.: It's not a good Western movie or show if there isn't a good ole fashioned bar fight. And it wouldn't be One Piece without cool characters with unique devil fruit powers. I had to combine them. When I was researching historical figures from the Old West, I had to dig through their backstories for ideas on names and potential powers. Not everyone is supposed to have powers, but I tried to see if I could be creative enough to make devil fruits we haven't seen yet. Also, I just had to investigate Yellowstone for bar fight ideas since there are apparently quite a few. Hope you enjoy! :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 34:

Young Guns

Getting too dark to see anything meant that it was time to drink away the rest of the evening. It seemed like everyone in town had congregated into Boom Town's saloon. There was barely any room to go around as people visited the bar top for alcohol, moved on and off the dance floor, and milled around trying to find some love. All ears were full of talking, live singing and music from the stage, and the occasional plack! of acrylic balls. It was a lot to the senses, but also easy to drown out for the dejected group of pirates.

The only reason they were here was because there was not much else to do. They already had the last available room at the inn rented for the night. When the train rolled in tomorrow morning, they would board and return to the Going Merry. Time just needed to be passed for it to happen.

In the meantime, two round tables were pushed together so their group of eight could stick close. That was the original idea, though. Luffy and Usopp wandered off when a particular flag on the wall caught their attention. They both stood underneath a jolly roger of a skull with crossing swords and red lines overlapping the left eye socket. Shanks came here! And if that was true, then that meant Yasopp had also been! They beamed at the single piece of evidence and shared a high five.

Robin watched them both with an amused smile. At least they were in a cheery mood. The growing accumulation of empty bottles in front of Zoro kept him impartial to their circumstances. When Nami did not return from the bar top, Sanji decided to check on her. Their group was now halved.

Aurilee bit into the saucy ribs she had, still playing off her grief as absent; however, the food was actually helping. It gave her something else to focus on. With fingers getting sticky and sauce stuck to the side of her mouth, she picked up a smaller rib and offered it across the table to Chopper. "Want some? It's good," she tried tempting.

He yawned and reached his little arm across to take it from her. Upon the first bite, he hummed from the smokey taste. It made Zoro swipe a rib for himself to see if it was actually that good. Aurilee giggled but did not protest. Why should she be sad when she still had her friends? It helped her not feel alone. After all, she was now not the only one who now had sticky fingers that needed to be licked clean.

Sanji wheedled his way through the patrons to get to the navigator. It was easy to find her. The pink skirt with fishnet stockings was enough to attract any guy. Now that he thought about it, he might need to stick by in case anyone got funny ideas.

She requested another glass of whatever she was drinking just as he took a seat on the stool next to her. "Want a drink?" Nami inquired as she inspected her second round.

"Maybe a nightcap," he replied. "But I was mostly checking on you."

"Nope. Haven't prostituted myself yet."

"Yet?" he repeated with a tense tone.

"Hey, luckily we're leaving tomorrow or else I might have to prostitute myself, considering all the berries we've spent today."

His teeth grinded at how nonchalant she was being about defiling herself. Out of habit, he stuck a cigarette between his lips and gave it a light. "Not on my watch."

She took a sip of her drink but rolled her eyes. "It's just a joke, Sanji. Why is Aurilee the only one who's allowed to make dark jokes?"

He wanted to retort but stopped himself. Instead, he looked back at the crew to see they were all fixated on Luffy and Usopp. They both found the beat of the current song playing to be quite bumping, so they played along to it by making sharp hip movements and galloping their feet to spin around. The more he watched, the more he realized they were probably only embarrassing themselves to keep Aurilee laughing.

Luffy took it too far, though. He suddenly picked up Usopp and started spinning him around. The sniper was not prepared at all, especially when he was thrown without warning. Surrounding patrons cringed when he thudded against the wall and hit the floor, but the Straw Hat table erupted in laughter. The best part was Luffy not noticing or caring so he continued his dance routine.

