Rosan grunted as he landed on pavement.

He immediately began scanning the surrounding area, noting the sheer amount of people, and his eyes immediately landed on his little brother, tied up by a snake of all things.

Luffy's eyes lit up in joy. "ROSAN! YOU'RE ALIVE!" he shouted in joy, ceasing his struggles.

Rosan approached his brother without hesitation and smiled, relief flooding his body at seeing the youngest well.

He ignored the three stone bodies next to him.

"Of course I am. You'd die in seconds without me," the redhead said with a soft sigh, smiling slightly as he fully gauged the arena.

Were they in a… coliseum?

Rosan's gaze darkened. Were they currently in a coliseum and using his little brother for sport?

What was going on here? Did these people want to die?

"What is the meaning of this? Not only did one man sneak onto the island… another did?! How did you allow this to happen in my absence?!" a feminine voice shouted over all the noise.

Everyone went silent and Rosan gazed at the one who said that.

His eyes narrowed.

"Boa Hancock? The Warlord?" Rosan thought in confusion.

"Is this Amazon Island?" he suddenly asked, directing the question towards Hancock.

The people gasped at that question.

"Don't you dare speak to Boa Hancock-sama man!"

"Who does this beast think he is?!"

Rosan furrowed a brow at that. Was he not even allowed to ask a question? The people of this island were really pushing it...

"Do not speak to me, man," Hancock said coldly. "I hate all men and you two are no exception. You should be doing nothing but dying honorably."

Rosan raised a brow at that and scoffed.

"Are you gonna come down here and do that yourself?" he asked curiously.

Hancock let out a mocking scoff herself, flipping her hair behind her head and turning her chin up at him.

"Why would I waste my time teaching you two a lesson? Someone as beautiful as me will merely watch the execution unfold," she stated derisively.

"Execution? Is that why you have my captain captured, tied up like he is your prisoner? Are you out of your fucking mind?!" he snarled unexpectedly.

"You think you can sit here and watch my little brother fight for you like it's a sport? Do you think him your slave?!" he hissed, eyes transforming into slits.

"Everyone here is crazy!" Luffy frowned deeply. "They sit here and laugh at their friends being turned into stone right in front of them!"

Hancock scoffed. "Because they broke the rules so I made an example of them. My people may feel bad but they understand that I am never wrong, because I am beautiful!"

Rosan stared at her in disbelief.

Because... because she was beautiful...?

What the fuck was wrong with her?

Luffy scowled at her. "You make me sick," he said.

"What good is your beauty, if you have such an ugly heart?" Rosan asked genuinely, not feeling even remotely attracted to this woman. "You don't look beautiful to me at all… you actually look really fucking ugly right now."

You could hear a pin drop at the silence that befell the crowd, due to the words of both Rosan and Luffy.

"!" Hancock let out a noise of distress and reeled back.

"Are you alright, Hancock?" Boa Marigold asked in concern.

"Those two… they're existence… I can't stand it! No one should be able to resist me… their mere presence is intolerable!" Hancock announced, holding her heart in pain.

The crowd began frenzying at that.

"LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO THE EMPRESS!"

"MONSTERS!"

"DEATH TO THEM!"

"DEATH!"

"DEATH!"

Rosan stared, utterly unimpressed, as a giant panther entered the stadium and stared them down.

"This is Bacura the Executioner. She has served the empresses of this land for generations. She will turn you both into unpleasant memories. I want them out of my sight!" Hancock shouted.

Rosan sighed. "Really now. You would think by now, people would stop using these animals to fight me… but I guess an island as ignorant as this one wouldn't know."

Well, time to go through the motions again as per usual.

Rosan's eyes transformed into slits and he stared down Bacura, who immediately went still at the action.

The cheering amazonians went silent in surprise, as Bacura took a sudden step back.

"Don't back up. Come to me," Rosan said steadily, holding out a hand and beckoning the panther forward.

Bacura gazed nervously at that hand, before gazing into the eyes of the apex predator that was Rosan.

Everyone's jaw dropped as the Panther meekly approached Rosan.

"Who's a good girl?" Rosan rumbled lowly, putting a hand behind Bacura's ears and stroking it.

The panther couldn't help but curl up and purr at those hands running through its fur with surprising delicacy.

"Were you really about to eat my brother and I?" Rosan asked gently, eyes narrowed in faux concern. "You know that would make me really sad right?"

"But you wouldn't want to make me sad… right?" he asked curiously, eyes glinting mockingly as he turned his gaze towards the gaping Hancock.

Bacura rapidly shook her head and rubbed her massive cheek against Rosan to prove her point.

"Of course you wouldn't want to see me sad… I'm beautiful after all," he finished smugly, flashing a cocky grin at the Snake Empress.

Wow... so Chopper was right. Rosan felt strangely harassed knowing some animals thought he was good looking.

Did Robin have to be worried about them attacking her? That was a pretty funny thought.

Hancock felt a tick mark form at the actions of the redhead. He was completely mocking her, using her own phrase against her!

Beautiful? He wasn't beautiful at all! He was a man! No man would ever be beautiful!

Her annoyance only deepened, as hushed whispers began ringing out through the arena.

"He is rather beautiful... are all men like those two?" someone whispered.

"He managed to completely pacify Bacura? Isn't that strength a true sign of his beauty?"

"ENOUGH!" Hancock shouted with a deep scowl, silencing them all immediately. "You dare make a mockery of my island and I?! Marigold. Sandersonia!"

"Of course sister!" they chanted.

Her sisters needed no further instruction and without hesitation, they leapt onto the field, directly across from Rosan and Luffy.

Rosan absentmindedly continued to pat Bacura as he gazed at the two.

"Pity… your sister is the one I wanted to punch in the face," Rosan sighed, removing a hand from the panther. "Run along girl. I'll pat you more later."

Bacura nodded eagerly, rubbing that giant face against Rosan once more before bounding off happily.

Sandersonia and Marigold watched Bacura walk off with a befuddled expression. The way she was trotting off... what was wrong with her?

"What did you do to Bacura?" Sandersonia asked in confusion, gazing towards the redhead who's predatory gaze was focused directly onto her.

She resisted the urge to shiver at that unnerving gaze.

"The same thing I'm about to do to you guys," Rosan chuckled in amusement. "Show who's on the top of the food chain."

Luffy clenched his fist and got into his fighting stance.

Rosan followed suit, peering at them with a calculating eye.

Boa Hancock was someone who's bounty grossly underestimated how much of a threat she truly was.

Of all the Warlords, hers was probably the most deceitful because she was asked to join the Warlord system in her very first year of becoming a pirate, on her very first bounty. The woman was a complete powerhouse of a pirate and Rosan was fairly sure if she wanted too, neither him nor Luffy would be able to defeat her.

But that was Boa Hancock. She was a one woman army.

The rest of her crew, while definitely stronger than the average Marine, etc… were not even remotely as impressive as her.

Rosan's eyes transformed into slits and he watched in visible interest, as Marigold and Sandersonia began transforming right before his eyes.

They grew in size, length increasing dramatically as they morphed.

"Hebi Hebi no Mi: Models King Cobra and Anaconda," Mod listed immediately.

"You're so damn useful, Auntie! You just fire them off so fast!" Ram gushed in awe.

The Devil Fruit smiled at that and hummed in delight.

"The curse of the Gorgons!"

"There it is! Proof that they defeated the Gorgons!"

"It's beautiful!"

"That's just their Devil Fruits?" Luffy said in confusion, gazing at the stupid crowd.

"They don't even know what Devil Fruits are?" Rosan hummed, raising a brow. "This place sure is primitive."

Rosan grinned violently.

"I wonder what they think this curse will be?"

Sandersonia and Marigold went still, as before their eyes, two giant wings burst out of Rosan's back and he began changing as well.

The cheering crowd went silent in horror, as one of the men began changing in morphing before their very eyes, turning larger and larger until he even eclipsed the gorgon sisters in size...

A shadow loomed over them as the obsidian creature threw its head back and roared.

Hancock's eyes went alert and she stood up abruptly, at seeing the gigantic creature let loose an earth shattering roar. The lackadaisical empress was on full alert now and she began gnawing her lip at the fact that such a gigantic flying creature was currently in a position to kill almost all of her citizens.

From the distance, Elder Nyon froze and gazed at the dragon with wide eyes.

"Is that a dragon?!" she asked.

"RAOOGHHHH!" Rosan roared, snarling down at the stunned sisters with those violent eyes of his.

Who to burn first, the Cobra or the Anaconda...

Why not both?!

"Wait Rosan!"

Rosan paused and gazed down at his brother curiously.

Luffy wrapped his arms around the three stone bodies and gently put them to the side.

"We gotta keep these bodies safe! I wanna try to save them!" Luffy exclaimed.

Rosan rumbled.

"They defended you?" he asked, deep voice rumbling throughout the stadium and making the spectators shudder even more.

"Yeah!"

The obsidian dragon merely nodded its head.

"Understood. I'll avoid being destructive then," he rumbled, reluctantly transforming back into his human form, though his wings remained.

"They're protecting them? But why?!" Kikyo thought in confusion.

Who were these two men? They had no reason to prioritize the statues lives... when they were in far more danger! This was an execution taking place after all!

"So we just have to beat them? Then what?" Rosan asked in amusement. "Is Hancock herself going to fight us next?"

"I dunno but I'll kick her ass too!" Luffy declared with an eager grin. "It's been a while since we teamed up Rosan!"

The redhead cackled, sparks beginning to fly off his body. "I used to support you exclusively because you couldn't keep up!" he snorted.

"I can keep up now but I still need your support!" Luffy laughed eagerly.

"Of course you do. You're a spoiled brat... you should be glad you're the youngest, you get these special privileges," Rosan grinned savagely.

With that, they were off.

"Spikes underneath!" Rosan reminded, closing the distance with Marigold instantly.

Ram transformed instantly into a claymore, clashing with the giant blade of Marigold's polearm.

Marigold was instantly put on the defensive as Rosan began flying all over and a furious dance ensued between the two that she was quickly losing ground on, due to not having the turning ability to defend her back as fast as he flew.

"Observation and Armament!" Rosan suddenly barked to the Luffy locked in combat with Sandersonia.

The rubber boy leapt over a wide swipe of her tail and nodded. "Got it!"

As he remained airborne, Sandersonia's hair attempted to lunge for the rubber boy, only for a strong gust of wind to converge around Luffy, pushing him higher than she expected.

Her observation flared and the anaconda began moving in time with Luffy's movements, weaving between his rapid flurry of punches to the best of her ability...

But it was really hard to do so because of the rapid amount of lightning strikes trying to crash into her. The red sparks filled up the arena with dreadful frequency and she could only shriek in pain as one hit her, leaving her open to a punch from Luffy.

It sent her soaring away and she instinctively lashed out with her tail to grab at him, only for a wall to erupt, blocking her tail.

Luffy kicked once, launching himself over the wall, before he spun and landed a stretchy heel drop to Sandersonia.

Marigold wanted to assist her sister due to the fact that she was effectively getting double teamed... but she was completely unable to do so because one of the ones double teaming her, was keeping her fully occupied!

What was this redhead?! He was capable of doing far too much!

Rosan sneered, forcing Marigold into the defensive all while he harassed Sandersonia.

Their weapons clashed repeatedly, Rosan's far smaller frame matching Marigold's strength and pushing the woman backwards.

Marigold tried to regain her footing, but the ground underneath her began shifting rapidly enough for her to lose her footing (despite moving on her tail).

As she stumbled, her eyes whitened as a foot landed directly on her midsection and the woman went flying backwards.

She flailed and shouted in fear as her floating body hovered right above the spikes...

Marigold blinked in confusion as she began getting pulled away from the spikes and back onto the field...

Until she realized someone was gripping her tail.

Rosan grinned maniacally, firmly gripping her tail. He flexed his wings and soared high, dragging the flailing Marigold into the sky by the tail. He made direct eye contact with Hancock and mockingly waved with his free hand, before he began spinning Marigold around.

The spectators screamed in shock as Rosan began whirling around, bringing Marigold's gigantic body very close to them at speeds that were downright dizzying.

