Zoro: What took you so long?
Yukina: Hey I was busy, sue me for doing my homework!...or are you just too impatient cause you want to go hug and hold hands with Hikari?
Zoro:Wha—what the, No!
Yukina: Uh-huh
Zoro: Just start the story, damn you
Disclaimer: One piece nor its characters belong to me. They belong to their respected owners. Lucia/Madame Rouge and Hikari, yeah they are mine :D
Chapter 5: The new crew member
"Roronoa Zoro! I challenge you to a duel!" yelled Tashigi as she pulled out her sword "If I win, your sword, the Wado Ichimonji, belongs to me! Do we have a deal?"
Zoro snorted at the statement, "Like you could ever take my sword away from me…"Zoro said as he took out Wado, "But I do like a challenge, so give me your best shot"
With that, Tashigi came at Zoro at full speed, only to be stopped by Zoro's own blade. The two swords were evenly matched, though they had just begun. Wado and Shigure clashed blades as their masters stood still in their positions, daring the other to make another move. The green-haired swordsman couldn't help but feel nostalgic about the whole scene. It made him think about all the times he challenged Kuina. And each one she had won. Now he's fighting against a girl that looks so similar to her!
"That sword doesn't belong to you!" Tashigi said through her clenched teeth
"Oh really," Zoro asked, smirking at the comment "And why is that?"
"Because, you use your swords shamelessly! No true swordsman would use his swords for selfish reasons like money!" retorted Tashigi, remembering that the swordsman used to hunt pirates for their bounties.
"Hn. Too bad. Wado isn't leaving me" Zoro stated as his smirk widened, making the Kuina-clone growl.
Removing one hand from Wado to grab Kitetsu, he counterattacked Tashigi, making her lose her balance. Her back hit the wall as her sword was sent flying by one swing of Zoro's sword. It was over and Tashigi had lost.
"No way…" Tashigi thought to herself at the realization of her defeat
"I won't lose this katana" Zoro said as he slipped the swords back in "No matter what" and with those words being said, Zoro walked away from the girl to find his crew mates. However, Tashigi didn't let him leave just like that.
"Wh-Why don't you finish it!" asked Tashigi, her voice notably shaking. Whether out of fear or anger, neither of them were sure. "I lost fare and square, so you have to finish me off!" Tashigi yelled
"Or do you think I'm not worthy of it because I'm a woman?!" Unbeknownst to Tashigi, the comment stung Zoro. In more ways than she could believe. Still, he didn't turn back.
"Why won't you fight me like a man? Why do you let me live if I lost?!" Tashigi continued to protest. However, seeing that he wasn't going to listen, Tashigi grabbed the man by his arm.
"ANSWER ME!"yelled Tashigi as she forced the swordsman to look at her. However, just as she did, a force like electricity shot up her arm, making her back away from the swordsman. She looked up to the swordsman to question the action, only to find that Zoro was just as confused as she was. Tashigi wasn't sure where the energy came from. Nevertheless, she did know one thing for sure though. That the message was loud and clear, so she backed away, allowing the swordsman to go find his captain as he had been trying to do in the first place.
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Meanwhile…
"Merry is just a few feet away from us"
"What about my crew?"
"They must be back in the Going Merry by now; they did agree to meet back at the ship in half an hour" answered Lucia, remembering the Navigator's instructions before the crew went off in search of their captain. The rain was starting to pour, making it a bit hard for the two to make their way out of the small town. "I wonder if that girl made it back to the base…" thought Lucia, before she mentally slapped herself again for worrying about it. After all, the girl was a Marine; she was prepared for any kind of situation, a little rain won't kill her!
"Where did all that fog come from?" asked Luffy when he saw a puff of smoke not that far ahead of them.
"Fog! There's never been a fog in LogueTown before!..."thought Lucia in panic as she saw the smoke Luffy was talking about.
"Luffy! Matte!" yelled Lucia at the boy that was ahead of her. But it was too late. Like a bear trap, the smoke imprisoned its prey, holding the boy hostage.
"What the—LET ME GO!" yelled Luffy as he tried to release himself from his prisoner. Just then, the puff of smoke turned into a human.
"Not so fast. No pirate leaves here as a free man so long as I'm around" answered a man with white hair and a deep voice. "The name's Smoker, and trust me kid, you ain't leaving here by a long-shot"
"We'll see about that!" retorted Luffy as he tried to throw a sucker punch at Smoker, only to find that his fist connected with a cloud of smoke.
"What the?..."
