Wow, look at all the follows! I'M POPULAR!

Seriously though, thank you all for the follows, faves, and reviews. As a token of my thanks, here's a little guide as to whose ghostly voice was saying what in the fog scene, in order of what was being said.

Usopp, Bellamy, Eneru, Crocodile, Robin, Montblanc Cricket, Iceburg, Franky, Brook, Hatchan, Franky, Brook, Robin, Luffy, Chopper, Nami, Sanji, Usopp, Zoro, and any after that was Ace's voice.


Chapter 2: Similarity Breeds Familiarity, and Familiarity Brings About a Whole Slew of Headaches


Zoro did not like this island. Just standing on the beach gave him an antsy feeling he couldn't shake off, and he wanted to leave it as soon as possible.

After the Love Cook, Princess, Reindeer, and Carue went off into the woods, he actually listened to Nami when she barked at him, Luffy, and Usopp to start collecting coconuts. At this point, he'd take any excuse to get his mind off the odd vibes the island gave off.

Now that he thought about it, that uneasy feeling most likely started back in the rainbow fog. He'd heard his own voice say he couldn't protect his captain. Why would Luffy need protecting? Luffy was one of the strongest people he knew, and could do more than hold himself in a fight. The day Luffy would need protecting would be a dire one indeed. Even if Luffy needed to be protected, why would he fail? Hadn't he promised Luffy he'd never lose again?

Zoro shook his head and threw another coconut down to Usopp. He needed to stop worrying about it. The stupid fog was just mimicking his voice (and he wasn't going to waste time trying to figure out how it did that. It was just another weird Grand Line occurrence he had to accept), trying to get inside his head. He'd never fail in protecting anyone on this crew. And as for the antsy, uneasy feeling... well, he'd just have to remain ready for a fight at any time. That was usually where all these kinds feelings led to, anyway.

"Ow!" he heard Usopp squeak. "Zoro! Watch where you're dropping those coconuts!"

Zoro looked down to see a large lump forming on the sniper's head.

"Whoops. My bad."

"If you're going to apologize, then at least try to sound sorry, jerk!"

Zoro jumped down from the tree, swords clinking against each other. "Whatever. Did we collect enough coconuts to please the witch yet?"

"I heard that!" Nami hollered from farther down the beach.

"We would have enough..." Usopp said, glancing at the measly pile of coconuts at his feet. He turned on his heel to glare at his captain. "...if someone would stop eating them all!"

Luffy looked up from the rock he was balancing a coconut on, ready to crush it with another rock. "Huh? You talking to me, Usopp?"

"Luffy, stop eating our supplies!" Zoro shouted. "We need them for the trip to Alabasta!"

"But I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry!"

"Maybe if someone would find me some mystery island meat, I wouldn't be eating the coconuts!"

"Why you-"

"That's enough!" Nami ordered, rejoining the boys. "Honestly, I could hear you guys from the other side of the beach. Stop yelling like children and get back to work!"

"If you want it done so badly, why don't you help?" Usopp grumbled.

Because that would require her doing actual work, Zoro thought bitterly.

Nami flipped her hair. "I'm surveying the land, of course. We need to remain vigilant on a 'mystery' island." She turned to look at the jungle. "Part of me wishes we weren't in such a hurry to leave, though. If I had time, I would love to to perform a thorough survey and make a map."

Luffy had grown bored with coconuts and was now kicking pink sand around. "If you want to make a map, we could stay a little longer. I still want to explore the jungle."

"We can't, Luffy," Nami sighed. "We're on a schedule. I don't want to delay our arrival in Alabasta any more than I have to, so if that means not making one map, I can live with it."

"Besides, Luffy, I don't want to be here when the zombies show up!" Usopp added fearfully.

"Why? If we're not here when they do show up, how am I going to find my musician?"

"We are not getting a zombie to join this crew!"

"Oh for the love of- Usopp, enough with the zombie talk already!" Nami snapped. "We don't know if this is a haunted island or not! So stop all your- OW!"

Nami's rant was thankfully brought to an abrupt end from something small and hard flying into her head.

"Ow..." Nami groaned, rubbing the sore spot. She turned to face Luffy. "Luffy! Why did you throw a rock at me?!"

