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Descent (One Piece)
Threads of a Puppet II

Threads of a Puppet II

Chopper was shocked to see that Rosan wasn't instantly healing from his injuries, but a quick inspection showed him why.

"Even after removing those seastone nails, his body is still completely shut down," the reindeer frowned worriedly.

The strange thing about Rosan, was that when his body shut down, Modification did too. Much like when the redhead had been knocked unconscious during the Knock-Up Stream, his body would need to "reboot".

Considering his extensive injuries, Modification might even see it fit to prioritize putting him in a functioning state before he could emit it.

He managed to somewhat stabilize the redhead's body and had diligently wrapped up his entire chest with bandages, while taping up his broken wrist as well.

At the very least, he managed to rid Rosan of most of that poison coursing through his veins. It wasn't lethal, it acted more so like a Komodo Dragon's poison, but amped up.

Coupled with the fact that he had also been tending to Usopp, Chopper was exhausted.

"What happened to you, Rosan?" Chopper said sadly as he gazed at the red stained bandages of the slowly healing Rosan.

Back to back, he had to repair his scout from terrible conditions and for Chopper, who thought Rosan was one of the strongest guys around, this was a humbling experience.

Three times in quick succession, the redhead needed to be repaired up. Once from Enel, once from Aokiji and now this…

Just how many strong people were out there?

The doctor sighed and jumped down to go check on Usopp, hooves clanking against the floor as he made his way over to the sniper.

What he saw filled him with as much happiness as this terrible situation could give him.

"USOPP! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Chopper squealed happily, before going quiet at realizing Rosan was very much still asleep.

It was rare to get the redhead to stay in one place… they didn't need to wake him up yet.

Usopp looked a little confused, before he registered the pain he was in and clutched his chest.

And then he remembered why he was like this.

The sniper shot up with wild eyes and pushed himself off the bed with urgency, stumbling as pain shot through his body once more and he hastily departed from the room.

"U-Usopp! Wait, you shouldn't be moving yet!" Chopper exclaimed in worry, following after the liar with concerned eyes.

Usopp wasn't listening. Despite his body screaming at him to stop, the liar burst out of the room and panted once he saw the time of day.

Was he too late…?

"USOPP!" Luffy shouted in excitement, rushing over to the sniper. "You're awake!"

The rest of the Straw Hats, sans Rosan and Robin, crowded their injured sniper and Usopp felt his guilt well up.

"You guys…" He said quietly, hanging his head. "I'm sorry, I lost the 400 million… and I'm guessing we weren't able to get it back?"

Sanji shook his head. "That Franky guy is long gone."

They didn't know what direction he went in so going after him was a bust and the only one who could do so without getting tired, was currently severely injured.

"Don't worry about it!" Luffy waved him off cheerfully.

Usopp felt a little better at that. "Yeah… you're right! We still have 200 million left and if we really do need more to repair the Merry, we can just have Rosan cut up even more of that gold pillar!"

He did not notice everyone tense up.

"I'll just have to get stronger so this doesn't happen again but Merry can still be fixed! 200 million should be more then enough, right?"

"…" the crew said nothing for a moment.

Usopp still wasn't paying attention to the crew, just letting out a small sigh of relief.

"You hear that Merry? You can still be fixed—"

"About that Usopp… we're getting a new ship. We owe a lot to the Going Merry, but this island is as far as she'll sail," Luffy finally said.

Usopp froze in confusion, a puzzled expression taking over.

"What?" He asked.

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

It was noisy. Too noisy. Why was it so noisy?

"Awake already? I've noticed you always wake up first out of your little trio."

Tch. They were still here.

"After what I did for you?" Pestilence sounded offended. "Not even a "thank you for letting me use your horse, daddy" out of you? Mod sure raised a belligerent little brat. Maybe daddy needs to discipline you."

"Your voice grates on my ears."

"Good."

Rosan bit back a noise of pain, as his body screamed at him to lie back down and the redhead slowly pushed himself up.

He glanced down at his figure and noted that he was wrapped up in red stained bandages… but at least the poison coursing through his veins had been dealt with somewhat.

The seastone nails had been removed as well... but his powers were still not here?

Why?

"Your body is too damaged so it has entered sleep mode to prioritize your insides. You've taken even more damage than your battle with the delusional Kami. Once your body is in a sufficient state, Modification should wake up from its dormant state."

"And when is that?" Rosan asked in frustration.

"Not anytime soon. Not only does it need to flush out the remaining poison. You were impaled with seastone and your body completely shut down."

Rosan snarled in annoyance and stamped down his bad mood.

He would sleep it off and pray for the best. He didn't know what was in Izumi's poison, but once he recovered, it wouldn't work again.

Now, why was his crew arguing?

"IS THIS ALL THIS SHIP MEANS TO YOU?! AFTER EVERYTHING, YOU'RE JUST GONNA LET HER SINK?!"

"You're not an expert! You aren't the shipwright which is why we came here in the first place!"

