Landfall at Loguetown:

-x-

The Straw Hat Pirates had gotten off of the Going Merry and were staring in amazement up at a wooden sign bridging between two buildings. The sign read 'Loguetown'.

"WOOOHOOO!" Luffy exclaimed, "THIS IS GONNA BE SO FUN!"

"Yup, any pirate heading for the Grand Line stops here," Y/N explained, he'd buttoned up his white shirt and his sunglasses hid his eye patch. He had Mohmoo's giant golden nose ring around his lightly padded right shoulder, but he'd left his sword back on the ship so he wouldn't stick out. "Just keep quiet and keep from drawing the attention of the marines and we'll be alright."

"They'll have anything we need," said Nami, before she turned to Y/N and flashed him a smile. "Y/N... would you mind giving me some money? Unlike you guys, I need to have more than one outfit and I want to have clothing for any kind of weather."

"Alright," Y/N agreed, he fished into his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills, "Here's two million berries on the condition that you buy some casual clothing for the rest of the crew. Luffy always wears shorts, t-shirts, or a vest, Zoro would probably like anything that doesn't slow him down, for Usopp I'd guess anything that looks cool and is comfortable, try to find something other than a suit for Sanji to wear, and for me anything in black, red, or black and red."

Yoink! Nami yanked the money out of Y/N's hands, "You've got a deal, I'll just find a bunch of different colored t-shirts and stuff like that," Nami reasoned.

"And get yourself some winter clothing and a bathing suit," Y/N suggested, "the Grand Line is prone to having lots of different weather, you want to be ready for anything." Nami nodded showing she understood, normally she wouldn't take orders but Y/N had been to the Grand Line and survived it so she figured she could afford to take his word on this.

"I'll need to stock up on fresh produce," Sanji mentioned.

Once again Y/N fished into his pocket and pulled out another bundle of bills, "Here's three hundred thousand berries," Y/N told him, "buy whatever you need." Sanji nodded and took the money.

"I want to buy something too," Zoro commented, he was short two swords.

"Swords are expensive," Y/N pointed out, as he fished into his pocket a third time. "Here's five hundred thousand berries for now, it'll get you in the door and enable you to buy an average sword. If you find a good sword that you like come find me and I'll help you out."

"I guess that'll work," Zoro agreed.

"I wanna get—" Usopp started to plead his case with the crew's financial manager but Y/N cut him off.

"You're with me Usopp," Y/N interrupted him, "I'm gonna teach you how to shop."

"I know how to shop!" Usopp objected.

"Not the way I do it," Y/N told him.

"I'm gonna find out where they kill people!" Luffy decided.

"The execution scaffold is in the middle of the town," Y/N informed him, "don't get lost."

"I'm gonna see where the King of the Pirates was executed!" Luffy announced as he turned and ran off.

"Wait! We have to pick a meeting place!" Usopp called after him.

"Too late, we lost him," said Y/N, "When we wanna find him just look for the noisiest place in town."

"Heh heh," Zoro chuckled, "that sounds like Luffy."

"If any of you guys need any more money or anything I'll be periodically returning to the ship to load it up with some of the stuff long nose and I buy," Y/N informed the rest of the crew. "Let's go Usopp."

With that the Straw Hats split up and disappeared into the crowded streets of Loguetown.

-x-

Tmp!Tmp!Tmp! "The King of the Pirates was born and executed in this town," Luffy thought to himself as he ran through the streets of Loguetown looking for the execution scaffold. "I could be running in his very footsteps right now."

"YAHOOO!" Luffy cheered as he jumped up in the air filled with excitement. So much for blending in and lying low...

-x-

Swish! The curtain to the fitting room in an expensive clothing store was pulled opened and Nami stood there wearing a gray corset, a fancy matching wraparound skirt, and an expensive looking fur coat. "How do I look?" asked Nami as she struck a pose.

"You look absolutely stunning!" the salesman chimed.

Swish! The curtain opened again and Nami was now wearing an expensive red evening gown which had a long slit going up the left leg. She had a furry white boa wrapped around her neck. "And now?" questioned Nami in a sultry voice.

"Artistically extravagant!" the salesman exclaimed.

"This?"

"Deciduously elevated!"

The pattern continued as Nami continued trying on fancy outfits while the salesman would spout out compliments that didn't exactly make sense. Eventually, a huge pile of clothes had amassed on a counter.

"Excellent, may I deliver these to your lodgings?" offered the salesman who was wearing black pants, a vertically striped black and gray vest, a white long-sleeved shirt, a blue neck tie, and his hair was done up in the shape of a clothes hanger.

"No thanks!" Nami replied, as she strolled out the door and left, "I prefer more casual clothes!"

"THANK YOU, COME BACK SOON!" the salesman literally cried. The girl had shown him two million berries, how was he supposed to know she had no intention of buying anything?

-x-

Y/N and Usopp leaned against the front of a Pawn Shop, Y/N handed the golden ring to Usopp, "Here's the deal, you go in and ask the guy how much you can get for this," Y/N instructed, "Just play nice and sort of go along with what he tells you."

