Chapter 8


On an unknown island on the Grand Line...

Dracule Mihawk had just landed. Nearby he could see the ship of an old nakama of his. He started to walk up the beach when some low-level pirates began quivering at the sight of him.

He walked up to one and said: "Take me to your captain."

The man was shaking all over, and it took all the courage he had to nod his head and take off in the direction of his captain.

Soon Mihawk was at their main campsite and could see his old nakama clutching his head likely working off a hangover.

"Hey there, Hawk-Eye, What a rare visitor...I'm not feelin' so good at the moment... Have you come to fight me?"

"I don't have any intention of settling things with you now that you've lost your left arm."

He reached into his jacket as he searched for something. "I found an interesting group of pirates, and was suddenly reminded of a story you used to tell."

He said this as he withdrew the scroll he had been keeping in his pocket. He walked over to Red-Haired Shanks as he began to unfurl it.

"A story about an interesting boy from a certain small village..."

As he looked at the bounty, his eyes widened. "You don't mean...!"

The others in his crew perked up at this. The description from Hawk-Eye could only mean one thing...

Luffy had made his debut.

"So you've made it, Luffy!" Shanks said grinning widely. "And a bounty that high to start with..."

He looked at the picture of the Straw Hat kid that he had left all those years ago. Luffy looked a little older than Shanks thought he would, but that's life on the sea for you he supposed. He had not changed all that much though seeing him with his finger in his nose.

He laughed. It would be Luffy to have such a high bounty with such an innocent expression on his face.

"That kid surprises me, Shanks," Mihawk said simply as he held the drink Shanks had poured for him. "His powers are impressive, and he had strange sort of wisdom about him."

Shanks who was currently mid-way through a swig of his own drink spat out in surprise "Wisdom? Luffy? Are you sure you're talking about the kid in the bounty here he said pointing to the picture."

"I did say it was strange wisdom, didn't I? You can see him acting like that without a care in the world one moment. But then I saw the look in his eyes as he helped one of his nakama. They were eyes that have seen some dark things." Mihawk said seriously. "And there's that scar the boy has. I'd be interested to know how he got such a violent looking scar."

"Pfft, that scars no big deal," Shanks said laughing. He had been a little disturbed to hear Mihawk described Luffy that way but when he heard him talking about that tiny scar under his eye like it was life threatening he knew Mihawk was just reading way too much into things.

"He got that trying to prove that he was brave enough to be a pirate!" He laughed as his crew joined him remembering the incident.

"What?" Mihawk said surprised. That huge jagged red X had been gained as a child?

"Yeah!" Shanks said laughing. "We had been making fun of him when we started saying that he wasn't tough enough to be a pirate."

"But the moron takes a dagger and sticks it under his eye to prove he was tough! He cried like a baby afterward of course, and we had to patch him up."

"You moron. That's not the scar I'm talking about." Mihawk said annoyed. "I'm talking about the one that looks like someone burned something across his chest. It's a giant red X across his chest."

"Wait, what?" Shanks said genuinely surprised. His crew shut up at this as well. What had happened to Luffy?

"Well, I don't know anything about it. I didn't really have time to ask. Straw Hat seemed to have a little war going on between himself and Don Krieg, so I left. I watched his fight from afar, however." Mihawk said.

"Well... alright that's understandable but how was he in a fight? Was he good?" Shanks asked enthusiastically. He was more than a little worried about what he had learned about Luffy. What had given him that scar he wondered.

"He's powerful. Surprisingly so to be honest someone raised in East Blue. He's got a strong crew, but I don't think any of them really compare against Luffy."

"Oh well that's a shame than about his crew, but I'm glad to hear Luffy's tough at least. He'll have to be tough if he wants to survive the Grand Line." Shanks said finishing off his glass.

"No. I did not say that Luffy's crew was weak I just said that they didn't compare to Luffy."

"What do you mean?" Shanks asked. He knew Luffy was going to become the greatest of pirates one day. But he assumed he wouldn't be all that strong yet.

"He fought Don Krieg with ease. Which to someone of our skill isn't saying much but there were times where I felt he was just holding back so he wouldn't kill the man." Mihawk said seriously.

"Those powers of his... They could really do some damage in the hands of a less capable pirate." Mihawk said looking at the bottom of his mug.

"I didn't see much of this mind you, but I witnessed an impressive control over haki which shouldn't be possible for someone with no training in such a skill. And growing up in East Blue to boot. I don't suppose you had anything to do with training the kid?" Mihawk asked looking at Shanks.

"No... Haki you say? Where'd he learn that I wonder..." Shanks said rubbing his goatee.

"That's not even the half of it. Luffy seems to be teaching his crew as well to control it."

"Really?" Now that was impressive. Luffy teaching? Scary thought that was.

"I fought a swordsman that was on his crew. While he was no match for me at the time... I know he has the drive to one day surpass me."

Now Shanks had been seriously surprised to hear this. Mihawk saying one day there was going to be a better swordsman than him? He thought he'd never see the day.

"But what surprised me most is that one it truly counted the swordsman was able to draw on both observational and armament haki. He was able to destroy the dagger I had in my necklace because of it."

Shanks thought on that. Someone had impressed Mihawk to the point where he thought he would one day surpassed, and the man had bested him when he had been armed only with a knife admittedly. And he wasn't even close to Luffy's strength.

"Did you see anyone else in the crew?"

"Yes. There were two girls in his crew. I can't say much for them though. One seems to be the ship's doctor though, but beyond that, I don't know any of their skills. Oh, and one was a long-nosed boy. Bushy black hair. But again I never saw any of them in action."Mihawk said.

Yasopp perked up at the last part. "Could it be?" he muttered. Did his son become a pirate just like his father?

"Mihawk could you describe the boy with the long nose a little more. A name maybe?" Yasopp asked.

Mihawk thought about it and tried to describe the boy as best he could. Although he had never heard a name to connect with the face.

"T-That might be my son... The description fits him perfectly when he was a small child. But maybe I'm wrong..." Yasopp looked at his captain seriously.

"Captain? Could I ask a favor?" Yasopp asked.

