Chapter 1: Enter the Assassin, Who's That Tied up With Zoro?

Author's Note Part 1: So after leaving my other stories to rest for a little while, I start on a new story for you guys. Yup, I've got my priorities as straight as a line… A curving line that is… Anyways, sorry about the wait between all my other stories guys, but at the moment I've kinda lost my will to write. So, in an effort to get myself out of the writer's block that I've placed myself in, I'm going to attempt to write this story, and get a few chapters out over the week-long vacation that I have from school. Hopefully by doing this, I'll be able to continue to write my other stories, and keep you all happy and entertained.

Now, for this story there are a few things that I'm going to need to tell you. The first and most important is that despite what you may read in this story, it is not a crossover. Many elements that I place into it might make it seem like one, or make it seem like it should be placed in a certain crossover category, but I'll explain why it's not at the end of the chapter.

Another thing that I should say is that there's a reason that I'm posting a new One Piece story, right beside the one that I adopted from kta250298. In that one, I already have a skeleton of an outline for a character, as well as a backstory thanks to the author. So, I've started this one in order to write in some scenes of my own that wouldn't work with Kendrick, but will for my character. Something to note because of me writing this is that hopefully it will make it so that my other One Piece story is the one that I get back into first, since I'm sure you're all tired of re-reading the first three chapters with all the updates that I put in, which practically change nothing after the one that I typed up a few months ago.

Alright, one last thing you guys should know is that at the end of the chapter, just after the second author's note, I'm going to put in a brief overview of the new OC that I've added, since I want you guys to know some things about him, but not everything, since that would ruin future chapters that will enable me to write in surprising things. So, here's the first chapter of my newest story!

3rd Person POV:

"This looks like the place." A teen with Caucasian skin, ebony eyes, and black hair wearing sandals, blue jeans that were folded up to act as shorts, a red button-up sleeveless-vest, and a straw hat says as he stands with a younger teen in front of a large metal gate with the word "Marines" written on it. This teen is Monkey D. Luffy, an up-and-coming pirate who's ultimate dream is to find the One Piece. A large sum of treasure left behind by Gold Roger, the King of the pirates, when he was executed. The younger teen beside him has Caucasian skin, ebony eyes, and pink hair, and is wearing white shoes with red outlines, black pants, a white shirt with blue outlines, and blue glasses. This is Coby, a teen who's dream is to become a marine, despite the fact that his new friend Luffy is a pirate, and he'd have to go after him. The reason the two are standing in front of the gates leading to a large Marine base is due to the latter's dream.

"I made it." Coby says in a whisper, before putting his arm to his eyes in order to wipe away his tears… Despite the fact that his glasses are blocking him from doing so. Because he does this, he doesn't notice Luffy walk towards the brick wall to the left of the gates, and begin to climb it. "This is where you and I part ways Luffy. We didn't have long together, but-" He cuts himself off as he finally notices Luffy hanging onto the top of the wall, moving his legs in an attempt to find somewhere to place them so he doesn't fall to the ground.

"Where's the foothold?" Luffy asks, completely disregarding the fact that he's on a wall, and thus there isn't supposed to be a foothold.

"Get down from there! What are you doing, they'll see you!" Coby exclaims, waving his arms around in the air as a small sweatdrop forms on the back of his head at the sight of his friend looking over the top of a wall into a Marine base, despite the fact that he's a pirate.

"Now where's this demon?" Luffy asks, placing a hand over his eyebrows in order to block out the sun so that he can see easier into the large courtyard that's in front of the Marine base. The "demon" that he's referring to being Roronoa Zoro, a swordsman and pirate hunter that Coby had told Luffy about on their way to this island, after the older teen had saved the younger one from a pirate ship a few days beforehand.

"They wouldn't keep him out in the open. He's probably tucked in a prison cell below ground." Coby tells his friend, the sweatdrop remaining on the back of his head due to his friend's antics and thought process. However, Luffy calls down to him not a moment later in excitement.

"There he is!" He exclaims, before dropping to the ground and running along the wall towards a different part with a smile on his face. "I'm gonna get closer." He says without a care in the world, apparently having forgotten about the fact that Roronoa Zoro was a pirate hunter. After a minute, Luffy pulls himself back up the wall, and looks into the courtyard. "Coby look." He tells the younger teen, making said teen climb up the wall and look at him in exasperation.

"I'm telling you, he's not- ~Gasp!~" Coby's eyes widens as he gasps in shock at the sight before him. Tied to two wooden planks in the shape of a cross, is Roronoa Zoro. He's wearing dark green combat boots, dark green pants, a white shirt with a green haramaki tied around that, and a dark green bandana is tied around his forehead. He has Caucasian skin, and some green hair can be seen beneath his bandana, A couple ropes are tied around the horizontal wooden plank in order to keep his arms at his side, while another rope is tied around his waist to a vertical plank that's stuck into the ground. Only his feet are left untied. However, as Coby thinks about how dangerous the swordsman is, Luffy is thinking the complete opposite.

"If we untie those ropes then he could just walk away." He says with a large smile on his face as he points to the pirate hunter in question, making Coby turn to him in shock.

"Oh, don't be such an idiot Luffy! There's no telling what a bad man will do if you let him go! He might just kill us both!" Coby exclaims in shock at his friend's suggestion, but also in horror of what might actually happen if Luffy went through with it. When he does this, his head grows to be three times its normal size, and his teeth change to take on the shape of sharks'. However, Luffy just turns back to the tied up pirate hunter with a large smile on his face, completely disregarding what his friend is saying, and what's happening to him. After all, in this world, it's a normal everyday occurrence depending on the situation.

"Don't worry, I'm strong. I can protect us." He reassures his friend. However, it does the complete opposite.

He's lost his mind! Coby cries out in his mind, before another voice speaks up.

"Hey you two." Roronoa Zoro says from his place tied to the wood. He's still looking at the ground, so it's likely that the only way that he knew they were there was because of their voices. "You're an eyesore." He continues, before looking up in order to glare at them. "Get lost." He tells them, making Coby freak out once again and try to talk Luffy out of doing what he said he would after he arrived on the island. Get Roronoa Zoro to join his pirate crew. However, Luffy isn't paying attention to what his friend is saying, and is instead looking at the second person that's tied up in the courtyard on the swordsman's right.

