Captain 'Axe-Hand' Morgan
Morgan held out his hand. There was a small metal ball resting on his palm. Zoro cocked his head as he coughed, curiosity rearing its head inside him. The small ball wasn't exactly awe-inspiring. Looked like a metal marble with an axe and the Marine symbol carved into the surface. Strange, yes, but not really a terrifying weapon. Was all the body spray was finally getting to Morgan's head?
Morgan grunted and concentrated all of his focus onto the small ball. After a couple seconds the ball melted into a pile of liquid metal. Luffy's and Zoro's jaw dropped. Part of the liquid metal traveled up Morgan's arm. When the metal reached his bottom jaw it it shifted and grew, until it completely covered his jaw. The rest of the metal stayed in his right hand, where it shifted and morphed, stretched and compressed, until the final results were revealed. His hand was gone, replaced by an large axe head.
Morgan grinned, and pointed his axe-hand at the stunned Zoro. "It's a recent discovery, a testament to my greatness. The little ball quite literally gives me an axe hand. I've never tried it out on anyone before, been saving it for a special type of fool that needs to be pounded into the ground a little harder than others. And you, brat, have long since passed that. Now both you and your little friend must die, for the cause of angering me."
He took an intimidating step towards Zoro. The brat rasped a soft growl but flinched back. Excitement flooded over Morgan. This was going to be great. Not as great as he was, but close. He was going to rip the green haired brat's limbs off, starting with his legs so he couldn't run, and then make him watch as Morgan tortured the other brat with the stupid hat. They both needed a lesson to show who was the greatest. And once he was bored, he'd chop off both of their heads.
Morgan took another step, only to grunt when something wrapped around his legs and stopped them from moving. Unprepared for the sudden restraint, he lost his balance and tumbled into the ground face-first. The mist blew away by the wind of his fall, but it quickly reclaimed the lost territory.
"It worked!" Luffy cheered as he sat up from under the mist, the spray dissipating on the straw hat as he emerged. His long rubbery arms disappeared into the mist, and Zoro could only guess where they went. Luffy made a funny face, then belched out some of the mist. He stared at it nonchalantly, as if that almost poison wasn't just barely in his body, and more like a kid would observe a passing cloud.
Zoro stared. What in the-? The spray was inside him, Luffy should be practically dead, if not catatonic! "How are you *cough* not dead?"
Luffy twisted his head to look at Zoro in a way that was distinctly 'not normal' and shrugged. "Don't know. I was choking, so I pirated and was fine."
"What, *cough* are you immune to poison or something?" Zoro asked as he got to his feet. Thankfully the mist only came up to his waist when he stood. Luffy shrugged again, his nonchalance obvious on his face.
"WHO DID THAT!" Morgan lurched upwards out of the smog. The man was breathing heavily, and he had nasty glare on his face.
Zoro and Luffy both looked at Morgan, unimpressed. He was still up? How bothersome. Now they'd have to deal with the annoyance. Oh well, at least they would get a fight out of it.
Morgan glared down at his legs. He waved the mist away with his axe-hand to reveal two strange flesh colored cords wrapped around his legs. How dare they! Have the cords realized what they've done?! They interrupted a great officer in his work! Angry, Morgan slashed one with his axe-hand. To his surprise, the cord didn't cut, and blood seeped out of the thin slash instead.
"Ow!" Luffy gasped and unwound his arms from the man. They snapped back into place, and Luffy examined the small cut on his lower arm with tears in his eyes. "That hurt you jerk!"
Morgan blinked in surprise. The brat had weird powers as well. But of course, it was inferior to his. "So you have one of those balls too." he stated.
"Balls?" Zoro shifted his stance into a crouch, and a hand slipped down to grasp the handle of his wooden katanas. "Like that one you had in your hand?"
"Yes. It lets me become even greater than I was before. I don't know why you have one brat, but..." Morgan stood up, his eyes now locked onto the teen.
