A Ripple in Time.

Chapter 1: The First Crewmember.

A/N: Hello, so this is my first attempt at a One Piece FanFiction because a few have given me a few ideas that I wanted to give a try. Basically, Garp will be more accepting of Luffy's desire and train him to be the best pirate in the world, but a pirate that doesn't prey on the weak and instead helps them in any way he can. He will also have a different Devil Fruit but for the entirety of the East Blue saga he will not use it, just Haki and the Rokushiki.

"Normal speech."

'Normal thought.'

"Name of technique."

-X- Line Break -X-

Marine Vice-Admiral, Monkey D. Garp stared at his grandson with something akin to disappointment and pride. Disappointment because his grandson main desire was to become Pirate King and eventually his enemy, but pride because there were very few men in the world who would dare proclaim such a dream to the Hero of the Marines so carelessly.

Ever since his grandson had been born, he had tried on numerous occasions to get him to become a Marine, but no matter what he did, Luffy was just as stubborn as he could be.

For as long as he could remember, Luffy had wished for nothing more than to be a pirate. But after "Red-Haired" Shanks, captain of the Red Hair Pirates and a member of the Yonko had given Luffy his favourite straw hat, Luffy's dream grew to desiring to become Pirate King.

Nothing he had said or done would change his mind and now, as Garp looked upon his grandson he couldn't help but sigh. He was one of, if not the strongest Marine in the world and he couldn't deny his grandson his dream.

"Alright Luffy." The young boy before him perked up. He had been down for a while. His current Logia Devil Fruit made it so he couldn't touch or be around anyone for a while without the chance of him losing control. Been away from his friend Makino and the rest of the villagers. "I'll help train you to achieve your dream."

"Really?" Garp nodded his head and couldn't keep the small smile that formed on his face as he watched a huge grin break out onto his face and Luffy began practically vibrating with eagerness. "Yatta! Thank you grandpa!" He rushed forward and went to hug him only for Luffy to end up face first into the ground with a large bump on his head that was smoking.

Garp stood over him with one fist outstretched.

"You idiot! You want to become Pirate King then so be it!" Luffy rubbed his head and sat up with tears brimming at the edge of his eyes. "This training isn't going to be easy, so get up!" Luffy did so. "Now attack me boy. We shall see what you learnt when I put you on this island."

Nodding his head determinedly, Luffy wiped his eyes of any tears and then rushed forwards.

Garp simple stood there and he already had multiple plans in place to make Luffy much stronger. The boy wanted to be a pirate, he could continue dillydallying like he had been. But if he wanted to be Pirate King then he would have to be much stronger. With men like Whitebeard and Akainu out there he would have to get stronger.

-X- Line Break -X-

Garp could hardly believe how quickly the next ten years passed. When he wasn't doing Marine work, he was training his grandson in everything he possibly could. For the first year he had Luffy conditioning his body and teaching him to throw a punch and kick properly without injuring himself.

He himself knew the basics of all Marine fighting styles, but Garp believed that overwhelming physical capabilities and knowing how to correctly throw a punch and kick was better. Then again that was just his personal opinion.

After that year, Garp taught his grandson how to use Haki and the boy had some level of trouble with it. But once he accessed it Luffy improved in leaps and bounds. While he was nowhere near a master, he was better than all the amateurs. The most surprising thing about Luffy was the fact he had Haoshoku Haki, also known as Conquers Haki.

Then after two years of Haki training came Rokushiki training. In those three years Luffy easily learned the six powers and even managed to incorporate his Haki into them. Though they were far too destructive and Garp had advised Luffy to only use them in dire situations.

For the final four years were spent training to use Luffy's Devil Fruit.

One thing Garp realised over the ten years was that Luffy had a terrifyingly large amount of untapped potential, potential he had only just begun to discover. Only experience and fighting in life and death situations would further drive him to unlock that potential.

Garp looked at his sleeping grandson and took in his features. He was quite lean mainly due to him favouring speed over strength however, each and every single muscle was toned and compacted. His torso was left bare, but he did wear shorts. Other than that he had a straw hat covering his face hiding it from the sun.

Smiling at his grandson, Garp left for his ship. He had nothing left to teach his grandson, now it was up to him.

-X- Line Break -X-

The villagers all waved happily at the small spec that had once been a ship with a single passenger. They had all been gathered around to say goodbye to the young boy that had been with them for a long while. Today was the day that young boy would set out to accomplish his dream.

"There he goes." Makino said with smile planted firmly on her face. "He finally left and it's gonna be a long while to we see him again. I'm going to miss…"

"The lazy brat is going to ruin this village's reputation." Makino simply shook her head in amusement at the mayor.

Meanwhile, Luffy laid back against the boat with one arm lazily resting against the side of the boat. He looked up towards the sky with a bored look on his face. The sea was calm and despite it, Luffy found himself growing bored.

'Well, first thing I need to do before I go to the Grandline is get a ship and a crew.' He released sigh and relaxed further into his seated position. 'Question is, where am I going to find any people that will be strong enough in the East Blue.' The sound of rushing water made his eyes open to see a whirlpool directly in front of him. 'Ah shit.'

-X- Line Break -X-

In a ship a few miles away, two sailors lazily leaned over the side and stared down at the ocean. Neither of them cared for anything however, when something collided with the side of the boat they looked down to see a lone barrel. They each shared a grin before grabbing a rope.

When the barrel was on the ship and in their awaiting hands they both staggered at the weight. But their grins only widened.

"This thing is really heavy. Must be full of booze." The sailor's voice was strained as a testament to how heavy the barrel was.

"P-p-p-PIRATES!" A sailor in the crow's nest exclaimed and everything froze. "It's a pirate ship!" The sailors gasped and ran inside to inform the captain. Meanwhile those still on the deck and those that had heard the sailor in the crow's nest turned to watch as a single ship made its way towards them.

The ship itself was quite the eyesore due to it been painted pink and had a large red heart on the unfurling main sail. They each watched three plumes of smoke flying towards them before they realised that three balls were flying towards them at great speeds.

