3 months later

Like he had demanded, Meiko hadn't visited him since the night he blew up on her.

Rosan was unstable and he could freely admit that. He had been rather unhinged ever since his mother died. Someone like Meiko, who was too gentle for her own good, should not be around someone like him. It was only logical that she would heed his warning and stay away.

He had to admit, he was slightly disappointed. Though he didn't like the girl, her voice was soothing. Rosan wondered if she knew how to sing?

The redhead decided to focus on more important matters. Namely, Doc's walking form in front of him. After all, today was the day of Ash and Dust and Rosan planned on winning the whole thing. Anything less would be a failure for a boy and he wouldn't feel as good destroying everything on this island.

Rosans strength had increased greatly over his span here. Due to being forced to work in Seastone handcuffs for 3 months, being free of their effects, meant he was stronger than ever and it was noticeable. None of the other prisoners posed a threat to him anymore, so Doc had stopped giving him sparring opponents. No need to have such needless deaths, were the mans words.

He was sure he had heard them celebrating at the prospect of never having to face him again and the boy withheld a snort at the thought. Treating a 9 year old like he were the boogeyman, was as funny as it was shameful.

So now, when it was training time, Rosan would just build his knowledge with the various weapons that he had at his disposal. It had the added benefit of making sure he was with the much more submissive Mom instead of Doc. Rosan didn't hate the woman as much as he hated Doc and, ever since his talk with the pervert, the power dynamic between the two had shifted and Rosan found that he was able to get away with far more stuff as long as he sufficiently distracted her.

Though, that had the downside of turning Mod-chan into a seething lunatic.

He pointedly ignored the sudden feeling of being glared at.

There were various books on how to use a majority of the weapons so Rosan didn't have a hard time picking them up. He wasn't a master yet, but he had a good idea on how best to use each weapon. His preferred weapons were the Battle Axe, Hammer, Gauntlets, Sword and Scythe.

Rosan was not a fan of the scythe, which was why it annoyed him to no end that it was one of his best weapons. Everything about the weapon irked him…its exceedingly long reach, how the blade was so awkwardly placed onto the pole, how he had to hold it in a way that didn't interfere with his short stature. The weapon was so impractical, it was a wonder why people thought using it was a good idea.

He despised the weapon and the first thing he'd do when breaking out, would be to find a way to make the scythe more accommodating to his frame.

He had been reading a copious amount of random books since his stay here, to accumulate his knowledge and it was paying dividends. Blacksmithing, gardening, hunting, geography, calligraphy, etc. Rosan had soaked the knowledge of all sorts of books and added it to his growing list of skills to learn. He planned on utilizing every skill he learned so that he would not be reliant on anybody but himself. He would become a Swiss Army Knife so to say.

Speaking of Modification, Rosan had done a good job of making it appear as if he were being properly restricted. Doc still believed that, outside of training, he had no freedom whatsoever and that was so very far from the truth. The bug he had sent out to scout had already gotten a full scope of the island, located his items, and relayed all the information back to him.

In that time frame, He also had a conversation with Mod-chan. It went about as well as he expected.

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

Flashback

Rosan sat idly in the lounge area of his mindscape. His face was a picture perfect calm as idly raked a hand through his hair.

Adjacent from him was Mod-chan with a blank look on her face. The woman appeared to be as calm as Rosan, but she couldn't hide the distraught look in her red eyes from the redhead. She had probably finished assimilating herself with his memories of his stay here then.

This was going to go well.

Rosan sighed at the look on her face. She was always trying to be strong for the both of them. It was as endearing as it was annoying. The redhead could take care of himself now, and, while he would still need her, the purple haired woman needed to understand this.

Rosan decided that now would be a great time to get that out of the way.

"Something on your mind, Mod-chan?" Rosan asked her softly. Mod-chan flinched at his flat tone and the 9 year old softened his expression. "Without the Seastone limiting us, you look much better…I don't want to see you like that ever again."

Rosan meant what he said, he hated seeing Mod-chan like that. He never wanted her to look so vulnerable. Just the thought of seeing her like that again made him sick.

Mod-chan blushed and a small smile appeared on her otherwise sad face. She thanked him before she turned serious again. Straightening herself, she said "I'm sorry for calling you on such short notice Rosan its just…I finished going through your memories and-" Mod-chan struggled to say what she wanted to say, visibly fighting back tears and failing miserably.

The child shot her an understanding look as he waited patiently for her. Mod-chan was very protective of him so seeing memories of him getting tortured for the better part of 3 months, must have destroyed her. Rosan knew her, she probably blamed herself for this. It was a testament to her overprotectiveness, that she wasn't a sobbing mess at the moment. It was all to keep up the appearance that she was alright.

For him.

He hated that.

Rosan didn't want Mod-chan to be overprotective of him. They were equals now and they needed to look out for each other. It shouldn't be so one-sided in his favor. Rosan would let her say everything she had to say before speaking his mind. Holding things in like this would only lead to a bigger breakdown in the future. It was unhealthy.

(Hypocrite.)

"I'm so sorry, Rosan," Mod-chan began through shaky breaths. "There are so much things I could have done to help alleviate your pain, but I couldn't and while I was sleeping you were suffering so so much," the woman said in despair. "What I saw was horrible and...I could barely watch it! No should ever have to go through that, especially not you a-and it's just not fair-" Mod collapsed as she failed to finish her sentence. Her frame was shaking, as she tried to hold in her sobs and Rosan frowned as he looked at her.

What was with the woman in his life always trying to hide things from him? Maybe that was why he enjoy- he tolerated Meiko's presence. She was an open book and she didn't hide anything from the boy.

Unlike him.

Rosan made his way to Mod-chan and hugged her. "It's okay Mod-chan. Let it all out, I'm here for you," the boy whispered soothingly. He would say more but he wanted her to finish before he spoke. For now he would just be the presence she needed.

Mod-chan clutched his smaller frame desperately as sobs wracked her body. "I-its all my fault Rosan! Y-you tried to be so brave by yourself and I c-couldn't even b-be slightly useful!" The purple haired woman was an emotional wreck as she spoke. "They took everything from you and I couldn't s-stop them. E-even now, you've been doing everything by yourself, while I'm just sitting pretty a-and I f-failed you so horribly p-please f-forgiv-" Mod-chan wailed as the floodgates opened.

This was Mod's problem when it came to Rosan. The woman refused to put the blame on the redhead and instead, chose to shoulder it all by herself. He had noticed it since he was 4, but he was dealing with his own trauma and, by the time he had met Robin, he had thought she had solved it on her own. From having Rosan leave the island, to him getting captured and tortured, to his drastic shift in personality…she blamed it all on herself.

He'd have to correct that. The boy should have corrected it the moment he noticed.

Stroking her hair softly as she wailed into his small body, Rosan decided now would be a good time to speak. "Mod-chan, you have to stop blaming yourself," Rosan said firmly. "None of this is your fault, the blame lies solely on me. I'm the one who made these decisions and I'm the one who got us captured at the end of the day," the boy finished looking the sobbing Devil Fruit in her eyes.

"B-but the only reason we got captured, is that you tried to hide the fact you had my powers in the first place." Mod-chan said utterly heartbroken, remembering explicitly how the boy had only decided to use his abilities when it was too late, because of her. Rosan was a child who valued not disappointing those important to him. Of course he'd take the words she told him when he was 4 seriously and it had cost them. She was stupid for not taking that into account.

Rosan shook his head in denial. "I let my guard down and you know that, Mod-chan. I got arrogant, full of myself, because of how strong I had been getting. The idea that I could get ambushed never crossed my mind because I thought just hiding Modification was enough. I am just as to blame for deciding too late to use Modification."

"You need to understand Mod-chan. The moment I decided to leave Baterilla, I should have stopped acting like a child. I failed to do that, I paid the price and now your paying the price for my immaturity too," the redhead said softly. "The only one who failed was me, Mod-chan. Do not blame yourself or else, I'll really get upset with you," Rosan finished firmly with a frown on his face.

Mod-chan tried to argue, but anything else she said, was swiftly shut down by Rosan. The woman didn't want to believe him and that was okay. Rosan would give her time to gather herself, but he would get rid of these self-destructive thoughts.

"I'm not someone who needs protecting anymore, Mod-chan. I made many mistakes, that you salvaged, but those mistakes just kept piling. I won't allow myself to make those mistakes again so you don't need to worry about me," the 9 year old told the slightly surprised woman. It was becoming apparent to her now just how much he changed and it was slightly staggering.

"We were supposed to be partners, but I was a child and you were my mother. But, no more. You can rely on me now and I'll prove it to you with my actions from now on." Rosan's red eye blazed as he confidently spoke.

"B-but Rosan, your smile…I failed to protect it! They took your happiness from you and I couldn't do anything about it! I...I can't forgive myself for that." Mod-chan looked so defeated as she spoke about the promise they had made so long ago. The woman looked like she was about to break down again and Rosan steadily calmed her down.

She raised a good point and the reality of his emotional situation, was finally becoming clear to the boy. Rosan would normally have been sobbing just as badly at this point but right now, he couldn't feel any type of sadness. The redhead was beginning to understand the brunt of just what happened to him and he resisted the urge to frown.

He wouldn't let it affect him.

"You're right Mod-chan, they took away my innocence and they showed me how cruel the world can be. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you. Just like you, I can't forgive myself for this failure. So, the people who did this, have to pay."

Mod-chan protested, quite strongly, at that. "You're not to blame Rosan! You tried but no one could make it out of such horrific torture unscathed. You haven't failed anything, so there's nothing for you to forgive!" The woman firmly responded, glaring at him with a motherly fury.

Rosan simply countered her argument. "That's how I feel about you right now, Mod-chan. You haven't done anything wrong, so there's nothing to forgive," the boy said, throwing the Devil Fruit's words right back at her. "How about this? I will slowly forgive myself, if you can do the same," the dual eyed boy proposed.

Mod's eyes widened as she realized that she had fallen straight into his trap. The woman looked at him in a new light and realized that, maybe Rosan didn't need her to protect him so much. The realization hurt her a bit, but she pushed it down in favor of the swelling pride inside of her.

Equals didn't sound too bad to her and, based on what she had seen from his memories, Rosan really didn't need to overly rely on her anymore. He had escaped with nothing but his cunningness and intelligence. Despite the situation, Mod was really proud of the boy.

Rosan watched all this transpire with a critical gaze. He knew Mod-chan enough to guess what she was going to say next. Before she could, he decided to speak up. "Mod-chan I know you are still upset with yourself at my personality shift, but what's done is done. There is no time to dwell on the past, when there is so much of the future to experience. Maybe in that future I will learn how to feel happiness again but until then, we just need to continue."

Mod-chan looked at him in wonder before her gaze turned resolute. Nodding steely, the tan woman said "You're right Rosan. I need to get out of this funk and focus on our future. Thank you."

Rosan nodded, satisfied, with her response. "Good, now do you have any idea why my eye has changed color? I've theorized some things but you have a much more intricate understanding of my body than I do."

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

Current

A fusion of some sorts between him and Mod-chan. That had been what she told him. Despite being afflicted by seastone, Rosan's inner body, barring Mod-chan, still worked normally and in response to his intense desire to become stronger, Modification had changed too merging partially with the boy.

It was fascinating, Rosan wondered curiously if that made him half devil or half fruit.

Seems all those people calling him a monster were right. He felt Mod-chan vehemently disagree and conceded without any argument with her. He personally didn't care that he had partially fused with Mod-chan and she didn't seem bothered by it either.

