The Journey Begins
...3 weeks after Ace left...
Luffy awoke with a stretch before falling out of the tree, hitting his head on the ground. "Oh, Crap!" he groaned as he rubbed his head being pulled from his thoughts.
"LUFFY!" came a shout behind him. He spun around to see Monkey D. Garp, his grandfather behind him with a box of stale Rice Crackers in his hand. "What are you shouting about? You better not be trying to slack on your training!"
Luffy stared at Garp as he lowered his head so his hat shadowed his eyes. "Grandpa." he said in a low calm voice.
"Hmm?" Garp responded.
"Grandpa, I'm going to become King of the Pirates!"
Garp just narrowed his eyes at Luffy. "How many times must I tell you-"
"So I want you to teach me everything!" Luffy shouted, stopping Garp in the middle of his sentence. "Everything that you know. Where you moved so fast you disappeared. Where you jumped in the air like you were flying to get me down from those balloons you tied me to, even the things you know about survival and sailing the grand line." he said as he was trembling before he shouted "PLEASE TEACH ME EVERYTHING I NEED TO LEARN!" as a wave of Haki spread throughout the forest.
Garp just stared wide eyed at Luffy. To think that his Grandson had this much power at such a young age astounded him. 'It won't be long before his power equals mine,' he thought. His shock soon passed as he began laughing.
"So, you want me to teach you everything eh? Including those techniques which are called 'The Six Powers' as well?"
"Yes. I need to get stronger." he said as he got into a fighting stance. Garp smiled as he shoved a rice cracker in his mouth, he placed his box down and got ready as well.
"Alright brat. You asked for it. But you're still gonna become a marine and that's final!" he said. He and Luffy stared at each other for what felt like hours before they lunged at each other screaming.
...A few months later…
Garp stood with a proud expression on his face watching his grandson train. Luffy continued displaying his proficiency in the 'Six Powers' with ease. Garp wouldn't let Luffy rest during his visit.
"Good Luffy, if you keep this up you will be the Greatest Marine Hero of…" Garp praised.
"No way Gramps, I'm going to be the Pirate King," Luffy shouted before he could finish.
Garp frowned then in a burst of speed he appeared behind Luffy. Garp coated his fist in Armament Haki, then gave Luffy a powerful punch to the back of the head.
"Brat, you're going to be a Marine even if I have to give you 'Fist of Love' every morning," Garp berated.
"Humph," a grunt was Luffy's response.
That lead to more hours of sparring and training with Garp's 'Fist of Love'. Luffy was dog tired after eighteen hours of straight training.
"Gramps, I read a book about some really cool swords. I wanted to learn how to use one but I have no one to teach me. Can you teach me to be a swordsman?" Luffy asked.
"A swordsman huh, I don't use weapons, I only use my fists. Hmm, I'll find somebody to come show you the basics, but you better take training seriously or…" Garp responded then walked to Luffy and punched him on top of his head. Done checking his grandsons progress he walked off through the forest.
...2 years later...
It was time. He had trained under Garp and was now ready to cast off. Luffy took one last look around the forest he had grown up in and smiled. He took in a deep breath before rushing off to the bandit house.
"Dadan! Everyone! I'm leaving now." Luffy said as he peered inside the house. The bandits all looked at him while Dadan had her back turned to him.
"Good. Now we can finally get some peace around here, you little monster." Dadan said, not looking at Luffy at all. Luffy just smiled and was about to walk away, but turned back to them and said "I hate mountain bandits, but I like you guys."
"Will you just get out of here, you rotten brat?!" Dadan shouted through her tears that she failed to wipe them up with her hanky. Luffy's smile grew. He whispered, "Soru!" before he flashed off through the forest, running at speeds even he didn't know he could. In what felt like no time at all, he had already ran all the way to the docks of Foosha Village. Some of villagers were a little surprised to see Luffy appear out of nowhere, but they smiled anyway. Soon, the whole village appeared to see Luffy off, cheering him on and wishing him good luck.
"Well Mayor, he's off." said Makino as she smiled.
"Hmph." grumped Mayor Woop Slap. "Off to bring shame to our village no doubt."
"Alright everyone!" Luffy shouted as he untied his small ship. "I'm off!" Luffy raised the sails on his ship, then he slowly drifted away from his village, waving back to them all. "Bye Mayor! Bye Makino! Bye Everyone! Wish me luck!" Luffy shouted as he waved. His eyes glance right a bit as he felt a presence lurking under the water before his smile returned. Out from under the water rose the Lord of the Coast.
The Sea King rose from the depths of the sea eyeing Luffy's ship. It let out a strong growl as it approached from the starboard side. All the villagers started screaming for Luffy to get away, when the creature swam up to his ship.
Luffy gave a bright smile, while casually raising his hand to pet the Sea King. As Luffy's hand lifted towards the Sea King a small wave of Haki was released.
"Hey, there's a good boy, just follow behind our ship out of sight," Luffy said while patting its head.
The coastal lord nodded it's head then disappeared into the water.
"Sabo! Ace! I'm finally heading out to sea!" Luffy yelled.
It had been a few hours since Luffy left for his adventure.
