Welcome to…

HIT THE STAGE!

Chapter 1: The Game of Life

Flashing. Blaring. Memories bubbled up as I swam through darkness. Fingers numb, and blood running cold, nothing but a desolate emptiness consoled me. There were once sounds of shattering and screaming, and pain swelling all over my body. But now it seemed like the opposite. A lonely, quiet place, stripped of all sensation.

As it was, how could I even conjure up my consciousness? Blurred out with these fuzzy memories of a good, but meaningless, life. Was it possible that those were my memories? But, how mundane it was, up until the very last second, now stained in red. How could it be that was all of my existence, reduced to nothing but a pile of ripped up flesh on the side of the street? Watching my pathetic little body rot like I wanted so badly years before I ended up like that?

Why was I here now? Thinking of this all, not knowing where my body stopped and started, like my limbs were a mile away from me, but my heartbeat was right in my ears.

It was a scary sort of solitary, not one that I ever knew before. I at least had the conscience that humans existed with me, besides me, even if it didn't feel like it, but now… I knew, I was truly alone. Having died, was I now in the afterlife, going to float along an endless expanse where my existence meant even less than it did before? Was all my suffering for nought? Was all that I could manage to love, lost?

No… no, that was wrong. I could feel it.

The slight, tickling feeling of a tangible form, tugging on me. If I focused on it, it was there, and somehow it meant more to me than anything else.

"This is not your time here, yet."

No it wasn't. Slowly, I could pull myself together, seeing my life play before me like a film reel, spinning and flickering. I could breathe in and out, feel my chest rising with a growing warmth.

"That was not your world to conquer."

Maybe it wasn't. If I wanted to leave so bad, I should've been glad to realize I was finally gone. Yet clearly, I still had places to go. A life to live that would be more fulfilling than what I would have ever achieved. I knew it so because I could reach out, letting myself search for that precious feeling.

"You may lose yourself, but, did you even find such a thing in the first place?"

I know I didn't. Me. Myself. I could never figure out who that was. Straining so hard to keep everyone around me happy, to sacrifice myself for them, because I could. I had to. Over and over I would watch myself be walked on, yet I wanted to keep the hope I could change, that I would change.

"Go. This will be your chance to live. Your first and last."

Reaching out, I felt a wave of sensation flood my body, so warm and beautiful against the cold darkness. Wrapping my shaking hands around a little bead of light, I prayed for the first time in my life. I cried silently, an indescribable emotion taking me over as the blackness faded out into a blissful white, knowing that I too would fade away. Nothing would be left of my past life, all whisked away peacefully, and I would continue on. Fate had its new plans for me.

"The stage is yours."

•

The first thing I felt when I woke up was warmth. Warmth, like the sun beating down on you on a summer day, relentless and furious. The second thing I felt when I woke up, was the extremely stiff floor beneath me. Stiff like concrete with not a single article of padding to soften the rough edge. The third thing I felt when I woke up was a fuck ton of confusion. Confusion like ohmygodjesusithinkidiedandreincarnatedohmygod and other similar lines of thought.

I don't think it would come to much of a surprise I jumped into a panic attack the second my eyes opened.

Sitting up in an… somewhat orderly fashion, I took note of the fact that I was in the middle of the god damn ocean on a small boat. That wasn't very good for reassurance, for sure, but there had to be a silver lining to all of this, right? There was a perfectly logical and reasonable explanation for all of this, and I was so certain that this was limbo. Or maybe this was like a game, and I had just spawned in. But, I was still on my planet, right? Had I gone back in time? Was I some voyager from the sixteen hundreds going to "discover" a new land?

My eyes flickered along the horizon line, observing there was no land in sight, adding to my doubling anxiety. I hoped so bad I didn't end up in the middle of the pacific ocean or some garbage, yet everything told me otherwise.

I had to calm myself down though, already feeling the extraneous activity making me sweat in this unclouded heat. So, I took to looking at myself instead. After all, it'd probably do me some good to know who the hell I was, if I wasn't still me. God forbid it was me.

