On the north shore of syrup village sat 5 people. Well 4 humans and one lion watching as a large pirate ship parked its anchor on the beach. "Hey Jango, there's some kids up there?" One of the pirates said. Jango looked up to see Luffy and his crew staring them down.

"Who are you kids?"

"Pirates." Luffy answered simply. "And we're gonna stop you." He said.

"Stop us?" Jango said with a laugh. "Kill em before captain Kuro gets here." Jango said and the pirates rushed up the hill. Only to slip on oil and fall back down.

"Hopefully they get past the oil." Zoro said as he tied his bandana on his head. "Are you insane! Look at how many of them there are! There are at least a hundred of them." Usopp said, standing on shaky legs as he watched the group try and try to get up the hill.

"I thought you were prepared for this."

"I'm a liar, don't take me seriously." Usopp said, hiding behind Shiro. The lion seemed to cock an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"What the hell are you guys doing!" Jango screamed outraged. "Everyone look at me. On the count of Jango you will gain the ability to jump over this oil." Jango swung a ring slowly in front of the pirates.

"Are they idiots? Do they really think that's gonna work?" Nami said.

"1…2…Jango!"

The Pirates turned around with half lidded eyes and ran up the hill. "Get ready." Luffy said and in a few moments the pirates started to jump over the oil one by one. Zoro equipped himself with his three swords and got ready for battle.

"Now this is more like it."

Zoro met the first wave of the pirates and Shiro wasn't far behind. Together they started to slice through the pirates but a few were still able to get by.

"Aaaaa they're coming!" Usopp and Nami screamed as they hid behind Luffy.

"Hey Nami, did you get your treasure from the boat?" Luffy asked absentmindedly as the pirates grew closer and closer. Nami looked like she was gonna die when he said that.

"No! My treasure! Luffy get me there!" Luffy picked the girl up in a bridal carry and she blushed a tad but was focused on her money. In a flash Luffy disappeared from view and reappeared at the bottom of the beach. Usopp was left standing at the top of the hill with at least 10 pirates charging him. "You bastards, what about me!?" Usopp screamed at them. He was shaking as they grew closer and he could see Zoro and Shiro were busy down below. Thinking fast he reached into his bag and grabbed a handful of caltrops and jumped backwards as he tossed them forward.

The caltrops did their job and stopped the pirates in their tracks although Usopp knew it wouldn't be for long. He reached into his bag and pulled out the gun. He felt the weight difference from his sling shot immediately. As the first pirate came into his sight he reminded himself of Luffy's words. 'What would you kill for?' He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. Usopp's eyes have always been good, he could see things others couldn't. Now it felt like he was seeing in slow motion. He could see the moment the bullet pierced the pirate's skull and the light disappeared from his eyes.

This happened five more times before he ran out of bullets. He switched back to his slingshot as the other pirates made it past the caltrops. He pulled the string back and shot a pellet that exploded into a storm of needles.

"Needle Star!"

The small blades pierced the pirates, some of them losing eyes in the process as they fell back down the hill. Usopp was breathing heavily and he had small tears stinging his eyes as he stood tall on the hill.

"I won't be letting any of you bastards touch my village!"

Zoro smiled as he dodged and blocked attacks from the pirates. "Well said." Meanwhile down below Luffy was demolishing the pirates as Nami secured the treasure on the boat. "It's all here!" Nami screamed in happiness. All in all things were going horrible for the black cat pirates and Jango could see it. He was sweating bullets and biting his nails with nerves as more and more of the crew fell down the hill slash marks or bullet holes.

"Meowban brothers!" He screamed and two shadows flew from the ship.

"You called?" Two voices said. One voice belonged to a fat man wearing a cape of some kind. Fangs protruded from his mouth and he wore gloves claws on his fingers. His name was Buchi. The other was skinny and he wore a sly smile on his face. The same clawed gloves were on his hands. This was Sham.

"We couldn't get up the slope because of them. Take care of it." Jango said. The two brothers looked up the hill to see a white lion dyed red and a swordsman using three swords. Further up the hill stood Usopp on shaky legs, a pistol tucked into his waist and slingshot in his hands. What they didn't notice was Luffy standing to the side.

BAM!

Luffy's foot slammed into Sham's head and the skinny man flew to his brother and the both of them crashed into the cliff side. You could hear the sound of Jango's jaw dislocating in shock as Luffy landed next to him with an uninterested look on his face.

