A Ripple in Time

Chapter 4: Loguetown and escaping the Marines.

A/N: I'd like to thank Ciarle, El Pirato, Shadow Joestar, Guest, frankieu, Skull Jokez, ivaXter, TBM10, bugaboo13, furiousSSJ2Gohan, DanielHimura, Demon Hunter9137, Shadowdragondanny, hellfire45, walkerxd, Okami no Shinigami, zerosama.754083, daniel2610994, camdawg, NASU LUVER, Alex2909, Knightowl, Lightningblade49, DarkPirateKing69, NinjaFang1331, Z-Breezy, Guest, Guest, KingofthePhantomDragon and Ilireanwri for your reviews, they main a lot.

Claire: The reason for why is explained in this chapter, but in case you accidently miss it, Vinsmoke Judge planted clues about his heritage. As for taking him away, Judge always saw him as weak and I don't know exactly when the Vinsmoke's and Big Mom made the deal, but in my fanfic it won't be until during the two year time skip. So he won't take it away just yet.

ivaXter: Yes.

furiousSSJ2Gohan: Yes.

Shadowdragondanny: That is a secret, you're gonna have to figure that out for yourself.

So, I've closed the poll and I have the new crewmates that will be joining the Straw Hat Pirates.

1) Reiju

2) Vivi

3) Perona

4) Kaku

I already have ideas for the first two, but the second two will take some time to think of a way in integrating them into the crew, but I'll do it. Hopefully.

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought/Flashbacks.'

"Attacks/Translations."

-X- Line Break -X-

Vinsmoke Judge, King of Germa Kingdom, supreme commander of the Germa 66 and patriarch of the Vinsmoke family looked down at the numerous wanted posters in his hand with a smirk upon his face. Most of the posters were strewn across his desk, but he held one in his hand.

The one belonging to his son, Vinsmoke Sanji who was now known as "Black Leg" Vinsmoke Sanji. It hadn't taken much effort to plant the information about Sanji's heritage in a way that even the most idiotic of the marines could have figured out, but now that it was revealed that Vinsmoke Sanji was a pirate in an upcoming and powerful crew, he hoped that it would be enough to gain an audience with "Big Mom" Charlotte Linlin.

When Sanji had been but a young boy, Judge had always seen him as a waste of space and resources. The boy did not have the superhuman strength of his siblings and only had the strength of an ordinary human. Even then, it had been the death of Sora that had been the main reason for his harsh treatment of his son.

However, looking down at the poster he could see that the boy he once knew had changed. He had become powerful, but he was still a disappointment. Serving under someone else was not the Vinsmoke way, even if it was the grandson of "The Fist" Monkey D. Garp and the son of the "Dragon the Revolutionary" Monkey D. Dragon. Sanji would forever be a disappointment in his eyes, forever weak.

Looking up, Judge saw his one and only daughter, Vinsmoke Reiju. "You called for me, father." She bowed as a sign of submission to the more powerful person in the room.

"Ah yes, come sit down." He indicated to the seat across from him and Reiju took it calmly, her eyes studying the posters on the desk. "What do you think of these?" Reiju studied the posters more closely before seating herself fully against the chair. Not once did her emotions get the better of her, something he was proud of.

"The captain, "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy and the first mate, "Demon Blade" Roronoa Zoro are interesting. The rest are nothing of note."

Judge nodded his head before smirking. "Now, what do you think of this?" He placed the poster of Sanji down on the desk for Reiju to see and her eyes widened slightly in shock before becoming impassive once more.

"I see." That was all she said and then locked her gaze with patriarch of the Vinsmoke family. "What is the reason for this, father? Is it a test?" Judge shook his head as he put all the posters except for his sons in the bin.

"No, they are your new mission." Reiju straightened in her seat as she listened to her father explain her mission. "Do you understand what you are to do?"

Reiju nodded her head. "I do, father." With that, Reiju rose to her feet and left the room.

Judge watched her go with a smirk gracing his features, his mind creating backup plans just in case his weak son decided to interfere with the future of the Vinsmoke family.

-X- Line Break -X-

"Can you believe this?!" Nami exclaimed as a nervous pelican waited dutifully for its payment. Gin looked at her with mirth shining in his eyes before taking another gulp of beer. "They raised the prices once more." She muttered a few more unpleasantries before dumping another coin into the pelicans pouch.

Afterwards, the bird quickly flew away as to not suffer the anger of the irritated woman any longer. Gin burst out into laughter as he walked down onto the deck where most of the crew were, Nami glaring at his back all the way.

The rest of the Straw Hats Pirates were doing their own things. Johnny and Yosaku were sparring against one another, their blades clashing against one another repeatedly as they aimed to only lightly cut one another. Right at the front of the ship, the newly healed Zoro was pushing his body to the limits. While the Going Merry didn't have any weights, they did have numerous empty barrels which they filled to the brim with water. Each barrel was balanced perfectly on his feet with two more on top of each one as he did handstand press-ups.

Usopp was up in the Crow's nest once again improving his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) while creating more pellets to use in fights. As for Sanji, he had finished training for the day and was doing a check of their current supplies as to know what they needed to restock on.

Luffy on the other hand, was mediating in the centre of the ship. Occasionally his body would twitch as he sensed movement, but other than that, he kept perfectly still. He would do this once every month and according to him, it was to keep his mysterious Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit) from getting out of control. While they were all curious to know what his Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit) is, but Luffy was been stubborn in keeping it as a surprise.

