Chapter 5 everybody, here it is you already know how it's gonna go.

One Piece and Godzilla are the property of Eiichiro Oda and Toho Co. LTD respectively. KP360 claims no ownership of anything save for any OCs and original locations, abilities, etc

At the marine base

Through a window overlooking the small town, a tall marine officer looked on with satisfaction while sitting in a chair. The man was large and muscular, with shaven blond hair and a cast-iron jaw. He is wearing a blue marine uniform for those of the Captain rank, as well as a sleeveless black shirt underneath it. The most prominent feature was his right hand; where it should be has been replaced by the blade of an axe. This man was Captain Morgan, the base commander here and the source of the town's troubles.

The man exhaled and turned towards a group of marines. "I am… Great!" he exclaimed.

"Indeed you are, Captain Morgan Sir!" One of the marines replied quickly.

"But lately there hasn't been much tribute to me." Morgan said again.

"Well… lately people haven't been getting enough income…" another marine explained.

"The problem is that the people do not have enough admiration for me, would you not agree?" Morgan concluded while smoking a cigar, before anyone else can respond, the door barged open and Helmeppo stepped in, clutching a bruised cheek. "Father!" he shouted

"Hmmm? What is it?"

"There's some people that I need you to kill immediately!"

Back with Zoro

"You're weak Zoro, Nothing ever changes."

Zoro had just lost a duel yet again with the black haired girl, even with Zoro's use of two training swords as opposed to her one. They were evenly matched in the beginning, but soon the girl was able to break past his defenses.

"I made a promise, I won't die in a place like this!" he vowed as the girl smiled.

Zoro woke up with a start as he remembered his past, the reason he'd come out here in the first place. He then noticed a certain straw hat person standing in front of him, and his crewmate a few feet away. "You two again? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I'm going to untie you know, then you can become my nakama." Luffy said

"…What?"

"I'm looking for people to join my crew, I already have Gian as one, and now you as well so that's two people." Luffy said, across from them Gian gave a wave.

"I refuse. I hunt pirates, why would I become one?" Zoro was getting annoyed at this.

"What's wrong with being a pirate?" Luffy inquired.

"Pirates are scum! Why would anyone want to be one?" Zoro can hear the other crewmember, Gian or something like that, make a mock heart attack gesture and saying "You wound me." He glared at both of them; this kid with the straw hat certainly doesn't know when to quit…

"But you're already an evil pirate hunter so that doesn't matter right?" Luffy brought up.

"Tch, I don't regret anything that I've done! I don't care what society thinks of me. I will survive!" Zoro said with determination. This made the other two grin again.

"It's like that huh? But I already decided that you're going to be my nakama!" Luffy said dismissively.

"You can't make decisions like that!" Zoro growled.

"Dude, don't even fight it you're stuck with us the moment he said so." Gian quipped

"You use a sword, right?" Luffy asked, ignoring the previous outburst.

"Yes, but that stupid son took them when they tied me up."

"Alright, we'll get the swords back for you and then you'll join my crew." Luffy concluded.

"Did you not hear me?! I said I'm not joining you!" Zoro shouted.

"One of us… One of us…" Gian moved his hands in circles while grinning "Seriously though, I don't think you'll be able to change his mind even if you tried, so just accept it, we'll have fun together I'm sure."

Luffy then stretched his arms to prepare himself "LET'S GO GIAN! Gomu-Gomu no… Rocket!"

"Wait, that's how we're- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-" Gian was cut off as Luffy shot off and grabbed onto him in the process. The two youths then shot towards the marine base while airborne.

"What's with those people?! Are they actually going to attack the marine base?!" Zoro asked bewildered.

Back at the marine base

At the top of the base, the marines were working on another project of theirs: a statue of Morgan! Said commander was currently commanding his subordinates to straighten the stone statue out properly.

"Father! Why are you not helping me get my revenge! That straw hat boy hit me in the face and the rogue threatened my life! Even you wouldn't hit me!" Helmeppo shouted. This made Morgan stop what he was doing.

"Do you not why I've never hit you before?" Morgan asked, his tone was calm, almost chilling, and Helmeppo felt uncertainty creep up his spine.

"B-Be-because I am your son that you love?" Morgan smirked, before delivering a punch to the boy's face, shocking him.

"It's because you're a worthless son that's NOT EVEN WORTH HITTING!" Morgan shouted.

