Distress! Haruko, Queen of Rock

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.

Kilnorc: Hello, everyone! Since I'm on a break from Endless Nightmare to think things out and what not, I figured I better show more of Axe's first treasure hunting journey, hehe. Enjoy the first ACTUAL debut of Haruko Benata, folks! ROCK ON!

Axe: Boooo...

Kilnorc: Shaddup, you!

Their first night in Armonia was...interesting.

The entire night, screaming, loud music and all kinds of other noise were heard outside the hotel rooms that Axe and the others had purchased in one of the cheapest districts on the island. Amazingly, Axe, Toby and Ripley were able to sleep soundly. Kairi, on the other hand...

At breakfast, when Kairi came out, her hair in a mess, dark circles under her eyes (which were half-closed)...everyone stopped eating and stared.

Ripley slowly shook her head, "Oooh...you don't look so good, Kairi,"

"Gee, I wonder why?" Kairi mumbled through a yawn, "The ruckus kept me up all night, I couldn't get a wink of sleep at all...," she looked at her nakama, who all looked pretty well-rested, "...how the heck did you guys get a full night's sleep?!"

All three treasure hunters shrugged, "Dunno,"

Kairi groaned and fell onto her knees, "I'm so tired...but I'm also hungry,"

Axe held up a finger, "I got just the thing, Kairi. Ripley went out and scored us some food,"

"Meh...," Kairi slumped onto a chair, looking down at the plate of questionable breakfast laying before her, "...this it?"

Ripley shrugged, "Sorry, kiddo, but we don't have a lot of money left, and since we need to re-stock our supplies as soon as possible, we need to be a bit frugal with our savings...,"

"By frugal, she means cheap," Axe piped up as he crunched loudly on about a half dozen strips of bacon.

His navigator chuckled and played with her fork, "Axe, you may be a kid, but even I have my limits," she closed an eye and looked at Axe's pair of dark orbs, holding the fork between them, "I know you're tough-skinned due to your Devil Fruit, but I can't help but wonder if your eyes are just as hard, or if they're vulnerable,"

"You can try, Ripley, but keep in mind that I'm faster than you,"

"...maybe, maybe not,"

Toby looked at the two of them and nudged Kairi, "Hey, you may wanna see this," he turned to Kairi, "I said....," he trailed off, then slowly turned to his nakama, "Uh...guys?"

"Yeah?"

"What's up, Toby, something wrong with your meat?"

"No...well, it's not as good as I've had at the Baratie, but that's not the point. Kairi fell asleep,"

Ripley and Axe broke their gaze and stared when they saw the First Mate dead asleep with her face smack dab in the middle of the plate. The three treasures just stared as the Holy Knight just sat there, her face and plate squeezing the food together.

"...think if I moved them and took out the hair, her bacon would be good?"

"Dunno...check the sausage, too,"

Ripley facefaulted and looked away, propping her head on her hand, "Nothing but a couple of pigs, aren't ya, boys?"

"Wolf! I am a wolf,"

"Same difference,"

"It is not!"

"Yes it...whatever, just get Kairi's head up before she enhales and chokes to death on her breakfast in her sleep,"

After breakfast, Ripley told the two boys to head out and explore the town some more while she put Kairi back in a bed and stayed with her until she woke up. Amazingly, Kairi didn't wake up once from when she was picked up from the table to her bed in the room she shared with Ripley. The navigator chuckled and joked that everyone will sleep at one point, despite the surroundings and it's sounds. With the girls occupied, Axe and Toby were left to explore Armonia...although, they weren't given any money. Apparently, Ripley didn't trust them very much with their current situation. Still, the two had a good time. They saw all kinds of bizarre things, and heard some interesting (but usually very loud), music played by people wearing goth make-up, wearing tight leather clothing, or even smashing their own instruments against their surroundings. Sometimes it was all that rolled into one!

The young treasure hunter stretched his arms high over his head, grinning, "I love this place! The music here is great!" he exclaimed before he began headbanging to a song that just started. Toby, despite his interest in the music, couldn't help but wince at the volume the nearby instruments were giving off and had to cover his ears from time to time. He growled a little bit, This sucks! Sure, superior hearing is great when hunting for food or sneaking up on something, but it's a HUGE drawback at this place...I guess Ripley was right, I must've been really tired to get to sleep last night with all this crap going on.