Marigold's eyes turned swirly as she was used by the playful redhead's antics, before he mercifully released her...

Directly into Sandersonia.

Sandersonia temporarily blacked out, as the speeding missile of her sister crashed into her with enough force to send them both flying with dreadful speed.

As they careened through the air, a wall erupted behind them and they brutally crashed into it.

At least they were spared to the gruesome death of spikes underneath them.

"Shishishi! You're a bully, Rosan!" Luffy exclaimed, jumping up and down.

"It's been a while since I had fun in a battle. It's been a while since I was able to mess around so much," he said.

"I'm glad you're having fun again!" Luffy said, throwing his arms around his oldest brother.

Rosan laughed and hugged his utterly adorable little brother, watching as the two sisters struggled to stand up.

Sandersonia and Marigold gazed at the two lax brothers and realized in no small amount of horror, that they were losing to this strange and terrifying duo.

"Sandersonia. Marigold… why are you two still playing around with these men?" Hancock asked, finding herself at her limits due to the sight of Rosan mockingly blowing her a kiss.

That damn annoying redhead!

P-Playing around?! She thought they were playing around?! If anything, these two men were the ones playing around!

"W-We're sorry sis!" they apologized, desperately thinking of how they were going to beat this duo and coming up with nothing.

So in a moment of desperation, they leapt for the stone bodies of Hancock's victims.

"HEY!" Luffy shouted angrily. "Put them down! What do you think you're doing?!"

Rosan's eyes narrowed and he stopped moving as well.

Normally, hostages like this wouldn't bother him and he'd just attack all of them, but these were Luffy's friends.

"To stop fighting just to ensure they don't get hurt…" Hancock muttered, gazing at the two with confusion in her eyes.

What was wrong with these men? Why weren't they greedy and selfish? They were... so confusing...

"You're losing so you decide to take hostages?" Rosan rumbled, eyes narrowing. "Quite scummy to use your own subjects as bait."

"Yeah! This is a duel between us! Leave them outta this," Luffy scowled.

"This is no duel! This is an execution!" Marigold announced coldly.

Sandersonia nodded. "All of you are getting executed today and we'll start with these three!"

Rosan's eyes narrowed. Were they stupid? At that point, he'd just kill them once the stones were destroyed.

"Stop!" Luffy demanded with a look of fury. "LET THEM GO!"

But they weren't listening. Sandersonia gripped the body of one of them and prepared to smash it into the ground.

Rosan watched with predatory eyes, ready to spring into action the moment they were done.

Luffy's eyes were ripe with fury.

"I. SAID. STOP!"

Rosan froze in surprise, as an intense and heavy pressure washed over the field. It slammed into him, not even remotely affecting the redhead but he was able to feel how heavy it was.

One by one, people in the crowd began fainting and the redhead slowly turned towards his brother in shock.

"Was that…"

"Conquerors?" Rosan asked in shock.

"The will of the supreme king?!" The crowd that was awake gasped in disbelief. "He has access to it?!"

"But only one in a million people are supposed to have it!"

"That means he has the Haki of the chosen one!"

Sandersonia went pale, slowly dropping the body of Marguerite as Luffy's will imposed itself onto her.

"Hancock's the only one I know who can do that," Sandersonia said shakily.

"That man is a natural born king!"

"He's like me?!" Hancock muttered in visible surprise. "So he's not ordinary either..."

An oblivious Luffy let out a laugh of relief. "So you two are reasonable! See Rosan, they're not all that bad!" he cheered.

"He doesn't even realize what he did," Ram said in disbelief.

Rosan's eyes widened. It was just like when he had first used pressure…

He had no idea he had done so. It was in a room by himself with no one to fall victim to.

...How long had Luffy been able to use conquerors? Was this really the first time?

"Luffy… you don't realize what you just did?" Rosan asked curiously, stepping up to his brother with joy in his eyes.

Luffy tilted his head. "What did I do?"

Rosan sighed in amusement. "You used conquerors, idiot. Look how many people you knocked out."

Luffy's eyes widened in excitement. "Wait really?! I did?!"

Rosan nodded proudly, a smile on his face.

The confused crowd could only watch as Luffy began cheering of all things.

"WOOOOO! I DID IT! NOW I'M 3 FOR 3! I'M THE FIRST ONE TOO!"

Rosan's smile was wiped right off his face.

"Hold the fuck up," Rosan said rudely, putting out a hand. "You were not the first to be 3 for 3. I was. It's me. It's always been me."

Mod sweatdropped. What a brat.

"But you can't use Observation!" Luffy retorted with a grin.

Rosan's eyes narrowed and a scowl formed on his face. "Use Conquerors again right now."

Luffy nodded and began concentrating, brows furrowing as he reached for something he wasn't even aware existed.

The redhead grinned smugly. "What's the matter Lu? It's like this," he mocked.

Even more warriors in the crowd began fainting, as a crushing weight crashed into them and the few conscious warriors gazed at the redhead with a white gaze.

"H-He has the will of the Supreme King as well?"

"So h-he's also been chosen?!"

Sandersonia and Marigold both resisted the urge to kneel at Rosan's pressure, gazing at the two arguing with wide eyes.

"They're both like me…?!" Hancock gaped in disbelief.

Who… who were these two?!

"Wait, hold on. We've got more things to worry about," Rosan grunted, getting it together. "We'll save your friends and then we have to go."

Damn Luffy always infecting him with his childishness.

Luffy sobered up at that. "What's the matter? Did something happen? Did you find anyone else in the crew?"

"Just Robin. I don't know where anyone else is but we have more pressing matters for now… Our crew will be fine," Rosan said, turning towards the snake women.

Marigold recovered and scowled.

"This duel is not over yet!"

With that, she engulfed herself in fire and transformed her hair into snakes.

At the same time, Sandersonia's own hair transformed into multiple snakes and in tandem they began rushing the brothers.

Rosan raised a brow and shook his head. "This duels been over since the moment your sister refused to join. I was just having fun."

"Typhoon."

Before the attack of the sisters could strike, a heavy wind lifted them off the ground and forced the two together.

The immediate effects were disastrous.

The two giant snakes were slammed into each other, as the whirlwind crashed into them and the flames of Marigold began spreading to Sandersonia, making the green haired woman shout in a panic.

Sandersonia screeched as the flames began burning her, thrashing about.

Marigold tried to get away from her sister but to her utter shock, their tails were wrapped up with each other, courtesy of the grinning Luffy who held up double peace signs.

"Oh oops, looks like we were still playing around a bit," Rosan laughed.

As Sandersonia continued to thrash about, she unintentionally got closer and closer to the edged spikes on the ground.

"SONIA! You're going too close to the spikes! You need to grab onto the railing!"

Sandersonia heard the voice of her sister and managed to heed her words, reaching her hands out to grab onto the railing.

Her long body stretched from the end of the battlefield to the railing as she burned.

Luffy's eyes narrowed and he swiftly dashed over to Sandersonia's location, much to the horror of the conscious onlookers.

"He's trying to finish her off!"

"Scumbag!"

"Someone stop him!"

The captain ignored all of that and leapt onto her back, before wrapping his body around the tall woman.

Rosan tilted his head at the strange action.

"Was that a…" he mused, pondering what he just saw.

He glanced at Marigold, who looked pale, then at Hancock, who looked like a nightmare had struck her, before humming curiously.

"You're protecting them, Luffy?" Rosan asked curiously. "Whatever must be on her back, is quite bad, huh?"

His words reached their desired result, snapping everyone out of their reverie.

"That man is blocking the Gorgon's Eye!"

"Gorgon's eye?" Rosan mused and his ear twitched a bit as he heard Luffy begin whispering low enough for no one to hear.

Well no one but him. His hearing was very exceptional after all.

"You said you'd rather die than let anybody see this, right? Then don't move."

Hm?

His eyes flitted over to Hancock as she abruptly stood up.

"The war dance is over! Everyone evacuate the coliseum before the Eye of the Gorgon is exposed!"

Ah. Now Rosan understood perfectly.

The words that just came out of Boa Hancock's mouth, the ending of that sentence was a lie.

But when the crowd mentioned this Eye of the Gorgon, Rosan detected no lies from them.

These people were laughably ignorant and Hancock was actively lying to them about this Eye of the Gorgon.

Fascinating. All this to protect their past…

They sounded like him. Perhaps Rosan really was part Kuja.

He side-eyed the crying Hancock, who was trying to disguise it and watched as the crowd quickly evacuated, even taking the unconscious people out there to spare them from the horrible fate of seeing their back.

Soon it was just Rosan, Luffy, Sandersonia, Marigold, Hancock and an old lady who was gazing at him in particular with wide eyes.

He met her eye and tilted his head before gazing away in disinterest as she remained silent. The redhead floated to the ground and gazed at his little brother tending to the stone statues.

He placed a palm on one of the stone girl, eyes flashing as he ran a quick scan through their body.

Rosan pursed his lips.

"The Mero Mero no Mi. Much like Modification, only the user can undo its effects or else they remain permanently in that state."

Rosan nodded at that. "I can't do anything about this," he told Luffy.

The Straw Hat boy frowned at that and nodded, before turning towards Hancock herself.

"Hey! Are you still gonna fight us?" he shouted to her.

Hancock gazed down at the two men, making eye contact with both the curious Luffy and the indifferent Rosan.

"...No, I'm no longer in the mood to see anymore violence," she said eventually.

"Then free them!" Luffy requested firmly. "They were just defending me! They didn't do anything wrong!"

Her frown deepened at that. "I will free them… but you must choose. Their freedom… or yours. You can only have one, not both."

There. Now he would prove his true nature. This man, at the end of the day he was just a man. He would prove to them that he was a selfish and greedy man —

"Really that's it? Thank you! Please save them!" Luffy grinned, bowing to them gratefully.

"Pick up your head idiot. Stop bowing to anyone," Rosan grunted, kicking his brother upright.

The redhead was sweatdropping a bit because he was pretty sure he was the only smart person here.

In her emotional high, Hancock and Luffy must have forgot he could fly… and teleport too. Freedom was never something Rosan was willing to compromise.

Well, he guessed he shouldn't mention any of that because Hancock, Sandersonia and Marigold actually looked like their whole worldview had changed just off Luffy's response.

"This world surely is full of stupid people."

"not all of them can be like Auntie," Ram grinned.

Rosan nodded sagely.

"Why do you try so hard to embarrass me?! Do you like seeing me blush?!"

"Yes, because you're very pretty!"

"STOP THAT!"

As Hancock made good on Luffy's request and unpetrified the three, he barely spared the confused trio a glance, merely throwing a towel over to Sandersonia so that she could cover herself.

The green haired woman caught it in shock, gazing at Rosan with wide eyes.

"I just don't wanna stare at your tits," he said blandly.

She blushed in embarrassment and nodded meekly, covering herself with the towel that he got from...

Where did he get this towel?

"You two," Hancock suddenly called, gazing at both Rosan and Luffy. "Come to my castle. There is something I'd like to discuss with you both."

Rosan scowled. "Listen, I'm glad that this is important to you all but I have something way more important than hearing you berate men. We can't waste anymore time Luffy. We need to go," he said firmly.

Luffy looked at his brother and it was then, that he noticed how nervous Rosan. No one else would have noticed it, but Luffy was awfully good at reading his oldest brother.

He was actually the best at reading Rosan. Luffy had known Rosan's secret desires since the first time they met!

Only Meiko and their weird connection was better... which was honestly kinda creepy to Rosan.

Luffy could see the stress on Rosan from a mile away, so he nodded his head. "Alright. Let's go."

"I'll tell you everything soon. It's really important and we need to focus all our attention to it," Rosan grunted.

Hancock for some reason, felt her heart stop at that, as the two brothers prepared to leave the island without at least hearing her out. She was growing steadily more desperate as the two completely disregarded her desires and realized that she had never faced such rejection before.

She... she didn't want them to go yet! She wanted to speak to them more!

Sandersonia and Marigold were shocked as well because they never expected Hancock of all people to get rejected. They gazed at the two brothers who were totally unaffected by her beauty and wondered just who they were!