"I am the greatest!" he shouted, holding his arms to the sky as he proudly declared his rank to the world.
"Oh ya?" Luffy folded his arms and tilted his hat so it covered his eyes. Then he grinned. "Well, we're PIRATES!"
Morgan barely turned in time to block Zoro's sword. Somewhere in his brain it registered that the green haired brat was bigger and had actual swords, but it was overwhelmed by the part screaming to prove he was the greatest. Morgan tried to match the menacing glare that the brat delivered, but failed to even compare miserably. Once he realized this, Morgan sneered and threw his arm out, which sent the green haired brat flying back.
In theory. Actually, all that happened was that Morgan started push. Then his arms began to strain. After a couple seconds his face turned red while sweat began to develop. Then the shaking started.
"Impossible! I'm too great!" Morgan gasped. He couldn't move his arm! This had never happened in the twenty years he'd been alive! Everybody always crumbled under his mighty fist! But the green haired brat's arm hadn't slipped even in the slightest. It was like Morgan was trying to push a mountain, and he was failing miserably.
Angered, Morgan let out a roar and put all his weight behind his blow. Impossibly, the puny sword didn't falter for even a split second against his mighty axe.
Suddenly rubber arms wrapped around Morgan's limbs. The long arms pinned the officer's arms to his sides, and stretchy legs wrapped around the man's waist. In seconds, Morgan was efficiently immobilize. Luffy grinned at the back of the officer's head as the man struggled to move. "Good luck gettin' out. I got you trapped. Now watch this! Gomu Gomu no..."
"What in the?" Zoro dropped out of his stance to stare at his friend quizzically. "What are you doing?"
Luffy leaned forward and then tossed his head back, his hat tumbling off his head but hanging around his neck by the string. His head stretched impossibly far back, and the top of his hair grazed the mansion walls. For a moment his neck stayed stretched, then Luffy grinned, and his head came shooting forward.
"...Bell!"
His forehead cracked painfully against the back of Morgan's head. The sound echoed for a good five seconds as Morgan's eyes went white as he barely held onto consciousness. The officer staggered like a drunk man, disoriented but still standing.
"Let go of him Luffy!" Zoro warned. Luffy nodded and unwound his limbs, throwing himself to the side. Zoro charged forward a single step before he vanished, only to reappear on the other side of Morgan in that same pose he'd used on the two boys. What did he call it again? Oh yeah. His Onigiri pose. Briefly, memories of the hours spent perfecting that move flashed in front of his eye, but Zoro pushed them aside.
Morgan coughed. Zoro kept his back to him. After all, there was no need to look at a dead man. He pulled the white sword out of his mouth and sheathed it in one quick movement, before he slowly returned the other two swords to their sheathes.
The moment the last katana clicked into place Morgan shuddered. The giant man's legs gave up underneath him and he collapsed, blood streaming from the three long slash wounds on his chest. The ground shook under his weight, and the mist was pushed back for a second. The axe hand shattered into pieces to reveal a perfectly normal hand underneath, and the metal jaw followed its example quickly after.
"Wow!" Luffy walked up to Morgan and crouched over the limp body. "Nice one, Zoro."
"Thanks." Zoro grunted.
Luffy poked Morgan's face. "Is he alive?"
"Stop poking him!" Zoro growled and smacked Luffy's hand.
Luffy didn't notice, something else caught his attention. If his older body's hearing hadn't been so good, Zoro doubted he would have caught it either. it was a loud gasp. Then grass being crushed in a fast, two second pattern. Like someone was running on the other side of the wall. The sound of grass being crunched became wood being stepped on, and a door slid open. Windows slid open, and and the chatter of people spreading the word of a fight in the abandoned lot next door. There were more footsteps as the people inside ran around, spreading the news even further.
"Crap." Zoro muttered. A witness. Hopefully they didn't see the entire fight, or else there would be some really awkward explaining in the future. Somebody in the mansion next door was bound to call the authorities. Best to be gone by the time the officers arrived.
