Disclaimer: I Do Not Own One Piece.
Chapter 3: Getting His Navigator & His Swordsman Back
Luffy and the Sea King was speeding forward through the ocean. While the Sea King was speeding forward, Luffy noticed Nami and Coby's auras getting closer.
Luffy started thinking to himself, "Should I let this play out like before or should I go with my way? Eh. I'll go with my way. It's so much easier and it saves time."
Luffy stood up on top of the Sea King's head. "Stay and I'll bring you back a tasty treat. Actually, your new nickname is Lochie." Luffy said to Lochie. He gave the Sea King the name Lochie because he read stories of a sea creature roaming around the Grand Line that resembled the creature he was on. They called it "The Loch Ness Monster".
Lochie nodded and Luffy jumped off Lochie's head. He started to moon walk towards the two locations. As soon Luffy was about to land, he saw the cruise ship being raided. Instead of watching the scene unfold all the way, Luffy decided to send a concentrated blast of Conqueror's Haki to knock out everyone who was in the small area except for Nami, Coby, And Alvida. Suddenly people started to fall simultaneously, the area surrounding the two ships which was filled people yelling suddenly fell quiet.
Coby who was on Alvida's ship, heard a lot of bodies decided to go outside to see what happened. Alvida was inside the ship also decided to see what was happening. Nami who was inside the cruise ship, saw everyone fall unconsciously and was shocked. She saw this happened before but she knew there wasn't anyone with that type of power in the east blue but one guy, but she knew it was impossible. She wanted to confirm her suspicions so she decided to go outside to see who was able to do and see if her suspicions was right.
As all 3 of them stepped outside their ships, they were all shocked by what they were seeing. Bodies all scattered across each ship, unconscious. Alvida was the first one to speak up.
"Why are you lazy good for nothings sleeping? I should make all of y'all walk the plank! Coby! Come here!" Alvida said angrily.
"Where is he?" Nami said. She was searching for someone,
"Y-yes ma'am." Coby said in a stuttered manner.
"Go raid that ship since everyone's sleep. I expect you to be back in 10 minutes or I will kill you." Alvida said in a threatening tone.
"Yes, LADY ALVIDA!" Coby shouted. He was preparing to board the cruise ship but stopped when he a shadow figure ascend down towards him.
" I wouldn't do that if I were you boy. Unless you want to end up like the others," the man said.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Alvida yelled.
"Monkey. , Future Pirate King. Now since I'm on a tight schedule, I have to end this quickly. Hey boy how about we make a deal... if you can call this lady the ugliest whale in the sea, I'll take you to the next town so you get can enlisted in the marines. Deal?" Luffy asked Coby.
"How did he know I wanted to become a marine?" Coby thought.
"Time's ticking boy." Luffy said impatiently.
"Ok OK. *sigh* ALVIDA IS THE UGLIEST WOMAN IN THE WORLD!" Coby yelled at the top of his lungs.
Alvida was extremely pissed that someone said something so heinous in front of her and went to go grab for her iron club.
"That's the spirit kid." Luffy said. all of a sudden in the blink of an eye, Luffy appeared in front of Alvida.
"Sorry I'm in a hurry. I'll talk to you later." Luffy said shooting his fist into Alvida's gut, sending her flying out of sight.
"Well that takes care of my first problem. Now onto the second one." Luffy said. Luffy turned around and saw a familiar orange haired girl holding a familiar object. She had her long orange hair blowing in the wind. She was also wearing her white with blue stripes shirt with orange shorts on. Luffy smirked because he knew this was his Nami that he remembered, but he wanted to make sure.
"I'm surprised you were able to withstand a blast like that. What's your name miss?" Luffy asked Nami.
Nami was shocked that Luffy had such good manners. She wanted to say her name but she really wanted to know if this was her Luffy.
"Let's see if he would take the bait." Nami thought to herself.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure you already know my name. Captain." Nami said. "Please let this really be him!"
"Heh, Hey Nami." Luffy grinned. He was excited that this was his Nami. He grabbed the back of Coby's collar and jumped onto the cruise ship. Coby nearly passed out because he wasn't expecting Luffy to grab him. As soon as Luffy and Coby landed on the ship, Nami ran over to Luffy and tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly. She was relieved that this is real. Coby who was standing next to Luffy was shocked this lady was hugging like they were lost lovers.
