Deadly Drinking Pirate
The Mysterious Fruit And the Wrong Sake
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.
"Why? Shanks says it is good!" A short boy about seven years old with short, messy black hair whined from within a bar. "And it will make everything all better and I get to prove to Shanks that I am tough twice!" He was wearing short blue shorts, sandals and a white that had the word 'Anchor' that had the image of an anchor placed in the very center.
"No Luffy. It is bad for someone your age and you could just get drunk and get yourself killed like you tried at the pier!" The boy, whose name was Monkey D. Luffy, was refused of what he wanted by the bartender. Makino was a young woman with brown eyes and black hair that goes up to just above her shoulders. She wore a yellow kerchief, an orange blouse with black sleeves and a long light blue skirt and orange sneakers with white soles. "And that was stupid too! You didn't need to stab yourself to prove you are tough. It just shows that you can be cut and that is not very tough." Makino went on and Luffy decided to ignore her and go to someone else who was at the bar.
It was a man who was wearing a long black cape over his shoulders and wore a straw hat, which was synonymous with his image. He wore slightly loose brown trousers cut below the knee and collected halfway up the shin, with golden buttons down the outer leg. He wears a pair of sandals and is unshaven with a short, scruffy beard. "Hi Shanks, can I drink some of that Sake? I want you to bring me on a pirate adventure someday. You did say that you are going to leave soon and be gone for good." Luffy may be naïve but he has proven to be somewhat mature at the same time.
Shanks has worn a white shirt which is only half buttoned, leaving part of his chest exposed. A large red sash is tied around his waist and holds his sword on the right side; his shirt is tucked under the sash. The most striking thing about Shanks is the color of his red hair. He also has three scars across his left eye.
"Nice try Luffy but I agree with Makino that you only proved to be desperate and stupid enough to stab yourself like that. Besides, we are sailing the sea and we can't save you when you fall overboard. You sink like an anchor every time, Anchor." Shanks retorted and got back to his meal but not before causing the pirates inside the bar to laugh their heads off.
"Hey you jerks! Cut that out!" Luffy yelled at them but instead the pirates laughed even harder.
"Come on Luffy. Lighten up and you will actually appreciate it in the future." Luffy turned to see a tall man, standing at least a foot taller than Shanks. His hair was jet black and pulled back in a ponytail. Luffy knew him to never be seen without his rifle nearby or a cigarette in his mouth. He also now has a large, X-shaped scar on his left temple. He wears a black, V-neck shirt with three quarter sleeves along with loose pants with numerous pockets on them, tucked inside his buckled boots. Like most of the other Red Hair Pirates, he wears a sash around his waist, to which he attaches his rifle in a pistol-like fashion. The only thing added to his attire is his spiral-patterned cloak. He was Been Beckman, the First Mate of the R3ed Haired Pirates with Shanks as the captain. "He is just looking after you. A pirate's life is dangerous. Looking after for sea monsters and other dangerous pirates is really all there is too it being a pirate."
"I just can't believe that having Tomato Hair is the key to having a crew stink up for you and having a pretty woman too." Luffy said while vaguely knowing on what he was talking about. He is still a seven year old and his mind was too under ripe to understand all this. Still the reaction that Luffy wanted did come.
The pirates stopped and laughed the hardest since Shanks made fun of Luffy. But Shanks was not laughing and was like a teapot over boiling. "WHO HAS TOMATO HAIR YOU BRAT!?" It was ironic, Shanks was a famous and powerful Pirate that was under the nickname 'Red Haired' but he still was sensitive about his hair color. "AND FOR THE LAST TIME, THERE IS NOTHING BETWEEN US AND MAKINO! YOU STOP THAT GIGGLING!" Shanks ranted and even yelled into the direction of the amused bartender judging on how she didn't stop her giggling.
"Anchor does have a good point there Captain." One of them added his own two cent to the gig that he found funny. His hair was styled in loose waves. In addition to that, earlier on, his body was slimmer while in his latest appearance. Oh his headband was the name 'Yasopp' to be written. Finally, he wore a dark-blue shirt, dark-green pants reaching down to his calves and blue shoes with buckles on them. He was Yasopp, the sniper for the Red Haired Pirates.
"You do have Tomato Hair Captain." This one stood out the most since he has a round body shape and he is always seen eating a rack of meat. He is shown wearing goggles over his eyes at all times. He wears a red t-shirt with white vertical stripes on it, paired by a matching bandanna on his head, short white pants with a red sash around his waist, and red shoes with fur around the ankles. He has a yellow coat draped over his shoulders like a cape, with a fur-lined collar and red epaulets with black stripes on them. He was Lucky Roo, a very round but still a pirate worthy of being on Shank's pirate crew.
