Chapter 13: Ace's Warning

"Wow…" Brook whispered as he watched Helmeppo scramble to his feet and bolted from the restaurant, crying like a two-year-old who didn't want get the toy he wanted, "So even though he barely knew you, Zoro-san, Luffy-san was standing up for you and your honor?"

"Hmph, guess that shows that he hasn't changed since he was a kid," Zoro responded in an unconcerned way, though he felt a sense of gratitude as he watched how Luffy was breathing hard as he tried to calm down.

"Get off me!" Luffy snapped, now pulling away from Coby, though he was still restraining himself so as not to hurt his friend by accident. Everyone in the restaurant was staring at them, but Luffy didn't seem to care as he marched to the back door that led to the alleyway—his intentions only too clear—as Coby could only stare after him.

"OHHHHH! He's going in to burst you out now isn't he?" Chopper asked, excitement now back in his eyes as he jumped up and down.

"Pretty much," Zoro shrugged, saying a silent 'thank-you' to Luffy by not letting that injustice go by unpunished as they followed him. Luffy was already heading up the hill towards the base when they heard Coby calling behind them.

They glanced back in time to see him bursting through the door with Rika right on his heels.

"Luffy! Listen to me, please! I get that you're upset! But you can't just go around punching people like that!" Coby yelled.

"He deserved it!" Luffy retorted back.

"Hell ya," Zoro agreed with a sage nod.

"Luffy, please!" Coby begged.

"Don't stop me, Coby!" he called back as he turned back to glare at him before declaring, "My mind's made up! I'm gonna ask Zoro to join my crew!"

"What are you going to do?" Rika asked fearfully, wringing her hands into the hem of her dress. "Helmeppo isn't going to let this go! He's going to have you killed! Captain Morgan executed people for less than that!"

"Like to see him try," Luffy answered as he stared down at his fist. "You two stay here! I'm going to go and burst Zoro out of that dump!"

"I'm touched," Zoro smirked.

"But Luffy…!" Coby yelled, trying to talk reason into him, but fell silent the moment he saw the angry look on Luffy's face.

"Is this the kind of Marines you want to join Coby?" he asked him in a deadly serious voice, "Because if not, then you can either sit back and take it… or stand up to them!"

Coby blinked, Luffy's words seemingly ringing throughout his very being as he stood there with a stunned expression. But Luffy didn't seem to expect an answer as he gave them both the thumbs up and, without another word, ran towards the prison yard.

"Why are we always running?" Nami panted, really getting tired of this.

"Don't have time to wait around," Usopp yelled back, "Luffy had to hurry or Zoro could've been executed a lot sooner than tomorrow."

"Oh, it was much sooner," Zoro corrected, thinking back bitterly.

"So they really did try to kill you?!" Brook cried in outrage, "After you've been upholding your end of the deal! How dishonorable!"

"Well, it doesn't really matter at this point," Zoro answered back, thinking back to that heart-stopping moment where he was tied, helpless, to that post and had those guns pointed at him. He couldn't have ever rested in peace if he died in such a pathetic way… unable to even defend himself…? He was sure Kuina never would've let him hear the end of it.

He shook his head to dispel the thoughts as he focused back on following Luffy—who soon reached the wall and leapt to the top to stare around, making sure that no guards were watching. The rest of them passed through the wall where they saw memory Zoro still tied up—and looked to be sleeping.

"Typical," Nami said to their Zoro, going closer so that she could make sure that he was only sleeping, "Even held up like this, you can fall asleep?"

"You need to sleep as often as you can, because you need the energy to fight at a moment's notice," he answered back coldly.

"But what about all the times you were attacked when you were asleep?" Chopper asked innocently, but Zoro responded with a nasty look that caused Chopper to squeak with fear and ducked behind Robin.

Chuckling at that, Robin bent down to whisper to him, "Maybe now isn't the best time to remind him Chopper?"

Upon seeing that no one else was around, Luffy jumped down before slowly approaching memory Zoro, much like how he did before, only this time there was a new kind of fire blazing in his eyes. Still, they were wondering why Luffy was taking his time here… why not wake him up and free him already? However, memory Zoro seemed to sense that he wasn't alone anymore cause his eyes snapped open without warning. He was breathing hard as he stared ahead of him before spotting Luffy, which caused his shock to instantly melt away to annoyance.

Present-day Zoro could remember the reason for that. He had been dreaming of Kuina—though he wasn't sure if it was really more of a dream or a memory at that point. All he knew was that she was there, taunting him to grow stronger—when he awoke, he forgot where he was for a moment.

"You again, don't you have things to do?" memory Zoro huffed in annoyance, clearly wanting to be left alone.

"I'll untie you but only if you promise to join my crew," Luffy stated bluntly.

"Well, he doesn't beat around the bush does he?" Franky asked with a bark of laughter. "He just came out and told you what was gonna happen, just like that?"

"Your what?" memory Zoro asked, as if he wasn't sure he heard him right.

"I thought I was hallucinating," present-day Zoro confessed with a hint of amusement as his memory self just stared at him, "That the heat had finally got to me and I was starting to see things."

"I run a pirate crew, I'm looking for people to join up," Luffy explained as he walked closer.

Memory Zoro blinked before he understood and snapped back in a cold voice, "No way. I'd never stoop to joining a criminal. Screw that business."

"Wait, so you didn't want to join?" Chopper asked him in confusion.

"Not at first. The pirates I met up till Luffy were all a bunch of greedy slimeballs," present-day Zoro explained while folding his arms. "I may have been down on my luck here, but I wasn't so desperate enough to ask for help from a pirate."

"Sadly, that's normally what people think of when they hear someone's a pirate," Nami agreed, having thought much the same until she met him and Luffy. Till then, she always believed that a pirate crew was just a band of murdering thugs who relished the thought of ruining people's lives. It was a great weight off her shoulders to know that wasn't the case for every pirate.

"And what's wrong with being a pirate?" Luffy demanded, hands at his sides, and looking at him interestedly—as if nothing in the world could interest him more than hearing what Zoro had to say on the matter.

"They're despicable, like I'd ever want to join up with one?" memory Zoro retorted honestly.

"Fate sure has a strange way of changing minds," present-day Zoro muttered thoughtfully, shaking his head at how things turned out.

"But how much could that have really damage your reputation?" Nami asked him in a teasing tone, "You were already considered to be a living, breathing demon in the East Blue after all. One would've expected you to become a pirate sooner or later."

"Shut up," he snarled back.

"Oh, come on give me a break," Luffy spoke up, unknowingly saying what Nami just voiced before he added, "Everyone already knows you as some vicious bounty hunter who's always out for blood."

"People can say whatever they want about me," memory Zoro answered back with firm conviction, "But there isn't a single thing I've done in my life that I regret." Then, without warning, his exhausted face split into a rather twisted smile that sent chills up everyone's spines.

"Looking really scary there, Zoro," Usopp whispered, gulping.

"And I meant every word," present-day Zoro answered truthfully, "I never considered myself to do 'justice'. But I didn't consider myself evil either."

"Then whose side were you on?" Chopper asked him in confusion.

"The only side that mattered to me at the time. My own," Zoro answered simply.

"I will make it through this challenge," memory Zoro vowed, without any trace of hesitation or doubt, "And after that I'll accomplish what I want."

Present-day Zoro nodded with what his past self just said, glad to see that at least this part of him hadn't faded over two years.

"Yeah… that's great," Luffy muttered slowly before he folded his arms, and looked away with another excited grin as he informed him, "But I've already decided that you're gonna be on my crew!"

"And if he says he wants something, he usually gets it," Nami sighed, although she was smiling as he said that.

"I didn't stand a chance, did I?" present-day Zoro sighed.

"Nope," they all recited together as memory Zoro, completely losing his previous cool and was now just irritated, yelled back, "WHAT?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"I think he just did, Yohohoho!" Brook laughed when he patted their Zoro on the shoulder.

"That rubber idiot could never take no for an answer," Sanji sighed, thinking how Luffy had to ask him multiple times to join despite him refusing.

"I hear you're one of the best swordsmen around?" Luffy suddenly asked.

"Well, I am!" memory Zoro shot back at once while the present-day Zoro fought the urge to roll his eye. He knew that he was good alright… but back then…? He was next to nothing. Mihawk had been right… he had no idea how big the world really was.

