84Once more, Gintama and One Piece belong to Hideaki Sorachi and Eiichiro Oda
Lesson 1: Nobody Wearing a Straw Hat Could Be That Bad
"A samurai's sword is not something that is held in a sheath. It's something that you hold in your very soul. These days, samurai aren't needed. But no matter how much time changes, there are things that people mustn't forget. Even if there comes a time when you must give up your sword, you must never lose the unwavering sword kept in your soul."
These words were spoken by the aged man, his body weakened and wasting away in his bed as his two children kneeled by his side for what would be the last time. As he held up his sword, handing it to his son, he was interrupted by a fit of severe coughs.
"Father!" the children cried out in concern. As his coughs began to mitigate, he turned his head to face the open screen door, uttering what would be his final words.
"The cloudless Wano sky... I wish I could've seen it one last time." The old man laments as he stares up at the sky, another cloud of blackened smoke passing through his view.
The land of the samurai. There was a time, long ago, when our country was called by that name. Those dream-filled blue skies upon which the samurai once gazed are now filled with smog from weapon factories. The towns where the samurai once proudly walked are now filled with swaggering, arrogant pirates. This is our country today. This is our city.
"No, you idiot! That's not the one! It's right there, there! Nowadays, even a chimpanzee could do this! You're human! You've been working here for more than a year! Why can't you do this?!"
The manager yelled at his poor, bespectacled employee, Shimura Shinpachi, causing commotion in the diner.
"I'm sorry. Swordsmanship is the only thing I've ever done." Shinpachi apologized, scratching the back of his head. Without warning, the manager punched him right in his cheek.
"Loser! You're still clinging to your sword?! Samurai and swords are all ancient history now! How long are you going to act as if you're a samurai, huh?!"
"Oh, come on now. Just leave it at that, boss." One of the patrons in the restaurant spoke up.
At present, there were only four customers in the restaurant, one sitting in the back, while the other three sat together. The latter three were not just ordinary men, though. The one in the middle was a sharp-faced, official-looking man who was so blatantly sleazy you might as well have written the word across his forehead. The two flanking him were even worse; Beast Pirates.
"Hey, kid, don't you bother with the register. Just get me some booze." One of the pirates ordered.
"Oh, All right. Right away."
"Sir, you mustn't be so easy on him," the manager said as Shinpachi filled up the mug.
"Nah, just that lately, whenever I see a samurai, I feel kind of sorry for them. When we first came here, the samurai were always spoiling for a fight. But now, it's as if we've lost an irritable friend. It's lonely."
A mischievous grin broke across his face as the pirate stuck his foot out and tripped Shinpachi, spilling the contents of the platter all over the lone customer in the back and causing the three men to break out in raucous laughter.
"So, I end up wanting to mess with them."
Twenty-eight years ago, pirates making a deal with Shogun Orochi arrived in Wano. The rise of the pirates led to the decline of the samurai. Most of the men were forced to work in the weapon factories. Still, some managed to avoid that terrible fate by finding manual work elsewhere. Not that things were much better out here.
"What are you doing, Shinpachi?!" the boss screamed, grabbing him by the hair and forcing his head down to apologize.
We were stripped of our swords, our status, our honor, and everything else. No, it wasn't only the samurai. It was every single citizen in this country.
"Hey."
BAM!
A single fist shot out, slamming into the manager and launching him into the table of the pirates. The fist in question belonged to none other than the lone customer who had the booze spilled on him. Standing tall was a man wearing a white yukata with a blue swirl pattern on the edges over a black shirt, his right arm hanging out. The most noticeable thing about the man was the mess of silver hair crowning his head and his half-lidded, maroon-red eyes, giving the impression of a dead fish. From his belt, he drew a battered-looking bōkuto with the inscription "Lake Toya" on the handle.
"Who the hell are you?! Even if it's just wood, carrying a sword is illegal!" The sleazy-looking official shouted. The man's expression remained as bored as ever.
