Chapter 2: Ventriloquist

"Who is this person you're trying to meet, anyway?"

My sleepy, heavy eyes made their way to Nami's face, surprised that she was striking up a conversation with me.

Since Nami didn't seem one to talk on our journey, and I was pretty tired, I decided to see if I could slip in a quick nap. I did and it was acknowledged by Koby that time had passed. No more conversation had gone on while I was asleep, though that may have also had to do with Koby's own reluctance, and five more minutes went by after I woke up with no discussion.

I was fine with that. I didn't need to ruin my chances with Nami so soon by being uncomfortable or weird. I would have liked the distraction, but I found entertainment through leaning my chin against the side of the boat and watching the water wash away past my eyes. Having never ridden a boat, the sheer fascination could have kept occupied for maybe… 10 minutes. But, going past my own assumptions, Nami asked that question.

I sat up, putting a wry smile on my face. "Uhm, well. Don't know if you've heard of him," I said, twirling a finger around in the air, "I mean, he's only one of the most well known swordsmen in the East Blue. You happen to know Roronoa Zoro by any chance?"

And maybe this was my imagination, but I felt the air stop. Like the world stopped spinning on its axis because what I had said was just that ludicrous. Funny that, since the million other things I could say would destroy the universe by that logic.

I looked at both Koby and Nami with an innocent, confused face. I laughed, "What? Is there something wrong?"

Koby snapped out of it first, pointing his little index finger right in my chest and yelling, "A-are you serious?! You're telling me you're going to have Roronoa Zoro be your first crew member?! I know you're trying to be the pirate king but-"

I waved my hands out fast, not expecting Koby to suddenly blurt out that I was a pirate. "Woah, woah! Koby, hold on-!"

Without any warning, I was gripped by my vest and pulled to the side, cringing as the boat under me rocked dangerously. Koby definitely shut up due to that and my focus had to be completely shifted to the woman I was now at the mercy of. Fistfuls of my vest were in her hand. Her eyes glared daggers into my rubber skull.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a pirate?" she snapped, voice low, scratchy, and angry.

I wasn't exactly scared, per se, but my mouth ran dry and my fingers jittered at the sight. This was not how I wanted this to go down, nor did I want to go down to the bottom of the ocean.

I shifted slightly, not making any move to claw her fingers off of me, merely to adjust myself. I kept up a shaky smile. Hopefully I passed as looking fearful and not suspicious, and said, "Y-you didn't ask, one. And two, that doesn't have to do with anything."

She apparently didn't like that answer, because she pulled again, making my boat sway. "Who cares! I hate pirates, and I am not going to be working with you!"

"Nami, I-"

Before I could finish, she threw me backwards into the boards and turned away. I scurried to my knees to reach out before she started rowing away, but Koby seemingly had the same idea, getting to that before me.

"W-wait!" Koby called out, legs shaking, "d-don't go. I-I know I don't know w-why you hate pirates, b-but Luffy isn't like other pirates! I swear! He helped s-save me from a different pirate, a-and he's so much better than her. P-please, don't leave!"

Thankfully, she stopped. She didn't really turn around, or come back, but she stopped. I turned to Koby, whose sweat rolled down his pale skin, and frowned.

"You know, you didn't have to-" I started, not wanting him to get involved in my mess.

"You really believe that?"

We flinched as she turned around, a bad scowl on her face. Looking us both up and down, we waited for her to elaborate, hoping myself she wouldn't need any more prompting.

She sighed. "I can't just take your word for it. I've never heard of a good pirate. All they do is ruin things and take away the people you love." Then, she looked at me, pointing her finger out. "I can't trust you. If you're trying to recruit Zoro of all people, who's to say you aren't going to leave Koby behind and start killing people?!"

We stared at each other for a little bit before my eyes tore away, slumping down against the board. Koby glanced at me worryingly, staying tight lipped even if his trembling lip told me he had a world of things to say.

