The Marines were aiming their guns at us.
"Take aim and fire!" The captain yelled.
With one thought a shield formed out from a bone in my arm. Suddenly Luffy fell out of the sky and landed in front of us. I quickly retracted the shield and felt blood begin to drip down my arm.
I watched as the bullets stretched out of Luffy's back.
"Luffy, no!" Coby called.
"Straw Hat." The captain declared. The group of Marines began to talk, their faces in pure shock. I heard Luffy laugh.
"Ha!" He stood straight up, arms out, and sent all the bullets out towards the Marines. Luffy then continued to laugh as a bullet whizzed by the captain guy's head.
"That won't work on me!" He laughed. "Told ya I was strong."
"Wha- You wanna tell me just who the hell you are!" Zoro yelled at Luffy. Luffy turned and laughed.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates." He laughed. It was his life's goal after all.
"You're going to be King of the Pirates? Right, you must be completely out of your rubbery mind. You have any idea what that means?" Zoro asked.
"King of the Pirates means King of the Pirates. How could it mean anything other than that?" Luffy asked with a grin.
"Zoro, there's no use trying to it explain it." I told him, I moved a hand up to my forearm and applied pressure to the hole made from the bone.
"Yeah, when he first told me it was shocking, but he's completely serious. That's how he is I suppose. cause he actually seems to have every intention on becoming King of the Pirates and obtaining the world's ultimate treasure: the One Piece." Coby told Zoro, Luffy turned and laughed.
"Here's what I promised you." Luffy said holding up three katanas in Zoro's face. "There's three. I couldn't tell which was yours so I just took all of them."
"All of them belong to me." Zoro declared. "I use Santoryu, the three sword style." Luffy stuck the sword out further, he then brought them back and looked at Zoro confused. He then stuck them out again.
"Take 'em already. Just know that if you fight with me now you'll be a government defying villain, so it's either that or you're left out here and killed by the Marines execution style." Luffy said, still grinning.
"What are you, the son of the devil? It doesn't matter, cause if I don't chose your side I'll just end up dead on these sticks. So, let's do it." Zoro told him.
"AHA! So you're finally gonna join my crew!" Luffy cheered. "This is the best thing ever!"
"Would you quit celebrating already, and get these ropes off me!" Zoro yelled at Luffy.
"I'm on it." I stepped in front of Zoro, between him and Luffy. I pointed my index finger and a bone jutted out the point of it with one of the edges sharp. I then went to cutting the ropes around his left arm.
"Come on, hurry!" Coby yelled. Luffy was trying to untie the ropes around Zoro's right arm.
"They got these on here tight." Luffy complained. I finished up the one on his arm and went to work on the one on his waist.
"Come on, quit screwing around." Zoro said.
"Move. Let me do it." I pushed Luffy out of the way and started working on cutting the rope. I had just finished the one on his waist anyways. I looked over to see the Marines charging at us.
"Give me one of my damn swords now!" Zoro ordered Luffy.
"Luffy, look!" Coby yelled. Luffy turned and looked at the group of Marines running at us.
"Got it!" I yelled as I finally cut through the rope. Coby screamed, and Zoro was suddenly blocking every single one of the Marine's swords. I retracted my blade and stuck my finger into my mouth as it began bleeding too. After a moment I took it back out.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Make one move and you die." Zoro said through his teeth, and the sword in his mouth. The Marines cringed.
"Today, I officially become a criminal, having fought the Marines. So I'll become a pirate, that I can promise you, but I want you to know one thing. While I'm with you the only thing I dedicate myself to is to fulfilling MY ambition." Zoro told Luffy.
"Which is?" Luffy asked.
"To be nothing less than the world's greatest swordsmen." Zoro answered. "If somewhere along the way I have to give that up, I want you to accept responsibility. After which you have to apologize to me."
"The world's greatest swordsmen, sounds pretty good. The King of the Pirates wouldn't have any less than the best on his crew." Luffy declared.
"Big talker." Zoro said. "From this point on, no matter if I'm a criminal or not, I will spread the name Zoro throughout the world." I turned and walked over to Coby.
"What are you standing here frozen for? I want you to kill all four of them right now." The Captain ordered. His men flinched and seemed afraid of their captain.
"You might wanna duck." Luffy told Zoro as he swung back his leg. "Gum-Gum whip!" Luffy shouted as Zoro ducked. I quickly pulled Coby and myself out of the way. The Marines being held back by Zoro were knocked away and the Captain looked astonished.
