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This story is not mine if you want to read it than read it if you dont want to dead it than dont

Chapter 4 – The Romance Dawn

Ten years had passed since the Red-Haired Pirates had set sail for the last time. The sleepy village of Fuusha hadn't changed much in that time. There were periods of time where it was quieter than usual, mostly when Luffy, Ace and Sabo were in the mountains with Dadan and her bandits, but beyond that, Shanks and his crew wouldn't have noticed a difference. But Shanks and the Red-Haired Pirates never had returned, keeping to Shanks' promise of only meeting Luffy again when the kid had made it big. But today was the day Luffy was finally going to set out on his grand pirate adventure!

"There he goes!" Makino waved joyfully at the rapidly shrinking boat on the horizon. She had a wide grin to contrast with Woopslap's scowl, "Looks like he finally left like he wanted! We're going to miss him..."

The old mayor growled, "He's going to ruin this town's reputation!" Makino rolled her eyes as she turned to go back to her bar in response.

Out on the sea, Luffy was lazily lounging on his tiny little dinghy. He was wearing his treasured straw hat, an open, red cardigan with flared sleeves exposing his chest, and some blue jean shorts with cuffs. Luffy had grown well in the ten years since he'd last seen his hero. He was as tall as his brothers had been the last time he'd seen them at an even six foot. He wasn't quite as muscular though, being a little bit slimmer than Ace and Sabo. "Ah, the weather sure is great today!" The new pirate exclaimed cheerfully as he spun his hat on his fingertip.

But the water bubbling nearby ruined the serene peace of the open ocean. "Huh?" Luffy opened an eye and plopped his straw hat back onto his head before grinning, "Hey, you're pretty big." What rose up from the ocean was a large Sea King which had terrified the many smaller vessels around Fuusha for the last few years. "So, you're the jerk that moved in after Kuzan froze the Lord of the Coast, huh?" The Sea King rose from the ocean, water dripping from its eel-like form. It snarled and started racing towards Luffy and his dinghy; the Lightning Man grinned as he stood up and faced the charging beast.

Luffy raised his arm and extended two fingers forming the classic 'gun' shape and aimed it towards the sea beast, "Goro Goro no Pistol!" It happened in a flash, literally. One moment the Sea King was charging towards Luffy and the next a blinding light was passed through the air. The water crackled as it instantly began to produce ozone with the passing of the electrical beam. The Sea King didn't even have time to try and evade before the energy was upon it and piercing straight through its skull. It wobbled for a moment with a smoking, cauterized hole visible through its head before it collapsed to the water and began sinking.

Luffy grinned widely, "Shishishi…How was that, you stupid fish!" His hat was shadowing his eyes as he raised the brim with one finger to watch the Sea King sink beneath the waves. He collapsed back down lazily before crossing his arms behind his head and started lounging totally carefree, "Well, before I head to the Grand Line…" He raised his arms into the air, "I'll need some good friends!" he laughed loudly, "And then we'll get a ship and a flag! Then I'll become King of the Pirates!"

The next day, Luffy again had a giant grin on his face, "Man, what great weather again!" he cheered, "Who would have thought I'd get into such a problem on such a great day!" And indeed, the absolutely massive, whirling spiral of water sucking in his tiny boat could certainly be described as a 'problem'. "Man, what a huge whirlpool; that was careless of me." His grin hadn't even dropped an inch, as if he was just talking about the nice weather and not the huge death spiral. "Heh and I can't even swim!" His face finally changed, a look of sudden recognition appearing, "Wait, it wouldn't matter even if I could swim!"

And then the whirlpool swallowed the boat.

Somewhat far away, a large ship sat in the gently rolling waves. A manicured hand with pearls around the wrist was seen running a finger across the railing. "What's this?" A dangerous, rough sounding female voice was heard asking. Instantly, all of the men on the ship froze in fear, "What is all this dust?" She asked the shivering men.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, Lady Alvida! I thought I had already cleaned the entire deck! I'll clean it again! So please don't…"

"Don't what?" She questioned turning around.

"Please don't hit me with your ma…" the man tried to say before he was cut off with a loud thud.

The iron mace of Alvida crashed down onto the man's skull and crushed it. The pirate collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut and crashed to the deck. He didn't move again.

