One Piece: Truly Precious

Chapter 16

Hello and welcome back everyone! Thank you for all your support as we enter into the next chapter of this fanfic. I hope this one meets with your expectations as well.

Disclaimer: Oda-sensei owns One Piece.

Note: this chapter was partially inspired by New Game Plus by DuncanIdaho2014. I am not trying to steal his ideas, and any similarities are credited towards his genius.

"THIS IS IT!" exclaimed Luffy as he stood in front of the execution platform, "This is where Gold Roger had his final moments."

The Captain of the Strawhat Pirates stood happily in front of the place where the Golden Age of Piracy had begun. He had almost forgotten how great it had felt to stand here in front of the place where the man who had it all met his end. Now what did he do last time, OH! He climbed it! The one thing better than seeing the platform from the ground, was seeing the town from the place where Gold Rodger was executed.

With a smile, he ran up to the platform and began to climb, ignoring the spectators watching that were muttering things about how crazy he seemed, and instead choosing to work harder to reach the top. A strong breeze nearly blew his hat off, but he quickly caught it and placed it safely back on his head.

"Better be careful with that," said Luffy as he pulled himself onto the execution platform.

Looking out at the town in front of him from his place on the platform, Luffy let a huge grin spread onto his face. It wasn't just the nostalgia, but the feeling of standing in the place where the man who started it all met his end; it brought a feeling of deep excitement to the young Captain.

"This is where it all began," said Luffy with a huge grin, "and I get to do it all over again! This time, I swear we'll do it right."

With a laugh, Luffy sat down on the platform leaving his feet dangling off the edge. Since the crew was going to meet up here

xXsceneXx

While Luffy was enjoying the sights from the execution platform, the chef of his pirate crew was browsing the port markets for ingredients and provisions to last them until their next stop on the Grand Line. With him, lending his recovering strength to help carry the parcels, was the former Combat Commander of the Kreig Pirates.

"You have a good eye for food here," said Gin as Sanji finished bartering with a salesman for a bunch of fresh caught fish, "but I never thought I'd see West Blue fish here in the East Blue.

"Heh," chuckled Sanji as he took a drag from his cigarette, "there's a reason that I believe so fully in the fact that the All Blue exists."

"Is that so?" said Gin, "I don't mean to poke holes in your optimism Sanji, but just because you find several bunches of fish that washed in from the West Blue, it doesn't make the dream of a sea where all fish can be found any more real."

"I don't know about that," said Sanji, "but anyone who's been to the Grand Line would know that, in those seas, conventional logic goes out the window. And since this town is at the entrance to the Grand Line, its quite possible some of the spill off from the All Blue reaches here. The All Blue is in the New World, I'm sure of it."

"That's quite the dream you have there," said Gin.

Something on a market stand caught the Chef's eye and he smirked, "This is the age of dreams," he chuckled, "and there's your proof."

Gin turned in the direction Sanji was pointing to and his eyes widened, "Is that…?"

"Yup," said Sanji, "a Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna. Caught fresh too, if I'm not mistaken."

"You have a good eye," said the merchant, a large man named Sapi who happened to be half-Fishman, "this was caught just this morning by one of our fishing teams. Biggest one we've caught in a while in fact."

"Quite the catch too," said Sanji, "it's a quality fish."

"So," said Sapi, "how would you like it cut?"

"No need," said Sanji with a grin, "I'll take the whole thing."

Sapi smiled and quickly bartered with Sanji over the price. When the two men reached an agreement, Sanji hefted the large fish over his shoulder and the two pirates headed back to the docks to drop off their goods before they would meet up at the Execution Platform.

"Say, Sanji," said Gin as the two of them headed for the docks, "why is it Nami wanted to meet up at the Execution Platform and not at the Merry?"

"It's complicated," sighed Sanji.

"Seriously?" asked Gin with a sigh, "With how often you guys use that phrase, you should have it copyrighted already."

"There is a reason," said Sanji, "and it is complicated."

"You're going to have to tell us eventually," said Gin, "you can't keep keeping secrets."

"We know," said Sanji, "now let's get moving. Nami-san mentioned that bad weather was coming soon."

