Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece.
Prologue
"Captain, pirate ship spotted 50 miles southeast !" shouted a marine to his rather corpulent captain.
"Are they changing course ?"
"No Sir, I don't think they have spotted us yet, they are headed straight for us."
"Well, I will be having pirates for my next meal. Prepare the cannons."
"Yes Sir." The marine gulped, the huge captain who commanded two ships was scary even when in his good moods.
"Men prepare the cannons!" shouted the marine as he ran out on deck.
Luffy stood on the deck of the Going Merry and scanned the vast horizon. About 50 miles northwest of his ship he spotted two fuzzy specks riding on the horizon. The captain turned and headed to the cabin where he picked up his binoculars. Returning to the deck, he peered through the powerful lenses at the two fuzzy shapes. The two specks turned out to be two ships of medium size, maybe larger than the Going Merry. Adjusting the focus he spotted an anchor printed on the main sail, with the word 'MARINES' printed under it.
"Guys!," Luffy said, "marines 50 miles northwest!"
"What!," said Nami and Usopp in unison.
Nami rushed up to Luffy, her shoulder length blazing orange hair flying about in the sea wind. Coming to a sudden halt just before Luffy, she snatched the binoculars from the ships captain and looked out at the East Blue. After looking through the binoculars for a full two minutes, she said in a rather commanding tone
"Usopp, change course 30 degrees east, and adjust the sails for top speed!"
Usopp scrambled up to the steering wheel and planted his hand on the spokes, getting ready to steer the ship out of a very bad situation.
"No Usopp, maintain course." said Luffy.
"What!," said Usopp, with a ridiculous look on his face.
"What is wrong with you ?" Nami cried, "Those marines will catch and lock us up."
Luffy just laughed
"What do you think Zoro?" asked Luffy
The green haired swordsman who was recently awaken by all the commotion, was lying on the wooden deck, propped up on his left elbow.
"It has been a long time since a good fight, this will be good training." replied Zoro.
"You guys are hopeless." said the ship's cook, who was silent all this while
Lighting a cigarette, Sanji looked at the slighty bigger shapes coming at the Going Merry. The cook did not really like fighting aimlessly. His enemies often misjudged him , due to his lanky frame and profession. Sanji always proved them wrong, he was a formidable and sometimes, deadly opponent.
"Come on guys, by my calculations, it will be another three to five hours before they get within firing range, if the weather holds up. We can still escape." begged the navigator.
"Yes guys we do not have to fight." said Usopp, getting more scared by the minute.
"No I want this fight, who has heard of a pirate who runs away from his enemies." said Luffy with a childish grin.
"Fine have it your way, but one scratch on me and you all die."
Luffy and Zoro chuckled. Sanji just blew smoke rings from his mouth. The marksman knew he could not talk his captain out of this, so he just got his slingshot out and prepared some of his best shots.
"Hey Luffy, how many men do think are there on those ships ?" Asked Zoro, as he took a swig of sake from the bottle he kept by his side while on deck.
"Both are medium sized, Zoro, but at least a hundred men."
The swordsman grunted, he loved a good fight, but loved his sleep more.
"Okay guys, I am going to sleep, wake me up when they near us."
"Right, Sanji, fix a meal, I am going to need the energy to fight later. Put in plenty of meat, Okay" asked the captain who was reclining against the figurehead of the Going Merry.
"I am not going to feed a bunch of muscle heads who can do nothing better than invite trouble to their very doorstep."
"Go and cook Sanji, I am hungry anyway." said Nami
"Yes Nami-chan, anything for you." cried the cook as he scrambled to the ship's
galley.
In half an hour the Going Merry's crew were eating in the galley, all except for Zoro, who Luffy unsuccessfully try to wake up. Luffy as usual was stuffing himself with meat. Usopp and Nami always wondered how someone so thin could take in so much food.
"So what are we going to do until the marines come to us." asked the captain.
"You are the one who came up with the dumb idea, why don't you think of something." said Sanji. One of the advantages of having captains like Luffy was that you did not lose your head for scolding him.
"Well, I will help you so the dishes."
"Yeah right, you will turn this galley upside down."
"Come on, I did the dishes at the restaurant you worked at last time."
"Yes and you brought one of the most powerful pirates to our doorstep. You do have a way of finding trouble everywhere you go don't you ?"
"And I almost killed that weak idiot."
"Fine, you can do the dishes, but so much as scratch one of my dishes and I will break your arms."
"Go ahead, try me."
Sanji then realised what Luffy meant, Luffy was practically made of rubber. Even bullets had no effect on him.
"I will just go to study to draw up some maps, and DO NOT call upon me to fight." yelled Nami, as she stomped off to the ships study.
Usopp just prepared some more of his weird shots, maybe he was a coward, but he was a coward that just would not go down without a fight.
As the Sun went about on its monotonous and slow course, the two marine ships crept closer to the Going Merry, as the winds of the East Blue brought them closer together.
To be continued