The Thunder Demon Straw Hat Luffy (A One Piece Fanfiction) - Chapter 29
The Straw hats stayed on the tropical island for two weeks. They had been put through a hardcore training program compliments of Luffy. One once beautiful island that they were on two weeks ago now looked like a wasteland. There were clouds of smoke rising from different parts of the island and the once luscious tropical forest was now nothing but a pile of ash. The straw hats completely destroyed the island in the past two weeks, but if you asked Luffy he would say it was all worth it. The two weeks of training paid off nicely for the crew. He can now say that everyone on his crew has unlocked both observation and Armament haki, but only a handful of them can control it. Zoro, Sanji, and Nojiko are now aware that they possess armament haki and can summon it to some extent. Sometimes it can summon it when they wish and sometimes, they don’t. Zoro and Nojiko seem to favor armament over observation haki while Sanji seems to favor observation. He was quite disappointed when Luffy told him that he seems to be more talented with observation haki but Luffy reminded him that he can still learn both. Chopper also showed signs that Armament will be his specialty along with Robin, while Usopp and Nami seem to favor observation haki. It is still too early for Luffy to tell just how they are going to use their designated types of haki, but they were on the right track. Everyone was currently standing on the main deck of the ship staring at the wasteland that they were about to leave behind.
“Man, I can’t believe that this place used to be a beautiful island two weeks ago,” Nami said as he looked at the smoking island.
“It’ll fix itself,” Luffy said as he stared at the island. “Nature always finds a way,” he added.
“Captain is right,” said Robin with a nod. “The ashes will rejuvenate the soil and the beauty will return even better than it once was,” she added.
“Anyway,” Luffy said as he turned to leave. “Raise the anchor and release the sails. It is time we get on our way,” he said causing all of them to nod head before they started scrambling around the ship. As the ship began to sail up the canal and away from the island, Luffy took a seat on his throne and poured himself a glass of whiskey before he let out a comforting sigh and lead back into the cloud.
Once the ship was on its way the entire crew scattered themselves around the ship. Zoro and Nojiko were training themselves at the front of the ship, Nami was inside of her room drawing a map of the island that they were previously on, Sanji was in the kitchen packing away some supplies they had gathered from the island before they destroyed it, Usopp was sitting behind Luffy working with some form of explosives, while Chopper and Robin were on the main deck relaxing with a good book. Luffy found the relationship between Robin and Chopper very amusing, especially when Robin first tried to speak to the small reindeer doctor. It took some time for Chopper to warm up to her, but once he did the two of them were somewhat inseparable.
“Hopefully nothing but smooth sailing from here on,” Luffy said as he transformed his throne into a lawn chair and pulled his straw hat over his face. “Nami! You’re in charge!” he shouted as he closed his eyes. Nami, who was insides came outside to see why her captain put her in charge. When he went to the rear deck, she saw him laying on a lawn chair made of clouds with his hat over his face.
“Aye,” she said with a smile before checking the log pose on her wrist.
**The Moby D.i.c.k**
The Moby D.i.c.k, the flagship of the strongest man in the world Edward Newgate, or more commonly known as Whitebeard. Whitebeard was currently sitting on the rather large throne with a barrel of sake in his hand while hooked up to a bunch of medical equipment. He had his crew scattered all around the giant ship while most of them were mainly surrounding where he was sitting.
“Oi Pops!” came the shout of someone walking towards the giant of a man.
“Marco, you’re back,” Whitebeard said as he looked at his second in command who was walking towards him holding two newspaper. “Did you get everything?” he asked.
“No, the News Coo haven’t come this way yet,” Whitebeard replied before he narrowed his eyes and look at Marco. “Why?” he asked.
“That’s strange considering that some world-shaking news happened over the past two weeks,” he said getting the entire crew’s attention. “Here, see for yourself,” he said as he handed him the two newspaper. Whitebeard placed the barrel of sake down and grabbed the two newspaper before he began to read. The first one talked about Luffy defeating Crocodile and the interview he gave right after it.
“That boy is already causing trouble,” Whitebeard said with a chuckle.
“Just wait till you see the second paper,” Marco said with a smirk. The old man placed the first paper down after reading it and then picked up the second only to have his eyes widen at the headlines.
“Just what are brats up to,” Whitebeard said to himself.
“What is it pops?” Asked a random crew member.
“Red-Hair and Luffy formed an alliance,” Marco said allowing the old man to continue to read. The older members of the crew like the commanders were surprised when the heard that while the newer members were puzzled.
“What’s so bad about that?” one of them asked causing Marco to chuckle.
“If you knew Luffy you would know that he can match one of the four emperors in terms of power,” Marco said surprising them. “This alliance is basically an alliance between two emperors,” he added.
