Disclaimer: The following is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonen Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. The only thing I own here is Rainard and a few fan characters.
-X-
Marine Captain "Axe Hand" Morgan
-X-
"This is bad!" someone in the tavern shouted. "He actually hit Helmeppo!"
"Luffy-san, calm yourself!" Coby yelled, still holding Luffy back. "They're Marines!"
"I don`t care! A bastard is still a bastard, no matter who his father is!" Luffy growled, still looking to punch Helmeppo again.
"Y-you dare to hit me…" Helmeppo whined, "My own father hasn't even hit me once! I'm the beloved son of Captain Morgan! I'll tell on you!" The crowd winced as the two Marines acting as his body guards lifted the crying bitch up off the ground.
"Why don't you fight me yourself?!" Luffy growled at Helmeppo.
"Luffy-san, don`t do this!" Coby objected, still managing to hold him back.
"You'll regret hitting me," Helmeppo said, glaring at Luffy over a Marine's shoulder. "You'll get the death sentence… And I'll be sure my father is the one who does it! YOU BASTARD!"
Luffy finally calmed down enough for Coby to let him go, but was still pretty angry.
"It's meaningless hitting a guy like him," Luffy stated, still upset Helmeppo ran off like a pussy.
"I know, but he needed to be shut up," I replied, handing Luffy his hat. "Here's your hat back."
"Thanks," Luffy replied, putting his Straw Hat back on.
"He just ran away…" Coby said, looking at Helmeppo being carried off by the two Marines.
"That was so cool!" Rika said, smiling at Luffy.
"Really? Then I should have hit him a few more times," Luffy snickered.
"Rika! Get away from them!" Ririka cried out, ushering her daughter away from Luffy. "If you stick around those people, the Marines might think you're friends with them and kill you too."
After Ririka and Rika were gone, Luffy, Coby, and I walked out of the tavern.
"This is bad!" Coby whimpered. "We're in big trouble! If the Captain gets mad, he'll send the Marines after us!"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Luffy replied, unfazed. "I`m gonna go talk to Zoro."
"Mind if I join you?" I asked, unwrapping Shunsetsu's packaging and attaching it to my new cloth belt. "I'd like to help get him outta there."
"You sure?" Luffy asked. "If you fight the Marines, you'll become a criminal."
"Being a criminal's fine by me," I replied, smirking. "Besides, I've wanted to have an adventure and see the world for as long as I can remember."
"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed. "Sounds like a good dream! Let's go then!"
"Wait, you two are going to the Marine base to talk Zoro, the Pirate Hunter, into joining Luffy's crew?!" Coby asked. "That's suicide!"
"Nah, I don't think we`ll die today," I replied, walking off with Luffy. "It`s not a good day to die."
-X-
When Luffy and I got to the Marine courtyard, we looked at Zoro, who I knew was having a flashback.
"Is he sleeping?" Luffy asked me.
"Nah, he`s just probably reminiscing about his past or something," I replied, Zoro`s attention being drawn to us.
"What`re you doing here?" Zoro asked. "You should get out of here before you end up like that little girl."
"She`s fine, thanks for asking," I replied as I hopped over the fence, Luffy following shortly.
"You again?" Zoro continued, looking at Luffy. "You sure have a lot of free time."
"I'll untie you, so join my crew!" Luffy bluntly stated.
"Say what?" Zoro asked.
"Way to be subtle there Luffy," I commented.
"I`m looking for people to join my pirate crew," Luffy continued.
"No way, I`m not gonna be a criminal like a pirate," Zoro stated.
"What's wrong with being a pirate?" Luffy asked.
"They`re despicable," replied Zoro, "As if I`d ever be one." He then turned to me. "And you're part of that tavern owner's family, right? Why put yourself in this kinda trouble?"
"Well, for one, they just helped me get back on my feet after I had a messy fall-out," I replied. "They were just nice enough to help me."
"Come on already," Luffy begged, "everyone already knows you as a vicious bounty hunter out for blood."
"I don`t care what people think!" Zoro snapped, immune to Luffy's encouragement. "I haven`t done one thing I regretted in the past and I won't do so in the future! I WON`T BECOME A PIRATE!"
"Sorry," Luffy continued, "but i`ve already decided. You`re gonna join my crew!"
