dmr14wizkid: I don't write lemons, so I'm sorry to tell you that there won't be any in this story. Hope you continue reading regardless though. :)
Zuriahthedragonking: Thanks. You will just have to wait and see if they are or aren't my friend. I'm quite glad you're enjoying my story so, and I'll do my best.
Stabboy: Thank you! And believe me, you have no idea...
F-ckthesystem125: So glad you thought so. And yeah, that was my favorite part, since I didn't have to rehash Cannon with only a few tweaks thrown in.
This chapter has a less Cannon in it than the last one did, however it still has some in it, though with alterations, a big one for the Zoro scene, and some things that never happened as well. Just trust me and read the whole thing before you judge it, okay guys?
Also, as you guys might have noticed, this technically takes place before the beginning of the Cannon timeline. As while in Cannon Luffy set out when he was seventeen, in my story he set out at a little over sixteen and a half, eight months extra to be more specific, which would put us four months before the regular timeline, so things can and very well will happen differently.
One more thing, I'm not happy with the name of this chapter, so if any of you have suggestions on what to call it, I'd be happy to hear them. No guarantee I'll use them though, as I spent fifteen-twenty minutes trying to figure out a name for this chapter, and ended up giving up anyway and just giving it this bland ass name, so I might have already thought of them and turned them down.
Alright, enough of my rambling, here's the next chapter, so please read, enjoy and review.
Coby was staring at everything around him, barely able to believe that he was finally free. "We actually managed to get away."
His eyes continued to wander, until after another few minutes, he began to wonder why his companion was silent, so took a look at him, only to see him lost in thought. "Luffy, is something wrong? You've been quiet ever since we escaped."
The raven haired teen looked to his new pink haired friend at that, before regaining his usual smile, "It's nothing, just thought I saw one of my friends back there is all."
"One of your friends?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah, but I was probably just seeing things. Now that you mention it though, you might be able to help me find one of them. That really fat lady mentioned something about a Pirate Hunter named Zoro?"
"Zoro? Last I heard he was being held prisoner at some Marine base. But what's he got to do with finding one of your friends?"
Luffy's eyes narrowed for a moment, before returning to normal as he asked, "So this Zoro, he got green hair?" Doing so in a way that he barely sounded interested, ignoring the glasses wearing boy's question altogether.
Coby seemed to think that question over for a few moments before answering, "Well, yeah, that's part of the physical description always given about him. But you still haven't told me why you're asking about him." He said, reminding him of his previous question
Luffy's expression became much more serious at that, "It's because he's my friend. And if he's been captured by the Marines, then I've gotta bust him out of wherever they've got him."
Once more the glasses wearing boy became speechless, shell shocked at the words his companion had just spoken. It took him a few seconds, but soon he got over his lack of words, and began screeching like back at the passenger ship. "There's no way! How could someone like Zoro be your friend!? He's as violent as a demon and three times as horrifying!"
At that the straw hat teenager burst out laughing, confusing the pink haired boy greatly as he did. He laughed for several moments, before beginning to speak, doing his best to get his words out through his laughter, "Zoro, horrifying? That's ridiculous! When we were kids, he got pushed around by Nami just as much as I did, and believe me, she's far scarier than he could ever be!"
Coby was perplexed by his new friend's words to say the least, his thoughts on the matter as such, "Zoro? The Zoro? Pushed around by a little girl!? That...that's just impossible!"
About the time Luffy's laughter began to subside, Coby finally managed to form words again. "Besides, even if that is true, chasing him down is just plain reckless! He's probably different than when you knew him, I mean, he's a bad enough guy that the Marines caught him! So it's impossible that he's the same guy you knew! And even if he was, freeing him from the Marines would be impossible! Impossible, you hear me, I said impossible!"
Before he could continue to go on about how impossible it was, Luffy bonked him over the head with his fist once more, slightly harder this time, so as to shut him up.
Having to sit up, as he had been knocked down from the punch, Coby complained, tears in his eyes as he did. "Ow! Why'd you hit me?"
"Because, you're talking stupid. You never leave a friend behind, you always go back for them, no matter what." The dark haired sixteen year old answered seriously.
