"Wow, we came to the destination right away," Luffy marvelled at how fast they had reached Alvida's base. "You're really good, Nami. I thought it would take two days at least, but you did it in less than a day."
"Heehee, I told you, I'm the best navigator in East Blue!"
"As expected of the navigator of the future Pirate King!"
"Yep! As expe- wait! I'm just temporarily joining you!"
"Hey, did you hear that?" / "Hear what?" / "I think I just heard someone…maybe my imagination…" / "Get back to work or Alvida-sama will kill you!"
Luffy teasingly smirked at Nami who had clamped her mouth shut and her face reddened quickly in embarrassment. "Idiot~"
Nami snaked her arm around Luffy's throat and choked him while whispering, "It's your fault!"
"Shishishi"
The three had reached the uncharted island Alvida used as her base the following morning and found that Alvida's ship and Alvida herself were on the island. Makino had stayed back at the boat while Luffy and Nami had discreetly explored the island and they were currently looking at the cabin where all their treasure was stashed while hiding behind a couple of bushes.
"Okay, the treasure is in there with Alvida," Nami said after she had had enough of choking him. "And there are many pirates patrolling the area. So, you go cause a distraction that'll take her and all the others away from the cabin"
"Why? We can just fight them all"
"No! If it's possible to do it stealthily, we do it stealthily"
She did recognize the weaknesses of her weapon. She could defeat a few people quite easily but anyone a bit skillful could avoid or deflect it like a sword, and she had heard of Alvida's terrifying iron mace. One small mistake and her brain would be splattered on the floor, so if she could avoid a fight, she wanted to.
"Sure" Luffy agreed as he wanted to find Coby anyway. "I'll be back"
He ran off trying to look for Coby and it wasn't hard as he soon found him in another cabin which held a pantry with a few other pirates who were all bullying him. Coby was a bit of a pudgy kid whose body posture made him look smaller than he actually was. He had light pink hair and wore round-framed glasses that were too big for his face, and everything about him screamed 'I'm timid'
"Hey Coby! Do the work properly. You missed a spot here!" one pirate yelled as he lazily lounged on a chair.
"I'm sorry!" Coby immediately bowed down in apology before quickly sweeping the area the pirate had pointed at.
"That's a good boy," he laughed kicking Coby, "Make sure it never happens again"
"Yes, I'm sorry! It won't happen again!" Coby got up and again bowed before he continued sweeping the place. Looked like the others were just making him do all the work and Coby did as they said without any complaints.
Luffy sighed not liking the current Coby one bit. He just watched as Coby cleaned the place, getting smacked around a couple more times by the others before he was let go. Coby then pitifully walked out and made his way to the forest and Luffy followed him knowing where he was going.
Coby went through a clearing which was hidden in plain sight and Luffy saw the dinghy he was building. It was a shoddy piece of work which looked like it was made out of badly rotted wooden boards which were barely held together to form the shape of a dinghy by nails. Coby collapsed next to it leaning on it and sighed deeply as his eyes teared up. "I want this to end…I want to escape…"
"Why don't you then?" Luffy said as he dropped down from where he was sitting in the tree right above him.
"Ahhh!" Coby screamed before instantly bowing down with his head to the ground while saying, "This isn't what it looks like! I just found this dinghy in the forest and have no idea who ma-"
Luffy sat down in front of him and patted his shoulder, "Hey, relax"
Coby whimpered as he slowly lifted his head but when he saw Luffy, his fear got replaced with confusion and curiosity, "Who are you?"
"I'm Luffy, nice to meetcha!"
"Ah hello, I'm Coby. Nice to meet you" he introduced himself on reflex before saying, "No wait! Who are you?"
"Someone just passing by, don't worry about it"
"This is the hideout of the pirate Iron Mace Alvida!" Coby yelled in panic, "You need to run away or she'll kill you if she finds you!"
"Eh don't worry about that. I overheard you talking, you want to escape from here?"
"Ah that…yeah," he sighed as he calmed down and sat across from him, "I'm a chore boy on her crew because of a mistake…"
He explained his whole story of how he had mistakenly boarded her ship while going out to fish and she had kept him alive in exchange for becoming her chore boy.
"Why don't you escape now?"
"Impossible! Impossible! Just thinking about what she would do to me if she caught me makes my bladder weak!"
"But you've built this right?" Luffy said patting the dinghy, "It's horribly made but you've still built it right?"
"Yeah…" Coby trailed off with a sad smile looking down, "I built it to escape from this place but I just don't have the courage…"
"Shishi you sure are a wimp! I don't like you one bit!"
"Ugh…you don't mince words huh?" Coby cried. "So what about you? You said you're passing by?"
"Yep! I'm on my journey to become the Pirate King!"
"Pirate King?!" he gawked for a second before continuing, "That means you're a pirate?!"
"Yep!"
"What about your crew?"
"Got one more member"
He froze for a couple of seconds before he blew up, "Pirate King?! That means you'll have to obtain everything that this world has to offer! Wealth, Fame, Power, you'd have to achieve it all! You'd have to go after the Pirate King Gold Roger's treasure, the One Piece!"
"Oh good exposition, Coby" Luffy clapped.
"You can't be serious?! Every pirate in this Golden Age of Piracy is after that treasure-"
"So am I"
"-There's no way you can stand at the apex of this Great Pirate Era and become the Pirate King! No way! No way! It'll never happen! Absolutely no wa-"
BONK!
"Why did you hit me?" Coby groaned falling to the floor.
"You were becoming hysterical"
"Ah well… I'm used to it" Coby self-deprecatingly said as he sat up.
Luffy smiled watching him. Unlike others who just laughed it off, or brushed off his claim as a joke, Coby actually took his words seriously. Sure, he was really pessimistic and didn't think it was possible, but that was because of his lack of confidence more than anything.
"You know, Coby" Luffy said taking off his hat, "I promised the man that gave me this hat that I would become the Pirate King. And it's been my dream ever since… Two years ago, I was dying with no hope of survival. And at that moment, I didn't regret that I was dying but I regretted that I was dying without ever having chased my dream," he then looked back at Coby as he put the hat back on his head, "It's not a matter of whether I can or not. I've decided that I'm going to become the Pirate King, so I'll do it. Even if I die, I'll be happy that I at least died while chasing my dream"
Coby's eyes trembled as if he was just given a life-altering statement, and for him, it really was life-altering. "I've never thought of it that way…" he trailed off looking down at himself thoughtfully. "Do you think I can do it too?" he muttered softly.
"Do what?"
"I want to join the Marines…"
"The Marines huh"
"Yes!" Coby stood up with determination, "It's been my dream ever since I was little! To join the Marines and catch bad guys! Do you think I can do it too?!"
"Why don't you try and see?"
"Yes! I'll do it! Rather than being her chore boy for the rest of my life, I'll break out of here, join the Marines and even catch Alvida!"
"Shishi that's the spirit!" Luffy grinned patting his shoulder, "Alright then, let's go and tell Alvida that you're leaving her crew!"
"Yes! Let's go!" Coby said with determination as he ran behind Luffy going with the flow, but after a few steps realized just what he was doing and screamed, "Wait what?! I have to tell her that I'm leaving her crew?!"
"Yep! You have to face your fears you know"
"No way! No wa-"
"Come along," Luffy grinned as he dragged a crying Coby behind him. It wasn't long before they were at Alvida's cabin but something seemed to be happening as all the pirates were running around in a panic and soon, Alvida herself appeared with her big iron mace while yelling, "There are intruders on the island! Looks like someone is after my head!"
"Hmm seems like something has happened," Luffy said observing the situation and quickly found Nami who was hiding behind a tree.
"Your other crewmate?" Coby asked as the two discreetly made their way towards Nami.
"Yeah" Luffy grabbed Coby and Soru'd his way to her shocking Coby and also Nami as he suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Kyaa!" Nami screamed reflexively before seeing who it was and clamping her own mouth shut causing Luffy to obviously tease her. "You need to stop yelling and giving away your position when you're hiding, Nami"
Nami glared at him about to scream and beat him up but Luffy suddenly grabbed her and jumped back while also dragging Coby along the way. Nami knew by then that Luffy only did that when she was in danger and sure enough, the tree she was hiding behind broke in two as an iron mace smashed it to pieces.
"Who are you all?!" Alvida yelled eyeing the two strangers before her eyes fell on Coby, "Coby?! You're working with them, you ungrateful brat?!"