"Blah blah blah. You're all so damn noisy. What, is it mating season already? Look at what happened to my chocolate parfait because of your fussing."
With a heavy swing, the perm-head brought his weapon down on the head of the official, knocking him out in one blow. "All of it spilled out!"
"Wh-What the hell are you doing?! Don't you know who we are?!" the pirates yelled out as they drew their weapons.
"My doctor told me my blood sugar level was too high, so now I can only have those once a week!"
In the blink of an eye, the man rushed past his opponents, taking them down before they could even strike back. All the while, Shinpachi could only look on in complete shock.
That man was far too rough to be called a samurai. However, he had eyes looking too far straight ahead of him to simply be called a thug.
As the man exited the restaurant, he gave one last look behind him to Shinpachi. "Tell your manager that it tasted great."
And like that, he was gone, riding away on a strange silver machine Shinpachi had never seen before.
"All right, all right, out of the way. Oh! There he is!" The local police just arrived, brought in due to all the noise.
"So, you're the one who's waving around a wooden sword and causing a ruckus! All right, don't move."
"Hold on, wait! It wasn't me! You're mistaken!" Shinpachi shouted as he raised his hands in the air.
"Hey, Yashichi! Check inside!"
"Yes, sir!" the other officer said, looking inside and catching sight of the four men lying out cold. "Uh-oh, we've got an official. You've done it now, kid."
"I told you, it wasn't me! The man who did it already ran off!"
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they always say. Next time, make your excuses after you hide your weapon." The lead officer said, pointing down at Shinpachi's apron sash. There, for all the world to see, was the same bōkuto the man before used to save him, dripping in blood. "I'm going to file a report. Come with us to the station."
Huh? WHAAAAAT?!
"Man, it just doesn't feel right. I get all cranky if I don't have some sugar." The silver-headed man fussed as he rode away on his scooter.
"HEEEEY!"
The man looked over his shoulder to find the pair of glasses he helped beforehand, running after him with his sword in hand.
"How dare you make me take the blame, you bastard! Everything's a mess because of you!" Shinpachi yelled angrily.
"What an honest kid. Did you come to give me back my bōkuto? It's okay, you can keep it. It's just something I bought on a school trip."
"That's not it! I just barely managed to get away from the cops! I kept telling them they'd got it wrong, but they won't listen to a samurai! My manager even said that I was the attacker!"
The man just kept driving as he picked his nose. "You got sacked, eh? A clerk who can't use a register is about as useless as a mom who can't make fried rice."
"Is that all you think moms are good for?!"
"You're getting all worked up just because you got fired."
"Yeah, I'm worked up! Nowadays, there isn't anyone who will hire a samurai! It's either this or the factories! How am I supposed to survive from now on?!" Shinpachi shouted as he sprang up to wallop the bastard with his own weapon.
The man's vehicle came to a sudden stop, causing Shinpachi to fall and collide with it right on his two most valuable assets. As Shinpachi curled up on the ground, cradling his pair, the man turned and began berating him.
"Damn it! Quit your whining, you four-eyed idiot! Don't think that you're the only one who's got problems! There are samurai who call cardboard boxes their homes! Can't you be more positive like them?"
"Do you even know the meaning of the word "positive"?!"
As the two men continued to argue, the doors beside them opened, revealing a young woman with short brown hair tied in a ponytail and a gentle smile. "Oh. Shin-chan? What are you doing here? Why aren't you at work?"
Shinpachi's blood ran cold as he made a strangled sound. "ACK! Sis!"
"Oh, hi." The other man greets her shortly.
The sweet smile immediately vanished as Shinpachi's sister, Shimura Tae, went into attack mode and delivered a devastating dropkick on her little brother. "What are you doing screwing around not working, you little punk! Do you know what kind of trouble we're in this month?! Even your pathetic paycheck is crucial!"