"That was easy."

Jango was shaking in his boots and it wasn't because of Luffy and his crew. He knew what would happen if Kuro showed up now. If he saw the state the crew was in they were all gonna be dead. "You know, for a pirate ship they didn't have that much treasure." Nami said, coming from the black cat's ship with a large sack over her shoulder. Jango seemed to decened more into uncontrollable fear the more losses they took. Luffy and Nami paid him no mind though.

"So what should we do now, Luffy? Most of these guys are dead now." Zoro asked

"Let's wait for that butler guy to-." Luffy's eyes widened with fear. "USOPP LOOK OUT!" He screamed. Many things happened in a few seconds. Usopp looked around confused as did everyone else. Luffy appeared in front of him in a burst of speed and then the sniper fell to the ground with blood leaking from his back. Five long slashes ran from his shoulder to his waist.

Luffy's face was drenched in anger as Usopp's body fell to the ground and revealed his attacker. Kuro stood there with an emotionless look on his face as he stared down Luffy. On his hands he wore gloves that had long katanas on each finger. He calmly walked past Luffy to see his slaughtered crew.

"At least you saved me the trouble of killing them all myself." Luffy's aura somehow grew even more dangerous as those words left Kuro's mouth. "Jango what happened? You couldn't deal with measly kids." Jango jumped in his skin as Kuro addressed him.

"These kids their- their strong captain and that lion isn't normal." Jango explained nervously.

"Hey." Luffy's voice was deep and carried an edge. Kuro cocked a confused eyebrow. He looked at Luffy the way most would look at kids trying to show off. "What do you mean you were gonna kill them?"

Kuro adjusted his glasses with his palms as he turned to face Luffy. "I can't have anything to connect me to my pirate life." Luffy's eyes grew hateful.

"Aren't they your friends? Your crew." Kuro nearly laughed at Luffy's words.

"Crew? Friends? They're just loose ends."

BAM!

Everyone stood frozen as they watched Kuro fly through the air and rammed into the cliffside. "Get up!" Luffy screamed with a near demonic aura coming off him. Zoro and Nami had never seen him this angry before. The only time they could compare was when his straw hat was damaged.

Jango was the first to snap out of his stupor and ran over to the meowban brothers. He hurriedly shook them awake. "On the count of Jango your strength will grow 10 fold."

"1…2…Jango!"

The brothers eyes went white and they jumped up with a loud roar and bulging muscles. They pounced onto Zoro and Shiro immediately and the swordsman blocked Buchi's attack, while Shiro jumped and dodged Sham's. Zoro was visibly struggling to hold back Buchi's attack with one sword. He quickly drew for his waist and swiped at Buchi's stomach. Strangely the fat man didn't dodge and blood started to leak from his stomach but it didn't slow him down.

"What are you made out of?!"

Zoro jumped back from his opponent and equipped himself with all three of his swords. Zoro positioned two of his swords over his shoulder. He sped from his position and brought all three of his swords down on Buchi.

"TIGER HUNT!"

The force of Zoro's attack was strong enough to send Buchi flying back into his ship with three new cuts on his body. Two going down his chest and on across.

CRASH!

A mass flew into the hull of the ship like a cannonball. Sham had blood coming from his mouth and a few teeth missing and he was passed out. Shiro slid in next to Zoro. "Well that was easy." They turned their gaze to a fearful Jango but they didn't need to do anything. A brown staff smashed him over the head. Nami stood behind him with a sly smile on her face. "Really easy." She said.

Meanwhile with Luffy and Kuro, the faux butler was just standing back up. His glasses were destroyed and he had a quick forming bruise on his cheek. The tension was thick as neither of the captains spoke a word. Kuro looked like he started to dance and then he disappeared and reappeared in front of Luffy. It was a blink and you miss it moment. Kuro swiped his claws at Luffy but his target wasn't there. Luffy appeared behind Kuro with his leg stretched out.

"GUM GUM WHIP!"

Kuro was barely able to digest the attack by jumping and when he landed he disappeared again. The spectators could see flashes of the battle but the only one who could fully see what was going on was Usopp. The long nosed sniper was still on the ground bleeding as he silently cheered for Luffy.

"Kick his ass Luffy."

CRASH!