Coby's entire body shuddered in fear and he cowered muttering, "N-No, Alv-"
"Wow, you really are huge. Bigger than even Dadan," Luffy interrupted causing Alvida and the rest to drop their jaws in shock.
"You idiot" Nami facepalmed with a sigh.
"Luffy!" Coby grabbed him in a panic, "Take that back! Or she'll kill you!"
"You damn runt!" Alvida again brought her club down on them, which Luffy again dodged while grabbing the two.
Seeing him dodge, Alvida grew curious about him, "You're not Pirate hunter Zoro as he was caught, so who are you?"
"Wait what?! Zoro was caught?!" 'Damn, did I miscalculate the days?'
"Yes, so who are you then? Bounty hunters?"
"We're pirates" Luffy answered but his heart wasn't in it. He wanted to quickly finish this and go to Zoro, but he groaned internally when he saw Coby whimpering. 'Okay okay, slow down… Zoro will be okay. One thing at a time…'
"You're pirates huh? That means we are enemies"
"I guess"
She then turned to her chore boy, "Coby! What are you doing with them, you little pipsqueak?! I'll give you one chance to redeem yourself and come back to me. Tell me - who's the most beautiful of all on these seas?"
"Wow, she has a real complex about that huh?" Nami whispered to Luffy.
"Yeah, you're obviously the most beautiful in this part of the sea," Luffy answered nonchalantly while he observed the trembling Coby.
"…huh?" Nami turned to face Luffy in bewilderment. "Did you just try to flirt with me"
"Flirt? I just stated a fact…hmm although maybe she's hotter?" he said remembering Nojiko. He would have to see her in real life to make an accurate judgment though.
"Hey!" Nami smacked him getting annoyed. The two's whisper conversation was interrupted when Alvida yelled again for Coby to answer while Coby just whimpered not saying anything.
"Y-y-y-" Coby began but then caught Luffy staring at him in expectation. He remembered all his earlier words, his own declaration of joining the Marines, and with newfound courage bursting in him, he turned to Alvida and yelled, "It's definitely not you, you old ugly hag!"
Luffy's smile widened finally seeing him stand up for himself while Alvida and the other Alvida pirates dropped their jaws at seeing the wimpy Coby mouthing off Alvida.
"Hey! Don't be so rude!" Nami said in a chiding tone to Coby.
"Uhh, she's a pirate who's enslaved him, Nami" Luffy whispered into her ear.
"Oh…" Nami blinked alternating her gaze between Coby and Alvida, "In that case…say it again, pink-haired kid!"
"You ugly old hag!" Coby yelled again getting more encouragement. "I-I'm going to join the Marines! I-I'm going to do what I want! Yes, I'll j-join the Marines and then I'm going to catch your lousy ass!"
Alvida's veins bulged seeing not only the wimpy Coby but also a slim pretty girl making fun of her. "COBY! AND YOU UGLY LITTLE GIRL! DIE!" she yelled enraged as she brought her mace down on Coby first, who whimpered seeing his death approaching him. 'I said it! I said it! I'm not gonna have regrets! I died while fighting for my dream!'
"Shishishi well said, Coby" Luffy stood in front of him with a grin, "Leave the rest to me!"
Alvida's mace came down on his forearm and he didn't need any sort of technique to block.
"What?!" Alvida yelped, her anger getting replaced with pure shock, and Luffy swatted the mace away making her stagger backwards. Luffy didn't waste any more time nor give her a chance to talk anymore as he was impatient to leave and punched her in the gut, making her go crashing into a tree where she promptly fell unconscious.
"L-Luffy," Coby stammered in reverence, "H-How did you do that?"
"Shishi you can do it too Coby. Just train hard," he said and then turned to the other Alvida pirates who had their jaws on the ground, "Anyone has anything to say?"
They shook their heads vigorously not wanting him to beat them up, and that was the end of the Alvida pirates.
"Hey!" Nami got their attention though, "Bring all your treasure and drop it here…otherwise," she waved her shock staff around, "You know what'll happen right?"
They vigorously nodded and ran away intent on getting all the treasure they had.
"Wow, what did you do?" Luffy asked as he hadn't seen her take her staff out at all.
"It's your fault! I-"
"Is that like your catchphrase, Nami? We can play a game where I take a shot every time you say 'It's your fault'"
"It's your damn fault!" Nami snapped again getting even more enraged, "What took you so long huh?! I was waiting and waiting for you to cause a distraction but you didn't do anything!"
"Oh…sorry, got caught up talking to Coby"
"Ah, sorry" Coby also apologized thinking that Nami was scary.
"I had to do break in myself to steal the treasure but unfortunately, I got discovered," she said with a huff and then lifted the staff, "I was electrocuting them but then this started beeping before it stopped working"
"Ah it ran out of juice"
"Yeah," she sighed but seeing the Alvida pirates that were now coming up to them and dropping all their treasure at her feet, her mood lifted. "Oh well, it worked out well in the end"
Luffy stared at her with a critical eye for a few seconds as she started bagging all the treasure before saying, "Did you think I ran away and betrayed you?"
Nami gave him a sideways glance before going back to packing up the treasure not answering his question. That was confirmation enough for him that she did indeed think the same and thus, had jumped into the fight herself. He sighed knowing it would take the downfall of Arlong to make her trust him completely, but he didn't want her to suffer anymore. Her stealing the Merry, pretending to stab Usopp, getting tricked by Nezumi, her agonizing and stabbing herself in the shoulder…he wanted none of that to happen to her. And if things stayed the same, she would run away exactly like what happened in the story…
He crouched down next to her and she turned to face him. "I might be late because I'm goofing off somewhere or stuck in some situation, but I'll always be there when you need me, okay? All you have to do is ask"
Nami didn't give any indication that she had heard him but she couldn't help but ask, "…Why?"
"Because you're nakama"
"Hah!" Nami just scoffed shaking her head and dismissing his words.
'Well, I have lots of time to break down her walls… let's take it slow…' Luffy sighed internally as he got up. "Well anyway, let me show you how to charge your staff"
"Ooh yeah!" Nami also stood up excitedly and handed him the staff. Luffy twisted off the bottom of the staff revealing a metallic disc-like plate.
"This is kinda like the battery I guess…" he explained, "You charge the staff just by striking it"
"Striking it?"
"Yeah, like this," he said and started just hitting the staff on the ground.
"That's it? You're joking right?"
"No really. She tried to explain how it works to me, but it went right over my head," he said remembering Reiju trying to explain the mechanism to him. It seemed like an impact dial, except instead of releasing all the force, it converted it to electrical energy.
"Well okay. How long do I have to do this" Nami asked.
"With your strength, like a few hours to completely charge it I guess"
"Few hours?!"
"Yeah. The usual way is to punch it hard," he said as he buried the staff inside the ground such that the metallic plate was facing upwards and punched it hard a few times. A minute of punching which caused cracks to form in the ground, terrified the Alvida pirates further, impressed Coby even more and gave confirmation to Nami that he was a lot stronger than he let on, he picked it up and handed it back to Nami, "And that's it"
"Umm…if you don't mind me asking," Coby hesitantly piped up, "What exactly is that?"
"I'll show you," Nami grinned and turned to the Alvida pirates who screamed and started running away. 'Oh, I could get used to this feeling' Nami felt ecstatic as she chased one of them and electrocuted him.
Coby watched in horror and apprehension as he concluded that Nami was really scary. Way more scarier than Alvida. He looked towards Luffy to see his reaction and just saw a proud look on his face that made him realize that both were crazy.
—
"Who is he?" Makino asked pointing at Coby as they travelled away from Alvida's hideout after Nami had made sure she got all their treasure.
"Oh this is Coby"
"Hello," Coby greeted and then told his story of how he ended up as a chore boy for the Alvida pirates.
"Oh that was unfortunate"
"Wait a minute. What's the deal with this?" Nami asked confused, "He wants to be a Marine and you're a pirate who wants to help him become a Marine? Aren't you supposed to be enemies?"
"It's his dream to become a Marine so I'm helping him. That's it. We'll still be friends though"
"Luffy," Coby teared up hearing Luffy's words, "Yes, we'll still be friends even when I become a Marine!"
"Shishishishi"
Nami just sighed not understanding the enigma that was Luffy. He was one of the strangest pirate- no, person she had ever met.