"But that idiot captain's son took mine away," memory Zoro finished speaking.

"Guess I'll just gotta go get it back for you," Luffy offered with a pleased smirk as memory Zoro blinked back.

"What?" he asked, unable to believe what he was saying.

"So if you want your sword you'll just gonna have to join my crew," Luffy told him with a laugh.

"Now you're really pissing me off!" memory Zoro shouted as he fought to get off the post, looking like he wanted to beat Luffy up.

"Wait, he blackmailed you into joining?" Usopp asked, unable to believe it.

"Oh, I doubt that he'd really go that far to force someone to join," Robin giggled, "But I think it's reasonable to assume that he realized you were at the end of the line here and had nowhere else to go. Besides, it wasn't like you had anything to lose by tagging along?"

"Yeah," Zoro grunted as he thought it over, "I know that he never would've forced me to join if I truly didn't want to… but…?"

He stopped speaking, becoming completely lost in thought as he gazed at the scene.

"Zoro?" Chopper asked softly as suddenly Franky became angry.

"Hang on a sec!" he hollered at them all accusingly, "You all forced me to join!"

"Well, you didn't have any other choice," Robin smiled deviously at him and he froze, knowing that it was the exact same smile she wore when she used her abilities on him that day, "You would've been killed for sure if you stayed at Water 7 with that bounty on your head. And besides…" she closed her eyes and smiled wider in a slightly menacing way, "Do you honestly regret joining?"

"Geez," Franky mumbled, looking away from her, "Only because you all knew how to gang up on a guy?"

"Forced you to join, Franky-san?" Brook asked in bafflement.

"I rather not think about it," Franky cringed at the memory, moving a little farther from Robin, as if afraid that she would repeat the trick, as she only smiled back in a not-so-innocent way.

"Hey genius, the base is in the other direction!" Zoro's voice called out, interrupting them, and they looked up as Luffy had gone off running to look for Zoro's swords. In fact, he was so eager to begin his search that he ran off in the opposite direction of the building…?

"Seriously?" Nami sighed, her hand on her head as she felt a migraine coming on, "How dense could he be? Him and you are truly like two peas in a pod, Zoro."

"Hey, at least I knew which way the building was!" Zoro retorted angrily.

"Yeah, and it only took you three weeks to do that," Sanji laughed in an evil way before being forced to dodge as one of his swords came slicing through the air at him.

"Would you both knock it off?" Nami snapped at them, looking ready to bash their heads in.

Once Luffy realized his mistake, he made a sharp about-face, before realizing that he could go faster by stretching out his arms. Which he did, flying right by memory Zoro—who spluttered and stared after him with his jaw wide open.

"You looked a little freaked out there, bro," Franky laughed at the look on memory Zoro's face before they went running after Luffy again.

"Hey, I didn't know that there was literally a man made of rubber in the world. That wasn't on my list of things I expected to see that day," present-day Zoro countered darkly Luffy dashed around the base.

Nami, meanwhile, was just shaking her head at Luffy, who stopped running the moment he realized he didn't even know where to start looking. But he seemed to sense that something was off here when he noticed that he was the only one around.

"That's weird. There's nobody here," Luffy said to himself, having completely circled the base. "I gotta find that crazy idiot's son and get Zoro's sword back for him," he complained to himself before a loud noise came from above that got their attention.

The noise seemed to be coming from the roof of the base, and Luffy was grinning up at the sight of it.

"Sounds like there's something's going on up there," Usopp said while Luffy started to stretch his arm out, where they saw what his plan was immediately, and braced himself for the worse.

"Oh, I'm curious to see what happened here. I remember hearing something big and heavy breaking now that I think about it," Zoro stated casually, remembering wondering if there had been an earthquake or a landslide going on nearby.

"Something big and heavy breaking?" Sanji repeated with his eyebrow raised, "Well, I think you-know-who was responsible for that?"

"Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling about this?" Nami asked in dread.

"Gum Gum… Rocket!" Luffy shouted and he rocketed himself up. Much like before, they were able to follow like they were on some kind of invisible elevator so that they could see what was happening. But it seemed that Luffy overshot his mark as he was sent flying even higher than the building—clearing the roof and already a mile above it. But it was enough for them to get a clear view of the roof and saw what had to be every Marine on the island tugging on ropes on an enormous statue. The statue was of an ugly man with a metal jaw, and his right hand looked to be fused together with the head of a giant axe—and looked to be halfway to being risen by the time Luffy appeared.

Luffy flailed about in the air for a moment before he managed to grab hold of one of the ropes supporting the statue to keep himself from going even higher. But the sudden move was too much for the Marines to hold onto anymore and they lost their grip… causing the statue to slip and fall. They watched on as if it were some kind of terrible shipwreck as the statue's upper half cracked and fell to the ground below them.

"So that's what happened," Zoro smirked, only wishing he could've seen it the first time.

"That… idiot," Nami moaned out. "Leave it to him to end up breaking something that big!"

All the Marines on the roof were left speechless as they stared at the ruined statue—too scared to move—and it was clear that the truth hadn't sunk in yet. Even Helmeppo was there, gapping at the sight of the broken statue as a massive bruise was on the side of his face.

But they all knew that wouldn't last for much longer.

Zoro just grinned at that as he offered, "I think it was for the best. "It was about time that Marine Captain had his ego deflated. Besides, it was ugly as sin anyway… who'd want to stare at that thing the whole time?"

"I guess that an 'I'm sorry and I promise never to do that again' will get him off the hook?" Brook offered.

"Who builds a statue of himself anyway? The ego on that guy?" Franky asked.

"Sorry 'bout that," Luffy said softly them all in a surprisingly meek voice, showing that he understood that he did something bad here. There was more stunned silence for a moment before a tall man that looked like the statue—complete with heavy muscles, blond hair, steel covering for his lower jaw, and his right hand replaced by a huge steel axe, the handle of which seems to go right through his forearm.

"Is that…?" Brook asked softly, watching the angry veins on the man's forehead standing out violently.

"Ax-Hand Morgan," Zoro agreed, "And like I said, ugly as sin…"

They watched on with interest as Captain Morgan jerkily turned his massive head towards Luffy, his face contorted with such fury that he looked ready to kill. In fact…?

"Seize him so I can kill him myself!" he bellowed, his eyes practically popping out of his head, almost foaming up like a rabid dog as the Marines looked like they were gonna wet themselves as they hurried to obey.

"That's him!" screamed Helmeppo in a whiny voice, pointing at Luffy with a dramatic flair, "That's the guy! He's the one who punched me, daddy!"

"You want a bottle and diaper while you're at it?" Sanji muttered in disgust as Luffy actually smiled at Helmeppo.

"Hey, it's you!" he said happily, moving so quickly that Helmeppo didn't realize how close he was until he was right in front of him. As soon as he realized Luffy was talking to him, he started to scream and attempted to run, but Luffy quickly grabbed him by his shoulder and easily held him back.

"I've been looking for you all over the place," Luffy said cheerfully. "You have something that I really need to get back!"

He put Helmeppo in a headlock and dragged him across the roof and through the only open door as the Marines gave chase. The Straw Hats had various laughs as they followed again, finding themselves enjoying the madness that Luffy was bringing to these Marines as they panicked at the sight of Helmeppo being grabbed and manhandled right in front of them.

"So the captain's son was attacked and kidnapped all in one day. This should be good for him," Brook laughed, following along happily.

Luffy dragged Helmeppo through the base while the wimp screamed in terror the whole time. They continued on until Luffy was sure they lost the Marines and asked, clearly getting tired of all the screaming, "Okay so tell me where Zoro's sword is?"

"I'll tell you, I promise. Just stop dragging me across the carpet!" Helmeppo begged. At his words, Luffy instantly stopped, the sudden shock of today's adventure causing him to hang in Luffy's hand like ragdoll.

"Fine which way," Luffy asked impatiently as Helmeppo weakly pointed behind them. "My room. You just passed it, behind you on the left."

"I should've known he had them," Zoro said in deep annoyance. Figures that idiot would've wanted to feel like a big man by keeping his swords in his sights at all times. He must've had some real laughs whenever he looked at them…? He felt a muscle going in his head as he gripped Wado tighter at the thought.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Luffy complained, as if it was his fault, and glanced back down the hall with a huff of, "Now we gotta go all the way back."

