Disclaimer:
- [ALL THE DIALOGUE IS DIRECTLY FROM THE MOVIE]
- [ALL SCENES ARE DIRECTLY FROM THE MOVIE]
- Chapter titles are from the Jurassic World Soundtrack.
- Minor dialogue changes were made for the sake of keeping things in character, and some scenes were cut simply to make the fic make more sense for the One Piece characters, otherwise everything is directly from the movie, simply written for ZoSan.
- I own absolutely none of this, and purely wrote it for self-indulgent purposes. I watched it and found that the interactions between Owen and Claire were so shockingly Zoro and Sanji that I needed a ZoSan version for myself.

~X~

Holiday bustle had the airport uncomfortably crowded with all different sorts of people travelling home for the holidays or leaving for a tropical destination. People rushing and shoving as Sabo looked down at his two adopted sons, whom he was going to have to let go of for the next couple days. Luffy - a bundle of energy at the prospect of their destination - and Ace, pulling the sulking teenage shtick he had been prone to the last couple months.

"Got all your things?" Sabo dropped down to a knee to check over Luffy a final time. The excitable boy had completely disregarded Sabo's request for him to brush his hair before leaving the house that morning, and instead had just pulled on his favourite straw hat while screaming at Ace to hurry up and get in the car. Reaching out and nabbing one of the straps on Luffy's bag, tugging to make sure they weren't going to start slipping off his shoulders, "Know which gate to go to?"

"Yup!" Luffy grinned, practically bouncing up and down in his excitement, "All set!"

"I'm so excited for you!" Sabo made sure the boys' hat was on correctly and gave him a light pat on the cheek before dropping his hands to clasp Luffy's in his. Shaking them in anticipation as he grinned, "You're gonna have so much fun! Not too much though, right?"

"No promises!"

Chuckling, Sabo pulled the younger one into a tight hug before pulling away and pushing himself to his feet, knowing that if he didn't let them go now, he might never actually be able to. Turning to Ace, he found the teen looking away with a bored pout on his face. Giving a wave to get his attention, Sabo asked, "Hey, you got your tickets?"

Without removing his headphones, Ace rolled his eyes and pulled the papers from his pocket to wave them at Sabo with a cocked brow. Sabo refrained from trying to get a proper goodbye out of the teenager as he had become more than accustomed to dealing with this behaviour, instead giving a happy nod and ushering them both to the security check on the other side.

"Take care of your brother." Sabo chided gently as the two began heading towards the security line. Sabo waved after but only got a wave in return from Luffy who still had a smile plastered across his face. As an afterthought, Sabo called out, "Make sure you come back with all your fingers and toes, alright?"

"We'll try!" Luffy yelled excitedly before he was lost from sight as Ace dragged him around the corner and into the security check on the other side, Sabo watching long after they were out of his sight.

~X~

A plane and a boat ride later landed the two brothers on Isla Pequeno Jardin, where Luffy found himself bounding ahead of Ace in his excitement to get a better view of the place. The welcoming docks were already an over stimulating environment for the young boy and the large dinosaur themed walkways and trains had Luffy absolutely giddy.

Welcome to Isla Pequeno Jardin, home of Jurassic World. We hope you have a safe and enjoyable stay with us.

Over a large speakerphone, the soothing voice of a woman could be heard welcoming them to the island and the park, giving advice and directions on which train to take and the departure times - most of which headed directly into the centre of the island where the main theme park was stationed.

As they made their way down the boardwalk with the rest of the crowd currently disembarking the ship, an elegant woman with long blond hair came into sight, glare from the sun on her glasses concealing her eyes as she held aloft a sign. The plaque was incredibly fancy and had their names written on it in fine printed letters:

Ace Portgas

and

Luffy Monkey

"Ace?" She intoned coolly, head turning to face Ace before dropping towards Luffy, "Luffy?"

Ace remained silent, but Luffy offered his hand, "Yup! Who're you?"

"I'm Kalifa." She informed with a polite smile, tucking the plaque under her arm and allowing Luffy to rigorously shake her hand before retracting it swiftly, "Your Uncle sent me to pick you up and show you to your hotel. Shall we?"

With a flourish towards the train station behind them, Ace gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes and stalked past with an unintelligible grumble. Luffy followed shortly after but with a much brighter attitude as he grabbed hold of the straps of his backpack and excitedly ran to catch up. Bumping his shoulder into Ace as he asked, "How big is the island?"

"Big." Ace grumbled absently.

Running to get ahead of Ace, Luffy turned and began skipping backwards while looking up at the older boy, "But how many pounds?"

"That doesn't make sense."Ace drawled, picking up the pace and shoving his way past his annoying brother, following after Kalifa as she lead them onto one of the cabs of the monorail that was waiting to depart. Finding a few free seats, Ace flopped down and crossed his arms as Luffy threw himself into the seat next to him, jostling him as he began listing off numerous facts about the island and the dinosaurs on it as the boy had spent the last several weeks learning all he could about the place in his excitement. Ace rolled his eyes in aggravation as he snatched his headphones from around his neck and placed them on to help drown out some of Luffy's babbling.

It wasn't long before the monorail was shooting off out of the station towards the main park, and Luffy was distracted for a bit as he glanced out the window at the passing scenery and the valley below with some dinosaurs visible which only caused him to begin pestering Ace once more. Ignoring the annoying jabs from Luffy, Ace stared out the window until the boy eventually stopped and became distracted by the soothing voice of the announcer echoing down the monorail line,

Those of you in the front of the train should be able to see our main gate, built from the gate of the original park, over twenty years ago.

