Chapter 3 Danger

Here, take this and wrap it around Zoro to stop the bleeding!" Rei ripped off part of her uniform and handed it to Coby.

"B-but, we have to get to cover!" Coby argued, "They're going to keep firing at us!"

Her voice was steady from experience. "Don't worry about that! Luffy is the only cover we need."

Confused by her words, Coby looked past the commander to find Luffy standing in front of them, using his body to guard against the gunfire. Astonished by what he was seeing, Coby realized that the bullets weren't going through Luffy's body, but instead were rebounding into random directions away from them.

'What a sight!' Coby thought in awe, 'Incredible…'

"Coby!" Luffy called from behind his back, "Are you done helping Zoro, yet?"

"Uh, almost!" In a rush, Coby quickly wrapped the cloth around Zoro's chest.

"Listen up, Coby." Luffy said in a serious tone, "A minute from now, I'm going to run towards the building of the marine base. I want you to help Rei carry Zoro and follow close behind me. The three of you will hide somewhere safe inside the base. Take good care of Zoro, okay?" He turned around and grinned at him, "He's an interesting guy. I wouldn't want something to happen to him."

"But what are you going to do when we go inside?" Coby furrowed his eyebrows. However, without even listening to Coby's question, Luffy had already started running towards the building. In a panic, Coby helped Zoro to his feet. Rei quickly came to their side and the three of them tried their best to catch up with Luffy.

"Don't worry about him." Rei assured him. Still anxious of what would happen next, Coby turned his head to look at her. She smiled, "Luffy will take care of things. He always does. He'll take down Morgan and then everything will be fine."

Listening to her words, Coby couldn't help but notice the one and only emotion in her voice at that moment: admiration. He could tell that despite Luffy's childish manner that made him seem unreliable, Rei thought of him as the complete opposite. That he could be someone to be depended on. In this thought alone, Coby found some comfort while seeing Luffy in a new way.

Almost reaching his destination, Luffy began to think of the fastest way to reach Morgan. "Oh! Duh!" he realized. Then without any hesitation, Luffy stretched his arms all the way to the roof of the marine base and flung himself up into the sky.

"Pull harder!" Morgan shouted. He glared at his subordinates who were trying their best to pull the ropes that would bring the statue upright. "Freaking slackers." He grumbled, "You guys over there! Did you get rid of those kids yet?!" He shouted at the rest of his subordinates who were still shooting.

"No, sir!" One of them replied.

"What the hell are you idiots doing?! A simple task like this shouldn't be taking so long!" He roared.

"Well, you see… they have actually started running towards us, sir… and they're now quite close…" The marine's eyes opened wider when he noticed that the one known as Luffy was coming flying through the air at them. "Whaa…" He backed up, alarmed by what he was seeing.

Soon after that, Luffy landed perfectly on the giant statue that finally stood upright. However, the force, combined with the angle of Luffy's landing caused the statue to fall back down, shattering into thousands of tiny pieces.

"Whoa! What a mess!" Luffy observed. "Hmm? What're you guys staring at?" He looked around at everyone's faces. They were all filled with complete horror, except for one. Morgan, who was now at the end of his already low patience, seethed in rage.

"What. The. Hell. Did. You. DO?!" He screamed.

Completely ignoring what he just said, Luffy looked at Morgan straight in the eyes and declared, "Captain Axe-Hand Morgan of the 153rd branch, you are now under arrest."

"Did he really just do that?" Coby asked, incredulous at the sight of Luffy flying towards the roof.

"What else do you expect from him? Now hurry inside while they're all too distracted to fire at us!" Rei urged. Getting over his shock, Coby caught up with Rei, who was helping Zoro run.

"We're finally inside!" sighed Rei, "Let's hide in one of the rooms for the time being."

They headed to the closest room nearby. It was a small room with an abundance of random objects. From boxes full of maps, to shelves of cleaning supplies, it was all there. Well, everything except windows.