In fact, Rosan was sure she was ecstatic about it. It made their connection stronger and Rosan would have a much easier time using Modification. He had been secretly training with it and he noticed the ease at which he was able to do things had dramatically increased.

It was rather odd though, Rosan thought the moment he ate the Devil Fruit he had fused with Mod...maybe it had something to do with the fact that she appeared to be the only conscious Devil Fruit? He was positive that Devil Fruit's fully combined with a person until that person died. Did that mean Mod-chan was not the Mod Mod no Mi in full?

Well, he didn't care too much about it. If that was what Mod-chan said happened, then that's probably what happened. The redhead had no reason to doubt her.

Doc was none the wiser at the fact that Rosan had been free the entire time. To be fair to the doctor, Rosan gave no hints. He kept up the facade of having the Saizu Saizu no Mi and due to that, his actual ability to increase and decrease the size of things had improved considerably.

What had surprised Rosan, was that Meiko actually didn't tell anyone about their meeting or the truth behind his Devil Fruit. Though the blonde girl didn't know he had Modification, she had already known that his fruit wasn't the Saizu Saizu no Mi. She could have ruined months of planning if she told them.

She really had kept it a secret. Rosan…needed to apologize to the 11 year old if he saw her before the end of the night.

That was neither here nor there though. Rosan had a tournament to win and a lot of money, that was definitely going to Doc, to earn.

He had been waiting about an hour for his match to start and he patiently waited. Some man named Daichi was his opponent. It was the same name as the captain of the Saber Pirates, the pirate crew that was housing Robin. If it was anything like his very first battle, Rosan doubted he'd even break a sweat. Even if it was, people in the Blue Seas were rather weak.

Rosan was currently donned in an all black outfit. A form fitting, long sleeved shirt, covered his upper torso while long cargo pants that were tucked neatly into some steel clad boots made up his lower half. His messy red hair had been tied into a bun, so as to prevent anyone from having an easy way to grab him. Though some strands still hung over his face that he made sure wouldn't get in his way.

Despite being a massive pervert, Mom was good at what she did. Rosan was rather vain himself so he was impressed by what she did. The outfit was approved by the both of them and so he chose to wear it. Mod-chan begrudgingly approved of it as well so he really knew it was good. His Devil Fruit always took the chance to hurl an insult at the black haired woman and it was funny to see the, normally calm, Mod so riled up.

As he made his way to the entrance of the arena, Rosan felt the thrumming of people, all screaming, no doubt excited to watch 2 people fight to the death. He withheld a sigh at that. Rich people always claimed to be of a higher status then people but, when it came do to it, they were just as barbaric as the ones they showed disdain too. They just hid it behind curtains and pretended to be perfect. He knew better though, they wanted to watch this because it was fascinating to them.

Well lucky for them, Rosan would put on a show that they'd never seen before.

"Rosan," Doc began, speaking to him excitedly. "Today is the debut of my ultimate weapon! You've got a lot of people expecting you to fail and the bets have already been made. I'm the only one who believes you'll win it all so you'll win yes?"

Said weapon glanced at him and merely nodded his head. He'd win the tournament, that was a guarantee. The green eyed man had said that everyone else already wrote him off and that he was the only one to actually believe in Rosan and that thought, made him snort inwardly.

How sweet. Guess he had to win then.

His inner show off flared as he thought about them doubting his ability. It was time to put those doubts to rest because Rosan wasn't going to lose here of all places. They were surely going to regret betting against the redhead, but then again, they were rich so they probably didn't mind as much.

Besides, it wouldn't be their only regret tonight.

Rosan closed his eyes and let out a small breath. The boy had opted to use twin daggers for this fight and he lazily held them.

They were one of the few weapons that actually fit his tiny frame. The daggers were still made for adults though so they looked more like dual tanto on him. He quite liked using them, it allowed for a more speedy approach and there was a certain type of beauty in the precise cuts.

The redhead opened his eyes as the gate to the arena finally opened. "Bright," he idly noted as he looked around. The roaring of the crowd pounded in his ear, as thousands of people cheered at the spectacle. The cheers only amplified as both contestants walked out of their respective entrances and into view.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE 7th ROUND OF THE ASH AND DUST TOURNAMENT!" A booming voice, at the top of the commentator stands, said. Modifying his vision to get a better look, Rosan was able to see that he was a man in a full black suit with slicked back brown hair and an obnoxious pair of sunglasses on his grinning face. "ON ONE SIDE, HAILING FROM THE NORTH BLUE, HE'S LEAN HE'S MEAN HE'S SHORTER THEN THE 5 LETTERS IT TAKES TO MAKE GREEN, GIVE IT UP FOR ROSAN!"

Rosan hated this guy already.

The crowd booed loudly for the newcomer, but the boy ignored it. They'd have a real reason to boo him soon enough.

"ON THE OTHER HAND, WE HAVE ONE OF THE MOST PROMISING PROSPECTS TO WIN THE ENTIRE THING! HE'S LAST YEAR'S CHAMPION AND HE'S HERE TO RECLAIM HIS THRONE! GIVE IT UP FOR DAICHIIIII!"

The crowd roared in excitement and Daichi basked in the noise of their cheers. He was a brown skinned muscular man with a buzz cut and a cocky grin. He wore a sleeveless blue shirt with camouflage pants and boots. For weapons, he had brass knuckles equipped. He was a muscled brute in every sense of the word.

This would be easy.

"THIS LOOKS LIKE IT'S GOING TO BE A FAST ONE FOLKS, SO DON'T GET TOO COMFORTABLE!"

Oh if only he knew.

No doubt, they thought he was going to be easy pickings. They immediately set him up against a fan favorite, and reigning champion, after all. Nobody expected such a small child to win a tournament, much less this fight.

Wasn't it just ironic that only Doc had complete faith in him to not just win this fight but the entire thing. "I'll have to repay his goodwill," Rosan thought mockingly.

A fast one hm? Very well, Rosan would go against this notion because he had nothing better to do. He would toy with their little golden boy and give them the show they wanted.

It wouldn't be fast. They could get as comfortable as they wanted while they witnessed his performance.

Both of his arms laid lazily by his side as he stared at his opponent. The brute let out a laugh at what probably looked like a hopeless struggle. He didn't yet understand, that the one who would be dictating the pace of this fight, was Rosan.

This could have been a quick fight if Rosan had wanted it to be, but he didn't want it to be. He wanted to torment this person.

"That's quite cruel, Rosan," Mod-chan said, tone not disapproving. He would have been surprised if it was, Mod-chan generally didn't care about anyone that he didn't care about. She would barely bat an eye at what he did to anyone else. It was a healthy reminder that the Devil Fruit was intended to be a weapon before he, luckily, managed to find her.

"Just doing what the crowd wants, Mod-chan," was his response as he got ready.

A horn blasted, signaling the beginning of the fight and Rosan took off. It was funny how everyone who fought him reacted at his speed for the first time. They always underestimated him and when he did this, they hesitated for far too long giving him enough time to do what he wanted.

Case in point, Daichi's eyes widened at the sight of him vanishing and let out cry of surprise as shallow cuts suddenly marred his chest.

4 strips of his shirt fell off as Rosan stood before him. The little shit stared mockingly up at him, as a small amount of blood dripped off his daggers. Daichi felt a vein throb at the look in the boy's dual eyes. The look of utter dismissal. As if...as if he weren't even worth his time.

Why was it that even though Daichi towered over Rosan, he was the one being looked down upon?! That look in his eyes...it suggested he wasn't being taken serious at all!

Unbidden, sweat began forming at the thought that he was only alive because the kid didn't want to kill him, but he quickly shook those thoughts away.

This kid was messing with him! Haha as if he could kill him! Nice try, but he wouldn't fall for such tricks from a child of all things. He had been planning on giving the crowd a show, but the little brat had pissed him off to no end with his little bravado play.

Rosan leapt back as Daichi crashed his brass knuckles where he was standing. He smirked at the fact that he had successfully provoked Daichi and, as he soared backwards, he began his next course of action. The moment his feet hit the ground, the redhead was already on the move. He was always on the move, never let your opponent think of their next move. Dust was kicked up as Rosan once again vanished from Daichi's sight.

Overwhelm them every step of the way.

Glancing around wildly, Daichi couldn't help but let out a gasp of pain as 4 more cuts appeared on his body, this time on his back. He wildly turned around in an attempt to punch at the offender but Rosan anticipated this. The child deftly dodged the blow and, using his much smaller height, he jumped on the man's overextended arm. The redhead smiled at the man as he balanced himself perfectly on his flailing arm.

Daichi saw red at the cheeky boy's actions. W-who did this brat think he was?! Did he think he could afford to mess with Daichi of all people? The thought made him gnash his teeth in anger.

Daichi tried to shake him off and when that failed, he used his other arm to swing at the annoying gnat. Rosan leaned back, completely avoiding the blow, and stabbed deeply into the offending arm.

Blood gushed down his arm as Daichi let out an agonized scream at the pain he was feeling. The idiot tried to withdraw his arm, but that only had the added effect of making the dagger lodged weapon dig deeper. Rosan decided to reward his tenacity with more stabs, this time to his biceps.

The man wailed in pain at the boy's assault. This was unreal! H-how was this kid so strong? What had they been feeding him?!

Done with his arm, Rosan leapt up his arm so he could reach the mans face and decided it would look better if he put 4 more cuts there. A slash appeared on both his cheeks, his forehead, and across his nose as the man fell on his ass.

That was a grave mistake. Rosan smiled maliciously and, like a shark in the water, the redhead pounced on him. Cut after shallow cut appeared on his body as little monster gingerly took his time. His shirt had been completely shredded from the little boy and any attempt he made to defend himself only ended up with that appendage getting a new wound.

The crowd had gone completely silent. Whether it was at the fact that their former champion was losing so handily or the fact that his opponent was clearly toying with him. Whatever it was, they had been hushed completely.

Finally, Rosan got up to admire his handiwork. A rose was carved neatly onto the man's muscular chest. The man let out gargled choke at the brutal pain of having your chest carved into with a sharp weapon. The dual eyed boy almost scoffed, but he didn't care about the pathetic state the man was in.

Finished with his job, Rosan grasped one of his blood soaked daggers and slit the man's throat. The boy watched as his latest victim choked on his own blood with a passive gaze. Red and purple bore into brown, as the man gagged and grasped at neck with his hands, but it was useless.

Rosan had made sure his strike was fatal.

The sight of the 9 year old boy covered in blood, etched itself firmly into the minds of the spectators and Rosan was declared the winner. He bowed mockingly to the crowd, before making his way to his designated waiting area. That would teach them to doubt the boy.

It was like the floodgates had been broken as the crowds roars increased tenfold.

Rosan realized that they were cheering for him and a sneer almost made its way onto his face. These disgusting humans...he didn't want or need their cheers. They could save it for the other contestants because they would need it far more than he did.

"Cheering at the sight of an 9 year old killing in cold blood. How barbaric," Mod-chan sighed at the sight and Rosan agreed with her.

"Don't worry Mod-chan, their time in this world is reaching an end," He said softly as the gate shut behind him, crowd cheering loudly for him all the while, unknown of the fate that was going to befall them.

Rosan made his way back to Doc, who looked positively ecstatic at his performance. "Yes yes! Well done Rosan!" The blonde man congratulated. "The fact that you didn't even sustain an injury against the previous champion, is nothing short of incredible! I knew you would perform most impressively!" Rosan held his disgust at the gushing man before him. "Come, let's get you cleaned up right away!"