Everyone screamed in shock and ran around in a panicked state as they balls collided with the ship. The hull been damaged as it shock from the power behind the cannonballs. All but one orange haired beauty. As a result of the shaking ship she had widened her stance as to keep balance and as time went by and she saw the panic running through the ships inhabitants a smirk appeared on her face.

On the pirate ship, a large obese woman smirked nastily as they destroyed the dolphin figurine at the front of the cruise ship. In one hand she held a large iron mace with multiple spikes decorating its length. Covering her large girth was a pink plaid shirt, blue captain's coat and grey pants that seemed on the verge of ripping.

"Coby!" She screeched as a small, chubby boy with his pink hair in a bowl cut style seemingly appeared at her side. His body hunched over and shaking in terror at the large woman beside him. "Who is the most beautiful woman in the entire sea?" She questioned.

Y-you of course, Alvida-sama." The boy quivered even more, but internally he was saying 'anyone but you, you fat whale.' Of course, Coby wasn't actually brave enough to say that to her face.

"Well done." Coby ducked his head as Alvida laughed haughtily.

Al around them the Alvida pirates commented on how the cruise ship would be their first good haul in a while. None of them showing any care for the ships inhabitants.

"Well done boys. Let's show them the terror of Lady Alvida!" The pirates cheered and continued to fire at the cruise ship effectively stopping it from moving away. Coby stood there and clenched his fists tightly hating how weak he was.

Back on the ship the barrel rolled down some steps and into the hold as the shop jerked slightly when the smaller pirate ship pulled up alongside the cruise ship. The pirates throwing hooks up and began scaling the sides of the ship.

Coby avoided many people, unable to look at their frightened faces. So when he peaked his head around the corner of the door and saw no one inside, he was quite relieved. This would allow him a place to lay low until Alvida was finished. It was then he took note of the large barrel and he walked forwards to inspect it further.

"Man, what a large barrel." Coby said purely out of observations. Leaning down he began to push it towards the stairs. Well, he tried to push it towards the stairs, but due to his lack of strength and the weight of the barrel it didn't move anywhere.

"Hey, what are you sneaking around for Coby?" One of the Alvida pirates questioned as he stepped into the room. Behind him two more entered.

"Ah!" Coby jumped to his feet in panic. "I-I was just pushing this across the ship, but it's really heavy." The pirate grinned and walked towards Coby and the barrel. With some level of struggle he hauled it upright.

"Heavy? That's good, means there a lot of booze and I'm thirsty."

"We can't, Alvida-sama will kill us." The pirate sneered and raised his fist threateningly.

"She won't find out if you don't tell her." He brought his fist down on the barrel only for two fists to come through the top of the barrel and into the face of the pirate.

Coby could barely believe what he saw as he watched a large young man stretching with his straw hat slightly lopsided on his head. "Man what a great nap! I slept amazingly!" The mysterious man exclaimed while stretching for a few more moments. "Who are you?"

The two pirates growled and drew their swords threateningly. "No! Who the hell are you?!"

The man ignored them and instead regarded the unconscious pirate. "You know if he continues to sleep there he's gonna catch a cold."

"You put him there!" The two pirates roared. The straw hat wearing man paid them no heed as he looked around the hull of the ship.

"Man. I'm hungry." He looked towards Coby. "Do you have any food?"

The pirates looked confused on what was happening, but they were been ignored and they didn't like the fact that they were been ignored. Both reached for their swords and began drawing it. Both swung their swords down, eager to kill the boy who disrespected them.

Coby covered his eyes and waited for the sound of blades cutting through flesh. There was a sound of two swords been imbedded into the ground. Shakily he opened his eyes, excepting to find the man dead on the ground. Instead he saw the two pirates unconscious and stuck the ground, their blades holding them their

For a few moments, Coby stared with a shock filled gaze at the pirates, before he fearfully turned to face the man who did this.

"Who are you?"

"Names Monkey D. Luffy. What about you?" The now named Luffy began walking past Coby towards the door.

"I'm Coby." In the presence of Luffy the usually terrified young boy's stutter was all but gone. "Aren't you afraid? There pirates."

"So am I." Luffy informed him with an easy going grin on his face. "Just started out though, don't even have a crew or a ship." Coby's sense of safety and security had left him, replaced with his never ending terror of pirates.

"No! Don't go that way, Alvida-sama and the pirates are up there." Despite Luffy been a pirate, Coby still felt the need to help him. He couldn't explain it, but Luffy was too kind and so unlike the other pirates that he knew of. And so, he tried his best to stop Luffy from facing certain death at the hands of the Alvida Pirates.

"So this is a pirate ship." Luffy asked while eating some food he had found in one of the rooms he had passed. Coby followed behind him, constantly checking behind his back for any pirates.

"No. This is a cruise ship."

"So there should be some lifeboats on board, right?" He asked. "I lost mine in the whirlpool. Now that was a surprise." Luffy laughed and Coby felt a smile form on his face.

"Yea, there should." Luffy nodded his head and then regarded Coby with curiosity.

"Say, are you one of the pirates?"

"Not exactly. Two years ago I wandered onto a boat thinking it was a fishing boat. Turns out it was a boat taking the pirates to their ship." Coby had a nostalgic look on his face as he recounted his life story. "They made me their Cabin boy and I've been here ever since."

"If you want to leave, then leave." Luffy said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I can't, they'll kill me." Coby cried out.

"You're a coward." The Cabin boy slumped in defeat, knowing it was the truth. For a few moments they walked in silence before Coby asked the question that had been on his mind.

"Luffy." The boy in question looked down at the pink haired cabin boy. "What made you want to sail the seas?"

"I'm going to sail to the Grandline and become Pirate King." Luffy said it with such confidence and certainty that Coby believed he could really do it. But still, the road to become Pirate King was the road many pirates sailed.

"I-impossible! The Pirate King is the one who has it all. The money, the fame, the power. Everything!"

"I know." Luffy said. "That's why I'm going to get the One Piece."

"Pirates all over the world are after that treasure!"

