One Piece 1. Death of the King

_Hey Losers! UniqueUsername13 here! I hope you enjoy my first fanfic. It's not an all that original starting plot I know, but I know it'll get better as the story progresses. Forwarning, I'm not sticking as close to canon as possible (for some reason a lot of people do) and I'm going to through a bit of romance into the mix (because seriously, what good is a fanfic without romance. P.S. A pairing poll will be held later when I have a few readers, pay attention if you want your favorite pairs to get together!) Anyways, feel free to judge me as harshly as possible. I'm just doing this out of boredom._

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_*Insert obligatory disclaimer about Oda Eiichiro owning One Piece* Sad right? I wish I owned One Piece too_

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Smoke drifted across the barren island of Raftel as Luffy came ashore, the Marine ship of an Admiral following close behind. Luffy had made it, he had had reached One Piece...alone.

Tragically, he was not the first. Marshall D. Teach was waiting for the, triumph clear in his eyes. He had won. He had all three ancient weapons at his disposal. He sat upon the Ancient Ship Pluto laughing as the weapon Poseidon, also known as Princess Shirahoshi, was bound at his feet. In a his hand he held the last ancient weapon, Uranus, a fruit dubbed the God Fruit that surpassed any Devil Fruit.

Straw Hat Luffy narrowed his eyes at his last enemy before his ally stepped in beside him. His pink hair held back by his flowery bandana and round goggles and his white jacket hanging off his shoulders, Admiral Coby stood beside Luffy. The respective tops of the Pirate World and the Marine World recognized the threat known as Blackbeard and had working together against him.

"Zehahaha!" laughed Blackbeard at the sight of them. "I don't even want Gol D. Roger's treasure," he yelled to the two men, "you can take it and enjoy it during the last 30 minutes you have before I am reformed as God, and the world ends." The Ancient Ship Pluto shuttered at Blackbeards nod, and on the other side of the world the planet began to disintegrate. "Oh," snarled Blackbeard, "my mistake, make that 5 minutes. Zehahahahahahaha!" He bellowed as he ate the God Fruit and began to disappear as well, his laugh echoing throughout the island.

"We're done." Whispered Coby, shock evident in his voice. "We have been defeated."

"Not yet." growled Luffy before turning to Coby, his calm facade wavered for a moment before he continued. "Reject me," he simply said to the young Admiral, "Reject me and this timeline. Reject my memories and throw them into the past." Coby looked confused for a second before Luffy's facade dropped. "YOU ATE KUMA'S NIKYU NIKYU NO MI FRUIT DIDN'T YOU!?" He shouted, desperation evident on his face. "REJECT THIS FATE! REJECT LOGIC! REJECT THE FATE OF THE WORLD! REJECT THE DEATH OF MY CREW! REJECT MEEEEEE!" he screamed at the astonished Admiral's face. "Please," he spoke, barely above a whisper. "Reject me, and maybe I can save you all."

Luffy fell to his knees, tears freely running down his face as he faced utter defeat.

"Luffy," began Coby before he was interrupted as his ever active Kenbunshoku Haki picked up something. "Oh God." He breathed as he sensed the Earth disintegrating at a rapid rate all around them.

"I know," spoke Luffy, "I sensed it as soon as it began. The end is nearing us. I guess it seems appropriate though, we started our adventure together at the same time. It's only natural it would end with us together again." A pained smile graced his face as he looked up towards Coby once again. "Sorry," he said as another tear fell, "we're dead."

Coby turned towards the distance again and he saw the end of the Earth. Great chunks of Ocean fell away and disintegrated before Coby's eyes, speeding closer and closer towards the Island.

"No!" yelled Coby in shock. "No! This can't happen!" He fell to his knees next to Luffy, tears streaming down his face as well. "Your idea," he spoke ever so quietly to Luffy, "do you think it's possible? Do you think I can reject fate?"

Luffy looked up towards Coby once again. "What other choice do we have?" he asked. "It's the only thing that might work."

Coby nodded, determination fierce in his eyes as he took off his gloves to reveal his paws on his hands. "If this works, and you end up at a point before me," he said with determination, "I still want you to let me join the Marines. I have prevented a lot of injustices in my career, I don't want those people to be unpunished the next time." Luffy nodded as Coby continued, "The Marines are not to be ignored as much this time though, if you defeat Blackbeard then we'll get our hands on the weapons. Nobody should have that much power."

"Of course Old Friend," said Luffy before enveloping Coby in a hug, "I hope to see you on the other side."

Coby smiled and placed his hands on Luffy's chest and spoke the last words Luffy ever heard as the world crumbled around them.

"**Kotodama Shokku**."

_**~~~~~~~~~Void~~~~~~~~~**_

Luffy's thoughts were in a haze when he woke up in a cramped space, gruff voices floating around somewhere close to him. "You know what to do, right?! Coby…" spoke a voice that was silenced for some reason as Luffy stood up and stretched.

"Ahhhhh!" yawned Luffy loudly "What a nice nap!" Rubbing his eyes Luffy observed the scene around him. He was standing inside of a barrel with an unconscious pirate lying next to him and three other pirates staring at him. '_Deja vu_' thought Luffy before he noticed a mop of pink hair shivering in fright next to him. '_COBY?!_'


	2. Royalty in a Straw Hat

_Hey there again you 17 people who started following this story within the first 24 hours (and also the rest of you nerds...) congrats! I was so happy with how this story seemed to flow from my mind onto paper that I have a second chapter prepared for you! As we get farther into the story don't expect a chapter everyday though! It's simple since it's early, that's why I have 2 chapters in 2 days._

_Special thanks to my 2 first reviews!_

_**aznblackhowling: **__I also hope I don't abandon this story, this is a pretty big project I'm taking on!_

**_bookworm0313:_**_Thank you for recognizing the hard journey I have ahead of me since I stared from the beginning. I plan on making it deeper and darker that cannon with only major plot points (Like the recruitment of members) in the story, I'm considering making the beginning part of the story about Luffy's struggle with keeping secrets from his crew and how he deals with strengthening them early on so they can survive their later battles. I'm not going to focus so much on the early on battles, but they won't be completely negleted. When battle is eminent an important I'll write it as good as I write everything else. Tell me what you think! (Other people can tell me what they think as well...)_

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_Blah blah blah Disclaimer Blah blah Don't own One Piece **BLAH! **__

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Luffy's thoughts were in a haze when he woke up in a cramped space, gruff voices floating around somewhere close to him. "You know what to do, right?! Coby…" spoke a voice that was silenced for some reason as Luffy stood up and stretched.

"Ahhhhh!" yawned Luffy loudly "What a nice nap!" Rubbing his eyes Luffy observed the scene around him. He was standing inside of a barrel with an unconscious pirate lying next to him and three other pirates staring at him. 'Deja vu' thought Luffy before he noticed a mop of pink hair shivering in fright next to him. 'COBY?!'

Luffy looked at the other pirates as their mouths hung open. "Who are you?" he asked before the pirates yelled, "WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?!" in perfect unison.

Luffy began to open his mouth to answer but what interrupted when his always active Kenbunshoku Haki alerted him to an airborne object headed directly towards him. He raised his hands to catch the unseen projectile as a disgustingly gravely woman's voice boomed out.

"STOP SLACKING OFF!" yelled the woman as the wall exploded, fragments flying everywhere. Coby and the three pirates screamed in terror over the suddened event but stopped soon when they realized they weren't hurt, though Coby was still whimpering.

As the dust began to clear a morbidly obese woman with stringy black hair stepped up, "Iron Mace" Alvida had entered the scene. "I ask you! Who-" began Alvida before she noticed something unbelievable for her and her pirates. Luffy stood there with his barrel and the area behind him undamaged as he held Alvida's Iron Mace in his outstretched hand.  
"You caught that? How?!" yelled Coby in disbelief at this newcomers strength. Luffy turned towards Coby, a broad smile splitting his face. "Because I'm strong." He turned towards the enemy pirates again and tossed Alvida her club.

"Here," He simply said as he rose one finger, "I'll go easy on you." The smirk on Luffy's face sent Alvida over the edge. "YOU LITTLE BRAT!" She screamed as she rose her bludgeon above her head. "YOU HAVE TO DIE!" Luffy's grin lit up his face as she brought down her weapon.

**CRACK!**

Everyone stared in disbelief as Luffy's hand disappeared and Alvida's mace snapped. In the remnants of the mace's head was Luffy's single finger, sticking through the broken metal. "Oops." he said sarcastically as everyone stared at him dumbfoundedly.

"Im...That's impossible! My Bludgeon!" screamed Alvida in disbelief.

"Shishishishi~" Chuckled Luffy as he raised his arm. "My turn."

"**Gomu Gomu no Chop**"

Before anyone could react Luffy karate chopped Alvida, creating a dent in the earth at her feet which she promptly fell into unconscious.

"Anyone else?" He asked, looking around at the other pirate.

"N-no." was the general reply so Luffy turned to Coby.

"Is there I boat I can have?" he asked the frightened Coby.

"Y-y-yes s-sir." Coby stuttered, frightened at the strength Luffy displayed.

"Good, get it." Luffy beamed at him. "We're leaving."

"We?" Inquired Coby cautiously.

"Don't you want to leave?" Asked Luffy. "You're obviously not a pirate, so you must be a captive."

"Yes! I want to leave!" shouted the relieved Coby

"Shishishishi~ Then let's get going, I'm Monkey D. Luffy."

"I'm Coby"

~~~~~~~~~~Boat~~~~~~~~~

"So Luffy," said Coby as he pushed the boat off shore, "why do you sail?"

"I want to become the Pirate King." Stated Luffy with a gigantic smile across his face.

"Eh….?! Wha?! What?!" screamed a surprised Coby. "Pirate King is the title of someone who has everything in this world! Are you telling me that you're looking for the 'World's Greatest Treasure?' The 'One Piece!?' You wanna die or something?! All the pirates in the world are looking for that treasure!"

"Well, so am I." replied an impassive Luffy.

"...Im...Impossible! Absolutely Impossible! Utterly utterly impossible! To become the Pirate King in the Pirate Era, there's no chance! Utterly impossible!"

**Crack**

"Ow!" Yelled Coby as he held his head. "W...Why'd you hit me?!"

"Because I couldn't stand you!" Stated Luffy as he leaned back. "I'm not afraid of Dying!"

"Huh?"

"Because it's my dream, and that's why I won't mind dying for it."

Surprise was evident on Coby's face "W...Won't even mind death…?!"

"Besides," Continued Luffy, "I think I can do it. Although it could get pretty tough."

Tears started to flow down Coby's face. "...Will I also…..be able to accomplish my dream…..?! If...I'm willing to die…"

"Hm? What?"

Will I be able...to become a Marine…?!"

"Of course," stated Luffy with a smile on his face, "You would make an excellent Marine."

Tears and snot on his face, Coby began to cry. "Luffy-san, I know it means that we'll be enemies! But joining the Marines and catching bad guys...HAS ALWAYS BEEN MY DREAM!"

Luffy beamed at Coby 'I've held up my end so far Coby, I've begun your journey to become an Admiral. I hope you go to sleep soon. I can't keep this charade up much longer, and I have a lot to think about."

~~~~~~~~~~That Night~~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy stretched out across the little boat as Coby slept in the back. The sky above was dark, back, dark blue, as if a black piece of velvet had been lied over the the sky and sprinkled with shining gems, sapphires, azure, violet, peacock blue, delft, aqua, navy, steel, cobalt, and royal blue. The waves licked the boat softly and the air was blowing calmly. Luffy took in all this beauty and thought about the events of that day, and how he had lived them for a second time

'_I've already come to terms with the fact that I've essentially been sent back in time, weirder things have happened, and I'm on my way towards Zoro once again. Why did Coby always doubt me when he was wasn't a Marine? It's hard to imagine him becoming one of the strongest men in the world. I hope he becomes the same man this time. Anyways, I need to think of a way to defeat the World Government. I already have the Blackbeard problem figured out, just destroy him when I see him in Jaya. Done! The World Government is a little bit harder though. Maybe I should snatch their attention quicker this time, and also start putting islands under my protection before Fishman Island. I also need to tell my crew all this without making them think of me as crazy. Argh! Time travel is hard! I should think about this later though, we're almost at the island Zoro's on. I should impress him more this time_'

"Shishishishi~" Laughed Luffy into the silence of the night. "This'll be fun."

~~~~~~~~~~Docking~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy was jolted awake as the little dinghy he and Coby were on hit the docks of the island.

"Huh? What?" sputtered Luffy as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked around. "Yosh!" He yelled as he lept up. "We're finally at the Marine's Base!"

"Yep! Finally!"

"Alright!" Chuckled Luffy, "Let's go eat!"

He and Coby began to wake towards what they guessed was the market district.

"We'll go our separate ways here Coby! You do your best to be a great marine, alright?"

"I will…! Thank you so much Luffy-san, you have to become a great pirate too...although we'll become enemies in the future." Luffy grinned at his friends words.

"Say," Luffy wondered aloud, "I wonder which way Zoro is being kept at the Marine's Base."

**CRASH**

Every citizen nearby tensed and backed up, merchants throwing themselves under their stalls.

"Luffy," Whispered Coby, "It looks like we can't just yell out the name 'Zoro'..."

"Yeah…" stated Luffy while looking at the people as they began to relax again.

"Hey," said Coby, "I just saw a notice on the streets, there's someone called Lieutenant Morgan at the Base."

**CRASH**

The people frantically returned to their scared postures.

"Hahahahaha!" laughed Luffy as they walked away. "What an interesting town! I gotta visit here again."

That's strange…!" Stated Coby with a confused look on his face. "I have a bad feeling about this…!" Coby turned towards Luffy, concern written across his features. "I could understand why they'd be scared after hearing Roronoa Zoro's name, since he could escape at any time, but why would they be afraid of a Marine Lieutenant's name too?!"

"Well," stated Luffy Nonchalantly, "he could've done something bad, right?"

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Shouted Coby in outrage.

"I'm serious." stated Luffy

~~~~~~~~~~Marine's Base~~~~~~~~~~~

"It looks pretty ugly up close" deadpanned Luffy as they stood at the gates. "Go ahead, Coby"

"B...but I'm not prepared yet…! Besides, that incident on the way here got me thinking…" Stated a sweating Coby as Luffy turned and jumped to the wall so he could look over. "Ah! Luffy-san!"

"Hmm.." Wondered Luffy aloud, "I wonder where he is." He spotted a figure in the middle of a field in the distance and hopped down.

"You can't find him that easily," said Coby as he began to follow Luffy, "He's probably being kept in a secret room of something."

"No!" Said Luffy as he grinned back at Coby, "I saw something over there! It's probably Zoro!"

"Eh…!"

The duo continued running down the wall with Luffy occasionally checking over the top for the distance between them. Finally they were right across from the notorious Pirate Hunter. Luffy and Coby pulled themselves to the top of the wall to look before Coby fell back again in fright.

"What's wrong?" Asked Luffy

"Th..Th..That black bandana and green cloth around his waist...It...It's him! It's Roronoa Zoro!" sputtered a frightened Coby "...and that intimidating Aura…! It'd definitely Zoro!"

Zoro sat in the middle of the field, tied to a simple cross. His legs were splayed out between him and a little blood stained his shirt. His arms and waist were tied to the post with rope.

"Zoro," beamed Luffy, "Wow. Those Ropes look like they'd break pretty easily."

"S...Stop joking!" Shouted a frightened Coby. "If he get's free he could make a mess in the town and even kill you!"

"Hey! You!" Shouted the bound Pirate Hunter

"Huh?"

"Ah!"

"Could you please..come over here and untie me? I've been tied up for 9 days and I'm pretty exhausted." Growled Zoro with a menacing smile on his face.

"Ha, He's smiling." Stated Luffy simply.

"He…! He Talked…!" Cowered Coby.

"I'll repay you!" Stated Zoro. "I could hunt down a fugitive and give you the rewards, I'm not lying. I'll keep my words."

