A sailing vessel was passing by a whirlpool when two of the sailors onboard heard a large barrel bump into the side of the ship. Inside the ship, a large party was being hosted.
"Yes, there's no need for concern. A whirlpool that small is no threat to this ship. I've made sure we steer clear of it." The Captain assured the guests.
On the upper deck, a man approached a young lady standing by the window.
"Pardon me, young lady. Would you do me the honor of this dance?"
The lady turned out to be Nami, who decided to accept the invitation. Back outside, the sailors started to haul in the barrel. But the bigger of the two couldn't seem to properly hook the grapple.
"Wow, you really suck."
"Bite me, Nishijima!"
The duo finally started hauling in the barrel and were shocked at just how heavy it was.
"Man, this is heavy! Like it's got five people in it or something!"
"Maybe it's got booze in it!"
"What kind of booze would weigh this much?"
"Pirate ship off the starboard!" The Lookout suddenly called out.
Sure enough, a pink vessel with a swan figurehead and hearts printed on the sails was coming into view. The Jolly Roger was a classic skull and crossbones, with the skull facing the left of the flag and a heart printed on it.
"We're being raided!"
"Sound the alarm!"
The pirate ship's cannons immediately fired, impacting around the vessel and threatening to capsize it.
"We need to evacuate immediately! Everyone get to the lifeboats in a calm and orderly fashion!" The Captain declared.
Most of the guests ran out immediately. But Nami stayed behind, a small grin on her face as she snuck away.
On board the pirate vessel, the female captain, a rather fat and grotesque woman, watched as her crew continued to fire.
"Koby."
"Y-Yes, ma'am?" Asked a young boy with pink hair and glasses.
"Who's the most beautiful of all on these seas?"
"C-Captain Alvida, of course!"
Alvida cackled. "Well done! As for the rest of you, excellent work bringing that ship to heel! This is our first good prey in a while."
As Avlida's ship, the Miss Love Duck, continued to fire on the sailing ship, Nami was running out onto the deck.
"Looks like they're just about to pull up."
She got out of sight as the Alvida Pirates started boarding.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Alvida called out to Koby, realizing he was hesitating.
"I-I'm not really good at this sort of thing!"
"I don't want to hear any backtalking! When I tell you to do something..." Alvida kicked Koby right onto the other ship, causing him to hit the cabin headfirst. "You go do it!"
Koby groaned as he managed to recover, but then ducked as Alvida smashed her way into the cabin. Down in the main hall, the pirates had already started gathering up all the partygoers.
"No need to panic, people. We're not here for your lives, just your valuables." One of the pirates assured. "Give up everything you have short of the clothes on your backs, and you'll be allowed to leave without incident."
"And just so you know, anyone who tries to fight back will be sent to the bottom of the ocean." Alvida said as she strutted in. "So no funny business!"
Nami was up above the scene and grinned as she quickly changed into her normal clothes. She stealthily boarded the Miss Love Duck but as she tried to enter the cabin, one of the pirates still on the ship came out.
"I've never seen you before! Who are you, and what are you doing on this ship?!"
Nami gave a dismissive laugh, before kicking the guy right in the crotch. The pirate's eyes bugged out of their sockets as he went down like a sack of potatoes.
"MY ONLY WEAKNESS! MY BALLS! HOW DID YOU KNOW?!"
Nami left the guy to writhe on the ground as she continued to her goal.
"I should have realized they'd leave a couple of guards behind. Oh well, what's a hunt without the thrill?"
Meanwhile, Koby had entered the ship's galley, looking around before sighing in relief.
"Good, no one's in here."
He noticed the large barrel and began rolling the barrel out of the galley, only to run into three of the pirates.
"There you are, little coward. You trying to hide out again?" The largest of the trio asked.
"N-No, of course not!" Koby pleaded. "I just found this large barrel of alcohol and thought I'd haul it over!"
"That does look like a big barre. How about we lighten it for ya?" The shortest pirate smirked.
"Are you crazy?! Captain Alvida will kill us if she finds out!"
"So just keep your mouth shut."
"It's pretty heavy. I bet there's some top-quality booze inside!" The largest pirate said as he checked the barrel. "Stand back while I bust it open!"
But just as he was about to smash the lid, it burst open with a surge of wind, and Luffy gasped as he popped out, his fist knocking out the large pirate. The other pirates and Koby were shocked at this, even more so when the wind solidified into a human form, that being Ariala.
"Man, that was cramped!"
