"Hey Mia, wake up," said Luffy, rubbing a finger on her forehead between her eyes. The rubbing felt so nice that Mia's nose twitched a bit before slowly opening her eyes. She groggily looked at Luffy, who was smiling at her, before turning her head the other way to yawn. Pawing her eyes, she asked, "We're there already?" His smile got bigger, "Yup!" Fully awake, Mia looked around and saw that they really are on the island. They were ported at a small harbor, which looked more like a dock than a harbor. She heard some rustling and turned her head to see Coby tying a rope from their boat to a post. "We're here! The marine base city," Luffy exclaimed, instantly jumping out of the boat with Mia still on his shoulders. Coby smiled, a bit weary. With that said, they all started walking into the town. Mia looked around in amazement of all the shop and food vendors, people buying what they need or want from them, that was out and about while listening to both Luffy and Coby talk. "Luffy seriously, you're out of your mind if you think the right thing to do is get this guy to join you," said Coby, trying to keep up with Luffy's pace. "Well I haven't made up my mind yet, I've got to see if he's a good guy," Luffy replied, not slowing down for Coby at all.
"He's in prison because he's obviously not!"
Mia tilted her head, confused on whom they were talking about. Luffy grabbed a pear from a fruit vendor before taking a bite out of it. He munched on it while holding the fruit in front of Mia's face. She smiled and gladly took a small bite before Luffy turned to the vendor lady, flipping a coin to her. Payment for the fruit. "Hey, Is that guy Zoro around here somewhere?" asked Luffy. They all gasped and yelped in fright. Confused, the three turned their heads to see all of the townspeople backed away as far as they could, staring at them in fear. "Maybe we shouldn't mention the name Zoro here, okay?" Coby whispered. Mia tilt her head, "Who's he?" Coby looked at her, "That's right. I forgot that you were asleep when I was talking about it to Luffy. Well, you see, Roronoa Zoro is a swordsman. But not just that, he's also a Pirate bounty hunter." Not seeing anything wrong, she asked, "So? What's so bad about that?" He frighteningly looked at her, "What's bad is that he could take down any strong bounty that he finds no matter who or what they are." Mia hummed in thought. "Let's head to the base and check it out. You want to be a marine right?" Luffy asked as he starts to head his way to the base. "Well, of course, I do Luffy, but I really don't think I'm ready just yet. From what I heard, the man in charge of this base is named Captain Morgan." They heard some yelped and frighten shouts again. Turning their head, they saw all of the townspeople back away from them again, frightened at the mentioned name. Luffy broke the quiet atmosphere by bursting out laughing while continuing to walk again, "This town is such a weird place."
Coby frowned, "That was odd. I mean I understand if they're scared of Zoro but why would they flip when I mention the marine captain's name?"
He turned to look back ahead of him, making Mia turn her head to look at him.
"I don't know, I got a bad feeling about this," said Coby.
"Maybe they were all jumping around for the fun of it," said Luffy, not being concerned at all as usual. Coby looked at him, "And how would that make any sense."
"Well, whatever the reason is, we can always find out about it later," said Mia, turning to look back ahead.
They all stopped when they finally reached the entrance to the Marine Base, "This looks like the place," said Luffy, smiling at the Marine base in front of him. Mia smiled, nodding, "Yup." Coby was smiling with tears in his eyes, "I made it." He then put an arm over his eyes so not to show his tears, "This is where you and I part ways Luffy, Mia. We didn't have long together but, huh?" He stopped when he heard Luffy grunt. He put his arm down to see that Luffy was already climbing the wall just to see over. Mia looked at Luffy, still on his shoulder, watching him as he struggled. She wondered why until he answered her unspoken question, "Where's the foothold?" They both heard Coby frantically yelling at them, more specifically to Luffy then to her, "Get down from there! What are you doing? They'll see you!" When Luffy finally got his footing, both him and Mia looked, ignoring Coby.
"Now where's this demon?" Luffy asked, trying to find him.
