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RUMBLE!	By : TreeStar Category: +M to R > One Piece Views: 7990 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
RUMBLe!

17

Battered and Rammed

Ow! was Zoro�s first thought as he was literally thrown into awake-land by being slammed into the ceiling. What the hell?!

At least the furniture was bolted to the floor that was the new ceiling, so the sofa, dressers and tables had remained in place. ((Ships typically have bolted furniture because of storms and to prevent essentials from getting moved or thrown overboard)). The same could not be said for all of the hammocks in the room, however, and similar reactions to Zoro�s could be heard throughout the boys� cabin as everyone else came to awake-land to join him. Various rustlings of fabrics and a wild dash of hoofs running in circles was joined by various forms of the declaration �this means war�, vibrant monologue, and moans of doom and despair, and lots of crying.

Zoro shook his head and tried to focus through the nonexistent light to see what was happening in the room, but the darkness just wasn�t cooperating with him. He had to go by sound alone.

�CRAP-HAMMOCK! When I get my shoes on I�m gonna kick the living crap outta you!�

�Curse you Giant Pickle People! I dare you to take another swing, for I am the Mighty Capta--�

�WAAAHAHAAH! Luffy Zoro Sanji Usopp Nami Robin!!! Save me!�

�My nose! My handsome nose is broken!�

�You knocked over my bed, ya crap-sniper!� (SOME blond moron who would remain nameless really had no clue what was happening. None of them did, really, but the nameless blond moron was the only one that Zoro�s mind felt like pointing out.)

Zoro tired of sound quickly.

�Zoro?�

Luffy.

�Luffy, you okay? Where are you?� He was afraid to move and squish the kid.

�Over here.� Short and to the point, if rather quiet. He sounded okay and that was the important thing. Zoro reached out hesitantly to feel around for his captain, and his hand bumped up against something soft. A straw hat.

Luffy made a �wah� sound as the hat rolled a little on the brim. �Zoro, I�m rolling!� He�d landed in his own hat. It was both relieving and disturbing. What were the chances of that happening when he�d fallen asleep on Zoro�s chest? But then wasn�t it a stupid thing to question the Luck of Luffy?

Zoro reached out carefully --not an easy task with how the hat was rolling back and forth with the bizarre rocking-sloshing-jiggling of the capsized Merry Go-- and slid his fingers up the tiny mattress until he bumped softly against something that first jerked away from his finger, and then latched onto it like a shell on a crab. He lifted his captain close and then turned his attention to the state of the boat. What the hell had happened?

�Merry! You�re taking on water!� Usopp redirected the concern from the past to the present if there was a difference between the two, for their cabin did have water coming out of the hold hatch --which was currently located in the new floor, and though the ocean seemed to be holding it in place, said ocean was also slowly coming in through the cracks around it. The room seemed to be serving as a big bubble, so the water couldn�t come rushing in all at once.

Luffy began to shimmy himself up Zoro�s chest, climbing the shirt up to his neck. �Luffy, what-?� Instead of an answer, Zoro got very tiny freezing feet against his bare skin as his captain maneuvered himself into his shirt collar. He gasped a little when the sensation startled him, but didn�t interfere because he couldn�t see what Luffy was trying to do.

Luffy settled himself inside of Zoro�s shirt with his arms dangling out to hold his head up in front of the hollow of Zoro�s throat. He didn�t say a word. In fact, his lack of words was becoming worrisome, but then what wasn�t at the moment?

Zoro so missed what it felt like to be worry-free, but instead he was drawn back to the whole assumedly mortal peril thing that was underway. It didn�t feel like mortal peril, really. They seemed to be momentarily safe as houses. There were only two things sans Luffy that Zoro was really concerned about at the moment, and one was that he didn�t know how they�d capsized because ships didn�t flip over for no reason even in the Grand Line. The other one was that if the other three in the cabin didn�t shut the hell up soon, he�d have to kill them. As soon as he found his swords- damn it!

He began splashing around himself, feeling for his sheathes, simultaneously taking it upon himself to shut everyone the hell up -- �Shut the hell up!� -- for all the good it did him.

