BROTHER ON BOARD

Summary – Sabo survives the encounter with Saint Jalmack and is fished out of the water by some mountain bandits. Years later, a different Sabo sets sail with his younger brother Monkey D. Luffy to form the Straw Hat Pirates.

Disclaimer – I don't own One Piece or any of the characters. This is a non-profit fanfic.

Prologue –

The people of Goa Kingdom stood on the shore and watched with anticipation as the large galleon baring the visiting World Noble appeared over the horizon and sailed towards them.

Nobles, common citizens and even a handful of Mountain Bandits from the Dadan Family had gathered on the shore to witness the arrival of one of the famous Celestial Dragons.

But to the shock of all of them, a small fishing boat appeared in the harbor and began sailing out towards the sea. The Captain of the small boat was none-other than Sabo, one of the three infamous local nuisances in the kingdom. Worst yet, the ten year old was flying a black flag with a blue 'S' in front of a crossbones.

The crowd was shocked at Sabo's sudden interruption of the World Noble's reception ceremony but none more so than his own father Outlook III.

Sabo heard the shouts of the local policemen to come back but ignored them. This was his chance to finally escape his father.

"The scariest fate for me is to stay in this country and turn into someone else," Sabo said as he continued to sail onward. "I'm not gonna go back!"

"Is it Sabo on that ship?" Dogra of the Dadan Family asked as he peered through binoculars.

In one world, the tiny Mountain Bandit might have been alone. But in this universe, he had been accompanied by two full-sized Mountain Bandits.

The World Noble's ship entered the harbor. Sabo craned his head up at the massive gold-trimmed galleon that was ahead of him. The boy acted quickly and frantically spun the wheel. His stolen fishing boat veered off course and he managed to avoid crashing into the huge ship.

The World Noble Saint Jalmack stood at the front of his massive ship and noted the crowd that was waving flags and were overjoyed at his arrival.

"By the way, what is that?" the Celestial Dragon asked as he spotted Sabo's small fishing boat sailing passed his massive galleon in the other direction.

The World Noble pulled out a huge bazooka-like rifle and aimed it at Sabo's fishing boat and opened fire.

BOOOOOM!

Everyone on the shore gasped in surprise as an explosion rocked Sabo's fishing boat.

"How rude is that?" Saint Jalmack complained.

"The fishing boat's been hit!"

"How's the child?"

"SAABOOOO!" Dogra and the other two Mountain Bandits screamed.

"Damn it, the ship is catching fire!" Sabo said as he pulled off his blue coat and attempted to beat out the flames. "Why did they shoot me like that?"

"Saint Jalmack! There's a child on that ship!"

"When someone flies a black flag, he's a pirate," Saint Jalmack said, "Regardless of who he is. But most importantly… A COMMONER SHOULDN'T CROSS THE PATH OF MY SHIP!" He aimed his gun again.

BOOOOOOM!

Another explosion rocked the ship, this time right where Sabo had been standing. Sabo's black flag burned away to nothing and his signature top hat was blown off the burning wreckage of the ship and dropped onto the water.

Everyone stared in shock. The common people were horrified while the Nobles were annoyed.

Dogra stared at the burning remains of Sabo's ship in horror.

"SABO!" the two other Mountain Bandits cried out as they ran and dove into the water.

Sabo, Ace and Luffy might have been a pain in the ass for most of the Mountain Bandits but they weren't that bad. The two Mountain Bandits dove underwater and swam frantically passed the World Noble's massive galleon.

Saint Jalmack didn't notice the bandits swimming passed him as he was now more concerned with the fact that his reception was much more subdued than before. It was as if his actions in disciplining that common child had upset them or something. Not that it mattered, of course.

The two Mountain Bandits came up on the other side of Saint Jalmack's galleon and surveyed the wreckage of Sabo's small stolen ship. There was no sign of the boy so they both dove underwater again.

It took a moment but one of them finally spotted Sabo's small body and grabbed him. Sabo was bleeding and badly burned… but he was breathing. He was still alive.