Seeing Aurilee responding well to the show almost convinced Sanji that she was okay with what transpired today. There was always a chance of them failing, but knowing they did fail hurt. Now they were back to square one in their quest. Only two weeks left until she could move forward with being induced and have her babies. Moving around the Grand Line with little fragile lives would only make things harder. Those babies needed stability and safety, which was why they were trying to find her home before that happened.

He looked back at Nami. "I'm sorry."

She sighed and took another sip. "Just because she's not stressed out doesn't mean you have to take it on for her. Let's just head out tomorrow and try island hopping again. Everything will be fine. We'll have three more mouths to feed, but that's the least of our worries."

"…What if we never find them?"

She glanced at him curiously.

"What if she feels like she's stuck with us?"

Nami saw Aurilee wipe her mouth and get up to go use the restroom. She did not come by where they were at as she passed the bar top. "I don't think 'stuck with us' is how she sees it," Nami finally replied, watching to see if anyone suspicious would follow her in. "We've helped her a lot, and I'm sure she's appreciative of it. I guess after the Chupacabra bust, she's realized she's in no hurry to leave us."

Hearing that made Sanji reflect. What happened to that hopeless, neglected girl he pulled from the depths of the sea? She was so desperate to get home that she disappeared for a day to handle it herself. Now, she was not pressed about it. At the same time, she was no longer hopeless and neglected. She was safe, taken care of, and had friends who were making her mission their mission. If she felt that way, then she must know her children would also reap those same benefits.

"But you never know," Nami continued. "She might decide one day that she's ready to stick to an island and raise her kids on her own. That's what my mom did."

"I'm not in a hurry to see her go. I just want what's best for her," he explained.

She noticed how he was also keeping an eye on the restroom door and smiled. Everyone on the crew looked out for Aurilee, but not as much as Sanji did. "I know," she answered.

After she was done relieving herself, Aurilee washed her hands clean. The oval mirror forced her reflection to be acknowledged. She turned off the faucet and held the sides of the sink as she listened to the music and many conversations happening on the other side of the door. For a few moments, she was devoid of thoughts until her PTSD brought forth a traumatic memory. It had also happened in a restroom like this, and she gripped the sink like this as she stared at herself distraughtly wondering how much longer it was going to continue. In an attempt to protect itself, her brain dissociated.

Suddenly, she came back to reality and did not know how long she had been standing there. All she knew was that she was stressed enough to raise her blood pressure. Chopper instructed her to do a certain breathing technique to help calm herself, so she found herself doing it while still looking at herself. She would not lose to a mirror in this internal battle.

While backing away from it, she never broke eye contact with herself. "You're not in danger. You're alone," she reminded herself. Because even if someone did come in, her friends would come flying after them.

But then she saw the elephant in the room – herself – and realized she had it all wrong. She was not alone; she had three cute babies with her. "Sorry. I didn't mean to leave you guys out," she voiced while rubbing her belly with both hands. "You'd think I'd remember you since the back pain is hard to ignore."

The vibrations of her voice and diaphragm rattled the highest baby enough to make it lift its head. She gasped excitedly as she watched the surface of her skin deform briefly. The baby felt the wall not allowing it to fully extend its neck like it wanted to, so it relaxed back down.

That was no arm or leg. She was positive about it. The bigger they grew, the more daring they became. "Were you trying to get more comfortable?" Aurilee cooed.

There was no response that time, but she did not mind. She just reached under her overalls to press against the three areas where they were nestled. To be in a warm, quiet place like them almost sounded like a dream to her. She enjoyed being here with the crew, but she was also ready to crawl into that inn room bed. One day, she would get to lay in bed with her children next to her.

Thinking about it made her want to snuggle them so bad. "I love you all," she told them. "I promise I'll give you the best life I can provide, okay? Just keep growing big and strong for me."

She almost jumped out of her skin when the closed door suddenly opened. "Ya tawkin' tah sumwun in heer?" a young girl with a thick drawl asked while sticking her head in.

