red one. The black one is fine with you, okay?Let's go!

They set off through dark, winding corridors, Zorro with a sword between his teeth and Usopp with the scabbards under his arm and a drawn sword in his hand.

Usopp (looking at the sword in his hand with a mixture of pride and uncertainty)

What do I do with it?

Zorro (grins)
Slam.

Footsteps. Two soldiers emerge from a passage, see Zorro and Usopp and rush towards them with drawn swords. Usopp raises his sword in a shaky defensive position. When the soldiers are halfway through, Usopp loses his nerve, throws the sword like a spear at the attackers and hides behind Zorro's back. It's a good throw, the sword pierces the chest of the one soldier who collapses.

Zorro (backwards approvingly)
Hey not bad! I've never done anything like that!

Zorro blocks the second attacker's sword blow with the sword in his mouth. Then he turns around once, the soldier's blade slides up on his, the soldier stands for a moment without cover.With an elegant twisting motion of his whole body, Zorro slits open his upper body. A fountain of blood spurts up.
Usopp jumps over the dead body and runs to the other corpse. He pulls the gun out of the dead soldier's belt and without thinking he throws it to Zorro.

Usopp
Here, Zorro, catch!

Just as without thinking, Zorro tries to catch her and stumbles backwards against a door, moaning, when the pistol painfully hits his broken fingers and slips through his hands. She falls to the ground and a shot is fired.

Zorro
Aaach, shit!

Usopp jumps up in shock when the ball hisses through the corridor at ankle height and bouncing from wall to wall. He looks around frantically. You can hear voices and quick steps.
Zorro pushed the doorknob behind him with his elbow and opened the door. It leads to the landing of a spiral staircase.

Usopp (meekly)
Sorry...

Zorro
Come on now!Pull out the sword!

Usopp has to put his foot on the dead man's chest to pull out the sword, and he does it with great reluctance. Soldiers appear at the end of the corridor. With a jerk he tears the blood-smeared sword out of the wound and stumbles after Zorro, who is running up the stairs.

Usopp
No, Zorro, not that long! We have to go down, not up!

Too late. Usop has no choice but to run up the stairs behind Zorro. It ends in a small turret on the battlements of the fortress. Several groups of soldiers stand on the battlements, pointing to Zorro and Usopp and running towards them. Steps come up the stairs behind them. Zorro and Usopp stand back to back, looking for a way out, but they are surrounded. Zorro pushes Usopp to the edge of the battlements. The sea is very far below.

Zorro
We jump!

Usopp (screeching in fear)
Noooo! It's so deep!

Zorro (impatient)
Go ahead

He pushes Usopp over the edge with his shoulder and jumps after him himself.Both fall many meters deep. Usopp waved his sword around wildly in the case. Zorro tries to deflect the blade to avoid being impaled by Usopp. At the same time, he has to be careful not to injure Usopp with the sword in his mouth. The whole thing looks like an absurd sword fighting parody in the air.
Both do a hard belly splash.

Usopp (shows up and spits out water)
Zorro? All right? Can you swim?

Zorro (appears)
It is okay. Do you have my swords Don't lose it!

They swim over to the ship.

On the ship. Luffy hears something. His eyes grow huge with joy and surprise.

Luffy (overjoyed)
THERE THEY ARE! Nami! Sanji! You are back! I knew it!

Luffy pulls Zorro and Usopp on board. Usopp drops the swords and scabbards and talks to Luffy and Nami.

Usopp (talks like a waterfall)
Hey, they got Zorro and me too, but I was too smart for them and then I was allowed to hold one of Zorro's swords and with that I killed a lot of soldiers and then we jumped THOUSAND meters ...Luffy (enthusiastic)
Cool!

Nami laughs and hugs Usopp

Zorro crawls across the deck on his elbows and tries to sheath his swords with his teeth and wrist. It's not working. He crawls to the side of the ship, sits up and stares at the ground with his head bowed. Tears run down his face. He removes his headscarf with his forearm. Since he cannot tie it back to his arm as usual, it stays next to him.

Flashback: Luffy when they first met
Luffy (laughing)
The pirate king and the best swordsman, that sounds like a super team!

Zorro (quietly)
Luffy, can you put me ashore on the next island?

Luffy (turns away from Usopp, who is still telling, surprised)
Why then?

Zorro
Do your thing. Find your treasure. But without me.

Luffy
ARE YOU CRAZY?

Zorro
Was nice with you. But it's over now. You need a useless swordsman as badly as you need a hole in your head.

Luffy (can hardly believe his ears)What's wrong with you?

Zorro (with a sad smile)
Look at it ...

Luffy stares in horror at Zorro's lifeless hands.

Usopp (quietly)
Broken. These pigs!

Nami (full of cold hatred)
Was that the Navy? So that you tell them ...?
Zorro
The Commander.

