The sky was ominous, the winds a strong as can be. Not a moment ago, the calm water of the unforgiving sea began to turn violent, slamming waves the size of mountains along the hull of a wooden ship.
The Iron Maiden held precious cargo, one that was trusted to a strong merchant crew. Their task? Transporting a mere baby, born but an hour from the time they sailed.
"You must bring him to Garp in Dawn Island...he will be safe there." Panic filled the eyes of the father, his grief still fresh at the death of his wife. Yet he had one goal, to get his boy to safety.
The World Government had learned of the child's birth, and stopping an unwanted prophecy was their primary goal.
The father of the newborn was going to act as a distraction, pulling a majority of the World Government agents with him. The boy would board the iron maiden, hidden in plain site, as he is to be brought to his grandfather.
Yet the sea remained unforgiving, and a single World Government agent had managed to slaughter every single member of the crew...everyone but the Captain and the newborn baby.
"Hand it over Captain, and I will spare you." The agent wore nothing but a bull mask, his intentions were quite deadly and the captain was inclined to do as he says. Though the captain was tasked with an important mission, he will not fail in his promise.
In an act of defiance, the captain raised his pistol, shaking in fear as he was a mere merchant captain, thrusted in this crazy world of conspiracies.
"Foolish choice." Thunder crackled from the distance, and in a moment, the head of the captain fell clean off of his body. The newborn cried, a deadly shriek emitted from its frail body, signifying its dire situation. "Child of the prophecy, this is your end." As the agent brought down his knife at the newborn, the heavens seemed to favor the young boy.
A massive creature cut through the dark clouds, making its rapid descent onto the deck of the ship.
The impact of the creature caused the ship to rock violently, forcing the agent to miss his mark, the knife cutting the young boy ever so slightly under his left eye, and the agent fell on the floor.
"Worororo, a powerful voice called for my presence, where is it? Where is this strength that challenges me?" A massive creature, half man, half dragon walked casually through the deck of the ship, swinging his metal kanabo with each step.
Ironic how the situation has turned, where the agent once controlled the situation, toying with his prey. Now he was the prey, pulling up his knife as he shakily pointed it at the creature.
"Are you my challenger?" The creature pointed his weapon at the agent on the ground and yet the agent could not utter a single world. The demon of a man was lightning quick, slamming through the agent like he was nothing, causing a splatter of blood to fill the room. "Funny, the powerful voice continues to speak, and yet…." His voice drifted, his eyes drifting to the newborn in the carriage. It no longer cried despite the new scar under its eyes. "It is you then, a mere baby possessing such a powerful voice that could garner my attention."
The boy, once again born but hours prior to the beginning of the journey, stared at the creature's eyes with defiance. The creature stared back at the young boy, picking it up, holding it by the cloth that wrapped around it. He turned it a couple times contemplating on what to do with it.
"I only care for strength, and destroy anything that is weak. I am the strongest creature in the world Kaido, so why should I take you in..." Kaido found a small piece of paper covered in blood, in it a name which he assumed must be the boy's. "...Luffy."
A smirk formed on the face of the dragon hybrid, then transforming into a majestic eastern dragon, putting the newborn over his head.
Kaido ascended into the heavens, flying at top speed. He knew exactly what to do with the young boy. He was going to make him his successor.
17 years later
An island sat displaced from the mainland, its massive giant skull was the centerpiece of the island. The land was known as Onigashima, the base of operation of the Beast Pirates. At the helm of the beast pirates was the most powerful creature in the world, Kaido. Directly under him were his three calamities, King the Conflagration, Queen the Plague, and Jack the Drought. Then below the trio were the son, or well daughter of Kaido, Yamato, who remained imprisoned in Onigashima for being disobedient. Then just under Yamato was a young lad, merely the age of 17, who wished to reshape the world.
"You have turned 17 today boy." Kaido sat along a throne of skulls, made from the enemies that defied him. He was surrounded by his calamities, all of which were mentors to the boy.
"Once again, I wish to set sail on my own Kaido, this is the year that I will succeed." The defiant young man ruffled his messy dark hair, his eyes remained ablaze despite the years of grueling training under the guidance of Kaido and the beast pirates.
"You could've asked for women, drinking, pillaging, a powerful devil fruit and yet every year you asked for freedom to set sail…" He paused taking a heavy sigh. "Fine boy, once more, if you can get out of Wano before sun down, you are free to go and I forbid anyone from chasing after you." Kaido took a big gulp of his barrel, as he put it down, the kid was gone before him, a cloud of dust in his wake.