"You can use my status, but don't forget who the great one is here! It is me! 'Ax-hand' Morgan!" The marine captain informed his son.

"It seems that there was an intruder on the execution grounds." Morgan changed the subject.

"Yeah… the little girl… I already dealt with her."

"So you killed her then?"

Helmeppo was horrified at this "N-No! She's just a little girl! She doesn't even know what she's doing!" even with his attitude, Helmeppo at least have some morals left in him. The same did not go for Morgan however…

"You!" Morgan barked at one of the marines, "Go into town and finish the job! All those who oppose me will die!"

"Wha? But she's just a child! I can't do that!" the marine protested.

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO GO AGAINST MY ORDERS! I am the captain here! And my rank exceeds yours! When I tell you to kill her, you kill her!" Morgan shouted.

"I-I can't!" The marine refused once more. Morgan snarled at this, he raised his arm and brought the axe blade down on the side of the marine, killing him. A horrified yell rose through the remaining marines as they saw rushed their fallen commander.

"Y-You didn't have to do that!" Helmeppo screamed.

"To teach people to respect me, I will go into town myself! With this arm I rose to the rank of Captain, and it shows that I am the greatest here! GREAT MEN DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES! DO YOU NOT AGREE?!" Morgan snarled.

"Y-yes captain!" The remaining marines shouted out, not wanting to end up like the commander

"I will deal with that kid later, first I need to see this." He looked at his statue lying on the ground. "It took months but it is finally completed! The symbol of my greatness! Now raise it on the roof!"

Meanwhile

"Where is everybody?" Luffy pondered while looking for a way in.

"Probably taking a nap or something?" Gian guessed "then again I don't know how the marines do things so don't take my word on it."

The two then heard noise at the top of the building.

"Never mind, there they are"

What they saw was a statue being erected slowly, it was clearly very heavy as it barely rose. As the marines were pulling the statue up, a part of it scraped against the building. This did not go unnoticed by Morgan.

"Did you scratch it?!" he demanded.

Luffy stretched up his arms "Gomu-Gomu no… Rocket!" he launched upwards, taking Gian in the process.

"Here we go again…" Gian sighed as he was carried by the momentum.

"We-we're sorry captain!" The marine pleaded, "We tried to be careful, but we were careless-"

"This statue is the symbol of my greatness! And now you damaged it! Damaging it shows that you don't respect me! And that is treason against me!"

They did not notice two people flying towards the statue.

"Oh no! I'm going too fast!" Luffy shouted

"What did you think was going to happen?!" Gian facefaulted.

The two of them managed to grab onto some of the ropes pulling the statue and slow them down. This allowed them to land safely. The statue, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The ropes were not enough to support it and it fell and broke into two.

Every marine was dumbfounded at what just happened. The two then looked at the now broken statue.

"Oh… oops, I'm sorry" Luffy quipped.

"Look on the bright side, with a bit of convincing you can make people think its art!" Gian said with a sheepish grin.

"…GET THEM! I WILL KILL THEM MYSELF!" Morgan roared.

"That's the guy that punched me and the one that wanted to beat me at the restaurant!" Helmeppo recognized them as well.

The marines charged Luffy and Gian, but the two of them easily avoided them and Luffy ran into the base. "We need you for something." Gian retorted as he grabbed a screaming Helmeppo and dragged him after Luffy.

"After them! Don't let them escape!" Morgan shouted. Another marine then reported that someone had snuck into the execution gounds. Morgan turned and saw a certain pink haired boy running to the tied up Zoro.

"I am surrounded by TRAITORS!" he roared.

With Luffy and Gian

"Where's Zoro's sword?" Luffy demanded as the 3 of them ran down corridors.

"Talk, or I'll make due of my promise earlier." Gian clenched his fist.

"I'll tell you! Just-ah- stop dragging-ow- me!" the blond boy whimpered.

"It's in my room, we passed it earlier…" Helmeppo let out after they stopped.

"Well, that could've been helpful earlier." Gian sighed. He and Luffy then turned around only to be faced with guns.

"Come on boys, be nice…." Gian said. When the marines didn't budge he simply shrugged and powered up his boots and leg guards. He steadied himself for a moment before launching himself at the group, barreling through them before they can even pull the trigger. Luffy grinned at this while Helmeppo was dismayed at how his rescuers have been taken out so easily.

"Now" Gian said as he dusted himself off "let's go find that sword."