Aurilee, in her bewildered state, completely did not understand the question. All she saw was short pink hair flowing out from a backwards hat, and a white tank top peeking out from a gray denim vest. Her blue jeans were very worn, but what distracted from that was the huge belt buckle on her waist that had "Cocky" engraved in it.

"Heellllooooo?" the girl pried as she opened it farther. It was empty beside her. After being confused for a second, she suddenly realized what was happening. "Ohhhhh. Awww, ya tawkin' to yer baybee? That's so cute." She then came inside and closed the door behind her.

"Uh–" she stammered, watching the stranger pass her up to go to the single toilet in the room. What the heck was happening right now?

"Don't mind may. Just needa pias."

She turned her body to follow where she was headed to while still trying to understand the accent, but all she saw was her start doing her business right in front of her. "Wha– Ooookay." She quickly turned away and listened to the sound of trickling liquid.

But the stranger was not bothered at all. She seemed to actually enjoy the company. "Ya havin' a bo or ger?"

"U-Uh, I don't know?"

"Mmmm." She studied Aurilee's face from the angle of the mirror, and then visually measured her before making an educated guess. "Yer havin' moor than wun aren't'cha?"

Aurilee almost looked back at her. "Dang, I'm that big?"

She laughed as she flushed. "I'd say yer havin'…three."

"Oh my god."

"Ride agen?"

"Yes."

"Hail yeah!" After buckling her jeans back up, she came over to inspect closer. Aurilee nervously darted her eyes around, unsure what she was doing. "Ya got thaat ger mom glow."

"What?"

She realized her accent was too distracting, so she talked slower. "Yaaa gotttt thaaat girlllll mommmm glowwww."

"Girl mom glow."

"Yeah. Like, yer havin' a ger."

"Okay?"

"Wut? That don't make ya happay?"

"I mean, I'm happy with anything."

"Aww." She patted her arm gently. "That right thare shows yule be a damn gud momma. Gud luck to ya, Missy." She then opened the door and left without washing her hands. On her way out, Aurilee saw that the front of her white hat clearly said "MARINE" in big blue letters with a turquoise background.

She stood there a little confused. Whoever that girl was, she was quite the free spirit. And she wondered how she got that Marine hat while living in a lawless nation. Sheriff Garrett did not wear that kind of headwear with his uniform. But whatever, it really did not matter. She followed her out the door to see Zoro was there.

"You good?" he asked with a thumb in his pocket.

She looked past him to see the stranger go to the other side of the saloon to turn a chair backwards and sit in it. "Yeah," she answered.

"I saw her follow you in," he continued, looking over his shoulder at her, too. The people she was socializing with were ones he saw earlier today. The Wild Westerners were in a different spot than before, but they were still enjoying drinks and talking to people who recognized them. Ware passed the pink-haired girl an unopen bottle of booze. Zoro just wondered why he had not seen this new arrival until now.

"Yep. She pissed right in front of me," Aurilee admitted with a chuckle. "Nami and Robin haven't even done that to me yet."

"Pissing when someone else is around is weird to you?"

"It's easier for you since all you gotta do is whip it out and give it a shake! I gotta squat!"

"Alright, alright." He then gave her room to walk around him so they could return to their table.

While they did, Rip from the Wild Westerner table watched them. That swordsman was back with all his friends by the looks of it. A group that big was not common. If he was a foreigner, and he was sticking around a big group like that, that could only mean they were pirates. He rolled the toothpick in his mouth from one side to the other. Pirates were nothing but even more trouble than what happened around here. Seeing that swordsman escort a pregnant lady either meant she was their crewmate or their prisoner. The latter made him sick.

"You gonna have a drink yet, Rip?" Billy asked him. "You look like you could use one."

"Not yet," he replied, not relenting in watching. The long-nosed guy wearing the poncho had made it back to the table, and he pressed his head to the surface to recover from the rough landing. The kid with the straw hat started eating something that was offered by a female server. The short one wearing the blue sombrero looked like he wanted to curl up and go to sleep. The woman wearing the long coat was lounging with legs crossed and fingers tapping to the beat of the music. As for the two sitting at the bar…

A male patron approached Nami. He recognized such an outfit from anywhere. "'Scuse me, you wanna dance?"

