Title: Zoan
Author: ZOroronoaRO
Fandom: One Piece
Timeline: After Ennies Lobby before Florian Triangle Series.
Spoilers: Do not read if you care about spoilers
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 eight
[Collaboration]
Sanji's heart skipped a beat. The panther simply walked up next to him and watched the reflection of the moon in the ocean quietly.
Sanji turned back to the ocean casually, but his eyes wandered back over to the cat.
The panther showed no signs of attacking; he just blinked his big, yellow eyes and let out a wide yawn.
It was contagious. A couple seconds later, Sanji found himself yawning as well.
After a few awkward minutes in silence, the panther turned around and headed to the men's cabin.
How did he get out of the infirmary with Chopper there? Sanji wondered with a bit of concern.
After he saw the panther disappear into the men's cabin, he went to the sick bay to check on Chopper.
Sanji found the door open and poked his head in; Chopper was laid nicely in the only bed.
He must have fallen asleep working, Sanji thought.
He silently closed the door and went to the men's cabin; this door was also open.
He quietly entered and scanned the beds; Zoro was in his bed, but fully human.
The cook blinked in confusion, he didn't quite understand what was going on. He let out a small sigh and exited the room, getting back to his guard duty.
Zoro dreamed peacefully; he subconsciously heard the noise in the kitchen subside and the rest of the crew turn in for bed. He listened as the doctor entered the room and sat to work. The swordsman drifted back and forth between hearing the sound of pages being flipped and the darkness of sleep. He started to come to when the rhythmic sound of turning pages stopped. Zoro turned towards Chopper's desk and saw he had fallen asleep on a stack of papers. The green-haired man eased out of bed and gently carried the doctor to his former spot. He smiled and pulled the covers over the reindeer.
The swordsman stretched and cracked his neck, wondering how long he had been out, and then it hit him: he was human.
He felt the top of his head for ears and found none; he checked his legs, they were human, and upon further inspection, he realized he no longer had any cat features at all. He let out a relieved sigh, but that weird feeling he'd had since this whole thing started was still there.
The swordsman sat down in Chopper's chair to think things over.
He ran his fingers through his short-cropped hair and tried to remember what happened before he blacked out.
That was it: he didn't kill the panther. He clenched his fist and gently banged it against his head at his own stupidity.
Zoro then got an idea. He closed his eyes and focused.
He tried to get back to the place where he fought the panther. Time ticked by and he had no luck.
Zoro sighed; he needed to change his tactics.
Hey, cat! he 'said' in his head.
Silence.
Oi! I need to kill you! Come out you stupid cat!
More silence.
Okay, now I feel dumb.
Do you think yelling for me to come out because you want to kill me will work?The voice was snarled and much deeper than his own, with a slight echo.
Zoro opened his eyes; it actually worked?
Well, it's not like you can kill me anyways, the voice mumbled in his head.
Zoro's eyebrow twitched. What was that?
It would be like killing yourself; I am a part of you now.
Zoro frowned.
It's true; it has happened to everyone who was experimented on before you as well.
What do you mean? Zoro asked.
How do I explain this… Well, as you have figured out, you have been experimented on by the scientist Rika.
How do you know? Do you know how to fix this?
No, but I do know that because he uses the same devil fruit over and over, I remember being other people. I am the demon of the Neko Neko no Mi, Model: Panther. When he experimented on another person, the scientist told me all about what he did to the poor kid, monologing and smirking at his own genius. Anyways, he just uses a slice of it; with a normal devil fruit, you would have to eat the whole thing to retain its powers, but he added other stuff to it to make it work. I forgot what he said. When you eat a devil fruit, the demon of the fruit unwillingly grants you its powers, but since I have been split up and combined with chemicals to substitute the rest of the fruit, I don't have any restraint and have been given a free will with my power. That restraint is the balance needed to keep the demon sane and the user in control. Does this make sense?
Zoro was silent for a couple seconds. So, is that why you were attacking me?
Precisely.
