pirate said to his captain.

"What did you say?" Buggy looked back at the man, glaring.

"Uh, an idiot left the key in the drawer..." He repeated himself, fearing his life.

"What do you me by 'round nose'?!" The pirate captain screamed at his subordinate, throwing things off of the roof. "Does my nose look funny to you?!"

"N-no, Captain. You just m-misunderstood." The man was terrified now.

"A BIG AND RED ROUND NOSE?! YOU DARE MOCK ME?!" Buggy was furious at this point. Even though his subordinate wasn't actually saying anything about his nose, to him, it sounded like it. "Die a painful death!"

"W-wait, Captain! I didn't say-"

"Who am I?" The captain spoke softly.

"C-Captain Buggy!" The pirate started gagging, and was being lifted in the air, and he was grasping at his neck. It was as if someone was choking him, but no one was near him. Everyone was far away, including Buggy. "C-can't breathe!"

"He used his power he gained from the Devil Fruit!" One of the crew members yelled out in shock.

"Prepare the cannon!" Buggy yelled to no one in particular. He was sitting on a throne that looked like a carnival tent. He looked very much the part of both clown and pirate. His face was painted with a skull, his nose was round, big and red, and his make up was that of a clown's. His shirt was white with orange stripes, and his shoes were clown shoes. He had white gloves on and a normal pair of trousers on. On his head was a captain's hat, and around his shoulders was a captain's jacket to match his shirt.

The pirate was hoisted in front of a cannon while he screamed for forgiveness.

"Blow him to smithereens." Buggy said, pointing at him. The man screamed for his life, and those sounds of terror were drowned out by the large bang from the cannon. "recover the map! And take all of this village's treasures!"

"Yes, sir!" All of his crew members yelled out, some already starting to run off to follow their orders. "Captain Buggy!"

Somewhere in the town, in some house, Luffy and Nami were talking.

"So, you've been separated from your crew?" Nami asked him. "How many people are in it?"

"Only one so far. Is this your house?" Luffy looked around the room while he spoke.

"No, I have no idea who owns this house." Nami sat on the table, wondering who this man was. "Everyone in this village is somewhere on the outskirts of this town, waiting in a shelter. They're hiding from the pirate Buggy."

"So, is he that scary? That pirate called Nami?"

"I'm Nami! The pirate is Buggy!" The woman yelled at Luffy. "Anyways, about him. He's a famous pirate, known for his love for cannons. At a village he used to stay at, he blew up everything once a couple of kids made fun of his nose. People also say he has some sort of strange power."

"I see. Then why isn't anyone in this village?" Luffy asked while looking out of the window.

"I just told you they're avoiding Buggy! Did you even listen?!" Nami yelled at him.

"Ah. So you've been stealing from all of these empty houses." Luffy said casually.

"No! That's despicable! I already said I only steal from pirates! Weren't you listening?!" Nami snapped again at this. She sighed and rubbed her temples. "Don't even compare me to those common criminals. It's so tiring talking to you."

"Calm down." Luffy said, smiling and laughing.

"My goal is to get 100 million beli. Then I can buy a certain village." Nami spoke seriously.

"100 million beli? That's a lot. You'd have to steal from a lot of pirates."

"Oh, I have a plan for that." Nami took the map that she had run off with earlier out of her bag. "This is a map to the Grand Line. After I steal Buggy's treasures, I'm going to go into the grand Line and get more treasure from the larger pirates out there. So, what do you think? Wanna team up? You're pretty strong, and you'd get your share of the treasure, too."

"By any chance, can you navigate?" Luffy asked her right away.

"Yep! Of course I know how to!" Nami said, grinning with pride. "Not many people know more than I do about that. It doesn't hurt that I also love the sea."

"That's great, then!" Luffy exclaimed. "We're also going to the Grand Line!"

"Really?!" Nami looked excited at this. She could use a fighting edge in the Grand Line.

"Yeah! Join our crew as our navigator!" Luffy smiled gleefully. "Become part of our pirate crew!"

Nami's excitement stopped dead in its tracks. "No way!" She yelled at the young man. "So you're a pirate. Forget we ever spoke together. I don't want to work with a pirate."

A second later, she realized something. "I get it now. You're gonna use that map in your hat to find some kind of treasure."

"I already told you," Luffy grabbed his straw hat on his head, pulling it off to look at it. "There's no map in or on it."

"Yeah, and I'm a Yonko!" Nami pointed at the hat. "Why else would you want to keep it so safe and call it your treasure?"

"This hat was a gift from a good friend of mine. I own nothing more precious to me." Luffy looked at the orange haired girl. "I promised to the man who gave it to me that I would become a great pirate one day, and when that happens, I would give it back to him."

Nami paused for a moment, then sighed. "It's all pirates with you. Is that all you think about?"

"Well, I think about food, and friends, and getting stronger, too." Luffy looked up thoughtfully.

"There's nothing more I hate in this world than pirates!" Nami yelled at the man. "I only like money and oranges!"

"Is he really just a stupid pirate?" Nami thought, looking down at the ground. "He doesn't seem to be much help. I also think he doesn't have anything to steal."

"Come on, join us as a navigator." Luffy said cheerfully.

"I said no, you dumb pirate!" Nami screamed in his face. Then she had an idea. "Actually, I might consider it under one condition."

"Really? Thanks, I could use the help!" Luffy smiled innocently.

"OK, all you have to do is go to where Buggy is. That's all."

"That's it? OK, you got it!" Luffy immediately started walking out of the door. "Where is he anyways?"

"Wait a minute. I have to prepare something first." Nami told him, grabbing a piece of rope.

"What're you doing with that, Nami?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just rope, anyways. Why does it matter?" The girl smiled, thankful that Luffy was an idiot. "As if I'd become a pirate."

The two walked towards the bar that the pirates were station at. It was nothing spectacular. It just looked like all the other buildings.

"It's right here, at the end of the road." Nami pointed at the tavern. "That's the bar that Buggy's crew is stationed at."

"But what do you want to do here?" Luffy scratched his head, looking from Nami to the building.

"That's something you will soon find out..." Nami said, tying up Luffy quickly and easily, "You stupid pirate!"

"What're you doing?!" Luffy yelled loudly. His screams, however, were drowned out by the captain of the Buggy Pirates rage.

"WHAT?!" The clown more or less exploded. "You lost the map thief?! And you three came back looking like this?!"

"Please spare us!" One of the three yelled in fear. "We had her, but this strong guy fell from the sky! He stopped us, and he's her boss!"

"SHUT IT!" Buggy screamed in fury. "PREPARE TO DIE!"

