Life on a marine vessel was tough, but gratifyingly so. During his time spent toiling away on Bluejam's pirate ship, Koby had been forced to perform all manner of gruelling chores and if he ever 'slacked off' he would find himself on the receiving end of Alvida's ire.

Serving under Vice Admiral Garp was just as tiring, if not more-so, but the man was fair and reasonable. Whenever Koby truly reached his limit Garp would wave him off and tell him to rest up. While Koby had lived with the pirates, the soreness in his body at the end of each day had made things feel even more hopeless for him. With the marines, that same burning ache in his muscles when the sun went down satisfied him — another day of honest work.

Maybe it was silly to think so, but he already felt like he was getting stronger. They had only been away at sea for a month, so that wasn't necessarily true in any meaningful way. His newfound vigour was likely just a side effect of being well fed and getting full nights of sleep. At any rate, his spirits were high.

He wished he could say the same for Luffy.

Koby hadn't known the other boy for very long, but he already had a decent grasp of what he was like in a broad sense. Luffy wasn't exactly a complicated person, which was refreshing. Not that he thought Luffy was bland or anything—far from it. He was…Easy. He spoke frankly, with nothing withheld, and he wore his heart on his sleeve. An open book if ever there was one.

Despite Luffy being impossibly energetic and as talkative as ever, even Koby could plainly see that he was struggling to come to terms with what had happened back on that island.

Koby wished he could relate somehow, so that he might be able to find the right words to help Luffy push through his grief. But Koby had never lost anyone close to him—had never even had anyone close to him, if he was being brutally honest with himself. Before Alvida and Bluejam kidnapped him he had spent most of his free time in his village's library, reading adventure novels. None of the other children had liked him, so the only person he had held any attachment to was his aunt and, well…

He wasn't in any hurry to see her again. Hopefully he'd never have to.

The sky flashed overhead and Koby counted twelve seconds under his breath before the following thunder boomed and echoed along the ocean's waves. Four kilometres away. He willed himself not to flinch at the sound of the lightning, not while he was out on the deck in full view of his new navy peers.

Garp had made Koby and Luffy unofficial chore boys on their way to Marineford. They were still too young to hold any marine rank legitimately, being six and seven years old respectively, but the vice admiral had told them that 'they needed some training up,' and that 'If you're sailing on my ship then I'm putting you to work!'

Koby had rushed to obey the man's orders, snapping to attention and saluting so hard that he had smacked himself in the forehead, causing his wound from Alvida to start bleeding again through his bandages. Conversely, Luffy had groaned and slumped over, whining that the future fleet admiral shouldn't have to do chores.

Well, if Koby had been too eager and Luffy had been too lazy, maybe the pair of them had sort of broken even in the end.

"What's it like?" Koby asked as he swabbed the deck of the ship.

"What's what like?" Luffy asked in turn, leaning on the handle of his mop.

"Marineford!" Koby couldn't even imagine it. The main headquarters of the marines must be something to behold. He could hardly wait!

"Ehh?" Luffy tilted his head. "I dunno."

Koby's brows shot up. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I've never been there before."

"But-! But your grandpa is the hero of the Marines! How have you never been? Doesn't he live there?"

"He has a place there, I think." Luffy shrugged, scratching under his jaw, where the worst of his purple bruises were steadily healing to a sickly yellow. "He mostly lives on his ship though. How cool, right?! It's like a house you can take with you to see the world, with all your friends living on it! I can't wait until we get our own!"

Koby bit back a pleased smile at Luffy already thinking of 'their' ship. It felt nice to find himself featured so heavily in someone's plans for their future. Still, he was curious – "If your grandpa has a place to stay at Marineford, then why did you live at Foosha?"

"He said that I'd be safest in a little village in the East Blue. I guess he finally changed his mind after…" Luffy trailed off and his bright smile dimmed slightly. Koby felt a surge of guilt for thoughtlessly turning Luffy's mind back to the tragedy that had befallen his home and its citizens. Luffy cheered back up almost instantly, beaming brightly and talking through a laugh. "I didn't want to hang out with marines back then anyway! So I didn't mind! I wanted to be the pirate king, remember?"

That caused a few nearby marines to turn and stare at Luffy incredulously. Koby laughed loudly and waved them off. "Haha! Good one, Luffy!"

"Hmm?" Luffy's mouth twisted in confusion as he tilted his head. "I'm not jokin-"

Koby slapped his palm over Luffy's mouth and shook his shoulders desperately. "The pirate king! That's good! I'll have to remember that one!"

The bemused marines merely shook their heads and walked away from the two gremlins that their vice admiral had seen fit to allow onboard. Once they were gone Luffy shrugged him off with a frown. "What was that for?!"

"If you're going to be a marine you can't go around saying that you wanted to be the pirate king!" Koby hissed through his teeth as he looked around furtively for any other eavesdroppers.