I didn't give anything away, honestly.

He said I'll never be able to touch a sword again. And I think he's right.

Luffy (understands and screams up to the fortress)
THIS DUCKSACK !!!! I KNOW HIM PLAAAAATT !!!

He wants to jump ashore swinging his fist, but Nami holds him tight.

Nami
Cut out the shit, Luffy! You have no chance against them! If you run into there now, then everything Zorro did for you was for nothing, you understand ?! Then he shouldn't have had his fingers smashed. Then...

Zorro (bitter)
Then I'd be a swordsman now. And an asshole.

Usopp (starts howling)
This is sooo mean ...

Luffy (roars with tears in his eyes)
You MUST stay, Zorro, you can't just run away!Zorro shakes his head in silence

Nami (angry and close to tears)
Now stop crying and do nothing! Usopp, get the chopsticks from the kitchen and something to bandage, towels or something!

(to Zorro, but also to encourage yourself)
You have to splint your fingers and then it just grows back together and ...

Usopp appears in the doorway with the chopsticks and a stack of napkins, apparently he is being held by Sanji.

Sanji (off)
Usopp?
Are you crazy? Approach my kitchen stuff! Why does Zorro need ten chopsticks?

Usopp tears himself away from him and rolls over the deck. Luffy holds him tight so he doesn't fall over Zorro and Nami. Nami takes the chopsticks and napkins from Usopp's hand. Behind Usopp, Sanji appears in the cabin door.

Sanji
Oh, they are for Nami, say that now! Nami, you can have them, why ...?

Nami (without looking up)
Don't bother me now!

She carefully touches Zorro's hands and takes a chopstick to splint his fingers.She looks at it indecisively. Zorro winces at her touch.

Nami (between coolness and despair)
The only problem is, I don't know how to do it.

Sanji looks over Nami's shoulder at Zorro's hands.

Sanji (affected)
Oh shit.

Nami
Yes. Crap. And I don't know if I can do it again, I've never done anything like this ...

Sanji (patronizing)
Come on, I'll help you, Nami, don't worry, it'll be fine, I'm here.

Zorro registers Sanji's attempts to flirt, but he is too down to react. All of this is already so far away for him, a world to which he no longer belongs ... Sanji carefully touches Zorro's battered fingers in order to feel the breakpoints. He squeezes gently to push the bones into place. Zorro winces and hisses through his teeth in pain.

Sanji (to Zorro)
Sorry, Zorro, this will hurt. But I have a rough idea where your bones belong, you learn that in the kitchen.It's not much different with a human being than with a chicken.

Zorro nods through clenched teeth. Sanji is a virtuoso with chopsticks and strips of fabric.

Usopp (doubtful)
Really?! Well, I wouldn't be that easy ...

Sanji (arrogant)
You've never filleted a seal fin either, have you?

(much friendlier to Zorro)
You know, I once put my fingers into the big waffle iron in the kitchen and someone slammed the lid. It looked like that too.

Zorro (with a faint glimmer of hope in his voice)
And then?

Sanji
Well, I couldn't do anything for three weeks. And for the next three weeks I only peeled potatoes. They didn't let me do anything else, I couldn't mess up a party platter of sushi or something with my broken fingers. But now...

He lifts his hand, throws up a napkin, cleverly catches it, and hands it to Nami, folded into a flower. Nami grins at him. Zorro's face brightens up, hesitantly ready to believe in what has just been unbelievable.Luffy (absent-minded)
Potatoes ...

(grins broadly and expectantly)
That means there are always fries for three weeks? Every day?

Zorro (with a small, relieved smile)
You spinner.

Midday, nice weather, open sea. Luffy stands in the masthead, Nami at the helm.

Luffy
I don't see any ships ... nowhere ...

Nami
We got away from them. We owe that to Zorro.

Luffy nods unhappily and hops on deck. Something is on his mind.

Luffy
You, Nami, there is an island ...

Nami (grins)
Yes I know. And?

Luffy (very depressed)
Then I'll let him know ...

Nami
No, leave them alone, they've had a tough night.

Zorro lies asleep on deck, his hands properly splinted and bandaged, one arm over his three swords. Usopp lies snuggled against his back and is also deep asleep.

Luffy (confused and unhappy)
But Zorro said ... he wanted to ...

Nami (beaming at him)
No. He definitely doesn't want that!Luffy looks at her indecisively for a moment. Then it shines back.

RELAXATION

AND NEXT TIME YOU WILL SEE:

Zorro and Sanji in the galley. Zorro peeled potatoes with awkward, barely healed fingers. He's getting more and more impatient. A potato slips out of his hands, he catches it with his foot and kicks it into the saucepan.

Sanji (appreciative)
Hey not bad!

Zorro (frustrated)
Sanji, can you show me how to kickboxing? I'm dead bored.

Sanji (grins)