Eyes widening in excitement, Luffy leapt out of his seat and bolted to the front of the train where he and several other kids his age looked up at the large gates currently opening in front of the train. Old doors resembling the ones that he had seen when looking up pictures of the first park, except drastically different as the sign above the door read 'JURASSIC WORLD' in large blue letters.

When they pulled into the station, Luffy was one of the first people off the train as his gaze was turned skyward, already glancing around in every direction he could to take in the place before immediately taking off as fast as he could towards the exit to the station while Ace and Kalifa followed after.

"Your uncle arranged to meet you at one o'clock." Kalifa began to explain to Ace after checking her wristwatch, before turning an annoyed look to Luffy who was already taking off, "Can he slow down?"

"Nope." Ace muttered, his own exasperation clear, however a moment of fondness causing him to break out into a wry smile. As much as he hadn't been looking forward to this trip with his little brother, he had to admit that Luffy's unrestrained glee was starting to become mildly infectious – if only because it was bothering someone else besides himself.

Already several yards ahead of them, he was nearly halfway up the escalator by the time they caught up to him as he gestured impatiently. Clearly they weren't moving nearly as fast as Luffy needed them to be, since they had already been here all of five minutes and hadn't seen anything yet.

"Come on!"

Rolling his eyes fondly, Ace resigned himself to the rest of his day playing out fairly similar.

"Your uncle's got you VIP access." Kalifa informed them as she began pulling two expensive looking wristbands from her bag, "So you can get on all the rides without waiting in line. We can drop off your bags in your room before we go to meet your uncle."

"Let's go!" Luffy exclaimed as he took off across the busy courtyard.

"Dude," Ace huffed, "she said we have to wait."

"I don't wanna wait anymore!" Luffy exclaimed as he burst through the doors of the station and out in to the main village of Jurassic World.

~X~

[art by mossyseas]

"Donquixote Doflamingo, vice president." Sanji murmured to himself under his breath as the elevator quickly descended to the first floor where he was about to meet the investors. Hand fiddling with the button on his cuff, he made sure there wasn't a single flaw in his suit, muttering softly with a frown, "Moria Gekko, bad hair."

"Hancock Boa, deserves better." With almost a remorseful tone Sanji added, " So much better."

Finishing with his cuff, he let his hands fall to his sides as he began repeating the names to himself a few final times to make sure they were fresh in his memory, "Donquixote, Moria, Hancock. Donquixote, Moria, Hancock."

"And I am Sanji." He finished with a final breath, fingers coming up to rest on his tie and giving it a final jerk to make sure it was seated in the correct place. Gaze turning to level on the elevator doors, he schooled his face into a manner of greeting, charming smile spreading across his face as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal the investors turning to look at him as he strode out confidently, "Welcome to Jurassic World."

All three nodded in greeting as Sanji stepped out, and with a courteous wave of his hand gestured for them to follow after him. Leading them to the Innovation Centre which stood as an iconic feature in heart of the main park's village where hundreds of guests visited daily to learn about dinosaurs, the extinction, and even the genetic engineering processes that Jurassic World did to make this whole park possible.

Guiding the three through the building, Sanji made a point of bringing them past some of the more popular and notable features such as the holographic displays, and the replacted excavation site, before leading them into the laboratory. Continuing with a well rehearsed speech that he had written out several days prior and had been practising aloud whenever he had had a moment to himself.

"While year-over-year revenue continues to climb, operating cost are higher than ever." Sanji explained as he guided the three investors through the research facility that resided in a large area just off of the main part of the Centre. The glass walkway they walked down revealed both sides of the laboratory and the scientists within doing various genetic modifications and lab work, including some who were attending to the incubators and the many eggs within them being kept warm. "Our share-holders have been patient, but let's be honest..."

"No one's impressed by a dinosaur anymore." Sanji scoffed as he cast a glance over his shoulder at the three that were following close behind, "Twenty years ago, de-extinction was right up there with magic. These days, kids look at a stegosaurus like an elephant from the city zoo."

"That doesn't mean Asset Development is falling behind." Sanji reassured as he noticed Donquixote looking at him with a somewhat skeptical expression, "Our DNA excavators discover new species every year. But consumers want them bigger, louder." Coming to a stop in front of several monitors in the main laboratory office, he finally turned to face the three while adding with a grin, "More teeth."

All three of the investors shared a wary glance at this information.

"The good news?" Sanji countered, bringing their attention back onto himself, "Our advances in gene splicing have opened up a whole new frontier. We've learned more from genetics in the past decade than a century of digging up bones. So, when you say you want to sponsor an attraction..." Sanji smirked, "what do you have in mind?"

Once again the three shared a look before Donquixote spoke up rather brazenly, "We want to be thrilled."

"Don't we all?" Sanji nodded his head slightly as he smirked, having expected their response. Turning to the monitor behind himself, he brought up a CGI rendering of the creature that had been created months in advance of this meeting. All three investors looked at the terrifying creature warily as Sanji explained, "The Indominus rex. Our first genetically modified hybrid."

"How did you get two different kinds of dinosaurs to... you know-" Hancock inquired.

"Oh, Indominus wasn't bred." a high pitched voice spoke from above them, interrupting the response Sanji had ready. The four looked at the source to see a rather tall man with thin frame making his way off the railing above and to the floor, joining the conversation rather abruptly. Pale skin reflecting the lights of the monitors, hands slung in the pockets of his laboratory jacket, sinister eyes glancing amoungst the investors proudly, he continued, "She was designed. She will be fifty feet long when fully grown. Bigger than the T. Rex."

