"You pathetic maggots!" Usopp said rather dramatically as he looked over the blue ocean with a stick in his hand. He had his one foot on the figurehead of the Going Merry and his arms were crossed, that was until he enthusiastically turned around. "You would knowingly attack the invincible fleet of pirates commanded by Captain Usopp of the Going Merry?!" He then rushed forward and jumped off the upper deck rail to the main deck and started to use the stick in his hand as a sword. "Ah! Attack them! Show no mercy!"
Raven looked up as she was on the main deck cleaning Lea's daggers. She raised a brow before shaking her head. Usopp stopped when he saw Zorro sleeping to his left, Luffy was to his right, painting his jolly roger and Nami was by the main mast reading a map on a barrel, Lea was on the stairway, reading a book with Raven under the left window. He was a bit confused to see how they were all lackadaisical.
Usopp sighs, "Geez. I really expected you guys to be a little bit more lively than this."
All of a sudden, Luffy jumped up in excitement as he held up his Jolly Roger. "I finished!" He grins as he shows off his work. It looked quite childish, and non-threatening at all. He chuckled, "Look! Our pirate mark! Now that Usopp's joined we got six people, that's almost a whole crew! I think it's about time to have our own flag!" He was excited.
"Uh…Luffy?" Zoro said a bit flabbergasted at the quality. "Is that really gonna be our mark?" He asked a bit dumbfounded.
Luffy kept his grin, "Heh! Whadya think? Nice, huh?" He asked, quite proud of his work.
"Our mark should be scary," Zorro said as both Usopp and the rest of the crew started to come stand by him to look at it. Raven bit her lip and gently shook her head as she saw it, quietly returning Lea's daggers to her. She was going to say something when Zorro continued. "It should strike fear into our enemy's hearts."
"If our enemies were terrified infants, then this would be perfect," Nami said in thought with her hand on her chin.
Usopp was shaking his finger when Lea said, "Yeah, Luffy's never been known for his artistic skills." Raven nodded in agreement and she looked over at Luffy apologetically.
"You guys really should've told me about this. Maybe you didn't know this about me, but I am an artist," Usopp said with a grin.
"Oh, that means you can draw better than me, great!" Luffy said excitedly.
"Heh. When it comes to painting, I'm in a league of my own!" Usopp boasted. "I've been drawing graffiti for fifty years straight!"
Lea started to cough, "Liar." Raven chuckled and shook her head.
"That would mean he's an old man by now," Zorro teased with a smirk.
"Wow, he looks really good for his age, now doesn't he," Lea smirked more.
"Which would mean he has five or six grandchildren," Nami added to the teasing, "And I don't see 'em!"
"Hey!" Usopp said in defiance before starting to work on their Jolly Roger. "Ta-dah!" He shouted as he held up some more black fabric that had his own Jolly Roger on it. The rest of the crew just looked at him.
"Looks a lot like you on that flag," Luffy muttered as he and Zorro both hit him in the back of the head. It wasn't long after that, that the real Jolly Roger was made. It resembled the captain quite well since it had a straw hat too.
"So, how do you like this one?" Usopp asked.
"Wow! That's actually pretty good, Usopp!" Nami said as she admired his work. Luffy was standing behind him with his hands on his hip in agreement.
"Yeah! Keep it! That's the one!" Luffy said happily.
"So, we've finally settled on it. This is gonna be our mark?" Zorro asked as he sat crossed legs on the other side of the flag.
"I like it," Lea said with a nod.
"Me too," Raven said with a grin as she stood by Nami.
"Sure is!" Luffy said excitedly. "Hey, Usopp! Draw one on the sail, too!" He then pointed upwards to the main sail.
"Right!" Usopp said and it wasn't long before the sail was done.
"Okay! It's all done. Now the Going Merry has everything she could possibly need!" Luffy said when it was all done. He laughs at how his dream was coming together.
Usopp flopped down by the paint cans that he had used, "I'm pooped." Zorro was leaning on the main mast with Nami nearby. He looked up when Luffy asked a question.
"Are we going the right way? Seems kinda dangerous," He mentioned as he looked over in the distance where a storm cloud was rumbling.
"What's that?" Usopp asked as he sat up and saw the cloud.