Zoro hurried to the back of the car and braced his shoulders against the trunk before he shoved forward with his legs. The old wheels resisted for a moment, having been long rusted in the same position, before they gave in with a loud complaint. They squealed terribly for one rotation then silently adjusted to movement once more. The rest of the ivy that remained on the car snapped long before Zoro pushed the car to the remains of the mansion driveway.
Luffy looked at the roof of the mansion next door, barely visible over the wall. He raised one hand to shade his eyes. "The maids are such gossips." He tutted.
"Luffy!" Zoro shouted, drawing Luffy from his thoughts. .
"What?"
"The car has no gas. I'm goin' to look if the garage has some. You stay and watch in case somebody shows up."
Luffy stared. For some reason, letting Zoro go off on his own seemed like a terrible idea. Luffy turned and headed towards the mansion without a word.
"What are you doing!? I said I would go in!" Zoro yelled. Was Luffy deaf or something?
"If you go in you'll never come out." Luffy said calmly, like he was stating an obvious fact.
"What!" Zoro's teeth sharpened as he glared. Luffy completely ignored him and ran inside.
It took only a couple of seconds for Luffy to find the garage. Mostly because instead of running inside the house and finding the garage from in there, Luffy went with the more simple method of breaking through the garage door with a single punch. A couple more seconds were spent to grab the gas cans, and Luffy raced out of the hole with four cans under his rubbery arms.
"Hurry!" Zoro yelled from halfway down the driveway. "All the sounds from next door just stopped."
Luffy scrambled and plopped the cans next to the car. After a couple seconds he located the gas tank and flipped the lid open. He easier lifted the canister and unscrewed the lid, tilting the pipe into the tank. The four gas cans seemed to take eternity to drain their contents. It was taking too long! Finally the last can let out a gurgle. Immediately the pirates jumped into action.
Luffy dropped the can where he stood. He ran to the front of the car and climbed into the driver's seat while Zoro sat shotgun.
"Can you drive?" the swordsman asked as Luffy settled into the seat and grabbed the wheel. Luffy grabbed the keys from his pocket and shoved them into the ignition and started the car. It let out a rough grumbled as the engine labored to power up, then roared loudly as it kicked on.
"Are you crazy? Course not. I'm ten." Luffy answered, giving Zoro a questioning look.
"I think we are both older than ten right now, but it's no surprise you can't drive. Should have known." Zoro muttered to Luffy, but mostly to himself.
"Then why did you ask?" Luffy eyed with the clutch. He was pretty sure the giant 'D' stood for Monkey D. Luffy, meaning that was where the stick thing needed to be. He grabbed the stick, but was distracted by Zoro shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know, they say it in the movies all the time." Zoro stated. He eyed the outside world, and once his gaze hit the front window it sharpened.
"Dang it! The wall!" Zoro hopped out the car, already drawing the white sword. "Its blocking the way out!"
"What?" Luffy looked up. Completely distracted, his hand pushed the stick forward into the 'D' section. Rusty gears groaned and unstuck. The car started to roll forward.
"Oh!" Luffy looked around as the scene began to slowly slide. He hadn't meant for that to happen. "The car is moving!"
"Stop it then!" Zoro yelled.
"Don't know how." Luffy shrugged unhelpfully. "I've never really been to the movies."
Growling, Zoro faced the wall. He'd get after Luffy later, right now Zoro needed to take care of their other problem. Getting out of here. He faced the wall and held up the white sword. He had a feeling this wasn't the sword he typically used for Ittoyru, but it was the only sword Zoro actually recognized and felt comfortable using.
Zoro took a deep breath. He needed to concentrate. He closed his eye, took another breath, and then slashed the katana three times.
A triangle appeared in the wall, the base lined smoothly with the floor and the sides were perfectly straight. The dislodged part slid out of the wall with a chilling screech. Good. Zoro nodded, impressed. The sword was really sharp. His older self knew how to keep the swords in good condition.
