A/N - I keep forgetting when I'm supposed to upload these things, oops. So enjoy this chapter, and a thank you to FlightWulf, Key, yaoifan, and Ace. . . Your reviews made me happy! And I hope this chapter does not disappoint.

Ancient Secrets

Chapter 12

Luffy's mouth popped open in surprise. "Hey!" He yelled, pointing. "You're the weird looking guy I saw yesterday!" Kuro turned to face him with a sneer, but when he spotted who it was who had spoken, the sneer became a surprised smirk.

"And you're the very boy we've been looking for. I'll kill this runt-" Usopp cowered slightly, "-and then I'm bringing you in to my boss. He's very anxious to meet you."

Zoro's hands went to his swords immediately, but Luffy held up a hand. He took Kuro's words as a personal challenge, and while Zoro had fought for him before, this time Luffy's the one who was going to step up and fight. He would protect his new friend Usopp from his attacker, and protect Zoro from more injury on his behalf.

Zoro noticed Luffy's gesture and grudgingly slid his swords away, straightening up from his attack position.

"You think you can take me down?" Kuro demanded, reaching into his jacket. "I'm afraid someone of your calibre would have a very hard time facing me." From the depths of his jacket, he produced two gloves with long claw-like blades on the tips, just as Usopp had described them. Each blade had a thin sheath to protect himself from being stabbed while they were hidden away in Kuro's clothes.

"Don't think that you have the upper hand because you're fighting with daggers or whatever," Luffy warned, raising his fists.

"Oi, Luffy…" Usopp whispered, "You really don't have to, we could just run…" He fidgeted with his bag nervously. "I could attack him from a distance with my sling-shot, no big deal." Kuro was strong and scary, after all.

Luffy sighed dramatically and shook his head, fixing Usopp with a disappointed stare. "Oh, Usopp…"

"Wh-What…?"

Luffy's tone suddenly transformed into a whine. "He challenged me! I can't back down!" He stomped his foot for added affect. "Besides, I haven't had a fight in ages!"

Usopp held up his hands in apology. "Okay, okay, you need to fight…" He scuttled away from the immediate area quickly, joining Zoro at a distance, who had settled on a low wall, arms folded and watching with sharp eyes, despite looking like he was ready to doze off.

Luffy turned back to Kuro and started warming up, cricking his neck from side to side to get rid of the kinks, and rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. Kuro let out a dignified snort, pushing his glasses up his face using the palm of his hand to avoid slicing his face up. Then tension was palpable, enough that Usopp nearly started wringing his hands in concern.

Instead of waiting for Luffy to be ready, Kuro simply leapt forward. The claws on his right hand cut through the air and at Luffy's face. Luffy leapt backwards, avoiding it with ease.

Now that the first move had been made, the tension had dissipated. Luffy lunged, a fist flying out to connect with Kuro's torso, but he blocked it with his arms. The force had him skidding backwards slightly.

They wasted no time in attacking each other again, swiping and punching and kicking and stabbing, sometimes hitting each other and other times not. Luffy was clearly at a disadvantage when he kept being cut by the blades swinging wildly at him. One thing Kuro had going for him was his incredible speed. Luckily, even though Luffy was having trouble keeping up properly, he could always follow with his eyes and react just in time.

Usopp flinched as he watched the fight progress, and would occasionally glance to his right where Zoro was. It was hard to tell if the man had simply fallen asleep, because he was so still. His left eye was sealed shut with a scar, and Usopp couldn't see the right side of his face. It was frustrating; he wanted to know what the guy thought of the fight, and he couldn't from where he was at.

He might have to strike up conversation.

Which was something he wasn't exactly prone to doing, especially with scary guys like Zoro.

"Hey," He finally said, "Will Luffy be okay?"

"Sure he will," Zoro grunted.

"You know?"

"Well I…" Zoro hesitated, scratching his head, "I haven't seen him fight much, not for two years anyway. I don't know how strong he is physically. But I do know that he's a determined guy. He doesn't back down easily." Luffy was always a free spirit, that much was obvious. Pulling him away from something he'd set his mind on was an impossible task (Not that Zoro had the motivation to do that; he didn't like the thought of ever stopping Luffy from doing what he wanted, even if it bordered on dangerous. It must be those puppy-dog eyes of his for sure.)

"Wait, you don't know if he can win?!" Usopp exclaimed, looking back at the fight. Luffy already had little cuts on his face, which was the target Kuro was obviously aiming for most. But Luffy didn't look dispirited by his injuries, and Usopp realised with a jolt that it was because Kuro was looking just as bad as Luffy was. He wasn't cut, but he already had a black eye and blood dripped steadily from his nose.

