Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! I'm so sorry for the unbelievably late update! I should commit seppuku :'( Well all I can say to make up for it is well I've been stuck doing exams for 2 weeks so that didn't help plus the fact that this chapter was so damn long didn't exactly help either :'( But I'm back now with a nice fresh new chapter! Etto my writing style may seem a little different in this chapter cos I spent a little more time on this one than others. And yes it's a whopper of a chapter. 12,000 words! Really! But hopefully I can get the next chapter out much faster. I am never going to stop writing the fic until it is finished so if there ever comes a time where it really feels like I'll never release a new chapter please don't give up on it. No matter how long it'll take, I will keep updating chapters no matter what.
Please please please review fav, follow. Thankyou to everyone who have already posted a review, every single one of them is appreciated. Well done to Xarciel who guessed where the Of Mice and Men quote was, here is your imaginary cookie *presents cookie Enjoy!
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The recreational centre wasn't one of the nicest of places to be stuck in at 8 o 'clock at night and by yourself. The hallways were tall and wide which helped in producing loud and clear echoes of every movement that you made, echoes that would bounce and ricochet around the entire building. People would often have to reconsider whether they were truly the only human being left in the building.
Zoro had stayed behind for up to 3 hours after his classes had finished in order to make use of the free gym equipment and as much space as he needed. Every single day he was waking up as soon as possible and falling asleep as late as possible in order to cram in as much training as he could into one day. At first he was proud of the amount of the effort he was putting in to fulfilling his decision to become even stronger. But as the days rolled by, soon his pride turned into disappointment. Every time he lifted a weight, or swam a stroke or swung a sword, his mind was plagued with the question "Why haven't I been training this hard until now?", why was he not as motivated as he was 7 years ago? What could have possibly changed him?
Zoro finished wiping away the sweat from his chest and back and threw the smelly towel into his locker. After staring into the pretty empty locker, he let out an angry, frustrated shout and slammed the locker shut with enough force to break its hinges. He flopped back down onto the edge of the bench, rested his elbows upon his knees and nestled his head into his hands.
Something had happened today. Something happened that had deeply disturbed him and put him in a god-awful mood.
He had seen Kuina again today. Right in the middle of a judo class. Just when he was about to throw down a student to the floor, he heard her call his name again. She was standing just a few feet away from him and judging by tone of her voice, he thought that when he saw her, she would look scared or frightened, but she didn't. It was that same face again, same deathly white, numb and disappointed face. And then because of that one second of distraction, his opponent was able to lift up his legs from underneath him and topple him over onto his back.
…He had lost…again. And this time it was right in front of her. It was possibly the most shameless act he could ever think to perform, losing right in front of her eyes. Zoro knew why she looked so disappointed when he saw her. Because he still hadn't fulfilled his promise. She was waiting, had been waiting for god knows how long to fulfil his oath to her, an oath he had proclaimed in front of her father, an oath that earned Zoro the man's respect and his permission to use Kuina's sword. Zoro breathed out a tired sigh. Hopefully she won't need to wait any longer, because tonight he'd get that money and complete his end of the deal. But the fact that she even had to wait at all was something Zoro really didn't want.
Zoro pulled on his hoodie and then slipped his arms into his warm winter coat, zipped it up all the way to the top and made his way out of the centre, making sure to turn off every light that he passed. As Zoro thought about Kuina, his mind strayed to that eventful day 2 weeks ago. Although Kuina wasn't there to see it, losing to that blonde homeless guy was as equally humiliating. How could he have lost to such a shitty, annoying, money-grubbing idiot, in his own goddam home!
His fighting technique was…odd, to say the least. When Zoro first started noticing that the blonde was refusing to use his hands, he just assumed that it was because they were injured or something. But he was dead wrong. That guy didn't even need hands when he had those deadly legs of his. When he first got a taste of the destructive power behind those legs, Zoro thought he'd been hit by steel bat or something. The blonde was roughly the same height as him and yet his legs seemed like twice the size of Zoro's own, which only helped to give him a wider range of attack and a disturbingly pinpoint accuracy. He was sure he'd seen some kind of combat practice that incorporated only kicking techniques, but it never interested him. But that shitty cook was probably the most interesting opponent he'd fought in…years. If he were to ever meet the guy again, which seemed unlikely, the first thing he'd do is ask for a rematch.
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Zoro was glad for the warm burst of air that swept over his chilly skin as he opened the glass door into the apartment building. The green haired receptionist was there to say "Good Evening" and Zoro decided not to be a grouch that night and stopped to talk for a few seconds. "Yo Caimie, where's your brother?" Caimie took off her glasses and smiled ecstatically, probably glad that someone had bothered to stop and talk to her.
"Oh Hachi? He's working in err, what was it…ah the Rain Dinners mall."
"Another job?
"Mmm that's what I said, but he insisted. But he said we'll never raise enough money with the pay we're earning now…"
"Well, I'd like to say I could help but, I'm a little stuck for cash as well"
Caimie started shaking her hands frantically "Ah no, no, no I couldn't possibly ask you for money! I was just babbling haha, sorry I shouldn't push my problems onto other people hahaha"
Zoro glanced to the elevator doors. "Well, good luck I guess" he said while subtly moving toward the elevator as Caimie blabbed on.
"Ah mm goodnight, Zoro-kun!" she said enthusiastically.
After Zoro stepped lazily into the elevator and pressed the 12th floor button, he waited for the door to slide across but was surprised to see a hand pop out of nowhere and hold onto the edge it, preventing the door from moving any further. Zoro grumbled internally when he saw one of his neighbours invade the elevator and press the 11th floor button.
The man standing next to him was known as Trafalgar Law but Zoro had never gone out of his way to exchange greetings. This was partly due to the fact that Zoro was an unsociable bastard, but the fact that the guy was just plain weird could also be seen as a reasonable attribute. Zoro rarely saw him outside of his apartment and from what he did see he didn't look like he was fond of mixing with other people. Of course Luffy talked to him, he'd talk to anyone, and he seemed to like him at least. One thing Zoro did know about him was that he was a doctor, or something to that degree, as Chopper had mentioned seeing him pass by in the hallways of the Grandline general hospital several times. But apart from that, Zoro didn't know a thing about this "Law" guy. Oh, but he was also extremely fond of wearing a weird fluffy white hat with black patches, wherever he went. Other than that, he knew nothing.
"Who was that new friend of yours?"
Zoro was taken aback when he first heard Law's voice and it took him longer than usual to realise that the young man had asked him a question.
"Huh?" Zoro said dumbly as he looked at Law's shadowed face.
Law didn't look away from the elevator door but his creepy smile showed that he was amused by Zoro's pathetic response.
"That blonde guy sleeping outside your apartment 2 weeks ago. I assume he was a friend of yours, but perhaps not, considering the amount of noise you two were making after you invited him in."
Zoro was dumbfounded. He'd never talked to this guy in his whole life and yet the first question he ever asked him was about some stranger whom almost all of his friends didn't even know about. How could he pay so much attention to someone else's life? Was he spying on him? Or was he doing this on purpose, as a joke or something? 'Cos it sure as fuck wasn't funny. And wasn't he a bit slow? Everything he mentioned all happened 2 weeks ago…
Zoro cleared his throat and looked away. "I have no idea what you're talking about"
Law chuckled to himself softly, "I see".
Thankfully the elevator dinged and Zoro was glad to see the back of Law walking out of the elevator. He certainly didn't want to talk to that weirdo again anytime soon.
