Chapter 21: The False Town (part 2)

Happy New Year, everyone! I think all of you are starting to get the regular deal on Mondays, so I'll cut to the chase. I'm asking for ten (10) reviews this time. With 120 follows (wooo!), that shouldn't be too much to ask for, right? If I can get those reviews by Wednesday morning, you all will get another chapter. Deal? Deal.

Chapter 21:

The False Town (part 2)

"Shrimp, Gin, take the grunts. I'll take big hair, crown boy, muscles, and Wednesday."

"Yes, Zoro-sensei," Coby answered. Gin just nodded and jumped off the roof. As he fell, Gin pulled his tonfa out of his jacket. Spinning both with the ease of much experience, he brought them down on the heads of a man with a shotgun and an ugly woman with a katana. Their skulls cracked audibly and Gin highly doubted that they'd ever stand up again.

"Looks like you'd need more than just three gravestones if you're going to kill us," the Man-Demon chuckled darkly. His aura of a predator on the loose instilled fear in the hearts of many of the bounty hunters.

"Man-Demon Gin," one of the braver men said; he must have been well-versed with the wanted posters. "Wanted for 2.4 million Beris. Formerly a pirate under the command of Fleet Commander Don Krieg and now serving under Straw Hat Luffy. You will die here and now."

"I don't think so," Gin smirked, ignoring the guns and swords pointed at him. "You see, I just got to the Grand Line and have no intention of stopping on only the first island. Spinning Death!" Gin rushed forward, his weapons spinning rapidly. The battle seemed too fast to keep up with. Obviously, he was deemed as more of a threat than Coby because over half of the cannon fodder had decided to attack him.

Gin twisted to the right, his left tonfa smashing into the ribs of a swordsman with a blade wider than his own form. It was far too heavy for the man to raise in time, so his ribs were broken by the force of only one of Gin's tonfa. Another man came in swinging a mace. The Straw Hat pirate intercepted with his right tonfa, the weighted end smashing the mace. The agent was so shocked at the destruction of his weapon, he never saw the ball coming toward his face until it crushed his nose. Gin smiled and saw red as battle lust overcame his senses.

There was a reason he had been given the moniker of Man-Demon: his battle-fueled insanity. Once he began, had no doubt, and had no one he needed to protect, Gin became a monster bent on death and destruction.

A maniacal laugh tore from Gin's throat as he crushed a man's head between his tonfa, leaving the corpse to fall the ground. The hoard around him had lost their forward momentum, horrified by the display.

"You have threatened my nakama," Gin chuckled in the silence, twisting the situation to fit his captain's rule. What Luffy didn't know wouldn't hurt him for tonight. "You wish to kill us or hand us to the World Government for public execution. I cannot allow that to happen if we want to fulfill our dreams, therefore, I will not hold back." He lunged forward, tearing through his enemies.

Another insane laugh tore from his throat. It would be the final sound some of his attackers would ever hear.

Zoro vanished from the roof after watching his companions hop to the ground and reappeared between his four chosen opponents, shocking then with his speed.

"This will be a good test for by new swords," Zoro mentioned nonchalantly. "First up, Yubashiri." He unsheathed the sword and pointed it at Mr. 8. "Bring it on."

"Igarrapa!" Mr. 8 shouted, bringing his instrument up to his lips. A horrid noise, like cats in a blender, erupted from the mouth of the saxophone along with a hail of bullets. Zoro jumped out of the way, the projectiles moving on to pepper some agents looking the other direction. The swordsman ran forward to cut the weapon in two, but Ms. Monday and Mr. 9 intercepted him, the latter armed with two metal baseball bats.

"Do you really think you can take on four number agents on your own?" Mr. 9 taunted. Ms. Monday did not care for such trivialities and just punched the ground. She would have hit Zoro, but he dodged out of the way. Other agents, ones without numbers, charged the swordsman, hoping to prove themselves and work their way up the company with his defeat.

Rather than deal with them annoying him throughout the battle just to deal with them later, Zoro decided to just get rid of the small fry now. He spun around, Yubashiri cutting through air and flesh.

"Light and well-balanced," Zoro commented. "I like it." Yubashiri seemed to sing as he fought using only one sword. He cut down several more adversaries, dodging the number agents' attacks as he did so, before pulling out Kitetsu III. "Now let's see what you can do."

The pirate ran up a ladder onto the roof of a building, ten or so agents trailing behind him. At the top, a man with a small cannon on his shoulder fired a cannonball at Zoro. His new sword came up of its own volition, cutting the iron ball in half. The Pirate Hunter brought Yubashiri up and slashed across the assailant's chest. He'd live. Probably.

"Swords should only cut when their masters tell them to," Zoro scolded his weapon, not fazed in the slightest that it had moved to cut a projectile. "You may be sharp, but you'll listen to me now." Light danced off the unmoving blade, weather in agreement or argument was unknown. A shadow that wasn't his own caught Zoro's eye, causing him to duck.

