Shellfish Island.

It was a quaint, sleepy little town set around a large bay with a stunning view of the ocean. There was a small mountain behind it, and forests to either side, the greenery sloping down and giving way to soft gold sand. It was a nice place, I supposed. Nice if you wanted to retire and fish all day or raise kids. So…nice, but not fun. At least, not my definition of fun.

The Marine Base tower looming over the town was a pretty big deterrent to any of my particular brand of Fun To Be Had, considering that I was unlikely to find a good fight here. Which was alright with me.

No, really. It's fine.

After all, haggling with merchants is kind of like fighting, right?

"You don't know what you're talking about, kid. This is fine steel! Best in the town for hunting supplies! I can't part with this for less than 200 beli."

I quirked an eyebrow upward, and reached out to delicately tap the metal of the dagger with my knuckle, and frowned at the ringing noise that came from it. "That doesn't sound like high quality steel. In fact, it sounds like too much sulfur was used during forging. I'm not going to buy low-quality daggers."

The merchant frowned mightily, which did interesting things to his flabby jowls. I found myself unable to look away, disgusted and intrigued at the same time.

"Look kid, it's the best I've got in stock right now." He glanced around, then leaned forward as if imparting a great secret. "The Marine Captain up at the base came through a few days ago and bought all the good steel from all of the merchants. We're making do with what we've got, but we won't have production back up for another two days."

Two days, huh?

I frowned, then nodded to myself. "I'll be back when you've actually got good product in then."

The man sighed, then raked his eyes down me, making a judgement call based on my weather beaten clothes. "If you're looking for a berth in the meantime, Lena's Room and Board is the best in town, cheap drinks and rooms."

My lips stretched into a smile as I relaxed. "Pegged me for a sailor pretty quickly there old man. You do any traveling yourself?"

He grinned. "Oh, a bit. You know how it is to be young and full of wanderlust." His expression grew serious again. "And be careful around the marines here."

He's warning me away from them? Interesting. Something's up.

"I'll be careful, old man. Thanks for the heads up."

I adjusted my sea bag over my shoulder and continued on into town. It was still a pretty town, but the feeling of 'nice' I'd gotten from it earlier had evaporated in wake of the strange warning about the town's marines. Everywhere I looked, I got the sense of wrongness, like a bump you keep scratching but the itch won't fade. People clustered together in small groups, talking quietly. Kids being hushed by mothers whose eyes kept glancing behind them. People constantly on edge, like someone is about to come hurt them or take away their families. I kept the frown off of my face as I stepped up into the shade of a patio, and opened the door of a building marked "Lena's Room and Board" in bold white letters.

The front of the building seemed to be the dining area, and it was moderately filled with people who didn't even glance up at me as I walked in and took a place at the bar, setting my bag down beside me. A harried looking woman with dark hair and eyes bustled up and set a water down in front of me, then disappeared into the back. Over the hum of patrons I could vaguely hear her worriedly call for someone.

Her kid, maybe? She looks old enough to be a mom.

When she came back out, I flagged her down. It took her a second to notice me, but she came over quickly enough.

"Hello sir! Have you decided what to order?"

I appraised her, eyed the other clientele, then leaned forward to speak in a soft voice. "I just got into town, but I couldn't help but notice how jumpy everyone is. Is there something going on?"

Shit, she looks like she's going to cry. Fuck, please don't cry, please don't cry…..awwww hell.

I tried not to panic as the woman started telling me about a corrupt marine lieutenant who terrorized the town and let his son do whatever he liked and how this nice young man had saved her daughter and gotten taken away by the marines and now she can't find her daughter and she can't go look for her because she's got the shop to run and…

I panicked.

"I'll go find your daughter!" I interrupted hastily, trying to ignore the other customers who were giving me death glares for making the woman cry. She, however, stopped crying as suddenly as she had begun, and beamed at me. I swallowed nervously at the abrupt change of emotion.