"They've got company!" Usopp cried out, and he was right for a handful of Marines were able to track them down, all of them pointing their rifles at him in warning.

"Don't move!" one warned.

"Except for letting Helmeppo go!" another added as if in an afterthought.

"Right…" Sanji said, rolling his eyes. "Like he'd do that…?"

"Don't want to," Luffy said, lifting Helmeppo up and held him in front of him like a shield. "But you can try shooting me if you want?"

"He didn't…?" Nami groaned out.

"I think he did," Brook laughed in amusement.

Once Helmeppo saw the guns he started to flail around in panic, screaming at them not to shoot as Luffy charged ahead while still holding his hostage up in front of him.

"Now that's a side of Luffy you don't see often," Usopp said, also running by the stunned Marines as Luffy stuck his tongue out at them as they dashed back down the hall as the sounds of running footsteps signaled more Marines on their way.

"Just getting some payback," Robin smiled, having a lot of fun here. "I guess that Luffy wanted to scare him into helping as to make him pay for what he had done to Zoro."

"Karma can be a bitch," Franky laughed.

"This was probably the most interesting thing that's happened to that guy in his life," Zoro added, "Someone had to bring him down to earth anyway. Would've done wonders for that ego of his."

They continued on with running about, with Luffy acting like they were playing the greatest game of chase in history. But eventually, they reached the end of the hallway where they saw a flowered sign up on one of the doors that read: "My Room".

"Don't tell me…" Franky moaned at the sight as Luffy stopped and opened the door.

"This looks like yours," Luffy commented as he stepped inside, looking around.

They followed through the wall and were actually taken aback by what they saw. If they didn't know whose room it was, they would've sworn that it belonged to a young girl. The room had pink walls decorated with flowers… with flowing pink curtains at the window and flowered plates up on the wall… there was even a vanity complete with matching pink furniture.

"Odd taste," Robin added once she got a good look around.

"Okay, I'm not against the idea of a man being fond of the color pink… but this is excessive," Franky said looking at it in disgust. "I mean, flowered plates? Tacky…"

"Is there make-up at that?" Sanji asked, glancing to the vanity, having violent flashbacks of his time at the Kingdom of Okama's, and his face was twitching horribly at the thought as he did his best to focus on what was happening here. He was in half a mind to pick a fight with Zoro again just so that he have an excuse not to think anymore and just pay attention to hurting Moss Head.

Chopper had to cover his nose from the strong smell of the flowers as Luffy searched about before spotting three swords leaning up against the wall.

"Bingo!" he said going up to them.

"Those don't look like the swords you have now, Zoro-san," Brook whispered in surprise, "Except for the white one…"

"The two black swords got destroyed a while go," Zoro explained simply as he watched Luffy looking over them all with confusion.

"Hold on, there're three here," Luffy said to himself before he looked down at Helmeppo to demand, "Hey weirdo, which one of these Zoro?"

But it seemed that being dragged about was too much for him because Helmeppo's eyes were now rolled into the back of his head as he seemed to be whimpering in his sleep, practically convulsing where he hung.

Upon seeing him passed out, Luffy just rolled his eyes in annoyance sounds came through the window. Looking up in surprise, he dropped Helmeppo in a heap on the floor before going to the window to see what was going on. They followed his lead and looked over his shoulder to see that the window had a perfect view of the prison yard and of Zoro still stuck to the post. But what shocked them all was that not only Zoro, but Coby, were now facing down a firing squad.

"Coby!" Luffy exclaimed in shock as he went back to grab the swords.

"What's Coby doing there?" Nami gasped in terror, "They could kill him?!"

"He was trying to untie me," Zoro explained, "He told me about how they planned on executing me… and I guess he realized that he was going to stand up for what he felt was right even as they tried to kill us both."

"That's terrible!" Usopp yelled in fury on behalf of Zoro, "It's not like you did anything wrong until then! Not to them, anyway!"

But Zoro tuned out their words of indignation as he thought back to the words that Coby had said to him. How he told him that Luffy attacked Helmeppo when he heard him mocking Zoro's determination and trust in his word—and how he never meant to keep his word, which sparked the anger in him. Coby then begged him, not to become a pirate, but merely to help out this one pirate this one time. He knew that they both had a lot of strength that they could offer each other and that Luffy was the only person who could save him from an unjust execution… and of course, Coby admitted that Zoro was the only one who could save Luffy from facing the same fate.

What neither Coby nor Luffy knew though was that Zoro had already made up his mind. Maybe not joining a pirate crew, but at the least, to help save Luffy and escape from this dump. Upon learning that Luffy punched that idiot captain's son, it showed him what kind of person Luffy was. It was that - him realizing they have shared values - that swayed him over to his side.

But back to the scene, Luffy had already grabbed the swords to tie them to his back before he was preparing to launch himself through the window. The firing squad had at least half a dozen Marines pointing their rifles at the two, preparing to fire at any second—and they knew that Luffy was cutting it close.

"I'd hate to think what'd be going through my head if I was facing down a firing squad," Franky said as Luffy was lining himself up with the window, "Then again… bullets don't affect me so much…?"

"Just do what I did," Zoro answered, as he went charging through the wall, already aware of what happened, "I just remember fantasizing that over-sized ax at the end of that coward captain's arm chopping that barnacle-shaped head at the top of his neck."

"Zoro!" Usopp and Chopper cried out in horror at such a though as they all quickly followed him, having jumped down from the building like how they followed the trio of boys in Goa. But Zoro didn't stop running until they were in earshot of the commotion in the yard.

"Zoro! What are you…?" Nami gasped, but at that moment, Morgan—who was behind the Marines—pointed his ax at memory Zoro and Coby before ordering, "FIRE!"

"NO!" Usopp, Chopper, and Brook screamed in panic as memory Zoro turned his head away, waiting for death. But then, they heard the sound of glass breaking before a shadow flew over their heads as it shot across the sky. With aim and a precision that he was missing as a child, Luffy had flown from the window and landed directly in front of memory Zoro and Coby. He threw his arms out, acting as a shield for both of them from the rain of bullets…?

"WHAT?" memory Zoro cried out.

"LUFFY NO!" Coby screamed in terror, tears in his eyes like he thought for sure that Luffy was about to die.

But their worry wasn't necessary. All the Straw Hats grinned, always finding it amusing to see someone find out the hard way that bullets don't work against a rubber person. Luffy seemed to feel the same way for he was grinning as his body stretched out from the impact of the bullets.

"See ya!" he shouted as he stretched his arms wide, and deflected the bullets back at the Marines, whose eyes were bugging out of their heads and screaming in terror why trying to avoid being shot at. Luffy just laughed as he declared, "That won't work on me! Told you I was strong!"

"What's with you, Zoro?" Nami asked, grinning as she looked at the stunned expressions on memory Zoro and Coby's faces.

"I thought we've been through this," Zoro said rolling his eyes as his memory self demanded to know just what Luffy was to have pulled that off.

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy said simply as he gave him a thumbs up when he looked back, "And I'm gonna be King of the Pirates."

For a moment, memory Zoro could only stare at him as he seemed to contemplate his words. when he finally found his voice he demanded, "You're gonna be King of the Pirates!? Right. You must be completely out of your rubbery mind! Do you have any idea to what that means!?"

"King of the Pirates means King of the Pirates. How can it mean anything other than that?" Luffy asked, as if wondering what else there could be too it.

"He doesn't think about how much work things take does he?" Nami sighed, "He's someone who focuses on the bigger picture than plan out the small details."

"Yeah, that tends to be our job. Personally, I think that part of his brain that plans things out doesn't work," Sanji agreed, "He just goes for it and waits to see if it works out."

"Always finding the simplest answer to everything," Robin chuckled, "I find as one of his most endearing traits."

But Coby was now smiling again himself, his eyes bright with admiration as explained to Zoro, "Yeah, when he first told me it was shocking but he's completely serious! That's how he is I guess. Cause he actually seems to have every intention of becoming King of the Pirates! And obtaining the world's ultimate treasure the One Piece!"

