(A/N: Whisky Peak continues! Like Usopp and Sanji, Venus doesn't have a big role in this arc, but since it only has 4 chapters, I'm putting it all in regardless. Anyway, Enjoy!)


Chapter 2: Explosion! Three Sword Style! Zoro vs. Baroque Works!

"Welcome to the Grand Line!"

"Welcome to our town!"

"To the welcoming town, Whisky Peak!"

"Pirates! Welcome to our town!"

"Well... there's a first for everything!"

"This is delicious!"

"You're hopeless!"

"What fun!"

"Looks like there're about 100 bounty hunters here."

"I'll fight you all... Baroque Works!"

"Humph! Was it a secret?"

"If you know our secrets, then we have no other choice, but to kill you."

"Another gravestone will be added to the Cactus Rocks."

"Kill him!"

"H-he disappeared!"

"H-he's gone!" Mr. 9 stammered.

"Wh-where the heck did he disappear to?!" Mr. 8 demanded. Everyone glanced every which way, but the elusive swordsman was nowhere to be seen.

"Ahh!"

"What?!"

Zoro was standing amongst them! Everyone backed away in fear, as he casually lowered his arm. "All right then. Shall we?" He grinned cheekily.

The agents drew their rifles, now angry. "How dare you mock us!"

"Fire!"

They shot at him... but were hit instead of their target. "Idiots!" Mr. 8 exclaimed. "They shot each other!"

"H-he disappeared again!" Mr. 9 pointed out.

"Darn! Kill him already!" Mr. 8 ordered. "It's just a single swordsman!"

Just then, a sword showed itself from behind in his hair, making him stiffen up.

Zoro.

He smiled pridefully, as he kept his weapon still. "Let me ask you a question. Are you sure that you need to add only one gravestone?"

More agents came, ready to fire. "There he is!"

Mr. 8 started to panic. "I-idiots! Don't! Are you gonna shoot me, too?!" They all turned the safety off. "Stop!" He drew his saxophone, revealed to have a concealed shotgun inside. "Igarappa!" He quickly shot down the agents.

And sure enough, he was gone again. "Where did that man disappear to?"

"Phew," He sighed in relief. That was close. "So that's a shotgun? That thing sure is dangerous."

"It seems he's good enough that even we must be cautious," Mr. 9 concluded.

As everyone readied for an attack, Mr. 8 glared in fury. "Does he seriously think that he can fight all of us my himself? It's hard to believe that he challenged us, even after knowing we're with Baroque Works.

Inside the bar, the rest of the crew were still deeply asleep, Venus and the boys now on the floor, while Nami stayed at the table. 'Ladies, please come closer,' Sanji thought.

"I'm gonna sing Usopp Cheer #721!" The sniper muttered.

"Sure... I'll teach you what I know," Venus mumbled.

"So the welcoming town, Whisky Peak, is the bounty hunters' nest, huh?" Nami opened one eye. She was conscious the whole time! "I thought it might be something like that."

"Where did he go?! Find him!"

Zoro grabbed one of his sword handles to be ready. "The new recruits that I got in Loguetown, Yubashiri, and Kitetsu III... this is a good chance to try you guys out in earnest." He grinned with anticipation. "I'm going to go all out!"

An agent suddenly appeared on the roof above him. "There you are!" He looked up to see him aiming right for his head. "Die!" He threw himself into the building to avoid the gunshot. "Tsk! Dammit!" Zoro panicked when he heard others crowd over; he managed to hide behind a round table, avoiding more shots.

"First, I'll try Yubashiri," He decided. With that, he sliced the table in two, and sped outside before anyone could react. "It's light! This is a good sword!" He jumped away, as everyone keeled over from slashes they didn't initially notice.

More agents continued the chase, one wielding a large, jagged knife. "There he is! This way! Hold it!"

Zoro glanced behind with a smile. "Looks like they found me!"

He sprinted up a wooden staircase to a roof. "He went up!"

Turns out, even more agents were waiting. "Welcome!" One shot a bazooka at him, which he managed to dodge by falling back with his grip on the staircase railing.

"Whoa!" His eyes widened at the damage a door took from the hit. "That thing's dangerous!"

"This is it for you."

Ms. Monday appeared out of nowhere with a battle yell, and chucked a barrel at Zoro. "Ms. Monday!"

