Well, first chapter is behind and not is' time for the second one!
I don't own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.
templememple: Можно сказать и так.
WaMiLoe: Thank you, and don't worry, Kuro isn't going to join the crew.
DonWar: Thank you, and I will try to find one!
Guest: The point of this story is in being different. I'm not sure what did you mean by 'to much of one of the main charcters to have died', Luffy didn't meet him at any point in the canon before the Episode 2(Anime), so he was tied to the original plot of the canon as much as any other future-canon-crewmate, in no way. He's dead, that is all. I won't tell you any Spoilers about future crew or its members.
serpentguy: No, Luffy won't simply defeat all of his old enemies, a couple the most worthless ones, yes, but the title 'Strong World' should have have give you a hint that world isn't like it was in Canon, so read and see!
montana15: Yes, he's dead, and not it's not her.
Lightningblade49: Well, being unpredictable is a needed trait in this business.
NAFNAF509: Thank you, and don't worry, I won't disappoint any of you!
Thorndsword: Oh, you don't need to worry about it!
OnePieceFan2: 1) Thank you! 2) Big changes are needed so the plot can move forward without any strings attached. 3) Well, did you guess right? 4) Here you go!
R .D. T: Thank you!
Destrark: I aim to surprise!
Chrisfragger: Why so negative? It's my story and some changes from Canon are bound to happen!
ExtendedCow: Thank you! Here!
vampwalker709: Thank you! I'll try to kill more people!
Yami-Guy: 1) Not by much, but yeah.
2) Thank you!
Primordial Vortex: 1) Let's hear it. Now, English from the start.
2) I'm glad, but what do you mean by 'early'? It's strong and in my personal opinion we don't see enough good Logia!Luffy stories where he actually use his Powers instead of being handicapped so the fights won't be too easy for him. 'Luffy's Renewed Adventure' by F-ckthesystem125 was bad enough example of a blatant sucking on the Canon's Tit, second only to 'Chimera Luffy' by mellra and by a small margin only, I'm going to change things and use the different approach to the world-building. Zoro will be with us in spirit, he won't be forgotten, and I'm trying to be original!
3) Well, here it is?
22: Thank you! I'll finish it!
Generalmoose2nd: 1) I agree, most are either a very poor and blatant 'Canon's Tit Sucking' or desperate Yaoi that makes most people sick. Eh, it happens, I'm not sure if there is a way to actually advertise this thing.
2) And will be coming in large quantities later on. Zoro was always there, present and so used that it was getting boring, Tashigi on the other hand. has like three Fics with her being on Luffy's side, which sucks. Of he is, but only for East Blue, on Grand Line. he will have his ass beaten like a drum not once.
3) Well, I'm pretty sure that Nami didn't fight in the 1st Chapter, which you're Reviewing, but if you're talking about the 6th Chapter then it was more of her getting her feet wet and seeing her own shortcomings. There will be no weakling in the crew!
4) She will be the only other Canon Character other than Luffy and Nami that will be part of the crew. Soon...
Jake: Thanks. I'll fix it. No problem.
DarkPirateKing69: 1) See the next chapter! Kuina will be [Spoiler], so be sure to stay tuned for the next Update! No, they are different people, but it would have been a fun thing to write about.
2) Read it and be enlightened!
DarPirateKingV2: How did you manage that? Well, try pacing things. Don't, it's bad for your kidneys. Thanks for that!
Saint Of Sinners: 1) It still is! I already warned people that at the beginning things will look very similar to Canon, but in the later Chapters the changes will be much more sever, just be patient. Did it hurt you to actually look at the Author Notes to actually read them?
2) With you as the only passenger?
Manga is Life: It was really easy, he was tied-up and helpless. Nami was just shocked, and Zoro is buried so he can't be very emotional about anything anymore.
The Eternal Winter: Thanks, the changes will start piling up as we go, I hope everyone will like the new and shifted World!
: Thanks! I'll make sure not to disappoint!
code R.R: Well, yeah, and I'm pretty sure found out by now who she is.
Zeke Jones: 1) Ehhh... That's only half of the reason.
2) Don't worry, Sakazuki won't be weak or rubbery if I have anything to say about it! The problem here is that there wasn't much I could change here as there weren't all that many relevant to the Plot spots.
3) She's stronger.
ObsessivelyObsessiveObsession: They are part of his charm.
Chapter 002: The Empty Blade
Wealth, fame, power... Gold Rodger, the King of the Pirates obtained this and everything else the world had to offer. And his dying words drove countless souls to seas.
"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place! Now you just have to find it!"
These words lured men to the Grand Line in pursuit of dreams greater than they've ever dared to imagine! This is the time known as 'The Great Pirate Era'!
Luffy was sitting and leaning against the mast of the small boat that he and Coby were travelling on. His hat was tilted forward a little to protect him from the bright sun, but even then he could fill its warm ray falling upon them. The calls of seagulls and the sound of the sea were really calming for the young pirate.
"Such a nice weather." He grinned.
It was a perfect day for sailing, even the wind was favourable for the course.
"We'll reach the island with a Marine base if we stay on the course." Agreed Coby.
"Er... Coby, you're amazing!" Laughed Luffy.
"It's nothing, it's the most basic skill of any sailor." Answered Coby. "I actually wanted to ask you, Luffy-san."
"Mmm, what?" Luffy lifted his hat a little so he could look at the timid boy.
"Earlier you were interested in Zoro, I wanted to know why?" Coby looked at Luffy, who grinned.
"I was actually more interested in his reputation." Answered Luffy. "You see, when I was younger and trained very hard I took a habit of facing challenges that would push me to my limit and beyond. It's one of the ways to train and surpass yourself... Well, it's what Gramps told me actually, and considering I couldn't even lay a finger on him, not even once..." Luffy chuckled. "I was actually hoping to see just how strong this guy was."
"So, you wanted to challenge him to a fight?" Asked Coby with wide eyes.
"Not really, fighting him would have been stupid." Luffy's face became serious. "I heard about him several times, and I'm really surprised that he actually got arrested."
"I heard that he was like a beast hungering for blood. He lived only for the bounty." Coby said with in a fearful tone. "He was a demon in a human body."
"Well, we may never find out if that was true or not." Said Luffy.
"We're here." Said Luffy jumping from the boat and onto the pier. "The town where the Marines are!"
The town itself was full of life, shops were open and selling goods, people were chatting with each other on the street, and like a mountain above them all stood the Marines' base. The base actually looked not very impressive, just two giant upside-down buckets painted in Marine's colors, one noticeably bigger than the other.
Luffy walked towards the base, while looking around, his attire attract some attention, but one a passing glances and nothing more. Coby was walking behind him and taking in the surroundings, being stuck with a pirate crew for almost two years made him feel almost relaxed back in the normal surroundings. Almost being the keyword.
The small boy was still pretty nervous about joining the Marines, considering that he had not prior training whatsoever. It wasn't really that bad now, that he actually overcame one of his fears, and gained a small amount of courage, but he still wasn't at ease.
"Luffy-san, i don't think it's a very good idea for you to just walk up to the Marine's base like that." Said Coby. "You know, considering that you're... well..."
"Oh, don't worry about it, it's not like I will try to break in or something." Said the teen walking in front of him, with arms behind his head.
He walked up to a stand that sold pears and took one. After taking a solid bite from it and chewing he swallowed the treat and flicked two coins from his pocket to the merchant, and took another pear. Giving the spare one to Coby the continued walking towards the base, while chewing on the fruit.
