A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and follows. There were multiple complaints about my grammar, so I tried really hard to make sure this chapter had fewer mistakes. Also, some have asked if anyone was looking for Luffy when he went missing. Of course everyone was looking for him, including Garp. The reason they couldn't find him will be revealed later. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.
Italic shows thinking by the way.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece. Duh.
Luffy looked out over the small village from a spot on the cliff. He let it all soak into him like a sponge in water. This would possibly be the last time he ever got to look at his hometown, so he might as well take a good long one.
Already having said goodbye to Dadan and the mountain bandits, Luffy jumped from the top of the cliff. It was so much easier than walking and it wasn't like it was going to kill him or anything. Landing with a soft thud, he sprinted the rest of the way down the mountain, eventually coming into the small town. Luffy looked around the empty streets and houses, smiling like mad.
Everyone must already be at the docks to send me off.
Walking around the town was a nice trip through memory lane until he walked upon a certain house that hadn't been used in a very long time. Smile faltering, Luffy looked at the house he had been prisoner in so many years ago. He still held the mental and physical scars the "doctor" had caused.
The physical scars were the easiest to fix. The teen had made sure to wear clothes that would cover everything from roving eyes: a red jack (similar to Gold Roger's) over a black T, midnight black jeans with a belt through the loops, black steel toe boots, and black leather gloves with the fingers cut out. On the belt was strapped 3 kunai knives, a dagger with a blade made from sea stone, and in a side holster was his dragon (also called a blunderbuss).
And of course he had Shanks' straw hat adorning his head like a crown.
Finally making his way to the docks, Luffy started to see all the smiling faces there to bid him farewell. It brought a genuine smile to his face, an event that was rare nowadays. Jumping onto the boat with a bag of supplies, he turned and looked at the gathering of towns folk.
"Goodbye everyone! Look for me in the papers!" Luffy then untied the boat holding him to the docks. The crowed erupted in cheering and waving. Makino, who was standing next to the mayor, smiled and waved.
"I will be the King of the Pirates!"
This brought up yet another wave of cheering and words of luck (none came from the mayor who was still angry about having another criminal stem from the town) as Luffy slowly drifted away from view.
It was at this time the local sea king rose from the sea to end Luffy's dream before it even began. The sea king was in for a surprise. Luffy, who acted like he didn't notice the sea king, turned and hit it with a backhand.
"Bye fishy!"
This was cause for even more cheering from the crowd that slowly faded into the distance away from view. Since there was nothing else to do, Luffy decided to go through some of the wanted posters for the East Blue. It could be good to know what he was up against if he were to encounter one of these pirates. Every now and then, Luffy would look up and check the location to make sure the boat was still on course.
After a while, Luffy began to notice a slight change in pressure and boat speed. Thinking quickly, he rowed the boat in a wide circle to avoid whatever was causing the trouble. Eventually he did see a whirlpool to the far right, but by then he was far enough so as to not get sucked in. That was close. With the excitement over, Luffy sat back with a book about certain types of devil fruits. Too bad the peace didn't last long.
A passenger ship was not too far off and being the friendly guy he was, Luffy decided to wave at it. The ship hands on deck smiled and waved back to the odd looking kid. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Luffy got a bad vibe from a small island about a mile away. Looking closely at the patch of land, he was sure something was not right.
His thoughts were confirmed when an ugly, pink ship appeared from behind the island in question.
"Pirates are here!" The crew on board the passenger vessel visibly lost their shit.
Looking closely, Luffy recognized Alvida's flag. This would be a good time to see the results of all the training he'd done. He had to start somewhere.
Luffy waited until the Alvida's ship had boarded the passenger ship before tying his boat to the passenger. Then jumping into the air, Luffy went into one of the open window, turns out it was a kitchen. Also turns out that someone was already in this room.
The person was a small boy with pink hair trying and failing to turn a barrel on its side. As soon as Luffy landed on the floor, the boy screamed and unabashedly shook with fear. Trying to defuse the situation, Luffy put his hands up in an effort to come off as nonthreatening, which was difficult.
"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm just passing through." Luffy almost felt bad for the guy. "Are you a passenger? Because this ship is kinda getting raided."
The kid seemed to have calmed down enough to talk. "Actually I'm w-with Alvida," the kid stuttered out. Man, pirates were getting younger everyday. Before anymore could be said, three burly guys walked in.
"Hey, Coby, what's taking you so- who the heck is this?" Coby was instantly back to shaking again.
"Hello fellas, can you point me to the pantry; I'm crazy hungry." To be honest, Luffy really didn't want to tap into his own food reserves yet.
"Who do you think you are? Die punk!" The thugs jumped at him with swords drawn. Pure foolishness. Luffy kicked the first one in the chest, sending the man flying backwards at amazing speeds into the other two. The trio went crashing out of the room, first through the pantry, then the engine room, and finally out of the ship. Cool, he finally found where the food was kept.
Walking like nothing had even happened, Luffy walked out the room and through the hole that led to the pantry. Coby, who had shat himself by now, followed Luffy into the room. When he got there, he found Luffy on the floor eating apples.
"Who are you," asked Coby, now very interested in the man before him. Luffy turned around and swallowed.
"Hello again. Coby was it? My name is Monkey D. Luffy, the man that will be the King of the Pirates." The straw hat knew that stating his dream would most likely elicit a negative response, but he didn't care.
"What? Being King of the Pirates means attaining everything in this world. It means being the strongest, finding the legendary One Piece! It simply isn't possible; it can't be..."
