Reviews:

SonarPrime: Oh do not worry I have lots of fun plans for them! As for the Whitebeard pirates, well let's say they will get their attention as soon as they get to Grand Line. Which is a whiiiile away but hey, something to look forward to?

WhiteyWolf26: Zoro is obvious but I really want something interesting for his arrival, so you'll need to be more patient! Usopp's plot is going to have to wait, he's staying with Kaya for now, sorry for any Long-nose lovers. I'll think about some weird plot to make him still happen on the crew later tho.
It would be pretty cruel of me to leave the poor Nami in Arlong's hands, wouldn't it? Maybe I have something planned for this plot, maybe not.

Hides-story: Jealous Ace is the best Ace.

AN: The ASL and RZ timeline doesn't make sense so don't pay attention to it, I'm just figuring out how to pace this until they meet ha.

Ages reminder:
Luffy: 9
Ace: 12
Sabo: 12
Zoro: 11
Coby: 8

"Ehh, what a boring island." mumbled Luffy, looking at Shell Town. It was a pretty typical place for East Blue, it actually looked a lot like his hometown, not Goa but the vibe was pretty similar to Dawn Island small villages, like Fuusha.

Behind him the SaboAce disguise was put on, this time Ace was doing the top half while Sabo was hidden in the dark fabric.

Coby shared his doubts about this disguise. "Anyone with brains would notice that it's two kids piled up…"

"You'd be surprised, ow careful my face Ace!" mumbled Sabo who dodged another 'accidental' kick.

"We almost never got caught, I used to be part of the disguise but now it's too tall and Ace says I'm not convincing!" Luffy pouted.

Coby decided to just let them, he was anticipating joining the marines, he really hoped they would say yes.

"Remember, they don't take anyone under ten so you better lie about your age. As far as anyone is concerned you're just a ten year old on the smaller side."

Coby nodded at Sabo's advice, they talked about it the day before and the blond managed to see the argument through but he really didn't like it.

The two kids and one weirdly shaped adult entered the harbor. A marine guard glanced at them briefly before returning to his conversation with a merchant. A small bald man asked them the docking fee and as the new taxes required it, one in particular, the Morgan Fee. Quite unhappy Ace told Coby to pay with his berrys since he was the one they were here for and he ended up giving almost everything he had.

It was enough to buy a small boat, why the heck was the fee asking so much, thought Sabo. In the end they didn't have any trouble and after passing up another street, they found an empty one and Ace and Sabo were able to remove their disguise.

"Why the… It's so expensive" Mumbled Ace. "Now your turn to pay up, give up the rest and go to your Marine base."

Coby immediately gave the remaining of his berrys up without any second thought, it was the deal after all but Luffy didn't agree with Ace's plan.

"No way he leaves without a goodbye meal! Let's eat together and then I want to go check out the Marine base with Coby!" Sabo pulled at Luffy's cheek, agreeing with Ace this time.

"We're pirates Luffy, the less time we spend with him, the easier it will be for him to get hired. If he's associated with pirates they're not letting him in!"

Luffy pouted, not letting Coby's arm go.

"Lemme eat wif' hi' a leavst!" Luffy insisted and Sabo released his cheek.

"Alright alright, one meal and his food goes on your tab, got it?" Luffy's smile was worth it, decided Sabo and while he could feel Ace's annoyance he wouldn't comment on it.

The four boys entered the small tavern they found not far from their street. A young waitress welcomed them and found a seat for the four of them easily. As she left to get their order, the kids noticed how strange the atmosphere was. Most people didn't look too bad off in general but the mood was low and it was really silent for a tavern. Sabo elbowed Ace, whispering.

"Promise me we'll be paying for this one, we're not getting Marines on our asses." Plus Sabo didn't like the idea of robbing an establishment that looked like they needed it, they didn't even overprice the food, it was still very affordable.

"I promise whatever…" Mumbled Ace and the waitress came back. The young lady was called Ririka and she indulged Coby's question about the Marines. The word surprisingly brought an even darker mood to the tavern and Ririka's smile was stained.

"The Marines are not very liked around here…" She said lowly.

"Nevermind then…" mumbled Coby and their attention went back to their food.

~ RZ ~

"Yes, I'm the one who beat him. Can I have my money now?"

Zoro was pretty drained, having not only fought Jimmy the Bandit but also some customers from the bar who tried to take advantage of the situation. They got a couple of hits in and he used Jimmy's bandanna to keep his arm from bleeding out. He was quite annoyed to be forced to bring the unconscious adult man all the way to the Marine base he luckily could see looming of the bar's entrance. But the Marines didn't look like they believed him despite his injuries.

"Listen kid, you're too young to be travelling alone. Where are your parents?" asked another Marine and Zoro tsked at him, irritated.

"Don't have them. Can I have my money now?"

