Shanks! Take me out to sea with you!"

All the men in the bar laughed at the little boy's exclamation.

"You're still too young and weak Luffy!" The red haired man laughed as he slapped his knee. "Maybe ask me again in 10 years or so!"

"I'm not young and weak!" The boy shouted back, face beginning to turn red. "I want to be a pirate like you!"

At this statement, the laughter in the bar got louder than before.

"Stop laughing at me! I'm serious! I bet I can beat you Shanks!"

"Oh?" Shanks turned to him on his swivel chair with a big grin on his face. "Try me."

Luffy lunged towards Shanks only to meet a face full of Shanks outstretched foot, pushing him back onto the floor with a loud thud. The whole bar exploded into laughter again.

"Dahahaha! Train some more Luffy, and maybe you can match up to me!" Shanks roared in laughter.

Luffy rubbed his nose with tears in his eyes, sniffling at his failed attempt to prove his strength to the pirate captain. He jumped back on his feet and pointed a finger at Shanks with his chest puffed out in indignation.

"I will! And when I become stronger than you, you're going to regret not inviting me to your crew!"

"Dahahahaha! I'll be waiting for that day Luffy!"Shanks burst out laughing again.

The sudden loud bang of the bar's door being kicked open immediately silenced the bar as everyone turned to look at the newcomers. A tall, thin man walked in with an ugly smirk on his face, carefully regarding the seated pirates in the bar. On his right hip hung a menacing sabre that his right hand rested on lazily.

"Arara? So these are pirates? They don't seem like much to me." He spat as he walked into the bar with his men, not even sparing a glance at the seated pirates. He approached the bar where the bar owner, Makino, was standing, slamming a palm on the counter top.

"I'm not looking for trouble, just give us 10 barrels of sake and we'll be on our way."

Makino held her hands up in front of her in a placating gesture, "I'm really sorry, but we're all out of sake now…"

The man huffed and turned to the seated pirates, squinting his eyes at them as though regarding them for the first time. "All taken by these bunch of useless pirates huh?"

"Ara, I'm really sorry about that," Shanks turned to the man, his hand holding up a bottle of wine. "Here, this bottle is still new, you can have it as an apology from us."

The thin man swiped his right hand in an arc, smashing the bottle into Shanks. The whole bar held its breath as the broken pieces of glass clattered onto the floor.

"Don't make me laugh pirate," the man spat, pulling out a wanted poster from within his cloak. "I'm a wanted bandit in this town worth eight million berries, a bottle of wine won't be enough for me."

Shanks however, was looking at the spilled wine on the ground, not paying attention to the bandit.

"Aww, now the floor is wet…" He crouched down on the floor and began picking pieces of the glass with his hands. "Hey, Makino, you have a mop?"

"Ah! It's alright, I'll do it!" Makino waved frantically to Shanks.

The bandit spat at Shanks one more time before taking out his sword to slash at the bar, sending the plates and bottles crashing on to the floor.

"You like to clean so much, you can clean all this up as well." The bandit turned his back and sheathed his sword, heading out to the door. "Come on guys, let's find somewhere else to go, forget about these chickens."

The whole bar was silent as the bandits exited the bar.

Shanks let out a breath and all the pirates started laughing.

"That sure got you captain!"

"Dahahaha, yep, they sure did!" Shanks scratched his head in embarrassment.

"WHY ARE ALL OF YOU LAUGHING?" Luffy screamed at them. "You should have fought back! What kind of pirates are you to let them walk all over you?"

"Luffy," Shanks waved his hand in an attempt to placate the boy, "It's alright… it's really no big deal. Really."

"You talk to me about being strong and everything! And yet you seem so weak! I don't want to see you anymore!" Luffy ran out of the bar, tears streaming pass his cheeks.

"Luffy! Wait!" Makino called out to the boy but he already ran out of the bar.

"Just let him go, Makino… He's still too young for all this." Shanks sighed.

It was a few days later before Makino barged into the Mayor's house.

"Mayor! Luffy's in big trouble!"

"What? What did he do this time?" The mayor sighed in exasperation.

Near the docks

"Get your foot off of me you filthy bandit!" Luffy screamed, trying without avail to push the bandit's foot off him.

"That's what you get for insulting us you little twerp. Don't think just because you're a kid I'll let you get away with what you do!" The bandit leader spat at the ground near Luffy.

"Wait! Please!" The mayor ran towards the bandits and knelt on the ground. "I don't know what Luffy did but please spare him! He's just a kid! We're willing to pay!"

"Huh," the bandit turned to regard the kneeling mayor. "Too late old man, this kid managed to piss me off too much." He slowly unsheathed his sword, bringing it down near Luffy in a slow arc. "And I won't be satisfied until I kill this kid."

"Hey you," a voice called out from behind the bandits. Shanks stood impassively with his crew, staring down the bandits. "That's my friend you got your foot on over there, mind if you let him go?"

The bandits laughed, "and here's the little pirate captain. Had fun cleaning up the town? Why don't you run along now before you get hurt again?"

Shanks remained motionless as he stared down the bandit.

"Tch, who do you think you are, telling us what to do?" A bandit walked haughtily towards Shanks, his pistol drawn. He stopped within a few steps of him and pointed the pistol towards Shanks's head. "Our boss told you to back off."

"I warned you guys, do as you wish then." Shanks closed his eyes and sighed.

The bandit didn't even have time to ask what Shanks was talking about before Lucky Roo shot the bandit in the head, all the while still munching on a piece of meat.

The bandit hit the floor with a soft thump as the other bandits watched with open-mouthed shock.

"You bastards!" The bandit leader gritted his teeth, still not letting Luffy go. "Get them guys!"

The bandits yelled and charged the pirates in unison. Beckman stepped out beside his captain, rifle in hand. "Let me take care of these punks."

