strength of a coward

Usopp was a coward. He wouldn’t normally gloat about such a thing, but at that moment, he would readily admit it if it got him and the crew out of this situation.

Luffy had been caught off-guard on this island they thought uninhabited. He had been ambushed by a group of persuasive pirates and willingly walked himself right into a seastone prison. Why? Because there was a platter of meat awaiting him inside.

So, yeah. Typical Luffy stuff. But now Luffy was powerless thanks to the seastone cell he was imprisoned in. As for the rest of the crew? They too were in disarray. Zoro had wandered off, so Sanji chased after him, Usopp and Robin had fallen through a trap hole in the ground, and who knew whether Chopper and Nami were okay.

Suffice to say, things were not looking good. The room Usopp and Robin had fallen into was a vast empty space. There was one lookout point up high in the corner where a man equipped with a rifle was positioned. The guy was rather scrawny and looked to be struggling to just hold the weapon.

But then the safety clicked off and Usopp shrieked.

“Robin! He’s gonna shoot!” Usopp said, scrambling to hide behind Robin. Robin crossed her arms into an x shape, summoning her devil fruit powers but was interrupted by the gunshot. She stumbled backwards.

“Robin!” Usopp cried, catching her in his arms. He searched for where the bullet hit but couldn’t see any blood.

“I’m okay, Longnose-kun. But we do have a problem,” Robin said and nodded at her arms. They were still crossed into an x but a solid mesh was wrapped around them. Her arms were stuck that way, unable to move. Was that the bullet the guy had fired? “It’s seastone,” Robin said, confirming Usopp’s fears. How were they meant to escape if Robin’s powers were nullified?

Usopp pulled at the solidified seastone but it wouldn’t budge. Then, without warning Robin used his grip on her to pull them both back. A searing pain burned his right arm. He looked down and saw a bullet had grazed the skin there. That was lucky. He thanked every god for Robin.

“I’m gonna die!” Usopp said, stumbling back onto his feet, hiding behind his forearms. “Please don’t shoot me! I’m too young to die!”

The shooter took aim and fired again, narrowly missing Usopp. Usopp ran to the corner furthest away from the shooter and tucked himself into a ball. “This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.”

But then there was a thud. He looked up. Robin had stumbled down. Shit. Yeah. He wasn’t alone! Robin was here too! And without her devil fruit powers she was a sitting duck just like him. He still wasn’t certain how much he or the rest of the crew could trust her, but even he couldn’t be as callous to abandon her like that.

Taking a deep breath, Usopp stood. Robin was lying on the ground, struggling to get back up without the use of her arms. He rushed forward, scooping up his slingshot that he’d left near Robin, and felt his pocket for ammunition. He stood in front of her, effectively shielding her from the shooter, and aimed his slingshot at the enemy. He launched a direct attack, using a bunch of smoke bomb ammunition he had to try impair the shooter’s vision followed by a few big rocks—they were his only option, he still needed to restock his ammunition supplies.

A heavy smoke field from the ammunition explosions covered the view. Usopp was standing there, puffing with his slingshot in hand. And when the fog finally dissipated, his eyes widened. The guy was still there, coughing, but apart from that he appeared mostly unaffected by the onslaught of attacks.

“What? How?” Usopp started, getting his breath back. He looked back at Robin, who was now back on her feet. That woman was remarkable. She couldn’t be kept down—the seastone should’ve rendered her completely incapable. “Robin, what do we do?”

“Dodge,” Robin said, evading backwards just as another shot sounded. Usopp dodged too, though not nearly as effortlessly as Robin. His dodge was more throwing his arms in the air and running around in different directions while screaming. But hey, it had worked in his favour so far in life. He was just grateful that this shooter was rather mediocre. However, he was also rather trigger happy, making Usopp and Robin endlessly run and dodge.

“Robin! We can’t keep this up!” Usopp said, his voice wavering with each bullet shot in their direction. He looked over, Robin was breathing heavily and breaking a sweat. The seastone was really doing a number on her yet she was still moving—Usopp didn’t know whether to be impressed as a fellow crew member or scared as a potential victim (in case she did end up turning on them).

He shook his head. Those thoughts were unhelpful at a time like this. He needed to save them first before worrying about what the infamous Nico Robin may or may not decide to do.

When the shooter was busy reloading—thankfully clumsy at even doing that, Robin tilted her head up for Usopp to come close. “You have to outsmart him. It’s our only way,” she said under her breath.

Usopp bit his lip. “How? He’s up there and we’re down here.”

“I’m not sure, but I believe in you. Of course, if you would rather we wind up dying here, that’s fine too.”

Geez, why did Robin have to be so morbid? “Thanks… I think?” He gulped. “No pressure or anything.”

Robin just chuckled, but not a moment later she barrelled into Usopp. The clumsy shooter had reloaded.

“This has been fun but it’s time for you dogs to just die already,” the shooter said, before taking aim. It was the first time hearing his voice—he sounded young, a teenager like Usopp perhaps. Perhaps he could bluff his way out of this. Lying came naturally to him, after all. A skill he had honed over the years. A dishonest, but very useful one.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Usopp said.

The shooter snorted. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“My captain’s army of 1,000 people will come for you, of course.”

