Disclaimer... I don't own One Piece.
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"Thoughts"
"Dialogue"
"Here Luffy, you left your bottle of sake," Koby said, giving Luffy his remaining third of a bottle.
"Ah thank you, Koby. I completely forgot," Luffy replied before taking a small pull and adding, "But I think Zoro deserves it more, don't you?" Putting the sake bottle in front of Zoro as they walked into town.
"What do you mean?" Asked Koby before giving him a once over and noticing the bullet wound on his arm.
"AHH, Zoro you have a bullet in your arm! You have to go to a doctor fast!"
"Don't worry Koby, I'll be fine for now. It's not my first bullet after all." Zoro stated, shrugging his right arm and taking the offered sake from Luffy, chugging a good amount himself.
"So, where to now?" Zoro asked as they were nearing the coast.
"We are heading back to the bar to get you some food, other than rice. Then we need to get some supplies so we can make it to the next island." Luffy answered before turning to Koby. "Koby, we'll need to part ways on this island. I assume Zoro and I will be considered criminals by the time those marines wake up."
"Ok, that's fine. I guess I never thanked you for saving me on that pirate ship. So thanks Luffy, I thought I would die on that ship." Koby replied while looking at Luffy with respect and appreciation.
Zoro looked at Luffy and asked, "That reminds me, Luffy, when we were fighting those marines, you disappeared and most were beaten, and the others just passed out. How did you knock out those marines? You didn't even move and they all dropped like flies."
"That was something called, Haoshoku Haki or some know it as Conquerer's Haki. It is a manifestation of willpower in the form of intimidation. I'll tell you more about it when we leave this island."
"You were able to knock out trained marines, just by intimidating them!? That's...impressive... How many people can you intimidate at once?" Koby asked just before they entered the bar.
"I don't know exactly. I've never found the limit to the power. But if I had to put a number on it, I would say easily more than a hundred thousand people about the same strength of those marines Zoro and I just fought. I assume it also depends on how well I can use the other forms of Haki." Luffy answered before sitting at a table in the back of the bar.
"If you can use it on that many people, calling it Conqueror's Haki is self-explanatory. But I'd assume it's rare, otherwise, the average person could overthrow a nation pretty easily." Zoro stated, looking towards the bar, before seeing the little girl who made the riceballs rushing over.
"You are correct Zoro, and If I remember correctly that specific form of Haki, is only attainable for those with the qualities of a king, otherwise only one in around five million can use it."
"Zoro! Oh no, you're injured, come on I'll get momma to stitch you up." The little girl said with a smile, before leading Zoro to the back of the bar.
"Luffy, you said before we entered the bar, something about other forms of Haki, how many are there?" Koby asked Luffy.
"There are 3 forms in total, Presence, Fighting Spirit, and Intimidation. Kenbunshoku, Busoshoku, Haoshoku or Observation, Armament, and Conquerors. The first two are accessible to every living thing in the world, although most don't awaken it in life. If they do it is just before death."
"So, I can learn these techniques too?" Koby inquired in disbelief.
"Yes, you can, and will especially if you want to be a Navy Admiral." Luffy replied to Koby, whose facelifted considerably at the thought.
"How do I learn these techniques?"
"Strenuous training and disciplining the mind, one must be acutely aware of his surroundings, but that is only for Armament and Observation. Conqueror's Haki can't be attained by training, it just happens naturally. Though it can be strengthened by training." Luffy stated before seeing Zoro emerge from the back of the bar, with a bandage on his right arm.
"They fix you up?" Luffy asked Zoro as he walked back.
"Yeah, but I had to dig the bullet out myself. " Zoro replied before sitting back down at the table. "What were you two talking about?"
"I just told him the basics of Haki, I'll tell you the details when we leave the island," Luffy said before waving over the little girl and pulling out his remaining 50,000 berries. "I need whatever Zoro wants to eat, and as much food as we can get with this," Luffy said and handed the girl the sack of gold. The look on the child's face was pure elation at the amount of berries in her hands.
"Luffy are you sure, you should spend all your berries on food here? You might need some later." Koby asked.
"Nah, I'm sure we'll be fine. I just hope it's enough food to last us until we reach the next island."
"Luffy, what is the next Island we are going to?" Zoro asked as plates of Sea King meat and greens found its way in front of him.
