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"Raise your prices again and I'll stop buying," Nami told the poor bird that had delivered her morning paper. Luffy and I were sitting towards the front of the ship. He was sitting on the figurehead, and I was leaning against the railing looking at the horizon.
"We're almost there, the Grand Line. Nami says we have to stop at a place called Loguetown first to make sure we're stocked up," I said, thinking out loud.
"I can't believe it, we're so close," Luffy jumped up and climbed on my back and shook my shoulders. "I'm so excited!"
"Cut it out!" I threw him off me. Luffy fell to the lower part of the ship and crashed into Usopp who spilled hot sauce into his eyes.
"The world's such a dangerous place, there was another coup…" Nami mumbled to herself as something fell out of the paper.
"AHHHHHH!"
There they were, two bounty posters bearing very familiar faces, mine and Luffy's.
WANTED: "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy- 30,000,000
"Torturer" Steve- 20,000,000
Luffy was all excited about how his poster came out but I was less happy. Sure, being wanted was cool, but the part that sucked was my picture. I was sticking my tongue out and licking blood off my cheek. I look like some psycho.
And what kind of name is "Torturer"? I knew where they had gotten the picture. It was from when we had beaten up those Marines. I was trying to be intimidating and look what happened.
While the others were celebrating and I was wallowing in self-pity, Zoro pointed out that we had reached an island.
"That is Loguetown, the place of the beginning and the end. It's the birthplace of the Pirate King as well as the place of his execution," Nami explained.
"So this is the place the Pirate King was killed," Luffy looked interested in actually learning something for once.
"This certainly is an interesting place," I added.
We docked the Merry and set off into town. We each went our own way. Luffy went to go see the execution tower, Sanji was going to the market, Nami clothes shopping and Usopp went to get supplies. That left Zoro and I standing around with nothing to do.
"Nami lent me some money so I'm going to get some new swords," Zoro said, walking away.
"Wait for me, I'm bored. Let me come," I said, catching up. "Also, what were you thinking borrowing money from Nami?"
We walked across a few streets looking for a blacksmith when we saw some thugs harassing a woman. The two guys pulled out swords and went to attack the girl when she took out a sword of her own and easily beat the two. Her moment of triumph was quickly upstaged however when she tripped and fell, knocking off her glasses.
"These yours?" Zoro said, handing the girl her glasses.
"Thank you."
Zoro gave the woman her glasses and quickly stood up, pulled me along towards a store.
"What's your problem?" I said, struggling in his grip.
"That girl looked just like my friend who died."
"Well the world's a big place, probably just a coincidence," I tried to reassure him.
"Whatever, just hope I never see her again. Ah, look, a shop, let's go in." Zoro turned into the store.
The shop was small but there were a lot of swords lying around.
"I need two swords for 100,000 Berry, what can you do?" Zoro asked the man.
The man gave a grumble and pointed Zoro to the barrel in the corner saying it was that or blunt trash. The man took one look at Zoro's katana and almost lost his mind. He started haggling with Zoro for the blade but Zoro wasn't selling.
"My friend doesn't want to sell his sword. Back off," I glared at the man to stop his insistent ramblings.
"Could it be?!" Someone threw their hands down on the counter and began staring at Zoro's sword. It was that girl from earlier. Zoro didn't look happy to see her.
"This is the Wado Ichimonji, one of the twenty-one great swords," the girl blurted out.
"Yes, it is, decent but it's still not worth that much," the shopkeeper said, trembling.
"Decent! This sword can't be bought for less than a million Berry," the girl revealed.
"Were you trying to rip us off, old man?" I said, glaring at the man again.
The man got all pissed and threw the woman the sword she had come to pick up. Only to have her knock over a display trying to catch it. The man said that Zoro had no business owning such a sword. He directed us to the barrel in the back corner of the shop, telling Zoro he could have two swords from there.
