I don't own anything but my ideas.
Angel Down
It had taken three years for the city to really begin to thrive again. Energy and electricity was restored to the city, buildings were raised and establishments opened again, barricades separating the city from the outside world were breached, food was shipped in. The city was vibrant and alive, but not with the same energy that flowed through it before the vampires killers had caused a small-scale apocalypse. That energy could never be regained.
Kid and other engineers in the city had banded together, building their own generators to power the city after months of being cut off from the outside world; buildings were built to disguise the construction of inhabitants building a literal underground world under the military's nose; people armed themselves and smashed through military defenses to bring their own food back; and created their own way of life after the abandonment of all outside help. Stores were reopened, but mostly as fronts for the sale of drugs and weapons, because no reputable trade could hope to get the city back to its prior wealth.
Crime skyrocketed, and the city became a hub of mafia hierarchies, building one on top of the other and relying on their own strength to keep them on top and alive despite the fact that vampires continued to roam the streets. People had given up years ago on an explanation of where they had come from and moved on with their lives, all effort focused first on survival, and then regaining what dignity and life they had left before the lack destroyed them.
Military were not welcome, and it had become an unspoken game for vampires and city people to see who could get to the military first and kill them or remove them from the city limits. After this became apparent, the government had tried to hit back and regain control, but the backlash from the rest of the country was staggering. News stations and every source of media flooded with stories of the city that had attempted to succeed from the rest of the country, and were brutal massacred and beaten into the ground. Bodies of children and families could be seen in every paper, and eventually the general outcry forced the military to step back and let the city work itself out.
Not long after Thatch's death and Sabo's disappearance—dragged off into the night, leaving just a pool of blood behind—the military had led one last airstrike before the rest of the country began to protest the treatment of their own citizens. It was the biggest attack yet, and easily most destructive, leaving less than half of what was still standing in the city intact, and then the soldiers had marched in and began picking off everyone they came across—even people coming out to celebrate their rescue.
Kid and Law had weighed their options, considered the fact that somewhere along the line someone might have come across Killer's faked paperwork and packed up and vanished into the underground world with Killer, Zoro, Shanks, Ace, Luffy, and everyone else that was left and wanted to live. The two of them—already versed in the workings of the underground crime world—had moved up fairly quickly in the ranks and settled at a high enough position that Killer was feared enough to be left alone, and therefore safe.
Fighting vampires had become a way of life, dictated by fighting and how strong one was. If you weren't strong enough, you didn't survive to the next morning and a place in the hierarchy was cleared for someone stronger who would survive the next vampire attack. Everything had been transferred underground and out of prying eyes, and fight clubs and bars became the core of activity to prove strength and practice for going up against vampires. Because everything was hidden from the military, the barricade had come down just a few months ago, and instantly the city had been swarmed with crime, drugs, weapons, and people looking to prove their strength from other cities. The military had almost come back in before Shanks had stepped in and cracked down, placing himself on top of the hierarchy. Everything that came in and left the city was regulated, being that no one lived there anymore unless they had merged with the underground world, and Shanks' city became the cleanest and well-run gang territory in the entire country.
Shanks had quickly become as powerful as Mihawk was on the outside world, and once Luffy had seen the inner workings of the hierarchy he'd set out to lead the chaos himself, begging Zoro to join him in his adventures, but Zoro would have backed him without him even asking. Years of having Luffy as adopted family had gotten him too close to the eccentric boy to say no. Besides, with Shanks already so powerful that challengers risked their livelihoods to get past the military's watchful eye and into the city to join or fight in their underground, Luffy had a set goal and locked on a person to beat and make proud. Zoro was a little iffy when Nami was asked to join, but Usopp and Chopper were fine, and Franky was fun, so he couldn't do too much griping. He'd just have to put up with the witch.
Ace, after convincing Luffy to stay, had been unable to remain bottled up in the city following Sabo and Thatch. He felt he'd let them down, and set out to find something to bring the feeling he was missing back. Zoro and Luffy had seen him off, waving to him before he got into his beat up truck and drove out of the city limits.
