Okay, okay. You all have every right to pelt me repeatedly with whatever objects you choose. ;-; My absolute deepest apologies. Priorities got in the way and I kinda kept forgetting to work on Marimo, and then I got a computer virus, and then I lost it and had to rewrite it... But enough excuses:D Dear Nikki and Dear Dragonzair inspired me and motivated me to finish the chapter, so much love to them and also much love to everyone who reviewed! Here's Chapter Three!
By the way, I should probably include another, different disclaimer here:
Disclaimer: Twix, although she is an original character, is not my original character. She belongs to Dearest Nikki who was so kind to let me put her in my story. Also, I did not write any song lyrics I make reference to in any point of the story. Okay? Okay.
Here we go!
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Chapter 3: Do You Copy?
"Come in, Agent Marimo! Agent Tangerine here; do you copy?"
Zoro instantly decided that he wasn't enjoying himself. The new completely black outfit that was presented to him was terribly skintight up top and terribly heavy from the waist down. He tugged the neckline with his index finger which then slipped and snapped promptly back against his clavicle, bestowing a sharp sting upon it.
A utility belt was also given to him: the culprit that caused the extreme weight upon his lower half, it consisted of numerous gadgets which Zoro was informed may be of great use during a mission. These ranged from anything as small as a key that morphed to the shape of any lock to as large as the hefty Onigiri Firearm, which fired anything from bullets to lasers to fruit (Zoro wasn't sure if Usopp was teasing with that last one or if he was truthful – he opted for the former).
He also received a pair of glasses for the mission, though they more resembled ski goggles with the obnoxious yellow-tinted lenses that were making Zoro's head spin something fierce. They were fitted around his head with an elastic strip, and a series of number codes raced across the left lens while the right sported a visual of the live transmission between Zoro and a certain orange-haired monitor.
"Yeah, I copy, Nami," he replied, absently scratching at his shirt collar.
An exasperated sigh sounded in the earpiece that was lodged deeply into his ear canal. "You're supposed to say 'affirmative'. And you're supposed to use codenames here!"
Zoro flicked at the little microphone protruding from the earpiece and responded, "You said agents were on a first name basis with one another."
"Not in this situation. Now, say it right!"
"…Affirmative, Agent Tangerine."
"Good. Now, this is a fairly simple mission. You go in the building, get the blueprints, and go out of the building. Be careful of the watchmen."
Zoro nodded and stepped towards the front entrance of the building. He was instantly stopped when his shoulder was roughly seized from behind.
"Idiot!" hissed the man who grabbed him. "Rule number one about being a secret agent is that you never enter through the front door."
"Don't you ever watch any movies?" sneered the other voice.
"Great! You've found your partners for this mission," Nami stated.
Zoro's eyebrow twitched angrily. "…You're my partner agents?" He turned and glared at the two other agents: Agent Prince and Agent Sniper. Angrily, he bat Sanji's hand off his shoulder and adjusted his glasses.
"Come on, come on; let's get this thing over with," moaned Sanji. "The lunch hour rush starts in twenty minutes and I'm positive Patty and Carne will raze the kitchen to the ground if I'm not there."
Zoro stood still for a moment, scrutinizing the pair once more and finally decided it best to move on. The sky, black as could be, held neither moon nor stars above them and the darkness was to their advantage. The dim, flickering yellow street lamps illuminated only the pavement below them, and Zoro could roughly make out the faces of the two men standing guard before the building he and his team were to infiltrate. They stood motionlessly on the opposing side of the street and held what appeared to be rifles in their left hands.
"There are two ways we could do this: one, we get on top of this building and swing over there, or two, we get rid of the guards and cross the street and then get up there," Sanji suggested.
"Option two is too risky. Let's swing up there," Usopp said, scratching at his shirt collar.
"Right, let's do-" Sanji cut himself off, staring at the front of the opposing building with a mixture of shock and fury in his expression. "OI!" he hissed quietly. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
Zoro, who held the guards by the scruff of their necks in either hand, both beat up considerably and unconscious, promptly dropped them on the pavement and beckoned the other two agents to come to the building front.
"How did he…?"
"Tha-that idiot! He could've… should've been killed!"
"You gotta admit… He's pretty good."
"Shut up, Sniper! Let's just get over there."
The two, careful to stay within the shadows of the street, prowled across to the new agent. They seized his shoulder and yanked him out from under the pool of light and hid in the darkness of the nearest alley. Sanji was the first to speak, even as Zoro opened his own mouth.