"Every time we've unveiled a new asset, attendance has spiked." Sanji interjected, glancing from one investor to the next as he spoke each following sentence, "Global news coverage. Celebrity visitors. Eyes of the world."

"When will she be ready?" Donquixote commented carefully, interest clearly sparked, but obviously wary over an asset that was still only being theorized.

A happy smile lit up Sanji's face as he allowed Caesar to proudly announce, "She already is."

~X~

With the deal closed, Sanji saw off the investors before making his way back through the main part of the innovation centre. Having already made several phone calls to various departments with confirmation of the Indominus project, marketing would finally able to begin all their preparation work for when they would finally be able to unveil it.

After a quick smoke break, Sanji was back in the elevator taking him back to the Control Room where he had a few things to check up on before heading to his neck meeting. Doors sliding open with a ding, he stepped out into the massive area where dozens of people - who kept the park functioning - were all working hurriedly.

A large monitor on the far wall displayed a digital rendering of the island with up to date data on every ride, facility, and person in the park. Live streams of certain high traffic areas displayed in the corner, and some of the more important attractions as well. Facing the large monitor was several workstations with multiple people working diligently on various maintenance tasks for the park and other surveillance issues.

Upon entering the room, Sanji made his way over to the main viewing area that was situated between the work stations of the two head technicians; Usopp and Nami. Already taking in all the displayed data, he asked, "What's the live count?"

Tilting her headset microphone away from her mouth, Nami piped up, "Twenty-two thousand, two-sixteen."

"Any incidents?"

"Yeah," Usopp gestured towards a screen in the lower corner of the massive monitor on the far wall, "six kids in the lost and found, uh, twenty-eight down with heat stroke, and some-"

Cutting him off, Sanji's gaze turned down to the shirt the man currently had on underneath his open plaid patterned one. The retro logo incredibly distinct even without the bold words across its front which read 'JURASSIC PARK'. Sanji's voice remained calm despite the icy tone he adopted, "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, this?" Usopp gushed as he glanced down at it, "I got it on eBay. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I got it for one hundred and fifty dollars but the mint condition one goes for three hundred, easy-"

"Didn't it occur to you maybe that's in poor taste?" Sanji scowled.

"The shirt?" Having the grace to look little sheepish, the man rubbed a hand at the back of his neck before stuttering, "Yeah, no, it did. I understand people died. It was terrible, but..."

Usopp's earlier facade of repentance fell away as he began gushing once more, completely ignoring the exhausted sigh Sanji made as he placed his face into his hand, "That first park was legit! You know, I have a lot of respect for it. They didn't need these genetic hybrids. They just needed dinosaurs, real dinosaurs! That's kind of enough-

"Okay!" Sanji cut the man off before his babbling would get too out of hand, "just please don't wear it again."

"Uh... Yeah," Usopp's disappointment was palpable, "wasn't gonna..."

"Did you close the deal?" Nami piped up.

"Looks like it" Lighting up at the change of subject and how wonderful his other technician was, Sanji turned back to the monitor with a pleased smile, "Warlord Wireless Presents the Indominus Rex ."

Head falling into his hands, Usopp let out a pained groan, "Ugh, that is so terrible!"

Keeping his gaze on the monitor, Sanji ignored Usopp's lamenting as he began going about his daily mental checklist to ensure everything was running smoothly. While the technicians usually kept everything minor under control for him, he liked to always know what was going on, just in case.

"Why not just go the distance, Sanji?" Usopp continued, "Let these corporations name the dinosaurs. They've got all the ballparks. Why stop there?"

Having completely tuned the man out, Sanji found his gaze drawn a portion of the map as he addressed Nami, "Why are the West Plains closed?"

Pulling up the cam-feed, Nami explained, "Another Pachy roaming outside his zone, but he's fully sedated and ready for relocation."

" Pepsisaurus ." Usopp muttered to himself with an unexcited head bobble to emphasize his distaste, " Tostitodon ."

"Security said the invisible fences were a no-fail." Pointing up at the screen which currently displayed a sedated Pachycephalosaurus being treated by a medical team with a transport vehicle stationed nearby as they were clearly getting the animal ready for relocation. Sanji grouched, "That is the second time this month."

"Well," Nami mused, "the Pachys short out their implants when they butt heads."

Pulling back the finely tailored cuff on his suit, Sanji checked his watch before glancing back up at the monitor, "How much longer until they get it out of there?"

"He just got five milligrams of carfentanil."

"Yes, he's very stoned." Usopp intoned, "So why don't we show a little sympathy?"

Sanji gifted Usopp with a flat smile.

"I mean, you do understand these are actual animals, right?"

"Clean up your work space." Sanji grunted, "It's... chaotic."

"I like to think of it as a living system." Reaching out to adjust one of the plastic dinosaurs along the top of his console, Usopp informed with a smile, "Just enough stability to keep it from collapsing into anarchy."

Pulling back his lapel to pull a pack of smokes out from an inner pocket of his suit, Sanji began tapping the pack on the back of his hand to pack the tobacco as he hooked his foot around the trash pail near Usopp's desk. Absently fishing a cigarette free, he pushed the pail until it was near the corner and as Usopp's arm came back to accidentally smack his soda, it was knocked neatly into the bin.

Usopp fumbled through an embarrassed blush as he fished his drink out while Sanji just smirked to himself and began to walk away. Replacing the pack of smokes in his pocket while placing the unlit cigarette between his lips to be lit at his next available opportunity.

~X~

"Alright, I should have it by the end of the week-" Sanji trailed off as he descended the staircase into the main entertainment area of the Innovation Centre and the heads of his nephews came into view, "Okay, I'm gonna have to go. My nephews are here."

