The mood was tense at the marine base of Loguetown. Intel suggested that several known pirate crews are heading to Loguetown.
Captain Smoker was already patrolling the town with alot of men, so the base did not have many forces left.
The guards at the entrance tensed when they heard shouting and saw a young woman with orange hair running towards them.
"Pirates! Pirates!" the young woman heaved out of breath from running.
"There are pirates at the central plaza! I saw an ugly looking clown fighting a boy with an straw hat!", she said.
The Marine guards looked worried and didn't hesitate.
"Inform Captain Smoker! We have to get moving!" The remaining Marines quickly ran to the central plaza.
No one noticed the smiling girl enter the base without a care in the world.
Bartolomeo POV
Loguetown was loud.
Too loud for his mood.
Bartolomeo shoved his hands into the pockets of his long coat, as he walked through the crowded streets, shoulders hunched, teeth clenched. People brushed past him, laughing, shouting, living their small, meaningless lives, as if the world hadn't just ripped something out of his chest.
Tch… bastards.
He kicked an empty crate aside and spat onto the cobblestones.
A few days ago, he had a family. They were neither pirates nor heroes. Just thugs. Street dogs who knew how to survive in a place like Loguetown. They stole, intimidated, fought other gangs. Nothing glorious. Nothing noble.
But they were his.
His thoughts drifted back unwillingly.
It had started with that job.
A wealthy merchant in a big house near the docks. Guards who looked tougher than they actually were. The score had been easy. They found gold, jewels and a strange-looking fruit locked in a reinforced chest.
The fruit had been ridiculous.
It was round, greenish and covered in swirling patterns, that made his eyes hurt, if he stared too long.
"What the hell is that thing?" one of his men had asked.
Bartolomeo had laughed. "Dunno. Looks stupid."
He hadn't known what a Devil Fruit really was back then. He'd heard rumors, sure, but nothing concrete. For him it was just some sailor nonsense and drunkard tales.
He'd picked it up and turned it over in his hand.
"Bet it tastes like crap," he said.
Then, because that was the kind of guy he was, he took a bite.
It did taste like crap.
It was the worst thing, he had ever put in his mouth. Bitter, sour, wrong in a way food shouldn't be. He had nearly thrown up right there on the merchant's floor, while his men laughed their asses off.
But then…
Then the world had changed.
The first time it happened, he hadn't even understood it.
A rival gang had jumped them the next night, blades flashing in the dark. Bartolomeo had raised his hands on instinct, twisting his fingers like a child would, praying to make evil dissapear.
The knife had bounced off something invisible.
Clang.
The sound had echoed through the alley.
"What the—?"
Bartolomeo had stared at his hands, heart pounding. He pushed forward again, harder this time.
An invisible wall formed in front of him, like a solid and unyielding guardian.
He laughed like a madman.
After that, things escalated fast.
Bartolomeo made invisible barriers, shields, walls, platforms. They were crude, shaky constructs, that flickered and vanished, if he lost focus, but they were enough. Enough to make him feel untouchable.
Invincible.
He and his men had crushed other gangs, pushed their territory outward. People started avoiding their streets. Whispering his name.
Bartolomeo.
He loved it.
Too much.
What he hadn't realized was, how much the power drained him. Every barrier felt like sprinting uphill with weights chained to his lungs. Two, maybe three solid blocks and his legs would shake. His vision would blur, but he ignored it.
Power was power and power draws attention.
The merchant hadn't stayed quiet.
Smoker had come.
Bartolomeo's jaw tightened at the memory.
The Marine captain had arrived like a walking storm. White smoke rolling off him, eyes cold, voice calm in a way that made your blood freeze.
Bartolomeo had tried to fight.
He had thrown up barrier after barrier, sweat pouring down his face, teeth grinding as his stamina evaporated.
Smoker had walked through it.
Not literally, but it hadn't mattered. He pinned Bartolomeo's men one by one, shackles snapping shut, Marines flooding the base like ants.
Bartolomeo had been on his knees, lungs burning, vision swimming.
Useless.
He barely escaped through a back route, while his crew screamed his name behind him.
The sounds still haunted him.
Now he was alone.
Walking.
Lost.
He didn't even know where he was going, when he heard it.
A roar of voices.
Shouts. Gasps. Excitement. Fear.
Bartolomeo slowed, then turned toward the noise.
The central plaza.
People were running in that direction. A Marine shouted orders and bells were ringing.
Curiosity tugged at him.
No it was something stronger.
A pull.
He followed the crowd, weaving through bodies, until the massive execution platform came into view.
Bartolomeo stopped there dead in his tracks.
A boy stood on the platform.
Straw hat. Simple clothes. Hands bound. Head held high.
The boy wasn't begging or screaming.
He had a wide and very bright smile on his face.
Bartolomeo felt his breath hitch.