Within a blink of an eye, the charging group of bandits were on the ground, unconscious.

The bandit leader widened his eyes in fear as the pirates advanced on him.

"I don't care what you do to me, bandit," Shanks stepped closer to the bandit. "You can spit on me, laugh at me, and even ridicule me. But if you hurt my friends, I'll make you pay."

"Tch, don't mess with me!" The bandit screamed as he flung a smoke bomb at his feet, dragging Luffy with him as he made his escape.

"Luffy!" Shanks shouted as the smoke dispersed, revealing an empty street.

"Damnit! We got careless! LUFFY!"

"Calm down boss!" Beckman held his captain's shoulder reassuringly. "Let's spread out to find him."

On a boat near the town

"Ha… Ha… They'll never think a mountain bandit will escape to the sea! Hahaha!" The bandit leader laughed maniacally.

"Shut up you stupid bandit! I'll kick your butt!" Luffy lunged at the bandit before being backhanded back onto the boat.

"Shut it you brat! You're just a stupid kid! I'll kill you right here!" The bandit took out his pistol and pointed it at Luffy, who stared back at him with wide fearful eyes.

The bandit smirked at him as he cocked his pistol, until he realized Luffy was staring at something behind him, not at him.

The bandit turned as the Lord of the Coast rose out of the water and regarded the bandit with a single unblinking eye. The bandit panicked and shot the pistol at the monster which spurred Luffy to jump out of the boat and began frantically paddling his way back to shore despite his inability to swim.

The pistol bullet ricocheted harmlessly off the monster's hide and the bandit couldn't do anything as he met his end in the monster's jaws.

Meanwhile, Luffy was having trouble staying afloat while paddling for his life at the same time. The monster regarded the panicking Luffy and somehow decided that he was an insult to him and began swimming towards Luffy, jaws wide open.

As Luffy screamed at the impending horror, Shanks leapt out in front of him and dragged him away from the snapping of the monster's jaws.

"Scram!" Shanks yelled and the monster retreated obediently.

"Shanks!" Luffy cried, holding on to Shanks tightly.

"Hey now, Luffy, I thought you were a grown man, you shouldn't be crying like this."

"Shanks… No… Your arm!" Luffy cried harder, snot dribbling pass his nose.

Shanks paid no mind as he brought Luffy to shore, "It's only an arm, kid… Nothing to cry about."

"It's all my fault!" Luffy cried, tightening his grip on Shanks.

"It's not your fault, Luffy. Things like this happens all the time with criminals like that bandit. If you want to prevent things like this from happening, you just need to be stronger than them."

Luffy nodded silently, still sniffling.

"So you're really leaving?" Luffy asked, tears threatening to spill out anytime soon.

"Yeah… we stayed here for far too long, it's time for us to move on." Shanks knelt down in front of the boy, ruffling his hair.

As he turned to leave, Luffy gathered up his courage and shouted, "I'm going to be an Admiral when I grow up! And I'll arrest all those criminals like that bandit!"

Shanks turned back to him, smiling, "what, not planning to be a pirate anymore?"

Luffy shook his head, "I want to protect everyone, and becoming a marine would let me do that. I'll become a great marine and capture any criminal that threaten the innocent!"

Shanks smiled at the boy's resolution, "What about us? We're pirates, we're technically criminals."

Luffy tilted his head in honest confusion, "Well… you guys are good guys. So you're not criminals to me!"

The crew laughed at Luffy's honest naivety, only to incite a "STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" from Luffy.

Shanks took off his hat and placed it on the boy's head, "In that case, I'll leave my treasured hat in your care Luffy. So follow your dreams and give that back to me when you're finally an admiral."

Luffy beamed at him, punching his hands in the air in a victory pose, "Yeah! Just watch me Shanks! I'm going to be the best marine ever!"

10 years later

"Alright Luffy! Here we are! Now get your *** off my ship!" Garp yelled. He turned around to see Luffy fast asleep by the side of the deck, a piece of meat hanging in his hands. His straw hat sitting lopsidedly which seems out of place compared to the rest of his smart marine attire.

A white collared shirt with the marine emblem on the left chest was worn loosely with all buttons unbuttoned, revealing Luffy's chest openly. Blue cargo pants stretched downwards where it ended folded into itself just above his knee area and a large white cloak was draped loosely on his shoulders. The cloak itself comes complete with red and gold epaulettes on its shoulders and the word "Justice" emblazoned smartly in kanji at the back.

A tic appeared on the side of Garp's head as he stormed towards Luffy. "Wake up Captain Monkey D. Luffy!" A fist landed on Luffy's head, smashing him into the deck of the ship.

Luffy jumped up on his feet, rubbing his head in pain, "What was that for, Gramps?!"

Garp placed both his hands on his hips and snorted, "What are you doing sleeping Luffy? We're finally here!" Garp stepped aside and gestured to Luffy's hometown.

Luffy ran towards the prow of the marine battleship, glancing down excitedly at Foosha village. Garp smiled proudly at his grandson, after going through the hellish training he had put him through without much complaints, Luffy had become a splendid marine officer.

With Sabo's apparent death and Ace's departure, Luffy was more than willing to subject himself to various forms of training in order to become stronger.

The first year was spent under Garp himself with an inhuman training plan. Then it was a one year attachment to the CP9 headquarters before finally spending the last year as an apprentice under the Marine admirals Aokiji and Kizaru.

Luffy was finally ready to set out on his own. Luffy turned around to see his Grandfather beaming proudly at him. He smirked at this and saluted to the old timer smartly. Garp's smile broadens, never thinking he would see this day. Sure, he had hoped Ace would join the Marines too, but he shrugged that he can never get everything he wanted in life.

"Thanks for the ride Vice Admiral Garp! I shall begin my mission here!" Luffy turned and prepared to jump away from the ship.