Shanks nodded and listened to his sniper. He thought about his request, and after some thought smiled.

"I think that's something we can do Yasopp," Shanks said smiling to his crew. They gave a cheer as they continued to party.

Mihawk gathered himself. It was time he headed on his way. Hanging out with pirates was not exactly his favorite activity. And so without a word he headed back to his boat.

Shanks watched him go for a few seconds but then turned his eyes towards where the East Blue. And grinned again widely. This was going to be interesting.


The old man watched the two go. He was glad that he met those two. It gave him hope for the future. That there are still brave people out there willing to fight for their dreams.

He laughed to himself as he wiped the mugs clean. He wondered if Roger was looking down at that boy with that smile of his.

But he was interrupted from his musings when a marine came in demanding he hang a new bounty.

"Fine give it here boy." He glared at the marine as he grabbed the poster. Grabbing a hammer and nail, he went to tack it in the wall when he got a look at the picture.

He laughed again and decided to hang this one somewhere special. He stuck it up behind the bar were at one point he had displayed Gold Roger's bounty as well.

"Do us, proud kid. Achieve your dream." He said smiling.

Then he watched a couple of men dressed in cloaks wandered into his bar being followed by a young woman.

The two men sat down at one of his tables and the one with the clown nose drew a deck of cards and began shuffling them. They demanded drinks, and he figured if he was going to keep this bar open he might as well. He grabbed a bottle and a couple of glasses and put them on the table then he walked over to his table and sat down again sipping his own drink.

"I knew it." red nose said grinning under his hood.

"The cards say that detestable runt is already in this town. The time for revenge has flashily come at last!"

"So? Do you successfully take his life?" The woman in the cowboy hat asked.

"Obviously." the man said as he laid down his last card.

"The one who dies is..." and he revealed a card with his own face on it.

"Oh. It's you!" the woman laughed.

The man slammed his head down on the table.

It was then that the man with the blue checkered scarf began visibly shaking. He lifted a hand to point at something behind the bar.

"C-Captain! I-It's him!" He said simply.

Alvida and Buggy turned towards the bar and saw what he was talking about.

Alvida walked closer. "fifty million Berries... Why doesn't that surprise me," she said smiling.

Buggy stared at it getting pissed off. He was going to do whatever it took to kill that bastard today. Then the people would know that he was a great pirate to be feared.

It was time to get out of here anyway. Alvida left some money to cover the drinks, and they went out the way they came.

The old man laughed it looked like that man-made enemies and allies wherever he went. On a day like today... It just seemed to fit he thought.


Zoro was currently being led down the street by Tashigi who was angrily walking ahead of him.

"Where exactly are we going?!" Zoro yelled after her.

"You broke my glasses."

"I told you. I'll pay you back... somehow."

"You don't look like you would have any money! Something about you just seems off!"

"T-True, I don't have any money, but..."

"Those wrinkles between your eyes!" Tashigi said as she walked up to the swordsman. "That look of having eaten nothing for days!"

Tashigi continued to stare him down "Do you have a sick mother?! Did your wife run out on you and leave you with five babies to nurse?!"

'Where the hell did she get that?' Zoro thought to himself.

"L-Look, you!" he said getting in her face.

She turned and began leading him again "I won't ask for details! Just come with me!"

He continued following her until she calmly walked into a marine base.

He stood outside a little nervous. "T-The marines?"

As he followed her inside, he watched as she pulled something out of a supply closet. She handed him a bucket and mop and smiled at him.

"The cleaning man just quit his job. If you work for the marines, you'll never need to worry about money!"

"You're a fortunate person!" She said with a smile.

Zoro was visibly annoyed at this point. "Screw that! Why should I work for the navy?!" Zoro shouted.

"You're just going to run off?!" Tashigi said looking at him angrily. "You're insulting a person's kindness!"

"Maybe your poor spirit's more of an issue than your money problem?!" she shouted back.

"Look, you!" Zoro began to reply but was interrupted by another marine.

"Sergeant Major! It's time for training!" He saluted to his superior.

"Bye! Please work hard, okay?" She said leaving Zoro with the mop and bucket.

"Sergeant Major?!" Zoro said surprised.

He began doing chores around the place wondering how he got stuck doing this job. He was currently taking out the trash when he noticed two people staring at him.

"Uh..." Zoro began sweating a little bit.

"Just pretend you don't see anything Luffy," Nami said as she pulled Luffy along.

"But why is he taking out the marine's trash Nami?" Luffy said looking confused in Zoro's direction.

"It's none of our business Luffy let's just get out of here."

"Ok," Luffy said happily following his navigator.

'Damn it...' Zoro thought to himself not only was he doing these stupid chores but his captain and that greedy woman had seen him as well.

Zoro annoyed walked back inside looking at all the work he was supposed to do. Angrily he grabbed three mops and used his signature sword style to do swab the floors with surprising efficiency.

At some point, Zoro found himself at the training grounds as he watched the woman fight several marines at once.

Seeing her fight and beat everyone with ease, he had a hard time distinguishing her with Kuina.

It was then that two marines came up to him with hands on their swords prepared to draw.

"What are you doing here?" One said while the other followed with "I knew it! You're Pirate Hunter Zoro! Why the hell are you cleaning?!"

"Intel has it that you've teamed up with Monkey D. Luffy's crew!"

"You're under arrest!" One said as he started to pull the sword from its sheath.

However, Zoro was faster. Before the man could draw his swords, he launched himself at the marines knocking both of them out with two swings of the broom.

"Well... now what?" Zoro said looking around.

Later some marines noticed the unconscious bodies and alerted the Sergeant Major. Tashigi saw a note as well as a stack of money. Taking both she read the letter which said.

"For your glasses..." she read aloud looking around for the man who had done this.

Zoro could be seen walking down the street still looking for a swordsmith.

"Man, that freaked me out... Damn it! She looks way too much like Kuina!"

"Not to mention she's a swordsman, of all things... The world sure is a big place. But I doubt I'll ever see her again."

However, he saw a shop that should have what he needed. It had weapons decorating the outside, so he walked in to find a sleeping shopkeeper staffing the store.