"You don't want to go too?" Zoro turned to look at Luffy, who was grinning hugely despite the loss of a second brother.
"Nope!" Luffy smiled, turning to head back into the depths of the city. "I'm going to be the strongest, and I can't do that if I leave. After I've done that, I'll help Ace find Sabo's killer. Sabo will understand. Revenge wasn't his thing anyways. He'd get back at people, but it didn't have to be an immediate thing."
Zoro blinked before smiling to himself and shaking his head. There were some things about Luffy he would never understand, and some things that made so much sense it was hard to believe they came from the same person. Not that any of it made sense, but for Luffy, it made all the sense in the world.
"Hey Zoro, let's go down to Shanks' club and fight before the fight tonight!"
"Yeah, sure."
-oOo-
Shanks had been the most secure thing to come out of the city's destruction, and the protection he provided for his people was fantastic incentive for joining him. Most everyone from the city still alive had chosen to join him—abandoned by their government and country and with no faith in the rest of their future, Shanks was the only remotely positive and stable thing left in the wreckage, and the more people banded together, the stronger they were against the vampires. After the government had finally stepped back, it hadn't taken long for Law's information about NSPH's to circulate, and with the right information in hand, people began systematically taking down the "terrorists". There had been a lot of talk about scandals involving the heads of the military, but there was nothing to connect to them except a refusal to tell the general public, so it quickly blew over. In response, the military had come out in the open and organized teams that would sweep the country and exterminate the creatures they had "let" escape, though they were admitting no fault.
Zoro had joined the initiative instantly, grouping with Robin, Ace, Luffy, Usopp, Franky, a man named Brook, and Chopper for medical attention, trading off shifts during the night when small gangs of armed citizens went out and hunted down NSPH majors. They and the rest of the city had all refused to join the military due to recent history, and the battalions of soldiers hadn't stepped in yet to stop them, so for the moment all was quiet between the two powers. Every one of them accelerated in fighting at an almost alarming rate as they fought monsters at least twice their own strength, trusting their bodies to be strong enough to handle the enemy. And when the city had gotten so used to fighting for all forms of stress-relief, Shanks, looking at the way other gangs were run across the country, had opened a fight club for everyone that wanted to join. It was an enormous betting establishment, and the fights and competitors became so well renowned that fighters from other territories began flocking in under the cover of night to bet and compete for titles. Zoro had basically been a shoe-in for Shanks' fight club considering their history. Law and Kid had been asked to join and agreed, mostly for the stress relief but also to have some financial security. Brook and Franky were a ton of fun to watch in the arena, and Luffy had some of the most destructive fights around. Occasionally even Robin would fight, and watching her quick grace against an opponent was captivating.
The city was finally booming with people and money again. Completely self-run and self-sufficient, the government had eventually sent in special marines to make sure the law was being enforced, but that only created a game for everyone, and more incentive to be stronger, better, faster, smarter so as not to get caught. Shanks' city was a formidable enemy, but a calm and stable one under Shanks' steady hand, so for the time being, Zoro was enjoying the life of a professional fighter. It all brought him closer to someday fighting Mihawk.
With Luffy at the head of the traveling fighting team now that Ace was off traversing the world, Zoro was second behind him as regular travelers. Law and Kid had both refused, preferring to stay close to home for weapons projects, the hospital, and Killer. Occasionally they or someone else would come along if there was a special request or challenge, but aside from that, Luffy had been allowed to choose the members of the team and had decided on the eight people who had started off with him during their days of hunting down vampires.
Robin, Nami, Chopper, and Usopp they'd known for years. Nami had tried to break out of the underground world years ago after her foster family had abused her talent for gambling, threatening her sister if she didn't comply. She made it out, but it wasn't long before the fact that gambling and using tricks to make money got her in so much trouble with the law she was forced back underground. Her desire to take her old boss for every penny she was worth drew her back in too, and if Shanks' hadn't invited her into his ranks, as opposed to her foster family's, she would have been killed years ago. She was still getting used to the idea that she was stuck in the shadows for the time being.
