Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.
"Who are you?"
The room was still and silent as the grave. All of the crew mates at the table were shaking their heads, back and forth between Sanji and Zoro. The sound of hair whipping and the steady breaths stood out. Zoro remained frozen right in front of the door with his back toward everyone. Sanji had his hands in his pockets, his eye burning into the swordsman's back.
A slow minute had ticked by and Nami was the first to break the silence, "Sanji-kun, what are you talking about?" her voice had a slight tremor to it, "That's Zoro."
"Yeah." There were quiet murmurs agreeing with the navigator. Then why was the air so heavy? Sanji did not seem to hear her, so she turned to Zoro.
"Zoro why aren't you saying anything? You're Zoro right?" Since both of the men were practically ignoring her, anger started to take over her fear, "C-cut it out you guys! This isn't funny!"
"I am only going to repeat this once," Sanji's voice darkened, "Who the hell are you?"
Finally a movement from the man, but it was not what any of the crew thought he would do. The swordsman lowered his head and his whole frame twitched from the restrained chuckles. The crew at the table huddled with each other as if the temperature of the room had suddenly dropped to freezing. No one could see what expression Zoro had but at the same time, no one dared to imagine.
When the chuckling stopped the swordsman spun around to face the cook. There was a gleaming crescent like smile, "How did you find out?"
Chairs screeched back while some were thrown down to the floor with an earsplitting smack. Nami, Usopp, and Franky threw out their weapons in a flash. The rest of the weaponless crewmates leaped out to get a hold of the swordsman. Robin was the quickest.
Dozens of hands sprouted out from Zoro's body like vines. Four arms pulled his own arms backwards; a hand grew out from Zoro's shoulders and pushed down his forehead, bending it far back to the point of breaking. Chains of arms linked together fettered him to the floor so he was bounded standing. Usopp and Chopper winced and turned away from the sight since it was hurting their nerves. In the quiet room, everyone could hear the soft cracks of muscle and bone as it was pushed to the edge. Despite all that, the swordsman was grinning from ear to ear. He was clearly enjoying the show he had performed.
Nami had her hands covering her ears to block the sound, "Robin stop!" she screamed frantically and almost to the brink of tears, "You're going to hurt him!"
"But Nami-chan,"
"It could be a ghost taking over his body!"
Usopp loosened his grip on his Kabuto slingshot, "Y-yeah, we're entering the triangle! H-he could have attracted a g-ghost!" His knees were knocking against each other and were creating an annoying racket. Chopper shrieked at the thought of a ghost entering his own body and acting all mortifying evil like Zoro was now.
Robin glanced over at the armed group for a second before turning back to the captive, "-or he could be Mr. 2."
"Mr. 2?"
Everyone, excluding Franky, remembered who the mysteriously flamboyant agent in the Baroque Works. His skills to transform in any person he touched were horrifyingly accurate. The agent did get a copy of Zoro, too. It could be him, but no one raised a hand.
Mr. 2 Bon Clay's Zoro would have had a flaw, like a happy skip or speak in a feminine tone that everyone could recognize in a heartbeat. This man, with the physical traits of their swordsman also seemed to know his habits. This man knew Zoro's daily routine and if Sanji never said anything he would be left unnoticed. That was the terrifying thought.
"Ah, that gay Baroque Works agent." Zoro muttered out. He saw everyone's face drain out of blood.
"H-how did you know about Mr. 2?" Usopp asked in a frightening tone.
The swordsman had a smug grin. He looked so relaxed in the awkward vice grip, "I am Zoro, but not Zoro." He rolled his eyes toward Robin, "Oi, release me. My neck is killing me."
"W-wait," Chopper cut him off, "If you're not Zoro then that means," his eyes grew wider by the second, "Did we leave the real Zoro at Water 7?"
"What?" Luffy shouted, having the shocked expression just like everybody else, "We need to go back!" the captain signaled Robin, "Robin, keep him still! We're going to head back to Water 7!"
"But Luffy, I don't know how to get back! This isn't a normal compass!" Nami shrieked, jabbing her finger on her log pose.
