Author Notes:

GammaTron: It's time for a DEATH BATTLE! *a stagehand whispers into my ear* Huh? This isn't Death Battle? *more whispering* What do you mean I've made a fool do myself for shouting that outside of context? *more whispering* What do you mean I need to stop repeating everything you say and just hand the reigns over to Zane in the author's note? *more whispering* Son of a bitch! *tackles the stagehand and starts pummeling him*

Zane the Artist: Well, while Gamma has his own little battle off screen, here's the one you've all been waiting for. Enjoy.

Chapter 6: "The Battle of Shell Town, Ax Hand Morgan versus the Straw Hat Pirates"

The sun shined on Shell Town and it's Marine Base, though neither knew of the storm coming to the base. The gates exploded and caused Zoro to wake up.

"What's going on?" Zoro pondered.

"Yo," a voice said.

He looked up to see Luffy and Ash walk up, Monferno and Pikachu on their shoulders.

"Who are you two?" Zoro asked.

"I'm Luffy and this is Monferno."

"And I'm Ash and this is Pikachu."

"If we loosed these ropes, will you join our pirate crew?" Luffy asked.

"I have things I need to do," Zoro replied, "Becoming a pirate is not one of them."

"What's wrong with being a pirate?" Ash asked.

"They're despicable! Like anyone would join them," Zoro replied, "Besides, I only need to last one more week."

"I don't care! You're going to join me!" Luffy argued.

"DON'T DECIDE FOR YOURSELF!" Zoro barked, his eyes turning white and his teeth becoming shark-like.

"Hey, I heard you use katana," Ash said.

"Yes. But Helmeppo, Morgan's bastard son, took my style away," Zoro replied.

"Okay! We'll get it back!" Ash said.

"And we'll give it back in trade of you joining our crew!" Luffy grinned.

"THAT'S DIRTY!" Zoro barked.

"You are not dealing with saints here, Zoro," Ash said.

"We're pirates," Luffy said before the two walked off.

The two stopped when they reached the tallest tower. Luffy's arms stretched to grab to top. Ash, Pikachu, and Monferno held tight to Luffy.

"Gomu-Gomu no…ROCKET!" Luffy shouted as the four shot high into the air.

"Hey, Swordsmen!" a voice called.

Zoro looked up to see Franky, Brook, Max, and Koby run up.

"More of you?" Zoro asked, "FOR THE LAST TIME, I'M NOT JOINING!"

"We don't care," Koby said as he and Max began to untie Zoro's arms, "You've gotta get out of here."

"I only have…" Zoro began.

"Helmeppo lied, you idiot!" Max interrupted, "He's going to off you in three days!"

Zoro's jaw dropped.

"Hello, Zoro-san," Brook said, "I am your new crewmate, 'Just Dead Bones' Brook. A pleasure to see you. BUT I'M A SKELETON, SO I HAVE NOTHING TO SEE WITH! SKULL JOOOKE!"

"Did that skeleton just talk?!" Zoro demanded.

"Daddy! Why aren't you going out to kill those two brats who hit me?!" Helmeppo screamed at his father, both atop the Marine tower and overseeing the Marine grunts setting up the statue. Captain Morgan was very tall, intimidating man with white-blond hair and a steel jaw, his right hand is replaced by a huge steel axe, the handle of which seemed to go right through his forearm, wearing a large, billowing coat like a cape, and smoking a cigar, and the statue displayed his likeness very accurately.

"Son," he said gruffly to Helmeppo, "do you know why I've never hit you before?"

"Because you love me and-" Helmeppo answered before Morgan turned around and clocked him in the face.

"It's because you're an annoying, spoiled brat who's not even worth hitting. Now I don't mind you using my name to scare the peasants or even executing that Zoro fella. But you do NOT order me around like one of your lackeys. You are not the great one, I am the great one!" He turned and pointed his ax at the statue being raised. "Which is why my statue is being put on the top of this tower, to remind everyone of my greatness. UNDERSTOOD?!"

"Y-yes, daddy," Helmeppo whimpered.

"Good," Morgan replied, lighting a new cigar. "By the way, I heard that earlier a little girl snuck into the base's courtyard, despite my orders."