"Hey, Toby!" Axe nudged him hard in the ribs, making the young lycan snap out of his thoughts, "I love this place! Maybe if we're lucky, we can get our musician here!"

Toby facefaulted, "Didn't the other two say they wanted a girl for a nakama?"

"Well, then we'll have to find a girl musician. That way, everyone wins!" Axe laughed just before bumping into someone, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-YARGH!"

Standing in front of Toby and Axe was a large, burly woman with a tall orange mohawk and bizarre paint covering every inch of her face. Flexing abnormally large muscles, ehs leaned forward, "Watch it, runts," she growled as she brushed hard up against them, walking down the street.

"Axe?"

"Yeah, Toby?"

"Not that girl,"

"Oh, definitely not that girl," Axe slowly shook his head, "Definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY not that girl...,"

Later that night...

"G'nite guys! I'll see you later!"

"Night, Haruko,"

"Later, Panda Girl!"

"You be careful out there,"

Haruko Benata, young rock star of Armonia Island, slung her beloved bass guitar over her head and walked off down one of the backstreets of Armonia, feeling the shoulder strap of her guitar against her chest. She was one of the most popular new stars of Armonia, and had just gotten done with yet another concert with her band, TRIN-OTY, and was now on her way home. Haruko hadn't been on Harmonia long, but her band's fame was pretty well spread around the entire East Blue. Critics in newspapers said that TRIN-OTY was one of the best rock groups in this Blue, and it was because of that publicity that just about every single concert she and her bandmates put on were always sold out. However, that fame and publicity also had a major negative side-effect...and there it was.

She came to a complete stop under a dim lamp post when she saw a large number of shadows move out of the darkness of the backalley and stop a short distance ahead of her. Movement from behind made her look back to see another group of shadows coming out into the alleyway. Slowly, the shadows moved closer and closer, and as they did, the dim light of the lamp post nearby illuminated the shadows to reveal a number of rough looking men and women in leather and grungey clothing.

"Hey, look guys," Haruko scratched her head, a bored tone in her voice, "Listen, I just got out of a concert, I'm tired, my throat hurts from singing so much, and I just wanna get home to sleep. You'll have to wait for autographs when I'm on my A-Game, okay?"

"We're not here for an autograph," one of the bulkier men sneered, gripping a thick, iron chain, "We're here for you. Our boss would really, really like to speak with you about your career,"

Aw crap... Haruko looked at the two groups surrounding her, Not this again!

"GRAB HER!!"

"So, sleep well, Kairi?"

The Holy Knight made a long yawn, but smiled, "Yeah...I slept great. Although, that nap I had really screwed up my internal clock," she scratched her stomach, "I'm gonna be up all night now,"

Ripley nudged her playfully, "Hey, at least you're not drowning in your own food, huh? Speaking of which, you must be starving!"

Axe nodded, his stomach growling, "Oh man, you're so right, Rip, I am!"

"Not you!"

After Kairi had woken up, the Axe-Head's went out for a bit of dinner, but due to their money situation (and to Kairi's dismay), they had to pull a little "dine and dash", but they all made it out with full bellies and no loss of their wallets. With their bellies full to capacity and not one of them feeling the least bit tired, least of all Kairi, the four of them had set off to wander around the city as a cure for their boredom. Kairi had to try a bit hard to keep latched onto Ripley's arm, due to the massive crowd of citizens and musicians that flowed through the street they were own.

"Hey, guys," she jumped and latched onto Ripley's back, "Sorry Ripley,"

"No problem," Ripley's eye twitched a little, "No problem at all...,"

"Guys, can we go somewhere else?" Kairi asked, her voice getting louder over the noise around them, "It's too louded and crowded around here!"

Ripley nodded, "She's right, boys, we should head for a less occupied area!"

"Well, I dunno where we're going to go...," Axe looked around, "...there's not a lot of places that are empty and...," he stopped and hopped around, trying to look over the taller people.

"Something wrong, boss?" Ripley inquired, weaving in and out of the passerby.

"Yeah!" Axe nodded and kept looking around, "Where'd Toby go?"