"King, Queen, Jack, go after the boy and bring him back to me." His calamities disappeared, following in the wake of the young man.
Little did they know, the young man did not go far for he tricked the strongest of the Beast Pirates. This time he had a strategy, one that did not only account for his own escape.
For years, he has been recruiting his friend, Yamato in his escape, but she always declines in fear that the exploding cuff that bound her was going to kill her.
Now he had a valid argument, he had a way for Yamato to go with him, and help in their escape.
He descended to the depth of Onigashima, locating the room of who could possibly be his strongest ally. He entered through the door of her room and found her bathing, her naked form was complemented by the ambient light that was present in her room. Her long white hair flowed freely despite being slightly moist from her bath.
Yet despite the beautiful naked woman before him, the young man was desensitized from her beauty, living with her for all his life had made him immune to her naked form. She retrieved a towel, drying herself as he entered her room, pleading with her once more to escape with him.
"Yamato, please, join me. This place has nothing more for us and if we sail the sea together, we can gather a stronger crew to eventually reach the One Piece."
She did not answer, putting on her attire her gaze fixated at him in order to observe his determination. Luffy awaited her answer as time was ticking. He had only until sundown to escape Wano. Yamato then wore her kimono and its soft textile embracing her curves. Every year he asks for her help, and every year she declines.
She would love to set sail with Luffy, but she lifted her arms once more showing Luffy her restrictions. The exploding cuffs that her father placed on her for being disobedient. If she were to leave Onigashima, it would explode, killing her.
"I can take care of that, if I do, will you come with me then?" Luffy whispered, his hands grabbed both handcuffs, he waited for her response before doing anything.
"Yes." Yamato responded, a single tear falling from her eyes. She hadn't known what the outside world looked like, only from descriptions written in the journal of one Kozuki Oden. But now she had a chance to experience it, and she trusts Luffy enough to pull through with it.
Though how was he going to remove the explosive, with just his bare hands.
How was he…
In the Flower Capital, the capital city of Wano. Its magnificence was enamoring, and yet it was not the beauty of the capital that was the focus. For in the depths of said capital, was a dungeon, where two men were engaged in a heated battle, swords clashing with one another.
"Luffy, you have grown much stronger than last time." A samurai with aqua blue forward flowing afro. His sweat matched that of the young boy, and yet they were not really going all out, just sparing to keep their form from rusting. "I still can't believe I've maid a friend out of one of the scums of Onigashima."
"If I did not challenge you that day, and revealed my true intentions against Kaido, you would never have helped train me in the art of the sword."
"True, but you've made my life fun in this dreadful land."
"Regardless, come with me tomorrow. It is the day that I turn 17, and once again I will attempt to flee this wretched land." Luffy and Denjiro separated for a moment, their blades tucked into their respective sheats. "I have to find a way to remove something without touching it. Do you know of such a thing, Denjiro?" A smile formed in the face of the sleepless man.
"There is more work for me here in Wano, but I thank you for your offer. But as a matter of fact, I do."
"Reveal this method to me, I implore you to do so or else." Luffy demanded though Denjiro was not going to give any information especially not after his display of overconfidence.
"Cocky attitude Luffy, then if you score a point on me, I will show you how it's done."
"Then get ready!" Luffy charged forward, with more resolve than before. He needed to learn this technique. Unleashing a powerful first step attack, Luffy swiftly brought his blade upward, cutting to the heavens.
Denjiro had seen this move a billion times, and so it was easy to dodge. Though what he did not expect was Luffy brought up the blade so quickly, that his sheath followed along with the motion of the blade. It was used as a projectile and connecting with the forehead of Denjiro. He then followed up by placing his blade on the neck of Denjiro, scoring the much-needed point.
"Okay Luffy, I will show you...I will show you how to perform Ryu."
Luffy unleashed his new form of haki, using ryu to remove the handcuffs from his friend. In one quick motion, she was no longer bound, and for a moment she felt free.
Though her joy was short-lived as the cuffs that once bound her exploded in a massive eruption. Her room was barely recognizable due to the explosion, but she found herself unscathed. How come? The answer was her friend Luffy, who embraced her instinctively, protecting her from the bomb.
"You okay?" He asked despite having a massive gash on his back.
"Idiot, you're the one I should be asking." She gave him a light slap on the arm causing him to wince. He was suffering some burns, but nothing to deter him from his goal.