"Wait!" Hancock shouted to the brothers. "I just wish to know one thing. Come to the castle… I'll provide you a boat. I just want to… speak civilly. I assure you I no longer consider you my enemies," she said, hiding her desperation to no effect.

"This is not a bad idea Rosan. At the worst, you remain enemies. But at best, you get one of the Warlords on your side. Keep in mind, you will be engaging against all the 7 Warlords of the Sea when trying to rescue him. This will evolve into war."

"Not to mention, you need some way to Save Point back into the real world. Mother's location hasn't been verified but we kind of have a clue where Amazon Island is. It's probably the closest we'll get to Marineford."

Rosan stopped and took a deep breath.

He was panicking now that the battle was over. He was back to being stressed and Rosan hated being stressed.

He desperately wished he could have brought Robin with him but he couldn't do that to her.

"Okay, we can spare some time… but we need that boat then," Rosan agreed slowly, brows furrowed.

Hancock didn't bother mentioning the relief she felt, to prideful to do so, at hearing that they'd at least hear her out.

"Come with me then," she said shortly.

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

"I'd like to thank you both for protecting us back there… even despite the fact we were trying to kill you."

"If anyone saw that mark on our backs… we'd have to leave the island forever and never come back."

Rosan gazed at the tall girl with green hair and tilted his head. "Thank Luffy. Not me. He's the one with the good heart."

"It was nothing!" Luffy grinned. "Did we get called here for a banquet?"

"I would hope not," Rosan grunted. "Luffy we need to talk. It's about —"

"You may come in now, men."

The redhead paused, a look of slight frustration crossing his features at being interrupted but he just took a deep breath.

They still had plenty of days.

Whatever, best to just get this over with.

Luffy summarily barged into Hancock's room, while Rosan sighed and walked through.

The moment they entered through the curtains, Rosan could only think one thing.

"Robin's going to fucking kill me."

"D-Don't worry! I'll vouch for you and tell Robin you were the first one she thought of despite this," Mod stammered, blushing a deep shade of red.

"Father is so loyal," Ram swooned, pleased at his loyalty and gazing completely unaffected at the woman across from her.

The redhead let out a miserable sigh, that prompted the very naked Boa Hancock to look over at him.

Did he just... let out a noise of misery at seeing her body? Just who the hell did this man think he was?! Her? Eliciting disgust out of someone? Preposterous!

The woman stamped down the outrage at Rosan's reaction and moved her hair aside, turning away from the brothers.

"You said you saw this mark before, correct. Take a closer look. Where did you see it?"

Rosan tilted his head at that. This must have been before he showed up… so why was he being called in here?

Maybe this was punishment for being so annoying. Robin was going to choke him to death. Seeing the body of not only a naked woman, but the alleged most beautiful woman in the world?

"Hey Enel I know I killed you pretty brutally but do me a favor and save me from my very scary girlfriend?" he said sarcastically.

Mod erupted in laughter at that.

That mark on her back... There was no doubt about it. That was the same one he saw on the green ones back too.

Hancock waited for them to say anything, growing more weary as they remained silent.

"Well, answer! I don't have all day here! This isn't something I like to proudly show!"

"Oh, I thought I saw it before but that was something different! My friend named Hachi had a similar mark on his head!" Luffy exclaimed.

"It's a slave brand. It shows that you belong to the Celestial Dragons."

Hancock went stiff at that deep voice and began shuddering.

"So you even know of that, young man," an aged voice said.

Hancock scowled in outrage and pushed open the curtain without further prompting.

"Could you put some goddamn clothes on?" Rosan grunted, turning away from her backside.

He was ignored.

"You… how did you get in here?!" Hancock shouted.

"Seriously, put some clothes on. Do you not know what shame is?" Rosan asked.

Ignored... again.

"To be fair, you don't know what shame is either. You used to run around butt naked as a child, forcing Robin to restrain and put clothes on you."

"My freedom cannot be restrained," he said bluntly.

"YOU WERE RUNNING AROUND THE ENTIRE SHIP NAKED!"

"Robin and I bathed together. It was fine!"

Mod held her head at that. He was so abnormal it was unreal.

Elder Nyon ignored Hancock momentarily and gazed directly at Rosan and Luffy.

"You two are the pirates Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Rosan, right?" the old woman asked. "The captain and his shadow… worth 350 and 310 million beris respectively."

Rosan inclined his head as Luffy nodded. "That's us."

Luffy's shadow huh? That's what they were calling him?

He didn't mind. It was pretty cool.

The three sisters eyes widened a bit at that.

These two?! 350 million? 310 million? That's how much they were worth?!

"Based on everything I heard about you two… I expected Amazon Island to be in tatters while you and Hancock engaged in a life or death battle... but you're far different than portrayed," Nyon muttered, pulling out a newspaper.

"Straw Hat Luffy and Red Devil Rosan… just a few days ago, these two assaulted a Celestial Dragon! Not only that, they ended up escaping from their forces and ended up here in such a short time!"

All three sisters recoiled in shock, opening their mouths in disbelief at hearing of their escapades.

They gazed at the two brothers with wide eyes, unable to believe that they would be willing to attack one of the Celestial Dragons.

"They tried to buy me after I outbid them to get our friend back. They were asking for it," Rosan shrugged.

"Yeah! Rosan's mine!" Luffy said with a deep frown.

"Robin might disagree a bit with that," Rosan said dryly.

"You're ours!" Luffy beamed.

The redhead sighed and nodded with a small smile.

"Yes Luffy I'm you and Robin's and everyone else's in our family. I belong to you all. I am your willing servant. This is my course as Mother Hen Rosan," he said sarcastically.

"You know it's true. Just like you claim them all, they all claim you!"

Rosan rolled his eyes.

So he was a little whipped... so what?! His family was adorable!

Hancock looked at the anomalies with disbelief in her eyes.

They were… who were they…? They struck… a Celestial Dragon?

Such reckless men… they were just like…

"Rosan."

Rosan raised a brow and turned towards the old lady, glowing eyes peering at her.

Those glowing eyes of his…

"You are an Iris," Nyon stated matter of factly.

"An Iris?" Hancock thought, trying to remember where she heard that term before.

"Yes. My biological mother is Raisa," Rosan answered truthfully.

Nyon's eyes widened, knowing that their appearances were too similar to be a coincidence. "So you're Raisa's child! Are you here to complete the visitation ritual that all the Iris do? How old are you?!"

He only looked a little older than 16... if she had to guess, Gloriosa would assume he was around 18 - 20 years old —

"24," Rosan replied easily.

"THAT'S WAY TOO OLD!" Nyon roared indignantly. "Why did you take so long to visit the island? You should have been here at 16! It's been almost 8 years!"

It was a tradition for a blooming Iris to visit Amazon Island once they turned 16! While it wasn't heavily reinforced, it was good for the separated families to know each other!

"Wait just one moment!" Hancock interrupted with a deep look of confusion. "Visit? Why would a man be allowed to visit Amazon Island?! No man is allowed here!"

Nyon gazed at Hancock with a look of realization. "Right, you have no idea and it's been a while since an Iris has shown up… Hancock, Sandersonia, Marigold... Rosan is your cousin."

Hancock blinked.

"Huh?" she said dumbly.

"What?" Sandersonia gaped.

"Pardon?" Marigold's jaw dropped.

Luffy's eyes bugged. "SHE'S YOUR COUSIN ROSAN?! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!"

Rosan shrugged. "Guess Shakky really was telling the whole truth. As for why I didn't visit, I don't acknowledge myself as an Iris. I was abandoned at birth. I had no idea I was even supposed to visit."

"Oh so you met Shakuyaku as well?" Nyon asked with a pondering expression.

Abandoned at birth? Such a thing sounded preposterous… Gloriosa had met Raisa out at sea in the New World and that girl didn't have a single bone in her body that would lead her to abandoning a baby.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Yeah. Told me to call her Auntie," Rosan muttered. "So if I visited this island. I wouldn't have been killed immediately?"

"It's been a law not to attack any of the Iris who visit. It's been a long time since another visited," Nyon explained patiently. "You are family after all… though reactions were quite negative when Empress Allium left so long ago, we eventually made amends and try to promote unity."

Rosan nodded at that. "So they broke the law," he said accusingly, pointing a finger at Hancock, Marigold and Sandersonia.

The three spluttered at that.

"H-How were we supposed to know?!" Sandersonia stammered.

This man was her cousin?! This was… This was a lot to take in!

"We offer our deepest apologies, cousin!" Marigold bowed.

"A-A man is my cousin?" Hancock stuttered in disbelief. "This must be… I broke no law! I'm Empress! I make the laws!"

Rosan snorted and shrugged. "Like I said, I didn't come to visit this island for any tradition. I'm here for Luffy. I never once intended on visiting this place," he answered truthfully.

He then turned towards Hancock. "Now, why did you want us to take a look at the slave mark on your back? I guess you have a past that you're running away from?" he guessed correctly.

Damn, maybe they were cousins.

Hancock sobered at that and gazed wearily at Luffy and Rosan. "Considering you recognized the mark on my back… you must know what that entailed right?" she asked quietly.

Rosan nodded. "You three were captured by the World Nobles and enslaved by them," he said.

Luffy's eyes widened. "No way!"

Hancock nodded, feeling so small at the moment. "It was a terrible time… my sisters and I were slaves for 4 years and it was the most awful time of our lives. Everyday, I just wished for death."

Rosan listened to Hancock's tale with a tilted head.

For 4 years, she had been captured by the Celestial Dragons and for 4 years, she had been suffering the entire time with her sisters.

They had even been forced to eat their Devil Fruits… just as a form of sick entertainment.

But one day, a Fishman by the name of Fisher Tiger had scaled the holy land of Mariejois with his bare hands, attacked the World Nobles and freed every single slave, human and fishman.

The fishman took the mark of the slaves and rebranded it into that of the sun but Hancock and her sisters had not done the same.

No unlike the Sun Pirates, they shamefully hid their marks, refusing to let anyone see it.

Instead, they lied to the citizens of Amazon Island and claimed they were cursed with the Eye of the Gorgon.

Throughout the story, Sandersonia had begun to have a mental breakdown and even Hancock began shedding tears.

Rosan watched a tearful Marigold soothe her sister, head tilting as they were forced to relive their trauma.

"If anyone sees this mark… we can no longer live here anymore! If you two hadn't protected Sonia today, we would have left!"

Hancock let out a weak sob.

"I don't want anyone to know about our past! Even if it means deceiving my people, I have to continue the pretense. I don't want anyone to control me ever again!"

Rosan's gaze softened at that.

The urge to be free from your past. The desire to never be forced to submit to someone else…

Kami since when was he such a sap?

"You've always been one, Rosan. It's what everyone loves about you. Your heart is full of so much empathy, that it can sway even the most scarred hearts. Even Rouge, chose to rely on you when you opened up to her."

Rosan pondered that. Yeah that was right,his empathetic heart had just been sealed too. Just like he tried to do with Maro...

Maybe more people deserved his empathy... the world wasn't all bad.

"Do you two despise me, now that you know I'm a slave?" Hancock asked eventually.

"No. I hate the Celestial Dragons," Luffy said bluntly.

Hancock froze at that, gazing at Luffy with a stunned expression before she smiled tearfully.

"I like you!" she exclaimed to the rubber boy, wiping her eyes slightly.

Then, she hesitantly looked towards her cousin with a brave expression.

"Of course I don't hate you for being a slave. I was a slave too, you know?" Rosan revealed truthfully.

Hancock's teary eyes widened. "R...Really?" she asked quietly.

The redhead nodded and sighed, leaning back and gazing into the sky.

"It wasn't as long as you but yes. When I was just 8, I was a slave for 6 months to a doctor who wanted to exploit me for my skills. He tortured me in anyway he knew how, all in hopes of making me submit but I would never let someone like him control me."

They listened to his tale with with blatant curiosity, wanting... to know more about their interesting cousin.

"I eventually began biding my time and when the opportunity arose, I freed myself and killed everyone who dared to hurt me," he revealed, eyes flashing as that distant past came to him like it just happened.

