On a sloop sailboat in the middle of the ocean.
"YOU WHAT," screamed asked a raccoon looking creature with a pen for a tail.
"I can't find any of the maps of the oceans Pato," an eighteen year old boy with a straw hat replied like nothing was wrong, "I think we might have taken the extra food barrel instead of the map barrel when we were loading up."
"We, Luffy, you were the one who loaded up everything. I'm too small to move any of the barrels, you clust." Pato responded with true annoyance dripping out of every word.
"I'm sorry they all looked the same. What are we supposed to do now besides wait for something to happen and give us an idea of where to go?" Asked Luffy who was way to calm for the situation.
"Oh no he didn't just say that I marked it as a map when I was looking through everything," though Pato and he was about to say as much in fine detail when a whirlpool opened not twenty yards from the boat forcing him to move on quickly. "Luffy get us away from that whirlpool now."
"Ok I know, calm down," Luffy said, heading for the steering wheel.
10-20 minutes and a prayer later
"See I told you we wouldn't get sucked in, and I spotted a boat ahead of us, let's try and get on it without fighting." Luffy said with an all too familiar smile.
"You short sided.. wait ow do you plan on doing that," Pato asked, not really wanting to know.
Twenty minutes later Luff found himself in an empty barrel being rolled onto another ship.
The first ship had spotted the barrel he was in and done what any sensible group would have and grabbed it to search later. Then as he was being put away the ship had been attacked by another ship and boarded and he was being rolled by some kid to the storage room of the second ship, when.
"Hold on, Coby. Is this a drink?" A pirate asked with clear expectation.
"Well, I think it is, but it is for the captain, right?" The person called Coby responded.
"Coby, Coby. The Captain won't know, and if you don't open your mouth, and no one gets hurt." Another pirate said with a murderous tone.
"Well... yeah... if you guys say so..." Coby said. He was disappointed that his chance for some peace was gone, but it didn't matter anymore, his life was more important.
"So let's get some cups and-"
The barrel was broken into pieces knocking out the closest pirate to it with a fist that came out of nowhere. All of the remaining three members of the crew widened their eyes when a boy that looked a bit older than Coby, but higher and with developed muscles, appeared.
He was about 6'5 to 6'7 in height at first glance, with black shaggy hair and round black eyes also has a scar with two stitches underneath his left eye. He has a straw hat that was around his neck but is now on his head, and wears blue jogger like pants with cuffs, sandals, and a red long sleeve button up shirt (that wasn't), with a black floor length Captain cloak on his shoulders.
"Ahhhh sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare y'all, it was really tight in there. Names Luffy" Luffy said.
The other pirates besides the one who was pink haired ran out of the room screaming for their "Captain".
"Aren't you from the same crew? Don't you want to run with your friends?" Luffy asked, genuinely confused.
"N-n-n-no, they are not my friends, no way!" Coby answers, shaking his hand and head from one side to the other.
"Why would the kid be with people he didn't even seem to like?" Luffy thought before he ask he was interrupted.
"Hey, let's get out of here before someone comes back, and why were you inside the barrel?" Asked Coby.
"Ah don't worry about them, I was trying to secretly infiltrate the ship you'll attack and you can guess what happened from there." Luffy said, " Hey, why are you with people you don't like?"
"Two years ago I wanted to go fishing, but instead of a fishing boat, I ended up finding Alvida's pirate ship and was promptly taken." Coby answered, "To survive I became the cabin boy for the Captain and I have been stuck here since, I just don't want to die."
"You know you're pretty pathetic, don't you have anything to live for besides not dying?" Luffy asked, "Something that wouldn't matter if you were only doing it for a second would be worth all the pain in the world."
"I know... I am too weak, but I still... I still have a dream." Coby said.
"Oh yeah a dream," Luffy said, "My dream is to become the Pirate King, what is yours?"
Coby gaped in shock. "Pirate King? Then, Luffy, are you a pirate?"
Luffy nodded, sitting down, thinking about where he was going to go after this.
"Impossible! The Pirate King is a man with wealth, fame, and power; everything in this world united in one man! The last King, Gold Roger, was the only man to conquer the Grand Line! Impossible, impossible, impossible! Luffy you will surely die if you try to become the Pirate King!" Coby argued.
