Rated M for Violence, Language, Smoking, The Destruction Of Government Property, and Some Very Detailed Lemons!

I don't own One Piece! This world belongs to Eiichiro Oda and these amazing characters are his. My OC'S and this story, however, are my own! This is a work of fiction from me, any relevance to the real world or other works is purely coincidental.

Thank you for reading!

Thank you TheAllyKat, hendo2031, and Leafnova for the reviews!

Alba

Alba scurried through the alleyway, trying to find something, anything, she could use as a shield. Without one she was all but useless to Zoro, and she knew it. Of course, she had an emergency run-away plan, but she didn't want to use it unless she absolutely had to. Besides, she was pretty sure she couldn't get the two of them very far anyway.

Something round in the discarded chunks of wood caught Alba's eye and she quickly raced over to find an old busted-up wooden tabletop. It looked worse for wear; the planks were not only worn but a few looked rotten. Still, it would have to do. Alba held up the circle and nodded to herself, hope starting to shimmer somewhere deep within her.

She turned, finding Zoro lunging as the towering man swung down with his massive mallet. Alba rushed forward, the wood digging into her hands as she gripped it tightly. Pain pulled at her fingertips but she didn't care, that massive hammer was going to smash him. There was no way he could…

Alba's thoughts stopped abruptly as Zoro blocked the mallet, his three blades bringing the large hunk of metal to an abrupt stop. His muscles bulged as he pushed, sending the towering man stumbling backward in an effort to catch his balance.

"You're not half bad," The man laughed, his massive mouth opening wide with every word, "this is going to be entertaining."

"Heh," Zoro grinned past the blade clutched between his teeth.

"Zoro," Alba cried as another large man, looking nearly identical to the first, emerged from the nearby building and swung his mallet down toward Zoro's exposed back.

Zoro shifted, preparing to block, but his face suddenly twisted in a wince of pain and it didn't look like he could move fast enough. Alba lunged, as she gripped her makeshift shield and braced her legs for the impact. The strike was less painful than she thought it'd be as the new man's blow collided with her makeshift shield.

"Alba?" Zoro spoke her name through the hilt of his sword and Alba's heartbeat quickened. The surprise in his voice made her chest swell with pride and something else she couldn't quite describe. Her strength was in defense, protecting those she cared about. Wait… not that she cared about Zoro, she barely knew him. Right?

"One man's garbage is another man's un-garbage," Alba grinned, holding up the small nearly broken tabletop, "you take the ugly one?"

Zoro's grin never faltered as he nodded before turning back to face the first man and leaving Alba to defeat the second.