Beta by Navigator101.
Chapter 8
Sanji took a seat on the deck with the rest of the crew, after bringing the last of the food, where they were having a picnic at Luffy's insistence. Something about bonding time or whatever. The captain was already stuffing himself as usual. The first to start, and the last to finish. The cook wondered if he'd ever fed Luffy until he was completely full. Oh, well. He'd just continue to cook a little more each meal until he was sure his captain was satisfied.
"That reminds me," Nami said, cutting through the laughter, "Luffy, your brother said something about already having an island?"
"Yeah," Luffy answered with a full mouth before swallowing everything quickly. "It's so green and cool! We even built a castle on it."
"Oh yeah? The Great Usopp has an island or two of his own," Usopp boasted with a fist to his chest. "One is so small that it isn't even worth talking about, but the other one is where I hide all my eight thousand followers until I call for them."
"That's so cool, Usopp! Our island isn't big enough for that many people. It's barely big enough for our whole family," Luffy laughed.
"Oh? How many people are in your family?" Sanji asked, assuming that his family was the pirate crew that saved him and his brothers. He could probably narrow it down to which crew by numbers alone. Working in a sea restaurant so close to Grand Line, one had to keep up with the pirates in the news in case a big name showed up.
"More than a thousand, I think," Luffy mused with a finger and thumb under his chin. "Lots more if you count extended family. I'm not sure exactly how many there are." Luffy looked proud of how large his family was.
"That's a lot of people," Nami gave him a disbelieving look. "How do you even keep track of who's who with that many people around?" She highly doubted there were any ships that sailed around with that many people, much less ships that could hold thousands.
"Don't know. I just do. Why wouldn't I know who's family? Family is more important than any treasure in the world. Grandpops said so. Besides, I saw them every day, of course I'd know them all."
Damn, that's a lot of people. Sanji didn't think there were that many pirate crews with that many people sailing around together that often. Actually, the only ones that came to mind easily would be Big Mom, Whitebeard, and The Beast Pirates. That's three out of four Emperors.
…..
Sanji wasn't sure how long he blanked out. Looking at how much food was left, long enough for him to go make more food. By the sound of the conversation going on, Nami and Usopp didn't believe that Luffy was telling the truth. Of course, Moss Head was too busy inhaling alcohol to even pay attention.
He got up to go to the kitchen to cook a bit more while he got his mind back in order. If Luffy really was part of an Emperor's crew, he wondered if that would mean anything to them. Luffy did leave to build his own crew. That did mean that they're separate from them, right? But having the protection of an Emperor would be a good thing for their safety, wouldn't it?
Out of the three, Big Mom and Whitebeard seemed likely. There's no way someone like Kaido would just randomly pick up helpless children. Now that he thought about it, Sanji wasn't sure which was the better choice.
Wait. Wait. Luffy had a tattoo. Tattoos usually had some kind of meaning. So start there. He could be wrong. Most pirates usually have their jolly roger as their tattoo. Luffy's had three letters, ASL, each in different colors with what looked like blue flaming wings on each side of the letters. What pirate crew did that tattoo symbolize? He knew it looked familiar, but it was only familiar enough for it to tingle his mind.
No. No. Wait. No point in giving himself a headache thinking about it. He might as well just ask it right out.
And he did just that after placing two more large plates of meat down. "So who did you sail under?" he asked casually.
Nami and Usopp turned to give the blond a confused look.
"What are you talking about, Sanji?" Usopp laughed at him. "It's probably some small no-named crew we wouldn't recognize."
"Where'd you get that idea from? Don't tell me you actually believe everything he said. We don't need to play along with his imagination," Nami said in a low voice so Luffy couldn't hear.
"Whitebeard," Luffy answered, stopping all movement. Even Zoro choked on his drink at the declaration. Sanji was the only one that wasn't as surprised as he thought he would be.
Zoro finally finished choking and cleared his throat, while Nami and Usopp screeched in fear. They both threw themselves at Luffy, covering his mouth as they looked around in fear. Even they'd heard of someone that important. Who didn't know the Four Emperors of the Sea?
"Luffy," Zoro coughed once more to clear his throat, "that's not just any pirate you can claim to be under. Whitebeard is the Strongest Man in the World. I'm pretty sure a man of that caliber wouldn't like having people using his name so easily."
"Okay," Luffy tilted his head to the side in confusion and looked at Sanji, who seemed like the only one who believed him.