Just a second later and the elevator brought him up to his floor. Zoro was surprised to see the open hallway completely devoid of life when the doors slid open. There would have usually been at least one person running around causing havoc, especially in the night. Zoro shrugged and quietly stepped out the elevator.
"FOUND HIM!" Zoro turned his head sharply to see Luffy and Chopper panting heavily and looking like they were about to pounce. That was a definite signal to tell him to run.
Zoro immediately galloped around the balcony, scrambling frantically to fish out his keys buried in his pockets. "You're no getting away this time!" Shit, shit, shit! Zoro tried pushing the key into the hole but the damn thing was just refusing to go in. The breath was knocked right out of Zoro's lungs when Luffy came crashing into his side and he plummeted to ground with Luffy's legs wrapped around his midsection.
"Ow, get the fuck off me Luffy!" Zoro tried scrambling away but Luffy's vice like grip around his stomach prevented him moving even an inch.
"No we're not letting you get away! You're always trying to hide all the time. Stingy Zoro!" Both Luffy and Chopper stuck their tongues out.
"Alright alright I won't hide this time okay? Now will you let me go!? Luffy's frown immediately turn upside down and his eyes shone with new excitement.
"Really? Okay then, everyone's round mine and Ace's! You can play Timesplitters with me and Usopp, okay?" Luffy unravelled himself from Zoro and jumped to his feet, whereas Zoro heaved himself up.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just let me go change-"
"Nooooo you have to come nooooooow!"
"Yeah don't be so stingy Zoro!"
Luffy and Chopper each took one of Zoro's arms and started pulling him toward Luffy's and his brother Ace's shared apartment. As soon as he was pulled into the place, a hand looped around his neck and a beer was shoved in his face.
"Zoro man! Where the fuck you been! We've been having party after party all week and you've just been mooching inside your apartment!" Zoro pushed his friend Ace's face away but gladly took the beer being offered, which was hard to do when Luffy was still clinging to his arm. Ace was probably what people would call "a best friend", as both him and Zoro were roughly the same age and often shared the same interests. And although he was the brother of the most energetic and childish teenager Zoro had ever come across, Ace had a streak of maturity to him, a trait that was hard to find on the 12th floor of the Sunny Go apartments.
Zoro peered around the room and saw Usopp squished into the flimsy sofa and Brook sat in the corner next to the red-headed witch Nami, tuning his violin. Even sitting down, the African-American man was still taller than everyone else in the apartment.
"Yohohoho it's good to see you again Zoro-san! Where on earth have you been?" Brook said when he noticed Zoro's new presence in the room. Nami looked up over an open newspaper and a scheming smile spread across her lips.
"Didn't you know Brook? He's obviously come to pay up his debt he still owes me" She said while crossing her legs.
"I told you I don't have the money right now" Zoro said while still being pulled by Luffy and Chopper toward the sofa.
"Oh that's a shame…I suppose I'll let you off this time, even I'll admit that 450,000 berri is hard to come by."
"450?! I thought it was just 150,000?"
"Ara, did you forget? You promised to pay me back 3 times over when we made our little deal Nami said sweetly.
"You bitch! If you know I can't get you the money why the fuck would you ask for more!"
Nami's face turned deadly serious, her eyes narrowed into slits and her voice dropped its sweet tone and replaced it with something much more sinister.
"Are you saying that you are refusing to pay? Perhaps words aren't a good enough method of explanation?"
Everyone else in the room went silent and pale and seemed to gulp all at the same time. Brook frantically waved his arms and tried to remedy Nami's murderous aura.
"C-calm down Nami-san! There's no need to get upset"
"Aaaaah!"
"What's wrong Chopper?" Usopp asked, worriedly.
"I've stayed too long! My shift starts in 5 minutes!" Chopper shouted looking at his watch. The little doctor grabbed his coat, said his goodbyes and off he went to work.
Luffy shoved Zoro down onto the sofa and placed a gamecube controller into his hands "Here you can play with me and Usopp! Mmmm but it sucks that Chopper's gone…oh! Ace you'll play with us, won't you!"
"Hahaha no way little bro, me and Zoro are gonna have ourselves a drinking contest!" Ace said patting Zoro on the shoulder.
"Eeeeeh! No way! Zoro's been wanting to play with us all week!" Luffy said, walking up to Ace.
"No, no, no that can't be right, Zoro wants to be a big boy and have some beers, ain't that right!" Ace stood up to enforce his superiority over his brother.
"Actually I have somewhere to go so-"
"See? He agrees, besides you lot can play with Nami"
"No thanks, I only play games if money is involved"
"See it has to be Zoro!"
Ace shoved Luffy backwards lightly with one hand, "Does Zoro seriously look like the kinda guy who'd wanna play a kid's game?"
Luffy shoved Ace back with slightly more force, "What the hell Ace! You were playing on it yesterday and you loved it! Plus Zoro always plays with us when we want a game of tag"
Ace bonked Luffy on the top if his head "That's because it's the only way to shut you up little bro"
First came the shoving, then came the head bonking and then punching and biting soon followed. The straw hat gang were no stranger to the two brothers play fighting as they both loved to show each other which of the siblings was stronger. However on this particular occasion Ace just happened to be fighting Luffy with an almost full bottle of beer in one hand and Zoro just happened to be placed uncomfortably in-between the two quarrellers. What resulted was what everyone who was watching expected to happen, everyone except Zoro. He jerked up into the air as soon as the cold liquid started to seep out onto his belly from where the bottle had landed. Everyone, including the brothers, kept still and silent as they watched the dripping swordsman stare down at his t-shirt, who was also still and silent. Before anyone could say anything, Zoro huffed loudly and stomped out of the apartment.
"W-wait, don't go Zoro!" Usopp shouted.
"We're really sorry Zoro, it was an accident, wasn't it Luffy?" Ace looked down at his brother.
Luffy nodded his head frantically "Yeah don't go Zoro, I'm really sorry!"
Zoro opened the door but looked back with a normal expression.
"It's okay Luffy, I'm not mad, I just have to go somewhere" And with that Zoro slammed the door behind him.
Usopp sighed "What's with Zoro lately? He seems much more grumpier than usual. I wonder if something is wrong."
"He's fine" Luffy said in a rare, deep and serious tone. "This is just something he has to do; we can't help him if he doesn't want it."
Usopp raised his eyebrow, surprised by the teenager's blunt statement, but didn't choose to question it.
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Zoro rounded the corner of the street and spotted the lavish looking club that flooded blue fluorescent light out of its windows and onto the black pavement outside. It was meant to look modern; a place where the richest men and women in Grandline would gather to talk business deals, order cocktails and dance till their legs went numb. It was meant to look modern and refined because it wouldn't cause suspicion, if the police found out about the bar's secret, then it would be closed down for sure.
As he neared the entrance he saw Dorry and Brogy, two bouncers who guarded the entrance to the bar, as well as its secret, from low-lifes with big-ego's, empty pockets and no name to show for themselves. Zoro had fought countless big enemies before, but they were nothing compared to these 7 feet tall, suited giants. When standing together they created an impenetrable wall of towering muscle and the idiots who tried to force their way past them, usually ended up in an ambulance. Currently Dorry was holding an unfortunate young man by the collar and shaking him around as if he were a children's toy.
