Chapter 1:
I'll be King of the Fighters!
The sun beamed beautifully over the horizon of an enormous building that was embedded into the pavement. Violent winds blew past the scenery as the local birds were carried away by the unexpected phenomenon. Teenagers dressed in formal black suits and jeans conversed around the humongous building, entering its educational institute.
Resting at the top of the building, we're three golden carved letters that hung proudly from the buildings entrance way.
"GLH: Grand Line High"
These letters were the symbol of the lustrous institute that welcomed students all over the globe. Grand Line High was the high school for the most talented, most wealthy, and above all else, most gifted students to attend.
They all gathered from different corners of the world with only one objective in their mind. Only one student could become "King of The Fighters" in GLH and it was a title that meant everything to a martial artist.
Gold D Roger , the previous King of Fighters held the title for his entire high school life and was still known as the strongest fighter ever to set foot in the school. However, due to an unknown and incurable disease, he passed away.
Thirty years have passed, and a new generation of fighters have gathered in Grand Line High, wanting to take the throne and title that the previous King left behind him. This is the story of one boy who aims to become King of the Fighters, and to become known as the strongest martial artist on the planet.
His name...
"Luffy! It's time for school!" a soft but stern voice shouted.
Way off to the north of the titanic school was a small village that held a minor population. The town was known for their exquisite alcohol and great business for selling boats and sails. In the middle of the town, was a rusty but towering house labelled "Party's Bar". You could always find the craziest village folk partying and acting merry inside as if they didn't have a care in the world.
Working at the front table, was a beautiful young woman with lime green hair. She was dressed in a traditional bartender's outfit and had an apron that hung around her shoulder down to her waist.
Rinsing off the used dishes and plates in the sink, she wiped her hands and dried them up with the cloth that lay next to her.
Hearing no response from her plead earlier, she opened the small wooden door that made a pathway behind the bar table and proceeded into the backroom. Turning, she made her way up the stairway that led her to the second floor. Continuing down the pathway, she made a stop at the door at the end of the hallway and reached her hand for the door knob. The creaking sound slowly began to expand as the door widened itself until it was fully open.
Placing her hands on her hips, she titled her head to the side and furrowed her black eye brows.
"Gosh, I can't believe he's still sleeping"
Making her way to the center of the room, she quickly noticed the garbage that lay around the floor and decided to pick up a few items and place them in the trash bin a few inches next to her. Once that was done, she made her way to the bed at the corner and gazed at the sheets that inhaled and exhaled.
Sighing to herself, she grabbed the bed sheets and yanked them across her body.
Sleeping peacefully was a young raven colored hair boy with an unusual scar below his right eye. A snot bubble emitted from his nose as he slept there, unaware of the woman's presence.
"Guess I've got no choice..." the young woman said to herself and inhaled a great deal of oxygen.
"Breakfast Time!" she screamed at the top of her lungs right beside the boy's ear.
Almost instantly, the boy's sleeping bubble popped and his weary eyes began to slowly flutter open. As his vision came to, he got up from his awkward position and scratched the top of his head.
"W-Wher...e's...Brea..k..fast"
The woman sighed. He didn't respond when she told him he was going to be late, but he immediately responded when food was involved. So typical of him.
"It's time to get up Luffy, you don't want to be late to school on your first day do you?" she explained as she folded his bed sheets.
Instantly, Luffy sprang up towards his feet and punched his palm with his fist.
"Oh yea, today's the day I enter that high school. I can't wait to meet some strong people!" he exclaimed, confident in his abilities.
"Well Ok Mr Champion, maybe you should take a shower and brush your teeth before you go beating people up" the woman teased as she walked towards the door.
"But Makinoooo, I was having the most awesome dream" he retaliated, scrunching his face in the process.
"Let me guess, there was meat and you beat up a bunch of strong people"
"Woah! How did you know!" he screamed.
A giggle escaped Makino's lips as Luffy's simplicity never ceased to amaze her.
"Anyways, breakfast will be made shortly. You just concentrate on getting ready"
Luffy straightened up his body and brought his hand towards his forehead in a military salute position.
"Yes, Ma'am!" he declared, right before running off into the washroom.
After awhile, the noisy villagers began to tone themselves down as they waited for a certain boy to come downstairs.
"Oi Makino! Is Luffy done yet?" a rough looking old man shouted from across the room.
"Yea, isn't that idiot done sleeping?" a younger man who had a cigarette in his mouth said.