This person is obviously male from their physical appearance, and looks like he's around 18 years old. He has on brown boots that are folded so that they reach his mid-calf, and partially cover the light brown pants that he has on. He has a white and blue long-sleeved T-shirt shirt on his upper-body, with a white hood that covers the entire upper part of his face. Although since he's tilting his head down, Luffy can't see any of his face at the moment. There's some dark blue padding stitched into the arms and forearms of his shirt, and he's wearing a brown vest over said shirt. He has on three brown belts that go over his clothes in different areas. One around his waist, another that wraps around his upper-body from his right shoulder, down to the left side of his waist, and then back around his back, and a final one that acts like a regular belt, and wraps around his hips. The belt around his hips has an extra attachment on the teen's left hip, which is stitched into the belt, and has a loop in it that makes it seem like there's supposed to be something that goes through it. (AN: For those of you who recognize this and see the changes I've made, good for you. For those of you who don't know, just wait until the end of the chapter.)

However, Luffy is brought out of his observations when a little girl places a ladder against the wall, and climbs up next to the two teens. This girl has Caucasian skin, azure eyes, and brown hair tied into two pigtails. She's wearing black slipper-like shoes, and a dress-like shirt that has purple and light blue horizontal lines across it. She looks at the two teens on the wall, before putting a finger to her mouth and going "Shhh." After she does this, she looks both ways, before lowering a rope, and sliding down it onto the ground below… On the other side of the wall.

Then she turns around, and starts running towards the two people tied up in the courtyard. This makes Coby's eyes widen, as he lets out a gasp at the sight. "Gah! Luffy we've gotta stop her otherwise she'll be killed! Either by the Marines or the demon himself… Or that other guy! If he's tied up, then he must be just as bad as Roronoa Zoro!" He yells at the teen leaning against the wall beside him. However, the older teen does nothing, and instead watches as the girl stops in front of the two teens tied up in the courtyard. Roronoa Zoro and the other teen look at the girl as she stops in front of them with a large smile on her face, and when the other teen raises his head, it allows Luffy to see from the man's nose down, and make out that he has Caucasian skin.

"What do you want?" Zoro asks the girl in what appears to be annoyance, but the girl's smile doesn't falter.

"I thought you might be getting kinda hungry now, so I made you a couple of rice balls." She tells them in a cheerful voice, closing her eyes so that her smile seems larger than normal.

"Do you have a death wish kid? Just scram." Roronoa Zoro tells the girl with disbelief in his voice as she reveals a bundle in her arms, and unwraps the cloth to reveal two rice balls, one for each teen.

"Here. I never really made them before, but I did my best so I think they're fine." She tells them. Luffy is able to hear the conversation going on, and then he notices something that makes him start to think. When the girl tells the two teens this, the other one, the teen who isn't Roronoa Zoro, gives a barely noticeable smile to the girl. However, Zoro's eyes widen, and he starts to worry for the kid when she says this. Just when he's about to say something, the other guy kicks his leg, making the pirate hunter look at him in surprise, before the teen who kicked him speaks up for the first time since the conversation began.

"Rika." The guy says, getting the girl's attention and revealing her name. "I'm sure that Zoro here appreciates your concern just as much as me. But you're putting yourself in danger by being here with us. How about I make you a deal?" He asks.

"A deal?" The Rika asks him in confusion, making him raise his head a bit more to reveal his cobalt eyes beneath his hood, and give her a nod as the small smile remains on his face.

"Yup. The deal is, you'll go back to your mother at your diner, and leave me and Zoro until our deal with Helmeppo is done. Then, me and Zoro will go to your diner, and you can serve us all the rice balls you want." He says, before his smile widens a bit more, but only barely. "That way, you'll be safe, and you can make up for all the food that we'll have missed out on over the next ten days." He tells her, and Zoro watches as the teen beside him twists the conversation he was having in order to get the girl to safety. Rika seems to think about it for a moment, and just as she's about to answer, the iron gate to the tied up teens' left opens, and a man walks in flanked by two marines. This guy has Caucasian skin, ebony eyes, and blonde hair. He's wearing black dress shoes, purple dress pants, and a purple tuxedo over a pink button-up shirt.

"Now what have we here?" He asks, walking right over to the three and smiles down at Rika. However, it's not a comforting kind of smile.

"Hey look, now there's another weird guy." Luffy comments, making Coby give a nervous smile in response.

"That's great, he must be with the Marines. Now we know the girl is safe." Coby says to Luffy as the man in question leans over a bit to look at the rice balls in Rika's hands.

"Looky, some tasty rice balls." He says, before snatching one of them from her hands and taking a large bite out of it. The girl turns to look at him in surprise in response to his actions.

"Hey! That's not for you!" Rika exclaims. However, the man simply ignores her, before letting off a surprised yell with his mouth still closed.

"Ah! Too sweet!" He exclaims when he opens his mouth, and then turns to look at Rika, one side of his mouth bulging due to the rice still present in his mouth. "They're packed with sugar! You're supposed to use salt you idiot, salt!" He yells at her causing Zoro and the other teen to narrow their eyes at him.

"But I… I thought they'd taste better sweet..." Rika responds with an upset look that would make almost any person immediately apologize and try to make it up to her. However, this man was not one of those people.

"Give me that!" He exclaims as he grabs the other rice ball before throwing it down onto the dirt ground with the rest of the other one, and then stomps on them, making Rika fall to her knees in front of him with tears in her eyes.

"No! Stop! I worked so hard!" She yells as he continues to stomp the leftover rice balls into the ground, Luffy and Coby watching this happen from the wall. Finally, the bastard of a man finishes rubbing the rice into the ground, and Rika looks at what's left with tears in her eyes.

"But I- *Hic* Worked so hard to make those. *Hic-Hic*" She sobs, the bastard responding by placing one hand on his head.

"Too bad." He says with fake sympathy. "You must've not read the notice that was posted." He says as he pulls a piece of paper out of his clothes, and holds it out in front of him in order to read it. "Those who assist criminals in any way will be executed, signed Marine Captain Morgan." He reads, making Rika give off a startled gasp as she stiffens up, and continues to stare at her leftover food, while the teen beside Zoro turns his head to full-on glare at the bastard as he laughs. "It seems even little brats fear my daddy." He says, shocking Coby as Luffy simply questions the fact that he called his Captain Morgan his "daddy". Things only get worse as the bastard points at one of his Marine escorts. "You, toss this kid out right now." He tells him, making the Marine give a startled gasp. When he doesn't do it, the bastard turns around and grabs the front of his shirt. "I said throw her over the wall soldier. Now if you won't follow my orders, I'll tell my father." The bastard says, finally getting a response.

"Y-yes sir! I'll do it!" The Marine exclaims in panic, making the teen beside Zoro narrow his eyes as the Marine walks over to Rika, who's now standing and looking at him in fear.

"No!" She cries out as he stops her from running.

"I'm sorry about this. Try curling up into a ball." He suggests in a quiet voice, surprising her at the fact that he's giving her advice, before he picks her up and tosses her over the wall, Rika screaming all the way. However, Luffy protects her from getting hurt as the bastard laughs in the courtyard.

