Chapter 3: Sword of Nice to Meet You 1/2

A Good Ship

Xipholynx

Summary: Reincarnation doesn't always land you in the same type of body as your previous one. Luffy sets sail from his home in a living ship and goes on a journey to "to gather a crew, find the greatest treasures, have the greatest adventures and to become King of the Pirates." AU

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters, settings, etc. of One Piece are the property of Oda Eiichiro. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Three: Sword of Nice to Meet You

A sword never jams, never has to be reloaded, is always ready. Its worst shortcoming is that it takes great skill and patient, loving practice to gain that skill; it can't be taught to raw recruits in weeks, nor even months. - Robert A Heinlein

"Triton looked over to his daughter and his heart softened. Keeping her from pursuing her dream was not what he had wanted to do. He had only wanted her to be safe. Now knowing that Ariel would be safe on Captain Eric's crew from witnessing him help destroy Ursula first hand was enough for him to agree to allow Ariel to leave and be on Eric's crew.

Ariel was thrilled. Even without being human she was fully accepted by the entire crew and joined up as the official musician of the crew. She spent the rest of her life free, having pirate adventures and exploring the surface world with her new captain who helped her see everything the surface world had to offer. The adventures they had on land, however, must be told at another time."

"Aw, no fair. You always stop at a good part Dawn." Luffy complained at the figurehead he was currently sprawled out on top of. "Stop being so mean!"

"Luffy? I don't think Dawn is trying to be mean. We're coming up to Shell Town right now to dock at their port." Ann explained as she lowered the simple spyglass Dawn had given to her the day they set off from Goat Island. This was done in order for Ann to keep a lookout from the deck since she seemed to be antsy with nothing to do. Koby took the job of navigating the course to the island while Dawn took up the job of keeping the group a bit entertained. Luffy just did what he felt like doing.

"We're finally at Shelly Town! Great job, Koby!" Luffy said as he spotted the island coming closer.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Koby asked, feeling a mix between excitement and apprehension over arriving at the marine town already, as he stashed his sea chart for the Goa region and adjacent Valerian region away in his only satchel.

"I mean we reached where we wanted to go and Ann didn't even need to fly ahead of us with Balloon to find the island," Luffy explained.

"I just used the most basic of navigational skills. The barkeeper on Goat Island even told us the direction to go towards. If you can't navigate or get a navigator to join you then you'll never make it to the Grand Line."

"I want to see the swordsman to decide if I want him to join my crew." Luffy declared offhandedly as the docks came into clear view.

Koby freaked out at his intent, having thought that Luffy's mention of his plan a few days ago had only been a brief whim that should've already been forgotten. "Remember what the barman said. He was arrested here on this island! The famous bounty hunter whose name is Roronoa Zoro! He's a bloody animal! He hunts down pirates and cuts them up into pieces! He's a man, known as "the demon", he could seriously hurt you and Ann and you really want someone like that to be on your crew?"

Luffy simply smiled and said, "I haven't decided yet. Depends on whether he is a good guy or not."

"He is a bad guy! That's why he was caught!"

While Koby was shouting at Luffy and trying fruitlessly to stop Luffy from doing what he wanted to do Ann was using the spyglass to look up over to the distant high walls of the marine base at the far side of the little town. Even from down here at the docks without the spyglass, she probably would've been able to spot the tall carved stone statue of an imposing marine with a metal-plated lower jaw, a raised arm with an axe as a prosthetic and a very menacing glare. It was kind of an eyesore.

"Balloon, you should either stay here with Dawn in the cargo hold or up beyond the lower clouds for now." Ann requested to her lounging friend only to get a squawk of protest from the loyal roc. "I just don't want any of these marines to get a chance to get a look at you."

Balloon gave Ann an angry gwark but seeing that Ann's request was serious cawed in frustration but gave her a quick nuzzle before ruffling his feathers at her, dropping a molted few from his wings and took off into the sky. There was no way he was getting stuck in the cargo hold when he had the option to fly. Not to mention this way he'd be able to come quickly if Ann needed him. Ann watched him go but he was hidden above the clouds within one blink and the next. Ann picked his molted feathers up from the deck and added them into her pocket next to her collapsed spyglass and leaned on Dawn's mast as they approached the docks.