"You will! Thank you! Her name is Rika. She's 7 years old, with black hair in pigtails, and she was wearing a pink striped dress today."

I hastily dug in my pockets for some money, and shoved it at the woman. "Could you watch my bag for me? I was going to get a room here tonight, so if you could consider this a down payment…"

You're starting to babble. Shut up.

The woman's thanks followed me as I left the building. I leaned against a wall and groaned as my stomach grumbled. "I didn't even get to eat!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of pink. My head whipped around and I grinned at the sight of a tiny girl sneaking around the corner with a package in her hand.

Found you already! It's my lucky day!

It was not my lucky day.

I had overtaken the kiddo sure enough, but when I asked why she was carrying around some onigiri, she told me all about her 'Big Brother' who had saved her from some kid named Helmeppo.

Helmeppo? Really? Who names their kid something like that? Dude's parents must hate him.

Anyway, it seemed as if this schlep – hey, Schleppo! That's what I'll call him.- had some huge wolf who he let run wild. The wolf attacked Rika, and was killed by a kid with green hair and three swords.

Which sounds really familiar, why is that familiar…Aw fuck. Roronoa Zoro? The Pirate Hunter?

So long story short, the onigiri were for Zoro, who had been imprisoned by Schleppo for killing the wolf. And Rika wasn't going home until 'Big Brother' got fed. And I wasn't going back without Rika. Ergo, I was off to help a kid find a bounty hunter who was likely to be irritable due to hunger.

And I've got a ten million beli bounty on my head. Awesome.

I tugged the hood of my jacket down further over my face as I trotted along behind the tiny slip of a girl, who was beginning to look nervous.

"Oi, oi, what's that look for?" I asked her. She bit her lip and looked down.

"Well, there's a really tall wall where Brother is. I need a ladder to climb over it." She replied, and I grinned at her.

"A ladder, huh?"

"Uh huh. There's one behind Mr. Dek's shop."

Awww, look at the little burgeoning outlaw! 'Borrowing' things already!

"Well, let's go get it then!" I decided, ruffling her hair and grinning at her displeased squawk.

When we reached the compound, there were two kids already there. One had a straw hat and red vest, and the other looked like a cabin boy. He also had pink hair, and coke bottle glasses. Nerd.

Ahem.

"So this is the place then, yea?" I asked Rika, who nodded at me. I cracked my neck, then swung the 'borrowed' ladder off my shoulder and placed it against the wall. "You gonna be okay jumping down?"

"Yep!" she replied, and scampered up. She looked at the two boys and shushed them imperiously. It was all I could do to not laugh.

She's a mini Hancock! All she needs is to look so far down her nose at them that she's looking up!

She scooted over the side of the wall and dropped to the ground below as I took her place, sitting casually on the wall, kicking my feet out. The pink haired kid next to me half-heartedly tried to stop her. "Hey, Stop! That's dangerous!" He loudly whispered at her. He tugged at my sleeve to get my attention. It took a bit.

That's…definitely Roronoa Zoro.

"Stop her! She could be killed!" The pink haired kid was trying to recruit the straw hat to the rescue effort now. I sighed, and rubbed my face.

"Look kid, she's not going to get hurt." I told him.

"How are you so sure?" He snapped at me.

"I'm not hungry! Go away!"

My head snapped up to watch the Pirate Hunter and Rika carefully, and winced as I saw a small group of marines heading towards the grounds from the main base.

I moved, and was by Rika in seconds, hefting her with one arm. "We'll be back after the marines are gone. Roronoa, we weren't here." I bit out, and raced back to the wall, vaulting it just in time.

An annoying voice floated over the wall. "Roronoa Zoro! It's such a pleasant day!"

"Tch. Well if it isn't the lieutenant's bastard son." And apparently Roronoa sounded even more growly when angry. I set Rika down and hushed her before climbing the ladder to watch what was going on.

