The death of one of his closest friends changed him. A young man stood on the edge of the cliff, his adopted older brother, Ace, silent in shock of what they had just witnessed.

Fire enveloped the small dinghy that was supposed to signal freedom. It was once a symbol of hope, adventure, and endless childish ambitions. Yet, it was now dread, for its inhabitant had met his end.

Sabo had so much to offer the world, and now he was dead. At the hands of the world noble who saw him as nothing but an inconvenience.

"Luffy." Ace tried to shake him off his trance but he wouldn't budge. It was that day that signaled a change that would shake the world to its core. The young man swore that he would not only avenge his fallen brother, but bring justice to the world. It was that day that Luffy swore that he would no longer be weak, he would do whatever it takes to save his friends.

He looked up at Ace remembering that he was the son of the strongest man in history, the king of pirates, Gol D. Roger. It was then that a realization reached his young mind.

"Ace, I will be the King of all Pirates!" He proclaimed, to Ace it sounded like a childish ambition, to be like his bastard father, the King of Pirates. Though he missed an important distinction, Luffy did not want to be the King of Pirates by finding the One piece, he was going to be the King of all Pirates by being stronger than the rest. To protect his friends, to establish justice, to achieve the unimaginable.

Garp had arrived in Fuusha Village, looking for the three idiots that he trained to be marines. It did not take long for the marine to find them near Dadan's mountain hideout, surprisingly covered in sweat and hard work. Garp admired their resolve, with Ace noticing his arrival first.

"Ah! Old man, welcome back." Ace had grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat off his face. Luffy continued to punch the wooden post, his hands covered in dried blood, his focus unwavering.

"Where's the other one?" Garp asked curious as Sabo was missing. The grimace in Ace's face was enough to put two in two together. They lost him, which explains the change in attitude. "Alright boy, beating yourself to death won't do you any good." Garp grabbed Luffy by the arms, yet the young boy glared at Garp, causing chills to run down his spine. The hero Garp, subject to a flare of the young man's will.

'Conqueror's Haki?' Garp thought, quickly snapping back to reality. He remained cautious but understanding, embracing the young boy. "Luffy, I don't want you to hurt yourself further."

Luffy remained pensieve for only a moment, eventually consumed by emotions as he had yet processed the loss of his brother. "Grandpa!" He yelled in between tears, burying himself in the arm of Garp. "Help me not lose anyone else, I want to be strong enough to protect everyone." He continued to let the tears flow, even Ace shed tears at the sight of the once childish boy, turning into an emotional mess.

"Okay Luffy, I will train you, I will do so in the right way. I'll make you stronger than anyone in the world." He then looked at Ace who gave him a nod.

"No time for tears boy! Time to train!" Garp got up, sneakily wiping tears from his eyes. He wanted to show the boys a strong front, but Ace noticed.

And so the duo began their training with the hero of the marines.


Several months later

The Red haired pirates had arrived in Fuusha Village after a victory against the world government, expecting the annoying little boy to bother them. To the surprise of the crew, no Luffy.

"Captain, did you do something to Luffy?" Lucky Roux asked, not eating his meat as he was concerned at the lack of the boy's usual welcoming presence.

"You think he's still mad about Uta?" Shanks asked though Benn Beckman gave him a shrug while noticeably carrying a treasure chest over one arm.

The Red Haired Pirates quietly made their way to Partys bar to have a chat with the bar keep.

"Hey Makino, where is the little rascal?" Shanks was quick to ask about Luffy, alarmed at the lack of presence from the young man. They had heard of a recent death of a young boy in the Goa Kingdom, but there's no way it was Luffy, was it?

"Oh, Hi Shanks." She gave him a warm smile which caused butterflies to turn in the pirate captain's stomach. "He hasn't come down in months, since the death of Sabo he has focused his time into training." A little relief from the Red Haired pirates as Luffy did not die, but sad that one of his friends lost their life.

"So where is he now?"


Mt. Corvo

"Good one Luffy!" Ace had dodged a swiping kick from Luffy, who was leagues ahead of what he used to be. Garp had trained them for two months, giving them the blueprint they needed to become stronger. It was their job to apply it.

Ace threw a right hook combined with a new technique he attained, Soru. Luffy countered with a new technique as well, Geppo, jumping in the air to avoid the rapid hook by the young Ace.

"Not so bad yourself Ace!" Luffy charged forward, using his own Soru to deliver a Shigan, which is a finger bullet strike.

Shanks had arrived just in time to see that Luffy was going to deliver a deadly strike. He jumped into action by stopping the shigan and pushing Ace out of the way.

"What the hell are you doing!" Shanks exclaimed thinking that Luffy had turned to the dark side.

"Ouch ouch! Shanks we're training!" Luffy exclaimed while Shanks held him by the end of his finger.

"Oh." Shanks released his grip on Luffy. "My bad!" He started laughing along with his crew.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Luffy's question was harmless, yet it hurt Shanks a little by the dismissive tone of the young man. Ace dusted himself, using Soru to appear beside Luffy.

Benn Beckman was surprised at the use of Rokushiki technique.

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" Shanks looked at Ace, now recognizing the similarity in appearance with his late captain. He dropped the treasure chest, containing a very important devil fruit.

He was there to deliver the fruit that will change the world, the one that he stole from the marine vessel in order to introduce Joy Boy to the world once more. It was the mythical zoan, hito hito no mi(Human Human fruit) model Nika. It was going to the rightful heir of the will of D, the son of Gol D. Roger. "Um Ace, you see we are here for…"

"Bleh, what kind of food is this?" In his train of thoughts, Shanks had failed to notice that Luffy had gone through their price treasure. He had taken a bite out of the devil fruit that was meant for the inheritor of the will of D.

