Firestorm (Ace x OC)

Chapter 32: A Sea of Stories Part 2

The blonde with the glint of chaos caught her eye as he walked forward and sat down where she had been seconds earlier. Ryoko stood silently just behind the man, back to back and facing his crew as the previous patrons all ran out of the bar. It felt like she was swimming in shark-infested water, where a single move could set off the predators around.

The sound of smashing wood brought her back to the present as she slowly turned and saw Luffy face first in the bar, head held in the hands of the blonde. Ryoko shifted quickly, dropping her pie as she lunged forward and gripped onto the man's arm. A sword was over her head in an instant as Zoro looked about ready to kill the man.

"What do you two punks think you're doing?" Bellamy questioned, a sneer in his voice as he grinned insanely at the swordsman and the unarmed disguised woman.

"Getting your grubby hands off of my friend." Ryoko hisses wrenching his hand off Luffy's head, and knelt down next to him to make certain he was okay. Only to suddenly be wrenched back by the hair and tossed backward into a nearby table. A set of high heels dug into her back keeping her on the floor as she was used like a footrest.

"Mister, is there anything you can tell us about how to get to Sky Island?" Nami asked the barkeep, clearly wanting to get out as soon as physically possible. The question was only met with laughter from all the pirates within.

Ryoko looked at the ground, on her hands and knees as she took her time going over her mental checklist. Lungs still working, she breathed, check. Her limbs are still attached and functional, her muscles tensed, check. No blood, check. Her back hurt a bit but honestly slamming into the table wasn't exactly nice to do. She shut her eyes tightly, "this is humiliating," she then dropped her left leg and arm, causing her to roll out from underfoot only to spring onto her feet.

As she was about to go towards Luffy to help him before he spoke, "Zoro, whatever happens, don't fight back." He says determined he glanced over towards her, "You too." he requested

Ryoko paused at the request and slowly relaxed her hands, "Understood." She says putting her hand over her mask as a punch hits her in the abdomen, causing her to stumble backward. A blow to the back of her head had her trying to focus on anything else. Anything else to avoid feeling whatever was about to happen.

~~~

Ryoko stood at the edge of the clearing, hidden behind some bushes, watching an old man with a crescent-shaped scar beside his left eye, beating the crap out of her friends. All this because they wanted to be pirates instead of marines, this man was insane, but Ace and Luffy had called him Grandpa.

Seeing Ace getting trapped, and about to be smacked over the head, Ryoko ran up behind him and leaped onto the old man's back, "Stop!" She exclaimed gripping onto his arm only for him to release the boy to grab the girl off his back, holding her at arm's length by the back of her shirt collar.

"And who might you be?" Garp questioned, seemingly confused at the sudden appearance of the girl, not getting an answer he turned his eyes to look at Ace and Luffy who were lying on the ground, "Who's this? And why is she wearing some of your old clothes?" He asked as the girl kicked at his arm while holding onto his hand.

Ace paused for a moment, wiping his nose on the back of his arm, "Her name's Ryoko." He says getting up slowly before lunging forward and catching the girl as she was dropped. He knew her current physical state was still rather fragile.

Luffy ran over to her and checked her over, "Koko are you okay? You aren't better yet!" he exclaimed as he threw the blanket, which had been caught on the bush, back over her shoulders.