"This ship is slow."

"Well it can't be helped, this boat is a lot heavier then the waver."

"We can still turn back…"

"Are you comfortable, Robin?"

"I'm more then fine especially considering your blanketing me with these wings. Did you purposely make them this comfortable?"

"No that's just their natural texture. I never really thought about how they felt."

Usopp perked up at that stark reminder.

"Rosan… I had no idea you were uh… Reaper of all people," the liar said slowly, resisting the urge to shudder as all the stories he heard (and made) about the Shinigami came to the forefront.

It was still insanely difficult to believe. When he was just a small kid, he remembered being scared to death after the villagers told him Reaper would come for him if he kept lying like that.

The redhead nodded, idly twisting the single red strand of Robin's hair.

"I won't go too into detail since I'd rather not repeat myself but yes, I've been Reaper since I was 9 years old. I retired when I was 14 due to killing someone very important. I'll try and answer any questions when we all meet up again so remember them."

Usopp nodded and realized that Sanji himself wasn't surprised at all…

Wait a minute… he realized that he was the only one here surprised!

Luffy and Robin made sense but…

"Sanji, did you already know Rosan was Reaper?!" Usopp asked in confusion.

Just how close were Rosan and Sanji actually?! He thought the cook was totally jealous of their scout!

The blonde jumped a bit at the sudden question and he glanced over at the liar. "Yeah, I did. We met when I was younger and he told me at the Baratie."

Usopp blinked at that before slamming a fist against his palm. "So that's why you were avoiding him so much!"

Sanji gaped at that before a blush of embarrassment made its way onto his face. "I WASN'T AVOIDING ANYONE. I WAS JUST THINKING! THINKING!"

"Right…" Usopp drawled, still a bit taken aback by the fact that his scout was the Reaper.

That was utterly insane! He remembered how both Ace and Sabo were monsters due to being the second in command of such dangerous people. Not to mention, Luffy wanted to be Pirate King which was a lofty goal in itself.

All that left was Rosan who, while utterly dangerous, didn't seem to be anything of note besides a really strong guy watching over his younger brother.

Guess he was just as crazy as his brothers… Rosan was the most famous bounty hunter alive! Everyone in the Blue Seas outside of the Grand Line knew about the Angel of Death! Hell, for the longest Usopp thought he wasn't real until he saw that daunting 500 million body on his head.

Wow, all of the brothers were pure monsters… D-Didn't Ace have a bounty of 650 million on his head? S-Sabo had one too but the World Government didn't actually know his identity yet, just calling him Chief of Staff and giving him a 602 million bounty as well...

The group sailed for a while until they came across a massive forest in the middle of the sea.

It was a sight to behold. The trees were so tall, that they seemed to cast a shadow even from this far, blocking vision of the top completely and causing awed noises to exit Luffy and Usopp's mouth.

A forest… Rosan quite liked forests.

He did miss the days when his mindscape was one. It was so peaceful when he and Robin would lounge about, cuddling Mod-chan as they soaked in the nice weather.

"Those days used to be so nice... now I can't hold the both of you anymore because you're both gigantic and now you hold me..." Mod pouted in displeasure.

"You love it," Robin rolled her eyes. "I see how you smile when you're resting on either Rosan or I. I think you enjoy being the shortest because you always find some reason to latch onto one of us."

Mod gaped at being caught by the genius of a girl. "That's not true! I'm just taking advantage of how tall you two have gotten! You both spent 4 years using me as a pillow you know?!"

"Yes we know. That's why we let you do it whenever you want," Robin retorted.

"You always have the most content look on your face. I don't have the heart to tell you no regardless," Rosan chimed in.

"Auntie is too damn adorable. She's resting on me right now," Ram sighed forlornly.

"D-DON'T TELL THEM THAT!"

The duo snorted in amusement.

While they were in quite a nice forest. This one was a tad bit different from his mindscape.

Case in point, Rosan's forest didn't try to kill people… as far as he knew.

As they entered the forest, the group noticed that the entrance was decorated with statues and torches of the "Vearth" thing the Skypieans worshiped.

They sailed even further and encountered numerous broken down ships as well, clearly taken out by whatever inhabited these forests.

"All these ships have been sliced clean in half…" A frightened Usopp noted as he observed each and every ship they sailed past.

He was right. Every ship was cut nice and neat… almost like...

"We should probably sail faster. If we go to slow, we will be in trouble," Robin suggested.

Sanji and Usopp wasted no time heeding her warning and grabbed the paddles to manually move the ship even faster.

It was just in time too because a massive sickle came speeding towards where they just were and cut the wrecked ship behind them again, slicing the ship into another piece.

"AHHHHHHHH! SAIL! SAIL!" Usopp squealed. His eyes bugged at the trap and then he realized that there were even more coming.

Rosan's gaze was alert and he immediately transformed Ram into a large shield to intercept anything that could potentially touch them.

"Let's get out of this area quick," he muttered, placing his right hand on the ship and concentrating.

The ship suddenly rocketed forward due to the addition of a gust of wind being applied to it and they avoided the plethora of blades set up to decapitate them and their ship.

"Since when can you control wind?" Sanji asked in confusion.

Rosan, not wanting to reveal his cards to Enel, simply pointed at Ram and applied a light gust to the blonde.

His eyes widened at that. "Ram-chan is incredible," he muttered.

"Ram...chan?" The woman repeated, puzzled.

Ew, gross. She didn't have time for someone to be gushing over how hot she was.

Leave that to Maro. Her best friend was utterly shameless. That damn Goblin was lucky she loved her... and legitimately only had eyes for Auntie Angel despite her severe perversion.

The traps didn't end there. The moment the swinging blades stopped, sharp wooden stakes began firing at them rapidly.

Rosan had Robin replace his seat as he got up and transformed Ram into his double bladed curved sword, flying above the ship.

They watched in awe as he began spinning his weapon rapidly, using it as a sort of deflector and the redhead began flying back and forth to intercept any stake that came close to their ship.

He somehow managed to move quickly and lazily as he flexed his wings and flew in every direction to chop down every single stake that even glanced at their little boat.

"So fast..." Robin muttered. This was her first time actually seeing him use Shinigami...

From what she understood, it didn't actually give him any power boost like Ragnarok did, but it made him far more aerodynamic then the dragon and faster as well, due to his wings being so much lighter.

The angelic transformation also chilled his temperament from what she knew, whereas Ragnarok enhanced his aggression.

It was fascinating to see the minute changes that the transformations gave Rosan. He mentioned not wanting to unlocking another one because the redhead didn't like how they permanently changed some aspects of himself.

Ragnarok especially, seemed to impart some of its draconic blood into the redhead. For some reason, the transformation was extremely compatible with his body, to the point where Rosan feared he may be partially a dragon now.

The more Robin learned about Modification, the more questions she had. It really was such a fascinating fruit.

Eventually, the ship made it through that part but the mayhem didn't stop there.

Multiple sky lamprey (that had no reason being this big) burst from the water and began charging after their ship, roaring in obvious hunger.

"You sure know how to make guests feel welcomed," Rosan muttered.

"IT NEVER ENDS!" Usopp sobbed.

Rosan's eyes lasered in on the giant fish and he transformed Ram into his gloves.

His gloves were his favorite weapons to use. Not only did he get to punch people (who didn't love punching someone in the face?), he could combine Germa's power source with his style and it served as a good close and far ranged option.

He counted 5 lamprey and they were zeroing in on the ship with intent to kill.

That wouldn't do.

The group, sans Luffy, couldn't help but balk as Rosan calmly formed two red orbs, condensed flames inside of them, in each hand. They were floating up and down and seemed to pulse with a thought, spinning around the redhead's body like two planets until they went still at his sides, resting near his lax hands.

The redhead hummed, deciding to test the breath dial's abilities.

"Seekers."

Rosan lifted his left hand and pointed a finger at one of the lamprey.

Without hesitation the red orb on his left side soared towards its enemy and crashed into it.

There was no explosion. The head of the lamprey merely melted the moment the ball connected to it, searing the fish instantly.

"What the fuck?" Sanji gaped. He knew Rosan's use of Germa's technology combined with Modification was incredible but what exactly was this technique?!

Robin couldn't help but nod along with his choice of words. "Rosan loves creating new techniques. Even I wasn't aware he had something like this…"

He probably just created it. He was so annoying.

They watched in awe as the redhead pointed his right hand at another lamprey and the shuddering orb joined its sibling in dispatching another of the giant fishes.

As they both remained stationary, the redhead held up both of his hands and like a judge finalizing his sentence, he slowly roved his fingers over each of the lamprey.

The effects were immediate.

The left seeker immediately charged after the fish that was in biting distance to their ship and the moment the lamprey opened its mouth, the red orb flew inside of it and cauterized its insides before exiting straight through its midsection.

Due to the searing nature of the orb, there was no blood. The liquid had been vaporized instantly and the orb began buzzing with energy.

The right seeker landed on the head of a lamprey and began rolling down its serpentine like body, melting every part it touched until it reached the creatures tail.

The poor creature looked like it came straight out of a horror film, top half melting in places and others just gone.

It let out a strangled high pitched roar-squeal before collapsing in the foamy white cloud sea.

The two orbs began spinning around each other rapidly before converging on the final creature.

Like two hungry piranhas they darted into the animal and began battering each inch of its body, not leaving a single exposed part free. The creature tried to roar but was unable to do so as the orb converged upon its exposed mouth, melting it instantly.

They "feasted" on the fish until all that was left was bone and the seekers quickly flew back over to Rosan's side, floating up and down by his red hair.

He gazed at the final creature and nodded in satisfaction.

"Not bad... it seems like the addition of the Breath Dial was seamless and they increased the temperature of my orbs by quite a bit... I'll do more testing later..."

With a flick of both hands, the orbs dissipated and he floated back down to the boat.

"You are a monster," Usopp gaped in horror.

The pure damage those two orbs managed to do, with Rosan as their conductor… It was surreal just how strong their scout was and how he was hiding it under their nose.

Just... how strong was he really? Usopp knew he was a monster in terms of strength... but what was the limit of his strength?

"Aren't we all monsters?" Rosan replied calmly, curling his wings against his back once more and promptly sitting on Robin's lap without hesitation.

The Devil Child let out a surprised noise at his actions and glared at the back of his head. "Rosan! You didn't even warn me! You aren't light, you know?"

Having a 6'5 tower of muscle sit on you unexpectedly, was hard to prepare for. It was better the other way around… or when he wasn't this tall. He used to sit on her or Mod's lap all the time when he was a tiny and cute kid.