Hancock's eyes widened at that and she gazed at her cousin in visible interest.

He... killed them all? That was... incredible.

"For a long time, I let the past of that man cling to me. He tainted me in a way that even now, is visible but… I no longer let him chain me down like he used to because I am free and I'll never allow anyone to jeopardize that again," Rosan said truthfully.

He gazed at Hancock with brilliantly glowing eyes and pierced through her soul. "Don't let the past cling to you. You'll never be able to look forward to the future if you do that."

Hancock, Marigold and Sandersonia was speechless, just gazing at the two with an incomprehensible expression on her face and Rosan let out a soft sigh.

"Turn around," he demanded suddenly. "Reveal your mark again."

Hancock jumped, unable to refuse the order and turned around, revealing the mark of the Celestial Dragons to Rosan's searching eye.

The redhead merely placed a warm palm on it and Hancock shivered at the touch.

"What… are you doing?" everyone, barring Luffy asked.

"Removing your past," he said blandly, eyes glowing brilliantly.

"Modification."

Unbeknownst to Hancock, the mark on her back began slowly vanishing.

Sandersonia and Marigold saw it though and their eyes bugged out of their head.

Was that… was this what they thought it was?!

Was he… Was he truly removing their past...?

Hancock merely shuddered as his palm rested gently on the mark for a few seconds.

"You wanna know something else?" Rosan asked, stepping back to inspect the area.

Her skin was perfectly unblemished, no sign of the branding there any longer and he nodded in satisfaction.

If he were younger, he'd be unable to do this but now... now it was easy.

"You…!" Hancock gaped, tears brimming into her eyes as she gazed into a mirror and saw nothing on her back.

He… he removed it?!

Rosan didn't technically remove it… he just modified it and made it the exact same color as her skin so it blended in perfectly. Removing it would require ripping her skin off or a level of Modification that he didn't quite have yet.

But they didn't need to know that. Let it be a little white lie.

"Sometime after I freed myself from slavery, I ran into a Celestial Dragon too," he revealed with a small smile.

Hancock sniffed and gazed at him, overwhelmed with emotion as she gazed at her cousin like he was her savior. "W-What happened between you two?"

Rosan grinned cockily, sharp fangs flashing. "He wanted to have me enslaved, so you know what I did?"

"...What?" she asked a little eagerly.

"I killed him!"

There were audible gasps as he revealed that information.

Everyone was gazing at Rosan like he had grown a second head. They began doubting his claims, but then realized that just a few days ago, they had struck another Celestial Dragon...

He was insane..!

"Really?" Hancock asked in disbelief.

"Of course. I don't lie," Rosan snorted.

"...All I do is lie," Hancock said quietly.

The redhead pat her head. "You should stop lying so much, cousin. Causes less of a headache when your honest."

"...I'll keep that in mind… cousin," Hancock replied in a whisper, tears falling freely.

Then, she let out a choked sob and tackled him to the floor.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she sobbed freely, squeezing him with all her might.

Rosan grunted in surprise and returned the hug, before realizing a startling detail.

"Put on some goddamn clothes!" he complained, grabbed her stray cloak and modifying it so that it could wrap around her frame.

Hancock ignored him again and just continued crying, making the redhead roll his eyes.

He stood up, ignoring the woman hugging him and turned towards the other two sisters, beckoning them forward.

"C'mon my other cousins," he said, even as Hancock wept against him. He just absentmindedly pat her.

Man he was good at this therapy stuff... and it felt good having someone be thankful for his presence.

Sandersonia and Marigold sniffed, approaching their cousin with wide eyes and presenting their marks to him as well.

Rosan looked at the taller woman and nodded to himself, reaching over Hancock and placed a palm on their exposed backs.

As he removed the slave marks from Sandersonia and Marigold, Rosan watched as Hancock finally released her self to inspect the process.

Her eyes widened at watching him in action and as he wrapped up his business, the three began shaking.

They slowly approached each other and began inspecting the others backs, before reality hit them and they collapsed into each other.

At the first sharp wail, Rosan turned on a dime and began walking out of the room before the three could crush him.

"Come Luffy, we need to discuss."

"I'm hungry," Luffy moaned in distress.

"I-I can prepare some food for you both," Hancock whimpered.

"We can eat while I talk, that's fine," Rosan muttered, glancing towards the old lady following them.

"What did you do?" Elder Nyon asked in shock, gazing at the redhead in fascination.

She thought his ability was to transform into a dragon? What had he just done?

"That's not something I feel very comfortable talking about," Rosan said truthfully. "It was my Devil Fruit, but I won't go into detail about it."

Nyon nodded, merely looking at the son of Raisa with searching eyes.

He was very different from how she expected an Iris to act. Despite overflowing with emotion, he did manage to control it to a suitable degree.

There were some glimpses to the face that he had on his bounty poster but other than that, the Red Devil wasn't nearly as cruel as he were portrayed as…

But she didn't know what he was like truly.

A slave… how would Raisa feel if she knew her son had been enslaved?

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

Rosan floated away from the grabby woman of Amazon Island, who insisted that his body could stretch like Luffy's.

Idiots.

He idly ate his plate of food at the very top of the castle, wings resting on his back, and watched as Luffy finally grew tired of the crowd and launched himself up to the roof to meet Rosan.

Rosan gazed at the rubber boy, noting that there was a blonde girl (the one who had been stone) with him and he gazed at the two with a neutral expression.

Marguerite gazed at the redhead with curious eyes.

"This is one of your friends, Luffy?" she asked curiously.

Luffy nodded happily. "He's my oldest brother!"

Her mouth opened in shock. "Wow! I had no idea you were Luffy's older brother!"

"I heard you defended and saved his life," Rosan said idly. "You have my thanks. Luffy's an idiot. If you want something, I'll try and get it for you."

Marguerite smiled happily. "Can I have your jewels?" she asked immediately.

Rosan perked a brow at that.

Bit greedy of her but hey, he had a lot.

The redhead extended his hand and summoned some jewels from his pocket dimension, handing them over to the confused woman.

"You don't look satisfied. Do you want more?" he asked curiously.

So really greedy. Nice. Luffy sure did pick them.

"It's not that... I don't want these kind of jewels," she said.

Rosan blinked very, very slowly as she pointed at his pants.

"Those jewels. I want the ones there. Luffy refused to give me his."

Rosan heard Mod choke on her spit, as the implications struck her and he gazed at the blond with a bewildered expression.

He opened his mouth, then shut them... then he gazed at Luffy, who was protecting his family jewels and then he looked back at the expectant Marguerite.

"I think I'll pass," he said dryly. "I'd rather not part with them. They mean a lot to me and someone would be sad if I lost em."

"You are such a shameless pervert. Robin's going to kill you for saying that last part."

"How many times do we have to go through this? I'm not a pervert mother. You of all people would know if I'm a pervert. We bathed together so much when I was a kid."

"M-Me of all people?!" Mod stammered with an atomic red blush.

"Duh Auntie! Look at those things!" Ram cackled, pointing directly at her breasts.

"LEAVE ME ALONE! THIS IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT!"

Rosan snorted at that, before gazing towards Luffy.

"Ready to listen to me?" Rosan asked, noting the old lady failing to hide so she could listen in.

Whatever. He didn't quite care.

"Sorry," Luffy apologized sheepishly. "What's the matter?"

"Ace has been captured by the World Government. He's set to be executed in a few days and there's going to be a war between them and the Whitebeard pirates."

…

Luffy felt the world freeze at the quick and blunt answer… The rubber boy gazed shakily at Rosan with wide eyes.

"What…?" Luffy said shakily. "WHAT?!" he shouted, beginning to shake Rosan.

"A-ACE?! THEY CAPTURED ACE?!"

"Calm down Luffy!" Rosan urged, eyes transforming into slits as Luffy's panic seeped into him.

"It seems as if you're saying that more for your sake," Nyon said warily.

Rosan's sharp gaze shifted over to her and she flinched at the blistering rage in them.

"So you've heard about the execution of Fire Fist Ace as well," she said slowly, gauging the redhead like he were a wild animal.

It was almost like he truly were an animal in that moment. One wrong word, and he'd probably set his fangs onto her.

Luffy's dread only grew. "Ace… is going to be executed?! But that doesn't make any…"

Nyon nodded. "He was captured by someone by the name of Blackbeard… the new Warlord for the World Government."

Rosan's eyes turned murderous. "Blackbeard?!" he snarled furiously.

That slimy son of a bitch actually defeated Ace? He knew he should have killed that scumbag! Rosan knew he should have been dead at his feet!

"We were so close to killing him and now this has happened... I can't believe such poor timing snowballed into this," Mod frowned in distaste.

"We need to save him… Ace would be mad if we tried but he's our brother!" Luffy said resolutely.

"He can fucking complain about it after he's back on our side," Rosan snarled. "Sabo's joining us too. We're going in there and we're going to save Ace no matter what."

Luffy's eyes widened at that. "Sabo?! He's coming too?!"

Rosan nodded.

"Wait just a minute!"

Nyon's eyes were wide in horror. "Fire Fist Ace is your brother? You two plan on intervening in the war between Whitebeard and the World Government?!" she asked in disbelief.

"That's incredibly reckless! You two are exceptional… but with only you two, it'll be no different than throwing yourself in a hurricane!"

Rosan scowled. "I will never leave my brother behind. Not again. Ace will take my help whether he likes it or not," the redhead snarled.

"We'll save him Rosan!" Luffy assured, clenching his fist tightly. "We won't let Ace die!"

"We damn sure won't!" Rosan snarled.

Nyon looked at the two psychos with wide eyes.

They were hellbent on imposing themselves into a battle between two titans…

"Fire Fist Ace is currently being held in Impel Down and he's scheduled to be executed in six days time… if you want the highest chances of saving him, you must somehow infiltrate that place. If you wait for Marineford, he will be guarded by all of the World Government. Trying to pierce through the 3 Admirals and Fleet Admiral will be impossible," Nyon informed, refusing to leave these two to the wolves.

Rosan turned towards her, those glowing eyes of his peering through her as he began running calculations.

"Impel Down is impenetrable. How will we possibly get in there to save him?" he asked with a frown.

That was the best way to save him… maybe Rosan could fly over and modify a hole into the wall.

But no, Ace was likely one of the most valuable pirates they had captured in recent history. They would be fully guarded right now and he'd be found out…

"If you take a Navy Ship there… you'll be able to reach it in 4 days and the gates will open for you as well."

Rosan's brows furrowed but before he could say anything Nyon spoke up again.

"Recently, all the Warlords have been summoned to battle at Marineford. Naturally, Hancock is of no exception… but she has refused the summons. If you two are able to convince her to come, you could use her to infiltrate Impel Down."

Rosan paused at that.

"You see? Patience is a virtue. Connections are powerful. We've been offered a new road to save Ace and it's one that could only come to us because we waited and listened and offered our help."

Rosan nodded slowly, a plan stewing in his mind.

"You're right, Mod-chan... I should at least listen first. Guns blasting immediately can kill opportunities," he muttered.

"That's a good idea. Okay. Where's Hancock, let's talk to her," Rosan grunted.

Luffy nodded eagerly. "Yeah let's go find her!"

The brothers leapt off the spot where they were at and Rosan effortlessly grabbed the two woman there, wrapping them in his tail as he soared over to Hancock's position.

As they arrived to the entrance, Rosan's brows furrowed at the sight of a panicking woman. She seemed to be in visible distress but the moment she saw Nyon, a look of relief made its way onto her face at seeing their arrival.

"Grandma Nyon!" The Kuja pirate shouted. "I'm so glad you're here! The Snake Empress has fallen victim to an unknown illness!"

Well wasn't that just fucking convenient?

Rosan nearly ripped out his hair in frustration the moment he heard that.

Were they fucking serious?! Of all the time for her to be subjected to some unknown disease... it was now?!

"At least pretend like you care," Mod sighed.

"You two wait out here," Elder Nyon said urgently, moving swiftly into the building.

Rosan watched her go with a neutral expression and grunted.

