DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, EXCEPT RAGNAR AND ALL VIKINGS AND OCs IN THIS STORY! ONE PIECE BELONGS TO EICHIRO ODA, VIZ MANGA, TOEI ANIMATION AND FUNIMATION ENTERTAINMENT/CRUNCHYROLL LLC

Chapter 56: Explosion! The Counterattack! The Straw Hat Pirates vs. Baroque Works!

All of the Baroque Works agents were all just totally shocked. Their opponents all suddenly disappeared before they could have a chance to kill them on sight!

"They vanished!" Mr. 9 cried, flabbergasted by what happened.

"What!? But how the Hell could they just disappear!?" Mr. 8 asked, and instantly the bounty hunters began to scour the whole plaza for their targets. Most of them were armed with swords, axes, pistols and muskets. It was only as they looked on the ground level, away from the rooftops, that they spotted their targets. Luffy, Ragnar and Zoro were all right in the center of the crowd, hiding in plain sight! How could they have missed it!? They didn't even notice the three of them moving that fast.

"Hello!" Ragnar only replied, waving to the bounty hunters, as if he was mocking them. Luffy and Zoro, though, only grinned in confidence as they prepared to attack.

"Who do you bastards even think you are!?" One bounty hunter asked, as several of them drew pistols and muskets at the Straw Hats. Then he only gave the order, "FIRE!" And the sounds of gunshots rang throughout the town…killing the sharpshooters who fired them.

"Incompetent morons!" Mr. 8 growled, "They only shot each other!" He did not like this case of friendly fire.

"And the pirates got away!" Mr. 9 added.

"Just kill them! They're only three men!" Mr. 8 bellowed, furious about this whole situation going south. Yet all he saw were two sword blades emerging from both sides of his hair…Ragnar and Zoro were both right behind him!

"Ask yourself…" Zoro told him, "Will three gravestones really be enough?" Those words only caused Mr. 8 to freeze up in terror. If they were as serious as they insisted that they were, every single member of Baroque Works would be dead!

"Tell your subordinates to stand down," Ragnar ordered, "Surrender, and we will spare your lives, but if you wish to die, we're more than happily to resort to that option as well." It was at that moment, however, that several other agents aimed their guns at the two swordsmen.

"There they are! Now!" One gunslinger shouted.

"Don't shoot!" Ragnar ordered, "We have a hostage! Do anything, and your friend, Mr. 8 will lose more than just a few locks of hair!"

"I don't think they care about that, guys," said Luffy, noticing that their opponents still had guns trained on them.

"WAIT! HE'S RIGHT! DON'T SHOOT!" Mr. 8 pleaded, his face draining of all color as his blood ran cold, "YOU IDIOTS! YOU'RE GOING TO SHOOT ME TOO! STOP!" Yet what happened next alleviated the situation somewhat. Mr. 8 only shouted, "IGARAPPA!" then lifted his head, and played his saxophone, which fired a blast of bullets, like a giant blunderbuss, killing the agents who held their guns at his back. When the smoke cleared, the three Straw Hats were out of sight again, and Baroque Works lost more of their numbers. "Alright, you idiots! Where did those three manage to escape to this time!?" Mr. 8 growled, not happy about nearly being a casualty himself.

From around a corner, Zoro, Luffy and Ragnar only hid in patience, sighing in relief.

"So, that thing's a weapon, huh?" Zoro asked, regarding Mr. 8's saxophone, "It's dangerous, we'd better watch it."

"That's so cool!" Luffy exclaimed, thrilled by the weaponized sax.

"Hel yes! I've gotta get me one of those!" Ragnar muttered. It was clear that there were some things that even Ragnar was just as easily amazed as Luffy over. Yet they could hear the Baroque Works Agents still worried about facing them.

"It seems that these men may be actually capable of putting up a fight, even against us," said Mr. 9, scanning the streets for any sign of the Straw Hats. The muscular woman only began cracking her knuckles.

"Can those three possibly be so arrogantly stupid, that they think they can fight all of us by themselves!?" Mr. 8 growled, grasping his saxophone, "What kind of men would challenge us after knowing that we're all with Baroque Works!?"

Back inside the tavern, while Sanji and Usopp were still under the effects of the wine and drugs, Nami only listened in from the walls. She was able to overhear Zoro's entire spiel about Baroque Works, and she couldn't help but smile as she knew exactly what that could mean.

'So, Whiskey Peak is really home to a whole nest of bounty hunters?' she thought, "Y'know, I had a feeling that just might be the case!" She now knew exactly where to aim for now.

Back outside, however, all Baroque Works were up in arms, they just had to find the three warriors.

"They can't have gotten far! Let's find them, men!" One of them shouted as the bounty hunters all scrambled.

"Ah, yes! My new recruits from Loguetown! Yubashiri and Kitetsu III. Now's as good a time as any to see what you two are made of," Zoro muttered, smiling at his two new swords. Aside from being Kuina's cousin, Tashigi definitely had a good eye when it came to swords. He was lucky they ran into each other back in the East Blue, "And with these thugs, we don't need to hold back!" Yet his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a pistol being pulled to full cocked.