"They wouldn't keep him out in the open. He's probably tucked down in a prison cell below ground," said Coby, still down on the ground. Ignoring him, they both kept on looking until they spotted a tied up person on a post in the middle of the empty field. "There he is! I'm gonna get closer." Luffy shouted before getting off the wall and running towards where they both saw Zoro tied up.
While Luffy was trying to climb the wall, Mia jumped off of his shoulder and landed perfectly onto it. She looked at the tied up man before looking down at the two. When Luffy finally got on the wall, he pouted, "No fair Mia, you jumped off my shoulder to see him before I could." She smiled, "Sorry Luffy."
"Coby look!" Luffy shouted when he finally got to see the guy. Coby looked at him once he climbed, "Ugh, I'm telling you he's not-" He stopped in mid sentence when he too has finally spotted Zoro. Wondering why Coby was so quiet, she turned her head to see the reason. He had a really frightened look upon his face.
"What's up Coby?" Mia asked.
He looked at her, "T-that's definitely him. With the bandana over his head and the Haramaki around his waist. I-it's him. It's Roronoa Zoro." When he confirmed who the tied up guy is, Mia looked at Zoro. He was all tied up on a cross post. She wondered why he wore a bandana on his head. 'Probably to keep him from getting a sunburn,' thought Mia.
They stared at Zoro for a while until Luffy spoke, pointing at him, "If we untie those ropes, he can just walk away."
"Oh don't be such an idiot Luffy! There's no telling what a man like him will do if you let him go! He might just kill all three of us!" Coby yelled.
Luffy smiled, "Don't worry, I'm strong. I can protect us." Coby made a frightened face with tears flowing down. Mia giggled at how funny Coby's face was looking right now.
"Hey, you two."
Coby screamed, scared that the guy spotted them. "You're an eyesore. Get lost," said Zoro, lifting his head a bit to see them. Coby was still screaming until he looks at Luffy, "Luffy trust me. There's no chance you'll survive with someone like that on your crew!" Just then, they heard a rustle. They all turned to look at their right and saw a little girl climbing a ladder with something in her hands. She shushed them before looking at her surroundings as if checking to see if there were any Marines around. Mia watched as the girl put a rope down start climbing down the wall. Coby yelled, "Luffy! We got to stop her! She'll be killed by the Marines or the Demon himself!" When Luffy made no move to try to stop the girl, they watched as she ran with no fear towards the tied up swordsman.
"What do you want?" Zoro irritatedly asked.
Not fazed by his cold attitude to her, she merely smiles, "I thought you might be getting hungry now. So I made you a couple of rice balls." She starts to open the package and presented the swordsman the rice balls that she made.
Mia smiled at the nice gesture before it disappears when a boy wearing a nice suit with a weird haircut, who was also flanked by two Marines, walked into the field.
"Hey look, now there's another weird guy," said Luffy.
Coby sighed in relief, "That's great. He must be with the Marines. Now we know the girl will be safe."
They all watched the interaction as they all talk to one another besides the two Marines that came with the boy. Mia and Luffy silently watch as the boy insulted the girl's rice balls and stomp on it as Coby pitied her. They then heard the boy saying that his dad was none other than Captain Morgan. Just then, they saw one of the Marine throw the little girl over the wall. Quick thinking, Luffy stretched his arms as he caught her, holding her close to him while hitting the ground. Coby ran to them as the two sat up, perfectly fine, and starts checking the little girl for injuries since he knows that Luffy will be alright.
Mia sighed in relief when she saw that the little girl wasn't hurt. Turning her head back, she caught some stuff about a month and Zoro lasting for only 'ten days'. She turned her head when she heard some rustle of clothing, just to see that it was Luffy. "Stay here Mia," said Luffy, patting her on the head. She nudged his hand, telling him silently that she will. Luffy walked towards Zoro, stopping a few feet away from him.
"So I hear you're a bad guy," said Luffy.