"Coby!" Alvida roared as she slowly turned around. The woman was very obese. She took up enough space for five men, and she carried around a massive, hulking slab of iron she called a mace. She was a wearing a pink plaid shirt that was stretched taut over her frame, an equally tight pair of greying pants and a blue Captain's coat. She had a white, red-plumed cowgirl hat and was covered in gaudy looking jewelry. She had a flintlock tied to her by a purple sash to finish off the pirate look. All in all, she wasn't what most would call attractive, to say the least.

The 'Coby' she was yelling for was a chubby, dorky looking boy with a pink bowl-cut. "Y-yes Lady Alvida?"

"Who is the most beautiful woman in the entire sea?" She asked threateningly.

"A-ah, that would o-of course be y-you, Lady Alvida!" Coby shakily answered. Though internally he thought nothing could be farther from the truth.

"That's right!" The large woman roared, "And because of it, I don't want a single dirty thing on my entire ship! I don't want to see even a single speck of dust!" She slowly turned to him again, "The only reason you're still alive is because you're a decent navigator." She snarled at the terrified boy.

"O-of course, Lady Alvida!" He cried piteously, not allowing any tears to escape.

"Other than that, you're entirely worthless! Now, clean my shoes!" Alvida demanded and thrust her large leg at the boy.

"Yes, Lady Alvida." Coby nodded. After a few minutes of cleaning, he got a boot to the face.

"That's enough, trash!" Alvida snarled, "Go clean the wash room!" And with that, she lost interest in the cowardly boy.

"Haha, I'll be on my way, Lady Alvida!" As they all left him, his face turned down as he finally allowed a tear to escape.

-A Few Hours Later-

Two sailors were lazily slumped over one of the railings of the cruise ship they were working on. They were just relaxing and looking out at the whirlpool they were passing by. The seagulls were cawing; it was calm and peaceful, other than the swirling hole in the ocean. "Huh?" Their attention was grabbed by a barrel hitting the side of the ship. The two sailors grinned at each other and quickly grabbed a rope with a claw on it to hook the barrel. They each took turns trying to nail the barrel and failed on the first four attempts. The next sailor spun it mightily over his head and flung it downward with a roar of, "Got it!"

But the claw was way off mark.

The other sailor laughed at his friend's ongoing misfortune, "Three strikes! You're out!"

Inside the opulent ship, a beautiful orange-haired woman wearing a nice, beige dress was staring out the window with her chin in her palm. Violin music was being played by the live band. The Captain was currently reassuring one of the passengers that a whirlpool of the size they were passing wasn't even a worry to the ship. One young man came up to the orange-haired woman and asked for a dance, which she accepted with a smile.

Outside, the men finally snagged the barrel with the claw and hauled it onto the ship. "Awesome! This thing is heavy! Maybe it's full of booze!" The larger sailor beamed.

Their merriment was cut short by a horrified gasp from the sailor up in the crow's nest. "P- PIRATES! It's a Pirate ship! Enemy raid! Enemy raid!" The sailors gasped and ran off inside to alert the Captain of the incoming raiders.

The Pirate ship, which had been painted pink of all colors, had a large red heart on the main sail, which was coming unfurled. Smoke erupted from the pink pirate ship, as three large cannon balls flew towards the cruise ship. After a few seconds of flight they finally struck, all going wide of their target. Large geysers of water blew into the air and shook the cruise ship terribly.

Inside, all of the passengers were screaming, panicking and running around frantically, all of course, except one. The orange-haired woman had widened her stance to keep her balance and had her arms out to stabilize herself. Slowly, a wide smirk formed on her lips.

On the enemy Pirate ship, Alvida was smirking as they finally scored a direct hit and broke the dolphin figurehead at the front of the ship. "Coby! Who is the most beautiful woman in the entire sea?"

"Y-you are of course, Lady Alvida." Coby stuttered.

She laughed hoarsely, "Well done." Coby stammered his thanks.

"This will be our first good haul in a while." One of the men licked his lips.

She grinned wider, "Rough them up good boys! Show them the terror of Lady Alvida!" The ship turned slightly and fired with its forward-facing cannon, striking a direct hit on the main mast of the cruise ship.

On the ship, the barrel the sailors had hauled in rolled down some steps and into the holds, finally rolling through an open door before stopping. Elsewhere on the ship, the orange-haired woman was running with an irritated grimace on her face. She really didn't want to damage her dress, so she was being forced to hold up the hem. She reached the door and broke out, turning right only to shiver and yelp as the much smaller Pirate ship pulled up alongside the cruise ship. She turned tail and ran back into the ship, as the pirates threw their hooks and boarded the ship.

