Defiance

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.

Chapter 2-Waking up

Zoro

Zoro woke up in chains.

The implications were not lost on him. He was in prison. Though, he had no idea where or how.

In fact the only thing he remembered was a weird dream where Luffy, Sanji, and he were mob bosses fighting over control of a town.

Of course Luffy won.

Didn't know how, but he did.

Zoro looked around his cell and saw it devoid of everything. Only the cot he was currently on, a sink, and a toilet. Damn. He didn't have anything to train with. He tested the chains and shackles. Seastone. Well, they must really want him to stay put, don't they?

He also became painfully aware of his lack of swords. He cursed loudly. Now he really wanted to kill something.

"Hello Zoro," came a voice from across the room.

'Oh, no. Not HER,' he thought, dread creeping into his mind. But sure enough, the person he LEAST wanted to see walked right up to the bars of his cell. He groaned. "Oh great, what do you want?" he growled.

"I'm here to try and get you to turn away from being a pirate," Tashigi said in a calm tone.

Zoro scoffed. "Then you're wasting your time. I won't betray Luffy like that." Screw that bull shit.

"Monkey D. Luffy was sent to the East Blue by Kuma and has been told that his crew are fine and he should not come for you if he values your lives."

"And you believe that? Ha! Luffy may act like an idiot, and in fact, I really do believe he is one! But I also know that Luffy is far from dumb. I'll bet money that he says "To Hell" with that statement," Zoro countered.

While Luffy really was an idiot, Zoro was one of the few (i.e. Robin and himself being the only ones) who saw just how intelligent he truly was. It may not look like it from a normal person's view point, but Zoro noticed the smallest details that showed even though he acted like an idiot (he was pretty sure being raised by Garp didn't do Luffy any favors either), Luffy was a genius. Not Robin genius, or Usopp genius. But a genius nonetheless.

Tashigi seemed to get angry. "Straw Hat's not the point of this conversation!" she hissed. "It's about you turning your back on your life of crime! The World Government doesn't give such pardons easily! This is a once in a life time offer!"

"Well, tell the World Government that they can take their 'once in a life time offer' and shove up their collective asses. I chose this path, and I refuse to give up who I am and what I've become for a bunch of low down, hypocritical, sacks of shit who think everyone below them is scum!" Zoro spat.

"So you would just turn them down?!" she asked, outraged at the thought. Though, if she was honest with herself, she could see his reasoning. She hated the World Nobles herself. Slavery didn't sit right with her.

"In a heartbeat," Zoro said to her and glared.

Tashigi gritted her teeth, trying to calm herself down. "Well, think about it," she said finally. "You can't get out. Not only is there enough Marines here to fill a large island, Vice Admiral Garp is coming to pick you all up personally." Zoro bit back a groan of frustration. Great. Fan-frickin-tastic. Even if he did escape, he'd be chased down Luffy's crazy grandpa. "And that's not all. You and the rest of the Straw Hats have three months to give up piracy."

Zoro raised an eyebrow. "And if we don't?"

"You'll be executed at Marineford, along-side Fire-Fist Ace."

It took all of Zoro's effort not to appear shocked at that. Ace? Luffy's brother? Caught? How the hell did that happen? And he and the others were gonna die if they didn't turn their backs on Luffy? Zoro fixed his features into a menacing scowl and glared at Tashigi. "Then I'll see you on the execution platform, then," he stated coldly.

She flinched back at his glare. "Y-you mean that you'll take death over giving up piracy?" she asked, unable to believe someone would do that.

"Death would be preferable," Zoro said. "I don't care what you say to me. I chose this path. Granted, I didn't plan on becoming a pirate, but Luffy is quite persuasive. But dispite it all, I don't regret a single minute of joining his crew. This is my choice. Not yours."

Tashigi stared at him, aghast. He snorted. "If you're done, I'm going to sleep." With that, he rolled around on the cot so his back was facing her. But didn't sleep. He had too much to do.

Like figure out a way out of this cell, and find the others before they were sent to Marineford for execution.

He just hoped they didn't get themselves lost before he could save them.

Luffy

Luffy awoke to pain.

It wasn't unusual. He'd awoken to pain many a times. Starting with his Gramps all the way up to all the fights he'd ever been in.

But never before has he felt the pain he was feeling right now.

In all honesty, it felt like someone was taking a red hot poker to the inside of his skull. But that wasn't mentioning his body. It felt like he had stretched his whole body to its maximum and left it there. He also felt heavier, which for Luffy was a terrible sign. He was always fairly light, thanks to his Devil fruit. Now, it like his Gramps was squeezing every muscle very tightly. Luffy cried out as the pain became too unbearable.

"Careful! You're still too weak to move!" a voice chastised.

