A/N: So this is the first fanfic I'm posting. I've written a few random entries that could possibly turn into larger stories but this one I've actually decided to post. If you read the summary, then you know what the basic premise of this story is: What If the Eleven Supernova's were all on the same pirate crew? (I'll say this now, this does NOT include Blackbeard. While he is part of the worst generation, he isn't actually a Supernova) While the original Straw Hats will be making appearances (they still exist) they won't actually be joining the crew.
So this first chapter is really slow, and I gloss over a lot because it is very similar to cannon with a few key differences. Honestly, the entire the East Blue Saga is kinda slow but it's necessary sooo ya. Anyway, enjoy.
Updated 6/4/19
East Blue Saga; Arc 1, Romance Dawn: A Chance Encounter and a Rubber Pirate
Monkey D. Luffy sat in his little dingy, scratching his head at the vista in front of him. It had all been going so well, yet here he was. He'd left Fushia with the townspeople all waving goodbye and giving him good wishes, the mayor grumbling nonsensically, but Luffy knew that was how he showed love. He'd defeated the Lord of the Coast with a single punch and the day had been sunny and clear, no problems in sight. All the way until a giant freaking whirlpool showed up in front of him, that is.
Luffy began paddling intensely, trying to head in the opposite direction of the swirling vortex. Despite his best efforts, the small dingy he was in soon got dangerously close and began succumbing to the intense current. Even Luffy, who'd been known to be a little slow, realized the danger. Looking around his dingy, which was sadly out of food much to Luffy's chagrin, he found only a single empty barrel and nothing else.
"Oh, I know!" Luffy climbed inside the barrel, putting the lid on and curling up into a ball. "Shishishi, barrels float, so now I won't drown." Luffy felt the boat lurch and flip as it sped up, and soon found the tossing and turning relaxing, similar to when he slept on Shanks's ship as a kid. "Maybe I should take a nap."
Koby didn't have the best of luck. Never had. When he'd been taken by Alvida and her crew he just knew he was going to die as a cabin boy of a pirate ship. But still, it had taken some time for it to really sink in that he would never be a marine.
It was just another day of absolute horror, this time they were attacking a passenger ship. After finally getting up the courage, via some Alvida persuasion, he'd headed onto the ship, deciding to hide in the kitchen. Of course, that was until some boy wearing a straw hat jumped out of a barrel and beat up a few of the crewmen. Now they were hiding in the pantry, Koby keeping an ear out for any incoming crewmates and the strange boy stuffing his face with fruit.
"So, what's happening? We on a pirate ship?"
"A passenger ship that's being raided by pirates. The Alvida Pirates," Koby corrected on instinct. The cabin went quiet, but Koby couldn't take it for long. "Um," Koby began, unsure if this boy was friend or foe. "So, who are you?"
"Oh," he turned to face Koby, a big grin on his face. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who's going to be King of the Pirates!"
The pink-haired cabin boy took a moment processing the information before scrambling to his feet, eyes wide with shock. "Are you crazy?! That means you're a pirate too." Luffy nodded his head, continuing to stuff his face as Koby exclaimed, "The Pirate King is the man who conquers all the world's seas. He's the man who attains everything this world has to offer. If you want to be the Pirate King, then that means you're searching for this world's ultimate treasure! You're looking for the One Piece!"
"Yeah, that's right."
Koby began shaking his head back and forth violently, "No way, no way, no way. Do you know how many pirates are out there looking for the One Piece? There's too many people that are too strong. It's impossible, impossible, impossible." In a flash, Luffy got up and smacked Koby upside the head, looking on without empathy as Koby clutched his head and demanded to know why he'd been hit.
"I decided long ago that I'd be the Pirate King. If I die trying, then I die. But at least I will have tried."
Koby looked at the strange boy, awe in his eyes. "Do you- do you think I can accomplish my dreams, as well?" The dark-haired boy cocked his head to the side.
"If you try. What do you plan on doing?"
"I want to be a marine! Then I can go around and capture pirates just like Alvida!" Perhaps, Koby realized belatedly, telling a pirate that you wanted to be a marine wasn't a good idea. Koby pushed that thought aside, soon faced with another problem.
"What was that, Koby?" From above them a hole split in the ceiling, wood raining down around them. "Who is it you're going to capture?" Before Koby could stop the shaking in his legs (I'm dead, I'm so so dead), Luffy had already insulted the behemoth of a woman. The next thing he knew, Koby was on the deck of the ship, watching in shock as Luffy took out the rest of the Alvida Pirates. When Alvida asked him that cursed question, he took one look at the boy in front of him and said the truth. And before his head went flying with her spiked club, Luffy sent her off the rail of the ship.
