Hey everyone I hope you had a Very Merry Christmas despite the odd weather. I'm sorry this took so long. Obviously this story will not be done by the end of this year. But make no mistake; I WILL finish this story, I just work at my own pace that's all. Anyway it's time to begin the Loguetown Arc. There are only two arc left and I hope you enjoy them. So now without further ado, let's get this show on the road.
Luffy's Bounty Revealed! Arrival at the Island of Beginnings and Endings!
It had been about a week since the Straw Hats had left Nami's home and several things had changed. The Going Merry now had several tangerine bushes that Nami's village had given them, and Nami herself had started wearing more revealing clothes since she no longer had any reason not to. She had Dr. Nako remove the Arlong tattoo from her arm and now she had a new one that she could show with pride; a pinwheel and a tangerine. On this day Nami was having an argument with a news coo for raising the price of the newspaper again.
"If you raise the price again I won't buy it anymore," she threatened as she paid the irate news coo.
"You read the newspaper to stay informed, yet you won't pay for it if it gets more expensive?" Gin questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"That's right! I might've accepted life as a pirate, but I won't be a penniless pirate! I want enough money to roll around in," she shot back in berry symbols in her eyes.
"Would you two keep it down? I trying to finish my newest creation," Usopp called.
"Really? What are you trying to make Usopp?" Luffy walked up while chewing something.
"It's called the Special Tabasco Star. Whoever gets hit with this won't have a snowball's chance in-"
"DAMMIT LUFFY!"
Out of nowhere, Sanji kicked Luffy in the back of the head, making him spit out what he was eating as well as slamming into Usopp. This caused the sniper's hand to jolt, splashing searing hot tabasco sauce in his eyes as he and Luffy careened backwards barely missing Nami but knocking the newspaper out of her hand and sending its pages sailing into the wind.
"AAGHHH! What the hell was that for Sanji!?" Luffy yelled as he got up as Usopp screamed in pain.
"That was for taking a tangerine from Nami-swan's plants! Those are hers and only hers!"
"You're busting my chops over one tangerine? It's not like I took the whole damn thing!"
"Crazy cook! Why don't you watch where you aim those kicks of yours! I could've gone blind!" Usopp shrieked.
As the three boys bickered they abruptly stopped when they felt the malicious glare of a very pissed off Nami coming up to them. All three of them slowly turned to look at her and then…
"WHAM! POW! WHAK! All three men were now laying on the deck. Each dazed and sporting a single softball-sized lump on their heads.
"Congratulations boys, you just got yourselves your first debt. That newspaper cost me one hundred berries, so you have to pay that back at 300% interest."
"What th-? That's 30100 berries!" Gin exclaimed.
"THAT'S RIDICULOUS!" Luffy and Usopp yelled as they leaped up.
"Better pay it back soon then," Nami smirked.
"I'll gladly slave away to pay you back Nami-swan!" Sanji said in love mode.
"TRAITOR!"
(Zoro's sleeping through all this by the way.)
"Bunch of idiots," Nami mumbled as she started to pick up the pages of the newspaper that were still on the ship.
It wasn't long before she noticed that Luffy had started helping her. She gave him an appreciative smile before noticing that his eyes and smile had widened to an incredible size.
"Now what are you… smiling…about…," Nami trailed off as she looked at a small piece of paper on the ground.
Marine HQ three days ago…
Nearly two hundred marine troops were standing at attention in front of Marine Commodore Brannew, none of them aware of the great shock they were about to receive.
"Look at these posters!" Brannew yelled. "Buggy 'the Clown', 15,000,000 berries; 'Foul-Play' Krieg, 17,000,000 berries; 'Saw-Tooth' Arlong, 20,000,000 berries. All of them made up the strongest Pirates in the East Blue, all of them were a public menace, and all of them were defeated brutally by ONE BOY! Not only did this boy defeat the East Blue's top pirates easily, something we marines failed to do, but according to our sources he attacked Marine Captains Morgan and Nezumi, destroyed three Marine ships with their own ammo, and to top it all off, he wields a hybrid devil fruit with power of the dreaded Water-Water fruit making him immune to the universal devil fruit weakness to the sea!"
The troops felt fear clutch their heart as they heard this and they began to sweat.
"The World Government knows full-well the nightmarish potential the Water-Water fruit possesses and has been trying to claim it for decades. With all these factors considered, it has been decided that this boy be given the highest bounty in the history of the East Blue. Those who show fear should leave now for it will be a true challenge for justice to prevail against a man with a bounty of 50,000,000 berries!"
Dawn Island…
"50,000,000 BERRIES!"
"THAT'S INCREDIBLE!"
The inhabitants of Fushia village were astounded that Luffy, THEIR Luffy, had gotten himself such a high first bounty. All of them were celebrating Luffy's entry into the world of piracy. All of them that is, except for one.
"WOULD ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" yelled Mayor Woopslap. "Honestly, what in God's name is so great about our village being known as the origin of a criminal?"
"Come on Mayor don't be like that," Makino said as Woopslap entered her bar. "Look at his face on this poster. Luffy's so happy."
"A criminal is still a criminal. His infamy will surly bring shame to our village."