"I gotcha now!" A bounty hunter shouted, "Now, die!" Then as he pulled the trigger, Zoro jumped back into the door of one of the houses, before hearing more marksmen training their pistols and muskets on him. Without thinking twice, Zoro jumped over the table in the house, and threw it on its side to act as a shield. The sound of shots being fired thundered throughout the town, but Zoro was thankful these were all muzzle loaders, which meant he could use the time between reloading to his advantage.

"Up first, Yubashiri!" Zoro muttered, then drew the black sword out of its scabbard, slicing the table in two, before rushing towards the gunslingers and slashing all of them with a single strike. "Light…and well balanced! Nice!" Zoro muttered again, glad to have such a Ryu-Wazamono sword in his arsenal. As he made his getaway, the attackers only were hacked down so fast, they never saw the attack coming, until they dropped dead.

Elsewhere in town, a handful of bounty hunters managed to find Ragnar, who was cornered in a dead end. They were armed with whatever weapons they could find: saws, swords, clubs, axes, even sticks and spears.

"There's that barbarian! Kill him!" One man shouted.

"Hope you're ready to meet your Gods, Viking!" Another bellowed, but Ragnar only locked his gaze on them all, and drew his sword and shield, calm and collected as ever.

"Really? Well, let me show you all a little something about death," said Ragnar as he began to recite his usual war poem: "Deyr fé, deyja frændr, deyr sjalfr it sama, ek veit einn, at aldrei deyr: dómr um dauðan hvern." He recited, and as he did so, he transformed into his lion hybrid form. And with an almighty roar, he charged straight at his opponents as he raised his battle cry, "ODIN OWNS YOU ALL!" He charged forward, fighting with such ferocity, he dealt significant damage to the agents: some lost both arms at the elbows, legs at the knee joints, and heads were sent flying, terrifying the other bounty hunters most woefully. They were so close enough, that one of the men actually lost his hearing due to Ragnar's powerful roar. The look at this Viking who turned into a lion was just so nightmarish, they fled, screaming in terror. "I think I overdid it a bit there…" Ragnar muttered upon seeing their reactions. Yet he only shrugged as he wiped the blood off of his sword, "Oh well. It gets the job done. I wonder how Luffy's faring, though."

At the same time, Luffy was finally set upon by another band of bounty hunters who were after him. They thought that since he was bogged down by food, that he would be an easy target. They could never have imagined the world of hurt they were in.

"Gum-Gum Gatling!" Luffy shouted, as he sent a barrage of rapid-fire punches flying towards the agents, each one landing with a resounding thud. As they closed in on him, he effortlessly dodged their attacks, his rubbery body giving him the upper hand. As the dust settled, Luffy let out a triumphant laugh. "So, they thought they could gang up on me like a cornered rat? C'mon! That tactic's strictly for amateurs."

Meanwhile, Zoro ran as fast as he could through the streets, until another band of bounty hunters spotted him.

"There's the green-haired sneaky rat!" One shouted before calling out to his companions, "This way, boys!"

"Well, I guess they found me," muttered Zoro, glad to be in a fight once again, "Sounds like Ragnar and Luffy are doing pretty well for themselves too, though." The pirate hunter then ran up a flight of wooden stairs leading towards a rooftop. Yet as soon as he climbed to the top of the ladder leading to the second roof, he was met by a bounty hunter armed with a hand-cannon pointing right down at him. As soon as the great ball of cast iron was ejected from the barrel, Zoro ducked out of the way, watching as the cannonball struck the doorway across from the other building. "Phew! That was a close one!" He then got up, surrounded by dozens of more agents, armed with saws, swords and melee weapons of all types.

"Time to die!" One of them muttered, and shouted, "Miss Monday! Now!"

From behind Zoro, the false nun, now aptly known as Ms. Monday, threw a great barrel at him with a loud yell. Yet Zoro only slashed at it with Yubashiri into quarters, like a saw through a tree, spilling the wine contents as the barrel rings hit the attackers armed with swords and a spear.

"Aww! And that wine must've cost a fortune!" Zoro lamented, "What a waste, huh?" Ms. Monday only glared in shock, perplexed as to how he was still going. Yet from behind Zoro, a man armed with a great stone hammer wound up his weapon and began to swing it down. Almost acting on its will, Zoro instinctively drew Kitetsu III and slashed the stone head in two, like a knife cutting through butter, before following up with a slash from Yubashiri, killing the other man. "What the hell is it doing!?" Zoro asked, realizing what that shopkeeper in Loguetown meant by a cursed sword. "Well, Kitetsu III, you're quite sharp, I'll give you that! But you're also a bit of a troublemaker, aren't you? A good sword only cuts when its master tells it to! Cursed or not, you're gonna listen to me now!" At that moment, Ragnar managed to meet up with the first-mate, still in his hybrid form and smiling.