He was not tiny anymore.

"Are you calling me fat again? I'm very healthy you know," Rosan retorted, adding more pressure to the woman and getting her to successfully protest.

Finally, he relented and got up, swapping positions with the woman and patting her head as she sat on his lap again.

"I hate you very much," Robin said bluntly. She made sure to accentuate her point by jamming a finger onto his exposed chest.

"That might be the greatest lie I've ever heard come out of a person's mouth," he responded, realizing that he still had his vacation outfit on.

Should he change it?

Robin shook her head at his questioning look. "Not yet. Let me enjoy my work a little more"

He nodded at that. It would probably be ideal to change when he got in a serious battle but for now, he was fine.

The group continued to sail, this time with no more interruptions and they finally seemed to reach the end of the first part of their journey.

"Woah!" Luffy gasped.

A giant statue of the idol that the Skypieans worshiped, loomed over them. It was relatively new in comparison to the forest around it, being kept in immaculate condition and there were four entrances that made up its lower half.

"Swamp, Iron, String, Ball," Rosan muttered, eyes narrowing in contemplation.

"These must be Kami's Vassals," Robin concluded, gazing at each of the entrances with a curious gaze. "Which one should we go through? I believe we should avoid swamp."

"Ball!" Luffy exclaimed eagerly, bouncing excitedly. "It sounds the most fun!"

"It also sounds the most harmless so I agree with ball," Usopp nodded.

"Robin-chan, which one do you want?" Sanji asked. Whatever she chose, he'd choose.

The woman cocked her head at that.

She mostly wanted to evade swamp on the off chance that it was a lake type area that heavily countered their Devil Fruits.

When going in blind, things like Iron and String also didn't sound ideal but Ball might have been deceptive…

She'd still rather try her chances with that. Iron would be difficult for all but Rosan here if they needed to break it and string sounded like traps, which Luffy would suffer with.

"Ball is fine," Robin nodded finally, satisfied with the decision. "What about you, Rosan?"

The redhead let out a soft hum. "I liked your reasoning. I personally would have gone to Iron but we can go to Ball."

Iron simply sounded like the most challenging. That's why he would have chosen it.

"Alright, we're all in agreement then," the Devil Child smiled.

"Awesome!" Luffy cheered.

With that declaration, the rubber boy turned the ship into the entrance that read Ball and their dial ship vanished into it.

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

"Where did Sabo go?!"

Nami glanced around wildly. Guard, her ass! When did the revolutionary even leave?!

The second half of the Straw Hats were currently on top of a sacrificial altar, along with the Going Merry, that stood high above the cloudy sea.

"Dunno. He was here a minute ago," a soaked Zoro shrugged. After getting dragged here by the lobster, the blonde randomly disappeared and probably went deeper into this huge forest.

He tried to go for a swim but it was crawling with those man eating fish and Zoro just finished taking one out.

"He's definitely Luffy and Rosan's brother," Nami sighed in annoyance.

The navigator held her head at the blonde's antics and wondered how all 4 of the brothers managed to be so different, yet so similar.

Even amnesia couldn't hide it!

"What should we do?" Chopper asked worriedly.

The seas were teeming with monsters so if they tried to set sail, it'd be very bad for them.

Not only that…

"We can't set sail. The hull's been damaged," Zoro grunted. "Fix up the ship somehow, Chopper!" the swordsman requested.

The reindeer perked up at that. "Me…? Sure! I can do that!"

Nami's eyes narrowed as she gazed at Zoro's back. "And where do you think you're going?"

The swordsman shrugged on his new shirt, discarding the soaked one on the ship and glanced up at her. "I'm going to get into the forest somehow. Luffy and the others should be on their way now too."

Nami felt a vein of annoyance forming and she leapt off the ship to land in front of him. "There's no way we're letting you go by yourself! What are you even going to do?"

"Talk to Kami. I'd fight him but Rosan has dibs."

She nodded her head before planting a punch on the swordsman's skull. "WE'VE ALREADY GOTTA DEAL WITH ROSAN PISSING HIM OFF. WE DON'T NEED YOU DOING IT EITHER!" The navigator roared.

Damn it all! This was all because of their damn redhead and his damn arrogance and his damn tendency to infuriate everyone in a 100 meter radius with his damn silver tongue.

"You're the one who made it worse when you crashed your bike into that one guy," Zoro shrugged, eyeing the forest in the distance.

The navigator's eye twitched at that. "Have you not heard anything I said?! You don't wanna risk angering Kami and his priests! It's common sense Zoro!"

An insufferably cocky smirk made its way onto Zoro's face as he turned to face her and she realized that he had been spending way too much time training with Rosan.

"Sorry but… I've never prayed to Kami even once," the swordsman informed them.

Chopper's eyes turned into stars. "SO COOL!" He squealed, looking at the swordsman in total awe.

Nami held her head and just prepared to head back in the ship.

"You should go with him, Master Nami," Clima chimed.

Nami paused and scowled at her weapon. "Why would I do that? I have no interest in pissing Kami off more then he probably is."

"Think about all the treasure these ruins have. You can't let Master Rosan out thief you."

"Zoro! I'm coming with you!" Nami suddenly barked.

Both Chopper and Zoro's confusion only lasted a split second until they saw the beri signs that replaced her eyes and immediately understood.

The swordsman shrugged and just grabbed onto a vine.

He coughed a bit into a fist and said, "One, two…"

"AAAH-AAH-UH-AAH-UH-AAAH!" The swordsman yelled as he swung through the air and landed on the forest ground.

"Dumbass," Nami sighed, tentatively gripping onto a vine.

She nervously glanced at the massive distance Zoro crossed and took a deep breath.

Could she really do this—

"Take about three steps to the left and then go. Hold on tightly and don't look down either."

Nami blinked at that before following Clima's instructions. With another deep breath, the navigator soared through the air with her eyes shut tight until she landed perfectly on the ground.

She didn't even notice she was done, until her instinctive screaming stopped.

"Nice," Zoro praised. "Your yell could use some work but it wasn't bad."

"Shut the hell up," Nami grunted, clutching her beating heart.

She hated to admit it… but Nami was very glad that Rosan added Clima to her weapon. Besides the fact that he was an annoying smart ass—

"I take mild offense to that."

—He was incredibly useful. Over and over again, the AI assisted her where she didn't know and it was a massive boon.

Mod-chan must have been the same with Rosan. It was no wonder he saw no problem giving her an AI when he had one like her.

"I'm not even comparable to Master Mod but to hear such praise! You really are such a flatterer Master Nami!" Clima preened.

Nami smiled before turning towards the Going Merry. "KEEP GUARD OF THE SHIP, CHOPPER!" She yelled to the reindeer.

"WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!" Zoro waved.

Chopper nodded and waved back. "Leave it to me! Be careful!"

The reindeer hummed a jaunty tune as he prepared to fix up the ship and he dutifully began getting the needed supplies.

They were all so brave! He didn't think he'd be able to take that vine over to the other side!

That was okay though. They were all around each other so they'd be pretty… safe…

Wait a minute…

They… They were… All with… each… other.

His jaw dropped as he realized that he was all by his lonesome.

"I'M IN MORE DANGER THEN THEY ARE!" Chopper squealed in distress.

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

"I probably should have told them I wanted to check something out," Sabo thought to himself.

He also assured the crew that he'd watch over them and make sure they didn't die either...

While being escorted to wherever they were going by that express crab thing, Sabo's curiosity got the best of him and he, in a dreadfully familiar move to his revolutionary allies, left to go explore.

His exploration didn't come without discoveries though!

The blonde gazed up at the giant beanstalk with a thoughtful expression.

Should he climb it? That sounded fun…

No, not yet. He should go make sure the three Straw Hats were fine. They could be in danger and it'd be his fault if something bad happened to them when he could have stopped it.

Mind made, the blonde turned away from the beanstalk and walked off to go find the crew, choosing to ignore the presence of lighting all the way up there.

If Rosan said he had dibs, he had dibs. He had properly gauged the person who felt like Kami's strength and Sabo realized if things went south, he'd be able to pretty easily deal with him as well.

He was certainly strong, but nothing Sabo couldn't handle. He'd seen far stronger so he'd just take a backseat again unless he was needed.

Now he should go find the ship...

Sabo blinked.

Chopper was with an unknown person? Was it one of the Kami's people?

Oh that wasn't very good.

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

"Sky Island, is scary…" Usopp wheezed, eyes transforming into swirls.

"That was fun, I thought I was gonna die!" Luffy laughed.

The rubber boy completely ignored Sanji kicking his head. "IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR PUTTING SUCH IDEAS IN OUR HEAD!"

"I can fly by the way so you guys wouldn't have died," Rosan chimed in. His hand was currently wrapped around a slightly surprised Robin's waist to keep her secure.

"That… was unexpected," she admitted, not realizing the death grip she had on Rosan's arm until a few seconds later and releasing him.

After entering the door titled "Ball" the Straw Hats sailed through a pitch dark room for what seemed to be a while.

Naturally, Usopp got paranoid and began to panic which prompted Luffy to say, "What if we chose the wrong door and we're about to be dropped out of Sky Island?"

"The drop would break every bone in our bodies. It wouldn't take long for Sea Kings to rip us to shreds," Robin supplied.

"I wonder if I'd serve as an endless meal for them with my regeneration?" Rosan muttered.

"D-DON'T SAY SUCH SCARY THINGS!" Usopp shrieked at the two. What was wrong with them?!

"Relax… I won't let Robin-chan die," Sanji assured.

"HOW WILL YOU DO THAT?!" The liar roared.

They were all treating this too relaxed! W-What if they really did choose the wrong option and were about to die!

No… they were all just joking.

Yeah! That was it! They were just jokin—

Dark suddenly made way for light, as the ship floated off the sea into midair.

It took no longer then a second, for the Straw Hats to realize what was going on.

Luffy, Sanji and Usopp's eyes bugged in horror while Robin's eyes simply went wide and Rosan flexed his wings.

"Oh dear," Robin said for all of them. The woman idly clutched onto Rosan, which prompted him to tighten his hold on her reassuringly.

Then the ship fell.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The first three howled as their heart dropped to their asses.

On the off chance that they were actually falling to their doom, Rosan would obviously save them but it would take a while to fall out of Skypiea and the fall distance didn't turn lethal just yet so he'd see where it went.

