One Man Alone cannot be a Pirate
By: Zephyire
DISCLAIMED
Chapter dedicated to: Captain Blue-Hat Jack
Note: The dedication goes to reviewers (So if you want your name here, review!)
Summary: After the battle with Baron on Secret Island, Luffy faces a devastating fact about his nakama. Moustache offers Luffy his hidden treasure in hopes of pulling Luffy from his depression. Back in Time Fic. Serious Powerful Luffy. A second chance at becoming the Pirate King. Two devil fruits?
Chapter 7: Pirate Hunter
"We're finally at the Marines' base!!"
"Yup, finally."
"You're great Coby! We've actually reached our destination!"
"Of course! That's the basics of navigation! If you wander around at sea every time, you'll never become a pirate. You should at least find a navigator to join you!"
'And I know just which one to get too, Coby.' A growling stomach brought Luffy from his musing. "Alright!! Let's go eat!"
At the restaurant:
"We'll go our separate ways here! You do your best to be a great marine, alright?"
"I will! Thank you so much, Luffy san. You have to become a great pirate too! …Do you really want Zoro to be your nakama?"
Suddenly, all the patrons in the restaurant fled to the far side of the building. Slowly they made their way back to their seats.
"I just saw a notice on the streets, there's someone called Lt. Morgan at the base."
This time, the patrons ran out of the restaurant.
"Hahahaha! What an interesting place! I got to go there again!"
"That's strange! I have a bad feeling about this. I could understand why they would be scared after hearing Roronoa Zoro's name, since he could escape at any time, but why would they be afraid of a marine Lieutenant's name too?!"
At the marine base:
"It looks pretty ugly up close… Go ahead Coby!"
"But, I'm not prepared yet! Besides, that incident at the restaurant got me thinking… Ah! Luffy! What are you doing?!"
Luffy had climbed the wall and then sat down, his legs swinging on the opposite side.
"Aha! I see him!"
Coby leapt up besides Luffy on the wall. Pulling his head above the overhang, he looked into the court yard. Trembling, Coby lost his grip and fell back to the ground.
"Eh? What's wrong?"
"That black bandana and cloth around his waist…It's him! It's Roronoa Zoro!!!"
Luffy sighed. He'd forgotten how Zoro had first looked. Blood trickled down his face and onto his clothes. Unable to stand up straight, he was half leaning, half sitting, against a large wooden pole where they executed criminals. 'But still, it's good to see him again.'
Suddenly, a little girl jumped over a lower part of the wall.
"Hey! Don't go in there!" Coby cried out.
Not paying attention to his words, the little girl continued to run toward Zoro. Moving her arm, Luffy could see two rice balls. While he couldn't hear what she was saying to Zoro, Luffy could hazard a guess. Something about how she had made the food for him. Zoro in turn yelled at her to get out of the execution yard before the marines got back.
Across the yard, twin gates swung open admitting a young man with two marine escorts.
"If it isn't the Lieutenant's bastard son…" Zoro grumbled loudly.
"Bastard? Don't get cocky! My dad is a marine Lieutenant!! And my name's Helmeppo!" Helmeppo moved toward the young girl. "Well hello, little girl. These rice balls look pretty tasty." Snatching one of them from her grasp, he shoved then entire ball into his mouth. "Blegh! Horrible! You put too much sugar in it! You're stupid! There's supposed to be salt! Salt!"
"But I thought that they would taste better if they were sweet."
Knocking the other rice ball from her hand, Helmeppo began to stomp it into the ground.
"Ahh! Stop it! Stop! He can't eat this anymore!"
"What? That's so cruel! That girl worked so hard to make them!" Coby said, having regained his perch on the wall.
"You do know that this sign here states, 'Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime'. You would've gotten the death penalty if you were a grown up!" Turning away from the girl, Helmeppo began to walk back into the base. "Oi! Throw the brat out!!"
"Huh?" The two marine escorts looked at each other, confused.
"I'm telling you to throw her out of here! Are you trying to disobey me?! I'm telling my dad!"
"Aye, sir!" The marine walked over to the girl. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her.
"YAAAAHH!!"
Luffy stood up on the wall and caught her in his arms.
"Are you all right?" Coby rushed over to the crying girl. "Those bastards..."
Luffy jumped back up to the wall to hear the rest of the conversation.
"I didn't think you'd have this kind of endurance! I'm going to keep you alive for one whole month!"