"Luffy-san, I heard that the local base was under the command of Captain Morgan..." Started saying Coby after finishing his pear, but the moment the Captain's name was called all the people on the street jumped, as if someone screamed murder.
The crowd's fearful looks were all directed at the duo. Luffy looked around without stopping, the whole this reminded him about the time when he visited the Gray Terminal and saw how people reacted to the names of the Nobles from Goa Kingdom. This wasn't just fear that he saw, but something much worse, the lack of hope. Luffy wasn't a thinking-type of a person, he preferred to solve his problems with fists and magma, but even he could understand what was happening here.
"Coby, lest go to the base." Said Luffy, snapping the young boy out of his stupor. "You wanted to join the Marines, right?"
"Yes..." Said Coby, after he caught up with Luffy. "But I'm not ready yet." He then looked around, and lowered his voice so no-one but Luffy heard him, no need to cause another incident like earlier. "I heard that Captain Morgan, that is in-charge of this base is a very strict with his subordinates, I don't all the facts, but apparently no one ever disobeys him."
"I'm not entirely sure, but the earlier display gave me an idea just why no one disobeyed him so far." Said Luffy, looking straight ahead with a frown. "And I really don't like it so far..."
"I can understand if they would have reacted like that to a name of some famous criminal, but why would they be afraid of the Captain?" Coby had a mixture of confusion and distress on his face. "This really worries me..."
"I once saw something similar, and it didn't end-up on a good note." Muttered Luffy under his breath.
Coby was going to ask what the teen meant, but at that moment they reached the gates of the Marine's base.
"Finally..." Mumbled Coby in awe, the question he had in mind already forgotten. "I'm finally here!" Coby even teared up a little. "This is where we part, Luffy-san, even though it's only been a short..." He said, while wiping his tears with the back of his hand, but stopped when he noticed that his companion wasn't standing near him, but instead was standing on the base's wall. "Ah, Luffy-san! What are you doing?" Coby waved his hand, trying to get the young Logia's attention. 'And how did he get there so fast?'
"Just want to look around." Answered the teen. "And I don't like what I'm seeing." He added in a serous tone.
"What, what do you see?" Asked Coby, who approached the piece of the wall on which Luffy was standing.
"I see someone being used as an example." Answered Luffy, and started walking to the left, while somehow keeping perfect balance. "Get up here and look for yourself." He added and stopped.
"Who could that be..." Muttered Coby, as he climbed the wall, the action being quite an achievement considering his small height and low-than-civilian's physical condition.
"There she is." Luffy pointed at the lone figure tied to a wooden crucifix.
He tried to get a good look at the person, it was a very young woman. Her face was downcast, her eyes shadowed with her chin-length dark blue hair. On her head were rectangular red spectacles. She was wearing red short-sleeved shirt with pink dots with blue leather coat with a furred collar and edge linings over it. She also wore blue jeans, black shoes and grey gloves.
The ropes, that were holding her, didn't look very tough, Luffy was sure that he could've freed himself easily even without the power of his Akuma no Mi. He was sure that she could do it too, if she actually wanted to, and that actually brought up a question, why didn't she escaped already?
How much time has passed? About three weeks, give or take a couple of days.
It's really hard to tell when your stomach tries to constantly digest itself from the lack of food and water. Hour feels like eternity, and that's if you're conscious. Starvation, something you wish you would never experience twice.
'Why did it happened to me?' She thought. 'Is this what they call Justice?'
She was sitting in a small tavern and eating her late breakfast. She arrived in Shell Town yesterday and was too tire to actually do anything, simply collapsed on the bed in the room she rented for the night.
'I really hope they would let me take it, it's not like they actually need it.' She thought while chewing on her steak.
She was actually very optimistic about this particular visit. Several days ago Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro was executed in this town's Marine base, she saw the picture in the newspaper. But she also noticed just what was in Roronoa's possession. She looked at the picture she cut out from the newspaper.
The sword had a pure-white hilt with a circular hand-guard. The sheath was painted white and the type of the blade was suguha or 'straight blade'.
Wadō Ichimonji, one of the legendary Ō Wazamono, there is only twenty one of them in the world and some bounty hunter actually had one of this treasures the whole time! She really could understand how could such a beautiful blade be used by some evil person like that Zoro. His reputation was something she was familiar with, while traveling towards this island she searched any information she could find about him, and wasn't really impressed.
Living simple for a bounty? What kind of a swordsman was he? Her Sensei always taught her that a person who draws his sword without a reason is nothing more than a glorified thug with a stick made of metal.
"What is your reason to fight?"
"Why do you want to become strong?"
"Why do you need that sword?"
His words still rand in her ears, and the empty filling in her chest made if painfully obvious that she still didn't find that reason. She trained day and night, she grew in skill and strength, but she still felt empty inside, no matter what she did. Fighting without a goal had no meaning, no matter how good she was she still lost in the end because she didn't know what to do with victory.
But she didn't give up.
She found herself a reason to move forward.
Swords.
Beautiful blades that were in the hands of evil people, the blades whose cries she could hear. She wanted to save them, to collect them so no one would use them for dark purposes. She glanced at her own blade, that was resting near her against the bar counter.
Shigure, one of the Wazamono and her trusted partner. A normal katana with a green handle and a guard with a four-petaled design. The blade itself is normal. The sheath is elaborate, with the first half being green and bumpy designed; the second half is white and smooth. There are circular designs embedded on the entire sheathe. She had this blade for years, and considered it her friend, no matter how crazy it sounded or how people would laugh at her if they heard that she considered a non-sentient object a friend.
But even after all her travels, she wasn't able to obtain even one of the Legendary Blades. Until today, and she would be damned if she will let the opportunity pass!
So why was she still feeling empty inside, even when she was so close to moving forward towards her goal? Maybe, just maybe it was only a temporal substitute for a real thing? Maybe she still didn't find it?
She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of animal's growling breaking glass. Several people around her gasped, and moved away from the tavern's entrance. From the corner of her right eye she saw a big brown wolf, that entered through the door and was now chewing on someone's else food. The visitors of the tavern were to scared to actually do anything and just watched in horror as the best just roamed free inside the building.
'Who let this thing roam free?' She thought surprised.
Suddenly a small girl with brown hair tried to make it stop.
There is a simple truth, that in the hands of a master, even a rusty spoon can be a deadly weapon, and in the hands of an amateur even the best sword won't be deadlier than a twig. A girl no older than eight with a broom for a weapon against a hungry fully grown wolf won't stand a chance.
"No! Stop it!" The girl's assault didn't go unnoticed, even if she didn't deliver even a single blow yet.
"Hey you." Said an annoyingly arrogant voice. The man wore violet colored uniforms with light-red collar and cuffs with white shoes and a rubber band ring on his left hand. He was a skinny and lanky-looking young man with light blond hair shaped like an oval on top of his head. She was never a person who would judge others on their appearance alone, but the expression of superiority on his face made her shudder in disgust. "Do you have a problem with my pet?"
"Rika, stop it." Called the woman from behind the counter. She had brown hair that was tied back. She wore a light green dress over a dark green shirt. "You're going to get in trouble."
While this was happening, the blond owner of the wolf was laughing at the girl's attempts to actually protect the costumers and the tavern itself. But what actually drew her eyes to him was the weapon in his hand, it was Wadō Ichimonji. Man's posture, body language and even poor physical development spoke about his lack of any training in the art of a sword, he was just carrying it around without even knowing what treasure he held in his arms.
