Chapter 1

"Now listen here, Luffy…"

Luffy took a step back as Nami pointed a finger in his face. Her gaze was as cold and heartless as a tiger's only twice as fierce as she gazed into the eyes of her captain. "You are to follow Zoro and I, and do not EVER leave our side, got it?" she warned in a menacing tone. Luffy's brows furrowed irritably. "No way! I wanna go on an adventure!" he rebelled. From behind them, Zoro fell clumsily off the ladder leading off Sunny, and landed with a rather loud thud on the wooden docks protruding from the small town ahead. However, Zoro was ignored as Nami reached out and grabbed Luffy's cheek.

"Oh no you won't! This town is only going to be a stocking trip, do you hear me?! You're lucky we're letting you come along at all!" she barked furiously. Luffy struggled under her grasp as Zoro staggered to his feet.

"Okay! Okay!" Luffy screeched, speech slurred due to his stretched lip. "Let me go!" Nami released his skin, causing it to snap back in place. "Besides," Nami added with a sigh. "Since this town is friendly toward pirates, I can already smell the trouble if we let you run off on your own. Zoro, you still have that paper?"

Zoro grimaced, bringing out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket. Nami left her captain's side and approached Zoro now, glancing at the written list in his hands. "Good. Is this everything?" she asked. Zoro nodded and handed the paper to Nami to be reviewed. "Yea, this is everything the others said they needed."

Nami's eyes scanned briefly over the paper. "Hm… Chopper and Sanji's list shouldn't be too hard. Usopp's is full of junk so we won't bother with his, and I don't believe this town has a shipyard, so finding lumber and nails for Franky might be difficult…" Nami commented. "What kind of pirate town doesn't have a shipyard?" Luffy blurted in slight surprise. Nami folded the paper again, tucking it away neatly in her pocket. "It can't be helped. I guess Guzen doesn't have many shipwrights. Now, let's head into town," she stated as she began to follow the docks toward the town with Luffy and Zoro close behind.

The town of Guzen was small, but still bustling with people, citizens and pirates alike. The town was made up of a series of neatly spaced stone structures, all of which looked similar in color and pattern. A large array of tropical plant species lined the streets, giving the town a very lively feel. In the backdrop, the land rose up with small mountains covered mostly in dense forests, whose lively green only lit up the bright blue sky even more. For it being the first town in the New World, this place certainly was a sight to behold.

"Whoa, this place is a pirate town?" Luffy gaped in awe, looking around at the lively plant life. "Hard to believe, isn't it? This place almost seems too peaceful," Nami retorted in a light laugh. "These people can probably handle their own, that'd be my guess," Zoro grunted, adding his two-cents to the conversation.

"That aside, where should we go first?" Nami asked, changing the subject. Zoro pointed down an alley way, which obviously ended in a dead end. "This way seems best," he stated. Nami began walking in the opposite direction, completely unfazed physically by Zoro's lack of directional (or any) sense. "We'll go this way then," she decided, taking a step off in her direction. Zoro growled angrily to himself. "Hey, are ya blind?! I said this way!" he hissed, stepped toward Nami, who merely glanced back in annoyance. "You're telling me?! You're the one trying to lead us down a dead end!" she shrieked. Zoro gritted his teeth irritably, but argued no further. "Oh, whatever…" he grumbled. He was about to step after Nami, when both of them froze in shock.

Their third voice hadn't spoken for a while, and the longer Nami and Zoro stood in place, the longer they realized that there were only two people in their little group. Where they're idiotic captain had been standing merely seconds ago, was absolutely nothing. Both Nami and Zoro's hearts sunk.

"THAT IDIOT!"

OoOoOo

"Yo! Bar-guy!"

