Shells Town (Day)

"So, this is where he is." a blonde teenager said as he walked through the market. He had messy hair and vibrant green eyes. He was wearing a zipped-up red hoodie and blue pants, as well as leather shoes. "Now all I need to do is find the guy."

"Pardon, but you were looking for someone." a woman with short brown hair asked the boy.

"Yeah. Maybe you've seen him around." the boy said. "Short green hair, kind of a grouch, carries three swords around."

For some reason, that description prompted the woman, as well as everyone else in earshot, to jump back in fright. "Y-you shouldn't be looking for men like him." the woman said, shaking. "He's been taken as a prisoner by the Marines. Rumor has it that he was strung up in the yard for a week now, and he hasn't been given any food or water. I can only imagine what kind of monster he is."

"So, he's at the Marine base?" the boy asked, looking up at the imposing structure. "Thanks for the info!" With that, he ran headlong in the direction of the base, completely oblivious to the fact that everyone watching feared the Marine captain more than the infamous Pirate Hunter.


Marine Base (Day)

To say Zoro was having a bad day would be an understatement. To say he was having a bad week would be more accurate, but it would still be an understatement. Right now, his bindings were being untied by a short boy with pink hair. He arrived with the boy in the straw hat, who had entered the building to retrieve his swords.

The sound of footsteps alerted him and the pink-haired boy to a new arrival, a boy who walked at a comfortable pace until he was five feet from Zoro. He then promptly sat down in the dirt, unbothered by the fact that he was trespassing.

"Hello there, Mr. Big Shot." the blonde said with a grin. "Looks like you've gotten yourself in quite the pickle."

"Did you need something?" the swordsman asked, annoyed. When was that kid in the straw hat going to get his swords already?

"A mutual friend asked me to try and find you. Said you had a habit of getting lost." the boy explained.

'A mutual friend?' Zoro thought to himself. His social circle wasn't that large, and the number of women he was friendly with was even smaller. Who the hell was the kid talking about?

"It's bad enough Luffy convinced me to come here, but now there's another crazy guy here!" the pink-haired boy exclaimed as he continued undoing Zoro's ropes. "What has my life become!?"

"Yarara!" the blonde chuckled, amused by the boy's dilemma. "Anyways, I thought you were a swordsman. Where's your sword?"

"They were taken by the captain's stupid son." Zoro explained. "But someone's getting them back for me."

"A friend of yours?" the blonde asked, raising an eyebrow.

Zoro paused for a moment. "I don't know." he answered.

Suddenly, everyone became aware of the sound of glass breaking above them. A boy in a straw hat fell into the yard, holding three swords in black sheaths. "Here!" he said cheerfully, holding the weapons out for Zoro. "I didn't know which one was yours, so I got all three."

"I use all three." Zoro said. "I use the Three-Sword-Style."

"End of the line!" a masculine voice said. Its owner was a bulky man with a metal jaw and an axe attached to the end of his arm. This was Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan. "For the crime of treachery against me, you are all sentenced to death!" Surrounding the captain were several uniformed officers wielding either guns or swords.

"Hmm, now this is interesting." the blonde boy said, still sitting on the ground.

"What's interesting is the stuff you all pulled today!" Morgan shouted. He didn't know why, but he felt like he'd seen the blonde before. "How long have you been planning this coup against me?"

"Don't look at me. I just got here." the boy said, yawning.

"I've always fought alone. I'm not some coward who hides behind his cronies." Zoro said, glaring at the Marines.

"Don't underestimate me, Roronoa Zoro." Morgan said, angered. "You might be strong, but you're nothing against my authority!" The Marines all took aim, ready to fire.

Several gunshots sounded, sending dozens of bullets at the group. To everyone's surprise, the boy in the straw hat jumped in front of the barrage, and the bullets stretched his skin back before being bounced away.

"What the hell are you?" Zoro asked, horrified by what he'd seen.

"A Devil Fruit eater, right?" the blonde asked with a grin.

"Yep, I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, so I'm a rubber man!" the straw-hat boy proudly exclaimed, stretching his cheek before it snapped back into place.

"A Devil Fruit?" Zoro asked.

"Mystical fruits that appear randomly in the world." the blonde explained. "Eating one grants incredible strength, but the price is your ability to swim. Very little is known about them, but the secret to Devil Fruits is sure to be found in the Grand Line."

"You're talking like you know a lot about them." the pink-haired boy said.

"Yarara. You could say that." the blonde said, chuckling to himself.