Since there was nothing else to do, Luffy decided to go through some of the wanted posters for the East Blue. It could be good to know what he was up against, even if he's sure none of them were a threat. Every now and then, Luffy would look up to check his location making sure the ship was still on course.
After a while, Luffy began to notice a slight change in water pressure and the speed of the ship. Luffy's ship was coming up on pretty big whirlpool.
Luffy spread his Observation Haki out past the whirlpool. He could feel the auras of different groups of people. 'Probably on two different ships, looks like they will meet up soon,' he thought.
Luffy turned behind him stared for a moment then gave a sharp whistle. A few seconds later the Sea King was towering over the ship.
"It's a large whirlpool ahead, help me steer the ship around it. Stay under the water for now I don't want to scare off the other ships," Luffy told it.
After sailing around the whirlpool, Luffy's ship pulled within visual range of a passenger cruiser. The passenger ship was not too far off and being the friendly guy he was, Luffy decided to wave at it. The ship hands on deck smiled and waved back to the odd looking kid.
Suddenly the crew on board the passenger vessel visibly lost their calm. The sailor who waved yelled, "Pirate Ship, sound the alarm."
Looking closely, Luffy recognized the flag on the pirate ship. It was the lady pirate Alvida. This would be a good time to see the results of all the training he'd done.
Luffy waited until the Alvida's ship started raiding the passenger cruiser, before roping his ship to the cruiser. "Geppo!" he whispered. Then Luffy leapt into the sky, at the height of his jump he stepped out onto the air again and it seemed to solidify under his foot. Luffy climbed into one of the open windows, which luckily was the kitchen. The only problem was it was already someone inside.
As Luffy came in through the window, a small boy with pink hair, was crouched right in front of a barrel beside the opening. "Ahhhh!" The boy screamed in fright.
Luffy raised his arms in the air and gave the boy a genuine smile. "Hi I'm Luffy. I'm not going to hurt you," he said calmly to the boy.
The boy look worriedly at the teen in front of him. 'How did he get in here without using the door,' the small boy thought. With a slight stammer he responded, " I.. I'm C...Coby. How did you get in here? The door never opened."
Luffy gave him a nod, " I jumped through the window. So, Coby are you in here hiding from the pirates?" Luffy asked.
Coby lowered his head, with a look of sadness on his face. "Actually I'm one of the Pirates." Before Luffy could respond the door is slammed open by there large men.
"Coby why the hell are you screaming? Huh!! Who the hell are you?!" The man in front yelled.
Luffy looked at the men, shrugged his shoulders, faces Coby and says, " Hey Coby, you know where they keep the food?"
The three men frown, the one in lead yells out, "Listen brat we're pirates under lady Alvida. I'll beat your ass if…"
He was cut off when Luffy responded, "So? I'm hungry, help me find the pantry."
The pirates growled, unsheathing their swords to attack. "Die. You Punk."
Luffy frowned at the pirates. He glared at them for a split second, releasing a light wave of Haki, then the men tumbled to the floor unconscious.
Walking like nothing even happened, Luffy walked out the room and through the door that led to the pantry. Coby, who was shocked and scared of what happened, followed Luffy into the room. When he got there, he found Luffy eating apples out of a barrel.
"Who are you," asked Coby, now very interested in the teen before him. Luffy turned around after swallowing a few more apples.
"Your names Coby right? My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the man that will become King of the Pirates." Luffy stated his dream to him, but he didn't care what Coby thought of his words.
"You're...a pirate?" Coby croaked out.
"Yep."
"Crew?"
"Just me. For now." Luffy said as Coby froze as a statue.
"What? Being King of the Pirates means wanting to attain everything in this world. It means being the Strongest Pirate and finding the legendary One Piece! Fame, wealth, and power united in one man! It's simply impossible, impossible, it can't be..."
"Shut up." Luffy said it gently, but he imbued a tiny bit of Conqueror's Haki when he spoke. Coby stopped talking like his tongue had suddenly been glued to the top of his mouth.
"I don't care if it's impossible. I promised the man who gave me this hat that I'd become the Pirate King. And if I die trying, then I die." Luffy responded with a calm voice.
Coby seemed deeply struck by his words. He was also awed at his resolve. "I wonder if I can be like that." Coby said, his voice just above a whisper.
Luffy shrugged replying. "No reason why you can't."
"I have a dream," Coby whispered again. "It's nowhere near as amazing as yours, but I wonder if I can do it."
"Luffy. Do you think...if I tried...that I could become a Marine Admiral?"
"A Marine Admiral?" Luffy asked, with a look of surprise on his face.
Coby looked at him with determination. "It's always been my dream to be a marine and hunt down criminals! I know it would mean we'd be enemies, but do you think I could do it?"
"Doesn't matter what I think. It's your life. Only your opinion matters." Luffy responded with a smile.
Coby seemed to take that as a yes. Luffy looked to the ceiling, he sensed someone was eavesdropping with his Observation Haki.
"Then I'll do it. I'm not gonna be Alvida's cabin boy forever. I'm gonna join the marines! And then I'm gonna catch Alvida's ass first!" he screamed. Luffy stretched his arm out and pulled Coby towards his body. A second later the ceiling above them collapsed right where the pink haired boy was standing moments ago.
