"Luffy and His Riddle"
(c) Mei Evelyn
A One Piece Fanfiction
One Piece (c) Eiichiro Oda
Ch. 2: Coby
I must be the biggest loser in the world. I get scared easily, and often at that. I want to be a marine, but why am I so weak? I'm even scared of a woman. A really ugly fat woman to make it worse. I had thought I would never escape that hell of Alvida's ship. I had thought it was the end for my dream the first moment I stepped on that bloody ship. The end of my entire life. It never crossed my mind that I would be able to writhe myself out of Alvida's fatty hand.
That is what I had believed. Until I met Luffy. My first impression of him was that that guy is very reckless. And careless no doubt. It is clearly seen on his goofy smile he always wears. And very optimist, crystal clear from every word he voices, he is the exact opposite of me. At first I thought he is just plain stupid, especially when he encountered Alvida, calling her an ugly fat old woman head on. But maybe, somehow, Luffy's stupidity has infected my mind, as I was screaming the ugly words to Alvida as well, though I was shaking with fear of death.
Everything on that day went in a flash as I recalled the events. I can recall Luffy's body streched so far as if he were made of rubber—which turns out to be true—, then he beat the pirates of Alvida, until he finally threw Alvida off the ship. I felt like dreaming, though I knew it was real. I'm out of the hell.
And then here I am, sailing with Luffy on a pretty small boat. Insane is my next impression on him when he declares that he wants to recruit Zoro "the bounty hunter" as his crew. Everything about Luffy is very stunning for me.
"Hey, Luffy-san." I look up to see him.
"Hm? What is it, Coby? Are you hungry?" he says.
"That's not it, Luffy-san. Can you be more serious?" I say.
"I'm being serious, Coby. So, what's the matter?" he counters.
"I just wonder, why did you decide to be a pirate, Luffy-san?" I wonder. Honestly, I think that Luffy is a good guy, and it becomes really hard to imagine him playing pirate, a bad-guy role as I believe all these time.
He stares at me for some time, until he speaks up, "I decided to be a pirate because I want to be one. Isn't that obvious? Coby, are you stupid?"
"I know that, of course! And I'm not stupid, Luffy-san!" I rage at him. But he laughs nonetheless.
"Shishishi. Easy, easy, Coby. So, you wonder why I want to be pirate, right?" Luffy asks me back.
"Yes, Luffy-san. That's what I meant earlier."
"I met a man, Coby. He's a pirate, up 'till now. And I promised him that I will find One Piece and become the Pirate King. This strawhat was his, he said it was his treasure, but he gave me anyway," Luffy explains as he holds onto his hat dearly. His eyes seem to wander, most likely recalling the memories of that man. I can sense that this man is his biggest motivation to sail under a pirate flag, though he doesn't have one yet.
Once again I'm stunned by him. His dream is rooted from one promise, and he holds it all these years. Every time I catch Luffy's eyes, whatever mind state he's in, I always can see determination shines brightly. I envy that kind of eyes.
Silent falls on us, only the brief sound of waves lapping beside our boat. I notice that Luffy cannot stand long silence, as he puts back his hat on and says, "Say, Coby. What makes us a good man?"
I'm strucked by that question for awhile, can't believe that such question comes from the silly guy with silly smile. It takes me some time to answer, "I think good guys are those that don't do crime. Well, to be honest, I don't have clear answer for that. What do you think, Luffy-san?"
"Is that so? If that's your stand, Coby, it means you just befriend a bad guy, you know?" Luffy says.
I just stare at him, confused at his statement. He raises one eyebrow and says, "What, you don't understand? See, Coby. I'm a pirate, and a pirate is criminal, get it?" he says it like it is the most obvious thing, slightly mocking me stupid.
But that statement catches me off-guards, to the point I ignore his mocking at me. I never consider Luffy as a bad guy, not the slightest. He is stupid, for the most part. And apparently has a perfect goofy smile and free loud laugh to match his attitude. Within my entire encounter with him, I always look up at him as a carefree guy. He is a good guy, definitely. But then it has shaken my view of a good man.
To think it again, he indeed wants to see that bounty hunter guy, saying that if he were strong, he will be in his boat as a crew, saying that he might be a good guy despite being arrested in a marine station. I can say that my view of a good man begins to shake. The final push is when we find the famous swordsman, knowing the truth behind his arrest. The question sure leads me into long reconsideration.
Long story cut short, Luffy finally has Zoro on his crew, he takes down Morgan, and he even helps me to get into the marine. I watch as Luffy and Zoro sail back into the sea, saluting them as my gratitude for everything.
When night comes, in my given room in the marine station, I find myself wondering the question Luffy has planted into my mind. What makes someone worth to be called a good man? I think they are the ones who don't do crimes, but then pirates are criminals. Does that mean Luffy is not a good guy? I suddenly doubt my belief all these time. I begin to question myself about everything I believe.
But then where does that idea come from? That a good guy is one that doesn't do crime. My mind gets only two answers. The Marine and the World Government. It's all because they make the 'standard' of everything, one of it being pirates are criminals. Before all these complicated thoughts, I trusted marine as a place of good guys. But Morgan proved me wrong. And Luffy is the main reason that my thought has been flipped upside down.
I stare out to the sea from my closed window-glass. I wonder how Luffy is doing with Zoro. I consider our relationship as a weird one. I once was dreaming to be a marine, and one certain strawhat that declared himself as a pirate helped me to achieve the first step towards that dream. A marine and a pirate that befriend. What a laughable situation. I wish someday I can meet Luffy again. I wonder if I would have the clear answer by then.
Seriously, I wonder too much recently that it sends me headache. Luffy must never get a headache, that I'm sure. He is stupid after all. A stupid strawhat pirate that dreams of becoming a Pirate King, the person who has my full respect and admiration on him. I will fight to reach my dream as well. To prepare myself to have a proper face-off with him, as a marine and a pirate. I will fight for it, Luffy-san! Just wait!
Next chapter: Zoro
Unimportant side question: Do you think Coby will fight Luffy someday? I mean like fight in a battle, like how Luffy always fight the villains? I honestly don't think so. Because they hold respect for each other, they befriend one another, especially Coby who is admiring Luffy to say the least. And I think Oda create Coby's character and even introduce him at the very beginning of the series, even before the almighty first mate, to fulfil a special purpose: to become a new admiral after Luffy defeats Akainu AND after he creates the new world (i mean literally) after he discovers the mystery of Void Century and reveals the secret of World Government. Oda once said that from the beginning he already had the end of One Piece in his mind, so Coby's existence in the early story is highly likely to fulfill that sole purpose. Luffy is someone that gives Coby encouragement to reach his dream, and since Luffy is someone that won't bother with complex stuff like in government or marine, and he doesn't like to rule the world (he just wants all the meats and adventures), so he might as well let Coby be the new admiral, considering that Garp will fully retire from marine. There goes my long thoughtful theory. Whatca think, guys?
04/10/2016
Edited: 05/06/2016 (for grammar fixing, because a kind Guest pointed it out for me. To be honest, I was contemplating so hard about the suitable grammar for this one, that I went fixing the story several times. I'm deeply sorry if you still find mistakes, please tell me if you do find any, I'm trying my best to write so the readers may enjoy the story. Thank you.)
-Mei Evelyn
