Chapter Text
When I grow up I'm going to be just like him!
Sorry kid not happening.
I'm sorry Izuku!.....I wish things were different!
Your worthless Deku!
No I don't think you can be a hero without a quirk.
Snapping his eyes open Izuku panicked when he was meet with nothing but darkness, though hearing Luffy's loud snoring he remembered were he was and judging by the stiffness of his hands and leg's Izuku also guessed the both of them were still in the barrel.
"I wonder what time it is"? he said out loud
"What do you think your doing there-" the young teen went rigid at the sudden sound of a voice outside the barrel but unable to help himself Izuku pressed his ear closer to the wooden side.
"Its nothing-"
There were really people outside! Izuku's heart gave an excited jolt
"Where on a ship" he said unable to contain his joy Izuku tried his best to sit up because a certain snoring pirate was standing on his legs, though unfortunately unable. Searching through the darkness he grabbed onto the shoulders of the other teen in front of him.
"Luffy"! he whispered loudly "Luffy wake-up"!
The straw-hat wearing pirate yawned "Dadan" he said groggily "Go away"!
"What"? said Izuku, sweat dropping "No Luffy it's me Izuku. Look I think were on a ship full of people so I need you to help me open the barrel and we can explain to the people out-" before he could finish his sentence the older male abruptly stood up, moving so fast and strong he literally burst out of the top of the barrel sending wooden splinter's everywhere.
"I SLEPT SO GOOD"! cried out the happy
Still cramped inside the barrel and blinking in shock of the sudden light, Izuku distantly wondered if this feeling was similar too what a baby chick would have felt like. He was taken out of his thoughts though when he heard a trio of people screaming outside and a couple of moans following afterwards.
"Um,hey Luffy"! called Izuku concerned, unable to get up and look out from the small opening "What's going on"?!
After finishing yawning and stretching Izuku could hear the straw-hat wearing teen start to address the people outside the barrel.
"Who the hell are you guy's"?
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU"!!?? without much effort the junior-high student could tell that the people shouting where men.
"Hey, you know your friend could catch cold sleeping like that" Luffy continued off-handily.
"YOU'R THE ONE WHO KNOCKED HIM OUT"! and they sounded pretty angry. Noting the tense atmosphere above and not liking it, Izuku attempted to push his way out of the barrel.
"Ah! Izuku" ! whined Luffy, hanging onto the barrel to keep it from falling over "Quit moving"!
"Sorry Luffy" huffed Izuku managing to squeeze his head and most of his left arm out of the barrel "But I can't let you make a bad situation worse"!
Finally freeing the upper half of his body Izuku blinked bewilderedly at the new group standing before him. Three of the men, one of them laying unconscious to Izuku's horror, were dressed as stereotypical pirates with a rough shirts, bandanas, and even more scary were the curved swords strapped to their hips.
"Are these guy's cos-players or something"? the only normal looking person so far would be the pink-haired teen who looked about a year younger than himself stood cowering on the sidelines.
"Um Luffy"? asked Izuku nervously "Please tell me you didn't get these people angry" the last thing he wanted was for the people who had just brought them to the safety of their ship to up and toss them into the sea again, and judging by the look's the older men were giving them Izuku could guess they weren't two far from throwing them overboard. Especially ones with very real looking swords.
"It's not my fault" Luffy argued, pointing to the "I was just waking up, I didn't mean to punch that guy out"
"Luffy How Could You Do That"! he shouted panicked "You need to apologize right now"!
Finally processing the scene one of the men shouted "What the hell, another one"!
"Man what's wrong with his head"? commented the other, puzzled Izuku ran a hand over his sore head gawking when he looked back at it to see dried blood.
"Ah"! he yelped "How that happen"! then the teen realized that the blood must have come from when Luffy head-butted him accidently during their time in the barrel. Oh man! If he's bleeding does that mean his wound is serious?! Could he have a concussion? Though he was not in any pain its a fact that people with headtraumasometimesdon'tfeelittilllaterbutthenagain-
"Oi, quit yapping"! order the shorter causing the boy to immediately cover his mouth embarrassed.
"Yeah, are you two messing with us" joined in the taller skinner pirate "Don't you know were vicious pirates"
Izuku flinched back, scared that the cos-players would now choose at the moment to bring out their quirks but instead the pair drew their swords.
