Click.

He could barely hear the snapping sound as the lock opened over the noise in the cellblock, but he could feel the door move. Every single prisoner on both floors seemed to have noticed what had happened with the young Marine.

The green-haired swordsman pushed the door to the cell wide open, causing the unconscious Marine who had had the marksman's slingshot in his possession to skid over the floor towards the big iron doors.

Just as he stepped out from the cell, the iron doors swung up with a creaking sound and five Marines came in. It seemed to be the same five who had come in earlier with the new prisoner. As they saw him stand in the hallway outside his cell, their faces seemed to turn at least three shades paler than normal.

The swordsman could just barely hide another grin.

It would be unwise to act overly confident when he didn't have his weapons. He felt awkwardly out of balance without the three katanas hanging against his right hip. His eyes swept over the surroundings as he untied the black band around his left upper arm.

Unfortunately, there were nothing within his reach that could be used as a weapon.

Tying the black band around his head, he never took his eyes off the Marine soldiers who seemed to have been momentarily stunned to see him out of his cell. Maybe because they had thought he had been broken down or because they just had underestimated him.

Two of the Marines regained control over their bodies and moved over to their unconscious colleague and were checking him for life signs. The other three were slowly reaching for their weapons.

The swordsman leaned back. He knew very well that it could be a lot harder to defend against guns than swords. The outcome of the battle could depend on the Marine's choice of weapons. He could hear the noise in the background grow fainter as he set his focus on the opponents in front of him.

The second it took for the Marines to draw their weapons felt like hours. The swordsman didn't know why it felt like time had slowed down, but it made him annoyed.

There was a gleam of sunlight from one of the small windows by the ceiling reflected against polished metal that caught his eyes. Swords. The swordsman lashed out, aiming for the left-most Marine. Before the soldier had the time to react, he was flung to the floor, knocked out from the impact between his face and the swordsman's fist. The half-drawn sword slipped out from its scabbard and fell to the floor with a clattering sound.

The swordsman bent down and picked the sword up, even though stealing someone else's sword wasn't something he felt particularly good about. It was a clumsy sword with a thin, short hilt and a broad, thick blade. But it was definitely better than nothing. As he lifted the sword, he felt the warmth of the sword's soul against his palm and was almost surprised to find such a strong spark in the Marine's sword. Who would have thought a Marine could own such a sword?

His faint amazement was interrupted by the war cry of the two Marines who had stood by with their swords drawn and watched their colleague get punched out. They attacked him together, and as the blades of their swords met the sword the swordsman held in his hand, he could feel the agony of the sword being forced to fight the Marines. He could feel its wish to give way for the soldier's swords and got a firmer grip around the hilt of the sword. It could hardly be a bigger challenge than his cursed katana, Sandai Kitetsu, whose thirst for blood sometimes caused it to cut him during exercise.

Parrying another three blows from the two marines, he dodged a fourth and lashed out for the closest soldier. The edge of his sword barley missed the Marine's chest, as the man managed to dodge. The swordsman cursed silently and aimed a diagonal cut at the same Marine, but as he brought the sword up, he froze and turned around, his sword meeting the sword of a third Marine soldier with a toneless clanging. He was a large, blue-haired man, almost the same length as the swordsman.

"Attacking from behind, eh?" he said, a devilish smirk taking form on his lips.

He pushed the Marine off his sword, causing the large man to stumble slightly backwards. The swordsman then brought his sword down, striking the Marine diagonally across the chest, slightly surprised over how easy the sword agreed to cut through the man's defenses.

The large man landed on the floor with a thud, his swords slipping from his hand and clattered onto the floor. Raising an eyebrow, the green-haired man looked at the sword in his left hand as he quickly reached for the fallen man's sword.

"Didn't really like that guy, did you?" he muttered, not quite able to hide his amusement.

As he reached the second sword, grabbed the hilt and turned to face his remaining opponents, he frowned and glanced at the sword in his right hand. He didn't feel anything from the sword, not even a hint of warmth that revealed the soul within the blade. The sword was dead.

The Marine soldiers who were still conscious stared at him, two of them with their swords raised and a lanky one who was still crouching by the soldier who had had the stolen slingshot.

"Lolonoa Zoro!" on of the soldiers with the swords drawn yelled at him over the dull noise in the background, apparently a little more high-pitched than he had intended it. "You better surrender, there's no way you're getting out of here. The Marine won't be beaten by the likes of you, we'll..."

While the Marine was talking, the swordsman crossed his arms over his chest and rushed towards the soldiers.

"Two swords... Demon Cleave!"

Uncrossing his arms, he caught the two soldiers more or less off guard and the cut sent them both flying, their uniforms shredded and stained with blood. They crashed into the last conscious soldier and landed on the floor without moving again.

"Wasting my damn time, that's what you are doing..." the swordsman growled and let his arms drop, still holding on to the swords.

No longer focusing on the battle, he was suddenly more aware of the noise around him. The howls and screams of pure excitement had turned into cheering and calls of "C'mon, let us out of here!" but the swordsman ignored them and headed for the iron gate, absentmindedly tying the swords to his haramaki.

Now he had to find the others. He opened the door, made sure that the slingshot was still securely tucked in his waistband and stepped out into the quiet, empty corridor outside the cellblock.


Author's note: Hmm... okay, I've never written an action scene before, and I think it's kind of obvious. I know very little of swordfighting and such, but I just have to practice, right? )

AstroKender – You know, I'm not sure where this will end... I have an idea for the last chapter, but I have a feeling that it will take a few more chapters to reach that...

Talythia Starseeker – I thank you for your great comment. I actually would feel weird pairing up characters like so many authors seem to do. About the crew's past experiences: when I was reading through the manga, I realized that the only one who actually told anyone about his past was Sanji aboard the Baratie, telling his story in front of only Luffy. The other crewmembers just thought about their past themselves. And about the lack of reviews: I won't, every time I get a review, I bounce and giggle very childishly. I actually didn't think anyone would read my story.