Chapter 2: An Idiot Monkey With An Impossible Dream

Felix kept looking at the straw hat boy like he was crazy. This boy just popped out of the barrel like it was the most natural thing in the world! Koby was freaked out his mind and the three Alvida Pirates just stood there, flabbergasted.

"Why does everyone look so weird?" The straw hat boy asked, genuinely confused.

Felix stared at the boy, his mouth gaping. "So….you're just gonna act like you didn't just pop out of that barrel two minutes ago?"

"Oh, that's why?" The boy laughed again. "I had a boat, but this whirlpool came out of nowhere and l got sucked in. Luckily, the barrel was there and I climbed inside…and got stuck."

"You got stuck?"

"Yeah, but it's a great place to take a nap."

Felix felt like his head was spinning. This kid is beyond stupid. He thought.

"Another stowaway?" The first pirate exclaimed. "Miss Alvida is gonna kill us."

"Not if we kill them first!" The second pirate said, raising his sword to strike the straw hat boy.

"Look out!" Koby shouted.

The second pirate swung his sword at the straw hat boy, only to have his attack blocked by two iron fans. The pirate looked to see Felix blocking his sword.

"You're not about to lay a hand on us." He sneered.

The second pirate looked at Felix in contempt. "Take care of Koby and the other boy." He commanded his two friends. "This twink is mine."

"You're going to regret calling me that." Felix smirked.

The other two pirates cornered Koby, who was cowering in fear. Suddenly, the straw hat boy stepped in front of Koby, arms duked up, ready to fight.

"You guys aren't very nice." He said. The pirates smirked and started to attack but the straw hat boy was two steps ahead, jumping over them and doing a roundhouse kick upside their heads. They regained their composure and attempted to attack Koby again, but the straw hat boy knocked them both out with one punch. The pink haired boy looked at his savior in awe.

"Who are you?" He breathed.

The straw hat boy turned to Koby and smiled. "Me? I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet you."

Koby started to respond when he heard Alvida's booming voice.

"What's going on down there?!" She demanded. "Who's sleeping on their job?!"

"Oh no, it's Alvida! You gotta get outta here!" Koby warned.

Luffy turned his gaze to Felix, who was still fighting the lead pirate. The pirate was delivering attack after attack and Felix was blocking each one with his Tessen fans.

"You need some help, Geisha Dude?" He asked.

"That's not my name." Felix said. "And no, I got it."

Suddenly, the pirate did a sideswipe move, knocking Felix off his feet and he fell with a thud.

"Roci!" Koby exclaimed.

"Hey! That was a dick move, you jerk!" Luffy complained.

The pirate simply laughed and proceeded to deliver the final blow to Felix but the boy was too quick. Felix blocked the pirate's sword and knocked it out of his hands. He used that momentum to do a backflip off of the floor and opened his fan for a final attack.

TESSEN STYLE! TIGER CLAW SLASH!

Felix slashed his opponent's back and closed his fans. The pirate passed out from shock of his defeat. Koby stared in shocked awe while Luffy looked at Felix like he just won the lottery.

"Whoa! That was soo cool!" Luffy said. "Where did you learn to fight like that, Geisha Dude?"

"I told you that is not my name!" Felix groaned. To Koby, he asked: "You okay, Koby?"

"Y-yeah, I'm okay." Koby nodded. "But you guys need to get off this ship. Miss Alvida will be here any minute."

"I can't leave." Luffy objected. "I need to find another boat. My old one got destroyed in that whirlpool, remember?"

"But we still gotta hide." Felix pointed out. "We stay here, we'd be sitting ducks." He snapped his fingers. "Silence."

Suddenly, a large grey bubble formed around the three boys and the sounds of pirates stomping in their direction and Alvida's big mouth abruptly cut off. Koby and Luffy gave Felix an incredulous look.

"What?" Felix shrugged. "It's a silent sphere, nothing to lose ya'll mind about. Is there a place on this ship we can lay low, Koby?"

Koby nodded and proceeded to open up a hatch in the pantry. "We can hide down here. This is where they keep all the shelf food."

