The Grand Line. A strip of ocean, stretching around the world. The weather here is unpredictable. One moment, the sea could be calm and peaceful; the next, a raging storm with thunder and lightning.
It is said the legendary "One Piece" is hidden on the Grand Line. What is "One Piece"? The greatest treasure in the world. Whoever can retrieve the "One Piece" shall be called the King of the Pirates, and rule over the Grand Line. Only one such person has been called the Pirate King in the world's history; Gold Roger.
Every pirate dreams of becoming King of the Pirates. But there's one pirate in particular; Monkey D. Luffy, who has wanted to become King of the Pirates since he was seven years old. Luffy's no ordinary pirate, though. Luffy is a Gum-Gum Man.
What is a Gum-Gum Man? Someone who has eaten the Devil Fruit. Well, one of them, at least. Luffy can stretch his entire body like rubber, but he cannot swim. The sea hates those with Devil Fruit powers.
Luffy doesn't seem to mind. In fact, he doesn't mind a lot of things. Although, he does mind being separated from his crew.
It was an ordinary day aboard the Merry Go; Nami, the red-haired navigator, was drawing new maps; Zolo, the first mate, was drinking and sleeping; Sanji the cook was locked up in the kitchen and only came out when he wanted to give Nami something; Usopp the marksmen was inventing a Pepper Sauce Star, after his first attempt caused him to splash hot sauce in his eyes.
As for Luffy… well, he was looking over the bow of the Merry Go, and something sucked him in. It wasn't a whirlpool, or everyone else aboard the Merry Go would've been drowning. It was more like a flash of light. A giant flash that Luffy had to shield his eyes. When Luffy had opened them…
He found himself falling from hundreds of feet in the air.
"This is bad." Luffy thought, one hand on his precious straw hat. "I'll surely die… Hah! What was I thinking? I'm a rubber man! This won't kill me…"
KA-BOOM! A cloud of dust signaled Luffy's landing.
"I'm alive!" grinned Luffy, picking his straw hat up and putting it back on his black-haired head. A scar under his left eye almost disappeared from his toothy smile. Luffy dusted off his red vest, blue shorts, and made sure his sandals where still on his feet.
Luffy craned his neck skyward. "Kinda wish I knew where I am… or where my friends are." The pirate dismissed these thoughts with a shrug. "Oh, well. First things first; meat!" Luffy made a mad dash down the dirt path he had landed on, following his stomach.
A while later…
The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates soon found himself in a bustling city. Unlike the seaside ports he had been too before, this city had sky-high towers, colored blue, silver and red, unlike the greens, yellows and tan hues that he remembered.
Almost instantly, Luffy found a restaurant and dashed inside. He found an empty booth, sat down, picked up a knife and fork, and began to bang them together. "Food, food, food…"
"What can I get you?" asked a waitress asked in a fake Southern accent, pen and pad at the ready.
Luffy looked up at the menu that was hanging above him. "Meat! Lots of it!"
"I hope you have enough money." replied the waitress.
Luffy paused, then (reluctantly) set his knife down, reached his pocket and pulled out a few hundred berries loaned from Nami. "Uh… I only have three hundred berries. I hope this is enough…"
"Berries?" repeated the waitress. "What are you, a caveman?"
"Nope, I'm a pirate!" came Luffy's response; as if it was the most normal thing a person could say.
"A p-pirate!"