Luffy shook his head furiously. "I didn't throw a rock! I was just kicking the sand around and my foot hit something! I didn't mean to make it fly into your head!"

Zoro knelt down, picking up the projectile that hit their navigator. "Also, this isn't a rock. Come have a look."

The other three gathered around their swordsman, examining what he held in his hand. It looked similar to Nami's wooden log pose, only the base was bigger and flatter, and instead of a large glass ball holding the needle, it was three smaller balls holding three separate needles.

"A... log pose?" Usopp questioned.

"I think so," Zoro replied. "Though why a log pose would need three needles is beyond me."

"Maybe it's to find more islands!" Luffy suggested. "Each needle points to a different one, and you can choose which way you want to go!"

Nami took the... Triple Pose, she supposed, and compared it with her own. She frowned, for all four needles were all spinning without any sign of locking on to something.

"It's almost as if there's nothing to lock onto..." she said, mostly to herself.

"Huh? Did you say something, Nami?" Luffy asked.

Before Nami could reply, she was interrupted.

"Oi, Nami, Luffy!"

Nami stuffed the triple pose into her pocket, and turned with the others to look towards the direction the shout had come. What they saw was Sanji, Vivi, Chopper, and Carue exiting the jungle.

"Hey, Sanji!" Luffy called. "You're back! Find anything cool in there?"

"Uh, depends on what you think is cool," Sanji replied vaguely.

Zoro noticed the only one holding any fruit was Chopper. "What's the deal, Cook? You guys were gone for that long and only come back with one basket of food? I thought you'd want to impress Nami or something."

"What's wrong with wanting to impress me?!" Nami demanded.

The four leaving the jungle stopped walking and stared at Zoro, as if they couldn't believe they he was standing there. Then, almost simultaneously, they all glanced at Carue.

"Hey, who's that on Carue's back?" Usopp asked suddenly.

They couldn't see very well from the angle the others were at, but there was definitely someone slumped over in Carue's saddle.

"Wait, did you guys actually find someone on this island?" Nami asked. "That's great! Maybe now we can finally learn where the heck we are!"

Sanji and the others said nothing. They just kept those anxious and disturbed expressions on their faces.

"Hey, what's with those faces?" Luffy asked. "You guys look like you saw something really weird. Oh, what is it the zombies? Please tell me you found the zombies!"

"No, we didn't find any zombies," Chopper replied. "What we found is much weirder."

"What's weirder than zombies?"

Zoro narrowed his eyes. The uneasy feeling was coming back in full force.

"Uh, Mr. Bushido?" Vivi spoke up. "You wouldn't happen to have an older brother who looks eerily like you and also carries three swords, do you?"

"That's an awfully specific question," Zoro said, raising an eyebrow. "No, I don't. Why do you ask?"

Vivi bit her lip. "...You should probably see for yourself."

Vivi and her group walked over to their friends, then moved out of the way so they could see who was lying in Carue's saddle more clearly. It appeared to be an unconscious man wearing a long green coat, and he did have three swords sheathed into his sash (two of which looked very familiar). And that was when they saw his face.

"HOLY CRAP!" Usopp hollered.

Nami's jaw dropped. There was just no way.

Zoro's eyes widened to the size of plates, and it was safe to say he was thoroughly freaked out. This was his face he was looking at. His own face was also the face of a stranger. Why did some stranger the cook found in the woods have his face?

Luffy smiled. "Oh, hey Zoro! When did you go into the woods with Chopper and the others?"

"I'm right next you, moron!" Zoro snapped.

Luffy looked from the Zoro standing next to him to the 'Zoro' lying on Carue. Judging from his expression, his brain was going into overload trying to figure this out. How could there be two of Zoro?

Nami turned to the others. "Care to explain what the heck all of this is? Who... who is this guy? Why does he have...that face?"

"That face?" Zoro repeated. "That's my face! Just what the hell is going on?!"

At Zoro's shouts, Chopper hid behind Vivi. "W-we found him in the jungle. His shoulder and head were injured... he's lost a lot of blood! I couldn't just leave him there!"

"And to be fair, we thought he was you." Vivi added.

"I patched him as well as I could back in the jungle, but he needs stitches for his shoulder," Chopper continued, his voice less timid. "I didn't have the right materials, so I told Sanji and Vivi to carry him back to the Merry. Is that okay?"

