A/N: Zoro gets a little beat up in this chapter, and we see the darker side of Aela come out. Remember, she shares blood with Zoro the demon, so she's not all sunshine and roses all of the time, especially when her brother's life is in danger.

Enjoy!

edited on February 22, 2021

Luffy turned to Nami after bouncing the cannon ball back at Buggy's crew. He was grinning at her as if nothing had happened. "Yeah that's right. I'm a rubber man."

"That explains how he bounced the ball back," Buggy murmured. "Devil fruit user, huh?"

"Nope, it's all natural," I sassed, and the clown cut his eyes to me. Zoro elbowed me a bit, pushing himself in front of me. "This is not the time for your mouth, Aela."

"Sorry Brother," I snickered, using my left hand to rub the back of my hand sheepishly. "Can't help myself sometimes." Just then, a new man shot out from the debris. He was also holding an unconscious man in his arms, and I growled when he tossed the body aside. "They treat their crew members like trash," I cursed.

At my words, Luffy glanced over at me. He had managed to maintain his carefree aura, but his jaw and shoulders were tense. He wasn't happy with Buggy's treatment towards his crew any more than I was; being the captain he was actually probably more upset.

¨Captain Buggy,¨ the new man started, his thick blue and white checkered scarf blowing in the wind, ¨leave this trash to me, please."

¨Very well, Cabaji," Buggy answered, and I bit my tongue. ¨His voice makes me want to punch him in the throat," I murmured, and Zoro hummed in agreement.

¨Show them your acrobat show!¨

The black haired man, Cabaji, leapt high in the air. He landed on a unicycle and came cycling towards us, sword in his hand. His blade was aimed towards Luffy. ¨I, Acrobat Cabaji, Chief of Staff, will take on Captain Buggy´s anger!¨

Zoro sprang up from beside me then.

Clang!

The green haired man jumped in front of the unicycle, swinging one of his swords out to block the other man´s blade with his own. ¨I´ll clash swords with you,¨ my brother confirmed, and I pumped my fist into the air. ¨Yeah! Get him, Brother!¨

¨Roronoa Zoro,¨ Cabaji began, eyes narrowing and then shooting to me, ¨and Roronoa Aela I presume. It's a pleasure to meet the two of you. I would be honoured to slay a swordsman such as yourself.¨

¨Like that would ever even become a possibility,¨ I sniffed, but silently glanced down to Zoro´s side, where his bandages were slowly becoming dotted with new blood. I was worried for my brother, but I would be a fool to relay that fear out loud, where the enemy could hear.

Nami, however, had no such thought process. ¨Zoro you can´t fight! Your wounds aren't..¨

¨Stay out of this,¨ Zoro interrupted the girl, his voice a growl. ¨This is my fight.¨

¨But..¨ she started to say, but Luffy stopped her now. ¨Let him,¨ the straw hat boy said with a grin. ¨He just said this was his fight.¨

The straw hat swordsman smirked towards his captain in appreciation. Nami looked over at me, gesturing towards my brother. ¨You have nothing to say about this?! He's your brother. He can't possibly fight in these conditions!¨

I said nothing, but silently observed my brother for a few seconds longer, before nodding. ¨Zoro is gonna kick his ass.¨

¨Damn right I am," Zoro confirmed, placing his sword in his mouth and readying himself. ¨What is wrong with you people?!¨ Nami screamed, completely done with the situation.

¨Acrobat Technique: Old Man Arsonist!¨ Cabaji called out suddenly. The black haired man puckered his lips, blowing out a giant stream of fire that went directly into Zoro-nií´ś face.

I grit my teeth in anger when Zoro cried out in pain, stumbling away from the fire. When Zoro stepped back away from the fire, Cabaji swung his leg out, kicking Zoro directly into his bleeding wound.

¨Bastard!" I roared, unconsciously stepping forward. Luffy's hand on my arm stopped my movements.

¨GAHHH!¨ Zoro fell onto his back, writhing in pain. I dug my nails so hard into my fists that I felt them break skin. ¨What's wrong?¨ Cabaji taunted. ¨I'm sure I didn't kick you that hard.¨

Luffy watched the fight calmly, his face blank, but every time I moved forward half an inch, he quickly pulled me back beside him. Nami seethed, ¨He fights dirty going after his injury like that.¨

¨Acrobat Technique: Murder at the Steam Bath!¨ Cabaji stabbed his sword into the ground then, spinning around multiple times on his unicycle. He kicked up the dust which whirled up around them, hiding him from Zoro's eyes. ¨What steam?¨ Zoro scoffed, picking himself off of the ground. ¨That's an ordinary cloud of dust!¨

I wasn't convinced of that though. I watched the cloud of dust closely, my hands instinctively preparing themselves to form my shield.