"Um, how do you guys know each other?" Coby asked.
"Oh, She's my crewmate." Luffy said.
"Oh, Hi there. I'm Coby." Coby stuck his hand to shake Nami's hand.
"Nice to meet you." Nami said shaking Coby's hand.
After the two got done shaking each other hands, Nami turned around and glared and in one swift movement, suckered punched Luffy in the cheek, sending him crashing into the floor.
"What was that for?" Luffy yelled.
"THAT'S FOR OPENING THE BARREL YOU DUMBASS! WE COULD'VE ALL DIED ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" Nami said stomping on him.
"Ow. Okay I'm sorry!" Luffy whined desperately.
Coby who was watching the scene unfold, was starting to regret his decision. After Luffy apologized to Nami, he finally spoke up.
"Now since I said I was sorry, how about we discuss important things. Since we know we're back, does that mean everyone is back?" Luffy asked Nami.
"Good point. Maybe we go and find out." Nami said. "By the way, where the hell did you learn to speak so properly and I don't remember you being this well-toned and tall!" Nami said looking at Luffy. He looked definitely different than he did in the original timeline.
"My gramps trained me for the past 10 years. Luffy said.
"Wow your grandfather trained you? I'm impressed. Nami smirked.
"Anyways, let's go get Zoro. His aura felt different than usual. Luffy said to her worriedly.
"Okay well we have to keep going if we want to get Shell Town." Nami said.
"Hold on a minute. Hey Coby is there any meat in the lower deck of Alvida's ship?" Luffy asked Coby.
"Yeah, why do you ask?" Coby asked curiously.
"Be right back." Luffy said to them. Suddenly, Luffy disappeared from their sights. 20 seconds later, Luffy came back with a bag full of meat.
"Ugh! Do you ever stop eating? Nami groaned. Typical Luffy.
" Actually, this isn't for me. It's for Lochie." Luffy said.
"Who's Lochie?" Nami questioned.
"You'll see." Luffy smirked. " LOCHIE COME HERE!" Luffy yelled.
After Luffy yelled, A Sea King came swimming towards to them. It bursted through the water and stared at Luffy in a excited way.
"AAAHHHHH! IT'S A ACTUAL SEA KING! IT'S GOING TO EAT US!" Coby yelled. He was about 5 seconds from passing out because he thought Sea Kings only appeared in the Grand Line.
"Luffy, why is there a Sea King staring directly at you?" Nami asked in a surprised manner. She knew Luffy did things like this before.
"Oh, this is going to be our personal ride until we reach Syrup Village." Luffy said.
"I see you came like I asked. Good boy." Luffy walked over and fed Lochie some meat. After Luffy got done feeding him, Lochie lowered his head down so the others can climb on. Luffy wrapped both of his arms around Nami and Coby and jumped on top of Lochie's head.
"How did you do that Mr. Luffy?" Coby asked in a shocked manner.
"Devil Fruit."
"Wow I thought those were a legend. They say once you eat one, you can never swim again. Is that true?"
"Yup. Maybe you'll come across one later down the road when you're a marine. Luffy said suggestively.
"Now, where is Zoro at Luffy?" Nami asked.
"Shell Town"
Coby froze up when they were talking about Zoro. "Um are you guys talking about The Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro?" Coby asked.
"Yeah, who else would we be talking about?" Luffy said in an annoyed tone.
"That is extremely dangerous Mr. Luffy. He hunts pirates for a living and from what rumors say, He hasn't lost not even one fight yet." Coby said. He couldn't believe Luffy would be interested in a guy like that.
"First, drop the "Mr."part. It's annoying as hell. And second, I'm just going there to talk to him." Luffy said.
"But he's a criminal!" Coby protested.
"We are too. What's your point?" Nami said.
"But...well you do have a point." Coby sighed.
Coby felt like he wasn't getting through to Luffy so he decided to drop the subject for the time being. Lochie started to accelerate towards the direction Luffy told him to go.
"So Luffy, I'm guessing your grandpa taught you how to navigate also? Nami asked.
"Nope. He helped me improve my Observation Haki. Now I can hear voices all the way to Lougetown.' Luffy said proudly.