Exhausted, Zoro asked, "You still here?"
Ignoring him, Luffy continues, "You're stuck out here for all the world to see and nothing. You really all that strong?"
Mia watches as Luffy takes a couple steps towards him as they chatted for a bit. Swishing her tail, she wonders how long they were going to chat until she tilts her head when she saw Luffy picking up the ruined rice ball and put it into Zoro's mouth. Zoro was eating it as if his life depended on it. They talked a bit more before Luffy walked back towards where they are. Luffy climbed back over the wall to the other side, walking off. Mia stared at his back a bit before turning to look back at Zoro.
Zoro felt that something or someone was watching him. Lifting his head up, he saw that it was a black cat with sapphire like eyes staring right at him. Not once did Mia blink while the both of them were doing a stare off. 'There's something about him that I can't quite figure out. But something tells me that he would be a great addition to our crew,' thought Mia. She was snapped out of her thought when Luffy yelled her name, "Mia! Come on!" Staring back at her captain, she saw that they had stopped a few feet away. Looking back at Zoro, she saw that he was still watching her. "Mia~" Luffy whined. Deciding to end their staring contest, she jumped off of the wall and ran towards them.
"What a weird cat," said Zoro.
They were sitting in an alleyway, Mia back onto Luffy's shoulder. She tried to stretch as much as she could before nuzzling her face into the crook of Luffy's neck. Luffy chuckled because of her whiskers tickling him. He soon turned his attention back to the little girl, "By the way, Zoro said that your rice ball was very good and to say thank you." The girl smiled up at him, "Really?" He nodded, "That's right. He ate every last grain of rice there was." She sighed, "That's great." Coby then spoke up, "I wonder if Zoro is really as evil as everyone thinks that he is." The girl glared at him before shouting, "He's not!" She then went quiet as she has a solemn look, "He's good. Because… He got himself punished for us." This new info caught everyone's attention.
"You're uh… You're making no sense," said Luffy, confused by what she meant. She looked down on the floor, "Sorry. It's that dumb Helmeppo." She then told them of the story of what happened.
"It's been three weeks since that day. Helmeppo keeps punching and kicking him while he's tied up. He's being so unfair!" She then starts to cry, "I don't… I don't know how to help him."
Coby sadly looked at her, "I see why you're upset." Just then, there were some crashes coming from inside of the bar. Mia hung on Luffy's shoulder as they all went inside to see what all the commotion was about. There, sitting at a table, was none other than Helmeppo with two Marine's flanking over his shoulder as usual. He was giving orders as if he was the prince of the land, demanding whatever the bar has. "I'm trying to think of something interesting to do as seeing how I'm bored out of my skull here. I suppose I could execute Zoro," laughed Helmeppo.
Hearing this ticked both Luffy and Mia off. Mia was about to get off of Luffy's shoulder to give that damn son a piece of her mind. Until Luffy beat her to it instead. "You! You just hit me!" Helmeppo exclaimed, holding a hand to where Luffy hit him. Luffy was going to punch him again, but not before Coby ran and held him, "Luffy no! You can't hit him!" Mia put her tail on his neck, trying to calm him down a bit. It worked, even if it was just a little.
"This guy is scum!" shouted Luffy.
Still, in disbelief, Helmeppo stared at him, "You actually hit me! I am Captain Morgan's son you know!"
"Yeah, like I care!"
"You'll care after he executes you for this!" shouted Helmeppo.
Angered at his words, Luffy struggled a bit in Coby's hold, "Why don't you just be a man and fight?!" shouted Luffy. Coby tightened his hold on Luffy, "Luffy, just ease off some! Why are you trying to get on the Marines bad side!"
"I've made up my mind."
This statement caught both Coby and Mia's attention. They both looked at him, seeing the determination in his eyes. "Today, Zoro joins my crew," said Luffy. Coby just stood there, shock at his announcement. Mia, on the other hand, noticed that Luffy lost his straw hat. She wondered how that happened, 'Probably when he ran to punch that idiot Captain's son,' she thought.
