Cabaji spun forward atop his unicycle with absurd speed, one wheel bouncing over cracked stone as his curved blades flashed toward Zoro's throat.
"You may call me Acrobat Cabaji, Captain Buggy's chief of staff."
Zoro moved instantly.
CLANG.
Sparks burst between them as Wado Ichimonji intercepted the strike.
Cabaji grinned wide. "Not bad!"
Then the unicyclist twisted sharply, his entire body rotating with the momentum of the wheel as his second blade whipped low toward Zoro's ribs.
Zoro jumped back.
The slash carved through empty air where his stomach had been a moment before.
"…Fast," Zoro admitted.
Cabaji smirked smugly. "Of course I am."
The pirate spun his blade theatrically.
"I am an Acrobat! The greatest performer in Captain Buggy's crew!"
Zoro's eyes narrowed slightly. That's right. This weirdo was a performer, not a swordsman. That kind of distinction mattered.
Luffy's earlier warning echoed faintly in the back of his mind.
Don't get cocky, Zoro.
At first, he dismissed it. Compared to Bogard, this guy barely registered as a threat, but that was exactly the point.
Cabaji wasn't fighting like Bogard, he wasn't fighting like a swordsman at all.
The unicycle wasn't just for show. It changed his angles unpredictably. His balance shifted constantly so his attacks weren't clean or disciplined, they were built around distractions, momentum, and cheap shots.
A dirty fighter.
Zoro exhaled slowly.
"…Got it."
Cabaji blinked. "…Huh?"
Zoro shifted his footing.
Instead of charging straight in, he angled himself sideways through the street away from the pet food store, and the silent sentinel that was ChouChou.
Cabaji noticed immediately.
And grinned.
"Ohhhhh," he drawled. "You're protecting something."
Zoro didn't answer.
Cabaji laughed.
"That's adorable."
The acrobat lunged again.
His unicycle bounced hard off a broken chunk of stone as he launched upward, spinning violently through the air.
"Acrobat Sword Technique!"
His blade blurred downward in a wide arc, but Zoro easily stepped inside his guard instead of back.
CLANG.
Two crossed swords easily caught the blow, Wado already moving to disarm.
Cabaji's grin widened.
"Arsonist technique!"
A ball of fire exploded from his mouth point-blank.
Zoro's eyes widened slightly, surprised at the method, but not the attack.
Instead of freezing in surprise like Cabaji expected, Zoro twisted sharply sideways, letting the fire roar past him rather than taking it full force.
The flames scorched his side, heat licking painfully across his shoulder, but the worst of it missed.
Cabaji landed several meters away, clearly annoyed.
"…Tch."
Zoro smirked faintly.
"Cheap trick."
Cabaji pointed dramatically. "A win's a win!"
Behind them, Luffy continued absolutely terrorizing Buggy's lower crew.
One pirate flew through a wall, another got embedded headfirst into the ground.
Buggy screamed continuously in the background.
"STOP LETTING HIM HIT YOU!"
Cabaji ignored the chaos and focused back on Zoro. His grin slowly sharpened.
"…You're annoying."
Zoro rolled one shoulder carefully. The burn stung, but the pain was manageable.
And more importantly, he understood Cabaji now. The acrobat relied on confusion. Openings created through distraction and panic.
"Acrobat technique: Murder at the steam bath!"
Cabaji's blade spun in wide circles as the unicycle twisted in circles. The flat of the blade caught dirt and debris, kicking up an obscuring cloud of dust.
"Steam bath my ass, that's just an ordinary dust cloud!"
Bogard's lesson lingered fresh in Zoro's mind.
Observe.
Zoro stilled, the grip on his swords tightening as he prepared himself to act.
His stance lowered as he focused. The first came in fast from the side. He threw himself backwards, but a gash still opened up along his ribs.
Cabaji's laughter echoed, but Zoro kept his mind still. His senses sharpened further until the world outside this fight began to dull.
The dust swirling slightly at the displacement of air, the slight creak of the unicycle as Cabaji accelerated.
Two more slashes came, two more cuts opening across his body.
A third strike came cleaving in, an overhead strike meant to end Zoro's life.
A slight smirk spread across his face, he couldn't see the sword yet, but the slight sound of air rang clearly to him. His right-hand sword swept out to deflect the blow, and the sharp sound of Cabaji's surprise was like music to him.
His left-handed sword and Wado moved in perfect sync, carving two deep gashes in the Acrobat's side.
The dust settled to reveal both parties bleeding, Zoro still standing easily. The few cuts on his body weren't too deep, and had no effect on his ability to fight.
Cabaji on the other hand had one hand covering his wounds, a deep scowl on his face.
With little pause he spun forward again, this time though Zoro watched the wheel, catching the slight change in trajectory that would carry him to an awkward angle.
He saw the acrobat's shoulders turn as they led into the direction of the incoming attack.
He even saw the small shift in balance as Cabaji prepared to redirect his attack to come in from what he thought to be a blind spot.
There.
Zoro sidestepped before the blade even came.
Cabaji's eyes widened slightly as the left handed sword snapped upward.
CLANG.
Cabaji barely blocked in time.
"Oh?" Zoro grinned now. "You're slowing down."
Cabaji's expression twitched irritably.
"I'm just getting started!"
He kicked off the ground hard.