Outside

"What are you doing? You're going to get killed!" Zoro snapped at the pink haired boy who is currently trying to undo the knots. What was he thinking? Just showing up like this out of the blue! It wasn't enough that 2 other people just came by earlier…

"Helmeppo isn't going to keep his promise! He plans to have you executed tomorrow! That's why Luffy-san punched him. And that's why he and Gian-san are trying to get your sword back!" Coby shouted back. He then grimaced as another thought popped up "These marines… I can't let them do what they please! I want to be a real marine! Not like them!"

Zoro's eyes widen at this. He had a feeling the authorities in this area could not be trusted, but to think they'd actually sink this low!

"Luffy-san and Gian-san are being chased by marines as we speak! They'll get you your sword back!" Coby said again. Zoro was deep in thought at that.

"Stop right there! For committing treason against me, you are all sentenced to death!" The shout roused the two from their conversation to see Morgan standing before them, flanked by a firing squad of Marines.

The two can only gulp

Back with Luffy and Gian

"This is it right?" Luffy asked as they reached Helmeppo's room. 3 swords were katanas leaning against the wall. The room was… special to say the least.

"One of those swords might be Zoro's" Gian offered his two cents.

"But there's 3 of them." Luffy wondered "Which one is his?" Helmeppo did not answer as he was now unconscious.

"I'm guessing the one on the leeeeftttt?" Gian had no idea. It was then he took a peek out the window and saw what was going on.

"Never mind that, just take them all and we'll have him decide. Coby and Zoro are in trouble!" Luffy immediately understood and began to charge up another Gomu-Gomu no rocket. Gian decided to wisely power up his leg guards and jump out instead of getting a ride this time.

Back with Zoro and Coby

"Oh no!" Coby cried out in horror as the marines took aim.

"You guys sure did some interesting things, are you two, the straw hat boy, and that roguish-looking one trying to start a revolution against me?" Morgan demanded.

"TAKE AIM!" Morgan howled, and the marines did as instructed. Coby was scared out of his mind, while Zoro only had one thing going through his head at the moment.

"No! I can't die here!" the swordsman mentally snapped at himself. Memories of a certain girl filled his head again, and the vow he made…

"You're still weak Zoro, nothing changes" those words, even now they fill his head. He was not going to die here!

"FIRE!"

The marines all shot their rifles at once, the line of bullets screamed towards to two males. Zoro stared defiantly at the incoming bullets; if he truly is to die here, then he will do so with his head up. It was at this moment a straw hat figure landed in front of them and intercepted all the bullets.

"Luffy-san!" Coby cried out in relief.

The bullets struck the straw hat boy, but no blood could be seen. Instead, the force of the bullets happened to stretch the parts they hit out!

"What?!" Morgan cried out. It was then he heard another voice. "That won't work you know!"

Morgan raised his head only to see another figure shooting towards him with his fist cocked back, covered in some sort of blue fire. He didn't have the opportunity to block when the fist smashed into his face and knocked him back. As some marines rushed to their captain, Gian dusted himself off and nodded to the other 3. Luffy grinned back and sent the caught bullets back at the remaining marines. The two gave each other a high five.

"No way! Those two just took out half of us in an instant…" One of the marines mumbled in disbelief.

"I told you we were strong!" Luffy said.

"You two… Who the hell are you guys?" Zoro wondered.

"You can call me Gian, I'm no one special really just someone who happened to be with the right crowd." Gian grinned; he'll leave the big introduction to his captain.

"Shishishi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the one who is going to become Pirate King!" The straw hat boy informed him.

"Pirate King?! Do you know what you're saying?!" Zoro asked, flabbergasted.

"The Pirate King is the king of pirates, isn't it?" Luffy told him.

"I don't think that's what he meant." Gian sighed, then smiled "I do know that my captain meant every word though!"

"I didn't believe it either, but Luffy-san is completely serious! If he said he can do it he can!" Coby said seriously.

Luffy then brought the 3 swords found at the base to Zoro "Here you are! We didn't know which one is yours so we took them all." Gian quipped a light-hearted "Happy Birthday!" from the sidelines.

"All of them are mine, I use a three-sword style." Zoro informed them.

"…Well that confirms that!" Gian mumbled. Seriously, who would've saw that coming?

"Well you have them now! Now, you can get killed by the marines or you can come with me." Luffy said.

"Business 101, playa!" Gian chuckled.