A stupid looking blond haired fop was talking to Roronoa, with two marines standing behind him like bodyguards. "I didn't think you'd have this kind of endurance! Do you really think you can make it one whole month? It's only been nine days, and look how pitiful you are!"

I kinda really want to punch this blond kid. That's gotta be Schleppo.

"You had better keep your promise." Roronoa rumbled at Schleppo. The fop laughed and began to leave.

"Oh, I'll keep it. You stay alive one whole month, and you're free to go."

My eyes narrowed.

I wouldn't trust that kid as far as I could throw him.

"Big Brother! Is it safe to come up now?" Rika interrupted me from my thoughts of drop kicking blond haired idiots.

I dropped from the wall and scooped her up, grinning widely.

"Yup! Let's go give those onigiri to your knight in sour armor!"

"I heard that." An annoyed voice grumbled from beyond the wall. I chuckled, and started back up the ladder for what was hopefully the last time.

"Hey, hood guy! What's your name?" the kid in the straw hat caught my attention.

"Kai. And you are?"

"Monkey D. Luffy! I'm going to be the Pirate King!" The kid had a million watt smile. "You're really fast! Want to join my pirate crew!"

W-what?

After choking on thin air for a few seconds, I set Rika down on the edge of the wall and stared hard at Luffy.

He's serious. Eh….why the hell not. After all, I need to get back to Grand Line anyway.

"Sure, why not." I agreed easily. The pink haired kid's eyes grew incredibly big and he began shrieking.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

Luffy laughed, and then hushed him, looking at Roronoa and Rika intently.

"You gonna try to recruit Roronoa too?" I asked him, following his gaze. He nodded, watching the swordless swordsman eat the onigiri Rika gave him. He swallowed the last bite with an almost indiscernable grimace on his face while Rika watched him with those huge puppy eyes.

"It was good. Thanks."

I smiled.

He's not such a bad guy.

I hopped down from the fence. "Oi, come on Rika. I'm gonna send you home with the pink haired kid, alright? Let's get you outta here before more soldiers come."

"Okay. Bye big brother!" She trotted over to me, arms outstretched, and I swung her up and onto the top of the wall with help from the pink haired kid and Luffy.

"Oh, pink hair."

"My name is Coby!"

"Coby then. Get Rika home."

"O-okay!"

While I handed Rika off to the pinkette, Luffy jumped down from the wall and walked over to stand in front of Roronoa. The swordsman stared at him for a few moments before groaning resignedly.

"You haven't left yet? Get out of here."

"Nah. Don't want to. I'm looking for people to join my pirate crew." Luffy said bluntly, with a smile.

Roronoa blinked, then let his head thunk against the wood behind him. "Pirate? So you just gave up on life and became a criminal."

Luffy frowned at him. "It's my dream. There's nothing wrong with being a pirate."

"So what? Don't tell me you're gonna set me free and force me to join you." Roronoa said sarcastically, and with what I thought was a bit of humor.

"Eh…I haven't decided yet. Everyone thinks you're a bad guy."

"A bad guy, huh." The swordsman coughed a bit, then straightened as much as he was able to. "Look, I'm never gonna join you. I have things I need to take care of. I'll be fine even if you don't help me. I just need to stay alive for one month, and then that bastard kid will let me go, so I'm gonna do everything I can to stay alive and fulfill my dreams."

Luffy beamed at him. "Really!?"

Roronoa nodded. "That's why we're different, so go find someone else to join you."

I laughed, and they both turned to look at me. "I like him, Captain." I said. I strode up, unscrewing the lid from my canteen and thrusting it into Roronoa's face.

"Hey, Kai, are you a vampire?" Luffy asked artlessly. I blinked twice before answering him.

"No."

"I've never seen anyone with red eyes before though!"

"Vampires don't have red eyes, Luffy." Roronoa was leaning away from the canteen. "It's just water, stubborn swordsman. Drink it before you dehydrate."

Roronoa kept his glare up for a few more moments before closing his eyes in resignation and taking a few sips.

