Grey terminal was an unsightly place, trash as far as the eye can see and even more people. If you asked yourself why people would live in a trash heap, well that was simple. They were outkast. Grey Terminal was home to the unfortunate, the undesirable, and the irredeemable. The smell that accompanied a place like this was as expected. It smelled of rotten flesh, broken dreams and broken wills. The people in the Goa Kingdom pretended it didn't exist while the residents of Fusha Village avoided it altogether. Meaning the only people who frequented a place like this were pirates and bandits. Shady deals took place here as well as every crime imaginable. But there was another group who visited this place, a small group of three who ran all through the trash covered hell.

"Hurry up guys, he's getting away!" A child-like voice rang out. The boy couldn't be more than 10 or 11 years old. He had long black hair and a face full of freckles but his eyes. His eyes held a hunger like no other.

"We're coming Luffy dropped his hat!" Another child replied back. He looked to be the same age as the first child. He had short blonde hair that was hidden under a top hat. He smiled as he raced behind his friend and you could see a tooth was missing. His eyes, like his friend, held a hunger but they always looked around for any danger and the reason for that was right behind him.

"Shishishi!" An even smaller boy laughed as he ran behind his two friends. His brothers. He had a large straw hat on his head that covered his smooth black hair. A crescent scar was under his left eye and he wore possibly the biggest smile you have ever seen. These three boy's were Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. Three friends turned brothers. Everyone else saw Grey Terminal as a place to be avoided or feared, but in the mind of these three it was a place of adventure, freedom, and opportunity. And they were chasing that opportunity right now.

Ace the one in front was hot on the tail of a thief, word around was that he stole a nice sum of money from the nobles in High town. That means he was the perfect opportunity for the three brothers to fund their dreams. Ace jumped with all his strength and slammed a metal pipe into the target's back. Sabo and Luffy were pretty sure they heard a crack. Luffy and Sabo arrived just seconds later and when they saw all the gold the man had their eyes shined.

"This is our greatest score yet you guys, we might have a million berri with this." Sabo said in awe not paying the man groaning in pain any mind. Luffy laughed as he raised his own metal pipe into the air.

"That means we can finally be pirates!" He screamed and Ace hit him over the head with his pipe. Luffy didn't feel any pain from this though the only person who can hurt him now is his grandpa. He shivered at the thought of him. "You dumbass, we said we would wait until we're 17!" Luffy pouted in sadness.

"But why when we have the money right now!?" Luffy whined

"We'd die Luffy that's why." Sabo told him.

"Whatever." Sabo just laughed at Luffy's frustration while Ace grumbled about stupid kids.

"Anyway let's take this back to base."

The three collected their spoils and started to make their way back to their hideout. As they walked through the trash heap the people avoided them. The three had been doing this kind of thing for awhile, almost everyone in Grey Terminal knew who they were. Some called them demons, others called them monsters. But most called them stupid kids who didn't know anything about the world. Each statement held a little bit of truth to them. As they were walking the three caught sight of something. A man was on top of a woman ripping her clothes off while she cried and pleaded for help. Luffy knew this guy was doing something wrong but Ace and Sabo grew disgusted and enraged faces. Before anybody could do anything Ace smashed him over head with his pipe. Blood flew from the man's skull and stained his pipe and the man fell lifeless on top of the woman.

Ace had killed him.

This wasn't the first time Luffy had seen a dead body. It wasn't the first time any of them had. The three learned early on that death was a part of life and death was commonplace on the path each had decided to walk. It wasn't the first time Ace had killed someone either. So instead of being terrified or disgusted he was more confused on why Ace had done it. The guy was attacking that girl but was it anything for him to die over? Luffy grew more confused as the woman thanked Ace profusely.

"Thank you so much." She said as she hugged the young boy. Ace blushed as he pushed the woman off him.

"Yeah whatever." He replied with an embarrassed voice.

The three didn't stay too long after that and the whole way back Luffy was just confused.

"Hey guys, why did that guy need to die?" He asked.

"He was scum Luffy." Was all Ace said.

"But why, he was just attacking her right? We've seen that stuff before." Ace and Sabo both turned to each other, seemingly having a quiet conversation with their eyes. It didn't take long for Ace to turn his head and for Sabo to turn to Luffy with a hesitant look on his face.

"Ok Luffy this is important so listen when I tell you this. Do you know what rape is?"

" A rap? Like food?" Sabo hung his head at his little brother's one track mind.

