Robin was currently giving him the cold (ironic) shoulder and it was driving him into madness. Being ignored was one of his biggest peeves and though he worked hard not to let it visibly affect him (Meiko did this to him alot when he deserved it), it still royally annoyed him.

Yes, the woman was still tending to him because deep down, she was still worried… but she kept statements terribly short and distant and sometimes she outright just didn't respond to him.

The worst part was, she was talking to Mod and Ram just fine.

No, the only one she had a problem with currently, was him.

The redhead let out a pained sigh as he stamped down his annoyance and glanced at the neutral faced Robin.

The ship was currently on course to the next island because Rosan had demanded they continue despite his condition.

Despite some protests, they eventually agreed and now they were on the way to the next island with a not fully healed scout that would heal up in time.

That damn ice of Aokiji's… he was still left reeling from the aftereffects of being frozen solid (even with the stone) and now he was being given the cold shoulder from his best friend.

What a terrible situation to be in.

At least his body would remember this sensation and build up sufficient resistance…

No, this still felt terrible.

"Robin," Rosan began patiently.

His best friend raised a brow, turning towards him, and he sighed miserably.

They were currently located in his castle so that he could rest up some and the redhead was laying down on the bed, Robin next to him as she silently read a book.

Ram thought they very much looked like a married couple but she couldn't really enjoy that, considering the tension between Mother and Father.

"Can we talk?" He asked quietly, hoping that she didn't just blow him off again.

The scout pushed himself up from his sleeping position and grunted as his body disagreed with the motion.

Robin's nonchalance, vanished immediately and she quickly turned to steady the redhead with a concerned glance.

"Don't move… You need to rest," she said quietly, pushing him back down with a sigh and shutting her book. "What do you want to talk about?"

Rosan stared at her with intense eyes. "You know what I want to talk about."

The two stared at each other for a long while, before Robin pushed herself up and off the bed.

"I'm going to get something to drink. I'll bring you some tea," she declared, turning away from him to walk off.

A hand gripped her arm and stopped her from moving almost as soon as she finished speaking.

"Robin… please? Can you at least berate me?" Rosan not quite begged... but it was close and that was what let Robin know he was truly suffering, because her best friend didn't ever resort to begging.

Her gaze wavered at the desperate look in his eyes and she felt her resistance melt into nothing.

Robin went slack at that and allowed the redhead to pull her closer.

"...It's complicated, Rosan," she replied tiredly. "I know… trust me I know why you attacked him but it's just… you know how easily he could have killed us all. Instead of trying to take us all and run, you fought him. Why did you fight him?"

The Devil Child shut her eyes tight in pain as memories of a frozen solid Rosan roared to the front of her mind.

"Why do you want me to see you die? In such a manner too... you know Aokiji and I's history... Do you want me to go through what you did?" she whispered.

Rosan's eyes widened at her question and his eyes shifted into a slightly hurt expression.

That's not... that's not what he wanted her to go through at all.

She shifted her gaze, unable to look into those eyes that only turned vulnerable when she was involved.

Maybe he should just tell her... he had been reluctant to do so because this shouldn't be her problem too but she wasn't giving him much choice...

"I'm sorry, Robin. I can't control my emotions much at all," he admitted quietly. "I've been trying while you all sleep but it's really hard. Anger especially, comes to me far too easily and leaves far too hard."

Robin's eyes widened slightly, before narrowing in guilt.

That was right… Rosan did just recently get his emotions back. She even anticipated that he would have trouble getting them under control but she never accounted for how little control he had.

Of course he would so easily lose control, especially after mentioning that she was his reason to live... Of course he'd take offense to what Aokiji said...

But she was still treating him so harshly… She was the worst.

"I… I never want anyone I love to go through what I did, especially not you for the second time," Rosan whispered, loosening his grip and releasing her fully. "But at the same time, I can't bear to lose anyone else… so I'll take anything, even threats, serious."

Robin's eyes shut at that. "Rosan I didn't…" she tried to say.

Rosan didn't hear her. The redhead just glanced at his lap with a tired expression.

"You're right... I do know you and Aokiji's history. I know everything because you told me... Knowing what I do, how could I ever let him bully you like that? Aokiji is one of the main catalyst to your trauma... just a meeting between us would never have gone well."

He was right. Robin knew he was right... that meeting would only ever end in disaster... and here she was punishing him, when she should be helping.

Rosan was relying on her to reign him in... punishing him like this didn't solve anything. It was just her abusing the faith he had in her...

Robin didn't want to abuse Rosan in anyway. It wasn't right for her to still be angry with him for this.

"The things he were saying, the people he represents… Aokiji set off every single red flag in my mind and I snapped… I know you told me not to fight him but… but he was threatening you Robin and I couldn't let him… I just…" Rosan sighed as words failed him.

Arms wrapped around his waist and silenced him. He looked up in confusion to see Robin's disappointed visage and for a second, he thought it was for himself.

"I'm sorry too, Rosan," Robin frowned sadly, dashing his concerns. "It was a lapse of judgement for me to forget that you would probably have difficulties controlling your emotions… I haven't been thinking straight these past few days."

With her feelings for Rosan and the sudden appearance of Aokiji, Robin was honestly a bit out of sorts. She hadn't felt such love in years... she hadn't felt such fear either. These emotions weren't quite foreign... but they had been dormant for so long, that they may as well have been.

She supposed she was as much of a mess as Rosan was, if these emotions made her act so irrationally.

"Thank you so much for being so ready to defend me. No one else in the world but you would be so quick to jump to my aid and I appreciate that more than you know," Robin whispered.

"You'd do anything to keep me safe… and I'd do anything to keep you safe... so I'm sorry for getting upset that you would act out on a desire I'd act out on too," she murmured, squeezing him reassuringly.

If Robin met someone strong trying to kill Rosan... well, she'd do everything in her power to stop them. Even if they were stronger... just the threat they served would incite her protective fury.

She would be a hypocrite for thinking otherwise.

Rosan said nothing for a moment, before his arms hesitantly raised and wrapped around her tightly.

"I love you, you know that?" Rosan replied quietly.

For a moment, Robin's heart stopped and she could have sworn she saw something in Rosan's gaze...

This would have been the perfect time for Robin to tell Rosan how she truly felt. They had shared a vulnerable moment with each other, the setting was perfectly right and the two truly did love each other.

But despite that, Robin didn't.

Robin didn't because the lingering threat of Aokiji… the power of the World Government remained prevalent in her mind.

Of what they would do to Rosan if they knew how deep their love ran.

Of what Rosan would do for her if she truly became a target.

So with a strained smile that Rosan didn't see, Robin said, "I love you too, Rosan."

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

"GUYS THERE'S A FROG DOING A FREESTYLE CRAWL IN THE SEA!"

Usopp glanced up at that, unimpressed by his captain. "Don't be ridiculous, Frogs can't do the crawl…"

His eyes bugged as he looked out at the ocean. "IT REALLY IS DOING THE CRAWL!"

Rosan glanced over at all the noise and swallowed the food offered to him.

"You don't have to feed me you know, I'm pretty much healed," he muttered to Robin.

She smiled and took a bit of the dessert they were sharing. "Yes, but I enjoy it. You're like my pet tiger."

The redhead raised a brow at that. "Since when am I a tiger?" he asked curiously.

"Well, you used to be my pet kitten, but your voice is a little to deep when you purr and you're a bit more intimidating than a cat, so tiger is just fine," she retorted.

"Hey, wait… stop calling me your pet," Rosan said flatly. "First bodyguard, then servant, now pet? You sure have a lot of cute nicknames for me—"

Robin watched as Rosan shot up suddenly, sharp gaze morphing over his features as he swiftly darted off.

"Rosan?" She called in confusion, watching him dash off.

Her worries were soon answered, as the redhead leapt behind the ship, sprouted his draconic wings, and heaved.

The Straw Hats yelped at the feeling of Rosan launching the Merry forward with ridiculous strength and gazed at their scout in disbelief.

"W-WOAH!" Every Straw Hat shouted in shock. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR, ROSAN?!"

Why did the redhead just suddenly push their ship?! Did he also want to eat the frog—

Every single Straw Hat, went pale, as a massive moving something smashed into the spot their ship was just at… that was conveniently moved out of the way by Rosan.

"O-Oh… thanks, Rosan," they all said weakly, sweating at watching the… train(?) run over the frog they were just conversing about.

Rosan huffed and landed on the ship. "Be more careful, idiots. I told you guys stop damaging the ship."

They glanced at the moving train in awe.

"Was that a train? On the sea?" Nami asked herself in stunned confusion.

But how… that didn't make any sense!

"There's a lighthouse up ahead," Rosan grunted. "Maybe they can explain what's going on."

A train that traveled by sea? How did that work…

How interesting.

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

Manning the lighthouse, were two people and their pet cat (it was actually a rabbit) named Kokoro, Chimney and Gonbe.

They were strange but they were kind enough to explain some things to the group.

The machine they were looking at was a train. It was a sea train referred to as the Puffing Tom and it rode on sea tracks of all thing.

What an ingenious design. Rosan was genuinely impressed by whoever thought of it.

They also learned that the frog was named Yokozuna and he frequently positioned himself in front of the sea train to test his strength.

He failed every single time but at least he didn't die.

"Wow, he's a pretty gutsy frog!" Luffy awed. "I don't wanna eat him anymore! He's got so much determination!"

Nami sweatdropped. "That's why you don't want to eat him?"

"Let's ride the Sea Train!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.

The old lady laughed at his excitement. "If you take the train from here, you could reach St. Poplar, the town of the Spring Queen. Or you could go to Pucci, the Gourmet City—"

"GOURMET CITY?! LET'S GO THERE!" Luffy shouted with starry eyes.

"We have a ship, idiot," everyone said flatly.

"Just stick to the log," Nami barked in annoyance.

"Where's it pointed?" Chimney asked curiously.

The navigator glanced at it once more just to verify. "North."

"You guys are headed north? That's where Water 7 is," Kokoro slurred, chugging her sake without a care in the world.

Water 7 was considered the city of water and it was well known for its shipbuilding industry and its cutting edge technology.

That caught Rosan's attention.

The ships built there were so good, even the World Government commissioned them… the island had the best carpenters in the world.

Perfect.

Rosan was sufficiently interested in this place.

Based on his crew's energy, they were too.

"Let's go to Water 7 and find a shipwright!" Luffy said with a determined grin.

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

After receiving a terrible map of the city and a letter of introduction, the Straw Hats quickly departed from their new friends and began setting sail for Water 7 with renewed vigor.

They were discussing what type of shipwright they wanted and of course, Rosan watched the idiots and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"Not going to join the discussion?" Robin muttered curiously.

Rosan shook his head. "I'm picky. Luffy and I normally want different things in a person but I suppose his method is effective, considering how impressive this crew is."

Robin rolled her eyes. "You don't want to recruit anyone that's why. I think if given a choice, you'd prefer to be like Mihawk."

The redhead tilted his head. "Sailing the seas and surviving sounds fun... But I hate being truly alone," he murmured.

Robin idly pulled him into a hug. "Look at you admitting that you hate being alone... I don't think I'd have been able to get that out of you before," she praised.

She knew Rosan hated being alone. It was one of his greatest fears and the driving force for why he didn't want to lose anyone he loved... because it was one step closer to fulfilling his nightmare.

"It was really fun when it was the two of us though," Rosan remarked fondly, thinking back to those times.

He wondered how a ship with Robin, Meiko, Maro, Angel and Demon would have been like. Probably very headache inducing for him... and them.

The brunette smiled at that. "But it was also very stressful. Two people manning a ship, even one like the White Rose is a lot of work, especially out in the sea."

Even with Rosan handling the majority of that with his Devil Fruit, it had still been quite a bit of maintenance.

The redhead nodded thoughtfully. "Make sure you can recruit someone talented and crazy enough to join us."

Zoro snorted. "That's a hard ask. Why would someone talented be crazy enough to join our pirate crew?"

Rosan snorted in turn. "The same reason every one of us did. It's called the my younger brother gets whatever he wants effect."

Every Straw Hat opened their mouth… and then closed it, as a thoughtful expression crossed their faces.