It was pretty easy to deduce that, yeah, it wasn't my old body. Aside from the very obvious difference in body type, my clothes were a bit too showy for me and when I spoke, my voice most certainly wasn't my own. My hair was darker, my skin more calloused, and I wasn't wearing thicker-than-a-brick glasses. Honestly, I'd consider this an upgrade already, but I knew I still didn't know everything. I couldn't see my reflection, and based on the development of my body, I obviously wasn't any younger than a teen, but no older than mid twenties.

There was something so odd though. My clothes, my body, the scenery just seemed so… familiar. Like it was something I had seen before, but different.

Clicking my tongue, I took the hat I had on my head off to see what that also looked like, only to stop immediately. I blinked a fair few times, twisted it in my hand, and then went back to staring, all my previous observations adding up in my brain like a super quantum computer. Then, I broke down and became the Windows XP blue screen, equipped with static sparks and all.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me," is all I could manage out of my mouth.

And I mean seriously. Seriously? Like, did the gods expect me to take reincarnation into a damn anime lightly? Did they think "oh yeah this human will be the perfect little sacrifice as our experiment to see how a normal human being will behave in an insanity driven universe"? Or was I just being crazy?

Or was it the fact I was more likely than not, Monkey D. Luffy?

Before I caused myself any more panic attacks or strokes or anything of that ilk, I took that possibility with a grain of salt. Maybe this was all just a huge coincidence. This straw hat, this red vest? Anyone could wear this! But… I realized, if I really wanted to test my theory out, the greatest test of all would be to stretch my skin.

Before I could even attempt to do that though, the boat rocked and creaked. Thankfully, I was still sitting down, but I still held on to the sides for balance, wondering what was going on.

Looking back out to the ocean, my stomach dropped at just the most uplifting sight of a whirlpool beginning to swallow me whole. I frantically glanced around my boat, hoping that maybe there would be something here that could help me, but alas, all that remained for me was simply a barrel. A barrel that may have saved Luffy's ass in canon, but sure as hell didn't make me feel any better.

I crawled over to the barrel, taking off the lid carefully and looking in to the empty wood, gulping.

"I swear to all that is holy this better work, or I'm suing the universe," I said, climbing in with little faith and shutting the lid as tight as possible.

All that was left for me was a waiting game, as I felt myself get thrown overboard and continued swirling around. It made me ponder how monumentally screwed I was. If this were the plans fate had for me, well, fate could suck my dick! How could I, a normal person from a normal world, travel around into the Grand Line? How could I believe I was supposed to become the King of Pirates? How could I survive in a world that wasn't built for someone like me, someone weak, small, and frightened?

Maybe… just maybe fate was right. I could doubt myself all I wanted, but it wouldn't change anything. I was now living this life. It wouldn't do me any good to die after just being pulled from the afterlife, that would make me a bigger disappointment than my measly existence from before. I knew I had to suck it up or… succumb to the existential crisis that would inevitably follow me for the rest of my journey.

Feeling my barrel getting pulled up and tossed around for a while, I waited until I was finally stable and alone, making sure the coast was clear.

Hesitantly, I opened the lid of the barrel and poked my head out, checking that nobody was around. When I felt sure I was alone, I climbed out, stood up, and dusted myself off, knowing I was now in a dangerous place.

The room I was in seemed to be some sort of kitchen, with food on the table and a wheelbarrow of stuff that my barrel knocked over. All in all, it was pretty simple, but I wanted to keep looking around, seeing if maybe I could find something useful.

"I could always swipe some knives or… maybe some other things," I mused out loud, walking over to where all the utensils were.

I picked one up, glancing over the blade. It was smaller, could fit in your pocket. "But, these are for cooking, not for fighting…" I cleaned and shoved it in my pocket anyway, thinking it would do me better to have some sort of method of defense than not.

I was just going to turn around and explore some other part of the room, when I turned and came face to face with a little pink haired boy in the doorway. Face white as a sheet and fingers trembling like he was burned.

"W-w-who are-!" Koby started shouting.

Ho boy, I couldn't have him outing my location so fast, now could I? So I rushed over, slapping a hand on his mouth while he struggled in my grip.

"SHHHHSHHHH!" I quickly hushed, trying to keep my grip loose, "please, I'm not going to hurt you, just… be quiet. I'm uh, I know there are pirates here, I can't be caught."