Hearing it instantly irritated Sanji. He was waiting for it to happen, and now it was happening. "We're having a conversation," he answered.

He looked at the cook with an unimpressed brashness. "I didn't ask you to dance. I asked her."

"No, I don't wanna dance," Nami answered without looking at the guy.

"No?"

"She said no," Sanji bolstered, not interested in having her words twisted somehow. "Piss off."

"Sanji," Nami warned. Considering how dangerous this place could become in the blink of an eye, she had a bad feeling about the way her crewmate was getting provocative in the name of defending her honor.

"Run that by me again, partner," the guy abrasively challenged.

"Sorry," Sanji said, clearing his throat and turning more toward him. "Piss. Off."

The fact that Sanji was acting like the guy could not understand the same language really rubbed him the wrong way. He was not an idiot. All he wanted was to dance with a lady, but this asshole would not mind his own business. "Alright," he conceded. "I'll just piss off over here."

When he backed away, Nami leaned closer to Sanji. "Haven't you ever heard of de-escalation?" she questioned.

"You know just as well as I do that he'll try to do more than–"

A pair of hands grabbed Sanji by the shoulders and yanked him back to pummel him onto the floor. He did not have time to react, but Nami and the patrons sitting beside them backed away. Before Sanji could kick him off, he received a malicious punch to the face that had him seeing stars for a second.

"Sanji!" Nami yelped, grabbing a bottle, and smashing it over the back of the guy's head.

The Straw Hats all looked over at the bar top when they heard it. All they could see was someone bigger and stronger than her looming over. When he clobbered her just as hard, that was the moment all hell broke loose.

"HEY!" Luffy thundered, not hesitating to drop his dinner to rescue his navigator. She may be strong, but that was uncalled for. He knew she could not win this fight.

Zoro and Robin also got up to aid their captain. More people were getting involved either because a woman was just hit or because the one who started it all was their buddy. Sanji smashed the guy against the stools and bar top, but then he saw Nami laying on the floor covering her mouth and knew it was not enough to teach him a lesson. But when he got up to add more to his melee, someone broke a billiards stick across his back, causing him to stumble and recoil in pain. "Take that, you son of a bitch!" he derided smugly.

Luffy's hands suddenly grasped the main guy's shoulders while the rest of his body had to catch up. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the rubber man's forehead flying toward him. The impact practically cracked his frontal bone down the center.

Robin restrained the one who whacked Sanji by sprouting arms from his back to grab his elbows and pull them back. Zoro jumped a table to start knocking bodies around. Right when he was about to unsheathe a sword, he stopped himself. They were still trying to blend in even if they were leaving in the morning. He instead grabbed the scabbard to slide the entire sword farther up his hip to hit someone right in their diaphragm to knock the breath out of him.

"Oh, boys, we got a fight!" the pink-haired Wild Westerner announced enthusiastically. She jumped out of her seat, unable to contain herself.

"Wait, Jen–" Billy blurted.

But she had already clocked someone on their way to either join the ruckus or break it up. Seeing it made Butler and Oakley stand up abruptly enough to knock their chairs backwards. Sure enough, their troublemaking friend was already getting targeted by men twice her size.

"And once again, that's why they call her a catastrophe," Ware sighed as he also got to his feet.

Chopper watched intensely as all kinds of fists flew while more and more bodies swarmed. Sanji scooped up Nami and tried removing her from the fray, but a pair of arms hooked him underneath his armpits so someone else could land punches. That was when the reindeer transformed into Heavy Point and launched himself toward them. He yanked the one punching away to slam him into the bar top.

Sanji quickly stomped his boot to free himself. His blood was boiling. How could someone hit a defenseless woman like that? Against her will, Nami's eyes watered. Somehow, she also knew Sanji was still in trouble, but then a chair came flying out of nowhere and knocked Sanji's attacker over from the sheer force driving it. He ducked away to find cover while glancing to see Oakley standing across the saloon with her arm still raised. No, it could not have come from there, could it?