"Luffy. Seagull or squirrel?" Dawn called out to Luffy, feeling indecisive over which lure shape to take as they got closer to dock her.

"Shark!" Luffy demanded to which Dawn ignored.

"Seagull it is then," Dawn said and noticing Luffy's disappointed pout caved in to his request by saying. "I'll do a shark one at the same time then. (I need to practice water lures anyway.)"

Koby watched in fascination as out from the top of the mast grew a tangle of vegetation and flowers that budded into two separate forms the first took the shape of a seagull before it detached and flew over to stand on top of Luffy's straw hat. It looked like a green feathered gull with purple marks where the black feathers tended to be with bright yellow colored beak, legs, and feet. The second form was a predominantly green shark with purple fins, large purple polka dots and a yellow underbelly that grew to about seven feet long before detaching from the mast and splashing down into the water next to the ship to Luffy's delight. He seemed a second away from sticking his hand in the water to pet the shark-shaped lure on the head.

"So you don't only make bird shapes?" Koby asked, watching the colorful shark swimming among the other docked boats in curiosity, to which neither Luffy and Dawn replied to right away as Dawn went alongside the pier looking for a clear spot for Dawn to moor.

It was Ann instead who responded to his question. "When I first met Luffy Dawn was shaped like a lizard now that I think of it. She might just take the shape of any animal that she wants."

"Any animal I've eaten actually." Dawn supplied as her figurehead smiled showing off her now sharp-looking dragon teeth surprising Ann and causing Koby to pale and step off the deck to the dock a bit faster than was necessary.

"You're carnivorous?" He yelped in dread once he was out of reach from her figurehead.

"I'm an omnivore." Dawn corrected. "Aside from plants and animals, I can also eat glass, shell, ash, organic gems and metal but not energy or rocks that are too hard for me to process. So I could eat pearls and coral but not diamonds, granite of lightning. Eating animals gives me the energy to speak, move and do some other things. Plants and other things are used to repair myself and make things like rope and canvas or to make my lures. I need to practice using my water lures anyway since fish and seafood will definitely be my main source of food while we're out on the open sea."

"Well, let's see if we can find out more about this Zoro guy and drop Koby off," Ann said as they left the docks and walked into town. There were a few people around though both Ann and Dawn realized quickly they seemed very skittish, miserable and sad. Once they got to town Luffy nodded his head and spoke as though he was a king making a proclamation (because of course he was).

"We'll go our separate ways here! Do your best to become a great marine, alright?" Luffy said with a wide smile as he pat Koby on the back encouragingly. (Better Koby than him to be stuck somewhere Grandpa Garp could find him instead of Luffy. Koby would be a worthy sacrifice to the cause. The fact that Garp still was insane enough to decide Luffy would change his mind to become a marine after over ten years of wanting to be a pirate was a mystery no one would ever be able to solve.)

"I will!... Thank you so much Luffy, you have to become a great pirate too (even though we'll be enemies in the future.)" Koby said as he wept tears of gratitude.

"I wonder if Zoro is still being kept in the marine's base." Luffy wondered out loud and watched in fascination as the few people around them seemingly lost their collective minds, yelping and yelling while they flinched collectively further away from the group. Ann stepped to stand closer beside Luffy, noticing all the extra attention they seemed to be getting now. At least people would probably stare at Luffy more than her.

Koby observed the slight chaos that erupted around them and said, "Zoro's name must be taboo in this town. It's a good thing Captain Morgan's around to keep this town safe."

If the name Zoro caused an awkward reaction it was nothing compared to the absolute pandemonium that came from mentioning the name of Morgan. Women shrieked in terror - grown men wailed in horror - children wept in despair - and nearly everyone who had been in the streets ducked into their homes and businesses. The street within fifteen seconds was as empty as a ghost town.