"Everyone!" Nami shouted and each jumped to attention and all of them including, Sanji and Usopp appeared around her and looking down at her.

Sanji looked at her with hearts in his eyes. "Yes, Nami-swan?" The young woman in question simply moved to one side as to allow the crew to see what she was looking at and each were stumped when they saw that it was about them.

"Awesome!" Luffy shouted cheerfully while Zoro looked incredibly smug and pleased. Gin shrugged his shoulders, while Johnny and Yosaku were torn between nervousness and joy. Usopp was shaking in terror as he stared wide eyed at his photo and Sanji was frozen in shock.

'How? How did they get hold of my name?' He thought to himself as the Going Merry slowly docked at Loguetown.

"Oi! Sanji, come on down here!" Luffy shouted and Sanji shook his head, he'd think about it later, for now he would simply have fun with his crew.

Standing beside Usopp, Sanji lit a cigarette and stared at his captain. "What do you need?"

"I, well Gin was thinking that we should let everyone know where the others are going so that if one of us gets lost or is in a fight, we know where to go should we need help?" Gin nodded his head as it had been one of the ides he tried to implement in the Don Krieg Pirates, but had been turned down by the man himself. It was nice to know that his new captain was willing to listen to the advice of his crew and if they had good ideas, giving them the credit and not steal it for himself.

"Alright then." Zoro nodded his head before gripping hold of Johnny and Yosaku by their shoulders. "Me and these idiots are going to find a sword shop, they need at least some halfway decent weapons and I need to get two more for myself."

Nami's eyes lit up. "I could give you some money, but you'll have to pay it back with three hundred percent interest." The crew stared at her blankly, except for Sanji.

"Not a chance in hell, witch." Zoro replied.

"Sorry Nami, aneki." Johnny began.

"Me and Johnny still have some money from when we were bounty hunters." Pouting, Nami turned to Sanji.

"Do you need some money, Sanji?"

Sanji swooned as the hearts in his eyes seemed to throb. "Of course, Nami-swan." The rest of the crew shook their heads in amusement. Then he turned slightly serious. "I'll be going to get the supplies we are running low on. So I'll be in the food market."

"I'll go with you, you might need some help carrying the food, especially with him on the ship." He pointed towards Luffy while the crew chuckled in amusement.

Sanji nodded his head in thanks. "I'll stay with the ship." Gin continued afterwards. "We may get spotted and the ship may be attacked or we need to make a quick getaway."

"Thank you." Gin waved off Luffy's thanks. He had nothing to do in Loguetown anyway, he didn't really need anything more than what he already had. Might as well put his fighting skills to better use by guarding the ship.

"I'm gonna go shopping for whatever I need." Nami added in her own mission for Loguetown. Hopefully they had some good clothes or something else.

Now all that remained was Luffy. "I'm going to the execution site, I want to see were Gol D. Roger died." Everyone nodded their heads as Zoro, Johnny, Yosaku and Sanji immediately left.

Usopp pulled out two pellets and handed them to a confused Nami and Gin. "These are new pellets I came up with. Simply throw them at the ground and when they exploded, they will release a red smoke into the air." Now it made sense, they were nowhere near as strong as the monster trio – Luffy, Sanji and Zoro – but they could fight. However, they unlike Johnny, Yosaku and Usopp wouldn't have one of the monster trio with them, thus the pellet would act as a signal that they were fighting an opponent(s) that they couldn't beat without help.

Nami looked at the pellet before pocketing it. "Why didn't you give one to Sanji, Zoro, Johnny, Yosaku or Luffy-kun?" She asked and Usopp pulled out one pellet that showed he had one on him.

"I only have three made. One for me, you and Gin. As for Zoro, Johnny and Yosaku. Together I believe they could fight anyone here, but if they fought an opponent they couldn't beat, one of them could get one of us or they would make so much destruction that we know exactly where they are."

"He has a point." Luffy said as Gin nodded his head in agreement.

Sighing, Nami placed one hand on her hip. "What about Luffy-kun?" The pirate captain in question smiled at the concern in her voice.

Gin snorted as he heard her question, something that got a glare from her. "Do you really have to ask? Luffy is a walking, talking, breathing, whirlwind of destruction. Literally, if anyone is going to get in trouble here, it's him and he will end up winning because he's a freak of nature."

"I agree." Usopp said while Luffy nodded his head in agreement.

"Honestly, some idiot is going to fight this idiot." He pointed towards Luffy. "Or, this idiot is going to see an idiot who is doing something stupid and fight them. Or, this idiot is going to be watched as a group idiots fight one another, and then this idiots going to join just because he can." All the while, Luffy nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey!" Luffy finally caught onto what Gin had said and pouted, his form disappearing and reappearing on his knees before Nami, his arms wrapped around her waist with his head resting against her stomach.

Nami froze in shock at the action before running her hands through his hair.

"Nami-chan. Gin's been mean."

The man in question froze. 'He didn't.' Gin thought before watching as Nami's eyes narrowed in on him while Luffy gave him a cheeky grin. 'He did, that manipulative son of a bitch!'

"Gin." While he tried to not let his fear show, Gin's form was still trembling slightly.

"Y-yes." Nami smiled sweetly and he might had thought she had forgiven him, if he hadn't seen the dangerous glint in her eyes.

