Chapter 2: All Around Me Are Familiar Faces

Mike was a simple guy with simple goals and a simple job to reach them in the simplest way possible. All he wanted was to go on an adventure. However, Mike didn't want a dangerous adventure like being a pirate or a Marine. No, Mike wanted something easy and safe that let him see some of the world. That's why he chose to be a sailor on a cruise ship in the East Blue. Nothing too dangerous. Sure, he might see a few pirates but he wasn't expected to fight them. How could he when he was all the way up in the crow's nest? By the time he got down there, everything would've been settled anyway. Best to just stay up here and wait it out.

Today was another simple and safe day for Mike. Another day hanging out in the crow's nest, looking out over the calm seas of the East Blue without a single ounce trouble in sight. Down below, Terry and Larry were messing around by the railing, throwing a hook at some barrel that was floating around. Probably some old fruit or something from some old wreck. Nothing he should be concerned about, but it was funny to watch Larry suck at throwing.

Mike looked up to give the horizon a quick once-over. He looked around and went back to watching his friends. Then his mind caught up with his eyes and snapped back to the horizon. To the east, a long dark figure raced across the ocean, leaving a deep trough behind it. From what Mike could tell it was some kind of sea monster.

"Holy shit! M-m-monster! Monster!" Mike screamed. 'Is that a...is it actually a Sea King? I thought those were myths!'

Mike's yell caught Larry and Terry's attention. They saw the monster as well and flew into a panic, running off to inform the captain and other sailors.

'Why is it coming here? What is it after? Please, God, don't let this thing eat me!'

Meanwhile

Mein tightened his grip on the rope, keeping it between his razor-sharp teeth so it didn't get cut. His whole body rocked from side to side as he cut across the ocean at high speeds, blood red eyes focusing in on the ship right ahead of him. "Captain Luffy, is that the cruise ship that you wanted?" This was the third ship they had seen so far. gopefully, third times' would really be the charm

Luffy had been casually resting in the boat, finding a good position. He lifted his hat and looked at the ship. "Maybe. Let me see." He closed his eyes and extended his senses to the ship. His Observation Haki had improved greatly over the two years to the point that he was able to sense all the people in Foosha Village from the highest tower in the Upper City of the Goa Kingdom. He had broken in here a few times to scare the people that used to be Sabo's parents and his shitty replacement.

Luffy could sense every person on the ship. He could hear their voices and their 'voices' that differentiated them from one another. He filtered through dozens of regular people he didn't really care about until he found something familiar and zoomed in.

When he used Observation Haki on a person, Luffy was able to do a multitude of things. Predict their movements, read their emotions, sense their presence, and skim their thought. Only thoughts near the surface could be heard, nothing going too deep into someone's mind. As Luffy focused his Haki on the person of his choosing, he began to hear their thoughts.

'Dang it, where is that ship? I know Luffy was on that pirate ship when I robbed it, so he has to be here soon. Unless he went somewhere else. His sense of direction is just as bad as Zoro's. Luffy, you better show up or I'm gonna be pissed. I spent all this money on a cruise for nothing! Though, I did get to try out this cute dress'

Luffy smiled. Complaining about him and Zoro's navigational skills and having to spend money. Yep, that was definitely the ship he was looking for, no doubt about it. "Mein, full steam ahead! That's the ship we want!'

"Aye-aye Captain!" Mein lowered his head into the water and took off even faster than before, his lower dorsal fin sending up a spray of water as he cut through the ocean. Luffy leaned over the edge of the prowl, bouncing with excitement as the ship grew. It had been two long years and he couldn't wait any longer.

The cruise ship, the Cameron, was in a panic now. Sailor rushed about the deck, unsure of what to do. They weren't moving fast enough to outrun the beast and they didn't have anywhere near the firepower needed to kill it or even scare it off. All they could do was sit and wait for death or pray for some sort of miracle to come to them.

Captain Sparrow watched the monster with cold indifference behind his pipe. He ran his fingers through his silvery beard, mulling over the situation. Sparrow had been on the sea for many years and seen many things. Things most men could never even dream of. This monster was one of those things, one of the fabled Sea Kings that resided to the south in the Calm Belt. Sparrow had no idea why it had come so far north, but the sight made his pegleg itch.

