"GET BACK HERE CRIMINAL!"

"EIYEEEEEEE! You were wrong, Theo! I haven't been safe at all since I became a part of the family!" a pink eyed woman whined out with tears in her eyes, running from multiple marine officers who were pursuing her.

Bobbing and weaving to avoid various people in the bustling village known as Loguetown, Toffee quickly turned down an alley way, since she tended to do better in darkened areas when it came to her Devil Fruit powers, only to let out an "ack!" when she seemingly tripped over nothing, face planting with the ground.

Her rather unique shadow appeared beside the rather clumsy girl, three clawed hands connecting with its forehead in annoyance considering this wasn't the first time his master had tripped over thin air during the chase. Knowing the officers would soon be upon them, he quickly phased into the darkness, using it to sneakily creep upon the marines without them knowing.

"This is it for you, murderer! Once we take you to our superior officer, you'll finally be in prison where you- AGGHHHHHHH!" the man was unable to finish his sentence when a tall humanoid creature with pitch black skin suddenly appeared before him, it's spherical glowing yellow eyes glaring harshly at him. The next thing the poor officer knew he was being kicked high up in the air by the monstrosity; the shadow dodging the bullets that were shot at him while landing kicks or slicing at the other marines with his claw like hands.

Deciding he had taken down the majority, he used the darkness to quickly swim toward his master through the ground where he grabbed a still dazed looking Toffee by the back of her turquoise shirt and hopped up onto the nearest roof with her; continuing to jump with her until he was certain they had placed enough distance between the enemy and them.

"Th-thank you, Neoshadow. I wasn't sure if we were going to get away there for a moment..." Toffee spoke up meekly, looking at her companion. She was feeling even more lucky that Heartless had learned to transform into his new taller and muscular form, which she had given the name Neoshadow. It was a lot more intimidating than his smaller body, but also much more powerful.

Her shadow patted at the young woman's head almost as if she was still a child, changing back into its smaller and cuter version where Toffee gently took the creature into her arms; easily and quickly leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Just my luck that ship we stowed away on would come to a place where the marine's seem to be swarming," Toffee sighed out with a sad smile. "And they would have to recognize me..."

Thanks to the reputation she had garnered from being associated with Altair and his 'dangerous' group of vegabonds, Toffee had earned a small bounty on her head when she was only ten. Her bounty was 50,000 beli, chump change when you compared it to most criminals out there, but the navy still saw her as a major threat nonetheless.

Though she understood sometimes you needed to fight, Toffee despised killing, and tried to avoid it as much as possible...She had a deathly fear of blood. Not that most believed her if she tried to explain this to them.

She paused when noticing that a group of people had gathered, blinking since some marines appeared to be facing off against a band of pirates. And if she was being honest, the apparent captain of the marines looked far more intimidating than the pirates leader. He was tall and muscular with white hair that stuck straight up and sharp onyx eyes. He was strangely smoking two cigars, and had tons attached to his white and blue jacket.

Thruthfully he looked more like a gangster than some government official.

That's definitely someone I need to try and avoid Toffee decided with a nervous smile. When smoke started to cover the area, she let out a little "eh?", hearing the sound of people screaming and yelling out in pain, yet she couldn't make out was happening. Once the thick smoke had cleared, her hand moved to cover her parted lips since the pirates were black and blue. Not to mention tied up.

H-he took them out in mere seconds?!

"A job well done, Captain! You finished off the Luffy pirates in record time!"

"Are you blind, or just stupid?" the white haired male uttered out crossly. "How could these losers be Luffy's? If these pansies are worth 30 million, then it's the end of the world."

"T-then what about Luffy?"

"He'll show himself soon enough. And then the fun will start."

Almost as if on cue, a young man with messy black hair that was covered by a straw hat arrived, looking confused about his surroundings. When he noticed the marine captain, he gave a large and friendly grin as he walked up to him.

"What luck! Can you tell me how to get to the execution platform? I think I'm lost..."

"I've never seen your face around before,"

"Yeah! I just came here today. Man what a big city! It's totally different from Fuusha Village,"

"...Why are you looking for the gallows?"