Amid the shower of wood and debris, Alvida landed and immediately filled the room. Luffy took a moment to marvel at just how fat the woman was.
"I was wondering where the hell you were hiding,while the others were loading our ship. And here I find you with a bounty hunter and entertaining thoughts of mutiny!"
Alvida glared at Coby, her face red with rage. "What was that about becoming a marine and catching me?" asked Alvida.
After three of her crew didn't come back, she suspected that something was up. Alvida cast a single glance at Luffy, assessing him quickly. "You're not that Pirate Hunter Zoro."
Luffy gave a slight smile, but stood there quietly.
Alvida barked Coby's name, making the boy cower in fear. "Who is the most lovely woman on the seas?"
"W-w-why that's y-you Lady Alvida?" Coby stammered out.
After Coby had stuttered through his standard response, Luffy spoke up. "Boa Hancock. Everyone knows that."
The pirate crew watching from the hole above them stared in fear and disbelief. You could hear a pin drop. While, Coby gaped at Luffy in horror, Alvida's face was just priceless.
Through gritted teeth, she snarled at Luffy "You got that wrong, pest. The right answer is always, me. Isn't that right Coby?"
"Alvida is..." Coby faltered a bit, but then looked at Luffy, then with cold determination yelled, "Alvida is the fattest, ugliest, most disgusting sea hag from here to Logue Town!"
A tic mark appeared on Alvida's rapidly reddening face. Coby watched in dread as Alvida's eyes went bloodshot and her mouth twisted into a murderous snarl. "I'LL KILL YOU, YOU DAMN BRAT!" she screamed as she raised her club. Coby shut his eyes, not wanting to see his death before it happened.
"Let's go." Luffy said to Coby before grabbing him by his shirt collar and jumping out of the hole Alvida made. Coby had the feeling of going through a wind tunnel for a brief second. Opening his eyes, Coby noticed he was now standing on the deck of the ship, next to Luffy.
Luffy straightened up and glanced at Alvida's crew. The pirates on deck all drew their swords in fear of the man who had moved faster than what's humanly possible. After a moment of hesitation they raised their swords high and charged. Luffy smirked and whispered, "Kami-e."
The smirking boy proceeded to float like a piece of paper through Alvida's charging subordinates. Every attack seemed to just miss, he wasn't even moving that fast. But no matter how desperately the men attacked, they couldn't seem to get a hit.
As they kept coming, Luffy seemed to get slightly annoyed, "Finger Pistol!" he whispered. Then his arms seemed to blur out of sight. Thirty seconds later, Luffy was standing on the deck over the unconscious Alvida Pirate crew. By the time Alvida, finally made her way out of the pantry and back onto the deck, her whole crew had beaten bloody.
"I've never seen any man move like that. You're not normal, are you?" she asked.
Luffy grinned and stretched his cheeks. "I ate the Gum Gum Fruit! I'm a rubber man!"
Coby's eyes about popped out of his head. Alvida merely nodded. "So, the Devil Fruits really do exist. Who the hell are you?"
Luffy grinned. "I'm Luffy, the man who's going to be King of the Pirates!"
Alvida grimaced. "So, you're a pirate too are you. Where's your crew?"
"For now I'm alone. But I'll probably get like 10 or 20!"
"Whatever." Her eyes darkened. Alvida growled as she raised her iron mace. Coby's eyes widened. He didn't even have time to shout out a warning before the iron mace came crashing down on Luffy…
Luffy smirked and uttered, "Armament: Tekkai." In an instant, his body tensed and darkened till completely black. The iron mace shattered like broken glass, when it connected to his body. Luffy gave her a half smile, then his arm seemed to stretch so far half of it was off the ship.
Coby watched as his preconceptions of the world were shattered right before his eyes. "Gum Gum...PISTOL!" Luffy screamed as he slammed his fist into Alvida's gut, sending her flying. She screamed until she was nothing but a star in the sky. Luffy's arm returned to normal before he looked back at Coby.
"The Marines will be here soon. You can try to join them, but it would be suspicious in this situation. In fact, they might just arrest you." Luffy told Coby, as he sensed them with his Observation Haki. Coby nodded sadly at that. "Why don't you come with me for now? It's probably a Marine base on the next island I'm headed to, maybe you can join there?" Luffy explained to him. "It would be a good starting place for you." Coby smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
Sensing a weak presence hiding in fear on a boat next to his ship, Luffy smiled. "HEADS UP!" He shouted in the direction of a small rowboat. He glanced to the boat, there was a girl dressed like a thief trying to hide what looked like a bag of gold. Luffy grabbed Coby then jumped off the passenger cruiser onto his ship. Luffy continued to cut loose the ropes and set sail.
Luffy grabbed a book, from the small collection he had began to read. Looking up from the book, Luffy saw that Coby was casually looking around with nothing to do. Sighing, Luffy handed him a book on devil fruits and turned his attention back to his own book.
The two read as they sailed, Luffy looking for his crew and Coby to join the Marines.
