It was another great day and Monkey D. Luffy was drifting along in his tiny sail boat and enjoying the good weather while the waves took him wherever they pleased. But this was no ordinary boy in a boat. This was a boy with a dream and was challenging the vast, treacherous seas in a tiny boat while looking for extraordinary men for his pirate crew.

"Wow, what a great day," Luffy said to himself. He was wearing Shanks' straw hat as well as a button-up red vest, a pair of blue shorts, and a simple pair of sandals. "The weather's so nice. Who'd have thought this voyage would end in disaster so soon."

What Luffy was saying was true because up in front of him was a giant whirlpool, it had already started sucking his tiny boat in, "Hard to believe I'm getting sucked into this giant whirlpool, maybe I was a little careless. I could use somebody to help... but there's nobody around. Oh well, can't be helped."

Despite being doomed to be sucked into a whirlpool, Luffy seemed to be in high spirits. "Down I go!" Luffy exclaimed. "Too bad I can't swim. Hahaha, what was I thinking? In a giant whirlpool it doesn't really matter if I can swim or not." And thus Luffy was sucked into the whirlpool, never to be seen again.

Well... that's highly unlikely. If Luffy died there we wouldn't have much of a story would we?

-x-

Sometime later on an uncharted island a pirate ship was anchored. The pirate ship was feminine looking with pink paint, hearts on the sails, and a swan figurehead. The skull and crossbones flag that they were flying featured the skull in a profile view with a heart on the side of its head. The ship was currently at rest but the crew was having some slight problems.

"Why is there dust on my bulwark?" questioned the ship's female captain.

"A thousand pardons, Lady Alvida!" one of her pirates timidly apologized, "I-I thought I'd cleaned every inch of this ship! I'll clean everything all over again! Please..."

"Please what?" the incredibly cruel and incredibly fat, Lady Alvida asked. Alvida was fat with dark hair, bright red lips, fancy clothing, and always wore a white cowboy hat. She was a large woman and was nearly twice the size of her largest pirate. Alvida was given the nickname 'Iron Mace' Alvida for the giant iron mace that she always carried around.

"Please, not the iron mace! I don't wanna die!" the frantic pirate begged, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. WONK! Alvida swung her mace and connected with the pirate's back. The pirate fell to the ground in a heap. Alvida didn't know if he was dead or not, because frankly, she didn't care.

"Coby!" Alvida called out as she turned to a young lavender-haired boy with glasses, a white shirt, and black pants. The timid boy seemed out of place of on the swan-shaped ship that was filled with pirates. "Who is the fairest throughout all the seas?"

"Ahem... why... y-you are Lady Alvida," the nervous boy replied, afraid of what Alvida might do to him. "N-no one compares to you!"

"Correct," Lady Alvida stated, "which why I can not allow anything to be dirty. This ship must be as clean and beautiful as I am. Understand? Remember Coby, if it wasn't for your vast knowledge of the seas, I would have fed you to the sharks! But don't push your luck!"

"Y-yes, that's very kind of y-you," Coby replied, who was still very nervous.

"Other than that, you're worthless!" Alvida snarled as she slammed one of her feet down on a box in front of Coby "Now, shine my shoes!"

"Yes, Lady Alvida, right away!" Coby agreed as he quickly went to work. After all he did not want to invoke the wrath of the infamous lady pirate, 'Iron Mace' Alvida. Even though she was unbelievably fat, she had a lot of power and everyone cowered at the sight of her giant mace.

"I don't want to see a speck of dust on this ship!" Alvida announced to her crew.

"Aye aye!" they agreed as they scurried around cleaning as fast as they could.

"That's enough," Alvida snapped as he kicked Coby away with her foot, THWAK! "You're pathetic!"

"Heh, heh," Coby laughed nervously, "sorry."

"If you have time to grovel, then you have time to clean the toilet!" Alvida ordered.

"Heh, heh, yes Lady Alvida," Coby answered, "right away!"

-x-

A little while later Alvida's ship was docked and the pirates were unloading their stolen treasures into Alvida's keep safe. Coby was rolling a giant barrel filled with something heavy when three of Alvida's pirates cornered him.