"Well now the calamities know where I am, we got to go!" Luffy exclaimed, adrenaline flowing through his blood. He had found his partner in crime for their escape.
As the sound of the explosion lingered, violent footsteps echoed from the distance, some hundreds of beast pirates were alerted of his location and were sent to capture him.
"Let's go." Yamato took up her own metal kanabo in her right arm, running after Luffy. Sure enough, the hallways were filled with immense amounts of gifters, and pleasures.
Luffy retrieved his katana, preparing to slice them down, but Yamato took the lead, swinging her kanabo through the sea of enemies.
'Thunder Bagua!'
Just like her father, the attack was devastating, eliminating more than half of the enemies after them. Luffy winced as the beast pirate members screamed in pain from the devastating attack.
"Remind me not to get on your bad side." To this Yamato looked back and gave him a thumbs up.
They were able to get to the base layer of the skull, where the nearest port was merely 10 minutes away if they were to sprint. The road was dangerous as it was a misstep away from falling down to an untimely death, but it was worth a shot.
But there was a problem, for Jack had learned of their presence and currently blocked their escape.
"Boy, you have done well so far, yet you must return to your rightful place. At the left hand of Kaido!" Jack had been in his ancient zoan form, that is a mammoth. A creature that dominated the ice age, and it stood several heads above the duo.
Yamato prepared her kanabo while Luffy secured his grip on his blade.
"Get out of our way Jack." Warned Luffy though his threats were empty to Jack, as Luffy has yet to defeat him in all their time training.
Kaido took a special interest in Luffy, and so he was trained by the three calamities. Jack the Drought was responsible for his tenacious resilience and endurance. Quite a feat for such a young lad, but he was more than capable of handling it.
At the ripe age of four, Kaido had thrust the young boy into grueling training, to strengthen his mind and his body.
Jack was in charge of training his body, preparing him for the harsh reality of the real world.
"It's cold." The young boy complained as he held two heavy flasks at the tip of his hands, and water slammed on his back. For Luffy was tasked at holding the two flasks without dropping them, and also sitting under a waterfall while doing so.
"You must ignore the pain and focus on the task at hand." Jack the Drought commanded, as it was his responsibility to prepare the young boy. "You must never show weakness, or you'll be dead in a matter of seconds."
"I can't do this anymore!" The young four-year-old dropped the flasks, letting the strength of the waterfall push the flasks down the river. And as for the young Luffy, he ran. He ran like never before.
Luffy continued to run, until he found Yamato, picking flowers on a field. Tears welled up in his eyes as he found someone who cared for him.
"What's wrong Luffy?" She was nine years old at this time, yet her knowledge was beyond that of someone her age.
"I don't wanna do it anymore..." He cried, unable to stop the tears from flowing. But instead of embracing him or nurturing him, Yamato grabbed him by the shoulder and looked directly into his eyes.
"Luffy you must complete these tasks. This is for your own good. Otherwise, if Father finds that you are weak, he will personally kill you himself. And even if I tried to protect you, I will also die. So Luffy, do this, and eventually, we will be able to get out of here. Okay?"
"Okay." Luffy stopped crying, nodding his head in a new wave of resolve and returning to the waterfall. At first, he had to trek for the missing flasks that were several miles down the river. Then he had to go back to the waterfall and continue his training.
The next day, Jack had been looking for the young boy without a wink of sleep. He finally decided to return to the waterfall and found that Luffy was there, his body blue from sitting under the water for such a long time. But he did not falter, his body was solid, and his arms never dropping the flasks. Another thing is that Luffy had begun to cover his body in a thick resin-like substance that could only be attributed to haki.
'At such a young age...well done my boy...well done...'
Luffy charged forward, his hands covered in thick resin-like substance that could only be acquainted as haki. Jack prepared his massive tusk, clashing with the sword of the young man.
Though Jack failed to recognize that Yamato was also there, slamming her kanabo on the head of Jack. This gave enough time for Luffy to bypass the massive mammoth with Yamato following close after him. They were not there to fight, they were there to escape.
Jack looked on ahead, barely giving chase to Luffy and Yamato. The gifters were confused looking at the calamity with a puzzled look. For Jack the Drought let out a single tear before lazily pursuing the duo.
"Thanks, Yamato." Luffy ran beside her, if she hadn't provided the surprise attack, they would have been held for much longer than expected.
