One Man Alone cannot be a Pirate

By: Zephyire

DISCLAIMED

Chapter dedicated to: Helendrgn

Summary: After the battle with Baron on Secret Island, Luffy faces a devastating fact about his nakama. Moustache offers Luffy his hidden treasure in hopes of pulling Luffy from his depression. Back in Time Fic. Serious Powerful Luffy. A second chance at becoming the Pirate King. Two devil fruits?

AN: any good ideas for new attacks and the physics behind them? Please send them in by way of review : )

Chapter 4: Beware of Bandits

"His arm…it's stretching! That's….!" Shanks spluttered.

"No way!", "You!!", and "What the hell?!" were several of the outraged pirate crew comments.

"What's happening!? AHH!!!" Luffy screamed, either at his stretched arm, or the fact that he was suddenly eleven years younger.

"It's GONE!" Mutton yelled from the bar.

"What?" the crew plus Luffy yelled.

"The fruit of rubber we took from the enemy isn't here!" Mutton raced over to Luffy.

"Luffy, did you eat this?" Mutton said holding up a large poster of the circular devil fruit.

"EH!?"

"That's the fruit of rubber!! It's one of the fruits of the devil and one of the rarest treasures on the sea! Whoever eats it will turn into a rubber man and will drown like a hammer when they try to swim!" Shanks began pulling on Luffy cheeks giving him a foot long smile.

"WHAT!! You're kidding right!" Luffy shouted. The pirates misinterpreted this outburst as being caused by Luffy's new Paramecia powers. In reality, Luffy was stunned that he had somehow de-age eleven years.

"YOU IDIOT!!" Shanks yelled releasing Luffy's cheeks with a snap.

"Ow!"

OMAP

Back in the bar, Makino was washing several dirty glasses while keeping her eye on her young customer.

"They've been away for a while Luffy," Makino commented.

Luffy sat on a stool with a glass of water in his teeth.

"Do you feel lonely?"

"Nope! I haven't forgiven Shanks for pulling my cheeks like that! I think that I've overestimated Shanks. What a disappointment."

"Really? I thought that people who laugh it off after being picked on are pretty brave." Makino put down the glass she was drying and picked up a different one.

"Huh? Oh, that. Yeah. I guess." Luffy tipped the now empty glass toward the air. The half melted ice slid into his mouth.

"About that, there are times when a man should fight back. You don't understand." Luffy sighed. "Can I have some more?"

Makino slid a fresh glass of juice toward Luffy. Rotating his glass, he watched the Juice form a whirl pool.

'I don't understand… I thought that when two devil fruits are eaten by a single user something would happen to the person… but definitely not this.' Luffy placed a hand on the scar under his eye.

"Still hurts, huh?" Makino said looking at the boy. Luffy nodded.

'I got this ages ago, before I even met Zoro.' Luffy's thoughts came to a halt. 'Zoro… I haven't found my nakama yet. They're still alive!'

Behind him, the twin doors swung inward.

"Excuse me…"

Makino and Luffy turned toward the doors.

"Well, looks like those chicken pirates aren't here today. It sure is quiet. We're back again."

Higuma slinked toward a table with his group in tow.

"Well? What are you waiting for? We're customers!" Higuma slammed his arm onto the table with a bang. "Bring us some sake!!!"

OMAP

"Mayor Wood Slap!! Hey, Chief!!"

Mayor Slap turned toward Makino.

"Chief, hurry! Something bad has happened!"

"What's wrong Makino? What's all this fuss about?"

"It's Luffy! He's been kidnapped by the bandits!!"

OMAP

"What an interesting body," Higuma mused.

"Yeah! Seems like kicking and punching won't do any harm to it."

"Damn it! Apologize to me right now you bastard!"

"Eh? A rubber man?" Higuma smirked. Despite Luffy's ability to stretch, there were simply too many bandits who were quicker and had a longer initial reach.

"Damn it!" Luffy struggled to stand back up. "You'll be sorry for this!"

"If I sell him to a circus, I'll be sure to get some money."

Incensed, Luffy charged, winding up his arm for a punch.

Higuma dodged the six foot punch by sidestepping it.