"Hey Kai, let's go back to town." Luffy said from over by the wall.

When did he get over there?

"Giving up on Roronoa so quickly?" I called back.

"Nope!"

"Eh, alright. Coming."

I upended the contents of the rest of the canteen over the swordsman in an impromptu shower and left him spluttering as I followed Luffy back to town.

We found Coby and Rika at the entrance to town, and after pointedly grilling Coby about why he didn't take Rika home I leaned against a wall as she explained what happened to them.

"He didn't do anything wrong! He got arrested because of me. He killed Helmeppo's pet wolf because Helmeppo let his wolf run around and everyone was scared of it." She said sadly.

"So you're saying that he only was arrested for killing Helmeppo's pet wolf?" Luffy clarified with a dawning smile.

Coby straightened his glasses with a thoughtful expression. "You're right…So maybe he has a bad temper, but chasing down pirates isn't enough of a crime to get him arrested."

Rika nodded angrily and sat down next to Luffy. "The only bad guys are the Morgans! You'll get executed if you disobey them, so everyone is scared of them." She huffed. I sighed and pulled my hood back up over my head. Luffy started to say something, but was interrupted by the worst sounding laughter I'd heard yet coming from the main thoroughfare.

"Who dares raise his head! I'll tell my dad!"

It's that annoying voice again.

The four of us peeked around the corner to see Schleppo strutting down the road, the townspeople bowing down on their hands and knees to either side of him.

"Do you want to be like Roronoa Zoro? I'm gonna publicly execute him in three days. I'll use him to set an example to the rest of you! It'll be interesting!" He laughed nastily again. Luffy perked up at his words with a slight frown.

"Three days?" Luffy stepped around the corner to face the blond idiot. "Didn't you say you'll give him a month?"

Schleppo sneered at him. "What a rude person! I was only joking with him. Only an idiot would believe that I'd give him a month! Urk!" Luffy punched him in the face, and I grinned as Coby raced to hold Luffy back.

Yea, I like this kid.

"Luffy, stop! Do you want to piss the marines off or something?" He yelled. Luffy shrugged him off.

"Coby, I've decided. I'm going to ask Zoro to join me!" He stated firmly, without hesitation. Coby started freaking out even more as the townspeople erupted into frantic exclamations.

"Stop! They're marines!"

"I don't care! A bastard is still a bastard!"

The fop was helped into a sitting position by his two marine attendants, and shakily held a hand to the side of his face. "H-how dare you hit me! Even my dad hasn't hit me!"

I chuckled as I stepped around the corner as well. "That's because you aren't even worth his time to hit. Man, I've never seen someone so pathetic before." I said calmly, pausing to scoop up Luffy's hat.

Schleppo rounded on me. "I'M MARINE LIEUTENANT MORGAN'S SON! I'LL TELL HIM ABOUT THIS!"

Kid, I'm getting sick of your shit.

I rolled my shoulders in what could have been called a shrug. "Daddy this, daddy that. Can't you do anything for yourself, you damn brat?"

The townspeople reeled in shock, and Luffy took a step forward, but Coby clung to him tighter than a barnacle. "Fight me yourself!" He demanded.

Schleppo got to his feet, supported by his flunkies. "You'll regret hitting me! You'll get a death sentence for it!"

Luffy huffed angrily, and I handed him his hat as the marine threesome took off down the street, their idiot charge still shouting threats.

"It's useless to puch people like him." Luffy said as he clapped his hat back onto his head.

"RIKA!"

I edged away from the frantic mother as she herded Rika away from us. Luffy laughed and waved goodbye to them before turning back towards the Marine base.

"We're gonna be in so much trouble! If the lieutenant gets mad he's going to send the marines after us!" Coby was still freaking out.

"We'll deal with it when the time comes! I want to go talk to Zoro again. Come on, Kai!" Luffy said with a grin. I fell in beside him, and glanced over at Coby.