"Alright," Usopp agreed. "What're you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna play the part of the cynic," Y/N explained, "I'm gonna try to get him to raise the price up to a million berries, follow my lead. It's an Interrogation Trick called Good Cop/Bad Cop."

Krek! Usopp pulled the door opened and entered the Pawn Shop Y/N followed behind him and made a point to keep his face blank.

Usopp and Y/N were met by the owner whose greasy gray hair was in the shape of a bowl cut. He wore an obviously second-hand gray jacket with a yellow patch and a pair of not-quite-matching bluish-gray pants.

"Hey, how much can I get for this?" Usopp inquired as he showed the man the giant ring.

"What use would I have for some giant ring?" the man wondered as he eyed the golden ring, "I won't give you a berri over 500,000."

"Who are you trying to fool?" asked Y/N, "that thing's pure gold."

"Pure gold?" the man repeated, "Oh... well in that case... how does 650,000 berries sound?"

"Wow, that's a lot!" Usopp commented.

"Yeah, for an idiot," Y/N growled, "since its pure gold you could easily melt it down and reshape it any way you want."

"I'm sure you could think of something great to make out of it," Usopp patronized the man.

"Alright, alright, how about... 800,000 berries?" the man offered.

"Weeelll," Usopp replied, "That sounds about right..."

"The hell it does!" Y/N refused as he reached out and grabbed the big gold ring, "I'm not gonna stay here and let you continue to insult us. Come on Usopp." Y/N turned and headed for the door, Usopp looked confused as he followed after him. "I'm sure we can find someone willing to offer us a million berries for it."

"OKAY! OKAY!" the man conceded. "I'll give you 1,000,000 berries BUT THAT'S MY FINAL OFFER!"

"I think we can agree to that," Usopp agreed as he took the ring and handed it to the man. A few minutes later the two pirates left the Pawn Shop a million berries richer.

"And that's how you haggle, 'One Eye' Y/N Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire-style," Y/N concluded as he and Usopp walked down the street together.

"So... how much was that ring really worth?" questioned Usopp.

"I'd guess around seven hundred fifty thousand," Y/N answered, "but of course he doesn't know that. Now, we've got some extra money, you pick the next place."

"Alright," said Usopp, "I think I saw a cool Trinket Store over there somewhere..."

-x-

"Wow, the scenery here is amazing," Sanji thought to himself, there were hearts in his eyes as he scoped out all the pretty girls that were gathered in the streets. Sanji's heart-shaped eyes suddenly bugged out of his head when he spotted a beautiful woman with long dark hair, flawless skin, pretty eyes, and ruby red lips, she was wearing a white cowgirl hat with a pink feather in it and a bulky pink cloak with heart-shaped design

"I THINK I JUST FELL IN LOVE!" Sanji said to himself.

-x-

"WOOO-HOO-HOOO-HOOO!" Usopp cheered as he entered a store called Love Love Pirates with Y/N trailing after him. "Whoa! Crazy! I think I've died and gone to trinket heaven!" Usopp surveyed the large assortment of stuff in the store. A salesman took that opportunity to make his presence known.

"Come in, come in!" the salesman chimed, he had shiny brown hair, a mono-brow, wore a light blue shirt with a red bowtie, blue pants, and a green apron. "I can assure you that almost everything you see is an almost priceless pirate artifact from an adventure to the Grand Line! I am certain that you will not find a store like this in the entire world!"

"You mean everything in this store has been to the Grand Line and back?" questioned Usopp, "is that what you're telling me?"

"You are so observant!" the slimy salesman complemented Usopp as he slithered over to him. "We only accept a certain type of clientele in this establishment you might imagine. And I can tell by your demeanor that you're my type of client."

"Observe!" instructed the salesman as he showed Usopp a small pistol that had a nozzle that was made to look like a fish's face. "I hold in my hands a gun that was once a favorite of none-other-than the Gold Roger!"

"NO WAY! GOLD ROGER'S GUN?" Usopp exclaimed in surprise.

"Alright that's enough," Y/N interrupted as he grabbed Usopp by the back of his overalls and pulled him away from the salesman. "I call BS. Let's go Usopp, the only thing you'll find in this place is a scam."

"Why don't you let him make his own decision!" the salesman scolded as he glared at Y/N while he dragged Usopp to the door.

"I'm not about to let you swindle my Nakama," said Y/N, "take your cheap gun and shove it." With that Y/N pulled Usopp out of the store and down the street.

"What was that?" asked Usopp, "He said that was a gun used by Gold Roger!"

"Ugh," Y/N groaned, "Yeah, that's what he said but tell me, have you ever shot a gun before?"

"Uh... no," Usopp admitted, he only used his slingshot. There was that one time he'd attempted to shoot Kuro... but he'd missed so that didn't count!

"Then you don't need that," Y/N told him. "And from what the old man told me, Gold Roger was a master of many fields. Even if the Pirate King did use a pistol, he wouldn't have used that ridiculous thing for anything other than a joke. And if he had used it, it wouldn't have been in that store."

