"For the last time," groaned the frustrated Marine Commander, rubbing his temples. He was not paid nearly enough for this kind of job. "I will explain this. If you tell us that your partner is guilty of the crimes we have stated, then you get to go free, and he gets a life sentence. If, however, he tells us that you are guilty, he gets to go free, and you get a life sentence. If you both tell us that the other is guilty, we believe both of you and you both get fifty years in prison, because we're actually nice people, and we reward good behavior."

"Oh… so it's a Mystery Deal."

"What??"

The man in seastone handcuffs started laughing. "You're funny!"

"You brainless rubber bastard…"

"Commander!"

The Marine turned to the door with a livid look on his face. "What. Now," he barked.

The soldier stood at attention. "Roronoa Zoro refuses to speak, sir."

"Zoro?" said the man in handcuffs, cocking his head slightly. A furrow formed between his brows, unbeknownst to the Marines.

"To hell with him. Torture him. Break him. I don't care how, just make him talk."

"Aye-aye, sir." The younger man glanced at the man in handcuffs. "What about this one, Commander? How are you going to get him to talk?"

The commander grimaced. "No idea. Torture might work. He doesn't understand a word I'm saying, so maybe… pain will make him see my side of things."

"No."

"Huh?" The Marines stared incredulously at the black-haired man across the interrogation table. He had spoken! Coherently!

"Torture won't work," he said quietly. "On either of us." He looked up at the wide-eyed Marines. "All right, I've decided. Zoro did it."

There was silence in the room. Then:

"You can't decide that sort of thing!" said the Marines in unison.

"It doesn't matter," the commander said hurriedly, joy written on his face. "We now have enough evidence to convict Roronoa Zoro. Let's fill out this paperwork…"

"And I go free."

The Marine Commander looked up suddenly from the papers he was scribbling furiously on. "What was that?"

"That was the deal. One of us speaks, and that person goes free. I spoke. I go free."

The Marine stroked his goatee and gulped. "Well, you see, that wasn't exactly… um… I could have worded this –"

"It doesn't matter. You said I would go free. Or does your word mean nothing?"

The Marine Commander peered at the rubber man. "You… have a point." He sighed. "My honor dictates that I let you go."

He stood, stiffly gave the handcuff keys to his underling, and told him to escort the ex-prisoner to his ship. Once the two had left the interrogation room, the commander sat down again to fill out Roronoa Zoro's conviction papers. He felt vaguely uneasy about the whole deal. But why should he? He had given the two prisoners the ultimate dilemma, and as a result, he had caught one of them. Sure, he would have liked to catch both, but one was okay. And the brainless one surely couldn't survive on his own for an extended period of time without getting caught again. So really, he, the Marine Commander, had won the day.

He cleared his throat. "Nothing to worry about," he convinced the empty room.

The Marine Commander's first mistake was in assuming Monkey D. Luffy was an idiot. When it came to his nakama, Luffy was anything but stupid, especially if it could cost them their lives or their dreams. So the commander could not have known that Luffy would even think of outsmarting him, or that he would figure out how to.

His second mistake was setting the man free.

As soon as the Marine soldier had freed him at the docks and his back was turned, Luffy darted down a side street, keeping the parapets of the Marine fort in his line of sight. Closer and closer he drew to the white-walled citadel. He spotted a window and shouted, "Gomu Gomu no… Rocket!" launching himself into the air and crashing through the glass, only to find himself in a carpeted hallway with no one around. "Damn! Gotta find Zoro. Where is everybody?"

He took off down the hall, down two flights of stairs, opening all the doors he came across. Upon opening the fifth door, he slammed it shut again before realizing there were people in that room. He quickly opened it again. "Where are you keeping Zoro?"

It was the armory, and inside were two lowly Marines polishing the swords. They stared at him as though he were crazy. "H-hey! Who are you and how did you get in here?!" one asked.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I got in through the window."

The men were shocked. "B-b-but, the windows are bulletproof!"

"I don't have time for this! Where is Zoro? Tell me, or I'll kick your asses! Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!" A second later, the Marines, squinting at him with their swollen black eyes, gave him directions to the holding cells.

The Marine Commander swaggered as he walked into Zoro's cell. The convicted man was chained to the wall – no, wait, was he –

"Wake up, you scum!" the Marine Commander said, kicking the snoring form. He raised his hand to swat the man with the conviction scroll, but he was interrupted by a fist punching down the cell wall.

"Yahhhhhhh!" cried Luffy as he ran through the wreckage to where the commander was standing, disbelief etched on his face.

"You… how… what is… how did you…"

"Zoro!" said Luffy brightly. "I found you! Yosh."

Zoro looked his captain over. Barely out of breath, smiling, cuts everywhere… "Luffy, did you run through a window?" he asked, mildly concerned.

"Nope. Flew through it."

"Ah. Wait – Where are my swords, baka?!"

"Damn!" said Luffy, bringing his fist down on his upturned palm. "I knew I forgot something. Hold on, Zoro!" he called back over his shoulder as he ran back the way he came.

Zoro sighed exasperatedly and waited for the Marine Commander to get over the shock of seeing a man punch through a wall.

"Swords, swords… Where would they be? Aha!" Luffy looked up at the ceiling and tried to remember which floor the armory was on. "Hmm," he muttered angrily. "Oh well. Gomu Gomu no… Pistol!" he cried, sending his fist up through all of the floors. He grabbed onto something and shot up through the fragments falling back down to the holding cell level. After a bit of racing around and opening and shutting doors, he found the armory again. "Where are Zoro's swords?" he asked the two men. They needed no encouragement, and simply tossed the three katana across the room to him.

When he returned triumphantly to the lowest floor, he saw the Marine Commander still staring stupidly at his hole in the wall. He ignored him and held the swords out to Zoro. "Ready?"

"Aye, captain," Zoro replied, smirking. He took the white katana in his teeth and slashed his bonds.

Minutes later, the two friends exited the Marine fortress. As it collapsed behind them, Luffy put his hands behind his head and leaned back, taking in the sunshine. He laughed. "Yosha! We showed them! Right, Zoro?"

"Oi. You didn't have to destroy the building, Luffy."

The rubber man merely laughed again.

They walked to the dock in silence, a very confident Luffy grinning the whole way. A thought occurred to him as they approached the sea. "I'm glad you didn't say anything, Zoro. Arigatou."

"Yeah, well, I figured you would."

Luffy cocked his head, thinking. "But that means you knew you would be locked up."

Zoro looked at the sky. "Yeah, I guess it does. But I didn't think I would be. I knew you would come."

Luffy pressed his hat down on his head and stared at the horizon. "I will always return for you, Zoro."

The solemn older man let a smile spread across his face.