"Damn you." Zoro says to him as he walks in front of him and the other man.

"You two are just dead set on staying alive, aren't you?" He asks them.

"That's right, and we're gonna make it through the month without any problems." Zoro says to him, showing that he knew the teen beside him well enough to include him in that sentence.

"Right, good luck with that." The bastard says as he starts laughing again, and walks out of the courtyard with his Marine escorts.

"Only ten more days left!" Zoro calls after them, the teen beside him nodding in agreement. He would normally speak up at a time like this, but doing so my have consequences… Just not for him or Zoro.

"Oh, you two still assume you'll make it to the end of those ten days!" The bastard yells back at them, before going on to laugh hysterically once again as the iron gates behind him and his escorts close. A couple minutes later, the two teens are resting, but look up when they feel the presence of another person. What they see is Luffy standing in front of them, not that they know his name.

"So I hear you're a bad guy." Luffy says to Zoro, not really looking at the other guy.

"You're still here?" Zoro asks in confusion and annoyance as the teen beside him stays quiet since the teen wasn't talking to him yet.

"You and your friend are stuck out here for all the world to see and nothing. Are you two really all that strong?" He asks them.

"Why don't you mind your own business?!" Zoro exclaims, but Luffy ignores him as he walks closer to the two teens with a sigh, the one beside Zoro simply continuing to watch the conversation taking place in front of him.

"If I were you, I'd probably starve to death in three days." Luffy admits with a smirk as he turns to the side and places a hand on his straw hat.

"I've got more spirit than you could ever have." Zoro retorts, before giving a large smirk of his own. "Which is how I'm going to survive this ordeal. This I swear." I says, the teen beside him finally contributing to the conversation and giving his own nod of agreement.

"Heh, what a couple of wierdos." Luffy says with a slight laugh as he turns around with a wave. But before he can leave, Zoro speaks up once again.

"Wait hold on." He stops the teen, before looking down at the leftover rice on the ground. "Could you, pick that up for me?" He asks.

"You're gonna eat this?" Luffy asks, looking at the clump of rice held together by mud and dirt. "Cause it's mostly a ball of mud." He states, only for Zoro to yell.

"Shut up and give it to me, now!" He exclaims, a slightly crazed look in his eyes no doubt due to his lack of food. In response Luffy looks at him in surprise, before tossing some of the rice into Zoro's mouth. Then, as the pirate hunter eats the food, he turns to the other teen who barely manages to give a shrug because of the ropes tying him to the wood, and opens his mouth. Luffy tosses some of the mud-rice ball into his mouth, and he silently eats it as Zoro begins to cough at the dirt and mud in the rice ball that he'd eaten.

"Should've listened to me." Luffy says as if he's stating the obvious. However, Zoro speaks up once he's finished with his coughing fit, the teen beside him quietly swallowing his own food.

"It was good. Thanks for the food." He thanks the teen, making Luffy smile as the other teen speaks up.

"Yeah, make sure to thank Rika for making them for us." He contributes, before he lowers his head to stare at the ground, once again hiding his face from view in the shadows of his hood as the teen turns around, and climbs up the rope that Rika had used, and then makes his way over to her and Coby. As he'd doing this, Zoro and the other teen start to doze off, and begin to think of the past. While Zoro thinks of memories from his childhood, the other teen begins to think of a situation that happened only 21 days ago, not knowing that in the town down the mountain, Rika was telling a certain duo about the same event, just from a different perspective…

*Flashback*

Inside a small diner sits the teen that was tied up next to Zoro. However, he isn't tied up, and he has a cutlass sheathed at his side, which shows that it's what's supposed to go through the loop on the belt at his hips. It's not your typical cutlass, as it's longer than your average one, and less curved as well. In fact, it looks more like a curved katana. He's sitting next to Zoro, when all of a sudden, the door bursts open, and what looks like a rabid dog comes barging in, and starts to eat food off the tables. Suddenly, Rika grabs a broom, and runs over to it, and then starts swinging at it. "Stop it you mean old thing!" She exclaims, just as the bastard from before walks in with a sword resting on his shoulder.

"You, little girl, is there a problem with how my beloved dog is behaving?" He asks her, obviously being sarcastic as he gives a smug smile. When he asks this, Rika stops swinging the broom, and a women calls over to her from behind the lunch counter.

"Rika put it down! You don't want to get us in trouble!" She calls out, making Rika step back slightly, just as the dog stops eating the food and turns to look at her. Suddenly, it lets out a growl, and lunges towards her, making her cry out in fear. However, before the dog can get to her, two bar stools fly at it, ~Crash!~ and knock it out of the air and into a table a few feet away. Everyone in the diner turns to look in the direction they came from, and sees the teen and Zoro sitting at the counter, drinking from their mugs of whatever drink they're having. When Helmeppo turns to look at them, he immediately starts to yell.

"Who the hell are you two?!"He cries, before stopping and pointing his sword at them. "Wait a minute, it's you! Pirate hunter Roronoa Zoro!" He exclaims, choosing to ignore the other guy for now since he doesn't know who he is.

"And if I am?" Zoro asks him as Rika runs off to the woman who was behind the counter, showing that she's most likely the girl's mother.

"What is a pirate hunter doing defying the Marines huh?!" Helmeppo complains, swinging his sword, but not actually trying to hit him.

"Why don't you shut up and let my friend here enjoy his meal in peace? He's not that fun to deal with when he gets annoyed." The teen beside Zoro says sarcastically as he places his drink back on the counter. However, Helmeppo decides that he doesn't want to leave Zoro alone, and swings at him with a yell. Zoro simply leans back, making the blonde bastard hit the counter instead, and then kicks the sword upwards so that it gets stuck in the ceiling. The bastard's terrified yell is cut off by a punch sent to his cheek by the teen that was sitting beside Zoro, and he impacts the counter. When he looks up, it's to the sight of Zoro pointing his katana at him, while the teen has unsheathed his cutlass and has it at pointing the guy's chest.

"You're getting on my nerves pal. You and that precious mutt of yours." Zoro tells him with a glare, before the teen beside him speaks up.

"And the fact that you were just going to let that mutt attack an innocent little girl irks me as well." He says with his hood up, but not hiding the anger present in his eyes. "So give me one good reason not to stab your cold heart besides the fact that said little girl is standing a few feet away." He says with a harsh voice, making the bastard stutter for a few seconds as he looks at the swords, before he starts to laugh a bit as he looks off to the side.

