Due to the disorientation technique from Izumi, the CP9 agents took full advantage of it right before she left her range and quickly grabbed all of their opponents.

Taking a page out of Izumi's book, the assassins chose to isolate their targets and dragged each of them to a room before they could properly react.

"I expect you all to win your battles. Once you win, assist Izumi in dealing with the Angel of Death and capture him at all costs," Rob Lucci said coldly, punting Luffy far away before immediately pursuing him.

"Right!" They barked, pursuing their own foes.

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

Usopp grunted as he was pushed through a door and he tumbled about in the massive room before catching himself.

"I'm really fighting one of these super strong assassin dudes!" he thought nervously, steeling himself for the upcoming war.

His opponent soon revealed himself and Nero sneered. "It's a shame that I have to fight someone of your caliber but I'm the weakest CP9 member so beggars can't be choosers," he scowled.

That damn Izumi… she was only 3 years older then him so how was she already so much stronger? He had been training at an even younger age then her when she showed up at 13 but now she was only under Rob Lucci in strength…

If she was considered talentless, then what was everyone else?!

"He's the weakest?!" Usopp thought.

H...He could win this!

Withdrawing his slingshot, Usopp aimed at the man and said, "Explosive Star!"

Nero quickly activated Soru and dashed out of the way, appearing above Usopp with a kick at the ready.

"Rankakyu!"

Usopp hastily blocked the incoming attack with his hammer, before dashing a safe distance away.

Nero sneered and activated Geppo, kicking through the air to pursue the masked man.

He dodged shot after shot from Usopp but didn't make much headway himself, as the liar managed to deflect all of his Rankakyus with that strange hammer.

The CP9 agent grit his teeth in frustration…

If he had Shigan, he could have just pierced this man's chest. What a bother…

"This is getting us nowhere," Usopp thought with a frown. The man was like an annoying insect, using strange techniques that he had never seen before to dart around.

He couldn't lock on properly and hit him… this was super frustrating!

Not to mention… he was all out of Rosan's fire filled pellets for a quick finish.

Darn it…

Nero continued to dash around the air, dodging attacks from Usopp all the while, before he suddenly switched tactics.

"Soru."

Usopp had no time at all to react to the man's superhuman speed, as Nero appeared directly behind him.

"Rankakyu!"

"G-Gagh!" Usopp spat out blood as the sharp slice of air slammed into his back, drawing a long line of red and sending him tumbling.

Nero was ruthless.

"Rankakyu!" He repeated, hitting Usopp once more and making the sniper scream, blood beginning to pool on his body.

Finally, the agent pulled out his flintlocks and unloaded two shots into the man, scoffing as Usopp went silent.

"Waste of my time… perhaps I can go help Izumi deal with the Red Devil… defeating and capturing him will surely raise my prestige," Nero muttered to himself.

Usopp lay on the ground in defeat, as blood pooled under him.

"Ah… I should have trained more… I was too afraid to join those monsters but it would have helped a lot."

"Ah… I shouldn't have interrupted Rosan when he was trying to talk, then I wouldn't have to be here fighting this guy because we'd already have Robin back…"

"Ah… I wish I had one more of Ragnarok's pellets. It would have been really useful here but I stupidly left the crew and Rosan wants nothing to do with me."

"Ah… I wish I never left the crew…" Usopp finished with a defeated sigh.

If only he hadn't let something like this tear them apart. Usopp didn't know why they put so much faith in him in the first place...

"They took so much from us... I won't ever let them take one of the few things we have left... each other."

"Please! Please take me back into the crew! Please come save your stupid crewmate! I don't want to die yet, I WANT TO LIVE!"

As his life flashed before his eyes, Usopp recalled the words of his vulnerable scout and archaeologist. The impossibly rare fear in Rosan's eyes… the tears that they had only seen once before in Robin's…

Those two just wanted to be together again…

What was he doing right now? Wallowing in his regrets while wasting away. Right now, his not fully healed scout was fighting with everything he had to get Robin back and Usopp didn't even land a hit on his opponent?

No, his entire crew (yes, his crew!) were no doubt doing the same thing. There was no way they'd let this be the end because they still had so much journeys to go on…

And Usopp wanted to go with them too!

This couldn't be the end. Usopp just needed to get up and win.

But how would he win…?

"You have potential."

Oh… that's right, he would win because this wasn't the limits of his potential. He still had more to do. He still had so much room to grow.

With the Straw Hats, his true crew.

Nero paused in his footsteps, as he heard a noise from behind and he raised a brow at seeing Usopp standing.

"You're still alive, weakling?" He asked himself, shrugging and grabbing his flintlocks. "I'm still sloppy I suppose if I can't even make sure someone is dead… but I'll just make amends."

The long nose was practically dead on his feet already, with blood leaking all over his body so Nero would make this quick.

Aiming his flintlocks at the sniper, Nero pressed the trigger and fired… only to blink at seeing it fail to hit his target.

Huh?

Not one to be deterred, the man fired two more shots, that turned into nearly a dozen as Usopp sidestepped each and every shot with a startling ease.

"W-What? He has Kami-e?!" Nero gaped, taking a step back in surprise before regaining his confidence.

"Well it doesn't matter! Rankakyu!"

Usopp pulled out his hammer and aimed it at the attack before Nero even put his foot up, absorbing the lethal attack.

"W-What? Is he predicting my attacks?!"

The sniper gazed directly at Nero, mind running a mile a minute.

"I can feel him! And not just him… I feel everyone?! I can see their auras too! Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Rosan, Robin, Chopper. The Agents… Franky… Hell I can feel the people still outside of the tower!"

Was this… Haki? Did Usopp… unlock his own Haki?!

"You have potential."

Rosan was right. ROSAN WAS RIGHT! HE REALLY DID HAVE POTENTIAL AND HE'D STOP PRETENDING LIKE HE DIDN'T!

THE FIRST STEP STARTED RIGHT HERE AND NOW!

Usopp took out his trusty slingshot and took aim at Nero, masked eyes gleaming as he saw the man's next actions.

"Special Attack: Thunder Star!"

Nero took too the skies to avoid the shot, only to let out a strained yell, as his opponent anticipated his exact whereabouts and adjusted his shot.

A flying net lashed out and captured Nero, bringing him to the ground before it began lighting up with electricity.

"G-GAHH!" Nero howled as the net began electrocuting him with ruthless force.

But Usopp wasn't done yet. He pressed a button on his weapon and was satisfied to see it grow to ludicrous lengths.

Introducing the new version of his slingshot, Kabuto! Using a combination of Modification and the Dials he received from Skypiea, Rosan and Usopp had crafted a new and improved weapon that was incredibly versatile in all situations!

It was an incredible weapon, one that Usopp wouldn't have been able to create alone… and one that Rosan wouldn't have been able to create without his help.

(He didn't use it against Luffy because the fight had been over before he could and he wanted to use it as a surprise option in case the rubber boy resorted to Gear 2nd)

He really did have potential and it was time to start living up to to his crews expectations.

It didn't matter if he was the weakest in the crew… he just needed to be stronger then the person he faced.

Being the weakest in a crew full of monsters didn't sound that bad… if they accepted him back.

Aiming the massive slingshot at the writhing Nero trying to take the net off, Usopp planted the weapon on the ground, satisfied to see it standing upright on its own and aimed, before pressing a button.

"Special All Out Attack: Turret Star!"

"ARGHHHH!" Nero shrieked as a water star pelted him with harsh force, before splashing him and magnifying the effects.

But the misery didn't end there.

Then, a plethora of shurikens slammed into his vulnerable body, drawing blood and making the man squeal in agony.

Then the Lead Stars that he insulted before were next and Nero felt his eyes flicker.

This new version of his slingshot, utilized Modification's impressive technology, to seamlessly supply him the pellet he needed, while firing with either his help, or by itself if he was in a bind…

Or if he opted to use his rare close combat.

Like now.

As his slingshot entered "Turret Mode" and bombarded Nero with all kinds of pellets, Usopp decided to cash in his receipt, in the form of the hammer infused with an impact dial that had been absorbing all of Nero's Rankakyus.

"I don't have time to waste on you when Robin is in trouble!" Usopp huffed. "Here, have a taste of your own medicine!"

"Impact Hammer!"

He crashed it on the man's sternum.

The effects were immediate.

Nero's eyes bugged, as his stomach was shredded by the effects of his own power being turned against him. He spat out a river of blood, as red began pooling under him.

Then, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he went limp.

Usopp huffed in exhaustion, as he fell on his back, before that huff turned into a pained yelp.

Finally, he began laughing in joy at his victory.

He did it! He won and he got stronger from it too!

But he was too injured to really move… darn it, he needed to save Robin…

Usopp groaned and tried to push himself up, opting to crawl instead when that failed too.

First… get Kabuto… then rest up until he could actually move some… Then go get Robin…

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

Franky was fighting a really annoying guy.

Zipper mouth utilized a bunch of weird techniques called Rokushiki (he talked a lot) and it was very stupid to deal with.

The cyborg particularly hated the ones that allowed Fukuro to constantly move around and dodge his attacks.

Even when Franky did hit him, he utilized something called Tekkai and weathered his super strong punches…

It still hurt him because Franky's punches were real iron but still, this fight would have been over a long time ago if these pesky techniques didn't exist.

"Stop moving around so much you super stupid coward," Franky growled to the gossiper.

Fukuro felt a tick form at that. "Chappa! What did you just say?"

Him a coward?! Now he was mad!

"Fine, how about I show you my super-heavy punch thrown with the speed of a Shigan!" Fukuro growled.

"Solid Beast!"

Franky's head flew back as the punch connected to his face, before the cyborg grinned.

"You call that heavy? That's the most gentle punch I've ever felt!" He growled, cocking his fist back.

"Strong Hammer!"

"Tekkai!"

Fukuro's eyes flickered, as the devastatingly strong punch crashed into his face and sent him flying through a wall.

"I'm super full on Cola frog mouth!" Franky grinned, getting into a boxing stance. "You think you stand a chance against me?! You're superrrr wrong!"

The cyborg quickly closed the distance and ducked into Fukuro's guard, before delivering another punch…

Only for the agent to Kami-e out of the way last second.

Then, he activated Soru and vanished from Franky's sight.

"Hm? Where did he go?" Franky grunted in annoyance.

"I'm faster then the eye can see. I am a master of Soru and I attack my prey silently, like an owl. My kills are quick and final, my targets never see me until the moment of their death," Fukuro stated.

Franky let out a yell as a Shigan pierced him directly in the back, drawing out a spurt of blood, before the finger was removed and replaced by one of Fukuro's heavy and fast punches.

He went flying into a wall and before he could catch himself, he heard—

"Iron Ball!"

Franky's eyes bugged, as Fukuro used his own body as a wrecking ball and crashed directly into him.

The force sent him flying out of the tower, where the sea was right below him and based on the structure of Enies Lobby, he'd die very quickly.

"Chapapa," Fukuro said, blood leaking from his body from his battle. "He was strong… but you can't beat Rokushiki with strength alone."

The rotund man tried to walk away, only to pause in shock as something latched around his leg.

"!" The agent's eyes widened in confusion and he glanced down to see a metallic arm gripping his leg with crushing force, before it began pulling him backwards.

In panic, Fukuro began using Geppo to maintain his position in the building and began flying away from the hole in the wall, not realizing he was helping his opponent out in the process.

Franky used his grip on Fukuro's leg to pull himself back up into the building, bleeding harshly from the man's assault and glared at him.

Using his elongated arm, Franky let out a mighty yell and heaved the agent into the ground with concussive force.

"Tekkai!" Fukuro said right before he collided with the ground, weathering the blow easily and pushing himself back up…

Only for teeth to fly as a heavy fist collided with his face.

Before he could fly too far, Franky gripped him and body slammed him into the floor so that he could not escape from him, before delivering blow after blow on the man's body.

"This is bad! He's breaking through my Tekkai so easily!" Fukuro thought in disbelief as he threatened to black out from the assault.

Before that could happen, he activated a last ditch Kami-e and weaved one of the blows, before pushing Franky off of him with all his might and dashing away, entering his Soru enhanced stealth mode once more.

"Chapapa. I'm going to finish this now!" Fukuro shouted angrily, dashing around the whole field.

Franky grunted at that and attempted to adjust his shades, before realizing he didn't have them on.

Oh well, it was the thought that mattered.

"Cola super full, super good week for me, super passionate crew who wants their girl back… He's moving around a lot… but I can hit him," he thought to himself in full confidence.

Franky held out his hand, unmindful of the vanishing agent…

Then he turned around rapidly, facing the surprised Fukoru with a wild grin.

"What?!" The agent thought in surprise, eyes bugging out of his head as he saw the menacing grin on the cyborg.

"Having one obvious weakness can be just as bad for the enemy too!" Franky grinned cockily, aiming squarely at the man.

"Gives them some super nasty tunnel vision. Anyone who wants to take Franky out quick, always tries to go for the back! Too bad for you, Franky is SUPER aware of that!"

"Oh no, he got me. Tekkai—"

"Coup de Vent!"

Franky's arms began to suck in air, causing his arms to rapidly swell before it reached maximum capacity.

Finally, he released the super focused air.

The results were devastating.

The concentrated air slammed right into Fukuro with concussive force, nearly caving his stomach in.

The agent's eyes rolled in his skull, as he was sent flying through the air, crashing into the wall and landing in an unconscious heap.

"SUPER!" Franky slammed his forearms together. "Now, I gotta go save Nico Robin…"

"We could create inventions on the level of Vegapunk if your claims are true."

The cyborg pondered that statement before dashing off.

He kinda wanted to see what Red was talking about...

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

Chopper, when he wasn't practicing with Demon, actually normally spent his time working with his fellow Zoan, Maro.

After their conversation, the two had been practicing utilizing their Zoan's together to... not that much success.

Though, Chopper very quickly realized just how monstrous the Queen was in battle and when you added her Rumble Balls...

To be honest, Chopper felt like his battles with Rosan were closer than they were with Maro but he just knew that it was because of their preferred styles and abilities.

They both still destroyed him pretty easily though...

"In theory, we should be able to activate those additional forms without the Rumble Ball," Chopper muttered.

"The Rumble Ball doesn't create new forms for you… it just allows us to manipulate your body in a way that lets you use forms you'd need intense practice to have normally. Like... my mage form for example! It just lets me utilize more of my Dokkaebi magic but I should be able to do without drugs," Maro theorized.

That made a lot of sense actually... it's not like the Rumble Ball gave Maro more magic to use... it just let her utilize more of what she had...

"So you're saying we're basically skipping out on steps with the Rumble Ball… but if I focus on those steps… I could easily activate the forms I use without it!" Chopper exclaimed with wide eyes.

The Queen nodded enthusiastically. "I think so! After that Berserk form incident, Master told me that the form I used seemed related to Devil Fruit Awakening, which is why we lose control. We aren't supposed to be using it yet," she explained to her fruit sibling.

Devil Fruit Awakening? Chopper had never heard of such a thing...

It sounded interesting but apparently, neither Rosan nor Mod-chan knew much about it at all.