"Zoro, this is proving to be quite the fun night!" Ragnar exclaimed, high from an adrenaline rush.

"You think so, huh?" Zoro asked with a grin, "These guys are nothing. How've you been faring?"

"You'll know once you see the severed limbs strewn all over the streets," Ragnar chuckled, "Though, I did end up letting one of them go. A little boy who came charging at me with a dagger. I only knocked it aside with my sword, then snarled, growled, and roared at him. That child only screamed like a little girl and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction. By the smell of it, he also had a bit of an accident as he ran…the embarrassing, pants changing kind."

"I'm surprised you didn't kill him," Zoro remarked.

"I may be a warrior, but I find no honor in killing children," Ragnar insisted, "That boy has his whole life ahead of him now…though he may have nightmares about being eaten by lions for a long time." With that, Zoro and Ragnar only laughed at the thought of that child bounty hunter suffering nightmares of lions coming after him in the night. Then, they only climbed up the nearby ladder to the nearest rooftop, while more bounty hunters below only grumbled at the sight.

"That green haired guy just keeps on climbing!"

"Corner the guy!"

"Over there!"

"Cut him off!"

"Around the back!"

"Right!"

Back in the tavern, four bounty hunters barged in trying to cut Zoro off from his route of escape, trampling all over poor Usopp in the process.

"I dreamed someone stepped on me…" the archer muttered before falling fast back asleep on the floor, his hand right near Sanji, who held it in his own.

"My darling…Celosia, you look lovely. Would you share this dance with me?" Sanji asked in his sleep, dreaming about a ballroom dance with that beautiful beluga fish-woman. They were both totally unaware that Luffy and Nami were both awake and absent.

As she scanned every nook and cranny, Nami only found measly pickings throughout the safes she plundered.

"Seriously!? This is all the treasure they have!?" She muttered to herself, unsatisfied with the haul, "This is a pathetic excuse for a bounty hunter's nest! Whiskey Peak is a thoroughly useless town!" Suddenly, she remembered something that Ragnar told her back in the East Blue while on the trip to Loguetown. "Wait…one of those buildings looked like a monastery. I'm not one for stealing from religious sites, but in this case, I think Ragnar's hot tip might pay off. I only hope the boys have cleared out most of the bounty hunters by now, though…"

Back outside, the agents of Baroque Works were able to corner Zoro and Ragnar both, given the cheerful cries of glory from the bounty hunters.

"There's nowhere to run, now!" One shouted, yet as he began to climb the ladder, reaching the top, Zoro only grabbed it by the underside of the legs. Instantly, the poor man looked in horror, all as Zoro slowly tilted the ladder back and forth. The bounty hunter only shook his head, as if he was too scared to even plead the pirate hunter to stop, but Ragnar only nodded as he smiled deviously, while both he and Zoro only chuckled in amusement.

"Well, that was fun. See ya!" Zoro chuckled, as he flung the ladder away, sending it crashing down, while everyone who climbed it was sent tumbling down to their doom with a sickening CRASH!

"I'll hold these guys off for you down below, Zoro!" Ragnar declared, then pounced down, claws and fangs unleashed as he faced his new opponents, in spite of the fact that he was outnumbered, and more bounty hunters just kept coming in wave after wave. "Thor, grant me strength!" He muttered, noticing a young woman as his first opponent, she had long light brown hair, and wore a yellow and blue beanie cap on her head, while a striped maroon and red dress clung to her body. She was also unarmed, except for a series of fingernails which resembled his own claws.

"Too bad we have to fight," she told the Viking, "Y'know, Norseman, I was a teensy bit attracted to you back at that party." Yet all this did was confuse Ragnar to no end. He was definitely not expecting a woman to express her feelings for him, even though he found this one attractive.

"Say what?" He asked, but as he remained standing there, perplexed, a great cry came from the crowd before him. He saw heads flying, limbs cut off, and even in rare circumstances, torsos cut in half! All he could do was knock out the woman in front of him, and fight his way through. Yet it was one shout that filled him in on what was happening.

"Miss Halloween has…betrayed us!" One bounty hunter cried as his head was sent flying, detached from his body. Ragnar looked and saw Miss Halloween taking out several members of Baroque Works like it was nothing. From the helmet, weaponry and shield that she carried, she was definitely a Viking. Among his people, only free peoples carried seaxes on their belts. She was clearly an expert with sword and shield, given her skill with a blade. Yet it was the elephant emblazoned on her shield that instantly got his attention.

"Wait a minute…I know that shield!" Ragnar muttered as he turned back to his human form and looked up at the woman. Instantly, he knew who it was. "Eivor!? Is that you!?" At the mention of her name, Eivor only turned to see Ragnar, but rather than try and attack him, she instantly recognized his face, and smiled as she ran straight towards him.

"RAGNAR~!" she exclaimed as she sheathed her sword and shield, then held the Viking in a loving embrace, and much to her relief, he only reciprocated, hugging her back as their lips met in a soft yet tender kiss. "Oh Gods, I missed you so much!" Eivor remarked, close to crying tears of joy.