Said lycanthrope was currently jumping from rooftop to rooftop, running on all fours, his canine instincts kicking in again. While the others had been preoccupied with the number of people on the street, Toby was able to hear a single thing over the noise, something only his hearing could pick up.

A cry for help.

Landing on another rooftop, the young lycan looked around, "C'mon, where are you?! Gimme something to work with here, I know you need help, mysterious voice, so where are you?"

The sound of people shouting ahead, as well as the sound of metal hitting something reached his ears and soon enough, he was leaping across another rooftop, heading straight for the unseen problem.

"C'mon, how hard can it be to grab one little girl and her toy guitar?!"

Panting and gripping her beloved guitar tightly by the neck, Haruko glared at the group of would-be abductors, "I'm not just some little girl, you bastards! I'm sick and tired of this kinda shit happening, so I'm gonna keep bashing you freaks around until you get it through your thick skulls!"

The group that had surrounded her before had sufferend surprising casualties at Haruko's hands. Just about half of them were laying on the street, huge bruises on their bodies, teeth missing and even some of their bones were broken. The leader of the group grit his teeth, This wasn't in the job description! The boss didn't say she was this tough...note to self, ask for a bonus after dragging Miss Hotshot to the Boss.

I just had to take a back alley to be away from a mob of fans... Haruko looked at the remaining thugs around her, Oh, this was just a fantastic turnout! These guys are tougher than the other ones I've had to deal with, I've only taken out about half of their group, but already I'm feeling tired...I can't keep it up much longer! I either need to run, or hope someone comes to my rescue, but what are the chances of-? she stopped in mid-thought when someone dropped from the sky and landed right in front of her.

...that happening...?

Toby rose to full height and pulled Black Fang from it's sheath, "A big pack like yours cornering a lone rabbit...that's kind of cruel and one-sided, isn't it?"

"Who the hell is this brat?!"

"Whoever he is, he came to the wrong place at the wrong time,"

Toby looked back at Haruko, "Are you okay?"

Haruko slowly nodded, "Y-Yeah. Where'd you-?"

"I heard you scream for help earlier," Toby looked at the number of downed thugs in the street, "Looks like you were able to hold yourself for quite awhile," he looked back at her, "Don't worry, we're going to handle the rest of them,"

"We...?" Haruko blinked and looked around, "Who's we, all I see is you!"

Toby gave a wink, took a deep breath and let out a long howl. As he howled, and even as he ended said howl, the thugs around the young lycan just stared at him, unsure of what to make of him. Toby gripped Black Fang and stepped forward, "Alright, who wants a piece of me? Anyone? C'mon, I gotta do something while waiting for back-up,"

"Back-up?"

"Is he high on something?"

"He's gotta be...what the hell was with him making that noise?"

"I dunno, maybe his mom was a bitch. Haha, get it?"

Haruko stepped foward, "Listen, kid, I appreciate you coming to help, but you can't fight these guys, they'll tear you apart! You're young, you shouldn't go around playing with a sword and-,"

"What's with the pandas?"

"...what?"

Toby looked back at her and nodded to her ensemble, which was entirely composed of clothing that had a panda mark or "Doskoi" written on it, "What's with all the panda stuff?"

Haruko blinked a few times, "You're asking me a question like that now?!"

"Just curious," Toby turned his attention to the thugs, "Besides, trying to kill time until my nakama get here,"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" the group leader roared with laughter, "You waiting for your friends, ya punk?!"

Toby nodded, "Yep,"

"Man, this is going to be the easiest job ever! We snag Panda Girl and all we have to deal with is a brat and his group of kiddy friends...unless they're imaginary?"

"Heh...," Toby shook his head, "...no, they're not. They're real and they're here,"

As if on cue, Axe, Kairi and Ripley fell from the dark sky just as Toby did and landed just behind him, Kairi still on Ripley's back. Haruko gawked at the arrival of three more strangers while the abductors just glared at the growing number of interlopers.

Toby scoffed, "Told ya," he glanced at Axe as he walked up beside him, "Glad you could make it,"

"No problem. Why'd you suddenly up and leave like that, Toby?"

"Heard some trouble," Toby jerked a thumb to Haruko, "I think I came into a kidnapping or something,"

"Oh, really?" Axe cracked his knuckles and looked at all the downed men and women, "Aw, you had fun without us?"