"What do you think you're doing, Coby?" Alvida noticed the boy shaking like a leaf and snarled at him for his hesitation.

"I-I'm not really good at this." Coby stammered at his captor.

Alvida snarled and booted him in the behind, "Don't back talk me! Get your ass into gear!"

Coby flew onto the deck of the ship and landed face-first into one of the walls. He slumped to the floor and began sniveling. Alvida followed with her mace held high, terrifying Coby with her large jump and the fact that she was going to hit him. He screamed like a little girl and scrambled out of the way, allowing Alvida and her mace to plow right through the wall. Smoke, dust and wood chips flew through the air for a few moments, before revealing a dazed Alvida sitting there.

One of the Pirates grinned menacingly at the passengers, "We won't be taking your lives today, but we will take all your valuables. So start handing them over."

Alvida shook herself and wandered over, "Anyone who argues takes a nice swim in that whirlpool." Inside the ship, their raucous laughter was all the orange-haired woman could hear. She smirked and threw her fancy dress off, revealing another outfit underneath. A tight blue shirt, loose black pants with a red sash, and a black bandana covering her orange hair.

A few minutes later, Coby was checking about the ship in a frightened manner when he came upon a room with an open door, "H-hello?" He poked his head in slowly. There was no one in the room. He sighed in relief as he entered, before taking note of the large barrel that had knocked a bunch of stuff over off to one side. "Man, what a large barrel…" the pink-haired boy mused.

Outside, the orange-haired woman had used one of the hook ropes the pirates had left behind to zip line over and board the ugly pirate ship. She swiftly moved to a door and looked around several times before reaching for the doorknob. Before she had even touched it, it sprang open and startled her greatly. She sprang back and took up a weird pose as the pirate looked her over. "Hey, who are you? I don't think I've seen you before." The pirate leered at her with a growing grin as he leaned closer. She chuckled lightly before her weird pose turned into a strong kick.

She planted her foot as hard as she could right between the man's legs. He would have let out a high-pitched squeal if he hadn't immediately choked on his tongue. Instead, he ended up collapsed on the deck, unconsciously holding his damaged groin. The orangette smiled brightly and made her way into the ship after stuffing the body in an out of the way corner.

Below deck on the cruise ship, Coby was struggling to move the barrel, rolling it over to the door. "Hey, what are you sneaking around for Coby?" one of the other pirates questioned from behind him with a grin, scaring the boy.

"Ah! I was just rolling this over to the ship! It's pretty heavy!" Coby exclaimed.

The pirate grinned, "Heavy eh? That's good. Must be full of booze." He hauled it upright, "And I was just getting thirsty." He licked his lips.

"We can't!" Coby yelled in shock, "Lady Alvida will kill us!"

The pirate sneered as he raised his fist, "Well as long as you don't tell, she doesn't have to know! You just need to keep your mouth shut!" He swung downward with a hard punch to break through the top of the barrel.

But it wasn't his fist that broke through. Instead, a pair of fists burst upward right through the lid, one of which socked him in the jaw as a boy wearing a straw hat and a huge grin came up yawning, "Man, what a great nap! I slept great!" The thud of the pirate hitting the floor drew the young man's attention, "Huh?" He looked over to the unconscious man before looking owlishly at the other two pirates that were staring at him in shock, "Who are you guys?"

The two sprang forward with shark teeth and roared at him, "Who the hell are you?!"

Luffy ignored them as he stepped out of the barrel, "That guy is going to catch a cold if he sleeps on the floor, you know?"

Their eyes bugged out, "You put him there!" They both drew swords, and Luffy looked at them with a confused look, "Do you even know who you're messing with punk? We're pirates!"

Luffy simply ignored them, turning to Coby, "Hey, I'm hungry. You guys have any food?"

The pirate's eyes bulged out even more, "Listen when people are talking!" They both raised their swords in the air, "You damn brat!" They swung, eager to have their blades taste flesh. Coby covered his eyes with his hands. The sound of blades hitting something was followed by two distinct thunks.

Coby slowly uncovered his eyes, steadying himself for the horrible sight he would no doubt witness. He gasped in shock and then started to stare. The boy's right arm was pointing left with a closed fist. The two swords the pirates had drawn were each broken with their tips stuck in the floorboards. But the pirates? They'd gotten off worse than their swords.

They were both embedded up to their waists in the walls on the far side of the room, legs hanging limply from their holes. Coby tried to speak, "You…what…how?" he stuttered, "Who are you?"