Nami had already grabbed the map from the nearby barrel and was looking at it. "Hold on,"
"Hm?" Usopp asked as the closer the ship got, the bigger the storm cloud. Through a pair of binoculars, they were able to see an island at the bottom of the cloud.
"That's the place," Nami said. She nodded and brought the binoculars down. "Yep. There's no doubt about it."
"What do you see out there?" Luffy asked curiously. "Is it something cool?"
"The legendary Treasure Island," Nami answered as the water began to get choppier and more violent, the closer they got.
"Are you kidding me?" Lea asked and Nami shook her head.
"What is this Treasure Island?" Raven asked.
"Even I've heard of that place," Ussopp said with a raised brow.
"Yeah. I'm not surprised, this place is famous the world over. And so are the crazy stories about it," Nami said sternly.
"Which are?" Raven pressed for more info.
"Legend has it that whoever's dumb enough to sail close to the island incurs a god's wrath. "As Nami said this a bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, causing Ussopp to shriek and run.
"Now we know that all those stories were true, guys!" Ussopp said quite scaredly. "This is a god's wrath!"
"I highly doubt that, now I know every legend has a bit of truth in it. But most of the time, it is extremely exaggerated for one reason or other. I really doubt that a god is causing all of this in this one specific area," Lea said matter-of-factly with a shaking head.
"Hey, wait we're not gonna!" Ussopp said
"Of course we are!" Nami interjected with a grin as the ship continued its course into the storm.
"There might be something interesting on the island that we may not know yet," Lea said.
"Something we can discover," Raven added.
After a rocky entrance, the ship had managed to make its way to the shoreline of the island. It was very lush and full of greenery. Vines hung from the trees like strings of lights. The crew were walking and passed a few man-eating flowers by the undergrowth. One snapped its jaws at Usopp, making him flinch. Nami was in the lead as she moved vines away to let the others through. Luffy was right behind Nami followed by Lea and Raven. Then at the end were Zorro and Ussopp.
"Hey. This place is creepy," Ussopp said to Zoro as his legs were shaking.
"Yeah, so?" Zorro said unwavering
"It's said that somewhere on this island rests an unimaginable fortune just waiting to be found," Nami said before looking back at the rest of the crew. "Supposedly, many pirates have landed here in the past, but they all fled in absolute terror before they ever got a chance to look for it."
"Absolute terror?" asked Luffy as they stopped for a moment.
"I'd be afraid, too. They say one pirates' face suddenly turned into a boar's face. And another pirate's mustache stretched out like a couple of snakes and strangled him," Nami continued.
"But, that's not true…right?" Ussopp asked worriedly.
"I highly doubt that actually happened, Usopp. Tall tales usually come up when there are high levels of fear," Lea said as she patted his back. "Not to mention the truth keeps getting wilder and wilder the more it is told."
Unbeknownst to the crew, red eyes were watching their every move from the forest. Zorro gave a yawn as he decided to lay down to take a nap. "Nap time," He explained before crossing his arms behind his head like a pillow. Raven just watched a bit dumbfounded how he could just plop down anywhere. It wasn't long before Zorro started to snore.
"How can he possibly sleep in such a creepy place?" Ussopp asked with a confused look.
"Because, he's not scared," Lea giggled with a shrug. She thought it was kind of funny how he could just fall asleep anywhere.
Luffy was crouching down by the bottom of a nearby tree, with Raven looking over his shoulder. They were both eerily quiet before Lea came over to see what they were looking at.
"What are you guys looking at?" She asked curiously. She blinked when she saw a snake-bunny hybrid creature. Its body was white and fuzzy on top and scally on the bottom. It had long ears before it opened its toothy mouth to try and scare them, but all that came out was a cute, funny hiss. Lea blinked before bursting out laughing. Raven joined in.
Nami heard the laughter and looked over to see them. "What? What's so funny?" She asked before hearing Usopp yelp as he felt something licking his hand. She looked over to see that the creature was a rooster wolf. A wolf with red ears and a red comb like a rooster, a wattle was also seen underneath the wolf's muzzle. It sported a white and red rooster tail to match.
A panda-bat like creature appeared behind Nami. It had panda-like markings on the face but had bat fangs and wings. It was hanging upside down on a vine. It made Nami shriek and fall to the ground. She made her way towards Usopp. Lea heard the others and looked around at the other creatures. She couldn't stop herself from laughing, they were all so cute. The creatures left from all the commotion, showing they were being watched.
