"Oh? So, you know this brat, Coby?" A pirate leered.
Coby gulped, Ok, maybe I didn't think this through.
Luffy frowned, before grinning again, "Nah, my name is Monkey D. Luffy!" I can't let Coby pay the price for my lies. He winced, never really figured out how to lie, even with all the lifetimes I've been through.
Coby's face fell, before he brought it back up again, "Haha! I'm kidding, he just looks a lot like this one guy I used to know, his name was Richard, and…" he was sweating and his eyes were darting around "he…" Coby gulped.
"He… what? Coby," One pirate taunted.
Luffy pressed his lips into a thin line, and let a light wave of Conqueror's wash over the 2 pirates, making sure to especially be shielding Coby from it. Understandably, Coby was scared and confused when the 2 pirates dropped like marionettes with their strings cut right before his eyes.
"Ehhhh?"
Luffy said nothing in response, but his grin was more than enough for Coby to interpret what he did.
"What—How—Why—Please don't kill me," was what he settled on in the end. Coby covered his face with his hands and cowered under Luffy's shadow.
I won't hurt him; doesn't he know that? Luffy bit his lip, and put on a fake smile, "I won't hurt you, ya know?"
Coby stopped shaking and peeked out through a crack in his fingers, "You won't?" he asked timidly.
"Nope!" Luffy promptly turned around and ignored Coby's sigh of relief, "Hey, do you know where some food is, I'm starving!"
"O-Oh… Follow me, Luffy-san," Coby whispered, and led him to a storage room.
"So, why are you here? I would take you for a Marine," Luffy questioned, while biting into an apple.
Coby sighed, "You know, I've always wanted to be a marine, they're so righteous," Luffy hid a dark scowl, "They fight for justice," Luffy repressed a groan, "And they catch bad pirates!" Coby was all psyched up now.
"You… do realize that I'm a pirate, right?" Luffy amusedly questioned.
Coby's face turned all pretty shades of white, before he found his voice, "You're… I'M SORRY!" he dropped into a bow.
"Oi, oi… What do you take me for?" Luffy sweat-dropped.
"Wha… But you're a pirate!" Coby insisted.
Luffy just barely stopped himself from wincing, "Yeah, I get that a lot of people who are pirates are complete dumbos, but not everyone is the same, you know?"
"Eh…" Coby had a perfectly lost look on his face.
"Never mind, anyways, you said Marine?" Luffy prompted.
"O-Oh, yeah! I want to be a Marine so that I can help people. If I ever get out of the bondage, I got myself into with Alvida, then the first thing I do is catch her!" Coby looked up at Luffy with an appearance of determination.
"Oh… and just who are you going to catch, Coby…" an extremely fat woman fell into the storage room from a hole in the top deck, "Please… do enlighten me," Alvida grinned an ugly grin.
Luffy pointed at Alvida and asked as loud and obnoxiously as he could, "Hey, Coby, who's the hag?"
Everyone in that room, and around it, as well as on the top deck froze. As one, their heads all turned towards the confrontation between the "Lady Pirate" Alvida, and the skinny no-name boy, and clutched their heads in sympathy for him.
Alvida's face contorted in rage, before she set her sights on Coby, "COBY!" the referenced kid's back went ramrod straight, "WHO'S THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN ALL THE SEA?" she boomed.
Luffy looked at Coby who was now frozen in fear, and decided to cut in, "Boa Hancock," he stated as serious as he could. At everyone's clueless expressions, and to the twisting of Alvida's expression, he clarified, "You know, 'Pirate Empress' Boa Hancock, 'Ruler of the Calm Belt', and 'Princess of the Amazon Lily: Isle of Women', you know, that Boa Hancock—" he stopped and grinned in satisfaction when he saw Alvida's face turn as red as a ripe tomato.
He sneaked a look at Coby and saw that the kid was now a pallid white, "L-Luffy-san!" Coby clutched at Luffy's vest, "It's still not too late—hopefully—just repeat after me, Alvida-sama is…" Coby stopped for a few seconds, and seemed to gain enlightenment, or at least, that's what it looked like to Luffy, "THE UGLIEST DAMN HAG EVER, AND WHEN I BECOME A MARINE, I'M GOING TO CATCH HER FIRST!" Coby yelled.
