Well, time for the next chapter. For those of you waiting for "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty", I ask for just a little more patience. I need to set the stage for the next chapter with this before moving forward.

Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, let us continue.

I don't own One Piece. The OC's are mine (obviously).

A Bargaining Chip

Nami and Coby walked far behind the self-proclaimed "monster", understandably apprehensive after the little show he put on just a while ago.

Luffy on the other hand was walking alongside him, chatting amiably with the man, who seemed to ignore the fact that he was dragging roughly 50 men behind him on a length of rope, or that he had an unconscious pirate captain slung over his shoulder.

"I don't know what to make of this guy," Nami whispered. "And even if he really is the monster that mayor was talking about, how are we supposed to 'eliminate' him."

Coby shuddered. "I don't know. He kind of scares me though. Did you see him when he came back from capturing those pirates?"

Nami nodded. "Yeah. Not a scratch on him. He didn't even look winded."

"Lots of training."

Nami and Coby jumped at the voice, and turned to look at the man they had just been talking about, who was currently smiling at them.

"W-What?" Coby stuttered.

"I train a lot, and these guys are pushovers anyway."

His comment earned him a significant amount of disgruntled complaining from the pirates that were still coherent, but they were quickly silenced with a glare.

He continued walking ahead, shouting over his shoulder as he went. "They're a group that preys on the weak and the few, taking hostages when they can so no one will fight back. They take what they want with impunity."

He stopped again and smirked back at Nami and Coby. "But because of that, they're terrible in a fight, since they try and make a point of not attempting anything that could risk a direct confrontation."

He set off again, pushing through a particularly large patch of brush that stood in his way.

"Ah, home sweet home."

He dropped the rope that he had used to pull the pirates, letting their captain fall gracelessly to the ground.

He turned around and spread his arms wide. "Welcome to the 'lair of the monster'."

A small, unassuming house sat in the middle of a large clearing, surrounded by trees in most directions, while a cliff and the sea below it provided still more separation from the outside world.

An equally tiny building sat just a stone's throw away from the house, although it's purpose was unknown to Luffy, Nami, and Coby.

The man smiled invitingly at them. "Make yourselves at home. Just no more whispering behind my back please."

He dragged the pirates with him as he went, not even bothering to carry the captain as he trailed him through the dirt.

Nami and Coby were left behind to sputter and feel foolish, while Luffy's laughing at their plight was swiftly ended by Nami's fist.


They entered the man's house, noticing that the pirates had been left to bake in the sun, along with their captain, who had been tied up separately and sat a good distance apart from his crew.

They heard sounds coming from what must have been the kitchen, and went to see what was going on. Their host was bustling about, checking his fridge and the cupboards for something.

He didn't bother turning to look at them as they came in. "I assume you're all hungry. Walking around looking for monsters and getting ambushed can certainly work up an appetite."

He turned around and shrugged at them. "Seems I'm pretty much out of anything edible though."

Luffy slumped, depressed at the prospect of no food.

The man chuckled at him and walked back to the entrance of the house. "Guess I'll have to see if I can find something out in the forest then."

"Wait! Mister... Matt was it?" Nami questioned.

The man in question stopped at the door and turned to face her. "Just 'Matt' is fine."

"Right. Um," Nami paused, wondering how to phrase her question.

"Are you...are you really the monster of this island that the mayor was talking about?"

He looked at her for almost a full minute, until she felt extremely uncomfortable under his gaze.

Matt sighed. "I've been the monster of this island since I can remember, and as far as I know, I'm the only one treated as such."

Nami seemed confused by his answer, and tried to press him for more information. "But what did you do to earn that title? It must have been pretty horrible if you were labeled a monster."

Matt didn't answer her question, and instead opened the door and walked outside, letting it shut quietly behind him.

Nami huffed, upset that he hadn't told her anything.

"Maybe it's a sensitive subject?" reasoned Coby.

"Well if he won't tell us," Nami clenched her fist, "we'll have to find out ourselves!"


They watched Matt enter the other building in the clearing, emerging some time later with a bow and a quiver full of arrows strapped to his back. He fiddled with what appeared to be a belt hanging diagonally from his shoulder to his hip, overlapped by the strap of the quiver.

"Well," Nami mused, "that's one place to check."

She looked to Luffy and Coby. "You two can handle that."

Coby cowered at the prospect of being found out, while Luffy looked confused.

"Why are we doing this?" Luffy asked. "He's a nice guy."

Nami sighed at his idiocy. "Nice guy or not, we don't know anything about him, and I don't like it. So, I'll search the house while you two go look around in that building over there."