He eyed the hole. It was nicely sized, the car could scrape through without any major scrapes. Zoro glanced at the car and made some small calculations. If it was going to continue at the rate the car would... Zoro let out a small huff. If the car continued on its direction, it was going to miss the hole entirely and smack against the wall to directly to the left. Tsk, what an annoyance. Nothing was ever easy with Luffy around.
"Luffy!" Zoro yelled. "You're gonna crash! Use the steering wheel to go through the hole."
Luffy popped his head out the window. "How?!"
"I don't know! Just make sure the steering wheel makes it through the hole or something!"
"Like this?" Luffy chucked the steering wheel at the hole.
Zoro froze. His jaw dropped down as he stared in shock. That really just happened. Luffy really just removed the steering from the car! The idiot!
Slowly, Luffy began to realize what he'd done. "Oops. I made a mistake didn't I?" Luffy rubbed the back of his head as the car moved closer.
"YOU IDIOT!" Zoro roared. He sheathed his sword before running to the side of the advancing car. He managed to latch onto the hood. Cold metal and ivy plants dug into his palms. Growling and snarling curses about his useless captain, Zoro planted his feet into the ground and shoved the front of the car to the right.
The hood of the car barely skimmed the edge of the hole. Half a second later and they wouldn't have made it. Zoro could have sworn he saw sparks as the metal rubbed against the rock. The side mirror on the driver's side was torn off, but it was a worthy sacrifice.
And of course, his idiot captain was sitting there in the front seat, grinning, even as the taillights of the car scraped past the rock wall.
Zoro smirked and crossed his arms as he watched the car rumble down the rest of the decayed driveway. Good, they made it out. He stared for a couple seconds more, satisfied with himself as the car began to drive further away. Wait…. Drive away?
Zoro gasped. Wait a minute! He wasn't in the car! "Luffy you idiot wait for me!" Zoro raced down the driveway, quickly catching up to the small vehicle halfway down. He jerked on the passenger door handle, and when it didn't move pounded on door. "Unlock the car!"
Luffy gave him a blank stare. Zoro unapologetically began to at curse his captain as the car went farther down the driveway. Finally Luffy seemed to get the message and he scrambled with the controls on the door. Something clicked, and Zoro tugged on the handle. The door flew open, almost knocking into his legs, but he managed to crawl around it into the passenger seat. Panting, Zoro silently shrunk back to a kid before collapsing. He wasn't physically exhausted (in fact, he hadn't even broken a sweat), but that had been terribly mentally depleting.
"Shishishishishishi! That was fun, let's do it again sometime! " Luffy laughed, glancing at the tired boy splayed all over the neighboring seat.
"Shut... up." Zoro growled.
Luffy stuck his head out the window, not noticing when the car slightly bumped as the wheels switched from the driveway to the road. He stared intently at the shrinking hole behind them. "Probably should grab the steering wheel." he thought out loud.
"You think?" Zoro deadpanned.
Luffy turned completely around in the seat. He pulled his fist back and then shot it forward through the hole. It snapped back with the steering wheel firmly in his rubbery grip. He probably would have taken out the side mirror with the rebound if it wasn't already gone.
"Got it!" Luffy turned forward, grinning happily as he held the steering wheel.
Just as they reached the end of the road, a roar sounded from behind them. "Bwahahahahahahahaha!"
"It's the super strong officer!" Luffy cried. Without thinking, he slammed on the smaller pedal stuck on the floor. The engine let out a loud scream from years of disuse, and then shot forward.
"Waaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Luffy's eyes sparkled as he screamed in fear. The car took an unexpected sharp turn- thankfully at an actual turn in the road -and headed down the length of the new street. The steering wheel bounced uselessly in Luffy's grip as the car speed along. Zoro hung onto the back of his seat for dear life, participating in the same vocal activity as Luffy.
Zoro twisted in his seat to look behind them, curious to see if he could catch a glance of the officer. All he saw was a flash of white that probably was the officer man standing in front of the hole. He could barely tell, but the guy seemed like he'd be really strong. Maybe Zoro would get the chance to clash with him someday.