Chopper was jumping levels faster than any medical prodigy seen in years. He'd been taught everything he knew by his aunt and had taken no formal classes, which mean he wasn't able to do anything in the world of medicine outside the underground. As it was, Chopper's skill was second only to Law's in Shanks' entire territory, but even Law admitted that Chopper was fast on the way to surpassing him. Chopper's only fallback, Law said, was his nervousness to take risks, and once he got over that, he would be unstoppable.
Usopp was more of company for Luffy, but he was a great shot and paranoid, which meant that he made a great lookout for danger. He was also Chopper's favorite storyteller and the one sent to sneak into places in disguise because of his paranoia.
Franky was a friend of a friend that had survived the city's destruction and joined Shanks' fight club. He was more company for Luffy, but also incredibly strong and great with gadgets. He'd nearly died as a kid and had his body rebuilt mostly with metal, which meant that he could build upon himself and upgrade his own body when it came time for fights.
Brook, a wandering man already, hadn't thought for a second before agreeing to join Luffy, despite squawking from everyone else that he hadn't consulted them. He was impossibly fast with a sword, like he didn't make cuts at all, and great with music so Luffy wasn't open to discussion about not bringing him along.
Zoro watched from his slouched position on the couch as Luffy launched himself across the lobby of the hotel they were staying at and Nami screamed at him from the front desk. She was rushing as fast as she could to get everything in order, knowing that the more time they spent in the lobby, the more charges for broken items they were likely to run up. Zoro sighed and placed a pillow over his head, oofing as Usopp and Chopper ran over him during their boisterous game of tag, and before he could yell at them, Luffy landed soundly on his face and sent them both sprawling across the floor.
"LUFFY!" Zoro swung out with the sheath of one of his swords, clocking Luffy upside the head and knocking him into a coffee table. Usopp and Chopper shrieked at the flying object coming straight for them and dashed behind a crowd of people who screamed and dispersed before anything happened to them.
"DOCTOR!" Chopper screamed as Luffy pulled his head from the table, bleeding from a small scratch in his hairline and slightly dazed. "WE NEED A DOCTOR!"
"YOU"RE THE DOCTOR!"
"YOU'RE PAYING FOR THAT!" Nami screamed from across the room, and Zoro growled as one of her smaller bags connected sharply with the side of his head. "THIS ISN'T IN THE BUDGET, WE STILL HAVE TO GET HOME!"
"YOHOHOHOHO!" Brook chortled and he and Franky whipped out their respective musical instruments, strumming them even over the ruckus they had created in the suddenly too-small lobby. The woman behind the counter looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel.
All was normal before a fight.
-oOo-
"Shishishishi!" Luffy chuckled, his hands tucked behind his head as they strolled out of the club. "That was easy! They were so weak!"
"He split your head open against the wall!" Nami snarled, a silver suitcase clutched tightly in her hand. "Those stitches are going to cost us a couple hundred dollars! It took so long to fix that, Franky and Brook had to leave early to make it back home before they were needed!"
"A COUPLE HUNDRED DOLLARS?!" Chopper shrieked, his mouth agape. "I don't charge that much!"
"The materials cost that much. You should know this, you're the doctor."
"I remember a time when I was fighting so much that I spent a few thousand a day average on stitches," Usopp drawled in a bored tone, puffing out his chest and thumping himself with one fist.
"REALLY?! THAT'S INCREDIBLE, USOPP!" Chopper whirled to him.
"It was back during the invasion of the vampires, when we had all been left by our own country and families to die!" Usopp struck a pose, jamming his pointer finger into the air. "The vampires all knew of my formidable strength and sought to take me down! Every night they would break down my door, and I would fight for hours to save the hundreds of women and children that had turned to me for safety!"
"That's so coooooooool!" Chopper's eyes were literally alight with excitement as he clung to Usopp's words.
Zoro just smirked and rolled his shoulder, trying to work out a small kink he hadn't noticed had set in after the fight. Both his and Luffy's opponents had been easy, a couple of stitches was nothing compared to some fights.
"Are you hurt, Zoro?"
Zoro looked down to where Chopper was scrutinizing him with worry, eyeing the way Zoro was favoring his right side.
"It's not bad, just a little stiff."