When he was but a cabin boy for a fledgling pirate crew, Sparrow saw a Sea King for the first time. A massive beast many times larger than the one he saw now. With ease, it tore apart their ship and devoured the crew. As they were attacked, Sparrow swore that he would turn his back to piracy if the gods would simply let him live. The gods took his word, but a debt still had to be paid And thus, Sparrow kept his life but lost his leg. That was the day he turned his back to piracy and took up a more civil job, eventually becoming captain of this ship.

All this backstory was to say that Sparrow had faced a Sea King before. And he had no plans of doing it again.

"Abandon ship!" The old man yelled as he lept over the edge and began doing at perfect breaststroke away from the doomed vessel. He swam pretty fast for a one-legged old man. Suffice to say, that turned the sailors panic into pure pandemonium. A pandemonium that began to filter to their very wealthy patrons, now running about the inside of the ship, screaming and sobbing into their wads of Beri. Only one passenger remained calm.

Standing in the middle the ballroom, a woman with shoulder-length orange hair watched the panic with amusement. She had caught snippets of the situation. A sea serpent the size of the ship was coming towards them so of course everyone was losing their minds and running around like ants in a rainstorm.

'And now the thought of a sea monster doesn't even scare me. Damn it, now I'm becoming a monster like the rest of them.' Nami sighed and started walking towards the upper deck. Ripping off the beautiful sequined sea green dress, she strode up the stairs in her new outfit. She pulled her wavy orange locks back into a short ponytail with her bangs hanging over her eyes. Her dress came off to reveal the white shirt with the smiling blue cat on the chest with the word "Kitten" under it. She wore cut off jeans with a knapsack slung over her shoulder.

As she got onto the deck, she pushed through the screaming crowds of sailors and went to the railing, reaching into her knapsack to pull out a familiar blue three-section staff.

"Alright, you overgrown garden snake, get ready to taste lightning." She spun middle section of her rod, releasing balls filled with black clouds and lighting, slowly rising up into the sky. Sailors and passengers alike stopped on the deck to watch as Nami seemed to be performing some sort of magic trick. The clouds above began to turn dark and angry, rumbling with awaiting thunder. Nami clicked the sections back together and rose them over her head, ready to give the command when she got a closer look at the Sea King. More accurately, what the Sea King was pulling behind it.

"He did not," she whispered to herself, already knowing the answer. With a sigh, she folded up her Clima-Tact and shoved it back into her knapsack, letting the brewing storm peter out.

"I can't believe he made me waste my Weather Balls like that. I only have so many here, you idiot Captain." As much as she complained to herself, Nami couldn't stop the smile on her face.

The Sea King grew closer, scaring the sailors and passengers until it stopped completely. It raised its head and met Nami eye to eye, neither of them flinching from the sight of one another. From below, a hand latched onto the side of the ship and pulled up a smiling boy wearing a straw hat.

"Hey, Na-wha!" Luffy was tackled to the ground as Nami hugged him. It was a good thing he was made of rubber, otherwise, he would've had a few broken ribs.

"Luffy!" Nami squeezed her captain as tight as she could. She wasn't sure she ever wanted to let him go after two long years not really knowing what happened to him. The strange Enigma had said he sent them all back in time, but Nami took everyone's words with a grain of salt, godlike being or not. Thankfully, it seemed her suspicions had been unjustified.

Passengers and sailors alike were a bit confused. First, they were being attacked by a sea monster. Then, this lady stands on the railing and starts controlling the weather! After that, the sea monster stops and some dumb looking kid jumps onto the ship and start getting hugged by storm lady (the very attractive storm lady, a few jealous sailors noted).

Eventually, Nami let her captain go and smacked upside the head.

"What the hell is this?!" She pointed at Mein, who was watching curiously. "Why the hell are you riding around on a Sea King?!"

"His name's Mein and he's our new crewmate," Luffy said, rubbing the bruise that was forming on his cheek. Nami had to be using some kind of Haki or something. Maybe it was her own kind of 'Fist of Love' like what Grandpa used.