The storage room became deathly silent, before Luffy laughed and complimented, "Well said, Coby, well said,".
Without even looking, Luffy blocked a blow from Alvida's iron club with his forearm, and launched an uppercut into her jaw.
The fat hag grunted and tried to launch another attack. Luffy turned around, and delivered a right kick into her stomach, effectively sending her flying into somewhere.
After 3 seconds, the straw-hatted teen grinned, there's that… and… he turned towards the rest of the crew, "The hell are you waiting for?" he jutted a thumb towards Coby and himself, "Get us a boat!".
As if a switch had been flipped, Alvida's former crew all scrambled to get a boat for the 2 teens.
Stage 1 complete, then, Luffy smiled, next up: Zoro.
0-o-0
"Luffy-san, I'm just curious…" Coby was steering the small dinghy, "Why did you set out to be a pirate?"
Luffy hummed, "To become the Pirate King,"
Coby sputtered and almost fell into the sea, "Pirate… King?!" Coby turned the dinghy violently, "That means you're out to get the One Piece!"
"Mhm,"
"That means—you're out to the Grand Line!"
"Yep,"
"No, no, no, nope! Impossible, it's just impossible—ow!" Coby clutched the spot on his head where Luffy rapped with his knuckle.
"I don't care if it's impossible, I'll make it possible, and if I die on the way, then that's it—I die on the way," Luffy clutched his necklace and clutched his Straw Hat to his chest, "I made a promise, I'm not going to break it," and I have plenty of time to make it possible, anyways…
Coby fell silent for a few moments before asking, "You seem to have a strange connection to that hat and necklace of yours, if you don't mind me asking?"
Luffy nodded, "The hat was given to me by a great man," who I won't fail this round, "and the necklace was given to me by a friend who I owe a favor," and an adventure for her to watch.
"Which friend?" Coby asked before he could stop himself, "You don't have to answer that," he tacked on at the last minute.
"Her name was… Fate," I mean, that sort of is her name, what with her being the destiny breaker, decider of fate, watcher of worlds, and all… Luffy sweat-dropped.
"Fate, huh? Weird name," Coby muttered.
"Why'd you even want to know her name in the first place?" Luffy questioned, while pushing an apple into his mouth.
"No, no, I was just curious," Coby said distractedly, "You know, we're headed for Shell Island,"
"Yeah, and?" Luffy said after he spit out the apple core.
"I hear that they have Roronoa Zoro in custody there," Coby's voice dropped down to a whisper.
"Roronoa Zoro? What's so bad about him?" in all the lifetimes and worlds Luffy's been through, not one of the times has he figured out why or how Zoro even made a name for himself like that in East Blue of all places.
Coby almost dropped his oars, "'What's so bad about him' ARE YOU STUPID?! IT'S RORONOA ZORO! THE DEMON OF EAST BLUE! They say that he sometimes turns his bounties in to the marines in pieces… do you seriously not know him?" Coby questioned incredulously.
Luffy hummed, "Well I've heard of him," that's technically not a lie, he was pretty famous in most of the Worlds I've been to.
Coby sputtered, "Well, of course you've heard of him, the question is…" Coby paused, "Why don't you fear him?"
Luffy froze, how do I explain this… "I want him to be my first mate," Luffy settled on that.
Coby's eyes widened, "ARE YOU CRAZY?!" he yelled, "Wait, YOU DON'T HAVE A CREW?!"
Luffy laughed, "Nope!"
Coby sank into the boat, "You're screwed, there's no way you're going to make it on the Grand Line without a crew, you're going to die, you're going to die, you're going to—ow!" Coby rubbed his head and failed at glaring at Luffy, who was now blowing smoke off his fist.
"I already told you," Luffy reprimanded, "If I die, then I die, Death comes for everyone. I'm not an exception." Luffy smiled, "So I'm not afraid, and chillax Coby, I won't die!"
Coby looked at Luffy as if he just saw a god in human form, before the boat lurched.
"Uurgh…" Coby spat out a mouthful of dust, "Land ho?"
