Ameliorate ✦ One Piece

42

It wasn't long before a carnival like set-up came into view, tents and bright colours forming an entire structure right at the base of the infamous execution platform. Music played and people talked, however, as their crew ran onto the scene and pushed through the edges, all the sounds and sights shifted. Heads turned and eyes scanned them while conversations died out.

Akira let her eyes scan through the crowd, momentarily thinking they were all just performers. But she couldn't spot their captain anywhere among them. And knowing there wasn't enough time to search every tents and booth, the crew decided to approach the situation in a different manner.

"Luffy?" Sanji called out loudly, hoping for a response which would give away their captain's location in this mass.

But the call didn't seem to be welcome. The people around them started to approach and circle, snarls on their faces and glares pointed right at the Straw Hats. And the sight of it had another memory popping into Akira's mind, one of a time when she'd seen something very similar before. The painted smiles, the mismatched costumes, the exaggerated weapons.

Looking to the side, her gaze met Nami and Zoro's, the expressions on their own faces showing they were thinking the same thing too. Usopp and Sanji weren't part of the crew back then, but the three of them could easily remember Buggy's circus of freaks now that they were faced with them again.

But before any of them could say it out loud, a voice rang out from deeper within the carnival. "Sanji!" It was one of the larger tents ahead of them from which the call came, Luffy's voice breaking through the tension filled silence.

There wasn't much time for any relief among the crew before the flaps of that very tent burst open and a group of pirate clowns spilled out into the open space separating them from it. A woman stood in front of all of them, seeming to be the leader even though Akira struggled to recognize her or remember seeing her the last time.

Either way, the message was clear long before the woman even spoke up. They weren't getting through, getting to Luffy, without a fight. Which was why Akira moved slowly, bending down to pull the two ring daggers from her boot where she always kept them while metal scraped against leather all around them as clowns too began to unsheathe their blades and weapons.

And then the call came.

"Get 'em!"

Just like that, chaos erupted all at once, leaving little time to plan and evaluate before Akira was forced to spring into action as one of the men lunged straight for her. She moved before he could reach her, leg kicking out sharply while she reared her arm back before she let a dagger fly towards him.

His attempt to evade it forced him to stumble, losing his footing long enough to be met with a blade slashing at his knees from behind. "Duck." Zoro instructed as the man crumbled down to the floor. And Akira didn't question the instruction before doing as she was told, and doing so just in time to watch as Zoro spun on his heels, swords going with him and slicing through the air until steel crashed together, the cling sending a dagger flying away from him until it embedded itself in the candy stripped pole beside Akira.

It wasn't difficult to recognize the weapon as she rose back into a standing position, looking at the black metal blade which was identical to the one in her own hand she had not yet sent flying. Her eyes turned in the direction from which it had come, watching as a familiar figure leapt onto a nearby table, blanacing with ease while he spread his arms with theatrical flair.

"At last, our rematch, Roronoa Zoro." Cabaji was completely zeroed in on the swordsman as he pulled two more daggers from his belt with a flourish.

"I don't have time for this," Zoro deadpanned back at him, expression unchanging.