Makino shook her head as she placed the cup she was currently cleaning down on the table. She looked backwards at were Luffy was supposed to be, but no luck.
"Maybe I should go check on hi-"
The door slowly opened wide as the villagers and Makino herself stopped their speeches and stared intently as a figure walked through. He wore a jet black uniform with a pure white undershirt along with nice suited black jeans.
Noticing the stares he was getting, Luffy opted himself to ask what exactly was going on.
"The hell are you all staring at?"
Abruptly, cheers erupted from all corners of the bar and beers were thrown into the air. Luffy jumped backwards and held his arms in front of him for protection, startled by their sudden reaction. He knew they were a rowdy bunch and loved partying but this time, he didn't have a clue what they were rioting about.
"Looking good there sport!" the same rough old man complimented.
"Is that our Luffy? Since when could he dress himself like that?" another one shouted.
The feelings of anger, embarrassment, and hilariousness swept Luffy's mind as he didn't know how to respond to their comments. As usual, Luffy did what he did best in these kinds of situations...he smiled.
Drifting his attention towards the bar table, Luffy quickly noticed the wide spread of food seated there and hopped into place.
Makino placed a drink beside his food and looked at him carefully.
"Well don't you look handsome" she vibrantly smiled as she was glad that Luffy looked great in those clothes.
"Ymhea I Knuow Rlight" he mumbled as the message wasn't getting across to her because of the food in his mouth.
Makino took a drying cloth and rubbed Luffy's mouth that had crumbs all over it.
"Slow down while you're eating, and don't talk with your mouth full. It's not sanitary Luffy" she instructed, wiping the last crumb off his face.
Gulping down his last sandwich, he nodded his head and jumped off of the chair. He picked up the satchel that had been right next to it and strapped the bag around his waist.
"Ok I'm ready to go. Bye Makino"
Right before Luffy had a chance to sprint off; Makino grabbed his shirt by the neck and turned him around. She looked at him all over, trying to find any spots, stains, or anything that would make Luffy look like his ordinary self.
Sighing in relief, she patted his shoulder and leaned in towards his face and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Luffy didn't mind it, but he felt a bit uncomfortable when she did things like that as it felt embarrassing.
"Take care now Luffy, please don't get into any trouble. I've heard that GLH has had some incidents in the past" she warned him.
Smiling, Luffy laughed as his teeth chattered against one another. Reaching for his satchel, he zipped it open and brought out a moderately sized straw hat and strapped it at the base behind his neck.
"I made a promise with Shanks. I told him that before we meet again, I would make it to the top of Grand Line High and become the King of Fighters"
Makino gave Luffy a warm motherly smile and couldn't help wondering where Shanks had gone off too. He had left the village years ago and never returned, but he left something with Luffy right before his departure. The straw hat was an item that Luffy treasured with his life, and until he met his hero once again, he would never let go of it.
"You must really admire Shanks. Just know that whether you become a King or not, I will always be on your side Luffy"
"Of course you will, you're family Makino" Luffy admitted.
Makino smiled happily as she turned Luffy around and pushed him out of the door.
"Well get a move on, King of the Fighters"
Giving her one last stare, Luffy grinned and ran out of the bar as fast as he could.
"Do us proud Luffy!" a man screamed.
"Show them what you got!" another one shouted.
Makino walked outside of the bar and noticed how beautiful the sky was on this day. She saw the after image of Luffy as he made his way outside of the village.
"Never give up...Luffy..."
Sprinting down the street, Luffy paced himself as he saw the gigantic school building in the distance. Even though he lived quite far from the school, getting there was not going to be a problem as he possessed incredible speed for a normal human.
"Guess I got to thank Gramps for this" Luffy said as he continued to run.
Entering the Town district, Luffy crossed cars, trucks, and people on bicycles as they went about their daily lives.
Placing a hand below his chin, Luffy began to think about how he would reach the goal he set out to do.
"Hmm, I should try gathering a crew first..." he absently thought.
Not concentrating ahead of him, a black car made its way towards him in the middle of the street. The car's driver popped his head out of the window and brought one his arms to his mouth to amplify the volume of his voice.
"Hey Kid! Get out of the way!" he shouted.
"Huh?" Luffy snapped, finally realizing that he had drifted off of the side walk and onto the street.
As the moment of impact approached, Luffy instinctively crouched his feet and sprang upwards, flipping over the car as it passed him by. He landed on the pavement and continued running towards the school.