Kuro crashed into the cliffside once more and the look on his face was almost demonic. Luffy on the other hand was in near mint condition, he had a few cuts here and there but he was fine. Kuro got up and started to sway back and forth before he disappeared. Everyone was in shock at his new speed, all but Luffy who just stood there with an emotionless look on his face. Luffy's arm started to twist into itself and he ran to what seemed to be no particular point on the hill.

"GUM GUM RIFLE!"

Luffy threw his twisted arm into the side of the cliff with all his force but instead of connecting to the rock his arm slammed into the body of Kuro. As Luffy's arm started to unwind he drilled Kuro into the cliffside. Blood spilled from Kuro's mouth and his ribs were smashed in. When the attack was finished Kuro was embedded into the rocks.

The surviving members of his crew who were able to see the fight cheered for Luffy's victory.

"Shut up! You guys don't have the right to cheer for me!" Luffy's anger was nearly tangible to the onlookers. He pulled Kuro from the cliff and held him there before he threw him to the surviving members or his crew.

"Now leave and don't come back!"

The pirates scrambled in fear back on their taking Kuro and Jango with them. The ship seemed to do a full 180 and it sped off into the distance.

Luffy and his crew were left on the beach with a few dozen dead pirates.

"Usopp!"

"Captain!"

They all turned to see Kaya appear from the forest breathing heavily, she was supported by the three children from the Usopp pirates. She stumbled over to Usopp who was just sitting up and collapsed into his arms. "I'm sorry for not believing you." She said with a voice of regret. Usopp hesitated but he put a hand on the back of her head with a soft smile.

"It's okay I'm just glad you're safe."

"But you're hurt."

"These are nothing. In fact I let them do this so they could feel better about themselves. This is a testament to the kindness of the great Usopp." He said boosting

Kaya laughed just like Usopp wanted her too and the kids had stars in their eyes. "Take them away from here, they shouldn't see this kind of thing." He whispered to Kaya. She looked past him to see the dead pirates and nodded solemnly.

"Usopp pirates take Kaya away their still may be pirates coming so I need you three to protect her until I give the all clear."

"Yes captain!"

As Usopp watches them usher Kaya away he had a content smile on his face. Abruptly pain invaded his back he nearly cried in pain and shock.

"You're a good guy usopp." Luffy said with a laugh as he patted Usopp on the back more specifically his wound.

"You bastard that hurts!"

"Shishishi"

The day has passed and night has come. Usopp didn't want the village to see the dead pirates so he and the others let the sea take them. They went to Kaya's mansion after that and the sniper was treated for his wounds with the limited medical knowledge Kaya and her butler marry had. It would scar but he would live. Kaya had fed them thanks and even gave them a new ship which Merry said would be prepared in a few days. Luffy was nearly bouncing off the walls in excitement from the gift.

Now however our resident sniper was sitting in his secret spot seemingly in deep thought about many things.

"Whatcha thinkin bout?" Luffy sat down next to him. Usopp was quiet for a few moments, seemingly trying to find the words.

"Were you serious about me joining your crew?"

"Of course I was. Your dad used to always tell me about you saying how you would be an even better shooter than he was. He asked me to see if I thought so with my own eyes and I should ask you to join my crew."

"And… Do you think I could be better than my dad?" Usopp asked, sounding unsure of himself.

"Who knows I'm not asking you to join because you can't shoot." Luffy said with a laugh. Usopp fell over in absolute shock.

"Then what are you inviting me for!?"

"Shishishi. I think you're a cool guy, you being able to shoot is a bonus. So are you gonna be my sniper or what?"

"I just don't know if I could leave like that."

Luffy's hat shadowed his eyes as he uttered his next words. "My grandpa used to tell me those who waver are weak. When you die Usopp do you want to die with regrets?"

"Regrets…" Usopp always wanted to live a pirate's life and become a brave warrior like in his stories. This might be his best chance. Usopp stood on his feet and took a deep breath.

"I'm gonna do it. I'll be a brave warrior of the sea and an even better sniper than my dad. And when I See him again I'm gonna punch him in the face!" He screamed for the vast ocean to hear and then he ran off.

He ran all the way to Kaya's mansion and climbed the tree outside her window. The window was already open and he hopped in. Kaya was sitting at her desk reading something. She heard Usopp land behind her and was surprised to see him. But she quickly seems to realize why he was here.

"You're leaving with Luffy and the others." Usopp nodded the mood in the room turning somber.

