9Raijin no Tora
Prologue
13 Years ago - Fuschia Village, Makino's bar
Fuschia Village was a small quiet town, located in the East Blue Sea the weakest and most peaceful of the Four Outer Seas. A place where people go about their daily jobs and have a nice quiet drink in the local bar in the evening. All in all a nice small quiet safe town that does not have a lot of activity that is unless Vice-Admiral Garp or the Red-Hair pirates are in town...
"HAHAHAHA! You can't be a pirate Luffy! You're too small, you need to grow up, Anchor, and you ain't strong enough to be in my crew. You're too puny! Work on getting bigger and stop day dreaming."
Shanks said, laughing. Shanks was a man with red hair, a rarity in the world of Umi. He had a bit of stubble on his chin, and wore a puffy white shirt, black pants, and a cloak. His sword, about half as large as he was, hung belted to his hip.
Looking at him, he did not look like a man the World Government would send all the Admirals and Vice-Admirals after if they thought they could kill him. He also did not act like one of the Yonkou, the four most powerful pirates of the Grand Line and New World or a former member of the Pirate King, Gold. D. Roger's crew.
He was a man who liked to party and did not mind making friends with children, as such he enjoyed making fun of his new friend, who, just as you can imagine, did not take it too well.
"Nah! I'm not puny! I'm strong! Grandpa Garp trained me; I have a punch that is strong enough to knock out anyone with one shot! And if it doesn't then I'll just make something to keep them down!"
Shanks did not doubt that Luffy would be strong for his age if he survived Garp's torturous training. Once, when he was still an apprentice pirate under Roger, he was unfortunate enough to meet the marine hero Garp. But he could not tell Luffy this. The Grand Line was not called the Pirate Graveyard for nothing, and the New World was even worse. But the lad was smart, a bit whiney, but damn resourceful for his age, if he wasn't begging Shanks for stories of the Grand Line, he was tinkering with whatever junk he could find to try and make something useful out of it. Hell, he managed to make Yasopp a new scope for his rifle out of a tin can and a busted up spyglass.
"All right Luffy, tell you what. If you can knock me down with one punch or then you can come with us on our next voyage. Deal?"
Luffy grinned, "Deal!"
Luffy closed his eyes and seemed to be concentrating hard about something; his face lost its permanent grin and grew almost solemn. Then he suddenly opened his eyes and jumped up on the bar and hit Shanks right in the jaw, sending him flying into the far wall. An observant man would have seen the smallest sheen in the air around Luffy's fist right before he hit Shanks, as it was; the crew felt a powerful wave of energy at the moment of impact that made some of the weaker members of the Red-Hair Pirates faint.
The crew was shocked. Shanks recovered first, he was not one of the Yonkou for nothing, after all.
"See, I'm strong! Now you have to take me on your next voyage!" said Luffy.
Shanks stared in shock, a kid sent him, "Red-Hair Shanks", flying with one punch. He looked around and saw that some of his crew had fainted. He was shocked that these guys could hang around him in battle and fight some of the strongest enemies in the Grand Line and the New World but were overcome by a child.
Shanks was seriously considering taking Luffy with him, but then thought of the dangers of the sea again for a 7 year old kid. He would die in that Sea and he liked the kid too much to see anything happen to him.
"Shanks? I'm strong!" Luffy said.
"Luffy... How?" Shanks asked.
"How what, Shanks?" Luffy replied.
"How did you send me flying? And that wave of energy you put out, how did you do that?"
"Do you really want to know?" asked Luffy, with a slight grimace.
(FLASHBACK)
'Fucking Gramps, dumping me in a bloody jungle and tells me survive and find my way out. Saying, "You will be a strong marine".
I don't want to be a fucking marine; I want to be a pirate.'
He ignored the voice in the back of his mind telling him that Gramps' training was making him stronger. After all, how many kids know how to knock out an adult twice his size? Or take a punch from Garp? Or build shelters and hunt for food.
However, this line thinking was cut off when he heard a loud growling noise, a pack of wolves heading towards him. He did not even think he ran fast and hard with the wolves in hot pursuit.
He was still only a seven year old boy.
The wolves gained ground and took him down, biting his arms and shoulder. He stared into their yellow eyes and screamed
"I won't die here! I will survive and become a great pirate! And no stupid wolves are going to stop me!'
A massive force was released from the child and the wolves pinning him down fainted and some of the others had died from the force of Luffy's will.
(End Flashback)
"I then tried to use that force again on some deer and a bear mother I caught in a vine trap. Gramps then found me and said he felt a massive wave of Haki and came to find the source. When I told him what happened, he explained that I had discovered my Haki, called "The Will of the Conqueror", he said he will train me how to use my haki to make me a great marine."
Shanks was shocked, 'A kid had discovered how to use his haki, on pure instinct.'
But before he could dwell on it further someone kicked open the bar door; a tall man with long dirty hair entered, he made no attempt to hide the blade at his side.
As he walked through the door he shouted out, "Make way for the Scourge of the East! We're mountain bandits and I'm a man with a bounty 8,000,000 beries on my head!" The man slammed a bounty poster against the wall; 'Wanted Alive or Dead, Higuma "The Bear", 8,000,000, "Now give us 20 barrels of rum and we won't wreck this bar and kill all of you!"