Luffy being up on the bar top did not work in his favor. Someone put him in a choke hold and rolled him. Then, he was shoved across the whole length of the surface just so the glasses could shatter and rough him up. He yelled until they pushed him onto the floor behind the bar, which caused others to hop over just to beat him up some more.

Zoro kicked a barstool that had fallen over from the chaos and tripped a couple of people with it. When the who avoided it came swinging for a punch, he ducked and thrust him against the bar's edge hard enough to knock him out. Robin sprouted arms from the ceiling and made more sprout from the palms to make ropes. She gripped her own wrists to lift herself off the floor, but someone clocked her hard enough to knock her down. Hearing her cry out in distress made Chopper frantic to go help her.

He tried using his mass to his advantage by bowling brawlers out of the way. Maybe if he forced them apart, the fighting would end completely. But people were persistent and willing to resist his efforts just to pummel him. Robin disappeared under people who refused to let her back up. That was when Chopper caught a glimpse of the rest of the room to see it was all too much to fix at all. People were breaking chairs over people's backs, body slamming others on the floor and against the green felt tables, shattering all kinds of bottles, glasses, and plates over heads. There were even gunshots starting to ring out. The only people not affected by the mayhem directly were the musicians on stage as they continued to play their instruments as if this was another normal evening for them.

That was when he also noticed Usopp was nowhere to be seen, and Aurilee was panicking. She looked around as everything blurred. Where was the exit? Where could she go? Usopp was hiding under the table. She needed to join him until all of this was over. But right when she had the thought, someone went for a hit against her abdomen.

Time slowed down in that moment. A low blow like that was something she half expected to come her way. Her head turned to see a man with malicious intent and a ready fist. If she was a good fighter, she should have grabbed her bow and jabbed him with it to defend herself. But she was no good fighter in situations like these. She was a hunter. The only reason she managed to take down Zoro in the jungle was because he left himself open and allowed her to do it. This attack was aggressive and there was no opening for her.

The opening she failed to identify was one that another exploited. A veteran cowboy caught him in a headlock and brutally walloped his whole posterior into the floor. After kicking him in the gut, Rip immediately turned back to Aurilee and scooped her up as if she weighed nothing. She yelled in fright.

Usopp watched her legs disappear and another pair run off. Nobody else witnessed the way she vanished because there was too much noise and too many other things going on. The saloon doors undulated open and closed, but that was the only evidence.

Her mind was racing when she was taken outside. Kidnapped again? Another assault to add to her track record? Killing her under the cover of night? What was about to happen to her?

Rip jogged over to the other side of the street in case anyone else left the saloon hot. There was a little alley between buildings, so he put her down at the mouth of it in case they needed to go a longer distance to get away. Aurilee stood still in fear as she looked up at him. She was only three-quarters his height, and his build was as solid as a mountain. Underneath the brown cowboy hat was a stoic gaze that was locked on the saloon doors. He was waiting for something.

"Be honest with me," he said, continuing to stare. "Are you bein' held against your will?"

She did not know how to answer at first. Suddenly, she realized there was no dangerous or suspicious aura about him. The question was genuine.

When he got the feeling he would get no reply, he pried more. "Because you're a long way from home."

The scrutiny shocked her. "How do you know that?" she asked innocently.

He could not help but smile and exhale with a little laugh. "It's pretty obvious to me." Without looking at her still, he pointed to her chest and then at her face. "You got that darker skin and thick dark hair. Your face is wide with a round jawline and small plump lips. I know a Lun'aecho when I see one."

What she thought he was going to say was not what he said. "I…What's a Lun'aecho?"

Her question was what finally made him look at her, and he was flabbergasted to say the least. "You don't know what the–" He stopped himself midsentence. "Who are you?"

"U-Uh. My name's Aurilee."

"Who're those people you're with? And don't say they're cowboys. I could smell that horseshit from a mile away."

