Chapter 27

All Aboard!

Maxwell couldn't believe it, Buggy was back and stood over Luffy as he was in the stocks. And of course, the clown was making it a giant show for everyone,

"FOR THE CRIME OF ANGERING ME, I SENTENCE YOU, MONKEY D. LUFFY, TO A FLASHY EXECUTION! Let's cause some ruckus boys!"

"YAHOO!" The Buggy Pirates cheered and made some noise. They were hollowing and firing bullets into the air. Buggy called out to the crowd, "Just stand right there and watch!"

Luffy look on, unaffected, "This is the first time I've seen an execution."

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S BEING EXECUTED HERE!" Buggy yells at him.

Luffy suddenly realizes his situation, "WHAT!? Are you kidding me!?

"No you! Stop kidding around! Your flashy execution shall be carried out for the whole public to see!"

*RUMBLE*

Maxwell looks up to see a giant bank of clouds. He hands Nami his packages, "...Nami, Usopp, get back to the ship! Zoro, Sanji, with me! We're going after Luffy!"

"Right!" "Get back to the ship as soon as possible!" Nami calls out as they all run.

"I'm sorry, please let me live." "AS IF I'D JUST LET YOU GO, YOU IDIOT!" "Hmph... This is only natural for all those who defy us." "Has the man I so admired finally met his end...?"

"Any last words? Might as well make the most out of this large crowd," Buggy suggests. Luffy only pouts at being caught, "Well, whatever. Whether you have any last words or not, it ain't like anybody will care for what you have to s—"

"I'M THE MAN...! WHO'LL BECOME KING OF THE PIRATES!"

...

...

"Wha—!?" "King of the Pirates...?" "Saying that in this town of all places..." "How outrageous...!"

Maxwell chuckles, of course Luffy would say that. That didn't stop the three crewmates from fighting though the crowd, trying to reach the stand.

Buggy raises a cutlass, "Is that all you have to say... you rubber-brat!?

"Wait!" calls out Zoro. The crowd does begin to separate when they realize why they ran forward.

"Max! Sanji! Zoro! Help me out here!"

"So you've come Zoro, Trevelyan? But it seem you're too late...!"

"Like we'd let you get away with it!" "In any case, we've got to bring that execution stand down!" "I know!"

A mysterious woman commands the clowns, "Take care of them, boys!"

"As you command, Lady Alvida!" The pirates charge at them.

"Alvida!?" Maxwell charges with a Fade Step, bypassing the pirates and getting close to the woman, "Weren't You that obese she-pirate, that had Coby for a cabin boy?" She looked like a completely different person! The only thing she kept was the cowboy hat.

"Oh yes, Coby...," she hoists her club. "I can find that little shit later... As for you, BUZZ OFF!" Alvida swings her bludgeon at the mage. Maxwell hastily jumps back to avoid being crushed. Thus did the two start to duel, with swings sticks and magic powers.

Buggy winds up, "GYAHAHA! JUST WATCH CAREFULLY FROM THERE!" "WITNESS THE LAST MOMENTS OF YOUR CAPTAIN!"

"Why aren't any of my attacks getting you...!?" Maxwell urgently looks between Alvida and Luffy.

"I eaten a Devil Fruit since we last met!" She swings and a misses. Maxwell knows can't afford to block that giant club. "How do you think I got so slim? And I'm as beautiful as ever!" she smirks.

"Max!"

"Zoro!"

"Sanji!"

"Usopp!"

"Nami!"

"Sorry, But it looks like I'm dead." Luffy smiles.

"Wha—!" "LUFFY!" "Don't say that you idiot!"

*Z-Z-Z! BOOM!*

A gigantic bolt of lighting strike the platform, setting the stand ablaze and topple like a divine strike of nature. The rain soon follows, pouring hard over the whole island.

Luffy stands up from the cooling wreckage, unaffected as he picks up his hat, "Shihahahaha! Looks like I survived! How lucky!"

Everyone could only stare at the pirate. How the hell does a man survive a lightning strike when he was about to have his head cut off!?

"Hey... Max, was that you?" Sanji looks over at the mage. "No... I don't think I can make a thunderbolt that big..." He looks just as shocked as everyone else, like it had been a sign from the Maker. Zoro sheathes his swords, "Enough talking and let's leave this town already. We've got more trouble heading our way."

"Surround the town square! Corner all the pirates!" Navy soldiers swarm into the square.

"The Marines!" "They here!" "Run for it!" "Which way!?"

"This way!" Maxwell leads the crew as they are pursued by the Marines. They run through roads, alleys, and streets, but can't seem to lose them. They remind Maxwell of the Templars, only they can't cancel his magic. Not only that, the storm was here in full force.

Zoro looks up at they sky as they flee, "The wind's getting worse. Hey Max, can't you make that ice wall to cover us?"

"No chance! We'll be swarmed by the time I can cast it." Maxwell was begining to look like a wet dog, with the rain in his beard and moustache.

Luffy points back at the marines, "Jeez, these guys are so persistent. Should we just stop and fight them off?"

Sanji looks on, serious, "Don't, there'll be no end to them. More importantly, Nami told us to return to the ship as fast as possible." That however is quickly broken as soon as he see's Sgt. Major Tashigi.

"RORONOA ZORO!" The woman stood in their path, and the soldiers cheer for their superior. Her focus was on the swordsman though, "To think that you were Roronoa Zoro! And a pirate at that too! You were just toying with me all along!"

"YOU BASTARD! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THAT LADY!?" "Sanji! Really!? Right now!?" "Never thought you were a marine..."

Tashigi draws her sword, "I shall take back that Wado Ichimonji!"

