Chapter 27: Lightning Swords

Okay, before we start, let me clarify something: I did NOT say that more Pokémon would be joining the Straw Hats! I meant that they would just be added to the STORY as a whole. Yes, more Pokémon ARE going to eventually appear, but that doesn't mean they're going to join up! (And as far as I'm concerned, Pika-chan's the only permanent Pokémon of the Straw Hats that's needed XP )

Sorry if I crushed anyone's dreams, but you can still look forward to Pokémon eventually making appearances. It'll take a long time, but the time will eventually come.

The men all spread out to search for us and Zoro lays a hand on one of his swords. "Now's as good a time as any to see what my new recruits can do." he says. "Yubashiri and Kitetsu." He's talking to his swords...why am I even questioning this; after hanging with this crowd, this shouldn't be surprising.

My ears twitch and I look above us to see a bounty hunter aiming a pistol right at us. "Pika!" I cry, tapping Zoro.

Zoro looks up and jumps through the door behind us, narrowly dodging the bullet. But the minute we're inside, we hear multiple guns clicking around us; crap! Zoro leaps across the room and flips a table up onto its side, blocking the onslaught of bullets. Sparks fly from my cheeks but Zoro puts a hand on my head, "Relax." he says, drawing one of his swords. "Let's see how Yubashiri can handle this."

I don't respond but I cling to Zoro's shoulder as he slices through the table. He zooms past the bounty hunters with a fast and smooth swing. He grins at the sword, "Light and well balanced…" he says with a grin. "Not bad." More bounty hunters start to chase after us but I can handle these guys.

I give Zoro a tap to alert him and jump into the air. I release a decent amount of lightning, frying our pursuers. I land back on Zoro's shoulder glancing at the twitching pile of people behind us. I held back on that one; they are normal people after all, not Devil Fruit users or super strong people like Zoro or Sanji.

Zoro climbs some stairs leading to the roofs of the houses, but when we reach the top he bends back. It's so sudden that I'm almost thrown from him! We both watch as a small missile flies over our heads; that was close! I think Zoro's instincts can rival mine under the right circumstances! I hear a loud battle cry and look behind us to see Ms. Monday throw a giant barrel at us.

Zoro turns and easily slices it into four pieces before ducking and letting the pieces slam into the four guys in front of us. I stick my tongue out and catch a few drops of wine as the liquor spills everywhere. "Aww, and that wine must've cost a fortune." Zoro comments. "What a waste."

I look behind us again to see a guy swinging a giant hammer towards us, but Zoro's ready. He slices the hammer in two with Yubashiri but he then swings his other sword dangerously close to the guy, nearly lopping off his head! "What the hell…" Zoro mutters. "Well Kitetsu, you're a bit of a troublemaker aren't you?" he says to the blade. "A good sword only cuts when its master directs it to. Cursed or not, you're gonna listen to me."

I sweatdrop; is he seriously scolding a sword? To my surprise the sword seems to glint at his words as if in response to him. I hear a small cry and a boy wielding a small dagger charges towards us. I lash out my tail without making it iron and easily slap the dagger away from him, giving his hand a sharp smack as well. The boy stumbles back to the ground in shock and Zoro turns to face him.

A nun runs up and hugs the boy, "Please, have mercy!" she cries. "He's just a boy!"

I look at Zoro and catch his eye; I quickly jump onto his shoulder just as the nun sprays some weird powder at us. Two slices later, Zoro and I are on the other side of them. "You're better off trying that cheap trick on someone who's more likely to fall for it." Zoro says dangerously. The boy and the nun both slump to the ground, knocked out but with no blood. "The flat of the blade is mercy." I guess Zoro really does know when to hold back in a fight.

Still holding his swords, he climbs a ladder leading to a higher building and he sits at the top, leading me to jump off his shoulder. The guys try climbing the ladder after us, but Zoro just pushes it away from the wall. I give the guys a wave as they all fall backwards and I jump back onto Zoro as he stands up. He runs and jumps off the ladder towards another roof where the remaining thugs are standing.

"Hey, how about giving me some of that lightning?" Zoro says to me. I look at him until I catch onto his train of thought. I've actually been wondering if this would work. I smirk and sparks fly from my cheeks. I'm careful to avoid hitting him and focus solely on his two blades. The thugs below us watch in fear as we soar towards them.

"Two Sword Style…" My lightning surrounds and crackles around his swords. "Shock Wave!" Zoro lands, and spins with his swords, making a my electricity on his swords fly at the offenders in a big wave. Okay, that's pretty awesome! We hear more guys coming towards us, but Zoro scrapes his sword in the ground around us in a circle and we walk off. Sure enough, when they guys land, they fall through the newly made hole making Zoro chuckle with pride. These guys are amateurs!