"You'd better keep your promise!"
"Hehehehe! Oh, I'll keep my promise. If you can live like this for one whole month, I'll keep my word and release you! Good luck!"
Helmeppo and his escorts left the execution grounds. When they had gone back in the base, Luffy hopped down from the wall and walked over to Zoro.
"You still haven't left yet? Leave now, or else he'll go tell his dad about it."
"Oh yea? Well, I'm looking for someone to join my pirate fleet."
"Pirate? Heh! So you just gave up on life and became a crook huh?"
"It's my dream! There's nothing wrong with being a pirate!!"
"…Hm? Don't tell me you're going to set me free and force me to join you."
"Well, I haven't made up my mind yet, since everyone thinks you're a bad guy."
"A bad guy, huh? I'll never join you! I have something that I need to take care of!! I could survive even if you don't help me! I just need to stay alive for one month. That bastard kid promised to let me go afterwards. I'm going to do every thing I can to stay alive and fulfill my dreams!! Go find someone else to join you."
Luffy began to walk away. 'Oh, you'll change your mind soon enough, Zoro.'
"Hey! Hold on."
"Eh?"
"That…can you pick it up for me?"
"You want to eat this? But the rice ball is all muddy."
"Shut up! Just give it to me! Let me eat all of it!"
"Hold up there!" Luffy held the demolished muddy rice ball in one hand and held the other one above it behind his back.
"What do you think you're doing?! Just give me the damn bal…" Zoro stopped mid sentence as the individual rice grains began to float out of the mud and toward Luffy's other hand. Following that, the particles of sugar drifted out of the mud and held together the rice. Handing it to Zoro, Luffy said, "Mud's no fun to eat, eh?"
Looking incredulously at the boy, Zoro nodded. He chewed the rice ball thouroghly before swallowing. Hey… tell that little girl…the rice balls taste very good. Thank you very much…"
OMAP
"Really?!"
"Yep! He ate all of it."
"I'm so happy! He didn't do anything wrong, it's just that the people in this town are afraid of him. He got arrested because of me. He killed Helmeppo's pet wolf, because Helmeppo let his wolf run around and scared everyone."
"So maybe he has a bad temper, but chasing down fugitives isn't that big of a crime either. So, the only bad guys are the Morgans!"
From further down the street, they could hear the 'bastard son's' voice. "Who dares raise his head? I'll tell my dad! Do you want to be like Roronoa Zoro?"
Luffy turned toward the whiney tone.
"I'm going to publicly execute him in three days! I'll use him to set an example for all of you! It's going to be pretty interesting…"
"Three days? Didn't you say that you would give him a month?"
"Who are you? How rude! I was only joking with him. Only an idiot would believe that!"
'I just need to stay alive for one month. That bastard kid promised to let me go afterwards.'
In a flash, Luffy was next to the Lieutenant's son. With a left hook, Luffy laid him out. Blood trickled from his nose. And he hadn't even used his Devil Powers to help.
"Luffy san!! Stop Please! Calm down! You want to mess with the marines or something?!"
"Coby, I've decided!"
"Huh?"
"I'm going to ask Zoro to join me!"
OMAP
"This is bad! Who is he!?" "He dared to hit the Lieutenant's son! Liutnant Morgan won't forgive him!!"
"Luffy San!! Calm yourself! They are marines!"
"I don't care! A bastard is still a bastard!"
Raising his hand to his nose Helmeppo cried out, "You… you dare to hit me?! My dad hasn't even hit me once! I'm Lieutenant Morgan's son! I'll tell him about this!"
"Why don't you fight me yourself?"
"Luffy san, don't do this!"
"You'll regret hitting me! You'll get a death sentence for it! And my dad will be the one who executes you!"
Luffy sighed. "It's meaningless to hit people like him."
"He ran away…"
The little girl, Rika ran over to Luffy. "Oni chan, you were so cool! Just when I was scared to death!"
"Really? I should have hit him a couple more times!"
"Rika! Come here!" an older woman called from a near by doorway. "Don't talk to strangers! You'll be executed too if you were mistaken as one of their friends!!"
"Mom, he's a good person! And so is Zoro…"
"Don't be silly! Did you sneak into the execution site again?"
"No…No I didn't!" Rika lied through her teeth.
"Come back into the house quickly!"
Luffy waved at Rika when she looked back. "Bye bye!"
