Prologue: The Best Pirate Ever Is Born! How Lucy Realized Her Dream
It was as beautiful a day as anybody could ask for, but shocking events were about to take place in the East Blue; Events that would kick-start a new great age of hopes and dreams.
On this day, Monkey D. Lucy was sitting on the docks of her hometown, Foosha Village. Well, it's not exactly my home, she conceded, thinking about how her grandfather, Vice-Admiral Garp of the Marines, just dumped her here, like he'd done to her far older brother, Monkey D. Luffy. It's more like my foster village.
She lived by herself in a small house on the edge of town, but Makino-a local bartender-and the mayor supported her existence. Without the money they provided, Lucy highly doubted she could've lived this long on her own... even though she'd survived for months completely on her own, out in Dawn Island's jungle. She'd done this as part of her training to become a Marine. Not that she'd wanted to, of course; No, she hated the Marines. Rather, Garp had forced her to.
Dirty old sod, she grumbled, her usually bright and cheery mood darkening.
A strong wind picked up, blowing off the sea, trying to snatch her strawberry-blonde hair off the top of her head. She reached back and twisted it into a pony tail, just like Makino taught her to. Her hazel-colored eyes sparkled in the sun, as she thought about Luffy. If only he was here now...
"Oi! Lu-cy!"
The seven year old girl looked up, smiling again. The person calling to her was her best (and only) friend, Rupert Takahashi. He's kind and caring, but much weaker than me in a fight, she thought smugly.
"Oi!" she called back.
"Do you want to come over to my house for tea? My mother just got a new brand from the North Blue!" Rupert said, panting as he raced along the docks.
"From the North Blue? How'd she manage that?"
"Well, my dad is a Revolutionary Officer, you know."
"Ah, true. I'd love to try it out!"
The boy grinned. "That's great! By the way, I heard from dad over the Transponder Snail that your brother, the Pirate King, is coming back here from the New World! Dragon's got connections all over the place, so it wasn't hard for him to find out."
What? Luffy's coming home?! "That's great!" said Lucy, grinning widely. "He'll probably come here to rest. I can't wait to meet him in person after hearing about all his amazing adventures!"
"Come on, let's celebrate!" Her best friend said.
"Yeah!"
-Two Weeks Later-
Lucy was coming back from shopping with Makino when she heard the glorious news.
"Pirate ship spotted!" shouted the watchman, dashing down the main street with a huge grin. "And it's not just any pirate ship either-it matches the Thousand Sunny's description perfectly! LUFFY'S HOME!"
Lucy dropped the bag she carried and turned to Makino, a big smile on her face.
"Luffy's here! We've gotta go to the docks and see him, Makino!" she begged. The bartender's face was lit up, too, and she nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! It's been so long since he left... nine whole years!" she said wistfully. "He'll be ever so surprised to find out he now has a younger sister! I can't wait to see the look on his face!"
The two women, older and younger, raced off to the docks, dragging their shopping bags in their wake. The rest of the villagers followed them one by one, as they recieved the news. Some were already there, though that wasn't a very large amount.
The Thousand Sunny was a large, elegant ship, and sailed proudly on the waves, drawing ever closer to the harbor. As a minute passed, the ship was close enough for everyone to see a delighted, straw-hatted young man sitting cross-legged on the figurehead, which was... Wait, what is it? Lucy wondered. The sun? A flower? A lion? All that aside, the girl assumed that the man on the figurehead was none other than Luffy himself. He was waving and appeared overjoyed.
Everyone heard a distant shout of "Oi!" and immediately knew it had come out of Luffy's lips.
"Oi!" they all shouted back, whooping, cheering, and waving as the ship finally pulled up to the docks. The Straw Hats dropped anchor and raised the sails (which depicted a skull-and-crossbones wearing the captain's trademark straw hat). Then, the nine members disembarked, lowering a rope ladder to do so.