"I'd like some swords," Zoro said looking at the man.

The man woke with surprise but got over it quickly.

"Yes, yes! Welcome! Have a look at anything you'd like!" the man said wringing his hands together.

"Our shops been in business for over two hundred years, you see!"

Zoro put the measly wad of cash he had been left with after leaving money for Tashigi.

"I got a hundred thousand Berries. Sell me two swords."

"Eh? Two swords for 100,000 Berries?" the man said surprised.

His excitement at having a customer quickly turned to annoyance. 'Damn, he has no money.' he thought to himself.

"Fifty thousand a sword'll only get you some dull blades." The man said bored.

"I'll make do with whatever. I just don't have any money." Zoro said.

'You'll make do with whatever? Hmph! What an amateur!' The man thought to himself.

However, he then spied the sword at Zoro's waist. 'That sword... could it be?!'

"O-Oh, h-hold on. L-Lemme see that sword of y-yours!" the man said shaking and sweating profusely.

"What're you all fidgety for?!" Zoro demanded.

"J-Just let me see it!" the man demanded.

"Weirdo," Zoro said, but he handed his sword over.

He withdrew the sword from its sheath a little bit to confirm his suspicions.

'T-This really is it!' the man thought shock visible in his features.

Trying to get himself to calm down he knew this was his chance. An amateur like this guy didn't even know what he had.

"Wow, that's not a bad sword!" the man said. What do you say? I'll buy this from you for 200,000 Berries." The man said grinning and sweating a little bit.

Zoro annoyed grabbed the sword from the salesman. "Not for sale." he glared at the man.

"Wait...Wait I'll raise the price how much do you want for it!" The man shouted he was desperate at this point.

"Not. For. Sale." Zoro repeated glaring at the salesman. "Now where are the swords for 50,000 Berries?"

"Hello!" Suddenly they were interrupted by Tashigi running into the shop. "Did you finish polishing my Shigure?" she asked.

Tashigi noticing the swordsman from before said to him "Thank goodness! You're all right!"

"Someone went on a rampage at the navy outpost earlier." She said looking concerned at him.

"You were gone too, so I was worried!"

Zoro was sweating at this point looking at the girl. He was thankful she hadn't made the connection though.

"But the fact that you're here safe and sound... means you actually scoffed at my kindness and ran off!"

She gave him back his money. "I can't accept money from someone who's heartless."

"Besides, I bought some new glasses!" Tashigi said putting them on.

She looked back at the man and noticed the sword in his hand.

"Is that sword the Wado Ichimonji!" she shouted with surprise.

She grabbed it from him inspecting it for herself. "It is the Wado Ichimonji!"

She drew the blade "What a beautiful straight temper line!" she said with amazement.

"I believe it's one of the twenty-one O-Wazamono swords!" She sheathed the sword as she handed it back. Withdrawing a small book she began looking for the right page.

"See! Look at this! It's worth no less than ten million Berries!"

She looked surprised at the swordsman. "But what are you doing with such a legendary sword?"

The salesman was annoyed at this point. Although it seemed that he wasn't going to make a sale in the first place, it was still annoying that the amateur now knew the value of his blade.

"It's true, that sword's so legendary it'd be a waste for a guy who doesn't know it's value to walk around with it."

"This sword means more to me than my own life," Zoro said staring the salesman down. "So don't tell me I don't know it's value."

The salesman began sweating again. He could feel the anger being leveled at him. "Alright! Alright! Look those barrels over there have swords worth 50,000 each. Just take two and leave!"

Tashigi was surprised to hear what Zoro had said. 'Why did that sword mean so much to him?' she thought to herself. She looked towards the salesman who was currently digging under the counter for her sword.

"Here." he handed Tashigi's Shigure to her. "Your swords polished," he said leveling her a glare.

Tashigi thanked him and walked over to the swordsman. "You must really like swords, carrying three of them around!" she said.

"That's almost like this one bounty hunter out there!" she said.

"Bounty hunter, huh?" Zoro said.

"He's famous! His name is Roronoa!" Tashigi said.

"I hear the name a lot," Zoro said cheekily.

"Yes. Roranora is a famous swordsman all throughout the East Blue, but he's a notorious person!" she finished looking a little angry. "Using swords as bounty-hunting tools is unforgivable!"

"Why is evil so strong in this era? All the famous sword masters are pirates or bounty hunters... And almost all of the world's legendary swords are in their hands." she lamented.

"It's a real shame..." she finished.

Zoro was a little annoyed at this. He had seen evil among all kinds of people. Pirates, bounty hunters, ordinary people, and marines.

"You know not all pirates, and bounty hunters are bad," Zoro said still rustling through the barrels looking for swords he liked.

"What?" Tashigi said surprised. "I have yet to meet one that couldn't be described as bad."

"Well, I have," Zoro said simply. "One saved my life actually."

Tashigi was interested to hear what had happened. "How did that happen."

"I was on an island far away from here. It was mostly just a small town with a large marine base." Zoro started his story.

"I had just started to eat at the local tavern when a man and his pet wolf busted through the door. He let the wolf loose on people who simply cowered as the wolf tore through the restaurant."

Tashigi was astounded to hear this. Someone would dare do that with a marine base so close by?

"A little girl tried to stop the wolf from terrorizing the restaurant, but the man just laughed and had the wolf attack the girl."

"What happened to the girl?!" Tashigi asked.

"I killed the wolf before it could get her. But it turns out the man wasn't too pleased for me to do that."

"He should have expected it breaking the law like that! Did they call in the marines then?"

Zoro laughed "Yes they did, but not to arrest him."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well turns out the man who owned the wolf was the son of the Marine Captain in charge of the base. I don't remember the punks name something like "Hippo" or something, but Captain Morgan was the one in charge of the base."

Tashigi was surprised to hear this. Captain Morgan was a name she recognized. He had been arrested for corruption but this... this was an entirely new level of corrupt to her.

"So Hippo told me that he was going to bring down his father's wrath on the restaurant for killing his pet. But he offered me a deal."

"A deal?" Tashigi asked.