"Same here, Elska," Ragnar replied, caressing her cheek with one hand. "But…why are you with Baroque Works?"

"Miss Halloween, you bitch!" The woman Ragnar knocked out growled, having regained consciousness so quickly, "So, you'd betray the company?!"

"I never betrayed anyone!" Eivor remarked, "After all, from the beginning, I was never one of you!" She only turned to Ragnar and smiled, "Let me handle this one, Ragnar. Once this is all over, I promise I'll explain everything."

"Very well, just don't do anything lethal for now, krúttið mitt!" Ragnar replied, and with that, Eivor took up her axe and struck her opponent with the butt end of it in the head. Knocking her out once more, then tied her to a post and gagged her.

"That was for trying to steal my man!" Eivor remarked, looking back on her handiwork, then rushed over to Ragnar and smiled, "So, about these guys on the ground. Shall we take 'em together?"

"Oh, just like old times, Kærasta!" Ragnar exclaimed, drawing his sword and shield, and transforming into his lion hybrid form once again. And together, the two only hacked their way through the bounty hunters.

On the rooftops, Zoro used the falling ladder to add to his momentum, jumping over towards another rooftop with a uniquely built temple atop it. On this rooftop were more bounty hunters, armed with swords, carbines, and pistols.

"Look out! He's coming right for us!" One of them shouted, noticing that Zoro had two swords drawn, and they were both Yubashiri and Kitetsu III.

"Shoot him! Open fire!" Another cried, and the gunners all discharged their weapons…all missing Zoro. Now, they were screwed, and as they desperately tried reloading, they knew it.

"Two Sword Style…" Zoro began as he then landed, "…Hawk Wave!" He then unleashed a devastating spin and slashing attack, creating a powerful gust of wind to knock his opponents over. Just then, more bounty hunters leapt from the roof of the temple's nave, ready to pounce on Zoro from above. However, Zoro only drew a circle in the adobe with the tip of Yubashiri and then walked away, noticing the four agents land on the portion of roof that he was on earlier, "I wouldn't be standing there if I were you," he told them, and the four agents had no time to react, as they fell into the building. Yet Zoro himself had very little time to react, and quickly ducked out of the way, narrowly dodging the ladder that Miss Monday swung at him, which snapped in half as it struck the base of one of the temple's belltowers. "Alright, that was way too close!" Zoro muttered, adrenaline driving him on. Miss Monday, though, only threw the ladder aside and donned a knuckle duster on her right fist.

"It was a valiant effort, but there is no man who can ever best my strength!" She remarked, grabbing Zoro by the neck, nearly strangling the life out of him as she lifted him off of the ground. "Now, you die, swordsman!" Zoro only glared at her before being slammed into the ground. "Taste my Superhuman Brass Knuckles!" Miss Monday roared, and all Zoro could do was widen his eyes in horror as he saw the great knuckle duster come down upon his head, which caused the whole rooftop to shatter, and crack.

Down below on the streets, Mr. 8 and Mr. 9 watched on with relief. It took a while, but Zoro was finally defeated.

"Well, we've waste… MA-HAA~!" Mr. 8 began, clearing his throat, "Well, we've wasted a lot of time, but at least we've finally put an end to one of them. Now, let's finish off the other ones." As the two men turned to take their leave, they both heard a pained scream coming from the rooftop. They were both horrified to see Zoro still alive and standing, and on one knee, in excruciating pain was Mr. 8's partner…

"It's Miss Monday!" Mr. 9 shouted, shocked beyond comprehension as to how Zoro could survive a grievous blow to the head.

"What's the matter, muscle woman? Didn't you wanna pit your strength against mine?" Zoro asked her, glaring coldly as he clenched her head in his right hand. "Well, I guess you lost…" he muttered, and with that, Miss Monday let go of his arm, slipping into unconsciousness. Though he was still alive, Zoro only suffered a minor head injury, indicated from the blood trickling down the left side of his forehead. Yet it was not severe, as he only suffered no more than a scrape. He only smiled at Mr. 8 and Mr. 9 and asked, "Is that really all you can offer, Baroque Works?" He then only paused to lick the blood off the top of his lip, "Because you're gonna need to do a lot better than that!"

To the east, the moon was hidden by a small bank of clouds, which obscured light over the whole of Whiskey Peak. Yet the agents of Baroque Works were only just horrified. For Miss Monday to lose a contest of strength was something that surprised them entirely. As the clouds passed over, the moonlight revealed Zoro, wielding both swords again, and glaring down at them all. The clamor from all the other bounty hunters was enough to confirm that these bounty hunters were scared shitless.

"It can't be! He really beat Miss Monday!"

"No! It's just not possible!"

At that moment, some of the bounty hunters who faced both Luffy and Ragnar made their way forward, one of them was even missing an arm.

"M-Mr. 8…the…the Viking!" The amputated man groaned as he bled out, "He…He turned into a lion!"