The crew, besides Lucy's brother, consisted of a very pretty red-haired girl with a weird compass-like object strapped to her wrist; a long-nosed, cowardly-looking man; a scary guy with a green bandanna and three swords; a black-haired woman carrying some books; a cute, blue-nosed racoon-dog thing that walked on two legs, wore a red hat, and sported a small set of antlers, and also carried a blue medicine bag; a spooky, afro-wearing skeleton in rock star clothes; a blue-haired man with huge biceps and tatoos of a star on either arm; and finally a blonde man with eyebrows that were so swirly, Lucy got dizzy just by looking at them. She understood these people to be Nami, Usopp (aka Sogeking), Roronoa Zoro, Nico Robin, Tony Tony Chopper, Brook, Franky, and Sanji respectively. Each of them were smiling and looked like very fun people.
Lucy couldn't stand it any longer. She ran out of the crowd and up to a very surprised captain/pirate king, embracing him in a warm hug.
"I can't believe I can finally meet you, big brother!" she said, crying a little, but with shining eyes.
"Wha- big brother?" asked the bewildered Luffy, who'd instinctively hugged her back.
Makino stepped forward from the crowd as well. "Yes, Luffy," she said. "While you were out at sea, your dad fathered another child, who is hugging you at this moment."
The crew all looked shocked at the news that Luffy had another sibling, but-slowly-their smiles returned. Wider, this time.
"This is wonderful, Captain!" said Robin, the archaeologist. "You have a new sister!"
Nami bent down to her knees so that she was eye-level with the new member of her captain's family. "What's your name?"
"I'm Monkey D. Lucy!" Lucy announced, wiping the tears from eyes. "I'm strong, too!"
"I-I've got a... sister?" Luffy stammered. He looked down at the little girl holding on to his knees, a blank look
Usopp laughed. "I think it needs more time to register."
The villagers roared in laughter along with the long-nosed weirdo.
"Welcome home, Luffy!" they said, pushing forward so that they could shake hands with the king of the pirates. Makino was the first to reach him, and recognition flashed in the captain's eyes.
"Makino! It's good to see you again!" he laughed and shook hands with her, able to do so since Lucy finally freed his legs. "Is it true? Do I really have a sister? And also, how's your bar going?"
The bartender wiped a tear of joy from the corner of her eye. "Yes, Lucy really is your sister! And the business is still booming, as usual!" She released the Pirate King's hand and stepped to the side, eager to meet his nakama-his beloved friends. Lucy had already picked up Chopper and was hugging tightly.
"Hey! Let me go!" the shy reindeer complained, causing the rest of the Straw Hats to erupt in laughter. Even Zoro, usually stoic-faced, managed a smile at the comical sight of their furry doctor flailing his arms and legs desperately.
"But you're sooooo cute!" the little girl giggled.
Behind her, the crowd had finally gotten their share of handshakes and autographs, but was now chanting, "Speech! Speech! Speech!"
Luffy smiled and nodded.
"I've had amazing adventures and met awesome people during the time I spent conquering the Grand Line and the New World," he began. "We faced a lot of tough enemies, but we managed to defeat them all, and at the end of that long road, discovered the ultimate treasure: the One Piece! I'd like to share all my experiences on the open sea with you all, and so tonight, I'll read from the log book Nami recorded our journey in... but I'll make it more interesting and story-like!"
Nami turned beet-red and conked her captain on his head, probably due to the fact that he'd called her recordings boring; This drew laughs from the residents of Foosha Village.
"Before that happens, however," Luffy continued, rubbing his head, "I have something else to say. I have thought about this for a long time, and am convinced it is the right thing to do. Especially now that I've found out I have a little sister."
The crowd held its breath, wondering what was coming.
"I have decided to quit piracy."
"WHAT?!" The villagers couldn't believe their ears. Luffy, who had always been so eager to go on adventures and discover new people and places, was now resigning from his post as pirate captain? And if that happened, then surely that meant that Luffy was putting the title of Pirate King up for once more!