"Heh, you're the son of the Devil you know that?" Zoro smirked "But I'd rather become a pirate than die here!"

"YAY! I got a new crewmember!" Luffy cheered. Gian then tapped him on the shoulders and pointed him to the marines, with their now pissed off captain getting up from the ground. Luffy nodded and proceeded to untie the green-haired swordsman.

"H-how did our bullets not do a thing?" one marine whispered fearfully.

"He has a Devil Fruit… No doubt about it." That voice belonged to Morgan, who now sported a slightly singed cheek, courtesy of a certain black-haired 23 year old.

"A Devil Fruit?" another marine questioned.

"Yes, cursed fruit that gives its consumer extraordinary power! Creating fires, creating tsunamis, anything is possible there's too many rumors to know what is real! The secret lies in the Grand Line, and that straw-hat boy must've eaten one!" Morgan replied

"Come to think of it, that punch from the punk was ablaze with blue flames… If he has a Devil Fruit as well…" Morgan wondered.

"Are you done with the ropes yet Luffy?" Gian asked.

"I'm trying! They're too tight!" Luffy answered back.

"Well at least they're professional about it." Gian thought as he went over to the post. "Here I'll do it."

Gian's nails grew sharper and he lifted his hand to deliver a chop to the post. The hand swung down, cutting through the rope with ease, Zoro nodded his thanks then drew all three swords. Two of them were in each of his hands while the third one he grasped in his mouth. It was just in time too, for the marines had gotten over their shock and now rushed the quartet with swords drawn.

The blades clashed with a "Clang" and Zoro was easily able to stop them in their tracks. Morgan's eye's widened at the display of strength, while Luffy, Gian and Coby were all impressed at the feat.

"Make one move, and I'll cut you all into pieces." Zoro threatened. This was more than enough to make most of the marines piss themselves.

"I'll make one thing clear, I'll join your crew but if either one of you get in the way of my dream I'll kill you." Zoro said again.

"Dream?" Luffy asked.

"I will become the world's greatest swordsman! And nothing will get in the way of that! Understood?" Zoro proclaimed.

"The world's greatest swordsman? That great! As the future Pirate King's nakama I wouldn't expect anything less!" Luffy complimented.

"To do that you're going to have to… Skrehahaha, it seems that it's my destiny to hang around ambitious people these days! You and I are gonna get along just fine!" Gian grinned; his new friends certainly are something!

Zoro grinned at this. "Yes, it won't matter whether I'm a demon or a saint, my name will be heard throughout the entire world!"

In the midst of their proclamations, the 3 had completely ignored Morgan, who was growing increasingly angry. "What are you doing you fools?! Execute them!" He roared to his subordinates.

"Zoro! Gian! Duck!" Luffy shouted. The two saw what was coming and did as told. As they did, Luffy's leg stretched out and prepared an attack. "Gomu-Gomu no… Whip!" he shouted as the stretched out foot caught all the advancing marines, sending them flying backwards.

"Amazing!" Coby looked on in awe.

"Just what are you?" Zoro was equally impressed.

"I ate the Gomu-Gomu no mi!" Luffy told Zoro about his Devil Fruit.

"Gomu-Gomu no mi?" Zoro asked again; he never seen any Devil Fruit users in his bounty hunting days, so coming across a real one was quite surprising.

"So it's true…" Morgan confirmed. He then glared at the soldiers, who by now were trembling.

"C-captain… what are we going to do?" one of the marines asked fearfully.

"We can't beat these guys!" Another shouted. Morgan grew angry at this.

"…Whoever said that, shoot yourself in the head." Morgan growled coldy. "I have no use for useless soldiers like you. That's an order."

3 marines gulped, and hesitantly raised pistols to their heads. This did not go unnoticed by the 4.

"What is with those soldiers…?" Zoro wondered. Luffy and Gian however heard the whole thing, and Luffy charged at Morgan.

"Captain…" Gian said, his voice hard, "Make sure you kick his ass." He would love nothing better than to do it himself, but his captain would be more than enough.

"Got it." Luffy responded, before launching himself at the marine captain. "If you have the guts, execute me!" he threw a punch at the marine captain, but was blocked by the flat side of the axe hand.

"Yeah! Beat those marines!" Coby cheered on the sidelines.

Gian on the other hand chose to stop the marines that were advancing on him instead. "I can just beat them up one by one, but I think I'll use that technique instead. It'll give the kids a show as well." he frowned at the thought; it was rather much of a waste to use it on something like this, not to mention if he did it wrong he could accidently kill the opposing side. But he really didn't want to bother with these people anymore.