Once more, this left Coby stunned as he stared up at his new friend, disbelieving of what he was hearing.
The next day...
Luffy awoke with a heavy yawn, sitting up and stretching out, saying this after he had finished doing so, "Man, what a gorgeous day!"
The raven haired teenager looked out at the ocean, a large smile on his face as he thought about all the adventures that were awaiting him out there. After about a dozen moments or so of this, he turned around to look at Coby, who greeted him good morning with a smile. "So, Coby, how much longer do you think it'll take to get there? I really can't wait to see Zoro again!"
"If we keep this heading, we'll reach the Marine base in no time. But Luffy, you really shouldn't get your hopes up, as I doubt very much this is the same guy you told me about." He said, trying to convince his friend that the man they were going to see wasn't the same person he had known as a child. After all, of all the things said about Pirate Hunter Zoro, him having no sense of direction wasn't among them.
The straw hat teen frowned at that, "Why do you say that?"
"Well for one, I've never heard anything about the Zoro we're looking for having big problems with direction like you said he does, then you said he used two training swords as a child, well the Zoro I'm talking about uses three swords. And finally, the Zoro I speak of is a man who has diced up his bounties like an animal bent on carnage. He's a blood thirsty beast! In fact, he's been called nothing less than a living, breathing demon in human form!" Coby finished, somewhat exasperated by how much he was trying to convey to his new friend that this couldn't be the person he used to know as a kid.
"Demon? Luffy repeated, all the times he had been called such coming unbidden to his mind, the time with Bluejam just having been one of many. In spite of such a fact, he smiled real wide before saying, "Cool! He must have gotten really strong then!"
"How could you think being a demon is cool!?" Coby demanded fearfully.
The smile still plastered onto his face, he answered that, doing so quite bluntly. "I've been called a demon my whole life, so I don't see why it's such a big deal. It's a thing people are called when they're strong or different, that's all." He shrugged his shoulders as he said this.
That effectively shut the younger teen up, his shock evident on his face, as his thoughts whirled, "Luffy? A demon!? That's crazy! Who...?" His thoughts were soon interrupted however, as Luffy asked, "Wait a minute, if Zoro hunts pirates, why's he in prison? I mean wouldn't the Marines want him out in the world hunting?"
"Well, that's because...uh, well..." The younger of the two stuttered, unable to think up an excuse. He struggled to think up some kind of reason for several moments, before finally shouting out, "I don't know why, but I'm sure the Marines must have had a good reason! Maybe he killed someone important or something! It really doesn't matter! You should just forget all about it, cause there's no way this guy is the same one you call friend!"
"And it doesn't matter to me what he did. He's one of my best friends, my brother, no matter what, I won't leave him to the Marines. So stop wasting your breath trying to convince me to, or I'll hit you again." His smile had shrunk as he said this, but still remained on his face, his eyes though told the pink haired boy he was dead serious as he told him this.
Coby's eyes widened to their fullest as he took in everything his friend had said, unable to form words for a few minutes as his thoughts buzzed about crazily once more. He was lost in them as a matter of fact, and would have stayed so, if Luffy hadn't began to shake him for a few moments, before pointing out to where they were heading, his excitement just about palpable as he spoke, "Look Coby, there's the Marine base town, it's right there!"
The pink haired boy quickly noticed his companion was right, so stood up and turned the sails in so that they could catch the wind. As he did, Luffy began to shake the boat in his anticipation of seeing his good friend once more after eight long years, the glasses wearing boy having to cling to one side of the ship after he was done messing with the sail to keep them from tipping over.
By the time they reached the docks, Coby couldn't stop staring at the Marine base across town, it being big enough to see from where they stood, his eyes bright and as big as coins, his wonderment obvious. His pirate friend didn't bother to tie the boat to the dock as he jumped ashore, not bothering to wait for him as he did.
"We're here!" Luffy cried as he began to jump up and down happily, in doing so snapping his friend out of it, causing him to step out of the boat and tie it to the docks himself.