"Sabo has his memories back," he said suddenly.

Luffy's jaw dropped. "WHAT?! Wait! Where is Sabo?!"

"In my pocket dimension. He's been practicing with his Devil Fruit, though he's probably wondering where I am right now," he muttered.

"HIS DEVIL FRUIT?!"

Rosan put a finger in his ear. "Yeah, the Goro Goro no Mi. Enel's fruit."

"WHAAAT?!"

"Kami, you're so fucking loud," Rosan complained, gazing at his brother with an annoyed expression. "I'll pay him a visit after we get this settled with… just leave your Straw Hat out here."

Luffy's eyes were bugged and he nodded eagerly. "I can't wait to see him! Does he really remember us?!"

Rosan nodded. "He was holding his head when I mentioned Ace but as soon as he ate the Devil Fruit, he remembered everything. The Goro Goro no mi must have given him a final push in his memories unlocking."

Luffy's grin could brighten the night and despite everything, Rosan found himself smiling too.

"We got Sabo back… now we just need to get Ace," he murmured, idly pulling his youngest brother into a hug to calm his nerves.

Luffy accepted it easily, wrapping his arms around his oldest brother. "We'll save him no matter what!"

Rosan nodded, a fire in his eyes.

Ace hadn't even gotten to meet the Rosan that was so emotional. Ace didn't know that Sabo regained his memories or ate a Devil Fruit…

Ace didn't know that they had unlocked their Haki, or that Rosan was happily in a relationship with Robin…

And if they let him die, he'd never know so Rosan would wrap his claws around the very heavens themselves, and tear it all apart, to save his brother.

They perked up in confusion as Hancock herself appeared outside of the room.

Rosan tilted his head at her flushed expression and saw movement in the corner of his eye, prompting him to look up at the window to see Nyon, Sandersonia and Marigold all looking through it.

For some reason, Nyon was looking at him rather suspiciously.

Huh? Did he do something? He was sure he didn't...

The woman gazed at them both, joy in her eyes that she failed to hide behind a neutral expression.

"What is it, Luffy, Rosan?" she asked gently.

Rosan blinked. "Isn't she a bit affectionate all of a sudden?" he mused.

"We need your help with something!" Luffy said immediately, allowing Rosan to explain.

The redhead nodded. "I know this isn't going to be easy for you, but you were summoned by the World Government. We'd like you to accept that invite and smuggle us into Impel Down, so that we can save our middle brother, Ace."

He ignored the outraged noises of his other two cousins, glaring at them and cowing them immediately.

He understood her grievances with the World Government but this was urgent. If they could do this, they could save Ace.

It was a bit of a longshot asking her, but this was the best way to try and save Ace —

"I accept. I'll help you two to the best of my ability!" Hancock beamed without any hesitation.

Rosan blinked slowly, gazing at her with a tilted head.

Huh? Wasn't that too easy?

"Really?!" Luffy asked in joy.

Much to Rosan's further confusion, Hancock gazed at Luffy and her flushed cheeks grew even darker.

Hold on.

Wait a goddamn minute.

"Of course! If that's your wish, I'll gladly follow it, Luffy~," Hancock gushed.

No seriously. Wait a goddamn minute.

Then she turned towards him and strong armed him into a hug that Rosan didn't resist.

"Rosan is my cousin too! That's what family is for! Right, cousin? It's my job to help you to the best of my abilities!" Hancock gushed.

…

Forget the part where Hancock was eagerly calling him family, as if they had been raised together...

Was this woman… was she in love with Luffy?!

Nyon's jaw dropped to the floor.

"I THOUGHT SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH ROSAN! SHE'S IN LOVE WITH STRAW HAT?!" The woman gaped.

"BIG SIS IS IN LOVE?! WITH STRAW HAT?!" Sandersonia and Marigold gaped in disbelief.

W-What?! But how?! How did something like this happen?!

Rosan snorted and if the situation were less dire, he would have erupted in full blown laughter.

"She is... in love with Luffy of all people?" Mod asked in disbelief.

"Kahahahaha!" Ram laughed in a complete uproar, clutching her stomach.

T-This was rich! Seriously?! Their little rubber dumbass?! Angel was gonna flip!

He couldn't wait to tell Sanji and his family about this.

"Thank you, Hancock," Rosan said truthfully, returning the hug and watching as the shorter woman melted in his grasp. "I appreciate it."

Hancock immediately began gushing over how cute her little cousin was. "Of course! As your big cousin I must spoil you rotten! Oh did you eat enough today? Should I prepare you both more food? Are you tired? You can sleep on my bed and I'll read you a book goodnight!"

"...Did you two just tame the world's most beautiful woman?"

"Don't ask me. How old does she think I am? 10?" Rosan thought in amusement, allowing her to fuss over him.

Two in one day. First Raisa, now Hancock.

That settled it, his family lineage really was weird.

"Thanks Hammock!" Luffy cheered, jumping into the group hug.

The moment he did so, Hancock seized up and began steaming, before going limp in their grasp.

"She fainted," Rosan said blandly, gazing at the dumb smile on her face.

He gently hoisted the woman up and began floating up to the window where they were being spied on.

The three spies looked like they had seen a ghost and Rosan handed Hancock back over to them, before removing Luffy's Straw Hat from his head and handing it over.

"Protect that with your life, don't damage it," Rosan instructed. "Now please tell me, was Hancock's sickness related to her being in love with my little brother?"

Nyon nodded slowly. "Admittedly, I thought she was in love with you… but yes. All the previous Empresses of Amazon Island, contract love sickness at a point in their life. Those who refuse to leave the island and follow their love, die. By having Hancock agree to go with you two, she won't die."

Love sickness… what the hell?

"Did this sickness carry onto the Iris lineage?" Rosan asked curiously. "Did it mutate into something? Is that why we are so emotional?"

"The Iris have always been an emotional bunch, though I wouldn't be surprised if Love Sickness did affect you all in some way. Empress Allium had it as well so it stands to reason, some of you might contract it," she explained.

Some way was one way to put it. Rosan's heart had been shattered twice and nearly ruined him for good. First at Daybreak and second with Meiko. He fell in love very hard.

"Well whatever the case… when Hancock is ready just have her fiddle with the Straw Hat," Rosan said calmly, grabbing Luffy. "We'll be back tomorrow."

Nyon nodded. "Where are you going? Back into the forest? That's quite dangerous."

"Where I'm going will never be dangerous. Don't worry about it."

With that, the redhead vanished along with Luffy.

The three blinked in disbelief, reaching out with their observation and feeling their confusion widen at feeling no sign of either of them.

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

Sabo had been working with his Devil Fruit since Rosan left, only stopping to grab a quick bite when he felt hungry... and growling in frustration at messing it up with his lightning.

He remembered how he and Ace used to make fun of Luffy for not being able to properly use his techniques, due to Rosan saying he understood a lot of his own techniques fairly easily.

Sabo was beginning to realize that Rosan was a freak and that Mod was truly an exceptional woman.

While he wasn't suffering nearly as much as Luffy, utilizing the Goro Goro no Mi effectively, was not nearly as easy as he thought it were going to be.

Power output, shaping the techniques, trying not to fry everything around him unintentionally… it was difficult to get it exactly how he wanted it to be!

If Rosan hadn't been partially immune to electricity, he would have fried his brother! He was lucky for that because injuring Rosan so harshly would have filled him with guilt for a while...

He was getting a lot better with it but there was a lot to learn.

Besides that, he had been adjusting to having his observation range suddenly skyrocket and though it was hard to test in the Pocket Dimension, he was fairly sure he got it down.

The Pocket Dimension… it was thanks to this place that Sabo was even able to not get utterly overwhelmed by his Observation. It was very useful and had no other presence inside of it.

Speaking of which…

"Have you taken any breaks?" Rosan asked, watching Sabo easily turn to regard both him and Luffy.

Whatever Sabo was about to say, was cut off as he made eye contact with Luffy and a wide grin split his face.

"Luffy!" Sabo shouted in relief, vanishing from his spot in a flash of thunder and appearing directly in front of his brother.

"SABO!" Luffy cheered, grinning just as large at the sheer familiarity in his brothers voice. "YOU'RE BACK! OH AND YOU ATE A DEVIL FRUIT!"

Sabo laughed in sheer relief, as his youngest brother engulfed him in a hug. "I'm so sorry for forgetting you guys. I'm the worst brother in the world… I should have asked for help back then but I wasn't thinking straight!"

"It's okay! We got you back now and Rosan and Ace stopped fighting too!" Luffy beamed, refusing to let Sabo go for a second.

Before, at Alabasta, Sabo had thought it was overbearing, but now… he wouldn't exchange this for the world. He easily hugged his youngest brother and let loose a relieved sigh at actually seeing him.

"I'll fill you in on the plan, Sabo. A lot has suddenly taken place and we're shifting goals."

Sabo nodded, a look of curiosity on his face. "Can we discuss over some food? I'm hungry and I've overcooked everything I attempted to make."

Rosan nodded and they left the training fields so that he could prepare a meal for them all.

As Rosan began the process of cooking, he explained to Sabo what the plan was.

After Hancock got on the ship with Luffy and one of his birds hiding in her outfit, they would leave Luffy's Straw Hat at the bare minimum in there.

It would be hard to hide 3 people in there so they'd likely remain in the Pocket Dimension until making it to Impel Down.

This would help keep Hancock innocent in this entire thing as well. They would never know how the brothers broke into Impel Down if Rosan had anything to say about it.

"Boa Hancock? The Snake Empress? You two recruited her? Is that why it took you so long to get back?" Sabo asked with a raised brow.

"It's a long story," Rosan sighed, explaining it to their brother.

Sabo listened with a thoughtful expression.

So they'd be invading Impel Down to get Ace back with the help of Boa Hancock, who was Rosan's cousin and in love with Luffy.

That sounded like his brothers alright. They really did have the craziest adventures.

"So we're raiding Impel Down… alright, sounds good to me. That's the easiest way to get Ace back so that's what we'll do," he nodded, digging into his food.

Rosan grunted and nodded. "Yeah, it's night so we need to get some sleep soon. Tomorrow I'm going to make some visits while we get this situated."

The redhead sighed and stood up.

"Pick a room. You guys have been in here before so you know where everything is. I'm stressed so I'm gonna nap," he informed them.

"We'll discuss more tomorrow. Relax for now," Sabo said to his brother.

Rosan waved at them and vanished to his and Robin's room with a forlorn sigh.

He instantly swapped his outfit into a loose fitting tee and sweatpants.

"Do you miss Robin?" Mod asked with soft eyes.

"A lot," Rosan groaned aloud.

He missed her too damn much. This couldn't have been healthy. He felt like a piece of him were missing.

But he was the one that begged her not to come… he'd be such a piece of shit to just go back into her arms despite denying her the opportunity to come.

"Oh Rosan. This must be torture for you," Mod sighed forlornly.

"I miss Mother too," Ram frowned.

"I know, I'm sorry for making the decision to leave her behind alone," Rosan said softly.

"Don't be. We agree with you. Robin is too high priority to risk taking her. One mistake and we could lose her."

"Yeah we can't bring mother with us. You made the right decision, Father."

Rosan paused as he felt his Save Point tugging and he furrowed his brows, before following the pull.

"Surely we can at least sleep together, yes?" Robin asked fondly, gazing at the relieved redhead with a small smile.

She was in a room provided to her by the revolutionaries and it looked like she had been watching his stream the entire time.

It was still playing in the background... he sighed in equal fondness and idly shut it off.

"Of course we can. I won't deny you even that," Rosan said quietly, sidling next to her and transforming her outfit into a comfy set of pajamas.

He then pulled her into a tight hug and let out a sigh of relief.

"It hasn't even been a full day yet and you miss me?" Robin sighed, leaning into the hold.

That's why she wasn't mad at him for begging her to stay behind. This was just as torturous to him as it was to her but they needed to put their over reliance on each other to the side, to look at the bigger picture.

Rosan nodded truthfully into her body and Robin laughed at how adorable he was.

"You have me for at least now, Rosan. You've been stressed so let me help," she said, raking a hand through his hair.