Of everyone on the ship, he was the only one unfazed because drops like this were nothing to him. He used to love dive bombing his enemies so steep, sudden drops didn't bother him much.

Still… even Robin was caught by surprise by the drop and it made him snort.

They couldn't handle a little drop? Perhaps flying had spoiled him too much.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Usopp wailed as the ship kept falling at tremendous speeds.

This was it! This was the end! He never even got to become a brave warrior of the sea! Damn it all—

SPLASH!

The ship suddenly landed back on a milky cloud and they all let out gasps from the impact that shook their bones.

"We're alive," Rosan remarked calmly, even choosing to clap the hands still wrapped around Robin.

"S-Scary," a comatose Usopp muttered. His mouth was foaming from the fear and he was practically dead to the world as the ship merrily sailed forward, not at all fazed by the steep drop.

"I really thought we were going to die." Sanji didn't even realize he bit his cigarette in half from that heart dropping moment. He couldn't even feel his legs right now!

"Let's do that again!" Luffy cackled.

"I don't ever wanna do that again," Usopp groaned, blearily opening his eyes to gaze upon the scenery.

The ship sailed through the milky road like it did not just take the fall of its life and the crew took note of a very interesting detail about the area they were in.

Everywhere they looked, white balls floated through the air languidly. They dotted the entirety of the forest that they could see and it filled them with a boundless curiosity.

"Are these balls made of island clouds?" Robin muttered in curiosity, gazing all around.

How strange… especially considering the fact that Upper Yard itself didn't look to be made of Island Clouds.

No, the holy land of Kami looked just like a normal forest in the Blue Seas.

"It is a bit curious. At a glance, I wouldn't think this Upper Yard is made of Island Clouds itself and maybe it isn't," Rosan remarked, gazing at a white ball.

Holding out his left hand, he had Ram transform into gloves and shot a weak blast of energy at one of the balls.

Everyone watched curiously as it connected to the ball and a bouquet of flowers burst out of the ball.

"Interesting," the redhead said. A ball filled with flowers in an ordeal called the ordeal of balls.

If he was right…

Luffy's eyes turned into stars and he quickly launched one of the white balls to Usopp with a, "Catch!"

Usopp grinned excitedly and prepared to launch it back—

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," Rosan advised.

—Only for a large explosion to take place, courtesy of the ball.

"Thank you, Rosan," an unharmed Robin said as the black wings covering her, went back to lying dormant on the redheads back.

The singed scout nodded, unfazed by the explosion that took place and making sure his wings still looked good.

"The balls are booby trapped," Rosan told them helpfully, wiping some soot off his face and grasping his hair. With a quick dose of Modification, the burn marks were gone and the front part of his spikes looked as good as new.

A fried Sanji, Luffy and Usopp stared dumbly at the spot the ball just exploded.

"Good to know," they said at the same time.

"Ho, ho hoooo! Enjoying my surprise balls?"

"Hm?" All five glanced up at the source of the voice in confusion.

It was a round shaped man with fair skin and long, dark red hair that was a darker shade then Rosan's own. He wore a white, full body jumpsuit that had a vertical line of golden rings from front to back.

To finish his peculiar appearance, he had an orange hat, gloves, shoes, and large, yellow sunglasses that hid his eyes.

"Heso! Thank you for choosing my Ball Ordeal. I'm one of Kami's vassals, Satori," the strange man, Satori, greeted.

Sanji sweatdropped. "Who is this dumpling freak?"

"A ball given life," Rosan replied calmly, holding out a hand. He had never been one for wasting time.

Satori continued to grin as he calmly said, "A red laser to the head," and calmly moved out of the way.

Not even a second later, a red beam, courtesy of Rosan, flew to the spot where Satori had been. It would have perfectly pierced his skull and ended his life if he were there.

"Ho, ho hooo, the Forsaken One! I'm glad to meet you!" Satori laughed, gazing at the neutral faced Rosan. He looked completely unfazed by the fact that he was seconds away from dying.

Rosan raised a brow at that.

This strange ball posing as a human, just accurately called out his attack before he even shot it.

"How did you do that? You correctly predicted my attack." The redhead asked curiously.

Did this ball given life really have Observation Haki? If he feigned ignorance, perhaps this priest, in his arrogance, would divulge information he should really keep to himself.

His enemies loved doing that. It was a wonder. They were so proud of their abilities, that they had no problem explaining it to someone attempting to kill them. It must have been the same person who taught pirates all the same quotes, teaching them it was fine to share everything about themselves...

Everyone truly was stupid. It was painfully easy sometimes to get information out of a person.

"Ho, ho hoooo! Of course the Deviant wouldn't know about Mantra. After all, he who is not faithful, is not enlightened," Satori hummed.

"So they call their Haki, Mantra…" Rosan mused. That wasn't too hard to believe. Skypiea clearly had a different culture. He wondered if Mantra referred to both Armament and Observation...

It sounded like all of the priests had it and if the priests had it… Enel probably did too...

Wait a minute... was that how Enel was able to snipe them from afar? Just what was the range of his Observation Haki? Rosan normally wouldn't be concerned about a detail like that... but not only could Enel seemingly use his to listen into conversations... He could feel them when they were on Angel Island and Sabo couldn't feel him back.

That was not good. The Kami already probably wielded one of the most powerful Logia's and now he had another means to dodge attacks as well? Not to mention he seemed to have some variation of Observation that may have surpassed his incredibly strong younger brother in range at least.

This would be harder then he thought.

Without warning, the human balloon charged after them.

Luffy tensed up and began winding up for an attack.

"Gomu Gomu no—"

"Oh, you're gonna stretch?" Satori mused.

"Pistol— huh?" The rubber boy shouted in confusion. He threw out his fist and watched as the round man moved out of the way before the attack even flew.

The priest got in Luffy's guard and aimed an open palm at him, laughing all the while.

"Ayeeeeeeeeeee!" The vassal of Kami sang.

Luffy's eyes rolled back momentarily as he was flung from the ship and rocketed towards the ground until he slammed into a tree.

"LUFFY?!" Sanji yelled in confusion. A simple palm slap managed to hurt him?

"A simple hit like that managed to affect you?!" Usopp balked.

"Armament too?" Robin thought. "No… that reminded me of your Retribution technique."

Rosan, who also thought it was armament at a glance, nodded along. The priests gloves were steaming right about now so there must have been something at play there.

"Bastard!" Sanji growled. "Collier!"

"An upper kick with your right foot."

"H-Huh?" The chef balked in confusion. His movement got predicted?!

Satori spun out of the way and placed his open palm near Sanji's exposed side, using the same attack he used on Luffy and sending the chef flying right next to his captain.

"It's a little more then a simple hit," the priest chimed, appearing behind Usopp.

"IMPACT!"

Usopp coughed up blood as he was sent flying from the move and Satori turned to face the final two.

"The shock destroys the body from the inside!" He finished aiming the open palm at the duo.

Rosan flexed his wing and flew off the ship with Robin in tow to avoid the same thing happening to them.

Satori looked very surprised at that.

"You can fly…?!" He muttered in shock. His wings were certainly bigger then the normal Skypiean but they couldn't actually be used for flight!

This one...

"Perks of being forsaken," Rosan replied calmly. The redhead turned towards his crew and said, "He has observation."

Luffy's eyes lit up at that and he wiped the slight blood from his mouth. "So that's how he did it!"

Satori had no idea what they were talking about and he didn't let the fact that the heathen could fly throw him off.

Recovering quickly, the priest said, "Welcome to the forest of no return, survival rate 10%!"

The priest pressed onto the ship and activated its engine, making it sail without any of its inhabitants.

"Our ship!" Usopp balked, watching it move further and further away from them.

"Ho, ho hoooo! You're challenge is to find your ship and board it before exiting this forest and of course, you'll have to defeat me while avoiding the surprise balls!" The priest finished.

His challenge, while not the most difficult, was nearly impossible to complete and the Forsaken One would learn that here and —

"Arms sprouting on my body?!" Satori said in shock. How was he supposed to dodge that—

A plethora of arms appeared on the round man's body and completely immobilized him. Even if he knew what was about to happen, there was no way to dodge an attack like this.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Satori's eyes went wide as the Shinigami began flying towards him in breakneck speed. Next to him, the Devil's consort had her arms crossed as she gazed at him.

He tried to move his arms unsuccessfully, finding that they were being tightly gripped by the woman's deceptive strength.

Rosan reached him in no time at all and grabbed Satori's arm. Without hesitation, he yanked the glove off and the priest watched in disbelief, as it dissolved into a ring.

"Ah, a dial," the redhead hummed as Ram informed him of what it did.

This was good. The ability to absorb impact and blunt force to then store it… this would be fantastic for increasing his up close defensive capabilities.

If he could eventually learn observation, he could just permanently punish a person for trying to hit him by absorbing the impact.

But the best part?

Satori's eyes widened in fear as his Mantra alerted him to the upcoming attack.

Somehow, the heathen managed to absorb the impact dial and assimilate it's abilities into his own repertoire—

His eyes rolled to the back of his head as Rosan placed a palm near him and allowed the dial's ability to activate.

Rosan hummed as he watched the balloon man soar away from the impact of his blow.

He could use the stored energy as a means of attack as well. The more he stored, the more powerful it would become and since it was assimilated in his gloves… it would be infinitely more useful then the item in its base form.

"It's great! We can use the defensive features of this dial to supplement our offense," Ram grinned violently.

"It makes Ram all the more effective, if you use this dial feature on all of your weapons, even simple clashes will end up benefiting you and one of your attacks could affect both the person's insides and outsides," Mod muttered, brain wracking with potential applications of such a useful dial.

He wanted more of this type of dial. This was incredibly useful and he could even use it for Nami and Usopp as well.

But other then that...

"Guys, this ordeal is the perfect opportunity to try to learn and hone our own observation," Rosan called out to them.

He signaled all the floating balls around them and Robin quickly caught on.

"Real combat helps awaken your Haki easier and with all these floating balls… it would be dire if we got hit by too many," the Devil Child accurately pointed out.

Luffy grinned eagerly at that. "Alright! That's super smart!"

Sanji thought about it and nodded. "I hope Robin-chan unlocks it first, I don't wanna see her get hurt…"

Usopp balked at them all. "G-Guys we could die here! Should we really count this as training?!"

"Of course. 5 on 1 is unfair against him so we might as well make it beneficial for us," Rosan said. "Don't be so afraid, if you really don't wanna die, you'll unlock yours."

The sniper squeaked.