"No. No, you are not bringing a giant sea monster along with us! We can barely feed you, let alone a monster bigger than Sunny! He can't even get on the ship, not to mention…"

Luffy started fading out Nami's complaints. It wasn't like he was purposefully ignoring her, but when she started yelling at him, her words always seemed to just fade out. Same thing happened when his enemies started monologuing, and they always started monologuing. I'm a god blah blah blah you can't beat me blah blah blah I'm undefeated blah dee blah dee blah.

"Captain," Mein whispered, "I don't think she likes me very much."

Luffy waved his hand dismissively, "Naw, she will. Nami just complains a lot about stuff but she'll come around. If you can find her some treasure or something underwater, she'll love you!"

"Oh, that's good. I wouldn't want one if my new crewmates to dislike me from the start. That'd be very disheartening. I'll try and look for some treasure later"

"...Luffy? Who are you talking to?"

"Mein." Said Sea King smiled at Nami, waving his tail in greeting. Nami blinked for a few seconds. She raised a finger to ask a question when an explosion rocked the ship.

"Pirates off the port bow!" That warning was like a spark in powderkeg, restarting the panic and sending the non-Straw Hats running around like ants in a rainstorm. Luffy smiled as he saw the pink monstrosity sailing to them waving a Jolly Roger proudly.

The Alvida Pirates were closing in fast, coming in to board the little cruise ship. The pirates ran along the sides, firing guns and shouting like animals, successfully intimidating the regular civilians and leaving Luffy, Nami, and Mein unimpressed.

"Mein, hide back under the water," Luffy ordered. "We'll call you when we need you, okay?"

The serpent nodded and dove back into the water, sinking into the dark deep and awaiting his captain's orders. Nami's question sat on the tip of her tongue, but it could wait until they weren't about to be boarded. The two Straw Hats marched across the ship to face the oncoming pirates, pushing through the panicked crowds. Luffy hopped up onto the railing.

"Nami, I gotta go meet someone on the ship. You can deal with these guys, right?"

Nami twirled her Clima-Tact around her shoulders, sparks popping around it. "Yeah, I can deal with them. Do you want me to take over the ship so we can go get Zoro?" Luffy considered this for a moment before shaking his head. That thing was way too ugly. He didn't want to be on it longer than he had to be. In a burst of speed, Luffy disappeared.

The Miss Love Duck pulled close to the cruise ship. Hooks were tossed across and pulled the ships together and planks were slapped down to to cross. Already, pirates sailed across the gap on ropes, landing on the deck waving around swords and guns. They grabbed sailors and passengers alike, holding them as hostages. Nami smirked. She may be a pirate herself now, but she still hated bastards like this.

"Hey boys!" The pirates turned to look at her, instantly lovestruck at the sight of an actually beautiful woman. "Thunderbolt Tempo!" The black clouds Nami released from her staff crackled with lightning and brought down heavenly fury on the pirates, leaving them thunderstruck as well.

Nami turned her attention to the Miss Love Duck and all the soon-to-be even more shocked pirates. Behind the frightened crew stood a massive whale of a woman wielding a wide iron club. Nami smiled at them devilishly and a single passed through all the Alvida Pirates' minds.

'Witch!'

Meanwhile

Luffy smacked Coby upside the head, "Stop being so annoying!"

He had rushed over to the Miss Love Duck and made a beeline for the storage room, chowing down on all their food. The noise of Luffy's feast attracted Coby's attention and set in motion the nostalgic conversation.

Coby rubbed the lump on his head while Luffy tried to remember what he said last time. "Listen up, I don't care what anyone says. I will the Pirate King, dangerous or not. If I die, I die. At least I had fun doing it!"

Coby looked at Luffy in awe. Something about him, the aura he gave off, was so inspiring. It was like he was taking his own willful determination and pushing it into Coby. He felt like he could do anything if Luffy said he could. He had doubts about Luffy's dream, but Luffy believed in it so much, it just seemed like he could do it. It didn't make sense, but that;t how Coby felt. If that worked for Luffy then maybe...