"Yeah. One month strung to a cross without food or water. And in return, he wouldn't punish the girl."

"T-That's despicable! Using the marines to do something so... terrible!" she said angered.

"Yeah well, I took the deal. I even made it a few weeks when out of nowhere this guy shows up."

"What guy?"

"Well his name was Monkey D. Luffy I found out later. He's a pirate in case you haven't heard of them."

"He's not just a pirate! He's one with a 50 Million Berry bounty on him! They say he's a real monster!" she said surprised. "What was he doing there?"

"I guess he was dropping off a kid that he saved from some pirates. The kid wanted to be a marine but had been kidnapped by pirates I guess."

"Oh," Tashigi said. That sounded like something the marines should do.

"Yeah... but anyway so this guy tells me that they're planning on executing me the next day."

"What?! But what about the deal?" Tashigi asked. She really didn't like the sound of the marines that would abuse their power in such an evil way.

Zoro laughed solemnly "I guess he never intended to honor that deal."

"But to make matters worse, the little girl got caught trying to feed me at one point. They tossed her over the wall when they caught her. But luckily Luffy caught her, so she wasn't hurt. Later though Morgan found out that they had let her go and ordered her to be executed."

Zoro said that last part as he gripped one of the swords. He liked the feeling of this one.

"T-That monster! Executing a little girl?! Who would do such a thing."

Zoro looked at Tashigi. "A Marine Captain," he said.

This caused Tashigi to flinch a little bit. She had to admit this story... damaged her pride as a marine a little.

"But anyway Luffy freed me when I found out that they were just going to execute me anyway. And in return, I helped him fight Captain Morgan. He was defeated, and the town was saved from that man. The marines even let... Luffy, leave without trying to arrest him."

He pulled the sword he had found from the barrel. "Like I said. Not all pirates are bad, but not all marines are good either," he said saying the last part looking right at her.

"I owe my life to a wanted pirate. Does that make me a bad person." Zoro finished.

Tashigi shook her head no. She... would have a lot to think about she realized. A good pirate? The idea almost seemed funny in her mind but after what she had heard...

But then she noticed the sword in his hands. She leafed through her book until she found the right page. "I thought so! Kitetsu III!"

"It's predecessor, the Kitetsu II, is an O-Wazamono sword, and the Kitetsu I before that is listed as a Top O-Wazamono sword!"

Zoro drew the sword looking at its blade.

"Mister! Is this sword really fifty thousand Berries?!" Tashigi asked the salesman.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Incredible! It's a respectable Wazamono, you know! That one! You have to choose that one!" Tashigi said.

"It normally goes for one million Berries! You absolutely have to choose it!"

Over at the counter, the salesman was nervously sweating. "N-No! I can't sell it!" the man shouted.

"Yeah! Selling this for fifty thousand Berries is clearly strange!"

"No, that's not what I mean!"

Zoro had felt the ill intent coming from the sword the moment he had touched it. " A cursed sword, huh?"

"You knew?!" the salesman shouted in surprise.

"No. I can just tell." Zoro said simply.

"Starting with the very first one, all the Kitetsu have been superior swords, but every last one is cursed!" the salesman said. "Many famous master swordsmen have met tragic deaths after taking up Kitetsu swords."

"These days, there ain't a single person who uses a Kitetsu. Because you'll leave this world even if you use them unknowingly!"

"Even I wanna get rid of that thing... but I'm afraid it'll curse me..." the salesman said looking scared.

Tashigi looked to Zoro and bowed "I-I'm sorry! I had no idea it was such a terrifying sword!" she said apologizing. "I should've minded my own business!"

"I like it! I'll take it!" Zoro said grinning.

"A-Are you a fool?! I can't sell it!" the salesman shouted. "If you die because of it, then it'd be like I killed you myself!"

However, his rant was stopped when his wife hit him over the head. "You're the fool! Just sell the stupid thing off!"

"Then let's do this," Zoro said looking at the sword.

"My luck, and this thing's curse... Let's see which one's stronger." He said as he calmly threw the sword in the air and held his arm out.

"You can't be serious!" Tashigi shouted watching the sword fly through the air.

"Stop! Its sharpness is the real deal! It'll take your whole arm off!" the salesman shouted at him.

Zoro just closed his eyes accepting any outcome that would come from this.

And the sword grazed his arm harmlessly with the back of the blade as it stuck itself in the ground. Digging its way almost to the handle.

Zoro just grinned "I'll take it."

Everyone in the store was speechless. Tashigi and the salesman collapsed to the ground as they were shocked by the spectacle they had just witnessed.

Zoro bent down and made to pull the sword from the ground. "Hey, Could you choose me another one?" he looked to Tashigi.

"S-Sure..." she stuttered out.

"H-Hold it!" the salesman having gathered his wits shouted at the swordsman. He ran into the back of his shop as he went to retrieve something.

Zoro attached the cursed sword to his hip as the salesman went into the back.

Soon the salesman made his return with a wrapped bundle. Setting it on his counter, he revealed a sword.

"The make is black lacquer... and the blade's temper pattern uneven!" He said as he drew it.

"The Ryo-Wazamono "Yubashiri"!" the man said.

"My shop may not be much, but this is the finest sword I have!"

"I can't buy that," Zoro said no way he could afford such a blade.

"I already told you, I got no money."

"Forget the money. And I don't need any for the Kitetsu, either." the salesman said seriously.

"I'm sorry for trying to cheat you earlier. It's been a while since I've seen a good swordsman's eyes."

"They say the sword chooses the owner. I pray for your good fortune!" The man said smiling.

Zoro thanked the man and left his shop. Having fastened his third blade to his belt like the rest of them. He began heading toward the harbor again. He was happy he hadn't ended up needing to use the money that Nami had given him. Now he wouldn't be in debt to her.

Zoro was glad to have three swords again. It had been annoying to fight with borrowed swords back at Cocoyasi.

Tashigi was still kneeling where she had fallen before. "I was so frightened... that I still can't stand up..." she said looking after the swordsman as he walked into the distance.

She wished she had gotten the man's name now.