"Surprised, kid? Just like you, I too ate a sea fruit. Except mine's allow me to turn into smoke" answered Smoker "Which means that you can't attack me so long as I'm in my smoke form, it'll be like punching air"
Well things were going wonderfully for Luffy. How can he defeat a person who can turn into smoke? Then again, Luffy never steered away in the face of danger.
"I don't care what power you have. I'm going to kick your butt and then I'm going off to the Grandline so that I can become King of the Pirates!" answered Luffy "So bring it on, Smokey!"
In reaction to the nickname, Smoker made his fist come at Luffy with his smoke power. Luckily, Luffy was ready and jumped away in time. They were neck to neck, both never stopping, not even when it began to thunder. It was an intense battle to see.
However, as the boys continued their fight, a sound of a battle cry came from a distance. Looking around, Lucia spotted them. It was Smoker's Marine officers! And they looked ready to fight.
"Better stop them before they do something stupid.." thought Lucia as she walked up to them.
"Move aside, young lady!" answered a Marine officer "We are here to assist our captain in arresting the pirate, Monkey D. Luffy"
"I'm sorry, but you will be doing no such thing…" answered back Lucia
"Listen! We don't have any intentions on harming you. But if you continue to stop us from doing our duty, we will arrest you as well!"
"I don't think so" replied Lucia as her eyes became crimson red "Now cease and desist. Your becoming a eye sore"
"Yes, we shall do as you say, Master Lucia!" answered the Marine men as they raised their pistols towards their heads.
Just then, one of Smoker's fist connected with Luffy's stomach, making him hit the wall opposite of him. It didn't take long for the straw hat boy to fall into unconsciousness.
"That kid was stronger than I thought!" thought Smoker as he tried to catch his breath "Well, at least it's finally over…"
"Captain Smoker!" replied a voice, making Smoker turn his head in the direction of the voice
"What the heck are you men doing!" yelled Smoker when he saw his men, pistols raised at their heads.
"Let the pirate go, otherwise, we'll shoot" answered one of the Marine men.
"What the—are you out of your mind? Put those guns down, now!" yelled Smoker
"Now, now, Smoker…" answered Lucia as she smirked in the White Hunter's direction
"What are you planning on doing, kid?..."
"Nothing Smoker, so long as you do as I say" Lucia replied
"And what is that?" asked Smoker
"It's obvious Smoker. Let all the straw hats leave Loguetown."
"Ha! Let the pirates leave? Never!" answered Smoker
"Too bad Smoker. Because if you don't do as I say…" said Lucia as the men placed their fingers on the trigger "Well…I think you know what will happen then…"
"You—you wouldn't dare!..."
"Really, do you honestly want to take the risk?" asked Lucia, her smirk never leaving her face.
"Damn it, she is right. I can't risk the life of my men…But the pirate! I can't let him leave here!"Smoker thought as he pondered his situation right now. What will he choose? The life of his men or of some amateur pirate?
Growling in anger, Smoker gave the girl his answer "All right!" said Smoker as he put his sword on the ground, "Take him now and leave!"
"Hm." Hummed Lucia before she walked up to pick up the unconscious captain. Putting his arm around her shoulder, she dragged Luffy out of the town. That is, after she removed the spell off of the men.
"You have done well, my little slaves…"
"Thank you, Master Lucia!" answered the men before they collapsed to the ground.
"What the—" yelled Smoker, before Lucia interrupted him
"Relax, White Hunter" answered Luca "I just put them to sleep. That way, they'll forget everything that just happened and they will wake up, believing that this was all a dream."
"I still don't understand, why are you-?"
"It's better off that you don't" answered Lucia "Remember, I told you that the pirate is my business, so just stay out of this"
Smoker shook his head. There was just no way to understand this girl…
"Well, whatever it is your doing, just be careful"
Smiling, Lucia turned to the man one last time "Take care, Smoker…"
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In another part of town…
Amazingly enough, the rain was starting to light up as Zoro tried making his way to the Going Merry. Thought, throughout the whole journey, the Spirit of the Sword had been very quite. Which was starting to worry him.
"Oi, Hikari, am I going the right way?" Zoro said, mentally slapping himself for asking the question. However, he didn't get a reaction out of the girl
"Hey, are you asleep or something?"
"…."
"ANSWER ME, DAMN IT, BEFORE I—!"
"What she said bothered you, didn't it?" asked Hikari, interrupting Zoro from his previous rage
"Wh-What?"
"When she said that, did she remind you of something from your past?"continued to ask the Guardian, making Zoro stop his actions completely
"Damn it, she's on the mark." Thought Zoro. If he told her the truth, would she understand or make fun of him for it? Though Zoro had been able to cope with the death of his best friend and rival, he never really talked about her to anyone. Ever.
