Chapter 3

Zoro leaned a little forward, and stole a glance on the other side of the corner. No guards, good. Now, if he could only find out just where in the fortress he was... He knew his sense of direction - or lack thereof - really sucked, especially in situations like that. He hardly needed a crossroads to get lost, so in a labyrinth of corridors, you think... It had taken him little more than two minutes to be utterly screwd.

All right, so it hadn't started that bad. After that weird golden light the stupid "Pirate King" wannabe had produced, Zoro remembered nothing before waking up on a strange beach, all alone. No sign of Takanome, nor of his red-haired friend, whatever his name was. And this Alex something didn't seem to be hanging around either. Since there was little choice in this situation - he couldn't just sit on this damned beach forever ! - he had started to walk, and he had quickly found himself in a fairly big town. As far as he could tell, he was on some kind of island. Which one, or how he had gotten there, was yet to be determined, but that wasn't his priority for the moment. No, really, his priorities lay elsewhere. Finding Luffy and his crew was also one thing, but that would come later. First...

Winslow, or whatever his name was, had interrupted his fight. He had interrupted it ! The green-haired man felt as indignant about it as if it had been a crime of lese-majesty. The dream of a lifetime, the fulfilment of his destiny as the best swordsman in the world, and some kind of weirdo just had to arrive and prevent him from defeating Takanome ! Zoro had no intention of letting that go unpunished, and he still had to take care of his rival on top of that. So he would beat Mihawk and slaughter Winslow, depending upon whichever man he happened to stumble on first.

Only, everything had not gone as planned. First, even though he still had his three katanas, he had no money, no boat, no friend, and he didn't even know where he was. If Takanome had been sent on another island, or if he was still on the atoll... Zoro knew, from experience, that the best place to gather informations was a tavern, so he had tried to find the most animated tavern of this place, and he had waited, listening carefully. It had been a pure fluke, that he was there when several local military-like men had entered the tavern and started to speak about this man with the weird eyes, who had tried to steal their ship. Why Takanome would try to steal a military ship, that was beyond Zoro, but he certainly must have had his reasons. Quite frankly, he didn't care much either way. What mattered was that he had found his rival.

Finding him was one thing. Getting to him was another. From the small talk of the local military men, Zoro had been able to gather that Takanome had been imprisoned in the fortress of this island (most of the men refered to it as "Port Royal", so that must be the name of the place). If Mihawk was in jail, they couldn't fight. The logical conclusion was, he had to get him out, and so much the worse for those who would stand in his way.

Getting in and out of a heavily guarded fortress. That couldn't be worse than their little adventure in the G8 base, back with Luffy and the crew. So maybe he wouldn't have Luffy's gumy powers, and Sanji's famous kick - as if he needed it anyway - to back him up, but he could easily take on a few of these soldiers on his own, and on the way back he'd have Mihawk's valuable skills on his side.

Zoro was not one for big planning and strategy. Not that he refused to think before acting - with Luffy to keep an eye on, that was indispensable - but he didn't like overcomplicating things. In this case, his tactic was simple ; he'd get in, knock out anyone trying to stop him, and get out before the local militaries even realised what had befallen them. But that was counting without his crappy sense of orientation, of course.

Damn, I knew I should have tried to find a map...

But he had decided against it, first because that would have taken too much time, and he didn't have any idea where he might have found one anyway, secondly because he probably would have got lost anyway. Better to just resign himself, he was no Thesee. The good side was, there was no Minotaur to get rid of either (although he'd have preferred that to wandering forever in this maze of a fortress).

At least, his presence was still unknown for the moment. He had had to knock out several guards in order to get in, but he had hidden the boddies, and they were probably still unconscious - he had hit them pretty hard. Now, all he had to do was to find the jails...

Down below... Jails are always down, in a fortress. That was the case in the G8 too. I'll take the next stairs.

In default of a sense of direction, Zoro did have luck on his side, for the next stairs happened to be exactly what he was looking for. A direct way to the jails. He just hoped he'd be able to get out, once he had found his rival... The swordsman ran past several cells. How many were there, anyway ? Did these military guys here capture that many pirates ? Zoro was starting to feel a slight tingle of worry. Wasn't that a bit too easy ?

Uh ? Hey, there was a door, there ! A heavy, thick, old-looking wooden door, which seemed to be locked. Ha, as if that would even slow him down ! Two drawn katanas and three slashes later, said door was in pieces. Zoro poked his head through, ready to fall back if that was a trap, or if there were guards on the other side. No, nothing. A danger signal started to flash in Zoro's mind.

Too easy, too easy...

Zoro's bad feeling was quickly justified when he heard a voice... in his back.

"Hey, you ! What are you doing here ?!"

Now that he thought of it, he hadn't thoroughly checked each and every cell for a possible presence, since that would have taken a lot of time. His whole rescue operation depended on a good timing. Only, it looked like he had let someone sneak behind him.

"Hands up !"