Hanging up the phone and pocketing it without waiting for a response, Sanji called out excitedly, "Luffy! Ace!"

Both boys turned at the call of their names as Sanji began striding across the floor with his arms spread wide, walking directly through the massive hologram of a velociraptor that took up the middle of the floor as Luffy was already barrelling towards him, both grinning from ear to ear. Scooping up the boy, he spun him around once before pulling him into a tight hug. He rested him on his hip as he pulled back to get a good look at the boy.

"My gosh, you've gotten big!" Sanji exclaimed, pretending to cave under the boy's weight for a moment before righting him again and resting him on his hip again. Luffy giggled manically as Sanji looked him over, "A year and you're already a foot taller."

"I'm three feet and nine and a half inches." Luffy proudly informed Sanji while tossing his arms into the air, Sanji having to adjust his hold on the boy so he wouldn't over balance and throw himself out of his uncle's arms. Sanji chuckled at the boy's exuberance before carefully putting him back on the ground.

Ace stalked forward just as Sanji released Luffy, giving Sanji the opportunity to see his other nephew who had now not only a mass of freckles on his face, but an unfortunate amount of acne to go with his age. Arms extended, Sanji stepped forward, "And Ace."

Ace just grumbled as he was pulled into the hug against his will, Luffy guffawing at his older brothers obvious displeasure as Sanji seemed to get the hint and released him sooner than he wanted to. It seemed that Ace was going to be a bit of a hard nut to crack while they were visiting, but Sanji had dealt with far more difficult people.

"Sabo says Ace is going through puberty." Luffy announced suddenly and loudly.

Ace rounded on Luffy with a snarled, "Shut up!"

"Alright, boys!" Sanji leaned forward swiftly, hands raised to keep either of them from strangling the other, not needing to have to inform his own brother that his kids had already beaten each other up when it had only been the first day of their stay with him. "That's enough. You're here to have fun, and I don't need to have to call Sabo to explain any injuries, capiche?"

"Isn't that a type of omelette?"

"That's quiche, you moron."

Luffy stuck out his tongue and Ace growled.

"Boys!" Once Sanji was certain Ace wasn't going to make to jump his brother, Sanji lowered his hands before pushing himself back to his feet. Giving a polite wave to Kalifa who had stood off to the side during their entire reunion, "Kalifa is going to take care of you until I'm done working tonight. Okay?"

Luffy's face dropped, "You're not coming with us?"

"Not right now, kiddo." Sanji frowned, reaching out to snag his nephew's chin affectionately, "I have a few more things to finish up, but once I'm done, the rest of the week is ours, alright?"

Ace seemed indifferent, but Luffy at least seemed won over. Grinning a bright smile, Sanji released him and gave him a pat on the head, "Yeah, alright."

"Great." Sanji nabbed his phone out of his pocket that had begun to ring again, attempting to ruffle Ace's hair only to have his hand smacked away before it was even close. Looking over at Kalifa and making sure the boys didn't see it, he mouthed, "Keep an eye on them."

Waving enthusiastically, Luffy called out, "Bye!"

"Have fun and I'll see you at dinner." Sanji promised as he answered the phone while stalking off, muttering down the line, "Hi! Yes! I'm on my way!"

~X~

Sanji couldn't help but feel bad for ditching his nephews on their first day at the park, however there was no way he would have been able to reschedule his pitch to Warlord Wireless, nor his meeting with Mr. Nefertari. Hopefully the boys would get some of the touristy things out of the way today, and then tomorrow they could properly go around the park and Sanji could take them more behind the scenes.

Arriving at the remote area - located on the north end of the island, down a long service road, and about as far away from the actual park as possible - the large concrete paddock came into view. Scaffolding was assembled all around the place and workers bustled about as reinforcements were added as Sanji stepped out of the vehicle to be met by the owner of the park who had been waiting for him. Smiling happily at Sanji's arrival, and inclining his head in greeting, "Sanji."

"Mr. Nefertari." Sanji politely reciprocated.

"So," Mr. Nefertari mused as they began walking down the trail towards the large paddock that housed the park's newest asset. Keeping things light, he inquired, "how's my park doing?"

"Great. We're up two and a half percent over last year." Sanji threw himself into his well prepared speech, "A bit lower than our initial projection-"

"No, no, no, no. How is it doing ?" Nefertari interrupted, "Are the guests having fun? Are the animals enjoying life?"

"Well, guest satisfaction is steady in the low nineties." Sanji tentatively noted while giving a sidelong glance at the man. A little thrown off by his last question, "And we don't have a way to measure the animals' emotional experience."

"Sure you do." Mr. Nefertari opposed, "You can see in their eyes."

"Of course." Sanji agreed, his skepticism quite obvious in his tone, but was thankfully saved from further interrogation as they began making their way up the staircase to the Observation Room and Mr. Nefertari became distracted by a welder high above them working an several newly added beams.

"Are you still building?"

"We planned to open in May, but Asset Containment insisted we build the walls up higher." Sanji explained while stalking past Mr. Nefertari, a cocky smile crooking the corner of his mouth, "It's bigger than expected."

Leading the older man inside the viewing area of the paddock, they bypassed several security doors put in place to make sure no unauthorized people could get a look at the creature without permission. Finally getting into the main control room which had a fantastic view inside the cage, Sanji continued explaining the situation, "We hit a few speed bumps early on. It began to anticipate where the food would come from. One of the handlers nearly lost an arm. The others threatened to quit if I couldn't guarantee their safety."