The three screamed, preparing to run for their lives. However, Buggy was interrupted by one of his men.

"Captain Buggy! Pardon the intrusion!"

"WHAT?!"

"The thief, she's here. She came here herself." The pirate said simply.

"Excellent! Bring her in!" Buggy laughed heartily. Then it hit him. "Wait what?! She came here on her own?! Why?!"

"I don't know exactly, but she's here anyways."

"Well, bring her here!" The captain continued laughing.

"It's him, Captain!" One of the three men yelled out. "Her boss who fell from the sky!"

Nami had thrown Luffy down on the ground in front of Buggy. "I captured the thief, Captain Buggy! I have also brought you your map back!"

"You tricked me! How dare you?!" Luffy yelled up at Nami. Nami just looked down at him and taunted him.

"I see you're giving us the map back, but why?" Buggy looked at the orange haired woman gleefully.

"Well, you see, I came into an argument with my boss." Nami told the captain. "I'm tired of it. Please allow me to join to Buggy Pirates!"

"Huh?" Buggy was surprised, but he got his composure back quickly. He started laughing again. "Well, you got tired of it, huh? Of course, we welcome you to our crew with open arms!"

"Success! I'll steal back the map and all of Buggy's treasures, then I'll ditch this place!" Nami was ecstatic that her plan was working out so well.

"That damned girl! See if I'll let her join my crew!" Luffy said to himself in the cage he was put in.

Meanwhile, Zoro had just arrived at the village. "We're here, Master Zoro!"

"What's this place?" Zoro looked around at the buildings. "The entire place is deserted. Why?"

"Well, you see, we ran the people from this village out of here because of Captain Buggy. We're currently raiding this town."

"Well, I'd better meet with this Buggy." Zoro got out of the boat and began to walk into town. "He might have some information on Luffy."

As Zoro strolled off in search of this Buggy, the pirate himself was celebrating wildly. Laughing heartily with his crew, he drank from a large mug, half of it spilling on his front.

"Drink to your heart's content, fellas!" He shouted over everyone else's excitement. "The stolen map to the Grand Line has been recovered! And we have a great navigator on our crew, now!"

"Yeah!" A roar of voices from the clown's crew exploded across the rooftop. The entire crew was happy for their captain. They knew that he cared about them, at least a bit, even if he didn't show it that often.

"Nami, you're drinking, you little rascal?!" Buggy shouted at the orange haired girl in delight.

"Aye, Captain! I'm drinking, alright!" Nami yelled right back, polishing off her third mug.

"Nami, let's have a contest! First one to go down from drinking loses!" One pirate yelled, pouring a hearty helping of beer down his throat. Nami yelled in agreement, downing another glass. The man fell over, passed out, while Nami stood, seemingly unaffected.

"My tolerance is off the charts compared to these chumps!" Nami smiled to herself. "I'll just wait until all these pirates are too drunk to even think, then I'll steal their treasure and the map back! This'll be a piece of cake!"

The orange haired girl looked over at Luffy, who was sitting still, looking at the table filled with food. She wondered what was going on in his head. He didn't seem to be trying to escape, like she thought he would be. She guessed she didn't have as good of a reading on him as she had thought. She began to walk over to him

"They look like they're having so much fun." Luffy said to himself calmly when he turned to look at the pirate crew joyously dancing and singing and cheering. He sighed a little dejectedly. "That's why a pirate's life is so great."

"So, how's it going there, 'Boss'?" Nami said, surprising the straw hatted man a bit.

"Shut up, you. Let me out, or at least get me some food!" Luffy looked hungrily at the feast displayed on the table. Nami sighed, and walked over to the meat, grabbed a large piece and brought it back. She was thankful that no one seemed to see her, and handed the grilled meat to Luffy. He immediately grabbed it and started chewing. While he ate, he grinned gleefully. "Thanks! You're not that bad after all. I think I will let you join my crew."

"I told you no already!" Nami snapped at the man. This Luffy was starting to get on her nerves. "Don't you see what's about to happen? You're probably gonna be sold by these guys to the circus or something. But don't worry. I'll let you out after they're all drunk. I don't have anything against you personally, after all."

"There's no need for you to do that. I can get out of this cage whenever I want." Luffy stated simply. Nami thought he was crazy. But then she remembered how strong he was, and now only just realized that he had loosened the rope around him to free his arms.

Suddenly, Buggy stepped behind Nami, laughing loudly, startling the woman. Luffy, however, almost acted as if he knew what was going to happen. "You've got yourself a pretty good person there, Straw Hat! I wish I had someone like her before!" The clown exclaimed, continuing to laugh.

"She's not my person." Luffy started daggers at Buggy, who thought nothing of it.

"Ah, of course, you probably would feel like that after what she did." Buggy glared at the man, gleeful at what was about to happen. "Though I have the map back, you did still steal from me. That can't go unpunished. Your fate has already been decided."

"You're going to let me go." Luffy looked at him, releasing a bit of his will into the air. A few nearby pirates passed out, but most thought it was from being drunk.

"Yeah, I'll let you go! Like hell!" Buggy yelled in his face. However, there was a feeling inside that thought he should release Luffy. His hand moved towards the lock with the key in hand before he realized what he was doing. "Boys! Prepare the Buggy Special Cannonball!"

A few pirates scrambled about for a couple of minutes before bringing out a cannon and loading it with a red cannonball with Buggy's Jolly Roger painted crudely on it. They pointed the large weapon at the building nearby, ready to fire.

"OK, boys, show him the power of my greatest weapon!" Buggy yelled at his men. Nami stood shocked at what was about to happen. Luffy deemed pretty indifferent as the cannon fired. The resulting blast went through five buildings, and knocked down parts of neighboring houses. Nami was aghast. She couldn't believe the power behind that one ball. "This is the strength of the Buggy Special Cannon Ball! It's so great, it could wipe out an entire village in one shot! With this and my powers gained from eating the Devil Fruit, I will conquer the Grand Line!"

Buggy paused as the pirates aimed the cannon at the caged Luffy. He handed a pack of matched to the girl next to him. "Now then, Nami! Shoot the cannon! Blast your old boss to oblivion! Show your loyalty and desire to be my subordinate!"

Luffy stared Nami down. The woman was a bit afraid and nervous now. "Kill him?" She looked at the clown. "No, I don't think it's necessary. Oh, let's drink! Yes, drink! We can deal with that idiot after!"

"Kill him." Buggy looked down at her, malice painting his face. Most of the pirates around were shouting words of encouragement to kill Luffy. They soon began chanting.

"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!"