"You do realize that if my dad finds out about this, he'll surely execute the girl and her mother." Helmeppo says with a smug smirk, making the two people in question hold each other even more tightly. "So what do you two say to a little deal between men?" He asks, pushing himself up as the two step back slightly to keep their swords from skewering him, but keeping them ready just in case. "In place of the kid and her mom, we string you two up instead for, say, one month. That's one of you, for each of them. If you survive that one month, then I'll be so kind as to let you two live as well. What do you say? Sound fair?" He asks the two in front of him. Everyone's silent as the two seem to think about it, share a glance, and then speak at the same time as they focus back on the bastard.

"Then one month it is." They reply, and drop their swords, allowing them to become stuck in the ground. A few minutes later, their swords are in Marine possession, and their being tied to the wood planks in the middle of the marine courtyard. Over the next three weeks, the two were punched, and kicked by the bastard, all without the two retaliating. However, over those three weeks, the two got to know each other even better than before and shared stories. Then came the day that the teen in the straw hat showed up…

*End Flashback*

While the teen remembers this, he's completely ignorant to the straw hat wearing teen in question standing in front of him. However, he's able to refocus when he hears people talking. "You again? Don't you have things to do?" He hears Zoro ask, and looks up to see the teen from before standing in front of them.

"I'll untie you, but only if you guys promise to join my crew." Luffy says, confusing the two teens. "I run a pirate crew and I'm looking for people to join up." He says as he walks closer to them, making Zoro smirk slightly.

"No way. I'd never stoop to joining up with a criminal. Screw that business" He says as he looks away. However, the teen beside him looks at Luffy with interest.

"And what's so wrong with being a pirate?" Luffy asks.

"They're despicable, like I'd ever want to join up with one." Zoro replies.

"Ah come on, give me a break. Everyone already knows you as some vicious bounty hunter, always out for blood." The straw hat wearing teen says with a smirk.

"People can say whatever they want about me. But I've never done a single thing in my life that I regret." He says, before he gives a smirk of his own. "I will make it through this challenge, and after that, I'll accomplish what I want." He says, the teen beside him smirking at his confidence.

"Yeah, that's great." Luffy says, before turning to the side with a smirk as he crosses his arms. "But I've already decided that you two are going to be on my crew." He tells them as if they have no say in the matter.

"What, you can't do that!" Zoro yells as the teen beside him simply smirks at the straw hat wearing teen's behavior.

"I hear you're one of the best swordsmen around." Luffy comments, making Zoro start to defend himself.

"Well I am. But that idiot captain's son took mine away." He tells the teen.

"The guy took mine as well." The teen beside him comments idly, and Luffy smiles in response.

"Well I guess I'll just have to go get them back then." He says, shocking Zoro while the teen beside him simply smirks. "So if you want your swords, you're just gonna have to join my crew!" Luffy exclaims with a large smile.

"Now you're really pissing me off!" Zoro yells as the teen next to him simply chuckles lightly at the situation he found himself and his friend in. Then, Luffy starts to run off, apparently ready to get their swords back. "Wait, he's actually gonna bust in there alone?" Zoro asks himself.

"Apparently." The teen beside him comments. "Hey kid! The entrance to the base is the other way!" He calls out, making Luffy stop and look back at them in confusion, before he smirks.

"Gum Gum… Rocket!" Luffy calls out as his arms stretch to impossible lengths, grab the wall on the opposite side of the courtyard, and he pulls himself towards the base, utterly shocking Zoro as the teen beside him looks on in interest.

"What… What the hell is this guy?" Zoro asks in confusion.

"I don't know. But one thing I do know is that if we do end up on his crew, then from my observations, we'd be in for one helluva adventure." He comments, before the two fall silent as they watch the kid scale the wall, and get onto the other side, where the Marine base is. They stop watching a few minutes later, and simply decide to wait and see what happens. However, they're attention is brought back to the base once again when they suddenly hear a loud ~Smash!~ However, they're unable to see what caused it because it happens behind them. "Guess that guy is causing a ruckus in there." The teen beside Zoro comments idly. Before anything else can be said, the two notice the pink haired teen that was with Luffy running over to them, before he reaches them, and begins to attempt to untie Zoro.

"You have to get out of here Zoro." He says, but Zoro simply looks at the kid like he's crazy.

"That maniacs gonna kill you right now for what you're doing!" He tells the kid. However, he apparently isn't listening as he focuses on freeing the swordsman.

"I can't stand to watch the Marines behave like this anymore." He says with a determined look on his face. "A true Marine should be honorable." He says, making Zoro look at him in surprise, as the teen beside him smirks.

"Look kid, we can't leave! We've got ten days left. And then they're-" However, Coby cuts him off.

"Well not quite, they're gonna execute the two of you tomorrow." He says, shocking Zoro as the other guy scowls.

"Damn it. And here I was giving that bastard the benefit of the doubt." He mutters, moving his arms a bit for reasons unknown. "Well, I guess if that's the case, then I can say whatever the hell I want about him, and I don't have to just nod my head to go along with whatever you say Zoro." He tells the pirate hunter beside him.

"Helmeppo never intended to honor your agreement. He planned on killing you from the start. Which made Luffy really angry, so he just punched him right in the face." Coby tells them, making the teen beside Zoro smirk as he continues to move his arms.

"Good for Luffy. He did what I've wanted to do for the past three weeks." He comments.

"Now that the Marines are mad, they're dead set on capturing Luffy." He says, before turning to look at Zoro. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna ask you to become a pirate though. But I hope you'll help him. You have a lot of strength you can offer." Coby tells Zoro, and then turns to the other teen. "And Luffy seems to think that you have a lot of strength too. So I hope that you'll at least think about helping him." He says, before he notices the smirk on the teen's face.

"Heh, don't worry about that. With what Luffy's doing right now, it seems like me and Zoro here are gonna be joining his crew. As much as he seems like an idiot, he seems to have a few good ideas of how to get us to join." He says, referring to how Luffy had told them he'd get their swords if they agreed to join his crew. However, everyone's attention is brought to a new voice that speaks up.

"End of the line." They hear someone say, and turn to see a whole squad of Marines standing in front of a large man with an axe in place of his right hand. This was Marine Captain "Axe-hand" Morgan. The man is wearing brown boots, which partially cover the pants he's wearing that have dark and light blue stripe-like patterns on it. His shirt is dark blue, and he has a light blue Marine captain jacket over it. "For the crime of treason against me, I sentence you three to die where you stand." He tells them, making Zoro look at him in shock, Coby start to freak out, and the other teen to simply scowl as he moves his arms at a faster pace. He puts the other events happening out of his mind as he focuses on the task at hand.

