Straw Hat Luffy: The Black Fist

Chapter 42: Town of Rouges

AN:

I'm going ahead and putting up a little trigger warning for the last section of this chapter. It follows a relatively dark plot for one of our characters and has some gruesome descriptions and themes. So, just be ready for that. Other than that, it was a fun chapter and I have some cool stuff planned for the next which is being worked on atm.

As always, let me know what you think and I'll see you in the next one!

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Chapter 42: Town of Rouges

"Where the heck am I?...", Luffy groaned in irritation, head shifting around the empty area. He hadn't seen a single soul since he'd exited the alleyways. The cobbled street was lined on both sides by buildings of all sizes, but not a single one of them looked occupied... He grumpily continued on his path down the seemingly abandoned area of town until his eyes landed on the first building he'd seen that showed any signs of life.

The pirate captain picked up the pace and quickly approached the building with light pouring out of its windows. When he stood in front of its saloon-esque doors, he looked up to the sign hanging above his head and it read: Gold Roger. His eyes turned to stars. That was the name of the Pirate King! With his original goal shifting to the back of his mind to make room for his new excitement, he entered the bar with a grin.

"Hello?!", Luffy shouted through the empty room, the doors to the establishment swinging behind him. When no answer came, he began to worry that there would be no one there, however, as soon as the thought crossed him, a gruff voice from behind the bar grabbed his attention.

"The hell do you want?", Raoul growled, grumpily making his way to shoo the young boy back outside, "We're closed. I'm shuttin' this place down.".

The words made Luffy grumble and he crossed his arms, his pouting gaze meeting the small man approaching him, "What the heck, why, old man?!".

"Cause there ain't no more business to be had in this town.", Raoul growled in irritation, "Ever since that damn Smoker set up shop here, all my regulars disappeared along with anyone else that used to come to this bar.".

Smoker... Smoker... Why did that sound so familiar?... "Who the heck is Smoker?", the boy asked, trying to reason out why he felt like he'd heard the name before... It sounded so much like... Wait... Smoker... Smoke... It only took a moment, but his eyes suddenly widened to the size of large saucers.

Before the man could reply, Luffy piped back up, looking at him incredulously, "You mean, Smokey's here?! In Lougetown?!".

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Zoro looked up from the ground when the faint bustling of a crowd met his ears.

It was by absolute and complete coincidence that the swordsman had gotten to where he was... He'd taken a series of twists and turns that no ordinary human being would ever even think to... In other words... His feet never failed him... He smirked and continued at the same pace until he eventually passed through a small alleyway that led to a busy street filled with people. It only took him a moment of searching before he found what he was looking for, his eyes landing on a sign above the doorway of one of the buildings. It read: Ipponmatsu's Arms Shop.

The green-haired teen grinned and began to push his way through the crowd, shouldering past various townspeople to make his way to the weapon shop. Without any pause in his step, he opened the door to the establishment and made his way inside, his eyes glancing around appraisingly. The many armaments that met his eye reminded him of Brewer's Blades... Although he had to admit, the selection in Saul's shop seemed of much higher quality.