Ollo...?
(Cookie to anyone who knows the refrence) Chapter two is fresh off the press everyone! Hope you enjoy and remember; Reviews are always welcome!
Disclamer: I do not own One Piece.
The first rays from the early morning sun cast several shadows over the sidewalk in front of the Surviving Nations Alliance building. The Straw-hated mercenary kicked at stones and watched them scuttle across the street with mild fascination but looked up as one accidently hit Zoro's Boot. "Sorry." He mumbled before kicking yet another stone. Meanwhile Zoro was examining his Katana and had changed out of his uniform and into a pair of thick black jeans, a grey shirt and a leather jacket zipped up over it; choosing to keep his black army-issue boots. His rucksack lay at his feet and his Katana faithfully at his side.
Zoro frowned at the disruption but chose to ignore it. Upon closer inspection he had discovered that Luffy was covered in scars; small ones as well as some that looked as if they may have been life threatening. For example the one running up the back of his calf; not only did it look like it was meant to have cut completely through Luffy's leg, but smaller scars crossing over it suggested that it had been hand stitched. Hadn't this brat heard of an Instant Healing Pill before? The army gave them out by the bag full. Other scars and burns marred him as well, like the one he had glimpsed before that engulfed his entire right arm making it a shade darker than the other. It made Zoro wonder... what had this kid done to himself?
He shook his head and dismissed the thought; it was none of his concern what the kid did. All he had to do was make sure he got back with One Piece. Both were now waiting on Sanji who had the courtesy to turn up ten minutes late. Luffy looked up as the gates to the Alliance building opened and he walked over to Sanji and held out his hand expectantly.
Sanji raised his curly eyebrow since this gesture obviously wasn't meant to be a handshake "Oh your money!" he realised digging into the side pocket of his bag and pulling out an envelope. "What? I don't even get a 'hello' before hand? Shesh." He muttered. Sanji had changed out of his 'penguin suit' as some -namely Luffy- would call it, and into a casual pair of jeans and a random black t-shirt and a large coat. Luffy frowned at the man's choice in clothes and snatched the envelope from Sanji's hand and ripped it open carefully counting the money. "Hey, calm down. You're acting like this is your first pay in weeks." laughed Sanji. Luffy gave the man a dull glare before pulling his bag off his shoulder and placing the money carefully inside one of the compartments.
Sanji gazed at him in confused realisation, "Shit... It's because this is your first pay in weeks, isn't it? No wonder you accepted... I thought you were just crazy enough to do this because you wanted to." he mumbled. Luffy sighed and lifted his bag back onto his back, "I may be a younger than you but I've seen things that would make your weird-as-shit curly eyebrow uncurl." Sanji glared at the teen who glared right back. "I'm not crazy... yet that is, but I have my reasons and I'd rather not talk about them." He muttered turning his back to the pair and walking off, "You two coming or not?" he yelled over his shoulder. Picking up his rucksack, Zoro muttered something along the lines of 'weird bastards' and 'long trip' under his breath before following after the straw hat.
After a few minutes of silence, Luffy turned around to walk backwards and faced his two new companions. "So I take it you two already know each other?" he asked motioning between the two. Sanji frowned, "Yes and no; seen each other around, talked for the first time after the meeting." He said taking a drag from the cigarette he had just lit a moment before. Luffy sighed and turned around again, "Since we're going to be travelling for a while I might as well get to know a bit about the two of you." He mumbled more to himself than his new companions. "So uhh, where are you both from?" he asked lamely.
To Luffy's surprise they actually responded; "My dad was from Russia but my mom is English. I was born in England but brought over in 2097 when I was ten to get away from the political conflict. That obviously didn't turn out so well..." said Zoro frowning slightly.
Luffy smirked, "Yeah I guess not. Arrived just in time for China to try and invade." He chuckled, still facing away from the two. Luffy motioned to Sanji over his shoulder. "So where you from then? I would assume France but you don't have the froufrou accent." he said. Sanji scowled, "I'm American born but was adopted and moved to France when I was eight to get away from the war. That was probably in 2098 I think... just after the Chinees left." he muttered.
"Not that I give a shit, but how old are you anyway?" Luffy shrugged, "You don't need no know, and I don't see why it's important." He said waving a hand dismissively. "Ok then. Why the hell are you a mercenary? Don't you have a family or something?" pressed Sanji. Seriously; he had told the guy about himself but he didn't bother to return the favour? 'And he thought I was an Ass...'
Without warning Luffy stopped mid step, almost making Zoro run into him, and gasped softly. Sanji and Zoro stopped behind him and looked at each other in puzzlement. Walking around the prone form, Zoro caught a glimpse of the pained expression on the usually stoic mercenary's face before it slipped away. "Why I do what I do is none of your business..." he hissed. "If you are going to tag along, you need to know the rules. One: Don't ask personal questions. Two: Stay out of my way. Three: The past is the past and whatever happened there stays there." He muttered.
Sanji raged, "Fuck that! We tell you our shit and you just wave off your own!" Luffy turned around and leaned so close to Sanji that their heads were almost touching. "I never asked you to tell me!" he hissed, "I just asked where you were from; I didn't need to know the other crap! If it makes you feel better I'm American! There happy!" he yelled turning on his heal and stalking off, leaving the other two to follow. A few moments of awkward silence settled over the three and Sanji glanced at some of the people in the city who had already begun their day.
They seemed happy. Sanji smiled; the war was over and peace had settled over the community once again. Zoro's comments tore him out of his thoughts and he brought his attention back to the present. "Hey Luffy?" called Zoro cautiously. Luffy turned around, "Yeah what's up?" he asked, his mood totally opposite of what he had had a few minutes before. Sanji tilted his head, wow talk about bipolar... "I think we're going the wrong way. We're meant to be heading to the east coast, why are we going south?" Zoro asked.
