"We are approaching Land," Usopp cried out from the next, looking at the land with his binoculars; it looked like a very normal town to him, a part of him not understanding how the Pirate King was executed in such a simple town, one would think a man like him would be executed in a more important town or city, he shrugged his shoulders before deciding to climb down.
Luffy smiled brightly, standing on the going merry figure, holding his hat with his right hand from flying away because of the wind blowing past him.
He had heard about the town, and he couldn't wait to see the platform where the pirate king had died; he wanted to see what he had seen in his last moments.
"So this is Logue Town; looks nothing special," Nojiko commented as Nami was approaching Luffy, who jumped from the figure right in front of his lover.
"What do you think?" Nami asked as Luffy snug his arm around her waist; Nami grabbed his hat and put it on her head; Luffy didn't mind; after all, only people he treasured had the right to hold the hat.
Giving her a quick kiss on the lips, "Looks good, but I'm more excited to see the platform," Luffy answered as the crew reached the ship's main deck.
As Going Merry reached the docks, the crew left the ship to admire the city before them; Nojiko had to admit that it looked beautiful from closer.
"Wow, what a big city!" Luffy shouted in amazement; in front of them was a wooden platform with the town's name written on it.
"So here is where the Age of Pirates started," Sanji said as he lightened up a cigarette. It was quite beautiful.
"Makes you wonder why he was executed here of all places?" Usopp wondered out loud, looking at the buildings. This town was clearly bigger than any other place he had been so far.
"The Pirate King was born in this town; that's why he was executed here," Luffy answered as he stood in front of his crew.
"Anyway, this will be a good place to refill our supplies; with the amount of food you eat, we will need a whole sea king," Sanji commented, smoking his cigarette; thankfully, they weren't short on money.
"I will go and see if they have several things I need; this town is bigger than any other town. I hope they have what I need," Usopp checked on the list he had made; it was quite a long list, including parts for a project he thought would be quite beneficial for the crew and going merry.
"I need to grab some medicine, including syringes, antibiotics, alcohol, bandages, the five types of scissors, trauma shears, bandage scissors, surgical scissors, mayo scissors, iris scissors, disposable gloves, and many other things," Nojiko stated, checking on her list. While she wasn't the best doctor, her village's constant injuries from Arlong forced her to study Medicine. Many people were beaten up and sometimes even maimed by Arlong's Crew; Nojiko had been forced to read how to heal wounds, it wasn't much, but that's all she could do.
Nami nodded at her sister, looking at her list over her shoulder; she wouldn't hesitate to give money to Nojiko, not mentioning it was for medicine.
"I will need to buy two new swords; my old ones broke," Zoro said, checking on his swords. Nami's eyes suddenly turned to berry when she heard that.
"I'll lend you the money, Zoro, at 300 percent interest," Nami said cheerfully; Zoro murmured 'witch' under his breath and was about to decline her offer when...
"No," Luffy simply stated, looking at Nami with a serious look, not the one he usually wore on his face.
Nami was about to protest, but Luffy continued.
"I don't want my crew not to have the weapon or equipment because we were a bit greedy," Luffy said.
"But Luffy," Nami cried crocodile tears!
"We're not short on cash, and we're on our way to the Grand Line. I don't want Zoro to be saddled with a terrible pair of swords or not give money to Usopp for his items. What happens if one of us gets sick and we can't do anything because we decided to save money," Luffy stated, looking at his crew; they all nodded with smiles, even Nami understood his point.
"All right, Luffy," Nami said with a fake grin as she wiped away her tears; her captain laughed at her cute face.
"Remember that we are wanted people now. Therefore the less time we spend here, the higher the chances of not causing trouble with the marines," Luffy said to his crew despite knowing the chances of actually sailing away without actually causing trouble were pretty slim if not zero.
"How much will you need, Zoro?" Luffy asked, looking at his crewmate, who pondered for a moment before answering.
