In the middle of a dilapidated street on Whiskey Peak Island. Two bodies lie on the ground, their breathing deep, a sign that they are deeply asleep or unconscious. A man stands between them, staring with annoyance at the man he's just knocked unconscious.
What the hell is wrong with this guy? Asks Zoro, rubbing the back of his neck in annoyance. He doesn't really care, he just needs to prevent any enemy from surprising him or attacking the girl on the ground.
He sighs, looking around to see if he can find something to tie the guy to the curlers so he won't attack him again until he's off the island. Rummaging through the crate, he finally finds a rope and ties him up without further ado.
And now what? Stella has gone off with Kitetsu to who knows where, hoping she'll return the katana intact. Luffy's still in town, probably eating until the explosion, unless that idiot's asleep in the corner. And there's that girl he has to watch over so she doesn't die.
" Damn it." He sits down heavily on the floor, looking at Yubashiri in his hand, which he was finishing cleaning. Wado was in its scabbard, totally devoid of bloodstains, much to his relief. The few wrinkles of irritation that had appeared on his face faded as he refocused on the meticulous cleaning of his katana.
Time passes slowly, undisturbed. He watches Yubashiri gleam in the moonlight, totally clean and ready to be used again. The katana returns to its scabbard with a metallic clank under the proud smile of its wearer.
He takes a moment to tend to the cuts on his body, starting by removing his blood-stained shirt.
Rummaging through the bag left by Stella, he finds bandages that will greatly aid him in his task, but also a blue and purple snail.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Says he irritably, while Aoi looks at him with an amused sneer. Zoro pays him no further attention, leaving him in the bag and starting to disinfect the deepest cut on his shoulder.
His attention is focused solely on his wound, paying no attention to the snail gliding silently and stealthily behind him.
He flinches when he feels something cold and wet running up his back.
"HA!" He lets out an unmanly yell as he leaps to his feet. "What the hell?!" His arms contort as best they can to try and grab the thing that's mounted on him. But he doesn't succeed. Instead, he hears a sneer coming from behind him. He turns around sharply, expecting to see an enemy, but sees no one, instead the laughter is still coming from behind him.
Irritated, he turns his head to try and see his back, and after a few attempts and a sore neck from looking every which way, he finally sees that it's that fucking Den Den Muchi.
"What the hell are you doing? Get down from there right now! I'm not a means of transportation!" Aoi bursts out laughing even harder when he sees that Zoro can't catch him. "I swear, if I get my hands on you, you're in for a real rough time!" But all he gets is an even louder chuckle.
With an irritated grunt, he drops to the ground to finish nursing his shoulder. His teeth grind as he feels the snail crawl up his back to his uninjured shoulder. He gives it a bored look before clicking his tongue in annoyance.
"You'd better not mess with me, or you'll be back in the sack." Aoi gives him a big, innocent smile, but they both know that smile doesn't have him. Annoyed, Zoro finishes bandaging his shoulder and torso. There's also his leg, but for now he's content to disinfect it through the torn fabric. He doesn't want to risk ending up in his shorts in the middle of a city full of enemies; he may be strong, but he's not suicidal.
He then looks down at his once white shirt, now completely bloodstained and with numerous cuts. There's no point putting it back on, it'll be more of a nuisance than anything else, besides, looking more closely at his body, he notices that the rope marks have all but disappeared, much to his relief. It ends up in the bag with the medical equipment next to the still unconscious princess.
Zoro stands up, stretches his back and rolls his shoulders to get rid of the little twinge that has set in. How long has he been sitting there? 1h or 1h30? In any case, Stella still hasn't returned, and he's beginning to think time is running out.
His hand runs up the back of his neck as he looks around under Aoi's curious gaze. The guy in curlers hasn't moved from his position against the wall, and the moon is beginning to sink in the night sky, indicating that midnight has long since passed.
" Awesome..." He murmurs, dejected. Does he really have to stay here doing nothing when he could be out looking for his idiot captain? An irritated growl crosses his throat as he thinks of a way to pass the time. A little nap? Or a late-night workout?
