Hello readers! I've been wanting to start writing this for a while and I finally feel like there is enough canon material out there to get me off my ass and stop delaying with this. With how big of an anime/manga One Piece is, I've always wondered why it seemed to lack a bit in the fanfic department. I especially don't see many LuNa retellings of canon. There are a couple really good ones out there, but this will be my take. This will be a LuNa story. (but you know this already, it's why you're here lol) There will be a good amount of changes to canon just to spice things up, but that goes without saying. Luffy will be mostly the same as canon. Same devil fruit, same personality. I hesitate to say slightly smarter because even that would be pushing it. If anything I'm kinda just going with a tad bit more common sense in some areas and a tad bit more serious. And as for the crew, I'm planning on only having one extra member. Sorry if you were expecting more but there's a chance I might change my mind on that, but if I do, it won't be until after the timeskip. That's all for now, by the time I post this I'll be comfortably ahead on chapters so hopefully the updates won't slow down. I'll be posting every Sunday for the normal schedule, but because of all this craziness going on right now I have a lot more time on my hands than normal. So for every extra chapter that I finish ahead of schedule, I'll post one that same day. Just to be clear though, always count on that Sunday post, that is the guarantee every week, anything else is just extra. I shouldn't have a problem with staying ahead while writing this, as I already have a lot of it planned out. Anyways, that concludes the boring stuff, onwards to adventure! :D

Disclaimer: I dont own One Piece

Extra note: In this story I will be spelling Koby with a K, this has nothing to do with anything other than it being official, that is all.

Wealth, Fame, Power...

Chapter 1: The Boy With The Straw Hat

Koby shuddered on the deck of the Miss Love Duck. Standing at a not very proud five feet in height was a pink haired boy quivering in his boots. Along with some spectacles over his eyes, he wore a white t-shirt with blue stripes and baggy black pants to finish off his meek appearance. Hearing the disgusting voice of Iron Club Alvida was enough to get any man running in the other direction. Oh wait did he say disgusting? Haha he meant to say charming! Yeah, that's what he meant. Koby sighed. "Listen to yourself Koby, even in your own head you're afraid to disrespect her," he muttered to himself slouching even further than he normally did.

"Koby!" Screamed the 'fairest' woman in all the seas. "Get your head out of your ass and tell me who the most breathtaking maiden in the East Blue is!"

"Huh? Wha? Oh! Um well t-that would of course be y-you Ms. Alvida," Koby shakily explained, on the verge of wetting himself.

"WRONG!" Alvida snapped, swinging her club straight down, nearly introducing Koby to the bottom deck of the ship. Instead he jumped out of harm's way just in time, landing on his butt, the only damage being done on the floorboards. "I'm the most gorgeous of ALL the seas, including the Grand Line! I should kill you for that boy!"

Unfortunately for her, Alvida was not as alluring as she described herself. As a matter-of-fact, if someone were to sum up her appearance in a few words they would probably say she was as large and hideous as a sea king! Of course no one on her crew had the guts to tell her that. "Luckily i'm in a good mood, it looks like we can get some good plunder from that civilian vessel," she stated.

It was official, Koby would have officially wet himself if it weren't for the fact that he hadn't eaten or drank anything in days. Nothing new there. Why would she set me up like that? She already knows I'm scared as hell! Koby thought to himself. How can she be so delusional anyway! She doesn't even compare to a normal looking woman. Could she actually think she holds a candle to someone like the Pirate Empress?

"Um ye-yes ma'am!" Koby stuttered out. Turning around, Koby located the said ship that the captain was referring to. It was indeed a civilian cruise liner, and a nice one at that, being more than twice the size of their own ship. They were usually filled with wealthy people and had below average security, making it a perfect target for any pirate lucky enough to find one.

Alvida raised her spiked club and yelled, riling up her crew as their ship approached. "Alight boys! Get ready to board!"

Koby audibly gulped, fear racing into his heart once again.

The inside of the cruise liner was a sight to behold. The walls were lavishly decorated on every side. The mouthwatering aroma of gourmet food lingering in the air, along with a finishing touch of classical music for the guests on the ballroom floor. Of all the guests at the party, one young woman stood out from the others regarding her intentions for attending. She had short orange hair and big brown eyes that you could almost see the greed in. The teen wore a red and white floral dress over her slender frame and heeled sandals on her feet to finish off her attire.

She was obviously beautiful, but also a bit mischievous looking at the same time. She was currently dancing with one of the richer young men at the party. Well, dancing was one way of saying it. More realistically they were shuffling back and forth while the man just stared at her generous chest and flaunted his fortune in her face.