"See I knew it. It's useless to try and teach Luffy this stuff. He's too stupid." Ace said sitting on a tree

"Hey I'm not stupid!" Luffy said angrily.

"He needs to know these things if he's gonna be a pirate." Sabo retorted back. Sabo grew quiet as he thought about the best way to explain this time Luffy. He knew his brother wasn't dumb he just didn't care about most things other people did. A light bulb flashed in his head.

"Ok Luffy do you know why animals mate?"

"Yeah you mean to make babies?" Luffy answered confused. He didn't know what animals had to do with Ace killing that guy.

"Well humans mate too."

"Yeah I know that, how else would babies be made?" Luffy explained like he was teaching Sabo.

"Yes well when humans do it it's called sex and it isn't always to make babies."

"But why?" Sabo stopped to think of a good way to explain this. It was already uncomfortable enough explaining this to a seven year old he didn't need it to be more weird. "Well sex or mating for humans is more than just for babies. Some people do it for fun because it feels good. Think of it like an adventure."

Luffy's eyes lit up like stars when he heard adventure. "Wow, can I have sex too!?" Sabo's eyes widened while Ace started to choke on the air he was breathing.

"NO!" They both said and Luffy's face grew sad.

"Aww man. It sounded fun."

"Listen Luffy you can only have sex when you are older ok?" Sabo said and Luffy nodded with a happy smile on his face.

"Sex is important to humans; most people only do it with the person they trust the most in the world. To some people sex is like the greatest treasure. So it should never be taken."

Luffy's eyes grew in realization then soon turned to anger. He gripped his straw hat. "That's what that guy was trying to do? Take her treasure?"

"That's right."

"I understand." The anger in Luffy's eyes receded and he got a curious look in his eyes.

"Tell me more about this sex stuff, is it as good as meat!?"

Ace and Sabo both fell on their heads with blushes in their faces.

"Maybe another time Luffy."

These three boys would make great waves in the world and go on many adventures. The gray terminal was their first adventure.

It's been 10 years since then and Luffy was now seventeen. Ace had already left to be a pirate three years ago and Sabo had gone with him. Luffy now stood tall as a young man ready to take on the world to achieve his dreams. He now wore a red vest and blue shorts, on his feet were a pair of sandals. His back held the metal pipe he wielded as a child and a large sack. His head housed his straw hat, only now it wasn't too big for him. But the people weren't focused on how much Luffy had grown in 10 years, instead they were focused on the lion standing next to him.

"Luffy what's that?" A citizen asked, pointing towards the beast. The lion was almost as tall as Luffy was, the people could see its muscles through its white fur. Its maine was large but not as large as it could be meaning it had some growing to do. It had a scar running down its left eye and they were a striking pure red. When the lion looked at the residents of Fusha Village they shook in fear while Luffy just laughed.

"This is my first crew member. His name is Shiro." Luffy said excitedly. Luffy loaded his things into a small boat that he and Shiro barely fit into.

"Are you sure you don't want my old fishing boat?" Someone asked him. But Luffy waved him away.

"Nah I want to start with nothing. Just like Ace and Sabo." He said much to the confusion of the others. Though the Mayor and Makino smiled.

"Ok guys I'm leaving, pretty soon you'll see my wanted poster everywhere!" He said as he started to row away from the island. The people cheered him away. He barely made it 15 feet before something happened.

"Grrrrr." Shiro growled and his claws dug into the wood of the ship. The water started to rumble and Luffy smiled. "Yeah I feel it too." He said quietly. Soon a large sea monster rose from the ocean, it's mouth alone was bigger than Luffy's boat.

"I've been waiting for this. Have a taste of the technique I've been working on for 10 years." Luffy's arm stretched back to the shore line.

"GUM GUM PISTOL!"

His arm flew at highspeeds right into the face of the sea king. The punch was so strong the sea king flew out of the water and its teeth were destroyed. Luffy had killed the beast in one punch. As Luffy rode past the beast his stomach growled.

"Too bad, if I had enough space I would have taken you with me." Luffy said and Shiro purred in agreement.

"One day I'm gonna be King Of The Pirates!"

Sailing the Seas of the east blue was someone named Koby, he was a small pudgy boy with pink hair. He was on a pirate ship though technically he wasn't part of the crew. He was more of a punching bag who could do chores. Right now they were in the midst of raiding a cruise ship and Koby had just found a super heavy barrel of bear.

"Hey Koby, whatcha got there?" One the crew called out to him. Koby shook with nerves as he turned to see three of his shipmates walking towards him.

"Trying to hide away from the action again?" One of them asked.