"That kid in the straw hat's a monster!" Cried the other, whose face was so swollen, it looked like he attacked a beehive with a club, "That boy's body…it's like rubber! Bullets had no effect on him!"

"Now it all makes sense!" Mr. 8 mused, "Those three men must all have Devil Fruit powers!" There was no other logical explanation for it, and suddenly the atmosphere calmed somewhat.

"It does make sense now!" Mr. 9 mused, "I can understand why that Norseman had claws and fangs. That must make him a Zoan type. And that weakling in the Straw Hat can stretch his body…that alone must mark him as a Paramecia."

"Even if this man also has Devil Fruit powers, this is getting just utterly disgraceful!" Mr. 8 remarked, "The boss put us in charge of this town, and he's not going to be very pleased if he learns that we lost to two measly pirates and a Viking."

"At last, it's time for me to show what I'm made of!" Mr. 9 muttered with glee before looking up at Zoro, "Something you may not know!" He shouted, "In Baroque Works, the smaller an agent's number is, the greater their power increases, as well as their rank in the company. Take the two of us: Mr. 9 and Mr. 8 – we're both single digit agents. And don't forget Miss Monday. Our abilities are much greater than the riffraff you've all been fighting so far tonight."

"I've found that fancy titles mean nothing when it comes to fighting," Zoro remarked, smirking at the two men, "The strongest wins, and that's it! You want your friend, Miss Wednesday back? You'll have to go through the three of us to get her!" As the wind blew, however, Zoro only noticed that Mr. 8 was about to blow his saxophone again.

"IGARAPPA!" He shouted, sending another melodic tune of musket balls at the samurai, who dodged right out of the way.

"Once I'm done with you, I'll deal with your two friends, and then rescue Miss Wednesday!" Mr. 9 shouted, and then jumped up the building to get to Zoro.

Meanwhile, Ragnar and Eivor were only met with more Baroque Works agents coming after them, outnumbering them by 10:1.

"Twenty against two, huh?" Eivor asked, her back against her man's, "Looks like pretty bad odds."

"For them, at least," Ragnar remarked with a smile, as he then gave a whistle to the direction of the Going Merry.

From the gundeck below, Vivi was watching all that unfolded in the town, doing her best not to get caught. She just was completely awestruck by the fighting prowess of the Straw Hat Pirates. It was clear to see why Ragnar decided to join them. Not only were they brave, they were also incredibly powerful.

"I can't believe it! Those guys…what ridiculous strength!" she muttered, but then she heard the whistle. "That's the signal! Ragnar must need help!" Instantly, she made her way above deck, and heard the sound of anxious whinnying from the quarter-deck, opening the doors and finding Viðarr, who was eager to get out. "Easy, Viðarr. Good boy," she told the stallion as she freed him from his leather holster, holding him down. She then properly fastened his saddle and tack, then she stepped aside as he charged out, jumped ship, and landed safely on the road with all four hooves before setting off at a gallop towards his master. Yet Vivi was still uneasy. "I can't just sit around here and do nothing! I have to fight as well!" She too then whistled with her finger in her mouth and shouted, "Come here, Karoo! C'mon boy!" As she whistled again, a loud quacking caught her attention, and a massive spot-billed duck came flying down to the streets of Loguetown, just at the riverbank. This duck had yellow-brown plumage, with black-tipped wings and tailfeathers. He also had a black band around his bill and stood roughly about the same height as the average human. Yet, he also wore a blue-and-white chullo, pink goggles, and a large saddle carrying multiple saddlebags. Karoo only extended out his wing much to Vivi's anger. "NO! NOT SHAKE, NOW COME HERE!" Vivi shouted, miffed that she still couldn't get this duck to obey her orders. Karoo though did fly up to the deck of the Merry, allowing his owner to climb into the saddle and ride him like an ostrich. "C'mon, Karoo! It's our time to fight! Let's show these millions how fast you are!" Karoo, however only quacked in response…and sat down on the Merry's deck. "I didn't tell you to sit, now DID I!?" Vivi yelled, and she lowered the gangplank, allowing Karoo to get a running start as he flew off and onto the streets, running as fast as he could to help the Straw Hats.

Meanwhile, Ragnar and Eivor could hear a loud whinnying as Viðarr came galloping towards the two of them, stopping only to let them both hop into the saddle. Ragnar rode in the front, while Eivor hopped in behind, wrapping her arms around Ragnar's waist.

"Let's go! Onward!" Ragnar yelled, and as he sheathed his sword, he grabbed a fallen spear and tucked it underneath his arm, as if it were a lance. Mounted as he was, he resembled one of the Elgring warriors, and could only watch with glee, as more Baroque Works agents fled to the thunder of his hooves, terrified at the sight of Viking cavalry.

"Shame this town doesn't have horse stables," said Eivor, "Otherwise, I'd be fighting right alongside you!"

"We'll invest in another on our travels, I imagine," replied Ragnar as he thrust into more bounty hunters with his spear, dropping it, and using his sword to fight, doing his best not to hit Eivor on accident.

