Enter the Trin-Oty

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

"...and...uh...that's what happened. Sorry, Boss,"

The next morning, still nursing their wounds from the ass-kicking a certain bunch of kids had given them, the would-be abductors of Haruko, were now gathered in a small room in front of their employer, who was currently juggling a Beli coin between their fingers, back to the group of thugs.

"You said a bunch of kids did this to you?"

The thug leader nodded, "Yeah. There was like four of them and-,"

"Four?"

"Yeah, but only three of them-,"

"Let me get this straight," the coin juggling halted, the tone in their employer's voice becoming noticeably angry, "Three children came between you and my soulmate? Three children gave you those injuries? Three children are the reason why you're here?"

"Uh...well...ah...yeah,"

There was silence, then the coin juggling began again.

"Boss-,"

"Shut your damn mouth, you lowlifes! If I had the opportunity, I'd get some real mercenaries to do this for me, instead of going with low-level dicks like yourselves, but I'm unable to at the moment, so don't make me even madder than I am with your excuses!"

The thug leader and his group were quiet, shifting around uncomfortably.

"I'm giving you one last chance, and if you don't do what I pay you to do this time, then not only will you not get paid, but you'll be meeting some friends of mine, up close and personal!"

At that moment, a collection of loud growling came from a dark, shadowy area of the building and the group of thugs were greatly started to see a large number of glowing red eyes that appeared and stared right at them.

"L-look, B-Boss, there's no need for that!" the thug leader held up his hands, smiling to try and hide his fear, "We'll get her for ya, we swear! Right guys?!" he asked, turning to his group of fellow criminals, who all nodded quickly, agreeing quietly with him, "See?!" he turned back around, "No sweat!"

"I hope not, because I'm losing my patience with you....do not fail me again!"

"Okay, so, before we go off and kick ass, we need a plan," Axe clapped his hands loudly and looked around the table that sat in Haruko's pad, seeing each of his nakama ready for the day ahead, as was Haruko (although he had the feeling she'd just focus on her music), "Let's go with what we know,"

"And just what do we know?" Kairi asked, crossing her arms across her chest, "Exactly?"

"Well, from what Haruko's told us, she has a stalker," Axe nodded to the musician, "A stalker who's not only got his sights on her-,"

"If he didn't, he wouldn't be called a stalker," Ripley interjected, earning a slight glare from Axe. She grinned a little, "Sorry, continue!"

"Ahem," Axe cleared his throat, "We got a guy who not only thinks Haruko is the one, but he's taken lots of photos from afar and sent them to her, along with so-called love letters, hoping to win her over and accept his love. Now," he held up the documents and photographs before tossing them to Ripley, "I may not be the smartest man in the world," he shot a quick look at his nakama, just knowing one of them would make a joke about what he just said, "...but, I think we can try and get inside his head,"

Haruko looked skeptical, "How do you expect to do that? Most of you guys are just kids and have no idea about crap like this-,"

Axe held up a hand, "Normally, I'd say 'yeah, bunch of kids dunno jack shit about this sorta grown-up thing', but we're not really normal. Look, I got some insight on how to work in the criminal mind,"

"How?"

"I knew a guy or two growing up back home," Axe's mind drifted to Baron and Captain Zolaro, "Now, I looked at these photos and I have an idea about something. Haruko, how long have you been getting these?"

"For awhile now," the guitar-toting girl sighed, rubbing a temple on the side of her head, "We've tried to get them to stop, but they won't, they keep coming!"

"Have you only gotten these here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Have you ever gotten stuff like this before coming to this island?"

"No, but-?"

Axe reached over, snatched the photos back and held up a few, "Check out some of the backgrounds here, Haruko. Look nice and hard. Now, do you recognize these places?"

Haruko was quiet for a bit as she looked at the pictures, "Yeah...one of them is a diner I go to eat a couple times a week and another is my favorite store. I go there almost all the time because I'm on the lookout for new Doskoi Panda gear,"

"Thought so!" Axe grinned, waving the photos, "Whoever this sicko is, he lives here on the island! If he was trailing you before you came here, you would've said so and there probably would've been some evidence. Now, we know where he is, we just have to figure out who he is!"

The blue-haired musician rolled her eyes, "Good luck with that, kid, there's tons of people on this island and about ninety-percent of them are fans of the band I'm in," she craned her neck to the side and looked at a clock that hung above Axe on the wall behind him, "Which reminds me, I gotta get going to practice and let the gang know what happened last night, or else they're really gonna worry," she started to rise from her seat, grabbing Canti from the back of her chair, "I'll catch you guys later. Good luck finding him,"

"Whoa, hold on!" Axe jumped out of his chair, "You ain't going anywhere alone, Haruko!"

