Authors Note: Howdy. No long note here… Enjoy!
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And there was their swordsman –Zoro- Lying defeated in a puddle of his blood.
"What the hell is this?" Sanjii shouted, his eyes scanning over the area confused. A man with tightly toned muscles stood over Zoro's still body, his finger tips dripping with Zoro's blood. A blank smile was riddled over his face and his eyes lacked any gaze.
"Ah!" Doflamingo exclaimed, pressing the tips of his fingers together under his chin. He sat propped up against a tree, his back pressing against the bark of the tree. Unlike his crew member, there was a malicious smile on his face and his eyes, though they were masked by glasses, shot through the straw hat crew that had gathered in front of him.
"Welcome back! I see you defeated those adorable little wastes of spaces that I had on my crew." Doflamingo continued. Luffy growled, enraged by how Doflamingo treated his comrades. "Honestly, I would have been surprised if any of them had actually beaten you. They were more for distractions and entertainment than actual fighting."
"Now, I don't want you to think that all of my crew is like that. Of course not, they were just a few men I had outgrown." Doflamingo rambled on, talking about his failed crewmates in a spiteful manner. His flicked his hand away, representing him pushing the old crewmates out of his mind like annoying bugs.
Luffy's hands clenched into fists and his straw hat lingered darkly over his eyes. His rage against Doflamingo was suspended by his concern for Zoro. "What did you do to Zoro?" The captain asked bitterly as he began to walk towards his fallen swordsmen.
Doflamingo shrugged and tilted his head towards his companion, "It wasn't me. It was Dalburn over here." The man gestured at a man whose muscles were tightened, pressed against his skin without an ounce of fat. Dalburn's short brown hair hung over top of his sharpened face, where his cheek bones stuck out at high angles and his beady eyes pierced from under thick, lowered eyebrows. His eyes shifted, taking in as much of the crew as he could. But unlike Doflamingo, his mouth was not stretched into an enormous smile. Rather, his petite lips contrasted the rest of his figure, simply being two little lines lost in the rough exterior of his body.
"Chopper, Usopp" Luffy started, "You two look after Zoro. The rest of you, we're going to bring this murderer down." At the orders, Chopper frantically scurried over to the swordsman's side, Usopp followed. Nami looked at the site of Dalburn and at her lack of weapons or fighting skills and decided it would be better to aid Chopper in any way. As Luffy saw Nami leave out of the corner of his eye, he silently handed her his precious hat. She replied with a soft nod and gently took it from him.
Thus Sanjii, Luffy, and Robin advanced on the man who hovered by Doflamingos side. Sanjii was the first to bolt out from the trio and he rushed towards the man. Doflamingo turned to his companion, "Go ahead. Have a little fun."
Dalburn replied with a blank nod and dashed towards Sanjii, preparing to meet the cook halfway. Sanjii leapt up, his leg already cocked and ready for a kick. After a short spin he plowed it into the chest of Dalburn. But the beast of a man seemed to be unaffected by the kick as he continued to charge forward, even with Sanjii's leg still furrowed into his muscled chest. Dalburn slammed on his breaks, lurching backwards and tossing Sanjii off, who landed somewhat less than gracefully on the ground several feet away. Sanjii prepared to follow up with another kick, this time aiming at the mans calves. He turned, swooping the ground and spinning up dirt from under Dalburn's legs. However, the man simply jumped, launching himself high into the air. Sanjii stopped and took a moment to look up, trying to trace his foe in the sky. He spotted the tan blimp in the air and saw it descend towards him with ferocious velocity. Sanjii backed up several feet, attempting to give himself enough room from the landing zone. He flexes his knees and prepared his next assault as soon as Dalburn was a few meager feet from the air. But, just has Dalburn landed he shifted his entire weight into his fall. His hands and feet simultaneously meet the cracked ground and created a massive rift, a minor earthquake. The earth shook slightly and a large meteoric dent appeared in the ground. Waves of dust and dirt flew from the spot and consumed the air. Sanjii, who had been midair at the time of the impact, was blown away by the sheer air force of the landing. He tumbled uselessly through the air, constantly trying to grip the ground with his hands or his feet, but found them in utter disarray by the violent shock. Finally, the tip of his shoe caught onto stable ground, and it dug into the corner of the cracks, securing a landing for Sanjii. The cook quickly tried to regain his composure, but his balance was shaking as the sky had turned brown from the impacted dirt. He peered around, searching for his opponent. And soon enough he found him, as Dalburn's veined fist slammed directly into Sanjii's face.