"So she's intelligent then." Nefertari surmised as he made his way up to the glass wall overlooking the massive enclosure. Hands clasping calmly behind his back as he began to curiously inspect the large forest within that was currently hiding the creature.

Inclining his head with a polite intonation Sanji allowed, "For a dinosaur."

"And that?" Mr. Nefertari pointed to a panel of glass further down from where they stood that was littered with spider cracks. While the glass was seemingly multiple layers thick, at least two of the layers had been hit within something hard that had caused concerning fractures.

Sanji cast a glance to the breaks he was very much aware of, pausing for an uncomfortable moment before admitting softly, "It tried to break the glass."

"I like her spirit..." Mr. Nefertari noted in awe. Both of them stilled as a movement within the cage was detected and they glanced out to see the large body of a monstrous creature skulking amoungst the trees. Still mostly concealed, its large, scaly hide was just visible through the taller branches of the trees, giving way to just how massive the beast actually was. Iridescent white scales peeked through the dense vegetation as Mr. Nefertari whispered, "Oh, it's white. You never told me it was white."

A low growl could be distantly heard from within the cage as Sanji murmured, "Think it'll scare the kids?"

"The kids?" Mr. Nefertari murmured in a hushed tone, unable to take his eyes off where the beast was still only barely visible. A large, amber eye poking out from between the thrush to watch them through a slitted pupil, nictitating membrane sliding shut slowly before the lid gave a heavy blink, "This'll give the parents nightmares."

"Is..." Sanji frowned lightly as his own gaze was drawn from the enclosure and he turned his gaze onto his boss, "that good?"

Without missing a beat, Mr. Nefertari gushed, "It's fantastic."

A relieved smile lit up Sanji's face and he made his way over to one of the control room panels to get a reading on the animal's vitals and making notes on changes since the last time he was there. Nothing out of the ordinary as he pulled back some of the feeding videos to make sure she was still being fed the appropriate amounts he had recently approved.

"Can she see us?" Mr. Nefertari asked as he paced the length of the glass to attempt to get a better look, visible eye still pinned on the Observation Deck. While big, the creature didn't move around too much, though that would likely change once they got it to a larger containment area.

"They say it can sense thermal radiation." Sanji informed, "Like snakes."

"I thought there were two of them."

"There was a sibling," Sanji began a tad tentatively as he finished transferring the vital statistics over to his own tablet for later filing, "in case this one didn't survive infancy."

"Where's the sibling?"

Pausing for a moment, Sanji mulled over exactly what to say before deciding to be blunt, "She ate it."

"So..." Mr. Nefertari mused carefully, the sudden nervousness that had taken over him palpable. Both of them watching as the trees shifted again as the Indominus began moving deeper into the paddock and away from their sight, "the paddock is quite safe then?"

Nodding, Sanji reasoned, "We have the best structural engineers in the world."

"Ah huh." Nefertari muttered under his breath, Sanji choosing to ignore the comment as the man casually began walking along the viewing area. Sanji could already tell from the man's previous tone that he wasn't going to like what he had to say next, "There's an American navy man here. Part of a research program one of my companies is running."

Sanji's fingers hovered over the keys as his thought process became completely derailed at that, slowly shutting his eyes in regret as he realized where this conversation was headed. Dreading the damned name before Mr. Nefertari even said it, Sanji wondered if there was any way he could get out of this...

"Zoro Roronoa."

Eyes reopening while huffing, he turned to Mr. Nefertari with an impatient scowl, "I know who he is."

"His animals often try to escape. They're smart." Mr. Nefertari gave a rather innocent shrug, gaze wandering to the side before noting, "He has to be smarter."

"He only thinks he's smarter." Sanji muttered under his breath with a scathing roll of his eyes.

"I want you to bring him in." Mr. Nefertari ordered, "Let him inspect the paddock. Maybe he sees something we can't."

Sanji opened his mouth to argue but realized a moment later that it would be pointless. Mr. Nefertari had clearly made up his mind and this was an order from the owner directly; once he had set his mind on something, it was useless to argue. Shutting his mouth, Sanji gave a stiff nod and resigned himself to an uncomfortable afternoon.

~X~

Metal grating of the elevated pathway groaned under his quick steps as Zoro tracked the movement of the three raptors from his aerial view of the cage. Thick jungle environment hid them from view, but every so often their quick movements were visible between the parting branches. The only noise discernible was that of a squealing pig darting through the undergrowth as it scuttled to get away.

Rounding onto a separate walkway, Zoro watched as the pig came hurtling out of the grass and towards the small escape paddock kept open for it. Three raptors emerged not a second later, hot on its heels, all three having to skid to a halt when the pig managed to escape just before any of them could lock their jaws around its portly body.

"Hold!" Raising a hand, Zoro's sharp call was the only thing that could be heard beyond the cries of birds in the surrounding jungle and the laboured grunts and hisses from the raptors beneath him. All three paused and turned their reptilian gaze skyward at the familiar voice.

Chittering amoungst themselves, their foreclaws curled into their bodies and their feet shuffled impatiently upon the mulch. Jaws working around grunts that occasionally bared their teeth, but overall remaining calm, their eyes trained on where Zoro now stood above them; one hand extended towards them in a halt motion, and the other raised near his ear.

"Hey! Okay!" Zoro commanded with several sharp snaps of his fingers, "Eyes on me."

One of the raptors – with unique white and gold coloration – lost interest for a few moments as its gaze returned to the closed paddock where the pig had previously escaped. Chirping curiously as the prospect of a swine was far more interesting than the man currently trying to get her attention. Her large taloned toes tapping anxiously on the ground as she began to turn away.