Their not using their quirks?
This confused the fan-boy, don't get him wrong he was glad they weren't going to shoot at him with laser-eyes or stab him with there spiked hands, but it confused him that they were using weapons not even the pink haired kid who looked pretty scared. Maybe the quirks the possessed were simply natural enchantments like better speed, hearing, or strength, still bad for them now
"Sir please, we really don't want any trouble" said Izuku, eyeing the sharp blade in front of them.
"Me and my...friend got stuck in that barrel after that whirlpool from earlier we were booth just looking for some help...um, right Luffy"?
Instead of trying to help smooth thing's over the straw-hat wearing teen, who appeared unconcerned about the weapons being pointed at him, looked over at the pink haired preteen and asked "I'm hungry, got any food"?
Hanging his head Izuku's face turned blue "Why did I expect help from him"? and just like that the furious pirates leaped up with swords poised.
"Hey, I'm talking to you"!
"You damn brat"!
Izuku flinched raising his arms, trying to futile shielded himself against the pirates blades. After a moment though, realizing it was taking a while for the swords to cut him in two the green-haired teen looked up only for his eyes to bug-out when he saw that the tips of the swords were snapped in two with the upper parts of the blades being embedded into the ceiling while the equally shocked pirates held the other half's in their hands, their knees shaking in fear along with the pink haired kid .
"What's with all of you guy's" ? Luffy questioned annoyed
"Who-Who are you " stuttered one of the pirates, looking ready to wet himself. Luffy smiled and crossed his hands over his chest "Me? I'm Luffy, Monkey D Luffy" then nodding over to the teen next to him "And this is Izuku"
"Oh? Ah"! Izuku mumbled off guard " Nice too meet you" he gave a awkward bow.
"Hi" Luffy added with a wave
It was only a second later that the two pirates quickly grabbed their unconscious friend and ran screaming out the door-way, the pink haired preteen was on his knees in shock.
"What just happened"? he asked quietly
"Ya got me" Luffy shrugged, finally finding his bearings Izuku immediately turned towards Luffy "Luffy, What was that"?! he yelled "You said you didn't have a quirk"!
"Man this again Izuku" sighed Luffy "I told you I don't know what that is, you really need to learn how to listen"
"Then how were you able to stop those guys from attacking us" stated Izuku "If you don't have a quirk, how can you do that? Quirkless people...quirkless people can't-"
Can't be strong.
Before anymore could be said the pink haired kid quickly cut in saying "You two need to leave! If those guys come back with their buddies, they'll kill the both of you on the spot"!
Izuku felt his blood run cold at those words "But why?! It was an accident, why would they need to go that far"?
"Don't be stupid, pirates don't need a reason to kill someone"! snapped the pink-haired kid as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, the green-haired teen brows furrowed at those words.
The way the boy was and how the other men were addressing themselves made it sound like pirates were villains. Of course they would be for attacking him but to dress up and call themselves pirates was a pretty unusual and outdated. So far since ending up in this ocean Izuku's found himself more and more confused with the odd behavior of the people he's encountered.
"Well I don't care about that" said Luffy "I'm hungry"
"But Luffy" argued Izuku "He's right, if those men come back we may not be as lucky as we were last time"
"Listen to your friend he's right"! the glasses wearing preteen said "There are hundreds of them waiting up on deck, just waiting for an excuse to kill something"! instead of listening though Luffy went towards the nearest door and out into the hall-way.
"Wait Luffy"! pleaded Izuku, trying to desperately trying to pull him back into the room
"Be Reasonable"!! the other boy had the same idea and tried to help in dragging the stubborn teen back, but Luffy was not only stubborn but amazingly strong.
Without paying attention to the two guy's literally hanging onto him he continued on, not even stopping when Izuku's head slammed against the door sending him and the other guy tumbling down.
"Ouch" said Izuku rubbing his head then realizing that the older teen was gone he began to panic "Oh, no! Where's Luffy"?!! racing down the hall he raced to find his straw-hat wearing travel partner with the pink haired preteen behind his heel's.
"Is your friend always this crazy"? he asked
"I haven't known him that long" Izuku confessed "But yeah, I would guess he tends to do stuff like this"
"By the way I'm Coby"
"Oh, um hi I'm Izuku-but wait you kind of already know that"
Finally turning down the right corridor they found Luffy inside a storage room stuffing his face in a barrel of apples.