“Ha. As if.”

Usopp hummed and shrugged. “I mean, if you wanna risk it, be my guest. But if I’m dead, you will not be long to follow.”

And technically that was kind of the truth. If Usopp and Robin did perish here, Luffy would come storming in like a hurricane and deal some serious damage. Or at least Usopp liked to think he would. He would, right? Usopp shook his head, dispelling the doubtful thoughts. His lack of self-esteem was nothing but a hindrance. Of course Luffy would come. They were crewmates and friends!

The shooter huffed. “Like I’d believe you. Besides, my captain is too strong to let anything happen to me.”

Usopp chuckled. “You mean the same one that made you the shooter? Yeah, he’d be really helpful.” Usopp sighed, it added to the dramatics.  “If only our swordsman hadn’t defeated him already.”

“What!” the shooter said. “You’re lying. I know it.” But the wavering uncertainty in his voice was obvious. He was still so young. So naive. Usopp was all too familiar with that. It sprouted a plan in his head. He just hoped his bluffing had been enough; he needed a moment to speak with Robin.

With his best acting skills Usopp shrugged and held his hands up. “Believe what you want. Either way, this doesn’t end up good for you. I may not pose much of a threat, but my crew sure does.”

“Ugh!” The shooter growled. “I’ll be back.” He said before turning and leaving through the door frame behind his shooting spot.

Usopp turned to Robin. “Here’s the plan. When he starts shooting again, I’m going to fire a smoke bomb in front of us. You’re gonna go down before the smoke dissipates and I’m going to clutch my side and let him watch me go down.”

“We’re playing dead?”

Usopp nodded. “Yes and—”

“You lying dogs are dead!” came the shooter’s voice. He was back in the room and holding his rifle up again, repositioning himself.

Shit. Usopp clenched his fist. He hadn’t had the time to explain the whole plan. Still. He had to believe in Robin. From the short period he’d known her, she had proven to be very intuitive.

But it would be so easy for this to go so wrong. The plan only had a slim chance. But a slim chance was still better than no chance. They had to do it.

The shooter shot. His shooting had improved in the time they’d been there, but it was still not consistent. Nevertheless, Usopp considered them lucky to have not received any major wounds yet.

Usopp grabbed hold of his slingshot and pretended to stuff up his shot, sending the smoke bomb in front of him and Robin.

The shooter laughed. “Ha! Pathetic.”

Robin managed to wriggle her hand up slightly, despite the seastone mesh, and clutch her shoulder and fell to the ground. It was very good acting, if Usopp did say so himself. But then he paled, his eyes wide.

There was a stream of red spilling out her shoulder and onto the white ground.

“Robin!” Usopp cried out.

But Robin shook her head. “We needed blood,” she said, under her breath. “It’s fine. Stick to the plan. You can do it.”

Usopp gulped. How could she say that when there was blood coming from her arm? Why would she do this intentionally! Obviously blood would make it more convincing but to go this far? The woman was something else! This plan had to succeed now.

Usopp reeled himself in and as the smoke in front of them started to dissipate. He too clutched his arm and dramatically fainted next to Robin’s bleeding shoulder, hoping Robin’s sacrifice worked.

He calmed his breathing and remained as still as possible. Robin did the same. Usopp hoped that was intentional and not because of her blood loss.

“Ha! So weak,” the shooter said. There was the sound of some shuffling and eventually footsteps that got louder with each step closer. Usopp had to rely on his hearing, he was facing the opposite direction.

The footsteps finally stopped, right next to Usopp’s head if his hearing was accurate enough. His heart was racing.

“Captain is gonna be so proud,” the shooter said.

The feeling of cold metal pressed against Usopp’s cheek. He clenched his jaw. This was the time.

As soon as the safety was released, Usopp pushed the barrel of the rifle upwards and away. He tackled the shooter and watched the rifle slide a few feet away.

Usopp and the shooter clawed at one another, trying to get to the rifle first. In a surprise move, the shooter headbutted Usopp, gaining the upper hand. But as he stood up tall he had forgotten one thing. Or perhaps one person: Nico Robin. Her shoulder and arm were drenched in blood, but she kicked between the shooter’s legs, hitting his family jewels with force. Usopp winced, but quickly used the opportunity to get to the rifle.

In the moment his back was turned to retrieve the rifle, the shooter fought back. He produced a knife from his pocket and had hold of Robin, knife to her throat.

“Put the rifle down or she gets it,” the shooter warned, pushing the knife slightly into the flesh of Robin’s neck. Robin, however, didn’t appear one bit fazed.

“Shoot, Longnose-kun,” Robin said, a knowing look in her eye. What was she thinking? Did she want to die? Or did she have that much faith in Usopp’s aim? Usopp’s heart wouldn’t stop racing. He was sure if this pirate didn’t kill him, a heart attack would.

“No,” Usopp said, his voice wavering. “Let her go.”

There was a frenetic energy about the shooter now. He was getting desperate. “I said drop the weapon!” His hands were shaking.

Usopp looked at Robin and she winked at him. He frowned. Where was she going with this? Multiple times she had willingly sacrificed herself in this fight. Did she want to die? Usopp made a note to discuss her lack of survival instincts with her later on.