He ponders for a few seconds when the sound of a stone falling to the ground catches his attention. His eyes turn to the mountain of debris where other stones begin to move. Clearly, there's something out there trying to resurface. He frowns, trying to remember what happened earlier. His memories are a little hazy from possession, but he vaguely remembers a giant duck he sent flying into the scenery.
With nothing else to do, he heads for the rubble mound and removes the largest blocks. Soon, he spots a cluster of yellow feathers emerging from the rubble, struggling to free itself with a pained, stunned quack. The bird slides heavily to the ground, trying to catch its breath, having obviously expended a lot of energy to get out, but the sight of Vivi on the ground makes it get up immediately, rushing in her direction, panicked, despite the fact that it hobbles and nearly falls back to the ground several times.
The swordsman, still holding the rock in his arms, watches as the bird flaps around the girl, chirping and touching her with the tip of its beak or feathers in an attempt to wake her up. Seeing that the bird has no intention of harming the girl, he lets the rock fall to the ground with a thud, unconcerned about being heard.
Startled, Karoo turns towards the noise and sees the man who has ruthlessly attacked them. His feathers turn pale and he begins to tremble, but he remains standing in front of his mistress in a vain attempt to protect her.
Zoro raises an eyebrow and turns his head towards Aoi, who makes it clear that it's his problem. With an annoyed click of his tongue, he crosses his arms and addresses the giant duck.
"I won't hurt you or your mistress. If you look carefully, you'll see she's well cared for." He says in a flat, bored tone. He doesn't want to frighten him, but looking after one person is enough for him. Karoo looks at him with incomprehension and mistrust, but his attention is drawn back to Aoi when he begins to utter a few little notes that the duck understands perfectly.
The pirate raises an eyebrow and looks at the snail on his shoulder.
"Can you talk to animals? "Aoi wiggles his eyebrows with a haughty smile. You're impressed, admit it. Zoro rolls his eyes at his behavior. "Why does that not even surprise me?"
Karoo takes advantage of the interaction between the two to take a closer look at Vivi and see that she's been well cared for, especially around the neck. He becomes increasingly confused. What happened during his coma?
"Kouak, kouuaK, KOUaak?" The swordsman looks at him with a raised eyebrow, not knowing what the duck wants, but Aoi seems to want to take charge of the discussion. So he finds himself like an idiot, watching a snail and a duck talk with varying degrees of animation. But the conversation seems to be going well, as the duck seems less suspicious despite the many glances he's given the East Blue demon.
Not wanting to stand by while Luffy is lost who knows where, Zoro heads for Karoo to retrieve Stella's bag from behind him and get out of here, now that the duck is watching the princess.
"Not that I'm bored, but I've got other things to do. I'll leave you to keep an eye on this girl and wish you good luck for the future." He says in a bored voice as he approaches the duck, which tenses at his approach and watches him intently as he gets closer and closer, but relaxes as he sees the pirate pick up the bag and head off in a random direction.
Aoi has no intention of letting him go, however, and grabs the swordsman's earlobe and tugs on it to get his attention. "Ouch! What's wrong?!" Zoro looks at the blue snail with dark eyes, but the mollusk doesn't care and gives Vivi a headbutt before pointing at the Marimo and miming instant death. A mime that the man doesn't understand, much to the dismay of the Den Den, who looks at him as if he were the stupidest person on earth.
The snail begins to flail around again, trying to make himself understood under the blank stare, until he lets out a cry of frustration that ricochets off the walls. The swordsman grunts under the powerful sound and the irritation that's starting to show because he can't make sense of the snail glaring at him.
"Stop looking at me like that. If you want to stay with them, good for you." He says as he moves his hand forward to pick up the Den Den and throw it at the duck, but hastily withdraws his hand so as not to get his finger bitten off. "What's your problem, seriously?"
"His problem is that he's trying to tell you not to move from here or you'll die, fingerling." With a brisk gesture, the man turns to his twin, who looks at him with amusement, Kitetsu on his shoulder.
"Where have you been?" He asks with annoyance, tossing the bag in the direction of Stella, who catches it without difficulty and slips it over her free shoulder.