This was impossible as Shanks and his crew had drunk all the alcohol in the bar.
"Sorry, Sir but these pirates here just drank the last of my stock.' said Makino.
As she told them this Shanks held up the last bottle of whiskey,
"Here mate, this is the last one, not even opened yet, enjoy!"
The bandit cut the bottle with his sword that would seem impressive to anyone who has not seen a true Sword Master but Shanks and his crew were unimpressed. The bandit shouted at Shanks,
"I'm a man worth 8,000,000 beries! I need more than one bottle of whiskey!"
"You just wasted a good bottle of whiskey, mate."
The bandit leader suddenly punched Shanks, not strong enough to do any damage to him; Shanks played along and pretended so the bar would not be wrecked. The bandit, his ego sated for now, left smiling.
Luffy however was furious to see his idol not stand up to defend his honour against the bandit. Luffy didn't realise how far out of the Red-Hair's league the bandit was, and was angry that Shanks did not fight him. Luffy screamed at Shanks,
"SHANKS! Have you no pride!? You should have fought him!"
Shanks stood up and put his hands on Luffy's shoulder,
"Luffy, it was only whiskey. They're not worth it."
Luffy pouted at Shanks and turned his back on him, which allowed him to see the odd fruit that the Red-Hair Pirates from an enemy's ship. Luffy, still mad at Shanks, ate the fruit for dessert. Shanks turned back to Luffy to see if he had cooled down and panicked when he saw that the fruit was gone.
"AHHH! LUFFY! Did you eat the fruit in that box?!'
"Yeah, but it tasted horrible."
Luffy suddenly grabbed his stomach and bent over cringing, "Shanks! I don't feel too good."
"CRAP! Benn! Run to the ship and get the Seastone cuffs! I'll try to keep him in one piece with my Haki!"
The first mate sped out of the bar as fast as he could, Luffy was already going fuzzy all over, and a sheen of blue sparks danced across his skin.
"Shanks! What's happening?!" Luffy screamed as his arms started to turn an electric blue.
Shanks' arms turned a shiny obsidian as he grabbed Luffy's hands, forcing them back into flesh. The Armament Haki slowly crept over Luffy's arms and up to his chest.
"Shanks! What's going on?! I can't feel my arms!"
"It's okay Luffy! It's going to be okay! I'm keeping you together for now; you'll be fine, just calm down and concentrate on who you are. Focus on yourself and what you look like, okay?"
Luffy started to tear up at Shank's panicked voice, but managed to keep the blue from spreading any further, as Shank's haki slowly receded.
Benn came running back in, a huge dust cloud in his wake as clamped the Seastone cuffs around Luffy's wrists. The blue over the child's skin completely vanished, and his eye's drooped. "Shanks?" he asked, "I feel really sleepy all of a sudden."
Shanks sighed and let his Haki disperse, "It's alright Luffy, you sleep now and we'll talk about this after you wake up."
Shanks sighed, and carried Luffy's limp form up the stairs. His little friend's life just got a lot more complicated.
The Next Day...
The bandits were walking through town, loudly bragging about how Shanks and the Red-Haired Pirates were weak and no match for them. Storming into Makino's bar, they saw a weary and worn out pirate crew and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
Higuma stepped forward, cracking his knuckles, "Heh heh heh, look at what we got here boys! Some washed up old sailors that need to find their way back to their boat! Why don't we lend them a hand? After teaching them a lesson, of course."
Shanks, slowly got to his feet, and made his way towards Higuma and his men, his head bowed. As he reached them, he grabbed Higuma by the shirt and stared at him with enough intensity to scare off an actual bear. "Listen here you overblown, pathetic lump! My friend is upstairs right now, after almost losing his body!" A slight haze started to rise from Shanks as his Conqueror's Haki slipped into his voice, "We are all very tired and very stressed and we do not have time to deal with your overblown sense of self today! Take your piece of shit group and your stupid pride and leave! NOW!"
A small shockwave erupted from Shanks' mouth as some of Higuma's man wet themselves and ran as fast as they could, while others were struggling to stand, Higuma had sweat dripping from his brow, and was trying to draw a breath when Makino came down the stairs.
"Shanks! Luffy's awake!" Makino announced breathlessly, Shanks immediately shot upstairs, yelling over his shoulder for Benn to handle Higuma and his friends.
As the sound of a rifle butt hitting flesh echoed below them, Shanks and Makino rushed into Luffy's room to find the boy sitting up blearily. "Shanks?" Luffy asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as the chains on his cuffs jangled.
Shanks breathed a sigh of relief as his friend woke up, "Luffy. Glad to see you're awake" Shanks said with a small smile as he walked over to the bed, "Here, let me undo those cuffs for you."
"NO!" Luffy screamed, a terrified look on his face, "Don't take them off Shanks! I don't wanna disappear into blue stuff!"
Shanks chuckled quietly, "It's alright Luffy, you won't disappear. I'll just unlock them, as long as they're still touching your skin, you'll be fine. Alright?"