"I've been trying to practice activating my new forms without the rumble but it's so hard… ugh I need more control of my body to do it," she whined. Maro was talented, she hated not being able to do something that she felt she could do.

Chopper cupped his chin in contemplation at that.

"More control of the body? That might be it! Maro, have you ever heard of something called Biofeedbac— W-WOAH!"

Whatever the reindeer was about to say, was interrupted by the sight of Maro squealing and glomping him.

"Has anyone ever told you how goddamn adorable you are?" Maro gushed, keeling over at seeing him cup his chin with his little hooves.

Chopper lit up red at that and began wiggling happily. "Who said you could call me adorable, bastard!"

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

Right… he never did tell Maro about his musings…

But there was a reason that memory suddenly sprouted in his head.

Because he was sure he found the answer to he and Maro's worries… The only problem, was that it was very possible he was going to die before he could share his thoughts with the queen.

The reindeer's thoughts were interrupted, as he desperately jumped out of the way of the stick trying to stab into him, blood flying from the movement.

Kumadori, his opponent, utilized a Rokushiki technique called Seimei Kikan and it gave him complete control over his bodily functions. It allowed him to control his hair, weight, etc and Chopper wanted to learn it for himself so that he could teach it to Maro… but… it was really hard.

The reindeer had already expended one Rumble Ball and while he managed to do decent damage, that Tekkai of his managed to help him weather the full 3 minute assault.

He now knew what Rosan meant when he told Maro, 3 minutes was not nearly enough time to defeat him. If you could wait out the 3 minutes, your advantage would be gone.

Without the Rumble Ball, he didn't have enough power to break through the Tekkai without it. If he could just enter Arm Point at will, this would be much easier.

He should have put a more earnest effort into training… if he had perhaps delved deeper into Biofeedback, he might be able to enter his other points at will… and now that he found a breakthrough, he could potentially lose the battle and die.

Consuming a second Rumble Ball, had done nothing for him but make the battle even more one-sided in the agent's favor.

He couldn't control which form he entered after eating a second Rumble Ball and he had suffered heavy damage entering the wrong ones at the wrong times.

Case in point, Chopper tried to enter Guard Point to withstand the Shigan from the man's multiple hair tendrils but entered Heavy Point instead, leaving him vulnerable to the attack and punching holes into his body.

He could do nothing but accept the punishment as he tried desperately to transform into Arm Point…

To make matters worse, the moment he did transform into Arm Point, he had put everything into deliver his ultimate attack and the man withstood it!

This sucked… he just… needed to win this battle… but he was all out of options…

Well, all but one… but… but could he really do that?

The reindeer shuddered at the idea of having to eat a third Rumble Ball.

Last time he had eaten three Rumble Balls, he couldn't even remember what happened but the idea that he couldn't control himself and was capable of causing such destruction…

It terrified him.

He distantly thought back to how Maro had shown no fear at all for eating Rumble Balls. Ever after turning into such a terrifying monster... the only thing that had caused her fear, was the idea that she could have hurt her family...

The actual transformation didn't scare her at all... she wanted to control it of all things so that it never happened again.

He wanted to be like her… Maro was so strong and so fearless but he was so scared! How could he muster up the courage to willingly slip back into a form that wanted to do nothing but cause harm?

What if he really was a monster? Could Chopper live with that? Could he... live with the idea that he was proving all the people who doubted him right?

"You can become our monster and we won't think any less of you, Tony Tony Chopper. Even if everyone fears you, as long as we don't, it'll be okay."

Those were the words of Rosan… as he and Robin smiled encouragingly at him.

Rosan and Robin… those two needed his help. They were relying on him to pull his weight so that they could all save their crewmate.

Rosan was fighting right after getting tortured. He didn't fear himself, he didn't fear what he was doing in pursuit of saving Robin.

He was a monster and he didn't care. He was a monster so that he could save the ones he loved.

The only fear he had shown them, was the fear of losing Robin. And even though Chopper was afraid of turning into something he couldn't control… he was more afraid of losing one of the few people who would accept him for who he was.

"Rumble."

Kumadori blinked in confusion, only for a look of pure terror to cross his features as his opponent began to change.

A shadow formed over the agent's figure, as Chopper began growing and growing until he completely eclipsed him in height. His hooves transformed into hands, but each digit had long thick hooves in the shape of fingers, his fur grew wildly on his upper half, his horns grew massively...

"What is that?!" Kumadori thought in utter horror.

His opponent, had access to a form like this?!

Massive, hairy and not a hint of consciousness in his eyes, Chopper let out a bestial roar as his empty, cyan glowing, eyes stared straight ahead.

"WROOOOOOOO!"

"Y-You… DIE!" Kumadori roared. "Geppo!"

He began flying through the air and beelined straight for the still creature.

Sniff sniff

The creature that was Chopper, suddenly sniffed the air and before Kumadori could even react, the monster whirled around with dreadful speed that belied his gigantic size and smashed his hooved fingers into the man.

"S-Such speed," Kumadori cried out in agony, feeling those keratin hooves nearly carve into him.

The agent felt his bones creaking, as Chopper crushed him into the ground and the man tried to move away, until he saw a clenched fist flying towards him.

In a last ditch effort, the agent attempted to defend himself by saying, "Tekkai-"

The fist crashed into its target with no regard for its safety.

"WROOOOOOO!"

Not finished yet, the monster repeatedly slammed his fist into Kumadori's defenseless form, unmindful of the fact that he was utterly pulverizing the man's body, unmindful of the blood marring his giant hand, unmindful of the fact that his opponent had lost consciousness a long time ago.

He just continued to crush the man beneath his fist, before finally growing satisfied and picking the mangled body up.

"WROOOOOOO!" Chopper roared before launching the broken man at breakneck speed straight through a wall and into the unforgiving water below.

The creature sniffed once more before trudging off.

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

"This entire room is a trap. That woman has a strange Devil Fruit."

A somewhat weakened Nami agreed with that notion. This sexy secretary lady utilized a strange Devil Fruit that she was very clearly excited to try out because she was doing completely ridiculous things and it was kind of annoying.

Still though, it was a formidable fruit… Whatever it was, it had managed to weaken Nami almost the moment Kalifa had made contact with her, while dragging the navigator to her room.

"Normally I'd toy around with someone as weak as you… but if I can assist Izumi, our chances of defeating the Angel of Death should skyrocket," Kalifa muttered, a hint of fear tinging her voice at the thought of that demon of a redhead.

"As if I'd let you make it to Rosan! You have way more things to worry about then him!" Nami barked in annoyance, Clima sparking with electricity.

Clima had been upgraded recently by both Usopp and Rosan. Not only did the redhead implement his own elements into them, their former sniper had put some dials into it as well that would help support her fantasies.

It was time to test it all ou—

Kalifa blurred in front of her, finger raised high to pierce her through.

"Who says you have a choice?" The agent smirked seductively.

A billowing cloud lashed out in front of Nami, stopping the attack in its tracks.

Kalifa withdrew with a hiss, grabbing her throbbing finger with a look of surprise.

Was that cloud made out of iron?!

"I'd stop underestimating me if I were you," Nami said cheekily, spinning Clima and forming a cloud above the woman.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!" She shouted, bringing down the bolt of lightning towards the surprised Kalifa.

An explosion took place, the moment the bolt hit the ground and Nami grinned confidently.

"Keep your guard up," Clima instructed.

The navigator nodded and idly charged up fire this time, waiting for the dust to settle.

She was thankful for Clima's heads up because Kalifa's entire body was encased in some type of soap. Once it dissolved away into bubbles, it revealed the completely unharmed woman to her.

Kalifa smirked. "Finding out the mystery of my power is proving quite difficult, isn't it—"

"Ah! So she's some type of soap woman who can control bubbles," Nami muttered, loud enough for Kalifa to pick up.

"That's the conclusion I came too as well. I'm not sure what the bubbles do, but be wary of them."

The blonde agent blushed and began sweating. "W-Well, just because you figured it out doesn't mean your victory is assured! You impudent girl!" Kalifa stammered.

Nami sweatdropped at the flustered girl. "I feel a little bad for guessing that easily."

"Focus," Clima demanded.

She shook her head and nodded.

Kalifa's eyes couldn't help but go wide, as terribly familiar red flames poured out of Nami's weapon, before taking the form of a whip that the navigator shot out in a wide arc.

She blurred out of the way and felt her horror growing, at the sight of the flame whip slicing through the concrete like it were made of butter.

The blonde's eyes narrowed in worry and she blurred again, appearing behind Nami this time and smirking as the iron like wall blocked her from view.

"Got you!" She thought, activating Soru once more and appearing directly in front of the shocked navigator.

Activating her Devil Fruit, Kalifa threw out a barrage of bubbles that landed on Nami and weakened her tremendously.

Then, she ducked into her guard and grabbed the girl's legs, running up and down on the limbs swiftly.

"Golden Hour," she muttered, turning the appendages useless.

Nami yelped as she slipped and the orange haired girl looked down, shrieking as she saw the state of her feet.

What was this? Why did her body look so smooth and stupid?!

A gust of wind, alerted her to the fact that Kalifa was moving again and she threw up the iron clouds a second too late, as the agent shot a slice of wind that cut her deeply in the stomach.

"Ugh!" The navigator spit up blood, as the force sent her flying.

"You're far more dangerous then I thought," Kalifa muttered, watching the girl bounce across the ground until she crashed into a wall. "I should finish this."

Nami's eyes widened in horror as the agent charged her with Soru but she was quicker to react this time, throwing up an iron cloud that covered her entire body and causing Kalifa to suck her teeth in annoyance.

"If the soap isn't on me, I get my power back… but the whole room is soapy so I was dragged into a really advantageous position for her…" she gnawed her lips.

"Not to mention your legs are useless at the moment. Unless you know how to counter its effects, we will have to go at this in a different manner," Clima pondered.

Nami frowned. She needed to focus on the thing she could do right now, which was get rid of the bubbles in the room.

Then, she could focus on her legs.

The moment the iron cloud went back into Clima, Kalifa was already on the move.

"Rankakyu!" she shouted with a smirk.

Nami tried to move, only to stumble as her legs failed her.

The slicing wind connected square with her body and Kalifa's smirk widened… only to turn into one of confusion as the woman vanished from her sight.

"Over here!" Nami called with a cocky grin, making Kalifa grit her teeth in annoyance.

The agent dashed forward, and prepared to plant a finger in her chest, going slowly so as to not stab the iron cloud and she felt confused as the wall didn't show up.

Her confusion was soon answered, as she once more went through Nami.

"Fast," she thought in disbelief. Was the girl so fast that she could form afterimages of herself?

Such speed—

"Tempest!"

The real Nami had been distracting Kalifa with those mirages, so as to get her next attack ready and it was ready.

She needed to get rid of the bubbles in the room, so she'd get rid of every single bubble.

Nami couldn't help but stumble in exhaustion, as she began accumulating the necessary amount of wind, before letting her attack fly.

"Note to self… using Rosan's half with Clima can drain my energy… must be because we're connected," she muttered but that exhaustion made way for pride because her attack was a sight to behold.

Kalifa let out a yell of surprise as a gale of all things, conjured from nowhere and began sweeping up everything in the room. Debris began flying, the windows shattered from the effects and she herself had to grab onto something to remain in place, wincing and activating Tekkai to weather the powerful winds.

Her shock only got worse, as yet another cloud formed over her and the entire room but this time, it began raining.

"Huh?" Nami said in confusion, as her legs transformed back to normal from the water hitting it. "Oh! Rain turns me back to normal… what a nice coincidence!" she beamed.

"She found out by accident?! Then what is this rain for?" Kalifa thought in concern, turning towards Nami… and stepping back in confusion at seeing 5 of her.

"Do you like my mirages?" Nami asked with a smug grin, all five speaking at once. "You have a one in five chance of finding out which one is me and by the time you do, my attack will be ready and you're going to pay for everything you've done to my archaeologist," she said ominously, brown eyes darkening.

Kalifa grit her teeth and leapt into the air, ignoring the pouring rain and cocking back her feet.

"Rankakyu: Storm!" She shouted, shooting out a barrage of slicing blades towards the Namis and connecting with every single one of them.

The assassin felt an impending doom forming, as not a single one let out a cry of pain from the winds attacking them and instead fizzled out of sight.

"Surprise!" Nami, who was floating above the rain cloud grinned cheekily. "I lied! Did you really think I'd tell the truth there?!"

Kalifa balked at the shameless woman.

"What a ditz," Nami sighed, before finalizing the rest of her attack.

Well it didn't matter if Nami was fighting the smartest person on the planet, she simply couldn't afford to lose this battle.

There was far too much on the line and above all, these people made Robin cry.

"Let this be a lesson CP9," Nami began coolly, twirling her staff with expertise.

"You never mess with one of ours and you never make them cry. We're all quite possessive," Nami smiled.

The twirling stopped and Kalifa went pale.

"Strong winds, heavy rain… a storm cloud… Sorry secretary lady you're completely outta luck today…" she muttered, eyes gleaming sadistically as the winds in the room began picking up slowly.

Nami summoned her iron clouds once more and they slowly began covering her frame, as she gazed at the shocked agent.

"The forecast is saying we're in for quite the…"

The iron cloud completely covered her person, but not before Kalifa heard one last thing that made her go white.

"Hurricane."

Kalifa only had a moment to brace herself, before nature itself imposed its presence onto the woman and overwhelmed her completely.

"T-Tekkai!"

True to its namesake, the entire room was engulfed in heavy rain and winds befitting a hurricane.

And Kalifa was the target for it all.

It tore into the woman with ruthless force, uncaring that she was wholly incapable of defending herself.

Nature did not care of such thing. Kalifa was battered and tossed around, as the dangerous winds upheaved even the stone floor, causing her to get trashed by the debris.

Not even the Tower of Justice, was safe from it's effects and the already beat up building, from all the other battles happening simultaneously, began creaking and tipping in warning.

The woman's eyes rolled to the back of her head, as the unstoppable winds sent her crashing into whatever it so desired.

At this point, it didn't even feel like the attack was meant for her. It just felt as if she were an unfortunate product of a natural disaster striking.

Finally, almost like it weren't even there, it stopped and Kalifa's body dropped to the floor.

Nami sighed in exhaustion and fell to her knees, not expecting a technique from her weapon to drain her so much.

"Ask Rosan to increase my stamina. How can he fling so many techniques around without a hitch after being injured? This is fucking exhausting," she thought in disbelief.

What type of freak of nature was their scout? Nami felt her eyes threatening to close at such a taxing technique.

She idly wondered how exhausting it was to use Modification. Rosan always had it active.

Her iron cloud slowly released her and she surveyed the damage in the room as she gently fell to the floor.

The navigator couldn't help but whistle at the state of the defeated Kalifa. Her outfit had been almost completely torn to shreds by the effects of her artificial hurricane and it left quite the sight.

She felt like a dirty old man for staring…

"I-Incredible!" Clima gaped, gazing at the soaked floor and the torn stone. "That liar really is useful. Without his half, the idea of making a makeshift Hurricane would be inconceivable. Not to mention the rain! And the mirages! Excellently done, Master Nami!"