"We met outside, didn't we?" the girl asked, making Zoro all flustered. "You're using three-sword style. That reminds me of the bounty hunter… what was his name?"
"Zoro? I've heard of him," I cut into the conversation to spare Zoro the trouble of trying to talk about himself.
"Yeah, that's him. To think that he uses his swords as a means of money making. How despicable. In this day, all the swords are held by pirates or bounty hunters. The swords are crying," the girl said with a sad look.
"Perhaps it's circumstance," Zoro said, looking up from the barrel. "The needs of the time and all that."
"I'd be happy to welcome criminals if it means I can sell swords. Ever since that monster took over this place, I've been losing business," the owner told us.
"Smoker is not a monster," the girl defended the man.
The two had an argument over this man but only one word caught my attention. Devil Fruit.
"My pride as a swordsman demands I take all the master swords from the criminals of the world," the girl laid down her ambition like it was nothing.
Zoro said that he wouldn't give up his sword but the girl said she just wanted them away from evil, not for herself. Then she pulled a blade out of the barrel and said it was another of the master swords, Sandai Kitetsu.
"I can't sell you that sword!" the owner screamed.
"Why not?" I asked the man, it seemed perfectly normal.
"It's cursed," Zoro told us.
"He's right, I'm afraid that if I sold the sword I might get cursed too," the owner said, looking sorry.
"I like it. I'll take it!" Zoro smiled, looking at the sword.
"I told you it's not for sale!"
"Then we'll do a little test. Let's see what's stronger, the curse or my luck." Zoro threw the sword into the air, terrifying everyone in the shop.
"Stop, you'll lose your arm!" The girl tried to run and move Zoro but I stopped her.
"Don't."
The sword spun around in the air and just missed Zoro's arm on the way down. Everyone, even me, let out a sigh of relief.
"Hey girl, pick out another sword," Zoro instructed the poor woman.
"Wait there!" the owner ran upstairs and reemerged with another sword.
"This is Yubashiri, the best sword I have and I will personally attest to that. I want you to take this sword, no charge. Take the Kitetsu as well. I'm sorry I tried to rip you off, it's been a long time since someone as skilled as you came into my shop."
Zoro picked up the two swords, thanked the man, and we left. When we turned the corner, someone called out to us "Cha Cha no Mi doing."
I turned around and saw her, a woman wearing a blue leather jacket and tight jeans. She had long flowing blue hair in contrast to her tiny body. I'd recognize this girl anywhere.
My older sister, Rose. The thing is, Rose may be the older twin but she is by far the less mature one. Both mentally and physically. She's eighteen just like me but instead of being my height, she was barely taller than Luffy.
Her only attractive feature is her face and hair. Anything below her shoulder looked like the body of a girl who barely hit puberty. Flat as a board.
The woman jumped up and grabbed Zoro's arm. "ZORO! I missed you! Where did you go? I told you I would meet you at the end of the block and you never came back?!"
"That road had too many turns."
"Zoro, it was a dead end."
"What the hell. You go to him first before your own flesh and blood."
"Oh, I missed you too, little brother," she giggled.
We hugged, we hadn't seen each other in a while. She left home when she turned 17 while I stayed a year to wait for Luffy.
"So," she started. "I saw someone here had a bounty poster." She reached into her jacket and pulled out a flyer. "Torturer Steve worth 20,000,000? Maybe I should take you in, little bro."
"You wouldn't!" I said, shocked.
"I'm kidding, I'd never hurt you, especially since you're my sweet Zoro's captain," Rose said.
Sweet Zoro?!
"What the hell! I thought you said you two had a working relationship!" I screamed point blank into Zoro's face.
"It's not like that, I swear!" Zoro defended himself.
Rose pulled on Zoro's arm even harder. "I can't believe you play with my heart like this, Zoro. You know you want me."
"Stop flirting!"
We kept walking and having our argument over Zoro and Rose's relationship until we came to an intersection where we ran across Nami, Sanji and Usopp.
