One Piece - The First Mate

Romance Dawn

In a medium-sized dinghy, lazily floating away in the vast expense of the seas in the East Blue, we find 17-year-old Monkey D Luffy and Kieser D Jason. They were casually lying on their back with their hands behind their head for support while crossing their legs. They looked a picture of boredom.

Its been 12 years since both the boys met and they have grown up nicely. Luffy and Jason had changed a great deal physically over the years.

Luffy now stood at an impressive height of 6 ft. He was clad in black leather pants with black biker boots on his feet. On this torso, he wore a black, high collar leather trench coat that flared out at the bottom reaching just below his keens. He wore no shirt underneath with the top portion of his coat exposing a bit of his well-defined c.h.e.s.t. He also sported a straw hat on top of his head covering his eyes and overall looked really intimidating to anyone who looked his direction.

Jason grew up to be 6 ft 2 In. He was clad in a blood-red silk shirt and black leather pants with black biker boots on his feet. He also has a silver fang neckless on his neck. His shirt was folded till his elbow and he is carrying a foot-long saber with a gold handle.

Both young men are also sporting a black bracelet on their left hand while a bottle of sake which they periodically drink in the right hand. Suddenly Jason stirred after which he drowned the whole bottle of sake and stood shakily while looking ahead. His companion also stood up slowly looking in the same direction.

Jason grinned while saying "Well, it seems like we are out of luck."

Luffy started laughing while saying "Hahaha, don't be like that man, Something will turn up.". They both were looking at a huge whirlpool which is s.u.c.k.i.n.g their dinghy inside.

Jason suddenly called out to Luffy "Hey Luffy, as much as I like your confidence, please don't decide to go out to sea on a piece of crap like this."

Luffy sulked on his friend's jab while saying "Well, we dint have much of choice in windmill village anyways."

Just then, both young men looked in a different direction and grinned. They suddenly disappeared from the small dinghy leaving its fate to the whirlpool.

Some distance away from the whirlpool, two sh.i.p.s were on course to each other. One ship is a high-class passenger ship while the other is a pink monstrosity with a swan-like head.

The two young men came out of a cabin in the passenger ship while taking stock of the situation. It would seem like this passenger ship was being attacked by a group of pirates. They both slowly made their way to the lower deck on the ship and sat down while looking around in interest on what looks like a high-class social gathering.

After a while, they looked at the hideous pink ship with red hearts painted on the sails. The Jolly Roger consisted of a sideways facing skull and crossbones with a red heart in the middle of the skull. It also has a giant f.u.c.k.i.n.g swan as its figurehead.

They both gagged for a bit and turned pale. Suddenly Jason brought out a bunch of papers and quickly went through them and spoke while facing Luffy and showing a bounty poster "Iron Mace Alvida, 5 million berries."

Luffy nodded his head and continued drinking without a care in the world. Looking at this Jason also shrugged his shoulders while he joined Luffy.

As the ship got closer, the pirates launched ropes with hooks at the end which burrowed into the wood of the passenger ship and started boarding to pillage everything.

While this was happening all the passengers where huddled together on one end while shivering and leaving our young hero's still sitting on a table while drinking.

The pirates seeing our boys smirked to themselves while commenting.

"Lookie here boys, We got us some pretty boys tyna be a hero. Whats say we cut em up real good. Lady Alvida will surely reward us for our great work" said one of the pirate causing them to laugh with their slimy peers.

Luffy and Jason looked at each other seriously and stood up while still looking at each other. Suddenly they both started to bring their fists up and swung them in the middle. The table was destroyed while dust raised up covering their fists.

Both of them were concentrating on the other's fist. Suddenly Jason let out a cheer while Luffy crouched down muttering to himself. This is because our hero's were playing a rock paper scissors game which Jason has won using scissors.

Jason while still cheering said, "Well, you are in luck Luffy, I will get us a boat and some sake so how about you finish up here." And walked away smiling to himself while Luffy let out a sign and stood up facing the wannabees who forgot to attack and were watching the two young men.

Luffy suddenly moved forward looking like a blur to regular people while he was not even trying. It was probably the slowest he could move. The First grunt ate a knuckle sandwich that caved the right side of his face, barely registering the agonizing pain before he lost consciousness.

The rest of the riff-raff has barely a second to process what happened before they were also dismantled by Luffy with a series of rapid punches and kicks. It was almost funny how weak they were to Luffy who trained really hard with Jason while preparing for his Journey. Meanwhile, these guys looked like they dint even have any training what so ever and only got done in by his mere speed and power.

He was the last man standing, compared to his adversaries who were whimpering in pain on the ground. The passengers on the ship were left dumbstruck, watching a 17-year-old boy swiftly dispatch a group of about 30 full grown pirates in the span of about 20 seconds. The shock soon gave way to jubilation as they cheered for their savior.

He spotted a chubby pink-haired boy out of the corner of his eye who was trembling like a leaf and eyeing Luffy with a look of intense fear and apprehension. Suddenly, there was a loud crash that shook the very foundations of the ship, kicking up a lot of smoke. As the dust cleared, the source of the mini quake was revealed.