Luffy began to laugh, the over the top reaction had been hilarious looking. Ann frowned in contemplation and started walking towards a shop while Koby and Luffy unconsciously followed her. Koby, however, was concerned over the reaction and said, "That was weird. I could understand if they fear Zoro since he could escape from the marines at any time and go on a rampage through town but why would everyone be so afraid of a marine captain?"

"Well, he could've done something bad right?" Luffy suggested which incensed Koby.

"What? No way! Marines are the good guys." Koby denied adamantly.

"I think Luffy's right," Ann said in support of her captain's suggestion, to which Koby gave her a wounded look over, but Ann pointed at something and added. "Take a look at this."

A wooden sign was hammered into the ground in front of the doorway of a dark and empty restaurant which read in eerily jagged lettering: 'Anyone who helps criminals will be executed as a criminal. By order of Captain Morgan.'

Koby worriedly read the sign and asked, "What's going on here?"

The voice of a woman spoke up from beside them. A matronly woman bravely provided more information to the group of outsiders. "If you're looking for the owner of the place she and her daughter are locked up with the demon in the market square. They're due to be executed soon but I don't have the heart (or stomach) to watch."

The ragtag group made their way to the market square only to come up to a sizable crowd mostly near the edges of the market square, avoiding the temporarily built scaffolding in the middle where three figures were chained with new steel chains and shackles awaiting their apparent execution. Amazingly there were no guards or marines around, simply the townsfolk. Morgan's rule was absolute in this small town and he knew no one was bold or stupid enough to dare to defy his actions.

Luffy frowned in contemplation now that he finally could look at the person he had wanted to see. The male prisoner was a muscular young man of average height with warmly tanned skin. He had three identical gold earrings on his left earlobe, wore a black bandana around his head, black trousers tucked inside black boots, a plain white shirt with three undone buttons at the collar, and a green haramaki around his waist. His only other remarkable feature seemed to be green hair that could be seen poking slightly out from under the black bandana.

"So that's Zoro, huh? Those chains look easy to escape from to me." Luffy said as he looked closely at the new thick steel chains holding Zoro's arms and legs securely to both himself and the scaffold. The wood of the scaffold where the chains were secured was splintering but not breaking and his shoulders and legs looked strained.

"You're made of rubber so you have an escape advantage regardless," Dawn said as she landed on Ann's shoulder. "Look - you can see he's pulling to break his arms out of his chains as hard as he can without causing a scene. He'll end up breaking or dislocating both his arms and legs soon if he doesn't stop soon though. If the scaffold was gone he could move freely."

"How awful," Ann said wincing as she watched the little girl sniffle and try to wipe her face but wasn't able to do so from the chains that were holding her shackles to the floor of the scaffold.

"Are they really that bad? I know public executions are meant to be for dangerous criminals. Why are that girl and the lady up there too?" Koby asked a stoic faced man in the gathered crowd.

The man gritted his teeth and harshly snarled. "It's an injustice over why those three are up there, that's what it is! It was Helmeppo, that brat son of Captain Morgan, who started all this. Ririka runs a restaurant in town and her daughter Rika was going to be mauled by Helmeppo's pet wolf about three weeks ago. That bounty hunter, Zoro slew the beast before it could get to her though. Helmeppo was a brat and threatened to turn Ririka and Rika into his father but agreed that if Zoro could last thirty days imprisoned without any food all three would be released without punishment."

"If that's true then why are they being executed together now?" Ann asked with some distress as she stroked Dawn's false feathers to try and calm herself down. Seeing the way Zoro was straining his arms made her own ache a little.

"Rika snuck over to the marine base yesterday in order to try to get some food over to that Zoro kid. The marines literally tossed her out of there and she ended up with a broken arm. We thought that would be the last of it but Helmeppo decided to break his word and have Zoro executed early. Morgan found out about Rika sneaking into the base and decided to execute all three of them together. He ordered that they all be executed today at noon by hanging. It really is an unfortunate shame, I wish I could do something."