"Luffy! Do you...do you think I could be a Marine? Not like a regular Marine, but a...an Admiral? I wanna be someone people can look to as a hero and take out nasty pirates like Alvida and her crew!"

Luffy smiled, putting a hand on Coby's head. "Of course you can if that's what you wanna do! Shishi! If you become a Vice-Admiral, we can be just like my Gramps and Roger."

"Gramps?" The roof exploded above, drowning out Coby's question. The dust and smoke cleared, revealing Alvida covered in electrical burns and cuts, lying in a pile of rubble with her iron club in hand.

"Ugh," she groaned, "I'll kill that damn witch! She'll rue the day she messed with the beautiful Alvida!" The rotund woman slowly picked herself up and dusted herself off, noticing Luffy and Coby standing to the side. "Coby! What the hell are you doing down here?! You're supposed to be over there pillaging, you useless brat!"

"I-I-I.." And like that, all of Coby's confidence faded away.

"Are you done trying to fight me now?" Nami stood over the hole Alvida made with storm clouds swirling around her. The Alvida Pirates cowered behind her, burned and beaten. "Just tell me where all your treasure is already. Oh, Luffy, there you are. Who's that?"

"This is Coby!" He smacked the poor body a bit too hard on the back. "He's gonna be a Marine."

"Is that so?" Alvida loomed over the two, gripping her signature club. "Are you planning on leaving my crew, Coby?"

"N-no! Of course not, Lady Alvida! I would never, Lady Alvida! I'm loyal to you, Lady Alvida!" Coby simpered and bowed to her. It was the only way he knew to survive but he never felt more embarrassed doing it than he did now. He was sure Luffy was disappointed.

"Well then tell me, who is the most beautiful woman in all the seas?"

"Anyone but you. But if I had to pick, I'd say Boa Hancock." At least, that's what everyone kept telling Luffy. He thought she was pretty, sure, but she was also kind of mean to the people that weren't him, even her own sisters and Raleigh. Still, she was pretty nice when she wanted to be and a pretty good cook. Her Sea King Casserole was to die for and she always brought him enough food. He still wasn't going to marry her if she asked him. Marriage meant getting tied down and Luffy didn't want anything like that until he was Pirate King.

While Luffy fantasized about Hancock—something her previous timeline's counterpart only dreamed of—Alvida took exception to his comment.

"Die!" Coby prepared to do just that as the massive mace came down. He closed his eyes and said his prayers as his brain were splattered against the floor. Or at least they should've been.

Coby opened his eyes and found himself on the upper deck of the Love Duck, sitting next to Luffy and the scary orange-haired lady.

"What? H-how did we…" 'I didn't even feel us move. It was like teleportation.' Once again, Coby was awestruck by Luffy. Alvida was strong, but Luffy was on a level he never even imagined. 'Is this why he's so confident?'

"Get back here, you bastard!" Despite her size, Alvida was surprisingly spry, leaping out of the hole and tearing through the deck with her mace, still missing her targets. "No one insults the beautiful Alvida!"

"Talk about delusional much?" Nami commented. Alvida swung a club at her, expecting to knock the skinny girl across the deck, only to feel the sting of electricity yet again from the black clouds swirling around her. "You're really going to try that again? C'mon, you're giving us lady pirates a bad name."

Alvida was beyond pissed. First, they ruined her raid. Then, this orange haired bimbo starts tossing around clouds and lightning like some witch and defeated those useless louts she called a crew. Then, that little straw hat wearing twerp had to gall to insult her, and now, the witch had used that Thundercoat or whatever she called it to hurt her and destroy her favorite hat. Nothing was going the way Alvida wanted today. She needed a break. She needed…

"Coby! Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?! Say it!"

"It's-It's.." Coby had a choice. He could be a little coward and bend to Alvida's will like he always had and stay living in terror of her for the rest of his miserable life. Or, he could take a stand and move past his fear to forge a new path towards his dream. He chose the latter. "Anyone but you, you fat whale!"