And at that moment the wolf decided that the little defenseless girl was a much better snack than anything it could find on someone's plate. It turned towards Rika and lunged at her with its jaws wide open.
*Shink*
It was almost successful in reaching its pray, but suddenly fell down with blood gushing out of the right side of its neck. The beast was dead before it touch the floor. It looked like the time stopped, nobody moved, the blond owner of the wolf stood there frozen in shock, as were the girl on the woman who most likely was her mother.
The silence was interrupted by her sheathing her sword and putting it back where it was. And then she proceeded to eat her food as if nothing happened.
"Sōro..." Muttered the blond in horror. "Who the hell are you?!" He screamed as he pointed Wadō Ichimonji at her.
"I'm just passing by." She answered without actually turning to face him.
The answer was lame and she knew it, but there just wasn't any way for her to actually get out of this situation without some sort of confrontation now, at least she hoped it would be a minor one. She even was ready to pay for the pet, money wasn't a problem at the moment. She wasn't proud of it, but to get enough to travel around she had to actually hunt a couple of low-bounty criminal herself, she had about 3.500.000฿ left with her, but that was all.
"Passing by?!" He came closer to her, with blade still pointed at her head. "Do you know what happened with people that bother the Marines in this town?" The blond waved his sword around.
She really didn't care what he was talking about, she was more concerned with making sure that innocents wouldn't be harmed because of this guy's uncaring attitude. Bringing an obviously wild and dangerous animal here was something only a moron or a monster would do. Considering that she didn't feel any real Sakki from him, he was the former.
"Just let me eat in peace." She said, while trying to think of a way to get that sword in his hand.
He won't part with it now for obvious reasons, and she wasn't a thief to simply steal it. Her only hope was that the person in-charge of the base will be much more reasonable than this on. But considering the rumors she heard about the place the chance was less than slim, but could the person dream?
Apparently the blond wasn't going to simply back down, or search for a peaceful way to solve the this mess. She was really starting to dislike him, considering that he didn't care that his pet almost killed an innocent bystander, the fact that he was swinging one of the legendary Ō Wazamono around like some common stick and the fact that two Marines that were standing behind him didn't make a move to save the girl and therefore was in the same league as the blond.
When she was younger she wanted to join the Marines herself, to fight for Justice and to protect the innocent, but it didn't work out. No matter what she did, how much she tried, she never got that empty feeling in her chest go away, so she abandoned the idea and moved on. And seeing how this two Marines were letting this gut torment the innocent civilians she was actually glad that she did.
"You!" He awkwardly tried to swing at her with a sword, but the lack of any formal training or physical capabilities made it extremely easy for her to dodge.
Sliding backwards a little, she let the sword pass right in front of her and cut into the counter, the sharp edge easily cutting wood even without the strength behind it. She then delivered a fast kick right into the weak two-hand grip that the blond moron had on the sword, making him release it and the blade to spin and fly up piercing the ceiling with its sharp tip.
Without missing a beat she grabbed her sword and delivered a blow with its pommel right into the blond's gut, making his exhale all air from his lungs and fall down on the ground holding his chest in pain.
She looked up and saw Wadō Ichimonji still stuck in the ceiling, without missing a bit she bent down and took the white sheath that tied to the idiot's hip, ripping a piece of his suit with it, and jumped up grabbing the handle of the blade and pulling it out. After she landed, she slowly put the treasured sword back into it sheath and put it near her Shigure. Sitting down again she proceeded with her breakfast as if nothing happened.
"You... Urgh... Bitch..." Groaned the blond on the floor, it was obvious that it was painful for him to talk or even breathe. Maybe she used to much strength in that strike? "Do you know... Huh... just who... Urk... you assaulted?" Or maybe not. "If my father will find out about this, you will be executed." Apparently he able to get some semblance of normal breathing back and even if his voice still sounded pained he wasn't grunting in pain after every word. "And if you run, well, they..." He motioned his head towards the mother and the daughter. "Would be in your place. You saved the brat, right?" He smirked. "That would make her an accomplice, and you should know that anyone assisting a criminal on this island gets the same punishment as the criminal whom they assisted." He was starting to get up, slowly but surely getting up on his feet. "They will be executed."
She actually stopped moving.
They were going to execute innocent people in her place simply because of the fact that she protected them? Unacceptable! She would never let someone else take her blame and suffer the punishment that was supposed to be hers. She narrowed her eyes at the blond, he wanted something else, people like him wouldn't be satisfied by simple execution of the bystanders.
"And the other option?" Her voice was calm and she wasn't looking at him directly, but even the novice would be able to see her tense.
"Why don't we make a deal, what do you think?" He was almost standing now while using the counter for support. "Why don't you go to jail instead of them?" He smirked. "Lets see... One month?" He nodded to himself. "If you survive for one month I'll even let you go too." He tone was mocking at the end, he really didn't believe she could do it. "How about it?" He smirked.
She didn't have to think about it, she had absolutely nothing to loose.
The blond even took her Shigure away, along with Wadō Ichimonji, leaving her completely alone. The only thing that remained was that empty feeling in her chest that just grew stronger with each day. The blond moron, Helmeppo, was actually the son of the local Marine Base's Commander, and could do pretty much anything he wanted without getting punished for it.
'Is this what Sensei called despair?' She thought to herself. 'The lack of any other option other than acceptance.'
The only thing that she could do right now was wait and endure.
She once even considered joining Marines, fighting for what was right, helping people. But it just didn't happen, heart wasn't into it and she left the idea behind and moved on. She traveled around East Blue, trying to find something for herself, even defeating a couple of weak pirates simply because they attacked her first thinking that a lone girl with a sword would be an easy target. They were wrong and the bounties that she got for them helped along the road.
'Well, I actually have only about a couple of hundreds thousands left, considering that I had to pay for the spot on the ship that took me here.' A random thought ran through her brain. If... No, when she will survive this whole mess she would need to find so sours of income, or she will be left starving. She needed to save some money for the trip to the next island, so she was more than a little low on money. She could probably get herself a boat but her skills at navigation suck, she only knew the basics and how to get the from one closely-placed island to another.
"Hey, Onee-chan? Are you sleeping? I brought you some Onigiri that I made." Her train of thoughts was broken by the child's voice.
She lifted her head a little to look at the brown-haired girl that was standing in front of her.
Monkey D. Luffy was a person driven mainly by three things.
The first one was his Dream with a capital 'D'. He goal was becoming the Pirate King, and nothing will stop him from achieving it. No matter what hardship life will through at him, no matter what challenges he would have to face, no matter what opponent he will have to fight he will reach his goal. This sole unyielding conviction, the unbreakable belief drove him forward and fueled the fire in his heart to burn brighter. With this undying will he endured through the hellish training that Gramps called light work-outs, fought wild animals that would have mauled any other person and survived alone in the jungles with only his fists to defend himself.
The second one was Instinct. Luffy trusted his guts more than he trusted his brain, because his guts saved him more times than he could count. He actually managed to escape Gramps a couple of times with their help, but even then he thought that Garp simply let him go off the hook for some reason that only the old fart would know.
And the third one was Curiosity. Luffy liked interesting things, and even if he didn't understand some complex ones he sure as hell would let it stop him! Well, his curiosity actually got him his Akuma no Mi, even if it was a pure accident. Losing his ability to swim was only a minor sacrifice and after years spent int training and refining his ability to wield this power he was proud to admit that now he was strong enough to fight for his future. Also his curiosity more times than not ended up with him getting into dangerous situations, like that one time when he wondered if it was possible for him to use his power to propel himself up or forward.