"I don't know the outcome, but I do know that Luffy's not gonna give up. That means he'll win eventually, right?" Zoro reasoned. Usopp eyed him.

"You say that, but you haven't let go of the hilt of your sword yet."

Zoro's brow furrowed sheepishly, but he didn't relinquish his hold. "…Just because I believe he's going to win doesn't mean I can't worry about him."

Usopp watched Zoro for a few seconds longer before nodding and turning back to the mini-battle taking place in front of him.

The shops around them, he noticed, had all lowered their shutters and put up their 'closed' signs. Nobody wanted to be in range of a fight, and with good reason. That also meant that nobody was around to watch as it progressed.

Luffy was panting hard, wiping at his bloody chin. Kuro was much more dignified, but a look at his rapidly rising and falling chest was indication enough that he was just as out of breath as Luffy. The two were quite the match for each other.

"This is taking too long," Kuro grunted, "I'm going to have to finish this quickly. Behold! My ultimate technique: Cat Out Of The Bag!" With that he began to spin at such a rapid rate that Usopp lost complete sight of him. Beside him, Zoro jerked in surprise too. Suddenly there were flashes of light and the walls of buildings were being carved into by strikes so fast that Usopp didn't even see them happen.

"He's so fast he's out of control!" Zoro yelled, standing up. Usopp followed suit, gaping. Luffy simply stood in the same spot, eyes hidden by the rim of his hat. His fists (now rather bloody from the beating he'd been delivering) were clenched tightly, in preparation for his next attack. How he would be able to land a single hit any more, Usopp had no idea, since the only indication of Kuro's whereabouts was the slight rush of wind he left behind.

There was a sharp pain on his chest, too. Usopp looked down in surprise, only to see blood spray from three claw-lines running from one shoulder to the other, ripping one of the straps on his overalls. It took him a moment to process what had even happened, before his knees buckled.

Before he could crash onto the floor, a strong arm grabbed him by the bicep and yanked him back to his feet. It was Zoro, which only made sense, seeing as he was the only one next to Usopp at the time. He kept Usopp upright and looked at the injury.

"…You alright?" He grunted.

"I…Yeah. Probably, yeah," was all Usopp could mutter in reply.

Zoro nodded and looked back at the lone figure in front of them. Luffy had raised his head when Usopp had been cut, and he looked positively livid. The look felt ten times more terrifying than Kuro had been, Usopp decided, when it locked onto his own. The big relief was, he knew the fury wasn't directed at him, and because of that, it wasn't quite as scary as it could have been.

No, Luffy was angry at Kuro. The man in question was laughing, his speed making it seem like it was echoing all around the street.

"What's wrong? Can't fight any longer?" The man yelled with manic glee. "You'll end up worse than the long-nosed brat once I'm finished with you!"

Luffy took a deep breath and raised a shaking fist. Usopp watched on with fascination as Luffy pivoted on the spot, and his arm shot out so fast that Usopp had barely seen it move, and crashed into a suddenly very immobile Kuro's jaw. There was a loud crunch which definitely followed, which made Usopp wince. Kuro stumbled backwards and toppled over, surprise written across his face.

"You!" Luffy finally spoke, hollering angrily. "Usopp is my new friend, and you not only stalked him like a creeper, but you hurt him!"

"Y-You…" Coughed Kuro through his bloody mouth, "How did you stop my technique?!" He demanded.

"Instinct!" Luffy snarled. Whether he was being truthful or just spouting out a non-answer, Usopp couldn't tell. Kuro slowly pushed himself back up onto his feet. He was a lot wobblier than before, probably too much to use his infernal speed-technique again, and raised his left hand with all five claws pointed towards Luffy.

"You want me to believe that?! It was just luck, that's all!" He plunged his hand forward, fully intending on hitting Luffy's heart, but Luffy ducked below them, and slammed both of his fists into Kuro's stomach, winding him. Using the pause it'd given him, Luffy swept his foot out and knocked Kuro's footing out from under him.

Kuro's back slammed into the pavement and he let out a choked gasp of surprise. Luffy grabbed the blades quickly, yet carefully, between his fingers and yanked the strange gloves off Kuro's hands, tossing them far away. Before Kuro could push himself back up, Luffy raised his foot and stomped on the bastard's head, slamming it back down hard, dazing him.