"He sure sounds like a believer now," Usopp said as Luffy broke into an even large grin at his words.

"He has that effect on people," Zoro confessed.

"Did you think Coby was crazy too for going along with him?" Nami asked him.

"Of course I did," he answered back without hesitation, "But then again, my dream is crazy too… so I guess it works out for us."

Luffy finished brushing himself off from the bullets and untied the swords from his back before turning back to Zoro. The two of them completely ignored the Marines as they freaked out over what they just saw, as Luffy held the blades out to memory Zoro and said, "Here's what I promised you. There's three. I couldn't tell which one was yours so I just took all of them."

"All of them belong to me," memory Zoro said as he struggled against his bonds, trying to get feeling back into them. "I use Santoryu, the three-sword style."

Luffy blinked at him for several seconds, and it couldn't have been clearer than he never heard of such a thing before. Present-day Zoro wasn't surprised at all. After all… he had invented not only Santoryu but most of his own sword techniques along with it. He glanced down to his three swords at his hip… Kuina's sword, the Wado Ichimonji, which had been with him ever since she had died… Kitetsu the Third… the sword that chose him back in Loguetown… and Shusui… the sword that he received after he defeated Ryuma. These three swords had stuck with him through all the challenges he had gone through for the last two years… and he wasn't going to disappoint them by giving them anything less than his all from this moment on.

Luffy quickly snapped out of his confusion before he held them out again—as if expecting Zoro to take them with his arms tied there.

"Take them already," he said while still grinning before spelling out exactly what his options were, "Just know that if you fight with me now, you'll be a government defying villain. So it's either that… or you're left out here and killed by the Marines execution style."

"He's not giving you a choice is he?" Franky laughed.

"Like there was a choice," present-day Zoro grinned at back. "He made my options pretty clear. If my only two choices were to either become a pirate, or stay where my days were numbered… then it wasn't really much of a decision to make, was it?"

In the memory, for the first time, a true grin appeared on memory Zoro's face. Meanwhile, the present-day Zoro remembered thinking that he liked this kid, whoever he was. He was just as crazy and stubborn as he was… and he knew that he was right. It was a choice between death and a life of an outlaw. While he liked to say that he weighed his options carefully he also knew that death was so… final. But life, even one as a wanted pirate, held so many opportunities for him to grow stronger.

"What are you? The son of a devil?" his memory self grinned, "It doesn't matter. Cause if I don't choose your side, I'll just end up dead on these sticks." His eyes narrowed as he finished, "So let's do this."

"So you're finally gonna join my crew!" Luffy cheered, completely forgetting the danger they were still in as he danced around happily with the swords. "This is the best thing ever!"

"Would you quit celebrating already and cut these ropes off me?!" memory Zoro yelled in irritation, clearly not wanting to stay stuck to that post any longer than he had to. In the background the whole time, the Marines listened to Morgan explain about Devil Fruits, and then finally order his men to charge in and kill all three of them.

"Right, I forgot about him," Sanji muttered in boredom as the watched how a bunch of Marines ran towards them with swords while Luffy and Coby were trying to get Zoro's ropes off.

"Come on, hurry!" Coby cried out in panic.

"They got these things on here tight," Luffy muttered in frustration, tugging at them.

"Come on, quit screwing around!" memory Zoro yelled as he tried to pull himself free, his eyes wide as the Marines got closer.

"He never was good with knots," Usopp whispered as Luffy muttered something about how the knots got tighter instead of loser.

Finally losing it, memory Zoro yelled out, "Give me one of my damn swords now!"

"Don't see you losing it often, Zoro-san," Brook said in surprise.

"Well, when you're about to have a bunch of weaklings try to stab you to death when your new captain is only making it worse… then you tend to become desperate," he snapped back when Coby screamed in terror as the Marines had reached them, ready to cut him to shreds. Getting what Zoro was trying to do, Luffy held out one of the swords, and memory Zoro not only grabbed it with his mouth, thus cutting himself free, but he even had time to seize the other two blades before twisting to catch all the Marines swords and stopped them dead in their tracks.

Though he had been stuck unable to move for the last three weeks, he was still more than able to stop an attack like this.

"Roronao Zoro," Morgan gasped, looking on as Zoro held them all back with ease as the Marines could only stare on, not sure what to do now.

"Awesome!" Chopper cried out, his eyes sparkling.

"Amazing!" Brook added, amazed that someone could be this strong despite being starved and exhausted.

"Wow!" Luffy exclaimed the ropes in his hands. "That's so cool!"

Memory Zoro still had no problem with this as he warned the Marines, "You make one move and you die."

At his threat, all of them remained still, tears already in their eyes, too scared to do anything that might make Zoro mad.

"He's scary," one whimpered.

"And they call themselves Marines?" Nami asked, smacking her forehead. She knew her mother would be smacking each of them for acting like that. She smirked at the thought, knowing that if she was there, she'd have them all whipped into shape in no time.

"You forget that this is the East Blue," Robin pointed out, "The Marines here aren't like the ones in the Grand Line. In fact, as far as I know, the average bounty in this particular sea is set at around 3,000,000. So I guess the Marines don't feel like they need to have extra strong solders here."

"Bet they're regretting it now with so many badasses hail coming from there," Franky said as a few smirks were shared.

With the Marines now too scared to move, memory Zoro looked to Luffy and said, "Today I officially become a criminal, having fought the Marines. So I will become a pirate… that I can promise you." He narrowed his eyes as his glared at his new captain with the added threat, "But I want you to know one thing! While I'm with you, the only thing I dedicate myself to is fulfilling my own ambitions!"

This peaked Luffy's interest by asking, "Which is?"

Present-day Zoro's eye saddened, feeling a little bit of shame at the words he was going to say. But back then, he had traveled far and wide, fighting for his dream… and he still didn't know much about what this guy was capable of. Better to be safe than sorry.

"To be nothing less than the world's greatest swordsman," memory Zoro proclaimed, his shadowed eyes seemed to give him the look of a man possessed. "If somewhere along the way I have to give that up, I then want you to accept responsibility. After which you get to apologize to me at the end of a sword."

The Straw Hats all stared at him in disbelief, looking from the memory Zoro, to the one standing with them with wide eyes.

"Whoa, wait a second!" Usopp called out loudly to the Zoro next to him, "You mean to tell us that you made Luffy promise if he ever got in your way, you'd have him kill himself?"

"Basically," present-day Zoro answered coolly. His face gave away no emotion, but his eye did seem to soften as he looked at the scene. Once again wondering just when that vow no longer mattered… how he began to feel how his captain's dream seemed to become more important to him than his own of defeating Mihawk. "Relax," he added, at their horrified expressions. "I don't intend for him to ever fulfill it."

Upon hearing that, the others seemed to relax and turned back to the memory Zoro still scaring the Marines. But Robin couldn't help but draw a little closer, softly whispering, "I'm curious to hear when that feeling changed. Especially how you made that deal with Kuma at Thriller Bark?"

He hid to swallow the splutter of surprise as he stared at her as she only looked back with a peaceful expression.

"How'd you…?" he began in a quiet hiss as to not alert the others.

"Forgive me," she whispered back, "I overheard what happened that day. Don't worry, I didn't tell the others about, nor do I have any intension of doing so."

Zoro sighed in relief as he looked ahead to the others before whispering, "So you, Brook, and Mr. Nosebleed all know…?"

"Yes, but the others don't," Robin reassured him. "I know that you'd want that kept quiet from everyone… especially from Luffy."

"Of course. How do you think he'd take that if he knew?" Zoro asked while crossing his arms. "Besides, that's ancient history. I survived… that's all that matters."

She gave him a thoughtful expression before agreeing, "Yes… and it is a blessing… but after seeing this… you've come a long way since then."

"It changes nothing," he answered firmly. "I like to think of it as finally paying my debt to him for saving me back here. So we don't owe each other anything… at least that's what I used to think."

Robin just looked at him, finding her already high respect for him growing even more.

"Besides…" he finished, his tone holding a hint of fondness that was rarely shown from him, "After fighting beside him all this time… I found that I have a new goal in mind to work for. I don't know when it happened… but I realized that if you can't even protect your captain's dream, then what hope do you have for your ambition?"

"What's your new goal?" she asked with a knowing smile.