Luffy pulled out a map of the surrounding islands, "Let me check... ummm, we are going to the Organ Islands, but the only marked location on this map is Orange Town. So we'll head there."
"Just as I thought. Luffy, I heard a pirate crew took over the town a few months back. Their captain has the second largest bounty in the East Blue, with a 15 million berri bounty." Zoro stated before digging into the full course meal in front of him.
"15 MILLION! Alvida only had a 5 million berri bounty. That guy must be a monster." Koby replied, imagining what this criminal could be like.
Seeing Koby's reaction, Luffy turned to Zoro and asked, "What's his name?"
Nearly finished with his first plate, Zoro slowed down and cleared his throat with some sake. "Ah, that hit the spot. The pirate's name is Buggy the Clown. I heard he was a Grand Line pirate long ago, but settled here."
"Buggy...Buggy... I swear I've heard that name before. Doesn't matter, we are heading there anyway." Luffy declared with a grin.
An hour went by, Luffy and Zoro left the bar and were on their way. Zoro with a few bottles of sake in each hand, and Luffy with a giant sack of food on his shoulder. When they reached the Dingy, Zoro laughed for a good minute before trailing off. "I shouldn't have expected anything else."
"Don't worry it's not permanent. We will find something better soon." Luffy said as he pushed the moored dingy into the sea. It would take around three days before they would reach the island and that's with the right winds and catching currents. "Zoro, we will switch off on paddling every so often, but you start first. I need to get us going in the right direction." Luffy said as he was looking back and forth between the map and compass.
After a good hour of rowing, Zoro felt the wind pick up, while putting down the sails he asked, "So Luffy, what else about this Haki did you want to tell me about?"
"Well, there are three known types of Haki. Observation or Kenbunshoku is when you discipline your mind and are extremely attuned to the environment around you. It lets someone sense emotions and accurately predict someone's movements before they can even put the thought into action. Those who practice this form for years can even predict the immediate future."
"That sounds incredible, what about the others?"
"Next is Armament or Busoshoku, this lets the user create an invisible armor around the body, which can even be applied to weapons, observe." Luffy then pulled his pipe off his back and held it in front of him, the gray steel became covered by a purplish black reflective paint. "This is Armament Haki and when applied to weapons, it makes it nearly unbreakable and can even bypass devil fruit powers. These two are accessible to every living thing in the world."
"Devil Fruit? I've faced two users before. They were extremely overconfident in their abilities." Zoro stated while resting his arm on one of the paddles.
"Most are unfortunately, but I'll tell you about devil fruit after I am finished with Haki."
"Last is Conqueror's or Haoshoku Haki, as you heard earlier only one in around five million people are capable of this ability. It isn't attainable by training but can be improved with the correct training. It is said, those with this form of Haki have the qualities to be a King or Queen."
"I don't see how it can compare to Observation or Armament though, It just seems useful to knock out large numbers of weak opponents." Zoro declared, nearly losing interest and was about to start rowing again.
"I thought the same when I was learning all of this, but Conqueror's can be applied to the other two forms."
"How so?" This caught Zoro's attention again.
"When combined with Observation, a user can pick out specific people to incapacitate. This can also significantly improve the distance, users can intimidate people or things. When combined with Armament, the Haki will be exponentially more powerful. It can even cause damage to the environment around you, which some people refer to as 'Pressure'."
"I see, I stand corrected. That sounds very valuable. So what about devil fruit?"
"Alright, so Devil fruit are some of the rarest treasures the sea has to offer. They are apparently incarnations of sea devils, and in return for their powers the devils take your ability to swim."
"That can't be true. Sea Devils don't exist." Zoro replied while opening a bottle of sake with a pop.
"I don't know about any Sea Devils, but I know I can't swim anymore," Luffy spoke looking out onto the sea.
"Wait, you ate a devil fruit? What is it?" Zoro asked, looking at Luffy in disbelief.
"The Devil Fruit I ate, is among the rarest and most powerful in the entire world, A Mythical Zoan. From what I've been told, only two other people in the entire world have a devil fruit like mine."
"Mythical Zoan? What makes it so special?"
"I'll show you." Luffy smiled, stood up in the dingy and announced, "Repentance". A golden halo consumed in white flames appeared over Luffy head, and he continued, "This is my hybrid form."