Rosan closed his eyes as he let himself get taken away.

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

After getting cleaned up by Mom (Mod-chan was filled with fury the moment she laid eyes upon the woman), Rosan had absolutely mowed through his next few opponents. It was laughably easy how little resistance they put up to the smaller child.

It seems like they wanted to give Daichi an easy run to the finals and Rosan graciously took that in his stead. No one had managed to make him break a sweat and the redhead got the feeling that he was going to be disappointed until he got his revenge.

The crowd loved him now, due to his tendency of showing off (seems old habits die hard) and how versatile his weapon choice was. He had yet to use the same weapon twice in the 4 matches he had after Daichi. In said matches, he chose to use a sword, a nagi, a staff, and a sickle.

He had comfortably made it into the finals and for his last match, he chose to wield the scythe. He lazily held it over his shoulder and as a result, the blade dragged slightly on the floor. He figured he'd get some more practice in with the strange, hard to wield, weapon that was bigger then he and what better way to test in then against his final opponent.

He had no idea who his final opponent was going to be. The contestants were not allowed to view other fights, so as to keep the battles fair. As a result, they were both going in blind.

Not that it mattered to the dual eyed boy, his opponent would die and Rosan would live. That was that. Besides, if they were anything like his previous opponents, Rosan wouldn't be struggling against his opponent.

As he made his way to the arena, Rosan was greeted by something large and blue. He blinked as he took in the appearance of his opponent. 8 feet tall with a lot of fat and gills on his shoulder and neck. He had spikes all over his body and if they were anything like the fish he was based off of, Rosan was going to be in a bit of trouble.

A Pufferfish type Fishman. Fantastic.

Rosan made a mental note to stop tempting fate so much. His final opponent was an actual Fishman. Fishmen were notoriously powerful and were said to boast 10 times the strength of humans. They were made of much sturdier stuff as well and this one in particular, looked like he'd be able to tank a lot of damage.

He wore a slave collar around his neck and the look in his eyes, suggested that he really wanted to turn Rosan into paste.

Right...Fishmen didn't like humans because of the amount of prejudice they had to face. While their hatred was justified, Rosan didn't care about how they looked or where they lived so, why was this man looking at the redhead like he personally committed a crime against Fishmen. The only crime he was about to commit wouldn't really leave the man with much room to direct his hate because he'd be well, dead.

No matter. It would be slightly difficult, but maybe, just maybe, Rosan would finally have a good fight. Gripping his scythe, Rosan stared blankly at the slave across from him.

"How interesting, unlike the other humans, your gaze lacks disgust," The Blue man said and he sounded impressed. If that was enough to impress him, then the bar was set really low.

"What is your name boy?" The Fishman asked curiously. Rosan continued staring at him, as he contemplated answering, before he decided there would be no harm in doing so. It wasn't going to matter in a little bit anyways.

"My name is Rosan," he kindly introduced himself. "In regards to your curiosity, your race means nothing to me. Human or Fishman, you are all just obstacles that need to be dealt with. Who you are doesn't mean anything when you're dead," Rosan replied frigidly.

Despite his uncaring response, the Fishman nodded in respect. "I thank you for that, Rosan," he said with a short bow. "It's not often I meet someone who doesn't care that I am a Fishman. My name is Kenzo and unlike my other opponents, I shall give you an honorable death."

"Kenzo huh?" The redhead repeated softly. "Sorry to tell you Kenzo, but I have no intention of dying here," he informed his opponent truthfully. "You have no need to worry though. I will not forget your name, even in death."

"I will not underestimate you, Rosan. Your main advantage is gone," The pufferfish said and he actually looked apologetic. "It was a good run but your journey ends here. I'm truly sorry young one but I have a family a I must make it back too them at all costs."

"Whether you underestimate me or not, the results of this fight won't change. I will win. That is a fact. You assuming that I'm simply winning because my opponents underestimate me, is underestimation itself Kenzo," Rosan said matter-of-factly.

"You say you have a family? If I ever find them I will send them your regards and let them know that you died with honor, instead of the death I'm about to give you. You deserve that much." With that, Rosan ended the conversation and Kenzo followed suit.

The annoying commentator chose that moment to speak up, "WELCOMMMEE TO THE FINALS, EVERYBODY! IN A CONTINUOUS SERIES OF UPSETS, OUR TWO FINAL OPPONENTS ARE NOTHING THAT WE EXPECTED!"

"ON ONE SIDE, WE HAVE KENZO THE FISHMAN! TRUE TO HIS LINEAGE, HE'S A SAVAGE MONSTER WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOME OF THE MOST BRUTAL DEATHS HERE."

Rosan scoffed as the crowd jeered and booed the fishman. All of this just because he looked different? People really were stupid if they judged things on the surface only.

Kenzo's eyes flashed with pure hatred but he held himself back from reacting outwardly.

"ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE HAVE THE SURPRISE UPSTART! THE GRACEFUL KILLING MACHINE! THE TRUE UNDERDOG! NOBODY EXPECTED HIM TO AMOUNT TO ANYTHING, BUT HERE HE IS AND HE'S READY TO COMPLETE THE FAIRY TALE. GIVE IT UP FOR ROSANNNNN!"

The noise the crowd made was deafening. After his first match against Daichi, the crowd had begun cheering for him and after his convincing victories, they were fully on his side. They were chanting his name as they roared for him to kill the filthy fish.

Tch. Rosan hated taking orders from people he didn't respect.

"ALRIGHT FOLKS! THE CONTESTANTS ARE READY. WILL ROSAN'S LUCK FINALLY END HERE TO THE MIGHT OF KENZO OR WILL HE PREVAIL DESPITE ALL THE ODDS. DON'T LEAVE YOUR SEATS, IT'S GONNA BE A FUN ONE. BEGIIIIIIIIIN!"

Luck? Never mind, he didn't care. He had more important things to focus on. Namely, the gigantic fishman charging him with surprising speed that belied his massive size.

Kenzo was faster than he expected, but Rosan was faster. The redhead ducked under the man's meaty fist and he slid past his leg to deliver an experimental swing of his scythe, that Kenzo jumped over and Rosan was forced to block the responding blow from the large man's foot.

Rosan was sent flying, as the kick connected with the scythe. Landing upright, Rosan decided that he should avoid blocking the fishman's blows. In fact, it was in his best interest to not get hit by his opponent. The man packed a serious punch and Rosan felt the recoil even through the block.

Rosan's adrenaline began pumping in earnest, as the prospect of a challenging fight finally revealed itself. This time, he wouldn't wait until he was sure he had to use Modification. He made that mistake once and it had cost him everything. He'd win this fight right here, right now and Kenzo would be yet another name added to a growing list of people.

"Boost x2." Rosan said and the effects were immediate. The redhead tensed up as he felt the boost wash over him.

The 9 year old was already plenty strong for his age, but right now, he was sure even through all that protective fat, Kenzo would be unable to withstand him.

He vanished from Kenzo's view.

The fishman barely had time to widen his eyes, before a long cut appeared on his back and the force of the blow was so strong, he stumbled forward slightly. Kenzo tried to catch himself, but he felt a gust of wind and looked up, only to see Rosan aiming a downward swing that was no doubt meant for his skull.

He leaned back hastily, but was unable to fully dodge the slash and another cut blossomed on his chest.

"So strong. So fast! How is he able to cut through me so easily?!" Kenzo was baffled. How was a child this age, capable of exhibiting such strength and speed? He jumped back once again as Rosan swung down so hard, the blade of the scythe embedded itself into the floor but that wasn't it, the boy began moving with the scythe still embedded in there.

Just what the hell was that power?! Was he even human?

Rosan "tchd" as he saw that his blade was about to embed itself into the floor, but he swiftly adapted to the situation.

In one fluid motion, Rosan used the momentum of the swing to push himself on top of the edge of the handle, gathered energy into his legs, pushed off the handle with extreme force, grabbed the middle of his weapon as he dismounted it, and using the force of his leap, dragged the blade through the earth. As he soared towards Kenzo, Rosan began spinning rapidly, scythe still underground (but not for long), at an incredible pace.

Eventually, the blade tore itself through the ground and joined Rosan.

The crowd roared at Rosan's ingenuity.

Kenzo watched in disbelief and a surprising amount of fear as the human buzzsaw careened towards him. Rosan was moving too fast for him to fully avoid the blow and, at that speed, he had no illusions of surviving a hit from the boy. Even if he did somehow survive, the match would only be wrapped up moments later.

Kenzo tried to leap away from the redhead but, like he predicted, he was too slow. The boys momentum carried him too quickly to his target. Kenzo let out a loud groan as his leg was severed cleanly from his body. Falling to one knee, blood gushed on the floor, much to the glee of the crowd.

"Modify," Rosan thought to himself as he modified his own momentum and he steadily halted. Rosan eventually stopped spinning before he could crash into anything and assessed the damage he had dealt.

He had never spun like that and he took a moment to thank Mod-chan because without her he'd probably be throwing up his dinner. He had been aiming to kill him, but the man was fast enough to somewhat evade him.

No matter. Without a leg, Kenzo was as good as dead anyways. Rosan gripped his scythe and charged at Kenzo, ready to deal the finishing blow-

Only to let out an unexpected gasp of pain. It was the first time he had made such a noise since his change.

Why?

Multiple small spikes were embedded into his abdomen. Rosan looked down unsteadily at the wound. Spikes? But how? Looking up, the dual eyed boy was greeted by the sight of a fist flying for his face. He only had a moment to say "Fortify!" before it connected with the boy.

"ROSAN!" He heard Mod-chan call out, as the blow connected and he was tossed through the air like a rag doll. Rosan landed on the floor and began tumbling repeatedly, until coming to a stop courtesy of colliding into the wall. He groaned, hand on head, as he tried to gather his wits.

Blearily opening his eyes, Rosan sarcastically thanked Doc for all that pain training he had been put through. Fortifying his body, had definitely played a hand in his survival as well. Before, he'd either have been knocked unconscious by the raw power of the fishman or dead. Now, while still pretty injured, he was mostly dazed (he could possibly have a concussion) and could recover from this.

As he looked at Kenzo, Rosan saw the source of his trouble.

The man was covered in what had to be detachable spikes. A large amount of the spikes were missing from his back and they were no doubt the ones currently making acquaintances with his stomach. Rosan looked at the mess of his opponents shirt, as the fishman desperately tried to stave off the bleeding of his missing leg. He was using his shredded shirt as a sort of wrap to apply pressure onto the gaping wound.

Detachable spikes…just his luck. Rosan had calculated a lot of possibilities, but a fishman who could detach his spikes was not one of them. He knew they were for protection but the extent of that protection was lost to him.

Could pufferfish even do that?

"Are you okay Rosan?" Mod-chan asked worriedly. That punch had been incredibly strong and the Fishman connected all of it. She wanted to make sure Rosan was okay to keep going. If Mod had to, she would take over his body and finish the fight for him.

Gingerly touching his nose, Rosan winced a bit and verified that it was broken. He let out a grunt as he forcefully straightened it into place and began gingerly picking the spikes out of his body. "I'll be fine Mod-chan. I modified my body so that it was more resistant to poison and thanks to Doc poisoning me so often, I've built quite the tolerance," The redhead informed her. "Please ensure that my body is properly checking and purging any foreign sources though."

"Right. We should wrap this up now so I can focus my full attention on healing your injuries. He only has one leg and he's losing a lot of blood. Seeing as you can still move normally, this fight is as good as over." Mod-chan said with a proud smile on her face.