Luffy blinked at the fuming navigator for a few seconds before turning back to Robin, "Robin, keep him still! We're going to find a way to head back to Water 7!" While the archeologist giggled despite the situation, everyone prepared to leave the dining room.
Sanji raised an arm, gesturing them to cease their movements, "Stop! Zoro was on this ship yesterday!"
"H-how do you know that?" Usopp accused, "It could've been him!"
"Shut up! I just know okay!" Sanji's golden strands of hair shook as he shouted. Obeying the cook's order, the crew remained still. Sanji approached Zoro and grabbed a fistful of his jacket. Knowing that the cook had the man, Robin released some of her arms, mainly around the upper half. Zoro's face was free to move so the swordsman was able to look into those deep ocean blue eyes. They were alluring but he much preferred Zoro's extravagant emeralds.
"Where's Zoro?" Sanji's voice was serious and grave, but Zoro heard the slight tremor. Was it fear of him or something else? He wasn't able to contemplate on it because his pompous pride settled onto him.
Zoro spat, scorning down at the cook, "Don't call him as if he's yours. That pisses me off-"
"Where did you hide him?" The tremors in his voice were now obvious to his ears. Since Sanji was so close, his loud voice along with the nasty nicotine smell evaded his senses. The cook was angry which surprised the swordsman. He expected Luffy to be in Sanji's place demanding where Zoro was, since he and the first mate were as close as brothers. Sanji and Zoro, well Zoro had some thoughts toward the cook but for Sanji they were as bad as throwing water into hot sizzling oil.
Zoro widened his eyes in surprise, "Why are you so hyped up?"
Sanji snarled through his teeth, "Because we're nakama."
The smile faded from the swordsman's lips, "Nakama? Don't tell me that this anger you are showing me is from this pretty little thing called, 'Nakama.'"
The cook felt his sanity crack a few pieces around the edges. This man definitely wasn't Zoro. The swordsman, no matter how boarish, thick-headed idiot he could be at times, would never disparage the nakama title. The realization that this swordsman was fake was slowly sinking into the others.
"Huh? Answer me, idiot cook."
"Of course." Sanji tried to answer without raising his voice.
There was a sudden change of color in the man's eyes that startled the cook just a bit. The pupil was shrouded in darkness, pure antipathy, "Let's say Usopp, or Nami if you want, disappears just like Zoro and was asked the same question. Are you going to answer the same 'because we're nakama' if Nami is gone or is Nami-san special?" The swordsman's voice was high, mocking him.
Sanji raised an eye at the swordsman What was he trying to prove? What kind of point would this make? Nakama was nakama, regardless if it was Nami-san. "It doesn't matter who it is, if someone is hurting my nakama I will kick their ass."
Everyone nodded, agreeing with Sanji. The only person not moved with Sanji's speech was Zoro himself. The swordsman's face slowly scrunched up like paper. He shouted in a harsh voice and scared Usopp and Chopper off their feet. "That's bullshit!" Zoro attempted to ram into Sanji but Robin's arms only made him writhe. He snarled, baring out his teeth and breathed though his nose to settle down. Returning to his calm state, he leaned into the cook, "What the fuck was that? You know that I'm not smart enough to understand your poetic ambiguity! Hello, I'm Zoro-the thick-headed idiot! How do you think Zoro would know the distinct difference between 'nakama' and 'something more than nakama?' He thought it was the same!"
Sanji's eyebrow quirked a little.
Zoro's frowned deepened, and his eyes glowered, "Since you didn't specifically tell Zoro that your kindness was only because he and you were nakama, he thought it was something else-something you always give to the lovely ladies. Getting the idea, Cook?" Sanji remained silent but his breathes was quicker. Zoro bumped his forehead against Sanji's, "You took my Zoro away, so I took him back."
The swordsman suddenly let out a chuckle, a low clicking noise which bounced off the walls of the dining room. The cook twirled his almost spent cigarette irritably while the remaining crew gathered to the back of the room but still armed. Zoro's eyes narrowed into a thin line and his lips formed a perfect smile, a fox in Zoro's body.
"Did you seriously think I would just hide Zoro away?"