"No!" shouted Coby as he saw Luffy consider the offer. "Don't don't do it Luffy-san! Don't be tricked by his words! If you free him, he'll kill us and escape!"

"He can't kill me," stated a confident Luffy, "Because, I'm way to strong for him."

"Ah!?" Zoro questioned loudly as he heard the statement.

CLACK

A ladder was set next to Coby and a small girl climbed up. "Shh!" She motioned towards the two men before she hopped over to the other side of the wall.

"Ah!" shouted Coby. "Don't do it! It's dangerous!"

"Hey," stated a confused Zoro, "What are you doing here?"

"Luffy-san," sputtered Coby frantically, "Go stop her! She could be killed!"

"Bah" Said Luffy as he ignored Coby's frantic gestures, he knew it'd work out in the end.

"Do you want to die or something?" Growled an exhausted Zoro as the girl approached, "Get lost!"

"Uhm," the girl said shyly as she held up two rice balls in her hands, "I made some Rice Balls for you! You haven't eaten for a long time right? This is the first time I made Rice Balls…"

"I'm not hungry!" Interrupted Zoro, "Go Away!"  
"But…" began the girl again before she was interrupted

"I don't want it!" Shouted Zoro, "Leave me! I'll kill you if you don't go!"

"Hiehiehiehie," Interrupted a snotty voice, "Roronoa Zoro!" Snickered Helmeppo as he walked into the conversation. "Don't pick on little kid or else I'll have to report to my father about it."

"That weirdo came." stated Luffy calmly as Zoro, and the girl looked at the man in fear.

"He must be someone important in the Marine." Said Coby as he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank goodness, the girl is safe now."

"Tch." sneered Zoro, "If it isn't the Lieutenant's bastard son…"  
"Bastard?" Said Helmeppo arrogantly , "Don't get cocky, my dad is a marine Lieutenant!" He snatched one of the little girls Rice Balls. "Well hello little girl, these Rice Balls look pretty tasty."

"Ah!" Screamed the girl as Helmeppo took a bite, "Stop it"

"BLEGH! Horrible! You put to much sugar in it!" Coughed Helmppo as he choked on the Rice Ball. "You're supposed to put salt on in these things!"

"But," pouted the little girl, "but I thought they'd taste better if they're sweet!"

Helmeppo threw both Rice Balls to the ground. "How could someone eat something like this? Damn it!"

"Ahh!" Screamed the girl as Helmeppo began to stomp on the Rice Balls, "Stop It! Stop! He can't eat this anymore!"

"Th...That's so cruel!" Stated a shocked Coby, "That girl worked so hard to make them!"

""Don't worry," Grinned Helmeppo, "The ants will eat them all up. Hiehiehiehie~"

"Ahh!" Cried the little girl as tears began to stream down her face, "...That's so cruel! I...I tried really hard to make them!"

"Aww…" Said Helmeppo as he held his head and glared at the girl, "It's no wonder I hate little brats so much. It's all your fault you know?" he continued as he pointed to a nearby sign, "Didn't you see what was written here? 'Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime, Marine Lieutenant Morgan' You know how scary my dad can be, right?" Asked Helmeppo as he leaned in close to the girl. "You would've gotten the death penalty if you were a grown up!"

"Oi," Shouted Helmeppo to the nearest Marine, "Throw this brat out!"

"Huh?"

"I'm telling you throw her out of here!" He shouted as he grabbed the man's collar. "Are you trying to disobey me?! I'm telling my day!"

"Ay..aye sir!" Shouted the marine, visibly frightened. He turned towards the girl and picked her up. "I'm sorry." he whispered as he tossed her over the wall.

"IYAAA!" she screamed as she became airborne, but Luffy simply leapt up and caught her before she landed.

"Are you alright?" asked Coby the girl as Luffy dusted off his pants. 'Time to meet Zoro for the first time, again. Ow, my brain hurts' thought Luffy as he leapt over the wall and started the walk towards Zoro. The tied up Pirate Hunter noticed Luffy approaching.

"You still haven't left yet?" inquired a surprised Zoro, "Leave now, or else he'll go and tell his dad about it."

"Hmph," responded Luffy, "I'm looking for someone to join my Pirate Fleet."

"Pirate?" questioned Zoro, "Heh! So you gave up on life and became a crook, huh?"

"It's my dream!" stated Luffy firmly," There's nothing wrong with being a pirate. I'd give up anything to follow my dream, wouldn't you?" Luffy knew he had hit the right spot as Zoro tensed, but soon he replied.

"Hm? Don't tell me you're gonna set me free and force me to join you."

"Yep," stated Luffy proudly, "though everyone seems to think you're a bad guy for some reason."

"A bad guy, huh?" questioned Zoro, "I'll never join you because I have something left that I need to take care of. I could survive even if you don't help me. I just need to stay alive for one month, that bastard kid promised to let me go afterwards. I'm gonna do everything I can to stay alive and fulfill my dreams."

"Hmph," snorted Luffy, "You would do anything but become a pirate, huh...If I were you I think I'd starve to death in a week..

"That's why we're different." Smirked Zoro, "Go find someone else to join you.

Luffy grinned before he bent down and picked up the crushed Rice Balls. "You want these right?" he asked as he offered the food to Zoro, "You look pretty hungry."

"Yes." admitted Zoro sheepishly

"These are all muddy though," said Luffy as he looked the rice balls over, "well, I guess you can't be picky about food when you're hungry…"

"Shut up!" barked Zoro as he opened his mouth wide. "Just give it to me, let me eat all of it!"

Luffy stuck the dirty Rice Balls into Zoro's mouth as the Pirate Hunter began to eat the food.

**CHEW CHEW CHEW...SWALLOW**

Zoro coughed and spoke again. "Tell that little girl…"

"Tell her what?"

"Tell her that the Rice Balls taste very good, and tell her I said 'Thank you very much'"

"Shishishishi~" Laughed Luffy as his signature smile split his face.

~~~~~~~~~~Treachery~~~~~~~~~~

"Really?!" Shouted the girl, Rika.

"Yep!" Beamed Luffy, "He ate all of it."

"I'm so happy!" She smiled warmly.

"Hmm...is he really that horrible person his reputation says he is?" questioned Coby.

"Nope," answered Rika, "Brother didn't do anything wrong, it's just that the people in this town are afraid of him...He got arrested because of me. He killed Helmeppo's pet wolf because Helmeppo let his wolf run around and everyone got scared…"

"So you're saying that Zoro only got arrested because he killed Helmeppo's wolf?" asked Luffy

"Yeah."

"You're right," mused Coby," So maybe he has a bad temper, but chasing down fugitives isn't that big a crime either…"

"The only bad guys are the Morgans." Stated Luffy firmly

"Yeah," agreed Rika, "You'll get executed if you disobey them, so everyone is afraid of them.

"Hiehiehiehie," bellowed that annoying laugh as Helmeppo strode through the town. "Who dares raise his head? I'll tell my dad! Do you want to be like Roronoa Zoro? I'm gonna publicly execute him in three days. I'll use him to set an example for all of you! It's gonna be pretty interesting!"

"Three days?" Growled Luffy, "Didn't you say you'll give him a month?"

"Who are you?" questioned a surprised Helmeppo, "How rude! I was only joking with him. Only an idiot would believe that. Hiehiehiehie~"

**WHAM!**

Luffy lept forward in anger and decked the snotty marine.

"Luffy-san!" screamed Coby as he struggled to hold Luffy back, "Stop please! Calm Down! You want to mess with the Marines or something?!"

"You bastard" Luffy growled at the unconscious Helmeppo before he turned to Coby, "It's time!"

"Huh?"

It's time to get Zoro to join me."

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_ Any all comments are welcome, feel free to tell me where I messed up and I'll try and fix it as soon as possible. **Yes**, this was a very canon based chapter. I meant it to be, it's to early for the major changes to take place. Until next time! UniqueUsername13 is out!_


	3. The King's Right Hand

_Hey! I'm back! Three Chapters, Three Days! Don't get use to it though. It's early on in the story so the plot is pretty easy and close to Canon. The real fun begins during the Buggy Arc! Thanks to the 12 new followers I gained, I now have 29!_

**_Horizon-Dawn: _**_Thank you! I do plan on adding in a few OC's for some holiday filler arcs I am probably going to write. I hope you don't mind._

**_Bookworm0313: _**_No, he looks like he did at the beginning of the series. All that was sent back was his memories, though they're enough to make him really powerful._

**_WaMiLoe: _**_Yeah, I didn't want to waste all that time and potentially change some things that I want to be in the story. And yes, re-reading the same thing is pretty boring, pretty soon you'll be able to see the difference I have from Canon, I hope you enjoy!_

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_Argh, only 3 chapters in and I'm already out of ideas to say "Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, Eiichiro Oda does."_

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"Luffy!" Screamed a stunned Coby. "You just hit Lieutenant Morgan's son! We're gonna be in a lot of trouble! If the Lieutenant gets mad he might send Marines after us!"

"We'll deal with it when the come comes!" Replied a cheerful Luffy as he turned and started to walk away, "I'm gonna go talk to Zoro."

Coby stood gawking at the teenage pirate as he strode away. With a bit of hesitation Coby started to run to catch up to him. "Waaaaait!"

"Yo." Greeted Luffy with a raised hand. The future first mate looked up and scowled.

"It's you again? I told you, I don't wanna be a pirate!"

"I'm Luffy," continued Luffy as he ignored Zoro's remarks, "I'm going to loosen the ropes, then you're going to join me, okay?" Luffy beamed at the tied up Zoro.

"I've told you clearly!" Hissed Zoro, "I have things that I need to do, besides I'm not going to be a bad guy like a Pirate."

"Not all Pirates have to be bad," said Luffy, "Just like not all Marines are good. Your present situation is proof enough."

Zoro winced at Luffy's sound logic

"Besides," continued Luffy, "Everyone already thinks you're a bad guy."

"I don't care what they say about me! I haven't done one thing that I regretted in the past and it will be the same for the future!"

"So," stated Luffy, "I'll go get your Katanas as a welcome present for joining my crew."

"Don't decide for yourself that I'm joining your crew!" Yelled Zoro

"So you don't want your swords back as a welcome present." questioned Luffy, a smirk visible on his face.

"THAT'S DIRTY!" Screamed Zoro in outrage

"Shishishishi~ Well, I'm off to find that bastard kid Helmeppo. I'll untie you when I get back!" With that Luffy turned and sprinted towards the Marine Base.

"...Is he planning on taking on the whole Base by himself? What a fool."

'Hmm...' Wondered Luffy as he neared the Base, "_Where did I find everyone last time?_" A movement on the roof caught Luffy's attention. '_Oh yeah! The statue!_' Remembered Luffy with a grin before he got sidetracked, '_….I should get a statue..._' A commotion drew Luffy's attention back to the roof. "Going up!" He said to nobody in particular as he wound back.

**"Gomu Gomu no Rocket"**

Luffy shot up into the sky, the roof of the Marine Base quickly drawing closer. Keeping his hand on the ledge he neatly swung his body onto the roof instead of overshooting it like last time. Looking around he saw about 3 Marines hoisting a huge ugly statue and staring at him with their mouths agape.

"Hi." Smiled Luffy at the confused Marines. During the confusion one of the Marines dropped their rope. The end result was fast and funny. Ropes were jerked out of Marines hands through the added weight and the statue fell, cracking in half as it hit the edge of roof. Everyone stared in shock at this, and the man who the statue was based off of was on the verge of tears.

"His fault." said Luffy as he pointed to the nearest startled Marine.

"Capture that Strawhat Brat!" Yelled Lieutenant Morgan in outrage, "I'm gonna kill him!"

"Y...YES SIR!"

"Dad, It's him!" Whined a frantic Helmeppo, "He's the one who hit me! I told you he was no good!"

Luffy quickly ran forward and grabbed the helpless Helmeppo, "Show me where Zoro's swords are." He said as he ran through the door to the stairs.

"Ahhh!" screamed Helmeppo as he was dragged down the stairs and through the hall.

"Where's Zoro's Katana?" Asked Luffy again as he picked Helmeppo up and stared the helpless man down.

"They're inside my room." sobbed Helmeppo as he pointed to a door they were about to pass.

"Good." said Luffy as he darted inside. Zoro's three swords sat against the wall. Luffy quickly grabbed all three and looked out the window as something caught his eye.

"They're already at the execution grounds?" said Luffy as he saw Coby and Zoro surrounded by Marines and 'Axe Hand' Morgan.

"Surround the Base!" Yelled an outraged Morgan as he stalked closer to Zoro. "Don't let the Strawhat bastard escape!" He glowered at Zoro and Coby. "Ready!" He yelled and the Marines raised their rifles."

"Oh no!" shouted Luffy as he kicked the window open. "There's no time! I need to get down now!" Grabbing onto the window seal he backed up, stretching his arms.

**"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"**

Luffy shot out of the window flying towards the execution site.

"Fire!" Yelled the corrupt Lieutenant as Luffy zoomed towards them.

**Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!**

Numerous shots flew towards Coby and Zoro, their eyes open wide in fear. Luffy landed between them and the bullets and stood up shielding the two men with his body.

"Luffy-san!" Cried Coby as he saw Luffy get shot.

"Ugh." grunted Luffy as the bullets stretched his skin, their inertia pulling him backwards before he straightened up and yelled. "It's no use!" bullets flew back from his body randomly, some hitting the Marines who shot him.

"What kind of human are you?" screamed Zoro in surprise.

"Hehe…" Said Luffy as he grinned and faced the Pirate Hunter, "I am the one who will become the Pirate King." Luffy turned and looked at the Marines who were slowly amassing outside the Execution Grounds.

"Resisting the Marines here together with me will make you an outlaw," He turned towards Zoro again, "Or did you plan on dying here?"

Zoro grinned at his remark. "Are you the son of the Devil...Forget it...Rather than die here, why don't I just accept your request...and become a pirate."

"Yes!" Hooted Luffy as he threw his arms into the air. "I have a companion!"

"Okay, now hurry and get these ropes off of me."

The Marines were slowly starting to come back to their senses. 'Axe Hand' Morgan narrowed his eyes. "That Strawhat isn't normal..He must have eaten one of the 'Devil' Fruits!'"

"He ate the ocean's secret treasure!?" Yelled a Marine in shock as other yelled more things.

"His ability is due to a devil fruit?!"  
"Lieutenant, that guy is taking off Zoro's ropes!"

"Don't let him take them off!

A Marine drew his sabre from its sheath, "If guns don't work, the we'll use swords to kill him!" Other Marines drew their sabres as well and charged the two men.

"Stupid knot." muttered Luffy as he messed around with Zoro's ropes.

"Oi!" Yelled a frantic Zoro, "Hurry up!"

"Yosh!" cried Luffy as he held up one of the ropes, "I untied one side!"

"Idiot!" Barked Zoro, "Hurry up and give me my swords!"

The Marines charged the last few feet and brought their swords down.

**CLASH!**

Every marine stood deathly still, each sword had been blocked by Zoro. "All of you better not move." Warned Zoro, "You move...and I'll kill you." Zoro turned towards Luffy. "I already told you I'd be a pirate with you, either way after this incident with the Marines I'll be an outlaw too, but It's okay...I still have my own goals. I'm going to become the World's Greatest Swordsman! I no longer care if my name is clean or not. Bad guy, good guy, it no longer matters, as long as my name is known worldwide!"

"Good!" Beamed Luffy, "I would expect no less from somebody on the future Pirate King's crew. If you can't even accomplish something that small then I would be very embarrassed as well! Shishishishi~"

"Heh." grinned Zoro. "Well said."

"What are you guys standing there for?!" Yelled an outraged Morgan, interrupting the two men's conversation, "Hurry up and finish those two off!"

"How about I finish off these small frys for you." Grinned Luffy, to which Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever you say Captain."

Luffy grinned widely, and then looked at the amassed Marines. His pupils dilated slightly and Zoro felt his Captains power wash over him. Suddenly every Marine fell to the ground unconscious, foaming at the mouth.

"Shishishishi~" Laughed Luffy loudly, "I left someone for you to play with though." Said Luffy as he pointed towards a still conscious, though slightly dazed, Lieutenant 'Axe Hand' Morgan.

"You're going to explain what you just did later, right?" Asked Zoro in shock.

"As soon as you defeat Morgan and we get something to eat, yeah."

"Good, I'm starving and curious." With that Zoro turned towards Morgan.

"Oi! You going to fight me, or are you to scared?" Yelled Zoro towards the Lieutenant trying to get his attention. It worked.

"Who's scared?" Sneered Morgan as he raised his Axe hand, "I'm strong, this hand is proof of that. Come here you dirty scum, let me show you who's boss."

Zoro put his white sword, the **Wado Ichimonji**, into his mouth and charged the Marine Lieutenant. Morgan waited until Zoro got close enough until he swung his Axe. Zoro crouched under the horizontal blow as the axe split in half the fence next to him. Zoro bit the hilt of his sword harder as he began his dance of death. His swords carved an "**X**" into the Marine Lieutenant's chest before Zoro used **Wado Ichimonji** to deliver the last wound. Swinging upwards the the Lieutenants Axe arm Zoro cut all the tendons. 'Axe Hand' Morgan would never be able to use his Axe again.

Zoro came to a stop behind the Lieutenant as he fell over unconscious, blood flowing out of his wounds and pooling around him. "To shallow," Stated Zoro, "He'll live." Then he collapsed.

"Zoro?!"

"So hungry," Groaned Zoro, "Need food…"

"Shishishi~ Yosh! Let's go eat then!" Grinned Luffy before adding, "Afterwards we can have a lot of Sake too."

Zoro grinned at his new captain, "You got that right."

