Chapter 3
Luffy arrived at the base. 'That's weird, there are no marines around,' he thought.
That in itself was suspicious, he couldn't hear any marching, yelling of orders or combat practice; there was nothing. It was like they'd just abandoned their base, a marine base with no marines was extremely unlikely.
Coby arrived two minutes after Luffy. "Luffy…you…can't…just…run…up…to…a marine base," he said between breaths.
Luffy ignored him; he had already climbed the wall and looked into the base.
"Are you Listening?" Coby yelled angrily.
"Oi Coby who's that?" Luffy asked, ignoring his earlier comment.
Coby sighed and climbed the wall. He looked into the bases courtyard and what he saw made his blood run cold and body stiffen in fear.
There in the courtyard was a man tied to a post. He was wearing dark green pants, a white shirt, a light green sash across his waist and a dark green bandana.
"Th…Th..that's Roronoa Zoro, the pirate hunter." CobysCoby's voice was filled with fear.
"Zoro, is he strong?" asked Luffy in a neutral tone.
"Strong? He's a monster, they say he's a demon in human form, and if you look into his eyes he'll send your soul straight to hell," Coby said, terrified.
Zoro looked up at the intruders. "Hey you two." He glared at them.;
Coby started shaking but Luffy remained unaffected by the glare.
"You're an eyesore, get lost," Zoro said.
Coby was shaking in fear and was on the verge of crying. "Hey Luffy, let's get out of here while we can," Coby suggested.
A ladder suddenly appeared next to Coby and a small girl climbed up. Ignoring Luffy and Coby she checked to see if the coast was clear before she dropped down into the courtyard and ran over to Zoro.
"Oh no," Coby panicked, "she'll be killed, Luffy save her quick!"
He begged But Luffy was far more interested in what was happening in the courtyard.
The girl was now in front of Zoro, with a small unwrapped bundle in her hands. Inside was reviling three3 rice balls.
"I thought you might be hungry so I made you some rice balls," she said happily, holding them out with pride.
Zoro glared. "Go away I don't need your help. If you don't leave I'll kill you." He threatened, but there was no hate in his voice.
"Now, now Zoro no need to be rude. She's only a little girl after all." said a voice that came from the other side of the courtyard.
A man with blond hair wearing in an expensive suit and shoes, He had walked right up to Zoro and the girl followed by two marine bodyguards flaking him. He had walked right up to Zoro and the girl.
"Helmeppo!" the girl shouted in surprise, she was shaking in fear at the sight of him.
Zoro glared at him and said, "You." Unlike when he was threatening the girl, this time his voice was full of hate and malice.
"Hmm what have we here? Are you helping this criminal little girl?" Helmeppo asked.
"Oi! you bastard leave her alone, I just told her to piss off," Zoro said.
"Ah but she's brought a snack." Helmeppo grabbed one of the rice balls. "It would be rude not to at least try one don't you agree?"
Zoro didn't respond he just stood there silently, he watched Helmeppo and tracked his movements never, taking his eyes off him.
Helmeppo took a bite out of the rice ball and his face quickly turned sour.
"Blagh," he spat out and threw the rest of it on the ground. "Disgusting why did you put sugar in that? You're supposed to use salt," Helmeppo yelled at the girl.
"I..I..I thought it taste better if it was sweet,." she said in a small voice, she was now terrified.
"Here's what I think of your sweets," Helmeppo said. He knocked the rest of the rice balls on the ground and stomped on them until they were covered in dirt.
"Throw this girl out," he ordered.
"Sir?" one of the marines behind him asked.
"You heard me, pick her up and toss her over the wall!" Helmeppo clarified.
"But she's just a child, surely we can just escort her off the base," the marine said. He was not thrilled about tossing a small child anywhere.
Helmeppo grabbed the marine by the shirt collar. "Listen here I am the son of the great Captain Morgaen, if you don't throw her out right now I'll tell on you to my daddy."