"Are you sure? Just tell me if it starts to hurt more, you've broken things before and not felt it because of adrenaline. You can't fight with an injury like that."
"I won't, Chopper, don't worry."
"You say that every time and you fight injured every time!"
Zoro blinked, something ahead of them catching his eye the same moment Luffy noticed it, and they slowed to a stop as something appeared in the shadows. It was enormous, huge and rotund, and Zoro blinked at the déjà vu that swept through him, but then a man stepped out into the light in front of them, grinning hugely with holes in his mouth where teeth were supposed to be, clothes bursting at the seams to stay on his body, fists hanging loosely by his side. Beside them, everyone else had noticed and slowed to a stop, Usopp and Chopper gaping unabashed at his huge form.
"Zehahahahahaha!" he bellowed suddenly, eyeing Luffy with a sick smile. "Impressive fight, Straw-hat. I haven't seen one that amusing in a long time!"
Luffy's expression was heavy, strangely so compared to his normal relaxed mindset. Zoro felt his fingers drift to his sword's side, Luffy's dark look making the situation that much more uncomfortable.
Blackbeard didn't seem to care.
Behind him, the door to a car with extremely tinted window swung open and another enormous man stepped out, purple hair draping down his back as he joined his boss in grinning at them.
Burgess.
"Teach," Nami said stiffly, arms crossed tightly in front of her. Zoro knew it was a tell, putting something between her and whoever she was facing, but it made her look that much more stable. Luffy had yet to move from his stance, and Zoro could feel the tense air around him as everyone waited for Luffy's next word or move. They were in front of the largest terminal of the city, but Zoro could already tell by the atmosphere that it either Teach or Luffy even started to initiate something, there would be no telling how much destruction would follow.
"I'm sorry for interrupting," he said finally, one eyebrow cocked and giving him an unhinged look. "But I wasn't expecting you to be at this fight, and I'm in need of a favor that your part would make more convenient for both of us."
Zoro clenched his teeth, fighting to keep his lips from pulling back. Teach and Luffy had never been on good terms, per se, but they had yet to get really bad either. It didn't make encounters with the man any easier or lighter.
"Zehahaha… unless you're headed to another fight before going home, in which case I'll find someone else, but I thought the payment might interest you."
Zoro felt Nami twitch beside him. Shit.
Teach nodded to Burgess, who pulled open the car door again and ducked inside, only to reappear with a silver suitcase in his hands. He stepped forward and past Luffy, offering the contents to Nami. Zoro could see the light flashing behind her eyes, and hoped that she wouldn't get rough enough that Luffy could still convince her out of it.
"There's ten thousand in there for each of you; you're welcome to inspect the contents."
Nami's eyes flicked from the suitcase up to Burgess and back a couple times before she reached out and popped the latches. Zoro could see the wads of cash inside from the couple of inches she had opened the lid so as not to draw attention. She reached inside and dug around, drawing out a random stack to inspect. She pulled a couple of bills from the center and rubbed her fingers along the material, holding it up to the street lamp above them before she slipped it back into the suitcase and shut the lid.
Come on, Luffy, make her leave it.
"Alright, what's this favor that's going to cost you eighty thousand?"
"Uh—zehahaha! Maybe I'm talking to the wrong negotiator, I only see five people—"
"We charge as a team. We have three people not currently with us. When one of us accepts a job or challenge it affects the reputation and future of all of us. Eighty thousand for eight of us. What's the job?" Her voice was ruthless.
Burgess scowled, looking back to Teach as if he expected him to back down and Zoro felt a little bit of relief wash through him. Maybe it would be easier than he thought to get them away from this. To his shock though, Teach's bland expression dropped to annoyed and then flipped all in a second and he was bellowing his laugh to the night sky again.
"I like you more and more!" he chortled before quieting down. Zoro's eyes flicked around them, tracking the people watching them as they passed by. If they didn't disperse soon there would be an even bigger scene.
"I'm running a shipment for a friend, but I've been called away for some important business and I can't make the run."
Nami looked ready to speak up, but he had anticipated the interruption.