OMAP
Marine base main building:
"I am…GREAT!!!"
"Yes sir! Because you are the Lieutenant Morgan!"
"But lately, the offerings seem to be…decreasing…"
"Ah! About that, the money for the offerings…the citizens have their financial problems too…"
"It's not a matter of financial problems…it's because they don't respect me!!"
Suddenly, the doors burst open.
"Dad!!!"
"What's the matter Helmeppo?"
"I want to kill a certain someone!"
OMAP
"Yo!"
"It's you again? I told you, I don't wan to be a pirate!"
"I'm Luffy. If I loosen up the ropes, then you're going to join me, okay?"
"I've already told you! No. I have things that I need to do. Besides, I'm not going to be a bad guy like a pirate."
"What's the difference? Besides, everyone already thinks you are a bad guy."
"I don't care what they say about me! I haven't done one thing that I regretted in the past and it will be the same for the future! I won't become a pirate!"
Luffy stared at Zoro.
"I don't care. You are going to join me!"
"Don't decide for your self!"
"Hey, I heard that you use three katanas, is that right?"
"Hrm…if I'm not being tied up, I could use a katana."
"So where are they?"
"That bastard took them. It's something that I treasure most…other than my life."
"Okay! I'm going to go get them!"
"What?!"
"But, if you want me to return them to you, you'll have to join me!"
"That's dirty! Oi! Wait!"
"Ok! I'm going!"
"Is he planning on sneaking into the base? What a fool…"
OMAP
"That's strange," Luffy looked around the inner court yard. "There aren't any marines around. Oh…that's right… the statue." Luffy grinned. "Hahahaha!" Suddenly disappearing, Luffy floated up to the top of the base.
Luffy reappeared, sitting on the Statue of Morgan's head.
"Hey! Is this valuable!?"
"What? How did you get up here?!"
"Eh? How rude! Gomu, Gomuno… Axe!!!" With a flip in the air, Luffy gained enough centripetal force to spin his elongated leg and smash it into the stone statue. The statue split down the center before both sides fell off of the roof to both the east and the west.
Morgan and the marines looked dumb founded at Luffy. Regaining his wits first, Morgan yelled to his subordinates. "CAPTURE HIM!! I'm gonna kill him!"
"Yes sir!!"
"Dad, it's him! He's the one who hit me! I told you he's no good!" Helmeppo yelled, hiding behind two marines.
"Hey! I've been looking for you!" Luffy grabbed Helmeppo by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him into the base.
"Lieutenant! Some one's at the execution site!"
"WHAT!? Another traitor? Have them all killed!"
OMAP
At the execution site:
"What!? Luffy san is inside the base? He's too hot headed!"
Zoro nodded to Coby. "Yeah, you're right. Any way, who is he?"
"Oi! If you help me, they are going to kill you!"
"You shouldn't be arrested! I can't stand those kinds of marines! I'm going to become a real marine! Just like the way Luffy san is determined to become the Pirate King!!"
"What? Pirate...King? You are joking right?!"
"Hehe! I was a bit shocked when I first heard him, but he's serious!"
Suddenly, Coby felt a searing pain on his shoulder. His glasses flew off as he fell to the ground. He'd been shot by one of the marines.
OMAP
"They're over there! Stop where you are!"
"Hey…bastard! Where's your room!"
"I'll tell, I'll tell! Just stop dragging me!"
"Okay! Spill it!" Luffy pulled Helmeppo off of the floor by his collar.
"The next door on the right! My room!"
Three marines stopped behind the pair and raised their guns.
"Don't move! Raise your hands above your head!"
"Eh? NO!" Luffy pulled Helmeppo in front of him.
"Huh?"
"Okay! Go ahead and shoot!"
"What! You're actually using Helmeppo sama as your shield?!"
"AHHH!!"
OMAP
"I've…been shot! Bleeding! I'm bleeding!! I'm going to dieeee!"
"…are you alright? You should run, they're almost here."
"NO! I've… got to set you free as soon as possible!" Coby tried to stand up.
"There is no need to worry about me. As long as I can stand this for a month, they'll set me free. Hurry and lea…"
"They will not set you free! Because they're going to kill you in three days!" Coby yelled, finally back on his feet.
"Nonsense! That bastard promised me that if I could survive this for a month, he'd free me…"
"He never intended to keep his promise! That's why Luffy san punched him on your behalf! Because he was toying with you!"
"What did you just say?!"