It was a mere few minutes before Luffy and his new companion were on a stolen boat and were out of sight of the pirate ship. "I'll drop you off at a marine base, 'kay?"
"Th-thank you, Luffy-san. The closest one is at Shells Town. We should be there within a day or so." There was a beat of silence before Koby dared to ask, "H-how did you do that, on the ship?"
"Oh, that? I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit. Now, I'm a rubber man!"
"But, I thought that Devil Fruits were just a myth?!" Luffy didn't bother with a true response, just a grin and loud laugh. With that, the two headed towards Shells Town with the marine base waiting for them.
Shells Town, Koby reflected, was a very strange town. It seemed normal at first, it really did. It was warm and sunny, the street market full of people. Walking down the road, it was clear that having a marine base was doing wonders for the island. That was, until Koby mentioned the captain of the base and everyone took several not-so-subtle steps back looking anywhere but at the young boy.
"That's strange," Koby said, following Luffy as he began looking for a place to eat. "Why would they be afraid of a marine captain?"
"Maybe he's a bad dude."
"That's not possible!" Koby shouted, barely lowering his voice when they entered a pub. "Marines serve Justice. Why would an innocent citizen be afraid of them?"
"I'll take one of everything that's yummy!" Luffy demanded as they sat down, the waitress raising a brow but not commenting. The food, the boys soon found, was rather delicious and they were having a peaceful meal when a young man with blonde hair and a double chin entered the pub. He had several marines following close behind him and he sat down, his feet thumping on the table.
"Yo, barkeep! Bring me some grub and keep the bill." Luffy eyed the blonde, quickly dismissing him as uselessly weak, and focused on the marines. They didn't look like much, all with minimal muscle mass and the simple uniform of marine recruits. Luffy doubted any of them could be all that strong if they were assigned to babysitting duty.
"I'm so bored," the blonde said, "I suppose I could execute that Roronoa. That might be entertaining."
"No! You can't!" The little girl that had brought Luffy and Koby their meal jumped up from where she was sitting at the bar, her face set in a frown.
"Rika, don't!" The bartender said grabbing her and keeping her at the bar.
"You can't kill Onii-chan! You promised him that if he survived the month you'd let him go!"
"What's it to you, girl?" The blonde stood up, the marines behind him shifting uneasily at the motion. "Do you have any idea who I am?"
"I don't care! You made a promise." Rika stuck out her tongue, glaring at the boy and the marines around him. Strange, how such a small child could fit so much anger in her gaze. "Besides, marines shouldn't go around being big bullies!"
"How dare you! I am Helmeppo, the son of Captain Axe-Hand Morgan." He was growing slightly red in the face and he whirled to face the marines that stood straighter at the attention. "You there! Arrest her!" They all stiffened, looking at each other from the corner of their eyes.
"B-but sir! She's just a little girl!" One said, flinching slightly when Helmeppo came up and grabbed the fabric around his neck.
"What did you just say soldier? I gave you an order and you damn well better follow it. Don't make me tell my father!" The soldier paled slightly as he just nodded his head and turned to face the little girl.
Luffy narrowed his eyes, looking between the little girl and the marines. Next to him, Koby clenched his fists, shaking slightly. He went to get up, having no idea what he was going to do just that this had to stop, only to be held back as Luffy stood so fast his chair clattered to the ground. In a flash he was across the room, his fist connecting with a resonating thud against Helmeppo's face. The marine that had been heading for Rika turned around at the sound, his jaw dropping to the ground.
"Luffy! No, don't fight the marines!" Koby grabbed at Luffy's arms, pulling with all his weight.
"Shut up! That girl fed us and she hasn't done anything wrong. This guy is pissing me off!"
"D-do you know what you've done?!" Helmeppo screeched, holding his face that was quickly bruising. "My father will hear about this! I am the son of Captain Axe-Hand Morgan!"
"If your need your dad to fight for you, then I'll just kick his ass first!" The marines surrounding the blonde all choked slightly, staring at the straw hat boy for a moment longer before shaking themselves into action. Within a few moments they'd picked up the young man and left the pub, Helmeppo yelling threats and profanities all the while.