"If you keep on bullying Luffy-kun, I will castrate you with your Tonfa's, the cannonball end." The three men reached down and guarded the very thing that made them a man, none of them knew if what she said was possible, but none wanted to find out.

"Y-yep, of course." He stuttered as Nami continued to study him before nodding her head.

Luffy grinned at him cheekily before shooting up and kissing Nami on the cheek. "Thanks Nami-chan!" He shouted before rushing off to find his desired destination. Usopp shook his head in mirth before rushing off to catch up with Sanji.

Nami stood frozen for a few moments before she slowly touched the cheek were Luffy kissed her before breaking out into a girlish squeal. She stop though when she remembered that Gin was here.

"You tell anyone of this, and I will follow through with my earlier threat." She didn't even wait for Gin to answer before rushing off leaving Gin stood on his lonesome. Sighing, sat down with his back resting against the side of the ship, his Tonfa's laid out beside him as he slowly closed his eyes.

He may be relatively new to the crew, but there was never a dull moment with them. Completely different from his time with the Don Krieg Pirates.

-X- Line Break -X-

"The White Hunter" Smoker, Marine Captain stationed at Loguetown with a reputation of capturing every pirate that entered his town. Despite his fearsome reputation and appearance, Smoker did in fact care for the people of Loguetown and was one of the main driving forces for him capturing pirates so efficiently.

"Captain Smoker!" The man in question looked up from his desk and saw a marine burst into the room.

Smoker watched as the man bent over and gasped for air before his patience reached its breaking point. "Get on with it then!" He snapped and the marine recoiled before standing to attention.

"The Straw Hat Pirates have been spotted throughout the city." Captain Smoker ignored the saluting man as his mind registered the information.

'The Straw Hat Pirates, captain is "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy and the first mate is "Demon Blade" Roronoa Zoro.' He clasped his hands together as the marine in the room gradually grew more and more nervous. 'Both have fought against Dracule "Hawk Eyes" Mihawk and even managed to land blows against him and both have the highest recorded bounties in East Blue.'

"Sir?" The marine questioned unsurely, but he stood back to attention when Smoker stared at him. "What shall we do?"

"I shall deal with "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy. Inform Marine Lieutenant Fullbody he is to deal with "Black Leg" Sanji and Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi that she is to deal with "Demon Blade" Roronoa Zoro." The marine saluted, but he didn't leave.

"What of "Flash Blade" Johnny, "Double Blade" Yosaku, "Cat Burglar" Nami, "Man-Demon" Gin and "The King of Snipers" Usopp?" Smoker stared at him in deep thought.

"Have the marines full mobilised and have them destroy the Straw Hat pirate's ship, we will cut off their escape route." The marine saluted before rushing out of the area. Smoker himself, stood up from his seat and after strapping his Jitte to his back, left the room in search of the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy.

-X- Line Break -X-

Closing the door to the shop behind him, Zoro, Johnny and Yosaku looked at the swords placed around the room. It had been difficult to get here because of him visiting a young woman that looked exactly like his childhood friend, Kuina. It turns out she was the Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi and had almost managed to figure it out his identities. Thankfully he managed to convince her otherwise and the three had set off once more.

"Hello good sir, how can I help you today?" The man behind the counter was smiling brightly at them. Zoro moved forwards and placed two hundred thousand berries on the table, half was his own while the other half was from Luffy himself.

"I need to good swords." Johnny and Yosaku paid the interaction no heed as they would occasionally pick up a sword, or two in Yosaku's case and would swing them around as to get a feel for them.

As soon as he laid the money out on the desk and asked for two swords, the smile on the man's face disappeared instantly. "You're joking right, with that you could buy barely two decent swords, maybe one." The tirade about Zoro's money would have probably continued if it hadn't been before Wado Ichimonji making a slight noise. Once again a huge smile came upon his face as he stared at in greed. "My dear sir, would you let me have a look at your sword?"

Quirking an eyebrow at the man's mood change, his he reluctantly handed over Wado Ichimonji to the shopkeeper. The man studied the blade closely for a few moments before looking at Zoro.

"This blade isn't that much, pretty it might be, but nothing overly special." Zoro felt a twitch form as Johnny and Yosaku froze as they mechanically turned to face Zoro. They above all else knew not to say anything bad about his last memento of Kuina. "Tell you what, I'll buy this off you two hundred thousand giving you four hundred thousand berries. This means that you'll have enough money for three decent blades and still have some money left."

The shopkeeper froze in terror as he took in the anger radiating in Zoro's eyes. "I'm only gonna say this once, I ain't selling this sword." Before anything else could happen, a woman appeared staring wide-eyed at the sword held in the shopkeeper's hands.

"Is that?!" She snatched the blade out of the shopkeeper's hands and pulled out a catalogue from nowhere. "It is. Wado Ichimonji, one of the twenty-one Great Blades and one of the eighty-three named blades on the planet. This could easily sell for over twenty million berries."

"Yes it is." The shopkeeper snatched the blade out of Tashigi's hands and passed it back to Zoro. He then pulled out another blade with flower-shaped hilt. "Your sword has been sharpened as for you young man, one hundred thousand berry swords are over in that barrel." Tashigi finally took note of Zoro and her eyes narrowed in annoyance as she went on a tirade about how he didn't know how to treat a blade.

Johnny and Yosaku looked at the woman incredulously. She just insulted Zoro, a man who treated his blade like his very soul. Oh boy, they then looked to Zoro to see his eyes narrowed slightly, yet they didn't show any anger only annoyance.