Zoro shivered slightly when a cold gust of winter's wind blew into his face and he cupped his hands over his mouth and breathed warmth into them. The night sky was completely black now, save for a few helicopters circling around, but in the early afternoon the clouds were an ominous mass of dark grey matter and thin films of ice had started to form over lonely puddles. Zoro had his fingers crossed for morning jogs in the raging snow, for little pennies of ice to hit him hard in the face while he ran against the wind and for the slight tweak of pain he would feel every time he inhaled the frigid air.
As he approached the club's entrance, Dorry and Brogy's heads immediately snapped toward him and they prepared to send a horde of threats his way but stopped when the clubs flashing, artificial lights illuminated the swordsman's green hair and three swords.
"Ohhhh Zoro-san we haven't seen you in ages, didn't think you were coming tonight!" Brogy said with an enormous smile that was almost as big as his head.
"Of course he would come idiot; it's one of the biggest tournaments of the year!"
Brogy bashed his counterpart on the head. "IDIOT you're not supposed to talk about that so loudly!"
Dorry growled and rubbed the top of his head, all the while still keeping a firm grip on the shivering man's collar.
"What the fuck was that for!? You wanna fight bastard!"
"Move" Zoro said simply, but it was said with enough deadly ferocity that it sent a shiver down each of the giants' spines and their hair felt the need to stand up on ends. They immediately parted to reveal black double doors and they bowed slightly, all the while wearing ridiculously cheesy smiles.
"Yes of course, good luck Mr. Roronoa!"
"Idiot he doesn't need luck!"
Zoro wordlessly passed the quarrelling pair and as soon he pushed through the ebony doors and stepped onto the fine adam's wood flooring, he felt like the booming, spectacular human aquarium before his eyes had swallowed him whole, and he barely had enough time to react to the change of atmosphere.
Shoals of people from all over the Grandline created a wave of locomotion as they danced, drank and socialised. There wasn't a person in sight that was stationary, apart from Zoro, and the mesh of oily colours that bounced off of people's sweaty skin could almost hypnotize you. The club itself was massive; it had to be, in order fit this amount of high-end gamblers and upper-class sluts inside its mosaic walls. The resonant techno trance music disagreed with Zoro's eardrums and his frown curved down even more, and the stifling sweat-inducing heat that radiated from the dance floor caused an instantaneous reaction. Zoro wiped away the sweat beads that had already formed so quickly on his forehead, and he shucked his coat off and had it taken away from him by an intimidated bartender.
He strained his neck to stare up at the big sharks that mainly occupied the second floor, seeking out the one shark that he was unfortunately dependent on. There were only the usual drug lords and casino owners that occupied the coral sofas, no sign of the man he was meant to be meeting tonight. Maybe he was already inside.
Zoro sidled over to the bar and plopped himself down on one of the high, club-chic stools and ordered a bottle of sake. Zoro was not one to rate many things in life, but alcohol was an exception. Sure he didn't mind an average bottle of beer, alcohol is alcohol, but when a first mouthful of acidic yet rich and creamy, authentic Japanese sake hit the back of his throat that had been worked dry from shouting at various people all day, there wasn't much that could compare to the feeling it gave Zoro.
After the fresh icy bottle was placed upon the coaster, Zoro immediately grabbed the neck of it and chugged down half of the liquid. He stopped and tore his mouth away from the lid, breathed in some much needed air and looked at his watch. 11:30, another half an hour and the fights would begin, and it could take a long time for all the small fights to be over and done with before his turn came along.
"Sir?"
Zoro looked up to see the stoic barman in front of him, holding a piece of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. Zoro took both and stared at the crumpled paper with scribbles on. There was nothing official, no organisational skills involved with this tournament and so there was no need for any proper entry methods. All you had to do was write down your name and your weapon of choice and that was it, you were entered. However it wasn't exactly as simple as that. In order to match you up with an opponent, organisers and judges will take into account your weapon of choice and whether your name meant anything. Zoro was fairly confident his name would earn him a place in "The Gladiator", a brawl named after its notorious nature of ending up as a fight to the death. But the stakes had to be high if you wanted a chance of winning the cash prize this year, 23 million berri. Never before had so much money been offered up as a prize for this kind of tournament, but its gaining popularity with bloodthirsty mongrels and criminal high rollers earned itself huge amounts of sponsorship deals. Of course he had no desire of owning that amount of money for himself, but he knew someone who did, someone who would blackmail, steal, kidnap or even kill someone for that amount of money.
Suddenly, Zoro felt a heavy hand land on his shoulder with a SMACK, which nearly made him choke on his sake, and he quickly slapped it away. He looked to his left to see whichever fuck-head thought it was smart to invade his personal space, but his anger subsided when he recognized the man standing next to him.
"Well, well, well if it isn't the demon trapped in a mortal body, come to buy his good old friend a beer!"
Zoro's face relaxed and he shifted his swords to make room for the man to sit down. It was strange not seeing the blonde middle aged man in casual clothes, it seemed like all he did was work at the Galley-La all day.
"Paulie? What the hell are you doing here?"
"One beer my good man. Ha-ha why so suspicious? Can't a guy go to a nice bar to enjoy a drink, relax and share stories with a friend after a hard day's work?"
Zoro simply raised his eyebrow, and after a few moments of silence Paulie gave in.
"Alright, alright. Look I borrowed a couple of berri from some guys and err one thing lead to another and it seems I don't exactly have enough money to pay them back fully. Ha-ha funny that, huh?"
"So you thought you'd find the answer to your problem here huh?"
"Damn right, this is the only place in Grand Line that you can get easy money, fast."
"Well, be sure to put your money on me. I'm planning on winning that 23 million berri tonight."
It was Paulie's turned to choke on his beer and he turned to Zoro with a baffled look.
"Oi oi are you serious! It's been ages since the last time you came here. I mean I know you're pretty damn strong and all, but the fighters have become a lot stronger since you've been away."
"Like I care. I'd be ashamed to call myself a swordsman if I'm defeated by some cocky ass punk who has no resolve. I've trained more in these past few weeks than I have in 2 years, so I'm more than prepared for this."
"Is that so?" Paulie rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Well in that case, I might go ahead and put my remaining berri down on the table. No pressure, right?"
"Damn right" Zoro glugged down the last remains of the liquid and wiped his mouth.
"Oh, before I forget", Paulie reached around his back and magically produced a folded up newspaper and handed it to Zoro. "As soon as I saw this I knew I just had to show it to you. It's the main story, right there" Paulie tapped the biggest picture on the page knowing that Zoro wasn't one for reading newspapers.
Zoro peered closely at the black and white zoomed in image of some kind of fancy establishment. There was a sign above its massive window that stretched from the roof to the floor, much like his own, which read "Baratie", and Zoro was able to make out some of the interior of the building. Tables covered in white cloths and adorned with roses, candles and fine crockery was a good indicator that what he was looking at was a restaurant.
"Why are you showing me a picture of a restaurant?"
Paulie huffed with impatience and rolled his eyes. "You're not one for details, are you? Look closely at the window"
Zoro narrowed his eyes and brought the newspaper closer to his face. He concentrated on finding any worth paying attention to on the surface of the glass and after a few minutes of searching, found it. There was a straight 4-5cm thick crack in the window running diagonally from one end to the other. That was impossible, the glass should be shattered into tiny pieces, it can't take that much damage and still be in one piece. No weapon could have made a mark like that…..unless…
Zoro looked at Paulie's face with a straight face and Paulie nodded.