"What's that Coby?" one of the pirates inquired, "Did a barrel of grog wash up onto the beach?"

"Y-yes," Coby stammered in reply, "And it's not empty. I wasn't sure what to do with it."

"Well I know what to do with it," said a second pirate, "Let's drink it all!"

"But what if Lady Alvida finds out?" asked the first pirate.

"She'll never find out," the third pirate decided. "We're the only one's here. Just Coby and the three of us know about this."

"I guess you're right," the second pirate relented.

"And you ain't seen nothin', right Coby?" questioned the third pirate as he glared at the small boy.

"Right! I-I ain't seen nothin'!" Coby agreed. "P-please don't hit me..."

KRECK! Suddenly the top of the barrel smashed open and a boy of seventeen, wearing a straw hat, red vest, and a pair of blue shorts, popped out. Luffy was alive! "WOOOW! WHAT A GREAT NAP!" Luffy shouted for everyone in the vicinity to hear, "Hmm, it looks like I survived... somehow. Hahaha, I got so dizzy I thought I was gonna barf!"

Then for the first time Luffy noticed the three pirates and the kid, who were all very shocked to see him. "Who are you guys?" asked Luffy, while at the same time the pirates shouted, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"What are you doing in there?" questioned one of the pirates.

KA-BLASH! Lady Alvida came crashing into the shack and kicked the barrel, knocking it over and sending it rolling away. Coby quickly ran after the barrel as Lady Alvida stood over the three pirates.

"Back to work you scurvy dogs!" Alvida ordered, "You lazy swabbies, who is the fairest throughout all the seas?"

"You are Lady Alvida!" the three pirates chorused.

"And you dare to defy me?" Alvida snapped as she glared at one of the pirates.

"W-what? I would never?" the scared pirate stammered in reply

"Don't play dumb!" Alvida growled, "I could hear you talking all the way from the ship. Which one of you had such a 'great nap'?"

The three pirates were terrified, they hadn't said it. That weird boy in the barrel did. "Uh, Captain, we have an intruder," said one of the pirates in an attempt to removed Alvida's wrath from them.

"Yeah," another added. "That good-for-nothing Coby brought that strange feller here!"

"What?" questioned Alvida, "could he be a bounty hunter after the price on my head? Coby! That brat dares to betray me!"

"Could it be him?" one of the pirates wondered, thinking of a famous bounty hunter.

"Nonsense, I heard that he was captured by the marines," another pirate replied.

"If he's the real thing, he must have escaped by now," said Alvida, "That notoriously evil Roronoa Zoro!"

-x-

A little while away Coby was talking with the person who actually came out of the barrel, and this guy definitely wasn't a pirate hunter.

"Are you alright?" Coby asked the boy in the barrel, "You got knocked pretty far!"

"Hahaha! I'm fine," Luffy laughed, "I'm just a little dizzy. I'm Luffy, but where am I?"

"This is the hiding ground for 'Iron Mace' Alvida," Coby explained, "I work as a Cabin Boy on the ship. My name's Coby."

"I see," said Luffy as he climbed out of the barrel, "but that's not important."

"What?" questioned Coby. Luffy had been kind of blunt with that remark.

"Do you have a boat?" asked Luffy. "Mine got caught in a whirlpool."

"A w-whirlpool?" Coby repeated. "You got sucked into a whirlpool?"

"Yeah," Luffy answered, "It was really scary."

"A normal person would have died from that!" Coby exclaimed, "You... you want a boat? I have one but..." Coby trailed off as he walked off and showed Luffy a small boat that he had made himself.

"What is it?" asked Luffy, not worried about hurting Coby's feelings, "a coffin?"

"It's a boat I've been secretly working on for two years!" Coby snapped.

"Two years?" questioned Luffy, "And you don't want it any more?"

"Yeah," Coby answered, "I don't want it anymore. I was going to run away in this, but I don't have the guts to do it. I'm going to be a caretaker for the rest of my life. Although, I do have something else I want to do."

"Then you should leave," Luffy stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No, I can't!" Coby refused, "Whenever I think of Lady Alvida finding out my legs turn all mushy. I get so scared... that day I was only planning on fishing, but I walked onto her ship instead. And I have to become the cabin boy on the ship for the passed two years to stay alive."