Zoro turned back to face the largest, tallest, and ugliest man he had ever seen. Even Winslow, in spite of the devastated left side of his face, wasn't quite that hideous. And at least, Winslow had been clean. And he had all his teeth. As far as Zoro could tell. The swordsman wrinkled his nose at the reek the other man propagated, and he glared at him in disgust with his best "Pirate Hunter" look. That didn't seem to have much impact on his repugnant foe. Zoro drew one of his katanas. No need to defile his three-bladed style with that oversized excuse for a man, who was hardly a worthy opponent. The whole business took barely thirty seconds.

All right. So this man - the gaoler, judging from his set of keys - was large, tall, ugly and stupid. Zoro gazed at the body on the ground. The man should have carried on with his beauty sleep and not come to bother him. Ah, well. At least, now he had the keys. He went back to the smashed door and stepped through the wooden debris. On the other side of that door, just as he expected, there were some more cells, but at least, they were occupied. The man in the first cell on the left was someone he didn't know, with a red bandana and long dark hair, but there was someone else in the cell just next. Zoro couldn't see his face, as he was hidden in the shadows, but he would have bet his katanas that was the man he was looking for. He ignored the long-haired man, who was gaping at him.

"I'm surprised you let yourself be caught, Takanome", he scoffed as he drew closer. "Want some help getting out ?"

At last, the Shichibukai rose to his feet, and stepped forward to face Zoro.

"I am curious to see the end of our fight", Mihawk admitted. That was the closest he'd come to asking his foe to get him out, Zoro knew, and the green-haired man didn't take advantage of the situation. He tossed Takanome the keys.

"Here. Better to hurry, I don't know how much time we have until..."

The sound of a bell being frantically tolled indicated him that said time had expired.

"...they sound the alarm", Zoro finished, a bit dispirited.

"Erm, excuse me, but would you mind... ?" That was the man with the red bandana speaking.

"Who's that ?" Zoro asked Takanome.

"Jack Sparrow, pirate captain", Mihawk replied with a shrug.

"Let's take him with us then, one more sword - or fist - is all the better", Zoro commented as he retrieved the keys and fumbled with them to find which one fit Sparrow's cell's lock.

"I concur", the long-haired captain said wholeheartedly, and Zoro grinned.

"We need to find my sword", Mihawk interjected.

"We'll take it on the way out - it's probably in the armoury" the green-haired swordsman replied, and he took the lead.

Not that he trusted his sense of direction any more than usual, but he had found the way in, so all in all, he was the one who knew best the configuration of the place. At least supposedly. All right, so he had no idea where the armoury might be, but... Oddly enough, he didn't remember seeing this intersection before... weren't they supposed to turn left at some point ? Damn, where were they ? At the same time, Sparrow slipped on something and fell on the ground, cussing, and the straw hat pirate glared at him. That was not the moment for that !

Five minutes later, Zoro gave up and admitted inwardly he was - once again - completely lost. And there seemed to be a lot of activity around there. If they weren't located yet, that was only a matter of time.

"Not much of a rescue, is it ?" Mihawk commented dryly.

"Shut up", Zoro muttered with a glare directed toward his rival. He didn't need that particular fact to be pointed out, thank you very much.

"We are screeeewd !" the long-haired pirate whimpered.

"No worry, I can take them", Zoro said more confidently than he really felt.

He grasped the handles of his katanas. With these, he was invincible. No bunch of rookie sailors were going to beat him, even if they had rifles. That didn't frighten him. After all, he was the man who could slash steel. What were a few bullets to him ?

The three escapees, still led by Zoro, turned left, and the green-haired swordsman rushed down the stairs. Stairs ? Down ? Not good... we should go up... Zoro came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, not really of his own free will but gingerly motivated by all the guns pointed towards him. Okay, so there was an awful lot of them, and only one of him. Three if he counted Mihawk and the other long-haired idiot. The odds were not that good, but he had survived worse. That would do...

"Surrender, you filthy scum !" an officer said.

That sounded like a righteous nit to Zoro, and his lips twisted in a predatory smile.

"Come get me !" he dared them, as he started to draw his katanas.

He never got to finish to unsheath them, however, for something - or rather, someone - fell on him, crushing him hard on the cold stoned floor.

"What the... ?"

Zoro didn't have time to realise what had just happened, for the militaries didn't leave him time to react and grabbed him, taking his swords away from him. That felt almost like a violation, having strangers lay their hands on his beloved swords. People that couldn't even come near to understanding the value and meaning they had for him. Zoro growled with rage as he was strongly held and pushed upward to a standing position. The officer came closer. Of course, he feels brave now that I have lost my swords... The officer slapped Zoro on the face, hard, and the swordsman's cheek reddened, not so with pain as with rage.

"Not so mouthy, now, are you ?" the officer jeered. "You filthy scum ! You have some nerve, coming in to free sentenced prisoners and convicted pirates ! I think you'll share their fate."

"Give me back my swords, and I'll wipe your stupid smile off your face", Zoro said in a low, dangerous voice, as he glared the man down.

