Sea of Vengeance
Summary: It started with a tattered hat, it led to a name. Now Luffy will stop at nothing to find the man who murdered Sabo, and he might cross lines he had always avoided.
Tattered Memory
Monkey D. Luffy strolled about Sabaody Archipelago; it had been five years since he had become a Pirate King. And now he had finally conquered he Supernovas proving that he had earned the title and no one else when would be able to take it from him.
The World Government was so terrified when it happened they automatically increased his bounty to over two billion Berries. The rest of the Strawhat had their bounties over a million which was unprecedented but no one could touch them and they were considered to be the most powerful pirate crew and the entire world.
Since Nami had completed her map of the world there was no place they couldn't go whether it was above the sea or below it. Having discovered the All Blue Sanji had also become a chef that could cook food anywhere making it impossible for them to starve. Chopper was world renowned for his skill as a doctor so if there was no way they could get sick. Zoro was the world's greatest swordsman and none could rival him. Franky's many modifications to the Thousand Sunny had made it unsinkable. Brook had become so famous as a musician that his fans would always aid the Strawhats in their escapes. Robin had discovered the lost century and had published a book about it, causing revolts and civil disorder everywhere. Ussop as the King of Snipers could sink the ships from far away, making long chases of the Thousand Sunny nearly impossible.
Luffy could walk everywhere without fear, even if he was attacked, he could either take them out with his Gum Gum Pistol or use Haki, he preferred Haki as he didn't really want too much attention, although it was impossible for him to go anywhere unrecognized as the King of the Pirates.
He was headed toward where all the food was, as always thinking with his stomach rather than his brain, after all these years; he still didn't need much to be happy. He had obtained the One Piece, but he had hidden it away as he knew it would be stupid to go and flaunt it everywhere, but he had shown all the pirates who dared to challenge him that he had obtained it.
Humming "Bink's Sake", he kept his mind on his goal but felt amused at the shocked glances the citizens gave him. He told himself they shouldn't be surprised to see him, Sabaody was a place he liked to visit, despite some of the things that had taken place there.
He had almost passed the clothing stall by when he spotted it, a tattered top hat with a distinctive pair of goggles on it.
"Are you selling that?" he asked. The shopkeeper turned and his eyes widened.
"Yes, Strawhat Luffy, it is," he gulped. "You can have it if you want, for free."
"Here," Luffy laughed, tossing him some gold coins, "I'll take it, and don't shake so much, you'll fall over, it's not like I'm going to take your money."
"Oh, thank you."
"Where did you get this?"
"I fished it out of the water years and years ago, in Goa Kingdom, there was something different, special about it."
"Yes, it is special," Luffy said to himself. He walked off, deep in thought.
He heard a great commotion as people began moving aside, though not in his direction.
"Bow down before the Celestial Dragon, Saint Jalmack!" someone shouted. Luffy looked up and saw the ugly man sauntering around haughtily, he secretly enjoyed putting them in their place, they were horrible people who walked all over the common citizens and owned both people and other species like they were animals, in his youth he had punched one in the face, and throughout his lifetime it wasn't the last.
"You g-g-get out of my way!" Jalmack shouted loudly.
How annoying, Luffy let it show that he was irritated. "Since I was walking here first, you should let me pass."
"I will do no such thing, pirate scum!" Jalmack aimed his rifle and fired. Luffy avoided the bullets easily, not even using Haki he then used it to force the World Noble to pass out. He wasn't in the mood to punch him in the face. He turned and continued walking away, making his way toward his ship.
One of his guards turned and looked at the Celestial Dragon, with an absolutely terrified expression on his face.
"That was the King of the Pirates, Strawhat Luffy! It's a relief he didn't kill us."
Jalmack was overjoyed, if he could kill the legendary King of the Pirates, he would seal his reputation forever.
"Where is he? Where's Strawhat Luffy?"
"He's long gone, I don't think we can find him," the guard told him.
"Spread out and find him! I want to kill him, he insulted me, no lowly pirate can ever insult me, not even their so-called King!"
The guards searched everywhere but he was nowhere to be found.
Jalmack decided to put his plans to capture Luffy on hold.
"Set sail for Goa Kingdom, there is someone I have to visit." His men immediately prepared to leave.
Luffy continued walking until he noticed a strange small old man; he let loose his trademark grin.
"Hello old man Dogra, you're very far away from Windmill Village," he laughed.
"As I live and breathe, Monkey D. Luffy, it's good to see you again," Dogra's face did not change from his irritable expression.
"That was Sabo's hat, wasn't it?" Dogra looked at the tattered top hat.
"Yes," so many memories, many of them happy ones, Luffy missed Sabo, he had always wished that his brother could have seen him fulfill his dream, but that would never happen. He thought about him often and it was because of him that Luffy kept his carefree attitude.
"You saw when Sabo died, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did, it was heartbreaking," Dogra's face fell. "But there was nothing anyone could have done to save him."
"Do you remember who the Celestial Dragon was?" Luffy demanded.
"I believe they called him Saint Jalmack."
Luffy's face became very still. "Thank you, old man Dogra. Now I know what I'm going to do."
