Layne decided to head back to the Merry after exiting the blacksmith, reasoning that even if no one else was back yet he could have some time alone on the ship before everyone else got back
In addition to his glove, he'd also managed to get some decently worked scrap metal which Usopp could use for ship repairs if it became necessary
Along the way, he ran into Usopp, Sanji and Nami, who were all laden down with large bags of shopping and one absolutely huge fish
They were discussing the large clouds and strange wind that Layne had felt when he walked up quietly to them, not interrupting their conversation but just falling into step with them
"Hey guys!" Zoro called, walking up to them from the opposite direction as Layne, who noticed that he now had three swords at his side, instead of just one he'd been carrying all along
"Have you seen Luffy? We got separated… and I've got a bad feeling"
"PIRATES!" Someone shouted as a large group of people ran past the Straw hats "Buggy the Clown is going to execute Straw Hat Luffy"
The five of them stopped and turned towards the path leading towards the center of town, absorbing the information that had just ran past them
"Buggy the Clown?!" Zoro grimaced as he felt the news
"Is going to execute…" Usopp started
"Straw Hat Luffy?!" Layne finished
"That idiot" Nami growled, shaking her head in dismay, her hopes of a clean in and out from Loguetown dashed by a classic Luffying.
"Let's go!" Zoro shouted, running towards the direction that the trouble seemed to be coming from
Layne was immediately after him, falling in step a little behind him and behind Layne was Sanji, who tossed the fish for Usopp to hold, as Usopp and Nami ran in the opposite direction, towards the Going Merry
Layne, Zoro and Sanji arrived at the execution clearing just as Luffy's overwhelming declaration of becoming the pirate king just finished echoing over the crowd
Zoro had donned his bandana in the run over and the three of them stood in a line in the entryway and watched as the man with clown make up, who Layne took to be Buggy gloated over Luffy, who was immobilized in the stocks on the top of the platform
Buggy raised the sword over Luffy's neck and as one; Layne, Zoro and Sanji raised their voices and shouted in unison
"THIS EXECUTION… IS CANCELLED!"
"Zoro! Layne! Sanji!" Luffy shouted excitedly as he heard them shout
Zoro gripped one of his swords closer as he smiled back at Luffy
"You really know how to start a ruckus, but isn't this taking the joke a little too far, Luffy?" Zoro asked
"If it's time for the sideshow I guess I'll debut as well" Sanji added "It looks like we'll have to get past these shitty pirates
"These guys are nothing" Layne assessed "We'll be on our way in five minutes… at the most"
The crowd cleared as they realized that the three behind them were pirates, leaving only Buggy's crew in between Zoro, Layne, Sanji and the Execution Platform
"So you're finally here Zoro" Buggy said, grinning as he raised the sword over his head "Pity you're just a little too late"
In response to Buggy's action Layne, Sanji and Zoro began running towards the platform
"Destroy the platform!" Layne shouted
Sanji and Zoro made their assent clear as they rushed forwards
"If you would, my dears" A woman from just in front of the platform shouted, obviously important in Buggy's crew Layne judged
"And so we shall, Alvida nee-san" some of Buggy's pirates replied, as they rushed to intercept Layne, Zoro and Sanji
"Zoro, Sanji, move!" Layne shouted as water began to form around him
Noticing this, and assuming Layne was about to use his fruit, Zoro and Sanji wisely moved out of the way as Layne picked up speed and ran past them, the water form and a veil, and then a ball
"Mizu Mizu No Surge!" Layne shouted
Layne charged forwards, the ball of water that he became impacting the front of Buggy's crew's formation, and blasting it apart, before dispersing and reforming into Layne, with significantly less of Buggy's crew in their way
"Amazing!" Luffy said, having never actually witnessed Layne use his fruit offensively before
Layne resumed running, but got tangled in with Buggy's crew, who were doing their absolute hardest to keep the Straw Hats away from Luffy
Buggy noticed the progress the Straw Hats were making towards him and decided to stop messing around, so he swung the sword down, cackling madly as he did so
"This is for humiliating me Straw Hat, Die Flashily!"