All the woman was thinking about was that she already had this suckers wallet in her possession. A few moments later when the song ended the two separated, the woman was already looking around for her next target.

"Ugh, why is everyone at this party so full of themselves," the orange haired teen said with disgust. She was about to approach another man when the doors to the ballroom burst open and pirates flooded in from the deck. Screams echoed throughout the ballroom as everyone started to panic. Great, the one thing in this world I hate more than snobby people, the girl thought bitterly. She slowly made her way to the back of the crowd before turning a corner. Breathing a sigh of relief, the teen stripped off her dress to reveal a very basic pirate attire. "Well good thing I came prepared," she said with a smirk, walking down the hallway to find another exit.

Koby breathed heavily as he walked slowly down a random hallway on the targeted ship. He was doing his absolute best to not make a single sound in fear of confronting someone. He could still hear the guests in the ballroom begging for mercy behind him and walked a little faster. He wished with every fiber of his being that he could go back there and teach all these pirates a lesson in the name of justice… But, there was no chance of that happening. Sometimes Koby hated being as logical as he was. He wished it were easy for him to take risks but it just wasn't who he was, nothing he could do about it.

Just as his inner thoughts wrapped up he arrived at an open door in the hallway. "Oh no, please be empty," he whispered to himself as he tiptoed towards the entrance and peeked around the corner. "Phew," Koby sighed in relief. He was about to move on down the hallway when he noticed an above average sized storage barrel at the other end of the room. He smiled at his great luck. Since he was unable to earn the respect of his crew through normal means, he was always looking for ways to suck up to them. He couldn't wait to see their faces when they saw the size of this barrel of booze. That would at least get him a few points with those roughnecks. Maybe they would even feed him tonight! He had almost rolled it to the door when he heard footsteps and yelling.

"Hell yeah! Those rich bastards really were loaded!" One of the pirates yelled with enthusiasm

"You can say that again brother! Only thing we need now is some alcohol," another of Koby's crew thought out loud.

When they finally reached the room, Koby was scared frozen, hoping the barrel would appease them. As soon as the pirates laid eyes on it, all three of them smiled like children. "Well what do we have here?" Said the third one who hadn't spoken.

Koby did his best not to panic. "O-oh well um, look what I found for you guys! A giant barrel of booze! I knew you guys would be thirsty so I was rolling it over to you.

"Wow! Really kid? This is great, maybe you aren't so useless after all," the first one said licking his chops while the other two stood the barrel up.

Koby tried his best to take that as a compliment. Although thinking about it, his self confidence was so low that he would take anything that wasn't an insult at this point. Turning his attention back to the men prying open the barrel, Koby witnessed something that he would never forget until the day he died.

"I SLEPT GREAT!" Exclaimed a mystery person who just exploded out of the barrel. The black haired man looked like he was in his late teens, he wasn't the tallest out there but that sure didn't seem to matter to him. He stood straight and proudly with his hands on his hips taking in his surroundings. As he scanned around the room a small scar could be noticed under the man's left eye. He wore a red sleeveless vest with yellow buttons and jean shorts with fluff coming out of the knees. On his feet he had some standard looking sandals, and to top off his appearance he was wearing a straw hat on his head with a red band on it.

Koby finally snapped out of his stupor only to realize that the teen had knocked out both of the men who were trying to open the barrel. What is going on here? His next thoughts were halted when the boy addressed him.

"Hi, I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be King of the Pirates!" He said putting his hand out to shake.

Koby was once again too stunned to respond to the teens' gesture. What? Is this guy crazy? There are hundreds, no thousands of people trying to become Pirate King. What kind of logic is this!

"What's wrong? Not gonna shake my hand?" The boy known as Luffy asked innocently.

It was at this point that the third and only conscious Alvida Pirate decided to make his presence known "Hahahaha! That's a good one kid! You? Pirate King? Yeah and Gold Roger is my long lost father," The man laughed holding his stomach.

Luffy turned around wide eyed at the man's statement… and started laughing as well. "Shishishi, you have no Idea man!"

Koby stood there dumbfounded, watching both men laugh their asses off. Did this guy really not care that his dream was just laughed at? If not mad, he should at least be embarrassed, right? I know I would be.

Both men continued laughing until the Alvida Pirate came to his senses and got a wicked smirk on his face. "Alright kid thanks for the laugh and everything but I can't just let you off. You've got a couple decent punches there, being able to knock out two grown men. I still have to take you to my captain but i'll put a good word in and maybe you can join us."