As Luffy and Coby made their way through town, in the crowded market at this point in time, the latter of them tried to do everything he could to get the former to give up on breaking Zoro out, listing off as many reasons as he could think of, hoping that one of them would get Luffy to understand that he couldn't possibly be the brother he was looking for, as he was a horrible, vicious man. His only response was to laugh and say, "Nah, there's no way! Zoro's a great guy!"
Hearing that four letter name caused all the townspeople to jump back in fear, terror on each and everyone of their faces. Coby didn't notice right away however, as while they did that, he stopped and cried, "He's in prison because he's obviously not a great guy!" Looking ready to tear his hair out as he exclaimed such.
Seeing that Luffy was looking all around them, not paying attention to him, he did so as well, to see the town's reaction to the name Zoro. "Uh...maybe we shouldn't mention the name Zoro around here, alright?" He whispered as they began to walk once more, the people of the town hesitantly all returning to what they had been doing only moments ago.
"Let's head to the base and check it out." He went on as if nothing had happened. "You wanna be a Marine, right?"
"Well of course I do, but I don't really think I'm ready yet Luffy." The glasses wearing kid replied timidly.
As they continued to draw closer to the Marine base, the dark haired sixteen year old voiced his thoughts aloud, "Wonder who runs this place?"
"From what I've heard, the man in charge of this place is supposed to be Marine Captain Morgan." Coby said, trying to answer his friend's question to the best of his knowledge.
Just like with Zoro, as soon as the name Morgan was heard, all the citizens jumped back in alarm, their fright ever so evident.
"This town sure is a jumpy place!" Luffy laughed as he walked on.
Coby looked quite perplexed at this point, "That was odd, I mean I get that they're afraid of Zoro, but why'd they flip when I mentioned the marine captain's name?" The pink haired boy couldn't get rid of the sinking feeling in his gut at this point. "I don't know, I've got a bad feeling about all this."
So caught up in these feelings of his, he didn't notice that Luffy had stopped, and ended up bumping into him from behind, causing him to stumble back and almost lose his glasses. "This looks like the place." After adjusting said item so he could see clearly, he realized that Luffy was right and that they were standing in front of the gate to the Marine base. "I made it." The pink haired boy said with tears in his eyes, before he could say more, more specifically his thanks and goodbye to his straw hat friend, he was climbing up the wall to get a good look at the place, not listening to his younger friend in the slightest.
Seeing this, he began screaming for him to get down, however he paid him no mind as he looked over the wall, searching for Zoro. "Now where is Zoro?"
Calming down slightly, realizing there was no use in yelling as his dark haired friend wasn't going to listen anyway, the glasses boy tried to explain to him, "They wouldn't keep him out in the open Luffy. He's probably locked away in a prison cell somewhere underground."
Once more proving he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to his pink haired friend, the black haired teen exclaimed, "There he is!" Before jumping off the wall and running to the other side of the base. Coby couldn't help but gape as he did this, "No way, it can't be him Luffy!" Having to chase after his friend as he did.
Once on the other side of the base, the older of the two began climbing up to look over the wall once more, the younger following a moment later as he said, "I'm telling you Luffy, there's no way he's out here, that-" He cut himself off as he gasped at what he saw.
There in the middle of the yard, tied to a cross shaped post with the hot sun beating down on him, was a green haired man that was indeed the Pirate Hunter that the pink haired boy had heard so much about. He wore a plain white shirt with three undone buttons at the collar, a green haramaki, black trousers that were tucked into his black boots, as well as a black bandanna that covered his eyes. The last noticeable thing were the three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe.
He was thin, filthy and looked exhausted as he hung there, but with his bandanna in the way, his expression couldn't be seen. Though weak and obviously starved, he still projected a menacing aura, which just caused Coby to fear him all the more. "Look Luffy, please listen to me, this guy couldn't possibly be-" He cut himself off however as he glanced over at Luffy, to see his straw hat overshadowing his eyes, all joy gone from his face, looking a little scary himself as he said, "That's Zoro, I'm sure of it."
With that said, the sixteen year old climbed over the edge of the wall and dropped to his feet on the other side, slowly beginning to make his way towards his old friend after he did, leaving Coby frozen on the wall, completely lost as to what to do.