"So am I, and I'll be the one to get it." Luffy drowned out the noise of Coby exclaiming about how it's impossible. After a moment or two, a twitch of his eye began to form and Luffy raised his fist before slamming it on top of Coby's head. "Shut up, idiot. My dream isn't my dream because I can do it or cause I can't, but because I want to do it." He raised his fist and clenched it tightly while flames of determination flared in his eyes. "I will become Pirate King or I'll die trying."

"Wait!" Coby cried out as he saw Luffy walking on ahead. "I have a dream two Luffy. I want to become a Marine and catch all the bad guys. Do you think I can do it?"

"If you put your mind to it then you can do anything you want. Don't let your dreams be just that, a dream."

Before they realised it they were on the deck.

"Thank you Luffy. I'm not going to be a Cabin boy forever. I'm going to be a Marine and I'm going to catch Alvida-sama – NO, Alvida!"

At that moment, Alvida appeared behind Coby with her mace slamming against the deck and splintering it. She regarded the two of them with anger in her eyes.

"Who are you going to catch Coby?" Alvida questioned. Luffy looked at her and nearly threw up in his mouth. To stop this from happening, Luffy looked around and saw the Alvida pirates stalking around them with their swords out. "You don't look like the Pirate Hunter Zoro to me." She stated as she looked at Luffy. "Coby! Who is the most beautiful woman in the world?"

Coby opened his mouth to say his memorised line. Only for him to look at Luffy to see he looked confident and sure of himself, even though he was surrounded by dangerous individuals. Feeling his confidence grow, Coby turned to face Alvida.

"Anyone but you, you fat hag." Silence reigned after Coby's declaration. None of the Alvida pirates could believe what Coby had said, only those with a death wish had ever said that to Alvida.

As for the woman herself, she gnashed her teeth together and gripped her mace tightly. "You." She raised the mace up into the air and Coby shrunk in on himself, his previous courage having left him. "Goddamn brat!" She roared and swung her mace down. Coby shrieked and raised his hands into the air as to act as a defence against the attack.

Luffy watched this with a slowly growing grin forming on his face.

The surrounding pirates grinned as they watched Alvida swing her mace down, none of them seeing Luffy disappear from the place he once stood. He instantly reappeared, as if he teleported in between Coby and Alvida.

Lazily, he rose one arm just as the mace struck his arm. Once again silence reigned as none of the pirates could believe what they were seeing. Coby was just the same, his eyes trailing from the shock filled gaze of Alvida to the arm belonging to Luffy that was blocking Alvida's mace.

All the pirates stood in the same position as they watched Luffy thrust his spare arm into Alvida's stomach. Time seemed to slow down as Alvida hunched over, her mouth opened wide and spittle flew from her mouth. Then everything sped up once more as Alvida was launched backwards and breaking through the wall, disappearing inside of the ship.

Everyone looked at each other for confirmation of what had happened and once they had confirmed it, the pirates gripped their swords before charging forwards towards Luffy. Despite seeing the woman they were terrified of getting flown back by a boy, the fear they felt for her was still very large.

Luffy grinned and clenched his fists tightly. He had to practically restrain his subconscious from using his Haoshoku Haki and knocking them all unconscious. Garp had taught him that fighting weaklings invited more chance for arrogance to form, but his blood was pumping. His entire being was roaring for a fight. Been outnumbered would allow him the chance to at least stretch his legs and sedate his thirst for battle.

He twisted his body to the side and parried a strike from one pirate before slamming the back of his right fist into the face of another. Then he shot forwards straight into the group of pirates.

Coby stood transfixed as he watched the Alvida Pirates get taken down one by one. Every punch, every kick and every strike was a knockout blow. Pirates were launched into the air as a testament to Luffy's strength, while the future Pirate King was like a blur. His form zipping through the droves of pirate.

As time went by, more and more pirates dropped to the ground unconscious.

Luffy punched one pirate in the face, throwing him backwards straight over the side of the boat and into the ocean before landing a spinning hook kick into the pirate behind him.

He turned around to see five more pirates stood together, their hands were shaking with fear as they looked at the boy who had singlehandedly decimated their crewmates. Luffy raised an eyebrow and took a single step forwards. To match this they took one step back.

Sighing, Luffy allowed his Haoshoku Haki to be set free from its leash and centred it entirely upon the five pirates. The reaction was instantaneous as they all collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"A-amazing." Coby whispered in awe as he watched. "You took down all those pirates by yourself."

"Meh. They were weak, not even a proper challenge." Luffy kicked one awakening pirate in the head put him back into the world of blissful sleep.

"Do you think I could ever be that strong?"

"Depends on what you do with the rest of your life." Luffy grinned cheerfully.

There was a loud bang and they both looked to see Alvida stalking towards them with her mace gripped tightly in her hand. So tightly in fact that her knuckles had turned white.

"I haven't seen you use a sword yet, meaning that you're not the Pirate Hunter Zoro." Luffy grinned and nodded his head in agreement with her statement.

"Oh the hags back." Alvida snarled before rushing forwards, Luffy would admit to been surprised at how quick Alvida was for a woman her size. However, to Luffy she was moving at a snail's pace and therefore he easily moved out of the way of her mace, the ground where it struck cracking and splintering. Then he lashed out with fist that met her face, the fat all wiping in a single direction before Alvida slammed into the wall once more.

This time she didn't go through it and instead collapsed to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Smirking, Luffy blew imaginary smoke off his fist before turning to face the shocked face of Coby. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, twin geysers of water shot into the air as cannonballs struck the water.

They both looked to see marine battleships moving towards them and Luffy clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Come on Coby." Tearing his gaze from the ships he turned to see Luffy rushing towards the opposite side of the boat with Alvida flung over his back.

"W-wait Luffy." He rushed up to Luffy and followed his gaze to see an orange haired beauty in a lifeboat preparing to get away from the ship. "You go on Luffy. I'm gonna stay here and join the marines."