They left to comply with her orders after Matt had disappeared into the forest, and Nami set about trying to find anything in the house that might give her some insight on this mysterious person.

She didn't find anything significant until she came across what was most likely his room. Just as sparsely furnished as the rest of the house, she had little trouble searching through it.

The only thing of importance that she found was a picture on the bedside table. It contained a picture of an exceedingly beautiful woman, her brown eyes peering up at the camera while her mouth was curled into a cheerful smile. She was sitting under what seemed to be a cherry tree, as several of the pink blossoms coated the ground and had found their way into her hair and onto her rather plain clothes.

Nami was pondering the importance of the picture to the so called "monster" when Coby came barreling through the door to the room, telling her that she needed to come with him.


She followed Coby out to the small building that he and Luffy had been tasked with searching, curious and slightly worried as to just what they had uncovered.

The answer came the second she opened the door, as a forge, complete with an unlit furnace and an anvil, greeted her. Various tools were hung in close proximity to the anvil: hammers of various sizes, chisels of different varieties, and multiple other tools whose use were a mystery to her.

What really caught her attention though, was the sheer amount of weapons that were hung throughout the building. Swords, axes, spears, maces, clubs, and other assorted weapons were hung neatly all around the place, with the odd shield and suit of armor standing out amongst the motley of offensive weapons.

"Wh-What the hell?" Nami finally managed to gasp. "It's like he's preparing for all-out assault. You think this is what that mayor was talking about when he said they were worried about being attacked?"

Coby shook his head. "I don't know."

"HEY!"

Nami and Coby both jumped, searching for the source of the sound, relaxing slightly when they noticed that Luffy was waving to them from a corner of the room.

"Come check this out!" he yelled.

Curious, they walked over to find Luffy tapping a small padlock on a plain-looking wooden door. He looked at them expectantly as they approached.

"What do you think is inside?"

Nami pulled a set of lock-picking tools out of nowhere, a mischievous smile on her face. "Let's find out."

She was about to begin picking the lock when she heard a voice from the entrance. "You guys work fast. Guess it was a good idea to put the lock there."

The group whirled around to see Matt leaning against the door frame, smirking at them. Nami and Coby looked at the ground sheepishly, embarrassed that they had been discovered.

Luffy on the other hand, stepped forward, unphased by his sudden appearance. He smiled and asked politely, "Do you think you could open this? We were having a lot of fun looking around, but now we can't-"

He was cut off by Nami and Coby slapping their hands over his mouth simultaneously, worried what would happen to them now that Luffy had revealed that they had been snooping around.

They were surprised to hear laughter rather than angry shouting, and looked up to see Matt shaking his head at the three of them.

"You could have just waited until I got back, and then asked." He stepped forward, reaching into one of his pockets as he spoke.

He paused in front of the door, pulled out a small key and inserted it into the lock.

He looked at each them in turn, huddled together and looking on in interest.

"Curiosity isn't a bad thing, but I do hope you put everything you touched back where it belonged."

Nami noticed that his eyes lingered on her a second longer, but ignored it as he turned back to the door. He turned the key in the lock, tossing it to the side carelessly.

He stepped aside, beckoning them to enter. Luffy strode forward without a second thought, while Coby and Nami entered far more cautiously, looking at Matt apprehensively as they passed him.

Their fears vanished when they noticed what the room contained. Low candle-light revealed small figurines standing on polished shelves, each of them sitting on different colored squares of cloth. The statues were intricately carved, and appeared distinctly human-like in their appearance. The only other notable item was a golden dish at the back of the room, propped up by sturdy metal legs.

"WOW!" Luffy exclaimed. He looked at Matt with stars in his eyes, pointing frantically at the statues. "These are so cool!"

Matt nodded his head in acknowledgment. He clapped his hands. "Well. I trust that your curiosity has been sated. I got quite the catch for dinner."

Luffy cheered and followed him out of the room, Nami and Coby not far behind them.

There dinner was revealed to be a deer, already skinned and cooking over a fire on a spit. Matt checked it and turned the deer, while Luffy crouched down and began drooling at the tender looking meat.

"Might take a little bit longer than I thought," Matt mused. He looked at Luffy, who was still staring intently at the ground, the river of drool he was producing threatening to put out the fire.

Matt got up suddenly and stretched. "No use in sitting down. Hey," he pointed to Luffy, who looked up at being addressed.

"How about a quick sparring match?"

Luffy looked confused, his tilted head giving away his confusion. "Why?"

Matt shrugged. "It's been a while since I had a decent opponent. I don't want fighting weaklings to make me rusty."