"You're the best," Rosan muttered.

"I know. That's why I haven't killed you yet for staring at the naked body of the world's most beautiful woman."

Rosan froze at that, feeling the way her grip tightened a bit.

Enel was clearly still a bastard.

"You've been rather friendly with Boa Hancock haven't you? I do believe she hugged you while she was naked?" Robin asked with an innocent smile.

The redhead shook his head rapidly. "I promise the very first thing I thought, when she flashed me without my consent by the way, was that you were going to kill me. I'm not attracted to her at all and even if I were, that's my cousin," he said urgently.

Mod let out a giggle. "It's true Robin. You truly were the only one he was thinking of! Rosan only has eyes on you," she vouched, too nice to let her son be tortured.

Rosan was very pleased to see the pleased smile on Robin's face.

"That's sweet. Alright, you aren't in trouble then… but she does gush over you quite a bit," she said.

"Raisa is the same way. They both seem keen on doting on me. If you want me to tell them to stop, I will," he said truthfully.

Robin thought about it and shook her head. "No it's fine… for Hancock at least. I still need to speak to Raisa myself."

Robin thought the way Hancock acted towards Rosan was rather funny. She was treating him like a little brother more than a love interest so she wouldn't mind.

Besides, Hancock seemed to be in love with… Luffy of all people.

Robin had seen their perspective. How did she end up falling in love with Luffy over Rosan? Where was the logic behind that?

It must have been because they were cousins… and honestly, Robin was completely fine with that. She knew Rosan would never pick someone over her (it was very flattering) but it was nice for that to be reinforced.

"Don't worry Robin. I will not choose anyone over you," Rosan mumbled her thoughts, snuggling into her. "Thank you for not being mad at me. You really are too good for me."

"I think you're too good for me," Robin thought fondly, cuddling him right back. "It would be cruel of me to berate you for making the decision you think is best and it would be even crueler to leave you so stressed. At least for tonight, I'll calm you down."

"You two are so precious," Mod said fondly, turning the connection off.

Let them have some alone time. They both needed it.

"Come sleep Ram. We have a long few days ahead of us," Mod said.

"I don't wanna," Ram said childishly, reading a book with a set of glasses (where did she get those?!) on her face.

The silver glasses made her look almost incredibly adorable and Mod squealed internally whenever she adjusted them.

Ram loving to read, was not something Mod ever expected but it was fantastic at pacifying her…

And keeping her up at night. It was the best time for Rosan to not harass her because the redhead had been harassing the most.

"Well I'm tired, Ram!"

"So then sleep, Auntie! I'm not bothering you!" Ram exclaimed in exasperation, snapping her fingers and shutting the lights off to prove her point. The only thing visible were her glowing eyes, as she effortlessly read the contents of the book in the dark.

"…"

Ram gazed up and saw that her auntie was pouting of all things.

"But you're comfortable and I wanna hug you," Mod grumbled, puffing out her cheeks childishly.

"…" Ram didn't close her book but got up and made her way to the bed. "I wanna finish this chapter but you can still cuddle me while I read. I'll sleep soon."

Mod's eyes lit up and she quickly got into bed, snuggling into Ram with a pleased smile.

The silver haired woman idly ran a hand through her hair, as she continued reading and let out a sigh of exasperation.

Since when was Auntie so spoiled and goddamn adorable? That was Ram's thing!

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

"Be careful," Robin said, hugging him tightly.

Rosan hugged her back just as tight. "I'll be back to get you as soon as all this is over. I'm sorry again," he apologized.

"I understand, really Rosan. It's Maro you need to explain it too. She doesn't understand how badly this could affect her," Robin muttered.

He sighed in frustration. "I know and that's what has me so worried. One mistake from Maro and she could lose everything. I already forced her to restrict herself so much when she was Grim but now… now all it takes is one mistake for her Devil Fruit to be revealed to the world and if that happens while she's my ally… Celadon might be wiped out."

Maro couldn't just go on the run. Maro wasn't a pirate like he was.

Maro was a well respected Queen of a very famous kingdom and she needed to protect them.

Rosan was going into the eye of the storm. Marines, Warlords, Admirals… Vice Admirals.

Maro would be pushed to her extremes there. If she was consciously thinking of protecting her identity the entire time, it would be disastrous... and if she wasn't consciously protecting it, then she'd reveal it in no time.

Neither he nor Ace would ever be able to forgive themselves if Maro lost Celadon… Maro wasn't the criminal here, her brothers were… so they'd handle this.

"So tell her that. You know Maro best so show her why you want to protect her," she said soothingly.

Rosan nodded slowly and sighed. "Alright. I'll talk to her after making sure Luffy successfully sneaks onto the ship."

"Alright please be careful," Robin said again, burrowing herself into the crook of his neck before pushing him away.

Rosan nodded, leaned in to kiss her and then vanished.

"You're being really strong for him," a pajama wearing Koala pointed out. "Despite how miserable this whole thing is making you, you're really trying not to make him worry even more."

Robin sighed and watched the stream start up again. "The worst part of it all is that even while acting strong, he can still see through me like no one else can," she said with a tense frown.

"Even while trying to be strong for him, he can see how miserable I am and it's not making things much better. That's why I brought him over, so that I could at least assuage some of his concerns, but I don't know if that really helped," she admitted.

Koala smiled gently and hugged the significantly taller woman. "Don't worry, Robin. You definitely helped him! I don't know Rosan well, but based on the stream, just how relaxed he seems around you is night and day," she reassured.

Hearing it from someone that wasn't part of their family… it did wonders in soothing her mind.

"Thank you Koala. I will personally vouch for you when you and Sabo officially begin dating," Robin said with a genuine smile.

Koala's jaw dropped at that. "N-Not you too! I thought you were normal!"

Robin giggled a bit. "Rosan and I have quite a lot in common and I admit, tormenting people can be fun."

Koala stammered and let out a groan of misery.

"You guys are the worst couple ever," she said bluntly.

Robin's smile widened. "Yes I know… now are you going to leave or watch this stream with me?"

Koala noted that Robin was still in her pajamas and the Devil Child got comfortable in her bed once more.

"One sec, I'll join but lemme grab some snacks to keep us occupied and let Dragon know what we're up to," she said, unable to keep the eager expression off her face.

She had only seen one part of Rosan's life through the stream and she could immediately tell that the crew was so entertaining.

Seriously, getting Boa Hancock on their side?! How did they even do that?! She also had quite the rocking body!

There was no way she was going to miss live footage of what was about to be the biggest events in recent history.

She hoped they'd be okay. Sabo had just gotten his memories back so she wanted to get to know the version that remembered his past.

He also ate a Devil Fruit too! The lightning Logia of all fruits! She didn't think he was serious about eating one when he came back and discussed the possibility but now he did!

...Would Rosan try to kill her if he saw her in bed with Robin?

She was pretty sure he would.

What a terrifyingly possessive redhead.

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

Raisa had been glued to the little plush that Rosan had given her, realizing this was her first actual attachment to her estranged son.

She… loved it very much. She wouldn't ever let it out her sight.

It was a good thing she did.

While doing paperwork, plushie sitting proudly on her table, it suddenly began showing her footage from her own son's perspective.

The sudden action, made her jump in shock and she whirled towards the screen with wide eyes... until she realized she was seeing a clear video of her son.

She was ashamed (not really) to admit that her paperwork had been completely forgotten, as she glued her eyes onto the screen.

Her son was as beautiful as ever, conversing with a blonde boy by the name of Sabo.

They were in what appeared to be a castle but Raisa couldn't quite take it all in because the very first thing this Sabo said was that he wanted to eat the Goro Goro no Mi.

The WHAT?!

Much to her further shock, Rosan just nodded his head with a few questions before they were off to grab one of the strongest Devil Fruits.

Did Rosan also hoard Devil Fruits like the Iris did?

Apparently he did because before her very eyes, Raisa watched as Rosan casually handed one of the most powerful Logia Devil Fruits over to this Sabo.

It was left in a room that was designed in a rather fabulous manner (Raisa wasn't very stylish, that was Dalia) and Raisa admired how well kept Rosan left everything... though it appeared to belong to him and Nico Robin!

She watched in visible interest as Sabo bit into the Devil Fruit (by now she had already given up on the idea of paperwork and was planning on heading home to watch the whole thing in peace) and recoiled in visible disgust.

Raisa knew that look anywhere. She vividly remembered Dalia making that face too, as well as making it herself when they ate their respective fruits.

She didn't remember Oren's face. She had been too young.

"Bad isn't it? You guys made fun of me when Mod-chan said I ended up crying eating it."

Raisa withered a bit at that, eyes downcast at his words.

She should have been there when Rosan ate his Devil Fruit… she should have been soothing him and telling him she made the exact same faces, all while giving him a cup of warm milk to try and get rid of the taste.

Kami she… at the very least she should have been active in his life.

Would she have been able to save Portgas D. Rouge?

Of course she would. Raisa had no equal in the South Blue…

But without even knowing about it, she had completely abandoned her son.

She knew nothing about him. She didn't even know this Sabo had amnesia and seeing the sheer relief on her son's expressive face at seeing that he had regained his memory…

Rosan was close with this boy. They acted like brothers... and Rosan did mention having a family he loved already.

Raisa hoped one day he would grow to love her as well... she didn't deserve it but she'd try her best to earn it.

Her self loathing transformed into horror, at seeing Sabo explode in electricity all while Rosan was hugging him.

T-That idiot! What did he think he was doing to her son?!

But to her utter surprise, Rosan just absorbed it all into his body.

...What was her son? What was this Modification fruit? He seemed capable of so much…

Like that strange teleportation… that teleported him out of his… pocket dimension?!

That's what Sabo had called it right? Was Rosan in an actual Pocket Dimension?!

But… how?! Just how many things were he capable of?

The more Raisa learned of her son, the more confused she got because there was so much she didn't know...

So she would greedily watch the footage so graciously granted (did Rosan do this on purpose? How did he do so?) to her.

Raisa got up and pat her dress down, before grabbing the plushie as gently as possible.

Writing a note that she was leaving early today, the woman barely paid attention to where she was flying, eyes glued to the screen the entire time.

"Amazon Island? What is he doing on Amazon Island?" Raisa asked in surprise, watching her son appear on the island of woman.

Raisa had visited her maternal side's island when she was 16 years old. It was to honor what her Kuja ancestor Empress Allium had done.

She truly had not given a damn about that but Raisa still visited since it was close to the New World and she had time to kill.

Somehow, in a twist of fate, Rosan ended up on the island of his ancestors as well…

The world worked in funny ways.

His captain was there as well, Straw Hat Luffy himself.

Raisa paid special attention to this one. This was the boy (he looked so young) who managed to garner Rosan's loyalty and it was very likely that Straw Hat was the reason her son was even a pirate.

That Straw Hat… did that perhaps belong to Roger? Raisa had met many people during her travel and the Roger Pirates were some of them...

They were an interesting and fun bunch. Some of his members had leered at her but before Raisa could inflict justice, he had done so himself and settled them down.

He was an interesting man. Raisa hadn't been surprised in the slightest when he became the pirate king... he just had that aura about him.

Though, the only remnant of his crew now seemed to be that red haired boy, Shanks. She remembered the child in that crew because they both had red hair.

"Execution? Is that why you have my captain captured, tied up like he is your prisoner? Are you out of your fucking mind?! You think you can sit here and watch my little brother fight for you like it's a sport? Do you think him your slave?!"

Raisa jumped at the anger in Rosan's tone, noting the fury in his eyes.

Little brother? Was Straw Hat his little brother? Was that why they were in a crew together?

That would make sense... if she remembered correctly, Straw Hat had a bounty of 350 million so he had to have been formidable.

She desperately wanted to talk to Rosan again. She wanted to know more.

The obsession with her son, that she tried so hard to hide, had come roaring out at meeting him in the flesh.

Reconciling with him managed to only make it even worse and now she was practically only thinking about him...

And now she had no intentions of stopping it any longer.

"Raisa? You're home early," Oren mused, watching her land on her massive balcony.