"Stop wishing and do something then since no one's guarding them," Luffy said as he watched Zoro closely trying to come up with what he wanted to do. He could practically hear his bones groaning from here. The villagers here seemed to be a bit wimpy (maybe even more than Koby had been).

"No way. I'd be executed myself if Morgan found out I helped them." The man denied as he shook his head and crossed his arms. "I wouldn't break them out for any treasure in any of the Four Blues."

Luffy's eyes seemed to brighten and he suddenly declared. "Hey! I got an idea!"

"Wait. What-?" Ann asked as she looked over to Luffy but he had already bounced away from the crowd and was fearlessly making his way to the scaffold. She sighed but followed after him a moment later. Koby smacked his hand to his face in exasperation and Dawn wasn't surprised at all. Once Luffy got going it was all or nothing for him.

"Psst! Hey! Psst! You three up there." Luffy called up to the three shackled figures on the scaffold trying to get their attention. The little girl with the bandages covering her face and cast around her arm looked over at him first with her mother looking over a moment later. Zoro with his arms still straining the shackles holding his arms behind his back and his feet shackled together however purposefully ignored him. Nobody could ignore Luffy for very long Zoro would soon discover as Luffy continued to talk.

"Me and my crew are pirates and want to find the best treasure on this island. We will break you out and help you escape and you can tell us where to find it." Luffy haggled shamelessly which caused Zoro to look at him and glare even harder (if that was possible).

Zoro considered Luffy's offer for only a split second before he said with a scary smile. "I'd probably do anything else you suggested at this point in order to stay alive and fulfill my dream - but my only treasure on this island is at the marine base and I'd die before I would let you have it."

"That's fine," Luffy said and turned his gaze to the woman beside Zoro.

The grown woman seemed sad and simply said. "My only treasure is my daughter and our lives."

Luffy nodded in agreement and turned his gaze to the little girl. She shamelessly (and obviously) lied and said. "Why don't you check the back alley behind mom's restaurant and follow the clues there to a treasure."

"Okay. We'll take that one. Hold on I'm gonna break the scaffold."

Wait. What?

The guiltless three death row prisoners had only a moment to be confused before Luffy reached a hand back and hit the base of the scaffold hard, breaking it into many pieces. Ann caught the little girl, Koby caught her mother and Zoro landed on his feet. With the scaffold destroyed it caused the three prisoners to become loosened from where they had been shackled to the scaffolding though they still had the shackles with dangling chains attached to their arms. Ann thought the way Zoro wore his made them look like gauntlets instead of restraints and feeling the chaotic ferocity of his aura increasing now that he was free to move decided to stand a tiny bit further away from him as she set the little girl down to stand on her own feet.

Luffy looked out to the crowd of gawking onlookers and theatrically said. "Shishishi! Go ahead and tell the marines that a pirate kidnapped these prisoners and they can't have them back. Bye-bye! What are you waiting for, let's go!"

Luffy's insane brand of encouragement spurned the semi-freed prisoners to finally make a break for it. Luffy led the way while Ann ran behind the group, keeping an eye out for any marines that might suddenly appear. (Koby shouted something about distracting the marines who would show up as he stayed behind, trying to calm the crowd of panicking onlookers on his own.)

Zoro hadn't felt this lost (emotionally that is) since Kuina had died years ago. He had to ask. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Monkey D Luffy and I'm going to be King of the Pirates! Nice to meet you!" Luffy introduced himself with a wide toothy grin.

"The "D" stands for Dangerous." The green seagull flying above Luffy spoke up in a cheery tone of voice (startling two-thirds of the fleeing prisoners) to which Luffy's other companion, the blue-haired girl scowled up at and shook her head.

"No. This really isn't the time for that, Dawn."

"There's always time for that, Ann. Anyway, where are we heading?" Dawn asked, ignoring Ann's frustrated expression to look over to Luffy instead.

"I need my treasure back." Zoro insisted firmly. "It's probably somewhere in that marine base so I need to go back there."

The thought of going anywhere close to the marine base was enough to make both Ririka and Rika's faces flinch in fear and stumble in their strides. Slowing down caused both Luffy's crew and Zoro to pay more attention to the mother and daughter.