"Don`t decide that for yourself!" Zoro growled at Luffy,
"Luffy, you`re going about this all wrong," I interjected, making Zoro and Luffy turn to me. "When you`re trying to make a deal with someone, you can`t just demand what you want. You`ve got to have something they want in return." I walked up to Zoro. "For example, Zoro would be a much more fearsome swordsman if he had his swords back."
"You…" Zoro growled at me.
"So where are they?" Luffy asked.
"Helmeppo took them off Zoro when he was arrested," I stated.
"That bastard kid…" Zoro commented. "I treasure those swords almost as much as my life…"
"Hear that Luffy?" I asked, smirking.
"Ohh!" Luffy said, finally getting it. "Then I`ll go get them for you! But if you want them back, you`ll have to join my crew!"
"You dirty little rat!" Zoro yelled at Luffy.
Luffy smiled and ran off, laughing. "See you soon!"
"Luffy, the tower's the other way," I said, sighing as I pointed over my shoulder.
"Oh, right," agreed Luffy as he turned around and headed to the base.
"Is he really planning on sneaking into the base?" Zoro asked me. "What a fool…"
"I doubt he does a lot of planning," I replied. "He seems the more do-as-you-go type."
"And what about you?" Zoro asked me.
I paused for a moment. "I should probably go help him. If I don`t we might have the entire base on us in moments." I walked off, Zoro taking a quick glance at my sword.
-X-
Luffy and I stood in the middle of the Marine base, which seemed deserted besides us.
"That`s strange. There aren`t any Marines around…" observed Luffy. "Are they having a meeting?"
"Seems odd to me," I added in. "Even if they were, I`d assume they'd have SOMEONE patrolling the area."
"Never mind those swords, I can`t even find that bastard son like this…" Luffy said, sighing a bit.
"Well, let's split up and cover more ground," I suggested. "If one of us finds Helmeppo, we can get him to tell us where Zoro's swords are."
"Okay," Luffy simply replied as we split up.
-X-
A bit later, I was sneaking in through an open window in the Marine base. "I`ve got to keep my influence in this world low. If I make one small change, it could butterfly effect and alter the future for the worse."
Rule #1 of time travel in any form: Altering the time line in any way, no matter how small, will most likely cause the worst possible outcome. And if I was to keep my heads-up of what was gonna happen in the One Piece world, I had to let major events happen, no matter how bad they were.
Unfortunately, my easy movement would be hindered by a large crashing sound, followed by what sounded like stone breaking. That would be Morgan's symbol of grandeur…
I tried my best to quietly make my way through the Marine base after that, until a Marine came around a corner and spotted me.
"Hey!" he yelled out before I gave him a knock-out punch, dropping him to the ground.
"Okay, now what?" I said, looking around and hearing more footsteps coming my way. I quickly spied a supply closet and grinned. "So cliché, but when in Rome…"
-X-
A few minutes later, I walked out of the supply closet wearing the Marine's uniform and hat over my clothes, leaving only my boots and cargo pants showing. The Marine whose uniform I pilfered was bound and gagged, still unconscious in the supply closet. Shunsetsu was strapped to my back in its packaging again, and I casually walked along until a Marine stopped me.
"Where are you going? We have to catch that intruder!" he yelled at me.
"I have to go to Captain Morgan's office and drop off this sword first," I replied. "It was offered by one of the shops instead of money they couldn`t pay with."
"Better get that over there then," he replied. "In case you forgot, it`s the second door on the left on the third floor. But get right back to finding that intruder or Morgan will have your head."
I saluted the Marine and walked off casually, smirking to myself over being sneaky for once. I easily made my way to Morgan's office undiscovered. When I got there, I found the door ajar slightly and I quietly opened the door.
The first thing I saw was a pair of Marines bound and gagged.
"Didn`t figure Morgan was into that," I said quietly as I continued opening the door to find a certain orange-haired girl trying to crack a safe.
-X-
The Pirate King, the Master Swordsman, and the Adventurer
-X-
"Mind telling me what you're doing with two Marines tied up and in Captain Morgan's room?" I asked, startling the girl before me.
"Shit…" she uttered under her breath. "Another marine…"
I laughed as I took the Marine cap off. "Relax, you`re fine," I replied, shedding the jacket I was wearing as well and unwrapping Shunsetsu from its cover. "I'm probably the farthest thing from a Marine right now."
"You mean you're a pirate?" the girl asked frowning a bit as I put Shunsetsu on my belt again.
