Later.
BANG!
"How could you just shoot like that out of nowhere…?! What did we ever do to you?!" a man cried, his voice shaking with a mixture of disbelief, terror, and fury. His arms were wrapped protectively around his trembling wife, who sagged against him as if her strength had been torn away at the root. Only moments before, the couple had been strolling through the lively street, marveling at the stalls and chatting softly with smiles that spoke of an ordinary, peaceful day. That peacefulness shattered the instant a bullet ripped through the air and struck her down.
The woman clung to consciousness, blood staining her clothes, her breath shallow. The man's heart pounded, not with fear, but with outrage and heartbreak.
"I said sorry, didn't I? It was an accident. My bad," the shooter replied with a lazy shrug. His voice carried no warmth, no actual apology, no hint of meaning behind the words. It flowed out with a disgusting nonchalance that made several onlookers flinch. His expression was arrogantly indifferent, his eyes cold, and the smug curve of his mouth suggested he enjoyed the spectacle far more than he should. "I am looking for two people who resemble you two. A woman and a man. The woman has long hair. The man has a very long nose."
The man's expression twisted into one of pure fury as he stared up at the heartless criminal. The grief and hatred in his gaze were palpable, simmering like lava ready to explode.
The fake Luffy's face twisted into something ugly. His earlier smirk rotted into a mocking sneer. "What's with that face? Do you have a problem with this or something?!"
The man did not respond with words. His throat bobbed once. His lips parted, but only a breath escaped. His reddened eyes said everything his voice could not manage.
Fake Luffy sneered.
"Tch. Guess you do."
He lifted his gun again. There was no hesitation, no second thought, no flicker of humanity.
The second gunshot cracked through the street like thunder.
The man toppled beside his wife, blood pooling beneath him. His hand desperately reached out, his fingertips brushing her sleeve as if even in death he refused to let her face the darkness alone.
A horrified gasp rippled through the gathering crowd. The bustling marketplace fell into a deathly stillness, and people recoiled, stumbling backward in terror. Mothers clutched their children, vendors abandoned their carts, and no one dared breathe too loudly. The air became thick with dread, the kind that pressed down upon every heart and froze every limb. These impostors had already painted the street with blood, and not a soul wished to be the next target.
Fake Luffy savored the panic. His lips curled upward into a chilling grin as he fed on the fear radiating from everyone around him. The twisted delight in his eyes was unmistakable. Raising his voice with cruel authority, he barked orders for his gang to search the area and drag out the two fools who had humiliated him earlier.
Yet before he could fully stretch out his chest and shout his next command, something suddenly collided with him from behind.
WHUMP.
The force sent him stumbling forward and crashing onto the ground face-first. Dust flew upward as his men lurched in surprise.
The fake Luffy snarled, fury boiling in his veins so fiercely he practically vibrated. "Who the hell did that?!" he shouted, twisting around with fire in his eyes, ready to unleash violence upon whatever unlucky idiot had dared touch him.
But instead of a trembling victim or a hiding coward, he found a strange man casually passing by. The stranger carried an enormous backpack stuffed to the point of absurdity, as if it held half a forest inside. He walked along calmly, completely unfazed by the chaos behind him.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" The fake Luffy's scream echoed through the tense street, each word brimming with venom.
The entire crowd collectively stiffened, their breaths caught in their throats. A few whispered quick prayers for the poor soul who had just collided with the worst possible person in the entire archipelago.
The supposed poor soul slowed his steps and turned.
It was Luffy.
He blinked, looking mildly puzzled, his head tilting just a bit at the furious voice calling out to him. Sitting on the ground was a man who looked like someone had fished him out of an erupting volcano, his face contorted with rage and his clothes caked with dust.
"Huh?" Luffy mumbled. He squinted a little, observing the man as if trying to remember whether he had seen this angry fellow during some particularly weird dream.
The face nagged at him for a moment, but not enough to matter. Still, he decided to be polite.