"They're gonna believe that you were with the pirates." Coby deflated in defeat at the truth in his words. Before he knew it, he was falling towards the lifeboat with Luffy holding onto him. They landed on the boat, nearly tipping it over and the orange haired girl shrieked in shock at the intrusion.

After placing Alvida and Coby down on the boat, Luffy collapsed and leaned his head against one arm.

"Who the hell are you?" The orange haired girl shrieked.

"We can do the meet and greet later. Right now we need to get out of here shishishi." He laughed happily as the boat they were on was pushed away from the cruise ship due to the water rippling heavily.

-X- Line Break -X-

The four of them had been sailing for around three hours and in that time Alvida had woken up five times, each time Luffy had knocked her unconscious. Things had been rocky for a while between Luffy and Nami, but it had been mainly one-sided.

After revealing himself as been the future Pirate King, and Nami revealing her hatred for pirates the two had been at odds. Luffy had at first simply ignored her however, around half an hour he had grown bored of her glares and made his view on pirates known to her.

He had talked about how most pirates are exactly like the ones she hates, but there are a few who are generally good people. Despite been sceptical, Nami had at least been friendly with Luffy since then.

Coby had to admit it was kind of hard not to want to be friends with Luffy. When he wasn't eating and he wasn't fighting he was always sleeping. It made Luffy seem more normal when you forgot about his abnormally large strength, speed and durability. Then there was the fact he generally was quite childish, yet he was also quite mature an odd combo. Overall, with his bouts of seriousness and confidence made one feel drawn to him.

"Hey Luffy." Opening his eyes, Luffy looked towards Coby. "How are you so strong?"

"Well my grandpa always tried to get me to be a marine, but I always wanted to be a pirate. Then after Shanks left I wanted to become Pirate King. I don't really know what happened to make my grandpa want to train me because of my dream, but he did and he trained me for ten years."

"Shanks. As in the Yonko "Red-Haired" Shanks, Captain of the Red Hair Pirates." Nami questioned with a hint of trepidation in her voice. She would admit the guy across from her was hot. His overall nonchalant and shaggy look was fetching, add that with his muscular figure made him easy on the eyes. To know that he knew one of the strongest men in the world was terrifying and made her more wary of the pirate across from her.

"So who is your grandpa?"

"My names Monkey D. Luffy. Take a guess?" There was a few moments of silence as Nami and Coby tried to figure out a marine that could possibly be related to Luffy.

Coby gasped in shock and looked at Luffy with eyes. "Your grandpa is Monkey D. Garp, the Hero of the Marines." Luffy grinned and nodded his head.

"What the hell!" Nami exclaimed still trying to wrap her head around the fact that this man was connected to two very powerful individuals. "Why do I even care? It's not like I'm going to see you again once we get to the island."

"Why not?" Luffy asked innocently and Nami found it incredibly adorable. "I got it, you should be my navigator."

"W-what?" Alvida muttered as she began to wake up, but before she could even fully comprehend what was happening, Luffy slammed his fist into her head knocking her unconscious once more.

Nami and Coby started at this interaction with a sweatdrop forming on their heads. Both had known the fearsome reputation of Alvida and both had been slightly terrified of her. Yet watching Luffy easily beat her with a single punch was quite amusing and shocking.

It was then Nami remembered what Luffy had said. "What?! No, you're a pirate. I hate pirates!"

"You hate me?" Luffy asked with a pout and Nami struggled to answer his question.

"W-what…I-I…No, I don't hate you." Luffy laughed uproariously and Nam realised she had been tricked and huffed, though her cheeks with slightly pink. "I'm still not joining your crew."

"Well I refuse your refusal." The absurdity of what Luffy said made her sit there for a few moments and tried to wrap her head around it. Before she could say anything in return, Luffy asked "Where are we going?"

"Shell Island." Nami responded instantly. Coby stiffened in shock, something the two instantly picked up on.

"Isn't that where Roronoa Zoro is?"

"That's the Pirate Hunter that the whale kept talking about?" Nami stifled a giggle with her hand as she looked at the woman currently in blissful unconsciousness. "So is he weak cause you sound pretty terrified of him and the last one was well; weak."

"Nononono. Roronoa is a demon in human skin."

"Shishishi. I wonder what he's like." He wondered.

"I'm scared to ask, but what is going on inside that head of yours?" Nami frowned, she was scared of how Luffy could go from been predictable to unpredictable. Just as she managed to figure out, he did something that she didn't expect and reveal a whole new aspect of him.

"If he's a good guy I think I might recruit him as my First Mate." He informed them and silence followed.

"WWHHATT?" The two screeched. "Are you insane?" Nami continued, but much calmer though her voice held a hint of defeat at solving the mystery that was Luffy.

-X- Line Break -X-

"You're really good at this navigation stuff Nami." The orange haired girl in question blushed at the praise. The three of them had been in the town for only a few minutes and in that time they had handed over Alvida to the Marines and had gained five million berī. Nami had been almost catatonic at the amount and had been trying to seduce Luffy into handing it over. Then he came out with the compliment he just gave her.

"So are you still going to continue with this insane scheme of yours?" Name inquired.

"Meh, I'm hungry." Nami felt her a tick form on her eye as she was ignored though she felt incredibly amused by the bottomless pit he called a stomach.

"Tch. He better be paying." Nami followed after Luffy and Coby watched the two for a few moments as they conversed with one another. Then out of nowhere, Nami slapped Luffy on the back of the head and Coby shook his head in amusement.

"That was good." Coby remarked as he patted his stomach.

"Yeah it was." He wiped his mouth of any food before extending his hand out to the pink haired boy. "You do your best to become a marine, yeah?" Coby nodded his head.

"Wait, you want to become a marine?" Nami asked in confusion. "I thought you were together?"

"Nah, pinky here wants to join the marines, he was forced into becoming a marine after he was captured." He stood up from his seat and the other two followed his lead. "I wonder if Zoro is still at the base."

That single sentence seemed to have a renowned effect on the people of Shell Island as those in hearing range froze in terror before pandemonium was released. The inhabitants all but scrambling up the walls in fear. "Huh?" That was the only intelligible thing Luffy could ask as a result of the peoples actions.