With a great amount of effort, Luffy opened one eye to see who spoke, trying to force his vision to clear up. It was an older man, possibly his late twenties. He wore the typical lab coat and had geeky, wire-rimmed glasses. He stood next to a large whiteboard with a lot of writing that Luffy couldn't make out.

"Wha-?" Luffy tried to speak, but the pain in his head made him wince and cry out again.

"Stay still, child," the man said gently. "You're suffering from…well, I'm not sure what you're suffering from, actually. You're whole body is as taut as a bow string and you're nervous system is going haywire! I say, whatever you've been through must've been painful!"

"'evil fruit," Luffy moaned as the pain spiked again.

"Huh? What was that, young man?"

"D-Devil fruit…w-was…r-ripped out," Luffy finally managed to say as he felt the pain subside slightly.

The man's eyes widened. "My word! You've encountered Enoch then, have you boy?! You mean to tell me you survived having your Devil fruit ripped clean out of you?!" he asked in horrified shock.

"Yes…" Luffy croaked.

"Well, this is astonishing!" The man exclaimed. "Never did I think surviving after having your Devil fruit ripped out was possible!"

"Me neither," Luffy whispered hoarsely. The pain in his body was subsiding, and his muscles seemed to be finally loosen up slightly. He still felt like someone was taking that red hot poker to his brain, but at least he didn't feel like screaming anymore.

The man looked at some machines and said, "Well, seems your nervous system is calming down a bit." He walked over and helped Luffy into a sitting position. He tensed slightly, but immediately winced at the effort.

"Then why does my head still hurt?" Luffy whined.

The man looked at him curiously. "What was your Devil fruit?" he asked professionally.

"Gum Gum fruit," Luffy answered automatically. He tensed up incase this guy tried what that palm tree haired guy did.

The man didn't. He just nodded and asked, "Ah. That would explain it. Rubber is a natural insulator do to it lacking conducting electrons. It is reasonable to assume that the having the molecular structure of rubber forced your body's nervous system to work harder to carry out life sustaining functions.

"Then, when Enoch removed it, your nervous system was no longer impeded, sending powerful electrical currents through your system, causing your pain," he finished.

That entire explanation went completely over Luffy's head. "W-wha-?"

The man chuckled. "Rubber doesn't conduct electricity."

Luffy tilted his head confused. "O-kay?"

"And the nervous system, in simple terms, tells us what part of our body to use by electrical signals."

Luffy nodded slowly. His head hurt, but surprisingly, he was starting to understand this man. "So, it's logical to assume that thanks to your rubber powers, those electrical signals were weaker than they were supposed to be," the man said. "Before, have you ever noticed a sharp, stinging pain in your muscles after eating your Devil fruit?"

Luffy thought for a moment before his eyes widened. "You know what? Yeah! When my Gramps trained me after I ate the Gum Gum, my muscles always stung like his punches!" he said grinning. But his mood quickly darkened at the thought of his grandpa.

"That would be your nervous system. Since your rubber body forced your nervous system to work harder, every time you exercised and trained it caused the stinging pains in your muscles until it stabilized out."

Before Luffy could think anything else, a loud voice rang through the room: "Hey Doc! We got the food!"

"Oh, good! Have Mari cook up something for our guest!" the Doc responded.

"You got it, Doc!"

Luffy wondered who this "Doc" guy was talking too. Just then, a guy about Luffy's age ran into the room. He was wearing a tattered brown cloak over solid black body armor. He had brown spikey hair and wild green eyes. He turned to Luffy with a large "D" grin and said, "So it's alive! You gave me, Mari, and Croc a scare, ya know?!"

Luffy looked at him confused for a moment before the Doc said, "Behave yourself, Rico." He turned to Luffy and smiled. "This is one of the young ones who found you. His name is Rico."

"At your service," Rico bowed at the waist. "What's your name? Can't just go around calling you 'Guy' right?"

"I'm Luffy," the Straw Hat captain said.

"Well, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Luffy. My name is Mason D. Malaki, or Doc if you prefer," Malaki greeted.

"So, Doc, what's wrong ole' Luf here?" Rico asked.

"It would seem that Enoch ripped Mr. Luffy's Devil fruit power out of him," Malaki responded.

Rico was shocked. He looked at Luffy and said, "You met up with Enoch and lived?!"

Luffy nodded. He looked around a bit more and saw his straw hat sitting on a desk. On instinct, he thrust out his hand towards his hat…

But it didn't stretch.

Luffy stared at his arm for what seemed like hours. For so long, he'd had his rubber powers. Now…it felt like he was missing something. He hung his head mournfully.

"Hey, Doc! Mari wants to know what our guest would like to eat!" another voice, this one very deep and growly, shouted as a hulking figure entered the room. He was very tall, and seemed to be all muscle under green scaly skin. He had sharp teeth, yellow eyes, and wore extra-large blue jeans and what seemed like manacles on his wrists.