"Coby. Silence." Luffy unknowingly let out a small burst of conquers haki. Coby didn't say anything after that, in fact, he almost wet himself. "Listen, Coby, no one has ever accomplished anything by second guessing and giving up before the going even gets rough. I know that this won't be an easy journey and I'm prepared to die for my dream if need be because that's okay. I will have died happy and with a smile on my face. Could you say you would be satisfied with how your life has gone so far, Coby? Could you die today and be happy with your life?"
Coby had no idea what to say. Of course he wouldn't be happy. Day end and day out was a constant nightmare, not to mention he had yet to fulfill his dream.
"Two years ago I got on a boat to go fishing and it turned out to belong to Alvida. Ever since then, in exchange for my life, I have been working as a cabin boy. It's always been my dream to become a marine and hunt bad guys! To catch Alvida! Do you think I could do that?" Coby looked at Luffy hopefully for an answer.
Everyone thinks that marines are all freaking heroes. Ha! This kid is going to get a rude awakening one day.
"I can't decide that for you Coby; only you can choose to have the guts to follow your dreams," Luffy said with a neutral face. He might have added something if it was not for the sudden instinct to stretch his arm out and pull Coby towards his body. A second later the ceiling above them collapsed right where the pink haired boy was standing moments ago.
"What was that about becoming a marine and catching me?" asked Alvida in all her glory. She sent the boy a death glare through the smoke, face red with anger. After three of her crew didn't come back, she suspected that something was up. Worst case scenario was Pirate Hunter Zoro was here to take her head, although it appeared she had lucked out. It was just Coby spouting nonsense with a weird looking guy. Still, she should probably be careful.
"I thought you might be Pirate Hunter Zoro, but I guess not."
"Hello 'Iron Mace' Alvida," Luffy said calmly, still sitting crosslegged on the floor. "Do you mind if I take Coby over there with me," he said slightly jerking his head in Coby's direction. The teenager knew it was a long shot, but maybe she would go for it. It's not like the pink haired boy was worth anything to her.
A smile came to Alvida's lips. "Coby doesn't want to leave such a beautiful woman behind though. Right, Coby?" The fat woman turned her face towards the young boy, looking for the answer she always got.
Com'on, Coby, let her have it! Don't live your life in fear.
"Alvida is..." Coby faltered a bit, but then looked up with cold determination. "Alvida is the fattest, ugliest, oldest sea hag to ever grace the East Blue!"
Good job kid.
The pirate crew above them stared in fear and disbelief. But Alvida's face was priceless.
"You bastard! Ill kill you where you stand!" Coby closed his eyes and waited for the fatal blow. All he got was the feeling of going through a wind tunnel for a brief second. Opening his eyes, Coby now saw he was standing on the deck of the ship next to Luffy.
The pirates on deck all drew their swords in fear at the man who had moved faster than anything should. Luffy just yawned. One brave sole tried to jump from the mast and get him from above. This course of action resulted in Luffy moving one inch to the left, effectively side stepping the attack, and shooting out a fist which connected to the man's face mid air, sending him flying out of sight. Launching forward, clothes-lining two guys in the process, Luffy jumped high in the air, and used the momentum from the descent to drop kick another through the ship and into the sea.
By this time, Alivda finally made her way out the pantry onto the deck, only to see that her crew had beaten a hasty retreat back to the ship. If you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. "You know, you have some nerve kid, but it ends here." Alvida raised her mace.
Wow, such slow movements. Is it even possible to be this wide open?
But then something unexpected happened. Alvida spun slightly on her heels, re aiming the blow to be on Coby's head instead. Acting fast, Luffy moved Coby out the way and took the full force of the blow, feet slightly sinking into the wood from the force. The obese woman smirked.
"I knew if I went for Coby you would sacrifice yourself." Coby couldn't believe the man was dead before he even began his journey. It seemed wrong on a fundamental level.
"Shishishi! That won't work."
Before Alvida could process what was happening or why her attack hadn't even made a difference, Luffy's fist was already buried so deep in her fat that his knuckles were touching her spine. Lights out. The woman was sent flying into the sky out of sight.
Turning to face the now captain-less crew, Luffy smiled. "You guys mind if I take this guy?" he said pointing at Coby. A chorus of no's followed. Luffy grabbed Coby by the torso and hopped onto his boat that was still tied to the passenger ship. Sensing something was amiss, Luffy turned around to see an orange haired girl in a boat next to his. The two locked eyes before cannon fire started splashing water up to block the view they shared.
"Time to go Coby," Luffy said rowing away while the marines were busy subduing the ship. After a while, everything faded from view, leaving nothing but the wide expanse of ocean for scenery.
"Hey, Luffy, how did you survive that hit from Alvida?" Coby asked with genuine curiosity.
"Oh, did I forget to say? I became a rubber man after eating the Gum Gum fruit," responded Luffy like it was the most normal thing in the world. After seeing the look on Coby's face, he explained more. "The Gum Gum fruit is a paramecia type devil fruit." Coby still looked slightly confuse but Luffy wasn't going to waste this trip explaining devil fruits.
"Coby, you wouldn't know where I could find this Zoro guy would you?"
"He is being kept at the marine base where we are headed. Why?"
"Just wanted to know." After uttering these words Luffy grabbed a book from the supplies he had with him and began to read. Looking up from the book, Luffy saw that Coby was causally looking around with nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs. Sighing, Luffy handed him a book on devil fruits and turned his attention back to his own book.
The two read as the ocean moved around them.