When he was sure Luffy wouldn't take off, Koby released his friend and took a few steps back. He turned to the little girl who, like her mother, simply stood there staring blankly at Luffy. "I'm sorry if we've caused trouble, ma'am."
"Oh!" The bartender shook herself, looking between Koby and Luffy worriedly. "It-it's okay. Thank you for stopping them from taking Rika, but I'm afraid now that you've made an enemy of the captain, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"But mom!" Rika said, looking up at her, "They beat up the mean marine kid."
"The marines may come to get revenge. I can't have them here when that happens, or we could get in trouble." She looked up from her daughter to face the two boys. "I really am sorry."
"Oh, we understand." Koby said, his eye flicking to Luffy whose hat was shadowing his own face. "Luffy? What do you plan on doing?"
"I'm going to go kick that captain's ass." The pirate turned on his heel and walked away, the door slamming shut behind him. Without another word, Koby ran after him, afraid of what he might do. Catching up quickly, Koby took one look at Luffy's shadowed eyes, his customary grin long gone, and chose to remain silent.
Facing forward again, Koby replayed the scene in his head. The marines, the men who were charged with protecting Justice and the citizens, had just stood there and done nothing. They'd let that twig of a blonde bully and harass the citizens simply because he was the son of a marine. He wasn't even a marine himself! Koby growled low in his throat, swearing that if-no-when he became a marine, he would never allow something like that to happen.
Koby jumped slightly at the weight that appeared on his head. Looking up, he saw Luffy grinning down at him, face as open and carefree as it usually was.
"Don't worry Koby! I'll kick that marine guy's ass, then you can join up no problem."
"I really don't think it's going to be that easy, Luffy-kun." Koby sweat-dropped a little, wondering idly if Luffy had any idea how marine ranks worked. Or, how the world worked.
"'Course it is." Luffy walked on, not a care in the world as he headed to fight a marine captain.
It didn't take long to get to the marine base. After all, it wasn't like they had to look hard for it when it was larger than half the town and sat on a small hill. The blue and black walls were perfectly smooth and spotless, and the air was filled with shouting and grunting. Despite the noise, there was no one at the gate or anywhere within sight of the two boys.
"Damn, I need to find the captain guy." Luffy scratched his head, his hat shifting with the motion. Looking around, Luffy grabbed on to the wall that surrounded the base, pulling himself up so he could look around.
"Why aren't there any marines around here?" Koby wondered out loud, not noticing Luffy's new location for a few moments.
"Hey, Koby! There's someone tied up in the courtyard." The pinkette looked up, not even bothering to be surprised at Luffy standing on the wall.
"You know, now that you mention it, I seem to recall hearing a rumor that Roronoa Zoro got captured around here." Koby climbed up on the wall, wriggling so he could get a good look at what had caught his companion's eyes.
And there he was. The pirate hunter himself. Koby recognized him easily, having heard Alvida talk about him because she was worried he'd come for her head. The green-haired man was without his swords and tied up to a cross, his eyes shadowed by the black bandana around his head.
"There are no marines around here." Koby looked around, realizing Luffy was right. Before he could comment on it, Luffy made an odd noise that had Koby following his line of sight to the roof of the marine base. It took a few seconds, but Koby could see moving forms and guessed that was where the shouting was coming from.
"I'll be right back Koby! Just let me go kick the marine's ass." The pinkette blinked and the straw hat wearing boy was gone, his back disappearing around the bend. It took a few seconds, but soon enough Koby heard the snap of rubber followed by yells of shock. Guessing Luffy would be alright, Koby made his way over the wall and towards the demon in front of him. He ignored his slight shaking and squared his shoulders. He would be a marine, and that meant he had to be brave.
Luffy was a little surprised when he flew up to the roof and found a giant statue. He over shot his rocket and grabbed onto the head of the statue, but his speed was too much, and a long crack ran across the stone. The top half fell, crashing onto the ground below as Luffy landed lightly on the roof, hand securing his hat.
"That was fun!" The young pirate took a look around, noticing the two dozen or so marines, all standing around and gapping at Luffy. "So which one of you is the captain?"
"That's him daddy! That's the guy who hit me!" The blonde was on the corner of the roof, pointing one shaky hand at Luffy.
"How dare you!" Luffy looked up from where he'd been eyeing the idiot, watching as a large man with an axe in place of his hand quickly turned an ugly shade of red. The colour kind of reminded him of when he told Gramps he was going to be a pirate. "I am Captain Axe-Hand Morgan! I am the greatest! You just defiled a symbol of my strength and the punishment is death!" Luffy took one look at the man, at how he left his stomach wide open as he spoke and gestured and figured he would have no issue with kicking the guy's ass.