"Oh, Luffy! Before I forget!" Garp reached out his hand that was holding on to a piece of paper. "I managed to get the higher-ups to comply with your… unusual requests"

Both Grandson and Grandfather grinned at this. Garp cleared his throat as he brought the piece of paper in front of him.

"Your request for the authority to seek out and assemble your own marine team was granted. Your group will be known as a separate marine entity operating directly under Vice Admiral Garp's command as the "Straw Hat Marines", receiving orders only from him and his associates."

Luffy listened intently as Garp stole a wink at him.

"Your group would not require to respond to any dispatch calls unless directly ordered to and would remain autonomous while in service. You are also granted permission to arrest any criminals and claim their bounties for your personal expenses, but you will not be allowed to requisition for monetary supplies from any marine base outside of essential living supplies. You are also granted the authority to arrest and detain any marines that have performed any criminal activities."

Garp frowned a little at this, realizing that the Headquarters was essentially making Luffy a bounty hunter. Luffy did not seem to mind this in the slightest, though, seeing it as another way to attest his strength to Headquarters.

"As for your first mission, you are required to patrol around the East Blue area and root out any criminal activity in the region. Report back any notable activities directly back to Headquarters and your station shall continue to remain in said location until told otherwise. Signed, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."

Garp folded the paper neatly and handed it to Luffy, who deposited it into one of his pants pockets.

"Thanks Grandpa, you're the best!" Luffy gave a thumbs up.

"Wahahaha! Make me proud, Luffy!" Garp was grinning widely. "Go show me the results of your training! I've asked the mayor to prepare a boat for you so go kick some ***!"

"Shishishi! See ya, gramps!" Luffy turned towards the town and leaped into the air.

"GEPPO!" With a single step, Luffy managed to land on the shore of the town before turning around and giving one final wave to the departing ship.

When the battleship is only a small speck in the horizon, Luffy was ready to leave in his small boat with most of the town to see him off.

"I'm off everyone!" Luffy waved at the villagers. "I'm going to become an Admiral!"

The villagers cheered as Luffy slowly drifted away when suddenly, water exploded behind the departing marine. The Lord of the Coast growled menacingly at the small boat as Luffy turned to regard it.

"Shishishi, I almost forgot about you boy. I'm not the same weakling as before!" Luffy grinned.

The Sea King roared and lunged towards Luffy, jaws wide open.

Luffy smirked as he dropped into his battle stance, feet apart.

"Rankyaku!" Luffy kicked his foot in an arc, sending a compressed blade of air towards the Sea King, slicing his head cleanly off.

The villagers cheered as Luffy turned to wave at them again.

"He's going to achieve great things," the mayor sighed contentedly.

"We're going to miss him," Makino agreed beside him, still waving.

A few hours later

"Whew, that was a close one, if I wasn't paying attention, that whirlpool would have been the end of me!" Luffy laughed.

Hearing shouting ahead, Luffy turned and spied land with a small ship anchored next to it.

"Alright! There seems to be some people there!" Luffy stood on the prow of his small boat, arms crossed and his coat waving behind him with the wind.

"My first mission, I can't screw this up if I want to be an Admiral! Shishishi!"

Meanwhile on the island

A small pink haired boy with round framed glasses was leaving from locking up a storage shed near the beach.

"Hey Coby!"

Coby turned to see three pirates bearing down at him.

"You have the key to the storage room right?" A pirate stepped closer, making Coby shrink back.

"Er… Yes? Why do you need it?" Coby was shivering in fear, trying to hide behind his hands that were raised in fear.

"Give it to us, we have er… some inspection to do." One of them smiled.

"If… If Captain Alvida finds out…" Coby tried, only for one of them to smack him across the head, sending him sprawling on to the floor.

"Shut up! If you don't say anything, she won't know, right?" The three pirates began laughing.

"Now shut up and give us the key you stupid boy!" The three began advancing on him.

"Hey guys!" A sudden voice startled the four of them. Turning around, they saw a foolishly grinning boy wearing a straw hat waving at them while walking towards them.

The three pirates immediately drew out their swords and pointed it towards the advancing boy.

"Who are you?"

"Where did you come from?"

"What are you doing here?"

All three pirates questioned him at the same time, waving their weapons at him menacingly.

Luffy frowned at this and disappeared, reappearing behind them with their weapons in hand. "It's dangerous to point these at people you know…" Luffy dropped the swords on the ground beside him.

While the pirates are still recovering from the shock of losing their weapons so easily, Coby pointed a shaky finger at Luffy.

"You're… You're a marine!"

This shook the three pirates out of their stupor as they immediately turned and ran from them, shouting "Marines are here!"

"Hey, you know what's gotten in to them?" Luffy asked, pointing at the escaping pirates.

Coby clung on to Luffy's cloak, tears streaming pass his cheeks. "Sir! You have to help me! My name is Coby and I was kidnapped by these pirates and was forced to serve under them for the past two years in order to survive!"

"Wow, you actually stayed with them for the whole two years?" Luffy was taken aback.

Coby nodded dumbly, still sniffling.

"I mean, if you don't like this place so much, why haven't you left yet?" Luffy looked questioningly at Coby.

Coby fell back on his hunches at these words. "Impossible, impossible, impossible! If I had tried to leave, they would have killed me!"

Luffy laughed at this, placing his hands on his hips, mimicking his Grandpa, "Well if you're so afraid of them, all you have to do is get stronger, then beat them!"

Coby was furiously shaking his head this time, "No! No! No! Definitely impossible! I can never do it! I'm just a weak—"

Coby's words were cut off as Luffy's fist landed abruptly on his head. Coby screamed in pain, clutching at his head. "Why did you hit me?"