"No of course not I was just about to bring you this booze I found." Koby said quickly. The crew laughed as they stood the barrel up. "There's another heavy one over there too." He said pointing to the barrel on the corner.

"Well let's just focus on this one."

The men got ready to open the barrel but in a few moments one of them was knocked out.

CRASH!

"I SLEPT GOOOOOOOOOD!"

A man exploded from the barrel much to the shock of all in the room. This was Monkey D. Luffy. His entrance knocked out one of the men, though Luffy had no idea.

"Your friend could catch a cold if he sleeps like that." Luffy said as he pulled himself from the barrel. He turned to the scared pink haired boy, not paying attention to the two men with swords.

"Hey you got some food?"

"Watch out!" Koby screamed as the two pirates swung their swords at Luffy's back. But Luffy showed no fear, in one motion he broke the swords with his fist. The two men fell over without Luffy even touching them. They looked at him like he was some kind of monster.

"What's your problem?" He asked but the two men screamed in fear and ran away.

"Weird." Luffy said as he walked to a room and to his joy he found some food. "Hey Shiro, come look!" He called out, much to Koby's confusion.

"Shiro? What are you talking about?" Koby got his answer in a second when another barrel opened and he fell on his butt when he saw a white lion emerge from it. "That's- that's a- THAT'S A LION!"

Shiro ignored the boy pointing at him with a gaping mouth and walked to his captain. Shiro's eyes shined and his mouth watered. He purred as Luffy tossed him an apple.

"It's good right? Shishishi." Luffy said before he and Shiro started to devour all the food in the store room.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Their meal was interrupted by the scream of Koby.

"Oh right I didn't tell you. I'm Monkey D. Luffy. The man who's gonna be King of the pirates."

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!"

"You want to be king of the pirates. That means you want to find the one piece right?"

"Yep."

"But to do that you would have to fight all the other pirates! And they're just too many stronger, bigger, badder guys on the sea. You could never-." Koby's rant was interrupted by Luffy punching him in the head.

"You hit me, why?"

"Because you were being annoying. So is this a pirate ship?"

"No, this is a cruise ship being raided by pirates. You should get out of here, if Alvida finds you you're dead."

"Nah I'm hungry and so is Shiro." Luffy said, stuffing his face with fruit.

"Were you serious? About being king."

"Yeah it's my dream." Luffy said and those words struck Koby. He laughed bitterly. "How do you know you can even do it?" Luffy smiled as he pulled off his hat and looked at it fondly.

"It's not about if I can. It's what I decided to do and if I die doing it then I die." Shiro growled in agreement with him.

"Welp that was good, time for us to go. Maybe if I ask for a ship they would give me one." Luffy said as he and Shiro made their way out of the store room.

"Do you think I could be a marine?" Koby said to his back.

"How should I know?"

"You're right Luffy! I'm gonna do it even if I die! I'll leave this ship and become a marine and catch scum like Alvida!"

CRASH!

"Koby, who are you gonna catch?" A very, very large woman fell from the ceiling. She eyed Luffy unimpressed. "I guess you're not the Pirate Hunter Zoro."

"Zoro?" Luffy questioned, he looked above where the woman fell and he could see a group of pirates staring at them with blood thirsty eyes.

"Koby, who's the most beautiful woman on the seas." Koby started to shake in his place as he tried to come up with the answer.

"Hey Koby, who's the whale?"

Everyone froze when Luffy said this and Alvida lit up in anger. "You bastard!" She slammed her iron mace down on top of Luffy but he dodge and grabbed Koby.

"Let's go." He jumped on deck with Shiro following him. Alvida's crew quickly surrounded them. One came forward with a sword strike but Luffy dodged backwards and slammed his head into him. The next attack came from behind and Luffy planted his fist into the man's face before he could even swing his sword. Another above from behind Luffy but Shiro wouldn't let them get too close.

"Aaaaaaaaaa!"

The man screamed in pain as he was mauled by the lion. As Shiro came to stand next to Luffy the other pirates stopped back in fear.

"Gum Gum whip!"

Luffy yelled and his leg stretched out and swiped the group of pirates into the water.

"Luffy, what are you?" Koby asks fearfully. Luffy smiled and stretched his mouth. "I'm a rubber man."

"So you've eaten one of the devil's fruits have you?" Alvida said as she appeared on deck.

"Aaaaaaa Luffy, let's get out of here before she kills us. She's the-" Koby's fearful rant was interrupted by Luffy

"The what?"

Koby froze as he thought about what to say. He said he would leave and become a marine so why would he falter now.

