-Alvida, General Yu and Dr. Akens -

Alvida had regained control over her body again, but it hardly mattered with her arms chained over her head. She was still physically weak, and though she tried to give off a strong persona, she was broken inside.

General Yu had spent the past few minutes observing footage on different screens and setting up cameras. An awkward silence had stifled the room, occasionally broken by the clicking of buttons and an occasional clip of audio from the videos the general was skimming through. It wasn't long before Dr. Akens was at the door, pushing a large cart in front of him.

"Glad you got here so quickly" Yu greeted Dr. Akens, turning away from the control center before him.

"My pleasure, I want to get this over with just as much as you do."

Alvida kept quiet, not wanting to draw attention to herself as she dreaded what they planned to do with her. It didn't seem to matter as General Yu turned and walked up to her, crouching to make direct eye-contact.

"Here's where you come in Alvida" he said, smiling.

She glared at him but held her tongue.

"You see, we have a ton of evidence that points toward your involvement and leadership over this project, but what I really want is something to seal the deal. I need video confirmation of you claiming sole headship over this operation. Could you do that for me?"

Alvida's expression grew more vindictive, "Never."

General Yu let out a grunt of laughter and returned to his full height. "Well, that's what Dr. Akens is for. Either you comply to our wishes now, or I let him do whatever it takes to make you do as we say."

Alvida had figured that was the purpose for the doctor's arrival, but as her imaginations became reality she felt her stomach twist in fear.

"So are you going to do this video for us Miss President?" Dr. Akens asked, walking up to his victim.

"No" she growled back, trying to cover the fear in her voice with defiance.

"Well then" Dr. Akens sighed "I guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

- Orrin -

Orrin had left the security room the second his conversation with the others had ended (or at least when he realized he wasn't a part of the discussion any more). Where he thought Alvida was being held was a few floors up from where he was, and even father up from where Luffy and his crew were. He knew it was dangerous to get there first without any backup, but he couldn't wait.

After running for several minutes he finally made his way to the floor he knew he needed to be on. He paused on the stairwell to catch his breath before silently entering the hallway. He had snagged a gun from one of the guards that Zoro had taken down in the security room and held it out in front of him as he snuck along the wall towards the room where he knew his old friend was being held.

He got to the door and hesitated as he heard muffled voices on the inside. There were two male voices, one sounding very calm while the other was a bit more gruff and forceful. The other voice was distinguishably a woman's and it was riddled with sobs and wheezes. Suddenly his mind went from calm and calculating to blind urgency as he busted the door open and raised his gun at the first figure he could see.

The scene before him was Dr. Akens with a syringe in his hand kneeling in front of Alvida whose face was red and riddled with tears. General Yu was standing nearby. Every eye turned toward Orrin when he busted in and for a moment only the sound of the recordings on the computers could be heard.

"Let her go!" Orrin yelled, his rifle raised towards the two men.

General Yu frowned and turned towards the surprise visitor. Alvida raised her tear-stained eyes, making contact with Orrin's. The expression on her face was one that he hadn't seen in years; an expression of desperation.

"Orrin! How can you be here? Why…?"

"Well well," Yu interrupted "this sorry creature still has someone in the world who cares for her. That's sweet."

"Shut up and let her go" Orrin demanded, aiming it directly at the general.

Yu chuckled and walked closer to Orrin, "why don't you free her yourself?" he sneered, lifting a key from his coat pocket.

Orrin snarled at him, "no, you will unlock her and I'll hold the gun."

General Yu sighed, "very well."

Turning away from Orrin, Yu lifted the key, his right side hidden for a moment. At that short moment, he lowered his right hand down to the hilt of his sword and in one swift movement had swept it from its sheath and flipped it around and up into the barrel of Orrin's gun. The motion had been so quick and smooth that Orrin fired a second too late, sending the bullet ricocheting off of the ceiling. The general's sword flashed with unnatural precision and speed, slicing upward into the marine's shoulder then downward into the hand holding the rifle. Orrin shouted in pain, but was quick to retaliate, sending a kick into his assailant's stomach. General Yu grunted and flew backward, catching himself against the wall. Not waiting for his opponent to recover, Orrin jumped at him but was hindered by a painful jab in his injured shoulder.

Screaming in pain he realized he was being held from behind and turned his head to see that it was Dr. Akens. He felt the doctor dig his fingers into his shoulder wound and arched his back in pain as he let out another shout of agony.