"Oh... that's right!" Usopp realized, "your former captain was Gold Roger's rival!"

"That's right," said Y/N, "and if anyone would know what kind of weapon the Pirate King used in combat, it'd be him. I just saved you from getting ripped off. And for the record, any salesman with that kind of smile is looking to screw you over."

"Wow, thanks I guess," Usopp commented.

"No problem," Y/N replied, "besides it's all part of teaching you how to shop properly. You need to know how to tell a good deal from a bad one and a good salesman from a sleazebag. Help me out with my shopping and when we're done, you'll never get ripped off again."

Usopp nodded as the two of them walked off in search of more supplies for their trip to the Grand Line.

-x-

Elsewhere in Loguetown was a building marked with a seagull, the insignia of the marines. Inside the Loguetown Marine Headquarters a large man with a rectangular face, brown hair and sideburns wearing the standard marine uniform was sitting in front of a machine receiving a transmission from Marine Headquarters. His name was Petty Officer Masshikaku.

Crank... crank! Masshikaku stood up and stared at the machine in shock as it printed out two sheets of paper then ran out of the room in search of his superior.

KREK! "Captain Smoker!" Masshikaku called out about five seconds later as he opened the door to a smoke-filled room in the marine base, "A message from Headquarters! I've just received word that Monkey D. Luffy and his pirate crew are headed to Loguetown! The bounties of his and his first mate's head total fifty million berries!"

"Fifty million berries... I can't wait to congratulate them," came the deep, somewhat raspy, voice of Marine Captain Smoker, he didn't sound intimidated. Due to all the smoke in the room, he was hard to make out but his silhouette appeared to be that of an extremely muscular man who was smoking a cigar while attempting to make a stack a number of rocks on top of each other.

"Sir, this is the pirate crew that defeated Don Krieg and killed Arlong!" Masshikaku attempted to explain.

"Shut your mouth!" Smoker ordered, KLUNK! Smoker's stack of rocks collapsed and ended up on the table he was sitting in front of. Smoker stood up and sounded irritated, "All your whining made it collapse in defeat."

"I'm sorry sir," Masshikaku apologized.

"Silence," said Smoker, "your stress is useless. You alone dictate the pace of your battle, am I wrong?"

"No sir," Masshikaku answered.

Krek! Smoker opened a window and the smoke in the room cleared, revealing Smoker completely. He wore blue marine-style pants and heavy black boots. He had gray hair and was ripped and he stood at about six foot six. "Then why so tense?" questioned Smoker.

"Well... it's just been a long time since we've faced a pirate crew of this considerable strength, sir," Masshikaku explained.

"You really have nothing to worry about," Smoker reassured him, "Under my command has there even been a single pirate to set foot on this island without being captured?"

"No sir," the Petty Officer replied.

"Then just calm the hell down," Smoker scolded him as he grabbed his white coat and slipped it on. It had red on the inside and was lined with black fur and had countless cigars strapped to the sleeves and stuffed in the pockets. On the back of the coat was the kanji for Smoker's personal slogan 'Absolute Justice'. "you're screwing up my pacing."

"I'm sorry sir," Masshikaku apologized, "you're right sir."

Just then another marine came running into the office, he was shorter than both Captain Smoker and Masshikaku and stood at about five foot seven. The new marine had short black hair that appeared to be neatly combed and wore a typical marine cap on his head. He wore the usual marine uniform complete with the white shirt and blue pants, but he wore a green necktie signifying that he had a higher rank. The marine had a belt with two pistols holstered on it around his waist, and a pair of goggles around his neck. This marine was known as Lieutenant Devo, an officer in the Loguetown Marine Base that worked under Captain Smoker.

Lieutenant Devo quickly saluted Captain Smoker before he addressed him, "I've got a report sir, I've just received word that a group of pirates has recently arrived! We're requested there at once!"

"It must be Monkey D. Luffy's group," Masshikaku realized as he stared at the two wanted posters in his hand, "Captain, he's got a bounty of thirty million berries. How'd they get here so fast? I just got this message."

"Thirty million, huh?" questioned Smoker. "This might actually be interesting."

Smoker pulled on a pair black gloves and strapped his jutte onto his back. With that Smoker headed out the door intent on hunting down a pirate he'd never seen before. Lieutenant Commander Devo quickly followed after Smoker without a word, leaving Petty Officer Masshikaku alone in the office.

"But Captain, Lieutenant, don't you want to see this?" Masshikaku called after them as he held up the Wanted Posters of 'Straw Hat' Luffy and 'One Eye' Y/N.

-x-

Captain Smoker the Monster

-x-

A little bit later, Smoker and Devo were walking through the streets of Loguetown. Smoker had added another cigar to his mouth and was now smoking two at the same time.

"Captain, are we going to take our usual approach?" Lt. Devo inquired.

"Of course," Smoker answered, "why wouldn't we?"

"Well sir, its just that these are the most wanted pirates in the East Blue," Devo explained, "They might cause problems."

"Let me ask you something," said Smoker, "In the time I've been in command here, have we ever let a pirate get away, Lieutenant?"

