One Piece

The Demon of Carmallo Island

Chapter 4: Memoirs of a Pirate Hunter! Zoro VS Snooker!

That night, after a big dinner and a quick game of Luffyball, the latter being the result of Luffy trying to steal food off Snooker's plate, the crew decided to hit the sack. But as Luffy plopped down on his hammock, he felt a slight tap on his shoulder.

"Luffy."

Opening his eyes, the captain found Zoro standing beside him and knew immediately knew something was wrong. Zoro was always the first one to get to sleep, the only time he'd wake up on his own was if it was an emergency.

"Luffy, listen carefully." his first mate whispered, "Go wake up the others and tell them to meet me in the kitchen."

"What about Snooker?"

"No, he can't know about this."

"Why not?" Luffy quietly whined.

"Just shut up and do what I'm telling you moron!" Zoro softly barked, "It's a matter of life or death!"

"Okay."

Midnight. Zoro sat in the kitchen impatiently, waiting for the others to arrive. What the hell was he thinking? Counting on Luffy to round up the others for a private meeting. The guy couldn't walk a straight line without someone dangling a piece of beef jerky in front of him. Then again, it wasn't like he had a choice. Nami would want a reward to keep quiet, he barely trusted Robin, Usopp & Chopper weren't exactly quiet, and he sure as hell wasn't gonna ask Target-brow.

"Why I let him wander on his own I'll never understand." the green haired teenager said, "Oh well, might as well as get some shut eye."

But no sooner had Zoro shut his eyes, the door slammed opened…

"Zooooorooooooo, I'm heeeereeeee!" Luffy cheerfully called.

Immediately, Zoro pounced on Luffy and pinched his lips shut.

"You idiot, I told you to be quiet!" Zoro whispered.

"Sorry." the muffled rubber boy said.

"Never mind, did you get the others?"

"Yup."

Zoro watched as the rest of the crew came in. All of them groggy and irate.

"This better be good Seaweed-top." Sanji demanded with a yawn.

"Yeah Zoro, do you have any idea what time it is?" Chopper added.

"Will you guys quit griping and listen. This is serious!"

"It's about Snooker isn't it?" Robin asked.

"Exactly."

"So what? He seems like a nice guy." Luffy said.

"What kind of nice guy turns people into balls and bounces them all over the place?" Usopp asked.

"Okay, so he's a little weird, but…"

"A little weird!? The guy is completely insane!" Nami said.

"How?" Chopper asked.

"After dinner, I caught him throwing some tofu overboard."

"He what!?" Sanji yelled when he found out Snooker was wasting precious food.

"Pipe down Swirly-brow!"

"So he hates tofu, big deal." Usopp said.

"Yeah, but he was ranting and raving like a lunatic saying, I hate squares! Squares are evil! They're the devil's shape! Feel the wrath of the sea four-sided demons!"

"Oh yeah, that's Snooker all right." Zoro said, with no hint of surprise in his voice.

"He does that all the time?" Robin asked.

"Snooker's obsessed with round things, anything square makes him furious." Zoro explained, "He's not a big fan of triangles either."

"A gyrophiliac." Chopper said.

"A what?" Luffy asked.

"It means obsessive liking of round objects."

"Look, the point is we can't trust Snooker." Zoro explained, "Not only is he mentally unstable, but he has a twisted sense of humor."

"You mean the personball thing?" Usopp asked.

"Exactly."

"Which reminds me. Zoro, Snooker said you were friends…" Nami asked.

"I already told, we never were friends!" Zoro interrupted.

"Then how does he know you?" Luffy queried.

"It was during my old pirate hunter days…"

Flashback…

Dolbin Town, a pirate infested rat hole. The perfect hunting ground for bounty hunters and the Navy. One such hunter was Roronoa Zoro, the legendary Pirate Hunter of the East Blue. Zoro had just finished taking out an extremely strong pirate and after paying to have his swords repaired, decided to drink to himself silly to celebrate at the local tavern.

"Ahhhhhhhhh, now that's good booze!" he said as he finished his 30th bottle, "Hey bartender, how 'bout another!?"

"I think you've had enough." the man at the counter said.

"Do I look drunk to you?" the obviously still sober swordsman pointed out.

"I don't care, I have other customers! So either get out or go shoot some pool!"

"Fine I'll leave." Zoro said as he reluctantly headed for the door.

