Great Minds Think Alike Pt 3

Oh my gosh finally Dx   I'm so busy but at least I got the next chap up now! xD



Title: Great Minds Think Alike
Pairing: Zoro/Sanji
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece That would be Echiro Oda! But I do enjoy messing with the characters




"Wh-what do we do now!?" Usopp cried out.

Chopper hid behind the sharp shooter's leg while shivering.

"L-L-Luffy..." The little reindeer spoke with a shaky tone.

"Everyone, calm down!" Nami began.

Usopp and the small doctor went silent yet remained shaky.

"Now, although it may not seem like it, there must be some way to reopen this door."

Nami pointed to the spot their reckless captain stood less than a minute ago. Sanji twirled in front of the group.

"My Nami swan is always right~!" He said enthusiastically.

"Che, moron...." Zoro whispered to himself.

Apparently the chef had heard that little remark though, and in a second he was directly in the swordsman's face.

"What was that?" The blonde inquired while glaring.

"You heard me." The other man replied.

"What did I tell you two!?" The navigator knocked them both over their heads.

"Now everyone! Look for a switch of some sort that could possibly trigger the trap!" The woman ordered the crew.

Sanji and Zoro rubbed their heads in order to relieve the current throbbing they both felt. Soon after, they began to help search. While the rest of the crew continued looking though, a certain swordsman decided there was a more efficient method that could be used to solve their predicament. He walked up to the pedestal, and with a quick slice with Kitetsu, the pedestal split in two.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" The red head scolded.

It was not until the trap door opened that Zoro replied.

"Wasn't what I thought. It was Kitetsu...." He simply stated.

Nami and Sanji stood, mouths slightly agape.

"Alright Zoro bro! The blue haired cyborg cheered.

"We're coming Luffy!" The long nose shouted into the dark pit.

"Well hurry up already!" A voice echoed back, unmistakeably their captain's.

"At least he's alright." Nami said to herself in relief.

One by one, each member made their way through the deep hole before the door could close once again.

--------

Every crew member could not help but admire what was beneath the grounds they were previously standing on. It was no wonder the name of the island became Ice Cavern Island! Luckily there was a path that was fairly dry. On the downside, the stalactites above proved them to have entered a rather dangerous area. A sudden shattering of what seemed to be ice echoed behind them from a rather far distance. They turned their heads.

"You hear that?" Franky asked.

"Probably just a few stalactites. Be careful." Nami told the crew.

"Or it's a giant monster that wants to eat our faces!" Usopp yelled dramatically.

As soon as he yelled that, a piece of ice fell from the ceiling and shattered right next to him. He leaped behind Sanji. 'Why me?' The cook thought.

"Shut up!"Nami hissed. "You wanna get us killed? Sound easily bounces off walls inside of caverns dummy."

Sanji pushed the cowering sharp shooter back towards the front of the group.

"Yeah Usopp. What would Soge King do?" Sanji said with slight enthusiasm.

"Yeah!" Luffy and Chopper whispered eagerly.

"Soge King wouldn't be afraid of something like this!" Luffy patted Usopp's back with a little more force than necessary.

"That's right!" The adorable reindeer added.

Those two could certainly be oblivious. Of course everyone else but them would know Soge King was in fact Usopp himself. Nami sighed.

"Yes yes, now c'mon!" She continue walking along the path as the others followed.

Ugh... more ice. The curly brow groaned. Just what he needed, another area of unstable terrain. Although he had actually contemplated 'accidentally' slipping just to once again be caught by- 'Don't think about it Sanji.' The blonde thought disappointingly. What was the point of fantasizing anyway if it would never be? Sanji had already come up with his own conclusion as to why the stone shattered in his little dream. The answer was in fact quite simple. It was an omen, a terrible sign that his friendship with Zoro would break, just as the gem itself did, if he had discovered the chef's love for him. This was no time for Sanji to be sulking though, for he had to focus more on the task ahead, and that task was preventing that marimo from getting his hands on that stone!

"There must've been sudden disappearances or something. That would explain why people would think this place was haunted. But really, how could there have possibly been dry grounds above this place?" Nami spoke in a low tone.

"It's almost as if..." Sanji began.

"Time itself stopped." Zoro finished off the cook's sentence.

"... Yeah." The other man said ignoring the fact he was cut off.

The crew went silent as the thought went through their minds. Afterwords,  The lady spoke again.

"Luffy, lemme see that stone." She said as she held her hand out to him.

Without hesitation, the captain did as he was told.

She observed the gem, rubbing her thumb over the facets. Now she had seen plenty of gems, and she most certainly had a good eye for jewels. After much thought, she came up with a conclusion as to what it was.

"Of course it would be a fake." The woman hung her head in disappointment.

"But what about that light?" Zoro intervened.

"Look here." Nami held the gem closer to him as she pointed to the center of it.

Due to the fact they were in a lighter place, the light could not be shown as well. She explained how a small light was hidden inside of the stone.

"Can I see it Nami?" Franky asked the jewel thief.

Upon taking the stone, the speedo wearing cyborg had in fact noticed the little object inside of it.

"How many of these do you think have been made to capture thieves?" He  questioned aloud.

"Who cares?" The swordsman stated. "We're here to find the real one anyway right?"

"Right." Nami added.

As the crew continued their walk, the shattering of ice could once again be heard in the distance. Usopp quickly turned around. As he did, the rest followed suite.

"Not again!" Usopp exclaimed softly.

"Would you knock it off?" Nami slapped him upside the head.

"No monster is going to come and attempt to eat your freaking face off! Just keep walking."