"I just wanted to tell you first." Kaya blushed at his words. "I wanted to tell you that I… I love you Kaya!"

Usopp turned to leave happy as he was able to get that off his chest. Nowhere felt like he could leave with no regrets. But his hand was grabbed. He turned to see Kaya who couldn't even seem to look him in the eye. She abruptly placed her lips on his in a daring kiss.

"I love you too and you're leaving and I don't know when I'll see you again so… could you stay with me tonight."

Both teens seemed to be blushing up a storm as Usopp nodded his head in confrontation. He closed the window and when he turned around his eyes nearly exploded as he saw Kaya not wearing her nightgown.

'No regrets.'

Two days passed and the ship was done being prepared. The crew was impressed, even Zoro showed a smile as he gazed up on their first real ship. "A real caravel!" Nami screamed in excitement. Luffy immediately bounded on to the deck with an excited smile as he explored his ship. He didn't even bother to hear the explanation about it's ends and outs. Nami shook her head at him.

"Just explain it to me."

The ship was named the going Merry, named after its creator. It was a relatively small ship, but way bigger than what Luffy, Zoro, and Shiro were using before. The ship was characterized by its ram figurehead. Luffy loaded his things up into the captain's quarters. His pipe leaned against the wall and his ever shrinking bag of money was thrown on the ground. The best part about his room was that he had a mini fridge that was currently fully stocked. Everyone knew that wouldn't last long including Luffy.

"Someone help!"

Luffy came from his room with meat in his hand to see Usopp rolling down the hill with a large bag on his shoulder. Luffy jumped from his ship and stood next to Zoro as they both raised their legs. Usopp's momentum was stopped by his face ramming into their feet.

"Thanks guys."

"No problem." They said simultaneously. Luffy and the others got on the ship as Usopp stood with Kaya.

"You're really leaving."

"Yeah." Kaya had tears stinging her eyes and Usopp's were getting misty. "I promise when you get back I'll be a good enough doctor that I'll be able to heal you from all your crazy adventures."

"And when I get back I'll have plenty of stories to tell you."

In front of everyone they kissed goodbye. Zoro whistled while Nami and Luffy laughed. Shiro just looked confused."Come on Usopp lets go." Luffy interrupted them. Usopp seemed to have to pull himself away from the girl as he boarded the ship. The Usopp pirates cried as his image started to get further and further away.

"You okay?" Nami asked Usopp as the boy's eyes never left the direction he had just left. He turned his back on the island and he held back his tears. "I'm living with no regrets of course I am." He said. Luffy appeared on deck with a barrel of alcohol and 5 cups. He poured everyone a cup.

"Cheers to a new crew mate and a new ship!"

"CHEERS!"

"RAWR!"

They held a mini party that day, Zoro was the first one to sleep on the deck while Usopp was able to make it to the men's quarters for his first night on the ship. Luffy, who rarely drank, had a bit too much to drink and passed out on his bed being of course accompanied by Shiro. He woke up in a stupor. He stretched his hand out to his personal refrigerator and grabbed some meat. He slowly ate it when he noticed something. His hat was missing.

He jumped up from the bed with his heart in his sinking. He burst out of his room and climbed up on deck. He was so nervous he didn't even notice Zoro under him, he stepped right on his stomach not that the swordsman woke up. He found Nami sitting with it in her lap and he heaved a sigh of relief. He walked up the stairs and sat down next to her. He made no move to get his hat. Nami placed his treasure on his head and Luffy noticed it had a string attached to it.

"It's so your hat won't fly off anymore." Luffy was surprised to see his hat hung loosely on his back now.

"Thanks Nami you're the best." Luffy's smile was wide as always when he spoke. Nami was quiet as she continued to stare at the sea. The moon was reflected in the open ocean and painted a serene picture. Nami had a faraway look on her face and Luffy knew something was wrong with her.

"You okay Nami?" He asked and Nami snapped back into reality. She smiled at Luffy and he met her look with no expression. "I'm fine."

"You're my friend Nami. I'll help if you ask." He said and Nami's smile stayed on her face though her hands gripped the railing on the ship hard. "There's nothing to help. I'm fine Luffy."

"Ok well I'm going back to sleep." Nami watched him retreat to his room and when she couldn't see him anymore she relaxed her hands. They had small cuts on her otherwise perfect skin from how hard she gripped the wood. Her mood grew somber as she focused her eyes back on the water.