"A, that was incredibly stupid and way too dangerous, and B, you need to do something about your hair." He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Green is extremely prominent and is also dicey."
As he said this, Zoro noticed that both the agents had their hair hidden underneath a sort of cap (though Sanji's allowed hair to fall over his eye. This fact made Zoro silently groan with exasperation). Usopp fumbled with something in the left pocket of his cargo pants. He pulled out a black square of cloth and handed it to Zoro. "Just use this," he whispered, holding it out to the agent-in-training. "It'll at least cover it."
Zoro took the cloth in his hands and tied it around his head. The only hair left visible was that from the back of his neck and his sideburns.
"Better," sighed Sanji. "Now let's get up there." He motioned to the roof of the building.
The two experienced agents removed a contraption from their belts. Catching Zoro's apparently blank expression, Usopp offered a nervous smile, and explained, "You want the…" He looked at the instrument. "…The claw-looking thing. It should be on your left hip—about the same size as a revolver."
He felt for the gun-like object on his left side, and ran his hand over something that matched the description; he removed it and looked it over. A revolver was exactly what it appeared to be, only three metal claws protruded from the end.
"It's very simple," Usopp continued, as Sanji had already fired the claw at the edge of the roof. "You just point a little bit above the edge of the top of the building, and pull the trigger. The claw will shoot to wherever you're pointing, obviously. The line connecting the claw to the gun will begin to retract once it reaches full length. It will pull harder and faster if and when the claws catch on something—the edge of the roof, in this case."
With a quiet pop, Usopp pulled the trigger of his gun and the claws whooshed up to the roof. He held it above his head and braced himself; the claw caught and Usopp traveled upward.
"Don't worry about anything breaking; the line and the claws are both very strong and well-enforced," he added as he zoomed out of sight.
Examining the instrument one last time, Zoro held it high above him and aimed a small distance above the edge of the building. He pulled on the trigger and the gun emitted a small pop as Usopp's had, and within seconds, he too was zooming up to the roof. He must've done something wrong, however, as twice he collided into the brick before flying up over the building and then landing hard on his back on the solid roof.
"It just takes practice, is all," Usopp reassured him as Zoro grumbled and rubbed the back of his head. "By the way, if the claw doesn't catch… Let go of the gun and step aside." He pointed to a few scars on his hand. "Hurts like a sonova-"
"Moving on!" Sanji called, motioning to an opening.
They joined the blonde agent and peered through the skylights. The inside of the building was pitch-black and it was impossible to make out anything. Zoro looked to the other agents and noted that they were turning a dial on their glasses. Following their lead, he turned the dial, but had little success; turning it one way made the numbers speed faster across the lens, turning it the other way turned everything red in color, and turning it back stopped every effect of the glasses and blinded Zoro, now unable to see anything whatsoever.
Within a few seconds, the glasses re-illuminated, with the help of a frustrated Sanji, and the glasses acted as night-vision goggles. He made out a room containing a wooden bureau and several file-cabinets.
"We've got a lot of searching to do," Sanji murmured as he pulled a pen from his cargo pocket. Zoro watched as he drew a circle in the glass and slipped a glove onto his other hand. He pressed his hand to the glass, and it had begun to melt where the pen had touched it. Approximately a minute later, the glass had melted all the way through and Sanji lifted his hand, the circle of glass suctioned to it, leaving a hole for them to enter through.
"Since this is a 'Class G' mission," Sanji pronounced, discarding the glass carefully and standing upright, "we shouldn't have to worry about those damn lasers."
Usopp draped a long rope down into the room and hooked the end of it on the edge of the skylight; he tugged it hard, assuring himself that it was secure. He and Sanji slid down first, followed by an unhappy Zoro, who also slid down with no problem.
"Spread and search boys," Sanji commanded, as he disconnected the security camera. "And don't leave a single sheet of paper out of place, Marimo."
"What do these blueprint things even look like?" Zoro queried with his arms crossed.
Sanji twisted various knobs on his wristwatch (Zoro noticed he lacked such device; Usopp, on the other hand, must've had four or five watches on either of his wrists) and a small holographic image floated above its face. "It appears that the letters 'A x N' are printed on the front of the file. The folder is red and the papers inside are navy."