Suddenly a deep voice boomed, "Leave now!"
Luffy piped up, "Who's there?!"
"Leave now!" The strange voice repeated.
"Guys? Where's that voice coming from?" Nami asked as she looked around to try and figure out its location.
"The trees?" Lea said with a shrug as she looked as well. The crew, minus Zorro, were all standing in the middle of the clearing by now.
"I am the vengeful island god!" It said, "Leave at once if you value your lives!"
"Island god?" Luffy asked, but Lea looked skeptical.
"Wait. You guys are pirates, right?" The voice asked.
"Oh, what gave it away?" Lea asked sarcastically.
"Ah…I knew it.." The voice continued.
"Why would a god need to ask something like that?" Nami asked.
"I don't know…uh I..I mean take one more step into the forest! The instant you do, you will instantly receive my divine punishment and meet your doom, which is my punishment. Wait, uh."
"Okay, that made no sense at all," Luffy said as he raised a brow. Lea agreed with him.
"This guy is weird," Nami said.
"Yeah, what's his deal anyway?" Luffy asked.
"What did you say, straw hat boy?!" Boomed the strange voice.
All at once, strange creatures started to surround them, including the three previous ones. "What are these things?" Usopp asked.
"I'm going to guess, animals," Lea responded bluntly.
"Ones with mixed genes," Raven said as she looked upon a pig with a lion's mane.
"They used to be humans!" Said the strange voice. "They came looking for treasure but all they found was my wrath!"
Usopp went on one knee and started to pray, "Uh. You transformed them?! Then you are a god!" He professed. Raven just rolled her eyes.
"Look at all these weird things!" Luffy said as he spotted a rhinoceros kangaroo that had a rhinoceros joey in its pouch. Next to it was a Zebra Ostrich, whose striped neck and horse head was paired with a fuzzy brown bottom half and skinny striped legs to match. He then went and picked up the Lion pig. "Huh. So, is this a pig?"
"Could be a lion," Nami said as she looked at the two. The creature then bit his face and stretched it before Luffy released him.
"You stretchy freak of nature! What are you?!" The strange voice asked.
"One time I ate a Devil Fruit. So now I'm a rubber person," Luffy said as he stretched out his cheek to demonstrate.
"Yeah right. A Devil Fruit? I heard those stupid stories back when I was a pirate, but-"
"Back when you were a pirate?" Nami asked in suspicion as she caught him in a lie.
"No, wait, I wasn't reminiscing about the old days! Enough of that kinda talk!" The strange voice tried to cover up his mistake. "I don't wanna hear about the old days! Got it?!"
"Drop the act, you already exposed yourself," Lea said to the voice.
"Shut up! If you won't leave, then prepare for my divine judgment!" The voice yelled before catapults appeared and started to fire at the group. The ammunition were carved out spikes. Lea and Raven dodged them with ease. Usopp barely got grazed and Nami was able to not get hit. A few of the spikes somehow left Zorro unscathed.
Out from a tree, four big boulders fell from a box. Three landed around Luffy, while one landed on his head. He was able to get it off with no trouble before he said, "You're really pushing your luck…'god'."
"Hey Luffy! Behind you!" Lea said as she saw a suspicious dark green bush that was raised higher than the other shrubbery around them.
"How are you not dead?!" The strange voice in shock.
"He's rubber! How do you not understand that?!" Lea asked as she facepalmed.
Luffy heard the voice and looked over and spotted him. "There you are!" He then went to grab him.
"Don't move!" The voice waned. "I said don't move!" He had taken out a gun and had pointed it through the shrubs at Luffy before firing. He ricocheted it off his body. "That can't be!"
"WE TOLD YOU HE'S RUBBER!" Raven screamed at him in the midst of the screams from Usopp and Nami.
"I may not be hurt by bullets, but I still hate them," Luffy said with a huff.
"No kidding, when you first showed that you could do that, it nearly gave us a heart attack!" Lea said.
"You're some kind of monster!" The voice said before trying to flee.