Sanji only took another calming drag from his cigarette and shrugged. At least his suspicions had been confirmed, and he finally remembered what group that tattoo belonged to. ASL, the Children from Hell, or something like that. Not that knowing any of that would make any difference. Just satisfy his curiosity. And if Whitebeard or whoever decided to rain hell on them, he'd protect Nami-san with his life. The rest could drown in hell for all he cared.
"What brought on that question?" Usopp asked.
"Just remembering the picture the geezer had and wondering which pirate crew was crazy enough to take on this bottomless pit."
"Oh, that's right. You and your brothers were picked up by a pirate crew. What were they like?" Nami asked. "Were they scary? Where did they leave you?"
"Nope. They were super nice. Sometimes they would leave us by ourselves for days or weeks just so they could go do something without us. That wasn't as fun. We'd run out of food before they get back, so we had to find our own food. There was this one time, the whole island burned, and it wasn't even our fault," Luffy pouted.
Truth or not, Nami didn't like the idea of anyone actually leaving children alone on an island to fend for themselves. That was just irresponsible. Or maybe it was all in Luffy's imagination. It could be. There was no way a pirate crew would keep kids on their ship, unless it was to use them for their own needs.
"Mr. Guardian, saved the island by throwing lots of water on the fire."
"Who's Mr. Guardian?" Usopp asked.
"The sea king that watches our island for us."
Ok. Definitely more of Luffy's fantasy stories. Nami giggled at the wild imagination her captain had. It was cute, unlike Usopp's. She really needed to get him to stop telling tall tales though. It was bound to get them in trouble one of these days. Especially if he kept bringing big named pirates into it.
-*/
"I see an island," Usopp called out one afternoon.
"How does it look?" Nami asked coming up to next to him.
"I don't know. I just see a lot of trees," he said, handing her the binoculars.
"Hmm. No point in going to an island that doesn't have anything," Nami said as she scanned the island with the binoculars, looking for any hint of civilization.
"We should go," Luffy said from behind them where he had been napping with Zoro. He looked too excited to have just woken up. "We can explore the island. It'll be an adventure."
"And maybe we can scare up some ingredients. It wouldn't hurt to stock up," Sanji said, coming out from the kitchen. "Snacks are ready."
"Yeah! Snack! Snack! Sanji's snack!" Luffy sang as he got up to go to the kitchen, tripping over Zoro's leg in his hurry, waking the swordsman in the process. The swordsman ended up going back to sleep after some grumbling.
Nami shrugged, agreeing with Sanji that they should restock on whatever they could get on the island. She steered the ship towards the island, knowing that Sanji would bring her portion of snacks to her.
After reaching the island, Nami and Sanji stayed behind to watch over the ship, letting the rest go explore. Luffy was the first to go, rocketing himself off the ship before they even properly set anchor.
"Hopefully they find a market or at least bring back something edible," Nami said to herself. "Then at we wouldn't have to worry about being low on food."
"Don't you worry, Nami-san. If those idiots don't bring back anything, I'll personally make sure you have enough to eat," Sanji practically melted at the thought of being left alone with Nami.
It didn't take long before they were startled by a loud noise and the shaking of the island. It was followed up by roars of animals. "I'll go start on dinner," Sanji said, turning towards the kitchen, not at all disturbed by the noises of the island.
At least there wasn't any screaming. Usopp's didn't count.
Nami joined him in ignoring the crazy by going through her map and plotting their next route.
Sanji was just putting the finishing touches on dinner when he heard Usopp's screams getting louder along with the sounds of wild animals. He walked out to see Nami already at the rail working her mouth to say something but nothing came out. So he went to stand next to her to see what had her tongue tied.
"What the hell are you shitty idiots doing?!" he screeched at the sight of what was going on.
It looked like the all the wild animals on the island had come out of the forest chasing Usopp with Zoro chasing the horde behind them. Where was the shitty captain? Sitting on a tiger, having the time of his life, of course.
"Sanji, which one do you want?" Luffy called out laughing. "We didn't know which one you'd want, so we brought them all."
"Oh. Well, then. I'll take that one, that one, that one, that one, and that one," Sanji answered, relieved that they weren't just playing around. Having a variety of meat would be nice. He turned his head towards Nami to let her know that dinner was ready, only to find out that the scene off the ship wasn't what had her tongue tied, It was whatever was in the newspaper that had caught her eyes. He peered over her shoulder to see what caught her attention.
It was a wanted poster that came with the day's paper. He gave a whistle at the amount given.