"Oh, hey Izuku" he said, stuffing another apple in his mouth "Vant's shmus"?
"Please Luffy," Izuku tried to reason "We need to find somewhere to hide before those pira-oh.. thug's find us"!
"So were on a pirate ship"? Luffy asked, still indifferent from the dangerous situation. Staring around Izuku took in sight of the room, with all the action he went through he didn't pay much to his surrounding's, but now looking closer he could see how old fashioned every thing seemed too be. The green-haired teen never stepped on a ship before but he could guess that they didn't usually had all this wooden furnishings as this one did, especially in this day and age. Was this apart of the villains theme, dress up as pirates and live on an old-timey ship.
"Actually were on a passenger ship that's being raided by pirates" Coby corrected "Led by the pirate Captain Lady Alvida" this fact immediately alarmed Izuku "Was anyone hurt"? he asked
"W-well last time I checked the hostages were cooperating" started Coby "So they ought to be okay"
This is bad!
The green-haired teen bit his lip in anxiety, he and Luffy had literally escaped the jaws of death but instead of being rescued and safe the both of them landed in an even bigger, or something just as bad as the whirlpool.
"Coby" said Izuku "Have some hero's been alerted? Are there some on their way here now"?
"H-hero's"? the pink-haired teen gave the older a questionable look
"You know" said Izuku, confused by Coby's answer "the pro's"
Still unsure Coby uttered out "If you mean the Marines then no there not here, even if they did come though I doubt they could actually take on Alvida" the green-haired teen was confused that the rosette was referring to the hero's as an extinct military term , but concern for the hostages overtook every other thing in his mind.
"Th-then we need to do something" said Izuku almost hesitantly, really why did he say that? What could he possible do? He didn't even have a quirk for gods sake!
In a way Coby was probably thinking the same thing "Are you crazy, we can't fight those guy's! There's like hundreds of them"! running an anxious hand through his hair Izuku was trying to decide on a plan of action with what little they had "Maybe if..."? he muttered.
"Well... do you have a quirk that could help us out then Coby"?
"A what"?
Izuku could feel migraine coming on "Then does that mean your quirkless too"?
"Um, could you explain what that is"? but all Izuku could bring himself too do was hang his head, any idea of trying to help the other passengers going out the window.
" Yeah he doesn't make sense, does he" said Luffy who finally decided to cut in " Hey Coby, what I want to know is if this ship has any boats"
"Luffy, our and a lot of people's lives are in danger" Izuku sighed exasperated "All you can think about is a new ship"
"There should be a few" responded Coby
"Great cause mine got sucked into a whirl pool" Luffy added
Coby's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets "You mean that big one outside"! he cried "That's crazy! No one could have survived that"!
Izuku couldn't help but give a dry chuckle "Thank goodness we did though"
"Yeah"! It was a pretty big surprise"! laugh Luffy before adding "Oh, Coby? Are you one of the pirates or a passenger" Izuku stood their in silence, thinking that was another thing to consider. If
Coby was a passenger than it made sense too why he was terrified of the supposed villain pirate captain and the other men? But then again they had only meet this kid, he could just trying to pull a betrayal on them?
"Um, I guess you could say I'm nether" sighed Coby depressingly "It was on a faithful day, long ago I stepped onto a fishing boat near the port of town to catch some fish but when I got on it turned out to be a ship belonging to the pirates" Izuku shuddered at the younger teen's predicament.
"He must have the worst luck" he thought pityingly "Guess in a way he's just like me and Luffy"
"In exchange for sparing my life I'm forced to be their cabin boy" the pink-haired preteen finished, hanging his head in shame.
"Coby..." Izuku whispered out
"You're really stupid, you know that"? Luffy stated bluntly
The green haired teen gave a gasp "Luffy don't be so harsh"! meanwhile Coby just sank deeper into the floor "Geez, thanks for your honesty"
"If you hate it so much then why don't you leave"? asked the straw-hat wearing wannabe pirate.