"What do I do?! If I don't kill him, I'll die! But if I do, even though he's a pirate then there will be no difference between a pirate and me!" Nami bit her lip in distress. Luffy continued to stare at her, almost daring her to fire the cannon. "Who could have thought that this would happen?"

"Stop ruining the moment, Nami! Just shoot him and get it over with!" Buggy yelled at the girl, growing impatient. Nami froze, and began to tremble.

"Your hand is shaking." Luffy smiled at her. "You can't do it. You don't have the strength to make the oath that all pirates make."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Nami smiled nervously at him, trying to get any justification to kill him out of his mouth. "The murder of innocent people?"

"No!" Luffy said firmly. A few more people fainted, and Buggy felt a bit woozy. However, no one thought anything of it. "It's an oath to be strong enough to risk your own life! That's the pirate's oath!"

"Oi, if you're not going to do it, I'll take it from here!" A pirate grabbed the matches out of Nami's hand, and began to light one. He picked up the fuse, and brought the fire to the end of it. "Guess you don't know how to do it. All you do is put this flame on the end of the rope. Then you just wait."

At that moment, the pirate flew back, and landed on the ground, knocked unconscious. Nami had taken out her pole and slammed the man away from the cannon. But it was too late. The fuse was already lit. And now Nami had made herself a target for the pirates that surrounded her. She couldn't see any way out of this hole she had dug herself into.

Luffy had known that Nami would do that. He didn't need Haki to see that coming. However, Buggy and his crew couldn't believe it.

"Nami, you idiot! You don't fight your own crew mates!" Buggy yelled in fury. "I was giving you the honor of killing him yourself!"

"You're saving me now." Luffy stated it as if it were a fact. He was right, but Nami wasn't going to let a pirate know that.

"Of course not! I just don't want blood on my hands. I would never stoop so low as an evil pirate!" Nami shouted at him, not looking back at him. "A pirate killed someone I was very close to! That's why pirates are the worst! They don't care about anyone but themselves!"

"So that's why you hate them. Sort of the same reason I hate the government. My brother lost his life because he wouldn't act like the nobility he was born as." Luffy said softly, only for Nami to hear.

The orange haired girl lost her breath for a moment. She never thought a pirate could sympathize with her like that. It also raised the question as to Luffy's family history. She would ask him about it later if there was a later.

"By the way, the fuse is burning." Luffy said firmly and calmly. He could hear the footsteps of a certain swordsman running nearby, only a few more steps from jumping on the roof. A few pirates charged at Nami, who swung at them. However, they dodged her pole, and continued their attack. "Don't worry about anyone attacking you. Just get the fuse, and we'll both be safe."

"How can I trust you?!" Nami yelled at him, running back a bit to distance herself from the pirates who just tried to cut her.

"Because if you don't, it won't just be my life that's gone." Luffy looked at her seriously. She took the hint, and decided that she would be dead either way.

"What do I have to lose?" She said to no one in particular. She turned around and began to stop the fuse from going any further. While she did this, five pirates jumped at her.

Buggy taunted her as she fumbled with the rope. "You may have good people skills, but you have nothing on the fighting abilities of my crew! And stopping that fuse won't do you any good, either!"

She flinched when she heard them yelling at her, and then turned around when she didn't feel the pain of death. A green haired man with three swords had just stopped all five pirates in one move.

"Just how many of you think you can charge at a girl without going through someone like me?" The man said smoothly, knocking out the five in one attack. Buggy screamed in shock, along with some of his crew.

"Just on time, Zoro!" Luffy smiled. Nami grasped the end of the fuse to put it out and groaned in pain as the heat of the fire burned her palms. She sighed afterwards, thankful that she didn't let Luffy die.

"Are you hurt?" Zoro looked down at the girl. "And why are you still in that cage, Luffy? Don't tell me all of that strength can't get you out of that flimsy thing."

"I'm fine." Nami looked at him. She was beyond shocked, and wasn't functioning fully anymore. "Uh, my name's Nami, by the way."

"Good think you found this place, Zoro!" Luffy smiled widely. "Otherwise I would've had to just burst out of here on my own."

"Do you think this is fun?!" Zoro yelled at his captain, completely ignoring Nami. "First you get captured by a bird, and now you won't burst out of that cage?"

"Uh, did he say his name is Zoro?" A pirate said fearfully. "A-as in 'P-Pirate Hunter' Zoro?"

"Wait, his crew member is actually Pirate Hunter Zoro?" Nami said to herself quietly. "What is going on?"

"You're definitely that Zoro." Buggy stepped close to the swordsman. "You here to take my head?"

"Nope, I have no interest in that. I quite being a pirate hunter." Zoro spoke softly, moving towards Luffy's cage.

"Oh, but I'm interested. If I can kill you, my reputation will go up incredibly high." The clown said maliciously.

"I wouldn't suggest that. You might die." Zoro glared at the pirate captain.

Buggy charged at him, knives in between each finger, and slashed to attack. Zoro immediately got ready to retaliate. He easily dodged the blades cut Buggy into a few pieces. The pieces of Buggy fell on the ground, and Nami was incredibly shocked. Either this Zoro guy was immensely strong, or Buggy was much weaker than she was lead to believe.

Meanwhile, Buggy's crew wasn't worried, the pirates were even laughing, and Luffy broke open his cage silently. His Haki sensed Buggy still alive, and that he would get back up.

"Zoro, he's not down yet." Luffy said to him. Zoro trusted his captain, but this was absurd.

"There's no way anyone could get up from being cut to pieces like that!" Zoro yelled at Straw Hat.

The crew stopped laughing when they heard Luffy talk. How could he know? And how did he break out, too? There was no way that he could do that.

"Trust me. I'll explain it after." Luffy looked at Nami, who was now beginning to believe that the man was better than other pirates, at least in some ways so far. "For now, let's go. I have something pretty great that might warrant Buggy being angry."

He winked at the girl, pointing to his pocket. A piece of paper was sticking out. But how did he get that? How fast was he?

"Fine, are we taking the girl, too, or is she fending for herself?" Zoro sighed, knowing that his captain was pretty smart, battle-wise. Though he seemed to be an idiot everywhere else.

"Of course. We can't leave her behind when she could die if we aren't there." Luffy said, stretching his arms out and grabbing onto the cannon, throwing it into the ocean quickly. The entire crew and Nami were shocked that Luffy could do that, while Zoro was just surprised at what he was doing next. Luffy grabbed onto both Nami and Zoro with his stretched out arms, and rushed the blood through his legs. His skin tinted pink as his blood flowed much faster throughout his body. "Gear Second!"