"Why not?" Luffy picked his nose.

"Because that's dumb!" Koby seethed. "You'll get in trouble!"

Luffy paused for a moment to stare Koby down before he crossed his arms and glared. "You can't talk to your captain like that!"

"We're both chore boys!" Koby balked. "You're not a captain yet!"

Luffy pouted and kicked at the deck. "I'm Captain Chore Boy…"

Suddenly, two big fists came crashing down on the backs of their heads and Koby and Luffy both found themselves facedown on the deck of the ship.

"Get back to work!" Garp barked, looking down at the two of them. "If you don't swab this deck I'll grab you by your ankles and use your hair as mops instead! Understand?"

"Yes, sir, Vice Admiral Garp, sir!" Koby fiercely saluted on the ground, wincing as he smacked himself in the forehead again.

"Ahh!" Luffy rolled around dramatically, clutching at his head despite the punch not even being that hard. "What was that for?!"

"What do you think?!" Garp yelled back, pointing down at his grandson. "If you're going to be a marine you're going to need to learn to follow orders!"

"I'm going to be giving the orders soon enough!" Luffy stuck out his tongue and pulled down at his eyelid. "So, really, I need to learn how to order people around!"

"You're a chore boy!" Garp bellowed, blown away by his grandson's cheek.

"Grandmaster Fleet King Chore Boy…" Luffy grumbled petulantly.

Garp's eyes darkened as he pulled back the sleeve of his right arm and exhaled on his meaty clenched fist. "I think you need another one of my fists of love, boy…"

Luffy's eyes widened as he screeched and hopped to his feet, scurrying away as his grandfather chased after him. Koby huffed and rubbed at the back of his head. Okay, maybe the marines did rough them up a little bit…

But if they were 'fists of love' then Koby thought he didn't mind it too much.

Marineford was on the horizon.

Ever since the vague shape of the great navy base had begun to crest over the top of the rolling waves, through the misty blanket of fog on the water, Koby had stayed shock-still at the railing of the ship just to stare at it. It was more magnificent than anything he could have ever imagined.

Given that marine ships were uniquely capable of sailing through the calm belt of the Grand Line, and that they only ever briefly stopped at marine outposts to stock up, they had reached Marineford in a mere month. It felt like ages to a six-year old like Koby, but now that they were finally here he'd be lying if he said he wasn't slightly anxious.

He had always wanted to be a marine, but he never thought he'd actually manage to do it. Even in his wildest dreams, he had only ever dared to hope to enlist in one of the backwoods branches out in the boonies of the East Blue. Yet here he was, entering the very heart of the operation.

"It's quite something, isn't it?"

Koby yelped and whipped his head around to find Lieutenant Bogard standing next to him. The man moved like the wind. Koby could never hear him approaching.

"Um, yes! Sir!"

Bogard's head tilted a fraction in his direction, eyes hidden under the shadow of the brim of his hat. "You're nervous."

It was phrased as an observation, not a question, so Koby didn't even bother to deny it. "Well, yes, sir. A little…"

Bogard didn't respond, but he continued to peer in his direction so Koby felt the need to clarify. "I just…Don't really know what will happen now."

"You don't know what will happen with…what?"

"With anything," Koby gulped, watching the massive island steadily grow closer. "It's scary…"

"Naturally," Bogard nodded, voice even. "But you'll manage. You're a sharp one."

Koby fidgeted, feeling his cheeks warm slightly. He still didn't really know how to deal with praise. "Ah, th-thanks…"

Bogard stared him down a moment longer before sighing lightly and turning his whole body to face him, hand rested on the hilt of his blade as always. "What's scary about it, specifically?"

Koby shrugged and toed at the deck of the ship. "Training, I suppose…I'm not very strong or fast. If I can't keep up I'll probably be kicked out. That and I'm still too young to enlist, so I can't live in the barracks. I know the families of military can stay on the island, but I don't have any family there, so I don't know where I'll sleep…

Shaking his head with an amused exhale, Bogard turned back to gaze at Marineford. "What, did you think we'd throw you to the curb and give you a cardboard box to stay in? Garp already has plans for your living arrangements."

"Oh.." Koby looked down at the water rocking against the hull of the ship, feeling foolish. He was curious though. "Where am I going to-?"

Before he could finish his question, Bogard continued. "As for your training, you'll do just fine, so long as you don't give up. Are you going to give up, Koby?"

"What?" Koby spun back around to stare up at Bogard desperately through his pink bangs. "Of course not! Being a marine is my dream!"

"Well, there you have it." Bogard nodded and patted him once on the shoulder. "The very act of training is about becoming better than you were previously. Just by showing up to train, you have already surpassed the version of yourself that might have chosen not to. We all grow at different rates. The only way to truly fail at bettering yourself is to not even try."

