Some time later, Ame eventually woke up, still on the Deck after training till he failed last night. Luffy was just fishing near him, but Ame couldn't see any fishes on the deck, indicating that Luffy hasn't had any luck with fishing.
Luffy noticed that Ame has already woke ul and immediatelt stood back up and celebrated, "Yay! You're awake Ame! Here, take this fishing rod and fish for us!" said Luffy. He handed down the Fishing rod to Ame who helplessly sighed upon Luffy's antics.
"Hey Ame, I noticed something off about the ship lately... The cabin looked bigger all of a sudden, any idea what happened?" Luffy asked Ame out of curiousity. Ame on the other hand was sweating profusely, he had no idea how to explain this to luffy however, he remembered something all of a sudden that might get him out of this pinch. Devil fruits. He doesn't know whether devil fruits can really do instant ship make overs but that's the only way he can explain to Luffy.
"Oh that...? Yeah, that's my devil fruit! Bōto Bōto no Mi! The ability to change and modify any ships! Hahaha..." That was bullshit, Ame knows it himself, like what the hell even is a Bōto Bōto no Mi? Was that supposed to sound like Boat? Ame was currently fighting back the urge to recoil himself to the ocean after such a embarassing name.
"WOAH! A BOAT DEVIL FRUIT?! THAT SO COOL AND AWESOME! SO DOES THAT MEAN YOU CAN ALSO FLOAT IN THE OCEAN?! " Luffy's eye seemed to be shining so brightly that it blinded Ame with guilt. He could only nod in agreement as he demonstrated his "Powers" By diving unto the ocean and coming back up which amazed Luffy even more.
Soon after, the "Power" Demonstration ended and everything returned to normal. Luffy was reading the book "Noland the liar" On the cabin while Ame resumed his spartan training with his skills, effectively enhancing his strength and endurance with such spartan training.
Some time passed and all of a sudden, Luffy came out of the Cabin and called Ame. "Ame, Your "Plank" is making weird sounds, you might wanna check it in case there might be something wrong!"
Ame immediately dropped his training and quickly ran over to the "Plank" to check it. Inside, Ame grabbed the plank to read what it said.
[ First off, call it this a Screen! It's much better than being called a Plank! ]
[ Quest alert: Save the oppressed boy ]
Description: Sometimes there are some bad pirates that are damaging the reputation of the great Sailors of the world by bullying the weak. It is our job as true Sailors to save the oppressed from the wicked, save the boy from the bad pirates.
Rewards: 1x Complete clay kitchen set, 1x Luck of the Sea Fate, 25 SP, and a Random [Green Skill].
Tip: Your friend can probably beat them but who knows? You might be able to help with something else.
[ ]
Ame quickly called Luffy upon reading the Quest from the screen. "Luffy! Do you see a ship around us?!"
Luffy who was outside the Cabin squinted his eyes so he can see better around the ship, his eyes eventually met a silhouette of a ship on the West. "Yes! It looks like a pirate ship? Do you wanna beat them up?" Luffy excitedly asked Ame.
Ame grabbed his staff and simply said, "Someone needs saving there, it's our turn to help. Isn't that what you said?" Ame smiled. To which Luffy just said, "That's right"
Luffy hands stretched out to the direction of the bad pirates' ship and grabbed Ame along with him. "You ready Ame?! Brace yourself, we are going to be flying for a while!" The moment Luffy jumped from the deck was the moment they launched into the air, quickly headed towards the pirate ship. Ame looked at the speed of their flight and the distance of the ship and thought, "I think we are going to crash the ship instead of landing on it... "
To Ame's surprise, when they flew close enough to the pirate ship, Luffy actuslly managed to slow down their speed and eventually gently landing on the back of the ship.
Ame quickly said, "Nice job Luffy! Now the plan here is-" Before he could finish his statement, Luffy already launched himself towards the nearest pirate around them.
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{Enemy ship}
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"ENEMY ATTACK! CALL ALVIDA-SAMA! A STRAW HAT BOY IS ATTACKING US!" Yelled a pirate with a schimitar as a weapon to the nearest pirate on the Cabin, before he could come inside the Cabin though, he was sent to the ground by another person with a staff.
"Crap! There's another one? are they an enemy pirate crew? Everyone, ATTACK!" Said another pirate wielding a flail.
"GOMU GOMU NO, JET PISTOL!" Luffy stretched his arm way back behind him and immediately launched it towards the pirate in front of him who collided with another pirate behind, knocking them unconscious immediately.
3 pirates immediately surrounded Luffy, one of them slash towards luffy's chest but missed by an inch, another one thrusted their sword but Luffy evaded him hy swiftly dodging to the and sending a counter attack by elbowing the pirate on his head. Luffy immediately threw a straight punch to the face of the pirate who tried to slash him, the last pirate who witnessed how easily his comrades were defeated by Luffy was consumed with horror and tried to run away from luffy but ended up being hurled into the sea by Luffy's [ Pistol ].
