A/N: Thanks for the reviews and the follows. I don't know how often I'll be updating as I'm in the midst of moving and different jobs. Once I get steady and on my feet I'll probably set a schedule for myself. I also don't know how far this will go. Kinda just depends on you all I guess. Anyway, ON WITH THE STORY!!!
A small sail boat moored to a dock on Shells town, an island filled with skittish occupants. This ship's occupants were none other than the future King of the Pirates Monkey D Luffy and his newest friend Coby. "WE'RE HERE! The marine base city!" The straw hat teen yelled in glee as he jumped out of the boat. The second crawled hurriedly to catch up to the older teen. "L-Luffy you can't be serious. You're crazy if you want this guy to join you!" Coby followed Luffy through the stalls of vendors. "I haven't decided yet, I still don't know if he's a good guy." "He's in prison because he's a bad guy!!" The rosette stopped and yelled to Luffy who stopped at a stall and picked up a pear to eat. He tossed a coin to the vendor and took a bite. "Hey iz dat guy zowo around hewe" Luffy spoke with a full mouth to the vendor. "Huh?" The vendor couldn't understand the unintelligible mumbling from the teen. "Ah." Luffy swallowed "I asked if that Zoro guy was still around here." All the street went quiet as the villagers all ducked to hide from Luffy. "Maybe we shouldn't mention the name Zoro here, okay?" Coby whispered to Luffy. Both walked further down the road and through more vendors. "Let's go check out the base then!" Luffy walked casually. "You wanna be a marine right?" "Well of course I do Luffy, but I'm not really ready yet, from what I heard the man in front of this base is named Captain Morgan…" All the villagers in their vicinity dove to hide again. "Bahaha this town is such a weird place!" Luffy laughed as they continued walking. "That wasn't right. I understand they're afraid of Zoro but why are they afraid of a Marine's name? Ive got a bad feeling about this…" Coby rubbed his arm and walked beside Luffy. "Maybe they were just jumping around for fun?" "Why would they do that?" "I dunno" " Luffy you don't make any sense sometimes."
The two teens arrived at a large gate with the word Marine emblazoned in the middle. "This looks like the place Luffy stared up at the gate while Coby's eyes began to fill with tears. "I made it… this is where you and I part ways Luffy…" Coby rubbed the tears from his eyes as Luffy walked away and began to climb the wall. "Our time together was short… but it was…" Coby looked up to see Luffy dangling from atop the wall. "Where's the foothold?" The straw hat pirate flailed his legs against the wall. "GET DOWN FROM THERE LUFFY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Coby began to freak out. "Now where is this demon?" Luffy searched the courtyard from his viewpoint. "They wouldn't keep him out in the open. They'd keep him in a prison cell or somethin-" "There he is!" Luffy hopped down from the wall. "I'm gonna get closer!" Luffy ran further down the wall and climbed up again. "Coby look, he's right there!" "Ugh, I'm tell you he's not out her-" Coby's jaw dropped at the sight of a person standing in the courtyard. A muscular man with lightly tanned skin was tied to a post in the middle of the bare yard. The man wore black pants tucked inside black boots, a plain white shirt with three undone buttons at the collar and a green haramaki. He had a bandana sitting on his head just above his eyes and three identical earrings swung on his left ear as sand swept across his face. "If we untie those ropes he can get away easy!" Luffy smiled to Coby. "Don't be so stupid!" Coby yelled at the raven haired teen. "There's no telling what he will do once we let him loose, he might try to kill us!" "Don't worry! I'm strong. I can protect you!" Luffy replied dumbly.
