Yeah, I'm back for a waaaaay overdue update… I must be honest, if it wasn't for all of you awesome reviewers, this would have never been finished. I'm sorry to have left you guys hanging for ELEVEN full months. I'm such a horrible person. Of course, after you read this chapter, you may agree fully with that statement, so I apologize in advance.

I hope this chapter is suitable…I think I may have lost what touch I have at writing for this fandom…

Hearing the pained and raspy, yet still familiar voice, Zoro rolled onto his knees with a speed that his aching body severely protested. Once his vision cleared, he could see that the blow to his head in the earlier explosion was not responsible for him seeing what must surely have been impossible.

Sanji, covered in blood and white as a sheet, was standing unsteadily a few feet away from the knocked down marine sergeant. The stick-like pieces of what Zoro guessed as metal rods of some sort were still impaled in the cook's shoulders and each breath he took was obviously painful and shallow, even to Zoro's still-recovering vision.

Zoro wondered how the cook had managed to level a man four times his size in the state he was in.

"Don't tell me. . . that after one. . . little kick. . . you're through," Sanji managed to say to the man still lying on the ground.

Sergeant Red slowly but steadily got to his feet. He gingerly touched his temple and, when he felt the small trickle of blood, growled angrily. Though his back was to Zoro, the swordsman could only imagine the burning rage in the marine's eyes.

"You have just bought your death sentence, boy," Red said in a low voice.

Sanji gave an exhausted smirk, "You haven't. . .killed me yet."

"My mistake," said the marine as he walked unhesitatingly towards the bloody cook, "Allow me to remedy that." In two colossal strides, the massive man reached the smaller man who, despite the circumstances, stood boldly.

Red pulled back his giant fist to deliver a devastating blow when a pop and a grunt behind him diverted his attention. He whirled around just in time to see the swordsman exhale a shaky breath and clench and unclench his left fist. After rotating his newly relocated wrist, he bent down to gather his sword.

"I underestimated you, swordsman," Red declared as the silent man walked over to where his other sword lay, "Not that that's saying much. After all, you're just a pirate," he taunted. Zoro placed his other recovered sword in his mouth.

"Heh. . .great. . .you've pissed. . . him off. . . genius," Sanji gave a small chuckle. His legs finally gave out and he grunted painfully as his butt hit the ground jarring his injuries. "Hey, shitface. . .don't fuck up. . .this time," he managed a bit louder with a smirk on his blood-spattered face.

"You plan on fighting me with only one arm?" Red asked, entirely forgetting the cook and indicating Zoro's limp right arm with a nod of his head. "You couldn't even scratch me when you had two working arms!" he laughed.

Zoro crouched into position.

Complete silence settled over the compound.

Suddenly, with a speed nearly imperceptible to the normal eye, Zoro initiated an attack. Steel clanged against steel as Red's metal-sheathed arm blocked Zoro's slashing blade. Using the momentum of Red's force against his blade, the swordsman leapt backwards.

Red charged after his opponent pulling his fist back to punch him. However, Zoro, ready for such a maneuver, pulled his body to the side and, in a batting-like fashion, swung his sword under Red's arm where it connected with the steel covering the man's stomach. However, unlike the previous encounters of sword and armor, there was no cacophony of steel ringing upon steel.

Red looked down in amazement at the sword blade stuck in his armor.

"You. . .you just sliced through. . ." he was unable to finish his sentence.

Zoro yanked the sword towards him, drawing the blade lengthwise across the cut steel and freeing the blade. A tiny trickle of blood made a noticeable path down the marine's shirt.

"You're lucky it was just a nick," Zoro said emotionlessly though his eyes blazed with a fury Sergeant Red had never seen before. Red, hands shaking slightly, took a step away from the pirate. He had no idea that a pirate, of all beings, would be capable of cutting cold steel with cold steel.

"You're lucky that that was just a fluke," Red replied in a vain attempt to recover his fleeting confidence. As if to prove the point, the sergeant took two running strides and launched his huge body into the air to execute a flying kick at Zoro's head.

The smaller man merely squatted and, as Red sailed over his green head, turned gracefully to swipe at his metal-covered back. Red screamed as he landed: Zoro's blade had cut much deeper than his last encounter with the blade.

He reeled angrily around to face the swordsman, however, to his dismay; he knew that no amount of anger would give him the fuel to win. Since the pirate's skills had been made painfully obvious to the sergeant, he could see no hope for victory. Every single plan he had made in preparation for a pirate encounter was rendered useless by his underestimation of such people.

But, dammit! Red thought furiously. This pirate should not be fighting this easily with all of his injuries! What does it take to kill him? Full of utter despair, the man shifted his weight to ready himself to break for the gate.

Then, the most obvious idea struck him. . .

Zoro watched the rush of emotions race across the marine bastard's face with a sort of sadistic glee. The man was obviously trying to weigh his options, but, as was apparent to Zoro, there wasn't much for the man to weigh.

Suddenly, the looks of anger, fear, despair, hopelessness and other such emotions, disappeared from Sergeant Red's face leaving behind only a look of pure coolness and poise. Needless to say, Zoro became instantly alert.

"All right, you've beaten me." Red said casually spreading his arms outward. Returning his arms to his side, he began to walk towards the sweating pirate. "Now what?"

"Stop right there," Zoro said, the sword in his mouth emphasizing the terseness and seriousness of his tone. He raised his left sword-possessing arm while his right dangled pointlessly at his side. The marine stopped about ten feet in front of him.

"You think you've won, don't you?" ridiculed Sergeant Red. "And you might have, if I had continued to fight you head to head like before. I admit it; I underestimated you. But not anymore. You are just as mortal as me and therefore," he reached a hand quickly to his belt and pulled out a pistol that had been hidden beneath his marine coat, "you can be killed." He pointed it at the pirate. "Move and I shoot," he said, his tone becoming harsh as he cocked back the hammer of his gun.

"Goddammit, I'm sick of this," Zoro snarled.

"Now, put your swords down and step away from them."

"I don't think so. But I'll show you where I will put them." And with that, Zoro pushed off fearlessly into a rapid sprint with his sword pointed righted at the marine's heart just as the marine fired the shot.

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I did proofread this, honestly. But, my mind is still running on Japan time so I'm just blah. I apologize for the shortness as well. I wanted to get this up as soon as possible. If there are any glaring errors, in either the writing mechanics, continuity, plot, or characterizations, PLEASE TELL ME! I'm still trying to get back in the flow of OP.

Also, before I stop rambling, I must insert a shameless advertisement for my new fic "Sangre Fria". It's based on the Clint Eastwood western "Fistful of Dollars". If you haven't seen this movie, and you like my fic, then you will most likely like the movie. Me, being the sick person I am, like Eastwood movies because I have yet to see him NOT get the shit kicked out of him and him recover to get sweet revenge (though I've only seen four movies of his). So, my fic will follow that precedent and there will be plenty of violence and retribution in it…

I just hope that I can get someone else to write for that (apparently very small) fandom. If you know of any stories belonging to it or any other Eastwood western, PLEASE TELL ME and I just might make the next chapter of this longer…(jeez, I'm so horrible).