"There's food down there?!" Luffy beamed. "Say no more!" He basically leaped downstairs to the lower pantry. Felix rolled his eyes and went downstairs, Koby following behind and shutting the door. Once he confirmed that they were safe, Felix turned off his silent bubble with the word "Turbulence." Luffy kept looking at the younger boy in awe.

"You have a cool power, Geisha Dude." He complimented, while scarfing on a bunch of apples. "What Devil Fruit did you eat?"

"Will you stop calling me that?!" Felix snapped.

"Sorry, I don't know your name."

"My name is Roci."

"Nice to meet you, Roci. My name is Monkey D. Luffy."

"Charmed. And to answer your first question, I didn't eat a Devil Fruit."

"You didn't? Then how come you have a Devil Fruit power?"

"I inherited it from my father."

"People can inherit Devil Fruit powers?" Koby asked.

"It's too complicated to explain and I don't have time to get into it." Felix dismissed. "I have to figure out where Roronoa Zoro is and find him."

"Who's Roronoa Zoro?" Luffy asked.

Koby looked at Luffy. "You never heard of Pirate Hunter Zoro?"

"Uh-uh." Luffy replied, shaking his head.

"He's a ruthless bounty hunter. They said that when he fights, he has the aura of a demon. People have another name for him: The Demon of the East Blue."

"Awesome. I need him on my pirate crew." Luffy laughed.

Felix and Koby looked at Luffy like he was crazy (apparently crazier than he appeared to be).

"Pirate crew?" Felix repeated.

"Yeah, I'm putting together a pirate crew and sailing to the Grand Line. I'm gonna get at least 10 people. And they're gonna be super strong like me." Luffy gave Felix a contemplative look. "You're pretty strong. Wanna join my crew?"

"Pass." Felix scoffed.

"Why not?"

"I'm not here to join some rinky-dink pirate crew. I'm here to liberate my village from pirates and I'm getting Roronoa Zoro to help me."

"He won't be able to help you because he's gonna be on my crew."

"Zoro is a bounty hunter. What makes you think he's gonna say yes to joining your pirate crew?"

"I'm pretty convincing."

"Didn't convince me."

"If I get Zoro to join my crew, I can tell him to help liberate your village from the pirates who took over it. We'll do it together."

Felix looked at Luffy. "You'd do that?"

"Yeah. We're friends ,aren't we?" Luffy shrugged.

Felix was taken aback. Luffy just met him barely a half hour ago and he already decided that they were friends. Felix thought the Straw Hat boy had several loose screws in his head. But there was something about Luffy that Felix felt strangely drawn to. He couldn't quite put a name on it yet, but Felix was good at reading people. And Monkey D. Luffy was as genuine as they came.

"Tell you what, I'll make a bet with you." Felix challenged. "If you can get Roronoa Zoro to join your crew, I'll accept your offer as well."

"Really? You'll join my crew?" Luffy said, eyes sparkling.

"Only if you get Roronoa Zoro to join you. If not, then we go our separate ways and never see each other again. We have a deal?"

"Deal." Luffy smiled, extending his hand. "I'm gonna love having you on my crew, Roci. You can be my spy or something."

"I'm loving your confidence, Monkey D. Luffy." Felix laughed, shaking Luffy's hand.

"You guys have to get off of Miss Alvida's ship first." Koby inputted. "And there's no way she's gonna let you leave alive."

"How did you end up as her chore boy, anyway?" Felix asked.

"Well…I was on my way to a Marine Base and I took a nap in a small boat. But I didn't know that it was Alvida's boat, so by the time I woke up, I ended up on her ship." Koby replied.

"Wow, you're really stupid." Luffy smiled.

"Don't say that to him, Luffy." Felix chided.

"What? It's true." Luffy shrugged.

"That doesn't mean you should say it, it's not nice." Felix turned to Koby. "So, why didn't Alvida kill you on the spot? Everyone knows that wench has a reputation for killing stowaways."

"In exchange for my life, I offered to become Alvida's chore boy." Koby explained. "That was two years ago."

"Two years ago?! Why didn't you just escape?"

"No way!" Koby exclaimed. "Just thinking about what Alvida would do to me if she caught me makes me want to pee in my pants! I can't risk it! I can't!"