"Hahaha! You're a coward," Luffy laughed, "I don't like you."

At first Coby was upset and shocked at what Luffy had said and how he had said it while laughing, but then he realized what Luffy said was true, "But you're right," Coby admitted, "If only I was brave enough. Luffy, why do you sail?"

"Because... I WANNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!" Luffy announced.

"What?" Coby exclaimed, "the Pirate King is supposed to be a person who has everything in the world. Are you telling me you're looking for Gold Roger's treasure? One Piece? Do you want to die or something? All the pirates on the Grand Line are looking for that treasure!"

"Well, so am I," Luffy replied, he didn't really care about the other pirates. If he came across them, he'd just beat them up.

"Impossible, impossible!" Coby shrieked, "Absolutely impossible! To become the Pirate King in the Great Pirate Era is IMPOSSIBLE!"

POW! Suddenly Luffy punched Coby in the face and knocked him down, "Ow! Why'd you hit me?" questioned Coby.

"You were rambling," Luffy told him.

"Oh... well, I'm used to it anyway," Coby mumbled.

"I'm not afraid of dying," Luffy stated, "Because it's my dream! And that's why I won't mind dying for it! Besides I think I could do it, even if it does get pretty tough."

"Amazing!" Coby thought to himself, "He won't even mind death! I never thought of that. Would I also be able to achieve me dream if I'm willing to die?"

"Huh?" questioned Luffy, who only heard Coby muttering to himself.

"Do you think I'll be able to become a marine?" asked Coby.

"A marine?" Luffy repeated.

"Luffy, I know this means we'll be enemies," said Coby, "But joining the marines and catching bad guys has always been my dream! Do you think I could do it?"

"I wouldn't know," Luffy answered with a shrug, he was trying to be a pirate, the opposite of a marine.

"I have to at least try," Coby told him, "I'd rather die trying to get out of her and join the marines, than stay here as a caretaker for the rest of my life! And then I'll be able to arrest bad guys like Alvida!"

"WHO DID YOU SAY YOU WERE GOING TO ARREST, COBY?" Alvida shouted as she arrived on the scene followed by her pirates. KRESH! Alvida brought her mace down on Coby's boat and smashed it to pieces.

"My boat!" Coby cried as he saw the boat he had been working on for two years, crushed before his very eyes.

"Do you really think you can escape from me?" questioned Alvida, who then noticed Luffy, "Is that who you hired to capture me? He's not Roronoa Zoro! Anyway, before you die, I have to ask you. Who is the fairest throughout the seas? Coby?"

"Th-that'll be..." Coby stammered, clearly intimidated by Alvida. But that wasn't what was running through Luffy's mind.

"Who's that fat guy?" he asked.

GASP! Coby, Alvida, and all of Albida's gasped in shock at what the weird kid had said. No one spoke that way about Alvida!

"Luffy run!" Coby urged his friend, "Throughout all the seas Lady Alvida is the number one..."

"I'm not afraid of dying," Luffy's bold words echoed in Coby's mind, "Because it's my dream! And that's why I won't mind dying for it! Besides I think I could do it, even if it does get pretty tough." Luffy wasn't afraid of dying while he was attempting to accomplish his dream, and here Coby was a sniveling cowards working for two years as a Cabin Boy for some ugly old hag... well no more! Coby wanted to become a marine, and marines aren't afraid of pirates.

Coby took a deep breath and finished what he was saying, "...THE NUMBER ONE UGLY OLD HAG!"

Alvida's pirates stared in shock while Luffy started laughing hysterically. "HAAAHAHAHAHA!"

Alvida glared at Coby, who looked surprised at what he had just said. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" Alvida roared in outrage.

"I don't regret it," Coby said out loud, "I already said I'd fight for my dreams! I'm going to become a marine and fight pirates like you!"

"Well said Coby," Luffy commented as he moved in front of Coby, "Good for you!"

"It makes no difference to me!" Alvida shouted as she lifted her mace and prepared to bring it down on Luffy, "YOU'RE BOTH GOING TO DIE!"