"W-Wait, Sis! This is all his fault!" Shinpachi shouted out between blows, pointing at the man who was currently escaping.
"Sorry, but there's a drama going on this afternoon I can't miss." The perm head calls over his shoulder, only to find Otae clinging to his back and giving a particularly dangerous smile.
"I'm really sorry."
A now-beat-up perm head apologized profusely. The group now found themselves at the Shimura siblings' family dojo.
"That was my big intro scene, so I got a little excited, and I kinda went overboard. I'm sorry."
Unfortunately, Otae was not having any of it, drawing a knife and still wearing that scarily warm smile.
"If "sorry" was enough, we wouldn't have seppuku. Thanks to you, our dojo may not be able to survive. It's been twenty years since Kozuki Oden's death, and Wano has grown beyond recognition. Samurai and swords…those who once held power are now dying out one by one. The same goes for our dojo. Because of the ban on swords, all of our students have left. Right now, the two of us take part-time jobs in order to try to keep it going. Even so, we try to protect the dojo that our father left behind for us."
"We've been trying so hard until now, but now…" Otae fully drew the knife, prepared to cut the man down right then and there. "Because of you, it's all over, you idiot!"
"Calm down, Sis!" Shinpachi struggled to keep his sister in check as she swung the blade wildly as the man backed away.
"Was your sister raised by gorillas?" The man asked. This did not make things better.
"Wait, wait! Calm down! I can't commit seppuku, but I do clean up my own messes." He said rapidly as he rummaged through his clothes before pulling something out.
"What is this? A business card?" Otae blinked. "Yorozuya, Sakata Gintoki."
"You can't be too picky about jobs these days, right? My business is to do whatever I'm asked to do. I'm Yorozuya Gin-chan. If you've got problems, I'll solve them, no matter what."
"You're the one who's causing us problems!" Otae shouts as she and Shinpachi stomp on Gintoki.
"Find me a job, damn you!"
"Calm down! I can't find you a job, but I can teach you a chant so you won't be nervous at interviews." Gintoki tries to negotiate.
"No, thank you!" The siblings yell in unison.
After getting their due punishment towards the idiot, Shinpachi turns to his sister to tell her the one thing he knows she doesn't want to hear.
"Sis, it's impossible to run a sword dojo in this day and age. Swords won't ever be revived again. We don't have anything to gain by desperately protecting this dojo."
"This isn't about profit or gain," Otae answered calmly. "Does a child really need a reason to protect the things that its parents cherished?"
"But, Sis, what did Father ever do for us?"
Before Otae could answer, the door was kicked down. Walking through the wreckage was a shrewd-looking man flanked by two mean-looking bodyguards. All three were wearing the standard outfit of the Beast Pirates.
"Today, I'm definitely going to make you pay me back. I can't take it anymore! Now I'm really getting irritated!"
"A loan? You're leading pretty dangerous lives for a couple of kids." Gintoki commented as he started to get up from the floor.
"We didn't do it! It was Father-"
"Shin-chan!" Otae cuts off her brother before he can say more.
"What the hell are you blabbering about?! Hurry up and bring me my money, stupid!" The loan shark, Korigashi, kept screeching. (Directly translates to Loan Shark in Japanese. I just needed to call this guy something other than "the loan shark," "the boss," or "that guy.")
"Wait a minute, today is-"
"Shut up!" Korigashi cuts Shinpachi off again. "I've been waiting ever since your old man was still alive! I'm starting to go bald! You promised that you'd sell the dojo if you couldn't pay! You're going to keep that promise!"
"Wait a moment!" Otae tried to reason but to no avail.
"Why?! That's good enough, isn't it? You don't need to feel obligated to your stupid father, who left you nothing but debt when he died! Get rid of this dojo."
Otae's eyes widened in shock and fury as she tightly clenched her fist, slamming it into Korigashi's face and sending him sprawling to the ground.
"You little-What the hell are you doing?!"
