"No matter what we breed
we still are made of greed
this is my kingdom, come,
this is my kingdom, come - "

"Oi, kid, that looks like some tasty food you're makin' there."

Sanji blatantly ignored the gruff voice behind him, and the gang that was slowly surrounding him. The blond nineteen-year-old, instead, was completely focused on grilling a fish - carefully, mind you - with a small fire that he had made with a little bit of debris. His formal black suit was, much to his unhappiness, scruffed and dirty after many encounters with demons (especially the ones who disguised themselves as beautiful ladies).

The person behind him made a frustrated noise. "Oi! You curly eyebrows! Answer me, you little shit!"

Not even bothering to glance at him, Sanji pulled out a pack of cigarettes that he had salvaged from the wreckage of a former store, took a small cancer stick out, and lit it using the fire that was cooking the fish. It was a bad habit, he knew, but pretty darn addicting.

A growl sounded behind him, and Sanji ducked, dodging with ease the punch he knew was coming for him. Without even sparing a look in his direction, he smashed his foot into the other man's cheek.

"Joue," he said, then proceeded to give him a barrage of kicks. "Concasse! Foie! Potrine!" the man went down, unconscious.

The other gang members circled him warily, before nodding at one another and charging straight at him.

Sanji loosened his tie, before falling into a handstand and whipping his kicks around, knocking them all back, before each dealing a blow to their stomach.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The four of them collapsed.

Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette. "Shitty bastards," he scowled. "If you're not a beautiful lady, I've got nothing to give you." The fish was done. As he scooped it off and began eating, he looked through the mens' pockets, in hope of finding some supplies.

Nothing. No wonder the bastards were so desperate.

He leaned back against a dirty, barely-standing building as he ate the fish. When the volcanoes had erupted and covered the sky with gray, he had been working in the restaurant that he had been raised in, the Baratie. After watching his foster father, Zeff, get crushed by the mass of the building, which resulted from the shockwave the shitty volcanoes had sent, he had taken the coward's way, and, ashamed, fled.

After that, strange creatures, who were nicknamed by the other people 'demons', had started showing up, bent on nothing more than slaughter, whether it be an old man, a young girl, or an animal. Thanks to them, the small number of survivors in the world dwindled even more. He estimated there were maybe fifty people in the eastern suburbs, where before there were roughly fifty thousand. He had only survived thanks to the kick-based fighting his foster father had demonstrated (on him) and his vast knowledge of edible foods.

He was alive thanks to the old geezer's rough care. Shocker.

He dropped his cigarette, which was nothing more than a stub now, and extinguished it on the cracked, dirty sidewalk. The fish was enough to quench his hunger for now, but he couldn't say the same for his thirst.

A low growl sounded behind him. Without looking, he slammed his foot into the demon's jaw, then he flicked his leg downwards, smashing the demon's head into the pavement, where it lay, a dead, bloodied mass. He admitted, he had trouble attacking demons who had assumed the form of a lady, which is why he usually didn't want to look at them.

His small, crumpled bag lay against the building. After he had fled the Baratie, he had stolen a bag from a destroyed store, and had filled it up with all the supplies he deemed useful (other than five packs of cigarettes and his lighter).

That was a month ago, and the supplies had dwindled.

Nevertheless, he slung the pack over his shoulder. His sandpaper-like mouth reminding him of what he so desperately needed at the moment, Sanji set off to look for potable water.

"No! Stop! Please!"

Despite the pleas and sobs of the orange-haired seven-year-old, the tall, muscled man ignored her, instead focusing on the red-haired woman who's neck he was squeezing dangerously. The woman made a strangled noise, her hands scabbing desperately at the larger hand that held her clean off the ground by three feet by her neck.

"Bellemere!" A blue-haired girl screamed beside her. She tried a mad lunge for the woman, but another man stepped between them and smashed his fist on her back and slammed her into the ground with such force that the entire house shook.

Nami whimpered, seeing the crimson liquid that was slowly pooling under her sister. Tears glistened into her brown eyes, and trailed down her cheeks.

"Bellemere.." she whispered. "Let Bellemere go..." she widened her eyes as a large hand lunged for her and grabbed her mouth, lifting her forcefully. She flinched in terror, as the man who had earlier smashed down her sister bent down so his piercing eye met hers.

"Now listen here, brat," he snarled. "Remember, that money is everything, and take your godforsaken mother as an example." the grip around her mouth tightened, and Nami wailed, though it was muffled by the hand, and started kicking her legs in an attempt to make him let go.