"Oi, Coby. Why do you care so much what the marines do?" I asked, curious.

"I…I want to become a marine. It's my dream!"

This pipsqueak? That would take an act of Garp. But…it's not impossible.

"I see. That's a good dream."

"Eh?" The pinkette looked confused.

"If you want to become a marine to help protect people, that's a good thing." I stated firmly.

"If you think that, why did you join Luffy?" He asked.

"Hm? Oh. I've already got a bounty, and Luffy is an interesting person. I don't see any reason to not join his crew." Coby choked on his own saliva, and I pounded him on the back. "Besides, if Luffy is going to be the Pirate King, he'll need to head to Grand Line, and I've got business back there anyway." There was a pause.

"YOU'RE FROM GRAND LINE?" Coby shrieked in my ear.

"Zehra Kai, from Shabody Archipelago, at your service." I sketched a bow. Coby skittered backwards and I grinned beneath my hood.

"And you've already got a bounty?" He asked nervously.

"Ten million Beli."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!"

I snickered at him as we reached the wall of the base's execution grounds. "I got arrested in Loguetown when I first got to this Blue, and had to fight my way out. The marines didn't like that too much, apparently."

Luffy laughed again at Coby's horrified expression before climbing over the wall. I followed him over, stopping at the top before looking down at the pinkette. "You coming with?"

"You're…you're insane!" He exclaimed. I grinned at him, which seemed to unnerve him even more.

He's gonna need more guts to be a good marine.

"Grand Line native, remember?" I teased gently as he stormed off. I shook my head and swung off the wall, landing lightly on the dirt inside the grounds. He'd come around. I was sure of it.

"I don't care what they say about me!" Roronoa bit out as I straightened. "I haven't done a single thing that I regretted in the past, and it'll be the same for the future. I won't become a pirate!" He finished firmly. Luffy frowned at him.

"I don't care! You're going to join me!"

"DON'T DECIDE FOR YOURSELF!" Roronoa yelled at him. I chuckled.

I'm going to have fun making him loose his temper if he joins us.

"Hey, so I heard you use katanas, is that right?" Luffy changed the subject abruptly. Roronoa listed to one side, thrown off his pace.

"Well if I wasn't tied up I could." He said, sounding aggrieved.

"Where is it?" Luffy asked.

"That bastard kid took it. It's the thing that I treasure most other than my life." Roronoa replied.

"Ohh! Treasure, huh! Must be pretty great!" He nodded to himself, then grinned his million beli smile. "Okay! I'm gonna go find the bastard kid and get your katana back!"

"What?!"

"But if you want it back, you'll have to join me!"

"THAT'S DIRTY!" Roronoa yelled. I couldn't help but burst into laughter again.

"Pirates!" I sing-songed, a wide smile on my face.

"Okay! I'm going! Kai, stay here and watch Zoro!" Luffy ordered as he zoomed off, dust kicking up in his wake.

"Aye aye!"

"Oi! Wait!" Roronoa exclaimed, struggling against the ropes. He finally gave up, craning his head to watch Luffy scamper off. "Is he planning to sneak into the base! That idiot!"

I snickered at his reaction, and the swordsman turned his glare on me. We stared at each other silently for a few moments before I sighed.

Might as well tell him.

"Oi. Look, Helmeppo was fucking with you. He told the whole town that he was going to execute you in three days."

Roronoa's head rocked back. "What? No! We have a deal! He said.."

"I know what he said." I cut him off, running a hand down my face. "He lied. Bratty bastard kids do that. He was laughing when he told us. Luffy punched him in the face."

"Kai! Where's Luffy?"

I turned away from Roronoa to face Coby as he dropped down over the wall.

"He went inside the base to get the stubborn swordsman's sword." I replied.

"Inside the base?" Coby shook his head. "He's so hot headed." And with that, he marched right up to Roronoa and began undoing the ropes holding the swordsman up. I raised an eyebrow.