Slowly, I let my hand go and Koby nodded with a gulp, still shaking. "Who are you? How'd you get here?" he asked in a quieter tone, still obviously afraid of me.

Since there was no point in lying to him, I pointed to the barrel, saying, "I got picked up out of that barrel. See, I'm a bit stranded as of right now, I didn't intend for this to happen, but now it's happening." I sighed. "I don't suppose there's any way for us to get out of here safely?"

Koby shook his head. "N-No, probably not. The pirate crew that's raiding this place is searching every inch! I-It'd probably be best to wait it out…"

I hummed, looking back behind me again and realizing the pantry was right there. Considering this was nothing more than a kitchen, if anybody came in here they'd likely just skim it over and realize there wasn't anything of value.

"Good thinking, actually," I complimented, "we can probably hide in there for a little while." I pointed to the pantry.

Koby paused, looking down. "W-w-well, I'm uh, I'm actually part of the pirate crew… I won't get hurt, b-but you can hide! I'll tell them there's nothing here!" he exclaimed, expression guilty.

"Really?" I questioned, "are you sure you won't get hurt?"

"I-I uh-" he started, only to be cut off once more as we heard voices down the hall.

Fear ran down my spine, that stupid incessant emotion that loved to make me lock up and freeze. I guess I didn't have much of a choice if I wanted to hide or not, so I grabbed Koby by the arm and pulled him into the pantry as quick as possible. Despite his explicit desire to not do this, we slid against the wall anyway, hoping that whomever it was that came down the hall would skip over this little room in the room.

"Why'd you pull me in with you?!" Koby whisper shouted, confused but not mad.

I pursed my lips. "I dunno, actually. But who cares, you obviously need to get the fuck away from these pirates, so uh consider this a favour," I joked, making him sweatdrop. His skittish attitude kept rubbing off on me, doubling my nervousness despite my attempts to shove it down a ditch.

The pink-haired faux pirate twiddled his thumbs. "I… I can't just hide here, they'll look for me. I-If they find out I'm hiding, then I'll get in even worse trouble. Alvida-sama will kill me! Or if I try to run away, or- or-!"

Though I was in a rough situation myself, I couldn't help but feel bad for him, knowing how amazing and inspiring of a person he would become. He would never become that person if he was stuck here, with a group of shitty, stereotypical pirates that would never lead him to fulfil his dreams and ambitions. While no doubt it'd probably be much easier for me to just sneak off by myself, I'd be quite the shitty person if I left him to his own devices.

"Then come with me," I said, pulling him out of his despair, "it may not be what you need, after all I'm also a pirate, but… it'll be better than what you've been dealing with."

He gazed at me with glossy eyes. "You're a pirate?"

I nodded. "Mmhhhm. Though, I can hardly call myself one right now. I don't have a crew, ship, or a bounty to speak of. I'm a clean slate, but I'm hoping to change that soon," I explained, seeing his tense shoulders relax as he focused on the conversation.

"But you're… n-nice? Why are you a pirate, if you're acting like this?" Koby asked, continuing as I listened for any strange noises.

"I…" The question struck me hard, pushing me back into the desperate reality of my life. Memories of the anime I loved to watch rose to the surface, knowing that I would now have to face all those challenges and to live up to such a crazy tale. "I'm going to become the king of pirates," I said candidly.

He gasped, but he didn't utter a word as footsteps rounded the corner, making us both freeze. Only a second later, the footsteps receded, and Koby let out a relieved breath.

"The king of pirates?! You mean you want to obtain the One Piece?! B-b-but, you said yourself that you don't even have a crew! It's impossible!" He exclaimed, taken aback by my statement.

"Wow, thanks for the encouragement," I said sarcastically, making him frown. "Don't worry about me, I have… my ways. If I go out trying to live the epic pirate life, I may die early, but if I sit here doing nothing, I'll be bored and still die anyway." To be honest, that was more of self-reasoning than anything.

He gave me an unbelieving look. "I-is that actually the reason why? You're going to become the king of pirates just so you aren't bored?!"

I shrugged, dragging my finger on the floor in a circle. "It's more complicated than that-" (an understatement), "-but it's still true. You have to admit going to the Grand Line and living out all your best dreams is way better than, I dunno, being a civilian? Sitting around, contemplating whether or not you mean anything in the grand scheme of things, ya know? Sure, everybody has a purpose in this world, but I think even the most kindhearted and fair of humans can understand that some people are more influential than others…" I rambled, stopping when I realized I was starting to project again. "O-or in short, I don't want to be useless."