"Okay, okay. I get it, chill out." Felix soothed.

"Wow, so you're stupid and spineless." Luffy laughed. "I really hate people like you."

"Luffy!" Felix exclaimed. "You don't have to be so blunt. Have some decorum!"

"What's decorum?" Luffy asked. Felix simply sighed in exasperation.

"It's okay, Roci. Luffy's right anyway." Koby said. "I don't have the guts to float in a barrel or sail to find the Demon of the East Blue." The pink-haired boy paused briefly before asking Luffy a question: "Why did you go out to sea anyway, Luffy?"

"Me? I'm going to be King of the Pirates!" Luffy declared.

Koby and Felix looked at Luffy with ridiculous shock on their faces.

"Wait, you're going to be what?" Felix asked.

"The King of the Pirates."

"You want to take Gold Roger's title?"

Before Luffy could reply, Koby frantically interjected. "King of the Pirates?!" He yelled. "That means you have to sail the entire world and conquer it! Wealth, Fame, Power! You have to achieve all of it!"

"That's right!" Luffy nodded.

"That means you're after the treasure Gold Roger left behind: the One Piece!" Felix exclaimed.

"Yep." Luffy confirmed.

For the seventh time today, Felix looked at Luffy like he was crazy (that's a lot given the fact that Felix had only known Luffy for less than an hour). He was about to remind Luffy how crazy he was but Koby beat him to it.

"Do you want to die?!" The pink haired boy yelled. "Every pirate in the world is after that!"

"Yeah, so am I." Luffy shrugged.

"But the odds against you are astronomical! You want to be the King of the Pirates in this Great Pirate Era?! Impossible, that'll never happen! Never, never, never-"

Koby's rant was cut off by a punch to his face, courtesy of Luffy. Felix was too stunned to speak.

"Ow, why did you hit me?!" Koby asked, rubbing his head.

"Because I felt like it." Luffy replied.

"That's not a valid reason to punch someone in the face!" Felix snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" Luffy started to answer Felix's question but the younger boy cut him off. "Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question."

"I don't know what "rhetorical" means but okay." Luffy laughed.

Felix rubbed his temples. "Of course, you don't. But despite his hysterics, Koby has a point. Every pirate crew in the world is after One Piece and most of them are very experienced. Some have died trying and you want to take a go at it? How old even are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Seriously?! You're older than me too?"

"Is that a bad thing?" Luffy asked, confused.

"No, it's not." Felix sighed in resignation. "It's just some weird conundrum I'm dealing with."

There was a slight pause before Luffy spoke up again. "I'm not afraid to die, if that's what you two are worried about."

"Huh?" Koby wondered.

"You're not?" Felix added.

Luffy took off his straw hat and looked at it fondly. "I've already decided a long time ago that I was going to become the King of the Pirates. If I die trying, then I die. But that's my dream and I believe that I'll succeed too."

"What if you're just deluding yourself?" Felix asked.

"Maybe I am, but I won't know unless I try. Don't you have a dream that people said it was impossible to achieve, Roci?"

Felix thought about his dream and how Takashi always said how unrealistic it was. It wasn't as farfetched as being the freaking Pirate King but it was close.

"Yeah, I want to become a Grand Tessenjutsu Master." Felix replied.

"What's Tessenjutsu?" Luffy asked.

"It's a fighting style using bladed iron fans." Felix explained, taking out one of his fans to show Luffy and Koby. "That's what this is. But it's an old martial art, not many people practice it. That's why my sensei always tells me it's unrealistic. But I really believe that I can achieve it. So, I kinda understand where you're coming from, Luffy."

"Grand Tessenjutsu Master? That's pretty cool!" Luffy smiled, putting his hat back on. "I expect nothing less on my crew."

"I'm not joining your pirate crew yet! Have you forgotten our deal?" Felix whined.

Their conversation was interrupted by sniffling in the background. Felix and Luffy turned to see Koby crying softly. Felix came over to Koby while Luffy gave a blank stare.

"Koby, are you okay? What's the matter?" Felix asked, concerned.