Then Luffy announced, "The Ninth Circle." A blinding light then enveloped Luffy for a second. When the light faded, Zoro could finally see what made this devil fruit 'Mythical'. Luffy had what looked to be angel wings, that were about six feet long each. He still had the golden halo which is above his head and overwhelmed with a raging white flame. It was so intense, the water around the dingy started to steam and Zoro started to sweat because of the absurd heat. "This is my fully transformed form," Luffy declared before reverting back to his base form and sitting back down.
"I can manipulate and control a special kind of fire. I call it "Holy Fire", and ever since I ate the fruit I haven't been burned by anything. So, I assume I'm immune to fire. Although on Dawn Island, I couldn't really test that theory."
"What is it called?" Zoro asked Luffy, still in awe of his transformation.
"I've taken to calling it the Tenshi Tenshi no mi. But if you were to classify the fruit, I guess it would be Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Tenshi. Or something like that."
"I see, so what about the other devil fruits?"
Luffy then stated, "Generally, there are three main types of devil fruit: Zoan, Paramecia, and Logia. Paramecia which are the most common, allow the user to alter their body, manipulate the environment, or even produce substances. Zoans which are also pretty common, they allow the user to transform into another species completely or into a hybrid form like I showed you earlier. Logias are widely considered the rarest and most powerful devil fruit in the world. These fruits allow the user to control, create an element, or force of nature at will. However what makes those devil fruit so powerful is the common trait that nearly every logia has, intangibility. Which is where Armament Haki comes in. It is the only sure-fire way to beat logia in a fight."
"Then when I fought those two users, One was a Paramecia, and the other was a Zoan."
"What were their abilities?" Luffy asked, intrigued by other users in the East Blue.
"This crazy woman could grow out her nails, and make them into razor-sharp claws. I guess that was a Paramecia, and the Zoan user could turn into a massive bear. It would actually impressive if they weren't trying to kill me." Zoro answered with a grin.
"So, if there are three types then how is your devil fruit considered 'Mythical', other than the obvious?"
"Well, Zoans are special, there are three subcategories on top of the type itself. From what gramps told me those are: Carnivorous, Ancient, and Mythical."
"Alright, I'm starting to get the picture. So, how do I learn Armament? That seems to be extremely useful especially for a swordsman, especially to fight these users effectively."
"The first thing you need is complete confidence in your strength and abilities. Then you need to put your will, fighting spirit, and all of your strength into a single body part. This will project the haki. Projecting your Armament Haki is called, Armament Hardening. Which is the black-like paint that covered my pipe. But this takes time, training and practice to use efficiently."
"Alright, so what your saying is I'm not ready," Zoro replied with a smirk.
"Yes, but you don't need to learn it yet, I doubt we will run into many users in this blue. But when we get to the Grand Line, it will become a priority."
"So, you said your Grandfather taught you all this. Who is he? He must be powerful." Zoro asked before chugging some of his sake.
"His name is Monkey D. Garp, he is a Vice Admiral in the Marines."
This caused Zoro to do a spit take and cough for a few seconds, "Your Grandfather is Monkey D. Garp the Legendary Hero of the marines! I can see how you are so strong then." Zoro said before switching seats with Luffy.
Two Days later
It was nearing mid-day and both Luffy and Zoro were doing their own thing. Zoro was napping off his sake, while Luffy was eating some dried meat from the now moderately sized bag. Suddenly, Luffy noticed thirty or so auras slowly getting closer. "Zoro, wake up. We are at Orange Town." Luffy said slightly kicking Zoro's foot.
"Huh, I thought you said it would take three days." Zoro said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"I thought we would hit a storm at least, but we have also had the wind in our sails nearly the entire time. So, we made a great time. Just get ready for a fight, we are going to steal their stash." Luffy replied while plotting the course for the next island, which just happened to be Syrup Village. Where Yasopp said his son lives.
As they got closer to the island, Luffy noticed it was completely abandoned. Which wasn't surprising considering pirates took over the island. When they landed on the island Luffy wondered out loud, "I wonder why they are using so many explosives. Are they just destroying to destroy?"
Zoro then looked at Luffy and asked, "Why don't we go ask them? I'm sure they have a reason."
Then out of nowhere a woman being chased by four pirates came sprinting down the street.
"Get back here bitch!" The biggest and slowest of the pirates screamed.
Seeing this Luffy asked Zoro, "Should we help her?"