"Oh, yes, that," Helmeppo recalled, putting on a proud grin. "Don't worry about that, she was just bringing that fool Zoro some food, but I took care of her."

"I see," Morgan smirked. "So you executed her right?"

"What!? No! She was just a little kid!" Helmeppo cried out in surprise. "I just threw her out of the courtyard!"

"…You!" Morgan barked, pointing at Misty. "Go out into town, find that girl, and execute her!" Misty, Helmeppo, and the rest of the Marines let out a collective gasp.

"Anyone who defies me, whether a child or not, is a high class criminal in this town and will be dealt with as such. I repeat, find her and kill her!"

"N-NO!" Misty shouted back, making a vein on Morgan's head pop out. "I'm not going to kill an innocent, little girl!"

"So, you too defy my orders," Morgan growled, stepping towards the water-type specialist. He raised his ax hand and shouted out, "Mutiny!"

"Oh no!" Ash yelped.

"We overshot!" Luffy screamed.

The two grabbed the ropes holding a large statue up.

"Stopped at last…" Luffy sighed in relief.

The statue broke in half with the top half falling off the top of the base. The Marines all screamed in fear. Morgan turned his attention back to his statue and paled at the sight of half of it crashing to the ground.

"Oops…" Ash and Luffy sweatdropped.

"Sorry!" Luffy apologized.

Morgan pointed his ax hand at the duo as he felt his left eye twitch.

"CAPTURE THEM! I'M GONNA KILL THEM!" the man roared.

"Y-Yes sir!" the Marines saluted.

"DAD, THAT'S THEM! THEY'RE THE ONES WHO HIT ME!" Helmeppo shouted.

"I've been looking for you!" Luffy growled, grabbing Helmeppo and dragging him off.

"Come on, Misty!" Ash said, grabbing Misty's hand and running after his brother.

"WAAAAA! LET ME GO! DADDY, HELP…HELP ME!" Helmeppo screamed.

"TH-THEY HEADED INTO THE MAIN BUILDING!" a Marine shouted.

"AFTER THEM!" another shouted.

"Lieutenant Morgan, there are people in the courtyard," a Marine said.

"WHAT…?!" the man growled, "MORE TRAITORS?! KILL THEM ALL!"

"I can't stand those kind of Marines," Max said.

"Why are you doing this?" Zoro asked.

"Max and I are going to become Marines while Luffy becomes the Pirate King and Ash becomes the Pirate Champion!" Koby declared.

"What?! P-Pirate King!? Pirate Champion?!" Zoro gasped, "You're joking, right?"

"Those two are determined, Zoro-san," Brook said, "Now allow me, you two."

BANG!

Koby and Max fell on their backs as a stream of blood shot out of their left shoulders. Franky and Zoro glared at the tallest part of the base while Brook looked at it while pulling his cane sword out.

"I knew you two would come here!" Misty said.

"Good to see you too, Misty," Ash said.

"THERE THEY ARE!" a Marine shouted.

"Pikachu, Thunder Wave!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu released electricity from his cheeks and the Marines stopped moving, twitching slightly.

"Good job, Pikachu," Ash said.

"Now where are Zoro's swords!?" Luffy demanded.

"I'LL TELL! I'LL TELL! JUST STOP DRAGGING ME!" Helmeppo begged.

"Okay, spill it!" Luffy demanded as he held Helmeppo by his shirt to his face.

"They're in my room! We just passed it," Helmeppo whimpered as he pointed behind Luffy.

"BAKA! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY IT BEFORE?!" Misty demanded, whacking Helmeppo on the head, creating a large bruise on his head.

"You've gotten stronger, Misty," Ash sweatdropped.

"Thanks," Misty giggled.

"You two need some alone time?" Luffy asked while he and Chimchar adopted a sly look.

His reply was a punch to the face by Misty.

"AAAAAAA!" Max and Koby screamed.

"WE'VE BEEN SHOT!" Max screamed

"BLEEDING! WE'RE BLEEDING!" Koby cried.

"I suggest you guys run away," Zoro said as Brook sliced his ropes off.