He never saw Dadan angrier than that one time, she couldn't even master any known human words and was just growling and producing gibberish with her face actually taking purple color. Well, they managed to put out the big forest fire that Luffy started, but that was a minor thing in the Mountain Bandits' Boss' eyes, the only reason that she didn't kicked his ass was because trying to kick magma was one way street to losing a leg.
And right now Luffy was pretty curious about the person tied to the wooden crucifix. She didn't look like a criminal, at least in Luffy's opinion, more like one of those travelers that came through the village and stopped to eat in his home-village.
*Clunk*
Before he could jump down and approach her, he heard a noise to his right. Turning his head he watch as a small girl put a ladder against the wall and climbed it. As she reached the top she made a shushing noise at both Coby and Luffy. After checking if there was anyone besides the prisoner on the other side of the wall she threw a rope on the other side, which she used to climb down in the courtyard.
She was young girl with black eyes and brown hair with pigtails. She wore a striped turquoise and purple shirt with a white hood. She was clutching a small bundle to her chest.
After she safely landed on her feet she ran towards the crucified prisoner.
"Luffy-san! You have to stop her!" Said Coby who was looking at the young intruder with horror in his eyes. "This woman is a criminal, she would hurt..."
"Don't worry, nothing bad would happen." Interrupted him Luffy, who smiled widely at the little girl.
"Hey, Onee-chan? Are you sleeping? I brought you some Onigiri that I made." Said the girl after stopping in front of the crucified prisoner.
"You should leave before anyone would see you." Answered the tied-up girl.
Her voice was soft and a little raspy, she probably didn't eat or drink for several days.
"You haven't eaten anything and I wouldn't leave until you do." There that adorable childish stubbornness in the child's voice that can only be see in the ones very young. "Here!" She unwrapped her bundle and showed that inside were two rice-balls. "This is my first time..." She was smiling. "But I made it with all my heart."
'This is... tempting.' She thought. After all this time spent tied up here, under the merciless sun and heat she probably couldn't salivate anymore, but it didn't stop her treacherous stomach from demanding sustaining. And this two Onigiri looked very delicious right now.
"I'm not hungry and you should go away before someone from the base will see you." She really didn't want to hurt the little girl's feelings, but...
"...anyone assisting a criminal on this island gets the same punishment as the criminal whom they assisted."
The words of the blond guy rang in her ears again, she didn't want to see this child actually getting hurt because of her. She would forgive herself if because of her weakness someone so young would be hurt.
"But..." The girl tried to argue.
"Please, leave before someone would notice you and then..." She wasn't able to finish her statement.
"You shouldn't be bulling kids." She turned to the left and saw the blond guy, Helmeppo, coming her way with his two thugs in Marine's uniforms. "Looks like you're still full of energy, Tashigi." He said with an arrogant smirk and pretty much spitted her name out.
"And another weird character appears." Mumbled Luffy.
He wasn't actually impressed with the blond guy, he looked arrogant and snobbish.
And weak.
Luffy really didn't like him, he got the same air around him like that people from there.
"Thank goodness." Said Coby from near him. "They're Marines so I'm sure that girl will be fine now."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Coby." Muttered Luffy as he watched the whole thing with a bad feeling about how this would end.
"Hey, that Onigiri looks pretty good." Said Helmeppo with his hands in his pockets.
Without even asking he grabbed one and took a big bite out of it.
"No!" Called the girl desperately.
Suddenly Helmeppo's face twisted in disgust and he started spitting out what he didn't swallow yet.
"Nasty!" He screamed. "It's full of sugar!" He stopped spitting out the pieces of rice and turned towards the little girl. His expression twisted in anger. "Onigiri needs salt! Salt!" He barked at her.
"But I thought it would taste better sweet." She muttered in disappointment.
"Take this!" Helmeppo shouted as he swiped the last Onigiri from the girl's hand on the ground and started stomping on it with anger.
"Stop! Stop!" The girl screamed desperately as she fell on her knees while trying to save the results of her hard work.
Nobody but Luffy noticed how the prisoner, Tashigi if he heard it right, tensed and the ropes around her creaked a little bit, straining against her strength. It made him smirk.
"What a horrible thing..." Whispered Coby from beside him.
Helmeppo finally finished destroying the piece of food. Rika, Tashigi finally remembered her name, was ready to act if it will appear that the girl herself was in danger. She maybe weakened considerably from the time without any food or water but it didn't mean that she was weak enough to actually lose to this three.
"I tried to make it with all my heart." Tashigi couldn't see it, because Rika was facing the other way, but he could hear it, the little girl was crying.
"You haven't read this poster yet?" Asked Helmeppo with fake boredom in his voice and a hand on his forehead. "It says: 'Anyone who will help this criminal will be executed.' and signed 'Marine Captain Morgan.'." Rika paled from fear and went stiff. Helmeppo chuckled seeing this. "Brat, you know who my father is, right?"
"Father?" Voiced his question Luffy.
"Then he is Captain Morgan's son?" Coby was shocked by the revelation.
"Hey, toss this brat out." Ordered Helmeppo to the Marine standing behind him, make the man actually gape at the blond in horror. Not seeing his demand being accomplished Helmeppo grabbed the Marine by his scarf. "I'm telling you to toss her outside! Are disobeying my orders?" He asked with venom in his voice. "I'll tell my father!"
"Yes, right away!" Said the man, frightened by the possibility of being executed for 'treason'.
He stepped towards Rik, who was backing away in fear.
"No..." She muttered, trying to shield herself from danger with her arms.
"Little Girl, I'm sorry for having to hurt you." The man sounded genuinely apologetic.
Tashigi tensed, ready to interfere, but then she noticed the man in black suit, black coat and straw-hat sitting on the wall.
As soon as the little girl flew over the wall Luffy moved. With one big jump he reached her held her tightly to his chest, securing her in place. He spun in mid-air and landed on his feet, and only then loosen his hold on the child.
She looked at him and smiled shyly.
"Thank you." She said as Luffy set her on the ground.
"Luffy-san, are you alright?" Coby ran up to them with worried expression on his face. Seeing as Luffy was unscratched he switched his attention to the poor girl. "Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked kneeling in front of her. "What a horrible man." He muttered while checking the girl for any injury. "Does it hurt anywhere?"
Luffy on the other hand was looking at the wall, he thought were about the girl who was tied to the wooden crucifix.
"You bastard." Growled Tashigi.
She saw what happened and knew that Rika was alive and unhurt, that boy in the straw-hat save her, but she was still angry about the fact that Marines out of all people would harm an innocent child like that! Helmeppo was openly laughing in front of her.
"It seems like you're pretty stubborn, being still alive after these three weeks." He sounded amused.
"I'm not going to die. I will endure all three weeks and after that I will leave." Answered Tashigi.
"Well, do your best then." Helmeppo sounded smug for some reason, but Tashigi really didn't care why at the moment.
He turned around a started walking away while laughing, two Marines following him.
"Ten more days left." Muttered Tashigi more to herself than to anyone else.
"Only if you'll live that long." Said Helmeppo who apparently heard her.
"How could he do such a horrible thing?" Muttered Coby, while still checking on the girl. "Luffy-san!" Not hearing an answer he turned around and noticed that his temporal companion was gone. "Not here!?" He exclaimed in surprise.
Tashigi heard footsteps and lifted her head to see who decided to pay her a visit. It was the same boy who saved Rika, now that he was closer she was able to properly see his appearance.