To Zoro, it was not okay. This was not natural, and he didn't want whoever this guy was on the ship. Luffy, however, had other ideas.

"Of course it's okay, Chopper," Luffy said. "Do whatever have to do."

"Thanks Luffy," Chopper said in relief. He turned to the duck. "Come on, Carue. You can help me get him to the sick bay."

Carue quacked in response and followed the doctor towards the Merry. As soon as they were gone, Zoro turned to glare at his captain.

"What is wrong with you?!" Zoro barked. "You can't just let Chopper take that guy aboard the Merry! We don't know who or what he is!"

"Chopper's a doctor," Luffy said simply, crossing his arms. "I'm not going to tell him he can't treat someone."

"That doesn't change the fact we can't trust him!"

"Why not? I think he has a pretty trustworthy face."

"That's because it's Zoro's face, idiot!" Usopp said, whacking Luffy upside the head.

"How about we go back to the Merry before we finish the discussion," Sanji sighed, running a hand tiredly through his hair. "I don't like talking about this out in the open."

Sanji had a point. There was an ominous weight hanging the air that no one liked the feel of. It was decided they would return to the Going Merry, for now.


"Start from the beginning," Zoro ground out. "How exactly did you find this guy?"

The crew was standing on the deck of the Merry, waiting for Chopper to finish stitching up Zoro's double. Said crew could understand Zoro's agitated attitude, though. It wasn't everyday you found someone that was wearing the same face as you. Anyone would have found it unnerving.

"We were picking fruit when Carue started up this panicky squawking," Sanji said, lighting yet another smoke. "We went to check on him and found him pacing in front of Mosshead the Second. He was lying face down on the ground, sword drawn and bleeding out. He must have been in some sort of fight before we got there."

"That does sound like something that would happen to Zoro," Usopp said with a nod.

"Shut up, Longnose!" Zoro yelled. "That guy is not me!"

"I never said he was!" Usopp yelled back. "And don't make fun of my nose! I got this nose from my mother!"

"Enough you two!" Nami shouted. "Yelling at each other isn't going to fix anything. Sanji, please continue."

"Of course, Nami my love!" Sanji cooed before getting serious again. "Anyway, Chopper immediately got to work tending to his wounds. This left me and Vivi to try and figure how Zoro could be in the woods when we saw him not twenty minutes ago on the beach." He breathed out some smoke. "Seeing as Zoro's standing only a couple feet away from me, either that man in the sick bay is just a look-alike or Mosshead also has an older brother he never told us about."

"I said I don't have an older brother, swirls!" Zoro argued. He paused. "Why do you keep saying 'older' brother?"

"I'd be saying he was your twin or something," Usopp added. He struck a dramatic pose. "Long lost twins, separated at birth by circumstances they could not control!"

"Cool!" Luffy cheered.

"Shut up, I don't have a twin either!" Zoro yelled. He looked at Vivi. "Why did you think he was my older brother?"

"This guy does look almost exactly like you," Vivi explained. "But his features are more... mature. I'd say this man is a year or two older than you, if not more."

"Aw," Luffy sighed. "Guess that means he's not Zoro's long lost twin."

"Why are you disappointed about that?" Zoro asked, sweatdropping.

"Twins are cool."

"If you say so."

"Sanji, I don't think the other Mr. Bushido is our Mr. Bushido's brother," Vivi went on. "Brothers look alike, but they usually don't have the same scars on their chests."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Sanji remembered. "Other Zoro did have the same scar on his chest as Zoro."

Zoro's hand floated up to his chest. It was bad enough the Other Zo- the lookalike had his face, but his marks of pride as well?

"It's not just the one of his chest," Chopper added, coming out of the door that led to the galley.

"Hey, Chopper!" Luffy greeted. "How's Other Zoro doing?"

"When did we start calling him 'Other Zoro'?" Usopp wondered.

Chopper wiped some sweat off his brow. "As I thought, the wound on his shoulder wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed. I disinfected the wound and stitched it closed, and I have him set up on a mattress on the floor in the galley. I hope you don't mind, Sanji. I didn't feel comfortable giving him stitches on those crates we're using as my examination table."