"Sis!" Shinpachi yelled out as he and his sister were restrained by the bodyguards. Korigashi slowly got up, wiping the blood from his lip.
"You fool, do you think that I won't hurt you just because you're a woman?!" He pulled his own fist back to return the punch, only to find it stopped as a powerful grip locked on his arm.
"That's enough," Gintoki said, his voice low and tense. "Even though she was raised by gorillas, she's still a woman."
The loan shark finally managed to free his arm. "Who the hell are you?! Does this dojo still have students?! Honestly, the lot of you…forget the dojo! But I'm going to make you work to pay off your debt. I've started a new business. It's called No-Underwear Shabu Shabu Heaven."
"No underwear?! Wh-Why?!" Shinpachi questioned.
"Simply put, it's floating adult entertainment. Technically, they're prohibited in Wano now. But if it's on the water, it'll be out of sight from government officials. I can do whatever I want."
Korigashi turned back to Otae. "I've already gathered beauties from across the country, but you'd be more than welcome. Well, it comes down to either selling this dojo or selling yourself. Which will it be?"
"No way! She'd never do something like that!"
Koragshi turned and sneered, his voice dripping with mock arrogance. "Of course, you could always try to eke out some meager pay at the weapons factory. Otherwise, I'll have to let my captain know about the two brats who tried to cheat him out of his money. And I don't think any of us want that."
Shinpachi clenched his fist in frustration. Everyone knew exactly which captain he was referring to. That man was the sole reason Wano is in its current state. However, there was no one left alive who could possibly stand up to that monster. So, in the end, this was all he could do.
"All right. I'll go." Otae finally gave her answer. Korigashi just smirked.
"What a dutiful daughter you are."
The boss and his goons, along with Otae, began to walk out. Gintoki continued to watch the scene in silence while Shinpachi tried to convince his sister one last time.
"Hold on, Sis! Why would you do this?! We've done enough, haven't we?!"
Otae came to a halt for a brief moment. "Shin-chan, it's as you say. Nothing good will come from saving this dojo, only pain. But it's also painful to let go. It's painful to keep or discard something that you can never get back."
She finally turned her head to face her brother, smiling forlornly. "If it's going to be painful either way, I'd rather suffer trying to protect it."
"What the hell?! Damn it! My stupid sister! She just keeps talking about Father. What did that baldy ever do for us?! He only played Othello with us once in a while!" Shinpachi screamed out his frustrations as he did practice swings, but it did little to make him feel better.
"Was your dad bald?"
"Well, he was mentally bald—Hey, you're still here?! And why are you cooking in my house?!"
Shinpachi turned to address the silver perm-head, who, of all things, was attempting to bake a cake.
"Well, I can't go on without eating something sweet periodically."
"Then make something easier! Where did you even get the ingredients for cake anyway?"
Gintoki just shrugs. "Life finds a way."
"Don't just quote Jurassic Park to try and dodge the question!"
Continuing to avoid said question, Gintoki asks one of his own. "Shouldn't you go after your sister?"
"...I don't care. It was her decision to leave. She really is my Father's daughter. She's just like him. Father was a good-natured person who always talked about duty and compassion. Because of that, he was taken advantage of and died in debt. Why was he so careless? I don't want to die with only grand principles to my name."
"But no matter how much times change, there are things that people mustn't forget."
"Does a child really need a reason to protect the things that its parents cherished?"
Shinpachi tried to shake their words from his mind.
"That kind of thinking only gets in the way nowadays. I plan on living smarter and longer."
Gintoki sat in silence, polishing off the last of his cake.
"Is that so? But you don't seem very smart to me." He finally said as Shinpachi turned away to hide his flowing tears. Gintoki just scratched his head as he stood and picked up his bokutō. "Samurai don't need a reason to act. If they have something they have to protect, they should draw their sword. Do you love your sister?"
Shinpachi finally looked up, eyes flowing with both tears and resolve.