At the indirect title given to him, the bartender stopped cleaning the glasses and turned to the new face taking a seat at his bar. The man knew this rookie's face well, but then again who wouldn't know the face of Monkey D. Luffy when his wanted poster was pretty much everywhere. However, as terrifying as it might be to see such a high-bounty pirate in his bar, the man was not fazed by him at all. He's seen more pirates than he can count, and very rarely does his little bar ever get into trouble with them, surprisingly so.

"Yea? What can I get ya today, kid," the man asked as he set his glass down on the counter and made his way over toward Luffy.

"I want whatever that is that smells good! And gimme a lot of it!" Luffy blurted, mouth already watering in anticipation. The bartender sniffed the air, slightly baffled by such a strange request. "Oh, that smells like our special turkey legs. I'll get that right out," he said, and then he disappeared behind the kitchen doors.

Now alone, Luffy took a look around him. Nothing in particular interested him in this shabby old bar, not even the people around him. He noticed a few eyes watching him with unease, but they didn't bother Luffy one bit.

All of a sudden, the swinging doors to the bar swung open rather violently. Standing inside the doorway was Nami with Zoro close behind. Upon spotting her captain, Nami proceeded to storm up to him, fists clenched in irritation. Luffy turned to see what was happening just in time to be whacked over the head by Nami's fist. His head stretched down from the force, and quickly rebounded back in place. He glared at Nami in bewilderment. "Hey! What was that for?!" he wailed.

"You idiot! Didn't I not tell you 10 minutes ago not to leave our side?!" Nami shrieked, ignoring Luffy's question completely. Luffy adjusted his hat. "But I was hungry! And this place smelled so good!" he stated.

"When are you not hungry?!" Nami hissed, grabbing onto his cheek again. "Come on, where leaving!"

Luffy grabbed onto the bar as Nami pulled onto his rubber cheek. "But I already ordered!" he whined.

"Hey! I'll take a glass of some booze, just whatever's fine," Zoro stated as the Bartender emerged from the kitchen with Luffy's food. "Zoro! Not you too!" Nami growled. The man exchanged glances with both of the new faces before him. "I see you brought your friends along," he stated with a laugh as he set the food down. Luffy ignored him, and began digging into his food as Nami released him in defeat. She took the seat next to Luffy and rested her chin in the palm of her hand irritably.

"Can I get you anything, young lady?" the bartender inquired as he began filling a glass for Zoro. "No, I'm good," Nami sighed in return.

"Pardon me, Barkeep," a new voice sounded from farther down the line of stools, one Nami had not heard since entering this place. The voice was smooth with a thick accent, which immediately drew her attention toward two younger men sitting a few stools down. Upon setting the glass in front of Zoro, the bartender made his way toward these two men. "Hello there, what can I get you boys today?"

"Two ales please, the cheapest you have if you don't mind," the same man said, placing a wrinkled bill on the table. For some reason, Nami found it difficult to look away from these men. Something about them was not right, but not in a bad way. The one who had been speaking seemed a little older than the other. He had medium-length, light blonde hair that went down to his jaw line. He wore a tattered red captain's cloak over his shoulders, which was decorated with glittering gold buckles and buttons. Under that, he wore a simple white dress shirt with a tie and some tan pants which were tucked into a pair of black leather boots. But the part of him that really caught Nami's attention was his face. Aside from his ridiculously thick eyebrows, the man's face was covered in scars and stitches, and over his right eye was an eye patch.

The other younger man looked a little different. His hair was a tad darker, and his bangs hung more over his eyes than the other, not to mention he had a stubborn cowlick sticking straight up from the center of his hairline. Over his eyes sat a pair of thinly-rimmed glasses which brought out the unusual blue color of his pupils. He wore a similar white dress shirt with a black vest over top. His pants were a dark brown, much like his steel-toed boots. And hanging from his neck was a simple leather cowboy hat.