She barely acknowledged him, only nodding in greeting and rushing into the house, eyes fixated on a screen from… the plushie that Rosan gave her?

"I'll be in my room," she said, rushing past him.

"What good is your beauty, if you have such an ugly heart? You don't look beautiful to me at all… you actually look really fucking ugly right now."

Raisa couldn't stamp down the visceral satisfaction she felt at that. Rosan wasn't someone that would fall for such surface level beauty!

Boa Hancock may be beautiful, but her son was beautiful as well and he had a good heart too.

As she made it to her room, Raisa was subjected to even more entertainment, as Rosan completely pacified Bacura (she had met her once!) with just his presence alone, making the panther look more akin to a schoolgirl!

"He's good!" Dalia praised in awe, peeking over Raisa's shoulder with gleaming eyes.

"No, he's great." Raisa spared her a single glance, agreeing with her wholeheartedly. "If you wish to watch with me, you may join in my room. I won't be leaving it for the foreseeable future."

With that, she vanished into her room.

Dalia watched her go with an open mouth.

Raisa didn't even cause a fuss! She just… allowed her in!

"Rosan managed to tame Raisa. Never thought I'd see the day where anyone could tame her," Oren let out a disbelieving laugh.

She was completely whipped for her only child, just wanting to know more about him and not letting anything get in the way!

"I don't think she's planning on leaving that room," Dalia muttered, noticing that it was slightly ajar for them to enter. "Luckily I cooked! Let's go bring the pot in here at least. We should get a table as well..."

Oren nodded. "It should be fun to watch. I wonder what he's doing…"

"Luckily we get to see!" Dalia beamed. "RAISA! I MADE FOOD AND THE MAIN DISH IS HONEY BAKED HAM!"

There was a silence across the door.

"Bring snacks as well… I have gummy candies stored in the pantry."

"Can we grab other stuff in there?" Dalia asked.

"Make sure its restocked by the end of the week."

The siblings grinned at each other.

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

"Ready?" Rosan asked curiously, watching as Luffy climbed atop Hancock... by going under her clothing.

He would comment on it but if Hancock didn't have a problem, he wouldn't mention it.

Whatever worked.

Hancock nodded, trembling slightly at feeling Luffy rustle about before she took a deep breath and settled down.

"Yes," she said eventually, glancing over at him expectantly.

Rosan stood up and held out his hand, revealing a mechanical bee. It flew over to Hancock's side and she allowed it to hide in her hair.

"That will keep watch while you get on. If anything happens, we'll kill them all and I'll handle the rest," Rosan said.

Hancock nodded. "Alright, I'm going now cousin."

"Remember the plan?" he asked.

"Yes. Get my own room, punish anyone who tries to look inside so that they understand not to look."

Rosan smiled. "Luffy, do not compromise her position. Stay completely silent."

"Okay!" Luffy agreed.

The redhead grunted and watched as Hancock approached a Marine ship. According to her, it had been waiting there for a day now and would only leave when she arrived.

Good, that meant they were desperate.

"Please be careful," Sandersonia whispered, turning towards him with a worried expression.

"Do your best," Marigold implored, pulling him into a hug as they sailed back to Amazon Island.

Rosan grunted as they squeezed him and tried to hug the much taller woman.

"Thanks," he said truthfully, staring through the eyes of his bug.

Things were going smoothly. Hancock had undone her stone on all of the men, though she quickly restoned two more who tried to peep into her room... and then settled down into her room, allowing Luffy out.

"Alright they're settled. I'm going now, don't worry about us. We'll be fine," Rosan reassured, waving at the Kuja pirates.

With that, he vanished.

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

With the successful smuggling of Luffy, Rosan temporarily allowed them to settle down.

They were now residing in her room, with express orders to not enter and Rosan left the two alone to handle his own business.

"Maro. Angel. Demon."

The glum Maro gazed at him and Rosan's eyes narrowed in guilt.

He immediately closed the distance and pulled her into a deep hug.

Angel cracked first and she let out a heartbroken sob that broke Maro through.

"W-Why, Master?! Why can't I come with you?! You know how strong I am! I can help!" Maro sobbed, hugging him tightly and gazing up at him with downtrodden eyes.

"Please Master. Please give me a reason that I can't come!" Maro begged.

"…" Rosan said nothing for a long while.

"Maro… do you love this island?" he asked quietly.

Maro sniffed and gazed at him, orange eyes glistening.

"Yes. Of course I do!"

"Do you love your people?" he followed up.

Maro nodded vigorously.

"...Do you love Angel and Demon?" Rosan asked finally.

Maro actually looked offended by that question.

"That's the stupidest question you ever asked me, Master!"

"I know… but I had to ask because I wanted to really know if you were willing to potentially throw it all away."

Maro froze completely at that.

"Listen to me Maro… you are so useful. I would never hesitate to bring you on a mission with me but a mission like this, with risks being at an all time high? I can't do that to you," Rosan said truthfully.

"You have your illusions, I know… but what we could potentially go up against… you'll be forced to allocate your power elsewhere. If someone figures out your a Dokkaebi, you will never be able to reveal your Devil Fruit as Queen Maro. If they get a clue as to who you are… they won't hesitate to destroy this island," he informed her.

"The Marines know so much about me and I've barely given them anything to work with... imagine how much they can learn about you?" he whispered to her.

"I know all of these risks so if I brought you with me…"

"You'd be splitting your attention onto making sure no one ever figures out who I am… and that would take your focus away from Ace," Maro whispered in realization.

It was a devastating realization. To know that Master's love for her, would impede this mission was…

Maro was useful, but Master was the most useful. If anyone could get Ace out of his situation, it would be Rosan but he would need to be completely and utterly focused on the task.

Her coming would be… it would be less than optimal. This wasn't a battle they could win with outright power... that's where Maro shined.

This was a rescue mission and Rosan would be the absolute best at those.

She wouldn't be able to completely focus either… because she'd be focused on making sure no one found out who she was.

Maro wouldn't be able to be completely focused… and Rosan wouldn't either.

So not only would she be impeding… the risks of getting caught would be utterly disastrous.

She'd lose everything… Maro didn't have the means to vacate her entire island. It wasn't…

It was little gain for too much risk.

"I get it," Maro said quietly. "I understand why you don't want me to come… it's for my sake… I get it. Just… please save Ace."

Rosan's gaze softened at that and he pulled the three into a hug.

"No matter what. I'll do everything to save him. The World Government wants to use my little brother to make an example… so I will use them to make mine."

The three distressed rulers hugged him tighter and he kissed each of them on the temple, before eventually releasing them.

Rosan took a long look at their faces, their downtrodden expressions and committed it to his memory.

This would be his fuel. This would be what he needed to ensure that he did not fail this mission.

He would not let this despair linger.

The redhead's face hardened.

He would do anything to get Ace back. Anything.

"I'm going now guys," he said firmly, pulling out the plush of himself. "Watch me. We'll save him. Please trust me."

"We trust you, Master," the three nodded shakily and Rosan vanished.

Now that they were dealt with, he needed to pay another visit.

Rosan grunted and dipped into his Save Point.

The moment he exited again, he immediately raised a wall to block the wave of sand flying towards him.

Rosan's gaze darkened into something lethal.

"I'm not in the mood for your games right now, Crocodile," Rosan said lowly, eyes thunderous as he gazed at the sight before him.

Crocodile was not alone but there was more than just Daz Bones…

But wasn't this an amusing sight?

The buggy pirates and Alvida themselves, were staring at him like hell arrived on earth.

The sight would have been funny, if he weren't here for strictly business so now it just served to annoy him to levels he couldn't contain.

"If you're planning on killing me, understand that there's gonna be severe consequences," Rosan swore, eyes beginning to glow as his raid suit began slowly seeping over his outfit.

"R-Rosan?!" Alvida balked in horror, unable to believe the horrible turn of events that were taking place.

Were you serious?! What the hell was this demon doing here and why did he not look lifeless?!

Crocodile sneered. "You already know how this goes, redhead."

Rosan took a deep breath. He needed Crocodile in working condition so maiming him beyond recognition was out of the question…

But they still had 5 days.

"I'm only in the mood to spare your boss," Rosan warned. "Anyone who interferes in this battle is going to suffer a fate so much worse than death, you'll delude yourself into thinking its a reward."

Everyone shuddered at that, gazing at Rosan with wide eyes and the redhead scowled, wings bursting from his back.

"I hope you heal quickly because no matter what condition you're in, Crocodile… you're going to be useful to me," Rosan promised.

There was no Robin here to calm him down… so Rosan supposed he could properly show Crocodile how much she saved him.

"Don't interfere useless bunch, you'll just slow me down," Crocodile grunted, staring at the redhead with a lethal gaze.

"I don't think fighting him is a good idea," Alvida tried nervously, gazing at the redhead who had been a robot last she saw him…

Except now he wasn't a robot. He looked every bit the murderous devil the news adamantly mentioned he was.

This was worse than bad. Rosan looked poised to end someone's life right now and if Crocodile kept egging him on, that was going to be them.

Crocodile glanced at her in disinterest, a warning look in his eyes. "Be glad you're all still alive. Try and order me again and they'll be picking you up in pieces."

"You should have listened to her. I'm really really not in the mood for your bullshit right now," Rosan said in a last ditch effort to pacify the situation, despite not wanting to.

"Cry to someone who gives a damn, redhead. You die here today," Crocodile snarled.

Rosan's eyes glowed ominously.

"You may soon come to regret this stance your taking currently. Join me for a dance Crocodile. I promise, you won't wanna miss it."

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

Bonus!

"W-Wow! Rosan's able to do so much!" Dalia gasped in awe.

Raisa couldn't help but agree... because Rosan was displaying things he wasn't in their fight against the two gorgon sisters!

He was effortlessly manipulating the walls... displaying enormous strength and utilizing elements to cause complete mayhem on the field.

The two woman never even stood a chance... not to mention his teamwork with Straw Hat! He provided perfect cover for his incredibly reckless captain...

It was to no surprise at all that they comfortably won their battle.

What was surprising however, was the fact that not only did Straw Hat have conquerors, her son did too!

"Rosan has conquerors like me?" Raisa asked, sitting up straighter at seeing him flex his presence onto the onlookers.

"He's impressive as hell," Oren said, eyes a little wide at all his nephew could do.

The three Iris were currently lodged in Raisa's room, all on her massive and comfy bed. They were eating food as they watched footage of one Rosan and to say they were interested was a gross understatement.

Just from his battle, they saw how fun Rosan was! He was incredibly playful in his fight against the sisters but the moment the statues were at risk, Raisa had watched his eyes narrow into something lethal.

...He was dangerous when he wanted to be.

Good. As expected of her only child.

But Rosan wasn't the only one she was interested in... she was also interested in Monkey D. Luffy because even despite fighting his enemies, he still went out of his way to protect one of them...

He was very strange. He had a naive and earnest air about him that made Raisa view him almost like a child...

It was endearing. Judging by the way Rosan smiled with him, he truly did love his captain...

Perhaps, it wasn't terrible that Rosan became a pirate if this Luffy was his captain.

Raisa frowned, idly chewing her gummy candy as she inspected the stream.

"Raisa, stop eating candy after just eating dinner!" Dalia complained.

"But it's good," Raisa countered, ignoring her order and continuing to eat her gummies.

"Unbelievable," Dalia muttered with a shake of her head, watching the screen again...

And having her jaw drop at seeing the very naked body of one Boa Hancock.

"Damn!" she shouted in surprise.

Oren snorted and closed his eyes, before covering both Dalia and Raisa's. "Pervert. We shouldn't be seeing this. It's an invasion of privacy," he said, completely unaffected by the sight.

Raisa scowled furiously. Who did that pervert think she was, flashing her son?!

That damn shameless broad! Was she not aware that Rosan was already taken by Nico Robin?!

She felt satisfaction welling at hearing Rosan let out a sigh of misery and deduced that if she was watching this stream, it was likely other of his allies were too...

What were the chances Nico Robin was looking at this?

Raisa became all the more curious about this technique.

"Could you put some goddamn clothes on?"