"A good Sword will cost at least one hundred thousand berry," Zoro said, pointing at his swords; Luffy knew that was way too cheap for a good sword, he didn't know much about sword prices, but even he knew that was a bit cheap, one time he had asked Hawk-Eye how much his sword was worth.
"A Sword like mine is worth one billion berries to two billion berry,"
Looking at his only sword that wasn't torn apart from Mihawk.
"What about this one, this one survived Hawk-Eye's attack?" Luffy asked, pointing at his sword.
Zoro unsheathed his sword before looking at his captain. "A sword like this should be at least one million, if not two million," Zoro answered, sheathing his sword.
"Nami give him five million berries," Luffy ordered; the navigator pulled out the money before reaching out for Zoro to grab.
Zoro grabbed the money or tried immediately noticing that his Nakama wasn't letting go of them before eventually letting him get the money, with tears streaming down her face.
Nojiko watched with amusement; her sister always had a thing about money.
"Greedy witch," Zoro grumbled as he put the money in a pocket, walking away trying to find a store alone! Which probably wasn't the brightest of ideas?!!
"How much do you think you'll need, Usopp?" Luffy inquired, looking at Usopp now, who scratched his chin, trying to come up with a reasonable number, not wanting to be on Nami's bad side, especially now that she had a devil fruit.
"How about three hundred thousand Beri?" He said.
Nami gave the money, this time without much opposition, much to Usopp's relief, who left a sigh, immediately walking away.
"Sanji?" Luffy asked; the chief was looking up at the sky, murmuring different food names and different flavors.
"I'd think five thousand should be enough," Sanji said before walking away, but the crew left noticed he was walking towards a group of ladies instead of the market.
"What about you, Nojiko?" Luffy asked, turning at the doctor of the group.
Nojiko raised her hand, spreading out her fingers, as she started counting the things she needed in her mind.
"Fifty thousand berry should be enough, Captain," Nojiko said; Nami gave her the money.
"Meet me in the store after you're done," Nami said as Nojiko nodded and walked away, checking on different shops.
"I'm going to buy clothes, Luffy, perhaps even something special for you, Luffy," She said seductively, the last part on Luffy's ears, who grinned.
Walking away, she turned to her captain again, "Don't cause problems," She shouted as she walked away.
"Of course, Nami!" Luffy smiled broadly. Walking towards the town center, Luffy noticed the sign pointing at the execution platform, making it easier to find.
Sanji
After leaving the company of the beautiful ladies, much to his displeasure, he was looking around the market; he had to agree this was quite a good market, especially the different types of food, but mostly was different types of fish, they even were selling dark fish, which was known for his skin that presumably was good for healing.
Finally, stopping after reaching a merchant. "What type of fish is this?" Sanji asked with a surprised face, the giant fish with elephant-like characteristics. He'd never seen one before; he wondered how good it would taste.
"This here is an Elephant True Blue Fin!" The Fisherman said proudly. "It's a fish most frequently found in the South Blue, but on rare occasions, you may catch them in the East Blue as well! I just reeled this one in with my fishing pole this morning!"
"Wow, quite a good catch?" Sanji said, complimenting the Fisherman.
"Would you want me to slice up some of it for you, sir?" the Fisherman said, delighted to sell his finest catch.
"Don't worry about it; I'll purchase the entire thing!" Sanji said, and the Fisherman reciprocated with a smile.
"Thank you for your patronage, sir!" exclaimed the Fisherman as he swiftly wrapped the enormous, heavy fish in thick paper. Sanji laughed as he drew out the requisite Beri for the fish. He also bought dark fish in case it was needed later. After giving the money to the merchant, he grabbed the fish, resting it over his shoulder, the merchant asked if he needed help to carry it, but Sanji dismissed him with a shake of his head.
"Now, to bring this back to the Merry," Sanji murmured as he began walking. As he was walking towards the ship through the market.
"Hey, did you hear about what happened in North Blue, in the Germa Kingdom?!" One whispered to another.