"Never say that anything is impossible Coby. If you're strong, anything is possible." Luffy held out his hand to pull Coby up.

"Tell me, Coby, do you have something you want to do?" Luffy grinned.

"Something… I want to do?"

"Yeah, like my dream is to become a Marine Admiral one day!" Luffy beamed proudly.

"Wow… An Admiral... I…" Coby looked down at his feet. To have such a dream, the boy in front of him must be strong. Unlike himself, who always cowered and hid himself whenever something threatened him. His own dream of joining the Marines paled in comparison to the boy standing in front of him.

'I can never be like him…' Coby thought sadly.

Luffy, seeing his depression, smacked him on the head again, gaining another cry of pain from Coby. "Listen Coby, anyone can become strong as long as they have the will, just don't ever give up! Pursue your dreams!"

Luffy punched into the air victoriously, smiling up at the sky. "Shout out your dreams for the world to hear! Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do it!"

Coby, emboldened by Luffy's energy, turned towards the sea and shouted out his dream. "I'm going to be a Marine!"

Luffy looked at the boy, grinning. "A Marine huh?"

"Yeah! I'm going to become a great marine and catch tons of bad guys like Alvida!" Coby shouted proudly.

"Who are you going to catch, Coby?" A menacing voice said behind them.

Both boys turned to see Alvida and her crew glaring at them with their weapons drawn. Alvida swung her giant mace menacingly before propping it up on her shoulder. Luffy could swear she heard her growl at them.

"I… Er…" Coby stuttered, his earlier courage gone.

"Hey Coby, who's the fatty?" Luffy pointed at Alvida nonchalantly.

Everyone's jaw dropped at his statement and Coby began to panic.

"You can't say that sir!" Coby waved his hands at the marine in a panic.

Luffy tilted his head, confused, "why not?"

"Because Alvida is…" Coby peeked at the fuming Alvida, then back at the grinning face of the Marine officer.

"Because I'm what, Coby?" Alvida sneered, swinging her mace around her bulbous body.

Coby took one more glance at the Marine, before breathing in and shouted, "Because she's the ugliest and fattest pirate I've ever seen!" Coby announced with tears in his eyes.

Everyone on Alvida's crew wrung their hands in the air in a panic as Alvida's face reddened with anger.

"Shishishishi! Well said Coby!" Luffy laughed.

Alvida charged towards Coby, swinging her mace at him but Luffy stepped in between them, raising an arm to block the incoming blow.

"Tekkai!" Luffy took the full blow of the mace without flinching, rebounding the mace away from him. Everyone's jaw dropped at this inhuman feat.

"So I take it that you are Captain Alvida right? With a current bounty of five Million?" Luffy snickered, lowering his arm.

Alvida squinted her eyes at the boy, "Who are you?"

"Captain Monkey D. Luffy of the Marines and I'm here to arrest you under the name of justice!" Luffy grinned.

"Like I'll let you! Die stupid Marine!" Alvida charged towards Luffy, her mace raised in the air.

Luffy smirked as he stood, unmoving in the face on Alvida's wild swinging. When her mace was about to hit him from above, he nimbly stepped to the right before stepping forward to deliver a single punch into her abdomen.

Alvida's grip on her mace loosened, letting it crash on to the floor as her eyes rolled back to her head. As Luffy retracted his hand, she slumped on to the ground without resistance, already unconscious.

Luffy turned to the other pirates, grinning at the wide-eyed, open mouthed crew. "Anyone else?"

All the pirates immediately shook their head in fear.

"Coby, help me find some rope and tie her up!" Coby rushed off to do as he was asked. "The rest of you, well… You guys don't really have any bounties so scram!" All of Alvida's crew immediately took to their heels.

Luffy whipped out a baby den den mushi, "Reporting in, this is Captain Monkey D. Luffy. HQ do you receive?"

"Receiving you loud and clear, captain, go ahead."

"I have pirate captain Alvida in my custody, sending you the coordinates to her current location. Over." Luffy grinned as Coby finished tying the still unconscious Alvida to a nearby tree.

"Understood Captain, a ship will be dispatched to pick her up, good work. Marine base out."

Luffy returned the snail back to his cloak and turned to Coby. "Coby, do you still want to be a Marine?"

Coby stared back with all the determination he could, "Yes, sir!"

"Shishishi! Alright then! There should be a Marine base nearby, I'll sign you up with them!" Luffy grinned.

Coby broke out in a wide smile and rushed to grasp Luffy's hands, thanking him profusely while shaking his hands.

"Onward to Shells town!" Luffy grinned, with Coby laughing alongside him.

The small boat carrying the two bobbed along steadily as the wind blew behind it.

"So how did you become so strong, Luffy?" Coby asked, keeping his hand on the boat's rudder.

Luffy grinned, sitting at the prow of the boat with his Marine coat on his shoulders. "I trained with the best of course! Even though the training was hard, I never once thought of giving up! I have to become an Admiral one day, after all."

"Wow…" Coby gasped in amazement. "Do you think I can be as strong as you, Luffy?"

Luffy looked at the boy's wonder-filled eyes before flashing him a smile, "It'll depend on you, Coby! If you have the will to do it, I'm sure you can be strong too!"

"Wow... Oh, Luffy, why are you travelling alone? I thought a Marine captain like yourself should have a crew of some sort?" Coby asked, finally noticing the oddity of the situation.

Luffy stood up, cloak fluttering behind him as the wind blew past. "I met a pirate when I was young once. He came to my village and stayed there for a while."

"Oh no! Were they raiding it?" Coby asked, shocked.

Luffy shook his head quickly, "Oh, no, no. They were good guys even though they were pirates. Not all pirates are bad, Coby, some are good guys."

Coby scratched his head in confusion, still trying to grasp the probability of there being a 'good' pirate.

