first of all, biiiiiiig thanks to my beta reader, ZeldaAddict42!!! :D thanks a bunch! you are a big help! :D and now, on with the story....
Title: Zoan
Author: ZOroronoaRO
Fandom: One Piece
Pairings: nearly gen, but with pairings hinted at and/or mentioned.
Timeline: After Ennies Lobby before Florian Triangle Series.
Spoilers: Do not read if you care about spoilers and are not up to date to Ennies Lobby.
Summary: At the newest island, Zoro's strength is admired…a bit too much, and he is now the next target of an X-world government scientist.
Zoan – Chapter three
[Panther]
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Zoro's hearing started to come back. It started with a ringing sound, but then voices started to filter through.
"Last injection done, sir."
"Good. Prep him for the last step; it shouldn't take long for it to take effect now."
Zoro's mind raced. Where was he?
He tried to move his arms, but they felt heavy. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking them to clear the fuzz.
"Sir! He's coming around!"
"What? We even gave him a double dose! Give him another, quick!"
Zoro sat up slowly and felt a pinch on his arm; he looked over to see a guy push a needle through his skin.
Nothing made sense, thanks to the drugs, but when Zoro looked over at Rika, everything flooded back.
Fatigue momentarily gone, he jumped out of bed, realizing he was in nothing but his pants.
"What are you doing?" he tired to yell out, but his lips were still numb so it came out slurred.
Zoro struggled to keep himself standing, but managed to yank out an IV in his left arm and the needle in his right.
Rika moved a little closer, as if to catch him. "Chris. Quick, go grab more propofol*!"
Chris then disappeared through a doorway.
He was fading fast, the room started to blur again.
NO! He screamed at his body. NOT AGAIN!
Zoro knew he had to get out of here before he passed out again.
He scanned the room for anything useful; his eyes came to three precious objects leaning against the wall. Bingo.
He ran over to them, tripping once, but caught himself.
He unsheathed Kitetsu and gripped it tightly, but it started to slip in his grasp. Due to the lack of waistband, not to mention shirt and shoes, he had nothing to hold his swords to free his other hand. His mind was starting to cloud again as he tried to think things through.
He looked up to see Rika had grabbed a sword himself, and was positioned in front of the door.
Zoro tucked the remaining swords under his armpit and gripped the red sword with both hands.
Zoro squinted to keep his vision under control and he stepped forwards, clashing swords with Rika. Now it was a battle of strength.
"Tired, Roronoa?" A wicked smiled spread across his face.
"Not…at…all." Zoro grunted. What was left of his strength was dwindling.
Rika's sword slipped slightly, Zoro made use of this mistake and knocked Rika's sword out of his hands.
With his sword halfway across the room, Rika was a sitting duck.
Kitetsu slashed down with amazing precision and Rika was down for the count.
Chris returned with a needle in his hand, but Zoro didn't give him enough time to use it.
Sheathing his sword, Zoro took off through the doorway.
Chris set the needle down and bent down next to his employer.
"Sir!" Chris examined the long gash down his chest.
"Chris, follow him." Rika spat out a mouthful of blood. "Wait until the knockout drugs set in, and then bring him back."
Chris nodded then disappeared though the door.
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Zoro breathed heavily as he ran though the trees, his whole body was going numb. His eyes drooped, will power alone keeping him going.
Unknown to him, his numb hands started to drop his swords one at a time. Soon he was left with just Wado under his arm.
He tripped, dropping the lone sword and tumbled down a hill, falling on some gravel.
"Ugh…" he breathed out, "So… dishonorable..."
With the last of his strength he looked around where he was. Somehow, he had managed to find the road.
His eyes shut slowly and he faded into darkness.
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Chris ran as fast as he could, trying to find the swordsman.
He stopped by a tree to catch his breath, "He… couldn't have… gone… far…"
He let out a big breath and spied something red in the grass. He bent down and examined the object, a sword.
He stood up, smirked, and then he continued running.
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"Thank you, Sanji-kun, that lunch was amazing."
"Ahhh!! Mellorine! My life is complete. Robin-chan, did you enjoy it as well?"
Robin smiled and nodded, "Yes, thank you, cook-san."
"Sanji, is there any more?" Luffy broke the 'love moment'
"Yeah, there's a whole baske-" Sanji froze as he looked into the empty basket.
"Oh that? I already ate that; I mean is there anymore other than that?"
"What!? You ate all of it!? I was saving some for Nami-san and Robin-chan!"
Sanji's leg reared back, and Luffy quickly found his head catapulted and stuck in a tree.
"That's what you get." Sanji lit a new cigarette and got on one knee, "Forgive me dear maidens, I did not fulfill my duty."
Nami rolled her eyes, "It's okay, you can always make something later."
Sanji lifted his head. "Ah, a second chance? Nami-san is so generous!"
Nami nodded, not paying much attention. "Let's get moving."
After Luffy was pulled free and they cleaned up their little picnic, they continued back to the ship; but, Luffy found the cart a lot heavier than when they first started.
He looked over and quickly saw why.
"Oi, Sanji. You're not helping at all."
Sanji smiled as he walked next to his captain. "You've got it taken care of! No need for me to get my hands dirty. No pun intended."
"What's a pun?" Luffy looked at the cook strangely.
Sanji looked over at him, "… How do I explain it…Umm… Like a word or phrase that has two meanings. Like literally or a figure of speech."
"…. So it's a mystery phrase!"
Sanji slapped his hand to his head gently. "I swear, explaining something to you is like trying to carve a turkey with a spoon."
"Is that a mystery pun too, Sanji?"
"Just forget what I said, okay?" he replied with a sigh.
Robin giggled slightly and Nami shook her head.
A few minutes passed in silence.
"Are we there yet?"
