Like a shadow. He moved unseen through the city. The roads were empty, as were the back alleys. Anyone found outside after curfew was to be shot by the patroling Marines. No street lights were lit, only the light coming from the windows of those not asleep yet lit the streets.
Moving like a shadow in the night, Coby followed Luffy as they evaded patrols, making their way towards the fortress. There were very few patrols in the district they were travelling through. It didn't have any important structure or strategic points. It was just a bunch of apartment blocks.
Upon reaching the wall closing ofv the fortress' courtyard, the two looked around to see whether anyone was watching. The closest watchtower was about a hundred metres away, its searchlight turned towards the main gate. Seeing that the coast was clear, Luffy helped Coby climb up the wall before following.
Luffy motioned for Coby to stay close to the wall while he ran towards the chained prisoner. Checking to see if anyone was watching, he turned his attention to Zoro. The youth was sleeping.
"Oy... Zoro," Luffy whispered.
"Hrk! Wha-..." the green-haired man almost exclaimed but was stopped by Luffy's hand muffling his mouth.
Luffy put a finger ower his lips, indicating that he should be quiet. „I'm breaking you out," he stated.
"Breaking me out? I've already told you, I only have another week-..."
"Nah, that bastard isn't exactly a man of his word," Luffy cut him off. „You're hanging tomorrow."
"What!? That bastard..." Zoro said in surprise.
"My offer still stands, swordsman," the youth with the straw hat said. "I can get you out of these chains... if you promise to join me."
Zoro glared at him. "That's blackmail!"
Luffy shrugged his shoulders, grinning widely. "Supply and demand! That's how trade works."
Zoro shook his head. "Very well. But I'm not leaving without my swords. Helmeppo has them in his room, along with the keys."
"Mission objective noted," the young pirate captain acknowledged, waving for Coby to follow him.
The two made their way to the fortress. The first window was high above, about fifteen metres of smooth metal wall separating them from it. However, it was open.
"I can't jump that high," Luffy stated.
"Couldn't you just stretch your arm to reach it?" Coby asked.
The raven-haired teen shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. I have no muscles for stretching my limbs. I can only stretch them with outside forces like this." He demonstrated by pulling on his cheek, stretching it a metre away from his face. "What I need is something to slingshot myself from."
Suddenly, his face brightened in mischief. He grinned creepily, gazing at the torture pole. He ran towards it, Coby following close by.
Luffy grabbed hold of the top of the two-and-a-half metre tall pole. Zoro gave him a questioning look as he started walking towards the outer wall, his arms stretching like rubber. Each step got harder and harder as Luffy pushed on, the force pulling his arms together getting stronger.
Once he got all the way to the outer wall, he said as lowly as possible: „Hold on to me, Coby!"
Coby took hold of his hips. With a low hum of the mechanism in his boots, Luffy got detached from the ground, both of them being launched over the torture pole. Coby held his eyes shut, expecting the worst as they flew through the air. His fears were, luckily, allayed as the two landed inside the room behind the open window.
It was a dark bedroom. It had a desk close to the window, a closet, a mirror with a small stand by it and a large bed. A bed that wasn't empty. And the noise had stirred its occupant awake.
"Henry, great one! Is that you?!" a feminine voice asked. They couldn't see the woman in the bed, but Luffy deduced she was in her twenties, asian or at least half-asian and small-figured if her voice was something to go by.
"... Yes!" Luffy said in a voice as deep as his slim teenage body could allow. „I have come, you dirty bitch!"
"Mhm... I like it when you call me dirty names..." the woman responded.
"Keep your eyes closed!" Luffy ordered, approaching the bed with stomps that were just quiet enough not to be heard from the outside.
"Mhh... Is captain going to punish me for being a bad girl?" she asked suggestively.
"Oh, your punishment shall be worse than death, filthy whore," Luffy whispered into her ear, before pressing his fingers to a certain point on her neck. The woman lost consciousness.
Luffy sighed in relief. "If this Pirate King thing doesn't work out, at least I know I could become an actor," he muttered to himself.
Luffy then turned to Coby who was staring at him in disbelief. "Wh-what was that?" he asked.
The raven-haired teen grinned. "That, Coby, was illegal. Probably even considered sexist by some individuals. But me, I call it my alpha-maleness," he leand over to him, whispering. "Chicks dig the alpha captain Luffy. I have sailed my ship into many-a port."