"Are you… calling us talented?" Usopp asked tentatively.

The redhead nodded. "None of you would be worth my attention otherwise. We've been through quite the abnormal journey and you guys continue to impress. In your craft, you will all reach the apex of it if you keep going with the determination you have," he complimented.

They balked at the redhead's words before a pleasant feeling welled up in their chests at that.

"W-Who said you could compliment us?!" They said, in a very Chopperesque manner.

The scout almost never complimented them! They were a little overwhelmed to hear it so readily come out of his mouth…

It felt way too nice. They couldn't let Rosan know they appreciated this!

Rosan stared at them for a bit, sweatdropping slightly and tilting his head.

Was he really that rude to them? Huh… who woulda thought?

Robin stared at him with a slight sweatdrop. He was so unaware sometimes.

"We can also look to convert all those pieces of gold into treasure!" Nami exclaimed, thinking to that tall pile of gold.

After seeing just how big the pillar Rosan got was, Nami squealed in happiness and tackled the redhead to the floor for managing to secure something so incredible.

That giant pillar could repair Merry and then some! They were absolutely loaded and the redhead said he had no use for it and they earned it.

That pillar was solely for them! THEM! THE GOLD WAS ALL THEIRS!

"Nami stop. You look like a wild animal," Rosan chastised, gently slapping both her cheeks with his palms. "You had your, "I'm rich and everything belongs to me" face on. I even saw drool forming."

Nami snapped out of her daze and flushed at the look of amusement in his eyes. "S-Since when can you tell what I'm thinking by my facial expressions?!"

"Since the second time I gave you your allowance," he replied easily. "You had such a depraved look as you shamelessly took my money. I honestly felt really dirty."

The navigator spluttered at that. "D-Depraved?! S-Seriously?!"

Her cheeks went red in mortification. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?!"

The redhead shrugged. "I thought it was funny. I never knew someone as greedy as me could exist."

Nami opened her mouth and closed it, hanging her head in defeat. "I've never met someone who can embarrass me so effortlessly."

Rosan cracked a small little smile at that and pulled the embarrassed navigator into a hug. "Don't worry. It comes with being the oldest sibling in a family. You never stood a chance when I've been doing this for years."

"I hate you," she mumbled, squirming as he crushed her face into his chest. "If I had to be your little sister from the start, I'd have killed you in your sleep."

"Get in line. Ace and Angel already tried it multiple times," Rosan smiled smugly.

They sweatdropped.

"Hey Usopp, what are you doing?" Luffy asked curiously.

The sniper was currently hugging the Merry's mast that Rosan and him had spent many times fixing already.

"The thought that Merry is going to get fixed up all nice and new just fills me with warm feelings," the sniper replied.

Sanji nodded at his words. "I know how you feel. Even with Rosan making it look as good as new every time, I'm sure his technique isn't completely repairing her."

Rosan glanced over at that. "No, it doesn't. It can repair damages but there is a limit. If I repair it too much, it will start to have less of an effect. Especially weak materials like wood. Metals can handle my modifications for much longer."

He tested it when he was younger. Standard ship wood was too weak to be modified and repaired repeatedly. It was why the White Rose was practically done for because he modified it so much.

It was a foolish mistake but it was one he realized too late. Wood was just not very compatible with the whims of a computer. Metals could be constantly repaired for a much longer period then wood could.

The more he modified wood, the more it deteriorated. If Rosan had known this, then his ideal form of transportation would have been a submarine. Those could handle his modifications just fine.

They glanced at the redhead with interested eyes, always interested to learn more about him and his fruit.

The redhead gazed at them all with a neutral expression that he had far less. "If we find a shipwright and they say they can't repair our ship… what will we do?"

They blinked at that abrupt question.

What… would they do?

Usopp waved off his question with a cheerful laugh. "We'll just find another shipwright! Don't be such a pessimist all the time, Rosan!"

The redhead tilted his head at that. "I'm not being a pessimist. I'm bringing up the other side of the coin. You have to think of all scenarios. So what will you do if that happens, Luffy? It's your job as captain to make the hard decisions and you have to keep our safety in mind."

Luffy opened his mouth at that... only to close it in a rare moment. To the rubber boy, who always had faith in all his friends to the very end, the idea had never once sprung up to his mind.

The air turned a bit heavy at his accurate observation.

What… would they do? What would happen if Merry couldn't be fixed?

No one had an answer.

Rosan closed his eyes with a sigh.

"This might be a bit harder then I thought, Merry."

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

Water 7 was stunningly gorgeous.

The City of Water was an apt name. The whole island incorporated water into their livelihood.

Everywhere they looked, there was water. There were waterways and canals, that looked as if they were roads.

There was a water gate elevator and of course, there was a gigantic fountain that seemed to announce to the world, that this was Water 7.

"What a beautiful island," Rosan couldn't help but think as his birds relayed the feedback to him.

"I agree, it's stunning," Robin smiled as they set anchor down on the part of the island they were directed to.

"Luffy, Usopp! Let's go find the person named Iceberg that Kokoro mentioned, then we need to get this gold exchanged," Nami called the two getting ready to vanish into the city.

"Alright!" They cheered excitedly, hauling the gold onto a cart crafted from Rosan.

"Remember what I told you Nami," Rosan called out.

"Of course I won't forget that!" She replied as the three vanished.

The redhead watched them go before someone grabbed his sleeve.

"Come with me? I wanted to buy some books and go sightseeing," Robin muttered, getting a nod out of the redhead.

"Can I come too?" Chopper asked the duo curiously.

They glanced over at the reindeer and nodded before quickly departing from the ship.

"If Sanji asks, we went out, Zoro," Rosan informed the swordsman. "Keep guard of the ship."

The swordsman nodded his head and closed his eyes as he leaned against the railing. "Sure," he said lazily.

"Is there anything you want?" Robin asked curiously, glancing at her best friend with a curious gaze as they went further into Water 7.

With a city like this, her best friend might want many things from an island as prestigious as Water 7, so she was understandably surprised to see him shake his head.

"There is nothing that I want currently… The only thing I want, is to get stronger," he said with a small frown.

Robin felt a small stab at that and a frown made its way to her face.

He was still thinking of the one sided slaughter against Aokiji. Over the past few days, she saw the redhead throw himself into training, despite his soreness, with a ferocity reminiscent of when he was a child again.

She herself had to put her foot down and tell him to stop because he hadn't even fully recovered yet…

Not only that, whenever Rosan thought she was sleeping, he would stare at her with a dark frown on his face.

"I won't let you down again," he had murmured one time, voice almost inaudible, before he hugged her close and fell asleep.

Right now, Rosan was doing his all to protect her… he would kill himself with training if he had to…

"I can't control my emotions."

Robin bit her lip.

"Are you two okay?" Chopper (who was in walk point) asked worriedly, glancing up at the two adults.

They snapped out of their own musings with glints of surprise, before smiling down at Chopper.

"I'm fine, Chopper," Robin smiled, running a hand through his fur.

"Just a lot on my mind," Rosan admitted.

"Are you two truly okay?" Mod asked in concern, biting her lip at the contemplation on both Robin and Rosan's faces.

"Yeah, these past few days have been… tense," Ram added lamely.

Tense had been one way to put it. Despite talking it out, there was still some friction between Robin and Rosan that the two just didn't want to discuss.

Well, Rosan wanted to talk. He was always willing to talk things out... but Robin hadn't been very receptive to the idea.

The encounter with Aokiji left them both damaged. Rosan was filled with a fury that did nothing but enhance Robin's fear for his safety and that fear in turn, made Rosan want to train even harder to quell it.

It was a terrible cycle…

Now, Rosan was trying not to be too overbearing and Robin was caught up in her own emotions and the two had unknowingly built this thin wall between each other that had never been there, not even as children.

Mod would need to drag them both into the mindscape tonight so they could thoroughly speak about this. It was only right as their legal guardian that she help them figure this out.

As if reading Mod's mind (they really were in sync too much) Rosan glanced over at his best friend with a serious look.

"Robin… let's talk tonight and figure this all out?" Rosan muttered.

Robin nodded without hesitation, wanting to clear this up just as badly as he did. "I'll… tell you everything. It's my fault for withholding information anyways… you'll understand why I was so worried for you."

Mod's eyes widened in excitement.

Everything? Surely that meant…

The scout's eyes took on a curious glint and he nodded. "Alright… If it helps us solve our problems, I'll have to hold you to it. There's something important I want to tell you too."

She flashed a small smile and they continued to walk, tension bleeding off them and making Chopper relax.

The trio entered a place that rented out interesting creatures called Yagura Bulls who were essential in traversing the watery nature of Water 7.

There were also Rakuba Bulls and King Bulls but they only really needed the smallest one, considering there was only 3 of them.

The one they chose, grinned happily at the group and even rubbed its snout against Rosan's chest.

"Interesting. Smart and strong… a great creature to own," Robin mused as they all sat down on the seat to begin their trip.

"You're very friendly, aren't you?" Rosan mused, patting it and getting a satisfied neigh out of it.

Chopper, who was back in brain point, smiled at the friendly creature. "She says you're very pretty Rosan!" he translated.

The redhead raised a brow at that. "You're charming too, eh?" He snorted, taking his seat next to Robin with an amused smirk. "Thank you for the compliments, girl. You're probably the prettiest in your family too."

He preferred handsome but this was an animal so he supposed he couldn't be too picky.

Robin couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Even animals are attracted to you… I wonder what makes you so attractive in other people's eyes?" she mused jokingly.

She was satisfied to see him shoot a brow into the sky.

"This again? Are you trying to destroy my confidence? Hey Chopper, you think I'm ugly?" Rosan asked suddenly.

Chopper blinked at the question and tilted his head. "You're too scary for me to judge because you have a carnivorous nature... but I don't think so based on what the animals I hear say about you. I'm not attracted to humans so I dunno."

Robin and Rosan both blinked as the Yagura continued to move to its destination. They idly took in the beautiful sighs, the way the path twisted and the livelihood of the people there.

"This isn't the first time an animals been attracted to me…? Too carnivorous? I don't only eat meat..." He stated in slight concern.

The doctor nodded enthusiastically. "I think it's because of your dragon form because they can also be pretty afraid of you, like me whenever you use it! I always think you're about to eat me!"

"Huh… good to know... also I wouldn't eat you... maybe," he muttered in contemplation.

"D-Don't say things like that!" Chopper squealed in horror. The reindeer scooted away from Rosan and hid behind the amused Robin.

She shot Rosan an admonishing glance and he shrugged helplessly, expression turning thoughtful.

Did his frequent transformations into Ragnarok, affect his normal physiology? Was the repeated exposure making him appear more animalistic? Why didn't he see any visible differences besides his teeth growing sharper than they already were?

Maybe his repeated use of Shinigami counteracted it… but he didn't see any visible signs that Shinigami was affecting his physiology either? Was it because Ragnarok was so dominating? Because it was the first?

Because he didn't fully explore Shinigami like he had his draconic technique?

Interesting... did that mean he really was becoming less human?

"I think you're a bigger nerd then I am," Robin couldn't help but say, smile on her face as she heard his inner musing.

The redhead glanced at her as they began to get off the Yagura and asked, "What are we going shopping for right now?"

The Devil Child's face turned neutral. "I don't see how that's relevant."

"Right," Rosan said dryly, petting the Yagura on the head. "Thanks for the ride, girl."

The bull neighed happily and affectionately rubbed its head against him, before sailing off.

Chopper grinned excitedly as he walked ahead, glancing at all the sights with glittering eyes.

"Wow, look at all these people! They have such weird faces," the reindeer mused.

"That's because they're wearing masks and costumes," Robin explained with a small smile.

"They look stupid," Rosan muttered. He glanced at a fruit stand for a moment, before approaching it.

"OH A BOOKSTORE! CAN I ENTER?!" Chopper squealed excitedly.

Robin couldn't resist the small laughter at his visible happiness. "Sure, you go on first and I'll wait in between you and Rosan."

The reindeer didn't even wait for a response and dashed right in.

"Hurry before we leave you behind," Robin called, watching the redhead contemplate what apples he wanted with a serious expression. The Devil Child could have sworn she heard him mutter scan under his breath to inspect them.