"Told you Zoro was a demon in human skin. Look at the effect his name has on people." Coby whispered beside him. "Strange. He was captured by someone called Captain Morgan who's in charge around here." This time, the residents were much more panicky and terrified. "Wh-what's going on? I could understand them been terrified of Zoro. He's a criminal that could escape at any time. But Morgan's a Captain of the Marines."

"Not all Marines are good, just like how not all pirates are bad." Luffy looked towards Nami as he said this. Then he gave his usual grin. "Well let's go to the base." Then he sped off leaving Nami and Coby behind.

Once again, Luffy found himself at the Marine base and walked straight inside. The guard was thankfully asleep and due to the knocked over bottle of booze he knew the reason for his current state.

On his way through the marine base, he saw a man tied to a cross. Luffy instantly took note of how the man had an aura of strength and confidence. His eyes were closed, but not due to unconsciousness, instead it was because of extreme concentration. It confused him really, from what he was seeing Zoro was strong and could easily escape from his bonds.

So why hadn't he?

Hearing the heavy breathing of two people next to him, Luffy turned around and saw Nami and Coby there. Both of which glared at him for leaving them behind though he simply grinned at them.

The three of them turned around and watched as a young girl stood frozen with fear with something in her hands. Beside her was a skinny and lanky looking blonde man with light blonde hair styled like a sideways oval. He had a cleft chin and was wearing a purple tuxedo, white shoes and flanked by two marines.

From where they were stood, the three of them could easily hear what was going on.

"Those are nice looking rice balls, little girl." The purple tuxedo wearing man spoke in his nasally voice. He reached down and snatched the rice balls from her hand. Luffy instantly took notice of the fact that Zoro was glaring hatefully at the blond haired man as he mocked the girl.

'There's definitely more to this than meets the eyes. He's definitely too strong for those ropes to keep him prisoner and until this girl came along he never showed any outward reaction. Then there's the fact the entire village are scared of him except her.' While Luffy wasn't a complete idiot, he definitely wasn't smart enough to piece clues together to help him.

The girl cried out as the marine began stomping the rice balls into the ground. Zoro's glare had also intensified as he watched the marine destroy the food the girl had worked hard to make.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the ants will eat them." He gave a condescending laugh.

Girl was in tears no and Luffy clenched his fists tightly as he felt the urge to pound this ground into the ground. It was only when Nami placed a hand on his shoulder that he managed to calm down however, the rage was still simmering.

"That's so cruel." The girl sniffed "I worked really hard to make those."

"It's all your fault you know. See that sign over there?" He pointed over to the sign. It read, 'Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime. – Marine Lieutenant Morgan.' The girl continued to sniff and wiped her eyes. "You know how scary my dad can be right? If it was him who found you, you would be facing the death penalty."

The two marines looked incredibly uncomfortable as they watched the young girl pale in dread. Even more so when they heard the sound of the ropes straining against the prisoner.

Smirking, the man turned to the two marines. "Throw her out." The two marines looked at one another, then to the man and then finally to the girl. Neither made a move to do as they had been commanded. "I'm ordering you to throw her out of here! I'm telling my daddy if you disobey me and you know what he will do."

'What a spoiled brat.' Was the thought shared by Luffy, Nami, Coby and Zoro as thy watched the man 'discipline' his underlings.

Shakily, the men did as they were told. One moved forward and leaned down towards the terrified girl. He whispered something that they couldn't hear into her ear and whatever he said calmed her down. Gripping her by the scruff of her dress he threw her with just another that she crossed, but not enough to damage her.

Luffy saw this and had to use the barest minimum of Soru to catch her. In a blur of motion he appeared and caught the girl in his arms preventing her from hitting the ground. For a moment she looked up from his hands with tear filled eyes. Then her eyes lit up with realisation and she gave him a big smile, one he returned in kind.

"Thank you, onii-chan."

"You're welcome." He responded with a grin before pointing to the wall after placing her on the ground. "Did you sneak into give the tied up guy some food? You know he's there because he's a bad man don't you." That was a lie, Luffy could tell that Zoro was actually a nice guy though he pretended to act that way.

"No he's not!" She cried out in defence for Zoro. "Onii-chan didn't do anything wrong. People are only afraid of him because of his reputation and because he looks scary."

"Then why is he tied up in a marine base?" Nami asked, once again she was slightly out of breath because she rushed to catch up to Luffy. Said person struggled to remove his eyes from her breasts that were rising up and down on account of her heavy breathing. When he looked up to her face he saw the smirk she gave him and gave a quick cough to hide his embarrassment, but the pink tint on his cheeks was clearly seen.

Coby stood there watching the byplay and sweat dropped at the interaction. Ever since the problem with Nami hating pirates and Luffy been a pirate was sort of sorted out, the two had been shameless in ogling each other. Luffy however, was much more reserved.

"He killed Helmeppo's pet wolf because he was letting it run and scaring everyone. It was about to bite me, but onii-chan killed it before it could." The three shared a glance because of the strange crime that had been committed.

"So he's in jail because he killed someone's pet wolf?" Coby inquired.

"Not just anyone's, but Helmeppo's, Lieutenant Morgan's son." The girl informed them. "Everyone is scared of him because if you disobey him you get executed." Coby was shocked and looked like his entire world had come crushing down as he realised that not all marines were what he thought.

"Thank you for telling me that." Luffy spoke up after she had finished. "Now, why don't you go home and stay away from here, alright? Helmeppo may try something else."

The girl hurriedly nodded her head and rushed away leaving the three alone. While Luffy turned to face the wall, Nami looked towards Coby to see the confused look on his face. Leaning forwards she put one hand on his shoulder and he jumped in shock at the sudden contact.

"You alright Coby?" Coby nodded his head hesitantly.

"Yea, I guess." He sighed when he received a disbelieving gaze from Nami. "Ok. I just, had this image of marines been these good people and I know I can't expect them all to be good, but it's shocking to see one that isn't."