His words turned around in Koby's mind for a moment before he saw the wisdom in them and tried to take them to heart. "I think I understand…but-"

The vice admiral held his hand up to silence his doubts. "Courage, Koby. You're capable of more than you think."

Koby looked to look at the towering buildings of Marineford once more. They were only an hour away by the looks of it. He wiped at his wet eyes and straightened his back.

"Yes, sir."

Garp stood, arms-crossed, at the bow of his ship as the vessel steadily sailed past the Gates of Justice and through Marineford Bay. His men all bustled about, lowering the sails and barking orders at each other as they approached the docks. He made sure to keep his back to them, so that they wouldn't see his shaking hands or the beads of nervous sweat running down his face.

He held his Den Den Mushi up close to his face and whispered surreptitiously. "We're docking now. We can finish this discussion in person."

The snail merely glared at him in furious silence before the line clicked, putting an abrupt end to the call. Garp sighed and handed the Den Den Mushi to a nearby cadet. He had figured he'd be in the dog house for his actions, but he hadn't known that it would be this bad.

They pulled into the pier of the crescent shaped island and his crew made short work of mooring the ship and dropping anchor. After taking a deep breath to compose himself, Garp tugged his familiar dog cap down onto his head and turned to face his men, who were all standing at attention and awaiting his instruction.

"I need to report to the fleet admiral," Garp groused and scratched at the rough stubble of his jaw, not wanting to waste time dancing around details he couldn't give. "The ship requires maintenance, and I don't know when exactly we'll be sailing out next, so consider yourself on shore leave for the time being. Until I call upon you, be at your leisure."

The line-up of men broke out in grins and hearty cheers, eager for the chance to take a well-earned break. Their good humour wilted slightly as Garp huffed and cracked his knuckles.

"Just don't enjoy yourselves too much, eh?" Garp's grin sharpened as he slowly trailed his eyes across the lot of them. "Any misconduct or drunken foolishness in town will inevitably be reported to me. That would reflect poorly on my reputation, which would make me quite angry with you, you know…"

"Yes, sir, Garp, sir!" The assembled marines fearfully shouted in chorus, as they saluted fiercely and quickly fled the ship in a cloud of smoke.

"Bwahaha!" Garp bellowed his boisterous laugh and slapped his knee repeatedly as he watched his crew tuck tail and run. "What a bunch of scaredy-cats!"

"Yeah!" Luffy laughed as well, suddenly appearing at his grandpa's side. "Scaredy-cats!"

Garp's eyes glinted and he walloped Luffy upside his head with another love punch.

"Bweh!" Luffy rubbed at his scalp with a pout. "Why?! I was just repeating what you said!"

"Only I get to make fun of my men," Garp nodded magnanimously and waggled his finger at the shaggy-haired boy. "And you need to learn to respect your superiors! The chain of command is a crucial aspect of being in the marines!"

While Luffy unceremoniously plopped himself down on the deck of the ship and grumbled some nonsense about being the elite supreme chore master, Garp looked toward where Bogard and Koby were standing and beckoned them closer. "Bogard, go and fetch the lazy bum for me – tell him to come meet me outside the Fleet Admiral's office. Luffy, Koby; you come with me."

Bogard nodded and leapt off the ship, out of sight. For the benefit of the two young boys, Garp lowered the gangplank to make disembarking easier on them.

"Where are we going, gramps?" Luffy asked, his sulking session already abandoned in favour of bouncing around Garp excitedly as they walked out onto the pier. Koby followed along at a more even pace, though he seemed equally curious.

"I need to stop by HQ and have a chat with someone," Garp grumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Shouldn't take too long. You two will wait out in the hall and once I've finished up we can see about getting you both situated."

Luffy opened his mouth, undoubtedly primed to bombard Garp with an onslaught of follow-up questions, but he was cut short when the three of them were blocked by another young boy who slinked out of the shadows near the entrance to the town proper.

Garp suppressed his usual cheery greeting at the sight of the boy. "Ah, good. You're here, brat. Saves me the trouble of finding you."

"Back already, geezer?" The boy sniffed, looking up at Garp from under his cap, which was proudly labeled with 'MARINE' on the front of the fabric. "Did you forget your dentures or something?"

"No, I just wanted to make sure you didn't need another diaper change." Garp roughly ruffled the boy's mop of messy black hair, prompting a bout of indignant sputtering and flailing arms. "Look," Garp pointed back at Luffy and Koby with his thumb. "I found two more freeloading strays just like you. Say hello."

The boy grunted and shoved the chuckling Garp away from him, before turning and fixing Luffy and Koby with an easy smirk. "Don't let the old man's behaviour spook you, we think dementia might be setting in. It's very sad." The boy snickered and straightened up with a mock salute. "Anyway, it's good to meet ya! I'm Ace!"

