A/N:
I lived, bitch
Also hi, reread this fic, I've added some hints to what I've got planned in the future in the other chapters
It had been a week since their defeat at the hands of the straw-hatted pirate and his crew.
The Buggy pirates had barely managed to pick themselves back up and rush out of the town. Chased out by the same townspeople they had abused for the last week. The civilians had almost captured them all while they were still bloodied from the battle.
Even now, a week later, they were nursing their broken and battered bodies. The Pirate Hunter hadn't shown them any mercy.
And much worse, they'd lost their captain.
Well. Part of their captain. But a pretty important part for certain.
Buggy sat on a throne, headless and static. The crew's doctor had said that he was still doing fine, somehow his body was getting fed and drinking enough water through its connection to his missing cranium. But that didn't mean that they could actually do anything to help him more. With his head missing, they had no way to contact him or get his location.
Then, as they were sailing aimlessly, things changed.
Their captain shot to his feet, tossing Cabaji down to the deck as it rushed out to the railing, gesturing wildly towards something in the horizon.
A ship.
A Navy ship.
The crew looked around confused, Mohji barely holding his captain back from jumping overboard.
"Captain! Please calm down!" The beast tamer begged to the body which had no way to actually hear him, not letting go even as the headless torso pushed and pulled, almost tearing the weirdly shaped hair off the man in its efforts to leave his grip.
Cabaji joined the scuffle against their headless captain, finally pushing the body back as it slumped down, facing out to the ship even still.
"...do you think?" Mohji mumbled, turning and facing the ship in the distance. "They might have his head?"
The chief of staff—who'd been acting as captain in Buggy's current state—looked off to the boat, squinting. "Captain Buggy would've ordered us to shoot that ship down."
Buggy's body got back up to his feet, and tried scrambling forward again, tossing Cabaji overboard in the process. Mohji couldn't react in time, the headless captain tumbling down the boat. Only for Ritchie to manage and catch the captain with a well placed swipe of his paws, the giant green lion's claws hooking onto the captain's cape before the headless man fell into the sea.
The lion dropped the captain back on deck and looked at Mohji expectantly.
The beast tamer blinked and growled, they had run out of meat two days ago.
Richie roared back with indignation.
The crew, seeing the actions, rallied, pumping themselves up as some of them tied ropes around their waists, jumping in to retrieve Cabaji.
Mohji broke his staring contest with his lion and only could stare as the rest of Buggy pirates worked themselves up to a fervor, roaring their own battlecries. Readying their weapons as they took control of the helms and sails; the big top lurching at full mast towards the Navy ship in the horizon.
By the time Cabaji was back on board, the two ships had started to scuffle, cannonballs sailing and missing their marks.
The crew only managed to calm back down as they watched the marines pile up into a dinghy and evacuate their ship. The Buggy pirates roared, nameless, wounded and tired, even still victorious .
Cabaji and Mohji looked at what had happened, both of their eyes forced open by shock, the lack of blinking causing the two 'leaders' to have bloodshot and hazy looks on their faces. Neither could've imagined their crew managing to fight off a platoon, let alone overtake a Navy vessel.
The two slowly turned to each other, snot running down their noses as they gulped. One wrong move, and the crew could mutiny.
Without Buggy's charisma and devil fruit, their members could easily overthrow the two.
"Check the brig!" One of the crewmates yelled out, the rest giving affirmative groans as they rose to their feet, crawling all over the ship like a colony of ants. "Captain must be here!" They all chanted, continuing the search.
Not one of them could've imagined who they'd find instead.
In the depths of the brig, forgotten by the marines, a rotund figure smirked as light hit her form once again.
"Who is the most beautiful woman on the seas?"
"Robin!" Nami cheered as a small army of arms bloomed along the mast of the Merry, unfurling the sail as Usopp managed to get on the steering column, another few blooming along the mooring lines that had connected their boat to Baratie. "You're the best!"
Under the young navigator's command, and the rapid response from Devil Fruit borne limbs, the small crew had managed to man the caravel, managing to catch the gust of wind generated by the pressure wave caused by the gigantic crashing sound Usopp was scared even to lie about.
"What the flashy hell is this!" Buggy almost screamed, his head held up by a stalk of arms courtesy of Robin. "Any of ya feeling that?" the head barked, sweating up a storm.
