It was a good half-hour after they left Syrup Village that Luffy had everyone gather together.
"Okay, so now we need to discuss a few things. First off, Usopp. I'm officially appointing you to Lookout of the crew."
"Huh? Not Captain?" Usopp asked.
"I'm already the captain," Luffy pointed out. "Besides, you've got good eyesight considering your marksmanship skills. For now, you can also handle the gunnery duties until we can find a more dedicated gunner. Second, Ariala, how are we doing with the Jolly Roger?"
"I just finished!"
Ariala had just finished putting the design on a pad and paper before presenting it to everyone else. Needless to say, they were amazed at her design, a classic skull and crossbones, but with the skull wearing a straw hat.
"So we're making our crew official?" Zoro asked.
Ferros nodded. "Seems about right. We already have eight people and a ship."
"I thought it was about time the world started to get to know us," Luffy said. "Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby officially declare the formation of... The Straw Hat Pirates!"
"I love the sound of that. Now we just need to make a bigger version for the flag." Lithos said.
"Leave that to me! My artistic talent is top-notch due to marking graffiti on walls for the last fifty years!" Usopp said.
"...But you're seventeen." Merone pointed out.
Usopp slumped. "Okay, more like ten. But I'm not exaggerating about my art skills!"
Sure enough, he was able to paint a flag-sized version of Ariala's design exactly as he drew it. Luffy then had Usopp create another one for the sail.
"It feels like this crew is getting a little more complete," Zoro noted.
After finishing, Usopp wiped his brow, exhausted from the hard work. As such, Merone and Lithos handed everyone drinks that had been packed for the trip. As they were unwinding, Nami suddenly noticed dark clouds in the distance.
"Is that a storm?" Ariala asked.
"Not with the current weather conditions," Nami said as she checked out the clouds with a pair of binoculars. "Yes, I'm sure of it. That must the be legendary Treasure Island."
"I've heard of that island. Pirates of all kinds have told strange stories about it. They say whoever gets near the island would incur a god's wrath." Usopp said.
Luffy grinned. "Shishishishi! Well, who cares what some god thinks? We're checking out that island!"
"I was hoping you'd say that!" Nami said with Berri signs already in her eyes. "Setting course for Treasure Island!"
The island certainly had its fair share of oddities, such as carnivorous plants that hissed at the group as they went past but did little else.
"Man, this is freaky," Usopp said.
"Tell me about it!" Ariala said, yelping when she saw one such plant devour a hapless butterfly.
"Don't worry about the plants around here. They're too small to eat anything human-sized." Zoro said. "So why did we stop at this island in the first place?"
"Supposedly an extraordinary treasure rests on the island. Pirates have landed here in the past, only to be scared off before they could even look for it." Nami explained.
"We've heard the stories too, and some of them put Usopp's tales to shame!" Ferros said.
Merone nodded. "At least he tells only fun stories that get people to laugh."
Some animals approached, which looked like odd hybrids that normally wouldn't exist in nature.
"Well, this is strange..." Lithos said, crouching down to inspect one of the animals, who looked at him cautiously.
"LEAVE THIS PLACE!"
Nami yelped as she leaped into Luffy's arms before realizing what she just did and looked away with a small blush, the Straw Hat Boy looking innocently confused. Zoro, on the other hand, put his hand on the hilt of his swords while Usopp panicked and readied his slingshot.
"Who is that?" Merone wondered.
"I AM THIS ISLAND'S PROTECTIVE GOD! LEAVE AT ONCE IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIVES!"
"Why would we leave?" Luffy asked.
"...Aren't you guys pirates?"
"Yeah, we are!"
"Right, just as I thought..."
"Okay, this voice isn't acting like a god would," Nami noted as Luffy put her down.
"Not to mention it sounds like it's coming from a specific direction, using an echo to make it seem like it's coming from everywhere," Usopp added as he carefully lowered his slingshot.
There was an awkward pause for a moment before the voice spoke up again.
"Look, just try and step into this forest! The instant you do, you will receive my divine punishment and meet your doom!"
"Wow...If I had a Berri for every time I got doomed by a disembodied voice, I'd have two Berris." Ferros said. "Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."
"This guy seems kinda weird," Luffy noted.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING WEIRD, STRAW HAT?!" The voice snapped as more of the animals came out of the bushes. "BEHOLD THE HUMANS I TRANSFORMED WHEN THEY CAME TO LOOK FOR TREASURE!"
Luffy picked up a half-pig, half-lion creature, which promptly tried to bite his face, but his rubber body just stretched out from the effort.
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU?!" The voice asked in shock.
"I'm a rubber man! I ate a Devil Fruit, you see!" Luffy grinned.
"DON'T BE ABSURD! I HEARD RUMORS ABOUT THEM FROM MY OWN TIME AS A PIRATE, BUT-"
"Back up, I thought you were supposed to be a god. But you're saying you used to be a pirate?" Nami questioned.
There was a sudden cry of panic.
"NO! WHAT I MEANT TO SAY WAS...I MEAN, I'M NOT REMINISICING ABOUT OLD TIMES! JUST LEAVE AT ONCE!"
Several traps went off firing wooden spears. Lithos quickly got in front of everyone and punched his fists into the ground.
"ROCK WALL!"
A jagged wall of rock and stone was created to block the spears, only for several rocks to start falling near Ariala.
"WIND BARRIER!"
Throwing her hands up, Ariala created a dome of green wind that levitated the rocks before casting them off to the side harmlessly. Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw a pistol poking through the brush.
"Nobody move!"
The pistol fired at Ferros, who simply turned his body into solid steel to easily reflect the shot.
"Okay, now I know we're not dealing with a god. No god would use firearms for divine punishment." Nami said.