"No sir," Devo answered.

"Then don't worry about it," Smoker told him, "Where's Tashigi?"

"She mentioned to me that she had some things to do this morning," Devo replied. "She said she'd try to make it back in time for training."

"Irresponsible girl," Smoker muttered, "where the hell did she go?"

Speaking of irresponsible girls, a small blonde haired girl with two blue hairclips in her hair and a pink shirt, ran through the streets of Loguetown holding an ice cream cone with three scoops of ice cream in front of her. "Yay! I've got ice cream!" the girl cheered.

"You'd better slow down or you're gonna drop it," suggested a skinny brown haired man as he casually walked behind the girl with his hands in his pockets.

SPLAT! The girl suddenly collided with a pair of blue pants and got her three different colored scoops of ice cream all over them. The girl looked up and stared in surprise when she realized that she'd just bumped into Marine Captain Smoker. Smoker turned to look at the girl, causing the man following her to shriek in terror.

"AAAAAHH! CAPTAIN SMOKER!" the man shrieked.

"My... ice cream..." said the girl.

"I'M VERY SORRY SIR!" the man apologized, "PLEASE DON'T HURT HER! MY DAUGHTER SHOULDN'T RUN, PLEASE DON'T HURT HER!"

Whap! Smoker knelt down and lightly patted the girl on the head, "I'm sorry," Smoker apologized, "my silly pants have eaten all your ice cream." Smoker produced a gold coin and handed it to the girl, "Here, go buy yourself five scoops." With that, Smoker stood up and promptly walked away, "Let's go, Lieutenant."

"Yes sir," Devo agreed as he walked off alongside Captain Smoker.

"Thank you sir!" the relieved father called after the two marines.

"Thank you," said the little girl as she waved after them.

-x-

"HAAA HAAA HAAA HAAA!" laughed a funny looking older pirate with a pointed nose and a purple three-cornered hat covering his gray hair. He wore a long maroon Captain's coat and a purple and white striped scarf around his neck that went down to his knees. He wore brown pants, black boots, and had a teal sash around his waist. He also wore a white vest with brown criss-crossing suspenders. But the man's most distinguishing features were his crescent-shaped beard and mustache. "HAVE AT IT BOYS! NO NEED TO BE SHY ON MY ACCOUNT!"

Believe it or not, this was a pirate captain. His name was Galley 'the Crescent Moon' and he had a bounty worth 3,450,000 berries. Behind him a bunch of seedy looking pirates were loading up a pirate ship with supplies they had 'acquired'.

"I, Galley the Crescent, hereby claim all this food to be of service to the future King of the Pirates!" Galley bellowed, he was yelling so loudly that he didn't notice the arrival of a pair of marines. "SO DON'T BOTHER TRYING TO HIDE ANYTHING!"

"Hey," Smoker called out as he towered over the gathered Crescent Moon Pirates, "Who's in charge here?"

"I think you need to leave," Galley stated.

"So you're Monkey D. Luffy?" Captain Smoker inquired.

"I don't think that's him Captain," Lieutenant Devo observed. "We probably should've looked at the wanted poster before we left."

"You're right," Smoker agreed, "he's not worth thirty million, I'd guess he's not worth much more than my grandma's false teeth."

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY!" Galley yelled. "GOT IT?"

Smoke started to gather around Smoker and clouded him from view, Lt. Devo seemed to know what was coming and pulled on his goggles and grabbed the handles of the two loaded pistols at his waist.

"Ready Captain," Devo announced.

"You take out the loud-mouth, I'll round up everyone else,"Smoker instructed from somewhere in the cloud of smoke.

Galley stared in shock as Smoker and his marine lackey became shrouded in smoke, that Smoker had seemingly created, he couldn't see anything. MONSTER!

Chuck... chuck... KA-BANG-BANG! The green lenses of Lieutenant Devo's goggles allowed him to see perfectly through the smoke, TUNK! TUNK! THUD! Devo's two shots found their mark and Galley the Crescent collapsed to the ground unconscious and bleeding from the chest. Unfortunately for Galley's pirates, the smoke was too thick for them to see the state of their captain, leaving them easy picking for Captain Smoker the Monster.

-x-

"Captain Smoker?" Nami repeated as she leaned against the counter in a more casual clothing store. The old woman that was helping her was loading t-shirts and skirts into a large bag.

"He is definitely one of the toughest marines we have ever seen in this town," the woman explained, she was a hefty woman with curly light brown hair and a pink dress with purple stars on it. "See, Loguetown used to be a hangout for pirates headed to the Grand Line but not any more. As soon as Smoker took over any pirate that's ever come near this island has been caught, incarcerated, and executed. Smoker is bad. He's a complete and utter monster. There are even those that say he has Devil Fruit Powers."

"Devil Fruit Powers?" questioned Nami, that didn't sound good.

-x-

The smoke down by the harbor had cleared to reveal Smoker and Devo. The latter of the two was finishing tying up the last of the Crescent Moon Pirates.