Gramps and, in the past two days, Koby, often spoke of the greatness of the marines and their job of dealing Justice. This man, missing an arm and so filled with images of his own ego that he couldn't even be bothered to block properly, made a mockery of what the marines were meant to be. Just because he was Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King, didn't mean he couldn't understand the purpose of marines. But, this man was no true marine.
"I'm Luffy, nice to meet ya." Morgan didn't seem to appreciate the sass because in the next instant he was lunging forward, swinging his axe arm down. The rest of the marines scrambled out of the way, mostly going back inside the building. Luffy side stepped the swipe, stretching his arm back only to shoot it forward at the captain's face.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!" The marine went flying, landing on his back on the other side of the roof.
"Di-did he just stretch?!" The few marines still on the roof watching the fight took several steps back, faces full of fear. Meanwhile, Morgan stood up, reevaluating the scrawny kid in front of him.
"So, they're real," he mumbled, raising his voice so the rest of his men could hear him, he continued, "He ate a Devil-Fruit."
Luffy just grinned, stretching his cheek far past where it would normally go. "I'm a rubber man." That being said, it didn't seem that the marine captain cared much, as he came forward again, sweeping his axe towards Luffy's midriff. The rubber man jumped into the air, avoiding the attack and allowing him to counter attack by putting his legs together and jabbing them downward.
"Gum-Gum Spear!" Morgan tried to move out of the way but wasn't quick enough, the attack catching his chest instead of his head. Before he had a chance to recover, Luffy was back on the ground, his arm shooting forward and sending the marine captain off the side of the building and to the ground waiting below.
"Gum-Gum Pistol!" As Luffy stood there, not even sweating or breathing heavily, the rest of the marines took a moment to take in what they'd just seen. Before long, a cheer rose as they all threw their hats into the air.
"We're finally free!"
Luffy, slightly confused, shrugged his shoulders and grabbed onto one edge of the roof, rocketing off and into the field below. Koby had finished untying the green-haired man, who had begun to walk towards the marine base.
"Where are you going?" Koby called, looking slightly worried.
"To get my swords." The man looked over, his face set in a grin that would make lesser men tremble. "I have a swordsman to catch." With that he was gone, entering the marine base as if he belonged there and Luffy turned back to Koby.
"Who was that?"
"That was Roronoa Zoro, the bounty hunter. He said he was looking for Hawkeye, so I told him I'd heard that Hawkeye was near the entrance to the Grand Line. Guess he's heading after him." Luffy didn't respond for a moment, deciding that he really didn't care what this dude was doing.
"Well, I kicked the marine captain's ass, so you can go join now!" Koby gapped a little, looking over towards the marine base where he could just make out some marines celebrating.
Koby felt tears welling up and he looked at Luffy. "Thank you so much Luffy! I won't ever forget this!"
"Shishishi! I don't think marines are supposed to thank pirates." Luffy grinned, starting to back up and wave. "Well, I gotta get out of here before they realize I'm a pirate. But take care Koby, I'm sure we'll see each other again." Koby nodded, watching as his friend disappeared from sight. He headed quickly over to the entrance of the marine base. He had a dream to fulfill, after all.
Luffy liked the town. It was cool. Word spread quickly that Morgan had been defeated and everyone was in a good mood, so it was easy to get lots of meat for the trip. Loading up his small boat with all the food he'd gotten, he took one last look at the island and set off.
As he was leaving the island, he realized that he probably should have asked someone to join him. After all, you couldn't be a pirate without a crew. Whoever he decided to put on his crew had to be strong, though. He'd promised Shanks, after all.
"Maybe I should have asked that Zoro-guy to join. He seemed strong. Oh well, too late now." He turned to the bag of food and began eating a bunch of it, thinking of all the sorts of people he wanted on his crew.
"A chef comes first," he decided. He needed someone to cook him delicious meat. "And then I'll find a musician!"
With the goal of finding his first crewmates in mind, he set off in a random direction, sure that he would make it somewhere with good food if he let the ocean guide him.
Please review! I would love to hear your thoughts on this and if you find any mistakes please let me know so I can fix it. And don't worry, Zoro will be joining the crew, just not until later down the line.
Until next time Kittens!
Next Time:
East Blue Saga; Arc 2, The Baratie: Bottomless Pit One and Two