"It's an important shipment and an important friend. What's more is that we're running pretty close to your boss's territory, which means that I would have to be there if we were stopped to diffuse the situation or negotiate. I was going to push the shipment, but it's pretty necessary to happen tonight, but I saw you at the fight and thought you might be looking to earn some more easy money."
Zoro felt a shiver run up his spine. He didn't think he'd ever get used to Blackbeard's sleazy smile, no matter how many times he saw it. His fingers twitched on his sword's hilt, air so tense he was about to ask Luffy himself to give him the go-ahead.
But easy money was not something Nami was prone to turning down.
"What's the shipment?"
Blackbeard shrugged, keeping his toothless smile wide. He knew he had her. "Drugs, weapons, pretty small scale stuff considering the rumors I've heard about what's going on behind Shanks' walls. A legitimate fight club, huh? The marines won't be happy if they catch wind of it. Especially considering that he's so new in his territory."
Nami's eyes grew dark, and beside her, Luffy twitched again. "Are you threatening us?"
"Zehahahahahaha! Before asking a favor of you? I'd be a very bad employer! It's an hour drive, only twenty minutes out of the way of Shanks' territory, at an abandoned warehouse. You don't have to do nothing but drive it there and leave the whole truck. Once it's at the warehouse, the cargo can be moved by other means and there's no risk of having a run-in with some of Shanks' guard dogs. No checkpoints and no questions, when you get there you can use the phone of the guy meeting you to call me and get a… receipt of sorts so that we can't make it seem like you made off with the truck."
Nami's lip was pulled back, like she smelled something particularly, nasty, but she had that look in her eye…
"I want to see the cargo. And I want the other thirty thousand upfront with the rest of it."
"Nami~!" Luffy whined suddenly, and Zoro closed his eyes in relief. "I don't want to drive it! I'm so hungry and Franky said there would be food waiting when we got back!"
"We'll stop and get food on the way back."
"Really?!"
Shit. The fight was over.
"Luffy! We can't start doing shipments like this!" Usopp chimed in. "What if we get caught? Everyone gets arrested and you'd never be able to fight or, or, or eat good food again!"
"EH?!" Luffy whirled to face Usopp, but Nami was fast.
"We'll have a lot of money left over from not hiring cabs to get home if we drive ourselves, which means you can get whatever you want when we stop to get food."
"REALLY?!"
"Zehahahaha! I was worried for a minute that I was talking to the wrong person, but you're quite good at your job!"
Zoro growled, watching as Luffy's eyes sparkled with the possibilities of what he could eat, and it would be sooner than if they'd just gone straight home anyways.
"I want to see the cargo now; I haven't said yes to anything yet."
"It's right in back of the building. Why don't you hop in and we'll drive you around?"
"We'll walk, thanks."
"Zehahahahaha!"
Zoro sighed heavily and took his hand off his sword, moving to follow them as they started walking towards an alley leading to the back parking lot. Well, ten thousand would help to pay off what he owed her if nothing else.
-oOo-
"Congratulations on your wins, Zoro and Luffy!"
Oh yeah, now she was happy.
Zoro glared up at the front seat that Nami had claimed for herself long before the trip had started. She had delegated driving to Usopp and apparently giving the piss annoyed out of him to Zoro, which meant that he was stuck sharing the sleeper half of the cab, fending off Chopper and Luffy from doing more bodily harm to him in their inability to hide their excitement. Zoro grumbled to himself and slunk further into the corner, trying to tuck his head into a somewhat comfortable position.
Zoro watched from a safe distance, keeping the car, Burgess, Teach, and everyone else directly in his line of vision, arms crossed tightly but not so much that he would be slowed if he suddenly had to go for his swords.
Nami had pulled herself fearlessly up inside the trailer alongside Luffy, relying a little too much on their ability to block horrible things long enough to get out alive, in Zoro's opinion, but saying that would get him hamstrung.
Teach pulled a crowbar from the side of the truck, and Zoro's fingers found a hilt, his eyes flicking to the right as Burgess slid a hand behind him where, no doubt, an incredibly poorly concealed gun was stashed in his belt. Like that would help.
