Foosha Village, East Blue, 12 years ago
The scream cut through the morning mist like a cannon shot.
"GRANDPA!!! I'M GONNA BE THE STRONGEST MARINE!!!"
Garp, halfway through his first (or possibly fifth) morning barrel of sake, sprayed half of it across the porch of Dadan's bandit hideout.
Several mountain bandits lost their balance and rolled down the steps.
Even the seagulls circling the tiny harbor seemed to freeze mid-turn.
Seven-year-old Luffy stood triumphantly on top of the village well, straw hat flopping over his eyes, both fists jammed toward the sky as if he were personally challenging the horizon.
Garp wiped his mouth with the back of his enormous hand and stared.
"…The strongest… what now, brat?"
"THE STRONGEST MARINE!!" Luffy bellowed again, even louder, as though repeating it would carve the words into reality.
"I'm gonna catch every bad pirate! I'm gonna be so strong that no one will ever dare hurt my friends again! And when I'm the boss of all Marines, the first rule is gonna be, mandatory meat every single day!!!"
A long, stunned silence fell over the hillside.
Dadan slowly pulled the cigarette from her lips and turned toward Garp with the look of someone who'd just witnessed a natural disaster in toddler form.
"…You really dropped him on his head too many times, didn't you?"
Garp's eye twitched.
He rose to his full, terrifying height.
The wooden porch groaned in protest.
"Luffy…" His voice was low, almost dangerously gentle.
"Do you even know what Marines do?"
Luffy tilted his head, confused but completely sincere.
"They catch bad guys. They protect people. They're super strong. And they get to wear those cool white coats!"
His grin stretched impossibly wide.
"I wanna wear one! And punch bad guys! And eat giant plates of meat in the mess hall!"
Garp stared at the rubber child for a very long moment.
Then, unexpectedly, his face cracked into a massive, feral grin.
"GYHAHAHAHAHA!! You little monster!!"
He slammed a fist into his palm so hard the shockwave rustled every leaf on the hillside.
"Fine! You want to be a Marine? Then I'll make you one myself! Starting tomorrow, dawn! Fifty laps around the whole island! Then we dodge cannonballs! Then you carry boulders up the mountain until your arms fall off!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled like twin suns.
"I'LL DO A HUNDRED!!!"
Garp's grin grew even more terrifying.
"That's the spirit, brat. Let's see if that stretchy brain of yours can survive real Marine training."
Behind them, Makino quietly set down the tray of juice she'd been carrying out to the porch.
She looked at the tiny boy who had just declared he would become the most powerful symbol of order in the entire world, and smiled very softly to herself.
"…The sea," she whispered, "just got a lot more interesting."
Far away, on a Revolutionary ship cutting through distant waves, Dragon suddenly paused mid-sentence, feeling a strange, inexplicable tug in his chest.
And somewhere deep in Marine Headquarters, a few old Vice Admirals felt the faintest shiver, as though the future had just laughed far too loudly for comfort.
The gears had started turning.
A different kind of storm was brewing.
One that wore a straw hat, believed justice should come with extra meat, and refused, absolutely refused, to ever back down.
To be continued…