Nodding in agreement, Rosan ripped the last spike out of his body with barely a wince. His movement managed to catch Kenzo's eyes and he soaked in the sheer surprise and fear the man displayed.

He had probably not been expecting Rosan to get up from the combination of poison, pain, and power behind that punch. Maybe on anybody else, Kenzo would have already won the match.

But Rosan wasn't anybody else.

And now, it was time for the finale.

"WHAT AN AMAZING TURN OF EVENTS. IN A SHOCK TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY, ROSAN HAS GOTTEN BACK UP! INCREDIBLE! IS THIS BOY A MACHINE?! A MONSTER?! A DEMON?!" The commentators grating voice rang out.

Rosan ignored the annoying voice in favor of slowly bending over to pick up his scythe. He'd have to move a bit slower, lest he aggravate his injuries, but it would be more than enough to finish the fight. "Decrease." Rosan intoned as the size of the scythe decreased looking much more like a Kama.

"Kenzo…," Rosan began making eye contact with the fishman. "...I'm impressed. You were the only one capable of injuring me to such a degree. You have my respect and as such I will give you the death you deserve. Stand up. Die fighting."

Despite the fear in his eyes, Kenzo stood up balancing himself on one leg. Blood dripped sporadically from his stump, landing with a squelch on the floor. "I must admit, perhaps I did underestimate you Rosan. I thought, combined with my surprise attacks and my strength, your neck would have snapped from the blow. I commend you for surviving, but I cannot accept defeat just yet. My wife and daughter are waiting for me and if I die here, how will they survive?" With that question asked, the Fishman got into a defensive stance.

"The lives of you, your wife, and your daughter mean nothing to me," Rosan said ruthlessly. "If they are strong, they will live. If they are weak they will die. You're so focused on them, you don't even seem to realize your own situation," the child pointed out coldly.

"You are weak Kenzo, so you will die."

Rosan didn't bother giving him another response. He had a job to finish. He thought about numbing himself, but the pain kept him alert. Satisfied, Rosan crouched lowly and rocketed off, fully intent on finishing this fight.

He would need to be careful about getting spiked again.

Rosan slid past the incoming punch and ducked under a set of spikes that shot at him. Before Kenzo could withdraw his fist, Rosan dug the blade deep into his arm, severing a tendon.

The redhead tilted his body 90 degrees to avoid more spikes and flipped backwards to make distance between the two of them. Kenzo's right arm bled heavily and it hung limply at his side. The man panted but he still looked determined to win.

He had not yet lost hope.

Rosan smiled.

What happened next, could only be described as a slaughter. It was like watching a dancer.

Rosan would weave in and out, dodging all manner of attacks from Kenzo while surgically removing a part of his body. He would duck under a punch and deliver a cut to his ribs, Spin from the retaliation of spikes, exit his field of vision and strike his back, Jumping over a desperate headbutt, to land on his overextended head and teasingly cutting the back of his neck.

Rosan was playing with him.

This was no longer a fight. This was a performance and Rosan was the leading act. The crowd absolutely loved every moment of it. Their cheers could shatter glass with how loud they were. The redhead was entertaining them more then anyone else ever had with how gracefully he moved in and out.

Rosan didn't care how they reacted. He wasn't doing this for them he was doing this because it was fun.

He was fighting a strong opponent and he was forcing them to submit to him. The power he held over them was fun.

The thrill of the hunt, caused some of Rosan's suppressed emotions to seep through and a psychotic, bloody grin, sharp fangs gleaming, made its way onto the boy's face as he enjoyed every single moment.

Someone should not be able to move so gracefully, with such an insane look in their eyes. It was unnerving. It was polarizing.

Mod-chan watched this all with acceptance in her eyes. Rosan had always had a bit of a sadistic streak and it seems like this had brought it out to the fullest.

They watched with malicious glee.

Kenzo was currently in an unbearable amount of pain. When he had first seen the child, he thought that perhaps they had used underhanded tactics to win their way to the final. He had resolutely decided to not fall for such tricks and to put the small human out of his misery quickly.

He knew now that the child was not using such tricks.

Kenzo hated humans, but he respected this child. He looked at him with no bias so he'd end him quickly. A quick conversation had shown that the child cared little for his lineage, he did not care if Kenzo was a fishman or a human. Kenzo was just an opponent he needed to fight and the Fishman respected that immensely.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The child had caught him completely off guard with the sheer amount of power and speed he possessed. From the start of the match, Kenzo was forced into the defensive. Contrary to his size and what would have been a preferred method of fighting, this boy, Rosan, had pursued him relentlessly, not even giving him a chance to think about his next move. Always attacking.

His tactics were utterly overwhelming in nature.

Despite losing a leg, he thought the fight had been as good as over, after he had managed to catch Rosan off guard with his spikes. They were a last resort in case he got cornered by his master…or by an abnormally strong boy.

Kenzo had the ability to detach and shoot out his spikes to unsuspecting foes. If the spikes themselves weren't enough, then the paralyzing poison, they were laced, with should have given him enough time to gather his wits and finish the job.

Watching Rosan get up and shrug off all of this, with barely a wince, had filled him with an unexplainable amount of fear. How was he not affected by his last resort attack? The boy looked slightly uncomfortable but otherwise, he seemed fine.

What had happened to the poison? The spikes? What was he? He found himself echoing the commentators concerns. Was this boy even human? Had Kenzo been set up against some sort of cyborg?

The redhead before him had decreased the size of the scythe that was far larger than the boy was and Kenzo's eyes widened.

A Devil Fruit user. Fantastic.

That explained his durability at least. If they were near water, this battle would have been far different but alas there was nothing but dirt in this arena.

Rosan told him to die fighting, but he hadn't given up yet. His slave master was a cruel man and relied on Kenzo to do most of the heavy lifting at home. If he died, his beautiful wife and daughter would suffer his wrath instead.

He had something to fight for and he couldn't say the same for this emotionless boy, who seemed to revel in the battle. He would fight with everything he had and win.

Looking at the condition of the child and the condition of himself, he came to a conclusion.

Rosan wasn't human.

No, he was a demon in the form of a child. That was the trick he had played against his other opponents.

Since he had lost his limb, Kenzo had not been able to get a single attack on the monster in human flesh. Worst, he was being toyed with. Rosan could have ended the fight at any moment and they were both aware of it. The boy was dancing around his body with minimal effort and littering it with constant injuries.

It was only a matter of time before he actually did die from just bloodloss.

Most of his limbs were rendered useless by the boys relentless assault. He had been completely overwhelmed and there was nothing he could do about it. Looking into the heterochromatic eyes of this demon, Kenzo shook at the amount of rage they possessed. To make matters worse, the boy was grinning toothily with a bloody mouth.

He was enjoying this, enjoying tormenting the fishman despite having the ability to end this quickly. This was the death he deserved?

Consumed by rage Kenzo made his most costly mistake yet. He jumped and swung his only leg at Rosan with a rage filled scream. For a second, it looked like the blow would actually connect, but Rosan had been expecting this. After all, every other limb had been rendered useless.

As his leg soared through the air, Rosan, in an impressively display of flexibility, leaned back completely to evade the blow.

Hands touching the floor from this position, Rosan angled both his feet up as he got into a handstand and connected squarely with the mans extended leg. Kenzo was unable to balance himself any longer due to his one foot being airborne and he fell on his back.

Still in a handstand, Rosan thought "Modify Weight: Lighten," and launched himself upwards with a push. As he practically, floated through the air Rosan began spinning. He grasped the kama and said "Increase x3," and watched it grow back to its original size.

It didn't stop there however.

The crowd gasped as they bore witness to the scythe growing to ludicrous sizes. Rosan himself couldn't even wrap one hand around the weapon anymore. As he placed both hands around the handle, the weight of the weapon made itself apparent and began dragging his spinning, lightened, body downward at a rapid pace.

Kenzo tried to muster up the energy to move but he couldn't. Rosan had made sure he'd be incapable of movement. Looking up, he saw a gigantic something flying towards him in that same buzzsaw motion that had cost him his leg. Closing his eyes, he accepted his fate. Today, he had fought a real monster and lost and this was the price he had to pay.

"Masumi and Kaori, I'm sorry but it seems like I won't be able to make it home soon," the Fishman apologized. "Please stay strong for me, I know you two can do it. I will always be watching over you both. My only regret is that I wasn't able to free you two and see Kaori grow up into the wonderful woman she would be," were Kenzo's final words as the buzzing of steel reached closer and closer.

"Masumi and Kaori hm?" Rosan thought to himself. "I will remember those names. Don't worry, they will be safe for years to come. You and your master will both die tonight."

The human buzzsaw was seconds away from connecting and this time he would not be denied. Red and purple glared down uncaringly at his victim as Rosan uttered "Meteora" and crashed into his target. A cloud of dust rose as the only sound heard was steel connecting with flesh.

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

Masaru, or Doc as well all knew him, had been watching Rosan for a long time.

It hadn't been intentional, but plenty beautiful things happened by accident. He didn't know about Rosan at all before he received reports about the "Devil Child" traveling in their area. Doc didn't have any illusions about being able to fight someone able to sink 6 battleships, but it would do good to get info on what she was doing.

Imagine his surprise, when he gained info that she was traveling with someone who seemed to be even younger than her! Another demon perhaps? The new info intrigued him and in moments he was telling his sources to glean more into the new individual instead.

It had been his best decision yet. Rosan was a masterpiece. At first, he had just been watching Nico Robin in hopes of getting info on what she was planning, but the boy had stolen the spotlight in a heartbeat. He was the clear fighter between the two and he relished battle. Everything about him was perfect. It was as if all his desires in a weapon were mashed into this one child.

It was only natural he concocted a plan to capture him. He hired a group of men to tail Rosan and ambush him when he was alone. There was no way they'd be able to fight both the boy and the "Devil Child". In fact, they probably wouldn't be able to even handle him alone, so he graciously supplied them with an invisible toxin that would render him unconscious after a certain amount of time while progressively making him sluggish.

The plan had worked beautifully and soon the boy was safely in his clutches.

The boy had proven to be…difficult but Doc would not be deterred. He finally had his desired weapon and so, he'd make it work. Rosan was stubborn but he'd be able to breakthrough the boy.

What Doc hadn't expected, was for it to be this difficult. No matter how much punishment he inflicted on the child, or how much the child begged him to stop, besides his name he had not made any progress at all with him. The boy stubbornly believed that Nico Robin would rescue him and that kept his resolve strengthened. The fool had no clue that he was far, far away from where he got captured.

Daybreak Island was not any easy island to reach.

Doc tried whatever it took to get Rosan to submit. He increased the amount of punishment and progressively got more creative with it but nothing worked. The boy refused to be broken and the man was at his wit's end. Normally, he'd be impressed that his perfect weapon was so resilient but right now, it was infuriating.

Imagine his surprise, when one day Rosan walked into his lab with a completely different colored eye. Doc had taken one look at him, before he immediately began running numerous tests on Rosan to get to the bottom of what happened.

He had been able to see various changes in the boy's body but frustratingly enough, he couldn't pinpoint the reason why these changes happened. None of what was happening made any sense at all. As he ran through his results with Rosan, he let his frustration seep through a bit and he asked, aloud, "Are you even human?"

He had not been expecting Rosan to say "I believe I am human, yes."

The blonde man snapped his gaze upwards as he finally registered the dead gaze that were Rosan's eyes. Could it be? Had it finally worked?

Rosan answered everything he asked obediently and Doc resisted the urge to yell in joy.