With a twist or two more, the image disappeared and the three began to carefully and quietly rummage through the file cabinets. After searching three whole cabinets with absolutely no luck, Zoro decided to check the bureau. Tugging on the center drawer and realizing it was locked, he remembered the special key and pulled it from the buckle of the belt. He shoved it in the lock and felt it morph between his fingers; he twisted it and the drawer unlocked, and pulling it open he found the file.
'Now that was too easy,' Zoro thought to himself as he brushed a few papers off the top of the file and examined it. He secretly wondered if the other two purposely searched in other places to leave him to find it himself.
He brought the folder's finding to the attention of the other two agents. He took it into his hands, but as he tried to inspect it further, something invisible caught it and disallowed it to move further. Zoro gave the file a sharp pull and something snapped, causing sirens to blare and red lights to flash.
"…Shit."
Sanji and Usopp, though both seemed to half-expect this event would occur, weren't expecting a horde of security robots to appear. Both instantly disregarded the order of neatness and files and papers went flying through the air in their surprise.
"Robots?! What the-!! We've never had to deal with robots before!" Usopp shrieked.
Sanji grunted and snatched the file from Zoro's hands, stuffing it up his own shirt. "…You sure that's the best place to put that?" Zoro questioned, raising an eyebrow, unconcerned about the robots.
"Well, it's not going anywhere," Sanji replied, tugging at his tight shirt to cover the file; though, when it finally had been covered, it was unmistakable where it was hidden. The two began to figure that this was the least of their problems, as the robots clamped onto Usopp's arms and held him hostage in the corner of the room.
The captive cried to the other agents to do something as the two metal guards crashed up through the roof in a burst of flames and smoke. Once they finished coughing and the smoke had cleared somewhat, Zoro and Sanji climbed up the rope they had left and searched left and right for their captured partner. Zoro pointed out two gleaming figures and a smaller, struggling figure on the top of a few buildings down to Sanji, as the blonde pointed out that the robots were pretty much claiming the city for their own.
Tearing out the faded bricks from once-sturdy buildings, smashing the shining glass of windows, bending the cool metal of the street lamp posts, and setting anything and everything flammable ablaze, the robots rampaged up and down the streets of the town.
Zoro couldn't help but to say "What the hell?" aloud.
Sanji scoffed, "I hear ya. This is a pretty screwed up mission." He sighed, producing a cigarette from his pant's pocket and lighting it with the flames flickering from a nearby potted plant. "I suppose we should at least rescue Usopp."
"Yeah. Probably should."
The two agents used their contraptions to swing over to the building their partner was captive on; now, with their feet flat on the roof, they took notice of the two metal personages, both sporting several dents and dings and lying smoking before them. Usopp, breathing heavily and carrying what appeared to be a giant sledge hammer over his right shoulder, fell onto his knees in exhaustion.
"Wow. God job, Sniper," Sanji praised, somewhat stunned. As this was spoken, another pack of robots surrounded them. Sanji and Zoro both took fighting stances, facing the metal figures with looks of solid determination. However, in their carelessness, two robots collided with one another and created a massive explosion, sending the three agents and the rest of the pack flying.
The airborne robots also exploded into flames as they crashed into pavement, brick, glass, and metal. Zoro and his two partner agents slammed heavily onto the asphalt street, lied there for a moment in pain, and slowly brought themselves onto their feet. Once they were finally breathing steadily and standing on two feet with more ease, they were encircled by the robots once again.
Usopp, positively terrified, wailed and clung himself to a telephone pole. Sanji exhaled a flurry of smoke and tossed his cigarette on the asphalt, stomping out the ashes; he unhitched the Onigiri Firearm from his belt and commenced firing at the metallic figures.
As Zoro reached for his own firearm, he realized he was lacking it; he figured it must've gotten unhitched when he and the others were blasted off the roof. Since it was now nowhere in sight, he yelled helplessly to no one in particular as one solitary robot advanced towards him, "What am I supposed to do now?!"
"Beat it!" was his reply from an Usopp who tried fending off a trio of robots with his hammer, his legs shaking as they struggled keeping wrapped around the pole. "Just beat it!!"
Wrestling with his thoughts, Zoro frantically searched for some blunt instruments that could be of use. His eyes finally caught such objects, and he sprinted away from the robot and tried pulling two street-side parking signs from the concrete. In a moment of desperation, he pulled a random sharp object off his belt and slashed at the poles, astonished at how easily they cut through the metal. Examining the blade, he found it to be a rather fancy machete, and in a split-second, he placed the handle of the object in between his teeth and took the two posts in either hand and swung them at the robot.