She beamed at the praise, a little awed at the damage she was capable of causing and gazed at the weapon with an appreciative glance.

That's right… this was a culmination of Rosan and Usopp's efforts and it helped her deal with an assassin of all things.

Hell, she just made a hurricane! That was so fucking awesome! The possibilities of what she could do, were endless!

Now, it was time to go save her archaeologist, then check if anyone else needed help once she did that…

Robin needed them… and the look on Rosan's face… the look of fear at the idea that he'd lose her… the tears in her eyes at the idea that she'd be taken from them...

Nami understood that feeling well. She felt the same way as her older brother so she'd be damned if anyone took the woman from them.

Also getting a favor out of Rosan sounded nice. Asking him something and he'd do anything to grant it? That was too good to be true.

Maybe she'd get him to permanently transform into a woman for a week. Rosanna (Robin told her the name!) was a real beauty.

She clutched her wound and spit up some blood, huffing at the pain and whining as she threatened to fall asleep.

"I don't suppose you can suddenly heal now, can you?"

"No, Master Nami! You'd have to implement such technology yourself! Master Rosan has no interest in learning of medicine and will likely never attempt to learn it."

She groaned and summoned an iron cloud, before sitting on it and summoning a gust of wind to lazily push her forward.

"You are a frightening genius, Master Nami," Clima muttered. He was an AI created by Rosan and the redhead admittedly, didn't know too much about the intricacies of weather like Nami did, so naturally Clima was the same.

Everything he learned, was by being in close proximity to Nami and she taught him a lot.

Nami let out a pained sigh and ripped her outfit up some (reluctantly and painfully) to wrap it around her wound to the best of her ability… without compromising her modesty too much.

"Thank you Clima. You're very useful too. I was getting tired of walking."

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

Sanji was sort of regretting not putting more effort into training with the training freaks (and Robin-chan and Maro-chan!).

Despite his frequent injuries, it's not like his battle was impossibly difficult. His opponent, Jabra, was a Wolf Zoan and that made him quite sturdy while packing a punch.

But he could deal with that honestly.

The problem was that he couldn't figure out this damn technique he was thinking of!

Every time he attempted it, the Wolf Man would punish his mistake and that was really the only reason Sanji was injured.

The chef clenched his teeth in annoyance and idly wiped the blood off his forehead.

"What the hell are you even doing?" Jabra asked with a raised brow.

His opponent had been trading blows pretty evenly with him (with the blonde even getting the advantage at times), but at certain points, he would kick from very far away, curse aloud, Jabra would close the distance with Soru and nick the blonde with his sharp claws before Sanji dashed away with great speed himself.

That technique almost looked like Soru… wait… wait a damn second.

"Rankakyu!" Jabra shouted, shooting a blade of wind at Sanji, who's eyes widened in surprise.

"THAT'S IT—" Sanji was too shocked by watching Jabra use the technique he had been thinking of the entire time, to dodge the attack and it connected squarely with his stomach, sending him flying in a spray of blood.

"So this whole time… you were trying to use Rankakyu?!" Jabra gaped in disbelief.

So this crew really did know CP9 techniques?! He thought Rob Lucci was just kidding but clearly not!

Sanji, blood leaking from his wounds, took out a cigarette and lit it. He took a puff, before pulling himself up.

"I figured it out. Thanks shitty dog," Sanji said calmly. "Now, I can focus on saving Robin-chan."

Jabra raised a brow. "What exactly did you figure ou—"

The agent had no time to react, as Sanji earnestly went on the offensive for the first time this fight.

Jabra only had a moment to say "Tekkai," before a kick nearly shattered his defense and sent him flying.

"Impressive strength," he noted, pushing himself up and grinning wolfishly at the fact that the chef seemed to no longer be holding back.

Maybe he'd finally be able to get a good battle out of someone besides Izumi that didn't involve getting practically drugged like the illusionist loved to do.

The giant wolf pushed himself up and blurred, running straight for Sanji with blood in his eyes.

"Tekkai Kenpo: Wolf Bullet!"

Sanji blurred himself and rocketed off, avoiding the blow before jumping over Jabra.

"Longe!" He shouted, crashing his foot directly on Jabra's back and getting the man to howl in pain.

"That hardening technique of his is annoying… it's like when Rosan coats himself in armament," the chef grunted in annoyance. "I won't be able to take him out unless I up the fire power."

Jabra snarled in annoyance and reached out, gripping Sanji's leg before lashing out with his claws.

"Ten Finger Pistol!" the agent barked as he tried to stab every finger into the chef's midsection.

Sanji grunted and kicked the air hard once, launching himself out of the way.

"Geppo too?! It makes sense that he can use the techniques that requires legs... but who taught him?!" Jabra thought in disbelief, cocking his foot back.

"Rankakyu: Lone Wolf!" Jabra shouted.

A blade of air shot out, bouncing against the ground as it soared to the chef's position.

"Rankakyu!" Sanji shouted in return, grinning eagerly as his own blade of air formed and shot out, clashing with the man's blade and canceling both abilities out.

He learned it already?! How was that even possible.

"What the hell? You've learned it already?!" Jabra grunted in shock, eyes bugging in shock as he gazed at the strange blonde who he had written off earlier.

"...Then that's all that I have left to teach you."

Sanji blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Go ahead and save Robin. With that technique, I know you can do it," Jabra waved him off, taking a seat (still in his wolf form) and loosening his stance until he appeared almost defenseless.

"You all need the key to her cuffs right? Go save my little sister," the agent said, tossing his key to the ground.

The chef blinked again. "Your... sister?" He asked in confusion.

"That's right! We grew up on Ohara together before being forcefully separated... to be honest, I'm only here to make sure nothing bad happens to her," Jabra stated with closed eyes.

Sanji blinked once more… before shrugging. "I guess all the good genes went to Robin-chan... Alright, see ya! Thanks for the key but I don't need it!" He announced, activating Soru and dashing towards the door.

Jabra's jaw dropped and he immediately activated his own Soru to appear in front of Sanji.

"GET BACK HERE!" He howled, only to yell in pain, as a Sanji delivered an upward kick directly to his snout.

"You'll have to lie better than that!" The chef announced, grinning wildly.

Before Jabra could react, the chef used the momentum of his kick to launch the man into the air and kicked the air once, rocketing past the flying man until he reached the apex of their battleground.

Then, the chef began spinning as he descended, reaching Jabra at immense speeds.

"Concassé!" Sanji roared, launching the man towards the floor with crushing force.

The agent rocketed towards the ground and crashed with a loud BOOM, causing dust and debris to fly everywhere.

"Not enough!" Sanji thought, gritting his teeth in annoyance as the agent slowly but surely pulled himself back up.

Jabra snarled and crouched lowly. Not giving Sanji the chance to fully descend, he rocketed off towards the chef.

Activating Geppo, the man began soaring through the air to his target and held both claws up, intent on goring the man through.

"Moonlight Ten Finger Pistol!" Jabra shouted victoriously.

Sanji's eyes flew open and he tried to move out of the way, but he wasn't quick enough and the attack pierced his stomach, before sending him flying into the ceiling above.

He crashed directly through and kept ascending before gravity kicked in, causing him to fall back to the ground with a thud.

"Tch, leaving me with this guy… who does that stupid cat think he is ordering me around. Should have just let me deal with Roronoa Zoro and let the dumb giraffe fight this dumb blonde."

Jabra huffed in annoyance.

Whatever, he'd go deal with the Angel of Death with Puppet. Despite her personality being even more bland then the stupid leopard, he liked her. She was a good sparring partner and any company was better then the dumbass duo of Kumadori and Fukurou.

Yeah, Izumi was the agent he fancied the most so he'd go help her first. He knew what she was capable of and there was no way she could deal with the Red Devil alone... especially considering he had just been revealed to be the daunted Angel of Death—

"What… did… you just say?"

Jabra paused and raised a brow, as his bloodied opponent shakily stood up.

"You're still alive?" He asked, more so to himself as he straightened up once more.

Sanji spat out some blood, shuddering a bit and Jabra snorted loudly.

This guy could barely stand! Look at how much he was shaking!

"You… said I was worse… then the Moss Head?" He asked quietly, voice shaky.

"Obviously," Jabra scoffed, brandishing his claws. "There's a reason he has a bounty and you don't. He's a way bigger threat then you, dumbass."

Shuddering, shaky voice… this fight was as good as ove—

The CP9 agent blinked, as Sanji began spinning in place.

"Oi, you totally lost it haven't you?" Jabra asked with a shake of his head.

Crouching lowly, the wolf activated Soru and blurred forward.

"I do fast kills and you lived way too long. It's time I put you out of your misery."

"Diable Jambe."

"Diable what—" Jabra's eyes widened in confusion, as Sanji's legs lit up of all things. His momentous flight had carried him too far and so he committed to the attack he was planning on doing.

That was a mistake.

"Première Hachis."

Sanji dashed forward at incredible speeds, before leaping into the air and he began rapidly kicking Jabra's Tekkai enhanced body.

Kick after kick slammed into the agent's body, who could only howl in pain as every single one seemed to ignore his defense.

It was then he realized that Sanji hadn't been shaking in fear.

The psycho had been shaking in pure rage.

"YOU THINK I'M WORSE THAN THAT MOSS HEAD?! YOU THINK I'M WORSE THaN THE SHITTY REDHEAD? YOU THINK I DON'T DESERVE TO SAVE ROBIN-CHAN?! YOU THINK I'M THE WEAKEST IN THE CREW?!" Sanji roared, eyes burning as hot as his legs as he pummeled the wolf man with no remorse.

"I-I didn't even say all of that?!" Jabra thought in disbelief as his eyes flickered to the back of his head.

"HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL, KNOWING THAT ROBIN-CHAN IS IN LOVE WITH THAT SHITTY REDHEAD!" Sanji raved, going mad from Jabra's insult.

"COLLIER!" Sanji roared, slamming a foot into the man's neck.

"HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL KNOWING THAT STUPID MOSS HEAD HAS HAKI?!"

"RECEPTION!" He shouted, hooking the leg that was still on the man's neck, fully around and slamming him into the concrete below.

"NOW I HAVE SOME SHITTY DOG TRYING TO STOP ME FROM SAVING ROBIN-CHAN?! AFTER CALLING ME A COMPLETE FAILURE?!"

"This guy is totally insane?!" Jabra thought, body screaming in agony as Sanji utterly trashed him.

The assassin tried a last ditch lunge, all fingers brandished to gore him through with the Shigan, but somehow, Sanji seemed to anticipate the movement and effortlessly sidestepped it.

Jabra got another kick to his gut for his efforts and the man hunched over, spitting out saliva and blood from the devastating kick.

The chef effortlessly kicked up the keeled over wolf, suspending him in midair, before he delivered a brutal kick to his midsection once more.

Jabra's eyes rolled to the back of his skull and the noise of bones breaking resounded through the air, as he went flying.

But Sanji wasn't done.

Cocking his molten hot leg back, Sanji said with a tone of finality, "Searing Shot."

He kicked forward and shot out the Rankakyu, heated up to dreadful degrees because of his Diable Jambe.

The blade of wind shot forward and distorted the air around it due to the heat it was emanating.

Jabra's final thoughts before the molten hot blade smashed into his chest was, "What the hell just happened?!"

No blood flew, due to the heat of the attack instantly cauterizing his wound, and the wolf hybrid transformed back to normal, as he was knocked unconscious.

Sanji huffed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it as his leg transformed back to normal.

He closed his eyes for a long time, before realization struck him.

In the last moments of that battle... Sanji had seen Jabra's last ditch efforts to attack him, well before he actually did it.

That meant only one thing.

Observation.

The chef puffed out smoke, before the euphoria hit and he grinned eagerly.

"That's right! I'm not worse then Moss Head… I'm not worse than the shitty redhead! I've got my Haki now and I just need to pick up my training to catch up to them… yeah that's right!" he said to himself, smile slowly vanishing.

"Robin-chan isn't in love with Rosan… of course she isn't… She was just looking at him like that because he's got a silver tongue… they just bathe together because he's a spoiled brat… yeah. He just gets to see her naked beautiful body because… because..."

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"SHUT UP!" Sanji roared, kicking the defeated body of Jabra repeatedly, despite the man not saying a word.

The broken chef huffed, before turning on a heel and rushing off to go save Robin.

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

Zoro could confidently say, he was much stronger then his opponent, Kaku.

He claimed to use 4 swords, including his legs but even with that, he didn't truly have Zoro's level of skills in the blade.

He had reached a new realm of power after his fight with Ohm. With the addition of Armament Haki, his attacks were far more lethal then what Kaku could deal with.

So what was the problem?

Kaku was fast. Faster than Zoro.

The moment their fight had started, Zoro and Kaku had clashed once, before the agent realized the difference in their strength and adopted a different method.

"You're stronger then I expected," Kaku muttered, leaping back to avoid the lethal swing.

Cue, the hit and run game.

It was as infuriating as it sounded. His body being riddled in injuries, while Kaku remained unharmed, was proof of it.

Kaku would run around the room and launch various blades of wind at him that he had no problem deflecting, but became very annoying when the man would blur into his guard and try to pierce a hole into him.

Still, it didn't really pose much of a problem to him. The only thing made apparent, was that he should have followed in Rosan's steps and learned to coat himself in armament.

He did not have the defensive capabilities that Rosan had practiced with the sheen. Zoro had almost been exclusively learning how to coat all three of his blades in them.

He was beginning to regret that. He was sure Rosan would laugh at him knowingly.

The problems truly began, when the man activated his Zoan.

Despite being such a lame giraffe (Kaku took great offense to that), that did not take away from the fact that the man's strength had increased exponentially.

Almost as soon as he transformed, Kaku had used a variation of that Rankakyu technique, where he spun around in a circle and delivered it in every direction, and it nearly severed the top half of the building they were on in half.

Things only got more difficult from there.

Zoro couldn't fully block the gigantic blades now, enhanced by the size of the agent and some managed to nick him.

He couldn't dodge them all, because if he attempted to dodge one, Kaku would use a variation of the attack and shoot out multiple weaker ones that still hurt a lot.

It seemed like now that he was riddled with cuts, Kaku was done fighting like this too.

Zoro held up his swords to block the hybrid giraffe's square nose and grunted as it launched him back, before he slashed the air and shot a razor sharp blade.

Kaku blurred away from the attack, only to appear behind Zoro.

"Nose Pistol!"

Zoro turned just in time to block the attack and grit his teeth, as he forced his feet into the ground to avoid getting launched away.

Kaku's eyes widened in shock as Zoro remained rooted in his spot and had no time to react to the swordsman immediately capitalizing on his opportunity.

"Two Sword Style: Tower Climb!"

A spray of blood spurted from Kaku's chest from the razor sharp blades.

"Tower Climb Return!"

Kaku only had a moment to activate Kami-E, to avoid being decapitated by Roronoa Zoro and he dashed away once more, much to the annoyance of the swordsman.

"Even with all those cuts, he can still attack with such force?" Kaku thought in disbelief.