WHAM! The mace went crashing down on Luffy's back, but to everyone's surprise, Luffy was still smiling, "That didn't hurt!" Luffy announced, "Cause my body is made of rubber!"

"Im-that's impossible!" Alvida stammered, no one had ever survived being hit by her mace, "My mace!"

Everyone stared in shock as Luffy brought back his arm, with the heavy mace still on his head, "GUM... GUM... PISTOL!" BWOOM! Luffy's arm shot out and punched Alvida right in the face, the self-proclaimed Pirate Queen was knocked out and went flying backwards, taking out half of her crew due to her large size.

"His arm..." gasped one of he pirates who hadn't gotten knocked down by Alvida, "His arm stretched like rubber!"

"Lady Alvida was defeated by this monster!" another exclaimed.

"Give Coby a boat!" Luffy ordered. "He's going to join the Marines!"

The pirates agreed and quickly did as Luffy commanded. They got a Luffy and Coby a small boat and in no time they were out of there.

-x-

"You actually ate the Gum Gum Fruit?" Coby exclaimed a little while later, while he and Luffy were floating in their small boat, "Incredible! But Luffy, if you're going after the One Piece that means you have to enter the Grand Line!"

"Yep!" Luffy answered enthusiastically.

"But that place is known as the graveyard of pirates!" Coby exclaimed.

"Yeah that's why I need a strong crew," Luffy replied. "That guy being held by the Marines, what's his name?"

"Roronoa Zoro?" Coby supplied.

"If he's a good guy I'll ask him to join me," said Luffy with a goofy smile.

"WHAT?" Coby screamed. "You're dreaming again! Never... that'll never happen, he's a demonic monster!"

"We can't be sure about that yet," Luffy pointed out.

"It'll never work!" Coby snapped.

And so the two boys sailed off towards the Marine Base and their destiny. Luffy was now more excited than ever to find a crew, and Zoro was going to be his first choice... unless something else distracted him along the way. Luffy was known to have a short attention span, it happened a lot actually.

-x-

Enter Zoro-Pirate Hunter

-x-

"A demonic monster huh?" asked Luffy as they kept sailing towards the Marine Base.

"Yes, Luffy," Coby answered, "Roronoa Zoro is known as 'the Pirate Hunter' he's a really scary person. He's like a bloodthirsty shark. He wanders around the sea, hunting pirates for the bounties on their head... he's a demon in human form!"

"Oh really?" questioned Luffy.

"So let's drop the idea of recruiting him," Coby suggested.

"I haven't decided if I wanted to recruit him yet," Luffy replied, "But if he's a good person then I'll..."

"He was arrested because he's bad!" Coby interrupted. Luffy didn't seem to get it, people get arrested by the marines because they're bad... right?

-x-

A few hours later, Luffy and Coby had arrived at the small port town of Shell Town which was known for having a Marine's Bases. Despite being on an island that was probably swarming with marines, Luffy couldn't be happier.

"WE'RE FINALLY AT THE MARINE BASE!" Luffy announced, getting a lot of attention.

"Yep finally," Coby agreed a lot quieter than his loud-mouth companion.

"You're great Coby," Luffy congratulated his temporary nagivator. "We actually reached out destination!"

"Of course," Coby replied. "That's the basics of navigation! If you keep randomly floating around you'll never become a pirate. You should find a Navigator for your crew."

"Yeah, that's what I'll do!" Luffy decided. "Now let's go eat."

-x-

Luffy and Coby found a tavern which was set up like a restaurant and a bar, kind of like the one back in Fuchsia Village. Luffy spent the next few hours eating a ridiculously large amount of food and wasn't shy about commenting about their waiter's eye patch.

"Well now we go our separate ways," said Luffy, once he and Coby were full, "Do your best. I hope you become a great marine."

"I will, thank you so much!" Coby replied, "Luffy I hope you become a great pirate. Even if that means we'll become enemies."

"Say, I wonder if Roronoa Zoro is still being kept at the Marines Base?" wondered Luffy out loud. KRASH! Luffy looked up in and saw all of the other occupants of the restaurant cowering against the wall. The only person who wasn't whimpering in a corner was the waiter with the eye patch. In fact he looked a little bit amused.