"I think Rika and I might need a place to hide from the marines for a while," Ririka admitted as she nervously ghosted her hands across her shackled wrists and then her neck before paling a bit more. "Captain Morgan will just catch the two of us again in order to complete our execution if we don't."

Luffy's face morphed into a more contemplative expression for a split second before he began speaking. "Right! I'll go with Zoro to get his treasure and fight marines at the base. Ann you can help the Ri's either hide or escape and help us get ready to make us a quick escape after you find us a good treasure for a souvenir. Dawn go back to the market square and help Koby 'cause it's nearly noon now and he's all by himself. Let's go!" Luffy directed and Ann nodded before putting her thumb and finger into her mouth to let out an ear-splitting whistle.

Two seconds later Balloon landed in the middle of the street in front of the group with an almost inaudible thud. Zoro, Ririka, and Rika's jaws dropped at the sight of the gigantic bird wondering how something that big could appear so fast and so silently.

Ann fondly scratched behind Balloon's right black puffy feather tuft and gently spoke to him. "Hello, Balloon. These are Zoro, Ririka, and Rika. Would you help me keep Ririka and Rika up out of sight? I need to find them a place to hide for a little while and they'd be safest with you up in the sky."

"Are you sure this will be safe?" Ririka asked cautiously. "What if we fall?"

"Balloon won't let you fall, I promise." Ann insisted. "He's strong enough to carry you for hours without needing to land. It'll just be until we can stop the marines from coming after you. Here, I'll help you up."

Ann placed Rika up on Balloon first near his neck and helped Ririka up, having her sit behind her daughter. She pet Balloon on the head and said, "Keep these two as safe as possible up there. We'll be done soon, Balloon."

Balloon crooned at her but flapped his wings twice to get lift-off and seconds later neither he or his passengers could be seen in the sky. Ann waved at Luffy and ran to find a way to get them a way off the island and left Dawn with Zoro and Luffy. Dawn was the last to leave but called her own farewell to Luffy before she left.

"Have fun stormin' da castle," Dawn called after Luffy and Zoro before flying away towards the market square which caused Luffy to burst into gut-busting laughter even as he ran off with Zoro right at his heels.

"The bird does know we're going to a marine base, not a castle, right?"

"Yeah, Dawnie knows," Luffy said even as he enthusiastically punched his fists up in the air. "Woohoo! Time for our first pirate raid as a crew! This is so exciting!"

"Who said I was a member of your crew?" Zoro said with a scowling frown and furrowed brows causing Luffy to momentarily lose his smile.

"Oh, right...I forgot. Zoro, be a member of my crew!"

Zoro scoffed and snapped out. "Why should I? "Pirate" just means "bad guy" sp who would want to be a pirate?"

"What's wrong with that? You were about to be executed anyway even without being a pirate." Luffy argued with a pout.

Zoro snarled in fury over the truth of that statement and said, "I don't care what they think! I've never done a thing in my life that I'll ever regret. No matter what, I will survive! I have to in order to fulfill my dream!"

"What's that?" Luffy asked.

"To be the Greatest Swordsman in the entire world. My treasure is my sword."

"Good! To be the world's greatest swordsman. It'd be embarrassing if the Pirate King couldn't have at least that on his crew." Luffy cheered. "I already have the best ship, the best lookout and with you, I'll have the best swordsman!"

Zoro didn't reply for a moment as he considered Luffy's words and actions up to this point before giving in to say. "Alright. If you get my sword back before I do then I'll give you a chance and join your crew. You did just save my life and my ambition with it after all. If I find it before you though we'll part ways after this and I will only promise not to never hunt you down."

"I'm going to win!" Luffy ran towards the base faster and Zoro sped up in order to match his pace. He didn't want to make things easy for Luffy after all.

Ann ran along the alleys behind the town shops trying to find an escape route that would also distract the marines from chasing after them once they made their escape. It looked like it would be trickier than she originally assumed it would be. It seemed that all the roads and alleys in town lead directly to the marines' base (likely the town was designed that way in order to deploy marines to any location on the island quickly).