Suddenly, her head hit the wooden floor as black spots danced along her line of vision. The man had dropped her, roughly, on her head.

She heard the menacing clicking of a gun into place.

"NO - "

Nami jolted awake with a sharp intake of breath, the only thing greeting her was the familiar overhead of red clouds. For a moment, her eyes darted around her in alarm, taking in the surroundings. Alleyway. A group of men that she had learned to be her allies. And a certain green-haired man who was supposed to be keeping watch but instead was snoring the day away, much like his comrades.

Nami ran a trembling hand through her damp orange hair, trying to quiet the panic drawing in her heart. She picked up her crumpled cap and patted the dust out of it, before placing it back on her head. Normally, she would've been irritated by Zoro for falling asleep when they could've easily been attacked by a demon, much like Luffy who had abandoned them earlier in favor to search for meat. This time, however, she was grateful the brute had been asleep. She was quite sure that she'd thrashed around, evidenced by the many scrapes she now found on her body.

Eleven years. It had been eleven years, yet time from time, still, those nightmares came to plague her in reminder of her debt and how she would never be able to live it off.

She had been lying to Luffy when she said her mother and sister had been killed by a demon.

Unconsciously, her hand crept up to clutch her left shoulder, a familiar scar throbbing there. She bit her lip so hard she felt blood well up and trickle down her chin, the crimson trail, along with the sudden bout of pain bringing her back to her rational self.

Food. Supplies. A compass. A map. They needed that today at most, if they were going to travel to a bigger, better-stocked city before heading to the Grand Abyss.

Nami took a sniff then wrinkled her nose.

And clothes. God forbid if I forget the clothes. Everyone stinks.

A snore pierced her thoughts, and she looked over to the long-nosed boy who was on the ground, using his bag of supplies as a pillow. Last night, she and Luffy and told him of their intentions. Usopp had been skeptical at best, but when she explained to him, again, that it was their closest thing to hope, and the biggest lead they had on restoring the world, he had agreed, even if it had mostly been influenced when Nami told him of the mens' strength.

She stood up and, when none of the men shifted, she decided that it was probably too early in the morning for them to be functioning properly, and she couldn't exactly put them in life-threatening situations if they were half-asleep. That could cut their survival rates to zero. Nami had seen it happen before.

Shrugging, she dusted herself off, before straightening her cap and smoothing out her silky orange hair. Before the world had fallen into disarray, she had been told many times that she was quite beautiful, even if it was only from disgusting pedophiles and flirty perverts. Even so, she had liked the attention. Now, she was just glad to be alive.

She decided to scavenge a little ways for food and water. As long as she didn't wander too far, she was sure to be safe. Right?

Nami poked her head out of the safely-hidden alleyway, feeling, yet again, vulnerable and exposed. The only type of self-defense she had was a tri-section bo staff that she carried in her pockets, and, even though she was able to wield it with medium proficiency, there were monstrous people in this world that she couldn't hope to defeat.

Arlong. The man's name flashed in her head briefly, and she involuntarily shuddered, feeling a cold sweat build up at the back of her neck. He had left her alone during her teenage years while she was gathering money, and she had no idea if he was still alive after the volcanic explosions.

She poked her head around here and there, making sure that she could see the alleyway where her allies were at all times. One hand was permanently resting on the bo staff, while the other brushed debris and dead things that she didn't really want to think about out of her way.

Eventually, she found a half-intact store, a few buildings beside the alleyway. It was out of sight and a little farther than she initially wanted to venture, but inside were supplies that could prove invaluable in extreme situations.

Gritting her teeth, and assuring that nothing would happen to her, she tugged at her earlobe. On her pierced ear was a tangerine-shaped diamond, one which she had used quite a bit to steal money and pay off her debt to Arlong. She raised it to the sliding door, which had formerly been automatic, and traced a large rectangle for her to go through. The diamond cut through the glass like a knife through melted butter. The rectangular piece of glass fell forward, and Nami caught it before it could crash into the floor with practiced ease, her muscles moving a familiar way.

Putting back the diamond with her free hand, she grabbed the glass with both hands and gently placed it on the ground inside the store, careful not to make a noise, before noiselessly stepping into it.

The section on the right was completely crushed, the ceiling having crumbled, but the left was still intact, a few supplies left on the hanging racks. It appeared to have been a multi-purpose store before.

Her footsteps were quiet against the floor, and she passed a few rows that had no use in survival. Pets...toothbrushes.. she stopped in front of a rack with deodorant and supposed it was the best thing she had. Picking up a discarded black garbage bag, she filled it with as much as she deemed necessary (which was a lot considering how much the men stunk), before moving onto the clothing section. Again, she chose clothing that she estimated was the right size.