The office of the Fleet Admiral was spacious, yet sparsely decorated. Photos of the man's family were hung proudly on the walls, but other than that the room was noticeably spartan. The acting head of the Marines, 'Black Arm' Zephyr, glared at Garp from across the rich wood of his desk.

The pair of them sat in tense silence, as Garp met Z's eye evenly.

Z raked his fingers through his short purple hair and let out a deep breath as he tried to reign in his anger. "Just what the hell are you thinking?"

"I couldn't leave him there," Garp shook his head. He leaned his elbows forward on his knees, rubbing his knuckles consideringly. "Not anymore."

"That, I understand," Z nodded, frown visible behind his pointed black sunglasses. "But why on earth would you bring him here of all places? And to enlist, no less?! Do you have any idea what would happen if people uncovered the boy's parentage?"

"Yes, but-"

"Ace was one thing!" Zephyr interrupted, pounding on the surface of his desk. "I understood that you took him in to honour that dying wish, but to secretly have both the sons of Roger and Dragon under our banner exponentially increases the chance that they'll be discovered! Moreover, it puts us all at risk, because we've now become complicit! If the wrong people were to find out that we were knowingly harbouring the sons of those men it would shake the very foundations of the navy!"

Garp grinded his teeth as he endured being chewed out by his old friend. "Practically nobody knows about their blood! And the one's that do won't go blabbing! Not if they remain on the side of justice!"

"The truth always has a way of coming out," Z sneered, leaning back in his seat as he crossed his muscular arms. "What would you do then, I wonder?"

"If the worst case scenario comes to pass, then you can pin if all on me!" Garp looked to Z beseechingly. "I'll take all the blame – strip me of my rank, throw me in Impel Down, anything! I'll bear all the responsibility of this decision, just please let Luffy stay."

"Don't try to play the part of the martyr," Z sucked his teeth contemptuously and looked away, glancing through the blinds of the adjacent window to the dozens of ships docked out in the bay. "You've never cared about your rank. That's why you constantly shirked the promotion to Fleet Admiral and pushed the responsibility on me instead. You're not the only one who will be affected by this, Garp. If the Elders find out…"

There was a sudden flurry of movement and Z turned his head back around, as his eyes widened behind his glasses. Garp was standing before him, back rigid and arms firmly at his side. Z watched in bewilderment as Garp lowered his eyes to the ground and slowly, meaningfully bowed deeply towards him.

"Please, give Luffy a chance…" Garp whispered. "Sir."

The sight of Monkey D Garp bowing deferentially to his authority was deeply uncomfortable, but effective. "Fine! Fine…" Z waved him off with a sneer. "Just stop with the formalities."

Garp righted himself and nodded gravely. He stepped forward and placed his hand on Z's shoulder. "Thank you, brother. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you don't regret this. I'll see to it that they're shaped them into the finest marines you'll ever know."

"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see," Z sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just keep one thing in mind. Nothing is more important to me than justice – if those two ever find themselves on the wrong end of that justice, then they will be treated accordingly."

"I'll make sure that they never stray," Garp removed his hand and stepped back, draping his coat back over his shoulders as he made to leave the room.

"Wait."

Garp tilted his head questioningly.

"The other boy," Z grunted. He picked up a fountain pen and returned to his precariously teetering tower of paperwork. "What of him?"

"You mean Koby?" Garp cackled. "He's a good boy, but he's a nervous little wreck. Reminds me of you when we were kids! The only time you grew a pair was when you were running around in that ridiculous superhero costume! Bwahaha! Remember?! Bwahaha!"

A hefty paper weight was flung at Garp's head, but he swatted it away with ease. Z scowled at the reminder of his childhood hobby as his cheeks burned. "Why did you bother bringing him on then?"

"Because, despite being a tiny little nervous wreck, he still put himself in harm's way to save Luffy's life." Garp pulled the office door open and took his leave with a casual wave. "If that's not prime marine material, I don't know what is."

As Garp walked back out into the hall he closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, grateful that he had managed to convince his friend to see reason. He knew in his heart that Luffy and Ace being in the marines was the right call. They would hide in plain sight, and receive all the training that they needed to be able to face the challenges awaiting them.

Luffy's exuberant voice echoed through the corridor and Garp turned to see all three boys chattering around an overwhelmed Bogard. Garp walked over to join the group with a carefree smile plastered on his face. "There's that taken care of!"

"Why did you have to have a meeting with Z?" Ace inquired, ever-curious about the goings-on of the higher-ups.

"Hmm? Oh, I wanted to let him know we needed more coffee stirrers in the mess hall," Garp looked to the side and whistled innocently. "It's not important."

"What's not important?" A deep voice yawned as they turned the corner. There stood Sengoku, with his unkempt beard and afro, dressed in his rumpled marine uniform with a ratty bathrobe tossed over top. The layabout rubbed at his eyes and looked at Garp blearily. "You asked for me?"