The sound brought Nami out of her shock. "WHAT'S WITH THIS INSANE AMOUNT!?" she shrieked. She quickly scanned through the newspaper to find the article on Luffy for an explanation.
Sanji went back to looking over the rail to see the animals he picked had been dealt with and the rest of the animals had retreated back to the jungle in fear. Poor Usopp was on the ground panting and whining at the other two for using him as bait, while Luffy was laughing at him. He decided to go down to help them bring everything back onto the ship.
Once they were done chopping up the pieces to make them more manageable and putting everything in storage, Nami grabbed Luffy by the front of his tank top to rant.
"How does defeating a marine captain, Don Krieg, and Arlong equate to this amount as a first bounty?!"
"Ooo. It went up?" Luffy said, and he smiled at his new bounty when it was shoved in his face.
"Up? Up?! UP! WHAT DO YOU MEAN UP? WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?! We're doomed!" she cried. With a bounty that high, they were bound to run into greedy bounty hunters and strong marines.
Usopp and Zoro were now crowded around them to see the new wanted poster. It was a picture taken at Nami's village, with Luffy wearing Sabo's outfit and his strawhat without the top hat hiding it.
"Let's see 'Strawhat Luffy, Children of Hell: L?' What's with the question mark after L? 'Dead or Alive, 110 million beli,'" Usopp read, his voice rising in volume as he read.
"Impressive," Zoro grinned at the thought of stronger opponents going after them.
"Impressive or not, that's too high for a first bounty from East Blue. Isn't the average bounty around 3 million? That would make Luffy the highest bounty in East Blue after Arlong," Usopp said with wide eyes.
"Yes, but Arlong was originally from Grand Line," Nami sighed, finally letting go of Luffy.
Luffy took the poster to admire it and chuckled, completely ignoring what they were all saying.
"Are you listening?" Nami pulled at his ear. "What did you do to get a bounty that high?"
"Ow. That hurts," he held his ear after it was snapped back. "I did a lot of things, usually with my brothers, though. We raided marine bases, fought marines, made marines mad, you know, pirate stuff."
"Raided marine bases?" Sanji asked. Why would anyone want to raid a marine base? Normally, one would fight marines going after them but to raid a base?
Luffy turned to Sanji to tell his story proudly, "Yeah! We were hungry and didn't have any money on us. So we went to the nearest base and snuck in to eat all their food. No one even knew we were there until we cleaned out the kitchen," he laughed.
Nami brought her hand to her face in exasperation, wondering when she'd get a real answer from him, rather than the imaginary tales he liked to tell. Usopp must be rubbing off on him.
-*/
"All right, everyone," Nami called out to the crew. "We're nearing the next island, the last island before we get into Grand Line, Polestar. More specifically, we'll be docking at the main town there, Loguetown, also known as the town of the beginning and the end. It's where Gold Roger was born and executed. Meaning," she gave Luffy a meaningful look, "there will be more marines here than anywhere else we've been. There's a marine base, so we'll have to be even more careful to not be caught before we make it to Grand Line. From there, it's Reverse Mountain, then Grand Line."
Luffy cheered at the prospect of being in his home sea soon.
Nami punched him in the head to get him to calm down. "Because someone here for some odd reason has a huge bounty, we'll have to be extra cautious. That means you, Luffy," she pointed at him. "Put this on before you even leave the ship and make sure to keep your face covered." She handed him a long thin black coat with a hood.
He immediately gave it to Zoro to help him put it on. The back of the coat had an image of a strange smiley face with spokes sticking out. It reminded the crew of a cheery, yet creepy, sun. Oddly enough, there was a straw hat on the face that looked like it was a new addition.
If that was the symbol for another pirate, it wasn't one that Sanji recognized.
"Isn't that a problem?" Usopp asked Nami, pointing to where Luffy was walking away from them. The end of the coat was dragging a good foot behind him.
Their captain then turned around to show off his coat, only to step on a corner of the coat and trip.
"Yeah, that is a problem," Nami said thoughtfully. "The sleeves are long, too. I think I can fix that."
"No. I'm talking about the straw hat on the back," Usopp turned Luffy around to show her.
"Yeah, I saw that, but this was the only thing I could find that would properly conceal his face without covering too much and looking suspicious," she said before going to her room. She came out to see Usopp rolling up the sleeves for Luffy and went up to them to put the finishing touch on the outfit.
"Here," she said as she tied a sash over the coat to hold it up high enough so that it didn't drag. "Now, don't forget to cover your face when you get off the ship." She pulled the hood over his head. "I don't want any trouble getting off the island. It's going to be a pain as is to get through Reverse Mountain without having to escape from marines, too."