Elsewhere, Luffy was also finding that the fighting was more ruthless. This time he was surrounded by a powerful mob of millions.

"These guys just won't give up, will they?" He muttered, unleashing a series of rubbery punches and kicks, but finding that slowly, yet surely, he was getting lighter, and not as sluggish as he was earlier. At that moment, he noticed Ragnar atop Viðarr in the corner of his eye, as well as Eivor close behind the quartermaster, who dismounted and fought her way to Luffy's aid. "Whoa! Ragnar is she…?!" Luffy asked his quartermaster, impressed by Eivor's skill with the sword and shield. Ragnar only nodded with a confident smile.

"Hi! Eivor Halfdansdottir!" She exclaimed, introducing herself to Luffy as she sheathed her sword and swapped it for her axe, and before long, all three of them were in the thick of it, fighting together, with such bravery and ferocity, it was clear to see that Luffy was definitely able to back up his claim of being raised by Vikings.

From the rooftops above, Zoro only smiled as he saw Luffy and Ragnar take down several of the minor agents that Baroque Works had to offer. No quarter was asked, and none would be given either.

"Well, looks like Ragnar gained us a new ally," Zoro muttered, noticing Eivor's presence on the battlefield, certainly a welcome sight. Yet still, he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to this situation than Vivi let on.

"You get distracted so easily! How can you hope to follow my acrobatics!?" Mr. 9 cackled, and Zoro turned to see the false king atop one of the belltowers of the monastery. He then backflipped down the tower right towards Zoro. "You'd better prepare for…my BLOODY BATS!" Mr. 9 then leapt towards Zoro, brandishing a pair of steel bats which, when coupled with his acrobatics, created a powerful close-range attack. Mr. 9 tried to bash Zoro right in the head, but the pirate hunter parried the attack with Kitetsu III. Both men created some distance, with Mr. 9 managing to reach the edge of the roof. "You'd better be careful not to chip your precious sword blades!" He cackled, only watching as Zoro raised his left arm above his head slightly. "What's the matter? Are you too afraid to even face me in a fair fight?" Mr. 9 asked, only to watch Zoro turn round and point the tip of Kitetsu III right at his throat. Before long, the false king began to attack furiously, but Zoro parried the blows, as if it were a fencing match. Each advance Zoro made caused Mr. 9 to retreat further and further.

"What happened to your fancy acrobatics, huh?" Zoro asked with a smug grin, as he noticed where Mr. 9 was in relation to him.

"Watch very carefully now!" Mr. 9 declared, but as he was about to make his move, he realized he wasn't standing on the roof anymore, but just in midair! He could only scream in terror, while Zoro smiled, watching as he fell right onto a wooden awning.

"Is this really the best they can do?" Zoro muttered with a chuckle, "These guys are so pathetic, that fighting them is starting to get embarrassing." Yet as the swordsmen felt he was able to get some respite, he heard that same saxophone playing…right behind him! Quickly, Zoro jumped out of the path of the oncoming bullets, successfully evading another one of Mr. 8's Igarappa attacks. Mr. 8 only looked around as the dust settled, noticing that there was no sign of Zoro, except the hole he made earlier.

"He slipped down through that hole!" The false mayor muttered, approaching the new skylight, "That won't keep him safe for very long." He then shouted, "Come back here, swordsman! And get a taste of exactly just how dangerous I am!" Yet Zoro only ran out of the house and hid behind an alleyway.

"That saxophone of his complicates things," Zoro muttered, "How do I get close enough to fight?" Yet before he could think of any possible plan to fight Mr. 8, the wooden rubble that kept Mr. 9 down burst, revealing the false king himself, who suffered the loss of his left sleeve, then slowly made his way toward Zoro.

"You may have won the first fight, but you won't get away with the second!" Mr. 9 growled, almost crazed from the sound of his tone, "No tricks from you this time!"

"I didn't trick you. You jumped off a building," Zoro remarked.

"Now for my Home Run Sneaky Bat!" Mr. 9 shouted, and ejected the top half of one of his bats, which was attached to the base by a chain that wrapped around Zoro's forearm. "Whatcha gonna do now, tough guy?!" Mr. 9 cackled, seemingly confident of victory, although he seemed more desperate by this point.

"Kick your ass," Zoro plainly answered. Not even this was enough to stop him.

Mr. 8 only looked at the situation below and smiled. Now, Zoro was cornered like a rat, and there was no way for him to ever escape.

"Excellent work, Mr. 9," he told his subordinate, who only cackled in a crazed tone.

"Do it, Mr. 8! Kill him now!" The false king demanded, then turned cackling to Zoro, "You won't get away!" Yet at that moment, a loud roar was soon heard as he turned to see Ragnar and Luffy right behind him.

"You try killing him, and your partner, Miss Wednesday pays the price!" Ragnar threatened, clearly mentioning Ms. Wednesday. "You forget, she's still our hostage!"

"You're not in a position to give orders around here, barbarian!" Mr. 9 cackled, "You'll make no such move unless you want your friend to die!"