Nojiko had convinced Sanji to make her lunch on the ship. So that's where they were headed. Nojiko had made her purchases much to the excitement of Sanji. Soon they were back on the deck of the ship, and Sanji began unloading the crates of food he had purchased.

Soon after Sanji and Nojiko were enjoying a meal of their own on the ship. Although both realized that being alone on the boat presented... opportunities for other activities. And so Nojiko found herself dragging a giggling Sanji towards the men's quarters to show off her new purchases.


Nami and Luffy now fund themselves walking down the main street again. Nami had promised Luffy some food, so they began looking for a good restaurant.

They soon found a good restaurant that had two flags flying out front. Sitting down they looked over the menus and talked about their plans for traveling the next few days.


Unknown to them a group of grey-cloaked men walked in as well finding a place to sit across the restaurant.

"Damn...! That damn detestable Straw Hat!" one could be overheard muttering.

"To think that we can't find him despite looking all over for him like this..."

"But Captain, why in the hell do we have to wear cloaks like this?" The other cloaked member asked.

"Don't you know anything about being a pirate?!" the other shouted at him.

"There's an annoying Navy captain named Smoker in this town. If he finds us, my plan to get revenge on that Straw Hat will be ruined!"

However, it was at this point that Buggy the Clown saw his target. From across the restaurant, he saw that damn straw hat. The bastard was looking away from him, but he knew that hat.

He began to laugh. All that hard searching for him and he finally had him unaware. He pulled out three of his daggers and held them together between his fingers creating a bladed fist. Detaching the hand, he lined up the shot. A woman from the other table pointed at the floating hand and screamed.

He launched the hand forward watching as the Straw Hat bastard turn toward the scream. Buggy smiled this way he'd get to see the look on his face when he died. But he was surprised to see an orange haired girl instead. Who the hell was she?


Kaya and Usopp were currently walking around town. Usopp had found some shopping of his own to do although Kaya had talked him down from buying a lot of junk from the toy shop. Although as they were shopping Kaya spotted some goggles that she thought would fit Usopp perfectly. After purchasing them, she stuck them in her bag so she could surprise Usopp with them later.

As they continued walking, they began to get hungry. It was then that Kaya and Usopp noticed a strange purple haired lion sitting outside a restaurant. They started to walk closer when suddenly smoke billowed out from the restaurant followed by people screaming as they ran outside.

Usopp told Kaya to stay back while he ran towards the restaurant intent to see what was going on.


Luffy was currently holding the disembodied hand. He had seen it come flying at Nami daggers prepared to stab her in the back, but he was faster.

Buggy stood up to face his enemy. Mohji quickly stood up as well looking behind him to see the man they had been hunting down.

Seeing the man before him and seeing the look in his eyes now made him remember why he didn't like his captain's obsession to kill him.

Buggy felt his hand getting extremely cold as he shouted out in pain. What the hell was that bastard doing to his hand? Then he could suddenly no longer feel his hand as he watched that bastard shatter his hand.

"M-My Hand..." Buggy said in surprise. He had always been immune to things like blades, so he thought he never had to worry about losing a limb. But he had never considering someone shattering his hand into a hundred pieces.

Luffy took the hat from Nami and put it back on his head.

"Nami how about you go find the others? I'll deal with Buggy." He said as his arms started to ooze magma. Smoke had begun billowing from his arms.

Nami nodded at her captain and followed the waves of people rushing to get outside the restaurant.

Luffy realized that this was probably the beginning of the end of their stay on Loguetown. Smoker would probably track him down from here and then it was only a matter of time before they had to leave the island. He was a little peeved that he had never made it to the execution platform, but Luffy guessed that would be alright since he had seen it once before.

At this point, the restaurant had cleared out except for three men. Although one looked like he very much wanted to leave.

Luffy calmly walked over to the men. Smoke was filling the restaurant at this point as the magma poured faster from his arms. A helpful side effect of his powers he realized was that smoke didn't bother him as much as it would have before.

However, the two men across from him were currently rubbing their eyes and coughing. How the hell were they going to face this guy if they couldn't even see properly?

Luffy froze the magma in place with an ice coating and with a shout of "Icy-Mag Fist!" launched himself at the two.


Nami had run outside the restaurant and found Kaya standing nearby. She moved to her and caught her up on the situation.

"Someone tried to stab you in the back?" Kaya said worried for her nakama.

"Yeah, I don't know who it was though both of the guys were wearing weird gray robes. Luffy's fighting them now."

Usopp had made it to one of the windows and tried to see what was going on inside. He put on his goggles so the smoke wouldn't hurt his eyes.

Usopp's eyes widened as he ducked as a fast-moving object was thrown over his head. He saw the gray object fly and hit the lion sending both figures flying into the alley.

However, another grey object came flying soon after the first one tumbling across the ground as it came to a stop. After staying completely still for a few moments, Usopp braved another look inside.

He saw Luffy calmly walking towards the entrance. He realized it must have been his powers that was causing the smoke but who was he fighting with?

He looked back at the robed people that had been thrown through the window. Neither had moved since the incident, and the lion was definitely knocked out.

As Luffy made it outside, he headed towards where he saw Kaya and Nami. On the way, he saw Usopp catch up with him as they asked him what happened in there.

"That was Buggy the Clown. I guess he wanted revenge on me or something from beating him before." Luffy said scratching his head.

He had hoped that maybe considering last time he had shown that they were no match for him this time they wouldn't try to fight him again. Apparently, he was wrong.

However, there was one bit of luck. There weren't many marines in the area yet, and the ones who were there were more concerned with trying to put out the fire in the restaurant then to figure out what had happened. Maybe he could still go see the execution platform?

"Guys we should probably get heading out here soon before the marines get here. I still want to see the execution platform does anyone wanna go?" Luffy asked his crew.

Usopp and Kaya said that they wanted to head back to the ship and would wait for them there. Nami, however, thought it would be better to make sure her captain didn't get lost and decided to travel with Luffy.

So the four pirates split up and went their separate ways.


A short while later Smoker entered the area. Looking around he could see his marines seemed to have the situation handled. The smoke was cleared from the restaurant, and it was surprising to see very little damage had been done to the actual building.