"I can't wait til we get there. I want to see where Roger lived and the execution site," Luffy said as he ran around excitedly.
The rest of the crew just hoped that they could do some shopping in peace. Nami had planned on getting more paper and ink for her maps. Usopp wanted to look around to see if there was anything cool he could add to his arsenal. Zoro needed new swords to replace the ones that broke in his fight with Mihawk. Sanji was going to see if he could find some spices to replenish his stock, and of course, more importantly, woman hunting.
Once they finally made it, Nami fixed his hood and warned him once more to keep his face hidden before letting him go.
Luffy wasn't sure where the execution stand was, but that wasn't a problem. He'd just have to explore the whole place to find it. It was already exciting just to be in the same town Gol D. Roger was born in.
As much fun as it was to wonder where the Pirate King did this and that, Luffy was getting tired of walking around and not finding the execution stand. So he wasn't sure if he was lucky or not when he literally ran into someone. Seeing as the other person was taller and more muscular, Luffy was the one to fall backward.
"You okay there, kid?" the man bent over to help him up.
Luffy remembered at the last minute to pull his hood back over his head before taking the man's hand. "I'm okay. That didn't hurt," he answered as he dusted his bottom. "Oh yeah. Do you know how I can get to the execution site?"
Smoker narrowed his eyes at the excited kid, wondering why he was trying to hide his face. "Execution site? Why would you want to go there?"
"I want to see what the Pirate King saw before he died," Luffy looked up to him as he answered with wide, bright eyes.
The marine captain caught a glimpse of a scar under the left eye before the boy looked around as if he could see the execution stand from there. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about this kid.
"You won't see it from here." Smoker's lip twitched in amusement when Luffy visibly deflated. "Go in the direction of the smoke, and you'll find it," he used his Devil's Fruit ability to point Luffy in the right direction. He'd take the kid there himself if he could, but he had a pirate to catch. There was a rumor that Monkey D. Luffy would be on this island.
Luffy looked up at the cigar, which kind of reminded him of Uncle Vista, and saw the smoke flowing behind the man. "Thanks!" It wasn't long before he took off running. There was only so much exploring one could do without an adventure before it got boring.
In his excitement, he didn't even notice he ran past Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, and Nami.
"Was that Luffy?" Nami asked, looking towards where she thought she saw Luffy running.
"Yeah," Zoro said, narrowing his eyes towards an alleyway across from them.
"We may need to set sail soon," Sanji said, tossing all his purchases to Usopp, catching on to what Zoro saw.
"You guys get the ship ready, we'll be there as soon as we get that idiot," Zoro said as he and Sanji took off after Luffy.
Usopp and Nami exchanged a confused look before running back towards the ship to do as they were told. It never hurt to be prepared, and with their track record, Luffy was bound to do something stupid enough to have them running for their lives.
Sure enough, there were armed marines running in the direction Luffy went. They picked up their pace, hoping the marines hadn't gotten to their ship yet.
"We better hurry," Nami said as she looked to the sky. "The air has changed. A storm is coming."
-*/-*/-*/
Luffy finally made it to the execution stand as it started to rain. He made it all the way to the top and looked down and around to see what the Pirate King saw before he died, completely ignoring the yells for him to get down. He wondered if Ace and Sabo came to see this before going home.
In his excitement, he didn't realize there was someone else up there with him. He barely had time to dodge the sword that came down towards his head.
"Hmm? Who are you again?" Luffy asked. He remembered seeing the big red nose before but couldn't put a name to the funny face.
"How dare you forget my flashy self?! I am Buggy! Buggy the Clown!" the clown screamed, swinging his sword again.
Luffy dodged this swing as well but slipped on the wet platform. Buggy took this chance to kick the young captain then lock him in a wooden restraint.
Luffy stretched his neck and pulled at his hands, but he couldn't get out. His hood had come off, showing his face to everyone there, including the marines hidden around the plaza.
"Behold!" Buggy shouted to the audience he had in the plaza. He had all his crew stop them from running away from the show. "A most super flashy execution is about to begin! You should feel honored, Straw Hat. You get to die in the same place as the late Pirate King."
"Oh yeah!" Luffy said, remembering who the clown was, carefree of what was about to happen. "You're that clown!"
"You're just now remembering in this situation?" Buggy exclaimed.