"Eh?" Luffy turned to him, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet ya." He grinned.

Coby shook himself, "You have to hurry! They're bound to wake up soon and if they come back with their friends you're dead! There's over thirty of them!"

"Nah, I'm hungry. Got any food?" Luffy shrugged before picking at his nose with a pinky.

Coby only gaped. "How can you be so carefree? They're pirates!"

"So? I'm a pirate too." Luffy grinned at Coby's horrified face, "I only just started out though. I was just setting sail for the first time when I accidently got caught in a whirlpool. Shishishi." he laughed, before beginning to sniff at the air.

Luffy started walking forward so Coby grabbed him, trying to haul him away, "No not that way! There are dozens of them! You have to get out!" But Luffy didn't even slow his stride as he dragged the pink-haired boy, dragging feet and all, through the nearest doorway. He grinned widely and dove down towards the food in the room. Coby sighed as he noticed they were fairly well hidden down here, "Actually, this room isn't that bad. They might not find us here." Luffy still wasn't paying attention. He was too busy stuffing his face full of food. "You're Luffy, right? I'm Coby." He started walking down the steps, "That was incredible what you just did. How did you do it?"

Luffy turned around as Coby reached him, "These are great!" he exclaimed holding up an apple while completely ignoring Coby's question. He turned back around and continued to eat, "Is this a pirate ship?"

"No, this is a cruise ship the Alvida Pirates are raiding." Coby explained as he sat beside Luffy.

Luffy paused for a moment, before continuing to stuff his face. "Are there any boats on board? I kind of lost mine in that whirlpool so I need a new one. That sure was a surprise though. I never even saw it coming since it had been such a nice day. Shishishi." He chuckled around the food in his mouth.

"There should be. All ships have life boats, right?" Coby replied with a shaky smile as he watched the glutton eat.

"So you one of these Pirates?" Luffy asked.

Coby stiffened before trying to explain his situation, "Not exactly. I wandered onto a boat to go fishing." He looked down, "But it turns out that it was a dinghy belonging to Lady Alvida's ship. It's been two years since then." He held onto his knees, "They made me a cabin boy in exchange for my life." Coby finished morosely.

It was silent for a moment, before Luffy started to chuckle, "You're kind of an idiot. Who just walks onto a pirate dinghy?" It seemed as if a huge weight suddenly appeared on Coby's shoulders as he sagged down in depression.

"You're brutally honest." The pink-haired boy whined.

"Well if you hate it and you want to leave, just leave." Luffy replied as he stretched his back out, a couple pops being heard.

"I-I couldn't, can't! No way! No way! Just thinking of Lady Alvida finding out terrifies me! I'm too scared!" Coby stammered even at the thought of doing so. Just this morning he'd seen what Alvida's mace could do.

"You're a coward too?" Luffy laughed, blowing yet another hole into Coby's self-esteem. "Man, I hate guys like you!"

Tears streamed down Coby's face, and it almost looked like he was about to give up on life. He drew himself up and bowed forward morosely, "Yeah, you're right. I'm a coward. If only I had the courage to be like you and drift in a barrel…" He sighed, "There's something I want to do too…hey…Luffy? What compelled you to go out to sea?"

Luffy grinned and pumped his fists into the air, "I'm going to the Grand Line of course!" Coby gasped, "I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"

Coby's jaw dropped, and his pupils shrank. He was halfway into a panic attack and he was practically choking, "I-Impossible! No way! No way! Pirate King? Are you serious?!"

"Yeah?" Luffy shrugged nonchalantly, "Got a problem with that?"

"What about your crew?" Coby stammered.

"Don't have one yet." Luffy replied cheerfully. "I just started out so I'm just now beginning to look!" Coby froze entirely, and even when Luffy stepped forward and waved his hand in the pink-haired boy's face he still didn't move.

"P-Pirate King is the title given to the one who obtains everything! The greatest treasures! Wealth! Fame! Power!" With each word, Luffy nodded along, "…One Piece!"

"Yep!" Luffy confirmed with a large grin.

"Pirates all over the world are after that treasure!" Coby screamed in shock.

"Me too, and I'll be the one to get it!" Luffy wasn't bragging when he said that. It was just a statement of fact in his mind.

"No! Impossible! No way! No way! Absolutely no way!" Coby shook his head back and forth with his fists clenched. "There's no way you can stand at the apex of this Pirate era and scream that! No way no wa…"

Luffy's fist collided with the younger boy's head stopping his rant, "Shut up, you idiot."

