Chapter 3: Three Monsters vs. the Axe-Hand
Zoro raised an eyebrow. "Didn't expect both captains to be Devil Fruit users? That's pretty impressive!"
"Devil Fruit user? You mean me?" Luffy pointed at himself. "I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit—I'm a rubber man! Sol's not one, though."
Sol explained to Zoro, "I'm no Devil Fruit user. I'm a First Generation Dragon Slayer Mage—the first to learn Dragon Slayer Magic directly taught by a dragon!"
"Dragon… Dragon Slayer Magic? What even is that? Dragons teaching you how to kill dragons? I don't get it," Zoro said, confused.
Sol didn't go into full detail. "It's too wild to explain—crossing worlds and all. I originally got isekai'd into the Fairy Tail world, becoming the twin brother of Natsu who died young in an accident. I was revived in this body by my big brother Zeref Dragneel using forbidden magic."
Igneel adopted Natsu and Sol as kids and taught them both "Dragon Slayer" magic—the art of fighting dragons. As an adult soul in a kid's body, Sol quickly mastered Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. But knowing Dragon Slayers get motion sickness like crazy, Sol begged Igneel to take him to Grandine so he could learn Sky Dragon Slayer Magic too. Sky magic has a spell called Troia that cures motion sickness—problem solved.
He was supposed to go through the Eclipse Gate to the future, but being a transmigrator messed it up. Instead, he landed in the One Piece world, crashing right into the secret base of the three kids in Foosha Village. He joined them as the fourth sworn brother, two years older than Luffy (making Luffy the real little bro), and eventually set sail with him.
Zoro deadpanned, "Feels like you just said a ton of stuff. Is that just me?"
Sol waved it off. "Your imagination."
The charging Marines saw the three still chatting and zoned out. One raised his sword to strike—"Clang!"
Zoro blocked it with his own blade, then spun his body wildly. "Three Sword Style: Dragon Twister!"
A massive tornado whipped up, slashing and hurling the enemies skyward. They plummeted like dumplings, crashing to the ground unconscious.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Sol swung flaming fists, punching Marines one by one. The searing heat scorched them, leaving them writhing in pain on the deck.
Luffy kicked out with rubber whips, taking down a whole group in one stretch.
"These three are monsters—we're no match!"
A soldier trying to retreat backed right into "Axe-Hand" Morgan. Furious, Morgan raised his massive axe-arm and chopped the man down. Blood poured out.
Luffy's eyes flared with anger. "Hey! He's your subordinate—why'd you do that?!"
Morgan sneered. "I don't need cowards who run from a fight. Not killing him outright was already generous!"
"You bastard—I'm gonna send you flying!" Luffy charged. Morgan swung his axe, cracking the ground open, but Luffy dodged nimbly.
Luffy leaped high and stomped Morgan's face, flipping him over.
Morgan struggled up—only to meet Sol's blazing punch. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist! Fly!"
Morgan spun through the air, slamming into a distant building and passing out. A spiral burn mark scorched across his stomach showed the hit's power.
"Sol, that's sneaky! Why'd you steal my opponent?" Luffy complained.
Sol smirked back. "What? You were the one playing around. Zoro and I already cleaned up the soldiers—you're just slow."
Luffy finally noticed the pile of knocked-out Marines behind them. "Whoa, you guys are fast!"
Just then, Helmeppo returned from his outing—his daily torment of Zoro was basically a hobby by now.
"What the hell happened?! Why is Roronoa Zoro free? And why are there so many unconscious Marines? Where's my father?!" Helmeppo stared in disbelief.
The three walked right past him, ignoring the brat. Helmeppo rushed up to question Zoro anyway.
"Smack!"
Zoro slammed his sheathed sword into Helmeppo's face, knocking him out cold. The guy wasn't even worth drawing a blade for.
Helmeppo collapsed with a red welt across his cheek, mumbling "I'll tell Daddy…" through drool.
The trio headed back to yesterday's tavern, ordering a massive spread of food and drinks. They dug in immediately.
Zoro shoveled down a huge pile of meat, then chugged a full cup of rum. "Ahh, that hits the spot!"
Full and satisfied, he glanced at the still-eating duo. "Do Devil Fruit users really eat this much? I thought my appetite was huge."
No response—Luffy and Sol were now fighting over the last piece of roast meat.
Zoro asked next, "So where's our pirate ship? And what's the Jolly Roger look like?"
Sol's attention shifted—big mistake. "Gotcha! This meat's mine!" Luffy snatched it and devoured it with a laugh.
Sol sighed, taking a swig of booze to cope. They weren't actually hungry—they'd just grown up stealing food from each other. Food tastes better when you take it from someone else (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧.
Sol explained to Zoro: "No ship yet, but we've got startup funds to buy one. No flag either—crew's not complete."
Zoro exhaled in relief. Good—at least they weren't totally broke. A three-man, no-ship, no-flag crew would've been depressing.
The next day, they bought a small sailboat. The shop owner, hearing they'd beaten Captain Morgan, gave them a 50% discount—original 3 million Berries down to 1.5 million.
While loading up on supplies and dried food for the trip, the wounded Marines—still bandaged head-to-toe—waited at the dock.
Zoro gripped his swords. "What? Still wanna fight?"
The lead soldier stepped forward and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for defeating Captain Morgan. We've suffered under his tyranny for too long."
"Attention! Salute!"
The whole group saluted the trio respectfully. Luffy spotted a skinny figure in the crowd—it was Koby, now officially a Marine recruit.
Luffy started to wave hello, but Sol hooked his neck and dragged him onto the boat. "You're a pirate now. Chatting with him? Trying to get Koby in trouble?"
With that, the three set sail from Shells Town on their little ship.