"WHAT? That mean your Observation is better than Enel's". Nami said surprised.
"Pretty much."
Coby felt so out of place he didn't know what they were talking about. While Luffy and Nami were still chatting, Shell Town into Coby's view.
"Luffy, I see Shell Town." Coby said.
"Good. Now, Lochie sink low so that the townsfolk won't see you and panic." Luffy told Lochie. Lochie started lowering his self more into the water as they reached the port. They all started walking through the town and saw the townsfolk looked like they were acting distant. Luffy and Nami knew the reason why and kept walking. Coby on the other hand, was looking confused. He didn't know why the reason they were all acting distant.
"Why are the townsfolk looking scared for?" Coby asked worriedly.
"Because they're scared of the marine captain here." Luffy said in a bored tone.
"Why?"
"You'll see for yourself soon." Luffy said with his hat towering over his eyes. "Hey I think Zoro's behind this gate." Luffy said.
"How can you be so sure?" Coby asked.
" I sense him."
"We don't have no way of getting through this gate." Coby said.
Luffy then grabbed on the back of Coby's collar and jumped onto the top of the gate. Nami just extended her Clima Tact and sat on top of the gate with them. Once Coby was recovering over his mini heard attack, he finally opened his eyes and shocked with what he saw. There in the middle of the court yard, stood Zoro. Tied to a post in the middle of the sandy courtyard was the infamous Roronoa Zoro himself. His wore a long green cloak held by a red sash, the top half hanging from his waist and leaving his upper body on full display. Tan, slightly burned skin stretched over the kind of muscles that by rights should only belong to great apes and tigers and sharks, the kind that screamed the power of the predator. His head was down and covered by a bandanna, beneath which neck-length green strands poked out.
Coby swallowed. "Haramaki, green hair, he's just as described! It's really him! Roronoa Zoro!"
Coby turned to see if his companions were as intimidated as he was. To his shock, they both seemed happy to see him. Luffy was grinning like he'd just been reunited with a long-lost brother, while Nami had a half-grin like a kindergarten teacher who'd just walked into a screaming classroom after summer break. Coby couldn't understand it. They were both pirates in the presence of the PIRATE HUNTER! Why weren't they afraid of him? His question was answered when Zoro looked up.
"Your late. Captain." Zoro said smirking.
"Sorry, sorry, Zoro!"
"What do you mean he's late?" Nami asked belligerently, like she was scolding a child. Coby's blood froze, but Zoro just huffed.
"So you're here too, witch. I mean he was supposed to come get me after three days, not three weeks. It's been boring as fuck waiting."
"He's not late, you just showed up early!" Nami shouted back, her teeth becoming like a shark.
Then she just sighed. "Then again, I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that you showed up here at all. With your nonsense of direction, you could have wound up in South Blue."
Luffy burst into laughter. "That's so true!" After briefly escaping falling off the wall, the straw hat boy shouted. "Hey, Zoro! How'd you know it was us? Like 'us' us, instead of just us?"
" It was simple. You're dressed the same. Well expect you look more different than before. And your aura feel more stronger than last time. Plus Nami has her new Clima Tact." Zoro deadpanned.
Nami grit her teeth. "That's what gave it away?"
Luffy cocked his head. "Hey, he has a point."
Coby felt like his head was going to explode. Before Coby could ask another question, a ladder clacked against the wall next to him. He turned around, only to see a young girl holding her finger to her lip in a 'shh'. Then, she unrolled a sheet and rappelled down the other side of the wall. Coby watched in a panic, half-expecting her to get skewered by Zoro's gaze alone.
"Hey old guy, I took your advice and made them with salt this time! I hope you like them as much as the last batch!" The little girl, smiling proudly presented two rice balls wrapped in a cloth.
"Thank you very much. These look delicious," Zoro said in a surprisingly gentle tone of voice. Coby watched in shock as Zoro kindly opened his mouth and took every bite the girl all but shoved into his mouth in her enthusiasm, making obvious sounds of appreciation the whole time. This was the bloodthirsty rogue that massacred half the bounties in East Blue?
Just as Zoro finished the last bite, three men entered the courtyard. The girl tensed, and Zoro calmly whispered "Just like last time, remember?" She nodded, and suddenly her face filled with rage as she started to slap Zoro's face with the now-empty rag.