"Anyway," she continued, "We're going to Shellstown now. Should be there by noon"
"Shellstown has a Marine base!" Coby piped up excitedly, "I can join the Marines there!"
"Yeah I guess"
"Hey Coby, Alvida was saying something about Zoro being captured. When was this?"
"Oh, we got that news this morning itself. That Pirate Hunter Zoro got captured two days ago in Shellstown"
Luffy let out a sigh of relief, "Okay good"
"Good?" Makino asked confused, "Why is that good?"
"He'll be there when we get there then, and I can finally meet him"
"Oh right"
"Meet him?" Nami asked.
"Yep! I'm gonna ask him to join my crew"
"…WHAT?!" Coby and Nami yelled in unison.
"Are you crazy?! He's going to kill you!"
"He's a pirate hunter, idiot. There's no way he'll become a pirate"
Luffy just smiled waving all their worries away. "Don't worry, I'll convince him"
Nami stared at his carefree face and got a headache just thinking about him. "You know," she began getting his attention, "I can't believe I'm saying this to someone but… I'm having serious doubts if you even are a pirate. You protect people, you save lives, I haven't seen you loot even one person, you even help a person become a Marine…"
"Hey! Being a pirate is about freedom. Freedom to do whatever you want. I want to do these things, so I'll do it. I don't care what other pirates do"
"So what? You ask a pirate thief to join. Now you're planning to make a pirate hunter join you… What's next? You're gonna ask Coby to join too?"
"Nah, Coby's dream lies with the Marines. He, unfortunately, can't join my crew. If his dream was something else, I would have definitely asked him"
"Luffy…" Coby teared up.
"What about me?" Nami asked, "I'm a pirate thief, so I can't become a pirate either"
"Is your dream to become a Pirate thief?"
"…Uhh no…"
"What is it then?"
"…I want to collect 100 million berries"
"One hundred million?!" Coby gaped at her, "There's no way someone can gather that much! That's impossible!"
"Shut it!" Nami smacked him, "Don't tell me it's impossible! I'm very close"
Meanwhile, Makino gave a sly smile to Luffy as they both knew there were two bags inside the cabin of the boat that held 200 million berries which Luffy had stolen in under a day back on Dawn.
"That's not a dream though" Luffy interrupted Nami's chiding of Coby.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Just earning money is not a dream. Money is just a means," Makino said, "You need the money for something right?"
Nami averted her eyes before blowing up at them, "Ah shut up! I don't have to tell you anything!"
Luffy and Makino sighed while Coby just nursed his bruise, now knowing that Nami was definitely way scarier than Alvida.
———o———
"We again got here at the exact time you predicted," Luffy said as he jumped out of the boat and landed on the docks of Shellstown.
"Are you gonna keep praising me every time?" Nami asked.
"You do puff your chest out in pride whenever anyone praises your navigational skills. So yes, I will"
"Shut up, idiot" Nami smacked him while controlling her blush as she indeed felt happy whenever someone praised her navigational skills… well, with one exception.
"Anyway," Luffy bubbled with excitement knowing he would be meeting Zoro soon, "Let's first go see Zoro!"
He didn't wait as he started leading the way towards the big Marine base. Makino followed him looking forward to seeing Zoro too as Luffy seemed very excited to meet him since the beginning, Nami followed as she wanted to scope out the base, and Coby followed hoping to stop Luffy.
"Ah, Luffy! Wait!" Coby yelled as he kept up with him, "Please tell me you're joking! Zoro will just k-"
The four froze as all the pedestrians in hearing range freaked out, physically jumping in shock and looking around everywhere when Coby said Zoro's name.
"…Guess we shouldn't say that name out loud," Coby whispered while the two women nodded and Luffy just continued walking towards the base ignoring them.
"Luffy, stop! Did you not see that reaction?! He's a bad person!" Coby said as he tried to hold him back and started telling how Zoro was a demon who would kill everyone, but Luffy just tuned him out.
"I'll see for myself what kind of person he is," he said after Coby was done with his rant and he just facepalmed.
"You're suicidal," Nami sighed as she turned to Makino, "You're not going to stop him?"
"Stop Luffy?" Makino smiled amused, "Once he's made up his mind, not even god will be able to stop him"
"Sounds about right," Nami sighed.
"Anyway Coby, you ready to join the Marines?"
Coby blinked only realizing it now and awkwardly rubbed his head, "I'm a bit nervous actually. I've heard the captain here, Axe-hand Morgan is very str-"
Everyone within hearing range had a much more intense reaction as they jumped in shock and started running away or closed their doors or hid behind something before they started looking around everywhere as if expecting Morgan to show up.
Nami and Makino's eyes narrowed, instantly understanding that Morgan was corrupt and terrorizing everyone while Coby just stared in confusion.
"I understand why they would react like that to Zoro, but why would they react like to that a Marine?"
"Maybe he's a bad guy" Luffy said laughing at the jumpy townspeople.
"What? Don't be ridiculous. He's a Marine. There's no way he's a bad guy"
'Oh right…' Luffy recalled it then, 'Coby believes all Marines are good'
"Listen Coby, just like every other profession, there are good and bad Marines. I've seen some Marines who are worse than some of the worst pirates you've ever heard of. The world isn't black and white, you know"
"Yeah, I agree. There are plenty of bad Marines I've come across too," Nami added, "Don't just blindly assume that all Marines are good people"
"…No way that's true," Coby shook his head, "Marines are good people who protect people and catch bad guys. You guys probably misunderstood or something" In his mind, he thought that since Nami is a thief and Luffy is a pirate, they thought that the Marines are bad. Luffy didn't argue with him knowing he would soon see the truth and Nami didn't care about changing his opinion.
"Just see the world with your own eyes, Coby" Makino chimed in, "And come to your own decisions"
Coby didn't understand and he just pondered over it, trying to figure out what she meant as they walked. The four soon reached the Marine base and Luffy didn't wait anymore and scaled the wall looking for Zoro.
"Luffy! Don't! They'll catch you!" Coby yelled but Luffy didn't even hear him. He spotted green in his vision and immediately leapt inside the courtyard. And there, in the middle of the courtyard, was his Swordman tied up to a cross.
Luffy walked up to him, taking in every single detail of the man before him, from the green hair that indeed look like a cactus to the three gold earrings that glinted in the sunlight. He wore a simple plain white shirt, black pants and had a green haramaki around his waist that was currently missing his three swords.
Roronoa Zoro was suddenly woken up by a feeling that someone was watching him and when he opened his eyes, he recoiled a bit in surprise as a straw hat wearing stranger was standing very close to him, observing him closely.
'People are coming inside now?' he thought in irritation. Ever since he was tied up a couple of days ago, people kept coming to the courtyard and staring at him by peeking over the walls as if he was some zoo animal. He had scared them away with just a glare, but more kept coming and irritating him. And now, someone had even entered the base and was standing right in front of him.
He was about to snap and scare the stranger away too but when he caught his eyes, he froze. Something about this particular stranger was different. The way his eyes shined, the slowly widening smile, the slight shaking of his body, the sheer joy he seemed to radiate upon seeing him… All these things surprised him, but most importantly of all, the look of expectation the stranger had while looking at him left him intrigued. He immediately wanted to rise to the challenge to meet his expectation, even though he had no idea what it was or why he was even feeling that way. The future captain and swordsman stared at each other for a few seconds before Zoro finally broke the silence.
"…What are you looking at?" Zoro asked trying to sound irritated but it came off as a genuine question as he really wanted to know what the stranger was looking at.
"My swordsman," the stranger answered with a grin.
"Huh? What are you talking about? Wait, who even are you?"
"Monkey D. Luffy, Future Pirate King. Nice to meetcha!"
"Pirate King? You're a pirate?"
"Yep! And I want you to join my crew!"
"And why the hell would I do that? I'm a bounty hunter if you didn't know. I hunt pirates"
"Is that your goal?"
"What?"
"Is hunting pirates your goal?"
"Well… no"
"Then why does that matter?"
'Well, he got me there…' "Listen, I'm not going to become a crook. Now, get lost!"
"We just met though, I want to talk more" he whined throwing Zoro completely off guard.
"…Huh?"
"I've been searching for you," Luffy said as he sat down right in front of him. He had finally met Zoro and he definitely did not want to cut their conversation so short. "Were you by any chance at an island called Inizio?"
"Yeah…how di-"
"Really?! When?!" Luffy asked excitedly.