"No way," Franky replied.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" a Marine shouted as a large group of them aimed their guns at the five, "YOU FIVE HAVE BETRAYED LIEUTENANT MORGAN AND ARE NOW SENTENCED TO IMMEDIATE EXECUTION!"

"Is this the room?" Luffy pondered.

"Monferno!" (Look!)

Everyone turned to see on a wall three katanas and six Pokéballs.

"My Pokémon!" Misty gasped.

"Ah! There're Zoro's swords!" Luffy exclaimed, "Good job, Monferno."

"But which one is Zoro's swords?" Ash asked.

"All of them are his," Misty replied, "He practices Santōryū, Three-Sword Style."

"How do you know that?" Luffy asked.

"I'll explain later," Misty said as she looked out the window, "Oh no!"

"What's going on?" Ash asked as he and Luffy looked out, "AH!"

"READY…" Morgan began.

"GOMU-GOMU NO…" Luffy began to he stretched his arms to the window from the other side of the room.

Luffy had Zoro's swords on his back and Ash and Misty held on.

"…AIM…"

"…ROCKET!" Luffy shouted as the trio shot out of the window.

"…FIRE!" Morgan roared.

The Marines fired and Luffy landed in front of everyone, taking the bullets.

"AH! LUFFY!" Koby and Misty screamed.

The bullets caused Luffy's body to stretch and the points the bullets struck. He smirked when he saw the confused look on their faces.

"BULLETS CAN'T HURT ME!" Luffy roared as the bullets shot back at the Marines before he began to laugh joyously.

"JUST WHAT ARE YOU?!" Zoro demanded.

"I'm a Rubber Man!" Luffy replied as he stretched his left cheek, "See?"

"Resisting the Marines with us will make you a pirate, Zoro," Ash said as Luffy gave him his three swords, "Or maybe you want to die out here?"

"Are you two the offspring of the devil…" Zoro pondered, "Forget it… Rather than to die here… Why don't I just accede to your request and become a pirate!"

"You know I'm always willing to go on an adventure with you, Ash," Misty said.

"YAY!" Luffy and Ash cheered, "WE'VE GOT A FIRST MATE AND A SECOND MATE!"

"Pikachu!" (Break out the ketchup!)

"Monferno!" (And the meat!)

"Let's celebrate later," Franky said.

"ATTACK!" Morgan roared.

The Marines shouted as they charged with swords out. All of them were stopped by Zoro's three swords.

"WHAT THE…?!" Morgan gasped.

"COOL!" Luffy and Ash awed.

"SUPA!" Franky posed.

"Yohohoho!"

"All of you better not move!" Zoro threatened, "You move…and I'll kill you!"

"EEK!" The Marines whimpered, 'He's scary!'

"I may be part of your crew now," Zoro said, "But if it gets in my way of becoming the world's greatest swordsman, I will have you two cut your stomachs open to say sorry!"

"Good, because if you wanna be on the Pirate King's crew," Luffy said, "If you can't even accomplish that, then I would be very embarrassed as well."

"Heh. Well said," Zoro smirked.

"Zoro, duck!" Luffy ordered, "Gomu-Gomu no…"

Zoro ducked as Luffy's leg stretched.

"…WHIP!" Luffy finished as he sent the Marines flying away from the group.

Luffy charged at Morgan.

"I am the Marine's worst enemy!" Luffy declared as he kicked Morgan's axe, "If you've got the guts to kill someone, then try to kill me!"

The Marines charged at the rest. Misty reached for a Pokeball on her belt, but Franky held his hand out in front of her, signaling her to stay back.

"FRESH FIRE!" Franky shouted as he took a deep breath.

He exhaled flames from his mouth and caught a few of the Marine uniforms on fire. They began to roll around to put the flames out.

"Hello!" Brook waved.

"EEK! A LIVING SKELETON!" some Marines screamed.

Brook just walked by them.

"Hanauta Sanchou…" Brook began as he sheathed his blade.

The moment his sword was fully sheathed, The Marines he walked had slashes all over their bodies.

"…Yahazu Giri."

"So what can you do?" a Marine asked as ten of them faced Ash.

"You sure you wanna know?" Ash asked.

They all nodded. Ash just gave a smirk.

"Ryu-Jemu no Half Form," Ash said.