Sensing his nervousness, Hikari stopped asking the swordsman any more questions
"Forget it then…"
"Huh?"
"If it's still too uncomfortable for you to talk about, then I won't ask you anymore. The reason I did that to the girl back there was because I could sense that she was making you feel uncomfortable. I don't think that you should feel like you're obligated to do something if you don't feel right doing it…"
Unbeknownst to Hikari, her comment and her concern of the swordsman's feelings kind of embarrassed Zoro. He wasn't use to people worrying about him.
"Zoro, you okay? Are you catching a cold? Your face is getting red."
However, rather than answering the girl's questions, Zoro ran full speed, trying his best to ignore the Sprit as best as he could.
"Hey Zoro, your going the wrong the way!"
"Shut up, I know where I'm going!"
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Back to…
"Hmm…" muttered Luffy as he began to come back to full consciousness.
"…Where am I?"
"Look guys, he's waking up" yelled a familiar voice
"Usopp, is that you?..." asked Luffy as the face of his comrade came into full view.
"Yeah, man. What happened to you? Lucia had to drag you back to the boat!"
"Lucia?..." Luffy questioned before he spotted the violet-eyed girl "Oh right, hey Lucia!"
"Luffy, do you remember anything that happened before you collapsed?" asked Nami
"Um…I remember fighting this one marine guy…"
"Smoker?" asked Nami
"Yeah, that's his name!" answered Luffy, before turning back to Lucia "What happened to him anyways? I don't remember…"
"You defeated him" answered Lucia
"Wha—Really!"
"Don't be so shocked…It took a lot of your energy, but you still defeated him. Just like you said…"answered Lucia
"Really?" Luffy said in excitement "Yahoo! I defeated the Marine captain of Loguetown!"
"That boy is too easy to fool" thought Lucia as she watched Luffy dance in joy. Then again, it wouldn't have been impossible for Luffy to defeat Smoker, even if she hadn't interfered.
"Oi, I hate to interrupt your merriment, but I think we're still missing a crew member" interrupted Sanji
"Yeah, where's Zoro?" Nami asked Luffy "He was with you, wasn't he?"
"Well, yeah. But then we got separated" Luffy answered the orange-haired girl
Suddenly, a thud was heard. Someone had just jumped on the deck!
"What the heck was that?" asked Usopp as everyone went out to see what had caused the noise. In front of them, panting and completely soaked in water, was their very own swordsman.
"Zoro!" Luffy exclaimed before running up to the green-haired man
"You idiot! What if you had broken the deck you moron!" yelled Nami
"Shut..up…you witch!..." answered back Zoro, panting at each sentence.
"Don't call Nami-swan a witch, Marimo!" replied the blond chef
"I don't need any of your complaining stupid chef!" yelled back Zoro
"Seriously, Zoro, what took you so long? Did you really get that lost?" asked Usopp, laughing at the swordsman's terrible sense of direction. Sadly for him, poor Usopp was unaware of the fate that was in store for him. As soon as the swordsman saw him, his fist immediately connected with Usopp's unsuspecting face.
"Ouch! My nose!"
"THAT'S FOR MOVING THE SHIP!"
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Later that day…
"Dinner will be finished in a few minutes!" informed Sanji as he got done with the finishing last touches of the meal. The others had gone to take a hot shower to warm up from the cold rain fall. As for their guest Lucia, Luffy had long invited her into his group, which Lucia accepted. Now their ship was heading towards the Grandline, in search of their next great adventure.
"Hurry up, Sanji!" yelled Luffy impatiently "I want meat!"
"Calm down, rubber for brains, it'll be done in a few" retorted Sanji to his childish captain.
"But I'm hungry~!" complained Luffy
"Don't be discouraged Luffy," replied Lucia as she placed a hand on the straw hat's shoulder "Remember, good things come to those who wait"
"So if I wait…I'll get yummy food?" asked Luffy, drool coming down his mouth
"Of course" answered Lucia, making the recently gloomy captain quite happy
"Oh Lucia-swan! You are as smart as you are beautiful!~" replied Sanji, hearts dancing in his eyes
However, her thoughts drowned both of their voices out. "I actually was able to successfully get into the ship…now it's time to get part 2 of my mission out of the way…" thought Lucia as she secretly pulled out a necklace with a crimson stone. "In a little while, all his power will be gone…"
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"Mmm-hmm~! That was delicious~!" Luffy complimented as he rubbed his full stomach
"Yeah, nothing like hot food on a cold, rainy day" Usopp added as he too finished his meal
"Thanks for the meal, Sanji" replied Nami
"You're welcome my angel~! Serving you is a pleasure~!" answered the cook
"Hn. Moron" muttered Zoro
"What did you say, Marimo?" Sanji asked the swordsman
"So what should we do now? It's still too early to go to bed" said Usopp, interrupting the two men's discussion.