She found herself in the alley behind Ririka's sealed shut restaurant and stopped for a moment to think. As she crossed her arms and tried to think up a plan of action she began to pace absently around in an infinity loop pattern. Escaping a town or island alone had always been as easy as hopping on Balloon and taking off again but as it was it seemed that getting rid of the root cause of the problems in this town would be the best plan.

How could she get the marines to focus on doing something other than harassing the townsfolk though? Especially when their leader was acting more like a corrupt monarch rather than a corrupt marine. The marine's issue here seemed to be that they were the biggest birds in the aviary and what she needed to solve the problem was either a bigger bird to knock him off his roost or the other birds in the aviary needed to transform from wimpy doves into fierce jays instead.

Ann looked around the alley to be sure she was alone and remembering Rika's lie pulled one of Balloon's black feathers out of her pocket and decided to try a spell. If it activated her request would be possible but if it failed she would find another way to make a way for her crew to escape. She struck the feather against the wall of the alley before crushing it in her hand. She lifted her hand to her face and spoke out loud. "Take me to a kingly treasure worthy and defenders fierce and a little wrathy."

She opened her hand and blew the black powder in her palm out and the resulting dust cloud formed into a tiny, fluttering hummingbird shape that darted in three jerky directions before taking off down the alley opposite from where she came from. Ann inwardly cheered as this meant this town did have some fierce defenders apparently and a treasure to boot. If Luffy asked her how she found the treasure she would honestly tell him she followed the clues from behind the restaurant, of course, the fact that the clues were of her own making probably wouldn't matter to him in the long run.

Captain Morgan and a platoon of marines had come to the market square and found the scaffold destroyed, the prisoners were long gone and any witnesses completely vanished. Some marines felt relief and hoped the prisoners had been able to escape while others knew Morgan would be unreasonable. Again.

"Do as I order. Find Zoro, that girl, and her mother and shoot them on sight when you find them. They are traitors to me and must be executed as such. Shoot anyone trying to aid their escape as well and if you fail this task I'll court-martial you and have you sent to Impel Down as a traitor to the government and you'll wish I had executed you here instead!" Captain Morgan ordered.

"Yes, sir!" The gathered marines saluted and prepared to leave the central plaza only to see Koby standing shakily between the platoon and path to the docks where the prisoners were likely trying to escape to.

Koby's whole body was shaky but was able to say what he wanted in a relatively clear and loud voice. "According to the Marine's Code of Military Justice, Section 8 Article 30 as well as Section 9 Article 9. Only marines ranked Commodore and higher are allowed to sanction or permit the execution of a non-criminal World Government citizen. Lieutenants and Captains are only permitted to permit the execution of pirates and wanted criminals. Also under Section 8 Article 25, it states that if a superior officer oversteps their bounds their subordinates are permitted to ignore their orders until they are either pardoned by a superior officer or relieved from services."

"It really says that?" A petty officer asked with shock written all across his face.

"Y-yes. What Captain Morgan is doing is against the law." Koby stuttered out.

"I AM THE LAW HERE, TRAITOR!" Captain Morgan bellowed as he lifted his arm with the prosthetic ax in order to strike Koby down in a fit of rage. Koby leaped back but his time with Luffy had him prepared to stake his life on being a good (future) marine and didn't dare back down.

Morgan's attack was interrupted by an oddly green colored seagull with purple markings and yellow beak and feet that swooped down from the sky in order to attempt to peck out his eye. After her assault, she remained in the air above the platoon. Staying in the air in order to give Koby a chance to escape by distracting the marines in a very obviously sarcastic tone of voice it spoke up and continued to mock Captain Morgan. "Was that supposed to sound tough or stupid? Because it sounded pretty stupid to me."

"Did that seagull just talk?" A marine asked in surprise.

"It did, why is a seagull talking?" Another concurred.

"Did it really just trash talk Captain Morgan?" The third was ashamed a seagull had more guts than he did.