After a moment, I shook my head. "That doesn't mean I will. It's fine if you don't trust me, in fact, I'm not expecting you to. We just met, and I know trust takes a long time to build. I'm really sorry for not telling you earlier, but… but you're not telling me much about yourself either." Her mouth opened, but no words came out. I shrugged. "Sure, Zoro has killed people, however I'm not him. I can't control him, and while I will make it very clear about my stance on his occasional lack of mercy, my crew members aren't my minions. Like, all I want to do is see cool shit, okay? I'm not going to ruin anything except maybe the fragile egos of terrible people," I explained.

I crossed my arms and waited for a response. I wasn't lackadaisical with my smiles anymore, but I wanted to make sure Nami knew I wasn't mad at her. I just wanted to clear things up. She seemed a little starstruck with my straightforward answer and I was ready to wait as long as I needed to.

She sat back down and turned away. I almost didn't hear her when she said, "Yeah, you're right. Let's just… keep going, okay?"

So we did, with not a single word spoken.

•

The blue sky had become speckled with little grey clouds by the time we had landed; the afternoon sun less violent with it's ultraviolet rays, but not benevolent. I marveled at the sight in front of me. There was such a cute little town right before my eyes. It was the sort of place that I used to envy. I mean, yeah, it wasn't Chicago or Cincinnati, but the giant Marine base up utop looking over the town made it look… cooler than Florida. And most things were cooler than Florida. Especially a lively island like this.

"Y-you seem pretty impressed with the town," Koby said, stepping out of our boat.

"Do I?" I sheepishly responded. "I can be easily impressed."

Without any more interruptions, we started our trek towards the heart of the town. Nami was still silent, following foot to foot with us. Sometimes I glanced behind me to make sure she was there or doing okay, only to see her tie her bandana on or look at the Marine base with a face I knew I'd never decipher.

In 15 minutes, we made it to the gate of the base. One of the larger gates I can say I've seen, and a bigger wall to boot. I could've easily scaled it, for sure, but they couldn't. At least it was a problem easily solvable.

I stepped to the side, grabbed the ledge of the wall with my powers and jumped up, kneeling on the edge and holding my hand out.

"Here, we can just go over like this!" I exclaimed.

Koby seemed a little hesitant, but ultimately didn't mind. I grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and he jumped down on the other side. I held out my hand for Nami too. She didn't budge, instead staring at me like I had grown three heads. I was confused for a second until I realized…

"Oh. Hah, sorry I uh, forgot to mention I have a Devil Fruit," I said awkwardly.

She spluttered and waved her arms about. "How do you just forget to mention-?! Nevermind, weirdo."

I laughed as I helped her up. There was a grumble in her tone, but I ignored her and jumped down the other side.

Strangely, the dirt appeared more coarse and rocky than the other side of the wall or in town. Leading to the Marine building was nothing but a barren and empty field, and sitting in the middle was Zoro strung up on the cross. Koby shivered besides me, seeing his form- which, to be honest, looked nothing more than a blob from this distance- and hid behind me.

I didn't say anything, simply patting his head and walking forward. It didn't take very long for Zoro's attention to be peaked, and he glared at us from under his sash, making Koby and Nami flinch.

"Luffy, a-are you sure this is a good idea?" Koby murmured.

I paused momentarily. "No," I admitted, "but I don't think it's a bad idea either."

When we got close, Nami and Koby stayed behind me. Zoro's glare intensified, and for sure he was the scariest person I had encountered so far, even if he was tied up. He was roughed up and dirty, but I could see faint scars everywhere, from battles and fights that's he's had over the years. Eyes that immediately told you, he wasn't the prey, he was the predator. Skin tanned from days out bounty hunting and training, and muscles that gave you the sense he could rip your spine out. Basically everything I needed!

"And what the hell do you want?" Zoro growled.

I playfully kicked at the dirt beneath me. "Sightseeing," I joked, pulling a wry smile.

"What are you doing?" Nami said with a less than enthusiastic face, "I thought you were supposed to be recruiting him, not poking fun at him!"

I shrugged her off, continuing my casual kicking motion. "I'm practicing the fine art of establishing friendship, thank you. Plus, don't you have your own business to be worried about? I'm not holding you ransom here, I can deal with Zoro while you play around in the base," I said, maybe acting a little too cocky.