The world turned red. Alvida charged at Coby like a bull, ready to tear him limb from limb by hand if need be. Coby was prepared to die right on that spot, but like a goddess, Nami stopped Alvida in a gust of wind, knocking her across the deck towards the prow.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves, so why don't you go for a little trip? I'll even fly you there for free." Nami twirled the Clima-Tact. The black clouds were sucked back into the bo like a vacuum. Alvida charged at Nami when Nami pulled off the end and pointed it at the woman's stomach. "Cyclone Sword!"

A tempest flew forth from the staff and blasted into Alvida, knocking her back through the railing of her ship and way across the ocean, spinning like a pinwheel until she disappeared into the horizon with a twinkle. Nami smiled at her handy work, letting the nausea of offering something for free pass over her.

"Well, that was easy."

One Hour Later

'What is today?' Coby wasn't sure where to begin with the weirdness he was experiencing, though the giant serpent-like Sea King pulling cruise ship the two pirates he ended up with was a good place to start.

Immediately after beating Alvida, the orange-haired lady-Nami was her name-had gone below deck and robbed the Alvida Pirates of every last valuable they had, carrying them in a giant sack she lugged around like a purse. Then she and Luffy moved all the sailors and passengers off the Cameron and onto the Love Duck before the Marines started showing up. How they knew what was happening was beyond him, but what happened after they showed up was crazier.

From the depths of the sea, a serpent Sea King rose up with menacing red eyes and glinting fangs, looking down on the ship it nearly outmatched in size. And Luffy started talking to it. And it understood him! With a few orders from Nami, Luffy quickly hooked the Sea King to the cruise ship and rolled up the sails. In no time, the Cameron was speeding away from the scene on a 1 Sea King power engine.

Now Coby was sitting on the deck of the ship in a daze while Nami and Luffy stood/sat by the wheel of the ship talking about stuff Coby couldn't begin to hope to understand.

"So how'd you get your Climatic thingy back? Didn't Usopp make that? And wasn't it like a dumb toy thing before?" Luffy remembered playing around with it after leaving Alabasta. He almost set the sails on fire with lightning and was forbidden from ever touching it again under threat of no dinner.

"That was my first Clima-Tact and he only made it like that cause he's an idiot. This one is like the one I had when we met back on Sabaody, the Sorcery one. Took forever to get all the stuff for it and send it to Usopp."

"Ooo!" Luffy flipped upside down on the railing, watching Mein tug the ship. "You went and saw Usopp? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine alright. He's….I don't wanna ruin the surprise. He'll want to show off." Luffy laughed. He couldn't wait to see his best friend again.

"So, if you got your Climax back-"

"Clima-Tact."

"Yeah. Since you got that back, did you deal with Arlong?"

A devilish smile split her lips, "He won't be a problem this time around. As soon as I got my Clima-Tact back, I went home and ran them out and made sure they wouldn't think twice about coming back. I didn't hurt Hachi though, I just convinced him to go and make his takoyaki " Nami added on.

'Arlong? Isn't that a pirate? Yeah, I heard some of Alvida's crew talking about him. They said he was a Fishman. He must've been attacking 's home. Good thing she's so strong.' Even as he praised Nami, Coby felt weird. All his life, he had thought of pirates as the bad guys and the Marines as the good guys. That's how it always was in the news. But these two were nothing like those pirates. They protected the cruise ship, beat Alvida and her crew, and left them to be captured by the Marines. Yeah, they did steal the cruise ship, but that was beside the point.

"Oi, Coby, do you see the island yet?!" That was right, Coby was supposed to be acting as the lookout. For some reason, the pair were determined to get to Shells Town, talking about meeting a friend there. Even when Coby explained that was the location of a Marine Base run by a fearsome captain and was currently holding the dangerous bounty hunter, Roronoa Zoro, they still wanted to go.

Looking through the glass, Coby spotted a dot growing on the horizon, just barely making out the blue towers of the Marine base. "I see it!

"Good. Mein," the Sea King looked back at the navigator, "stop before you get too close to the shore. The dock we're landing at probably isn't big enough for you and the ship, so we'll ride in on a lifeboat." Mein nodded and slowed down to a stop.