Before the dark haired yet to be seventeen year old could make it to him, the green haired man spoke, not bothering to look up as he growled at them in annoyance. "Get lost whoever you are, I don't want any company." However while he heard a squeal of fear from someone farther away, the one closer to him stopped only for a moment, before continuing to come forward toward him.
"I told you to leave me alone, didn't I!?" He barked once more, not that the other party paid it any heed, coming to a stop less than three feet from him. That's when he suddenly felt it, the familiarity of this presence, it was...
Just as he was about to realize who it was, he felt something placed on his head, immediately knowing it was a straw hat, the straw hat, his head shot up, the sight greeting him being Luffy's somewhat older face, his joy once more there, causing the older man's eyes to widen to their fullest. "L-Luffy..." His shock was evident.
A face splitting grin crossed Luffy's mug then, after he had placed his hat on his brother's head, and he said, "I finally found you Zoro."
The eighteen year old's shock vanished then, as a face splitting grin of his own made it's appearance, "It's great to see you again, Captain."
Coby nearly fell off the wall at the revelation that the Zoro that was so feared and the one Luffy spent a couple years with were one in the same.
"I honestly expected that Devil Girl to be with you, I was sure you'd have gone to get her first."
"I was gonna, but I got lost!" Luffy said with a few chuckles.
Mirth in his voice, Zoro said, "I see, guess I should have expected that from you."
"Hey, you get lost way more than I do!"
"Says who!?"
"Everyone!"
"Oh yeah!?"
"Yeah!"
Coby wasn't sure what to make of the scene, the two were arguing, loudly, but they still had enormous smiles on their faces as they did. And just as fast as it started, it ended.
"So, ready to break out of here and go find Nami?" Luffy asked, as if their argument had never happened, his smile still present.
Zoro's smile shrunk a bit at that, shaking his head as it did. "Afraid not Captain, I've still got nine days left."
Luffy tilted his head to the side at that, "Nine days left? Nine days left before what?"
It was then that Zoro explained to his best friend that almost a month ago, twenty one days to be exact, the snotty, stuck up son of the marine captain of this place, his name was Helmeppo he had found out after being tied up for a few days, came into a small restaurant he had been eating in, owned by a kind woman with a young daughter. Bringing his 'dog', actually a vicious wolf, in with him, and letting it cause havoc and property damage, scaring the other customers in the process. When the woman's daughter, named Rika, had enough of this and tried to shoo it out, it attacked her and tried to kill her, going for the throat as it did. So he killed the mangy thing, however Helmeppo saw this as a crime, an act of aggression, towards himself. So he gave him an ultimatum, he could either receive punishment for his actions, having to be imprisoned for thirty days with no food, or Rika and her Mother would be executed. To sweeten the deal, he said that if he could survive the month, that he would be free to leave once said thirty days were up, so he had agreed.
Luffy nodded his head, his hand on his chin, as he said, "I see, I see..."
The green haired man rolled his eyes as his younger friend did this, as it was partially to mock the older man.
"If it had been me, I'd have starved in three days, no doubt." Luffy then stated, taking his hand off his chin and becoming slightly more serious as he did.
Zoro's grin widened back to it's original length as he replied to that statement, "Yeah, no shit. Your stomach is a bottomless pit Luffy, you can't go more than eight hours without some kind of food before you begin whining. And that's only if it's a hefty helping."
Not insulted in the slightest, Luffy agreed with him. "Yep!" Laughing after saying this.
"Well, see ya later Zoro." As the hatless straw hat teen turned to begin walking away, Zoro quickly said, "Wait, wait, Luffy, don't forget your hat."
Turning back to look at him, his grin managed to widen as he said, "You keep it, it'll help with the heat. I'll pick it up when it's time for you to leave. Until then, I'll just wait here in town for you."
Zoro was stunned at that, his smile falling away out of pure shock, "Luffy..." Only a few moments later though, his face splitting grin returned, even wider this time as he said, "I'll make sure to take good care of it Captain, promise."
"Don't worry, I know you will."