She scowled, obviously not happy that I was giving her so much sass.

"I'm right here, assholes!" Zoro called out, catching our attention again.

I gave him a spare glance but ultimately ignored him for now, having realized how much easier Nami's existence made in getting Zoro out of the base. So, I nodded over to my shoulder and said to her, "seriously, sneaking in will probably be as easy as it could be right now. I think I overheard that Zoro's swords were in some safe spot in the base or something, so if you happen to find them, it'd really be nice if you could get them for us." I smiled and then quickly added, "you don't have to, though."

Her mouth hung open as she glanced between the three of us; she couldn't do anything but sigh and do what she came here to do. It wasn't very long before she was out of our sight, and only the three of us were left standing… er, Zoro was semi standing.

That was when I finally turned back to the green haired swordsman, who wasn't looking any less pissed off and confused than before.

"Would you care to explain what is going on?"

As I took out the little blade in my pocket (I knew it would be useful), I explained carefully, "I'm breaking you out and recruiting you. The Marines here had no intention of keeping you alive."

Zoro blanked, but Koby seemed a little confused.

"W-wait," he interjected, holding his shaky hand out, "what are you talking about? Why w-would he think the Marines would keep him a-alive?"

I bit my lip as I remembered that Zoro and Helmeppo's little "agreement" wasn't exactly common knowledge, nor was the knowledge that agreement was complete bullshit.

"All you really need to know is that the Marines were fabricating what they told Zoro. He's going to be executed soon, but they told him he would be let go if he stayed like this-" I pointed my thumb to Zoro, "-for like, a month or something. Which like I said, is a lie. Weren't you listening to the townspeople as we were walking by?"

After that spiel, I went over and mindfully slipped the blade under the bristly rope, slowly cutting them one by one. Silence met the three of us.

"What if I don't want to leave, huh?" Zoro challenged after I had already freed one arm.

"So you want to sit here and die?" I derided, continuing to fight off the ropes, "I apologize but I know you're not that stupid. Unless sitting here was so bad it made you lose the will to live?"

Zoro scoffed. "You're blackmailing me."

I kept up a poker face, working with a detached tone. I didn't bother responding, I already said what I needed to, and I doubted Zoro needed much more prompting to bounce from this shithole. There wasn't any need to waste my time with empty threats or bluffs as well. At the very least I could save it for when I found myself in a true pinch.

Gently, I pulled away all the ropes and dropped them to the ground, letting Zoro step away from the wood and flex his arms. He groaned as he cracked his neck, fingers, and back, dusting himself off and standing up straight.

"I'd say we should stick around and wait for Nami but… I don't think we have the luxury for that," I said.

"You think?" Koby said, rubbing his arm.

"No, I'm not leaving here without my swords," Zoro ordered. He peered at me in particular, and I awkwardly shifted my feet.

"Well," I started, wringing my fingers together, "whether we stay here or not, we still can't be in public. We're going to have to trust Nami that she's bringing your swords and hide somewhere."

Koby shook his head. "Hide somewhere? This field is empty!"

"I'm saying let's just jump the wall again, we genuinely don't have enough time to just stand here and-"

A gasp cut my words short and a little part of my brain started to rot inside my head. Slowly, I turned myself away from the other two and back towards the wall, where a little girl stood absolutely shell-shocked. Her arms were tightly held to her body and her eyebrows were scrunched up in confusion. However, I was more concerned with the fact her showing up meant we had less time than I thought; we had better get out before the jackasses came in.

Rika flinched as I inched forward and motioned for the others to follow, yet astonishingly she held her ground.

When we stopped right in front of her, she adorned a shaky smile, saying to Zoro, "Hi! I-I was going to give this to you since you were stuck over there, but, it seems like you're free now! Are they your friends?"

Zoro's face didn't even twitch as she unwrapped the rice balls and held them out, but he did shoot me a look.

"I wouldn't call them friends…" he uttered, then looked back down to Rika. "I don't need charity, you can keep it."

Rika frowned. "But you're hurt! And I made them myself!"