"Are you worried about Luffy going to fulfill his dream?" Makino asked as she brought Woopslap a drink.
"His dream… or his destiny," Woopslap said cryptically.
Somewhere in the Grand Line…
On a small island covered with a slightly dense forest, two pirates were staring at the sea in a slight daze. It seemed that they had been drinking heavily and were suffering from a rather big hangover. But their lazy daze was abruptly shattered when they saw a boat approach the island; a boat shaped like a coffin.
"Ohh shit! It's Mihawk!"
As the coffin boat hit land Mihawk stood up and approached the two horrified men with his usual cold stare.
"No need to panic, I'm here to see your Captain," he said emotionlessly.
A few minutes later, Mihawk stood before none other than Red-Haired Shanks who was hunched over with his eyes shadowed.
"Mihawk, it's been a while. I'm not in a good mood right now. Did you come for a fight?" Shanks said in a somewhat cold tone.
"I've made it perfectly clear that I have no interest in fighting a washed up has been like you. I came here to show you something," Mihawk said as he pulled out a wanted poster. Luffy's wanted poster.
"I met this boy about two weeks ago. He reminded me of the boy you talked about from Fushia village. Is this the same kid?"
Upon seeing the poster and the bounty on it, many of the Red-Haired Pirates were snapped out of their daze by sheer astonishment.
So you've emerged Luffy…," Shanks said now grinning from ear to ear.
"Men, bring out the booze! We're throwing a celebration!"
"But Captain, what about you hangover?"
"Forget it! How can I not drink on such a momentous occasion! Come on and join us Mihawk!"
After a little prodding, Mihawk join the party in honor of Straw Hat Luffy's official entry into the world of piracy.
Back on the Going Merry…
"WHOO-HOOO! FIFTY MILLION BERRIES!" Luffy exclaimed while jumping around.
"WOAH! What a way to start! They even got my head in there," Usopp gawked.
"Now that's impressive," Gin complimented.
"Impressive!? You see this as a good thing!?" Nami fretted.
"Hmm. Well it's an accomplishment from a pirate's point of view, but with a bounty this high we're gonna attract a lot of unwanted attention," Sanji surmised.
"Heh, don't tell me you're getting cold feet Ero-cook," Zoro said slyly having woken up to see Luffy's poster.
"What did you call me!? Don't make me kick you off the ship!"
"BOTH OF YOU PIPE DOWN!" Nami snapped.
She took a deep breath to calm down before addressing everyone.
"Maybe some of you don't realize this, but now that Luffy's wanted bounty hunters will start hounding us left and right. And with a bounty this high the marines are sure to send some of their stronger members after us. We can't stay in the East Blue any longer than we have to or we're sure to be chased down."
"Well we can't be too far from the Grand Line now. I'd give it two more days at most," Sanji said.
'That close, huh?' Gin thought with a bit of fear in his eyes. 'I can't believe I'm actually going back to that hellzone.'
But Gin was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw an island in the distance, and he knew exactly which one it was.
"Hey look! We've arrived at Loguetown," he said while pointing to the island.
"Loguetown? What's that?" Usopp wondered.
"It's the last big market island before the Grand Line," Nami explained. "It also known as the Island of Beginnings and Endings because it's where Gold Roger was born and executed."
"The King of the Pirates' home town," Luffy said as chills of excitement ran down his spine.
"I take it you want to go there?" Nami asked with a knowing smile.
"Absolutely! I want to see the exact place where the Great Pirate era began! We can also stock up on supplies while we're there.
"Alright then Loguetown it is!"
About twenty minutes later, the Straw Hats had docked in the harbor and were walking down the street discussing what each of them was going to do.
"I think I'll go get some supplies for my ammunition since I'm running low," Usopp said.
"I'll go to the grocery section to get fresh food. And fresh women. Sanji said adding the last part under his breath.
I need some money to get a couple new swords since I'm down to one," Zoro said.
I'll lend you some money… if you pay me back at 300% interest," Nami said earning an annoyed look from Zoro Usopp and Luffy.
"Anyway I'll be looking at all the fashion stores if any of you need me."
"I guess that covers everything. I just be taking a walk around," Gin said in a tone that told everyone just how nervous he was.
"Alright then, I'll be going to the execution stand. If all goes well we'll meet back at the Merry in about three hours," Luffy said.
"Got it!"
And with that, everyone left in different directions. All of them ready to do their business, but none of them aware of the potential danger they were in. For unbeknownst to the Straw Hats, Louguetown was protected a powerful and persistent Marine Captain known as Smoker the White Hunter. As if that didn't complicate things enough, hidden in the shadows were some old enemies looking for some payback. One such fiend was watching the Straw Hats with an almost predatory gaze.
"That damn Straw Hat, he has the same ability as my old Captain," growled as he remembered his crushing defeat at the hands of this brat. "We'll have to plan this carefully lest we suffer the same fate again. Ready for some pay back, Iron Mace Alvida?"
"Hehehe. Ready whenever you are Buggy the Clown," replied the slim curvaceous woman next to him.
"Gyahahaha. Just you wait Straw Hat, you'll pay for humiliating me. I swear upon my red nose!
There you have it. Short chapter this time. I hope you like it. Please R&R and I'll see you soon.