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

Satori slowly pulled himself from the tree he was embedded in and began coughing, wiping the blood from his mouth and glaring into the distance.

It was in line for the Devil to be so greedy so he wasn't surprised that an absorbing ability was one he had… But he didn't expect him to be able to amplify the power of the impact dial.

Not only that, his consort had a perfect counter to Mantra.

It didn't matter if he could predict what she was going to do… if she could just activate the ability on his person.

Of course the heathen had his own follower with an ability that countered their faithfulness to Kami.

Another Kami… how ridiculous. Enel was the only Kami in existence and this one was just pretending to be one. He was Forsaken. A Fallen Angel.

A Devil.

A small shiver ran through his body as a stray thought entered his mind.

"How is a mere priest supposed to deal with the enemy of Kami?"

He banished that thought immediately and glared in the distance he had been launched from.

As priest, it was his job to purge demons like the Forsaken One and that's what he would do.

Satori quickly landed on one of his balls and had it fly over to where the 5 criminals were last at.

Wiping his doubts, he plastered another large grin on his face and appeared before them.

What he saw, nearly made him lose his cool.

All 5 of the criminals had blindfolds on, completely obscuring their vision as they slowly but surely checked their surroundings.

"W-What if we fall and die? How will we keep track of the ship?!" Usopp muttered.

"My birds on the ship currently. We just need to focus on not crashing into any trees or balls," Rosan replied.

"You always manage to drag us into the most reckless of things," Robin sighed. "Don't worry about me too much and back out if I take a bit of damage."

"No promises," Rosan and Sanji said at the same time.

Luffy laughed jumping up and down. "This is fun! First to unlock it gets to beat the balloon!"

"Sounds good to me," the redhead responded, cutting his connection to the bird.

Satori gaped at their sheer audacity. "T-THIS ISN'T SOME TYPE OF GAME FOR YOU! Y-YOU'LL BE LEFT HERE FOREVER IF YOU FAIL AND YOU'LL DIE!" He roared at the group.

"I feel bad for you. Sacrificed to the Devil by your Kami," Rosan remarked idly. "Surely you don't think a mere priest stands a chance against the Shinigami, right?"

Satori grit his teeth. He'd make them regret treating him lightly. He'd show that Devil exactly what he was up against!

"I'll show you why this ordeal only has a 10% survival then!" He swore.

Rosan hummed softly, gazing at where he heard the idiot's voice.

"I'll show you that your chances of survival are 0%."

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

Memory Viewing With Robin and Rosan - 5 (Covers Chapter 18)

Continued!

Italics = Memory talking mostly.

Takes place before landing on Alabasta.

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

"Tired?" Rosan asked gently, carrying the exhausted Robin on his back.

"Your training is absurd... everyone of my limbs are crying," Robin muttered, frowning at all the sweat she was dropping on him. "You don't have to carry me, you're getting so much sweat on you."

The redhead shot her an unimpressed look. "Didn't you refuse to put me down while I was sick and complaining about the same thing? We're about to shower anyways then we'll continue the memories."

She resisted the urge to yawn but knew Rosan caught it anyways.

"I'll wash you and then give you a massage. Relax some, I'll take care of you," he declared, leaving no room for argument.

Robin knew there was no protesting against the mother bear named Rosan so she didn't bother and just sagged into his frame.

"I do like your massages. I don't understand how your skin is so unblemished after all the years of training but your hands are so soft," she muttered.

She imagined it was a combination of Modification and the Philosopher's Stone, keeping his body in perfect condition at all times. Modification kept him in top shape, while the Philosopher's Stone kept it free of injuries and scarring.

"Many people enjoy them. Angel learned from me after she saw how much Maro enjoyed them after I trained her," he commented, entering the bathroom and running the bath immediately.

Robin let out a sigh as it began heating up immediately, allowing the redhead to remove their clothing before he gently placed her in the fantastic water that released the tension from her body as soon as it touched her.

"We need to restock on bathroom essentials soon... I'm almost out of shampoo," Rosan muttered, brows furrowed abit.

Robin lazily glanced back at him. "You know... for someone with Modification, you sure are meticulous when it comes to your hair."

He nodded without hesitation and entered the hot water, taking his hair out of its bun and letting it fall free. The spikes went a bit above his back now and Robin vowed to cut it one of these days.

"I can't allow Modification to make me too lazy and I like working on my hair," he muttered, running a hand through the free spikes with a look of contemplation.

He grunted as a pair of arms sprouted and began lathering up his hair and glared slightly at Robin.

"I told you to rest up. You're exhausted," he grunted, grabbing the soap and beginning the process of cleaning her.

"I won't die... besides, it will just make it feel better when my head hits the pillow," Robin retorted, making sure to get all of his hair lest he complain.

Rosan hummed, moving swiftly and efficiently across her body, before he began lathering up her hair as well.

"Do you want to skip memories for tonight and get some actual sleep? We can continue another day," he offered. As he asked, he modified the terrain and began pouring the water over her body.

Robin let out a sigh as the tension melted out of her. "There's not a chance I'll miss out a day of watching your memories. I love these and after you left it off at that? I'll just rest on you," she replied.

As she spoke, she grabbed a bucket and poured it over his body as well, cleaning him off.

At once the duo got out of the bath, fully cleaned.

He sighed fondly and began drying the both of them off, utilizing his flames to do so before beckoning her with his hands. "Alright. You can use me then."

Robin mustered up the little energy she had to outstretch her arms and allowed him to dress her, resisting the lull of sleep so that she could continue speaking to him.

Rosan hoisted her up and easily placed her on his back, watching as she sunk her face into his slightly damp hair with amusement.

They walked in silence, Rosan feeling his best friend fall more and more into sleep and enjoying her quite breaths on his neck.

"You know, you're the only person who's seen me naked and you hardly ever react," Robin murmured suddenly.

Rosan raised a brow at her sleepy sentence and decided the tiredness was making her a tad delirious.

"Would you like me to tell you what I think then?" He asked, choosing to entertain her. "I wouldn't want to make our bathing uncomfortable for you, so I respect your boundaries to the best of my abilities."

That was so adorable.

"You're not a pervert so I wouldn't mind anyways... Actually, yes tell me what you think. I'm curious about what the great Rosan has to say," she nodded.

"...Are you saying this because you're tired? We're almost to the room," he replied, slightly confused.

Robin already knew he thought she was beautiful. Did she seriously want to know what he thought of her body? Didn't girls typically get offended by things like that?

He wasn't sure... that's what Akemi had told Maro at least.

"I won't get offended if it's you," she replied simply. "I'm the one asking now, so feel free."

"Yeah, do it Father!" Ram chimed happily, greedy gleam in her eyes.

Mod rolled her eyes and said nothing.

Rosan hummed and also rolled his eyes.

This really just sounded like Robin wanted him to stroke her ego. Surely she already knew what he was going to say.

Did she just want an excuse to call him a pervert?

"You have an amazing figure. No matter what outfit you wear, it's noticeable and makes you look good in all situations," he said calmly. "It's one people would probably stare at for as long as possible until you eventually decided to break their bones. Your long limbs look very good on you, especially your legs and I think your nose is really cute too. All in all, you are easily one of the most beautiful people I've met and if you were interested in dating, you'd probably be able to get a boyfriend... or girlfriend by the end of the hour."

Mod blinked, jaw dropping at his words.

Ram blinked, mouth splitting into a feral grin.

Robin was stunned silent at his words, before a tiny blush appeared on her face and she smiled.

"I think I got more then I bargained for asking for that question," she muttered happily.

The redhead snorted at her tone. "You liked what I had to say? I'm glad... I didn't want you to ban me from bathing with you."

Robin giggled at that. "You are such a kid..."

Then her expression turned thoughtful. "Boyfriend or girlfriend... you know, I never thought of dating a girl. I would have loved to date Meiko," she pondered.

Rosan's brow shot up high at that. "Excuse me? You'd try and take Meiko from me? Are you sure you should be saying that in front of me?"

Robin shrugged. "We could have shared her, I wouldn't mind."

The redhead's expression turned thoughtful. "Meiko would die of embarrassment if she had to date us both... I'd be down. Only because I love you though... if anyone else suggested that, you'd be dead."

Mod held her head at that. How in the world did these two not understand the blatant flirting going on between them? Was this a prank.

They were so stupid... How in world were they so smart?

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

Rosan modified the theater seats into a cushiony bed and immediately dragged Ram off of it as she began jumping up and down.

Robin rolled her eyes as his overprotective streak once more came roaring out and glanced at the changed room with exasperation.

After properly chastising Ram about the importance of not jumping on beds people planned on laying on.

"Sorry, Father," Ram mumbled, holding her head at her mistakes.

"Don't be so harsh to her, she's just excited," Robin chastised, patting Ram on the head and getting the ring to shoot her an adoring look.

Mod sighed. "Great, now she has two people spoiling her and leaving the problem with me," she said in complete monotone.

Rosan rolled his eyes and climbed the bed. "You know you can just say the word and I'll let you come into real world while I watch over Ram but you never do. You always act like such a tsundere, Mod-chan."

Ram beamed, urging Robin to climb next to Rosan so that the ring could climb next to her.

"Rosan, do you go out of your way to raise my blood pressure?" Mod asked calmly, clambering next to him with a deadpan expression.

"Sometimes. I find it fun," he admitted shamelessly, waving his hand and starting the memory.

"I wonder where I went wrong raising you..." she sighed as she tucked herself into his frame and got comfortable.

Robin nearly laughed at that, as she herself also got comfortable. Despite her words, Mod's actions were the complete opposite.

She wouldn't comment on it and instead, focused on the memory playing itself.

It started off simple enough. News of Reaper's bounty reached the entire world and Rosan himself had gone to pick up Aiko and Akemi, before bringing them over to Celadon so they could all interrogate him.

The utter nonchalance, on the triplets face as Rosan discussed retiring Reaper without a care in the world, was quite funny when compared to the other three's shell-shocked reactions.

After discussing that and helping Maro out with renovating Celadon, the redhead once more departed to go find his little brother.

Robin was pleased to see that he really had been putting in an effort to track out Ace's whereabouts and had no intention of running away this time around.

"So not even your plan to meet Ace evoked anything out of you?" She asked, as the redhead sprouted his draconic wings and began flying.

Rosan shook his head. "I didn't feel a thing... it's probably why I was able to calmly come to the decision to finally visit him... The castle is confusing. I don't understand it much myself," he said.

