While Pictures Speak Faster, Stories Command Understanding
Zoro Ran, As fast as he legs could move. He ignored the cars honking and the angry pedestrians yelling at him.
He finally reached his apartment building. He looked up at his door. Closed, lights on. Thank whatever may be above. As Zoro's heart beat slowed, he heard metal scraping on metal coming from a nearby alley, he quickly went to check it out, and when he turned down the alley…
"Oi, yosaku, take the one on the left!"
"You got it Jonny, on three, one, two, three!"
The beat up duo attacked figures still in the shadows. They got knocked back out of the shadows sliding on the ground by Zoro's feet
"oh, Aniki, im sorry but"
"We lost, by an inch"
The two looked up at Zoro, bleeding from various wounds.
Suddenly a dark chuckle came from the alley, Zoro squinted down the alley trying to place the dark figures
"If it ain't the demon himself!" one said rumbling with laughter
Zoro quickly drew his Swords just in time to block a tonfa, with a huge metal ball on the end. Zoro jumped back and dodged a hit from a stone like shield with a large pearl in the middle
"You remember us Demon?"
Zoro grit his teeth around his sword "Kriegs men, didn't I kick your ass already?"
Gin and Pearl came out of the shadows smiling like maniacs
"Oh, but we have grown stronger, now where is your dear boy?" Pearl asked in vindictive manner
"You ain't gonna touch him!" Zoro shouted back
"So sure? You haven't even had a taste of our strength though" Gin said, spinning one of his tonfa
Suddenly Gin striked out breaking the ground where Zoro had stood. Zoro flew back, then dodged Pearl's head butt, rolling down his back, then blocked a barrage of attacks by Gin. Zoro kept dodging looking for a opening, then one appeared, Zoro quickly spun under Gin's defense and cut upward with two of his swords, slicing him across the chest.
The battled stopped for a second. Zoro jumped back, and gauged his last opponent.
"Gin! Gin! How dare you! That's it! I will introduce you to the fires of hell!"Pearl threw hundred of flaming beads at Zoro that started a raging fire on the street.
Pearl smiled; he could see Zoro stuck on the other side of the fire. "Now I think I'll go see your boy!"
Zoro smiled, and finished tying his bandana around his head "Oi Pearl! Did you forget?"
Pearl turned around to look through the fire
"I'm a Demon!" Zoro jumped through the fire quickly overtaking Pearl "Fire has no affect on me!" Zoro quickly moved around Pearls body hitting all the weak spots and unprotected areas.
Pearl dropped to the ground bleeding, and knocked out.
Zoro smirked, they were still weak. He turned and started walking towards his apartment
"Oi, Demon" Gin struggled into a sitting position "This ain't over!"
Zoro turned around. "You can't fight anymore. Just sit there and wait for your cleanup crew"
Gin smiled "you idiot! There are so many things you don't know!"
Zoro turned back around and keep walking towards his house "I know more then you, grunt" he said while taking off his bandana.
…
Mihawk stood in front of the three, sword drawn. "Good evening" he said with a bland drawl
Luffy and Ace moved in front of Sanji "You ain't getting him" Luffy shouted
Mihawk stood there, not moving, then a smiled appeared on his face "Do want you know you have to" he said, straight to Sanji "Or they will die" Mihawk knew that he would win the fight, but he would rather not deal with it. The trouble that would cause with Shanks.
"Oi Sanji, don't listen to him!" Ace called
"Just tune him out!" Luffy said getting angry
"Come on Sanji, come out, and this can all be over" Mihawk called
"That's it!" Luffy shouted and ran at Mihawk.
Mihawk brought his sword about and brought it down towards Luffy
Ace quickly pushed his brother out of the way, and punched the side of the blade off the other way, small sparks flew off of his fist and the sword.
Mihawk turned with the motion and brought his sword out at waist height towards Ace
"Stop it!" Sanji shouted
Mihawk stilled, a small smile curling onto his face.
"Just stop it" Sanji said emotion draining from his face. "just kill me and be done with it"
"Sanji?" Luffy asked from where he was getting ready to strike
"Sanji, shout up" Ace called "Let us do our jo-"
"You shut up!" Sanji shouted to Ace "I'm done running, if you try to fight him, he'll just kill you both! And then me, there's no point in it! Struggling is useless! Just let me di-"
Luffy clapped a hand over Sanji's mouth, his straw-hat falling over his eyes.
Mihawk laughed "It's too late now Luffy, he already said it, Shanks can't protect you now if you protect him!"