Ame however was having quite a tough time with 2 pirates attacking him consecutively. The pirate on the left swung his flail towards Ame's waist, Ame managed to dodge the Flail attack but was hit by the other pirate's slash on his shoulder.
"Crap, I can't use Side-step consecutively to dodge their attack since I'm obviously still human and I have to regain my foothold for a moment before using it again. These pirates however, are very coordinated with their attacks which immediately puts me in a disadvantage." Ame managed to dodge the sword slash this time but he was hit by the flail's swing on his waist which sent him tumbling down the deck. "Now there's the space that I needed... " Ame said.
Ame stood up from the floor, moved his left foot forward and the other behind, forming a thrusting stance. He held his staff forward, pointing towards the enemies creating space between him and the pirates. The pirates laughed at Ame, mocking how futile his actions were but the Pirate with the flail was immediately shut up when his friend was sent groveling on the ground, holding his chest as he struggled to breathe due to the pain on his chest.
"Laugh when you guaranteed that you have won, otherwise shut up." The Pirate who let his guard down for a moment because of his comrade's situation was met with the same fate as his friend. Ame's thrust striked straight and true on their solar plexus, ending their fight.
"HAHAHA! THAT WAS COOL AME! WE SHOULD TRAIN TOGETHER SOMETIMES TOO!" To which Ame simply shook his head in response to Luffy's offer, he wasn't ready to be beaten black and white by Luffy after all.
With all the pirates defeated, Ame thought that it was finished but he realized something... Where's the boy that needed saving?!
Upon his realization, the door from the Cabin slowly opened. A huge woman in terms of both width and height came out of the Captain's Cabin, holding a large metal club with spike in tow. The woman observed the unconscious bodies of her crewmates and some even floated on the ocean, the scene made several veins pop out the woman's forehead indicating her anger.
"Who... WHO THE HELL DID THIS TO MY CREW?!! WHO DID THIS TO THE CREW OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN THE SEA, ALVIDA-SAMA?!" Alvida shouted in loudly, her shout even echoed around the sea for a while before settling down.
Ame couldn't help but accidentally let out a snort and Luffy whispered to him, "Maybe in the eyes of Sea beasts and kings she is..."
"WHO WAS THAT?! I HEARD A SNORT, WHO DARES TO LAUGH AT THE GREAT ALVIDA-SAMA?!" Alvida looked down on the deck of her ship and found Ame and Luffy looking at her while whispering, and Alvida immediately assumed that they were mocking her.
Ame quickly felt a bit guilty for laugh and immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, it just came out all of a sudden." to which Luffy responded, "Hey don't be sorry Ame, she is indeed funny looking."
Alvida heard what Ame and Luffy said, he was angered, to the point that even steam came out of here nose and forehead. Due to her anger, she swung down her club towards Luffy and Ame crushing parts of her ship in the process. Ame managed to barely dodge it complete but the force of the impact sent him tumbling down the deck again.
The person who got hit by the attack however, was Luffy. Ame quickly got scared that Luffy was hurt or even worse, gone! But to everyond's surprise, Luffy came out of the debris cluster almost unscathed with only a few blisters on his body.
Luffy put his Strawhat back on his head, smiling and said, "Is that all you got?! I thought you were pretty strong from how your crewmates praised you but from the looks of it... " Luffy jumped from his position to on top of Alvida, "You're not a big deal after all!" Luffy stretched his right hand once again, but this time he spun his left hand along. Using the spinning momentum of his left hand, his right hand's punch exuded even more strength and power as it was stretched into its utmost limits, dragging Alvida with it before retracting back to Luffy and leaving Alvida falling into the sea.
Ame couldn't help but be amazed about Luffy's display of power, he never knew that his friend was actually this powerful, capable of beating even stronger foes. From this moment, Ame swore to become even stronger because he knew that one of these days, he might have to fight strong people like that too, to protect his friends, his family, and other people too.
Amidst his thoughts, he remembered that there was supposed to be a guy in need of saving here. "Where's boy?!" He thought, quickly going inside the Captain's Cabin, leaving Luffy picking back up the unconscious pirates and putting them back up on their ship's deck.
Ame searched the Captain's cabin, he saw a spare map which he just grabbed it without looking at it and thought he would just apologize later for borrowing it.
He rushed towards the storage cabin since he couldn't find the boy on the Captain's cabin and there he found a pink haired young boy hiding behind one the barrels.
"Hey there, you're fine now! We beat that Alvida and his crew, you're safe now!" Ame reached out his hand to assist the boy in standing up.
"Y-you're here to save me? Are you really telling the truth?!" The boy seemed horrified and anxious about Ame's statement.
Ame just gently smiled and said, "Well, see for yourself. " He guided the boy out of the storage cabin towards the deck,where the unconscious bodies of Alvida and her crew sat. The boy who saw this, cried. "Finally... Someone beat up those horrible people, finally... I'm free!"