A glint of steel from within the cloud.

¨Zoro!¨ I shouted out a warning too late. Zoro raised his two katanas to block the sudden attack from Cabaji. Their two weapons met, however Cabaji´s leg kicked out as they did so.

Thwack!

I watched as blood sprayed out from my brother´s wound. He rolled to the ground, yelling even louder than before.

A red haze overtook me at that moment. I heard nothing, saw nothing, but Cabaji, grinning wickedly at my brother writhing on the ground. I didn't even realize I was walking until I felt Luffy's arm wrap around my shoulders, halting me in my tracks.

¨Aela,¨ he started, and my captain´s voice broke through the fury I was feeling. ¨Think about what's on the line for him right now.¨ I growled, nearly spitting in my anger, but ceased my movements. He was right. As much as it physical killed me to see my brother in this much pain, he would never forgive me if I interrupted his fight.

¨Why did you stop Aela?!¨ Nami shouted, and I turned to her. ¨How is he even still alive? I thought you were crew mates! He's your brother! He's going to die! Is that what you want?!¨

¨You know nothing of what I want,¨ I spat at the girl, head turning towards her. Her eyes widened, breath catching in her throat.¨Stepping into his fight right now would be a fate far worse than death. It's not merely his life at stake.¨

"Your eyes…" she murmured, voice faint. I felt surprise run through me at her words, but said nothing, merely turning back to watch the fight. My powers activated on their own when I was pissed; my eyes were probably glowing white right now in my anger which had understandably startled Nami.

¨Roronoa Zoro is about to get defeated!¨ Cabaji shouted, raising his sword in the air. The unicycle man charged forward on his bike. Zoro got to his feet a third time, face scrunched in pain, side covered with blood, but stance unwavering. He clutched two katanas in his hand. ¨Annoying bastard,¨ he growled. ¨Is kicking my wound that much damn fun?!¨

¨Don´t fuckin´ do it,¨ I cursed, causing Luffy to cut his eyes to me. Zoro stood his ground against the man as his sword came closer and closer towards him. Instead of dodging or even moving out of his way though, he stood in place allowing Cabaji´s sword to pierce his open wound. Blood spilt from his side much quicker now, creating a small puddle on the ground.

Pieces of Zoro´s now shredded bandages floated slowly to the ground as Cabaji cycled past him. ¨Wh-Why didn´t he dodge?¨ Nami stuttered, face pale. ¨Is this enough of a handicap for you?¨ Zoro taunted, grinning edgily at the now very confused Buggy crewman.

The green haired man´s fist tightened around his katanas and he lifted them into his signature stance. ¨I´ll show you the difference in levels between you and me.¨

¨Yeah! So cool!¨ Luffy cheered, pumping the arm that wasn't still wrapped around me in the air. I grinned savagely, ready for the other man´s blood to spill like my brother´s had.

Cabaji began to sweat. ¨So...this is Roronoa Zoro? You think it's wise to mock me?¨

¨I am to become the world's greatest swordsman,¨ Zoro's deep voice rang out across the area. ¨I can't lose even once to anyone who calls himself a swordsman. If I lose to someone like you,¨ he scoffed, ¨well I might as well just die right now.¨

¨Do it Zoro!¨ Luffy yelled at the same time that I shouted, ¨Kick his ass, Brother!¨

¨I can´t go along with this.¨ Nami turned on her heels then, arms crossing over chest. ¨You pirates can injure or kill yourselves all you want. It doesn't matter to me whether you win or lose. I´m going to use this chance to swipe their treasure and get outta here.¨

I glanced over at the girl very briefly, rolling my eyes. I didn't really give a shit what princess over there decided to do with her time. She´d done nothing but irritate me at this point anyway. ¨Let's team up again if we ever get the chance. Good luck with the fight!¨ she finished, dashing off into the alleyway.