Sanji waved it off. "It's alright. Just clean everything up when you move him again. Now, you were saying something about his scars?"

"Oh right. As I was saying, Other Zoro doesn't just have the same chest scar as our Zoro. I took off his boots before I laid him out on the mattress, and do you know what I saw? Other Zoro has the same scars around his ankles as Zoro!"

Chopper had first seen Zoro's ankle scars the previous day, spotting them after the latter kicked off his boots to train. When he asked Nami, she simply said they were from Zoro being stupid and not to worry about it. Chopper ended up examining them anyway.

"Seriously!?" Luffy asked. "Does this mean Other Zoro tried to cut his feet off too?"

"Zoro got those scars from trying to cut off his feet?!" Chopper gasped. He collected himself. "Ahem. The Other Zoro's ankle scars were at least a few years old, but they were completely identical."

"Okay, this is getting kind of creepy," Nami said, hugging her arms. "I know there's a saying about how there's somebody out there who looks just like you, but I don't think they're supposed to be that similar."

"Tell me about it," Sanji said, exhaling smoke. "One sword freak is bad enough; I don't think the world could handle two of him."

Zoro no longer looked agitated, even with the fuel of Sanji's remark. Instead, he appeared to be thoughtful. Nami was right for once about how strange this was. No two people were that similar. Scars were like fingerprints; you could never find two identical ones. If this 'Other Zoro' really did have all the same scars as himself, only older, on top of the fact he looked exactly like him... could it be possible that...

Zoro sighed internally. Well, this was the Grand Line. He'd bet money that they would run into much, much weirder before their journey was through. Still, he needed see one thing before he was convinced...

"Chopper, is my look-alike ready to receive visitors?"

Everyone on deck turned to look at the swordsman, surprised by his sudden change in attitude and even more so that he actually wanted to see Other Zoro.

"Uh, I guess so," Chopper replied. "Why?"

"I have a guess as to where he came from," Zoro explained, getting up from the barrel he was sitting on. "But I need to check something to be sure."

"You're going to look at Other Zoro's swords, right?" Luffy asked.

Zoro simply raised his eyebrow while the others (except Chopper, who didn't know this was unlike Luffy yet) gawked at their captain's perceptiveness.

"Two of them looked kind of like yours," Luffy went on. "You want to go in and check them out, don't you?"

Zoro smirked. "Guess I can't keep anything from you, can I, Captain? You okay with it?"

Luffy grinned. "Sure, but only if the rest of us get to come in too. Is that okay with you?"

Zoro nodded and said it was, because he knew that even if he said no, Luffy would go ahead and do it anyway. He was just as interested in the mystery behind the Other Zoro (for lack of a better thing to call him) as the rest of the crew. Once they got the okay from Chopper, the crew filed into the galley.


It was just as Chopper said. The doctor had pushed the dining table up against the wall, and the Other Zoro was laid on a mattress in the middle of the floor with a blanket over him. His shoulder and part of his chest were bandaged, as well as the wound on his forehead. Chopper had removed his coat and sash, folded them neatly, and placed them on the table. His boots and bandanna were resting on top of his coat, and the doctor had lined the Other Zoro's swords carefully in a row on the table next to his clothes.

Chopper immediately knelt down and started examining his patient again, starting by listening to his heart with a stethoscope. One could never be too careful.

Meanwhile, this was the first time the crew, aside from the members who found him, were getting a good look at the Other Zoro. Up close, they could see the striking similarities, but also the differences.

Other Zoro had even bigger muscles than their Zoro, if that was possible, as well as a slightly thicker neck. His mossy hair was also a little longer and partially slicked back. Besides the massive one stretching from his left shoulder to his right hip, his body (the parts visible from beneath the blanket) was a patchwork of other thin scars running along each other. And speaking of scars, Other Zoro had a thin one running down his left eye, as if he had been sliced there. (Which, knowing their own Zoro, was probably the case.)

It was as Vivi said. Other Zoro looked like their Zoro, but a few years older.

"I can see why you all thought he was Zoro's older brother," Usopp admitted. "The likeness is almost uncanny."

Usopp could imagine that if they put Zoro through some magic aging machine, Other Zoro would most likely be the end product.

Sanji leaned over, glancing at the Other Zoro's eye scar. "What's up with his eye? I noticed the scar earlier."