Luffy gaped at the large figure. He was HUGE! Almost as big as his Grandpa! And he looked like one of those giant banana-thingies from Rain Base! Rico turned and smiled at the figure.

"What up, Croc?!" Rico said happily.

"Don't call me Croc!" the beast snarled. He turned to Luffy and said, "Don't listen to anything this guy says. My name is Waylon Jones."

Luffy was awestruck. "Whoa! You're huge!"

Waylon looked at him with a large toothy grin. "That I am. I got an extreme case of Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis. That's why I look like this."

Luffy tilted his head. "I have no idea what you just said," he told him.

Waylon nodded. "It's complicated."

"Oh! I wouldn't say that! You see, Mr. Luffy, Epidermolytic hyperkeratosis is-" Doc began to lecture, but Rico intervened.

"Yeah! That's all well and good, Doc! But I don't think Luf here's gonna follow your technical talk," Rico responded.

"Yeah," Luffy confirmed. "Can we go eat now? I'm hungry, and I really need find a ship."

"Why?" Doc asked.

Luffy's expression darkened. "I need to save my friends. I have only three months to find them and save them."

Doc's expression became grim before he smiled. "Don't worry, Mr. Luffy. We'll help you out in getting you back to your quest. But first, let's eat! Can't go saving your friends on an empty stomach can we?"

Luffy grinned. "No we cannot! Let's eat!"

Waylon grinned. "A man after my own heart," he proclaimed.

"Anyone who enjoys eating is a man after your heart, Croc," Rico whispered.

"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME CROC!"

Luffy laughed joyfully. These two reminded him of Zoro and Sanji; they seemed to fight over the smallest things. Luffy hoped they were doing alright, along with everyone else. Franky, Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Robin, and Nami.

Strangely, the thought of Nami being anything less than okay sacred Luffy terribly. Even more so than the others. Wonder why that was?

Robin

Robin groaned as she felt herself awaken to the draining effects of seastone.

She tried to remember what had happened to her. All she could recall was reaching out to Luffy, Kuma hitting her, and…

The most unusual dream where the other Straw Hats and she were mythical creatures looking for something they lost.

The irony of Luffy being a dragon was not lost on her.

She was shaking her head trying to gain her bearings when she heard a familiar voice say: "Finally awake are you, Nico Robin?!"

She immediately turned to the voice and saw Spandam of CP9 standing in front of her. It was then she realized she was in a prison cell. Rob Lucci and the rest of CP9 stood behind Spandam silently.

She quickly schooled her features into a pleasant smile and asked, "Why hello, Spandam, to what do I owe the displeasure of seeing you again?"

The lavender haired man sneered at her. "I'm here to take you to Marineford, you stupid woman! There you will tell us how to resurrect the Ancient Weapons!" he shouted.

"You might as well kill me," Robin replied calmly. At present, she couldn't do much in the way of escaping, so her hope was to distract Spandam and the others long enough to find a way of escaping. She hoped the others were not in terrible situations like this.

Spandam slapped her. She cried out as she hit the floor, where the CP9 chief began stomping on her. "You will if you want your 'friends' to live!" he screamed. "They are to be brought to Marineford for execution in three months and will die if you don't cooperate! Hell, I might just kill them anyways! I need to pay Cutty Flam and that Straw Hat bastard back for the Enies Lobby incident!"

Robin's face betrayed her shock. She couldn't believe it. She was back into a situation that if she didn't cooperate, her friends would be killed! Before she could think any further on the situation, she heard a booming voice yell, "What are you doing, you little Brat?!"

Everyone in the room turned towards the voice. The speaker was a tall, broad shouldered man with short white hair and a scar over his left eye. He wore the traditional Marine attire with the coat swaying slightly behind him. His face was set in a dark scowl.

Rob Lucci was the first to respond: "Vice Admiral Garp."

"Garp san," Robin whispered.

Garp's facial features hardened more. "Answer me, Brat! What are you doing to her?!"

An: There's Chapter 2! Hope y'all enjoyed it! Sorry if Zoro and Robin seem OOC, I know there is some faults in it, but I am in the process of ironing them out. And yes, I modeled Waylon Jones after Killer Croc (and used his real name) from Batman, simply because if he had a better life, Croc would have been one of the most badass superheroes in all of DC, in my humble opinion.

Also, about Luffy being smart; think about it. I truly believe Luffy is smarter than he appears. You just need to watch certain episodes to see it. Like his fight with Kuro, for example. Or Arlong (though that was more rage-fueled). You might have to look, but in his own right, Luffy is a pretty smart guy. He's just very simple-minded and cheerful. Plus, both his father Dragon and his grandfather Garp are pretty dang smart, though Garp simply doesn't care how he acts since he caught Roger. But that's my opinion on the matter.

And if Spandam seems OOC, well, I don't like the guy. Period. So, I created a situation where Garp's gonna kick his sorry hide. 'Till next time!