"Oh, look. It's Sanji and Zoro," Luffy said as he saw his crewmates in the plaza below, fighting Buggy's Pirate crew to get to him. "Zoro! Sanji!" he called out and waved at them, only to be yelled at in return.
"You stupid captain! Get yourself out of there and let's go!" They both yelled.
"How dare you flashily ignore me! Today, I will have my revenge. You will flashily die for my humiliation!" Buggy seethed.
"Die?" Luffy said humorously, eying Buggy above him. "You can't kill me, and I won't die here. I'M THE MAN WHO'LL BE THE PIRATE KING!" He shouted then started laughing loudly.
Zoro and Sanji looked up in shocked confusion, wondering what their crazy captain was going to do now. Their eyes widened in fear when Buggy swung his sword down in anger.
Everyone on the ground had to shade their eyes when a blinding blue and gold light flew over them and crashed into the scaffold the same time lightning struck it, bringing the whole structure down and burning it to a crisp.
Zoro and Sanji blinked to clear the spots from their eyes and were shocked when Luffy stood up from the rubble, unharmed.
"See. You can't kill me," he laughed, dusting himself.
"You idiot captain!" Zoro quickly grabbed hold of Luffy around his middle, carrying him as they ran away. "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"Hurry," Sanji said running alongside them. "There are marines swarming the place."
"But -"
"We have to hurry and get off this island," Sanji glared at his captain. "Nami-san is already on the ship, getting it ready for us to leave."
"'Kay," Luffy said, obediently staying still for Zoro to carry him and fight the marines in their way with one sword. It wasn't easy, but luckily, these marines were just small fries. The swordsman wasn't going to risk letting Luffy run on his own. Who knew what craziness he'd pull.
They were soon stopped by a woman with a sword blocking their way.
"Woah! Who's this lady?" Sanji cried out in joy.
"So you're Roronoa Zoro, a pirate. You lied to me, didn't you," she accused.
"What?!" Sanji stopped to yell at Zoro. "What did you do to her?"
Zoro ignored the cook and walked a couple steps towards her. "You never asked my name. I didn't lie to you." He finally let Luffy go so he could concentrate on the opponent before him. There was no way he'd be able to defeat her with just one sword. He was going to need both hands.
When she attacked, he stopped her sword and held it there. "You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up with you soon. Go!"
"You better not hurt her, you shitty moss head," Sanji yelled before he continued running dragging Luffy with him.
They didn't get far when thick smoke surrounded them before it went past. Sanji stopped in confusion and let go of Luffy to get ready for an ambush.
His captain took this chance to turn around, following the strong presence that stopped behind them. Instead, he tripped on his coat that was too loose and long on him. The sash that was tying it up had fallen during their run.
There was a yelp, causing Sanji to turn and see his captain on the ground while a man with white hair poked a jute into Luffy's chest.
"Gah! Sea stone," Luffy said, not bothering to struggle to get free. "Oh. Hi. Thanks for the help before."
"What? Sea stone?" Sanji said, confused as to why and how a marine helped Luffy.
"I see. A fruit user. To a fruit user, sea stone is like a solid form of the sea, a weakness for all Devil Fruit users," the man said. "The name's Smoker, the captain of the marine base here. If I knew you were Straw Hat Luffy earlier, I would have arrested you then."
The kick Sanji delivered went right through the man, smoke appearing where his leg went through.
Zoro saw what was happening and quickly knocked Tashigi out and the rest of the marines that were watching. He wasn't sure if he could make it to them in time.
"I ate the Moku Moku Fruit. I'm made of smoke. You won't be able to land a hit." Smoker sent a fist at Sanji to push him away, so he could arrest Luffy without interruption.
"Hi," Luffy smiled, looking behind Smoker, startling the Marine.
A hand was on top of the jute over his own, pulling it up slightly. Smoker looked back to see who dared to interrupt as he struggled to pull his weapon back. His grip slackened in surprise at seeing who was under the hood.
Luffy wiggled free and was about to dust himself off, when he was grabbed by the wrist and pulled away from the mess. "This way," another hooded person said, dragging him away. Confused, Zoro and Sanji followed, hoping this person was on their side. Luffy had to use one hand to gather up the coat so it wouldn't drag and get even more dirty, or worse, rip.
Once the other person thought they were safely far enough, he stopped and pulled back his hood and smiled at Luffy. "It's been a while, Luffy."
"Jeff! You finally left your island?" Luffy laughed.
"Yeah. I did what you said and found them a year ago. It's been tough, and you were right. They're nice people. Thanks," Jeff said shyly, looking between Zoro and Sanji. Live life without regrets, right? He leaned his face toward's Luffy's.