"I think it's the same as yours," he answered, and she smiled a little bigger.

Sanji, who happened to overhear the whole thing as well, kept quiet as he kept his eyes on the action. You'd never have guessed Moss-Head was the same person he was here fighting Marines. In some ways he was still the same idiot who kept getting lost in a straight line. But in other ways he was completely different. Sanji frowned, suddenly thinking of the person he was when he was still working at the Baratie… if they were going to see that…? What would he see of himself? He suddenly understood why he and Nami had been staring so intently at their past selves.

As for Luffy, he was looking oddly satisfied, as if he had expected Zoro to say something like that.

"The World's Greatest swordsman, huh?" he repeated, "Sounds pretty good. The King of the Pirates wouldn't have anything less than the best on his crew."

Memory Zoro returned Luffy's smile and smirked with, "Big talker. From this point on, no matter if I'm a criminal or not; I will spread the name Zoro throughout the world!"

"Looks like you got your wish, Zoro-san," Brook told him happily.

"Damn right," present-day Zoro said proudly.

"What are you standing there frozen for!?" Morgan yelled, once again they forget he was here. "I want you to kill all three of them right now!"

The Marines seemed completely lost to what they were supposed to do; it was hard to say who they were more afraid of. They were obviously terrified of what Morgan would do to them if they didn't obey, but they clearly didn't want to risk moving with Zoro's threat over their heads.

Thankfully, Luffy solved that problem as he raised his leg, telling memory Zoro to duck. "Gum Gum… WHIP!" he screamed and in one fluent move, he stretched his leg across, hitting all the Marines that Zoro held back—with memory Zoro ducking just in time.

Coby was cheering him on as memory Zoro got back to his feet, asking him, "Wanna tell me what you are?"

"I'm just a guy who ate the Gum Gum Fruit," Luffy explained, kicking his leg out happily.

Memory Zoro looked completely lost as he asked, "What's a Gum Gum Fruit?"

"I'm almost sorry I asked," present-day Zoro smirked at his own stupefied expression.

"A Rubberman!?" one of the Marines that Luffy just hit cried out in disbelief.

"It looks like he does have Devil Fruit powers," Morgan growled, his eyes narrowed in hatred.

Another one of his subordinates looked up and exclaimed, "Captain, we don't stand a chance against them."

"Yeah, just look at them!" another one added, pointing. "They're insane!"

"That's usually the reaction we get," Usopp said laughing.

"I often think that myself," Sanji added, "We had to be to choose to follow such a crazy captain." But he was smiling the whole time he spoke, showing that he didn't regret it either.

"We couldn't even take Zoro on by himself!" they pleaded with their captain, coming right out and admitting that they didn't stand a chance against the two of them.

With every word they said, Ax-hand Morgan's face seemed to grow angrier as he glared at them all; looking angry enough to kill each and every one of them. "This is a direct order!" he bellowed out. "Every marine who sprouted weakness pull your guns out and shoot yourselves! I can't do anything with weak soldiers!"

"WHAT?!" Chopper screamed out in horror.

"How could any leader demand that?!" Usopp demanded, liking his memory less and less with each second. "If he thought it was so easy, he should at least try attacking them himself. Lead by example and all that."

"That's no way to treat your own men!" Brook cried out, fury pouring through his bones. These men did their best to follow his orders, but he honestly cared nothing for any of them. Even some pirate crews treated each other better than this!

"Tsh, if I could, I'd give him a pounding he wouldn't forget," Franky growled, holding up a massive fist. "Damn, this is what I hate about a memory! We can't do anything!"

"Deal with it," Sanji sighed, throwing his cigarette away, "We all feel the same way. But we don't need to worry. If I know these two idiots, they won't let ax-man get away with this."

"Who were you calling an idiot, Mr. Nosebleed?" Zoro asked, his eye narrowing dangerously.

"You heard me," Sanji smirked back.

"I'll hack you to pieces one of these days," Zoro promised darkly.

"Go ahead and try. I'll filet your ass before you even draw," Sanji taunted.

At the order though, none of the Marines dared to move. Rather, his subordinates were looking angry, and their eyes were filled with something other than fear… hatred.

"Hmm, I think they were now rooting for you and Luffy to take him out," Robin said softly.

"Wouldn't surprise me. I think the only reason they followed his orders till now was because they were afraid of him," Zoro explained.

"That's usually why tyrants are in charge," Nami stated, folding her arms.

"Yeah," Chopper added, his eyes darkening as he thought of Wapol, and his felt anger burn inside his chest. The only reason why he was king for so long was because he was stronger than the people. Otherwise, he was sure that he would've been overthrown. If he had the power he had now when he ruled…? He knew he could've taken Wapol out himself… maybe even have saved…? He screwed up his eyes, trying not to think of his adoptive father.

"What babies," memory Zoro said, holding up his swords, "This'll be easy."

"Yeah," Zoro agreed with his past self, "The only thing I was really scared of was this guy's face."

But Luffy didn't wait around anymore as he charged so fast toward them that he left a dust trail behind him. That he was going straight for Morgan didn't surprise them… what did was Coby.

"Luffy!" he shouted out, "Bring those Marines crumbling to their knees!"

"First he believed that the Marines were like saints, now he's rooting for a pirate to take them out," Usopp said, watching it all with delight. He was finally having fun watching this because it was obvious from the start who was going to win.

Before the Marines had any idea to what was happening, Luffy jumped up and raised his fist, ready to throw a punch.

"YEAH!" Chopper cried out, but Morgan raised his heavy ax and blocked it, but the force of the punch was enough to cause the sound to reverberate throughout Morgan's body. Zoro looked to his past self in time to see him take the sword out of him mouth. He knew what was going through his mind… he was watching to see what this new guy had up his sleeve… wanting to see what his new captain could do.

"Rankless, lowlife bums!" Morgan yelled as he threw off his jacket, finally snapping completely. "You have no right to defy my superiority! I am Marine captain Ax-Hand Morgan!"

"And I'm Luffy," Luffy answered relaxed, not at all afraid of him, "Nice to meet ya!"

"Normally you introduce yourself before you kick someone's ass," Sanji muttered.

"Now, now… there was still plenty of time for that. The guy's still conscious," Franky laughed.

"Die!" Morgan yelled bringing his ax down, leaving a deep crack in the ground from the impact. Thankfully, Luffy dodged the attack, spinning around like a top to avoid it—and then with a kick, knocked him to the ground.

"Come on! This isn't even a fight!" Franky sniggered as Chopper cheered them on, "Is that the best that he could do?!"

"They call themselves Marines but they don't have a clue to what they're doing, or at least are so weak that there's nothing they can do," Nami added grimly. While she could understand that, a part of her was still resentful to them that they usually just leave the big named pirates alone. In the end, it turned out to be a small group of pirates that took out those pirates in the whole East Blue… she felt herself standing a little straighter at those thoughts as the Marines were gasping at the sight of Luffy not even using anything other than his own raw strength against his enemy.

"The captain's getting pummeled out there!"

"It's embarrassing."

"Yeah," Franky agreed, "Finding out your leader, that you're shit scared of, is actually a weakling would do that."

But Luffy was far from done. He grabbed the front of Morgan's shirt and started yelling, "Call yourself a Marine?" He then began to throw punch after punch, yelling out, "You destroyed my friend Coby's dream!"

"He's protecting Coby's dream of being a Marine as well?" Nami said, unsure to how to feel to that.

"One thing that Luffy never laughs at is somebody's dream," Zoro answered her.

"Yes, so long as you're willing to fight for it, he wants to help them achieve it even if it's small," Usopp said proudly.

"Besides, his grandpa is a Marine," Sanji reminded them, "He knows how strong he is… he's probably annoyed that these guys are weak."

"Straw Hat stop right there! Look at what I got!" someone yelled. Luffy paid no attention to them at first as he continued to punch Morgan, but the Straw Hats looked and Chopper yelled in worry. Helmeppo was standing there with a gun pointing right next to Coby's head.

"Are you stupid or something? I said stop!" Helmeppo screamed in outrage that no one was paying him any attention, "If you'd pay attention to me you'd see I have a hostage here you might want to look at!?"

"Oh, he's stupid alright," Sanji answered, watching how badly Helmeppo's hand was shaking, "But he might want to make it look a little more convincing."

