Disclaimer: I am not in possession of One Piece or anything or anyone used in this story.

Chapter 1: The Legend Comes to Life

It was a fine, lively day out in the East Blue. Monkey D. Luffy had become the king of pirates and he and Zoro were more than eager to celebrate. Luffy was just on his way to return home and see his friends and family again. As for Nami, Chopper, Robin, Usopp and Sanji, well, they all had business and decided not to stay with Luffy. Nami had gone back to her family, Usopp had sailed back to Carrot Village to tell of all his journeys and Sanji was now the head chef of the ocean-going restaurant, Baratie. Chopper had gone off to travel the world and become a traveling doctor, helping people wherever he went. As for Robin, well, she became an official architect, so she had no time to be a pirate. All that was left was Zoro, Luffy's first mate. The two of them were returning to Luffy's home, and Zoro just happened to be the only one who wanted to stay with Luffy. The two of them neared Luffy's hometown and soon came to a stop. "We're here! Man, it's SO good to be back home! I just can't believe it!" Zoro cocked an eyebrow and asked, "What should we do with One Piece?" Luffy turned around, let out a huge grin, and answered, "We'll keep it in my new mansion!" Zoro raised his eyebrow and stated, "Mansion? What Mansion? YOU don't have a mansion!" Luffy pointed to his treasure chest and responded, "You forgot! We're both rich, now!"

Meanwhile, on another side of the world, in the distant, far off Mushroom Kingdom, a turtle with wings and pilot goggles flew to a small house. This house was none other than the home of the world famous Mario Brothers, Mario and Luigi. "Mail call!" shouted the parakarrier as he flew off to sort out other duties and deliver more mail. Luigi, the youngest yet tallest of the two Marios, waltzed out the door and lifted an envelope from the mailbox. "Hey, Mario, we have mail!" he stated as he entered the house. Mario, the oldest yet shortest Mario Brother entered the room. Luigi opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. "Oh, it's from Princess Peach. If you don't mind, I'll read it to you." Mario nodded and Luigi read. After reading the letter, the two noticed mention of a map inside of the envelope, and sure enough, there it was. "Well, what do you know? Peach was telling the truth. There's a weathered old map in here. It looks like a treasure map. Well, it seems that Peach wants you to help her find this treasure. I'll call a boat that you can take there."

Luffy was getting reacquainted with his friends and family and they were all congratulating him on finding One Piece and becoming the king of pirates. Meanwhile, everyone stared in awe at Zoro and started asking for his autograph. Meanwhile, three strange creatures were sneaking around the corner. These creatures were very short, but menacing at the same time. They wore little outfits with X's in the middle, along with glasses. One of these little round creatures took out a small walkie-talkie, and turned it on. "The target is sighted. We're going to try and get the treasure now, on account of the fact that it's unguarded." "Good job!" came a harsh, sinister, ugly voice. "That treasure is essential to our master plan! Well, stop talking and start doing something!" The little creature nodded and responded, "Over and out, dude- I mean, sir!" The creature put away his walkie-talkie and snuck into Luffy's room. He had a hold of it. Everything was going perfectly, until a certain someone wandered into Luffy's room and noticed this annoying little pest stealing the One Piece. "What the hell are you supposed to be little fella'?" The creature looked up to see Zoro and shook with intense fear. "Oh, crud." He muttered as Zoro examined him closely. "Hey! Put down that chest!" announced Zoro, raising his three swords and lowering one of them to the little creature's head. "Hey, dude, let's take it easy and… say, look behind you. Is that an all you can drink special at the tavern?" Zoro turned his head with hope in his eyes, but to his horror, there was nothing there. He turned back to notice that the chest was still there, but the glowing star made entirely out of crystal was missing. Zoro noticed the little creature running off with it and raised his swords. That crystal was Luffy's favorite addition to the treasure, and Zoro wasn't willing to let this little piece of crap run off with Luffy's pride and joy, next to his straw hat, of course. Zoro ran after the creature, swords raised and a burning fire in his eyes. He soon lost sight of the creature as it disappeared into the distance. Zoro's next ambition was to find Luffy, and find Luffy he did. "Luffy! Some strange little creature stole that star that you like!" Luffy gave him a stern look and retorted, "What star?" Zoro couldn't believe his captain's stupidity, but didn't hesitate to finish, "The crystal star that came with One Piece!" Luffy immediately got to his feet and ran after the little round creature that had just turned a corner that happened to be in Luffy's view. He stretched out his arm and tried to grab onto the little mutant, but failed to reach him. Suddenly, a strange, green pipe appeared in them middle of the streets. The creature hopped through it and disappeared. The two that were with him tried to follow, but were both caught by Luffy. "All right, you little creep! Talk, or else I'll clobber you!" The little creature in his right hand opened his eyes and stated, "Okay! I'll talk! You see we needed that star of yours in order to complete our master, world domination plan!" "Where did that guy take it?" asked Luffy. "I am not going to tell you, you freak!" retorted the creature, "But I will give you some advice! You will find all the information you need in a town called Rogueport! Now, let me go, dude!" "Not until you show us where it is!" retorted Luffy.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, a boat had been parked in front of Mario's pad. A man inside poked his head out of a window and stated, "Well, I'm here for a Mister… um… Mario, am I right? Hop on!" Mario boarded the boat as it turned around and headed for Rogueport, the same town that Luffy was headed for. "You sure as heck picked a weird place to spend a vacation!" Mario stared at him and retorted, "Princess Peach is waiting for me to arrive, okay? So don't criticize!" The man turned around and retorted, "Oh, so a princess is waiting for you? Well, if that's what you think, I'm not stopping you!" No matter how many times the princess wanted to see Mario, no body ever believed him. Mario was always surprised. You'd think his fame would convince people.