Coby stared. "You've never done it, did you," he stated.
"Well, you're the one to talk, mister preteen!" Luffy defended. "Anyway... What were we doing here again?"
"We're looking for Zoro's swords and the keys to the chains."
The two moved out of the prostitute's bedroom into a long, well-lit corridor. It was decorated with 5th century paintings of the Second First Contact War. They even had the original of Adam Arder's Battle of Paleworld. The soldiers of the early Republic, only two decades old at the time, painted brightly at the top centre of the painting faced the darkly painted hordes of the reptillian ghorsh'arks or, as they were called by humans, the serpinians. Those that have paid attention in their history class would, of course, realise that, at the end of the war, 'the Galaxy was cleansed of the threat that were the serpinians'. At the time of this story, only about a hundred remained, all living as workers on the other side of the Galaxy, far from Terran space and their home.
The two, realising they didn't know where Helmeppo's room was, started searching the fortress, opening every door on their floor. When they ran out of rooms to check, they climbed the stairs to the upper floor.
The corridors and rooms were a strong contrast to the city outside. They were clean, decorated with expensive paintings and rugs, well lit and, most of all, didn't smell. While they likely couldn't compare to estates of some higher-class Terran Citizens, the fortress was obviously home to a captain whith a big appreciation of art glorifying war and an even bigger Credit chit.
Rounding a corner, the two youths ran into four Marine soldiers. Lowest rank, by the look of it. They were sitting around a table, playing tarock. They didn't seem to notice them. Either that, or they didn't care.
Luffy, seeing that checking every room wouldn't get them anywhere, got another one of his brilliant ideas. He aporoached the four soldiers, leaning over the shoulder of one of them to see his cards. The poor Marine seemed to be a rookie, not exactly familiar with the game.
"Play two, call spades," he said.
The soldier looked at him questioningly. "What?"
"Play two and call spades. Trust me on this one," he explained, sighing inwardly. It seemed that these four didn't really care. "Anyway, where could I find Helmeppo's room?"
"Helmeppo?" one of the soldiers asked. "A floor above us. You climb those stairs there, go left, 'round the corner, fourth door on the left. It's next to the armoury."
Luffy nodded. "Thanks!"
"Glad to help, civilian! But remember, you were never here."
Coby decided not to question Luffy about this as he followed him up the stairs. They followed the Marine's instructions, passing a big metal door labled as the 'ARMOURY' and reached a wooden door. It had a sign on it. 'My room'.
"Hah! No. This isn't 'my' room!" Luffy joked, only for no one to laugh. "Shut up!"
The two entered dark room. Switching the lights on, they noticed that the room was vacant, the unmade bed being empty. By a desk next to the bed, upon which a computer rested, three katana swords were leaned onto the wall. On the desk a key was lying by the keyboard.
"Now... Which two swords are his?" Coby wondered.
Luffy thought for a moment. "Fuck it! We'll take all of them."
Grabbing all the swords and the key, the two ran out of the room. Luffy strapped the three swords to Coby's back and gave him the key.
"Go and free Zoro!" he ordered. "I'm creating a diversion," he added, eyeing the armoury.
Coby didn't look pleased. "Couldn't we just grab Zoro and sneak out?"
"We could," Luffy answered. "But where'd be the fun in that?"
Watching Coby reluctantly run away for a few moments, Luffy slowly turned his attention to the armoury door. It looked heavy and was locked with both an electronic lock and a code. He took off his left boot and picked it up. Trying not to smell the... specific aroma radiating out of it he reached inside, pulling out a device that looked like an USB with a 3x4 numberpad. He put it into the lock, connecting to the system. The small screen on his 'key' turned on, some symbols going over the screen. He scanned the figurative structure of the electronic lock, then put some numbers into his 'key' to send the correct impuls eito it and... 'Done! Hah, you save me yet again, lock pick!'
He then turned to the numberpad by the door. This one didn't have an input port. It didn't even have a screen. All it had was the 10 numerals. And it was built into the wall, so he wouldn't be able to take it apart. That's where his boots really came in handy.