When his Marines questioned some of the civilians, they had said that some strange robed men had attacked another patron at the restaurant. One with a straw hat.

Smoker realized that the pirate had already landed as he suspected. He had his men arrest the one robed figure they had found. The other had apparently escaped on a lion as ridiculous as he thought that was.

When his men pulled back the covering on the remaining man Smoker realized who it was. Buggy the Clown had apparently attacked Straw Hat. It looked like Buggy wanted revenge for his previous defeat. He told his men to get sea stone cuffs on him because of the devil fruit he was known to use.

It looked like he might be bringing in a few high-value pirates today.

Some of the people had seen the Straw Hat man leave with a woman in the direction of the town's main square. So that's where he began heading. On the way he ran into Tashigi who he had also been looking for. Tashigi had heard the commotion and had come just as he had, but he ordered her with him since the situation was already handled.

"Were heading after Monkey D. Luffy he was spotted heading in this direction." Smoker said looking at second in command.

She nodded at this but said nothing. 'Monkey D. Luffy' she thought to herself. The man that was supposedly a good pirate that had saved that swordsman's life. She wasn't sure how she felt about this. For the first time in her career as a marine, she almost hoped that they wouldn't find what they were looking for.


Luffy and Nami soon found themselves at the town square. They could see towering above was the execution platform. As they got closer, they noticed a familiar face sleeping in front of the tower.

Zoro currently was resting with his back to the tower. Earlier he had tried finding his way back to the ship but had gotten lost along the way... so eventually, he found a good spot to sleep for a little bit. Later he'd worry about trying to get back to the ship.

That was until he felt something knocking on his skull. "Yo Zoro!" he heard the annoying call of his captain.

Opening one eye he saw Luffy and Nami looking down on him. "Alright, I'm up. What brings you guys here? I thought you were on a date or something..."

Nami annoyed hit him over the head. "We weren't on a date! Luffy wanted to see the execution platform, so that's why we're here. What are you doing here?"

"Is that what this is?" Zoro said looking up at the platform. "Well I got the swords as I wanted, and I didn't even need to use the money that you gave me so here," Zoro said as he handed over the one hundred thousand that he had borrowed earlier.

Nami took the money and counted it out. "Alright looks like you were honest. Now you only owe me another hundred thousand." Nami said pocketing the cash.

"W-What?! But I didn't even use it?!" Zoro shouted at her.

"Yeah but you agreed to a very modest two hundred percent interest rate, and you're lucky it was only that!" Nami shouted back.

That's when it hit Zoro. He just had to talk to Luffy again he had a way with talking to the devil woman. Turning Luffy's way, he began saying "Hey Luf-" but then he realized he was gone.

"Wait where'd Luffy go?" Zoro asked looking around.

Nami surprised as well looked around before she realized where he must have gone. Looking up her suspicions were confirmed.

Luffy was currently looking out from the top of the execution platform. He had forgotten how amazing the view had been.

"Hey you over there!" a call rang out from the courtyard. "Come down right away!" a marine could be seen shouting into a megaphone.

Luffy laughed at the man. "Why?!" he shouted back.

"That's a special execution platform under control of the World Government!" the marine shouted back.

Nami and Zoro were currently looking up at their captain. Hopefully, he would come down soon they didn't really want to bring down the marine's attention on them.

"Come down right now!" the marine shouted.

"Well, you don't have to be so strict, officer," Luffy shouted back to the man.

"If you don't come down, I'll just arrest you. I'm coming up now!" the marine shouted back annoyed at the kid.

However, as he made to move to the platform something smashed into him knocking him out cold.

The civilians shouted in surprise at the person who had just knocked a marine out.

"Hmph! Now's not the time for small fries." the woman said.

"I've been looking for you, Luffy. Long time no see..." Alvida shouted up to her quarry.

"Oh hey Alvida!" Luffy shouted down waving at her.

The crowd now getting a good luck at the woman began praising her beauty.

'Who the hell is this lady?' Nami thought. 'And how does she know Luffy?'

"When your passionate fist hit me that time... Oh, it felt good..." Alvida said flushing while putting a hand to her face.

The crowd around her was struck at her beauty completely speechless.

"You guys... what's the most beautiful thing in the East Blue?" she asked the crowd smiling.

"That'd be you!" the crowd shouted all bending on one knee gesturing in her direction.

"That's right. It's me." She said smiling wider.

"No man in this world doesn't bow before my beauty." She said gesturing to the crowd.

"And I like strong men," she said looking right at Luffy.

Luffy was sweating a little bit at this point. He had kinda forgotten how she seemed to be obsessed with him.

"I'll make you mine, Luffy," she said smiling at him.

"Who does this lady think she is?!" Nami muttered glaring at the woman.

Zoro just laughed "Oh? Are you mad you have competition for our captain's affection?" he said mocking Nami.

"Shut up! She's no competition... I mean I'm not competing!" She shouted at Zoro.

He just laughed again but was quickly shut up when Nami threatened "If you don't stop laughing now I'll double your interest! And I'll keep increasing it till you'll be lucky if you can afford to feed yourself!" Nami shouted at him.

Zoro wisely shut up at this point and resumed listening to the strange woman.

"I have to say Luffy I'm a little surprised you recognized me... After all, I did lose my freckles." Alvida said gesturing at her face.

"However I notice I'm not the only one who's changed since last we met. You seem to have grown even more handsome. I also like the bared chest look. It is a great improvement I must say..." Alvida said running her eyes up and down Luffy's body.

Luffy wasn't really sure why but he felt like he should be a little embarrassed at what she was saying.

"Alright, I've had enough of this!" Nami was rolling up her sleeves looking pissed off. Zoro was holding her back though keeping her from attacking the odd woman.

At this point, a peal of thunder could be heard. Nami stopped what she was doing and looked to the sky. She cursed she hadn't been paying attention before, but now she could see that a massive storm was brewing. They were going to need to get out of here and fast.

"Luffy! Let's get out of here before this storm really hits!" Nami shouted to her captain.

"Eh?" Luffy said looking up. Sure enough, he could see those same dark clouds forming.