"Devil Fruit or not, nobody defies me!" Morgan shouted, furious. "If guns won't work, chop them into pieces!"

"Go faster, go faster!" Zoro shouted at the pink-haired boy, who was frantically trying to undo the knots.

"Guess there goes my break." the blonde said, finally standing up. Raising his arm, he snapped his fingers. In a flash, the ropes Zoro was bound in were reduced to shreds. "You're welcome. Wanna help with this?"

'How did he-?' the swordsman asked himself, grateful that he could finally move after so long. He didn't have much of a chance to think, however, as a horde of sword-wielding Marines were upon him. He quickly grabbed his swords from the straw-hat boy and perfectly blocked every enemy's blade at once.

"Ooh, impressive!" the blonde said, having never seen someone use three swords before.

"Listen, I'll join your pirate crew." Zoro said to the straw-hat boy. "Now that I've fought Marines, I'm officially a criminal. My dream is to become the world's greatest swordsman, and at this point, I don't care if I reach that dream as a pirate. Got it!?"

"Got it!" the straw-hat boy said, excited. "The King of the Pirates would want no less for his crew! Gum-Gum..." The boy stretched out his leg. "Whip!" With a single motion, all of the Marines Zoro was defending against were swept away by an elongated leg.

"Sir, we can't beat them!" one of the Marines cried out. Several others shouted the same thing, knowing this was a fight they couldn't win.

"All of you are useless!" Morgan shouted in outrage. "All of you who spouted weakness just now, shoot yourselves in the head!"

"Oh no, you don't!" the blonde yelled, running full tilt towards the Marine captain. He threw a punch, only for it to meet the man's axe-hand instead of his actual body. However, the strike left a noticeable fracture. "Yararara! And you call yourself a captain with such weak defenses!"

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" the straw-hat boy yelled, stretching his arm to throw a punch to Morgan's stomach.

"Agh, you rankless bums have no right to challenge me! I am Marine Captain "Axe-Hand" Morgan!" Morgan proclaimed, throwing away his coat.

"And I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who'll become King of the Pirates!" the now named Luffy shouted, throwing his fists into the air.

Luffy and Morgan began a fierce battle, with the Marine swinging his signature axe with the strength of a cannon. When it missed its target and struck the ground, the terrain split open. Morgan may have had more experience and a weapon that bypassed Luffy's rubbery defense, the boy in the straw hat simply weaved out of every attack that was thrown at him.

"Hold on, Straw Hat!" a new voice yelled. There was a blonde man in a purple suit holding a gun up to the pink-haired boy's head. "If you try anything, I'll blow his brains out!"

"Oh, spare me." the younger blonde said, unamused. The man, frightened, turned around to see the boy standing behind him. With a swift chop to the back of the neck, the man fell unconscious instantly.

"Now, Gum-Gum..." Luffy pulled his arm back once again, causing it to stretch over much of the yard. "Pistol!" It snapped back into place, striking Morgan and knocking him out.

"Now, does anyone else want to fight?" Zoro asked the remaining Marines.

"We're free!" the officers all exclaimed, dropping their weapons.

"Hmm, looks like Morgan wasn't popular even among his own soldiers." the blonde teenager said.

"Now that that's over, you mind telling us who the hell you are?" Zoro asked the boy.

"Oh, where are my manners?" the blonde asked rhetorically. "The name's Russo, and I'm a pirate looking for his crew!"


Ririka's Bar (Day)

"So, you're looking for the One Piece?" Russo asked Luffy. "Quite ambitious for someone so young."

"The King of the Pirates is the freest in the world!" Luffy explained. "Once the One Piece is mine, I'll be freer than anyone alive!"

"Luffy, you said you were gathering a crew, right?" Zoro asked, drinking a bottle of booze. "How many men do you have?"

"You're the first one!" Luffy said, causing both Zoro and Russo to stare blankly at the straw-hat boy. "You said you were looking for a crew too, right? Why don't you join mine?"

"Sorry, but I've got people waiting on me." Russo said. He then turned to the swordsman. "By the way, our mutual friend should be at Orange Town by now. If we leave now, we can get there before noon."

"Do either of you have a boat?" Zoro asked.

"Mine's over there." Luffy said, pointing to a small vessel that barely qualified as a dinghy.

"Well, mine sank about an hour ago, so we'll have to go with that one." Russo said, apologetic.

'I'm starting to regret my decision.' Zoro said to himself, wondering what he agreed to. And who was this 'mutual friend' exactly?