"Ha, ha, ha! Can't even defend yourself against a little kid, eh Zoro? My, how you've fallen."
Coby raised his brow at the speaker's appearance. Clad in a lavender shirt and expensive suit, the boy didn't look that much older than him. He had blond hair glossier than any he'd seen on a man, and had a cleft in his chin so deep it looked like someone had carved out a chunk. Two marines flanked him, so he obviously had some sort of position at the base, but Coby couldn't see how.
"Weren't you the girl that snuck in last week? I like making fun of trash as much as the next guy, but this is Government property. You wouldn't want to offend my father, would you?" the boy asked the girl in the most mocking, patronizing tone of voice the human throat can produce.
"I just wanted to hurt him! He deserves to be punished for offending you, Helmeppo-sama!" The little girl grimaced like it caused her physical pain to say that, but the blonde didn't seem to notice as he threw back his head and laughed. "So true! He's a big idiot, and idiots deserve to be punished. But Daddy has issued a ruling that anyone that associates with criminals will be charged with the same crime. So, don't come back or I'll have to punish you." Helmeppo snapped his fingers at one of the Marines. "Take this girl out of here. Pull her by her hair so she knows not to try this again."
The Marine stiffened. "But, sir!"
Helmeppo turned around and grabbed the man's collar like he was a dog. "Did I hear you disobeying me? I'll tell my father!"
The Marine grimaced, but he reached forward and grabbed one of the girl's pigtails. She didn't fight him, but she still yelled that it hurt. The Marine looked like he hated himself, but he led her like that to the gate and pushed her out. Coby watched in horror at the petty act of cruelty. Marines weren't supposed to act like that!
Helmeppo laughed at Zoro. "I honestly didn't expect you to last this long!"
Zoro glared at him. "I said I could last a month, didn't I?"
"Sure, sure. Don't go anywhere, now!" Helmeppo mocked, walking away like he owned the place.
Zoro rolled his eyes. When he looked forward again, he saw Luffy standing in the same place as he had the 'first' time, grinning that carefree grin that always made Zoro question the boy's sanity. Not that it really mattered if his captain was insane. Nami was there this time though, shaking her head.
"I'll never understand how you're so good with kids. You're so scary you should make them cry just by looking at them," she said. Zoro ignored her, as usual.
Luffy held out his hand. "So, same deal as last time? I spring you, you become my friend? I should warn you that our adventures are going to be even crazier this time! I've had some ideas while I was training."
Zoro just gave that smile that always appeared when he recognized a challenge and decided to take it. "Can you just untie me already? Those rice balls just made me hungrier." Luffy smirked.
After a few minutes of Luffy tackling the knots and ending up just making them tighter, Nami stepped in and Zoro was walking stiffly in minutes. They grabbed Coby, who seemed to be having a crisis of faith after seeing Marines being bad and a 'demon' being pretty nice, and made their way for town. Everyone who saw Zoro walking free all but screamed and ran the other way. Luffy got a few good chuckles from that, and Nami made a couple of pointed jokes at Zoro's expense, but the swordsman was too tired and hungry to bother caring.
They entered the bar run by the little girl's (according to Zoro, her name was Rika) mom, and all noise stopped. The patrons all stared at the released swordsman like he was a ghost. The sound of crickets chirping was interrupted by Rika running up to Zoro, grinning wide. "Zoro! You're free! How'd you do it! Did that nasty Helmeppo decide to let you go?"
Zoro grinned and crouched down, so the girl didn't have to crane her neck. "No, that guy didn't let me go. My captain here got me loose."
Rika turned her eyes to Coby, who was standing right next to Zoro. "Really? He seems like kind of a wimp. You sure he's your boss?
Coby sputtered, but Luffy just laughed. "Not Coby, me! I'm Zoro's captain. Monkey D. Luffy, nice to meet ya!" Continuing like what he was about to say was as big a deal as the weather, he said "I'm going to be Pirate King!"
Nami detected a slight shift in atmospheric pressure as everyone in the bar gasped, their eyes popping out of their skulls. Luffy cocked his head. He got why other captains got ticked off when he said that, but why did normal people act so shocked? Rika, too young to see the issue, just smiled. "Wow, cool! Hey, you should have lunch here! Mama's cooking's really good, and old guy must be hungry after all that time tied up! I know my rice balls couldn't have helped much," she finished, an adorable pout curving her lips.