~~~~~~~~~~Restaurant~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm full!" Exclaimed Zoro as he leaned back in his chair, "I haven't eaten for nine days, I almost starved to death!"

"Then why did you say you would last a month?"questioned Luffy as he shoveled food into his mouth.

"You're so scrawny," mused Zoro, "How come you can still eat more than me?"

"Sorry…" Appologised Coby to the owner, "Even I ate quite a lot."

"Don't worry!" said Rika's mom gladly, "Keep eating, you saved our town."

"So," asked Zoro, "What are your next plans?"

"We're heading for the 'Grand Line'!" Exclaimed Luffy, "On the way their we're going to get a Navigator, a Marksman, a Cook, and a Boat."

"Boat?" question Zoro, "You don't have a boat?"

Luffy pointed to the Dinghy in the docks. "I have that right now, but we'll get a boat soon. I'm sure of it."

"Hmph, whatever you say Captain."

"Shishishishi~"

"L-Luffy-san," stuttered Coby, "Even though we just met...are we friends?"

"Yep!" beamed Luffy, "Even though we have to part, we'll always be friends!"

"I never had friends growing up." monologued Coby, "Everytime I would be picked on, and no one would ever stand up for me. The two of you though, you taught me to live by my dream." Finished Coby with determination on his face.

"Excuse me!" interrupted somebody. Coby, Zoro and Luffy turned towards the door. There in the doorway stood a single marine, with many others waiting outside. "We are wondering, are you really pirates?" Asked the Marine.

Luffy smiled, "Yep, I just found my first crew member, that would officially make us pirates now."

The Marine nodded, "Even though you are pirates, in reality...you saved our town and base. For that we are grateful. Since you are pirates though, as Marines we cannot allow you to stay any longer. Please leave this place immediately, as for the events that occurred here, we will be reporting it to the Headquarters."

Ignoring the shouts of outrage from the grateful townsfolk Luffy stood up, "Hmm, well then…Let's go! Thank you for your food Ma'am." Luffy bowed slightly to Rika's mother.

"Luffy-san…" murmured Coby, but he and Zoro walked past him, not giving him a second glance.

"Aren't you with their group?" the Marine asked Coby.

"Eh!?" Stuttered Coby, "I...I...I'm...not...not...I'm not with them!" The marine narrowed his eyes. "Please hold on…" he addressed Luffy and Zoro. "Is he telling the truth?"

Luffy grinned, "He's just someone who I rescued from slavery on a Pirate Ship. He's not part of my group, his dream is to be a Marine."

Coby looked at the Marine Captain, "Please let me join the Marines! Even if it's chores, I will still do them!"

"Despite your past association with pirates, I will still allow you to join."

"Yes, Sir! Thank you Sir!"

Luffy and Zoro turned their backs to the scene and walked out the door with smiles on their faces. As they reached the docks Coby came running up behind them. "Thank you very much!" he shouted as he saluted the duo, "I will never forget you for the rest of my life."

"Hmph, a Marine saluting Pirates." Mused Zoro, "I've never seen that before."

"Coby!" yelled Luffy as he and Zoro got into their boat, "We'll meet again someday!"

"GROUP SALUTE!" yelled the Marine Captain as every Marine assembled behind Coby and saluted the two pirates.

"Shishishishi~" Laughed Luffy as he pushed the boat from the docks. "Yahooo! We're off!"

Zoro smiled at his Captains antics before he remembered something, "Hey Luffy," he asked, "What was the thing you did to all those Marines during the fight that made them pass out?"

Luffy turned towards him "That was **Haki**," he said, "I'll need to teach that to you, it's necessary to fight Logia Devil Fruit users on the Grand Line, plus, It's a pretty awesome power boost."

"Go on…" said the swordsman as he leaned forward in anticipation.

"Well," explained Luffy, "There are 3 kinds of Haki, what I used to knock out those Marines is know as **Haoshoku Haki**, or **Conqueror's Haki**. This type of Haki grants the user the ability to dominate the wills of others, it is mostly used to knock weak willed individuals unconscious."

"Interesting," said Zoro with a gleam in his eye.

"Unfortunately," continued Luffy, "This kind of Haki cannot be achieved through training. Either you are born with is or you aren't." At this Zoro's eyes lost their gleam.

"Dang," he said, "That would've been a fun and convenient power."

"Shishishishi~," laughed Luffy, "Don't worry, the two other forms of Haki can be gained through training."

"Oh?" said Zoro as he raised his eyebrow, "What do they do?"

"Well," said Luffy, "There's **Kenbunshoku Haki**, or **Observation Haki**. This Haki allows the user to sense the presence of others, even if they are concealed from view or too far to see naturally. The user can also use this Haki to predict an opponent's moves shortly before they make them, thereby making the attack much easier to evade with enough skill." Luffy laughed again as he saw Zoro's face light up, no doubt imagining the possibilities.

"Shishishishi~ There's another kind of Haki too. I think this one would be more suited for you." Stated Luffy as Zoro leaned in further, literally sitting on the edge of his seat in anticipation. "It's called **Busoshoku Haki**, or **Armament Haki**. This Haki is used to put an invisible layer of armor over any part of your body or weapon. Naturally this invisible armor can be used as a weapon to strike others with. It can be used to augment the user's own attacks, projected ahead of the user as pure brute force, or imbued in weapons to increase their effectiveness. Any attack enhanced by Busoshoku Haki hits immensely harder than it would normally be without it. It also allows attacks to connect with and hurt users of the Logia-Type Devil Fruit. A heavy concentration of this Haki can be used to harden parts of one's body, turning the area black, thus making the user denser and more formidable, and giving their attacks greater power."

"When can we start training." asked a clearly excited Zoro.

"Shishishishi~ Tomorrow we can start, get a good rest before hand though. It's going to be a long day.

With that Luffy laid back into the boat and stretched out before tilting his hat over his eyes. '_Great!_' he thought, '_I've gotten Zoro to join my crew again! Everything is going smoothly too, and I think I know when I should tell the crew my secret. I'll tell Zoro first, and then the rest all together after we cross into the Grand Line!_' Luffy's smile widened. '_Next is Nami and Buggy right? Shishishi~ Let's make a lasting impression._'

* * *

**_Bam! Done! _**_Expect a training scene with Zoro and Luffy, as well as most - if not all - of the Buggy Arc. Comment, Favorites, and Follows are always welcome!_

_~UniqueUsername13_


	4. The King's Jester

_Mwahahahahaha! 4 chapters, 4 days! Bow before the ultimate power of my update speed! Seriously though, I'm really pumping these out right now. Thanks in part to the almost 50(!) followers this story has generated._

**_Midnight Kaito: _**_Yes, I tried to be as original as possible with that idea. I hadn't really seen it done before, so I gave it a shot. I'm glad so many people seem to think it turned out well. Same think with the titles of the chapters, I try to be witty when I think up the titles as well as keep in theme of royalty. There will be romance soon though, as soon as a hit 100 followers I'm going to put up a poll and then start adding in a bit more drama such as romance, but the whole story will start to darken up some here in a few chapters. Hopefully the darker undertone will make the bright spots of romance shine that much brighter, I just hope I don't make the characters act OOC._

**_Redery: _**_Consequently, your story partly inspired my story (though not as much as "Once Again") It did inspire it enough that I'm going to add your story to my summary. You should update soon too!_

* * *

_Yay! Another boring disclaimer that makes me hang my head is shame at the fact that Oda Eiichiro owns One Piece and I don't...*sigh*_

* * *

"First," began Luffy as he sat across from Zoro in their small boat, "we meditate, a lot."

"Why?" asked Zoro as he yawned.

"Haki originates from a user's spirit, not their body." Explained Luffy, "You need to get more in touch with your spirit to be able to use Haki correctly."

"Doesn't sound so hard." Muttered Zoro

"It took me 6 month to learn," Pouted Luffy, "But you'll have a head start because you're a swordsman who puts his soul into every attack. Shishishishi~"

"Well ok then Captain," said Zoro as he got into his meditation position, "Afterwards what do I do?"

"Let your spirit fill every part of your body, let it flow through your blood. We'll get into specifics later."

Zoro shut his eyes and concentrated on shutting everything out except for himself. He imagined himself sitting in an endless empty white area. Nothing there except for him. He was the only thing in this white expanse. Slowly he began to let his body grow, filling all the space, and the space filling him.

_Inhale_

Zoro filled himself more, the breath he sucked in making his blood flow faster.

_Exhale_

He slowly started to circulate his blood, mixing in his spirit little by little.

_Inhale_

Zoro poured more and more of his spirit through his body.

_Exhale_

He poured in all his ambitions of being the world's greatest swordsman, and at that moment he felt something change. He quickly opened his eyes and looked himself over, his arms were a shiny black chrome color for a second before they faded into normality.

"Shishishishi~," Laughed Luffy from the front of the boat, "You're spirit became visible for a moment, that's some Will you've got there. It only took you 12 hours too, you're picking this up quicker than I did. It took me 3 days."

'_Twelve hours?'_ thought Zoro as he began to notice some things. The Sun was low in the sky, the weather was a little bit rougher, and half of their food was gone.

"Luffy!" Shouted Zoro, "Why did you eat so much food? We don't know how much longer we'll be out here!"

"Until noon tomorrow."

"What?"

"We'll reach land about noon tomorrow." Stated Luffy confidently

"How do you know?" Questioned Zoro, and eyebrow raised.

"Call it a Captain's 6th sense," smirked Luffy, "and knowledge from the future."

"Hmph." Grunted Zoro as he fished some food from the bag and laid back. "So, what's next with the Haki training?"

"Keep meditating, become familiar with your soul." Stated Luffy as he laid back too, "Battles with this objective in mind will speed up the training. Good thing we're probably going to fight tomorrow."  
"Huh?"

"6th sense Zoro," smirked Luffy, "Remember the 6th sense."