He was tall, taller than her probably. He wore a yellow straw-hat with a red band on his head, from under which you could see raven-black short hair and black eyes with a small scar under his left one. He was wearing long black captain-coat over black suit and black suit-pants, she also noticed red dress shirt with a black slightly loose tie under the suit and on his feet were flip-flops, which actually didn't spoil the image even a little for some reason.
He stopped a couple of meters in front of her.
"Is she alright?" Asked Tashigi breaking the silence.
"Yeah, I caught her just in time, and she unharmed." He answered.
"Thank you." She smiled a little, relieved to hear that Rika was alright.
"Why are you here? You're strong enough to break free by yourself, and I can see that there is no way that these guy would be able to beat you, so why are still here?" He actually looked honestly confused.
"It's none of your business." She answered. "Just leave me alone please, I need to endure ten more days and then I would be able to leave."
"You're a stubborn person." He told her bluntly with a wide smile and turned to leave.
"Wait." Tashigi said, making the straw-hat-wearing boy stop and look at her over his shoulder. "Can you give me that?" He motion towards the crushed rice-ball on the ground.
"Are you really going to eat it?" Asked the boy as he picked it up. "It's more of a dirt-ball now."
Tashigi looked at the dirty remains of the treat. Images of what transpired a couple minutes ago flashed before her eyes.
"This is my first time..." Rika was smiling. "But I made it with all my heart."
"I tried to make it with all my heart." Tashigi couldn't see it, because Rika was facing the other way, but he could hear it, the little girl was crying.
"Yes, just give to me please." She nodded.
Luffy just shrugged and gave her the dirty rice-ball. Tashigi knew that it would be bad, basically eating sweet dirt with rice tasted awful, but she forced herself to chew and swallow the whole thing. After coughing a couple of time, her body fighting against not-food that being forcefully shoved into it, she was able regain her bearings.
"I told you so." Said the boy with a smile.
It actually wasn't a smug smile, more like he was actually approving of what she had done. For some reason it made the empty feeling inside her fade just a little bit.
"It was delicious." She told him. "Thank you for the food."
His smile widened a tine bit.
"Really?" Exclaimed Rika, the girl that brought the rice-balls and was saved by Luffy earlier.
"Yeah, she ate everything." Confirmed Luffy with a smile.
He, Rika and Coby were sitting on street, Luffy was leaning against the wall while sitting on the barrel with his hat lowered over his eyes, Coby was sitting on the nearby stairs and Rika was standing in front of them with a happy smile on her face.
"I'm so happy!" She clasped her hand together, almost tearing up.
"So, is she really a criminal?" Asked Coby. "I mean, she had to do something really bad for them to leave her there like that."
"No!" Exclaimed Rika and then became sad. "Well, he's in jail because of us."
"Hm?" Luffy lifted his head a little, looking at the girl. "What do you mean by that?"
"This is all Helmeppo's fault." Said Rika sadly. "Capitan Morgan's son."
Luffy listened very carefully to what the little girl told them. This girl, Tashigi, was actually a very good person in his opinion, and when she will survive the month, and he was absolutely sure that she will given how stubborn she is, he will ask her to join his crew. She was a swordswoman, and even if he didn't know much about the thing itself, he could see that she was pretty strong and with enough determination to grow even stronger.
Luffy wasn't a person who complicated things for no reason, he didn't like complicated things period because most of the times he just didn't understand them and he rarely did, it just wasn't worth the headache of figuring them out in the first place. Right now he decided that Tashigi will join his crew, and that was final.
'And I'm not acting like Gramps.' He shuddered at the thought.
The last part about Tashigi being stuck there for three weeks while being beaten up daily only cemented his decision even further. Someone who could survive this long was defiantly someone Luffy wanted as a member of his crew!
He was snapped out of his thoughts when Rika started to cry again.
"So that's what happened." Mumbled Coby.
Before he could say anything else they heard ruckus from the nearby tavern. Luffy and Coby stood up and looked at Rika, whose eyes were wide, the tavern belonged to her mother. Without saying anything the three of them moved towards it and entered.
Helmeppo was sitting behind one of the tables with his legs on said table, his two grunts standing dutifully behind him.
"I'm hungry!" He exclaimed with an arrogant smirk on his face. "We're all going to eat for free." His annoying laugh made Luffy twitch. "Hey, hurry up and bring some alcohol! What's taking so long? Hurry up!"
Luffy was standing near the entrance of the tavern and watching the whole thing. This guy was too much like that Nobles from Goa Kingdom and it made him sick. Also, from the corner of his eye he noticed a familiar face, the orange-haired girl that he saw on that cruise-ship. Now she wore an orange mini-skirt with two white rings on each side filled in with orange or brown in their centers, a white and blue striped shirt and brown high-heeled boots.
He didn't give any indication that he recognized her, simply because he had no reason to, so he focused on the blond moron.
"Gramps would have been pissed if he saw this." He muttered to himself.
"Oh, that's right!" Said Helmeppo, as his glass was being filled with wine. "Since I'm tired of waiting, I've decided to execute Tashigi tomorrow." Luffy's face became blank and emotionless.. "Look forward to it. everyone." He laughed again.
Luffy really didn't care at the moment just who this blond bastard was, he just did what was right thing to do in this situation. He dashed forward and delivered a devastating, at least for Helmeppo, blow right into the blond's cheek. The whole thing happened as if in slow-motion, as Helmeppo's face was turned by the punch and some blood flew out of his mouth. Suddenly, as if the spell was lifted, the blond flew toward the wall...
*Thud*
... and impacted it with enough force to actually make the wood crack a little. Surprisingly he was still conscious and apparently even able to speak.
"Wh... Who the hell are you?" He questioned, as he held his left hand over the bruised cheek.
You could see a small trickle of blood flowing down from the left corner of his mouth, and another one running down his face from the place where it impacted the wall. The tow Marines that were with him were busy helping him get up from the floor. Luffy moved to deliver another blow, but suddenly two arms wrapped around his waist.
"Luffy-san, stop it!" The only thing that stopped him from turning his body into magma and simply leaving the attacker without arms was Coby's voice.
"He's trash!" Growled Luffy.
"You... You hit me!" Apparently Helmeppo was so shocked by the fact that someone actually dealt some physical damage to him that he was still sitting on the floor and gaping. "I'm Captain Morgan's son!" Like that fact would stop Luffy from beating him up.
"So what?!" Asked Luffy, still held back by Coby.
It's not like he couldn't break out from the smaller boy's grip, he just didn't want to at the moment.
"I'll tell father and have you executed!" Luffy could see tears in the moron's eyes.
"Why don't you do something yourself?!" Growled Luffy through clenched teeth.
One of the thing that he really didn't like were the weaklings that hid behind someone strong and were arrogant trash because of it! If you want to boast strength, it must be your own, and no someone's else!
"Luffy-san, calm down." Coby was trying to pacify him. "You shouldn't make the Marines your enemy."
"I've decided, Coby." Said Luffy with steel in his voice. "Tashigi will be the first one to join my crew!"
The one place on the Marine's base that no one wanted to enter was Captain Morgan's office. It was actually the biggest room on the base, not counting armory and storage. There was several reasons for no one wanting to enter the room.
The first one was that if you would do it without being invited you risked to be executed. Apparently disobeying any order or breaking any rule was considered treason and therefore was punished by death. And the Marines actually wanted to live.
The second one was the oppressive aura that was saturated around the office itself, making anyone who entered there almost choke on air. The always angry and frowning face of Morgan didn't help the situation.