"You," He spluttered from his position on the ground. "Don't think you've won…I've my accomplice with me. He already knows you're here, and he's going to contact headquarters about your whereabouts. You're doomed." Luffy's eyes narrowed and he looked up to where Zoro was actively supporting Usopp, whose front was stained red.

"Oi. Zoro."

Zoro looked up with a sharp nod. "I understand. I'll stay here and deal with the other guy. You take Usopp to Franky's ho—"

"No!" Luffy cut off quickly, "You take him, and hurry! You'd just get lost if you stayed behind." There was a sense of urgency in his voice, one which Zoro felt inexplicably compelled to obey. As well as ignore the slight to his sense of direction.

"But what about y-?" He tried to ask.

Luffy cut him off when a fist swung at him, and only his lightning reflexes allowed him to dodge. "I'll be fine, but I'm kinda busy!" Then he locked eyes with Zoro and smiled. "Don't worry. Just get ready to set sail by the time I get back. Raise the anchor. I'll be quick."

Zoro stared hard at him for a moment, until the fight between Luffy and Kuro broke out again, and he pivoted on his heel, grabbed Usopp's arm, and sped away from the scene. Usopp let out a yelp of surprise, stumbling after him.

"O-oi, oi!" He winced, glancing nervously over his shoulder. "Is it okay to just leave him like that? I mean, Kuro looks pretty beat but so does Luffy!" He staggered slightly during his protest, and Zoro took it upon himself to haul Usopp up and over his shoulder, mindful of the injury on his chest. Usopp squawked indignantly.

"I dunno, but Luffy gave me that look, and I just had to obey," He explained (not that Usopp understood his explanation).

"What look?!"

"The one he always gives me when he wants something! The round, puppy-dog eyes!" Zoro stressed, waving his free arm for emphasis. Usopp shook his head, bushy hair flopping around him.

"Guy, whatever look he was giving you, it wasn't round-eyed at all. I dunno if we saw the same thing."

Zoro's step faltered and he skittered to a stop. Luffy had used those eyes on him again, he was sure. The effect had been the same. The irresistible look he'd shot him made Zoro want to do his very bidding. It was hypnosis or something. But the more he thought about it, the more he couldn't help but think that what Usopp saying was true. Luffy's eyes hadn't been the same as all the other times he'd turned his doe-eyes on Zoro. They'd been harder and narrower.

"Oi, we shouldn't be stopping," Usopp reminded him with a prod to the leg. Zoro hesitated before picking up his pace again.

"You know… He hadn't looked at me with the doe eyes…" He muttered. Usopp nodded (sort of). "But it was definitely the eyes…" He continued under his breath as his jog steadily turned into a sprint. "He looked at me in a certain way – always does – and I find myself compelled to do his bidding – always do…"

Usopp nodded again encouragingly. "And what do you think that means?" He held one hand in front of his face and used the index finger of the other hand to trace patters on it, as though he were writing on a note pad.

"I don't know…It's like, it doesn't matter whether he's looking at me with wide eyes or narrow eyes, if he looks at me, I find myself wanting to do what he says." Well, within reason. If Luffy told him to jump he had no doubt he'd ask "how high", but if Luffy replied with "Off that cliff ledge" he'd turn around and deliver a loving punch to the idiot.

"Mmmhm, mmmmhm," Usopp hummed knowingly as he 'recorded' this information on his 'notebook'. "And the conclusion I can draw from that is that you're completely and utterly whipped."

Zoro dropped him.

"OW! Hey!" Usopp yelled, clutching his poor, injured chest. "I'm mortally wounded, don't go tossing me around!" He protested, pushing himself up. Zoro harrumphed, folding his arms.

"Then don't say stupid things," He countered.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it," He moaned, holding out an arm. Zoro hefted him up and gruffly brushed the dirt off of him despite his annoyance. Usopp smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "But, hey…"

"Mm?" Zoro noised as he prepared to pick Usopp up again.

"You and Luffy get along really well with each other. I just think that's kinda nice. Reminds me of my friend back home…" He trailed off awkwardly and allowed Zoro to pick him up and start running again.

Kaya… He thought, staring at the ground moving below him, I guess I'm leaving, far away. I won't be back for a while. I'm sorry I couldn't even say goodbye. I know you'll look after the Usopp pirate crew because you're great like that…and I'm sorry that I didn't leave an explanation behind. I hope – or I know – that we'll meet up again someday. But for now, I'm setting out on a manly quest of self-discovery! And I'm afraid you can't come with me…

"Oi, you okay down there?" Zoro asked, his voice jolting Usopp out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Yeah…"

"Good. Sounded like you were crying."