Sanji's eyes widened slightly; the image of a mask on his face suddenly flashed through his eyes like lightning strikes. The cigarette from his mouth fell, his feet rushing forward, not wanting to hear whatever they were talking about.
"Why? What happened?" The other merchant asked, intrigued, But Sanji had already walked away, out of earshot, not wanting to hear more about it.
Three minutes later, he noticed Usopp and noted the enormous pack the Gunman was carrying, especially a few metal parts sticking out of his bag; as Usopp walked, the bag on his arms made a metallic sound.
"Yo, Usopp, help me out a little," Sanji said.
"What's that enormous fish?!" Usopp exclaimed as he turned to face his crewmate, his eyes goggled at the sight of the gigantic Elephant Tuna.
"I just purchased it; nice and fresh!" Sanji said as he hefted it in his hands. "Help me carry it."
"Yes, sure," Usopp agreed since it couldn't be that heavy! Right?
"Thank you," Sanji said; while they were carrying the fish, Sanji noticed a beautiful woman standing there, who winked at him; his eyes turned to hearts immediately.
"Such a Beauty," Sanji shouted, wanting to walk to the woman, Usopp facepalmed.
-Marine Base Loguetown-
"Sir, Captain Smoker!"
As he entered the room, an Ensign saluted his superior. There was a lot of smoke in the room. On the sofa in front of him, a white-haired guy was putting pebbles on the coffee table. The guy had already built an excellent tower of seven rocks.
"What exactly is it?"
As he placed the eighth rock on top of the stack, Smoker enquired. Hoping this marine wouldn't distract him from what he was doing.
"We've received reports that the 'Straw Hat' Pirates' Jolly Roger was observed docked earlier." The Ensign said, "What should we do?"
Smoker instead ignored trying to balance his rocks when they all fell down on the floor. "Don't throw me off and break my concentration." The white-haired man put on his coat, which was white with dark blue fur lining the hem, cuffs, and collar of the garment. Several cigars were also strapped to the left side of the jacket as if they were some kind of ammunition. The smoking man then grabbed an oversized Jitte and strapped it to his back.
The Ensign said, "Petty Officer Tashigi went to collect her sword from the weapons store she frequents."
As they proceeded through the base, Smoker said, "Still? How many hours does it take?" A tiny girl bumped against Smoker's leg as they exited the base and into the city streets.
Smoker looked down at the girl whose eyes were streaming tears, looking sadly at her ice cream.
"Captain Smoker?!" screamed the frightened father, "Please pardon my daughter, sir!" the tiny girl sniffled over the loss of her triple scoop ice cream cone.
"Sorry about that," Smoker apologized to the tiny girl, placing several Beri money in her small hands. "Go grab yourself a five scoop cone on me," the burly Marine said as he walked away with the Ensign.
The father nodded, while the small daughter smiled and waved enthusiastically at the receding Smoker, who just lifted his hand in a backward gesture and turned the corner.
Nami
"How's this?" Nami said as she pushed back the changing room curtain, revealing a dress that looked quite similar to a certain archipelago, who sneezed.
"It fits you well, Miss!" exclaimed the shopkeeper, and Nami nodded before shutting the curtain and putting on a new dress, then pulling it out again a few seconds later.
Nami, who was now dressed in a long crimson dress with a fur stole around her neck and a large slit up the side that ran all the way to her upper thigh to show off her legs, questioned, "And this?"
"How exquisite you look, Miss!" said the shopkeeper with a grin.
Nami hummed in delight before going through several more dresses; the shopkeeper kept complimenting her choice of dresses.
"So, would you be purchasing all of them, Miss?" inquired the shopkeeper, who was obviously shivering with excitement, his hair fashioned to seem like a coat hanger of all things.
"Nope, just this one!" Nami exclaimed as she set her selection on the counter next to the mountain of garments she'd tried on.
"Please come again," the shopkeeper said, his eyes welling up with crocodile tears.