"If what you've said about this 'Dracule Mihawk' is true, then I'll bet you any money it was him who left a little reminder of himself on that "Baratie" restaurant. Shit, at least that's the only explanation I can come up with"
Zoro's free hand went up to feel the indentation patched into skin through his white t-shirt, just the thought of Yoru slicing across that window caused his scar to become itchy and he felt the flesh underneath it heat up. Zoro suddenly shot up from his seat, rolled up the newspaper and turned to Paulie.
"Do you know where this 'Baratie' place is?"
Paulie started shaking both his hands "Woah woah hold your horses Zoro. Unfortunately there's a down side. See I only stumbled upon that when I was in a dentist's waiting room. Check out the date man, it's like 3 months old."
Zoro's mind was slow in registering this but when it started to set in, he slowly sat back down in his seat. Shit, what a fool he had been, surely after all these years he should know by now, that finding the strongest swordsman in the world wasn't this damn easy.
"According the article, the baratie had come under attack from some weird ass crime-lord, Don Krieg who was obsessed with taking over the restaurant. But the crack in the window must've been caused by a fight that broke out between Krieg and "Mr" Mihawk. He must've had some kind of personal vendetta against the scumbag cos 10 minutes later, when the police arrived, they were surprised to find Kreig and his entire gang knocked out and cut up in more places than you can imagine."
Zoro unravelled the newspaper and looked at it again. He smirked to himself thinking about what Krieg must have done to earn himself this "personal vendetta". Knowing Mihawk it must have been something stupid like "he disturbed my nap".
"That photo must have been taken by some passer-by, whoever it is they've got serious balls taking that picture and sending it to a tabloid newspaper. Those people standing outside the restaurant are the chefs; they probably witnessed the whole thing. If you want more information, your safest bet is to ask one of them."
Zoro looked back at the picture and studied the figures closely. Their outfits were enough to give away that they were chefs, pretty stereotypical. Hell the short stumpy one who had his back turned had the most ridiculously long chef hat Zoro had ever seen. But there was one who wasn't dressed typically, for a chef at least, who was sporting a black suit, a light coloured pinstripe shirt, and was smoking obnoxiously into the short man's face. Was he the manager or something?
Zoro forgot to breathe for a few seconds and his eyes nearly dropped out if his sockets when he spotted the stupidly odd looking direction the man's eyebrow seemed to take. No….it couldn't be…the world couldn't possibly be this small. Zoro stared harder at the man's curly eyebrow and his mouth started to gape. Sanji? The shitty cook? The shitty, annoying, smug, bad-tempered, thieving, homeless guy he had met just 2 weeks ago through mere coincidence, had actually seen Mihawk? Had actually survived an attack from him?
Fuck.
This was just his luck. Just 2 weeks ago the closest thing he could possibly get to finding out Mihawk's whereabouts was dangling right in front of him, taunting him, and he was so blind with irritation and ignorance that he had just let it slip away from him without him even knowing it was there in the first place. And there was no use in trying to find that shitty blonde. Grandline was a huge city, filled with so many people that can easily pass you on the street without you even being aware of their existence. Everything, from the vast mixture of citizens, to the underground trains and swarming taxi's, everything kept flowing like red blood cells through the tarmac veins of the city's body. And Zoro had come to learn that if you stopped moving, if you couldn't keep up with the endless cycle and collapsed to the ground in a sapped out state, the city itself would reject you and will refuse to let you back in.
And although it sounded harsh, Zoro knew that's what would eventually happen to the homeless blonde. But there was something else that convinced Zoro that he probably wouldn't see the annoying prick again. When he had said "you'll never see me again", to Zoro, it didn't sound like a mere throw away comment out of spite. There was meaning behind those words, words that would undoubtedly be supported by action.
Zoro scrunched up the newspaper within his hands. Dammit, if only he had asked the stupid cook if he knew anything about Mihawk. And even if he kept his lips sealed, if he gave away any sign that he was indeed aware of what Zoro was talking about, he would have even resorted to more violent methods of getting that precious information out that foul mouth of his. Zoro huffed miserably. Although finding the blonde would most likely prove to be nigh-impossible, asking him was certainly more favourable, compared to what he was about to do. There wasn't even a guarantee that he would get the location in exchange for the 23 million, it was just based on an unfortunate agreement that he seemed to have gotten himself roped into.
"You okay man? You seem a bit spaced out"
"Urr yeah…listen thanks for this"
"Hey, no problem, just helping out a friend who's saved my skin on more than one occasion."
"No, I mean it. I mean it's annoying that it's 3 months old and all, but this is probably the closest clue I'm ever gonna get, with the way things are looking right now. So, thanks"
"Well I thought I'd never see the day the Zoro Roronoa say thankyou! Bwahahahaha" Paulie smacked Zoro on the back heartily as he laughed loudly. Zoro grimaced slightly from the friendly attack.
"Oh and you're welcome," Paulie lit up a cigar he had fished out of his jacket and he then looked at his watch, "well then, enough chit-chat, are you ready to make me a big pile of dough?"
Zoro looked down at the newspaper again. Fuck it, he was already here, and there was no way I hell he'd ever walk away from a challenge. And who knows, he might actually fight someone interesting this time.
Zoro slammed down some berri notes onto the bar top and paused slightly before standing up and leaving the newspaper roughly folded up in a place where anyone was free to take it. He lightly rested his hand on top of Wado's sheath.
"Let's go."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Shit this place is grubby; we might as well be walking through a sewer."
The two men, both seeking fortunes, were walking down the narrow, concrete flight of stairs which led to the tournament arena. Both the exit and entrance doors were soundproof and so there was only the sound of the men's boots clapping heavily and lazily on the grey concrete and the sound of multiple water droplets dripping from the club's visible vent system high above them.
Zoro wasn't the most hygienic person in the world, but even his skin crawled every time it brushed against the greasy walls that surrounded the stairs. The dim orange lights reflected off the mouldy walls giving the area a disgusting dirt brown tone, and the stench of gone off sweat had mixed with the humid atmosphere, forcing Zoro to take in short sharp breaths to prevent him from gagging.
After a good 2 minutes of walking (and complaining on Paulie's behalf), the pair finally reached the bottom of the stairs and Zoro did the honours of opening the dishevelled, rusting door. Zoro never forgot the first time he walked into the arena. The sight was enough to pump his body full of excitement and adrenaline, and he had to restrain himself from entering the cage and cutting down as many opponents as he could. Hundreds of colourfully dressed betters and spectators surrounded the 14x14 foot cage which was placed smack in the middle of the warehouse-sized basement. Nearly every one of them was shouting at the top of their lungs with threats, insults and sometimes words of encouragement, and whoever was luckiest to have a front row seat, banged the sides of the cage in hopes that it would make the fight turn in their favour. The walls were moist with the water vapour from sweat and spit, the stench of blood and money that lingered in the air hypnotized you into a power hungry state and the entire arena was bathed in a haunting green light. And when the door was opened fully after screeching in pain, Zoro was greeted with the exact same sight.
Paulie whistled "Man, what a turn out, I didn't think this old den could fit this many people inside"
"Mmm" Zoro said distractedly as he looked up at the second level where the VIP guests sat. Well, it wasn't exactly "VIP". Rather it was the only place where anyone could sit, and the "guests" were the people who were heavily involved in the illegal underground fight scene. He couldn't see a damn thing though, as there were plenty of bodyguards that lined the railing, ready to pummel anyone who'd dare approach the kings and queens of this desecrated basement.
