In the nighttime in the seas of East Blue, a small ship was making its way along the frothy waters. The ship itself was old, and its steel plating had frighteningly large brownish tints lining it. The coal-powered engine, which turned the propeller, was not safe by any standards. But the thing that made this ship terribly vile was its crew and captain.
The ship of course, was an illegal carrier of refugees. It was one of many such ships that carried peoples of many backgrounds who sought a better life in another place. And its captain, John Burke, was one of many black-hearted captains who were willing to risk the wrath of the Global Government to ferry refugees. For a price. And it was that time of the trip when captain Burke was personally going through each individual passenger on his ship, and taking any valuable possession from them that they owned.
Burke was a large, circular man. He was easily twice the height of a normal human being, and six times the weight. He carried around with him a revolver pistol, with which he intimidated passengers, though rarely had to use. The refugees lined the deck of the ship, most without adequate protection against the cold air of the sea at night. Filthy vermin, Burke thought. They better have a lot of valuables on them. Burke's philosophy was simple, if a passenger had enough to offer, he got to stay on the boat. If not, the sea kings could have at it.
He was flanked by two of his crew members, each carrying large sacks. They did not discriminate, ever passenger owed the price of staying on the ship. They got quite a haul, actually. An old woman had cried as she had given them her gold necklace, a gift from her late husband. A man gave his entire life savings to them, which didn't amount to much. One by one, Burke threatened them all with his pistol, and one by one they all gave what little they had.
Then the captain came to a young man huddled in the corner of the deck.
"Okay, I'll be taking anything of value," he laughed.
The young man looked at him in fear. "Sir, please forgive me, I have nothing to give you but the clothes on my back."
Burke did not skip a beat, it was not the first time on a trip a passenger had not complied with his rules. He grabbed the man by the collar and held him out over the railing, above the churning waters.
"Do you really have nothing to give me, guy? Because it would be really great for you if you did."
The man was now almost in tears. "Please! Please don't kill me! I'm begging you! I might not have much, but I can tell you how to get twice as much as as you could get from me!"
"Oh," said Burke, "and how's that?"
"Stowaways! You have stowaways on your ship! Two of them! I saw them get in the cargo hold! Take their money! Spare me please!"
Suddenly Burke's good humor died. Nobody. Nobody stowed away on his ship. Everyone had to pay the price. That was the rule.
"Stowaways? Thanks for the information." Burke then proceeded to drop the man into the sea. He then turned to one of his sailors. "You! Get those stowaways out of the cargo hold! Now!"
Burke waited impatiently for five minutes. When his sailor did not come back he sent another. Then another. Then several more. None came back. Burke was become infuriated. The other passengers were all looking up, something was happening to the crew. The passengers were murmuring amongst themselves, and it made Burke very uneasy.
"Why can't any of my men go fetch two refugees? You, sailor, go and find those stowaways!"
"But… sir…. None of the other sailors have come back. I'm afraid…"
Burke's face turned deep red, he grabbed the sailor by the collar and hoisted him over the side of the ship.
"You dare disobey an order from your captain? Do you know what the punishment for treason is?" The sailor was beggin for his life. All the passengers and sailors looked on in horror. They knew he was a goner. They averted their eyes. They waited for the inevitable. Burke's hand loosened…
"Excuse me, but it doesn't look like that man wants to be thrown overboard, I'd put him down if I were you."
Burke turned, standing on his ship was someone who hadn't been their before. He was a young skinny man with black hair. Next to him was a shorter girl with long black hair. The girl had a sword at her side, but the young man seemed unarmed. They were clearly related, brother and sister probably. Still, the two of them had an unwavering air of confidence around them.
Burke dropped his sailor back on the deck. He turned to the newcomers.
"Are you the stowaways on my ship? What did you do with my sailors?"
"Oh god, were those your sailors? I'm really sorry, but we kind of had to knock them all out, they sort of threatened us. We just came out here to sort things out, we don't mean any trouble." The young man looked genuinely sorry. All of the passengers were shocked by his nonchalant attitude towards a man clearly bigger and stronger than him.
Suddenly Burke did what nobody expected him to do. He laughed. "You? You took out all of my soldiers? Don't make me laugh! With what? A sword and your bare fists?"
"Yes."
Burke paused. He was taken aback by the answer. It also made him very angry. He decided that, no matter who this refugee was, he was going overboard.
"Okay you little maggot. I'm going to beat you to a pulp and then throw you overboard for thrashing my sailors!"
Suddenly the girl with black hair spoke up. "But you're so fat, how could you catch us?"
Everyone on deck, Burke, sailors, and passengers, dropped their jaw and stared at them.
"You…" Burke stammered, flustered, "Who the hell do you think you are?"
"I'm Lucy," the girl said, "Monkey D. Lucy. And this is my brother, Monkey D. Clark. It's a pleasure to meet you." Burke felt something eat at him. Monkey? Where had he heard that name before?
"Lucy," said Clark, "I don't think that he meant for you to answer that?"
"But then why would he ask it, bro?"
"It's like a rhetorical question. It's not a real question."
"I don't really understa-"
"SHUT UP!" Burke shouted. He had had enough. He charged at them, fist raised in the air. But as he brought it swinging down on the two, they jumped out of the way of his fist with unbelievable speed. Burke nearly lost his balance, but managed to stay standing. When he whirled around, they were right behind him.
"See Clark, I told you he was slow. It's because he's so fat!"
"Lucy, I don't think he appreciates your language."
Burke stared at them in disbelief, he looked around, saw a stray piece of wood on the deck, and he grabbed it in his big meaty hands.
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP!"
He threw the mass of wood at the two, suddenly there was a flash, and the wooden block was split cleanly in two, each half skittering off in different directions. Lucy stood with her sword drawn.
"That wasn't very polite, fatty. You shouldn't tell people to shut up," she turned to the other passengers all around the deck, "Is everyone here that impolite."
Seeing his chance, Burke drew his pistol and fired at the girl. Even if she was a master of the sword, there was no way she could dodge the bullet if her back was turned.
Burke was actually right, and the girl would've been killed by the bullet if her brother had not stepped into the path of the bullet first. There was a sound as if the bullet had ricocheted off of something. Burke fired again. Again he heard the same sound.
"Sorry, man, but that's not going to cut it with me," said Clark. "Bullets can't hurt me."
Burke, however, grew desperate, and tried to fire the bullet again, but before he could, Clark ran towards him and knocked the gun out of his hand. He then punched Burke in the stomach. Burke was a big man, but the force of the punch seemed unnaturally powerful. It knocked Burke to the ground. Burke tried to get up, but found himself face to face with a peculiar object. It was a blade, but it was also an arm, split down the middle like some kind of hybrid, and it was connected to the man who had just punched him.
"You… You're… You've eaten a… a…"
"A Devil's Fruit, yes," said Clark. "I ate the Supa Supa no Mi (Blade Blade Fruit) and became a blademan. I told you that bullets don't work on me, I'm made of steel." Suddenly Burke remembered where he'd heard the name Monkey before. Back in his hometown, he'd often heard stories of the legendary man from East Blue who lived during the Great Age of Piracy: Monkey D. Luffy, the Pirate King. And the two people he was looking at now were, unbelievably, descendants of that great man.