He had done it! Rosan had finally been broken! Finally, his weapon could finally begin becoming his weapon.

The 9 year old went above and beyond to prove that he truly was the perfect candidate. Prisoner after prisoner had been nothing more than a nuisance to the boy and he eliminated them all with an impressive variety of weapons.

His kills were…messy to say the least and he couldn't stomach watching them, but that was why he had a weapon to do the dirty work! It was worth a queasy stomach to see just what Rosan was capable of.

Though, his wife was proving to be slightly difficult when it came to the boy so that was a concern. She was a pervert and he had no interest in indulging her needs, so she could do whatever she wanted. They had a marriage out of convenience and what used to be love. The blue eyed woman had too much power though, so if she wanted to have her way with Rosan so be it.

As long as she didn't negatively affect the boy's performance he didn't care.

Rosan was truly fascinating. The boy was a genius, plain and simple, and he had an incredible aptitude for learning. He would request various books and have them done by the end of the day, always asking for a new one to indulge in. He did not complain anymore and he didn't even let the pain from tolerance training phase him.

He was exceeding his expectations!

And it had all accumulated to this moment.

Doc had never felt more proud, as he watched Rosan mow through the competition in the tournament. The boy had won over the crowd handily and took out all his opponents with minimal effort.

All while putting on a show. It was like watching the son, he never had, win an award.

He had been worried when he saw the massive fishman in the finals, to the point where he doubted if even his weapon could win this match. If he died here, all his hard work would be for nothing!

But watching the fight, he felt his fears assuage a bit. The way Rosan was handling his opponent filled him with a sense of relief he didn't think he ever felt. He even managed to remove one of the man's legs, much to the joy of everyone viewing!

He noted the sigh of relief his wife let out at how well Rosan was performing. She was watching the fight nearly as intently as he was. He wasn't sure when the two had gotten so close but he didn't care enough to question it.

The fear returned and magnified tenfold, as he watched Rosan get stabbed by the Fishman's spikes and launched across the arena. Sachie, his wife, had let out a terrified gasp as her dear Rosan slammed into the arena walls.

He had thought the boy was dead and all his hard work throughout the 6 months went down the drain. Everyone else shared the same sentiment of him being dead, if their groaning was anything to go by. Doc was filled with a dread and an anger at his prized weapon being defeated.

Should he have waited for him to become older?! Why had he placed him in a tournament after only 3 months of proper training? How was this his fault?! He didn't think there would be a Fishman in the tournament! Perfect he may be, Rosan was still underdeveloped and a child. If he were older this fight would have been long over and it would be the Fishman who lay defeated.

But no, the boy got up with barely a wince much to the relief of both of them and everyone there. After removing the spikes and finally using his Saizu Saizu no Mi, Rosan made his move.

What happened next, was a one sided massacre.

Rosan was the definition of grace and elegance, as he systematically dismantled the Fishman. The Fishman tried but Rosan had an answer for everything he did. The boy's opponent was just a moving punching bag and, when he finally got tired of this, he launched himself upwards while in a handstand.

Everyone watched with an awed gaze as Rosan soared higher and higher until reaching his apex. Then he began falling and falling and his weapon began growing bigger and bigger. He closed his eyes before he could witness the gruesome sight. There was a sound of metal meeting flesh, then silence, then clapping, then roaring.

The blonde man didn't even know Rosan could jump that high! Could his Devil Fruit control his weight as well? He didn't know about the mystical fruits but he had to believe that it could because look at what he was witnessing!

Doc had never felt so proud before in his life. Rosan had killed the fishman and was declared the winner of the Ash and Dust tournament! The weapon, his weapon, was a force to be reckoned with and there was still room for him to grow.

The crowd gave the boy a standing ovation and Doc joined them. Sachie was looking at the boy with such hungry eyes, he nearly forgot they were married.

His weapon had done its job well and now they were comfortably rich from the bettings and the prize money. After collecting the money tonight, Doc would finally leave this island with Rosan and continue his research elsewhere. Maybe he could even mend his relationship with…no matter. She would understand once he explained it to her.

Things were finally looking up for him!

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Later that Night

Rosan had won the tournament like he said he would.

He felt satisfied, not because he won (only Kenzo had been able to awaken something in him, but not even he could withstand his onslaught) but because that meant it was time. Tonight, was the night he "freed" himself and killed every inhabitant on Daybreak Island.

He would not delay it any longer.

The redhead would do it tonight, before anyone had the chance leave so that his identity would remain a mystery to the world.

He was currently sat upright on his bed inspecting himself. His skin was still a bit tender from getting turned into target practice from Kenzo but it would heal quickly.

Mom had patched him up and he was glad for his injury because he was positive that if he didn't have it, he wouldn't be in his cell currently. It didn't stop her from her suggestive touches though, deranged pervert that she was.

"I will not be satisfied until that harlot is dead, Rosan," Mod-chan told him with a fury in her voice that he had scarcely ever heard.

"But of course, Mod-chan. Anything for you," was his easy response. Rosan didn't really care for Mom but if Mod-chan wanted her dead, then she died. She sent him a warm pulse and Rosan sent her one back.

He had a mental map of the entire island and he decided on the best course of action. Thanks to his bug scouter, he had the entire layout of the island memorized. It had also found all his belongings in the facility so Rosan wouldn't have to waste time looking for it. Rosan really needed to think of a name for his bug, it was incredibly useful and difficult to spot.

The redhead sighed at his lack of creativity when it came to names.

"You can't be creative in everything, Rosan," Mod smiled cheekily and the boy rolled his eyes.

His thoughts were interrupted, as the door to his cell was gently and quietly opened. The boy's gaze snapped towards the noise and his face was one of shock.

It couldn't be… but why?

Meiko walked into vision nervously, with both arms held behind her back as she avoided eye contact with him. Rosan's brows furrowed at her as genuine confusion overtook him.

What was she doing here? Even after he told her to stay away...she came back?

"Didn't I tell you not to come back," the 9 year old said bluntly and the girl jumped. He rarely initiated the conversations, content to just let her speak, so he had probably surprised her.

"U-um actually, y-you said I shouldn't come back a-and I just chose not to listen," Was her meek response. Meiko shut up at Rosan's unamused gaze and shyly removed her arms from her back to show him the ointment and some gauze.

"I heard you were in the tournament today and you won! I wasn't allowed to watch but I wanted to see if you were injured," the blonde girl whispered softly.

Rosan felt his dormant emotions flaring, like they always did, when he talked to this girl. The redhead sighed and simply said "I have some here actually. Mom patched it up a bit but she didn't do a very good job," and he pushed his shirt up.

The girls face lit up as she frantically waved her hand and tried to cover her eyes. She failed miserably and, as her eyes peeked through her hands, she gasped at his wounds. The holes were closing up quickly but they were still pretty noticeable.

A worried look overcame Meiko as she saw his wounds. Not wasting anytime, she closed the distance between the two of them and after sending him a questioning glance, to which he shrugged uncaringly, she began rubbing her ointment on him.

It stung slightly but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Rosan simply took the time to stare at the humming girl working on him. She was so earnest in her work it filled Rosan with a strange, inexplicable, feeling.

"I'm sorry," Rosan suddenly said to the diligent girl.

She paused what she was doing to look at him with wide eyes. "Y-you're sorry?" She stuttered and her bright blue eyes stared into his own.

"The last time we met…I attacked you unprovoked and nearly struck you," Rosan began softly. "I replayed that conversation in my head and I was completely out of line," he admitted much to the surprise of the girl before him.

"It's just...everything about you is different and it irritates me in ways I can't explain. We hardly know each other but it doesn't feel that way and we can read each other like open books. No matter how hard I try to deny it, you can tell exactly what I'm thinking and that aggravates me but, that doesn't mean I should strike you. For the way I acted, you have my sincerest apologies."

Meiko gaped at Rosan's confession. She knew the boy had been trying hard to deny the fact and truthfully, the fact that they could read each other so easily, confused her as well.

They just clicked together. The blonde had felt this sensation since she first laid eyes upon his unconscious figure when spying on him being brought in. She couldn't explain it but she hoped that hanging out with him would help answer some of her questions.

She had never met anyone like this and based on the way Rosan was handling it, neither did he. Unlike him though, who strongly rejected it, Meiko fully accepted it. It felt nice to be looked at, to be acknowledged. When having their one on one conversations despite his general aversion to speaking, he always focused all his attention on her.

He would even have some things to add to the conversation, which always made her happy!

She liked Rosan. He was so considerate, despite his situation and even though he was dealing with his own things, he still let her talk to him.

"Rosan… you don't have to apologize because I know you weren't going to hurt me," Meiko said with a smile on her face. "This whole experience, I know it's jarring. I don't know if anyone has had to deal with a situation like this before. I know I haven't. To feel so exposed, is really weird and I can see why you reacted the way you did. That's why I'm not mad at you," the blonde told the younger boy.

"I meant what I said Rosan, I trust you completely. Deep down, you're a kind person and I hate that this had to happen to you because you don't deserve it. Even still… I know this is horrible of me to say, but I'm glad I met you."

Meiko grinned brilliantly at him and he felt his chest constrict. It was bright, too bright. Meiko's smile was like the sun and it was blinding him.

She was pure. Too pure for this island. Too pure for Rosan. Despite his nature; his atrocities, his actions to her, she still had that look. Those caring, electric blue eyes focused on him with nothing but understanding, not a hint of fear in them despite what he was.

Despite who he was.

Rosan hated it.

"Meiko- thank you. You're words, they mean a lot to me and I'm happy that some people still have faith in me," Rosan said. Closing his eyes, the redhead said "I trust you Meiko. You not telling anyone I lied about my Devil Fruit is enough for me...," Her smile, if possible, got even brighter.

"...which is why I'm sorry," the boy finished after a long pause.

"What? You're sorry?" Confusion overtook the little girl, before realization seeped in. Meiko took a step back in fear as she saw the boy tense. She could feel it, Rosan he was planning on attacking-

"Modify Target: Rest Mode," a voice behind Meiko said and a hand made contact with her. Looking up at Rosan in betrayal, the last thing she saw was the remorseful look in his eyes.

"I trust you Meiko. But, you should never have trusted me."

With that final statement, she lost consciousness.

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

Rosan caught the falling girl and placed her gently on the bed.

The strange feeling in his pit had refused to go away. In fact, it had only gotten worse at the look in the girls eyes. She had looked so hurt, so betrayed. She truly had believed in him and he chose to stomp on that trust.

He was a monster... so why did he feel this way? Why did he feel so bad?

"It's because you're not heartless, Rosan. The fact you feel this guilt is proof of it. You are simply doing what needs to be done because of the circumstances you've been put in. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Mod said soothingly.

"You're right as usual, Mod-chan. I'm simply doing what I have to do." But, a small part of him still felt bad for the girl. Meiko didn't deserve the fate that she was about to receive. She was a good person.

Still, there were things he needed to do. He was getting off this island today and nobody would stop him.

Removing his fake handcuffs and grasping them, Rosan closed his eyes and said "Modify: Form," and watched as they transformed into two humanoid figures. The dual eyed boy simply modeled them after the easiest thing he knew, which was himself.

Not yet finished, Rosan touched them both and said "Modification: Seed of Life."

This technique was a bit different then when he made the bug or the Blue Jay. The previous two had no will of their own and simply followed Rosan's commands. They would dutifully do exactly what he asked of them. With Seed of Life, while they were still loyal to the redhead, they were also much more independent.