Usopp pointed at where he ran and Luffy went after them with Lea following. Raven decided to stay with Usopp and Nami. Nami had picked up the gun and looked it over. While the three were still in the clearing, Luffy and Lea had run to the edge of a cliff. "Where'd he go?" Luffy asked Lea.
"If I had to guess, he probably stopped somewhere in the forest," Lea replied. Then a snap of a branch was heard and it gave away the strange voice's location. They went to take a look and spotted what looked to be a bush in a box. The three had joined the two and they all stared at the object.
"What is this?" Luffy asked.
"Could it be the island god?" Ussopp asked.
The bush then grew legs and ran off.
"It's moving," Nami said before seeing them hit a tree and fall over.
The bush started to make noise as it kicked its legs trying to get back up. The stormy skies parted to reveal his pear-shaped head. "Stand me up!" He ordered. "Stand me up already!"
"It's a person!" Nami said in shock.
"Awesome! He's like a talking scrub brush!" Luffy said. Lea tried to hide her laughter.
"That's it? You're not even a minor deity," Usopp said with his arms crossed. "You're more like a box."
"Come on! Stand me up now!" The man begged.
"Relax. Here," Usopp said as he and Luffy helped him get back onto his feet.
The man gritted his teeth, "Uh..I'll let you off with a warning this time!" He then started to dart off, but was stopped when Luffy grabbed him by the back of the box. Instead of pulling the box man back, Luffy lost his footing and shot forward, pushing the two of them off the cliff.
"Thank god I can grow wings," Lea muttered as she darted towards where they fell. She ran to the edge as she grew red feathered wings and leapt after them. She grabbed them right before they crashed into the water and brought them back onto solid land.
Nami went and put a bandage on the man's head. The creatures that they had seen earlier, came and started to lick the man's cheeks. Lea had kept the wings out as she had gone and picked up the panda-bat. "They're so cute aren't they~" Lea said as she nuzzled the creature. Raven nodded with a chuckle.
"You seem to be very popular with the creatures here," Nami said to the man.
"So lemme get this straight, these crazy animals helped you scare off the pirates who came to this place looking for treasure?" Usopp asked.
"I've never seen a person stuffed inside a treasure chest before," Luffy said as he looked at him.
"Ok guys, let the man speak, you're berating him with questions!" Raven said as she looked apologetically at the man. "One question at a time."
"Thank you, I've been stranded, alone, on this island, and stuck in this contemptible box for twenty years," The man began.
"That long?" Nami asked. Usopp went and took out a canteen of tea from his bag.
"So you've been all alone on this island for twenty years? Amazing," Usopp said.
"Yeah, just take a look at me. I got a beard like a wild man," He said. "And in all that time, you're the first people that I've had a real conversation with. Can you understand how painful that is?" He asked.
"That's ridiculous," Luffy said.
"What did you say!" The green haired man said in shock.
Footsteps were heard as Zorro found the group. "Oh, oh…here you guys are," he said with a yawn. "I've been looking everywhere for you guys."
"How could you have slept through everything that's just happened?" Nami asked in shock.
Zorro then took the cup of tea from Ussopp and sat on a rock nearby before drinking it. He looked up and saw the mysterious man before falling over in shock. "What the heck is that?"
"Not what, a who," Raven said, a bit peeved.
"Yeah, he's a man that's stuck in a box!" Luffy said.
"How about we help you get out of the box?" Usopp asked.
"Thank you, but since I've been stuck in this box for twenty-years, it has now become part of my body, and my body is a part of it," The man said. "That's enough about me, but what about you?" He asked. "You're not like any of those other pirates who've come around here, that's for sure and you grew wings out of your back." He said as he pointed at Lea.
"Oh, I ate a Devil fruit as well when I was younger. I can change the structure of my body." She explained as she put the panda-bat down. "By the way, what is your name?"
"Oh, my name is Gaimon. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before," he said in embarrassment.
"I'm Luffy. I'm going to be King of the Pirates and this is my crew," He said. "These are my sisters, Raven and Lea. The green haired swordsman is Zorro, Nami is my navigator and Usopp is our sniper." He said as he pointed to each of his crew members.
Gaimon gasps as he hears his dream. "You're what?!" He asked as he completely missed the names of Luffy's crew.
"I"m gonna get the one piece and then i'm gonna be King of the pirates," Luffy said again more confidently.