"...Just try it," he grins. The two katana holders clash each with their swords out.

"Go on ahead."

"Ok," Luffy runs past Zoro. The two warriors then begin to duel, and the others kept running.

"THAT BRUTE DARES HARM A LADY!?" "Let's go!" Both Luffy and Sanji grab Sanji, so they don't waste time. It seems the soldiers were more preoccupied with Zoro's duel.

They may have left the marine forces behind but someone still stood in their way. "White Hunter" Captain Smoker.

"So you've come, Strawhat Luffy," he stood in their way. Some sort of machine Maxwell had never seen before was parked behind him.

"Who're you!?" asks Luffy.

"The names Smoker. I'm a captain of Marine Headquarters." His arms suddenly morph into smoke, "And I won't allow you to set sail form here!"

The smoke coils around Luffy and lifts him up, "Ahh! W-W-What!?"

"Why you... Freak of nature!" Sanji runs foward and kicks Smoker in the head. But it goes right through him, "What!?"

Smoker's head speaks in it's amorphous form, "I don't have time for runts."

"Then how about me? Dispel!" The magic explodes over Smoker's person.

"What!?" The captain jumps to the side, but it was too late. It doesn't hurt him, but the smoke suddenly disappears and Smoker turns back to human form, "The hell!?"

"Gomu-Gomu no Pistol!"

Luffy fires off a punch and smokes the marine, "Argh!"

"Make a break for it!" calls Maxwell, but smoke surrounds him, "What!?"

"DON'T THINK I'LL LET YOU GET AWAY!"

"Ack!" "Agh!" Smoker pins both Maxwell and Luffy under his hands and knees.

"Get your hands off them!" Sanji tries to attack but Smoker turns to smoke again.

"White Blow!" Smoker punches Sanji as his arm turns to smoke. The smoke carries the cook like a missile and slams him into a wall.

"Sanji!" Maxwell calls out, but he can't get up under the marines weight.

"I can see why your both worth so much. But your luck's come to an end," Smoker reaches for his jitte.

"...Or perhaps not?"

Another hand grabs onto Smoker's weapon. The marine looks up at the figure who dares interrupts them. Smoker's eyes widen in shock, "You're...!"

Maxwell turn his head, just to see a cloaked figure standing before them. The only distinguishing feature he could make out was a crosscutting tattoo on one side of the man's face. But that doesn't matter, all Maxwell caould feel is that familiar feeling, similar to what he had with Mihawk, only he couldn't make out the vision this time.

"What!? Who's there!?" Luffy demands. He can't see with his face pinned to the road.

Smoker looks up at the man, "The entire government is after your head, you know."

"The world awaits our answer...!"

All of a sudden a giant gust blows out of no where and marines are sent flying towards them. The gust allows Luffy and Maxwell to get out from under Smoker, who was caught by the wind too.

Maxwell turns into the Fade Step as he flys back into running upright. Luffy just rolls from the unexpected wind, "AGH!"

Zoro come up running, "Luffy! Run for it or we'll be trapped on this island! A huge-ass storm's coming in!" He grabs Luffy as he hadn't gotten upright yet, "I said move it!"

"Ah! What's going one?"

Sanji joins them, "So this is what Nami was talking about!" They all run to the harbour, leaving Smoker and the cloaked man behind.

Maxwell greets him as they run, "Glad to see you're alright, Sanji!"

The cook smirks, "Like a little smoke will stop me!"

They reach where the Merry was anchored. Usopp spots them from the ship, "Luffy! Hurry up! This rope won't last much longer!" It was the only thing keeping the Merry from sailing off. The guys all call out their greetings.

"What took you so long!" demand's Nami. "Hurry up and get aboard! We're setting sail immediately!"

"Aye-aye!" The boys immediately jump aboard, and Usopp let's go of the rope. A wave carries them out to sea and Maxwell immediately starts energizing the ship at Nami's direction. Everyone does there part until Loguetown is far behind them, on choppy seas.

"Yahoo! The ship feels like it's going to flip right over!" Luffy seems to be enjoying himself. Everyone convenes on deck, despite the rain.

"Well, we escaped again. What now?" Maxwell asks, looking absolutely drenched.

Nami points out something, "You see that light over there?"

"You mean that lighthouse?" A tower could be seen on a small island just outside their course.

"It's known as 'the Light of Guidance.' The entrance to the Grand line is just up ahead of that light." Nami turns around and smiles, "So what should we do?"

Usopp begins to stutter, "D-Don't you think that entering the Grand Line in the midst of this storm is a bit—"

"So we've reached the the Grand Line, have we?" Sanji rolls out a barrel and props it up, "Well this calls for a celebration!"

Sanji puts his heel on top "To find All Blue."

Everyone looks at each other and smiles. The crew all joins him around the barrel.

"To become King of the Pirates!"

"To be the World's Greatest Swordsman..."

"To draw a map of the world!"

"T... T-To become a Brave Warrior of the Seas!"

"To be the Greastest Sorcerer in the World!"

Everyone raises their legs and kicks down, destroying the barrel.

"WE'RE OFF TO THE GRAND LINE!"

...

...

...

The Arcane Horror, or perhaps the spirit, sits as it watches them from on top of the lighthouse. It can see the Going Merry passing by, with it's merry crew on their way to the Grand Line. A rubber man for a captain. A thief for a navigator. An ambitious swordsman. A perverted cook. An unusual charlatan. And a mage from another world, serving as their second in command. And the spirit can see others joining their crew. The observer rubs it's chin as it considers the possibilities. "...Interesting... Very interesting indeed...," it grins.

With the rotation of the light the Horror disappears, leaving nothing but the storm filled sky.

To be continued...