The longer Nami watched them, the more she felt like they didn't belong here. It was a strange feeling alright, because it wasn't a threatening feeling at all. Only when the older man's gaze locked onto her did she realize she had been staring, and she quickly looked away in embarrassment. Out of the corner of her eye, she could just make out the blue gaze of the other man fall upon her. "Dude..." she heard him murmur quietly to his friend. His voice was a little nasally, and it lacked the strange accent that the other man had. "I know…" the other man grunted. Nami knew they were referring to her staring.

"So, what brings a couple of newbie's like yourselves to this part of the Grand Line?" the bartender asked, breaking the tension between them. He placed the two glasses before them and took the bill off the counter. "We were trying to find our way home, but we kinda ran into some marine's and wrecked our ride," the younger man replied with an embarrassed laugh.

"Well, I'm sorry to inform you, but there's not a shipyard on this island," the bartender replied, returning to his previous duties of cleaning the glasses. "Oh, bugger…" the older pirate cursed. "Do you live around here somewhere?" the bartender asked, keeping his line of questions coming. It would seem Nami wasn't the only one intrigued by these mysterious pirates.

"Not exactly…" the older pirate responded flatly. The bartender tilted his head, slightly confused. "Are you lost then?" he wondered.

"Well… you can say that," the younger man replied, being extremely hesitant in his response.

"What island are you from? Maybe I can help," the bartender offered. Nami could see just how uneasy this made the two pirates, though that factor only confused her. Why were they so hesitant in their answer?

"You aren't familiar with our hometowns," the older one stated darkly. However, the bartender didn't pick up on their strange shift in tone. "I doubt that! No island fools this old man. I may just be a barkeeper, but I know of a lot of places," he stated with a fairly large grin.

"Alright then… have you heard of Britain or America?" the older man challenged with a menacing glare. A thick silence fell over the three. Nami had to admit, not even she recognized these places. The bartender let out a deep laugh. "Alright, I admit defeat. Never heard of them. What part of the sea do they sit? North, West, South… or is it here in the New World?"

"They're not in this world at all," the older pirate stated. Another dreadful moment of silence. Nami couldn't believe what she had just heard. These men were from another world? This was either the world's most ridiculous lie, or something far beyond her own expectations. Suddenly, just everyone in the bar burst out in laughter, everyone except for the two men, and the Straw Hats.

"Oh, please! Another World?! Something like that is just too good to be true!" a voice from the crowd bellowed.

"Yea, try coming up with a more believable lie next time!"

Suddenly, the younger of the two leapt to his feet, knocking over his stool as he spun around with a snarling face to the people behind him. "It's true! These places actually exist! We don't know how we got here, but we need to get home!" he shouted with a face as red as a cherry. The bar continued to laugh, and Nami couldn't help but to notice how trapped the two men looked.

"I'm sorry, Kid… but if something like that was real, then wouldn't the government have used it by now? It just sounds fishy," the bartender chuckled. The younger pirate took a reluctant step back, disbelief was written all over his face. "Not again…" he whimpered quietly. Nami would have missed it if she had not been paying attention to him. "Just give it up… no one will ever believe us," the other man murmured back.

All of a sudden, a chair scraped across the floor, creating a gruesome sound over the mocking laughter that filled the air. The sound was relatively close to Nami, and she realized what, or rather who it was just a second too late.

"I believe him."

Nami whipped her head around to glare at her captain in disbelief as he now stood next to his stool, glaring in annoyance at the rest of the crowd. It didn't take long for the laughter to return, only this time it was much louder. Nami couldn't help to notice as the two pirates' gazes fell upon him in awe.

"Is this kid serious?"

"What an idiot!"

"YOU SHUT YOU MOUTHES!" Luffy roared, sending a small wave of haki through the crowd. Nami's gut churned uncomfortably as a few innocent citizens collapsed to the floor. The Bartender's gaze fell upon the rubber man with slight anger. "Hey! There'll be no fighting in my bar…" he warned.