He doubled in size as his muscles grew and his dragon form's scales covered his body, looming over the platoon that challenged him. The Marines began to shake in fear as their pants became wet.

"Boo."

The Marines screamed and ran away from Ash as took to the skies. Once high in the air, he dive-bombed the scattering troops while launching fireballs, throwing the Marines into the air from the air current his wings made and the explosions of his fire attacks as they were sent flying.

"LOOKS LIKE WE'RE BLASTING OFF!" they all screamed.

"Ah…For some reason, I missed hearing that," Ash, Max, and Misty sighed.

"Who is he?!" Zoro demanded.

"He's a Gem-Dragon Man," Luffy replied.

"Gem Dragon ate the Ryu-Jemu no Mi, a Spliced Akuma no Mi," Franky said, "He can't go into his full Zoan Form, but he's strong enough without it."

"And I thought your captain was a freak show," Zoro sweat dropped.

"People like you, without status…" Morgan began as he tossed his cloak to the side, "HAVE NO RIGHT TO OPPOSE ME!"

He charged at Luffy.

"I AM MARINE-LIEUTENANT AXE-HAND MORGAN!"

"Nice to meet you," Luffy said, "I'm 'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy."

"GO TO HELL!" Morgan roared as he swung his axe hand.

The shockwave from the attack Luffy jumped over caused a nearby steel fence to be sliced in half.

"EEK! THAT FENCE JUST GOT SLICED IN HALF!" Koby screamed in fear.

Luffy kicked Morgan in the face with both his feet, knocking him over.

"You little bastard…" Morgan growled, "GO TO HELL!"

"Hoshi Shield!" a voice shouted.

Morgan's axe broke from Franky's left forearm, which had expanded into a circular, shield-like state.

"Straw Hat, my turn?" Franky asked.

"Go for it," Luffy chuckled.

Morgan jumped back as Franky connected both of his arms together with the 'T' shaped pipe and then aimed the remaining end of the pipe at Morgan. They began to suck in air and caused them to expand even more.

"Coup de Vent!" Franky shouted as he fired a giant cannonball made out of compressed air from the pipe.

The cannonball hit Morgan in the gut and caused a small explosion.

"STOP IT!" Helmeppo demanded.

Everyone but Franky stopped moving as they turned to Helmeppo. Franky just whacked the knocked out Morgan again.

"I SAID QUIT IT!" Helmeppo barked.

He had a gun aimed at Max and Koby, who were tied up, and a gun at Misty.

"YOU MOVE AND I'LL KILL THEM! I SWEAR I'LL DO IT!"

At the sight of this, the pupils of Ash's eyes turned into reptilian slits as the flames in his mouth quickly changes from red to blue to an intense white and finally to a deep black. Luffy, Franky, Misty, Max, and Brook knew that when this happened, things wouldn't end well.

"Jemuryu no Jaakuna Jigoku! (Gem Dragon's Malevolent Inferno!)" Ash hissed, closing his mouth and letting the flames build.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-YOU STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Helmeppo screamed.

Ash just snorted, releasing tuffs of black flames from his nostrils. He opened his mouth and a large orb of swirling black flames erupted from it. The attack headed straight towards Helmeppo, but at the last second, a second Coup de Vent knocked it off course, earning a sigh of relief from the five.

The flames brushed by Helmeppo's guns, melting them and burning his hands, before colliding with the cross that once held Zoro, reducing it to cinders. The weird part, though, was that the cinder remained engulfed in the black flames before even they burned away into nothing. Helmeppo passed out, screaming in agony and fear. His eyes were completely white and foam came out of his mouth. Black flames surrounded Ash before they parted to reveal Ash in his human form.

"If you still want to fight us, then do it now," Zoro ordered.

The Marines began to cheer and cry in joy.

"Everyone has been afraid of Morgan ever since he showed up," Misty explained.

Zoro groaned as he fell over, Ash following suit.

"Ah! Zoro! Ash! Are you okay?" Koby asked.

"I'm just…hungry…" Zoro replied as his stomach growled.

"And I'm…burned…out…" Ash muttered, face flat on the ground.

Zoro laughed as he placed his fork and knife down.