While the interaction was indubitably important for later on, every second felt like it was multiplying the butterflies in my stomach. Koby's shifty fingers seemed to mirror that, so I took it upon myself to hurry up this mini fiasco.

I cleared my throat and smiled at Rika. "Hey," I interjected, "I can take that for him and give it to him later. It's not safe for you or us to be here, so why don't we all skedaddle before we get in trouble?"

She appeared hesitant at first, but then nodded and grinned. "Okay! You're a very nice friend, mister!"

Not two moments later did our transaction take place and I helped everyone over the wall, taking the ladder down in the process. Rika was thoroughly entertained with my rubber powers, finding it hard to keep quiet, while Zoro called me inhuman until I crossed him a deadpan look and pointed back over the wall. Funnily enough, we could actually hear Helmeppo from all the way across the yard, screaming bloody murder as if his first born child sprouted a pair of wings and flew away- like he could ever conceive a child with someone in the first place. At least it provided a dubious source of entertainment until Nami returned from the depths of the base.

Speaking of Nami…

"There you guys are! I didn't expect you to actually go through with freeing Zoro," she called.

I raised my head, as I was slumped down against the wall, and grinned. "Well of course! I am a man of my word."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a pain in the ass is what you are, anyways-" she slung the swords on her back off, "-since they were right there, I grabbed them for you. Consider this the first and last free favor you're getting from me."

I sweatdropped, but I didn't say anything as Zoro smirked and wordlessly grabbed his swords from Nami. Rika, once again, became remarkably fascinated with the shiny blades, only stopped by Koby who wasn't very fond of the idea of a child trying to play with sharp objects. Especially one as curious and well-meaning as Rika.

"Did you get what you wanted?" I asked after a little while.

Nami tensed and frowned. "No I didn't. The map I was looking for was a fake."

I genuinely frowned as well, even though I knew it was going to be fake. "That sucks, who got to it first? It must have been someone just as informed."

She opened her mouth, paused for a second, and then said, "I don't need to tell you. Unless, like I said earlier, you want to pay for the favor?"

"Does it look like I have even a single pretty beri on me?"

"Exactly." She took a brief look at Zoro, Rika, and Koby messing around. "I doubt they do either. Honestly, I have no business with you anymore, I should just leave."

Hurriedly, I stood up and waved my hands out. "Woah, woah," I ushered, also looking at our three companions, "there's no need to uh, be so hasty! Recruiting Zoro wasn't the only thing I said we'd be doing here, hell it isn't even the most important. I'm trying to get Koby into the Marines, but that's going to require more effort than cutting some ropes."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "What does that have to do with me, though?"

I rubbed the back of my head. I mean, technically she was right; it didn't have anything to do with her, but excuses were excuses and I needed them.

"W-well," I stuttered, leaning back against the wall, "I was hoping you could watch over Koby and Rika while Zoro and I go back in to revolutionize the place. And before you say anything-!" I added as I saw her face scrunch up, "-the person who runs the base here is a narcissistic asshat who abuses his power and the people. I'm not having Koby enroll himself into a corrupt facility."

Finally, she bit her lip and turned her gaze towards the ground.

"Fine," she sighed, "those two don't look like they could run a simple ice cream parlor, so…"

Relief flooded me and I nearly let myself show it, but I willed myself to keep my composure. Besides, Zoro seemed to be getting fed up with having to deal with two unruly children who were unruly for opposite reasons, so it'd do him some good to keep them off his hands.

Nami and I informed the rest of them of our plan and officially broke into two groups. I waved Koby off as he went with Nami, nervous but ultimately knowing he'd be ten times safer elsewhere than near the base. Zoro then took the onigiri I offered to him. I didn't comment on it as he wasn't a conversational man in the first place. I could tell by the knuckle-white tight grip on his swords that he wanted to cut the base in two, his anger didn't need to be displayed in words.

We hopped back over the wall, mildly surprised that Helmeppo's crew was still about while he threw his tantrum. It would've been nearly comical if he wasn't talking about beheading whoever "dare go against him. "

Oh… Deep breath in, deep breath out. Count to ten and back again, and then…

"Hey dipshits!"