"Yasopp, Roo! You traitors!" Shanks shouted with his embarrassment tripled with everyone laughing at his expense and how a seven year old boy had turned the tables rather easily. Luffy's humiliation was no different that tripping and nearly falling over compared to Shank's.
"Hey!" But all that was brought to an end when the doors were opened with such force, they nearly broke the wall behind them. In the doorway were mountain bandits, criminals who think that because they don't sail means that they don't lose to sailors. The bandits all looked the same but not to their leader. He was a tall, dark-skinned man with black hair, a black goatee, and an X-shaped scar above his right eye. He wore a long purple coat over a white shirt, black trousers, and a golden necklace. Luffy didn't like the looks of him or how things came crashing down from fun and care-free to serious and foreboding. "This place better have good sake because I am hungry for it and you all know better than to displease mountain bandits!"
That bandit leader called himself Higuma 'The Bear', worth eight million berri which was supposed to scare everyone in the bar. Seeing that the Red-Haired Pirates were not, Higuma took what little sake was left and smashed the bottle onto Shank's head. "I want more sake by the time I come back and I will have to burn this village down if we don't! Remember that you two-bit pirates, scared to fight back!" Luffy was trying to keep in his anger while eating some kind of weird fruit he picked out of a treasure chest he thought was something worth eating; it still tasted terrible. But instead he got angry enough to punch air and but instead his arm extended to punch Higuma into the wall and through a warehouse directly across the street from the bar entrance.
The pirates spat out what they were drinking and coughed out what they eating at the shock of a seven year old boy's arm stretching as if it was suddenly made of rubber. They started to panic and hurried to the same chest that Luffy had found the strange fruit only to find out something even stranger. "You idiot! You ate the treasure that was going to give us big cash! That was the Gum-Gum Fruit! The fruit that takes away your ability to swim for the power to stretch like a rubber band!"
"That is good right? I was never able to swim anyways and now I have something hat is worth your time…" Luffy said until Shank's got a little angry enough to pull on Luffy's now rubbery checks, making it nearly impossible for him to talk clearly.
"That is not the point! I thought that you were smart and you just had to eat the Devil Fruit, the Accursed Fruit, the…" Shanks then felt like someone was tapping on his shoulder to get his attention and halt his ranting. Succeeding, Shanks turned to see something that made him forget about yelling at Luffy.
"I think there is more to this Gum-Gum Fruit we stole from that enemy ship. It is still a fruit." Lucky Roo was holding the fruit in his hand while the bite Luffy made was clear. IT is the rule that when a Devil Fruit is eaten, even a nibble is chipped off, the fruit becomes no different than last week's compost. But not this time.
"Can you still train me?" Luffy said in an innocent tone that still got everyone's attention. "I need to be strong enough so that I may not sail with you but sail with my own crew. Please, I need to know how to sail and how to fight. They only family I have left just throws me to the wolves and hyenas of the jungle on this island!" Luffy finished his statements and then bowed, as if he was going to sell his pride and dignity for what he wants.
Shanks just sighed, "Luffy I have a big headache as it is." He thought that will cause something to happen but instead silence reigned so strong that even a cricket on the far end of the island could be heard from the bar. "Fine. You win." Shanks felt like a wrecking ball toppled him down which was Luffy in his seven year old excitement
'Here I am trying to get this kid to get off my case, get off my back and GET OFF OF ME! But instead I am going to see that our favorite seven year old is going to make all this trouble today worth it. For the next generation.'
XXXXX
Several months later,
"I am not sure about this Ace." A boy about three years older than Luffy said. He had a missing tooth and short curly blond hair. He wore a large black top hat with a pair of blue goggles wrapped around it, a blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a cravat and a pair of light blue cyan shorts held up by a belt with an elaborate flower-design buckle. Finally, he was seen with a gentle outfit with a white colored short-sleeved shirt and wearing blue colored shorts as usual. He was Sabo, a boy who made his life stealing from pirates and any other outlaws to gain his own dough and livings. "Are you positive that this will be safe?"
Besides him was a boy about Sabo's age. He looked remarkably like Luffy. However, He was more serious looking than Luffy's lighthearted design, and was also taller and more muscular. He also sported rather childish freckles (inherited from his mother), and tended to make a skeptical facial expression by raising his left eyebrow. He was wearing clothes about the same size as Luffy but with an orange shirt and yellow pants. He even had a Band-Aid on his forehead.