"I'm full!" Zoro declared, "Haven't eaten anything for nearly a month except for those great rice balls the little girl made!"

Rika smiled in joy at that.

"Thank you, Nii-san!" Rika bowed.

"Then it's impossible for you to last a month," Luffy stated, eating his twentieth plate.

"You're one to talk, Luffy," Ash sweatdropped, on his nineteenth plate.

"Same goes for you, Gem Dragon," Franky said.

"So Misty," Ash asked between bites, "why are you here in Shell Town, anyway? What about the Cerulean City gym?"

"Well, I've been honing my skills with water Pokémon be training our here near the Seafoam Islands and Cinnabar when I got dragged into this mess between Zoro and Helmeppo," she explained.

"Really? So then who's running the gym while you're gone, your sisters?" Luffy asked.

"Oh, no way!" Misty exclaimed. "If I left them in charge again the gym would go out of business! I recently took on an apprentice and she's running the place while I'm gone. I already informed her in advance that I'd be working here with the Marines, though I didn't tell her the real reason why because of the deal I made with Helmeppo, so she and my sisters think it's part of my training."

"So are you gonna head back after the party?" Franky joined in.

"Mmm, nah," Misty shrugged, "I'm still going to join up with you guys. I missed all of you a lot and my apprentice needs just this opportunity to prove she's capable of running the gym someday. So count me in!"

"Yohohoho! This calls for a little music!" Brook laughed as he sat down at a nearby piano, "Any song requests?"

He didn't wait and began to play.

Yohohoho, Yohohoho!

Yohohoho, Yohohoho!

"Now this is a song my father sang to me once," Rika's mother said as Brook sang the song.

"Excuse me," a Marine said as he walked in with a few others, "We were wondering, are you really pirates?"

"Yeah, and we just found our First Mate and Second Mate," Luffy replied, an arm on Zoro and Misty's shoulders, "Plus, our crew has a Shipwright, Co-Captain in case our crew has to split up, and a Musician."

"Even though you are pirates," the Marine said, adjusting his hat, "You have done a great deed for our town. For that, we will calmly ask you to leave and we shall not report you to the higher ups. I am sorry for doing this."

"Eh. That's alright," Ash said, "We just came here to help our friends, Max and Koby, get here to join you guys."

"Are they pirates?" the Marine asked.

"No," Max replied, "They saved Koby and me from being held prisoner on Alvida's crew."

"Your crew… defeated the Lovely Pirates?" the Marine asked.

The Mugiwara Pirates, minus their new crewmates, began to laugh.

"WHAT KIND OF DUMB NAME IS THAT?!" Franky asked between laughs.

"OH! MY SIDES! THEY ACHE!" Ash shouted in laughed.

"I THINK I'M GOING TO BUST A GUT! BUT I'M A SKELETON, SO I HAVE NO GUT! SKULL JOOOKE!"

Luffy was too busy laughing to say anything.

"I hope to see you again, Rika-chan," Misty said, patting Rika on the head.

"Bye Onee-chan, Nii-san," Rika cried.

"See ya," Zoro said.

"Can we at least get some supplies?" Franky asked.

"It's been taken care of," the Marine replied, pointing at the Thousand Sunny through the window.

They saw a large crowd of townspeople in front of it.

"See ya, Max, Koby," Ash said.

"Good luck with joining the Marines!" Luffy grinned.

"SET SAIL!" Luffy shouted.

Franky and Misty pulled the ropes and the sails expanded. The Thousand Sunny sailed off.

"BYE EVERYONE!" Luffy and Ash shouted as they waved.

"ATTENTION! GROUP SALUTE!" the Marine shouted.

The Marines saluted along with Koby and Max. The townspeople began to cheer as the Mugiwara Crew began to wave to them.

"Those are good friends you have, Koby, Max," the Marine said.

Max and Koby nodded. The Marine turned to his men.

"Now then, since we all just saluted pirates, meaning we just went against Marine Code!" he said, "For that, we will have no food for a week!"

"SIR, YES, SIR!"

"And this is the Aquarium Bar, where we can eat and watch the fish we…" Franky began before he was there was only a fat shark in the aquarium, "YOU IDIOTS! YOU PUT A SHARK IN HERE!"