Luffy just smiled at the boy, and Ame just asked, "Yeah, you are kid. What do you wanna do now?" Luffy interjected by saying, "Do you wanna join our crew?"
Hearing what Luffy said, the boy was shocked and was frightened again, "You guys, are pirates?"
Ame answered, "Yes! We sail the seas, explore the mysteries of the world, make friends, find treasures, and help the persecuted! At least that's what Luffy said when I asked what being a pirate was about!"
Hearing Ame's explanation, the boy couldn't believe his ears, pirates from what he's heard and experienced are cruel and hateful people. Yet these guys are different, they were... "You guys are... Good pirates... "
Luffy then replied, "Hehehe, thank you friend!" With Ame just nodding.
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{Back to Ame}
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"Luffy! Let's return to the boat!" Ame told Luffy. Luffy nodded while they walked behind the boat, Luffy's arms stretched towards their boat but before they could take off, the boy said, "Wait, Take me with you!"
Ame looked at the boy in confusion, "Don't you want to off somewhere too?"
"Yes I do but you see, I don't have a boat so I want to ask you guys to take me with you." The boy felt embarassed.
Ame and Luffy agreed to the boy's request and asked the boy to hold unto Luffy so they can go back to their boat. Luffy launched towards the ship at an incredible speed until they eventually slowed down but to Ame's misfortune, he fell straight into the ship's deck.
"Ow... How did I even manage to fall from that?" Luffy and the boy landed safely despite the entire ordeal.
"Oh yeah, What's your name?" Luffy asked the boy.
"Koby! My name is Koby!" Answered Koby.
"I see, What's your dream Koby?" Luffy asked.
Upon being asked that question, Koby finally remembered the reason he was even at the sea this entire team, before he was even caught by Alvida and her crew, he wanted to become something and that something drove him to the sea.
"I want to be a marine!" Koby answered.
"Oh I see! A Marine eh? That's pretty cool Koby, but why were you stuck on that fat lady's ship?" He asked.
Recalling the time when he first when to the sea and immediately, unfortunately, came across Alvida's crew early on. "Well, I originally sailed in the sea to join the marines, I was trying to go to Shell Island since I hear there was a marine base there and sign up." Koby paused, recalling the horrible events that came soon after. "I was caught by Alvida just 1 day after sailing."
Luffy laughed out loud at Koby's fortune, "Hahahaha! You're pretty unlucky Koby!"
Koby snapped, he didn't like others laughing at his misfortune when they never knew what he felt or what it felt like being in his position, "SHUT UP! You're in no position to laugh at me like that! A pirate could never understand how it feels like to be looked down on, abused, reduced to an object, you never felt any of that!"
"Then why didn't you fight?" Luffy's question hit Koby's sore spot, he was powerless against Alvida, "If only I could then I would've fought! Who would like to be a manservant of those people?!"
"That's not a reason, that's an excuse Koby." Luffy looked serious for the first time, "If you hated your situation, why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you try to change your fate? Instead of making excuses, how about trying for once?"
Luffy paused for a bit, then continued, "Have you ever tried to fight before, Koby?"
Koby replied, "N-no? Like I said I don't know-"
"How did you know you can't fight? Fighting doesn't just mean being able to hurt people. Being able to run to escape your fate is also fighting, being able to even just raise your hands against the persecutor is fighting, making up your mind to change something about yourself, or your surrounding is you fighting! Fighting means having the courage and will to defend, protect and change your course in life to what you believe is right. Even if it sometimes it ends in naught, what's important was that u had the strength to decide to try and break apart the current path laid in front of you and choose anew." Luffy looked at Koby showing a wide smile on his face.
"Now tell me, didn't you want to be a marine Koby? What do you want to do now?" Luffy asked.
Koby simply answered, "I still want to be a marine."
Luffy laughed and stood up the deck and went in front of the ship, "Then let's head to Shell town, let's make you a marine Koby!"
"Wait, d-don't you guys also have your own place to go? I don't want to cause too much trouble-" However Luffy interjected.
"Don't sweat it Koby! Ame wants to explore the world of the land and seas, and I want to become the King of the Pirates! It's just another step to our dream." Luffy went back inside the Cabin and in just a couple of seconds, his loud snoring could be heard from the main deck.
"Like he said Koby, since we're willing to help then don't worry about it, what you have to worry about is how you can pass the Marine recruitment test! If there's even something like that." Ame pat Koby's shoulder and returned to fishing.
Koby felt a tear run down his cheek, "Thank you guys. " to which Ame just waved his hands.
Kobe was about to manipulate the S.S. Ame R. Ica's mast towards the direction of shell town when he heard Luffy yell, "KOBY! CAN YOU COOK? IM HUNGRY! WE HAVE A CLAY STOVE THAT SOMEHOW APPEARED SO NOW WE CAN USE IT TO COOK!" Koby just smiled and thought that it's much more enjoyable being in the presence of these guys somehow. "SURE LUFFY!"
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{Chapter 3 - Fin}