"Wado? Wado!" Zoro barked, the raptor still remaining disinterested before a second call had her gaze snapping back up at Zoro. Snapping his fingers several more times, Zoro pointed a finger at her while growling, "Watch it."

Another raptor getting fed up with waiting began snapping its jaws impatiently and chittering up at Zoro, feet shifting and foreclaws extending in a few fidgety slashes. Eyes narrowing, Zoro rounded on the second raptor – a rich burgundy coloration with purple highlights – his amber eyes locking onto Zoro's as he ordered with a hint of indignation, "Kitetsu, do- Hey!" Zoro barked again as the raptor chittered stubbornly, "Don't give me that shit!"

As Kitetsu seemed to quiet down, Zoro turned his attention to the remaining raptor who had a shimmering black coat of scales and had begun to grow impatient as well. Another two sharp snaps while Zoro levelled his finger on her and added, "Yuba! Lock it up!"

Zoro watched proudly as all three raptors turned their attention on him and were managing to stay patient as he turned back to face them with a placating hand held out in front of himself. Snapping his fingers several times as his previously stern tone, turned to a deeper – yet softer – cadence as he praised the beasts, "Good!"

All of them chittered happily at the praise, their keen gaze locked onto Zoro's hand as he raised it high above his head. Three, sharp, reptilian sets of eyes watched the movement of the hand, as Zoro snapped three times while ordering, "And... we're moving!"

Keeping his hand held high above his head, Zoro began moving along the pathway while keeping his body facing the raptors who began rotating their position to follow his movements. Yuba getting a tad too close to Kitetsu, the raptor lashed out with a warning snap of its jaws before they corrected themselves and kept turning. Zoro managed to get onto the next pathway and continue down where a pail of rodents was waiting.

Stopping in front of the bucket, Zoro lowered his arm enough to give a halting motion as he barked, "Hold!"

The raptors clicked and yipped in response, before settling back on their haunches to comfortably watch Zoro from his new position. Bodies eerily still despite their heads continuing to lightly bob up and down as they zeroed in on Zoro, their tails rigid behind them as the gave him their undivided attention.

"Hey, that's good." Zoro crowed affectionately, noticeably looking at each raptor as he smiled, "That is damn good."

Once Zoro was certain that the raptors were still behaving themselves, he let his hand lower as he snapped his other hand several times to keep their gaze on him. Eyes lowering to the bucket, he plucked out a rather bloody piece of meat and crooned, "Very good!"

Looking back up, he locked eyes with the troublemaker and tossed the piece towards him. Kitetsu hunched low before jumping up to snatch the meat out of the air with a graceful snap of his jaws, landing back on his feet before tossing his head back to properly swallow while Zoro grinned, "See, Kitetsu? That's what you get!"

"Yuba, there you go!" Scooping out another piece of meat, Zoro tossed it in a high arc to the next raptor in line, as she followed Kitetsu's example and leapt up to eagerly snatch her treat out of the air. Landing back at her spot just behind the groups beta who was still looking up at Zoro with expectant gold eyes. Reaching into the bucket a final time, he pulled out a large, frozen rat which he held aloft for the raptors to get a good look at. Locking his gaze with the white raptor as he emphasized the treat with a small shake, "Wado."

Wado chirped once in excitement before calmly rearing her head back while waiting for Zoro to toss it.

"This one's for you." Zoro reaffirmed affectionately, tossing it a moment later. The rat sailed through the air and was easily snapped up in her powerful jaws with a sickening crunch. Once she had swallowed the treat, Zoro raised his hand again and once more called out to them in a booming voice, "Hold!"

All three raptors trained their intense gazes upon him,

"Eyes up!" Zoro commanded as he raised his hand. All three raptors following the motion in unison as they reared back. Zoro kept his hand elevated for a several seconds as he watched the raptors, before dropping his arm in a firm motion and calling, "Go."

At the mention of being released, the raptors all took off into the jungle behind Zoro with happy chirps and Zoro finally let both his hands fall to his sides in relief. A grin was already spreading across his face as all the other workers around the paddock began crowing and cheering at the flawless execution; having been working to get them to this point for months now.

"You finally did it, man." Franky came running along the platform, arms raised in excitement. Nabbing Zoro's extended hand and pulling him into a half hug, squeezing tight before releasing to level Zoro with an ecstatic grin, "Amazing!"

"Zoro."

Both men paused, and – with obvious disdain – turned to look at the portly man approaching them along the perimeter walkway that circled the entirety of the cage. Large gut barely contained within the beige shirt he kept tucked into the military pants which slung low on his hips, forehead slick with sweat from the equatorial sun that beat down on the island.

"I was starting to think I hired the wrong guys, but, damn," Teach growled with a happy smirk, coming off the perimeter walkway and making his way onto the one intersecting the top of the enclosure. "you got 'em eating out of your palm."

"You came on a good day." Zoro begrudgingly admitted, "It's not usually a happy ending."

Teach came to a stop in front of them with a jeering smile, hands falling to his belt where he tucked his thumbs in and leered down at the two men menacingly, "Is that why you're not sending in your reports?

"We've been busy." Franky interjected, outwardly his tone was polite but it was clear he was extremely annoyed by the other man's presence. Zoro kept his bored gaze firmly on Teach as he was already wary over what the man was here for; whatever it was, it was most likely nothing good.

"Not too busy to cash your paychecks." Teach rebuffed, with a teasing punch towards Franky. Zoro could already sense Franky wasn't too far off from telling Teach to go fuck himself, so he interjected.