"Hey! You two!" Coby's face reeled in fear as the man in the courtyard yelled to them. "You're an eyesore, so get lost!" Coby squeaked and tumbled backwards off the wall. "Luffy you can't have him on your crew. There's no way you could survi-" Clunk. A ladder hit the wall beside Coby and a small girl climbed up the wall and hopped over carrying a wrapped up napkin in her arms. She ran to Zoro after shushing to Luffy and the climbing Coby. "What'd you want kid?" The swordsman grunted. "We'll I thought you might be hungry by now so I brought you some rice balls." "You got a death wish kid? Get lost." "But you haven't ate the whole time you've been tied up. I never really made them before but I did my best so I think they're fine." The young girl stared back up at him with a wide smile. "Listen kid I'm not hungry! Now stop irritating me and get outta here." "But…" "Do not make me kick your ass little girl!" Zoro was trying desperately to send the girl away but it was too late
The iron gate to the courtyard slowly creaked open to reveal three figures entering. "Now Now. No one likes a bully" the voice came from the one in the middle. Zoro huffed indignantly at the others arrival. "Roronoa Zoro, you seem to be handling this well. Wouldn't you agree?" The person in the middle walked close enough for Luffy to see him. "Hey look now there's another weird guy." Luffy whispered to Coby. The person in question was another teen with a distinct Butt chin and golden blonde hair shaped like a mushroom who wore a leisurely suit and a bead necklace. "That's great. He must be with the marines, so that little girl will be safe now." The teen who walked over to Zoro looked down at the girl. "Looky! Some tasty rice balls!" He grabbed one from the girls napkin and took a large bite. "Hey! That's not for you!" The girl yelled. The man spit out what he had eaten. "They're way too sweet, they're packed with sugar. You're supposed to use salt you stupid girl!" "But I- I thought they'd taste better with sugar…" the girl stammered. "Gimme that!" The teen snatched the other rice ball from the napkin and threw both to the ground. He stomped on them in front of Zoro and the girl. "NO! Stop please! I worked so hard!"
"That's just horrible" Coby mumbled as he watched the marine's defiling. The girl fell on her knees and started crying. "But I. I worked so hard to make them." "Too bad, you must've not read the notice. 'Those who assist criminals will be executed' signed Marine Captain Morgan" the girl began to shake and a paleness washed over her as the teen smiled sadisticly. "So it seems even little brats know how scary my daddy is." The marine laughed. "His daddy?" Luffy questioned picking his nose. "So that guys dad is Morgan?" Coby added to Luffy's question. "You." The teen pointed to one of the marines who followed him. "Throw her out." "Sir?" The marine asked as if he hadn't understood the order. "I said to throw her over the wall! If you won't follow my order I'll tell my father." "Y-Yes sir! Right away sir! I'll do it!" The marine slowly walked up to the child before apologizing "Sorry about this, try curling up into a ball. It'll help." The girl looked up at the marine with tears before curling up." AAHHH!" The girl flailed in the air before curling up again. Luffy watched as she flew over before jumping off and running to catch the girl. His feet sparked against the ground as he kicked off hard to catch her in time. "Ahhh!" The girl kept screaming after Luffy had caught her. Seconds passed as she opened her eyes and stopped screaming. "I'm… im okay?" "Yup, I caught you." Luffy smiled as he set her down. "Thank you so much!" The girl hugged Luffy's waist as tight as she could. "Are you alright Luffy?" Coby ran over as fast as he could. "And are you alright?" He asked the girl. "I can't believe how horrible that guy is!"
"Damn you…" Zoro snarled at the blonde teen. "You're just dead set on staying alive huh?" The teen laughed and paced around Zoro. "Yeah and I'll live the full month too." "Right. Good luck with that." Bel woo laughed and walked towards the gate opposite of the other teens. "Only ten days left." "Assuming you'll live that long." The marine teen called back over his shoulder. "Man, how can someone be so mean." Coby asked to Luffy who didn't respond. "Luffy?" Coby turned around to face the blank wall. "What? He was just here, where'd he go?"
"I hear you're a bad guy." Luffy said plainly. "Are you still here?" "Being stuck out here for all to see… are you really that strong?" "Mind your own damn business twerp." The bounty hunter snapped back. "If I were you I'd probably be dead from starving in three days." "Well, I've got more spirit than you could ever have. Which is how I'm gonna survive this ordeal. " "Ha, what a weirdo." Luffy began to walk away. "Wait!" Zoro stared down at the ground. "Could you pick that up for me?" He nodded to the dirt-covered rice balls. "You're gonna eat this?" Luffy picked at the smashed rice. "Cause, it's mostly a ball of mud…" "SHUT UP AND GIVE ME IT!" Zoro barked angrily. Luffy picked it up and put both pieces in his mouth at once. Zoro chewed and coughed as he swapped down the mud balls. "Told ya." Luffy crossed his arms at Zoro. "It was good." Luffy's smile straightened out. "Thanks for the food." Zoro looked down at the ground.