She felt a flash of annoyance at the blatant interest on the middle aged woman's face as she gazed at her customer with a flushed expression.

"You can if you want, I can catch up," Rosan replied calmly, picking up an apple and testing it, before experimentally biting into it and nodding in satisfaction, picking out even more apples.

The vendor didn't even look bothered by him biting into something he hadn't paid for, just fluttering her eyes all the while in hopes that he noticed.

Robin was going to give her a scare if she kept it up.

She was going to stay here just in case… he got lost. Yeah that's right. Rosan was so hopeless, that he'd surely get lost.

"I'll—"

"I'm with CP9."

Robin felt the entire world freeze, at that low whisper.

Everything turned upside down all at once and she stopped so abruptly, the woman nearly collapsed.

She broke into a cold sweat and glanced at the tall figure of the person who had whispered such a damning sentence to her.

"Robin? You'll what?" Rosan asked curiously, dropping a few coins in the ladies hand, while idly burning the paper she handed him out of the ladies vision.

The Devil Child's cold sweat, broke into a blizzard at the voice of her best friend.

R-Rosan was…He was on an island w-with Cipher Pol and they knew they were h-here a-and they were after her…

Memories of a frozen Rosan roared to her mind like an undying plague, tormenting her every single step of the way. Memories of her losing him for 16 years because she was being looked at.

All because of her. Rosan was kidnapped because of her. Rosan was frozen because of her...

Rosan would be killed because of her.

"Don't be afraid of them. I'm here," the memory of Rosan said all the way back at Little Garden.

That's what he had said after she showed slight fear for Cipher Pol being mentioned. That's what…

Every single time something targeted her… he threw himself in the way and now Cipher Pol was here. The driving force of her trauma... the people who haunted her nightmares.

As long as she was around Rosan, the valuable scout would be under heavy scrutiny...

Saul. Ohara. Burning. Burning. Her island going up in flames because of… because of the Buster Call—

"I'll be right back," Robin said shortly.

Rosan glanced over in confusion at that. "I can come with. It's no big deal. I'm finished ordering the apples anyways."

Her fear magnified tenfold at that claim because it was a big deal.

"I want to go alone," she said firmly, thankful that she didn't have to say this out loud or look him directly in the face.

Robin watched her best friend (her most important person in the world) glance over at her with a confused expression on his face (the same one that just recently began making faces like that).

She couldn't lose him. Losing him was the last thing Robin ever wanted.

"What's wrong? Why do you want to go alone?" He asked in concern, taking a step towards her.

Robin didn't think she'd be able to hold out if he finished walking.

There was genuine concern in his voice. He was just worried for her... Robin was normally so flattered that someone could be so concerned for her...

Which was why she hated herself all the more for what she was about to do.

"I don't have to tell you everything, Rosan!" she suddenly exclaimed.

The redhead immediately stopped moving and Robin felt her heart breaking into pieces.

"Robin…?" Mod said in visible concern. "What's the matter? Are you alright? You can speak to us!"

"Mother?" Ram whispered.

"Would you guys just please. I'm with you nonstop already and the moment I want some alone time, I automatically have a problem?" Robin asked with a fake frown.

"N-No, that's not what we're saying!" Mod said hastily, eyes wide at Robin finally reaching her melting point.

"So what is it then? All I said is I want to go somewhere alone and now you three think I have a problem! I'm not a kid anymore. Could you all stop being so overbearing!"

"O-Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I wasn't trying to offend..." Mod said in a subdued voice that almost shattered Robin's facade because her mother had no reason to apologize for anything.

Yet Robin was making her feel as if she were in the wrong here.

She was just trying to push them away! A meeting between Rosan and Cipher Pol, would be utterly—

Robin took too long to close her eyes and she saw Rosan's expression shift into one of hurt and it nearly made her break out into a heartbroken sob.

She didn't want to do this. Why did she have to do this?

I made a promise to always keep you safe, Robin.

Oh right… that's why.

Because Rosan would die for her and she wouldn't let that happen.

"For once Rosan, please just stop being like this. Even I have my limits with you and with everything that has happened these past few days, I'm tired of it and I'm tired of you. Please just leave me be for the moment."

One last time. Let her look at him one last time—

Robin had to do everything in her power to keep it together, as tears began dropping from Rosan's wide purple eye only. Even from this distance, she could see the watery stream and it tore her to pieces.

Tears began forming in her own eyes at the sight of Rosan shedding tears for the first time in years... at her hands.

The look on his face was one she hadn't seen in so long. It was a look that always brought her full protective streak to the forefront, that always made her whisper that things were going to be alright to him.

It was a look of soul crushing sadness.

"Oh, Rosan w-wait! You don't have to cry," Mod soothed, tone full of motherly worry as she enveloped her son in her aura. "It's okay, please don't cry. I'm here for you. You know I'm here for you!"

"It's okay, Father! S-She didn't mean it like that…?" Ram didn't sound sure of that.

"Crying…?" He said in confusion, touching his face.

His eyes went wide in alarm at the sensation of feeling something wet streaming down his right eye and that's when the panic truly began to seep in.

He was… crying? W-Was it of sadness?

But that's not... Rosan didn't cry. Rosan refused to cry of sadness... because that meant... that meant he was weak.

Rosan wasn't... he wasn't...

Was he weak...?

"I'm... I'm not crying. I'm not crying," he denied shakily, even despite the fact that the tears wouldn't stop. "I'M NOT CRYING. STOP LOOKING AT ME! I'M NOT —"

Robin felt like the scum of the world, as Rosan took a shaky step away from her, eye teary with a tinge of uncertainty before he turned on a heel and ran off.

Why did she do that? Just w-what was wrong with her? The look on his face… Robin never wanted to be the reason Rosan feared something and she had callously abused their bond.

Robin knew that she was the only one that could elicit such a reaction from him... and she had done so with no remorse.

She couldn't stop the angry sob from escaping her this time, as their connection abruptly cut.

"I'm sorry Rosan… I really am."

I know I have no right to ask this… but please, never leave me?

Her tears spilled to the floor as she walked off to follow the masked person.

I'd never leave you, Rosan… So please never leave me.

"I'm so sorry!"

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

"Hey, Rosan are you alrigh—"

Sanji paused, as the redheaded blur completely ignored him and rushed past him at ridiculous speeds, making the people around him scream in shock at something they could hardly see.

By the time he turned around, the redhead was already gone and the chef blinked in concern.

"He looked sad," the chef muttered in concern. Before he could pursue, the scout had long vanished and Sanji frowned, before opting to leave him be.

If Rosan was crying, he probably wanted to be left alone for the time being. His scout may not act it all the time, but he was proud.

The only thing that could ever make their scout look so sad, was Robin… who happened to not be with him.

What happened? Were those two alright?

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

"Robin doesn't love me anymore."

Rosan didn't know how long he had been running for but he ignored all the shouts and all the people angry that he nearly ran them over, until he was by himself in a deserted area.

He wasn't sure how to explain this feeling but it felt like his heart was being squeezed by all angles and the redhead collapsed, as his breathing got harder to maintain.

He thought they were going to figure it out tonight? What happened? D-Did he do something wrong? He thought he was doing so good? So why was he here crying?

"We're not kids anymore, Rosan. Stop being so overbearing!"

Oh that's right… because they weren't kids anymore. Robin had grown up and he was stuck like this as an emotionally stunted failure. They weren't two kids traveling the seas anymore.

Robin was a 28 year old with her own wants and problems and she realized that his problems were just not worth it.

Of course she'd get fed up with him. She would tell him one thing and then he'd do the other. Why couldn't he just listen to her?!

Because he was useless! Stupid! Why was he such a fucking idiot? For once in his life, why couldn't Rosan just be anything but a FAILURE?!

"That's enough, Rosan!" Mod shouted in concern, tears welling up in her eyes at seeing her son freak out. "You know that's not true!"

"Mother is just stressed! She'll be totally fine when this is all over! Please calm down Father," Ram assured, just as concerned as Mod considering she had never seen him like this.

Rosan forced himself to listen to their words and tried to calm his racing heart...

"Excuse me, mister… are you alright?" A concerned voice asked.

...Only for it to go back to unbearable levels.

That voice… he knew that voice. How could he ever forget it?

Rosan turned around slowly and was met by a shock of blonde hair.

How could he ever forget the voice of his deceased lover?

"?!" Mod's eyes widened in disbelief. "M-Meiko?!"

"M-M-Mother?!" Ram gasped with tears in her eyes.

Fair skin, blonde hair, electric blue eyes, no pupils… Rosan felt like he was in a worse condition then he thought, if he could see his deceased lover right now. After all, the last two times he saw her, he was unconscious.

Then he paused.

"You guys can see her too?" He asked Mod and Ram quietly.

"Y-Yes we can…?" Mod stammered in confusion.

That confirmation snapped Rosan out of his reverie and allowed him to notice things.

The hair was a shade too light, cut too short… her eyes were more teal than electric blue. The features were not exactly like her.

He knew everything about Meiko down to the wire. Even a minute detail would be spotted by him.

"Who are you?" Rosan grunted, morphing his face into a neutral expression that threatened to break at the mere thought of Robin.

This was not Meiko. This was just a child who looked way too much like her.

Just his luck. He really needed this right now.

The little child flinched at his harsh tone. "O-Oh, I'm sorry! I'm Ame… I just noticed you panicking out here and I got concerned…"

Rosan scoffed and turned away from her. "You saw a random man panicking and decided to follow him? You have no self preservation, child. Get out of my sight."

How embarrassing… he needed to go get himself under control. He didn't even feel her creep up on him. No civilian could ever creep up on him, no matter his condition and yet...

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"I-I know but I was just worried about you! You looked really panicked and I just wanted to see if you were alright…" Ame said worriedly.

This had to be some sick joke. What the fuck was this? Why did this girl look and act like Meiko?

"Does it have to do with a girl? You have the heartbroken look a lot of adults have."

The girl yelped as Rosan turned towards her with a painfully neutral expression, dead eyes staring at her with no soul in them.

"Stop fucking prying into my life," he snarled furiously, trying and failing to get his errant emotions under control. "Leave me the fuck alone."

Despite looking a little fearful, there was more curiosity on the lookalikes face.

"But… you look really lonely," she said quietly. "I feel like I know you from somewhere and I don't want you to be sad! Please, let's just talk!"

Rosan resisted the urge to snarl at her words and turned away from the girl, deciding to just find a new location to calm down in. "You probably saw my bounty poster, kid. I don't need your sympathy."

The redhead prepared to walk away from the person throwing his already fragile mind, into complete disarray.

"Do you not love me, Rosan?"

He froze completely, as a chill crawled down his spine. Goosebumps began forming on his skin and for the first time in over a decade, Rosan felt a twinge of fear mix in with his confusion.

"I… what?" Mod said in concern. What was going on? What was happening?

Rosan turned hesitantly and looked at the hurt gaze of the girl who could pass off as Meiko's sister.

Except now, she didn't look like Meiko's sister.

No, now she looked exactly like Meiko.

"Have you moved on from me? Is Nico Robin your new love… is that why you're here, thinking about her when I'm the one talking to you…?" Meiko asked curiously.

But… But what.

Was he dreaming?

"I'm not… but… but you're not…" Rosan took a step back in confusion.

"W-Who is this?!" Ram stammered in confusion.

"Rosan I'm… sure there's an explanation for this b-but calm down. You too Ram!" Mod exclaimed realizing that both Ram and Rosan were freaking out.

"Do you hate me, Rosan? Why are you running away from me?" Meiko asked sadly.

"No, I don't," he said hastily, freezing in spot. "I… Are you…?"

"Meiko?" She said, making him go chilly. "What do you think?"

Ame/Meiko looked at him with deep sadness and Rosan began feeling dizzy.

What… was happening…?

"Do you love me, Rosan?" Meiko/Ame asked. "Do you hate me, Rosan?"

Did he hate Meiko?

"No of course not, Mei… I could never hate you. I hold you to the… to the… highest…"

Rosan felt a haze and stepped further back in confusion, eyes becoming half lidded as a sudden wave hit him.