"Whatever."

~~~~~~~~~~Next Day~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy sat on the boat facing Zoro once again as the swordsman meditated. '_I wonder how long it will take Zoro to be able to use **Busoshoku Haki** in battle.'_ He thought to himself. '_Will he be able to when he fights The World's Strongest Swordsman, Hawkeye's Dracula Mihawk? Well...it's not like it'll make a difference._'

He laid back and watched the clouds roll across the sky for some time, giving the meditating Zoro a few cursory glances to check up on his progress. Around midday a bird caught Luffy's eye. He sat up and punched Zoro, bringing him out of his meditation.

"Oi!" Barked Zoro, "What the hell!?"

"Look." Said Luffy as he pointed out the bird, "It's a seagull, the Kaicho Pinky, we're getting close to land." Grinned Luffy widely as he looked back at Zoro. "See," he taunted with a smirk, "You shouldn't doubt a Captains 6th sense."

"Sigh~ Lucky guess?"

"Shishishishi~ Want to race?" Grinned Luffy widely

"What?"

"Do you want to race to the island?" Said Luffy again.

"How can we race?" asked a confused Zoro.

"A friend of mine can walk on air," Explained Luffy, chuckling slightly at Zoro's surprised expression, "I'm not as good as him, but I can run on the sea pretty easily. As long as I keep running there's nothing to worry about."

Zoro narrowed his eyes and studied his new captain. After a few seconds he spoke. "Show me," he requested.

"So race?" Asked Luffy

"Sure, sure." Said Zoro, "Just show me you're water walk."

"Shishishishi~" Luffy stood up, "You might want to get ready," He said, "I can run pretty fast."

Zoro didn't doubt his captains words as he prepared the two boat oars. "This'll be a good workout," he grunted.

"Now," said Luffy as he positioned himself near the front of the boat, "watch this."

Luffy leaned onto his front leg and concentrated all of his energy into his lower half. He shot off the boat, pushing the vessel back a few feet and began to run on the sea. As soon as the bottom as his sandal touched the waves he kicked off the water with all of his strength, rocketing away from the stunned Zoro.

"Wohoo!" Yelled Luffy as the boat fell behind him and the outline of an island appeared before him. Faster and faster he ran, pushing off of air a few times before going back to the sea, Orange Town quickly came into view and Luffy ran straight for the docks. Nearing the Orange Town docks Luffy jumped, intent on landing on the docks, but he put to much power into his kick and flew forwards. Over the docks and numerous houses he sailed before roughly crashing into the street.

**CRASH!**

"Aaahhh!" screamed someone through the dust, "Someone...fell from the sky?!"

"Damn it." Muttered Luffy as he picked himself up, "I overshot that way to much."

The smoke began to clear and the people around him fell back in surprise.

"What the…!" Yelled a man, "He's still alive!?"

Luffy glanced around, taking in his surroundings. Behind him were three shocked Pirates from Buggy's crew, and in front of him was his navigator.

'_Nami!_' Thought Luffy in excitement as he laid his eye's on the Orange haired woman.

"Oh, boss!" She yelled out, surprising Luffy for a second, "You're finally here. I've been waiting for you to save me! I'll leave everything to you!" She said as she turned and ran.

'_Hmm, I almost thought she remembered me for a second.'_ Thought Luffy sadly as he watched her leave.

"Her Boss is still here!" sneered one of the pirate, which made Luffy turn around and look at the three enemies.

"That's true!" Agreed another as the trio approached the young Straw Hat.

Luffy sighed as he raised his arm to defeat the three. As soon as Luffy began to move the center man threw a right hook. Luffy simply leaned back a little and dodge the fist before taking two quick steps forwards and punching the man in his gut. Lackey No. 1 slid back a few feet before falling down, unconscious at the feet of Moron No. 2 and Weakling No. 3.

"You…" They screamed in unison as they raised their swords.

"...Damn you!" They charged.

Luffy took one step forwards, leaning to the left and dodging the swing of the right man before he countered, burying his elbow into the unlucky henchman's face. Without slowing down Luffy stepped towards the final man, getting close to him before he could swing his sword.

"Ahh!" The man yelled in fury, but he was quickly silenced as Luffy forcefully closed his jaw with an uppercut.

Taking a step back Luffy surveyed the three unconscious pirates before turning to the roof of a nearby building where Nami sat. "Wow!" She said with delight, "You're really strong! You beat those guys with swords bare-handed! You only used your left hand too!"

"Shishishi~" Laughed Luffy as his future Nakama complimented him.

"I am a thief who only steals treasure from Pirates." Explained Nami, "Want to be Partners? My name is Nami." She finished with a smile.

Luffy smiled and said, "Let's go get something to eat."

"Hang on a second!" Yelled Nami as she leapt down from the building, "Wait up for me!"

She jogged up to Luffy, "I know where we can get some food." She said with a smile before leading Luffy into a nearby house.

Nami and Luffy entered the humble dwelling. "We should grab some food and leave." He said as Nami strode into the kitchen.

"Why?" She yelled back, "The owners aren't even here. Everyone in this village is hiding in a shelter outside of the town, they are trying to avoid conflict with the Buggy Pirate Fleet. Their leader is Buggy the Clown, he's a famous pirate known for his love of cannons. When a bunch of kids from a village where he once stayed made fun of his nose he used a cannon to wipe out the whole village. It's also said that he's got a strange power. Everyone is very afraid of him."

"Shishishishi~ I'm not afraid of him," chuckled Luffy, "I'm not afraid of getting caught in someone else's house either. I just have to get back to my crew."

"Eh?" questioned Nami as she stuck her head through the kitchen door, "You got separated from your crew? How many people are in your crew?"

"Only one." Replied Luffy, "Speaking of which, you should check for some sake, he really likes it."

"Hmph." Nami pouted as she went back into the Kitchen. A few seconds later she came back out, a sack of food slung on her back and two bottles of sake in her hand.

"Here," said Luffy as he took the food bag from her.

The duo exited the house and began walking towards the docks before Nami spoke again. "My goal is to get a hundred million Beli." She stated, "Then I'm going to buy a certain village!"

Luffy smiled knowingly at her dream before she continued. "I have a plan too!" she said as she pulled a paper from her pocket. "Look," She said waving the parchment around, "This is the Grand Line Map I just stole! I'm going to steal some treasure from this Buggy Guy, then I'm going to the Grand Line where I'll steal from even greater pirates who carry much more treasure!"

"I'm also on the way to the Grand Line." said Luffy, "I'm strong, so you could use my power and I could use your navigation skills." Luffy smiled and turned to Nami. "You should join my pirate crew as the Navigator!"  
Nami stopped cold in her tracks. "No way!" She screamed at Luffy, "Forget this conversation ever happened, I don't want to team up with pirates. The things I hate most in this world are Pirates! I only like money and oranges!"

"What if me and my first mate kick Buggy's ass?" asked Luffy, "Then will you join our crew? It's mutually beneficial." Luffy didn't know what 'mutually beneficial' meant, but he remembered that Nami had used those words to describe their partnership before Arlong.

Nami hesitated, '_He has so much confidence, could he actually be serious?'_ she thought as Luffy waited for her reply. "Two conditions," she stated as Luffy began to smile, "I keep all the money and I can leave at any time."

Luffy's smile split his face. "Of course," he stated as he started walking towards the docks, "first we get my swordsman Zoro though."

'_Zoro…? Swordsman?_' thought Nami, she knew it was significant, but she couldn't quite remember. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and ran up to Luffy's side and began to walk with him towards the dock.

Upon arrival Nami and Luffy looked around. "We're your boat?" asked Nami, "There's nothing here." Luffy grinned and pointed into the distance at a barely visible boat. "There," he said, "He's just about to arrive." Then he sat down and opened the food bag. Nami sat next to him, watching him inhale the food at an unbelievable rate. "So," she questioned, as she snuck some food away from Luffy, "How did you get here before him?" She asked curiously.

"I...**Bite**...ran." **Gulp.** He looked up at Nami, "We were racing, ...**Munch**...he was in the boat and I...**Gulp**...was running ahead of him on the water." **Chomp.**

'O_h great,'_ thought Nami, '_He's crazy.'_

A few minutes later the boat made it to the docks, Zoro was laying back relaxing as three of Buggy's bruised and battered minions rowed the boat. "Hey Captain." Greeted Zoro as he caught the bottle of sake Luffy tossed him.

The three henchmen caught sight of Nami sitting on the docks. "Ah!" They yelled in outrage, "It's the treasure thief!"

"Get her!" another yelled at they started to get up.

"Oi!" Yelled Zoro menacingly, "I'm trying to drink here! Shut up!"

The three cowered before hurrying out of the boat and into the town, glaring at Nami but not daring to upset Zoro.

Nami looked the relaxed swordsman over before she noticed the three swords at his hip. '_Zoro...Swordsman...Three Swords...'_ Something clicked in her brain. "Roronoa Zoro!?" she yelped in surprise, causing Luffy and Zoro to look at her. "The crew member you were talking about was the Pirate Hunter Zoro!?" She questioned Luffy, "I don't understand!"

"Oi, Captain." Said Zoro as he stepped onto the docks, "Who is she?"

"Our Navigator." Replied Luffy with a smile.

"Not until you fulfill your side of the deal." Muttered Nami.

"What deal?" Zoro questioned as he picked up his second bottle of Sake.

"She'll become our Navigator if we beat up Buggy the Clown." Luffy grinned before a twinkle entered his eye.

"_Sigh._ Yeah, yeah, I know. 6th sense, got it."

"Shishishishi~" laughed Luffy as he stood up, "Let's go then."

**Gulp** "Where are they at Luffy?" asked Zoro before taking another swig.

"Hmm…No clue." He said happily before he turned to Nami, "Do you know?"

_Sigh_ "Yeah, I'll show you the bar he and his men are stationed at. I really don't see how you guys hope to defeat them."

"Shishishishi~ Simple, I take out all the weaklings and then fight Buggy." He turned towards Zoro, "You can fight the Vice-Captain, this will be good for your Haki training."

'_Haki?'_ wondered Nami, but she didn't say anything.

The trio walked for 5 more minutes in silence before they reached the front of a big fancy bar.

"They've set up base on the roof," Said Nami as she turned towards the two men, "How do you plan on going about this."

"HEY YOU!" Yelled Luffy at the roof, "HUGE, RED, UGLY, BIG NOSE!"

Immediately Buggy was there, his face twisted in rage.

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" He yelled

"Huge, red, ugly, big nose!" Yelled Luffy again.

"F-Fire the Buggy Special Cannonball!" screamed Buggy in outrage.

Luffy turned towards Zoro with a grin on his face, "Let me show you what **Busoshoku Haki** can do." he said before stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning to face the loaded cannon.

"Be gone!" yelled Buggy as the cannon fired.

"**Armament: Hardening**"

Luffy's right leg was covered in black chrome as he faced the oncoming cannonball. Nami screamed/ Luffy leaned onto his left leg, picking up his Haki covered leg and swinging it forward as the cannonball came towards him. His leg and the cannonball connected and Luffy followed through with his swing, effortlessly sending the cannonball into the Bar.

**KABOOM!**

Buggy's temporary base exploded, fire and wood raining down upon the two pirates and the stunned Nami.

"What the hell are you!?" she screamed

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," said Luffy with a grin, "The future Pirate King." He turned towards Zoro, "I've decreased their numbers," he said with a smile, "shall we go knock out the rest?" he asked.

"HAHAHAHA!" came a laugh from the destroyed bar before Zoro could open his mouth. There stood Buggy the Clown with two unconscious crew members he had used as his meat shield. Buggy tossed the unconscious men aside. "You're chatting around making a lot of noise." he said, "This is the biggest humiliation we've ever received under my pirate flag. I'm so mad, words fail me…"

Cabaji, his commander, appeared behind him. "I'll avenge the pain you've caused my crew!" he yelled as he charged Luffy with his sword drawn while riding a unicycle, "I am Cabaji the Acrobat, Commander of Buggy-sama's pirate fleets!"

Zoro blocked Cabaji's blade before it reached his captain. "If it's swords, I'm all for it."

"Roronoa Zoro," Cabaji said as he recognized the infamous pirate hunter, "It will be an honor to slay you." He backed up for a second, "Mohji!" he yelled, "Get your ass out here and kill this strawhat bastard!"

From under the rubble popped up a man that looked like he was half sheep, and next to him stood a huge lion that dwarfed the man-sheep. "Richie!" the man yelled as he leapt atop the lion, "Charge!"

Luffy glanced towards Zoro, "Take this weirdo too," he said as Zoro scowled, "It's be more of a fair fight if there's two of them."

"Fine," relented Zoro as he readied his 3 swords.

"Not on my watch!" yelled Cabaji as he stabbed towards Zoro. Zoro easily evade blow and stuck the acrobat in the chest with the flat side of his blade, sending Cabaji flying into the path of Mohji. Richie the Lion tripped over Cabaji and all three tumbled on the ground. "Fine," spat Canaji, "We'll both destroy you."

"Yeah," Sneered Mohji as leapt atop Richie once again, "and then we'll kill your Captain." Then, they charged. Richie attempted to swipe Zoro with his paw, but the swordsman ducked under the blow and quickly slashing the Lion behind the knee before leaping towards the Acrobatic Swordsman. Cabaji barely blocked Zoro's slash.

Pulling down his scarf he yelled "**Acrobat Technique: Fire Trick!**" before spewing fire from his mouth into Zoro's face. As Zoro lept back Cabaji yelled again. "**Acrobat Technique: Murder Mist Trick!**" Before stabbing his sword into the ground and flinging up a thin cloud of dust. "Some trick," said Zoro sarcastically, "It's just a cloud of dust." He raised his swords blocking another strike from the Acrobat before a Lion's paw flew in from the dust and hit his hard across the side, throwing Zoro into the wall of a nearby house.

Zoro fell to the ground in pain, causing the pirate duo to laugh. "It's time Pirate Hunter," yelled Cabaji as he charged forward, "Go to the next world!" Zoro simply punched the charging Acrobat causing him to fly backward, falling onto the ground. "What an annoying guy." said Zoro, "He's so full of openings too."

Zoro readied himself for battle once again. "Let me teach you the difference in level between us."

"Oho," said Cabaji as he balanced himself on his Unicycle, "You got a strong determination there." Richie and Mohji walked to his side. "Don't worry," said Mohji, "You can use the fact that we outnumber you as an excuse when we defeat you."

"Nonsense!" said Zoro, "Against weaklings like you, If I lose my future carries and obvious fate."

"You asshole," Sneered Cabaji, "Take a taste of the best trick I have!" He pulled out a handful of spinning tops. "**Acrobat Technique: One Hundred Tops Typhoon!**" He yelled as he threw the tops at Zoro before riding towards the wall of the nearest building "**Acrobat Technique: Wall Riding!**" He shouted as he picked up speed and rode straight up the wall.

"Richie!" Yelled Mohji as the tops neared Zoro, "ATTACK!" The Lion roared and ran at the swordsman. Canaji propelled himself into the air from the top of the building "**Acrobat Technique: Midsummer Firecrackers Ignition!**" He yelled as he started to descend towards Zoro.

Grunting Zoro quickly sliced up the spinning tops that had reached him as he took a few steps back and prepared to unleash a his technique at the two fighters. When the the two fighter's were almost upon him he leapt back, causing Cabaji to miss his aerial assault. The two fighter's were in front of Zoro.

**"Oni…**

Zoro's swords darkened slightly as they became Haki infused.

**...Giri!"**

Zoro slashed Cabaji across the chest with **Wado Ichimonji** and carved and **"X"** into Richie's chest. Coming to stop a few feet behind his foe's he sheathed his swords. The Lion and The Acrobat both collapsed, blood starting to stain the street around them.

"You bastard!" shouted Mohji as he checked on Richie's injuries. "I'll kill you!" Zoro walked up and punched him, and his last enemy was defeated.

"Shishishishi~" Laughed Luffy, "I saw what happened during your last attack Zoro, good job."

"Yeah," grinned Zoro, "and that made me pretty damn tired. Wake me up when you we're ready to go." With that Zoro sat down against a house and promptly fell asleep.

"Yeah," agreed Luffy, "You sleep. I'm going to finish this off."

Buggy glowered at Luffy, "Seeing your straw hat reminds me of a guy I knew a long time ago." He said with disgust." The impudent red-haired guy."

"Yeah," agreed Luffy, "Shank's gave me his hat to protect and one day return to him."

"You know Shanks?!" Cried an outraged Buggy before producing a knife at the tip of his shoe, "Then prepare to die!"  
**"Bara Bara Windmill!"**

Buggy's lower half detached from his body and flew towards Luffy, spinning round and round to create a makeshift buzzsaw. Luffy simply jumped over the legs as they sped past him.

"Moving here in there in the air…" began Buggy as he held up 6 throwing knives, "Is most likely impossible!" he yelled as he launched to weapons towards Luffy.

"Why not?" grinned Luffy "**Gomu Gomu no Grapple!**" His arm shot out and grabbed a pole before pulling him out of the path of the knives.

"Oho!" Said Buggy, "You're a Devil Fruit user too, how interesting."

"Yep," agreed Luffy as he stretched out his cheek, "I'm a rubber man."

"Come then Strawhat," beckoned Buggy, "Let us begin this battle of the Devil Fruits."

"**Soru**" said Luffy before he disappeared. Buggy's eye's widened before he felt Luffy's fist smash into his face, blowing him back into the rubble of the destroyed building.

Nami watched the fight in awe, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping a little more as Luffy demonstrated his absolute power. '_How is such a fight possible?'_ she wondered in shock, '_I feel as though I'm dreaming…'_

Buggy staggered up as Luffy began to approach again. "**Soru**" said Luffy as he disappeared again.

"**Bara Bara Emergency Escape!**" He yelled as his head popped of his body, desperate avoid the blow. Buggy didn't expect the hard blow to his stomach he received, causing him to fly back again. "Damn you Strawhat," He said as he stood up again, "I'll kill you."

"**Bara Bara Festival!**" He cries causing his body to split into a hundred different parts. "Did a flashy death!" He yelled as he began to attack.

Luffy easily dodged the sloppy attacks as he let his arms stretch a little ways behind him.

"**Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!**"

Luffy's arms disappeared in a flurry of attacks that knocked Buggy's detached body parts out of the air and embedded them into the nearest concrete. After a few seconds of attacking, Luffy's work was done. Buggy was defeated, his unconscious head buried in the wall of a building.

Grinning he turned towards Nami, "Let's go take his treasure now!" He proclaimed happily.

Minutes later Nami and Luffy woke up Zoro, both of them with big bags of treasure in their hands. "Zoro, we've got a Navigator now." Said Luffy with an huge smile on his face.

Nami rolled her eyes, "I'm just cooperating with you while it serves my purpose, remember that. I'll say okay for now, since it seems that if I go along with you guys I'll be able to earn a lot of money." He proceeded to hug her bag of treasure, "This much treasure should be worth at least 10 million Beli!"

"You guys!" yelled a new voice. The trio turned to find a mass of villagers lead by the village chief, a white haired old man wearing some makeshift leather armor. "We're the people of this village," he said before he gestured to the battle scene, "Do you know what happened here? if you know anything please tell us."

"Shishishishi~ I'm Monkey D. Luffy." Greeted Luffy, "Me and my crewmate here just got finished defeating Buggy and his goons."

The chief raised his eyebrow at this remark before bowing slightly, "If what you say is true then we are truly grateful." He raised his head and looked at the three again. "If there's anything we can do as repayment for what you've done, don't hesitate to tell us."

"Hmm…" thought Luffy as he tapped his head, "Oh!" he said as he held up his finger at a new thought. "You can wave my pirate flag for protection from any other pirates that try and raid this town."

"You're pirates?" asked the Mayor as a few citizens backed up in shock and worry.

"Shishishishi~ Yes, This is my swordsman Roronoa Zoro and my Navigator Nami." he said as he gestured towards the two. "And you," he said as he pointed at the Mayor, "Are the first town to wave the flag of the future Pirate King."

"I suppose," said the Mayor hesitantly, "as thanks for your efforts we will fly your flag."

"Yosh!" yelled Luffy as he fist pumped. "Now," he said as he turned towards his two crewmates, "Let's set off towards our next adventure and our next crewmate." He turned around and began to walk towards that docks, Zoro following wordlessly. Nami though ran quickly up to the Mayor. "Can we get some food to?" She asked, "These two don't seem to think ahead."

"Sure." the Mayor replied as he lead her into a nearby shop. Soon they were all ready to go, Zoro lounging in the boat while Luffy excitedly loaded in the food and Nami excitedly loaded in the gold.

"Hey," yelled the Mayor as the three pirates pushed off the dock, "What's you're flag?"

"Shishishi~ A Jolly Roger with a straw hat on his head." yelled Luffy at the townsfolk as they began to get farther away.

The three sat in comfortable silence for a while before Zoro spoke up, "Hey Captain," he said, "Are you going to tell me how you ran on water?"

_'Wait...'_ thought Nami frantically, '_He wasn't lying!?'_

* * *

**_BAM! _**_The Buggy Arc is finished in one chapter! Sorry if the fight scenes are a little bland, fights early on in the series will be quite easy for an Overpowered Luffy. I'm quite proud of what I did with the Haki training though. I even researched ***GASP***** **real life techniques and based it off that, also Blut Vein from Bleach...I don't own Bleach either *sniff*_

_Anyways! Comment, Favorite, Follow, and Enjoy!_


	5. The King of Liars

_Yay! I'm back! I'm going to aim to release two new chapters a week until the Grand Line, key word is **AIM**... Anyways, here's your chapter. I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

_In a different universe I would be the owner of One Piece. Sadly, I live in this universe where I don't own One Piece...Damn you this universe!_

* * *

**Smack!**

"Oi! Idiot! Wake up!" Nami smacked Luffy again in an attempt to rouse the sleeping Captain. Luffy flipped onto his side and continued to sleep. Zoro smirked, "Try waving some food in front his face." He said, but before Nami moved Luffy bolted up.

"Food!?" He asked as he frantically looked around. Nami stifled a laugh at Luffy's antics before speaking. "Zoro told me all about this Haki ability you guys have, do you think I could learn?"

"Anyone can learn," said Luffy as he pulled some meat out of nowhere, "Zoro began learning the day before we reached you."

"So," asked Nami, "Can you teach me?"

"Which form do you want to learn first?"

"I want to learn **Kenbunshoku Haki,**" She said as she smiled brightly, "It sounds very useful."

"Meditate," said Luffy simply, "Take in the world around you, all of it. Let nothing escape your senses. **Kenbunshoku Haki** lets your spirit resonate with the world around you, nothing will escape your notice. With a little bit of practice you'll be able to sense the intent in attacks and avoid them almost before they begin."

"How long did it take you to master it?" asked Nami.

"A little over 9 months," Luffy smiled, "My personality makes it hard for me to run away from a challenge, so dodging wasn't something I took seriously early on. I got into a lot of bad situations from taking all the hits though, it won't be like that in the future though."

Nami sighed as she got into her meditation pose, "Sometimes I can't tell if you're an airhead or not." She said,"You act like a child most of the time, and then you go and say some wise words like that."

"Shishishishi~"

"Definitely an airhead." Smirked Zoro as he too got ready to meditate.

"Unless anything changes," said Nami, "We'll reach another Island sometime tomorrow."

"Midmorning," said Luffy nonchalantly.

Nami blinked a few times in confusion, "How would you know?" She asked, "You and Zoro have no sense of direction."

Luffy grinned widely

"6th sense," said Zoro as he closed his eyes, "Don't doubt the Captain's 6th sense."

"Shishishishi~"

With that the two new crewmembers began to meditate, leaving Luffy alone to his thoughts. He leaned back in the boat again, pushing his treasured Strawhat down to cover his eyes as he smiled widely. _'We're almost there,'_ he thought with excitement, _'Just wait for me Usopp! I can't wait to see you and the Going Merry again!'_

Nami made no progress that day, much to her frustration. "Don't worry," comforted Luffy, "there's not much to concentrate on out here on the open sea, wait until we reach land and meditate more there."

"Yeah," said Nami dismissively, "I guess that makes sense."

