Chapter 15
The sound of the gun shot was heard throughout the area, which was good for no one can pinpoint the source, and everyone started to panic.
However, Zoro ran through the crowds easily like when he was a sharkman against the currents, jumped from the stage's edge, and dived down.
'You idiot! This wasn't the part of the damn plan!' He thought as he reached to the teen, seeing the dark red spot on the shoulder, only to smell nothing that resembles blood.
"Zoro!?" Luffy said, surprised that the other was falling with him.
"You baka!" He said as he saw that they were inching closer to the rocks. He held the other tightly against him as he made a mental plan of action so both don't end up dead.
He managed to change his body so that his feet were heading towards the rocks, managed a brief landing on one before hopping around until they reached the water, and fell in.
' "Oh! Roronoa-san." '
Zoro remembered something about being in the water in his human form.
#Flashback#
"What is it?"
"Make sure you're not near any kind of water when you're in your temporary human form."
"Why?"
She giggled. "Otherwise you might be caught doing a strip show."
"Nani?!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
#End of Flashback#
'Damn it!' He thought as he saw that Luffy was out cold and he felt his body burning in pain. He let go of Luffy for a brief moment to take off his shoes, pants, and other two legged garments before both legs turned into his one shark tail.
Once that was done, he grabbed Luffy once more and quickly brought them up the surface.
"Luffy! Luffy!" He said as he shook the other, unresponsive for a second before he coughed out a bit of water.
He was greatly relieved to see that the other alive, but noticed that the other was shivering. 'Water is too cold.' He realized as he took the jacket off and placed it over the teen's shoulder as the said person was gripping his shirt like a lifeline. "It's okay Luffy… You did great." He said.
"Thanks for not missing."
"Shut up."
The teen giggled before having a coughing fit.
"Luffy?" He said as he felt the other's skin was warm, and not the good kind. "Damn it! You're sick!"
"I'm not!"
"Then it has to be stress then… you can get sick from that."
"But I'm not sick!" Luffy said as he coughed.
"I'll take you back home Luffy." He said as he moved the teen to his back. "You better try to get a hold of your brother when you get there. You did fall off the edge of no return."
"I'm still here…"
"Yeah… But what you did was still beyond stupid. You could've gotten killed you moron! It was bad enough not trying to actually hit you with a gun, even when I have the most horrible aiming known to man or ocean! But trying to make a dramatic exit like that! You're lucky that I don't decide to kill you myself!"
Luffy sighed as he rested his head in between the shoulder blades, the water lapping at his chin as he smelled the salt of both the water and the other's skin.
"But I'm still here because of Zoro."
The sharkman sighed. "It was by stupid luck that I was able to make it."
"I'm sorry Zoro… I just didn't want you to get in trouble."
"You're the only reason why I would willingly get into trouble."
"Why?"
"Because you mean a lot to me, Luffy. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you."
"You would've been okay… Zoro's strong after all."
"Not when we first met…" He said as he could clearly remember. "Shit… has it really been ten years since that storm…"
Luffy smiled, remembering that memory as well. "I thought you were the coolest person I've ever met."
"Being half shark you mean."
Luffy shook his head. "No… You're more than that to me."
"Well, you're the only one who knows me."
Luffy lifted himself up a bit to rest his chin on the other's shoulder. "True. But I still know that you're a sharkman while the other's know you as a human."
"True."
Luffy then splashed the other. "I didn't get to see you in your human form!"
"Like it makes a difference?"
"I wanna know how tall Zoro is when he's human!"
"Maybe next time when things boil down."
Luffy pouted, but held the other tighter.
They were close to the beach house, which wasn't lit.
"Probably still panicking about my 'death drop'." Luffy said.
"I'm going to get an earful from Smoker about this. "
"Well! Look on the bright side, I'm okay and you're gonna get in to the big dog's office."
"You being okay is the bright side… I'm not too sure about that last one."
"Come on, Zoro! What's the worst thing that would happen to me?"
"Don't say that so carelessly…" He murmured as they went up to the sandy bank behind the house.
Just as Luffy got up, a sound of clicking was heard, followed by a sudden roar of an engine as the bright headlights went on.
"So you're alive!" Said a man as he walked up in front of the head lights.
'Crocodile!' Zoro thought with a shocked expression.
"Who are you!?" Luffy called as he tried to shield his eyes from the bright lights to see the man better.
"I'm Sir Zero, Crocodile… You may have heard of me somewhere?"
"Oh yeah! You're the bastard that's trying to tear down my home and put in a hotel to-"
"Luffy!" Zoro stopped him before he could continue to drop everything he knows.