She looked around for it until she saw that it was a couple feet away from them. Falling off of Luffy's shoulder, she jogged towards the hat. Picking it up with her mouth, she instantly jogged right back towards her captain, leaping back onto his shoulder. She places the straw hat back onto his head before laying back down on his shoulder. Luffy looked at her with a smile that says thanks. She nudged her head under his chin to say you're welcome.
Upon arriving back to Zoro, they both noticed that he was asleep. Mia looked to Luffy, "Should we wake him up?" He nodded and was about to until Zoro woke up with a start. It seemed he didn't notice them until he looked down and saw their shadow. He looked up and saw both Luffy and Mia. His eyes lingered on Mia the longest before looking back at Luffy, "You again? Don't you have things to do?" Luffy merely stared at him, "I'll untie you but only if you promise to join my crew." Mia looked at Luffy, 'And here I thought he was going to force him. Not negotiate.'
"Your what?"
Luffy took a couple steps forward just to be at an arm's length away from Zoro, "I run a pirate crew. I'm looking for people to join up."
"No way! I've never stoop to joining up with a criminal. Screw that business," said Zoro, turning his head away.
Not seeing the problem, Luffy put his hands on his hips, "And what's wrong with being a pirate?" Lifting his head to look Luffy directly in the eye, he said, "They're despicable! Like I ever want to join up with one."
"Oh come on. Give me a break. Everyone already knows you as some vicious Bounty Hunter always out for blood."
Not fazed by his words, Zoro replied, "People can say whatever they want about me. But I never done a single thing in my life that I regret." He then smirks, "I will make it through this challenge. And after that, I'll accomplish what I want."
Not liking his answer, Luffy stares at him, "Yeah… that's great." Mia looks up at him as he crosses his arms, facing away from the Pirate Hunter. "But I've already decided that you're going to be on my crew," said Luffy, smiling.
Angry at the straw hat boy's decision, Zoro shouted, "What? You can't do that!"
Luffy ignores him, "I heard you're one of the best swordsmen around." Not denying at his statement, Zoro said, "Well I am! But that idiot Captain's son took mine away."
"Guess I'll just have to go get it back for you," said Luffy.
"What?"
"So if you want your sword. You're just going to have to join my crew!" Luffy said with a huge smile. Mia smiled as she softly shook her head at her Captain's sly words.
"Now you're really pissing me off!" shouted Zoro.
Luffy merely laughs as he starts running to the other direction of the Marine Base. Zoro mumbled something Mia couldn't quite catch until he shouted, "Hey genius! The Base is in the other direction." When Luffy stopped, she instantly knew what he was going to do. So tightly holding onto him, Luffy stretched his arms towards the fence on the other side as he shouted, "Gum-Gum Rocket!"
As Luffy ran to the Base, Mia looks around, wondering where all the Marines were. There were barely any guards around. "Luffy, is this even a Marine Base? There's no here at all," said Mia, still looking around for any Marine's.
Stopping, Luffy put a hand on his hat, "Yeah I know. I need to find that crazy idiot son so I can get Zoro's sword back for him."
They then heard some noises. Wondering where it was coming from, they looked left and right but still couldn't find the source. Hearing a harsh bang, Mia's ears perked up as she looks up at the top of the Marine Base. She tapped Luffy with her tail, "Luffy, it sounds like it's coming from the roof." Looking up as well, Luffy hummed as he listened and could finally hear the commotion.
"It sounds like something is going on up there."
Mia looks at him, "You gonna check it out? There could be a party!" She exclaimed excitedly, wondering if there were food up there. Grinning, Luffy took a step back, "Guess we should check it out!" He then starts to stretch his arm until he was able to grab the edge of the roof. Putting Mia into his shirt, so she wouldn't end up flying off, he shouted, "Gum-Gum… Rocket!"