You see, Luffy had, with the help of an unsuspecting Fooshan engineer, built a complex mechanism into his boots, based on the designs the Devil's Fruit had implanted into his brain. Primarily, consisting of magnets, plungers, spikes and gravity manipulators, they were used to hold him onto the ground when performing moves like the Gum Gum Rocket. However, the magnets could be used for another thing: manipulating electronic devices like the code lock.
Controling the magnets through the neural input device he had bribed a brain surgeon to put into his brain only a few months earlier, the youth managed to break through the lock and force it to open the door without the code input. He then entered the armoury.
The armoury, Luffy decided, was heaven. Sure, you had the standard issue lasrifles and laspistols, sabres and knives, but the shelves were also stacked with smoke, flashbang and plasma grenades, there were plasma rifles lying around - not as fast as the laser but very lethal indeed - greatswords, mirror shields and grenade launchers. But something really got his attention.
"Holy shit and sweet Colony Ship Oort! A handheld lascannon!"
Not to be confused with the mounted lascannon found on ships or used as artilery, the handheld lascannon, though not as strong as its artilery equivalent, could pack quite a punch, firing a heavily concentrated beam of light that could melt power armour easily. It resembled a long metal cuboid with a handle on one side and wires coming out at the end, connecting to a large battery.
Meanwhile, Coby was running through corridors, dodging guards and searching for the exit. Using the fire escape plan he managed to find his way through the fortress, but just before the main exit his path was blocked.
Four men were at the exit. A tanned arabic soldier armed with a rifle, a turkic lieutenant and Helmeppo, However, it was the fourth one that really got his attention.
It was a giant tanned blonde with a prosthetic right arm and lower jaw, both made of dark metal and left visible to intimidate anyone in his way. He was wearing a captain's uniform, his blue coat decorated with epaulettes and various decorative golden buttons.
Helmeppo seemed to be complaining to his father.
"Dad! Why aren't you chasing the guy that hit me?!" he whined.
Henry sighed. "Because that guy did me a favour."
"Wh-what do you mean?" Helmeppo asked.
The captain looked at him menacingly. "Son... Do you know why I've never hit you?"
"W-well, that's because I'm your son."
"Wrong!" Morgan yelled. "It is because you are such a weak rat, you aren't even worth hitting." He spproached him slowly. "All you do, each day, is whine to me, your great father. I have put up with you for fifteen years, ever since your mother died. Now I realise I should have killed that whore while you were still inside of her." He straightened up. "I heard you caught a little girl on the torture yard this afternoon."
Helmeppo, breaking out of his stupor started by his father's words, answered: "Yes, I took care of her."
"By taking care of you mean kill, I hope."
"Wha- Dad, no! It was just a little girl!" Helmeppo defended.
The captain turned to the lieutenant. "Find that girl and execute her on the spot."
"B-but sir! She's a child!" the lieutenant objected.
"The law applies to everyone, lieutenant! Execute her! I order you as a superior officer!"
Suddenly, an explosion was heard, coming from the upper floors, followed by the humming of lasrifles. Soon after, an alarm was sounded.
"Intruder alert!" an electronic voice said and kept on repeating.
"So much for our guards," Morgan commented. "We're executing every third soldier who was on guard duty tonight," he declared, then turned to the lieutenant. "Get me my axe hand!"
They all ran past Coby, none of them noticing him. The pink-haired kid, not wanting to be caught in whatever Luffy was doing, ran out of the building and made his way towards the torture yard. He swiftly approached the chained swordsman and started unlocking him.
"Huh? That was quick!" Zoro commented.
"Just hold on!" Coby said. "Luffy's in there and he's doing something crazy!"
"Si, that guy does look a little insane!" Zoro agreed. "Pirate King, huh?"
"Yes. He's quite serious about tha-..." Coby started but was cut off when, with a hum from a lasrifle, a laser hit him, the red beam being higly visible due to the concentration of particles in the air. It was coming from the main gate.
Coby held onto his left shoulder. "Argh! I'm... shot!" He fell over in pain.
Zoro looked towards the fortress. Approaching them was captain Morgan, flanked by a hundred of his men, all walking in formation. Morgan's right forearm was gone, replaced with a dark double-bitted axe.
"Aha! So this is how it is!" he exclaimed. "One of you creates commotion in the base while the other releases the prisoner. Sneaky... Sneaky indeed." He raised his axe hand. "Men! Take aim!"