The dark iron was jammed into the side of one of the wooden crates with a sharp crack as the wood split, and the top popped off and went crashing to the metal bed of the trailer. Nami's hand was inside the packing material instantly, coming up with a small box. She tore the top open on that without bothering to get an OK and held up a couple of vials filled with a thick, cloudy substance.
"Drugs," Teach gestured to the crate, "weapons," he motioned to some others at the back of the trailer, "there's some jewelry in one of the crates, a couple vehicles have been broken down in those five… that sort of thing. Most of these are gifts, the drugs and weapons are for a little extra money."
Nami dropped the vials back in the crate, ignoring the look Teach gave her at her treatment, but Zoro knew that she was testing his reactions and had no intent to damage the cargo. She yanked a second crowbar from the other side of the trailer where it was hanging and handed it to Usopp, pointing to a random crate stacked under two others. All of them had been labeled "this side up" with a large arrow on the side. "Open that one."
Teach laughed hugely as Usopp went to pop open the crate, sending the top clattering to the ground like the other had. He paused a moment, looking into the box with a slight quiver, as if waiting for it to explode in his face. He blinked though and put the crowbar down, reaching in to shuffle around and pull at the black thing poking out of the packing. He grunted and came up with a large gun, inspecting it before brushing aside more of the packing material to verify that the rest were guns too.
Even from where Zoro was, he could see the heavy matte finish on the side of the gun and several nicks and scratches. From the way Usopp was holding it too, far more delicately than he held any other weapon, it looked fairly flimsy. Usopp turned it over and over again, aiming it to check the alignment before shrugging to Nami.
"Alright," Nami turned to Teach, motioning for Usopp to put the gun back. "The rest of the eighty thousand."
Zoro tuned out the grating sound of Teach's laugh as Usopp hurried out of the truck and to his side, in enemy territory far too long for his liking.
"…They're really cheaply made," he said after a while, and Zoro just nodded. "I would have thought Blackbeard would put a little more effort in the quality of his goods before shipping them."
"He isn't making them, he's just shipping them. As long as they get to where they're supposed to be going, it doesn't matter," Chopper appeared beside Zoro's side, whispering so as to keep under Burgess' radar. Everyone else was still in the car, waiting for Teach to finish. "Although… that medicine he showed Nami… it's completely the wrong color. It's horrible quality, or they've been really contaminated. I've never seen anything that bad looking before."
"I don't like where this is going," Zoro muttered, watching as Teach pulled more cash from his oversized coat's pockets. Usopp nodded quickly in agreement, shuffling around to stand beside Chopper for extra protection.
"I hope they don't administer those to any patients," Chopper whimpered, clinging to Zoro's pant leg like Killer used to. Zoro laid a hand on Chopper's head and pulled him close. Nami was a witch, but she wouldn't put any of them in danger.
"They might have just labeled them wrong on purpose," he tried, hoping it was intelligent enough in the medical field to convince the young doctor out of his worry. "Just incase they were searched on the road, most police won't know what color normal medical supplies are supposed to be."
Chopper nodded after a moment, sniffling to himself and still clutching pathetically at Zoro's hip, but he didn't answer.
"THIS IS LIKE A SPACESHIP!"
Chopper shrieked in agreement, leaping over to Zoro and latching onto him. Zoro oofed, curling further into himself after he recovered and trying to shake Chopper off of his shoulder. Chopper was a seventeen year old kid and much tinier than others his age, but any weight launched at him wasn't going to be comfortable. Especially when he was trying to sleep. If they were in two cabs like they'd planned this wouldn't be a problem. Damn witch.
"NAMI! Lets get one of these for our next fight!"
"No!"
"But it's so coooooool! Just think of all the meat we could store in the back!"
"NO!"
"When are we stopping to get food?!"
"I already told you!" Nami shrieked, wrenching around in her seat to snarl at him with fangs practically sprouting out of her gums and steam pouring out of her ears. Zoro was about ready to do the same if they didn't let him sleep. "After we drop the truck of at the right spot we'll eat while we wait for our cabs to come! We can't drive this home!"
"But that's so looooooong! You said we'd get food before we get home!"
