"So… you two have both eaten a devil fruit? The coincidence of two of those meeting each other just like that… it is astronomical!", Koby sat on the small Dinghy as the three of them sailed towards shells town.
"It must've been fate. Rubber and metal, a great combo" Luffy said, "I need a super awesome crew! How else will I get to the grandline and claim the one piece. I want at least ten crewmembers! A Cook, a navigator, a musician-"
"A musician, really?", Koby asked with a doubtful look in his eyes.
"Yeah, a good crew sings together over a bottle of Sake, for that we need a musician, maybe even two…", Luffy's eyes snapped to Lee -who was fishing-, asking without ever opening his mouth.
"No, I am not a musician", he said as he reeled back in a big fish with his rod, "but I am an excellent survivalist. Hunting, fishing, I'm your man for that"
"Great, then you are our Survivalist"
"I don't think that that is an actual position on a crew but it fits", Lee nodded, casting his hook out once more. He knew that his captain had a monstrous appetite, so stocking up on food was imperative… not that he could really keep up with him. He wouldn't be full but they'd at least not starve. Whilst Lee was fishing and Luffy was daydreaming, it was Koby who navigated them towards Shells Town. It took them just four hours. Koby had some skill but then again, this was the east blue, not the grandline. In those waters, 'some skill' wasn't enough. You'd need someone who actually knew weather patterns and was pretty skilled.
Shells town was on a relatively small island, build around the 153rd branch of the marines. They could see the marine towers from miles away.
"We finally made it! Koby, you are amazing! You actually got us to our destination!" Luffy said, "I'll need to find myself a navigator soon… but for now, let us go eat! Hey, Lee, you come- why did you put on that mask?"
Lee had slipped on the fox mask from his bag of holding, concealing his identity beautifully, "I am a wanted man and this is a town with a marine naval base. They'd try to arrest me the moment they saw my face"
"Ah- sneaky, I like it! Shi shi shi! Now let's go eat something", Luffy followed his nose to a place called 'Food Foo', a small restaurant, "three orders of meat! And… what do you want?"
"you are eating three orders of meat on your own?" the woman taking their order looked at him, that skinny kid wearing a straw hat, with doubtful eyes, "I don't like when people waste food"
"Oh, believe me, Luffy can absolutely eat all that meat. Just ordering three might actually not be enough", Lee said, waving away her concern, like swatting a lazy fly, "nothing for me though. I ate on the ship"
"A- a soup, I guess?" Koby said uncertain.
Luffy ate not like a man but a ravenous dog, stuffing meat into his mouth, barely chewing it, "Well *Munch munch* Koby, I guess this is where we *Munch munch* go our separate ways-. I hope you join the marines and become a great *munch munch* sailor"
"Th- thank you Luffy! I hope you become a great pirate, even if that means we will be enemies and all… he he"
"Hey, I just remembered", Luffy swallowed the last bit of meat, "that bounty hunter is imprisoned here, isn't he? What was it, Roronoa Zoro?"
At the mention of his name, people shot up in fear, "Sounds like they fear him", Lee said, frowning, "anyways… isn't captain morgan at this-"
Again people jumped up. Koby frowned even harder than Lee had just a second ago, as they walked out of the restaurant, "Everyone is so jumpy! I'm getting a bad feeling about this! I can understand why everyone gets nervous when they hear Roronoa Zoro's name, he is a dangerous man but why did they get nervous hearing the captain's name?"
"Like I said, not everything is black and white", Lee said cryptically.
"What do you mean? What do you know that you aren't telling me? You know something, don't you?" Koby asked, voice concerned.
"Just… rumors. Ah, we are here, Go on in, Koby"
Koby blinked, only now realising that they stood right in front of the marine base's gates. When did they get here? Hadn't they just been at the restaurant a moment ago? Nervousness rose in Koby's throat, "b- but I haven't mentally prepared myself yet… and those people… they were scared when they heard the captain's name… I really want to hear these Rumors that Lee was talking about and-"
Luffy had climbed on top of the wall and shouted back to the two of them, "Hey, there's somebody there. Maybe it is Zoro!"