"Uhh, 3-4 days ago I think. I was there right before I came here"
"Damn, missed you by a day or two," Luffy grumbled but was still happy that he had at least predicted correctly that Zoro might have been there. "I make a good detective" he nodded to himself sagely.
"Listen," Zoro sighed having had enough, "You shouldn't be here. The Marines here will arrest you if they find you talking to me, so leave"
"Oh right," he sighed remembering where he was and what was happening. He was just so excited to meet Zoro that he had forgotten it momentarily.
"Here, eat this at least" he said as he shoved an apple he had bought along the way into Zoro's mouth who almost choked on it because of the sudden action. He glared at Luffy, wanting to curse him, but the apple was in the way, so he started chewing it quickly. He could have spit it out but he did not want to waste food, and seeing that only made Luffy's smile wider.
Once he swallowed it, he began to curse at him, "You bas-" but was again cut off when Luffy shoved another apple into his mouth. Luffy grinned mischievously at him while Zoro glared at him.
There were loud shouts coming from behind Luffy too and Zoro glared at the wall where three heads were popping out. One was a pink-haired kid who was panicking and screaming, almost on the verge of hysteria, and when their eyes met, he trembled uncontrollably and fell off the wall. Now, that was a normal reaction he was used to. People just freezing or trembling with fear when they saw him even though he had done absolutely nothing to them. But the reactions of the other two were strange.
Next was an orange-haired girl, who was just studying him critically as if observing what he would do. She seemed to be afraid and her guard was up sure, but she was also putting up a brave front as if saying 'I'm not afraid of you!'
Next was a dark green-haired woman who was a completely different matter as all she radiated was amusement. She suddenly looked down behind her as if something had caught her attention and her head dipped down for a second before she popped up again but another head popped up too.
It was the little kid he had defended from the idiot son's pet. Rika was her name if he remembered correctly, and her face bloomed into a huge smile when she saw him eating something.
And then there was the bastard in front of him, who was stuffing food in his mouth with absolutely no fear. 'So many new reactions…' People usually showed reactions like the pink-haired kid when they saw him, so seeing so many new reactions surprised him.
"I know they'll arrest me if they see me feeding or talking to you," Luffy said bringing Zoro out of his thoughts, "and yet," he smiled, "I'm still choosing to do it"
Zoro glared at him for a couple more seconds before he gave a tired sigh and started chewing with a grateful nod.
"Sorry I let you starve for two whole days," Luffy said as he brought out a third apple from his pocket as soon as Zoro finished his second. He didn't shove it this time and waited for Zoro to ask, who just gave another sigh and nodded.
"It's not your fault… Besides, I can handle it" he said as he took a bite.
"Yeah," Luffy grinned, "I know you can. You can probably go for the whole month without eating and still come out strong!"
"Damn right I can!"
"Shishi yeah, but you don't have to. I know a cook who would kill me if I let anyone starve while I had the power and means to do something about it, so yeah… I'm sorry I'm late"
"…Fine, fine, I don't get it but whatever. Now that you're done, get lost"
"Shishishishi sure, I'll come by later. And then you'll join my crew!"
"Like hell I am! I refuse!"
Luffy got a glint in his eyes as he yelled back, "I refuse your refusal!"
"Wha?! That's not how it works, moron!"
"Shishishishi" he laughed just as he jumped over the wall and landed between a terrified Coby, a curious Nami, an amused Makino and an overexcited kid who instantly hugged his legs while yelling, "Thank you, Big brother!"
'Rika?' He recognized her and patted her head, "What for?"
"For feeding Big brother Zoro! I tried to give him an apple too last night but… he yelled at me to go away…" she trailed off with a sad frown.
Luffy smiled as he ruffled her hair. "People are stupid sometimes, you know. So if you ever see a starving person and they don't have any good reason to starve themselves, you just shove food into their mouths like so!" he said making a shoving motion, which she started mimicking with a giggle.
"Don't teach kids stuff like that," Nami said but had a fond smile as she watched the happy Rika. And at the same time, she couldn't believe that someone who called himself a pirate acted like Luffy.
Luffy soon picked Rika up and placed her on his shoulders while she went 'whee~' before introducing himself. "I'm Luffy. Nice to meetcha!"
"I'm Rika. Nice to…meetcha?" she said the last word tilting her head as if unsure of the way he said 'meet you.'
"Again, don't go corrupting the poor little kid's speaking habits," Nami said in a chiding tone before looking at Rika, "I'm Nami. And it's Nice to meet you"
"Meetcha! Nice to meetcha!" Rika giggled liking the way Luffy said it and Nami gave a light smack on Luffy's head for teaching her that.
"I'm Makino. Nice to meetcha!"
"Not you too, Makino…" Nami sighed while Rika still kept parroting 'meetcha.'
"And this is Coby," Luffy said when it looked like Coby was still unnerved before changing the topic, "Know of any good places to eat, Rika?"
"My mommy owns a restaurant!" she excitedly said, "I'll take you there"
"Just point and I'll go in that direction," Luffy said and Rika nodded with a huge smile and started guiding them.
"Luffy," Coby finally spoke when they began walking, "That was dangerous… What would have happened if Zoro got angry? He would have killed you…"
"Big brother Zoro is not bad!" Rika snapped at him and Coby was taken aback at seeing a little kid getting angry at him.
"What makes you say that?" Makino asked.
"It's my fault he's tied up," Rika said sadly before telling her story of how Helmeppo's pet had tried to attack her, Zoro saving her, Helmeppo threatening to execute her and her mother, and him taking the month-long deal of being tied up in exchange for saving them. "Helmeppo even beat him yesterday… and they didn't even give him any food or water either…"
"Why don't the Marines do anything about this?!" Coby yelled furiously.
"Everyone's too scared of Morgan. So they just follow him…" she replied sadly and then told them of how Morgan rules the town and executes anyone who opposes him. And that finally shattered poor Coby's worldview.
Seeing the sad look Rika had, Luffy decided to cheer her up, "Rika, I'll tell you what. By the time I leave this town, I'll take care of this Morgan problem, okay?"
"Really?!"
"Yep!"
Rika brought her pinky finger forward asking "Promise?"
"Shishi yeah, I promise!" he said linking his finger with hers.
"And Big brother Zoro?"
"Yep, I'll rescue him. He's my friend too"
"And I promise that Morgan will rot in jail," Makino said with a bit of an edge to her voice as she brought her pinky finger towards Rika and made the promise too.
'Did he just promise to fight a Marine captain for a stranger he just met?' Nami wondered. She thought of the island they had met at and remembered the kids there thanking him too. 'Does he have a soft spot for kids? Yeah, that must be it… but even still, no one just does that for a stranger. Helping others in small ways sure but to risk their own life? Who does that? And the worst part of it all, he calls himself a pirate. A fucking pirate!… this guy makes no sense.'
Coby was wondering what Luffy meant by taking care of Morgan and grew fearful of what he might do but that was just a small part of his mind. The majority of his thoughts were focused on how someone who called themselves as Marines were treating people this harshly and evilly.
They soon reached the restaurant and they had a nice meal with nothing eventful happening except maybe Luffy befriending Ririka and a bunch of other people too. Once done, they came out of the restaurant and were about to go to a bit of a secluded area to discuss what to do when the pedestrians on the streets suddenly started lining up on either side of the street while bowing down.
The four watched in curiosity as to what was happening when Ririka came out of the restaurant to warn them. "Looks like Helmeppo is making rounds again. Just keep silent and bow down when he passes"
"What?" Coby gaped while Luffy, Nami and Makino internally went, 'Hell no!'
Helmeppo soon showed up, with his ugly purple suit and excess of accessories adorning his fingers and neck, walking like he owned the street as he was flanked by four Marines. The crowd silently bowed down while he walked laughing smugly and hitting a couple of people for no reason as he passed by.
When he almost came up to them, Luffy whispered "Play along" to Nami before stepping forwards. Ririka and the crowd panicked but Luffy didn't care as he waved at Helmeppo with a smile. "Yo!"
"Who dares to approach me?!"
"Can you settle a bet between me and my friend here?" he said as he put an arm around Nami's shoulder and pulled her forwards, who just went along with it. Helmeppo was confused and was about to dismiss them when Luffy spoke up again, "It's a bet for a million berries" And that definitely got his attention.
"Oh? A million you say? I'll take a cut for being the judge then…let's say about fifty percent?"
"Sure" Luffy accepted and Helmeppo grinned smugly.