"I went to clear things up with Kitetsu." She says, bouncing the blade on her shoulder. "Can you pass me its scabbard? I'll keep it until we strengthen your mind to prevent it from possessing you." Zoro looks at the outstretched hand with a neutral face, before heaving a sigh and holding out the red scabbard. He knows he has no say in the matter, and in any case he also knows she won't steal the katana from him.
Stella puts Kitetsu away and clips it to her belt before turning her attention back to Karoo, who stares at her with wide eyes, pacing back and forth between the two men. The older swordsman flashes an amused grin as he places his hands on his hips and rocks his pelvis, making the scene even more unreal.
"You must be an Arabasta super Spot-Billed duck, aren't you?" The bird blinks several times before nodding cautiously, still not sure he can trust the green-haired man's twins. Stella smiles gently as she approaches Zoro and takes Aoi on his shoulder. The snail lets out a cheerful note, happy to be reunited with its owner. "Yes, I'm happy to see you again too, but please go back into the bag. Don't forget you have to stay hidden for now." Aoi immediately displays a pout before sulking out of sight.
Once the Den Den is hidden, she approaches the princess, still on the ground, to check that all is well. Karoo immediately puffs up his feathers to appear more imposing, in a vain attempt to impress the older man approaching him and his mistress. The bird's defensive behavior is not lost on Stella, who flashes an amused smile.
"Don't worry, I'm no danger to Vivi. I'm the one who took care of her and asked the other idiot to look after her until I got back." Karoo's gaze remains cautious until Aoi utters a few reassuring notes that relax the duck enough for him to step aside and allow Stella to crouch beside her. "Thank you." She says with a bright face, a far cry from that of her counterpart, who has his arms crossed and looks bored out of his mind.
Quickly, the woman checks that the little princess is stable before taking her in her arms as if she weighed a feather. Immediately, Karoo stirs, visibly panicked at the idea of his mistress being carried off to an unknown place.
"Don't worry, nothing will happen to her as long as she's with me. But we've got to get out of here fast, because I think the other pirate hunters will be here soon. And from what I understand, you're no longer on the same side. So we might as well go a long way together." Karoo closes his beak with a sound. It's true that they're on their own, but they need to find their teammate.
"Koua! Koouak Koaak!" Stella raises an eyebrow in incomprehension until Aoi translates.
"Do you have another teammate? Unfortunately, I don't think we have time to go looking for him at random all over town." Karoo put on a panicked and disappointed face as he looked around in a vain attempt to see his teammate appear around the corner. What a surprise to see him tied up against a wall, completely passed out.
"KOOUAAK!" He rushes over to the prisoner and tries to wake him up by any means necessary.
The two Zoros watch him, raising an eyebrow.
After a few seconds of auditory torture, the man in curlers shows symptoms of waking up.
"Hmm..." His face wrinkles in pain and he slowly opens his eyes, blinking several times. But he quickly regains his senses when he sees Karoo standing in front of him, trying to untie him from the ropes encircling his body. "K-Karoo? What the..." His memories hit him like a speeding train. Princess Vivi on the ground, motionless and dead!
He looked around frantically until he spotted Vivi in the green-haired man's arms.
"You?! What are you doing to Princess Vivi? What are you planning to do with her body, you filthy pirate?!" He spits with all the acidity he's capable of, but only gets an amused smile.
"'Her body? You'd think it was a corpse. Besides, why should I tell you what I intend to do with her? Who are you?" The deep, steady voice unsettles the man a little, but doesn't distract him from his desire to avenge the princess's death.
"I am Igaram, captain of the Arabasta royal guard! And know that your crime will not go unpunished! The world government will hunt you down for murdering royalty!" The threat passes over Stella's head, but she doesn't lose her smile.
"Last I heard, Arabasta was in the midst of a civil war. What's more, the Nefertari may be one of the great royal families, but they are neither loved nor appreciated by the upper echelons of the world government. So your threat won't have much effect." She says with a chuckle as she correctly places the girl back in her arms, tucking her a little closer to her.
Igaram loses the little color that rage had brought him. But he has no intention of standing idly by.