"I thought that he was knocked out back in his room?" Usopp pointed out quietly.

"Hey," memory Zoro called to Luffy, which finally got his attention.

"If you value your scrawny little friend's life then don't move a muscle!" Helmeppo ordered. "I'm serious here! One move and I'll shoot him!"

Luffy stared expressionlessly at him—but then they realized that he was looking at Coby. As if silently asking him what he wanted him to do? Coby was frightened and was shaking… but as he looked at Luffy who gave him a winning grin, he seemed to come to a decision. Coby blinked, and like before, his confidence suddenly seemed to erupt and he called out without a trace of fear, "Luffy, listen! Don't let anything that happens to me stop you! Even if I die!"

"Wow," Brook said softly, was this really the same boy who was too afraid to run away from pirates?

"How does he do it?" Nami asked wondering, "He just has that effect on people."

"Of course, you got it," Luffy agreed as he turned his back on Morgan and slowly approached Helmeppo before winding up his arm. "Hear that, you big idiot? Coby is ready to die by your hand."

"Like Luffy would stand by and let that happen," Usopp said confidently.

Helmeppo was completely panicked now, watching him coming closer before stuttering in a squeak, "Don't you move! I said don't move or I'll shoot! I swear it!"

"But Helmeppo and Coby were friends when we met them?" Chopper reminded them softly, "How did it go to that from this?"

"People change, Chopper," Robin answered simply. "While I can't say I know what happened… I think that after working together for all that time, that it's not unreasonable they grew to become friends." After all, when she first met Luffy and the others, she had been their enemy as well.

Luffy kept slowly walking towards them before he stopped, still grinning, as he threw his arm back, ready to launch another punch—but suddenly Morgan was back on his feet and was standing behind him, ready to bring his arm down.

"Luffy!" Coby, Chopper, and Usopp warned instinctively, But Luffy didn't bother with him.

"Gum Gum…"

"What's he doing?" Nami cried just as present-day Zoro told her to relax.

"Time's up! For I am the fearless captain, Ax-Hand Morgan!" Ax-hand Morgan bellowed ready for an attack that surely would've sliced Luffy right in half…

But memory Zoro already had his swords at the ready while Helmeppo grabbed Coby and held the gun closer to his head, screaming out, "Daddy! Hurry up and kill him already!"

"Pistol!" Luffy screamed as the ax fell… what happened was so quick that if you blinked you would've missed it. Luffy's arm stretched out so he landed a solid punch against Helmeppo in the face, thus saving Coby, leaving the guy out cold on the ground with a dented in face…

At the same time, memory Zoro charged forwards and took out Morgan in one attack; his ax-like arm was just inches from Luffy's head. Morgan stood there for a fraction of a second before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell back, landing with a crash on the ground.

"Thank you," Luffy said to memory Zoro, who smiled back.

"Just doing my job, captain," was his answer.

And like that, the memory finally faded.

"Wow," Chopper whispered, awe going through his whole body at how well that all went, "That was amazing!"

"So that was how you two met?" Brook asked in wonder. "You hardly knew each other, but you were already acting like old crewmates. You both knew exactly what to do."

"I guess," Zoro confessed with a shrug. "Didn't really think about it at the time, but in the heat of battle it's hard not to trust Luffy. It took me awhile to really get used to it. After that, I decided that I would travel with him and see how it went. I never imagined that when we set off like that, we'd be here in the New World like this now."

"Yeah, I think we all felt that way at first," Nami agreed, staring ahead of her at the darkness, wondering what would've happened to her if she never met with Luffy and the others…?

"Was it like that with the rest of you as well?" Brook asked them all curiously. "You all joined up one by one like that…?"

"That's right," Zoro confirmed, "It was just the two of us at first. We travelled together for a couple days before we met up with Nami. Not really much happened during that time"

"Yeah, and that was a log of fun," Nami nodded, smiling at the memories, "After I tagged along with them, we came to Usopp's village soon after that. After helping him out with a pirate infestation, we went to the sea restaurant where we ran into Sanji…?"

"That was when you officially joined us after we dealt with Arlong, we set off for the Grand Line," Sanji added, puffing on his cigarette. "Strange how it all worked out in the end now that you think of it. I mean… the timing for a lot of that…? It was like someone planned that all out if I gotta be honest. Not that I was so keen on joining at first. He kept bugging me over and over till I finally asked to join."

"It usually works out the same way," Nami laughed at the thought, "When Luffy asks someone to join, at first, the offer's turned down completely. However if the person really interests Luffy, he will still try to get them to join anyway regardless of their initial decision."

"However, even if he is rejected, Luffy will treat the person as if they were already a crew member," Sanji spoke from experience, "no matter how annoyed it makes them. He'll sometimes act as if it is his decision and not ours whether we join or not."

"Cause at that point, it really isn't," Zoro agreed.

That had been the first fight they had for all their future battles. If he hadn't joined that day…? He'd probably still be wandering around the East Blue fighting against weaklings. While he can't ever be sure, of course, he knew one thing in that he never would've grown as strong as he was now in the short amount of time.

The next memory appeared with memory Zoro and Luffy heading down the street towards the docks, Luffy carrying a sack over his shoulder, and memory Zoro tucking his swords back to his side.

"That was a thin act you put on back there," memory Zoro said to him, "I wouldn't be surprised if they see right through it."

"Act?" Usopp repeated in confusion.

"Coby should be able to handle the rest of it on his own," Luffy said confidently, "I have faith in him."

"It is a fitting way to leave this place," memory Zoro said as they came to the small boat Luffy and Coby sailed in on, "Unable to turn back seeing how everyone here hates us now. Very pirate like…?"

Luffy laughed as he untied the rope, "Yeah. It sure is."

"Wait, what do you mean by 'everyone here hates us now'?" Nami asked him, not sure she understood. "You mean they were upset that you took out that Morgan guy?"

"But he was terrorizing this whole town!" Franky said loudly, "Why would…?"

"Oh, no," present-day Zoro corrected, "They were thrilled. I'm talking about how Luffy beat up Coby."

"Oh, that makes much more sense—whoa, wait a minute, what do you mean that Luffy beat Coby up?!" Usopp yelled.

"You honestly think that those Marines would've let Coby join them?" present-day Zoro asked him as they all looked just as confused and he reminded them, "He spent two years as a cabin boy on board a pirate ship. Even if he was held as a hostage, I doubt that Marines would've let him join. Luffy wanted to help him out, show them that he wasn't on our side. So Luffy pretended to pick a fight with Coby by making him so mad that he hit him and made it look like they weren't friends."

"Oh, I get it, Yohohoho," Brook said happily.

"And because of that, the people were scared, and wanted us to leave," Zoro shrugged, unconcerned. "But that all happened after Rika took us back to the restaurant so that we could eat. God, that food was good…? You could've learned something from her mom about how to make a decent meal, cook."

"You did not just insult my skills as a chief!" Sanji snarled.

"After three weeks of no food, I guess so," Nami said as if she hadn't heard the two starting to fight.

"Anyway, the Marines came in and said that they couldn't allow pirates to say any longer, but because they were so grateful to us for taking out Morgan, they didn't report us," Zoro finished speaking.

"Well that's ungrateful of them since you saved their hides," Usopp said bitterly.

"They were just doing their job," Robin said, "I think it was actually a reasonable deal…"

"I take it Coby stayed?" Sanji muttered thoughtfully, lighting up another cigarette and watched as Luffy untied the little boat from the dock.

"Yep," present-day Zoro confirmed, "He felt that he was ready to join the Marines, and that he didn't need Luffy's protection anymore."

"You think that he would've come to say goodbye though," Chopper said sadly as he watched the two in the memory about to climb into the boat. Present-day Zoro didn't need to answer, knowing that wasn't true…?

"LUFFY!" called a familiar voice and they looked up to see that Coby, Rika, and her mother were there.

"Oh!" Chopper called happily, "So they did come!"

"After all that, why think that they wouldn't?" Franky asked grinning.

Coby stood there for a moment, staring at the two of them before he sprang into a salute. In a loud voice he told them, "I can never thank you enough! You've done more for me than anyone ever has!"