His explanation quieted the murmurs of the crowd. "I've had an awesome time sailing the seas as king of the pirates, but I'm out of adventures now. I fought all the toughest guys already, and these days, nobody's willing to challenge me anymore. Also, because we Straw Hats found the One Piece, I've noticed that less and less pirates are setting sail on the seas. This troubles me. I believe it is because of the title of king now being taken away, and I now fear that the Great Pirate Age has ended."
The crowd muttered among themselves.
Luffy's speech was drawing to a close. "I hid the One Piece in a new location... on an island I discovered not too long after obtaining the treasure. I want the dreams of men everywhere rekindled! I want to see them once more sail the seas with vigor and enthusiasm, their hopes burning passionately in their hearts. By leaving the pirate throne up for the taking, I will have struck the match for men's hopes everywhere! If you want wealth, fame, and power-well, it's all yours! Good luck!" With these last words, the former Pirate King lowered his hand from his mouth, which Lucy only just realized had been covering it for the entierty of the speech.
The crowd was silent.
"Um... how do you plan on spreading the word?" someone spoke up.
Luffy winked coyly. "I have my ways, but it's a secret!" He placed something in his pocket and laughed. "My friends will stay the week, but then will set sail for their homelands." The crowd was once more silent, but then erupted in cheering.
"Come with us, Luffy!" shouted one man Lucy didn't recognize. "Let's paaaaarrrty!"
"Can't say no to food," the straw-hatted pirate conceded, and he followed the crowd up to the village, carrying Lucy on his back the whole way, with his crew close behind. It was new to him, having a sister, but he decided that he'd raise her to become a strong pirate, just like him. After all, he thought with a smile, she probably hates Marines anyway, after having Garp as a grandfather.
-Four Days Later-
Back on the Thousand Sunny, Luffy finally had a quiet moment. Nobody was begging him to tell them more of his adventures; No one was asking him to take them out in his ship; No one was even at the docks, clamoring to be with their hero for a few more seconds. It was peaceful, a feeling the ex Pirate King hadn't had for what seemed like months but was really only a few days.
By now he'd just finished telling the townsfolk his adventures up to Thriller Bark, and was wondering what he should include in the next saga of his story. Pondering this, he didn't even notice as a lone figure climbed the rope ladder that provided a way on to and off of the large brig sloop. It was Lucy, and she wanted a moment with her brother to herself.
"Oi, big bro!" She called, waving as her head appeared over the side of the ship.
"Eh?" Said man opened his eyes, for he'd closed them in thought, and looked for the owner of the voice. Finally spotting Lucy, he smiled and waved her over. "What's up, Luce?"
She jogged across the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny to where the captain sat in a lawnchair, a plate of Sanji's cooking piled high enough that it could fill ten people.
She stopped just in front of him and bowed. "Brother," she said, "I want to become a strong pirate like you! Even though I don't have Devil Fruit powers, I still aim to be the world's greatest pirate, especially now that you've stepped down from the king's throne."
"Big words from a little girl," the young man laughed.
She fumed. "I WILL BECOME PIRATE KING!" she shouted at her older brother, who snorted and rolled his eyes overdramatically.
"You can't become king," Luffy told her with a soft smile. "You're a girl. Girls don't become kings."
"Then I'll just become the pirate queen then!"
"Now that, you could manage. If you're strong."
"I'll become strong!" Lucy said, crying a little. "I promise! I'll become strong enough to beat even you some day, and I'll have a pirate crew even better than yours! We'll find the One Piece wherever you left it, and I will have the ultimate freedom!"
Luffy's smile grew bigger... so big that it seemed like it was stretching his face, which, when you're talking about a rubber man, is a likely possibility. "Is that so? Well in that case, you can have this." He took off his treasured straw hat, the one he got from Red-Haired Shanks so long ago, and placed it on his very surprised, younger sister's head. "This is a promise, Luce. You've gotta swear on your pride to try your hardest to achieve this goal, and once you do, I want you to return my hat to me. It's very important to me, and is my only treasure. It has a history of being given to some of the strongest pirates ever, so take good care of it. Also, to help you achieve your goal, I'll train you in the ways of fighting and pass down my abilities to you."
