CH 3

It was time. He had trained for three years under Garp and was now ready to cast off. Luffy took one last look around the forest he had grown up in and smiled. He took in a deep breath before rushing off to the bandit house.

"Dadan! Everyone! I'm leaving now." Luffy said as he peered inside the house. The bandits all looked at him while Dadan had her back turned to him.

"Good. Now we can finally get some peace around here, you little monster." Dadan said, not looking at Luffy at all. Luffy just smiled and was about to walk away, but turned back to them and said "I hate mountain bandits, but I like you guys."

"Will you just get out of here, you rotten brat?!" Dadan shouted through her tears that she failed to wipe up with her hanky. Luffy's smile grew before he bolted off through the forest, running at speeds even he didn't know he could. In what felt like no time at all, he had already ran all the way to the docks of Fushia Village. Some of villagers were a little surprised to see Luffy appear of nowhere, but they smiled anyway. Soon, the whole village appeared to see Luffy off, cheering him on and wishing him good luck.

"Well Mayor, he's off." said Makino as she smiled.

"Hmph." grumped Mayor Woop Slap. "Off to bring shame to our village no doubt."

"Alright everyone!" Luffy shouted as he untied his little fishing boat. "I'm off!" And he slowly drifted away from his village, waving back to them all. "Bye Mayor! Bye Makino! Bye Everyone! Wish me luck!" Luffy shouted as waved. His eyes widened a bit as he felt a presence lurking under the water before his smile returned. Out from under the water rose the Lord of the Coast. Luffy decided to have some fun and pretend not to notice, even with all the villagers crying out in panic. The sea king lunged at Luffy, only for Luffy to smile and turn around at the last second, backhanding the sea king so hard that it flew out of the water and skipped across the surface a few times before using the same hand to wave it goodbye as well. "Bye Fish!" he said, stunning the villagers silent. Luffy then looked to the clear blue sky and smiled as memories of his friends came to him. He felt a few tears fall before rubbing his eyes and smiling.

"Wait for me everyone. We'll be together again." he said before he thought of Nami and Robin again. He pulled his hat down over his eyes as he blushed. "I gotta be careful. I might turn into Sanji." he said before he started laughing. He stared again at the sky with a determined look. "You know, Phil did say to change history. I wonder how I'll do that this time. Last time," he said before he lowered his eyes to the boat as he sat down, letting the wind and waves carry him along. "Last time, they got us because they threw every marine they could spare at us. Hundreds of thousands of them against 10 of us." His eyes shot open "That's it! I'll get more crewmates. More friends! I've come across other strong people who weren't in my crew before, I'll recruit them this time. This is gonna be so fun!" He then stood up and shouted for the whole world to hear, "I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

()()()()

It had been a few hours since Luffy left for his adventure, and on cue, his first obstacle had appeared.

"There's the whirlpool I got sucked into last time. Alright then," he said before eating all the fruit in the barrel and sealing himself inside. "Time for a ride." He waited for a moment before he felt it. His boat was slowly being swallowed by the whirlpool as he spun around for a few moments. "Ahhhh I'm getting dizzy." he said as his eyes spiraled around. It lasted for a few moments before it ceased. All was quiet for a moment as the barrel then floated away from the whirlpool and surfaced. He closed his eyes and used his Observation Haki to see everything through the barrel. He smiled as he felt the presence of everyone on both the Cruise ship that was sailing close by and the far off Pirate Ship that was hiding behind the rocks. His eyes opened when he felt...her. He could see her plain as day with his haki, and he couldn't help the rush of feelings coming to him. He wanted to burst out of that barrel, stretch over to the ship, and squeeze her in a hug like there was no tomorrow, but he remembered why he was here. He took a deep breath to calm himself down as he tried to focus on other things. He took his mind off of Nami when he felt two sailors trying to throw a hook out to his barrel. He smiled when he heard the splash of water.

"Missed." he said with a laugh as another hook latched on and dragged the barrel toward the ship. He felt them slowly lift the barrel up to the deck before another starting shouting.

"PIRATES!"

'Here they come.' Luffy thought as volley of cannonballs rocked the ship, causing his barrel to roll around. Luffy spun inside for a moment before it rolled down some stairs and stopped in one room. 'That was fun.' Luffy thought. 'I'm kinda sad I missed it the first time.' He waited yet again for few more moments before he heard a "Hello?"

'Coby!' Luffy thought. It was good to see his friend again. He listened as Coby looked around, hoping no one would be.

"Whoa. That's a big barrel." Coby said as he walked toward Luffy's barrel. Luffy smiled as felt Coby roll the barrel away, only to be stopped by three other pirates.