Luffy smiled and rubbed the pendant he wore around his neck with a thumb, "Shishishi," he laughed quietly, before running forward.
Coby sprinted to catch up, "Ahh… Wait!" he wheezed, Luffy absentmindedly flicked his hat behind his head and asked, "Coby, you got any idea where they're keeping Zoro?"
Upon hearing that name, everyone in the town, as Luffy absently noticed, scrambled up the walls.
"Looks like Zoro's name is taboo here," Coby whispered in Luffy's ear, "I heard that a Marine Captain Morgan has his base stationed here," he stated loudly.
Again, everyone in town scrambled up the walls, this time, with more vigor and franticness than before.
"I don't understand," Coby looked crestfallen, "Why are they reacting like that to a Marine's name?"
Luffy tiredly looked at Coby and thought back to the millions of worlds he's been to. In one world, Coby was a fighter of Absolute Justice, and Akainu's direct disciple. In another world, Coby was already a Marine, be it an Admiral, Fleet Admiral, Commander, or just common Fodder. In a different world, he chose to join Luffy.
That world was one of the few worlds in which Corrupt—ion was awakened again. Turns out, Coby's presence alone delayed the awakening during the First World. Must be because he helped stop corruption from taking root in the Marines.
"Coby," he started, "There's no white or black, only many shades of gray," he looked forward with a perfectly blank look on his face, "Remember that. It'll help you when you become a Marine,".
"Huh?"
As if a switch had been flipped, Luffy smiled a classic D-smile, and cheered, "I found Zoro!"
"Wait, what?" Coby confusedly asked.
Luffy grabbed Coby around the waist, and rocketed upwards, over a wall, and into the prison yard where Zoro was being pinned.
Luffy stepped back and took a look at his first mate with a critical eye. He's starving. He needs to eat.
"Who the hell are you?" Zoro asked, completely bewildered, before he narrowed his eyes and gestured with his nose towards the wall around the base, "Get lost," he growled.
…
Zoro was trying to nap. Turns out, it's really, really hard to nap when one is tied to a wooden post, and stuck to do eternal T-posing.
What the hell am I thinking? He looked up at the sky, The sun must be getting to me.
He heard faint screaming, and on instinct, looked up, and saw 2 kids fall from the sky. One had pink hair and looked super wimpy, whereas the other looked like a human stick with a straw hat.
Falling from the sky…? He thought numbly, before slouching as much as he could into the wooden post, Yeah, the sun must be getting to me.
He reevaluated his life choices when he saw, heard, smelled, and tasted those two brats fall and form a crater right next to him.
So, like any starved, beaten, and tired man, he asked, "Who the hell are you?".
When he saw the tiny pink kid cower behind the stick one, he wasn't surprised. At all. When he saw the stick kid eyeing him like he was a piece of meat, yeah, he became a little worried. Taking a moment, he analyzed the two brats and realized something.
That stick kid… He's not normal. Whatever's in his soul… is way too old to belong to someone that young… He's dangerous.
He narrowed his eyes and attempted to try and scare them off, "Get lost," he grunted, and gestured with his nose towards the wall around the Marine Base.
"No," the stick kid said.
Zoro almost sputtered in indignation, NO?!
"You're going to die, kid," Zoro yelled hoarsely, "Get out!". That should do it, he thought in satisfaction, careful to show none of it on his face.
His satisfactory thoughts were nipped in the bud when that little tiny brat came along. Rika, was it? When Rika came along, scaled up the wall with a ladder and attempted to feed him onigiri. What has my life become, he repressed a whine.
…
Luffy kept his face blank throughout the entire ordeal. It was blank when Zoro told him to get out. It was blank when he said 'no' in return. It was blank when Rika came down and tried to feed the stubborn oaf that was his first mate onigiri, and it stayed blank for the next 30 minutes.
Or at least, until Helmeppo came into play. That's when his blank mask broke. He knew that Helmeppo was a good person, he just knew that, but he couldn't take it watching him act like a total trash bag to a kid that was probably the same age if not younger than O-Tama.
"Onigiri is supposed to be made with SALT! SALT!" he stomped the rice ball into the ground, before huffing at the crying girl. Then he turned to one Monkey D. Luffy, who was currently gritting his teeth together, and drawing blood from his palms with how hard he was clenching his fists.