~~~~~~~~~~Syrup Village~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy stepped out of the boat onto the beach with a smile splitting his face, _'Usopp!'_ he thought excitedly, _'We're here!'_

"Hey," said Zoro as he stepped out of the boat, "What are those guys doing there?" He gestured towards 3 small boys and a gangly teenager that were peeking over the top of a fallen tree at the top of a cliff. The three kids ran away as the teen yelled at them to come back, before hesitantly standing up and facing the 3 pirates.

"I am the great pirate fleet leader Usopp!" He boasted as Luffy's smile grew, "I am in charge of the security of this village! I am also known as 'Captain Usopp'!" He slowly approached the trio, "It's best if you don't try to attack this village, my 80 million men are not going to forgive you!"

"You're lying, right?" deadpanned Nami

"Waa!" Yelled Usopp in fright, "I've been caught!"  
"See?" said Nami as she facepalmed, "You even said it yourself…"

"Arghh! Did I just say that!?" screamed Usopp, "Bad planning! Bad Planning indeed!"

"Shishishishi~"

"Hey!" Barked Usopp at Luffy's laugher, "Don't underestimate me! I am a man with high self-esteem! Everyone calls me 'Honorable' Usopp!"

"Would you be honorable enough to show us where we might grab some food?" asked Luffy as his stomach grumbled.

"And Sake." Added Zoro quickly.

~~~~~~~~~~Tavern~~~~~~~~~~

"So…" summarised Usopp as the group sat around a table of food, "You're looking for companions and a big ship?"

"Yup!" exclaimed Luffy as he took a bite out a chunk of meat.

"Oh! Sounds like a big adventure!" Said Usopp excitedly, "There's only one place where you can find the stuff you want in this village...although it's not a very big ship, but it's not that small either.

"Where?" questioned Nami

"There's a mansion not far from this village that belongs to a wealthy family. The ship belongs to the mansion's owner." Usopp continued solemnly, "Although we say that she is the owner, she is a pitiful young girl, a weak and sick girl that always lies in her bed."

"Eh?"

"I think it happened around a year ago," continued Usopp, "That girl's parents died of sickness. She was left with a large inheritance, a mansion, and over ten servants." Usopp sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Even if you're really rich, it doesn't exempt you from sorrow."

Nami's eyes lost some of her sparkle, she knew exactly what Usopp was talking about.

"Oh yeah!" Usopp said as he turned towards Luffy, "You said earlier that you're looking for companions, right?" Usopp proudly pointed at himself. "Let me be the captain, and I'll join you."

"Nope." The three said in unison.

"What kind of attitude is that?" Screamed Usopp before he caught sight of the clock and got up. "It's that time again." He said and promptly left the shop.

Nami raised an eyebrow, but nobody said anything and they continued to eat in silence for a few minutes before they were interrupted by the three children from before.

"Usopp Pirate Group is here!" they yelled as the entered the shop.

"What…?"

The three kids came over to the table and raised their wooden swords over their head. "H...Hey pirates!" They shouted, "What did you do to our Captain Usopp? Give us our captain back!"

Luffy swallowed the last of his food and sat back, "Yum Yum!" he said happily, "What delicious meat!"

"Huh...meat!?"

"He...HE ATE THE CAPTAIN?!"

Zoro smirked. "You're captain," he said, "we just...ate him." He gave the kids an insane smile.

"GYAAAAAAAHHHHH!" The three screamed as they turned towards Nami, "WIIITCHHHH!"

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME?!" Nami yelled in outrage before turning towards a laughing Zoro, "Why did you tell them those weird things?!"

"Ok," Said Luffy as he got up, "Time to go."

"Go where?" Questioned Nami.

"The mansion on top of the hill," Smiled Luffy, "It's time to get us a boat!"

~~~~~~~~~~Mansion~~~~~~~~~~

The group arrived at the unguarded gate of the mansion. Luffy glanced around for a few seconds before he said, "Let's just go in," and hopped the fence.

"Sigh, We can't stop him." Nami sighed

"Since we can't stop him," agreed Zoro, "We'll have to follow him."

As the trio got inside the plaza they spotted Usopp. He was sitting against a tree happily talking with a blonde haired teen who was leaning out of a window.

"Oh!" smiled Luffy as he spotted her, "You're the ojousama Usopp told us about!"

"Huh?" Usopp's eyes bugged as he was the trio, "What are you doing here!?"

"Who's that?" the girl, Kaya, asked. Usopp ran over to Luffy and slung his arm around him. "These guys heard about my reputation," He boasted, "They travelled far to meet me. They are new members of the Usopp Pirate Group."

"Nope," Objected Luffy, "That's not it." He stepped towards Kaya. "We have a request for you."

"A request?" She asked, "For me?"

"Yes!" Luffy beamed, "We need a ship, a biiiiiig ship." Kaya opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a shout.

"What are you doing here!?" Yelled Klahadore, her caretaker.

"Klahadore, listen…" began, but the butler held up his hand for her to stop.

"You don't have to explain," He said, "I will ask about it later." He turned towards the group. "Please get out," He requested, "or is there something you need to say?"

He looked at the group for a second before noticing Usopp. "You," he growled, "I've heard rumors about you. The villagers talk about you all the time."

Usopp puffed his chest out, "You can call me Captain Usopp," he said, "Everybody does."

Klahadore adjusted his glasses with his palm. "The guards saw you lurking out here, what do you want?" He asked.

"Umm...uhhhh…" Usopp stuttered, "I heard there was a huge mole that lived inside the mansion! I wanted to see it for myself."

"Hahaha," chuckled the butler without enthusiasm, "I see, you can certainly lie well."

"What?"

"I heard about your father as well," he continued, "You're the son of a filthy pirate. I'm not surprised you turned out this way, but you better stay away from my ojousama."

"Yasopp is a great and honorable pirate!" Yelled Luffy in the heat of the moment, causing everyone to look at him in surprise.

"You...you know my father?" asked Usopp in astonishment.

"It matters not," Said Klahadore as he turned back towards Usopp, "You and the oujousama belong to totally different worlds. Is it money you're looking for?" he taunted, "Name your price."

"THAT'S ENOUGH KLAHADORE!" Shouted Kaya frantically, "APOLOGIZE TO USOPP-SAN AT ONCE!"

"There's no need for me to apologize to this uncivilized person," Scowled Klahadore, "I'm just telling the truth." He turned towards Usopp again, "I feel sorry for you. You hate your father don't you?" He asked, "He's a 'dumb treasure hunter' who deserted his family and village"

"KLAHADORE!"

"I won't let you say another bad thing about my father!" yelled Usopp as his eyes began to darken.

"Why are you so angry? You're not very smart are you?" taunted Klahadore, "You should've just told your usual lies and said your dad was a travelling merchant, or that you weren't related to him."

Something inside Usopp snapped, "SHUT UP!" he yelled as he delivered a right hook to the butler's jaw, knocking him to the ground.

"See," Said Klahadore as he picked himself up, "You're so violent. Like father, like son."

"Shut up!" Snapped Usopp again. "I'm proud that my dad is a pirate! I'm proud that he's a brave warrior of the sea! You're right that I like to lie, but I'm proud of having a pirate's blood in me! I don't have to pretend that I'm not! I am a son of a pirate!"

Usopp spun around and marched away, "I'm never coming back here again!"

"I'm going after him," Luffy said, "You guys wait in the village."

~~~~~~~~~~Cliff~~~~~~~~~~

Usopp sat on the clifftop, leaning against a tree and staring off into the horizon, watching the waves. Luffy sat down next to him wordlessly. After a minute of silence Usopp spoke.

"How do you know who my dad is?" He asked

Luffy smiled widely, "I've known him since I was a kid." He said to Usopp's astonishment.

"Really?! You know my dad?" Usopp shouted excitedly.

"Yup."

"Where is he now?"

"Dunno, but I'm pretty sure he is on Red-Haired Shank's ship. Yasopp is one of my favorite pirates in that crew."

"Re..really?" Asked Usopp in awe."So, he's on that Red-Haired Shank's ship, huh?" Usopp paused for a moment while something clicked. His eyes bugged out as he realized what Luffy had said."RED-HAIRED SHANKS?!"

"Shishishishi~"

"Is my dad really on that great ship?" Pressed Usopp urgently.

Luffy just smiled. "Yeah! His shooting skill is the best, he never misses anything within his range." Luffy chuckled as he remembered Yasopp. "He was a really popular pirate." He told the beaming Usopp.

Usopp stood up and looked across the horizon proudly. "To tell you the truth," he said, "Even though he left me for the sea, I'm always proud of my dad. But," He frowned, "That bastard Klahadore looked down on him, he looked down on my pride."

"Yup," agreed Luffy, "I don't like him at all."

Usopp sat down as Luffy spotted two people on the beach. "That bastard butler is here." He said to Usopp as he pointed towards Klahadore and Jango on the beach."

Usopp clenched his jaw, but kept quiet as he and Luffy leaned in to listen to the two.

"Jango," spoke Klahadore with a bite to his voice, "I told you not to draw the attention of the villagers, why did you sleep in the middle of the street?"

The weirdo, Jango, said, "How can I attract any attention? It's not like I look weird or something."

"There's a weird guy with him," whispered Usopp, "I've never seen him before."

"So," said Klahadore as he adjusted his glasses, "Are you all prepared for it?"

"Of course said the man, we can start 'Operation Assassinate Ojousama' anytime."

"Assassinate is such an ugly word." said Klahadore.

"Ah, yeah! Accident! We'll call it an accident, isn't that right Captain Kuro?"

Klahadore narrowed his eyes, "Captain Kuro, I gave up that name 3 years ago, don't call me that again. You're the Captain now."

"I still remember that day," said Jango, "It simply shocked me."

"Hmm?"

"You said you were going to give up being a pirate, and made me that Captain. Everyone thinks that Captain Kuro has been executed by the Marines, but actually you hid in this little village and told us to come here in three years time. Before," he continued as he sat on a boulder, "when I worked for you there were always a lot of 'benefits.' That's the only reason I worked for you. I can get a good share this time right?"

"Yes." Said Kuro, "If you succeed, you'll get your share."

"Good!" smiled Jango, "Leave that girl to me."

"Killing her is not enough," said Kuro, "You have to make it look like an accident."

"Yes," said Jango, "When you give the signal, we'll charge into the village and kill the Ojousama. But before we kill her I have to hypnotize her and make her write your name in the will."

"I will leave all my wealth to my butler Klahadore." said Kuro, "Make her write that, this way I can openly claim her wealth.I've spent three years getting everyone to trust me. As soon as she writes the Will nobody will suspect me."

"Just for this you spent three years being a butler?" Jango asked, "If I were you, I would have just robbed them straight on."

Klahadore sighed, "If I had done that, I would still be an outlaw, and the Marines would still be chasing me. This plan can get me tons of money, plus I won't have the Marines chasing me. I like using my head to find a peaceful way to settle things."

"Hahahaha!" Laughed Jango loudly, "Peaceful way to settle things? You mean murdering her entire family is a peaceful way?"

"Hey!" Objected Klahadore, "Kaya's parents died naturally. That was outside my plans."

"Whatever," Said Jango dismissively, "Let's not argue over this. Anyways, you just need to send the signal. Our ship has been anchored close by for almost a week! They can't hold back any longer…"

Usopp and Luffy stayed in silence contemplating what they'd just heard. Usopp whispered to Luffy, his voice strained with fright. "Kaya will be killed! The village will be under attack...not good...not good at all!"

"Jango," said Kuro, "Tomorrow morning, take the crew to attack the village. Destroy some houses, make it look like a pirate raid. Then, kill Kaya, the Ojousama." With that said, both men split ways.

"Tomorrow?" breathed Usopp in disbelief. "This is bad! This is bad! This is bad!" Usopp lept up and started towards the forest. "The villagers will all be killed. Kaya will be killed too! People that I love...I love this village!" He started to run as fast as he could towards the forest before Luffy appeared in front of him.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"The village!" Shouted Usopp frantically, "I have to warn everyone!"

Luffy almost agreed with him, but a faint memory of a bloodied and bruised Usopp with a bullet wound stopped him. He remembered what happened the first time this happened. Usopp was the boy who cried wolf, they wouldn't believe him when he told the truth because of all his lies.

"No," Objected Luffy firmly, "That won't work."

"Please," begged Usopp, "Let me warn everybody."

"You lie about pirates coming every single day." Reasoned Luffy, "Why would they believe you this time?"

"B-b-but…" Usopp tried to argue, but he knew Luffy was right.

"Plus," Added Luffy, "We have the element of surprise now." Usopp raised his eyebrow at this. "We're going to set traps for the pirates." Luffy explained. "Now lets go tell my crew the plan."

"Mine too." Added Usopp.