Luffy nodded slowly, it WAS harder to do stuff with his hands tied together. Shanks leaned over and unlocked the Seastone cuffs on the small child's wrists.
"There we are. Now Luffy, do want to know what happened?"
Makino stepped forward, a dark glint in her eye and a frying pan held behind her back. "Yes Shanks. We would like to how this happened. And how much of it was your fault."
Shanks started stuttering as he held his hands in defeat. "N-now Makino, th-there's no need for that! Luffy's fine, the bandits are gone, and this was only somewhat my fault."
Luffy giggled as Makino beat Shanks around the room with her frying pan as punishment for Shank's 'somewhat fault' in the matter.
A severely beaten Shanks sat down next to Luffy's bed and began to explain what happened. "Luffy that fruit that you ate was called the Goro Goro no Mi, or, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. It's one of the Devil Fruits, also called the 'Treasures of the Sea'. These fruits can give amazing abilities, in exchange for never being able to swim again. There a 3 Archetypes of Devil Fruit, Luffy. They the Paramecia, these give superhuman abilities like separating your limbs without being injured, controlling wax, or even causing earthquakes! Then there are the Zoan fruits, these Devil Fruits give the user the abilities and traits of certain animals, like gaining the flight of a bird or a dog's sense of smell. There are also Mythical Zoans like the Phoenix Fruit, and the Ancient Zoan, like the T-Rex Fruit. And then we get to yours"
Luffy, began bouncing up and down in excitement, stars in his eyes. If these fruits could give people awesome powers he couldn't wait to find out what he could do.
"The Logia Fruit. The rarest, most sought after and most dangerous set of Devil Fruits." Shanks' voice became grim. "The Logia Devil Fruits are the most dangerous of all the Devil Fruits, not just for their powers, any Devil Fruit can be world-shatteringly destructive in the right hands. But a Logia Devil Fruit is especially dangerous for the user. A Logia Devil Fruit transforms whoever eats it into a physical embodiment of an element, they become the element personified. If you had eaten the Flare-Flare Fruit, and gained the power of Fire, you wouldn't be a person who can turn into and control fire, you would be Fire that has forced itself into the shape of a man. Many Logias have been lost for decades after the initial consumption, because the users didn't know how to control their new powers and became one with their element."
Luffy had lost his smile and started to worry again. "B-But that won't happen to me though? Right Shanks? I can just keep on these chains, and I won't float away?"
"Yes Luffy. As long as you keep those chains on you'll be fine, but it will also stop you from using your powers at all. And yours is one of the most feared powers out of all the Logias, the Goro Goro no Mi, has given you mastery over the element of Lightning. One of the most destructive natural occurrences in existence."
Luffy looked conflicted. "But Shanks! If I can't take of the cuffs to train, then how am I going to get good?"
Shanks smirked, "That's easy! Because I'm going to train you!"
"REALLY/WHAT?!"
Luffy and Shanks turned to look at Makino who was glaring at Shanks. "Shanks, there is no WAY that I am letting you take this child to the Grand Line! Not only is it unbelievably dangerous, but Garp would kill you when he finds out! And if not kill, then certainly severely injure Luffy!"
"Makino! Makino, calm down. I'm not taking him to the Grand Line!"
"You're not?"
"No. Even if I wanted to, Luffy has no training in even keeping a corporeal form, let alone using his Devil Fruit offensively. We'll take a few months, maybe a year around the other 3 Blues before heading to the Grand Line. Luffy will be in no more danger than the average Paradise citizen."
"Oh. Well then, what should we tell Garp when he comes looking?"
"Tell him that I took Luffy to Paradise, to train him up. He won't find me, but since I'm a Yonkou I have the number for Marine HQ, I'll call him every now and then to let him know how Luffy's doing. Reassure him that he's still safe and all that. What do you think Luffy? Luffy?"
They looked over to the small Lightning Boy, who had fallen asleep sometime during Makino and Shanks' conversation. Shanks and Makino giggled quietly, not wanting to wake the kid.
"He'll be fine Makino, you'll see. Hell, he might come up with something to let him use his abilities while still being forced into human form, there's a lot more junk out there on the sea that he can tinker with after all."
"I know he'll be fine Shanks, I just worry about him is all. He's never had a family, and Garp barely counts. You lot are fun, but not exactly the best people for raising kids."
"It'll be okay, Makino, if you're that worried about him, come with us. We can protect you just as well as we can protect Luffy."
Makino looked up in surprise, "Come with you? I haven't sailed in years, not since Garp asked me to keep an eye on his grandson."
"C'mon Makino! You never forget the sea! It'll be fun, and you can help Benn with being the crew's disciplinarian!"
CLANG!
A lump formed on Shanks' head as fell to the ground. "Fine Shanks. You got yourself a babysitter."
The next day Makino, Shanks and Luffy headed out to the Red-Haired Pirates ship, telling the mayor that they were headed to the Grand Line. He tried to stop them of course, but Makino pulled out her frying pan and he backed down.
That morning the Red-Haired Pirates set out for the South Blue, not knowing about the two small stowaways in the hold, a rude black haired boy, and a polite blonde haired child with a blue top hat...