"Preparing to fire!" Mr. 8 declared, pulling his necktie strings to expose gun barrels hidden in the curls of his hair. "Firing squad, ready!"

"What the fuck!?" Zoro asked, shocked at the sight.

"He hid them in his hair!?" Ragnar asked, equally surprised by the attack, "He's like Don Krieg!"

"IGARAPPAPPA!" Mr. 8 yelled, and with the pull of the loops of his necktie, all six rounds fired off, with lead balls aiming right for Zoro.

"Oh great, more guns!" Zoro muttered as he tried his best to evade the oncoming bullets, pulling Mr. 9 along with him as well. The poor false king was soon hoisted into the air, right into the path of the oncoming bullets, which exploded on impact. They were not so much bullets as they were miniature explosive shells. Zoro then ran towards Luffy and Ragnar, dragging Mr. 9 with him, then throwing him into two crates. The force was so strong that it managed to free Zoro from his chain. Yet still Mr. 8 continued to attack, firing volley after volley of bullets at Zoro, who only ran for cover, and straight for his captain. "Gonna borrow your stomach, Luffy!"

"Okay! Go, kick his ass!" Luffy replied, letting Zoro bounce right off of his bloated belly and watched with Ragnar as their crewmate slashed Mr. 8 with a shallow cut using the Wado Ichimonji. With that, all the officer agents were defeated.

"All right, finished!" Zoro muttered, which was met with the sounds of cheering from Ragnar and Luffy below, who made their way up to join their shipmate to celebrate their victory. "So, how many did you guys take out?" Zoro asked as he noticed his shipmates coming to sit on the rooftop beside him.

"Around 43 give or take," said Ragnar, happily remarking his kill streak, "But I ran into someone I didn't expect to find." At that moment, Eivor made her way up, smiling as she looked at Ragnar. "Guys, I'd like you to meet my fiancée, Eivor Halfdansdottir."

"You're getting married?!" Zoro asked, initially shocked, only to grin as he suddenly realized what was going on, "Well, that explains why you didn't take any interest in girls like that eyebrow cook."

"Dude! Congratulations!" Luffy exclaimed, stoked to learn about his best friend's nuptial situation. Eivor only sat happily next to Ragnar, snuggling up with her betrothed. "So, when did this happen?" Luffy asked.

"Oh, it happened when we were kids," Eivor explained, "It was part of an alliance between both our clans, and as a way to end an ancient blood-feud."

"Well, as long as you're on our side, anyone close to Ragnar is a friend of mine!" Luffy happily exclaimed, chuckling as the four of them all looked back on their victory.

Meanwhile, overwhelmed by the combined force of Luffy, Ragnar and Zoro, the remaining Baroque Works millions retreated, realizing they have met their match. Their shock was made evident in their mutterings as they fled.

"Three single digit agents lost to two pirates and a Viking?!" One of them asked, "I never thought I'd see the day that would happen!"

"We've got to escape from here!" Another declared, "But where do we go?!"

"We're just gonna have to find some place to hide until this all blows over!" A third man noted. Yet as they ran towards the Cactus Rocks, a vulture and sea otter blocked their path.

"THE UNLUCKIES ARE HERE! NO!" They all screamed in unison. The three men had to find some way to explain their failures to these two.

"Now, hold on a sec!" One pleaded, "I know it looks like we're runnin' away, but we ain't I promise!"

"Please spare our lives!" Another begged, "Please don't report us to the boss, okay!?" Yet his pleas fell on deaf ears, as the two animals only leapt up and began to attack the cowards. They would've killed them for insubordination then and there, but then…

"HOLD IT!" A voice cried out behind the two animals, and they both stopped and made their way to the ground, turning behind them to see two other individuals.

"There's a lot of action tonight for such a sleepy town," said a young woman, "Shouldn't everyone be in bed at this hour?"

"The boss sends us all the way to the front lines, and this is what we find?!" A man asked, "What a pathetic little group." What followed next was the sound of an explosion. The Unluckies only were grateful that their lives were spared. The three deserters, however, weren't so fortunate…

Meanwhile, in the town, Zoro, Ragnar, Eivor and Luffy all noticed something happening down in the streets below. Mr. 8 managed to make it to the ground level, wounded but alive.

"Is he still moving?" Zoro asked, "That guy's pretty impressive."

"I can't die here!" Mr. 8 groaned as he dragged himself forward, "I have an important mission to complete! I must keep going!"

"The two of you couldn't stand against a single pirate?" Another voice remarked, "Now that's just sad." Both Mr. 8 and Mr. 9 looked up to see a tall, dark-skinned man with black hair in short spiky dreadlocks standing before them. He wore a brown trench coat emblazoned with the number 5, along with a pink cravat and a pair of sunglasses, regardless of the time of day. Next to him was a tall young woman with short blond hair and bright green eyes. She wore a yellow and orange hat, as well as a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern, lemon earrings, and white high-heeled shoes, and carried a bright green parasol with blue stripes. Instantly, Mr. 8 and Mr. 9 knew who they were.