"Yes! You knocked them all down." Coby cheered.
"Of course he did." I smiled, looking at the men across the courtyard.
"Wanna tell me what you are?" Zoro asked after moving to stand with the rest of us.
"I'm just a guy who ate the Gum-Gum fruit." Luffy grinned, bending his knee.
"What's the Gum-Gum fruit?" Zoro continued.
"It's like the Bone-Bone fruit." I explained, earning another confused look from Zoro.
I grinned just like Luffy before shaping my teeth like a shark's. He stepped away from me for a moment, clearly surprised as I changed my teeth back. The look on his face caused both Luffy and I to hold back a laugh. Coby in the meantime had moved to hide behind the pole Zoro had been tied to.
"This is a direct order." The Captain began, earning our attention again. "Every Marine that just spouted weakness, pull your gun out and shoot yourself. I can't do anything with weak soldiers." The Captain began as he raised his axe arm.
"What babies." Zoro scoffed. "This'll be easy." Zoro quickly got into a ready stance, only to have Luffy dash past him towards the group.
"Luffy!" Coby called. "Bring those Marines crumbling to their knees." Luffy ran past the Marines, all the way to the Captain. He swung his arm back and punched towards the Captain, his axe blocking the punch.
"I think he's got this." I told Zoro. A moment later he took the sword out of his mouth.
"Rankless lowlife bums!" The Captain insulted as he pulled his coat off his shoulders. "You have no right to defy my superiority." He tossed the coat away over his shoulders and looked ready to fight. "I'm Marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan!"
"And I'm Luffy." Luffy stated, his tone becoming stern. "Nice to meet ya."
Morgan launched forward and swung at Luffy with his axe hand. Luffy jumped out of the way and behind him. Luffy then jumped again as Morgan turned and swung down at him. His axe hit the ground and sent a large crack out from where it hit, breaking the ground. Coby let out something along the lines of a scream as he watched the crack. A second later, while in the air, Luffy kicked out and nailed Morgan in the jaw. Morgan was sent back and soon both landed ready to attack again.
"He's been hit!" One of the Marines watching said in awe.
"You runt!" Morgan grunted as he pushed himself back up more. Luffy quickly launched himself forward. "Now die!" Morgan yelled, swinging his axe back down at Luffy. Luffy spun out of the way and the axe hit the ground once again.
"I don't think so." Luffy proclaimed as he spun. Then using his momentum he kicked Morgan. He was sent flying back once again.
I let out a chuckle as I looked over the watching Marines. Each had a face of pure astonishment as they watched their captain get beat. Most looked afraid, but none did anything to stop or participate in the fight.
"What are you laughing about?" Zoro questioned, looking back at me.
"The Marines are all frozen in awe." I pointed out, motioning to the group in question. Zoro looked over before shrugging.
"You call yourself a marine, but you destroyed my friend Coby's dream." Luffy accused. He now stood over Morgan, holding him by the collar. As he said this he punched Morgan and got ready to do so again.
"Straw Hat! Stop right there! Look at what I got!" We all turned at the voice to see a young man in a very formal suit pointing a gun at Coby's head. Luffy continued to punch Morgan, ignoring the shouts of the young man. "Are you stupid or something? I said stop!" The man ordered. "If you would pay attention to me, I have a hostage here you might want to look at!"
"Hey." Zoro said, calling back towards Luffy. I quietly took a few steps back to stand by Zoro.
"Who's that guy and when did he catch Coby?" I whispered, looking up at Zoro.
"Helmeppo, the Captain's son." Zoro said, answering my first question. He didn't continue so my guess was that he didn't know when he caught Coby either.
"If you value your scrawny little friend's life then you won't move a muscle. I'm serious. One move and I'll shoot him, I swear!" Helmeppo shouted. The entire time his hand would jolt or jump, shaking the gun.
Coby looked terrified as he watched for Luffy's reaction. In all honestly, one swift move and the gun could have been grabbed considering how weakly Helmeppo held it out. I heard Luffy chuckle and glanced back to see him grin widely. This made Coby calm down slightly.
"Luffy listen!" Coby began. "Don't let anything that happens to me stop you, no matter what! Even if I die."
"Of course. You got it." Luffy agreed. "You hear that you big idiot?" Luffy called to Helmeppo. "Coby's ready to die by your hand." He then held up his arm and walked over towards Zoro and I.