It was a colossal facsimile of what Luffy assumed was supposed to be a woman. She wore a pink shirt that looks to be straining over her horrifically bulky frame. She had white pants on her relatively smaller legs along with a pair of red shoes. She wore a blue captain's coat over her shirt with a white hat with red plumage on her head. Her black hair was stringy and oily looking and her face was the stuff of nightmares coupled with the unattractive freckles on her face. To complete her look, she carried around a hulking piece of metal that looked vaguely like a mace.

Once again, Luffy had gone green at the sight of this disgusting creature.

Alvida thundered "What the hell is going on here?!", her ugly face contorting into an even more nauseating expression. "Al-Alvida-sama….h-he's too s-strong for us." One of the beaten men managed to whimper out. The now identified Alvida didn't take too kindly to that and promptly swung her mace down at him, crushing his skull. The civilians on the ship turned green at the gruesome sight and many lost their lunch. The pink-haired coward became even more terrified if that was even possible.

"Insolence!" Alvida roared before turning to the pink-haired boy. "Coby!"

The now identified Coby stuttered out. "Y-yes Alvida-sama."

"Who is the most beautiful woman on the seas?" She questioned threateningly.

Coby was about to open his mouth and answer but was beaten to the punch by newly entered Jason who was carrying a large bag "I didn't know that Whales could talk. Looks like you can learn something new every day." Jason commented nonchalantly, much to the growing horror of the civilians, who were familiar with the dangerous reputation of Alvida while Luffy suddenly burst out laughing loudly.

The vein on Alvida's forehead started to throb wildly at Jason's comments and her repulsive face contorted to an even more hideous sight as she looked at Luffy who was still laughing with murder in her eyes.

"You can glare at me all you like, it won't change anything," Luffy said, with a look of faux pity directed at her that infuriated her even more.

"So you're the insolent punks that beat up my men, you don't look like the 'Pirate Hunter Duo!?" She stated with a sneer on her face.

"'Beat up' is such a vulgar term. I'm more inclined to say that I re-educated them in the manners that they seemed to be sorely lacking. I'd like to say I'm sorry, and if I could find a way to do so and sound sincere…I would." He replied without a shred of remorse.

Looking at Luffy who is smirking, Jason suddenly sat down while opening a bottle of whiskey and drinking while looking at the free show.

Alvida started to tremble in fury at the insolent boys in front of her. Without delay, she hefted her stupidly large mace, which slightly impressed Luffy and Jason…though, not by much, and brought it down on his head with frightening force.

It drew a terrified squeak from the still cowering Coby and gasps of horror from the spectators. They expected the boy's cranium to be smashed in with his brain matter smeared all over the deck.

Instead, they were left comically gaping, with their eyes bulging out of their sockets and their mouths wide open, as Luffy effortlessly caught the swing and held the mace in place, his expression never changing. His grip was inherently superior to that of Alvida's, as evidenced by her struggle to free her precious mace from his clutches.

Luffy just quirked a single eyebrow at her in amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Normally in situations like this, a protagonist will deliver a cool line like 'this is gonna hurt me a lot more than it will hurt you'…but that would be a blatant lie because this is going to hurt like a bitch. I would clench my teeth if I were you." Luffy advised with a pleasant smile on his face as he c.o.c.ked his left hand back before unleashing a bullet punch that nobody could track, with the exception of the thunderclap that sounded out from the impact as Alvida's grotesque body contorted around Luffy's fist before being shot off far into the horizon, leaving a twinkle in the sky.

Jason came over and handed the whiskey bottle to Luffy who started drinking, while he put his hand above his eyes and squinted in that direction to try and see where she flew off to. It would have been a comical sight for the passengers if they weren't so flabbergasted at his raw strength.

After taking a few more minutes drinking the whole bottle of whiskey, Luffy dusted his hands off before turning to, what looked like to him, the captain of the vessel he was currently on.

"Thank you, young man, for your courage and heroics that undoubtedly saved us all." The captain said humbly as he held his hat to his c.h.e.s.t before giving Luffy a small bow.

Luffy just smiled kindly to the old man, a genuine one this time, before replying. "This nothing of it

sir, I was just in the right place at the right time."

"Nonsense, you probably saved our lives from that vile woman on this day, there must be something we can do to repay you." The captain insisted, much to Luffy's internal joy. It was exactly what he had hoped for.

"Well now that you mention it, I and my companion did kind of lose our boat in the whirlpool, do you think we can get some provisions and a boat?"

"Nonsense young man, we will give you a good boat and provisions along with 10 million berries as thanks" One of the passengers who looked like royalty commanded, causing his attendants to get a suitcase full of cash and handing it to Luffy. While the captain nodded towards the sailors to prepare everything.

Luffy took the suitcase and started leaving following Jason who walked in front with the large bag which would contain most of the expensive drinks in the passenger ship.