My heart flipped as all of the Marines swiveled around to see who called out, with guns in their hands and caps shadowing their faces.

"Looking for somebody?"

Helmeppo paled (somehow) and started trembling like a leaf.

"YOU BASTARDS! How dare you try and escape, don't you know who my father is? He'll have your heads for this!" He shrieked. Maybe that would have been a fraction more intimidating if he wasn't wearing the ugliest shade of purple known to man.

Zoro grimaced. "Does it look like we care?"

I snorted. He may not of been a wordy person, but damn were the words he did say laced with sass.

Of course, Helmeppo's only response was to grumble incomprehensibly and wave a couple of incomprehensible hand signs that meant for them to- oh, good gods! They were aiming their guns at us!

I snarled. "Get back!"

"Wha-?"

"FIRE!"

One second, I was standing besides Zoro, and after another second I pushed him behind me, spreading my arms out. The choice wasn't even entirely conscious, making me forget that I wasn't about to die right now, but who's to say living through the experience was any better? Seriously, those bullets may not have went through me, but they were searingly hot and spun into my skin like it was trying its hardest to ignite a friction fire. When they ricocheted, I lost my balance and fell flat on my back, hissing at the faint sting the bullet burns left. I barely registered anything after that, storing a modest thought in my brain to never take bullets without proper preparation.

I jumped when Zoro put a hand on my shoulder, bafflement painted across his face.

"You're still alive? Are you okay?"

Blinking a few times, I shook my head to adjust myself. "Yes, I'm fine. Devil fruit powers, it's pretty nifty."

"I'll bet. If you're fine, then you better get up before they recover."

I jumped back to my feet, a numb buzz filling my body while I watched the Marines across from us stare at me like I was a freakshow. Which was not an incorrect term to describe what just occurred, to be fair. And it gave me an idea!

I stretched random parts of my body to startle them and then reached for one of them clutching a gun. He screeched and stepped back, but I took hold of his arm and propelled myself to him. I body slammed him- yanking out the gun in succession- and accidentally knocked him out. The others couldn't do anything as bullets didn't have an effect, they were petrified, and now I had a gun. A gun I was using to completely bullshit them!

"AGH!" I heard echoed in the crowd.

Zoro took initiative and utilized my distraction to slip by and start wreaking havoc, slicing into the flesh of our star-struck enemies. Helmeppo sunk to his knees.

I briskly conjured up more plans of action as I viewed the faux battlefield with sly eyes. The Marines had their hands filled with Zoro for, at the least, a minute or two, and tapping my knuckles against the rifle confirmed to me it would work beautifully as a makeshift baseball bat.

Rising to my feet, I grasped the gun by the barrel and started to spin like a top, increasing the length of my arms at the same time.

"Gomu-Gomu no…"

The poor souls who had the bright idea to stay in my range got their teeth knocked out by the butt of the gun socking against their jaws at high velocity. Or alternatively, getting knocked out by taking the hit to their skulls instead. Why use bullets when this was just so much more fun?

"Revolver!"

My grip on the gun slipped up as I got dizzy, flying far out to a nearby window. Then I fell on my back again.

When I blinked my vision back to normalcy, I gawked at the damage I actually managed to cause. Marines fell around me in a perfect circle, and I winced at the sight of a chipped tooth near my hand, blood splotched in miniscule but noticeable patterns. Okay so, Revolver may have been a bit extra in the damage department for cannon fodder, especially when I still didn't know how to control my own strength.

"Y-You're a devil!" Helmeppo cowered, " absolute demons, the both of you!"

Zoro helped pull me up and neither of us really bothered responding, having thoroughly proved our positions within the short timeframe. We didn't stop him when he ran towards the building of the base itself, tripping his way through the doors.

"Is it okay to let him go?" Zoro questioned.

I waved nonchalantly. "Eh, I want him to get his dad so I can beat his ass. Or you can. Either way asses will not be left unbeaten today."

He made a subtle movement around. "I think you already kicked plenty of ass, captain."

I snorted and said, "true true. But they were in the way, and that was entirely unplanned. I never used that move before."