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"I'm going to kick that bastard's ass!" Luffy snarled.
Luffy began to scour Sabaody Archipelago for Jalmack, only to spot his ship as a tiny speck in the distance. But he did remember where he was going. Goa Kingdom, not too far away from Foosha Village where he had grown up. It would give him a chance to visit all the familiar faces.
"Damn it!" Luffy hissed. "If I were younger, I would have gone after him screaming all the way, but I'm smarter now. I'm going to plan something he won't forget! But first, I must have meat!"
He found a nearby restaurant and bought as much meat as he could stuff his flexible face with, still, it didn't help the boiling anger that was stewing inside him like one of Sanji's excellent meals, he couldn't stop thinking about how he had let Jalmack get away.
He had made it a rule that anyone who hurt his friends or family would pay. But it had always weighed on his mind that he had never been able to find out who had murdered Sabo. Now he knew who it was, and they were going to pay dearly.
Luffy stuffed the last piece of meat in his mouth, swallowed and tossed some coins onto the table. He walked out, ignoring the stares and made his way to Grove 42 where the Sunny was moored.
"Franky, get the Sunny coated, we're going to leave," Luffy ordered.
"But why coating?" Franky inquired, curious.
"I don't want to be seen."
The others noted Luffy was uncharacteristically serious. That wasn't normal. Robin noticed it right away, their Captain wasn't smiling. No matter what happened or how dire the situation, Luffy always smiled. But something was on his mind, and he wasn't sharing it with them.
Franky coated the ship as quickly as he could. The others helped him, following Nami's instructions. Within hours, they were ready to depart, as the Thousand Sunny submerged beneath the beautiful ocean.
"Where do you want to go?" Nami asked.
"Dawn Island, specifically, the capital city of Goa," Luffy looked at him.
"That's your home island isn't it?" Nami asked.
"Yes it is," Luffy fell silent and didn't say anything more.
Brook noticed Luffy's foul mood and he knew that it wasn't anything that they had done, but something that his friend wasn't telling him. He decided that the best course of action he could do was to play soothing music that would make his friend feel better.
"Nami dear, lunch is ready!" Sanji called. The others came running, Nami followed them, but not before she noticed that Luffy hadn't moved from where he'd been standing near the bow of the ship. She also noticed that he wasn't even perched on his favorite seat, atop the figurehead of the Thousand Sunny.
He had done something she had always considered to be unthinkable; he was ignoring Sanji's call for lunch. Luffy never missed lunch, maybe he hadn't heard Sanji.
"Luffy, Sanji made lunch," Nami called. He turned and regarded her.
"Tell everyone they can eat without me, I'm not hungry."
Something was very wrong, Luffy and "not hungry" never happened, ever.
Nami made her way over to the others. "Luffy said he's not hungry and we should eat without him."
Chopper freaked out , "Oh God, please don't end the world, Luffy will eat meat soon!"
"He did look very upset, I wonder what it was," Franky wondered aloud.
"I'm telling you, it has to be bad meat!" Chopper proclaimed, "It's the only thing that could possibly make him upset, I'll ask him if he wants me to examine him."
"No, Chopper, the look on his face was way more serious than him eating bad meat!" Usopp corrected him.
"He better not be mad because I fixed him something he didn't want," Sanji grumbled.
"It has nothing to do with your cooking, Sanji," Brook countered. "It's something else entirely."
"If you're all so worried about him, why don't you ask him?" Zoro glared at all of them.
Everyone except Robin vigorously shook their heads in refusal. They all knew how he was when he lost his temper and they did not want him to bite their heads off, some of them feared it in the literal sense too.
They ate in their usual, rowdy, boisterous fashion, laughing and drinking grog. After they were finished they returned to their duties, all of them avoiding Luffy intentionally, Robin didn't really avoid Luffy, but she gave him the space she knew he wanted.
Nami had finished all her calculations for the navigation of the ship, and made her way into the Captain's quarters where she knew Luffy would be since he was not in the boy's sleeping quarters.
Nami found him, sitting at a desk, a small light at his side, staring at a tattered top hat, it had a pair of distinctive goggles wrapped around it, and she had never seen it before.
She looked at him curiously as she moved to place her hand on his shoulder.
"What is that?" Nami asked.
"It's a hat, it's very important to me," Luffy replied.
"More important than your Strawhat?"
"No, but it's still important."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Nami asked, concerned for him. He wasn't acting like his usual self.
Luffy actually managed a smile. "Please, don't worry about me. I'm fine."
Nami knew Luffy was lying, and he was a horrible liar. Nami put her hand on his shoulder.
"You've never been good at lying Luffy, won't you tell me what's bothering you?"
"I will sometime, but not yet," he turned away from her, still staring at Sabo's hat.
Nami was about to leave when she felt a hand being placed over hers. She looked down at Luffy as he gave her another smile as he held her hand. Nami had to wonder what was going through his head; this wasn't like him at all.
She walked back to her sleeping quarters, utterly confused with what was going on. She his would learn what was on his mind and why they were going to Goa Kingdom.