Nami waved over her shoulder as she walked out of the boutique, but she was pleased with her outfit.
"Welcome!" said the female shopkeeper as Nami entered the store.
"The temperature and pressure suddenly altered. Is it going to rain? It definitely seems like it. I wonder how much longer I can shop?" Nami wondered out loud, deciding to find Nojiko.
Zoro
"Seems like that Monster ain't with you today!" yelled a loud male voice, drawing Zoro's attention across the street, where two enormous men faced down a young lady with swords drawn.
"It's because of you guys that our Boss was locked up!" said another loud male voice.
"If you two still haven't learned your lesson," the lady answered, "I'll happily be your opponent."
"You teach us a lesson in sword fighting; let's show her how a real Swordmen fights?" said one of them, grinning down at the girl who surprisingly didn't show a hint of fear on her face; she was almost smirking.
"Well, why not?"
"We will come for your Captain next," The two men screamed at the lady as they swung their swords at her.
Both large men were slashed across the torsos in an instant, and the young woman then proceeded to lose her footing and trip on the final step of her movement.
The people who had gathered to watch the show started laughing at how clunky she was.
'Well, this is a surprise,' Zoro said as he picked up the woman's glasses and handed them to the swordswoman.
"These are yours, right?" Zoro gave the lady her glasses.
"S-sorry for bothering you," the lady apologized as she grabbed his glasses from him. "T-thank you very much." When she glanced up, Zoro's body jolted. He was staring into the face of Kuina, who looked almost identical to his lost comrade!
"Kuina," Zoro murmured under his breath, but he remembered this one wasn't her; she was dead. Deciding to leave immediately, he stood up.
"Watch your footing next time, you were lucky, but the next time you might not be," Zoro told her as he was walking away, not looking at the lady who looked like Kuina.
The lady blushed slightly, listening to his advice; after standing up, she was about to say something, only now noticing that he was gone. Who was he?
Luffy
"This is where the Pirate King died," Luffy grumbled as he stared at the thing; he felt a chill down his spine. "This is also where the Age of Pirates began!" The captain of Straw Hat pirates said.
Zoro
"Who the hell was she, and why did she look like Kuina," Zoro breathed, recalling the swordswoman and deciding to just ignore it for now. The swordsman started asking people for directions to a sword shop, all of them pointing towards his right.
Zoro listened to them, and soon he reached the end, only to notice that he was at the docks on the other side of the island!!! What the Hell?? Lying scumbags, he thought with clenched teeth before turning around. Running around, trying to find a shop only to end up in the same exact place???
Later
After searching around without knowing where he was going, Zoro finally found a Shop?
"Welcome!" said the shopkeeper, a balding guy with black hair sticking out on both sides who rubbed his hands together and beamed a salesman's smile. "Please feel free to explore around as much as you like."
Zoro told the merchant, "I want to purchase several swords."
"Of course, sir!" the store owner exclaimed, "We've got antique swords, modern swords, and even esoteric swords! All at affordable rates and backed by a two-hundred-year sterling reputation!"
"Great..." Zoro sighed, knowing the shopper was boasting.
'Wait is that??!' the store owner said as he saw Zoro's sword on his hip. 'Is that? Could it be?'
He inquired, "Young guy, might I p-possibly see that sword you've got there?" The shopkeeper asked with an innocent grin on his face.
Zoro narrowed his eyes slightly before shrugging his shoulder; if he tried anything, he would cut him down.
"I suppose," Zoro shrugged as he slid Wado onto the counter.
'Calm down; this could be a tremendous chance! He may not even know what he has!' Thought the shopkeeper as he unsheathed the sword and examined it for a while.
"Hmm, a fine blade; the workmanship is noteworthy, to say the least," Ippon Matsu, the shopkeeper, said, smiling. "If you're interested in selling this sword, I would gladly buy it for 500K berry." The shopkeeper said while rubbing his hands in excitement.