The two men nodded and redoubled their pace in order to make it to the Going Merry before the storm arrived.

xXsceneXx

Luffy was enjoying himself from atop the Execution Platform. He was glad that the crew was going to meet up here before leaving, as that meant he could spend more time enjoying the feeling of standing in the place where the Age of Piracy was born. Offhandedly he mused that, if the Marines didn't defeat them at Raftel, he might have been taken here for his own execution.

Luffy was snapped out of his thoughts when a man's voice called out to him while being amplified by a bullhorn. Looking up, he saw several men in Marine uniforms standing in front of the platform.

"Excuse me, sir," said the officer with the bullhorn, "but climbing the Platform when it is not in use is strictly prohibited. I'm going to have to ask you to come down or we will be forced to detain you."

"Huh?" said Luffy, "I'm just waiting for my crew, and I wanted to see where Gold Rodger had his final moments."

"Sir," said the Marine, "you are going to have to come down. I'm sure your crew will understand."

"But we agreed to meet up here," said Luffy, "and I can't do that if I go with you guys."

"Sir," said the man, "this is your final warning."

"Shishishi," laughed Luffy, "sorry, but I'm not leaving."

The Marine was about to call out to the troops to climb up and detain Luffy, but a hand on his shoulder forced him to stop.

"You idiot," growled Captain Smoker as he gently pushed the officer aside, "don't you recognize him from the new posters? That's Straw Hat Luffy, wanted dead or alive for 70,000,000 berries."

"Oh," said Luffy as he saw the Captain, "you're here too?"

"I see you've heard of me, Straw Hat," said Smoker, "then I'm sure you know that I never let a pirate escape my clutches. I'm bringing you in and giving you a one way ticket to Impel Down."

"Shishishi," laughed Luffy, "nah, don't think so. You see, I still gotta go to the Grand Line so I can find the One Piece and become the Pirate King!"

"That's a bold statement," smirked Smoker, "but you'll need more than words to back it up. White Out!"

Smoker turned his arms into clouds of smoke that shot at Luffy, but the young captain had used Observation Haki and saw the attack coming, allowing him to jump up and out of the way while stretching his fist back for a punch that was aimed at Smoker's face.

"That won't work," said Smoker as he turned his arms back to normal.

"Gum Gum: Pistol!" yelled Luffy as he coated his fist in just enough Haki to bypass Smoker's Devil Fruit powers, but not so much as to seriously injure him.

He did help them out a few times after all.

The Marine Captain was sent reeling back in surprise as the punch slammed into his cheek, knocking him to the ground.

'He bypassed my Logia defense!' thought Smoker in shock before he yelled to his troops, "Load Kairoseki bullets and fire!"

The marines loaded bullets into their guns and fired at Luffy, but the rubber captain was able to dodge out of the way using Haki before leaping over their heads.

"White Blow!"

Luffy, alerted by his Haki, jumped up to avoid a blast of smoke sent by the Marine Captain that would have slammed him against the Execution Platform scaffolding.

"Nice try, Smokey," laughed Luffy, "but you'll have to be faster than that."

'I can't believe it,' thought Smoker, 'this rookie pirate can use Haki!'

"I don't plan on being caught here today," said Luffy with a grin, "I'm headed for the New World, and I'm gonna become the next King of the Pirates."

Smoker's eyes widened as clouds began to gather in the sky, signaling ominous weather and making the young captain's declaration seem all the more foreboding. Smoker, for an instant, saw the ghost of another man standing behind Luffy with the same confident smile that the young captain had.

"Bring him down," said a Marine officer as the troops leveled their guns at Luffy.

The troops were about to fire, but a blast of wind blades sent them flying as five figures landed at Luffy's side.

"Looks like you're in trouble again, Luffy," said Zoro as he tied his sash around his head.

"Same as always then," said Sanji as he blew out some smoke.

"Well," said Gin as he readied his Tonfa, "Nami, Nojiko, and Usopp are prepping the ship, so we go through these guys and we're home free."

"Well then," said Zoro as he Johnny and Yosaku readied their swords, "let's test these new blades out."

As Smoker looked over the present members of the Straw Hat Pirates, he knew that the words that Luffy had said earlier were not some idle claim. Half of the men in front of him had considerable bounties and the others looked like no stranger to combat.

'Monkey D. Luffy, you're no normal rookie,' thought Smoker.