"Come on Luffy, try and think of it from his perspective" Izuku said defensively "Even if he tries to leave the villains or whatever they call themselves could get angry and seriously hurt him or worse even"
"That's right" agreed Coby shaking his head back and forth "Are you kidding me I can't do that! No way ! Not a chance! Just the thought of Alvida finding out scares me so bad! I just want to throw-up thinking about it"! the kid was now a shaking mess now, feeling sorry for the rosette Izuku put a resurging hand on his back.
"Hey it's okay" he started "Thing's will get better, I'm sure some hero will-"
"So your a moron and a coward"! said Luffy giving a hearty laugh "I hate people like you"! at those words Coby soon began crying silently.
"Luffy please this isn't the time for that-"
"He's kind of like you Izuku" continued Luffy "Man you guys could be related, hahaha"!
Trying not to let the cloud of gloom hang over him to long Izuku tried to make Luffy realize the seriousness of the situation "Luffy I'm serious this isn't the time to be playing around! We need to focus on helping Coby and seeing if we could contact the her-
"He-he's right you know" cut in Coby stammering "If I had the courage, I could drift out to sea in a barrel like Luffy and you did"
Not really by choice, was what Izuku wanted to say but decided to let Coby finish "I actually have my own dream you-you know! Someday soon...I want to live out all of them" a sad smile graced the end of those words.
A dream?
Izuku could feel a sour taste forming in his mouth, the reason he was in this situation, got caught up in all this mess was because he had lost his dream.
"So what about you guy's"? asked Coby curiously "What made the two of you set sail on these seas" ?
Izuku couldn't help but scratch the back of his head "Well in away I'm kind of like you Coby, since I'm not out here intentionally ether" the young pink-haired teen looked surprised at that "But Luffy say's his dream is too-"
"I"M GOING TO BE KING OF THE PIRATES"! stated Luffy proudly
A thick silence filled the air as Coby opened his mouth wide with horror, bullets of sweat dropping from his face "Um, you okay Coby"? asked Izuku worriedly
"A King-" he managed to gasp out
"Yep" Luffy said simply
"Are you serious"
"Yeah"
"But-that means your a pirate"! Coby hissed in disbelief
"Right" Luffy answered
"Y-Your crew"
"I don't have anyone yet" said Luffy "But I'm looking for them"
Almost like the last straw the younger teen stood frozen like a statue, so still that he didn't even react to when the straw-hat wearing pirate waved in his face a few times. Hoping to reassure the frightened teen Izuku said " Listen. Luffy isn't a bad person Coby, I think he's just a little confused about his goal. Thinking he could become a pirate these day's, especially in this day and age were pirates are exti-"
"King of the Pirates...." Coby built up "is a title given to one who has obtained everything the world has to offer"!
"Wait, what"? thought Izuku confused
"Your talking about seeking out the greatest treasure of wealth, fame, and power! The treasure your looking for is the One Piece"!
"That's right" confirmed Luffy happily
"The One Piece"? Izuku thought questioningly, it seemed to be something of great importance by the way Coby was describing it.
"But every pirate all over the world is looking for that treasure"!
"Um, guy's" the pair turned towards the green haired teen "What are you guy's talking about? What's a One Piece"?
After a long silence both Coby and Luffy gave a surprised "EHHHH"! as if the person before them had just sprouted a new head.
"Man Izuku I knew you where weird but how dumb are you"? said Luffy "Everyone knows what the One Piece is"
"Not to be rude, but have you been living under a rock or something"?! exclaimed Coby "I've heard of Gold D. Roger and his treasure even before I was forced on this ship"
Izuku knew he was going to regret this but "Well at least won't you tell me who's Gold Roger"?
"ARE YOU SERIOUS"!
"Well, at least I know what a quirk is" he added quietly
"No, no, forget it. Luffy you..." said Coby who then began to shake his head around franticly as his voice rose too a shout "It's Impossible For Someone Like You Could Ever Reach The Top In This Great Age of Piracy! There Are Too Many Out There Who Are Meaner And Better And-"
But much like Izuku's own freak out in the barrel Luffy when up to the rosette and gave him a sharp hit on the head knocking him two his knee's.
"OW! Why you hit me"? moaned Coby holding his head
"Because I felt like it" Luffy responded simply
"Huh" sighed Izuku "Luffy" he probably should have seen this coming, Luffy may not swear a lot or bully others but he could recognize someone who was quick to resort to violence if his instincts told him too.