"Anyway, those pirates were strong, even stronger than I am right now. The captain himself saved my life when I was about to be eaten by a Sea King then, and I swore to him that I will become stronger. In order to do that, I need to form my own crew strong enough to face other strong criminals that are in the New World!" Luffy beamed proudly at Coby, who looked on in admiration.

"I heard there's a swordsman that was recently spotted around Shells town. He's supposedly the best swordsman in this part of the sea, but I heard he's currently detained by the Marines."

Coby's eyes widened at this, "you… you don't mean the pirate hunter, Roronoa Zoro?"

"Yeah! That's him! I'm going to recruit him!" Luffy grinned widely.

"But I heard he's a demon! And he's completely ruthless when he's hunting pirates! I don't think he would suit the image of a Marine…" Coby protested.

"Shishishishi! If you had seen the kinds of Marines out there, you wouldn't be saying that!" Luffy laughed, remembering people like Sakazuki.

Coby was just about to claim that it was impossible before remembering what Luffy had said to him. In order to become stronger, he had to drop the 'impossible' mentality.

"But how will you recruit him? He's currently a captive of the Marines! And I heard he never liked following orders…"

Luffy turned to face him, a big foolish grin plastered on his face, "I'll find a way, Shishishishishi!"

Shells town

"We're finally here!" Luffy exclaimed, jumping down from the boat onto the harbor as Coby moored their small boat.

"Hey, Coby! Let's go grab something to eat first! Then we'll head to the Marine base to sign you up!" Luffy turned to the elated Coby.

Stepping into a nearby restaurant, Luffy noticed that the atmosphere immediately stiffened upon his entry. Every customer turned away from him and kept their heads down, trying their best not to make eye contact with him.

As their food arrived, even the waiter was shivering as he placed the food in front of them before scampering away as fast as he could.

"Hey Coby, what's wrong with everyone?" Luffy asked, already munching away at his food tactlessly.

"I… I don't know… It seems like they're afraid of us?" Coby whispered carefully.

"Really?" Luffy started scanning the restaurant, looking at everyone who has their heads turned away from them.

"Hey, why are all of you so afraid?" Luffy shouted to the restaurant, which immediately prompted everyone to run out of the restaurant, screaming for their lives.

"Huh, maybe it's because you look scary, Coby." Luffy accused, pointing a piece of meat towards Coby.

"No way! However I see it, it's definitely you!" Coby shouted back, exasperated.

"But why would they be scared of me? I'm a Marine."

"You're right… This doesn't make any sense…" Coby pondered, wondering if it had something to do with the Marines that were currently stationed in the town.

When he turned back to Luffy, he realized Luffy had helped himself to the food that all the customers had left behind.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Coby screamed with shark like teeth.

"What? It's such a waste of good food!" Luffy continued to munch down plates of food from the other tables as Coby shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm so full!" Luffy exclaimed contentedly as he and Coby made their way to the Marine base.

Going through the front door, they notice a reception counter by the side and a single marine officer seated behind it, fast asleep.

Luffy slammed his palm on the table, immediately waking up the Marine who started spouting that he wasn't asleep and he was awake the whole time. Upon regaining his senses, he finally noticed Luffy and Coby standing in front of him and visibly relaxed.

"Err… Welcome to the 153rd branch Marine base. How can I help you guys?" The Marine raised an eyebrow at the two youths questioningly.

Luffy coughed discreetly, getting the Marine's attention before gesturing to his epaulette, which the Marine's eyes widened upon sight.

"I'm Captain Monkey D. Luffy, reporting in as per my orders to patrol around the East Blue. I have Coby here with me," Luffy gestured at the nervous Coby, who stood at rapt attention. "He wants to sign up as a Marine. I also believe I have a bounty for collection."

The Marine saluted smartly as soon as he heard of Luffy's rank. "Yes sir! I'm sorry sir! Of course sir!" The Marine panicked a bit, before sorting through the papers at his desk.

"I have a report from the Marines that were sent to capture Alvida… Oh… Apparently she managed to escape…"

"WHAT?" Luffy slammed the table in disbelief, cracking the wooden table and causing the Marine officer to recoil in surprise.

"How?" Luffy demanded, the Marine already shaking in fear.

"They… They said... they were transporting her to the ship… and... she broke free from her bindings and... knocked out the Marines around her before... escaping…"

"Oh?" Luffy visibly relaxed. "Is that all? Shishishishi, alright then." Luffy grinned, happy that her escape had nothing to do with him which might have left an undesirable mark on his records.

Confused by his sudden change in demeanor, the Marine continued, "Seeing as how you did indeed capture her but her escape was due to the negligence of the transport crew, Headquarters had decided to issue you with the half equivalent of her bounty, two and a half million berries."

"Ah, thanks. I'll collect that later, give Coby the papers he needs to fill in for his recruitment first." Luffy pushed Coby closer to the counter.

"Yes sir! Um… Sorry kid, if you could just fill these in." The Marine passed a piece of paper and pen to Coby, who began filling them out diligently.

"Ah, that's right. I heard a certain Roronoa Zoro is being detained here. Where is he?" Luffy commented.

The Marine seemed to tense up at the mention of his name but pointed at the window which showed the courtyard.

Luffy glimpsed out of the window to see the mentioned swordsman tied up to a wooden post out in the hot sun, seemingly beaten and exhausted. He wore what seemed to be a white shirt that had been bloodied and dark black pants with a green sash around his waist. A black bandana rests securely around his head, his green hair barely visible sticking out at the ends.

Luffy pushed opened the door without hesitation and made his way to the courtyard. Coby noticed and dashed out after Luffy, leaving the half completed papers and a confused marine behind.

"Luffy, wait!" Coby grabbed on to his hand.

"What is it?" Luffy stopped in his tracks.

"You're really trying to recruit a criminal into your ranks?"