Ms. Monday swung a ladder, the improvised weapon going over the pirate's crouched form and breaking upon contact with the wall behind him. She dropped the ladder and grabbed his neck, choking him. The woman brought her right fist back, steel knuckles shining in the moonlight. The agent slammed the pirate into the rooftop and punched him, cracking the building. Ms. Monday thought Zoro was dead; she was in for a real shock when his right arm shot up and his hand got a hold of her face. She screamed as he squeezed.

"You want to test your strength against mine, Muscle Woman? You lost." Zoro kept squeezing until the woman passed out. Finally, he let her fall flat and faced the people on the ground, blood oozing from where the woman had punched him. "Is that the best you have to offer, Baroque Works? Because you'll need to do better than that."

The agents seemed to be in a state of shock. They could not believe that this man managed to best Ms. Monday. Some claimed that the Marines had to have made a mistake and that Zoro had to be the true captain.

"Igarrapa!" Mr. 8 shouted, his sax making that God-awful noise again. Zoro hopped out of the way of the bullets it fired. Gin ran in from the side, his bloodied weapons aiming for the deadly instrument in the man's hands. Mr. 8 backpedalled quickly, trying to stay out of the Man-Demon's range.

"Come here, Carue!" Ms. Wednesday called with a whistle, taking Mr. 8's place as Zoro's opponent. A large duck wearing an aviator helmet, a water bottle around its neck, and a saddle quacked in response from a dozen feet away, holding a wing out. "I said come here! Not shake!" She met the bird halfway and climbed onto its back. "Show them how fast you are!" The fowl sat down. "I didn't say sit!"

"Really?" Zoro questioned. "A duck?"

"You get distracted too easily!" Mr. 9 yelled, charging him. "How will you defend against my Bloody Bats?!" They clashed, Zoro's two new swords against the agent's two metal bats.

Zoro smirked and sheathed Kitetsu III. With only Yubashiri, his battled Mr. 9 until the man fell off the side of the building from backing away too far. He crashed into a box at the bottom, startling a swordsman.

"We're not done yet, Mr. Bushido!" Ms. Wednesday called from where she was standing on her duck. The air became hazy with the stench of perfume as Zoro covered his mouth and nose the hold off the paralytic. Just as he was about to be overwhelmed, Zoro smirked, seeing his student sneaking up behind her. Just as the blunette was about to do whatever she was about to do, Coby knocked her off the duck. Both Ms. Wednesday and her pet tumbled off the side of the building. Mr. 8, ragged but breathing and with one gun poking out from each curl, soon followed as Gin threw him from the second story above them.

"Finally," Zoro yawned, sheathing his blades. "Now we can get some peace and quiet." He sat on the edge of the building, observing their fallen opponents. "I thought that nine guy would have come back, though."

"I caught him by surprise," Coby informed him, sitting beside his teacher. "He wasn't too hard to beat by taking him from behind. Almost landed on me, though."

"That was a good workout," Gin commented, flicking the blood off of his tonfa.

"Kyahahaha!" they heard a woman laugh. The trio glanced over the side to see that the three agents they'd just defeated were being confronted by two more.

"Mr. 5!" Mr. 9 wheezed. "Ms. Valentine! Wonderful. With you here-"

"Kyahahaha," the woman cut him off. She was on the shorter side of five feet and had straight blond hair cut short covered in a yellow hat with an orange rim. She had a slim waist with assets accentuated by her lemon-themed dress, the outfit showing off her long legs. Pale skin flowed down her legs and arms, her hands covered in white gloves. Pale blue eyes shined with sadistic mirth as she twiddled with a yellow umbrella the same color as her lemon earrings. "What happened to you all? Two pirates and a brat?"

"Did you come here to laugh at us?" Mr. 8 growled.

"Nope," the man, Mr. 5, grunted in a smooth voice. "That's just a bonus." The agent had wild black hair in a short afro and a closed, brick-red overcoat that went well with his darkly-tanned skin. A box 5 sat on the left breast of his overcoat and a pair of sunglasses rested on his nose, hiding his eyes. "We're not here to help you at all."

"Did you really think we'd come all the way to the beginning of the Grand Line just the help you clowns?" Ms. Valentine added.

"Then why are you here?" Ms. Wednesday asked with a waiver in her tone.

"The boss sent us," Mr. 5 answered, a finger idly trailing into his nose. "Said someone had learned his secrets. Don't know what secrets. Don't want to know. Obviously, someone else did. We've come to tie up all the loose ends and eliminate all of the intruders from that kingdom."

"Now wait a second," Mr. 9 commented. "I'm not a king or anything. I just wear a crown because it's a hobby."