"Oiiii what the hell are you doin here ya bastard! Hahahaha" Paulie waved obnoxiously to someone Zoro couldn't make out in the huge crowd, "See ya Zoro, good luck and err don't get yourself killed!" Paulie said before merging himself into the sea of gamblers.
"Yeah…" Zoro said, still distracted in his thoughts. Getting past those guards was going to be a problem. He moved off towards the stairs and as he pushed past people he heard various grunts of annoyance but also whispers of "Zoro Roronoa? What the hell is he doin here?", "Shit if he's fightin I'm pulling out" and "I feel sorry for whichever bastard has to go up against him". Zoro kept walking with an unwavering confidence in his stride and but also a relaxed posture, as he rested his arm upon Wado.
As he suspected, as soon as he stepped just a few centimetres too close to the big sharks, the suited bodyguards all looked his way and their backs grew tense. The nearest one to him stepped forward, folded his arms and puffed out his chest.
"What the fuck do you want?" he asked politely.
Zoro groaned "Look, I'm not here for a fight I just wanna talk to Crocodile"
"Crocodile? What the fuck would he wanna talk about with scum like you"
Zoro narrowed his eyes and his jaw tightened, "Listen asshole, I don't have time for this, just move aside."
The bodyguard moved forward, sizing up Zoro and cracking his knuckles. "I don't like that attitude of yours, kid"
"That's enough" The deep voice made the bodyguard swivel round with a surprised expression.
"B-but sir, this man clearly-"
"You're not here for trouble, are you Roronoa?" The man's face was covered in shadow but Zoro knew exactly who he was from the sound of his voice. Zoro shook his head silently and shoved past the humiliated bodyguard.
"Crocodile"
"It's been a while, hasn't it boy?" Crocodile poked a large Royal Danish cigar into the side of his mouth and as he lit the end of it, the lighter's flame illuminated the man's dry, grey features, the very prominent scar running across his face and his greasy slicked back purple hair, which perfectly matched the man's slimy personality. He was sat in a comfortable looking black leather chair, looking as happy as a pig in mud, with a blue-haired woman in his lap, draping herself around his shoulders and an entire posse of dodgy looking thugs lurking behind him in the shadows.
"I'm here about Mihawk"
Crocodile puffed out a few smoke rings aimed at Zoro's face, but he didn't even blink when the smoke blew into his eyes like a poisonous ghost.
"Ah yes, our little deal. Well, do you have the 20 million?"
"Do you have the location?"
"Kehahaha, my dear boy if you want this oh-so-precious location I'll need to see the cash upfront first."
"How do I know you're not lying to me, and will just run off with the money as soon as I give it to you?
"Kehahahaha you hear that Miss Doublefinger? He doesn't think I'll keep my end of the bargain!" The blue haired woman slid her dangerously long nails under Crocodile's chin and stroked the dusty skin seductively and gave Zoro a sideways glance.
"Sir Crocodile is the most proud man I have ever met, he wouldn't even dream of deceiving anyone. Not even a scrawny, disrespectful rookie such as yourself"
"Kehahahaha, oi oi, no need to be so harsh Miss Doublefinger, though I must say I've always liked that side of you," Crocodile turned his attention back to Zoro, who was still standing stock still with a stoic expression on his face.
"So, that settles it. Unless you hand over the 20 million berri, you won't even get a whiff of that location."
Zoro inhaled and exhaled deeply and calmly, "Well, then. I suppose you won't mind waiting another, I dunno, hour or so. Then I'll have the money"
Crocodile was surprised for a few seconds but then broke out into a choked laughter.
"Kehahaha, what the hell are going on about Roronoa, where the fuck do you think you can get that much money in an hour!"
Zoro simply turned his head to look up at a massive chalkboard on the northern facing wall and Crocodile followed suit. His face turned sour and he groaned loudly.
"Don't be so fucking cocky Roronoa, I can't even remember the last time you even came here, let alone actually win anything"
"We'll see about that"
This earned Zoro a tremendously loud growl that erupted from Crocodile's dry throat along with an extremely visible throbbing vein to appear on his forehead.
"You bastard, don't tell me you're-"
"Yeah, that 'Gladiator' prize should help me get that 20 million berri you're after. Plus there'll be 3 million left over for my troubles; sounds pretty good to me"
"You little- don't think for one fucking second that just because you put your name down on a piece of paper it means you can fight. There are rules in this game, and if you don't play by them you'll just end up like those unruly animals down there."
Zoro didn't look away from Crocodile's face but also didn't prepare a comeback; he just needed to wait for a few more seconds. Crocodile though, was getting even more irritated by the second. However the sweats beads that were starting to form on his forehead gave away his slight anxiety. He jolted forward out of his seat, knocking back Miss Doublefinger on the way and he revealed his prosthetic hand, which happened to be a solid gold plated hook, by placing the deadly sharp tip underneath Zoro's chin, and he blew out huge puffs of smoke into Zoro's face.
"Don't you dare insult me, scum. What the fuck makes you think you even qualify for a fight like that. Your name isn't worth sh-"
"YOSH! Listen up bastards! The chalkboard's been filled, so now there's no backing out! All the names and times are on this board, so I don't want no piss break excuses if you miss the start of your fight! As you can see, tonight's competitors for the Gladiator match will be…" The whole room held their breath and even Crocodile stood wide-eyed and with baited breath, waiting for the commentator to announce the names.
"…Zoro Roronoa and Daz Bones, aka Mr. 1!"
The entire arena erupted into cheers of excitement, metal rattling and the sound of hundreds of boots stomping on the ground. Zoro simply couldn't resist showing Crocodile the cockiest smile he could ever produce and lifted his chin away from the sharp golden point and took one step back.
"Hope you've prepared yourself, Mr.0"
Crocodile withdrew from his shocked/outraged state and turned to stand facing away from his brethren. He had his back hunched and his head was hung low enough to prevent anyone from reading his expression. Zoro had never seen him like this after someone had pissed him off, so silent and non-direct and too ashamed to even show his face. It put him on edge.
The shadowy thugs began to stir and a wave of hostile intent crashed into Zoro, and so he responded by slowly unsheathing Yubashiri about 3 inches as a warning to show that he was just as prepared for a fight as they were. But crocodile froze their threatening advances with a raised hand and he silently walked back to his chair, sat back into it and received a shoulder massage courtesy of Miss Doublefinger.
"Very well, Roronoa, it comes down to this fight. Mah it doesn't really matter to me who wins or loses. But I daresay it might tarnish my reputation, if a rogue brute like you defeated my champion thoroughbred. I've invested a lot of time and money in order to make him the strongest man in Grandline. I hope you've prepared yourself Mr Roronoa."
Liar. There was plenty more in it for him. If Zoro wins the fight then he'd receive only half of what he could earn if this so called "Mr 1" won.
"Heh, sounds interesting." And with that Zoro walked away, past the shocked glances of the kings and queens and past the irritated bodyguards and thugs. Most likely they were all Baroque Works agents. This was an organisation, or rather army, that Crocodile had managed to create. It was full of loyal bastards ready to carry out any orders that came their way, moral or immoral it made no difference to them. But they were small time and weren't even worthy of getting a taste of Wado's sharp blade. Zoro ignored the looks and carried on down the stairs. He still had to wait awhile for his fight and so he decided to kill time by watching the other cage fights. Strongest man in Grandline, huh? We'll see about that.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
The fights were boring, to say the least. Over 20 fights and none of them had succeeded in intriguing Zoro. He'd lost count of the amount of new "techniques" and "weapons" each fighter had managed to conjure up, but in the end they were just poor attempts at making up for their pathetic endurance and cowardly tactics. Zoro had never heard the crowd so quiet and so utterly bored by the lack of action. There were no sudden bursts of thunderous roars that followed after every hit that was successfully landed on an opponent, and angry chants made by the wild-eyed spectators who were unhappy with the outcomes of "0-0", were far more frequent than usual. With the way things were looking, Zoro probably didn't even need to warm up.