"I am..." Said the large figure sitting in the chair behind the desk. You could only see a mop of blond hair, muscled arms and the top of blue Marine-coat because the chair was turned towards the window with its back towards the door. "... Great!"
"Yes!" Saluted the lone Marine standing in front of the desk, but not close enough to be the target of the superior officer's ire. "That is correct Captain Morgan!"
"But there hasn't been much tribute to me lately." Morgan added.
"Er..." The Marine nervously tried to find how to answer being risking his head. "The problem is that the income of our people has decreased."
"The problem is not having enough admiration for me..." Morgan removed the cigar from his mouth. "Isn't that right?"
The soldier wasn't able to answer as the doors of the office were thrown open by Helmeppo, who was holding his left cheek with a handkerchief and had a little bit of blood trailing down from the left corner of his mouth.
"Father!" He called out. "There's a guy I want you to kill!"
"Your reason to fight, to grow stronger, what is it?"
'I still didn't find it.' Thought Tashigi, remembering the words of her Sensei. Considering that she was an orphan her Sensei was the closest this she had to a father, no matter how weird he was at times. Oh, he was kind and all that, but when you're told to fight off several wolves with a wooden sword you start questioning you Sensei's sanity for ordering this and yours for actually following this order.
Suddenly she saw a shadow in front of her. Lifting her head a little she saw the same straw-hat boy from earlier.
"You're here again?" She asked. "You have too much free time and too little common sense to come here again."
"I'm here to untie the ropes." He said, making Tashigi's eyes widen. "You're going to become my comrade."
Tashigi thought that she must have misheard him, or she was hallucinating from the heat and lack of proper food or water.
"What did you say?" She couldn't help but ask.
"I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew." He said with a grin, as he came closer.
'Is he serious?' She asked herself. There just was no way that he was actually that stupid! You just don't ask random people to join your pirate crew, it's just isn't done! Who is dumb enough to actually do it?! 'Apparently this guy...'
"I refuse!" She said without missing a beat. She maybe was technically imprisoned by Marines, but she wasn't a criminal and wasn't planning on becoming one any time soon! Pirates were vile murderous monsters that killed, raped, cheated and robbed good people for no other reason than money and entertainment! She would sooner die than become one of them! "You want me to become a villain?" She asked angrily.
But even if she despised the idea itself, even if this went against her morals and nature...
'Why does the emptiness that I felt for so long became weaker?' She asked herself. She couldn't deny the fact that the idea itself disgusted her, the boy himself somehow made the dreaded empty feeling in her chest recede, not by much but it was the first time something like that happened. She looked into his eyes, and understood the reason. 'A goal. He has a goal in his life, the reason to move forward that I lack.' She could see it, burning in his eyes, even when he wasn't actively talking about it, he was still unyieldingly moving towards it. 'Maybe he can help me...'
"What's wrong with being a pirate?" He asked, snapping her out of her shock.
'No.' She shook herself out of her daze, even if he would be able to help her, she refused to become an outlaw for such a reason. She refused to sacrifice her morals and personal code for a purpose.
"Pirate are scum." She answered bluntly. "Who would want to be one?"
"Does it matter?" He asked with the same cheerful smile. "You're already a criminal, so there wouldn't be much of a difference."
"I am not a criminal!" She said with steel in he voice. "When the month will end I will be free and I will leave this place. I will survive and then I will do what I want." She wouldn't be denied in her search.
"Is that so?" He asked and crossed his arms on his chest with a thoughtful expression on his face. And then he smiled that carefree smile of his again. "But I've already decided that you will be my comrade."
She gaped at him, there just wasn't any way that he was serious, but his face told her otherwise.
"You can't decide that by yourself!" She screamed at him, fully losing her compose.
"You use a sword, right?" He asked, actually making her pause from a seemingly random question.
"Yes..., but this bastard took it from me." She admitted bitterly.
"I'll go get if for you." He said
"What?" She asked surprised.
"So when I'll return your sword, you'll become my comrade." He said with a grin.
"That's blackmail!" She couldn't help it, this boy was just too stubborn and absolutely infuriating. The boy just laughed and started walking towards the base. "Is he going to attack the base by himself?" Mumbled Tashigi to herself, shocked at the boy's actions.
On top of the tallest base's building several Marines were pulling up a giant statue.
Overseeing this was Capitan Morgan himself.
Morgan was a very tall and slim, intimidating man with white-blond hair and a steel jaw. As his epithet suggests, his right hand was replaced by a huge steel axe, the handle of which seems to go right through his forearm. Like most marines of high rank, he wears a large, billowing coat like a cape. His coat however does not have 'Justice' on the back. He can also normally be seen smoking a cigar.
The statue that was being lifted upright was of him, with his hands spread wide.
"Okay, hold it there!" He called out. "Make it stand with one pull."
"Father!" Helmeppo was standing behind Morgan with an angry expression on his face. "Why aren't you helping me get revenge?" The bruise on his cheek wasn't gone yet, so it was pretty obvious for his whining. "He punched me! He punched the face that even my father hasn't punched!"
"The reason I have never punched you in the face..." Began Morgan not even turning around. "Do you know why?"
"Well..." Helmeppo wasn't sure where this was going. "... that is because I'm your son..." He sounded a bit uncertain at the end.
"That's right." Agreed Morgan. "You are..." He started turning around. Suddenly, without any warning he delivered a right hook right into Helmeppo's face, sending him flying at the roof's stone-fence. As the blond boy shook himself aware he saw Morgan standing right in front of him "... not worth hitting! My worthless son!" Morgan stepped closer. "Don't misunderstand." He picked up Helmeppo with the wooden end of his axe-hand. "The who's great here is your father, in other words, me!" He then threw Helmeppo down on the floor and turned around. "It seems that there was an intruder in the execution field."
"That runt? I took care of her." Answered Helmeppo fearfully.
"You killed her, right?" Asked Morgan over his right shoulder.
"No, she's just a kid..." Even being a complete bastard and trash, Helmeppo was appalled at the idea of killing a child.
"Hey, you!" Morgan pointed at the nearby Marine, who had a green scarf instead of blue like other Marines. "Go to the town and finish the job!"
"But..." Began the Marine. "... she's just a little girl, even if it's your order, Captain..."
"It doesn't matter if it's a kid..." Morgan walked towards the disobeying Marine. "Anyone who disobeys my orders is a traitor!"
"But..." He hesitated only for a moment. "I can't!"
"Hmm?" Morgan raised his axe.
*Wshooh*Shink*
One swing of the massive weapon was enough to deliver an almost fatal blow the soldier, a big cur opened on his back and he fell down unconscious with blood pouring from the wound.
"Stewie!" Called out other Marines.
"You didn't have to go that far!" Exclaimed Helmeppo in terror and panic.
"Nevermind..." Said Morgan as he looked at the blood on his axe. "For the sake of reminding the citizens..." With one swift move he removed the blood from his weapon. "I'll go there myself!" He looked at the people surrounding him and put his left hand over the backside of his axe. "I became a Captain because of this arm!" He looked at his axe-hand and then back at the crowd. "Listen! Rank is most important thing in the world! I am the highest ranking officer in this base, which means I'm the Greatest One here!" His voice became cold. "Great Men doesn't make mistakes! Isn't that correct?"
"Yes!" Answered the terrified Marines. "This is correct!"
"Look, it took many months and it's finally done." He looked at the statue. "This is the symbol of my power!" He lifted his axe. "Now, put it up! Raise it at eh highest point of this base to show my greatness."
"Pull! Pull! Pull!" Chanted the Marines as they lifted the statue.