Luffy had arrived at Rogueport and had parked the Marry Go at Rogueport dock. "Wow! There sure is a lot of… brown." Stated Zoro. And he was right. The town was very run-down and damaged. All the buildings were brown and looked like they were ready to collapse any minute. Luffy couldn't believe that anyone would be living here, but it was full of life, none the less. Luffy and Zoro got out, the two creatures trailing along side of them. Luffy shot a gaze of concern as he noticed a strange creature shaped like a mushroom with feet and a safari hat being hunted down by what appeared to be a big, scary creature about the same species as the other two that tried to steal Luffy's treasure. He listened closely to what he thought was the strangest conversation he had ever heard in his life. "Oh come off it you airhead! I know it's tough for you, but don't play dumb with me! I've seen you walking around town asking for information about the Crystal Stars. Well, now I'm doing the asking, so be a good girl and tell us what you know! Right NOW!" 'The Crystal Stars?' thought Luffy. The small mushroom girl was terrified. Her entire body was shaking, but nevertheless, Luffy was impressed at the way she composed herself. "Never!" she shouted. "I don't have anything to say to you creeps! Besides you stink! Ew!" Zoro sensed that this remark struck a nerve but the big creature didn't show it. "I suppose it wouldn't be right if a sassy little lass like you met an untimely demise. Buh! Buh! Buh, huh, huh!" It took Luffy a while to discover that the creature was laughing. It sounded like water going down a plughole and Luffy couldn't help but snicker. The creature suddenly turned nasty. "Boys, we're taking this firebrand to our fortress!" One of the minions saluted. "As you command, dude- er, sir! We're on it!" Then Luffy noticed that the group was advancing. The mushroom girl was really scared now. "N-no! Stop right there, you weirdoes! I'll scream! Really!" she shouted. Suddenly, she noticed Luffy and sped right behind him. "As if I'm going with a bunch of creeps like you! This boy here will protect me!" The large, overweight creature glared at Luffy. "Wha? What are you doing, chump? You think you can screw up my plans?" Luffy help his hands on his hips and retorted, "No, but I can stop you from picking on innocent… um… whatever the hell these things are!" Gr! It's always something!" the creature sighed. "Looks like I'll have to give you a taste of the old Crump-A-Bomb!" The creature leaped at Luffy but missed by a long shot. "You'll regret the day you decided to mess with Lord Crump!" Luffy couldn't believe his ears. Lord Crump? Luffy couldn't take it anymore. He dropped to the floor and burst out laughing. He couldn't believe that anyone in their right mind would name their child Crump. Crump Started to fume at the head and glared a Luffy and retorted, "Shut up, you idiot! I'm going to kill you, now! You shouldn't even BE laughing! You're messing with the greatest warrior among the X-Nauts!" X-Nauts? Luffy could hardly contain himself and nearly died from laughter. "You asked for it, kid!" Suddenly, Crump rushed at Luffy who merely dodged his attack with ease and total precision. Then, he kicked Crump in the face. The mushroom girl and Zoro cheered, as the little, round creatures snuck out the area, undetected.

Mario neared the shore of Rogueport and took a gaze out the window. There sure was a lot of brown. 'Wow! What a strange place for Peach to go on vacation, and there's an actual treasure here.' Mario thought to himself. Suddenly, upon arrival, the man piloting the boat noticed Luffy and Crump having a little street fight and exclaimed, "Um, we'd better stay here, where it's safe. This may be a little dangerous. Can you dig it?" Mario looked outside to see the fight taking place as well. "Hey, I know that guy! He's all over the news! That's Luffy, the king of pirates!" The man gasped at the sound of this and stated, "Maybe we should let him handle this little problem himself."

Crump continued to throw punch after leap at Luffy, but failed with every attempt. "Stand still, you little bugger!" he shouted in vein. "No way, you creep!" retorted Luffy. "I'm gonna' give you a little gift, instead! It's a pistol! A Gum-Gum Pistol!" Luffy shot out his fist, which landed smack on Crump's face, toppling him over and causing him to pass out. Zoro and the mushroom girl cheered as Mario unboarded his ship to see Luffy close up. Suddenly, Crump came to and attacked the little mushroom girl. Suddenly, Mario got in his way and slammed a hammer in his face. "All right! This has NOT been my day! You freaks keep getting in my way! Just let me be!" "On one condition!" stated Luffy. "You tell us what this crap about Crystal Stars is!" "Okay, fine!" answered Crump. "Long ago, Rogueport was a wonderful, vast city, filled with life. Then one day, an evil demon rose up and created a cataclysm. This cataclysm almost destroyed Rogueport, which explains why it's in such a poor condition. It's said that the demon was locked away in an ancient treasure chest, and it is said that the Crystal stars are the keys to unlocking this ancient treasure." Luffy's eyes widened in dismay. He couldn't believe that someone could be so evil. "Now, enough of this! X-Nauts, attack!" The little creatures, apparently known as X-Nauts, attacked Mario, Luffy, Zoro and the mushroom girl together at once. The mushroom girl slinked through the crowd of X-Nauts and stated, "This way! We should be safe!" Luffy, Zoro, and Mario followed as the X-Nauts continued to beat up thin-air.

(What will happen next? What is all this Crystal Star mumbo jumbo? Will our heroes discover more, and who is this girl and what is her connection to the Crystal Stars?)