"Maybe we shouldn't say that name out loud around here," Coby whispered to Luffy, "I saw a notice on the streets that said Captain Morgan is at this base." KRATA-KRASH! Once again all the other customers at the restaurant dove behind their tables. But once again, the waiter with the eye patch was unaffected. The one-eyed waiter shook his head at the customers then turned to Luffy and Coby.

"Not that I mind, but you should probably stop that," he said calmly. "The boss probably wouldn't like you scaring all of the customers."

Luffy eyed the waiter carefully, he was young, about Luffy's age maybe a bit older, he bared a passing resemblance to a fox and stood at six feet, a little over four inches taller than Luffy. He had red hair that was cut short and his visible left eye was hazel. He was wearing a short-sleeved green button down shirt and a pair of brown pants.

Luffy stared at the waiter as he continued to shovel food in his mouth, there were no physical signs that he was thinking, but for some reason Luffy felt that the waiter looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place him. The waiter glanced quickly at Luffy's straw hat then walked off into the back room. Luffy just shrugged, it would come to him eventually.

-x-

"Hahaha! What a great restaurant," Luffy laughed, as he and Coby walked out of the restaurant and headed down the street. "I've gotta go there again!"

-x-

The one-eyed waiter stared at the empty table, it was piled full of empty plates and the two seats were still pushed out.

"He didn't pay..." the waiter observed as he shook his head, "some things never change."

The waiter walked to the back and spotted a small girl with dark brown hair and a blue and green striped dress wrapping some paper around two round objects. "What do you have there Rika?" he asked the girl.

"I'm gonna go bring these rice balls to Roronoa Zoro at the marine base," answered Rika, she was the daughter of the woman who owned the tavern. "You've done it so many times, but I want to do it too. I made the rice balls myself, I hope he likes them."

"Your mother won't like that," said the waiter.

"But he's gotta be starving!" the eight year old protested. "I need to help him, Big Brother."

"Fine, go," the waiter replied. "But before you go in, find a guy wearing a red vest and a straw hat and make sure he sees you go in."

"Huh? Why?" asked Rika.

"Because he won't let anything bad happen to you," the waiter told her as he headed back out into the main room. "I've got to get back to work. Be safe."

-x-

A little while later and Luffy and Coby were walking down the street in town. "That was strange," said Coby, "I have a bad feeling about this. I can understand why they'd be scared of Zoro's name. But why would they be afraid of the marine captain's name too?"

"Well he could have done something bad, right?" questioned Luffy.

"That's impossible!" Coby snapped.

"I'm serious," Luffy told him as they kept walking, they were finally heading towards the actual marine base.

-x-

"It looks pretty ugly up close," Luffy remarked once they reached the gate around the marine base. "Go ahead Coby, go on in."

"B-but I'm not prepared yet!" Coby protested, "I'm still wondering about the incident at the restaurant. LUFFY!"

Coby looked on in shock as Luffy started climbing one of the walls, "I wonder if I can see the demonic monster from here," wondered Luffy as he looked into the holding yard.

"You can't find him that easily!" Coby snapped, "He's probably deep within the bowels of the prison or something..."

"No!" Luffy replied as he jumped down from the wall and started running along it, "I saw something over there. It could be Zoro."

Luffy and Coby climbed another wall and Luffy noticed someone being held in the middle of the yard. "There he is!" Luffy pointed out. When Coby saw the person Luffy was referring to he fell off of the wall.

"Th-that b-black bandana and sash around his waist," Coby stuttered from the ground, "It's him! It's Roronoa Zoro! He looks scary!"

What Coby said was true. There in the middle of the yard was Roronoa Zoro. Zoro was tied to what looked like a cross and had a blank expression on his face. The swordsman didn't look older than twenty years old, his green hair was hidden under a black bandana, and his facial features resembled a shark. He was wearing a white short sleeve shirt, a green sash, and a pair of black pants and shoes.

"So he's Zoro, huh?" questioned Luffy, "I could just untie those ropes and set him free..."

"THAT'S SUICIDE!" Coby shouted, loud enough to get the pirate hunter's attention, "If you set him free he'll kill us then wreck the town!"