"Alright, let's hear it"
"I say that there's no way Zoro will be let free at the end of the month," Luffy said pointing at himself and then pointed at Nami, "But my idiot friend here thinks that you will let him go. Who's correct?"
"Yeah, you will let him go right?" Nami asked playing along while also putting an arm around Luffy's waist and started secretly pinching him for calling her an idiot. The others behind them like Coby and Ririka could see it though and were bewildered, while Makino had a hard time holding her smile back.
"There's no way he will, idiot" Luffy argued.
"He will. And you're the idiot!" she said pinching him harder, while also feeling that something was strange with his skin.
"Let's see what he says then," Luffy said and the two turned to Helmeppo with a questioning look.
The idiot son just gave an annoying, grating smug laugh which made Nami almost whip out her shock staff at him, but held it in knowing Luffy was up to something.
"Of course, I'm not letting him go!" Helmeppo declared, "That stupid beast Zoro and your idiot friend here are delusional if they think I'll let him go! If he doesn't die by himself because of starvation in a month, I'll just have him killed myself! Hahahahahaha!"
"Liar!" Rika yelled jumping out onto the street next to Luffy, "You said you'll let him go!"
"Rika! No!" her mother yelled as she jumped out and hugged her close, shielding her from anything Helmeppo might throw at her.
Helmeppo gave an unimpressed glance at them before he turned to one of the Marines behind him, "Hey, teach those two a lesson to never cross me" and without waiting for an answer, turned to Luffy, "Now, you owe me half a million berr-"
Helmeppo didn't get to finish his sentence as a punch landed squarely on his face courtesy of Luffy's fist which made him go flying back and land on his butt.
All the surrounding people stared in shell-shocked horror as they watched Morgan's son being hit and thought that Morgan would retaliate soon. The four Marines flanking Helmeppo were also equally shocked and it took them a second to realize what had happened before two went to help Helmeppo while two more pointed their rifles at Luffy.
"Y-you hit me… HOW DARE YOU HIT ME?!" Helpmeppo screamed with tears in his eyes and blood flowing out from his nose and mouth. "I'm Captain Morgan's son! I'll tell Daddy to execute you!"
"Fight me yourself coward," Luffy said as he grabbed the rifles out of the two Marines' hands before they could realize it and threw them away while not taking his eyes off of Helmeppo. The idiot son started mouthing off about how he would regret hitting him when Luffy took another step towards him, but Coby stopped him.
"No, don't do it Luffy! They're Marines!" Coby yelled as he got in front of Luffy and pushed him back.
"So what if they're Marines? Scum is scum no matter who you are"
"No! But they're Marines. You'll have the entire Marine base after you!"
Luffy paused looking down at Coby desperately trying to stop him and sighed. "Coby, is this the kind of Marine you want to become?" he asked staring right into his eyes, "Like Morgan who just abuses his authority and executes the people he should protect? Or like this idiot son," he said pointing at Helmeppo, "who uses his father's name as a shield to do harass anyone he wants? Or like those four," he said pointing at the Marines who were flanking Helmeppo, "who just stand by and do nothing because they're too scared?"
Coby lost the strength in his arms as Luffy went on and by the end, his hands were drooping by his sides and he just stood there with his eyes wide open.
Luffy continued, "Will you kill innocent civilians if your higher-ups orders you to kill them? Do you just want to become a Marine for the sake of becoming a Marine or do you want to become a Marine to protect people?"
Coby stared vacantly at nothing as he alternated his gaze between Luffy, the idiot son, the Marines and the people of Shellstown, who were also looking at Luffy with shock.
Helmeppo, who was just crying and had not heard a single word, interrupted them with a scream, "You're a dead man walking! I'll have daddy execute you and then you'll be begging for mercy!"
He yelled at the Marines to support him up and take him away and they quickly did as ordered. One of them however, the one who was told to take care of Rika, faced Luffy and the other townspeople and deeply bowed down apologizing, "…I-I'm sorry…" before going away.
As soon as they left, Rika came up and jumped onto Luffy grabbing onto his vest with shining eyes, "That was so cool, Big brother Luffy! The way you punched him!"
"Shishishi you liked that? I should have punched him a couple more times then"
Rika enthusiastically nodded but Ririka soon grabbed her with worry. "Look, you guys have been great," she said to Luffy with worry, "But Morgan will soon retaliate. You guys should get off the island as soon as you can!"
She then dragged Rika into the restaurant despite her protests. The little girl caught Luffy's eyes and lifted her pinky while mouthing 'Promise' and Luffy also raised his pinky in return and nodded, which brought a smile to her face.
The other civilians also quickly started dispersing when Makino came up to him with an amused smile and whispered, "If your grandpa heard what all you said just now, he would drag you to become a Marine"
Luffy paled. "Please don't say a word"
"Hehehe… well go and quickly take care of the corrupt bastard. I need to use the communications room at the Marine base to make some calls"
"Sure!"
He caught Nami's eyes and saw that she was staring wide-eyed at him. She was in the same state since he had punched the idiot son and heard the rest in abject shock, his words making her remember another Marine she knew who loved tangerines. Luffy gestured towards the base indicating that it was time to steal the map as he would cause a distraction now and she nodded before they both started making their way towards the base.
"What are you, Luffy?" Nami sighed, "What kind of pirate says things like that?"
Luffy gave her a glance as he thought about what to say but shrugged not wanting to explain anything. "You come to your conclusion, Nami"
She nodded not saying anything more and when they reached the base, Nami went towards the main building while Luffy went to the courtyard to see Zoro.
"You again?" Zoro asked when he saw Luffy come up to him. "Don't you have anything else to do?"
"Nope, I'm here to break you out this time and make you join my crew"
"I already said no! I have my own mission in life. And I'm not gonna stoop so low and become a despicable pirate"
"I'm not asking you to become a despicable pirate. I want you to join my pirate crew"
"Same thing"
"People already think of you as an evil demon, so what does it even matter?"
"I don't care what others say. I haven't done anything I've regretted in my past and the same goes for my future too"
"I don't care! You're joining my crew!"
"LISTEN TO OTHERS, MORON! DON'T DECIDE THINGS FOR ME!" Zoro finally lost it and snapped.
"Where are your swords?" Luffy asked changing the subject.
"…That stupid son took it," Zoro said suspiciously, "Why do you wanna know?"
"Shishishishi" Luffy grinned mischievously, "I'll go get your swords but if you want them back, you'll have to join me"
"YOU LITTLE! COME BACK HERE!"
"Shishishishi"
"Hey, stop!" Zoro yelled at him but Luffy just went towards the base making him think that he was an idiot for straight up storming the base.
Luffy just ran to the entrance of the base but saw that Nami was still hanging outside at the back of the building instead of sneaking in and when he caught her eyes, she shook her head. 'Not able to slip in huh?'
The Marines were throughout the base unlike in the story where they were all gathered up on the roof to see the unveiling of Morgan's statute, so this would be more difficult now. He thought about what to do for a second before he ran straight into the base and stood in front of a Marine. "Hey!"
"Uhh hello"
"Can you tell me where Morgan's statue is"
"Oh that's still being made. It should be completed within a couple of weeks but you can still see its current status… it's at the back" he said pointing to a courtyard at the back of the base.
He thanked the guy and then ran to the back where Nami was also present.
"What're you doing?"
"Oh, hang around the building and get ready to enter. I'm gonna cause a distraction" Luffy said as he spotted the statue.
Nami just nodded while he ran to the statue where a sculptor was still working on the hand. He felt bad for the sculptor for what he was about to do, but he wanted to destroy the statue because it was fun. He stood in front of the statue while facing the base, took a deep breath and shouted. "MORGAN! COME OUTSIDE AND WATCH WHAT I DO TO YOUR STATUE!"
Not even a second later, Morgan 's head popped out of a window and so did many Marines on the various floors.
"WHO ARE YOU?! AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Morgan growled.
"It's him, daddy! The guy who punched me!" Helmeppo, who had also put his head out the window, cried pointing at him. "That's the man I wanted you to kill!"
"Shut up, you disgraceful brat!" Morgan swatted his son away quite cruelly while glaring at Luffy.
"Watch" Luffy kept full eye contact with Morgan as he raised a fist and smashed the statue without any warning. Cracks formed and the upper part of the statue separated from the bottom part before falling forwards and getting smashed to pieces…and the whole base trembled in fear not able to believe their eyes.
