One Piece: Second Chance

Straw Hat Luffy was awakened by a subtle swaying that seemed to grow more violent by the second as he opened his eyes, blinked, and yawned tiredly. What was he doing before he dozed off? Memories presented themselves as his mind snapped back into alertness. Oh, yeah. He was still drifting. What was that noise? He took a look around him as his eyes focused, and laughed out loud.

"Damn, how do I always forget these things?" he asked with obvious mirth in the face of the whirlpool that threatened to devour his inadequacy of a boat. In the long run, something like this was trivial, laughable really, but Luffy couldn't help but find it troubling that it could have potentially ended his journey before it had even begun.

He glanced at the barrel next to him as it rocked back and forth with the waves. Should he try it…? It should work...based on past experience. He quickly dismissed the thought, though, chastising himself for his careless nature. If it didn't work, he wasn't coming out of the water unless a miracle happened. In his experience, miracles happened often, although they could only help you so much.

Regardless, he didn't want to risk it. It would not do for the future Pirate King to die at the hands of a tiny ass whirlpool like this. It wasn't his own fate he was worried about as much as the fate of the lives he would come to affect. In the beginning of his journey, he had easily resigned himself to the risks of his foolish dream, but as thoughts of those that he had to protect gradually piled up on his conscience, that mindset became increasingly difficult to maintain. In the eyes of many, he would always be a careless idiot, and in some respects this would always hold true. But what some didn't realize was that there were some things he had an ingrained intelligence for from the beginning, and other things he had forcefully willed himself to learn along the way…with some help.

He made a quick decision. He had already resolved to play an active role this time around, and that meant not leaving himself at the mercy of a barrel if he could help it. So he took a quick leap off the boat, propelling himself over the waters with a force that almost sank it. Any sane person would have wondered if he was losing it with this recent action, but sane people didn't last very long where he was going. After reaching the highest point of his jump, he took another step, and the air below him responded in turn, propelling him higher and further. He took more steps until he was cruising through the air at a comfortable speed.

Now, to get down to business. It should be closeby. He reached out with his Observation Haki, and more than a few dozen weak auras flickered to life within range of his senses. He also sensed slightly stronger auras approaching them. He predicted that they were all on a collision course, but then again he already knew that. It was an ambush after all.

He accelerated quickly and made his way over to the slightly stronger auras in the distance. One in particular dwarfed them all in power, but in other aspects that were far more important at this stage, it paled in comparison to another that Luffy instantly recognized. The shockingly humble presence brought a nostalgic smile to Luffy's face.

"Wait for me, old buddy."

He reached the pirate ship with the Jolly Roger that confirmed Luffy's already solid guess and touched down after quickly decelerating. The two pirates that were guarding the deck looked at him in shock, but shock quickly turned to malice. If they gave any more thought to the fact that they hadn't even noticed his approach until he had landed right in front of them, they may have been a bit more cautious. As it was, they were inclined to ask who the hell he was and charge at him with swords at the ready before waiting for an answer.

Luffy was in deep thought, but spared them a glance as he punched both their lights out.

Leaving the unconscious fodder on the deck, he made his way through a door and caught sight of the person who he had come to find. At first glance of the bright pink hair and pudgy appearance, he had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. He compared this timid boy to the quiet, confident Marine he would one day grow up to be. There were some similarities other than appearance (most notably in his aura), but it was nonetheless difficult.

The boy was being relentlessly harassed by a small group of pirates who were too busy taunting him to even notice Luffy's approach.

"Excited yet, Coby? This is gonna be a big haul. You looking forward to some good old fashioned pirating?" The boy weakly glared at him, causing him to laugh. The others followed suit.

"Is that even a question?" one thug asked. "Here's a better one. Are you looking forward to hiding below deck like a little bitch and then cleaning the captain's shoes just to avoid a beating?" They all howled with laughter. Cody turned red before he, to Luffy's disappointment, looked at the ground and let out a resigned sigh. We'll have to work on that, Luffy thought, as he mentally willed Coby to drop kick their asses through the floor, knowing full well that he wasn't capable of it. Yet. As he stepped in front of Coby, the unobservant idiots who by all rights should have been dead by now (mercy was not common on the vast seas, even if a minority of pirates made a habit of exercising it) finally took notice of his presence.

"Who the hell is this guy? I've never seen him before," one said suspiciously.

"New recruit maybe?" another piped up. The one who had been taunting immediately before Luffy stopped and glared at him.

"Who are you? Identify yourself." Luffy looked him dead in the eye and grinned.

"Well, I'm the guy who defeated your crew, kicked your captain's ass, and sunk your ship. That's all you really need to know." The pirates gaped at his audacity, but hesitated to attack.

Something about this guy was holding them back, but they weren't smart enough for it to last very long. Luffy scratched his head at his own phrasing. To them, he was simply speaking from a future perspective, but it was technically true, minus sinking the ship. He had left that to the Marines last time. Before they could charge, Luffy spoke. "You'll wake up in about 10 minutes. Try not to drown, I guess." This stopped them in their tracks as they stared in confusion upon hearing the cryptic statement. Then they dropped to the ground, foaming at the mouth. Luffy observed Coby carefully.

The blast, although weak to the point where he had to consciously control himself, was directed at everyone in the room. Coby was kneeling on the floor, sweating profusely and panting for breath, but he was still conscious. Not bad. Luffy smiled to himself, realizing that even this crybaby Coby, who had zero confidence and next to zero mental discipline, was still much stronger willed than your average East Blue pirate. That wasn't saying much, but it was something.

"Hey, you! You're Coby, aren't you? If I heard right anyway…mind giving me some food? I'm starved."

Coby was scared shitless at being addressed so casually by the person who had quite literally brought him to his knees with use of a faceless, overwhelming power. He nodded weakly and stood up on trembling knees. He walked forward, refusing to stumble, and led the mysterious boy to a supply storage closet, if only to appease him.