"I've never heard of a Marine thanking the pirate who beat him up before, now there's one for the history books," memory Zoro laughed.

The one-eyed Zoro closed his eye as he smiled. It was from that moment on he knew that Luffy wasn't like any other pirate he ever met before. And not just because he was made of rubber… it was here that he knew that Straw Hat Luffy would be the only man he would call his captain. Despite being completely against it at first, Zoro wholly embraced being a pirate and ranking below Luffy right away. Though he told the others that it was because it had been his only choice at the time, he knew that it wasn't the real reason. Him being a pirate had nothing to do with the idea of taking to sea as a pirate… it was entirely because of Luffy.

Luffy grinned as well as they spread the sail and shoved off. With Luffy waving goodbye to them all, promising, "We'll meet again Coby! Someday!"

"Bye Luffy…" they watched Coby mouthed as Rika cried out happily, "Hope to see you again someday!"

"You know… I'd like to come here and meet them all someday," Brook said softly.

"Me too," Nami smiled. "We have a lot of friends to visit once we reach the end of the Grand Line. Of course, we have a long way to go."

"Ah, but that just gives us something to look forward to, Yohohoho," Brook proclaimed excitedly, thinking longingly of Laboon and praying that he was safe and doing well.

"Hey look!" Franky cried out, looking back and they turned in time to see that the Marines had come too. They sprang into salutes like Coby did to see them off.

"See Ya!" Luffy cried out as memory Zoro watched on with mild amusement.

"Marines seeing pirates off isn't unusual," Robin said in a teasing tone, "But usually, they do that by running them out of a town."

"That was definitely a surreal moment," present-day Zoro confessed as he walked alongside the little boat.

"At last our pirate crew finally sets sail!" Luffy cried out.

"Not much of a crew," Sanji laughed. "You two can't tell direction or cook… how'd you survive?"

"Shut up!" present-day Zoro snapped at him.

"I've got the feeling some interesting adventures are waiting for us," memory Zoro said coolly from the back of the boat.

"You had no idea how right you were either," Nami told him tiredly, thinking about all the messes they had gotten themselves into since joining up.

"You can't say it's been dull though," Robin asked her.

Luffy laughed happily at those words, "And I'll be King of the Pirates. I know it!"

At his words, memory Zoro gazed at him as if he were a difficult riddle he was trying to figure out and asked, "You seem more than a little obsessed about becoming King of the Pirates. Is there any kind of story behind it or any kind of reason at all?"

"Yeah, there was," present-Zoro said in understanding. "I know now…?"

"No, no reason," Luffy told him, "It's just…?"

"Just what?" he asked.

"I promised someone… a while back," Luffy confessed, his hand on his hat as his eyes became glassy for a moment and they knew that he was thinking of Shanks again. "I swore that I would gather a crew, find the world's greatest treasure, and become King of the Pirates…"

He grinned as he finished, "And this straw hat knows the whole story."

Memory Zoro smirked as he gazed up at the sky, "I see."

"Now let's go!" Luffy cried out eagerly as they headed towards the setting sun, "Time to set our heading to the Grand Line!"

"Getting a little ahead of himself isn't he?" Nami asked, though unable to find any scorn to use in her voice as she smiled at Zoro.

"But didn't you want to ask him what he meant?" Usopp asked Zoro who shrugged.

"No," he answered truthfully. "I was a little curious but it wasn't my business to know. If he wanted to tell me, he would've. But I think he summed it all up right there. He just didn't mention Shank's name."

And also, he knew what it meant to fulfill your dream because of a promise… his hand went to Kuina's sword as he thought that. Yeah, he could get it.

"It's so funny that things worked out that way. I mean, you two only met because he just heard a rumor about you," Usopp stated, looking at their Zoro. "If he hadn't, you'd be dead…?"

"I guess I should count my blessings that things worked out for me," Zoro said unconcerned. Despite his disinterested tone though… after seeing these memories…? More than anything else at the moment, he wished that he could speak with Luffy about this.

Suddenly, as if someone was just waiting to for him to think those thoughts, another scene came up again… but it wasn't what they expected. They had thought that they would spend a bit more time out at sea with Luffy and Zoro again… but instead they were in a very familiar-looking forest…?

"Wait," Robin said, staring around her at the massive trees. "Is this…?"

"I think it's the Middle Forest," Chopper gasped, having seen these trees enough times to know what it was. But something was different here. Here, he could smell, really smell the trees and plants—while he could do that before as well, it was… muted. Like it was trying to pick up a scent that was on the cusp of fading away. Here though, it was all fresh… like he was really there.

"Seriously?" Sanji asked, looking up at the threes, shielding his eyes from the light to squint up at the canopy. "You know, I think you're right. Why the hell are we back here?"

Nami looked back to Zoro and asked, "Did you and Luffy come back here?"

He shook his head.

"No," he answered honestly. "We spent most of our time at sea for a couple days till we met up with you in Orange Town. We never stopped by Goa… hell, Luffy never even talked about where he was from. Even if we were close by, I don't think Luffy would want to come back after just leaving."

"Man, I'm really getting tired of this," Usopp said, now wishing that he was out of this place already as he went to kick a tree to vent some of his frustration, expecting for his foot to just go through… but this time…?

"OOOOOWWWWWW!" he screamed, jumping up and down, holding his foot as he hopped up and down in pain. "THAT HURT!"

"What are you talking about?! That's impossible!" Nami called as she watched him rubbing his big toe through watery eyes. "We're in a memory! We aren't supposed to feel anything! I think we established that when we first started this trip down memory lane!"

"I hate to say it, Nami-swan," Sanji said, reaching out to touch the tree nearest him, staring on with shock as he muttered, "But we can feel it here."

"Truly?" Robin repeated in surprise before bending down to pick some flowers next to her. they watched on in stunned disbelief as she held the delicate flower in her hands, staring at it as if they'd never seen something like that before.

"W-What's going on? Why can we suddenly touch things now?!" Chopper whispered even though no one could answer him.

As they struggled to process all this, they heard a joyous shout from nearby and they took off towards it, trying to figure out what was going on. Though now that they weren't able to pass through anything anymore, they ended up bumping into trees and getting scratches off low branches along the way, confirming that this wasn't a memory. Feeling as if they were going to lose their minds from the randomness of it all, they came near a clearing—stopping dead at the sight that waited for them.

Two figures were standing in the middle of the clearing—one of which was Luffy as they knew now… but the other…?

"Ace…?" Usopp whispered in stunned disbelief as the Straw Hats watched on. It was, indeed, Fire-Fist Ace. Only now, it wasn't like the memory versions they'd seen until then. Here, they were looking at the grown-up mature version instead of the wild child or teenager they saw him grow to be. Instead was the man looking just how he did when they met him in Alabasta.

They stared at the two as Luffy—the Luffy they realized had to be their Luffy—looking just like how they saw him this morning—had his face buried in his shoulder as he hugged his big brother like there was no tomorrow.

"L-Luffy?" Chopper whispered, moving forward, staring at the two brothers. Luffy was crying so loudly that he didn't hear them, but Ace did. He turned his head up, Luffy's back to them, as he looked over Luffy's head to look directly at them with an unsurprised look. He tilted his hat back up, grinning at them all in a teasing way before he put a finger to his lips; silently telling them to stay quiet.

As if that had been the signal, without warning, a powerful gust of wind picked up, blowing them backwards. Startled, the Straw Hats tried to move forward, but the wind only blew stronger around them—making them feel as if they were in the middle of a tornado.

They tried to cry out, but the wind swallowed that as the entire crew was suddenly swept off their feet and throw violently up into the sky as the darkness clouded their visions… causing them all to black out in a matter of seconds as they disappeared from sight.

The whole time Ace just smiled as he watched the crew disappear. Luffy finally looked up excitedly and asked, "This is great! I can't believe I get to see you again! Ace…? What are you looking at?"

"Just waving to someone…" he said coolly, smiling as Luffy looked to see where he was looking but saw nothing.

"But I don't…?" he said.

"It's nothing," he laughed back kindly while, ruffling Luffy's hair before promising, "I'll tell you later."

Luffy blinked and grinned back before jumping in for another hug, not aware that his crew had been there just moments ago.