�Nami-san!� Someone�s footsteps sloshed through the shallow puddle that was the floor, past Zoro and to the door in the wall that connected the two cabins together. Apparenlty Nami had the same idea because the door could be heard swinging out and open before Sanji had stopped splashing around. �Is everyone okay?� Nami�s voice rang out over Chopper�s wails and managed to gain the silence in the cabin that Zoro�s voice had not. Not that he was bitter or anything.

�Nami!� Chopper�s cries settled as the Xoan dashed toward Nami�s scent where she probably picked him up because the sound of hoofs on wood ceased.

�Yes, Nami-san, we�re fine. Are you?�

�I almost got hit when all the books slid off my shelves, but I�m okay. What did you guys do?� she sounded both bewildered and accusing.

�Nothing!� Usopp declared, �We slept, that�s all!�

�Then what�s happening? Did we hit something?�

�Must�ve,� Zoro answered, his search continuing.

�How? It doesn�t feel like we�re stuck against anything. We�re still bobbi-�

�It doesn�t matter how!� Usopp proclaimed, actually making a good point as far as Zoro cared to think. �We need to get un-upside down fast! My poor ship!�

Zoro spoke up again before Usopp�s voice could rise and their doctor could start crying again. �Everyone needs to calm the hell down before things get worse.� He didn�t go on to say how they could, because it was unnecessary. His captain was shivering, but otherwise being quite still and quiet. If something happened to him now, Zoro wouldn�t be able to see it happening and wouldn�t know what to do or how to move to make it easier.

Everyone finally fell quiet.

�You okay, Luffy?� Chopper�s voice asked.

�Yeah,� a tiny, tired voice sighed from inside Zoro�s collar. It was an interesting scene for Luffy to watch. None of the others were even bothering to look at each other when they spoke and when they tried to their gazes would never meet, and they were feeling around for each other and various things instead of reaching for them. It had taken him a moment to figure out what Zoro had been doing when he was feeling for his swords, but hadn�t had the energy to direct him, because he was dizzy and Zoro couldn�t follow directions anyway. Besides, if Zoro wanted to feel around instead of just reaching for them right over there then that was his prerogative. Maybe he was making a game out of it.

Then the tiny sensory-enhanced captain realized something important as he looked around to see everything in the cabin. Something that should most definitely be there was not. That was bad.

It was a tired sounding voice that came from Zoro�s collar that pointed out something that the panicked assembly had missed in the dark. �Where�s Robin?� No one heard it but Zoro, and even he had to stop and second-guess whether the voice had been real or not. It had sounded dangerously weak considering the usually-vibrant source. He repeated the question all the same, and his louder voice received notice.

�Robin-chan!� Sanji cried out, losing himself for a few seconds before taking a drastic 180 emotional turn into Serious Responsible Hero Mode. �We have to get out there and save her. She can�t swim and there ar-�

The ship bounced hard, bobbing deep into the water, and then lurched violently to the side with what should have been enough force to knock them back into proper floating position. Only Merry didn�t flip. Instantly everyone knew exactly what was going on:

�We�re being rammed by another ship!�

�We�re being attacked by kappas!�

�Aliens!�

�Voodoo!�

�Voodoo?�

�Or not.

�Robin-chan, I�m comi-!� -this voice was heading toward the hatch itself, but was thrown helter-skelter as a thumpy sound named Usopp latched onto Sanji�s waist and knocked him into the mast before he could try kicking open the hatch and bursting their bubble, so to speak.

Nami had dropped to her knees with Chopper held tighly to her chest, and Zoro had one hand up holding his captain to his own chest and the other braced against the wall in case they suddenly went right side up again.

That�s when Zoro noticed the way that Luffy was now moving against his chest. While everyone else was bracing themselves in the dark and trying not to move too much and get hit on anything, Luffy was twisting around in his shirt. He was shaky and Zoro could almost feel the exhaustion through his own skin, but Luffy was moving in a way that suggested he was trying to see more of what was happening around him than he was allowed as if he were trying to get a better view. But it was sheer black in the room and no one was trying to see anyone else, it would be folly to try. So why-?