Well, no matter… it wasn't really his style but fighting that man up close was no good. He'd need to continue his previous course of action and just continue to whittle him down.

The only reason he had gone back to close range, was because he knew he couldn't kill the man by just doing this and perhaps he had grown tired enough… but clearly Roronoa Zoro was a different beast then the bounties indicated.

Then again... knowing of the Red Devil's true identity... perhaps all of the Straw Hats were being grossly underestimated.

That did not change the fact that his skills had truly dulled at Water 7… for him to resort to such tactics.

Ah well, he was an assassin first and foremost. Winning by any means was his priority and it appeared that the pirate crew were not used to handling a group of assassins who resorted to such tactics.

That made sense, they were rather straightforward.

"Rankakyu: Giraffe Shower!"

Zoro looked up in shock, as the tiny blades repeatedly cut into him. It was impossible to block them all, but he tried to the best of his abilities before falling to his knees and panting.

"Rankakyu: Dragon Sever!"

Kaku went for the kill. Kicking both his legs upward and summoning a blade of wind that looked similar to a large cut.

Zoro's chest exploded in a spray of blood, as he was forcefully elevated by the devastating attack.

The swordsman teetered for a moment before collapsing.

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

Flashback

"I have a very obvious advantage over you, that'll make defeating me almost impossible even when you do catch up to me."

Zoro glanced at the contemplating redhead with a confused expression, prompting Rosan to continue.

"It's best if I show you so you understand. Robin?" He glanced at her.

She nodded and stood up, before walking to the middle of their giant sparring building, idly stretching as her exhaustion began wearing off.

Zoro, understanding what he wanted, quickly took his place on the opposite side of the impressive and massive arena and pulled out all three of his blades.

Rosan had Ram transform into a blade that looked like an intricate katana and nodded to the Devil Child.

"Begin," Robin said, stepping to the safe area and being raised out of the way.

Zoro very quickly found out, exactly what Rosan was talking about as the redhead immediately took to the skies.

What followed next, was one of the most frustrating fights of his life.

The redhead would fly in and out, riddling him with light cuts before dashing away so that Zoro couldn't touch him.

It got so frustrating, that Zoro just wanted to get a single hit in on the elusive redhead only to fail utterly.

Before long, the swordsman was left kneeling on the floor, panting in exertion as Rosan flapped his wings above him.

"That Phoenix move of yours is a good ranged option," Rosan praised, smirking smugly at him and looking utterly infuriating. "But you won't have the luxury of aiming that move against someone like me because I'm really fast. You need a good option against a moving opponent who likes to keep their distance."

Zoro huffed. "Any ideas? I can summon wind blades with my sword too but that's probably not what you're looking for."

The redhead idly grabbed Robin off her stand and nodded, landing next to him.

"Yeah actually I do… I've taken particular interest in one of your techniques," Rosan informed him, eyes gleaming. "I'm a little offended by it's name and the effect it has because I want it to do more."

Zoro listened to Rosan's explanation and his eyes went wide in interest.

"Yeah… I could probably do that…" he muttered.

"Good… though, I doubt you'll have to use it in this specific situation often," Rosan shrugged.

Robin sweatdropped. "So why are you teaching him this? You have a point, it's not often he'll run into an opponent who can maintain a safe distance from him or his ranged techniques."

Zoro felt a feral grin forming, as Rosan's own smirk transformed into something maniacal.

"It's not for other opponents but it will certainly help for them," Rosan said, eyes glinting.

"So then, who is it for?" Zoro asked eagerly, having an idea already.

The redhead flashed a demonic grinned. "Me of course."

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

Right… he still had that technique… but the only way he could use it currently was…

Zoro huffed and pushed himself up, blood pouring from his body as he regarded the surprised Kaku.

The half giraffe looked shocked that he was still standing but just came to accept that the swordsman before him was abnormal and continued his assault.

"Giraffe Cannon!" He announced immediately. The agent retracted his neck into his body, before firing it back out like a cannon.

Zoro lunged to the left to avoid the attack, only to get his ribs smashed by Kaku's long neck.

The swordsman tumbled on the floor before catching himself just in time to see a hail of wind shurikens flying towards him.

He held up all three swords and began spinning them in front of him, using the speed to deflect the sharps attack.

"You're strong… but you aren't fast enough," Kaku said truthfully, appearing behind the swordsman.

Zoro's eyes rolled to the back of his head, as 4 blades, two swords and two legs, crashed into his back with devastating force, launching him across the room yet again.

Kaku couldn't stop the cold sweat from forming, as right after hearing the crash, the swordsman shakily pulled himself back up. Blood was pouring out of him in droves, enough to kill any normal person, but despite that, the demon of a swordsman just continued to get back up...

"What the hell? Am I that rusty? No, this has nothing to do with rust... just what is he?" He thought in disbelief.

Why… wasn't he dead yet? What was happening?! How could anyone move when they looked more akin to a corpse?!

Zoro breathed in heavily, before clutching his swords.

Kaku's eyes narrowed heavily and he got on one hand, before he began spinning rapidly.

"Fine then, I'll finish you off with this attack…"

Whatever Kaku was about to say, was cut off and the man's eyes bugged in horror, as before his very eyes, Zoro manifested 4 extra arms and 2 more heads on his body.

The CP9 agent faltered a bit at the bizarre sight, unable to fathom what he was witnessing.

"W-What? Is he some type of Demon God?!" Kaku thought in disbelief.

He attempted to comprehend the sight before him but came up short.

"Demon Aura: Asura."

"I'm getting tired of you running away," all three heads of Zoro said.

Kaku continued to spin, building up the necessary momentum to finish this. "You won't have to worry about it anymore. The only thing you need to worry about, is withstanding this attack."

"Rankakyu: Sky Slicer!"

The circle shaped Rankakyu, threatened to slice the entire top half of the tower where they were fighting.

Zoro looked at the upcoming attack with an almost serene expression.

"I really don't like that you have a technique with dragon in the name… and it's not enough to destroy everything in your path. So let's make it stronger."

He couldn't yet do this attack naturally, so he needed to rely on Asura to do so…

But the results of that...

"Nine Sword Style: Dragon Storm."

What followed next was armageddon. Kaku gazed, utterly petrified, at the incoming attack.

How would he be able… to escape this?

With all nine of his blades, Zoro conjured not just a tornado… but a storm of sharp winds that began cutting into everything it managed to get its hands on...

Kaku happened to be one of those things.

The gigantic torrent of wind reached Kaku in no time at all, smashing through his strongest Rankakyu.

It consumed the entirety of the room. There would have been nowhere for Kaku to run…

So he was forced to take the attack in its entirety.

The man's eyes rolled to the back of his head, as he was repeatedly cut into by the shredding winds, suit tearing completely and blood beginning to pour.

He had tried to activate his Tekkai, but it didn't matter. The attack had pierced his defenses like they didn't even exist.

The whole room was torn apart… No, the entire top half of the tower was currently being cut into ribbons and it was a good thing no one was above the two, else they'd be caught in this crossfire as well.

The only spot that remained untouched, was the area where the serene Zoro was standing.

He watched with an excited gaze, as his attack struck true.

"I need to thank Rosan for this idea. This isn't just useful for flying opponents… this attack is incredible," he thought to himself, before the excitement dimmed a bit.

He glanced at Yubashiri, the sword gifted to him at Loguetown, with a frown.

It was as he feared. This sword couldn't handle the strain of armament or his higher leveled techniques like Wado Ichimonji or Sandai Kitetsu could. He had noticed during training, but it was always more difficult to apply it to the sword he was gifted with.

The cracks riddled all over it, was proof of that.

The swordsman sighed before sheathing all his blades. He tested his step, before nodding to himself and walking off, unmindful of the amount of blood he was leaking.

"Oh and by the way," Zoro called out to the defeated Kaku.

"That Galley-Ga… Paulie, told me to tell you, that you're fired."

With that, he left the room to go pursue Robin.

"Paulie said that?" Kaku rasped to himself, barely awake before falling unconscious.

Zoro grunted, idly spitting out a glob of blood as he continued his trek.

Now where should he go?

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

Robin huffed, body bruised and battered, as Spandam kept punishing her for every attempt she made to escape.

Blood was leaking from her head, her black outfit was scraped, she was in a lot of pain but none of that even came close to the sheer terror she felt at being separated from her crew.

"WOULD YOU STOP RESISTING?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Spandam roared, yanking her by the hair as she attempted to run off again.

Without any hesitation, he smashed a fist onto her bloodied temple and floored her once more.

"YOU'RE ONLY GOOD FOR DYING!" The man raved, holding her up roughly by her silky hair. "YOU HAVE NO REASON TO LIVE! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

"IF I WANTED TO, I COULD CALL A BUSTER CALL RIGHT NOW AND HAVE ALL YOUR FRIENDS KILLED! ALL OF THEM!" Spandam roared, digging into his pocket as he reached for the Golden Den Den.

Robin huffed slowly, preparing to escape the moment he held her up once more.

There was still time. She wasn't yet on the bridge, being forcefully escorted through the corridor so once she could, she'd make a break for it—

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!" Spandam screeched, eyes bugging in horror. "WHERE IS THE DEN DEN?! WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?! I-IT WAS IN MY POCKET JUST BEFORE?!"

That made Robin react and she regarded him with wide, terror filled, eyes.

"You don't know where it is?! Who has it?!" She asked in shock.

Spandam rounded on her and punched her on the cheek. "SHUT THE HELL UP! IF I KNEW, I WOULDN'T BE WONDERING, BITCH! DON'T EVER TRY TO SPEAK TO ME SO FREELY!" He frothed, digging everywhere in his pocket and going steadily pale as he realized he couldn't find it.

W-When did he lose it? Where was it?! WHERE WAS THE GOLDEN DIAL?!

Did he… forget it in the tower? Did he have to turn back to go look for it? No… he didn't have enough time!

B-But what would Aokiji do to him if he heard that he lost it of all things?!

He needed to turn back and go find it—

The entire tower shaking, halted his thoughts and he gulped.

Could he really go back in there? W-Well… he would just bring Nico Robin there first and have his winning agents bring him the Den Den… right after he could send out calls.

What did that Red Devil do to interfere with his calls? Well... considering he was the Angel of Death, it made sense that he had ways to keep secrets but it was really terrifying knowing that such a monster was lurking on the island, with no one but his agents as backup.

They should easily be able to gang up on him though—

Spandam balked at seeing Robin making great distance away from him, hobbling back towards the shuddering tower with a single minded focus.

Even with all those injuries… she was STILL TRYING?!

"FUNKFREED! DODGE ANY VITALS!" He snarled.

"I don't want to die," Robin chanted to herself as she made as much distance as possible. "I want to travel with the Straw Hats. I want to talk to Angel, Maro, Demon, Aiko, Akemi… I want to grow stronger with them!"

"I want to spend the rest of my days with Rosan! I never want to leave him again!"

The woman couldn't stop the yell of pain, as the elephant tackled into her again, causing even more injuries to bloom on her body as her exposed skin met roughly with the pavement below.

Robin resisted the urge to cry and instead tried to roll away to continue running.

A hand gripped her head and slammed her face into the concrete with crushing force, causing the cry to escape her body.

"Just. Accept. Your. Death!" Spandam hissed. "I already lost the Golden Snail. You think I'm going to lose you too?! You will be turned over to the World Government, Devil."

Blood began pooling under her from all the injuries sustained but still she did not falter.

"Just wait for me Robin… be strong, I'll be over in a flash."

This was nothing… she could still fight. She could still escape. She just needed to wait for an opportunity.

They would save her.

They would save her.

Please save her…

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

Rob Lucci could admit that despite his bounty, despite the fact he was the captain of the Angel of Death, he had not taken much stock of Straw Hat at all.

That was a severe mistake.

The fight had started off simple enough. Luffy and Lucci were clearly testing the waters with each other, exchanging quick blows without much lethal intent.

Lucci's first sign that something was wrong, was the fact that Straw Hat was the one coming out on top of most of these exchanges. The rubber boy easily predicted where he was going to attack and dodged it well in advance, delivering his own attacks in exchange.

That wasn't to say Lucci himself was coming out injured… He just took more hits but they were mostly ineffective due to his combination of Kami-e (that were becoming far more ineffective) and Tekkai.

Straw Hat was also extremely slippery, much like when he got ganged up on by the Galley-La foremen.

It was even more annoying now that it was 1 on 1… even with Lucci not holding back nearly as much.

Luffy threw out a pistol that Lucci weaved with Kami-e, before the agent lunged forward at blistering speeds, finger aimed to stab at him with Shigan.

To his shock, Luffy allowed the blow to hit him and took no damage at all from it, responding with a stretched sandal to the face that Lucci barely activated Tekkai to withstand.

Before Luffy could withdraw his limb, Lucci's eyes heightened in bloodlush and he gripped the leg with crushing force.

"I don't have many opportunities to hurt him, I must make this count," he thought, capitalizing on the fact that Straw Hat didn't know anything about him.

Luffy's eyes widened as before his very eyes, Lucci began to change.

"W-What?! He's a cat?!" He balked, watching the man's skin bulge out, yellow fur beginning to cover his skin as his height exploded, towering over the already shorter Luffy.

The half Leopard yanked Luffy towards him, refusing to let him go for even a second and pierced the rubber boy's chest with his, now sharp, claws.

"Piercing attacks affect you," Lucci snarled victoriously, blood marring the finger as his tail lashed out and gripped Luffy by the neck.

Luffy grunted as he was hoisted up, struggling in the man's grasp.

Lucci pressed his advantage immediately and he sadistically brandished his claws.

"Shigan: Speckles."

Luffy was helpless to resist the barrage of claws slamming into him with ruthless force, blood spurting from each hole being put in his body as Lucci continued to hit him, smiling psychotically at the pain he was inflicting on the rubber boy.

Luffy powered through the pain and huffed, thrusting his arm to the side and beginning to pump it.

"Gear Second."

Lucci had no time at all to react, as a fist blurred and collided with his face with such speed and force, he had no choice but to release the rubber boy. The leopard man and was launched back into a wall.

"What was that?" He thought in confusion, glancing up in confusion.

Luffy was directly in front of him, ignoring his bloodied body as he cocked a fist back and launched it at ridiculous speeds.

"Tekkai —"

Lucci spat out a glob of blood as the attack pierced through his defense like it were made of paper. He was sent crashing into a wall before collapsing on the ground below him.

A sound, eerily similar to Soru, sounded out and he only had a moment to react, before a stomp crushed the floor beneath him like it weren't made of stone.

The agent swiftly scrambled to his feet, only to bend over as a fist planted itself directly into his gut.

Luffy, fist still lodged into the man's gut, hoisted him up and left him airborne before cocking both fist back.

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling."

Lucci's eyes rolled to the back of his head, as Luffy gave him a taste of his own medicine and bombarded him with a barrage of fists that tenderized the Zoan's body.

The agent was sent flying from the assault, hacking in disbelief as he stumbled back to his feet and collapsing to the floor after taking too hard of a breath.