The man jumped off of the roof with supersonic speed, landing with both Zoro and Nami near an empty pet food shot a few blocks away. As they flew through the sky, both Zoro and Nami looked back at the roof top just in time to see Buggy reform and look at them with a death glare.

"Never do that again!" Zoro shouted loudly at his captain.

"No promises." Luffy grinned at his swordsman. His skin turned back to its normal color, and Luffy sat down.

Nami was beyond scared and shocked. "What the hell was that?!" She yelled at Luffy.

"Oh, I'm a rubber man! I ate the Gomu Gomu no Mi, a Devil Fruit." Luffy smiled at the girl. "Just like Buggy, I have a special power. From what I saw with Buggy, I'd have to say he has the Bara Bara no Mi, allowing him to split off pieces of himself and control them in a short area. It also makes him immune to any cuts. I learned a lot about Devil Fruit abilities from my Grandfather while I trained with him when I was younger. Though I only know some of them, since I didn't care much about reading the book all the way through."

Nami was shocked. Not only did she just now find out that Devil Fruits were real, but Luffy was actually pretty smart in this area. She thought he was just an idiot pirate.

"Who's this, anyways?" Zoro pointed his thumb at the orange haired girl.

"That's Nami, our navigator!" Luffy smiled happily.

"Are you still on about that?!" Nami snapped at the straw hatted man. Immediately after, the screams of rage from the bar's rooftop could be heard. It seemed that Buggy found out that the map had been stolen again.

"He'll be after us. But don't worry. I'll take him down easily." Luffy said, looking off at the pet food store. He saw something that caught his eye in front of the building. "Is that a dog?"

Sure enough, there was a white dog sitting in front of the shop, unmoving. Luffy stood back up and began walking to the animal slowly. He wondered what it was doing there.

"Stop right there!" A shout could be heard from just past the shop as Luffy drew near to the dog. An older man stepped forward, wearing some kind of makeshift armor. "I will not allow anyone to harm Shushu!"

"Hmm?" Luffy looked up at the man. "Who're you?"

"I am the leader of this village, Boodle!" He shouted at Straw Hat. "I won't allow you filthy pirates to attack Shushu! Go back to your captain, and I won't have to hurt you!"

"Don't mistake us for those pieces of shit." Zoro spoke up, walking behind Luffy with Nami. "We're not here to mess with anything."

"Exactly. I may be a pirate, but I'm not like Buggy." Luffy said, kneeling down to pet Shushu. Shushu growled and barked at him, and the man drew his hand back. "OK, fine, I won't pet you."

"Wait, you're a pirate, but you're not with Buggy?" Boodle looked at him questioningly. "Then why are you here?"

"A bird carried me here in its beak." Luffy smiled at the man. "Now we've ended up picking a fight with that clown. So, what's the deal with this dog here?"

"Oh, that's a story I haven't told in ages." Boodle said, sitting down next to the dog. "The owner of this store used to be a good friend of mine. Shushu was his pet. He's very loyal, and whenever my friend wasn't here, he would watch over the store." Boodle pointed at Shushu's body. "See those wounds? Those are from protecting the store from those pirates."

"I understand that he's loyal, but what could make a dog protect a store with pirates attacking?" Nami asked the chief, wondering why Shushu would do such a thing. "Isn't the owner in the shelter with the others?"

"No, he's already passed away from an illness." Boodle said, putting a bowl of food in front of the white dog. "He was hospitalized about three months ago. He told Shushu to watch over the store for him while he was gone. Some people think he's still just waiting for him to come back. I think it's something else. I think he's protecting the building for his memories of them together, and he knows that his master's dead."

"Why would he still protect the place if he knows that?" Nami looked at Boodle and Shushu. Zoro had fallen asleep at this point on the side of the wall, and Luffy winked at her, grabbing his hat discreetly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Boodle smiled solemnly. "This store is Shushu's treasure.He loved his owner so much, and since this is all that he left behind, he'll continue to guard it with his life. I've tried to get him to go to the shelter, but he won't move a step away from here. If I didn't come back to feed him, he'd probably starve to death."

Just then, a load roar came from nearby, startling Boodle and Nami, Luffy looked over at the direction it came from, and Zoro moved over in his sleep, annoyed by the noise.

"What was that?!" Nami squeaked out, hiding behind Luffy.

'That's one of Buggy's crew! Beast Trainer Mohji!" Boodle yelled in fear. He ran off behind a nearby building, Nami following him. "Run away!"

"Nah, I'd rather not." Luffy said, turning towards the new appearance. A large lion stood in front of him, a man with strange hair shaped into ears atop of the beast.

"Looks like I found you, Straw Hat! Zoro's also here. What good fortune!" The man smiled menacingly. "I am Beast Trainer Mohji! I can master any animal, no matter how untamable! The other two just decided to ditch you, it seems! And you tried so hard to get away, too! You poor thing! Captain buggy is pretty mad. Hand over the map, and you won't die. Zoro, however, must be killed!"

"Who are you supposed to be? Why're you wearing that furry cap?" Luffy said, laughing at him a bit.

"Shut up!" Mohji yelled at the man. "This is my hair!"

"That's just weirder." Luffy stated simply.

"You have no idea how scary I am, do you?" The beast tamer glared down at Luffy, rage in his eyes. "I can tame any animal, just watch! Shake my hand boy!" Mohji offered his hand to Shushu, who barked and bit the limb. He cried, then immediately got back on his lion as if nothing happened. "You're just some nameless thief, you mean nothing to me. I could kill you in an instant."

"What is he doing?! Does he want to die?!" Nami said quietly as she and Boodle watched from behind the building there were hiding at.

"I have no reason not to kill you. Give me the map, and you'll be spared!" Mohji stared Luffy down, who just glared back. The lion growled deeply at the man. Luffy shook his head decisively, and Mohji screamed in rage. "Kill him, Ritchie!"

"Shit! He's gonna die!" Boodle yelled in horror at what was about to happen.

The lion jumped at Luffy, stopped his jaws from getting near him by grabbing his snout. His hand blackened, and he threw the lion and man into a nearby building. Mohji screamed in fear and shock, and Nami and Boodle just gasped. The lion and man flew through the building, and landed hard on the road on the other side.

"You little piece of shit!" Mohji yelled as Ritchie stood back up and charged through the ruins of the house. "You're dead now! And after Ritchie eats you and Zoro, we'll be after that store!"

Luffy glared at Mohji, releasing all of his will into the air, immediately stopping the lion in his tracks. "You will NOT be touching that store! That store is Shushu's most precious treasure! You NEVER mess with someone's dearest treasure!"

Ritchie whimpered in fear, and Mohji began to faint, but tried to stay away. However, he passed out, and Ritchie ran away, afraid of the man standing before him.