Sanjii stumbled back from the force and his hands immediately shot up to nose. The cook was suddenly filled with the scene of Zoro punching him the night before. Blood began to violently rush out of Sanjii's nose, much more than had ever occurred from Sanjii having seen a pretty lady. Drops of the metallic liquid flooded into Sanjii's mouth, gagging him slightly. He shook his head and coughed out some blood, trying to remind himself of the fight. But just as he looked up Dalburn was on him and followed up with several blows to Sanjii's stomach. The sickening crack of ribs could be heard through the dusted valley.
Just as Dalburn was about to unleash another punch; a familiar rubber hand stopped it in its tracks. Luffy's warm fingers rolled over the edges of Dalburn's thick fist. The man stopped slightly in surprise at his blow being caught. The captain looked up from under his raven hair, and his expression was filled with pain, sadness and anger. But Dalburn didn't have the chance to figure out the expression before Luffy swung his other hand into the side of Dalburn's face. Dalburn's neck twisted sharply, turning sharply to the side from the attack. Luffy released the man's other hand and unleashed his trade mark Gatling gun, thrusting hundreds of his fists in the direction of the mans face. It was a flurry of tan fists as Luffy pounded down the opponent.
The dust began to settle, but Luffy did not quit, continuing his barrage and feeling the hot flesh as his fist connected to Dalburn's skin. The captain took a deep breath and slowed his assault. But as soon as he slowed down, tight hands squeezed over the top of his fingers, halting his blows in midair. Dalburn stood against Luffy, their hands interlocked in a stalemate. Luffy let out a small gasp as the man who had assumed he had just pummeled, was nearly unhurt. With the exception of a few small bruises under the eye and a little blood trailing out of the corner of his lip, Dalburn looked unharmed by Luffy's assault.
A little smile peaked at the corner of Dalburn's mouth. His grip around Luffy's hands tightened and the captain's eyes widened. Luffy picked up his feet and pressed them into Dalburn's stomach, trying to free his hands, but the beast mans grip was far too tight. Luffy let out a small gulp before Dalburn flung the stringy captain over his head. Dalburn twisted his body and managed to slam Luffy into the ground behind him. A large dent in the earth appeared. But Dalburn didn't let go. He repeated the process, throwing Luffy over his head and slamming him into the ground, this time in front of him. The captain coughed slightly, inhaling dirt and blood. Dalburn looked around and saw the cook still clutching his nose with one hand and his ribs with the other hand. Dalburn spun once or twice, building up his momentum, before releasing his grip on Luffy, sending the poor captain hurtling towards his defenseless cook. The pair collided, knocking both backwards several feet.
You could hear the impact and the simmered groans that followed the impact from across the entire valley. Dalburn sprinted towards the defeated duo, leaping up into the air, preparing to land on them, crush them. However, just as he left the ground a small arm jutted out from his ankle, causing the oaf of a man to trip and stumble forward in the air. Dalburn recovered, taking the trip in stride and rolling over himself to land safely back on the ground.
He looked behind him and saw the black haired women standing several feet away. He took a quick glance at the captain and cook, still untangling themselves, and decided to go for the women. Hopping back on his feet, Dalburn swaggered towards Robin. She flexed her arms, crossing them gently in front of each other. Moments later, replica arms sprung out on Dalburn's arm. There was a minor moment of surprise as Dalburn looked down at the irregular grown arms sprouting from him. But the feeling of shock soon passed as one of the arms inched towards his neck. Dalburn reached his hand up and grabbed the wrist of the arm and held on to it. With a slight turn down of his lips, the man twisted his hand and the wrist of Robin's sprouted arm gave a large crack.
Robin shrieked and suddenly all of her arms disappeared from Dalburn's body. She tentatively reached for her wrist, coddling it she noticed it was fine, but she still felt the pain that he had caused to her fake arm. She looked up at the man with a scowl on her face. She flexed once again, yet this time dozens of arms and hands sprouted from Dalburn. There was no surprise or hesitation this time. Dalburn's hands flew everywhere and to every hand that Robin had exposed on his body. He grabbed his hand and snapped it back, causing the arm to disappear. After breaking several of the arms, Dalburn risked a glance up at the women. Robin was panting heavily, her fingers looped around her wrist in an effort to dispel the pain. Yet, she kept the sprouting arms coming. For every few Dalburn took down, Robin conjured up several more, despite the pain that flowed into her from the broken one.