"W-why'd you hit me?" Coby sniffled, clutching his aching head, "Not like I'm not used to it by now. It's alright I guess." He laughed and cried at the same time.

"It's not about whether I can or can't." Luffy said as he held onto his hat, "I'm going to do it because I want to!" He stated passionately, "It's my dream! I'll become the Pirate King, or I'll die fighting for that dream! I don't care if I lose my life trying!" He stood up and put his hat back on, "Well, I'm full. I'm going to go find a boat now."

"W-wait!" Coby yelled, "Luffy! I have a dream too! Do you think I can accomplish it if I stake my life on it?!"

"Do what?" Luffy stopped walking and looked over at the cowardly boy.

"Do you think I can join the Navy?" Luffy smirked, "Catching bad guys is my dream!" All traces of the stuttering were gone from the cowardly boy's voice, "It's been my dream ever since I was little!"

"Then do it!" Luffy yelled and clapped Coby on the back, "Don't let others take your dreams away! Because if you don't fight for your dreams then who will?"

"That's right!" Coby screamed, "I'm not going to be a chore boy forever!" He was working himself up into a frenzy at this point. "I'm going to be a great Marine and work tirelessly to catch criminals! And the first one I'm going to catch is Lady Alvida…No! Alvida!"

Just after Coby's exclamation, the ceiling broke and all strength left the boy's body as Alvida's huge body landed behind him, "Who did you say you were going to catch, Coby?" Coby shook and trembled as Alvida's form was revealed by the clearing dust.

Luffy blinked as he looked at the new woman with his head tilted to the side. Five swords burst through the wood behind him, "Huh?" He looked puzzled at the situation.

"Ha, you don't look like Pirate Hunter Zoro to me." Alvida smirked at him, before locking her gaze onto the pink-haired boy, "Coby! Who is the most beautiful woman in the entire sea?" She demanded.

"Th-that would be…" Coby stammered and rubbed his head with a terrified smile.

"Hey, Coby, who's this fat hag?" Luffy asked while he picked his nose with his pinky. Jaws instantly dropped from both of the other occupants as well as the men standing at the hole in the ceiling.

Alvida stopped breathing for a moment, before she started to grind her teeth and tic marks started popping up all over her bloated face, "You damn brat!" She roared as she swung her massive mace up and over her head.

Luffy grinned. In the blink of an eye his foot was on Alvida's head with Coby, held by the face, along with him. "Later, lard ass!" With that, both he and Coby were flying up through the large hole. Alvida's mace crashed onto the space her target had previously occupied throwing up dust and wood chips.

The two landed on the deck, where the two trembling pirates Luffy had punched earlier were shaking. Steeling themselves, they drew new swords and charged with loud battle cries. Luffy tilted his head and was in front of them before they could blink, his fists warping their faces. Teeth and blood flew as they were both launched back across the deck, impacting the railings and falling right off the ship. Behind him a swordsman roared as he leapt in to strike from above. Luffy sidestepped, "Backstabs are for losers." He grabbed the man's face, slamming it into the ship's deck. Wood cracked, and splinters flew out of the new crater formed by the pirate's head.

"Huh?" Luffy looked up and saw a dozen more pirates in front of him, "Mass attacks aren't cool either!" He yelled as he ran from the dozen pirates chasing him. He grinned in amusement as he led the group of men on a chase around the deck. Out of his peripheral vision, he noticed a woman in a blue shirt and bandana sneaking out of Alvida's ship with a large bag slung over her shoulder. He grinned even wider. That was pretty interesting. He spun before laughing, "Just kidding!" In a matter of seconds, well before any of the Pirates even knew what hit them, they were all laid out on the deck with fist marks covering their bodies. Some had even been kicked off the deck and into the ocean. "Shishishi." Luffy chuckled at his handy work.

"A-amazing! You took out all those tough pirates so fast!" Coby shivered in amazement.

"Tough? Those guys were weaklings. No challenge at all." Luffy thumbed his nose while grinning.

"Do you…do you think I could ever be as strong as you, Luffy?" Coby asked quietly.

"Not a clue." Luffy grinned, "That's up to you, coward-boy!"

"S-so mean!" Coby slumped over, the word 'coward' practically looming over him heavily.

Suddenly another loud crash broke through the silence. Alvida had shown up again. "So, you're not Pirate Hunter Zoro? I haven't seen you use a sword yet." The huge woman growled.