The shooter’s eyes widened. “Don’t make me repeat my—”

Bam.

Robin threw her head back with force, sending the shooter stumbling a few steps back. “Now, Usopp!” she said, while running out of the firing range. Robin’s use of his name was new, but it felt significant now, in the situation.

Usopp fumbled the rifle but managed to aim before the shooter guy recovered. Next to telling lies, sniping enemies was Usopp’s next best skill. He had extremely accurate aiming and, like lying, he knew he could do it well.

He took the shot.

The shooter collapsed to his knees, blood pouring out his left leg. Usopp figured crippling him would be a good approach, especially if they still needed answers from him.

“How do we get out of here?” Usopp said. But the guy was too busy shrieking about his wound.

“There’s a lever-activated staircase down from where he was shooting us. I watched him use it to get down to us. It’s still there,” Robin said.

Usopp looked over in the corner and so there was. A staircase. If only that had been there during all the shooting. However, there was no point reflecting on what ifs. Usopp grabbed the shooter’s abandoned knife and started using it to try to cut through the seastone, but it was no use. The seastone was too strong. They needed something strong to slice through it.

Or maybe not a thing, but a certain green-haired crewmate. Zoro could slice through a lot. Could he slice through this without harming Robin?

Usopp nodded at the staircase. “Let’s go. We need to find the others. Zoro will get it off.”

“I imagine Swordsman-san won’t be very happy about that,” Robin said.

Oh shit. Yeah. Usopp forgot that. Zoro had zero trust in Robin.

But he did in Luffy. And that was what mattered.

“If it’s what Luffy would want, then Zoro will do it,” Usopp said, climbing the staircase behind Robin. Robin just hummed.

Usopp wasn’t a coward. Not really.

— —

Nami was a coward. She normally wouldn’t gloat about such a thing, but as far as this island was concerned, it had kept her and Chopper safe.

She had heard the pirates discussing how Luffy willingly ran himself into the seastone prison. She had seen Zoro wander off with Sanji chasing after him. And on top of that, she had seen Robin and Usopp fall down a traphole. All in all, the situation was not good.

Nami and Chopper had not yet been caught; they had been the last to disembark from Merry. She was glad she and Chopper were some distance behind. Nami was able to pull Chopper behind a bush as soon as she heard Usopp scream.

Yes. She had her cowardice to thank for making her cautious and observant. But she did not account for one factor. That factor being Chopper.

“We have to save Usopp and Robin!” Chopper said, gesturing at the trap hole said crewmates had fallen down.

Nami put a hand over Chopper’s mouth. She looked around, but the coast was clear. “Shh! I know, Chopper! But running in there blindly isn’t going to save anyone!” Nami said. Even if her inaction was partially the result of fear, she knew she was right.

Chopper shook his head, tears starting to form in his eyes. “But! But we can’t just leave them!”

An uneasy feeling settled in Nami’s stomach; she hated seeing Chopper cry. She pulled him in for a hug. “We’re not. We’re going to save them. Just you watch.”

Nami pulled back and smiled as Chopper wiped the tears from his eyes. “Okay,” he said.

But then Chopper’s gaze shot to behind Nami, his eyes widening. “Run, Nami!” Nami turned around. But it was too late. Forceful hands quickly tied up her wrists and blindfolded her. Nami kicked and punched but it was to no avail. She shouted out for Chopper and could hear him shouting out for her. A hand covered her mouth and she bit down on it as hard as she could.

“You’re gonna pay for that!” her captor said. The last thing she felt was something pricking her arm.

When Nami came to, she was somewhat delirious. Her head was aching, her body felt stiff, and was that two Choppers looking down at her?

“Nami!” the Choppers exclaimed, pulling her tight into a hug.

“What happened? Why are there two of you?”

“We were drugged. You’re still recovering from the effects of it. I just managed to transform into my bigger form before they pricked me, so the drug wasn’t as potent on me,” Chopper explained. The two Choppers Nami saw finally merged to make one Chopper. He must’ve transformed back into his small form.

Nami looked around. It was artificially bright and she didn’t recognise where they were. Directly in front of them laid an entrance to some sort of maze built with bricks that reached the ceiling. There was nowhere else to turn to, blocked in by the room’s walls.

“I guess they want us to get through this maze, huh?” Nami said.

“I think so,” Chopper said. “There’s seastone embedded in the brick, so I don’t even have the strength to smash it down. I can’t focus on smells either.”

Nami lifted him up in her arms, grateful he was in his small form. “Does me carrying you reduce it?”

Chopper frowned. “Not by much. Conserve your strength, we might need it.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Nami said. Chopper nodded. Nami wasn’t so eager to agree but trusted Chopper’s choices. Her attention turned back to the maze. “It seems easy enough.” She approached the entrance.

“Let’s be careful. Who knows what’s in there,” Chopper said before joining Nami.

Nami nodded and the two stepped into the maze. As soon as they did, the entrance behind them was instantly concealed with bricks. “That can’t be good,” Nami said.

“Let’s just get out of here quickly,” Chopper said. She could already see the effect the seastone was having on him. She just hoped he could endure it for a little while.

