Kon landed in a quiet alley in Shells Town after losing sight of the Marines. Goku clung to his shoulder, chattering loudly in monkey language, waving his arms and pointing back toward the place where Kon had just stolen two rice balls.
Kon's head hung low, his cheeks burning with shame. 'I messed up big time,' he thought, kicking a pebble. 'Those rice balls weren't mine, and now the Marines are after me for stealing them.' Goku's scolding grew louder, his tiny fists shaking.
'Goku's so mad,' Kon thought, wincing.
"Fine, Goku," Kon said, his voice small. "I'll find the girl and apologize to her."
'Gotta make this right,' he thought, his embarrassment mixing with determination.
'Old Man Iroh always said to own up to your mistakes.' Goku stopped chattering, giving a firm nod, his eyes still stern.
'He's not letting me off easy,' Kon thought, sighing.
Kon took off, using small bursts of air to hop over rooftops, keeping low to avoid the Marines.
'Can't let 'em catch me before I find her. I hope that they don't put a bounty on me for stealing Rice Balls. They should rather put a bounty on the person who was going to throw the riceballs. That would have been such a big crime,' he thought, scanning the streets below. Goku perched on his head, pointing at every kid they saw, but Kon shook his head.
"Not her," he muttered, moving from alley to market. After a few hours, he spotted the girl standing in front of a bar in a waitress uniform with pigtails, her arms crossed, still looking grumpy.
'That's her, he thought, his stomach twisting. He dropped down in front of her, the wind softening his landing.
The girl's eyes widened, and she pointed at him. "It's you, the rice ball thief!" she shouted, drawing stares from nearby vendors.
Kon rubbed the back of his neck, his face red. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice low.
'This is so embarrassing,' he thought, avoiding her gaze. 'Everyone's staring.'
The girl huffed, hands on her hips. "I made those rice balls for Mr. Zoro, not you. Why'd you eat them?"
Kon's cheeks burned hotter. "They were so delicious and smelled so sweet," he mumbled, glancing at his feet.
'I couldn't help it,' he thought, remembering the honey-like flavor. 'Never tasted anything like that before.'
The girl blushed, her scowl softening. "Fine, I forgive you," she said, then grinned mischievously.
"But you gotta do something for me. You can do cool magic tricks, like flying and making my rice balls fly. Help free Mr. Zoro, and I'll truly forgive you."
Kon tilted his head, thinking. 'Free that green-haired guy?' he thought, recalling the man tied to the post. "But the Navy must've tied him up for a reason, right?"
The girl snorted, her voice sharp. "Mr. Zoro's innocent. This town's run by a tyrannical Marine Captain Morgan, who lets his son, Helmeppo, bully everyone. One day, Helmeppo brought a nasty wolf into a bar, and it attacked customers and ate their food. When Mr. Zoro fought Helmeppo for being cruel, Helmeppo threatened to execute everyone in the bar unless Zoro turned himself in. Now he's crucified for a whole month."
Kon frowned, his fists clenching. 'That's not fair,' he thought, his Chi stirring. 'Bullying people with a wolf? Threatening to kill everyone? That Helmeppo guy sounds like a jerk.'
"Then I'll save him, and you'll forgive me?" he asked, his voice firm.
The girl nodded, her grin widening. "Yes, and I'll make you more of my special rice balls."
Kon's eyes lit up, his embarrassment forgotten. "Don't you worry, I'll free Mr. Zoro!"
'More rice balls? I'm in!' he thought, his stomach already rumbling. He turned, ready to head back to the execution yard.
Kon took off. 'Gotta be fast,' he thought, picturing Zoro tied up.
'If that Helmeppo guy's as bad as she says, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind.' Goku tugged at his hair, pointing toward the center of town.
Kon nodded, speeding up, the wind pushing him forward. 'This is what Old Man Iroh meant about helping people,' he thought, his arrow mark glowing brighter. 'Zoro's innocent, and I'm the Avatar—Its my duty to help him.'
Meanwhile, in the execution yard, Luffy stood in front of Zoro as his rubber body took care of bullets fired by Marines towards. Zoro.
Luffy grinned as he said "Told you, I was strong! Now join my crew! I hear you want to be the strongest swordsman and I need a swordsman in my crew. You can be the strongest swordsman while in the Pirate king's crew."
Zoro, still tied to the post, squinted at him. "Who the heck are you?" he asked, his voice gruff.
Luffy stood tall, his grin wide. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I'm gonna find the One Piece and become the King of Pirates!"
Zoro raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. 'King of Pirates? Big talk,' he thought, tugging at his ropes. 'But he's got guts He took the bullets for me.'
Before he could respond, a shout echoed from above. "Uhhh!"
Luffy and Zoro looked up as Kon dropped from the sky, landing with a gust of wind, Goku on his shoulder.
He pointed at Luffy, grinning wildly. "You can be the King of Pirates or whatever you want, but I'm the one who's gonna have the One Piece!"
'No way this guy's beating me to it,' Kon thought, 'The One Piece is mine!'
------Author Notes------
Thankyou Daemon Crux and Almotazbllah Ahmed for supporting me!
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