"Sleep, Rose," Ame/Meiko said softly, gazing at him in sorrow. "Maybe when you wake up, you'll realize how much you've betrayed me."

Betrayed… her?

"Rosan… it's… not… r—," Mod tried to say, resisting the lull of sleep but eventually succumbing to it.

Rosan's eyes fluttered as he collapsed and fell asleep.

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

"Blueno, leave."

The tall man glanced over in annoyance at that.

"And why would I do that? I'm the one who brought Nico Robin here and you just came to this island—"

"Leave. Now. Don't make me get unpleasant."

Robin watched as the stone faced woman, who couldn't be taller then 5'6, bullied the giant of a man out of the room with a few short words.

"I don't know why they brought you here. Don't get a cocky head because you're stronger then the rest of your class, rookie," Blueno grunted.

She said nothing, dismissing him with a single piercing glance.

Once the door closed, the curly haired woman turned towards her and that frosty expression immediately vanished.

"Hey there, man stealer."

The Devil Child blinked in confusion, pausing for a second at that title.

Man… stealer?

Was she talking about… Rosan?

Robin properly looked at the woman now.

"Confused on how I could possibly be talking about Rosan-chan?" She mused, grinning maniacally. It was a far cry from the frosty expression she had donned earlier.

The busty woman had olive skin that was covered nearly fully in a black suit with a set of shades that blocked her eyes. Robin noted that she had quite a long set of nails that were colored pitch black.

Her appearance didn't ring a bell and so, Robin warily said, "Who are you?"

The woman's face split into an unsettling smile. "Who am I! The million dollar question, yes? How am I bullying someone as weak as Blueno? How do I know darling…"

The unknown woman leaned in close, allowing Robin to see what looked to be bandages wrapped around her breasts and midsection.

"How do I know our cheating boyfriend is the Angel of Death?" she whispered seductively, nipping Robin's ear with her teeth and placing a sharp nail on her cheek.

Robin felt like hell itself froze over at that statement.

"You're…"

The woman leaned back and removed her shades. "I can see why he would cheat on me with you! You're sexy, smart and willing to do anything for him, right?"

Lifeless teal eyes, contrasting everything about the unhinged woman, stared at her with delight.

"Gotta love a girl like that. Just like sweet Meiko," Izumi purred as Robin broke into a sweat. "Let's talk, Nico Robin."

This was Izumi? The girl that had killed both Meiko and her brother in one day, driven to a broken state by Rosan himself?

What… was she doing here? She was apart of Cipher Pol?

"Relax," Izumi mused, sitting right atop the uncomfortable woman. "I don't care at all about Cipher Pol or the World Government. I don't care about the threat you pose to the world."

"You... don't?" Robin asked in confusion.

Izumi threw her head back and cackled hysterically. "Why would I?! You, the Devil?! How could I ever believe that?!" She raved with a manic gleam.

"In my eyes, you're not even close to a Devil, Nico Robin. I stared into the eyes of an Angel and that Angel made me kill my brother! Don't you see? I've seen things in this world that are worse than anything you could ever do, Nico Robin," Izumi ranted, staring tenderly at her. "How could you ever be a Devil, when an Angel was the one who did the most devilish thing I've ever seen?!"

Robin was forced to stare at Izumi's face, as the woman remained atop her and she saw the unhinged gleam. The gleam of a broken woman.

"I don't care that they call you Devil because I know better. You, a Devil? No, you're just a poor girl who's been captivated by the glamor of the supernatural," she purred sympathetically.

"She's insane," Robin thought in worry.

"So to answer... no, I don't care about the threat you pose. No, the only thing I care about… the only thing that makes me feel alive is our dear boyfriend, Rosan-chan and most recently, you."

"Why do you keep saying our boyfriend?" Robin said warily.

This was bad. Rosan sparing this girl, backfired in one of the worst possible ways she could ever imagine. To join Cipher Pol of all organizations...

Izumi didn't answer her. Instead, the room around her began shifting and Robin let out a surprised gasp at a very very familiar scene.

A scene of Reaper staring down a lifeless Izumi, with a look of nothing on his features.

The adult version of Izumi looked at Robin with an unhinged grin. "Ah, that look! You recognize the scene!"

How was she doing this…? What was happening?

"Hate me, resent me, despise me. Do whatever you want, but never forget that you are only alive because I willed it. What's left of you belongs to me and don't you ever forget that. We are bonded together by our brokenness, by how empty we are."

"We are bonded because we took everything from each other."

The young Rosan looked down at the broken girl with an expressionless face as he spoke to her and all the young Izumi did was stare at him, registering his words but not having the will to muster up any type of response.

"Look at him," Izumi sighed. "He's gotten very handsome over the years but he's never visited me once after saying I belong to him… so greedy~."

"He needs to be punished. We're connected by a thread of love and yet he thinks he can try to find happiness, when I'm here SUFFERING BECAUSE I ONLY THINK OF HIM?!"

Her eyes turned utterly insane as she finished her sentence and the scenery abruptly vanished, as the agent gazed at the Robin who had jumped at the sudden volume.

"For years, I've slaved away my body to even come close to matching him. I joined this garbage organization with these garbage people in hopes that they could accelerate my training and they did."

She clenched a fist, as that deranged smile grew wider on her pretty face.

"But it's not enough. It'll never be enough. Even with all the training I did, he's a monster that I will never be able to catch up to…"

Then she gazed at the woman.

"So I decided to do something else… if I can't beat him, I'm sure the Vice Admirals and Admirals would love to hunt down Reaper. That crew of yours would be destroyed in an instant, if Admiral Kuzan, Kizaru or Sakazuki decided to pay them a visit. Especially Sakazuki," Izumi said softly.

Robin felt all her fears magnify tenfold, as she realized that she had no choice but to do this. There had been thoughts of escaping, of just tugging on the pendant to call Rosan, but with the looming knowledge that someone in the World Government knew that he was Reaper…

A frozen Rosan, so still, so lifeless… Would… the rest of the Straw Hats join him?

"Please, leave them alone," Robin begged quietly, shutting her eyes. "You guys really want me right? If you leave them be, I'll go with you no resistance."

Izumi tilted her head at that, eyes lighting up in delight. "I dunno… personally, I think the most infamous bounty hunter is more important but this is still my job and you're a higher priority… so if you really do plan on not resisting, we have a deal."

Robin shut her eyes at that and nodded tightly, missing the utterly psychotic grin of Izumi.

This was for the best. If she just disappeared, they'd all be spared. They didn't need to be hunted like dogs.

They didn't all need to be frozen solid.

Robin didn't just love Rosan anymore. She loved all of the Straw Hats and she didn't want them to fall at the hands of a Buster Call, Cipher Pol or an Admiral.

Izumi nodded admirably but on the inside, the girl had a psychotic beam.

Did this poor girl think she was interested in what the fuck Cipher Pol wanted? Izumi felt a flash of sympathy for the Devil Child who had been so utterly roped in by darling's charm.

Tell her anything and she'd listen. Love made a girl do crazy things.

Izumi would know~

There was only one thing on the planet that Izumi was interested in and it was the person who took everything from her.

She was trying to save Rosan but Izumi knew what Rosan was willing to do for someone that belonged to him.

Yes, he'd never lie down and accept this… and if he never figured out…

Well, she accounted for that too~

They'd all come to save Nico Robin if she had anything to say about it.

Then she'd make Rosan watch them all die again and she'd win. She'd take everything from him once more, including Nico Robin.

Then she'd have him all to herself!

We are bonded because we took everything from each other.

Izumi touched the spot, where that tattoo had been so brutally engraved into her skin and promised she'd give Rosan something similar to, before focusing on Nico Robin.

Nico Robin... the world may have thought she was pulling the strings but Izumi knew better. They thought Nico Robin corrupted little innocent Rosan but Izumi knew better.

The poor girl... she was just roped into the schemes of something she didn't truly understand. Rosan would never love anyone like he had loved Meiko and Izumi.

He was just using Nico Robin for his own goals... and she was totally entranced.

She didn't deserve to die because of the whims of the real perpetrator... in fact, Izumi thought she was rather pretty.

Now wasn't that an idea... The woman nearly felt her grin widen further.

How broken would Rosan be, if she even stole Nico Robin from him~ Her dying would be such a waste!

"Now, Rosan-chan was able to transport to Meiko very quickly and I'm sure he can do the same with you. Whatever he's doing, get rid of it," Izumi demanded.

Robin stilled at that and realized that yes, at any point in time, Rosan could activate her Save Point…

If that happened…

She hesitantly removed the pendant from her body and stared at it with a broken expression.

"Do whatever you want with it. I have to at least inform that stupid blockhead that I've succeeded," Izumi said, turning on a heel and marching out of the room.

Robin watched her go and her neutral mask vanished.

"I know you're going to be mad… but I hope you can see that I just wanted to save you all," Robin whispered.

Rosan was the sun. He was the type of person that always had someone gravitating around him with no effort, wielding a charisma that few people had.

In comparison, Robin was one of his many moons. A reserved piece that was fine being one of the pieces that revolved around that sun.

Because she was not a sun.

In her eyes, Rosan's survival was more essential then her own.

So she wouldn't let everyone else lose the gleam of the sun.

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

Chopper blinked in confusion.

Where were Robin and Rosan?

The reindeer frowned in confusion at that, before shrugging.

They probably vanished like they always did… maybe they went to get Demon!

His fellow doctor might enjoy the books he bought!

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

The first thing the group of Nami, Usopp and Luffy set out to do, was exchange their gold for beri. So the group went to a Currency Exchange shop to do so.

The appraiser there, offered the group 300 million for their pile of gold and while Usopp and Luffy were overjoyed, Nami was not so convinced.

"I have three things to say," Nami smiled calmly to the appraiser. "One. This guy is worth 140 million and my big brother is a real Devil worth 100."

She pointed at Luffy when she said that and the pirate smiled obliviously at that.

Nami put up a second finger. "Two. I don't agree with your appraisal. I know how much we should be offered, courtesy of that same Devil by the way, and 300 million is not it."

Nami put up a third finger. "Three. Lie to me one more time and I'll scalp you."

The appraiser went pale at that.

A few minutes later, the group was cheering at making a whopping 600 million beri!

She was rich! Rich!

Nami's face briefly shifted into horror as she realized she really did make that face when thinking of money.

After securing their money in 3 separate brief cases of 200 million (and having Usopp hold two because Luffy was incredibly irresponsible), the trio made their way over to see the shipwrights.

It was there that they met… the eccentric carpenters that were the Galley-La Headquarters employees.

What was there to even say about them?

There was square nosed Usopp (his name was Kaku), who had showed some impressive parkour skills, as he dashed off to go assess the damage to their ship.

Then the mayor of Water 7 himself and his secretary, Iceburg and Kalifa… who were even stranger then square Usopp.

For a mayor, Iceburg was rather childish and irresponsible. He had recently acquired a pet mouse and named it Tyrannosaurus, canceled all his meetings because he didn't feel like going, and got beat up by his secretary accidentally due to Luffy and Usopp insulting him.

Then, after tearing up the letter Kokoro gave him (claiming the kiss mark was creepy), he offered to show them around the place…

Which led to yet another strange encounter.

Seriously, why couldn't they just ever land on a normal island?

A group known as the Franky Family, had clearly gained an interest in the money they had acquired and attempted to steal two briefcases but they were quickly dealt with by Luffy and another of the carpenters named Paulie… who tried to take off with their money so he could pay off his debt collectors.

Seriously…?

Luffy was about to pursue the man named Paulie… when yet another carpenter made their presence known and captured the man for them.

He was a handsome and tall man with a pigeon on his shoulder that spoke in his stead.

Rob Lucci was his name and the polite and stoic man easily returned their money to them, before Hattori, the pigeon, waved off their concerns.

The Franky Family… these strange carpenters, the lazy mayor… Water 7 was really strange.

Even despite being lazy, as Iceburg showed them around, it was clear that the man was very beloved in Water 7.

As he showed the pirates around, Kaku appeared once more with a neutral expression on his face, back from his trip to gauging the damages of the Going Merry.

"Hey, where's Usopp?" Luffy asked curiously, noticing the sniper wasn't with them anymore.