Luffy shouted as he realized what was happening
"Zoro, Sanji, Layne, Usopp, Nami…"
As Layne, Zoro and Sanji looked up at the execution platform they suddenly heard Luffy's words as clearly as if he was standing next to them
"Sorry, I'm…dead"
Luffy's grin was wide, but this was nothing to be smiling about
Layne was aghast
What the hell is he smiling about?
"Don't say that you bastard!" Sanji shouted as the sword came down
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as everyone in the square turned to watch the execution, and out of nowhere, a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, impacting the platform directly, and setting it ablaze with blue fire
The impact proved to be too much for the aging platform, which creaked and clattered profusely as it collapsed, sending up a pile of dust, which settled quickly as the rain started to fall quite heavily
Meanwhile, everyone present could only look on in shock as Luffy's Straw Hat fluttered down from the sky, landing in front of Luffy, mysteriously unharmed and laughing his ass off
"Hey, I'm alive" He said, sounding surprised "I thought I was a goner"
Luffy walked up to Layne, Sanji and Zoro, who were the quickest to recover out of everyone in the square, though still shocked
"Hey… do you believe in God?" Sanji asked Zoro and Layne, lighting up a cigarette and taking a long drag from it as he contemplated the miraculous event that had just occurred to them
Layne shook his head, unable to form words
Zoro sheathed his swords
"This isn't the time to ask…we're blowing this town, the danger doesn't seem to be over yet"
Almost prophetically, the Marines piled into the square surrounding the Pirates
Within seconds the square was engulfed in the sounds and sights of battle as the marines clashed with Buggy's pirates
"Why them?!" Sanji growled "Where were they ten minutes ago"
"Awesome!" Luffy on the other hand, sounded excited "What a huge fight!, Cool!"
"Oi Luffy, quit standing around, we're leaving" Zoro snapped
"If we don't make it to the ship in time we won't be able to make it to the Grand line" Layne muttered
"Really?! We'd better go then" Luffy exclaimed
The Straw Hats ran, breaking through the Marine blockade easily in a flurry of kicks, punches, sword slashes and pressurized water blasts and ran full tilt for the docks
"Which way is the dock?" Layne wanted to know "I can't remember, and this storm isn't helping"
"It's raining so hard, I can't tell which direction" Luffy replied
Layne and Zoro noticed the lone figure in front of them before Sanji and Luffy did, though Sanji was the first to identify her
"Whoa, who's that beautiful Lady?"
She was standing in the rain with her eyes to the floor, her black hair soaked and hanging over her eyes, wearing a yellow shirt with pink flowers, and a blue jacket, holding a sword at her side
Zoro seemed to recognize her, though the other three were still in the dark
When they were in earshot of her, she started muttering, and they stopped to listen
"So you're Roronoa Zoro, a pirate…you lied to me"
She raised her head and looked directly at them as she yelled the last half of her statement
"Zoro! What the hell did you do to this beautiful lady" Sanji asked, outraged that Zoro might have done something to a woman of any description
Zoro ignored him, and pushed past Luffy and Layne to stand between them and her
"You never asked my name, I didn't lie at all" he said, his tone betraying his confusion
"A scoundrel like you wielding such a magnificent katana… unforgiveable, your meitou, the Wadou Ichimonji shall be confiscated!"
Zoro grinned and loosened Wadou Ichimonji from its sheathe
"Just try it" he challenged
Almost instantaneously she unsheathed her sword and charged forwards, attempting an overhead slash, which Zoro blocked with ease
They stood, locked sword to sword for two seconds before she weakened for just a second, and Zoro pressed his advantage, attempting an overhead slash which she blocked, locking them in a strength contest yet again
Sanji had had enough by now however
"You bastard Zoro! How dare you attack a woman!"
"Stay out of this, please!" she shouted back at Sanji, who was taken aback "This is a match between Roronoa and myself, leave us alone"
"You heard her" Zoro added "Go on ahead"
"Alright, let's go" Luffy accepted as he ran on ahead, Layne just behind him
"Oi Zoro, if you hurt her, you're a dead man" Sanji shouted as he ran after Luffy and Layne
The sound of clattering footsteps behind Zoro indicated the marines had caught up with them
"Sergeant Major Tashigi!" one of them shouted, but none of them moved to interrupt the fight
As they were locked in the stalemate, Zoro removed one hand from Wadou and grabbed one of his other swords from its sheathe, swinging into Tashigi's guard and pushing her back
The next five seconds was Zoro constantly on the attack, pushing Tashigi further and further back until she hit her back against the wall of a brown brick building and stumbled for just one second
That second was all Zoro needed, with a mighty swing he knocked her sword out of her hands and stabbed his other one into the wall next to her face.