She frowned at that. The castle was odd. Even after losing a chain, Rosan's emotions were only slightly out. He was largely still the same neutral person as before but he flared up far more.

Just how did it work? Not to mention, the virus...

They'd figure it out once they got there.

Young Rosan, swiftly reached the Calm Belt and soared over it into the East Blue, not encountering a single Sea King due to not sailing.

The teen paused for a bit, recalling the map he had inspected and nodded to himself, turning to a direction and rocketing off. As he flew, he steadily rose higher and higher until he disappeared into the clouds so as to avoid eyes.

"You've never actually travelled alone, have you?" Robin muttered in realization.

Rosan tilted his head. "The only time was right before I met you. After escaping Daybreak I immediately made Angel and Demon and had Meiko too. This is the first time in a long time and even then, it didn't last very long..."

The Devil Child smiled at that. Seems he met Luffy rather quickly...

And quickly he did.

Once he flew a certain distance, Young Rosan flew back to sea level and summoned the White Rose, before modifying it's color scheme to fit Ram's palette instead of Mod's.

He then closed his eyes and ran through every scenario he could, about what he could say to Ace to explain himself.

Due to the immense speeds he flew at before choosing to dock the ship, it didn't take him long at all to reach the island. The only reason he had summoned the ship in the first place was to restore his slightly reduced energy.

Robin watched him pocket the damaged ship, do a round around the island and then land in a forest right outside of an unassuming village, seamlessly transforming his black cloak into civilian attire.

"Who's that guy?" Someone whispered.

"I dunno... a noble?" Another replied.

"Whoever he is... he's really cute!"

"Look at his face though! He might kill you for talking to him!"

The Young Rosan heard all the whispers but didn't acknowledge a single one, heading to a bar to gather information instead.

"You are very good at pretending like you can't hear people," Robin praised. His neutral expression did wonders to make him seem like he wasn't paying attention to anything.

"It's a useful skill. Allows me to listen into conversations easier as well," Rosan replied as his younger self approached the familiar bar.

Robin sighed at how Rosan seemed to always attract trouble. As soon as he lands, he's already entering a bar where a group of bandits are causing trouble —

"Red Haired Shanks!" She gasped in shock, looking at the far younger visage of the Emperor of the Sea.

He was currently doused in alcohol due to letting the mountain bandit bully him but he was unmistakable.

Currently, he was watching Rosan intimidate the leader of the mountain bandits with a calculating gaze, not recognizing the redhead before him at all.

Rosan grunted. "That annoying redhead. Why Luffy chose him as an idol? I will never know."

Robin nodded in realization, noticing the very familiar Straw Hat on the man's head.

"Not a fan of Red Hair?" She asked with a small smile, watching the redhead take a seat right next to a very familiar little boy.

He was much tinier, but his hair was the exact same smile and he was also dangerously... dangerously adorable.

Ah, little Luffy was way too cute!

Currently, Young Rosan was watching the little boy scarf down a Devil Fruit without any hesitation, content to not stop him at all and just wait for the realization to set in... All while he waited for the bartender to finally get to his order.

"...You just watched Luffy consume a Devil Fruit? And then didn't think to mention it at all?" Robin asked with a raised brow. "What if they never discovered his ability and he drowned?"

Rosan shrugged. "I didn't care at all for some random little kid whose name I didn't even know. If he drowned... Natural Selection," he retorted.

Robin sweatdropped. He was unbelievable.

"You know, Rosan you haven't spoken to Makino since setting sail. Don't you think that would make her feel a little bad?" Mod asked curiously, watching him guilt trip the bartender with his cold words and gaze.

Rosan tilted his head. "I gave her Maro and Angel's number though... wouldn't she rather talk to them? I'm not a very interesting person to talk to and we don't have business with each other, so I didn't see the point."

The Devil Fruit rolled her eyes. "But she's your friend. Calls don't only have to be about business. She probably misses you and she told you multiple times she enjoys your company."

Mod pointedly ignored the death stare Ram was giving her. It was a legitimate question!

"...Ah I haven't thought of it like that," he muttered.

Robin raised a brow. "You and the bartender are acquainted?" She asked curiously.

Ram felt many warning signs blaring in her head at that question.

The redhead nodded his head. "Her name is Makino. She was Luffy's guardian for quite a while and she's my... friend," he said slowly, testing the word on his lip before nodding. "Whenever I wasn't watching over Luffy and Ace, I spent time with her."

The Devil Child nodded at that. "You don't sound to sure about her being your friend."

His brows furrowed. "She is a good friend but it's just... she's a civilian and I naturally keep them at a respectable distance. She lives a sheltered and relatively peaceful life and I see no point in disrupting that with my hectic life. Let her enjoy her civilian lifestyle."

Ram let out a sigh of relief at his response.

Robin hummed at that, yawning slightly as Rosan's body heat washed over her in the cool room. She idly tucked deeper into him and he wrapped an arm around.

"So she's too normal is what you're saying," she muttered in amusement.

He snorted. "Yeah you could say that. Though, if she really does miss talking to me, I can find a way to contact her again."

Robin smiled at that, amusement dancing in her eyes as she watched Luffy gain an interest in Rosan after hearing him mention his age.

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Wanna be my friend?!"

"I'm not a person worth being friends with, so I think I'll pass."

"Eh? No way. Be my friend."

"...Okay."

Robin sweatdropped at the same time everyone else faceplanted. She was unable to keep the smile off her face, at seeing the beaming Luffy glance up at the dead face of Rosan.

"So the terrorist duo of Luffy and Rosan... began because you were so compliant?" She asked with a bit of disbelief.

"You saw my memories. I hardly said no to anyone," he shrugged. "I thought he was just another dumb kid who'd eventually see why getting to know me is a bad idea... but he wasn't. Besides, Mod-chan liked him so I mostly accepted because of her."

Mod beamed at that. "Mother knows best! Me influencing you has done us all so well!"

The redhead sighed at that and nodded. "But if I had my emotions, I don't think I'd have accepted in a million years. Luffy has a magnetic pull, but I'd never normally let anyone lead me. Even now I hardly listen to him."

That was true. Robin knew firsthand how difficult it was to get Rosan to do something. As a child, if he thought his plan was better then yours (which he did 90% of the time) he'd ignore what you told him and go for broke.

It was only his unconditional respect for Robin and Mod that let them somewhat control the wild card. In hindsight, Luffy was the perfect captain for him because he wouldn't really try to tell Rosan to do anything.

The little rubber boy dragged Rosan everywhere, trying and failing to explain many little things about their little village while having the redhead help him in anyway he knew how.

Rosan entertained the child when he felt like it and idly searched for Ace's whereabouts alone, all while taking into account the Red Haired Pirates interest in him with an uncaring expression.

It was surreal how unafraid he was of the Emperor (he might not have been an Emperor yet but his reputation still proceeded him) and his crew, just humming at their slight interest in him and deigning not to reveal anything to them.

He made very little progress on Ace's whereabouts, not getting useful information out of the nobles who were attracted to him.

That didn't deter him much and he continued searching for his brother, all while entertaining the attention demanding Luffy and preparing for a scenario of the Red Haired Pirates attacking him.

The normalcy of the events all changed one day when Makino crashed into Rosan while he was walking into the village.

"Those mountain bandits took him?" Robin muttered with a frown as the terrified bartender guided Rosan to where Luffy should be.

What she saw, made her blood boil.

Little Luffy was being stomped on by the bandit, Higuma and despite being rubber and being largely unaffected by it, Robin still felt a rare fury grow inside of her.

Thankfully, Rosan had shown up just in time and was effortlessly pissing of the bandit.

Robin's eyes shifted over to his hand, knowing the redhead too well and seeing Ram begin seeping into his gloves.

Rosan as a child had always been a performer at heart but when Reaper, he prioritized efficiency. He may not have been in his disguise anymore, but in these memories, there was no difference between Rosan and Reaper in terms of personality.

Case in point, he was just about to take Higuma's head off, without letting the man even react, until the Red Haired Pirates showed up and interrupted his plans.

Not having anymore reason to step in, Robin watched the redhead instead shift his attention to the bigger (in his eyes) threat.

She did not miss the way Shank's eyes glinted in interest at the severe lack of trust Rosan had in anyone.

Honestly, how did so many people get interested in her best friend? Was it his natural appeal? Could they feel his potential? Robin had been drawn to him because he understood her pain and the longer they stayed together, the more his charisma began seeping into her.

Why was everyone else interested in him? What was their reasoning she wondered...

Apparently, Shanks was more interested then he let on because he asked Rosan to deal with the bandits.

"That's a silly mistake," Robin muttered with a shake of her head.

Rosan's eyes glittered as he watched his younger form break the arm of one of the bandits. "You know me so well."

"You're not as clever as you think you are but I'll play your game, Shanks."

With that, the redhead began slaughtering the bandits with a violence befitting his old nature.

Robin looked utterly unfazed by all the carnage going on in the memory, seeing this far too often in previous footage. The redhead was mowing through the bandits like they were normal civilians, razing their numbers to the ground.

While she was unfazed, the same could not be said for the citizens and the Red Hair Pirates. They were looking at the redhead like they could actually see him now. Like they could hear his warning loud and clear about why he wasn't a good person to be friends with.

"Satisfied?" The petty redhead asked his fellow redhead.

Shanks' gaze was mostly unreadable but he just nodded his head and Rosan simply walked away, gazing at the events with a half lidded gaze and ignoring the people inching away from him.

Robin snorted. "Maybe I'm not normal for being able to tolerate you."

It was quite gruesome seeing what he had done, but Robin didn't think any less of him. She never once thought any less of him, despite viewing all his memories... because he was still her Rosan. That's all there was to it.

Rosan stared fondly at her. "Anyone who can tolerate me, is special in their own right. I'm rather overwhelming," he replied calmly.

"That's the truth," Mod sighed, making the three smile.

The smile left Robin's face as the pirates began relaxing before the situation was over and it caused Luffy to get kidnapped in the process.

They could have at least secured him first.

She saw how unimpressed the teen was with the crew, making no attempt to help them out and instead walking in a random direction after Shanks.

He showed up in time to see the Pirate dive into the water with no hesitation and begin swimming in a direction with no hesitation.

"How does he know where to swim?" the redhead thought idly, staring out into the ocean with a blank gaze.

He waited there for quite a bit, until he noticed Shanks swimming back with a trail of blood and a sleeping Luffy.