Luffy tumbled out of the barrel, followed by a bunch of rocks that soon formed back into a human shape, shattering to reveal Lithos. Water and liquid metal pooled out next to reveal Merone and Ferros as well.
"What a great nap!" Luffy said before noticing the pirate he knocked out. "So who are these guys?"
"THAT'S OUR LINE!" The two still-conscious pirates called out.
"Looks like you clocked this guy out good," Ferros noted as he poked the large pirate with his foot.
The quintet then noticed the two pirates pointing their blades at them.
"You punks shouldn't be toying around with pirates!"
Merone smirked, then easily knocked the swords out of the pirates' hands by kicking so hard the very air seemed to become a blade.
"Looks like we're in the ship's galley," Lithos noted as he looked around. "Let's get something to eat then check topside."
Luffy grinned. "Sounds good! I'm starving!"
"You're always starving!" Ariala snarked.
Koby stared at the five in awe. He had never seen anyone so strong yet so nonchalant.
"J-Just who are you guys?"
"My name's Monkey D. Luffy!" Luffy introduced. "These are my brothers and sisters; Lithos, Merone, Ferros, and Ariala."
The two pirates quickly ran out of the galley, dragging their downed buddy with them.
"Guess they got scared off. I don't think I even used that aura Gramps mentioned."
"You're not yet experienced enough for it. Took you years to master Rokushiki." Lithos pointed out.
Ferros shrugged. "Not that it's saying much for us either."
"W-We have to run for it! Once their friends come back, they'll kill you!" Koby panicked.
"Not very attentive, are you?" Merone asked.
"Don't worry, grunts like these are way below our weight class. We've fought and beaten whole crews before." Ferros smirked.
"Plus, you saw how we turned into water, rock, wind, and metal, right?" Ariala pointed out. "No way any blade or gun is killing us."
Lithos nodded. "Maybe step out of the small ship you serve and you'll understand how big the world truly is."
"Hey, it's fully stocked in here! Look at all this food!" Luffy said as he checked inside.
The four siblings headed inside, Koby awkwardly following after them. Luffy had already started stuffing his face as Lithos broke open some of the crates.
"So, what's your name?" Merone asked.
"I-It's Koby..."
"Nice to meetcha, Koby!" Ariala smiled.
"I have a question...Just what was that earlier? That thing you did with your kick." Koby asked Merone.
"It's Rankyaku, part of the secret martial art known as Rokushiki." The Water User explained. "My siblings and I have learned all six facets."
"Rankyaku is pretty sweet. You swing your leg hard enough to create a vacuum blade." Ferros grinned.
"Which is kinda silly since I can do that naturally with any part of my body." Ariala huffed with her hands on her hips.
"So those guys earlier were pirates, huh? This a pirate ship?" Luffy asked.
"No, it's a passenger ship. Currently being raided by Captain Alvida." Koby explained.
"Iron Mace Alvida? I've seen her on the wanted posters." Lithos noted. "Only worth 5,000,000 Berris, rather small fry when compared to other big names in the sea."
"Well, she's obviously a problem to the folks on this passenger ship." Ariala pointed out. "We should probably handle her before we leave."
"Oh yeah, let's try leaving with the boat we no longer have." Ferros rolled his eyes. "God, I hated that barrel! It was cramped even with all of us turning into our elemental forms to fit inside with Luffy."
"So what about you, Koby? Are you a pirate too?" Luffy asked.
"Actually, I was roped into this by accident," Koby explained sadly. "See, one day I got in a boat on the outskirts of my hometown to go fishing. Unfortunately, the boat I got on was headed for a pirate ship. So for the last two years, I've been stuck as Alvida's Cabin Boy."
"Wow, talk about bad luck. Why not just run away? Take one of the longboats and row for it." Luffy asked.
Koby freaked out. "Every time I considered it, the thought of Alvida finding me made me too scared to try!"
Luffy grinned. "So you're a wimp, huh? I hate guys like you."
"Could you be any less blunt, Luffy?" Merone sighed in annoyance. "Not everyone has thick skin like you."
Koby gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah, I guess I'm just a coward. I don't even have the courage to drift along the ocean in a barrel."
"We didn't so much drift as get tossed by the currents," Ariala clarified.
"Well, regardless, if I had that kind of courage, I could live out my dream," Koby said. "So what compelled you to set out to sea?"
Luffy grinned. "I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates!"
The sheer absurdity of such a claim caused Koby's jaw to comically drop while Luffy's siblings were all pretty non-plussed.