General Yu straightened himself and placed a hand on his injured stomach, glaring at the wounded marine before him. Walking over to where the two other men were standing, he sent a powerful blow into Orrin's gut with the hilt of his sword.

Orrin buckled over, gasping to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him but to no avail as the general sent another blow to the same location. He felt his knees give out but was held up by the doctor.

"Crap" he growled, trying to free himself of his captor only to receive a knee in his stomach. Coughing up blood, Orrin stopped struggling.

"STOP" Alvida screamed in desperation, pulling at her restraints. "Please stop!"

Yu paused and turned to her, sneering. "Why should I?" With that, he lifted Orrin's head with the hilt of his sword, pushing it back till the young man was struggling to breath. At first his breaths were labored, then he began gasping for air as Yu's sword blocked his windpipe, twisting violently to free himself from Akens' hold.

"No! No stop!" Alvida screamed again "Please, I'll do anything! I'll confess I'll confess! Just stop hurting him…"

The general lowered his sword, allowing the boy in front of him to drop his head, taking deep painful gasps of oxygen into his lungs.

"Oh my" Dr. Akens said with a bit of surprise in his voice "I wouldn't have thought she would comply for the sake of someone else. I mean, didn't she betray her entire crew to get in on this project?"

"It definitely isn't in her character" General Yu said, walking over to Alvida and unhooking the chains from the seastone handcuffs "but it works out quite nicely for us."

"Alvida" Orrin gasped, his voice shaking with pain "you can't do this. Impel Down will do *wheeze* far worse things to you than anything these guys could do so me."

The dark-haired woman smiled at him, tears returning to her eyes. "This isn't about prison anymore Orrin; it isn't about my safety or my well-being… it's about me doing something for someone other than me. I dug my own grave, and I dug it with no consideration for anyone but myself… not even you… and now I just want one chance to make things right… if only by one small sacrifice."

"Beautifully spoken" Yu chimed in, pulling the woman to her feet "now let's get this done." The general then half-led, half-dragged her towards a large room connected by a metal door to the smaller room they were in.

Orrin stared, wide-eyed as the two headed out the door. "Alvida…" he spoke, his voice coated in confusion and surprise.

The metal door was closed behind Yu and Alvida, leaving Orrin and Dr. Akens alone in the room.

"So" the doctor spoke as he pulled the marine to the chains that Alvida had been strapped to earlier "what's the story between you two? I've never seen Alvida do a selfless deed." His voice showed no hint of approval or sincerity, only a cold curiosity.

Orrin considered trying to take the doctor down but he saw how the man held one hand threateningly close to his bleeding shoulder, surely to jab it into his wound if he decided to fight back. Aside from that, he doubted he stood much of a fighting chance in his current condition. Sighing, he decided to explain his story as his arms were fastened above him, his injury shifting painfully.

"Alvida and I were best friends growing up. We both were orphans and spent the first six years of our lives in the same orphanage until we got adopted at around the same time, fortunately ending up in the same town. Alvida's parents were cold and distant, but they cared for her well enough while mine were compassionate and loving. For a whole year we hung out and played together. She was sweet and gentle, and I would always play the strong protector… Then our village was attacked by bandits. I had been at Alvida's house when it happened… it was that day that Alvida's parents revealed themselves to be bandits who had snuck in a year early to gain the trust of the villagers… that way they could run around killing and plundering without being detected by anyone. Adopting a child was the perfect cover. She discovered their treachery when she watched them kill their neighbor.

Once I figured out the town was being attacked, I was desperate to get back to my parents. Despite Alvida being completely devastated over the betrayal of her parents, she insisted she come with me because it wasn't safe to go alone. We snuck out of the house and headed for my home, the sounds of screams filling the streets and the glow of fire rising from several buildings.

When we arrived at my house my parents had already escaped, leaving it empty. We were about to head out when the bandits came storming in. We both hid in the living room, each of us on different sides of the room. The bandits came in, drunk and violent. They began tearing things apart and grabbing valuables to shove into their pockets and bags. Soon they had made it over to my side of the room and were about to discover me when Alvida jumped from her hiding place and screamed, running from the room. They chased her, leaving me safe and undetected in my hiding place. She knew where I was hiding and gave herself away to keep me safe…" Orrin sighed, bowing his head, "I ran out to chase after them… to protect her… but when I found her she was beaten half to death, lying in a puddle in a back alley somewhere.