Did he finally get some courage?

"O-oi! If you help me, they'll kill you!" Roronoa barked at the pinkette.

"You shouldn't have been arrested! I hate corrupt marines! I'm going to become a real marine, just like Luffy is going to be the Pirate King!" Coby gritted out, struggling with the knots.

"What? P-Pirate King! You're joking, right?" Roronoa's jaw dropped.

I missed what Coby said next, because a glint from the top of the tower caught my eye.

What the..shit.

"GET BACK!" I shouted, knocking Coby out of the way as searing pain ripped through my left shoulder. I spun a bit with the impact, catching my balance unsteadily and wincing as I braced my shoulder with my right hand.

"Kai! KAI!" Coby started screaming as he realized what happened. Roronoa craned his neck to glare over his shoulder at the top of the marine base where the shot had come from.

"You're bleeding!" Coby panicked unnecessarily.

"Yea, I noticed." I gritted out, shedding my black half jacket to get at the wound better.

"You okay?" Roronoa asked as Coby fluttered about.

Ho? Sounding concerned?

"Yea. I'm fine." I said, forcing my voice to be even.

He scowled, then looked over his shoulder again as we heard shouts coming from outside the grounds.

"You two should run, they're almost here." He said.

"Like hell." I replied, unsheathing one of the daggers I kept in my boots and handing it to Coby. "Get his ropes off if you can." I ordered firmly, rising to my feet.

"We can't leave you here. They're going to kill you!" Coby told him, taking the dagger and moving to start getting Roronoa free.

"That's what Kai was telling me earlier." Roronoa said with an exasperated look.

Coby came to a decision. "Then you know the Navy won't let you guys just go. Look, I won't make you become a pirate, but Luffy saved me. He's very strong! If you guys join forces, you'll be able to get out of here!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" The marines had finally arrived, and were leveling muskets at us. I let a snarl pass my lips as I moved to a guard position in front of Roronoa and Coby. "YOU WHO HAVE BETRAYED LIEUTENANT MORGAN WILL DIE HERE!"

I growled, and rested a hand on the sheathed trench knife at my right hip just as a large guy with an axe for an arm stormed towards us.

"SURROUND THE BASE! DON'T LET THE GUY WITH THE STRAW HAT ESCAPE!" He bellowed at the marines surrounding him before focusing on us. I crouched a bit, muscles loose and ready for a fight.

This must be the lieutenant.

"How interesting. Planning to cause a little political upheaval?" His eyes roved over us. "Roronoa Zoro the Pirate Hunter. And Zehra Kai. You may be called 'Godhand', but don't underestimate me. Before me, you're just garbage." He said dismissively.

I laughed, short and sharp. "Underestimate you? Nah, I think I've got you pretty pegged. You think you can actually kill me? The entire Loguetown Marine HQ couldn't do that, so what makes you think you've got a chance?" Zoro made a faint choking noise behind me. The Lieutenant's face twisted angrily.

That is a lovely shade of puce.

"READY!" He shouted.

Coby began freaking out again.

"AIM!"

I took a deep breath.

"FIRE!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

And then Luffy fell from the sky and landed in front of me, arms stretched out.

"CAPTAIN!" I shouted, taking a step back in surprise as Luffy's skin stretched where the bullets had struck him. He tensed, and the skin snapped back into place, sending the bullets straight back at the marines with a yell and a laugh.

That's…a pretty wild Devil Fruit.

"W-WHAT KIND OF HUMAN ARE YOU?" Roronoa yelled from behind me.

Luffy turned away from the destruction he had caused with a fierce grin. "I'm the one who'll be the Pirate King!" He said simply.

Oi, oi. What kind of answer is that?

Coby passed out.

Luffy shoved three katanas in Roronoa's face eagerly as I shook my head and retrieved my dagger from the now comatose pinkette. "Look, which one of these is yours? I couldn't figure it out, so I brought all three." Luffy said.