"Oh. Did I bump into you? Sorry about that," Luffy said simply. His voice was casual and genuine, an apology offered with the same ease one might offer a piece of candy. He turned away again without concern and resumed walking, humming lightly as if nothing about the street or the murderous atmosphere even registered in his mind.
"I said stop right there!"
Now Luffy was genuinely annoyed. He had just finished talking with his dad and was finally on his way to reunite with the rest of his crew. He did not have time to deal with random weirdos yelling at him. He had already apologized. Polite, quick, clean apology. What more did they want from him?
Then a thought hit him.
Wait a second. Did this guy recognize him?
Crap. He should have listened to Hancock and worn the fake moustache!
Before he could think of an escape route, fake Luffy and his posse closed in, surrounding him with smug expressions and eyes dripping with arrogance. The leader pointed a gun at Luffy's face.
"Get on your knees and beg for your life! How dare you disrespect me?! I'm a pirate with a 400 million beri bounty!"
If Luffy had been mildly irritated before, now he was downright pissed off.
And what made it even worse? This man, this complete and utter moron, had the audacity to poke him in the cheek with his gun. Poke him. In. The. Cheek. With a weapon. Like a toddler prodding a pudding cup.
Luffy's fists tightened until the leather straps of his backpack creaked. His entire body trembled, not from fear, but from the effort it took to restrain himself. Hancock's words rang in his head like a warning bell. Stay out of trouble. Do not cause a scene.
He drew a slow breath, fighting the urge to deck the man into orbit. Stay calm. No punches. Not yet.
But as he really looked at this obnoxious wannabe and his crew… something clicked. Luffy's eyes sharpened, and realization dawned. This was the crew his dad had warned him about.
The hat. The vest. The pants. The sandals. It was like someone had described him to a tailor who had never once seen a real human being.
His gaze slid to the woman with short orange hair. Not Nami. Absolutely not Nami. Nami was taller, stronger, fiercer. This woman's tattoo was wrong, her posture was wrong, even her glare was flimsy. She lacked the fire Nami always radiated.
Then his eyes landed on the man with bright blue hair and a red floral shirt. That earned a long, unimpressed stare. Definitely not Franky. Franky did not wear pants. Franky made it a personal mission to avoid pants. Where were the star tattoos? Where were the giant mechanical arms? Where was the overwhelming cola powered energy?
The last guy? Looked kind of like Sogeking.
But that made no sense. Sogeking was not even part of his crew.
Now that Luffy had figured out what was going on, his instinct was to walk away. He didn't want trouble. He had places to be. But the weight of everyone's stares, all because of this idiot in the straw hat, made his blood boil.
Luffy turned and glared at fake Luffy with a look so intense, so fierce, it felt like the air itself grew heavier.
The imposter flinched. Visibly. He stumbled back, eyes wide, unnerved by the sudden wave of pressure from Luffy's gaze alone.
"Sorry," Luffy said coldly. "But I'm in a hurry."
He turned and walked away.
Whispers spread through the crowd like wildfire. Some looked hopeful, others terrified. The fake Luffy's face twisted with fury. The fake Luffy's face contorted, pulsing with humiliation. To be dismissed in front of so many witnesses was a wound to his ego he could not tolerate.
Grinding his teeth, he aimed his gun at Luffy's back and hissed, "Fine. That is all I needed to hear."
BANG.
A collective gasp swept through the people. They braced for the sight of yet another innocent body hitting the dirt, another corpse lying on the street.
Instead, Luffy shifted his torso slightly to the right.
The bullet sailed past him, missing by inches and embedding itself into a wooden wall with a dull thud.
He never even bothered to look back.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Then, without warning, an overwhelming burst of power exploded outward from Luffy. A shockwave rippled across the street, invisible yet unbearably heavy.
A controlled Conqueror's haki.
The ground trembled. People screamed and collapsed, unconscious, overwhelmed by the sheer power radiating from him. Even members of the fake crew dropped like flies, eyes rolled back, foaming at the mouth.
Those still conscious stared in awe. Disbelief. Fear.