He started to retract his outstretched arm, sending them flying up to the roof. However, Luffy didn't expect for them to go too far as they went flying past the roof. Seeing ropes wrapped around a giant statue, Mia shouted, "Luffy the ropes!" He saw it as well and quickly grabbed for it, "Got it!" He then pulls them back onto the roof.
What they didn't expect was for the Marines who were holding the ropes, accidentally letting it go, breaking the statue in half. Mia and Luffy stared at it, knowing it was kind of their fault that it broke. Bringing a hand and paw up, they apologized, "Sorry about that." A huge crash was soon heard and Morgan shouted in rage, "Seize him and hold him so I can kill him myself!"
Afraid of his anger, the Marine's saluted as they nervously shouted, "Sir! Right away!"
Helmeppo's annoying voice was then heard, catching Luffy and Mia's attention. They look at him as he shouted to his father, pointing at them. Luffy went up to him, "Hey, it's you!" When Helmeppo looks at him, he screams at how close Luffy was. Mia jumps out of Luffy's shirt as she went to lay back on his shoulder and cover her ears. The idiot son sure can scream like a girl. He kept screaming as he tried to run away but Luffy had a grasp of his shoulder, "I've been looking for you all over the place. You have something I really need to get back." Luffy then starts to drag him to the open door that leads into the Base.
Mia sighs as the idiotic son kept screaming her ears off. Looking up at Luffy as she kept her ears covered with her paws she whined, "Do we really need him? His pathetic screaming is starting to hurt my ears." Luffy smiles at her, "Sorry Mia. But I need him to tell me where Zoro's sword is." She whines as she closes her eyes and pouted.
As he ran through the corridor, Luffy looks down at the screaming boy as he starts to question him where Zoro's sword is. Helmeppo pleaded him to stop dragging him on the floor so he could answer. So when Luffy stopped, he told him that they passed his room already. Annoyed, Luffy turned around to start running again until three Marine's stopped them, guns pointed them.
Mia sighs in relief when the idiotic son finally stops screaming but started laughing when Luffy used him as a shield. Luffy grinned at her, happy that she was having as much fun as he was.
They finally arrived at a white door that has a flower wreath on it and a sign that says "My Room." Opening it, Mia gawked at how girly it was as Luffy smile, "This looks like your room."
"Yeah, a girly one at that," Mia mumbled. Making Luffy laugh.
Looking around, they spotted the sword. "Bingo!" said Luffy as he walks towards it. But there were three instead of one.
"Hold on. There are three here," said Luffy, pointing at them. Wondering which one was Zoro's, he looks down Helmeppo, "Hey weirdo. Which one of these are Zoro's?" But all he got was a fainted guy, unable to answer.
"Guess he passed out."
Mia jumps off of his shoulder as she softly lands on the floor and looks at the swords. She started sniffing them to see which one was the swordsman, but they all smelt like him. Turning her head to Luffy, she was about to tell him that they were all Zoro's until he shouted, "Coby!" He was by the window when he looked down at the field where Zoro was strung. Running, Mia leaps back onto Luffy's shoulder as she looks out the window. Her eyes widen when she saw both Zoro and Coby being aimed by the Marines.
"What are we going to do Luffy?" asked Mia, looking up at him.
Luffy quickly ran to strap all three swords on him and starts to stretch his arms as he backs up from the window. Knowing what he was going to do, Mia grabs a hold of shirt as he shouted, "Gum-Gum Rocket!"
They blasted through the window and shot down to the field. Mia quickly opens her wings as the air pressure threw her off of Luffy's shoulder and into the sky. She watches as Luffy defended the two from the bullets as it stretches his skin. Exclaiming, he shot the bullets right back at them, laughing. Mia giggled at her Captains' antics. Zoro and Coby were staring at him in astonishment.
Flying down to the others, she landed on the post as Zoro questions him, "W-What are you?" Luffy looks back at him as he gives a thumbs up, "My name is Monkey D. Luffy and I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"