"Don't you move! I said don't move or I'll shoot. I swear it!" Helmeppo shouted, his voice panicked.
"Luffy!" Coby suddenly shouted. In the course of Helmeppo's distraction, Morgan had stood up and was now behind Luffy.
"Gum-Gum…" Luffy started swinging his arm back. Morgan stood behind him with his axe raised.
"Time's up." Morgan declared. "For I am fearless Marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan!"
Zoro reached up and placed the third sword back in his mouth, preparing to fight. I quickly created a circular shield from my arm, using another rod made of bone from the same cut in my forearm. Helmeppo pulled Coby closer to him, wrapping his arm around his neck. Helmeppo kept the gun close to Coby's head, the two looking equally terrified.
"Daddy! Hurry up and kill him already!" Helmeppo shouted.
"Pistol!" Luffy finished.
As Luffy swung his arm forward, Morgan swung his axe down. Luffy knocked Helmeppo away, Coby being dragged along. Meanwhile, Zoro and I had stepped between Morgan and Luffy. I went ahead and used my shield to block the axe from hitting Luffy's head. Zoro went in and sliced Morgan's stomach.
"Nice one." Luffy cheered. Morgan groaned and fell back, Zoro standing just out of the way behind him. "Thank you." Luffy told Zoro. I released the shield, and the bone retracted back into my arm. Once it had I reached up and smacked Luffy upside the head.
"I'm just doing my job, Captain." Zoro replied. After grinning to Zoro, Luffy turned and glared at me as he held his head.
"Captain Morgan's been beat." One of the Marines declared. We all turned to look over at them as Zoro put his swords away.
"Unbelievable. Those guys are unreal." Another added as the rest began mumbling.
"If there's anyone else who wants to step forward to fight us then do it now." Zoro ordered.
The Marines all stopped and looked between each other. A moment later they all threw their weapons up into the air along with their hats. As they did this they let out cheers. One Marine announced that they were free. This was followed by similar declarations.
"That's weird. Looks like they're all happy that their Captain was beaten." Luffy stated.
"They must have been afraid of him for a long time before we showed up." Coby said as he joined us. Then out of nowhere Zoro started grunting and started to fall back.
"Woah, there." I mumbled as I moved to catch him. His sudden weight caused me to lose my balance and I dropped to the ground with him.
"Zoro! Are you okay? What's wrong?" Coby questioned, his voice panicked.
"I'm just… hungry." Zoro muttered. I held back a laugh as I repositioned myself and hoisted him up onto my shoulder.
"Let's go find a place to eat." I declared, earning a cheer from Luffy. Coby quickly ran over to help me carry Zoro out of the courtyard.
"Woo, haha, I am stuffed. Ha, having not eaten for three weeks, I was ready to gnaw through my bootstraps." Zoro said, rubbing his stomach. We all laughed at him. We had all found a restaurant and Zoro and Luffy had happily begun eating everything they were provided. Meanwhile, I had gotten help patching my arm and finger.
"I can't believe you're finished, light weight." Luffy told Zoro.
"How the hell can you have a bigger appetite than a guy who hasn't eaten in weeks?" Zoro pointed out.
"These just taste too good, I guess. Right, Coby?" Luffy asked.
"Uh... Yeah it's great. Thanks for fixing it for us." Coby turned to the woman behind the bar.
"My pleasure. After all, you guys did save the town." She replied.
"You're the most amazing man I've ever met." The woman's daughter told Luffy.
"Yeah, I am, I know. I'll be more amazing when I'm King of the Pirates, and I have the One Piece. Oh, and the best crew on the seas." Luffy said, his mouth full of food.
"So, how many others have you gotten for your crew besides me?" Zoro asked.
"Hmm?" Luffy looked at Zoro.
"You told me that you were in the middle of gathering together the crew for your ship, and if you're gonna be King of the Pirates, I gotta assume you have some waiting in the wings." Zoro stated.
"Nope, just you." Luffy said.
"Hey! What about me?!" I yelled at him, while Zoro had a shocked face.
"Nah, you're my stowaway." He laughed.
"I didn't run away just to be your personal stowaway." I mumbled under my breath, while crossing my arms.
"Just..." Zoro pointed to Luffy then himself.
"Yup, it's just us." Luffy told him.
"So, you and I are what amounts to an entire pirate crew?" Zoro asked.
"Sure, just act like I'm not even here..." I grumbled as I grabbed my drink and downed it.