With that the sixteen year old went to and climbed the wall from the opposite side, before he could get over it though, a ladder was placed up against the wall opposite of him, the person climbing to the top of it until they were face to face with the rubberman, it turning out to be that little girl Zoro had spoken of, Rika. Seemingly not surprised to see them, she only put her index finger to her lips in a silent gesture to be quiet, before getting ready to use a rope to let herself down. She needn't have bothered though, as Luffy lifted her up and stretched his arms so he could place her inside the walls safely on her feet, a small package clutched to her chest as this happened.
She mouthed her thanks, before turning and running up to Zoro, the dark haired teenager climbing over to the other side with Coby as this happened.
She stopped only two feet from him, a kind smile on her face. "What do you want?" He asked irritably, his smile now gone.
"I figured you must be starving, so I made you a couple rice balls." She answered as she unwrapped the package to reveal said rice balls, not mentioning the straw hat he now wore.
"You got a death wish kid? Just scram." He replied, trying to get her to go away.
"But you haven't eaten anything the whole time you've been tied up." The girl said persistently as she held up the two rice balls for him. "Here, I've never really made them before, but I did my best and I think they're fine."
"Listen kid, I'm not hungry! Now stop irritating me and get out of here!" He snapped.
She looked hurt at those words, but did not show any intention of leaving. Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Zoro then yelled, "Do not make me kick your ass little girl!"
That's when Luffy spoke up, catching everyone's attention, "Zoro!" With all eyes now on him, he proceeded to say, "Eat them."
The green haired man looked ready to object, just before he could though, the hatless straw hat pirate spoke once more, "Eat them Zoro, captain's order."
Zoro's frown turned into a scowl at that, glancing towards the entrance to the courtyard and the base, before turning his head back and sighing. "Fine, give'em to me."
Those words seemed to cheer the girl up, as she took one and held it up to him, him leaning down to take it into his mouth and proceeding to devour it, doing the same with the second only moments later. After finishing them, he looked down into her eyes as he gave thanks for the food. "It was delicious. Thank you for the food." He spoke these words with sincerity.
"You really like them?" She asked, her eyes wide with hope.
Nodding his head, he repeated himself, "They were delicious."
"I'm so glad you think so!" Hey eyes were even wider now, filled with joy this time.
That's when Zoro noticed his captain smiling, so he looked towards him, and couldn't help but return the smile. However the moment was soured, as the sound of footsteps caught everyone's attention, Helmeppo coming towards the man and girl, two marines by his side. "And just what do we have here? A little girl? Here to help Zoro I presume?" He said in an obnoxious voice...which was his normal tone.
The girl took a single step back as they continued to come closer, the worry evident in her eyes. For good reason to, as the blonde whiny guy pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket and said, "You must not have read the notice that was posted, 'Those who assist criminals in any way will be executed.' Signed by Marine Captain Morgan." Putting it back in the jacket of his purple suit after saying this.
Rika turned pale as she looked up at him fear, as he came to a stop in front of her. Seeing her reaction, the blonde said cockily, "It seems even little brats fear my daddy."
"His daddy?" Luffy repeated unbeknownst to said marine son.
"So that guy's father is Captain Morgan?" Coby repeated as well, but in astonishment.
Helmeppo turned towards one of his men then and gave the order to, "You, toss this kid out now."
Said marine looked apprehensive to do so, "But Sir, she's only a little girl."
The blonde obviously didn't like this, as he grabbed the soldier by the collar of his shirt and got in his face as he yelled, "I said throw her over the wall soldier! Now if you're not gonna follow my orders, then I'll just have to tell my father when he gets back."
"Y-yes Sir, I'll do as you said!" He said in fear, getting him to let go, which allowed him to walk over to her and gently pick her up. Just before he tossed her, he whispered, "Curl into a ball, it'll hurt less that way." His voice held honest remorse for what he was about to do.
As she was tossed over the wall, Luffy dropped off the wall, before stretching out and grabbing ahold of her, before pulling her to him and placing her gently on the ground. "You okay?"
Tears in her eyes, she nodded her head. "Y-yeah."