"Yeah, shocking right?" Ferros chuckled. "We're actually pirates ourselves. In fact, Lithos, Ariala, Merone, and I's father is one of the Yonko."
"We all share the same dream; to find the One Piece!" Luffy declared.
Koby was shocked. "So...where's your crew?"
"Right now it's just the five of us," Merone explained. "Luffy is the appointed Captain, Lithos is the Quartermaster, I'm the First Mate, Ferros is the Second Mate, and Ariala is the Third Mate."
"We're looking for more crew members to join us as we sail for the Grand Line!" Luffy said.
"But, no one even knows if the One Piece is real," Koby pointed out.
"Oh, it's real alright! Daddy saw it with his own eyes!" Ariala said proudly.
Coby started freaking out harder than ever, repeatedly calling out "no way", until Luffy gave him a quick bonk on the head.
"What was that for...?"
"You looked like you needed it."
Koby sadly laughed. "Well, I'm used to it..."
"That's not something you should have to get used to...Unless you're training in the school of hard knocks." Lithos said.
Luffy nodded. "We trained for this for years. And we did because we wanted to."
"The four of us want to vindicate our father," Merone said. "And we also share the same desire as Luffy to live as free as the open sky. And the one with the most freedom is the King of the Pirates and his crew."
"It doesn't matter if we die fighting, because that just means we were able to live free!" Luffy proudly finished.
Koby couldn't help but stare at the five in admiration, feeling hope spring inside him for the first time in a long while.
"Okay, first order of business, we find Alvida and give her a beating. And then we find a boat we can use." Luffy said.
"Hope we can thrash her crew while we're at it!" Ferros grinned.
"Please, there's not that many to begin with. Maybe two or three dozen men at most." Merone scoffed.
Koby began pondering for a moment before speaking up.
"Hey, do you think if I train, I can achieve my dream?"
"That depends; what is your dream?" Lithos asked.
"Well, I want to join the Marines," Koby said as he stood up. "To right wrongs and catch the bad guys! It's been my dream for years! Do you think I could ever achieve that dream?"
"That's up to you. Don't ask others if you can have your dream or not. Just say you'll do it, then find a way to do it." Luffy said.
Koby nodded. "Then I'll do it! I'll find a way to join the Marines, no matter what it takes!"
Suddenly the roof of the hold broke open, prompting Luffy to pull Koby out of the way as the planks came crashing down. It turned out Alvida had smashed her way down.
"I hear a couple of strangers have been beating up my crew."
"Well if it isn't Iron Mace Alvida herself. Looking even uglier than the wanted posters." Ferros smirked. "They really don't do the real thing justice."
"You shut your mouth!" Alvida snapped. "I am the most beautiful woman in the whole ocean!"
"Lady, have you looked in the mirror once in your life?!" Ariala asked. "You couldn't even crack the top fifty beauties on the ocean!"
Alvida blinked. "The heck's a mirror?"
This caused everyone to fall over themselves in shock and disbelief, Koby now feeling a lot less scared of Alvida than he used to be.
"I'm starting to wonder why I was ever scared of her."
After picking himself up, Ferros turned himself into silver, using the reflective metal to show Alvida what she looked like.
"Is that really what I look like?" She asked, stunned before shaking her head. "Bah! Appearances don't matter! What matters is you knocking around my crew!"
"Well, at least you're not ashamed of your looks..." Merone dryly noted.
Alvida huffed. "Though neither of you appears to be Zoro the Pirate Hunter. Regardless, anyone who messes with my crew... Messes with me!"
She swung her iron mace to hit the five but was shocked when all that happened was that Lithos, Ferros, Merone, and Ariala's bodies whiffed into rock, liquid metal, water, and air without incident, while Luffy outright repelled the mace with his body.
"Shishishishi!" Luffy laughed.
"Daradaradaradara!" Merone laughed.
"Geogeogeogeo!" Lithos laughed.
"Kanananana!" Ferros laughed.
"Syoyoyoyo!" Ariala laughed.
Luffy then picked up Koby as the five leaped up and landed on the deck of the ship, shocking all the pirates present. Before anyone could react, the five proceeded to beat the crap out of all of them.
"You gotta be kidding! These guys are monsters!" One of the pirates cried.
Luffy then took a running start, grabbing the mast and letting his arms stretch as far as he could. The pirates quickly realized what he was doing and tried to run, only to get stopped by Lithos.