Hundreds were growing over Dalburn's body, and many were approaching his neck, despite how fast he was destroying them. Finally, one of Robin's skinny fingers found its way to the mans neck. Her hand cradled around his neck, preparing to snap his neck back and end him, just as he had snapped her wrists. Her hand went back, but there was not enough strength to force the meaty neck backwards. The hand simply lingered there, barely even bruising his neck.
Dalburn looked at the poor women, who lay crumpled on the ground with sweat beading down her neck. The combination of creating so many arms and the pain that each breaking had exhausted her. Her frail body began to shake slightly, but she was determined not to show it. She glared back at Dalburn with fierce eyes that so contrasted her present stature.
The man advanced on her, each shake of his step beating against her heart beat. She let out long slow breathes, trying to think of something, anything.
Suddenly, a stretched out arm grappled the rough brown hair of Dalburn. The fingers dug into his hair, pulling the man backwards. Dalburn immediately shot his hands up to grasp the arm and turned around, seeing the tan arm attached to the captain who was now standing and panting several feet away. Dalburn held onto the hand and then immediately dashed towards the captain, something Luffy was not expecting. Dalburn was in his face in seconds and plowed his fist into the captain's gut. Luffy stumbled back, tripping over Sanjii who was still recovering on the ground. Luffy attempted to exchange blows with Dalburn, blocking and punching, constantly searching for an opening. But Dalburn was quicker and ruthless. As Luffy swung angrily at him, Dalburn decided to take the punch to his shoulder, much to Luffy's surprise. But in that split moment of Luffy's impact, Dalburn decided to change subjects. He swung his foot into Sanjii's throat, causing the cook to cough violently and spit up blood. The cooks' neck bent inwards, leaving a nasty dent and the blonde man gasping for air.
"You ass!" Luffy screamed when he realized Dalburn only took his blow in order to attack Sanjii. The raven haired boy's mind was emptied of any strategy, replaced with the urge to punch and punch. But Dalburn had the advantage. Luffy wasn't necessarily a close range fighter as there was little his gum-gum powers could do when he was merely a foot from his opponent. Dalburn on the other hand was close range, knowing precisely how to cock his elbow to maximize the amount of hits, where to hit, and how to get the most out of his punch.
Despite Luffy's rapid punches, Dalburn was unfazed and unleashed a powerful, single punch, forcing the captain back several feet. Luffy, opening his eyes through the spotting pain, looked around to see Dalburn missing. Suddenly, he felt a sharp blow from behind his head and his instincts were not quite fast enough to catch the attack. Luffy staggered forward and immediately his instincts directed his hands to the back of his head. His fingers found a bloody welt at the back of his head and black spots swarmed his vision. Dalburn, now behind the boy, casually picked up the dizzied child and gripped his thick hands in Luffys hair and pulled. The captain let out a yelp. Dalburn, now suddenly bored with this opponent tossed him aside, launching him directly at Robin who was too drained to avoid the flying captain. Once again, Luffy collided with one of his crewmates, crashing into them, but this time with silence.
"You may be excellent fighters on your own, but honestly, you don't exactly fight well as team." Doflamingo mocked from afar, enjoying the battlefield scene.
Dalburn looked around, seeing his three opponents laying coughing, bloodied and defeat. He scanned the battlefield for the other two and his eyes finally rested upon the reindeer, the other woman, the long nosed boy, and his previous opponent.
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While the fighting was commencing, a shivering and scared reindeer loomed over the broken swordsman. The reindeer frantically began to check Zoro for serious wounds, and finding many he got increasingly worried. A long gash swept across Zoro's back and blood poured freely out of it. Several bruises dotted Zoro's normally calm face and many more lingered over his body. Chopper tore off Zoro's shirt, handing Nami the shirt in order to make bandage strips, and let out a small gasp at what he saw. A small part of Zoro's rib was stick out of his skin and Chopper carefully ran his fingers over the swordsman's lungs, feeling the cracked and broken ribs under the muscular skin. As Choppers hooves traced the injuries, Zoro grunted and his face squished up into itself. Chopper let out a panicked sorry, before sighing in relief. Zoro was alive.
Chopper turned to Usopp, his eyes filled with seriousness, and instructed Usopp to go into the forest and find a plant blue in hue, with 6 leaves, and that smelt of peppermint and chocolate. Usopp nodded and darted off towards the forest without asking any questions. Chopper was ready to instruct Nami to head over to the ship when he looked up and saw the orange haired woman with tears streaming down her cheek.