Luffy attention returned fully to Coby, his eyes becoming shaded by his straw hat as he looked at him.
"It's not about whether or not I can do it," Luffy said, taking the straw hat off his head, looking at it and reliving the memories that went with it. "I promised the man that gave me this hat that I would gather a crew and become a great pirate. It's my dream to be the Pirate King, and I'm committed to my dream. I don't care if I die pursuing it. What is your dream?"
Coby was shocked into silence by the raw determination behind the statement. Coby could see that Luffy truly would die chasing his dream. Coby started sweating cold. It looked like it was taking a lot of effort to say the simple line. He was sweating and snorting, but Luffy smiled at him to encourage him.
"I...I...I want to be a marine! I want to capture pirates!" Coby said confidently and louder than he had been speaking the entire time.
"And this includes me, Coby?" A voice said from the open door.
In the doorway for lack of words was a truly hideous woman. (Like when she died all the gods of death would have to get together and decide who was the unlucky bastard who would be stuck with her for eternity ugly.) She was the size of small whales, had freckles in all the wrong places, with flat, black hair covered by a cowboy hat and beady eyes. She held an iron mace almost as big as her as a staff, and her crew was around her.
This was 'Iron Club' Alvida, the woman worth 5,000,000 Beli.
"Men, who's the fairest on all the seas?" Alvida asked.
Her crew let out a full, if insincere, yell of "ALVIDA-SAMA!"
"C-c-captain..." All the courage Coby had before was gone.
"So you want to become a marine? After everything, you intend to betray us?" Alvida asked mockingly before looking at Luffy, "And this one, who it is? A marine? Or the bounty hunter?"
Luffy finally turned to face Alvida a little.
"What a whale." Luffy said.
Luffy had seen a lot of women in his life, two being Makino and Dadan, so he knew calling this thing a whale would be an insult to the actual ugly people.
Everyone in hearing distance froze, their eyes going wide and their jaws unhinging as they processed the suicidal comment. Alvida's forehead became a tapestry of tic-marks.
"DIIEEEE!"
With a minor effort, the woman brought down the solid ton of steel down on the spot Luffy had been occupying. Luffy being Luffy decide the best way to jump out of the way was grabbing Coby, and hopping up onto the deck(by bursting a hole through it), all the while smiling like an idiot.
Alvida's face distorted so much that it would be enough to give a certain Admiral nightmares.
"Hey, you piece of shit with no taste for women! Get back here I am gonna kill you!"
"No, you are not", he says, wiggling his finger . "I am Monkey D. Luffy and I will become the Pirate King!"
Alvida looks a little more at him, still angry, and then turns her head to Coby, scaring the kid even more.
"He is just crazy and you Coby, you serve me well. I am still punishing you, but if you take back what you said I am willing to not kill you."
"I thought I could free myself from this, that I could fulfill my dream. What was I thinking?!" Coby thinks.
"Coby, what is your dream?" Luffy in a new tone( still friendly but what small amount of authority.
Hearing this question, everything goes silent to the pink-haired boy. He fills his lungs with air and screams.
"I WANT TO BE A MARINE!"
He stops to see the club full of spikes going to his face and closes his eyes instinctually.
'At least I was faithful to my dream at the last second.'
However, the impact he was waiting for never came. Wondering why the pain was taking so long to be felt, he opened his eyes again and got shocked. Luffy, using a sword, and was holding back Alvida's club. She and her whole crew were not believing their eyes.
Alvida drew back the club and tried attacking again. As an answer, Luffy shifts his guard and with ease stops that attack as well. After the attack hit Luffy let go of Coby and his hand turned yellow, while the blade started to have black streaks of what could only be lighting appear on it. Alvida and Coby widened their eyes in fear, both believing a devil fruit was being used which was partially true.
"Damn you! You are the pirate hunter Zoro, aren't you?" Alvida
"No, I already said I am Monkey D. Luffy, the future Pirate King!"
Then Luffy disengaged, allowing the club which was still being forced down with all Alvida's might to go crashing into the deck.
"Haha let's have some fun and finish this quickly, this one for you Rodger," Luffy thought before saying. "Celestial Departure."