Raisa's lips quirked at seeing him completely ignored.

She perked up curiously, at seeing a short figure enter the room.

"Oh! That's Grandma Nyon!" Dalia beamed.

Raisa's eyes widened. "That's Gloriosa? What happened to her! She's gotten so old!" she couldn't help but exclaim.

Gloriosa, while aged, had been a stunning woman! Now she looked so short and old!

"She'd probably hit you for saying that so bluntly," Oren chuckled, looking at the empress of Amazon Island from 4 generations ago.

She was currently explaining to Hancock and her sisters, that Rosan and Luffy had just been at Sabaody, where they had attacked a Celestial Dragon before ending up over at Amazon Island.

"Is that why he was on Wisteria?" Raisa balked in horror. "That fool hit a Celestial Dragon?! Are they mad?!"

No wonder Kuma had blasted them away. He was saving their lives! They had willingly attracted the ire of an Admiral!

"He did destroy Enies Lobby," Dalia pointed out with a grin. "Our nephew is so insane!"

"You are an Iris," Nyon stated to Rosan.

Raisa perked up at that, watching as Rosan truthfully told the woman that she was his mother.

She immediately winced back when Rosan told her he was 24 years old.

They normally visited when they were 16... that's the age they were allowed to sail off of Wisteria to have their own journey. They could recruit allies if they so pleased but Raisa had chosen to go solo for the entirety of her trip.

Rosan would have done the same thing when he was 16 but...

"Right, you have no idea and it's been a while since an Iris has shown up… Hancock, Sandersonia, Marigold... Rosan is your cousin."

Dalia cackled. "Oh right! I guess the current empress has never met an Iris! Shakky was the empress when I visited."

"Same here," Oren nodded, remembering his cousin with a fond smile.

"Me as well," Raisa agreed. It had been a while since she last spoke to Shakuyaku... they should catch up. The former empress was an impressive woman.

"Guess Shakky really was telling the whole truth. As for why I didn't visit, I don't acknowledge myself as an Iris. I was abandoned at birth. I had no idea I was even supposed to visit."

Raisa once more withered at that.

She was just... terrible. Raisa would likely never forgive herself for abandoning Rosan... and a small part of her didn't think Rosan should have forgiven her either.

"It's okay, Raisa," Oren's deep voice soothed. "You don't have to forgive yourself yet... but one day you'll have worked hard enough to find that there's nothing left to forgive."

Raisa gazed at her older brother for a moment, before nodding her head resolutely.

She'd do anything to earn Mod's forgiveness, no matter how much it took.

"I didn't know Boa Hancock was a slave," Dalia muttered, feeling a little bad for snooping on such a delicate past.

"We'll just keep that to ourselves. No one needs to know. She's our cousin after all," Oren smiled.

Raisa nodded, eyes glued on the screen as she saw Rosan prepare to speak again.

"Of course I don't hate you for being a slave. I was a slave too, you know?" he began as she ended her tale.

Raisa shuddered at that, watching the way his gaze turned faraway.

"When I was just 8, I was a slave for 6 months to a doctor who wanted to exploit me for my skills. He tortured me in anyway he knew how, all in hopes of making me submit but I would never let someone like him control me."

Raisa felt nauseous at that. Her 8 year old son... for 6 months... he was repeatedly tortured? She was going to be sick...

And even despite that, she couldn't help but applaud her son because he was nothing like her. Raisa let the memory of Cutter control her into making the worst mistake of her life, but Rosan refused to let anyone control him.

He was her son, they shared many similarities... but he was so different from her.

"I eventually began biding my time and when the opportunity arose, I freed myself and killed everyone who dared to hurt me. For a long time, I let the past of that man cling to me. He tainted me in a way that even now, is visible but… I no longer let him chain me down like he used to because I am free and I'll never allow anyone to jeopardize that again."

Raisa watched those piercing eyes look at Hancock and despite not being the focus of it, she sat a little straighter.

"Don't let the past cling to you. You'll never be able to look forward to the future if you do that."

...

"I think... Rosan would have made an incredible king," Raisa revealed quietly.

Dalia wiped the tears of awe out of her eyes and nodded enthusiastically. "That was... so inspiring!"

"Yeah it was," Oren said proudly.

Don't let the past cling to you... perhaps Rosan didn't mean to say that to her, but part of Raisa felt like that was being directed towards her too.

She would fix the mistakes of her past in anyway she knew how... but she wouldn't let it cling to her any longer. That's what Rosan wanted... so that's what she would do.

A motivated Raisa watched as Rosan forced Hancock to turn around. Before their very eyes, they watched as the youngest Iris put a palm on her slave tattoo... and began removing it.

"Holy shit," Dalia gasped, watching as it steadily vanished off her back.

"That's... incredible!" Oren whispered in shock. Rosan was capable of so many things... and that was amazing!

Raisa watched with stunned eyes at what he was doing but his next words are what completely floored her.

"You wanna know something else? Sometime after I freed myself from slavery, I ran into a Celestial Dragon too," Rosan stated with a small smile.

"W-What happened between you two?" the sniffing Hancock asked.

Her son's smile turned wild and cocky. "He wanted to have me enslaved, so you know what I did?"

Hancock's expression turned almost childishly eager as she said, "What?"

Raisa imagined her expression was the same, as she leaned in to hear what he said...

"I killed him!"

...

...

"WHAT THE FUCK DID HE JUST SAY?!" Dalia screeched in horror.

Did he just say what she thought he said? Rosan had done what?

"I must be mishearing things," Oren said in disbelief.

"N-No... you heard that correctly," Raisa said numbly.

Did her son just say what she thought he said?

"Of course. I don't lie."

"He killed a Celestial Dragon," Raisa said numbly.

Why wasn't this known anywhere? Why was Rosan just now getting a bounty? Did he secretly kill a Celestial Dragon?!

He said it was sometime after being enslaved and that was when he was 9! Rosan got his first bounty at 24!

What was the meaning of this...

Wait, Rosan had clearly shown that he was capable of disguising himself very efficiently. Who's to say that they even knew it was Rosan who killed the Celestial Dragon? If Raisa remembered correctly, the last Celestial Dragon to die... was Saint Jeremiah around 10 years ago.

Raisa gained a pondering expression at that. Not much was known about that... but she would have to do some digging because it was itching the back of her mind like a drug.

Her thoughts were interrupted, as Hancock let loose a sharp wail and tackled Rosan to the floor, sobbing into his frame in an eerily reminiscent manner to Raisa.

...At least Raisa had clothes on.

Eventually, Rosan removed the slave marks off the other two as well and he left them to cry on each other...

Before the citizens of Amazon Island began pestering him nonstop.

"It was like that for me as well," Oren said with an amused chuckle. "It's rare for them to see a man. They didn't ask me if I stretch though."

"They were equally obsessed with me," Raisa said quietly, hiding her fuming at all the attention her son was receiving. "Since I was so powerful, they practically worshipped me."

"I got laid when I was there," Dalia said shamelessly.

She blinked at the sight of both her brother and sister staring at her.

"W-What?! You weren't a little curious?! It was someone around my age!" she explained.

"No," Oren and Raisa both snorted.

"Boring," Dalia muttered under her breath.

Oren had to actually restrain Raisa from flying over to Amazon Island herself, after seeing a cute little blonde ask Rosan for his jewels.

"She doesn't know what she's asking for!" Oren explained.

"I care very little for that detail. She deserves to die for disrespecting my son," Raisa said coldly.

Dalia cackled at the dumbfounded expression on Rosan's face, before some amusement flitted across his features and he dryly denied her request.

"Ace has been captured by the World Government. He's set to be executed in a few days and there's going to be a war between them and the Whitebeard pirates."

At once, all three of the siblings froze.

"Wait," Raisa said in realization, recalling the conversation between Rosan and Sabo.

Oh Kami... they meant Fire Fist Ace! The 2nd commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!

Wait... How did Rosan know Fire Fist Ace?!

"We need to save him… Ace would be mad if we tried but he's our brother!"

...BROTHER?! Fire Fist Ace was their brother?!

Her son's family... was so strange! Raisa was shocked to hear about this! She hadn't paid any mind to the newspapers when they mentioned Fire Fist Ace's execution but to think that he was Rosan's brother was...

"Wait a minute... are they planning on going to Marineford?!" Raisa exclaimed in a rare panic. "No! If Rosan goes there he's going to die!"

A war between Whitebeard and the World Government? That was complete and utter madness! Rosan couldn't put himself in between that!

She just got him back!

Much to her relief, Gloriosa echoed the same sentiments as her...

But much to her utter horror, Gloriosa gave them an even worse alternative.

"RAID IMPEL DOWN?!" Raisa screeched in rage, flying out of the bed with murderous eyes.

WAS SHE MAD?! RAID IMPEL DOWN?! HOW WAS HE GOING TO DO THAT?!

"Raisa! Settle down!" Oren and Dalia urged.

"You saw how much Rosan can do! If it comes to rescuing him, he'll definitely be able to do it!" Dalia urged.

Raisa whirled towards them with her fangs bared. "But his life could be in danger! Perhaps he could use my help. If I fly there it'll only take me but one day to reach him!"

Oren shot that idea down immediately. "Do you really think he'll accept your help? Not to mention you're putting your entire island at risk. Sit Raisa... you'll just have to trust and watch."

She flinched and began calming down slowly.

Trust... yes, she would trust her son. She would never doubt him.

The Queen took a deep breath and sat down, watching as Hancock appeared on the stream once more.

Raisa's eyes narrowed at seeing the way the woman was eyeing her son and judging by the flush on her cheeks...

"Oh no... is that Love Sickness?"

Judging by Hancock's mannerisms... and the fact that she had an unknown illness, it was very likely love sickness.

"I heard the empress before Hancock died of love sickness," Dalia mentioned, gnawing her lips a bit at the danger Rosan could be in soon.

But she couldn't resist the small smile at seeing Boa Hancock, head over heels in love with one Monkey D. Luffy.

"Hahaha!" Dalia laughed freely. "She's in love with Straw Hat! Well, he is really cute!" she gushed.

Raisa let out a sigh. "I thought she was in love with Rosan," she said in relief.

Her son in question, looked horribly amused as he realized what was happening... and that amusement deepened as Hancock began doting over him like he were a child.

Raisa stamped down her jealousy.

She wanted to dote on Rosan... Would he let her? He seemed pretty accepting of most things...

The Queen watched Rosan vanish into his little dimension, explaining it a little to the wondered Dalia and Oren, smiled slightly at seeing the brothers reunite (if it made Rosan happy, it made her happy) and frowned at seeing the visible distress on Rosan's face as he collapsed in his bed.

He looked very stressed out... was he alright? He might have been speaking to Mod and Ram because he was seemingly saying random things aloud...

And then he suddenly perked up and vanished again... before appearing right in front of a beautiful young woman with striking blue eyes.

The sheer relief on Rosan's face floored her. It didn't even take Raisa a second to realize this was Nico Robin because her son looked hopelessly in love with her.

Dalia whistled. "So that's his girlfriend? Our little Rosan really knows how to attract the beauties!" she praised.

Raisa hit her in the head. "Don't whistle like that. It's rude," she chastised, focusing back on the screen.

Nico Robin was as beautiful as Dalia said she was and she was very clearly reciprocating the love she had for him...

That was all she was allowed to see because Rosan merely cuddled her deeply and then shut the stream off.

Dalia fanned herself. "Wow, they sure waste no time!" she blushed.

Oren rolled his eyes and stood up. "You are a depraved idiot. If that video starts again, could you call us, Raisa?" he asked.

Raisa was staring at the doll with a unreadable expression.

"Right, I'll call you too. Take all the things out of my room please."

"Kay!" Dalia waved with a yawn, effortlessly lifting up the huge table with the assorted meals with one hand and making her way out of the room.

"Goodnight Raisa," Oren waved as well, grabbing all the wrappers.

"Goodnight," she said simply.

...

Nico Robin... that was a woman that Rosan trusted with all his heart. Raisa could see it in the way they looked at each other.

That was real love... Raisa was glad Rosan found it.