"Wado Ichimonji belonged to my late friend, and I inherited it along with our shared dream," Zoro said coldly, and Ippon trembled reflexively. "I will never part with this sword."
"Yes, of course, sir!" Ippon nodded in understanding.
"Is That It!" exclaimed a female voice that resembled Kuina and smashed against the counter in her haste to be near to the legendary sword. "That's Wado Ichimonji! The Straight Road of Peace, It's amazing!"
'Why the fuck is she here?!' Zoro screamed in his head as he saw the lady for the second time so fast.
The swordswoman exclaimed, "Wado Ichimonji is one of the twenty-one Great Grade Swords!"
"It doesn't matter," Zoro said as he returned Wado to his hip and sheathed it. "This sword is more essential to me than its Grade or worth."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize," the swordswoman said, bowing slightly. "Wait, I remember you; we just met on the street a few minutes ago! Thank you for finding my glasses; my name is Tashigi."
"It's alright; I'm just trying to get some swords," Zoro said, careful not to reveal his identity. "I'd like two if possible."
"Of course, feel free to look at our collection of blades. The blunt old swords are in the barrels along one wall, the new swords are on the racks against the other wall, and the highest quality swords are on their own racks on the wall next to me," Ippon explained. "And you, woman, you're here to pick up your 'Shigure,' correct?" the shopkeeper asked.
Tashigi noticed that the swordsman was using three swords, which immediately reminded her of a certain bounty hunter.
"Hey, you use three Sword Style, right? You remind me of a bounty hunter," Tashigi said.
Zoro's posture didn't change from her words.
"A specific Bounty Hunter?" Zoro said as he was looking at a blade from the barrel with good swords, but he didn't try and look at her.
"Yes, Roronoa Zoro, do you know who he is?"
"I've heard that name a lot," Zoro said before deciding to leave the sword where it was.
"It seems all the most famous blades are in the hands of Pirates and Bounty Hunters these days. It's such a shame. Those swords must be crying while being used for evil." Tashigi shook her head.
"Everyone has their own circumstances; you can't brand everyone bad simply because they do something different than you," Zoro said as he stared at Tashigi.
"Pirates are bad, is as simple as that," Tashigi said.
"Oh really, you can't just use a paint to paint pirates with one color and the marines with another, I for one heard of an incident in Shells Town a brat used his wolf to terrorize people around the town, sometimes even allowing the wolf to bite some," Zoro said before stopping, allowing Tashigi to understand what he was saying.
"The Marines stopped him, right?"
"No, you see, he was the son of the town's captain. Therefore he thought he could do everything he wanted," he said, checking the swords.
Before Tashigi could say anything, "His father was even worse; he ordered his own men to kill a little girl, he ordered his men to kill themselves," Zoro finished with disgust at the end.
Tashigi stood silent at his words, and so did the shopkeeper, who actually was terrified. Eventually, the swordswomen found her voice.
"I'm sorry, maybe you're right, but still, I want to free all the legendary swords from evil hands," Tashigi spoke with passion in her voice.
"Does that imply you want to steal Wado Ichimonji from me?" Zoro said, his hand on the Ichimonji.
Tashigi lifted her hands in front of her to deflect the charge. "No, no, I don't want the swords for myself! I simply don't want them to be used for evil!"
"Hm?" Zoro's eyes darted to the sword he'd just touched; something about it seemed 'unique.' He drew the blade from the barrel and examined it, unsheathing it and inspecting the flame-like hamon design. This sword was different. It was unique.
"Oh, that sword! I've seen it in my book!" Tashigi shouted, pulling a large book from her back pocket and flipping through the pages. "I was correct! That's Sandai Kitetsu! It's a Grade sword, exactly like mine 'Shigure'!"
Ippon shook his head and said, "I can't sell that weapon!"
"But why not?" Tashigi said, plainly perplexed.
"It's cursed," Zoro said, raising the sword.
"So you're aware of it?" Ippon said, anxiously glancing at the blade.