The soldiers did as commanded. Coby closed his eyes. Zoro could see his life flashing before his eyes. However, before captain Morgan could give the order to fire, a noise coming from the top of the fortress interrupted him.
He knew that sound well. That was the humming of the handheld lascannon, loud and high. He looked up to the eastern tower. Just this afternoon he had had his men raise a fifteen metre metal statue of him there to face the city. Upon it, he could see a young man, a teenager, firing the lascannon, a bright beam of light burning through the sky.
Luffy was having fun. After blowing up the mess hall with a plasma grenade, he had run through the corridors of the fortress, carrying the heavy lascannon on his back, firing the two laspistols he had stolen at anything that moved. The soldiers tried to stop him, but he was too fast, even with the heavy weapon on his back. Upon reaching the roof, he attached the two now empty laspistols to his belz, deciding to keep the high quality military grade weaponry, and took the lascannon into his hands. A sentry tried to stop him, but he turned the laser on, burning the poor soul with the hot bright beam.
Now, however, he was looking down at the execution ground. It seemed that Coby and Zoro were in a pickle. He would need to jump down there, but in order to reach that far, he'd need to slingshot himself. The statue would most certainly do. It was just a little too high. So, doing the only logical thing, he fired the laser at the top of the statue, melting it almost instantly. He the put the cannon back onto his back, grabbed onto the now quite hot metal leg that remained of the ststue and rocketed himself into the air, landing between his two comrades and the baffled Marines.
"Hahah! Never fear, captain Luffy is here!"
"You little rat! That was my statue, a testament to my greatness!"
Luffy looked at the man that had screamed at him. He had an axe for a hand and a metal jaw... 'Looks familiar...' "You remind me of someone," the straw hat wearing teen said. "Not sure whom..."
The man glared at him. "You've dug your own grave, kid. I am 'Axe Hand' Morgan, captain of Shells and the man who'll have your head. Men! Fire!"
The soldiers fired their lasrifles at the group of three, the laser traveling at light speed towards them. However, Luffy was ready. Before they fired he pulled something from his back and held it in front of himself. A mirror shield. The beams were deflected back into the Marines, injuring a few.
"Heh!" Luffy chuckled. "Okay... We may be outnumbered, but don't worry! I have a plan!"
'Why am I suddenly more worried?' Coby thought.
"Zoro! We got your swords, though we weren't sure which two are yours," Luffy continued.
"I use all three," Zoro stated.
"... Wow! Did not see that coming. Damn, why doesn't Republic Common Language have dual?... Anyway... Coby! Release Zoro!"
"On it!"
Coby finished unlocking Zoro while Luffy had his lascannon aimed at the Marines, daring them to attack. Zoro armed himsel fwith his three swords, holding two of them in his hands and the third with his mouth.
"Wow... Your jaw must be quite tough if you can fight with that," Luffy commented.
"Genetic augmentations," Zoro simply stated.
"Whatever..." Luffy turned his attention to the Marines, specifically their captain.
"So... What'll you do now, weakling?!" Morgan taunted, noticing a blinking red light on Luffy's weapon.
"I've always wanted to say this," the straw hat wearing teen said, taking a deep breath. "Say hey to my little mate!" he shouted, squeezing the trigger of the lascannon.
However, the weapon didn't fire. Instead, a kind, emotionless synthesized voice coming from it said: "Low battery. Shutting down." The cannon turned off, the humming of its cooling system stopping.
"Hahahahaha!" Morgan laughed. "Next time, check the batteries. I was using the cannon just this morning and I almost depleted them. Seems that I forgot to put them on the charger.
Luffy looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. Instead, he thre wthe canno nand the battery pack away, raising his fists. "Okay then... We'll do it the old fashioned way."
With those words he charged at the armed Marines, followed by Zoro. Bashing and slahing, aiming to disarm but not kill, the two mowed through the surprised soldiers.
"Zoro! Keep the soldiers busy!" Luffy shouted. "I'm taking out their leader."
"Comprendido!"
Coby watched as the two faced the Marines. It would be an understatement to say that he was impressed by their skill and courage. They fought trained soldiers and made them look like simple brawlers. He was brouken out of his thoughts, though, when he felt a laspistol at his temple. Turning slightly, he noticed that it was Helmeppo, who was shaking slightly as he aimed his pistol at him.