"No, I'm not a pirate," I replied. "But you don't exactly look like a Marine yourself, having tied up two other Marines."
"I… uh… well, damn it," she said, sighing a bit in dismay.
"Gotcha," I replied, chuckling a bit. "So what's your name?"
She stared at me. "I don't have to tell you if I don't want to," she replied, huffing a bit as she turned back towards the safe.
"Then I'm just gonna assume you don't have one and keep calling you 'Thief'," I replied, smirking. "So what're you here for Miss Thief?"
"My name's not 'Thief', it`s Nami!" she snapped back, baring what looked like sharpened teeth. "And I only rob Pirates, got that?!"
"Pleasure to meet you Nami, I`m Rainard Talbot," I replied kindly, much to her shock, "but you can just call me Rain."
We looked at each other and I finally got a good look at Nami. She was wearing a white shirt with blue stripes running down it, and a dark blue skirt with rings on her hips. She was also wearing a pair of heeled sandals, which she seemed to have no trouble walking and moving in. Not to be perverted, but she really had a knockout figure. Nothing compared to her future self, but she'd fill out.
"So then what do you do?" she asked. "I saw you working in the tavern as a waiter."
"Waiter, emergency cook, dishwasher, I've done a lot of things, but really, I'm an adventurer," I replied, smiling. "My dream is to see the world and experience as much as I can with a group of good friends."
Nami looked a bit distracted when she heard me talking about my dream. "That… sounds nice," she replied, resuming her more positive face. "So besides being a chore boy, what are you doing here?"
"I was looking to break into Morgan's safe and get some cash for the road before I left town," I replied. "Lord knows I'll need it."
Nami briefly eyed the sword at my waist, then focused back on me and smirked a bit. "You know… I happen to be an excellent Navigator," she said in a bit of a teasing voice. "Maybe we can strike up a deal…"
"A deal?" I asked, looking at her quizzically. "What kind of deal?"
"Well, I can get us from island to island, and you can take care of any bad guys that come our way," Nami replied in a cutesy voice, walking up to me with her hips obviously swaying from side to side. "And we split the treasure we find, 50-50." She gently tapped a finger on my chest, causing me to blush a bit. "What do you say?" she batted her light brown eyes at me, looking up at me and pouting a bit.
"I… uh… well…" I stuttered, swallowing hard and trying to look away from Nami before I heard a gunshot from outside. "Shit, Coby! Sorry Nami, but I have some people to help out!"
I dashed out of the room and ran back the way I came to get down to a lower floor.
Okay, let me get one thing straight right now. When girls flirt with me I usually don't know it. Hell, I`ve had one or two girls flirt right in my face and I couldn`t tell. But that… was too damn obvious. I probably would have gotten a nosebleed if I hadn't run out of there. And I suck at talking to girls anyway. Well, girls I`m not trying to romance or who are romancing me. My mind briefly shot back to Nami acting all flirty with me, shaking my head to focus back on getting out to the Marine courtyard.
-X-
As soon as I scrambled out the nearest door, I heard gunfire, glass breaking, and then a slight stretching sound. I smirked as I appeared between Luffy and the Marines just as Luffy shot back the bullets they had used on him.
"It's no use!" Luffy declared as he stood strong against the bullets, one grazing by Captain Morgan's face while one whizzed by my head. "Hahahaha! That won't work on me! Told ya I was strong!"
"Oi Luffy!" I yelled as I walked closer to the rubber man in spite of the on-looking stunned Marines and Zoro. "Watch where the hell you're aiming those next time, you almost hit me."
"W-who the hell are you?" Zoro asked.
"My name's Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy stated, introducing himself. "The man who's gonna be King of the Pirates!" Luffy turned to Zoro and pulled the three swords off his back. "So which one is your treasured sword? I couldn't figure it out, so I brought all three of them."
"They're all mine," clarified Zoro. "I practice Santoryu, the three-sword style."
"If you fight against the Marines, you`ll become an outlaw," Luffy stated. "But you could obey the law and let them kill you here."
"Are you the Devil's spawn?" Zoro asked while smiling. "Fine… if it's between dying here and becoming a pirate… I`LL BECOME A PIRATE!"
-X-
Looks like things are heating up for our resident adventurer.
Next time, the trio will fight the power-mad Captain Morgan and his Marines for the first time together, and set off!
Until next time, and stay tuned!