"You can't help me Luffy."

It's been a few days since the crew left syrup village and they were all enjoying their time on the merry. Zoro was happy to finally have space to train again, while Nami was happy to have a boat with a shower. Usopp though still working through leaving his home was excited everyday just to be on a boat. Shiro stretched out everywhere, happy to have the room to take naps. And the captain sat neatly on the head of the Merry watching the horizon. He was giddy. They were officially a pirate crew. He had a ship and most importantly a black flag with his symbol on it. The symbol of his crew. Simple skull and crossbones with a straw hat on its head.

BOOM!

The crew's attention was captured by cannon fire. "I hit it!" Usopp screamed in shock. Once he saw everyone looking at him, his surprise at his skill was overtaken by bravado. "Of course I did, I am a sniper after all." He said rubbing under his long nose. The crew just shook their heads at his act but Luffy laughed and clapped his hands. "Your amazing Usopp. Hey, I have an idea!" Luffy sprinted into the kitchen and reappeared with an apple in his hand. The crew watched him with intent as he walked over to Zoro and placed the apple on his head.

"Here Usopp shoot this off Zoro's head." Shock immediately invaded both the sniper and the swordsman. "Are you crazy? What if I miss?!" Usopp screamed.

"Yeah what if he misses?!" Zoro screamed though he didn't take the apple of his head.

"No he won't. Right Usopp." Luffy said with his usual tone. Unwavering confidence and not an ounce of worry. Nami watched from the top deck with a smile on her face as the three boys argued about Usopp shooting the apple. She wore a wistful expression as she watched Usopp aim a shaky hand at Zoro. Luffy was on the sidelines while his swordsman seemed to be having a mild panic attack. As the loud pop of the gun went off the apple was destroyed and Zoro breathed a sigh of relief.

"I did it!" Usopp screamed in shock and Zoro seemed to be ready to flay both his captain and the sniper. Nami watched on as the green haired swordsman fell back into his old ways of pirate hunting and chased Luffy and Usopp around the ship.

"Hey! You filthy pirates!"

Everyone froze as a pair of boots landed on the Merry. A man in a blue jacket with glasses on his face has somehow made his way onto the ship. He had a big sword in his hand, and an aura of anger and hate. "You think you can try and kill my friend and get away with it!"

Everyone seems confused and Usopp hides behind a random barrel as the man waves his sword around. Zoro stepped up with familiarity in his voice. Everyone watched him.

"Johnny that you?" He asked and the intruder paused as he got a good look at him. He didn't know too many people with green hair and three swords. Scratch that he only knew one person with those accessories.

"Big bro Zoro! What are you doing here?"

"Don't worry about that for now, where's yosaku?" Johnny dropped to his knees seemingly not of his own free will. "It's horrible big bro. He was just fine but then he fell over and he started to growl purple. I stopped at a small island so he could rest but then someone blew it up." Usopp jumped out of his skin when he said that. He decided it was best if he just stayed away from them.

"You know this guy Zoro?" Luffy asked. "Yeah from my bounty hunting days." Zoro answered. They eventually got the other man named yosaku on board the ship. And Johnny was right he looked horrible, he was turning purple and he looked like he could hardly breathe. He even had a few teeth missing and some dried blood on his mouth. Everyone on board looked very worried except for Nami and Luffy.

"Please you gotta help him!" Johnny pleaded on his hands and knees and that struck the straw hatted captain. "Hey Usopp go get the rest of our lemons" He said and Usopp confusedly went to grab them while Nami looked at him in shock. She didn't expect Luffy to know how to treat this. "He doesn't need lemons, he needs a doctor!" Johnny said in fear induced outrage.

"No Luffy's right, your friend has scurvy. It's a sickness brought on by lack of vitamin c. Though I'm surprised this rubber brain knows that." Nami said, pulling Luffy lightly by his cheek, while he just laughed.

"I don't know what this vitamin stuff is but I met a guy once that had scurvy and he told me he needs lemons and limes. Shishishi." Luffy explained as Usopp returned with an entire barrel of lemons in his hands. Nami instructed him and Johnny to squeeze the lemons into the downed man's mouth. "You're gonna be ok partner." Johnny said, crying.