"I don't care! I'll beat every last one of ya int—OW!" Luffy's sentence was cut short as Nami and Zoro stepped into the scene. Nami cuffed her hand over his mouth as Zoro took him by the arms. "Idiot! Keep your mouth shut! This is no reason to get into a fight!" Nami hissed. She then turned toward the bartender with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry mister, he can get carried away. We'll take him away from here right away."

Immediately after, Nami and Zoro proceeded to drag Luffy across the floor and out the doors until they were a good ways away from the bar, the whole time Luffy was thrashing and cursing up a storm. When they finally stopped, he leapt to his feet, teeth bared in fury. "What the big idea, guys?!" he demanded.

"That's what we should be asking you! Just what did you think you would accomplish!?" Nami barked.

"But they were laughing at them!" Luffy retorted. "And they were telling the truth! I know it!"

"Something like that is too farfetched to be real!" Zoro corrected angrily.

Nami fell silent with a sigh. "Well, that was the thing. They didn't seem like they were lying, but how could something like that be real?" she wondered aloud. "You believed them too?!" Zoro gasped.

"I'm not saying I believe them!" Nami countered. "But I don't disbelieve them either." The three were quiet as they started to settle down a bit. Nami was the first to move on ahead.

"Let's just do our shopping. This is something better left to someone else."

OoOoOo

"'Sorcerer' Arthur Kirkland, ninety million berries," Nami read the words on the Wanted poster aloud. Behind her, Luffy and Zoro tugged along crate-fulls of supplies as the three of them headed back toward Sunny. The sun was just starting to dip over the mountains in the distance, indicating that it was just barely evening. And since the log pose was set on a new island, the crew was ready to set off toward their next adventure. As Nami read the words, Zoro furrowed his brow. "I thought you told us to forget about those pirates…" he challenged.

However, Nami ignored Zoro and kept reading. "It says here that Arthur's only been active for two years. It also states that he has a weird ability not known whether to be a devil fruit or some other supernatural ability unknown to our sciences today. It doesn't say much else about him, though," she stated. "Like I said, who cares!? Those pirates are none of our business!" Zoro growled again.

"Oh, come on! Don't they seem weird to you? I'm just reading up on him, that's all," Nami defended. "And pick up the pace! The others are waiting for us!" The three continued in silence for a few moments more. The whole time, Nami's eyes were fixated in Arthur's Wanted poster.

"There they are! I told you we'd find 'em eventually!" a familiar voice called out from a distance. The three Straw Hats paused abruptly, glancing back down the road only to find the two pirates standing at the end. The younger one was ahead, waving his arm for the three to wait. "Hey! You with the straw hat! Wait for us, dude!" he shouted.

"Speak of the devil…" Zoro grunted. Nami folded the wanted poster and tucked it into her pocket.

"Hey! Long time no see!" Luffy called back. The young boy tugged on Arthur's arm, who looked less than happy to see the Straw Hats again, much unlike his friend who looked way too enthusiastic. "Come on, Artie… move your ass!" he growled as he approached the three pirates. "And why should I? It's not like I want to see their filthy faces again…" Arthur hissed.

"What do you want…" Zoro scoffed, eyeing them suspiciously.

"We just wanted to Thank you guys!" the younger pirate stated with a bright smile. It would seem he didn't pick up on Zoro threatening glare one bit.

"For what?!" Zoro spat sourly. The young man's smile immediately simmered out. "Well, for standing up for us," he murmured in reply.

"You'll have to forgive my friend here. He can get carried away sometimes," Arthur sighed, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"What're you apologizing for? Zoro's just being a grumpy-pants today!" Luffy laughed. Zoro shot an annoyed glance at his captain, but remained silent.

"Zoro, huh? So you are the infamous Straw Hat pirates we've heard so much about," Arthur stated, his voice peaked with interest. Luffy's smile stretched even further as he let out a few chuckles of laughter. "Yep! I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who will be the pirate king!" he boasted proudly, giving Arthur and his friend the same lecture he gave just about everyone. At his words, Arthur's thick brows furrowed uncomfortably. However, Luffy received a polar opposite reaction from the younger pirate. "Pirate King?!" he gasped, blue eyes sparkling in absolute awe. "Are you really that strong?"

