"Hey, how come we always arrive just in time to save someone?" I asked Zoro as I crossed my arms.
We had arrived just in time for Luffy to separate Buggy's hand from the old man's neck.
"I kept my promise...I'm here to beat you!" He said with a smirk.
I thought he was an idiot but he can be dangerous too.
"So you've come without any fear of your own will? YOU'RE ALL SO DEAD!" Buggy yelled.
"Listen, I don't care if you all fight or not, I'm just here for the map and the treasure." said Nami, waving a finger at Zoro, who just rolled his eyes and smirked.
"I know."
The mayor got off the ground and glared at us.
"You...What did you come back for? Stay out of this! This is my fight!" He yelled.
I glanced at Zoro, who shrugged.
"I'm the one who will protect this town! Don't interfere!" the mayor yelled.
I patted him on the shoulder, and as he turned to look at me, shoved his face into a wall with enough force to knock him out.
"WHAT?" Nami shrieked, and Zoro stared at me as Luffy nodded.
"YOU IDIOT! The HELL was that for?" Nami yelled at me as I examined my fingernails.
"He would have gotten in the way." I said as I looked at her, bored, and Zoro gave me an approving look.
"Smart. If we had left him alone, he would have charged in. He's safer this way." He said, and I smiled.
"HEY! YOU WITH THE HUGE RED UGLY NOSE!" Luffy yelled up at the building.
That's our captain for ya.
The pirates stared in shock. Nami shrieked, Zoro's eyes bugged out. I picked some wax out of my ear.
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?" Nami screamed at me.
"Because I had a good sleep until that very nasty wake up call." I replied, fiddling with my headband.
"FIRE THE BUGGY SPECIAL CANNONBALL!" yelled Buggy, looking furious.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed, idiot?" screeched Nami at Luffy as she dived out of the way.
Zoro tugged on Luffy's arm to try to get him to move.
"Dodge it Luffy!" He yelled.
Luffy stood his ground and grinned dangerously. "Did you think I'd move because of a cannonball?"
He took a deep breath of air, and his stomach swelled up.
"RUBBER BALLOON!" He shouted, and the cannon bounced off his stomach back at the pirates.
I clapped my hands in approval as the bar collapsed.
Zoro put a hand over his face, making the shadows around his eyes even deeper.
"Could have said something sooner..." he groaned, and I shrugged.
"Well, he obviously had a plan.."
Zoro glared at me and I smiled brilliantly.
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?" he stated.
Luffy put a hand on his hat and smiled.
"Hey! Their numbers have decreased! Shall we start?"
"Well, so much for blowing us up..." muttered Zoro as we stood there looking at the broken remains of the building.
Nami was staring at us in disbelief, opening and closing her mouth.
"Hey. You look like a freshly landed fish." I commented. She punched me in the arm and I winced.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?" she shouted.
"Ow."
Dear god, was her vocal setting only on 'Loud and Obnoxious?'
"I don't understand this at all. You! You got stabbed in the stomach and sleep for a few hours and you're fine!" she said, pointing at me and I blinked.
"Isn't that how everyone does it?" I said, with the sole intention of making her face do that weird thing again where she looked like she was going to either cry or punch something.
"And you!" she had turned her attention to Luffy.
"You got smashed through a house fighting that lion earlier! And how the hell did you swell up like a balloon?" she cried.
Luffy crossed his arms over his chest.
"Rubber Balloon!" he said confidently.
"I wasn't asking you for the name..." she groaned.
"What's this about fighting a lion?" I perked up.
"HAHAHA!"
We turned to the smoking ruins of the building as a few shapes came into view.
"You all chatting there like you aren't scared..."
I recognized the voice as Buggy's. He was holding up his crew members in front of him, and a thin man to his side was holding up a lion.
"This is the biggest disgrace we've received since we became pirates, captain." the thin man was saying as he tossed the lion aside.
Buggy crossed his arms over his chest, looking down.
"I'm so mad, words fail me.."
I found myself angry and glanced over at Zoro, who had a hard expression on his face. Luffy too, looked equally unforgiving.
How dare they use their crew as shields?
A board moved, and a strange man stood up from the wreckage.