"They're…my friends?" She sounded unsure because it did not feel right to reveal they were pirates. There was not much else to call them.

"You don't seem very confident that they are."

"No, no, they are. They're just…"

"Pirates."

Well, that was pretty blunt. "Y-Yeah. Pirates who are my friends."

He showed amusement in how much she was waffling. "What's a pregnant girl who's supposedly not being held hostage doing with pirates?" He half-expected her to spill the truth that she needed help. If that was the case, he was prepared to lend a hand. Separating her from the bar fight was the best thing he could have started with.

"They rescued me," she shared. "I was kidnapped by pirates when I was young. These pirates are trying to get me home. Trying to get that done before these guys showed up was the goal." She brushed a hand over the sheer roundness of her abdomen.

He pulled the toothpick from his mouth and tossed it away. "Then what does that have to do with you bein' way out here?"

"Kind of a long story. We were looking for the Chupacabra, but…it wasn't what we thought it was."

He chuckled. "You were looking for a diseased dog?"

"Yes and no." She pressed her back against the building to get more comfortable. "My father…he's not a normal human. He can turn into a beast, kind of like a werewolf. We've been thinking if we find the werewolf, we can find the island, hence looking for the Chupacabra. But it's not working. Nobody knows what we're talking about, or the legends of monsters are simply legends and nothing more."

Rip grew quiet as he listened. When he did not respond, Aurilee also grew quiet. She did not know whether to keep talking or to leave it alone. Maybe he did not believe her at all. She looked toward the saloon as the incessant noise of fighting continued from inside. Hopefully the crew was okay. She expected them to come out at any moment.

Meanwhile, Rip started laughing again, but this time it was hearty. Aurilee glanced at him with a mix of confusion and hurt feelings. She may have made jokes and laughed about her pain, but a stranger laughing at it was different. What she did not know was that this was the first time in Rip's life that he did not feel insane. So, he laughed. It was relief, affirmation, and amazement all flowing out of him. The man disciplined in showing no weakness while working as a ranch foreman almost turned to jelly right on the spot. All that built up stress was just…set free.

"What's so funny?" Aurilee finally questioned.

Seeing that his fit of laughter was going on for too long got him to try stopping. Nothing could shake that smile, though. "Chupacabra," he repeated with a hint of judgment. "You ain't lookin' for no Chupacabra. Are ya kiddin' me?"

She cocked an eyebrow as she took that as a rhetorical question.

"What you're lookin' for is a Wendigo."

She waited a moment before she narrowed her eyes. "How do you know?"

"Because I've seen one with my own eyes," he swore with his closed fists shaking briefly. "Happened years ago. I was helping some Marines transport horses to a base when I was accidentally swept overboard and got lost at sea. I eventually washed up on an island, but I didn't make it too far because it was there."

Aurilee held her breath.

"Whatever that thang was, it was not a human," he continued. "No devil fruit user is like it either. It had to have stood at least twelve feet tall, maybe even taller. Looked like a wolf but walked and talked like a man. And that wailing through the forest…God, it still haunts my nightmares. Needless to say, I got the hell out of there because I would've much rather died at sea than be eaten alive by a demon. Luckily another Marine ship picked me up and brought me back here, but I wasn't the same man who'd left."

Her awestruck expression remained, but her tears started flowing. Everything he described…It matched. Paititi always said that he when he and Skah shapeshifted for the first time ever, they were stuck for so long that the tribe elders passed, the young grew to adolescence, and many children were born. That could easily be a fifteen-year period when he aimlessly roamed the island. It even sounded like her Mama had not been born yet when he initially disappeared. If this guy's encounter happened when Paititi was merely a shell of himself, then that would explain how he managed to leave alive.

The Wendigo. So that's what they were looking for.

While she was not paying attention, the saloon doors had opened with the injured creeping out. Someone familiar saw the two of them together, so he ran over to stand in the way of Aurilee getting hurt. "Now's your chance, Aurilee! Run while you can!" Usopp told her with his slingshot fully stretched toward Rip.