Gian closed his eyes and focused, and while he did so his face and back began to change. His teeth grew sharper and small bone-like material were poking out of his back and some scales also appeared on his face and arms.

The fins on his back flashed blue for a split second as blue light gathered at the back of his throat. The marines noticed this and paused for a second, their eyes fearful. Gian roared the attack as he finished charging.

"Atom ray!"

A blue beam of heat and light show out of his mouth, striking the ground in front of the marines. The resulting shockwave knocked them on their butt many feet away and the explosion caught the attention of the remaining four big people. The marines were now desperately scrambling away from the monstrous youth as his features returned to normal.

"Skrehahaha! Talk about a fiery finale!" he commented and chuckled at the lame pun he made (G: oh can it). There was now a smoldering hole a few feet in front of him.

"What was that?!" a marine choked out.

"Is he even human?!" another shuddered.

"Another Devil Fruit user…" Morgan was shocked.

"What kind of people did I just get myself involved with?" Zoro was quite surprised as well.

"Gian-san…" Coby was both surprised and slightly terrified. He had no idea that the laid back man had contained such power!

"SUGOI!" Luffy on the other hand was simply impressed, his eyes had a shine to them.

"Hooo! Haven't done that in a while! Luffy you're fine on your own right?" Gian exhaled; it wasn't a complete Partial Transformation, but it still had the destructiveness behind it. His captain should have the rest taken care of soon.

"Yeah, I got this!" Luffy responded before turning back to Morgan, who had also snapped out of his stupor. The marine captain then took off his coat.

"A lowly civilian like you stands no chance against someone like me! For I am the marine captain 'Ax Hand' Morgan!" he shouted as he brought the ax down. "DIE!"

Luffy simply dodged the attack. Morgan swung again but it was avoided as well. Another swing, same result except this time Luffy delivered a kick of his own to his face. The blow knocked the captain back, barely managing to stay upright.

The marines were shocked how one-sided this fight was becoming. Gian on the other hand simply smirked; he had no doubt that his captain would win.

Morgan was getting increasingly frustrated as he swung again. Luffy jumped away once more before he delivered another kick, knocking the captain down again. This time however, Luffy was on him.

"Some kind of Marine you are! Destroying Coby's dream like that!" he snapped before preparing to punch the marine captain.

"STRAW HAT, WAIT!" a shout alerted everybody.

Luffy punched him anyways

"You idiot! I told you to wait!" the voice belong to Helmeppo, who was shown pointing a gun at Coby!

"If you don't want this guy to die then don't move!" the blond threatened "If anyone moves, I'll shoot!"

"Oh you got to be kidding me!" Gian growled.

Coby was trembling, but he put on a brave face "Don't worry about me Luffy-san! I don't want to get in your way! I'm not afraid of death!" making Luffy smile.

"Stupid son, Coby isn't afraid of death!" Luffy declared as he cocked his fist back.

"Hey! I told you not to move or I'll shoot!" Helmeppo screamed. It was then that Coby saw the large shape rising behind Luffy.

"Luffy-san behind you!" Coby shouted

"Daddy! Hurry!" Helmeppo shouted.

Morgan staggered up, his ax-hand poised to strike the unknowing boy. "I am… The great marine Captain 'Ax-Hand' Morgan!" the man shouted as the ax stuck. Unfortunately for him, it would never be able to reach its mark, as none other than Roronoa Zoro himself dash forward with his swords stretched out, slashing a wide cut across the marine captain's chest. This was more than enough to take him down for real this time.

"Leave it to me… Captain." Zoro said with one of the swords still in his mouth.

At the same time Helmeppo was about to pull the tigger he heard a snapping sound. He turned around and screamed in fear as he found Gian crushing the gun barrel with one hand with a hard glare in his eyes. The brat whimpered and turned around again only to be met with a fist to the face, knocking him out once again.

"Phew, I'd thought they never shut up! I'm serious, these two make Kanye West seem like a modest person!" Gian said to no one in particular.

"…Who?" Zoro and Coby both raised an eyebrow at that.

"…Never mind" Gian muttered; even he didn't know where he got that from.

"They just defeated Captain Morgan…" The marines at this point were wide-eyed at what has happened. No one has ever had the strength to defeat their Captain, yet these strange people were able to do it rather easily!