Nami and Boodle walked out of their hiding place, and were baffled. Zoro woke up from the noise, and decided he should sleep right now. Boodle looked at the direction the lion ran off to and back at Luffy, his jaw fallen. Nami didn't know what happened. She didn't even have a guess at all.

"What? How? Why did he faint and the lion run away at that?!" The orange haired woman cried out, feeling a mixture of curiosity, confusion and fear.

"Haki." Luffy looked over to her, smiling. "There are three kinds of it. I'll tell you about them later, but that was Conqueror's Haki."

"So, what happened?" Zoro asked the three as he stood up from the ground.

"One of Buggy's pirates came here for you and the map on a lion." Nami spoke up, wondering how the green haired man could have slept through that. "Luffy threw them into a building, and after they came back, they threatened the pet food shop, and Luffy scared them away with whatever he said he used."

"Haki." Luffy chimed in. "It's quite useful."

"WHAT?!" Buggy yelled from his rooftop after he saw what had become of Mohji. He and Ritchie had minimal damages, but Mohji was completely knocked out and Ritchie had his tail between his legs. "HOW DID MOHJI LOSE WHEN HE LOOKS FINE?! PREPARE AS MANY BUGGY SPECIAL CANNONBALLS AS WE HAVE AND BLOW THIS TOWN TO SMITHEREENS! USE THE SECOND CANNON!"

A few minutes later, Mohji awoke to see everyone preparing cannons. He turned to Buggy, ready to apologize.

"How did Zoro defeat you when you look fine?!" Buggy yelled at him angrily. He couldn't believe that anyone could faint from such small wounds.

"It wasn't Zoro. It was that Straw Hat kid." Mohji bowed his head in shame. Buggy gasped when he heard that it was actually that lowlife. How could someone with no name be so strong, yet no one knew of him? "I don't know what he did, either. I felt ready to fight after he threw me into a building, which I will admit, I underestimated his strength, and then I remember him yelling at me about a dog's precious treasure, and the next thing I know, I'm back here, and Ritchie is hiding away."

"Well, you obviously won't be able to get back there. If you couldn't even defeat that Straw Hat, then you won't be able to defeat Pirate Hunter Zoro." Mohji looked as if he was going to challenge this, but then realized the error he was about to make and shut up. Buggy continued as if nothing had happened. "How long is it going to be until you guys get those cannons prepared?!"

The men scrambled around faster, loading more cannons quickly. "Yes Sir!"

"Sorry for thinking you were like those other pirates and doing what I did to you earlier." Nami said softly to Luffy, who was petting Shushu happily. "I didn't know you cared so much about things like that."

"It's nothing." Luffy smiled at the girl. "Someone you cared about died because of a pirate, right? I understand. I'm just glad nothing happened to Shushu's precious treasure."

"I just can't stand it anymore!" Boodle yelled out in rage. "This village was mad by us, they have no right to do anything to it! You guys are all fighting, but I'm not! Why can I only watch the destruction?!"

"Wait, what are you talking about, Chief?!" Nami tried calming the old man down. "You can't be serious!"

"A real man fights for what he loves, isn't that right, kid?!" Boodle looked at Straw Hat with conviction.

"That's it, Geezer!" Luffy grinned at the chief, forming his hand into a fist and pumping it in the air.

"40 years ago, that's when we built this place. It was small at first, but we continued to grow." Boodle looked around, bringing himself memories of his village. "And now look at it. It's a successful harbor town! But i will not stand by any longer and watch it be terrorized by these pirates! This village and the villagers are my treasure! What kind of chief doesn't protect his village?!" Boodle grabbed a spear off of the ground and thrust it up into the air.

Just then, the buildings next to them blew up, including the pet food store. Zoro flew forward from the blast, having been right up against the wall of the building, landing with a large thud. Shushu howled while Luffy glared at the direction the pub was in, fire burning in his eyes. Boodle did the same, and began to run, yelling for Buggy's blood. Nami tried holding him back to no avail.

"Zoro! You alright?!" Luffy yelled out when he realized what had happened to his crew mate.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's give 'em hell!" Zoro put on his bandana, one eye covered by the shade, the other glowing red.

"Stop! You can't do anything, Chief!" Nami yelled out as Boodle ran off towards the tavern.

"I AM GOING TO FIGHT FOR THIS VILLAGE DAMN IT!" The old man cried out, furious. He turned around, and Nami saw tears crawl down his face. "I KNOW IT'S SUICIDE, BUT I DON'T CARE!"

"Shushu." Luffy said, rage dripping through his voice. He grabbed a box of dog food and set it in front of the white dog. "Go to the shelter. I'll get revenge for you. Nami, let him go if he wants to. I'll be there to help. I won't let him die."

"What are you talking about?!" Nami screamed at him. "That old man is going off on his own!"

"Don't worry, I can get us there before he'll even be halfway there if I want to." Luffy smiled at him. Zoro nodded, he didn't need proof to believe it. "Anyways, you need to map to the Grand Line, right? I have it right here. If you want it, join us. You need treasures, I'll make sure that you buy that village when you can."

"You dirty little..." Nami said under her breath. "I won't become a pirate, so how about we just say we're cooperating? Until I can do what I need to do."

"Sounds fine to me, Nami!" The straw hatted man laughed aloud and grabbed onto the two again. Luffy pumped his blood faster, and his skin turned pink again. "Gear Second!"

Luffy jumped towards the pub, getting there just as Boodle yelled at Buggy to stop what he was doing. He fell with the two a bit behind, not noticed by the Buggy Pirates. Nami and Zoro yelled at him for not giving them a warning first, but then shut up when they heard what was going on.

"Who's that man?" The clown looked down, bored right now.

"I am this village's leader! I have come here to stop you and protect this town!" Boodle yelled up to the pirate on the roof. "Come down here and fight me!"

"Oh, you think you can do it?" Buggy laughed, finding it hilarious that the old man though he could take him on.

"Let me, Captain. It will be nothing." A man with long hair covering one eye said. He was riding a unicycle, and pulled a sword out of him mouth. He jumped with the unicycle, flipping many times in the air, landing on the edge of the roof, his sword pointed out and a top spinning on the end of his blade. "My skills are starting to rust, I need something to keep them fresh."

"Oh boy! It's Cabaji's acrobatics!" The pirates yelled in delight.

"No, you idiot! He wants me!" Buggy told the pirate with a scowl on his face. He looked down at Boodle again. "You, what do you want, anyways? Fame? Glory?"

"I want nothing of that stupidity!" The chief yelled up to the clown. "I wish to protect this town! I wish to protect my treasure!"