"I want to see it. The place where the Pirate King died!" he answered casually, not seeming to notice the shocked expression that appeared on the marine captain's face. "You don't know?"

When the teen was about to walk off, the taller male told him to wait while he informed the boy to follow the smoke; the raven haired male happily thanking him before he rushed off.

Maybe he isn't as harsh as he looks Toffee pondered, staring at the white haired male with curiosity before deciding she needed to take her leave as well. Unfortunately for her she didn't notice the loosened tile, letting out a small scream as she slid on it and went tumbling off the roof; choking her poor shadow in the process who still remained in her arms.

Having closed her eyes expecting a painful impact with the ground, Toffee was surprised when she didn't feel it, and she cautiously peeked open one eye. Both to her horror and surprise the marine captain was staring down at her with an annoyed expression, and she felt her mouth grow dry realizing she was currently resting in his strong arms.

"Stupid kid. What the hell were you doing up on the roof?"

Toffee could only stutter like the idiot he took her to be while her face became redder and redder, quickly scrambling out of the man's hold after her shadow had done the same with her. Toffee's pink eyes shifted around uncomfortably while she poked her index fingers together, causing the white haired male to sweat drop at her weird behavior.

"I-I know I'm short, but I'm not a kid...I'm twenty two," Toffee murmured, her eyes meeting the marine captain's for a moment before she quickly looked away. "Th-thank you for catching me. I do appreciate it, um...?"

"Smoker. I'm guessing you just arrived in town today?" Smoker questioned blandly.

"Y-yes. You seem pretty busy mister Smoker, so my pet and I will just be taking our leave now, eh heh...!" Toffee replied with a twitchy smile, bowing before she scooped up her shadow into her arms and headed off in a robotic-like manner.

Smoker just let out a puff of smoke since he thought Tashigi was a ditz, but this girl might surpass her. When hearing yells coming from the officers who served under him, he turned to face them, his dark eyes growing bigger at their words.

"Captain Smoker! Don't let that girl escape! She's one of Altair's brats! An assassin!"

Toffee froze in her awkward pace, not able to help but glance back where her eyes connected directly with Smoker's. Feeling Heartless patting at her arm that was wrapped around him since his master resembled a frozen statue, Toffee dashed off at a rather fast speed that caused the people she rushed by to cry out in shock.

Speed had always been one of her talents, so she didn't expect for smoke to come shooting at her in a alarming rate where it wrapped around her petite frame and yanked her backwards. And it was strong enough where she was incapable of breaking free no matter how much Heartless and her would struggle.

"Toffee of the Shadow Strikers. Tch...Can't believe I failed to recognize you..." Smoker said coldly when the girl was in front of him once again.

Toffee gulped, wondering how she was going to get herself out of this mess? Maybe she could some how convince Smoker she wasn't the villain he took her to be.? "Erm, I don't suppose it would make a difference if I told you I wasn't involved with the Shadow Strikers any longer, would it...?"

Apparently it didn't for Toffee soon found herself tied up with thick ropes while being led off; tears having formed in the corner of her eyes while Heartless was trying to bite at the braiding, but wasn't having much of an effect. She wasn't sure where Smoker was taking her, but he had told his men he would keep an eye on her while they dealt with the other criminals he had captured.

"Tell your ugly dog to knock that off,"

"...Heartless isn't a dog. He's my shadow...I ate the Silhouette-Silhouette fruit and my shadow became alive," Toffee explained softly, giving Heartless a look to behave as his attenae's twitched in frustration at this. "Your...a devil fruit user too, aren't you? I've only ever met one other before."

Smoker's brow lifted up since he was admittedly surprised the girl was making conversation with him considering the situation she was in. "Yeah. I ate the Plume-Plume Fruit."

"So you can control smoke? Ah...so that must be why you're able to smoke so many cigars at once," Toffee hummed out thoughtfully since she had noticed he had stuck two more in his mouth the second the others had gone out. "Anyone else would have probably died from lung cancer by now or at least be coughing a lot."