"No...I can simply tell," Zoro said, focused on the blade in his hands.
"Well, you're correct!" Ippon nodded, perspiration beading on his brow. "The Kitetsu are all wonderful swords, but they've borne a curse from the beginning with the 'Shodai Kitetsu!' Many a renowned swordsman met their death after wielding one of the three Kitetsu! Nowadays, no swordsman would touch one of them!"
"I like it, so how much was it again? One hundred thousand, right?" Zoro grinned, his sword raised in the air.
Ippon yelled at the green-haired swordsman, "You idiot! I said I couldn't sell that sword! If you died, it'd be like I murdered you myself!"
"Let's put it to the test," Zoro said, grinning at the sword. "Which is stronger, my luck or this sword's curse?" he said, tossing the blade into the air and holding his arm straight out to his side. The 'Sandai Kitetsu' swirled down, aiming for Zoro's arm.
Ippon cautioned, "You idiot! You'll lose your arm! That sword's edge is unsurpassed!" Tashigi worriedly covered her lips with her hands while Zoro merely closed his eyes and waited.
The surprised and scared Ippon and Tashigi watched as the cursed blade whirled downwards, neatly circling Zoro's arm just as it seemed he would lose it. The two witnessed the Grade Sword pierce clean through the hardwood floor all the way to the hilt.
"I'll take it!" Zoro grinned maniacally as Tashigi and Ippon slumped in shock at what they'd just seen.
"Hang on! Just wait right there!" Ippon yelled from the back of his shop, emerging with a sword on its own stand. "This is Yubashiri, one of the fifty Skillful Grade swords. I can personally attest to its sharpness. My shop may be small, but this is the best sword you'll find in Loguetown. I guarantee it!"
Zoro took up the sword, noting its lightness, and unsheathed it to display a stunning blade, with a perfect wave on the hamon and a razor-sharp edge. He sheathed the sword with a smile.
Zoro inquired to Ippon, "How much?"
"Don't worry about the money," Ippon said as he walked away, "It's been a long time since I've seen a true swordsman. I'll pray for your good fortune."
Zoro didn't seem pleased. "I asked how much it costs; it is not honorable to not pay,"
The shopkeeper's eyes widened slightly; he was clearly stunned from his words before he broke from his stunned situation.
"Ohh, alright, that... it costs two million," He said after calculating the price. Zoro grinned, pulling out the money from his pocket and handing it to the shopkeeper, whose eyes couldn't believe it.
Zoro left the shop quietly; the shopkeeper put the money in the back.
When Ippon returned, he noticed Tashigi still standing there.
"You can go now, you know? We're closed for the rest of the day!" Ippon shooed Tashigi out of his business and turned the sign to 'Closed.'
Luffy
"Wow! So this is what the Pirate King saw when he died!" cried Luffy as he stood on top of the execution platform, gazing out over the busy square and seeing all the people, many of whom were staring and pointing at him with interest.
"Hey, you! Get down from there!"
"Why?" Luffy asked before letting out a laugh.
The officer shouted at him again, "Because that execution platform belongs to the World Government, so get off it!" He was then beaten over the skull with a big, spiked iron mace and left splayed out on the ground.
"Now, now, no need to be so tense, policeman," a woman in a cloak with stylized hearts said, her head topped with a white cowboy hat with a large, decorative plume feather on the left side. Civilians were alarmed to see a police officer brutalized so casually. "I've been looking for you, Luffy! It's been a long time!"
Luffy tilted his head to the side; he knew he wasn't the best at remembering faces, but he knew he had never seen this face; knowing he wouldn't be able to recognize her, he used Observation Haki.
"Are you sure you haven't forgotten my face?" the woman said.
"You've changed on the outside, but you're as rotten on the inside as you've always been, Alvida," Luffy said, looking down at the female pirate.
"You remember!" Alvida said, grinning. "I still remembered how you hit me," she said seductively while touching her face; the people who had gathered started yelling at Luffy for harming such a beautiful woman.