"She's the ugliest woman on the seas! Listen Alvida, I'm leaving this crew and I'm gonna be a marine one day!"

"You brat!" Koby screamed in terror as Alvida swung her iron mace at him. He didn't have any regrets but he didn't want to die just yet.

"Well said."

Koby opened his eyes to see Luffy take the iron mace upon himself, the impact broke the wood beneath his feet.

"That won't work on me."

Luffy pushed the mace and Alvida away from himself and stretched his arm back.

"Gum Gum pistol!"

The force of his punch was enough to send the large woman flying away so far no one left on the ship could see her anymore.

"Hey get Koby a ship he's gonna be a marine." He said seriously and the remaining pirates rushed to prepare him a ship. By the time it was done the marines had shown up and they were firing on them.

"Hey look, the Marines you could just ask to join them." Luffy said as he got into the boat.

"No way if they see me like this they'd think I was a pirate I'm coming too!" Koby said as he squeezed into the boat next to Shiro. Shiro used his claws to cut the ropes keeping the boat in the air and they fell into the sea right next to another boat. Luffy locked eyes with a beautiful orange haired girl. She had shocked eyes as she looked between Luffy and the lion next to him.

"Let's book it Koby!"

"So Koby, who's this Zoro guy?" Luffy asked. The three of them had been drifting for a few hours now. "They call him Pirate Hunter Zoro, they say he's a demon in human skin and he cuts up pirates for fun." Koby looked scared just talking about the man. Luffy looked to be excited though.

"I heard he was captured by the Marines recently though, in a place called shell town." Luffy's face grew disappointed.

"So he's weak then."

"No way! Did you not hear me? I said he's a demon who kills for fun!" Koby exclaimed, accidentally bumping the sleeping Shiro. He shrunk into the corner of the boy when the lion growled in its sleep. "Why do you wanna know anyway?"

"Because if he's a good guy I'll ask him to join my crew." Luffy said with an easy smile. Koby's jaw nearly fell from his mouth.

"Didn't you hear me! He's a demon!"

"Yeah I'll see for myself. Now to Shell town!" Luffy said, pointing into the distance.

It didn't take long for them to get to the Marine Base shell town. The people looked terrified as they watched Shiro follow behind the two. They walked into a restaurant and the people immediately froze when they walked in. Luffy sat down at a nearby table while Koby sat across from him and Shiro sat at his feet. A very scared woman approached them to take their order.

"I'll take 2 of everything please." Luffy said "Yes sir coming right up." The woman said quickly and dashed away from them. "Man, this place has good service. Look at how fast she took my order." Luffy said while Koby fell on his face. "Or maybe she was afraid of the lion sitting next to you!"

"But Shiro's nice." Luffy said confused and Koby just gave up. "You're hopeless." He said depressed.

It didn't take long for the food to come out which was good for Luffy as he was starving. He started to inhale all the food on the table, of course giving a fair portion to Shiro. When he was finishind he patted his enlarged belly with a satisfied smile. "Man, that was good. Now it's time to look for this Zoro guy." He said and the people in the bar jumped when they heard Zoro's name."Shishishi, these people are funny." Luffy said.

"I hear this town is under a marine captain named Morgan. I wonder if he'd accept me." Koby said, but like when Luffy said Zoro's name the people jumped in fear. Koby looked around confused while Luffy had no expression on his face.

"I wonder why they jumped like that?" Koby questioned.

"The world isn't black and white Koby." Luffy said seriously. Koby looked at him confused.

"What does that mean?" Luffy didn't elaborate instead he paid for his food and left with his hands neatly in his pockets. "Luffy, where are you going?" Koby said as he followed after him. "To where Zoro is."

"But how do you know where he is?" Luffy just smiled at him. "I can feel it." He said and Koby just looked even more confused than before. The Pirate was an enigma to him.

They kept walking until they came across the gates of the Marine Base. Koby gazes upon the gates with awe and teary eyes. "I can't believe I'm really here. This is my dream."

"Hey look the demon." Luffy said from on top of one of the walls. Koby had a ludicrous expression on his face as he got on the wall next to Luffy. "That's impossible Luffy no way they would leave him in the open like- OH MY GOD IT'S HIM!"

Tied to a cross in the middle of the courtyard was a green haired man with a bandana tied around his head. He wore black pants and boots with a white shirt and a green haramaki around his waist. He's been out here for a while if the dirt and grime on him was anything to go by. The man looked up at them with a mean glare that had Koby shaking in his boots. It was like a starved beast looking at prey.