Come on… Almost there… I just need another minute. He thinks to himself, before he hears the sound of guns firing, and he refocuses on the Marines in shock at the sudden sound. What he sees are spherical bullets being fired at him and the other two, before Luffy suddenly appears in the way of the bullets… And they bounce back at the Marines.

"See ya!" He exclaims, all the bullets flying past the Marines or burrowing into the sand, one even flying inches by Morgan's head. As this happens, he starts to laugh, and Zoro and Coby look on in shock while the teen beside the pirate hunter simply let out a sigh of relief as he continues to move his arm. "Ha-ha! That won't work on me! Told ya' I was strong!" Luffy yells, Coby and Zoro still looking on in shock.

"What the… Who the hell are you?" Zoro asks Luffy, making him turn around to look at him.

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy. And I'm gonna be king of the pirates." He says with a large smirk as well as a thumbs up.

"You're going to be king of the pirates? Right, you must be completely out of your rubbery mind. Do you have any idea what that means?" Zoro asks with a look of disbelief.

"Yeah, king of the pirates means king of the pirates. How could it mean anything else other than that?" Luffy asks him as if it's obvious, surprising Zoro at the casualness of how he said it, while the teen beside him simply chuckles as he continues to move his arms.

"Yeah, when he first told me it was shocking. But he's completely serious." Coby says, making Zoro and the other teen look at him. "That's how he is I suppose. Cause he actually has every intention of becoming king of the pirates." He continues, before turning to look at the two tied to wooden planks. "And obtaining the world's ultimate treasure, the One Piece!" He exclaims, making Luffy give a wide grin as he chuckles. Then, he takes the four swords that were tied to his back the entire time, and holds them out to the two teens still tied up.

"Here's what I promised you guys. There's four. I couldn't tell which were your guys, so I just took all of 'em." He tells them, making the teen beside Zoro smirk.

"The cutlass is mine. As for the other three…" He trails off as he glances over at Zoro.

"The three katanas belong to me. I use the three sword style." Zoro says with a blank look on his face. Luffy responds with his own blank look, before he smiles as he offers the three swords to Zoro, while tossing the cutlass to Coby. The pink haired teen let off a surprised yelp as he juggles the cutlass after he fails to catch it, before finally getting a hold on it.

"Well, just take them already. Just know that if you fight with me now, you'll be a government defying villain. So, it's either that, or you're left out here and killed by the Marines execution style." He says, making Zoro smirk at the teen in front of him.

"What are you, the son of the devil?" He asks Luffy. "It doesn't matter, cause if I don't choose your side, I'll just end up dead on these stakes. So let's do it." He agrees, making Luffy smile.

"Ha-ha! So you're finally gonna join my crew! This is the best thing ever!" He yells as he starts to do a weird dance.

"Would you quit celebrating already and get these ropes off me?!" Zoro yells at him, making Luffy stop dancing, and do as he said.

"Come on, hurry." Coby encourages Luffy.

"They've got these things on tight." Luffy complains as he pulls at Zoro's ropes.

"Come on, quit screwing around!" The swordsman in question exclaims. Meanwhile, unnoticed by everyone, the other teen's ropes snap apart around his arms, and he starts to rub the ropes that bind him between his waist and chest with his wrist. However, Luffy apparently manages to tighten the ropes around Zoro instead of loosen them, and the swordsman starts to panic as the Marines charge them with their swords drawn, yelling out battle cries.

"Give me one of my damn swords now!" He yells at the rubber teen.

"Gah, Luffy look!" Coby cries out in alarm, causing everyone but the other teen that's tied up to look at the charging Marines. Then, just as Coby gets ready to be cut to pieces ~Clang!~ He hears the sound of metal striking metal. When he looks up, it's to the shocking sight of the two teens holding the Marines back. While Zoro is holding two of his swords in his hands, and another in his mouth to block the Marines' swords, the other teen is blocking a few other Marines with his cutlass, and what appears to be his hand. However, if the younger teen were to look closer, he might notice a metallic knife jutting out of the older teen's sleeve just beneath his wrist.

"Make one move and you die." Zoro says, despite having a sword in his mouth, making some of the Marines cry anime tears.

"He's scary." One complains, making the other teen glance over at him.

"Heh, if you think he's scary now, just don't insult him or his swordsmanship. You do that, I guarantee that you won't be leaving here alive." He says, making the rest of the Marines their holding back start to cry anime tears at the thought.

"Today I officially become a criminal, having fought the Marines. So I'll become a pirate, that I can promise you. But I want you to know one thing. While I'm with you the only thing I dedicate myself to is fulfilling my ambition." He tells the rubber teen, while the Marines are still held back.

"Which is?" Luffy asks Zoro.

"To be nothing less than the world's greatest swordsman. If somewhere along the way I have to give that up, then I want you to accept responsibility. After which, I want you to apologize to me." He says with utter seriousness.

"The world's greatest swordsman. Sounds pretty good. The king of the pirates wouldn't have anything less than the best on his crew." Luffy says in response, making Zoro smirk around the sword in his mouth.

"Big talker. From this point on no matter if I'm a criminal or not, I will spread the name Zoro throughout the world!" He declares, making the teen beside him smirk at his friend's ambition. However, Captain Morgan decides to speak up at that point.

"What are you all standing around there frozen for?! I want you to kill all four of them now!" He yells, scaring the Marines surrounding the four even more, before Luffy speaks up.

"You might wanna duck." He says in a sing-song voice as he pulls back his leg, making Zoro's eyes widen, before him and the other teen duck. "Gum Gum… Whip!" Luffy yells as he stretches his leg, and kicks all the Marines away from the two.

"Yes! You knocked them all down!" Coby yells as Morgan looks on in shock, and Zoro and the other teen stand up and look at Luffy.

"Wanna tell me what you are?" Zoro asks him.

"I'm just a guy who ate the Gum Gum fruit." Luffy says casually.

"What's a Gum Gum fruit?" Zoro asks.

"My guess is that Luffy is living proof that those Devil Fruits you told me about exist, and that he's now a rubber person." The other teen comments, before turning to look at the teen in question. "Well, I guess that since Zoro's joining, then I will too. I'll say this much, with how my life has gone so far, I'm joining since I have a feeling that this will end up being one wild ride. As for my ambition, it's always been to find the greatest treasure that I could. After all, before I ran into Zoro, you could say that I was a bit of a treasure hunting Jack-of-all-trades. So, I'll help you find the One Piece. That way, you'll become king of the pirates, and I'll have the satisfaction of having found the world's greatest treasure." He says, making Luffy grin and start laughing again.

"Ha-ha! Great! Then you can be my first mate!" He exclaims, making Zoro turn to look at him with wide eyes.