Withstanding the fear which engulfed the poor sharpshooter, he resumed his walk with the
others.

-------------

The tall brunette lounged in the woman's dorm as she drank her coffee. She flipped the page of a book she happened to find that held the historical significance of the island they had currently docked at. The skeleton inside the galley was playing his violin. Musical tunes swept through the halls of the Thousand Sunny.

"Such a lovely song..." Robin said to herself.

After reading much about the stone and the island itself, the blue eyed woman had become aware of more things she rather should have before allowing her crew to tread off on their adventure. Such things included the spirit that had lived underneath the land for centuries. Some had apparently believed this deity consumed the lives of many people in order to protect the stone and its secrets. Whether such a being could truly exist under such a quiet island could not be determined by the archeologist. She herself believed the stone existed as she did with many other fathomed things.

"Hope they find it." Robin spoke with a gentle tone.

Now Robin had become aware of most situations that occurred in the Mugiwara crew, and as such, their chef's was no exception. She had thought about it for quite some time, but could only watch as she tried to figure it out. Luckily this stone, if it existed, could be the key that would put her thoughts to rest. This was the boost Robin truly believed could solve Sanji's problem, as well as Zoro's. She gently closed her  book and stared out of the window and to the sky.

"I'm sure they can figure it out." She smiled warmly.

----------

The golden eyed swordsman went directly into his fighting stance as the rest of his crew followed Nami down the path. Each member ran as fast as they could to leave what lay behind for Zoro and the cook as well. What had in fact lay before the two was none other than a giant two headed beast. Neither one of the men could even think of where this thing could have derived from and was not planning on trying to figure it out. The monster had the form of that of a ginormous Venus Fly Trap, except an extra stem connected from the body and contained another grotesque head at the top. The body looked to be the shape of a giant bud and was completely made of ice. From below, vines gave it support and constantly lashed at the beast's opponents. Wait what about the monster that wanted to eat everyone's face?

'The crew continued their way down the path within the colossal ice caverns. As they did though, the path became narrower. This lead to the eventual creation of a single line. That is when another sound echoed not too far away. The shattering of ice. Except this time, it not only caught Usopp's attention, but the rest of the Mugiwara pirates'.

"I-I don't think it's safe here!" The sharpshooter suggested.

"Do NOT start with this aga-" Suddenly, a blood curling scream shot through the air, cutting her off as she spoke.

Before Nami or even the rest had time to think, vines shot from what dry ground there was behind them.  Any extra one's dealt damage in the area around them, crushing and shattering the ice that rose from the grounds on both sides of the path. Stalactites fell from the ceiling of the giant cave as well, crashing to the ground as the crew members dodged them. Immediately the vines sank back into the earth, and as they did so, Zoro dashed with his swords drawn.

"Go on!" He shouted as he ran.

"The path is too narrow. I'll catch up!"

"Idiot! He get's lost a straight path!" The chef said after as he ran after the other man.

"You better come back!" Nami shouted.

"Of course Nami swan!" Sanji replied confidently.

"Yeah! A monster! Wonder what it looks like!" Their captain cheered vigorously.

"We're not staying to find out dummy!" The read headed woman dragged the boy as they frantically ran ahead.'

Oh sweet irony.

"Why is long-nose right when we don't want him to be?" The swordsman grunted as he leaped to dodge a vine.

He slice it as he jumped, and right away, it regenerated. This thing would not be easy to beat.

"For once I think I agree moss-head." Sanji replied as he too dodged a rather sharp vine, as they were covered in thorns.

Fortunately for them, the giant creature cleared much ice and other debris. This gave them the advantage of a larger terrain to battle on. Unfortunately, the cook still had a little problem with the slick surface that remained. The ground did not prove to be a suitable surface to kick from. He decided it best to just jump into the air and deal his blows then and there instead, so he did. He used each vine that blocked his way as support and leaped above the beast's head before dealing a great kick to one of its heads that would surely knock it out. As it thrashed downward, Zoro used the opportunity to get his shine in the light. With a fluent motion, he sliced the head right off the stem, and green slime shot out of it.

"That's more like it." A well known grin appeared on Zoro's face.

He could not soak in victory for much longer though because the stem that had lost its head immediately reconnected to it and it rose once again as if nothing ever happened. The blonde became irritated at this and without thinking, pushed off the ground as hard as he could to deal another hit. Using the same strategy as before, he again managed to get above one of the two heads. Too bad for him that monster was not as stupid as it may have looked.

"Hey! Moron. Behind you!" The swordsman yelled at the other man.

Not expecting this to happen, Sanji turned his body as fast as he could to kick the vine away but was too late. The long vine wrapped around his right leg and gripped it tight, dangling the chef in mid air. He gave of a moan of pain as the vine's thorns dug into his skin. He glared at the creature underneath him and cursed it.

"Guess there's only one way." Zoro said to himself as he prepared an attack.

"Would you hurry up already!?"

Not another thought had crossed the blonde's mind before he was violently thrown head first at a pair of stalagmites that stood from the ground farther away. The other man became immediately aware of this, and without hesitation, punished the monster for its action. As Zoro stood up straight after the attack, it was clear what damage had been dealt. The monster was diced. Completely minced into at least a hundred pieces. The swordsman did not even have to look back to know it was over as he heard the cry of his victim as it plummeted to the cold hard surface, its body shattering into hundreds of shards. He removed the bandana from his head and ran to where the careless cook was tossed. When he had found him, Sanji was already unconscious.  Blood seeped through his black pants on his right leg and trickled down the left side of his forehead.  

"You idiot." Zoro stated.