The two mountain bandits swam frantically back to the shore where they reunited with Dogra.

"Sabo! Is he okay?" the small man asked.

"Barely. We need to get him back home so he can be treated."

The trio of Mountain Bandits took the burned boy and ran off for Mount Corvo.

Back at Mount Corvo, Luffy, Magra and the rest of the Dadan Family were shocked first by the arrival of the badly burned Sabo then by the return of Ace carrying their burned leader.

Dadan and Sabo were both bandaged and tended to as best as the mountain bandits could manage. Dadan woke up shortly after her treatment but Sabo was unconscious for a lot longer.

Days later, Sabo finally regained consciousness.

"SABO! YOU'RE OKAY!" Luffy cheered and cried at the same time. "We were so worried!"

Ace scowled. "Wanna explain this?" He held up a letter.

"I had to get outta here," Sabo said. "I hate being a Noble and I hate living in that country. You're my family. Not them."

"THEN WHY DID YOU TRY TO LEAVE US BEHIND!?" Ace demanded.

"Easy, easy!" Magra called out, "Ace, he just woke up. He's still hurt. Don't yell at him."

"It was the only way I could get away," Sabo eventually answered.

"You could have died!" Ace growled. "We checked in the town. They think you're dead. As far as your family knows you are dead!"

"Good," Sabo said. "That means I don't ever have to go back."

"Next time you're not allowed to leave alone!" Luffy announced. "You've gotta set sail with one of us! That way we'll know you're okay."

"Who'd wanna sail with a weak crybaby like you?" Sabo asked.

"HEY! I'LL GET STRONGER!" Luffy insisted.

"I hope so…" Sabo said. "Who knows how long it'll take me to recover from this… I still want to be free... but I don't think I'm cut out to be a Pirate Captain anymore."

"GREAT! You can be on my crew!" Luffy decided.

"Quiet Luffy," Ace scolded him. "And I knew him before you so he'll be on my crew."

"Hey, no fair!" Luffy complained.

Sabo shook his head, "I need to get stronger before I'm ready to be on anyone's crew."

"Hey, hey, you kids calm down," Magra called out. "Sabo still needs to recover."

Seven years later, a seventeen year old Ace stood on the shore and was prepared to set off on his pirate journey.

Luffy, Sabo, Dadan and most of the Mountain Bandits had come to see him off.

"You sure you don't wanna come?" Ace asked Sabo.

Sabo shook his head. "I'm not ready yet. I need to get stronger before I can set out." Sabo reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "Maybe you can help me with that by finding one of these…"

Ace took the paper and read it then looked at Sabo skeptically, "Really?"

"I almost died because of one of those," Sabo said. "Now I'm gonna turn around and use one to accomplish my goals."

"I'll see if I can find one for you," Ace agreed again as he boarded his skiff.

Fourteen year old Luffy gave Ace a wide grin. "See Ace? Sabo's gonna sail with me!"

Ace smirked. "I'm sure you can use all the help you can get."

"HEY!"

Ace smiled at Sabo, "Luffy's our younger brother. Make sure to look after him."

Sabo nodded as he remembered his own words from his letter seven years ago. "Right. We'll become the freest pirates ever then meet up again somewhere on the big, open sea."

"Yeah, and when he we see you again in three years we'll all be stronger!" Luffy added.

"I'll look forward to it," Ace said. He waved to his brothers and sailed off into the harbor.

One year later, Luffy carried a long wooden crate over to Sabo.

"Sabo! You got a present from Ace!" Luffy called out. "It was delivered to Makino's place."

"Looks like he found it," Sabo said with a wide grin as he took the crate from Luffy.

"What'd Ace find?" Luffy asked as he peered of Sabo's shoulder while he opened the box.

"Ah! She's gorgeous!" Sabo gushed as he pulled a long rifle out of the box. It was five feet long and had a polished black barrel with gold highlights. The handle was a smooth brown wood with the same gold highlights around it. The rifle also featured a scope on top of it and in the middle was a round revolving cartridge able to fit six rounds.