"If you guys still want to arrest us, go for it." Zoro said in a low voice, a hand on one of his swords. Gian flexed and held his arms wide at this too.

The marines gulped and began putting their weapons down one by one. Then, in a collective force, they began cheering!

"Huh? Their captain was defeated yet they're cheering?" Luffy was confused.

"Maybe I shouldn't have used the Atom beam…" Gian muttered. He didn't mean to give them brain damage!

"It's not that!" Coby on the other hand understood exactly what's going on "Everybody was afraid of Captain Morgan to the point where they'd die if they don't listen to him!"

"Oh, that makes sense." Gian agreed.

Zoro suddenly collapsed to the ground much to the surprise of his friends, they rushed over to see if he was injured, and that's when they heard it.

"I'm… hungry…"

"That's what happens when you don't eat for almost a month, Skrehahaha." Gian grinned.

Later

The four friends were at none other than Rika's mother's restaurant, currently wolfing down food while the rest of the villagers looked on in amusement.

"Ahhh I'm full! Not eating for 3 weeks made me starved!" Zoro let out a satisfied sigh. He then looked with half-lidded eyes at the two other ravenous men at the table. "How are you two eating so much?"

"Sorry, using a big technique like the Atom Beam burns up a lot of my energy, have to refuel… I normally don't eat this much!" Gian mumbled, busy stuffing his face and looked at his captain "And he's just like that."

"Sorry, I ate a lot too…" Coby said slightly embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it, you guys saved the town after all!" Rika's mother smiled.

"Onii-san you were really strong back there!" Rika told Luffy.

"Yeah and I'll become even stronger!"

"That reminds me, what are we going to do next?" Zoro asked.

"We're heading for the Grand Line!" Luffy declared as if it were the simplest thing in the world

"That's suicide!" Coby Shouted "You can't survive with just 3 people! The world's strongest pirates are gathered there!"

"If we're going after One Piece (G: ROLL- mfffpfffmmmm)(KP:DO NOT)(G: spoilsport…), we're going to have to go there eventually." Zoro said

"We actually do need more people before we head there though." Gian agreed, remembering the time the trade ship went through the Grand Line to reach East Blue. They had been frequently targeted by pirates, and if it weren't for the sailors on that ship being tough in their own right they would've never made it.

"See? Gian-san understands!"

"But what are you so worried about? It's not like you're coming with us." Gian said again.

"Is worrying about my friends so wrong?" Coby's face became sadder as he said that. "Even though we just met, we are friends right?"

"Yup! Even when we go our separate ways we'll still be friends!" Luffy said confidently.

"You guys are the first ones to stand up for me, I never had any friends growing up…" Coby let out a smile. "But thanks to you guys, I learned to fight for my dream! I decided, I will become a marine!"

"And that's why we're heading to the Grand Line." And Luffy brought the conversation back to that.

"Yup" Zoro agreed.

"Sounds about right" Gian agreed as well.

"No! What I meant is that you guys are being too reckless…" Coby face faulted.

"you should worry about yourself first." Zoro said "Even though it was against your will you still helped pirates. Don't underestimate the marine's ability to gather information. If they find out then you won't be able to join." This made Coby downcast; he had forgotten about this fact…

"Excuse me!" A new voice called from the door. The voice belonged to a marine named Commander Ripper. He was wearing the standard marine uniform with rugged features and a black goatee. He had taken over the marine base now that Morgan had been defeated. "I am here to confirm that you guys are pirates, am I correct?"

"Yup, we are pirates and I just got a new nakama." Luffy said bluntly.

"Because you saved our town you have our gratitude, however you guys are still pirates so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Ripper informed them. "We won't report you to headquarters due to your actions but you must leave immediately." This did not sit well with the townspeople.

"Are you people insane?!" "What is wrong with you marines?" "They just saved us!"

"Well, guess we're leaving. Thanks for the food ma'am." Luffy didn't really care

"Eh, whatever, there isn't much to see in this town anyways." Gian added his own input

Zoro simply followed them.

Coby stood still for a while, slightly sad to see his friends go. He gave a start as he saw Ripper standing in front of him.

"Aren't you with them?" he asked. This made Coby stutter nervously.

"No… I-I'm not with them…" Coby gritted out. He knew he had to do it for his dream, but it still hurt leaving his friends like this!

"Is he telling the truth?" Ripper asked Luffy as they were about to walk out.