Coby then began to fret over her, asking aloud, though mostly to himself, how someone could abuse power like that. As he did, Luffy stretched his neck so as to look over the wall, so as to check on his friend, to see this...
"Hmm, a straw hat, where'd you get that? That little girl give it to you?" Helmeppo asked, as he began reaching for it.
Zoro however wouldn't allow it and moved his head to the side, causing the blonde's hand to miss. He quickly tried again, only for the same outcome. This was repeated a few times, before the marine captain's son stamped his foot down in anger and annoyance, "Stop moving damn it!"
With that he reached out once more and just almost managed to touch the hat, just before he could come into contact with it though, Zoro jerked his head away, pulling it away from the whiny brat's hand, without causing it to fall off of course. Then, he looked into his eyes and began projecting the most intimidating aura he was capable of at that moment. "Don't. Touch. The. Hat. Or you're dead." He growled, nearly causing Helmeppo to piss himself as he did.
After a moment though, he quickly shoved his fear down, before exclaiming, "Y-you don't scare me! My daddy is Marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan, so I can do anything I want! Including take that hat of yours!" With that said, he reached for the straw hat once more.
Before he could lay his hand on it though, Zoro's head shot forward and he bit down on the blonde's hand as hard as he could, breaking the skin and causing the spoiled brat's blood to fill his mouth, in turn causing him to scream out in pain and horror at the top of his lungs.
He quickly began trying to yank his hand out of the green haired man's mouth, however that only succeeded in bringing him more pain, as the swordsman was digging his teeth in there as deep as he could. Thankfully, for that brat anyways, the two marine guards helped pull him from behind, after they had finished freaking out of course, all three of them managing to get his hand out from between the green haired man's teeth. As they did, they realized just how bad it was, as the blonde's hand was covered in blood, so they knew they had to quickly rush him inside to get medical treatment. Before they could though, they had to pick him up off the ground, as he fell to it after being released from the grip of the eighteen year old's jaw, him scrambling backwards a few feet, his face filled with terror. "Ho-how cou-could you do s-something like this!? Yo-you really are a demon!"
Blood covering his bottom lip and chin, a crazed look in his eyes, the green haired man proceeded to speak, having to spit out the excess blood in his mouth first of course. "This hat belongs to my best friend in the whole world, my brother, and I won't allow the likes of you to touch it, no matter the circumstances."
As he was rushed to the infirmary by his two guards, Helmeppo cried out, "You're fucking insane!"
That of course got Coby and Rika's attention, just as the screaming did, however they didn't know what had happened, and Luffy intended to keep it that way. So he quickly brought his neck back to it's original length, before turning to Rika and speaking once more, "Okay, let's get you home." Neither of the other two objected, but Luffy would have made them leave if they had done so.
As they made their way away from the base, Luffy couldn't banish the scene that had just occurred from his mind, as it kept playing itself over and over in his head.
As a somewhat large marine vessel pulled into the docks, everyone in town who was there to see it do so began to panic, before quickly running and finding a place to hide. For good reason to, as only moments later, none other than Marine Captain Axe-Hand Morgan came marching off the ship, twenty of his marines behind him escorting roughly a dozen prisoners. Not seeing anyone around, there was no reason to stop, so the marine captain led his men, who in turn led the prisoners, through town and towards the base.
As they marched onward, one marine in the back, sweat running down his face and hands shaking, began to make his nervousness and fear known audibly, though only loud enough for his buddy beside him to hear. "Oh man, what did we do? What did we do!? Who knows what he'll do to us for this!"
His friend, also sweating, but obviously not as worried as his comrade, still worried nevertheless though, quickly said, "Shut up man, or you'll get us killed!"
"But what are we gonna do!? We stole these prisoners right out from under Captain Smoker's nose, no way he'll take that lying down! Not only were we in his town, but he's the one who defeated them! When he finds out we're trying to take the credit, he'll-"
"Shut it, shut it damn you!" The second marine whispered harshly. "Don't forget, we seized these prisoners on Captain Morgan's order! And if hears you talking like that, he'll lop off your head for sure!"