"Just stop lying, there's no way you beat Jimmy the Bandit by yourself, if you tell us who…"

"If you don't give me my money I take him back." Zoro said warningly but it completely went overhead the marines who didn't expect him to be able to do well on his threat. A tall Marine interrupted their debate.

He was Rafold, the Lieutenant of this base and was in charge while the Commander was away. Zoro saw him as some kind of muscled beast, cropped brown hair, small blue eyes and apparently bored to death if his voice gave anything about his personality.

"Fine, whatever, let's fight. If you win, you get the bounty. Kill my boredom and I'll even go easy on you." He cracked his knuckles and looked like he expected the kid to run away crying. Zoro was really annoyed from this awful day and from being underestimated so much. With a wicked smile, he accepted the duel, it would allow him to get off some steam.

~ ASL ~

"You didn't really tell us why you wanted to be a Marine." Ace's bored voice asked not long after Ririka was gone. They got served their food fast enough and Luffy was already gouging himself like his stomach size had no limits (Coby was starting to believe there wasn't).

"I-I want to be strong! T-to protect what I care about." Coby said stammering but forcing himself to say what he thought because that's what Luffy did and Luffy was awesome. When he wasn't the equivalent of a vacuum cleaner, admittedly. Wait, wasn't his meat missing?

The mocking voice that interrupted their conversation didn't come from their table.

"That's soo lame!" A blond boy was sitting at a table near theirs and they noticed he wasn't alone. A marine was standing very still behind him, how didn't they notice him before?

"Who the heck are you?" Asked Ace, fortunately for them Luffy seemed to be completely distracted by his meal, and didn't hear what the blond kid said.

"I'm Helmeppo, and my Dad is Morgan the Captain Commander of this island so you better watch what you…"

"Haha look, his hair is sho weird!" Luffy laughed, his mouth full.

Indeed the blond kid had his hair slacked in an interesting way all while wearing some kind of small black suit that didn't really fit his small frame. Now his face was visibly getting redder and redder at the comment and the Marine behind him seemed ready to act at any signs of violence. Coby could see Ace's fist trembling, he looked angry, really angry, for him but he didn't want them to fight Marines here, it would defeat their purpose. But before the pink haired boy could try to placate Ace, Helmeppo ordered the Marine.

"Shoot them! It will teach the brats!"

Everyone in the room froze, Coby's words dying on his lips. To his credit, the adult hesitated, telling him it wasn't necessary. Behind them, people were scrambling around and leaving the place as fast as they could, no one wanted to get shot.

"Do it! Or my Dad will hear about this!" Helmeppo insisted and Ace was the one who ended it. He simply punched the blond kid straight to the face.

To be perfectly honest, before this whole scene happened, Coby would have never dared thinking that Ace liked him, or even didn't remotely dislike his existence. That was the feeling he got from the other kid since he joined them for this trip and he never felt the shift happening.

"That's for insulting Coby's dream, want another one for trying to shoot us?" Ace glared and terrified the kid looked at the hesitating marine. His eyes watering, his mouth opened and closed but seeing the adult still wasn't reacting, he seemed to decide to run away from the tavern. The Marine looked at them briefly then followed after the kid.

Coby was looking at Ace, a mix of emotions displayed on his face, he was happy that Ace defended him so vehemently, he didn't expect that from the guy who looked like he hated his guts from the beginning. At the same time Coby was also displeased by him for punching the kid and relieved at the same time because the child ordered the Marine to shoot them. Too many emotions and he didn't know how to deal with them.

The last customers seemed to be paying for their food as fast as possible (relieved that no one got shot) but the place was still emptying pretty fast. Ririka came to them and immediately apologized.

"Oh I'm so sorry dears, you should leave the island as soon as possible. The young Helmeppo is very serious about his claims. His father is the Captain Morgan, he would indeed send a small army to avenge his name, I'm so sorry it came to this!"

Of course her warnings didn't scare any of the pirate brothers and only Coby lost his colors, the situation was even worse than he thought.

"Shishishi don't worry about it!" Said a very happy Luffy, still eating everyone's food, mostly Coby's but the pink wasn't even hungry anymore. How was he supposed to accomplish his dream now? How could he trust in justice anymore, he was livid.

"Hey Coby, we can still go to another Marine base okay?" Sabo tried but Coby didn't agree with that idea at all. He always believed Marines should be fair and just. They shouldn't use their rank as an advantage against their peers. Seeing the reactions of the other customers he couldn't even say it came from just the kid. People here were terrified of the Marines and Coby just couldn't stand it. He stood from his chair and ran outside. Luffy followed after him immediately and when Sabo looked at Ace, he pointed at the waitress who was watching the kids leave. Groaning, Ace nodded and Sabo followed Luffy, the freckled boy would take care of the tab.