In seconds the street was far behind them. Luffy still had the sparkle eyes as they left the town. Miraculously, they managed to not hit anything on their way out. Zoro had never feared for his life more than during that terrifying ride. Not even almost being executed could compare. Especially when their speed did not decrease as they entered the barren land in between towns.
Zoro peeled his fingers off the seat. Ten crescent shaped imprints greeted him, probably forever imprinted into the fabric. He sweat dropped, then stared at the outside scenery. It was all just a giant dirt colored blur. They were going really fast. "Hey Luffy, take your foot of the gas will ya?"
"What are you talking about?"
Zoro frowned. What did he mean by 'what are you talking about'? He turned to Luffy, ready to complain. Instead, his eyes widen and he gasped in surprise. The Future Pirate King was sitting cross-legged on the seat, his sandal clad feet nowhere near the gas pedal and the steering wheel rested in his lap.
"The weird plastic thing is stuck. It won't move. Same with the other one." Luffy reached down and tugged on the other pedal.
With a loud crack, the larger pedal separated from the floor. Zoro froze, tears streaming from his face as he stared at the detached brakes. Luffy held the pedal up in his hand, stared at the broken stick in the floor, then watched as their speed increased to a even more terrifying level.
"Ahh. Looks like we're speeding out of control. It's such a pretty day as well." He commented calmly.
"Shut up!" Zoro ripped the steering wheel from Luffy's lap and slammed it onto the empty post. He briefly lost his balance as the wheel unexpectedly slipped, jerking the car to the left, throwing them into thankfully empty opposite traffic lane. After another short scream session, Zoro tugged them back into the right lane.
He fell back into his own seat, but continued to hang onto the steering wheel, leaving him awkwardly hanging across of Luffy. Eventually his breaths slowed down to a more calm rate.
"Woah. That was easy." Luffy shrunk into his smaller body.
"You didn't do anything!" Zoro's teeth sharpened as he yelled at Luffy. As usual, Luffy just grinned back.
"Tsk!" Zoro grunted. A couple minutes passed before he spoke up again.
"Oi Luffy, switch me spots. This position is awkward."
"No."
"What!?"
"This is my special seat. No one takes my special seat." Luffy crossed his arms and puffed out his cheeks as he spoke.
"Ugh. Fine." Zoro rolled his eyes. Being comfortable wasn't worth the fight. He glanced out the window. Just how fast were they going? Zoro checked the speedometer, and to no surprise, the needle was hanging out around the zero. Great, it was broken. Sighing, Zoro looked out the window again and tried to judge their speed by eye.
"Huh." He said. "My guess is if we jump out at the speed were going we'd probably die."
Luffy released the air held in his cheeks, and leaned forward in curiosity. "Really? What if we pirated and hopped out?"
Zoro shook his head. "I'd rather not test out the limit of our older bodies like that. We'd could get seriously hurt."
Luffy nodded. "Maybe. But we could also maybe live."
They sat like that, unconcerned for their lives, as they broke every speed limit with barely any control of their vehicle, for hours. And to make it worse, their speed continued to increase. Towns were a blink-and-you-miss situation. They lost count of how many they passed through after they hit double digits. Destruction usually fell in their wake as they zoomed by, as cars and people swerved out of their way. Surprisingly, no one was hit by the little rusty old car. The other cars were hit by fellow cars trying to avoid the runaway vehicle.
It was in the middle of the desert-y nowhere when Luffy felt a difference in their speed.
"Yo, Zoro." Luffy shook the other boy- who somehow managed to fall asleep in his awkward position -awake.
"Wha?" Zoro yawned and almost started to stretch, then sat up alert as he too noticed their speed. "We're slowing down. Must be out of gas."
Luffy nodded. "Plus there is that weird place." He pointed at a large lump that was approaching on the horizon.