They followed the path and chose a few passageways that led them to nothing but deadends. It was frustrating work, especially after the sixth time it happened. Nami scowled.

When they went an alternative route, it appeared promising or at least Nami hoped it was—it was really impossible to tell.

She turned to Chopper. “I think we’re finally getting some—”

Chopper cut her off with a shriek. She followed Chopper’s gaze and let out a shriek of her own.

There was an old man with a top hat and absurd white hair that pointed in three directions. He was wearing a colourful outfit, covered by his long black coat. Who was he? Was he stuck here too?

“Doctor?” Chopper said, familiarity and hope in his tone.

“Chopper!” said the man, grinning. He got down on one knee and held his arms out wide. Chopper immediately ran into them, re-energised, like the seastone had stopped affecting him..

Was this Doctor Hiriluk? The man Doctor Kureha had told them about?

But as Doctor Hiriluk’s arms encircled Chopper, his eyes turned black and his hold on Chopper began to tighten.

“Doctor?” Chopper said when he tried to break the hold. “Doctor,” he giggled, “you’re kinda crushing me.”

“I don’t think that’s Doctor Hiriluk, Chopper!” Nami said. She felt for her clima-tact but hesitated—she didn’t want to hit Chopper too. Instead she mustered her courage—something she could do when the situation called for it— and punched the fake Doctor in the face. It was enough for him to stumble backwards and lose his grip on Chopper, whom Nami quickly pulled out of the Doctor’s reach.

“Aw. Why’d you go and do that now, Chopper? I thought you loved me,” the Doctor said as he regained his composure. Chopper jumped when the Doctor’s black eyes turned on him.

“He’s not real, Chopper! Don’t fall for it,” Nami said, blocking Chopper with her outstretched arm.

The Doctor hummed. “She’s right, Chopper. I can’t be real. You’d know that. After all…” Chopper was shaking against Nami’s arm. “You killed me.”

Chopper let out a sob. Nami wrapped an arm around him and pulled him in close. Seeing Chopper hurting was heartbreaking. “Don’t listen to him, Chopper. He’s not the doctor you knew!”

“But it’s true! I did kill him!” Chopper said between sobs.

Nami clenched her fists. Whoever was responsible for this was going to get it. How they knew Chopper’s history, she didn’t know, but she suspected the work of a devil fruit might be at play. Though, she didn’t know how, given the seastone walls. She just had to find the source, but first she needed to help Chopper see reason.

She crouched down to Chopper’s height and held his hooves. “Don’t do this to yourself, Chopper,” Nami said. “You know the truth. This man or thing or whatever it is, is not who you think it is! Don’t let him tarnish the memory of your old Doctor! We can defeat him!”

Chopper nodded, his sobbing slowly coming to an end as he wiped his eyes. “I know you’re right, but it’s hard…. they look the same.”

“I know. You just have to look past that. I know you can do it, Chopper.” She gave his shoulder a light squeeze and stood up.

“Now. You,” she said, turning on the spot to face the Doctor. “It’s—”

Her eyes widened.

It was her own mother. With her distinctive pink hairstyle, green checkered shirt, and cigarette in mouth. It was Bell-mere, exactly how Nami remembered her.

“M-mom?” she said.

“Nami, no!” Chopper said, he was panting from the seastone but his sniffles a thing of the past. He tugged on Nami’s skirt. “You know it’s not true! It’s not her!” Nami knew what Chopper was saying was true, but seeing her mother for the first time in over a decade. It was a lot to process. She understood why Chopper reacted so strongly.

“Oh, Nami. How I’ve missed you,” fake mom said. “You’re so big now!”

Nami exhaled. “And you’re dead.”

“My, my. Aren’t you happy to see your own mother, Nami? Or perhaps you’re still mad that I couldn’t afford fancy things for you.”

“My real mom would know that’s not the case at all!” Nami snapped, fists clenched. She had long since come to terms with the guilt she felt when her mother was killed. Bell-mere knew her better than that. Nami couldn’t believe the audacity this person had to impersonate her dead mother, and to do it so incorrectly.

“Would she really, though?”

Chopper was still tugging at Nami’s skirt, but Nami ignored him. Instead she launched forward, punching fake Bell-mere right in the jaw. Chopper gasped. Fake Bell-mere stumbled backwards, holding her jaw, while Nami cradled her sore fist. Punching really did hurt.

“You little fucker! You’re gonna pay for that!” fake Bell-mere said, but even as she spoke, her appearance began to waver. It kept flickering on and off, like a broken visual den den mushi, until finally the appearance of Bell-mere was no longer. Instead it was a short middle-aged woman with scruffy brown hair dressed in white overalls with the only colour coming from her shiny gold headband. It looked expensive and out of place.

Realising her identity was revealed, the woman quickly armed herself with a knife from under her long sleeve. She lunged forward, thrusting the knife forward. Nami dodged in the nick of time. The woman was faster than her appearance let on.

Nami was just grateful Chopper was not being targeted, given how the seastone was affecting him, his moves growing more and more sluggish. Never in Nami’s nearly two decades of living did she think she would actually be grateful for getting attacked. Yes, she had been plenty selfless before—her home village the prime example, but having Arlong boss her around had been very different and terrible to being the active target in a physical fight.

