Luffy's breath came out in white puffs of smoke as he breathed in the chill morning air. He placed a hand above his eyes, a smile on his big face. He couldn't wait for Zoro to get the new mysterious fruit they had heard about. Rumor had it, if Zoro ate the fruit, he would never be lost again.

Luffy folded his map away and tucked it into his pocket. He turned around and grinned at Zoro. "We're almost there! Yee hee!"

Zoro grumbled. "I don't need a fruit that prevents me from getting lost. I would rather eat a fruit that helps me get stronger, so I can be the best swordsman in the world." He turned around with a huff. Sometimes the Captain was ridiculous. Luffy knew Zoro thought that, and that made Zoro even madder sometimes. But orders were orders. Oh well. Maybe if he ate the fruit it would help him get indirectly stronger. He would be able to find his way to more battles and improve his skills.

Zoro and Luffy clambered into a boat. Luffy faced the rest of the crew and smiled. "Bye everyone! See you later! Chopper, don't eat all the ice cream!" With that, he puffed up his body into balloon form, smushing Zoro against the side of the small rowboat. Then he pushed off.

Zoro struggled, and gasped out, "Urk. Luffy. I'm goin to kll you whn we gt to that islnd! I...I can't brethe."

Luffy gave a loud laugh as they floated down to the ocean with a small splash. He deflated and gave a loud fart in Zoro's face, and Zoro turned as green as his clothes.

Luffy faced the ship, turning his back to island. Then he puffed himself up again. He took a big breath and let out all the air in his body, maneuvering the rowboat toward the island.

After several minutes, the boat rammed into the shallow sands of the beach.

"We're here!" Luffy yelled, jumping high in the air. "Now let's go get that fruit for you!"

Luffy grabbed Zoro by the waist, then stretched back and shot Zoro like a slingshot as far as possible. Zoro yelled the whole time as he disappeared into the distance.

Luffy gazed off where Zoro disappeared, with a blank look on his face. "Uh oh. Maybe I took it too far. Literally. Hee hee!" He jogged off in Zoro's general direction. "Oh well. He needs to learn how to find his way back!"

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Zoro gave a manly scream as he soared toward the ground. He gritted his teeth, drew his swords, and sliced all the trees away. "Santoryu!"

Branches snapped, wood splintered, and rocks exploded as the power of his blades cracked the earth. Zoro slammed into the ground, then glanced up with a murderous look in his eyes, a sword between his teeth. That Luffy...always pulling stupid pranks.

An eye peered out of the darkness, between two trees. A dagger flew toward Zoro, and he parried the dagger away. Two more daggers soared toward him, and he twisted, knocking one dagger away with the sword in his left hand, and the third dagger away with the sword between his teeth.

He pushed off the ground, running toward the mysterious figure.

An emaciated man groaned as he tried to run away, and Zoro ran him through. The blade sunk all the way to the hilt in the middle of the man's back. Shriveled skin peeled apart, and flaky red blood spurted out, splashing onto Zoro's face.

Zoro withdrew the sword, and more blood flicked onto the ground. He cleaned the sword onto the grass, then sheathed his sword. What was that all about, he wondered?

He turned the mysterious skeletal man, and sunken eye sockets and a gaping toothless mouth greeted him. He gasped and withdrew his hand in shock. The man was like a living zombie.

All of a sudden, the man's body turned to dust, leaving a large brown fruit in its place. It was shaped like an apple, and stripes circled around the skin of the fruit.

Hmm, Zoro wondered. Perhaps this was the fruit he had come to find. Luckily Luffy had thrown him this way then. Was it really this easy to find a fruit. He shrugged, and threw the whole thing into his mouth. He swallowed it down, and it moved through his throat like a snake swallowing an animal.

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He gagged as he swallowed. It tasted like death!

All of a sudden, a sharp pain kicked Zoro in the side of his stomach. He curled up, screaming. His insides were on fire, and he gave another yell.

His insides twisted as they became death. Unfortunately, the rumors were wrong. This fruit didn't prevent you getting lost. This was a rumor and had been greatly exaggerated. The fruit turned you into the living dead.

Luffy entered the clearing Zoro had created. "Ahoy! Zorro! I'm zorry I threw you far away! I'll make it up to you next time!" Luffy grinned, teeth shining in the morning sunlight. It was getting hot fast.

