Well, I'm certainly having fun. ^_^ What about you guys?
Cue standard disclaimer with full cover.
Queries, suggestions, con-crit all welcome.
Thank you for your support.
One of the earliest memories Coby had was of a marine officer arresting a pirate in his home village.
The pirate had come to pillage and burn (as pirates do tend to do) but the marines had arrived as soon as the crew set foot on the beach. Whether it was co-incidence or that the marines had been in pursuit was unknown but he couldn't help but be impressed. The hero had swept in and enforced justice winning the gratitude of the adoring populace and punishing evildoers.
For a time all of his games revolved around a hero rushing in and saving the day before things came to pass that he had no time for such play. Still, every once in a while he would remember the stark terror and the relief when the marine emerged triumphant declaring that those pirates 'had no concept of honour or justice'.
That was his secret muse. Whenever his will faltered he would cling to the faded image of the bearded man in the marine coat who had demolished the invading pirates with a powerful punch. The details had long since faded but he still regularly polished up that image of the heroic marine officer fighting for justice and the vulnerable.
A couple of years later this ideal image had been ground beneath the heel of his oppressor until his small well of courage had been drained away and the last remnants of his inspiration no more than dust to be swept away.
-break-
Coby hated his life.
He had studied very hard and knew lots about the sea, basic navigation, calculating rationing of supplies, the issuing of bounties and all sorts of information on the different kinds of ships floated on the Great Blue. In short he obtained a very useful sort of elementary education for a prospective marine.
So how, had he been so abysmally stupid as to end up on a pirate ship when he planned to spend the day fishing?
The terror he had felt back in his childhood had returned and all he could do was follow his survival instincts and grovel for his life. He had already lost two years of his existence to this hellish lifestyle and providing Alvida just didn't decide to off him anytime soon he was probably going to lose several more.
He believed in certain things and once had a cherished dream but he never had much courage. Building that ramshackle dinghy had taken what daring he possessed, he was too terrified to push off to sea.
At least, that would have been the way things would have continued on if a long limbed youth hadn't exploded out of a presumed barrel of grog.
-break-
Monkey D. Luffy had enjoyed his nap and was feeling all refreshed.
He had a nagging feeling that he was going to be scolded later seeing as he was supposed to be on the ship and not taking a nap in a barrel. To be fair though he hadn't intended to do that but when he snuck off to go fishing (because meetings and paperwork were so boring!) he had forgotten that he couldn't navigate (A mystery skill) and had ended up sailing into a whirlpool. (which had been admittedly fun, if somewhat discomfiting to be surrounded by so much seawater)
It wouldn't have been so bad but he was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuungry (elongated for sheer passionate emotion) and wasn't looking forward to getting scolded by his sub-ordinates when he got back to the ship. Judging by past experience Luffy was probably going to experience a sudden lack of protein in his diet. Idly picking his nose, Luffy decided to do what he did best which was ignore everything about a situations and beat up the people threatening him.
Just like any Monday morning really.
-break-
Luffy blinked at the trembling bespectacled boy idly wondering about what a weird colour of hair he had. Pink was so unmanly and Luffy knew a lot about the dreams of men. In fact he would consider himself something of an expert as well as an enthusiastic supporter of mens' romance.
He didn't have much longer to wonder about vaguely effeminate hair colorants because an iron mace was pitched into the room sending him and his barrel flying out into the woods. On a later date when he wasn't busy devoting all of his energy to being terrified our pink haired chore boy would recall how utterly unperturbed Luffy had looked, as if he had experienced such things so often that it no longer surprised him. Coby sidled out of the wreckage and quickly followed after him.
-break-
Coby was surprised that anyone could be so dismissive. Well, not dismissive, that was the wrong word for it. It was more like he simply wasn't the least bit worried, almost as if it was so far beneath his notice that he didn't need to interrupt whatever else was on his mind. It was irrelevant information to him. Luffy-san was only really interested in getting back to the boat, 'but I'll probably get scolded by Tenzou'. He supposed his woes were irrelevant to other people but shouldn't this guy be more worried about being slap bang in the middle of a pirate's territory?
Through a rather disjointed and somewhat confusing conversation he found himself admitting his whole story to the lanky boy (mistaken ship and all) who bluntly replied
"You're kinda clumsy and dumb" before declaring "and gutless too. You really are worthless" and laughing merrily.
Coby wept in despair, realising his life had taken a turn for the worse. This guy was insane. Insults he could take, he received them multiple times on a daily basis but this kind of dismissal put him in fear of his life. The clinically insane did tend to endanger both themselves and the people around them. Oh god he was going to die and rather than the iron mace it was going to be by the hand of a guy who rides around the sea in a barrel….actually that was less terrifying and more humiliating now that he thinks about it.
"Ne, Coby? Do you want to be a pirate?"
Coby bugged out "Of course not! I wanted to join the marines and protect people."
"Then why didn't you?"
He froze. Hadn't Luffy-san listened to a word he said? He was afraid, so damn afraid, and Alvida would kill him. He was so lucky that he hadn't been killed already. Tears filled his eyes. Who was he kidding? This guy had plunged into the ocean inside of a barrel! He had incredible guts and determination, Cody thought suddenly feeling very jealous.