"Hey you!" came the deep voice of Roronoa Zoro. "Come over here and untie me. I've been tied up here for nine days and I'm exhausted!"

"Look he's smiling," Luffy observed.

"He... he talked!" Coby gasped.

"I'll make it worth your while," Zoro called out again, "I could hunt down a pirate with a big price on his head and give you the bounty. You can trust me, I'm a man of my word."

"Don't do it Luffy!" Coby pleaded, "If you set him free, he'll kill us and escape!"

"He can't kill me!" Luffy assured him, "I won't let him. I'm too strong!"

"You really are hopeless," Coby cried. TONK! Suddenly a ladder was set up against the wall and a familiar little girl climbed up it.

"Sssshhhhh!" Rika shushed Luffy and Coby. She lowered a rope and climbed down it into the holding yard.

"Don't go down there! It's dangerous!" Coby called after the girl. He turned to Luffy, "Luffy, stop her, she could be killed."

"What do you want?" Zoro asked the girl in front of him, "get lost!"

Rika pulled out a bundle and unwrapped the paper around it to reveal a pair of rice balls. "I made these rice balls for you. I know Big Brother usually sneaks you some but I wanted to help. This is the first time I've ever made rice balls..."

"I'm not hungry!" the pirate hunter snapped, "go away!"

"B-but..." Rika protested.

"I don't want it!" Zoro insisted, "Now get out of here or I'll kill you!"

"RORONOA ZORO!" came a loud voice as a man with funny looking blond hair and a cleft chin wearing a black suit walked into the holding yard, "You shouldn't pick on little girls, I'll report you to my father!"

"Who's that weirdo?" Luffy wondered.

"Probably some high ranking marine," said Coby. "Good, that little girl will be safe now."

"Well if it isn't the Captain's bastard son," said Zoro, who actually knew who his guy was but was unimpressed.

"Bastard?" Helmeppo repeated. "Don't get cocky, you're not in the position to say such things." Helmeppo turned to Rika and noticed the rice balls in her hands. "Little girl, did you bring those rice balls for me? How thoughtful!"

"Wait no!" Rika shrieked, she had made those for Zoro. But the captain's son must have gone temporarily deaf because he took one of the rice balls anyway and started eating it.

Helmeppo's face turned blue, and he spat the rice ball out before he could choke on it. "PTOOOOOIIII! Disgusting!" Helmeppo complained as he continued spitting in an attempt to get the awful taste out. "You used sugar! You're supposed to use salt to season these!"

"But I thought they'd taste better if they were sweet," said Rika, as a tear formed in one of her eyes. She had worked hard on those and wanted them to be special.

"These are completely inedible!" Helmeppo shouted as he snatched the other rice ball and threw it on the ground, then to the Rika's horror, started squishing them with his foot. STOMP! STOMP! SKUSH!

"Stop! Please!" the girl pleaded as the captain's son squished her hard work, "You're ruining them!"

"How evil," Coby whispered, "That girl worked really hard on those."

"AHahaha, don't worry," Helmeppo laughed, "I'm sure the ants will find them delicious!"

Rika dropped to the ground and cried next to her ruined rice balls. "You're so cruel! I worked so hard to make them!"

"Oh, stop crying," Helmeppo complained. "No wonder why I hate little brats so much. It's your own fault. Can't you read this sign?" Helmeppo then pointed out the sign next to him, and read it to the girl. "It says: 'Anyone who helps the prisoner will be charged with the same crime.' And it is signed by my father, Captain Morgan."

Helmeppo looked closely at Rika, "You know how scary my father can be. You could've gotten the death penalty if you were a grown up."

Helmeppo then turned to one of the marines who were with him, "You there, throw this brat out!"

"What?" questioned the marine.

"I'm telling you to throw her out of here!" Helmeppo ordered. "Are you disobeying me? I'll tell my father!" No one likes a tattle-tale, but this tattle-tale's father was the ranking officer at this base, no one wanted to make him mad.

"Yes sir, right away," the marine reluctantly agreed, as he bent down to pick up the girl he whispered, "Sorry I have to hurt you. Try curling up into a ball." Regretfully the marine threw the eight year old over the fence and out of the holding yard.