The trio quickly lowered the lifeboat down into the water and headed for the island. Nami carried a light blue duffel back with onto the dinghy. As they passed him by, Luffy gave Mein a big thumbs up and a smile. Never before had Nami or Coby seen a giant sea monster look so happy.

"Alright, boys, hang on tight! This is gonna be a bumpy ride." Luffy wrapped an arm around Coby and held tight to the side of the boat with a smile on his face. Coby's teeth chattered nervously as Nami stood up and pointed her Clima-tact at the water. "Gust Sword!

Violent winds pushed the dingy forward at high speeds, cutting across the sea in a spray of white waves and winds. Luffy laughed and Nami smiled. Coby closed his eyes and screamed his lungs out. He was not as much a fan of this ride as the Straw Hats were and was relieved when they slowed down and docked at Shells Town.

"That's weird. This place is quiet." Nami looked around the bay/market area, searching for any sign of people, but there was nothing to be found. "Where the hell is everybody?"

Luffy closed his eye for a moment, doing the same as he did to find Nami. He heard dozens of voices all crowded into one area, surrounding a very powerful and very familiar aura. A smile crossed his face, starting to walk in the direction of the aura. Nami quirked her brow but followed without question. Coby followed out of curiosity, eyes occasionally flicking to the Marine base.

At the Hanafuda Bar

The whole crowd, consisting of most of the population of Shells Town, whispered among themselves as they watched the green haired swordsman guzzle down his fifteen tankards of beer. Rika giggled and cheered with a plate of rice balls in hand while her mother started filling up another cup, looking nervously towards the Marine base.

The man in question wore a green haramaki wrapped around his waist, visible through his open green coat that bared his muscular chest to the world. Three swords sat next, leaning against the bar, the most notable being a pure white from the hilt to the sheath. The bar shook as Zoro slammed down the tankard to uproarious applause, wiping the excess from his face with a smile.

"Good job, Big Bro! That was number 15!" Rika came forward, offering the freshly made onigiri to the moss-haired swordsman. He happily took them and ate them. They were much better now that he could tell her salt was much better than sugar. Ririka slid another tankard too him much to his delight.

Zoro chewed on the salted salmon and started reaching for the beer when a spark ran down his spine. Focusing on teh powerful auras that suddenly appeared, he smirked, 'Took you long enough.'

Without a word, he picked up his swords and made his way out of the bar, the confused citizens making a path for him. Squinting into the sunlight, Zoro smiled as he saw them walking down the street.

"ZOOOOROOOOO!" Ah, sweet nostalgia. It had been two long years without hearing that sometimes annoying yell. It sounded like home right now, but it would certainly start bugging him again in a few hours. Such was the way of family.

"Took you long enough to get here, Captain. I was waiting for you for over a month. Had to go ahead and break myself out instead of waiting for you." He glanced at Nami, "See you got the witch first." He smirked as she started yelling at him. He had missed this.

'This makes no sense.' Coby watched the group interact and found himself swimming deeper into the sea of confusion he had wound himself up in. 'Why are two pirates friends with 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro? Why is he calling Luffy 'Captain?' Was he waiting here for them? How do they know each other? Should I just stop asking questions? Probably.' Coby shook his head, admitting defeat. He looked behind Zoro and saw all the people of Shells Town looking as confused as him.

"Did you say a month? Last time, you were only here for a week, right?" Zoro tensed as he came to the same revelation with Nami smirking to the side.

"I'm more amazed you even made it here at all. You've got the navigational skills of a broken compass."

"Big Bro!" Rika ran from the crowd over to Zoro. Her mother called after her, but Rika went anyway, latching onto Zoro's coat and peeking out at the not-so-scary looking pirates. "Are these guys your friends? I thought you hunted pirates."

"Nah," Zoro knelt down, scruffing the little girl's hair with surprising tenderness, "not these two. I'm part of their crew. I just hunt the pirates that piss me or when I need some money for food and booze."

Luffy waved at the girl, giving her a simple 'Yo'. Nami smiled and waved. Rika smiled back. These pirates weren't anything like the stories Marines would tell her when they visited her Mama's bar; they seemed really nice. The same thing for Big Bro too. Rika was starting to wonder if any of the Marines' stories were true.