"What the hell are you doing here? Don't you know my dad is Captain Morgan?" Helmeppo said nonchalantly, while narrowing his eyes in an attempt to intimidate him into submission.
"I don't care who your father is…" Luffy murmured quietly.
"What?" Helmeppo made a show of cupping his ear, "I didn't hear you~" Poor fool, he thought that Luffy was apologizing to him.
In no way, was he ready for what happened next.
Luffy cocked his fist back and glared at the butt-chinned blond, "I DON'T CARE WHO YOUR FATHER IS, FIGHT YOUR OWN BATTLES, YOU COWARD!" he smacked Helmeppo across the face, leaving a resounding crunch sound ringing throughout the field.
Oops, did I kill him, Luffy sweat-dropped, he could almost feel Norzira's annoyance and exasperation all the way from Laugh Tale.
No, wait, he's alive, Luffy amended, once he searched for the blonde's aura and felt it to be there. Faint, yes, but definitely there.
"What?" Zoro said in sheer disbelief. When Luffy turned towards him, Zoro's incredulousness contorted into rage, "WHAT?!" he thundered, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" he howled, "DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!"
Luffy patiently waited for Zoro to finish ranting, and for a quiet moment, Luffy remembered, that's right… I have to remember which world I'm in. I'm not in a world where Zoro would actually be impressed with the bloodshed, Luffy exhaled deeply, he's Zoro no more no less. My Zoro.
"Are you even listening?" Zoro growled.
Luffy promptly ignored him and said, "He would have ordered your death in 3 days,"
Zoro skeptically raised an eyebrow, "And I should believe you, why?"
Coby decided to butt into the conversation, "Luffy-san really sucks at lying," Coby grimaced, "I should know,"
Zoro grunted, "Then tell me, how does he know that the son would have ordered my death in 3 days,"
Coby furrowed his eyebrows in thought, distantly noting that Luffy had left the conversation for whatever reason, "Luffy-san… is very mysterious. He seems to know more beyond what he should for someone in East Blue, or for someone of his age. Come to think of it," Coby gasped, "He knew that I would want to be a Marine, despite me not telling him, and he seems to know more about Marines than a Pirate should know…"
Zoro sputtered, "That kid is a pirate?"
Coby nodded, "I was completely confused the first time too, but once you see him in action, well… he's…" Coby gulped, "terrifying," he paused, "and indescribable," he nodded in satisfaction.
"Indescribable?" Zoro muttered, "I'll see that for myself," he slouched against the wooden post he was tied to, "Now," he straightened his back, "Could you untie me, pink hair brat?"
Coby stepped forward and attempted to pick at a knot, "Sure,"
…
Zoro's swords… Luffy hummed, Zoro's swords…
Luffy knew that Zoro wouldn't be happy with him leaving the conversation so abruptly, but it was a force of habit he built up in the few Worlds he's been through with the apocalypse happening. If you stay around for small talk too much, you'd have gotten blindsided and then eaten and turned into a Zombie. Those who did turn into a Zombie, went through a couple stages.
First, they were more human, they would slowly start rotting like a corpse, and such.
Second, they would mutate into… something, and become seriously ugly.
Third, their Devil Fruit would mutate with them to accommodate the dead body, if they had a Devil Fruit.
Basically, they were monsters in all senses of the word, and if you stayed in one place for too long, they would track you down and sniff you out. A select few even had intelligence. That was terrifying.
It's what taught Luffy to be quiet, and how to starve at certain times. Those worlds… he simultaneously wanted to remember, but forget those worlds.
Zoro's swords… Where are Zoro's swords? Luffy pulled himself from his flashbacks and searched through the rooms, Where are Zoro's… THERE! Luffy smiled and ran towards a pink door with a white sign on it that said, "Helmeppo's Room," and burst open the door.
He turned his head towards the singing voice of the White katana in the corner of the room, and the silence of the other two. He frowned at the sight of the two lousy training swords, and the absence of Enma and Sandai Kitetsu.
Oh well, he shrugged, All in good time, he snatched up the two swords and looked out the window. He saw a huge stone statue being raised in the image of some dude with an axe for a hand, and all of a sudden, Luffy got a serious urge to destroy it.