"I can never lose this katana, no matter what"
"There's the end of the street!" Luffy shouted in excitement as he, Layne and Sanji rounded a corner
"The harbor is just over there!"
Layne noticed a figure in their way and sighed mentally, wondering which one of them had pissed someone off this time
"Hey who's that up ahead" Sanji asked, as he noticed too
The figure was dressed in an open marine coat, blue jeans and brown boots, his coat was modified and had what looked like two dozen cigars hanging off it, two of which were lit and currently being smoked
"So you finally made it, Straw Hat Luffy" he said, talking effortlessly despite the two large cigars in his mouth, a talent Layne surmised, that must have taken a while to acquire
Layne, Sanji and Luffy stopped about 10 meters away from him as he continued to speak, ignoring Sanji and Layne and only speaking directly to Luffy
"I told you, if you can't beat me, you can't go to the Grand Line"
Luffy looked puzzled for a second, before a look of clarity overtook his face
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that"
"You enjoy playing dumb don't you?"
"Oi Luffy" Sanji interrupted before being interrupted himself
"Sanji, Layne… go on ahead, I'll be right behind you"
"I wouldn't bet on that" the marine replied "This is the end for you"
Sanji and Layne glared at the marine, preparing to fight before Luffy shouted at them in unison with a thunderclap
"Go!"
While all this had been going on, Nami and Usopp had managed to board the Merry, but were currently being fired upon by marine gunners and cannon emplacements
A particularly close shot sent water all over the deck and shook the entire ship, knocking Nami over
She looked up at the emplacements and made a snap decision
"They're going to sink the Merry if we don't set sail right now!"
"But Luffy and the others aren't back yet" Usopp argued
"It won't matter if there isn't a ship to get back too" Nami snapped back
Usopp couldn't argue with that logic and went to unfurl the sails as Nami raised the anchor
"We'll pick them up somehow" Nami shouted at Usopp, in an attempt to reassure him, thought truthfully she wasn't sure herself
"NAMI-SAAAAAAN!"
Sanji's voice echoed out across the harbor as he and Layne appeared, running parallel to the path the Merry was sailing next to the island, pursued by a huge group of marines
"Where are Luffy and Zoro!?" Nami shouted back at them
"They'll be fine!" Layne shouted back
Another large group of marines suddenly appeared and cut them off from the front
"Look out!" Usopp warned
Layne parried a sword slash with his glove, sending the marine off balance, a perfect target for a kick to the face from Sanji, but they were surrounded, and the marines kept piling in, no matter how many that Layne and Sanji knocked out
"Shit" Sanji muttered as he kicked one marine into four others, and still more came "They just keep coming"
"Persistent." Layne replied through gritted teeth as he blasted one backwards with a jet of water from his right hand "Bastards aren't they"
"I'll cover them" Usopp said to Nami "Bring the ship in!"
"I can't!" Nami replied worriedly "The tide current is already too strong, we can't get back to shore"
"Shit!" Usopp shouted, taking a running jump from the merry and landing in the water "I'll do it"
Usopp surfaced holding his slingshot and began firing pellet after pellet, and marines on the shore started dropping, even with Layne and Sanji clearing multiple marines with each attack the thinning seemed irrelevant as more marines kept appearing from nowhere.