The marine captain almost tripped from the girls bizarre statement, and he scowled at the innocent look she wore; grumbling something incoherent under his breath while he used one glove covered hand to push open a pair of wooden swinging doors while he tugged Toffee inside of a run down and cob web infested bar.

"So, it's you, huh?" a short old man wearing a purple beanie and small shades rasped out, clear displeasure on his face.

"The usual greeting, eh?" Smoker mused, not seeming perturbed at all. A smirk had even formed on his features. "Not a nice way to treat an old customer."

"You ruined my business. I don't feel like joking around with you!" the elderly man exclaimed angrily. He peered over at Toffee who was awkwardly sitting down on one of the bar stools next to Smoker after he had done the same. "Tch! The women even hate you, so you have to resort to tying them up on a date, huh?"

"Thought you said you didn't feel like joking around? The girl's obviously a prisoner," Smoker grunted out, placing his arm on the counter while he leaned forward.

"Her? She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly," the bartender scoffed out, placing a glass of milk in front of the short grey haired girl as this made Toffee's eyes light up, and she happily leaned forward to sip from the straw he had placed in it after thanking him.

Smoker just shook his head since he didn't want to admit he honestly felt the same. His gaze landed on two glasses sitting on a nearby table, and his brows lifted up while a lopsided grin appeared on his face.

"A customer, huh? That's pretty unusual," When realizing the old man didn't plan on answering, Smoker merely shrugged his shoulders. "I'd like some rum."

"We don't serve your kind here!"

"That's discrimination, you know. Especially since you just served my prisoner," Smoker said calmly, using his smoke to grab a bottle for himself. "Today is a special day. Isn't it."

Toffee blinked curiously as she watched Smoker chug down his drink, all while keeping his cigars in his mouth. "Special day? How so...?"

"I figured that was the reason you were crazy enough to set foot in this town today of all days. Or did your stupid brother's not tell you Loguetown was under my jurisdiction?"

"I haven't talked to my family in six years," Toffee replied with a sheepish smile. "Ah...but now that you mention it, I do remember Ashley saying how he and my brother's liked to occassionally head to this one town just to mess with a 'sexy' marine captain stationed there since he was funny when he got mad, but was actually a major softie...Could they have been talking about you?"

Smoker almost choked on his drink while the bartender was snickering, finding he liked this girl a lot more. Toffee on the other hand couldn't help but gulp since a 'I'm going to kill them' aura seemed to be emanating from the muscular male. She just really hoped he wasn't planning to take out the fury he felt on her!

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE THOSE DUMB ASSES BEEN TELLING YOU?!"

"EEEEEK! Nothing!" Toffee squealed out while beads of sweat bounced off her head. "I-I mean, they did tell me this marine..erm you would sometimes lock them up...and their accomadations were so good there were times they didn't want to leave...B-b-but besides that, they just said they thought you were a decent man compared to most marines..."

Smoker blew out a puff of smoke while pinching the skin between his eyes while he tried to calm his temper. Decent, huh...? The girl beside him probably didn't think so considering she had started to shake like a leaf while her shadow took to glaring at him. Her family might be a pain in the ass to him, but that was no reason to take out his anger on her...

"You were asking why today was special...It happens to be the anniversary of Roger's death," Smoker spoke up after taking another drink. "It was hot and muggy just like today when he was carried to his execution...He held himself high like a proud warrior despite being bound; the grin never faltering from his face...That was the beginning of everything..."

"The beginning of the great age of pirates..." Toffee said softly, remembering how Altair had told her because of Gold D. Roger, countless men and women had set to the seas trying to find his legendary treasure known as One Piece. Truthfully she wanted to sail the seas as well, but only to see the world and what laid out there.

Toffee had dearly loved her family, but they had become a bit overly protective when she had developed hemophobia; rarely allowing her to leave the house or travel as much as she once did. This being one of the reasons she had left home at sixteen...

Smoker merely nodded as it grew silent between the two of them, each of them caught up in their own thoughts-the only sound coming from him downing his drink every now and then. However, a marine officer soon broke the strangely peaceful calm as he came to post wanted posters in the bar-dropping them when he noticed Smoker.