The metal figure was no match for the parking-sign posts, and was easily smashed with only a couple of hits. Zoro swung the posts in every direction, striking numerous robots and destroying them. However, in his mindless clubbing of the robots, Zoro unintentionally whacked Sanji in the back of the head, knocking him out-cold. Before he could realize his mistake, he found himself standing in the center of a completely white room, with a machete in his mouth and two disappearing green grids of the street signs in his hands.
Usopp dropped hard onto the ground as the telephone pole he had clutched vanished as well, and he stared dumbfounded at the unconscious Agent Prince. "Holy…"
"Christ, Zoro! What the hell were you thinking?!"
The voice exploded from both his ear piece and from the open window above them. Nami growled dangerously, resting her forehead on her palm and listlessly shaking her head. The blue-haired Agent Princess was seated at her side, wearing an expression of both confusion and amazement. She gently removed her headphones and sighed, "We should probably get Sanji-kun to the medical wing, Nami."
Exhaling deeply, Nami nodded. "Right. And Zoro," she added darkly, "you need to come too."
Obeying orders with a scowl, Zoro grasped the back of Sanji's shirt and hoisted him over his left shoulder. The file had slipped out from underneath his top as he did this, and Zoro bent down to retrieve it. Carrying both the file and the comatose agent, he stepped towards the exit followed closely by Usopp. He met the female at the other side of the door, and she instantly greeted him by pulling his glasses by the nosepiece away from his face and releasing them to snap back with a sharp wave of pain.
"Be more mindful of your fellow agents," she scolded as Zoro yelled in hurt.
She locked her elbow with the arm that wasn't supporting Sanji and led him with a quick pace to the medical wing. Down every other hallway, she made a left turn, passing by several other agents who shot them curious glances. One such agent was Agent Arms; Zoro avoided her striking blue eyes and quickened his own pace to hurry past.
Usopp still was in close pursuit, bearing an abnormally large grin on his face. The reason as to why he was needed in the medical wing as well was unknown to Zoro, but he had other things to worry about. Such as Nami's death grip on his elbow; she would only clench tighter should he try to slip his arm out from under her arm.
One last turn and the small group was situated near the entrance to the agency hospital. Nami began to push through the swinging doors when Usopp, in his excitement, shoved the door open with such force that she nearly slipped onto the ground. Recovering and muttering something under her breath, she held the door open and shoved Zoro and Sanji through.
Chatting eagerly with the doctor behind the reception desk was a highly enthused Usopp; he was speaking with a young lady he recalled to be Agent Riche. Her visage was bright and intent, hanging onto whatever the long-nosed agent would say, and her warm smile suggested she enjoyed his company greatly.
Their conversation was interrupted by a slowly-losing-her-nerve Nami. "Please, excuse us, Miss Kaya," she addressed Agent Riche kindly. "Sanji requires medical attention; I fear he may have a concussion."
Kaya suddenly transitioned from bright, content calmness to concerned anxiousness. "Oh, my, what happened?"
Nami heaved a sigh, running a hand through her orange hair. "Well he… took a street sign to the back of the head. I'm thinking it hit pretty hard too."
Zoro felt a terribly icy glare shot in his direction from the female agent and he offered a guilty expression to Kaya. "It's not like I did it on purpose," he muttered.
"Oh, I see," responded the doctor. She nodded. "Well, we'll get him treated immediately."
Kaya tapped on a golden button atop the desk and two men clad in white appeared from behind the shining silver swinging doors leading to the Emergency Room, carrying a stretcher between them. They stopped before the green-haired agent, and Zoro lifted the unconscious chef from his shoulder and plopped him onto the stretcher. The pair nodded and thanks and, in a flash, they disappeared into the ER.
Thinking his work was finished, Zoro turned and started for the exit of the hospital wing; Nami, however, caught his shoulder before he could take another step and twisted him around to face Kaya.
The petit agent was standing before him, holding a small note-card in her hands. She looked up to his face and studied his appearance before timidly asking, "Pardon, but are you Agent Marimo?" She held the note-card out to Zoro, and in examining it, he found it had a poorly drawn portrait of himself with his name written in scattered handwriting. Of course, he only assumed the drawing was of him, because the hair was colored in green – it would otherwise have born no resemblance.
"Luffy gave that to me. It's to remind me that you need to have your obligatory check-up before you can truly be considered an agent," she explained.