"Like I care!" Luffy shouted back, letting go of Sanji "He is my friend"
Mihawk frowned, the plan was changing "So be it" Mihawk seemed to move as a blur, he moved so fast that Luffy didn't even see him until he was right in front of him "Die arrogant boy!" Mihawk slashed his sword downward, cutting shallow as Luffy barely managed to jump back, Mihawk sliced down the other way, also leaving a cut. Suddenly Ace tried to hit Mihawk from behind. Mihawk arched his back at the fiery hit, and quickly turned, kicking ace across the room, and jumped after him Ace began getting up from the ground when he felt Mihawk over him, he turned over to see the edge of the blade nearing his throat
"Oi Ace run!" Luffy shouted
"Luffy!" Ace shouted
Luffy watched in horror as time seemed to slow down, the sword slowly dug into Ace's neck. Luffy turned away as he heard the cries of his brother break through the silence.
"Enough!" a booming voice filled the house
Mihawk stilled with freight, his blade a millimeter away from Ace's jugular.
Ace and Luffy stared at each other while Sanji looked behind him at the voice, a tall man stood there aiming a rifle at Mihawk
"Beckman" Mihawk gritted out "I didn't know Shanks would send his right hand man"
"Take your sword out of Ace's neck now!" Ben shouted, not looking at anything else
Mihawk complied sheathing his sword "Well then, I guess I'll be going" Mihawk started walking towards the door
Sanji watched Ben lower his rifle and extend his hand out to him "Here son, get up"
Luffy looked at Mihawk as he walked out of sight and into the receiving area
"Hawkey!" A light hearted voice sounded "Where are you going!" Mihawk backed up back into the living room, Shanks walking towards him, red faced and a bottle of liquor in his hand "Long time no see!"
Sanji got to his feet with the assistance then looked at the clearly drunk man
"You old drunk" Mihawk said, and then walked around him
"Oi, who said you could leave" Shanks' hand shot out grabbing the back of Mihawk's collar, the alcohol bottle dropping and shattering on the ground. "We have a lot to talk about, so everyone, take a seat, now" Shanks said in a quiet voice, it left no room for disobedience.
…
Zoro opened his door and entered his apartment "Oi Usopp, come here" Zoro called, not bothering to hide his swords, but sheathing them
"Yeah dad?" Usopp asked opening his door "Whoa what the hell are those!" Usopp asked moving into the living room
"Um" Zoro rubbed the back of his head "I'm not too sure where to start. Take a seat though, it's a long story." Zoro moved a chair from the dining table and sat across from Usopp who was on the couch.
"What is going on?" Usopp asked from his seat
Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, and then found a starting place "I've never told you about my past but. I think it's time I did, cause it has caught up with me" Zoro looked at his son, not much fear but some was showing through Usopp "see, me, Ace, his brother Luffy, Robin and Franky, and a few others were all a part of this gang, Luffy kinda gathered us up one by one, well him and his brother, it wasn't the kind of gang that goes around killing people or anything" Zoro quickly pointed out "we were more of a defensive gang, we would protect innocent people that got caught up in the underground"
…
"I know all of this" Sanji said as Ace explained "I didn't know Zoro was involved, but I know you were a protection gang, can we skip ahead a little bit" Sanji said lighting a cigarette and glaring at Mihawk who sat on the floor with his arms crossed "What the hell is he a part of?" Sanji pointed to Mihawk
Ace adjusted his hand on his neck, luffy took over "he is a leader of one of the seven most deadly gangs, a grouping called the shichibukai, allowed to continue operating since the law hires them sometimes. Back in the day we each had a connection to them, to gather information and such."
Sanji nodded in understanding
Luffy continued "Zoro connected to Mihawk by a" He coughed "Less then desirable past connection"
Sanji shot a look to Mihawk, Mihawk didn't move, not change at all it seemed
"Ace and me had Jinbe, Robin had Mr.0-"
"Should you really be saying this in front of him?" Sanji asked
"Dear boy, we all knew about each other's connections, it was all apart of the mix" Mihawk smiled out
"A mix you clearly don't understand" Shanks said getting anger, Ben quickly moved to his side, laying a hand on his armless shoulder
"Continue Luffy" Ben said in a collected voice
…
"Why would you contact him if he killed your father, and sister?" Usopp asked, tears near his eyes
Zoro let his smile fall away "I needed to make sure that I save others, so as much as I didn't want to, it allowed me to gain information, the shichibukai have a lot of connections into other gangs, so that's the advantage"
Usopp nodded "I see"
"I got out of it when I got you, but the others didn't, I was kept up on some things, but right now, Sanji could be dead"
To say Usopp was shocked, scared, worried, and anger, would be an understatement "How!?"
Zoro gritted his teeth, he was starting to lose his cool "Mihawk is getting paid by someone to kill him"
"Who?"
…
"Akainu is hunting you, we don't know why yet, unless you know Mihawk" Luffy looked towards the man, who remained silent
"A admiral?! But why?"