Him attempting to move, was yet another mistake, as a sandal immediately smashed into the side of his head.

"H-How is he moving with all those holes in his body?!" Lucci couldn't help but think, eyes flickering as he resisted the urge to be knocked unconscious.

Luffy panted as the severe blood loss and use of Gear Second, began catching up to him but stood his ground, deactivating Gear Second for the moment, but ready to activate it at a moment's notice.

Pigeon guy was capable of taking a beating, if the way he was forcing himself up meant anything…

These injuries were hampering him by quite a lot. His entire midsection was riddled with bloody holes so he couldn't quite hit him with full power…

Luffy frowned, as his opponent shakily stood up, glaring at him.

"It'll take more then that to take me down Straw Hat… I'll admit you're formidable but with your wounds and the nature of that technique… you won't last long," Lucci observed, wiping the blood from his lips and smirking.

"Seimei Kikan: Return"

The agent huffed as his formerly hulking body shrunk considerably. He became slimmer, looking far more like an actual hybrid between man and leopard as he snarled at the rubber boy.

Lucci discarded the idea of trying to get another hit in immediately. They were both battered and bruised but because of the nature of their fighting styles, Lucci was suffering broken bones, but Luffy was bleeding out.

In this battle of attrition, he had the advantage so long as he could withstand the pain he was in. Not only that, he simply needed to wait for the faster Straw Hat to begin slowing down. As such, he needed something faster and more agile.

It wouldn't be hard to outlast the rubber boy with holes in his body. Lucci just needed to not get hit again.

The agile leopard's eyes widened as Luffy's skin turned steamy once more and he immediately vanished from his spot.

"Such speed!" Lucci thought, activating Geppo and barely managing to escape from the rubber boy.

Luffy looked as if he wanted to stretch his arms to catch him, but seemed to anticipate Lucci going for another grab and refrained himself.

Instead, he pursued the man with his own Geppo, kicking through the air at even greater speeds than Lucci and quickly catching up to him.

But it seemed like Lucci no longer had any intention of fighting him outright.

Lucci immediately descended once more, landing on the floor and as Luffy tried to pursue, the leopard shouted, "Rankakyu: Leopard Tail!"

Luffy grunted as he halted his descent and kicked away from the blade of air shaped into a swirl.

His observation flared and the rubber boy growled in annoyance, as he was forced to dodge even more.

Lucci flicked his fingers repeatedly, shooting out a variation of Shigan that was similar to Rankakyu and forcing the rubber boy to continue to expend energy so as to dodge it.

"Little by little…" he snarled, claws sharpening.

"Rankakyu: Victorious Bird."

He shout out a giant Rankakyu, this one in the shape of a bird that soared towards the frustrated Luffy, who once more avoided the attack.

"If I throw a punch he'll grab me and finish me off…" Luffy frowned heavily, dashing forward at blistering speeds and throwing out a close ranged punch that Lucci evaded with Kami-e, only for him to get caught by the other, sending the man careening.

The leopard's tail lashed out and Luffy leapt back from it, contorting his body to avoid the Rankakyu and hissing as the awkward angle, caused his injuries to flare up.

This caused him to make a slight misstep and Lucci's eyes burned red, like a shark detecting blood in the water.

Lucci didn't waste a single step, as he activated Soru and blurred forward.

Luffy's eyes widened as the leopard placed two fists on his chest with a victorious glint.

"Rokushiki Secret Technique: Rokuogan."

A shockwave erupted from the point of contact between Lucci and Luffy and the rubber boys body shuddered, as the attack devastated his organs.

The captain of the Straw Hat's eyes fluttered, rolling to the back of his head as the attack landed true and he shuddered, before falling back.

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

Flashback

"Gear Third?" Rosan asked with a raised brow, sitting on a whining Maro's back as he pat her head.

The Dokkaebi stopped complaining and glanced over at the rubber boy. "You developed another gear?"

Luffy nodded excitedly. "I've been thinking about it for a while! I need more oomph behind my punches because I can't hit you guys hard enough and make it count!"

Rosan snorted at that and nodded. "Fair point… so you're telling me you developed a form with even more power then Gear Second? The power boost you get from that is no joke."

Seriously, Luffy managed to do nonsense with his fruit that seemed on par with the Mod Mod no Mi. He made his fruit look like way more than a Paramecia.

Maro wasn't fully convinced. She grunted and pulled herself up with a contemplating frown."It has to have a downside. You never develop normal techniques, so show it to us now and we'll figure it out to maybe try and hash out the issues with it."

Robin hummed in interest, eyes narrowing in contemplation. "Just Gear Second alone is incredibly intuitive and you're telling me he's developed another form? You frighten me, captain."

Zoro's eyes glinted in clear interest as well, pushing himself up to gaze at the upcoming fight.

Luffy laughed as he took his position on the arena, standing opposite of the stretching Maro.

"Alright immediately start off with it! I wanna see this technique that can affect me and Master!" Maro shouted, transforming into her full Zoan without wasting anytime.

The captain nodded before biting his thumb.

Everyone watched with curious eyes, as Luffy began to blow into his own body.

"Is this like Balloon?" Maro muttered in interest, watching as the rubber boy's fist became gigantic from his efforts. "But that move is so soft and squishy? How does he expect to hit harder then Gear Second with that?"

His fist looked more akin to a giants honestly… But did Luffy actually do any testing to see how much damage it did?

Rosan, Robin and Zoro were thinking the same thing, sitting back and observing with confused eyes as Luffy cocked his gargantuan fist back.

"Gomu Gomu no Gigant Pistol!" Luffy bellowed, shooting out the giant fist towards the curious Dokkaebi.

They thought Maro was going to take the attack, but to their surprise, the Dokkaebi's orange eyes went wide in disbelief and she immediately teleported from her spot.

They soon understood why Maro moved instead of absorbing the blow.

Everyone watched with wide eyes, as Luffy's fist pulverized the entire section of the arena he had struck.

"Holy shit!" Maro gaped.

Robin had a look of realization on her face. "I get it now. He's not expanding his body... he's expanding his bones," she explained, thinking back to the way he blew into his thumb.

The moment Robin said that, everyone began to reassess the move.

Maro nodded sagely. "My observation told me that I really wouldn't like getting hit by that move! It only looks similar to balloon but trust me it packs a serious punch."

Rosan scowled, mind running a minute as he gleaned all the techniques weaknesses. "That's if he can even hit his opponent with it. This technique is good but it has too many weaknesses. How do you expect to hit me or Maro if we just decide to move around the whole time? Not to mention, you look like you can barely move."

Robin idly slapped the arm of the strict redhead. "It's clear the technique isn't fully polished yet, Rosan. Just the fact he thought of it is deserving enough of praise. If he can hit someone, they will almost certainly feel it."

"Can isn't good enough, Robin," Rosan grunted, eyes narrowed as he absentmindedly flicked her on the head. "There is no point using an attack you think will miss. I like the idea but you have a lot more polishing to do before I'd feel comfortable letting you use it in battle."

Luffy, who frequently asked Rosan for advice, nodded his head. "It's a work in progress but you're right. It has a lot of downsides but when I master it, I'm gonna kick you, Maro, Sabo and Ace's ass with it!"

The redhead nodded, eyes glinting a little excitedly. "I'm looking forward to it. You're pushing this fruit's creativity to its limit. I never thought I'd meet someone as creative with their Devil Fruit as me but you continue to impress me, Lu," he complimented, rubbing the boys head.

"Seeing you two makes me want to attempt to explore my Devil Fruit even further," Robin muttered in a bit of awe, rubbing her forehead a little.

"I've still got more catching up to do," Zoro grunted. "It's only a matter of time before I get put on that list of yours."

Maro laughed and slapped Zoro's back. "Welcome to the club! It's fun being this competitive!"

Luffy laughed as well before exhaling the air used to sustain his technique.

Everyone watched with a blank gaze, as the rubber boy flew around from the force of exhaling all that air… before he landed on his two feet… about three feet shorter.

...

"...What the fuck is this?" Rosan asked calmly, all traces of amusement gone as he stared at his shrunken captain with a painfully neutral gaze.

"Luffy…" Zoro sighed at the idiot.

"I shrink after I use it," Luffy said bluntly, looking nonplussed at the decrease in height.

Maro immediately squealed and hoisted up Luffy, crushing him against her breast with a happy smile. "It's been so long since you've been so small, Luffy! Look at how adorable he is! It's like he's 7 again! You're about to kill me with all this cuteness! Oh, by the way, you are absolutely banned from using this technique in a real battle!"

Her motherly gushing did nothing to hide the firmness behind that final sentence and the chibi Luffy nodded.

Robin couldn't prevent the small coo and snatched Luffy out of Maro's hand.

"He's adorable so don't be too upset with him, Rosan," Robin said, turning towards the utterly unamused redhead and presenting Luffy to him like he were a toy.

Rosan sighed and shook his head. "Luffy, unless you think you can win a battle with this technique. Try not to use it, got it?" He demanded.

Luffy nodded. "So if I can win the fight… I can use it?"

The redhead grunted and waved him off. "If you're in a situation where you have to use this technique to win the fight… Me worrying about you using it will be the least of our concerns."

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

"Rosan's gonna be mad that I had to use this here… I coulda beat this guy without it but I messed up…"

Don't use the technique unless he could win the battle with it…

Luffy huffed as he shakily pulled himself up, nearly collapsing on his feet from the damage done to his insides. Blood steadily dripped from his body, as his legs wobbled and he collapsed on a knee, before hoisting himself up once more.

Lucci stared in complete shock, as his opponent actually got up from a Rokuogan. The leopard had transformed back into his human form, thinking the fight was as good as over.

He was going to assist that useless puppet in her battle against the Angel of Death... but that didn't seem like much of a choice right at the moment because to his immense disbelief… Straw Hat was still moving.

What in the world…

"No matter… you're practically dead on your feet," Lucci sighed, transforming into his normal hybrid form once more.

Luffy said nothing, looking eerily calm as he stared at his hand.

"I need to save Robin… and you're in my way," Luffy said calmly, putting both thumbs up to his mouth.

For Robin… For Rosan… He wouldn't let anyone get in the way of saving his crewmates.

This wasn't just him saving Robin… if he failed here, he'd lose his oldest brother too.

And not just that, everyone would be devastated if she died. How could they ever continue sailing knowing they failed to save one of their friends? How could Maro, Angel and Demon continue to run Celadon, knowing they lost such important people?

How could he ever become King of Pirates with such a cloud over his head?

The answer was that he couldn't. If Luffy lost even one member in his crew, he'd never be able to become the Pirate King because he didn't even have what it took to protect them all.

It didn't matter if he was close to dying. It didn't matter if he could barely move. It didn't matter if his body was screaming in pain for him to stop and sleep.

What mattered was that Robin wanted to live. What mattered was that Rosan had shown fear.

What mattered was that he needed to win this fight.

Lucci went completely still, as a sensation washed over him and froze him to his spot.

The leopards eyes went wide at the terrible sensation and he unconsciously took a step back in confusion.

"This… is just like when the Red Devil was speaking to Nico Robin. This pressure! What is this feeling?!" He thought, shaking himself off as he began rocketing forward to Luffy, intent on killing him here and now.

Luffy glanced at his fists with a puzzled expression, before a look of realization took over and a slight sheen formed.

"Gear Third."

Holding his fists up, Rob Lucci prepared to pulverize Luffy's inside with another Rokuogan.

"Gomu Gomu no…"

"IT'S OVER STRAW HAT! JUSTICE IS ABSOLUTE!" Lucci roared.

"Rokuoga—"

"…Gigant Gatling."

Lucci never got to finish his sentence, as the first fist smashed into him.

Then the second fist hit him… then the third… and all Lucci knew was agony.

"RAHHHH!" Luffy roared, pummeling the man with fist after gigantic blooding fist. He was merciless, unrelenting in his assault as his fists carried the man over to a wall with each bone shattering punch.

Lucci didn't notice the black sheen on the rubber boy's arms, already slipping into a state of unconsciousness as the captain of the Straw Hats proceeded to break every single bone in his body into powder.

He was sent flying through every single wall he crashed into, until his body landed directly outside the Tower of Justice.

Rob Lucci lay there in defeat, unconscious from the assault as a shrunken Luffy panted heavily.

"Tired… hungry… hungry... and hungry but need to save Robin," his squeaky voice rasped, feeling out with his observation as he threatened to fall unconscious.

The rubber boy blinked.

"What happened to Chopper?!"

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

"What the hell happened to Chopper?!"

This was the unanimous thought process of every single Straw Hat, as they gazed up at the soulless eyes of the massive creature that had to have been their doctor.

While running towards Robin's location, they had all met up and subsequently encountered a gigantic brown creature wearing Chopper's hat and pants combo.

"Has he always had that transformation?" Sogeking squeaked in terror, going white as he stared up at the gentle reindeer.

"WROOOOO!" Chopper roared to the heavens.

Sogeking was shoved out of the way by Sanji, as the monstrous hand smashed the floor he was standing in with lethal force.

The liar went even paler, as he realized that hand was covered in someone's blood.

"Yeah!" Zoro barked. "He must have ate 3 Rumble Balls like that one time with Maro!" He announced to everyone.

All who remembered that monstrous transformation, shuddered as they realized it took Rosan dumping Maro in water to cancel that incredibly dangerous form.

"Chopper?! That's your little reindeer friend?!" Franky gaped, in disbelief.

Chopper's stance immediately shifted and quicker than he could react, Franky was hit with a gigantic fist that would have pulverized his insides if not for his physiology.

With no concern for his immense weight, Chopper sent the cyborg flying through a wall, a trail of blood following him.

"Chopper! It's us! Can't you recognize us?!" Zoro shouted, leaping back as the reindeer targeted him next.

Chopper did not respond. Instead the terrifying creature opened its mouth and roared once more, slamming a fist that Zoro hastily threw up two swords to block.

Even after imbuing them with Armament, the momentum of the downward swing nearly forced Zoro into the pavement and his already broken up pieces of Yubashiri, practically shattered beyond repair.

"He gets this strong?!" Zoro couldn't help but balk, diverting the swing to the best of his abilities and dashing out of the way of the rampaging reindeer.

By now, the Tower of Justice had been under so much punishment from their respective battles, it was only a matter of time before it fully collapsed, especially after what Zoro and Nami had done respectively.

With Chopper rampaging like this, the building may collapse while they were still in the building.

Nami shook as she gazed at their once adorable reindeer.

This was the form he was so terrified of entering? I-It was no wonder he was so terrified for Maro... he was so ridiculous right now!

Franky burst out of the rubble with a pissed expression. "YOU'RE SUPER LUCKY YOU'RE AN ALLY OR I WOULD HAVE PULVERIZED YOU!" He roared, huffing in exhaustion.

"This can't possibly be good for him! Remember what happened to Maro? We need to get him out of this form quick!" Nami informed them all, a look of intense worry in her eyes.

The Straw Hats gazed at the reindeer and noted that she was right, Chopper looked as if the very vitality was being drained out of him.

If it was really the same as Maro's, Rosan had prioritized completely neutralizing her over knocking her out because staying in the form too longer would begin killing her.