"Luffy!" Shanks exclaimed, to the confusion of Ace.

"What?!" At the surprise of Shanks raising his voice, Luffy exhibited a bit of the fruit's endless power. Releasing a pulse of bright white light, bringing a joyful feeling to those exposed.

"You ate a devil fruit!" Shanks let the happy feeling subside for a moment to relay the news to the young man.

"A what?" Luffy could care less, digging his nose in the process. Ace laughed at Luffy's attics while the rest of the Red Haired Pirates expressed their dread. After all they had gone through, going against CP0 and stealing the precious fruit. For it to go to the wrong person…but wait, did it?

"In exchange for unknown power, you're not going to be able to swim, ever!" Shanks tried to downplay it, to ensure that the young lad was not overwhelmed.

"Why would I need to swim, when I can just fly." Luffy kicked in the air, using Geppo to demonstrate his new skill from his Grandpa. Though there was something different, he felt light, his kick emitting a sort of white flame that he never saw before. "That's weird."

'Ate it, he ate the fruit of Joy Boy.' Shanks sank to the floor, dreading his own existence at failing his late Captain. Luffy approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong Shanks? Did I do something wrong?" An uplifting feeling filled his very soul, he felt hope and joy that he never felt before. It was at that moment that Shanks knew, this was faith.

"No, nothing at all Luffy." He decided to divert the attention. "You're going to be an anchor now Luffy, how are you going to be the Pirate King?"

"I don't want to just be the Pirate King Shanks, I want to be the King of all Pirates. That includes you!" Luffy said with a massive smile, causing laughter to erupt from the Red Haired Pirates. Even Ace chuckled, though knowing full well that his brother intends to fulfill this promise.

"I see, care to set sail with us then Luffy?" Shanks offered to ensure that he was always safe, especially revealing such power to the government will put a massive target on his back.

"I'm okay, I will have my own adventure!" Shanks was taken aback at first, for the boy that was once eager to set sail with him, he sure had a 180. But it turned to a smile.

"Then Ace, Luffy, would you take a bit of time to party with us before we set sail tomorrow?"

"Ace what do you think?" Luffy wanted to train some more, especially with this new weird power that he just obtained. He felt literally infinite, like he could do anything he set his mind to. But Ace might want to relax a bit.

"I could use a glass…" Ace responded to the shock of Lucky Roux. "...of Milk." The Red Hair pirate thought for the worst, but they tend to forget that these were just boys, though carried themselves like men.

"It's on me." Shanks said with a massive smile.

And so the group made their way to Partys Bar, where Makino immediately smiled at the sight of Luffy and Ace. It has been a long time.

"Give the boys as much milk as they want, it's on me." Shanks exclaimed, to which the rest of the Red Haired cheered.


The next day, Luffy and Ace stood at the pier, chatting with Shanks and Benn before their departure. His crew was hard at work while he chatted with them.

"Well we're off Luffy." Shanks was noticeably carrying two swords. "I got a gift for the both of you." Shanks removed one of the swords from his waistband, giving it to the young Ace.

"Ace, this sword is named Ace. No person is more fitting than its namesake." He willfully omitted the part where the sword once belonged to his late captain, the father of Ace, Gol D. Roger. Ace inspected the sword, it was bigger than him at this time, but he will grow into it.

"Thanks Shanks! I will treasure this. It will definitely get action once I set sail!"

Luffy could barely wait for his own gift, it must be one of Benn's pistols, or maybe a sword. It might even be Gryphon! Though when it was Luffy's turn, he felt a straw hat cover his head.

"And to you Luffy, once you become the King of all Pirates, I want you to return this to me." Shanks made his way to the ship, with Benn standing beside him. Luffy could barely react, the worlds could form quick enough.

"What the heck! You get a cool cutlass and I get a hat?!" Luffy exclaimed to which Ace could only laugh. Luffy continued to complain, bringing the intensity in their training sessions.

The next time Garp returned, he was greeted with the two young men attacking him.

Luffy had unleashed a new attack, one that caused his body to stretch like rubber catching the Vice Admiral off guard.

Then Ace brought down a sword over his head, forcing him to use armament to avoid a severed limb. Funnily enough, it was a familiar sword, one that belonged to his great rival. 'I see.' Was all he could muster.

"You stupid kids! Think you can challenge me!" Garp unleashed a wave of his own Haki. To his surprise, the boys merely shook it off and continued to charge forward. "Excellent!"

That was the time that Garp knew that these two boys were going to be legendary.


Ace turned 17, and he was going to set out on his own adventure.

"I'll see you out there Luffy."

"Yeah! When you see me next, I will make you my subordinate!" Luffy exclaimed, holding onto his promise to protect all that is precious to it.

"Looking forward to it brother!" Ace smiled, believing that someday Luffy will be able to achieve his dream, but for now, he had to start his own adventure.


Dawn

"You are going to bring great disappointment to our village!" Mayor Woopslap exclaimed after the young man who wore a straw hat. He was on his way to the port to begin his own adventure.

"Go Luffy! Be Safe and have fun!" Exclaimed the barkeep of Partys Bar. Makino smiled after the young man, wishing him the best.

"Stinken Pirate! We hate your guts!" This time, it was Curly Dadan and the rest of the mountain bandits. She put up a strong face, but deep inside, she was tearing up at losing her other child to piracy. She was their acting mother, and she was going to miss all three of them; Sabo, Ace, and now Luffy.

"Bye everyone! I will be the King of all Pirates!" he exclaimed on the top of his lungs as he used his momentum along with Soru to launch himself into the open sea.

For the young man, it was the dawn of his adventures.