All of a sudden, there was a loud clunking noise. All eyes turned to the Marine base as the iron gates opened up. Two dozen Marines armed with guns and swords marched out of the gates, eyes dark. Behind them marched Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan, holding the titular armed arm with menace in his eyes. The people screamed and rushed back to their homes. Ririka ran from the bar and scooped up her daughter, running back despite Rika's protest. Only the Straw Hats and Coby remained in the Marines' path.

'What? Why did they run away? They should be happy to see Marines. I mean, nobody's done anything, but still. What is going on in this town?"

Zoro and Nami both readied their weapons. If the Marines were looking for a fight, they would get one, but they weren't gonna like it when they did. However, Luffy raised his hand, signaling them to stand down and let him take care of this. He looked forward with a smile. He'd been itching for a fight all day.

The Marines stopped a few yards away from the group, the first row getting down into firing position.

"Pirate Hunter!" Morgan bellowed, "You think that you can just leave imprisonment whenever you like? Wrong! I, Captain Morgan, decide when you leave and you will leave my custody in one way: a body bag. For your insolence, I sentence you to immediate death! For the rest of you, you dare to stand in my glorious presence without fear, so you will die as well. Men, fire!"

The Marines of the 152nd Branch closed their eyes and fired. They didn't want to do this but they had no other choice. Disobedience was a crime and an affront to Morgan's pride, meaning a quick and painful death for them. They had friends and family they wanted to see again. Gunshots cracked and echoed through the island followed by a strange stretching noise

Coby's jaw hit the floor with all the Marines copying him as the bullets slammed into Luffy's body and kept going, but instead of turning him into Swiss cheese, stretched out his body until they stopped and went flying back at the Marines, peppering them with their own bullets.

'Damn it!' Morgan cursed, 'He must have eaten one of those rare Devil Fruits!' The fact that Morgan thought Devil Fruits were rare truly showed how naive he was about the world he lived in and his place in it.

Luffy chuckled, "Now it's my turn!" He raised his fist, making the Marines flinch, and went into a flicking position. His arm bulged for a moment and steam rose from his hand. Nami and Zoro watched carefully. They'd never seen this move before. "Gomu-Gomu no….Revolver!"

For a moment, it seemed as if nothing had happened. That was when Morgan felt a massive pain in his chest and found himself flying backwards towards his office on the fifth story of the central Marine tower. He couldn't even scream before he was knocked out on impact, knocking down the two upper floors and bringing it all down on top of him.

Luffy blew the steam off his hand while the Marines looked on in a mix of horror, awe, and relief. On one hand, someone had beaten Captain Morgan and they could finally call him in. On the other hand, this guy was able to beat the Captain with a flick of his finger. What could he be planning to do to them?

"Alright, now let's go eat! I'm starving!"

"I could go for some more drinks."

"Sure, why not?"

"...Okay."

Back at the Hanafuda Bar

Watching Luffy eat was a fascinating experience. Blackbeard may be the one with powers over darkness, but Luffy held the power of a true black hole in his stomach, sucking down plate after plate of food with no signs of stopping. If it weren't for the copious amount of cash Nami had pulled from her purse (read: breasts), Ririka would've kicked him out an hour ago. Now she was down to the last of her supplies and would need to close the bar for the day.

Zoro drank his booze and ate the rest of Rika's onigiri while Nami munched on a salad and some pasta. Coby picked at the steak he ordered. Rika had just finished telling him all about Morgan and his son and all the terrible things they had done. To say the least, he was extremely disappointed that a Marine Captain of all people would act like that and that no one could even stop him. 'He's worse than a pirate.' At least now he would be arrested for his crimes, but Coby had lost a little faith in the Marines.

"Oi, Coby," Luffy said through a stuffed mouth, "Why the long face? You aren't a horse."