He slashed it in four pieces, sending them crashing into the agents, and spilling the wine inside. "Ahh... that was an expensive drink. What a waste!" An agent tried to attack with a cement hammer, but he cut it in half, and knocked him away. "What was that feeling in my hand just now?! How sharp this Kitetsu III is! A legendary sword cuts only when its master wishes it, but this one is a problem child. So this is what a cursed sword is like." A kid charged at him with a dagger, but Zoro knocked it out of his hand. "Huh?"

A nun hugged the scared boy. "Lord have mercy! I beg you for mercy." He stood in waiting. "Lord have mercy! Please save us!" They quickly put on evil smiles, and whipped out a cross. "Merciful Lord Blinding Powder!"

Not falling for it, he swung his sword. "You should use such a cheap trick on someone with a pure heart." The nun and boy fell forward, more shocked than injured. "I used the back of the blade, so forgive me." He climbed up another ladder.

"He went further up!"

"Corner him!"

"He's over there!"

"Cut him off!"

"Go around the back!"

"Okay!"

The agents ran through the inside, trampling Venus and the boys. Usopp sat up deliriously, now covered in footprints. "Did someone step on me?" He then flopped back down groggily.

Sanji unknowingly grabbed his hand closest to him. "Mademoiselle, would you care to dance with me?"

Luffy was still out like a light, from his extreme fasting. Venus stayed asleep, not stirring at all, from her first alcoholic drink. She stayed close to Usopp, as he mumbled something about her.

Meanwhile, Nami was scaling the building, but came up disappointed at what she found; useless junk. "Darn. Is this all the treasure they have? Some bounty hunters' nest this is! Whisky Peak sure is a crappy town."

"There's nowhere to escape up there!" Grinning evilly, Zoro grabbed the ladder he sprinted up, and started rocking it, scaring the agents trying to climb up. "S-stop it!" He then started rocking harder. "Help me! Help me!" He finally threw it back, sending the agents falling.

"The ladder's falling!"

Zoro leaped for a bigger building nearby. "Ahh! He's jumping over there!"

There were more agents waiting on that roof. "Shoot him!"

"Two Swords Style!" Amidst the gunshots, he landed safely, and drew his two new recruits. "Hawk Wave!" The agents were defeated quickly, and more jumped over next while he cut the floor. As he planned, they landed in the right spot. "Watch out. That place is unstable."

"What?" On cue, the floor gave out under them, and they fell inside.

He saw a shadow resembling a ladder, and quickly ducked down when Ms. Monday took a swing. "That was close! It grazed me!"

She threw the ladder aside, and slipped a brass knuckles on her right hand. "Don't try our patience. There's no man who can best my strength." She grabbed Zoro by the throat. "This is the end of you." She held him up high, cutting off air circulation, before slamming him to the ground. "Superhuman..." His eyes widened. "Brass Knuckles!" She nailed a punch right into his face, hard enough to make the concrete roof crack terribly.

"We've wast-" Mr. 8 cleared his throat. "Ma-ma~. We've wasted time, but we finally settled it. The End!" He went to leave with Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday, but a scream from Ms. Monday stopped them. "What?!"

Zoro had her face, and the top of her head in a tight grip, as she cried in pain. "M-Ms. Monday!"

"What's the matter, muscle woman?" He taunted. "Didn't you want to have a contest of strength?" No response came from her. "Well?!" His grip was tight enough to make hers loosen, and she finally fell to the ground. He then looked in the three's direction, paying no mind to the bleeding wound on his forehead. "Shall we continue, Baroque Works?" He licked some of his blood. "Fighting isn't a joke."

He loomed over the agents, most of whom were more scared than before. "M-Ms. Monday was overpowered!"

"I-impossible! This can't be true!"

Mr. 8 had a realization. "I-I got it! The Marines made a mistake on that wanted poster."

"I see," Mr. 9 agreed, "It makes sense if this guy has a 30 million bounty on his head. He is the real captain."

"Right," Ms. Wednesday added, "I thought it was strange that such a namby-gamby guy was worth 30 million berries."

"But even so, how disgraceful," Mr. 8 glared, "If we lose against one pirate swordsmen, we'll be held responsible since the boss put us in charge of the town."

Ms. Wednesday smirked with confidence. "It seems that it's finally our turn to fight."