"My, my… if it isn't our Shark Attack." Crocodile said lightly. "So you did know this kid on a very personal level after all. And you were going to kill him tonight."
Zoro didn't say anything, his lower half still submerged in the water.
"Quite an act you pulled, Monkey-san." Crocodile continued. "It actually convinced me that you did die and that your friend here would take a top position as one of my top advisors."
He sighed. "Alas… I just happen to overhear your brother about what happened… Even threatened to take your organs out and choke you with them, Zoro…"
"Where's my brother!?" Luffy said.
"Don't worry… He's fine." Crocodile said as he snapped his fingers, making a few people come up and threw beaten bodies towards Luffy. "Along with your other friends and acquaintances."
"Ace! Sanji! Usopp! Chopper! Smoker!" Luffy cried as he went up to his brother. As he did, a gun was aimed closely to his head.
"Luffy!" Zoro called as he saw that, but also noticed that he was both helpless and defenseless where he was at.
"Now then… Shark Attack… I'll make a deal with you…" Crocodile said as he took out a cigar. "Either come with me quietly and I'll spare your friend's life, or… all of you die. What will it be?"
Zoro knew if he tried to get out now, he will expose himself to who he truly is. But he also couldn't stand seeing Luffy and the other's killed before his eyes while he couldn't do anything. He has to make this choice.
"I'll go…" He said, defeated.
"No! Zoro!" Luffy cried out, but there was more guns to his head and the other's.
"Another wise choice on your part." Crocodile said.
"On one condition…"
"If it's about not building a hotel here, forget it."
"I got something more valuable than what you may have in mind."
"Oh? What have you been holding out?"
He swam up to the sandy bank.
"ZORO! NO!" Luffy cried out as the barrel jammed to his head, as a warning.
Zoro climbed out of the water, exposing his light green shark tail.
"The hell?" Some woman said.
"This has to be a joke!" Said another.
"If you don't believe what you see, then come take a close look!" Zoro said.
Crocodile mentioned one of the men to go up to examine the sharkman, all guns pointed to the said green haired man.
The man was strongly built and has a shavened head and dark tanned skin. He bent down and was going to touch the back fin when the teen protested.
"Don't touch him!" Luffy cried, only to receive the butt of the gun hitting his head, knocking him out.
"Luffy!" He cried as he was going to rush to the teen, only to feel his tail being grabbed by rough hands that had the scent stained by blood. He struggled, only to further prove that the tail wasn't a costume trick.
"It's the real thing!" The man said as he lifted Zoro up by the end of the tail, like a prized caught of the day.
"Put me down you asshole!" Zoro said when he heard laugher from Crocodile.
"So you can turn to a human then?"
"No…" He said, not wanting Robin to get involved. "I found some weird sea moss and had it for a snack one day and sprout legs." He lied.
"I see…" Crocodile said as he went up closer. "Are there… Any more… out there?"
Zoro knew that question would come up. "Maybe… I wouldn't know… As far as I'm concerned I'm the last of my kind."
"Pity…" Crocodile said as he lit his cigar. "What's your condition?"
"It's more like conditions."
"And?"
"You leave Luffy, his friends and family alone, don't kill them, and don't build a hotel on this island ever!"
Crocodile sighed. "Those are heavy conditions you're asking of me."
"With me around, you'll be making more money than any hotel or drug deal."
Crocodile looked thoughtful for a moment. "It's true that most of my sea ferrying clients have a fantasy of your kind… mostly the female versions…"
Zoro remained quiet as the other stared him down from his upside down presentation.
"Then again… you are built quite well…" He said as he grazed his golden hook from the waist down to the abs. "I'm sure a rare specimen such as yourself would make a fine price."
"If you kill Luffy or anyone he knows, say goodbye to your new cash cow. I will gladly take my life if I know, even for a second, that he has been harmed."
Crocodile sighed. "If I let them live they will try to find you."
"You were barely caught tonight…"
"Indeed." The man exhaled some smoke before turning. "We'll leave immediately, no one gets hurt or killed, and we will be just a memory."
With that, everyone put their guns away and started to walk to their cars, the man carrying the sharkman to a van, which looked like a torture chamber on wheels from the inside.
Zoro got a glimpse of Luffy for one last time and saw the trails where the tears fell. 'I'm sorry Luffy…' He thought as he was thrown in and was enveloped in darkness, hearing Crocodile curse the man for throwing him before feeling the vehicle roar with life.
For the first time, he felt water go down his face and knew what it was, but remained silent throughout the dark, bumpy ride.
I've got one thing to say: Please don't kill me.