WHAP! Luffy jumped off the wall and was knocked to the ground as he caught Rika and kept her from getting hurt.

"Are you alright?" Coby asked Rika, as Luffy got up and dusted himself off,

"Those bastards!"

"I didn't think you'd have this kind of endurance," Helmeppo taunted Zoro.

"That's right, I'm going to survive the entire month," Zoro answered with a determined grin, "You'd better keep your promise."

"I wouldn't dream of breaking my word," Helmeppo assured as he and his marine escorts started leaving. "If you survive out here for a month, I'll release you. Good luck."

Helmeppo and the marines left, but Zoro still wasn't alone. A pirate was standing in front of him.

"So I hear you're a bad guy," said Luffy as he stood in front of Zoro in the holding yard.

"Are you still here?" asked Zoro.

"You're stuck out here for all the world to see and nothing," Luffy commented. "Are you really all that strong?"

"Mind your own business," said Zoro, but Luffy just walked closer.

"If I were you I'd probably starve to death in three days," Luffy told him.

"I've got more spirit than you could ever have," Zoro replied, "which is why I'm gonna survive this ordeal. This I swear."

"Haha, what a weirdo," Luffy chuckled, as he turned and headed off.

"Wait," Zoro called after him. "Could you... pick that up for me?" He motioned to the squished rice ball with his head.

"You're gonna eat this?" asked Luffy as he crouched down and picked up what was more a bunch of dirt that a ball of rice, "cause its mostly a ball of mud."

"Shut up and give it to me! Now!" Zoro ordered, he held his mouth opened and Luffy tossed the remains of the rice ball inside.

CHOMP!CHOMP!MUNCH! The Pirate Hunter proceeded to eat the rice ball as if it was the first thing he'd eaten in weeks, but then coughed when he choked on the bits of dirt. KOFF! KOFF! ACK!

"You should've listened to me," Luffy pointed out.

"Tell the girl, 'thanks for the food'," Zoro requested. Luffy smiled and left.

-x-

"Really?" asked Rika, once Luffy had relayed Zoro's message as they sat out in front of the tavern.

"That's right," Luffy answered. "He ate all of it."

"That's great," said the girl with a smile.

"Could he really be as bad as people say he is?" Coby asked.

"He's not!" Rika exclaimed. "He's good... because... he got himself punished for us."

"You're making no sense," Luffy stated.

"Sorry," Rika apologized. "It was that dumb Helmeppo's fault.

-Rika's Flashback-

"Step aside! Step aside!" Helmeppo called out three weeks ago. "Make way for my beautiful pet doggy." The 'doggy' was actually a wolf and was terrifying and terrorizing the people. Helmeppo had a sword and two marines as an escort, no one wanted to get in his way. "Anyone who doesn't move I'll have executed! AHahahasnort!"

KREK! RAWR! The wolf barged into a familiar tavern and made its way over to a table and proceeded to devour the food on a customer's table.

"You can't bring pets in here," the one-eyed bartender calmly told him as he placed a bottle of rum on the counter in front of a green-haired man wearing a black bandana.

"Shut up you!" Helmeppo ordered. "Let my doggy do what he wants or I'll tell my father to have you executed."

"Stop it, you mean old thing!" Rika shrieked as she ran over to the wolf and swung at its tail with a mop, SWISH!SWISH!SWISH!

"Rika, get away from that thing," the one-eyed waiter warned her.

"You, little girl," said Helmeppo. "Is there some kind of problem with how my precious dog is behaving?"

"Rika put it down!" Rika's mother exclamied as she rushed out from the back room. "You don't want to get us in trouble."

GRRRAAWWWRRRR! The wolf growled as it turned to the little girl, then let out a howl as it pounced. CHUNK!SLASH!RIP!

Rika had been tackled to the ground by the one-eyed waiter who was clutching the small girl to his chest as the wolf clawed at his back.

WHAM! A barstool suddenly slammed into the wolf and knocked it out.