Why are you telling me all this?
I want to kill him, and I need your help to keep that goal in my mind. You are the first to subdue my rampages, everyone else died. He keeps using me over and over and upsetting the balance of things. It needs to stop.
So, me almost killing you did something to balance out the order and crap?
Yeah, it created the dominance and restraint needed for us to work together, but it is only temporary.
"Great." Zoro rubbed his forehead and reclined in the chair, mulling the new information over.
The swordsman yawned, despite the abundance of sleep he had just gotten.
Zoro got up and headed outside, gazing across the deck to see Sanji leaning against the railing and a full moon glittering across the ocean.
The swordsman felt a prick of sadness in the back of his mind.
"Eh?" Before Zoro could do anything, he felt an odd, cold feeling tingle throughout his body and he sunk to the floor on all fours as a panther.
Bastard! I'll kill you!
Oh! Sorry! I just… Can I go see the ocean?
What? That caught Zoro off guard.
This is the first time that I've gotten my own thoughts to focus on anything other than killing and surviving; can I go look at the freaken ocean?
Zoro could feel an odd tingling sensation in his head. Fine! I swear, if you go on a rampage again, I will kill you this time.
Thanks, Zoro.
Whatever.
Zoro watched silently as the panther made his way over to Sanji and sat down next to the bewildered cook to watch the ocean.
The swordsman was mildly amused at the look on Sanji's face.
The Cook looked back towards the ocean, but the panther still felt his gaze.
Minutes of silence ticked by and the panther was satisfied. Despite all the sleep the swordsman had gotten earlier, his body was still tired. The panther was also tired and let out a yawn, causing the blonde to yawn.
The panther took one last look at the ocean, then headed toward the men's cabin.
All done? Zoro asked. You better have enjoyed it; this is the only time I'm letting you be in control.
Yeah, I know.
The panther pushed open the door and stopped in front of Zoro's bunk.
Zoro felt that odd sensation leave, and he was standing on two feet again. He got into bed and was about to fall asleep until he heard the cook walk in the room.
The swordsman knew he was checking up on him, but he ignored him and fell asleep.
The boy's cabin awoke to a human Zoro, which they were happy about, but they didn't disturb the sleeping monster as they headed to breakfast.
Morning came fast, far too fast for Zoro's taste.
He awoke with his head pounding and his fingers numb.
The swordsman sat up in bed; the sudden movement made him lightheaded for a couple seconds.
"Ugh." He got out of bed and looked around; everyone had gotten up already.
The green-haired man stretched and cracked his neck, feeling a bit better.
He had a small headache, but he headed up to the kitchen to join the rest of the the way, he ran into Chopper, who explained about the papers and the cure.
"Really?" Zoro gave Chopper a rare, genuine smile. "Nice job, Chopper!"
"Idiot! I don't like it when you praise me like that!" Chopper blushed, wiggling back and forth.
Zoro's headache suddenly spiked and he winced.
"Are you okay, Zoro?" Chopper asked.
Zoro rubbed his head. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"You look a little pale… You should sit down." Chopper shifted to heavy point.
"I'm fine," Zoro protested.
"The effects are getting worse," Chopper commented.
"Huh?" Zoro looked at him.
"Tell Sanji to start breakfast without me, I need to finish the cure as fast as I can. I can do it, but it's going to take me a while to make." The little reindeer turned and scurried off to work.
Chris finally returned with a small bag.
"Did you get it?" Rika asked.
Chris smiled and handed the package over. "Of course."
"Perfect." He peeked inside the bag and then looked up to his three partners. "You each know what you have to do. If this all goes well, we will be rolling in money and we'll finally have our positions back." He faced Nakiami. "I could get you a high position in the Marines as well, if you like."
"No thank you." She turned away from him, looking off into the trees. "I like being a hired mercenary."
He shrugged. "If that's what you want."
Breakfast continued as the normal routine. Luffy inhaled food as Sanji flirted over Nami and Robin, getting on Zoro's nerves, resulting in throwing insults. Usopp and Franky didn't help much with a combination of lies and dancing.