Now realizing the black cloth was still tied over his head, Zoro quickly removed it and stuffed it in his pocket. This must have assured the small Kaya that Agent Marimo was the man standing before her, as she relaxed her shoulders and smiled softly.
"Okay then, Mr. Marimo, if you would please come with me," she gently took his wrist and pulled him towards another set of the silver swinging doors. Nami smirked and bowed to Kaya, thanking her, and slipped out of the medical wing. Kaya also flashed a smile and a slight blush to Usopp as she passed by, waving to him; he returned the grin and followed Nami out of the hospital.
The two marched down a long hall with small check-up rooms on either side; this section must have been the clinic, Zoro pondered. Kaya finally led him into a particular room at the very end of the hallway and seated him atop the examining table. She bowed, requesting his patience, as she pulled a pager out of a pocket in her gown.
She held the pager to her mouth and pressed a button on the side with her thumb. "This is Agent Riche, located in Section F, requiring the assistance of Agent X in room…" She released the button and opened the door to check the number printed on the front. "Room Seven Eighty-One, please. Agent X to room Seven Eighty-One in Section F."
Kaya grinned kindly to Zoro as he eyed the black pager in her hand. "You always get neat things when you're a secret agent. This pager doubles as a walkie-talkie that can access any other agent possessing one in the entire agency. They're quite handy," she said with a nod, making small conversation as they waited for the other agent to appear.
"Will I get something like that?" queried Zoro, still glancing at the pager every so often.
"Oh, I'm sure! Plus a lot of other neat things too. You'll get everything once you're up-to-date with all your required vaccinations and such."
Zoro mentally shivered at the word "vaccination" as the door quietly opened and revealed a small, brown, furry agent. The reindeer, Agent X, he remembered; he tried making the thought of the oddity of a reindeer as a doctor escape his mind.
"Good afternoon," he pronounced, regarding his clip-board, "Agent Riche, Agent Marimo." He beamed politely to the other two agents.
"Good afternoon, Chopper," Kaya spoke. "I'll start with the examination if you would ready the vaccinations."
The reindeer nodded and seated himself at a small table situated in the far corner of the room, arranging several tubes and beakers and bottles of concoctions of irregular colors. Zoro turned his face away from the reindeer at the sight of the numerous syringes he pulled out of a nearby drawer.
Kaya quickly covered the basics of a clinic check-up: a short temperature check; a quick blood pressure check; a listen to the beat of the heart and the breathing of the lungs; a fast check of the throat, reflexes, pulse, and flexibility. Once she had finished, she gave Zoro a sad, sympathetic smile.
"What I'm about to do, Mr. Marimo… Let's just say that it's going to sting… a lot… okay?"
Chopper handed to the petit doctor a large, sixteen gauge needle syringe, filled with a swirling, glowing violet liquid. Zoro was sure that the substance could illuminate the entire room were the lights out, considering how brightly it gleamed. He must have made an ill visage, as Kaya raised her hands up reassuringly.
"Oh, please, don't worry! Even though the vaccine is purple and glowing, it's extremely important that every agent has this vaccination. It makes you immune to almost every common illness – health is a virtue, and we can't afford to even have a head-cold." Zoro tensed his muscles as she patted his arm with a sanitizing cloth and held the syringe to his skin. "This will sting, Mr. Marimo, but in a few deep breaths it will all be over," she cooed softly, puncturing the skin.
He felt the sting throughout his entire body rather than in his arm alone, and he went completely numb. He felt prickles in various places of his body, then his blood began to burn in his veins; just when he believed he would melt from the heat, a wave of coolness chilled his blood and brought relief. Biting his lip, he exhaled deeply as the needle was removed.
Kaya smiled genuinely and placed a band-aid that matched Zoro's hair over the puncture wound. "There! All done!" she chimed. "That's the only vaccination you need, but," – she seated him back on the table when he began to rise – "we're not finished yet."
Chopper was seated at his other side, holding what appeared to be a nail gun in his hooves. Zoro's eyes widened considerably at the sight of the instrument.
"This thing is going to insert a small device into your left arm – never remove the device under any condition," Chopper clarified. "What it will do is it will regulate vital functions should a problem occur and the body can't do it naturally, such as jump-starting the heart if it's been stopped, adjusting body temperature, et cetera. You'd be surprised with what some enemies do to try to kill agents; this will stop a lot of their attempts from carrying through."