"Get lost, your an eye sore." He said forcefully and Koby nearly fell from the ledge. Luffy meanwhile watched with a blank expression on his face. He was analyzing the man. In the midst of this a little girl propped a ladder on the wall and climbed up. She motioned for Luffy and Koby to be quiet and jumped over the wall. Zoro looked at her like an annoyance and told her to leave.

"I made you rice balls." She said.

"I don't want them, leave now or else." Zoro said with mild anger.

"But I worked hard on them."

"Leave!" Zoro exclaimed. The girl jumped and seemed to want to cry.

"Now Zoro, that's not good. She said she worked hard on those." A male voice interrupted. He was a snotty looking guy with a purple suit. His head was oddly shaped and his hair sat weirdly on it. He walked over to the girl and ate one of the rice balls she made. He spit it out immediately.

"Ewwww too sweet you're supposed to use salt you dumbass." The girl started to cry. The smug man slapped the other rice ball out of her hand and stomped it into the dirt. He pointed to the sign next to Zoro.

"You see this. It says any one who helps criminals is to be put to death." The girl flinched. "Seems like everyone is afraid of my daddy." He said proudly with a disgusting smile on his face.

"Daddy?" Luffy questioned. "That means Captain Morgan is his father." Koby said, shocked. "Why would Marines be so cruel, they're supposed to be fighting for justice." He went on heatedly.

"You are just a kid so I won't kill you. Hey you throw her over the gate." The man directed to throw her seemed to hesitate but he did it anyway. The girl screamed but Luffy jumped from the wall and caught her in his arms.

"You alright?" He asked her. The small girl smiled and nodded. "Thanks, mister, you're cool." She said before she saw Shiro sitting next to Luffy. "Ooo a kitty." She said and started to pet him. Shiro purred in the girl's hand and she giggled.

"Shiro follow her away from here." Luffy said and Shiro and the girl walked away.

"Man that was close. We should get out of here too Luffy." Koby said but when he looked around for his new friend he wasn't there. Looking inside the courtyard Luffy was standing in front of Zoro. "How did he do that!?"

"You're still here?" Zoro asked, eyeing the stranger. He could tell something was strange about him.

"I heard you're a demon in a human's skin… but you seem pretty weak to me." Luffy said. Zoro seemed to look offended but he held it in. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew."

"Pirate crew? No way I would never stoop that low and become a crook." Luffy looked confused at his reasons. "But people already see you as a bad guy. Besides, pirates are free to do what they want, doesn't that sound fun."

"I don't care what others think."

"Then that's even more reason to be a pirate." Luffy said looking at Zoro like he was an idiot.

"Listen, I have my own ambitions. I will survive this and achieve them. Now leave!" Zoro said with concrete resolve. Luffy laughed, but he smiled and started to walk away. "Wait, can you give me that?" Luffy looked at where he was pointing and saw the stomped on rice ball. "You sure it's more dirt than anything?"

"Just give it to me!"

Luffy grabbed the muddy rice ball and fed it to Zoro. He could hear him crunt through the rocks and pebbles as he chewed and swallowed. "Tell her I said it was the best rice ball I ever had." Luffy smiled wider. He liked this guy.

"Really he said that?!" The small girl from earlier, Rika asked excitedly. "Yep and he ate the whole thing." Luffy explained to her. Koby seemed to be contemplating over something. "I can't believe Zoro isn't a bad guy."

"Of course he isn't, it's the jerk Helmepo." Rika explained to them how Zoro cut down the smug son's wolf and then made a deal with him. Starve for a month and in exchange Helmeppo would spare the little girl and her mother from his father. Zoro only had a week left now.

"I'm bored." They all turned to see Helmeppo and a few Marines walking down the street. "Maybe I'll just execute Zoro tomorrow instead of a few days from now." Immediately at those words Luffy's eyes took on a dangerous tint.

"Hey, you said you would let him go next week." He asked the blonde haired bastard. Helmeppo laughed. "I lied, only a fool would believe such a thing."

BAM!

Luffy punched Helmeppo in the face faster than anyone could notice. The victim of his assault flew down the street with a missing tooth. The Marine guards looked between Luffy and their downed charge before they took Helmeppo and dashed away.

"I've decided Koby I'm gonna save Zoro and he's gonna join my crew." After he said this Luffy disappeared from sight. Koby looked around in shock but he couldn't see Luffy anywhere.

"How did he do that!?"