"It's like Luffy said. Not all marines are good people, just like not all pirates are bad people." Nami explained to the agreement of Coby. The two then looked towards the young man they were talking about, only to find he had disappeared. "I'm going kill that pirate bastard." She growled out, luckily Coby knew hr enough that she was joking otherwise he might have actually been worried.

-X- Line Break -X-

When Luffy appeared back in the courtyard where Zoro was been held, Helmeppo and his marine guards had vacated the premises. He regarded Zoro for a few moments and gave a grin when Zoro left his head to look at him.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Names Monkey D. Luffy, it's nice to actually speak to the Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro." His grin widened. "And I've decided that you will join my crew."

Zoro snorted. "You're a pirate. You want me to give up my life and my dreams to become a crook? You got the wrong person."

"Nope." Luffy pronounced the 'p' a pop noise. "I'm not going to give up on my dream to become Pirate king, so why should I expect you to give up on your life."

"Pirate King." Zoro tested the word for a few moments before snorting with amusement. "Can't fault you for setting yourself a big dream. So, you gonna free me and force me to join you?" Zoro challenged with a smirk on his face.

"If that's what you want, but you'll be joining my crew no matter what." Luffy declared as if it had already been fated to happen. Despite himself, Zoro chuckled at the audacity and the rational part of his mind said that following him would lead to a life full of danger, adventure and battles. His warrior side however, refused to follow anyone it did not deem worthy.

"You're a fool. I ain't joining your crew because I have unfinished business here." Zoro stated. "I just need to stay alive here for another twenty-four hours without food and water. The kid promised to let me go afterwards. For me, this is just another challenge that I have to complete. Then I'll be one step closer to completing my dream." The swordsmen declared and Luffy grinned widely at the man he would make his First Mate.

"You're definitely going to become part of my crew." His grin now threatened to split his face. "I'm going to wait until you have finished your business. Though a word of warning, I wouldn't trust the word of Helmeppo. That's just me, I'm not in a hurry so take your time." He laughed before the two turned to face the sound of footsteps rushing towards them. "Ah, Nami, Coby what took you so long?"

"Luffy run!" Coby shouted and it was then the prisoner and the pirate took note of the rage displayed on Nami's face. Before he could say anything, Nami slammed her fist into his face and to his surprise, Luffy found his head facing to the left as a result of the force behind the punch.

Zoro whistled as he felt the wind produced and remembered a saying from when he was younger. 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned indeed.' While slightly terrified of what the orange haired woman might do to him if he interrupted, he needed to make his point clear. "Look kid." Zoro said from his position. Nami stopped berating Luffy for constantly leaving them behind and together they looked towards Zoro. "I'm not joining your crew so find someone else."

Luffy laughed and turned to leave, Nami and Coby following after him.

-X- Line Break -X-

The three were now sat in the restaurant owned by the mother of the young girl they had saved. Each of them had had their fill of food and were now sat talking about whatever was on their mind. It was then all of them stopped talking and looked around them. The inhabitants of the village were all bowing low as Helmeppo swaggered through the street like he owned the place. Due to his father's interference, Helmeppo did.

"Who dares raise their?! Answer me or I'll tell my dad!" He threatened like the spoiled child he was.

Luffy, Nami and Coby each shared a glance, all of them knowing that they wouldn't bow to the likes of Helmeppo. The spoiled child obviously saw this and stalked towards them angrily.

"Do you wanna end up like Roronoa Zoro? I'm going to execute him in three days as to set an example to you all." The man child bragged like it was some great achievement.

'Bastard!' Nami growled internally, while Luffy clenched his fist tightly. The three of them remembered the reason Zoro was currently imprisoned, they also remembered that execution was not the punishment given to Zoro. To think this brat had tricked Zoro and planned to kill him was something that was despicable.

Coby meanwhile was finally realising that what Luffy had said was right. Not all marines were good.

Before Helmeppo could open his mouth again, Luffy interrupted him. "Oi." All eyes widened in shock as they turned to face a serious looking Luffy. His face was shadowed slightly due to the positioning of his hat, but the fires of rage were clearly seen in his eyes as he glared at Helmeppo. Coby and Nami felt a cold shill crawl up their spine, each having seen in passing the strength he held. However, none had seen him angry. "Didn't you say you would set him free in a month?"

"I was only joking with him! Only an idiot would believe that!" Helmeppo laughed not realising how precarious a situation he was in. "Now, who are you?"

All Nami saw was his jaw flexing as a result of his barely restrained anger before he disappeared. Her eyes barely managed to swivel round to Helmeppo before Luffy smashed his fist into Morgan's sons chin. If what she heard, Helmeppo's nose had been broken as a result before he was sent flying.

The marines behind him only just managed to catch him, but even they were forced to the ground as a result. The crowd gossiped as Helmeppo was dragged away by the marines.

"I've decided. I'm going to ask Zoro to join my crew!" Luffy declared boldly before he disappeared.

Once again he found himself in front of Zoro. "Yo." He waved lazily and Zoro looked up.

"You again. I already told you I'm not joining your crew." Despite the glare on his face, Luffy could tell that Zoro wasn't really angry. "It hasn't even been ten minutes and you already gave up on waiting for me. I'm definitely not gonna-"

"Helmeppo just told me he's going to execute you in three days." Zoro's eyes widened in shock. "He told me to my face that he lied about what he said to you. He never planned to let you go."

"That piece of shit." Zoro growled as he struggled against the rope. When he had first been put here he could have easily escaped, but without food he was weakened and now he was having to put actual effort into escaping. Even though he knew Luffy could be lying the seriousness in his voice, the way he had presented himself earlier and from what he knew of Helmeppo, this was the truth. "I'm going to kill him!"

"I'd expect nothing less." Luffy nodded his head before walking forwards to offer assistance. Zoro saw this and shook his head, Luffy inclined his head and stepped back. For a few moments, Zoro struggled before the ropes ripped apart freeing him from their confines. "I'm guessing your swords were taken away from you?"

Zoro rubbed his wrists and rolled his shoulders as to get feeling back into them from constant disuse. "Yea, Helmeppo took them. He should know where they are been kept."