"Oh hey, the hag showed up again." Luffy stated while picking his nose once more.

Coby's jaw dropped while Alvida's face burned red in fury, "L-Luffy! Repeat after me!" He grabbed the taller man's arm tightly, "Lady Alvida is the most…" suddenly, images of his newfound friend started flashing through his eyes. Luffy's strength, his conviction, his lack of fear. "The most…" And then he saw himself. Abused, kicked around and terrorized. Coby grit his teeth and turned to Alvida, "The fattest, ugliest, most horrible bitch the sea has ever seen!" He roared out in defiance. Luffy erupted into laughter at the boy's words.

Alvida's teeth ground so hard they almost cracked, "Coby!" She raised her massive mace in fury, ready to end the pink-haired shrimp in front of her.

Coby shuddered, but stared at his oncoming death with courage, 'I…I did it! I actually fought against her!' He gulped and then screamed, "I have no regrets!"

Luffy moved in front of the giant iron mace, "Well said!" His smile was stupidly wide as he back-handed the giant hunk of metal and shattered it into tiny pieces that scattered all over the deck.

"What!" Alvida's eyes were bulging out of her head as she gasped in shock, mirrored by Coby whose jaw also dropped. He knew Luffy was strong, but this strong? What in the world was Luffy?

"So long, hag!" The smirking straw hat wearing pirate formed a fist and nailed the hefty Alvida square in the stomach. The fat on her torso rippled out from the point of impact, like a shockwave forming on her stomach. She choked out as much of a gasp of pain as she could, before being lifted clean off her feet and launched away like a misshapen cannonball. She went tumbling through the air rapidly shrinking into the distance. A minute later, Alvida slammed into the ocean sending up a large spray of water just like an actual cannonball. Luffy grinned and held his fist up while clapping his other hand onto his bicep. He then glanced over to the remains of Alvida's crew who were just staring at him in shock. Luffy was about to demand a boat for him and Coby when the entire ship shook.

Two geysers rose up near the boat, caused by more cannon fire. Luffy grimaced as he noticed three Marine Battleships closing in. "Tch! What are those idiots trying to do?" He practically growled, "What are they firing at? Gramps would have their hides for firing so close to a civilian ship!" Glancing at Coby, who was somewhere between awestruck and terrified, he decided that he needed to get out of dodge. Remembering the woman who he'd seen sneaking away, he grabbed Coby and threw him over his shoulder before jumping from the cruise ship over to the pirate vessel still anchored to it. He quickly raced off in the direction he could sense the girl in and noticed her securing her sack to a small boat in a panicked rush.

With a leap he and Coby landed in the boat, and the orange-haired woman shrieked in fear as she almost fell off from the sudden impact. Luffy quickly grabbed her and steadied her, making sure that she and her bag didn't fall off the small boat. "Who the hell are you?!" She shrieked in surprise.

"We can talk after we're out of here. Shishishi!" Luffy laughed for a moment before the boat rose on a swell from latest barrage of cannonballs. He turned hard eyes to the three Marine vessels, "Those idiots are going to hit the cruise ship too!"

With a scowl he placed his right foot back and held his two hands facing each other in front of his body. "What are you do…?" The woman cut herself off with a squeak of fear as electricity began leaping between Luffy's hands, a literal ball of lightning began to rapidly grow in size as the smell of ozone filled the air. The electric charge in the air made Coby and the woman's hair start to stand up, while the heat radiating from the ball had the both of them begin to inch away as far as they could get on the small dinghy.

Luffy grinned and took aim, "Goro Goro no Cannon!" He roared and thrust his hands forward. The bright ball of lightning rocketed forward at high speed, racing towards the three Marine ships. But Luffy wasn't planning on killing anyone and hadn't been aiming at the ships. He was actually aiming at the ocean in between the three vessels. Instantly upon impact, the great ball of condensed lightning exploded, the top several meters of ocean water instantly turned to steam sending out a shockwave that sent the Battleships rocking unsteadily on the sudden rough waters. When the large amount of water suddenly disappeared it left a deep void in the ocean. Water quickly rushed into this empty space and slammed together in the center. The resulting collision generated a huge wave that radiated outwards. The Battleships were tossed up and down as the wave passed under them with panicking Marines holding onto their ship for dear life.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed at his success against the Battleships, while turning to look at Coby and the orangette.

"That was way too much!" The woman roared with shark teeth, almost hyperventilating as she saw the large wave approaching their tiny boat, "You're going to hit us too!"