"STONE BARRIER!"
Placing his hands on the ground, he erected a wall of pure stone to block their escape, allowing Luffy to let his body fly right into the pirates, slamming them through the barrier.
"GUM-GUM ROCKET!"
Ferros smirked as his arms turned into liquid metal that stretched out before shaping it into shackles and cages that kept the pirates held in place, retracting his arms back after he had finished doing so.
Alvida climbed out of the hold just in time to see this, her jaw dropping right to her ankles in shock. Koby was equally shocked as he saw just how effortlessly his new friends had taken down the pirates.
"Just what are you guys?! How did you do all that!?"
"Simply put, we all ate Devil Fruits!" Luffy grinned as he pulled on his cheek like a rubber band. "I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit!"
"I ate the Earth-Earth Fruit," Lithos said, forming a layer of rock over his arm that he quickly shattered with the clench of his fist.
"I ate the Metal-Metal Fruit." Ferros grinned, shifting between liquid mercury metal, solid gold, bronze, and more.
"I ate the Water-Water Fruit," Merone said, her fingers turning to liquid and dripping water on the floor.
"And I ate the Gust-Gust Fruit!" Ariala finished, turning her hands into spirals of wind.
Alvida was shocked. "You two... Actually ate Devil Fruits? I'd heard rumors, but to think they actually exist."
"Just shows how much of a small fry you are. Where we're from, Devil Fruits are well-known." Ferros smirked. "We have whole books written about them, hell some people actually experiment with them."
"But from what I saw, your power doesn't come from Devil Fruits alone. You're way too skilled for that." Alvida noted. "You some kinda bounty hunting crew?"
"Actually, we're pirates!" Luffy clarified.
Alvida laughed. "Five pirates all by yourselves?!"
"Hey, cut us some slack! We only just started!" Ariala snapped. "Right now we're looking for crew members."
Lithos nodded. "Right now, ten or twenty crew members before we hit the Grand Line should be good."
"And we can likely find more once we get there," Merone added.
As the others were talking, Luffy noticed Nami fleeing the Miss Love Duck out of the corner of his eyes but didn't say anything.
"So you're all pirates too, huh? I guess that makes us enemies." Alvida said.
Koby just noticed that the five were staring at Alvida without fear, heck Luffy and Ferros were actually grinning. Emboldened, he decided to go for broke.
"Hey, Alvida! You've always been the ugliest, cragged old hag I've ever seen!"
That got every member of Alvida's crew's jaws dropping in shock. Alvida herself could barely keep from dropping her iron mace. Luffy and his friends, however, just laughed.
"That's right!" Koby continued. "And you know what else?! I'm going to join the Marines, and beat up evil pirates like you!"
Alvida felt a vein pop on her forehead as she furiously picked up her mace, intending to squash Koby flat.
"YOU DAMN PIPSQUEAK!"
She brought down her mace, but Luffy stepped in the way, using his rubber head to easily tank the blow as he grinned before stretching his arm back.
"I am rubber and you are fat! Don't you dare touch my hat!" He declared. "GUM-GUM PISTOL!"
His fist came flying back in, slamming into Alvida's giant gut and sending her flying back and right into the ocean. Ferros grinned as he turned to the rest of the crew.
"Anyone else wanna try us?"
There was an immediate clattering as all the pirates dropped their weapons at once and raised their hands in surrender.
Luffy nodded in satisfaction. "Alright. Koby here is gonna join the Marines, and you guys are gonna let him. That understood?"
"YES, SIR!"
"Looks like you'll be getting your dream, Coby." Merone smiled before hearing a whistling sound and frowning. "Unfortunately, not if you're caught associating with us already."
Sure enough, the two boats were once again rocked by cannon fire, this time by a Marine vessel.
"We better jump ship, guys!" Ariala suggested urgently before noticing a longboat being prepped below. "And looks like Lady Luck is smiling on us!"
Luffy picked up Koby as the five jumped down right onto the boat, which Nami just so happened to be on.
"You guys again?! I thought I ditched you back on the other island!"
"Coincidence?" Luffy guessed with a silly grin.
"Less reminiscing and more escaping," Merone said sternly. "We need to get out of here now."
"Hope you got room for a little more!" Ferros said, having brought along a few bags of food as well.
With no other option, Nami steered the longboat away from the two ships, the Marines being none the wiser as they moved to apprehend Alvida's Crew and make sure the civilians were unharmed.
And so begins the official start of Canon! Next is Romance Dawn!