Zoro clutched his face and gave a groan. He felt his mind slipping away, and his eyes turned crimson. His mouth hung open, lifeless. Zombies didn't need to close their mouths.

Zoro rose, arms hanging at his sides, his back toward Luffy.

Luffy ran up and tapped Zoro on the shoulder. "What's going on? Why did you stop? Are you lost again?"

Zoro spun around as fast as lightning, and slashed at Luffy with one sword.

Luffy was caught by surprise, and barely had time to react. He jumped back and landed in a cloud of sawdust and rock dust. He clutched his chest, blood dripping profusely.

He looked up, his face contorted in a mask of anger. "What are you doing Zoro? Is this mutiny? That was a very large cut."

Luffy winced. The cut was pretty deep, and he would need to see Tony Tony Chopper soon, or he would bleed out. The cut would leave another scar on the X on his chest.

Zoro dashed forward, a second sword drawn. He spun in a whirlwind, swords slashing all around like a corkscrew.

Luffy bounded high above Zoro. Zoro adjusted, tapping the ground lightly with his feet. The whirlwind of blades came flying up toward him, and Luffy gritted his teeth. Why was Zoro doing this? Did he want to be captain now, or wa he tired of Luffy joking around? Or maybe Zoro wanted to kill Luffy so he could become captain as well as Shichibukai?

Luffy puffed up an arm and blew air out of it, dodging the whirlwind of swords.

"Busoshoku haki!" Luffy yelled. His arms and legs turned black as he activated his abilities. He didn't want to use this, but he had to. It looked like Zoro wanted to kill him.

Spoiler: Spoiler

 This was like the fight with Usopp all over again, except Zoro could actually fight Luffy on an equal level.

 Luffy thumped back onto the ground. Branches snappedand rocks were crushed.

Zoro stopped spinning, then turned both swords in his arms down. He kicked off the air, and shot toward the ground.

Luffy cursed and danced back. Grass and sawdust boomed upward as Zoro's sword boomed into the ground.

Luffy held an arm in front of his face as he tried to see. The dust was too thick. Before he could use Haki to sense where Zoro was, Zoro darted out with a feral look on his face.

Luffy gave a start. How did Zoro get so fast? And why did he have red eyes? Before he had a chance to react, one of Zoro's swords pierced Luffy in the chest.

Luffy grunted, noticing the sword was covered in the black of Zoro's own haki. He must have activated it when Luffy wasn't looking.

Luffy closed one of his eyes as he pulled himself off the blade with a painful grunt. Then he stepped in, swinging a fist at Zoro's face.

Zoro parried Luffy's fist with his sword in his teeth, then slashed forward.

Luffy's feet sunk into the ground from the impact, his haki holding, but just barely.

He dashed back to gain some distance, then bit his finger.

Spoiler: Spoiler

 "Gear second!" His body filled with hot air, and the world slowed down around him. He wished he didn't have to use this, because it would shorten his lifespan, but Zoro gave him no choice.

Zoro flew at Luffy again, and Luffy yelled, "Gomo Gomu no Gatling Gun!"

A barrage of haki-enfused fists flew at Zoro.

Zoro weathered the beating, flakes of skin falling off his face, exposing pink flesh. An eyeball crunched and flew back into his skull, and his nose turned into the consistency of guacamole. And yet, Zoro kept flying toward Luffy.

Three swords pierced Luffy in the chest, and he stopped throwing fists. His hands fell down to his sides, and he looked down.

He gave a tired and sad smile, blood dripping to the ground. Then he looked up at Zoro, a tired look on his face. "It...it looks like you finally b-beat me...Z-Zoro. Wish we could have...talk about this..."

Luffy's eyes grew lifeless, and Zoro pulled his swords out with a sickening crunch. He then proceeded to tear into Luffy's arms. They tasted rubbery, but Zoro didn't mind, because he was the walking dead now.

After an hour, Zoro finished eating, wiping blood off his cheeks. One crushed eyeball hung out of his left socket, and a grin of death plastered his face.

Then he turned around to the direction of the Thousand Sunny, and smiled. A manic look filled his already-dead face.

More prey awaited.