Back in the courtyard Luffy appeared on one of the arms of the cross much to the swordsman's annoyance. "What are you doing back here?" Zoro said but he was surprised to see the Pirate was able to appear like that without him noticing. Luffy jumped from the cross and landed in front of him.

"You said you had a dream right? What is it." Zoro looked confused and he was getting ready to tell the strawhat wearing boy off. But the look Luffy had in his eyes reminded Zoro of his own. The eyes of someone with great ambition and the will to risk your life for it.

"I'm gonna be the greatest swordsman in the world and nothing less." Luffy smiled at him.

"Helmeppo said he's gonna execute you tomorrow, so you could either stay here and die or join my crew and be a pirate." Luffy said with a wide smile on his face. Zoro looked like someone had just punched him in the stomach.

"What! That bastard." He said hatefully. He looked at Luffy and weighed his options. He couldn't die here not until he found her. Not until he beat Hawk eye. "You're the son of the devil, you know that. Fine, get my swords from that shitty Helmeppo and I'll join your crew."

"Shishishi! Great be right back."

Luffy ran into the Marine Base not caring to sneak around at all. "Hey who are you?!" The Marines asked him but Luffy just jumped over them and kept running. He was going straight for Helmeppo, if you asked Luffy how he knew where he was he would just tell you he felt it.

"Hey stop!" Marine said with his sword drawn. Luffy easily dodged his attack and sent him into the dream world with one punch. "Sorry I'm in a hurry!" Luffy said with a laugh. In a few moments he burst into an infirmary to see Helmeppo nursing a swollen cheek. When he laid eyes on Luffy the man screamed in fear.

"Aaaaaaaaa! It's you!"

"It's meeeeeee!" Luffy said with a smile as he ripped Helmeppo from his bed. He turned around to see Marines holding guns at him. "Put him down!" They demanded but Luffy just held Helmeppo up as a shield.

"Wait wait, don't shoot!" He waved his arms in an erratic fashion as Luffy ran out the door with him as a shield. "Where are Zoro's swords?"

"In my room upstairs."

"Thanks."

Back in the courtyard Koby and Shiro just showed up to free Zoro. "You were with that- IS THAT A LION!?" Zoro screamed in shock. Koby got to work on freeing him and ignored his shock over Shiro. "Hey, why are you helping me?" Zoro asked Koby as he saw the boy was shaking. "Luffy told me this world isn't black and white, I didn't know what he meant but now I do. The Marines might not always be good and guys like you won't always be bad. This is wrong, it's not justice! I won't ask you to join his crew or anything but please help Luffy!" Koby said desperately.

"Luffy? If you mean that guy with the straw hat don't worry. He's my new captain." Koby looked surprised when Zoro said that but Shiro's ears perked up and he slashed the ropes holding Zoro with his claws.

"Thanks for that. Now all I need is my swords." Zoro said, stretching his strained body.

"Hold it." A strong male voice rang in the courtyard. The trio turned to see captain Morgan and his troops standing with guns aimed at them. Morgan was a huge man that towered over his troops. He had a metal brace on his lower jaw and blond hair like his son. His name Ax Hand Morgan was right on the nose as one of his hands was replaced with a huge ax.

"Oh crap this isn't good." Zoro said nervously. Koby was shaking in his boots and Shiro was growling loudly with his red eyes focused on the enemy.

"Men aim and… FIRE!"

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG BANG! BANG!

Shots rang through the courtyard Zoro grit his teeth in anger as he faced down death while Koby closed his eyes in fear.

"Not on my watch." Everyone heard a voice and in a second Luffy appeared in front of the trio with his arms spread out in a shield.

"LUFFY!" Koby and Zoro screamed in fear for him. Luffy kept an easy smile on his face however as the bullets hit him. Everyone watched in shock, instead of piercing him they instead were caught by his rubber body. His skin stretched backwards and shot the bullets back out at twice the speed. The bullets hit some of the marines making them fall and scream in pain.

"That won't work on me!" He said laughing. Luffy turned around and handed Zoro three swords. In his hands he held two regular katanas but the last one was special, Luffy could tell. Its sheath black with gold dragons overlying it. The guard had a similar dragon design and its handle was black. "I didn't know which one was yours so I just grabbed them all." Zoro took all three swords. "They're all mine. I use the three sword style."

"Luffy watch out!" Koby screamed as the remaining Marine soldiers charged at him with swords drawn. Luffy didn't move instead his new crew member sprung into action. Two swords in his hands and one in his mouth Zoro was able to block all the swords with his own.

"Move you and you die."