"Ha! Did you here that?" Buggy pointed at the old man as he turned towards his crew laughing. "He called this worthless village treasure! I don't see any gold or silver lining the houses and roads! What kind of a treasure do you call that?!"

"This village is my home! That is why it's my treasure! Money is worthless when you don't have anything you love!" Boodle screamed back. "GET DOWN HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

Buggy stopped laughing. He was getting annoyed. He shot his hand down at the man to grab his throat and choke him to death. However, Luffy came in at that very moment, grabbing the appendage.

"WHAT?!" Buggy screamed in rage. "What's that worthless Straw Hat doing here?!"

"I'm here to kick your ass." Luffy said coldly, giving Buggy a death glare.

"You? Kick my ass?" Buggy slammed his attached hand on the railing of the roof in laughter. "I'll kill you easily! I'll soon go to the Grand Line, then I'll get all of the treasure in the world! No one will have any treasure except for me! And if this old man thinks this hunk of town is treasure, I'll just destroy it! I don't want worthless 'treasure'!"

"You can't do anything to this village!" Boodle yelled, thrusting his spear into the air at the clown. "COME DOWN AND FIGHT!"

"Yeah, Buggy." Luffy called to the pirate. "Come down and fight. I'll even give you your hand back."

"You came here on your own, and you think you're unafraid? You've just signed your death wish!" Buggy screamed in rage, reattaching his hand back to his arm.

"Look, I don't care if you guys fight, as long as I get that treasure and I get to use the map." Nami said to both Luffy and Zoro as she came out behind the swordsman.

"Yeah, I get it." Zoro said, smiling as he put his hands on his swords.

"You three." Boodle said when he finally noticed the others. "This is my war. get out of here. I will protect my village on my own." Luffy shut him up by knocking him out quickly.

"YOU IDIOT!" Nami screeched at the man. "Why did you do that? He's on our side!"

"I didn't want him to get in the way and get hurt." Luffy said simply, grinning at Buggy, a fire ablaze in his eyes.

"That was good." Zoro said, looking down at the old man. "He would've just charged in without thinking. It's safer for him to be unconscious."

"You idiots! Don't do unnecessary things like that!" Nami yelled at the two.

"Hey, Big Nose! Big Red Ugly Nose!" Luffy called out. Everyone gasped in horror, besides Zoro.

Buggy screamed in rage, pointing at the three of them. "FIRE THE BUGGY SPECIAL CANNON BALL!"

"ARE YOU TRYING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!" Nami screamed, running out of the way.

"DODGE IT, DAMN IT!" Zoro yelled, running the other way.

"You think I'll just walk away because of a little cannonball?" Luffy smiled, looking straight at the projectile coming for his face. Luffy inhaled heavily, and expanded his torso greatly into some kind of ball of Luffy. "Gomu Gomu no Fusen!"

The cannonball hit Luffy in his enlarged stomach, slowly stopped from the impact, then ricocheted back towards Buggy's cannon. All of Buggy's crew screamed in fear and ran around or froze in place.

"What the hell is this kid?!" Buggy screeched, not able to move out of the way. "He bounced the cannonball back!"

The rooftop blew up, along with second, and only other, cannon Buggy had on the roof.

"Well, plenty of their numbers are down, now. Shall we start the battle?" Luffy looked back at Nami and Zoro with a smile on his face.

"You are insane!" Nami yelled at Luffy. How could he be so crazy. Who thinks to themselves that they can repel a cannonball with their own body?

"Maybe. Or maybe I just know what I can do." Luffy laughed, looking at the wreckage of the bar. He stopped laughing once he heard someone else chuckling from the rubble. Two floating hands were holding up two pirates, and another person was holding up the lion from before.

"They used their own crew as shields!" Nami gasped in shock. Then she remembered that they were pirates, after all.

"Now I'm mad! What the hell are you, Straw Hat?!" Buggy yelled at Luffy as he set the two men down. Cabaji set Ritchie down and came out of the rubble on his unicycle.

Mohji got up from the rubble, having been protected by some other crew members. He noticed what Cabaji did with his lion, and grew furious. "What did you use Ritchie for, Cabaji!"

"Oh, that cat?" The unicyclist asked his crew mate. "I didn't want my clothes to get dirty, so I protected them with his fur."

"You bastard!" The beast tamer yelled, then he noticed Luffy. "THAT'S HIM, CAPTAIN! He's the one with the Straw Hat! Watch out, he has some kind of power that can make people faint!"

"I won't be needing that to take you down, Clown!" Luffy yelled at the pirate. "And by the way, I'm a rubber man! I at the Gomu Gomu no Mi!"

"You have the powers of a Devil Fruit, too? That explains how you could jump so far away earlier." Buggy said, nodding with clarity. The clown grabbed Mohji and threw him at Luffy. "Get him, Mohji!"

The beast tamer screamed, wondering why his captain would do that to him. But he had to do what he was ordered to do. He started flailing his arms in front of him in an attempt to hurt Straw Hat, but it didn't work. Luffy kicked him in the face with a blackened leg, and flipped backwards with the momentum.

"I already took care of him before. I want to fight you, now!" Luffy called out the the pirate.

However, buggy wasn't going to fight yet. Cabaji came flying past Luffy with his swords, wanting to cut his head off in one clean attack. However, Luffy ducked, and he went gliding by him into Zoro.

The green haired man blocked the sword coming for him in an instant, and pushed the pirate back away from him. "If it's a sword, I'm ready for it!"

"It will be an honor to kill you, Roronoa Zoro!" Cabaji said maliciously. The pirate threw a ball of flames at Zoro's face, burning him and blinding him. "Acrobatic Technique: Fire Trick!"

Zoro stumbled back a bit, and the acrobat took the chance to kick the pirate hunter in the stomach hard. Zoro took the blow, and the fire dissipated from his face. The green haired man slashed at Cabaji, cutting into him a bit. The pirate howled in agony, cycling backwards away from Zoro.

"My goal is to become the greatest swordsman!" Zoro called out. "I will not allow anyone who calls themselves a swordsman to defeat me until I defeat the one at the top! If you think you can defeat me, you have another think coming! Let me show you the difference between you and I!"

"You fool, Roronoa Zoro." Cabaji looked at the pirate hunter. "You cannot defeat me! When I win, you will have no excuse!"

"If I lost against you, I would put away my swords forever. There's no point continuing if I can't defeat someone as weak as you!" Zoro looked straight at the man, his two swords pointed down to the ground, and the one in his mouth pointed out to his side.

"You asshole." The acrobat gasped out. He couldn't believe his rudeness.