"Great. The storage room." Zoro grumbled.

"Well it looks like you've finally gotten some energy back." Rei noted while helping Zoro to a nearby chair.

"Yeah, well, thanks for helping me just now." He looked away, ashamed at himself for needing help in the first place.

"Don't even mention it." She nodded.

"So do we just wait here now?" Coby asked.

"Yes, you and Zoro will wait here until everything is settled. I'm going up to the roof to check on Luffy." She replied.

'She's going alone?' Coby thought, 'But I want to go too… I just want to help…'

"I'm leaving now, so if you two have something to tell me, then say it now." She warned.

'Should I ask to go too? What if it's too dangerous though?'

After a moment of silence, Rei said "Alright then, I'm— "

"Wait!"

Coby and Rei both looked at Zoro, surprised by his outburst.

"When I got tied up, that stupid Helmeppo took my swords. So when you go out, can you look for them as well?" He asked.

"Sure." Rei smiled before she began to walk out the door.

"Wait, please, let me come too!" Coby pleaded.

She turned around and looked at him. There was a desperate look on his face that wasn't there a moment ago. "What's up all of a sudden?" She asked.

"I-I just want to be of help too…" He suddenly lost his confidence.

She smiled sadly, understanding how he felt. "Coby, don't forget that Zoro is still hurt. Remember what Luffy said? To take care of him? That's what I need you to do right now. This isn't just simple task to keep you busy. It's a mission assigned to you by Luffy."

Coby looked up at her face. He was still feeling uncertain but he said "Okay, I'll stay."

Rei smiled "Thank you. I know this is tough since you're still new at this, but please do your best. The building looked mainly empty so I think it should be fine. Please be careful." With that, she turned around and left, closing the door behind her.

A minute passed by and Coby was still staring at the closed door, trying his best to swallow down his regret. A few awkward seconds later, Zoro finally broke the silence.

"Just get out of here already!" He scowled.

Coby blinked, "Huh?"

"Don't 'huh' me. If you want to go, then just go!"

"But I was told to stay here and protect you!' He cried.

Zoro glared at him like a ferocious wolf about to attack its prey. "I'm not a helpless child that needs to be protected! I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman so I don't need a kid like you worrying about me!" He suddenly stood up to emphasize his point. However, the abrupt movement of his body caused his bullet wounds to start gushing out a fountain of blood again.

Coby's jaw dropped before he shouted angrily "Like I'm going to leave you in a state like this!"

Completely unfazed by his reopened wound, Zoro shouted back "I'm fine!"

"You're not!" For the first time in his life, Coby was able to stare down another person as he stood his ground. However, as the blood continued to drain out of Zoro's body, Coby realized that now wasn't the best moment to have a staring contest. After quickly finding a first aid kit in the storage room that they were in, Coby stopped the bleeding and rewrapped Zoro's chest with some gauze.

Coby sat down on the floor and sighed "Even if I did go, I wouldn't be able to do anything. I'm not even an official marine yet. I haven't had any training or experience like Luffy and Rei. It would be too dangerous for me."

"So what?!" Zoro demanded "If want some experience than why not start now? And if you're worried about the danger, then you might as well quit before you even begin!"

Coby looked at him, surprised by his words. Zoro continued "I'm not an expert or anything but isn't joining the marines a dangerous job to begin with? If you're worried about getting hurt, then just leave already because they sure as hell don't need a scaredy cat like you!"

Coby sat there in silence, carefully thinking over Zoro's words. Finally, he let out a whisper "I'm not a scaredy cat…"

"I can't hear you!" Zoro provoked.

Coby stood up "I said I'm not a scaredy cat! From the moment I met Luffy on Alvida's ship, I promised myself that I would be willing to risk my life for this job!"

"So then what are you going to do now?" He asked.

"I'm going to…" He gulped "I'm going to go help Luffy whether he wants me to or not!"