"Well lookey here boys. It's our favorite little coward." one of them sneered. "You trying to duck out of all the action runt?"

"N-n-no. J-just getting some p-provisions is all." Coby stammered as the three men stood the barrel up on one end.

"We'll take it off your hands brat. Probably some booze."

"B-but if Lady Alvida finds out-" Coby started to shout.

"She won't as long as you keep your trap shut. Got it!" yelled another pirate, causing Coby to agree in fear. Luffy heard one of them cracking their knuckles and knew this was his cue. Just as the pirate swung his fist, Luffy burst out of the barrel with his fists in the air, hitting one of them as he shouted "WHAT A RUSH!" Coby and the concious pirates just stared in bewilderment at Luffy while he just looked down at the knocked out pirate.

"Who is that?" Luffy asked, never really knowing who he was the first time around before he looked back at the other pirates gaping at him. "Who are you?"

"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!" they screamed.

"Your friend will catch a cold sleeping on the floor." Luffy said as he got out of the barrel.

"WHO DO YOU THINK PUT HIM THERE?! they screamed again before pointing their swords at him. "Who do you think you are brat? We're the ruthless Alvida Pirates and-"

"I'm starving. You know where the food is kid?" he asked Coby, ignoring the other two pirates.

"DON'T IGNORE US!" the pirates screamed as they brought their swords down on Luffy, causing Coby to scream. Luffy didn't even flinch as the swords broke at stuck to the ceiling. Both pirates fell back, looking scared. Luffy looked at them both before asking "What was that for now?" Both just stared in fright before they asked "W-who are you?" Luffy just smiled as he crossed his arms together. "Me. I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Hello." he said before the pirates grabbed their unconcious shipmate and fled. "Shishishishi." Luffy laughed before looking at Coby. "Those guys are funny. Anyway, what's your name kid?" Coby just stared at Luffy in awe before he snapped out of it and answered "M-m-my name's C-Coby."

"Great, so where's the food?" Luffy asked with a smile.

"There s-should be a pantry over there." he said as he pointed towards a door, which Luffy immediately rushed over and flung the doors open, cheering at the sight of the food. He then jumped in a started chowing down on apples as Coby walked into the room. "You really should leave. Those pirates will be back with their friends to kill you."

"Who were they?" Luffy asked, though he knew who.

"Those guys were pirates under the command of the lady pirate Captain Alvida. She's ruthless with that iron mace of hers and she won't hesitate to shatter your skull with it." Coby said as he started shaking in fear.

"Are you one of them?" Luffy asked. He saw Coby look at him and explain that it wasn't by will, but by accidently boarding a boat of theirs, thinking it was a fishing boat and had been brought on as a cabin boy for the last two years.

"Why not leave?" Luffy asked, waiting for the reaction he knew would come.

"No way. Impossible, impossible. I can't escape from Alvida. Just thinking of what Alvida would do to me scares me so much I could throw up. Nope, nope, nope, no-"

BAM! Luffy's fist shot out, nailing Coby in the head as he fell back clutching it. "Why'd you hit me?"

"Felt like it." Luffy said smiling. Coby just sat back up as he rubbed his head. "Heh. Well I'm use to it anyway. All the other pirates on her ship smack me around for laughs."

"So you're a coward and a weakling huh?" Luffy said with a laugh. "I hate people like you." Coby just hung his head in shame. "Way to state the obvious Luffy." he said before looking back at Luffy. "So Luffy, what made you go out to sea?" he asked. Luffy smiled at him and answered without hesitation. "To become King of the Pirates." He had to hold back his laugh at Coby's face.

"You're...a pirate?" Coby croaked out.

"Yep."

"Crew?"

"Just me. I just started." Luffy said as Coby froze as a statue. Luffy smiled again as he waved his hand in front of Coby's face. 'You know' he thought, 'I've always wondered if Coby's brain shut down here.' He waited until Coby stood up and found his voice.

"The King of the Pirates is the title given to one man who has it all. Wealth. Fame. Power. That means that you're aiming for the ultimate treasure. You're going after the One Piece!"

"Yep." Luffy answered, smiling as Coby was freaking out once again.

"No way no way no way no way! Millions of other pirates are after that prize and you're only one person. It can't be done! Impossible, impossible, impo-"

BAM!

"Why'd you hit me?"

"Felt like it." Luffy said as he took his straw hat off his head to stare at it. "I made a promise to a great man one day be King of the Pirates." he said as he remembered Shanks. "And if I die trying, then I'll die." he said, smiling without a hint of hesitation in his voice. He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Coby looking at him.

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