However, that all changed when Nami glanced at Chopper. He was struggling to hold himself up. Nami needed to end this fight, pronto, otherwise Chopper would likely fall unconscious. Unfortunately, the woman’s attention also turned to Chopper. Her eyes widened in what Nami could only call bloodlust as she took Chopper’s state in.

The woman launched herself at him.

“Chopper, run!” Nami called out. Nami equipped her clima-tact and instead of using any tempo skills, she swung it like a baseball. Its length managed to trip the woman up. Only, Chopper wasn’t moving.

“I’m… not leaving.. you.. Nami,” he said, somehow finding extra strength to stay standing.

“Sorry, Chopper.” With no time to argue, Nami used cyclone tempo. The lack of breeze made it rather weak but it still sent Chopper flying through the passageway the woman had come. Nami hoped Chopper could find a solution to the maze or at least avoid combat.

The woman, who had also been sent flying by cyclone tempo in the opposite direction, was getting up. But this time she transformed into a copy of Luffy and made a display of throwing her knife away. “I will hardly be needing that. You’re the coward of my crew, after all. Always relying on me to save the day. Isn’t that right, Nami?”

Nami’s jaw tightened as she wielded her clima-tact out in front of her. That wasn’t Luffy talking, she reminded herself. She was the proud navigator of the Straw Hat Crew, worthy of the crew, and definitely not a burden!

She thought she had rid herself of those insecurities, but evidently they still lingered. Nevermind, she would just repeat the mantra inside her head until it stuck.

How dare this woman impersonate not only Chopper’s father-figure and Nami’s own mother, but now her captain? She remained calm. She needed to think strategically and work out some plan. What was this woman’s weakness?

And that was when Nami realised. She didn’t know what devil fruit the woman had, but it was definitely one. However, she was definitely not being affected by the seastone embedded in the walls around them. How was that possible? Nami’s eyes searched all over the woman but the only peculiar thing she noticed was the gold headband the woman had on. It was a bit out of place; it looked expensive, not like something you would pair with plain white overalls. But what if they had something to do with blocking the seastone? Nami had never heard of such a thing before but surely it wasn’t entirely impossible. The grand line was full of mysteries, after all.

So. All Nami had to do was remove the headband. Simple enough? Hardly. But she had a plan brewing; she only hoped it would work.

Before she could commence, fake Luffy came at her, landing a punch straight in Nami’s gut. She bent over, winded, and proceeded to cop an upward knee to the chin as a result. It hurt. A lot. And she was sure Chopper would tell her off later. But Nami was only grateful the woman could only copy the visuals and vocals, and not the actual strength. Had she been wielding Luffy’s strength, Nami would be out cold.

As Nami regained her footing, she wiped her hand across her bloody nose. “So. What’s your devil fruit power anyway?” she said, looking at fake Luffy.

Fake Luffy laughed. “Ha. As if I would tell you.”

It was Nami’s turn to laugh. “That scared of me knowing, huh? Where’s that cocky attitude you had a minute ago when you threw the knife away?” Adding more fire to the taunt, Nami spat some blood from her mouth and said, “Pathetic.”

“Ha! Your taunts won’t work on me. But since I’m about to finish you anyway, I’ll let you know,” fake Luffy said. She spun her leg out, taking out Nami’s ankles. Nami landed on her butt and fake Luffy stood over her. “It’s the nightmare devil fruit. I can transform into anyone’s worst nightmare and insecurities.” She crouched down so she was face to face with Nami. “Pretty sweet, right?”

But that was where she stuffed up. Nami seized the opportunity and with all her force, headbutted fake Luffy. It hurt like hell, but Nami didn’t have time to dwell on it. She grabbed the headband off of fake Luffy’s head and grabbed the knife the woman had thrown away. When she looked back, fake Luffy was gone and the woman was back, stumbling on her feet.

“You fucker!” she screamed and charged at Nami. Nami easily evaded as the woman’s movements got slower and sloppier. She wasn’t lasting as long as Chopper had up against the seastone.

“How do we get out of here?” Nami said.

“Fuck you,” the woman said, lying flat on the floor. Nami didn’t need to lift a finger; the seastone had her covered.

Nami twirled the woman’s golden headband on her finger in front of her face. “Thank you for this,” she said and winked. The woman growled and tried to reach out for it, but with little energy remaining, she was beaten.

Nami grinned as she walked through the passageway the woman had come through and where she had sent Chopper flying. “Chopper?!” she called out. The passageway was long, but about 15 metres away, there laid Chopper’s little body. Nami sprinted to him.

“Nami?” Chopper said, managing to lift his head up.

“That’s me,” Nami said. “Here, this should help.” She took Chopper’s hat off and placed the gold headband on his head. It automatically adjusted to fit his head. Neat.

Chopper’s eyes widened. “Wow, what did you do?” he said as he flexed his hooves in front of him. “I’m starting to feel better already.”

“Good,” Nami said. “I’ll get you up to speed as we get out of here. I have a feeling the exit is close.”

Chopper nodded. “Yeah, with my energy back I can analyse the scents I smell better. Fresh air and tree scents are coming from just around the corner down here.”

