"Roronoa Zoro!" A booming voice roars

"What?"

"You are to be sentenced to death by a firing squad!"

"WHAT?!"

"The reasons are for hiring two terrorists and setting them loose inside my marine base."

"Those idiots?! No! The blonde and straw hat broke in on their own!"

"Captain Morgan, sir, the men are ready and on standby."

"Ready your guns!"

"SIR YES SIR!"
"HEY! ARE YOU LISTENING?! I DID NOT HIRE THEM!"

"There's no need to deny it, we already know of your crime. Aim!"

*click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click* *click*

'Dammit! They're not listening, I can't die here, not yet!' Zoro's mind screams

*hurg* He tries to break his way out with brute force to no avail.

"FIRE!"

*BANG*

'Come on you stupid rope! GET OFF!' Zoro internally screams as a hail of bullets get closer, 'I can't die now! It's not a reality yet!'

And closer,

'Nononono!'

And closer,

'Damn these ropes!'

And closer

"Dammit!"

But death is not here yet,

"Incoming!"

"Deploying shield now!"

*ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding* *ding*

"We've made it!"

"Alright! Good job Jaune."

"Yeah! Shield for the win!" Jaune yells triumphantly

"You two."

"Hey Zoro! We got your swords back, will you join us now?"

"I already told you, NO! What are you? Deaf?"

"But why? Do you want to stay here or something? They're gonna execute you in three days through."

*!*

"We caught wind of this when we were looking for your swords."

"Why should I trust you two?"

*BANG*

Startle by the loud noise, Jaune drops the only defence they have against the incoming bullets,

"Oh no."

"You idiot!"

But someone jumps in front of the trio and shower in the hail of bullets instead,

"LUFFY!" Jaune and Coby both shout
"You!"

"Hehehe," Luffy laughs?

?

"HaHaHa! Your bullets can't hurt me!" Luffy roars, pumping his fists in the air, sending the bullets back,

"What-!" Jaune starts

"The-!" Coby continues

"-Hell are you?!" Zoro finishes

"Me? I'm Luffy, the rubber man who'll become the Pirate King. Now, will you join me?"

"You're the devil's son." Zoro mutters, "Heh, fine, I rather be a pirate than die here." He answers

"Alright! Let's untie you!"

"Captain Morgan sir, what do we do now? Bullets don't hurt him!"

"If bullets can't kill then cut them down."

"Sir yes sir!"

"ARGH!"

"Guys."

"RARGH!"

"Are these ropes getting tighter?"

"Quit screwing around!"

"Hurry up Luffy! They're getting closer!"

"Jaune something is wrong with these ropes! The harder I pull them the tighter they get."

"Oh for- hey blondie!"

"Huh? Me?"

"Cut these ropes for me, this idiot can't do it!"

"Uh, sure. Hold on." Jaune then turns around and raises his sword up high, but it was too late as soldiers descend onto him,

*Slash*

*Clank*

Instead of flesh that they were after, their swords meet the sharp end of two swords being wielded by a green-haired swordsman, who was freed by Jaune.

"Move a muscle and I'll cut you."

"eek!" One of them squeaks

"Hehe, good job! Zoro duck!" Luffy yells

*!*

"Gum-Gum-" Luffy mutters as he stretch his left leg back and, "Whip!" Them horizontally, knocking them all back.

*oof* "Gah, sir they're too strong."

"We're no match for him."

"Those two are too strong."

"...Get up and fight."

"But sir, our men are not-"

"All those who oppose me will be executed. Are you opposing me lieutenant?"

"N-no sir."

"Smart man. Order them to charge."

"Bu- yes, sir. Men you heard him-"

"But we can't! They're too strong! We should retreat!"

"If any of you dare to run, you'll be beheaded by me."

"But the-"
"Men! Pick up your swords!"

"Yes sir." They say grudgingly

"Charge!"

"ARGH!"

"That's not how a marine should act!" Coby blurts out

"Wait, where's Luffy?"

"AARRRGGGHHH!"

"Why is he charging at them?!" Jaune and, "He's going to die!" Coby panic

To which Zoro respond with, "..."

"AXE-HAND!" Luffy yells mid-air while his fist is flying straight at captain Morgan's face.

In response to this, the captain raises his grotesque axe arm and blocks Luffy's punch.

"Splendid, you wish to be beheaded by me. For your cooperation, I'll make your death a quick death."

*Slash*

*Dodge* *Punch*

"Why you little-. DIE!"

*SLAM*

*Dodge*

"Hehe, don't wanna." *Spin kick to the face*

"I, Captain Axe-Hand Morgan, will bring you three pirates to the chopping block!"
"Hi, my name's Luffy, the man who'll become the Pirate King and find the One Piece."

"DIE!"

*SLASH*
*Dodge*

"Gum-Gum-," He says as his arm stretches back,

"You're leaving yourself wide open boy! RARGH!" And the axe-hand descends and the, "-PISTOL!" Closing in.

…

…

*thump*

"Captain Morgan?"

"Luffy?"

"He got defeated?"

"Luffy won?...HOORAY! He won!"

"The captain is defeated. W-what do we do now?"

"What do you think, they're pirates, they should be stopped." *click*

"How though? You saw how easily they took the captain down, we don't stay a chance."

"Men, stand down."

"Sir?"

"Stand down."

"..., yes sir." The soldiers reply and lower their guns

"As marines, it is by law that we must apprehend all pirates that we see,"

"Uh oh, should we leg it?"

"No, I wanna hear what he's gonna say."

"They're going to try and arrest us!"

"So? If they arrest us then we'll break out."

"Ahem,... but we must thank you for defeating the tyrant that is our captain, we will not report you, you have until tomorrow to leave Shells town."

"Oh, that's it? Okay, we accept your offer."

Before anything else happens, "Hey, before you leave," Zoro speaks up, "I know that I agreed to join your crew, but I will leave if I feel that I'm not achieving my dream."

"Alright, what's your dream?"

"To become the world's greatest swordsman. If I think I'm not achieving my dream," Zoro then levels his sword at Luffy, "I'll cut you up for wasting my time."

"Hm, the world's greatest swordsman and the Pirate King. That sounds good, doesn't it?"

"Why are you so happy?! Did you even hear what he said?"

"Yeah, to become the world's greatest swordsman. Why Jaune?"

"What about the part where he's going to cut you up?!"

"I heard that too, don't worry, I'm strong."

"What is wrong with you? Do you even fear death?!"

"U-um, Luffy?" Coby's voice makes itself known over Jaune's process of getting his brain to understand what just happened

"Hm? What's wrong Coby?"

"You said you wanted to become the Pirate King?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You know the danger right?"

"Sure do."

"Then why? Why risk your life over a title? That doesn't make any sense!"

*smack over the head*

"Ow, what was that for?"

"You were rambling."

"Oh, ok, that makes sense, I mean, yeah, that make sense? haha."

"Coby, I am well aware of the danger ahead, but if I don't face those dangers head-on, how will I become strong enough to be the Pirate King? If I die trying to achieve my dream, then I'll die happy. Also, I've made a promise to friend, become the greatest pirate and return his hat to him. I don't go back on my promise."

"But there are many strong pirates out there, stronger than you!"

"Then I'll just get stronger. I have my ambition, you have yours too. And that means we should just keep walking towards it, no matter the risks."

"...,woah."

*THUD*

Zoro collapses.