"Who are all you?" Rose asked my friends.
"Who are you?" the three asked.
"Okay everyone, this is my twin sister, Rose," I explained, introducing her.
"What a beautiful maiden. Please allow me to protect you from this moronic swordsman," Sanji said with hearts in his eyes as he put his hand out to Rose.
"Keep away from my sister, Blondie," I said, slapping Sanji's hand away.
"Aww, don't be like that, the lady is old enough to make her own choices," Sanji said, getting uncomfortably close to Rose.
"Zoro, help, there's a pervert," She cowered behind Zoro. Sanji began wallowing on the ground when he was brushed off in favor of his rival.
"This guy's hilarious!" Rose laughed. "So where's Luffy? I haven't seen him in forever."
"Has anyone seen Luffy?" Usopp asked the group.
We began discussing where our rubber friend may be.
"You said Luffy wanted to see the execution platform, right? That's in the square," Rose pointed down the street to a huge metal tower.
We all looked towards the tower and saw Luffy stuck in stocks on the platform. What is he doing?
"Grrrr. Zoro, Sanji, you're with me. Nami and Usopp take the stuff back to the ship. Rose… Where'd she go?!" I hissed.
I took the guys and ran to the square to free Luffy. He was being held on the tower with a sword above his head ready to decapitate him.
"Luffy!" I yelled as we got closer.
"Steve! You're here to help me out!" Luffy answered.
"So you did come," the man holding Luffy hostage said. I recognized him immediately.
"Buggy," I growled.
"Doesn't matter, red-head, you're too late!" Buggy began to bring his sword down onto Luffy.
"I don't care what it takes, bring that tower down!" I told the two men with me.
Sanji dealt with the little guys while Zoro and I got closer to the tower. If I could just pull that tower down.
"Zoro! Sanji! Nami! Usopp!" Luffy began yelling out names. "And Steve!"
The sword was too close for comfort. "Sorry but I'm dead."
"Don't say that!"
Please. We still have so much to do together.
Out of nowhere a bolt of lightning struck the metal tower. The whole thing bent and fell to the ground. Impossible. It was like a miracle.
"Never mind," Luffy stepped out and picked up his hat. "Looks like I made it."
"Thank God," I let out a sigh of relief.
I wasn't fast enough… I need to be faster.
Marines quickly surrounded the square. There was too much commotion, they had to have known we were here.
"What do we do?" Zoro asked.
"Run for it, get to the ship!" Luffy answered with a smile.
We ran for blocks with no escape in sight.
"We should just fight them," Zoro stated, acting like we weren't in a nasty situation.
"No. Nami and Usopp are waiting for us, we can't stop," I told Zoro.
"Roronoa Zoro." I looked ahead and saw the woman from the store. "To believe you were him all along, and a pirate as well. Give it to me, the Wado Ichimonji!"
"Just you try," Zoro told the girl.
The woman took out her sword and swung at Zoro.
Clang
The sound of metal on metal resonated through the air, but Zoro's swords weren't what blocked the swing. It was a dagger that was in the hand of my older sister.
"Back off, Tashigi," Rose said, staring the girl down with a dagger in each hand.
"Rose! What are you doing?! Move!" Tashigi demanded.
"I won't let you lay a finger on Zoro or my brother," Rose said, pushing the girl back.
"You're related to that man, The Torturer. Out of my way!"
Rose avoided the swing, reached inside her jacket and threw a handful of daggers at Tashigi. "Knife Rain!" The girl was pelted by a shower of blades.
"Steve, Luffy, keep going, I'll take care of this and meet up with you later," She said, blocking another strike from the Marine.
"I'm staying, you all keep going," Zoro said, sending us off.
Rose's POV
Why do we have to fight? In one motion I attacked Tashigi.
"Give up, Tashigi, you can't beat me," I said as I pushed the girl back against a wall with a knife to her throat. "You can't even land a hit."
She looked sad. Tashigi was crying.