For a brief second, the crew seemed to not understand what the swordsman was saying but soon after they added one to another, the reaction was clearly written on some of the faces. Zoro saw Sanji's face lose a shade or two of color off his face. The cigarette ash was dangling like a worm in a bird's beak. The cook's lips were quivering and some of the bits of the ash crumbled onto the floor.
The cook let out a short breath, attempting to say something but Luffy beat him to it, "What did you do to Zoro?" Luffy was one of the crew members who had no clue to the hidden meaning to the announcement Zoro said earlier. Yet when the captain asked, his voice was stern.
The swordsman answered but not to his captain but to the cook. Besides the answer was proof Zoro was his and probably wouldn't get it. Zoro chuckled and said in a low voice but loud enough for everyone to hear, "What you would do with a hot naked lady at night."
Zoro first heard Sanji sucked in a breath and the hands that wrung his shirt loosened. He heard some gasps in background but Zoro didn't care. He was focusing onto Sanji's face. Zoro couldn't understand why the cook's face was paling and the cigarette teeter tottering on the edge of his lips. He had to comment, it was the funniest reaction he had ever seen, so much he wanted to point a finger and laugh.
"W-wait," Usopp stammered, his knees shaking, "That means l-last night…the s-sounds I heard you-he-"
Zoro smiled, "Pretty hot huh?" Before it could reach Usopp's ears, his eyes rolled back to his head and collapsed to the ground. The swordsman opened his mouth to laugh when suddenly he felt an aura. At the corner of his eyes he saw Sanji's iron hard shoe aiming straight for his face. At the same time, Robin had released all of her hands so that when the cook's kick struck the swordsman he would crash into the wall. Unfortunately, Zoro took this as an advantage.
Knowing that Zoro had extremely keen reflexes, Zoro ducked just in time. He almost felt the sole of the other's shoe brush against his temple. Sanji kicked air and spun around to regain his balance. In the tiny time span, Zoro ran past the horrified crew, stepping on Usopp without care, and dove for his treasured weapons. Unsheathing two swords free, Zoro was armed completely, ready to kill anyone who interfered. The crew backed away a few steps because they knew a Zoro with swords was a potentially dangerous demon. Nami, Robin, and Chopper all carried Usopp and glanced at the three strongest males in the crew.
The swordsman stood there silently and did not move an inch even when Franky raised his left arm at Zoro. This worried the shipwright, as if Zoro was not afraid of the man at all. Nevertheless, Franky shot a cannon, a size of a basketball, toward him. Zoro flipped Sandai Kitetsu around and sliced the iron ball in half. The pieces zipped past Zoro and flew into the wall behind him. The walls of the room shook and sawdust littered onto the floor. Luckily the ship was made of Adam's wood so no harm was done, but the sounds of the explosion woke Usopp up.
"The ship! Ow ow, ow…" The sniper grabbed his stomach where Zoro had stepped, "I'm hit! I can't fight anymore!"
"You're okay idiotbro and the ship's fine. A few cannons here and there won't hurt it."
"Oi!" Luffy screamed, "You better bring Zoro back or else!"
Zoro laughed. He tapped the blunt side of the blade on his shoulders, "Or else what Captain?"
"You have no right to call me captain-and to use Zoro's swords!"
"Why?" the swordsman chuckled, "It is mine."
Luffy raised his fist and was about to beat the man mercilessly when Sanji stopped him, "Wait, he still didn't answer my question." When the cook faced the swordsman, his eyes were dark with utter fury, "Where is Zoro?"
The swordsman chuckled and raised a taunting finger, "If you want to know the answer you better catch me." In a blink of an eye Zoro ran past everyone and flew out of the kitchen. The way he ran and how his body moved fluidly was exactly how Zoro would do. Luffy and Sanji, both yelling, ran after the swordsman.
Nami slumped down to her knees and held her arms tight over her breast, "He's too much like Zoro…" she whispered, "too much it's creepy."
Robin laid her hand on her shoulder, "While Cook-san and Captain-san are fighting we should find Swordsman-san."
"B-but how…? Z-Z…That man didn't tell us."
Robin smiled, "I think I might know where he hid him."
To Be Continued