Nami grinned. “Let’s go, Chopper!”

Nami wasn’t a coward. Not really.

— —

Zoro wasn’t a coward, but he was an idiot. Which some would argue was more frustrating. At least cowards remained back and knew not to get in the way unless they felt confident and capable enough to do so. Zoro, well, he went all in. All. The. Time. No hesitation.

Which was how he landed himself locked in a seastone prison, without his swords, with Luffy and Sanji.

How exactly did that happen? Well, Zoro had been following a swordsman interested in his swords. He led him to a little room that housed his swords right at the back. While Zoro regretfully entrusted him for a moment to inspect his swords, the man fled out the room with them and a prison gate sealed him in. And to make matters worse, the man’s swords in the back were made of plastic. Zoro cursed in frustration.

Shortly after, they had opened a wall in his cell that divided his cell and the one next to it. Which apparently Luffy and Sanji were in.

“Ugh, not you too,” Sanji said in greeting. His ankles had long chains connecting them to the wall. These people obviously knew their strengths and weaknesses, since they were targeting Sanji’s legs and Zoro’s swords. Luffy looked worse for wear too. He was clinging onto the bars of the cell and groaning.

“What happened to him?” Zoro asked.

“Seastone cell,” Sanji said, feeling his pocket for a cigarette only to sigh upon finding there wasn’t one.

“Ah. Looks like we’re stuck then, huh,” Zoro said. He raised an eyebrow. “How did you get stuck here, shit cook? Actually, nevermind. It was a woman, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe it was. But if I hadn’t been following a certain mosshead to make sure he didn’t get lost, I probably wouldn’t have encountered her!” Sanji snapped.

Zoro scoffed. “Oh, so this is all my fault?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, fuck you too,” Zoro said, but it was lacking its usual heat, his focus was on their situation. “I’m guessing they used food to fool Luffy?”

“Yep. And for you I’m guessing it was something to do with swords.”

Zoro grunted in confirmation as he inspected their surroundings. It appeared to be fairly ordinary, like prison cells generally were, but of course there was seastone embedded all around in it. There was no sign of people outside of the cell, but instead just a bunch of other empty cells. Zoro grabbed the cell bars and pulled and pushed at them. They didn’t budge.

“Typical,” Sanji said, tapping his fingers along his bicep. “You can inspect all you want, but it’ll do you no good. We’re stuck here until the others find us.”

“If they find us,” Zoro said.

Luffy let go of the cell bars, but he remained with his back to Zoro. “They will. There’s no ‘if’ about it,” he said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Zoro didn’t mean to doubt his crewmates, but with Nico Robin among them he wasn’t so certain of their safety. He still didn’t trust her and wouldn’t be surprised if she capitalised on this opportunity.

He shook his head. No. Luffy believed in her. He shouldn’t be so quick to assume the worst.

Luffy joined Sanji, sighing as he sat next to him on the hard ground. “This is boring,” he said.

“I need a smoke,” Sanji said, also sighing. His hands kept hovering over his pockets; he was very fidgety without one.

The sound of footsteps approaching captured all their attention. Zoro looked through the bars until he could see the person. It was the dodgy swordsman who had lured Zoro here.

“You,” Zoro said when the man was outside of their cell.

“Me indeed!” the man said, smug smile on his face. Zoro was eager to wipe it off. If only he had his swords.

“Hey, asshole! Let us out,” Sanji said.

“Unfortunately for you, I can’t do that. But you can give this a go.” The man tossed a small gold ball into the cell and before they could even react, it opened up and launched several gold wires. The wires attached to each of their wrists before pulling them close and connecting with each other in a tangled mess.

“What the fuck,” Sanji said and pulled his tied up wrists, but he didn’t get very far. Zoro tried next but the wire wouldn’t loosen, instead he ended up just pulling Sanji and Luffy in his direction. Luffy tried but given the seastone, his pulling was even less effective.

“What the hell did you do?” Zoro asked.

The man hummed. “Just think of it as a little… team building exercise. But don’t try to lie; after all, honesty is the best policy.”

Luffy tilted his head. “What’s that meant to mean?”

Zoro scowled. “I don’t know but this guy is gonna get it as soon as we get out of here.”

“Best of luck to you untangling that mess, boys!” the man said before leaving. The three of them kept shouting at him to come back but he just continued walking until his footsteps were no longer audible.

“Ugh. Suppose we have to try to untangle this somehow,” Sanji said.

“You should should lead. You’re the smartest here,” Zoro said to Sanji. Luffy and Sanji stared at him. Zoro wanted to stare at himself too. What the hell did he just say? He hadn’t meant to say that at all.

“Um. What the fuck,” Sanji said. “That sounded too sincere to be sarcasm.”

“Well, it wasn’t sarcasm,” Zoro said, cursing at the words that came out of his mouth. “What am I saying? It’s like I have no control over my words.”

Sanji laughed. “Well. I’m never gonna let you live this down.”

“Not funny, asshole.”

“I wonder if I could bite through this wire?” Luffy interrupted before proceeding to attempt such.

Sanji rolled his eyes. “Luffy, I love you, but you sure are an idiot.”