As Zoro watched Coby storm out of the room, he grabbed a beer bottle from a nearby box and took a swig. He smirked "I've only known your Captain for a short amount of time, but I'll be damned if he doesn't feel proud of you."

'If I were Helmeppo, where would I hide some swords?'

After leaving the storage room, Rei immediately headed toward the front counter, figuring that there would be a map there. Just as she had thought, after rummaging through some drawers, she had found a map.

Rei sighed in frustration 'I don't have any time for this…'

Suddenly hearing some footsteps approaching, Rei hid behind the front counter. A few seconds later, she spotted about 5 marines walking down the hall in her direction. From their cheerful atmosphere, Rei guessed that they had just come from a break.

'Perfect!' She smiled, a plan forming in her mind.

Patiently kneeling behind the counter, Rei waited for her chance to pop out. When they were finally close enough, Rei casually stood up from her position, in plain sight of the other marines. Confused by this new person before them, who was also wearing a marine uniform, they stared at her blankly.

She flashed them a smile "I'm going to need to tie you guys up for the time being."

"What?!" Suddenly aware of the strange marine, who was now a threat, they all brought out their guns and aimed it at her head.

"Now, now, don't you think that's a bit too much for just one girl?" She asked innocently. "Because I don't."

Less then ten minutes later, Rei was finishing up with tying up the last marine with some rope.

"Sorry guys!" She apologized sincerely, "I can't risk having any of you find those two people." With her back turned the other way, she didn't notice a short boy with pink hair leave a certain room and sneak away.

"Now let's see…" She scanned the crowd of marines. After recognizing one of them from the description of Luffy's story with Helmeppo, Rei exclaimed "Oh! You're the one!" She pointed at one of them. "You're the one who was with Helmeppo in Luffy's story!" After helping him up without untying his ropes, Rei told him "You're going to come with me."

As the two of them walked away, the group of marines who were still on the floor began whispering among themselves.

"Where do you think she's taking him?"

"Who knows, but he's probably a goner now!"

"I wish I could help him…"

"Don't worry, the others who are coming back from break will be here soon. Then we'll get back at her."

"I wonder who the other two are… The ones that she didn't want us to find..."

"Just tell me where Helmeppo put Zoro's swords." Rei gritted her teeth in frustration as she dragged the marine by his collar down the hallway.

"Never." He said stubbornly.

She suddenly let go of his collar and bent down to look him in the eyes. "What's your name?"

Unable to keep the intense eye contact that she was giving him, he looked away and muttered "Daichi."

"Okay well listen here, Daichi. I need to find Zoro's swords right away. So I can return them to him and then go check on my Captain. It's not like I'm worried about him losing or anything though. My Captain can beat your Captain's *** any day. But you never know what Luffy's thinking, so if I'm not careful, he could do something stupid enough to land me a bunch of paper work that I don't want to do."

Somewhere in the middle of Rei's speech, Daichi's eyes began to slowly widen. "Did you say that… your Captain is fighting Morgan?" He asked. When she nodded, he took a deep breath to calm himself. "And for what reason do they have to fight?"

Rei scratched her head, confused by his sudden change of attitude. "What other reason is there then to arrest him? You, a subordinate under him, should know just how much of a corrupted tyrant he is."

"The swords are on the third floor, two doors down from the right of the staircase." He said, almost too excitedly.

She blinked "Um… thanks…"

On the way up, Daichi explained "Everyone hates Morgan. But we're all too scared to say anything about it. If you do one wrong thing or if you catch him in a bad mood, then he'll punish you without a second thought. This doesn't just apply to us, but also all of the citizens as well. When I first joined the marine and got transferred here, I didn't expect my job to be like this…"

Rei gave him a sad look "Being a marine isn't supposed to be like this. And it's not going to be anymore as long as Luffy and I are here."

"Sir! Our guns aren't working on him!"