"Really?!" "That's right, he ate every bit of it." Luffy answered with a smile "That's great!" The girls eyes welled up. "I wonder if Zoro is as bad as everyone says?" "He's not!" The girl yelled at Coby for suggesting it. " he's good. He let himself get caught… cause of us…" "Huh? What do you mean?" Luffy asked. "It's that dumb Helmeppo. He's captain Morgan's son." The girl explained that Zoro stopped Helmeppo's wolf from attacking her and Helmeppo made a deal with Zoro in exchange for their lives. "It's been three weeks since then." She explained. "Helmeppo keeps punching and kicking him while he's tied up. It's all so unfair." The girl started to cry as she continued. "I don't… I don't know how to help him." " I see…" Luffy looked off as he thought. The sound of pottery breaking reached the teens' ears.
Helmeppo kicked his feet onto a table and swept everything off. "I'm hungry! Give us whatever you got. Keep the check for yourself." Helmeppo laughed. "And bring me some booze too!" Luffy and the others walked in to the restaurant as woman poured the bratty teen a glass of wine. "I've been so bored around town. There's really nothing to do. I suppose I could execute Zoro, Ahaha!" Helmeppo laughed loudly. Anger washed over Luffy and he dashed to Helmeppo and slugged him across the face. The blonde was launched across the room and into the wall. "You-You just hit me!" Helmeppo grabbed his face as Luffy stepped towards him to punch again. "Luffy, what the hell are you doing?" Coby grabbed his arm and held him back. "You actually hit me! I'm Captain Morgan's son you know?!" "Why the hell do I care?!" Luffy asked coldly." "You're scum! You're worth nothing and you deserve to be beaten!" Luffy broke free from Coby's hands and punched him again, knocking him out, before leaving the restaurant.
Sweat dripped from Zoro's head as the sun beamed down on him. His thoughts were on his promise to his rival. 'I can't die, not like this.' Zoro opened his eyes and looked up to see the smiling, shadowed face of Luffy. "You again? You sure do have a lot of free time." "I'll untie you if you join my crew." "Your what?" "I run a pirate crew and I'm looking for people to recruit." "No way! I'd never stoop to join up with a criminal. Screw that business!" "What's wrong with being a pirate?!" "They're despicable, like I'd ever wanna join one!" "C'mon, everyone knows you as an evil bounty hunter who's always out for blood." "Yeah, well people can say whatever they want about me, but I've done nothing I regret. I'll make it through this challenge and then I'll accomplish my goal." "Yeah… well I already decided you're on my crew." "YOU CAN'T DECIDE THAT!" "I hear you're one of the best swordsman around here." " well I am but that stupid kid took my swords." "Guess I'll just have to get it back for you." "What?" "That way if you want your sword you'll have to join my crew!" "Now you're really pissing me off!" Zoro growled as Luffy laughed and dashed away. "He's actually planning to bust in there alone?" Zoro deadpanned as he watched Luffy. "Hey idiot, the base is in the other direction." Zoro yelled to the straw hat and stared down at the ground in disbelief. "Energy!" Luffy shouted as he sprinted past Zoro. The bounty hunter looked up to see Luffy holding a ball of blue lightning. "Shift!" Luffy threw the mass of plasma up into the sky. "What the hell is he?!"