All of a sudden, my ears twitch and my eyes grow wide. I sweep my tail under Zoro's feet just as Ms. Monday swings a ladder at him. It shatters against the wall, showering us with splinters. "Okay, that was too close." Zoro says, his eyes wide. Yeah, maybe you should save the cocky attitude for after we get rid of all of them, you moron!

Ms. Monday discards the broken ladder and slips some brass knuckles onto her hand. "It was a good effort," she growls. "But no man can match my strength!" She grabs Zoro by the neck. "Now you die swordsman." She lifts him up tightening her grip and slams him onto the ground. "Taste my brass knuckles!"

Oh, I don't think so, lady! I move quick, and when Zoro opens his eyes, my iron tail is between his face and the brass knuckles. That was a bit too close for comfort, but at least brass is softer than iron! I smirk at Zoro before bringing my attention back to Ms. Monday. Her eyes are wide as she stares at me.

"You...you're a-!"

I flick my tail up, throwing her arm away and I leap into the air. I give a hard swing and nail her right in the face, throwing her off the roof. I land and my tail becomes normal again, grinning in triumph. What was that she said? No man can best her strength? Well, good thing I'm not a man!

Zoro gives me a smirk and stands up. "Is that all you can offer, Baroque Works?" We walk to the edge of the building where Mr. 8, 9 and Ms. Wednesday are staring up at us in shock. I'm kinda hoping these guys put up a bit more of a fight; Zoro's gotten most of the kills so far and I really want to be a part of the action this time.

Mr. 9 tells us that Baroque Works agents with small numbers have greater power, but I honestly think he's just saying that to make himself feel less scared.

Zoro smirks at that, "Fancy titles mean nothing in a fight," he says. "The strongest wins, and that's it." Couldn't have said it better myself! After easily dodging another bullet blast from Mr. 8, Mr. 9 and Ms. Wednesday take action.

Mr. 9 begins jumping up towards us while Ms. Wednesday lets out a sharp whistle. "Come here, Carue!" she calls. I watch in surprise and confusion as a large duck wearing a strange hat enters the scene; a very disobedient duck I might add. While we're looking at the strange sight of Ms. Wednesday riding a duck, Mr. 9 takes the opportunity to flip towards us, two metal bats in hand.

Zoro easily blocks it and Mr. 9 starts swinging wildly, but Zoro blocks and parries just about every hit until Mr. 9 runs out of building. "Is this really the best they can do?" Zoro scoffs. I agree; these Baroque Works guys really aren't impressing me so far.

"There's better." A voice says. We turn to see Ms. Wednesday standing on her duck. "Ready Mr. Bushido?" She raises her arms and crosses her wrists. "What do you think, bad boy?" she asks seductively. My ears wilt and I sweatdrop; what is she doing? She opens her hand revealing a small bottle of perfume. "Now enjoy my Perfume Dance."

She begins to sway her hips and the perfume comes towards us in waves, or, more towards Zoro. I'm so low to the ground that I probably can't smell it as well as he can right now, and it smells awful so I'm not complaining; I guess there are perks to being this small. But why is she doing that dance? Maybe it's because I'm not human, but she looks really silly.

I suddenly hear Zoro cough and I turn to see him fall to his knees; crap, is that stuff actually lethal to him? I turn back to Ms. Wednesday as she places a ring with a sharp blue scale on her pinky. "Peacock Slasher!" she yells.

I waste no time ands quickly hit her with a huge lightning attack. Both her and her duck screech in pain before falling to the ground, brown and twitching; I'm not taking any chances!

"Geez, this is pathetic," Zoro grumbles. "Fighting them is starting to get embarrassing."

"Pika…" I agree; this is way too easy. We suddenly hear saxophone notes and we leap out of the way as Mr. 8 blows more bullets at us. This guy is really getting on my nerves with the whole sneaking around thing; that's supposed to be my area of expertise!

Zoro and I jump back to the ground and press ourselves against another building. "That horn complicates things," Zoro says. "It's impossible to get close to fight."

"Pikachu…" I says softly.

We turn as a haggard Mr. 9 springs from a pile of wood and stalks towards us, "You may have won the first fight, but you won't get away with it!" he yells. "No tricks from you this time!"

Zoro frowns, "I didn't trick you, you jumped off a building!" he says but Mr. 9 ignores him.

"Time for my Home-Run Sneaky Bat!" He swings one of his bats and the end shoots towards us. A length of chain follows and wraps around Zoro's arm. "What are you gonna do now, tough guy?" Mr. 9 laughs.

Zoro and a give each other a look. "Kick your ass." Zoro answers simply and I step forward. I send out a thin stream of lightning and make it run along the chain towards Mr. 9 resulting in him getting a nasty shock. He slumps the ground, covered in burns and Zoro and I grin even though he's still holding the end of the chain weakly. "Too easy." Zoro says.