Kaya held up an undersized poster to Zoro as the reindeer explained; it had several different shapes printed on it with numbers beside them, but he held no clue as to what they were for. She simply asked which number he liked best on the poster, but before he could study the chart and pick a number, an icy metal point was pressed to his arm.
Ker-klitch!
An instant pain burned itself into Zoro's left arm and he nearly leaped off the table in his shock. Once again, his body grew numb, and then his blood boiled with heat followed by an instant relief of the flowing chill. He clutched the sight of the insertion with his right hand and hissed between clenched teeth, "Sonovabitch!"
Kaya blinked. "…Six? Number six?" She flipped over the poster and regarded it for several sections. "Hmm, we don't have many agents choose that model often."
She laid the poster on the small work table and rummaged through a small cabinet, pulling out three glittering, golden objects from a box. She also took another instrument from the cabinet as well, this particular contraption resembling a stapler. Before leaving the work station, she slipped the end of one of the gold objects into a device; she pressed a few buttons, and within a few seconds, the miniscule machine beeped and spit the object back out into Kaya's hand. In a few slow strides, she was standing at Zoro's left, grinning apprehensively.
"This is the last thing that will hurt, I promise," she assured, massaging Zoro's ear lobe with another sanitary cloth. "Just get through this, and you'll be officially considered an Onigiri Agent."
"Wait a minute," Zoro interrupted. "Are you-?"
"Piercing your ears?"
Kling! Kling! Kling!
"Yes. You have earrings to take care of now." Kaya pulled a mirror out from a nearby drawer and held it before Zoro's face. Once he removed the pained expression from his visage, he examined the three golden pieces (model number six, apparently) that dangled from his ear and would jingle together whenever he moved his head.
"Now," began Kaya, "the topmost earring acts like an antenna; it will be how our radio frequencies can reach you no matter where you are and is used with the communication headsets. The middle one is your tracking device; it is how Onigiri will find your location when you are away from the agency. And lastly, the bottom earring is your identification; it works in compliance with the tracking device, giving a name to the agent being tracked. It can also be used to get you into the agency, in some places.
"Well, you are finished with your medical examination!" Kaya exclaimed joyfully, gently patting his shoulder.
Chopper tore a sheet of paper off of his clip-board and handed it to Zoro. "Keep that somewhere safe," he urged. "That paper shows that you've been vaccinated, regulated, and pierced, and that you're completely healthy."
Zoro folded the sheet and tucked it deep in his pocket. He thanked the two doctors, ruefully rubbing his ear, and was guided to the exit of the medical wing by Kaya. He returned a slight wave in good-bye to the pretty and pale doctor, and pushed through the swinging pewter doors while massaging his sore arm.
At the other side, he met a beaming Usopp, bearing a rather large grin and beckoning Zoro to follow him down the hallway. "We should probably change out of mission clothes and into something a little more comfortable."
In complete agreement, as his tight shirt was verging on the line between highly uncomfortable and restricting blood flow, Zoro gave a small nod and kept close behind Usopp as they twisted through the never-ending passages and pushed through the heavy steel doors.
Eventually, Usopp managed to find the men's locker room (he himself had gotten the pair of them lost twice, which made Zoro slightly less concerned with his lack of directional sense) and led the green-haired agent down the stairwell. Meandering through the infinite aisles of lockers with each row carrying a heavy stench of sweat, Zoro pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and searched for the locker number that matched the one on the sheet.
After searching for several minutes at an endless amount of metallic golden-painted lockers, he at long last found his own – locker number 781 – a few lockers away from Usopp's. Grumbling, he twisted the combination into the lock and pulled the locker door open.
Eager to rid himself of his mission clothing, he swiftly removed his glasses, belt, boots and rid himself of the unpleasantly tight shirt and excessively baggy cargo pants and replaced them with the standard dress for the agency. Facing away from Usopp, he attempted tying his neck-tie on his own, a self-conscious frown present on his mouth. He mimicked whatever Nami had done early that morning and the morning before, and once he'd finished, he felt somewhat satisfied and decided it was well enough.
Usopp, however, snickered at his failed attempt and undid and retied it for him, carefully saying aloud the proper way to go about it; Zoro was too ashamed to have him tie it for him to listen.
Once finished with the lesson, the long-nosed agent suggested that they head to the dining hall, as the lunch hour was now nearing to a close. The two hurried through the agency in hopes to reach the cafeteria in time to order. In what seemed to be no time at all, Zoro's eyes once again met the familiar splendor of scarlet velvet and diamonds that was the Onigiri Dining Hall.
