A/N: Once again, I wrote this chapter several different times. It wasn't easy to decide how to do it, but ultimately, I'm pretty satisfied with the result. Hope you guys will be as well. Remember to review, okay?

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

Pirates!

Interruptions

Pirate Gonzo Vs. Manigordo

The silver pistol moved impossibly quickly through the air, rising upward and pointing in the direction of 'Cascade' Gonzo and Zugai the 'Demon's Orthopedic'. The trigger was pulled, though rather then hitting one of the pirates it shot right between them into the wall behind.

Gonzo's eyes narrowed. "He missed…?" he asked uncertainly. Zugai shook his head.

"I refuse to believe that. He managed to nail a shot to my shoulder. The only reason he missed my heart is because I was quick enough to move," he said. Now that he brought up his shoulder, it started to hurt again. It occurred to him that he should probably find a way to stop the bleeding…

"No, I intentionally shot between you two," Manigordo said calmly. "You see… I couldn't decide which one of you to shoot, so I thought I'd fire a little warning shot. Are you sure you don't want to turn yourselves in?"

Gonzo scowled at the man. Was he mocking them? He reached over one shoulder and grabbed hold of an object wrapped in a large cloth. As he pulled it free from its holster, the cloth fell off, revealing a large, silver harpoon. It was simple, shaped like an arrow, though much, much larger. He held it out, pointing the razor sharp tip at Manigordo. "Does this answer your question?" he asked.

Zugai stared at the harpoon, surprised. "Where'd you get that?" he asked. Gonzo looked at him and grinned.

"A little something I've been saving up," he said. "You didn't honestly think that I didn't have some sort of weapon, did you?"

"Well… I never thought you'd even need one…" Zugai answered.

As the two had their conversation, Manigordo adjusted the pata sword strapped to his hand. He swiped it once at the air to make sure he had a proper grip on it, and then nodded his satisfaction. While Zugai and Gonzo were distracted, Manigordo's face began to distort, spotted fur growing, his jaw extending a bit and whiskers sprouting. His normal ears were replaced with a set of ocelot ears upon his head, and a tail swooshed lightly behind him. The quicker he got this done, the sooner he could relax.

With speed much more deadly then before he bounded toward Gonzo. To them, it looked as if he'd disappeared, and would reappear right in front of them. But then, he had to remember that Cascade Gonzo was a Fishman. His senses were far more acute then Zugai's would be. Manigordo decided he'd take his chances.

He slashed horizontally with the pata sword and was surprised when he was met with the harpoon, rising to defend. The two metal weapons hit with a loud metallic clang that seemed to echo across the ocean. So he was right. The Fishman was a far more worthy adversary when Zugai would be. He'd best get rid of the nuisance early on. He aimed the gun at Zugai's head and fired.

As soon as he pulled the trigger, Gonzo managed to push him back. The shot was thrown off course and instead of hitting its mark (between Zugai's eyes), it shot just above the top of his head and spiraled off into the distance. "1,000 Gallons!" Gonzo sneered. He stabbed the harpoon forward. "Meat Kabob!"

Manigordo twisted aside in time to avoid the attack and slashed again at Gonzo. Gonzo recovered quickly from his own attack and quickly moved back onto the defensive. In terms of speed, they were evenly matched. Skill however, would be another matter entirely.

Zugai stepped forward to help. He knew that he had just barely escaped death due to Gonzo, and now, he had to do something to assist his friend. "Stay back, Zugai," Gonzo suddenly said. He was grinning, his harpoon pressed against the pata sword. He seemed to be holding his own and was in a rather good mood about the entire ordeal. "You're hurt. Go get that patched up. I'll take care of the little kitty cat here,"

Zugai stared at the Fishman incredulously. "Are you kidding?" he asked. "I'm not going to leave you here to fend for yourself!"