"Not you, you moron," Mr. 5 growled as his partner laughed. "We're here for the princess of Alabasta, Vivi Nefertari." Ms. Wednesday was panicking by this point. Her duck, Carue, ran in front of her as if to protect her.

"You will not harm the princess!" Mr. 8 shouted as he stood, his thumbs laced through the bow around his neck. "Not as long as I, Igaram, the head of castle security, am still breathing. Igarrapapa!" He pulled the knot, firing the guns still poking out of his hair.

Only Ms. Valentine moved to dodge. She jumped impossibly high and opened her umbrella. When the bullets connected with the male agent, he literally blew up. The explosive force was caught by the woman's accessory and lifted her higher into the air. She deftly maneuvered herself, floating as if weightless until she was over Ms. Wednesday. She closed her parasol.

"10,000 Kilo Press!" She dropped like a stone, Carue and the apparent princess fleeing quickly. Even so, they were still knocked over by the shockwave Ms. Valentine caused when she landed, a crater forming with her at the center. The princess pulled out her weapon, some weird pinky rings, and tried to retaliate. Luffy wandered out of the building they had partied in, a sleepy look on his face.

"Wha's goin' on out 'ere?" he asked, having been awoken by the sound of Mr. 5 exploding. "Woah! Where'd that crater come from?"

"Kyahaha!" Ms. Valentine laughed, hopping out of the indent and floating ten feet in the air. "You're pretty quick, Princess Vivi, but our orders are to eliminate you. Nothing personal." While the princess was busy avoiding the weightless woman and Mr. 8 was fighting Mr. 5, who hadn't died from the explosion and was flicking exploding boogers, Zoro leaned over to Coby.

"Shrimp. Get down there and tell Luffy what we heard. We'll let the captain decide what to do next."

"Yes, Zoro-sensei," the rosette answered before hopping down. Zoro glanced at Gin who was staring at the blonde with the parasol.

"What is it, Gin?" Zoro smirked. "You window shopping?"

"...No," he answered. Zoro's face told the Man-Demon the swordsman didn't believe him. "I just have a thing for sadistic chicks, OK?"

"Hey. I'm not judging."

"I'm not quite sure what's going on," Mr. 9 commented, jumping away from a crumbling wall that had been the latest victim of Mr. 5, "but we've been fighting together for a long time, so get going, Ms. Wednesday. Bloody Bats!" The agent backhandspringed toward the exploding guy. Mr. 5 responded by flicking two boogers at once, one hitting 'Igaram, the Captain of Alabasta Castle security' and the other hitting the acrobatic batter. Mr. 9 rocketed backwards, bloody and dead. Terrified, the princess hopped on her duck and took off. Mr. 8 landed on his back hard, looking up at Gin and Zoro. Apparently, he was made of sterner stuff than the younger agent had been.

"Please," he rasped. "Save the princess. Please. There could be a reward in it for you."

"We'll do it!" Nami shouted, running out of another building, the word 'reward' drawing her like a moth to a flame.

"Nami wants it," Luffy declared, barely understanding Coby's well-worded explanation. "She's coming with us. Coby, get the others and take her to the ship. Zoro, Gin, and I will meet you there. We're leaving as soon as we kick these guys' asses."

"Aye, Captain Luffy." Coby rushed into the building, vaguely hearing Luffy say "Zoro, Gin, take Afro Guy. Nami, go help get the ship ready to sail. I'll go after the girl and the other girl."

Following his orders, Coby walked in to see that Sanji had squirmed off the couch and was holding Usopp's hand, still muttering about beautiful women. The boy dashed over and roughly woke them.

"Time to go," he told them. "Short version. Town of bounty hunters, a hiding princess, we're taking her home and risking our necks. Get up." Sanji was awake and noodle dancing at 'hiding princess'. Usopp was awake and panicking at 'risking our necks'. All in all, not abnormal. They hurried out the backdoor as the front of the building exploded. Coby insisted they head straight to the Merry while he went to retrieve the princess they would be escorting.

Sanji had wanted to go, too, but Coby deterred him by mentioning that she was fighting a female agent at the moment.

The rosette followed the sound of terrified quacking. Carue was running away from Luffy and Ms. Valentine's fight; the agent kept trying to fall on the captain, only his rubber body preventing her attacks from being effective.

"This way!" Coby called out to the blunette. Vivi urged her mount on, running past the boy who managed to grab a hold of the saddle as she passed. "Take a left up here!" he yelled over the sounds of explosions. The Going Merry came into view after the turn, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji on the deck scurrying about.

"Thank you," Vivi cried, tears falling down her face and the memories of Mr. 9 and Ms. Monday (who had sacrificed herself to try to hold off Mr. 5 when he'd come for her) flashing through her head. "Thank you for everything."

They never noticed the otter or vulture watching silently, the former sketching the pirates' faces into its notebook.

End of Chapter 21

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-SwordOfTheGods