Zoro squinted at the lump. He could barely tell, but they kind of looked like- "Is that... trees?"
That's odd. Usually stuff didn't grow in between towns. It had something to do with the climate, Zoro knew. Where the climate was good and stable people came and built towns and civilizations. They called them climate islands, and each was individually unique from one another. No one could figure out how they worked- something about the metal underneath the land that stabilized the climate -,but they did, and that was all Zoro needed to know. But out here where the barren lands where the climate was dry, hot, and viciously unstable it was nearly impossible to live, much less have trees. They must have found a mini-climate place.
"What are trees doing out here? They must be really tough! Let's go check it out!" Luffy grinned and started clapping his hands over his head. He was so pumped! The strange tugging feeling was back, and it definately wanted him to explore the tree place.
"Only if we stop at it. You said this car would take us to the girl. We should stick with it." Zoro reminded his friend. Even as he spoke, Zoro frowned. Something in the back of his mind was urging him to stop there. It almost felt like a tug, and it got stronger as the tree place got closer.
And as if responding to a queue, the car shuddered, let out several sharp coughs, and visibly slowed down.
Luffy laughed and increased his clapping. He knew it! They were going to the trees! Luffy clapped as the car continued to slow down, and he cheered when the machine stuttered to a stop in front of a cheerful house. The orange house looked like it came straight out of a farm house magazine, and behind it on both sides were green trees with orange splotches. The trees were organized into long lines that stretched for quite a distance.
"Yay!" Luffy cheered and hopped out of the car before it even came to a complete halt. He raised both hands to the sky. "It stopped! Shishishi, I told you we were suppose to come here!"
"I guess so." Zoro admitted as he slid out of the car and slammed the door shut. To his surprise, the door let out a terrible squeal before falling disjointedly to the ground. Zoro sweat dropped. Looks like it was the end of the road for this car, literally. "Guess we have to talk to the owners and ask for another car."
Luffy held his pose for a second longer, and then he began to chant. "Food! Food! Food! Food! MEAT!"
Zoro came up from behind and slapped the rubber boy's head. "Where did that come from?!"
Across the road, the house's front door swung open. The two boys glanced up. In the door frame stood a ten year old girl with orange hair. She was wearing a orange shirt with interlocking circles traveling down the side, and a white shirt with a blue trim. She stared at the two boys with a impassive face for a moment, before it morphed into a unamused grin.
"Hey!" she called out, gruffly leaning against the door frame. "What are you two doing out in the open?! Where are your parents? Don't they know there's a dangerous gang nearby? Come inside before you get yourself killed!"
Luffy stared at her intently, and Zoro unintentionally copied his captain. The girl looked really familiar. Like really, really familiar. And the tugging feeling was going crazy, nearly screaming at him. After a couple of seconds Zoro elbowed Luffy's side, and they broke their staring to huddle together and converse.
"Her?"
"Her."
"She looks younger."
"Course she looks younger. We look younger."
The girl stared at them in growing concern and confusion as the two boys continued muttering to each other. What were they doing? She tells them they are in danger and they just talk about it likes its nothing. Were they mental or something? And they kept sending her weird glances. It was starting to weird her out. Finally she cracked after thirty seconds. "What are you two saying!? Just shut up and get inside!"
Luffy grinned and happily skipped across the road- Zoro followed but he was feeling strangely reluctant for some reason. He didn't want to listen to her -and climbed up the stairs to the house. Luffy blatantly stared as he approached, and Zoro was hardly any different.
The girl lead them inside the house, taking them through the foyer to living room. It was a large room, with a couple couches and several farming equipment hanging on the walls. It kind of looked like a museum. She sweat dropped as black haired one in the vest continued to stare at her without blinking, and the other one with the swords started eyeing at the sharp tools hanging on the wall.
Pushing away their weirdness, she turned to face them and flashed her best smile. They might as well try to get along. They were going to be stuck together for a long time while the idiot gangster was still out there.
"Hi! I'm Nami!"