"It kinda seems like you never used any of your moves before…"

"Watch it, smart mouth," I said, crossing my arms, "I'll sic one of those moves on you!"

•

The world turned a shade darker as a cloud passed overhead, Nami deciding to take one glance behind her. The base was now much more miniscule from far away, and she became hyper aware that she split away from two potentially dangerous people, leaving them behind. She left them behind to guide two not potentially dangerous people, said people waltzing about the town streets like it was a park.

She found fickle amusement in Rika's innocent happiness and Koby's empathetic worry, both of them tying around one another like newly found siblings. Only, it was hard for Koby to keep from incessantly concerning himself with Luffy's safety, which meant that Nami would be forced to have to think about that freaky weirdo pirate too. Rika was too young yet to understand the repercussions of pirates sailing around like it was nobody's business. Or Marines who flaunted their status like it meant jack shit, for that matter.

Or maybe Nami was simply stressing herself over absolutely nothing.

Luffy said it himself- and with not a dash of malice- that all he wanted to do was enjoy what the world offered him. She was impeccable at detecting sleazy intentions in unfavourable characters, yet she wanted to convince herself that Luffy was just good at manipulation.

There had to be something hidden under that colloquial and whimsical facade of his. Otherwise, everything she came to believe would be called into question! Luffy was obviously letting Zoro join his crew for his own benefits, Koby was a pawn in a deceitful plan of his, and he was only nice to Nami so he could use her too. It made sense, it made total sense. It was plausible. It had to be.

But, her mind fumbled a little bit when Koby smiled, talking about the rubber captain to Rika like it was Christmas Day.

"He's so strong and cool, and h-he helped me get away from these mean p-pirates so that I could fulfill my own dreams!" he spoke, garnering Rika's full attention. "And now, he's even helping th-this town, even if he doesn't have to!"

All in the work of a manipulative flea, right? That's what it was, he was going to ransack this town and leave them to shreds with Zoro by his side. Her own nails dug into her palms at the thought of insidious actions spiraling through her mind, because of course nobody in this world was ever so altruistic that they'd save hundreds of people at the drop of a hat. The only explanation- or really, the only explanation she'd accept- is that it was all shadowed by an ulterior motive, waiting to bare his fangs at his victims. How could she let herself get caught in that?

How could she ever-?

"Nami," Rika murmured, "you're friends with Luffy, yeah?"

Nami swallowed and tried to pick her face back up. "Friends is… a relative term." She took her second glance back to the Marine base. "I wouldn't call him my friend."

Rika frowned. "Oh. Is Zoro his friend? Koby is his friend, and I want to be his friend." Her face lit up again. "He probably has a lot of friends! Koby said he's amazing!"

They all sat down at the stairs of the doorstep, Nami thinking about the anomaly of Koby. He gave off even less danger signals than Luffy did, she had to admit, and clearly more trustworthy. Koby was timid, young, and wanted to be a Marine. There wasn't a fraction of a chance he was a bad person; yet he praised Luffy and encouraged people to praise with him.

Nami grimaced. "If he had so many friends, why does he have to look for one in random strangers?"

Koby timorously sat down besides Nami. "Maybe he likes making new f-friends. He t-told me he didn't want to be useless, so he set out to be the pirate king, and he'd m-meet a lot of new people. He'd get a lot of new friends that way, right?"

A lot of new friends huh? A sweet sound. For what it was worth, maybe she had to look at Luffy in that same way too. To become the pirate king would mean to have ultimate power, money, and freedom.

Would that ever be possible for her?

•

"Oh damn it all," I cursed, standing on guard, "when I said I wanted Morgan to get here, I didn't mean for his entire entourage to come with!

Zoro didn't say anything, simply lazily placing his hand upon his swords.

So… Helmeppo definitely went to call his dad out from the base. It took about ten minutes, but we quickly realized why it took ten minutes when nearly a hundred Marines stormed out of the base, mostly armed with blades and petrified faces. Morgan didn't even bother to clean up the mess Zoro and I made of Helmeppo's group, I doubt he even bothered to look.

