Love Is Blind | ZoLu

1

It was a breezy afternoon in the middle of the cerulean blue, misty ocean that sent shivers down the spines of a well-known group of pirates called: Straw Hats.

One by one, they yearned to reach a brand new Island to see what treasures they could obtain, and mischief they would get into.

Having the most fearless man as their Captain, the crew didn't fear anything... At least, some of the members, didn't.

"YAHOO, LET'S GO!" Their brave Captain, Monkey D. Luffy shouted out in excitement when their ship docked.

"Umm, guys, I just remembered I have the "can't go near Islands with dark clouds" disease. So- UWAAH, DON'T LEAVE ME HERE, LUFFY!"

While Usopp was busy being left behind, everyone else was distracted by the large amount of smoke coming from within the seemingly deserted town.

"I can't keep up much longer, he's too fast."

Robin exhaled, along with the others around her, being defeated by Luffy's abilities to move surprisingly faster than normal.

"LUFFY, WAIT UP!! We only have two legs, how are you running so fast?!"

Zoro ran ahead of Nami and Usopp as she tried convincing the man to follow along on their journey with them, without fearing the creepy noises from wild animals around them.

Meanwhile, their Captain was already in town, stopping just a few feet away from a large cloud of black smoke that was floating upon the broken concrete.

Being the observant, wild youngster that he was, Luffy roamed around the streets to see if there happened to be an end to the pathway of black smoke.

"Straw hat boy, back away!"

Warned an unfamiliar face coming from a man stood up on the rooftop of a house.

Luffy perched his head up to look at him, being acquainted with a local resident of the strange looking town, surrounded in the mysterious black mist.

"Hey, old man... What is this stuff?"

The young boy asked his new potential friend after having stretched his arms up to where he was sitting on.

"Y-your arms-"

Having seen this reaction countless times, Luffy remained unphased, explaining to the man what he was made of.

"I ate the gum-gum fruit, now I'm a rubber man!"

Knowing this made the man run away from Luffy, begging him to not take his life.

"HEY, WAIT, I SAID!"

Following behind him, Luffy managed to corner the humble stranger in a nearby alleyway where he no longer had anywhere else to go.

However, Luffy wasn't the only one who followed the man. Creeping from beneath their bare, aching feet were dark clouds of lively smoke that seemed toxic and unfriendly to the adult teenager.

"WOAAAAH, WHAT IS THIS???"

The boy repeated his question, hoping to receive an answer from the stranger. Having nothing else to lose, he decided to let the odd boy know about what was going on.

"This is the Devil fruit's doing," the man explained.

"A feared pirate and Warlord Marshall D. Teach, known as Blackbeared, has terrorized many towns and taken the lives of many with his powers."

Astonished by this, Luffy wrapped his arm around the man, saving him from the imminent death that awaited both of them.

Being inches away from the smoke gave Luffy a sense of what the supposedly 'feared pirate' was planning on doing to such a broken looking town that continued to fall apart under his sickening commands.

"Some say he wants to be the Kings of Pirates by claiming everything as his, and wiping out every last person that roams the Earth."

Luffy furrowed his eyebrows, completely disagreeing with the man's point of view on Blackbeared.

He insisted to the civilian, over and over again, that he would be claiming the throne as King of Pirates, and that he would stop at nothing until his dream came true.

"You must be out of your mind! Competing against him is like fighting against fire: You'll only end up burned!"

The mention of fire reminded Luffy of his late brother, Portgas D. Ace, who fell victim to a Marine Admiral, Akainu.

A battle that resulted in his unfortunate death, and one that Luffy still has painful nightmares about.

The thought of a Marine's ex subordinates being in town raised Luffy's intentions of seeing him face to face. Let alone, the fact that he might have tied ropes to Akainu.

And after seeing the irreversible damage he's doing to innocent people in their hometown, made him unjustifiable.

"Take me to this man, show him to me."

Developing a sense of trust and respect for the mysterious boy who he knew next to nothing about, Luffy was lead by the endangered individual to his newest nemesis, Blackbeared.

Just from word of mouth from a local citizen that described Teach's background, turned him into Luffy's enemy. He spotted his crewmates from afar, jumping down to meet up with them.

"Don't go disappearing on us, we have trouble! Robin told us that this black smoke is dangerous," Nami said, scolding her Captain on her way towards him.

"She said this isn't smoke at all, it's some form of-"

"Darkness. A deadly darkness."

Luffy chimed in, looking at everyone's shocked faces as to how he knew so much information on the mysterious smoke.

"There's no time for me to explain it, I'm going after Blackbeared."

Before descending into battle, Zoro wielded his sword out, running behind Luffy.

Soon, the others ran ahead as well, catching up to their Captain and his first mate. The scenario they encountered was intimidating.

Luffy was stood miles away from where Blackbeared was, taking in a deep breath and releasing it with a war cry.

"BLACKBEARED, I CHALLENGE YOU TO FIGHT ME!"

Everyone went quiet, people watched in fear from their hiding places, seeing the bearded man walking towards the young Captain.

"Well, if it isn't Monkey D. Luffy. So sorry to hear about your brother."

The merciless man had heartlessly stated, watching Luffy's eyes welling up.

Memories of Ace returned to him from when they were kids, all the way to his very last known memory, and the most painful one he has of him: His death which was witnessed by Luffy in vein.

No one said another word, yet the darkness ceased to disperse from the fate of the world that was slowly expanding.

"Don't talk about my late brother Ace..."

The boy spoke through his teeth, feeling a knot form in his stomach.

"Or what?" The cruel villain grinned at his pain, enjoying himself.

"Or... I'll KICK YOUR ASS!"

~~~