"I'm ok!" Yosaku said as he jumped up and danced around the deck it wasn't until he tripped over something did he stop. Looking up he locked eyes with a white lion with a scar over his eye. "AAAAAAAA! A lion!" Yosaku passed out and Johnny rushed over to him while Shiro just walked over to everyone else confused as to what was happening. Nami shook her head as she now had more idiots to deal with and not just three. At least Shiro had some sense she thought as she petted the white lion.

Yosaku eventually woke up and they all went to the lounge so he could rest and eat something. "Wow who knew big bro Zoro would become a pirate." Yosaku said as he dug into the food given to him. "Yeah the pirate hunter turned pirate, how ironic."

"Well this situation has shown that we are in desperate need of a cook. We don't want to end up like Yosaku." Nami said and everyone nodded along. "But we need someone tough. I don't just let anybody join my crew." Luffy said and everyone sweat dropped as they side eyed the lion in the corner.

"Well if you're looking for a fighting chef I know just the place for you big bro Luffy." Johnny said and he pointed his next words at Zoro. "I even heard a certain hawk-eyed man was seen near there." Zoro's whole body immediately tensed and he gripped his sword with vigor.

"Big sis make a course for the Baratie the sea restaurant." Nami looked at Luffy and all she needed to see was his excited smile to know their course was set. As she followed Johnny's directions she realized it was close to a certain island. She gripped the wheel tight as they started to sail away.

It took them a little over a day's travel to get to the Baratie. They could just make it out from their distance. "It's a giant fish." Luffy said from his place on the Merry's head. "That big bro Luffy is the Baratie, the place where even pirates come to eat and they don't cause trouble."

"The food must be incredible or those cooks mean business." Usopp said. "Both." Yosaku answered.

As they got closer to the fish shaped restaurant another boat pulled up on their side. A marine boat. It didn't take long for them to see their black flag. "Sir pirates!" They said directly to a man in a suit. He had pink hair on his head and brace knuckles on his fist. He had a woman on his arm as he eyed Luffy and the others like they were trash. When he saw Yosaku and Johnny his eyes flashed with recognition.

"Aren't you those weak bounty hunters who only hunt small-time pirates? I guess you've sunk low enough to become one." The two bounty hunters looked offended and embarrassed. Johnny reached into his jacket and pulled out a stack of worn papers. Wanted posters.

"Would small-time bounty hunters go after these guys?!" Johnny exclaimed, throwing the posters in the air. Nami saw a particular one and picked it up. Her expression immediately grew grim and he crumbled the poster in her hands. This action didn't go unnoticed by Zoro. He debated telling Luffy about it, but knowing his captain Luffy may write it off as nothing. The Marine ignored them and turned to the others.

"I am Iron Fist Full Body. I don't recognize your flag. Who is your captain?" Luffy stepped forward but he was cut off by Usopp. Luffy had a more than annoyed and agitated look on his face at the action.

"I am u-" the liar was cut off by a hand grabbing his shoulder and throwing him back. He landed on his butt and he saw Luffy was the one who threw him. "What was that for?" He looked at Zoro but the swordsman just looked at him like it was obvious.

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy and I'm the Captain. We just drew our flag a few days ago." Luffy said with a challenging glare. He was clearly excited at the thought of getting into battle as an official pirate.

"Full Body let's go, I'm hungry." The woman whined. "Ok then let's go." Full Body ignored them and got into a row boat. "Sink 'em." He said before he made his way to the restaurant.

"Luffy, what are we gonna do?" Zoro asked. "Leave it to me." As the loud boom of the cannon went off and smoke filled the air Luffy jumped on the banister of the Merry and stretched his arm out to hold on to something. The cannonball was caught by Luffy's whole body and he flew back. The Marines had a shocked look on their face but it only lasted a second as it was over taken by fear as the cannonball was shot back at them right into the hall of their boat.

As the Marines scrambled to fix the damage the crew docked and got ready to go eat. As the doors to the Baratie opened nobody paid the pirates any mind. Which was strange considering the group had a big white lion with them. Luffy found an empty table not bothering to wait for service and looked at the menu. Specifically looking at all the meat dishes.

"I thought people would be screaming in terror by now." Usopp said and Nami and Zoro nodded in agreement. Luffy looked at them confused. "Why would they be scared?" He asked and his crew shook their heads at him. "You can be so clueless Luffy." Nami said.

CRASH!