Rosan watched as he breathed like into the two synthetic copies of himself. Nodding in satisfaction, he pointed at his first clone and told it, "#1, you will retrieve my belongings and find the money Doc won. Once you find them, go to the closest ocean source and signal me." #1 nodded in confirmation.

The redhead then looked at his second clone and said "#2, your job is to loot everything of value. Begin with this facility and progress to the entire island. If you believe in your abilities, feel free to take from the people as long as you do not get spotted. You may take your time, I have matters to attend to."

Glancing around Rosan walked over to his bed and tugged the blanket off. "Modify Form," was all he said and the blanket transformed into a bag.

"Modification, Link: User White Rose,"He handed the modified bag over to #2 who accepted it without prompting. "That bag is connected to the White Rose. Wait for #1's signal, before you begin storing items in there because the ship is shrunken. Ensure that you two are not seen. #1, when you are done, assist #2"

"Yes sir!"They both replied.

Rosan looked at the sleeping Meiko. She looked so peaceful, contrasting the hurt look on her face moments before he put her to sleep. "Rosan… she doesn't have to die. I know deep down, you don't want to kill her," Mod-chan said worriedly. The boy was conflicted right now and he was leaning towards killing her because of his identity. Mod didn't care that much about keeping his identity a secret. His own worries were much more important than that and she needed to let him know.

Rosan bent over to smooth out her ruffled outfit and he contemplated what to do with her.

The idea of keeping her alive lessened the feeling in his gut so maybe it was the right course of action? Yes, his body seemed to agree with the notion that she should stay alive so he wouldn't kill her.

His thoughts were interrupted as something fell out of the girls clothing.

Picking it up, Rosan's eyes widened slightly at what he saw.

Now this was very interesting. He had a hunch but he never delved too deep into it because the girl seemed adamant in not talking about it and he didn't care enough to prod. He could work with this.

"There's been a change of plans," Rosan said suddenly catching his clone's attention. #2 carry this girl to the White Rose and let her sleep in Robin's room then resume your previous objective. She will not die tonight." Rosan watched as #2 picked her up with minimal issues and with a nod they both vanished from his sight.

"I won't kill her. My body is very against it anyways and there's no reason for her to die with these people. Though with this new info I've just learned…"

Rosan smiled and vanished from sight. To think the one person he could consider a likeable on this island, was the daughter of the person he hated the most.

Seems he had a friend to visit.

The item he held was an image. On it were 3 people, one was obviously a younger Meiko and the other 2…were Doc and Mom.

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

Rosan had never been outside the facility before.

The cool breeze on his skin, the glow of the stars, the moon shining in the night, the brilliance of the sun during the day...Rosan had nearly forgotten these sensations in the 6 months he had been held captive. It felt nice…he had found himself missing this feeling. He was always an adventurous boy and outside was one of his favorite places to be.

The boy did love nature after all.

It was silent and there was no sign of anyone but that was to be expected. They had most likely retired into their temporary living spaces, tired from all the energy they had expended cheering for him during the tournament.

Not to worry, they'd be able to rest to their hearts content.

The unique thing about this island, was that it didn't have citizens in the traditional sense. Daybreak Island was mostly isolated from the world, they were largely self sufficient and didn't qualify as an actual populated island by the Government.

The "citizens" were just people who had a lot of Beri to spare and were very bored. From what he understood, the only permanent residents were Doc, the prisoners, and a few other people.

This place was just a vacation spot of sorts to the individuals coming and going as they pleased. The only time they all mutually gathered was when there was a big event going on and they wished to witness it.

An event like Ash and Dust.

During events like this, everyone who normally inhabited this island would come back en masse to witness the spectacle. Most would place bets on who would win the whole thing, while others chose to actually enter their own participants for the massive prize pool that the winner got.

Doc had not only bet on Rosan, the man had also entered him into the competition so that he could win the prize in his name. No doubt, he had already collected his prize and was debating on what to do with all the money he had gotten.

Unluckily for him, Rosan was the one who won. It was only fair that the winner was the one who actually receive their prize. Why would he not deserve it? He did everything, while Doc just sat there marveling at "his weapon".

Pathetic. He was going to rip that man apar-

Mod chose that moment to strike up a conversation with him.

"Rosan, what will you do after you leave this island?" Mod-chan asked him and the boy stopped to process her question.

"I don't have a set goal in mind, Mod-chan. I will simply travel around, get stronger, and provide for the both of us. I didn't forget that I have to find and apologize to Ace… but I don't think he's old enough to understand that I'm his brother. He should be about 5 right now? I hope that Marine is raising him well."

"What about Robin-chan?" Mod-chan asked softly and Rosan did a sharp intake.

"…Do not speak that name to me Mod-chan. I can't stand traitors." Rosan said calmly. Mod-chan had seen his memories, she knew what the boy thought about Robin.

"Rosan, surely you aren't upset with her! Robin would never betray you and you know that! That girl…she loves you with all her heart and if she knew what happened to you, she'd bring hell to this Earth."

"Then where is she, Mod-chan? That's right, you don't have an answer but I do. She's joining other organizations and bringing them down all on her own. She's stopped looking for me because she has no use for me. In her eyes, I'm expendable. She doesn't need me and I definitely don't need her."

"Rosan you're being unreasonable and you know it! She trusts you with her life and vice versa. She would never stomp on that trust. You would never stomp on it," Mod-chan begged him but Rosan could not be swayed.

"Unreasonable?! I'm being UNREASONABLE?!" He hissed and felt his anger flare. "Tell me what that trust got me then, Mod-chan. I've been suffering, alone, for 6 months and she's nowhere to be seen yet, here I am. Free. All by myself. I'm no longer the same idiot who needs to be bailed out when something goes wrong. When things actually went south, nobody was there to save me and that made me realize that if you want something done, you have to do it yourself and Mod-chan, I can do it myself now."

Mod flinched at the tone he was taking with her. Was Rosan angry with her? H-he had never gotten angry at her before. Truthfully it hurt... a lot but he was being completely unreasonable! She had accepted that he was no longer the same boy, but to blame his Robin-nee of all people? It was insanity! She needed to try and put a stop to this.

"Rosan, please just listen! Talk to her and I'm sure you won't be disappointed by what she says. This isn't like you at all! I know what happened to you hurt, but-"

"You know?" Rosan asked her and the raw disbelief in his tone made her choke on her next words. "You may have the memories but you will never understand the pain I've been through Mod-chan. You don't really know anything about what I tried to endure while waiting for someone, for anyone, to save me while I went through hell. Every. Single. Day."

Mod-chan said nothing, too shocked by his hurtful words. What was happening? Why was this happening? R-Rosan he was so angry a-and he was lashing out on her. Tears began welling up in her eyes, as she unintentionally let out a sniffle.

Rosan heard it but he didn't care. The redhead was too angry to see reason. He seemed to be always be when he got like this.

"You want to know what I want to do about Robin? Fine. I didn't care enough to seek out that traitor but since you want me to see her so bad, if...no, when I do find her, I'll talk to her just like you want. When she inevitably disappoints and confirms my thoughts, I'm going to kill her and her death will be on your hands, Mod-chan," his voice was completely icy and devoid of emotion.

Mod was in shambles as she heard the 9 year old lash out at her. Never did she expect a conversation with her dear Rosan to go this south. Tears flowed down her eyes at how cruel his words currently were. He didn't mean what he was saying right? "R-Rosan? You don't mean that."

"I'm not a liar, Mod-chan. You of all people, should know that."

"Rosan this isn't who you are!"

"This is who I am now Mod-chan. Everyone changes and you need to accept that I'm no longer the same boy I used to be."

"I know that, I really do, but this is drastic even for you Rosan!"

"No Mod-chan. This conversation is over. Please stop bringing it up."

"Rosan-"

"I said no, Mod-chan." Rosan was beginning to feel frustrated with this argument. Why didn't she understand that things couldn't go back to the way they were. She was the one being unreasonable right now and the woman didn't see it.

"B-but Rosan-"

"Modification. I. Said. No." His anger boiled over and Rosan called Mod by her full name for the first time since they met.

Shock overcame his features as he realized his mistake too late. There was a silence, then a choked sob tore through his mind and it wrenched his heart.

"Wait Mod-chan, I didn't mean to."

"...I-I understand. I-I'm s-sorry Rosan, I... I stepped o-out of line. I-I'll stop. I-I'll stooo-" She was unable to finish what she was saying, as she abruptly she cut off their connection.

Silence greeted a wide eyed, guilty Rosan.

Fuck.

He let his anger get the best of him again and this time, he went too far. This was different from when his anger was directed towards Meiko. A random girl was one thing, but his Mod-chan?

The redhead never should have lashed out at her like that. She only ever wanted what was best for him and he had chosen to retaliate with pure venom.

Rosan felt like scum. Mod-chan was his closest companion and the one person he knew he could always trust. To be the cause of her pain made him feel worse then all the torture he had endured.

He needed to get his anger under control, he had never had such a hard time controlling it and it was causing him to make mistakes that he ended up regretting. He just wanted to apologize now but Mod-chan wasn't even willing to hear him out. An attempt to enter the mindscape proved that she had closed him out from that too.

Double fuck.

Just when he was about to give up, their connection activated again. Mod, obviously still crying, sniffed out "R-Rosan, I-I'm not mad at you…I could never be. I can feel y-your regret, I-I just n-need some time. Please f-focus on getting off this island and then I...I'll be ready to talk. I'm sorry but I won't be of much h-help. I love you Rosan don't f-forget that."

And with that, she shut the connection back off. This time though, he felt the steady pulse of her presence.

Rosan felt conflicted. He could forcefully enter the mindscape to talk to Mod-chan but she wanted some alone time and the redhead valued her needs. Besides, she was right, he needed to get off this island.

Their talk could wait for later when he was fully free.

Taking a deep breath, Rosan curbed the rest of his anger in favor of cold rationality. He made a mistake and he would amend that but for now, he had people to meet and an island to escape.

Rosan idly poured love through their connection and he knew she could still feel it. He needed to make it up to her somehow... and the first step to that, was to listen to her request. That wouldn't be enough though. He hurt her feelings and that wasn't something he was used to doing.

Damn he really had messed up.

But, that was for later. Rosan focused his attention on the mission at hand.

Standing back up (when had he even sat down?), Rosan headed in the direction of where Doc resided. Despite himself, Rosan allowed a cruel smile to don his face.

It was time for him to have some fun.

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

When Doc awoke it wasn't pleasant. In fact it was quite the opposite.

A slap connected to his face and he woke with a startled yell. He tried to get up but found that movement was not possible. Looking down he saw the source was a piece of rope tied around him quite tightly. He was sitting upright in a chair in what appeared to be his living room.

What on Earth was going on?

It didn't take long for his confusion to be answered. "Ah, you're finally awake," A quiet voice said. "Good."

A familiar quiet voice.

Sitting on the kitchen table across from him, idly polishing a knife, was the source of his good fortune itself Rosan. Relief flooded him for a moment as he thought the boy was here to help him before confusion overtook him as he began to fully shake off his sleepiness.

How was Rosan here? Wasn't he supposed to be in his…cell?! Panic flooded him as he realized the boy was not supposed to be here.

"Greetings Doc," Rosan greeted him with a small wave and a kind smile on his bronze face. "It appears that you've finally noticed the situation," he remarked idly, flipping the knife up and down.

"You're probably thinking along the lines of why I'm here and not in my cell, yes?" Rosan asked him.

Doc didn't say anything but his surprised gaze was all the confirmation Rosan needed.