"Hey Greenielocks."

"What did you call me?" Zoro irritably said as he turned toward the pool tables.

"I called you Greenielocks." a man calmly repeated as he sunk another ball, "Have you had to much to drink, or are your discolored follicles a sign of severe brain damage?"

The man was in his twenties with long, dirty-blonde hair in a ponytail. He wore jeans, boots, a trench coat, and a fedora hat, all pitch black, and on his trench coat was an emblem in the shape of eight, solid billiard balls arranged in a diamond.

"Heh, at least mine isn't crap-colored." Zoro retorted.

"Touché." the man replied.

"So what the hell do you want buddy?"

"The same reason you turned to me." the man said as he faced Zoro, revealing his white t-shirt and blue eyes, "You pissed me off."

"How so?"

"When the bartender told you either get out or shoot pool, you chose the former." the man explained, "That tells me you think pool is dumb."

"Heh, you thought right." Zoro said.

"You'd better watch what you say Greenielocks, I happen to be Dolbin's reigning pool champion." the man said, "If you insult the game, you insult my dignity."

"Let me guess, you're gonna challenge me to a game of pool?"

"Of course not."

"What?" said the puzzled pirate hunter.

"I'm going to challenge you to a duel." the man said as he pointed at Zoro.

Zoro couldn't believe what he was hearing, this guy was gonna challenge him to a duel? Based on his appearance, he didn't look like a swordsman; in fact, he was completely unarmed!

"Are you sure?" he said, "In case you haven't noticed, I've got three swords."

"What's the matter Greenielocks, you scared?" the man taunted.

"Hell no, you're on!" Zoro said.

"Then it's agreed." the man smugly replied as he made his way to the door, "Meet me near the forest outside the north edge of the city in one hour, and por favor, don't be late."

And with that, the stranger left.

"If I were you I'd back down!" the bartender said.

"Are you crazy!?" Zoro said, "There's no way I can back down after he called me a coward!"

"Listen kid, do you have any idea who that was!?"

"An irate pool shark?"

"That was B.J. Snooker," he explained, "he's a criminal from the South Blue with a bounty of 20,000,000 Berries on his head!"

"With a name like that I'd be worth that much too."

"Don't be fooled by the silly name, he's really dangerous! Make him angry and he'll use you to play kickball!"

"That tough huh?" Zoro said, then a confident smile adorned his face. "Heh, this might be fun."

"Kid I'm serious here, you don't stand a chance!"

But Zoro paid no attention to the man's warnings and left to meet his opponent.

An hour had passed. Snooker began to wonder if that green-haired kid was even gonna show. When suddenly…

"Hey Snooker!"

Snooker in the direction of the town and saw Zoro coming his way.

"It's about time you got here." Snooker said.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I had to pick up this." Zoro said as he held up a Wanted poster with Snooker's picture on it.

"So you've heard of me."

"Yeah, but I have to admit, I find it hard to believe that a pool shark is wanted by the Navy." Zoro said, "Just what the hell did you do?"

"Fight me and you'll find out." Snooker replied smugly.

"Gladly." Zoro said as he put his Wado Ichimonji in his mouth and drew his other swords, crossing them across his chest.

"Oni Giri!"

Zoro rushed toward Snooker with the intent to finish the battle in one shot. But just as he approached him, Snooker squeezed his face and exploded in a puff of green smoke.

"What the…!?" Zoro said as he came to a stop, "Where'd he go?"

Zoro surveyed his surroundings to see if Snooker was preparing a sneak attack, but found nothing.

"Where are you!?" Zoro demanded, "Show yourself you coward!"

As Zoro looked around, something caught his eye. Right where Snooker was standing was a black, basketball sized ball with the emblem on Snooker's coat stitched on.

"A ball?"

Zoro approached the sphere, careful not to disturb it in case it was some kind of bomb. But when he was but a foot or two away from it, the ball suddenly jumped up and beaned him in the face.

"Owwww!" Zoro said, dropping his Wado, "Son of a…what kind of ball is that?"

"A Snookerball." the ball answered, and in another puff of green smoke, turned back into Snooker.

"A Devil Fruit, I should've known."

"Correct Grass-head." Snooker said, "I ate the Ball Ball Fruit."

"And judging from how hard your body was when you hit me, you must know Tekkai."