"That Straw Hat..." Smoker mumbled as he walked and bent over to pick one up, realizing the boy he had talked to earlier was the very pirate he had hoped to capture today. "He's Monkey D. Luffy." After throwing some coins onto the counter, the white haired male surprised Toffee when he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potato's before dashing out of the location.

"C-can't I just run beside you? This is embarrassing...!" Toffee squeaked out, her form completely red. She pouted since Smoker had decided to ignore her, seeming more focused on getting to his location as she just stared down at the ground as it raced by her.

Deimos used to tease me all the time that my clumsiness and bad luck seemed to lead me into crazy predicaments. I guess he was right...

Blinking when they had come to a sudden halt, Toffee was soon being placed down beside Smoker as she stared at him for a moment before her attention turned on what the gruff male seemed to be focusing on. The boy wearing the Straw Hat, Monkey D. Luffy, was climbing up the extremely tall execution platform while a medium sized crowd had gathered around to watch him.

"Oi, kid! Is it really you? The most wanted criminal on East Blue," Smoker said while placing his hands on his hips.

"I'm Luffy. What's up?" the boy answered back nonchalantly while clinging onto the metal pillar. Toffee couldn't help but watch him nervously when Luffy let out a startled cry as he slid down some. That would be a nasty fall from that height if he lost his grip...

"I'm the captain of the marine base here in Loguetown, Smoker. I'm here to arrest you,"

"Arrest me?" Luffy said in a pondering tone, slightly tilting his head in confusion. He then laughed while saying with a grin, "I refuse! I'm setting out for the Grand Line, so I can become the Pirate King!"

"The Pirate King?" Smoker muttered, his face showing a look of astonishment for a brief moment.

"So how could I get arrested?"

"Then defeat me. If you can't get past me, then you have no hope of entering the Grand Line," Smoker challenged as he cracked his knuckles. "So it all depends on whether or not you have the courage to fight me."

"I gotta beat you so I can go to the Grand Line, huh? Then I'll defeat you," Luffy agreed while pulling back his right fist. "Gum Gum-WAAAAAAH!" He was unable to hit Smoker as Luffy's head was instead sent backwards where it painfully connected with the execution pillar; his body now bouncing up and down like a spring.

"He's a...rubber human, huh?" Smoker muttered, twitching when Luffy whined that his feet were stuck as he continued to swing in place. "Moron! What the hell are you doing?! And why are you laughing?!"

Toffee was giggling. She might have felt bad for Luffy right now, but the situation was too strange not to be amused. "S-sorry! Maybe you should let my shadow go so Heartless can help him down? You won't be able to fight otherwise unless he gets unstuck,"

"Do you think I'm an idiot? You'll just try to escape the moment I untie your ropes!" Smoker scolded, dodging a punch when Luffy finally managed to free himself and launched the attack at him. "Slow."

Countering with a punch of his own that connected with Luffy's cheek, Smoker then kicked the scrawny male and sent him flying high up into the air.

That's got to hurt Toffee thought while wincing as Luffy lauched himself at Smoker, but he was slugged right in the face; his body painfully impacting with the tower before he fell down and landed flat on his stomach.

"I witnessed what happened here twenty years ago. He had the pride and ambition of the Pirate King, right down to his last moments. You said Pirate King? Don't make me laugh! You can't even get to the Grand Line," Smoker said coldly as he watched Luffy struggle to pull himself up. "It's useless however many times you stand up."

No matter how harsh Smoker's words were, the smile hadn't left Luffy's lips once he was back on his feet and he replied with, "Well, how can I know if I haven't tried? Here we go...Gum Gum Whip!".

Instead of his leg connecting with Smoker, Toffee let out a high pitched squeal since it had impacted with her stomach; the poor girl screaming as she was sent flying off God knows where while Luffy let out a scream of his own as his leg twisted around a nearby fountain and caused him to go spinning off into the sky himself.

"What...the hell just happened?" Smoker wondered in complete disbelief as one of his cigars even fell out of his mouth. He could hear Toffee and Luffy's shrieks getting further and further away, this making him click his tongue since now he was going to have to search for both of them.