"I swear, if you leave with her body, I'll find you and kill you with as much pain as I can. You'll beg me to kill you!" His voice is deep and menacing, filled with poison and a promise that only death will prevent. But all he gets is another sneer.
"Come now, my dear. There's no need for such threats. Your dear princess is safe with me. By the way, just to clarify, it wasn't me who attacked this town, but my counterpart." She declares, stepping aside to let Igaram see Zoro, who is scowling at all these threats, one hand on Yubachiri in a clearly threatening gesture and emerald eyes shining under the setting moon.
At the sight of the second swordsman, the man's eyes widen in disbelief. But his brain manages to register that Princess Vivi is still alive. He immediately refocuses his attention on the girl and sees, with immense relief, her chest rise and fall steadily.
"Thank God she's alive." His whole body relaxes at once and an almost crazed but relieved laugh shakes his chest. "It's... It's a miracle." Zoro snorts at this tirade.
"That's all well and good, but you're not out of the woods yet. You're still our prisoner. So? What do we do?" He says sarcastically. For now, he just wants to get moving and find Luffy as soon as possible. If it were up to him, he'd leave the girl on the ground and wish her luck.
The prisoner's gaze becomes uncertain as he looks at the swordsman, but also at the other man who obviously has the princess as a hostage. He's going to have to play it smart if he wants to get out of this without anything happening to Vivi. His brain is racing for a solution. These are pirates, perhaps the promise of silver and gold will convince them?
"I... If you set us free, I promise you, as head of the royal guard, that the kingdom of Arabasta will remember it. I promise you on my honor that you will be paid handsomely and that there will be no reprisals if you let us go without the slightest damage." He said with the face he usually wears during the political negotiations he occasionally has to do or takes part in.
The two green-haired men look at each other and Stella shrugs.
"You decide their fate. But don't forget that she mustn't die in the next few hours. At least until we've solved your problem." Zoro nods in understanding, keeping his face closed to Igaram's somewhat worried gaze.
"Your proposal is certainly interesting. Unfortunately, we need to keep your princess with us to make sure she stays alive. The whys and wherefores are not your concern, but you must admit that she couldn't dream of a better bodyguard on this island that wants her dead at every turn." The swordsman steps forward to overlook the man bound to the ground. "Here's what we'll do: we'll release you on condition that you don't try to fight us or flee. In exchange, we'll keep you safe until we recover our captain and return to our ship. What do you say?" He asks, crossing his arms and squinting, to make it clear that there will be no negotiation.
Igaram feels the situation slipping away as emerald eyes tackle him to the ground. There's no way out of this situation. Either he accepts, or he finds himself here, alone, with the rest of Baroque Works' men on his tail. By the way, he didn't see the two agents chasing them - perhaps the man in front of him eliminated them? On the other hand, he doesn't quite understand why they decided to protect the princess. Perhaps she managed to negotiate with them before fainting? For now, he had to wait for her to wake up, and they could make a decision later.
"I... I accept, if you promise not to harm the princess even after you leave. Do what you will with me, but do her no harm." He stares into the pirate's eyes, not averting his gaze from those cold eyes he's seen filled with murderous madness as he slices humans in half.
The seconds pass in a heavy silence, in fear that the pirate will refuse and leave. This thought is amplified when the pirate draws one of his sabers and points it at the bound man. His heart races and tries to leave his chest as he watches the weapon rise into the sky. He closes his eyes as the sword comes down on him, his breathing rapid but painless. He cautiously opens his eyes and breathes a sigh of relief as the ropes fall limply to the ground.
"Keep your word and we'll keep ours. Now get up, we haven't got all night." He watches the green-haired man turn his back and approach his twin.
"Do you know where Luffy is?" Stella raises an eyebrow at the request; it's a first for the swordsman to ask her directly for help. But she's not going to raise it, because she's a little tired herself and wants to go to sleep.
"He's about a hundred yards in that direction, he seems to be in a house in the basement." She indicates, pointing in one direction without letting go of the princess in her arms for a moment. Zoro thanks her with a small smile.