"You hit me Hard, and I loved that," she said, sending a wink towards Luffy, who wasn't seduced, the opposite, he looked bored.
"I want you to be mine Luffy,"
"No," Luffy responded swiftly, and every guy in the square frowned in disbelief. Some calling him stupid.
"Ooh, so callous and harsh!" Alvida laughed as she pulled off her cloak, exposing her new thin form in striped capris, a white bikini top, and a purple jacket. "After I ate the Sube Sube no Mi, my body changed! You undoubtedly noticed my freckles are gone," she said.
Luffy rolled his eyes, "Yeah...I realized a lot more than that was gone."
An explosion ripped through the square, smashing the neighboring fountain and sending a massive chunk of masonry flying towards Alvida. The enormous chunk of marble seemed to strike the lady, but the large fountain piece seemed to just slide off her and crash into a nearby building the next second.
"Well, don't you think it was a little dangerous?" Alvida questioned a group of veiled guys.
The lead guy said, "With your Devil Fruit, no assault can injure your skin, so don't worry."
"Luffy!" Alvida said, addressing the straw-hatted young guy. "If you're really suited to be my man, you won't lose against him. We paired up simply to find you!"
"I've dreamt solely of murdering you since the day I was blown away!" yelled the leader as he and his crew took off their cloaks and unveiled themselves to the enormous square. Dozens of residents screamed in despair as the Buggy Pirates drew out guns and leveled them at them.
Luffy expected someone more dangerous, but the moment his eyes saw who the leader was.
"Oh, it's just Buggy."
Buggy clenched his teeth in anger; the Straw Hat was pretending as if he was nothing compared to him.
Buggy shouted at Luffy with sharp fangs, "I see you're still the same cocky brat as before!"
Luffy didn't need his observation to avoid an attack from behind; his eyes saw that it was the circus swordman that Zoro defeated.
"How?" He shouted in anger, but Luffy was getting bored of this; he turned his arm dark before punching him in the head, cracking his skull, sending him flying down before smashing against the concrete, sending debris everywhere.
"Cabaji, you loser, how could you fail," Buggy screamed in anger towards his Nakama, who wasn't moving anymore.
"Such a strong man," Alvida said while licking her lips.
"You Straw Hat bastard! You will pay for this," Buggy threatened, only for him to stop dead on track; he felt sweat rolling down his face; Luffy's eyes were looking at him as if a monster was there instead.
"I spared you once because you used to be a friend of Shanks," this caused many who were inside the earshot to gasp; even Smoker was quite surprised by this piece of information.
"But instead of learning your lesson, you choose to shoot yourself in the foot and come here to face me?" Luffy said, the straw hat hiding his eyes; the captain raised his hand engulfed in lightning.
"But by coming here and deciding to execute me, you didn't shoot yourself; this is the equivalent of cutting your own head," Luffy stated darkly; Buggy felt completely frozen in place, he wanted to move, and yet his legs just weren't answering to him.
Why can't I move?? He screamed in his head, knowing this could be his end.
As Luffy prepared to strike him down, his attention was brought to his Nakama approaching the place.
-With Tashigi and Smoker-
Smoker was looking at the Straw Hat captain; he had to admit the kid could look menacing when he wanted. "So that's 'Straw Hat' Luffy, the guy with the greatest Bounty in all of East Blue?"
"We have the plaza ringed as directed, and we may go in at any moment."
"We thought to let the pirates deal with each other, but it seems Straw Hat Luffy is far stronger than them," Tashigi explained, not wanting to admit that she was quite intimidated by the captain.
"Wait for my signal, then go in," Smoker told the Soldier, "Don't try to fight the Straw Hat. I'll take care of Straw Hat personally."
"Yes, sir!" said the sailor, who walked away, telling the instructions to the other marines.