His ass cheeks were starting to feel numb after 10 minutes of sitting on a piece of concrete that was jutting out of the wall, and his skin was starting feel sticky and constricted underneath the thick cotton t-shirt.
From where he was sitting, he had a clear view of Crocodile looking very fidgety and irritated. Judging by the creases in his skin, Zoro could tell that whenever he spoke to one of his lackeys, his words were obviously full of hate and included scornful language. Any one of those Baroque Works agents could be his opponent but none of them especially stuck out to Zoro. Crocodile was probably waiting to reveal him at the very last moment.
Just when Zoro was about to stand up and take a walk the commentator made the announcement everyone was waiting for.
"YOSH!" Here comes the announcement you've all been waiting for! It's time for the competitors for the Gladiator match to enter the cage. Zoro Roronoa…Mr 1…come on doooooooown!"
Zoro's senses flicked back on like a light switch as soon as the quiet, monotone crowd burst back into life after the sweet, desired words reached their ears. They began to chant the word "Gladiator" over and over, with perfect synchronisation and accompaniment was included in the form of metal rattling as it was shook by hundreds of hands.
Zoro didn't need to push and shove in order to walk through the tightly packed crowd; everyone had parted in order to make a clear path toward the cage door. As he passed, people clapped him on the back and there were a few comments thrown at him which included "Kick that guy's ass, Roronoa!", "I've got 1000 berri on you, don't let me down!"
Zoro silently opened the flimsy cage door and his hands itched for his swords as soon as he stepped into the arena. His opponent stood directly opposite him, stretching his arms and neck. He was a tall man, much taller than Zoro, but his limbs, although muscled, were long and slender. His only attire was a long oriental looking, black sleeveless coat and a pair of loose pants. It was pretty obvious to Zoro that this was definitely the man he would be fighting, as he had a large tattoo of the Japanese symbol for the number 1 plastered over his chest.
The man's weapon of choice? Two thin, but extremely sharp looking blades held in each hand. Zoro shed his t-shirt as the feel of the fluffy fabric against his slippery skin was starting to irritate him, plus the rising heat of the arena was head-ache inducing. He heard the rattle of chains behind him, and looked to see that the cage door was being padlocked. That was a part of the rules; no-one is allowed to leave the cage until the timer runs out or if one of the competitors is defeated by the other.
Zoro looked over to the man again who was standing still with arms crossed, sizing him up. There was something about him that told Zoro that he knew this man, or had at least heard of him. And after a few minutes of reminiscing about days of old it finally came to him.
"I remember your ugly mug. I vaguely recall a bounty hunter that went by the name of 'the killer', am I right?"
Mr 1 or rather "Daz" simply narrowed his eyes and kept silent.
"They called you a truly magnificent and notorious assassin. But it looks like you're just someone's dog. What are you fighting for apart from money, little dog of crocodile?"
…
"Did you lick his hand to get a good treat?"
"Bastard, don't you dare insult Sir Crocodile"
"You fight for money. Pride also as a bill" Zoro untied the green bandana placed around his bicep and tied it around his head. All night he had been itching for this very moment, he was finally able to unsheathe two of his swords, Yubashiri and Sandai Kitetsu. This caused the audience around him to erupt in loud cheers of excitement and satisfaction. The rattling of the cage was even louder when he was actually inside it.
"What about you? Aren't you the same?"
"Unlike you I fight for a higher purpose."
"YOSH! Both competitors seem to ready to tear each other part! Now I hope you know the rules! There are no penalties, no best out of 3's, and especially no time-outs. Your fight ends when the 5 minute timer rings. Got that bastards!"
"Yeah, yeah I got it" Zoro rolled his eyes; he'd already heard this mandatory speech a million times before.
"YOSH! Then the fight shall begin at the sound of the bell!"
"3!"
Attack first, don't ever let him get the chance to gain the upper hand.
"2!"
Finish this up nice and quick.
"1! Start!"
DING!
Zoro lurched forward with katanas at the ready but Daz was there to greet him halfway and managed to block his attack with his blades that were aligned against his forearms. They stayed in that position and fought over each other's strength. Zoro eventually managed to overcome the test of power and managed to push away the blades along with Daz. Zoro took advantage of Daz's vulnerable stance and swung both swords, but were again blocked by the annoying blades. Zoro took a swing at Daz's midsection, but to his surprise, the attack was blocked by his leg. What the hell?
When the sword made contact with the leg, Zoro swore he heard the same metal clink you would hear when swords would make contact, and the man's leg felt much too hard for it to be made of flesh and bone. What the hell was this guy? Was he hiding more blades under those trousers? Zoro hardly had time to figure out the phenomenon however as he had to block an incredibly powerful rising kick aimed at his head, by crossing both swords. Zoro was once again trapped in a test for strength as he pushed against the confusing metal leg. And once again Zoro managed to push the leg away along with Daz, causing him to trip slightly. This would have been a great opportunity for Zoro to attack but instead he was forced to defend himself when Daz managed to recover from the trip and lunged forward with both blades, with much more speed than Zoro would have guessed the tall man was capable of. Zoro was getting slightly pissed off with the fact that he had to defend himself with crossed swords yet again, but there was no struggle for dominance this time around, as he was pushed back along the blood soaked floor by Daz and his blades. For the third time, Zoro shoved Daz away but the man quickly made a comeback by throwing a roundhouse kick at Zoro's head. Zoro bent his back as far as it would go in order to avoid the sharp leg and followed through by springing back onto his sword filled hands. The limited space within the cage walls prevented him from flipping back again, so Daz swung one of the blades down with enough force to crack the concrete floor, Zoro dodged it by flipping right over Daz's bent body and landed with his back facing towards him.
Zoro batted away every jab that was sent flying toward him by Daz. Finally Daz made a mistake that Zoro was looking for. Zoro blocked a final powerful swing made by Daz and kicked him in the stomach hard enough to cause Mr 1 to stumble backwards. This ended now.
Zoro gracefully slipped Wado's hilt into his mouth and bent down into the position needed to perform the first of his signature moves. In under a second, Zoro had burst forward and sliced through Daz's chest using all three swords. But he wasn't finished. If he wanted to win then he needed to finish this properly. While Daz fell to ground, with his chest open and spurting fresh blood in all directions, Zoro ran up the sides of cage and pushed away so that he was directly above his unfortunate opponent. Without any hesitation, Zoro used all three swords to perform a descending diagonal slash aimed at Daz's already bleeding chest. But the sheer force Zoro had concentrated into the attack was enough to cause Daz to plummet and crack the concrete floor beneath him. Zoro landed safely on his two feet, unharmed and undefeated.
The sound of the timer ringing signalled the end of the match and his victory.
"Well! Unless anyone one is blind or just plain fucking dumb, I think we all know the results. Winner of the Gladiator and the 23 million berri prize money, Zoro Roronoa!"