Hearing this, Luffy silenced his own laughs and looked the man in the eyes. After ten seconds or so, the teen put a hand on his hat and grinned ear-to-ear. "No thanks." With that He stepped out of the barrel, finally stretching his legs.

"What a shame, you seemed like a nice kid," said the pirate, preparing to swing his sword down aiming to kill.

"H-hey, watch out!" Koby warned already backing away covering his eyes

"Boy am I hungry," Luffy said over the growling of his stomach. Either unaware or uninterested in the blade coming down upon him. That was soon answered however when he quickly sidestepped the man's sword and drew back a left hook before putting the man's consciousness to an end. The man dropped with a thud as Luffy began to speak. "Aw man, I kinda liked that guy," He finished, his nose pointing him towards the food storage. Once inside It wasn't long until he was raiding a barrel full of apples.

At this point Kobys mind was completely frazzled. He thought he'd seen it all before, but boy was he wrong. He slowly approached the teen, whose only concern at that moment was stuffing his face full of fruit. "Y-you, who are you? A-and um, what were you doing in that barrel? And how come you wanna be the pirate king? Y-you do know t-that's impossible right? I mean c'mon! Think of the odds and then on top of that you have-" however Koby did not get to finish as Luffy's fist struck him in the head. "Ow!" Koby said, rubbing his head with both his hands. "What was that for? And why is your fist so heavy?"

Luffy bit off the last piece of an apple before opening his mouth. "Anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions?" Luffy swallowed the food before continuing. "First off, I hit you because I felt like it. And second, my fist is heavier because it's made of rubber. I'm a rubber man! I ate the gum gum devil fruit and now I'm wuber." Luffy said, stretching out the corner of his mouth on that last part.

"Oh... I guess that sums it up then." Koby waited another few minutes or so, just watching Luffy munch down apples until he spoke up. "So I take it you're a pirate then?"

Luffy patted his belly, satisfied before standing up. "Yep, you guessed it." Slowly he reached up and took the straw hat off his head and stared down into it. "But I'm not just any pirate, I'm the man who'll be King of the Pirates," he exclaimed, his smile getting a little wider.

Koby really didn't understand this guy, where was the logic at? "B-but, the odds! You have to know them! Its-"

"I don't care about that. I don't care about how hard it is, all I know is i'm either gonna do it, or die trying. I decided that a long time ago. So if I have to die fighting for it, then I die. no matter what happens, i'll be free in the end." Luffy finished grinning one last time before putting his hat back on.

The words hit Koby like a punch in the gut. How? How can he say he's not scared of dying so easily? C-could I do that? Koby broke his thoughts looking back up at the straw hat boy. He could practically see the confidence leaking from the teen. Not to be mistaken for cockyniess, there was a fine line between those two. Who was this guy? And how had he not noticed this before? "Do you think-" Koby stopped himself and looked down at his feet. Cmon! I can do this! "Do you think I could become a marine!?" Koby shouted, once the words were out he wished he could take them back, he slouched once again ready for the laughter that was about to plague his ears.

"Well yeah, why not? If that's what you want with all your heart and you're willing to do anything to get it, then who can stop you?" Luffy said with a permanent grin still on his face.

Koby couldn't believe his ears. "...You didn't laugh" the pinkette whispered, a tear coming to his eye.

Luffy had a confused look on his face. "Well of course not, I don't have control over you. Do what you want silly."

Koby dried his tears. Was it really as simple as this guy made it sound? "No one has ever taken my dream seriously before. Everyone always laughs."

"Don't worry about them," Luffy said pointing to the straw hat on his head, getting the attention of the younger boy once again. "A long time ago, the guy who gave me this hat taught me that small stuff like that isn't worth getting mad about. But once someone hurts my friends, that's when we have a problem." Luffy got a serious look in his eye and reached out his hand. "Now, what's your name?"

This time Koby didn't hesitate, Luffy's confidence boosting his own. "My name is Koby and I was captured by the Alvida Pirates and forced to be their cabin boy! I want nothing more in this world than to get out of here and become a marine! So I can serve justice to all the assholes in the sea, especially Alvida!"

Luffy smiled. "Well, it looks like my friend Koby is in trouble and needs my help. Shishishi, sounds like something worth fighting for!" Luffy said, extending his hand even more.

Koby finally burst into tears and started crying but kept his head held high. He smiled genuinely through them and took Luffy's hand with excitement.

And thus a new friendship was born.