*Gachin*
Suddenly statue's left arm nicked the roof of the small building on the roof.
"Hey you!" The Marine that was responsible for the rope tied to the arm didn't need to turn around to know that Morgan was right behind him. "Just now... You damaged my statue."
"I'm very sorry! I was careless!" Marine was trying to find a way to explain himself without being killed as the result.
"Do you know how Long I've been looking forward to the completion of this statue?!" Growled Morgan. "I said already the this monument represents me, damaging it means treason against me!" Morgan raised his axe. "Die!"
*Kaboom*
Marine was save by the explosion of the floor right beneath the statue, the chunks of molten rock and flaming debris, that were lifted in the air by the power of the explosion, started falling down.
Several Minutes Earlier
Luffy walked at the door of the base's main building.
"Alright, so where is everyone?" He looked around while scratching the back of his head. "If I don't find that blond guy, I would be able to get Tashigi's sword back." He looked at the massive metal doors that were the entrance of the base. "Well, as good as I would get." He smirked and raised his right fist.
He hand started glowing red from the heat and bubbling, turning fully into magma and growing about twice the size of the normal human arm.
[Kasō]
He delivered a devastating punch, making the slightly melted door fly backwards into the base. Seeing that the path was clear he returned his right hand into its normal condition and ran into the base.
One thing that Luffy didn't accounted for was that the base was a freaking maze! He tried to find the stairs but it was far harder than anyone would think, and he really was going to spend all day running around, he had a comrade to recruit!
A very devious smirk appeared on his face.
"Well, I need to go up, right?" He muttered to himself, as his legs started turning into magma, burning and melting the floor.
When he was near the building he noticed same strange activity on the top of the tallest building, this was the reason that he entered it, but if everyone was on the roof... This technique wasn't made to be used in the areas with a lot of flammable objects, the forest fire that he created the first time he tried it made him remember this little fact very well, Dadan made sure of that. But considering that it was an enemy territory and he couldn't care less about the damage done to the base...
[Kazan Kanketsusen]
He was propelled upwards in literal geyser of magma shooting from his waist and replacing his feet. Breaking through the ceiling and getting higher and higher he was making his way up to the roof at a pretty decent pace. The only problem with this way of transportation was the fact that he didn't know how long he will have to go. He was basically punching his way up with his fists, that were made from magma at the moment, and it was pretty hard to see just how much higher he needed to go.
Finally he reached what appeared to a double-ceiling with a second layer being a tad bit tougher than the previous one. After breaking through it he saw clear sky in front of him. Canceling the technique and landing near the hole that he made he looked around. There was about a dozen Marines that were covering from the chunks of the floor that he broke through, a big guy with a metal jaw and an axe for a right hand, and...
"Here you are!" Luffy exclaimed as he grabbed Helmeppo by the collar of his suit. "You're coming with me, I need to return something to its rightful owner!" He put the blond over his shoulder and ran towards the open door of the small building on the roof, that he assumed was the actual entrance and exit.
Helmeppo didn't even had time to get his bearings as he was being dragged as a sack of potatoes somewhere, and why is the voice of his kidnapper sounded so familiar?
Morgan was the first regain his footing and the first to look around. The first thing that he noticed was that his statue, the symbol of his Might and Rule was in pieces. It was broken beyond repair and in some places even melted a fair bit.
He looked around, trying to get an idea of what actually happened. He saw a teen in a black suit, coat and straw-hat dragging his worthless spawn somewhere. The dots connected in his head and the Marine Captain saw red.
"Capture him, I'll kill him myself!" he roared, getting the still slightly dazed but apparently aware enough soldiers to give chaise after the criminal.
He would murder this little piece of shit himself! With his axe!
"Captain! There is someone in the execution field!" Called one of the soldiers that were still on the roof.
"What?" Growled Morgan. He looked at the field and so what appeared a small pink-haired boy running towards the crucified prisoner. "More and more traitors just keep appearing." He turned towards the nearest soldier. "Kill the traitor!"
The already familiar orange-haired girl jumped down from the ceiling where she actually jumped from fright when a literal geyser of magma shot through the floor and into the ceiling, it was pure luck that she wasn't nicked by any debris. She was still a little afraid because of the pretty big hole with glowing red-hot edges not far from her position, whatever did just couldn't be human!
'Maybe they kept some monster here and it escaped?' She thought in fear.
She crouched down to try and lock-pick the door open, but was interrupted by the voices of the Marines.
"Go! Go!" Two marines ran from one corridor to another not far away from her.
"Don't let him escape!" Two more ran in the same direction.
'So I was right, someone is here and causing a disturbance.' She really hoped that she was lucky and whoever it was wouldn't be interested in her, and create enough confusion so she would be able to sneak away without anyone noticing.
"Where is Tashigi's sword?" Asked Luffy as he carried Helmeppo over his shoulder and ran from the Marines.
"In my father's room!" Screamed the blond in fear. "After the whole mess that she did father locked it in his safe!"
"Where is his room?" Luffy really wanted to get this whole mess done with, he really hated getting lost.
"First turn on the left, and then to the end of the corridor, you won't miss it!" Answered the now terrified blond.
Suddenly three Marines armed with rifles appeared from behind the corner.
"Don't move!" One of them screamed as all three aimed their weapons at Luffy.
"Release Helmeppo-sama!" Added the other one.
"So, you want him?" Asked Luffy with a grin, not even slowing down. "Here you go, he's all yours!" He called out as he grabbed the blond's leg and threw him at the tree soldiers.
The collision made them fall down in a pile of limbs, Luffy just jumped over them and ran further down the corridor. making the left turn he a large double-doors at the end and ran faster.
"Run, Tashigi-san." Said Coby as he tried to untie her rope.
"Don't do it!" She said to him, trying to make the boy get away so he won't get killed. "They'll kill you for this!"
"I can't stand by and watch these Marines anymore." Said Coby while struggling with the knot. "I want to be a good Marine! Just like the way Luffy-san is determined to become the Pirate King!"
"What?!" Tashigi almost chocked on her own saliva. "P... Pirate King?! You're joking, right?!"
'There is just no way someone with such an ambition...' She suddenly remembered his eyes. 'That is his goal? He great dream?' She wasn't sure how to react to that. She knew about the last words of the legendary Gol D. Roger, but actually meet someone who took it as his life-goal? That was something she didn't think was possible, not in the East Blue at least.
"I was a bit shocked when first heard him..." Coby chuckled. "... but he's serious!"
*Wooooot*Shik*
Suddenly Coby's shoulder exploded in a small fountain of blood.
Luffy didn't even bother to open the door to the office he just kicked it ripping it from its hinges. Standing on the half-destroyed door he looked around and instantly spotted a big safe, that was almost as tall as him and a small one nearby. He ignored the second one because there was just noway a sword could be stored there, it even looked far more fragile the the big one.
Walking up to the big metal box he put his arm on the hinge and started melting it but turning his hand up to its wrist into magma and making it as hot as he could without making anything else in the office catch on fire because of the heat. Taking care of the first one he started with the second hinge. Safe wasn't designed to keep away the users of the Akuma no Mi, so it was reinforced with Kairōseki, making it extremely easy for someone like Luffy to break it open.
After melting the second hinge he tried to pull the thing open, but without any result.
'Alright, that didn't work.' He thought.
He then put his hand on the center of the safe's door and started melting the thing away, making sure to let the molten metal to drip down on the outside, he really didn't want to damage Tashigi's sword with molten metal simply because he was careless. Makino always said that when you want to make a friend it was very important to make a good first impression.