“Yeah, that’s the thing that is throwing everyone into a fit,” Marco said with a sigh. “A lot of people in the government is nervous about this alliance,” he added with a slightly worried look on his face.
“They should be,” the old man said ominously. “By the way, did you hear any news about that wayward son of mine?” he asked as he folded the paper.
“Yeah, both of them are in Paradise,” Marco replied.
**Totto Land**
“Mama! Big news!” shouted Mont-d’Or as he ran into the queen’s chambers with two newspaper in his hands.
“Why are you shouting!?” Big Mom asked as she looked down at her son. Inside the chamber with Big Mom were the three sweet commanders, the first son of the Big Mom Pirates, Perospero, and the eighth daughter of the Charlotte Family, Brulee.
“Yes, please stop shouting,” The only female sweet commander, Smoothie said.
“That is interesting news,” Katakuri said coolly causing everyone to look over at him.
“Would you cut that out!” the last of the three sweet commanders, Snack yelled.
“It is about Red-hair,” he replied earning everyone’s attention. “He formed an alliance,” he said surprising everyone.
“He did what!?” asked/yelled Big Mom. “With who!?” she screamed.
“W-with a new rookie pirate,” Mont-d’Or said in a scared voice. “The thunder demon, Straw Hat Luffy,” he added.
“Give me that!” Big Mom said before she snatched the paper from him. “I asked that brat to join me a long time ago and he turned me down and now he has the nerve to join someone else,” she said angerly as she read through the paper.
“You asked straw hat Luffy to join our crew?” Perospero asked as h looked at his mother.
“Not that rookie!” she screamed. “I’m talking about Shanks,” she said before continuing to read the paper. “Who is this rookie anyway?” she asked.
“Apparently he is Red-hair’s apprentice,” Smoothie said. She had heard stories of the new rookie that was causing trouble in Paradise, but she never thought that he would be stirring up this much trouble.
“There are some rumors going around that the Navy sent a Buster Call to kill the rookie after the story broke about the alliance,” Mont-d’Or said as he looked around at his siblings.
“And?” asked Snack as he looked at Mont-d’Or waiting for him to continue.
“His equal?” Big Mom said to herself as she read through the paper.
“Yeah, apparently Shanks called the Rookie his equal,” Mont-d’Or said causing a surprised reaction to spread across the room.
“That’s…surprising,” Smoothing said.
“Mamamama!” Big Mom laughed as she folded the paper. “Let me know when this brat enters the New World. I’ll give him a nice welcome!” she said with a sadistic look on her face that made no one wanted to tell her that Luffy already spent time in the New World.
**Wano Country**
“Lord Kaido! Lord Kaido!” Yelled a random member of the Beast Pirates as he ran down the halls of Kaido’s mansion in Onigasima.
“Why are you yelling?” asked a male voice off to the right. When the beast pirate looked over, he saw two men sitting by a wooden table staring at him. “L-lord King! Lord Queen!” the man said as he looked at two of Kaido’s second in command. ” Where is Lord Kaido? There is major news,” he said as he ran up to them and handed them a newspaper.
“Let’s see,” King said as he took the paper and read its contents. “The captain is drunk, and this doesn’t concern us,” King said as he tossed the paper on the table.
“That was quick,” Queen said as he picked up the paper to see what was on it. When he saw the headline, he too discarded it. “I agree, this doesn’t concern us,” he said while King nodded.
**Back with Luffy**
It had been two days since the Straw Hats left the island. It had been nothing but smooth sailing for the entire journey since. They had a few encounters with the marines and a few pirates which the crew easily took care of and helped themselves to their cargo. Other than that, the crew was enjoying their moment of relaxation. Luffy was currently standing on the rear deck of the Going Merry looking out at the clear blue sea. The rest of the crew were scattered throughout the ship doing their own thing. It was at this point in time where something fell from the sky and hit Luffy’s straw hat getting his attention.
“Huh?” he said as he looked at where the object fell as saw that it was a piece of wood.
“If that rain?” he heard Zoro asked as more pieces of wood began to fall.
“No way, this isn’t rain,” Sanji said before everyone decided to look up. When their all looked up, they all saw something that shocked them to their core.
“Well, that is interesting,” Luffy said as saw what looks to be parts of a ship falling from the sky. “It looks like a… oh shit,” he said as he stared at the giant galleon falling from the sky.
“Huh!?” the entire crew including said as they stared at the falling ship that was on a set course to fall pretty close to the Merry.
“Ahhhhhh!” everyone yelled out as the ship got closer and closer to the surface of the water.
“Luff do something!” Nojiko yelled as she dodges the falling debris.
“Ahhhhhh!” They continued to yell a.s.s the galleon crashed into the water just behind the Going Merry causing really big waves to form. The going Merry began to be tossed in all different directions by the waves.