Ripley nodded as she stretched, "He's right. If you're the target of a stalker who can watch you without you realizing it, then you're a good target to be picked off, especially in a place with a lot of people, like this city. If you're going anywhere, you're going to need an escort,"

Haruko sighed, "This asshole's making my life more complicated...," she muttered under her breath, "Okay, so who's coming? I can't bring you all with me to practice?"

"Kairi or myself will go with you," Axe volunteered, "Ripley and Toby can't,"

The navigator and second mate turned to him.

"What?!"

"Why not?"

"Because you two have talents that are useful in searching," Axe reasoned, turning to his nakama, holding up the wad of evidence, "Toby, you know our scents, as well as Haruko's. We need your nose to catch a whiff of whoever wrote this and hunt them down. It'll be hard, what with all the people in the city, but I think it's what your best suited for," he glanced at Ripley, "You're good with information, Rip, and with that cable of yours on your arm, you can move around pretty quickly, so if by chance Toby finds the lunatic stalking Haruko, you can chase him down from the rooftops and then give him a good beating with your hammer,"

Kairi stared at him for a few moments, "You guys know what's scary?"

"Huh?"

"Wassat?"

"No, what?"

"Hm?"

Kairi slowly pointed to Axe, "He may not look like it, but he can actually be pretty smart,"

A vein appeared in Axe's forehead, "Oi oi...,"

Haruko looked at the group, "You're all a bunch of weirdos...and I suppose I could stick around in my own house and ask what the hell is wrong with each of you," she scratched her head, "But I really need to get going. You two!" she pointed to Kairi and Axe, "You're both coming with me, but if you're coming with me, you need a change in wardrobe!"

Ripley raised an eyebrow, "Change in wardrobe?"

"You two as well," Haruko nodded to her and Toby, "If you're gonna be here in the land of rock music, you gotta dress like people who enjoy it, or else you're asking for an asskicking!"

"Yo, Pandagirl, where you been, you're late!"

"I know guys, I'm sorry, some shit came up last night and this morning...sorry,"

"Well, hurry up and set up, Blue, we don't have a lot of time,"

Haruko nodded and waved off her two bandmates as she walked quickly by them, holding her beloved Canti by his neck, "I'm getting set up, I'm getting set up, damn! Give me like five minutes, you two!" she sighed and headed to her part of the rehearsal area, "Don't give me crap, Ruka, because I know you and Kao have done some stuff of your own in the past that slowed down rehearsals,"

"Oh, dude, burn!"

"She burned you, too, dumbass!"

Ruka and Kao were the other two members of the rock band, TRIN-OTY. Ruka was the guitarist, while Haruko was the singer and bassist and Kao was the drummer of the band. The two of them were rough and crude a lot of the time, but there were alright to be around, and Haruko thought they were a blast to jam with, despite their shortcomings. Ruka was a large, burly man, dressed head to toe in black with a head of thick, black hair, his muscles very noticeable through his clothing. It was amazing that a man that looked like he could snap a man into pieces could be gentle enough to handle his instrument, a Gibson Flying V guitar, without snapping in two. Kao wasn't as large as Ruka, but he wasn't exactly normal himself: he had wild, black hair as well (although it didn't look like he washed it very often), somewhat pale skin and an apparent love for dark clothing as well (as did a LOT of the inhabitants of the island), and his face had a fair amount of black make-up covering his pale skin. He may not have looked like much, but he was one hell of a drummer, and with the combined talents of him, Ruka and Haruko, TRIN-OTY was the top band on the island and very well known in the East Blue Sea.

Haruko plugged in Canti and pulled his strap around her neck, "Ready when you are boys! A one and a two, and a th-!"

"Haruko!!"

The blue-haired bassist was just about to touch one of Canti's strings when the all too familiar voice of the band's manager reached her ears, echoing off the walls around them.

"Angelina's here," Ruka went from his playing position to letting both his meaty arms rest on his guitar.