"You're right sir," Devo commented, "There's no way this guy was Monkey D. Luffy, I think this guy's Galley the Crescent Moon. He's not worth thirty million, he's barely worth a tenth that. Around three and a half I think."

"Only a complete idiot would think this was Luffy," said Smoker, "If this garbage was worth thirty million I'd become a pirate."

"Then where's Luffy?" Devo wondered.

"What's your hurry?" asked Smoker. "He'll be here soon enough."

"I'm here!" came a voice. Smoker and Devo stared in surprise at a boy wearing a straw hat, a red vest, blue shorts, and sandals. "Where's the execution platform? This looks like the docks!"

"HEY! CAN YOU HELP ME?" asked Luffy as he approached the two marine officers.

"Is he a member of this garbage?" Smoker asked Devo.

"I don't think so sir," Devo answered.

"Hi, I need some help," Luffy greeted Smoker as he walked right up to the marine. "Do you happen to know where they execute people around here?"

"The platform," Smoker stated.

"Yeah, I know," Luffy replied, "but I just can't seem to find it."

"I haven't seen you before," Smoker realized.

"This is my first time here on this island," Luffy explained. "This town is a whole lot bigger than Fucshia Village and it's really spread out too."

"So why go to the platform?" asked Smoker.

"Personal quest," Luffy replied. "I wanna see where the King of the Pirates died."

"Just follow the smoke, kid," Smoker instructed, the smoke from the marine's two cigars changed direction and floated off in between two buildings.

"Great!" Luffy exclaimed, "That way? I'll see ya later!" With that Luffy ran off.

"I wonder who that was," said Devo. Once again he wondered why they hadn't looked at the wanted poster before they left. It would be a lot easier to hunt down Monkey D. Luffy if they knew what he looked like. It wasn't like Monkey D. Luffy would walk right up to them and ask for directions... right?

-x-

"Why are we here?" asked Usopp. He and Y/N were on the outskirts of Loguetown standing in front of a rundown looking store. Both of them had sacks thrown over their shoulder from a successful shopping trip. Y/N's bag looked like it contained treasure hunting supplies judging by the two shovels and the pick-axe that were sticking out of the top of it. The padded white sleeve of a winter coat was sticking out of the top of Usopp's bag, signifying that the two of them had gone bought seasonal clothing for the male members of the crew.

"Because I need to get something important for when we get to the Grand Line," Y/N explained.

"Then why get it here?' questioned Usopp. "This place doesn't look like much."

"It's all a part of my 'Ask the Creepy Outcast' theory," Y/N told him, "most common people don't follow the life of a pirate. If you ask them about a legendary treasure they'll just laugh at you, tell you you're crazy, and that it doesn't exist. A normal person can't help you but a fellow crazy person can. Whenever I need information about something I go to the creepy outcast that lives on the outskirts of the village, more often than not they'll know all about what I'm after. For example, if I wanted to know about a treasure that was supposedly located near your village, I'd have asked you about it."

"I guess that kind of makes sense," Usopp reasoned, he'd spent years being a pretend pirate and if there were any great treasures buried around Syrup Village he'd know where they were. He lived on the outskirts of the village and wasn't exactly well liked, just the kind of outcast that Y/N would ask for information.

"Just stay quiet and let me do all the talking," Y/N instructed as he and Usopp opened the door and entered the shop. Usopp glanced around him and noticed that the shop seemed to sell clocks. Y/N put down his sack of treasure hunting supplies and walked up to the counter and rang the bell that was on it, DING!

An old man with a shaggy gray beard, black and green plaid pants, brown slippers, and a loose gray shirt walked out from the backroom. "What do you want?" the man demanded.

"I'm looking to buy one of your special compasses," Y/N answered.

"Going to the Grand Line are you?" the old man inquired, his demeanor softened a bit.

"That's right," Y/N replied.

"And if you're here, that means you've been there before," the old man reasoned, "Regular or Eternal?"

"Just regular," Y/N requested, "we don't have a set destination."

"I have one in the back," the old man told him, "that'll be 800,000 berries."

Y/N nodded and pulled out most of the money he'd gotten from selling the gold nose ring and placed it on the counter. The old man went to the back room and returned a few minutes later with a black jewelry box, he opened it to reveal a strange looking glass ball that had a compass needle in the middle of it.

"Pleasure doing business with you," said Y/N as he took the jewelry box, closed it, and slipped it into his pocket. "Let's go Usopp."

"Good luck," the old man called after them as they left the shop.

THUD! The door closed behind them and Usopp turned to Y/N, "What did you get?" asked Usopp.

"A special compass used for navigating the Grand Line," Y/N answered. "I'll give it to Nami and explain when we get there."

"Why was it so expensive?" Usopp wondered.

"Because if we didn't have one of these... we'd die," Y/N stated, causing Usopp to stare in wide-eyed horror. "The Grand Line is a dangerous place but if you know how to navigate in it, it can be a paradise."

"Phew," Usopp sighed, "good thing you got that then." Y/N nodded and the two headed back for Loguetown.