"Don't thank me yet..." Yamato had looked ahead, using her keen eyesight to recognize a particle beam heading their way. "Jump!" Yamato tackled Luffy out of harm's way, which turned out to be a massive cliff. Luffy was able to grip the side of the road with one hand, and the other hand holding Yamato from falling. He pulled her up and ensured that she was safe on the road before he pulled himself up after her.
"Fucken Queen, it has to be him." Luffy recognized that particle beam, it was one of Queen's signature attacks.
Queen had been responsible for his mental training, ensuring that the boy was creative and quick on his feet. Luffy was also thought of methods of torture which Luffy found distasteful.
At the age of eight, Luffy had started a more intensive training with Queen.
"If they still do not tell you the information you want, then you must make them." Queen twisted the nob of his torture machine, its purpose was to stretch the limbs of a person out of their socket.
The scream of agony filled the dungeon as Luffy observed a man being tortured to death.
"I'll talk, I'll talk..." The prisoner cried, no longer capable of handling the torture device.
"Funky!" Queen began to dance, bouncing to a rhythm he could only hear. " .Then!" He said in a space of beats.
"Rebels in the mountain, led by a mountain bandit...that's all I know...please...I have a family." Queen did not like his answer, pulling out his pistol and pointing it at the prisoner.
"Not good enough scum." Queen pressed the trigger of the pistol, though his shot never reached its target. Luffy had kicked his hands out of the way preventing the bullet from entering the skull of the prisoner.
"He said what he knew." Luffy was defiant, knowing full well that his punishment was torture training(Queen's training method to prepare Luffy for any situation that the world will throw at him).
"Funky, just funky. Alright then Luffy you take care of the prisoner. Do as you will with him." Queen left the torture dungeon, ascending a hundred flights of spiral stairwell back to the surface.
Luffy unbound the prisoner. "You are free."
"Thanks for nothing scum..."The prisoner whispered tears remained fresh in his eyes. Luffy was taken aback, he just saved this man's life, and yet he continued to despise him.
Luffy ascended the stairs and watched from a distance as the prisoner safely made his way to the port and back to the mainland. He was now in the left eye of the skull in Onigashima, unable to find an answer to why the man hated him. Queen joined him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"See boy, people will always associate you with the Beast Pirates. So why not act the part?" He said.
'Then I won't be a beast pirate, I'll be my own pirate.' Luffy thought, garnering a resolve he never had before.
"Let's get funky!" Queen had reverted to his human form, thinking that he had successfully knocked out the escapees.
But Luffy and Yamato had an ingenious idea, climbing over the side of the road and passing the performing funky Queen.
Sure enough, the arrogance of Queen was his downfall, as the duo were able to pass without an issue.
They looked back for only a moment and found that Queen was still performing, screaming on the top of his lungs as his crew followed in his funky dance.
'Good job boy...be free...' Thought the calamity as he felt the two presence gain some distance away from him. "I want you all to be funkier!" Exclaimed Queen to the cheer of his dancers.
Luffy shook his head while Yamato snickered. The duo continued on their way to the port.
And yet a feeling of dread filled the air, for the strongest and most intelligent of the calamities flew above the port, waiting for his arrival.
"What are we going to do about King?" The duo had elected to hide behind a massive boulder. Luffy had gone through his mind, thinking of anything that can be of use.
"You have to use 'it' Luffy." Yamato placed a hand on his lap, comforting him. He hated to use the ability given to him by Kaido, the fruit that rivaled his own. Kaido is a mythical zoan, model carp. He achieved awakening to the point that the magical carp turned into a devastating dragon. But Luffy was given a devil fruit of great renown and power, he did not earn anything but it was given to him as a symbol of Kaido's trust in his abilities.
He hated it, absolutely despising the power that was handed to him. It symbolized an equal to Kaido, which he did not strive for. He wanted to be stronger than the strongest, the best out of them all.
At the age of 12, Luffy was forced to consume a powerful devil fruit.
"You must use it, boy!" Exclaimed King, zooming through the air as he continued to cut and knock down the young man. Luffy had just been forced to swallow a devil fruit, one that he refused. Though Kaido could be convincing, forcing the fruit into his mouth.
"Fuck you King!" Luffy had elected to use his sword instead of his newfound power. He tried to block as King flew down for a slicing attack but the strength of the flying creature was too much for Luffy, causing him to fall backward.
Luffy got up quickly but this punishment continued for hours, until in his exhaustion and frustration, Luffy unleashed a set of massive blood-like wings, flying after King and challenging him in his own battlefield.