She wiped her eyes dry. "Usopp, it's okay. He's not a bad guy."

He was not as trusting as she was. When she looked over at the others, she understood why. Chopper was trying to tend to everyone all at once while neglecting his own wounds. Luffy was cut up but otherwise okay. Zoro also did not look bad off. The two of them hovered over Robin as she sat against the wall rather limply. Sanji was panicking between making sure Nami's beautiful face was not permanently maimed and seeing how injured Robin was. The fighting did not discriminate against either gender in the slightest. It was a free-for-all.

"What do we do?" Zoro asked Chopper as he opened Robin's eye to shine a light into it.

"Let me finish my evaluation first," he insisted as calmly as possible.

Aurilee grew worried, so she came over. They were relieved to have found her since she was nowhere inside. Sanji jogged over to meet her halfway and check how hurt she was. "I'm so glad you got out of there," he said as he inspected her face. "Is everything okay? Are they okay?"

She noticed the way she relaxed in his palm. After all that violence, it was soothing to have his presence around. "Yeah, we're fine," she verified. "Not hurt at all, actually. But you…" She saw the blood oozing from his scalp how his lip was busted. He will be very bruised come tomorrow.

"I've had worse," he deflected. His eyes shifted as Rip came by. His first instinct was to pull Aurilee closer to protect her. But the cowboy had his focus on something else. Why were the pirates the only ones who had escaped the fighting so far? He peered back inside the saloon to see why.

When he went around the side to head to the back of the building, Aurilee pulled away from Sanji. That man knew where her island was. She could not let him slip through her fingers. "Luffy," she said as she followed him. "Come with me."

He saw her leave and grew curious. Zoro cradled Robin to bring her along, too. When they caught up with Rip, they found he was not alone. Zoro recognized that group from anywhere. "Wild Westerners?"

They all turned their heads when they heard their name. Jen and Oakley were standing near the door while Ware and Butler stood back. Butler's hands appeared to be in a liquified, translucent state as he obviously worked his devil fruit power. Many glass orbs were littering the ground as they poured from him. "It's Sword Guy," Ware replied.

"You know these people?" Usopp questioned him.

"Well, no," Zoro admitted. But when he looked around more, he noticed Billy was absent.

Jen got excited when she saw Aurilee. "Gud to see yer doin' alright," she commented. "D'ya make fraynds wit Rip?"

"Jen, what're y'all doing back here?" Rip interrupted.

"Wail, ya sea, we saw how the fight started. Wasn't cool at all. Billay's in there forcin' 'em out this back door so we can beat sum saynse into 'em. Prettay gud idea if ya ask may."

"Is that really necessary, though?"

"Hey, this was awl Billay's idea. Awl I'm sayin' is I'm excited tah hit sumwun agen."

Zoro settled Robin back against a wall so Chopper could continue treating her. After seeing the state she was in along with how Nami was hit and Sanji was beaten, he could not help but smirk. "I'm game," he said, getting up straight and unsheathing his swords.

Ware chuckled. "Sword Guy's come to play."

"They hurt my friends," Luffy expressed as he cranked his shoulder and stood next to his first mate.

"They hurt Nami and Robin," Sanji specified, lighting a new cigarette and standing next to Luffy.

"In that case, call 'em out when you see 'em," Oakley instructed.

Once all the arsenal was ready to go, Butler stepped back to start forming a thick glass wall around Chopper and Robin. He motioned for Aurilee to join them so she did not have to risk injury. She sat next to Robin and watched as a nearly impenetrable barrier hardened before their eyes.

Inside the saloon, the patrons were fleeing from the big hairy animal that appeared out of nowhere. Getting off the floor was not working either. It was smart enough to bite their boots and drag them off. Everyone outside heard frightful yelling mixed with deep, rumbling growls of something. Then, finally, the door opened.

"Call him out, Nami," Zoro told her.

The navigator connected the three parts of her Clima-Tact and started creating a stormy atmosphere. He did not have to tell her twice. She may have hit the guy over the head with a bottle, but to hit her in the face for it?! What a dick!