Zoro patted her head, smiling tenderly in a way that shouldn't have worked with his harsh features, but it did. "There were delicious, really. I could taste that you put all your heart in them."
Amid enthusiastic chatter from Rika, the Straw Hat Pirates plus Coby sat down at the bar. Once their backs were turned, most of the people ran for the hills. A few stuck around though, looking like they were waiting for an impending explosion. That and a bit of nauseous wonder, as Zoro ordered everything on the menu twice over and proceeded to eat/drink everything with the manners of wild wolf as soon as Rika's troubled-looking mother set it down.
Coby didn't seem to have much of an appetite, picking at his meal while watching Zoro patiently answer all of Rika's incessant questions between sips. The swordsman, after a few minutes of feeling eyes on him, turned to look. Coby instinctively flinched as those eyes landed on him, even though they held no obvious sign of anger.
"What is it?" Coby gulped, but spoke up. Luffy would protect him, right? "You're nothing like what I expected. You don't seem like a bad guy at all."
"He's not! The real bad guys are Morgan and his stupid son!" Rika yelled.
She then explained how Morgan let his son have free reign to terrorize the town, and the only reason Zoro got captured was as a deal with Helmeppo to protect her after he'd killed the jerk's pet wolf. Coby looked like he'd swallowed raw sewage as she explained how the Marine Captain and his son abused their power. Luffy saw, and just sighed. Coby had a lot to learn about the world.
Rika's mother spoke up after her daughter finished, a look of controlled fear in her eyes. "Listen, I appreciate what you've done for my daughter, and I know that you probably did the right thing by freeing Mr. Roronoa, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. If any of the Marines see you here, they'll report you and we'll be the ones to suffer for it."
"But Mama! They're nice guys! Why do they have to leave?" Rika protested.
Before she could answer, Helmeppo walked in. Not even seeming to notice the room, he swept a table clear of dishes by pushing them onto the floor, breaking them. Then he pulled out a chair and lounged, his escort standing behind him silently.
"Hey, old lady! Me and my guards are going to eat for free today!" He looked over to see she followed his order, only to fall over when he saw Zoro looking at him.
"Roronoa! W-what are you doing here? You're supposed to be tied up!"
The swordsman deadpanned. "I got bored. So I asked my friends to let me go."
"Hi there, bastard son!" Luffy waved cheerfully. Nami raised her wine glass in acknowledgement.
Helmeppo hoped to his feet, suddenly furious. "How dare you! He was an official prisoner of the Marines! You just broke the law!"
"What's your point?" Nami asked, taking a sip.
"My point is that's a crime!" the blonde shouted.
"So what? We're pirates! We're above the law!" Luffy shouted proudly.
Helmeppo gaped, apparently unused to such casual disregard of the authority he'd used as a weapon his whole life. He rallied, and pointed at them accusingly. "You three are criminals, but more importantly, I don't like you! Zoro, looks like your execution's getting moved up. Men, kill them!"
Helmeppo's escort drew their swords, apprehensive looks on their faces. There was something about this trio, something that warned them they had no chance of beating them. Luffy's grin disappeared and he turned his eyes on them. Both men froze. It was like looking down two cocked gun barrels. The smirking idiot had vanished, and in his place was a ruthless warrior. Then he opened his mouth and said just one word. Suddenly, the two men collapsed on the gaped, as did Coby and Rika's mother. Did he really just take down two trained Marines with just a word and a glare? Rika had glitter in her eyes, mouthing 'cool!' Then Luffy raised his head up. "Do not attempt to threaten my friends again" he said in a cold tone.
Nami who sitting at the table, got tired of the scene already and decided to squeeze on her Clima Tact to extend it towards Helmeppo.
"Impact Strike."
The ball point of her staff shot into Helmeppo's face, resulting in him crashing through the wall into a stand.
"Sorry about the damage. He'll pay for it." Nami smiled. Luffy glared at her and sighed.
"Whoa Nami. Where did you learn to do an attack like that?" Luffy said looking impressed. Even Zoro was surprised when she did an attack like that.