The whole audience seemed to shout and cheer all at once and volume created by it bullied Zoro's eardrums and he tried to block the noise out. But damn he couldn't stop smiling. Everything he had worked for had finally paid off; he finally had the upper hand. But most of all, after worrying and doubting about his strength and resolve so much, it felt so damn good to know that he still had it.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
A cocoon made up of several Baroque Works agents had formed around the infuriated gang leader, a pathetic attempt to shield the loser away from the approaching victor. When Zoro reached the top of the stairs, angry faces looked back and shortly after the cocoon dispersed to reveal a purple faced Crocodile. A few strands of hair hung over his blood-shot eyes and his normally dry, cracking skin was being fed with fresh nervous sweat.
The thugs cowered away when Zoro approached, holding the suitcase full of prize money money out in front of him, blatantly telling Crocodile to just take it already. Instead he stood up and swiftly walked over to Zoro but made no sign to show that he would take the money.
"Congratulations on yet another glorious victory Roronoa. It would seem you haven't lost the ability to keep surpassing my expectations. Perhaps you would be interested in fighting for a better cause. I'm sure if you and I were to work together, 23 million berri will look like nothing in comparison to what you could be earning."
Zoro scoffed, "Look I'm not interested in fighting for you, or in money for that matter. Stop trying to pussy-foot around the fact that you lost. I fulfilled my end of the bargain; it's only fair if you fulfil yours."
Crocodile didn't like Zoro's response, not one fucking bit. He might as well throw his cigar away, because if he were biting down on it any harder it would burst into ash. He looked to the side and nodded to someone silently. They came forward out of the crowd and draped Crocodile's bulky fur coat over his shoulders and two extra muscly Baroque members came to stand behind him.
"Shall we?" Crocodile said, raising his eyebrows.
"Oi I thought I just said-"
"Yes, yes I heard what you said you little runt. But we can't do this here, too many eyes and ears. I know of a safe place where we can settle this"
Zoro gave Crocodile a questioning look and retracted the suitcase, holding it closer to him.
"Relax, there's nothing fishy going on, I'm not the kind of man to break promises, remember?"
Zoro scoffed and looked to the side, "Fine"
"Yosh, follow me."
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Fuck it was fucking freezing. How much longer did he have to fucking walk? For a whole ten minutes he'd been walking while staring at the back of Crocodile's slimy head. Of course there was something going on, he'd have to be a mad man to actually trust a person like Crocodile. He kept a firm grip on Wado's hilt. But what choice did he have? Right in front of him was one of the very few people in the whole world who actually knew the location of Mihawk. He was so close he could almost touch it.
Zoro had been right about the weather though. When he exited the club the ground was wet with melted snow and from the sky fell thick pellets of slow-moving snow.
Finally, Crocodile made a motion to turn left and Zoro followed. Turns out Crocodile had turned into an empty alleyway, a very dark, secluded, empty alleyway. Okay this definitely didn't feel right.
"Alright, Crocodile what the fuck is going on?" Zoro said, drawing out Wado about an inch before stopping when he heard the sound of guns clicking from behind him. Crocodile turned around to reveal to Zoro his real face. A face that was dirty, lying, selfish, cheating and sly.
"Kehahahaha, Roronoa, the world isn't as kind as you take it to be. Now I offered you a once in a lifetime opportunity to work for the man who will soon become the most powerful force in Grandline, but you foolishly refused it. It feels bad to have to get rid of such a potential money source, but I'm afraid I've come to the conclusion that if I can't have you, no-one can."
"Bastard! We had a deal!"
"Kehahaha! Fool! Did you seriously think I would know where that cowering, forgotten relic was hiding! I had no intention of telling you where he was from the start!"
"Fucking bastard, I'll kill you!"
"Oh? Perhaps you should consider how much of a sticky situation you've found yourself in. You're in an abandoned alleyway in the quietest area of the city; no-one will come to your aid even if you scream for it. Once we've shot you and watched the blood drain out of your body and see you breath your last breathe, we'll do everything we can to make sure there's no evidence of your murder left behind. It'll be as if you simply disappeared off the map, never to be heard or seen from again."
Zoro looked behind; the baroque members were at the entrance of the alley, guns steady and ready to shoot once given the command. Take a deep breath…
"Sayonara…"
…and…
"Zoro Roron-"
Too slow. Zoro had already dropped the suitcase of money to the ground and sliced an abandoned fire extinguisher in half before Crocodile even had time to finish his sentence. He closed his eyes and felt the dry powder surround him and Crocodile, protecting him from the gunmen's eyes. He heard Crocodile cough and splutter and was trying to fit a few swear words into the mix. Zoro wasn't interested in him though; he was going to take out those damn gunmen before he could think about beating the shit out of Crocodile. He turned around sharply, with his eyes still tightly closed shut and ran swiftly and carefully to where he could make out two presences, being cautious not to stir the smoke screen up too much. He felt a strong presence in front of him and sliced quickly and quietly, but the one being sliced was not quiet at all. He screamed and gurgled in pain and managed to alert the other man that danger was close by.
"Zoro!"…Kuina!?
…why…why was she here, of all times why was she here, now!
There was no mistake, no second doubting this time, that was definitely Kuina's voice. The shout was so loud, so full of energy and paradoxical life; she must be standing close-by. But…fuck he couldn't be distracted, not this time.
"Turn around Zoro!"
"I can't!"
"Turn around! Please!"
Fuck.
He did it. He turned around. He opened his eyes to see…nothing. There was nothing there, save for a thick white cloud of dry powder.
The sound of two gunshots verberated throughout the alleyway, their thundering echoes bounced off of the black walls and collided with each other. Zoro's breath leapt out of his throat as soon as the two bullets ripped through his skin and muscle and nestled themselves into the torn flesh. The impact and force of the bullets caused Zoro to shoot forward and threw him on to his knees. He felt blood entering his throat and mouth and he had to cough convulsively to rid himself of the liquid, only to find that the slightest movement caused lightning bolts of pain to travel all over his body. Fuck, it hurt so bad.
All his senses felt like they had just shut down, he couldn't feel anything apart from pain. All the shouting and yelling going on around him was muffled and incoherent, and he could hardly even make out what his eyes were meant to be showing him.
He could hear one thing though. It was so clear and so understandable, that it further confused the hell out of Zoro. Was what he was hearing real? No… it couldn't be…he wasn't hearing anything…rather, he was remembering. He'd definitely heard this before. He was remembering a comment, or perhaps it was more of a statement. It didn't really matter. And it was a statement that angered the hell out of him but also made him want to curse at himself a 1000 times over. He knew where the statement had come from, or rather who it had come from. Even though he hated the person who's voice he was hearing, even though he hated that shitty, stealing, curly-browed, annoying, insulting person, Zoro's mind would not stop the statement from repeating itself over and over again, engraving itself into his brain….
"y'know that cocky attitude is gonna be the end of you"
…fucking know-it-all.
"Shit, fucking watch where you're shooting! You could have shot me!"
"S-sorry boss!"
"Che, I'll have to send for reinforcements. Damn Roronoa, causing me trouble, even in his last moments."
"O-oi, you alive?….Shit! Sir Crocodile this guy needs to see a doctor!"
"Yes, yes fine, there should be a car arriving soon, put him in there"
"Yes sir!"
A heavy foot landed on Zoro's back and he was pushed onto the freezing ground with no regard to his injuries. Zoro let out a shameful cry of pain as Crocodile grinded his foot into one of the bullet holes.
"You just stay there and bleed Roronoa, it'll all be over soon."