¨Eh?!¨ Luffy retorted, but made no effort to chase after the thief. ¨Good riddance,¨ I shrugged. ¨Taste my ultimate acrobat move!¨ Cabaji suddenly shouted, redirecting my attention to the fight. He held out handfuls of spinning tops. Where do you suppose he keeps those?

He hurled them at my brother shouting, ¨Acrobat Technique: Dance of 100 kamikaze tops!¨ Zoro sliced all of the spinning tops into minicule pieces, however Cabaji wasn't quite finished. ¨Acrobat Technique: Hike in the Mountains!¨ The acrobat cycled up the side of a building, angling in at a perfect 90 degrees from the ground.

When he reached the top of the building, he performed a back flip so he was directly over the green haired swordsman, his blade pointed directly over Zoro's face. ¨Acrobat Technique: Firework in the Cool Summer Breeze.¨

¨Woah, he's high,¨ Luffy marveled. ¨Tch. This guy has the stupidest attack names,¨ I told Luffy, and then shouted louder, this time to the acrobat. ¨YOUR ATTACK NAMES ARE DUMB!¨

Cabaji glared down at me from his position. ¨SHUT YOUR MOUTH, WENCH!¨ He plummeted towards Zoro then, blade ready for blood. ¨Sting of the unicycle!¨

¨Ground-hugging Chop-chop Cannon!¨ a voice cried out behind me. I whipped around only to see Buggy pointing his palm towards Zoro´s back. His hand split from his arm and sailed towards my brother. ¨Cabaji! I´ll hold Zoro down. Finish him off!¨

Two things happened at once.

¨Captain,¨ I alerted Luffy who turned to see what was happening. As Luffy reached out immediately, stomping on the back of Buggy´s hand just as it was about to fly past us, I took one of my daggers hidden under my shirt, launching it towards the clown.

¨AHHHH!¨ Blood flew. Buggy screamed out in pain from Luffy's foot crunching the bones of his hand, and my dagger impaling itself in his left shoulder. Buggy clutched at the weapon sticking out of him, deadly intent in his eyes.

Meanwhile, I looked over at my brother to see that he had jumped out of the way to avoid Cabaji´s blade. He collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. He was covered in sweat and there was a steady flow of blood coming out from his side. He propped his arm against his knee, gritting his teeth.

¨Stay out of Zoro's fight,¨ Luffy ordered the clown, back towards the swordsman. His tone was dark but his face had a giant grin stretching across it, warning the clown to make another move.

¨Enough..I'm tired..¨ Zoro said, and Cabaji laughed. I studied my brother closely, confused at his words for a second, before a small smile graced my face. This fight was far from over, and Buggy´s lackey was a fool for underestimating my brother.

¨Finally given up have you?¨ the man sneered. ¨Though I must say, I'm impressed you could fight with such injuries.¨

¨I meant..¨ Zoro started, standing to his full height. ¨I´m tired of your shitty ass aerobatics. You´re a shit swordsman and a joke of an acrobat.¨

I burst into laughter, not giving a shit when the man turned to me, glare sharp enough to kill. ¨How dare you?! How dare any of you?!¨ He readied his blade. ¨Let's see how terrible of a swordsman I am when your blood is dripping from my sword. DIE!¨

Cabaji flew forward on his unicycle with his sword pointed forward. Zoro stood ready, white katana in his mouth and a katana in each hand. ¨Oni...¨ he began, and I leaned forward, excited. My brother moved with such speed that I lost sight of him for a second, but I could still feel his energy, strong and unwavering.

Zoro disappeared into thin air, and then just as suddenly, reappeared again behind Cabaji. His blades out behind him and a knee on the ground. ¨Giri!¨

Blood burst from Cabaji like a water sprout. The black haired man fell to the ground with a weak gasp, and did not get up again. ¨CABAJI!¨ Buggy yelled, his eyes almost bouncing out of his face at the sight of his henchman´s defeat.

¨We...the Buggy Pirates..beaten by mere sneak thieves?¨ Cabaji gasped out, and I smirked. ¨We´re not sneak thieves...¨ Zoro yelled out, breathless. He sheathed his precious weapons, slowly sinking to the ground. ¨We´re pirates!¨

I turned to Buggy then, and the clown stared. I knew what he was seeing. My eyes had darkened, just the pupil though. The irises around my eyes were bright white, making my eyes glow.

"Hey Buggy…" I started, and my grin widened when he flinched.

"You're next, bitch."