"No idea what you're talking about!" Usopp called out, trying his best to ignore the pit in his stomach. "It must be just the wind!"
"I doubt that, sniper-san," Robin hummed, breathing a little more labored than usual, her forearms twitching slightly from the strain she was putting on her devil fruit powers, with a huff she dropped out of her pose. Her arms fell to her sides as she panted slightly, the copies of her limbs along the small caravel wilting away just as fast as they'd bloomed.
Dropping Buggy nose first onto the floor in the process.
The clown barked in pain, ignored by the rest of the crew as Usopp refused to leave the kitchen, and Nami and Robin looked out at Baratie. "Do you think they'll be fine?" Robin mumbled to the younger woman.
Her voice had the slightest hint of concern mixed into it.
Nami shot her a look before resting her hand on the straw hat that was still on her head. "I…"
She gulped softly. "I trust them."
Robin hummed with thought.
"Help me, I'm rolling overboard!" Buggy screeched, and the girls turned to see the head nearly rolling off the side of the ship.
Mihawk looked less than impressed with the sight in front of him. Apathy written in the swordsman's eyes, unmistakable for anyone to see.
Roronoa Zoro didn't care.
"Well?" the younger man called, pointing Wado towards the living peak of swordsmanship with glee in his eyes. "Do you accept!?"
"You couldn't kill my boredom," the man stated, closing his eyes with a huff. "A competent swordsman wouldn't need to cross blades to know that much."
Zoro grit his teeth, jumping to the closest piece of debris from the Krieg flagship, keeping his eyes locked onto the man. "That doesn't matter. I can't be defeated," he boasted, letting his murderous intent flood out.
"I wonder…" Mihawk started, blinking into existence in front of Zoro with his arms crossed, clearly unamused. "Does the courage to raise your sword against me come from confidence… or ignorance?"
"Ambition," Zoro answered, placing Wado in his mouth and unsheathing his other blades. "I've made a promise to a friend, and I will not break it."
"Admirable," Mihawk mused, sizing the man up and down. "But still, futile."
With a sigh, the greatest swordsman reached up, and unsheathed his necklace. A sharp blade that was no bigger than a finger glinted in the midday sun.
Zoro looked offended at the sight, tensing up. "There is a limit to how much you can underestimate me…"
"This is an overestimation," Mihawk explained, looking at the blade in his hands with shame. "I'm sorry. This is the smallest blade I've got on me."
Zoro growled.
"You see, I'm not the type to hunt rabbits with cannons," Mihawk continued, looking back at the swordsman, his face apathetic. "You'll have to accept my apologies for this overkill."
"Rude."
Eyes turned to Luffy, who was watching from the railing of the Baratie.
Zoro looked at his captain. "Are you going to get in between our fight, Luffy? "
Now, it was Luffy's turn to look offended. "Fuck no. Go kick his ass Zoro, it's your dream, isn't it?"
"That's right, Captain," Zoro grunted and turned back to face Mihawk.
"A foolish captain of a foolish man," Mihawk mused, not bothering to settle into a fighting stance. "Ready when you are, oh frog of this small well."
Zoro got into his stance. "Oni…"
"— Giri "
Sanji balked at the sight in front of him, watching the green-haired swordsman fly off in a motion he couldn't fully follow, only catching up to his form when the shrieking of metal echoed against the debris floating in the middle of the ocean.
All of Zoro's blades were stopped with a well-placed poke from Mihawk's own.
"His dream?" The cook gaped, looking to the red-vested man next to him for elaboration.
"That's Dracule Mihawk," Zeff started from his other side, peg leg clanking against the boards of Baratie, the old man leaning onto the railing of his ship. "The world's greatest swordsman. Is the eggplant aiming to dethrone him?"
"Yep!" Luffy answered with a smirk, even as it became clear that Zoro couldn't even stand up to the man using something that Sanji would struggle to use as a cheese knife. "That's his dream."
He looked at Sanji with a knowing smile.
The cook paused and looked at the teen with a blink. "He's going to die."
"Nah," Luffy stated in a tone that didn't leave room for argument. "If he didn't do this… that would kill him."
"You're insane," Sanji mumbled, his cigarette dropping out of his mouth and into the ocean. "Dreams aren't worth your life, shitty-vest."
Zeff grumbled. "Where did I go wrong with you… Sanji. Watch and learn."
The sous chef gulped meekly and did as he was told.