"I don't know, she looks like she has it handled. I doubt those pirates will catch her."
"Your just lazy, she might give us a compensation or something for saving her."
"I doubt that too"
"Fine, you stay here. I'll be right back." Luffy said before vanishing into thin air, leaving an afterimage.
Zoro watched the afterimage fade away, before finding a shady spot beside a building and muttering, "I really need to ask him how he does that."
Luffy decided to step out of an alleyway in front of the woman. Which caused her to trip and fall in surprise. "Do you need some help?" Luffy asked the woman expecting a straight answer. By now the pirates had almost caught up and were pulling out their swords.
Instead of the straight answer, she said "Thank God, boss I knew I would find you here. Here is your treasure map, I'll see ya later." She gave Luffy a piece of paper from her shirt that had a clown Jolly Roger on it, a wink and smile before bolting down the alleyway Luffy emerged from.
"So, you're that bitch's boss, huh. Buggy the Clown would like a word with you. "The fat one said, while the others circled Luffy.
Luffy decided to play along because why not, this might be entertaining. He announced, " Yeah, I'm her boss and she's not a bitch. If Buggy wants to talk, he'll have to come himself. I'm a busy man, so I'm sure he'd understand that I don't have time for bullshit."
"You fucking prick!" The biggest pirate screamed attacking the man in the Straw Hat, soon followed by the others.
When Nami got onto the roof to watch the exchange, she expected to see the guy in the Straw Hat beaten and dragged off to Buggy's camp. Much to her surprise, the four pirates were already knocked out, but even more surprising the guy in the Straw Hat was looking straight at her with a large grin plastered on his face. He then asked, "Hey what's your name?"
A little hesitant to answer, Nami mustered up some courage and jumped down from the roof. She then replied, "I'm Nami. Who are you?"
"Me? My name is Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meetcha!" Luffy answered with his large smile. Only for his stomach to growl rather loudly. "Ahhh, I'm hungry. Hey Nami, do you have any food? Its been a while since I ate." Luffy asked while holding his stomach and slouching a little.
Caught a little off guard by this, Nami agreed and took Luffy to an abandoned house, one she was using as a base of sorts. As soon as the door was shut, Luffy was rummaging through the cabinets looking for something to eat. Finding this amusing, Nami pulled Luffy away from the kitchen and sat him at a table. After a few minutes, she came back a loaf of bread with some meats and cheeses. As soon as the platter was on the table, Luffy dug in.
"This is so good! Did you make this?"Luffy asked Nami, before shoving more meat into his mouth.
"No, I stole it from the pirates in this town. Their captain might have a large bounty, but the crew isn't very smart." Nami replied, still watching the slightly disturbing sight of this man eating.
Luffy finished the platter, then said, "Well, that's expected from a crew whose captain is a clown. Shishishishi" Luffy laughed clearly amused with himself.
"I guess you're right, Luffy I forgot to ask. Why are you in this town? It's clearly abandoned." Nami asked, interested in his answer.
"I'm here to steal from Buggy." Luffy replied with a blank face.
At this Nami smiled, "This is a great opportunity, we could help each other Luffy! What do you say?"
"Maybe, how good are you at navigation?"
"What does that have to do with this?!" Nami yelled at Luffy.
"I'm looking for nakama and a navigator, but they have to be the best in the East Blue, only then can I get to the Grand Line." Luffy said with a determined smile on his face.
"I wouldn't say I'm the best, but if you help me, I'll join you for a while."
"Great! So what's your plan?" Luffy asked, standing up from the table.
"How about this..." Nami started before pulling out some rope.
-Half an hour later-
*BOOOOOMM*
Zoro shot up wide awake and yelled, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?" Looking into the distance, he could see massive amounts of smoke rising above the rooftops. "Shit, I have to find Luffy." Zoro thought, before sprinting in the direction the sound came from.
When Zoro found Luffy, he was locked in a steel cage looking down the barrel of a massive cannon. Although Luffy most likely had the situation handled, Zoro was about to run in and attack the Buggy Pirates. Until, he heard the conversation between Luffy and the woman from earlier, who just happened to be on the other side of the cannon.
"So, are you going to do it?" Luffy asked in a calm voice.
"Do what? Kill you in cold blood?!" Nami replied, obviously conflicted.