"I will be once I get to the One Piece!" Luffy stated with a proud smirk. However, while this younger pirate was busy admiring Luffy, Nami decided to step into the conversation. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't believe you introduced yourselves," she inquired politely.

"Oh, you mean you haven't heard of me before? My name is Arthur Kirkland, and this here…" Arthur explained, gesturing to the younger lad. "… is my friend Alfred Jones."

"Alfred F. Jones! You forgot the F again, Artie!" Alfred screeched.

"Those are unusual names," Nami pointed out.

"Well, like you may have heard back at the bar, we aren't from here. They're actually pretty common names where we come from," Arthur retorted almost hesitantly. This was the part of their conversation Nami was waiting to hear. "Are you two really from a different world?" she asked.

Arthur was silent for a long moment. The look on his face almost seemed painful in a way, like a trapped animal waiting for the slaughter. After what felt like an eternity, Arthur sighed heavily. "I'll leave that much up to you."

Nami mentally grimaced at his response, not exactly what she was hoping for. However, their little meeting was cut short as Arthur began walking away. Even Alfred watched him in slight confusion. "C'mon Alfred. You got to thank them. We should be getting back to our ship now," Arthur said with a gesture for his friend to follow. Alfred hesitated for a moment, briefly glancing back at the three Straw Hats behind him. When Arthur didn't stop to wait, Alfred decided it was best to follow his captain.

"Thanks again, Straw Hat! For everything!" Alfred called out, pausing briefly to wave at his newfound friends.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Luffy blurted suddenly. Both Arthur and Alfred halted and glanced back at them. "You guys said you're ship was broken didn't you?" Luffy continued.

"Yea, that's right," Arthur stated.

Nami mentally groaned at the offer she knew her captain was about to make; she knew it only meant they were stuck on this island for that much longer.

"Why don't you come back with us! I'll have Franky patch up your ship in no time flat! He's the best shipwright ever!" Luffy offered.

Both Arthur and Alfred blinked slowly in confusion. "Really? How much?" Alfred finally spoke up.

"Don't worry about the cost! You guys seem like nice people, I want to help!" Luffy responded, which was quickly followed by Nami's fist. "Free my ass!" she hissed. "Just let it go…" Zoro sighed.

Arthur and Alfred looked as astonished as ever, as if no one had ever been this kind to them in a long time. Luffy began to run back toward the ship, waving is arm as a gesture for them to follow. "C'mon! I'll introduce you to my crew and everything! It'll be great!" he laughed before bolting off once more. The others stayed in place for a brief moment.

"Are you going to take up this offer? Cause I can guarantee next time it won't be free," Nami asked in an unusually sweet voice. A small smiled crossed Arthur's lips. "I suppose there'd be no use in turning it down," Arthur pointed out as he made his way toward Nami and Zoro once more with Alfred close behind.

"He certainly is a lively one, that captain of yours," Arthur added.

Zoro grunted in amusement. "You have no idea."

OoOoOo

"I wonder what's taking everyone so long," Brook wondered aloud as he watched the sun dip slowly over the mountain. By this point, the sky was painted a beautiful array of scarlet reds and golden yellows in the breathtaking sunset. He brought his tea up to the bones of his teeth and gulped down another mouthful of this refreshing beverage. He wasn't the only one who found their timing strange; in fact, everyone was sitting out on the lawn deck waiting for their crew-mates' return.

"What if they got into a fight?" Robin suggested calmly. At her response, Usopp had a miniature heart attack. "Don't say that Robin! You're going to jinx us!" he cried.

"I wouldn't be too worried about that idiot. I'm sure Luffy can hold his own," Sanji grimaced. "It's that Moss-head that'll be a pain in the ass."

