"This just in the robbers of the Grand Line City Bank have just been apprehended and the hostage, Nami Mikan, has been rescued once again by our city's mysterious hero, Ashura. No statement has been made by the hero of the incident but nevertheless, our gratitude goes out to him. Further reports have shown the damages-"
Sanji tuned out the rest of the news report as he stared at himself in the mirror. His costume was almost ready. Skin tight white body suit outlined with a dark blue, durable and comfortable white boots clinging snugly to his calves, thick blue gloves to protect his hands. Yes, it was almost perfect. Only one thing remained.
Sanji pushed his blond hair away from his face as he placed the glass visor against his eyes. The blue glass was tinted so that while Sanji could see everything clearly, no one could see his own identity. The blond smirked at his reflection.
"Perfect."
/
In Zoro's opinion, being the city's only superhero meant absolutely nothing when the only thing you were really known for is constantly saving the small time weather reporter, Nami.
"It's because everyone loves a good damsel in distress." Nami had told him, winking. "You're lucky I'm so cute."
The first time had been planned. To get the press more interested in Zoro's new "Ashura" identity Nami purposely set herself up to get kidnapped and have the hero save her. What they didn't count on was for every crook and thief believing that they could gain the upper hand if they held the orange haired girl hostage. They were wrong, of course, Zoro was smarter than a couple of small time idiots who were in over their heads.
But while Nami reveled in all the attention she received for supposedly being Ashura's secret lover, Zoro found it incredibly annoying. Honestly, he was a three-sword wielding samurai with super strength, ridiculously dressed in all black and a mask, and the only thing the press seemed to care about was his love life.
Speaking of love life...no, whatever. It wasn't like he was doing all this for anyone's approval. The only thing that mattered was keeping his promise to her.
"We'll use our gifts to protect this city and everyone in it! We'll be the greatest superheroes the world's ever seen!"
As long as he kept the city safe, as long as he kept his promise to her, as long as his name reached the heavens above, it didn't matter what anyone said or thought about him.
/
"-reports of destruction of property. Police have stated that there have been minimal injuries reported and no casualties but cautions everyone to stay away from East Blue Avenue-"
"The criminal seems to be dressed in a costume, with a mask hiding his identity. Could this be a new villain counterpart for our city's Ashura?"
"Sight of the vigilante has been minimal so far. It seems we are dealing with a super villain with super speed. No harm has come to any bystanders yet and people are beginning to wonder what exactly this new face wants from us-"
"Wait, wait! The villain has stopped running! It looks like he's saying something—zoom in on him!"
"Come and get me, stupid swordsman!"
Nami flickered to another news station reporting the same story. A costumed villain who, so far, had done nothing more than play a few pranks on government officials and police officers that resulted in some property damages. The only thing that seemed remotely dangerous about him was his super speed. Most likely just some reckless kid looking for some attention, barely worth Zoro's time.
The weather reporter looked over her shoulder. "You ready?"
Zoro fastened his mask over his face. "Ready."
/
The blond villain was much taller than what Zoro had briefly seen of him on the television. He even reasoned that they could be the same height. But the blond was still scrawny in comparison to the swordsman leading Zoro to believe that it would be a quick fight.
He was wrong.
When Ashura arrived at the scene, crowds cheering for his victory, the blond wasted no time in darting forward to deliver a powerful kick to the hero's side. The speed and the strength of the kick caught Zoro by surprise. He supposed that some of the power came from the speed which the kick was delivered but beneath that stupid white skin suit, Zoro could make out the hard muscle of the villain's legs.
To keep the blond from making any more sudden attacks Zoro drew two of his swords and made the first move. Lunging toward the other man, Zoro attempted to keep his focus on the blond's movements. It was difficult, the villain being nothing more than a blur of white, blue, and yellow most of the time, but Zoro concentrated and relied on instincts to make up for what his eyes couldn't see. They traded blows back and forth, neither one quite getting a good hit on the other.
Whenever the back's of one of his swords (he wasn't trying to kill the guy yet) met with the other's kick, he knew without a doubt that, strength wise, he surpassed the blond. There were very few people, even other supers who happened to have super strength, who could match Zoro in sheer physical power. But the blond had the upper hand in swiftness and flexibility, dodging the swordsman's attacks easily and retaliating with a quick kick of his own.
Managing to push the villain quite a good distance away, Zoro scowled. "What the hell is it that you want?"
"I want your head!" the blond shouted over the distance.