Nami glanced back at that and shrugged. "He's probably checking out all the little trinkets here. He left the briefcases behind so it's fine."

The navigator returned her attention to the one who went to evaluate their ship.

"So how much will it cost? Don't worry, we can pay it! Oh, we also want her to be more durable and add some cannons too and make it faster! Oh and some decorations on the hull too!" Luffy beamed excitedly, gazing at the carpenters with clear excitement.

Neither noticed the grave look in Kaku's eyes.

"I'm going to have to stop you right there… To be honest, it's unnatural how well your ship looks… despite how much damage its actually accumulated. It's a well kept ship but that's mostly artificial…"

Nami looked concerned. "What are you saying?"

Kaku looked sullen. "I'm not sure how you did it, but that ship shouldn't have even made it here. It won't be setting sail again."

A wave of silence washed over the two, as shock coursed through them.

"Was it the keel?" Paulie asked.

Kaku nodded. "It's been badly damaged. Even though someone tried to fix it already, there's not much you can do when the keel is destroyed."

He must have been talking about Rosan's modification. Did the redhead know the keel was damaged?

"But you guys are supposed to be the greatest carpenters in the world! How come you can't fix the Merry?!" Luffy shouted, a frown on his face.

Nami put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Why can't she be fixed? What's wrong with her?" She asked in concern.

"The keel. You know what the keel is, right lewd woman?" Paulie asked her.

"It's on the bottom of the ship," she replied.

"Exactly. It's the support that extends from stem to stern. That wooden beam is the most crucial part of a ship," Paulie explained gruffly.

Every piece of lumber was positioned around the keel at the ship's core. It was the very essence of the ship and trying to rebuild a keel, was the same as making an entirely new ship.

Even if they were to make a second Going Merry, it wouldn't be the same as the first because no two ships were the same.

It was impossible to have the Going Merry that they knew and loved.

She was as good as dead.

"If we find a shipwright and they say they can't repair our ship… what will we do?"

"Well, this is a good opportunity to just buy a new ship. Caravels are rather outdated so it was a risk to sail with it in the first place," Iceburg shrugged.

"No. I don't intend to change ships!" Luffy frowned.

Nami gazed at her captain with sad eyes. "Luffy…"

He was shaking his head in denial. "Our only ship is the Going Merry! Just this morning she was sailing without a single issue and your telling me we can't repair her?! Like I'd ever believe you! You just don't understand how stubborn our ship is!"

Iceburg looked at Monkey D. Luffy with an unreadable expression on his face.

"So you plan on sailing with her until she sinks? I'm amazed… And you call yourself the ship's captain."

Luffy froze at that, silenced immediately by that simple statement.

It's your job as captain to make the hard decisions, and you have to keep our safety in mind.

"The conversation is over I think. When you decide to buy a new ship, come back with that 600 million. With that much money, we can make you a brand new state of the art ship… Kalifa," Iceburg said.

The pretty secretary nodded and handed a catalog to Nami. "It's a catalog of new and secondhand ships. With your budget, I'm sure none will be a problem but study the prices and pick one out."

Luffy said nothing. He just stared at the catalog all the while.

Eventually, he and Nami decided to head back and discuss this with the crew.

"Hey… this briefcase is really light," Luffy said with a confused look.

Nami laughed lightheartedly. "There's no way they should be light. There's 200 million in each briefcase!"

…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nami shrieked in horror.

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

"Chopper!"

The reindeer looked up at that. "Oh! Sanji! Are you alright? You don't look well."

He was looking around and pursed his lips in concern.

"Where's Robin? What happened between her and Rosan?"

Chopper frowned in confusion. "Something happened with them…? I was in the bookstore and when I came out, they were both gone… I thought they went somewhere like they always do."

Sanji shook his head. "I saw Rosan run by me earlier. He looked panicked and… sad. I figured Robin and him got in an argument."

The doctor looked concerned now. "They were a little tense earlier… let's look for Robin and ask her. I haven't seen her at all. Maybe she went back to the ship?"

The chef nodded in agreement. "Something weird is going on…"

After all, Robin would never make Rosan cry, no matter the circumstances.

Where was Rosan… and where was Robin?

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

"You have potential."

These are the words Usopp would chant to himself, whenever he was in a bind or doubted his capabilities.

Those were the words Rosan, their scout who never lied, told him one day to make Usopp see the value in himself.

Well, their scout really was as big of a liar as Usopp himself because he was wrong. He had no potential at all because he was worthless.

400 million down the drain. Because he couldn't do anything.

Because he was weak.

He was foolish to even think he was ever going to catch up to the monsters of his crew. It didn't matter who got caught off guard, every single one of his crew members would have been able to deal with them.

All except him.

"USOPP!" Nami shouted in horror as she approached his bruised and battered body.

He was a mess, riddled in extensive injuries everywhere from the, no doubt, savage beat down that was just inflicted on him.

"Did the Franky Family do this to you?" Nami asked, hoisting up the bruised sniper with concern in her eyes.

"Yeah… because I'm weak," Usopp sobbed brokenly, rasping as even speaking brought him pain.

"They stole all of… the money Nami! I can't... face the others."

Usopp's statement was full of defeat and resignation, as tears streamed down his face and Nami had a look of shock on her face.

"We were finally gonna be able… to fix Merry..."

"Don't worry, Usopp! We'll get that money back and even if we don't, we can get more," Nami assured but the sniper wasn't listening to her.

"I can't face the guys!" Usopp sobbed as he fell unconscious.

Nami bit her lip in concern. "Clima can you summon a cloud please. These injuries are really bad..."

"That would be unwise, Master Nami. His injuries are too extensive so we shouldn't aggravate them. It's best if we leave him here and bring the doctor to him instead, so we can get confirmation that he's alright."

She bit her lip but nodded.

"MOVE OUT OF MY WAY!" Nami barked at the curious idiots, making her weapon spark to get her point across.

It didn't take long for them all to go pale and swiftly scatter, allowing her to make it to the Yagura Bull in peace.

The navigator scowled at the actions of the Franky Family.

She was going to sick every single Straw Hat, including Rosan, on them to teach the idiots why you never attacked one of their own.

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

"The Merry can't be fixed?" Sanji repeated with a frown.

"Is that really true?!" Chopper shouted in concern.

"That's what the shipwright said," Zoro said with a neutral expression.

The reindeer crossed his hooves nervously. "What are we gonna do then? The Merry looks fine!"

Sanji shook his head. "That's because of Rosan. Don't you remember what he said? Wood isn't a material that he can modify a lot and he's been modifying this ship since we entered the Grand Line…"

That was true… Since the very moment they entered the Grand Line, Rosan had been using Modification to repair their ship after just about every journey.

If his statement was true, the ship really might be done for…

"There's no changing reality. Those three will decide what we're going to do now," Zoro shrugged.

Chopper and Sanji frowned and nodded.

"That reminds me… Zoro, have you seen Robin or Rosan?" Chopper asked.

The swordsman raised a brow. "If they aren't on the island, they probably went to the castle."

Sanji shook his head in denial. "I don't think so. I saw Rosan running away today… and he looked like he was crying. He didn't have Robin with him either so I think something happened."

That made Zoro tense up.

"What?" He repeated, standing up. "Rosan was crying? Because of Robin?" The swordsman asked incredulously.

He did notice that during training, Rosan was throwing himself into training with a ferocity he hadn't seen before and Robin herself was telling him to slow down… but he had been around those two to know that the Devil Child would never go out of her way to make him cry.

Rosan absolutely despised crying after all.

"Something's wrong," Zoro said grimly. "With both Robin and Rosan."

The doctor and chef tensed up at that. "What do you mean?"

Zoro explained his reasoning to them and they nodded at his words, noticing the oddities as well.

What was going on? Ever since the encounter with Aokiji… the way Rosan got so upset over Robin… the way she feared for his life…

Do you think any 8 year old deserves what you're doing right now?! Do you think any child deserves what you think your stupid fucking definition of justice is? Don't even try to delude yourself into thinking what you're doing is justice right now. ROBIN WAS COMPLETELY INNOCENT AND YOU FUCKING MARINES RUINED HER LIFE! YOU THINK I'LL LET YOU TOUCH HER?!

The absolute hatred in Rosan's voice, as he threw caution to the wind to fight an unbeatable force.

Now Rosan was crying somewhere, while Robin was completely missing…

Who was Nico Robin? What was in her past, that caused Rosan to become so defensive over her well-being…

Was it the reason she had gotten a bounty at just 8 years old?

They were snapped out of their musings, as they noticed Nami approaching with a look of urgency on her face.

Any greetings they had, died on their lips as they saw a look of urgency and panic in her eyes.

"Nami-san are you okay?!" Sanji shouted in concern.

"N-NO IT'S USOPP, HE'S BEEN SERIOUSLY HURT!" Nami shouted.

"What happened to Usopp? Where's Luffy?" Zoro asked in succession, eyes narrowed.

Just what was going on today?

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

"YOW! YOW! YOW! 400 MILLION?!"

"YEP! 400 MILLION! WE DID IT BIG BRO!"

A large hand raked through the stacks of money with clear excitement.

"With this much money, I can get that thing I've always wanted and more!"

Just 200 million would have been perfect but with double that…

The Franky Family grinned excitedly at that.

"Every time we got money, we'd bet on Yagura Bull races…" Someone shouted.

"AND WE'D LOSE IT ALL!" The crowd finished.

"Every time we captured someone with a bounty on their head, we'd throw a party…"

"AND WE'D LOSE IT ALL!" The crowd cheered.

"But now we have it all and it's thanks to you guys," the masked man said, taking a few bills out of the stack. "Here, 10 million beris, its not much but throw yourselves a party!"

He tossed the bills in the air and grinned at the cheers ringing through the air.

"YOU'RE THE BEST BRO!"

"PARTY!"

"WOOOO!"

With that settled, now he could go and buy the—

A deafening explosion rang throughout the base, as the world turned red.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The Franky Family screamed as they were caught in it and burned.

"What the?!" The leader shouted as he weathered the explosion, covering the two woman standing next to him.

The aftereffects of the explosion cleared and when it all settled, Franky looked on with a stormy expression to see most of his men knocked unconscious with burns.

"Give me back… the money. I need to get my ship… repaired," Usopp rasped, glaring into the room with raw anger and loading up another Explosive Mine Star for good measure.

The gleaming red pellets attack had been mostly mitigated by the steel door but it was a testament to its power, that it was still able to cause so much damage.

"You're the one we took the money from!" One of the unscathed ones, Zambai said, thankful that he was in the far back of the room to avoid the brunt of the damage.

"We thought he was weak but if he's able to do that…" Another said nervously, glancing at the unconscious bodies of his allies.

Franky stood up. ""You must really love that ship… It's a shame that with a crew that has Straw Hat Luffy or The Red Devil Rosan… They chose you to guard the money."

The giant of a man didn't give Usopp the chance to fire that dangerous pellet.

"Strong Right!" he shouted, extending his fist forward and connecting directly with his face.

Usopp's nose instantly broke, as the hellishly strong attack sent him flying outside of the base, knocked unconscious from the blow.

Franky watched him go with a neutral expression. "I'm heading out. Tend to the wounds of the injured ones."

And then he left, walking right past the unconscious Usopp without a care in the world.

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

Nami gnawed on her lip in worry as she guarded the ship.

"Are you alright, Master Nami?"

She immediately shook her head. "No, I'm not. Too many things are going wrong right now. Merry can't be fixed. We just lost 400 million. Usopp got beat up badly. Robin is missing. Rosan is crying and missing… I'm freaking out Clima."

Everything had been going south since the moment they landed on this beautiful island.

Robin loved Rosan. Nami saw the way she looked at him, saw the way he looked at her. Saw the way she let her guard down fully around the navigator's older brother figure.

Saw the way she cried for him, when she thought he was dead.

The woman would never make her best friend cry. There were outside factors in play and Rosan was so emotionally charged (with emotions he couldn't control) that he didn't see it.

This was bad. They needed to find Robin so that she could explain herself.

Was it to distance herself from Rosan because the redhead was so willing to throw caution to the wind for her? She hadn't been the same ever since the fight with Aokiji…

Something was going on. Something really bad.