"Watch the beautiful sunset from heaven. First boat leaves this afternoon at four." Shinpachi read aloud from the flyer left behind, his voice getting higher with each passing word. The duo were racing down the road toward Itachi Port on Gintoki's scooter on their way to save Otae, but at this rate...
"This is bad! The ship's about to leave! Can't this thing go any faster?!"
"Hey, safety first. That's my motto. It'll also hurt if we crash."
"Now's not the time to be saying that! Sis is in no-underwear danger!"
"You're making too big a deal out of the 'no-underwear' part! Nowadays, there are people who call newspaper underwear."
"Hey, you! The one without the helmet on the strange vehicle, stop!" Two law officers raced up from behind, riding a pair of Komatori.
"What are you saying? We don't need road traffic laws in this day and age." Gintoki said.
"That's true, but it'll hurt if you crash. I'm just telling you because I'm concerned." the officer replied.
"It'll be all right. I have a hard head."
"Huh?! What?! I'm trying to be considerate! It really hurts! Seriously, it's terrible!"
"Shut up. I'm telling you that it's hard!" To emphasize this point, Gintoki proceeded to headbutt the officer, knocking him back into his partner and momentarily causing their steeds to slow down.
"AAH! I've got a nosebleed! A nosebleed! And at my age!"
Shinpachi suddenly pointed out toward the water in a panicked voice. "The Shabu Shabu Heaven has already left port! What are we going to do?!"
The two officers collected themselves and began racing toward the motorist duo. "Hey, you! Do you think that you can outrun the police?!"
Gintoki just looked at the pair of large birds they were riding and smiled as an idea began to form.
"I'm Otae. Please treat me gently." She bowed.
"I told you, that's not how you do it! You're supposed to show more cleavage there! Stupid!" Korigashi berated her until he found his face trapped in an iron claw.
"I've never had cleavage before in my life." She said calmly, but made sure to get the point across not to bring up the subject again.
"Oh, sorry. You couldn't show any even if you wanted to. Fine! Next, we'll work on your technique! Take off your underwear and give us some shabu shabu heaven!" He ordered, pointing towards the hot pot. Otae began to get nervous.
"What's wrong? If you've lost your nerve now, it's too late! If you think that I'm going to go easy on you just because we're rated T, you're mistaken!" Korigashi pounced on Otae, ready to do the job himself, as she screamed and struggled to get him off.
"This is for your dojo. So buck up, little soldier!"
CRASH! SQUAWK!
"Boss! What's going on?!" The goons flooded the doorway at the sound of the ruckus.
"C-Ch-Chickens. A pair of chickens crashed into us!" Korigashi stuttered in shock, looking at the pair of Komatori currently lying out cold on the floor.
"That flag and emblem! It's the police! The cops are onto us!"
"Don't worry. They're just rentals." A voice called out as the dust and feathers began to clear, revealing Gintoki and Shinpachi. "Hello. Yorozuya Gin-chan at your service!"
"Sis! You still have your underwear, right?!"
"Shin-chan?!" Otae was shocked to see her brother here, along with the strange man they only just met earlier today.
Korigashi finally had enough and snapped. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"We've come to get my sister back!" Shinpachi declared.
"You idiot! Don't any of you understand that it's too late already?! Your dojo won't be any safer after this!"
"I don't care about the dojo! I want a dojo where my sister is always smiling. If I have to see my sister cry, I don't need it!"
"Shin-chan…" Otae began, her voice filled with emotion.
"Fool! What can just the two of you do? Get them!" Korigashi gave the order as he and his men raised their guns. Shinpachi raised his sword as Gintoki stepped forward.
"Hey, I'll distract 'em. Go find a lifeboat or something and get outta here."
"Wh-What about you?"
"You just focus on protecting your sister. I'll protect what I want to protect." Gintoki stated as he placed a hand on his sword.