"The navy will never let the two of you off! Please! After I set you free please help me rescue Luffy san! I will not force you to become a pirate; however, he's my savior!"
"Luffy san is very strong! As long as you two join forces, you all will definitely be able to escape this town! Definitely!" Coby fell back to his knees.
"That's enough! The two of you who have betrayed Lieutenant Morgan…DIE HERE!"
OMAP
"Alright! Found the katanas!" Luffy picked up the three swords and looked out the window. "Oh no! Coby…Zoro…!!"
"Surround the base!! Don't let the guy with the Straw Hat escape!!" Morgan turned back to Zoro. "How interesting…the three of you are planning to cause political upheaval?(1) Roronoa Zoro…I've heard your name from a long time ago, but do not underestimate me. Before my great strength… you're just garbage!!"
Turning to his troops, Morgan cried out, "Ready!!"
'I can't die here…I still have things I need to settle!! I made a promise…!! I cannot die here!!'
Suddenly, a window on the third floor smashed outwards.
The group of marines, Morgan, Zoro, and Coby all jerked their heads to the source of the sound.
"Hahahaha!" Luffy had jumped out the window dragging Helmeppo with him.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"
Recovering from the initial shock, Morgan yelled at his men.
"FIRE!!"
"Eh?" Luffy threw Helmeppo to the side and jumped in front of Zoro.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Zoro didn't get a response.
BANG!
The sound of thirty guns firing bounced off of the Marine base making a loud echo.
The bullets all hit Luffy at different points of his body, making him twist in a disgusting, bone breaking, 'he must be dead', kind of way.
After a few seconds, Luffy untwisted and stood back up.
"Whew! I got 'em!" Luffy held out his hands to show those around him.
Inside each hand, there were fifteen small pistol bullets resting on his palms.
"How the hell did you do that!?"
"Oh? You're impressed!? Then watch this!"
Luffy tossed the pellets into the air. Suddenly, they stopped midway to the apex of their trajectory.
"Gomu, Gomuno…GATTLING GUN!!"
Thirty lightning fast and accurate punches later, the bullets were whizzing through the air.
The marines, frozen in their tracks, were unharmed as the metal spheres flew past them. Their target was…Lieutenant Morgan.
Lieutenant Axe Hand Morgan raised his name sake and deflected several bullets, where they still dented the metal axe. The twenty some other balls found their mark, knocking the Lieutenant to his knees.
"I lost? But…I was great…" and with that, Morgan fell unconscious, falling to the ground.
Coby had fallen to the ground, he too unconscious from the shock of a near death experience.
"What kind of human are you?" Zoro yelled at Luffy.
"Hehe…I am… the one who will become the pirate king!"
"Resisting the navy here together will make you an outlaw! Or maybe you want to die here? Are you the offspring of the devil…? Forget it…rather than to die here…why don't I just accede to your request…and become a pirate!"
"Yes!! I have a companion!"
"Okay! Hurry and get these ropes off of me!"
Luffy threw the swords to Zoro, forgetting that he was still tied up.
"Hehe…oops."
Mean while, the marines were talking amongst themselves.
"That guy! How the?!"
"How did he mange to repell those bullets?!!"
"Even more so…Lieutenant Morgan was defeated!"
That thought ran through the crowd of marines like wild fire. The Lieutenant had been defeated.
Back with Luffy and Zoro:
"Hey Luffy. I already told you I'd become a pirate like you. Either way, after this incident with the maines, I'll be an outlaw too. But it's okay. I still have my own goals! I'm going to become the world's greatest swords man! I no longer care if my name is clean or not! Bad guy, good guy…it no longer matters! As long as my name is known world wide! If you do something that ends up in the way of my goal…I will have you cut your stomach open to say sorry!"
"Good! To be the world's number one swords man! Since you want to be the pirate king's crew member. If you can't even accomplish something that small, then I would be very embarrassed as well!"
"Heh! Well said."
"Luffy…what are you?"
"I am… a rubber man!!" 'Or am I some thing more now?'
From the other side of the execution yard a cry went out.
"The Lieutenant lost!! Lieutenant Morgan has been defeated!"
As one, the marines threw their hats, swords, guns, what ever they were carrying, into the air.
"Yes!!"
"We're free!!!"
"We are out of Morgan's control!"
"Long live Marines!!"
"They seem to be happy that Morgan was defeated." Luffy said turning back to Zoro and Coby.