The Marines froze in fear at the tone of Zoro's voice. "From today on I will fight as a pirate in your crew. It doesn't matter how but I will spread the name Roronoa Zoro throughout the world and become the world's greatest swordsman. If there ever comes a time you get in the way of my goal you will have to take responsibility." Zoro said, deadly serious.

"That's fine, the king of the pirates should have nothing less than the best in his crew. I promise you Zoro, on my crew you will take the world's stage!" Zoro's eyes widened in shock at the proclamation of his. He could tell Luffy was no normal man. "Seems like I picked a good captain to follow." He said with a smile.

"You should duck." Luffy said and Zoro did as instructed.

"Gum Gum Whip!"

Everyone besides Koby looked like they were struck by lightning as they watched Luffy's leg stretch and easily swipe away the Marines.

"What are you?" Zoro asked as he stood next to Luffy. "Just someone who ate the gum gum fruit." He said smiling.

"Captain, we can't beat them, they're monsters!" The Marines yelled. Morgan didn't say anything at first he just stood there with a blank expression.

"Any marine who spoke a word of weakness kill yourself!" He said. It was an absurd order but what was even more absurd was that the Marines were really gonna do it.

"They're crazy." Zoro said with disgust. Luffy raced past him and the marines and appeared in front of Morgan. He stretched his arm back and slammed it into him. Morgan blocked his attack with his ax but the attack held so much force that it pushed him back and dented the ax.

"You straw hat wearing bastard! People with no name or status have no right to attack great people like me! I am Ax hand Morgan!" Luffy smiled as his hat hid his eyes.

"And I'm Luffy."

Morgan rushed Luffy and slashed down at him, the attack was so powerful it cut right through the ground and made a small chasm. Luffy dodged the attack and jumped into the air and planted his two feet into the marine's face. The force pushed Morgan onto the ground but he got up quickly.

"You're gonna die, Straw Hat!" The captain screamed. He grabbed the handle of the ax coming out his arm and slammed it down on Luffy but he narrowly dodged and countered with a kick to the face that left Morgan reeling on the ground. Luffy got on top of him and started to beat his face in.

"I hate guys like you!" He said as he beat Morgan into a bloody pulp. Everyone in the courtyard watched in awe as some random person beat the infamous captain Morgan into submission.

"Stop!" Everyone froze at the abrupt shout and turned to see Helmeppo holding a gun to Koby's head. He laughed nervously as Luffy turned emotionless eyes on him. "Stop straw hat I have a hostage see." He said like he was trying to convince himself of his own words. Luffy got off of a hand Morgan with a bloody fist.

"Don't worry about me Luffy. I'm ready to die for my dream!" Koby exclaimed with shaky legs and teary eyes. Luffy smiled as did Zoro. "You hear that dumbass Koby's ready to die. Are you?" Luffy said with a warning tone and in just a few moments everyone saw why. Shiro jumped on Helmeppo from behind and bit deep into his shoulder. He passed out from the pain almost instantly. But in the midst of this happening Morgan was able to stand on his feet. His eyes were half lidded and his face was black and blue. He was being controlled by our rage.

"Luffy behind you!" Koby screamed but Luffy didn't turn around. Instead Zoro appeared behind Morgan in a flash and blood spluttered from the Marines chest.

"Nice one Zoro."

"Just doing my job captain." Zoro said before he turned his gaze to the remaining Marines. "Who else wants to fight?" He said but instead of raising their weapons for battle they threw them into the air in celebration.

"Yeahhhhhhh! Morgan's is defeated!" They screamed and danced around much to the others' confusion. "Hey Luffy can we get something to eat?" Zoro asked as he fell over onto the ground. Luffy picked him up over his shoulder and started to make his way back to the bar they first ate at.

While Luffy and the others were battling in the courtyard there was someone else in the Marine Base. The same orange haired girl that Luffy saw when he left Alvida's ship. She was looting the place just as she had done on Alvida's ship. Right now she was looking for a very specific item.

TICK!

"I got it!" She said in excitement. She had just opened a safe and found what she was looking for. A single piece of paper, but the girl looked at it like it was the brightest of diamonds. Once she opened the paper though her expression took on disappointment and anger.

"Damn it someone got here first!"

On the paper was the mark of a pirate.

"Buggy the clown. I'll get that map one way or another."

Back in town Luffy had taken Zoro to the bar where he ate, coincidentally it was the same bar where Zoro had been arrested. The swordsman had just finished eating a meal for 10 people but his captain had eaten one for 15.