Kao nodded as he sat back in his chair, "Yeah. Bad timing, but awesome acoustics," he looked up at the ceiling, "Too bad we only use this place for practice, I bet a concert would do great here,"

The sound of heels clicked around them as an attractive woman approached them. Like Haruko, she was dressed more normally than Ruka and Kao, but unlike her, she was dressed even more normally than Haruko. She was rather tall for a woman, standing at a couple inches past six feet, but she was very beautiful with her light skin, short pink hair, sapphire eyes and a killer body. She was beautiful, but she was also very formidable in the music business. With TRIN-OTY under her management, she promoted them and gave so much publicity, they became one of the biggest names around. Dressed in usual business attire, complete in a short skirt, heels and blouse, she was both intimidating and alluring.

"Where have you been?" Angelina demanded, walking up to the bassist, "You're late for practice,"

Haruko sighed, "I was just telling these two that I was sorry," she jerked a thumb to Ruka and Kao, "Look, I had a rough night, but I'm here now and I want to play. Can we play before you bite my head off?"

Angelina looked at her for a few moments, then shook her head, "Haruko, I understand that you're the singer of the band and some fans have got the hots for you, but you cannot use those as an excuse whenever you're late-,"

"It's not an excuse!" Haruko cut her off, "Angelina, I got attacked last night by a bunch of assholes!"

Her bandmates and manager looked at her, trying to make sure they heard her right.

"You got...attacked?" Angelina repeated slowly, "Wha...where? When?!"

"Last night, shortly after practice, on my way home," Haruko waved a hand, "Don't worry, I'm fine though. I got away, didn't I? I just had a rough night getting to sleep afterward, okay? I'll try to be on time from now on,"

-Meanwhile, on the roof of the building-

"Okay, I gotta question,"

"Shoot,"

"Well, you signed us up to help Haruko out, even if the reward of doing a noble act would be to see a concert, right?"

"Yeah huh,"

"And we're supposed to make sure no one tries to hurt her?"

"Yeah huh,"

"Then why aren't we inside watching her back, and why are we wearing these?!"

Axe turned to Kairi, who was now wearing something completely different than what she usually wore. She had changed from her usual attire to one that was similar to the others seen on the island: she wore a pair of tights that not only had noticeable holes in various places, but she wore a pair of cut off shorts at the top, along with what appeared to be a couple of shirts, one grey and one white on top of each other (grey being on top of white), with a torn, black sweater laying on top of that. Finish the outfit off with a pair of boots and some dark make-up, and Kairi looked like she fit right in with the people of the island.

Her captain on the other hand, had an easier time fitting in. He wore all black like he normally did, but this time around, he wore black clothing that seemed to be covered in shiny studs. Testing the flexibility of his outfit again, Axe grinned from ear to ear, "I like this gear, we should've gotten some of these a long time ago!"

Kairi looked at her outfit, "I'm not too sure about that...," she gave him a questioning look, "I just hope Ripley and Toby have better luck with clothes...,"

"But we already have such good luck, why would they need better?"

"..."

-On the streets of the city...-

"You look good, kid!"

"This thing makes my neck itch...,"

"But you look so cute!"

"Oh, shaddup," Toby muttered under his breath as he fiddled with the large, spiked collar that adorned his neck. It probably wouldn't matter to him if he wore one, but considering the fact that he was part canine, as well as the fact that it was irritating his neck, it was becoming a pain quickly. He couldn't help it though, it came with the outfit he wore. Along with the spiked collar, he wore an open black shirt and a pair of jeans that were pretty torn up. The wolf medallion, or "bling bling" as Ripley once called it, still hung around his neck, and it actually seemed to complimented his appearance (according to Ripley, anyway).

Speaking of the navigator, she was wearing a new outfit herself, and a somewhat revealing one at that. She wore dark clothing, possibly black (like most everyone else), that was consisted of an open vest that would normally show off her bare breasts if it weren't for the small article of leather clothing that was laced around her chest (which seemed to be barely contained by said piece of clothing), a pair of leather short shorts, which would've showed off even more bare leg if it weren't for the high boots that she wore just beneath the shorts. The finishing touches of the outfit were a pair of black elbow-length gloves, and with that, she was not only in a more suitable outfit, but she looked just like one of the many women around them.

"I must admit," she hefted her warhammer over her shoulder, "I like the fashion sense they have here, I'm comfortable, I can move easy, I can breathe and I'm sure that if we got into anymore fights, I can distract anyone with my body,"

Toby just stared at her.

"Like what you see?"

Again, the young lycan could only stare.

Kilnorc: WOW, sorry for not updating for awhile on this folks, took me awhile to get stuff together with this, lol...hope ya enjoyed!