"No, risk your life for what you believe in. That's what it means to be a pirate after all." After a few silent moments, Luffy looked to his right and noticed Zoro. "Hey, Zoro! I was wondering when you would wake up."
"Pirate Hunter Zoro! Are you here for my head?" Buggy asked with a grin on his face.
"Not interested big nose," Zoro replied, before looking at Luffy. "Luffy, do you need some help?"
"No, I'm fine. But I guess this is getting boring." Luffy declared before lying on his back, and putting his feet on the top of the cage. With one fluid motion, the top of the cage shot off and hit the lion tamer in the face, causing everyone but Zoro to scream, "YOU COULD DO THAT THE WHOLE TIME!?"
Luffy casually walked over to Zoro, who cut the rope restraining him and simply said, "Yep." Luffy then turned to Zoro and proposed, "Zoro, do you think you can handle the fodder? When I beat Buggy, I'll help out with the rest."
"Sure, that'll be a good workout, but what about the woman?"
"Nami? She's our new navigator." Luffy responded with a broad smile.
"I see," Zoro said walking towards Nami and the underlings of Buggy. "So, you are part of the crew now?" Zoro asked.
"It's only temporary, it's compensation for saving me earlier." Nami replied, still looking confused by what just happened.
"Alright, whatever you say," Zoro replied before unsheathing his katana. "So, are you going to help or just stand there?"
"If you think one flashy swordsman and a thief can beat my entire crew, you are as stupid as you look, Straw Hat." Buggy declared while pointing at Luffy.
Luffy then replied, "Says the clown who ate his devil fruit whole." This caused Buggy to pale. "Yeah, I know who you are Buggy and I also know whose crew you were on more than twenty years ago. You've fallen so far since his death, its as pathetic as your crew."
Only then did Buggy recognize the Straw Hat, and it all clicked. "Gyahahaha, it doesn't matter if you know my past, because today I will destroy that Straw Hat and kill you." Buggy announced with a grin. Buggy then pulled out eight knives and leaped at Luffy. Only to be stopped by a kick to the face, hurling him into his cannon. Walking over to the now junk metal, that used to be a cannon. Luffy wanted one last look at the failed pirate, "To be this weak, and to have been around Roger himself. You should just quit, it's obvious you aren't cut out for this." Luffy spoke quietly to the fading man.
"I... can... still fight!" the clown said, on the verge of unconsciousness.
"I have one last question before I put you in a coma. Where is my pipe?" Luffy asked the man, only to get an answer in the form of a action. Buggy was pointing to his tent, in which Luffy could clearly see the pipe inside. "Thanks." Luffy ended it with a curb stomp to the back of the head, finishing off Buggy.
Looking back to Zoro and Nami, Luffy watched as Zoro easily handled a swordsman on a unicycle. Nami was somehow able to pacify the lion, whose tamer was unconscious. She was doing surprisingly well against the rest of the crew with only her pole, which she seems to be capable with. Though Zoro had to save her at least once, from what Luffy saw before jogging to the tent and grabbing his pipe.
When Luffy came out of the tent, the only pirates left were running for their lives in fear of the man in the green bandana. Luffy then said, "Zoro, that's enough. Let 'em go, they aren't a threat anymore. Alright, let's steal all of their Berries, and from what I can tell, there is around 20 million in the tent alone." This caused Nami's eyes to change into berri signs.
On the way back to Nami's boat, the three were stopped by an old man who asked, "What are you kids doing here? Don't you know the Buggy Pirates have taken over?"
Luffy replied, "Yep, we know. They just aren't a problem anymore."
The old man stared at the three with wide eyes, then asked, "What do you mean, 'not a problem anymore'?"
"They are all unconscious, so I recommend you call the Marines and cash the bounties on their heads. It should be enough for repairs for the town and more."
This left the old man speechless, before turning around and running as fast as he could back into the woods.
"What a strange old man," Nami thought out loud. "So, Luffy where are we going next?"
"Do you know where Syrup Village is?" Luffy asked while loading the gold onto the small boat.
"I do, but it's on a small island with nothing else on it, why are we heading there?"
Luffy looked across the East Blue and with excitement in his voice, he answered, "Our next Nakama is there."
Translations
Tenshi Tenshi no Mi= Angel Angel Devil Fruit
Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Tenshi= Human Human Devil Fruit, Model: Angel.
P.S I'll try to update this story every week, but if I can't it will most likely be biweekly.