The sound of something breaking caught everyone's attention and they looked to see a table destroyed by a pink haired man. "Hey isn't that the Marine we saw outside." Usopp commented. Full Body looked very angry, blindingly so. He looked at the waiter who just stood there with a blank expression and a cigarette lit in his mouth. He was a fairly tall blonde man with swirly eyebrows. He wore a pure black suit with a blue under shirt. He took a long drag of his cigarette as Full Body addressed him.

"Don't mess with me waiter! I'm the customer here!" He gripped the waiter by his collar firmly but the waiter showed no reaction. "You could've eaten that. But now you've wasted it." It all happened in an instant, in a few moments the waiter was holding Full Body by his neck and the Marine was beaten bloody.

"Don't ever waste food around me." The edge in the waiter's voice cut into everyone. "Sanji not again. How many times do we have to tell you not to beat the shit out of our customers? Besides, can't you see he's a marine lieutenant." A big man said. The now identified Sanji dropped the Marine like he was trash. "You bastards, I'm gonna report this place and get it shut down."

"Get us shut down huh? Maybe I should just kill you now then." Sanji said with a devilish glint in his eye. As he raised his right leg seemingly about to finish off the Marine someone interrupted. A wooden leg was swiped across his face at high speed. "Sanji stop going on a rampage in my restaurant." A man said. The man in question was a stubby old man with a long braided mustache. He had possibly the longest chef's hat anybody had ever seen and a wooden leg. "He didn't respect the food or the chefs who made it." Sanji responded. And Full Body's smirk was wiped from his face as the old man hit him too.

"Wha-"

"Get out of my restaurant!" The old man sad and Full Body looked shocked but that was all he could as the doors to the restaurant burst open and a marine was there with blood leaking from his temple and stained to his uniform. "Full Body sir he escaped. 7 of our men have already fallen."

"How when we found him he was starving for 3 days and we haven't given him anything these past 4!" Full Body exclaimed. "It was those pirates sir, they sent the cannonball back into the ship and it broke his cell. He-"

BOOM!

The loud sound of a gun echoed into the restaurant and the marines' words were cut short. He fell to the ground lifeless before he could finish his sentence. "Man, this place is crazy." Luffy commented as Usopp shook in his seat. Zoro looked ready to battle if need be. A man walked in with a smoking pistol in his hand. He was tall and sickly. Bags in his eyes and crusted lips. It was clear he hadn't had water or food in a while.

He tried to act tough as he walked to an empty table but Luffy and Zoro couldn't see he could barely stand the movement. He wore a gray cropped jacket with blue lines on the sleeves. Red snakes sat on the front and back of it. As he sat down he propped his legs on the table. The headband he wore covered his eyes a little bit giving him a dangerous aura. The people in the restaurant looked at him in fear and whispers started to fly.

"That's the Man Demon."

"The krige pirates chief of staff."

Luffy was confused but his crew seemed to know who he was and Usopp seemed all too happy to tell him. "Luffy, that's the Man Demon Gin. They say he's a cold hearted demon that would kill anyone at the drop of a hat. Even a little girl." Usopp said, shaking. Luffy looked at him confused and unimpressed, the same way he looked at Zoro. "He doesn't look all that demonic to me."

"Can someone get me some food please?" Gin asked dangerously. The big man that scolded Sanji walked up to him with an all too fake smile. He looked like a gorilla with his huge forearms and bald head. His name was patty. "And how will you be paying for that?"

"Does lead count?"

CRASH!

Patty slammed two fists on top of Gin and broke the chair he was sitting on at the same time. He started to run kicks into Gin and the people cheered him on. Luffy didn't like what was happening and neither did his crew. Patty picked up the downed pirate and carried him outside. Luffy saw the waiter from earlier follow out with a plate of food. He put on a sly smile as he got up from the table.

"I'll be back in a second."

He snuck onto a balcony where he saw Gin laying on his stomach in pain. He watched as Sanji appeared with a plate of hot food. "Here eat." Sanji ordered.

"I won't take your pity." Gin said, shooing him away. "It's not pity. I'll never let a person starve in front of me." Gin still seemed hesitant to take the food. "You can die for your pride now or you eat and live and fight for your pride another day." Sanji's words seemed to have struck Gin and tears started to poll from his eyes as he ate the good eth vigor.

"This is the best food I've ever had." Gin cried and Sanji smirked at that. "Of course it is." Luffy smiled as he watched the interaction. He found himself his cook. He jumped from the balcony and landed neatly on the railing below. Sanji and Gin looked at him in surprise.