"What the hell are you going on about? Die!" Korigashi shouted. But before he or any of his men could fire a shot, Gintoki swung his sword first. With the strength of a whirlwind, he managed to knock back several men at once, sending them crashing through the walls and screen doors.
"All right! Next!"
"Who is this guy?!" The guards choked out before they, too, were beaten down.
There was no sense of rhythm or properness to his style. To most, it would seem as if he was just wildly swinging his bōkuto around like some common thug. But underlying that seemingly directionless ferocity was a clear amount of skill and experience, the kind you could only gain from facing the battlefield more than once.
"What?!" Shinpachi was amazed at the sight he was seeing.
"H-His style is crazy but strong!" Otae commented as she watched.
"Shinichi! Go!" Gintoki yelled.
"It's "Shinpachi," you idiot!"
Shinpachi grabbed his sister as they both made their way through the vessel.
"Shin-chan! Will he be all right? Why is he doing this for us?"
"I don't know! But he'll come back! Because I sense it in him! The thing that Father talked about."
"AAAAAHHHH!"
The siblings looked over their shoulders to see the guy they trusted to cover their backs running away from the army of guards with his tail between his legs.
"He really came back!" Shinpachi shouted. Gintoki caught up with them quickly.
"That was tough! It was way tougher than I thought!"
"Try a little harder! You didn't even last a page!"
"You idiot! It's really tough to write a page-long fight! Not to mention it's this author's first time writing fight scenes to begin with! Just find a boat right now!"
The three raced around until they found themselves in the bowels of the ship, entering a large room with little light.
"Where are we?" Shinpachi squinted in the minimal light, making out a large round shape with a skull and crossbones emblem painted on. "Are these explosives?!"
CLICK
"Yep. It's also a dead end. Let's end this game of tag." Korigashi sneered as he cocked his pistol. "How pathetic. The samurai who once protected Wano Country with their swords are now nothing but bums who can't even protect a single girl. Face it. There's nothing left for you to protect. This country, this sea, even this very sky; they all belong to us, the Beast Pirates."
Gintoki stepped forward, his calm and confident demeanor restored. "The country? The sky? You can have 'em. I'm too busy protecting the things right in front of me. I don't know how many things I have failed to protect or what will happen to me in the future, but if something falls at my feet, then the least I can do is pick it up."
"What a pathetic warrior spirit. I've had enough of you. Just die." But before he could pull the trigger, his own goon stopped him short.
"Hold on, sir, no! What'll happen if we hit the bomb? We'll go up along with the ship!"
"O-Oh crap, I forgot. Hey, he's climbing it! Hey, wait! That's not good! Stop that!" Korigashi screamed as Gintoki stood on top of the bomb. Fortunately, it was protected by a metal case, so there was no way he could—
"What's precious to my client is precious to me. To protect that, I'll do anything!" Gintoki cried as he brought Lake Toya down on the case, cracking it down the center.
"No! He really did it! RUN!"
Gintoki lept down, grabbing Otae and Shinpachi in his arms as he raced ahead of the stampede of pirates as the bomb went off, destroying each room one by one.
"Luckily, we were on the ocean, but who knows what would have happened if that bomb had been brought anywhere near the port," Shinpachi complained, tired after the long day.
"I've never seen such a crazy samurai. But in the end, he saved us." Otae said.
It was true. By some miracle, they managed to make it out on the deck with enough time before the ship completely sunk, grabbing onto some debris and floating with the tide before they were fished up by the police. As it also turns out, Korigashi and his men weren't actually members of the Beast Pirates, just a small-time group of yakuza who tried to use the name for intimidation. Gintoki, meanwhile…
"What?! I aided in the arrest of ruffians who were disturbing the peace in Kuri! You can let the fact that I borrowed a police Komatori slide!"
""Borrowed"?! My Komatori and I are a complete wreck! They're not even supposed to be able to fly!" The bruised and battered police officer argued back as his steed was bandaged up behind him.