Then Tashigi mentioned Roronoa Zoro. "I've heard that name a lot." He had to restrain himself from attacking the woman. Her desire to talk eclipsed her resemblance to his childhood friend.

"It's such a shame, isn't it? How all the best blades in the world belong to pirates and bounty hunters? They are not simple weapons, but works of arts that should be cherished." Zoro had to stop himself from groaning as the woman continued to talk. "One day I will collect all the blades and see that they are not used for petty violence."

"So you want to take all the Named Blades? Will you fight me for ownership of this one?" Tashigi shook her head quickly.

Zoro would have said something else had his hand not touched a cursed blade. "No, no, no, no, no. You misunderstand, I don't want to own the blades. I just want to free them." He gripped hold of the katana and looked down at it. It wasn't the beauty of the blade that caught his attention, it was the bloodlust behind it. It instantly tried to take hold of him.

Johnny and Yosaku watched Zoro confusedly before they saw Tashigi pull out the catalogue from before. "Wow! It's the Sandai Kitetsu, a famous blade forged by the legendary Kitetsu. Overall, it should be able to sell for a minimum of thirteen million berries so why is it in this bin. What kind of a scam is that?"

The shopkeeper didn't listen to her as he pointed at Zoro. "Put the sword down, I will not sell that sword!" Zoro looked down at the blade, studying it closely. "I will not sell it, it's…"

"Cursed." Zoro finished and the shopkeeper nodded his head.

"Cursed?" Johnny asked while Yosaku looked equally confused. Zoro and the shopkeeper nodded their head.

"The three blades forged by the Kitetsu are feared because of their great cutting power. However, every swordsmen that wielded has been killed by mysterious means. It is said that each blade contains a demon, which gives the blade power, but the curse comes with it as well." Tashigi had the decency to be ashamed of her accusations.

Zoro continued to stare at the blade before turning to the shopkeeper. "I'll take it."

"Zoro-aniki!" Johnny and Yosaku shouted out in shock.

"I'm sorry sir, but if I give you that blade and it kills you, it'd be like I killed you." The shopkeeper raised a good point, but Zoro simply smirked down at the blade much to the confusion of those watching.

Zoro looked up and stared at the shopkeeper. He knew exactly what the blade needed, a test of strength and will, he needed to show his dominance to gain the blades loyalty. "Let's see which is stronger shall I: my good luck or the blades curse." Before anyone could say anything, Zoro threw the blade into the air and all watched as time seemed to slow down. The blade spinning through the air before falling down straight towards Zoro's outstretched arm.

Known dared breathe as the blade was a mere hairs breadth away from his arm and then it moved around it, as if unwilling to cut him.

Johnny and Yosaku sighed in relief, while the shopkeeper rushed to the back of his shop. He came back with an elegant sword in hand. By this point, they really didn't care to listen for what Tashigi said as she talked about the sword in his hand.

"Though I've only recently met you, I would like you to have this. It's one of the fifty Great Blades, it's a family heirloom, but I want you to have it. Its free of charge, please take it." Zoro hesitated as to allow the shopkeeper time to take back his offer should he change his mind, the man didn't and so he took the blade.

"Thank you." The shopkeeper nodded his head and after Johnny and Yosaku paid for their own swords, they left. Johnny had a single Wakizashi while Yosaku had two katana's.

Tashigi watched them go before she also left, going down the other direction. "Tashigi-sama!" The Master Chief Petty Officer turned around to see a squad of Marines rushing towards her.

"What is it?" She asked as the marines came to a stop in front of her.

The marines stood to attention. "The Straw Hat Pirates have been spotted in the town." Tashigi narrowed her eyes. "We have been sent by Captain Smoker to destroy their pirate ship and we are to inform you that you are to personally bring Roronoa Zoro to justice."

-X- Line Break -X-

Luffy looked down at the numerous civilians that walked this way and that as they went about their daily lives. It was surprising to see as most civilians he had seen had always been slightly tense, it should be especially so in this village seen as though it one of the islands that lead into the Grand Line and should be brimming with pirates.

Yet, it wasn't.

Shrugging his shoulders, Luffy lay down on the execution platform and placed his hat over his eyes as to cover them from the sun. He hadn't been able to sleep much as he usually would do as he had been getting to know his crew and training them to face the level of pirates in the Grand Line, while each were skilled and could take on numerous lower level pirates themselves, they would find trouble in the more experienced and ruthless pirates.

Still, he had to give himself a pat on the back for his achievements. Each had increased their strength to the point that Usopp and Nami could have fought against Arlong's lieutenants and won, Gin, Johnny and Yosaku could have fought against Arlong himself and managed to hold him off and could potentially beat them, while Sanji and Zoro would destroy him.

"I've finally found you, Straw Hats." An anger filled voice snarled at him. Sitting up, Luffy turned to face the owner of the voice and it took him a few moments to figure out who the person was.

He was slim, but muscular young man that bore a striking resemblance to a clown with blue hair and big red nose that looked like his actual nose. His eyes then turned to the woman beside him and while he was no pervert like Sanji, even he could admire the female form and he knew the woman before him was a real bombshell. The woman was slim and well-endowed just like Nami, black wavy hair and dark green eyes.

Her outfit did little to hide her body as she only wore a bikini top, cowboy hat, tight Capri-length pants and a purple coat draped over her shoulders. To finish off her outfit, she wore a pearl necklace around her neck.