“Hold on to something!” Zoro yelled as he held onto the rails of the rear deck. “And whatever you do not let go!” he added in a panicked voice.
“Why are there sh.i.p.s falling out of the sky!?” Nami asked as she held onto the mast.
“I have no idea,” Luffy replied as he used his lightning to anchor himself to the ground.
“Heads up, I don’t think the party is over yet!” Sanji yelled as he looked to the sky and saw that there was more debris falling. “It won’t stop falling!” he cried.
“The rudder! Turn the rudder!” Nami yelled as he looked at Zoro.
“They’ll never work in these waves!” Zoro yelled back. “Luffy, you have to protect the ship! She’s taking a beating!” He yelled as he looked at his captain.
“Right,” Luffy said with a nod before he turned and looked upwards with an emotionless look on his face. He then reared his right fist back and aimed it up at the sky before he shouted out.
“El Thor!” he yelled as the punches straight up into the air at the falling debris. Out of his hand came a massive lightning stream that shot straight up into the sky burning away debris that would fall onto the ship. The giant stream of lightning produced a bright white light that could be seen from miles on the open ocean. It took about five minutes for the remaining debris to stop falling, but once it did the entire crew stood on the main deck trying to process what had just occurred.
“Someone wants to explain to me why a freaking ship just fell out of the sky?” Nami asked as she looked around at everyone before her yes locked onto Luffy.
“Don’t look at me,” Luffy said as he held his hands up. “That’s strange even for the Grand Line,” he added while Robin nodded in agreement. “However, I wonder…” he said as he trailed off and looked up at the sky.
‘Could there be a sky island above us?’ he asked himself.
“Oh no!” Nami yelled out in a panicked voice knocking Luffy out of his thought.
“What’s wrong Nami?” Sanji asked as he looked over to their navigator.
“the log pose is broken,” she said as she looked at the log pose strapped to her wrist. When Luffy heard that his head snapped around at her at amazing speed with a worried expression on his face.
“What?” he asked as he stared at her.
“It’s broken,” she said as she held it up for him to see. “It’s pointing up into the sky,” she said causing Luffy to let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, thank god,” Luffy said in a relieved voice causing Nami to look at him with an angry expression on her face.
“Why the hell are you so relieved!?” she yelled as she looked at Luffy. “The log pose is broken and now we are stranded here in the middle of the Grand Line!” she yelled causing Luffy to look back at her with a cold expression on his face causing her to flinch slightly.
“First off, the log pose isn’t broken,” he said surprising her. “And secondly, if it was broken it would have been your fault seeing as how you are the navigator of this ship,” he added coldly.
“Mr. Captain is right,” Robin said trying to take the attention away from Luffy and Nami. “The log pose isn’t broken, it is simply registering an island with a strong magnetic pull and its needle is reflecting that,” she said causing all of them to look at her strangely. “If the needle is pointing towards the sky…then it must mean…” she trailed off as she looked up to the sky.
“You’re right,” Luffy said getting all their attention. “It’s pointing to a sky island,” he said causing their eyes to widen.
“They exist?” Robin asked to which Luffy replied with a nod. “I had only heard stories about them. I never thought they actually exist,” she said in an astonished voice as she looked up to the sky.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nojiko said as she looked between Luffy and Robin. “There can’t be islands in the sky,” she said causing Luffy and Robin to chuckle.
“There you all go again trying to use logic to explain the Grand Line,” Luffy said as he stared at his crew. “There isn’t just an island above us, but an entire ocean,” he said surprising them.
“No way,” Nami said as she looked up.
“I’m still confused,” Sanji added causing Luffy to chuckle.
“You all rode on my thundercloud before, I don’t see why this is so hard for you to believe,” he said with a chuckle.
“Do you know which sky island is above us?” Usopp asked.
“No, they constantly move so it is impossible to tell,” Luffy replied before a smile crept on his face. “It looks like our next stop is sky island!” he said as he raised his voice slightly.
“Yeah!” Usopp and Chopper yelled out in excitement.
“Ummm, how do we get there?” Chopper asked causing the smile to vanish from Luffy’s face.
“There are two ways from what I remember,” he said as he began to think. “One of them is going up the Summit of High West, but that will probably result in a few of us dying,” he said casually causing all everyone on his crew go pale. “The other way is by the knock upstream, that way is much safer,” he said causing them to let out a sigh of relief.
“Where is this knock Up Stream?” Nami asked while looking at Luffy.
“I have no idea,” he replied with a shrug causing all of them to comically fall over.
“How don’t you know?!” all of them yelled/asked at the same time causing to shrug his shoulders before he replied.
“I usually just fly up to that level,” he replied.
“Then just fly us up there,” Zoro said causing everyone to nod.