Could Luffy see?! In darkness this thick, was he so light sensitive right now that he could see through it?

His thought was cut short as the ship suddenly fell onto its side and everyone in the hold joined it there. There was more moaning and �ow�ing and grunts of pain issued from scattered areas of the wall that everyone sans Robin was suddenly occupying. It was only a matter of time before the hatch fell off the new wall and let the sea come rushing in to greet them.

Luffy had stopped twisting and must�ve been trying to stay as still as possible. The only thing he could do was try not to panic and do his best to ignore the violent movements of the ship.

Sanji pushed himself to incredibly steady feet on the swaying cabin wall. �Hey slug, You ready to go?�

�YES! He�s ready! Zoro, be ready and go!� Nami answered for him.

Merry lurched violently again. Zoro started to splash around. �Go ahead,� he called, �I�m right behind you.�

Sanji booted off the hatch, climbed out steadily and did his best to put it back so that the water wouldn�t get in before Zoro could get out.

�Usopp, or Nami, or someone,� the swordsman said in a distracted but level tone of voice (because now that the danger was going to be faced, the pained moaning and crying from the others had ended, seeing it had achieved its purpose) �Can you take Luffy?� He was still splashing around in the water on his hands and knees as Luffy laid against the inside of his shirt, swinging slightly with the rocking of the boat.

�What are you doing, Zoro?� Nami asked as she crawled her way over with Chopper in one arm to reach for where she heard him moving.

�I�m- My swords. I can�t see anything! Everyone feel arou-�

�Further forward,� Luffy directed from his collar. �Crawl forward more and reach out in front of you.�

He can see� Convenient. Zoro did as he was told, but then he and Luffy went through a navigating issue. �Left. No, other left! Back a little. Up a little. Deeper- Geez Zoro, it�s not that hard�� Zoro scowled. Of all the memories this could have prompted, Zoro recalled having a near-identical conversation while in bed with a woman two years ago in a port city. It had been annoying then too. Luffy didn�t know right from left. Zoro�s instructions would have been so much better.

Someone disagreed. �The blind leading the blind,� Nami sighed from somewhere.

And then his hand fell on a sheath, which he lifted and felt the weight of two others in top of it that he could grab all at once. �Got �em.�

With his other hand he gently but quickly reached for Luffy again to coax him out of his clothing. Luffy did what he could to help, but he was sluggish and Zoro didn�t like that at all. He was almost torn between staying and going. Almost. The enemy that was hurting the boy this time was something he could fight and get rid of, so he had to do it. Nothing would be right until he did. Plus the ship was being hurt and he didn�t have an option. Luffy had to understand that. He was Luffy after all and Zoro knew he would do the same thing had their positions been switched. �Luffy, c�mon. Nami?�

�Luffy?� Nami called quietly, �You want to come here?�

Luffy kind of grunted and Zoro felt him reach unsteadily for her in the dark, so he lifted the boy out of his shirt and held out his hand- �Here,� -and waited for Nami to find it in the blackness. It only took a second. Her hands were really warm when they touched Zoro�s wet ones, which made it easier for Luffy to switch over, instinctively seeking heat.

The round of Pass the Captain being completed, Zoro pushed himself up and over to where he knew the hatch to be, pushing it open and repeating Sanji�s earlier motion of replacing the hatch in case the ship flipped back over again.

Standing on the sideways mast, Zoro took in the situation. The moon was bright, but with the freak clouds that had come out of nowhere just since they had gone to bed (the Grand Line was a pleasure to sail on sometimes. Really, it was...) visibility was still very low. What light there was glinted from the uneven surface of the ocean so he could see how deep they were under, and it actually wasn�t that bad. The ship was holding its air well because she bobbed strong on the waves. Zoro couldn�t hear or see Sanji anywhere, so the blond had to be in the water, and he had no idea where Robin was. He sincerely hoped she hadn�t tried to come out of the galley and fallen in the water. But she was smart, as all evil women were wont to be, so he decided to bank on her intelligence.