Jason snickered looking at Luffy who was acting as a boy scout. He grinned while coughing and saying boy scout which Luffy has heard much to his embarrassment.

As Luffy and Jason were preparing to board the boat the captain gave to them, they were interrupted by the squeak of something unintelligible.

They turned to see the pink-haired boy from before staring at Luffy in awe and fear.

Luffy quirked an eyebrow at the stuttering boy, urging him to get on with whatever he wanted.

"U-um…I w-wanted to t-thank you...for freeing me f-from Alvida-sa-, no Alvida." He managed to stutter out. Seeing Luffy continuing to stare at him, Coby decided to elaborate. "Two years ago I got on what I thought was a fishing boat, it turns out it was a boat belonging to the Alvida Pirates. I've been as good as a slave on that ship since then. Luckily, my skill in navigation made it so they didn't kill me, but it wasn't a pleasant experience either."

Luffy continued to give him a flat stare, making the boy sweat a little, before Jason who was watching them asked him an obvious question.

"If you didn't like it, why didn't you just leave?"

Coby gave him a horrified look in response. "Impossible! Alvida would have found me and killed me. Just thinking about it makes me shiver." Cody shrieked out hysterically, causing Luffy to look at him with a little annoyance.

"So not only are you a coward but you're also a weakling too." Luffy pointed out, causing arrows with the words 'coward' and 'weakling' to pierce Coby's c.h.e.s.t. "I really hate people like you." Luffy finished with a pleasant smile on his face.

Coby slumped down with comical tears running down his face at Luffy's brutal assessment.

"U-um Luffy-san, are you a Marine?" Coby timidly asked.

Luffy momentarily went stiff at the question before letting the tension flow out of his body.

"No, right now, I'm not anything. I'm taking the time to scour East Blue for talented individuals." He replied.

"What for?" Coby inquired. Luffy got a shark-like grin on his face at that question.

"For my pirate crew, of course." He replied, making Coby pale in realization.

"You're a p-pirate?"

"Mmhmm…but I'm just starting out. I'm currently looking for a crew. You should be thankful Coward, you can tell your grandchildren in the future that you were saved by the Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy." Luffy declared with a grin on his face. Coby just looked at him with a boggled expression.

"P-p-pirate King?! So you're going to the Grand Line? After One Piece? Impossible. They call it a pirate graveyard you know. Not to mention all the others going for the same goal. Impossible. Impossible. There's no way. It's imposs-"Coby's rant was cut off by a swift knuckle to the head from Jason, who looked at him in annoyance.

"We don't care if it's impossible. It's his dream, and he will follow through with it and if we die trying, so be it. we won't give up because others think it's impossible."

" I will be the Pirate King." Luffy declared with such confidence and conviction that Coby had no choice but to believe him, anything else seemed illogical. He was awed by the willpower and dedication of Luffy. He felt some of that courage fill him up.

"Do you think if I tried, I could achieve my own dream?"

"Which is?" Jason asked intrigued by the conversation now.

"I…I want to join the Marines and catch bad guys like Alvida!" Cody announced. He was still trembling a little, but he mustered up enough confidence to speak out his dream.

"Hoh…looks like you aren't nearly as spineless as I thought you were if you could say something like that in front of a pirate." Said Luffy, causing Coby to squeak in fear.

"But I don't see why you can't achieve that if you're dedicated enough and willing to endure what comes your way." Luffy continued Coby's face lit up in joy at the endors.e.m.e.nt from someone he was beginning to admire a great deal. He was the strongest person that he knew and he believed that he could become a strong Marine.

"You seem to be knowledgeable about these parts of the sea. Tell me, Alvida mentioned someone called the 'Pirate Hunter Duo. Who are they?" Luffy questioned.

Coby went a little pale again at the mention of that name.

"They're someone all pirates fear in these parts. A bounty hunter Duo that's said to be a demon wearing human skin. They both are ruthless and vicious when hunting bounties, like a beast hungering only for their blood. From Alvida's information, they were last spotted in Shells Town." Coby responded.

Luffy and Jason suddenly got a manic grin on their faces at hearing that description, making Coby nervous as hell.

"Demons huh? Shishishi…sounds like a good prospect for our crew. The perfect starting point. To Shells Town, it is then." He stated before sending a high five to the equally smirking Jason while

Coby wanted to argue with them, to talk them out of potentially getting himself killed by the fearsome 'Pirate Hunter Duo', but abstained and instead he asked another question, hoping he wouldn't get beaten up.

"D-Do you think I could get a lift with you to Shells Town? I heard there's a Marine base there and I was hoping I could try to get in." He questioned timidly.

Luffy just raised an eyebrow before shrugging his shoulders.

"Sure, but you will have to carry your own weight," Jason stated, causing Coby to break out into a happy smile."Thank you so much for your kindness, Luffy-san! Jason-san!"

So while Coby started navigating the boat towards the bounty hunters, our heroes started raiding Jason's bag for the quality booze which he nabbed from the passenger ship.