-x-

"DAMN IT! THESE SWORDS ARE ALL SO FREAKIN' EXPENSIVE!" Zoro cursed to himself as he stared in the window of yet another sword shop. 700,000... 500,000... 300,000... All the decent-looking swords were worth a lot of money, he barely enough to buy ONE decent sword let along TWO!

Zoro had attempted to find Y/N to get some more money but he'd forgotten where they'd left the ship. He'd ended up getting lost in the crowd and hadn't seen any sign of Y/N or Usopp, he'd thought his luck had changed when he ran into Nami...

"Sure, I'll lend you some money," Nami offered.

"Yeah, but don't you only have the two million berries that Y/N gave you to buy clothes?" asked Zoro.

"Don't be stupid," Nami replied, "That's just the money I got from Y/N, I still have MY money. I could lend you some... but that'll be three hundred percent interest. Hehehehe!"

Zoro didn't like the way that girl had been laughing when she'd given him 100,000 berries. But now he had 600,000 berries and was still no closer to buying himself some decent swords. The swords worth 300,000 and less looked kind of cheap and Zoro wasn't certain he'd survive in the Grand Line using cheap swords.

"I can't afford to borrow any more money from that girl," Zoro thought to himself, "but I can't afford to go to the Grand Line with just one sword." Butjust as Zoro was about to relent and buy two cheap swords, a voice caught his attention.

"Monster?"

"Shut up!" said someone else, "Our boss is behind bars because of your idiot of a captain!"

Zoro made his way through the crowd to see what the commotion was, a girl who looked to be around twenty with chin-length blue hair, rectangle glasses with red frames, a faint green shirt with pink flowers on it and purple pants. She was holding a wrapped package in front of her. "Haven't you learned your lesson?" asked the girl as she stood in front of two large, rowdy looking men.

"Definitely not!" said the shorter of the two, he was over a foot and a half taller than the girl and was kind of chubby. He had his dark green hair done in two braids, and wore a sleeveless brown shirt and a pair of gray shorts. "Guess we need ya to teach us again!"

"We're supposed to bring your corpse to our boss so he can see that we've finished you off," the other man stated. He was taller and thinner than the other one and had short gray hair, and a face like a monkey. He wore a black shirt with different colored swirls on it, a pair of ragged looking gray shorts, and a purple sash around his waist. Both men were holding swords out in front of them.

"If you insist, I will fight you," the girl replied, she wasn't intimidated by the two thugs.

"That's very funny!" the fat thug snapped.

"You do know you're a girl, right?" the taller thug taunted.

"RAAAAAHHH!" The two men leapt at the girl with the swords drawn, Zoro gripped his own sword and was about to get involved, but it looked like he didn't have to.

Swiff... The girl opened her package to reveal the katana she had inside with amazing skill she lashed out at the two thugs, SLISH! SLOSH! The girl stood still as the two thugs fell passed her and went crashing down to the ground unconscious, THA-THUD!

Zoro and the gathered villagers in the crowd all stared in surprise at the female swordsman and how easily she'd dispatched the two thugs. The girl went to put her sword away but ruined all the 'Street Cred' she'd just earned by tripping over her own feet and crashing to the ground, THUD!

Klak-a-klak... The girl's red-framed glasses went flying and ended up at Zoro's feet. "My glasses... I can't see without my glasses..." said the girl as she knelt on the ground and blindly felt around for her glasses.

"She can handle a sword but she's not so good at walking," commented one of the civilians.

Zoro reached down and picked up the girl's glasses then held them out to her, "Hey uh... here you go," Zoro called out. The girl looked up and that's when Zoro saw it... SHE LOOKED JUST LIKE KUINA!

"Thanks, that's so kind," said Kuina... uh... the girl. KRUNCH!What wasn't so kind was when Zoro accidentally crushed K... the girl's glasses in his hand while he was still overcome with shock. "May I have my glasses?"

Zoro and the girl stood there for a few seconds before they both noticed the lense-less frames in Zoro's hand, "GAAAAAHH!" they both shouted at the same time.

"My glasses!" exclaimed the girl, "those were really expensive, how could you be so mean?"

"I was an accident, I swear!" Zoro attempted to explain.

"YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THOSE!" the girl snapped, Zoro could only twitch in shock. He was already short on money and now this girl that looked eerily like his head friend wanted him to pay for her 'really expensive' glasses. This was just not his day.

-x-

Luffy was once again lost as he wandered through a back alley in Loguetown, "This really sucks," Luffy said to himself, "I just wanna find the execution platform, but somehow I just keep getting myself turned around. I'll find it eventually." Luffy spotted a sign labeled 'Gold Roger Bar' "Huh... Gold Roger..." Never to pass up an opportunity to investigate anything with the Pirate King's name on it, Luffy went down the steps and wandered into the bar.

Kreeek... Luffy pushed opened the swinging double doors and stepped into the bar, only to realize that it was empty except for an old man wearing a purple skullcap, a loose white shirt, a pair of gold earrings, and small circular sunglasses. He was sitting in a chair at a table with a skull on it. "Excuse me, do you work here?" Luffy inquired, "the sign hanging outside said this place was called the Gold Roger. How'd it get that name?"