Luffy scratched his face with a sheepish smile on his face, something that made the woman blush. "Who are you?" The man face dropped before shooting to his feet with his right fist shaking in anger.

"I am Buggy the Clown!" The now named Buggy shouted out as the woman beside him giggled. Luffy paid the man no heed and turned to face the woman.

"And you are?" Luffy asked.

The woman blushed and cupped her cheek with one hand. "Alvida." She answered and there was silence as an image of a very fat woman wielding a mace appeared in his mind. Then he looked at her more closely before his mind once again went back to the woman.

"Ehhhh!" He shouted in shock. "H-how…w-what…"

"I ate the Sube-Sube no Mi (Slip-Slip Fruit)." Luffy nodded his head in understanding.

"Oh, cool." Reacting quickly, Luffy performed a quick handspring as to avoid the knives that embedded themselves in the ground where he once was. "That's not very nice, you know?" Luffy said as he turned to face the owner of the blades. Buggy.

Buggy simply growled and threw a few more at him. Alvida gasped in shock when they were about to strike Luffy before there was a blur of movement followed by the clang of metal striking metal. The blades fell to the ground as Luffy stood there with his cutlass held in his right hand, the tip mere inches off the ground.

"No need to be jealous that I was having a conversation with a hot woman that is way out of your league." Despite Buggy been their captain, some of his crewmembers let out a few chuckles at his words. Buggy didn't find it amusing at all as he pulled out more weapons, holding the four knives in between the gaps of his fingers.

"Bara-Bara Ho kirihanashi (Split-Split Cannon Dismember)!" He shouted as his hand along with a third of his arm shot towards Luffy who in turn, back flipped off the execution platform, before backpedalling as the arm continued towards him.

It got so boring that as he was running backwards, Luffy began to whistle a jolly tune. Buggy growled in anger and launched the same technique with his other hand, yet Luffy continued to expertly dodge the knives whenever they got to close.

Growing annoyed with how easy it was, Luffy waited for the perfect moment and he manoeuvred the left hand with the flat edge of his blade, straight into the right hand and then kicked it away instantly. He remembered from Zoro's fight with the man that despite his great skill with Akuma no Mi (Devil Fruit), it still took Buggy a half a second - more depending on how many body parts were unattached - to take control of them.

"Yo, Alvida!" He shouted towards the woman before once again avoiding the newly formed hands once more. "How about you join my crew?"

Alvida looked at him confusion. She didn't quite understand why he would want her on his crew, he was friends with Coby and she had terrified him continuously for her own amusement. So why did he want her to join his crew. "Why?!" She shouted her question as the pirate crew looked at her in shock.

"You can't really think of accepting this clown's proposal." The last word made Alvida blush, it seemed that after her defeat at Luffy that she had become enamoured with him, or at the very least infatuated.

Buggy screamed in fright when Luffy appeared before him in a show of speed that he hadn't seen since his time as a member of the Pirate Kings past. "Look who's talking, clown." Luffy replied blandly before punching him in the stomach throwing the man backwards. "So how about it?" Alvida looked from the shaky form of Buggy who now had both of his arms and then to the grinning Luffy.

He was strong, far stronger than her or anyone in the East Blue, 'and handsome as well.' She thought while licking her lips as she took in Luffy's muscled and toned figure. Smirking, Alvida moved forwards towards Luffy, the pirates of the Buggy-Alvida alliance watched in expectation as they waited for Alvida to attack Luffy.

Instead, she stood beside Luffy and turned to face her former comrades. "I'll deal with Buggy, he's been annoying me for a while." She then turned to face Luffy. "If that's alright with you, Luffy-kun?"

Smirking, Luffy waved his hand in the pirate captain's direction. "By all means." With a coy smile on her face that melted the hearts of the pirates, she walked forwards and brandished a mace from nowhere. Seeing this, Buggy growled and turned to his crewmembers.

"Get out there and destroy his ship and his crew!" The pirates shouted their agreement and rushed off towards the ports. Luffy went to rush after them and managed to take out three pirates before a stream of smoke rushed past his face and a Jitte shot out. Reacting quickly, Luffy parried the strike and jumped backwards as to avoid the strike.

Luffy watched as the smoke slowly formed into a man and he realised that the man had a Logia-Type Devil Fruit. "So, who are you?" He took note of the man's marine like outfit.

"Marine Captain, Smoker." The man said as he gripped his Jitte tightly. "Howaito Auto (White Out)!" From his hands, smoke was released and shot towards Luffy. The quick utilisation of Soru (Shave) allowed him to avoid the smoke and after channelling Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) into his blade and slashed at Smoker.

Smoker stood confidently as the blade reached him before gasping in shock and pain when it cut through him

Stumbling backwards, Smoker touched the cut on his chest with his free hand and looked down at his hands to see blood coating them. 'What?! How?!' He looked back up to Luffy and had to restrain his anger at the fact that Luffy hadn't capitalised on the opening.

Gripping his Jitte tightly, Smoker prepared himself while internally grateful that the cut was only shadow and didn't restrict his movements.

-X- Line Break -X-

In the middle of the street, a few yards away from Luffy and Smoker, a hooded figure watched as Luffy easily cut Smoker. Despite most of his face shrouded in shadows, anyone looking at him would easily see the smirk on his face.