"Oh right, the wave won't stop for a while." Luffy deadpanned as they were picked up and carried away by the wave. Coby and the woman were grabbing onto the edge of the dinghy while screaming their heads off.

"You moron!" the woman screamed in terror as she kept a white knuckled grip on the side of the boat.

"I thought I was going to die." The orangette whimpered as she cradled her bag of treasure. Coby was staring blankly at the sky as if he had already accepted that he was dead. They had gotten away scot free. The Marines weren't following them, the sun was shining, and the sea was calm. She huffed, before smiling slightly, "But hey, at least I got a lot of treasure out of it!" She said the last part mostly to herself, though Luffy heard her anyway.

"Shishishi, that was fun!" Luffy exclaimed before suddenly taking a fist to the head courtesy of an angry orange-haired woman. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"You almost got us killed!" She screamed in a demonic tone, shaking her smoking fist in front of him. She slumped over and lounged back on her bag, "I'm Nami!" She introduced herself sweetly, all traces of anger gone.

Luffy grinned, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The wimpy-looking guy is Coby." The pink-haired, wimpy-looking guy slumped down in depression.

Nami smiled and gave him a high five, "Well, you certainly secured our getaway, even if it was terrifying." She glared, her mood seeming to flip-flop again, "Don't do that again!" And then she was all smiles again, "Still, you are pretty strong!" She praised brightly.

"Shishishi! I worked hard!" Luffy confirmed, slapping a hand onto his bicep.

Nami smiled and leaned over, exposing her cleavage a tiny bit more. Luffy's eyes didn't move to take a peek, which disappointed Nami a little as she felt rightfully proud of her looks. "I'm a thief who steals from pirates!" She exclaimed, "I could use a strong guy like you helping me! I'm the best damn navigator in the East Blue and I'd definitely like some strong people helping me to take treasure!" She grinned, "You wanna be partners?"

"Nah, not interested." Luffy replied, slumping back against the edge of the dinghy.

Nami's smile dipped at the instant refusal, "Aww come on, don't be like that! We could get a lot of money!" She said enticingly. Luffy ignored her and stared out across the open ocean. "Oh fine." She muttered to herself and crossed her arms under her generous bust, "So, what are you out on the sea for?"

Coby, who had finally recovered, started sweating heavily. 'Please don't be an idiot! Please don't be an idiot! Just don't say it!' he repeated in his head over and over again.

Only Luffy's wide smile was visible from under his straw hat. He pumped a fist up, "I'm going to be King of the Pirates!" He declared loudly. To the self-proclaimed Pirate Thief, who rapidly became the furious-looking, self-proclaimed Pirate Thief.

"So, you're a scumbag Pirate are you?!" Nami hissed, "Everything in this damn era is Pirate this and Pirate that! I hate it!" She pointed at Luffy angrily, "I hate Pirates! I should just toss you overboard!"

Coby gaped at the orangette, wondering if she was insane. Hadn't she just witnessed what Luffy was capable of? Luffy looked at Nami so seriously that she started to sweat, quickly getting over her anger and remembering what he'd done earlier.

"You can't do that." Luffy spoke calmly, still looking Nami in the eye.

Putting on a brave face even as she tried not to tremble, Nami replied "Oh? And why not?"

Luffy stared at her intensely, like he was looking into her soul. Nami started feeling even more unnerved, "Because I'll die!" Luffy stated plainly. Nami and Coby both face-faulted into the wooden floor of the boat with loud crashes.

"This guy is a moron…" Nami muttered to herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, seeing their reactions.

"Why would you die? Can't you swim?" Nami asked after getting back to her position leaning on her bag of treasure.

"I ate a Devil Fruit!" Nami and Coby both looked shocked at Luffy's claim, "I'm a Lightning Man! Shishishi!" Luffy laughed at their stupefied faces.

"Wait! Wait! Wait! You mean those things actually exist?! I thought they were just a myth!" Nami stammered in shock. "Though that would explain what you did back there." She trailed off remembering Luffy's display of power earlier.

"Oh, they're real alright." Luffy chuckled. "Me and my two older brothers were each given a fruit by a strange guy we met one day." He smiled with a thoughtful look, remembering the day ten years ago. "I didn't think anything about it at the time since I was hungry. But Gramps came back in a panic about it and then we learned what we'd eaten." He laughed, "They taste super bad though. It was like someone had taken a pineapple, made it super sour, let it start rotting and then dunked it into filthy, stagnant water. It also left this odd tingling sensation in my mouth along with the bad aftertaste. Yuck!" Nami and Coby turned green from the description alone.