The work wasn't going as fast as with the hinges, but far faster than anyone could open it without knowing the combination.
After a couple of minutes he was able to get through the thick door and reach the insides. He was pretty lucky that the safe was pretty deep or he would have had a problem. Reaching inside he pulled out not one, but two swords, one green and the other one white.
'I have not time to figure out which one belongs to Tashigi, I will just take them both!' He thought as he took them under his left arm. Before leaving he looked inside one more time to make sure that he didn't miss anything vulnerable. he was a pirate and leaving any loot behind was a bad habit that he wasn't planning on developing.
The only thing that he found was a small book that was lying on the small metal shelf at the backside of the safe-box. He didn't care to read it, and just stuffed it into his breast-pocket, maybe it was something worse reading, but right now he didn't have time for it. He then ran up to the window and looked outside, luckily the window opened a pretty good view of the execution field.
And he didn't like what he saw. Taking several back he...
[Kazan Kanketsusen]
... launched himself forward with a burst of magma, right through the window and directly towards Coby and Tashigi.
"I've been shot!' Screamed Coby looking at his bloody hand. "Bleeding! I'm bleeding!" He glasses were lying not far away from him. "I'm gonna die!"
'Over-dramatic much?' Thought Tashigi as she sweat-dropped. She knew that it was only a flesh wound and he wasn't in any real danger, but apparently this was being his first time being wounded like that made him fall into shock.
"Are you alright...?" She finally asked. "Kid, you need to run, now! They're almost here and they will kill you!" She wasn't going to let someone die because of her.
"No!" Said Coby while panting. "I've... got to set you free as soon as possible!"
"Just listen to me, please!" She tried to reason with him. "There is no need to worry about me! As long as I can survive this for a month they'll set me free!" She also was worried what would happen with Rika and her mother if she would escape. "Hurry up and lea..."
"They will not set you free!" Screamed Coby at her. Tashigi froze from his words and just watched as the small boy was slowly getting up. "Because they're gonna kill you tomorrow!"
'No...' She thought. 'It can't be true.'
"Why don't we make a deal, what do you think?"
'He lied to me?' She really couldn't even think about it without feeling awful. She was tricked that easily, she was going to die because of her own stupid naivety!
"Nonsense!" She tried to deny his words. "That bastard promised me that if I could survive this for a month, he'd free me..." She really wanted Coby's word's to be a lie, but deep down she knew that they were nothing but truth.
"Helmeppo never intended to keep his promise!" Said Coby as he shakily stood up. "That's why Luffy-san got mad and punched Helmeppo on your behalf. Because he was toying with you!"
Tashigi's eyes widened. An image of the straw-hat wearing boy flashed in front of her eyes.
"But I've already decided that you will be my comrade."
'He knew.' She was shocked. 'Then why didn't he tell me from the beginning?' Another image appeared from her recent memory.
"So when I'll return your sword, you'll become my comrade."
'He wanted me to join on my own free will.' She understood. 'That wasn't an attempt of blackmail, he just wanted to give me a reason to join him.' She looked at the building not far away from her. 'And he actually attacked a whole Marine base just for my sake?' A strange unfamiliar warm feeling started growing in her chest, small and barely noticeable, but still there.
Many people looked upon her because she was a woman, and they thought of her a weak and fragile. She always could see a small hint of mockery in the eyes of her opponent when she sparred with them, only it was then replaced by shock when she defeated them without even getting a scratch. She hadn't notice it then, but this boy, Luffy, didn't look at her that way, he even said that she was strong himself.
"Why are you here? You're strong enough to break free by yourself, and I can see that there is no way that these guy would be able to beat you, so why are still here?"
'Maybe I should reconsider his offer to join him.' A small warm smile graced her face, a first real smile in the last two years.
"Luffy, huh?" She muttered to herself.
"Luffy-san is being chased by the Marines right now." Said Coby as he walked towards her. "They will never let the two of you off!" He was panting, but still kept talking. "Please! After I set yo free, please, help rescue Luffy-san!" He really didn't have t ask, she already decided to help the raven-haired boy. "I'm not telling you to become a pirate, but please, he's my savior! Luffy-san is very strong, and as long as you two join forces..." He fell on his knees. "... you would be able to escape this tow together!"
"Hold it right there!" Coby and Tashigi turned to see about a dozen of Marines aiming their rifles at the two.
"By the treason you have committed against me..." Morgan was standing right behind the group of soldiers. "... you will be both executed on the spot!" Coby had tears running down his face from fear. "You guy did some interesting things. Do you and that guy in a straw hat intend to start a revolution? Before my great power you're nothing but trash!"
"Says a person that is hiding behind his troops." Growled Tashigi. "If we're trash than you are even worse than that!" She spatted out.
"Don't underestimate me, garbage like you only deserve to die and nothing else." He pointed his axe at them. "Aim!" He commended his forces as they took a stance.
'I can't die just yet!' Thought Tashigi.
"Why do you need a sword, Tashigi?"
'Sensei...' The image of a man who helped her start reaching her potential flashed before her eyes. 'I think I'm starting to understand what is my reason to draw my blade.'
"So when I'll return your sword, you'll become my comrade."
The image of the smiling teen flashed in front of her eyes. For some reason she couldn't shake it off, just thinking about him inviting her to his crew made something snap inside her. She didn't know what it was, but she would definitely find out!
"I can't die like this!" She growled out.
"Fire!" Commanded Morgan and the Marines pulled the triggers.
*Swoosh*Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang*Bang*
The moment the rifles fired a black blur appeared in front of Coby and Tashigi, taking the hit from them.
'Luffy!' Tashigi was openly gaping, the person who she knew no more than a couple of hours actually took a bullet for her! 'Why?!' She just couldn't understand how he could just risk his life fore some stranger's sake without even thinking about it.
"But I've already decided that you will be my comrade."
'No, not stranger's, he already consider me his comrade.' The strange warm feeling in her chest grew a little stronger, replacing the cold emptiness that was there before.
"Luffy-san!" Exclaimed Coby.
"Straw-hat..." Muttered Morgan.
Marine's aim was true, and all bullets hit Luffy all over his body. The only thing that was wrong was the lack of blood. Luffy was just standing there, without even moving and from the wounds that inflicted upon him didn't leak blood. He lifted his head a little and grinned widely.
"Sorry, but this doesn't work on me!" As he said it...
*Drip*Drip*Drip*
Something started to leak out of his wounds, but it wasn't blood. It looked more like... molten metal?
"No way..." Mumbles the Marines.
"I told you I'm strong, Coby!" Luffy openly laughed.
"You..." Muttered Tashigi as she looked at the young man in front of her. "Just who are you?"
He turned a little and looked at her, with that cheeky smile of his and fire in his eyes. The warm feeling inside her chest became even stronger.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy" He grinned at her. "I'm the man who will become the Pirate King!"
Techniques used in the chapter:
-Monkey D. Luffy:
Kasō - Cremation.
Kazan Kanketsusen - Volcanic Geyser.
Alright, I know I twisted Tashigi's past a fair bit, and added some psychological side to her reason for joining Luffy's crew, but please, give it a chance. I actually saw a could of Movies with the 'Lack of Purpose'-concept and the idea just got stuck inside my head, and I found a way to use it properly here! I know that it looks kind of overplayed, but I really just couldn't come up with anything else so Tashigi would join.
As always I'm eager to read your Reviews with Criticism, Ideas, Suggestions, Questions and other things that you would want to write there! Everyone's opinion is important, no matter good or bad!