Spectators in the background were marveled by the boy's athleticism and clapped for him.
Unfazed by their claps, the straw hat wearing boy changed his path and decided to take the alley way, as it looked like a short cut.
His assumptions were correct, as at the end of the alley way, was a sharp turn that led Luffy to the corner of the school.
"Awesome, looks like that shortcut worked" he admitted as he stopped running for a second.
Just as Luffy was about to take off again and head to the school...
"Ahh!" a childish voice screamed for the corner in the alley way.
"The hell was that?" Luffy asked as he jerked his head around, looking for the source of the sound.
Pinpointing the source, Luffy decided to investigate the unknown screech and followed the path in the opposite direction. It led him to an open parking lot with run down cars and barrels, and in the center was the culprit.
Surrounding a young girl on the floor were three viciously looking thugs dressed in the same outfit as Luffy, however their outfits were more rigid and torn. The thug who stood in the middle of the two others had a trail of white ice cream dripping on his pants.
"Look what you did you stupid girl, you ruined my rocking threads" he arrogantly said as he squinted his eyes.
"I'm so sorry...I just...I didn't look where I was going...it was an accident I promise!" she pleaded, with tears in her eyes.
"Accident or not, those were expensive you bitch!" the thug standing right next to him spat.
Startled, the young girl backed up quite a bit until she was right against the back of a fence that blocked her way.
"I'm..sorry.." she sniffed as she couldn't hold back her fear any longer.
Swiftly, the girl felt a strong impact right across her face and she was sent plummeting to the ground. One of the thugs held out his hand to signify that he had slapped the hell out of here.
"Sorry ain't gonna cut it, you're coming with us" he declared.
"We're going to make you pay back the money you owe for these jeans, sound good girly?" the thug on the left said as he slithered his tongue out of his mouth and extended it out.
"Now get your ass up!" the main thug shouted and grabbed the girl's wrist. His hand was gigantic compared to hers and the minute his hand connected, she could feel his immense strength.
"Nooo! Someone help me please!" she screeched out.
Laughing, the thug squeezed her hand even further and pulled her up.
"Yea right, who would come save you? You're just some poor street rat, no one's going to care if-" he swiftly noticed that the arm he was using to hold hers was throbbing vibrantly.
"What the hell?" he thought as he directed his attention towards a shadow standing next to him.
"What's this? Three grown men extorting money from a kid? Society really has fallen downhill hasn't it?" a tough but commanding voice spoke.
"Who the hell are you!" one of the thugs proclaimed as he didn't even notice the man standing there until now.
Watching from the corner, Luffy was amazed at how swift the man was able to move from that distance towards them.
"Let go of my arm!" the main thug shrieked as he could feel the bones in his wrist cracking in pain.
"Sure" the voice said.
The minute he let go, the mysterious man lifted his right leg into the air and connected with the thug's stomach. He was catapulted several feet back until he crashed right into a bunch of barrels filled with water.
"Boss!" the two other thugs cried as they couldn't understand how their feared boss could be hit like that.
The wind in the area started to blow more aggressively as the man stepped a few feet forward. Reacting to the wind, the three earrings dangling on his right ear chimed with the gust. Raising one of his arms, he rested it upon the three fastened sheaths that were strapped onto his right hip.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be!" the thug angrily shouted towards him.
Rubbing the seat of his lime green hair, the man patted his mouth as he yawned. "Roronoa Zoro" he lazily proclaimed.
"Wait a minute! You don't mean the Lone Wolf of Grand Line High?" the thug exasperated.
Zoro chuckled at what the thug had called him, as he found it amusing that people could create such nicknames from his reputation alone.
"Is that what they call me now? Jeez, where do they get they're choice in words from"
Suddenly, the barrels that previously contained the boss of the thugs burst outwards and he stood there, soaking wet from the exposure.
"You bitch..." he snarled.
"Boss! We should retreat for now, we should get get Arlong and the rest of the gang" one of the thugs pleaded.
"You got to be kidding me! Run away after what he did? His ass is dead!"
Luffy, who had kept quiet about the whole matter had kept his attention on Zoro the entire time. He just couldn't figure it out, but there was something about Zoro that he desired in his crew. He was already impressed with his strength from that kick earlier, but it wasn't just that. It was his aura. The way he carried himself even now was just breath taking.
Luffy decided.
"He's joining my crew!" he declared as he nodded his head.
Back to the action, the main thug raised both of his arms into the air and smirked at Zoro. "You're going to regret what you did!"