Mihawk smiled
Then Ben chimed in "He isn't really hunting you" all but Shanks turned to him, even Mihawk
"Okay, who are you?" Sanji asked still feeling in the dark and angry about it
"He is apart of my crew" Shanks piped up "I am a Yonko, one of four people that operate the whole underground, from crime to politics."
"But he is a good guy" Luffy said with a smile
Sanji trusted Luffy's opinion but he still wasn't sure what being a Yonko did
Shanks sensed his confusion "We are much stronger then the shichibukai, and therefore have a lot of influence over them, which is why" He nodded towards Mihawk "he is compliant, but now as it seems, Law enforcement is entering the underground. So why don't you enlighten us on Akainu's plan"
"Wouldn't you prefer a full audience first?" Mihawk asked then nodded past shanks towards the door area
"Ben" Shanks said
"On it" Ben quickly moved to the door, drawing his Rifle
…
"Im sorry for bringing you here, but there was no where I could take you, just promise me, if something happens, run for dear life, head for the docks, maybe you can catch Robin and Franky there" Zoro said approaching the blonde's house, drawing his swords after seeing the lights on
…
Ben quickly opened the door sighting green and quickly aiming his rifle preparing for a fight
"Shit" Zoro shouted and attacked, knocking the Rifle off to the side
Ben reacted quickly, swinging his Rifle the other way it was knocked, taking Zoro with him and throwing him in the house
Zoro hit the wall, not looking to his left where the others watched in shock "Usopp run!" Zoro jumped off the wall only to be knocked towards the living room.
Usopp turned to run, but was caught by Ben and had a pistol pressed against his head
Zoro got back up, still not seeing the others and charged, but Ben moved into Zoro's sight with Usopp at gun point "Don't move!" Ben shouted stilling Zoro in his spot
"Ben, lower you weapon" shanks said moving to Zoro's side
Ben quickly obeyed as Zoro looked to Shanks then to Usopp, who had tears in his eyes "Usopp come here" Zoro moved to hug his son, then he looked back to Shanks after shooting Ben a glare "Where is San-"
"Zoro" Sanji said looking at him
Again their eyes met, the chemistry soared across the room, but for the moment, Zoro could only feel relief "Mind explaining what is going on?" Sanji asked
"I was gonna ask you the same thing" Zoro said back, releasing the calming Usopp
"Let me introduce myself" Shanks said, and then bowed "I'm Shanks, Luffy's god father, and to a extent, Sanji's great uncle once removed, or something like that" Shanks looked to Ben
Both Sanji and Zoro wore shocks of surprise
"Well that seems the theme of the night" Shanks said making way so that Zoro could see Ace Luffy, and
"Mihawk!" Zoro spit out
"Sit down boy, there is much to bee said" Shanks said gesturing for Zoro
"I am sorry about that young man, I was trying to protect family, just like your dad, let me start again, I'm Ben Beckman" Ben extended his hand towards Usopp, who wearily took it and then followed him towards the circle of others.
"Long time Usopp" Ace said as he retook his seat, this time seating next to Usopp, this is my brother Luffy"
"Nice to meet cha!" Luffy hugged Usopp "I always wanted to meet you"
Usopps head was spinning right now, almost killed, then welcomed warmly by strangers, and sitting in a room with a assassin who was supposed to kill someone in the room
"Zoro looked towards his son, seeing the thoughts race across his face "This can happen from time to time, its normal for this life" Zoro said then looked towards Shanks "So if you're the appraised Shanks, that means you're a Yonko right?"
Shanks nodded
"I still have a question, how are you sort of related to me?" Sanji asked having given up on fear and logic for the night
"Oh right" Shanks smiled "Luffy want to take this one?"
Luffy smiled "did I ever tell you Sanji, why we came to protect you?"
Sanji shook his head "You told me that you figured out I was in trouble that was all, but im guessing now that it has to do with Zeff…" Sanji trailed off
"Ben is your dad's mothers sister, him and Ben were close for many years, including the years where you life, was a little off track, so your father called in a favor, Ben talked to Shanks and Shanks called us." Luffy smiled
"But that doesn't explain how Shanks is-" Sanji was caught off by Shanks giggles
All looked to him as he slid his right ring finger through a ring on his necklace at the same time Ben showed the ring on his left ring finger. "WERE MARRIED!" Shanks shouted out happily "We just came back from our second honeymoon"
Luffy rubbed his head "Sorry about that by the way"
Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, And Mihawk all looked Surprised.
"Finally tied the knot, glad to see you over came your commitment problem" Mihawk said out half bitterly half smiling
All turned to him "Well, since you are back to talking" Ben said lighting a cigarette on the end of a 20's smoke stick. "Fill us in"
TBC
A/N
Hey guys, so I am really enjoying this story now, it's tough to organize all of this since I wrote free style the first 6 chapters, so now I'm connected the dots! If there are any inconsistencies you notice, please point them about, thanks! Reviews Aprreicated!