The gap…
Zoro panted as he glared at the superior swordsman. His arms were aching from the effort of holding his blades. Every single one of his attacks had been countered with ease and grace he couldn't even comprehend. To fight Mihawk was to fight nature, it seemed. Every single one of his motions was one of precision, not even the air slowing the man down.
Zoro had become one with the wind.
Mihawk was commanding it.
They clashed again, the older man parrying his strikes even before they could happen, his small blade glinting into existence and redirecting his three.
Every time he'd challenged him with an attack that should've been a pure battle of strength, he was pushed off without the older man's arm even twitching with effort.
"A blade swung without grace is nothing but an iron club," Mihawk chastised, his stance still relaxed.
It can't be this big…
"What pushes you forward, weakling?"
Zoro ignored the flaring of his anger at the words, he ignored the impotent screams of Johnny and Yosaku getting backhanded back into Baratie by Luffy.
Zoro remembered the blue-haired girl who made him feel the very same gap so long ago.
He could still remember how her hair glinted in the moonlight, trails of tears on her cheeks. Remembered the anger he'd felt against the daughter of his master as she dared to suggest that he'd surpass her just due to the gender he was born, after defeating him over two thousand times.
She dared to look down on both of their efforts for something as base as gender. He couldn't stand it.
A promise then, Kuina. One of us will become the greatest!
The ghost of her affirmative sob echoed in his mind, and his mouth broke into a strained smile around her white blade. "I told you already. A promise to a friend."
"Surely that can't be the only reason," Mihawk prodded, looking slightly disappointed. "You'd become the best swordsman over something so mundane?"
Zoro couldn't help but chuckle. "It's that simple ."
Mihawk's disappointed look faded as if it was cut off his face. "Caught your breath?"
Zoro answered by rushing in with a Tiger Hunt. Mihawk moved his feet for the first time in their battle and took a graceful step in, sliding through Zoro's attack and landing one of his own.
Zoro didn't even flinch as Dracule's blade pierced his chest, his breathing steady as his sternum was sliced through.
He kept steady, his eyes still glaring at his goal in front of him.
Seconds passed as the two swordsmen glared at each other, Mihawk waiting for Zoro to take a step back.
Finally, the greatest swordsman's face twitched. "Do you want me to pierce your heart? Retreat, you fool."
"If I do that, I wouldn't ever be able to stand where I am again," Zoro grunted, keeping his eyes steady.
"Yes, that is defeat," Mihawk droned.
"And I'd prefer death over defeat."
Sanji felt like jumping in and saving the green-haired idiot. He glared at the young captain to his side. "You're going to watch your men die!?"
Luffy didn't answer, only glared back at him.
Zeff kicked him behind the knees, causing Sanji to stumble against the railing himself. "Can't you see him struggle to keep himself here, you little eggplant?"
"I don't get this, old man!" Sanji barked, anger flaring like an oil fire. "Luffy! You told me not to give my life for something dumb, why are you sitting around when your friend does it!?"
"...we live for our dreams," Luffy started with a strained huff. "I'd never be able to call myself Zoro's friend if I stepped between him and his goal."
"Agreed, beansprout," Zeff grunted. "Eggplant, look at how Roronoa fights. What do you notice?"
"That he doesn't care if he dies?" Sanji grunted, still off balance by the conversation that was going over his head.
"Exactly," Luffy hummed with a smirk. "We're both dead men walking. We don't care if we die in the chase of our dreams. Don't you feel the same way about All Blue?"
Sanji's teeth grit together.
He looked back at Zeff.
The old chef grinned. "Got the stuffing out of your ears now, huh eggplant?"
Mihawk blinked, and jumped back. "...I'll have to apologize."
Zoro coughed, tightening his grip on his swords. "I'm going to get angry if you pull out a smaller blade."
Mihawk sheathed his dagger onto his necklace. "It's unbecoming of me to step over someone so… driven." His hand went up to the blade on his back and slowly pulled it from its home. "Please accept this as my apology."
Zoro's grin turned feral, unsteady eyes locking onto Mihawk's form. He panted softly, not caring as his warm blood began to stain his shirt. "So that's what they call the greatest blade on the planet…"
He dropped into a new stance, reverse-gripping one of his blades as he started spinning them. Mihawk dropped onto a battle stance himself.