"Yea, but you seem to forget that this is the New World. There are probably pirates even on this island that could beat Luffy by just sneezing on him," Franky pointed out. From the railing where he sat, Chopper spun around abruptly in fear. "Really?!" he shrieked. "There are pirates that can do that?"

Franky scratched his head with his abnormally large hands. "Well, probably. The New World is full of super guys like that," he retorted. Chopper turned back toward the empty docks, tears welling up in his eyes. "Luffy! Don't die!" he wailed out in horror.

"They probably ran into trouble finding some supplies, you know… with all the junk Usopp wrote down," Sanji huffed. "Hey! It's not junk! That stuff is for my awesome Usopp workshop I'll have you know!" Usopp defended angrily.

"Ah! Here they come!" Brook sang cheerily. Chopper's tearful face immediately snapped to sheer happiness upon spotting their three friends emerging from the plethora of buildings with the crates of supplies they needed.

Usopp sighed deeply in relief as he noticed none of them were covered in wounds or bandages of any sort. "Luffy! We've been waiting for you!" Chopper called out in excitement. Just then, the small group of three became five as two more unfamiliar faces emerged with them.

"Looks like we have company…" Sanji grunted.

Luffy waved back at his friends as the approached. "Hey guys! We brought some friends!" he called back, equally excited.

"Did he say friends?" Usopp asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at the two newcomers. "It would seem he did," Robin giggled in amusement.

"Don't tell me…" Sanji groaned.

"These guys are our new crew-mates! Meet Eyebrows and Mr. Cowlick!" Luffy introduced with a silly grin. Before anymore words were exchanged, Zoro hoisted himself from the ladder with both crates in hand. "Don't take him seriously, they aren't staying," he stated quickly.

"Pardon me?! We did not agree to such a thing! And that's not our names you twit!" Arthur screeched. Alfred's boisterous laughter filled the air. "Dude! He called you Eyebrows!"

"It's not funny!" Arthur shrieked, pinching Alfred's cheek angrily.

"If you don't mind me asking, if you two aren't staying, then what brings you to our lively ship?" Brook asked curiously. However, he did not get the response he wanted as Alfred's eye practically bulged from his head in sheer terror. Even Arthur looked a bit stunned by Brook's appearance. In a flurry of panic, Alfred began running in crazed circled on the small deck, tears streaming down his face "What the hell! The skeleton is talking… THE SKELETON IS TALKING, MAN!" he howled in fear.

"I see that… the work of a devil fruit, I presume?" Arthur stated a lot more calmly than Alfred. Brook's joyous laughter filled the air. "Yes! You are correct, Mr. Eyebrows!" he beamed. "For cryin' out loud! That's not my name! I'm Arthur! Ar-thur!" Arthur corrected, face bright red in anger. Alfred's terror calmed down a bit as he cowered behind Arthur. From the ladder where he sat, Luffy stretched his arm out, wrapping both pirates in his rubbery grasp. "Come on! Don't be shy!" he shouted.

Again, the two gaped in shock at Luffy's stretching limb. If anything, this crew certainly gave Arthur and Alfred a larger dose of shock than they were used to on a daily basis. Both pirates were flung off the planks of the dock in an instant and crashed roughly on the soft grass of the lawn deck. Immediately, Arthur hoisted himself up, glaring angrily at Luffy. "What are you doing, idiot?! We'll just end up back on the docks anyways! We're here to fix our ship, remember?" he snarled.

"Oh? Your ship needs fixing?" Franky inquired. Arthur's breath hitched in his throat as his gaze fell upon Franky.

"Yea! Do you wanna fix it for them, Franky?" Luffy answered in place of Arthur.

Alfred finally dragged himself to a sitting position, staring in awe at Franky's more than unusual body.

"Sure thing!" Franky stated with a large grin.

"You've got a robot too? What the hell's up with your weird ass crew, man?!" Alfred proclaimed as he took a good look around at the people surrounding him.