Of course, cute and fashionable for herself. The sole good thing about this was that she didn't need to pay for the clothes.

After searching through the food section and rifling through rotted vegetables, she finally found three cans of corn and beans, along with some carbonated drinks, beer and bottled water. Obviously, someone had been here before and had completely raided the store. Not as much as she hoped to find, but it still count.

Lifting the now much-heavier bag and grunting quietly at its weight, she was careful not to clink any of the louder supplies together. She had no idea how much time had passed, and was eager to get back to her allies' sides as to not worry them if they wake up earlier than she had anticipated, and also the assurance that she would be far safer with them and their superior fighting skills.

"Long time no see, Nami."

The abrupt voice cut into her thoughts, and made her jump. A cold shiver went down her back as she identified the voice.

"Arlong."

She was glad her voice didn't tremble, albeit only barely. She looked over one shoulder, her bangs covering one eye, and she saw the hated man.

It seemed that the volcanic explosions did nothing to hinder him. He was still tall, well-muscled to the point where Nami wondered if he was taking steroids just to intimidate the people around her. His long, black, shaggy hair was pulled back in a bandanna, his unnaturally sharp teeth revealed as his lips pulled back in a cold smile. He was tall, standing at 6'9, and easily towered over Nami. He showed no signs of hardship or struggle. Instead, he was dressed casually, in a yellow Hawaiian button-up shirt that was left open, revealing his taut muscles, and some tattered jean capris. He wore sandals on his feet.

"What do you want?" Nami phrased it carefully, eyeing the man with suspicion. Unconsciously, her fingers curled over the garbage bag. Like hell he was taking that, she didn't care how much she owed him. She needed that to survive.

"Surely you haven't forgotten about your mother's debt, have you, Nami?" he grinned again, only it was from sadistic pleasure. Nami bit her tongue to prevent from shouting at him.

"...no."

His massive hand rested on her head, and she almost flinched. "Well, you know how hard it is surviving now, right?" his voice had a lilt of humor in it. Dirty bastard. "So I thought, maybe, just maybe..."

"I'm not giving up my life for yours," cut in her swift voice. The moment it passed her lips, she regretted it, and cringed, ready for a punch, a slap, anything. She had grown accustomed to it over the years.

Instead, Arlong merely threw his head back and laughed, his voice echoing for what seemed like miles in the store. "Listen, you'll join my gang. You've got the best chance of survival there anyway, those greenhorns wouldn't last three seconds." Nami tried not to show her surprise when he revealed that he knew about her new allies. "You're clever, unlike other humans." Smug, arrogant bastard considered himself above the human race. "Sneak into those small, but resourceful gangs, and when the time comes..." his grin went wider, if that was even possible. "Steal all their supplies and kill them in their sleep."

Nami pulled in a sharp intake of breath. It wasn't like she was emotionally attached to her pack of odd allies, but she couldn't imagine doing something as cruel and coldhearted like that to someone like Luffy.

Arlong noticed her mental struggle. "Remember your sister," he chuckled lightly when Nami's eyes widened again. Sick, arrogant little...

Her hand lifted and brushed the hem of her cap.

Nojiko...

She gritted her teeth. She wasn't going to let someone else die.

Bellemere, what would you do?

"...alright."

Pop.

Zoro's eyes opened as soon as the sleep bubble popped. "Fell asleep again," he mumbled, rubbing his nose.

KAPOWWWW!

Suddenly, he found himself on the ground, his chin pressing in against the gravel, his eyes squeezed shut as he clutched at a large, expanding bump on his head. Over him, a certain orange-haired woman towered over him.

"Idiot!" she scowled. "When you're on watch, you stay awake. Got it?! What would've happened if a demon had attacked us while we were sleeping?!"

"I would've cut him," he responded automatically, realizing too late that it was the wrong answe -

KAPOWWWWW!

Zoro groaned as he clutched a second, ever-growing bump to join his first.

Nami sat down, huffing loudly. By now, all their companions were stirring awake. He noticed the long-nosed boy who he had met last night while he was keeping watch. Nami and Luffy had brought him back, somehow convincing him to come with them.

As they mumbled their sleepy 'good morning's to each other, Luffy introduced Ace to Usopp, and Nami watched over them impatiently, a frown present on her face. He noticed that the arms that she had folded together were trembling, and a bead of sweat was on her right temple. What's with that woman? he mentally scowled. Kuina would never -

Enough. He cut off his thoughts before they strayed dangerously to a certain girl.