"Ahahahahaha!" Zoro laughed out loud from where he was tied up. He couldn't see what was happening but he could hear them all and understood the situation. 'He's fearless at least' Zoro thought with a bit of respect while Nami, on the other hand, facepalmed at his recklessness.
"Sorry" Luffy softly apologized to the sculptor who just sighed. "It's okay. I hated working on it anyway"
"HOW DARE YOU?! Destroying that statue is the same as disrespecting me!" Morgan roared, "MEN! CAPTURE THAT MAN AND BRING HIM TO ME!"
"Too scared to come after me yourself, Morgan?" Luffy provoked him and he fell for it.
"Fine! I'll kill you myself!" he growled before he started making his way down the stairs.
Luffy then eyed Nami and she understood that he had made Morgan come out of his office so that she could slip inside. She nodded hiding herself and when Morgan walked out of the base, she slipped in and started going towards his office. The others were either out in the courtyard or glued to the window to see the action, so she had an easy time slipping in.
"Boy!" Morgan growled as he stomped up to Luffy, "Who do you think you are to do this to me?!"
Luffy just ignored him and pointed at the sky in surprise, "Look! It's a huge snake!"
"What?!" Morgan and the rest of the Marines' eyes whipped upwards and when they realized they had been tricked, they lowered their gaze only to find Luffy missing.
"COWARD! MEN! SEARCH THE AREA AND BRING HIM TO ME!"
"Yessir!"
—
Nami was in Morgan's office fiddling with the safe when she suddenly heard a voice from behind her saying "What are you doing?"
Before she could let out a reflexive yelp, however, a hand covered her mouth and she realized who it was.
"Asshole!" she elbowed Luffy glaring at him.
Luffy chuckled as he let her go, "You always scream and give away your position when you're supposed to be stealthy"
"It's your damn fault for surprising me!"
"You said 'It's your fault' again. That's another shot I have to take now"
"Ugh just let me work in peace," she said as she got back to breaking open the safe. "Go cause distractions. This shouldn't take too long"
"Eh, it's fine. Morgan's office is the last place they'll look in"
Nami sighed, "Can't believe you just challenged the captain himself just to cause a distraction. You're not at all subtle huh?"
"No, I'm not" Luffy said as he watched the few Marines who were lying on the floor, unconscious. She was growing bolder with her shock staff and he loved to see it. He was also amazed by her hands as they seemed to move like magic over the safe's lock and soon, it was open.
"Yess!" Nami cheered before she started going through all the documents and finally found a map. "Here it is! A map to the Grand Line!"
'Ooh did Buggy not get it yet?' he wondered as he picked up the other documents in the safe and put them into his sling bag, but when Nami opened up the map, they saw Buggy's message was sprawled on it saying he had taken the real map.
Nami's eye twitched in annoyance as she muttered, "Damn pirates"
"Shishishi well, I guess we go to him next and take the map"
"Yeah, we have to" Nami sighed. "And why did you just steal the other documents here?"
"Reasons" Luffy said mysteriously and she sighed knowing it would be for something stupid. She then noticed the three swords in his hands, "You use swords?"
"No no, these are Zoro's swords," Luffy said as he showed them to her. It was quite easy for him to find it. He remembered how in the story, he slingshots from Helmeppo's room directly in front of the tied-up Zoro, so he just looked in the rooms that overlooked the courtyard and found Helmeppo's room without even having to meet him.
A sudden gunshot ran out from outside and Luffy quickly ran to the other side of the building to look out the window to see what was happening. Coby was next to the tied-up Zoro clutching his arm as he bled while Morgan and the other Marines were gathering up in the courtyard. Looked like Coby had shown up just like in the story and things had ended up the same way, only Morgan had shown up much quicker as he was already on the ground. Morgan looked pissed and seemed like he wanted to take his anger out on someone and that someone was Coby and Zoro.
"You two are also rebelling?!" Morgan growled, his veins bulging, "I'll execute you!" He started walking up to them, intending to kill them himself and Luffy jumped onto the windowsill intending to jump in.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Nami yelled with worry as she came up from behind him and grabbed his leg. "This is the third floor idiot! You'll die!"
And that loud shout from her alerted some of the Marines in adjacent rooms, and they quickly came in. "Found him!"
"Guess you're jumping out with me," Luffy said as he wrapped a hand around Nami's waist.
"Wait stop! We're on the third fl-" she tried to stop him in a panic but Luffy jumped out and she felt herself falling.
"Ahhhh!" she screamed closing her eyes and tightening her hold on Luffy as she thought she was done for but he soon landed on the ground gently. Nami didn't feel like she was falling anymore and slowly opened an eye, only to find that she was on the ground. She looked up to see the amused smile Luffy was giving and a volcano erupted inside her head as she wrung his neck out, "You! Fucking! Moron! Idiot! Suicidal! Bastard! Asshole! Never do that again while carrying me!"
Luffy laughed as he was being shaken which only infuriated her more. "Okay, okay, calm down. Look around you first"
Nami paused having a deja-vu of him saying the same thing before and slowly turned to look at her surroundings, and flinched when she saw at least three dozen Marines and also Axe-hand Morgan himself staring at her.
"There you are, you coward!" Morgan yelled in anger forgetting about Coby and Zoro.
"Oh hey…" she awkwardly said to the Marines before turning back to Luffy who just went "Idiot~"
"You're the idiot!" she whisper-hissed before putting her hands around him again, "Do the thing"
"What thing?"
"Quit playing dumb! You know!"
"Okay okay," Luffy placated and Nami felt a rush of wind before she was behind a building away from all the Marines.
"Seriously, how do you do this?" Nami said letting go.
"Long explanation, I'll tell you later. Need to get to Zoro now. Bye"
Luffy soru'd his way to Zoro and Coby's side almost shocking them when he appeared suddenly.
"Luffy!" Coby yelped happily.
"My eyes can't keep up with your movements…" Zoro said with a glint in his eyes, "You're fast"
"YOU BRAT!" Morgan interrupted but Luffy tuned him out.
"We can talk about that later. For now," Luffy used one of Zoro's swords, not Wado, to slash the ropes tying him before presenting all three to him. "My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the man who is going to become the Pirate King!"
Zoro stared into Luffy's eyes as he massaged his freed wrists and the look of expectation was back. He had heard from Coby about what he had done to Helmeppo upon learning that he had no intention of letting him go at the end of the month and also heard how Luffy was extremely serious about wanting to become the Pirate King.
'Ah, so that's what that was' Zoro finally understood what the look of expectation Luffy had was. Expectation that he had found someone with just as crazy a dream as his own. And also the resolve to match it. He had told others about his dream before, so he just thought that Luffy had heard it from someone and was hence, looking for him. He understood from Luffy's declaration that he was either going to become the Pirate King or die trying. There was no other outcome in his life…Just like him.
Zoro smirked as he took his swords back from Luffy's hands. He unsheathed and held two swords in a cross above his head just as an axe landed on it but didn't take his eyes off of Luffy. Other things were happening around them, but either didn't care and ignored everything.
"The name's Roronoa Zoro," he said as he pushed the axe off of him. He then unsheathed Wado and pointed it at Luffy's neck, "I've defied the Marines so I'm an outlaw anyway. So yes, I'll join your crew. But I'll be striving for my own goal of becoming the World's Greatest Swordsman. And if you ever get in the way of my dream, I'll have you cut open your stomach"
The image of a bloody Zoro saying 'Nothing happened' flashed in Luffy's mind and he swore not to let that happen as he nodded, "Good. If you can't even achieve something so small, I'll be embarrassed to call you my crew mate"
"Heh. Well said"
The two stared at each other for a few more moments, revelling in the joy of finding someone who had just as crazy a dream and just as crazy a resolve as the other before they both jumped diagonally and an axe got lodged into the ground where they were just standing.
Their whole conversation had taken place right in the middle of a few dozen Marines and a very angry Morgan. He had started taunting Luffy for running away and said a lot of things, but Luffy and Zoro were too lost in their own little world and tuned everything out. Coby too was freaking out but looking at the two seemingly having an important conversation, he held himself back from interfering. And Nami was just muttering, "What's the idiot doing?" with a worried look on her face.
When it became clear that Luffy wasn't paying attention to whatever he was saying, Morgan grew further enraged that he was being disrespected so much and finally lost it and attacked them.