"Hey." Nami grabbed Luffy's shoulder to get his attention. The man turned away from the fight to look at her questioningly. "Since those two are busy now, I'm gonna go off and get their treasure from the warehouse behind that pub. Whether you win the fight or not, it doesn't matter to me. But if you win the fight and keep the map, how about we cooperate again later?"

"Got it! There's no way we'll lose!" Luffy smiled at her, turning back to watch the fight at hand.

"Then I wish you good luck in your fight!" The orange haired woman ran off through an alleyway, disappearing without Cabaji or Buggy noticing.

"Have a taste of my greatest trick, Pirate Hunter!" The unicyclist yelled at Zoro, grabbing spinning tops out from his pockets. He then threw the toys at the swordsman. "Acrobat Technique! One Hundred Tops Typhoon!"

Zoro watched the tops come at him, and he realized that they were more than just mere toys. They had small blades on the sides, and at the speeds they were spinning at, they could do some serious damage. He blocked each one with his blades as they flew at him, knocking them away.

"Acrobat Technique! Wall Ride!" Cabaji yelled as he jumped onto the side of a building, gliding up it and into the sky. He got over Zoro, pointing his blade down. The green haired man looked up as he heard the pirate scream again, having finished blocking all of the tops. "Acrobat Technique! Midsummer Fire Crackers Ignition! Direct Stab!"

As Cabaji sped back down to the ground, Buggy aimed his hand at Zoro. "Ground Runner! Bara Bara Cannon!" The appendage flew off his arm, moving quickly to grab Zoro. "Cabaji! I'll hold down Zoro, you finish him off!"

"Got it, Captain!" Cabaji smiled maliciously, getting closer to the Pirate Hunter.

"That bastard!" Zoro looked the clown's hand as it reached for him. However, it disappeared in an instant. Luffy also disappeared, only to come back into sight a second later, Buggy's hand being crushed by Luffy's now pink ones.

"Gear Second." The straw hatted man looked at the clown, who was now screaming in pain as Luffy squeezed his hand. "This is Zoro's fight against that man. You won't get in the way!"

"You bastard!" Buggy cried out, tears rolling down his face lightly.

"Even without Captain's help, I'll finish you off!" Cabaji yelled at Zoro, who had stopped paying attention to the threat because of what just occurred. He looked back up, ready now. As the pirate dove on him, he took the blow in his shoulder, but stood standing. Cabaji has overjoyed he had hit his target so easily, but then he noticed the Pirate hunter was laughing. "Hey, stop that! You just got impaled in the shoulder!"

"I have you right where I want you." Zoro looked at the unicyclist's face, a grin painted on his face. He cut into Cabaji again, sending him flying without his sword. He pulled the blade out of his arm, throwing it the other way. "I'm tired of fighting someone as pitiful as you. I'll finish this now."

Cabaji whimpered in fear. he had never seen someone continue fighting after being stabbed in the shoulder like that. He shouldn't be the one cowering, it should be Zoro!

"Oni Giri! The pirate hunter crossed his arms, his two swords pointed up to the sky, his other one sticking to the side from his mouth. He dashed quickly at the pirate, slashing with great strength, flying past him before Cabaji even realized he had been hit. The unicyclist flew up with the force, blood flying out of him as he landed hard on the ground with a thud.

"CABAJI!" Buggy screamed in rage. "How?! How is a mere thief doing this to the best pirate fleet in the world?!"

"Not a common thief." Zoro said as he sat down on the ground. "But a pirate! Luffy, I'm going to sleep. Handle this, won't you?"

"Yeah, you sleep. You deserve it. I've got this." Straw Hat smiled, still rushing his blood through his body.

"So you guys are pirates?" Buggy said, looking at Luffy angrily.

"Yeah, and after we beat you, we're going to the Grand Line!"

"Ha!" The clown laughed at the man before him. "The Grand Line isn't some place a nameless pirate like yourself can just go into! What do you even hope to accomplish there?!"

"I'm going to become the Pirate King!" Luffy said simply and clearly.

"YOU FOOL! YOU?! PIRATE KING?! THEN I'M A GOD!" Buggy screamed out angrily. "I'M GOING TO BE THE ONE TO GET ALL THE TREASURE IN THE WORLD!"

"Shut up!" Luffy glared at the pirate captain. "Skip talking, let's just fight."

"You're annoying, you Straw Hat!" Buggy pulled out a few knives, each held in between his fingers. "That hat reminds me of someone I knew long ago. An impudent red haired guy."

"Red haired?!" Luffy loosened his muscles a bit, and his skin stopped steaming and lost its pink tint. "Do you know Shanks?!"

"Hmm? It seems that I piqued your interest. So what if I know him?" The clown stroked his chin, smiling lightly.

"Where is he now?"

"Where is he? Well, if I know, then I know, but if I don't, I don't."  The captain started laughing a bit, elated from the confused look on the boy's face.

"What?" Luffy cocked his head a bit, letting his arms fall and hang next to his body. "Are you an idiot or something?"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IDIOT?! YOU'RE THE BUFFOON HERE!" Buggy screeched out loudly, rousing some of his men who were in the rubble. None of them got up, though, fearing for their own lives. "I'm telling you that I'm not gonna say anything, you fool! Even if it'll be the last thing you hear!"

"Then I'll just force it out of you." The man got back into a fighting position.

"You'll be long dead before you ever hear it." Buggy stomped on the ground, and small metal blades poked out of his feet with a sharp sound. He pointed at his shoes, grinning and laughing to himself. "Even if you're made of rubber, not everything will bounce of you, right?"

"That's right." Luffy nodded slightly, still ready to fight.

"Bara Bara..." Buggy started twisting his body, beginning to spin. Just as his started the spin, he separated from his legs, and the appendages flew at Luffy, the legs spinning like a top. "Windmill!"

The straw hatted man made no effort to move, standing his ground. As the attack came to him, his arms became coated in in a shiny, black color, and he wrapped his hands around both legs, stopping them in their tracks. Just before he had done that, Buggy threw his knives at him. The clown's jaw dropped when Luffy dodged all but one, barely moving his head and body. And the one that didn't fly past him was stuck between his clamped teeth.

"That was a good try, but it didn't work, did it?" Luffy grinned as he spat out the dagger onto the ground. He threw Buggy's legs back at him, and ran forwards, faster than what he had thrown. His fist, still coated in Haki, was sent flying back, and as he got closer, he pulled his arm towards him. Just as he arrived in front of Buggy, his fist hit the clown square in the chest before he even had a chance to react. "Gomu Gomu no Bullet!"

As Buggy went flying off, his body separated in fractures due to the blow. He put himself back together pretty quickly afterwards. "You're pretty good, Straw Hat. How'd you get this much power, anyways?"