"Hey, why does he get to be first mate?! I joined first!" He exclaims, making Luffy turn to look at him with his smile still in place.

"Because he's agreeing to help me find the One Piece. You want to be the world's greatest swordsman." Luffy says as if it's obvious, making Zoro turn to look at the other teen, who gives him a sly grin that tells the swordsman that he'd planned this.

"Never try to get one over on Miles D. Jackson." He says simply, before they all turn and look at the Marines that had been yelling fearfully at Captain Morgan. What they see is the Captain's eyes are shadowed, before he starts speaking to his men.

"This is a direct order. Every Marine that just spouted weakness, pull out your gun and shoot yourself! I can't do anything with weak soldiers!" He exclaims, making the Marines look at him in fear, while Zoro and Jack simply scoff, and get ready to face the squad of Marines.

"What babies. This'll be easy." Zoro comments, before Luffy goes running past them.

"Luffy! Bring those Marines crumbling to their knees!" Coby yells, despite the fact that he wanted to be a Marine. However, Luffy simply runs through the crowd of Marines, before lunging forwards in order to punch Captain Morgan, who manages to block it with his axe hand. Off to the side, Jack smirks.

"Gotta love Anime Law #10" He mutters to himself, before Captain Morgan starts yelling again, stopping anyone from questioning what he was talking about.

"Wreckless low life bums! You have no right to defy my superiority!" He yells as he throws off his Captain's jacket, while Zoro takes his sword out of his mouth to watch what's happening. "I am Marine Captain Axe-hand Morgan!" He yells at Luffy, who simply stares at him with a blank face.

"And I'm Luffy, Nice to meetcha." He says, making Morgan attempt to attack him, only to miss twice, and split the ground in half as if an earthquake had come through the courtyard. When Luffy dodges the second time, he stretches his feet while he's still in the air, and kicks Morgan away. Utterly shocking the Marines that are watching the battle. Luffy continues to shock the Marines as every time Morgan attempts to attack him, he simply dodges before kicking the Captain away. Jack watches this happen with a smirk while he sheathes his cutlass. Then, Luffy starts to punch the captain as he reprimands him for destroying Coby's dream. However, a new voice joins the commotion, and Jack turns around to see Helmeppo holding Coby at gun point.

"Straw hat, stop right there!" He yells, but Luffy just continues to punch Morgan. "Are you stupid or something?! I said stop! If you would pay attention to me, I have a hostage here you might wanna look at!" He yells, his legs shaking as he points his flintlock at Coby's head. Zoro looks over his shoulder at Luffy, who's still punching Morgan.

"Hey." He says, getting Luffy's attention and making him look at the blonde bastard.

"If you value your scrawny little friend's life, you won't move a muscle! I'm serious, one move and I'll shoot him I swear!" Helmeppo exclaims, making Luffy look at him with a blank face, while Coby trembles and whimpers slightly. However, any further commotion is stopped as Helmeppo suddenly stiffens up slightly, before falling to the ground. That gains everyone's attention, as they look at Jack, who's standing over the fallen Helmeppo.

"Be glad that I didn't give you a mortal wound… You bastard." Jack says to the blonde bastard at his feet, who has a red splotch growing on the back of his clothes. However, the shocking part is both how he got there without anyone noticing, as well as the fact that his sword is still sheathed. Meaning that he just took care of Helmeppo without using it. When Luffy sees this, he jumps over to stand a few feet away from Zoro with stars in his eyes as Coby looks at Jack with relief.

"Whoa~~~! That's so co~~~ol!" Luffy exclaims, not noticing as Morgan stands back up with his axe hand reared back over his head.

"Times up! For I am fearless Marine Captain Axe-hand Morgan!" He exclaims. However, instead of Luffy turning around to attack him again, this time it's Zoro as he lunges forwards. The Captain's axe hand is stopped inches above Luffy's straw hat, and he smirks as he turns to look at Zoro as the swordsman lands back on the ground.

"Nice one." He says with a smile as Morgan collapses to the ground with blood spurting out of the new wounds on his chest.

"I'm just doing my job, captain." Zoro replies with a small smirk, making Luffy's smile widen as Jack suddenly appears by his side.

"Captain Morgan's been beaten!" A random Marine yells.

"Unbelievable, those guys are unreal." Another one comments.

"If there's anyone else who wants to step forward to fight us, then do it now." Zoro says, making the Marines look amongst one another… Before they start cheering.

"That's weird, looks like they're all happy that their Captain was beaten." Luffy says in confusion, while Coby's eyes widen.

"They must have been afraid of him for a long time before we showed up!" The younger teen yells with a smile as he understands that Morgan must have been a tyrannical ruler to the Marines of this base. However, his smile disappears as Zoro and Jack Suddenly stiffen, and then fall to the ground.

"Zoro! Jack! What's wrong, are you okay?!" Coby cries out, making the two open their eyes.

"We're okay…" Jack tells Coby in a hoarse voice.

"Just… Hungry." Zoro continues, before Luffy and Coby help them up, and they start off toward the town, and a certain girl and her mother, in a certain diner.

"Woo, I am stuffed." Zoro says with a large smile, before leaning back in his chair to pat his stomach. "Having not eaten for three weeks, I was ready to gnaw through my bootstraps." He says, making Rika, her mother and Coby laugh, while Jack simply nods beside him, taking another bite of one of the many rice balls that Rika had made them. Meanwhile, Luffy takes another forkful of food.

"I've gotta agree with you there Zoro. I might have made that deal with Rika, but I'm not entirely sure how much longer I would have been able to last without that rice ball of hers." He says, making the young girl blush at the compliment, and look down at the plate she was holding as her mother gives her a proud smile.

"Heh, I can't believe you're finished. Lightweights." Luffy says, making Zoro look at him with skepticism, as well as surprise while Jack simply chuckles beside him.

"How can you be more hungry than two guys who haven't eaten in three weeks?" He asks, making Jack look over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Zoro, Luffy told us that he's a rubber man. That should tell you that everything about him is rubber. Including his stomach." He says, making the swordsman stiffen as he realizes that he hadn't thought of that.

"Oh… Right." He says lamely, making Jack smirk as he shakes his head a bit and chuckles.

"Thanks for fixing this for us." Coby thanks Rika's mother off to the side of the pirates, referring to the food that she had made for all of them.

"It was my pleasure. After all, you guys did save the town." She replies with a smile. Meanwhile, Rika is standing next to Luffy with a large smile on her face.

"You're the greatest man that I've ever met!" She exclaims, making Luffy smile at her.

"Yeah I am, I know. I'll be even more amazing when I'm king of the pirates, and I have the One Piece." Luffy tell her with a full mouth, no modesty present in his sentence at all, before he turns to look at Zoro and Jack. "Oh, and the best crew on the seas." He says, making the two smile.