"Oh him? I know what he used to do. I think that he used to work for this fat lady pirate." Luffy began answering.

Throughout this Coby was growing increasingly nervous; Luffy was letting out too much information!

"If they find out about that, they won't let me join the marines!" he mentally pleaded.

"Luffy-san… Please don't say anymore!" Coby pleaded but Luffy paid no attention.

"Yeah, and this guy spend two years on board…" It was there that Coby couldn't take it anymore, he marched over and punched the straw hat boy in the face. "SHUT UP! PLEASE!"

"Why you- I'll teach you!" Luffy shot back with punches of his own, grinning as he was doing so.

"STOP THIS AT ONCE!" Ripper shouted to restore order. "From that display it's clear that you're not friends, now please leave immediately!"

"You went overboard." Zoro scolded lightly

"Well at least we know his head isn't completely empty." Gian grinned. The two of them know exactly what just happened.

Coby seemed to have realized it too. "He did that for me… he did that to make me mad… Even now I still need his help…" Coby gulped and strengthened his resolve. He stood up straight and spoke loud and clear.

"Please let me become a marine! I'll do anything! Even if it's chores I'll do them!"

"I am against this, Commander Ripper! We can't let someone whose past is unclear to us join the marines!" another marine soldier spoke "There had been many pirates who joined the marines as spies, we need to check his background to be sure."

"My dream is to be a marine!" Coby shouted with resolve.

Ripper was silent for a while, then he spoke again. "We've lost marines to pirates before, this life isn't an easy one."

"But I will let you join."

"Yes Sir!" Coby shouted with happiness.

Meanwhile

"Well that was a nice experience." Zoro told them as they prepared to sail off

"I hope your acting was on point, the marines would probably see through it" Gian voiced his concern.

"I'm sure Coby can handle it!" Luffy was confident that his friend would be a marine by now.

"Everyone would probably hate us now though" Zoro reminded "It's the life of a criminal."

"Eh, they hate us cause they ain't us" Gian dismissed. Luffy laughed at this.

"…Why would they-"

"They just do." Gian shot him down, and Zoro decided to drop it; it was easier than figuring it out.

"Luffy-san! Zoro-san! Gian-san!" The three pirates turned to see Coby run towards them.

"Thank you for what you did for me! I'll never forget it in my life!" Coby shouted while giving a salute.

"Heh, I've never seen a marine saluting a pirate before." Zoro smirked.

"My little brother is never going to believe this!" Gian laughed

"We'll meet again someday Coby!" Luffy waved back.

And as if it couldn't get any better, the three heard another shout "GROUP SALUTE!"

They saw none other than Commander Ripper standing with the other marines in a line, giving a salute themselves. Luffy gave them a wave

"And I love you Random Citizens!" Gian shouted back.

"…Where do you even think of those words?" Zoro was really confused now.

"It just happens." Was the response

"You have good friends there" Ripper told Coby.

"I do!" Coby sniffed. Tears were flowing as he saw his new friends' boat go further and further into the distance.

"Alright everyone!" Ripper informed everybody "What we did was against the code of the marines! Our punishment is no food for 3 days!"

"Yes Sir!"

Meanwhile

The 3 new nakama all lounged around on the small dinghy.

"Now we're on our way to becoming pirates!" Luffy shouted jubilantly

"It certainly is going to be one hell of an adventure!" Zoro agreed.

Gian simply hummed as he thought of a certain group of people.

"Shanks-san, Triton-senpai, you guys were right. I really have found nakama, and I really became a pirate." he was snapped out of his thoughts as Luffy boldly declared that he will be King of Pirates again.

"Alright! Grand Line here we come!" Luffy shouted.

With that the three nakama sailed off into the distance, onto the destination of their new adventure that had only just begun.

A/N: And there! Chapter 5 is complete! Decided to make this longer to make up for the fact that no updates for a week or so. I will begin the new chapter but I probably won't be able to post it until after the 21st.

Gian's profile is up on my bio if anyone wants to read it, I'll also put up more bios of some of the more important OCs that will be appearing. And to Martyn, your idea has been used! It'll make even more appearances later.

Something I added to Gian's personality is that he likes to make real-world references. However since this is the One Piece universe, nobody including him knows what he's talking about so they often get confused. It's for comical effect only, I'll probably not do it so much if it doesn't work out.

And that's all there to say! Remember to review!