"Damnit, I was unconscious...what the hell is this?" He coughed as he got to his feet.
I gaped.
He had...two sets of ears? The HELL?
The thin man simply looked over at him.
"Mohji, you're still alive..." He said lightly.
Mohji glared at the thin man.
"Cabaji!" He exclaimed. Must be the thin man's name.
"What did you do to Richie?"
Cabaji barely looked surprised. Soooo Richie is the lion?
"Oh, this kitten? I was worried my clothes might get dirty, so I used him for a shield." He said as Mohji hurried to his pet's side.
Cabaji turned a glare onto the two and the lion hid behind a pile of rubble.
Mohji spun to face Cabaji angrily.
"You bastard..." He started to say as his eyes landed on Luffy.
His eyes widened and he scrambled backward.
"AAAH! The guy with the straw hat! Be careful of him captain! He's a rubberman!"
"So that's why he was able to bounce back the Buggy ball. But if you already knew that...WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?" Buggy screeched, sending the man flying towards us.
"MOVE!" he screamed as he flew towards us.
I smiled, falling into stance.
"You move!" I said cheerfully as I delivered a mighty uppercut to him as he sped past.
"The fight has begun!" declared Luffy as Nami was forced to leap over the speeding man.
"Cabaji the Acrobat! I'll avenge the pain you've caused my crew!" yelled the thin man as he pedaled toward me on a unicycle, his sword out.
CLANG
I blinked to see Zoro blocking Cabaji's sword easily as he stepped in front of me.
"If it's swords, I'm all for it." He said, placing his white sword in his mouth, and Cabaji smirked.
"It is an honor, Roronoa Zoro. As a swordsman I get to slay you."
They glared at each other for a few moments.
"Fire Trick." Cabaji said, and a spurt of fire came from his mouth at Zoro's face. Our swordsman was forced to dodge it, leaving his side open, and Cabaji swept in for a kick at that instant.
Zoro dodged backwards and the two combatants circled each other like alley cats, minus the hissing and spitting.
Cabaji slammed his sword into the ground, and spun it around.
"Murder mist!" He said, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Some mist." muttered Zoro, sounding rather disappointed. Cabaji emerged suddenly with a downward slash that Zoro easily blocked with one sword.
Zoro smirked.
"That all you've got?" He asked callously as he slashed at the acrobat, forcing him to dodge away. The acrobat threw some spinning tops at Zoro, who sliced through them all easily.
As he was doing that, however, Cabaji raced for a section of the wall next to me. I dodged away as he cycled up the side and vaulted off the top.
I noticed Buggy doing something with his arm, and palmed my throwing knives in an instant as Cabaji thrust downwards towards Zoro.
"Cabaji! I'll hold him down, so you finish him off!" Buggy yelled as his hands shot out low, grabbing for Zoro's ankles.
"You bastard!"
"Yes Captain!"
My interference was happily unneeded as Luffy stomped on Buggy's hand, and I leaned against the wall, grinning.
"Don't interfere with Zoro's fight." said Luffy with a dangerous smile, and Zoro grinned.
"Even without the captain's help, finishing you will be easy!" yelled Cabaji as he slammed into the ground where Zoro had been seconds before.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Really? It looked like you were losing to me." I muttered to myself.
Zoro kicked out, knocking Cabaji off his little bike.
"I'm tired being the opponent of someone with such pathetic skill." He stated coldly.
Cabaji sprang to his feet and rushed towards Zoro. "Well let me finish you off with my real skill then!" he shouted.
Zoro fell into stance very calmly.
"Oni..." He grunted, breathing in as Cabaji ran into his strike zone.
"...GIRI!" He struck with all three swords and Cabaji spurted blood.
"Damnit! At the hands of a common thief..." he gasped as he fell to the ground.
Zoro pulled his bandana off his head slowly.
"Not a common thief..But a pirate!" He said, walking over towards me.
I frowned.
"There's no one for me to fight now..." I said, half upset.
Zoro sat down against the wall and leaned his swords against his shoulder.
"Hey Luffy...I'm going to sleep now," He called out, and Luffy nodded.
"Yea..get some sleep. I'll finish this off."
I leaned against the wall to watch the show.