"How could this happen?" Nami sniffled. "To Zoro of all people… He's strong." She almost dabbed her tears with his bloody shirt.
Chopper nodded sympathetically. "It will be okay. Luffy and Sanjii and Robin will take care of the guy that did this." And with that Chopper hopefully looked up at the fight. Just in time to see Luffy get thrown into Sanjii. Chopper winced. Things were looking bad.
Nami began to rip her shirt and Zoro's shirt into strips and hand them to Chopper, who skillfully looped them around his arms and legs in an effort to stop the bleeding from wounds that weren't too serious.
"Wait!" Chopper exclaimed, nearly frightening Nami. "In my pouch, over there," Chopper pointed his hoof in the direction of the clearing where they first entered. "I had brought medicine to assist anybody from the village."
Nami nodded and stood up, darting to the edge of the clearing, picking up the bag and sprinting bag, not wanting to waste a single second.
"Perfect." Chopper muttered as he opened the bag and dug out piles and piles of medicine. Within moments he was slathering goo over Zoro's wounds, stitching up other places, padding scratches and so on. He managed a glance up at the battle and saw how badly things were going. I need to go help. Chopper thought. But he shook that thought aside. I need to help Zoro right now. Besides, what could I do? Luffy and Sanjii are already out there, this guy beat Zoro, what help would I possibly be?
Usopp burst through the clearing holding a massive pile of the plant Chopper had described. Wordlessly, Chopper took the plant from the panting Usopp and stuck it in his mouth. "Hey!" Usopp shouted.
Chopper shot Usopp a look to silence him and then opened his mouth, reached in and grabbed out a blue gum like substance that dripped and oozed. The medic took it out and squeezed the blue liquid into Zoro's mouth. The barely living swordsman did his best to swallow it before Chopper dropped the entire blue substance into his mouth. Zoro gagged, his tongue fighting to furiously kick the substance from his throat. But Chopper continued to thrust it down. "This should help you breathe better." Chopper grunted as the swordsman finally swallowed. His breathing slowed down slightly, much to Choppers relief.
And suddenly, the swordsman's eyes shot open. His green eyes met Choppers and the reindeer leapt back, surprised by Zoro's consciousness.
"Zoro!" Chopper screamed with glee! Across the field, Doflamingo casually glanced at the distant group.
Zoro furrowed his brow and attempted to move, but was held back by the doctor. Chopper began to berate him on the importance of not moving, of staying still, of the importance of his injuries. But Zoro ignored him and propped himself up on his knees. The world was slowly spinning and black dots infested the corner of his vision. This nausea made Zoro almost come close to vomiting, but the swordsman held it back. He could hear Chopper in the background, nearly yelling at him to stay down, but Zoro continued to refuse.
He tried to stand, unsuccessfully. He fell forward, his knees stumbling out from under him. Zoro lurched several feed, landing back on his knees near the edge of the forest. He let out a devastated sigh and turned around, feeling a sickening crack in his chest and a ripping in his back. A grunt escaped his mouth as he fell backwards. His back found the bark of a tree and rested there. Zoro tried to open his eyes up to the burning scene in front of him. A fire blazed in the distance, Doflamingo in the corner, Luffy being thrown towards Robin, Sanjii lying on the ground, Chopper and Usopp rushing towards him. And there he was, propped up against a tree, gasping for breath and feeling the weakness and soreness in his body.
But then he saw something else, something that caught his eye. That man, Shit, what was his name? Dinkleburg?Dalbo?...Dalburn, was staring at them and he was beginning to walk over, getting closer and closer. He beat me. So now am I going to die? Shit. Zoro swore several more times. He stared at the approaching man, but it was not hatred he felt towards him. It was respect for the man, but hatred for himself. How could he hate a man simply because he was stronger than him? He respected that strength. But I still hate. Hate myself for this stupid weakness. For this approaching death. For not being able to fulfill my promise.
Zoro's eyes slinked back into his head, full of visions of his childhood and his promises and his dreams. How defeated they seemed in the face of death.
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Dalburn was now lurking his way, determined to finish off his first prey. Suddenly all movement seemed to stop on the field. Not a breath was inhaled, not a beat was taken, and not a step was walked. Silence fell across the field. Dalburn looked around and saw Doflamingo waving at him, signaling for Dalburn to stop, which the man obediently did.