"Red Haired Shanks lost his arm protecting Luffy?!" Robin asked in shock. But why? Why would the future Emperor lose his arm for little Luffy?

What effect did the rubber boy have on him?

"Luffy is... unique," Rosan muttered. "He has an aura about him and when you see it in full effect, you start to believe his claims. It's why I follow him after all. He's the man who's going to become the Pirate King."

Robin gazed at the redhead in a bit of surprise at that. "You believe in his dream? You truly think he can become the Pirate King?"

He nodded without hesitation. "I've never been one to doubt a person's conviction. I believe in Luffy's dream to become Pirate King, as much as your dream to discover the Void History," he revealed.

Her heart fluttered at that and she gazed at him with wide eyes. "You... I always thought that was just your childish nature... but you really do believe that I can do it?" She whispered.

"Without a shadow of a doubt," he confirmed. "Whether I'm 4 or 24 or even 50, I'll never doubt your dream. If you think you can do it, I have no reason to believe you can't."

"Why is he so good at that?" Mod whispered in disbelief, watching the tiny flush of appreciation on Robin's face. The redhead had a silver tongue! He always managed to say everything a person wanted to hear when it mattered most.

"That validation... feels great to hear," Robin eventually said, jerking her eyes back to the screen to avoid being further embarrassed.

"I'll validate anything you need to hear. I won't allow you to be even a little insecure," he assured.

"..." Robin said nothing and only sunk deeper into him so he couldn't see her brilliant smile and make fun of her.

"Get her Father!" Ram cheered. At this rate, she'd be able to stop reading those romance books!

Just as soon... as she... finished that one series she was currently reading. For no other reason then to gather intel on how to best get Mother and Father together of course. Not because she was enjoying them...

Nope.

Robin hadn't caught all of Shanks and Rosan's conversation at the shore, due to talking to the redhead, but she did catch something very important that left her stunned.

Red Haired Shanks had sailed on Roger's ship? How fascinating! Did that play a part into why he was so powerful?

But the next part of the conversation left her even more shocked.

"If that was a way to get me to open up, it failed. I despise that man and you telling me you were in his crew, doesn't make me warm up to you at all."

Shanks brow raised in surprise at that, not expecting the kid who should be too young to remember Roger, claim to hate him.

"What did Captain do to you? Kill your family?"

Surely he didn't actually reveal... Robin was thinking that at first, but then she remembered that her best friend was a very vindictive person and loved getting back at people.

He proved her point in mere seconds.

"As a matter of fact, he did. Roger was the reason my mother died and my mother happened to be his wife. I'm sure you can already guess, but that man is my father," Rosan informed the man, with the sole intention of seeing the reaction he gained a twisted pleasure out of seeing from people.

It was exactly what he was expecting. Shanks went completely pale and his jaw dropped as he began sweating, not expecting the redhead to reveal such important information.

No, he probably wouldn't have been able to predict that in thousands of years. He probably thought Rosan was just a random kid who had seen the harsh truth of the world early.

Never did he think this robotic redhead would be his captain's son. That's why Rosan revealed it. The shock factor was just too enticing for the redhead.

Before he could get a peep out, Shanks was surrounded by his entire crew and the redhead excused himself, vanishing deeper into the village before entering his mindscape so as to not be pursued.

After staring at Meiko's body for who knows how long, the redhead eventually departed his mindscape once more and entered the forest.

It was nighttime now and he slowly floated to the top of the tree, just staring up at the moon with as peaceful of an expression that someone of his nature could have.

It only took 10 minutes for Shanks to immediately locate him.

"How does he do that?" Robin muttered, wondering the same thing as Young Rosan. "First he pinpointed Luffy's location. Then yours? It can't possibly be a Devil Fruit..."

"I don't know. I never thought to ask him to explain it because I don't like talking to him," Rosan answered truthfully.

The Devil Child giggled at that.

She listened to Rosan explain some of his circumstances to the pirate with a slight frown. She hated remembering that Rosan was only four when his life went so downhill... no it was even before that. There was a reason she was so overprotective of him because she didn't want anymore bad things to befall him.

"I'm surprised you're divulging info," she muttered, squeezing him a bit tighter as those protective instincts flared.

"I only told him because of his connection to Roger. If I could even slightly affect his views of the man who ruined everything for me, I'll take it. I hate when people are praised as some perfect being, when they are anything but," Rosan replied truthfully.

"Is that why you hate when people always praise you?" Robin asked softly, sleepy eyes alert as she gauged his reaction.

The slight hesitation told her everything she needed to know. Such was their connection.

"I don't feel like I deserve to be praised, that's right," he nodded eventually, refusing to lie to her for even a moment.

Robin sighed and raked a hand through his head.

"Maybe people praise you, because you are so overly negative about yourself," she tried. "Maybe because you only see the bad things about yourself, they are trying to make you see the good things."

"..." Rosan froze slightly. "Yes, maybe that's why..." he said quietly.

"You already know how I feel about that, Rosan... But I'll tell you as many times as I need to. You are amazing," she said firmly.

Ah... when did Mod and Ram fall asleep? Mod was clutching Rosan's side tightly, a tiny amount of drool leaving her mouth that would probably leave her mortified for weeks. She snored inaudibly, smiling as Rosan raked a hand through her hair.

Half of Ram's limbs were strewn across Robin's body. The ring let out quiet, yet audible, snores as she cuddled Robin.

"I'm amazing..." he muttered, brows furrowed. "It's funny... the reason I don't like being told these things, is because I can always tell that everyone is being truthful... and then when they insult me, I know it's a lie. It's as if no one believes my faults."

Ah right, Rosan could tell if a person was being truthful or not... it must have been maddening to be the only person who believed something.

"That just means you're wrong," Robin told him with a small smile. "Take more stock of their words, Rosan."

The redhead hummed and nodded. "Alright... I'll try."

He glanced at the two sleeping and said, "We can finish this small section up and then head to sleep ourselves. We can just sleep here and continue when we wake up."

She nodded her head and gazed at the screen once more.

The Red Haired Pirates were now preparing to leave and Luffy had dragged Rosan off to see them off. As usual, the redhead went along with the rubber boy's ploy and let it happen, sitting on the deck and staring out into the ocean.

He didn't acknowledge a single Red Hair Pirate, only offering a slight nod to Benn Beckman and Lucky Roo as they greeted him, while completely ignoring the Yassop with them, much to the sniper's shock.

Robin giggled at that. Rosan didn't like Yasopp for the same reasons he disliked Olvia and Roger.

Luffy and Shanks were saying their farewells and it was there that Robin saw Luffy's conviction in full force.

"One day I'll have a ship and crew better than yours! And we'll have the biggest hoard of treasure in the world! I'M GONNA BE KING OF PIRATES!" The child shouted loudly.

Robin and Shanks both smiled at that and the pirate removed his Straw Hat, before gently placing it on Luffy's head.

"This hat means a lot to me. Promise that you'll give it back to me someday… when you've become a great pirate," Shanks requested softly, allowing the little boy to cry before walking off to speak to Rosan.

"So that's how it is," Robin said with a fond smile. It was no wonder Rosan had no complaints following the rubber boy... who was she to doubt him when even he and his fellow redhead believed in his goal.

She recalled the conversation she had with Luffy while they were bringing Rosan to Kureha.

"I think I see what you all see," she said eventually.

"Everyone does eventually," Rosan nodded.

"I won't ask you to forgive the Captain. But, know he probably never wanted it to turn out like this."

"I didn't either but only one of us is alive to deal with the consequences."

Robin flinched at that. A line that should have held some bitterness in it, didn't hold a single fleck of emotion. It was delivered in that same montone that he always took with whoever he was speaking to... had it really been 2 years of Rosan not feeling a single emotion?

"I actually feel something very soon," he supplied helpfully, gazing at her worried look.

She tilted her head at that. "What do you mean?" Robin asked curiously.

Rosan's eyes narrowed slightly. "Just keep watching," he instructed.

Her curiosity spiked and she nodded.

Robin smiled at the memory of Luffy slotting Rosan into his pirate crew without any hesitation, claiming that since they were friends they were apart of the same crew.

He was so adorable. Robin loved little Luffy.

Which was why her eyes narrowed when Makino tried to make Rosan stop being friends with him.

It was natural, considering what he had done to those bandits was fresh in everyone's mind... but no. Robin didn't like it one bit.

She was glad it bit the woman!

"But Luffy, he's not a good influence on you!"

"I DON'T CARE! ROSAN'S MY FRIEND AND HE'S APART OF MY CREW!" The rubber boy shouted back angrily, refusing to back down for even a second. "IF YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO BE MY FRIEND... THEN I WON'T BE YOUR FRIEND! WE'LL JUST SET SAIL EARLY!"

"No we won't. You're far too weak. You aren't fit to be my captain right now," Rosan denied instantly.

"Oh right! I still need to get stronger!" Luffy beamed up at his first member.

Makino reeled back, taken aback by the anger in the rubber boys voice and shooting a glare at the neutral redhead drinking a cup of lemonade, watching the entire exchange with that same vacant gaze.

"But Luffy... can't you just be friends with anyone else? D-Didn't you see what he did to those bandits?" The bartender squeaked, shuddering at the memory.

"Yeah! He protected me from them!" The rubber boy retorted, nonplussed by the memory of Rosan violently hurting those bandits.

"A 7 year old is showing less fear then you. How embarrassing," Rosan quipped on the side.

"Could you shut up for a second!" Makino growled, glaring at the handsome redhead.

"So Luffy has always been abnormal," Robin laughed, watching as the bartender tried to process being rejected by the normally sweet rubber boy. "You two really are so similar!"

Rosan snorted. "I blame his Grandpa. He's as big of an idiot as Luffy is."

"I'm glad, I thought I was going to have to sick Luffy's grandpa on you."

Robin blinked at the same time as Young Rosan.

"His grandpa/His grandpa?"

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

Robin couldn't stop her mouth from opening, as she realized exactly who Luffy's grandfather was.

"Luffy's the grandson of Garp the Hero?!" She nearly raised her voice in disbelief.

Mod popped one eye open at that, but immediately fell back to sleep as Rosan touched a sweet spot on her head.

Ram snored away.

"I was surprised too. What are the odds?" Rosan replied.

That was... utterly absurd. Robin had no idea Luffy's grandfather was someone so important...

Not only that, he was the man who knew exactly where Ace was.

So Luffy was related to both Dragon the Revolutionary and Garp the Hero?

What an absurd bloodline...

"You're telling me," Rosan snorted.