But Zoro had blocked him and then pushed him off which had him staggering backwards, not even bothering to give him a glance, and just continued talking with the straw hat wearing bastard. Morgan grew way more furious and attacked them again, and finally, they had dodged and acknowledged his presence.
"Looks like this guy is pissed. What happened?" Zoro asked casually.
"Shishishi I think it's because I broke his statue"
Coby, Nami and every Marine there wanted to scream that it was their fault for ignoring and disrespecting him, but honestly, the Marines enjoyed watching Morgan being treated in such a way.
"YOU! STOP RUNNING AWAY!" Morgan growled pointing his axe at Luffy but Luffy looked at him with a bored expression. Honestly, he could take out everyone in East Blue with a single punch, but he felt like he was bullying them. He was someone who had experienced and learned from the Grand Line, so coming to East Blue and flaunting his powers to fight here felt like he was almost abusing them.
He had absolutely no will to fight such weak opponents and he sighed knowing he wouldn't get a good fight until he was in the Grand Line. He still wasn't that good at using the Rokushiki techniques while wearing sea stone, so he used techniques like Soru or airwalk every chance he got so that he could get better, but during fights, he didn't use any technique other than basic kicking and punching. Besides, if he just took out everyone by himself, it would ruin a lot of potential growth for everyone else.
Morgan, having had enough of Luffy disrespecting him, stopped and looked at his men. "Shoot him!" was all he said and all the rifles were pointed at Luffy. Zoro grabbed Coby and started running to take cover and thought that Luffy would do the same, but Luffy just stood in place.
The Marines fired before Zoro could say anything while Luffy was thinking that it was a good time to train Iron Body while wearing sea stone. The others however thought he had frozen up in fear.
"LUFFY!" Nami yelled out coming out from her hiding spot horrified to see him getting riddled with so many bullets. Zoro and Coby, who were thinking that he was obviously going to run too, looked on horrified, "Luffy!" "Idiot!"
But the worry soon turned to bewildered shock when they saw no blood spilling and Luffy just standing still. In fact, all the bullets just stopped at his skin before falling down and seeing that, the Marines became hysterical.
"What is he?!" / "Bullets aren't working!" / "Is he wearing armour?!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Zoro, Coby and a majority of the Marines screamed in unison looking at the crushed bullets fall off him, while Nami also had the same question.
"Hmm? I'm the man who will become the Pirate King"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT WE MEANT!" they screamed in unison again. "AND YOU KNOW IT!" Nami added knowing that he was again pretending like he didn't understand what exactly they were asking.
"Shishishishi you guys are funny," he laughed not answering their questions.
"He's probably wearing armour idiots," Morgan said getting everyone's attention, "If guns aren't working, then use swords. Kill him! And that Zoro over there too!"
"Now you're talking," Zoro smirked as he watched the few dozen Marines discarding their rifles and picking up swords. Some of them had treated him like shit for the past two days when he was tied up, so he was glad he got a chance to let loose. He unsheathed only two of his swords as he eyed all the Marines…and then they began dropping like flies.
A diagonal slash here, a horizontal slash there, a double slash to take out five Marines at once… Zoro was a beast in battle with not only strength but amazing technique with his swords and Luffy understood that he was definitely one of the strongest people in East Blue. Luffy wanted to see the three-sword style in action but he was using only two swords as the opponents here weren't challenging in the least and he wasn't starving like in the story either. By the time he had taken down around 20 marines in less than a minute, the rest had backed off being too scared.
Luffy was just standing in place watching Zoro fight and when some Marines did try to attack him, he just broke their swords first before punching them and that was it. Seeing a few Marines fall at Luffy's feet, the others dared not go near him either, being too scared.
"T-There's n-no way we can beat them! T-they're too strong!" one of the Marines stammered and soon, a few others also voiced out similar thoughts.
Morgan felt a tick growing on his head that his subordinates were so useless and roared "Whoever just said that, put a gun to your head and pull the trigger now!"
They looked at him frozen in shock, but Morgan glared and ordered it again, "That's an order from your superior! Do it now!"
And to the others' surprise, the few Marines who had whined earlier hesitated a bit before actually pointing the guns towards their own heads with shaky hands.
"Are these guys idiots?" Zoro scoffed as he started running towards them hoping to stop them but was stopped by Luffy resting a hand on his shoulder. "Wait, Zoro"
He saw Luffy looking at the pink-haired kid with some sort of look he couldn't quite understand but decided to trust his new captain and waited to see where this goes.
Coby was having a meltdown. He just couldn't believe that marines could be so cruel. 'Will you kill innocent civilians if your higher-ups order you to?' he remembered what Luffy had said and in this situation, the higher-up was ordering his own men to kill themselves. 'Do I want to be this kind of Marine? An asshole like Morgan or a coward like the rest of them? …..NO! I want to protect people! Not hurt them. This guy isn't a Marine!' he stared daggers at Morgan before he turned to Luffy and froze.
Luffy was looking right back at him with a questioning look as if asking 'what will you do Coby?' and he nodded knowing what he wanted to do. "STTTTOPPP!" he roared at the top of his lungs. All eyes turned to him but he didn't falter under the pressure.
"This isn't what Marines are supposed to do! Marines are meant to help people. Protect and enforce Justice. Not harass and abuse their authority like this asshole here!" he spat pointing at Morgan.
"SHUT UP! STATUS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING! AND AS THE PERSON WITH THE HIGHEST STATUS HERE, I'M THE JUSTICE HERE! WHATEVER I SAY IS RIGHT!" Morgan roared back thinking how dare some random kid talk back to him.
"NO! YOU'RE WRONG! Do you all really want to follow this guy?!" Coby yelled addressing the others, "Kill innocent civilians if he orders you to?! Watch him abuse his power?!… I came here because I wanted to join the Marines and catch bad guys and enforce justice! That's what a Marine is! YOU," he growled at Morgan, "ARE NOT A MARINE!"
The ones who had pointed a gun towards their own heads slowly put their hands down. The Marine who had apologized to the townspeople earlier was the first to agree and voice his thoughts out. "The kid's right! I hate what we're doing here!"
And that broke the gate as a cascade of shouts opposing Morgan began. "I don't want to follow this guy!"/ "I hate him!"/ "This is not what I sighed up for!"/ "Let's detain him together!"/ "Let's lock him up and then report him!"
"EVERYONE WHO JUST SAID THAT IS GOING TO BE EXECUTED!" Morgan roared and that actually put the fear back in them. He smirked internally at seeing them falter and knew he just had to kill one person to bring them all in line again. He started walking towards the first one who had opposed him while saying, "You're first!", and they all gulped in fear.
A sudden gunshot rang out and a bullet landed right at Morgan's feet making him freeze. He slowly and angrily turned towards where the bullet had come in from and saw the disrespectful pink-haired kid holding a rifle.
"You're not killing anyone anymore," Coby declared, his voice resolute, despite his body shaking like a leaf and his eyes filling up with tears. And seeing such a terrified civilian kid standing up to Morgan, the other Marines felt ashamed of themselves.
One Marine that Luffy recognized as Ripper lifted his rifle up and pointed it at Morgan next, "Enough is enough, Morgan. We won't listen to you anymore"
And that started a chain reaction of others pointing their own rifles at him and before long, all the Marines in the base were aiming at Morgan.
"Yes!" / "Fucking about time!" / " I've wanted to do this ever since I first saw this bastard!" / "He can't do anything if everyone's opposing him!"
Nami looked on in amazement as everything played out. She had seen Coby and had understood that he was, to be blunt, a wimp. He was too scared to just escape from the pirate ship he was captured on. He was too scared to look her in the eye in the beginning. He was too scared to even just look at Zoro. And now? He was having a roaring match with a big, strong Marine Captain who everyone was terrified of, shot at him, and had even inspired the others to do the same.
'Where did he suddenly get that much courage from?' she wondered but already knew the answer. She looked at the person responsible and saw that he had a wide ecstatic smile on his face. It was also him who had placed the rifle in Coby's hands. 'Luffy. The strange pirate. Who saves random people. Risks his life for strangers he just met. Promises little kids that he'll save them. Tells people to follow their dreams and gives a hand in helping them achieve it, even if that means that they'll end up as enemies. Inspires people to stand up for themselves. And looks so happy when it happens…'
She was intrigued by the existence that was Luffy and just couldn't understand how he worked. She unconsciously touched her shoulder where that fucking tattoo was branded, wondering if he would help her too but instantly squashed that thought. Even if Luffy wanted to help and even with how strong he was, there was no way he could stand up to a Fishman. She didn't want to admit it, but she was starting to see him as a friend. He already treated her like she was one of his closest friends, so she couldn't help but feel the same too. And that was with just spending time with him for over a day.