A green bush seemed to move from the spot where the pistol fell. Merone quickly dashed in and tackled the bush, revealing it to be on top of a chest.
"I think I've caught our so-called god."
The chest suddenly sprouted feet and ran off, only to run right into a tree.
"I could have spent this whole time napping!" Zoro grunted in annoyance. "It looks like there wasn't any danger here after all."
The storm clouds started to part, with the sun revealing the chest to have a man with a big green afro stuck inside it.
"Could someone please help me stand up?"
"It's a human? How the heck did you get stuck in a chest?" Nami asked.
Lithos and Usopp helped the man stand up as several of the animals came over to check on him.
"So let me guess; These are just native animals of the island you used to scare off anyone who came here."
"But that doesn't explain why you're stuck in a box. How long have you been like this?" Lithos asked.
"Twenty years now, and let me tell you, it hasn't been comfortable. Honestly, it's the first time I've talked to anyone normally since I first came here."
"Let me see what I can do to help." Merone said as she came over.
She slipped her liquified arms into the treasure chest as the man winced at how cold it was. Merone seemed to struggle for a few minutes before giving up and pulling her arms back.
"No good, he's really stuck in there. I can't even break the chest."
"Unfortunately this chest practically glued itself to my body after twenty years with no exercise," The man explained. "So who are you guys, anyway? You don't seem like the usual pirates who come here."
"We're the Straw Hat Pirates, and we're actually kinda new," Luffy said. "My name's Monkey D. Luffy and I aim to be King of the Pirates! We're sailing for the Grand Line to find the One Piece!"
"Are you serious?" The man asked incredulously. "That place is practically Hell!"
"I wouldn't go that far. Me, Lithos, Ferros, and Merone here used to live out in the Grand Line with our father." Ariala said. "Though I will admit it's not for the faint of heart."
"You aren't kidding, I've seen pirates who came back from the Grand Line. They looked like people who died and lost their souls. I don't know what they ran into out there, but it left them unable to speak out of sheer terror." The man said. "Heck, I was there when the Great Pirate Era began. Everyone was excited at the prospect of finding Gold Roger's legendary treasure. But these days most people think the One Piece is just a dream beyond a legend."
"Well, our father's seen the One Piece with his own eyes. He was Roger's rival in those days, and both of them reached the island where the One Piece is said to rest." Ferros said.
The man looked at Luffy and the Children of Whitebeard, their faces full of confidence. He couldn't help but smile at that.
"You kids remind me of myself when I was your age. Ah, I never introduced myself, did I? My name's Gaimon." He introduced. "Twenty years ago I was part of a pirate crew. We landed on this island looking for the treasure that was said to rest here. We had two hundred men to search the entire island, yet after a whole month, we came up empty-handed. All we found was one empty chest. Most of the crew left, but I noted that no one had checked the mountain at the top of the island. I made my way up and managed to find several treasure chests."
He sighed as he recalled those memories.
"But when I tried to get the crew's attention, I slipped off the mountain and fell into the empty chest. By the time I came to, my crew had already sailed off. For a while, I thought it good fortune, that the treasure could be all mine. But then I realized I was no longer able to climb the mountain. I've been stuck here ever since, selfishly trying to scare other pirates off the island."
"So you have the treasure but can't reach it. In that case, we'll help you get it." Luffy said.
The others agreed, which surprised Gaimon. Seeing the sincerity in their expressions, he proceeded to show them where the mountain was.
"It's been some time since I've actually been here."
"Alright, let's go check out that peak!" Ariala said.
"GUM-GUM ROCKET!" Luffy shouted, slingshotting himself up the mountain.
"MOUNTAIN LEAP!" Lithos shouted, summoning a rock pillar underneath him that pushed him up the mountain.
"GEYSER LAUNCH!" Merone shouted, her legs turning into jets of highly pressurized water.
"TORNADO RIDE!" Ariala shouted, turning her bottom half into a tornado to fly up.
"CHAIN ROPE!" Ferros shouted, turning his arm into a liquid metal chain to pull himself up the mountain.
As soon as they reached the peak, Luffy checked out the six chests that were stashed there.
"All empty. Did someone else already take it?"
Lithos then noticed something in a nearby crack. Walking over, he turned his arm into a giant stone fist and punched open the mountain, revealing a large treasure horde.
"More like the chests were just a distraction."
"Whoooo! Jackpot!" Ferros cheered.
The five filled up one of the chests before leaping back down.
"We found it alright, but it was hidden INSIDE the mountain," Ariala told Gaimon. "The chests were all empty and placed out in the open as a distraction."
"I see, but seeing the treasure now... I realize something. Wanting the treasure is better than having it. Plus, I've made such good friends with the animals here that I don't want to leave. And what good is having a treasure if you don't spend it." Gaimon smiled. "So I'm giving it to you kids. You'll probably get more out of it than I ever will."
Nami's face lit up as she hugged Gaimon.
"Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you!"
"Hey, don't get all mushy with me, missy!"
Luffy, Lithos, Merone, Ferros, and Ariala all couldn't help but laugh at the scene. Zoro and Usopp smiled for a bit before laughing as well.
The treasure had been stored on the Going Merry. Lithos noted there was at least 50,000,000 Berris worth from what they found, and he was certain they had the entire horde.
"Well, it's all loaded up."
"Thanks again, Gaimon! While it's nothing compared to the real treasure I'm after, it's sure to help us going forward." Luffy said.
Gaimon nodded and smiled. "Good luck on your search for the One Piece, Luffy. I feel like if anyone could find it, you could."
The crew waved goodbye as the Going Merry sailed off, from what would eventually be renamed by future visitors the Island of Rare Animals.
Next chapter, I'll be doing an original arc that will include some crossover characters being welcomed to the Straw Hats. In a sense, it'll also be my own version of the very first One Piece movie.