"Naw, actually that was guitar girl over there. I was waiting for you guys to show up. Besides, how you'd get here so fast?"

"I'm actually pretty light on my feet, and Ripley over there just used her hookshot thingy to swing above the crowds,"

Ripley nodded as Kairi climbed off, "Yeah, wasn't that bad, I've done it before. Although, for some odd reason, Kairi kept humming about something to do with spiders...?"

Toby looked at Kairi, who just shrugged.

"I dunno, Toby, I just felt like I had to, I dunno where it all came from,"

Axe put his hands on his hips and looked at the remaining group of thugs around them, "Okay...I actually hate to do this, but I'm giving ya'll a choice here. Walk away into the night, go listen to your music, or just do whatever, but you gotta back off this girl and take your friends with you," he pointed to the unconscious mass of people on the street, "If ya don't, then I'm afraid my friends and I are gonna have to kick your ass,"

Ripley smiled and walked over to Haruko, "What's your name, kiddo?"

"Huh?" the guitarist looked away from Axe and looked to Ripley, "H-Haruko...my name's Haruko Benata,"

"Well, Haruko Benata," Ripley wrapped an arm around Haruko's abdomen, surprising the musician as she raised her arm above her head, "Let's let the others have some room to play, hm?"

Before Haruko could say anything, Ripley fired off her grappling device and as soon as it latched onto something sturdy on the nearest building's roof, both women were quickly pulled off the street to safety.

"GET THEM!!!" the leader screamed, clearly annoyed by not just the fact that a bunch of kids came at an unwanted time, but he was mad at the fact that the target was getting out of their reach.

Axe sighed as the thugs began to close in on them, "Well, at least we warned them, can't say that we didn't, Kairi,"

"I know, Captain," Kairi pulled out her rapier, "I know...,"

A short while later, Haruko found herself sitting in one of her beanbag chairs back in her home, having just been saved by just a bunch of kids. Kids who not only didn't seem to have a worry about their lives, but also seemed to more than capable to handle themselves. Sure, Haruko was stronger than most people, hell she had even been capable of sending more than just a few people flying with a hard swing of her guitar to their faces, but still...! Now, those same kids brought her home and were now lounging around like it was an ordinary night for them.

"...that good? Miss Benata? Hey, you with us?"

Haruko snapped out of her daze and looked around, "I'm sorry, what?"

Kairi raised her hand, "I was just wondering. I've read around town that that band, TRIN-OTY was usually sold out, and I just saw a picture of you in that group with two others," she held up a photograph from a nearby mantle, "From what I've seen and read about, I was just wondering...are you guys really that good?"

"Yeah, the only reason we came to this island was to hear TRIN-OTY play, but they were sold out and we didn't have enough money for tickets because we have to save what we have left for supplies,"

"Supplies?" Haruko looked at the small group, "You're travelers?"

Axe nodded, "Mhm, treasure hunters. We go around from island to island, looking for rumors, maps, and any trace of treasure,"

"...you mean, you're pirates?" Haruko asked slowly, looking at each of them one by one, "Wow, I got saved by a group of pirates,"

"Treasure. Hunters," Axe said very slowly, "Treasure Hunters. There's a difference,"

"Which is?"

"Pirates are usually classified as men and women who go around the world, taking lives as well as treasure. As treasure hunters, all we care about is the treasure we may come across, and achieving our dreams," Axe explained matter-of-factly, "But that's how we view ourselves, most of the world will see as pirates nonetheless,"

"Then why the hell bother explaining it to me?"

"...because you asked,"

Ripley chuckled, "He's got you there, Haruko,"

Kairi raised her hand, "If you don't mind me asking, Miss Benata...can I call you Haruko?"

"...yeah...?"

"Okay, Haruko. If you don't mind me asking, who were those people trying to get to you earlier tonight? They didn't look very friendly,"

Haruko shook her head, "No, they didn't, did they?" she sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, "I guess since ya'll saved me, I could at least tell you,"

"Tell us what?"

"Well, my band and I, we're pretty popular and people love us, but for awhile now, the love of a certain fan's gotten a bit...out of hand,"

Kairi tilted her head, "Waddya mean?"