The Crew
Nami and Nojiko, who had several white bags in their arms, stared as they saw their Nakama, which had a huge bag on her back with all of her apparel purchases inside.
Usopp greeted them but still holding the fish in his hands. Sanji was looking down in despair before his eyes saw that Nami and Nojiko had returned.
"Nami-swan, Nojiko-Sawn!" said Sanji, delighted to see the orangette Navigator and the blue healer once again.
"Hello there," Zoro inquired, his crewmates seeing their swordsmen had three swords once again.
"We need to hurry to the ship," Nami said. "The air pressure has fallen significantly, almost too quickly, to be honest. These black clouds are merely the beginning of a massive storm!"
"That's not good!" Usopp cried, only to be interrupted by a rumbling of thunder. "Really not good!"
"Then we'll have to go back to the ship," Sanji agreed.
Zoro said, "Where is Luffy? Has anybody seen him?"
Nami said, "He stated he was going to view the execution platform, which is in the main square."
"Isn't the main plaza just over there?" Sanji said, pointing to a big mass of people. The crew dashed to the edge of the crowd and found Luffy standing on the execution platform, the Buggy Pirates all glaring him down and pointing their flintlocks at him.
"How come he's on the platform?" Usopp said, his eyes bulging.
Approaching closer, several Buggy pirates tried to stop them; Zoro pulled out his swords and started cutting them one by one, Sanji started kicking, Nami turned her arms gold, her arms grew and turned like wings with scales, before jumping up in the air sending a wave of wind causing many to fly away from the strength of the wind. Knowing she couldn't fly yet but only slowing the fall.
"LUFFY! We have to leave!" Nami shouted, knowing she was closer than the others. Luffy immediately noticed her golden form; he grinned before deciding to end this Party.
Smoker
Smoker's eyes widened at the girl's strength with her devil fruit. "Why wasn't I informed of this?" He screamed at his soldiers.
"We don't know, sir," the soldier defended himself immediately as he took several steps away from the angry captain.
Smoker knew it was trouble enough to deal with one devil fruit user but having two could be a pain in the ass; he thought of ways to deal with them when another marine ran screaming at his position.
The marine informed him that the rest of the Straw Hats had arrived while pointing in their direction.
"I'm not blind," Smoker shouted at him, annoyed, while Tashigi recognized someone amongst the crowd.
"Roronoa Zoro,"
Luffy
"Alright!" Luffy yelled back to Nami, taking a big breath before bellowing, "I'M THE MAN WHO WILL BE THE KING OF THE PIRATES!"
Luffy declared right where the previous Pirate King had died. Almost everyone couldn't believe their eyes.
"That grin..." the Marine Captain trailed off as his thoughts returned to 'that' day. The day he'd watched the Pirate King's execution. The man who had laughed at the face of death. The same smile that Luffy was wearing right now!
"Time to go!" Luffy grinned before sending a wave of Conqueror's Haki. Everyone ordinary around the plaza dropped down like rocks from the strength of his Haki. Buggy and his pirates, including Alvida, dropped to the ground, not moving.
Zoro smirked seeing the power of his captain; Sanji was impressed by the power despite not being the first time; Nojiko was quite surprised but still was able to handle the wave of Conqueror's Haki, Usopp was breathing heavily, but otherwise, everything else was Ok.
"To the Grand Line!" Luffy said, laughing.
Smoker
The captain Marine felt his head spinning like a rollercoaster before standing up and shouting. "What the fuck was that?"
Tashigi's head was trembling, desperately trying to catch her breath, and her knees wouldn't stop trembling as she blurted out, "I-I'm not sure."
"Sir, the majority of our f-forces are asleep!" said one of the few awake Marines.
"I'm going after the Straw Hat Pirates; Tashigi, wake them up," he ordered before chasing after the pirates; he had captured every pirate that had tried to go to the Grand Line, he would not fail this...
While he ran towards the Straw Hats, a black figure with red marks on the left side of his face suddenly grinned.
"It seems You have grown up... My son,"