"How do we stop it?!" Sanji grunted, using Geppo to try and reach Chopper's face.

"CHOPPER, SNAP OUT OF IT! IT'S US!" Sanji shouted, gazing into the creatures unnerving gaze with a look of concern.

Chopper's response was to swing his arm with more speed than he ever showed initially.

Sanji's eyes widened as he saw the hand flying towards him.

"So fast! Chopper could move like this all along?! He's not even thinking in this form because my Observation didn't go off either!" He gaped.

Crap. He was still injured from his fight with the wolf… there was no way he was going to be able to dodge this.

The hand smashed right into him.

"SANJI!" Nami and Sogeking shouted, watching as Chopper embedded the chef into the wall.

Like he were getting peeled off, the chef collapsed towards the floor.

A gust of wind slowed his descent and Nami gazed worriedly at him, wanting to check up on the chef throwing up blood but fearing what the Chopper in the way would do to her.

"Shit… we're all to injured from our fights," Zoro grunted, gazing at the rampaging monster with a frown as he picked up Sanji.

"What do we do?!" Sogeking asked in concern. Things weren't looking good at all.

At this rate, by the time they stopped Chopper, they'd be too beat up to save Robin.

"CHOPPER!" Luffy squeaked, tiredly running into the room of all his allies in his shrunken form. "WHAT'S WRONG?! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Franky couldn't but roar as he saw the diminutive frame of Luffy.

"Luffy! Chopper is rampaging right now and we can't stop him!" Nami said, balking at the state of his injuries and tiny size too.

She was the best off from the fight. The boys looked like they had gone through a war and Luffy looked like he was seconds away from dying!

"What do we do?! We still need to get Robin!" Sogeking pointed out, squealing as Chopper gazed at him.

"WROOOOOOO!" The beast roared, charging the Straw Hats with a single minded focus.

Luffy frowned as he noticed one was missing. "We can focus on stopping Chopper! Rosan will save Robin!" He announced.

"Where is Rosan? Is he alright?" Zoro asked in disbelief, grabbing his shrunken captain so they could both avoid the wild swings.

"He'll be fine! Trust him!" Luffy shouted in return.

"LURE HIM TO A BODY OF WATER!" Sanji shouted raspily as they all ran away from the reindeer. "IF WE CAN SINK HIM, WE CAN STOP THIS! THAT'S HOW ROSAN STOPPED MARO!"

"RIGHT, LET'S DO THAT!"

With that, the Straw Hats sprinted away, giant Reindeer hot on their heels.

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

Rosan narrowed his eyes and dashed away, avoiding the gunfire of those seastone nails with ease.

Electricity sparked around him and he blurred forward.

Izumi, disguised as Meiko, flinched at the sheer speed and braced herself for the pain, only to let out a sigh of relief as Rosan merely snatched the weapon out of her hand.

Without any hesitation he made it disappear into his Pocket Dimension.

"At the very least, I got rid of that weapon," he thought with a deep frown.

Izumi frowned at the loss of a weapon but it really did seem like her plan was working and... not having to shoot with the gun was more of a relief to her so it wasn't a complete loss.

Rosan sidestepped a sharp stab from Meiko, seeing a plethora of options he could take to kill his opponent, but not going for a single one.

Instead, he modified the ground to attempt to restrain the girl and watched as she kicked upwards, dodging the grabby stone by taking to the skies.

"Ah ah ah!" Meiko chided. "I know you can manipulate the stone! You did it to Izuki! Don't you remember?! When you chose to assault and kill him instead of saving me?"

Rosan flinched back at the reminder, expression turning into guilt as the day of her death replayed in his mind over and over again.

Izumi took full advantage of his weakness. She rocketed towards the redhead, building up momentum and brandishing those sharp claws.

"Shigan!" She announced, attempting to gore him through with all 10 of her sharpened nails.

Much to Izumi's dissatisfaction, that pesky outfit of his weathered her blow easily and Rosan once again tried to restrain her with the chasing ground.

She expected this however and activated Soru, dashing away at immense speeds.

"I know it's not her. I know it's Izumi… so why can't I hit her?!" Rosan thought with a deep glare.

This was one of the most frustrating fights he had ever been in because he was drastically stronger than his opponent... but he couldn't do anything about it!

He could have ended this fight at any time if he just went on the offensive. Izumi was nowhere near him in strength and she was aware of that.

He was faster, stronger, smarter...

But the ballsy girl was relying on his own weakness and chose to tow an incredibly dangerous line to do so.

Incredibly risky…

Not to mention, her illusions were nothing like Maro's.

Maro's illusions were akin to mirages. She could field the terrain around with her magic and trick people with it.

Izumi's illusions were akin to hallucinations. She didn't manipulate the terrain, no she tampered with the person's mind so Rosan could do nothing to get rid of the image of Meiko.

That wasn't all either. The girl was also capable of using her abilities to induce hypnosis upon the person. He had been practically fighting off the urge to sleep the entire fight and when that failed, she heightened his sense of self loathing.

It was torture. Rosan was already replaying the day he got Meiko killed over and over again, Izumi was forcing him to view it as well while simultaneously posing as his dead lover.

He was in hell.

"There has to be some way I can hit her… without feeling like I'm striking Meiko," Rosan thought, gazing at the face of his deceased love with pained eyes.

Ah… maybe he could try that.

Izumi watched in confusion as Rosan closed his eyes.

What was he doing? Was he planning on fighting her with his eyes closed? What would that accomplish? If he couldn't see her, how would he be able to hit her—

"EMP: Shockwave."

A surge of red electricity lashed out in a wave from the redhead, encapsulating the entire room, and Izumi had no time to dodge it whatsoever.

The woman shrieked as it connected to her skin and a surge of electricity pulsed through her.

"A-AGH!" She yelped in agony, feeling the lightning course through her veins and nearly seizing up completely.

This power was ridiculous. W-Why was he so strong?!

Rosan huffed in victory. If he just closed his eyes, he could send out attacks and hit Izumi. Like this, he didn't have to look at Meiko's fac—

"R-Rosa—," Mod coughed as she attempted to speak to the redhead. When that failed she glanced pleadingly at Ram

"F-Father! Auntie is trying to tell you to cover your ears!"

Rosan's confusion only lasted a split moment as realization crossed his features but he was far too late.

Well, even if he did cover his ears, Izumi would have made sure he heard this.

Sniffing froze him in place before the sound of Meiko bawling, brought him to his knees.

A-Ah... no no. He didn't mean to make her cry. Rosan never wanted to be the reason Meiko cried but why was he making her cry?

"R-Rosan why? Why would you hit meeee?!" Meiko wailed, tears spilling from her eyes as she gazed brokenly at the frozen visage Rosan.

Why? Why did he hit her? There had to have been... no, Rosan wouldn't... he'd never even dream of abusing Meiko...

Right? B-But she was dead... because of him.

"I knew it! I knew you didn't love me!" the blonde sobbed, backing away from the redhead as she rapidly shook her head. "Of course you don't love me. I-If you loved me, I wouldn't have died because you'd keep me safe!"

Mod scowled furiously, tears falling from her eyes. T-This underhanded bitch. Just who did she think she was?! How dare she use sweet little Meiko like this.

If she weren't sick, Mod would have done the terrible task of putting her down… is what she wanted to say but not even she could handle seeing the pain on Meiko's face.

She could only imagine what Rosan was going through right now.

"This isn't… is this real? Is this like the dreams I've been having where I speak to Meiko?" Rosan thought, mind in complete disarray as he gazed at the teary eyed Meiko.

How many of this was real? Why couldn't he… Why did he fail her? If he had just… done anything different that day… If he had just been less selfish.

If he just prioritized others over himself, Meiko would still be alive.

"Seems like he's been just as affected by that day as me," Izumi thought, shaking her head as the redhead began shaking in place. She had long broken that mask of his, so she saw his utterly helpless expression.

"Don't you worry at all sweetie, I'll give you someone new to devote your life too. This way, we can both stop suffering," she thought, brandishing her nails once more.

Her nails weren't sharp enough to pierce that cloak of his…

"Seimei Kikan: Tekkai."

Izumi had learned everything there was to learn about CP9. 12 years. She had spent 12 years absorbing all that she could for this moment.

All of them were useless to her goals. None of them were Rosan. None of them filled her with anything like he did... but they had their specialties and she greedily absorbed them, particularly from the stupid mutt Jabra and the suicidal idiot Kumadori.

This was the result here.

Her nails sharpened into something lethal, hardening from the effects of Tekkai and the manipulation of Seimei Kikan.

She pushed herself up and lunged towards the prone Rosan.

Unlike before, her attack managed to pierce directly through that cloak of his and lodged itself into his stomach.

"Shigan: Iron Shelling."

Rosan, still not at 100%, rasped as five razor sharp blades pierced his cloak and tender skin with ruthless force, causing blood to begin spurting as it seeped into her fingers.

To make matters worse, she injected him with that same poison from before and Rosan grunted.

Luckily, he had already built up a resistance to it but even a split bit of attention from the stone in his current state would add up.

Izumi withdrew her claws before plunging them into a different spot and raking upwards, stopping right before reaching his neck.

"Shigan: Iron Lashings!"

There was a deranged grin on her face, unmindful of the spray of blood that landed on her.

Rosan's eyes lolled a bit, as he spit out blood. The redhead let out a strained noise, as his body steadily began healing him up.

"Mmmm~ You're able to take so much punishment! What type of healing is this?! I was wondering how you were moving with holes in your body…" Izumi pondered, gazing at the wounds slowly closing.

She grinned.

"Let's see how much punishment you can take~"

It really wasn't fair, that she was assaulting a mentally helpless Rosan at the moment but…

Girls like her didn't fight fair~

"Shigan: Iron Massacre."

Activating Soru, Izumi began blurring around Rosan, stabbing into anywhere she could reach with those hard and sharp nails.

"R-ROSAN!" Mod screamed in horror, as more and more blood began flying from the redhead. Tears began falling from her eyes and she pushed herself up, only to let out a whine as her body failed.

"F-FATHER!" Ram screeched, eyes flying wide in horror as Izumi lashed out with ruthless precision, avoiding fatal spots and inflicting as much pain as she could on the redhead.

She saw now why Father had forbade her from helping… because true to his words, she hadn't been able to do anything. Even trying to turn into a defensive weapon seemed impossible for her because no part of her wanted to turn against Mother…

But now, now her Father, the one who created her, the one who loved her, was suffering because of her complete inability to do anything.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Ram screeched furiously.

The ring on Rosan's finger, transformed into a massive red energy barrier that Izumi barely managed to leap away from.

"Oh? A bit too late don't you think?" Izumi asked with a smile, unknowingly speaking to Ram.

The damage had been done. Whenever Rosan's body began healing him, Izumi placed a new injury on his body, until the wounds started closing noticeably slower.

Her eyes gleamed at seeing him teeter, not healed instantly from the damage she inflicted and the girl let out a noise of delight.

"So you weren't fully healed from my torture," she crooned, watching gleefully as he swayed and swayed in that red barrier of his.

Izumi slowly transformed into Meiko once more, walking up to the barrier and making sure not to touch it.

"I'm so glad you still love me, to the point where you won't even consider hurting me. I'm so glad you still love me, to the point where just the sound of me crying was able to make you give up," she said demurely, gazing lovingly into his unfocused gaze.

"Everyone dreams of something and you're dream is to see me again. To be with me again. It's a dream that you'll discard everything to reach. At the drop of a hat, if you had the opportunity, you'd throw everything away to see me again," she whispered.

"Father! Please tell me you can keep moving!" Ram begged, maintaining the barrier for as long as she needed to. "Please don't let her win! This isn't enough to stop you!"

"…" Rosan was completely unresponsive, blood just pouring from every crevice in his body as the red and purples of his eyes began flickering.

"Well you can see me again," Meiko whispered soothingly. "Just let go. Fall asleep, Rosan and I'll make all your dreams come true. Doesn't that sound nice? A world where you can be with your soulmate again?" She asked, preying on his weakness with a level of ruthlessness befitting of her.

She grinned wildly as the redhead's swaying got stronger.

"Just let go. It'll all be over soon, darling. Give in to me. Give your heart to me… You won't regret it…"

Rosan collapsed, eyes rolling to the back of his head as he landed in a puddle of his own blood.

"ROSAN!"

"FATHER!"

"...Reaper," Izumi bowed.

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

Rosan despised when people called him a genius or perfect or any other compliment that made him seem like this unstoppable being.

He hated it because in his eyes, he was nothing but a failure.

Yes, he was talented. He was well aware of his skills but at the end of the day, even prodigies could be snuffed and his flames had gotten snuffed a long time ago.

Just look. A girl, who should have been defeated near instantly by him, had managed to wreak this much havoc on his body, to the point where his stone couldn't even heal him properly.

All because she understood his greatest weakness.

Meiko.

He had already failed her so much… how could he fail her again by daring to strike her? How could he live with himself after making her cry?

Even with the knowledge that it wasn't actually her, it still tore at him to hear her cry, too see her tears, to acknowledge her pain…

Because it reminded him that he had failed her thoroughly. Because of him, Meiko was dead. The kindest soul on the planet, the last person who deserved to ever die, was killed because of him.

Because he was stupid. He was no genius. He was not perfect.

He was a failure.

Perhaps this was his punishment. Perhaps his failures had finally caught up to him.

Meiko had told him not to kill the girl after all. She most likely wanted Rosan to forgive Izumi… but he had gone and tortured her instead, breaking her and turning her into his monster. It was his fault that she was like this... Rosan couldn't even say she was unjust to deliver such punishment.

He would be lying if he said he didn't deserve to be tortured by her. After all, he had tortured her first.

Perhaps that was the greatest sign that he had failed Meiko. Twisting her final wishes of sparing Izumi into this. Despite sparing her life because of Meiko, he had still tortured and broken her. He created her and she was here to turn on her master.

Ah, this was karma.

The redhead closed his eyes.

Yes, this was a fine punishment. This was what he deserved. Let this be his final punishment, as the world's greatest failure.

It was Izumi's win. Her goal was to get him and she had done it.

He had nothing left to live for anyways…

He was tired of being the infallible wall. He was tired of being in control of everything. Maybe it was time for him to finally rest…

Yes… rest…

"Please! Please take me back into the crew! Please come save your stupid crewmate! I don't want to die yet, I WANT TO LIVE!"

...Is what he would be thinking if he was fucking STUPID!

Rest? Give up? No. He couldn't rest yet. Rest didn't mean dying. Rest didn't mean allowing some girl to torture him for the rest of his days.

Rest meant spending his days relaxing with Nico Robin… the same Nico Robin that was almost out of his grasp.

The one that he needed to save at all costs.

But there was an obstacle in his way… and that obstacle was Meiko. Could he really hurt her? Could he really risk seeing his deceased love in pain…? Was Rosan strong enough to release the shackles that Meiko had tied him down with? One of the few things that he had that made him strive to stay alive?

…

"I'll wait a thousand years if I have to!"

Yes.

