The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 2

After a lot of pushing and punching any who dared to push back, I broke into the edge of a clearing where two people stood facing each other. One was a burly man with a large brown tattered coat that hung open to show off a bare chest riddled with scars. He wore dark blue pants tucked into brown heavy-duty boots. A scar split his chin down the middle and his bald head sported a large tattered brown pirate captain hat.

A much smaller man completely decked out entirely in black stood across the clearing from the pirate. He wore loose pants tucked into small and durable boots. His shirt fit loosely on his torso and the sleeves had been ripped off to expose his barely tanned arms. Thick black leather gloves covered his curled fists. He had a black mask covering his entire head and most of his face. The only thing the mask would have revealed would have been his eyes and the bridge of his nose, but he had covered even that with a blindfold fashioned out of a blood-red sash.

The crowd jeered the smaller man, taunting and booing him. A few people called out to their captain, telling him to 'Show this punk who's in charge,' and 'Give him hell.'

The bald man let out a low growl, warning the man in black of his waning patience, "I don't have time for your mind games, kid! Now get out of my way or things are gonna get ugly real fast."

The man did not flinch. He was relaxed, if not bored, with crossed arms and feet shoulder-width apart. When he spoke his voice was calm, but cold, "What is your purpose here?"

I narrowed my eyes in thought, "Just what is he playing at? A kid his size couldn't possibly take on a guy like that blindfolded... Unless he has a devil fruit or something."

The pirate captain let out a roar, "Enough with your questions! I am Dai, the captain of the Grizzly Pirates! I have a bounty of seventeen million berries! Don't take me lightly!" He warned the man.

"What is your purpose here?" He asked again, not showing any sign of fear at Dai's thinly veiled threat.

This caused an uproar among the spectators. Many hollers and jeers flew through the air. Someone called out to Dai, "Put him in his place! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Soon everyone seemed to join in on the chant. The word rang out over the square and the pirates were getting heated up for the potential bloodshed.

"Do you intend harm to the people of this island?" The blindfolded man asked as if oblivious to the horde of vicious pirates calling for his blood. The burly captain raised his hand, quieting his men.

"What happens if I say yes?" Dai sneered, clearly annoyed by this man's indifference.

We waited in silence for his answer. He bowed his head as if smirking to himself, and then seemed to look back up at the man towering over him, "Leave now and I won't beat you to a pulp in front of your men."

I was intrigued, "How can he be so calm? He's surrounded by pirates who all want him dead and yet he can confidently and calmly threaten to beat their captain without so much as flinching? Just who is this guy?"

The pirates let out a roar of laughter while their captain seemed to be seething with anger. His hands clenched into enormous fists, trembling with rage. He bared his teeth and let out a low growl. His eyes were hidden in the shadow of his hat, but I knew they were burning with hatred for this young man who had the gall to threaten him in front of his men. He angrily discarded his coat and hat, and then crouched down, poised to fight, "I'd like to see you try!"

With an inhuman roar, his bald head suddenly burst with thick coarse hair. It sprouted from every visible part of his body until he was covered with a brown fur coat. His face began stretching abnormally until his jaw stuck out like a muzzle and his nose became rounder and black. His hands seemed to swell as the palms and fingers morphed into pads and curled claws. His dark beady eyes locked onto the man in black and he growled like a rabid animal, "Kuma Kuma no mi: Model Haīroguma!"