'You've grown strong, Luffy.' The man thought before closing his eyes. 'And you've surrounded yourself with strong friends.'

-X- Line Break -X-

Sanji sighed as he passed the remaining barrel to Usopp. They had been going back and forth from the ship to the shops with him holding more of the produce than Usopp, but the extra hand definitely sped up the process.

"Stop right there, "Black Leg" Sanji, "The King of Snipers" Usopp!" The two Straw Hat Pirates in question turned to face the owner of the voice and saw Marine Lieutenant Fullbody stood before them with knuckle dusters on his fists with a large group of marines behind him.

Placing the barrels on the ground, Sanji turned to face Usopp. "Go back to the ship, I'll deal with him." Usopp looked between the two for a moment.

"Alright." With that, Usopp rushed towards the ship with his barrels in arm. The marines charging after him under the orders of Fullbody, all the while Sanji and the lieutenant remained untouched as they stared at one another.

Placing his hands in his pockets, Sanji relaxed his body. "You really want to do this again, haven't I kick your ass enough already?" Fullbody grit his teeth in anger as he got into a boxing fighting stance.

"That was nothing more than a fluke, this time I will kick your ass." Sanji snorted at the unimaginative comeback before having to quickly weave in and out of Fullbody's strikes. They were fast and from the displacement of the air, they were powerful as well. No matter, compared to Luffy and Zoro who were monsters in their own right, he might as well be fanning him.

Just as Fullbody went for a straight jab, Sanji lashed out with a kick to his midsection sending him skidding backwards. Placing his foot back on the ground slowly, as to taunt his opponent, Sanji used pure physical speed to appear almost instantly in front of Fullbody.

It was only pure instinct that allowed him to raise his arms into the air, but even then, the strength behind the roundhouse kick sent him skidding across the ground before he was picked off the ground and sent flying a few more feet.

Sanji watched him coolly as he turned to watch as Fullbody got to his feet, his hands slightly twitching from the pain caused by his kicks. 'Shit! That kick nearly broke my arm!' Fullbody looked at Sanji in anger. 'There's no way he became this powerful in such a short time. Is there?' The chef gave the Lieutenant no time to think as he went on the offensive.

Fullbody, a man who relied on getting up close and battering his opponent into submission with powerful punches found himself quickly overwhelmed by the barrage of fast and equally powerful kicks. The range of his kicks easily kept Fullbody at bay while forcing the man to give ground that he really didn't want to give, but was unable to stop himself from giving. That was, unless he decided to take ta large amount of punishment just to get in close and personal, something he was hesitant to do.

Sanji must have noticed this as his kicks increased speed and ferocity. His body fluidly flowing from torso height to all sorts of levels that ranged from the ground all the way to been in the air and aiming at his head.

The acrobatics involved further put Fullbody on the back foot as more and more attacks were getting through his guard. Lucky for him however, they weren't doing that much damage due to them only clipping him. With a roar, Fullbody reckless threw a punch that surprisingly, got through Sanji's attacks and went straight towards him. The marines eyes widened I shocked delight before narrowing in anger as Sanji manoeuvred his knee in the direction of the strike and took the attack without a flinch.

The two fighters put some distance between them, both were slightly out of breath, with Fullbody more so than Sanji.

"Seems you were right, last time was a fluke." Fullbody looked at the chef in questioning. "You are far more skilled than I thought, but it's still not enough." The marine didn't know what happened, but something overcame Sanji, something that made him nervous. "You threaten my crew and our ship, I'll start taking you seriously from here on out."

That admission gave Fullbody the chills, but he squared his shoulder and prepared himself. He just knew that there last bout was simply a warm up for the chef, now the real fight would begin.

-X- Line Break -X-

Nami had arrived back at the ship after around an hour after their arrival at Loguetown. Despite the large amount of shops, none really had anything she needed and so she had gone sightseeing before returning to the ship.

Like she had expected, Gin had been asleep, a quick kick to the man's shin woke him up instantly. Now here they sat well, Gin was sat drinking beer while Nami was leaning on the side of the ship as she looked out into the town for any sight of the rest of the crew. Sanji and Usopp had been the only two she had seen since their arrival here due to the fact that they had to keep coming back to drop of the large amount of supplies.

Putting it into the hull had been Gins job.

"Usopp's back." Gin sighed as he finished off his beer, wiping some of the liquid from around his mouth with the back of his hand. "He seems to be running." Raising one eyebrow, Gin moved forwards and looked towards Usopp. "Shit! Marines!"

The two froze for barely a second before springing into action. Nami quickly grabbing hold of her new and improved bo-staff, something she now called, the Clima-tact. So far she only had one use for it, something that Usopp designed himself, but she planned to create more techniques to use.

"Usopp! Hurry your ass up!" Gin shouted as he gripped his cannonball-Tonfa's tightly. While he couldn't use Haki like the rest of the crew, he was easily the fourth strongest member of the crew.

As soon as Usopp crossed the threshold of the ship, Nami called out her attack. "Torunēdo Tenpo (Tornado Tempo)!" Her form shot through the droves of marines and she appeared on the opposite end of them, while there was a large hole in their ranks as a result of the marines once been there been launched in all directions.

Smirking, Nami connected the three parts that made up her Clima-Tact and turned to face the marines. There was a few explosions at those at the front, no doubt because Usopp used a Kayaku Boshi (Gunpowder Star).