~ RZ ~

Zoro could feel the bleeding from his shoulder, the warm liquid seeping through his dojo uniform, ruining it for good. It was already more or less in pieces before but he knew now that trying to sow it back wouldn't save the garnement. When he gets the money that the Lieutenant has promised, he would be able to replace what he was wearing. Maybe a white shirt for change, and he needed swords, two more of them.

The young man wasn't all that worried about the Marine Lieutenant anymore. The man's skill with a sword was pretty awful, even worse than the adults of the dojo. The only annoying part was that he was still strong and any of his blows hurt way more than anyone else he'd ever fought. The blow on his shoulder was due to a mistake Zoro wouldn't reproduce, the other man's only technique was moving his sword around randomly, now Zoro figured him out it would be easy.

The adult got grazed in multiple places but he was still relatively confident, the kid knew how to use his weapon? So what? When he got pierced to the shoulder as well, his confidence lowered, he hadn't seen the kid move, then he saw the kid's gaze on him. Rafold kept trying to convince himself that he wasn't more dangerous than a child with a knife but he could feel himself not even believing his own thoughts anymore, not after he looked at that kid's eyes. He could fully believe that the young man fought Jimmy the Bandit and won now, it was just a matter of pride.

And Zoro knew he would defeat the man, he trained the sword for years, he knew the right technique to take down an adult twice his size, maybe he'll need to use it multiple times but this fight was over. The green haired kid prepared just as the Marine prepared another slash.

"One sword style: Lion's song!" In less than a second the young man was behind the Marine just as a slash appeared on the Marine's chest, it was just too fast and the Lieutenant fell to the ground. Zoro found that he needed to work on it a bit more before it was truly lethal but he would come around. Once he did, he'd allow himself to get the first earring, he got the idea from a story about a warrior he heard a while ago and he took it for himself. One earring per sword, he aimed for three, perfect.

"Can I have the money now?" he asked the other Marines fussing over their Lieutenant. The money was given and the first words about the bounty hunter demon kid were shared.

~ R ~

Ririka loved Shell Town, she loved the city, the life of their small town. She knew every street, every hiding spot she discovered as a child. She was born here and if she could build a family and die here, she would be happy. The young woman still knew of her town's faults, it was too small to be called a city, they had no renown history to attract visitors and it was mostly living off trade from merchants passing by and the Marine presence that still brought them advantages in term of security. Or it did, this town used to feel safe but since the new Commander arrived it wasn't that safe anymore. People feared pirates as much as they did Marines and Ririka hated it. She knew it could be different, she could remember feeling safe to play in the streets as a child as no one would dare rob anyone with such a strong Marine presence. She used to not be able to understand why children didn't play outside anymore, she used to be angry at the townspeople for being so passive, in a way she still was but kept it locked. They should fight, they should defend their city and if they did it together they might win! But no one listened to her, not to the small teenager girl that tried to rally them up, they heard her but didn't listen. It was too risky, too dangerous they said. But now she could hear another voice supporting her wild claims and she felt her hopes rising up again. The pink haired kid wasn't even ten and he spoke the same words she did.

She wasn't sure why she followed them in the first place, maybe she was worried, maybe just curious but as the crowd grew around them she realized she wasn't the only one interested.

"Marines are not supposed to take advantage of people! Why do you keep listening to your boss if his orders are bad?" The young boy said, despair and anger in his voice, she couldn't see his face but she knew he was crying. She was also acutely aware of the villager's glances at them, hesitating, thinking.

Finally someone else says it. She thought, a small smile forming on her lips echoing her rising hope. Maybe the Marines would listen to a child, as the saying said, from their mouth came the truth. Plus they hopefully wouldn't hurt children without orders. But the answer was cold and sad.

"Marines obey orders that's how it is. As long as Captain Morgan is in charge, he has the right to do what he wants." said one of the Marines with a somber look.

"That's not fair if the town hurts!" The kid added but the Marine wasn't listening anymore, and Ririka thought it was time to act up, to try something. If enough villagers talked them into it surely something could finally change?

"You're supposed to protect people!" she walked forward, her hands trembling. Ririka briefly wondered how the people could watch a child defend them, she couldn't, not anymore.

The Marine didn't seem to know what to tell her and she felt powerful, like she was gaining ground. Then another Marine arrived, he had orders.

"They come from the Tavern right? Bring those kids in, Captain Morgan's orders" His face turned to her and she made a step back.

"Her too."

AN: Almost cut the chapter cause it was too long, I have some of them ready in advance but I'll post them in time when I'm sure about it.

If anyone is curious about it, the Marine who was protecting Helmeppo is dead, slaughtered by Morgan for being incompetent. Originally we were supposed to see it happen but it didn't flow well and the plot changed so I scratched it and he doesn't get to be a martyr, too bad.

Honest question to readers, I plan on Ace getting his fruit earlier than the manga. But should Ace get his Mera mera fruit soon (in the next couple of chapters) or should we wait until the Grand Line?

Thanks for reading, see you soon ~!