"How the hell did you eat more than me? I've been starving for weeks." Zoro asked and Luffy just laughed.

"So how many more crew members do you got lined up?" Zoro asked.

"It's just us. Well there is one guy." Luffy said simply. "Who is it?"

"He was someone that was recommended to me when I was just a kid. I gotta see him for myself though." Luffy explained and Zoro didn't ask anymore about it.

"And a ship? Tell me you at least have that much."

"Right out there."

Zoro looked out the window only to see a small dingy that a dog was pissing on. "So two guys and a lion is what amounts to a pirate crew huh?"

"Yeah but we'll get more crew members and a big ship eventually. You gotta start somewhere right?"

"Hey Luffy, where are you and your crew going next?" Rika asked him. "The Grand Line of course."

"WHAAATTTTT! You have two men and a lion, no way you can make it on the Grand Line!" Koby said. Rika looked confused. "Is it really that dangerous?" She asked.

"Of course it is. They say the Grand Line is the pirate graveyard and it's a sea where one slip up means death." Koby said, shaking just talking about it.

"I've heard people talk about it, they say anyone who enters the Grand line never makes it out alive." Rika's mother said with a fearful tone.

"Well that's too bad because that's where the one piece is."

"But you can't." Koby said.

"What do you care, you're not coming with us." Zoro said. Koby looked downtrodden. "Yeah but I still worry. I haven't known Luffy for that long but he's still a friend right?"

"Yeah of course we might be separating now but we'll always be friends." Luffy said and Koby smiled brightly. The doors to the restaurant opened and Marines filed in. "We have heard that you are pirates, is that true?" The leader, Ripper asked. "Yep I just got my second crew member." Luffy bragged.

"While I am grateful for what you did, we cannot allow pirates to stay here. In exchange, we won't report what happened here today." He said and Luffy got up taking a sack of food that Rika's mom had given him. "It's fine we were already leaving. You can report what happened, it'll be doing me a favor." Luffy said with a laugh. Ripper nodded in understanding.

"Bye kitty." Rika said petting Shiro one last time. As they were walking out the door Ripper stopped them. "Hold on, is he with you?" He asked, pointing at Koby.

"Nope he's just some coward I picked up. He has no place in my crew." Luffy said as he kept walking. Koby looked hurt by his words but he understood why he said them. Luffy told them the truth, he was just some coward he picked up, he didn't belong with them. Koby's eyes shined with realization. 'He has no place in my crew' even now Luffy was helping him. Koby looked at the Marines with fire in his eyes.

"Sir, please let me join the Marines!"

"You know that was pretty harsh, what you said."

"It was the truth. Koby doesn't belong with us, he's gonna be a marine." Luffy said smiling as always. As all three of them got into the boat the space was tight. "Shiro, move over." Zoro said, pushing the lion into the other half of the boat with Luffy. The lion growled at him but laid down next to Luffy, just barely leaving space for his rubber captain.

"So what's the plan captain?"

"Well go to the Grand Line and pick up as many crew members as we can before we get there. And from then on I'll find the one piece and become king of the pirates!" Luffy said as they drifted into open waters.

"Sounds simple enough. You seem pretty obsessed with becoming the king. Any reason?" Zoro asked, looking to find out more about the man he's taken as captain.

"Reason? I made a promise to someone long ago. I told him I would gather a crew and find the greatest treasure and become the king of the pirates. And my hat is the symbol of that promise." Luffy said, looking at the hat fondly.

Zoro looked at him with understanding and recognition as he gripped the sword in his hands. "Aren't you gonna ask me why I want to be the greatest swordsman?" Luffy looked at him with a smile. "I don't care about the past Zoro. You want to be the greatest swordsman in the world and as your captain I will help you achieve that goal. That's all that matters." Zoro looked at him in surprise, he knew his captain was different but this…

"I made a promise to my friend. We promised we would fight for the title of the world's greatest swordsman. But one day she disappeared and she took her family sword too. I know she's out there somewhere training and getting stronger. So I won't fall behind and I will keep training as well until I become the greatest swordsman and see her again. Before I left my home her father gave me this sword. It's the symbol of my ambition and promise to her." Zoro said. He knew it wouldn't make a difference if he told Luffy or not. He didn't really know why he said anything at all but he decided to anyway and he lived life without regrets.

"Like I said, I don't care about the past. But I promise I'll help you see your friend again and make you the world's greatest swordsman." Luffy stuck his fist out and Zoro met it with his. Shiro put a paw on top of both of theirs.

"Now to the Grand Line!"