"Took him long enough to get here…" Bogard grumbled under his breath as he slipped out from the group of rowdy children and made his escape. Garp respected the man, but he wasn't great with most kids.

Garp faced Sengoku and willed himself not to scoff at his old friend's dishevelled appearance, nor the stupid seagull slippers he was wearing. Sengoku was once the pride of the marines, along with Tsuru, Zephyr and Garp, but the man had since lost his faith in himself and had taken up a job in administration, away from the field of battle.

Though Garp considered it a great waste of his friend's strength, it did have its uses. Primarily, that Sengoku spent most of his time at Marineford and rarely went out to sea anymore. Which had proved to be very fortuitous because…

"Boys!" Garp got their attention and guided them over to his peer. "This is Sengoku. He's an old war buddy but these days he acts as a training development officer."

Luffy and Koby greeted the man with matching smiles, while Ace merely rolled his eyes. Sengoku waved dopily at the two newcomers before reaching down to pinch Ace's ear. "You'd better have done the dishes. If I go home and see a mess in the kitchen there's going to be hell to pay, young man."

Garp shook his head in exasperation as Luffy and Koby shared looks of confusion. "Ace has been living with Sengoku for the past few years. Like you, he intends to join the marines once he's of age, so Sengoku agreed to take care of him in the meantime."

"More like I'm the one taking care of him…" Ace huffed, crossing his arms. "Lazy old man…"

"Oh, I'll take care of you alright!" Sengoku grunted and pulled his sleeve up his forearm. Bits of crumbs from his cracker snacks fell from his beard.

"Enough!" Garp silenced them all with a shout. "Luffy, Koby – You will also be staying with Sengoku until you're able to officially enlist."

"We're living with him?" Luffy and Koby turned their doubtful eyes to the untidy looking man who appeared to have a pet goat which was currently munching on his slippers.

"They're living with us?!" Ace charged up to Garp in outrage, stomping his feet. "No way! I don't need a bunch of little kids cramping my style!"

"They're living with me?" Sengoku pointed a finger up at his face, looking around cluelessly. "But I already have my hands full with the one brat…I can't-"

Garp glared at Sengoku from the corner of his eye and the man immediately cowed, rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling bashfully. "Ah, I suppose it's fine!"

"But why can't we just live at your place, gramps?" Luffy balanced himself on his toes and rocked back and forth. Ace pointed to Luffy with an enthusiastic nod.

"Yeah! Just dump 'em at your place! They'll be fine!"

"No," Garp put his foot down. He stood up straight and looked down at the three boys imperiously. "I'm constantly away on missions and I can't simply leave you alone to fend for yourselves. You're welcome to stop by and stay with me whenever I'm here on shore leave, but the three of you will be living with Sengoku and that's that."

"Fine!" Ace growled and threw his hands up. "But I don't have to like it!"

"What's your problem?" Luffy leaned forward and squinted, examining Ace's sour features curiously. "Why are you so angry over nothing? Are you stupid?"

Ace's cheeks burned red as he pushed the smaller boy away from him. "I'm not stupid! You're stupid!"

"Nuh-uh!" Luffy mimicked his frown.

"You were nice enough to us just a few minutes ago…" Koby shyly interjected, fidgeting with his sleeve. "Why are you acting like you hate us all of a sudden?"

Ace stammered and looked between everyone present incredulously. "That was before I knew that you'd be intruding in my personal space!"

"It's my house, not yours…" Sengoku moped, but was ignored by all present.

"I don't want to spend all my time babysitting a couple of toddlers!" Ace whined, looking toward Garp with a pleading expression. "They're going to make me play with building blocks and dolls and stuff!"

"You're ten years old," Garp deadpanned, unimpressed with Ace's behaviour. "Luffy is seven and Koby is six. I'm sure a man at your ripe old age will find something you have in common with them."

Ace fumed and stomped his foot when he realized that he wasn't going to get his way. He turned his fiery glare back on the other two boys, as Koby discreetly positioned himself behind Luffy. "Whatever!" Ace growled, and pulled Luffy close by his collar. "But let's make one thing clear. I am never – never – Ever! Going to be friends with you guys!"

"Fine!" Luffy frowned back at him.

"Fine!"

"Yeah! Fine!

"Good!

"I didn't want to be your friend anyway!" Luffy blew a raspberry at him. "So there!"

"Well, that's great because you're never gonna be!"

"I'm glad!"

"Great!"

"Yeah!"

"Stupid!"

"Double stupid!"

"Infinity stupid!

"Infinity stupid plus one!"

"You can't do that!"

"I just did!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate you more!"