"You may know this, but with members of Baroque Works, the smaller his number, the higher his level and destructive power are," Mr. 9 said to Zoro, and held up his pinky. "The three of us, Mr. 9, Mr. 8, and Ms. Wednesday are agents with a single digit number, which means we're powerful people who are beyond comparison to those you just beat."

"Humph," Zoro smirked, "Aren't titles useless when it comes to fighting? The stronger one wins; that's all." He stared daggers, as Mr. 9, and Ms. Wednesday sent glares in his direction.

Mr. 8 then prepared his saxophone shotgun. "Igarappa!" He jumped away unharmed.

"Let's go, Ms. Wednesday!"

"Okay, Mr. 9!" As he leaped up, she whistled with her finger. "Come, Karoo!" A duck the size of a horse, and wearing a blue aviator hat and teal saddle came running in, but simply extended his wing. "I didn't say "give me your hand"!" She yelled. "Come over here!" She jumped on his back, and held the reins. "Now, show him your quick speed that leaves cheetahs in the dust!" With a quack of determination, he... sat on the ground. "Who said "sit"?!" She punched his head.

Zoro watched from the upper roof in confusion. "What the hell is that?!" He looked up at hearing Mr. 9's laugh.

"Can you afford to let your guard down?" He was on one of the towers. "Follow my acrobatics, if you can!" He started doing front flips downward, coming up behind his adversary, while wielding a pair of baseball bats made of metal. "Hot-blooded... Bat of Guts!" He swung, but was blocked, so he leaped back. "These're metallic bats. Be careful not to chip your blades on them." As he laughed evilly, the Zoro drew his sword most of the way out of the sheath. "What's the matter? Are you so frightened, you can't move?"

He suddenly had a sword pointed in his face, before a duel began. "What happened to your proud acrobatics?"

Mr. 9 stopped the duel. "If you wanna see it that badly, watch carefully! Ahh..." He performed a backflip, but as Zoro planned, he wound up back on the ground.

"Don't they have anyone better?"

"Anyone better? That would be me!" Ms. Wednesday caught his attention. "Be prepared... Mr. Bushido!" He looked unimpressed, as she stood on Kakoo's saddle. "Now, take in my allure to your heart's content!" Her wrists formed an X above her head, and one hand opened to reveal a tiny perfume bottle, before she started swinging her hips. "Charming Perfume Dance!" Zoro watched silently, not knowing what to do, before the scent started zapping him of his strength, and he collapsed to his knees. "Good boy." While he was down, she took out a sharp jewel on a wire, with the loop around her pinky. "I'll finish you off with... Peacock Slasher!" With one throw, the jewel was spinning at top speed. "Go, Karoo!" They charged in, making Zoro tense up, but they ended up running right past him without causing any damage. "You went too far!" And sure enough, they were sent falling to the ground.

"Fighting these guys is starting to get embarrassing," He griped. He then jumped away when Mr. 8 shot at him, disappearing into the hole he created earlier on.

"He escaped below, using that hole," He observed, and stood over the ledge, "That's useless." Zoro exited the building, staying out of sight. "Get a good taste of how frightening I really am!"

He hid a distance away, keeping his back to the wall. "That shotgun of his is a pain. How should I close the distance?"

Suddenly, close by, Mr. 9 burst out of a wooden crate with a battle cry. "Ka-boom!" He stumbled over, now angry. "How dare you beat me like that earlier! You won't get away with it!"

"You fell on your own!" Zoro pointed out.

"Home Run Sneaky Bat!" The end of one bat came off with a chain, and wrapped around Zoro's left bicep. "I tied up one of your arms!" He taunted.

"It's an iron chain."

"You caught him," Mr. 8 observed.

Mr. 9 strained to keep him in place. "Mr. 8, do it now! I won't let you escape!"

"That's right," Ms. Wednesday joined in, now carrying a dagger, "Don't move." Turned out, she had a still sleeping, still round Luffy captive. "If you make a stupid move, I'll have to take your precious friend's life as well."

Zoro glared helplessly. "Good job, Ms. Wednesday," Mr. 9 praised, "You can't escape, or attack now."

"That idiot!" He complained. "At least wake up when you're being held hostage!"

"Prepare to open fire!" With a pull on his bow tie, shotguns descended from inside Mr. 8's curls. "Preparations completed!"

"What?!" Zoro exclaimed in shock.

"Igarappappa!"