As soon as the first person emerged, Jen was all over him. She was talking fast in her thick drawl, so it was impossible to understand her. But what the pirates did not know was that she did the exact same thing when wrangling horses on the ranch. Once she had them where she wanted them, she twirled a lasso over her head and roped an unlucky participant so she could yank them and spin them in circles. She laughed as she balanced on her heels and let the guy do the running. He could not get away from her that easy.

Catastrophe Jen, a simple ranch hand and former Marine.

When she directed them a certain way, Butler and Rip were already there. Rip's plan was to simply snatch the first person he could by the belt and throwing him to the dirt. Then he grabbed him by the shirt to throw him against the wall. A punch to the gut left him vulnerable to a punch across the face. That was proof enough that Rip would rip you a new one.

Rip, a cowboy and destined to inherit the ranch he works for.

Butler's plan was to fenagle them down a glass maze that was invisible to the naked eye. People were totally confused when they faceplanted against nothing, but others hit it hard enough to smash right through it.

Mosey D. Butler, user of the Glass Glass Fruit, a logia type. He could form liquid and solid glass, turn himself into glass, and bring glass to life.

Oakley had her own little pile of glass orbs thanks to her husband. Since this was just to teach some ill-mannered jackasses a lesson, she did not have her gun locked and loaded. Instead, she simply flicked the orbs and watched as they were sent as a projectile toward people's faces. It did not matter if they tried to dodge; she hit them every time. There was no real effort to be had, and it was entertaining to see them drop to the ground in a daze. They were just lucky that the insides were hollow. Once she ran out of ammunition, she kicked off the ground to send herself flying as a projectile. Both crooks of her elbows caught the throats of a couple of guys, and she knocked them flat on their backs.

Mosey Oakley, user of the Bola Bola Fruit, a paramecia type. She could manipulate the trajectory, speed, and distance of anything she threw or used to hit a target, including her own body.

The rest of the glass orbs started rattling against the ground and each other. "Round up," Ware commanded as he stood above them with arms raised. Once they had gathered as closely as they could, he opened his palms to "push" them in the right direction. "And stampede." The entire supply suddenly flew toward the door. The people on their way out of the saloon were battered like they were in a hailstorm and were sent flying backwards.

Alberta Ware, user of the Stampede Stampede Fruit, a paramecia type. He could herd inanimate objects and living beings, and move them wherever he desired, even send them stampeding out of his field of control.

"Him!" Nami called out as the correct guy stumbled out.

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji all went in for the attack together. Luffy had a stretched fist aimed right at his face to give him a taste of his own medicine. Zoro mumbled the name of an attack as he crossed the distance and proceeded to slice him three different ways. Sanji tested the limits of his jeans when he split his legs just to deliver the hardest kick he could to his gut. The guy did not stand a chance whatsoever. He went right back to being unconscious.

Any stragglers, which were not many, were picked off by Usopp. He snickered as he used up the last of his Egg Star supply and enjoyed the hollering of Tobasco Stars seeping into eyes. "That's what you get!" he jeered.

The last one to emerge from the saloon was the organizer of the whole ordeal. All they saw was a big hairy, hoofed animal with short legs, a hunched back, and a large head consisting of a long, flat forehead and curved horns pointing from the sides of its skull. The identifying features of Billy were present in the white beard hanging from his chin and the clothes on top of the thick, brown fur. He relinquished his beast form in exchange for his human-beast form so he could stand up straight.

Bison Billy, user of the Bison Bison Fruit, a zoan type. He could transform into a bison.

Upon evaluation, he could see that the plan was going better than he thought it would. No senseless fights would happen here again for a while.

Nami had the final say in the matter. Anyone sticking around were dealt with via a blinding lightning strike. Everyone was blinded and subjected to the harsh thunder that followed it, but only the patrons were harmed. Once bearings were gathered, the stragglers were released so they could escape. One thing was for sure. You do not rile Lone Star Island.