Sanji’s eyes widened. It was Zoro and Luffy’s turn to stare at Sanji.

Zoro smirked. “So, you love Luffy do you?” It wasn’t that it was something bad to admit—they were all nakama, after all— it was just… something Zoro would never have thought Sanji would vocalise. Zoro loved his captain too, but it was just not something people like them typically spoke up about.

“Of course. Platonically!”

Luffy laughed. “It’s okay! I love you too, Sanji!”

Sanji groaned. “Yeah, this thing is messing with us,” he said, holding up his wrists. “Let’s try to untangle it.”

They spent the next fifteen minutes ducking under and going over the wires. But it was for nought. In fact, Zoro thought they might have made matters worse. It didn’t help that they were all fighting over which way to go.

“This isn’t working,” Zoro said.

“Clearly,” Sanji said, he turned to Luffy. “What happened to letting me lead?”

Luffy pouted. “I’m the captain! I’m meant to lead.”

“Fine. I’m just the cook anyway, right?” Sanji said. He cursed and looked away. “Ignore that. I don’t know what I’m saying.”

Zoro frowned. Was Sanji doubting himself? That seemed… unlike him.

“Huh?” Luffy said, tilting his head. “You’re not just the cook, though. You’re our friend,” Luffy said. “But even if you were just the cook, that is a really important position anyway. Especially on our ship.”

Sanji avoided eye contact. “I suppose.” His eyebrows were pinched together. It didn’t suit him and Zoro had this weird compulsion to remove it. But how?

“You’re fun to spar with and your food always tastes great,” Zoro blurted out. His eyes widened as he processed what he said. It was all true, he wouldn’t lie about that. However, he was one to omit the truth by keeping these thoughts tucked away in his head. Yes they were true, but no he didn’t feel the need to vocalise them. So why the fuck was he?

“Uhh. Thanks, mosshead,” Sanji said, but it was more of a question than anything. At least his expression was more at peace now.

Zoro was curious as to what this gold wire was doing to them. It seemed to be affecting him the most, making him blurt out things he would usually keep to himself. An idea struck him. “Can you guys say that my hair is another colour instead of green? I want to test something.”

Luffy shrugged. “Sure.”

Sanji narrowed his eyes. “Not sure where you’re going with this but okay.”

“Zoro’s hair is… green!” Luffy said. “Huh, what? I tried to say red but green came out! Weird!”

“Zoro’s hair is green,” Sanji said. He frowned. “So this wire thing is making us incapable of lying? Making us confess things?”

Zoro nodded. “It hasn’t really affected Luffy much because he speaks with no filter all the time.”

Sanji slowly started to smirk. “So the nice things you said about me were true, huh?”

Zoro’s cheeks turned red. “Obviously.”

Sanji threw his head back in laughter. It wasn’t that funny. But, Zoro supposed, it must have been a delightful change for Luffy and Sanji to hear some of what he would normally never let leave the confines of his mind.

“Ah, that’s priceless,” Sanji said, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Sanji thinks Zoro is great, too,” Luffy said. Was there a hint of mischief in his eyes? Zoro couldn’t tell. But he wouldn’t be surprised. Luffy always spoke his thoughts honestly, but that didn’t mean they were always without motive.

“Of course,” Sanji said. “You’re strong and surprisingly kind, though that’s mostly to Chopper. And I’m jealous of your piercings.” Sanji’s eyes widened, red instantly colouring his cheeks. He cursed, covering his face with his hands. “What the fuck.”

Zoro’s eyebrows shot up, not used to hearing praise from Sanji. He was taken aback, but mostly by the last comment. He raised an eyebrow. “You’re jealous of my piercings?”

“Yes! I just think they’re neat, okay? I have seen some cool earrings.”

While this conversation was definitely entertaining, something about it was clawing in the back of Zoro’s head. “But there’s nothing stopping you from getting your ears pierced?”

“Yeah, I could do it for you!” Luffy said.

Both Zoro and Sanji turned to Luffy. “No,” they said in unison. There weren’t many things Zoro and Sanji agreed on, but Luffy trying to pierce ears was definitely one they did. That was a disaster waiting to happen. Anyone with a single brain cell would know that much.

Sanj sighed. “I, um, was raised to believe it was not for men. It was a woman’s thing.”

Zoro snorted. “Who taught you that? Your old man at the Baratie?”

“No, not him. He was great, actually.” Sanji smiled, fond.

But that didn’t answer Zoro’s question. “Then who?”

“My birth family. Please don’t ask me to elaborate. I really don’t want to share more than that right now.”

Huh. That was… not what Zoro was expecting to hear. Sanji had never said please to him before. He obviously had some kind of crappy family history, but Zoro wasn’t one to pry. For all that they fought, Zoro still respected Sanji and wouldn’t force him into explaining himself.

“Yeah, um sure. But just so you know. I think they would look good on you.” It was Zoro’s turn to cover his face with his hands as his cheeks turned bright red. He hadn’t meant to say that.

But instead of teasing Zoro about it, Sanji just grinned, his eyes crinkling. “Thanks.”

Before an awkward silence could proceed—they weren’t used to such sincere conversation, after all—Luffy laughed loudly and freely. “You guys are funny.”