"Come on then boys, don't be shy." She said flirtatiously gaining a few love struck gazes before she shot forwards. Her bo-staff slamming into marine after marine. She may not have any skill in Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), but she had been working on her own physical strength and trying to gain a grasp of Tekkai (Iron Body), though the latter hadn't been working at all.

That didn't mean that Nami didn't pack a punch, something the marines found out the hard way.

Back with Usopp, he instantly began firing three Kayaku Boshis (Gunpowder stars) at the front of the marines before firing normal pellets at them. Each one were aimed at the heads of those in the blind spots of Nami and Gin, who was also engaging in a fight against a smaller group of marines that had turned up mere seconds after Nami commenced the battle.

He was slamming his Tonfa's into a different marine, many of the strikes would cause a marine to slam into a group of marines knocking them to the ground unconscious. In his time training, Gin had been mainly working on physical strength and speed, along with the Rokushiki (Six Powers) while occasionally working on his Haki training.

Out of everyone in the crew, only the monster trio had him beat when it came to the Rokushiki (Six Powers). He was able to use Rankyaku (Tempest Kick), Soru (Shave) and Tekkai (Iron Body).

Luffy however, had warned the crew against using them unless faced against an opponent they couldn't beat without Haki. According to him, it would keep them from gaining too much attention from the World Government as well as the some of the stronger pirates in the Grand Line.

Still, using his dramatically increased physical strength and speed to take care of numerous marines - something he had been unable to do when a member of the Don Krieg Armada – was a real eye-opener to the strength one person could truly gain.

Smirking, he looked around to see that the marines had formed a tight circle in the centre of the triangle that was formed from Usopp, Nami and himself. Strewn across the ground were the multiple unconscious bodies of the marines they had defeated. It was a far better feeling than seeing cowering civilians, too weak to defend themselves.

-X- Line Break -X-

The three swordsmen of the Straw Hat Pirates walked down the streets. Their swords and intimidating figures did gain a few wary glances, but pirates were quite common in this town and it was only a matter of time before they were captured by the marines.

Speaking of which, the three had felt two large groups fast approaching them. As soon as they reached a three way junction, they came into view. Coming from the right – the direction they just came from – was a large group of marines with one Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi at the front. On the opposite side – coming from the direction of the execution platform – was a large group of pirates and smack dab in the middle of the two groups, was where they stood.

"This is a fine mess we got ourselves into, isn't it?" Johnny slightly drew his blade as to show the gleaming metal, Yosaku did the same with his two blades.

Zoro grunted as he crossed his arms in annoyance. "Seems that way." Zoro then began walking down the other path. "Come on, I doubt they've recognised us."

"That's him!" One of the marines started, causing Johnny and Yosaku to turn and see them pointing at Zoro.

"Eh, Zoro-aniki." Yosaku called out.

"Ma'am! That's Roronoa Zoro!" One marine shouted.

"It's "Flash Blade" Johnny!" A pirate also shouted out.

It was another marine that shouted out Yosaku's title. "And "Double Blade" Yosaku!"

Zoro came to a stop and drew Wado Ichimonji as he turned to stand back in the centre, Johnny and Yosaku also joining him, their blades free and gripped in hand. The group of pirates and marines gripped their swords and guns tightly.

"Roronoa Zoro, Johnny, Yosaku and pirates. Under the authority of Captain Smoker and the World Government, I order you to surrender or we will use lethal force." It was an old saying that had long since been forgotten by the marines, none caring about giving pirates a second chance.

"Fuck off!" There was a few more crude words and phrases at the marines.

"Men, get them!" Tashigi shouted and the marines charged forwards, the Buggy and Alvida Pirates doing the same. As to avoid been caught in the crossfire, the three Straw Hat Pirates jumped onto a nearby roof and looked down to see the bloodbath forming in the streets. Marine and pirate alike been struck down by sword or bullet, some getting knocked unconscious by a butt of the gun and then trampled to death.

It was Johnny who first brought up the missing Master Chief Petty Officer. "Wait, where is that Tashigi woman?" Yosaku also looked around, but Zoro turned to look to the left to see Tashigi stood with sword pointed towards the ground.

"I'm right here, pirate scum." She spat out.

Zoro spared the two a glance. "Deal with them lot down there and then go find Luffy." He ordered as the two nodded their heads before leaping down into the fray. Despite been outnumbered, the two made quick work of the remaining men. All the while, Zoro stared at the woman with a frightening resemblance to his childhood friend.

"You do not use your other two swords." She noticed and Zoro looked down at them.

"I won't need them to end this fight." Tashigi's mouth twitched in anger before she shot forwards. While surprised at her speed, it did nothing to stop him from easily parrying her blade before he had to quickly block her return swing. The two were locked in a clash of steel before breaking apart. "You are far more skilled than I initially thought." Then he went on the offensive and nearly knocked her off the building. "But it's not enough."

Gritting her teeth, Tashigi went back on the offensive. Although she had great skill, Zoro was faster, stronger, more experienced and all-round better fighter than Tashigi.

As he parried another strike, he could see why Luffy and Mihawk loved to play with their opponents so much. It not only drove their opponents to fight and harder and stronger than before, but to also test their own skills. By simply using a fraction of their power, they tested their skill and improved it at the same time.

"Argh! Fight me seriously!" Tashigi raged as she finally reached her breaking point.