"What the hell are you?!" Morgan roared in frustration.

"A rubberman!" Luffy roared back at him. "You small fries need to get out of the way!" He stretched his leg across the roof and swung it to the side, carrying most of the marines to the very edge of the building, but not close enough for them to fall off.

"You said you're going to arrest me, huh?" Morgan sneered, "That's not happening!" He charged at Luffy, aiming his axe-hand at his head. "I've worked too hard for the status I've gained!" When he swung his arm down, Luffy ducked and then head butted Morgan right in his steel jaw. Morgan stepped back in shock at the pain he felt from that attack.

"I don't care about your freaking status!" yelled Luffy, "Why the hell would I give a crap about any of that?"

"How dare you! Status is everything in this work! It is what instills fear and obedience into the minds of the inferior!" He tried to strike Luffy again but missed.

"Does fear and obedience feed your stomach?" Luffy asked before he punched him in the stomach. Morgan stepped back and grunted in pain. "Does it help the people around you?" He gave Morgan another punch in the head. "Does it stop bastards like you from abusing innocent people?!" Finally, he grabbed Morgan's shoulders and then pulled him back to knee him in the stomach. Morgan collapsed on the floor.

Astonished by what just happened, all of the other marines just stood there silently.

"Is it… really over?" One of them asked. Then, as if to answer his question, another voice spoke up.

"What… happened?!" Everyone turned their heads and looked at Helmeppo, who had his mouth open. Before the battle had begun, Helmeppo had snuck away downstairs during the commotion that Luffy had caused. Now, back from wherever he was, he stood, unbelieving, that his father was just defeated.

"D-Don't move an inch!" With his body shaking from a mixture of fear and anger, Helmeppo pulled out his gun and aimed it at Luffy.

"Forget about it. That's not going to work on me." Luffy said as he began to walk towards him.

"I said stop!" He screeched, "It may not work on you, but what about him!" From behind his back, he pulled Coby right next to him. He had his arms tied behind his back and tape over his mouth. Helmeppo pointed his gun at Coby's head before ripping the tape off of his mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Luffy!" Coby cried.

Luffy stopped walking towards them. "Coby? Didn't I tell you to hide downstairs?"

"You did, but I ignored you. I'm sorry, I only wanted to help for once, but I've only caused you trouble!" He was on the verge of tears by now.

Helmeppo laughed "That's right, you stupid piece of trash! You're so worthless, you can't even do a single thing like help your Captain out! Now you're going to pay for it with your life!"

Luffy frowned, "Are you going to let him talk to you like that, Coby?"

Coby looked up from the ground and at Luffy's face. When Luffy saw the hesitation still on Coby's face, he continued "Don't you remember what you said to me on Alvida's ship?"

He stared at the unreadable expression on Luffy's face and took a deep breath, "I said that I'd be willing to die for my dreams."

"So are you telling me now that what you said was a lie?" He demanded.

Instinctively, Coby cried out "No! Of course not! I… I…" A realization suddenly dawned on him. 'How stupid am I?' He wondered to himself, 'I almost lost myself once again…'

A determined look came on his face "If I have to die for my dreams, then so be it!" He shouted, causing Helmeppo to almost drop his gun in surprise. "Ever since I met you on Alvida's ship, Luffy, I swore to give up my cowardice in order to chase my dreams. You've inspired me so much in such a short amount of time. So that's why… that's why… I'M NOT AFRAID TO DIE!"

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "I think I'm starting to like you! You heard him, Helmeppo! Coby's not afraid to die, so what are you going to do now?"

Flustered, Helmeppo's face turned red as his head started shaking in rage. "Don't give me that 'not afraid to die' crap! If you really believe in that, then let's put it to the test!" With the gun still aimed at Coby's head, Helmeppo lightly rested his finger on the trigger and closed his eyes.

'I'm really going to shoot!' Helmeppo thought nervously.

'He's really going to shoot!' Coby's heart raced like never before.