"Oh, well" said Coby who slowly got back to his feet "I used to it, really. My ship-mates hit me a lot. All the time actually".
Izuku couldn't help but give a deep gulp at Coby's sad words. In some way's he had experienced what Coby had been living with. Bullied, belittled, abused, and stuck in a position he had no power over. He didn't know how, but Izuku was determined to help the young preteen.
"It's not about if I could" said Luffy out of the blue, taking off his hat "I'm doing it cause I want to do it" Izuku realized he was talking about his dream of being Pirate King. It was so ridicules sounding, it was one thing to dress up like a pirate and commit crimes but to state your planning to be the king of all pirates was well... it was silly, crazy even. But then again he, a quirkless fan-boy, had ambitions to become a pro-hero and that was something just as far fetched.
"I decided a long time ago that I was going to be King of the Pirates" said Luffy determinedly "If I die fighting for it, then I die"
Izuku could feel a deep twist inside his gut "How"? he thought staring at the smiling face of the straw-hat wearing teen "How can he have such conviction for an unrealistic dream like that"? He slowly began to realize for Luffy he didn't care if his dream was impossible, he was going to do it no matter what even at the coast of his own life. In a strange way he really envied Luffy.
The rosette stayed silent for awhile "I guess I never thought of it like that" Coby said quietly, staring down at his clenched fist "If I put my mind to it...if I'm prepared to die for it....could I really do something like that"?
Giving him a curious look Luffy said "Like what"? Izuku also look towards Coby, wondering what his answer would be.
"Do you guy's think..." he started almost too scared too voice out his dream "Do you ever think I could join the marines"?
"Marines"? repeated Luffy
"Yes! Catching bad guy's is the only thing I've ever wanted to do"! Coby all but shouted "Do you think I can do it"! he looked so desperate, desperate for someone to believe in him and his dream. Did he look like that when he had voiced his goals to All-Might?
"Do you think I can do it"!? he says, eyes darting between he two, desperate for an answer.
"How should I know"? Luffy said almost immediately
Izuku took a little more time before, unsure how to answer "Well, Coby..."
What was he supposed to say? Shouldn't have Coby know that the marines were an out-dated almost nonexistent career since the age of quirks? Not the mention that fact that Coby also lacked a quirk, would he even be excepted into the military? His goals had so many obstacles that it was hard to believe that this scrawny kid wanted to fight criminals. It was clearly impossible for Coby to go through his dream and not get hurt, so what should he say?
If All-Might were here he would no doubt tell Coby the exact thing he told him back on the roof, he could almost understand the pressure that the pro-hero was in when Izuku opened up to him.
To say yes was too agree that someone like Coby should put himself in danger in situations he probably couldn't handle, but too say no would destroy a person's dream yet help in keeping them safe.
What All-Might said was a perfectly logical answer and probably the same one he should attempt to give Coby.
What All-Might said.
What All-Might said.
What should I say?
"Coby fighting criminals and villains is really dangerous" said Izuku in a low-voice "Are you willing to lay down your life to defend others and fight for what's right"?
The rosette was speechless for a moment but then with a determined look he raised his head up high and said "I know its dangerous and I could get killed for it! But it's my dream! It's what I want to do !" with these words Izuku couldn't help but feel a great sadness blossom in his chest. If someone like Coby could cling to his dream despite everything, why couldn't he have had such resolve?
"Th-then Coby" mumbled Izuku, but a smile growing on his face despite a flow of tears "I think- I think you can be a marine, that you can help people"
"You really think so"! exclaimed Coby happily, then pumping his fist he yelled "I'll do it then! I'm not gonna get stuck here as a cabin-boy for the rest of my life! I'll break-out and turn back around and catch Alvida myself"!
Izuku gave a soft chuckle "Hehe, go Coby"
Just then the ceiling exploded in shower of splinters, Izuku and Coby screamed trying to avoid the larger pieces of falling wooded.
"
Who are you planning on catching, Coby"? said a voice from out of the dust "And your really think these two twigs are going to help you? WELL ANSWER ME"!
As the air settled Izuku gawked at the sight of a extremely huge woman with black hair who glared at him. He was accustomed to people's odd looks due to their quirks but he's never seen a woman as big as her. It really wouldn't be fair too compare this woman too Mt. Lady.