Luffy smiled looking back down over the crowd that was currently watching him.

He put one hand in the air and yelled "I'm the man who'll be King of the Pirates!" he shouted above the storms howling winds and bouts of thunder.

The crowd was stunned all eyes were on Luffy. Alvida herself was surprised at the declaration but smiled. After all, she liked strong men, and the King of the Pirates would have to be the strongest.

However, the marines had shown up just in time to hear the declaration.

Smoker himself looked at the man and couldn't help but see Roger when he looked at him.

"That kid..." Smoker began. But he didn't finish the thought. This was going to be interesting he realized.

"Men we can't let any of those pirates escape! Form a perimeter. Let the civilians pass but keep those pirates contained." Smoker shouted to his men.

Marines began flooding from the connecting alleyways forming a circle around the town's center. Civilians began dispersing as they were let past the marines.

Eventually, there were only four left standing in the center.

Alvida was near the fountain while the other three pirates were at the execution platform.

Tashigi who was looking through her binoculars was surprised to see the man she had seen earlier standing at the platform. 'That man... was he part of the Straw Hat pirates?' Then it hit her, the subordinates who had been knocked out at the base later said that they were attacked by Roronoa Zoro. Roronoa Zoro was now a pirate... who owed his life to Monkey D. Luffy she realized.

Luffy was surprised to see that it was only the four of them left in the center. It seems that since Buggy was out of commission the rest of his men hadn't been gathered together.

He jumped off the platform landing next to Nami. He picked her up and held her in his arms. She shouted in surprise at this.

"Time to go guys." He said simply. Looking to Zoro, he asked, "Can you keep up?"

Zoro merely laughed, and as his captain took off running, he followed close behind.

As they passed Alvida, she followed after them. No way was she going to let her man escape her sights so easily.

As they got closer to the marines, they began to open fire. Alvida had no problem with this as all of the bullets merely slid off of her, but Luffy had to dodge because of Nami. Zoro had drawn two of his blades and was deflecting the shots away from himself.

Luffy and Zoro leaped over the line of surprised Marines as they tried firing at them in midair. Alvida merely slid through the marines most being too stunned at the beautiful woman to attack, and others who wanted to grab her failed to do so as their hands slipped.

As Smoker watched the pirates get past his men, he ordered them to grab his bike. He wasn't going to get past him without a fight. Tashigi had apparently already left as she was nowhere to be seen.


The Straw Hats made their mad dash to the Going Merry as Marines could be seen chasing after them. Luffy still holding Nami as she clung to him desperately. Up ahead a lone woman could be seen standing sword drawn.

They slowed as they approached the woman. Zoro noticed that it was Tashigi, the woman he had met earlier.

"You're Roronoa Zoro," Tashigi said looking at Zoro.

"Yup," Zoro said simply holding his two drawn swords to his side.

"A-As a marine I can't let you pass," Tashigi said sounding unsure of herself.

"I know," Zoro said. He looked to the others and gave them a look telling all he needed to say.

Luffy nodded and continued running along Alvida following close behind.

As they passed, the two swords met and began clashing over the sound of the storm. Although both realized the other wasn't putting their full heart into the fight.

Eventually, Zoro got the upper hand knocking the sword from her grip. As it clattered to the ground, Tashigi looked into Zoro's eyes.

They were supposedly the eyes of a demon. But Tashigi had to disagree as she looked into them.

The other marines had shown up just in time to see their superior officer get disarmed. Tashigi nodded to Zoro in the direction of the harbor and Zoro getting the message took off after his crew.

Tashigi shouted after him, "Next time Zoro! Next time you won't escape from me!"

Zoro laughed taking one last look at the swordswoman "I count on it!" he said as he turned back running after his nakama.

Tashigi smiled. Maybe all pirates weren't so evil after all. She picked up her sword and followed after Zoro.


"Stop right there." Smoker said as the three pirates approached him.

Luffy and Alvida stopped in their tracks as they saw Smoker standing in front of his bike blocking their passage. Luffy set down Nami, and she stood next to him.

"You can't enter the Grand Line unless you beat me first." Smoker said glaring at Luffy.

Luffy said to Nami "Go on ahead Nami I'll meet you at the ship."

Nami nodded as she ran to the side of the alley. Smoker ignored his eyes on Luffy.

Luffy looked to Alvida. "Uh, so what are you doing?" he asked.

"Well it seems I'm stuck here," she said. "Buggy's crew left this island after they saw their captain get arrested. The cowards took off and left me here."

"Hmm..." Luffy thought this over. "Well, I guess you can get a ride on my ship for now..." Luffy said trailing off.

Alvida smiled at him and leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Why thank you Luffy! See ya there!" she laughed as she ran on ahead.

Luffy flushed a little bit. What was up with that lady he thought to himself.

Now it was just Luffy and Smoker standing alone in the street. They stared each other down neither making a move.

Luffy broke the silence as he said: "I'll beat you, and enter the Grand Line."

"Enough of this." Smoker said. He turned his fist into smoke as he launched it towards Luffy.

Luffy jumped as it got closer giving a spin-kick while using armament haki to smash his foot into the fist that reformed once it was hit.

Smoker retracted the hand rubbing his injured hand. That bastard actually managed to hit him. 'This kid can use haki?' he thought to himself.

Smoker drew his Seastone jitte. His smoke abilities might not be as useful in this fight, but his weapon sure would be.

Luffy looked at the weapon and got an idea. 'A bit of Seastone would be useful to keep around…'

It was at this point Zoro caught up to his captain. He slowed down a bit when he saw Smoker but figured his captain had this handled as he ran past the two.

Luffy didn't really want to continue this fight much more than he already had. Luffy launched an attack of his own spewing lava from his fists towards Smoker. Smoker dodged the attack launching himself into the air as Luffy's attack flew past him.

Hitting it's real target and melting down his bike to a pile of molten slag. "That bastard!" He destroyed his motorcycle!

Luffy laughed up at Smoker "See you on the Grand Line!" he said cheekily as Luffy disappeared in a cold mist.