"Every one… hated Morgan…" Coby broke into a smile.
"So, it's good?" Zoro asked. Before anyone could respond, he fell to the ground, asleep and dead to the world.
OMAP
"I'm full!! I haven't eaten for nine days, almost starved to death!" Zoro patted his stomach.
"Then, it's impossible for you to last a month!"
"You're so scrawny, how come you ate as much as me?"
"Sorry…Even I ate quite a lot…" Coby scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Don't worry! Keep eating, you saved our town!"
"Oni san! You're so strong!" Rika said to Luffy.
"Yep! I'm strong! And I'll get even stronger later on!"
"Oh, yeah. What are your plans next?"
"I am going to head for the 'Grand Line'!"
"What?! You're saying crazy things again, Luffy san! Just you two, how can you enter the Grand Line? Don't you understand? The world's strongest pirates all gather there!"
"So, we're going for one piece…it won't hurt to head that direction!"
"Zoro san! Even you're saying this rubbish?!"
"First of all, you'd better worry about your self!"
"Huh? Why?"
"Even though you were just doing chores on a pirate ship, you're still a small pirate. Don't underestimate the marine's ability to gather information. If they know your past, they won't let you join for sure!"
The door to Rika's house swung open. "Excuse me!"
A marine walked into the room while the others stood outside. "We are wondering, are you really pirates?"
"Yes, I just found my first crew member, so that would make us pirates now!"
"Even though you are pirates, in reality…you saved our town and base. For that, we are grateful. But since you are pirates, as marines, we cannot allow you to stay any longer. Please leave this place immediately. As for the events that occurred here, we will be reporting it to the HQ."
Despite the towns peoples' out cries, Luffy stood up from the table.
"Hmm, well then, let's go! Thank you for your food ma'am!"
"Luffy san…"
"Are you really leaving?" Rika asked.
Zoro and Luffy began to make their way to the door.
The marine official turned to Coby. "Aren't you with their group?
"I'm… not…not… I'm not with them!" Coby stuttered out.
Luffy smiled and turned around.
"Please hold on. Is he telling the truth?"
"Actually…he used to be with this FAATTT female pirate…I think her name was Albida."
'Stop. If they know I worked on a pirate ship before, then they won't let me join the marines! Don't say any more!'
"It was a fat and ugly female pirate, this guy spent two years there…"
'Please shut up…' "SHUT UP!!" Coby jumped at Luffy and hit him with a right hook.
Luffy smiled, having dulled the force of the blow with his Logia abilities. "Hey, kid. That could have hurt. Here's a tip. Don't mess with us pirates!"
"ENOUGH! I won't allow this town to get in any more fights! I know he isn't your friend! Please leave this town immediately!"
'He… did it for me… He wanted to make me mad…make me hit him…Even in the very end, I still needed their care. I am so damn useless. I am… an imbecile… If I don't take this chance, then every thing they did will be a waste!' "Please let me join the marines! Even if it's chores, I will still do them!!"
"Captain!" One of the other marines stepped forwards into the house. "I'm against it. We can not accept a person whose past is unclear to us. There have been events where pirates have joined the marines to be spies! So, we have to properly check his back ground befor we can decide…"
"I am… a man whose dream is to become a member of the marines!!!!"
"Don't think that we don't know your past as a pirate. You underestimate our power! But, I will still allow you to join."
"Yes sir! Thank you sir!"
"You should know, though, Zatsuyo (marine rank- chore boy) Coby, that I've come across your pirate friend twice already."
"What?"
"The first time, he defeated an 8 million berry bounty mountain man and claimed his reward. He was six years old at the time. The second time was when we were celebrating Morgan's promotion. Silly of us huh? He told me to take his picture and that he was going to become the Pirate King."
O
M
A
P
(1)Boy was he ever right! Enies Lobby!!
AN: Finally done! Whew!! That took much longer than I expected, and is now over 4000 words long! Longest Chapter! I'd like to keep the chaps around 2k so they come out faster, but, I'd already broken this chapter once…
Still don't know if I can do a poll…
Please give me some ideas for the story!!
Breakdown:
Chapter 7
Words: 4072
Reviews: 20 total (more please : ) )
Total hits to this story: 1223 (So please review!)
C2s: 1
Favs: 6
Alerts: 7
Total words: 13230! Broke 10,000
Next chapter: Nami Enters!