In the center was placed a grand banquet table, and countless familiar faces were seated at it, all laughing, teasing, and conversing with one another. It was like a reunion of every agent that Zoro had already met, with a few new figures seated amongst them as well.
Usopp tugged on Zoro's sleeve and pulled him over to the table and stood proudly before the group, almost as if he were the fisherman who caught the largest fish in the entire lake. "Everyone," he announced, "this is Roronoa Zoro, Agent Marimo."
A majority of the group gave knowing smiles and nods, while the others greeted him with a small grin and a slight bow. The new agent studied each agent, recounting names with their faces, and seated himself in the empty place beside the restless Agent Strawhat.
"There's no way you could forget Luffy here," said Nami, appearing considerably the happiest Zoro had ever seen her to be. "You remember me, I hope." She raised an eyebrow to him with a slight grin, and he returned a small smirk.
A disgruntled Sanji with an ice pack tied to the back of his head gnawed on the end of his cigarette; he even offered a tiny smile. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits. "It'd be a shame if you forgot who you managed to knock-out with a street-sign."
"Oh, Sanji-kun," laughed the soft voice belonging to the blue-haired agent beside him, "he didn't do it intentionally." Vivi smiled kindly to Zoro, with her hand resting gently atop another that belonged to an unknown man at her other side. Blonde with colored glasses and a scar running down the side of his face near his eye, he nodded to Zoro with acknowledgement.
"My name is Kohza. I'm Agent Rebel," he presented himself, taking his free hand and leaning behind the chairs to take Zoro's and gave it a shake. He noted his strong grip and assumed that he was a field agent like himself.
The mysterious Robin was seated at the end of the table; she merely rested her chin in her hand and flashed a delicate smile to the new agent, her azure eyes glittering gently with a sort of knowingness in them.
Next was Agent Super. He stood up and reached over to Zoro to shake his hand; he was rather shocked to find that the agent wore a pair of Speedos and lacked pants, and eyed his Hawaiian themed neck-tie with intrigue. "I'm Franky, Agent Super!" he called, loudly and excitedly.
He distractedly shook hands, noting how his flamboyant attitude matched his dressing habits. He also noticed that he held a bottle of soda in his hand, and absently watched at the bizarre agent guzzled the drink down.
Usopp had placed himself at Franky's side, and was seated close to the pretty doctor Kaya. The pair grinned and nodded to Zoro, and immersed themselves into a private conversation between the two of them.
Next to them and across from him were the two pilots; they waved and gazed to him in admiration, Yosaku with his cigarette and Johnny with his cup of coffee. They, too, talked amongst themselves, glancing at Zoro every so often.
The little reindeer timidly looked at the agent beside him, another pretty female, one that Zoro had yet to meet. She had a peculiar hairstyle, and her uniform was pink rather than black with feathery wings sprouting from her back; a small, blue creature stirred quietly in her arms. She politely grinned to Zoro and bowed.
"I am Conis, Agent Angel," she introduced, and in indicating the periwinkle bundle in her arms said, "And this is Suu, my fox."
Suu emitted a small "yip" and bat at Chopper's antlers with a tiny paw. This made the reindeer laugh and pull his hat over his eyes. The fox's tail flipped out from under Conis' arm and flicked playfully back and fourth.
Seated at the other end of the table was a very strange agent indeed. He wore a mask and had the appearance of a panda bear. There were two bright red hearts printed on the chest of his blazer, and he silently sat with a determined visage.
"That's Agent Panda," said a familiar voice. Zoro turned and met the brown eyes of Nami, who had apparently switched places with Luffy. "He doesn't talk much, but he's quite a popular agent. None of us know what his real name is."
A soft snore sounded from the agent at Zoro's side; Ace had fallen fast asleep, his cheek resting atop his plate of steak. He was certainly among an odd bunch, but he felt comfortable among them, as if they were all part of one happy, and eccentric, family. Zoro glanced around at each of the agents, noting each strange quirk about them, and couldn't help but smirk. Nami suddenly cleared her throat and caught Zoro's attention.
"Zoro," she began carefully, "have you heard anyone talk about… the 'fever'?"
He shook his head.
A strange look crossed her visage before she continued. "A lot of agents have caught the 'fever' and they need to be careful. It can put you into a false sense of euphoria and leave you completely in pain."