Hopping down, from his seat on the table, the boy walked over to his captive and gingerly touched his cheek. "I'm right aren't I?" Rosan asked him softly, tauntingly.

"How are you here boy?! How are you free? Who freed you?!" Doc asked frantically and loudly hoping that someone would hear him and come check.

Rosan nudged his head in a direction and held a finger to his lips. "Shh, you don't wanna wake up your wife, right?" Looking to the side he saw Sachie, his wife in question, resting in a similar position as he was. She was sleeping peacefully with a blush on her face and muttering to herself perversely.

"Degenerate," was all Rosan said. The boy shook his head and focused back on Doc and told him "If you're being loud to get attention, that won't work. The walls are soundproof, they can't hear you."

Doc shook his head "That's impossible, These walls aren't designed to be soundproof. You're lying."

Rosan's laughter sent a chill down his spine as he looked at him in pity. "You didn't design them to be soundproof that's true. But I did."

The blonde man was confused by what he meant by that but the redhead didn't deign to give him another response.

Rosan walked over to his wife and delicately stroked her cheek. She was beginning to stir from his touch and Rosan chose that moment to speak again.

"I want to thank you Doc," he began, making eye contact with the Doctor. "You managed to show me the worst side of humanity so early on in my life and I really do appreciate that," the boy had the decency to sound sincere and that terrified Doc more then he could imagine.

By now, Sachie had fully awaken and she shot him a confused, if not slightly frightened look. She had been dreaming about Rosan and she thought maybe this was apart of her dream as well, but his touch felt too real.

What was happening?

Rosan either didn't notice the look or he did and he didn't care as he continued to stroke her cheek.

"To show my appreciation, I'd like to give you both a reward! But…I can't do that without knowing you're names. It's not fair that only my name is known after all! We're friends, yes?" Rosan clapped his hands in false cheer, very reminiscent to Doc himself.

Pointing at Sachie he said "Let's start with you then." Rosan's eyes glowed with malicious intent as his grip on her cheek tightened. "Tell me, what is your name?"

Sachie felt true fear. Despite his cheer, the look in Rosan's eyes was anything but happy. "R-Rosan dear w-what are you doing?" Rosan simply tightened the grip on her as he continued smiling.

"I asked you a question."

"I don't understand! Didn't you say I was your favorite person dear? You can just keep calling me Mom-"

She was interrupted by Rosan's very audible scoff. "You're more delusional then I thought. I've got you tied up, at my mercy, and you still think anything I said was true? Did you really believe that I liked calling you Mom?" Rosan asked with a small laugh. "I only did it to get on your good side you pervert. A degenerate like you could never be my Mom. Only one person is worthy of being called my Mom and it will never be you," He finished cruelly with a grin on his face.

As Rosan tore into her verbally, her eyes narrowed into that same cruel gaze she had donned when he first refused to call her Mom.

How dare he? HOW DARE HE?! He had tricked her?! She had showered him in nothing but love and affection and this was how he treated her? This backstabbing little BRAT!

"Oh? Seems like the pervert is finally mad. Do you plan on doing something about it?" He taunted and she glared at him in pure hatred.

Rosan relished in it for a few more seconds, before growing tired of her refusal to answer his question.

"Modify Target: Sensitivity," The redhead thought to himself and he watched in satisfaction, as her expression shifted from hatred to pain.

He hadn't changed his grip on her whatsoever, all he had done was increase her sensitivity. Where as the grip was slightly uncomfortable before, it was now too painful for her fair skin to bear.

"Answer my question. I'm not going to ask you again," the boy said, no longer smiling. Those dual colored eyes bored into her as Rosan stared blankly at the woman.

She tried to ignore his question as best as possible. Her silence quickly changed, as Rosan decided to stop gripping her, in favor of sinking his sharp nails into her instead. She couldn't help the gasp of pain that evolved into squealing as Rosan pressed down harder and harder and harder and harder-

"Sachie!" She squealed and Rosan paused what he was doing. Panting harshly, she said "My name… is… Sachie. Now please stop!"

Nodding in satisfaction, Rosan stepped back, removing his hand from her cheek in the process. He looked down at her with a smile on his face, exuding a staggering amount of superiority.

Rosan shook his head and said "Now was that so hard?"

The boy tut his teeth in disappointment. "It's such a shame Sachie, I didn't really hate you all that much but your refusal to answer my question, has netted you quite a bit of negative points from me," Rosan shrugged helplessly in a "what can you do motion". "Maybe if I was Doc, I'd be willing to forgive you. Unfortunately for you Sachie, I'm not as "patient" as your dear husband."

With that, before they could register what was happening, Rosan had taken the knife he was holding and slashed her throat.

Rosan stared stone faced at the dying lady.

Mod sent him a burst of satisfaction.

Doc watched in horror, as a spray of blood flow through the air, landing on Rosan's expressionless face.

Sachie mechanically looked down, almost not believing what just happened to her. The woman tried desperately to grasp at her throat but, she was still tied up. The woman let out a gargled breath as she choked on her own blood.

Looking back up, Sachie was met with a sight that would haunt her for the last coming moments of her life.

Looking down at her, was not a person. No, Rosan was a demon in human flesh. Electric blue stared at an angry blood red that clashed with a frozen royal purple, as the heterochromatic child looked down at her with an utterly blank face. Catching her eye, Rosan did the most natural thing that came to him.

He grinned.

The bloodied boy grinned at her. "Don't worry Sachie, I'll take good care of your daughter. After all, you taught me everything I needed to know."

Sachie's eyes went wide as he said that. She tried to ask how he knew that she had a child but she only succeeded in coughing up a large amount of blood. No not her daughter, not Meiko. She hadn't even gotten to completely make it up-

She coughed up another glob of blood as thinking became too hard for her.

Rosan knew what she wanted to ask but he didn't deign to give her a response. She deserved to die in the most horrible way possible. Let her imagine the possibilities, they were probably way worse then what he could say.

The 9 year old walked away from her right and right towards the terrified Doc.

Doc watched all this transpire with an impending sense of doom.

He watched his wife struggle to breath. He watched his wife look towards him, pleading with her eyes for him to help her. He watched as it became too much and her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she stopped breathing all together. He watched her die. Dead. Just like that. There were no theatrics. She was alive one second and dead the next. At the hands of the weapon he had been raising.

He felt tears forming in his green eyes at the sight of the corpse.

They didn't love each other anymore, but he still held her in high regards. They had been together for more than a decade, of course he cared for her. They had even raised a child togeth-

Wait.

"H-how do you know we have a child?" He stuttered out in confusion. That wasn't possible, he had never mentioned his only child around Rosan. It was irrelevant information that he didn't need to disclose yet until they left the island.

So how did he know?

"Oh you noticed that? How astute of you Doc," Rosan mocked. "Meiko and I..." Doc's eyes widened as Rosan said her name "...are quite acquainted with each other," he informed the man with a smirk.

"When I learned she was you're daughter I was quite shocked! I never imagined a girl as kind as her, would come from people like you! I decided even though you will die tonight, someone will still be alive to pay for the sins of their parents."

Naturally, this was a lie but the man didn't need to know that. Rosan didn't believe that a child should pay for the sins of their parents. If he did, that would make him a massive hypocrite.

Doc listened to this psychotic boy speak and he finally realized that he had made a mistake. He should never have targeted Rosan. There was a reason he had been traveling with the Devil Child and Doc should have taken that into account. The boy was unhinged and it was present, even when he still had his sunny personality.

The man had just chosen to ignore it.

Now, his unhinged nature was coupled with that of a cold blooded monster and he was the one who caused this. Doc had given birth to this demon and now he was paying the price.

Rosan stopped in front of him and looked him in his green eyes. "You wanted to know how I freed myself right?" He asked kindly, bloody grin still on his face. "I bet you're expecting me to say Meiko freed me. Well your out of luck Doc, Meiko didn't free me, you did."

At Doc's shocked confusion Rosan continued with malicious glee. "I can see your confusion and, since I'm in a good mood, I'll explain," the boy informed him.

"The Saizu Saizu no Mi? Yeah, I lied. That isn't my Devil Fruit. For the sake of maintaining my privacy from the dead, I won't tell you my actual ability but the moment you released me from my handcuffs, you freed me," the 9 year old finished smugly.

Doc felt like his world was crashing around him as he heard Rosan speak. He freed him when he unlocked his cuffs? He had lied about his Devil Fruit? But that meant that…

"You've finally realized Doc. Everything was a lie except my name and like the desperate imbecile you are, you accepted it as the truth."

By now, Rosan had dropped all friendly pretenses in favor of hissing in rage.

"You thought you could make me submit but I will never submit to anybody. I am Portgas D. Rosan and I will become the strongest in the world so that people like you, won't think twice about coming after me. Your attempts to break me failed but I wanted to thank you. Your trials have only made me stronger. Being a prisoner in this personal hell has taught me more than you could imagine."

Rosan touched him again. "But now the tables have turned. You see Doc, even though you're going to die tonight, you won't have the luxury of dying quickly like your wife," he said softly and his voice was drenched in so much rage Doc began praying.

"No Doc, for you my friend, it will be long, slow, and painful. 6 months of torture in a couple of hours, do you think we can do it?" The redhead wondered.

Modifying his sensitivity Rosan grabbed the knife and made a small cut on his cheek. For Doc it felt like he was losing a limb and the man let out an agonizing yell as Rosan marked him.

Grinning down at him Rosan, in the ultimate form of revenge, said "Now tell me..."

"...What is your name?"

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

2 hours later

When Rosan walked out of Masaru's (Doc) home, it was raining hard. The downpour soaked his body and matted his hair but the redhead didn't let that bother him. He quite liked the rain.

He had done what he set out to do and now his anger had finally been properly sated.

Doc was a screamer, and he lasted much less time then Rosan did too. Though, after about 30 minutes, he had lost his voice.

Rosan had taken a vindictive pleasure in torturing the man within an inch of his life. Since his sensitivity had been increased, the smallest of injuries felt far worse, meaning the redhead could tease him as much as he wanted and it would still be terrible. Larger inflicted injuries, felt like the man was dying. Rosan had made sure to inflict the maximum amount of damage to him.

Rosan had inflicted the same hell that he had been dealing with, upon that man and it felt euphoric.

Doc was slowly bleeding out now. He no longer had any limbs, and Rosan had instantly cauterized a majority of them so that he could die slower. Rosan had decided against killing him because he had something much better planned for him. Something that he would be putting into action right now.

While torturing Doc, Rosan had been waiting to receive another signal from #1 and #2. He had received one earlier but he wanted to make sure they were now off the island. When he did receive it, he had wrapped up his business with the man and now here he was.

It was time to begin.

Crouching onto one knee, Rosan placed his palm on the wet concrete of the floor. The Mod Mod no Mi user concentrated and said "Modify State: Oil" and the floor changed.

All across the island, the floor transformed. With the assistance of the heavy downpour it had been made much easier. His pants and boots had been unfortunate enough to get caught in the crossfire but that was okay.

He wouldn't have to worry about that soon enough.

Rosan got up and took a moment to gather himself.

That…was draining, extremely so. He had never modified on such a large scale and he was getting dizzy because of it. The boy took a moment to compose himself and regather his energy.

He wasn't done yet though. There was still something he needed to do.

Rosan could have just set the island on fire from here and be done with it, but Rosan was a show off at heart and he was thorough. It was why the crowd loved him and as such he would do nothing less but entertain.

The redhead staved off his dizziness and leapt on top of a random roof. He closed his eyes and activated Modification again, only this time it was on himself.