"I'll go get them for you then I can see what my new crewmate can do." Luffy said cheerfully before utilising his speed to rush towards the centre of the marine base. Zoro meanwhile, shouted at the spot Luffy once was.

"I already told you I ain't part of your…and he's gone." Sighing, Zoro continued to stretch his body as to make sure it was fully functional once more. 'That speed was insane.' He grinned at the thought of fighting such a monster and growing stronger as a result of it. Zoro knew that if he managed to beat someone like Luffy, then he would be one step closer to realising his dream.

-X- Line Break -X-

As Luffy was travelling through the Marine base he came across a large sum of marines struggling to lift up a large statue of a man. The statue was very familiar to that of the large muscular man overseeing this. His right hand had been entirely replaced with that of an axe, tanned skin, blonde hair and steel jaw. His outfit consisted of a billowing coat over a black shirt and blue stripped pants.

Helmeppo was also there, something which worked perfectly for Luffy though he held back to watch and observe.

"Dad! That kid hit me, why won't you help me get revenge?!" If Luffy had doubts about Helmeppo been a spoiled child before, this just proved it. He even whined like one however, his voice was much more nasally on account of his broken nose. "Not even you've hit me before."

"Yes, there's a reason for that." The man Luffy could only assume was Morgan, rose to his feet. "It's because you're a bratty child not even worth hitting." He finished this by hitting Helmeppo over the head sending him sprawling to the ground with a scream of pain. "Do I have to always clean up the messes you leave?" He questioned rhetorically. "You can do a lot in my name, but I'm the one with the true power here. Not you! Me!" After he finished shouting, Morgan turned to the marines who had stopped working. "Rumour has it that a little mouse snuck into the execution site. Is this true?"

"Huh?" Helmeppo shakily rose to his feet. "You mean the little girl, I've already…"

"Have you executed her?" Morgan interrogated.

Helmeppo opened and closed his mouth unable to fully answer his question. "No, she was just a little kid. She didn't know any better." That was what he finally managed to say while the rest of the marines and Luffy were shocked at the casual way in which Morgan spoke of killing a little girl.

Snarling at the lack of obedience shown by his son, he turned to a marine with a goatee. "You, go into town and kill the girl." He ordered.

"But-but…Lieutenant…she's just a kid." The marine stated with the shock and horrification clearly heard in his voice. "I couldn't possibly do that to her."

"Couldn't do it, huh?" Morgan sighed tiredly as if dealing with the marines was tiring for him. "Tell me, you are a Marine Captain aren't you? And Lieutenant is a higher rank than Marine Captain, isn't it?"

"Y-yes, sir." The man answered while taking a few steps away from Morgan.

"Then you have no right to question my authority!" The Lieutenant bellowed, every marine flinched at the noise and cowered in fear. "When I order you to do something, you do it without hesitation!" The marine tried to disagree with him only for Morgan to leave a deep gash on his back from his axe. "For the sake of reminding the citizens, I shall go down myself."

He raised his axe into the air and all of the marines cowered in fear. Luffy meanwhile clenched his fists tightly and prepared himself to leap down and interfere before Morgan could even exit the Marine base.

"Behold! This is the symbol of power!" He pointed towards the statue of himself that had been put back on the ground when the marines had turned to listen to him speak. "Today it shall stand tall after years of hard work and no one will doubt my power! It shall rise up to the highest point of this base!"

"That's meant to be a symbol of greatness?" A voice filled with scepticism spoke up, stopping the rest of Morgan's monologue. Helmeppo upon noticing the previously unknown figure screeched with terror, while everyone else looked at him with wide eyes. "If that's the case, then let me show what I think of your greatness." Appearing in front of the statue, he pressed one finger pressed against the statue. "Shigan."

After tapping the statue, Luffy moved away and faced the marines. All look confused and seemed entirely amused by the entire situation. Though some did still look shocked and terrified from earlier.

The sound of a crack was heard and all looked wide eyes at the statue as they watched a single crack appear on the statue. Then the entire statue was reduced to nothing but rubble.

"Now then." Luffy blew imaginary smoke from his finger before giving a grin in their direction. "Would you please take me to Zoro's swords, if you'd be so kind?" He picked his hat off his head and placed it against his chest before bowing mockingly. Utilising Soru he quickly disappeared and gripped Helmeppo by the collar of his tuxedo before entering the Marine base.

-X- Line Break -X-

With the distraction caused by Luffy, Nami had quite easily managed to sneak inside the Marine base. She had heard the sound of something made of rock had been destroyed before commotion had broken out over the base. It seemed every marine in the base had been mobilised in search of something.

She just knew that Luffy was behind it.

After the storage room had been vacated she entered and quickly began to gather anything of value. 'Just you wait Arlong, soon I will free my village from your tyranny.'

-X- Line Break -X-

Leaving Helmeppo's room with Zoro's swords held in his hands. In the other hand he was still gripping hold of Helmeppo's tuxedo collar as he dragged him behind him. Paying him no heed, Luffy rushed towards the execution site in search for Zoro.

Jumping out of a window that faced the execution site, Luffy landed next to Zoro who was currently in a standoff against Morgan and the marines.

"Fire!" Morgan roared and the marines fired their bullets. Luffy quickly threw two of Zoro's swords to the man himself while using Busoshoku Haki on the final sword. To the amazement of those watching, Luffy parried each and every single bullet with his sword. Even Zoro, a swordsmen by nature was shocked at the feat he was seeing. Not even he could do that and the more he saw of Luffy's skills, the more he found the thought of joining his crew appealing.

Once every bullet had been deflected, he threw the sword back to Zoro before dumping Helmeppo to the floor.

"Wh-who are you?!" Shouted Morgan. The Lieutenant barely paid any mind to those marines who had fallen to the ground clutching their legs and arms in pain. All those injured trying to stop the bleeding as a result of Luffy's actions.