"What's that? Some kind of gun?" Luffy questioned.

"This isn't just a gun, Luffy!" Sabo told him, "This is an Advanced Wheel-Lock Rifle with an added scope and custom revolving action!"

Luffy blinked. "But what about your pipe?"

"I'm trading up," Sabo said as he dropped his old pipe into the rifle's crate and continued to admire his new weapon. "I was nearly killed by one of those damn World Nobles wielding a rifle. Now I'm gonna use this beautiful creature to accomplish my dream."

Sabo's smile turned dark. His near death experience had resulted in a deep grudge.

Two years later, seventeen year old Luffy and twenty year old Sabo set off on a small skiff.

Luffy wore his soon-to-be signature straw hat, a red vest, blue shorts and sandals.

Sabo stood much taller than Luffy at 6' 1.5". He looked even taller with his signature black top hat with the goggles around the base. His outfit consisted of black boots, beige pants, a dark blue waistcoat over a pale blue collared shirt with a white cravat and a long blue coat over it all.

Suddenly the water rose up in front of them to reveal the huge snarling Sea King that lived out in the harbor.

"I'll take it down," Sabo offered as he loaded a round into his rifle. Other than some wear on the handle that showed that the rifle had been well-used, Sabo's custom-made Advanced Wheel-Lock Rifle was still in the same beautiful condition that he'd gotten it in.

"No wait!" Luffy stopped Sabo off before he could open fire on the huge snarling monster. "I've got a score to settle with that thing. Lemme handle it."

Sabo shrugged and slung his long rifle back over his shoulder, "Fine. Go for it, little bro."

"I've been waiting for you sea monster!" Luffy told the Sea King.

"RRHHHAAA!" The Sea King roared and lunged at them.

"GUM GUM PISTOL!" Luffy stretched his rubber arm out with all the force of a pistol and drove his fist into the sea monster's face with the force of a pistol.

"GRRAAAH!" The sea monster let out a loud cry as it flailed around then crashed into the water.

SPLASH!

"That was for Shanks! Stupid fish!" Luffy taunted the fallen sea monster.

"Now if we're gonna make this pirate-thing work, we'll need to find a crew," Sabo stated.

"Yeah, I think about ten people will do," Luffy decided.

"In that case we've gotta make sure they're the best of the best," Sabo advised.

"Of course," Luffy said, "only the best on my crew. That's why I have you as my First Mate."

Sabo grimaced. "Actually… if it's all the same to you… I'd prefer the title of Quartermaster. First mate would suggest that I'm above the rest of the crew. As Quartermaster I'd be the voice of the crew and your chief negotiator. 'Cause let's face it, you don't have the best people skills."

"Quartermaster, First Mate, same thing!" Luffy waved him off.

"No it isn't! There's a difference!"

"Don't worry about it!" Luffy turned and grinned out at the ocean before them. "Look out world! I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!"

Sabo nodded, "That's gonna be a tough title to earn but I'll be by your side the whole time. Along the way, I'm gonna accomplish my dream… I'm gonna take down the World Nobles."

Luffy frowned slightly at his brother's dark dream. But who was he to criticize someone else's biggest ambition? He quickly changed the subject.

"You know, it's such a nice day," Luffy said, "Too bad it has to end so badly."

"What makes you say that Luffy?"

"There's a big whirlpool right in front of us."

"OH CRAP!"

"And don't forget, I can't swim."

"IT'S A WHIRLPOOL! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU CAN SWIM OR NOT!"

"Oh, that's right! Shishishishi! I guess we're going down!"

The two brothers had set out to shake the world but it seemed as though their journey was off to a rather rocky start.

So basically the concept is: One Piece with my version of Sabo on Luffy's crew from the very beginning.

And before anyone says anything, YES, I know that Usopp is the Sniper of the Straw Hats. I love the character of Usopp too much to ever take that away from him. But what's notable about Usopp is that he never uses a gun. I think that the fighting style I have planned for Sabo and his rifle will set him apart from Usopp enough to give him his own unique flavor.

That's all for now

Silver signing off