The first marine was forced to do as his friend told him, as he wasn't sure he could trust his voice anymore, considering all the fear that was consuming him. Just in time as well, as only a moment later Morgan glanced behind him to look at his men, his prisoners, and if anyone else was out and about. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned back and began to lead the way once more.
Luffy, Coby and Rika now all sat on bar stools at the counter of her mother's restaurant, however taking the young girl home hadn't cheered her up. In fact, even more tears were threatening to fall from her eyes after she found out they knew the situation and told them, "It's been three weeks since that happened. Helmeppo keeps punching and kicking him, he doesn't stop, not even for a single day! He's being so unfair!" That's when her tears finally began to fall, " I-I don't know...don't know how to help him."
"I can see why you're upset." Coby whispered, this little girl's tears driving home this situation, and how screwed up the marines here were.
Just then, everyone's attention, except for Luffy's, was pulled to Helmeppo as he entered the establishment, his two guards in tow. He took a seat at the first table he came across, putting his feet up on it roughly, almost knocking the bowl of fruit on it off of it. "I'm hungry, bring us whatever you have and keep the check for yourself!" He called obnoxiously. "And bring me a bottle of your finest beer, or moonshine, or whatever crap you serve. And make it snappy lady, I don't have all day!" As he spoke, no one seemed to notice the fact that his right hand was bandaged up to the point where you could barely see the flesh of it at all.
Rika's mother did as she was told, fearing for her and her daughter's safety as she came to the blonde with a bottle of wine in her hands. As she began pouring some into his glass, which she had also brought him, he began to laugh for a few moments before speaking, "I've been trying to think of something to kill the boredom I've been plagued with recently." He told everyone in the restaurant, doing so purely to show he could do whatever he wanted. "So, I've decided to have Zoro executed tomorrow. Look forward to it everyone." Little did most people know, he was also doing this because of what happened in the courtyard.
Luffy's eyes became filled with rage as he heard those words, as soon as he came off his stool, he was charging. He closed the distance between him and Helmeppo, before decking him so hard he went flying into the wall at the end of the establishment, his head busting through said wooden wall.
Everyone watched as this happened, their shock and disbelief evident. Two people in particular though, the two marine guards he came in with, snapped themselves out of it and ran to his aid, helping to pull his head out of the wall, leaving a big hole in it.
Helmeppo was now barely conscious, his head busted open, his nose broken, and a nasty bruise forming on his face, though it was hard to tell with the blood of course. Because of all this, it took him more than a dozen moments to regain his wits, though he didn't regain all of them, as in his not fully conscious state, he seemed to forget about the incident with Zoro. This seemed to be the case, as he was obviously unbelieving of the situation, proving so as he stuttered out, "Y-you j-just, you just hit me!"
And Luffy would have already done so again if Coby wasn't doing his best to restrain him, though it was only working because the older teen didn't want to hurt the younger one. "Luffy, no! You can't hit him!"
"This guy's scum!" Luffy growled, his eyes wild, everyone now staring at him.
Despite the fear he felt at the look in the raven haired teenager's eyes, his shock overriding his fear, he spoke once more. "You hit me, you actually hit me!" The blonde yelled like the spoiled brat he was. "I'm Captain Morgan's son you know!"
"Yeah, like I care!" Luffy yelled as he managed to take a large step forward without harming his pink haired friend.
Tears building in his eyes, he then proclaimed, "Y-you, you just wait until my daddy gets here! When he does, he's gonna execute you!"
"Oh yeah!? Then I'll just have to switch it up a bit and punch him in the face too!" Luffy stated with heat, holding his fist up, looking ready to go a few rounds as he did.
"Luffy, just ease off a bit! Why are you trying to get on the Marines bad side?" Coby inquired as he struggled to hold his older friend. As he asked this, the hatless straw hat pirate looked ready to go whether he hurt the glasses wearing boy or not.
Seeing him raise his fist and that look come into his eyes, the one oh so similar to the one Zoro had only minutes ago, caused the blonde to freeze in terror, but only for a moment. Now knowing he could be killed, what with what Zoro had done still fresh in his mind, now it was at least, and with Luffy looking so alike him for a moment, Helmeppo didn't even need his guards to help him to his feet, before he was scrambling out of there as fast as he possibly could and running back to the Marine base, the two soldiers following behind him.