The officer took unvoluntarily a step backward, then clenched his fist when he realised what he had done. The other soldiers didn't seem to hold him in much respect, for they shared mocking smiles, and that increased the officer's anger.

"Who do you think you're talking to ?" he bellowed. "I'm lieutenant Andrew Gillette, and you will talk to me with respect !"

But Zoro wasn't even looking at him, as if he hadn't even heard the rant. He mock-jumped and turned his eyes to face Gillette.

"Uh ? You were saying something ?" he queried in assumed boredness, to Gillette's fury.

"Take them away !" the lieutenant seethed, before he strode out of the room with what little was left of his pride. However, he paused in mid-step and turned back to face Zoro. "But first, give me these swords", he added with a wicked sneer.

Zoro's eyes widened slightly. No, he wouldn't dare...

"Interesting swords", Gillette said as he half-unsheathed one of them to look at the blade, as Zoro watched in impotent rage. The lieutenant noticed the swordsman's dismay, and his smile widened. "They'll do fine in my collection, I think. Unless I just throw them in the sea. But it would be a pity to waste such fine blades. They have no reason to be in the filthy hands of a pirate."

Satisfied that he had found a way to get at Zoro (a way that didn't involve risking the aristocracy of his profile), he left with the katanas casually slid under his arm. Zoro gritted his teeth so hard that it hurt. Everything was blurred in a shade of red around him, and all he could hear was his heartbeat frantically pumping blood that roared in his ears. He valued his katanas more than his life. To think of them in the hands of that poor excuse for a man... He couldn't stand it.

With a howl of fury, he kicked the closest soldier hard in the ribs, and broke free of the others. A few more punches, and half a dozen of soldiers were whimpering on the ground ; Zoro dashed to the door where his katanas had disappeared, but that was counting without the twenty man that fell on him all at once, as if he was a rugby ball.

"He's mad ! Someone find shackles !" someone, likely one of the soldiers, shouted.

"Ouuuch !" another one cried out as Zoro felt something hard give way under his left foot.

"Knock him out !"

He felt a sharp pain on his head, then everything went black. Definitely not much of a rescue, it was.

Ben Beckman lit a cigarette and slowly breathed in the appeasing smoke. Sitting on a log, he was watching the rest of the crew as they had fun, drinking barrels and barrels of beer and saké with enthusiasm. In spite of Shanks' fun-loving nature, they were always a little less relaxed in his presence, because they couldn't be totally out of control when their captain was around, but they made up for that when he left them on their own as he did from time to time.

And there you are, thinking about him again. That won't make him come back faster. Why should I worry ? That's not the first time he's on his own, and he's more than able to take care of himself.

The sound of footsteps made him raise his eyes, and he saw Yassopp, heading in his direction. The marksman sat on the log near Ben and gulped down some of his bear with a contented sigh.

"Why do you look so glum, always ? Enjoy the party, for Gold Roger's sake !"

"Hmm", Ben muttered, and Yassopp followed his gaze.

The first mate was intently watching one of their newest crew member, a bulky man with greying hair and a red nose and cheeks. He was currently upright, with a pint of beer clutched in his left hand, and a big axe in the right one, doing some kind of dance, but so clumsily that it was a wonder he hadn't fallen into the fire. Not that the first mate would have minded, if he had.

"He's gonna hurt someone if he keeps doing that", Ben muttered. "How did we even recruit that idiot in the first place ?"

"The last Davy Back Fight", Yassopp reminded him with a grimace.

The adverse crew's performance had been... pitiful, to say the least. But they could lose their flag only once, so Shanks had finally chosen their captain (who looked the least pathetic of the bunch, which wasn't saying much) as their prize. Ben couldn't help but regret they had agreed on the Fight to begin with, but their honour was at stake.

"I've been trying to get rid of him for the past month", the first mate groaned. "Only he seems to have an uncanny ability to keep bothering us. I bet if he got killed, he'd come back to haunt us..."

"That must be it", Yassopp mused. "The marines don't even want him, that's why they never captured him in spite of our best efforts."

"Shanks said the other pirates probably lost on purpose, so as to get on our crew", Ben said with a grin.

However, the grin quickly died on his lips, as he realised he had said the name once again. The name he was trying very hard not to think about. Of course, Yassopp picked it up. He was too damn smart.

"Hey, don't tell me you're worried", the marksman chuckled. "I mean, that's Akagami Shanks. How many people do you think could even come close to harming him ?"

"I know, I know", Ben said angrily, irritated that he had been so easily read by his long time friend.

"He was supposed to come back today, wasn't he ?" Yassopp queried quietly.

"The man couldn't keep a schedule to save his life !" Ben scoffed. "He's probably in such a state of drunkenness that he can't even tell what day it is ! I just wish he was here. I'm bored."

"Oh, so that's it", Yassopp chuckled. "You just want some action."

"Yeah", the first mate nodded. "I'm not much of a party man."

"We noticed that", Yassopp laughed at him. "Come here and dance, you fun-killer jerk !"

"Hey - wait - don't...!" Ben was pulled in front of the fire before he had time to say "Red-haired pirates".