As Nami yelled at them to be more careful like things about staying awake to keep watch, pointing roughly at him for example, and continuing about the dangers that demons and other, stronger gangs posed, Zoro's eyes drooped. Well, he was sorry that he had fallen asleep in the middle of the night, even though he didn't see how that had mattered since no demons attacked them anyway and Nami always woke up before daybreak.

More like, he was sorry because there were two bumps the size of basketballs throbbing on his head.

"Anyway," the darned woman sighed, jerking at the plastic, black bag behind her. "I found some supplies in a nearby building." She pulled it over and opened it for them.

"But we can't eat clothes - " Luffy began.

KAPOWWWWW!

Zoro admitted, he felt a little sorry for Luffy as he lay on the ground, his head sizzling from the woman's surprisingly powerful punch, despite her looks.

Ace picked up a yellow button-up shirt, then sniffed it. "It smells better than Luffy's pee, at least."

"But I had to go!"

Usopp rifled through the bag, before sitting back down. "No fresh produce?" the scrawny boy looked a little disappointed.

Nami shook her head. Zoro mentally thought that, out of all of them, she probably preferred Usopp the most. Maybe because he was so jumpy and therefore was more willing to comply to her very demanding needs.

"Hey!" Zoro's face cracked into a grin. "You've got beer!" he reached in the garbage bag to take one, and his hand was roughly slapped away.

Zoro scowled. "What?" he snapped.

"You need to ration this, for heaven's sake!" Nami snapped back, with equal amount of frustration, if not more. "Don't go drinking whenever you want! This isn't like before!"

Of course he knew it wasn't like before. He had been there when the volcanoes had erupted. He scowled at the woman, before folding his arms and leaning against the alley wall.

After a while, Nami forced them all to, at the very least, put on some deodorant and scrub their faces with a tiny bit of the bottled water, and change their clothing. He had changed from his black leather jacket to a white short-sleeved shirt, along with a green waist-warmer, dark green pants and thick boots, keeping his three swords, especially Wado, hooked through it.

"Okay! Now, you guys are going to look for food!" Nami cheered, pumping a fist up. So this is what she wanted, the damned woman.

"What?!" Usopp's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, poor guy. "You mean...alone?!"

Nami waved him off breezily. "No, we need a few people staying here with me." He could literally see all the males, with the exception of Luffy (who was picking his nose), sweatdrop.

"Oh, okay, good." Usopp sounded relieved. Conspirators.

He almost couldn't help it when he and Ace were forcefully shoved out the alleyway with the combined strength of Usopp and Nami. When they were desperate, their strength seemed to increase tenfold. Plus, Nami was holding one of his swords hostage.

As he turned around to yell probably a swear, or maybe for the woman to give Yubashiri back, they erected a tall piece of scrap wood that had been lying in the alleyway, and had wedged it through the hole. On the wood, words were hastily spray-painted on it:

Good luck! FIGHT!

"Oi.." Ace muttered under his breath.

Grumbling, Zoro turned to his right and started walking alongside the sidewalk. He jammed his hands to his pockets and wondered if Luffy would be mad if he cut Nami and Usopp in half.

Probably. Luffy was always overprotective of his friends.

He turned, and then suddenly found himself on the road. "...the hell?" Zoro scowled. "Wasn't I walking along the sidewalk? What's up with this city?!" he looked around, taking a right turn, then he went straight.

And suddenly found himself staring at the same spot again.

There was something wrong with the sidewalks.

Suddenly, as the clouds rumbled overhead, gray ash began falling from the sky. He lifted a hand, and when he pulled it back down to examine it, it was completely covered with gray soot. "Eh?" First, the sidewalks were messed up, and now there was ashes from the sky?

He scratched his head, thinking of how to get back. Maybe he would drag Usopp with him when he left, partially in revenge for making him their slave, partially because Usopp could probably fix the sidewalks again.

He had just taken one step before colliding with a man beside him.

this was so boring ._. even though it was longer, which I like, but it took longer, which I do not like. Life is full of read-the-fine-print or good things that come with catches. ewe okay, nao review I OOOOORDER YOOOOOOOOU THROUGH THE POWER CHANNELED THROUGH SANJI'S CURLY EYEBROWS.

Jk. But they are pretty curly. (though I swear I've got 11 follows and favorites and half of my reviews are guest reviews ._. I swear if you follow or favorite, at least leave one review ._. that is my pet peeve)

Mor: Thank you! :D

Guest: Well, I'm trying XD

-alittlebitlate