Chapter 20: The False Town (part 1)

Chapter 20:

The False Town (part 1)

Is started snowing 20 minutes into their first voyage in the Grand Line. At 30 minutes, it changed into a thunderstorm. At 40, nearly a hurricane. The entire crew, minus a certain snoozing swordsman, were in a constant state of panic trying to keep up with Nami's instructions to keep the Going Merry above water. It was a difficult task, but they managed with the forced help of their two passengers. By the one-hour mark, the storm had passed to leave a nice spring breeze in its wake. The Merry arrived at its destination that evening, a late fog covering the area. Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday hopped onto the ship's railing when the island came into sight.

"We really must thank you for the ride-" the male began.

"But we really must be going," the female finished.

"Bye bye, Baby!" the two exclaimed together, diving off the side of the ship and swimming the rest of the way to the island.

Nami sweatdropped. "Well that's one way to make an exit," she commented. The Merry sailed into an inlet of the island. Shapes danced in the mist on either side, dropping an eerie feeling on the crew.

"I don't like this," Gin muttered, his weapons fidgeting in his hands. "It feels like we're walking into an ambush."

"Be ready for anything," Zoro ordered, him and his student readying their weapons. "This could go downhill real fast." The fog lifted...

... to reveal a cheering crowd welcoming them to Whisky Peak.

"Welcome to the Grand Line!"

"Pirates! Warriors of the high seas!"

"Thank you for coming!"

"They have some pretty cute crewmembers!" one woman called.

"Dibs on the blond one!" another shouted.

"No! He's mine! I saw him first!"

"Are people really this welcoming on the Grand Line?" Coby asked, lowering his blades.

"Look at all the cute girls!" Sanji exclaimed with hearts in his eyes, dancing his noodle dance. "I've never seen so many in one place!" They dropped anchor at a small dock and disembarked. A large man with blond hair shaped into three layers of curls that wrapped around his entire head and a suit stepped up to them.

"MA, MA, MAAA!" he called, clearing his throat. "I am Igarrapoi, the mayor of this town."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Luffy. I like your curls."

"Thank you. We have heard of your exploits, Straw Hat Luffy, so... MA, MA MAAA! So let us welcome a celebrity such as yourself with a party!" The townsfolk threw up a cheer and swept the pirates away one by one. Zoro was able to keep Coby close and warn him not to drop his guard no matter how nice the people seemed. His first rule was to never let your guard down around new people.

Luffy ate himself full for once in his life, but it took three chefs and four hours for him to do so. Usopp began detailing his many adventures to anyone who would listen and fell asleep while recounting when he'd fought a giant goldfish at five years old for the seventh time that night. Sanji was flirting with 20 girls at once before falling asleep while lying across the laps of several of them. Nami, Gin, and Zoro were dragged into a drinking contest with a prize of 100,000 Beris while Coby watched. The final two, Zoro having passed out after his thirteenth cup and Gin his fourteenth, were Nami and a dark-skinned nun.

"Yer already droppin' out?" Nami questioned with a drunken slur. "Gin, you wuss."

"There is no shame in dropping out now, my child," the nun insisted, trying to hold her composure. "The Father with still love us all equally."

"Not on yer life, sister," Nami responded, a heavy blush over her cheeks. "I never give up when money's involv- *hic* involved." The two chugged another cup before the religious woman fell to the table, calling it quits. Nami laughed loudly and grabbed the sack of money.

She stood, wobbling quite a bit. Coby stepped in to give the obviously-inebriated woman a hand. The rosette led her to where Luffy had passed out on the floor and the navigator promptly fell next to him, curling up into his side and snuggling with her winnings. Coby managed to get back to the sofa his teacher had fallen asleep on before a sharp sting in his neck forced him into unconsciousness.

Zoro woke Coby and Gin three hours later and gestured for them to stay quiet as the two groggily came to. The three took in the room around them. None of the villagers were left in the building, only the crew. Luffy had shrunk back to his normal size and was hugging Nami from behind, the girl still hugging her bag of winnings. Sanji was draped over a couch, mumbling about beautiful women and the nasty things his would do to them if he could. Usopp was face-down on a table, propped up by his nose and snoring loudly.