"I'm not-!" Usopp pressed a hand to his face to find out that yeah, he might have leaked a couple of tears… He scrubbed his face madly and said louder, "A brave warrior does not cry over a scratch like this! I'm fine."

Zoro was silent after that and they raced back to Franky's place as fast as possible (with the occasional addition of "No, turn left here" from Usopp when Zoro lost his way). When the others caught sight of Usopp, they started running around, collecting disinfectant and bandages to treat the wound on his chest. While Sanji and Chopper (who was always such a strangely perceptive reindeer) tended to that, Zoro caught Franky's attention.

"Oi, we need a ship right now!" He demanded loudly. Franky picked up on his urgency immediately and his face became serious.

"I understand. I want to help you bros out as quickly as possible, but there's only one ship so far which is available for you…" He trailed off uncertainly. Vivi, who had been listening in worriedly, blinked in realisation. Of what, Zoro wasn't sure. Off to one side, Nami began packing the food Sanji had bought the other day into a big bag to transport it quickly to the ship.

Vivi took in the suddenly rushed atmosphere of the room before fixing Franky with a look. "Will you let them have it?"

"Let them have it?" Franky asked, raising his eyebrows in horror. "Nah, Vivi sis."

"But, Franky, I thought you were going to help them…they need—!" Zoro was going to protest along-side the blue-haired girl, but both were cut off by Franky's raised hand.

"Princess," Franky cut in, "I'm not going to let them have it…I'm going to go with them."

"Wait, seriously?" Zoro asked, taken aback.

"Yeah. You guys need to get away quickly, right?" Franky asked. Zoro nodded, replaying Luffy's instructions in his mind. "Then you'll need a ship, and the only ship we have on hand on such short notice is my pride and joy, my dream ship. Of course, I'm not going to just leave it in the hands of a bunch of incompetent kids like you, who don't know the first thing about looking after a ship properly. So I'm going to sail it with you."

"I…Thanks. That's great. Then let's go!" Zoro grinned. He turned to where Usopp had been deposited, and noted that he'd been completely taken care of. The group was now hauling all their bags over their shoulders in preparation.

"But what about Luffy bro?" Franky asked, glancing around as if to see if Luffy had slipped in without his notice. Being such a loud kid, that would have been impossible though, and Luffy wasn't there yet.

"Don't worry," Zoro assured, "Luffy said he'd be there in a moment. He's just finishing off a threat, and he'll be there as soon as possible."

"Right," Sanji spoke up to Franky, "Lead the way."

Franky nodded, throwing open the back door which lead down to the private docks, and dashed down towards them with the group on his heels. As they ran, Usopp breathlessly filled them in on what had happened in the details that Zoro skipped, about Kuro and his accomplice. When he'd finished he glanced around.

"Hey, where's the princess?" He asked. Franky frowned.

"I hadn't noticed her leave! Odd!" He replied, then skidded to a stop by the dock at the end, which was surrounded by walls on three sides, the structure being open towards the sea. There was a large drop-down gate on the wall in front of them which Franky heaved open with almighty strength. Behind it they saw the large silhouette of a ship covered by a sheet to keep it clean.

Franky approached the ship and ripped the sheet away from the ship with a strong pull, revealing a glorious brig sloop type ship with a mighty lion's head for the figure at the front. Nami gasped in awe and Chopper stomped his hooves in excitement. Zoro and Sanji looked impressed as well, but knew there was no time to be standing in awe.

"This is my pride and joy; Thousand Sunny!" Franky declared proudly.

"That's- that's so cool!" Usopp enthused, with eyes wide and mouth open in excitement. Franky preened at the comment. Zoro shook his head and started charging up the wooden stairs to the ship's deck.

"Yeah, it's great, but come on!" He ushered. The others finally started getting on as well (with Chopper confusedly trying to climb the stairs until Usopp took pity on him and came back down to carry him up. They hurriedly bundled all of their belongings into a room to be sorted out later and arranged to start sailing the moment Luffy got back. They were reluctant to raise the anchor like Luffy had instructed them to do because they would drift, and they were worried Luffy wouldn't be able to reach the ship by the time he got back.

Luffy stood above the definitely unconscious Kuro, brushing his hands off. The guy sure was persistent; he had to give him that. But Luffy had finished it quickly, because it was important to do so in order to escape properly. Reaching into the man's suit, Luffy pulled out a communication device and tossed it on the ground, stomping on it. Now he wouldn't have to worry about the guy waking up and calling his friend.