"Ano Luffy-san….Do you have a dream?"
Luffy cocked his head to one side "Mmm, not really. I just want to be free to do my own thing I guess. I'm gonna travel the world and fight all kinds of guys. That seagull guy cut a deal with me so it won't be so bad"
Coby was wondering just who the hell that seagull guy was when Luffy grabbed him and started walking towards Alvidas' base.
"You know Cody, Pirates and Marines are pretty much the same thing."
"What do you mean? Don't be ridiculous Luffy-san!Marines uphold the law! Pirates are criminals! The bane of all civilians! AND OH DEAR GOD WHY ARE WE HEADING TOWARDS ALVIDA AND HER CREW?"
Luffy clonked him on the head
"You're pretty hysterical y'know. Is all you do panic?"
"ah, sorry" Cody rubbed his head ruefully "but I'm kind of used to that kind of treatment it seems. I'm just going to be an even greater burden at this rate."
"Marines and Pirates. They both gotta be strong. If you're not going to fight with all you have then they won't want you."
"Wha…"
"If you're not willing to put your life on the line then you'll be a pretty crappy marine Cody"
Cody clenched his fists. "I want…I want to be a marine! I want to fight for people who can't protect themselves and stand against pirates like that hag Alvida."
Luffy grinned "Shishishishishi. That's the spirit, I'll give you a hand to get there"
-break-
Everything was little more than kindling.
When Coby had crawled out of the grimey corner he was relegated to sleep in that morning he never would have imagined that everything would be destroyed thus invalidating all of the chores he had been so anxious about when he got up.
If he had known that then he would have called Alvida a fat old cow and told her that she would spend the rest of her life locked away in a marine prison. Ah well, he did actually do the first part when Alvida had stormed off the ship.
Luffy-san had been thrilled with Coby and decided to destroy everything for his new friend without so much as an introduction.
They tied up the pirates and went looking for a den-den mushi.
-break-
Coby was in awe.
Luffy-san was incredibly powerful for such an unassuming figure and a really great guy to boot.
He referred to Alvida and her crew as 'boring' and commented in an offhanded manner that he usually didn't fight guys of that level but Coby was his friend so there was really no choice.
As they prepared a dinghy (Luffy had wrecked the ship and they couldn't manage it on their own anyway) he couldn't help feeling excited. He was going to fulfil his long squashed dream and become a marine and Luffy-san promised to help him get to a place to enlist!
-break-
The Den-den mushi (which held a mildly disgruntled expression upon its face) buzzed and rang several times before a man answered it.
"Ora, Tenzou. You answered"
"YOU IDIOT! Where have you been? Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"
"Shishishishishi, sorry. I got lost"
Coby inched away from the den-den mushi as the caller continued to rant about trouble and responsibility and how it was so inappropriate it was for a man of his rank to shirk his duties and to go off fishing of all things?
A wary feeling crept up Cobys back. Rank? Just what did Luffy-san do anyway?
The caller had seemed to calm down after that rant and listened to Luffys' story which amounted to "I beat up some pirates".
"Ne, Coby? What's the nearest town to here?"
"Eh? Ah, that would be Shell Town. It's about a day and a half sailing if we take the dinghy"
"Right then. We'll head there and you meet up with us then Tenzou."
"I'll make arrangements for Alvida. A small-time pirate but a minor nuisance nonetheless" 'Tenzou' replied.
Coby wilted a little at that. Alvida was only that level of outlaw and he had been crushed beneath her whims. If Luffy-san hadn't arrived then…
"Still," Tenzou continued "It's not like you to go after guys like that. You must have had a good reason for it. I hope you'll tell me all later"
"Mah, that'd be boring. Why'd you want to hear 'bout that Tenzou?"
The man on the other end of the line sighed gustily.
"Coby-san, can you navigate to Shell town?"
"Yes, certainly."
"Then I leave our Commodore in your hands. I'll see you both soon" he spoke conclusively before hanging up.
…Commodore?...
-break-
It took Coby a long time to calm down.
Between the stress of his situation, the shock of Luffy being a high-ranked marine and awe of an officer they wasted an hour before shoving off.
Now he admired Luffy-san and was grateful and all but it still seemed so amazing that a childish irreverent individual like Luffy-san could be a commodore! Luffy outranked men and women with twice his service record and experience. It was astonishing (or possibly nepotism) All of a sudden, he felt fired up. A person he admired had acknowledged his dream and encouraged him. Then it transpired that this person was already technically his superior officer.
He had a lot of catching up to do if he wanted to fight on the same stage and Shell Town was where his journey would really get started!
A/N
I am aware that this is an almost direct rehash of that episode of the series but it was necessary for this story.
There's a hint in there that Luffy is not an ordinary officer and is duties are slightly different.
The next chapter will have Shell Town, Zoro, Helmeppo and Morgan.
We'll also meet the long-suffering and dutiful Tenzou who is assigned to Luffy. He will be very important in Marine!Luffy in the future.