"It's nothing. Just thinking about Morgan and everything he put these people through. That's not how Marines are supposed to act. They're supposed to be noble and kind and helpful and be the hero that saves the day from bad guys." He looked at his friends, "You guys are supposed to be the bad guys, but…"

"But we don't act like it." Nami finished for him. "Trust me on this, Coby, not all Marines are good people. Some of them are as terrible and evil as they come. Not all of them, but more than there should be."

Coby sighed, dropping his fork. That's exactly what he was afraid of hearing. 'If this is what the Marines are really like, do I really want to join them? What if I become like them someday? What if I end up like those soldiers and have to help do terrible things? What if I-Ow!'

A welt popped up from Luffy's punch. He swallowed all the food in his mouth and looked Coby dead in the eyes. "Oi, don't go giving up on your dream."

"But I was-"

"Yeah, you were, I could hear you thinking about it. You were gonna give up because of people like Morfan."

"Morgan."

"Yeah, you were gonna give up because of him, right?"

"...Yeah." Coby admitted and got another wallop for his trouble. "Hey, stop doing that!"

"Not until you grow a spine!" Luffy tore out a piece of Meat and swallowed it whole. "Just because someone else does something you don't think is right means you should give up. It means you should get stronger so you can stop it yourself. If I don't like the way somebody acts, then I go and knock them around until they stop!" And that basically summed up the events of every island Luffy had been to, "So don't go giving up, ya wimp."

There it was again. Those words. That smile. Both of them filled with Coby with this excited energy that made him feel like he could do anything. Everything made sense and the path became clear. Coby would become a Marine and rise through the ranks to Admiral, and when he was strong enough, he would make sure no one like Morgan happened again.

The light returned to his eyes and the hungry to his stomach, digging into the steak that had gone cold after sitting there for so long.

The Straw Hats now returned to the Cameron after going through the whole song and dance with Coby and the Marines. They had said their farewells and made off to start their adventure once again. Zoro' eyes turned to dinner plates as he looked at the massive Sea King tied to the prow. Luffy wasn't kidding when he said things were going to be different this time around.

Setting sail once more, this time aimed at the nearest island so they could pick up supplies, Luffy stood on the edge of the cruise ship, smiling at the horizon. The sun was dipping down below the sea, painting the sky with beautiful golds, purples, and blues. Taking in a deep breath of air, Luffy said to himself, "Just you wait, guys. I'm coming as fast as I can so we can be together again. There'll be more of us this time around, but that'll just make it better. Then we can all set sail again. JUST YOU WAIT!"

On a certain island in the East Blue

'C'mon Luffy! I'm waiting right here for you, so hurry up and come!'

On a certain sailing restaurant

'You better hurry up, you shitty Captain. I'm a chef, not a waiter.'

A certain Winter Island on the Grand Line

'Is it time yet, Luffy? I can't wait to see you all again!'

An unknown location on the Grand Line

'It's been two years without all of you. I'm sure Luffy's coming as fast as he can. I'll be patient a little while longer.

A certain Super Clubhouse

'Ow! You better hurry it up, Luffy-bro! I'm getting SUUUUUUPER impatient waitin' on ya!

A certain ship on the Grand Line

'Yohohohoho! Don't you worry about me, dear Captain. I waited a long time once, I can certainly do it again. Hopefully, I can reach up to 35 degrees by then! YOHOHOHO!

Deep beneath the Red Line

'Luffy-kun. This time we will do it, I swear it on my life.'

Fyr3Flyt3: Good Golly, this chapter was a monster to write. I wanted to include meeting Zoro and Nami in the same chapter, so this one is easily longer than both the previous chapters combined. Between that and school, this took me a while to get done. It's a bit lighter on character interaction with the Straw Hats than I would've hoped, but the next chapter will hopefully make up for all of that. Chapters will hopefully not take another month to come out but only who knows what the future holds. Katakuri does but he isn't here right now. Sorry to those who wanted Coby on the crew. it felt wrong to manipulate it into him not following his dream. The boy wanted to be a Marine, so gosh darn it, he'll be a Marine! And thumpin' good one at that!

Anywho, that's it for this chapter, so if you have any comments or critiques be sure to leave a review. The next chapter will be "A Deal with the Devil and Other Horrible Mistakes." Until Next Time, Bye!