I do not own anything besides these words and the cover art.

The blood dripped from Zoro's face, but he watched as the colossal man hunched over and spat blood from his wide mouth. It brought a smile to Zoro, but as he lifted his face to the lights, he watched the metal bars come down.

Suddenly, hands came from behind and pulled his ear as she screeched, "What the hell was that?"

He turned to frown, but upon seeing her somewhat worried face, he gave her a bloody smile. "I had to improvise without you around."

She crossed her arms as she poured water over his head to cool him down, "Well, don't do that again. Your plans never work."

"Yeah, well," he mumbled as he wiped his face with a towel, "don't leave me."

Nami stopped in her berating as she glanced across the ring at the opponent. He had bloodlust in his eyes, but she faced too many demons to be afraid of another. Besides, she had her own demon in her corner.

"Nami!" Zoro stood in front of her, and she took her eyes off the man to look at the wounds that inevitable would grow all over Zoro's tanned body. Pica may be able to match him punch to punch, but Pica had a lot more meat to his throws that regardless of how tough Zoro was, would make a larger mark. "What is wrong?"

She peered up at him. "He's big…"

"Yeah, so?"

"So…you going to let that stone wall stop you?"

Zoro chuckled, "No…not today."

Nami bit her lip as she knew what Arlong asked of her, but she trusted Zoro above all else. If this was about money, she put it all on the line for them. Everything.

"Zoro…you trust me?"

The warning bell rang as the cage came down further. Zoro stretched his muscles and frowned, "Why are you asking me this now?"

Nami pinched his ear and he came close to listen. She could smell his blood, the iron mixed with sweat and the plastic of his gloves. "Zoro…I need you to…"

Suddenly a high pitch squeal came from the other corner, "Are you and your whore going to talk all night?"

Nami and Zoro blinked at each other. Zoro turned and Nami peered over his shoulder as the gigantic man spoke again, "If I knock you off from here, you'll lose."

Both Nami and Zoro let a second of silence pass and then they laughed. Nami could not help but crouch over as Zoro wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I don't have time to stumble over you here!" Zoro grinned.

At this, Pica nearly went rabid and charged. "Cut that shit!" he screamed like a prepubescent boy.

Zoro moved quickly and pushed Nami out of the way, as the cage came down and sealed them in. Pica rammed him into the metal, and she could hear the disgusting crush of bones. She knew the angry beast had to have broken at least one of Zoro's ribs.

Nami screamed on top of her lungs, "You better beat this high-pitched shit, Zoro!"

Pica was in the middle of a laugh at Nami's request until Zoro growled back, "There's nothing I can't cut!"

That was the last straw as Pica lifted Zoro up and launched him into the other corner, but Zoro landed on his feet. He winced as he knew something was indeed broken, but he was not about to let such a funny character beat him. Pica punched his gloves together and Zoro saw the tiny spikes emerge.

"Go to hell!" his tiny voice squealed.

Zoro flung his gloves off, "A day may come when I lose…" He tightened the bandages on his slightly bloodied hands, "But it ain't today."

Sanji came to Nami's side, still looking at his phone. Nami glanced at him and screamed over the shouts of the audience, "Where were you?"

He looked once more at the phone and frowned, "I…forget it." He looked up and noticed that this fight was becoming more and more violent, and with less clothing. "Who is the baby-voiced giant wearing a diaper?"

"Who cares!" Nami said proudly, "Zoro's not going to lose."

Sanji lit a cigarette and cheered on as the two men seemed to pound on each other, "You've got big money on him today?"

Nami stopped and balled her hands into fists and turned to Sanji with a smile. "I put all of it him." She leaned in a whispered, "Get your hands up…and cheer him on. I need to keep my end of the promise."

"Wait…are you serious? This man…I mean, I believe in Zoro…but this guy…"

Nami pinched Sanji's cheek, "You forget…I'm his manager. And I don't fuck with my money."

Sanji smirked as she walked up and towards the betting booths. He turned his attention back to the ring, as he witnessed Zoro move much quicker and faster for someone who looked like he had lost some organs. However, Sanji was preoccupied with what had occurred a few minutes ago. On his way in, he received a call from Tashigi, but no one was on the other end. He immediately called up Usopp, but there was no answer.

Sanji inhaled a big puff of smoke and bellowed a cheer for his friend. He felt a dark cloud was descending on them. It was not just Zoro who was stuck in a cage now. And this cage was getting smaller and smaller with every second.

Music Inspiration/Theme: "Not Today" (BTS)

Let me tell ya, I was feeling "Kolony Anthem" by Steve Aoki for this chapter, but in the end, I wanted it to be a bit more uplifting and big F U to Arlong. Bwahahahaha!

Ohhhh, but that is probably going to backfire so badly. I would know. I'm the writer.

Side note, I am really hard into BTS, ugh, new K-Pop boy bands. And I tried really hard not to put in a scene, haha, where like Zoro or Nami look straight at the camera(?) and say, "No, not today!" lolol - so anime!

Side side note, SPOILERS(?) when Zoro was on Dressrosa and needed to think of a way to stop Donflamingo's Bird Cage, (I have not gotten to Zou yet) but I am 1000% convinced he felt really proud of himself and his plan. I mean, real talk, Nami is usually the one with the plan, and Zoro executes it. Not saying he isn't smart, but there is a reason he is sheer power and Luffy's right hand. And on that note, I think he was proudly telling Nami that he had thought of a plan without her, but he definitely said, "But next time be there so I don't need to do everything."

Haha…to which Nami will yell, but she knows full well Zoro means he needs her. And he does. Okay, that's it from the non-canon canon.

I mean, Zoro's plan was hilarious…let's just stop it! How? With my swords, of course! Oh, my clueless swordsman. You need the unofficial captain, i.e. Nami!

Just FYI, I did take a bit of dialogue from the anime, though I tried to find a good nickname Zoro may have used and I couldn't find it. Also, side note, Zoro…super-hot during that arc. Like, fake beard and all…but then all demon eye and cutting ish up….mmmmm….yas Jesus. That's my aesthetic: people gasping in horror and awe of my man. Nami's man. Anywhoooo.

Will this be a win for our fateful pair? What will Arlong do about Nami's disobedience? Will Sanji ever hear back from Tashigi? What does Arlong want with Nami now? Will Zoro ever meet Arlong?

To be continued…

XoXo shipfiend