The other two were too shocked at what was about to happen to do anything. Should they do something? But Luffy wasn't stopping it.
Before Jeff could kiss Luffy's cheek, a loud, angry screech was heard overhead. The sight of Luffy being picked up along with the other person by a large blue and gold FLAMING! bird got Zoro and Sanji out of their shock. They started running after them, shouting at the bird to drop them. Zoro had two of his swords out, ready to attack if it came towards them.
"Drop our captain, you damn bird, and fight like a man!"
"You shitty bird, come down here and be cooked like the ingredient you are!"
Luffy was laughing and having the time of his life, until the bird shook him and his other passenger in its talons. Then he was screaming in fear along with Jeff, who was screaming the whole time.
"Zoro! Sanji! Save me!" The young captain stretched his arms out of the too long sleeves to grab both of his crewmates and pulled them up in the air with him.
"What the hell are you doing?" Zoro waved his sword threateningly at him. He tried to cut the bird's legs, but his sword just went through flames.
Soon the three of them were dropped on the deck of Merry, while Jeff was still in the bird's death grip.
Nami and Usopp both screamed in fear.
"What the hell is going on?" Nami yelled from the helm. They were a good distance from the island. Far enough that she knew no one could board without them seeing their ship first.
"We're under attack! The marines are trying to burn down the ship!" Usopp wailed from the crow's nest.
Zoro and Sanji quickly got up and took in their surroundings. Luckily, they were flown over and landed on the right ship, or they wouldn't have been able to make it to the ship. Not unless Luffy slingshotted them onboard. They weren't sure if that would have been safer.
The bird then turned into a human with blond hair with its wings and talons still intact, shaking Jeff with an angry face. "I saved your ass from the duo the first time," the man seethed. "Now, I see that was a mistake. I should have let them burn you to a crisp that day-yoi."
The sight had Luffy scuttling to hide behind Zoro. "You have to hide me," Luffy whispered desperately. "He's mad."
The man then turned fully human and held Jeff down with a foot and turned to glare at Luffy, causing Zoro and Sanji to stand protectively, shielding their captain. That didn't stop the man from glaring right past them.
"And you," the man growled.
"Marco the Pheonix from Whitebeard's crew, right? Look here," Zoro said, recognizing the man and the tattoo on his chest, "we're sorry our captain used your captain's name. It wasn't like he was going around flaunting it or anything. There's no need for a fight." Man word got out fast. How the hell did a crew all the way from Grand Line hear already and get here so fast? Now was not a good time for a fight, not when they still had to worry about the marines.
Marco relaxed and raised an eyebrow at the green-haired swordsman. "It would save us a lot of worry and stress if he did go around flaunting our name. It would keep him mostly out of trouble-yoi."
"But then it wouldn't be fun," Luffy pouted, sticking his head out from behind Zoro. "Everyone would just run away. No one knows me here. It's fun."
"Wait a minute," Nami said, steering the ship towards Red Line and fighting the strong currents. "You mean, he wasn't lying? He was a part of Whitebeard?! Wait. YOU'RE THE SHINY BLUE FIRE BIRD?!"
Marco huffed a laugh at the description of himself. "Luffy can't lie to save his life. It's too obvious when he does. The problem lies in trying to figure out what he's saying-yoi. So, yes. I am the shiny blue fire bird, also known as a phoenix-yoi." He changed an arm into a wing to show them. "It's my Devil's Fruit."
He then kicked Jeff towards a hooded man who'd just appeared. "You should warn your people to keep their hands to themselves. The next time, my family will make sure he has no hands left to work with-yoi."
"Where'd you come from?" Sanji growled, a leg ready to attack. This one, he didn't recognize.
The hood was pulled back to show a dangerous looking man with a tattoo down his face. "Don't worry. I'm not an enemy," he held up his hands in surrender and grinned.
"Wait, wait. So what happened?" Usopp said, after he climbed down, sensing it was safer on the deck than up where the winds could blow him off and ran to hide behind Nami.
"Shitty captain almost got himself killed at the execution site, escaped, then got caught by a marine captain. Mr. Dangerous there, saved him, I think. That shitty kid," Sanji pointed at Jeff, "tried to kiss our shitty captain, and our shitty captain did nothing to stop him. Then Birdy, here, snatched them both up. It was just all around shitty."
"I'm not sure who I should be mad at," Nami glared at Jeff. "You for trying that with our captain or Luffy."