“First off, that’s cheating,” he said causing them to sweat drop. “Secondly, I can’t lift the whole damn ship. Who do I look like, Whitebeard?” he asked rhetorically.
“So how are we going to get there?” Nami asked causing Luffy to place his finger on his chin as he began to think. His eyes darted around looking for something that will give a clue as to how they can find the Knock Up Stream.
“I got it,” he said as his eyes landed on the wreckage of the sinking ship that was slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. “We will search the wreckage as much as we can before it sunk to the bottom of the ocean for clues,” he said while pointing to the sinking ship.
“That makes sense,” Robin said with a nod. “The ship doesn’t appear to be a pirate ship, so we should look for a captain’s log or so,” she said while Luffy nodded his head in agreement.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Luffy asked as he looked at his crew. “If you didn’t eat a devil fruit get out there and look!” he ordered causing them to scramble to the sinking ship. Nami huffed and grumbled as she walked towards the edge of the Going Merry. “Who knows, there may even be some treasure on board,” Luffy said with a smirk as he stared at Nami. As soon as she heard that he jumped off the ship and began swimming towards the wreckage. The only people left on board the ship was Luffy, Robin, and Chopper. The three of them stood on the bow of the ship looking at the rest of the crew run across the different parts of the broken ship trying to find something that will tell them how to get to Sky Island. After five minutes of searching, Usopp yelled out while holding up a piece of paper.
“I found a map!” he shouted getting everyone’s attention.
“Okay everyone, get back here now!” Luffy shouted to the crew. “The ship is starting to sink faster now, hurry up and get back on board before it pulls you down with it,” he said causing everyone to begin making their way back to the ship. When everyone got back Usopp unrolled what appears to be a map for everyone to see.
“Look,” he said as he held it up. “It’s a map of the sky island,” he said causing all of them to look at the map.
“It’s called Skypiea,” Nami said as she examined the map.
“I’ve heard of it before,” Luffy said getting all their attention. “I think Shanks once told me that they visited that island before, but I can’t remember much,” he added with a sigh.
“If a big ship like that one can make it up there then so can we,” Nami said causing Luffy to nod his head in agreement. “We just need to find the records of that ship” she added confusing some of the crew.
“But the ship is at the bottom of the ocean by now,” Usopp said as he folded his arms. Luffy was going to reply, but before he could the sound of people cheering filled the air getting everyone’s attention.
“Salvage! Salvage the Sea!” the crew heard followed by the sounds of cymbals crashing together. The entire crew paused their conversation and began looking around to see where the sound was coming from.
“Look over there,” Nojiko said as he pointed in the distance behind the ship. When everyone looked over, they saw a silhouette of a rather large ship approaching them.
“Who the hell is that?” Usopp asked as he brought his goggles down to try and get a better look at who was approaching them. As the ship got closer the crew could see that it was a rather strange looking ship. The things that caught everyone’s attention was the two giant bananas on the side of the ship along with the giant monkey figurehead.
“It’s a pirate ship,” Nami said causing everyone to look up at the main mast of the new ship and saw that there was in fact a jolly roger on the flag. Luffy just narrowed his eyes and raised his eyebrow at the strange newcomers.
“Is this the location where the ship sank!?” the voice of a man asked aboard the ship.
‘How the hell did they know a ship sank here?’ Luffy asked himself.
“Aye, aye, captain Sir!” the crew aboard the ship replied.
“Prepare to raise the ship! Whatever lies on the bottom now belongs to me, the king of all salvagers and Captain of the Masira Pirates, Masira!” a man who looked a lot like a monkey said.
“Great, a boat of unstable men led by an unstable monkey,” Nami said with a sweat drop as she stared at the salvagers.
“Hey,” said Masira as he took notice of the Straw Hat Pirates. “What are all of you doing here?” he asked as he places his hands on his waist. “In case you didn’t know, all these waters belong to me,” he said as he stared at the crew.
“Careful monkey,” Luffy said in a serious tone as he stared up at the monkey. “Don’t go raising your voice at me,” he added dangerously.
“Just who do you think you are to talk to the king of Salvagers like that?” Masira asked as he prepared to attack. Luffy was about to respond but before he could, someone on Masira’s crew spoke before he could.
“S-sir, that…that’s the jolly roger of the Straw Hat Pirates,” a random member of the monkey’s crew. “That’s the thunder demon’s ship!” he yelled out causing other members of the Masira Pirates to begin murmuring amongst themselves.
“It’s really him, the one who defeated one of the seven warlords of the sea,” Luffy heard someone say. When Masira realized who Luffy is he immediately took a step back and began to sweat slightly.
“W-what are you doing here?” Masira asked in a scared voice.