Chopper looked up briefly. "I took a look at it when I was treating his head. Other Zoro is blind in his left eye."

For some reason, that new information made something twist in Sanji's stomach, though he wasn't sure why. At the same time, Luffy also gained an unreadable, blank look in his eyes at Chopper's words as he looked upon his swordsman's double.

Zoro rolled his own eyes. Now he was doubting his theory; like he would ever be stupid enough to let something happen to his eye. Becoming the world's greatest swordsman would be hard enough without throwing a lack of depth perception into the mix... then again, even he couldn't control the outcome of a battle, and he doubted his look-alike was any different.

Nami walked over to the table and inspected Other Zoro's clothes. "Hmm. Well, it looks like this man doesn't share all of the same disastrous fashion tastes as Zoro. This coat is actually kind of nice."

Vivi also walked over to the table, but not to look at Other Zoro's clothes. Her focus was on the small stack of clear vials lying on the table. Each vial had a thin needle sticking out of it.

She picked one up. "What are these? Syringes?"

Luffy also looked. "They look like darts to me."

Usopp picked one up and lowered one of his goggles' lenses, examining it. "You're both right, actually. These are tranquilizer darts."

"Tranquilizer darts?" the princess repeated. She frowned. "Nasty."

"You recognize them, Usopp?" Luffy asked.

"Yeah. You can load these kind into a gun and fire them at rampaging animals or even people. They hold a liquid that can make you pass out if it gets injected into your bloodstream."

"Wow, Usopp!" Chopper said. "You sure know a lot! I only recognized them because Doctorine sometimes used them on her more unruly patients." Doctor Hiruluk used them as well, but Chopper didn't feel like explaining that at the moment.

"I don't doubt that," Sanji said, wincing as he rubbed the small of his back.

"Well, of course!" Usopp said proudly to the little doctor. "What kind of sniper would the Great Captain Usopp be if I didn't know my way around different kinds of ammunition?"

"You're a captain, Usopp?" Chopper gasped. "That's amazing!... Wait, I thought Luffy was the captain."

"I am," Luffy replied. "But before he joined our crew, Usopp was captain of the Usopp Pirates. Right, Usopp?"

"Right!" Usopp nodded.

Chopper's eyes sparkled in admiration.

"Why do you have tranq darts, Chopper?" Zoro asked.

Chopper stopped sparkling and gestured to Other Zoro. "I pulled them out of his body. He's lucky, though. If anyone else had taken that much tranquilizer into their body, their heart would have stopped."

"ZORO COULD HAVE DIED?!" Luffy hollered. Carue quacked worriedly also.

"Other Zoro's not our Zoro, moron!" Nami yelled at him.

"Quiet! He needs to rest!" Chopper scolded them. "You'll wake him!"

"Please," Sanji scoffed. "He's hopped up on tranquilizers and, if he's anything like our Mosshead, it'll take nothing short of charging Marines carrying booze to wake him up. However, that's not the problem here."

"It's not?"

"No, it's not. Other Mosshead had his sword drawn when we found him, and his bandanna was over his head. If he's like Mosshead in personality as well as looks, he would only do that in a serious fight."

Zoro was actually slightly impressed that Sanji noticed that about him. Now that he would ever say that out loud, of course.

Sanji took a drag. "Now if you throw tranquilizer darts into the situation..."

A silence fell over the room.

"There's someone on that island," Zoro said, most likely speaking for everyone. "Someone who felt he needed to take my counterpart down at any cost. Who's to say they won't come after us next?"

Nami and Usopp shrieked in fear, Vivi frowned worriedly, and Luffy looked interested at the prospect of a fight. If Sanji had a problem with Zoro interrupting him, he wasn't saying anything. Zoro made his way to the table, deciding now would be a good time to study his double's swords.

First, the red sheathed one. He picked it up and removed it from its sheathe, seeing the familiar flame-like patterns down its blade. The immediate surge of blood lust and anger that radiated from the sword proved it to be Sandai Kitetsu. Zoro feel could feel its dissatisfaction, as if it were wondering why such weak hands dared to wield it. Zoro glared at the blade, slid it back into the sheathe, and set it down.