"Who are you going to catch"?! she demanded once again, taking out a huge iron mace, Coby gripped the back of Izuku's shirt tighter while the green-haired teen began to shake just as badly.
"I um-ah" stuttered Izuku unsure what to say.
Too make things worse, at that moment sever swords came from out of the wall narrowly missing Luffy's head. Finally taking notice of the two new strangers, the woman smirked.
"Well my guesses are neither of you are Zoro the Pirate Hunter" she said
"Huh, the Pirate Hunter"? Izuku wondered who that was.
"Zoro"? said Luffy
Finally finding a bit of courage Izuku spoke up "Are-are you Lady Alvida"?
Glaring at the shaken boy, she said "Yes, what's it too you squirt"?! so this was the pirate captain he's been hearing about, the villain who took over the passenger ship and based on her appearance came up with the idea for a pirate themed group.
Then turning to Coby, Alvida barked "Coby, who is the most beautiful woman in all the sea's"?! Izuku tried to suppress a laugh "She wasn't serious was she"? but by the way Coby was trying to stuttering an answer he guessed that she was.
"Well-I um-give me a moment-I knew this-I ah-" but before he could answer Luffy at that moment felt the need to give his own question.
"Hey Coby, who's that fat lady" there was a stunned silence through out the room that even reached the gapping men who were peeking from up above.
"Oh, no"!
"Not good"!
Izuku could only pale at Luffy's bluntness "Hasn't any one ever told him too mind his manner's"?
Finally snapping out of it Alvida viciously raised her mace and swung it down at Luffy "YOU RUNT"!!!
"LUFFY"! shouted Izuku, despite all the trouble he had caused the green-haired teen still owed his life to Luffy and he didn't want to see him hurt.
Luckily missing him and only crushing the floor under him "Let's go"! he shouted excitedly grabbing both Izuku and Coby and jumping from the hole above.
"How can he jump so far"? thought Izuku when they landed on the deck above "He's quirkless, isn't he"?
Their safety was short lived when the shocked pirates began attacking them, but instead of panicking like Coby and Izuku were Luffy gave an excited smile.
Leaping and punching he attacked pirates this way and that.
"Missed me"! he called jumping away from a couple of pirates who tried to gang up on him with their swords leaving a few with their blades stuck to the ground
"He's amazing" said Izuku out-loud "He's taking on all these people, without a quirk or anything, he's like one of those street-fighting hero's back home"
Just then a pirate from up above jumped down trying to stab the straw-hat wearing teen.
"Watch out Luffy"! cried Izuku, happy to see Luffy easily dodge out of the way "You shouldn't attack from behind, you know" he stated grabbing the pirates head and sending him flying into another group while Coby and Izuku ducked out of the way.
"What's up with these guy's" thought Izuku "Why isn't anyone using their quirks"? even people with hidden quirks like body enchantment or some mental ability should be able to have the upper hand when fighting against Luffy. Is the straw-hat wearing teen just that strong? Or could it be that they were..... quirkless.
"A criminal gang of quirkless people, now I've seen it all" he thought gazing at the struggling men.
Once again an even bigger group of pirates began to chase Luffy "It's even more unfair to gang up on a guy"! he shouted.
As comical as this seen was, Izuku could understand how serious the situation was getting "Coby" he said "We need to help him"!
"Wait, Izuku"! shouted Coby grabbing his arm "You can't-I'm sure Luffy's got this"!
Trying to loosen the boy's hold by tugging he argued saying "They'll corner him soon, we need to help some how"! just then the rosette pointed behind his shoulder "Look"!
Just as it looked like Luffy was running out of Deck to run on he grabbed onto one of the ships smaller masts, and stretched, Yes! Literally stretched himself forward and ricocheted back into the freaked out pirates, smiling all the while.
"Gum-Gum-" he shouted "-Rocket"!
"He can stretch"! thought Izuku in wonder, as Coby stood opened mouthed behind. As Luffy walked closer to them, the younger pink-haired teen was the first to pop a quiet question "Luffy what are you"?
Many would have found that question rude, but Luffy just laughed and stretched his lip "I'm a Rubber-man" he said
"So you can stretch"? breathed Coby
"But Luffy" said Luffy "You told me you were quirkless, how is it you can even-" he didn't have time to finish his question before another voice cut in.