“Relax,” Luffy said with a sigh. “We were just going to search the wreckage for any information about the Knock Up Stream,” he said as he looked up at the monkey. “But seeing as you and your crew and professional salvagers, I’ll pay you for any information that you find down there,” he added.
“There is no need for that,” Masira said as before reached into his pocket and pulled out an eternal pose. “I know someone who can tell you all about getting to Sky Island,” he said as he held it up for Luffy to see.
“And what do you want in return for that information?” Luffy asked as he narrowed his eyes.
“You could buy the eternal pose off of me,” Masira suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Luffy said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a small bag of money. “5000 berries,” he added as he held up the bag.
“Works for me,” Masira said before the two of them tossed their respective items to each other. Luffy caught it and looked at the pose and saw the name ‘Jaya’ painted on at the bottom.
“Jaya?” he asked as he looked back up at the monkey.
“Yeah, just head over there and talk to a man name Mont Blanc Cricket,” Masira said with a nod. “He is an expert on the subject,” he added surprising Luffy.
“Alright then,” Luffy said before he handed the eternal pose over to Nami. “Set our course to Jaya,” he commanded. The ship began sailing away from the salvagers in the direction of Jaya.
“Luffy,” Nami said getting her captain’s attention. “If we go to Jaya wouldn’t that mess with our log pose?” she asked as she held up her wrist for Luffy to see.
“That’s how it normally works, but it shouldn’t register the islands magnetic field as soon as we get there,” he said before he took a sip of his whiskey. “All we need to do is leave before it gets a chance to register it,” he said causing her to nod.
“Doesn’t sound that hard,” Usopp said from behind Luffy.
“Let’s hope so,” Robin said as she leaned against the side of the ship. It had been five minutes since the crew left the salvagers when the sun suddenly disappeared from the sky and was replaced with darkness.
“What the hell!?” Sanji yelled as darkness fell onto them.
“Where did the sun go?” ask a scared Chopper.
“Well, this is certainly strange,” Luffy said calmly as he sipped his whiskey.
“U-umm, captain?” Zoro said in a slightly scared voice as he looked behind Luffy.
“What is it?” Luffy asked with a curious look on his face as he looked at his first mate. Zoro who was sweating a lot slowly raised his hand in the air and pointed up to the skies behind the Going Merry. Seeing his first mate so scared Luffy sprang to his feet dropping his glass of whiskey and looked behind him with the others following his lead. What they all saw absolutely terrified each of them. It even scared Luffy a bit. “What the actual f.u.c.k?” Luffy said in a whisper as he stared at the sight before him. Standing there in the distance behind the ship were three giant shadows that seemed to be taller than the skies itself.
“S-sea monsters!” the entire crew yelled before all of them including Luffy ran to the main deck and grabbed the oars and began rowing as fast and hard as they could sending the Going Merry dashing forward at Blind speed away from the giant creatures. The Merry went dashing through the waves ignoring the wind direction and currents. The crew never stopped rowing until the Merry came flying out into the light once more. As soon as the slight hit the ship everyone stopped rowing and slumped over on the deck heavily sweating from the ordeal they just suffered.
“What the hell was that?” Nami asked as she fell on all fours.
“I have no explanation,” Luffy said as he fell on his b.u.t.t and lean against the mast. “If those were giants, then they are clearly bigger than any giant I have ever seen,” he said as he reached into his coat and pulled out a new glass and bottle of whiskey.
“Those things were as big as the Red Line,” Nojiko said as she too fell on her b.u.t.t.
“They had wings,” Usopp said getting all their attention.
“What?” Zoro asked as he looked at Usopp.
“They had wings on their back,” Usopp replied getting Luffy’s attention.
“Of course,” Luffy said with a smile getting all their attention. “How could I not realize it earlier,” he said before taking a sip of his drink.
“Realize what?” Nojiko asked as she stared at her captain.
“Those weren’t monsters,” Luffy said surprising all of them. “Those were people on sky island,” he said causing all their eyes to widen. “It is there shadows from that high up that makes it appears as monsters from below,” he added.
“That makes sense,” Robin side as he stood up to her feet. “All would be required is a strong source of light and a surface large enough to cast the shadow,” she said while Luffy nodded. “The clouds that high up should provide the surface needed to cast a shadow that big,” she added.
“So those weren’t any sea monster?” asked a still very scared Chopper.
“No, just regular-sized people really high up,” Luffy replied as he stood up and patted the little reindeer on the head. “For now, just forget about it,” he said as he began making his way to the rear deck where he left his throne. “Continue our course to Jaya,” he added before he disappeared into the rear deck.
“I wonder what this Jaya place is like?” Chopper asked as he walked around the deck. “I hope it’s relaxing,” he added.