"All three are mine. I use a three-sword style." Roronoa said, eyeing the katanas hungrily. I side-eyed him warily.

How does he hold the third one?

Luffy turned back around to face the gathered marines, katanas still in his hands. "Resisting the Navy with me here will make you an outlaw. Or would you rather die?" He asked.

Roronoa stared at him in disbelief. "You son of the devil. I'm not going to die here, so I'll join you and become a pirate." He said, with a slow grin. From the corner of my eye I noticed the marines beginning to charge us and decided to move things along.

"Alright! Let's get these off then." I said, cutting into their moment and ducking around Zoro to cut the ropes with my trench knife. It slid through them easily, and as the last one came off, Zoro shot up and forward. In one movement, he grabbed his swords from Luffy, barreled past him like a cannonball, and blocked every single sword that the marines swung down at him.

"AWESOME!" Luffy exclaimed, his eyes shining like stars.

"Not too shabby." Was my own lackluster reply as I sheathed my weapon.

So, the third katana goes in his mouth.

As I contemplated the jaw strength necessary to wield a katana in one's mouth, our new crewmember was glaring hard enough at the marines to make them alternatively piss their pants or cry. He grunted slightly, adjusting to the weight of roughly fifteen swords bearing down on him. "If any of you move, I'll kill you." I snorted as the crying became more pronounced.

I had forgotten how wimpy the Marines here in the Blues are.

Zoro's attention turned to Luffy now that he judged the Marines weren't a threat. "I told you I'd become a pirate with you. Either way, after all this, I'm going to be an outlaw. But. I still have my goals. I'm going to be the World's Greatest Swordsman! I don't care if my name is clean or not. Good guy, bad guy, it doesn't matter. All that matters is that my name is known worldwide." He said fiercely, and I grinned.

Yea, this was a good idea.

I was also trying to figure out how the hell he managed to talk with a sword in his mouth.

"If you do something to get in the way of my goal, I'll kill you." He finished with a low growl, and Luffy laughed at his ultimatum.

"Since you're going to be the Pirate King's crewmember, being the Number One Swordsman in the world is a good thing! It'd be embarrassing if you couldn't accomplish such a small thing!" He said with a smile, and Zoro grinned at him.

"Well said."

"What about you, Kai? What's your dream?" Luffy asked me suddenly. I shifted my weight to one leg and frowned.

"I need to find someone. And kill him." I replied seriously.

"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR? FINISH THEM OFF!" the Lieutenant yelled from the back. Luffy grinned and brought his leg up.

"Zoro, duck!" He said with a happy smile as Zoro's eyes widened.

"RUBBER…"

Zoro ducked.

"…LEG SWEEPER!" Luffy yelled as he kicked out, his foot stretching far beyond what a baseline human was capable of. He clotheslined all the marines, sending them flying backwards, and his leg snapped back to normal.

He's like a human rubber band. Ah. Of course.

"Ok, really, what are you?" Zoro asked incredulously as he got to his feet and sheathed his swords. Luffy patted his still-outstretched leg, and smiled.

"I'm a rubber man!" He said, and Zoro face faulted.

Ahhh, that's never going to get old.

"A DEVIL FRUIT?"

I dragged my eyes down to the revived pinkette who was tugging on the front of my shirt. "Oh, Coby. You're awake?"

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?"

Choosing to ignore his histrionics, I untangled his hands from my shirt and stepped around him to look at our enemies, but pulled up short at what I saw.

"What the hell?" I snapped, and Zoro spun around.

The marines were nervously holding their pistols to their own heads, fingers on triggers, while Morgan strode forward.

"The hell are those idiots doing?" Zoro spat, starting forward to stop them, but Luffy got there first.

"Hey! I'm your enemy! Execute me if you have the guts!" Luffy yelled, catching the descending axe hand of the lieutenant before it could bash into a marine. Coby cheered Luffy on while Zoro and I watched in silence.