That caused Koby to stop and look at me more seriously, all the fear in his posture gone, replaced with a more slack and ruminating tone.

"I guess I n-never thought of it like that. Usually I'd just think about my goal as what it is, a goal. A-A crazy dream I-I'd never achieve. If I never achieve it, I really would just be another human...another life," he admitted, pushing up his glasses, "if I let Alvida-sama, er, Alvida control my life, I'd die as nothing but a pawn to be thrown away…"

After that sad revelation, I almost regretted letting myself get sentimental and reflect on my deteriorating mental health, but I was interested nonetheless. Watching him become contemplative and stand up for himself was quite entertaining, and it made me feel at least a fraction better than I was since I woke up.

"That's why I told you to come with me," I interrupted.

"Huh?"

"Look at yourself. You want to leave, you have a dream. I'm not gonna say it'll be easy- fuck, I know for a fact it will be the most difficult thing one can experience, but…" I took in a deep breath, "it's worth it. Going out there makes life just so much more worth it!" I declared, smiling for the first time here.

Koby mimicked my smile with a small giggle as well. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I-I uh, I never asked you your name. Mine is Koby, b-by the way," he bubbled.

"Me?" I asked rhetorically with a flamboyant wave of my hand, "I'm none other than Monkey D. Luffy! Now, why don't we get the hell on out of here?"

"Right!"

Getting up, we both rushed out the door and to the hallways, glad to find that nobody was around once more. We quickly found our way to the exit, but nervousness started to bite at my bones at the sound of rowdy pirates right above our heads. I swallowed down the hesitation, reaffirming to myself I had the ability to kick their asses easily. If I couldn't do that, then I still had the durability and agility to not die in 10 seconds flat. In fact, I'd like to think me getting away without a scratch would make me about 20% cooler.

"Are you ready?" I asked, giving him a determined face.

He paused. "No."

"That's what I thought!" And then I proceeded to burst through the opening like fireworks on the 4th of July.

All action on the deck stopped as multitudes of men paused to glare at me and Koby, hostile stares sent our way. Giving orders to the rest of her crew was none other than the delusional menace herself, Iron-mace Alvida.

Koby flinched besides me as Alvida turned her brooding eyes towards us, predatory and not one to mess around. She frowned. "And who are you? What are you doing with my cabin boy, huh?" she accused, making grave worries pop up in my brain.

I took one breath in, one out. The jitters in my body not going away, but letting my racing blood calm down. Alvida wasn't a threat to me unless I made her a threat, and the same applied to everybody else on her crew. I reminded myself that I was doing this for Koby, to think a little more positive, to instead think stay alive in contrast to don't die.

"I'm taking him away from you," I announced, placing a protective hand on his head.

The other pirate captain snorted. "Hah? What do you think you can do to stop me?"

I stopped, genuinely mulling over the different ways I could defeat her. "Well," I said, putting a hand on my chin, "I can fist fight you, punch you a lot, which is most likely. I could use swords, but I dunno how to use those…" I giggled, continuing, "maybe I could use your mace against you? Oh man it would be cool if I already knew Haki and stuff, that would be funny. Actually, maybe I should try to learn that if I can, god that would be helpful. Hey Koby, you think-"

"ENOUGH!"

Flinching, I turned back to Alvida with a frown.

"That's enough out of you!" She screamed, pointing her mace at me. "No more mocking me! Men, get him!"

My frown turned into a fearful scowl as a horde of pirates stormed at us. I pushed Koby elsewhere as I ran, all of a sudden wishing there was a way to verbalize a keysmash other than screaming. I looked everywhere for a quick means to escape so I could actually find a way to not get myself killed, and thankfully I managed to find one.

Running backwards, I aimed my fist at the main mast, upwards towards the crow's nest. Pulling my arm back and shooting it forward, everybody stopped as they watched my arm stretch further and further, not stopping. It was extremely strange watching my own arm stretch to lengths I thought was physically impossible, so much so I almost didn't notice that I missed my shot.