Robin smiled. "I have the feeling your bloodline is rather insane too."

His smirk vanished and he glowered at her. "Don't remind me. My mother a Queen, my father a man strong enough to defeat an entire island and rape her. What are the chances that's he's just some random guy who got lucky?"

"Almost 0%."

"I figured."

Robin felt her anticipation rising, as Garp escorted the duo through the forest, berating Luffy for eating a Devil Fruit and wanting to become a pirate, all while Rosan silently followed after.

After so long, he was finally going to see Ace! She had wanted to be there for him to make it easier but this was fine too.

Eventually, they entered a clearing and a small, rundown house was revealed.

That was Robin's first warning that something was about to go wrong.

The second was watching Garp slam on the door and seeing Mountain Bandits answer.

Why was Ace with mountain bandits?

Yep... this was about to be disastrous.

The final nail in the coffin, was something even Robin got angry about.

It was actually seeing Ace.

Robin watched Rosan go still in actual shock, as he took stock of his little brother...

And the sheer anger in his eyes.

This… was Ace? His little brother? Why… Why did he have that look in his eyes?!

The only reason Rosan had so confidently left his little brother in the care of the Marine, was in order to keep him safe and so that he could grow up with a semi-decent life. The risk of traveling with a four year old on the dangerous seas was just too risky.

Mountain bandits were one thing, Rosan had only adopted a similar look in his eyes after being tortured for six months straight. For his little brother to have it now, meant that leaving him behind... was the wrong choice.

It was as if every decision he had made, was being spat back in his face, as he looked at his angry little brother. Why did he even leave him behind if this was the end result? Why had he been forced to make such a difficult decision at just four… and that decision ended up being wrong?

Mom made a mistake trusting this scum of a Marine. At the end of the day, none of the people in the organization that had killed her, were trustworthy.

Garp needed to die.

Robin jolted at that final sentence. "Was that...?"

"The virus, yes," Rosan nodded. "Even with the castle, they are always watching. I don't know how but the very moment I felt anger, they were there to push me a little further."

The Devil Child couldn't help but shudder at that, shooting the sleeping Mod a worried look.

Was she really equipped to deal with something as dangerous as the Virus? Her power wasn't in doubt... but this didn't seem like a matter of power.

Well, there was no point thinking about it now, they would deal with it when the time came.

"I... normally I'd reprimand you for attacking someone as formidable as Garp, but I can't find it in myself to blame you," Robin said truthfully, watching Rosan attack Garp with murderous fury.

"I was furious," Rosan said. "Can you imagine making the decision I made, then finding out it was the wrong one?"

"You… I should never have trusted you, I didn't leave Ace in your care so he could end up with that look in his eyes. I left him with you because I thought you'd be a much better choice than me. A safer choice."

"I was wrong."

"I know," Robin soothed, gnawing her lip in worry at seeing Rosan reveal his Devil Fruit of all things. "It must have been so strong, for it to have your first showing of emotion in so long... I truly understand your plight."

Despite trying to send Garp 6ft under, the Marine proved his title was not a lie and easily repelled most f Rosan's attacks.

"He might not have been as safe with a 4 year old... But at least he would have been loved. I'd rather be in danger and loved, then safe and unloved."

Robin's heart panged at the raw anger on Rosan's face, watching the redhead lash out with sorrow.

He didn't deserve this. Rosan didn't deserve any of this. He had just been trying to protect everyone but ended up with yet another thing he'd consider a failure.

It really had been so hard for him. She had seen the memory of when he was just 4 and he had made the tough decision to leave Ace.

The boy had been completely torn apart. He wanted to keep Mod safe at all costs because he promised her... but he wanted to raise his little brother.

But Mod didn't have anyone besides him to protect her and Ace had Garp... so he reluctantly made the decision to do what was best for everyone (except for himself).

To find out it amounted to nothing...

She pulled Rosan into a hug. "It's okay, Rosan," she murmured, watching as the redhead was knocked unconscious not once, but twice by the weary Marine, falling on the floor with a thud.

"I know you feel like you failed completely... but you didn't. Mod-chan is still here and safe. You and Ace are proper brothers now. It was rocky, but it worked out so don't beat yourself up."

Rosan said nothing for a moment, before he returned the hug with his free arm (the other was currently being crushed by Mod) and he dragged her down to the bed.

"You're right... it was terrible to realize... but I at least managed to salvage my relationship with Ace and Mod-chan is still safe... so I suppose I didn't completely fail," he muttered in return.

She smiled at him, eyes growing heavy. "That's right. You don't only fail, Rosan. You'll realize that soon enough..."

Robin yawned and tucked her head into the crook of his neck, idly patting the close Ram's head as the ring drooled on her.

"...Let's get some sleep. We can continue this in the morning," she eventually said.

Rosan nodded and waved his hand, shutting the screen off and making sure all three were comfortable.

"Goodnight," he said quietly.

"..." Robin said nothing, already having fallen asleep from his comfort.

Rosan stared at her for a long while, tilting his head as he assessed his best friend.

"You're pretty amazing yourself, Robin. I don't know how you manage to amaze me so often," he said to himself, eventually closing his eyes to join them.

He missed the way Robin's face lit up with a smile at that and the Devil Child clutched him just a bit tighter as she actually fell asleep.

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

Bonus!

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"Here, my Queen. Rosan told me to hold onto it until you were here," Marianne said quietly, handing the bazooka over to the Goblin Princess.

Maro's eyes glittered in excitement and she effortlessly took the Bazooka out of the short girl's hand.

"Alright my very own Bazooka Dog!" She gushed, hugging it to her chest with a gleeful smile. "Where are the other agents? Which ones did Master bring over? What happened to Gem and Kaori?"

"Master works so fast..." Demon muttered, patting Mikita on the head and exchanging a quick hug with her that caused her to light up.

Angel grabbed Marianne and hoisted the short girl up, hugging her cheek to cheek with a happy smile and causing the agent to blush in embarrassment.

"Um... R-Rosan brought over Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger. I'm not sure where Mr. 2 and Mr. 1 are, but I imagine he gave up on them because he made no mention of going to retrieve them," Mikita explained quietly, feeling a bit disappointed as Demon broke the hug.

Marianne didn't even bother getting out of Angel's incredibly strong grip and just returned the hug. "Gem and Kaori brought Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger to the hospital... they had really bad burns but Rosan doesn't trust them yet so he sent those two to follow."

Maro nodded at that, expression not changing.

"A bit sad I won't be able to use Mr. 2... but that's fine. I have my illusions after all so I can pseudo act like him."

"Should I go check on them?" Demon asked curiously, ready to go at a moments notice.

The Queen shook her head. "You've done enough already, Demon. You just worked on a bunch of people. Take a break and let the other doctors deal with them... just have them notify you when they're in working condition so we can pay them a visit," she instructed, gaze calculating.

The doctor nodded in return. "Alright then, I'll let you know. I'll go rest up some."

"C-Can I come? I just want to talk more," Mikita squeaked.

"Of course. We can talk about whatever you want," Demon smiled.

She smiled brightly and followed after the doctor.

"Have you fed Gladiolus and Anemone yet? Have you eaten yet?" Angel asked Marianne, carrying the girl away in the process.

"I fed them... they're sleeping right now. I ate a sandwich earlier but I am a little hungry," the artist admitted.

"Alright! Let's eat! We'll be back Maro... unless you wanna come with?" The redhead asked curiously.

Maro waved them off. "You two have fun... Just bring me something back?" She requested with a small smile.

She was happy they were making so many friends. It was good for them!

"Kay, I'll bring you back some pizza! Love you!" Angel promised, quickly vanishing.

"Love you more!" Maro shouted back.

"Goodbye my Queen!" Marianne waved. "Angel-sama, please put me down."

"Don't wanna."

"...Okay."

Maro watched them go with a fond expression, idly brushing her shoulder length hair (having longer hair was kinda sucky but she did look good) and gazing down at the weapon in her hand.

"Alright Lil Doggy," she began, teeth sharpening as her eyes took a manic glint. "Time for you to learn who your new Master is!"

Lassoo felt a bead of sweat form.

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

Maro stared at the Kaori restraining the mole woman with a neutral expression.

Apparently, she had been putting up quite the fight and the Fishman had immediately jumped to restrain her, using her superior strength and height to properly restrain the agent.

She had then muscled the agent over to the castle, all while a nervous Miss Double Finger followed. Gem had shot her one look and she shook her head hastily, assuring him that she did not agree with the mole's actions.

Now, the two were staring at the neutral faced Maro.

"Did she hurt anyone?" The Queen asked patiently, petting Lassoo on the head and getting a happy whine out of it.

"She already tamed him?" Everyone balked.

"No, we immediately restrained her before she could injure someone," Gem told her.

The Queen's expression shifted a bit. "Ah, alright. I don't have to teach her what happens to people who touch my citizens," she said calmly.

Everyone shuddered at that ominous statement.

It was then the agents realized that Maro was in fact the student of that demon Rosan.

"Bring her to the training room," the Goblin Princess requested, marching right past them with an obedient Lassoo behind her. "Let me show you what happens when you irritate me. Just a nice one on one."

With that, she was off. For once, they couldn't hear the Queen's footsteps and followed after her.

Angel whistled. "Wow, you really managed to get Maro of all people annoyed? You're lucky she's more patient then Master, else you'd be wishing you were dead," she laughed, jogging to go catch up to her wife.

Kaori pushed the restrained woman forward with a shake of her head. "You should have spoken to her majesty first... now you have my condolences."

"You still have time to ask for forgiveness. My Queen is very nice," Marianne offered, rushing to go meet up with the Queens.

Miss Doublefinger sighed at the mole woman. "I tried to explain the situation to you, yet you still acted out of terms... whatever happens to you, is on you. I'm not going down with you," she shrugged.

Miss Merry Christmas frowned at the woman. "Why are you acting like that, Miss Double Finger? What's so scary about this place?! AND WHY DOES SHE HAVE MY DOG?!" The woman howled.

The agent simply shook her head. "I'm not too sure myself, but allying myself with the Queen, seems like a better idea then whatever you're in for."

The mole scowled at that. "She's just a pretty little princess... she probably doesn't know what I can do so I'll show her and prove to you all that you're afraid for nothing!"

Kaori snorted loudly at that. "You won't be judging the Queen by just her looks soon."

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

"Why is Maro annoyed? Is it because of what happened at my hospital?" Demon asked, noticing the queen's annoyed expression from a mile away.