They blurred past each other, the sound of steel clashing echoing a moment later.
Mihawk rose back to his full height, turning around. "What is your name, boy?"
Zoro coughed as a new wound opened up on his chest, the unnamed blades in his hands shattering like glass. "Roronoa Zoro," he breathed, sheathing what remained of his blades, and turned to face Mihawk with open arms.
The Hawk-eyed man's eyes widened.
Zoro smirked. "Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame."
Mihawk's lips twitched as a smile fought its way onto his face. "Magnificent."
"Is it done?" Sanji mumbled, watching the two exchange cordial words. "I can't believe he survi—"
The words were cut out of his mouth as Mihawk blinked back into reality in front of Zoro, the giant black blade leaving a void behind as it cut the young swordsman's chest open.
Luffy rose to his feet with a growl. "Sanji, please."
"Wh-what?"
Luffy was already gone, and Zeff all but tossed the young chef overboard. "Go grab the fool, eggplant."
Sanji growled but swam out to the body.
Mihawk side-stepped as Luffy crashed onto the spot where he'd been standing, dispersing the afterimage the swordsman left behind. "You're faster than you look, foolish captain."
"I'm a lot more than I look!" Luffy boasted, the skin on his arms flying apart, revealing white chitin as they bulged with a pump. "Let me sho—"
"You did well not interfering," Mihawk stated, idly looking out to the spot where Zoro had fallen, only turning to face Luffy when he saw Sanji rushing out to aid. "I kept him alive. I'm not the type to cut down a sapling so promising."
Luffy glared at him still, his gauntlet-like arms trembling as he clenched his fists hard enough for them to crack.
Sanji managed to pull Zoro back onto Baratie, the green-haired swordsman gasping out.
Luffy's fists relaxed, and the young man let out a huff as his arms started shrinking back, skin crawling back onto his limbs.
Mihawk turned back to Zoro, "Roronoa, it's too soon for you to die. See past this well and grow strong." He re-sheathed his blade, crossing his arms. "However long you might take, I'll await you on this summit!"
He turned back to Luffy. "And your goal?"
Panicked screams stopped Luffy from responding, the two of them turning to see Zoro raising Wado to the heavens. "Luffy! You were worried right?"
"Idiot don't strain yourself!" Sanji barked, Johnny and Yosaku not looking away from their attempts at giving the man first aid.
"If I fail to become the world's greatest swordsman, you'd be disappointed, right?" Zoro continued, blood splattering out of his mouth. "Never again! I'll never lose again 'til I surpass him and become the world's greatest! Do you hear me, King of the Pirates!?"
Luffy's face split into a grin. "I hear you!"
Mihawk smirked, shooting a look at the younger man. "Pirate King, huh? Your path is more perilous than his."
"So?" Luffy sniped back. "I'll walk it regardless."
"Foolish men and foolish dreams," Mihawk mumbled, stepping away from the young captain. "They make quite the pair, don't they…?" He shot a look at Luffy over his shoulder. "I hope to meet you both again someday."
The world's greatest swordsman disappeared, reappearing on the coffin he'd arrived in with a yawn. "I'm satisfied, time to go back and take a nap."
What little remained of the Krieg pirates groaned and swallowed their objections.
Luffy hopped back onto Baratie, landing next to Zoro with a grunt. "How's he holding up?"
Johnny blabbered with tears in his eyes as a response.
Luffy rolled his eyes, gripped his swordsman's shirt, and ripped it off. "I'm no doctor but…"
With that, he started to work.
Sanji took a few steps back and shuddered as he watched the young man modify his own hands, fingers growing thin and long claws, another hand starting to produce a thin string as he started to stitch close the wounds on his crewmate.
"Learned something you shitty eggplant?" Zeff grumbled, shooting a look at Sanji. Looking away, he grit his teeth, forcing the words out.
"Go chase our dreams already, my shitty son."
A/N:
I stand by the hilarity that Cannon fodder cant do shit Unless they are in Buggy's crew;
cause it's funny seeing the leaders be so incompetent, only for the fodder to carry them all.
Regardless, I was fearing this chapter a lot, Mihawk's battle with Zoro is something I didn't quite want to repeat beat for beat, but there wasn't something else I could do to make it match the sheer hype of cannon. I hope it stands up for what's worth.
Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, and now with this beast out of the way, I can go back to writing something a little more...
Fishy.