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 LadyHatakeUchiha, Guest 2.0 and KrazyKhaoss for the reviews! This one's for you. ^_^

Thank you for reading!

Alba

Alba gripped the tabletop and lunged, rotating her body as she used the makeshift shield's weight to propel her forward. She slammed into her opponent just as the man raised his mallet to swing down at her. His large form took the blow better than she thought he could, but Alba didn't stop. She pushed her body upward forcing herself to balance upside down on the shield and kicked hard, landing a blow in the man's face. That was enough to cause him to stumble backward. Alba then grabbed the shield and kicked off of him. Landing back on the ground and watching in satisfaction as the mallet slipped to the earth and blood dripped from the guy's nose.

Her grandpa's voice echoed through her mind, giving her direction and correcting her movements. Year after year she'd learned, grown, and honed her skills. As far as she knew there was only one place in the world who trained their warriors in this art, only one old man who knew the way. And he'd taught her everything.

"I may not be the strongest in the world," Alba grinned. "But you should have known better than to challenge someone who's been trained in the Great Turtle's Ultimate Defense!"

"Ultimate defense," The man laughed as his fingers gripped his bloodied nose. "What good is defense in an offensive fight?"

Alba bent low; one of her feet pushed out behind her. She could hear Zoro fighting in the background, his blades clanging against the metal mallet. She longed to glance back to see how he was doing, but she couldn't take her eyes off of her own opponent. She was just going to have to trust him.

"Haven't you heard?" Alba smiled, running forward as fast as her body would let her. "A good defense is the best offence!"

"That won't work on me again!" Her opponent screamed, his mallet moving faster than she thought it could. Alba shifted her shield to block just as the mallet slammed into her in mid-air. The tabletop wasn't enough to defend against the blow and Alba was sent slamming into a wall. The air rushed out of her lungs and pain tore into her back as she collided with the nearby wood.

Alba braced the best she could as another blow slammed her even further into the wall, and another, and another. The building itself collapsed, wooden beams crashing into the ground.

"Hehehehe," The man chuckled, a deep laugh that assaulted Alba's ears. "Did you honestly think that you could win? What a pathetic excuse for a pirate."

The smoke from the collapsed building blocked Alba's view as she slowly pushed herself onto her feet. A dull ache echoed through every inch of her body but Alba ignored it, refusing to give up. Refusing to fail. Her tribe put their faith in her to defend them, her friends, her family, and now Zoro. He believed in her, trusted her to watch his back. She wasn't going to stop now, she couldn't. The tabletop was missing one of the planks but Alba grabbed it anyway, along with a chunk of wooden beam that had fallen beside her, lifting both into her hands. She stepped through the smoke, the haze surrounding her as she smiled.

"I'm not a pirate," Alba said. "I'm a warrior."

"Oh really?" the man chuckled, rising his mallet in the air. "Then show me what you've got, warrior."

Alba stayed low to the ground as she raced toward her enemy. This was going to take everything she had left, but it was her only shot. She had to stop this guy. If he got past her Zoro would be in danger. She was a warrior. She was a defender. She would not let him hurt her friend.

Alba threw the shield; it flew sideways beside her as she raced toward her enemy. She moved with it, keeping the flying piece of circular wood close her side. It was harder than it looked, she had to keep pace perfectly with the table if she was going to pull this off.

The man swung, his large mallet coming into contact with the shield just as Alba quickened her pace, closing the gap. The mallet was preoccupied with the wood and the man was still mid-swing when the hidden chuck of debris in Alba's hand slammed into his face. His grunt of pain and the blankness of his eyes was all Alba needed to confirm that her plan had succeeded. While running alongside the tabletop she had concealed the wooden plank in her hands. Keeping a slower pace had been enough to trick the man into thinking that she was still holding the makeshift shield. That or he thought that she could only move as slow as she'd been running before. Either way, she'd shown him. The man slumped to the ground, blood dripping from the side of his face.

"I tried to warn you," Alba sighed, dropping the wooden plank. "A good defense is the best offence."

"About time," Zoro's voice sounded nearby.

Alba glanced over to find Zoro sitting on a barrel staring at her. His opponent already passed out on the ground behind him.

"Where you watching me this whole time?!" Alba yelled, walking over to grab the cracked tabletop. It wasn't the best shield, in fact it probably only had a hit or two left in it, but it was all she had.

"Yep," Zoro shrugged.

"And you had no inclination to help?"

"You seemed to have it in hand," Zoro sighed, pulling himself to standing.

Alba shook her head, brushing the rubble off her pants with her free hand before turning to walk to the end of the alleyway.

"Lucky for me I had an ace up my undies," Alba declared, turning back to find Zoro had stood and was following closely behind her. The explosions had ended and she paused glancing in both directions before taking a left out of the alleyway. At least she hoped that was the right way. Without Sanji and Nami ahead of her she was going to have to figure this labyrinth of houses out on her own.

Zoro's face shifted to a slight red, "…undies?"

"Yeah, it's a saying," Alba continued. "like 'I have a trick'."

"I don't think that's right," Zoro shook his head, a slight pink color sill high on his cheekbones.

"Says the guy who can't walk in a straight line," Alba huffed, grabbing Zoro's shirt and yanking him back on course just as he would have turned left where she started going straight.