"The One Piece?! Don't tell me you idiots are actually planning to sail on the Grand Line!"
"Yup! We got a chart right here!" Luffy said as he showed the map.
"Plus, Paradise isn't so bad," Lea pointed out.
"Don't be such a fool. The Grand Line's a graveyard! I once saw a group of pirates who had managed to escape from that horrible place and I'll never forget it. It was an awful sight. They were just the hollow shells of the men they used to be. We'll never know what horrors they witnessed in that ghastly place." Gaimon went on a rant. "Not one among them even tried to speak."
"Hmmm," Luffy said as he leaned forward.
"Now listen to me well young pirates. The rumors of the One Piece spawn more rumors. Who knows what's true. It's been only 20 odd years since the start of the Great Pirate Era, and the One Piece is already a dream within a dream beyond a legend!" He continued. Luffy then grabbed the map to see where the Grand Line is. "So which one of these is the Grand Line?" He asked.
"I dunno, figured you could tell me," Luffy said.
"Sorry, I never learned how to read a sea chart," Gaimon said.
"I never did, either," Luffy responded.
"That's why we have a navigator in the first place, Luffy," Raven said as she pointed to Nami.
"Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?" Nami said. "Anyway, even if we do somehow make it to the Grand Line, the best idea would be to get as much treasure as we can and then escape. "
Luffy turned to look at her, "You go ahead and do that, I'm gonna find the One Piece."
"Where do you get all that confidence of yours?" Nami asked with folded arms.
"I'll get it! You'll see," Luffy said with a grin. Gaimon saw how Luffy was so determined, made him look at him in awe and a bit of respect.
"Whatever you say," Nami said a bit sarcastically.
"You're me," He said.
"Huh?" Luffy and the crew asked in confusion.
"You're exactly like me. You even look like me," Gaimon continued to say. "We could be like twins!"
"Not at all," Raven said flatly.
"No, I think he looks more like Roger when he was younger," Lea piped in. "At least from the descriptions in the stories I've been told."
He just ignored them as he continued, "Young man. I understand about the pursuit of your dreams! When I was a younger man, we used to feel the same way!"
"What do you mean we?" Luffy asked curiously.
"We were willing to put our lives on the line to search for treasure. It was a single-minded zeal that changed the course of my life forever," He continued.
"Wait. Slow down. What are you talking about?" Nami asked.
"It happened twenty years ago..I was a much younger man then. My fellow pirates and I landed on this island with a single purpose. To find the treasure that was said to rest here. Our crew stayed on this island for a month and didn't find anything but an empty treasure chest. We were going to leave when I decided to climb up the central plateau. I knew my captain didn't go up there at all. So I climbed to double check. I got to the top and saw treasure chests, when I went to call for my crew, the side of the plateau broke up and sent me falling into this treasure chest where I was knocked out. When I awoke, I quickly scurried to the edge that overlooked the sea and saw that the ship was leaving without me," The man said as he talked about his past. "And after all this time, the fortune I found but only saw for an instant has never strayed far from my lonely old mind. Pirates have come here countless times to search for my treasure. But fortunately my friends here, help me scare them away. That's how I've kept my treasure safe and sound for the past twenty years. It's my treasure!"
Luffy nodded, "Hm. No question. It's yours all right!"
"You know, I think we can help you out here," Nami said with a smile. "Gaimon, why don't we get the treasure down for you?" She asked as she sat up.
Gaimon gasped, "Wait, Do you mean it?"
Luffy nodded, "Yeah."
"No problem," Lea said with a smile.
"Nami," Usopp said, a bit worried.
Luffy then looked at her, "Aren't you a thief that only steals from pirates?" He asked.
"How rude! I am a thief, but I have a conscience!" Nami said a bit angrily.
Gaimon gasped before having the creatures carry them to where they needed to be. They rode on top of a giant cow-turtle.
"It's here?" Luffy asked as he looked up at the tall plateau.
"Yes, this is the place. It's all up there," Gaimon said. "The time has finally come!" He was excited and eager. "It's a great day! Get to it Straw-hat!"
"Sure thing! Gum-Gum…" Luffy then launched his hand and grabbed the edge of the plateau and launched himself up into the air and above the top.