"Dearie me, isn't this a bit overkill?" I said with a fake, higher pitched voice.

Helmeppo scowled. "Overkill?! You were the one who-!"

"Silence!" Morgan roared, making them all stiffen. "You called me here to deal with a dim-wit and a half dead criminal?"

"Th-th-they took down all the soldiers who were with me! The one in red, he has a Devil Fruit!"

The Marines all gave each other skeevy, frightened looks, boots tepidly shifting in the dirt. I didn't know whether to scare them more by glowering at them, or putting on a pretty face and acting like he was spouting facetious nonsense. Either way, there was no getting out of this situation, but I didn't really have to cause any more damage than before. My only true target was Morgan. They all served as target practice at this point.

"A devil fruit? It's a wonder you mongrels couldn't handle him," Morgan said, holding his Axe-hand.

While they were distracted by my wonders, I made a couple hand signals towards Zoro. Three sword style. Front row. I'll jump over you. Distract Morgan.

He squinted at me in perplexion for a moment, but eventually came to understand what I meant, tying his sash around his head. The sound of his swords quieted the crowd, all of them gripping at their own weapons in anticipation. Morgan barely even spared us a twitch of the eye, obviously believing we were some form of inferior creature standing in his pathway. But I hardly thought he understood the small interaction between me and my new first mate. It was their loss.

Zoro finally moved, dashing ahead towards the Marines while I ran adjacent to him, nearly a foot behind. The first wave could barely adjust to the sight, taking some non-lethal slashes to the torso while I dodged the extras surrounding us. As Zoro snapped to me, I side-stepped a near amputation, leaped up, used Zoro's head to gain more air and arched my way over Morgan's surprised face. I rolled into my fall, keeping my head low since I landed into a saturated pit of wielded blades, zipping around like a squirrel and tripping randoms over.

Morgan couldn't turn around to deal with me as he was occupied with Zoro, which meant thankfully I was left with clearing out the garbage so we could handle the Captain with no extra trouble. However, I found myself at a crossroads; Marines were just slightly more trained than a rough-house pirate so I'll be one to say I got nicked a couple times. Yeah, it was probably because I was being a moron and I had an acute lack of spatial awareness, but I'd prefer it to losing an eye or two. The sting of the cuts actually helped me become more cognizant of my body. That didn't necessarily mean I was any better or faster at taking my enemies down.

I slinkied myself back to the ground and grabbed one of the soldiers' feet. He let out a sound akin to choking on a spider before I ripped him off of the dirt and swung him around like a glorified sock of rocks. It was becoming a staple move of mine to do so, yet one couldn't deny the effectiveness.

In a noble sense, the Marines became hesitant to retaliate while I had one of their comrades in my arms, but in combat, that just gave me the upper hand. I easily slugged down ten men until I took pity on the guy I was swaying about and dropped him. Besides, they're lucky I felt pity at all.

"Th-they can't," Helmeppo said amongst the sea of despair, "he's too strong!"

I paused at that, the waves of motion in the crowd decelerating as they all came to the same realization too. Zoro and Morgan's fight was put on pause to observe.

"Captain Morgan, he's defeating us effortlessly! How could we-?"

My whole body flinched away as Morgan backhanded the unassuming and innocent man, causing more injury to his own ally than I ever did to any of them. The commotion undeniably ceased by now, jaws dropping and eyes widening at the unabashedly violent display.

"How dare you speak such weakness in front of me! Don't even think you'll be living after I'm through with these two maggots!" Morgan boomed. His eyes shifted towards mine.

A cold sweat formed on the back of my neck, peering up at Morgan's murderous snarl. The same numb buzz from earlier clouded and diluted the air around me. Something about the way he looked at me sort of pissed me off, or maybe it was how he didn't pay a single second of attention to the person he thwacked away and then looked at me. No, no. My bad, they weren't people to him, they weren't even garbage to him.

"You're…" I humorously started, only to shake my head.

I dazedly spun on my heel as I hopped around, avoiding unnecessary damage from Axe-Hand. I jumped high up like previously, but this time I locked my arms around Morgan's neck, albeit sloppily. He squirmed around to try and shake me off, but I dug my nails into him, using my conglomerating rage to make my hold rougher.