"One move, pinky, and you're dead!" Helmeppo threatened shakily.
"Go ahead, shoot!" Coby dared. "I'm not afraid to die!"
"D-don't tempt me, kid! I will shoot you!"
"Will you now?! Or will you go crying to your father!" Coby taunted.
"Why you little-..." Coby managed to knock the pistol out of his shaking hand. He then proceeded to swing at him, Helmeppo defending himself the best he could.
"A leech! That's what you are!" the pink haired boy continued as he attacked. "Feeding on the power of your father, living in his shadow!"
Helmeppo managed to deflect one of his attacks, proceeding to counter attack, throwing unskillful punches at the younger lad. "Shut up!" he yelled, knowing that what Coby was saying was true.
Sustaining a punch to the jaw, Coby tackled the blonde to the ground. "You aren't even your own person!" He punched his chest. "You don't have any goals in life!" He punched his jaw.
Helmeppo managed to throw the smaller boy off him. He then proceeded to tackle him, returnin gthe punches he was given. "And so?!" he screamed. "I need no dreams! I am great already!"
The words of his father resounded in his head. 'Such a weak rat!... Should have killed that whore while you were still inside of her!' He retracted his hands from the barely conscious Coby. 'I am a weakling,' he thought to himself. 'A parasite.'
With his last remaining strength, Coby punched Helmeppo straight in the face, knocking him out, before he, too, lost consciousness.
While Coby and Helmeppo were having their fight, Zoro and Luffy were fighting the Marines, dodging Henry's axe as it slashed at them.
"Listen, Luffy!" Zoro yelled over the commotion, disarming a Marine. "I know your dream! Well, this is mine: to become the greatest seordsman in the Galaxy!"
"Heh! Nice ambition!" Luffy yelled back, punching a Marine straight in the face. "I wouldn't expect nothing less from my crewmember!"
"Qué!? I can't hear you!"
Luffy couldn't answer as he concentrated his attacks on Henry Morgan. The pompous captain wasn't a pushover, he admitted. He was tough, shrugging off most of his strikes as if they were nothing and deflecting the rest with his axe hand.
"Aha!" Luffy exclaimed. "I know!"
"Know what?" Morgan asked.
"You look like Steeljaw! You know, the villain from 'James Bond 007: Operation Terrarium'!"
Luffy smiled, remembering the 346th film in the Bond franchise. The 350th film would be released soon.
He was broken out of his thoughts when Henry slashed at him horisontally, making him duck. He countered with a punch to the chest, but his opponent just shrugged it off. He'd need to attack his weak point: the connection between his prosthetic jaw and his skull.
"Ha! A little rat like you thinks he can defeat me?! Me?!" Morgan taunted. "The stupid Terran Government couldn't stop me! I am the most powerful man on this Planet, both physically and politically!"
He swang at Luffy, hoping to finish him off. However, Luffy dodged, the axe getting stuck in the ground.
"How about... medically?" Luffy asked as he charged at the now wide open captain, delivering a powerful punch to his face. Morgan was knocked back, the force of the punch detaching him from the axe hand. He fell to the ground, unconscious.
The Marines stared at their fallen commander for a few moments, giving Zoro some breathing space. To the surprise of the green-haired teen they threw their guns and swords away, cheering.
"Q-qué?"
"Looks like even they weren't exactly content with his governance," Luffy commented.
The lieutenant approached them. "This is a great moment. We all witnessed his crime of hatespeech, so now we have a right to investigate his files. I'm sure we'll find enough evidence that he went against the Government to have him demoted and imprisoned."
In the Republic, hatespeech was a crime. Speaking against certain groups was considered 'hateful' and a verbal attack. Among those groups was, of course, the Government. Speaking against it was considered hatespeech and was a crime heinous enough to question the loyalty of even the highest military officers.
"Hah! That's grea-..." Zoro tried to say, but fainted from fatigue.
"Ah! Now I'm full!" Zoro exclaimed.
They were, all three, back at the tavern owned by Rika's parents, eating breakfast. Zoro had just finished his first square meal in weeks, having fainted from hunger a few hours earlier.
"Glad to see you're back to the world of the living!" Luffy exclaimed, raising his glass of beer. "Cheers!"