Koby climbed up, hands gripping uneven stone, his arms shivering. Lee simply jumped and was up there, no climbing necessary.
"A b- black bandana and a haramaki sash! It's him! That is Roronoa Zoro! He looks so menacing!", Koby fell off the wall in fear.
Lee had to admit, that Zoro looked quite imposing and his observation Haki told him that he was roughly equal in strength to Luffy, if you took away devil fruits that is but Zoro being a swordsman, that leveled the playing field. If they fought right now, both at full strength, he couldn't say for certainty who would win.
A kid entered the courtyard, holding out some rice balls, "I made these rice balls for you! I thought you might need some food! It is the first time I've ever made rice balls. I hope you like them"
"Get lost! Do you want to get killed? I am not even hungry!" Zoro barked, "I don't want it! Now get outta here, or I'll stomp you to death, Girl!"
Helmeppo walked in viewing distance, though Lee had already sensed him long ago, "Roronoa Zoro! You shouldn't pick on little kids like that. I'lll tell my father on you. Daddy will have you executed! Hie hie hie!"
"Well, if it isn't the idiot son, living off his daddy's notoriety and wealth", Zoro chuckled, glaring at him.
"You are lucky I am feeling gracious right now. I could have you executed for talking to me like that! Little girl, did you bring those rice balls for me? How thoughtful!", Helmeppo snatched the rice ball out of the little girl's hand and bit into it, "Ergh! Disgusting! It is sweet! Rice balls are supposed to be seasoned with salt, not sugar!"
"B- but I like sweets, so I thought sugar would be better", she cried as Helmeppo smashed the balls into the ground.
"This abomination is best left to the ants hie hie hie!"
"Why?! I worked so hard to make them!", the girl cried even louder, tears dropping to the ground.
"Oh, stop that disgusting crying, little girl. Ugh- I hate children. It is your own fault, can't you read? This sign clearly says, 'anyone aiding this prisoner shall be found guilty of the crimes he has committed -Captain morgan'! I am sure you've heard how scary my father can be! If you were an adult, you would be put to death!", Helmeppo got straight in her face, seemingly enjoying the sadness and fear radiating off of the small girl, "you there, throw that brat over the fence. If you don't, I'll tell my daddy on you"
The marine sailor looked conflicted between morality and self preservation, before finally nodding and throwing the girl. Lee caught her with one hand and watched as his captain walked over to Zoro.
"You still here? You better not let that Idiot's father catch you", Zoro glared at the retreating Helmeppo who hadn't noticed Luffy climb onto the base.
"Look, I am looking for good men to join my pirate crew"
"A pirate crew? Me, becoming some lowly degenerate, killing and raping his way through the east blue? Forget it!"
"Becoming a pirate is my dream, what is wrong with that? Anyways, I didn't even decide on asking you yet. You got a pretty terrible reputation, you know? A 'demon given human form', they say", Luffy shook his head.
"Bad reputation eh? I won't join you either way. I don't need your help. I can get out of here on my own. All I have to do is-"
Lee turned away. This was playing out just like canon, after all, he hadn't changed that much yet. Why stick around just to hear everything he had already heard a hundred times?
"Lee, where are you going?", Koby asked with fear in his eyes.
"I'm a pirate… I'll go be a pirate", he put on the hood of his cloak and his presence vanished to everyone who didn't know to look for him.
He couldn't open a door without breaking the concealment, so he walked behind Helmeppo and his posse, gliding behind them into the marine base. Luckily, inside, most of the doors were open.
'If I were to hide a treasury… where would I put it?', he mused, walking through corridors, past patrols who were completely unaware of his presence. The base was big, way bigger than it looked from the outside. So, it took him around an hour and a half of just going from one hallway to another, each of them looking the same, when he finally found the treasury. With a quick, controlled burst of conqueror's haki, he knocked out the two guards, standing besides the door. The door itself was no problem. He might not have the fitting key but as a metal man, he didn't need one. He simply waved his hand and the metal lock obeyed his command, unlocking with a silent *click*.