"What is it, Zoro-sensei?" Coby whispered, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The green-haired man did not answer. He indicated for the two of them to follow and exited the building through the back door. There, the trio climbed a ladder to the roof and snuck over to the other side. The two they had given a ride home, the mayor holding a saxophone, and the nun who had discarded her baggy clothes to show that she was even more muscular that Zoro and had pink hair were on the street in front of the building, talking.

"I'm sorry to say that our mission was a failure," they heard Mr. 9 sigh.

"It's not a problem," nun-lady waved off in a rather deep voice for a woman. "It's not like anyone had high hopes on you actually getting the meat."

"Hey!" Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday shouted in indignation. "Why don't you try to go kill that damn whale yourself?!"

"Keep it down, you two," Igarrapoi scolded. "We shouldn't... MA MA MAAA! We shouldn't wake the pirates."

"I still don't understand why we wasted so much food for this one crew when we could have just ambushed them at the harbor," nun-lady commented. The three eavesdroppers tensed. It was an ambush.

"Look at this," Igarrapoi answered. He was holding a copy of the wanted posters for both Luffy and Zoro, the prices on their heads clear as day.

"WHAT?!" The other three shouted.

"That moron's worth 30 million?!" Ms. Wednesday questioned.

"And that other man was Pirate Hunter Zoro?" Mr. 9 added.

"Don't be foolish," Igarrapoi chastised. "Appearances can be... MA MA MAAA! Can be deceiving. That goes for all of you."

"Sorry about that," Muscles apologized.

"It matters not. What matters is that our prey is trapped. For now, take everything of value from their ship."

"Hey!" Zoro called, standing and pulling out Wado Ichimonji, causing the four on the ground to gasp. "Sorry to interrupt, but do you mind letting my friends sleep? They've had a rough day."

"Mr. 8!" some no name called from a doorway into the building. "Ms. Monday! Some of the pirates are gone!"

"One of them is right there," Ms. Wednesday sighed, obviously irritated by the late notice.

"You wretch!" Mr. 8 growled as a crowd grew around him. "Why are you not asleep like the others?"

"A good swordsman never lets his guard down," Zoro told them. Coby and Gin walked up to stand by his side. "Plus I took a nap earlier. Judging by the scowls and cheap disguises, I'm guessing you're all bounty hunters and that your specialty is robbing drunk pirates after they succumb to your hospitality. It's original, I'll give you that."

"Zoro-sensei. I count about 100, give or take."

"Good. You could use some experience and I could use some exercise. Don't you think, Baroque Works?" There was panic on the ground at the mention of the name.

"How do you know that name?!" Mr. 8 called out in worry.

"I got a letter a couple years ago when I was still a bounty hunter inviting me to join. Naturally, I declined. Do the same rules still apply? Cheesy code-names and nobody knows anyone else's real name?"

"If you know all our secrets," the faux mayor began, "then we'll just have to kill you. Of course then we couldn't let the other two just go. Looks like we'll be adding three more gravestones to the Cactus Rocks tonight. KILL THEM!"

"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. He landed on a clump of bounty hunters, tonfa swinging. Coby was not as direct. He hopped down to an empty area. While he had seen death before, he had not personally taken a life yet, so the boy was not going to aim to kill like Gin might.

Not intentionally, anyway. Gin would have no trouble with it. He'd been fighting with his tonfa for several years and if he wanted someone to live or die, he knew how hard to swing, but this would be Coby's first real fight with his real swords, which he had named the Sabaku no Kiba (Desert's Fangs) on account of their Alabastian origins. Three grunts rushed the pre-teen with swords. Coby settled into a low stance as they approached, his swords held parallel to the ground in front of him, one at chest height and the other at eye level.