Besides, with that shark fin sticking out of the water and swimming a course toward the ship, Zoro had his hands full already. He ran up toward the crowsnest that was half way under water to bring him closer to the surface. This was a good opening attack position, as the finned thing was going to swim very close to it and Zoro figured that since it was only a dumb animal, all he would have to do was cut the fin off or something and then it would be scared into fleeing. Zoro had heard of sharks going hungry enough to attack a ship if the food supply had dried up; there must have been a bunch of them frenzying or something. He hadn�t heard of a shark strong enough to flip a ship, but what difference did it make anyway?

The fin was still a good ways off, so Zoro took a breath to call for Robin and verify that she was okay someplace on board when the ship suddenly lurched violently with the force of being rammed.

What the hell? Zoro scrambled down the mast toward the body of the ship as the crowsnest submerged completely. Merry rocked hard for a moment and Zoro was afraid she would capsize again, but she held her position bravely� only to be rammed again, harder this time.

Zoro didn�t get it. Was there another creature in the water? The one that was really hitting the Merry Go? Because the fin had been so far awa-

Another ram knocked Zoro off of the mast and into the sea three feet below him, and now the swordsman watched in awe as the fin rose up in the water. And rose. And rose. And rose. And was joined by a few friends that were all moving together and in perfect sync as if on the same animal and suddenly the picture became clear. They weren�t fins. The moon came out from the clouds for just a few moments and revealed them to resemble the rows of bumps on a black alligator�s back. Fuck. The animal had hit Merry with its snout while Zoro had been gawking at its �fin� like an idiot.

Zoro died when something brushed against his ankle under the water, and then changed his mind and came back when Sanji surfaced next to him with a gasp and a toss of bangs that flung water in the swordsman�s face.

�Crap-thing.� Sanji murmured in temperamental greeting, and Zoro was about to say �same to you, asshole� when the cook continued, �It�s huge. I don�t get why it hasn�t just swallowed the ship by now. It�s big enough.�

Oh. Right. �Have you done damage to it yet?�

Sanji barred his teeth. �Crap thing doesn�t even know I�m here.�

Well, Sanji was insignificant, so Zoro could see how this oversight could be made.

The ship was rammed from behind them, and the mast that they were swimming next to slammed them both over the head.

All joking aside, Sanji was pretty strong as far as chefs went and if he hadn�t been noticed yet, then they weren�t off to the best start ever. And now his head hurt. Stupid mast.

�We need to stop him from hitting the ship or he�ll sink us,� Zoro informed informatively.

Sanji looked dryly at Mr.StatesTheObvious but didn�t comment. �Ideas?� he threw out instead.

Zoro took a deep breath in answer and dove under water and swam in a direction, knowing that he would find the gator with no problem because he was good at that sort of thing. Besides, it was huge.

After a minute or so Zoro surfaced for air, hoping he wouldn�t be too far from the ship. He�d been swimming in one direction that whole time and was bound to be in open water by now.

�Anything?� Sanji asked casually from right next to both him and the mast that he�d never moved from.

Startled, Zoro was tongue tied trying to figure out what he�d done wrong� then he realized the ship and Sanji along with it must have been rammed in the same direction as he�d been swimming. It was the only logical explanation. He scowled. �It�s fast,� he answered in excuse.

Sanji rolled his eyes and dunked again. Zoro followed this time.

It was swimming right for them, so it wasn�t really hard to find. Sanji started heading off to one side and Zoro swerved to the other. As the gator passed between them, Zoro took Sandai Kisetsu and jammed it into one translucent-lidded eye. The creature reacted instantly, thrashing and churning up huge currents that threw Zoro away from it. One big but underdeveloped clawed foot smacked him hard in its throes, and Zoro felt the sting of saltwater in the gash it left behind.

It sped up its pace to get away from where it had been, but something abruptly slowed it to almost a stop and when he looked Zoro was able to just make out Sanji holding its tail and kicking hard in the opposite direction, and if there was only one thing that the lousy chef was good at, it was kicking. Well, and cooking, Zoro had to grudgingly admit as he swam forward with the grace of a dragon (because Zoro was very graceful in his swordplay, injured or not, and no one was brave enough to even think otherwise of him) for another attack.