"WE ARE! We can't drive this truck full of illegal cargo through a drive through though! Usopp, drive faster! I can't listen to Luffy whine for too much longer!"
Usopp made a nervous sound, clenching the steering wheel tighter, for some reason refusing to look at Nami. Zoro was betting on annoyance for putting him in this situation.
"I… I really can't, there aren't that many streetlights here and the truck is so flimsy. The headlights barely go a hundred feet ahead of us, and every little bit of wind catches the trailer and I swear Luffy is going to tip us over one of these times jumping from one side to the other. Everything is making us rock like we're on a ship."
Zoro pursed his lips, eyebrows turning inward with confusion. Cheap weapons, cheap drugs, cheap crates to pack them in, cheap truck, even the excuse was cheap… really the only money they're spending is on us to ship it, and that might even be more than all of the cargo—including the truck—is worth… what the hell is going on?
Zoro leaned forward and placed his hand on the shoulder of her seat to catch her attention. "Hey, Nami—"
Usopp screamed suddenly, silencing Zoro as something flew by his head and smacked against the windshield. The truck jolted to the right with Usopp's dodge, and the second it was driving straight again Usopp whirled around to scream at Luffy, who was clapping in glee at the rollercoaster turn the ride had taken.
"Luffy, you idiot, you want to kill us?!"
"Usopp, watch the road!"
Usopp whipped around again, realizing that he was driving blind, but the second he was focused on the road again something appeared out of the black, racing into the short-range headlights and blaring its horn as it sped towards them like a bullet.
The cab erupted in screams, and Usopp wrenched the wheel to the side, flinging the truck out of the way of the swerving car and swinging it dangerously onto the wrong side of the road where it began to lean up onto one side of wheels, rubber bouncing and grinding along the pavement. Usopp shrieked and spun the wheel frantically into the spin, limbs flailing as everyone tried to find purchase, flinging the trailer back onto both sets of tires and the rubber screamed against the ground as the truck spun. Usopp slammed his foot on the brakes, launching them all forward as he threw the truck into reverse and revved the engine in one last attempt to keep them from jackknifing, finally screeching to a halt on the opposite side of the road, facing the direction they'd come in.
The truck was silent except for the frantic gasps of five people desperately trying to convince themselves that they were all still alive and could breathe. Zoro's eyes flicked up to where Chopper was damn near sitting on his head, behind him, Luffy had somehow attached himself to the ceiling and was gaping down at them. Zoro's own fingers were white against Nami's seat, while Nami had almost completely upturned herself and had her feet on the ceiling to keep her from flying all over the cab. She let out a furious shriek the moment she worked her fingers open enough to let go of the seat buckle strap and smashed her fist into Usopp's head.
"YOU IDIOT! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET US ALL KILLED?!"
"If I hit that stupid drunk driver we'd have to call the police and they'd take the truck and arrest us all!" Usopp wailed, scooting quickly away from her clenched hand. "You want a dead guy too?! This night is too weird for me! We never should have taken this stupid truck! We could be home right now and eating Franky's food!"
Zoro reached up to pry Chopper from his neck, and once he had the younger boy in his lap, grabbed Luffy's ankle and yanked him to the floor with a crunch, muffled by the things that had been thrown around the cab in the… excitement.
"You probably destroyed half of the cargo!"
"It's all packed away and we didn't flip over!" Usopp yelled back at her. "It's not even our problem anyways! Let's just take the money, leave the truck, and go home!" Tears were spouting like geysers out of his eyes. Nami growled and flung her door open, jumping to the ground.
"You're paying for anything broken!" she snarled, voice fading as he trudged to the door of the trailer. "Luffy! Zoro! Get out here and help me in case anything is heavy!"
Zoro groaned and heaved himself out of the mess that had rained down on their heads, sending Chopper and everything else tumbling to the floor. He should be sleeping. Luffy launched himself over Usopp's head on the other side, ignoring the long-nose's yelp as he dashed to the back of the truck.