"GOMU GOMU NO… ROCKET!" he rocketed towards the stone statue, and decimated it on impact. Frowning, he landed on the roof of the building and stared at the open mouths of every single marine there, including the man with the axe hand.
"If you're going to make a statue of yourself," he started slowly, watching as the marines flinched and the axe-hand guy scowled deeply, "Make it in brass!" Luffy finished cheerfully, before knocking everyone on the roof out with Conqueror's Haki.
He winced at the resulting cracks in the floor caused by his Haki, I should really stop throwing this power around, it wouldn't do to have the Marines chasing us right at the beginning.
He gripped the swords tighter and jumped off the roof, doing a perfect landing in front of Zoro. He got up and dusted himself off before pointing at the mosshead and saying, "I will give you your katana back," he saw the beginnings of a smile form on Zoro's face, "If you join my crew," Zoro's face abruptly soured.
"No," the mosshead said curtly.
"Then I won't give your katana back," Luffy sang, "So what's it going to be?"
Zoro let out a yell of frustration before conceding, "Very well," he closed his eyes, "I will join your pathetic little pirate crew," Luffy frowned, "But if you ever get in the way of my dreams," he opened his eyes, "You will apologize at the end of my katana,".
Luffy closed his eyes, "World's Greatest Swordsman, huh?" he didn't need to open his eyes to see the surprise on Zoro's face, "Good. The Pirate King would have no less,"
Luffy handed the three katana, Wado first, to his now first mate, and watched as he cut himself free. He smiled and laughed, "Let's eat! You're starving!"
Zoro grumbled and followed the straw-hatted teen, ever so slightly glaring holes into his back.
…
"Ah! That was amazing!" Zoro patted his belly, before looking at Luffy, "Why aren't you eating anything?"
Luffy looked at Zoro, and then at the steaming plate of food in front of him, "Sorry, force of habit," Luffy put on a false smile and stuffed the plate into his mouth, spitting it out clean.
"How is it a force of habit for you to not eat," Zoro questioned incredulously.
Luffy quieted down for a moment before speaking up, "Poison,".
…
Luffy muttered incoherently as he was being pinned on a wall and shot flaming arrows at. Rosinante cried next to him, and Doflamingo was screaming profanities. In this world, Doflamingo was more or less a good guy. Only to his family, though.
'Mingo was so happy when Luffy smiled and ate the food that they ended up being given by some allegedly nice guy somewhere in the town. Apparently, it was lined with an almost miniscule amount of that new world fish's poison. Not enough to kill someone instantly, but enough to warrant a slow and painful death, causing hallucinations all the while.
Luffy was the one to eat that dish.
He was the one to die first, too.
…
Luffy became dimly aware that the bar was silent of all of its former chatter.
"Does anyone have a Den-Den?" he tried to change the topic.
Ririka, the mother of Rika, stepped forward and handed a lazy-looking Den-Den Mushi to Luffy. He smiled in thanks to her and dialed a number.
"Purupurupurupuru, Gatcha!"
"Hello? Senny, is that you?" Garp's voice rang out throughout the silent bar room.
"Nope, this is Monkey D. Luffy here," Luffy prepared himself for whatever would come next.
"LUFFY?!" Garp exploded, "WHERE ARE YOU? DID YOU GO BECOME A PIRATE?! YOU'RE GOING TO BE A—"
"No,"
"Wait, what?"
"There's this kid, his name is Coby, he wants to become a Marine Admiral who fights for true justice someday, show him that true justice, and don't let Akainu get in his head," Luffy said grimly, fluidly changing the subject.
"Akainu—True justice—I NEVER TOLD YOU THOSE THINGS!" Garp yelled, then the Den-Den Mushi mirrored the Vice-Admiral's wince on the other line.
"I figured out on my own," Luffy's face was set into a stony expression, "Coby is a good kid, if he becomes a Marine, the world will change,"
A sigh was heard throughout the room, "Where are you, brat?"