Next, the black sheathed one. Zoro knew immediately it was not Yubashiri. The sheathe of this sword was black like Yubashiri's, but this one had red dots running down it instead of gold decorations. Wrapped around the upper part of the sheathe was a sageo rope, and the tsuba was shaped like a flower instead of Yubashiri's cross-like one. He drew it, and his hand did an involuntary dip. This sword was much heavier than Yubashiri. Still, Zoro had to admire the craftsmanship of the red and black patterned blade. This was a nice sword, one he wouldn't mind using if he ever decided to move from Santoryu to Yontoryu. Back in its sheathe and on the table it went.

Lastly, the white sheathed one. Zoro didn't have to unsheathe it, hold it, or even look at it all that closely. He'd had this sword since he was a child and he recognized it instantly. This white sword was Kuina's sword, no mistaking it. His hand went to the white sword at his own hip, and he glanced at Other Zoro.

"So," Luffy piped up. "Anything to say about the swords?"

It was then Zoro finally noticed the crew had been watching him the entire time he had been inspecting his double's weapons.

For a few moments while he had been inspecting though, they had decided to worry about one problem at a time, so the possibility of an enemy being on the island was pushed into a corner for now. They'd focus on the situation at hand first.

"Yeah," Zoro sighed, rubbing his neck tiredly. "I've never seen the black one before, but the other two are definitely mine."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Alright then. Guess that's that."

"They can't be the same swords," Nami argued. "It's just not possible. Maybe they're duplicates too, or-"

"Nami, shut up," Zoro said a stern, calm tone.

Nami obliged, surprisingly.

Zoro slid his own swords out of his haramaki and held them up. "This red sheathed sword is Sandai Kitetsu, and the white one is Wado Ichimonji. Every sword that's made, including these two, is completely unique. Especially these two. You can't just create counterfeits; it's not possible." He put Kitetsu back, but held Wado a little higher. "I've had this one since I was a little kid. I'd know it anywhere, and the one on the table is the same sword. I'd bet my life on it."

Of course, the declaration only made everything more confusing as opposed to clearing everything up. Two of Zoro, two of two of Zoro's swords, what was next? A duplicate of the Going Merry sailing up next to them?

"If they're the same swords, it doesn't explain how two of them can exist at the same time," Vivi said. "Just who is Other Mr. Bushido?"

"I actually have a theory about that," Zoro said. "I wanted to look at his swords to prove it, and this just did. This guy-"

"Is you, isn't he."

Another startling observation from the ship's resident captain. The others gawked (even Chopper, this time).

"EHHHHHHHH?!"

Zoro didn't look too shocked. He knew Luffy had come to the same conclusion he had when he said he wanted to see the swords. He knew Luffy acted like (and primarily was) a complete moron, but if there was one thing Luffy knew, it was his crew.

"Luffy, what do you mean?" Usopp asked slowly.

"Other Zoro is Zoro," Luffy said, shrugging. "But, you know, different."

"By different, he means 'older,'" Zoro added. "'Other Zoro' is an older version of me."

"That's impossible!" Sanji shouted. "You're right here! How can he be an older version of you?!"

"...Other Zoro does have the same blood type as Zoro. I checked," Chopper said quietly. He tapped his nose. "And they have the same scent."

"That doesn't answer my question, reindeer!" Sanji snapped.

"We're on the Grand Line, Cook," Zoro said, crossing his arms. "You have to be prepared for much stranger than running into an older version of your crewmate."

"I'm with Sanji on this!" Nami shouted, making Sanji twirl in happiness. "I can understand how him actually being you explains why you and he and the swords are all practically identical, but that doesn't explain how he got here! Are you suggesting he traveled in time or something?"

"You said it, not me."

"Arghh!"

"I've read about this happening in fiction books, but not in real life," Vivi said. "Still, I personally can't think of anything else that can explain how someone like him exists. If only we knew how he even got on this island..."

"Let's ask!" Luffy suggested.

Luffy walked over to where the Other Zoro lay, knelt down, and placed his palm on the double's chest.

"Zoro, wake up!"

And he did.


Next Time:

"... What's your name?"

"Roronoa Zoro. You?"

"Roronoa Zoro."

"... How old are you?"

"I'm twenty one. I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're nineteen."

"Good guess."