"Don't worry, Roci, I'm fine." Koby sniffed, wiping the tears from his face. "It's just the way you and Luffy talked about your dreams…I've never looked at it that way before. You guys are so strong and brave! Maybe I can be like that. If I can risk my life like that, then…maybe it's possible."

"Huh?" Luffy blinked.

"What are you talking about?" Felix asked.

"Do you think I can join the Navy?" Koby wondered.

"The Navy?!" Luffy and Felix exclaimed at the same time.

"We'll end up being enemies but I wanna join the Navy and fight the bad guys!" Koby declared. "It's been my dream since I was a little kid! Luffy! Roci! Do you guys think I can do it?"

"How would we know?" Luffy answered.

"Yeah, we're not mind readers." Felix added.

"Well, I'm gonna do it!" Koby announced in a determined voice. "What have I got to lose? I don't want to be a wimpy chore boy for the rest of my life! I'd rather risk my life to achieve my dream! I'm gonna join the Navy and I'll capture Alvida myself!"

"Who are you gonna capture, you little runt?!"

The three boys looked up to see Alvida staring down at them with an evil smirk on her face. "Seize those three brats and bring up to the deck!" She commanded.

Before anyone could do anything, three of Alvida's men grabbed Felix, Koby and Luffy and brought them to the deck of the ship.

"So, you think you can betray me and get away with it, you rat?!" Alvida growled at Koby. "Are these the bounty hunters you hired to capture me? Well, neither of them are Roronoa Zoro!"

"Maybe not, but we still managed to beat the crap out of your men." Felix smirked, turning to the pirate he defeated. "Told you that I'll make you regret calling me a twink."

Alvida nodded to the pirate holding Felix hostage and the man hit Felix with the hilt of his sword, the boy falling to the ground in pain.

"Roci!" Koby yelled.

"Just because of that remark, I'll torture you slowly before killing you." Alvida laughed evilly. To Koby, she said: "Now, because I like you, Koby, I'll give you one chance to repent. Who's the fairest of all the seas? Answer me!"

Koby laughed nervously. "Heh, uh…L-lady Alvida, um, you are…"

"Hey Koby. Who's that fat lady?"

Everyone looked at Luffy in shocked silence. "WHAAAAAATTTTTTT?!" Alvida's pirate crew exclaimed. Alvida was too stunned to speak and Koby gave Luffy a fearful look. Felix, however, started laughing hysterically.

"HAHAHA! You're all right with me, Luffy!" He laughed.

"Kid, bow your head down and apologize." One of the pirates hissed.

"Alvida will kill you with her iron mace!" Another pirate warned.

Koby saw the irate look in Alvida's eyes and he shook Luffy violently. "Luffy, take back what you said, right now!" He pleaded. "Of all the seas, Alvida is the most…" Koby stopped mid-sentence, his mind recalling what Luffy and Felix said about pursuing their dreams:

My sensei always says that my dream is unrealistic, but I really believe that I can achieve it. I'll become a Grand Tessenjutsu Master.

I'm gonna be King of the Pirates and if I die trying, at least I can say that I tried.

Tears welled up in Koby's eyes as he stared Alvida down with a resolve that Luffy and Felix hadn't seen before in him.

"LADY ALVIDA IS THE UGLIEST OLD HAG OF ALL THE SEAS!" Koby exclaimed.

All of the pirates were stunned to silence. If there was a possibility for Alvida to look any redder, Koby certainly accomplished it. She loomed her stare at the pink haired boy. Koby gulped but stood his ground.

"What did you say, you rotten little brat?!" Alvida growled.

"I said you're the ugliest, fattest old hag these seas has to offer." Koby declared. "I said what I said and I'm not taking it back! I'm done cowering in fear! I'm gonna join the Navy and when I become a strong Marine, I'll arrest you myself and send you to Impel Down!"

Luffy laughed hysterically while Felix gave a proud smirk (as he secretly took out one of his fans).

"Good for you, Koby!" Luffy commended. "You can relax for a bit. Roci and I can take it from here. You got this, Roci?"

"I'm way ahead of you, Luffy." Felix said as he stabbed one of the pirates in the leg with his fan. The pirate held is injured leg, screaming in agony. Felix jumped to his feet, knocking the pirate out with a roundhouse kick. Six more pirates surrounded Felix, so the boy took out his other fan and opened them with a flair.