"Right again, but I'm afraid you realized it a little too late." Snooker said as he turned himself back into a ball.

"He changed again!" Zoro thought.

"Lunatic Bouncer!"

Suddenly, Snookerball leaped into the air and began bouncing all around Zoro at lightning speed.

"He knows Soru too!? Damn, and judging from the way he's bouncing, he must know Geppou as well!"

"Too slow!" Snooker said as he careened into Zoro's stomach.

"Gaaah!" Zoro cried out, "Damn, he's good. Better end this quick!"

Drawing his swords again, Zoro prepared to strike again, "Let's see you bounce past this!"

Zoro performed a spin slash at break-neck speed, creating a small spiral of air around him.

"Tatsu Maki!"

Snooker was caught in the blast of air, returning him to normal and sending him flying.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Snooker cried out in pain.

"Looks like I win Snooker!"

"Not quite Seaweed-top." Snooker said as he Geppoued high in the sky.

"Hmmmmmmm, he's up to something." Zoro said to himself as he picked his Wado up and put it in his mouth again, "But what?"

Suddenly, Zoro noticed that it was starting to get dark.

"What the…are we having an eclipse?"

Looking up, Zoro saw a huge round object flying towards him. It was Snookerball, but this time he was the size of a two-story house!

"Meteor Dunk!"

"Ohhhh craaaaaap!" Zoro said as he fled into the forest.

Snooker hit the ground with a loud thud, releasing a huge cloud of dust.

"Geez, no wonder this guy's worth that much!" Zoro said as he wandered the woods, "I wouldn't be surprised if he was captain of pirate crew. Oh well, no use worrying about that, I need to find my way back to that nut."

Unfortunately, for Zoro, he was lost.

"Geez, all these trees look the same!" Zoro griped, not noticing he was walking around a single tree, "Wait, didn't I pass that one already?"

After wandering for another hour or too, Zoro decided to take a quick break.

"Okay, looks like our little duel's become a game of hide-and-go-die." he said as he laid down to take a nap, "Oh well, it's Snooker's own fault."

As Zoro drifted off however, a loud rumbling noise woke him up.

"Hmmm, is there a stampede?"

Turning to where the noise was coming from, Zoro was greeted by the sight of a giant black boulder rolling his way.

"Graaaassyyyy I'm hooooooome!" Snookerball said.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Zoro said as he resumed running.

"Feel the wrath of my Balldozer attack!"

Zoro needed a plan fast, he couldn't get close to him or he'd just turn into a ball and crash into him, but he couldn't get to far or he'd set himself up for another Meteor Dunk. He was trapped, could things get any worse? Well as luck would have it, it did. Because during the chase, Zoro tripped on a tree root with Snooker right behind him.

"Crap!"

"It's all over Greenielocks!" Snooker yelled. But as Snooker prepared to turn Zoro into a pancake, a bunny got right in the path.

"Ohno!" Snooker said as he veered right.

"Whew!" Zoro sighed with relief. But before he could catch his breath, a loud noise broke the silence of the wood.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

It was Snooker's screaming. Zoro chased after him, following the trail of toppled trees he left behind, but when he got to the end of the trail, he only found a deep ravine.

"Ouch." Zoro said, "For his sake I hope there's water down there."

As Zoro turned to leave, a hand grabbed his face and gave it a forceful squeeze. In an instant, his body disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke and its place was a ball the same color as his hair with a black stripe running across it to represent his bandana.

"What the hell?"

swordsman."Hello Mr. Cabbagehead." a familiar voice happily greeted as he picked the now spherical swordsman.

"Snooker!?" Zoro said, "But you…How did…When did…What the hell did you do to me!?"

"I changed back at the last minute, faked my death, waited until you let your guard down, and turned you into a ball."

"So you can turn other stuff into balls too!?"

"Yes." Snooker replied, "You know Mr. Green, for someone so smart, you sure ask a lot of obvious questions."

"Enough with the nicknames," Zoro barked, "I have a real name, it's Roronoa Zoro!"

"Well why didn't you just say that then?" Snooker said as he laid Zoro on the ground.

"Whatever, just take me back to town and change me back."

"Very well." Snooker said as he pulled his leg back.

"Snooker what are you doing!?"

"Sending you back to town."

"Wait hold on a…"

But Snooker didn't listen and launched Zoro into the air with a quick and wicked kick.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Zoro screamed as he flew through the air. He didn't have to fly long though, because soon he was descending upon Dolbin Town.