Luffy tumbled forward onto the ground exhausted.

Pinning Luffy to the ground with his foot he said, "We were just having a good time eating and drinking. Did we say something that pissed you off?"

"Yes you did you damn bandit! Apologize right now!"

"I was wondering why no one met us at the port… so now I know why." Shanks stepped out from behind Makino and the Mayor. The three had run to find Luffy after Makino had informed Shanks. Behind them, the rest of Shank's crew were catching up.

"Heh, so the chicken pirates are here. Get out of our way. This brat's got to pay."

Shanks took a step forward, ignoring the warning.

"Hey Luffy! What's wrong? Isn't your punch as strong as pistol fire?"

"Shut up!" came the muffled cry.

"Hey! Didn't you here the boss?! Get lost!" one bandit said, pointing his gun at Shank's head.

"Well, since you pulled out your gun, I guess we're gonna have to fight." Shanks sighed. "You really shouldn't point that at people…"

"Huh?"

BANG!

The bandit fell to the ground, dead.

Mutton, munching on some meat lowered his gun.

"What the hell? This doesn't concern you!"

Luffy had pushed himself away from Higuma and stood up. "Damn it, Shanks! I fight my own battles! Gomu, Gomuno!" Luffy would up his arm for a punch.

"Ha ha! Do you really think you can take me? I've killed 56 people and have an 8 mil,"

"PISTOL!"

Luffy's fist slammed into Higuma's face, punching him out over the sea. About five hundred feet out, the waters parted and a large Sea King rose from the depths. Opening its monstrous cavern it called a mouth, it swallowed the bandit leader whole. Luffy turned around. The pirates and bandits all had their jaws on the ground.

"I told you, Shanks. My punches are as strong as pistol fire!" Luffy held up one arm and squeezed its bicep with the other. One bandit broke the silence.

"Holy crap! This place is insane!"

At this, the bandits broke ranks and ran back toward the hills.

One of the pirates stepped forward. He was clothed in a sleeveless t-shirt and cargo pants.

"Oye, Captain."

"Hmm?"

"Want me to deal with those punks?"

With a nod to Ben, Shanks walked over to Luffy.

"Hey, Luffy." Shanks squatted so he could talk face-to-face. Suddenly, he broke into a grin. "That was awesome!"

"Yeah! Especially when I knocked that bastard into the air with my punch!"

"But you still can't join us as a pirate!"

"It was like, POW, and… What?" Luffy fell over.

"I said you still can't become a pirate."

"But why?" Luffy whined.

"Cuz you can't swim."

OMAP

"Hey Luffy!" Shanks called from the bar.

The pirates had decided to celebrate Luffy's victory.

"What did those pirates say that incited you so much?"

"Incited? Oh, you mean made me angry. Well, they insulted you and mocked my dream."

"Dream?"

"Yeah! I'm gonna become a pirate!"

"Tell us something we don't know," muttered Ben, the cargo pants, wearing pirate, after taking a long drag on his cigarette.

"That's not all. I'm gonna get a crew that's just as good as yours, Shanks! And I'll be the captain, and I'll find the largest treasure ever, and, and, and… I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!"

"Oh? So you want to be bigger than us, huh?"

Luffy grinned.

"Well then, this hat is my gift to you."

The pirates were stunned by their captain. Mutton even stopped chewing the slab of meat that was in front of him.

"This is my favorite hat you know. When you become a great pirate in the future, you'll return that hat to me."

OMAP

Leaving the bar late at night, the Red Hair crew stumbled back onboard their pirate ship. Hoisting sail and raising anchor, they set out, stocked with supplies and ready for what ever the Grand Line would throw at them.

OMAP

AN: The forth chapter's done! I've started the fifth, and made an outline as to how I'm going to go about rewriting several of the story arcs, there're 17 of them!

Here's to the fact that One piece is the second highest selling manga in now in Shounen Jump and its fourth best overall. That means that One Piece has more than twice as many copies circulating than Naruto (3rd now and 5th overall)! How cool is that?

Don't forget those ideas for new attacks! (Definitely not a way of fishing for reviews : P )