The unicycle spun wildly as he launched upward again, his long scarf sweeping outward to launch a horde of small spinning tops.
"Dance of 100 kamikaze tops!"
The first impact made their danger known, the sharpened, steel hard edge sparking off of Zoro's blade.
The tide of tops put him on the defensive. While deflecting, Zoro noticed something. Cabaji was steering him, little by little, back toward the store.
Toward ChouChou and the lion he was using as a pedestal.
Zoro's eye narrowed.
"…You bastard."
Cabaji's grin widened viciously.
"Oh? Finally figured it out?"
Nearby, Moji finally scrambled back to his feet. He'd been blindsided by a flying henchman from Luffy's fight with his crewmates.
"Ritchie!" he barked angrily, pointing toward Zoro and ChouChou. "GET THEM!"
The lion didn't move.
Moji blinked.
"…Ritchie?"
The massive beast looked between Zoro confidently deflecting a torrent of spinning tops, ChouChou growling fearlessly from on top of his head, and Luffy in the distance currently using three pirates as improvised nunchucks.
Ritchie began sweating again.
Slowly…
The lion shook his head.
Moji stared.
"…What."
Ritchie pointed desperately with both paws.
At Luffy.
Then at Zoro.
Then made a frantic running motion with his legs.
Then pointed away from the battlefield.
Very far away.
Moji's eye twitched.
"…Are you telling me to RUN?!"
Ritchie nodded enthusiastically.
"Gya! Gya!"
He pointed at Luffy again then to himself, then to one of the still spinning tops that was passing by.
Then pointed at Zoro and mimed getting cut apart.
Then pointed at Nami's general direction and shuddered in existential horror.
Moji's jaw dropped.
"YOU COWARDLY FURBALL!"
Ritchie physically recoiled like he'd been struck. The words clearly hurt him.
Cabaji, however, had already stopped caring.
His grin widened as he slid directly in front of the store.
"Enough playing around."
He inhaled sharply, a small flame hidden by his scarf already poised to ignite the torrent of flammable liquid he'd prepped in his mouth.
Moji's eyes widened instantly.
"YEAH!" he shouted excitedly. "Forget about that cowardly lion! FIRE AWAY!"
Ritchie looked genuinely wounded.
"…Gyah…"
Then the flames exploded outward toward the store. Toward ChouChou. Toward everything behind him.
ChouChou barked furiously.
Zoro's pupils tightened.
There wasn't enough time to dodge.
If he moved, the store and the two animals behind him would burn.
Zoro planted his feet.
Then swung.
"HAH!"
A powerful slash tore outward.
The force of the swing split the incoming flames apart in a violent gust, scattering much of the fire sideways before it could fully engulf the store.
But not all of it.
The remaining flames crashed over Zoro's shoulder and chest.
Heat roared across his skin, and the smell of burned cloth filled the street.
Cabaji grinned triumphantly.
"IDIOT! You actually thought you could tank-"
Zoro burst through the fading fire.
Cabaji froze.
For one split second, all he saw was a charging demon. The cold aura pouring off of him felt like a blade pressed against his throat.
"Santoryu…"
Cabaji barely managed to raise his swords, but he was far too slow.
"ONIGIRI!"
The three-blade strike easily crashed through his guard.
Blood exploded across Cabaji's chest as he was launched violently off his unicycle, crashing hard across the ruined street before skidding to a stop in a heap.
Silence fell.
Smoke drifted slowly around Zoro. His clothes were scorched and slight burn marks crawled across one side of his body.
But he remained standing.
Behind him, the pet food store still stood, and ChouChou stared silently up at him.
Zoro exhaled slowly.
"…Tch."
Then glanced toward the unconscious Cabaji.
"Should've fought fair."
"CABAJI!"
Moji shrieked as his face twisted in anger.
"YOU BASTARD!"
His whip cracked through the air as he lunged toward Zoro from behind.
At the exact same moment, a detached gloved hand shot low across the ground holding a knife.
Buggy's hand.
The blade lunged toward Zoro's exposed back.
Luffy's eyes narrowed slightly, but before he could move a white blur launched forward.
"BARK!"
ChouChou slammed into the detached hand midair.
The knife flew loose as the dog hit the ground wrestling Buggy's severed hand like a wild animal.
The hand flailed wildly.
ChouChou bit down harder.
"MMPH?!"
The detached hand began desperately slapping the ground trying to escape while ChouChou gnawed on it with righteous fury.
Buggy's scream echoed from down the street.
"MY HAAAAAND!"
At the same moment, Ritchie moved. The lion's eyes locked onto Moji, the man who had called him cowardly and tried to burn him alive.
For the first time since he was "tamed" by Moji, Ritchie's pride flared into anger.
"GRAOOO!"
Moji froze.
"…R-Ritchie?"
Too late.
The lion pounced.
Moji disappeared beneath a tidal wave of fur and claws as Ritchie tackled him directly into the dirt.
"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT-"
WHAM.
The lion began mauling him with enormous padded paws.
Not enough to kill, but absolutely enough to communicate his feelings.
"OW! RITCHIE! BAD LION! BAD- ACK-"
Zoro stared blankly at the chaos. Behind him, Luffy burst into hysterical laughter.
"SHISHISHISHISHI!"
Even Buggy looked horrified.
"…My crew is falling apart."