Despite the bloody wounds on the back of his shirt, the one-eyed waiter stood up, and allowed Rika to run over to her mother. He stared at the green-haired man that had kicked the barstool at the wolf. "You shouldn't have done that," he commented idly, completely oblivious to the blood dripping on the floor from the scratch and bite marks on his back.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Helmeppo demanded as he swung his sword around in outrage. "Wait a minute... its you! You're 'Pirate Hunter' Roronoa Zoro!"

"And if I am?" asked Zoro as Helmeppo continued brandishing his sword at him.

"What's a pirate hunter doing defying the marines, huh?"

"Can it and let me finish my meal in peace."

"RAAAH!" Helmeppo screamed as he charged at Zoro and swung his sword, THWAK! Zoro lashed out his leg and kicked the captain's son's sword out of his hands, it went flying and embedded in the ceiling.

"AAAHH!" Helmeppo's scream of rage turned to a scream of terror as Zoro turned to him, POW! Zoro punched Helmeppo right in the face and sent him flying into a wall, WHAM!

Zoro drew one of his swords and pointed it at Helmeppo's face. "You're getting on my nerves, pal," said Zoro as Helmeppo whimpered in fear and pain, "You and that precious mutt of yours."

"AHahaha," Helmeppo chuckled, "You do realize if my dad finds out about this he'll surely execute the girl, and her mother." The waiter cast a glance at Rika and her mother, then turned back and watched confrontation between Zoro and Helmeppo to see how it would play out.

"So what do you say to a little deal between men?" Helmeppo offered as he slowly got back up. "In place of those three, we string you up instead. For... say one month. You survive that one month and I'll be so nice as to let you live too. What do you say? Sound fair?"

"No," the waiter interrupted. "I'll do the month, if you promise that the girl and her mother are spared. You can even execute me."

"Why would I want you?" asked Helmeppo. "I could kill you any time I want, and then have the other two executed once you're dead."

The waiter looked like he was about to say something, but Zoro turned and stared at him. "He made the offer to me, I'll do it," Zoro turned back to the captain's son. "One month it is." KLAK! Zoro dropped his sword and allowed himself to get arrested.

-End Flashback-

"It's been three weeks since that day," Rika concluded. "Helmeppo keeps punching and kicking him while he's tied up. He's being so unfair! Big Brother's been sneaking him food late at night, but I don't know how to help him!"

Just then, speak of the devil, Helmeppo walked passed them into the tavern. "I'M HERE AND I'M HUNGRY! YOU, ONE-EYE, GET OVER HERE!" Luffy, Coby, and Rika ran through the door to see what was going to happen.

"What do you want?" asked the waiter as he walked over.

POW! Helmeppo lashed out his hand and punched the waiter square in the face. The waiter didn't even flinch and just stood there as Helmeppo yelled at him, "You can't talk to me like that! I'll tell my father on you! Do you want to get executed like Zoro?"

"He's got ten days left," the waiter replied. "He'll be fine."

POW! Helmeppo punched him again, but again the waiter barely flinched. "The only reason you haven't been executed is because you're fun to hit. Do you really expect me to live up to my end of the deal? I'm keeping him alive until I get bored hitting you, then I'll execute him."

"Heads up," said the waiter as he calmly stepped backwards.

"What's tha—" Helmeppo started to say as he turned around.

Luffy ran across the room, his hat fell off his head as he went, he reached Helmeppo and lashed out his arm and socked the Captain's son right in the face. POW! Helmeppo went flying and slammed into a wall. WHAM!

"You... you just hit me!" Helmeppo whined as he sat up and held his face where Luffy had hit him.

"Luffy, no!" Coby pleaded as he tried to hold Luffy back, "You can't hit him."

"This guy's scum!" Luffy growled.

"You actually hit me!" Helmeppo shrieked. "I'm Captain Morgan's son you know!"

"Yeah, like I care!" Luffy snapped.

"You'll care after he executes you for this!" Helmeppo yelled.

"Why don't you just be a man and fight?" Luffy challenged.

"He only hits people who he knows won't fight back," the waiter answered.

"Luffy, why don't you just ease off some?" asked Coby. "Why are you trying to get on the marines' bad side?"

"Coby, I've made up my mind," Luffy announced, "I'm going to ask Zoro to join my crew!"