Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece!

Chapter Three: Striking Deals, Hitting Friends

Aro stared at Luffy, waiting for an answer. He stared back. She swallowed, "I heard about how you saved islands that were over run by people who just didn't need to be there. I heard that you helped, not pillaged. I need you help; this village needs your help. I know it's not fair to ask of you, this isn't your problem. But I have no one else to back me up," She looked away a bit, "A friend of mine, Guzen, has tried to fight Veldoro. As I am told, he was put in a cell. He was the only one who has tried to fight him. If Guzen couldn't beat him, I don't know anyone on the island that could," She looked back at Luffy, eyes pleading, "Please! Help me!"

"Shut up! You don't even live here!" Someone called from the crowd. More people chimed in.

"You don't know what you're doing!" A woman said while holding onto her husband's arm.

"Get lost!" A child cried.

"Go back to where you came from!" Someone said from the back.

"SHUT UP!" Aro shouted back. The crowd went quiet. "You never treated anyone like this before! I should know! I use to live here! What happened to you all?!"

"Aro." A voice said from behind her. She turned and a smile slowly spread across her face. She stared at a boy. He was shorter than she was by a few inches. His hair was a dark chocolate brown, messy and shaggy. His eyes were piercing blue and were emotionless, partly hidden by his bangs. He wore a black leather vest with silver designs of the four family suits from a deck of playing cards. Under the vest was a white T-shirt with a picture of gold dice on it. His blue jeans were held up by a black belt covered with card cases. He tossed a pair of see-through red dice up into the air then caught them. He continued this pattern.

"Guzen! You're alright!" Aro said with a joyful expression. Guzen continued to throw the dice up and down with his emotionless expression. The smile on her face slowly disappeared. "Guzen?" He caught the dice and looked at the Straw-Hat's.

"You are not needed. Leave." His voice was deep.

"What? What, Guzen! We need their help! What are you doing?" Aro spoke, and was slightly angry. She heard some people move, and she looked around. Everyone was moving backwards. As if, waiting for a fight. Aro looked back at Guzen. "What's happening? How did you escape Veldoro?" Guzen started to throw the dice up and down again, still staring at the Straw-Hat Pirates. Aro felt anger fill her. "Someone Answer Me!"

Guzen's eyes slowly slid to look at her. "Be quiet. Veldoro wants you to leave the island as well. Your no longer welcomed here."

"What? Forget what's wrong with the town, what's wrong with you? You were never like this! What has Veldoro done to you?" Aro went to grab Guzen's shoulder, but he knocks her hand away. "Itai! What was that for!?" She looked at him, really looked at him. Her face paled. Guzen caught the dice. He held one as if he was going to flick it at someone. He pointed it at Aro.

"You're a pain to the plan…" He said, in what seemed like two voices, "You will not stop me from having this island."

"What, gonna through dice at me tell I decide to leave?" Aro said sarcastically.

"Actually, yes." Guzen flicked the dice at an alarming speed at her. She held her hand up and caught it just as fast. Once it hit her hand it suddenly exploded into red smoke. Aro closed her eyes and started to cough. She tried to wave the smoke away. The sounds of people screaming and running echoed in the smoke. Aro's hand went instinctively to the handle on the scythe head that was on her back. She got down low and took off her bini. Her ears perked up and everything got louder. She saw the feet of Shira's people running way, then noticed Guzen's black shoes coming towards her. She looked to her right, and saw that the Straw-Hat crew had moved back out of the smoke. She looked back at Guzen approaching. He was a few feet away from her now. She put her hands flat on the ground, getting lower.

"Luffy! Please!" She called. If Veldoro could take over people, she would need help. "I'll do anything!" Guzen's feet stopped. Aro shuffles back quietly. There was a click, and her ears faced two different directions, one in front, the other behind. The sound of metal sliding against each other made her jump to her feet then back. The sound of something piecing wood rang out in three sets, one after the other in quick succession. Aro dropped down to the ground again and saw three cards in the ground where her head once was. The cards seemed to be made of metal and had bladed edges.

"Haven't changed much, have you Guzen?" She stayed down, and somewhat crawled to her right, completely quiet. She saw the same thing. Three more cards where her head was. She looked for his feet and found them about a yard away from where she recently was. She got lower to the ground, just centimeters away form it. The smoke was getting troublesome.

Her ears twitched as she was stuck with an idea. She got to her feet, and inched towards the edge of the smoke. She put her bini on as she did so. She came out next to the Straw-Hat Crew.

"What's going on in there?" The marksman asked. Aro motioned him to be quiet. She slowly drew the scythe head from its sheath. She held onto the cuff of her sleeve and slipped the handle over her right hand. The metal gleamed spotlessly in the afternoon sun. Its blade was sharp and seemed unused; or freshly sharpened.

"Stand back," She warned in a whisper. The marksman jumped back without being told twice. The cook moved slowly along with the navigator. The swordsman and Luffy just stared at the scythe head.

"What are you going to do with that?" The swordsman looked curious.

"Stand back and be quiet." Aro said in an angry whisper. He stepped back, but Luffy still stood there. Aro stepped away from him and put her left hand on her right shoulder. She started to spin her right arm in large circles. Soon, the scythe head was spinning, and the circles she was making with her arm became smaller. The smoke started to move away from her as the scythe acted like a fan. Soon, Guzen stood there, staring at Aro as her 'fan' slowed. In his hand was the second red die, but this time, it has a kind of sparkle to it. An odd smell as well.

Aro, seeing this happening. She knew what it was that made this one different. Gas. The die was known as his 'Fire Bomb' when she first saw him use it. The spinning of her scythe continued, and she was helpless to stop it. Its blade was too sharp, she knew, to stop it by hand. It's one of things you have to let take its course. Guzen shook his hand, as if about to roll the die. "Tell me Aro…" His voice, said calmly, "Feeling lucky to take on Fate?" His old pirate name hung in the air, as he tossed the die at her, as if it were a casual thing.

One hit. It would take one hit for that thing to explode. One hit, and Aro knew, she would be splattered all over the Straw-Hat Crew. One hit; one that she could not stop.