*Zoro*

The last thing Zoro saw before arriving here was Ace…? The next thing he knew… he was left drifting through a void-like space. At least, that was the best way he could describe it. Unlike the dark void from before, this one was filled with a brilliant light shining around him. He wasn't entirely sure how but he felt as if he were floating… as if his body was being supported by water as he drifted through a bright light. He felt sick, but at the same time, felt a strange sense of peace as an exhausting weariness took over him… almost causing him to doze off.

He had to fight the urge to sleep as a fog seemed to settle in his brain and he shut his eyes because the constant glare was making his eyes hurt. Just what was with this place? Why was he so tired all of a sudden? Where was he now? Where were the others…? Were they safe? What just happened? One minute he was in a memory, the next he wasn't… and now this place? He forced himself to think, trying to remember how he got here but coming up blank.

"You really let him get into some trouble this time," suddenly came a familiar voice from next to him. Though he only met the owner of that voice once before, he knew who it was.

"Ace?" he asked in surprise, wondering if he was going crazy.

"Glad to see that your memory isn't as weak as you seem to be," said another voice—yet this one belonged to some he knew anywhere… though it had been over ten years since he last heard it…?

His eye snapped open and there, standing off to his side, he saw them. Fire-Fist Ace was right beside him like how he had been when he was alive… but Zoro's eyes were focused only on the smaller figure next to him. He stared at the young girl with short, dark blue hair, and dark brown eyes… wearing a smug smile that he knew all too well.

It was the same smirk she gave him every time she kicked his ass after he challenged her…?

"Kuina?" he croaked out, his one eye widening, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Her smug smirk stretched just a little wider as she looked him up and down before informing him, "Nice look, Cyclops. But really… you haven't changed a bit."

"What's going on?" he demanded, instantly tense and expecting some kind of trick or ambush all at once. "You two can't be here! Am I dead?"

"Jumping the gun aren't you?" Kuina asked teasingly, "No… don't worry. You're far from dead."

"Then where…?" he began, now feeling the familiar sense of frustration he always felt whenever she was around despite his shock and disbelief to what was going on.

"You're in an in-between world," Ace explained, his arms folded and his eyes hidden by the rim of his hat, "A space between the lands of the living and the dead. So you're not technically dead…"

"In-between…? Then how did I get here?" Zoro asked slowly.

"You've been here all along, dummy," Kuina stated as if it was obvious from the start.

"But this place isn't anything like before," Zoro retorted angrily.

"Nothing is as it seems here," Ace told him with a shrug, "So you can't take anything for granted."

Zoro blinked several times as he continued to stare at Kuina. She looked just like how she did when he last saw her… the night that they made their vow…? She hadn't aged a single day since then…? For a moment, he felt that he was back there and he was a rampaging child again, frustrated that he couldn't beat her no matter how hard he tried. Even the way she was treating him now felt made him feel like he was some stupid boy again. It was both endearing and seriously pissing him off at the same time.

"I don't know whether or not to be angry with you for letting him come here, or thankful," Ace confessed suddenly, shaking his head. "I asked for you to look after him for me, but instead, you let him get dragged off here?"

"When you say 'him' I'm guessing you're talking about Luffy?" Zoro asked.

"Who else?" he asked, "He's a real handful."

"You're telling me. But never mind that now, what's going on here?" Zoro demanded, growing angry.

"Listen, the island that your crew landed on is usually avoided by everyone in the New World whenever it appears," Ace explained, "This is the Phantom Island named Agartha."

"Agartha?" he repeated slowly, trying to recall where he heard that before. "Wait… Robin mentioned that place didn't she? Something about the land of the dead?"

"Not as slow as you used to be, eh, Zoro?" Kuina commented in a teasing way.

"The Phantom Island is more like a door to the in-between," Ace corrected, "the living cannot go beyond the in-between without losing their lives. This place acts as a kind of a bridge. You can only go as far as halfway. You go any farther, and you pass on to the next world."

"Then how come I'm here?" Zoro asked.

"Isn't it obvious? You went through the door but you haven't gone so far in that you die," Kuina stated, as if speaking to a child. "But you are dangerously close at this point. That's why we have to step in… to make sure that you don't accidently die down here."

"The door? You mean that hole?" Zoro asked.

"What do you think?" she asked with a roll her eyes like she thought he was being stupid for no reason. Seeing that was so nostalgic that he had to fight the urge to smile.

"This place was once sacred… at one point, coming to this island made it was possible for you to meet with lost loved ones and speak with them once again," Ace explained, his hands now in his pockets as he approached a few extra feet but stop just out of Zoro's reach.

"But the more people that travelled here, their intense desires soon grew," he finished.

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked, not understanding, "And what's with the memories that we're seeing?"

"My little brother's memories?" he repeated with a shake of his head. "That's the price that must be paid to gain the right to meet with someone who's already crossed over. Only by sharing memories of what it means to be alive can you pass safely through. Luffy accidently did that, so that's why he's with me. When you gave chase, you viewed a handful of those memories."

"And why am I here now? Where are the others?" he asked, suddenly starting to grow anxious the longer he was here.

"They're all safe at the moment," Ace assured them.

"At the moment?" Zoro repeated, now getting angry.

"As I said before, the intense desires to speak with someone soon grew so powerful that I guess that they developed feelings of their own," Ace explained. "That's why the door was closed and the key broken. The collected emotions, along with the power that this place holds soon gave birth to a monster. See, a long time ago, the original keepers of this land weren't strong enough to destroy the monster. Instead, they were forced to seal it up and then left. Not long after that, the island started to disappear and reappear in the world. I'm guessing that the island that you guys thought you were heading too… was a little further ahead. Instead, this island appeared directly in your path by accident. And so when you got here…? Luffy was able to open the door… which released the creature."

Zoro sighed, smacking himself in the head as he groaned, "Great job, Luffy."

"I'm sorry," Ace told him with a sigh. "He's always been a handful… though I'm sure I don't need to tell you that, you must know that by now."

"What happened to the monster?" Zoro demanded, getting back to the matter at hand, "I haven't seen anything."

"Because this monster doesn't have a form yet, you can't see it," Ace explained, "It has no mind of its own. It knows only what the memories it sees shows. As we speak, it's probably hiding somewhere on the island and is shaping it to its will."

"In other words, it's using the power of the in-between and your captain's memories to try and take shape," Kuina finished for him.

"What does it want?" Zoro asked with urgency, his hand already going for his swords.

"Hard to say," Ace confessed, not sounding that concerned. "All I know for sure is that it has taken form from someone in Luffy's memories. Now this whole island is a part of it."

"What do you mean?" Zoro asked, feeling himself grow tired again and he shook his head hard to try and keep himself awake, needing to hear as much as he can.

"I mean that the entire island has a tricky nature in that it has no sense of self. Instead, it tends to hold the memories of those who visit here. There are landmarks scattered about that didn't used to be here… but because of those who visited it in the past have caused such places to appear. The only original part of the island would probably be the temple," Ace stated as a thick fog swept over Zoro's mind and he could hear a dull ringing in his head. Ace seemed to notice this as he smiled gently at Zoro and finished, "What I can tell you now is that with the abundance of memories my little brother has shared, the entirety of the island has changed into fragments of memories and the creature is hidden itself."

"So long as that door is open then leaving might not be possible for your crew. Meaning, if you want to leave then you have to close the door. And to do that… you gotta find the creature and lure it back here," Kuina said, her voice disappearing, and he punched himself in the face to try and keep himself upright—not wanting to say goodbye just yet.

"Don't worry," Ace's voice went on as everything darkened around Zoro's vision, "Luffy's safe with me for the moment. But until the monster's destroyed, I can't send him back. So please do what you can to destroy it."

"Wait…" Zoro said, his eye finally growing too heavy for him and felt himself drifting off.

"It'll be alright," Kuina said, and her voice was the last thing he heard before darkness took over and he slipped away, "If you can handle your part in bringing the creature back, we'll explain everything to you. Now prove that you're stronger than when you used to lose to me."

(So what do you think? Ace has come to tell him what was going on. For those of you who were wondering just what he was talking about, I'm afraid that I can't tell you everything. That's how it always works… they don't understand everything going on at the start of the arc, and the closer they get to facing the boss, does everything come out. So I hope that this little twist was enough to keep you guessing.)