Unfazed by his threat, Zoro yawned once again and turned his attention to the young girl with tears in her eyes.
"Hey kid, you better get out of here. You're not suited for this kind of thing" he told her.
Nodding her head, the young girl ran out the parking lot and hid in the bushes that were right behind the fence. Even though she was scared, she couldn't just leave him like that without at least seeing what happens.
Suddenly, the thugs hands began to glow vibrantly as sparks of flame began to flicker around his palms. In no time at all, the thugs hands were engulfed completely in a dark red aura as he stood there.
"Eat this! The art that scorches its enemies! Fire Art, Kaen taihÅ (Flame Cannon!)" he shouted and to Zoro, Luffy's, and the young girl's surprise, a torrent of flame began to spiral out of his hands and headed straight for Zoro.
"What the hell, he can command fire?!" Zoro exclaimed as he was prepared to dodge the attack but he noticed the same girl from earlier behind him.
"Crap, I guess I got no choice" he thought as he unsheathed two of his swords. He placed one of them in his mouth while he held the other two.
"Ha! Do you really think you can stop this attack with those dull blades!" he arrogantly claimed.
Preparing his stance, Zoro squatted his knees and began to grip his blades tightly. He could feel the hard fiber on the blades but ignored them as he stared the torrent of flame heading right for him.
Not waiting another moment, Zoro lunged forward and swung two of his swords forward while the third blade in his mouth was wiped around his body, spinning him around completely.
"Hawk Wave!" he shouted.
The torrent of flame was completely redirected, and it headed towards the thugs who just a minute ago were mocking him.
"Shit!" was all the thug was able to get out as the torrent exploded right in front of them, causing massive destruction as the area in the parking lot where they had been fighting was engulfed in flames.
Luckily, Zoro jumped backwards behind the fence, picked up the young girl whose eye balls were completely out of their sockets and ran as fast as his feet could take him.
Near the front of the school, students noticed the huge commotion at the parking lot and were going to check it out but the school bell rang just at that moment, and they were forced to ignore it.
About a block away from the entrance of the school, Zoro placed the young girl down as he tried to gather his breath.
"Phew, that was a close one. Are you hurt kid?"
The young girl sniffed her eyes and nodded her head. "Yes I am fine. Uh..Thank you Mr. Zoro" she thanked him as she bowed her head.
"It was no problem. They deserved it either way and I'm always willing to test out my skills on new opponents" he admitted.
"Man, you were so awesome out there Zoro" Luffy said as he patted his shoulder.
"Heh, thanks m-"
Finally noticing the unknown young boy, Zoro jumped backwards and readied his guard.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm Luffy, the next King of Fighters" he bluntly proclaimed. He reached his hand outwards and smirked at Zoro who still was confused as to who he was.
"Join my crew Zoro, lets become the strongest team in the school together" he asked.
Blinking, Zoro began to laugh a bit as he sheathed his remaining swords and swatted Luffy's arm away.
"Yea right kid, go bother someone else. I'm not interested."
Placing his arm around Zoro's shoulder, Luffy started laughing his usual laugh. "Come on, don't be like that now"
"Get off me, you freak!" he shouted as he pushed him away.
"What'd you call me!" Luffy shouted as he was angered by Zoro's recent comment at him.
"S-Stop it!" the young girl cried.
Immediately, the two of them turned their attention towards her and stopped their argument. Zoro scratched the back of his head and turned around.
"Alright I'll stop" he conceded.
"Yay!" the young girl cheered with a smile on her face, who was joined in by Luffy as the two danced with each other.
"Why are you doing that!" Zoro screamed out towards Luffy, who just looked at him oddly.
"Well I'm out of here, stay out of trouble kid." Zoro announced as he began to walk away.
"O-Of course !" she shouted and ran off into the corner.
"Oh come on Zoro just join my cr-"
"Shut up!" he cut him off as he disappeared around the corner of the school"
"I wonder why he's so shy. Well it doesn't matter, cause he's going to join my crew." He said, confident that he could get the lone wolf of the school into his crew. Luffy smiled as he walked to the front of the gate.
"Grand Line High School eh...get ready for the next king" he proclaimed as he tipped his straw hat over his head.
A/N: Well Well Well, it's time guys. Sorry for suddenly putting this out there, but here is the revised and worked version of the story. I really felt that the first draft was bland and didn't have enough "Umph" to call it a well done story. I've taken several advice from the reviewers and I hope you will all enjoy the revised version.