"I understand Master Nami. Even I find all these series of events a little foreboding. I myself cannot even sense where Master Rosan is and I always can. All we can truly do is wait though."

Waiting.. Nami really hated waiting.

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

Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Chopper looked at Usopp's prone and battered body with stony expressions.

After being informed of what had happened by Nami. The chef, doctor and swordsman had quickly set out to find their sniper.

There, they ran into Luffy… but they didn't find Usopp's body anywhere.

That's when they noticed a trail of blood and realized, that the idiot had gotten up and moved.

It didn't take them long to figure out where he was but by the time they found him, it had been too late.

The sniper lie unconscious and bleeding, with even more injuries then before because of this Franky Family…

At once, all their gazes darkened.

"Let's go demolish that ridiculous house," Luffy said calmly.

With that, they made their way over to the Franky House.

"Hey pass the bandages over here!"

"Ow ow ow! That hurts you dick!"

"I thought you said he was a weakling!"

"He didn't put up a fight when we mugged him!"

"Can someone please go buy some more food!"

"Fine fine!"

The giant Franky Family member opened the door—

And was greeted by 4 figures giving him deadly stares.

Seconds later, the wounded Franky Family watched as one of the Kairiki Destroyers who just stepped out, was sent flying back in with enough force to crater the wall he crashed into.

The Franky Family balked at that and glanced over at the entrance.

What they saw made them sweat.

Straw Hat Luffy, the man worth 140 million, was staring at them all.

And he looked pissed.

"D-Don't be nervous guys! This is the captain of that long nosed guy! He can't be that strong!"

They forgot about how it was Usopp himself that left so many of them with these burns, in their efforts to psyche themselves up and it miraculously worked.

That confidence very quickly vanished by the series of events that happened next.

One of their Kairiki Destroyers, stepped up with an iron armor that could easily withstand punches from a cannonball.

Straw Hat simply cocked a fist back and rammed it into the armor… and it shattered on impact, knocking the gigantic human out in the process.

That's when they realized exactly why the Straw Hats were worth 400 million.

"We're going to break every single bone in every single one of your bodies," Luffy promised.

The Franky Family tried shooting out a salvo of cannonballs to deter the Straw Hats with confident grins.

Those confident grins vanished as Zoro leisurely stepped up and cut them all into pieces.

"T-Those were made out of iron…" they stammered in disbelief, backing away as the swordsman proceeded to cleanly cut their actual cannons next.

They were in trouble, they needed to leave this place now.

"Where are you going?"

The group froze, as the smoking blonde materialized in between them at speeds they couldn't comprehend.

"You're the one who picked a fight so stay and finish it," Sanji declared.

The blonde pushed himself into a handstand and said, "Party Table Kick Course!" shattering bones with every single spinning kick he landed on the Franky Family.

"TRY THE WINDOWS!" Someone shouted.

Chopper crunched a Rumble Ball and immediately transformed into his Horn Boost.

"Colonnade Rose!" The reindeer bellowed, mowing through them with no effort at all.

Zamba began panicking at their dwindling numbers.

"W-Wait! If it's the money you want, it's already gone! Big bro Franky went and spent it… he probably won't be back until—"

His words were cut off, as a fist impacted with his cheek and instantly broke a tooth.

"Don't talk. It's not about the money anymore," Sanji said gravely.

"Yeah, it's too late for that."

"…" Chopper's glare was even.

Luffy cracked his knuckles idly.

"Alright. Let's break all their bones."

What happened next, could only be described as a slaughter.

The Franky Family tried everything in their power to put even a dent in the Straw Hats defenses but nothing worked.

They were just forced to accept the beating thrown their way until the Straw Hats delivered on their wish and broke every single bone in their body…

But they weren't done their. So great was the beating delivered, the group ended up destroying the Franky Family's base in the process.

"Looks like they really don't know where the money is," Sanji frowned, cleaning his shoes with the body of one of the members.

"Even if we catch up to that Franky guy, if he spent it all…" Zoro pondered.

"It's no big deal… we can get even more later…," the chef muttered. "We just have to decide what's going on with the Merry, Robin and Rosan…"

"Guys," Luffy suddenly said, catching their attention.

Zoro, Sanji and Chopper glanced up at their captain, looming over the wreckage.

"I've decided we're saying goodbye to the Going Merry."

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

Iceburg sighed in annoyance, as the government official left the room.

It was the same old, same old. Them asking for the blueprint and him telling them he had no clue what they were talking about.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his musing.

"It's me, Kalifa."

"Yeah. Come in," Iceburg said calmly.

Kalifa entered with haste to regard the mayor. "Is your meeting over, Mr. Iceburg?"

He nodded and said, "Yes, I'd like some black tea—"

"I already brewed some."

Iceburg's eyes widened. "Always on point, Kalifa! I have to commend you!"

The woman simply smiled lightly. "Thank you… Why do they come here all the time?"

The man sighed, as he glanced at the posters of Nico Robin and the Red Devil, Rosan.

"They want something I have is all."

The Last Demon of Ohara and her alleged lover, the one who she took orders from…

The last person on the planet that could find Pluton… and she was allied with a Devil.

That didn't bode well.

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

"Rosan and Robin are missing?" Luffy frowned in concern.

Rosan was crying? That didn't sound like his eldest brother. Rosan was like Ace, they hated when people cried.

He thought it made a person weak, especially when they were sad tears.

"We haven't seen them since this morning," Sanji confirmed.

"I just find it hard to believe that Robin made Rosan cry without an ulterior motive," Nami explained. "She loves him. No one is as patient with Rosan as she is and she knows exactly how to talk to him…"

Knows exactly how to talk to him…

"What if she ran him away?" Zoro said gravely. "You're right, no one knows Rosan better then Robin does so she should know exactly what to say to separate the two of them."

"Not only that… that old lady mentioned that this isn't just a place for pirates… but World Government officials come here too," Sanji muttered in agreement.

"We even saw some today!" Nami exclaimed with horror. "What if Robin saw someone dangerous and didn't want Rosan to throw himself at them again?! What if she went after them herself?!"

The crew went alert at that.

"We need to go find them," Luffy decided, with a frown.

All of them stopped at the sound of something crashing right outside their ship with a wispy noise.

The group paused in shock, as an obsidian black horse unceremoniously dropped their missing scout on the stone floor. It was a terrifying mockery of a horse, with a plague doctors mask on its face and black wisp floating off its ghastly body.

It let out a deep and unnatural rumble, before vanishing back into Rosan's body.

"R-Rosan!" Nami said happily. "You're back—"

The redhead collapsed on his knees and threw up blood, causing them all to stop in concern that turned into terror, as he began screaming in agony.

Rosa began spewing blood along with a strange inky black substance that began eating away at the stone, until it vanished as quick as it came.

"Ugh!" Rosan kept puking the red and black liquid.

"ROSAN?!" They shouted in horror, watching as the redhead strained to push himself up, before falling flat.

They wasted no time leaping off the ship and approaching the puking redhead, shellshocked by the state he was in.

Nami flinched at seeing his broken wrist, twisted horribly. In its limp palms, Ram lie there in the form of a key.

Upon further inspection, they saw that the redhead's outfit was soaking in red, his clothes were torn, his lips were bleeding with… a kiss mark on it, there were bleeding scratch marks on his cheeks and his eyes were filled to the brim with a shuddering amount of fury, sclera completely black.

"Rosan, what happened?!" Luffy shouted, closing the distance and grabbing his older brother, eyes going wide as his own body was instantly marred with blood.

His brother was bleeding badly.

Rosan huffed and threw up even more blood, a puddle beginning to form under him due to the wounds inflicting his body.

They flipped him over and rested the redhead on his back.

What they saw left them horrified.

Holes. So many holes.

Rosan's entire midsection was filled with holes that looked like he had been shot repeatedly. The most concerning were the three much larger holes, that looked as if there was still something embedded into his skin.

Each one leaked a steady amount of blood and it was a miracle their scout was even conscious because none of them were healing up.

When they took a step back in horror, they noticed something.

The holes formed a word.

IZUMI.

"What the hell," Sanji shuddered in horror at the condition of Rosan.

"C-CHOPPER! IT'S ROSAN! HE NEEDS HELP BADLY!" Nami shouted in panic, watching just how much blood was making its way onto Luffy's person.

Rosan coughed wetly as those black sclera looked over at them. "We… We need to…" He tried to say, voice distorting a bit before shifting back to normal.

The redhead used his good arm to try and push up his body, only to fall back and send the blood under him flying in every direction.

"R-Ro—"

He never finished his sentence because the redhead's eyes shut and he went limp.

Only his pained breathing, let them know he was still alive.

"Who did this?" Zoro grunted in disbelief, eyes dark as he gazed at the scout. "Was it that damn Franky Family again?"

"You saw how weak they were… there's no way they could have done this to Rosan," Sanji denied.

"O-OH KAMI?! R-ROSAN!" Chopper shouted in terror as he saw the condition of their scout. "I-IT'S GONNA BE OKAY! WHAT HAPPENED?! O-OH NO! QUICK SOMEONE PLEASE CARRY HIM GENTLY!"

That was the question of the hour.

The crew didn't realize just how much info Rosan and Robin supplied them with but without the two of them… it was clear that they were akin to headless chickens...

Just what happened? What was that black liquid? Were his eyes… black?

Who would do such a thing to Rosan?

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

Rosan awoke sluggishly.

His confusion only lasted a moment, as raw panic settled in at the realization that he was being neutralized with Seastone. His arms were held above his head, with Seastone cuffs wrapped around a tiny pole.

Memories of his time with Doc settled in but he felt no fear… he had conquered his fear of that man on Skypiea.

No, there was gears turning as he tried to gauge the situation he had been put in.

He cooled his temper and began assessing the area he was in.

It was an old and decrepit warehouse. There was no noise outside and there was quite a bit of dust accumulated so he assumed it was largely abandoned.

A perfect place to bring and isolate a person.

Based on the fact that they had access to seastone… this wasn't good for him. Seems like someone had been targeting him... how sloppy of him for letting his guard down.

"Quite the predicament you've gotten yourself into, my little Rose."

Rosan went still at that.

"You're all alone. Poor sweet Mod is sleeping and so is that ring who won't stop slobbering over you. But don't worry, I'm here with you," Pestilence assured soothingly.

That brought him no peace.

"Virus. What do you want?" Rosan snarled, keeping his outward expression cool as he gazed at the empty warehouse.

He really didn't like how this virus sounded exactly like his mother. It filled him with a hot rage, at hearing the mockery of his mother who had saved him from death.

"I was expecting our meeting to be a bit more dramatic… but you just keep forcing my hand by showing how pathetic you are… Seriously, Rose. Illusions?" Pestilence asked mockingly.

...Illusions?

"You mean that image of Meiko. It was an illusion?" He repeated.

"Yup," they popped the p. "By a Devil Fruit user. If you were in a better mental space you might be able to resist it… but you can't. You're weak to mental attacks after all and mental attacks of your soul mate… Ouch."

"You probably think you're so funny," Rosan snarled, making the virus go silent in surprise. "Let's see how funny you are when I rip you in half. Let's see you crack a joke when I rip out your spine through your stomach and crush it."

For a split moment, much to his satisfaction, he felt a slight tinge of fear that vanished almost instantly.

"Ah ah ah! But Mod doesn't want that does she? You wouldn't want to disappoint her would you?" Pestilence asked cheekily. "Besides, I'm only trying to help you right now. Wouldn't she be disappointed if you killed me for helping? She wants us to get along after all."

"After everything you've done, you're trying to help me?" He asked in disbelief.

"Don't misunderstand… I just don't want to be fully chained in that shitty castle again. It's as much as my prison as it is yours… even if it's protecting me from you."

Rosan said nothing. Was anyone ever going to show up?

"I have no interest in letting anyone but me destroy your mental health," Pestilence admitted shamelessly, sneering at the redhead. "So I told you about the illusions. Now, I'm going to tell you that Nico Robin absolutely lied to you."

The redhead froze at their statement.

Robin… lied to him? About what?