"So, how many others have you gathered for your crew besides me and Jack here?" Zoro asks as Luffy takes another forkful of food, and looks up at them in slight confusion. "You told me that you were in the middle of gathering a crew for your ship. If you're gonna be king of the pirates I've gotta assume that you have some waiting in the waves." He elaborates.

"Nope, just you two." He says, making Zoro go wide eyed as Jack simply shrugs his shoulders, and finishes off his last rice ball.

"Just…" Zoro trails off as he points to the three of them sitting at the table.

"Yup, it's just us." Luffy confirms.

"So you, Jack and I are what amount to an entire pirate crew." Zoro says in disbelief.

"What's wrong with that? We're some pretty strong guys." Luffy says as Zoro rests his elbow on the table while Jack simply chuckles in his seat as he leans back, interlocks his fingers behind his head, and places his feet on the table with a smirk on his face.

"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm strong. I simply know what to do in order to get situations to turn out positively for me." He admits with a light chuckle.

"Okay, but please tell me you have a ship." Zoro says to Luffy, and the rubber teen smiles as he points out the window with his fork towards the harbor.

"Sure do, right there." He says, his fork pointing towards a loan dingy sitting at the harbor. Zoro stands up in order to get a better look at it, and gets a deadpan facial expression when he sees it.

"You're kidding…" He deadpans, making Luffy smile.

"Nope, but we'll have an enormous one before long, just you wait and see." When Luffy says this, Zoro turns around and starts laughing.

"And how's that? " He asks, only for Luffy to completely ignore him as he takes another bite of food.

"With a great big pirate flag on top…" He says, no doubt daydreaming about his dream ship. "I can't wait." He says with a smile, despite his mouth being full of food. Zoro simply places his head in his hand while Jack sits off to the side, lightly chuckling in amusement at the entire conversation.

"I think that Luffy was born without that part of the brain that allows the rest of us to plan out what we have to do." Coby comments from the counter with a light laugh, making Zoro groan.

"I can't believe I let myself get suckered into having him as my captain." He says in disbelief.

"Hey, we'll have a ton more crew members in no time." Luffy tells him with a smile, before Rika turns to look at him with a smile.

"Luffy, where are you and your crew planning on traveling when you leave here?" she asks the straw hat wearing teen, making him turn to look at her.

"You mean it's not obvious? We're heading straight for the Grand Line!" He exclaims, making Coby do a spit take at the counter, and turn to look at Luffy like he's crazy.

"No! Have you completely lost your mind?! You're only three crew members, there's no way you're ready to handle the Grand Line Luffy!" He cries out, making the teen in question, along with Rika, turn to look at him.

"I've heard about it, but I never knew it was such an awful place." The girl says, making Coby look down at his now half-empty glass.

"It's worse than you think… Some call it, the "Pirate Graveyard"…" Coby tells them, trembling a bit by the end as Rika's mother speaks up.

"I've heard stories about it from people passing through. The customers say that no one who has entered the Grand Line has come out of that place alive…" She says with a small frown, while Luffy simply listens with a smile.

"Which is really too bad, since that's where the One Piece is said to be, and that's exactly where we're going." He says with determination, making Jack and Zoro smirk as the prior puts his feet back on the ground, and the latter sits back down in his seat.

"I guess we have to live with it." Zoro comments, making Jack's smirk widen as he nods.

"I guess so. Well, I did tell you that we would no doubt be going on adventures, didn't I Zoro?" He asks the swordsman, getting a nod in response as Coby jumps off his seat to look at them in fear.

"No! You can't agree!" He shouts confusing the two teenagers.

"What do you care? You're not going with us are you?" Zoro asks Coby, making the teen lean back slightly.

"No, but I can still worry… Is it so wrong to care about the three of you?" Coby asks them, placing a hand over his heart as he asks this. "Luffy and I haven't known each other for years or anything, but I still consider him a friend. Wouldn't you say?" Coby asks Luffy, getting a large smile in response.

"Of course! We may have to part ways, but we'll always be friends." Luffy responds, making Coby smile in partial relief.

"Also, shouldn't you be concerned with how things are going to turn out for yourself?" Jack asks Coby, making the younger teen look over at him in confusion. "You were telling us earlier about how you want to join the Marines, right? Well, from what Luffy told us, you were stuck on a pirate ship for a while. With how the Marines are here, I'm pretty sure that they'd be able to find out. That or you might accidentally let it slip at some point if you end up talking about your past." He elaborates, making Coby look at him in surprise when he realizes that he's right.

"I… Never thought of that…" Coby says in realization, before the doors to the diner are opened, and a Marine walks in, drawing the attention of everyone in the establishment.

"Hey, you there. We've heard that you fellas are actually pirates, is that true?" He asks Luffy, Zoro and Jack. In response, Luffy gives one of his large smiles.

"That's right, and I just added the first two members to my crew. So pretty much, the whole thing just became official." He responds, making the Marine officer nod.

"We appreciate everything you did to save our town from that horrible tyrant who terrorized us all for so long. However, now that we know that you're pirates, as Marines we cannot sit idly by and watch you go about your business. Therefore, you and your crew will need to leave this town immediately." He tells them as he adjusts his hat, before he looks back up at them. "But out of respect for what you've done, we will not report you to headquarters." He tells them, getting arguments from the townspeople outside and inside the diner in response. However, Luffy simply smiles and stands up in response.

"Well, time to go." He says, before turning to look at Rika's mother. "Thanks for all of the food lady." He thanks her, making Rika speak up.

"Hey wait a second, you're leaving already?" She asks the straw hat wearing teen.

"Yeah." Luffy replies simply, before him, Zoro and Jack start to walk out of the diner, leaving Coby to stand by the counter and look at the spot that they'd previously occupied. However, the Marine officer from before calls out to them as they near the door.

"Hold it! Is he with you or what?" He asks, referring to Coby as the teen in question stands stiff in the middle of the diner. Luffy stays silent for a moment, before looking over his shoulder with a small smirk on his face.

"What I can tell you is what he's been busy doing up to this point." He says to the officer, making Coby turn around to look at him in shock at the thought of what Luffy might do. However, he does just that as Jack picks up the bag of food that Luffy placed on the floor.

"Yeah, there was this fantastically fat pirate lady, I think her name was Alvida." He says, shocking Coby at what the older teen was saying as he walks over closer to Coby. "She carried around this huge iron club and boy she was the nastiest looking woman I've ever seen. For two years this wimpy kid was her own private cabin boy." He continues, the Marine officer listening to Luffy in silence with a blank look on his face as the rubber teen pokes Coby in the head to emphasize his point. However, at that point Coby snaps, and much to the shock of Rika, her mother and the Marines… He punches Luffy right in the face. However, Zoro and Jack simply give unnoticeable smirks at the sight. However, Luffy looks back at the younger teen with a large smile after he's punched, and he pulls his fist back.