Luffy spared his Grandfather a small smile, "Shell Island, there's a corrupt Marine captain, oh, and, don't bother coming after me. I'll be long gone by then,"
"…"
Everyone waited with bated breaths for what the Den-Den Mushi would say next, and then— "I'll be waiting for your first bounty. Make sure it beats Ace," then came a boisterous, but resigned laugh.
Luffy smirked, the Den-Den Mushi mirroring his expression, "No worries, it'll make Ace's look small,"
"Gatcha!" When the Den-Den Mushi went back to sleep, the bar exploded with questions, the most prominent one being: "You know Garp the Fist?!"
"Oi…" everyone stopped to stare at Zoro, who was currently next to a paralyzed Coby, whether in fear, anticipation, or excitement, no one could tell, "Why don't you tell me why you have a Marine Hero's number?" He raised one eyebrow in skepticism.
Luffy smiled nonchalantly, "Oh, he's my grandpa,"
"HE'S YOUR WHAT?!" was the majority of the bar's reaction.
"Great!" Luffy jumped up, "Now, to go get our navigator, our sniper, and our cook! Then we leave for Paradise!" he laughed, and walked out of the bar.
The room was silent for a while before Zoro spoke up, "Paradise…?"
…
Zoro didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. One moment, he's serving out a sentence, then on the last week, comes a chain of events in which the end result is that he's free.
That stung his pride.
He was supposed to make it the whole month, and the kid and her mum would be free without death charges.
Then, this kid comes along, and tries to coerce him into joining a pirate crew, and worst of all, he actually succeeds.
Zoro was practically waiting for the kid to mess up and get in the way of his dreams, so by honor, he'd have to die by Zoro's sword. Then the kid tells him that he was basically poisoned on a regular basis, so much so, that it's habit to not eat food, what without checking it like a psycho first.
Not to mention, that kid calls the Grand Line—the Grand Line—Paradise! His grandfather is Garp the Fist, who is a Marine Hero, and that same kid wants to be the pirate king. He knows some guy named Ace, who is probably also a pirate, and quite a powerful one too, by the looks of things.
Just who was this kid?!
"See ya!" said kid shouted out, effectively dragging Zoro out from his thoughts.
He blankly looked out at the sea of villagers who were offering their thanks and gratitude to the 2, and Coby, who was on his knees crying in those same emotions, wishing them all the best and so on. A small part of Zoro was confused, why were they cheering on a pirate? Aside from the fact that he practically destroyed that Marine Base… why?
Once they were out on sea, the kid's demeanor instantly changed from friendly and outgoing, to grim and serious.
It scared Zoro a little.
"Zoro," at the sound of his name, he turned his head, "There's something you should know if you are to ever be a part of my crew," the hairs on the back of Zoro's neck bristled, "never touch the necklace,"
Zoro froze, and eyed the small unassuming pendant on his now captain's neck, "Why?"
Luffy lay back on the walls of the dinghy and looked up at the sky, "I mean this in the most literal sense, it keeps me sane,"
Zoro muttered, "A necklace keeps you sane?" he must have a weak will if he needs an inanimate object to keep together his sense of self.
Luffy looked Zoro dead in the eye with an uncharacteristic hardness, "Yes. It clears my head enough to think, if it ever comes off…" Luffy shrugged his shoulders and lay back down, "Well, let's just say… you don't want to find out,"
Zoro's spine chilled the second he heard those words come out of his captain's mouth, and in that moment, he could no longer see a leisurely walking, childish teen, but a pirate, the dangerous persona that he saw and felt the first time he saw the kid.
Zoro knew it now… That kid… was a human force of nature.
…
Luffy figured it out somewhere around the time he lost track of how many worlds he's regressed into. In this particular world, the generations were switched. This time, he was the Pirate King, and Gol D. Roger was going to be the next.
Sometime when he was fighting against Kidd, who was basically the equivalent of Whitebeard in this World, his necklace must have fallen off, then everything went blank.
Screams, fire, the desolate feeling of emptiness, the thirst for blood, KILLKILLKILLKILLKILL—
Monkey D. Luffy, who had regressed for the 94,647th time let out a primal scream of pure agony, and proceeded to turn into nothing short of a monster.
AN: So, how do you lot like the story? Should I change the Summary? Is it too unappealing? Tell me, I WANT ANSWERS!