I scowled. "Zoro, captain's first order! Take. Him. Out."

Zoro smiled with a sadistic glint in his eye. Morgan growled, the vibration in his throat moving through my unsteady fingers, but it was all in vain. My first mate held his swords up in a familiar fashion, and in the blink of an eye Morgan's flailing halted.

"Oni-" shink! "giri!"

I hopped off Morgan's back and stumbled away, watching the dark blood splatter upon the light toned earth, dripping down his torn clothes. His eyes rolled back into his head and he hit the ground with a resounding thump.

He wasn't dead. I didn't think so, at least. Seeing his tattered body reminded me of the own blood that smeared across my skin like a paint stain. So much so that I could scarcely register the uproar of celebration the Marines burst into. I even started prodding with the shallow grazes on my skin that had already scabbed over- which deeply unnerved me- until Zoro pulled me back to reality.

"Luffy, you did good," he said. I noticed he had taken off his sash.

Blinking, I awkwardly smiled. "I did?"

"I wouldn't be here if you didn't."

•

There was no way I'd be able to suppress a big grin from sprouting on my face when Zoro and I regrouped with Nami and Koby.

I, for one, was thoroughly anticipating having to return to one less member of the party. Which is why I was drowned in relief when I spotted our red-headed navigator still conversing with Koby. Hell, it was a mini miracle she decided to stay with us at all, let alone stick around while I was gone hauling ass. No matter her reasoning, I was glad to see her- and naturally, I was thankful Koby was there too.

The only disheartening fact was that Nami did not seem too fond of my newly recruited crew mate, but eh, Zoro didn't look like he cared much for her either. I'd simply have to hope their mutual distrust did not disrupt our travels. I'd act as a placater if push came to shove.

Koby, on the other hand, only appeared to find Zoro scary like a child would find the dark scary. He was more concerned about my well being than anything, which I unquestionably appreciated.

"It's fine," I told him, "look, they've already scabbed. They'll go away in like, a day."

He nodded and then meekly faced Zoro. "You're uh, okay t-too, right?"

Zoro nodded, but a loud growl indicated that maybe he needed some other form of treatment. To be fair, it occured to me as well that my stomach felt like it was digesting nothing but air. The setting sun was darkening the sky and we were likely to be kicked out if we outstayed our visit. Nami agreed it was for the best if we left before any more trouble befell us.

I gave my sincerest smile to Koby as I rubbed his head. "You're going to be the change the world needs."

His ears dusted pink. "I couldn't p-possibly do that! I'm not-"

"You're not what?" I challenged, "strong enough? Good enough? Lies, you're probably better than every man in that Marine building. I find it a shame you can't come with us."

"I…" he stopped and looked at Zoro, who watched us with a small smirk.

"You'll do just fine," I finally said, "trust yourself."

"...Yes! Th-thank you."

Nami stepped away from leaning against the wall, perceiving our conversation as being over. We all grabbed our bags of food and started walking towards the shore, giving Koby one last wave.

The sky had faded into shimmering reds and yellows, casting long shadows along the salt stained boardwalks. I hadn't seen a sunset along a beach shore horizon in years, despite my living on a peninsula in an area no more than 30 minutes from a coastline. All three of us appeared to be subdued by the sparkling of the ocean, creating beautiful hues while we steadily drifted off away from the island. Even the clouds adorned a different but magically pink color, filling our view with nothing but striking charm.

There was only the slightest of disappointments when Koby did not see us off, but that was okay. He was going to be busy, the Marines were going to be busy, and we were most certainly going to be busy. Not a moment could be wasted in this world, no not at all.

We ate our food as the sun hid itself away under the horizon, watching the stars come out minute by minute. My eyelids felt heavy again, backed up by the sleepy bleariness of my vision. A yawn could make my head spin and blinking took far too long. Gosh, I seemingly always felt so tired, everything always felt like it was way too much. But, with the consultation of the star speckled sky…

Maybe I'd have a good dream this time around.