Rosan had an epiphany. For 5 years he had been trying to achieve one goal that he just could not do. He had been unaware about why he couldn't do it and it honestly left the little boy stumped.

He was normally a quick learner so to be unable to achieve this, left him a bit doubtful of whether it could actually be done. What had he been doing wrong? Where did the technique mess up? What was he missing?

Now, Rosan had an inkling as to why he couldn't do it. He didn't have a good enough base to rely on. He was also lacking the resolve to properly latch onto a certain emotion that was needed to achieve this transformation.

Now he had both.

Latching onto rage, Rosan snarled to himself...

"Modification: Ragnarok."

For just a moment, the world stilled. Then Rosan began to change.

Rosan hunched over as black scales formed across his body and his hands began transforming into claws. He fell to his knees as two large (much larger than the boy) black wings, with red streaks , sprouted from his back. A large and long tail with a similar black and red color scheme to the wings burst from his tail bone.

Gritting his, now sharp, teeth Rosan drew blood as he began to grow larger and larger. The building he was on couldn't hope to handle his new weight and with a rumble, it collapsed, crushing anyone that was currently inside. Soon, he was an intimidating 20 meters tall.

Rosan's human form was gone and in his place, was a large black dragon with streaks of red coursing through his body like visible veins.

Large sharp claws, massive wings, and a long spiked tail dominated his frame. The only thing the dragon had in common with Rosan were the large heterochromatic slits that made up his eyes. One was a blood red, the other a royal purple.

He hoped Mod-chan had saved a picture of this for future viewing. He wanted to see it from a different perspective.

With one experimental flap, Rosan took to the skies and basked in the feeling of finally flying. He had always been jealous of avians for having the ability to soar through the sky.

This was freedom.

Alas, he couldn't fully enjoy the feeling just yet because it was time to finish the job. By now, a commotion was beginning to stir and people were exiting their homes. Whether it was due to the sound of the building collapsing, or realizing their possessions had been stolen, islanders left the "safety" of their homes and they bore witness to the massive mythical creature flying above them.

They were looking up at someone greater than them, someone better than them. This was the view that the strong earned and this was the fate that the weak inherited.

Rosan roared. It was one of pure rage. One of the pent up anger, of a boy who had been denied his freedom for far too long.

"RAOGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The people screamed and tried to run, but Rosan had oiled the floor for 2 reasons. They slipped and fell and panicked as they realized running away was near impossible. Even if it were, where would they be able to go? Making it to the ships would take too long and for the people who did, they had no delusions of being able to take on a Dragon.

They felt a primal surge of fear as they looked at the large draconian figure in the sky. Rosan snorted at them and, on his new figure, it was more akin to a deep rumble.

They were trying to beg for mercy? Pathetic but Rosan understood where they were coming from.

He would give them mercy.

Rearing his head back, The dragon began gathering energy into his throat. It didn't take but a few moments to answer his call and soon, the rainy night sky lit up brilliantly.

The people paled as they noticed, what looked to be, the sun dominating their vision.

At night.

The screams of terror only grew louder as they realized it was the mysterious Dragon preparing an attack. An attack for them.

Impending doom encroached upon them all, as they saw the Dragon, that appeared out of nowhere, gather a large amount of energy in his long maw.

Some people cried, some prayed, others even tried shooting at the Draconic figure.

All of them failed and when that failed, they were reduced to praying to a God.

But, at this moment the only god that could save them…was Rosan.

And Rosan was no God.

The obsidian dragon finished gathering energy and, as he pointed his head downwards, the world froze for everyone there.

A single moment of eternity, that didn't last long enough.

Rosan opened his mouth and the world burned.

"ANNIHILATION" The dragon roared as an absolute gigantic amount of flames, burst out of its mouth. The rain did nothing to diminish the flames. As the flame soared through the air, it finally reached its target.

Daybreak Island.

Rosan watched as his own personal hell folded under the pressure of his immense draconic flames. It was sweet irony, that this hellhole of an island was now burning.

The people screeched in agony as the monstrous flames connected with them. His enhanced sense of smell, detected charring flesh and the agonized screaming was like a chorus of imps. Rosan hoped that in his last moments, Doc felt this fire, this rage.

Masaru did. The near catatonic man felt every last moment and the knowledge that he caused this would haunt him even in the afterlife.

Rearing his head back one last time Rosan let his victorious roar sing through the night.

"RAOGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Daybreak Island, the man made island, was no more. Brought to ruin by a monster of its own creation.

By Portgas D. Rosan.

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Rosan landed on the White Rose, now in his human form, naked as the day he was born.

Unfortunately, his clothes were not able to survive his long awaited transformation.

Well no matter, he hadn't grown at all in the 6 months captured so he had a spare set of clothes. Even if he did grow, he could just modify his outfits so that they could fit.

Though, it would be inconvenient if his clothes ripped every single time he transformed. He'd need to find a way to circumvent that.

Looking at #1 and #2, Rosan thanked them for their work. He was about to demodify them, when he thought better of it.

"Actually, you two can prove useful to me. As such, I will keep you both," The boy told them with a nod of acknowledgement. Both clones saluted as they heard that.

"Thank you sir!" They said in unison.

"We will need to add some key differences though you two look exactly like me and I would much rather not have that," Rosan said idly. He didn't mind that they looked like him, they were his clones after all. But being a carbon copy was not something he needed.

After a moment of deliberation, he turned to #1 and turned his eyes royal purple, like his right eye, while changing his outfit to a white cloak. "#1 You will now be Angel," Rosan informed his first clone.

"Thank you sir." The now dubbed Angel said and Rosan nodded in satisfaction.

Turning towards #2, he repeated the same process with different results. Rosan turned his eyes blood red, like his left eye, and gave him a black coat instead. "You will be Demon, #2."

"Your wish is my command, Master," Demon said with a low bow.

Satisfied, Rosan stepped back. "You two manage the ship and make sure we make it to the next island in one piece. I will be having a talk with Mod-chan and then, our guest of honor."

"Sir!" They saluted.

With that they went their separate ways.

Rosan allowed one last smile to appear on his face. This one was a victorious one.

Finally, finally they were free. It was a minor setback but it was essential for his growth. Rosan entered his room and closed the door behind him.

He had work to do.

Bonus!

The Misadventures of Robin and Rosan – 1

This takes place right after the end of chapter 3. Robin and Rosan are 8 and 4 respectively!

Robin was mortified from the events that had happened last night.

She remembered everything. From watching a 4 year old systematically destroy a crew of pirates, to crying herself to sleep in the large chest of his pretty Devil Fruit.

The same large pair of breasts she was waking up in right now.

"Finally awake?" A soothing voice said and Robin looked up to find Mod-chan looking down at her with a gentle smile on her warm face. Robin, noticing their compromising position, turned beet red and hastily removed her head from the woman's chest.

"Ah! I'm sorry I didn't uh mean to fall asleep there!" Robin stammered out an apology. She hadn't planned on crying herself to sleep and now she had probably gotten snot and tears all over the ice queen!

Mod-chan let out a soft chuckle and her long purple hair bobbed in time with her laughter. "It's okay Robin-chan! I really don't mind. You barely bothered me and I know you really needed that." Mod-chan said understandingly.

"Besides, you looked so cute, I couldn't dream of waking you up," Mod-chan finished, with a larger smile this time.

Robin blushed an interesting shade of red at being complimented, but hesitantly put away her worries and looked around. "Mod-chan…where's Rosan?" she asked, looking for any sign of the little boy.

Mod-chan got up, still carrying an even more embarrassed Robin in her arms, and made her way out of the mindscapes house. "Rosan is training right now. Your words really lit a fire under him and he wants to get as strong as possible to protect you!" Mod told her.

"R-really? He's training…for me?" Robin asked hesitantly.

Mod merely nodded with a bright smile on her face, as they found the boy in the forest clearing trying to rapidly modify a piece of wood into various objects.

"Of course! You're one of our precious people now, Robin and, whether you like it or not, Rosan has attached himself to you," Mod said cheerfully before her face shifted into a more serious expression.

Robin looked slightly intimidated by how serious the woman looked and she awaited her words. "I hope you're tolerance levels are high Robin."

Robin's eyes widened as she said that. "W-why? Is something wrong?" She asked in confusion.

Nodding in sympathy Mod-chan said, with full confidence, "Yes. Rosan is clingy, possessive and selfish. Whenever you do something please keep in mind, those 3 important details."

Robin couldn't help the sweatdrop that appeared on her face. She had been expecting something a bit more serious not…that. Despite the absolute confidence Mod-chan displayed, Robin found herself doubting what she said.

Mod-chan, sensing her doubt, simply said "You'll see," and they continued watching the boy train.

Surely Rosan wasn't that bad right?

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Rosan was that bad. The groaning bodies surrounding them was a testament to that.

Robin took a deep breath to stave off the urge to choke the cheerful boy in front of her. She had known that his idea, while reckless, was too good to be true.

Rosan had suggested they use her reputation to sneak into organizations that desired her abilities. After some time gaining their trust, the redhead would show up, in his disguise, and they would work in tandem to destroy them from the inside out.

They would then take all of their valuables, while Rosan left an anonymous tip of their whereabouts to the Marines.

It was a good plan, which surprised Robin considering hyperactive 4 year old Rosan, was the one who thought of it. She figured there had to be a catch but disregarded it because there wasn't an obvious one she could point out.

It was going smoothly and Robin figured she'd have their trust after about a week, based on what she saw. That was when the catch, she couldn't spot, reared its head full force.

Rosan couldn't stand the thought of her not being with him so much so that, not even a day later, he had invaded and beaten down all the people in this organization just to get her back.

When she asked him what he was doing here so early, his reply was "I missed you so I came to get you," and that was that. There was no worry for her being in danger, no thought that she could have been captured, just a desire to get her back at all costs.

Robin looked on in sheer disbelief at the audacity of this boy. He was the one made this plan and he was the one messing it up?!

Who did that?!

Robin turned and walked away. She pointedly ignored Rosan calling her and the smug "I told you so" from Mod.

She was beginning to regret working with these two. They were definitely insane.

"You don't mean that!" Mod said in mock offense.

"Robin-nee come baaaaaack!" Rosan called.

Yep. Definitely insane.

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Character Sheet: Rosan

Current Age: 9 (His birthday is March 12th! He turned 9 sometime during his 6 month imprisonment)

Summary: Found and raised as an abandoned orphan, by Portgas D. Rouge, not much is known about his origins or who his actual parents are. Previously, he had a larger than life personality but due to the actions of being imprisoned he is a shell of his former self. Suppressing all but rage it is not wise to cross this monstrous 9 year old. His current goal is to become the strongest in the world so that no one dares mess with him or his loved ones.

Devil Fruit: Mod Mod no Mi

Type: Paramecia.

Description: Turns Rosan into a computer man that allows him to modify anything he can touch. The nature of this fruit is unknown. Due to the stress of being captured, Rosan has fused even further with his Devil Fruit and the result has turned his left eye a blood red.

Appearance: Tan, nearly bronze skin. Wears a form fitting long sleeved black shirt, long cargo pants that are tucked neatly into some steel clad boots.

Height: 4'4

Hair: Spiky long red hair that's soft to touch. Tends to keep in either a ponytail that reaches his mid back or a bun with strands over his face.

Eyes: Right eye is a chilly royal purple. Left eye is a angry blood red.

Likes: Rouge and Mod-chan

Dislikes: Traitors, Having his freedom restricted, the World Government, Needles, and people using him.