The tattooed man looked down at the bruised and battered Jeff. "I didn't realize you were more than just a fan of my son."
"Son?!" the Straw Hats and Jeff cried out in surprise.
"I thought he was your son," Jeff said to Marco.
"He is. They sort of adopted me. Long story short, I'm Pops, and that's Dad," Marco said, confusing them.
"Dad…wait. So you're the dragon?" Nami asked, recalling what Luffy told her.
"Close. My name is Dragon, leader of the Revolutionaries," he grinned. "It's not really a secret at the base, but I'd like to keep this a secret from the marines a little longer," he told them.
"Sanji," Nami said, nearly in tears. "Take the helm. There's so much going on here that I don't know what to be surprised about anymore."
Usopp, on the other hand, was already literally scared stiff. Not even the stormy wind could move him at this point. Not only was there a member of the World's Strongest Person's crew on their ship, but also the head of the Revolutionary Army. He was too shocked to cry with Nami. No, it was best to just run away from it all. Oh look. A beautiful field of flowers….
"Pretty goldfish?" Nami asked weakly, not really sure if she wanted to know the answer.
"Goldfish? Oh, that's Luffy's mother," Marco answered.
Dragon gave Marco a confused look. "I didn't marry a goldfish."
"No, I didn't think you did. The Queen took a liking to the kids-yoi," Marco explained with a grin.
"Queen?" Dragon asked, not understanding what the commander was talking about, a little alarmed at where this was going. As the leader of the Revolutionary Army, and Luffy's father, he'd need to know who to keep an eye out for. Not that he played favorites or anything.
"You know, married to King Neptune, who Luffy likes to call, Scruffy," Marco nearly laughed at the nickname for the King.
It took a few seconds before the information clicked. "Ah. The Queen. Yes, she was beautiful and very kind hearted," Dragon nodded in approval, secretly agreeing with the nickname.
Nami was right. She did regret asking. She didn't want to know anymore. Now there's royalty involved.
"Luffy," Marco said dangerously, when he caught the boy trying to slip away. "Don't think I've forgotten the stunt you pulled." He moved so fast that he disappeared from their sight to reappear in front of Luffy.
"I'm sorry?" Luffy asked with wide, hopeful eyes.
"No, you're not," Marco gave Luffy a haki infused punch to the head. "You could have easily gotten yourself out of that mess, and yet, you did nothing and waited for us." There went another punch. "Why?"
"Because you and dad wouldn't come out and play," Luffy said through his tears, rubbing his pained head.
Marco raised his fist to hit his son again, only to be beaten to it by Zoro. "That's for the near heart attack you gave me. Don't do that again."
Sanji came up behind Zoro to do the same. "If that jackass killed you, I'd have found a way to bring you back just to kick your head in," he growled.
"I have no idea what the hell happened out there," Nami said calmly, looking down at Luffy, who was crouched on the ground with his hands over his head, "and I don't want to know. I don't think I can handle it right now." She took a deep breath before screaming at him. "You could have at least warned us about everything else! Look at Usopp," she pointed at the long-nosed teen, "he's so shocked that he's escaped reality." She punched him for good measure. "Next time, explain things in a way we'd understand," she shook her fist at him, enjoying the fact that he was now cowering in fear from her.
She then walked over to Jeff and pummeled him with her fist. "I don't want to see you near Luffy ever again. He's our captain. You got that? OUR captain. You can't have him. He's taken," she poked him in his chest with a fist to her hip.
Sanji gave a glare to back her up, while Zoro had his hand on his now sheathed sword.
Dragon gave a laugh before raising his hand, signaling for his ride. "It seems Luffy is in good hands. This is as far as I will help. We will take our leave now." With that a large crow came to give them a ride.
Zoro looked at Marco with a raised eyebrow, expectantly.
"I still have time, so I'll be staying with you guys a bit longer,-yoi." Luffy cheered and jumped into Marco's arms. "You might want to watch where you're going," Marco said after getting Luffy settled and pointed.
Nami looked towards the front where he was pointing to see a large red rock wall coming towards them. She smacked Usopp back to his senses and gave orders so they could avoid a collision.
"I don't get it," Nami said once they were in the clear, blinking through the rain. The storm was worse closer to Red Line. "I thought we were on the right course to go straight into Reverse Mountain."
"Oh, that's probably Dragon's fault-yoi," Marco stated from his seat on the deck with Luffy in his lap, leaning back against the rails. It was like the tension of almost crashing didn't affect them.