Luffy gave an 'oh' in understanding, and stood up, looking at Matt expectantly. Their host pointed to an area not far from where they were standing, and started walking.

When Luffy, Nami, and Coby arrived at the predetermined area, they noticed they were standing in the center of a giant circle gouged into the earth. Matt was already standing at one end of the ring, and was currently removing his knife and the belt that had been strapped across his shoulder.

Their host turned to them. "The rules are simple. If you are defeated, surrender, or step outside the circle, then you lose. No weapons are allowed."

He smirked. "Besides that, anything goes."

Luffy smiled and began stretching. "Sounds like fun. Let's get started then."

Nami shook her head and began to walk off, waving halfheartedly as she strode off. "You guys are free to beat the crap out of each other until you're blue in the face, but I'm not watching. I'm going for a walk."

They watched as she disappeared amongst the trees, Matt shrugging at her lack of interest. "Shall we begin?"

Luffy began swinging his left arm in a circle. "Yeah, let's do this."

Without warning, he stretched his arm, his balled fist aimed for Matt's stomach.

"GUM-GUM PISTOL!"

Though surprised, Matt jumped out of the way, Luffy's attack catching nothing but air.

"Impressive. You attacked quickly, and you seem to have some sort of Devil Fruit power."

Luffy grinned and pulled at his cheeks, nodding the affirmative. "Yeah, I ate the Gum-Gum fruit, so now I'm a rubber man."

Matt chuckled. "This could be interesting after all. I suppose I'll have to take you seriously."

With that his face hardened and he dashed towards Luffy, who was caught off guard with his skin still pinched between his fingers.

Matt's fist connected with his stomach, driving the air out of his lungs. While Luffy struggled to breathe, Matt's foot slammed into his face, his roundhouse kick sending him skidding across the circle until he eventually stopped himself.

Luffy got to his feet quickly, while Coby looked on, stunned at the speed at which Luffy had been floored.

Matt sighed. "Gloat after you beat your enemy, if you're going to gloat at all."

Matt's reprimand seemed to anger Luffy, further wounding his pride, and he launched himself at him, swinging his fists wildly, while Matt focused on dodging his blows.

Matt back-flipped, landing at the very edge of the circle. He moved to step backwards, but grimaced and caught himself.

Luffy smirked triumphantly and stretched out his arm, hoping to push him out of the circle.

Rather than appear worried however, Matt grinned and ducked, grabbing Luffy's arm as it soared overhead. "My win."

He pulled hard, yanking Luffy towards him, and swung him in an arc over his head, slamming him down outside of the circle.

Luffy sat in the dust, panting and shocked at the sudden turnaround. Matt fared no better, breathing heavily as he stood over him.

"You have a good amount of skill in hand-to-hand combat, and your powers allow you to extend that power further."

He shook his head. "But you lack strategy. You charge ahead recklessly, heedless of any consequences that may occur. A rampaging bull may be strong and impossible to defeat head-on, but it is easy to manipulate."

He offered Luffy a hand up, and grinned as he pulled the rubber man to his feet. He noticed Luffy's downtrodden face and sighed.

"If it makes you feel better, that's the best fight I've had in a long time. You're strong and fast, and you make pretty good use of that power of yours."

He flicked Luffy's forehead, startling him. "But sometimes, it's important to use your head for something other than just a place to hold that hat."

Luffy smiled. "Yeah. That was fun, though."

Matt nodded and moved to pick up his stuff, strapping his knife and his belt back on. "The food's probably done by now."

He went over and checked the deer, and nodded to himself.

He was about to throw more wood on the fire, which had died down to a small flame, when an eerie howl split the air.

Coby and Luffy began looking around immediately for the source of the sound, but noticed that Matt appeared quite disturbed. He looked in the direction that Nami had gone off in and cursed, walking towards the edge of the forest.

Coby and Luffy walked up to him, curious at his change in behavior. Before they could question him though, he spoke aloud.

"The wolves are out hunting."


Though Nami was truly uninterested in the fight, she had kept her real reason for this little "walk" secret from everyone.

She was hoping she would find a clue to the treasure the mayor had talked about, since that had been the only thing that had interested her in this little adventure they had been tasked with.

She hadn't gone far into the forest when she found a small footpath, nothing more than a thin strip of dirt among the grass and trees.

Deciding this was somewhat suspicious, she followed the path to the edge of the forest.

Judging by the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks, she also guessed she had come to yet another cliff.

Nami gazed around at the place she had come to, noticing two trees that stood out amongst the more common varieties she had seen in the forest.