**Three hours Later**
It had been three hours since the crew got the eternal pose to Jaya, it had been smooth sailing for them since then. Luffy was sitting on the figurehead of the ship with Chopper right behind him on the bow relaxing in the sun. Usopp was sitting up in the crow’s nest with a pair of binoculars looking out trying to spot Jaya.
“Do you see anything Usopp,” Chopper asked from the front of the ship.
“No, I don’t see anything, just the sky, and the sea,” Usopp replied as he looked through the binoculars.
“I thought that Jaya island wasn’t too far from where we were,” Zoro said as he looked around.
“It isn’t,” Nami replied as she too looked around. “We should have spotted the coastline of Jaya an hour ago,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it,” Luffy said in a relaxed tone as he looked up to the sky. “Just relax and take in this beautiful weather we are having,” he said.
“Spring weather is the best,” Chopper said agreeing with Luffy. “Even the seagulls are enjoying it,” he said as he looked up at three seagulls flying overhead. Suddenly out of nowhere the three seagulls dropped on the deck in front of Chopper dead. “Ahhhh! They’ve been shot!” Chopper screamed getting everyone’s attention before he ran towards the seagulls.
“I don’t think they could have been shot, Chopper,” Usopp said from up in the crow’s nest. “I didn’t hear any gunfire,” he added. Luffy stared at the three seagulls through narrowed eyes before he looked around into the distance surrounding the ship for an enemy.
“I found a bullet!” Chopper yelled as he pulled a bullet out from on the birds. “And judging from the trajectory is came from over there,” he said while pointing to the front of the ship.
“You’re telling me someone shot those birds from an island we can’t even see as yet?” Nami asked rhetorically. “That’s impossible Chopper,” she added.
“But I saw it happen,’ Chopper w.h.i.n.ed. Luffy just narrowed his eyes and placed his guard up. They sailed for another hour before the island finally came into view.
“Wow, this place looks like a resort,” Usopp said as he stood next to Luffy and Chopper and stared at the approaching island.
“It sure does,” Chopper agreed in an excited tone. Luffy just stood there and narrowed his eyes at the multiple sh.i.p.s that were docked there.
“Either I’m seeing things or the harbor over there is filled with pirate sh.i.p.s,” He said causing all of them to look over at the harbor.
“Don’t be silly captain,” Nami said as he walked up to Luffy. “Pirates can’t dock their sh.i.p.s without being run out of town soon after,” she said.
“Nope, those are pirate sh.i.p.s,” Nojiko said to her sister.
“Sounds like this town is going to be a lot of fun,” Zoro said with a smirk. As the Going Merry sailed closer and closer to the harbor for the island people on the docks and near the coast took notice the ship as well as the jolly roger painted on its sails.
“Hey, look over there,” a random person said while pointing out to the Merry. “Isn’t that the symbol of the Straw Hat Pirates,” he said getting the attention of a lot more people.
“It is,” some else said as they stared at the approaching ship. “That’s the thunder demon’s ship!” he yelled. Luffy heard all this but kept a stoic expression on his face. As the ship docked at the harbor, there was a crowd there wanting to see the Thunder demon himself while some wanted to challenge the man who formed an alliance with one of the four emperors. Luffy turned around and began walking towards the main deck to disembark the ship. As he was walking, he yelled out orders to his crew.
“Zoro and Robin come with me ashore,” he said causing the two of them to nod their heads and follow him. “The rest of you stay on board and guard the ship,” he said before he jumped up onto the side of the ship. “If any of these fools are stupid enough to attach my ship or my crew…send them and this harbor to the bottom of the ocean,” he said coldly as he stared at the crowd that was waiting for them on the docks. Luffy, Zoro, and Robin then hopped off the Going Merry and landed in front of a crowd of pirates who were all looking at him with hungry eyes. Luffy just turned and stared at all of them with the cold eyes of a killer before he sent out a wave of conqueror’s haki knocking out everyone on that dock. He then adjusted his straw hat and started walking towards the town as the bodies of Pirates collapsed in front of him. he had Zoro on his right and Robin on his left and three of them had an emotionless look on their face as they walked through the piles of unconscious pirates laying at their feet.
“He…he took them all out without even moving,” a random pirate on the shoreline said in fear as he stared at the three straw hats that were approaching.
“He’s a demon,” another said. Luffy and his two crew members didn’t even bat an eye at the people who were still awake and saw the who ordeal, they just kept on walking. The trio continued walking through the town taking in the sight of pirates fighting and drinking everywhere they turn. All three of them came to a sudden stop in the middle of the road and looked to their left as though they were waiting for something. Sure enough, one second later a man came bursting through the walls of the building to their right and flying right past the trio. It was thanks to their observation haki that they avoided being hit by the flying man. As the man flew past them Luffy stuck out his left hand and caught a piece of wood that would have hit Robin in the head before he turned to his left and stared at a pirate who obviously sent the man flying in the first place.