"Why sniff? I thought you were my friend?" Tashigi asked me.
"I am, that's why you're still breathing. Goodbye, Tashigi," I turned. I walked away trying not to cry.
"Why are you helping that man?" She glared at Zoro again despite the fact she was sitting defeated on the ground. "They're pirates."
"Because… since I was a kid I've believed that Luffy and my little brother will be the Kings of the Pirates," I smiled and then pointed at Zoro. "Besides, this piece of eye candy is a great bonus."
"Let go of me!" Zoro begged, trying to push me, his true love, away when I grabbed his arm.
"I'll never let go."
Steve's POV
Luffy, Sanji and I left Rose and Zoro behind and kept running to the Merry.
"Someone's ahead," Luffy pointed out.
"I am Captain Smoker of Marine Headquarters, and I won't let you leave." The man's arms turned to smoke and surrounded Luffy.
Sanji and I tried to free Luffy with our attacks but we went right through the man.
"I don't have time to play around. White Blow!" Smoker punched Sanji and I across the street.
Luffy tried to fight back but every punch went right through. The captain subdued Luffy and prepared to deliver the final blow.
"Your luck's run out."
"Not necessarily," a man appeared and grabbed the Marine's arm, preventing him from ending Luffy.
Smoker and the mystery man exchanged words until there was a gust of wind so strong it blew us away.
"We gotta run! A storm's coming," Zoro said, running into us and grabbing Luffy.
We ran till we couldn't go anymore, the dock finally coming into view.
"Get on!" Usopp yelled to us from the ship.
We all climbed aboard and Usopp cut the rope so we could leave the island, catching a wind and sailing off.
"That was close," Nami said. She pointed to a light in the distance. "That light is the entrance to the Grand Line."
"Wow, we got far away from the island quickly," Rose pointed out.
Wait. Rose?
"What are you doing here?!" Zoro and I screamed.
"I wasn't kidding, Zoro. I said I'd never let go." She turned to me and Luffy. "So is it alright if I stay? You said you're going to the Grand Line, right? I wanna see mom and dad. Can I please come? You know I'm a good fighter." She pouted a bit.
Not that face. Still, Rose is a wizard with knives and daggers, a regular assassin… not the most normal pirate crew job but whatever.
"Okay," I groaned. "We could use someone as skilled as you are."
"Yay, Rose is staying!" Luffy and Sanji yelled.
"You have the most beautiful hair," Nami complimented, trying to touch a lock.
"Nami don't—." I stared. Rose slapped her hand away and gave her a fiery stare before letting out a breath. "Sorry. But please don't ever touch my hair. It's a personal thing, you understand."
Zoro just grumbled to himself. But I saw that blush on his cheeks.
I don't know if I have the energy to keep those two apart.
Lilly's POV
"CAPTAIN!" one of the crew came running up to us screaming. "It's Hawk-Eye, he's here."
Big brother came to visit again.
"Quite a rare occurrence to see you here, Hawk-Eye. Twice in such a short period of time is worrisome," My husband said to my brother.
"I recently came across something I thought you and Lilly would find interesting. If I remember, you two always told a story about two boys from a village." He handed us a pair of posters with faces on them.
No way!
I was crying tears of joy. "So they finally set out. We may see them soon." There were two boys, one was Luffy, a boy from the village we had left the twins at. The other was my son, Steve.
"Let's have a party to celebrate," Shanks insisted.
"You stay too, Mihawk, have some fun!" I cheered.
Steve's POV
"We're almost there, we need to celebrate," Sanji said, rolling a barrel onto the deck. Sanji shoved his foot onto the barrel. "To find the All Blue!"
The others followed suit. "To be the world's greatest swordsman." "To draw a map of the world." "T…To be a brave warrior of the sea." "To see my Parents."
Luffy and I were the last to put our feet up. "To be kings of the pirates."
"WE'RE GOING TO THE GRAND LINE!" smash
Our adventure is just beginning.