And considering how much she distrusted people and never had a friend ever since the day her mother died, that was shocking to her. And given that, there was no way she was dragging Luffy into her problems… But currently, seeing the joyous smile on Luffy's face, she forgot about everything and her own lips curled up into a genuine smile.
Zoro didn't know how Coby was before all this but knew that Luffy was very happy at whatever had happened. He didn't understand completely but just shrugged and decided to get the full story later. When Nami told him all about it later in the day, he was truly amazed too that someone like that could transform so quickly and that his captain had the power to inspire courage like that.
Luffy was the happiest and most surprised of all people as he watched everything play out. He was expecting Coby to stand up for himself sure, but Coby had gone above and beyond his expectations, and had actually even inspired the other Marines to rebel.
"How dare you oppose the person with the highest status here?!" Morgan growled, his veins bulging, "That's how the world works, kid! The person with the most status, the highest rank is always in the right! I'll fucking kill you all for this mutiny!" he swung his axe at a fence and it got sliced cleanly through, with even some of the soil in the ground getting dislodged. And that again terrified a lot of Marines as many rifles went down immediately.
Morgan menacingly walked towards Coby, who stood his ground glaring daggers at Morgan even though his legs were shaking.
"I don't care if I die, but I'll never accept someone like you as a Marine!"
"Insolent brat!" Morgan swung his axe straight down on Coby and that's when Luffy stepped in with a huge smile and deflected Morgan's axe with a kick while looking at Coby. "Shishishi that was great, Coby. Leave the rest to me!"
Coby collapsed to his knees, all tension draining out of him, as he nodded with a grateful smile.
"You punk! Who even the hell are you?!" Morgan roared, "You don't even have any rank or status here! I'm Captain Axe-hand Morgan, the man with the highest status here!" he said as he swung his axe at Luffy.
Luffy side-stepped and kicked him in the chin making him stagger back. "Hey Morgan, tell me. Have you met a Celestial Dragon before?"
"Don't mention the Gods of this world with that pathetic lowly mouth of yours!" he yelled looking offended.
"Yeah, makes sense" Luffy sighed as he kicked him in the chin again which made him stagger backwards and made him fall flat on his back. All his talk of the one with the highest status being the justice, them being always right, him collecting tribute from the townspeople… it all sounded exactly like the Celestial Dragons. 'He probably worships them' he concluded but shrugged it off.
The others were whispering about how Morgan was losing and so, he thought it was about time he should end the fight. Just before he knocked him out, another person shouted getting everyone's attention.
"Stop!" It was Helmeppo this time and he had a gun pointed at Nami's head, and Luffy stared at her questioningly.
"Weren't you hiding?"
"I came out when I got shocked that you were getting riddled with bullets… It's your fault!"
"Another shot!" Luffy chuckled and Nami just sighed shaking her head in disbelief. 'Does this guy ever take anything seriously?'
"Hey! Stop talking like I'm not here!" Helmeppo yelled offended. "You make one wrong move and I'll blow her brains out!"
"Yeah yeah," Luffy sighed about to use Soru, but he saw Nami discreetly taking out the shock staff from behind her back. He saw her about to swing it at him and his heart skipped a bit. 'Nami! No!'
He instantly used Soru to get to her, but all she did was duck down and swing the staff at his knees making him stagger forward before she smashed the butt of the staff on his forehead. He fell forwards unconscious and Nami stood back up but bumped into Luffy's chest.
"Oh…hey," she said but was confused when she saw that his hand was very close to the side of her face and also saw that he had a stupid look on his face. "…I didn't need help in taking care of an idiot like that"
"Ah no, it's not that. I thought you were going to shock him," Luffy let out a sigh of relief as he brought his hand down. 'Stupid Leo's memories…'
"His finger was on the trigger, idiot. If I had shocked him, his fingers would have clenched and a shot would have…been fired…" she trailed off finally understanding why he had appeared before her. He thought that she would shock the idiot son and thus, had come to shield her in case the bullet went off by mistake. And his hand that was to the side of her face also made sense. 'He was shielding me from the bullet…'
Before she could think further, a shadow loomed over them and she saw Morgan standing behind Luffy with his axe coming down on Luffy's head. Before she could even react to it, she saw Morgan suddenly freeze midway and then stagger back a couple of steps before he collapsed on his back.
"Shishi good job, Zoro" Luffy said as he turned back and Nami finally saw Zoro standing right behind Luffy.
"No problem, Captain" Zoro said as he sheathed his swords halfway before looking at the rest of the Marines. "Anyone else wants to fight?"
They all looked on in shock at the fallen Morgan, then looked at each other before bursting out in joy. "MORGAN IS DOWN! HURRAY!"
"Didn't think so" Zoro nodded and sheathed his swords completely.
"He's so cool and badass, right Nami?" Luffy grinned.
"Wait, he agreed to join you?"
"Yeah," Zoro answered coming up to them. "So she is on your crew too, I assume?"
"Yep! Zoro, meet Nami, our navigator!"
"Temporary navigator" Nami corrected.
Zoro looked at Luffy questioningly, but he just shrugged, "She just likes to say that, don't worry"
Nami stamped on his foot, "Don't go deciding things for others, idiot!"
"Looks like that's a theme huh?" Zoro sighed. "So how many more members have you got?"
"You and Nami"
"…huh?"
"Welcome to the life of the strangest pirate you'll ever meet, Zoro" Nami said as she patted his shoulder with pity. "I just met him yesterday and it's been a strange journey ever since"
Zoro gulped, "…At least tell me we have a ship"
"Small one-cabin boat" Nami answered.
"Oh god…" Zoro facepalmed, "What the hell did I just get myself into?"
"Shishishi we'll get all that, don't worry. We'll get the best ship, pick up a couple more cremates and then we'll be off to the Grand Line!"
Zoro sighed, "Fine fine… now, about how you withstood bullets? How exactly did you do that?"
"Oh yeah! I wanted to know too!" Nami piped up but she didn't wait for an answer and leaned closer and looked down his shirt. Not seeing any armour, she lifted his shirt and started to feel his skin to see if there was some camouflaged armour.
"Hmm definitely no armour…" she trailed off but didn't stop touching his skin as it felt very strange. She had noticed it earlier when she was pinching him too, but it almost felt like his skin was…she tried to think of a word as she ran her hand on his skin pinching and almost kneading it and finally a word popped up in her head. 'Malleable…his skin feels malleable for some reason' she thought while also knowing that it was a strange way to describe someone's skin…but that was definitely the feeling she got.
"Umm Nami?" Luffy said hesitantly and only then did she come out of her daze and looked at his face, "I'm sorry if I gave you some wrong signals… I'm usually a very touchy person and I've been told that I invade people's personal space a lot… but I truly don't mean anything by it. I do it to everyone"
"…Yeah, I have noticed that… but why are you bringing it up now? And what signal?"
"Umm…" Luffy just awkwardly looked down at himself. Her eyes also followed his gaze and only then did she realize that her own fingers were running all over his abs. It definitely looked like she was feeling him up, and quite aggressively too.
She instantly retracted her hands back, her face reddening in embarrassment as she began trying to explain herself, "I-I wasn't feeling you up. I-I just had a strange thought about your skin that's all!"
"Thoughts of wanting to jump him?" Zoro asked amused. And that earned him Nami's first smack.
"No, you idiot! His skin just seemed…" she wanted to say malleable but knew how strange that sounded, so she hesitated.
"Rubbery?" Makino offered suddenly interjecting into the conversation. She had seen the entire thing play out from the sidelines and finally interjected when she saw Luffy teasing Nami again.
"Yes!" Nami nodded vigorously, "Malleable, rubbery! Yes, his skin feels like that!"
"Makino~" Luffy whined.
"Hehe you tease her too much, Luffy"
"So you know exactly what I'm talking about then?!"
"Ah yeah, my skin is just like that"
"So you were again pretending not to know what I was trying to say?!" Nami yelled getting angry and started beating the shit out of him. "You bastard!"
"Shishishishi"
"This is gonna be a thing huh?" Zoro sighed rubbing his head where Nami had hit him.
—