"Please let me hit something soft!" Zoro begged. And as luck would have it, he landed right in a nearby dumpster and returned to normal in another puff of smoke.

"Damn you Snooker," Zoro said as he climbed out, "the next time we meet, I swear to God I'm gonna strangle you!"

End of Flashback…

"And that's the whole story."

"Wow, you really have it in for him don't you Greenielocks?" Sanji said with a chuckle.

"Knock it off Swirly-brow!"

"Yeah Sanji-kun, be nice." Nami said.

"Whatever you say Nami-san!"

"So are you gonna go strangle him?" Luffy asked.

"As soon as he wakes tomorrow I am."

"Oh Zoro I'm hurt. how could say that after all the good times we've had together?"

Zoro looked behind him and nearly wet himself when he saw Snooker.

"You! How long have you been standing there!?"

"I came in at gyrophiliac." Snooker happily answered.

"And you guys didn't tell me anything why!?" Zoro demanded.

"We wanted to see how long it would take you to notice him." Robin said.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" Zoro yelled.

"Heh heh heh, this is fun and all but I didn't just come here to reminisce."

"So what do you want?" Luffy asked.

"I wanted to tell you we've arrived at Carmallo Island."

"We're here!?" Luffy asked with stars in his eyes.

"Yes, we're here."

"We're here!?" Nami said horrified, "Ohno, ohno!"

"What is it Nami-san!?" Sanji asked.

"Can't talk, I need to find something nice to wear!" the navigator replied as she ran off.

"Nami-san wait for me!" Sanji called as he chased after her.

"I'm goin' on ahead!" Luffy said.

"Luffy wait you can't just…!" But it was too late, Luffy had already made his way to the deck.

"Don't waste your breath Snooker, he's already got food on the brain."

"Uh guys?" Luffy said as he came back in. But something wasn't right, a few seconds ago, he was in a thought-of-food induced state of joy, now he looked like someone died, "You might wanna have a look outside."

"Something wrong Luffy?" Usopp asked.

"Just come on." Luffy said as he led them to the deck.

"Okay Luffy what the hell is wrong with you!?" Zoro asked, "A minute ago you…Holy crap!"

The island that stood before them looked like something right out of a horror novel. There was zero plant life, save for a few weeds and some dead trees, while in the heart of the island stood a huge volcano with a river of magma steadily oozing into the ocean below, hardening into new rock. But the most startling feature about the island was the sky, it was at least 3 in the morning, but it felt and looked more like 11:00 at night, and glaring in the heavens above, was an eerie, blood red moon.

Luffy:"Oh boy it's party time!"

Nami:"Luffy are you crazy!? Look at this place!"

Usopp:"Who in the right mind would live in a place like this?"

Robin:"Makes you wonder just what kind of person the count is."

Zoro:"Don't you guys find it odd that he's inviting total strangers like us to his party?"

Luffy:"Who cares, he said there'd be food!"

Zoro:"Oh brother."

Luffy:"On the next One Piece! "Time To Party! Count Koma Appears!" I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

Fan SBS

Drovin:"Why didn't Snooker change Sanji back to normal!? I wanted to play Sanjiball!"

Reku:"Snooker can't turn living things into balls forever, they return to normal after a few minutes. Otherwise, he'd be worth much, much more than 200,000,000 Berries."

dandy wonderous:"How can people who've been "balled up" by Snooker talk if their mouths are gone?"

Reku:"That's a good question. For the best answer, let's ask Snooker himself!"

Snooker:"They're able to talk because if they couldn't, I wouldn't be able to hear them scream when I play with them. Isn't that right Sanji?"

(Snooker starts bouncing Sanji.)

Sanji:"Make…ow….it…ow…stop…ow!"

Imaginary Fan A:"Hello Hyakuhana-san! I was just wondering, why the heck did you name Snooker…Snooker!? That sounds like something you'd name your dog!"

(Gets balled by Snooker.)

Reku:"Snooker is a type of parlor game similar to billiards. This is also the reason why I made him a professional pool player. And Snooker, what have I told you about balling up the readers?"

Snooker:"But he's not real. You just created him so you could have three questions."

Reku:"I don't care!"

And there you have it, another revised chapter and the first Fan SBS. If you want to know more about SBS, please contact me.