Luffy occasionally saw Ace in the papers at Makino's bar. He was the Captain of the Spade Pirates for two years with a bounty of two hundred million Beri and the epithet 'Fire Fist'. But in the last year Ace had apparently joined up with Whitebeard and his bounty had risen to five hundred million Beri. Sabo had set sail to find the Revolutionary Army. From the vague letters he'd sent back to Luffy, three in total over the last three years, he'd found them and was working to free the world of the influence of the World Nobles, the Tenryuubito. Sabo had managed to stay out of the Marine's notice so far. He didn't yet have a Wanted Poster or a bounty on his head. Luffy wasn't sure if that was intentional or not, but knew that when Sabo did reveal himself he'd probably be marked with a high bounty. He wouldn't be surprised if it rivaled Ace's current bounty. Too bad for his brothers that he would soon have the biggest bounty between all of them! Luffy was hoping to start by beating Ace's starting bounty of fifty five million Beri.

Nami shook the nauseating thought away before asking, "Wait, so you just ate some random fruit that a stranger gave you? Are you stupid?" She sighed before shifting the topic back to the Devil Fruits themselves. "Even though most people think they're just legends, I've still heard that a single Devil Fruit can be sold for hundreds of millions on the black market. But I just never thought they were real, otherwise I definitely would have been hunting for them myself." She whispered, "I could've been done by now."

"Yeah, that's what Shanks told me." Nami and Coby gaped in disbelief at hearing the name of a Yonkou. Luffy grinned at them, seeing the shock in both of their eyes. "Not all pirates are scumbags you know. We were all good friends. Me, Ace, and Sabo even had a lot of parties with Shanks and his crew. And before they left for good, Shanks acknowledged my dream, and told me they'd be waiting for me in the Grand Line." He looked up at the sky, "I miss them sometimes." He stated before pulling his hat over his eyes and drifting off to sleep, not seeing the look in Nami's eyes. She turned her head away, not wanting Coby to see her clenched teeth and the unshed tears in her eyes. After all what could you say to statements that shattered your worldview so completely? What could you respond with when you realized that you'd just had the worst luck?

-Hours Later-

Luffy awoke slowly and noticed it was already the dead of night. The boat was calmly sailing onward and both of the other two members of the boat seemed to be asleep. Coby was sleeping like the dead curled up on one side of the dinghy, while Nami was shivering and trying to snuggle into her bag of treasure. Luffy smiled and took off his cardigan before moving over to her. He draped the garment over her shivering form in an attempt to keep her warm. He turned to get back to his spot, when he heard her voice behind him.

"You're pretty brave, sleeping like that near someone that threatened to drown you." He turned and stared at Nami, who apparently had been awake. Despite her hatred of pirates, she was still cold, and the day's earlier conversation had shaken her. So she continued to hold the warm cardigan like a blanket over her body.

Luffy grinned back before replying, "You don't seem like a bad person." She averted her eyes. "You've had some bad things done to you by pirates, haven't you?" She completely looked away from him at that. He sat right beside her, "I hate pirates like that too." He said seriously, getting Nami's eyes to snap up and meet his. "Picking on the weak, hurting people, hurting their nakama." He growled, heckles raised high. "I hate bastards like that too. That's not what being a pirate is about."

"Of course it is. That's how all pirates are." Nami sneered, but it was halfhearted.

Luffy grinned back, "Sure they are. Next, I suppose you'll tell me all Marines are good and honorable people, right?" He chuckled at the woman. "You saw what those Marines did back there." He pointed his thumb back in the direction they came from. "They just started firing away; they didn't even care if they hit the cruise ship. Anything is acceptable to catch pirates, right? Absolute Justice and all that." Nami looked away, biting her lip. He sighed and scooted over, "You shouldn't judge everyone just because of what some do. I mean, yeah there are a whole lot of pirates out there destroying things and giving the rest of us a bad name. But that's not every pirate." He shook his head. "Those types will never make it anywhere. They're the ones who end up bully others to make themselves feel strong. To try and make up for the fact that they aren't getting anywhere."

With that, Luffy laid back where he had originally been, pulled his hat back over his eyes and was out like a light. Nami stared in his direction for a moment, before pulling his cardigan over herself and trying to fall asleep with her mind whirling with all the things Luffy had said that day