Chapter 1: On the Sea

"Ahhhhh!" Coby screamed as the dinghy fell into the water from the side of the Miss Love Duck, main ship of the Alvida Pirates, while Marine cannonballs crashed all around them. The other occupant of the dinghy, Monkey D. Luffy, laughed like a mad man, holding onto his treasured straw hat as they fell to the sea.

"Coby, give me the oars! We gotta scram!" Despite the urgency of the words, Luffy was smiling like he was having the time of his life. Like he wasn't currently being shot at with cannonballs. Coby complied without a word, handed the oars, and hit the deck as a cannonball hit to the left of them spraying seawater everywhere. Luffy shoved the oars in the water and twisted his arms around into tight spring-like coils. "Gum-Gum...Paddle!" The coils unfurled at blinding speed and in a flurry of white, displaced water, the dinghy raced off across the sea.

"Luuuuuuufffyyyyyyyyyy!" Coby screamed the entire ride. Soon, the Marine ships and the Miss Love Duck were mere dots on the horizon. Luffy's arms lost their steam and snapped back to his sides, raw red from the friction.

"Ahh! Ahh! Hot!" Luffy ran over to the side and dunked his arms into the cool sea, sighing in relief. And then he slumped over and started tipping into the sea. "So...cool..too...weak!"

"Luffy!" Coby tried his best to pull the older boy away from his watery demise, barely managing to get him back into the dinghy. It took Luffy a few seconds before the bot back to his normal self again.

"Woo! That was a close one! I almost died! Thanks Coby!" The pink haired former pirate blushed at the praise from his hero. "Now, where the heck are we? Hmm." He looked up at the noon sun. "Hmmmm. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Well, we're lost!"

Coby facepalms and reaches into the small chest inside of the dinghy. In it is a raggedy map of the East Blue and a dented, dirty, old compass. Straightening his glasses, Coby examined the map and pinpointed the area they had been in and the assumed direction they had left in. Following the line going what should be west, the closest island to them was, "Yotsuba Island. There's a Marine town there, Shells Town."

"Whoaaa! You can read a map? That's awesome!" Coby blushed again. He wasn't used to praise like this. Usually he just got yelled at or hit with Alvida's mace.

"Thanks, Luffy, but you should really know how to do this yourself. You are supposed to be a pirate."

"Eh," Luffy sat down on the chest, "It's too hard. I'm just gonna get a good navigator. Oh! Coby, will you be my navigator?!" Coby was taken aback by the offer. Earlier, Luffy had called him stupid and cowardly (not that he was wrong about the last one, but it still hurt) and now he was begging him to be o n his crew. It sounded pretty-Wait!

"Luffy, I can;t be your navigator! I'm going to become a Marine!"

Luffy leaned back and stroked his chin, nodding. "Oh yeah, I guess you can't. Oh well, guess I'll have to find someone else."

Coby winced at how easily Luffy had given up on him. 'At least beg a little more.' Coby looked back at the map. "Shells Town has a big Marine Base on it run by the famous Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan. They say he's one of the most fearsome Marines in the East Blue. He captured the infamous Kuro of One Thousand Plans, and recently, the demon Pirate Hunter."

Luffy's low ears twitched. Pirate Hunter. That name made his Pirate Senses tingle, though not in the way one would expect.

"Pirate Hunter? Who;s that? They sound strong." Coby nodded, recalling the tales he had picked up from his former crewmates.

"Yeah, she is. They call her a demon who fights and kills hundreds of pirates for money. She's taken out infamous pirate crews like the Crescent Moon and the Tick-Tock Pirates, both had bounties of over 5 million Berri." Coby shivered as he pictured the demonic women cutting men to pieces with her sword. Luffy shivered as well. The lady Coby was describing sounded perfect to join his crew!

"We're gonna go to Shells Town! I wanna meet this Pirate Hunter lady."

"Wha!" Coby yelled, jaw on the floor. "Luffy, you can't meet her! She's a demon! A monster in human form!"

Luffy chuckled and nodded, "And that's why we're going! She sounds perfect for my crew!" Coby looked at Luffy's unshakable smile with awe and horror. He might've been rescued by a crazy man. 'Well, at least we'll be at a Marine town. Maybe I can join up there.' Luffy stood at the bow of the ship and smiled at the horizon. "First stop! Shells Town!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Fyr3Flyt3: So this is a small chapter of a new story that I thought up. The basic idea is an alternate version of One Piece where some things are changed from canon and seeing how that affects the story overall. Some people will have different backstories, some characters will be in different places, and entire arcs might be a bit different. I have a few changes planned, but I'd love to hear what tweaks or what ifs you guys have that I can add to change things up a bit. The next chapter should be out shortly and be a bit longer.

Until Next Time, Bye!