"You've always been a wreck! The two of you actually look even better this way! And don't go putting your partner down like that! It's all about mind over matter with this kind of stuff!"
"HOW?!"
Shinpachi just chuckled at the scene, finally getting used to the man and his antics. He turned back towards the sea, taking in the sunset with his sister before finally speaking up.
"Sis, I…"
"Go."
Shinpachi looked at his sister in surprise. Did she already know what he was going to say?
"You found something in him, right? Go and find your sword. I'll look for it my own way. It's all right. I won't do anything rash anymore. I don't want to see you cry either, after all."
"Sis…"
"Even if there comes a time when you must give up your sword, you must never lose the unwavering sword kept in your soul."
Shinpachi thought about his father's words as he turned, running towards the still-arguing samurai who had so intensely captured his curiosity.
Father. What sort of soul does this guy have? It's very difficult to tell, but it's definitely shining. I can't say that living in this era of piracy is any less hell. I don't know what the future holds for us. But right now, I think I'd like to watch that soul shine for a while longer.
Later that night on Onigashima:
Deep within the skull-shaped castle, a thunderous voice boomed out. "Report."
"Yes, sir." Headliner Holdem said. Both he and his partner Kamijiro know better than to act out right now in the face of the governor-general of the Beast Pirates. The strongest creature alive, Kaido.
"We detained the group acting in our name without our permission earlier today. I already put in the order to have them sent to the prisoner mine in Udon."
"Very well. Queen, I trust you can handle things from here?"
"Of course, Kaido-sama. I will teach them what it means to try and go around pretending to be something they are not." The fat All-Star chuckled darkly.
"Let me see the files." The towering man in black leather on Kaido's right side said.
"Of course, King-sama," Holdem handed the papers over. King gave the files a once-over.
"It would seem these men were only in charge of a racketeering and loans business. Nothing we need to concern ourselves with. Though, be sure to question them about how they managed to get their hands on one of our bombs."
"I was already planning that," Queen said curtly, making no attempt to hide his animosity toward his fellow All-Star.
"If that is all, then the meeting is adjourned," Kaido said, rising from his throne. He had no time to waste on this. There was much to prepare to put the New Onigashima Plan into action.
As the rest of the meeting members went their way, King took one last glance at the file. He turned the page, his eyes hovering on one particular name in the police records. "That name…"
Meanwhile, in the East Blue:
A lone rowboat dotted the blue ocean as the birds and clouds hung above, dancing in the sunlight.
"Wow! It's amazing out! A perfect day to set sail!" the lone passenger of the boat exclaimed.
Suddenly, the water ahead began to churn until it burst to reveal a massive eel-like monster rising from the depths, in a perfect position to swallow the young man whole, boat and all. Most people would've crapped their pants by now. But the lone passenger just gave a big, toothy grin as if he were greeting an old friend.
"There you are! Our local Sea King! It's been a while, hasn't it? I hope you're ready."
The young man stood up, fixing his straw hat and cocking his fist back. His eyes glinted with determination. "I've been perfecting this attack for ten years now!"
The beast roared as it rushed forward, ready to eat, as the boy threw his fist back, stretching it to an impossible length for any normal human.
"Gomu Gomu no…" Finally, his fist came to a stop before snapping back and slamming into the monster's face at high velocity. "PISTOL!"
That ended it. The monster that terrorized the coastline of Dawn Island was taken down in a single punch, collapsing in a heap on the surface of the sea.
"That'll teach you, you stupid fish!"
The young man fixed his hat once more as he looked out over the horizon, thinking about his next steps toward his dream.
"First things first! Let's start with finding a crew! Ten people ought to do it. And a flag! Can't forget that."
This young man was Monkey D. Luffy. After seventeen years, he is finally setting sail on his journey, and he can no longer contain his excitement.
"Let's do it! I'm gonna be KING OF THE PIRATES!"