~~~~~~~~~~Encampment~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy gathered Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and the three member's of Usopp's 'Pirate Crew' around their temporary base in the woods. Nothing had been explained yet, so it was up to Luffy and Usopp.

Usopp began with, "Uhhmm...well...you see...me and…" before he was interrupted by Luffy.

"Tomorrow we'll be fighting pirates." Luffy said bluntly, much to the dismay of Usopp and his crewmates, who yelped and clung together in fear.

"Don't say it like that!" Usopp snapped, "What if they won't help now?"

Luffy laughed lightly, "Shishishi~ My crewmembers aren't cowards," He said, "and the three kids in your crew won't be fighting anyways." At this the three children relaxed noticeably.

"So," continued Usopp, "Here's the plan. We set up traps on the slope not far from here, it's the only way into the village…"

"What about where we docked?" Asked Nami.

Usopp facepalmed, "I forgot about that," He admitted, "I just thought they'd come up this way since this is where they discussed their plans."

"So," said Zoro, "We set up traps at both?"

"No," disagreed Luffy, "Just on the slope we landed."

"Why just one?" Asked Nami and Usopp in unison.

"Call it a Captain's-"

"-6th sense." Finished Zoro. "It's yet to be proven wrong."

"Ok," agreed Usopp hesitantly, "I hope you're right though. We can't station ourselves at both slopes or we'd be spread to thin, though we will be setting traps on both slopes."

Luffy nodded his head in agreement before turning to the kids, "We have something for you to do too." He said as the boys resumed clinging to each other.

Usopp sighed, "You're not going to be fighting," He explained, much to the boys' relief, "I just need you guys to guard Kaya tomorrow. If you see any pirates, take her and run." The three boys nodded eagerly. "You should go home now, we don't want anyone to be suspicious. I'll camp here tonight with Luffy and his crew."

~~~~~~~~~~Mansion~~~~~~~~~~

Kaya's two Butlers, Merry and Klahadore, were tidying up the study when Klahadore noticed a wrapped box sitting on the desk. He picked it up that package, "Hm?" he mused, "What's this?"

"Oh, that?" Merry said as he noticed what Klahadore was holding. "That's a present from Ojousama. She said it's because tomorrow will be exactly three years since you first came to work at this mansion. She says it's an anniversary."

Klahadore opened the gift and pulled out a new pair of glasses. "Anniversary…" He said to himself.

Merry smiled as Klahadore saw his present. "Because your glasses often slip," he explained, "Ojousama went to the next town personally and ordered this special pair of glasses. She is so nice and caring."

"She calls it an anniversary, indeed, tomorrow really is a special day." said Kuro as his face darkened and he looked out the window. "Tonight's moon, it's crescent. On a night like this every cell in my body becomes excited." Kuro dropped his present to the floor and ground them underfoot.

"What?!" shouted Merry in surprise and anger, "Klahadore-san, why did you break the present?! Ojousama went through so much trouble to get it for you!"

Kuro smirked as he turned towards Merry, "I will ask her for my own presents, but it won't be a small present like this...I want everything in this house."

"Wha...what!?"

"There's no need to continue this act," said Kuro as he stalked towards Merry, "In just a couple of hours this village will be overtaken by pirates." He pulled his weapon, the Cat-Claws, out of his bag, their blades gleaming.

"Ojousama!" shouted Merry as he backed up frantically, "Run!"  
Kuro quickly slashed Merry vertically and left him bleeding out on the ground before the former pirate retired for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~Slope~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay!" said Usopp enthusiastically, "We're done! We stashed your treasure away from the slope and sprayed a massive amount of oil here! Now those bastards won't be able to get up this slope, this is the most effective way to battle them. No matter what, we must guard this slope with our lives."

"Just don't fall down there yourself, or else you're screwed." Warned Nami as her Captain testily put his foot on the oil part of the slope.

"Yep!" He agreed.

"Don't worry!" Boasted Usopp, "I have a lot of confidence in myself!"

Nami looked out across the horizon as the sun began to rise. "The sun is up," She said, "The pirates are going to come soon."

The small group stood at the top of the slope, watching as a red and black pirate ship with a black cat as the figurehead came into view and settled on the beach.

"Shishishishi~ My 6th sense was right again." Luffy grinned widely while Zoro just rolled his eyes.

"We've reached shore!" yelled a pirate from the ship.

"Everyone, Let's go!" Yelled another, "Our plan is to destroy the village!"

"Gooooooooooo!" Yelled the pirates as they charged out of ship. "Don't let anyone live!" Several pirates were promptly knocked back by Usopp's slingshot.

"There are people up on the slope!" Yelled a foot soldier.

"I'm Captain Usopp!" Said Usopp as he brandished his slingshot and a handful lead pellets. "I've been waiting here for you guys! I've made all the preparations! If you don't want to die, then retreat at once!"

The pirates didn't even hesitate, "Everybody charge!" They cried as they leapt forward, "Destroy the village!" They didn't get to far, as soon as they reached the oil slick they started slipping.

"Now," Said Usopp as he rose his slingshot, "My special attack: **Namari Boshi!**" Usopp fired a lead pellet into the jaw of the nearest pirate, knocking him down the slope unconscious.

"Good job!" Praised Nami, "Keep up the good work! I'm going to rest a while!"

"The battle isn't over yet!" Yelled Usopp.

Jango looked over the mess in disgust. "You idiots!" He yelled, "Hurry up and get past them to the village! Did you forget Captain Kuro's plan? We can't mess it up, or else he'll kill us all! Do you hear me, you idiots!?"

The pirates froze in fear for a moment before scrambling to try and get up the slope.

"Zoro," Said Luffy calmly, "We're going down."

"Yes, sir." Said Zoro as he put **Wado Ichimonji** in his mouth. Both men slid down the oiled slope and immediately knocked the front lines down to the beach again.

The pirates panicked, "What's going on?" They cried, "Captain Jango, we didn't know they had these kind of people in the village." Jango narrowed his eyes.

"I didn't know you guys were this strong." Said Usopp in awe.

"Of course." Luffy said with a smile.

"Hey!" Barked Jango, "You idiots! Don't tell me you guys are finished just from one blow from those fools? Listen! We don't have time to waste here! Since the opponent is strong, we must be stronger." He pulled out his pendulum blade, "Come! Look at my pendulum. After I say '1, 2, Jango' you guys will become stronger! Your wounds will heal, and you will become much stronger than before!" Jango lowered his hat over his eyes. "One...Two...Jango!"

Immediately the exhausted crewmembers burst forth with a battlecry, their energy restored and their wounds healed.

"No way!" Gasped Nami, "They were still shaky just a moment ago!"

One of the pirates demonstrated his new strength by punching the side of the cliff, causing it to break apart and fall.

"He crushed the wall...How did they gain so much strength?" Yelled Zoro is surprise.

"He hypnotized them to their soul." Explained Luffy, "They have a temporary Haki armor."

"I see," Said Zoro with a grin, "But their not the only ones." He turned towards Usopp. "Try and pick off as many as you can." He ordered. Usopp nodded in reply. Luffy took off running towards the mass of henchmen. They noticed him and charged.

Luffy readied his fists, imbuing them with a bit of Haki. "**Gomu Gomu no Gatling!**" Luffy into a rapid barrage of strong punches that sent the hypnotized pirates flying back down the slope. "His arms!" Gasped Usopp. Nami put her hand on his shoulder. "Later." She simply said.

Jango surveyed the unconscious pirates surrounding him. "We still have 'Those Two'." He contemplated aloud before he grinned.

~~~~~~~~~~Mansion~~~~~~~~~~

They boys were stationed in the tree just outside of Kaya's house. Just a while ago they had watched Klahadore leave the house, walking to the village, but now they were relaxing. Their relaxation was cut short as a scream came from the mansion.

"Merry!"

The boys quickly rushed into the house, going towards the voices.

"What happened?" asked Kaya from the dining room, "Merry! Wake up! You can't die!"

The boys dashed into the room to see Kaya sitting over a critically wounded Merry, blood splattered throughout the room.

"Kaya-sama!" they shouted, surprising the blonde teen. Before anybody could say anything else Merry began to cough violently as he rolled over and vomited blood.

"Merry!" shouted Kaya as she turned back to her wounded butler.

"Ojousama..Good...You're safe." The wounded butler said.

"I'm safe?" Question Kaya with tears in her eyes, "What are you saying?"

"Klahadore!" Coughed Merry, "He tried to kill me."

"Wha...this can't be real." Kaya gasped.

"He's a pirate!" Shouted Merry.

"Yes!" Agreed the boys readily, "He's a pirate that's planning to kill you!"

"Why?" asked Kaya in shock, "How?"

"He's just after your money Kaya-sama," The boys revealed, "His crew is suppose to raid the village today and kill you, but Usopp and his new friends are making a stand."

Kaya gasped, "We have to go help them!" She cried.

The boys shook their head. "We promised Usopp that we'd keep you safe," They said, "We can't let you go towards the pirates."

Kaya sniffed and nodded, "Very well," She said, "We'll stay here."

~~~~~~~~~~Slope~~~~~~~~~~

"Come down Nyaban Brothers!" Jango yelled dramatically.

"What's going to come out now?" Wondered Zoro before he saw two figures leap high into the air from the ship and land right next to the hypnotist.

"Hello Nyaban Brothers." Jango greeted the two new men. One was fat and was dressed to resemble a black-and-white cat while the other was skinny and had cat ears on his head as well as green cat-like eyes.

"Captain," greeted the skinny pirate, "You called for us?"

"Buchi, Sham." Jango said as he motioned up the slope. "We couldn't pass through this slope because those guys are blocking our way. Go and destroy them."

The two men began to shake, "What?!" They protested, "How can we…? We can't beat them! Those guys look really strong!"

"Sham!" Yelled Jango at the skinny one, "Go now!"

"Okay!" shouted Sham as he scampered up the slope, "I'm going!"

"Zoro," said Luffy as he walked past Zoro up the slope, "No mercy."

The swordsman sighed and looked at the enemy. "Prepare to die!" Yelled Sham as he sloppily charged, "My claws are really sharp!"

"What can you do with those claws?" Scowled Zoro as he drew a single sword, but he remembered his Captain's words and drew the other two. Zoro concentrated as Sham charged, he didn't need to use Haki against the man, but he needed to practice it. Sham entered Zoro's range and his three swords darkened slightly.

**"Oni Giri"**

Zoro slashed through the man, but whirled around in surprise. When he slashed his swords hadn't cut anything substantial. Zoro turned just in time to parry a strike from behind the man tried. Zoro deflected him easily and faced him again, a scowl on his face. While Zoro's back was turned Buchi ran forward, determined to defeat the swordsman.

**"Cat Technique,"** He yelled as he leapt into the air, "**Buchi's Dropkick!"**

Zoro sidestepped the attack, but the kick still cracked the ground around him forcing him to retreat more.

"Damn," said Sham as he joined his brother, "He got away. He's stronger than I expected."

Buchi raised his claws, "This time I won't let him escape." He said.

"Of course."

"Let's do it, Buchi!"

"Give it to him, Sham!"

Both men charged as Zoro prepared his attack, placing his two katanas parallel to each other behind **Wado Ichimonji** and waited for the two pirates to enter his range, his Haki flowing steadily into his blades.

"Shyaa!" Yelled the men as they approached, "Stop dreaming! Even with three swords, you're still no match for us!"

"You don't know the difference between 'using three swords' and 'using three swords style'." sighed Zoro. Then the men entered his range.

**"Tora Gari"**

Zoro's swords swung with deadly grace forwards as they cut into the two men, causing them to fly off the ground with blood pouring from them. Jango's eyes opened wide in fear, not because of Zoro's strength, but because of the presence of a new man of the battlefield. "I...I...I can explain!" He stuttered in fright.

Zoro turned around to look at the disturbance. There at the top of the slope stood Kuro, the former butler glaring menacingly at the carnage.

"It has been pretty long since dawn," he said with a deceptively calm voice, "I was wondering why the plan wasn't carried out...WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!"

"Captain…" pleaded Jango, "These men are strong, I…"

"I WILL ACCEPT NO EXCUSES!" Roared Kuro in outrage, but calmed down quickly. "Jango."

"Yes!"

"I will take care of these kids, you take care of Ojousama. Make her write her will and then, Kill her."

"Got it."

Zoro held out his swords, "I won't let you get through me." He said.

"No, Zoro." Said Luffy as he appeared behind him, "Let Nami and Usopp take care of him, they need fighting experience." Nami and Usopp paled a bit at this but nodded. Luffy pointed at their ship, "Raid it," he said, "Nami probably want's their money."

"Yes I do!" quipped Nami.  
Zoro sheathed his weapons and began to walk towards the ship. Jango pulled out two of his round blades and began to twirl them. As he prepared to attack the swordsman, Usopp acted.

**"Namari Boshi!"**

Jango was knock back by Usopp's shot, his weapons falling out of his hands.

"You bastard!" he hissed as he picked himself up, the swordsman had already past him. Turning towards Zoro he picked up his weapons and started towards him, but was promptly hit in the back of the head by Nami's Bo-Staff, causing him to fall flat on his face. "You bitch." He growled as he backed up to face her.

"Usopp!" She yelled as she faced Jango, "You better cover me!" Usopp replied by shooting at the hypnotist, who barely dodged. Nami leapt forward at this chance and swung her staff into the hypnotist's side. Jango grunted in pain briefly before pulling out his Chakram and swinging at Nami who barely dodged. She brought up her staff in an attempt to hit the man, but Jango easily parried her blow and forced her off balance. Taking this chance Jango raised his weapon, but Usopp reacted first.

**"Namari Boshi!"**

Jango was hit in the head once again, his vision blurred as he regained his balance. He regained his senses just in time to recognize Nami's staff as it swung down at him. Nami began her barrage of hits, knocking the hypnotist around. The blows weren't enough to finish him off though. Jango braced himself against the hits before throwing himself forward, forcing Nami to the ground. Usopp steadied his slingshot as Jango raised his weapon to deal a fatal blow.

**"Special Technique: Kayaku Boshi!"**

Usopp's gunpowder star exploded in Jango's face. As the smoke cleared Jango's sunglasses fell off, a bit of blood trailing from his mouth. "Captain...Kuro." He muttered as he collapsed.

Kuro's eyes narrowed, but he didn't reply. Instead he pulled two gloves from his bag, each finger had a full katana attached. He glared at the pirates who had ruined his plan. Luffy smiled widely as he placed himself in front of Kuro.

"Before we fight," Kuro said, "I want to ask you one question. You're a stranger here, why are you getting so involved with this village?"

"I have a friend in this village that I don't want to see dead." Luffy said simply.

"What a simple reason," Said Kuro, "Are you really okay with it? After all, it'll be your reason for dying."

"That's okay," Luffy grinned, "I'm not going to die anyway."

Kuro rushed his foe and Luffy just stood there. Luffy yawned as kuro approached, only angering the butler more. Casually sidestepping Kuro's swing Luffy brought up his knee into the man's chest, throwing him back a couple of feet. The winded Kuro stood shakily, that blow had done a lot of damage. "So," he said, "you're not all talk I see. I think I might have to go all out against you."

Luffy yawned again at his weak opponent causing Kuro to grit his teeth in anger. "You've insulted me." He growled as he adjusted his glasses, "I'll have to show you the terror of a pirate who's been at the brink of death and survived." Kuro lowered his arms and began to say back and forth sideways in a fluid manner.

**"Shakushi"**

Kuro disappeared and an eerie silence drifted through the battlefield. Suddenly, ten claw marks were carved into the ground fifteen feet away, then another twenty five feet away, then ten. The random attacks continued all around Luffy, who just stood there silently. Claws in the ground appeared 30 feet to Luffy's left before Luffy suddenly punched straight in front of him. Kuro was knocked out of invisibility by Luffy, his ribs groaning at the punch.

"To slow." Said Luffy to the wounded man. Kuro furrowed his brows at Luffy, he was unharmed. 'I guess it's a bit much to use Shakushi against just one person." He thought as he stood up once more. 'I should use Nuki Ashi against him, it would be much more effective.'

Kuro adjusted glasses once more before facing Luffy. "Nuki Ashi" He said as he disappeared for a moment before reappearing behind Luffy, his claws in motion.

**"Soru"**

Luffy appeared behind Kuro immediately, "Your attack has to many useless movements." He said before punching Kuro in the face as he turned around. Kuro's glasses shattered as he fell back, his nose broken.

"My plan!" He wheezed loudly, "My plan cannot fail!" Angrily he rounded on Luffy, a crazed look in his eyes.

**"Nuki Ashi!"**

**"Soru"**

Both men disappeared as Luffy met Kuro's charge with a hard fist to his body, ribs breaking as Kuro flew back 15 feet before skidding across the ground unconscious.

Zoro whistled in appreciation from the bow of the pirate ship. "Good job Captain." He said as he lifted up a sack of treasure, "Where do I put this?" He asked.

Nami's eye's began to shine. "Put it in our ship!" She said as she excitedly ran to check how much Zoro had gotten. Usopp stared in astonishment during the whole fight, surveying the scene.

"What are you?" He asked, "How are you so strong?"

Luffy grinned widely, "I'm the one who's going to become the Pirate King."

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_Yay! Usopp arc done! Comment, Favorite, Follow, and do whatever else you want to do!_


	6. Divine Changes

**Yay! I'm back! And NO, I didn't abandon this story. This is a short chapter, I just wanted to tell everyone that a poll is up right now for Luffy Pairings, It'll be taken down on the 20th and at that time I'll publish another FULL LONG chapter and put up a new poll.**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own anything least of all One Piece...actually, I do own this Triple Whopper...Yeah, I'm gonna go eat that now...**

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"A caravel!" Nami yelled in glee as Kaya and Merry presented the ship to the crew.

"It's slightly old style," Explained Merry, "but I designed it myself. It's a caravel and it uses a staysail. The controls are in the back. I call it the 'Going Merry'." He looked at Luffy, "So it was you who defeated the Black Cat pirates with Usopp-kun," He said with amusement, "I thought you'd be a little bigger."

Luffy ignored the comment as he walked up to the ship. "I love it," He simply said to the happy butler.

"Well," Said Merry, "I will explain the steering system."

Luffy interrupted him, "Tell Nami," He said as he gestured to her, "I won't understand." As the butler went to speak to Nami, Luffy turned towards Kaya, "Thanks for causing all this trouble!" He said excitedly.

"That's 'For going through all this trouble'..." Zoro corrected his captain.

"Waaaahhh!" A yell of terror attracted the group's attention, "Stop me, please!" Yelled Usopp as he rolled down the slope, a huge backpack rolling with him.

"Usopp-san!" gasped Kaya

"What's he doing?" Asked Nami

"No idea," replied Zoro, "but I think we should stop him. If he keeps on going like that, he'll hit the ship."

"Watch out for his face." Advised Luffy as he and Zoro raised their feet to stop him.

"Th...thank you." Stuttered Usopp as he looked at the pairs feet on either side of his head.

"No problem."

Kaya approached the three as Luffy and Zoro helped Usopp get his balance. "So, you're going to the sea Usopp-san?" Kaya asked.

"Yeah," Usopp confirmed, "I have to go before I change my mind. Please don't stop me."

"I won't," Kaya said, "I've figured that you would do this." She took a deep, shaky breath, "That's why I've decided to join you."

"What!?"

Everybody but Merry looked at her in surprise, Luffy the most surprised of all. '_This isn't what happened last time!'_ He thought frantically before calming himself down. _'It's not a bad thing though, Kaya is a good person...and it'd make Usopp happy.'_ Luffy quietly thought to himself.

Usopp was trying, with no avail, to convince Kaya that it was to dangerous when Luffy interrupted. "Usopp," he said firmly, "It's her decision. You can't decide for her."

Usopp stopped talking, but still grumbled under his breath, before he agreed and the two new crew members got into the boat.

Before they set sail Luffy shouted to Merry, "This island is under our protection now!" He yelled to the butler, "You can fly our flag for protection! It's a Jolly Roger with a StrawHat on it!"