"Let's play tag!" suggested Luffy
"It's still raining outside, Luffy" answerd Nami. Though, even if it were sunny outside, she wouldn't subject herself to such childish games. Suddenly, a smell of freshly baked goods came towards the straw hat crews' way.
"Hey Sanji, did you bake something" Usopp asked the chef
"No, I didn't" admitted Sanji.
"Would anyone like some cake?" asked Lucia as she carried a tray filled with cake and tea
"Lucia, you baked this?" asked Usopp
"It's nothing great, but I thought that maybe we could eat some before heading off to bed"
"Ew! Can I have some! Can I have some!" chanted Luffy, before a fist connected with his head
"Be patient! You'll get your slice when you get it". It didn't take long for Lucia to serve each straw hat with tea and cake, or for them to finish their slices.
"Wow! That's the best cake I've ever had!" replied Usopp
"It tastes great, mind sharing with me the recipe one day, Lucia-san" asked Sanji
"Sure" answered Lucia. It was then, that a loud yawn was heard.
"I'm soooo tired~…." Answered Luffy as his eyes became droopy.
"Hey don't (*yawn*) do that, or I'll start getting sleepy too…" answered Usopp as his head began to bob
However, it barely took a few seconds before all the crew members fell asleep. "Things are going according to plan…" thought Lucia as she viewed her handy work. It took a little while longer for the sleeping formula to take full effect, but it did the job just right.
"It's hard to believe that a captain as simple minded as him exists" Lucia said to herself as she pulled out the necklace.
"Even so, it's time I got the job done" she answered as placed the necklace in front of the sleeping face of the captain. It's crimson stone began to glow.
"Now, give me your power!" exclaimed the brunette as the necklace's red glow beamed in the captain's direction. His power seeping from his body and into the necklace's blood-red gem.
"Yes, that's it!" thought Lucia as she could feel the boy's sea fruit power being generated in the necklace she held in her hand. When it was done, she stuffed the necklace back inside her shirt.
"Easier than I thought" Lucia replied as she walked her way out of the Gallery. That is, until a strange aura began to emerge, making the girl stop in her tracks.
Near the place the swordsman had placed his swords, was the figure of a young girl. Her amber-colored eyes glowered in her direction.
"Hm. And just who are you suppose to be?"
"None of your concern, so long as you return Luffy's power" answered the girl
"Really? And just who is going to make me? You?" asked Lucia "Just stand there and stay quiet, it will do you some good"
"How about I come over there and rip that necklace from your neck?" growled the girl before she walked up towards Lucia
"I said, stay back!" yelled Lucia, her eyes glowing again. This time, in the direction of the Guardian. Before she could take her next step, Hikari stopped moving. She felt like someone had glued her feet to the floor.
"Wha—How?..."
"Can't move? Good." Replied Lucia "You see my dear, I possess the Mino Mino no mi sea fruit power, that means that I can control the person I choose with just a command or thought"
"Why you-!"
"I'd hold my treats if I were you" answered Lucia "At least I froze you. Be thankful that I didn't command you to do something more…drastic than that"
"I won't let you get away with this!"
"Right" Lucia replied before walking away towards the door again
"I said…" suddenly, a knife came in contact with the door knob, a few inches away from Lucia's hand "You're not getting away!" yelled Lucia as she walked in Lucia's direction, her body no longer under Lucia's spell.
"What the?! How were you able to overcome my Mino Mino no Mi powers!"yelled Lucia furiously at the black-haired girl
"I won't forgive you for trying to harm my friends" threatened the girl "Prepare yourself, for I challenge you to a Shadow Game!"
"Shadow Game?" asked Lucia. However, just as she asked, the room around them transformed. In place of the Gallery was a dark, empty void.
"Yes, the Shadow Games. It is a penalty game. We are to fight each other using only our strengths and powers. No cheating or killing is allowed. If any of us break the rules or loses, that person suffers the penalty for their actions through judgment of their character. The worse the person, the worse the punishment"
"Sounds like a risky game…" thought Lucia to herself before responding to the Guardian
"And what of the winner?"
"They get to own one item from the loser and leave the game unharmed" answered Hikari
"Alright then" Lucia replied "May the best fighter win."
Finally got a chapter. Now I'm sleepy. Lucia, did you give me some of that cake too! Anyway's laters! :3