The treasury was full of money and jewels. He simply pushed all of it into his bag of holding, keeping a vague count, 1 million, 2 million, 3 million… 5 million… 10 million… a staggering 30 million berry, all his'. And he slipped out of the room, up the stairs and onto a balcony. Seeing Luffy just jump in front of the marine's bullets, "Bullets can't hurt me!"
The bullets flew off in every direction, even reaching the balcony where Lee stood.
"What are you?!", Zoro asked with shock written all over his face. Normal humans couldn't survive being shot like he could.
"I'm the guy who is gonna be king of the pirates and don't you forget it! So… which of these swords are yours? I just brought all three", he held the swords in front of him. After being told all of them belonged to Zoro, he snickered, "If you fight the marines with me now, you will be branded a criminal but you live… stay bound and die as an upstanding citizen, what is your choice?"
"You must be a devil… but I am not gonna die here, not before I fulfilled my promise. Fine, you got yourself a pirate!"
"Finally", Lee said, his voice catching the attention of the marines down below.
"Who's that?"
"He doesn't look like one of us!"
"Oh- I am no navy dog", Lee removed his mask, "You have my captain surrounded. Sorry but I can't let you kill him, not before both our dreams are achieved!"
He took a step beyond the balcony and jumped… and jumped… and jumped, seemingly walking on thin air. Geppo.
"You can fly?! Why didn't you tell me?! Suge!!!" Luffy clapped his hands together.
Captain Morgan stared in disbelief, "A man who can't be shot and a man who can walk on air? They must've eaten from the treasures of the sea, the devil fruits… and that face… I know it… Mora Lee, 15 million berry and that guy is his captain? They are no joke! You lot, kill the rubber boy. If bullets don't work, use your blades! I'll handle Mora Lee!"
"Oh? Challenging me? I'm sorry but you have already lost", Lee said.
As the battle between the foot soldiers and the duo of Zoro and Luffy took place, Lee plummeted to the ground, enhancing his leg with armament haki in order not to take any fall damage and he took out his Kanabo. Morgan swung at him with his ax hand. He parried and evaded every strike, just playing with his food, like a cat with a crippled mouse.
"Stand still! You damned small fry! I am Captain Morgan! I am the supreme being here! I can crush you with one hand! I sentence you to death!" His breathing was ragged after only a minute of fighting.
"Supreme? You are a bug under my boot. Let me show you true strength", Lee swung his kanabo with one, lazy, non haki infused strike and the captain's ax shattered into a thousand pieces. He stared at the broken pieces of metal before being hit by a punch to the jaw, knocking him out.
"The Captain has lost! Captain Morgan has been defeated!"
"Any of you still want to capture us?" Asked Zoro. None of them did, they celebrated their freedom. The four of them walked towards food foo, the restaurant, where they ate a celebratory meal. Zoro, who had been starving, was a big eater, though not as much as Luffy.
"So… what's next?" asked Zoro.
"We are heading to the grand line of course!", Luffy exclaimed.
"That is suicide! There is only three of you! If you go there, you will just be sailing to your deaths!" Koby protested.
"What the captain says goes", Lee shook his head.
"You at least agree with me, right, Zoro?"
"What is it to you? You are not coming with us"
"Yes but I can still worry for my friends, can't I?"
"Excuse me… you gentlemen are pirates, one of you has a bounty of 15 million berry", a marine foot soldier came walking in, "You, um… you saved our base and this town, for that we are truly grateful… however, we are still marines and well, you are pirates, so we can't have pirates staying under our watch. The higher ups would have our heads"
"What are you talking about?!", "You hated morgan as we did!" "They are all of our saviors!" the enraged citizens shouted but the three of them walked towards the door already. The officer turned to Koby, "Aren't you going with them?"
"I'm- I'm- I am not one of them!" he shouted out.
"Pirates, is that true?"
Luffy was about to proclaim his whole story but Lee got the word before him, "that guy? No, he is not one of us. In fact, he was terrorised by black mace Alvida, who had been making him come along through fear. He hates pirates with all his heart… I wouldn't have minded for him to join us but he is dead set on becoming a marine"
"Ah- I see"
"The next time we meet, Koby, we'll be enemies", Lee said with a smile on his lips, "you better get plenty strong. It would be a shame if you were to die too easily"