"I may not know what this bottle says but since Dadan won't let me, I needed to get some Sake for this occasion." Ace said and he uncorked the bottle to fill up three wine glasses, for himself, for Sabo and for Luffy who was sitting on the other side of the crate that was being used for a table. He had changed a long ever since he started to train under Shanks. It took a lot of whining and begging to convince Shanks to stay and to convince his grandfather who was with the marines to allow Shanks to train him into becoming a skilled sailor.
So far, it was successful and Luffy may have to endure such harsh and unorthodox training in order to be as strong as the king of a jungle but Shanks keep him from gaining the mind of a helpless and clueless monkey. Not only is he as strong as the average marine despite being only almost eight, he was also good with a sword from Shanks, good with a pistol from Yasopp, good with strategy and his wits, and also good with his feet like Lucky Roo; who knew that even someone that sticks out like a sore thumb could move around fast enough to not be noticed? That was how Lucky Roo was such a dangerous pirate, he could move faster the more he eats and fills his belly. Luffy never found out how and that is because the last time he tried to ask, he was run into the ground and shot down as if wild prey. Lucky for him, Luffy is immune to bullets due to his Devil Fruit Power.
And speaking of which, even though the pirates had barley any devil fruit users in their crew, they were able to train Luffy to bring out the best of his new powers. With his strength, Luffy could punch as if bullets from a gun or any other heavy and fast moving projectile. He could even punch tunnels through mountains with his fist alone but with his devil fruit power, he could do it all in one single attack. But with ten years to wait until he could leave the island, even Luffy has goosebumps on just how strong he really be in that much time.
Back to the present, Luffy was actually eager about this. "So we are going to use Sake for this. To become brothers? Let's do it!" Luffy was not only urging to finally enjoy what Shanks and the other pirates never stop drinking. But also this was his chance to finally have some good company for family, he was getting tired of fearing his grandfather when he arrived to 'visit' him.
During the months of special training, Luffy had seen just how strong Ace is when that older boy was able to tumble with a river filled with crocodiles for their skins. Ace initially rejected Luffy but that boy with the sword won't give up. Eventually, Ace started to demand to know why Luffy never gave up on him like everyone else.
To his shock, he learned that Luffy only wanted a friend and wanted Ace to be the one because Luffy was as lonely in the mountains as Ace was. That was to be the start of the crack that broke apart Ace's shell. The more time that Ace found himself hanging out with Luffy had surprised him himself and pretty soon, Ace allowed Luffy to come with him where ever he goes from the mountain.
That was how Luffy meant Sabo, a fellow orphan who was living in the slums as well and was great friends with Ace. They steal together, they scheme together, and they even fight together. They were hoping to steal enough money to leave the island. Luffy offered to help out and pretty soon, the two older boys found themselves an adorable and eager younger brother.
Now they are going to fully tie the knot and become brothers over cups of sake. And that is what they did and with the sip of the cup filled with sake, Luffy felt something that he never thought he will again. It was like the sake went bad and turned to ash or something in Luffy's mouth; it tasted horrible but it was also familiar. "Uggh!" Luffy had to finally vomit once he pieced things together. It was the same disgusting taste of that Devil Fruit that he ate at the bar. But why would the Sake taste a lot like that?
Luffy then turned to see a shocking sight, his brothers as well as pack of wolves from the jungle were walking around drunk! The boys perhaps and possible but the wolves never got even smelling range of the bottle of sake so how did they get drunk!? After some time, the drunken company of Luffy had passed out when they were so high, their spirits threatened to leave their bodies and rise to heaven. Luffy just knocked out the wolves and skinned them, a skill that Ace and Sabo taught him. The whole time he had been trying to make sense of what happened.
Then he started to panic and take out a miniature treasure and when Luffy opened it, it revealed to be a mush of spoiled and rotten fruit matter. "Could it be that Devil Fruit I ate was the Gum-Gum Fruit but also mutated and had a side effect? A side effect that the sake entering my mouth had triggered it? Just how did this happen?" Luffy was still seven years old and he wished he was capable of understanding all this so it will stop the headache that was killing him.
The answer that Luffy will be searching for maybe the strangest thing that Luffy or anyone else in the world could call strange and crazy. But it can't be found in this sea that is for sure and Luffy spent no longer than a whole hour figuring that one out. All the black haired boy could do is be patient and train so that he could find the answer in that ocean in the world. It is in that ocean, I know it is.