Ash and Luffy ran off in fear as Franky's shoulders went up into two mounds, revealing guns.

"CHASER BULLETS!" Franky shouted, chasing the two as bullets and needles shot out of his shoulders.

"Is there a gym here?" Zoro asked, "I need to train Oni and Giri."

He tossed two green and black Pokéballs into the air. Both opened and released two Pokémon. One had a body the same height as Zoro shaped like blue kendo armor with gray shoulder guards, save for the red patterns lining the edges and the red, Mohawk-like head piece at the top, and a dark yellow faceplate, revealing only a pair of red eyes behind it. Its limbs were made of bamboo, ending in geta-like feet for the legs and red, four-fingered hands for the arms. In its right hand was a shinai sword and four more were strapped to its back in an X-shaped fashion. The other was a medium-sized Pokémon, only coming up to the chest of his partner, and resembled people in general shape. However, he was predominantly purple in color with a brown bottom and feet, which resembled short pants and shoes. There were white lines on his torso, which resembled bandages. He also had these bandages on his wrists. He had three spikes on top of his head, which resembled a crest.

"Cool. A Tyrogue!" Luffy grinned. "And a…what's that Pokémon?" He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Pokedex Professor Oak had given him. The blue sphere glowed as a hologram of both Pokémon appeared and a soothing, male voice started speaking.

=Tyrogue, the Scuffle Pokémon; Region: Johto. It is famous for its eagerness to fight and always nurses injuries from challenging larger foes= the device said =Shinite, the Swordsman Pokémon; Region: Grand Line. After studying its master's technique and honing its skill with a sword, it is considered to be an expert level swordsman. They are often employed by swordsmanship instructors as assistants and sparring partners=

"Huh? Hey, that Tyrogue has three swords, and that Shinite has five wooden ones, too," Misty said.

"That's because they're my students and my closest friends," Zoro said, "I was the one who hatched Oni. I keep telling him that none of his evolved forms use swords, but he's determined to use them no matter what. And Giri refuses to use any swords other than those wooden ones. I found him abandoned by his former sensei a few years ago, and he's been learning my technique ever since."

"Since we're introducing our Pokémon," Misty said, "Come on out, Psyduck, Politoad, Gyarados!"

Franky and Brook screamed when Misty's Gyarados appeared on the side of the Thousand Sunny while Luffy just stared at it with mixed emotions. On the deck, a yellow duck-like Pokémon with three black tuffs on hair on its head and holding his head in his hands stood. Beside Psyduck was a green frog with a yellow, swirl patterned stomach. It had a similarly swirly strand of hair on the top of its head and a wide eyes look of happiness on its face as it clapped its hands.

"Eh. I don't have one," Franky said, shrugging as he took out a large egg, "At least, not until this guy hatches."

"Cool!" Ash exclaimed.

"This is so cool!" Luffy grinned as Brook released Mi and Zuuta, "You know my buddy Monferno, but meet my friend, Dewgong."

He tossed a blue Pokéball into the air. It opened and released a seal-like Pokémon. She had white fur, a small horn on her head, and a streamline body.

"Dewgong!" (Hello!)

"Oh, good idea, Luffy," Ash said, "Now you won't have to worry if you fall overboard and no one is around."

"Yep!" Luffy grinned before his stomach growled, "I'm hungry. FOOD!"

"We really need a cook," Misty said.

"Yep," the others agreed, minus the food chanting Luffy along with some of the Pokémon.

"LOOK! FOOD!" Luffy shouted, pointing at the sky to see a bird, "I'm going to get it."

He stretched his arms until they reached the top of the crow's nest.

"Gomu-Gomu no…ROCKET!" Luffy shouted as he shot up at the bird.

It was quiet for a few minutes after that. It turns out the bird was ten times Luffy's size.

"AHHHHHH! HELP ME!" Luffy screamed as the bird flew off.

"YOU IDIOT!" everyone barked.

Misty returned Gyarados to his Pokéball and the ship began to chase Luffy and the giant bird.

GammaTron: Well, that's not good. Our bad.

Zane: Indeed. Well, join us next time when we'll see where our heroes go next.