"I trained." Luffy said simply as he lowered his arms down a little.

"How can such a fight exist?!" Nami whispered to herself, watching from the sidelines. "I've got to be dreaming."

Buggy grabbed three more daggers hidden behind his jacket, and pointed them all at Luffy, one in between each finger. Releasing his hand from his body, the appendage flew off towards Luffy's face. "Bara Bara Cannon!"

Straw Hat grabbed the hand just before it hit his face, already anticipating what the pirate was going to do. He started moving his head out of the way and the hand away from him.

"Separate!" The clown yelled out as Luffy did this, only just cutting a tiny sliver of the young man's face. One knife also found its edge slicing through a bit of his straw hat, just barely cutting it. Luffy's dodge caused him to crash into the rubble of a nearby building.

"You bastard." Luffy said quietly and he looked at his hat. He turned to face Buggy, an evil glare in his eyes. "YOU BASTARD!"

Buggy laughed at his outrage. He couldn't believe this guy was that upset over a little cut. "You mad because I scarred your face a little?" He guffawed, slapping his knees gleefully.

"HOW DARE YOU DO ANYTHING TO THIS HAT!" Luffy screamed out at the top of his lungs. He released his will a bit, causing Buggy to feel a bit woozy, almost passing out. Some of the pirates who had woken back up were now fainting again.

Buggy regained his composure, but still held a confused look on his face. "What?"

"This hat is my treasure! I will not let anyone do anything to this hat!" Luffy yelled at the clown, his voice echoing through the empty village. "I won't forgive anyone who ruins it!"

I though this guy was someone who'd never get irritated at anything. But he looks so pissed off now. Nami thought to herself as she watched the fight. She was starting to get nervous, cold sweat glistening on her forehead.

"Is that hat that precious to you?" Buggy said with a smirk, his confidence returning.

"Yeah, you bastard!" The straw hatted man yelled back at him.

From behind Luffy, a floating hand threw one of its four daggers at the pirate. Luffy easily dodged it, barely moving. Then the hand flew directly for his straw hat, the other three knives aimed at it.

"If it's so precious to you, then why don't you protect it better?!" Buggy laughed gleefully as the blades inched closer.

Luffy didn't move. He didn't need to. He released his will once more, causing Buggy to lose his concentration, his floating hand dropping to the floor. Luffy didn't want Buggy to faint, not yet. He would make him pay for what he tried to do.

"This is the hat I swore myself to with Shanks!" Straw Hat screamed out, charging at the confused clown. "You will pay for trying to destroy it!"

"So, this is Shank's hat." Buggy said dizzily. "Thought it looked familiar. He and I used to be on the same ship. We used to be comrades."

"You mean to tell me you and Shanks used to be friends? He is a great man! If you're saying that he used to pal around with you, I'm gonna show you the will of Shanks!" Luffy yelled as he rushed the pirate. He was beyond angry.

"Gear Second!" Luffy pushed his arm out to the side as he ran, his blood pumping faster again. His skin tinted pink, and steam rising from his body. His arm was sent back by his strength, and he twisted it at the same time. As he neared Buggy, faster than the clown could see, he pulled his fist towards his enemy. As the attack connected with Buggy's chest, Luffy's arm spun around rapidly, bringing the clown's body with it. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Rifle!"

Buggy flew backwards into a building, his injuries causing him to be unable to move a muscle. Luffy let his blood pump normally, and rushed over to the fallen pirate.

"You said Shanks and you were comrades! Never say it again!" The man grabbed the clown by the collar of his shirt, and glared at his face. He pulled Buggy up a few inches off the ground, staring right into his eyes menacingly.

"Look, I don't know what kind of a relationship you had with Shanks," The pirate said to Luffy, his hands moving on his sides slightly. "But I can talk about him however I want! Now, take this! Bara Bara..."

"Stay still!" Luffy headbutted Buggy hard on his own head, stopping the clown from continuing his attack. He was getting sick and tired of this man, continuing talking bad about Shanks and then trying to attack him like that.

"H-hey. Isn't our captain kinda losing?" One of the pirates lying in the rubble spoke up, watching the fight.

"D-don't say that!" Another scolded him, still scared for his own life. "Our captain will probably take out the big guns now, maybe."

Hidden behind an intact building, Nami lightly breathed in and out, looking on ta the battle folding out before her eyes. "Shit, I got caught up in watching this fight, I forgot to go to the warehouse! I've got to move quickly and steal the treasures and run away!" And with that, the orange haired girl continued on her way to Buggy's treasure horde.

"He's been gone for too long! The Chief should have been back by now!" A young man said, standing up from his seat at the shelter outside of the village.

"That man, making us folk worry about him." An older man, one of the original residents of the town, spoke up, looking off towards the village.

"Something must have happened in town," A woman told the others.

"I've heard a couple of cannon noises, too." A young man said, gesturing to the village far down the path.

"That's it! I'm going down there!" The older man announced, starting to make his way towards his home. "You all stay here! I'll be back shortly!"

"You can't go alone!" A man said, walking towards him. "I'm coming with you!"

"You idiot! The ones terrorizing our village are pirates! Buggy's crew is know for being low and dirty!"

"That's exactly why we have to go!"

"If we can't protect our own town, then how could we call this place our home?" Another villager called out, stepping next to the first man to speak out.

"It's useless to try and stop us," a woman said, walking towards him, "Since we can do what we want to."

"Fine!" The old man sighed as he turned to go to the village, "Do whatever you want!"

The townspeople behind him cheered as they grabbed their weapons and began marching towards their home.


"There has not been a day that anyone has made me angrier than that Shanks did!" Buggy yelled out in rage. "That man! He lost me a tremendous amount of treasure! I'll never forgive him!"

Luffy wore a shocked expression. He didn't think that Shanks would have done that to somebody that he would have been comrades with.

The clown started recounting the events that led up to the tragic event. He set up the scene, a fight breaking out between two young pirates on a small ship.

"Oh, they're fighting again!" One man yelled out, gleefully watching the two go at it.

"I'm telling you, it's the north pole!" A red nosed teen screamed out, his hands held onto the collar of the pirate in front of him.

"No! It's the south pole!" The other said beneath his straw hat, holding onto the clown in a similar way.

"You still believe that, idiot?!" Buggy yelled back.

"Yeah! I'm right, after all!" Shanks replied heatedly.

"Both of you shut up!" An older pirate bonked the two of them on the head, knocking them to the ground. "When will the two of you stop fighting?! Who cares which is colder?! If you want to find out, go to both places yourselves!"