"I don't think so!" We look up to see Ms. Wednesday holding a small dagger and her duck standing a few yards away, dragging a sleeping Luffy alongside them. "Don't move or your friend will be paying the price!"

Zoro rolls his eyes, "Idiot, can't he at least wake up when he's being held hostage?"

"Pika pi…" I sigh and shake my head.

"Well done Ms. Wednesday." We look up to see Mr. 8 looking down at us from the rooftop. He grips the ends of his bowtie, "Now, preparing to fire!" He yanks the ends and multiple gun barrels emerge from his curls. Wait, are you serious? "Firing Squad ready!" Are you freaking kidding me? Zoro and I share the same confused yet shocked expressions as Mr. 8 yanks the loops of his tie. "Igarappapa!" He yells and the guns fire.

"Oh great!" Zoro groans as he gives the chain still around his arm a sharp yank. Mr. 9's semi-conscious body sails through the air and takes the bullets easily. Ms. Wednesday is so surprised by his move that I take the opportunity to charge towards her. I'm surrounded in white energy and I slam right into her. She gasps for breath and drops the dagger and I drop to the ground just in time as Zoro throws Mr. 9 right into her and the duck, throwing them far away from Luffy.

"Igarappapa!"

Zoro runs towards me as Mr. 8 begins rapidly firing at us. "Let's go, rodent" he calls to me. I nod and jump onto his shoulder just as he leaps onto Luffy's stomach. We bounce up towards the roof and I focus my lightning around his sword. I see him wince slightly as my lightning burns his hand lightly and he downs Mr. 8 with one quick slash surrounded by lightning. We land behind Mr. 8 as blood spurts from his body and he falls to the ground.

"Done." Zoro sheathes his sword and walks back to the edge of the roof. He sits down and I plop down next to him. "Maybe now I can get some peace and quiet." I give a small smile and lie down next to him, gazing at the clear sky and full moon. That was certainly an eventful evening; really glad I was awake for it!

Zoro finds a bottle of wine laying around and starts to drink. "You weren't too bad Rodent." he comments. "Maybe I should use your lightning more often."

I roll my eyes but smile nonetheless. "Pika pika." 'We'll see, ya big Snorlax.'

The night is quiet for a while until we hear a loud boom. My ears twitch and we glance around; was that an explosion? We peek over the roof where we left Mr. 9, Mr. 8 and Ms. Wednesday and see two more figures approach them; a tall guy wearing sunglasses, and a lady with umbrella.

We listen in and boy, what a shock! Turns out that someone had infiltrated Baroque Works and uncovered some fatal secrets! And that someone happened to be Ms. Wednesday! Turns out she's actually a princess and Mr. 8 is the head of her security; boy, this is getting juicy!

"This could be good." Zoro comments with a grin. I nod and continue watching the action; I would be worried if Luffy wasn't down there with them. I wonder what's gonna happen when he wakes up?

However the fight gets pretty intense after just a few seconds with the tall guy somehow throwing explosions all over the place. Mr. 8 (or I guess I should call him Igaram now) practically gets blown to bits leaving Mr. 9 and Ms Wednesday (what was her name? Vivi?) to deal with him.

"I've had enough." Zoro says. We hop down to the ground, Zoro grabs the back of Luffy's vest and we make a break for it. We turn just in time to see Mr. 9 get blasted by the tall guy and into the water and something grabs Zoro's ankle; it's Igaram.

He starts begging Zoro to protect the princess but Zoro of course refuses. I on the other hand feel a tad conflicted; yeah the guy and this princess were trying to kill us less than five minutes ago, but this guy's pleads are genuine. There's no way he could be lying about this so it's not a trap.

"So, about this reward…" My ears perk up at the familiar voice. We look up to see Nami sitting above us, a pleased grin on her face. When did she get here? "I'll take it; how does a billion berries sound?" Whoa, we're starting the bids that high? Even for a princess that sounds like a bit much.

It turns out Nami didn't fall for the whole party act; should've figured a thief like her wouldn't be swept up that easily. Igaram says he can't promise a reward that big so we're better off negotiating the terms with Vivi...and she's currently running for her life to get away from two agents who, according to Igaram, both have Devil Fruit powers. Great.

"Fine, I'll save your precious princess." Nami says with a huff, before turning to Zoro. "Well Zoro? Go get 'em!"

"What? No way!" Zoro retorts. "If you want the money then you do it!" I roll my eyes as the argument begins.

Okay, I've done my part, you guys can clean up the rest of this mess. I'm gonna check on the others and maybe get a little sleep, if I can even manage it after all the excitement. I turn tail, and head back to the house, completely unknown to everyone around me.