"Nice fight." Doflamingo said loudly, loud enough for even those drifting into unconsciousness could hear it. He mockingly began to slap slowly. "Well I wish I could say that. But you three barely even last 5 minutes again Dalburn! At least your precious Zoro lasted 10 minutes!" Doflamingo cackled, his voice boomed over the meadow.
Luffy stirred on the field, gritting his teeth and seeping with rage.
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*Flashback Begin*
It was just him, his swords, and his opponent. Zoro needed nothing more. He drew his swords and carefully placed one his mouth. He flexed his knees and charged towards his opponent. One slash. Two slash. Another cut across the man's shoulder, but his attacks just seemed to bounce off the muscles. Another slash, another strike- but the man was far to fast, whipping out and dodging in every direction. Another punch, another slam- right into Zoro's face and his shoulder. Blurring pain, but the swordsman continued on fighting. Zoro swung again, with movements and power, but they were simply deflected and ignored. Instead, he was attacked; another punch to the face and soon the swordsman was slammed up against the tree. Dalburn picked him up and ripped him off the bark, and a giant bloody gash ripped up against Zoro's back. More blood. More dizziness. Seeing and standing and breathing became difficult. Zoro's posture slumped down, his head began to hang and his grip loosened on his swords slightly. Darkness was taking over his vision and even Zoro's willpower could not match the sheer strength of his opponent.
And suddenly he heard a voice, Doflamingo's. The bloody silence of the field was overwhelming. Dalburn stopped and Zoro felt the relief of no new pain, followed by a flood of the old pain. "I'm impressed." Doflamingo shouted out. Zoro glanced through his blood that trickled over his eyes and glared at the brightly colored man.
"Honestly, I didn't expect this much of you." Doflamingo said. "After all, you come from that pathetic crew, but I'm impressed." Zoro spit out some blood and continued glaring at the man.
"But I have a question for you…Simply for your benefit. But I must admit I'm curious in the answer." Doflamingo continued on.
"What?" Zoro asked roughly.
"If I gave you a choice, and you may only choose one… what would you choose? Your dream or your nakama?" Doflamingo asked, tilting forward and propping his chin on the tip of his manicured finger.
*End flashback*
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The field remained quiet until Doflamingo exclaimed, "And now, I shall ask of you the same question that I asked your swordsman! Your dream or your Nakama? You may only choose one…"
"That's a stupid question!" Luffy shouted, not even hesitating to think over his answer. "I'm going to be the Pirate King!"
"So… you would choose your dream?" Doflamingo asked, confused and surprised.
"NO!" Luffy screamed. "I would choose my Nakama. My nakama will help make me Pirate King. What's a Pirate King without his crew?" Doflamingo gave a weak nod, but his smile stayed strong.
"And," Luffy continued with a softer tone, "My friends mean more to than me any dream. My friends are my dream and would do anything for them!"
"And the rest of you?" Doflamingo asked, extending the question.
Sanjii, though in his beaten state, heard the question. My friends or the All Blue? What is all the good fish and food in the world worth, if there is nobody for me to cook it for? I'd much rather have my friendships, even with shit-head swordsman, than spend my dream alone.
Nami hadn't thought about her dream in a while, and now it seemed so simple, so naïve and pointless. I can make a map of the entire world. But what would that matter? It would be just like with Arlong, no joy and alone. Alone.
Chopper grimaced at the question. My nakama. Of course my nakama. I will be the best doctor, but I am nothing with out my nakama around me.
Usopp thought as well, simply wanting to be a great warrior of the sea. The only way to achieve my dream is with the help of my friends. Without them, well, I'd still be stuck on my island telling lies of adventures I never accomplished.
Together, the four of them declared, "My Nakama!" Their boisterous shout was followed by cries of how stupid the question was, how rude of him to ask, and how none of them would say anything else.
"Our dreams are with are Nakama, for our Nakama, and would mean nothing without them." Nami shouted at Doflamingo, who was perched on a tree branch. His smile grew wide and dangerous.
A wicked gleam entered his eye as Doflamingo announced, "Well then, I think you may find it interesting to learn that Zoro would choose something different. He chose his dream."
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Authors Note: It's one year since I started. 5 Chapters. That's really sad. I always say I'll write more often, but really, I won't. I try, but I know I won't. So I apologize. But I'm grateful to all of you who stick with the story regardless! Review please! Slight Cliff hanger... I had this idea for a one shot of "Dream or Nakama" where at the end Zoro was the only one who wouldn't have an answer... Anyways, enjoy!