One, a beautiful cherry tree, was in full bloom, the pink petals floating lightly to the ground with every breeze.

The other, a weeping willow about half the size of the cherry tree, looked rather sad and unimpressive, it's hanging limbs scratching at the ground in time with the wind.

She turned to around to the very edge of the cliff, noticing a small, flat, rectangular rock set in the ground, a small patch of well manicured ground stretching outward from the stone.

Nami looked at the plot of ground, confused by it's eerie familiarity.

Before she could figure out exactly what it reminded her of, she was startled by a hair-raising howl.

She twisted herself in all directions, searching frantically for the source.

She froze when she heard growling behind her, turning slowly to see that a small pack of wolves had snuck up on her.

She took a step back, the wolves following her, still snarling.

Eventually, she felt her foot slip, and she caught herself, noticing that she had stepped to the edge of the cliff while she had been busy retreating.

Two wolves stepped forward, fangs bared as they continued growling at her. Nami slowly reached for the staff she had disconnected and strapped to her thigh.

The wolves apparently spotted the action, and leapt at her, their slavering jaws anticipating an easy kill. Nami threw up her hands in defence, closing her eyes as she screamed.

She waited a few seconds, then opened her eyes, surprised that she hadn't toppled off the cliff, or been bitten for that matter.

Her eyes were filled with red, and as she looked up and spotted the straw hat, she realized that Luffy was shielding her, his back pressed to her as tight as he dared considering the long drop behind them.

Nami peered around him to see Matt panting, only now realizing that Luffy was as well. The two wolves that had leapt at her were now whining, sprawled out in the dirt, both of them sporting matching fist-shaped imprints on their muzzles.

Luffy's voice broke her out of her reverie. "Are you alright Nami?"

Nami looked up at his face to see him smiling at her. She quickly looked away, embarrassed to have been seen in such a helpless state.

"I'm fine," she admitted.

Matt butted in at that point. "Sorry to ruin the moment here, but you two should probably get away from that cliff."

Nami leapt away from Luffy, though remained wary of the edge as she did.

"THE HELL AREYOU TALKING ABOUT?" she sputtered, Luffy remaining where he stood, a bemused look on his face.

Matt ignored her though, as a midnight black wolf, slightly larger than the others, and obviously the leader, approached him.

The wolf proceeded to growl and snarl at Matt, almost as if communicating with him.

Matt seemed to have understood him though, and nodded. "I understand that I asked you to protect this place Likos, but these two, and the one back at my house, are guests. I neglected to mention the danger of heading out into the forest."

Nami looked on, stunned that he could have a civil conversation with a wolf. Luffy however didn't seem to mind however, and instead payed attention to his stomach, which was currently complaining about the lack of food.

Matt heard this and smirked. "Why not join us for dinner? I think I'll have enough for one more guest."

Nami was appalled at this. Talking to the wolf was one thing, but inviting it to eat dinner with them?

She was about to speak up when the wolf nodded and growled orders to the rest of the pack. They proceeded to turn around and head back into the forest, quickly disappearing amongst the trees.

Matt turned to the Luffy and Nami, smiling as he did so. "Shall we head back? Coby must be worried about you guys."

Luffy cheered and dashed off into the forest, Matt's calls for him to wait falling on deaf ears. He shook his head and laughed. "Likos, can you guide these two back to my house?"

The wolf growled questioningly at Matt, while Nami appeared horrified at the thought of traveling alone through the forest with this thing.

"I won't be long. I just want to stay here for a minute or so."

Likos seemed to understand, and turned to walk into the forest. Matt turned to Nami next. "Don't worry, you can trust him."

Despite feeling this wasn't really a reason to go along, something in the way he looked at the trees and the odd stone made her follow the wolf.

When she looked back she saw him crouched in front of the stone, gently brushing it with his hand.


Despite having a wolf over for dinner, and Coby's subsequent panic attack, things went rather smoothly.

Matt made sure everyone had food before him, Luffy ending up with about half of the deer, gnawing on it just as ravenously as Likos.

Matt then proceeded to cut himself a sizeable piece, then went ahead and sliced it in two, throwing one half into the fire.

Nami and Coby looked at him questioningly, but it was Luffy who voiced their question.

"Why'd you do that?" he asked, speaking around a mouthful of deer.

"Sacrifice," Matt responded.

This confused them even more, but Matt was already answering the question hanging in the air.

"For the gods I follow."

Noticing he hadn't really gotten rid of their curiosity, he sighed. He picked up a stick, drawing in the dirt as he spoke.

"Those statues you saw are personifications of them, stone effigies that I created. But the stories about and surrounding them are larger than life."