"Now that was a dumb move." He says, throwing a bunch of punches forwards, all of which hit Coby until the Marine officer speaks up again.

"Get out of here now! We can't have you pirates dirtying up this town any more than you already have, you hear me?!" He calls, before Zoro walks over and grabs onto Luffy's shirt to stop him from punching Coby any more.

"Enough, you've made your point. Now let him fall to the ground." He says, Coby doing just that a few seconds later, panting as his face is littered with scuff marks from the punches that Luffy gave him.

"It's obvious you're not crew mates so stop badgering the poor kid and take your leave of this town this instant!" The Marine officer yells, pointing to the door as he does so.

"Yeah, let's get outta town captain. After all, we're not gonna get to the Grand Line staying here now are we?" Jack asks with a smirk. Luffy simply gives one last small smile to Coby, before he nods, and leaves the diner with Zoro and Jack. A few minutes later, the newly established pirate crew is nearing their "ship", and Zoro speaks up.

"That was a thin act you put on back there. I wouldn't be surprised if they see right through it." He comments, making Luffy chuckle a bit.

"Coby should be able to handle the rest on his own, I have faith in him." The rubber teen comments, making Jack smirk right beside him.

"Well, it is a fitting way to leave this place. Unable to turn back since everyone hates us now. Very pirate like." Zoro comments, making Luffy laugh as he unties the dingy from the harbor.

"Yeah, sure is." He says, before a familiar voice speak up a few yards away.

"Luffy!" It cries out, making the teen in question, as well as the other two at his side, turn to look in its direction and see Coby standing there with Rika and her mom. Then, the younger teen puts a hand to his head in a salute. "I can never thank you enough! You've done more for me than anyone ever has!" He exclaims, making the three older teens smirk at the sight.

"I've never heard of a Marine thanking a pirate before. Heh, that's one for the history books." Zoro says with a chuckle, Luffy laughing beside him in agreement as Jack chuckles.

"No kidding. It's gotta be a first. Or possibly second. History was never my greatest subject." Jack admits with a small smile. Then, the three get in their dingy, unfurl the sail, and set off from the Island. The rubber teen standing near the back and waving as they leave the Island behind.

"We'll meet again Coby! Someda~~~y! See ya!" Luffy calls out with a large smile, Zoro and Jack simply smirking from their opposite seats on the boat, before they all notice the Marine forces of the Island walk up behind Coby, and giving an identical salute to the one the young teen is giving them.

"Well, if a single Marine saluting a pirate crew was one for the history books, then I'd say that a whole squad of Marines saluting our pirate crew would be enough for us to have bragging rights." Jack says with a smirk, Zoro giving one in return as Luffy simply gives his signature laugh, before making his way to the very front of the ship, and placing a hand on his hat to keep it on his head.

"At last our pirate crew finally sets sail!" He exclaims in excitement.

"You know, I've gotta agree with you Jack. I feel some interesting adventures are in store for us." He says, making the teen across from him on the boat smirk and nod in response, while Luffy simply give another laugh, before starring off into the distance.

"I'll be king of the pirates… I know it." He says, making Zoro stop smirking as he looks at Luffy in partial confusion.

"You seem more than obsessed with this "king of the pirates" business. Is there some kind of story behind it or any kind of reason at all?" He asks the straw hat wearing teen, getting Jack's attention as well as he turns to look at the straw hat wearing teen with his swordsman friend.

"No." Luffy replies simply. "No reason. Just…" He trails off, making Zoro speak up again.

"Just what?" He asks, making Luffy's smirk widen somewhat.

"I promised someone, a while back. I swore that I would gather a crew and find the world's greatest treasure. And become king of the pirates. This straw hat knows the whole story." He tells them, rubbing the straw hat in question that's on his head. Zoro and Jack simply smirk at one another in response to Luffy's explanation, before looking at the sky.

"I see." Zoro replies, Jack nodding beside him as he continues to smirk before Luffy speaks up again.

"Now, let's go! It's time to set our heading, for the Grand Line!" He yells as his two other crew members' smirks widening into smiles as they watch their captain get worked up about their adventures to come. Already knowing that they were in for a helluva ride.

Author's Note Part 2: Well guys, I hope that you liked the first chapter of this story. As for why my OC was mostly silent through the thing, that's because I'm trying to slowly work him into the Straw Hat crew, so that I can eventually get to a point that I feel like he belongs, and you guys might actually be able to see him in the anime or manga. Speaking of which, I'm using the anime for this story, as well as my other, adopted, One Piece story.

Now, for those of you who have noticed all the little references that I've put into this chapter that make it seem like it should be in a crossover category. I'm going to tell you why it isn't. The reason this story is not a crossover with Assassin's Creed, is because I'm only taking a few weapons, as well as outfits from the game. Maybe even a few other things as well. However, because I'm not taking any of the storyline (Meaning Assassin's VS Templars storyline) from the game, I don't see the reason to make this a crossover.

As for Jack's outfit, it was a slightly modified version of the outfit of Edward Kenway on the cover of "Assassin's Creed Black Flag". I figured that since I'm taking some things from the game, then that would be the best outfit. After all, what better outfit for my Assassin character in One Piece, an anime about pirates, than the outfit from a pirate themed Assassin's Creed? Anyways, here's the brief overview of my OC I promised. However, be warned that it is very, very brief. After all, I don't want to give away that much to you guys. I want you to slowly find out about him as the story progresses.

Name: Miles D. Jackson

Age: 18

Appearance: Caucasian skin, Cobalt eyes, Black hair that is styled to look like it's always messy. Jack does not have any noticeable scars, however his clothes cover almost the entirety of his skin.

Outfit: Modified version of Edward Kenway's clothes from the cover of "Assassin's Creed Black Flag". Jack has changed the outfit slightly to exclude the red sash around his waist, and he has also moved the position of the Hidden Blades so that they are underneath his shirt, instead of over it. After all, they aren't very "hidden" if they're out in the open now are they?

Weapons: At the moment, the only weapons that Jack has revealed he has is his Hidden Blades, as well as his Cutlass. It is unknown at the moment if he has any others.

Background: Unknown. Jack's past is not known at the moment, but some of the things that he says confuse the other two that he travels with. One example of this is when he occasionally refers to "Anime Laws".

Well, I think that's about all I have to say for this Author's Note, so thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all next time!