The rain was now falling so heavily over Luffy that rivulets were streaming from his hat as he stared off against Smoker, a slight grin on his face that was illuminated with every lightning strike
"I'll defeat you, and enter the Grand Line" Luffy declared "Because I'm the man who will become the Pirate King"
"You won't be spouting that rubbish for much longer" Smoker replied
Abruptly his gloved fists turned grey and then cloudy, and he held his arms up and surrounded Luffy with smoke
Within seconds, the fight was over and Smoker had Luffy pinned to the ground and moved to withdraw the jitte he had slung over his back
"Looks like my run of bad luck is over"
"Well I wouldn't say that exactly" a new voice stated, as he placed as hand on Smoker's jitte, preventing him from drawing it
Smoker looked up, seeing a man wrapped in a green cloak, with a red grid tattooed on the side of his face
The lightning flashed and Smoker saw his eyes, shocked as he realized just who it was
"Huh? You're…"
"What's going on, who is it?" Luffy struggled, but couldn't see because Smoker was still holding his face pressed to the ground
"The government wants your head" Smoker informed the stranger, ignoring Luffy entirely
"The world is waiting for our answer" The mysterious man replied cryptically
Strangely, the rain stopped falling, and an incredible gust began ripping through the whole city, blowing away everyone who wasn't inside, including Luffy, Smoker, Layne, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp and a whole pile of marines
Nami clung to the Merry's rails for dear life, but just as quickly as it had started, the gust was gone, but everything was mucked up
Zoro, Sanji, Luffy and Usopp emerged from the wreckage of some sheds near the harbor, Zoro grasping Layne's ankle and pulling him from where he was buried under some rubble
"Thanks Zoro" Layne muttered, brushing some dust off his shoulder as he stood up
"LUFFY!" Nami shouted from the Merry, which was nearly out of earshot range, as she noticed them at the harbor
"LUFFY!" she repeated, more urgently
"Nami!" Luffy noticed, hearing his name
"Shit, we have to hurry, or she'll drift out too far" Sanji informed them
Sanji, Layne, Zoro and Usopp started running in the direction of the ship, while Luffy shouted something incomprehensible and ran in the other direction
Everyone else stopped to see what he was doing, but didn't like what they saw
"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"
Luffy stretched and caught onto an exposed piece of house framework, using it to rubber band back
The rest of the crew tried in vain to run, but Luffy caught them on the snap back and the five of them flew through the air, impacting the Merry's sail before sliding down and collapsing on the floor in one big heap
"Guys!" Nami said, relieved that they had all made it
Back in Loguetown, the mysterious man who had saved Luffy watched the gust silently watched the Straw Hats depart, a slight smile appearing on his face as someone approached behind him
"I must thank you my dear… your timing was impeccable, though I did have the situation well in hand"
"So you were here, Dragon" a female voice replied from behind him "I hope I didn't interrupt anything, I'll be leaving now anyway, I wasn't planning on staying for so long but i'm glad that i did, because I got to see a couple of interesting things"
"Of course, give Red Hair my regards"
The waves were huge, but the Merry was finally out of Loguetown's sight, and there was absolutely no sight of pursuit, so the atmosphere on the Merry was relaxed, with all the Straw Hats on deck, looking forwards, exciting for the prospect of entering the Grand Line
A beam of light washed over the ship and pointed forwards
"Check out that light" Nami exclaimed "That's the way to the Grand Line!"
"The Grand Line is over there?" Luffy asked
Nami nodded
"Are we really going to go in a storm like this?" Usopp asked
Zoro, Sanji, Layne, and Luffy all gave various noises and gestures of assent, and it was agreed upon
Sanji pulled over the empty Barrel he'd been sitting on and placed it in between all of them
"Alright, let's have a little ceremony, to celebrate the importance of our voyage"
Sanji placed his left heel up on the barrel and thought back to Zeff, and the Blue finned Elephant Tuna currently residing in the ships cooler
"To find All Blue" he stated
Luffy was next, the impetus for all of them being there currently
"To become the Pirate King!"
Zoro, grinning placed his foot up next, thinking about Kuina, Tashigi, Mihawk and his brand new swords
"To become the world's greatest swordsman"
Layne followed suit, pushing his soaked hair out of his eyes as he grinned, happy to just be alive for the first time in recent memory
"I'll find my sister, Moll!"
Nami placed her hell in between Layne's and Luffy's, a strange feeling of pride in herself and her companions overtaking her
"To make a map of the world"
Finally, Usopp after some slight hesitation placed his booted foot up, completing the circle, nervous, but moving forwards
"To become a brave warrior of the sea!"
They stared at the barrel in silence for a moment, smiling and considering the future, before Luffy broke the silence
"Let's go to the Grand Line!" he shouted
"Yeah!" the rest of them said in unison, and as one they all raised their feet, and brought them down on the barrel, smashing it.