The marine gulped at that, and picked up the girl and walked closer to the wall.
"I'm sorry," he whispered before he threw her over the wall.
The girl screamed as she flew through the air,; but before she could hit the ground, Luffy jumped and caught her, using his body to shield her from the impact of the fall.
Coby dropped down and came over to see if they were hurt, thankfully neither of them were but the girl was in shock; she grabbed Luffy, hugging him and crying into his vest using him as a safety blanket.
Once the girl had calmed down, Coby offered to take her home, and Luffy agreed, but he needed to do something first.
He climbed back on the wall, thankfully Helmeppo was gone; Luffy dropped down and walked over to Zoro.
"So are you a bad guy?" Luffy asked.
"Why are you still here?" Zoro asked back.
"You're being publicly humiliated. You must be strong," Luffy said.
"Mind your own business, kid," Zoro growled.
"You know, if it was me, I would've escaped in three3 days, may be less," Luffy boasted with a big grin on his face.
"Well I'm not you. I'll survive and show these bastards what a real man is,." Zoro claimed, he was filled with confidence.
Luffy smiled and looked at him thoughtfully.
"Kid, why are you here in town?" Zoro asked curiously.
"I'm looking for a crew," Luffy answered.
"A crew, what for?"
"To sail to the Grand Line, I'm going to be the Pirate King," Luffy boasted loudly.
Zoro looked at him dumbstruck; neither of them said anything until Zoro burst out with laughter.
Luffy frowned.
"You, the pirate king?" Zoro started. "A Scrawny kid like you? Oh that's the best joke I've heard all year. I bet you thought to ask me on your crew right? Well sorry to disappoint you, kid, but I'm not interested, why anyone would want to follow you is beyond me."
"Well I haven't decided if you're worthy to be on my crew yet," Luffy said.
"Wait what?" Zoro asked confused.
"My crew has to be the best. After all they'll be the pirate king's crew, so anything less would make me look bad," Luffy explained. "Besides you're a little tied up at the moment."
"ARE YOU MOCKING ME?" Zoro yelled angrily.
"Well, see ya," Luffy said, as he walked back to the wall and climbed over it.
Zoro watched him go. He replayed the conversation he just had in his head, this kid was looking for the best and he had to admit that he had a point. The pirate king would have to have the greatest crew in the world, after all that kid would need all the help he could get.
'I wonder if he has a swordsman on his crew,' Zoro thought.
Luffy and Coby took the girl home; she had introduced herself as Rika and her mother owned a bar in town.
Rika told Luffy and Coby about Zoro, and it was her fault he got caught by the marines. Captain Morgan is in charge of this island's marine base and he rules the island like a dictator, he forces all citizens to pay him outrageous taxes and anyone who can't pay or questions his authority is arrested and executed.
His son Hellemeppo is no better; he leeches off his father's authority and no one wants to anger him, so the town's people just let him do what he wants.
One day, Helmeppo came into Rika's bar and brought his pet wolf with him, his wolf began biting customers, eating their food and destroying tables; Rika had tried to stop the wolf by hitting it with a broom but it attacked her; Zorro had killed the wolf to save her before he threw a bar stool at Helimeppo's face.
Helmeppo had told Zoro that he and Rika were now criminals for attacking him and his pet, and would be executed, but if Zoro agreed to go to prison instead and survive one month without food or water Helmeppo would let them both live. Zoro had agreed without hesitation.
Once they arrived at Rika's bar, they didn't Luffy and Coby didn't tell her mother what had happened at the marine base; they didn't want her to worry about Rika. Instead, Luffy told her that they'd met Rika at the markets, and she had helped them with their shopping and shown Luffy around town.
After thanking Rika for her help and telling her where Coby's house was in case she wanted to visit, Luffy and Coby headed back to Coby's place. Once they arrived, Luffy went upstairs to check on the boy and Coby started preparing a big pot of soup.