"Idiots. That isn't an ordinary seagull." Captain Morgan said with a scoff and Dawn was worried for a split second that he might recognize what she really was like Luffy's grandpa had a few years ago but then he proved he didn't have a clue to what she was when he continued to talk. "That seagull's obviously eaten one of the treasures of the sea - a devil's fruit. Now stop being distracted and find the prisoners to execute them or I'll have your heads!"

"Do you really have the time to perform pointless executions when you have pirates attacking your base?" Dawn asked Captain Morgan who glared up at the out-of-attack-range annoying talking seagull in the sky. Koby had ducked behind a building but hadn't strayed too far in order to listen to the confrontation between the marines and their symbol (a seagull that is).

"I'd be a fool to believe an obvious lie from a bird who ate a devil fruit. The only traitor here is this pink-haired brat and you - his little pet. You won't be allowed to escape by distracting us with tales of imaginary pirate attacks."

Even from down in the market square the sound of a twenty-meter tall statue falling from a great height and hitting the ground reached the ears of the marine platoon and they turned in unison to gape up at the dust cloud rising from their base.

Morgan, if it was possible, looked even more enraged as he shouted up at the seagull in the sky. "What was that!?"

"The sound of a fool being proved wrong," Dawn said with a seagull laugh before flying away. "You really have what M.A.R.I.N.E. stands for: Muscles are requested; intelligence not expected. Have fun fixing your base after that imaginary pirate attack (though it probably was an accident, knowing Luffy). Later jarheads!"

Morgan growled and shouted, "Don't just stand there! Half of you find that brat and the escaped prisoners and the other half return with me to the base. We've got pirates to exterminate there!"

"It looks pretty ugly up close, doesn't it?" Luffy said once he and Zoro were standing outside the walls of the marine base. Zoro was already climbing up over the wall, completely intent in getting his swords back as soon as possible. Remembering he was in the middle of racing for Zoro to join his crew Luffy pulled back his arm down a few blocks and aimed for the top.

Zoro's jaw dropped in surprise when he saw Luffy's arm stretched up over the wall in order to grab a cannon turret high up on the interior building and flung himself up - apparently aiming for an open window near the top of the base but he overshot and hit the stone statue above the base instead.

Zoro watched from where he stood on the outer wall of the base in mute disbelief while the entire twenty-meter tall statue shook - then toppled - and fell from the top of the base down to the empty courtyard below. Luffy had been shouting unintelligibly the entire way down. Any possible concern from Zoro that Luffy, the insane (stretchy?) pirate captain could be injured was instantly dismissed when he spotted the figure stand among the statue rubble, casually dust himself off exactly twice and made a mad dash into the base via an open window on the second floor of the base.

The realization that Luffy was now in the lead spurred Zoro to leap from the wall nearly to the front of the base, swaying once as a wave of vertigo from hunger hit him, and proceeded to race to get to his swords first. His hunger could wait a little bit longer to be fixed.

Running into the first group of marines in the base Zoro suddenly remembered he was invading a marine base without his swords on hand (and in mouth). His hand swinging up to block the strike of a sword caused him to remember the chains still dangling from the cuffs around his wrists and he frowned for a moment before smiling when a thought entered his head. If he could use the chains on his wrists by imagining them as particularly flexible swords it might give him an edge he needed.

Moments later he was mowing down their ranks as easily as a fire moved through dry kindling. The fact that chains were just flexible swords was a fact burned into his stubborn brain and would stay there for a while.

"Coo-coo"

When she heard the sound of cooing and bird noises getting closer Ann almost smacked herself silly. How could she have forgotten using magic with Balloon's feathers without a clear image of what she wanted always ended up resulting in birds? She would accept what she had been given of course but she wondered how she would be able to convince Luffy that a pair of fancy pigeons or doves were meant to be treasure.

Rather than finding fancy doves or pigeons however Ann was surprised to find a rather large coop in bad repair with nearly a hundred chickens and one big rooster inside. All of them looked to be white feathered with black beaks and feet but they seemed to be guarding and flocking around a more interesting pair.