Luffy scratched his chin, "I don't know what he has done, so in my books, he's still good guy!" Luffy grinned.

Coby face palmed at Luffy's naivety, wondering how someone like him could be a Marine captain. A scratching sound from the courtyard attracted their attention as a little girl climbed over the wall with a ladder before running towards the tied up swordsman.

The two youths moved closer to the fence as the girl opened up a small package to reveal two rice balls, offering them to the exhausted swordsman.

"Beat it kid, I don't need your food." Zoro sighed, looking away from the girl.

"I tried my best to make it! Please eat something! They already starved you for a long time already!" the girl cried.

"I'm not hungry! Now get lost!" Zoro yelled back.

The gate flung open nearby as two Marine soldiers escorted a teen into the courtyard. The teen seemed to carry an air or arrogant authority as he wore a permanent smirk on his face. This, in turn, seemed to match his black suit and blonde hair that screamed with arrogance. They did not notice Luffy and Coby standing at the side.

"Hey now, Zoro. Don't be so mean to little kids, or my father might hear about this." The blonde teen smirked, idly stroking the end of his collar.

Zoro rolled his eyes, "if it isn't the bastard son."

"Hey! Watch your mouth! My father's the Captain of this base! I can have you executed if I want to!" The teen raged.

He noticed the girl standing beside Zoro with the rice balls in her hand and quickly advance towards them, snatching a rice ball away from her when he got close.

"These rice balls look tasty, don't waste it on such a useless guy like him! Haha!"

The girl tried to protest but the teen already bit into one before spitting it out again. "Argh! What is this! You're supposed to use salt! Not sugar you damn brat!" He threw the rice ball on the ground and knocked the other one over as well, stamping down with his foot a few times, ignoring the pleas of the girl.

The girl started crying which only made the teen sigh in exasperation, "you brought this upon yourself you know?"

He gestured towards a sign nearby, "Anyone caught helping a prisoner will be charged with the same crime, I'm sure you don't want that do you?"

The girl shook her head quickly.

The teen turned to one of the guards and pointed at the girl, "Throw her out!"

The guard seemed shocked at this and hesitated before he was grabbed by the teen. "You want to disobey me? I'll tell my father! You hear me?!"

"Ay… Aye sir…" The guard quickly took a hold of the girl and brought her to the wall, apologizing to the girl along the way before tossing her, screaming, over the wall.

Luffy jumped over the wall and dashed to catch her before she fell, Coby following behind shortly after. Coby quickly helped the girl up, checking if she was alright as Luffy brushed off the dirt on his cloak.

"You better keep your promise Helmeppo!" Zoro spat.

"Of course, of course," the teen laughed. "If you can survive for this whole month, I'll definitely set you free!"

Helmeppo laughed as he walked away with his guards in tow.

Zoro hung his head and sighed before noticing a shadow on the ground. He lifted up his head again to see a marine with a straw hat staring at him.

"What now?" he groaned.

"You're the best swordsman in East Blue?" Luffy asked skeptically.

Zoro raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question, "What's it to you? You don't look like any of the marines here."

"I don't see any swords on you?" Luffy stared at Zoro's waist.

Zoro rolled his eyes, "that Helmeppo bastard took them when he arrested me of course, you think he'll let me keep them here?"

"How did you end up like this?" Luffy scratched his chin, amused.

"I don't need to tell you, get out of my face." Zoro dropped his head again.

"I'm looking for people to join my Marine crew, I think a swordsman like you will fit right in."

"Well then I'm sorry, but you'll have to look elsewhere." Zoro grinned at the marine. "As you can see, I'm a bit tied up at the moment."

"Shishishishi! You're funny! Alright! I've decided! You'll join my crew!" Luffy laughed.

Zoro's eyes widened, "Hey, hey! I never said I'll join! And besides, I'm still stuck here anyway!"

"I can always help free you," Luffy smirked, stepping towards Zoro.

"Wait, no! Stop!" Zoro shouted him back. "I made a promise to last for a month. If I do, I'm a free man, so I don't need your help!"

"Oh? So how about I wait for you to be released? Will you join then?" Luffy grinned foolishly.

Zoro sighed in exasperation, "No way, I don't want to be a damn Marine, I have my own dreams!"

Luffy's eyes sparkled at that line, "Reeeaally? What is it?" Luffy rushed up to Zoro and stared at him expectantly, causing the swordsman to recoil back in surprise.

"Damn it! You're too close! I have no reason to tell you anyway! Now get lost!"

"Hmph, spoilsport. I'll wait for you then." Luffy turned to go.

"Hey wait, before you go, help me get those rice balls." Zoro gestured with his chin at the muddied rice balls on the ground.

"You're sure? There's more dirt in it than rice now." Luffy picked one up, waving it at Zoro.

"I don't care, just give it to me."

Luffy shrugged and complied, feeding him one of the rice balls that Zoro greedily swallowed before having a coughing fit.

"Hey, *cough* *cough* tell the girl that the rice balls were delicious."

Luffy grinned, "You're a really interesting guy! I definitely want you on my crew!" Luffy ran out of the base before Zoro could protest again.

"He really said that?" The girl exclaimed, clearly elated by the news.

"Yep, he ate everything! Shishishishi!" Luffy grinned.

"Wow… Maybe rumors are really just rumors after all, he doesn't seem to be a bad guy at all," Coby commented.

The three of them were seated inside the girl's house which happens to be a bar. At first, the girl's mother was hesitant in letting them in, seeing as they were Marines, but relented when Luffy told her that they were not part of Helmeppo's group.

"He isn't!" The girl, Rika, insisted. "He only got in trouble because he wanted to protect me!"

"Really now?" Luffy leaned closer, listening attentively.