Sanji was wondering what the hell that oaf was doing. He was swimming awkwardly -like a tadpole flopping around on land. Well, that blew his consideration of letting the gator go and letting it chase him for ruining his suit (because he was sure it was mosshead�s fault). He wouldn�t have really, but the temptation had been strong for a moment. But if the moron was hurt then it wouldn�t be funny and what was the point otherwise?

Zoro got down to the gator again and put his swords into position and focused for a moment� Before unleashing one mighty strike of three blades that completely severed the gator�s arm from the rest of its body. Now that it was out of the way� he could swim back up for air.

Sanji had the same idea because they both broke the surface as the Seaking swam beneath them in agony. The sea water was bloody now and Zoro spit out a mouthful before turning to the idiot to talk to him. �Think we got its attention? It�ll probably leave now.� Although it wasn�t unlikely that the gator wasn�t just passing through and actually lived off the shores of the island they were approaching.

Sanji, however, wasn�t feeling very generous at all. �This crap-thing scared Nami-san and Robin-chan. We have to kill it,� he answered seriously.

This reminded Zoro, �You saw Robin?�

�Aa. She�s still in the galley, but she�s hurt.�

Zoro sighed internally. Of course Sanji would have checked on her first, and this time that was a good thing. �How bad?�

�Not bad, I think. She said she was okay, but...� Sanji glanced back toward where the shaded moonlight glinted off Merry�s hull.

Zoro nodded. They had to get this finished and get back to the ship� back to Luffy. The animal�s thrashing had made the water rough and the Merry had already been on her side, and Luffy had been very quiet before Zoro had gone. What if he was having an attack or worse while Zoro was out in the ocean fighting some stupid alligator? But there was nothing he could do but get this finished. This already had to be too much for Luffy. Anything could have been happening to him right at that moment! Zoro was filled with a cold that the freezing ocean couldn�t achieve.

This wouldn�t do, he had to keep his focus in battle. A great swordsman didn�t get distracted in a fight! �But he couldn�t stop picturing Luffy shaking violently, wrapped around his fingers and gasping for air in the sink�

Holding his head and crying for him on a tabletop in the kitchen�

Draped helplessly over his fingers in the casserole dish of warm water, naked, relaxed and completely trusting�

And now struggling to breath in the cold dark of the hold, scrabbling in Nami�s hands and pleading Zoro�s name�

Sanji watched Zoro�s expression dawn just a hint of fear for a moment; an emotion that Zoro never displayed. Sanji understood completely. Luffy couldn�t take this right now. He just couldn�t.

This had to end.

Zoro and Sanji both turned in the water, looking around him in the dark for the creature they were fighting. When they couldn�t see, they listened. The second the scaly hide broke the surface, they were in action, moving together as a perfect team toward their target.

They watched Merry get bumped again, more violently this time. She was flipped right side up this time, and was sitting on the ocean properly. There was no time to worry about damages, though, and they both took a deep breath and plunged together. After all, hadn�t they just been telling Nami how great the Mugiwara men were at reading each other in battle?

Working together, the gator was dealt with in moments as Sanji swam over its head and Zoro got beneath it. After counting to five to give Zoro a chance to get into position, and then adding a few more seconds for injury�s sake (Zoro was still swimming funny), Sanji kicked down hard on the back of the creature�s skull and beneath, Zoro slashed up at the same time. The combined attack effectively beheaded the animal, and Zoro got hit by it as it sank because he wasn�t able to gain the speed he normally could in the water without opening his wound more than he cared to. He didn�t have time to be hurt!

Pushing the skull away from him, he swam for the surface and broke it a ways from Sanji, who told him to wait there and not move until he got there, because if Zoro tried to swim for him, he�d end up further away. Once together, Sanji led the way back to the poor ship that was bobbing in the slowly stilling waters. They climbed up the anchor rope that was no longer attached to the anchor, it had been bitten through or something and was gone now.

It came as no surprise that Robin was already on the deck and heading for the hold, having no doubt seen everything that had happened by making an eye appear somewhere on the ship to watch. She was holding her side and Sanji rushed over to check on her while Zoro forewent it and opened the hatch, climbing down into the cabin.