Rosan loved Meiko. That would never ever change, but Meiko was... Meiko was dead and that wasn't something he could change. She would never want him to linger on her to such an unhealthy degree, that another person's life was put in danger as a result.

"Meiko told me that I already found a reason worth living for and I thought about it the entire time I was up there but now I know… Nico Robin, You're the reason worth living for so thank you for putting up with an honest idiot like me... I don't know what I'd do without you."

Rosan snorted… of course she wouldn't. Meiko would tell him to hit her with no hesitation, if it meant they could save someone else they loved. She was so strong... she'd hold in her tears until after all was said and done and then cry on his body about how it didn't hurt.

He was an idiot. A complete idiot.

She wouldn't want to chain him down. Not like this. That was against her character.

She would never want him to pick a ghost over someone that was alive. Meiko's spirit was just too alive for that.

No... it wasn't just Meiko... Rosan couldn't continue to let the past hinder him the way he had done before. He needed to shed the guilt... he needed to understand that he didn't deserve to be hated for things he had already been forgiven for.

He needed to absolve himself of the pains of his past and focus on attaining a more happy future.

His body began thrumming, eyes going bright as something clicked into place.

Rosan loved Meiko... he would never forget her. But Meiko was a memory and Robin was still alive. Nico Robin, his best friend, one of his reasons to live...

He wouldn't let Robin become a memory so it was time to stop letting the memory of Meiko shackle him.

"Sorry Mei… looks like I really do have to move on. I hope you can understand but I need to save Robin," Rosan thought with a bittersweet smile, eyes glowing the brightest they had in years.

Right before he woke up, he could have sworn he heard in his ears—

"Of course I understand, you dummy! It's about damn time, Rosy!"

And then he felt a gentle kiss on his cheek and a firm push.

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

She did it.

After 12 long years… Izumi had done it. She almost couldn't believe that this was real. She... she couldn't believe this day had finally come.

She won.

Rosan's prone body, still being protected by the ominous red barrier, lay there and she stood tall above him.

She did it! She actually did it!

All that blood, sweat and tears brought her to this moment. This sweet moment of victory.

Izumi threw her head back and laughed hysterically, taking it all in as euphoria coursed through her.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'M FREE! FINALLY FREE FROM THIS CURSE!" She cackled, expression forming into a true genuine smile as tears of joy fell from her eyes.

The lack of sleep because of nightmares, the memory of her brother saying he wished she was never born…

Red and purple eyes choking her until she couldn't breathe.

No more. Rosan had placed her in a neverending nightmare, one that she could finally begin waking up from because she was finally free.

The threat of Rosan looming over her, meant she'd never get to truly enjoy peace. Izumi had tried... of course she tried to live a peaceful life. After joining the Marines, Izumi had initially joined because she never wanted to feel week again... but it was impossible to remove Rosan from her mind because all she saw was red and red and red and red and red.

Rosan was a permanent presence in her life whether she liked it or not and she'd never be able to get rid of him no matter what she chose to do. Even if he were to drop dead right then and there, the mark he left on her would never vanish.

After all, she was probably the only enemy alive, who knew that he was the Angel of Death… the same person who prioritized his anonymity above all.

The one who had suddenly gained a bounty of 500 million. After that, Izumi's paranoia had been at an all time high.

Surely he knew that she was aware of his identity, so she could never throw out the idea that he would change his mind and come kill her.

He had taken everything from her… even her life, but if there was one thing Izumi wanted to prevent above all... it was dying at his hands because she was terrified of dying to him.

Rosan would never make her draw her last breath. Not if she could do anything about it.

But she was weak. She was oh so weak and pathetic.

Rosan made sure she knew and when she joined this trash organization, Lucci made sure to remind her of her place.

This world was not fair. Some people were born better than others and people like Rob Lucci or Reaper, were the ones who benefitted from it.

How was she ever going to defeat someone who was one year younger than her… but so much stronger? When they had met, Rosan was 12 and she was 13... and he could probably have killed her with the least possible effort needed.

So how could she ever catch up to that monster?

The answer was that she couldn't… not by conventional means at least.

Her normal strength would never be enough to even come close to Rosan, no matter what methods she employed.

All that changed one day, when she encountered the Moso Moso no Mi.

Izumi worked almost exclusively alone on missions and that was what she preferred.

She threw herself into training with such ferocity, people around worried that she was going to kill herself but she ignored them all unless it was to gain more techniques, gain more power.

Not only that, she was utterly ruthless despite her age, a fact that her teacher had noticed. The empty look in her eyes, the way she trained... it was clear Izumi didn't have what it took to be a standard Marine so they immediately recommend the girl for Cipher Pol, an offer she readily accepted once she learned about them.

Apparently, Izumi wasn't as talentless as she had first assumed because not too long after joining, she was promoted to train with Cipher Pol 9, the assassin specialists.

She trained and trained, absorbing all the techniques she could and going on as many solo missions as possible because she couldn't stand being in the presence of anyone that wasn't him.

If she couldn't go on solo missions, then she would choose to go with Jabra, seeing as he was the strongest with Lucci and Kaku gone.

But she digressed, on one of her solo missions, after finishing up and killing her targets, the girl's instincts had flared and she whirled around on impulse.

Her dead eyes immediately latched onto a Devil Fruit of all things and she tilted her head, disinterested in it.

That was until she found out what it was.

Izumi was fairly sure, that discovering what her Devil Fruit was, was the first time she had smiled since being tortured by Rosan.

Naturally before consuming it, she had requested a Devil Fruit encyclopedia and spent a while scouring through it, until landing eyes on the picture that matched the fruit in her hand.

"The Moso Moso no Mi… Illusions?" She muttered, nearly dismissing it right then and there.

But then she thought about it. What if utilizing illusions was the way to defeat him?

What if the way to defeat the Angel of Death, was to remind him of his past? To tamper with his senses? What if fighting him fairly was never the correct option...

He may not be affected… but this was a better idea than fighting him with her natural strength. A Devil Fruit that allowed her to circumvent her lack of talent, by supplying her with the utility to take advantage of any opening given to her.

It was a gamble… she was betting her whole life and ability to swim on this risk… but if anything, that just motivated her to eat it even more.

After all, there would probably never be a time where she could think like this. Rosan had taken everything from her… so ideas of gamble and risk hardly crossed her mind. He had stripped her of independent thought and forced her to depend on him to feel something.

The more she thought about it… the more she began to like the idea of it. But no, the main reason Izumi ate the Moso Moso no mi didn't have anything to do with Rosan and the fact that it didn't have anything to do with the one who defined her life, meant it had to be the one.

The reason she truly decided to eat the fruit, was so that she could put an illusion on herself, for one last desperate attempt to escape this hellish reality that she lived.

With enough practice, maybe she would be able to hypnotize herself into a life where she still had her brother and people who loved her…

It was the first thing she attempted to do. She had placed herself under and felt tears forming at the sight of her older brother smiling at her.

But things were not to be.

The few moments of euphoria, were shattered as she saw him.

In her illusion, Rosan himself, those lifeless eyes, was there and he tormented her over and over and over again.

Her entire being had been so corrupted, she even began to unconsciously think about him, to the point where he would appear in an illusion.

That's when she realized.

"I'll never be free of him… not unless I can free myself."

He stained her in a way she'd never be rid of, unless she got rid of the root problem itself. As long as this problem existed between Rosan and Izumi, Izumi would never be free, not even in death.

Only by getting closure, would she be free. Only then would this plague vanish from her body.

Only then would she be able to live in her dream world.

So she continued refining her Rokushiki techniques, her body conditioning and she added her newly consumed Devil Fruit into her training.

While practicing it, she made a plan that involved that beautiful girl who had saved her life…

Meiko. The one person who was the catalyst to both Rosan and Izumi's life going so out of control.

The girl who had shown her unwarranted kindness… that Izumi repaid in blood.

There was a reason she was so afraid of using an actual gun now… Izumi had never meant to kill Meiko. She never wanted the gorgeous blonde dead. How could she?

Meiko was a star. Izumi had played a part in everything going wrong with the kind girl... and she still forgave her so easily.

And what did Izumi do? She killed her. She killed her because of her STUPID BROTHER WHO COULDN'T JUST UNDERSTAND THAT SOME THINGS WERE NOT MEANT TO BE!

But what's done was done, and though Izumi was disgusted… she would need to use the girl she murdered as a source of weakness to the one who had ruined her life.

It was disgusting and if things were different, Izumi wouldn't even dream of taking such a form... but she had no choice.

Besides, that disgust was nothing compared to the sheer apathy that she felt a majority of the time.

It was nothing compared to the love she felt for Rosan.

The disgust was just fuel that would help her muster up the courage to defeat Rosan.

After doing so, she would never have to defile Meiko's image again. Because there would be no one to use it on. Once the moment came, where Izumi finally reached closure, she'd let Meiko rest.

And that moment was here.

Once that barrier fell, she would place Rosan under an illusion, go assassinate Spandam and retrieve Nico Robin as well.

The girl reached into her suit and brushed against something.

Then she'd erase all evidence.

Izumi was brought out of her musing, as the red barrier began faltering and an eager grin quickly made its way to her face—

An intense pressure slammed into her and she fell on her ass, instinctively backing away as confusion replaced joy.

Then she heard it and confusion was replaced by a helpless despair.

Humming. A soothing hum, that wafted through the air. It was a beautiful and gentle sound that would have captivated many.

Izumi was not one of them.

The gentle hum caressed her and put her in a daze but she couldn't enjoy it for even a moment…

Because her instincts were screaming that everything was about to go wrong.

Rosan sighed as he sat up, a small charming smile on his face as he rubbed a spot on his cheek idly. "This pain. These cuts… this exhaustion…"

That charming smile turned into something utterly unhinged, bloodied fangs gleaming in psychotic joy.

Two brilliantly glowing eyes locked Izumi in place and if possible, Rosan's grin got wider.

"Kahahaha! Thanks Izumi, if it wasn't for you… I may have never come to some of the realizations I came to…"

The redhead stood up, ignoring his injuries as he began stretching in place.

Izumi noted in terror, that those predatory eyes never left her person.

"...How about I show you how much I appreciate you?"

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

Ram carried Mod on her back as the woman urged her towards the castle.

The confused and crying ring had done so, hoping her barrier (she didn't know she could do that) could properly protect Father and hoping Auntie had some sort of plan to win them the battle.

As the two made their way over, neither could hide the shock from their eyes at the sight before them.

They watched in complete wonder and awe, as the last and final chain, this one the longest and thickest, slowly began unravelling from the crystalline castle that jailed Rosan's emotions.

Mod let out fitful coughs, as tears appeared in her eyes and Ram steadied the woman as she clambered down her back.

"M-My baby boy is almost free…" Mod cried, voice raspy and weak as she hesitantly walked towards the building. "We're so close to getting him back R-Ram!"

The overwhelming amount of emotion easily reached Ram and the ring teared up, dragging her Auntie into a deep hug.

"We… we weren't useful here to him," Ram whispered. "Father did this on his own but… but next time he'll have us."

Whatever realizations Rosan had come to... it was without them. Ram never thought a time would come, where she was utterly helpless to assist her Father but today had humbled her in a way that she couldn't properly verbalize.

It stung so much to know Father had dealt with all of this alone but that didn't change the fact that they were proud of him. They were proud that even despite how useless they had been, Father was still able to claw his way back up.

He was amazing like that. Even if he insisted the opposite.

Mod shuddered and returned the hug, sinking into Ram's protective hold. "We'll cross the last hurdle together for sure! For now, we just have to support in anyway we know how!"

Ram nodded tightly. "Come on Auntie, Father will be pissed if he sees you outta bed and then I might get in trouble for not keeping you there… let's relax and watch the rest unfold… I think he's got this handled so I'll make you some tea, alright?"

The sick Devil Fruit nodded softly, allowing the ring to pick her up once more and wrapping her arms around Ram's neck once she was settled on her back.

"Please don't put so much sugar in it this time…"

"You have no taste buds, psycho."

"You of all people… shouldn't be saying… someone's a psycho."

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

Rosan's body was hot.

It was burning right now.

Burning because of the pain.

Burning because of the exhaustion.

Burning because of the excitement.

"Focus, Rose," he thought to himself, trying, and utterly failing, to still his flaring emotions.

He had all the time in the world to test this feeling out. These feelings overwhelming him more than he had ever felt.

Right now, he needed to finish this girl off and go save his dumbass best friend.

That meant focusing all these errant emotions onto his current goal.

Defeating Izumi.

"Father…?" Ram called out hesitantly.

Rosan idly touched one of his terrible wounds, excitement only growing at the sharp pain and he hummed.

"I didn't know you could summon a barrier like that Ram. Thank you for protecting me and buying me time," he said truthfully.

The ring lit up at that and nodded furiously. "I-I had too! Y-You needed me in that moment and I'd... never be able forgive myself if I let you lose without doing anything..." she admitted quietly.

Rosan snorted and his affectionate smile widened.

"And you summoned a whole new technique to do it... As expected, my daughter really is too impressive," he said fondly.

"!" Ram's eyes widened to epic proportions and tears of joy formed, as a brilliant smile formed on her face.

The ring didn't even know she was capable of crying happily but she couldn't stop the choked sob from escaping her.

T-That was… that was the first time he claimed her as his daughter a-and it felt so good. How she longed for the moment where he'd finally acknowledge her as his child and now that it was here... Ram felt the overflowing torrent emotions associated with her father, seeping into her.

"I… I just really wanted to protect you a-and I summoned one. I guess the ultimate weapon includes being the ultimate shield too," she whimpered, tucking into a grinning Mod.

Rosan laughed at the sound of her happy cries and vowed to squeeze her cheek later. "Let's test it out some more later. An energy barrier seems cool. I know you're not a fan of defense but it has potential."

"I-I see the potential behind them so I want to practice defensive things too! That barrier w-was really cool," Ram sniffed. "S-Sorry though Father… I won't be useful like you said…"

Rosan merely smirked wildly. "Don't worry about it. I'm gonna win this. Just take care of Mod-chan for me."

She nodded vigorously.

"Rosan, how will you deal with the Meiko issue…?" Mod asked hesitantly, drinking the honey tea with trepidation and spilling a bit from her nervousness.

He hummed. "How will I deal with her? Kahahaha! It's not like she's real, Mod-chan!"

With that simple statement, Rosan focused on the shuddering Izumi.

"I feel bad for you," Rosan said idly, wings flexing warningly. "You've been training for this long all for me… you did so good, got so strong… even got a good Devil Fruit… all for the purpose of defeating me…"

The redhead grinned mockingly, bloody fangs gleaming at her as he began sparking.

"All that just for it to amount to nothing."

Izumi let out a strangled yell as she barely avoided the electrified fist. The woman immediately cloaked herself in the illusion of Meiko and glared at the redhead.

"Ah ah ah, Rosan~ You wouldn't dare touch me would you?" Meiko asked softly, eyes widening innocently as she gazed sweetly at the redhead.

As Rosan's eyes shadowed, Izumi grinned widely.