I nervously readjusted my arm as it came back, grabbing onto the rope connected to the mast. Immediately, my body was pulled off the ground and shot towards the rope, a feeling in my stomach akin to being on a rollercoaster and going down the biggest drop.

"H-holy shit," I gasped, clinging onto the rope for dear life. Everybody below me now looked like little scurrying ants, surprised and in awe.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Did you see that? His arm stretched!"

"Is he a demon?!"

I wanted to snort at that last comment, but Alvida pitched in with her own explanation.

"It's a devil fruit. I've heard of them before, but I thought they were only myths."

I stuck my feet through the rope holes and got my footing more stable, then very maturely stuck my tongue out. I called out, "For your information, I ate the Gomu-Gomu no mi. Does it look like I'm a myth to you?!"

Alvida growled once more and I chuckled nervously. "That's not good" I murmured, trying my hardest to distract myself from the killing intent that emanated from below me.

And yeah, It wasn't good because Alvida herself finally decided to take action, launching her mace at me and forcing me to detangle myself from the rope so I didn't get sent to the ether. I swung off and jumped into the air, stretching my arms back, and then as I fell, stretched them forward with extreme force, crashing right in the middle of the crowd. Wood splintered everywhere as bodies got sent into the air, the board breaking under my hands. I landed sloppily, climbing out of the rubble with a shake to my head, blood buzzing under my tingling skin.

I jumped and ran as the remaining men tried to decapitate, skewer, and/or maim me. Probably all of those at once. Unfortunately, I tripped over a stray board from my attack, rolling on my back. Luckily for me, the men were stupid enough to trip over me too, and so started a domino affect that bid me some time. Grabbing one of the idiots to pull myself up, I jumped to my feet and used the momentum to sling the guy I grabbed into the body pile, rendering them 100% useless. My heartbeat died down in my ears, and I felt more accomplished than I probably should have.

That small pride was smothered with annoyance as soon as I heard Alvida's defeatist growl, obviously not expecting me to total her crew, especially with my… strange ways.

"You useless MORONS! You couldn't even take out one person?!" Alvida shrieked, face flushed a shade of tomato red in rage.

"Implying I'm a person," I said to myself, waiting for her to shut up.

Thank god, she did. She eyed me, baring her teeth and gripping her mace tight enough to turn her knuckles white. I put my guard up, preparing for any sort of oncoming attack. I was surprised when not a moment later, her attention completely shifted, and when I followed her line of sight, my heart stopped when I realized what she was about to do.

I jumped and rolled again, sliding to my feet and pushing Koby out of the way. He stumbled backwards, confused, but as he looked above me, his expression morphed into pure horror.

"LUFFY!"

For a split second, the sun was blacked out, and when I turned around, Alvida slammed down her mace into my gut, knocking the air out of me. My brain probably did some sort of mental check that went a bit like "how the fuck am I alive" because I blanked out, came back to reality, and realized that I didn't feel any pain. But just because I didn't feel any pain, doesn't mean I didn't feel anything.

"Holy shit this thing is heavy," I wheezed, shoving the stupid mace imprinting itself into my abdomen off of me.

Alvida looked at me like I just jumped out of a portal to hell, and I might have laughed if it weren't for the fact I was repumping my lungs with air like a tire.

"H-how are you-"

"Aren't you the one who explained I had a Devil Fruit earlier, jackass?" I cut off. I was beginning to become more complacent with the current issue, now knowing for sure that Alvida couldn't really do shit to hurt me. Yeah she could launch me into the ocean, but I could easily run, and what was she gonna do, chase me? Our battle would look more like a comedy skit at that point.

She went to grab for her mace, but I was faster, whipping my leg out and knocking her on her back. She spluttered, writhing on the ground like a child while I wracked my abused little brain for a final attack. When I laid my eyes on her mace, I grinned, knowing just what to do.

I grabbed her mace by the handle and dragged it behind me, going a little ways away and distancing myself from her. I smiled at Koby as I passed him, the kid distressed and tired looking, and then slinging the mace into my arms. A couple breaths here and a giddy laugh there, I raised the iron mace over my head and threw it as hard as I possibly could, praying that my aim had a shred of mercy for me just one time. And lo and behold, as Alvida finally decided to get her lousy ass up, that beautifully horrible mace came down.