"What's wrong with that? We're a couple of strong guys." Luffy replied.
"Kay, please tell me you have a ship." Zoro asked. Luffy used his fork, which had food on it, to point.
"Sure do, it's right there." Zoro and I stood up and walked to the window to see it. He pointed at a ship that was tied to a dock, it was small and was being peed on by a dog.
"You're kidding." Zoro said after a minute.
"Nope, but we'll have an enormous one before long. Just you wait and see." Zoro immediately turned and laughed.
"And how's that?" He asked.
"With a great big pirate flag on top." Luffy then ate the food on his fork. "I can't wait!"
"Yeah, well I'm gonna go 'stow away' since I'm not actually part of your crew." I stomped out of the bar with my arms crossed. I pushed past all the people watching us from the doorway and headed down towards the boat.
"I'm a stowaway, huh." I scoffed as I continued walking down the street through the town. Having not been watching where I was going, my sandal caught on a lip in the road and I tripped. I barely caught myself from falling onto my face. I groaned before continuing on. Once I got to the boat I stepped in and took a seat in the middle under the mass. I then waited for them to come down here, so we could go.
"If he really thinks of me as a stowaway, then I really don't have to do anything." I told myself. I then decided to lay across the middle of the boat. I closed my eyes and absorbed the heat from the sun. It was actually quite peaceful. I hope that Nami's okay as well. I wonder what happened to her. I sat up and looked over to see Nami getting into her boat. Before I could say anything Zoro and Luffy showed up.
"It is a fitting way to leave this place. Unable to turn back cause everyone here hates us. Very pirate like." Zoro announced. He had a smile on his face and no longer had his bandana on. Instead the fabric was tied around his upper left arm, revealing his short green hair and eyes.
"Hahaha, yeah." Luffy laughed. "It sure is." He bent down and began unhooking our ship from the dock.
"I don't think we'd want to come back anyway considering it's a Marine base." I added, moving to lean against the side of the ship.
"Luffy." We all looked up to see Coby standing at the end of the street with the woman from the bar and her daughter. Coby then saluted. "I can never thank you enough. You've done more for me than anyone ever has."
"I've never heard of a Marine thanking a pirate before. That's one for the history books." Zoro stated as he smiled. Luffy in turn grinned and laughed. After that they got in and opened the sail. We caught wind and were soon pulled out to sea.
"We'll meet again Coby. Someday!" Luffy shouted. He stood at the back of the ship and waved. The little girl waved as Coby continued to salute. The Marines from the base had shown up behind Coby and they also saluted as we sailed away. "See ya." Soon they were too far away to see.
"At last. Our pirate crew finally sets sail." Luffy announced, having moved to the front of the ship.
"I got the feeling some interesting adventures are waiting for us." Zoro added, earning a laugh from Luffy.
"I'll be King of the Pirates. I know it." Luffy mumbled. I moved to lay along the deck opposite Zoro as he watched Luffy.
"You seem more than obsessed with this King of the Pirates business. Is there some kind of story behind it or any kind of reason at all?" Zoro asked. I turned my head to look over at Zoro.
"No, no reason." Luffy stated. "It's just…"
"Just what?" Zoro continued.
"I promised someone a while back." Luffy began, his gaze falling down. "I swore that I would gather a crew, find the world's greatest treasure, and become King of the Pirates." Luffy paused before looking back up at the path ahead. "And this straw hat knows the whole story."
"I see." Zoro muttered.
"Now! Let's go! It's time for us to set our heading for the Grand Line!" Luffy yelled, throwing his arms over his head.
"You know, that's great and all..." I began as I sat up and turned to Luffy. "Except for the fact that we seem to be lacking things." Luffy dropped his arms and looked over to me.
"And what might those be?" Zoro questioned.
"Food, a map, a ship, a chef, a navigator, and not to mention a doctor." I said as I held up fingers to count.
"We're fine." Luffy shrugged as he turned to take a seat.
"No, we aren't." I scoffed.
"Well, we got a ship right here." Zoro stated.
"Yeah." Luffy cheered.
"We can stop at ports for food." Zoro continued.
"Yeah!" Luffy cheered louder.
"And I'm sure at least one of us can be whatever roles you said." Zoro finished.
"Hah! Wake me up when you guys have a better plan." I laughed before falling back and closing my eyes. I then fell asleep as we sailed out to sea.
Chapter 3!
That's all for this chapter.
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