Our village survived the raid… somewhat… and my parents had made it out before they were detected. We let Alvida live with us… but she was different. She still acted the same and spoke the same way… but she didn't trust anyone… and she herself was not to be trusted. Growing power-hungry she would always be building her strength and picking fights… and she began eating a lot more. Soon she was ridiculously obese… but strong. I believe that night of the raid she experienced the horror of helplessness and loss, and in order to never feel that again she desired strength, control… and coldness towards the feelings of anyone but herself.

She went off to be a pirate, inflicting upon others the very pain she had felt as a child. At first I just let her go, but when I heard she had teamed up with the Buggy pirates I wondered if she had changed enough to let someone in. I followed her out to sea and she was very happy to have me in her crew… but she hadn't changed. There wasn't much left for me back home so I decided to stay by her side, hoping to show her that there was still someone she could trust… that's where you guys come in. She betrayed the crew, turning them all over to you for imprisonment and experimentation… but she let me go. I found out about this trap you guys laid for her and decided that this would be my way of repaying my debt, whether she changed or not."

The room was silent as Orrin's story came to an end. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in exhaustion. He hadn't had hardly any sleep over the past few days and the blood-loss was making his vision blur.

"Fascinating story" Dr. Akens exclaimed, leaning back in the rolley-chair he had been sitting on. "It's too bad for you two that things had to turn out this way. Alvida's a fool to think that we will let you live. I mean, aren't you the one who ratted us all out in the first place?"

Suddenly, loud footsteps were heard running down the hallway and Orrin grinned. Dr. Akens stood to his feet, raising a gun towards the door as the security code was deactivated. His eyes widened in horror as the door was slammed open and the first person that walked through was Luffy, followed by Usopp and Robin.

"Crap" the doctor squeaked as his eyes met with the captains enraged glare.

"You…" Luffy's voice was deep and menacing as he pulled his arms back behind him.

"Gomu Gomu noooooo-"

TBC…

Woohoo! Another chapter done! WILL WRITE FOR REVIEWS! Thank you all sooo much for the support so far! I must say I'm excited about the upcoming chapters and hopefully will get them done … at some point… must keep myself reminded that I do have a life to live -_-'

So not a lot of the main characters in this chapter; I hope that's ok. Don't worry! The next chapter will bring them back to the center of attention.

WezL- Ohhh, I'm so glad that my story has a One Piece feel XD or at least that you think it does ^_^ thank you so much for then encouragement and I'm glad you like it.

Tare-chan- thank you for the review! I know that last chapter was kind of a transition chapter so your review is very much appreciated. yes yes, hopefully Zoro will end up at the right place at the right time _ we'll have to wait and see XD thanks again, hope u enjoy the rest of the fic.

12TheFallenOne12- I update fast because you review so nice XD thank you so much for the support!

Kitty-bandit- awww thanks -^_^- don't worry about Zoro… he won't be left out _ I haz plannz for himmm. …. Ehem…. *spoiler* (and don't worry about Sanji either ;) Iz gotz planz for him too) thank you soooo much for the wonderful and kind reviews you have given me! I hope to update soon and keep you entertained! ^_^

Ghost of the moonlight- ooohh, you're review has made me soooo happy! You're much like me… we both like it when our fav characters get physically harmed XD so cruel… I'm glad you liked the Luffy and Nami part ^_^ I wouldn't want pairings in the series, but sometimes (not in this fic) I like to make some of my own pairings… cause I like me some romance. I hope you haven't died before this chapter came out… cause I didn't know if you would or not… maybe you weren't serious… but it couldn't tell… DON'T DIE! Thanks sooo much for the encouragement!

Allyluvsu13- lol, I'm really glad you liked that ^_^ hope you enjoy the rest of the fic. Thanks for the review!

viv-chu-ie- I'm glad you're liking the pace of the story (it goes a lot quicker in my head so it seems slow when I write it XD) I know this chapter didn't move quite as quickly -_- I'm so so happy you can picture what's going on, because I see it in my head and can only hope that the readers are following it as I write it. You're review has successfully made me really really happy thank you so much.

Luithia Clen- you're review was sooo encouraging! I want so much for my fic to be like the manga and telling me it resembles it just makes me bubble up inside ^_^ thank you.