In the heart of Marineford Town, at the Sengoku residence, Ace slept peacefully, laid stretched out on the floor as drool dripped from his gaping mouth. His socked foot was pushed against Luffy's cheek, as he had drifted off curled up around a mountain of comic books. Koby's glasses laid askew across his face and his head had come to rest against Ace's stomach in his sleep. The trio had stayed up well past their curfew the previous night, in favour of kickstarting an impromptu wrestling match and general buffoonery.

Despite their rocky introduction, the three boys had very quickly become the best of friends. Luffy and Ace were too much alike to remain at odds for long, and Ace could only make up so many excuses to try and justify disliking Koby before it felt like he was just acting like a senseless bully.

Sengoku stood in the doorway, taking a moment to look upon the pile of brats fondly. He let out a shaky breath and squeezed the crumpled up ball of newspaper in his hands as his knuckles turned white.

"Boys," he intoned, face drawn and pallid. "Wake up."

Ace was the one who snorted awake first, which caused a chain reaction of him kicking Luffy in the face and Luffy's answering squawk prompting Koby's eyes to snap open with a gasp. The three of them scrambled to seated positions and looked at Sengoku with wide eyes as they tried to discreetly hide the comics and empty cans of soda from the night before.

"Sir!" Koby gulped. "This isn't-! We were just…studying! Or… uh-!"

Sengoku held up his palm to let them know they weren't in trouble. "Don't worry about that. You all need to get dressed. We have to be out the door in ten minutes."

"Why?" Luffy yawned with a wide stretch.

Sengoku paused, uncertain how to even begin to explain such a thing to three children. He gulped and decided to let the situation speak for itself. If they had any questions after the fact, he'd be prepared to answer them. "Just get ready," he repeated, gripping the newspaper tighter in his hand until his nails cut into his palm. "Zephyr has called for an assembly."

Luffy stood in the expansive courtyard of Marineford Town plaza, flanked on either side by Koby and Ace. All around them, the families of marine personnel murmured to each other worriedly as they bundled close together. Luffy felt a chill run down his spine, and he was sure it wasn't from the cool morning air.

"What's going on?" Koby whispered to the two of them.

"Feels like someone died," Ace replied, rubbing at his biceps to keep warm. "Must have been someone important…"

"Do you really think so?" Koby glanced up at the older boy through his fogged up glasses. "How awful. I hope not…"

Luffy tuned them out and kept his eyes locked on the giant screen fixed to the wall on the opposite end of the plaza, across the fountain and kiosks. A large visual Den Den Mushi slowly crawled into place as its its eyes began to flicker.

In his peripheral vision, Luffy could see Koby leaning in close to him. "Luffy, what do you think is-?"

Luffy hushed him and nodded to the screen. "It's starting."

The crowd in the plaza grew eerily silent as they all watched Marine HQ appear on screen. Though the headquarters was just across the island for all of them, it was somewhat surreal to know that this footage of their home was being broadcasted live, worldwide. Just outside of the headquarters, hundreds of marines were seen in neat rows and columns with their backs to the cameras as their coats waved freely in the wind. At the very front of the small army of soldiers was Zephyr, stood atop a platform overlooking the area. In front of him was a small podium holding a Den Den mushi which he picked up and held to his mouth.

"People of the world," Z's deep voice echoed through the screen. Though he spoke calmly and purposefully, Luffy had come to know the man well enough during their brief interactions to know that he was caught off-balance – an irregular thing for the typically fearless leader of the navy. "This is Fleet-Admiral Zephyr, broadcasting from Marine HQ. The responsibility has fallen to me to inform all nations under the banner of the World Government that a great tragedy has just befallen us. Firstly, I must ask you all to remain calm. Details surrounding the event are still being investigated at this time, but you can rest assured that marine forces are working rapidly to regain control of the situation."

Luffy could feel Koby fidgeting beside him. When he turned to make sure he was alright, he was glad to see that Sengoku had already placed a comforting hand on the pink-haired boy's back, which seemed to steady him. Meanwhile, Ace was staring intently at the screen as he tapped his foot anxiously.

"Late last night, a massive explosion was said to have occurred on an island in the Grand Line. The blast itself was of a nigh-unprecedented scale, and we have received reports that the radius of the blast was wide enough to have consumed the island entirely." Z inhaled deeply and straightened his posture, keeping a death grip on the snail in his hand. "The Kingdom of Alabasta has been destroyed."

Distantly, Luffy heard someone shriek in the plaza, and the cacophonous round of panicked discussion that followed from all the civilians present. He could barely acknowledge it, as a feeling of numbness set in him. From what he'd heard in some of his grandpa's stories, Alabasta was one of the largest, most densely populated islands in the world, with a rich culture and long, vibrant history. And now he was being told that all of that was just…gone, now? His young mind had barely been able to make sense of what had happened to him in Foosha Village a couple months ago, and now he had to grapple to understand the death of thousands? Millions?