Right on her head.

Now, I am no doctor, but I think it was safe to say the crack I heard wasn't good. Koby and I cringed, but I hoped, if only for my own sake, that One Piece logic would prevail and that was merely a comical sound effect and not her dying. I really didn't need blood on my hands hours after coming into this world.

"Y-you did it," Koby said, softly grabbing my arm.

I sighed, patting him on the back. "Yeah, I did."

We made our way to where the spare boats were and in no time I was back on the water, the ocean that never calmed down, the seas that harboured more types of beings than one could imagine. Then again, it was a man who actually imagined all of this.

When the waves slowed, my eye caught another small boat like ours having already drifted off somewhat.

Nami and I shared glances, but she broke away quickly, staring back out to the sea, sailing on her own path. Not for long, if I could help it, yet it seemed like she was already long gone. I knew I didn't have to worry about her for a little while, but this guilt that crawled in my veins told me to go after her, an anxious pain that made my hands tremble. All the while another part of my brain wondered about the dangers that would come with straying from canon so early. I mean… I would have to stray eventually, but the butterfly effect did not treat its victims nicely.

In the end, I decided to go after her.

When we rowed next to Nami's boat, she turned around and jumped, holding her hands up.

"What do you want?" she snapped.

Making my demeanor as natural and unthreatening as possible, I said, "Don't worry! We just need directions to Shells town if that's at all possible."

Her expression didn't soften at all, but she at least put her hands down and gave us a thought. "I can. Actually, I'm going the same way, but why?"

Since it was out of the blue, Koby looked at me like he was asking why too. I shrugged. "I'm looking for a certain person, and he's-" I pointed to Koby, he waved at her, "-going to join the Marines there."

Koby choked but I just smiled, acting innocent in Koby's surprise. Nami seemed to tense up at the mention of Marines, but either she thought Koby would never be cut out for that, or she could already gather that Koby wasn't going to be one of those Marines, because she nodded.

"Okay," she sighed, "you can sail with me."

I gave her another big grin, happy that she complied with our wishes. I had no doubt that becoming friends with her wasn't going to be a simple task, but since I had a head start, maybe I could win her over quicker. Of course, if she never decided to become part of the crew, I couldn't really do anything- and I certainly wasn't going to force her -but I didn't really want to entertain the thought of having to find a replacement for her, if I even could.

"I'm Luffy, by the way," I said, hoping I wasn't pushing it too far.

Koby weakly smiled. "I-I'm Koby."

She didn't smile back, but she wasn't frowning as she was before. "I'm Nami," she said flatly, and then removed her bandana, letting all of her hair fall into place. A shimmering orange-red, she had the prettiest hair I had ever seen.

It wasn't long before we were set on track, our boats sailing in tandem with one another and the noon-sun returning to blaze down on us. A silence passed between the three of us, nothing more than the birds flying above our heads and the crystal waves below our feet making noise. Maybe the occasional need to turn a sail or eat something, but truly, I could feel that we had peace.

On this ocean, which held no mercy, I was left to think. The waves were soft and the breeze softer, as I closed my eyes and felt my eyelashes flutter. The board was warm, and though it was stiff and unfamiliar, I felt so tired. I thought, maybe if I slept, I would wake up back in my bed and this whole experience would be some amazing dream. I didn't want to believe I was really gone, so far from home, drifting forever. I may not have been floating in darkness, but rocking slowly in the quiet, it might as well have been no different. Yet, I shot those thoughts out of my brain immediately. Of course I was here, Koby was still next to me, Nami was still giving us directions. I had to take this seriously, this wasn't those imaginary scenarios I made as a kid, this wasn't something I could wish away! This… this wasn't a game.

It was life. And that's a game I couldn't afford to lose.

[Heyo heyo! Welcome readers to this… experience. Some of you may be familiar with this, after all, it's a rewrite! I didn't get very far last time, but since I already thought it was hot garbage, I'm doing this again. Same things apply, this is a gen fic! The MC is a thot, but I have restraint, maybe you don't so I can't stop you, just, I plead you don't ask for any pairings. Also I'm not even gonna bother with update schedules, but I'll try. Thank you for reading, and have a good one!]