"Scram," said the grouchy old man. "You should leave, this isn't a place for unaccompanied children. Besides, we're closed for good starting today."

"You're going under?" Luffy questioned.

"I'm not going under," the old man replied, "I've decided to close it myself. I'm retiring."

Luffy walked over to a stool at the bar and sat down on it, then casually spun around to face the old man. "Sorry, I just wanted to know about the name," Luffy apologized. "I'm looking for the execution platform but I'm lost. Could you tell me the way?" Suddenly Luffy spotted the skull on the table the old man was sitting that, "Whoa! It's a huge skull! That is so cool!"

"Killer Giant," the old man stated as he launched into a story, "One of the most feared villains to ever haunt the waters of the Grand Line. He sent hundreds of pirates to their death over the course of his life. But it only took Gold Roger a single blow to put the behemoth down for good."

"Gold Roger killed him?" said Luffy in surprise.

"With lightning speed!" the old man exclaimed. "You see, Killer Giant was known for using this massive blade... but it didn't matter! The whole fight was over before he could even raise it. And here's the wound that did it..." The old man pointed to a large crack in the top of the skull, Luffy stared in surprise and enjoyed hearing about his hero. "Killer Giant was a giant waste of flesh anyway but he proclaimed with his dying breath... 'Gold Roger... you will forever be the King of the Pirates...'"

"Aweeesome!" Luffy exclaimed, he was absolutely rattled with excitement. "Tell me more!"

"Uggghh... nobody ever wants to hear my stories these days," the old man sighed.

"But I do! Keep going!" Luffy requested.

"Don't rush me," the old man requested, "In those days and maybe even now, Gold Roger was the only man I've known that was unafraid of entering the Grand Line. Back then, the Grand Line was a mysterious place, boats that chose to venture there were never seen or heard from again. It was a sea of evil that people feared."

"Old man, get me more rum, the whole bottle!" Gold Roger ordered as he sat on the same stool Luffy was sitting on now. Back then the bar was full of activity and pirates, and the old man didn't look so old.

"So what are we celebrating?" asked the old man.

"Hahahaha," Gold Roger laughed as he drank from the rum bottle, "It's more of a farewell. I'm traveling to the Grand Line tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see what it holds in store!"

"You can't go there! That place is evil!" the old man protested.

"What's wrong with a little evil?" questioned Gold Roger. "Hahahaha! I'll just have to see it for myself! How about some more rum? A whole barrel!"

"After that, he drank the entire place dry," the old man continued to tell Luffy, "He set out the next morning just like he was going sight-seeing. Then, when I'd heard he'd conquered the Grand Line, I wasn't surprised. I was happy to hear that he was the one to survive those evil seas. On this day twenty-two years ago Gold Roger died on the execution platform and that's how it started. That's when it all began, the so-called Great Pirate Era where everyone with a boat claims to be a pirate. But look around this once great town, I'll bet you won't be able to find yourself a real pirate, nothing here but cowards and scum. Men brave enough to make the journey to the Grand Line have all disappeared these waters. There are no more true pirates left, that's why I'm closing down."

"I'm going to the Grand Line," Luffy stated as he sat on the stool swinging his feet, the old man stared in surprise. "Hell yeah! Gold Roger's exactly how a pirate's supposed to be, that's why I'm here, to go to the Grand Line and get my hands on the One Piece... and then... be King of the Pirates."

The old man stared at Luffy and for a second thought he was seeing Gold Roger sitting in the strange boy with a straw hat's place. "Those are some pretty big words," the old man commented once he'd gotten over his shock. "Even more so cause you're in this bar."

"I only said what I meant," Luffy replied, he wasn't one to lie or brag.

"Heeheeheh," the old man chuckled, "young man, if there are still people like you out there, should I hold off on closing this place?"

"I don't know, I could just be me," Luffy admitted.

"That's right, it could just be you," the old man agreed, "In that case, let's have a drink. I haven't been in this good a mood in some time." The old man got up and walked behind the bar where he went about getting a drink for himself and the strange boy that sounded eerily like Gold Roger.

"Um... I don't drink alcohol," said Luffy.

"Okay, then how about this?" the old man offered as he produced to glasses of cold milk. "Let's raise our glasses together, to the Eternal King of the Pirates." The old man took his hat off to reveal his balding forehead, his wrinkles, and his liver-spots before he raised his glass.

"Hahaha," Luffy laughed as he spun around on his stool and picked up his own glass, "Here's to the King of the Pirates!" KLINK!

-x-

Some time later, Luffy was gone and none-other-than Marine Captain Smoker came walking into the Gold Roger Bar. "Ughh... so it's you," the old man grumbled, who was still standing behind the counter with the two glasses on it. He didn't look all that happy to see the Marine Captain in his establishment.

"Now that's no way to treat a customer," Smoker retorted, "Especially your only one."

"Why don't you cut the crap!" the old man snapped, "you just want to see me close this place down!"