As Luffy forcibly, but not using enough force to actually hurt him though, removed Coby from his person, turning around to face him and passionately claim that he wouldn't let this happen, he failed to notice a short orange haired woman in the back of the restaurant, hiding behind a menu. This woman wore a short sleeve white and blue striped shirt, an orange mini-skirt with white rings on each side and short brown heeled boots. And as soon as the hatless straw hat boy turned his back on her, she dropped her menu and made a hasty exit, no one being the wiser of the fact that she had ever been there in the first place.
As soon as Nami was outside, she turned to her left to head to the docks, but before she could take her first step, she was shoved into the wall with a bark of, "Get out of my way girl!"
Nami winced at the rough treatment, but didn't speak any of the not so lady like words that came to her mind with the situation at hand, as the man who had done so was clearly a marine, and the fact that he had an axe for a hand let her know that he was obviously the marine captain of this island, Axe-Hand Morgan. Said man being a tall, tanned, imposing man, with whitish blonde hair, metal jaw, and, obviously, an axe for a hand, his right one to be specific. He wore a black sleeveless shirt with a marine coat over that and blue pants with many odd shaped splashes of black scattered across them.
Besides, as he passed her by, heading to the marine base with his men and some prisoners in tow, all she could think off was getting off the island before a certain raven haired sixteen year old noticed her presence. So once they had passed, she continued on towards the docks.
Since she was rushing, she got there within only a few minutes, stepping into her small row boat and preparing to untie it from the dock, as well as take off. Just before she could though, the sight of a ship caught her attention, it was pulling up to the side of the dock. It was obviously a pirate ship, judging by it's jolly roger and all, but what really caught her interest was that the jolly roger of that ship belonged to none other than the Buggy Pirates. She couldn't help but wonder, "Why on Earth would they come to Shells town? I mean it's home to a Marine base for christs sake."
Nevertheless, it lowered anchor, though not in an area it was allowed to, and the crew began to disembark. A few of them were wheeling a cannon, while several more were carrying large red cannon balls with Buggy's mark on them.
After them came a man sitting on top of a large lion, said man had a peculiar white hairstyle, and wore a peculiar white fur mid-riff exposing sleeveless...shirt? Nami honestly couldn't tell. As well as blue ankle length trousers and a long yellow sash tied around his waist. Along with him came a decent deal of Buggy pirates.
After him came a man riding a unicycle, who had a unique hairstyle that covered half his face. Half his head was mostly shaved, it being light green in color, and the other half was much longer, long enough to cover half of his face, and was dark green. He wore a large blue and white checkered scarf, a sleeveless dark purple coat reaching down to his knees, white pants that were larger near the end, that were held up by a light blue sash, and a pair of white shoes. Along with him came two handfuls of Buggy pirates.
Finally, then came the captain, the clown pirate, Buggy. The first thing to draw attention to him was his big red nose and blue hair, then it was the makeup, him having crossbones going down his face, forming an X, and two blue lines near both his eyes, as well as a bunch of red lipstick, actually making him look like a clown. Then it was his clothing, said garments consisting of a short sleeved white and red striped shirt, white gloves, a green sash around his waist, a pair of light greenish cyan blue loose fitting pants reaching to his calves, just above a pair of white and red striped socks and a pair of red pointy shoes. And finally, there was also a purple scarf, an orange, fur lined captain's coat, and an orange pirate hat with his jolly roger on it, which sat over his bandanna, which had the same pattern as his shirt.
And there, tucked in his sash, more specifically located on his right hip, was something she had recently heard he had acquired, that she had planned to steal from him once she had tracked him down, a map of the Grand Line. So, the orange haired girl now had a dilemma, did she leave the island like she had planned, so as to make sure Luffy and Zoro never found her? Or, did she stick around long enough to steal that map from Buggy's greedy little hands, before then taking off, but at the same time risk getting caught by the very two men she wished to avoid at all costs? It was a difficult decision to make. However, thinking of how much cash that map would net her, it became all too obvious which one to pick.
To Be Continued...