XXXXX
And so ten years had passed and Luffy's brothers had already left for the sea so now it was his turn. It was a very beautiful day on the pier of Foosha Village. The entire village was there, including the village elder. He had a cleft chin, wears oval glasses, and has a mustache and a beard, turning grayish-white. He wears simple clothes and a hat that changes with his appearance, but they are similar to each other. He currently wields a walking cane from old age. He was also the mayor, Woop Slap.
"I can't believe that you are leaving us to be a pirate Luffy! Don't you know what it will do to our village!?" He never appreciated Luffy's dream but the boy never had a good reason to listen to him, his word was never good advice.
"I told you Mayor. You can't stop people's dreams. You will be known as the heartbreaker Mayor if you keep this up." Luffy irritates the mayor every time by being smart enough to retort much sharper and always win an argument. "Besides the Marines don't care where Pirates come from. It is a waste of their time to capture us and besides, if our village does get know as a pirate breeding ground then the World Government will try to hide it. I have seen their ways to save face in the eyes of the entire world."
"Fine! GO! Follow your dream to the very ends of the world for all I care!" Woop shouted with his infamous outbursts. Makino just giggled and calmed him down. As she did, the sun begun to shine from beyond the clouds and cast a better light on this new and improved Luffy.
Despite having a scrawny figure, his body was ripping with muscle. He was wearing short, blue trousers with cuffs, sandals, and a sleeveless red vest. Luffy still has that scar with two stitches underneath his left eye and short, messy black hair. On his waist, with a yellow sash tied around his waist, were a pair of swords; a katana and a rapier, both were sturdy looking and still exquisite. He has grown taller and nearly above the average person's height for his age at seventeen due to his training. All This can be seen in his clothes as well as his slightly thicker neck, more pronounced deltoids, and better-defined chest. Finally, on top his head and hiding most of his black hair that had grown half way past his back, was a straw hat with a red cloth rimming; it looked worn, like it was used multiple times for years.
'Can't believe that Shanks had given up his greatest treasure to me before he left days ago. He told me that my training is over. With him but I am not powerful enough for the New World and the only way to be prepared is to overcome Paradise. I need to be strong enough to make Paradise look that way compared to the New World.' Luffy was heavy in thought as he drifted the straw hat over his eyes, covering them with shadow from everyone's sight. No one spoke a word the entire time.
They then watched on Luffy rowing away from the pier but not before the sea giving away like dirt to a surfacing mole. Out came the Lord of the Coast, a local sea monster that had made the island unreached to normal pirates. His appearance is similar to a large oversized brown eel with red eyes and blue fins.
"Hello Lord of the Coast, I hope you are not hungry because I am not going to be your next meal unlike ten years ago with Higuma." Luffy said with a calm tone but the sea eel tried anyway but was wondering why he suddenly see the same boat and same human multiple times. No matter which one he tries to attack, all he meets is the water that splashes rather hard at that speed. "I told you and because you are a sea monster, you don't belong in the East Blue. You deserve to live with the real monsters in the World's Greatest Ocean. Come with me and you will no longer be hated and forgotten by all. They will fear you instead and that is what you live for, isn't it?" Luffy started to say and the sea eel was wondering why his vison was cleared up and he could think straight again.
Looking into the eyes of Luffy made the Sea Beast give in, those eyes were like that of a king or a conqueror. He just sat there in the waves while Luffy attached some ropes in the shape of a horse's leash. "From now one, you will be my stead and you need a name. A name that will show of everything you can give to everyone who sees you from the depths of the ocean." Luffy started to think hard on what will be good until he smirked, "Umi Tentei!"
The sea creature didn't know what to think based on human language but still liked the sound it and nodded. "Well then my stead, my Umi Tentei, we will show the world what we can do! We are going to be the strongest there ever is! We are going to rock the earth so hard it will shake the heavens!" Luffy raised his fist into the air and Umi Tentei, or Umi for short, roared into the air following his new master's voice. That was to be the start of something that the world had never seen indeed.
End of Chapter 1.
*Here is a new story! I actually had the idea of an assassin whose powers included making anyone around him drunk while preventing himself from getting high on sake or wine. It may sound stupid but for a bounty hunter like him, his prey is always the easiest to take down and the effects could happen to anyone, no matter how ready they can be.
I am giving Luffy more smarts, skills and that special power to be added to his primary Devil Fruit power. Everyone else wanted a hybrid Devil Fruit and we never see it discouraged by Mr. Oda either. So I think that it is still worth a shot.
Tell me what you think so I can make more chapters. I will like the support and thank you all!*
Translations:
Umi Tentei – Sea Lord