"So you've eaten of the devil fruits" at the sound of Alvida's voice the pair cowered at the towering figure of the pirate captain.
"Yeah" said Luffy simply "I ate the Gum-Gum one" Izuku couldn't find himself to ponder on what they were talking about as he gazed up a Alvida's cruel face.
"Well I've heard rumors they existed" she continued "But I've never seen any evidence before today, you seem more skilled than the common swash-buckler. Are you a bounty hunter"?
"I'm a pirate" he said
"Pirate" she huffed "All by yourself on this sea"
"It's just me! I'll get more tomorrow....or ah next week maybe? I need like 10 guy's"
"Ha, tell me then"? asked Alvida "If were both pirates under different flag's that makes us enemies, yes"?
Tugging at Luffy's arm, Coby desperately whispered "Guy's come on lets go,"
"But why"? asked Luffy
"Are you kidding me, you saw how powerful her club is, and of all the villainous cheats in all these water's she's the most-" he stopped in his sentence
"Well, Coby" growled Alvida "I'm the most what"? finally unable to stand it Izuku stepped out stretching his arm's.
"That's enough"! he shouted "Leave Coby alone, you aren't going to hurt him any more"!
"I-Izuku"? whispered Coby, peeking up at him.
"Oh, is that right" jeered the female pirate, he knew what he was doing was stupid, but he couldn't just sit back dammit!
Then Coby spoke-up "Alvida you are the most ugliest thing on the sea"! this statement from quiet scared Coby surprised everyone, except Luffy who laughed like it was all one big joke.
Tick marks began to grow along Alvida's forehead "What did you say"?! though it was obvious she heard.
"I'm leavening and I'm going to join the marines"! he continued, Izuku could see his past courage resurrected "Then I'm going to spend the rest of my life beating up dirty pirates like you"!
"Do you have any idea what your saying right now"? she growled
"Of course I do and I'm going to do what I want and no one's going to stop me! I'm going to find the marines and when I do I'm going to join them! And when I do I'm going to catch your lousy ass first"!!!
Izuku couldn't help but laugh then cry, ultimately doing an odd mix of crying and laughing.
"Man were all probably going to die for this" he thought meekly "But it feels so good to see some one stick it to her" With the look of an enraged bull Alvida raised her famous iron mace down at the pair who unconsciously clutched each other screaming "YOUR DEAD KIDS"! she yelled "NOW DIE"!
Izuku couldn't believe this was how he was going to die, after every thing he's been through from the suicide jump, the ocean, the whirlpool, and those earlier pirates he was going to die at the hands of an obese pirate with a beauty complex. At least some part of him was satisfied that at least he stood up for his frien-for the person he had grown close too in a short amount of time.
Feeling the swing of the heavy weapon, but no pain Izuku looked up too see Luffy standing before him "Well said you too"! he stated and took the blow from the mace. Izuku gasped thinking Luffy had gotten hurt or something his mind was quickly at ease though when he saw still standing and smiling.
"That won't work on me" he said, the straw-hat he was wearing covering most of his face "I"M RUBBER"!
And with one swipe of his hand he smacked the heavy iron club away, stretching his arm so far it looked like it hit the ocean's horizon.
"Gum-Gum-" he shouted "-Pistol"! brining his arm back he launched straight into Alvida's gut and sending her flying across the deck, the blow connected till she was forced off the ship sending her off in the distance till she was nothing more than a speck. Everyone from the fan-boy, the former cabin-boy, and the other pirates had their mouths wide and open unsure weather to believe such an impossible sight.
"
Hey, you"! yelled Luffy
"Y-yes"! they yelped, Izuku's face broke into a smile when he finally noticed that the grown men were standing on the most girlie ship he's ever laid eyes on.
"Go get a boat and give it to Coby," he ordered "He's leaving your ship too join the marines, nothing's stopping him" the pirates looked confused, but not wanting to go against the one who defeated their boss they rushed right ahead to comply.
The shock on Coby face left replaced with a look of gratitude "Thanks Luffy"~ Izuku smiled happy to see Coby smiling.
All that could ruin such a touching moment would be an assault of cannon ball's being launched at the ship the three were standing on.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Which did happen.