"Salud!" Zoro exclaimed as well, raising his glass. They emptied them in large gulps, slamming them onto the table when they were done.
Coby decided against commenting on drinking first thing in the morning and quietly finished his juice.
"Anyway..." Luffy continued. "Now you're about to officially become my comrade." He stood up and walked over to a computer that was on the counter, taking a USB out of his pocket. "Can I use your printer?"
"Sure," Rika's mother said, giving Coby another glass of juice.
Luffy returned to Zoro with two copies of a contract. Well... contract. It was partly also the list of rules to follow as Luffy's crewmate.
''''Democratic Republic of the Straw Hat
By signing your name below you agree to the following rules:
-The captain is the person who decides where the crew goes and who we loot. He is the executive head of the crew.
-All crewmembers are to attend the daily council to debate our laws, punishments and our next move regarding our external policies.
-All crewmembers get an equal share of the loot, meaning that all the crewmembers that have helped getting a certain piece of plunder, get their percentage of that.
-The shares are writren down in our financial logbook, visible to anyone but only written into when at least 75% of the crew are present. The loot is to be stored in a common storage room.
-If a crewmember decides to leave the crew, their share, as recorded in the financial logbook, is paid to them in full.
-If a crewmember dies, their loot is to be sent to whomever the deceased had designated as their 'next of kin'. If there is no such person, their share is to be shared among the rest of the crew.
-If the crew in general, with no particular culprit, due to accidents or damage sustained in battle, lose a part of the loot, the percentages of the previous share of each crew member are applied to the remaining loot.
-If a crewmember commits a crime, they are to be punished as follows, or, upon request of at least 60% of the crew, given a more lenient or more cruel punishment, whatever the council decides:
Murder - punishment: airlock or any other form of execution, their share of the loot is to be shared among thevrest of the crew
Theft - punishment: two weeks of imprisonment, returning stolen goods, 10% of their share of the loot is to be shared among the rest of the crew
Embezzlement of the stolen loot - punishment: three weeks of imprisonment, returning the embezzled loot, 7,5% of their share is to be shared among the rest of the crew
Treason (betraying any crucial information about the crew to our enemies) - punishment: exile, their loot is to be shared among the rest of the crew
Captain: Monkey D. Luffy
Crewmember: Zoro R.''''
Zoro signed both of the papers and stored his into his pocket while Luffy stored his. After the two shook hands, Luffy walked over to Coby.
"Well, lad! Seems this is where we part ways," he said with a smile.
Coby looked down. "I guess... You are a good pirate, Luffy," he said. "I... It's a shame we'll be enemies."
Luffy gave him a thumbs up. "Don't worry! Just train hard!" He offered him his hand. "Let the day we meet on the field of battle be glorious!"
Coby, smiling, took the offered hand and shook it.
Just then, the Marine lieutenant from earlier in the morining entered the tavern.
"Morning!" he greeted. "Now, since you're pirates, we'd be supposed to either arrest or kill you on the spot. But since you've, ah... helped us take down captain Morgan, we've decided to let you leave."
Luffy nodded, waving for Zoro to follow him. The two started to leave the tavern, but were stopped by the soldier.
"The boy... isn't with you?" he asked them, pointing at Coby.
Luffy grinned. "That kid has had a traumatic experience with pirates. I'd be worried about his sanity if he wanted to become one. No, he wants to be a Marine."
The lieutenant nodded. "Okay... Now go!"
The soldiers gave them a ride to the spaceport, all the way to the canoe Luffy had stolen from Alvida. The Marines saw them off, saluting as the ramp tilted 90°, putting the canoe into a vertical position. The starship lifted off, flying through the brightening cloud of smoke. The rays of the sun seemed to pierce through the smoke cloud, parting the clouds slightly at the horizon.
"Men!" the lieutenant said. "We've just saluted two rebels! As punishment, we are to go without food for three days!"
"Yes, sir!"
Coby watched as the canoe left his sight. The straw hat wearing teen's adventure was just starting. As was his.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his right shoulder. He turned to see that it was Helmeppo, wearing blue pants and a white T-shirt. He was smiling sadly at him.
"I... ah... Sorry I called you 'pinky'!" he said, offering him his hand.
Coby took it. "Sorry for calling you 'parasite'!"
On that day, on Planet Shells, two strong friendships were started.