Zoro still had no idea what was going on, but after a few seconds he felt like something was missing from his side, an absence of something that he held so dearly. Shit! His swords!
Fuck get up, he told himself. Get the fuck up or it's all over. He tried to move his arms, oh fuck he tried so hard to move his arms but his body refused to respond. Had it decided to betray him as well?
"Tch, I suppose I'll have to do everything mys…" Crocodile's voice faded away.
Zoro could at least feel the cold touch of the soft snow as it landed on his skin, at least he could still feel the warmth of the blood that oozed out from underneath him. Zoro didn't think there would be much difference between having his eyes closed, and having them open, it would still be the same depressing dark abyss. The pain was dulling slightly, could he get up again? Wait, no…he could just stay here for a bit…damn he was getting sleepy…perhaps he needed a nap…yeah…that's what he needed…
…just…
…for a few…
…
… minutes…
…
…
…
"Oiiiii..."
…
Who…
"Oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"
…
Who was that?...Had the thugs come back to finish him off? Come back to place the gun right next to his skull and blow his brains out? Damn, Zoro couldn't die like that. Lying face down on a cold, grubby back alley where the rats would pick at his cold dead corpse until morning, that was no way to die, no honour in that…
…but…wait… there was something he noticed about the voice he had heard, something about the aloofness and the warmth found within the voice that convinced Zoro he knew who the person was because…he had heard that voice just a few seconds ago.
"Kicking the can already, shithead? That's a shame, I wanted to at least see that three-sword style of yours before you died. Hey, maaaaarrimooo?"
Yes, he definitely knew who that was. Zoro put all of his remaining energy into lifting his head up to see the annoying bastard towering over him, wearing the same clothes since he last saw him, smirking like he didn't require any convincing to know that he was better than Zoro. His mocking stance sent bursts of irritation flowing through his veins and Zoro felt a little bit of his energy return. What the hell was he doing here?
"What... the fuck... do you want, haa haa…shitty hobo…" he managed to spit out between heavy pants. Every single inhale and exhale felt like the equivalent of pushing an impossibly heavy weight up and down, it hurt so damn much.
"Well", Sanji said as he started to swing back and forth on his heels whilst looking around the alley with curiosity, "I just thought I might tell you that those thugs will be coming back anytime soon with a nice fresh body bag, so you might wanna pick your sorry ass up and get out of here, pronto"
"haa…haa…believe me, if I could I would have done so already, but if you couldn't tell, I've been shot…twice…"
"Aaaah yeah I did notice that, man that's a lot of blood for one marimo" The shitty-blonde leaned in slightly and made an unimpressed face when he saw the bloody bullet holes. As if that wasn't an interesting enough sight, he then walked over to an open dumpster that took up nearly half of the alleyway and peered in.
"Ooh look what I found! Oi marimo! You might wanna check this out, I'm pretty these are your swords."
"What!" Seriously? Crocodile had just thrown them in with the trash? Thank fuck! Zoro thought he'd lost them forever.
"Are they okay? Fuck, don't tell me they're broken!"
"I dunno, why don't you come over here and see for yourself?"
Zoro hated to admit it, but the blonde was right, he had to move from where he was lying. The areas where Zoro had been shot screamed in pain when he tried to push himself up from the floor with his arms. He managed to push himself onto all fours but his body refused to move any further. A horrific dizzying spell took control of Zoro and commanded him to close his eyes and use the last of his energy to stop himself from throwing up, and he gladly obeyed.
"Is that it? Oh great swordsman? I'm not surprised. You couldn't even cross a road, why would I think you could get up after being shot and kicked to the floor like a piece of shit."
It was warm. The new power surging through his veins was so warm and so welcome to his tired body. His limbs felt less heavy, breathing felt less painful, even the pain had somehow receded away enough so that it was easy to push to the back of his mind. This new power, surely it had to be…anger.
"What did you say? You fucking curly-browed freak!" Zoro felt like his body was simply levitating away from the blood soaked ground, higher and higher he climbed until he was standing fully upright. His legs wobbled like crazy when he walked just 5 steps over to the dumpster and his hand reached out to hold on to the edge of it for support. Zoro peered in to see his precious swords lined neatly next to each other, safe, not broken and within his reach.
The blonde then jumped into the dumpster himself and looked at Zoro expectantly.
"What are you doing?"
"I thought I told you already, those idiots will be coming back in about hmm 5 seconds…don't you think it would be a good idea to, I dunno, hide?
"But why are you-"
"5…4…"
"Shit" Zoro whispered as he lifted his leg slowly over the edge of the dumpster and fell unceremoniously into a heap of bin bags. The movement shook the dumpster and was enough to cause the lid fall down by itself. Inside the dumpster, it was pitch black and the stench was so stifling that Zoro pinched his nostrils and only took in small breathes via his mouth. He could feel the hilts of the swords sticking into his back but he felt happy just knowing that they were there next to him.
"…1"
"Wha- WHERE THE FUCK IS HE?"
"What do you mean sir?"
"Don't play fucking dumb! Roronoa! Where is he?!"
"Urr I-I don't know sir!"
"Well he couldn't have gone fucking far, could he? You fucking shot him twice! Look at how much blood he's lost!"
"W-what should we do boss!"
"Shit, let's just get outta here. He won't last long and even if he does, he'll know what'll happen if he ever messes with us again! You! Get my car ready, we're getting out of here! And make sure that 23 million is kept safe!"re getting out of here!"in! You. You. get ". Look at how much blood he'
"Yes sir!"
The sound of retreating footsteps left Zoro utterly shocked. That was it? They were just gonna leave, when he was practically right next to them? What fucking idiots.
"Is the coast clear?" Zoro whispered.
"How the fuck should I know?" Sanji said in a much louder and more obvious tone.
"Damn shitty blonde, making me…" Zoro mumbled and complained as he pushed the lid up. There really was no-one there. Zoro looked around the alleyway. It wasn't dead ended; the alleyway snaked around the building and probably opened up onto another road, hopefully a busy one.
Zoro expected to see the blonde standing right there next to him but he had just disappeared. Where did he go?
"Damn blonde going on without me" Zoro fastened the swords back in their proper place, slid out of the dumpster clumsily and leant against the brick wall. He had just enough energy to stop himself from falling flat onto his face, but walking was the real task. His feet scraped along the floor as he dragged his hands further along the wall.
When he reached the end of the alleyway, he was relieved to see a main road full of busy traffic. And in front of him leaning on a bus stop sign was the blonde, smoking a cigarette. Zoro was confused however when he saw the blonde wearing a hat and a different colour shirt. Sure they weren't massive differences but why in the hell would he change? And Zoro was pretty sure the blonde wasn't wearing that fedora hat before.
"Hey"
The blonde looked up with a confused expression on his face and then a surprised one when he caught sight of Zoro.
"Marimo? What are you doing her-oh my god!" All the blood from the blonde's face seemed to vanish when he saw the blood stains all over Zoro's t-shirt. It seemed the effects of the boost of energy had finally run out as Zoro felt his entire body become like lead. His eyes drooped and his body convulsed from the new nauseous threat that consumed him. The last thing Zoro saw before he finally let go and passed out was Sanji's trembling hands reaching out to catch him.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hmmm I wonder what'll happen next time? Stay tuned :P
P.S The fanfiction author Aevium and tumblr user zoroissexy have joined forces and have decided to create their own doujinshi scanlating group. They are mainly concentrating on Zosan doujinshi which is great news! If you are interested please follow the tumblr account high-night and all the information is there.