~~~~~~~~~~Sea~~~~~~~~~~

"Cheers!" Cried the crew as they raised their glasses, "To a new ship and two new crew members!"

The crew began to party as Luffy began drawing his Jolly Rogers. "Alright!" He yelled as he revealed a badly drawn Skull-and-Crossbones wearing a StrawHat, "Our pirate flag is done!" He beamed at his fellow crewmates, "Whaddya think?"

"You're beyond terrible," deadpanned Usopp, "Leave the drawing to me!"

After attempting to change the symbol on the flag Usopp succeeded in making a perfect Jolly Roger.

"Wow!" exclaimed Kaya.

"It's perfect!" Added Nami.

"It doesn't even remotely look like the other one." Zoro pointed out while Luffy merely laughed.

"Shishishishi~ That's great! Draw one on our sail too!"

As Usopp began to brag about his supreme art skills Luffy turned to Nami, "Can you teach Kaya and Usopp about Haki?" he asked the navigator.

Nami nodded and Luffy turned to Zoro. "Do you have any extra workout equipment?" He asked him.

"Yes, some." Zoro answered.

"Good," Smiled Luffy, "You're going to be training with a few more people soon."

~~~~~~~~~~Deck~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy sat on his favorite seat on the figurehead when Usopp approached him.

"I have some questions about **Busoshoku Haki,**" he said, "Can it be used with projectiles?"

Luffy smiled and motioned Usopp over to the cannon. "Let me show you," he said as he put his hand on the cannon, "Aim the cannon at that outcrop of rocks over there and I'll infuse it with Haki."

Usopp nodded and adjusted the cannon. "Judging the distance between here and the target...this should about do it."

"Ok," Luffy said as the cannon turned a deeper shade of black, "Fire."

**Boom!**

The Haki charged Cannonball annihilated the outcrop of rocks.

"Holy crap!" shouted Usopp in disbelief.

Luffy smiled, "I've decided!" he said, "You can be our sniper!"

Usopp grinned, "Alright," he agreed, "I guess I can settle for that for the time being, but if you ever chicken out from your duties, I'll take charge as the ship's captain."

"Alright," agreed Luffy, "Fine."

The duo entered the interior of the ship before Luffy spoke again. "So you've decided on using **Busoshoku Haki,** right?"

"Yeah," agreed Usopp, "I have to hit harder in order to protect Kaya.

"Great!" Luffy beamed, "That being settled, Zoro will teach you about **Busoshoku Haki** and you'll be doing weight training with him daily too."

Usopp blanched at this, but before he could reply a voice from outside yelled. "COME OUT YOU DAMN PIRATES! I'M GONNA SLAUGHTER THE LOT OF YOU!" followed by the sound of wood splintering.

Luffy flew out of the door in anger, nobody was going to damage Merry again. "Hey!" he yelled as he came outside, "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" The man yelled as he took a wild swing with his sword at Luffy and the boat. Luffy, not wanting to see the boat injured again caught his sword hand and disarmed him before throwing him into the mast.

"A-Almost had him…" the man muttered as he laid on the ground breathing heavily. Zoro stepped out onto the deck and looked the man over.

"Huh?" he said with a look of surprise, "Hey! Aren't you Johnny?"

The man leapt up, "Zoro!? Is that really you, bro?"

"Where's Yosaku?" asked Zoro, "Isn't he usually with you?"

Johnny widened his eyes before jumping into his little ship that was alongside the Going Merry, "I need to get him!" he yelled, "He's sick!"

A little while later the whole crew was on the deck as Johnny dragged his partner aboard. Kaya, immediately diagnosing the problem, quickly went inside.

"He was just fine a couple days ago," explained Johnny, "But all of a sudden he turned pale and kept passing out! I don't know what he's come down with. His teeth have begun to fall out, and his old wounds have reopened. I just don't know what to do anymore." He lamented, "I was trying to at least let him get some rest on top of that rock, but all of a sudden this ship fired a cannonball at us!"

Luffy and Usopp's jaws dropped at this statement before they muttered in sync, "W-we're truly, truly sorry."

"It's fine. What's done is done." Johnny replied as he looked at his sick friend again. "Yosaku and Johnny...We were infamous enough to have pirates shaking in their boots at the mere mention of our names. We've lived and worked together as bounty hunters for years! Is this how it's all going to end?"

"God!" Yelled Nami, "How thick could you get!"

"What did you just say?" Growled Zoro.

"Lady," Johnny warned as he unsheathed his sword, "I won't let you go free if you dare to make a mockery of my partner's suffering."

Nami facepalmed, "Luffy! Usopp! There are some limes in the kitchen. Go squeeze the juice out and bring it here ASAP."

"No need!" Announced Kaya as she emerged with several glasses of fresh squeezed lime juice. "I started to do that as soon as I saw him." She gave the mugs to Usopp and Luffy, "Go make him drink this." She said before she turned to Johnny. "He's afflicted with scurvy." She explained, "If we're not to late, he should recover just fine in a few days."

"A-Are you telling me the truth, sis?" Yelled Johnny excitedly.

"Wow!" yelled Luffy, "You're like a doctor!"

"Yeah," Usopp explained, "It's a dream of her's to be a doctor."

At this Yosaku jumped up and started dancing in circles with Johnny. "Alright! I'm charged up on nutrients and ready for action!"

"Haha, my partner is fine now!"

"Like hell he could recover that fast!" Yelled Nami in rage.

"Nami's right," Said Kaya, "Please, lie down for a while longer."

"I don't know how to thank you." Yosaku said, ignoring Kaya's request, "I thought I bit the dust for sure." Blood spurted out of his mouth as he fell back again.

"Yosaku!"  
"Just shut the hell up and get some rest already!" Zoro yelled.

As Johnny laid Yosaku down the crew congregated in the dining hall. "We definitely need someone to think about our diet, to see to it that we stay healthy." Usopp said.

"Yeah," Agreed Kaya, "What we need is a Chef of the Sea."

"If you think about is," Nami said, "That's one of the most important talents to have when you're out on the seas."

"Alright," Grinned Luffy, "I've decided. It's time to get a sea cook! To Barties, the Restaurant on the sea!

~~~~~~~~~~Nightfall~~~~~~~~~~

That night Luffy had nightmares. He saw Mihawk not spare Zoro on their first encounter. He saw Gin mercilessly crush Sanji's skull in instead of sparing him. He saw fate changing around him and it scared him. He sat up in his bed, cold sweat on his body. After he calmed himself down he decided to go outside, maybe the waves would calm him.

As Luffy slipped outside he noticed he wasn't the only one there. "Hey Nami," he said, causing the Navigator to jump in fright before turning towards him.

"You scared me," she said, "Why are you awake?"

"Nightmares." Luffy replied, which caused Nami to raise her eyebrow.

"What could you have nightmares about?" She asked.

"Nakama dying."

They sat in comfortable silence for a minute, looking out across the dark horizon, letting the waves calm them.

"Why are you still up?" Luffy finally asked.

"It's complicated."

"Un-complicate it then."

Name huffed in exasperation, "It's not that easy."

"Sure it is." Luffy said, he knew what Nami was thinking about. She was thinking about Arlong. In about a week she would leave in the original timeline.

"How can you view everything as easy?" Nami asked.

"Everything is not easy though," Luffy countered, "It's just that decisions like what you have should be easy."

"You don't know what my problem is though!" Nami hissed, "If you did the decision wouldn't seem so easy."

Luffy sighed and looked at her, "Either you stay wrapped in fear and never change anything, or you trust in your Nakama and yourself and you change anything."

With that sagely advice Luffy spun on his heels and walked back towards the cabin.

"I know all about your struggle Nami, I've been there myself. I'm only here today because of my Nakama. I trust in them." He reached the Cabin door and looked at her again. "I know about your tattoo too," He said, much to Nami's shock and horror, "And I would still trust you with my life."

Nami was left out on the deck amid all of the tumultuous thoughts and Luffy went back inside.

"He knew?"

~~~~~~~~~~Midday~~~~~~~~~~

"We're here at the restaurant!" Johnny yelled in excitement as they neared their destination, "Wow!" Kaya squealed as she caught sight of the restaurant.

"That's so Funky!" Usopp yelled.

"What do you think, everyone?" Johnny asked as he pointed to the Restaurant of the Seas, Bartie.

It kind of looked like a fish. The Baratie was a fairly large ship with 4 levels. It was oval shaped, with the normal masts but had a fish as a front-piece. A small array of cannons were lined on the sides, which could be used for battle.

"This," Yosaku introduced loudly, "is the Floating Restaurant of the Sea, Baratie!"

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**Ok! Sorry for the short chapter, but it's better than just an Author's Note Chapter! So, go check out that poll and vote! Seriously, do it...Bye!**


	7. Meals Fit For A King

**_Well well well...What have we here? Oh yes! Another chapter! It took a while (Mostly because of my laziness) But I'm back! The poll is down so starting now this is a LuffyXHarem Fanfic. It may change later, depending on where I feel the story is heading, but for now it's what you guys voted on._**

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**_Disclaimer:*Sigh* You know the drill *Sniff Sniff* I don't own One Piece, Eiichiro Oda does. *Sniff*_**

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"We're here at the restaurant!" Johnny yelled in excitement as they neared their destination, "Wow!" Kaya squealed as she caught sight of the restaurant.

"That's so Funky!" Usopp yelled.

"What do you think, everyone?" Johnny asked as he pointed to the Restaurant of the Seas, Bartie.

It kind of looked like a fish. The Baratie was a fairly large ship with 4 levels. It was oval shaped, with the normal masts but had a fish as a front-piece. A small array of cannons were lined on the sides, which could be used for battle.

"This," Yosaku introduced loudly, "is the Floating Restaurant of the Sea, Baratie!"

"Whoa!" Nami commented loudly.

"I told you didn't I?" Johnny said before the group heard a ship pulling up alongside them. "Marines!?" Yosaku yelped, "When did they get here?"

"They're not going to attack us, right?" Usopp asked as he hid behind Luffy.

A man made his way onto the deck, he was an average sized marine that wore a white pinstripe suit. His hair was well combed and he had a scar under his right eye and bolts attached to his knuckles. "Hmmm," He mused, "I have never seen that pirate flag before." He made his way over to the side of the ship and spoke loudly to the pirates. "I'm a Lieutenant of the Marine Headquarters known as 'Ironfist Fullbody.' Who is your Captain? Name yourself."

Luffy straightened up, "I'm Luffy. I just finished making my pirate flag the day before yesterday!"

"And I'm Usopp." exclaimed Usopp loudly as Kaya giggled quietly behind him.

Fullbody cast a lazy eye over the group before looking at Johnny and Yosaku. "Wait a minute," He scowled, "I think I've seen you two before. You frequent the Government Offices on some business. If I remember correctly you're...small time bounty hunters? Yes, Yosaku and Johnny I think your names were. So, you've finally been caught by pirates have you?"

The duo struck a pose. "Hey Yosaku," Johnny said, "I think this bro's sticking it to us."

"Well," Yosaku puffed on his cigarette, "We can't just let some guy walk around calling us 'small time.' This ain't gonna net us a single Beli, but I think we oughta teach this kid how to keep his mouth shut."

They whipped their swords out as they leapt onto the Marine ship. "You cocky little yuppie!" they yelled in unison.

Fullbody sighed as he flexed his ironfist. Moments later the bounty hunters were back on the Going Merry, bloody and bruised. "A-almost had him..." they moaned in unison.

"You sure you guys aren't just super weak?" Luffy asked.

"N-no," Yosaku muttered, "It's just that that guy's not too shabby himself."

"I-It was a close one…" Johnny agreed.

"Guys!" Usopp yelled in horror, "We're in deep shit! The bastard's aiming his cannon at us!"

"What!?" Several people yelled in horror.

"Sink 'em." Fullbody commanded from beside the cannon.

"He fired!" Usopp screamed.

"Leave it to me!" Luffy said as he stepped onto the railing into the path of the cannonball. As the cannonball drew closer Luffy cracked his knuckles before leisurely backhanding the cannonball away.

"The hell!?" Usopp, Yosaku, and Johnny exclaimed in shock.

"What!?" Fullbody gasped.

"What are you doing you, dumbass?" Zoro shouted as the cannonball flew into the the roof of the restaurant. Nami facepalmed as Luffy fell back in shock. "Not again," He groaned.

"It's a cook's duty to keep his customers well-fed." The head chef, Zeff said, "Are you planning on ruining my restaurant, you numbskulls!?"