Yes that was it. It didn't matter if he was still up and about. As long as she was Meiko, he wouldn't dream of putting his hands on her—

"EMP: Static Shock."

Whatever Izumi was thinking, abruptly cut off as she shrieked terribly, body surging as a sparking palm rested on her chest and unleashed bolts into her.

"You are not Meiko," Rosan said calmly. "Pro tip, Meiko loves calling me Rosy. She only calls me Rosan when I'm in trouble," he replied cheekily.

Wind slammed into her with incredible force, before it began lifting her off the ground. The breeze brushed against Rosan and he smiled.

"Gust."

"Is he actually some type of God?!" Izumi thought in terror, mind scrambling at what to do now that her main plan no longer worked. "No, I can still win. It's not obvious but he's really hurt and is just trying to hide the pain."

She just needed to implement her trump card.

Izumi huffed and activated Geppo, ignoring the surges across her body and flying away from the wind harassing her.

The woman glared at the injured Rosan and said, "Rankakyu: Storm!"

A powerful gale surrounded the redhead, before lashing out and smashing into the numerous Rankakyu shot his way, overwhelming and fizzling them out.

The redhead spread his wings and charged her at incredible speeds.

"Trying to stay in the air against me, is one of the stupidest things you could have done, y'know that right?" Rosan stated in amusement, revealing serrated teeth in the process.

Izumi shrieked, as she barely dodged a torrent of flames that threatened to burn her alive. She kicked once to try to make distance but her opponent was the Angel of Death.

Rosan actually yawned as he appeared directly above her, eyes glinting menacingly as a fist crashed against her sternum with brutal force.

"You won't ever be able to fly faster than me. Erase such thoughts from your head," he grinned, eyes lit up in glee.

Izumi rasped in agony as she forcefully met the ground. Even after the last minute Tekkai, that punch from the redhead was too strong.

How could he move with all those injuries? How could he be enjoying this?!

"Trick of Eyes!" She shouted, the moment it looked like Rosan was going to make another move.

Rosan huffed in amusement, at the army of Izumi's charging him, eyes glancing between each one as he remained rooted to his spot.

He once again summoned his electricity (what? He did say lightning was his favorite element and he was a computer man!) and let the wild red lightning lash out.

The lightning reached his palms and without any hesitation, Rosan clapped.

"EMP: Thunderclap."

As soon as his hands connected, a blast erupted in front of the redhead and lightning surged forward in a cone.

Every illusion shuddered as the attack flew through them before Rosan focused on the one furthest away.

He pointed a finger up at the one who avoided his wave and it began sparking once more.

"EMP: Bolt," he intoned, shooting out a single beam of electricity from the finger.

Izumi only had a second to activate Tekkai, before the ridiculously fast bolt slammed into her body. She grit her teeth and weathered the pain. It hurt, but it wasn't anywhere near fatal.

That was when the barrage came.

"EMP: Lightning Bolts."

Bolt after bolt crashed into her and she felt her eyes rolling to the back of her head at the torturous technique. If not for Tekkai, she'd have long been eliminated but as it stood, she was going to lose either way.

Not… yet… Not here.

It was ready… her technique was ready.

"Never Ending Darkness," she gasped, engulfing the redhead in her technique.

Rosan grunted, as he felt some of his senses cut off and his vision darkened to the point of blindness. He couldn't hear or see anything and it was really disorienting right now.

What the hell was this —

"Shigan: Darts."

Rosan didn't even hear the technique get called out but he certainly felt the five sharp projectiles, courtesy of Izumi smashing her claws against the air, slamming into his body.

A fresh gout of blood formed on his body and he coughed, the pain accumulating further and even giving him pause.

It wasn't just the pain from this battle… he hadn't fully healed from getting tortured and he barely got any chance to do so in between.

"Every fighter has a trump card!" Izumi thought victoriously, eyes gleaming predatorily. "How stupid would I be if I only relied on Meiko to win me that battle?! In the first place, I thought you were a psychopath! Never Ending Darkness was always the main plan!"

She continued bombarding the blinded man from a distance using Geppo and there was nothing Rosan could do.

When she saw him prepare to engulf the entire room in his electricity, she had, in a rather smart display, flown through the hole she created when knocking him down here to avoid being damaged by it.

"Ugh," Rosan groaned as the damage kept piling up on his body.

This wasn't good. Even he was beginning to falter from how damaged he currently was and try as he might, he was as helpless as a baby right now.

This was infuriating.

He couldn't do anything right now but wildly flail around. His senses were failing him, even his sense of smell was at the mercy of Izumi.

What a shitty technique.

How was he going to get out of this? How could he stop this —

"Shigan: Iron Lashings!"

Rosan collapsed on a knee, as those five fingers raked downward on his back drawing a river of blood and marring the already heavily stained room.

"F-Fuck…" he shuddered, feeling an immense amount of agony as his body began failing him.

Not yet. He couldn't lose yet… He just… he just needed to feel her.

Izumi glared at him with a glint of finality, making sure that this time he'd go down for the count.

The woman brandished her claws once more and made them grow even longer.

It was time to finish this with the only gun she could use.

"Shigan: Double Iron Massacre."

She lunged forward, both hands outstretched to tear into Rosan like a wild animal…

Only to blink as the redhead effortlessly sidestepped her attack.

Undeterred, Izumi turned on a heel and lashed out for his chest, confusion growing as he backed away the perfect distance to avoid it.

She continued lashing out, growing more and more desperate as Rosan continued dodging her effortlessly, despite still being completely blinded.

It was as if he was dancing to her movements, moving at a steady and enchanting pace.

What was this?! What was he doing?! Did he cancel her technique…? No… even if he did, his eyes were completely closed.

Discarding the idea of just trying to stab him, Izumi began attempting to use every inch of her body to get a single hit in.

She shot out a Rankakyu with her right leg, before spinning on it to deliver a kick to the gut with her left, yet Rosan simply leaned to the side to avoid the air slash, before gently pushing her swinging leg upwards and completely flipping the woman.

Before she could fall on the floor, she caught herself into a handstand and launched herself up into the air.

The woman felt a small shudder of true terror, as Rosan's head followed her movement, all while his eyes remained closed.

She grit her teeth.

"Shigan: Darts!" She roared, flinging her nail enhanced projectiles with deadly precision.

Not finished yet, she kicked out both her legs rapidly and shot Rankakyu after Rankakyu after him.

What happened next, left her completely stunned.

Rosan began dancing to avoid her attacks. That had to have been what he was doing, because he was moving his body to the perfect place at the perfect time with such beauty, it could only be him performing.

Left, right, forward, back… he contorted and turned his body in order to avoid each attack flying his way until Izumi realized this wasn't going to work.

No matter… she would just… use another option. She wasn't proficient in it like Lucci was but maybe she could —

"It's about time I finish this performance. I need to go save that dumbass, I can feel her getting further and further."

Rosan said that statement calmly and surely, as if he knew this next attack was going to finish it.

Izumi grit her teeth in rage and flew towards the redhead at blistering speeds. She activated Soru and began dashing all over, in hopes of throwing him off.

"I WON'T LOSE HERE DARLING! I'VE DEDICATED MY WHOLE LIFE TO THIS AND I WON'T LET IT GO DOWN THE DRAIN! I WILL END MY NIGHTMARES TODAY NO MATTER WHAT!"

The redhead sighed, sparks beginning to slowly but surely come alive.

"Darling this. Darling that. You aren't the first person to be obsessed with me and you probably won't be the last…" he hummed.

His eyes glowed brilliantly as he opened them, knowing exactly what she was going to do next and preparing for it.

Izumi landed and outstretched both her fists, only to blink to see that Rosan had long since anticipated her movement.

"...You'll have to get in line, Izumi. I will say though, you are almost certainly the craziest so be proud of that I guess," he finished, pushing her hands down so that whatever she planned on doing to his insides failed.

Finally, he struck.

"EMP: Burst."

Rosan exploded in a dome of electricity that engulfed the entire room they were in, charring whatever it got its hands on, including Izumi.

She had applied the strongest Tekkai she could muster…

It did not matter.

The woman shrieked as she was caught by the storm of electricity. It slammed into her with brutal force and sent a surge throughout her body.

"K-KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Izumi howled, locking up and shuddering in agony as she trashed about.

Fortunately for her, the attack ended as soon as it started and Rosan collapsed on his knees, panting harshly.

"Damn… you're still awake? I must be way weaker than I thought... or you're stronger than I anticipated," he huffed, shakily pushing himself up.

At that moment, Izumi's technique wore off and he regained his senses.

The redhead, who had just unlocked his Observation, could only screech as he was immediately assaulted by the sensations of everything.

"W-What the fuc — Agh! WHAT THE FUCK?!" Rosan groaned, holding his head as the world itself began overwhelming him.

He could feel but it was too much, he could see but it was too far, he could hear but it was too loud.

What was this? Why was his observation doing this to him?! Robin, Luffy nor Maro didn't exhibit such issues when first unlocking theirs so why him?!

"Turn it off. Turn it off!" He howled, as he shut his eyes tightly and collapsed on his knees.

What was going on? Why could he hear them? Why could he feel them so strongly?!

"R-Rosan! Your electricity. Try turning it off!" Mod rasped.

Rosan heard her and did just that and everything stopped. The redhead let out a sigh of relief and shakily pulled himself up once more, holding his head as a strong headache bloomed.

"What… was that?" He asked softly.

"Y-Your Haki reacting with Modification?" Mod pondered, eyes wide as she processed the overwhelming sensations herself.

He huffed, eyes heavy as he heard that.

"I… I think because of how Modification alters your makeup, your newly awakened Observation reacted strongly with all other electrical sources in the vicinity and began latching onto them, increasing the range and sensations you could feel and overwhelming you as a result…"

Seriously? What the hell… So not only was he feeling a person through the natural uses of Observation, but through the electricity in their makeup?

It felt like Rosan could feel all of Enies Lobby and then some... what was the limit? If electrical sources existed, was he just doomed to be completely overwhelmed?

Damnit, being a computer made things so complicated.

"Is that… how Enel could hear everyone on Skypiea? Was he doing something similar?" Rosan muttered in realization.

Could users whose makeup was dominated by electricity use said electricity to enhance their Observation Haki? Would every user of the Goro Goro no mi have ridiculous range? Would he have something similar? It seemed like his was worse because it offered him zero benefits besides a headache.

Rosan experimentally tried to use Observation without lightning this time, only to instinctively howl as his senses immediately went haywire once more.

So even after unlocking Observation, it still gave him these issues. Just another on a long list of things he needed to fix about himself.

Ugh, focus. He had other things to worry about. From what he could tell, his crew had just finished up their battles which meant he was the last one done…

Robin was getting further away from him and he refused that.

Right he still had some energy left… it was time to go—

As Rosan began walking away, he heard sniffing, that broke out into a full blown sob of agony.

"W-Why?!" Izumi sobbed in defeat, as reality finally hit her. "Why did it have to be you? Why did you have to ruin my life?! It's not fair!"

"Why do you get to move on with your life, while I'm stuck here torturing myself because of what you did to me?! Every single day, red and purple burn my vision. I sleep and see images of my dying brother. I keep hearing how he wished I was never born… and you don't care! I've been forced to dedicate my life to you and it still doesn't matter! I want to die but I'm so scared! I want to be free but I never will be," she cried, hot tears spilling down her face as all the years of agony caught up with her.

None of it mattered. None of her training meant a damn thing in the face of overwhelming talent. All she could do here was lie in defeat and cry because that's all she was good for.

Everyone was right, she really did have no talent.

"Kill me, torture me... just get it over with. You have people that want the best for you and I'll never have anything so there's no point in me being alive! I don't care anymore!" she wailed, losing all hope.

Rosan watched the girl have a mental breakdown and he came to a startling realization.

He and Izumi... they were two sides of the same disfigured coin. Both broken on the same day… but doing completely opposite things to move forward.

Rosan lingered on the dead (fitting considering he was Reaper). He couldn't keep his mind off Meiko and how to best accomplish his goal of finding a reason to live. He didn't have time to think of Izumi because Meiko had given him such a daunting task to accomplish...

But Rosan found a family over those years. He was fortunate enough to have people that cared for him and wanted what was best… he was lucky enough that his natural charisma had drawn in so many loving people despite trying to push them away.

Izumi lingered on the living (fitting considering she feared death). She couldn't get Rosan out of her head and devoted her life to getting back at him because he ruined her life. There was nothing else for her to think about.

Both lived toxic lifestyles but unlike him, Izumi didn't have a loving family. The only thing she had… was him. It showed too. Izumi acted almost exactly like he did, when not thinking of the one who ruined her life.

"Remember what I asked you alright? Please don't kill that girl."

"…" Rosan glanced at her. "You never stopped thinking about me… but the reason I don't think about you, is because I never stopped thinking about Meiko," he said quietly.

Izumi sniffed, teal eyes wide in sadness as the tears continued to spill.

The redhead sighed. "For some reason I'll never understand, Meiko saw something in you. She saw something that made her want to spare you, even in death... so that's what I'll do."

The agent sucked in a breath at that.

Rosan's bright eyes stared into her teals and he said, "You won't ever be able to beat me again. I'm just getting started… so you should cut your losses now and move on. You don't gotta worry about me anymore… I won't kill you. Whatever you do with your life now, is up to you."

Izumi's eyes widened in disbelief at that. "W-What?! What do you expect me to do?!"

"I don't know and I don't care. It's late, but at the very least, honor Meiko's last wishes and live the life you wish to live," Rosan said harshly, walking off as red sparks began dancing across his body.

"But... But I know all your secrets! I have no reason to keep them anymore!" Izumi exclaimed.

"...I don't care if you tell the whole world anymore. I'll deal with them as they come. Now fuck off and stop trying to make me reconsider," the redhead snarled, glaring at her and making her seize up in terror.

"But..." Izumi looked lost.

Rosan scoffed. "You should consider this a miracle. I have never once let anyone escape and I'm letting you free twice. Don't waste it by coming after me again."

She spent 12 years obsessing over him. For the entirety of her adolescence, Rosan had been the only thing on her mind. She slaved away just to get close to his level… and now he was telling her to just move on...?

DIDN'T HE REALIZE HOW UNREASONABLE THAT WAS?!

There was no moving on from him anymore. Like it or not, she was attached to Rosan in the most toxic way possible because he was the only reason she still had a purpose. She couldn't simply remove him from her life because half her life had been dominated by him.

Just the idea that he wasn't going to bother thinking about her, should have filled her with relief… but instead she was full of confused terror.

She didn't want to be discarded by the only person who understood all her pain. She didn't want to be ignored by the person who had filled her with such a purpose for so long.

"Is this… some form of Stockholm Syndrome? Why does the idea of never seeing him again fill me with so much fear?!"

Right… because for 12 years he had been all she was thinking about. It wasn't possible for her to remove him from her life anymore and now that she had seen him again, that had transformed into a certainty.

What she was about to do was really stupid…

"Wait," she called out.

Rosan paused, and glanced back. Those red sparks were still surging and Izumi felt herself shudder in fear.

"Hm?" He hummed, raising a single brow.