Usopp was doing his best to ignore the person that shouldn't be there. If he wasn't acknowledged, he'd disappear.
"What do you mean?" Nami asked from the helm, staring straight ahead so they didn't get any more surprises.
Marco smirked at Usopp's obvious discomfort of him. "He gave your ship a little push to get away from Luffy's pursuers a little quicker. You shouldn't be too far off course-yoi."
"I see the light," Nami cried out.
"What's the light got to do with anything?" Usopp asked.
"That light points to the entrance of Grand Line," Nami explained. Marco nodded, impressed with her knowledge.
"Are we really going to go through in this storm?" Usopp whined.
Luffy jumped up off Marco's lap to join the rest of his crew at the front of the ship. "Of course we are!" he said excitedly. "It'll be fun!"
"All right. Let's have a little launching ceremony to commemorate the start of our journey," Sanji said as he rolled over a barrel of water.
Sanji started by putting a foot on top of the barrel once they all agreed. "To find All Blue."
"To become the Pirate King!"
"To become the greatest Swordsman."
"I want to draw a map of the world."
"I-I'm- I'm going to be a brave warrior of the sea!"
They all ignored Marco's quiet chuckle after Usopp's declaration and lifted their legs to break the barrel.
"Let's go! To Paradise!" Luffy called out.
"Yeah!"
"Wait, paradise?" Usopp asked once they'd broken the barrel.
Marco clapped from where he sat, the storm not bothering him in the least. "With that determination, you will do fine."
"L-l-liar!" Usopp pointed at him from behind Zoro, finally acknowledging the extra passenger. "You laughed. That's right! I know I'm a chicken! B-but just like my dad, the pirate flag called."
"Like I said," Marco waved him off, "you guys will do fine. I trust Luffy. He chose you for a reason, so be proud of that. He wouldn't have brought you if he didn't think you had potential. Believe in your captain."
They all looked at Luffy standing there proudly before they were in a flurry of motion once Nami spotted the entrance of Reverse Mountain.
"I question his sanity though," Sanji muttered as he ran past Marco, when he saw Luffy run to sit on the figurehead.
"And I question who exactly the captain of this ship is-yoi," Marco said with a smile, eying Nami as she snapped out commands. He got up to stand behind Luffy, to make sure he didn't fall off.
They were an odd bunch, but he could see why Luffy picked them. They worked around Luffy's lack of command and didn't seem to mind taking charge where needed. Not to mention they took Luffy's oddity up until now and treated him just as anyone at home would.
He'd leave it to the official welcoming committee to welcome them to the family. There was no way he'd be able to keep them away. He can't wait to hear how it goes.
Omake
After Dressrosa, Bartolomeo decided to quit being a mafia boss and gathered his own pirate crew, just like his role model, Luffy-sempai. He traveled all the way back to East Blue to convince and recruit his group to follow him.
It was fate that brought him and Luffy to Loguetown on the same day. He was so excited that he couldn't go near the blinding light that was Luffy-sempai!
Even better, his whole crew got to see how awesome Luffy-sempai was! The calm, noncaring laugh in the face of death. Then the miraculous escape! Was there nothing his hero couldn't do? Luffy-sempai was just pure awesomeness!
The Barto Club attempted to follow Going Merry when they were escaping the marines but lost them in the storm. Damn the storm for pushing them way off course.
They ended up drifting along Calm Belt for a while. Thank goodness for his experience in Grand Line and the crew that took him, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to save Apis and his crew from the swarm of Sea Kings that tried to eat them.
Bartolomeo was going to have to train this crew if they were going to make it through Grand Line and catch up with Luffy-sempai He was not going to have them embarrass him in front of his hero.
First thing first. They had to save Apis and her dragon from those greedy marines. Why? Because that's what Luffy-sempai would have done. Luffy-sempai would never leave a friend in distress. Well, that and the fact that Erik and Nelson annoyed him.
Luckily, the power of Luffy-sempai was with him and his crew. They somehow were able to defeat those marines and leave Calm Belt. It was just too bad that Apis was too young, or Bartolomeo would have asked her to join him. She was very brave, perfect for his crew, and he was sure that Luffy-sempai would have liked her. At least he was able to regale the gloriousness of Luffy-sempai to everyone on Warship Island during his stay.
A/N: Again, sorry for taking so long to update. So many things has kept me busy, and it may just be this way for a long while. Future updates may take just as long. Thank you so much for staying with me. I promise to try and update whenever I can.