"I'll show you," Haruko pulled herself off the beanbag, walked over to a nearby set of drawers, and pulled one open, revealing a bunch of envelopes and pieces of paper. She grabbed a bunch that were held together by a thick rubber band and threw them at her visitors, "Check those out,"

Ripley caught the bundle, immediately pulled the rubber band off and fanned the contents out. She handed a few to Kairi and the two of them scanned what they held in their hands. The majority of the bundle were what appeared to be fan-letters, but they seemed to be a bit more personal than ordinary fan letters. Quite a few of them expressed a desire to be Haruko's soulmate forever, how they belonged together even if Haruko didn't think so at the moment, etc etc. The rest of the bundle were photographs of Haruko taken different angles and distances, clearly taken without Haruko's knowledge or consent.

"Wow, this sound serious," Ripley looked up at Haruko, who was now leaning against the wall, "You got yourself a stalker,"

Haruko sighed, "Yeah...figures, I try to achieve my own dream and I get this instead,"

"Your dream?"

"Yeah. The reasons why I'm part of a popular band are that I'm pretty good with a guitar and I sing well-,"

"Kinda full of yourself, ain't ya?"

"Shh, Axe, shaddup!"

That didn't seem to phase Haruko at all, surprisingly, "I want to be known, I want to be famous. It's my personal dream that I become so famous with my style of music, that I become the Queen of Rock and Roll in the world!" she pointed to her guitar, which lay peacefully on a small table, "That's Canti, my bass guitar. I won him in a contest back home and-,"

"I'm sorry, did you say 'him'?"

"Axe!"

"She called a guitar HIM!"

Haruko scoffed, "It's just a thing musicians do with their equipment. A lot of guy musicians call their stuff by girl's names or just reference them as girls, so I do the same with Canti. Like I said, I won him in a conetest back home on Mirrorball Island,"

"Ooh," Ripley smiled, "I've been there, that's an awesome place. Great music, great festivals...also the source of Doskoi Panda merchandise," she looked around, looking at all the panda-related objects and clothing Haruko had strewn about her home, "I take it you're a fan of Doskoi?"

"Yeah, I am. MAJORLY," Haruko grabbed a nearby panda plushie, "I dunno why, but I love Doskoi crap. Gotta be Doskoi though, not that cheap knockoff, Dosko1," she squeezed the plushie, "Pandas have always made me feel better. Whenever I get mail like that," she nodded at the old mail in Ripley's and Kairi's hands, "I get upset that there's a crazy guy out there who won't leave me alone and could ruin my chances at becoming great at anytime, so I just grab one of my pandas and...," she trailed off.

Oh man, that sucks... Toby propped his head on his hands, looking down at the floor, I just wanted to come and listen to a band perform, I didn't know one of the members was having a problem like this! I wonder...?

"Haruko!" a loud thud was heard and Toby looked up to see Axe was now standing on his feet, a grin on his face as he began to move to the musician, "Your troubles are over!"

"Huh...?"

"Yes, your troubles are over!" Axe patted her on the shoulder, the grin still there, "My friends and I have been in some pretty good scraps before, and each of us can take care of ourselves. Judging from your handiwork back in the alley, I say that you can too, but since you need to concentrate on your music career, you can't exactly defend yourself should the worst happen!"

Kairi glanced at Ripley, "Is he...?"

The navigator nodded, "Sure looks like it,"

"So, here's the deal," Axe wrapped his arm around Haruko and pulled the surprised musician close to him, pointing to his nakama, "My friends and I, we came to hear your band and re-supply, but as we said before, we're low on funds. If we take care of your little fanboy problem for ya, how's about you hook us up with tickets to your show?"

Kairi's jaw dropped, "Axe! You can't just extort her problems for our personal gain!"

"I'm just using my head," Axe tapped his forehead, "Learned it from my big brother, so go complain to him if you have a problem with it,"

Haruko looked down at the bizarre young man holding onto her, "Kid...Axe, right?"

"Yeah huh,"

"Axe, if you and you're group can take care of my problem, I'll let you watch from backstage,"

"DEAL!"

Kilnorc: Okay, been awhile since I did this fic, hopefully this chapter makes up for it, hehehe. Not sure what'll happen next chapter, so no preview...I repeat, NO PREVIEW!! Okay then, thanks for reading, cya later, hehehehe.