Luffy chuckled, "We're making a small detour. I only trust one person with my weapons." he said pulling a broken pair of knuckle dusters out of his pockets and tossing them to Sanji. His eyes widened; they had completely snapped in half. Either his weapons manufacturer was shitty or this kid had one strong punch... "I kinda snapped them on my last Mission." he chucked rubbing the back of his Straw Hat as one would usually rub their head. Sanji passed them back but Luffy's expression darkened and his fist clenched. "There's something else I have to take care of down south as well."
The three had already reached downtown and were walking along one of the backstreets. "So where are we going?" asked Zoro. Luffy smirked, "Down south obviously, the person I need to see is in Portland. Not too far, 'bout hour and a half by car." He said. Sanji sighed and shook his head. "We don't have a car..." he muttered. Luffy smirked again, "We will soon." he said walking into a mechanics store. Sanji and Zoro came to a stop outside, "He better not be planning on hijacking one..." Zoro mumbled.
"Luffy!" boomed someone from the inside making the two reach for their weapons. Turning a corner they saw a tall man with short ruffled blond hair and orange tinted skiing goggles sitting atop his head. He had a hand resting on Luffy's Straw Hat and was shaking the boy's hand with the other. "Long time no see Kiddo! How's life for ya!" he said. Luffy smiled widely, "Yeah Paulie, long time no see! Going slow but I just got a new job today." he said nodding his head in the direction of Zoro and Seth. Paulie looked them over, "Rookies?"
Luffy shook his head, "No, from the Alliance. They think I need babysitters." He chuckled shaking his head. Paulie laughed loudly before taking out a cigar and lighting it. "Ha! Babysitter?" he laughed again. "No way; you obviously haven't seen half the stunts this kids done! Even I'm not crazy enough to take on New Yorks Underground, or win for that matter!" he chuckled. Sanji choked slightly, "That was you! The Alliance heard about that but had no idea who it was..." Luffy gave him a smirk, "Still think I need a baby sitter?" he asked before turning back to Paulie.
"Hey Paulie, I need a car to get me to Portland. You have any lying around?" he asked tilting his head slightly. Paulie sighed and scratched his cheek lightly "Let me have a look around. Wait here." He said turning around and walking into the garage out the back. The trio could hear something in the back room fall and Paulie swearing before he finally appeared a few moments later and stood near the door. "Got some good news; I have a car you can use. It's an old model, one of them fuel injected ones, but it can get you there." He said motioning them over.
"Luffy, tell Harlot Girl to bring it back next time she comes up for parts." Luffy laughed. "Yeah ok, I'll just leave out the Harlot Girl bit... I'm already in for enough shit as it is." He muttered. Paulie turned around, "Oh, why's that?" he said walking towards the car. Luffy stopped, "Wow... that really is an old model." He said pointing to the car. Paulie wacked him upside the head, "Hey what was that for!" he yelled rubbing the bump that was forming. "Don't avoid the subject!" yelled Paulie. "No I'm serious! I mean Com'mon; it still has a turbo engine! Don't you have any of the Solar-Sport models...?" He pouted, actually looking his age for once. Paulie just wacked him upside the head . "Ok ok! The Alliance is sending me into Hells Gateway." He muttered rubbing his head and climbing into the front seat of the car.
"Oh, no wonder your visiting Harlot Girl..." muttered Paulie. "Well... um, do you want me to organise your funeral now or after you visit her?" Luffy laughed nervously. "I wasn't actually planning on telling her, here take a look." He said throwing his broken Knuckle Dusters at Paulie while he checked the car. "I need Usopp to fix those. I'm also looking for some information. She might be able to find someone who can tell me something." Paulie looked at the Knuckle Dusters and laughed, "She's gonna start charging you for these now! What did you do this time? Punch through a wall!" he laughed. Luffy's voice drifted out from the hood of the car that he was currently looking through, "Nope, three and then they snapped on some bastards jaw." He said as if he were commenting on the weather.
Sanji and Zoro's jaws both dropped but Paulie just laughed and lay a hand on their shoulders, "Get used to it; you're gonna see things a lot weirder than that when hanging out with Luffy." Luffy's head popped out of the hood and he pulled it shut. "Yeah looks ok to me. Do you have the keys or do I have to hot wire it?" he said grinning. Paulie grinned and threw his Knuckle Dusters back at him along with some keys. "I'd rather you don't maim my cars, thank you very much." He chuckled. "Thanks Paulie I owe you one." He said grinning. Paulie laughed, "Just come back alive and that'll be enough." Zoro and Sanji put their backpacks into the trunk and climbed into the back seat since Luffy had put his bag on shotgun, carefully placing his hat on top of it.
Luffy turned the engine on and leaned back comfortably in the chair while Paulie pushed open the garage door. He rolled the car forwards and out onto the side streets, "Cya Paulie! Thanks for the car!" he yelled out the window while waving. Paulie put his hands on his hips and nodded, "Give Harlot Girl my regards!" he yelled. Luffy waved once more before driving off. Zoro suddenly raised his head, "Hold on... are you even old enough to drive?" He asked seriously. Luffy just laughed and tuned on some music.
If People are a little confused about the dates here's a nice little Time-Line for you all:
WW3= 2016-2023
WW4= 2087-2099
Nuclear war= 2104-2111
Current year= 2116
A-bomb raid of south east US= May 18th 2109
Bombing of Los Angeles in August 7th 2110
Surviving Nations Alliance established in 2105
Luffy born on February 10th 2098
Zoro born on November 4th 2087
Left England in March 2097
China invade US in April 2097- October 2098
Sanji born on March 6th 2090
Adopted and moved to France in December 2098
Became personal guard in May 2106
Hope you enjoyed the Chapter!