"Helmeppo had this big wolf that he would always bring around town to bully people with! And when the wolf was bullying me, brother Zoro saved me from it! He's a really good guy!"

"I see… So this kid is abusing his father's power… As a Marine, I will not allow this to continue…" Luffy clenched his fist.

The door was kicked open without warning as Helmeppo strutted in with his guards.

"This place is still the same dump as before…" He spat, not noticing the trio sitting by the side.

He sat down on one of the tables, resting his legs on the table and shouting insults at the poor condition of the bar.

"Hehehe… That stupid swordsman, he dared to call me a bastard. I'll show him. Hehehe, I'll definitely have him executed tomorrow!"

Luffy stood up and turned to Helmeppo, toppling the chair he was sitting on.

"Didn't you promise to free him in a month?"

Helmeppo squinted at the youth, "Huh? Who the hell are you? You're a marine from the base right? You still don't know I've only been joking with him all these while? Only an idiot will believe that!"

Something snapped in Luffy as he rushed towards Helmeppo and struck him across the face, sending him sprawling on to the floor.

"Luffy!" Coby pulled Luffy back in a panic. "What are you doing?! He's still a marine! Please calm down!"

"Coby, the Marines is not a place where people can abuse their authority." Luffy glared at Helmeppo. "I'm taking Zoro away with me today."

Helmeppo held his face where Luffy had punched him as his guards tried to help him up. "Who the hell do you think you are? Even my dad has never hit me before!"

Luffy rolled up his sleeves, "Then I'll do it in his stead."

"My father's the Captain of this town you stupid no name Marine! He won't let you go with this!" Helmeppo pointed an accusing finger at Luffy as he got to his feet.

"Guards! Get him!" Helmeppo ordered, but the two marines stayed still, looking between Helmeppo and Luffy, unsure of themselves.

Luffy snorted, "Arrogant and ignorant... You!" Luffy pointed at one of the guards whom stiffened at attention.

"Go get Zoro's swords and hand it to him, untie him from his post as well!" The guard hesitated and noticed at Helmeppo glaring at him.

"NOW!" Luffy ordered and the guard immediately scampered off to obey.

"Hey! Come back here! Why are you listening to this guy and not me?" Helmeppo demanded.

"And you," Luffy pointed at the other marine, who also immediately stiffened. "Drag him back to his dad and tell him I want a word with him!"

The marine was sweating profusely as he immediately hauled a screaming Helmeppo over his shoulder and made a dash for it.

"Let's go Coby, time to free my first crew member," Luffy grinned.

"I am the greatest," a marine said proudly to himself as he stood on top of the marine base. In front of him, a group of marines were struggling to raise up a statue that resembled said marine. He had a metal plate as a jaw and his right hand was replaced with a crude looking axe. A marine coat that had its sleeves torn off rested on his shoulders, revealing his large beefy arms.

"Father!" "Sir!"

Helmeppo and the marine carrying him cried out at the same time as the barged in on to the roof.

The Marine Captain turned to regard the two with critical eyes.

"Dad! I want you to kill someone for me! There's someone in town that actually hit me! And my guards actually betrayed me!" Helmeppo clutched on to his father's cloak, wailing.

"Captain Morgan, sir! There's another Marine Captain that has asked for your presence!"

The other marines turned at this, their eyes filled with mild traces of hope.

"What? What does he want?" Morgan advanced on the marine.

"I… I don't know sir… He only told me… To tell... You that…" The marine shrunk smaller and smaller as the Captain got closer and closer.

"Father! Why don't you care about me? He hit me! You need to take revenge for me!" Helmeppo cried louder, pulling at Morgan's cloak.

Morgan turned around to regard the blonde teen with contempt, "do you know why I never hit you before?"

"Erm… Because I'm your wonderful son?" Helmeppo tried.

"No…" Morgan advanced on Helmeppo. Without warning his left fist flung forward and punched Helmeppo away. "Because you're a bastard son that's not even worth hitting!"

Tears streamed down Helmeppo's face as Morgan picked him up by his collar, "Don't misunderstand here, I am the one that is great here, not you!"

He dropped Helmeppo back on to the floor before turning back to the marine.

"And you! Did you get rid of that Captain?"

The marine seemed to be taken aback at this, before shaking his head.

"Then you're a traitor, don't you know there can only be one Captain here? And that will only be me! Any other Captains that comes here are a threat to my rule and needs to die!"

As the Captain advanced on the marine as he swung his axe by his side. The marine was shivering in fear but dared not move from his spot.

"Captain! There's someone untying our captive!" A marine shouted.

Morgan turned around and walked to the edge of the roof, leaving the marine that just escaped death collapsing on to the floor in relief.

Morgan watched as a marine was untying the binds on Zoro, his three swords laid down on the ground beside him.

"I'm surrounded by traitors! Men! Get down there and stop them!" Morgan yelled, his face red with anger.

Zoro looked questioningly at the marine that was busy untying his bindings. The marine had rushed out of the base carrying his swords and immediately begun untying his bindings with fervour.

"What are you doing?" Zoro demanded. "You're going to get into trouble for this!"

"I know!" The marine cried, still trying to untie the ropes as sweat poured down his face in fear.

"Then why? I only need to last till the end of the month to be free!" Zoro asked, as his left arm came free.

"You were never going to be freed!" The marine cried. "You were planned to be executed tomorrow! There's another Marine Captain here and he ordered your release once he found out about it. Honestly, no one here likes Morgan but we are forced to obey only because he's our superior. If someone else with authority comes here and tells me to go against him, I'd gladly do so!"

Despite his bravado, Zoro could tell the man was shaking in fear, knowing that his life was probably forfeit. A shadow loomed over the both of them as Zoro looked up just in time to see the falling of Morgan's axe.

Zoro clenched his teeth as he kicked up one of his swords with his left foot and drew it in one fluid motion, parrying the descending blow of the giant axe with his only free hand.