He was snapped out of his daze by Ace roughly shaking his shoulders. Luffy blinked rapidly as he looked up at Ace, feeling lost.

"Come on," Ace frowned, nodding his head at Koby. "We got the gist of it. Let's get out of here."

Luffy understood Ace's meaning when he saw tears streaming down Koby's face as the boy shook fearfully. "Right…"

Ace and Luffy took off, pulling Koby along with them as they ducked and weaved through the clamouring crowd. Sengoku reached a hand out to try and stop them but appeared to think better of it as he made eye contact with Ace. It seemed the man trusted him to handle the two younger boys in this case.

Zephyr's staticky voice gradually faded away as they turned a corner onto the main road of the residential quarter and fled from the broadcast. "Unknown…perpetrators…pirates suspected…power plant…experimental machinery…royal family whereabouts are…at this time…"

The three of them stumbled and ran all the way to Garp's house on jittery legs. Garp was away at sea, but he had trusted Luffy with a spare key to his home. The trio of boys sometimes took advantage of this to shirk their chores and hide away from Sengoku in a place they had all to themselves. The thought of Garp being out at sea currently brought on another wave of worried nausea in Luffy. Was his grandpa one of the marines investigating the explosion? Selfishly, he hoped not. It didn't sound safe.

Once the front door was shut and locked behind them, Luffy, Koby and Ace instinctively took their usual positions in some tacky floral beanbag chairs that Garp had purchased on a whim from the market, circled around a flickering oil lantern on the floor.

Koby had gotten enough of a hold on himself that he was now just quietly sniffling as he wiped the evidence of his tears from his cheeks. Ace and Luffy pretended not to notice.

"I can't believe it…" Ace's frown deepened as he leaned forward on his knees and stared into the flame of the lantern. "How could something like this happen?"

"All those innocent people…" Koby sniffed.

Luffy shook his head, matching Ace's glare as he also gazed into the fire. He felt powerless, even more than he had when he had been stuck in place, about to be executed by Captain Kuro. He had joined the marines because he wanted to help people, but how could any one person hope to contend with a giant nightmare like this? Is this what the future held in store for him? Sifting through the wreckage of calamities and providing aid to any survivors that were left in their wake? He didn't want to help people deal with disasters, he wanted to prevent them!

Luffy felt his numbness slowly being eaten away and overwritten by determination. "We need to get stronger."

"Huh?" Koby looked bemused by the seemingly random turn in conversation. Ace merely looked at him with interest.

Luffy shot to his feet, hands clenched at his sides. "You heard me! We need to get stronger! All of us! We're going to be the next generation of the marines! Pirates and crooks and monsters need to lie awake at night, scared that they might run into us! Then they'll think twice before doing anything like Alabasta again!"

"We've been wasting time…" Ace nodded, standing to his feet as well. "If we're going to be the ones keeping the seas safe one day, we need to quit acting like little kids all the time."

"But we are little kids!" Koby cried, wide eyes bouncing between his two friends. "What are we supposed to do?"

"We start training now," Ace nodded once, placing his hands on his hips.

"Yeah!" Luffy eagerly agreed. "Right now! We can't wait any longer!"

Koby flailed about in his beanbag chair. "But we can't join the marines until we're sixteen! Who's going to train us? Sengoku definitely won't do it and Mr Garp is hardly ever here!"

Luffy waved him off, unconcerned. "We'll train ourselves. It'll be easy."

"But-!"

"Koby," Ace grinned down at his timid friend. "Think of the head-start we'll have on all the other cadets when we do enlist! Don't you want to be prepared?"

Appealing to Koby's sense of responsibility seemed to make him waver slightly, but he still seemed uncertain. "I don't know…"

"C'mon," Luffy held his hand out to Koby, urging the boy to take it. "We need your help."

"Gah!" Koby pulled at his hair and stomped to his feet. "Fine! I agree! Happy?"

"Shishishi!" Luffy beamed unashamedly, ever-pleased to get his way. "Yes!"

Ace ignored their antics and held his fist out over the lantern in the middle of them. "Good! Here's what we'll do – Koby, you're the smartest one, so you have to spy in on the exercises they do during marine drills, and use that to put together a training regimen for us!"

"R-Right! You can count on me!" Koby nodded despite his reservations, always looking for ways to prove himself to the two older boys. A moment of awkward silence passed before Ace sighed and waggled his fist. "Ah!" Koby caught his meaning and quickly shot his own arm out, bumping his fist against Ace's.

"Luffy!" Ace turned towards him. "You're going to be in charge of stealing any equipment that we need and bringing it back here! The geezer's basement will be a perfect place for us to train!"

"Okay!" Luffy also bumped his fist against the other two with a wide grin. "It'll be easy!"