Zoro was about to voice his dismay when a big boom sounded nearby. The three of them eagerly rushed to the cell bars to look out. There was no one yet, but voices in the distance were screaming out while the sound of guns went off.

“It’s the crew,” Luffy said, confidently. He had renewed energy, despite the seastone still affecting him. Zoro gripped the cell bars eagerly, something that was made harder by the fact they were all tangled together.

After a minute or so, several sets of rushed footsteps could be heard approaching.

“Usopp! Chopper! Nami! Robin! You’re finally here!” Luffy said, grinning.

“What do you mean ‘finally’, huh? You’re lucky we’re here in the first place after you walked yourself right into a seastone cell,” Nami said, hands on her hips. “But, I have the key thanks to Robin!” She held up a set of keys in her hand and started to go through them to get the right one. She looked like she had been fighting, the bruises and cuts were evidence of that, but she still looked alright. Zoro was somewhat jealous; these people had him itching for a fight.

“What happened to you guys?” Chopper said, gesturing at the wires connecting them. Chopper and Robin were both sporting gold headbands while Robin also had her shoulder bandaged up. It appeared they had a lot to catch up on.

“Some shitty guy tossed this golden ball and when it was released it connected us like this. We can’t get out of it,” Sanji said.

“And it’s making them tell the truth!” Luffy said, laughing.

Sanji stomped on Luffy’s foot. “You just had to add that on.”

“Ow!”

Zoro ignored them as Nami opened the gate. She handed Luffy a gold headband, advising him to to put it on. Luffy did as told and immediately he began to jump about, stretching and flexing his limbs.

“What the heck! I feel good!” Luffy said, all giddy as he pulled his cheek out wide with his devil fruit power.

“It counters the seastone,” Nami explained. “So we stole a few. Robin had been covered in seastone when we met up with her and Usopp. She was able to break free once it was on.”

It was fascinating but Zoro was more interested in finding his swords. He felt somewhat naked without them. Usopp popped out from behind Nami and Robin. He too had some bruises and cuts but nothing major. And then Zoro noticed. Usopp has his swords.

“Zoro!” Usopp said, waving Zoro’s swords.

The biggest grin lit up Zoro’s face. “Usopp, you’re amazing. I love you,” he said.

The whole crew burst out at that, including Zoro himself. He was past caring.

“I say we keep this honesty thing on them a little longer,” Nami said, a smirk taking over her face. “For science, you know?”

“No,” Luffy, Sanji, and Zoro said.

Robin felt the wire between her fingers. “It’s fine. I recall Crocodile using something similar once.”

Sanji exhaled. “Thank god. How do we get out of it?”

“Simple,” Robin said. “You just have to untangle yourselves.” She smiled innocently, but Zoro just knew she was deriving sadistic pleasure from their situation.

Sanji and Luffy groaned at her answer.

She chuckled. “Just kidding. Something sharp can slice it provided there’s enough force.”

“Thank fuck,” Zoro said. He could see Sanji and Luffy sigh in relief. Zoro turned to Usopp. “Usopp, hold up one of my swords and we’ll run the wire into it.”

Usopp put his hands up. “No way. What if it accidentally slices you guys instead!?”

“I’ll do it,” Robin offered, summoning extra arms. And this time, Zoro found he wasn’t hesitant to trust her. Maybe she could be bad news for them. Maybe she would use this opportunity to slice them up. But he was pretty sure she wouldn’t. She was smarter than that; if she wanted to end them she wouldn’t do it like this. And as for now she was part of their crew. He had to have faith in his captain’s judgement. If any issues presented themselves, they could deal with that later. In any case, he was that desperate to get the wires off that he would trust just about anyone to do the job.

It took a couple of goes to get the right amount of force, but they managed to slice it several times. Zoro had to admit, freedom had never felt better. He rubbed his wrists, the skin there red from where the wires rubbed.

Nami clapped, getting everybody’s attention. “Let’s get moving. The log pose has set and we need to go before they send reinforcements. Also, Zoro, Sanji?”

“Yes my Nami-swan?” Sanji sang.

Zoro looked at her. “What?”

“I took down four enemies. Usopp took down seven. Robin got ten. Chopper, two. How many did you guys beat?” she said, smug smile on her face.

Sanji still had heart eyes though. The guy really needed some chill when it came to the ladies. “As to be expected of the amazing Nami-swan and Robin-chwan!”

“Good for you,” Zoro deadpanned. Nami snickered.

As they gathered back on the ship, they prepared to set sail. The sun was setting and they would be moving from a warm climate to a cooler one, no doubt. But for now the ocean was calm.

“What even was the meaning of all that?” Usopp asked, once all the crew were sitting on the deck that evening. They had all shared their stories. Predictably, Zoro, Luffy, and Sanji’s had been the least exciting out of the lot.

Robin hummed. “I overheard one of them.”

“Yeah?”

“A pirate called Blackbeard put them up to it. Some kind of testing facility.”

“Never heard of him,” Zoro said. The others hummed in agreement. They were all just relieved it was over. That was the main thing.

Zoro wasn’t a coward. No. But sometimes he, and the rest of the monster trio, were idiots. Truly. Luckily for them, they had reliable crewmates.