Smoker sat down on the stool next to the one Luffy had vacated, "You don't have the right to be angry with me," said Smoker. "I'm not the one who turned all the pirates around here into cowards. That was the decision they all made once they got to know me, that's all." It was then that Smoker noticed the TWO glasses on the counter, "Huh? Well isn't that nice so you had a guest. I think I'd like a taste of rum old man."

"I don't have any for you," the old man growled, apparently he reserved the right to refuse service to anyone.

"Don't be such a bastard," Smoker scolded, a cloud of smoke went over the bar and somehow grabbed a bottle of rum, the rum was lifted off of the shelf and placed on the counter in front of Smoker, Tunk! "Today is a very special day, don't ya think?" The old man glared over his shoulder as Smoker opened the rum bottle and drank from it.

"I can see it like it was yesterday," Smoker recalled when he put the rum bottle down, "The day he was executed."

-x-

"Finally, I found Main Street," Luffy realized as he walked through the street, still in search of the execution platform. The old man at the bar had given him very concise directions. "I wonder if Gold Roger ever walked down this street like me..." Little did Luffy know, twenty two years ago on that day, Gold Roger did walk the same path that Luffy was taking.

-x-

"It was hot, like today..." Smoker remembered running down the street on that day twenty-two years ago. He was only twelve then, but he was one of the many there to witness the execution of the King of the Pirates, "That had 'im shackled as they led him down Main Street towards the square and the execution platform. He walked through town like it was a victory parade. Wealth... fame... power... Gold Roger obtained this and everything else life had to offer. He was facing his final moment before death but he acted like it was his coronation."

-Smoker's Gold Roger Execution Flashback-

Smoker distinctly remembered pushing through the crowd and seeing Gold Roger walk passed, the man turned and flashed him a big smile as he continued on his way to the platform. Roger had a shaggy head of black hair and a mustache/beard that went from his sideburns, over his mouth, and stopped under his nose. We wore brown boots, gray pants, a blue sash and a green shirt. He had a padded white collar and wore a dark red captain's coat that was lined in gold.

On the day of his execution Roger's hands were in a pair of wooden handcuffs and he was led down the street by a four soldier escort while countless other soldiers lined the streets.

"Destiny... fate... dreams... As long as there are people who seek freedom in this life... these things shall not vanish from the earth." – Pirate King, Gold Roger

"Do you have any final words?" asked one of the two solders that were standing on the execution platform Roger had been led to.

"Would you mind taking these off?" Roger joked as he held up the wooden cuffs, "They're beginning to chafe me quite a bit. Please?"

"I can't do that!" the soldier refused.

"Where am I going to run?" questioned Roger, before he shrugged the matter off, "That's alright, I guess I'm on my own for this one. Gold Roger walked over to the edge of the platform and sat down cross-legged with his cuffed hands in his lap. "Alright, let's get this over with."

The two soldiers drew their ceremonial swords and crossed them in front of Roger.

"HEY PIRATE KING!" a random man in the crowd called out, "TELL US WHERE YOU'VE HIDDEN ALL YOUR TREASURE!"

"YOU THERE, SHUT UP!" one of the soldiers yelled.

"THE LEGENDARY TREASURE!" the man continued to yell, "THE OOONNNE PIIEEECEEE!"

"Hahaha... AHHH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gold Roger laughed loudly as he sat on the execution platform. "YOU WANT MY TREASURE?" Roger called out to all the gathered people.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" ordered one of the soldiers as the two of them pointed their swords at Roger's neck.

"YOU CAN HAVE IT!" Roger continued. "I LEFT EVERYTHING I'VE GATHERED IN ONE PLACE... NOW YOU JUST HAVE TO FIND IT!"

"EXECUTE HIM!" one of the soldiers called out in a panic, he and his partner stabbed Roger through the stomach with their swords. SHUNK! Thus ended the life of Gold Roger the King of the Pirates, but due to his words on the execution platform an entire generation of pirates had been inspired.

-End Flashback-

"That's how it all began," Smoker continued as he sat on the stool in the bar.

"Hey!" called out a new voice as another marine entered the bar. "Here's a new wanted poster, put it where people can see it." But then he noticed that his superior was seated at the bar, he dropped the flyer and saluted, "CAPTAIN SMOKER! My apologies sir!"

"Huh?" said Smoker as he got up and walked over to the poster that the marine had dropped. Smoker stared at it and saw the smiling face of Monkey D. Luffy,

"That's a straw hat," Smoker realized. "That kid was Monkey D. Luffy!" Smoker took off and ran straight for the execution platform, he knew where Luffy was going since the straw hat pirate had asked him for directions earlier. And unlike Luffy, he knew the fastest route from the bar to the town square.

-x-

"There it is," said Luffy, oblivious to the marine running his way, he'd finally found the execution platform and stood in the town square staring up at it. "This is where the executed the King of the Pirates."

Gulp! Luffy swallowed as he stared in awe at the spot where Gold Roger had died, "The place where the greatest pirate to ever life died... and the place where the Great Age of Pirates began..."

-x-

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!