"Don't be such a dumbass. That "explosion" she had earlier? That was a lie. She was pushing you away. While you three idiots were allowing her to string you on, I was admiring her efforts at doing said stringing along..."

"But like I said. I'm the only one allowed to affect your mental health. You're mine," the virus finished darkly.

The virus was acting on their own selfish whims. They were still not allies… they just wanted to be free of the castles chains… while doing whatever it was they did.

Worst, he found himself listening to it because of how honest they were being currently. There was no reason to doubt any claims made so far because they made it clear they were acting in their own best interest…

And he could see exactly what they were talking about.

Robin had been stringing him along. She had been perfectly fine before, then she took a sudden pause, her mood shifted and she exploded on him.

"Why?" He asked, already having an idea.

Pestilence smiled at his compliance, pleased at their shoddy alliance. "If I were to guess, the same person who put you under the illusion, is the person that had her so worried."

"But why didn't she just approach me? I was right there," Rosan snarled in anger.

"Because you're a fucking idiot."

…Rosan let loose a warning growl.

"Oh, didn't like that one? Fine then, suicidal wielder. I'll spell it out for you. You keep trying to die for her. She doesn't see things the way you do. You don't see it as throwing your life away but she does. She doesn't understand that the moment you decide to fight, you decide to fight until you win... even if it's an unbeatable force. To her, it looks like you're committing suicide and she clearly doesn't want that."

"Hell, even I don't want you dead. You're way too useful for that."

Rosan was silent. "The fight with Aokiji. It triggered her trauma and now she doesn't trust in my or anyone in the crews capabilities."

"Bingo~. That's my boy."

Pestilence jumped at the sudden roar of anger.

"That. IDIOT! WHAT DOES SHE THINK SHE'S FUCKING DOING?!" Rosan roared in a moment of genuine rage that had the virus shuddering in excitement.

Robin was doing something stupid right now. She was doing something incredibly goddamn stupid and it was pissing him off because he was tied up and couldn't do a damn thing about it.

He could tell. He could tell that his best friend was being a fucking dumbass.

"Aww, it's not so funny when someone else is doing it, huh?" Pestilence pointed out accurately.

Rosan bit back his annoyance. Despite everything, the virus was being useful right now.

"How are you even talking to me? You did this back on Daybreak Island as well," Rosan demanded.

"I bet you'd love to know…" Pestilence hummed and Rosan hated how his mother's voice was filled with such clear insanity.

"I'm just a wee little virus, Rose. Didn't Mod tell you? I am not the Devil Fruit. Seastone affects me, but not nearly as much as my dear Mod. At best, it restrains me from using some abilities."

"Do not say Mod-chan's name like that," Rosan warned lowly.

The way they said it… it was as if the virus only saw Mod as an accessory that belonged to them.

He would not stand for it.

There was silence for a moment, before a wave of hatred slammed into him that vanished as quickly as it came.

"You fucking cunt," Pestilence snarled. "You don't fucking get to tell me what the fuck I call my goddamn woman."

Rosan raised a brow. "Your woman? Last I checked, Mod-chan was my mother and I do get to decide that. She loves me far more then she loves you, virus."

"WATCH YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!" Pestilence roared.

"Did I strike a nerve?" Rosan whispered cruelly, hatred in his gaze. "Are you upset that Mod-chan doesn't belong to you anymore? Mad that she chose to base her appearance on me? Mad that the only reason she has a gender is because I decided it? Mad that I get to joke, sleep and bathe with someone you thought was yours? Is the little virus upset that they never even got to see Mod-chan's naked body?"

"I hate you," Pestilence hissed, so much venom in their tone, that Rosan knew they were never going to get along.

"I fucking despise you, you woman stealing whore. You have all these people prostrating and begging you to fuck them and yet you're never satisfied. Greedy selfish slut taking what was only mine."

Mod belonged to Pestilence but the only thing on Mod's mind, was Rosan. How dare this little bastard steal what was theirs?!

"You give her emotions, a gender, a body and I couldn't enjoy any of it. You stole Mod from me and I will never forgive you," Pestilence snarled, revealing their true colors.

"We're on the same page for once," Rosan snarled back. "Don't you ever forget that this is my Devil Fruit you little parasite."

Pestilence snarled even louder, but they were not truly as mad as they made it out to be.

"Whatever, you bastard. I've already got everything I want now. Fuck Mod, you can have her," the virus thought to themself, grinning smugly as they gazed in a seemingly random direction.

Before Pestilence could properly retort, the two went silent at the sound of footsteps.

Rosan watched as a woman skipped into view of him, grinning widely as he made eye contact with her shaded face.

She did a little spin.

"Hey there, cheater!" The woman greeted.

Rosan's face had easily morphed into something neutral, but the moment he heard this person speak he immediately thought—

"Great, another psycho who's obsessed with me."

"Oh look. Another person who wants to fuck you," Pestilence sneered at the same time as him.

"And just who are you to consider calling me a cheater? I don't date," Rosan replied calmly, ignoring the seething virus.

He glanced at the person with an appraising eye.

Curly hair, curvy figure, olive skin, a black suit, long and sharp nails…

"How cruel, darling! You don't remember me," The woman sighed in faux sadness. "I even brought up an illusion of someone only the two of us should know."

Illusion… of Meiko?

Wait. Hold on a minute.

"You're Izumi?" Rosan recalled the girls name easily, eyes going slightly wide in disbelief.

Her grin widened. "You really do remember, darling! I'm so happy I could cry!" The woman crooned, removing her shades and revealing those dead teal eyes to him.

Rosan's mind was running a mile a minute at that very terrible revelation and he cursed himself for showing mercy back then.

This was why he killed his enemies. Loose ends were just too troublesome.

Izumi… truthfully, he hardly spared the girl a thought these past few years. He of course would never forget the person who took away Meiko… but she wasn't someone he should have worried about.

"Look how that turned out. At her complete mercy. With the way she's looking at you... poor little Rosan might get raped," Pestilence barked a laugh.

Rosan said nothing.

"It's been so long and you've grown so sexy! How could you never pay me a visit… I've been a lonely woman without you, darling," Izumi sighed, taking a seat directly on his lap.

The woman leaned in close and whispered, "You made such a bold claim saying what's left of me belongs to you… and you never expected to see me again? I'm still a virgin you know? I've been saving myself for you."

"Oh look! I was right!"

"Shut. Up."

"No~,"

Izumi laughed in an unhinged manner. "Do you remember those words you said to me that day? Well I do! I will never forget those words, darling. You and I are connected until one of us dies."

Rosan said nothing but it seemed like she wasn't done regardless.

"You think after what you did to me, I'd be able to move on?" she hissed, gripping his cheek with her sharp nails and digging into him.

"Poison," he thought to himself, side eyeing the nails.

Her nails were embedded with a potent poison.

"But we finally meet! And could you believe it when I saw that you dared to move on?!" Izumi ranted, cupping both his cheeks so that he could look at her.

Rosan's eyes narrowed slightly and she let out a delighted noise.

"Can you believe it. The 100 million beri Devil, dating the 90 million Devil of Ohara. Must be the dream huh?" Izumi said, digging her nails into his skin tighter and tighter.

"What did you do to Robin?" Rosan asked in a dangerous whisper, ignoring the venom injecting into his veins even despite the fact he didn't have Modification.

Even if it was completely burning his insides alive.

Izumi dug her hips into him even harder and glared at him with a mentally unwell look.

"Look at that. Even with me right in front of you, planting my ass on top of you and looking you right in your eyes, the only person you can think about is her," she whispered jealously.

"Answer my question," Rosan snarled, baring his sharp fangs.

Izumi shuddered in bliss at the rumble of his voice. "Even tied up and helpless, you still have such a presence to you! That's the man I love!" She sighed.

"I'm apart of Cipher Pol. CP9 specifically, an organization of assassin specialists that work for the World Government," Izumi revealed calmly, grabbing a strand of his lustrous red hair and twisting it between her fingers.

Rosan froze at that and a look that sent a small tremor (this time, of repressed fear) made its way to his face.

"What do you want with her?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ROBIN?!" Rosan howled, thrashing in his cuffs.

"Ah! Finally! That look of composure is gone!" Izumi's dead eyes gleamed at that.

He was going to rip her in half, promise to Meiko be damned. He was going to slaughter this stupid fucking girl—

Rosan went still, as Izumi suddenly took on the appearance of Meiko and dove for his lips.

M-Meiko…?

"Utterly hopeless. Even with the knowledge that it's an illusion, you still stand no chance against it," Pestilence rumbled, watching in amusement, as Rosan's defenses weakened drastically.

Izumi mauled his lips with no remorse, grinning happily at the lack of resistance, even though she had to take the appearance of his dead lover to do so.

The woman licked her lips at the taste, humming in delight.

"Delicious. Now you've cheated on Robin too," Izumi said gleefully, pulling back with a manic smile, still appearing as Meiko to his eyes.

"You…" Rosan said quietly. "You'd dare take her form after killing her?" He whispered hatefully, eyes roaring with brightness as glared at her with unrestrained fury.

"I would… and you know what?" Izumi smiled psychotically, form melting away until she took one of Robin. "I'll take this form after Nico Robin is handed over to the World Government."

Rosan froze at that. "What…?" He whispered in shock.

Izumi giggled at his look. "I shouldn't be telling you this… but to be honest, my goal here has nothing to do with Nico Robin and everything to do with you, darling."

The agent's nails gleamed as she ripped Rosan's shirt and crooned at his body.

"You see, darling. Nico Robin loves you. Like really loves you," she muttered, sinking a finger into his chest with a "Shigan."

Rosan grunted at the finger piercing his skin but largely looked unbothered.

Izumi smiled at his lack of reaction and removed her bloody finger.

"She loves you so much, that she's willing to sacrifice herself just so you can stay safe. I'm not even supposed to be here hurting you, but she doesn't need to know that," the girl hummed, sinking another finger right below the first one, this time with her middle finger.

Rosan felt the fiery venom coursing through his veins even quicker but ignored it in favor of digesting Izumi's words.

So she really was being a fucking idiot. Goddammit, Robin.

"Your tolerance to pain is admirable. Makes up for your severely lacking mental resistances," Pestilence mocked, enjoying the view with an amused smile.

"For all intents and purposes… CP9's mission is a success. We have Nico Robin in our grasp and we can just slink away and let her disappear…"

Izumi's smile vanished for the first time.

"...But that's not my mission."

She sunk another finger into his body, making yet another hole in his body.

"You see darling, ever since that day you made me kill my older brother. I haven't been able to feel anything really," Izumi declared.

Another stab. Rosan convulsed a bit at the powerful venom being repeatedly injected into his system.

"Well, that's not really true. I did feel something... I felt my body convulsing after you brutally branded me," she grinned. "You're so sweet for that~ Making sure I never forget you. You sure are possessive!"

Another stab.

"On that day, a little after you left, I was found by the Marines. I was surrounded by a body of corpses and left staring at my brothers mutilated body with a feeling of emptiness and pain inside me," she said quietly.

Another stab.

She forced Rosan to hold her gaze.

"Do you want to know the first thing the Marines asked a lone suspect in the middle of corpses?" Izumi asked bitterly.

"Who did this to you?"

The woman threw her head back and laughed at that. It was a long hysterical laughter as her voice threatened to crack.

"Can you believe it?! I was so weak, they didn't even throw a hint of caution onto me! They just thought I was lucky to be spared! This girl is too pathetic to have been able to do this! This girl, surrounded by the dead bodies of wanted criminals is lucky to be alive! T-They even gave me their bounty money because of the fact no one could claim it!" The woman cackled.

Another stab, this one more vicious then the others and Izumi gazed into his eyes with bursting emotion.

"I have no presence, no potential, no strength. The few things I had, were taken away by you," she hissed. "The only thing I have left, is this twisted feeling inside of me whenever I think of the Red Devil. This feeling of love that has been festering for years. It's waiting to burst out and just seeing you, makes me so happy!"

Another stab.

"This is not love," Rosan finally responded, blood pouring from his mouth as his body whined in pain. "What you feel for me is hate and nothing else. "

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" She howled suddenly, stabbing one spot repeatedly, making the redhead shut his eyes in agony.

"YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME WHAT MY FEELINGS ARE! YOU DON'T GET TO TAKE ANYTHING ELSE AWAY FROM ME!"

Izumi panted as she continuously stabbed at the redhead who defined her entire life.

"You fuel me! You drive me! I've only gotten this strong because of you! The only time I feel anything, is when I'm thinking of you! You're the only one who makes my heart beat with anything! My whole life, revolves around you! WHAT IS THAT IF IT IS NOT LOVE?!"

She stepped back and ripped open her suit, showing the bandages underneath before she ripped those away too.

The wrap fell away, exposing the woman's nude upper half without hesitation.

"LOOK AT ME! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE! YOU EXPECT ME TO ABLE TO MOVE ON AFTER YOU MARKED ME AS YOURS SO BRUTALLY?!" Izumi howled, pointing at the obsidian black rose tattoo that Rosan had personally given her.

"You will never get rid of me and once I'm done with you, I'll give you your own mark that makes you mine. That way, we'll never be separated from each other. We will be connected down to our skin," she hissed, sitting on Rosan once more, utterly unmindful of her extreme showing of skin.

Rosan looked at the monster he created with a shocked gaze, unable to believe that she had turned into this.

"You made this. You have a very dangerous charismatic aura and now it's biting you in the ass. It's all your fault. It always is."

The redhead coughed up blood and huffed at the staggering amount he was losing.

"But can you believe that even after joining the Marines that found me… even after slaving away every single day until I couldn't move… Even after eating this Devil Fruit... I'm hardly a thought to you," Izumi said quietly.

"Nothing I did matters because your still this much stronger then me. I've spent a majority of my life thinking about you and I'm barely a blip on your radar. So I'm going to break you in the only way I know how… by taking someone away from you and then you'll never take your thoughts off me again," she promised, stabbing him again.

"Do you like my technique by the way? After that day, I can't even properly wield a firearm anymore! The thought that everything went wrong because I missed a shot… it keeps me up at night and the sounds of a gun firing, reminds me of it all," The agent revealed with a gleam.

She took her pointed finger and sunk it into him for the umpteenth time.

"But I can't miss with this gun. If I can't use normal guns, I'll make this gun stronger then any I could wield. Venom that shuts down the body, nails as sharp as steel…"

Izumi accentuated her point by stabbing him over and over again, unmindful that every one of her fingers were riddled with red.

"Oh how could I forget!" She beamed, standing up and grasping something from her pocket.

"I guess you can count this gun too!" The illusionist exclaimed, pointing the strange mockery of a pistol at him. "I went through a lot of pain trying to wield this... but I'll do anything for you, darling~ Aren't I just the perfect girlfriend?!"

Without hesitation, Izumi clicked the trigger 3 times, shooting nails that embedded in three different parts of his body.

Rosan howled as they embedded inside of him, eyes fluttering as the agony threatened to knock him unconscious.

"Do you like it? You probably can't tell... but those are seastone nails. That's the only reason I can shoot them," Izumi explained with a demented smile, reveling in how Rosan howled.

"I don't close my eyes anymore either. I've stared at everyone I killed to make sure the person I killed, is the person I wanted dead," she whispered manically, sitting on him once more.

"Puppet. That's what they call me and they're right. I'm just a puppet being controlled by the threads that you latched onto me for 12 years…"

Izumi stood up, satisfied with her work.

"...But no more. The puppet is going to turn on its creator and set themselves free."

Rosan's chest was marred with carefully placed holes and when looked at all together, it spelled out Izumi in a horrific display of red and black.

"How long I've waited for this. This, this is justice," the agent said, repeating the same words he had said to her, moments before she tortured her own brother.

"We're going to Enies Lobby… I bet you're wondering why I'm telling you this. Why am I revealing such crucial information? Why aren't I just capturing you? I have you right where I want you so why why why?" The woman smiled as she began buttoning up her suit.

Rosan said nothing, huffing as he forced himself to stay awake. His body was burning, venom coursing through his veins as his lungs struggled to intake air.

He was losing a lot of blood right now and since he was neutralized by seastone, with seastone embedded into his body, the Philosopher's Stone was working at a terribly slow pace.

"I want you to try and save Nico Robin like you tried to save sweet little Meiko," Izumi declared. "I want you to give it your all. I want to see how far your willing to go to save someone you love…"

"...And I want you to realize it was all for naught. Only then, will I fully break you."

Izumi's dark look was gone, replaced by that same love filled smile. Right before she fully closed her outfit, the woman bent over and wiggled her breasts in his face, before capturing his lips one last time in a forced kiss, making sure to force her tongue down his throat.

Finally, she pulled back and bit his lip for good measure, licking his blood fully off her own lips and teeth as she fully hid her modesty once more.

"Toodles, darling! I hope you find a way to break out of that in time to save your woman. Next time we meet, let's get started on having kids~ I want at least 4!" she chimed.

And just like that, Izumi was gone.

"My oh my, she sure did a number on you, little Rose. Even I feel bad."

Rosan wasn't listening to the virus. No, the redhead was gritting his bloody teeth in hot boiling rage.

He was going to slap the shit out of Robin.

How could she be so fucking stupid?!

He didn't give a fuck about Izumi. He didn't care about the monster he created. He didn't care that his body was screaming in agony. He didn't care that she violated him. He didn't care about this virus antagonizing him.

The only thing he cared about, was getting Robin back.

"Mmm! Even I can't resist such charisma! It's no wonder you managed to steal Mod from me. Hell, if she didn't lock me away, I might have even cooperated with you," Pestilence grinned.

"So then, what will you do, Rose? How do you plan on getting out of this situation? Do you want some advice from me—,"

Crack.

Pestilence paused, actually stunned silent, as Rosan dislocated his cuffed wrist without any hesitation, even despite the fact that he had just been violently tortured.

"He's a psycho," they thought to themselves, filled with just as much fear as they did admiration.

He really was the perfect wielder~

The redhead simply huffed and focused hard on Ram, tapping into their weak connection and forcing the unconscious ring to transform into a key.

Gripping her in his good hand, the redhead tentatively aimed for where the keyhole should be on the cuff, using his hand and angling the broken appendage in a way that should make it easier (ignoring the extreme pain this caused his already tired body).

He stamped down his snarl of annoyance and composed himself to the best of his ability because if he dropped the key, it was all over.

It was just really hard, when the only thing on his mind was his absolute rage at Robin's stupidity and the overwhelming desire to scream at her.

He was really going to slap the hell out of her. Words couldn't even begin to describe how pissed he was with —

Rosan huffed and spit out the backed up blood in his throat to compose himself.

Once more, the redhead aimed Ram and was satisfied to finally make headway. He inserted his weapon into the keyhole and painstakingly turned it.

Click.

It was a good thing Ram was not a Devil Fruit.

"You're free. Much faster then 3 months I'd say. Impressive… I especially liked the part where you broke your own wrist."

Rosan ignored them and fell to his knees as he threw up blood.

Because of Izumi's nails, there was poison in his bloodstream. There was seastone deeply embedded in his body...

That was not good for his recovery or using his abilities.

He tried to reach out to his connection with Mod-chan and nearly screamed in frustration at not feeling her. Even despite being free, the seastone nails still fully neutralized him.

"It's just me. If you want, you can call me daddy and I'll be your replacement until she comes back. I'm not quite a fan of being your mother or especially your whore."

"The safety of that castle won't last forever," Rosan assured, clutching his midsection and getting blood all over his tattered outfit as a result.

"It may not, but for now it is," they said confidently.

Rosan shut his eyes. He had more things to worry about. The virus wasn't going anywhere.

Robin was going to Enies Lobby.

Enies Lobby was one of the World Government's three strongholds and a place Rosan would have liked to avoid at all costs until he was strong enough to burn it all to the ground.

This also applied to Impel Down and Marineford.

If Robin was really going to Enies Lobby, then that meant that she'd be almost impossible to retrieve unless he directly attacked them.

The idiot thought she was protecting him, but Robin didn't realize Rosan would even storm Marine Headquarters to get her back.

If he was too late to stop her from being sent to Impel Down… then he'd just storm Impel Down.

But it wouldn't get to that. No, he'd save her before that even happened.

He just… needed to recover… his strength.

Cipher Pol… he'd kill them all if he had to. He'd show Robin, that her fears were unwarranted.

Then… he'd slap the shit outta her.

"You're hell bent on slapping the shit outta her. Should I call this abuse?"

He barely had any power right now but perhaps if he focused really hard, he could use the remaining vestiges of Modification to activate someones Save Point.

It was obvious what choice he came to. Luffy should be made aware of this at the very least and Chopper could check up on him.

The redhead panted slightly and shut his eyes, as the pain threatened to overwhelm him and he dug in deep to rip out the remaining Modification…

Only to fail.

"You really thought you could overpower Seastone?" Pestilence asked in amusement. "That "remaining" Modification is your innate abilities. It's the part that will never disappear even if your power is sapped. It's how your body was able to continue operating with Modification even while you were restrained. A good alternative would be to call it your Devil Fruit's soul."

"Shut the fuck up," he snarled.

"I doubt someone like you would bleed out, but I'd prefer not to risk it…" Pestilence hummed in contemplation as they completely ignored the redhead.

"Fine… I suppose I can help you out. I don't want you dead. You dying is actually the worst case scenario for me."

Rosan didn't understand how his death would be so bad for the virus who was a prisoner. Why the hell would she want him alive?

"If you want my help, you have to be accepting of what I'm about to do… otherwise I can't do it," Pestilence offered.

"And why the hell should I trust you?"

"Do you want to save Robin or not? I told you, I don't want to be locked up so tightly in this fucking castle again. I enjoy experiencing sensations of the outside world and if Robin dies, I can kiss this castle ever opening again goodbye."

Rosan huffed. "...Fine. I can feel you telling the truth."

"I have no reason to lie to you. I've been very honest since the moment we've been speaking. You know I have no love for you," Pestilence grinned sardonically.

"What exactly is your ability?" he asked warily.

"Mine?"Pestilence laughed sardonically. "I am destruction, Rose. I am the plague that sweeps the land. The virus who's very touch degrades. Destruction given form at the hands of Modification. Pestilence, the Apocalypse."

"...And will you turn that on me?" Rosan asked seriously, willing to walk the distance if he had to.

"Believe it or not, no. I have no plans to turn my power onto you. You and I aren't so different you know," Pestilence snorted.

Not like turning it on him would work. Rosan was perfect for them.

A truth... but why was that the truth? Rosan couldn't understand what Pestilence wanted...

Pestilence sounded as if they were already content... but why did they sound like that?

"Now let me in," they whispered seductively. "The first time always hurts like a bitch so brace yourself… or don't. I don't care."

Rosan let loose a deep breath and said, "Go."

Pestilence grinned widely.

"White Horse."

"!" Rosan howled as a black aura began surrounding his body. The destructive aura began degrading the very concrete of the warehouse as it began ripping itself off of his body.

He stared in pain, as the black aura coalesced into an obsidian black horse with pulsing red eyes.

It looked unnatural to the eyes, with wisps of black smoke rising off of it and a plague doctors mask on it's ghastly muzzle.

"Not bad at all. You're a prize catch indeed little Rose. Any normal wielder would have suffered permanent damage from utilizing my energy but for you… even with these injuries… yes, you're just perfect."

He had the perfect constitution to wield their power. Pestilence would never let him go, no matter what he thought.

He belonged to them.

"Oh and before you ask, yes technique named White Horse summons black horse. I named myself Pestilence because it was fitting and your whole Reaper motif was already Death… figured I could continue the Four Horseman theme… I have style too."

Rosan blearily listened to them, head lolling as the horse neighed regally and dumped him on its body.

"What? Too shocked for words?" Pestilence mocked. "I thought I was doing something. Reaper is Death, Rosan is War, so of course I, the Virus would be Pestilence. Perhaps we could call that ring Famine, considering they eat to gain power."

"Shut… up… I'm in no mood for your jokes." He growled weakly.

Pestilence laughed mockingly but went silent.

Rosan, even in his total state of weakness, could only think one thing to himself.

"If Pestilence named themselves due to Reaper being Death… How did Mod-chan know their name?"