Toffee continued to scream as she went sailing over various building's along with freaking out the populace below-her body eventually lowering and crashing to the ground as the pink eyed girl groaned as she had left a small indent from her crash. Toffee's pain wouldn't end any time soon as Luffy came falling down right on top of her, another groan leaving her lips as she was amazed nothing had been broken.

Maybe it's a good thing I grew up among four chaotic boys...

"Ooh! Lucky! I landed on something soft!" Luffy chirped, not seeming to realize that something was in fact a person.

"Urgh...I'm glad...your alright...Do you think...you could possibly...get off...me..." Toffee wheezed out. The kid was a lot heavier than he looked.

Luffy quickly jumped off of the girl as he rubbed at the top of his hat. "Hmm...You were with that Smoker guy," he mused thoughfully before grinning. "Nishishishi! Sorry about kicking you like that! Glad your not dead!"

"Eh heh heh...Me too," Toffee said weakly, slowly sitting up as she shook her head to get rid of the dizzyness she felt. "Luffy, right? My names Toffee...Do you think you could untie these ropes for me...?"

She figured Luffy would ask why she had been tied up in the first place, but he had undone her bounds without question as Toffee sighed a breath of releif, rubbing at her arms and stretching out her limbs. Being tied up like that for so long was uncomfortable.

"Thank you. I thought I was going to end up spending the rest of my life in a prison cell," Toffee said politely while she bowed.

"I wasn't trying to help you," Luffy said rather bluntly, rubbing at his nose. He then placed his hands on his hips while he looked around. "We went flying pretty far. I have no idea where this place even is...Aah. What should I do now?"

Toffee scratched at her cheek watching as Luffy let out a yawn as he seemed to be contemplating on taking a nap, and she unzipped the purple pack she wore at her side where she pulled out a small brown bag. "Even if you weren't, you still did. I should repay you at least. Sorry I don't have any money on me, but I hope these salted caramels will be okay?"

Luffy's eyes lit up at the sound of food, and a grin stretched wide across his face. "Really? I can have them?!" Luffy didn't take the bag out of Toffee's hands until she nodded, and he enthusiastically started to munch on them while taking a seat on a nearby bench. "These are really good!"

"There my favorite treat," Toffee admitted with a smile, deciding she might as well sit down and relax for a moment, too. "This town has a lot of yummy treats in it. I actually spent all of my money trying the different sweets they have around here."

"I was so focused on finding where Roger was executed, I didn't even think about food!" Luffy slightly whined out while his stomach seemed to grumble in distress.

Toffee lightly chuckled at his complaint, gently rubbing at the top of Heartlesses head. He had jumped up into her lap where he could rest comfortably. "It'll be hard getting food here, now. Smoker's marines have probably placed wanted posters of both of us all around town...I'm sure he's searching for us..."

A sigh escaped the grey haired woman's lips while she looked up at the sky. "I need to get off this island, but I don't know if I can find a ship that will take me...Stowing away on one here might be difficult, too..."

"You can come with me and my crew once we leave the island,"

"Eh?" Toffee gasped out surprised, wondering if she had heard Luffy right.

"That strange Smoker guy is after us, so we might as well stick together for now," Luffy got out through a mouthful of caramel, shrugging his shoulders in a careless manner. "You and your ugly dog seem weird, but your also nice for giving me food."

Even though Heartless was glaring at Luffy for the 'ugly' comment, Toffee couldn't help but feel perplexed. He was willing to help her out just because she gave him some salted caramel? That seemed rather careless.

"W-well if your sure, I promise I'll just stay until your ship reaches the next island. I don't want to be a bother," Toffee said meekly.

"Sure," Luffy voiced as if it were no big deal, surprising Toffee further when he held out one of the salted caramel's for her to take. "You really like these, right?"

"Y-yeah..." Toffee said, timidly taking the candy from him. She watched as Luffy continued to gulp down the rest, amazed he hadn't already devoured the whole bag at the rate he was going, and she smiled faintly before tossing the piece into her mouth.

Strange...Theo always told me I should avoid all pirates since they were nothing but cold, blood thirsty monsters who only cared about gold and causing chaos in any town they landed in. Yet he doesn't seem like that at all...