Boy With a Scar

Chapter 12: The Tale of the Gutsy Liar

Luffy grinned at the already paling pirates. "Oh, we meet again!" He lowered his head so that the rim of the straw hat shadowed his eyes, and his happy grin slowly changed into the wicked one. "Ready for round two?"

Some pirates stepped away from him, several plainly fell on their butts with terror etched across their features.

"C-c-captain Jango! It's them!" stuttered one of them.

"What?! You were defeated by three kids?!" the hypnotist yelled in outrage.

"Actually," Luffy interjected, "Nami didn't participate, so they were defeated by only two of us."

Zoro smiled, and Nami chuckled.

"We'll just have to deal with them now!" Jango ordered.

"B-but, captain..."

Zoro narrowed his eyes at the man's title. He glanced at Luffy, but the boy observed them passively.

"YOU IDIOTS!" Jango reprimanded his crew. "Did you forget captain Kuro's orders? We can't mess it up or else he'll kill us all!"

"If you want to fight, I'll be your opponent," the three-sword user said with a smirk, before turning to Luffy. "No objections, right, captain?"

The straw hatted teen stared at him, confused. "Uh, sure, Zoro."

Zoro's smirk grew into a satisfied grin as he pulled out all three of his katanas and readied himself for the fight.

Jango gritted his teeth. "Fine! I'll deal with you myself!" he declared while pulling out a chakram. "Look at this. After I say '1, 2, Jango!' all three of you will fall asleep," he instructed, swinging the ring on the string like a pendulum. "1... 2... Jan–"

"Oni Giri!" Zoro cut off his opponent by unleashing an attack on him. The pirates gasped in horror as their captain fell down, blood splattering from his wounds. The swordsman took the blade out from his mouth and faced Luffy with a wide grin. "And with this," he pointed a katana at him, "I have eighteen."

Slowly the realization dawned on Luffy, and his eyes widened. "WHAT?! No way! It's not fair!"

"Our bet is a draw now," Zoro claimed, grinning at him smugly.

Nami couldn't hold in her laughter after seeing Luffy's dumbfounded expression.

"You cheater!" the teen hissed. He snapped his head to the nearest pirate, causing him to flinch in fear.

The knuckles planted themselves in the poor bastard's mug, sending him flying. He crashed into his friend, standing right behind him, and flung them both across the shore.

"See?" Luffy pointed at the beaten men. "Now I have twenty!"

"No, Luffy," Zoro shook his head, "you can't count them twice."

The straw hatted captain bended his brows in discontent. "Why not?!"

"Sorry to tell you, Luffy," the navigator said, finally able to catch her breath after her fit of laughing, "but Zoro has a point. You already defeated them before."

The teen crossed his arms in front of him in a childish pout. Nami chuckled again, and the swordsman broke into a victorious smile. Even if he didn't actually win it still felt good to end the bet as a draw.

xxx

Usopp watched the exchange between the pirates and the three teenagers with an open mouth from shock. As he understood it, they were responsible for the current condition of that crew. Whatever their quarrel was about, the sharpshooter was glad that the strange trio appeared at such a convenient moment.