"You boys wanna play?" He taunted.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET THAT GEISHA TWINK!" Alvida roared.

"Ya'll are some disrespectful mofos, seriously." Felix muttered.

The six pirates charged at Felix, swords drawn, but the young Taikomochi was too quick. He formed a calm bubble around himself and ran past his opponents, slashing and blocking sword attacks with his fans. The pirates became discombobulated because Felix was too quick and no one could hear his footsteps as he ran.

"Where did he go?" One pirate asked.

"I don't know. That brat is too damn quick." Another pirate cursed.

"SILENCE!" Felix shouted, touching one of the pirates. A silent bubble formed around the pirates, causing them to panic. "AND COMPRESS!"

Suddenly, the silent bubble shrank, effectively immobilizing Alvida's men. Their captain was fuming in volcanic rage. Koby stared at Felix in amazement. Luffy simply smirked. Felix jumped up and down in satisfaction.

"Yes! Now what?!" He gloated. "Who's the twink now? This twink just whooped all of ya'll stank behinds! You and your fat-ass wench captain can go…"

Felix was so busy gloating that he didn't see where he was going and tripped on some rope abandoned in the middle of the deck. He tumbled twice and slammed into the mast.

"Damn." Luffy winced.

"Roci, are you okay?" Koby asked, concerned.

"Yeah, that was my own fault." Felix replied.

Alvida laughed as she stormed up to Felix. "You want to finish that sentence, boy?" She taunted. "What is it me and my crew can do?"

Felix flashed an evil smirk. "Suck it, you fat-ass wench." He growled.

Alvida raised her iron mace at Felix. "I'm going to kill you, you insolent brat!" She screamed. Felix's eyes grew wide in fear as Alvida swung her mace to strike Felix but Luffy stepped in front of the younger boy and the mace hit him instead.

"Luffy! What the hell are you doing?!" Felix shouted.

"Don't worry, Roci." Luffy smirked. "That didn't hurt me one bit."

Alvida was flabbergasted. "Impossible! No one survives my iron mace! How are you still alive?!"

"Because I'm made of rubber." Luffy revealed as he raised his arm for a punch.

Then Felix and Koby saw something amazing: Monkey D. Luffy stretching his arm all the way past the end of the ship. Alvida was too stunned to even duck or make a move. Her crew wasn't better off either.

"GUM-GUM…..

"You've gotta be kidding me!" One pirate exclaimed.

"What the-" Alvida began.

"PISTOL!"

Luffy's retracted his stretchy arm back, landing a super effective blow at Alvida. The enormous pirate captain whiplashed hard, slamming headfirst on the helm. The Alvida pirates ran to their unconscious captain in a panic!

"Captain!" One pirate cried.

"That boy's arm stretched like rubber!" Another pirate said.

"He's not human! He beat Lady Alvida easily!" Another pirate exclaimed.

"Hey, Pirates!" Luffy barked. "Give Koby a boat! He's leaving your crew and joining the Navy!"

"Yes sir. Right away, sir!" The pirates nodded.

Koby couldn't stop the tears coming down his face. "Luffy…"

After getting up and brushing himself off, Felix stormed up to Luffy, looking furious.

"How can your arm stretch like that?!" He demanded.

"Oh. I ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit and became a rubber man." Luffy replied.

"And you couldn't have led with that when you said that you were going to be King of the Pirates?"

"I didn't think it would matter, I'll be the King of the Pirates with or without a Devil Fruit power. Gold Roger didn't have one."

Felix couldn't argue with that logic. "Well, thanks for saving my life back there."

"Shishishi. No problem, Roci. You really held your own out there too. That move was awesome!" Luffy laughed. "Let's find out where Roronoa Zoro is and we can get him to join our crew."

"I'M NOT ON YOUR CREW YET, LUFFY!" Felix yelled.

Monkey D. Luffy simply laughed. "Whatever you say, Roci."

Donquixote Felix Rocinante couldn't do anything but shake his head and sigh in resignation (he was low-key smiling though).