Smoker swore thinking he had lost the Straw Hat. He felt another wave of cold and was surprised as Luffy gave him another Haki-infused punch sending him into the nearby storefront. Dusting himself off he was furious to learn that he was now disarmed as well. Looking outside the Straw Hat was gone once again.

Tashigi and the other marines ran into Smoker as they ran towards the harbor. The marines stopped when they saw their captain standing still.

Tashigi asked, "Captain where did they go?"

"To the Grand Line." Smoker growled out. That pirate... he was stronger then he looked.

"We're going after them! Ready a ship." Smoker ordered his men.

"B-But, Captain! This island is in your jurisdiction. I don't know what the higher-ups would say..."

"Tell them I said, don't give me orders." Smoker said staring the marine down.

"I'll come with you!" Tashigi said gripping her sword. She promised that man they'd fight again. And she intended to follow through on it.

Unknown to the marines a man in a green robe was watching over them. Dragon was surprised at the strength his son had. He had come to see his son off for the Grand Line. He was surprised to see Luffy had actually gotten one over on Smoker. He smiled looking in the direction his son had headed. He was a man now. He didn't need his help it seemed.


Nami had just gotten back to the Going Merry. Usopp and Kaya had arrived a while ago after they split from the restaurant and Nojiko and Sanji were still there as well. Nojiko could be seen holding a purple fruit smoothie as she greeted her sister.

Nami started ordering the crew to get prepared to sail when an odd guest appeared on their ship.

Alvida could be seen standing on the deck of their ship looking at the Straw Hats.

"What are you doing here!" Nami shouted over the sound of the storm.

"Your captain invited me aboard of course. My heartless companions abandoned me to this island, and now I'm all alone," she said sarcastically feigning real sadness.

Most of the Straw Hats shrugged at this. It seemed like something there captain would do inviting total strangers on their ship.

Nami looked at the woman. "Fine but we need to prepare to leave this island! You're going to help."

Alvida nodded and helped the crew prepare. Nojiko gave her drink to Sanji to protect it as she helped Nami.

Zoro soon came aboard as well. Now they were only waiting on their captain.

Although they didn't have to wait long as Luffy appeared in a sudden flash of ice. A thin layer of ice covered a small portion of the deck where he had appeared clutching a strange weapon. Everyone was stunned at his appearance, but they soon got back to work.

Pulling up the anchor they unfurled the sails as they began to leave the harbor. Luffy sat on the figurehead laughing into the storm. This is where the real adventure begins he thought to himself.

And so the Straw Hats escaped the clutches of the marines at Loguetown and were ready to take on the Grand Line next... However far away people with immense power in this world turned their eyes to the small group.


At Marineford a meeting was taking place...

Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Admiral Aokiji and Akainu, as well as Vice Admiral Garp, were currently sitting in an underground meeting room.

Sengoku looking towards Garp began speaking. "We have been getting disturbing reports of a new pirate group in the east blue."

"Oh?" Garp said. He had a feeling he knew what this was about, but outwardly he showed no change.

"Yes, a pirate with the moniker Straw Hat Luffy has begun making some waves in East Blue. Although with his current heading it's likely his destination is the Grand Line."

Garp nodded at this but said nothing more. 'There has to be some other reason for this meeting... or else the two admirals would not be here as well.'

"However even more disturbing is the boy's power. He has a devil fruit power that is very worrisome."

"Really?" Garp said. He knew about his grandson's rubber powers but wasn't sure why they'd be so concerning.

"Why are we really here Sengoku? This meeting seems like a waste of time worrying about some low life pirate. And why's Garp here? What's he got to do with this?" Akainu said as he leveled a glare at the vice admiral.

"The reason I called the meeting with the three of you is that Straw Hat Luffy's full name is Monkey D. Luffy... Garp's grandson." Sengoku said looking again to Garp.

Aokiji and Akainu were surprised to hear this looking to Garp. They hadn't even known he had a kid let alone a grandson.

"... and the reason I called you two here is because this boy has displayed usage of both of your Devil Fruits."

And all three were surprised to hear this. Garp especially. 'Different Devil Fruit powers?'

"Are you saying he controls both ice and magma?" Aokiji asked simply.

"That's what the reports are saying. Right now I have a team watching Luffy's progress, and his strength is surprising," Sengoku said passing some reports to the others.

"It seems he's taken down a lot of pirate crews, and one corrupt Marine," Aokiji said looking towards Garp.

"I may have failed to make my grandson a marine, but that doesn't mean I created a monster. He's a good kid even if he's a moron." Garp said looking at one of the reports discussing his powers.

Sengoku looking seriously at Garp said, "Did you know anything about the boy's powers?"

"No. This is new to me." Garp said. What had happened to his old powers?

"This pirate is dangerous," Akainu said. "We can't let him get out of East Blue."

"I would normally agree with you," Aokiji replied. "However considering the circumstances, I think it might be in our best interests to simply watch him for now."

Sengoku looking towards his two admirals looked towards his old nakama. "And what do you think Garp?"

"Like I said he may be a pirate, but he's still a good kid. I think considering what he's done so far it seems he's doing our job better than the marines in the area." Garp said. He really hadn't liked how this meeting had turned out. Akainu had all but said they should kill or imprison his grandson.

'Why couldn't you have just been a marine?' He thought to himself. Probably too much of his father in him...

"I agree. I'll keep the tail on Luffy for the foreseeable future. But Garp." Sengoku looked seriously at Garp. "If he becomes too much of a problem to handle... You know what must be done. For now, we have assigned him a bounty of fifty million berries. We can't be seen letting this pirate off easily."

"...I understand Fleet Admiral." Garp said looking down.

"However, I will send out an order to stop anyone from attempting to bring him in. We have one marine captain in pursuit of him currently. Captain Smoker ran into him in Loguetown and has been pursuing him since. I think it would be wisest to have him keep an eye on him without interfering until further orders."

"Alright, this meeting is adjourned," Sengoku said dismissing his admirals and Garp.

Akainu didn't like the fact that they were letting the kid run around. However, he wasn't going to go against the Fleet Admiral.

"Who the hell are you Monkey D. Luffy?" He asked himself.