"Names Monkey D. Luffy. I'm the man who's going to become Pirate King." He then turned to Zoro – who was currently testing his swords out – with a grin on his face. "You know, seeing me helping you it's going to make them think that you're a pirate."

Zoro snorted in amusment before putting his blades on his right hand side, directly where they belong, his haramaki holding them up. "And you definitely didn't plan it this way did you." Zoro's voice was filled with sarcasm as he spoke. Together the pirate and the pirate hunter turned to face the marines. "Oi! My dream is to become the greatest swordsmen in the world. If it means I need to become an outlaw, then so be it. Just don't get in the way of my dream."

"The world's greatest swordsmen." Luffy tested the words out for a few moments before a face splitting grin formed. "As my First Mate, I expect nothing but the best. You been stronger than the Yonko is exactly the kind of guy I need. If you didn't achieve your dream I would be embarrassed."

Nodding his head, Zoro took a step forwards and faced the marines. All of them had their swords drawn and were prepared to face off against the two criminals.

Grinning, Zoro placed one sword in his mouth while holding the other two swords in his hands. Then he shot forwards, while he was nowhere near as quick as Luffy partly due to the fact he didn't know Soru, he was still quite quick. The marines met his charge.

It was quite obvious to those watching that Zoro was much more skilled in combat than the marines, far more skilled. Every swing of his blade was perfectly timed and placed that he could parry an attack from the marines so that they struck their own comrades. Luffy found his grin widening as he realised that so far, Zoro was the only one skilled enough to follow him to the Grand Line.

From what he could tell, Zoro was at a level where he could learn Rokushiki, add that with Haki and his skills then Zoro would be more than ready to face the Grand Line.

After dispatching the last of marines, Zoro turned to face Luffy with a cocky smirk on his face. "What'd you think, Captain? Impressed by your First Mate?" He said after pulling the sword from his mouth.

"You bet! You're strong!" Luffy's eyes narrowed at the area behind Zoro, something the swordsmen picked up on. Before he turned around to do anything about it, Luffy spoke up. "Now then, let me show my strength." Using Soru, Luffy appeared behind Zoro and quickly caught the axe belonging to Lieutenant Morgan in his hand. Zoro barely managed to turn around before he saw Luffy push Morgan backwards.

Stumbling backwards, Morgan steadied himself before charging forwards once more. Luffy simply lashed out with a roundhouse kick. "Rankyaku." A pressured wave of wind shot forwards and split the axe in Morgan's hand, the wind continued and then clipped the top of his head.

There was silence as Morgan tapped the top of his head to find his scalp had been removed completely. Pain kicked in, but the adrenaline was already active and he ignored it. With a roar he charged forward.

"I'm 'Axe-Hand' Morgan! I am the strongest!" He lashed out with a punch, but Luffy ducked under the strike before burying his fist into the Lieutenants stomach. Stepping back, Luffy allowed Morgan to drop to his knees heaving for breath.

"You're really not." Luffy raised his right hand which was curled into a fist. "You're just a man in a position of power." He uncurled his index finger and Zoro watched in confusion and amusement as Morgan became wide-eyed in fear. "Shigan." Leaning down slightly, he thrust his finger forward and it pierced through Morgan's armour. The rest of his arm followed soon after until it came out on the other side.

Sighing, Luffy pulled his arm free from its fleshy confines before turning to face Zoro.

"What'd you think about your Captain?" Zoro was broken out of his stupor and then he registered what Luffy had asked.

"You're one scary guy." Both snorted in amusment.

"I don't know about you but I'm hungry, let's get something to eat." Grinning, Zoro followed Luffy as they exited the compound.

"You're the boss." Meanwhile, Helmeppo looked at the dead body of his father and felt fresh tears spill down his face. Then and there, he vowed to never rest until he had brought Luffy, Zoro and whoever else followed them to justice. Even if he died doing it.

-X- Line Break -X-

Now the group of four were once again sat in the restaurant, each of them having had their fill. News of Lieutenant Morgan's death had brightened the mood of all the villagers. In fact, the entire village had thrown a huge party to celebrate this event. Due to Luffy and Zoro been the reason for this, they had been invited to eat for free.

"We should really be going Luffy." Nami said after the two gluttons known as Luffy and Zoro had finished eating. "I only left enough money to last them a few days. And unless you want to deal with the marines again, I suggest we leave now."

"Alright then" Luffy agreed as he stood up. Zoro, Nami and Coby did the same. Before they could leave however, marines entered the restaurant. "Gentleman." Luffy tipped his head in their direction as a sign of acknowledgment. "We were just about to leave, no need to get violent, but…" He purposely trailed off as to leave the threat hanging in the air.

To further emphasise this, Luffy tensed his muscles while Zoro began drawing two of his swords.

A marine with a goatee stepped forward in front of the marines. "If you are going to leave the village then that's fine. While we are grateful that you disposed Lieutenant Morgan, we can't allow you to stay here any longer. However, we can keep you out of the report we will be filing to HQ."

"It's no issue, but you can mention us in your report if you wish. I mean, how can I be famous if no one has heard of me?" Luffy informed them much to shock of the others. "Attack a Marine base is something not many pirates will do outright, so go ahead and put it in the report. Now then, Nami, Zoro let's go." The marines all saluted the group of three as they left the restaurant.

After a few moments, the same marine who talked turned to Coby questioningly. "And who might you be young man?"

"My name is Coby, sir." Coby paused and took a calming breath. 'I'm going to do it Luffy. I'm going to be a marine, one that fights for justice, one who won't abuse his power and I will make the marines great once more. Watch me.' With his confidence returned to him, he turned to the marine and spoke confidently. "I wish to be a marine!"

"You can join, but keep in mind that because we have saluted pirates we shall be enduring the punishment of not eating for a week without food." Coby nodded his head and with it the marines left the restaurant with Coby in tow.

A/N: So this is my first attempt at a One Piece FanFiction, please tell me what you think even if it's just a simple 'good chapter.' Though if you have any criticism on what I can improve on then please let me know as it will be greatly appreciated. Same with questions. However, flames will be ignored. Anyway, thank you again for reading.