"Hey cook, how about you leave this place and join my pirate crew." Luffy wasted no time in making his offer. Sanji and Gin looked at him in shock. "What!?"

"I'm looking for a cook to join my crew."

"So you're a pirate?" Sanji questioned as he looked Luffy up and down. "Yep so what do you say?"

"Nah I have an obligation to this restaurant and the old man. Find someone else." Sanji said. Luffy didn't seem to like that answer.

"So you're only staying here out of obligation and not because you want to." Sanji looked to be tripped up by his words.

"What no, I want to stay here so that old man can acknowledge me as a chef. Only then will I leave." Sanji said heatedly.

"Ok then I refuse your refusal."

"What!"

"I said I refuse." Luffy said and when Sanji tried to say something else Luffy stuck his fingers in his ears and started to say. "Lalalalalalala."

Sanji looked like he was about to explode into flames as his anger rose higher and higher. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but you say you're a pirate?" Gin asked Luffy. "Yep."

"If you don't mind me asking what's your goal?"

"The One Piece of course. Pretty soon I'm gonna go to the Grand Line and find it." Luffy said with an excited chuckle. "Well you can't have been on the sea for long if you don't even have a cook yet."

"Nope, Sanji would be my Fifth crew mate."

"I said I'm not going!" The cook said for the thousandth time.

"You seem like a nice kid so let me give you some advice. The Grand Line is a dangerous place, there are plenty of other seas out there they will let you be a real pirate."

"Well that's too bad I've already decided to go. How about you tell me the dangerous stuff now." Gin seems to be overtaken by fear when Luffy asks this. "I can't I don't understand it at all and that's why I fear it."

"To me that makes it more fun. A mystery sea. Shishishi." Gin looked at him in shock and Sanji did the same. They didn't know if he was brave or just stupid. But Luffy was neither. He was resolute. He knew how he wanted to live his life and nothing would stand in his way.

"Man, I'm hungry. You're a waiter right, Sanji, take my order."

"I'm a chef, the waiters just quit!" Sanji yelled.

"So you're a waiter and a chef. Wow Sanji, you're really great." Luffy said and Sanji just deflated and walked back inside. Luffy turned to Gin who secured himself a boat from the Marine ship he escaped from.

"You know it's funny I used to think of the Grand Line as a mystery sea too. It used to be my dream to explore it. But now…" Gin shook as he thought about it. "I can't even think about it without shaking."

"That's too bad."

"Tell that chef that his food was the best and I'll come back sometime."

"You know if you join my crew you can eat his cooking everyday." Luffy said as he walked back inside. Gin just watched him go with a gobsmacked expression on his face.

"He just invited the number two of the krige pirates like it was no big deal. That kid is crazy." He said as he rowed away.

Back inside Luffy sat down with his crew with a big smile on his face. "What are you so happy about?" Zoro asked. "I found our cook." Luffy said pointing to Sanji who was fawning over some girl. He had literal hearts in his eyes as he spoke to her. Zoro's face immediately scrunched up in disgust. "Really him?"

"Yep."

That night everyone on the ship was asleep. All except Luffy and Zoro. Luffy was lying on his self proclaimed Captain's seat and Zoro was sitting on the railing. "What did you wanna talk about?" Luffy asked, his eyes trained on the stars above.

"It's about the navigator. Somethings up with her." Luffy side eyed his swordsman. "Like what?"

"When Johnny threw those wanted posters she picked one up. A pirate named Saw Tooth Arlong. She looked…strange when she looked at it and she crumbled it up." Zoro explained. Luffy placed his hat over his face.

'Pirates took someone very important to me I'll never be one' 'I need a hundred million to buy a village' 'I only love money and tangerines'

Luffy replayed all the things Nami told him about pirates. He got a vague idea of what was happening. "Just leave it for now."

"I thought you'd say that."

"Shishishi. If Nami wants help she'll ask."

"That's not what I'm worried about. What if it isn't help she wants?" Luffy stayed quiet, he knew what Zoro was implying. But he knew Nami wasn't that kind of person.

While they were talking the person in question was in her room doing math on her head. "It seems like I have enough Bellamere. It's time to go home." She didn't sound happy at all in fact it was clear she wasn't as small tears fell from her eyes.