He sat back, revealing a drawing that resembled an upside down U. He pointed to the first name. "Zeus: god of the sky and king of the gods and goddesses."

He moved to the next. "Hera: his wife; queen of the gods, and goddess of marriage."

He continued down the line. "Poseidon... Demeter... Athena... Apollo... Artemis... Ares... Aphrodite... Hephaestus... Hermes... Dionysus.

"There are countless others, but these twelve are considered the leading gods. The Olympians."

Nami and Coby scanned his face for any sign that he was joking with them, but found nothing to conclude that he didn't believe this wholeheartedly.

Matt noticed their stares and sighed. He took a bite out of his hunk of deer and chewed thoughtfully.

"It's alright if you don't believe me. I don't expect you too-"

"SO COOL!" Luffy shouted, interrupting Matt mid-sentence.

His eyes were shining with excitement as he looked at Matt, who was caught off guard by his sudden acceptance.

"So these are those guys that you had statues of in that room?" he asked.

Matt could only nod. "More or less."

Luffy whooped and pointed to one of the names. "What did you say this guy did again?"

Matt looked at the name. "That's Poseidon. He's the god of the ocean."

Luffy's jaw dropped. "The whole ocean?"

Matt nodded again. Luffy flopped backwards and laughed.

"That's so COOL!"

Matt chuckled. "Glad you like him."

He turned to look at Nami and Coby, who had remained quiet the entire time they had been talking. "What about you two?"

Nami just gave him a blank stare. "I don't know if I believe you," Matt shrugged, "but I kind of like the sound of that Aph... Aphro... Who was it?"

Matt smiled. "Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty."

Nami nodded. "Yeah her. Reminds me of myself a bit."

Matt laughed again, earning a glare from Nami. Matt waved his hands in front of his face. "I'm sorry. It's just an odd reason to like a god."

Nami's eyes narrowed. "Oh. Who's your favorite then?"

Matt gazed at the fire, a small smile spread appearing on his face. "I'd have to say I prefer Athena."

Nami's gaze told him she wanted more, so he submitted. "She's the goddess of useful craft, including forging, which I'm sure you've noticed that I dabble in a bit."

Nami scoffed. "More than a bit."

Matt ignored her. "On top of that, she's a war goddess, but she's not bloodthirsty like Ares. Violence isn't the first answer for her, and she always keeps a cool head in battle. She puts brain over brawn, and knows the value of strategy."

Matt grinned at Nami. "That answer your question?"

Nami huffed, and was about to retort, but Luffy interjected. "Can I ask a question?"

Matt nodded. "Go ahead."

"What's with your name?"

Matt seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Luffy began, "You said your name was S. D. Matt right. What do the 'S' and 'D' stand for?

Matt seemed to tense then, but quickly relaxed. "I have no idea what either letter means."

He looked at the ground. "Someone told me that the 'D' was a request by a friend of my father's. The 'S' is the supposedly the first letter of my father's surname. I never learned more than that."

Luffy looked confused. "You don't know your father's name?"

Matt laughed. "I never even knew my father, let alone his name."

He took a swig from a bottle no one had noticed before. Pulling it away, he turned to Nami. "Now, let me ask you a question."

Nami nodded, and Matt continued.

"What exactly did the mayor say when he asked you to kill me?"

Nami flinched, sheepish now that she remembered the task they had agreed to.

"He... He said he was worried that you were going to attack the village."

Matt raised an eyebrow at this. "Did he now?"

He appeared to be thinking as he took another swig from the bottle. He scratched behind Likos' ears, who had curled himself up next to Matt while they had been talking.

He stood up and stretched "Well it's getting late. I'm gonna grab a bedroll and sleep out here," he began walking to his forge. "You guys are welcome to the house."

Coby tried to protest, but was ignored as Matt stepped inside the building.

Nami shook her head. "Forget it. As nice as he's being, it would be impolite not to take him up on his offer."

Coby submitted and turned to Luffy, only to find that he had already fallen asleep, complete with extremely loud snoring.

Nami sighed. "Just leave the idiot."

As they walked inside the building, they failed to notice the shadow that slipped of into the darkness, leaping deftly through the trees without a sound.


"Sir," Doctor Airs began, "do you really see the need to send those children to fight the monster?"

"I do, Doctor," Mayor Narcis answered.

He heaved himself out of his chair and stepped towards the window.

"For you see..."

He looked up at the moon. "We have lost our bargaining chip."


Note: Likos is Greek for wolf. Let's hear it for lack of originality.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, hopefully the next one won't be so long.

Constructive criticism is welcome.