Zoro smirked at her. "Not yet." He sensed that Johnny and Yosaku were nearing Luffy's location. Just as soon as they reached Luffy, Zoro went on the offensive. His blade cutting through the air and colliding with Tashigi's own blade. The impact caused sent her skidding backwards till her heels nearly went to over the edge. To avoid been knocked off the building, she fell backwards and stabbed her blade into it as to slow her decent.

Landing in a crouch position, Tashigi looked up at the roof with a deep cut in the building and Zoro nowhere in sight. "Where are you looking?" Tashigi gasped in shock and spun round only for the handle of the blade to slam against her face and knock her to the ground. She knew what was coming next, but as time went by, death never claimed her.

Slowly she opened her eyes and saw that Zoro was nowhere to be seen. She was just sat on the street with dead and unconscious forms of the pirates and marines. 'Roronoa Zoro.' She clenched her fist tightly. 'Why didn't you kill me?'

-X- Line Break -X-

Luffy parried a strike from Smoker's Jitte and then slashed at the smoke in the air. Despite him been in smoke form, it only resulted in minor scratches. Still, this had become a recurring theme throughout the fight. Smoker would occasionally use one of his Devil Fruit attacks and Luffy would easily escape before returning to dodging, deflecting and blocking Smoker's Jitte, while slashing at the smoke.

Feeling Smoker's body partially form behind him, Luffy jumped into the air while spinning around, his leg swinging outwards and colliding with Smoker's face.

His body along with the rest of the smoke collided with a nearby building and created a large hole in it. Landing on the ground gracefully, Luffy looked down at the body with a grin. "It's been fun, Smoker!" Luffy said as the captain finally gave into unconsciousness. Then he turned to face the hooded figure. "Nice to see you, dad."

The figure pulled down his hood revealing Monkey D. Dragon to the world. Well, only Luffy because he was the only in the streets that could identify him.

Dragon smiled at his son before he then looked up to the sky. "You should go now, a storms coming." Luffy nodded his head with a smile.

"Luffy-aniki!" The young man in question turned to face his crewmates, Johnny and Yosaku to see them running towards him.

He turned back and saw that his father had gone. "Nice to see you too, son." He whispered back sarcastically before grinning at his crewmates. "Sup guys, guess you had some problems too, huh?" He asked after seeing the blood on their blades.

"Yea, just a little bit." Yosaku replied.

Johnny on the other hand was looking around for any sign of an attacker. "Come on Luffy-aniki, we gotta go before anything happens to the Going Merry." Luffy continued to grin.

"One minute, our new crewmate is gonna join us any second now." As soon as he said that, he turned to see Alvida walking towards them. Johnny and Yosaku's jaws dropped in shock as a blush stained their cheeks. "Yo, Alvida. How'd it go?"

"Buggy managed to escape, Luffy-kun." There was quite a few bruises and scratches with her clothes slightly worse for wear than before. "He was as strong as I imagined, but far more cunning then I gave him credit for."

"What'd you expect, he was a member of the Gol D. Roger's crew." That admission got shocked looks from the three other members of the Straw Hat Pirates.

"Seriously, Buggy the Clown?" Yosaku asked questioningly.

Johnny nodded his head in agreement. "I remember hearing about him, out of the top pirate captains in the East Blue, he is by far the weakest of them all, but like you said, the most cunning."

-X- Line Break -X-

Fullbody gasped in as much air as he could as he collapsed to his knees. Just like he had expected, the moment Sanji got serious he was completely destroyed, unable to do anything as Sanji repeatedly kicked at him. His legs breaking through Fullbody's defences like they weren't even there.

"I admit, you lasted longer than I expected." Sanji said while lighting a cigarette." It's been fun, but I gotta go." After picking up the barrels, Sanji disappeared with the use of Soru (Shave).

-X- Line Break -X-

Luffy looked down at his crew, they each took Alvida's entry in varying ways. Usopp had acted similar to Johnny and Yosaku before the three had simply shrugged it off and accepted her easily. Zoro didn't pay her much attention nor did Gin, who simply ogled her for a few moments before going back to normal. Sanji, well he was acting exactly like everyone had expected and Nami had been downright hostile towards the woman, something that had been returned in kind.

"Let's party!" Sanji exclaimed as he poured everyone a large mug of beer. Each took one and stood around the barrel of beer. Each cheered and took a large gulp, but before they could continue, Luffy interrupted by proclaiming his dream.

"I'm sure most of you know by now, but I dream of becoming the future Pirate King and finding One Piece." Luffy said and the rest caught on.

"To become the Strongest Swordsmen in the world." Zoro said.

"To find All Blue." Sanji went next.

"To become a brave warrior of the seas!" Usopp proclaimed dramatically.

"For me and Yosaku to become the greatest swordsmen duo in the world." Johnny said and his partner nodded his head in agreement.

"You got that right." Both shared a smirk.

"To draw a map of the entire world." Nami glared at Alvida, something returned with a cocky smirk.

"To become known as the most beautiful woman in the world." Sanji stared at the woman with hearts in his eyes, something that gained a mix of annoyed and amused looks from his crewmates.

"To stand on Raftel." Gin was the final one to go and with their dreams said clearly for everyone to see, they began partying well into the night.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, if you did please let me know what you did and didn't like so that I can make it more enjoyable for you as a reader for next time. Also if you're confused about certain bits, ask them and I will answer as best I can unless they are purposely kept secret. Once again, thank you for ready and I hope you enjoyed.