"20 Gallons: Prime Rib!" Gonzo shouted. With his free hand, he threw a furious punch at the bounty hunter. The hit, thankfully, connected with its unlucky victim's jaw and knocked him back into the railing with a splatter of blood. Gonzo turned to Zugai. "Don't worry about it, I've got it covered!" He assured him. He turned in time to deflect a slash with the pata sword and retaliated with a stab of his own weapon. "Go!"

Zugai hesitated for several moments, holding Honehakaisha tightly. At last, he turned away. "Just shout if ya need help, got it?" he shot over his shoulder. Gonzo smirked.

"You got it," he answered. When Zugai disappeared around to the other side of the cabin, he turned his attention back to Manigordo. The bounty hunter charged forward and slashed once again with the pata sword. Gonzo blocked the strike, using both of his hands to defend this time.

"You're fool, deciding to fight me alone," Manigordo said. There was a noticeable grin on his cat-like face. "But this is only going to make my job easier," With his free hand, he reached up to his neck and quickly unsheathed the kris dagger. With incredible speed, he stabbed it at Gonzo's shoulder. Gonzo reacted quickly and moved to the side. He broke the defense and Manigordo staggered forward. Gonzo took advantage of the situation and tried another strike.

"1,000 Gallons: Meat Kabob!" he hissed. He stabbed the harpoon at his opponent and was surprised to see it hit nothing but empty air. Shit, he's fast! He thought to himself. He looked around for several brief moments and eventually found Manigordo perched atop the cabin, standing in a very cat-like way. He rose, standing on his two feet, though his tail flicked mischievously behind him.

"Did you know that these little daggers," he indictated the kris by lifting it slightly, "are said to be alive? To have a soul of their own." He examined the dagger, lovingly stroking the blade. "This one has a particular thirst for blood,"

Gonzo scowled at him. "I don't have time for your little stories," he said. "If you want to fight, then get down here and do it,"

"Oh, I don't want to fight," Manigordo said. "It was you pirates who insisted on a physical confrontation. It would have been much easier if you would have just come along quietly like I asked in the first place,"

"50 Gallons: Swiss Cheese!" Gonzo declared. From his blowhole, dozens of baseball sized balls of water shot out, flying toward Manigordo. The bounty hunter jumped quickly to avoid; pouncing onto the mast, then behind Gonzo onto the railing of the ship. Gonzo turned and threw the harpoon at him.

"1,000 Gallons: Meat Kabob!" Manigordo twisted to the right to avoid, spinning and landing nimbly onto the deck. The harpoon flew off the ship and fell into the ocean below. Manigordo laughed for a few moments, until of course, he felt a sharp pain in his left arm. He looked at it and was surprised to see a line of blood dripping down his arm.

"Well, you hit me," he said, "Congratulations on that accomplishment. However, it seems that you've lost your weapon," He looked back at Gonzo and was surprised to see him rushing forward. "35 Gallons!" he jumped into the air and spun, delivering a furious kick to the mans head that would have made the great Black Leg Sanji proud. "Rump Roast!"

Manigordo ducked and rolled forward to avoid the blow. When he rose back to his feet, he grinned. "Missed that time!" he announced, turning and preparing to strike. It surprised him to say the least, that Gonzo was missing. "What… where'd he go…?"

He walked to the railing of the ship and looked down into the relatively calm waters below. Even his cat-like eyes couldn't see through the misty surface. However, there was one thing he did see.

And that was a harpoon flying out from beneath the surface directly at his head. He jumped back and the harpoon flew into the air, and Gonzo jumped up after it. He grabbed hold of the ships railing, then jumped up and grabbed his falling Harpoon before disappearing back into the water again.

"Shit, that was close…" Manigordo hissed. He ran back to the railing and looked into the water. By this time, he'd sheathed the kris and was holding a pistol in one hand. He should have expected the Fishman to use the water to his advantage. Then, he saw a shadow swimming just below the surface. He took careful aim before firing and was pleased to see a trail of red begin following the fish man. The shadow disappeared for several moments and then, reappeared, getting larger and larger by the second. So he was rising out.