Zoro's head still pounded, making him more agitated and a bit quieter than normal. His odd behavior was overlooked by the crew, except Robin, who noticed the smallest details, and breakfast continued.
Traces of normality had finally returned to the unusual pirate crew.
Sanji brought down breakfast to the hardworking doctor, and the rest of the crew started their chores for the day.
Because of the bigger ship, Nami created a schedule for who needed to do what chores weekly.
In addition to the steering, pulling up the anchor, and tying down barrels and such, cleaning chores were made to keep the ship's hygiene at its best.
After some trial and error, like Luffy's incapability to mop floors or clean dishes, corrections were made and the ship remained spotless.
Zoro decided since he couldn't work out, doctor's orders he'd promised to follow with a frown, he decided with a long sigh that he would do his chore.
The headache had almost disappeared and he could think clearer than when he had woken up this morning.
Before leaving the kitchen, the swordsman glanced at the chore list. His duty: dusting.
Zoro frowned; he hated dusting, it always made him sneeze.
He headed out and around the ship to the storage closet to get a duster, when he realized his white sword was not on his waist and neither were the other two!
The green haired man changed his course and headed to the infirmary.
He rapped on the door softly and got a quick response. "Yes? Come in!"
Zoro opened the door and noticed the reindeer hard at work.
The swordsman walked in and looked around for his swords.
"Oh, Zoro. Do you feel okay?" Chopper put his full attention on him.
"Uh… yeah." Zoro was preoccupied, looking for his three precious objects. "Do you know where my swords are?"
"Oh, Robin gave them to Sanji. I don't know what he did with them."
Zoro frowned, mumbled something to himself about ero cooks, and walked out the door with a "thanks."
He made his way to the kitchen and interrogated Sanji to find out his swords were in the men's cabin.
How could he have missed that?
Teasing from Sanji ensued as Zoro exited the kitchen and went to the men's cabin to find two katana resting against the far wall.
"Great." He smiled. "Now, where's Wado?"
He looked around some more, but he couldn't find his most prized object.
Frustrated, he headed back to the kitchen to ask Sanji again, but before heading up the stairs, he heard a shrill whistle pierce the sky.
He flinched in annoyance and looked around; no one was on deck.
The swordsman grumbled and started up the stairs. The sound shot through his ears for a second time. This time the sound wasn't a short burst, it just kept going.
Zoro winced and looked towards the island from which the sound was coming.
He spotted a figure waving something in the air far inland.
The swordsman squinted, trying to see the person better.
The sound subsided as he went to the mast to grab a pair of binoculars.
The green-haired man then proceeded to scan the island until he came upon the figure.
He saw the man's face and a dormant memory of the man flashed in his mind.
"Ha ha! You're on a ship in the Grand Line! I still can't believe that pink stuff worked!"
Zoro shook his head. When did that happen?
He looked back through the binoculars to see what the man was waving in the air: a long, white katana.
The swordsman's anger was immediately ignited. "Why that little…! My sword!"
Zoro's shoulders started to shake in anger and his hands began to shift into claws.
He shut his eyes and focused.
Stay clam, stay calm.
"Zoro, are you alright?" It was Nami.
He took a big breath and relaxed his body. When he opened his eyes, his hands were normal.
That crisis over, he went back to the matter at hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He gazed through the binoculars again to see the man wave at him with his fingers then turn and run into the trees.
"What's going on?" She asked.
He shoved the binoculars into her hands. "I'll be right back." Then he jumped over the side of the ship, landing abnormally softly on the rickety wooden dock.
"Zoro! Wait! Where are you going?"
The swordsman sprinted to where he had seen the man disappear. "To get my sword back!"
Few! there's the explanation chapter :P i hope it makes sense xP
thanks for the editing, as always, ZeldaAddict42 :D and Sora Tayuya for making me upload xD
Please R and R :D i love to hear what you think~