Zoro sighed. Usually these types of deals came from some sort of plan of revenge. Either Zoro had somehow ruined their lives (always huge overreactions) or he had sent a loved one to prison.
"Is that so?" Zoro asked, pulling his third sword out and placing the hilt between his teeth. Very rarely did he really need to fight with all three but the blond was proving to be a bigger pain in the ass than he had anticipated.
"Damn right, shitty hero!" Zoro could feel the heated glare that the blond was sending him through the glass visor. "The world needs to see what kind of man you really are!"
Yadda, yadda, yadda. It was the same speech every other villain spouted out to him before, hoping to discredit Ashura's name.
Deciding to give the news stations the story he was sure they wanted Zoro spoke, "And what kind of man would that be?"
"A good for nothing NEANDERTHAL OAF who doesn't deserve NAMI MIKAN!"
Blah, blah—wait, what?
Zoro's jaw almost lost its grip on his sword's hilt as he stared at the blond villain fuming across from him. Nami? This whole fight was about...NAMI?
Zoro could hear the surprised gasps and excited murmurs of the crowd around them. News reporters reciting the latest update with new found fervor. This was the kind of story they wanted. A superhero love triangle.
The blond wasn't done speaking though.
"Nami is such a beautiful, charming lady. Truly a goddess on Earth to grace us with her beauty and kindness." he cooed before he seethed at the hero. "And she deserves to be saved by someone much better than some moronic swordsman who can't even tell from left and right!
The blond's stance widened as he stood proudly in the middle of the street.
"Nami, my sweet, if you're listening, Prince will be the one to save you from now on!"
At that moment Zoro was sure of two things. One, that "Prince" was one of the stupidest names the blond could've come up with (at least, Ashura sounded cool and mysterious). And two, that the blond was clearly an idiot and the hero's desire to pummel him into the ground grew even more.
Deciding enough was enough, Zoro tightened his grip on his swords and charged forward. The blond followed his lead, seeming more interested in meeting the swordsman head on than attempt a strategic tactic.
The clash was painful, a foot slamming itself against Zoro's cheek and the butt of one of his swords impacting Prince's shoulder. Ignoring the pain and the sole of the boot in his face, Zoro pushed forward using his strength and the blond's unbalanced stance to knock him to the ground.
Prince reacted quickly though, pushing up from the ground with his hands and delivering a kick right to Zoro's chin, knocking his head up and almost pushing off his mask.
Grunting in pain, Zoro took a swing at the blond watching as the other man swiftly jumped back from the attack. The hero was slightly surprised to see the blond turn away and run in another direction, toward one of the many alleyways of the city but Zoro didn't give it much thought, too far in his anger and annoyance to hear some of the crowd's shouts and warnings of it being a trap. The hero rushed after the blond speedster, intending to corner him and end this once and for all.
The alleyway was dark but Zoro was expecting an attack so the foot flying his way was easily parried. Eyes adjusting to the darkness, Zoro knocked the leg away and slammed a sword hilt into Prince's gut. Taking advantage as the other man stumbled backwards from the impact Zoro swung a fist at the blond's face, satisfied at its successful impact.
Prince fell onto his back, his glass visor flying off his face from the punch and landing beyond the blond's reach. The villain's face was turned away from Zoro, his hand cradling the no doubt bruised cheek as he hissed in pain. Sheathing his swords and crouching down beside the blond, Zoro roughly grabbed what he could of the skin tight suit with one hand and turned Prince's head toward him with the other.
The sight he was greeted with was not expected.
"You like him, don't you?" Nami teased.
Zoro scoffed. "What's there to like? He's an annoying idiot."
"Please." Nami rolled her eyes. "You've never shown so much interest in anyone else before. You'd probably be more excited to play the hero if it was his ass you were saving every time."
Zoro knew Sanji. Sanji was the annoying blond cook who worked at one of the fancy restaurants Nami liked to visit every once and a while. Sanji was the idiot who constantly picked fights with him over the stupidest things. Sanji was the moron who swore like a sailor and sometimes came to work with a bloody nose claiming he got jumped and beat the shit out of the attacker. Sanji was the imbecile who Zoro may have a tiny, just a slight, practically non-existent crush on.
Or so he kept telling himself.
"Dartboard brow?" Zoro gaped in disbelief, the nickname slipping out in his surprise.
Sanji's eyes widened and shot to Zoro's mask covered face. Only one person ever called him that...
"...Moss head?"
Oh, fuck.