The three boys stood, tucked away in secret and held their fists together like a promise – a promise that they would be the ones who would grow strong and keep this world from harm. The warm light from the lantern flickered across their young, determined faces as they vowed to find strength as the rest of the world panicked and mourned.

The tragedy of Alibasta's destruction was still at the forefront of their minds, but it felt good to be proactive – to take the next step in realizing their goals.

"Wait…" Koby frowned suddenly in thought. "What about you?"

The two black-haired boys both turned toward him curiously.

"I'm figuring out our routine and Luffy's getting the equipment," Koby put his finger to his chin. "What will you be doing?"

"Hey! Yeah!" Luffy squinted up at the oldest boy. "What are you gonna do, huh?

"Well, I'm the captain. Obviously," Ace turned his nose up and crossed his arms.

"Oi! No way!" Luffy gasped and stomped his feet. "I'm the captain! Me and Koby already decided that I'm the captain! Tell him, Koby!"

Koby shrank away as Ace turned to him with an exaggerated look of outrage on his face. "Well…" Koby knocked his index fingers together anxiously. "It was more like Luffy decided he would be the captain…But yes, we sort of already agreed on that…"

"But I'm the oldest!" Ace took a wide stance, pointing dumbly at his freckled face.

"Exactly!" Luffy shouted back. "You're an old man! By the time we enlist you'll already have one foot in the grave! You'll need a walker to get around!"

"I'm only ten years old! Psycho!" Ace growled, kicking over a nearby throw pillow. "You can't talk to the future Fleet Admiral like this! It'll come back to bite you in the ass once I'm in charge, you know!"

"Oh dear…" Koby sighed and sank back down into his seat.

Luffy's mouth formed a wide 'O' as he inhaled sharply and pointed at Ace accusingly. "You are not going to be the Fleet Admiral! I am! Bastard!"

Ace pointed right back at him, nostrils flared. "No, no, no! I'm the captain and I'm going to be the Fleet Admiral and that's that! Double bastard!"

Koby raised his hand to interject. "You know-"

"Not now!" Both boys yelled in unison.

"Sorry…" Koby sank deeper into beanbag chair.

Luffy and Ace panted heavily as they stared each other down. "I thought we were going to be crewmates…But it looks like we're going to be rivals instead…" Ace frowned.

"I guess so…" Luffy sulked, sticking his bottom lip out and looking to the side.

"Even though that we're now sworn enemies…" Ace eyed Luffy carefully up and down. "Are we still going to train together?"

"Well, yeah…" Luffy nodded. "And we'll still be friends too?"

"Obviously," Ace nodded seriously as Koby sighed from within his beanbag prison.

"I don't think you guys understand how rivalry is supposed to work…"

Both Ace and Luffy snapped out of their negotiations and looked down at their friend as if suddenly remembering he was there. "Oh, that's right," Ace smacked his fist against his palm. "Now we need to figure out which one of us gets to keep Koby."

"Wha-?" Koby broke out into a coughing fit. "I'm a person, not a trading card!"

"I already called dibs!" Luffy shouted. "He's gonna be my first mate!"

"You can't call dibs on Koby and Fleet Admiral!"

"Can so!"

"Can not!"

Koby reached out for one of the nearby pillows and gently held it down over his head so that he could cover his ears. "Would either of you like to know what I want?"

Luffy tackled Ace to the floor, Koby's words ignored. Ace managed to use the momentum of their fall to roll over on top of him and hook his arm around Luffy's neck in a headlock, before scraping his knuckles up and down the smaller boy's scalp in a vicious noogie. "Tap out! Admit that I'm the one who's going to be fleet admiral!"

"Neber!" Luffy's face turned red as he frantically clawed at Ace's arm under his chin. "I'b godda be da freet badbiral! Shtoopid!"

As his two hardheaded friends scrapped and rolled around in the background, Koby wiped a weary hand down his face and began wondering just how he was meant to spy on a marine training session without being caught…

Author's note:

I already know that some people are going to be unhappy that Ace isn't going to be on the crew, but I think it's for the best. I know that he served under Whitebeard's fleet, but he was still a captain himself in that scenario. Even in this AU, I think Ace has too much of a leader's personality to make sense as Luffy's crew-mate.

I don't want Luffy's marine crew to be exclusively full of top-tiers and fan favourites. It'd be really easy to just dump Ace, Law, Katakuri, Yamato, etc, in there and call it a day but that's boring to me, personally. You know, looking back at the canon straw hat crew, they're all kind of scrubs when we first meet them and they gradually grow into these much stronger figures throughout the story. I think it's more interesting to take characters that didn't get as much love and screentime and to elevate them in this fic.

In this first saga we're going to be recruiting four members, mirroring the East Blue saga. If we don't count Luffy and we consider Koby as the first pick, I like to think that most people will be happy with my selections for the second and third members! The fourth and final member to join in this saga will probably have people scratching their heads but just trust me lmao