"Luffy, does it look like we're anywhere near the ship?"
Luffy looked around. "Mayyybe."
"The answer is 'no.'"
Luffy pouted and looked around to find something to do.
A green tree, more green trees, the boring road… Hey is that a purple tree…? Nope. Green.
Luffy sighed, but then spotted a figure lying in the road ahead.
"Heehee. That guy must like sleeping on rocks. I hate sleeping on rocks. Grass is sooo much more comfy."
Nami, Sanji, and Robin stopped their conversation to see what Luffy was talking about.
"That's odd. Way out here?" Nami said.
The crew came up and parked the cart next to him.
"Zoro!" Nami said upon seeing the green-haired head.
Sanji flipped him over with his shoe to reveal the heavily out of breath Zoro.
"What the heck is Marimo doing all the way out here running around half naked?"
Luffy poked Zoro's stomach, "Zooorooo, waaaaaake uuuup."
Zoro didn't stir.
Robin bent down and felt his head.
"He's burning up. His heavy breathing and increased perspiration aren't good signs either."
"What do you think happened to him?" Nami asked.
"It doesn't look like there are any wounds…" she looked at his arms, "there are fresh needle marks, though…"
"Needles?" Sanji cringed.
A soft moan escaped Zoro's lips and his eyes slowly opened.
He blinked heavily at Robin, then his gaze shifted to the rest of them.
"Guys…?" It was a low whisper.
"Yes, Zoro, we're here. What happened?" Nami bent down.
"I-" Zoro was cut off by a hoarse cough, spitting out some blood. Then his eyes rolled back and he started convulsing.
Robin and Nami got up, and everyone took a step back to give him some room.
Zoro's face twisted in pain and he let out a muffled grunt.
And before their very eyes, Zoro's hair darkened to black, his hands shifted to claws, and his whole body changed in shape.
Soon, a full grown panther stood before them, hissing in protest.
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Zoro heard voices around him and he opened his eyes to see the blurry form of Robin, then Sanji, Nami, and Luffy.
"Guys…?"
Pain ripped through his body. He heard Nami say something, but it was distorted.
Zoro tried to speak, but he felt like something was choking him.
His coughing died away and everything went black. When he opened his eyes he was standing in darkness.
He could see his hands, so it couldn't be that dark, but he couldn't see anything else. He did a 360 but everything was shrouded in darkness.
"Where am I now…?" he said crossing his arms.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a gleam of yellow.
He turned to the source and saw two blazing yellow eyes look back at him.
The eyes drew closer, and the owner of the eyes turned out to be a large black cat.
"Is that a panther? Where the hell AM I?!"
The big cat growled slightly; bringing Zoro's attention back to him.
"You want to fight, cat?" He reached for his swords, but his hand only grabbed air.
He looked down at his swordless waist. "Great."
Without warning, the panther leapt at him and pinned him on the ground.
Zoro struggled against the black cat's weight. If anything, it was getting heavier.
"No…" a voice echoed in his mind. Zoro stopped struggling and looked into the panther's eyes. "You're just weak…"
Zoro felt powerless. The panther got off him and walked away. He couldn't move, he was alone in the darkness.
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No one said anything. It was too shocking of a moment for anyone to move. Anyone, that is, besides the black cat. It clawed at its closest target: Nami. Deep gashes appeared down her arm and partway onto her thigh.
She screamed in pain and sunk to the ground, clutching her bleeding injuries.
"Nami-san!" Sanji rushed over to her. His guard was down only a moment, but the panther took advantage of pounced on Sanji, locking its big jaws around Sanji's shoulder.
They both fell to the ground, the panther still locked on his shoulder.
"Get…off…!" Sanji grunted, trying with his other hand to open its jaws; but, the panther growled and squeezed harder, twisting at a painful angle.
Pain ripped through Sanji's arm as he gasped in agony.
Suddenly, dozens of hands bloomed and opened the panther's mouth just enough for Sanji to get free.
More and more hands bloomed, restraining its legs and mouth.
The panther squirmed in the mess of arms, trying to get free, but Robin held fast.
"Are you alright, cook-san?"
"T-Thank you, Robin-chan." he said holding his bleeding shoulder.
After a while the panther settled down, tired of thrashing in Robin's hold.
"What just happened?" Nami asked no one in particular.
Everyone was silent, until Robin broke it.
"I'm not entirely sure… Interesting things happen on the Grand Line, especially now that we're so close to the New World."
Nami sighed. "I guess you're right." She shifted her gaze to what once was Zoro. "We should get him back to the ship. I bet Chopper can figure out what's going on."
Luffy lifted the oversized cat onto the cart to take him back, then spotted something glimmering in the grass.
He ran off towards it, like a crow attracted to something shiny.
"Luffy! Come back! We need to get Zoro and Sanji to Chopper!" Nami yelled.
"And you too, Nami-san." A small comment came from Sanji.
Luffy didn't respond. He ran up the hill and picked up something.
He held it in the air and pointed to it.
"Look what I found!" He smiled the trademark Luffy smile.
Robin blocked the sun out with her hand to see a white katana in Luffy's grasp.
"Zoro's katana… Where are the other two?" Nami asked.
Robin thought for a moment, then answered with her theory: "He probably dropped it… maybe running away from something. The other two are most likely somewhere behind it. I would like to come back and investigate more after we get to the ship."
Nami nodded. "Yeah, me too." She giggled. "Like following Zoro's version of a trail of bread crumbs."
"Captain-san! Can you mark an X on one of those trees you're standing by?"
Luffy tilted his head in confusion and then nodded.
After his task was complete, they all headed back to the Sunny.
you likie? :D reviewie~ ... xD haha
*oh and a little FYI to those not "medical savy" propofol is a common type of sedative used in operations. :)