"Since you don't remember let me rejog your memory. This Clima Tact still has impact dials embedded within it. It can absorb attacks and since Usopp upgraded it, It can now send out compressed shockwaves to enemies now, the compressed shockwaves can be as powerful as Kuma's Ursus Shock. Nami explained to them.
"Whoa. Looks like someone has gotten an amazing power-up." Luffy smirked.
Meanwhile, Coby was still shocked because Nami just struck a Marine Captain's son.
"Ms. Nami. Why you do something like that?" Coby asked.
"Because he was annoying and I felt like it." She replied.
"You could get in serious trouble." Coby tried to warn her.
"If anything, it's a public service," Nami said
Luffy hopped off his stool. "Well, I'm not hungry anymore. Time to go kick Morgan's ass. Besides, we have to get Zoro's swords from the base. What's a swordsman without his katana?"
"Pissed, dishonored, or retired." Zoro growled. Zoro got up patted Rika on the head.
"Thank you very much for the food." Zoro bowed and thanked the both of them. Rika giggled and her mom smiled.
Luffy ruffled around in his pockets and pulled out 2 sealed envelopes. He handed it to Coby, who took them in surprise. "Here. Once things settle down a little, go to the base and give the new guy in charge these letters. It should get you in without a problem."
Coby didn't even question on how a pirate had such a thing. "I don't know how to thank you, Luffy. I owe you so much."
Luffy grinned. "You can pay me back by becoming an great Marine! Just don't become too drunk on power. Hey, maybe when I'm Pirate King, you'll be an Admiral! We can meet each other again when you come to try and kill me!"
Coby just shook his head, trying to hide his tears of gratitude. Nami smiled at the sight, before turning to Rika's mother. "Here, this should cover everything."
She pulled a roll of bills from her t-shirt, making the other woman raise a brow, and handed her the whole thing. Rika's mother gasped. A quick estimate told her she'd just been handed enough to pay for the huge meal twice over. Nami just smiled and turned to follow Luffy and Zoro out the bar. She might be parsimonious and greedy to a fault, but she'd always have a soft spot for mothers and people who were oppressed. Luffy took a second to enjoy the breeze and the sun on his face. Nami came up beside him and asked "What was those letters for, Luffy?"
"In order to get Gramps to train me, I kinda let him think I was going to become a Marine. He gave me that letter for when I came here. It probably goes like 'this kid is really awesome, he can go far. Teach him the basics and I'll come around in a few days to pick him up and any friends he makes. The other one is a apology letter." Luffy said in low tone.
Luffy chuckled. "Man, I wish I can see his face when he shows up expecting me and gets Coby instead. Maybe that bastard son too, if Coby makes friends with him again."
That said, he straightened his hat and cracked his knuckles. He turned to face the base. "Time to take out the trash again."
...
(One hour later)
The trio were getting ready to cast off. The entire town had followed them and was cheering. Luffy ignored them. Zoro was checking his swords to see if any of them had scratches on them. Luckily, there wasn't any. After Zoro got done checking his swords, he finally noticed something different. There wasn't any boats in sight.
"Uh Luffy? Where is our boat?" Zoro asked.
"Oh yeah. Since we're on a tight to get our friends back together, I decided use that as a way of transportation temporarily. Luffy said.
"That?" Zoro was confused at this point. He didn't see any boats in sight, so how was they going to get the next island? Unless...
"*sigh* Don't tell me we're going to the creature that's hiding underwater?" Zoro said pointing towards the water. Lochie poked his head out of the water and sprung up when he saw Luffy.
"Yep. His name is Lochie." Luffy while petting Lochie.
"Uh Luffy we need to hurry up and leave before the townsfolk freak out." Nami said hurriedly.
" Oh right. Zoro hurry up and get on." Luffy said.
As soon as all 3 of them got onto Lochie's head, Luffy told Lochie to leave the port. While they were sailing away from the port, Luffy started to think to himself, "Sorry gramps."
When they were away from the port, they didn't notice someone was watching them sail away. Or that's what the person thought.
"That bastard is not making to the Grand Line. The only place that crew is going to is Hell!" The mysterious person said..
So who do y'all think the mystery person is? Leave some reviews guys 😀