Zoro's tirade under his breath continued all to the back of the truck, drowned out only by the sharp grind of metal as Luffy threw the trailer door open. Usopp grimaced at the sound, no doubt worried about driving such a rickety vehicle anywhere else, especially if something like that would cause that much damage. There really wasn't any pressure put on the truck, even when it had tipped partially off the ground. Anything else on the road would have survived it with no problem. To be honest, he didn't want to drive it anywhere else either. But there was no number to get ahold of Teach and Zoro knew Nami wouldn't back down from the job and put Shanks' and his teams' reputations at stake.
Luffy leapt up, not seeming to be fazed in the slightest by either the near-death situation or Nami's demonic expression, and marched to the back of the truck where several crates had upset themselves and were scattered across the bed of the trailer. At least none of them had opened.
"Luffy! Wait for Zoro! I want you two picking them up together, we're not risking breaking anything! We can argue to not lose pay because the drunk driver couldn't be helped, but if we break anything now, we get severely docked! Zoro, why are you just standing there?!"
Zoro sighed heavily and scratched at the back of his head before pulling himself up after Luffy. His boots echoed heavily throughout the thin metal of the trailer, and as Zoro found more and more dents in the floor created by the fallen crates, he felt himself growing steadily more and more confused. Teach may not have given a shit about the contents of the crates, but he did take his shipping business very seriously, and here he was sending an important shipment with one of the weakest trucks Zoro had ever seen. They were lucky none of the crates ripped a hole in the bottom of the trailer. So either Teach actually didn't care about his shipments, or he liked to play dangerous and cheaper trucks meant more money for him as long as the shipment got to its destination ok. Maybe that's why he had so many huge guys with him all the time.
Or, Zoro rolled his stiff shoulder again before bending down to grab the other side of the crate Luffy was already holding, he's just not spending the money on a truck that might get seized. No point in wasting it.
"Ready—"
"Yosh!" Luffy barked suddenly and Zoro grunted as the crate was thrust into his chest, Luffy snapping into a standing position and heaving the wood back on top of the other crates before Zoro could really even get his hands on it.
"Luffy!" Nami screamed, about ready to get into the trailer after them and beat them senseless. Her hair was sticking out in different places, and whether that was from their ride in the truck or her playing with it, when Nami wasn't caring about her looks, Zoro stayed as far away as possible to avoid more interest and debt. "Together! You're going to break something!"
Her nerves seemed pretty fried at the moment, and they knew better than to push her when she was like this. Luffy turned back to the next crate with a newfound determination, face scrunched up in concentration as he nodded to Zoro. Zoro just reached for the crate, ignoring all of the idiocy in the air around him. He waited until Luffy decided that he had a good grip on the wood, and then the straw hat bobbed in a nod and he and Luffy stood.
Zoro winced at the sharp crack of splintering wood and nails being popped from their deep hold in the material and the bottom of the crate smashed to the ground, guns and packing peanuts raining out over their shoes and clattering like thunder against the metal under them. Another piece of wood, like a divider in the box, smashed to the ground and something heavy puddled like cloth on top of the guns. A case. Nami looked about ready to pass out.
Zoro's eyes snapped down to the box in his and Luffy's hands, where a stamp that read "this way up" with a very large arrow next to it was pointing at the ground. Zoro growled and shoved the box into Luffy's arms, bending down to throw everything back into the crate as fast as he could. Fuck this night.
He grabbed the case first, intending to use it instead of the packing peanuts so they didn't have to pick all of them up, but the thing his fingers closed around was much firmer and… warmer than what he'd been expecting and Zoro's hand jolted back, breath freezing in his throat at the shock.
His first thought was that an animal had gotten into the box, but then he realized how smooth it had been and just how much it felt like leather. Soft, firm, warm leather, wrapped around bones and connected to an entire body. The unmistakable human form of the thing smashed into his brain like a wrecking ball and he was left floundering and spluttering for words, flabbergasted that he hadn't recognized the shape at his feet sooner.
His eyes snapped up to meet Luffy's the same time the younger man realized what was happening too, before they turned back to gape at the floor, brains trying to understand and take in the person—bruised, blood-soaked, emaciated, ghostly pale, covered in dirt, and nearly stripped naked—unconscious on the floor of the semi at their feet.
-oOo-