"How rude!" Franky huffed. "I'm obviously a cyborg!"

"Well, I certainly don't see any human in you…" Arthur commented.

"Never mind that! Which way is your ship? I'll have it patched up and ready to go by midnight," Franky asked, changing the subject.

"We docked our ship on the abandoned shore, in that dir—"

As Arthur pointed to the northeast side of the island, he paused mid-sentence. His outstretched arm went frigid and his blood ran cold. Following the path which his own finger led to, rising up from the shore beyond the trees, was a thick pillar of smoke which flickered with a sickening orange glow, most likely indicating a fire.

"You mean where that huge pillar of smoke is coming from…?" Usopp deadpanned uncomfortably. Arthur was beginning to panic as he gazed at the smoke in disbelief. As much as he wanted to believe that it was just a random flame, there was nothing else that it could be but it own ship. "Artie…" Alfred said in a quivering voice.

All of a sudden, Arthur burst from the ground, leaping over the rail of the Sunny and landing smoothly back on the docks again, quickly taking off in a sprint toward the horrifying site. Alfred was quick to follow his captain's lead, and without saying a word, both were gone.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Sanji groaned, exhaling the smoke from his cigarette.

Luffy turned toward Franky anger glowed in his eyes. "Franky! Come with me!" he ordered as he took off running after the two pirates. With an understanding nod, Franky took off alongside him. The two took off running through the town, drawing in a lot of attention. Even though they could no longer see Alfred and Arthur, the cloud of smoke was keeping them on the right track. They passed through the town in a matter of minutes, not stopping once until they broke through the line of trees at the shore where Arthur had docked what once used to be his ship. Now, all that sat in the water was a burning heap of charred wood. Arthur and Alfred stood in the water of the shore, frozen in disbelief.

Luffy was furious, but managed to keep his anger bottled up for the moment as he watched Arthur from where he stood. "Our boat…" Alfred whimpered. Suddenly, Arthur collapsed to his knees, eyes wide in a mixture of terror and rage as he watched what was left of his ship continue to burn. "Who would do such a thing…?" he breathed shakily. The water from the sea soaked through his pants and cloak, but that was the least of Arthur's concerns at the moment.

"My crew… our home… what the hell?!" he roared. Arthur punched the sand beneath the water, causing the salt water to splash up into his face. His teeth bared in a snarl as tears formed in his eyes. "Damn it! Now how are we going to find our way home?! I swear I'll kill the bastard who did this!" he cursed.

Franky watched as his captain approached Arthur slowly. At the sound of his sandals crunching in the sand, Arthur's gaze whipped back toward him. "And what are you staring at?! Go away, Straw Hat… we don't need your pity!" he snarled.

"Arthur!" Alfred gasped.

"I'm not here to give you pity, Eyebrows," Luffy grunted darkly. Arthur's face twisted in anger. "Then what do you want?" he muttered. Luffy's gaze was as blank and unreadable as an empty notebook, despite the uncontrollable rage built up inside. "I want to help you," he stated.

"You want to help us?!" Arthur yowled. "How can you help us when you don't even know who we are? Or where we came from?! You don't even know us, and you want to help us?! I've never heard such idiocy in my entire life, from a pirate especially!"

"You're right… I don't know anything about you guys," Luffy said, keeping the same serious tone. Arthur's breath hitched in his throat. "I don't know if you're good guys or bad guys… I don't know your story and honestly I don't care to. But I know the face of a man who's telling the truth, and I'd hate to see your dream die here with your ship."

Arthur's face loosened up in awe at Luffy's words.

"I promise I will take you back to your home."

Author's Note:

Argh! Sorry the last part is so cheesy! I had a better plan for that last scene a while ago, but I seemed to have lost and forgotten it. I hope the characters are all staying in character for the most part without making the storyline awkward.

Thanks for reading! And I apologize for mistakes; I will fix them whenever I find them.