The sword moves at full speed, hitting the pirate. Instead of pierce her, the impact was so strong and quick that she goes flying,
"Captain!" The crew screamed.
"That's going to hurt later. What's on the ship?" He asks, turning in the direction of the hole while the pirates crew was panicking without a captain.
"A-a little gold, some berries, and some supplies." Coby responded
Luffy gives a big smile hearing this. Before looking off around the ship and frowning.
"Well we don't have too long before that marine ship is in firing range, maybe five minutes plus two before they can accurately hit us every time we need to get everything and run." Luffy said, pointing at the incoming marine ship, before pointing at a smaller ship that had quietly come up next to the ship during the chaos.
"Why don't I just stay and go with them wherever?" Coby asked.
"Because while I would like to hope they would believe you about everything, the truth is that you have been on a pirate ship for two years now and even if they don't arrest you straight up as a spy, it will be a lot harder to join the marines if they don't believe you." Luffy said, jumping into the hole and began to throw things up.
There was not a lot of gold and money, some jewels and necklaces that were probably worth something.
Sir." Three voices said.
Luffy turned to find three people next to him practically begging.
Can we please go with you? We don't want to go to Empel Down." One asked.
Then recognize the man as for the first three people he saw with Koby.
What, why should I take you all from what I can tell you're nothing but bullies and savages." Luffy says
That's what we had to be to be part of this crew." The man says.
Did you know you always have a choice just because you aren't strong enough at one time you can't become strong enough. I told this to Kobe but I'll tell you now even though it helps with dreams it's truly something you should know in life and if you aren't willing to die for something that you believe in then it's really worth it. Wasn't really worth it becoming a Pirate." Luffy says.
Yes sir it was we just got lost in the crew mentality and lost our way." The man said.
Very well I'll bring you along you will have a second opportunity to be the pirate that you want to be. If my path doesn't follow the path you want to go on at any point I will give whatever you need to get you back on your path. What are your names?" Luffy says.
I'm Heppoko, this is Peppoko and Poppoko." Heppoko says.
Heppoko is a tanned skinned man, with a large forehead and short black hair. He also has a black mustache and goatee. He wears a yellow short sleeved shirt, and has a hairy chest.
Peppoko has long blonde hair, blonde eyebrows, and a blonde goatee. He wears an orange shirt with vertical lines on it and a black lining near the chest. In the anime he also wears a light blue headband.
Poppoko is an overweight man, with a large chin, black hair, and a bit of stubble on his chin. He wears a blue and white striped bandana, with a matching short sleeved shirt. His sideburns also come down into a curl.
Alright y'all start moving things over, we are leaving now don't bother grabbing any unnecessary things grab any personal items that means something to you and let's go.
The straw hat boy got everything he could put on his boat, putting them in bags he pulled out of his coat to make it easier to carry them all and then he and Coby jumped on his ship and got out of there just as the marine ship was starting to hit Alvida's ship.
After leaving the area Coby was looking at the boy and what could only be called a raccoon named Pato talking with absolute shock, while their conversation had gone from normal to shouting and back to normal so quickly it wasn't even normal.
"That crew barely had 3000 thousand berries, and the supplies will easily be finished, the food and the drinks with your bad habits." Pato said.
"Ah sorry where are we heading," Coby asked before they could start again, "And what are you gonna do now, Luffy?"
"Well we are extremely lost seeing as we don't have any maps of the area but we were heading to Shells Town to sell some of this stuff and a couple things to do at the marine base." Pato answered.
Oh well I know where Shells Town is from here. We passed it a couple times. I always chicken out of the swim because I was afraid of being recaptured." Coby said.
"Let's head there, we both have business there and it will be my first stop in this ocean." Luffy said before pausing. "For now let's go to this marine base, maybe I can recruit some people there."
"Are you sure it's a good idea to go to a marine base?" Coby said getting scared again.
"Huh? But don't you want to be a marine?" Luffy said.
"I understand...even now Luffy is trying to help me in my dream." Coby thought before saying, "Yes. Thank you!"
"Ok, let's go easy on emotions because I need someone to navigate. When can we head out?"
Coby stands up promptly.
"Immediately or whenever you are ready."