"Yep," Angel popped the p, gazing at her wife with a pleased expression. "She should get angry more often. I think it's hot."

"Gross. I don't need to hear that sis," Demon replied, not looking remotely bothered by her statement as he exchanged greetings with all their soldiers.

He easily returned Kaori's hug, patted Marianne on her head, fistbumped Gem and hugged a flustered Mikitia.

"Oh? Who do we have here?"

Demon paused at the question and glanced at the one who asked, recognition lighting up in his blood red eyes. "Oh! Moving about so soon? I heard you had quite the burns, Miss Doublefinger. A pleasure to meet you, I'm Demon."

A coy smile made its way on her face as she gazed at the gorgeous purple haired doctor. "Oh trust me, the pleasure is all mine. And you can call me Zala," she said holding out a hand for him.

"Zala..." He tested it on his lips, kind smile on his face. "I like it. I hope we can get along."

Her smile widened at that and a glint showed up in her eyes. "How about giving me a hug like you did the other girls? That'll make me feel more welcomed."

The doctor rolled his eyes. "You're funny," he said dryly, pulling the woman into a hug and watching her eagerly return it.

Angel narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but shrugged. Demon was a whore but she was also kinda hoping he found someone to settle down with so he could stop being such a womanizer. Not even she could stop him...

No matter how much she tried. Maro was on his side too, much to her annoyance.

Mikita watched the woman hug up on her love interest with a look of shock that transformed into fury.

Zala's hand lingered on Demon's shoulder and she flashed him another smile, only to blink as a blonde summarily yanked him away.

"Demon, can we talk about that dinner you promised me? I was curious about where you wanted to take me," Mikita asked, no hint of a stammer in her voice.

Demon blinked before nodding. "Sure, there's a place that I really enjoy going to. I'll make reservations for tomorrow night and I'll pick you up after my shift," he told her, smiling down at the woman.

She beamed up at him, getting on her toes and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He easily returned it, having no choice but to wrap his arms around her waist due to the nature of the hug and squeezing her figure into him.

Mikita glared at Zala over the man's shoulder and the woman raised a brow, before a challenging glare appeared on hers as well.

Angel's eyes narrowed even further. This was getting awfully suspicious.

Like really —

Her gaze was dragged away as Marianne tugged her arm and pointed at the battlefield, sufficiently distracting her as she saw Maro and Lassoo get ready.

"No one notices the silent hero saving them," Marianne sighed. She had just saved Demon, Mikita and Zala from Angel's wrath...

A large palm landed on her head and she looked up to see Kaori smiling down at her.

"Don't worry, I noticed," the Fishman mouthed.

The artist beamed in return.

Kaori was awesome.

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

Maro stared neutrally at the rowdy agent, rubbing Lassoo's ears and getting the dog (he was in full zoan) to wag its tail.

"How dare you steal Mr. 4's dog?!" Miss Merry Christmas growled, sneering at the beautiful Queen.

"He's my dog now because he understands the food chain," Maro said simply, orange eyes boring boredly into her.

"Nonsense! Lassoo c'mere!" She demanded, glancing at the dog.

It lazily looked at her...

Before opening his mouth and shooting a baseball at her.

Miss Merry Christmas balked at that.

Maro watched her move away with a lazy stare, not even flinching as the woman began transforming into her hybrid zoan form. She just summoned her club and sighed.

"You're lucky I'm not Master. He doesn't forgive ignorance, but I understand that people react differently to situations..."

The orange of her eyes began seeping into her sclera.

"...So I'll teach you about the food chain."

"Try it, pretty little princess!" The mole woman snarled, diving underground.

Maro sighed, as her skin began turning green.

"Well, since you're already ruining my ground... I may as well help you... Master won't be too happy about repairing this..."

Then she fully transformed.

One moment, Miss Merry Christmas was tunneling towards the Queen, the next, the very earth itself began trembling.

Tremors rocked through the ground and disoriented the mole, who was steadily getting dizzier and dizzier.

She could no longer handle the vertigo and cut her attack short, climbing back out from underground and trying to figure out what the fuck just happened.

It didn't take her long to find her answer.

The former agent took a step back in shock, at seeing a hulking green figure lazily lift a club off the ground.

Muscular, tall and above all terrifying the green monster stared at Miss Merry Christmas like she was nothing but prey.

Zala froze completely as she gazed at the otherworldly creature with a nervous expression.

"W-What is that?" She asked shakily.

"My wife of course!" Angel beamed. "Isn't she just beautiful!" She gushed.

"Still think I'm pretty?" The Dokkaebi snarled, sharp fangs jutting out her mouth. "Get a closer look."

The mole didn't even get to take a step back, before the monster was suddenly in front of her.

Miss Merry Christmas let out a yell of fear, as that massive hand grabbed her around the face and hoisted her up.

"You don't understand the food chain," Maro growled, idly gripping her hand even tighter and making the mole squeal. "You don't have the strength to go around and cause me troubles..."

"You are one of the weakest here and I am the strongest," she said matter of factly. Miss Merry Christmas tried to struggle but was unable to faze the woman at all.

Then, Maro dropped her.

"I'm going to give you a chance to earn my forgiveness. You didn't hurt my citizens so I won't hold a grudge against you... but you will either work for me, or I'm turning your bounty in. Crocodile lost. Baroque Works is done. Master was going to let you get captured but I asked him to save you. Don't make me regret wasting his time," she said calmly... well as a calm as a snarling Dokkaebi could.

Drophy shuddered, before nodding her head shakily and transforming back to normal. "I understand... thank you for giving me another chance."

She smiled at that, transforming back to normal and taking the appearance of that beautiful queen once more.

"Good!" She clapped cheerfully. "Now that that's settled, I'll have someone explain your duties as my soldier... and just be warned..."

Her smile vanished once more and she stared frostily at both Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger. "If any of you cause problems for my citizens, death is going to be the least of your worries. I'll show you exactly what happens when you piss me off."

Zala seized up at that, before nodding rapidly fear on her face at the monster.

She did say that devilish redhead was her teacher... Now she knew why.

"I won't cause any problems, Queen Maro," she bowed lowly. "I understand that you and Rosan both saved me from an undesirable life in Impel Down and I truly appreciate that so you have my full loyalty."

The Queen smiled up at her, chilly expression gone. "Great! I hope you two can help me make my island even better! Celadon is fantastic and since you're now my soldiers, you can enjoy the benefits..."

She tilted her head to the side. "What are your names again?"

They sweatdropped.

"I'm Zala," the woman sitting next to her brother introduced.

"Drophy..." the woman crouching in front of her revealed.

"Zala and Drophy! Awesome!" She said cheerfully, clapping excitedly. "You can stay in the same place your fellow agents stay! If you have any questions, ask one of them. They'll debrief you."

If the Queen was going to say anything else, she never got the chance because a red blur crashed into her with a happy squeal.

"Has anyone told you how hot you are when you're being serious and all angry?!" Angel gushed, smooching her on the cheek.

Maro beamed and eagerly returned the smooches. "What? Do you want me to be serious more often? Hahaha! Serious Maro doing her queenly duties with a serious face!" She grinned.

"Ah! The most serious~" Angel gushed.

"This feels oddly gross," Marianne muttered, watching the two fawn over each other.

"It's because they practically adopted you. You see them as your parents now," Kaori supplied helpfully.

"I feel sorry for you... those two are super into PDA and they're annoying... and stupid," Demon sighed. It was one of the few times he would insult someone but they deserved it as his sisters.

Plus they were both stupid.

Marianne had a look of horror on her face as she made that realization.

"Those two are my parents? I'm so fucked," she let out a rare curse.

"WATCH YOUR FUCKING LANGUAGE YOUNG LADY!" Angel roared in the distance.

"YOU CAN'T TELL HER TO WATCH HER LANGUAGE WHEN YOU'RE CURSING TOO!" Maro jumped to defend her.

"I'M AN ADULT! I CAN FUCKING CURSE IF I FUCKING WANT!" She snarled in return.

"YOU'VE BEEN CURSING SINCE YOU WERE 12! CUT HER SOME SLACK!"

"I WAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF 12!"

"WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN, ANGEL?!"

Zala sweatdropped at how swiftly the lovey dovey atmosphere around the two shifted.

"Should I get used to that?" She asked hesitantly.

Demon let out a suffering sigh as Kaori chuckled.

"You'll go insane if you don't. It's a miracle I haven't."

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Character Sheet - Maro (Updated!)

Name: Portgas Maro (From marrying Angel)

Gender: Female

Born Sea: North Blue

Age: 23

Birthday: August 25th

Personality: Kind, compassionate, very laid-back and always willing to have a good time. She is a massive pervert but tends to only keep it limited to Angel, Rosan, Mod, Ram and recently, Robin. Underneath her genuinely kind demeanor, is the calculating and cold personality she inherited from Grim that she scarcely uses. Will do whatever it takes to keep her island and citizens safe.

Affiliation: Celadon, Straw Hats, Fregate, World Government

Summary: Maro is the current Queen of the prospering island of Celadon. One of the most popular figures in the North Blue, there is hardly a person who knows of her that has anything bad to say about the compassionate woman. Originally an unnamed orphan, she was found and raised by her teacher, Reaper. Donning the alias Grim, the duo would hunt and collect bounties all over the four directional seas, before she retired and took the mantle of Queen, overthrowing the former king and publicly executing him.

She is currently allied with the World Government to leak any important information and to strike when the time is right, building up a close relationship with them and giving no clue as to her true affiliations.

Devil Fruit: Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Dokkaebi

Type: Mythical Zoan

Description: Allows the user to transform into a hybrid and full version of a Dokkaebi, a goblin spirit that possesses extraordinary abilities. It was given to Maro by Rosan, who stole it from Joker.

Appearance: Above average height with shoulder length azure hair that has white streaks. Is fair skinned, curvy with a strong feminine figure and burnt orange eyes. Almost always wearing a kimono in a large variety of colors. Is ranked as the 2nd most beautiful person on Celadon (Demon is #1)

Height: 5'10

Favorite Food: Any fruit (loves grapes the most), any meat, will eat anything with hardly a complaint.

Disliked Food: Garbage

Likes: Angel, Demon, Rosan, Ram, Mod, Aiko, Akemi, Female Rosan, Celadon, Her Citizens, Her Soldiers, Tending to her garden.

Dislikes: Being alone, camping outside (reminds her of being homeless), Having nothing to do, Paperwork, Political meetings, The World Government