Luffy didn't even glance at them. He simply adjusted his backpack and kept walking, unfazed.
Just before he vanished around the corner, he muttered under his breath. Quiet, but still loud enough for nearby ears to catch.
"Hancock was right. I should have put it on."
And with that, the real Straw Hat Pirate disappeared from sight, leaving behind an unconscious crowd, a trembling town, and a very terrified, thoroughly humiliated fake Luffy who would remember this day every time he changed his pants.
.
.
.
At the same time, while Luffy was still doing his best to stay under the radar in his usual, totally not suspicious way, several of his crewmates had already managed to reunite with one another.
In Grove 35.
Drifting gently through the air atop a floating bubble bike, Usopp and Nami enjoyed a rare moment of tranquility. The soft hum of the bubble beneath them and the multicolored glow of the surrounding trees created a calm that almost felt unreal after their long day of stocking up on supplies. Their bags were packed full of fresh provisions, shiny tools, and a few luxuries that Nami had insisted were absolutely essential for their departure.
"Think the others have already gathered back at the ship?" Usopp wondered.
"Hm?" Nami shifted slightly and rested her hand on one of the shopping bags. "Not entirely sure. I did hear that Robin has already arrived though."
"Robin, huh? That is good. What about Luffy?"
Nami let out a soft but weary sigh. "Doesn't seem like he's made it there yet. I figure if he had, we definitely would've known. There'd be chaos, people screaming, some kind of property damage... you know, the usual Luffy entrance."
Given their captain's legendary talent for turning the most peaceful moment into a full scale spectacle, the lack of a massive public uproar was practically confirmation that he had not shown up yet.
Usopp slumped forward, his whole body radiating exasperation. "He's the captain, but somehow he is always the last person to show up! Honestly, I always thought Zoro would be the worst at this. That guy could get lost walking in a perfectly straight hallway with one door."
Nami laughed at that, her voice ringing with genuine amusement as the two floated along on their bubble bike. Her laughter drifted through the grove like a soft breeze. But then, Usopp's eyes narrowed and his entire posture stiffened. He leaned forward, squinting into the distance.
"Oi, Nami… is that… who I think it is?" he asked, pointing ahead.
Nami followed his finger, then gasped in delight. "That's Chopper, isn't it?!"
She raised her hand and waved with enthusiasm. "Hey! Over here!"
Usopp joined in immediately, waving both arms over his head like an overexcited windmill. "It really is Chopper! Our littledoctor is back!"
Bounding toward them at full speed, tears streaming down his face, Chopper's expression lit up like a lantern the moment he recognized them. The moment of despair from earlier seemed to melt away in an instant.
"Usopppppp!" he cried, pure joy lacing his voice as he skidded to a stop near the bubble bike.
Both Nami and Usopp hopped off their ride, smiling wide as they rushed to greet their friend.
"Look at you!" Usopp shouted, circling Chopper with wide eyed amazement. "You have grown so much! Seriously, you look sturdier and fluffier than ever. I bet you are even more comfortable to ride now. What kind of crazy training have you been doing, huh?"
"Usopp is right!" Nami declared warmly as she wrapped her arms around Chopper in a tight, affectionate hug. "You are way fluffier. And softer. Honestly, I feel like I am hugging a luxury pillow and I could sink into you forever."
Chopper smiled bashfully, touched by the welcome—but then, confusion crept into his eyes. He tilted his head.
"Huh? Nami?"
"Uh… yeah?" Nami blinked, puzzled by the odd tone in his voice.
Panic suddenly overtook Chopper's expression, and he began to flail his arms in alarm. "Oh no! I'm so happy to see both of you again, but this isn't the time to celebrate! Robin's in trouble!"
Nami and Usopp exchanged a quick look, one filled with mutual understanding and long-suffering affection, and sighed in unison. It did not take much for them to piece together what had happened.
No words needed to be spoken. They already had a pretty solid idea of what, or who, had tricked their innocent little doctor.