"Two Sword Style," he muttered, suppressing his fear, "Streaming Wolf Swords." He leaned out of the way as the first sword cut through the air where his face had been a second before. This was nothing new; Zoro had started using his real swords in training to help Coby adjust to his weapons' new weight, so he'd had several close calls and was no longer fazed into stillness. The next slash was aimed for his left arm, but the boy swept his appendage inward and twisted to stab that attacker in the arm. Coby gave no heed to the grunt's cry of pain as he avoided the third man's thrust by shifting his body. He twisted around, slamming the bottom of his right blade into the base of the man's neck. He went down, unconscious, but there was no time to celebrate.

The first attacker had come back, aiming to cut the boy to ribbons. Using his shorter height, Coby ducked under his horizontal slash and swept the man's legs out from under him with a basic move Sanji had taught him. Wanting to incapacitate him for as long as possible, Coby kicked the grunt between the legs, causing the only other conscious opponent to whine in pity and cover his own family jewels.

Leaving that agent to squirm in agony, the pink-haired boy faced down his last foe of this match who was definitely still feeling the hole Coby had put in his arm. The man charged forward with an overhead slash, but Coby blocked his weapon with a cross block, shocking the agent with his strength.

"You guys are nothing compared to Zoro-sensei," Coby smirked, pulling the Sabaku no Kiba blades apart and forcing the man's sword up and over his head. With speed developed through hours of training, the boy twisted his swords into a reverse grip and brought them up by his head. "Bull Needles!"

He lunged forward while the grunt was off balance. The ends of the blades plunged into the shoulders of the Baroque Works agent, severing the tendons and rendering his arms useless until given time to heal. To finish, Coby pulled his swords out of the man's joints and kicked him in the gut, causing the man to hit a wall behind him. The man slid to the ground, out cold and bleeding, but alive.

"Now where is Zoro-sensei?" Coby asked himself, the sounds of battle echoing through the streets. The boy decided to follow them. He ran through the streets, glancing through each side road to keep an eye out for any more enemies. A clump of Baroque Works agents came out of the intersection in front of the youngest Straw Hat pirate, so the rosette ducked into an alley to the right.

The pathway was dark, shadows falling from the buildings on either side. Coby slunk through, keeping his swords prepped to defend himself at a moment's notice. A shadow moved at the far opening.

"Oi! We've got the kid! He's in this alley!" Coby bolted toward the other end, but it was already blocked off by two more thugs.

"Nowhere to run now, punk," the man blocking his entrance grinned, "but those are some pretty nice-looking blades. What do you say you give me those swords and we'll let you go?"

Coby tightened his grip on his weapons. A quick glance behind him confirmed that two others were prowling closer, their mean smiles visible in the dark.

"You want my swords?" Coby asked as he fell into his ready stance. "You can pry them from my cold, dead hands."

"Whatever works," the man shrugged. He lunged and the pounding of footsteps reached Coby's ears from behind. Coby ducked under the first sword swipe from the front and kicked backwards into the gut of the man behind. That man stumbled backwards into his friend, the two tripping over each other. Coby jumped out of the way from instincts ingrained into him from Zoro's training.

They saved his life. A pair of overly-sharp nails cut through the air where his head had been. The person connected to the weaponized nails was a woman whose features were hidden in the shadows of the alley. She sneered at the boy and swiped with open-hand attacks. One of her attacks cut four parallel lines into Coby's left forearm, her thumb just missing. Pain dulled through adrenaline reached his brain, but Coby had no time to pay it any mind.

Zoro's apprentice spun around, trying to imitate his teacher's Dragon Twister. The same power wasn't there, but the spin did allow him to shove his attackers away. The girl with the nails used them to slow her momentum, lodging them in the walls on either side, but they got stuck. The pirate ran forward and kicked the woman in the stomach, using her as a springboard. In the air, he kicked off of a wall and landed on another man's face, knocking him unconscious with the force of his head hitting the ground. Coby ran off, leaving the disoriented/unconscious quartet behind.

End of Chapter 20

Yes, I know it's a cliffhanger. They just happen. Muhahaha!

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-SwordOfTheGods