The only problem was, his friend probably already knew where they were…Luffy took a moment to give his tired body a moment of rest, massaging his wounds, before turning and starting to run. He could just about remember the way back, but even if he couldn't, they were supposed to be at the docks, so Luffy could technically follow the coast in order to get there.

While he ran, he kept feeling uneasy, like there was someone watching him. Luffy shuddered.

"It's like these guys have creepy, slimy eyes which they're using to watch my every move," He muttered to himself, shuddering. He wished he hadn't sent Zoro ahead, now. Company was always preferred… At least he was confident that they had both gone back and let the others know what was going on.

Luffy turned to look up at the rooftops. He was certain there were people up there. Baroque Works people, no doubt. If not, then thugs hired by people from Baroque Works. The creeping feeling got closer and closer, until Luffy unwittingly slammed into a body, stumbling backwards. The person he hit squeaked and fell backwards too, but was caught by the two men on either side. Luffy looked up in surprise.

"Princess Vivi!" He yelled. Vivi put a finger to her lips.

"Not so loud! I heard what was going on and who you were fighting. That's why I've brought these people." Luffy looked at the two men next to her. One was a pale man with white robes and weird purple face-markings. The other was dark skinned and had black hair and a blue cloak.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Luffy asked.

"They're the Head Guards of the Royal palace," Vivi introduced. Luffy waved hello. "And these," Vivi went on, gesturing behind her, "…are fifty of their men."

Luffy looked past her shoulder in confusion and practically jumped when he did, indeed, see a load of men dressed in the same clothes and holding staff-like weapons. He looked back at Vivi who was smiling.

"We plan on detaining the men working for the organisation. Just take it as a favour to my cousin," she explained. Luffy nodded, a grin slowly spreading across his face. "After all, royalty has its perks!"

Luffy laughed brightly and flung his arms around her in a tight hug. To the side, Chaka and Pell flinched and glared at him. Luffy didn't take any notice. "Thanks, you're the greatest!" He let go and began running again, waving behind him. "Just wait until Zoro hears about this!"

Now, as he sped towards the docks, he noticed that he no longer had disgustingly creepy eyes following him, and decided that he had Vivi to thank for that. Bursting right through Franky's front door, he took a moment to notice that his bag of stuff wasn't there anymore, and assumed that the others had taken it to the ship with them, so he continued out the back door Franky had shown them earlier when he'd been explaining their plan, running down the cobblestone steps towards the docs, and the one blatant open one which hadn't been open before.

When he reached it, the ship was still there, just barely. It was no problem, he could reach it if he jumped far enough. On the deck he could see people running around and getting ready to go. They'd raised the anchor and removed the wooden steps and the only thing they were still waiting for was Luffy.

He skidded to a stop at the edge, pausing to stare in awe at the large ship. "Whoa!" He gasped in excitement. "That's such…such a cool ship!" He whooped, jumping in glee. "And I get to ride it! It's like a dream come true!"

"OI, LUFFY!" Zoro bellowed from the ship. "STOP ACTING LIKE A DUMBASS AND HURRY UP BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!" Luffy was shaken from his enthusiasm with a jolt and nodded, backing up slightly. The ship had drifted in the time he'd been admiring it, he noticed, but he'd manage.

"Right!" Once he was far enough away, he broke into a run, kicking off once he'd reached the edge of the water, arms stretched out. He got closer and closer, nearly managing to reach the edge, before he felt the pull of gravity forcing him towards the water and the railing got further away.

Shit… He thought, if I could just reach a little further, I could get on… just when he was about to hit the water, he felt heat spread through his body, like energy maybe, and his arm shot out in front of him, reaching just as far as he needed to in order to grab the railing. His hand hooked around it and his body started to catch up, being pulled up as well, and then catapulted onto the ship from momentum, crashing face-first into the mast.

Usopp and Franky cheered his arrival while Nami and Zoro face-palmed. Sanji beamed around his cigarette, looking relieved. Chopper just dashed around Luffy in a panic upon seeing his cuts and bruises, but Luffy simply brushed him off. The moment everyone was safely on the ship, though, the sails were lowered and they set off as quickly as possible.

Zoro plucked Luffy up from his position on the ground and brushed him off before setting him on his feet. Luffy smiled in gratitude and Zoro shrugged awkwardly before grinning back, scratching his head.

"What a lovely escape," A woman complimented, "you really made it. I'm amazed." Immediately, everyone was on guard, spinning round. (Luffy had to admit he was getting sick of being caught off-guard all the time.)

"Who's there?!" Nami yelled.

Sitting on the railing at the edge of the ship was a woman.

TBC