“You almost hit the pretty lady,” Luffy said coldly as he stared at the man. The pirate stared at Luffy with eyes the size of dinner plates as he recognized who Luffy was.
“y-you’re the-,” he began but was cut off by Luffy throwing the piece of wood back at blinding speed sticking him right in the head like a dart. The pirate then fell face forward onto the ground sending the piece of wood further into his head until it stuck out of the back of his head.
“Damn,” Zoro said as he stared at the now dead man. Luffy didn’t say anything, he just continued walking. As they walked a little further, they found themselves stopping once more. This time it was an old man that fell in front of them.
“Woah, he’s messed up,” Robin said as she stared at the man.
“Looks like he fell off his horse,” Luffy said while pointing to the white horse standing next to the man.
“That’s got to hurt,” Zoro said as he stared down at the man.
“Hey, sorry to bother you but could you help me up,” the old man said in a sickly tone causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow.
“What, not in the mood to help yourself up?” Zoro asked rhetorically. The old man just looked up at the three of them with a pained look on his face causing the swordsman to sigh. “Luffy, give me a hand,” Zoro said with a sigh as he walked forward.
“Sure,” Luffy with a shrug as he walked up to the old man with Zoro. The two of them picked up the old man and tossed him back up onto his horse.
“Hey, would you look at that, I’m back on my horse,” the old man said with a smile. “I was a sickly child growing up and never got better,” he said before he looked at his horse. “Now let’s go, Stronger,” he said to the horse. The horse took one step forward before it too collapsed face first.
“We should put these two out of their misery,” Zoro suggested before him and Luffy picked the horse up.
“Thanks again pal,” the man said before he pulled out a basket of apple. “You know, I don’t have enough money these days for a reward. Would you care for an apple?” he asked as he held up the basket with a bunch of red apples.
“Do we look like idiots to you,” Luffy said as he stared at the man on the horse. As he said that one of the buildings behind them exploded getting all their attention.
“What the hell happened?!” a random person on the streets asked.
“One of the guys took a bite from an apple they got from that freak on the horse and then exploded!” A man replied in a scared voice causing Luffy, Zoro, and Robin to turn their attention back to the man on the horse.
“Seems like we dodged a bullet there, captain,” Robin said with a sweet smile on her face as she stared at her captain.
“I guess we did,” Luffy said with a chuckle before they walked past the old man and continued their way into town. After walking a bit further through the streets of this strange town Luffy came to a sudden stop startling Zoro and Robin. As he stopped a loud thunder rolled overhead and the skies began to darken. Robin and Zoro didn’t know what happened, but the two of them were sure of one thing…Luffy was pissed. Luffy then turned his head to the left and stared into a bar called ‘Pub and Pies’ with cold eyes. Without saying anything, he turned and pushed open the saloon-style doors and entered the bar. A silence fell onto the bar as he entered and everyone took notice of his presence, however, he didn’t pay any attention to the people that were seated all over the bar. Instead, his gaze was locked on to a rather fat man sitting at the bar eating a pie. Luffy walked up the bar counter and looked at the bartender with a cold look on his face before he spoke.
“Get me a glass of whiskey on the rocks,” Luffy said in a monotone voice causing the fat man who was sitting to his right to freeze the moment he heard Luffy’s voice. “Also, get some sake for the swordsman and a glass of red wine for the lady,” he said. Since he arrived at the bar counter, he hadn’t looked at the man to his left even once but his observation haki was telling him everything he needed to know.
“Here you go,” the bartender said as he placed the three drink down in front of them. They picked up their respective drinks and tossed it back. As Luffy tossed his whiskey back, the man who was sitting to his right easily got up and began to sneak away. Luffy placed his empty glass down onto the counter and spoke in a chilling voice.
“Going somewhere…Teach,” he said as he looked over his shoulder at the fat man trying to sneak away. The man now named Teach stopped mid-step and slowly turned around to face Luffy with a slightly worried expression on his face.
“Lu, hey, how’s it going” Teach asked with a nervous chuckle as he began to sweat slightly.
“I know what you did Teach,” Luffy said as he turned around. “Oh, I’m sorry. I meant I know what you did…Blackbeard?” he said causing Zoro to realize who the man in front of them was while Robin was stilled puzzled. Before Teach could reply to Luffy, the doors of the bar were kicked open as a group of pirates.
“I heard a big shot pirate came into down and put on some kind of spectacle at the harbor,” said the obvious captain of that merry band of pirates. Luffy just ignored his presence and continued talking to Teach.