"Impressive, you're not the best swordsman of East Blue for show," Morgan grunted. He glimpsed at the cowering Marine, who had already collapsed on to the floor in fear.

"As for you, little traitor. I think the death sentence should suit you properly!" Morgan raised his axe to strike again but Zoro stepped in between the two, all three of his swords drawn, catching the downward swing of the axe in between the two swords in his hands.

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "Why would you defend the ones who tied you up in the first place?"

"This has nothing to do with that," Zoro sneered, pushing the axe away and causing Morgan to stumble back a few steps.

"Have it your way, fool! Men!" Morgan turned to call out the squad of marines that had their rifles held ready.

Zoro cursed as he stood between the rifles and the still sprawled marine behind him.

'I can't die here! Not before I've fulfilled my dream!'

"FIR—"

"HOLD YOUR FIRE!" a commanding voice boomed.

Everyone turned to regard the enraged Marine captain that stood at the gates. The air around him was pulsating in waves and the wire gates were creaking under the immense pressure the teen was giving out.

Coby hid behind as Luffy started walking towards the group, fists clenched and eyes burning with rage.

"ALL OF YOU! LOWER YOUR WEAPONS!" The world seem to shake with each word.

The Marines immediately lowered their rifles without hesitation, feeling an immense pressure wash over them.

Morgan could feel his right arm shaking from the pulsating waves of Haki that Luffy was exuding.

"Who are you?!" Morgan demanded, his face clenched in anger.

"I am Captain Monkey D. Luffy," he stopped just a few feet from Morgan. "Captain Morgan, with my authority, I hereby strip you of your rank and position. You are no longer a Marine."

Luffy's voice was deceivingly calm as the rage in his eyes were clear for all to see.

"You brat! What right do you have to do that?!" Morgan demanded with unrestrained fury.

Luffy unfurled a paper from within his coat, showing everyone in the vicinity the official paper that he held.

"I am charged with the mission and authority to root out and deal with any criminal activity in this vicinity," Luffy glared pointedly at Morgan, lowering his head so that his straw hat obscured a part of his eyes. "I have decided that your oppression of this town was deemed worthy as a crime. Give yourself up, Captain Morgan."

"YOU INSOLENT BRAT!" Morgan charged towards Luffy without warning, his axe raised in the air to strike him down.

Luffy calmly placed the folded paper back into his coat before vanishing and reappearing directly in front of Morgan.

Grabbing on to Morgan's left shoulder with his right hand, Luffy brought his knee smashing up into Morgan's chin, cracking the metal plate and sending him flying backwards.

The former Captain collapsed on to the floor, the whites of his eyes showing. Luffy landed and brushed the dust off his knee, barely a scratch.

Zoro stared at Luffy in wonder, how had such a carefree and foolish boy have so much power?

"Who's next in command?" Luffy demanded. A single marine stepped out immediately before saluting smartly.

"Commander Ripper reporting, sir!"

Luffy looked at the man up and down before grinning, all tension disappearing from him. "Good, good. I'm placing you in charge of this base. And have someone contact HQ for me to report about this," Luffy pointed down at the prone Morgan. "While you're at it, get rid of that disgusting statue too." Luffy stuck his tongue out in disgust at the statue at the rook of the base.

"Aye, sir!" Ripper saluted again with a grin before ordering a few people to carry Morgan back to the base to be detained.

"Oh one more thing," Luffy grinned widely, pointing at Coby who still stood by the gate. "That's a new recruit I picked up for ya, be sure to sign him up for me!"

Ripper looked back at the boy and nodded immediately.

Zoro stepped in beside him, his swords sheathed.

"So Zoro, ready to join my crew?" Luffy smirked.

Zoro sighed, "I told you I have a dream before didn't I?"

Luffy's eyes sparkled at this, grasping Zoro by the shoulders firmly, "Tell me? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Plea—"

"Geez! I get it!" Zoro pushed Luffy off. "I want to be the strongest Swordsman in the world. That's my dream, and in order to do that, I need to defeat the one that currently holds that title… Dracule Mihawk. I don't suppose you can help me achieve that can you?"

"Oh, you mean Hawky?" Luffy tilted his head.

"Hawky?" Zoro cringed at the name.

"Yeah, I hung out with him a couple of times when my Gramps was training me, he was kinda cool. I liked his hat, shishishishi" Luffy grinned.

Zoro was left speechless at this, even if he was a Marine, not everyone gets to meet any of the Seven Warlords whenever they wanted to.

"If you want, I might be able to arrange a meeting between you two? But you must agree to join my crew first!" Luffy grinned.

"You! Argh! Fine! I'll do it! But don't you dare stand in the way of my ambition! Or I'll make sure you die by my sword!" Zoro threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Shishishishi! Wouldn't dream of it! After all, an Admiral's crew should only have the best!" Luffy laughed.

"An Admiral eh? So that's your goal?" Zoro smiled.

Luffy nodded and grinned foolishly.

"Captain Luffy! Sir!" A marine ran up to them, in his hands was a baby den den mushi. "HQ requested for you!"

Luffy's demeanour turned serious as he picked up the den den mushi.

"This is Captain Monkey D. Luffy speaking, go ahead Headquarters."

"Captain Luffy, good work on handling Captain Morgan, we've dispatched a ship to pick him up."

"Thank you, is there anything else?"

"Yes, a distress call has been received from Orange town, apparently some pirates have been spotted in the vicinity. You're not obligated to respond to it, but you're the closest one to the town right now."

"I understand, I'll head there right away." Luffy nodded.

"Thank you, HQ out."

Luffy passed the den den mushi back and turned to Zoro, "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be, Captain." Zoro grinned, already liking his new Captain.

"Straw Hat Marines, mobilize!"