"Thanks for the info." Then he turns to Igaram, who struggles to his feet with Karoo's help. "Follow us without making a fuss, I hope for your sake you'll keep up the pace because we won't be waiting for you." And without another word, he walks in what is clearly the wrong direction.
"The other way." He changes direction, trying to hide the blush of embarrassment that has colored his ears. Stella giggles softly and begins to follow the swordsman, betting on how long it will take him to reach his destination.
With a low groan of pain, the captain of the royal guard sets off after them, helping himself to Karoo for balance. His ribs hurt like hell, he's probably broken several of them, he just hopes none have caused internal bleeding.
He finds it hard to keep up, but his attention is occasionally caught by green eyes that glance at him from time to time, no doubt to check that he isn't running away or trying to attack them. What disturbs him most is the swordsman holding the princess against him, his gaze not so much hostile but intent on analyzing him.
He continues to walk a little, unaware that this swordsman has slowed his pace slightly so he can walk right alongside him.
"You're obviously hurt in the ribs, so you're going to have to take care of it as soon as possible, otherwise you won't even be able to defend yourself. " His voice is soft and calm, in stark contrast to what he saw last night. But he still notices that this man is taller and looks older than the youngster who is starting to outrun them.
"I thank you for your concern. But right now, Princess Vivi is my priority, and it's out of the question for me to fall behind." He manages to say under his breath, especially as he can't lean on Karoo, who seems to have sprained his leg, hobbling slightly with each step.
She looks at the man for a long moment before looking away and resuming a faster walk.
"It's up to you, but I don't think it will please the princess to see you in agony when she wakes up. However, I must admit that your devotion to her is beyond reproach. She's a lucky girl." She concludes with a small smile before walking away from the chief of the royal guard to join Zoro, who is once again heading in the wrong direction.
Igaram watches him go with an uncertain air in the face of this conversation. Is he worried about him? He shakes his head at this preposterous idea coming from a pirate who has kidnapped the princess of Arabasta.
Zoro continued walking, paying no attention to what was going on behind him. Instead, he concentrated on finding Luffy, who was somewhere nearby. But just as he was about to turn down a street, he was called out again.
"It's the other way, compass!" Said a mocking voice that began to annoy him a little, as he felt like a freak show.
"I know, I just wanted to see if there were any enemies on this side." He says as an excuse as he passes Stella, who looks at him with one of her little mocking smiles.
"But yes, we believe you." He doesn't even bother to reply to the little jibe, and finally arrives in front of a door that has obviously seen better days, since it's been blown to smithereens. Other doors have suffered the same fate.
"I think Luffy went that way." Said Zoro, glancing inside but not seeing the hyperactive boy.
"Obviously, stealing just one house wasn't enough for him. But he's not far away, I can feel him about ten meters in that direction." She says, pointing to the street littered with wood debris. The two swordsmen look at each other before smiling and giggling.
"Let's follow the destroyed doors."
"Like Tom Thumb." With a burst of laughter, they head for the last destroyed door on the street, where Stella senses the pirate captain in the basement. "He's down there. Go get him while I look around." Zoro nods and rushes into the robbed mansion.
Igaram and Karoo eventually catch up after a minute or two, by which time the swordsman is dragging a ballooning Luffy, snoring like a stump.
"Obviously, he had a good time." Chuckles Stella with a big, amused smile, looking at the boy's cute little face. "Look at him, he's so cute like that. " She finishes by patting one of his chubby cheeks. Zoro rolls his eyes at the sight and hoists the boy onto his back, who manages to hold on despite his big belly, which will diminish as soon as this idiot wakes up.
"That idiot sleeps like a woodchuck, impossible to wake him up. I hope he doesn't make a fuss when he wakes up." He sighs, looks around, then at his twin. "So, where's the Merry?"
Stella extends her perception to the whole island, cutting out all extraneous information, such as the wildlife in the surrounding forest. Within seconds, she finds the ship. She senses the presence of Nami, Usopp and Sanji, but they won't be alone for long, as a ship with some thirty men is bearing down on them. And unfortunately, they'll never arrive in time to help.
"We're going to have a problem."