"Uh," Zoro grunted, getting Teach's attention back on himself, "what do you need, buddy?"

"A field test." Teach grunted without missing a beat. Zoro immediately rolled his eyes and began to walk away from the war crazy man who followed after Zoro with a persistent tone, "Hey. I've just seen they can respond to commands. We need to take the research and get it on its feet."

"These are wild animals, Teach." Zoro grunted as he began making his way back across the grated walkway that he had previously walked while tracking his raptors. Taking a left once reaching the centre, he took the quickest path back towards the stairs, "Trust me, you don't want them in the field."

"I just saw a bond." Teach urged as he followed after Zoro, managing to sneak past Zoro halfway down the second walkway, cutting him off as he raised his clenched fists in front of Zoro imploringly, "A real bond. Between man and beast."

"You're in my way." Zoro deadpanned.

"Come on." Teach sounded particularly exasperated now, "We're the same. We're dogs of war. We know that the military needs to reduce casualties. Some people think that robots are the future."

Once again Zoro found himself rolling his eyes as he sidestepped the man and finished making his way down the rest of the walkway. He reached the stairs just as Franky did with the bucket from the earlier training in his grasp, gaze unhappily on Teach as the man continued unperturbed, "Look, nature gave us the most effective killing machines 75 million years ago. And now we know they can take orders."

"We finally make progress and that's the first thing he says? Make a weapon?" Franky scoffed, turning his head to the side before muttering under his breath, "Shit."

"Come on, gents." Teach sent a scowl Franky's way before returning to Zoro, "It's grown-up time. Drones can't search tunnels and caves. And they're hackable. The minute a real war breaks out, all that fancy tech is gonna go dark."

"But that tech's not gonna eat anyone if someone forgets to feed it." Zoro facetiously grunted under his breath.

"Look at these creatures." Teach implored, from their vantage point at the top of the stairs they still had a fair view into the cage. Waving a meaty hand at the roaming raptors, he argued, "They've got millions of years of instinct in their cells, instinct that we can program. Their loyalty cannot be bought. These guys are gonna run straight into the enemy's teeth and eat them, belt buckle and all."

"What if they decide they wanna be in control?" Franky countered, handing off the feeding bucket to Zoro while still keeping his glare levelled on Teach.

"Well, then we remind them who is." Teach blubbered, waving a hand down into the area where the raptors were skulking about lazily, "We terminate the rogues. Promote only loyal bloodlines."

That dragged a loud cackle out of Franky, the man finally deciding on just walking away completely and leave Zoro and Teach alone looking down on the raptors. Zoro, however, was not cracking a smile at the comment as he was beginning to find Teach's ramblings more and more annoying.

"What?" Teach growled, "What's so funny?"

"I don't know." Zoro's tone remained light, but the scathing undertones were quite obvious, "You come here and you don't learn anything about these animals except what you want to know. You made them, and now you think you own them."

"We do own them." Teach countered smugly, "Extinct animals have no rights."

Zoro shook his head sadly, walking away from the man for the umpteenth time and making his way down the stairs, keeping the bucket elevated. He supposed he might as well return the left over treats to the feeding trough to be given to the raptors later that day, "They're not extinct anymore, Teach."

"Exactly." Teach snapped, throwing a final wave of his hand at the creatures before following after him, "We're sitting on a goldmine. And Nefertari is using it to stock a petting zoo."

"He just wants to teach people some humility." Zoro grumbled as he made his way down the stairs bordering the outside of the large containment facility, "He doesn't make weapons."

"You think that the eighth richest man in the world is only into oil, telecom, and family fun parks?" Teach chuckled darkly as he followed after Zoro, "He's so diversified, he doesn't even know what he owns."

"How long has InGen been practising this pitch?" Zoro interrupted Teach with the petty remark, reaching the ground and heading for the on-ground feeding area in an attempt to get away from the rambling man. Unlocking the outermost gate, he stepped into the secondary area, closing it behind him so Teach couldn't follow.

"Since the day we hired you out of the Navy." Teach smirked, Zoro keeping his gaze levelled on the man as he reached out and pressed the button to lock the door behind himself, keeping his stare flat before turning away. "You knew the end game. These animals can replace thousands of boots on the ground. How many lives would that save?"

Zoro didn't respond.

"War is part of nature." Teach grunted, arms coming down to rest on the large bars of the cage as he watched Zoro walk about, "Look around, Zoro. Every living thing in this jungle is trying to murder the other. Mother Nature's way of testing her creations. Refining the pecking order. War is a struggle. Struggle breeds greatness. Without that, we end up with places like this, charge seven bucks a soda."

Pausing from where Zoro had been double checking the straps on one of the raptor containment units, he finally glanced up at Teach as his monologue came to an end. Scowling, he muttered, "Do you hear yourself when you talk?"

"This is gonna happen," Teach shook his head, shaking off Zoro's contempt with ease, "with or without you boys. Progress always wins, man."

Zoro shrugged, "Maybe progress should lose for once."

Before Teach had a chance to respond, their conversation was cut short by a loud clattering from inside the raptor containment. Both men turning to look as a distressed squealing could be heard and one of the handlers began yelling, "Pig loose! Pig loose!"

A rather young boy went running along the grated walkway with a catching pole in hand, getting above the pig's path and lowering the pole so the loop on the end was perfectly in the pigs' path. Just as the pig was within feet of the cord, a raptor came hurtling out of the bushes to the left and snatched up the pig and hooked the cable as well. The added strength of the beast jerking the pole pulled the boy completely off the railing.