"I'm right behind you," Lea said as she used her wings to push herself into the air as she made her way up to the top.
They both landed and didn't say anything.
From down below, Gaimon called up to them. "Hey! The chests! You see?!" He asked.
Still there was no response.
"What the hell are they up to?" Zorro asked. Raven frowned as she figured something happened since they didn't say anything.
"Luffy! Lea! Hey you guys!" Zorro and Usop called up to the two.
"What's going on?!" Nami asked.
A couple minutes later, both Luffy and Lea came to the edge. "I found them!" Luffy said. "Six treasure chests!"
"Yes! Good work!" Gaimon said happily and laughed. "Now it's mine! I got my treasure! C'mon toss it down, I wanna see it! Go ahead and toss it down boy! Let's have a look at it!"
Luffy was gritting his teeth as he showed them a box. "No way!"
Gaimon stopped laughing and was in shock, "No way?!"
Luffy gave a strange wide smile, "I don't wanna. Sucks for you!" He replied.
Raven frowns as she stays quiet.
"What kind of crap is that Luffy? Give the man his gold!" Nami told him.
"You ass! That treasure belongs to Gaimon and you know it!" Ussopp said, "Toss it all down now!"
Zorro stayed quiet, wondering why Lea hadn't said anything as Nami continued to yell at him, "Hey, I'm not joking around, give him his treasure!"
Gaimon, who was quiet for a bit, finally spoke up. "It doesn't matter. It's alright,"
Nami turned to look at him and shook her head, "It's not alright."
"Gaimon! You've been guarding that treasure with your heart and soul for the past twenty years!" Usopp said.
"You two…You are great!" Gaimon said as he started to cry.
"What do you mean they're great?" Nami asked in confusion.
"I always had an inkling that…this might be the case," Gaimon continued. "I tried not to think about it. But still…"
Luffy then sat down cross legged at the top of the plateau with Lea beside him.
"They're empty!" Gaimon cried, which resulted in a gasp from Nami.
"Yep. Every last one of 'em," Luffy said.
"How sad. The treasure he guarded for twenty long years was just a bunch of empty boxes," Nami said in disbelief.
"It happens all the time," Gaimon said through tears as he hid his eyes behind his hands. "With treasures that have maps leading to them. You set out on a quest to find it, but someone else got to it first. That's the kind of risk you have to take when you're a treasure hunting pirate. You can waste a whole lifetime searching and never once touch treasure. Plenty of pirates lived like that. Believe me!"
Luffy started to laugh, "Try not to be too upset, old man! It's a good thing we came along after twenty years! Thirty years later, and you might've been dead!"
Gaimon looked up with a smile through his tears. "Oh Straw Hat…"
"Luffy…" Nami said.
"Is he…?" Usopp began to say.
"Since this treasure hunt's a bust, you're gonna need something else to fill your time," Luffy began to say. "Why don't you join up with us and search for the One Piece?" He asked.
"What? Really? You're asking me?" Gaimon was a bit shocked by the offer. "Oh…I know how I must look to you. Other people wouldn't even speak to me, but you were kind! It's been so years since I"ve had a friend!" He began to cry more. "Thank you!"
Gaimon got himself composed after a bit and they were able to reach the shoreline by around sunset. Lea decided to put her wings away since they were no longer needed. They looked at Gaimon before they went onboard the ship. "Are you sure you wanna stay on the island, Gaimon?" Luffy asked.
"Yes, I'm sure. There's something here far more valuable than treasure that I feel like I must protect," Gaimon replied.
Nami looked confused and Usopp talked to himself in his head what was worth more than gold.
"For the past twenty years, these guys have stood by my side through thick and thin. I can't leave 'em," Gaimon said as the group of mixed animals went and licked his cheek in happiness. "Now that I know there's no treasure here, I somehow finally feel free. Without that heavy burden I can concentrate on the things that really matter to me. And besides, after all these years I've grown fond of this little box."
"Too bad! You're a neat guy," Luffy said with a smile.
"The weird creatures here are your true friends," Zorro said with a smirk.
"Yep! And he's the weirdest of them all," Luffy said with a chuckle.
"Excuse me!" Gaimon snapped before they all laughed.
Soon it was time for them to get back on the ship and they left. Waving goodbye to their new pal Gaimon.