'Is he really going to shoot?' Luffy wondered, excitedly.

"Oh, the swords are actually here!" Rei smiled.

"I told you I would tell you where they are! Now can you please untie me?" He whined.

"Wow, I've heard stories that Roronoa Zoro uses three swords, but I didn't think it was actually true!" She marvelled while untying Daichi's ropes, "I wonder how he does it?"

"Yeah well, we better get back now." He rubbed the bruises from the ropes, "The other guys will probably be back from break soon. If they see the mess that you left, then they'll immediately arrest your friends. The worst outcome is that Captain Morgan could have sent a message through a den den mushi to kill them on the spot."

"…"

"…"

"WHAT?!" She exploded, "You couldn't have bothered to tell me about this earlier?!"

"I didn't even think about it until now." His face turned red.

Without wasting another second, Rei ran back downstairs as fast as she could, practically flying down the staircases. 'Please don't let it be too late!' She prayed. When she finally reached the first floor, the first thing that she noticed was that the marines she had tied up were missing. The second thing that she noticed was the wide open door that led to the storage room. "Shit!" She ran into the room.

When she got inside, she saw about a dozen marines surrounding Zoro against a wall. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a few other marines unconscious on the floor. She figured that they were from Zoro's attempt at fighting back barehanded while wounded.

"Zoro!" She called out to him.

"About time!" He shouted, "Throw me my swords!"

She threw all three swords into the air, just above everyone's heads. In the blink of an eye, Zoro unsheathed them and took down all of the marines that were surrounding him with the hilt of his swords. Rei's jaw dropped in awe at the sight before her.

With a sword still clenched between his teeth, Zoro smiled deviously, "I'm back."

Sweat dropped from Coby's forehead as he waited for the bullet that would kill him. After waiting a few more seconds and it still didn't come, he opened his eyes and looked at Helmeppo. He was shocked to see that Helmeppo was no longer pointing a gun at his head. Instead, he was shaking from head to toe. This time, in fear. Coby slowly turned his head in Luffy's direction and was in an even bigger shock to see that Luffy had also pulled out a gun, and was now aiming it at Helmeppo.

"Shishishi." Luffy laughed, "While I was on a mission one time, I met a certain pirate group. I heard one of them say that a gun wasn't a toy."

'Is this really Luffy?' Coby's eyes widened. Never would he have thought that Luffy was the kind of person to use a gun. 'He looks much more… intimidating…'

"I don't even like using guns." Luffy began to slowly walk towards Helmeppo, his gun still pointed at his head, "I don't know much about them." Helmeppo began to back away. "But even I know the difference between a toy and a weapon."

He couldn't take it anymore. Helmeppo dropped to the ground with his hands covering his head. "I get it! I get it already! I won't cause anymore trouble, so please just stop!"

Everyone was silent. The only noise that could be heard were the crowing of birds in the distance. The other marines, who had become mere spectators, couldn't believe their minds. Did this really just happen? Someone had actually taken down their Captain and his son? They all stared at Luffy.

"What?" He asked "Oh, if you're wondering about this thing…" He pointed at the gun in his hand, "It's a toy." He pulled the trigger and a small spurt of water came out.

Suddenly, everyone erupted into celebration and crowded around Luffy and Coby.

"Huh? What's going on?" Coby asked as they began to lift him and Luffy above their shoulders and started cheering their names.

"Who cares?" Luffy shouted over the noise, "It looks like it's time to PARTY!"

And that was exactly how Rei and Zoro found Luffy and Coby when they rushed to the roof. Instead of seeing an intense battle between two Captains, they found a wild party going on. While Morgan was still unconscious with his son crying right next to him, Luffy and Coby were still being hoisted into the air with music blasting in the background.

"What…" Rei began, her mouth wide open.

Zoro quickly walked towards them to grab a cup of sake that was being passed around.

"… the ****." She finished.

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