"What's going on"! said Izuku panicked "Who's firing at us"?
"Its the Marines" exclaimed Coby, from sea Izuku spotted three large wooden ships who were painted green and held white sails with blue symbols that reminded Izuku of birds.
"Are you sure"? asked the green-haired teen, from what he seen on television or in old movies occasionally those ship's out there looked nothing like the metal war-ships he expected. And where were the hero's, their should have been one or two hero to evaluate the danger from what he remembered from Marine Hero ethics he read up on.
"Yes it's them without a doubt" said Copy shrilly.
"Oh, perfect timing, head over there nd tell them you want to join" Luffy said too Coby, then grabbing the rail he continued saying "But I'm a pirate so I'm out of here" and just like that he jumped over board.
"No wait! You can't be serious"! cried Coby, climbing the rail to join the straw hatted.
"Coby, stop"! cried Izuku, trying to keep the boy on deck but he started thrashing "Isn't this what you wanted"!?
"Not like this"! shrieked the rosette, struggling even harder "If I approach them like this, they'll capture me like a common pirate"!
Izuku was shocked by this "Then tell them you were kept prisoner,"! he argued "Don't just jump-" but weather it was a mist step or a crack in the wooden deck the two found themselves falling over the rail into the emergency boat that Luffy had gone into. Even more unfortunately with the sudden wait of the three teens the boat slipped out of its harnessing and into the water below.
"AHHH"! screamed Izuku and Coby holding onto the side of the boat.
"YYYEEEHHAAA"! hooted Luffy excitedly.
Unconsciously Izuku thought he heard the shrill cry of a girl, but the sound of more cannon fire drowned it out.
"Wow, I can't believe we managed too get away" Coby sighed relieved
"Hahaha! What fun!" laughed Luffy
Out at sea once again, Izuku couldn't help but feel a little disappointed he wasn't any closer too finding away home but he was pretty happy to have helped Coby and even stop the leader of those villains, even if Luffy was the one who did most of fighting.
"So Luffy" started Coby "If your searching for the elusive One Piece-" Izuku frowned at that word again, he was still unsure what that was but decided not to ask in order to appear not to much like a freak decided not to ask so soon.
"-then you have to be headed to the Grand-Line, right"?
Grand-Line.
Another vocabulary term he had to learn, really what country has he landed near that uses words like that. Maybe something similar to his if they all were speaking the same language.
"You know the people I've talked too call that place the Pirates Grave-Yard" continued Coby
"Right" Luffy agreed "That's why I need an extra strong crew"
Another thing that sort of bugged Izuku was the continued use of the word pirate. It's what Luffy and the villains referred to themselves as, but they weren't being literal were they?
"Hey, you guy's mentioned a Pirate Hunter" said Luffy "So what's he like"? Izuku shuffled closer interested as well.
"Oh, you mean Zoro"? asked Coby "Last I heard he was being held prisoner on some marine base"
"Oh a weakling huh" said Luffy disappointedly
"No, not at all" said Coby franticly rushing up to Luffy "Your so wrong! He's as violent as a demon! And three times as terrible"! then a thought just occurred to the young preteen "Why are you asking about him"?
At that Luffy gave a wide capital D shaped smile "I figure if he's good enough I'd ask him to join my crew"
Izuku and Coby both gaped at Luffy, shocked that he would even consider joining up with such a dangerous sounding man.
"A-are you sure Luffy"? said Izuku, shivering at the memory of Coby earlier words. He really didn't want to meet this so called Demon.
"Chasing him down is just plain crazy" moaned Coby
"You don't know" countered Luffy childishly "He might actually join"
"He's a bad enough guy that the marines got him"! said Coby
"Please, Luffy" pleaded Izuku "We shouldn't go looking for trouble"!
"No way, not a chance, forget it" the wannabe-marine said freaking out "No-ow"! he cried when Luffy hit him.
"Why'd you hit me"? Coby asked
"Cause I felt like it" he huffed
Sighing Izuku curled up on the bottom of the boat to rest, praying for a peaceful journey home, but doubting he get it. I he could have any thing right now he would like to be back in his room, with all his goo old journals and hero memorabilia, and sleep on his bed for maybe a month or too.
If only he could have known how much more time it would take for him to even step back into his home-apartment.