"Good boy, this is as Kaido wanted. Fuel yourself with anger! Unleash your potential!"
"Fine. Get us a ship as I distract him." Luffy stood up, he stretched, cracking his neck from left to right. And then flaming red wings emerged from his back, they were leathery and bat-like, a sharp-pointed spike at the tip of each connection. His legs then began to turn massive, the scales matched the wing as flaming red scales covered his body. He then dropped into all fours, his neck elongating similar to a lizard. The finish was his head, its eyes glowing with a deep black slit at the center of an iris of golden yellow color. Spikes emitted on his back, stopping at the base of his neck.
He let out a mighty roar, hot flaming breath escaping his mouth.
Luffy had transformed into a dragon, but not just any dragon,
Ancient Zoan, Toka Toka no Mi, Model: Western Dragon.
His form was large enough that he was slightly bigger than the size of Mammoth Jack. His massive wings took one flap and his limbs pushed upwards to charge at King.
The calamity met him with an interesting look. For Luffy hated using the form of the western dragon, and King's job was to train him in that form.
Now Luffy was large in size, but his speed was a marvel. For the massive red dragon zipped through the air, colliding with the pteranodon. Their claws collided as the two creatures wrestled in the air.
Luffy let out a mighty roar while King let out a screech.
Meanwhile, below the fighting creatures, Yamato had managed to get ahold of a ship, she released the knots that tied it to the port, and let the ship drift, the people of the docks were too busy watching the battle that they did not realize what she had just done. Yamato observed in the sky, as Luffy was able to land a hit with his tail at the face of King. But King had much more experience fighting than Luffy, for the old man had felt it all physically and mentally. And he unleashed his fire breath, catching Luffy in the shoulder.
The dragon unleashed a terrible scream of pain, but King was not done, puncturing the legs of Luffy with his beak, presenting through his right hind leg. King pulled his beak out, flying away from Luffy and generating enough distance to unleash a powerful attack.
The young dragon had lost control of his transformation, the pain is far too great to remain awake.
As his vision began to blur, Luffy returned to his human form, quickly falling from the sky and to the ocean below.
King was fast approaching, close to capturing the escaping young man. As his claws neared the young man, a familiar kanabo collided with them, preventing him from closing in on Luffy.
Yamato, ever so defiant had unleashed a thunder bagua against him.
Yet King's projection and Yamato's answer caused a wave of energy forcing both parties to be knocked out on opposite sides.
King was flung back to Onigashima while Yamato was flung away from it.
With sheer will, Yamato was able to grab a hold of Luffy, the force of the impact knocking them aboard the ship she had stolen. The momentum propelled the ship forward, quickly shoving the duo through the waters of Onigashima and past the edge of the land of Wano.
Up in the sky, the sun was almost gone, but Luffy had gotten away before sundown.
They had succeeded, they had escaped Onigashima.
And yet it did not feel like a victory, for Luffy was out cold from his battles with King, and she had no way to stop their descent into the ocean below.
She screamed as they fell rapidly through the waterfall, it seemed like it would never end, the inertia had caused her to pass out multiple times. Though she could not fail him, for Luffy was her dear friend and savior. She was going to save him, she was going to survive.
Then finally it happened, crash.
An unknown amount of weeks later…
Yamato had drifted in and out of consciousness, maintaining a steady will to attend to Luffy rather than worry about her own well being. She had managed to rip the sleeve from her kimono to close the wound off Luffy. Her right sleeve went to cover the burn in his shoulder, and her left sleeve wrapped around his right leg.
The ship that she had stolen had shattered into a million pieces upon impact, but Yamato had managed to gather enough driftwood to keep Luffy from hitting the ocean water. As nothing is more dangerous for a fruit user than hitting the sea.
As she had expected death, for god knows how long she's been drifting in the open water, a familiar, gentle voice gave her hope once more.
"Yamato?" The voice called out. That voice was so familiar, she had missed it so much. Was it her imagination, was she going to die?
"Help..." She uttered weakly, before a gentle hand reached down for her face, caressing it.
Yamato reached over, feeling a weak pulse coming from Luffy, he was going to die if he did not get help. "Help him..." She uttered to the familiar stranger disregarding her own life. I'm sorry Luffy. She thought with the tears flowing through her eyes.
They were going to die and their noble escape from her father would be all for nothing. And then darkness, she had no more fight left in her.