Lucy was speechless for a few moments before finally coming out of her stupor and hugging the hat to her chest, sniffling. "I-I promise on my p-pride and honor that I'll achieve my goal or die trying," she said, small tears dripping out of her eyes. "B-But what do you m-mean that you'll p-pass down your abilities to me?"
Her brother's eyes shown with excitement. "Franky found a way to take a Devil Fruit user's powers without killing the person, and replicate them, creating an identical fruit bestowing identical powers. This way, more than one person can have the same abilities at once. However, he his kept this a secret from everyone except me. You must promise not to tell anybody, or else the world could get extremely chaotic."
"Whoa! He found a way to do that? So that means I could be a rubber girl, but you could also be a rubber man?"
"Uh-huh."
"Cool! That guy's amazing!"
Straw Hat Luffy smiled and nodded. "That he is, Luce. That he is." He got up and walked over to a box that Lucy hadn't noticed before, a box with a red skull-and-crossbones on it, indicating danger. He opened the lid and brought out two strange objects: Weird-looking, completely identical fruits.
"Are those-"
"Yeah," Luffy said. "They're the two Gum-Gum Devil Fruits. By eating one, you'll have obtained all the power I did, and by eating the other, I'll have regained the powers I temporarily lost during the power-cloning process." He handed her one of the fruits and kept the other for himself.
Lucy shrugged. "Eh. I may as well eat, since it'll make me stronger and I can't swim anyway."
The siblings each took a bite of the fruits... which they instantly regretted. Lucy's face grew a sickly shade of green and she spat out, but not before managing to swallow some of the fruit.
It tasted horrible. It was the worst thing she'd ever eaten, including the grubs she'd snacked on that time when Grandpa Garp threw her in the jungle. Her stomach convulsed, threatening to throw up, but somehow Lucy quelled it's rebellion. Luffy himself was having an equally hard time eating it.
"Gah, I forgot how bad it tasted," he groaned, grabbing a glass of water from the table next to his lawnchair and drinking it all in one go.
"Are you sure this'll work?" Lucy wondered. "What if one of us gets the powers, but the other just stays normal?"
"Nah, it'll work," Luffy said, shaking his head. "Franky's inventions never fail."
They waited a few minutes to feel if any changes were happening in their bodies.
"I don't feel any different," Lucy finally said.
"Huh. Neither do I," Captain Luffy agreed, "but I wonder..."
"Wonder what?"
"Grab hold of my arm and pull back."
She complied and tugged on his arm, walking backwards as she did so. The ex-king's limb stretched as she did so, and he laughed. "See? Told ya it'd work! Now let's test it on you."
He did the same thing she'd done to him, and her arm stretched, too.
"Holy-" she said, jaw dropping. It felt really weird to have a part of her body expand in length like that for the first time. "It actually worked! I don't believe it!"
And thus, the greatest pirate ever, Straw Hat Lucy, was born.
I hope you enjoyed my story! Characters are welcome, though I'll only accept about three crew members; The rest will be people important to a story arc or a crew member's past, but not actually a part of Lucy's crew, like for instance, Vivi, Kaya, Nojiko, Pepper, Carrot, Onion, King Neptune, Arlong, etc. from the original One Piece story arcs. (These are just examples, not actual characters in this "many-years-later" kind of fanfic.) Villains are also welcome, as well as any plot twists you can think of. If you decide to add a character, you can fill out this form in your review:
Name:
Age:
Occupation (for non-crew-member):
Specialty (for crew member or villain):
Devil Fruit (If any):
Fighting Style/Weapons (if fights):
Moves:
Dream (for crew member or villain):
Appearance (be as detailed as possible, please):
-Scarred Pirates
P.S., be sure to review, as well as to read my other One Piece fanfic, which takes place during the actual anime series itself.