“You broke the unwritten rule aboard every pirate ship,” Luffy said to teach. “You kill your fellow crew member, your friend,” he said as he took a few steps towards Teach. Zoro placed his hands on his swords and kept his eyes on the group that just entered the bar just in case they tried something while Robin chose this time to talk to the bartender to try and get some information from him. The group of pirates that just entered the bar didn’t take so kindly to being ignored by a bunch of rookies.
“Hey!” Shouted the captain. “I’m talking to you,” he said angrily causing Luffy and teach to look over at him with an eyebrow raised in the air.
“Buzz off kid,” Luffy said while looking at the man. “Can’t you see the grown-ups are talking. Why don’t you and your friends go play pirate somewhere else,” he said before he turned his attention back to Teach. As Luffy said that, the people in the bar gasped in shock when they heard him dismiss that pirate so easily.
“Don’t he know who that is,” A random person said.
“That’s Bellamy ‘the Hyena,’ he has a 55 million berry bounty on his head,” another said.
“Well, it should be expected,” a random woman said. “Straw Hat has a 200 million berry bounty on his head so he is obviously stronger,” she said getting Zoro and Robin’s attention at the mention of Luffy’s bounty. Bellamy was starting to get really pissed off. First, he was ignored by the new rookie sensation, and now people are suddenly calling weak. That was the final straw, he reared his fist back causing everything from his wrist to his elbow to turn into spring. He then shot his spring-powered fist forward straight at Luffy who simply raised his hand and caught it with little effort.
“I’m not going to warn you again, brat,” Luffy said as he turned and looked at a very surprised Bellamy. “Beat it,” he said before he let go of the fist and turned his attention back to Teach. “Out of respect for old man Whitebeard I promised not to kill you,” he said to Teach causing him to relax slightly while everyone’s eyes inside the bar to widen at the mention of Whitebeard. “But I didn’t say anything about not kicking your a.s.s,” he added in a cold tone causing a panicked expression crept up on to Teach’s face. Before he could react Luffy backhanded him sending him flying straight through the walls of the bar. Luffy then turned around and walked back to the bar and pulled out a small bag of money and tossed it to the bartender. “That’s should cover everything, including the damages,” he said.
“Hey, captain,” Zoro said getting his attention. “Apparently you got a new bounty,” he said as he pointed to the wall to the right of Luffy. When Luffy looked over he saw his new wanted poster along with Zoro’s.
“Hmm, not as much as I had expected,” Luffy said as he stared at the poster. “And would you look at that, you got a bounty as well. Nice,” he commented before his hand suddenly shot up into the air and caught a familiar fist. “You don’t learn, do you?” Luffy asked as he turned and looked at an angry Bellamy. “Want to know a funny thing about springs,” Luffy said as he stared at the pirate. “They work both ways,” he said before pulling on Bellamy’s arm slightly causing the pirate to come flying towards him. Luffy just angled him arm slightly causing Bellamy’s face to crash right into Luffy’s elbow. As his face impacted Luffy’s elbow, he went into a slight daze. Luffy let go of his arm grabbed him by his head.
“Next time I tell you to f.u.c.k off,” he said as he turned his whiskey glass over on the counter. “You f.u.c.k off,” he said before he slammed Bellamy’s face on to the glass and through the counter.
“Bellamy!” yelled a man in a white coat and sunglasses before he pulled out two machetes and charged towards Luffy. Before he can get to Luffy, Zoro intercepted him and slashed him right across his face causing him to fall over to the ground screaming and bleeding heavily.
“Sorry, the captain is off-limits to trash,” Zoro said as he sheathes his swords.
“Did you get the information we are after?” Luffy asked while looking at Robin.
“Yes, the man named Cricket lives on the other side of the island,” she said causing him to nod his head.
“Okay then, I’ll just take care of Teach then we can go,” Luffy said as he began walking towards the direction where he sent Teach. He walked through the hole in the wall and found a pile of rubble, but no Teach. Luffy growled in frustration causing Lighting and thunder to go crazy in the skies above Jaya. “He’s gone,” he said in an angry voice.
“Don’t worry Mr. Captain,” said Robin trying to calm Luffy down. “We’ll catch up to him sooner or later, but for now we need to go find this Cricket guy before the log pose registers this island’s magnetic field,” she said causing Luffy to nod his head and began walking away. When the trio arrived back at the ship Luffy didn’t speak to anyone instead, he walked straight to his throne and sat down before he poured himself a glass of whiskey.
“What’s up with him?” Sanji asked while looking at Luffy.
“Long story,” Zoro said before he turned to Robin. “So, where are we going?” he asked.
“Set our course for the other side of the island,” she said to Nami. “Cricket lives there,” she added causing the navigator to nod her head.
‘It’s all that Bellamy kid’s fault,’ Luffy thought to himself. ‘The next time I see him he’ll be sorry,’ Luffy thought as the Going Merry pulled out of port and began sailing around the island.
**CHAPTER END**