Zoro had to lean back to avoid getting shot. "Is he a toy?!" Mr. 9 wound up getting yanked forward, and unintentionally took the hits, before he was thrown to Ms. Wednesday and Karoo, knocking them away from Luffy.

"Igarappappa!" He had to jump away from more gunshots. "Igarappappa!"

"Luffy!" Zoro made a beeline for the captain. "Let me use your belly!" He used him as a trampoline, jumping up to Mr. 8.

"What?!"

He delivered a single blow, before landing behind him. "Okay! Done!" He walked to the edge, and sat cross-legged. "It's finally become a nice, quiet night."

Just then, Luffy was finally awake, although dazed and confused. "Huh? Why am I outside? Oh, well. I'm sleepy. I'm gonna sleep." With that, he was out again.

"I never thought that four agents with numbers under twelve would lose! But where are you planning to escape to?!"

"In any case, we'll hide somewhere until they leave this island, and-" The agents stopped cold at who appeared in front of them. "Ahh! The Unluckies!"

An eagle in an aviator hat, and an otter in polka dot pajamas, both also wearing shades, stood ominously in front of the men. "H-hold on a sec! We're not running away! It's not that."

"Please! Don't report to the boss!"

The two jumped in to attack, but a voice stopped them. "Hold it!" They landed on the ground.

"This town is quite lively, despite low late it is."

"Ha! What a boring job he gave us, sending us all the way to the front lines."

"Hm?" Zoro turned around at hearing an explosion.

On the ground, Mr. 8 struggled to push himself up. "I can't fall in a place like this. I've got an important mission."

"How pitiful, losing against just one swordsman."

"Hm?!" They all looked up to see a dreadlocked African-American man in a dominantly red outfit with a pink scarf, and a blonde woman with white heels, a yellow lemon-print dress, a yellow dome hat, white gloves, lemon earrings, and held a yellow and blue striped umbrella. "Mr. 5! Ms. Valentine!"

"Are you guys kidding around? Huh?" Mr. 5 asked.

Ms. Valentine laughed mockingly. "After all, this is the difference between our rank, and yours, isn't it?"

"Did you come to laugh at us?" Mr. 8 glared.

"That too, but..."

Ms. Valentine laughed again. "Of course, we're here under our mission."

"Thank goodness," Mr. 9 remarked, "If you help us, that man is no match for us!"

"That's right," Ms. Wednesday agreed, "Please beat that swordsman right away."

"Huh? Enough with the bad jokes," Mr. 5 dismissed, "Us help you?"

"Did you really think that we'd come all the way to the end of the Grand Line for that?" Ms. Valentine added.

"What?" Mr. 9 said disappointedly. "Then what mission did you come here for?"

"You really have no idea? There're criminals here that are big enough for the boss to send us here to deal with. These're the boss' words: "They've found out my secrets." Of course, I don't know what kind of secrets they are, but our company's motto is "mystery." No matter what identity it is, the rule is that you never nose around. If someone finds out the boss' secrets, that's of course, a sin worthy of death."

"So, when we very carefully investigated who learned his secrets," Ms. Valentine laughed, "Oh boy, we found out that a VIP from a certain kingdom sneaked into Baroque Works."

Nami was eavesdropping on the whole conversation close by. "A certain kingdom?" Mr. 9 was surprised. "W-wait a sec! Although I'm wearing a crown, I'm not a king or anything! It's just my hobby!"

"We're not talking about you!" Ms. Valentine glared.

"The sinners are those who're missing from Alabasta Kingdom right now."

Mr. 8 was visibly panicking. 'They know! It's all over!' He shot up, and pulled the loops of his bow tie. "Die! Igarappappa!" He send a shower of gunshots at the two agents. "I won't let you lay a finger on our princess! On my name as Squad Captain of Alabasta Kingdom Security!"

"Igaram!" Ms. Wednesday exclaimed fearfully.

They, however, were still standing. "Igaram, the Squad Captain of Alabasta Kingdom Security," Mr. 5 remarked, and held up a photo of Ms. Wdnesday, "And it's Princess Nefertari Vivi. In the name of Baroque Works' boss, we'll eliminate you two."

Nami was silent in shock, as Zoro wiped his mouth after a drink with a smirk. "This isn't good. I left Luffy down there."

Ms. Wednesday, er well, Vivi, could only gape in fear, as no words were exchanged.


(A/N: That concludes chapter 2! Ms. Wednesday is actually Nefertari Vivi! You know the disclaimer.)