"What kind of idiot smiles at an execution…?" he muttered.
Then Buggy announced the name, ready to take his revenge.
"Monkey D. Luffy."
The crowd reacted instantly.
The boy was a recently known pirate with a bounty of 20.000.000 Berry.
Bartolomeo didn't hear the rest.
He was staring at the kid's face.
There was no fear in it.
Only excitement behind the biggest grin, he had ever seen.
Something in Bartolomeo's chest cracked.
That's… not normal.
The sky darkened. The wind shifted.
In that moment, standing in the place where the Pirate King had died, a gigantic lighning bolt struck the platform. It crumbled into a pile of smoldering junk.
Buggy was transfomed into a charred twitching pile of overdone clown.
Bartolomeo saw, how the boy with the straw hat now free from his constraints dusted himself and said: "Well it seems like, it wasn't my time yet SHISHISHISHISHI".
Bartolomeo leaned forward, heart pounding, his eyes wide.
For him, this was a sign of god, that this boy is something special. He was a divine existence.
Bartolomeo heard the dreaded voice of this bastard Smoker shouting through the plaza.
"Do not let him escape! After him!"
Bartolomeo's heart slammed against his ribs.
He saw Luffy sprinting through the streets with wild laughter, straw hat still on his head like the world itself couldn't touch him.
Behind him was an angry Smoker, set on cathing this pirate.
White smoke poured from the Marine captain's body, as he surged forward, flying after the boy, with a face carved from fury.
Bartolomeo didn't think.
He ran.
They tore through alleyways and main roads alike. Luffy zigzagged wildly, knocking over carts, leaping fences, shouting apologies and laughter in equal measure.
Bartolomeo chased from a distance, his breath burning and his heart racing in excitement.
Then it happened.
Smoker caught Luffy.
The Marine captain burst through a cloud of smoke and slammed Luffy into the ground, pinning him effortlessly. His jitte hovered inches from Luffy's neck.
"That's the end of the road," Smoker growled.
Bartolomeo skidded to a stop, panic flooding his limbs.
No—!
He raised his hands instinctively, will surging to help Luffy.
Before he could form even the faintest barrier, he saw a green blur dropping from above.
A man in a long green cloak landed between them, like the wind itself, moving faster than Bartolomeo's eyes could follow. His hand struck Smoker's weapon aside with casual precision.
"What—?!" Smoker barked.
The cloaked man didn't even look at him.
"Run," the stranger said calmly.
Luffy didn't hesitate.
He sprang to his feet and bolted, laughter echoing as if the world had just handed him another miracle.
Bartolomeo stared, stunned.
Who the hell was that…?
Smoker snarled and turned, but the green-cloaked man was already gone. He vanished like smoke swallowed by wind.
Bartolomeo didn't wait.
He knew Loguetown.
He darted down a narrow side street, vaulted a fence, cut through a fish market and sprinted along paths only locals used. His legs screamed, lungs burning, but he pushed harder.
Harbor… harbor…
He burst out onto the docks, just as Luffy skidded to a stop near a familiar ship with a sheep figurehead.
Bartolomeo's chest heaved.
This is it.
Before his courage could evaporate, he shouted.
"HEY! STRAW HAT!"
Luffy turned, startled. "Huh?"
Bartolomeo ran forward and without a shred of dignity dropped to his knees.
He slammed his hands to the stone pavement and pressed his forehead down in a deep, desperate dogeza.
"PLEASE LET ME JOIN YOUR CREW!"
The harbor went quiet around them.
Luffy blinked.
"…Whoa."
Bartolomeo lifted his head, just enough to keep talking with a loud but shaking voice.
"I SAW IT! I SAW YOU ON THE PLATFORM! YOU LAUGHED AT DEATH! YOU RAN FROM SMOKER LIKE HE WAS NOTHING! YOU'RE AMAZING! YOU'RE—YOU'RE—!"
He swallowed hard.
"I don't have anywhere else to go. My crew's gone. The Marines took them. I'm weak, I'm reckless and I don't know how to use my power right, but I SWEAR I'LL FOLLOW YOU TO THE END OF THE SEA!"
Luffy stared at him.
Then—
He grinned.
A wide, simple, brilliant grin.
"Sure!" Luffy said easily. "Sounds fun!"
Bartolomeo froze.
"…Huh?"
Luffy scratched his head. "What's your name?"
Bartolomeo's eyes went wide.
Tears welled up instantly.
"B—Bartolomeo!" he shouted. "Bartolomeo of Loguetown!"
Luffy stuck out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Bartolomeo!"
Bartolomeo grabbed it with both hands, like it was holy.
In that moment while kneeling on the harbor pavement, heart pounding, future uncertain, Bartolomeo knew one thing with absolute certainty.
He would follow this man anywhere.
Even into hell.
And he would never forget this day.