"Mr. Five! Miss Valentine!" Mr. 8 cried out in shock.

"Really, you can't do your jobs, huh?" Mr. 5 asked, unsurprised by the state of the entire situation.

"Well, that's clearly the difference between our ranks and yours," cackled Miss Valentine, arrogant and haughty at the sight.

"Did you come here only to make a mockery out of us?!" Mr. 8 asked with a pained groan.

"Nah, that's just a bonus," explained Mr. 5.

"We're here under the boss' explicit orders," added Miss Valentine, twirling her parasol as she spoke.

"With you guys here to fight, we can finally defeat those pirates and that Viking!" Mr. 9 weakly chuckled, "Those three don't even stand a chance against you! Let's track them down and show the power of Baroque Works!"

"Seriously Mr. 9, stop with the jokes," Mr. 5 ordered, "You're just as bad as your partner, wherever she is. We didn't come here to clean up your mess."

"You'd really think that we'd come all the way to the edge of the Grand Line to hold your hands?" Miss Valentine asked, still smiling down at her underlings, "You're even more pitiful than you look!"

"But…But then why are you all the way out here!?" Mr. 9 asked, shocked that his fellow agents refused to help him so blatantly.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Mr. 5 asked as he stepped forward, "There are people here whose crimes against the company are so grave enough that the boss has sent us to deal with them. He said someone had learned his secrets. I dunno what secrets, exactly, and quite frankly, I don't even wanna know. Obviously, someone else did. But knowin' them is against company rules. Our motto is mystery; everyone's identity is to be kept strictly secret, no matter who they are, and if someone dumb enough to nose around learns the boss' secrets? Well then…that's a crime punishable by death itself!"

"So, while we were conducting our investigation to discover who learned the boss' secrets, we learned something!" Miss Valentine giggled, "It turns out that a rather high ranking individual of a certain kingdom managed to infiltrate Baroque Works!" She was also totally unaware that the Straw Hats and Eivor managed to listen in on the whole thing. Even Nami, who was on her way to raid the monastery, couldn't help but eavesdrop on this conversation.

"A kingdom!? Wait! Uh…hold on a second!" Mr. 9 pleaded as he stood to his feet, "I may be wearing a crown, but I'm not a king or anything! It's just an innocent little hobby!"

"Shut up you idiot!" Ms. Valentine shouted, dismayed at the sight of his idiocy.

"You still don't get it," said Mr. 5, "We mean the people from Alabasta. They're the ones who angered the boss." At that very mention, Luffy, Zoro, Ragnar, Nami and Eivor's faces all froze up with fear. Yet what was unexpected was the fact that Mr. 8's face froze up as well.

'They know! It's all over now!' The poor agent thought as he realized his final hour had come. He only rose to his feet and roared, "DIE! IGARAPPAPPA!" With that, Mr. 8 unleashed an all-out attack on the two higher ranking agents and bellowed, "YOU WILL NOT LAY A HAND UPON OUR PRINCESS! NOT WHILE THE CAPTAIN OF ALABASTA'S ROYAL GUARD STILL STANDS!"

"Igaram!" A voice shouted, and everyone turned their gazes, horrified to see Vivi riding Karoo…right behind Igaram and Mr. 9. Yet as the smoke cleared…Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine were still alive!

"Igaram – Captain of Alabasta's Royal Guard, and Princess Vivi Nefertari of Alabasta Kingdom, we have come here in the name of the boss of Baroque Works to see that you are both eliminated!" Mr. 5 declared, holding a portrait of Vivi in his left hand. At the very mention of that, the four Straw Hats as well as Eivor knew that this was all going sideways! They'd just walked out of the frying pan and right into the blazing hot inferno!

A/N: What another action packed chapter we have here! And what's this!? Ragnar's getting married too!? Yes indeed he is! If you were wondering who Ragnar was gonna get shipped with, now you finally know. Given that this was an arranged marriage between both their clans, Eivor's father is definitely a jarl, as it was common for aristocratic families to arrange marriages to establish alliances back in the day.

Now, you may have noticed that Nami was informed by Ragnar about stealing treasure from the monastery in Whiskey Peak. This was definitely because during the Viking Age, the main targets of the Norse raids in Western Europe were more often monasteries, because they were so incredibly wealthy. Now, you may openly ask: "Weren't Vikings infamously hostile towards Christianity? Didn't they like sack monasteries and kill priests?" And yeah, they did, all the time. But, it turns out that these raids were more for economic reasons rather than outright hatred. The Vikings didn't hate Christianity, it's just that those churches and monasteries were geographically fixed and loaded with wealth to be had. They were like banks, only guarded by nerds in robes. And it's not like raiding monasteries was only restricted to the Vikings, many other European kings also raided monasteries when budgets were tight. For example, in the 1530s, after separating from Rome, King Henry VIII closed down all the monasteries, both for the land and for the money they were generating as a result.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and as always, stay tuned for the next one!