Zoro still didn't understand what the fever was and why Nami was mentioning it to him.
"Look, I'm just telling you to watch out for it." She sighed. "Even if you don't get what I'm telling you now, you'll know if you catch it," she spoke, her voice getting softer and less audible with each word. She looked down to the table and focused her vision on a shining golden fork. "I've caught it once or twice…"
Curious and confused, Zoro opened his mouth to say something to her when another voice in the hall burst out from a nearby table. It was definite that it was a masculine voice, but the accent and vocabulary was heavily laced with a feminine tone.
"Is it too much to ask to get a cup of tea around here?!"
Zoro, as well as all the other agents seated at the grand table, stared in the direction from which the voice came; Zoro, however, remained seated as the others sprung from their seats and took defensive stances. Apparently, this guy was not supposed to be in the Onigiri Agency.
He was the most bizarre man Zoro had seen yet: he possessed a flowing pink cape, with two swans sprouting from either of his shoulders, and wore ballet dancing attire and a lot of make-up. He pounded a fist on the table with a low growl escaping his mouth. "All I asked for," he stated, shrugging his shoulders and shaking them almost as if he were shimmying, "was just one insy-teensy cup of tea. I don't mind if it's peach tea, green tea, purple tea, or whatever."
Zoro heard the sound of several guns cocking; he turned and saw each of the male agents, plus Nami, around his table pointing a pistol at the effeminate man, with the other girls standing by one of the males for protection. Nami pulled him up by his arm and reached inside of his blazer. Zoro tried protesting her invasiveness when she shoved his pistol into his hands. He decided it best to follow his fellow agents' lead, and cocked his gun as well.
The feminine man gave an exaggerated pout and wagged a reproaching finger to the group of agents. "Now, now, don't you go pointing those dangerous things at me, boys and girls!"
One of the agents fired and the man looked utterly appalled. Zoro twisted his neck and found that Sanji's pistol was the only one smoking; the cook scowled and barked harshly, "Get out of here, Mr. Swan!"
"That's Meester Swan to you, curly-brow."
Sanji fired again, this time striking one of the beloved swans. Mr. Swan let out a monstrous cry of anguish and with tears in his eyes whipped out a small device with a button, jabbing his finger on the red knob various times. Within seconds, a massive explosion blasted a hole in the ceiling, and a figure jumped in.
"Twixy! Twix, my darling, you've come to save me!" cried Mr. Swan, holding his arms out.
The figure donned a grey pin-striped mafia suit, and a long curved cow-like tail jutted out from her back. Her dark, shiny hair waved out from underneath her fedora, and she shoved a rope into the sobbing villain's hands. "Here," she snapped. "Just get outta here."
Mr. Swan, sniffling and weeping, quickly climbed the rope, and the cow chimera shot the group of agents a long glance before she climbed up after him. Once the dust and smoke had cleared, the rope had vanished and so had the strange adversaries.
The agents lowered their pistols, some of them quite pale. Several other agents, curious of all the commotion, had appeared and stared awestruck against the walls of the dining room. Sanji stepped forward and studied the hole in his beloved Dining Hall, exhaled a large bout of smoke, and tossed his cigarette in the debris. "I think Onigiri Inc.'s in trouble."
Whoa. That's another chapter down. Thanks a lot for reading! I truly appreciate it. Comments and constructive criticism is loved greatly! Oh, maybe I should explain some things that were asked in reviews.
Regarding pairings:
(nervous laugh) Yes, there are pairings. But as to what pairings there are, that is, as of right now, up to the reader. Let's just say I'm trying to be... diplomatic. ;) I'm trying to hint at whatever pairing you, the readers, want to see, but you'll have to wait until the end of the story to find out who I pair them with. Some pairings are set in stone and are more heavily implied than others, but anyway... To answer that question, yes! Pairings exist in this story! XD
To: LoveHiei-Rine:
Thank you for your suggestion! Ace's codename was HeatFist before I changed it to Blaze, actually, and I'm on the fence of which one to keep. As of right now, it's staying Blaze, but I'll keep your thoughts in mind! Thanks again, as suggestions are much appreciated. :)
Regarding Marines:
The Marines (specifically Tashigi, Smoker, etc.) are part of a particular enemy organization that aren't in compliance with any of the other criminals. Don't worry, they'll be introduced soon!
I hope that clears a few things up! Thanks again for reading, and I promise to hopefully be better about updating!
-The Pineapple Husky