On top of the marine base soldiers were pulling a large statue of a man with an axe for a hand. "Alright stop there! Now pull it up with one final pull!" "Well dad? Are you gonna get revenge on this guy or what? He just punched me in front of everyone! Not even you hit me!" A blonde haired teen called out to a man who the statue was seemingly made after. "Do you know why I never hit you?" "B-because you think I'm great?" Helmeppo began to sweat as he smiled weakly. "No!" The man turned around and punched the teen in the face. "I've never hit you because you aren't worth the effort of beating! And the only person who's great is me!" Helmeppo scurried away as his father turned his back. "That reminds me. I heard a rat snuck into the crucifixion yard." "Y-yes, a little girl. I had her dealt with al-" "You killed her, I hope?" "No, I didn't kill her she's just a kid!" The Captain pointed to a marine. "You there, find that girl and kill her!" "But, sir? You can't be serious she just a girl!" "I don't care if she's a child or not! Anyone who disobeys my order is a traitor!" "Sir, I can't do it!" Morgan raised his axe and struck the man on the head. The soldier crumbled to the ground. "The girl can wait. Raise my statue. NOW!" "YES SIR!!" All the marines shouted in unison as they began heaving the statue up.
Luffy appeared where he had thrown his plasma and fell swiftly downwards. "Hey there's a statue down there! I'm gonna land on it!" Luffy laughed as he readied himself for the impact. "OH NO IM GONNA MISS!" Luffy flew right beside the statue as Morgan raised his axe on a marine who scratched the statue. Luffy grabbed on to a rope and swung back up. All the marines pulled against his momentum but couldn't keep the statue together. Luffy landed as the waist line of the statue broke off and the torso fell down to the ground. Morgan and the marines all stared in disbelief as the statue shattered against the ground. "Oops… sorry about that." Luffy scratched his head. "Seize him at once! I'm going to kill him!" Morgan roared to his troops. "That's the one who punched me daddy!" Helmeppo pointed to the straw hat teen. "Hey, it's you!" Luffy grabbed Helmeppo's arm. "You have something I need. Let's go!" The teen took off running with Helmeppo in his arm. "Sir! There's someone in the navy yard!" "I'm surrounded you traitors" Morgan gritted his death.
Luffy dashed through hallway after hall way dragging Helmeppo on the floor after him. "Where's it at?!" "I'll tell you! Just stop dragging me! Please!" Helmeppo pleaded. "Fine, where's Zoro's sword?" Luffy picked Helmeppo up. "It's in my room, you just passed it" "Well you should've said so sooner. Ugh, now we gotta go ba-" "Freeze!" "Let Helmeppo go!" Three marines stood with their guns aimed at Luffy. "Nah" he moved Helmeppo in front of him before continuing. "But you can try shooting tho!" He ran through the marines with Helmeppo as a shield and barreled through them.
CRUCIFIXION YARD*
"They'll kill you if you don't get outta here kid!" Zoro yelled to a pink-haired teen. "I can't stand by and watch the baby do something like this!" "Stop! I only got ten days until-" "They're lying! They're gonna execute you tomorrow!" "What?!" "Helmeppo never intended to honor your agreement! That's why Luffy got angry and beat him." "He did?" "Now the navy's after Luffy. But I'm not gonna ask you to be a pirate or anything, but I hope you'll help Luffy. Luffy's the only one who can save you from being executed and you're the only one who can save Luffy!" "Well that's too bad!" Another voice shouted as marines approached the yard. "For the crime of treason against me, I sentence you both to death where you stand!" Captain Morgan stood with his axe raised at the two and his marines taking aim with their rifles.
BACK INSIDE*
"This has gotta be it!" Luffy opened the door that had a flowery wreath and a sign that said "My Room". The teen scanned the room and saw three swords in the corner. "Bingo! But there are three… oh well guess I'll bring them all back!" Luffy grabbed the swords in his empty arm and looked out the window. "COBY!" "AIM!" Morgan yelled to his troops. "FI-" Luffy jumped through the window and right into the marine captain. Luffy ran to Coby and Zoro, leaving Helmeppo with his father. "LUFFY!" Coby yelled as the straw hat teen ran with Zoro's swords in his hands. "I GOT YOUR SWORDS!" Luffy screamed as he approached them. "Who the hell are you!" "I'm Monkey D. Luffy!"
"TO BE CONTINUED!!"