�It�s dead. You guys okay?� Zoro asked, pulling the chain on the ceiling light so they could finally see for the first time that night.

Nami looked up from where they were all gathered in a corner and said softly, �What was it?�

�A big alligator was ramming the boat,� Sanji answered for him, because Zoro wasn�t listening anymore. He had joined the others and was looking in Nami�s hands at his unresponsive captain.

Luffy was pale and still, laying on his side in her palm, arms splayed in front of him and one leg dangling down her wrist in a rubber way that made him look like it had no bones in it.

�Luffy?� Zoro half way lifted his hands to take him from her and then hesitated, unsure of what was best at that point. He got no response from the little captain.

�What happened in here?� Robin asked softly.

�Robin! Are you okay?!� Chopper asked in startlement, looking away from Luffy for the first time at the sound of her voice.

Robin didn�t answer, her eyes fixed where the others� were.

Usopp was the only one with heart enough to tell the three late comers about Luffy without getting distracted. �It�s worse than it looks. He passed out. It�s over now,� he said tiredly. Sanji climbed back up the ladder and Zoro raised his hands the rest of the way for Nami to place Luffy into them. They were cold, but Sanji was back in a heartbeat with towels for his princesses and one for spinach brain.

�What happened?� Sanji asked, gathering the sofa cushions and putting them back so he could sit on the couch. Nami took her towel and started drying off what was wet, which wasn�t much, but she appreciated being able to huddle in a towel anyway.

�You two left and then the ship lurched again twice, and we were trying not to get noisy, but Luffy was being real quiet. He told Nami he was dizzy-�

�I was trying to keep him still, but it wasn�t easy because of the ship��

Sanji nodded to her somberly, �It�s not your fault, Nami-san. It would have been impossible for anyone.�

Usopp persued once they�d finished, �-and then he just sorta passed out, or stopped moving altogether. Whatever you wanna call it.� Usopp finished, taking the last word. �And that was before Merry flipped upright again.�

Chopper tried to look as encouraging as possible. He actually looked somewhat relieved, but Zoro couldn�t see why� �At least he passed out early. I don�t know if he actually had an attack or not, he might have just been that his natural oversensitivity made him too dizzy. It would have been worse if he�d lasted. His awareness could have made it really bad because of things like increased heart rate and breathing. His unconsciousness probably helped his body neutralize the stimulation.� The little reindeer nodded hesitantly, �Probably.�

Zoro had wrapped Luffy in the towel and was holding him out for Chopper to see again. Why hadn�t the boy said anything before Zoro had gone outside? If he�d been so close to having an attack� how did Zoro miss that? The darkness was no excuse! He knew there wasn�t really anything he could do to stop it, but somehow just by being here he was sure he could have done something! He had to talk to Luffy. He needed Luffy to wake up and be okay again. Damn it, they�d taken too long to get rid of that damn alligator.

�Zoro.�

Zoro didn�t respond, and Sanji sighed. �Don�t do this. This isn�t your fault.�

Zoro decided to pretend he hadn�t heard. He rose with his handful of Luffy and sat on the couch again, and Luffy made a little moan and his head lolled from side to side. Zoro felt a glimmer of relief that he was afraid to commit to yet, but then Luffy�s facial expression -eyes still closed- slightly shifted back and forth between irritation at being woken up, and disorientation about what was happening to him as he came around slowly.

Everyone watched and listened closely as Luffy�s eyes opened to hold exhausted disorientation. His gaze was blinky and unfocused, and he finally chose to stop trying to force them open.

�Luffy?� Zoro whispered, lowering his thumb slowly to almost touch the boy.

Luffy�s face dissolved back into relaxed exhaustion. His body stayed limp. �Zzit over?� he slurred without opening his eyes, and everyone finally let that rush of relief flood in.

Zoro couldn�t help but let out a breath he�d been secretly holding. The boy was weak, but it was only temporary. �Yeah, Luffy. It�s over. We took care of it, no problem.�

�Oh good,� the boy breathed. Then he promptly fell back to sleep.
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RUMBLE!