With a shriek and flailed fall, the boy landed on his back in the containment as everyone about the paddock began running and preparing for the emergency scenario. Asset Containment on patrol was already grabbing guns as the raptors began circling the boy and Zoro leapt into motion in a panic.

Slamming the button to open the secondary gate, Zoro impatiently waited as it slowly began to rise until there was enough of a gap beneath for him to slip under. Darting forward into the cage, he could distantly hear Franky slam into the bars of the cage full tilt, hands latching onto the rungs as he barked, "Zoro, no!"

Once back on his feet, Zoro ran full tilt into the cage as several workers now had guns trained on the raptors that were closing in on the young man. Zoro raised his arms as he bellowed, "No, hold your fire!"

Skidding to a halt in front of the boy, Zoro found himself face to face with all three of his raptors and much closer to them than he had ever been when they hadn't been muzzled. Hands extended towards the three raptors as they began to enclose around them, he ordered firmly, "Hold your fire. Do not fire."

One hand extended towards Wado, he watched her warily as he extended another on Kitetsu who was now coming up from his side. Never breaking eye contact with Wado, he could distantly hear the boy crawling backwards towards the gate where Franky was waiting. It wasn't long before he heard Franky dragging the boy to the safety of the secondary paddock and Zoro was able to focus on getting himself out as well.

"Put twelve amps in these animals, they're never gonna trust me again." Zoro explained calmly, finally lowering his other hand and keeping his other poised towards Wado. Her gold eyes blinking slowly as she kept her sights pinned on him, nostrils flaring dangerously as she hissed. Zoro tilted his head and growled at her, "Wado, stand down. Stand down."

Wado lurched forward with a hiss and a large snap of her jaws before drawing back, Zoro scowling as he kept his hand raised as he barked, "Hey, hey! What did I just say?"

While trying to get the beta raptor in check, he was very much aware of the other two that were attempting to herd him into Wado. Continuing to slowly back up to try and keep them all in his line of sight, he was becoming increasing pissed as his trouble maker was getting closer and snapping his jaws menacingly.

"Oi! Kitetsu!" Zoro barked, head turning to glare down the burgundy raptor that was nearing up on him, "I see you; back the fuck up!"

Kitetsu threw his head back with an unimpressed chitter, but didn't come any closer. Zoro returning his gaze to Wado as he allowed his voice to drop to a more soothing tone in response to their behaviour while following orders, "Okay. Good. Good."

Keeping his tone as placating as possible as he kept both arms extended towards the raptors, he slowly backed up towards the gate. Motions slow and steady so as not to startle the creatures even as they kept hissing and snarling while circling him at a close distance. Their body language becoming more and more agitated as they were dropping lower and lower to the ground with the intention of springing forward.

Zoro never broke his confident stance, as his foot slowly dragged through the mulch to take another cautious step backwards as Yuba began getting uncomfortably close. Breaking his gaze with Wado, Zoro sent her a glare, "Yuba! Stay right there."

Hunching forward with an unimpressed hiss, Yuba's eyes tracked his movements and her claws flared out anxiously but otherwise stopped her advancing. It wasn't too reassuring since it was clear she was just barely refraining from pouncing, however it seemed she was at least waiting from Wado's command.

Pleased at her obedience, Zoro soothed, "Good."

Another few seconds passed where they seemed to calm a bit more and Zoro slowly returned his gaze to Wado where he met the iridescent gold with a confident stare and a strong hand as he called out, "Close the gate."

"Are you crazy?!" Franky screeched.

Without breaking eye contact with Wado, Zoro muttered, "Just trust me."

"Close the gate!" The new kid yelped.

"Shit..." Franky cursed under his breath before darting over to the lock system and slamming the button to close the sliding gate. The Gate lock buzzed loudly as it began to close and Zoro kept an imploring gaze fixed on Wado as he silently counted down in his head until the last moment.

Breaking eye contact, Zoro turned and rolled under the gate just before it slammed shut. Raptors jumping into motion the second Zoro had looked away and came charging at the gate, clawing at the railings in an attempt to get at Zoro- who had just made it under in time. Getting bored a moment later, the raptors realized they couldn't get him and backed up, still keeping their eyes pinned to the gate watchfully.

Panting harshly, Zoro remained on his rear as Franky came over and offered him a hand, which he took and allowed himself to be brought to shaky feet - still a little breathless over what he had just done, and the fact that he hadn't just been ripped to shreds by his raptors. Franky chuckled softly with a short wave to the boy and muttered so only Zoro could hear, "You should have let them eat him."

"Yeah." Zoro agreed with a humorous snort.

Franky laughed while making his way out of the paddock, leaving Zoro behind with the new kid still sprawled on the ground from where he had landed after getting out of the cage. Hand coming up to scratch idly at his jaw, Zoro glanced down at the kid and muttered, "You're the new guy, right?"

"Yeah." The boy nodded, still looking a little shaken.

"You ever wonder why there was a job opening?" Zoro smirked, and judging by the slowly dawning look of horror on the boy's face, he seemed to only now realize why. Letting the boy revel in his newly found information, Zoro jerked his head towards the cage and added, "Don't ever turn your back to the cage."

Walking off, but not before he heard the boy turn and whimper as he found himself face to face with one of the raptors that was leering at him through the bars. Fighting down a smirk at the kid's wail of surprise, as he once more found Teach standing outside the cage with a thoughtful look on his face before shaking his head and walking away. Zoro watched him go, but knew he hadn't heard the last of this whole mess. Punching the button to open the secondary door to the paddock, Zoro made his way out and decided to head back to his trailer for the rest of the day.

TBC...