"You have no right to oppose me! I'm Marine Lieutenant Axe Hand Morgan!" The large man shouted as he dramatically threw his coat off his shoulders.

"That…is a stupid name." I muttered into the hand now covering my face. Zoro snorted.

"I'm Luffy! Nice to meet you!" My captain said politely while dodging Morgan's swing. The force from said swing split the chain link fence separating the execution grounds from the main base like a hot knife through butter.

What's with that politeness?

"DON'T GREET HIM SO POLITELY!" I yelled at him. Zoro started chuckling as I groaned, reaching up to massage the bridge of my nose to stave off the incoming headache.

"His swing split the fence in half!" Coby exclaimed.

"Yea. It's not that hard to do." I commented, beginning to feel tired.

I wish I had at least eaten today.

"Kai, are you okay? You look really pale!" Coby was tugging at my shirt again.

"Eh, I'm fine. Tired and a little hungry. Probably not as hungry as this stubborn guy though." I said, jerking my thumb in Zoro's general direction.

"You're still bleeding too! Hang on a second." He let go of my shirt and scampered off behind me. I shrugged my good shoulder at Zoro's questioning look and kept an eye on Luffy's fight.

The little bouncy ball is a pretty impressive fighter. And he's only going to get better.

"WAIT!"

I recognized the annoying voice as Schleppo's, and turned just as Luffy delivered a stunning punch to Morgan's face.

"I told you to wait!" Schleppo yelled again. I let my hand fall to the trench knife on my belt again as I started to get angry.

The bastard was holding a gun to Coby's head.

"If you move, I'll shoot him!" Schleppo said shakily as I took a step forward, leaning forward slightly.

"No, you won't." I said, pasting a dangerous smirk on my face as I tapped my foot on the ground behind me.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Coby was trembling as he gripped my discarded jacket in one hand, but stood taller than I'd ever seen him before.

"Luffy! I don't want to be in your way! I'm not afraid to die!" He shouted defiantly, and I found myself feeling proud.

There's that spine I was waiting to see.

"I know!" called Luffy from behind me as I widened my smirk at the fop.

"Hear that, Shcleppo? He's not afraid of death. So what you're doing is pointless." I said silkily.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"LUFFY! BEHIND YOU!" Coby screamed, and Helmeppo's hand twitched as I heard Zoro shift behind me.

Tap.

It took me a split second to cross the gap.

I spun, hooking my foot behind Helmeppo's ankles before he could adjust his stance, and gripped the wrist holding the gun with my good hand as he fell. He hit the ground, and I squeezed. He screamed as his wrist broke under the pressure, and I pried the gun away from his twitching fingers and tossed it into a corner of the yard.

"You okay?" I asked Coby as I straightened. He nodded frantically before his eyes focused on something over my shoulder.

"Nice!" Luffy cheered at me, and I turned to face him just as Morgan hit the ground heavily.

Ah. Morgan tried for a back attack, and Zoro stopped him.

The swordsman tapped his sword against his shoulder with a satisfied smirk as Luffy praised him. "Leave it to me, Captain." Was his simple reply.

I took my jacket back from Coby and slung it over my good shoulder as we began to walk back towards the group. Zoro leaned towards the marines with a dark glare.

"If you still want to arrest us, come and get us." He teased them.

The marines looked at one another, then at us, then at Morgan, then back to each other. A long moment passed. Then they started cheering and whooping and celebrating.

"What." I said flatly.

Zoro suddenly wobbled, and started to collapse. I moved, and caught him just before he hit the ground.

Damn. Heavier than he looks.

"Zoro?" Luffy asked, looking confused. Coby was going into hysterics yet again behind him. I ignored them both in favor of checking Zoro's pulse at his wrist.

"He's just sleeping, captain." I answered the unasked question. Luffy nodded and moved to help me with our sleeping swordsman. We grinned at each other as we left the Marine base the sounds of celebration going on behind us.

This…is going to be fun.