~~~~~~~~~~Head Chef's Room~~~~~~~~~~

Zeff was an elderly looking man who had short blonde-hair, which was somewhat unkempt, a mustache that he tied with light blue ribbons on each end. He kept most of his hair underneath his extra-long chef's hat. His mustache was considerably long, and he had a beard. He wore his chefs uniform, with a blue ascot, and white apron. Also, seemed to have lost his right leg, in place of it he had a peg leg.

"Sir!" Another Chef entered the room dragging Luffy alongside him. "We brought the one responsible for this!" He gestured at Luffy, "This is the perp."

"I'm so sorry Mister." Luffy said.

"I'm injured all over my body thanks to you!" Zeff growled, "If you got no money, then you'll have to work it off."

"Sure thing." Luffy agreed, "I'll pay you back in full by the this time in 3 days."

The head chef raised his eyebrow before he smirked. "If you only work odd jobs around my restaurant for one year then I will forgive you, how do you plan to pay back the debt in only half a week?"

Luffy smiled widely, "You'll just have to wait and see." He answered cryptically.

"You'll still have to work until the time comes though." Zeff said with finality as he stood up. "Let me show you around the restaurant." He took one step before the floor beneath him cracked and he fell through with Luffy falling behind him.

"Aghhh!" They yelled as the fell.

"What is it this time!" Someone else shouted from a couple of feet away.

"Ugh," Zeff groaned as he slowly stood up.

"Whew," Luffy panted, "That scared the crap outta me."

The head Chef looked at the hole which they fell though. "Shit! The ceiling of my beautiful restaurant is…!" His head snapped towards Luffy, "This is all your fault, you damn brat!" He yelled.

"You destroyed that part yourself!" Luffy defended himself.

"Sir!" Someone called, catching both of their attention. "Please stop Sanji for us!"

"Hmm?" Luffy and Zeff turned to watch as five chefs struggled to keep Sanji in check.

"Sanji!" Zeff barked, "Are you running wild in my restaurant again?"

"Shut up, you shitty geezer." Sanji growled as he peeled the chefs off of himself.

"It's exactly as it seems, sir!" The last chef holding Sanji yelled, "This time Sanji beat up some idiot Marine Lieutenant!"

Sanji roughly tossed off the remaining chef before facing Zeff, just in time to get smacked across the jaw by Zeffs wooden leg.

Luffy smiled before he caught sight of a Marine Lieutenant on the ground. "Ah," He realized, "That's the guy who fired the cannonball earlier, but why is he all bloodied up?" He looked at Sanji again before the situation became clear and he chuckled a little.

"And you!" Zeff turned around and kicked the downed Marine Lieutenant towards the door, "Got the hell out already!"

Luffy watched in amusement as Zeff, Sanji, and another Chef named Patty argued.

A marine soldier burst through the door. "Lieutenant Fullbody!" He yelled frantically, "It's an emergency!" The marine panted. "Forgive me sir, but...he's escaped from the ship's prison! The Underling of Pirate Krieg has escaped! It took seven of us just to capture him in the first place, but now he's gone!"

The restaurant patrons burst into fearful chatter as Fullbody's eyes widened. "That's impossible!" He said, "He shouldn't even have the strength to move! He was on the verge of death when we captured him 3 days ago, not to mention he hasn't had a single scrap of food since then!"

The marine soldier started stammering as he apologized, "Please forgive me, pl-"

**BANG!**

The soldier stopped talking as he looked down at his body to see blood flowing out of his chest. His eyes widened as he realized he had been shot before he slowly collapsed.

The entire restaurant looked on as the shooter slowly made his way over to a table and sat down.

"Anything will do." He spoke loudly, "Just bring me some food. This place is a restaurant, right?"

Luffy, remembering what happened last time quietly made his way towards his ship. He had to get something.

~~~~~~~~~~Outside~~~~~~~~~~

Gin, the Pirate Armada Combat Commander for the Krieg Pirates, crawled painfully across the outside deck of the restaurant, his stomach begging for food. His looked up as someone set something next to his head. Sanji sat there with a plate of food in his hands that he set down in front of the pirate.

"Eat." Sanji commanded.

"And drink," Said Luffy, appearing from nowhere with a glass of lemonade in his hands, "I heard you hadn't had food in a while, so you're probably going to get Scurvy soon if you don't drink up."

Sanji smiled appreciatively at Luffy as Gin quickly ate and drank.

"I've never had anything so delicious in my life." Gin cried happily, "I'm so grateful! I thought I was going to die! I thought it was all over for me!"

"It's damn good, right?" Sanji bragged before he looked towards Luffy. "So who are you?"

Luffy smiled widely, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, A pirate."

"Oh?" Sanji said, "You're a pirate?" Luffy nodded. "So why'd you try to fire a cannonball at this restaurant?"

"Oh that?" Luffy smiled sheepishly, "That was just an accident. It was just a cannonball that went astray from my self defense."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Sanji raised an eyebrow before shaking his head, "In any case, you'd better not try anything funny at this restaurant. The owner of this place use to be the Captain of a pretty infamous pirate crew."

"Yeah," Luffy agreed, "That old man seemed like he was capable of being that strong."

Sanji sighed, "This restaurant is like a treasure to that damn geezer, and the rest of the cooks who came to work here out of their admiration for that geezer are all hot blooded and crude enough to be pirates. It's quite appropriate considering all the pirates that frequent around these parts."

Luffy nodded, "Not a quiet moment in this place, eh?"

"Yeah," Sanji admitted, "But it's daily routine for us. There have even been some guests lately who come to see the pirates and the cooks duke it out." Sanji calmly took a puff from his cigarette. "Thanks to that, all the waiters got scared and ran away."

"Ohh!" Luffy exclaimed, "That must be the reason he asked me to work here for a year." He shrugged, "Eh, whatever. Hey, join my crew."

Sanji chuckled, "I'll have to refuse on that offer. I've got my own reason to keep working here."

"Nope," Luffy said, "I refuse."

Sanji sweatdropped, "What?"

"I refuse your refusal!" Luffy clarified, "You're a good cook so we'll be pirates together."

"Hey hey," Sanji said, "At least hear me out."

"Fine then," Luffy agreed, "What's your reason?"

Sanji hesitated before he leaned back, "No need to tell you."

"..." Luffy sweatdropped, "You just told me to hear me out!" He yelled.

"All I meant was you should hear other people's opinions when talking!" Sanji retorted loudly, "Don't make me chop you up, you damn strawhat wearing shithead!"

"What did you say!?" Luffy growled, "Don't you dare insult my strawhat or I'll send you flying!"

"Sorry to cut into the conversation, but…" Gin began before the duo turned towards him.

"What is it!?" They yelled angrily.

"My name is Gin. I'm a member of the Krieg Pirates." Gin began, "You said you're a pirate? Can I ask you what your objective is?"

Luffy smiled widely, "I'm going to find One Piece," He declared, "Which is why I'll go to the Grand Line!"

Gin remained silent for a moment before he spoke again. "If you're still looking for a cook, I'm assuming you don't have very many people on your crew yet, right?"

Luffy nodded before shrugging towards Sanji, "With him, that makes 6!"

"Why're you counting me in!?" Sanji protested.

"You don't seem to be a bad guy, so let me give you a piece of advice." Gin said before looking at Luffy with his half dead eyes, "Give up on going to the Grand Line. You're still young. No need to recklessly rush into things." He shook his head bitterly, "Besides, the Grand Line is just one part of all the oceans in this world. If you want to be a pirate, there's plenty of other seas for you to roam out there."

"Oh?" Luffy raised his eyebrow, "What do you know about the Grand Line?"

"No…I don't…" Gin buried his head in his hands, "I don't know anything...That's why it's so terrifying!"

Sanji snorted, "For a member of the Kreig Pirates, you sure are acting like a big scaredy cat."

"Who's Krieg?" Luffy asked, he briefly remembered a golden man, but Dracula Mihawk was there so he didn't really remember Krieg.

~~~~~~~~~~Going Merry~~~~~~~~~~

Nami sighed as she walked out onto the deck of the Going Merry. "Where's Luffy at?" She asked.

"No clue," Usopp said, "I haven't seen him since he left to apologize for the hole in the roof."

"Well," Kaya said as she closed her book, "We should go and eat since we have the time."

"Agreed," Nami said, "Somebody needs to wake up Zoro though."

The three glanced over at the sleeping swordsman. "You think he'll attack out of reflex?" Kaya asked nervously.

A minute later the four walked into the restaurant with Kaya nursing a bruise on Usopp's face.

"You didn't have to hit so hard." Usopp groaned.

"Whatever," Zoro grumbled, still half asleep.

The group sat down at a table and waited to be served as they chattered amongst themselves. Half a minute later they heard yelling from the kitchen.

"HOT!"

"Just get the hell out of the kitchen!"

Moments later Luffy was thrown through the kitchen doors before sliding to a stop a few feet from their table.

"Ah," Luffy said as he picked himself up, "The life of an errand boy is tough. I can't believe that old geezer wanted me to do this for a year." He finished dusting himself off and looked up to see a very smug group. "Ack! It's you guys!"

"Hey errand boy." Nami said smugly.

"Heard you have to work here for a year." Kaya smiled, holding back her chuckles.

"Would it be alright to redraw the ship's flag?" Zoro smirked.

"You're not able to be Captain now," Usopp smiled widely, "That means I'm the Captain!"

Luffy gained a tick mark. "You leave me here to work," He yelled, "And you go off to eat delicious food all by yourselves!? How selfish!"

"It's a free world," Zoro reasoned as he looked around for a waiter, "We can do whatever we want."

"Eat this." Luffy said lowly as he dropped a booger from his nose into Zoro's water, causing the others to struggle to keep from laughing.

"But I have to admit, the food here is great." Zoro said as he grabbed his cup and raised it near his mouth, "Don't take this the wrong way, but YOU DRINK THIS GLASS!" Zoro grabbed ahold of Luffy and forced him to down the water, booger and all.

"Ack!" Luffy rolled around on the ground gripping his throat, "How could you do this to me!?"

"I should ask you the same thing!" Zoro yelled back as the rest of the crew struggled to breath between their laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~Going Merry~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy laid in his bed later that night thinking back on the day. He, somehow, ended up becoming an Errand boy again, but it was ok. He got the crew to meet Sanji, though the blonde cook mainly focused on trying to woo Nami. Luffy cracked a smile at that though. '_Just like old times_.' He sighed. They would have to be much stronger this time around. With that thought in mind he got up and made his way into the kitchen to retrieve a knife before making his way onto the deck.

Zoro and Usopp were doing a set of weight training as Luffy arrived to watch. After a couple of minutes of weightlifting the duo prepared to train their Haki again, but Luffy interrupted them.

"Zoro," Luffy called out, "I need to show you something."

"Hm?" Zoro looked up at his captain, "What's up Luffy?"

Luffy sighed as he leaned on the railing, "No doubt you've heard about Dracula Mihawk, the worlds strongest swordsman being spotted around here, yes?"

Zoro tightened his fist a bit, "Yes," He agreed, "Something wrong with that?" He narrowed his eyes.

"No," Luffy sighed, "Nothing wrong. I just thought since you're planning to fight someone who is undoubtedly above your level then you may want to spar with someone else who is far above your level." Zoro narrowed his eyes even more as a scowl made his way across his face. "So I propose a spar," Luffy said simply as he pulled out his small kitchen knife, "Unfortunately, I do not have a blade smaller than this at the moment."

Zoro angrily pulled out his swords, "There's a limit to just how much you can underestimate me." He snarled as put his third sword between his teeth. Charging forward he yelled, "You better not regret it when you die!"

Luffy sighed and twirled the knife around between his fingers, thinking back to the basic sword handling that Zoro eventually drilled into him. He was nowhere near the strenght of Mihawk, but he was quite a bit above Zoro right now. He grit his teeth, this had to be down early or Zoro would have to pay for it later. He looked up at the charging swordsman. "Your overwhelming dominance for swordsmanship in the East Blue has blinded you Zoro," He straightened the knife in his hand, "It's time for you to realize that the world is much bigger than you believe."

Zoro snarled as he crossed his arms

**"Oni Gi-"**

Zoro stopped suddenly as Luffy's knife shot forward towards him, impacting his swords in the only place that they crossed over. Zoro growled tried to move his swords, but Luffy kept a constant pressure on them that Zoro couldn't compete against. "This is ridiculous…" Zoro muttered before taking half a step back to take the pressure off his swords.

"Arghh!" Zoro yelled as he launched a fierce assault on Luffy who moving quickly blocked, dodged, or parried all of his blows before hitting all three with a right slash and sending Zoro stumbling to the ground.

"Such ferocity," Luffy complimented as Zoro resumed his assault, "Such strenght, but you have yet to experience true defeat." Luffy smiled sadly, "Victory has defeated you." Luffy disappeared from Zoro sight before the swordsman felt a cold pain in his chest. Zoro slowly looked down to see Luffy's knife cutting into his chest. It wasn't a deadly wound, or even a deep one. Luffy stopped himself from stabbing Zoro all the way, but Zoro knew his Captain could've killed him.

Luffy slowly started to push the knife deeper, but Zoro stood firm. "Why do you refuse to step back?" Luffy asked, his strawhat covering his eyes, "Do you wish for me to pierce your heart?"

"Beats me," Zoro coughed his answer, "I'm not really sure myself, but I get the feeling that if I were to take even one step back right now, I'd lose something very important to me. A promise or oath or whatever. It would be irreversibly broken, and that I'd never be able to return back to where I'm standing right now."

"Yes," Luffy agreed grimly, "Such is defeat."

"Haha," Zoro laughed bitterly, "Then that's why I can't step back."

"Even if it means your death?"

"I'd much rather die." Zoro snarled.

Luffy withdrew his knife from Zoro's chest, "You possess conviction." Luffy said, "To rather choose death than defeat." Luffy smiled, "The kind of strength you have is not often seen in the world." He threw the knife to the ground, "You are strong Zoro," Luffy admitted, "And each time you win you get stronger," Luffy pulled his strawhat off his head and ran his hands through his hair, "But every now and then a humbling defeat is just what is needed to make you discover your true self, so that your strength will continue to grow." With that piece of advice given to Zoro, Luffy left his stunned crew and walked back inside.

~~~~~~~~~~Elsewhere~~~~~~~~~~

Miles away from the Going Merry on a damaged ship, a shadowed man sat on his chair.

"I see," He said, "So that cook saved you life, and you were able to come back here."

"Y-yes," Another voice spoke up, "B-but I never could've imagined that our Mother Ship would be in this condition." The man stayed quiet for a second.

"Sir," He asked as he stepped forward into the light.

Yes, what is it?" The man in the chair asked.

"Allow me to guide you sir," Gin answered, "To Baratie, the Restaurant on the Seas."

* * *

**_So yeah! Done! Read, Comment, Favorite, and Follow. Hopefully I update soon again. I'm in that writing mood so we'll stay hopeful!_**

**_~UniqueUsername13_**


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One Piece, Adventure, Friendship