Sure enough, Gonzo jumped out of the water. There was a bullet wound in the back of his calf, but he ignored it as he glared at Manigordo. In his hand, there appeared to be a ball of water. "Take this!" Gonzo snarled. He threw the small ball at Manigordo, who stared at it, unsure of exactly what it was going to do.

The moment it hit his gut, however, he got an answer. The ball of water knocked the wind out of him and pushed him back with surprising force. The gun slipped from his fingers, as did the pata sword, and both fell with a clatter onto the wet deck of the ship. He hit the cabin behind him and certainly would have broken it were it not for the fact that it was made out of solid bone. Gonzo maneuvered in mid air and landed in a crouch on the ship, wincing uncomfortably as blood squirted out of the wound.

He charged toward the still recovering bounty hunter and wrapped a webbed hand around his throat before slamming him back against the wall. "Who sent you?" he snarled.

Manigordo instinctively reached for Gonzo's wrist and clenched it tightly, claws digging into the pirate's skin. Gonzo ignored the puncture wounds and only tightened his grip. "Come on now, it's not that difficult to answer,"

"I told you," Manigordo said through his teeth. "I got a tip,"

"Well your little tip has interrupted our mission," Gonzo assured him. Manigordo's eyes narrowed. "And if those damn Blue Lightning Pirates kill our captain because we were to busy fighting your annoying ass, you're the one who's going to pay the price!"

Now, the bounty hunters eyes widened. "Did you say Blue Lightning?" he asked. Gonzo stared at him and his grip loosened slightly.

"Yeah, what about them?" he asked.

"What do you mean, what about them?" Manigordo echoed. "The Blue Lightning Pirates are one of the most wanted crews in the Grand Line! They've got a combined bounty of 1,260,000,000 Beli!"

Now, Gonzo's eyes went wide. One billion?! Just what had these guys done to deserve such a high price?! "If you're going after them, then I'll willingly accompany you," Manigordo continued. "Their heads are worth much more then yours. And frankly, you novices won't stand a chance against a team of their caliber."

"Why should we trust you?" Gonzo asked.

"Because you need more then just the four of you on this ship to defeat the five members of the Blue Lightning Pirates," He grinned a bit. "Hell, you'd need an entire army. And I'll do anything, even team up with Pirates, to get their bounty,"

Gonzo was about to protest to the offer when he heard Zugai's voice above them. He was standing on the upper deck, leaning against the railing and looking down at the two below. His shoulder was precariously bandaged up. Faith would have to fix that afterwards. "Fine then," he said. "But you're not getting access to your weapons," He jumped from the deck, landing on his feet with ease and walked toward the fallen pata sword and pistol on the floor. He picked them up and turned his attention back to Manigordo. "You'll get them back when we get onto the island, but until then, remove them,"

Gonzo released the Bounty Hunters throat, resulting in said bounty hunter releasing Gonzo's arm, and stepped back with the tip of the harpoon against the mans throat. Manigordo sighed and reluctantly, took the gun from its holster, and handed it to Gonzo. Gonzo took it and handed it back to Zugai.

"The kris stays," Manigordo said. "I told you already, these blades have their own soul. They don't take well to being in the hands of anyone other then their master."

"Fine," Zugai said. He switched the safety on both guns. "But if you even look like you're going to try something stupid, you're going overboard. I know that with that Devil Fruit Power, you can't swim,"

Manigordo put on a rather innocent smile. "Yes, yes, I understand," he assured them. Gonzo turned away and found the cloth he'd used to wrap his harpoon and got to work at putting the weapon away. Zugai stared at the bounty hunter a few moments longer before walking passed him toward the kitchen. "Come with me," he barked. Manigordo hesitated for several moments. "Both of you," Zugai continued.

Gonzo heaved a sigh and nodded to the bounty hunter, allowing the man to go first, and then followed the vice captain.

A/N: It's a bit on the short side this time, but it's only one battle scene. Next chapter (whenever I get around to it): Interruptions Part 2 - Pirate Faith Vs. Lulu!