"Mmm drama."

Rosan sighed and shut his eyes tightly.

Usopp and Luffy were arguing about the ship. He figured her time was up but he didn't think someone would be in denial about it.

Why were they just now arguing about it though? Rosan would have thought they'd been told this at the actual place.

Well, whatever. He needed to stop this.

He owed this much to Merry. She probably wanted to avoid this.

The redhead idly transformed Ram back into a ring and placed her on his left ring finger again, before slowly trudging to where the argument was steadily getting louder.

"THE LUFFY I KNOW WOULD HAVE SEEN THROUGH THAT HALF-ASSED SALES PITCH AND HAVE FAITH IN THE GOING MERRY! BUT NOW YOU'RE MAKING SUCH A STUPID DECISION?! HOW CAN YOU CALL YOURSELF THE SHIP'S CAPTAIN!"

Rosan's eyes narrowed at that statement and he entered the room.

"That's enough Usopp," he said quietly.

Everyone's eyes snapped to him and he felt a wave of relief course through the air.

Usopp's eyes narrowed even further, too caught up in his own anger.

"R-Rosan!" Chopper shouted. "You shouldn't be moving right now! Please get some rest! How are you even moving?!"

Were they too loud? The redhead had been dead to the world before...

"He's right, Rosan. You were really beat up!" Nami exclaimed, tearing her eyes momentarily off the mounting argument to gaze worriedly at the injured redhead.

Rosan grunted as Nami steadied him but shook his head. "There are more pressing matters right now then my state—"

"I get it now."

Everyone went silent at that tone of realization from Usopp.

"It's because of you Rosan," Usopp realized with an angry expression. "You and your stupid pessimism!"

The redhead tilted his head to the side, glow in his eyes vanishing as they narrowed warningly.

"!" Everyone jumped at Usopp lashing out at the redhead and glanced cautiously at the redhead tilting his head.

"You keep bringing up things like how Merry won't last much longer or how we should consider getting a new ship but that's because you just don't trust her! You don't ever want to trust anyone!" Usopp barked in real anger.

"Now you've managed to even give everyone here doubts about Merry and they actually believe those con artists carpenters!"

"…" Rosan took a deep breath. "The Merry will not survive another trip and you should accept that. Do not allow your insecurities to cloud your better judgement. We have more pressing matters to worry about," he said, rather coldly (he was attempting to stifle his emotions to the best of his ability).

It was late and he didn't have access to Modification at the moment (When would it come back?). He'd need to think of something in the meantime and considering CP9 were assassins, he couldn't send his crew out in the looming dark for their pickings.

Only Luffy with his Observation and Zoro with his Armament would be completely fine. The others would be easy pickings, barring Sanji.

Sure he could send Luffy... but his brother wasn't subtle. He'd need someone with him but Rosan wasn't sure how many CP9 members there were and he couldn't check either... not to mention Izumi's illusions would capture the vulnerable Luffy (Maro's illusions were why she could so comfortably beat him).

So they'd need to begin searching for her tomorrow… he'd need Luffy to keep his Observation active at all time and maybe he'd have Modification bac—

"You don't actually care about any of us, do you?"

Rosan paused at that and turned a frigid gaze towards Usopp, a warning look in his eyes that the sniper should really stop talking.

"More pressing matters? This is our ship!" Usopp hissed with a wild anger in his eyes. "But to you Merry is just that. A ship! You don't have time to pay attention to useless things because the world revolves around you! If she sinks then oh well, you'll just discard her and get another one! That's how you think of us isn't it?!"

"Usopp, that's enough!" Sanji said firmly. "You're taking this too far. You need to sit back and cool down."

"Of course I'm the one taking it too far! Rosan can't do anything wrong can he?" Usopp snarled, making the chef flinch in surprise. "No. He's Mr. Perfect Scout who solves all our issues! So of course you'd all side with him and want to get rid of the Merry—"

A hand grasped him by the neck and slammed him into a wall, making the sniper gasp in pain.

"Gagh!" Usopp groaned, clawing at the hand gripping his throat.

Glowing eyes glared at him with barely repressed fury in them.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Rosan hissed venomously, eyes murderous.

"Who do you think you are to claim that I'm this perfect person who is incapable of making mistakes? What do you think you know about me to make such claims as if they were fact? You don't know a damn thing about me, you stupid fucking liar," the redhead snarled.

"ROSAN! STOP!" Chopper and Nami urged, grabbing the redhead and pulling him off of Usopp.

They were both way too injured to be so active right now!

The redhead didn't hear them. He never could hear properly when he was lost in his rage.

"You feel connected to this ship, because you feel useless compared to everyone else. In your eyes, the only thing your good for, is caring for the ship your girlfriend gifted us but that's not our problem. That's yours," Rosan snarled, ignoring his pain due to his boiling anger.

"Rosan, seriously!" Nami pleaded.

Their scout didn't know what just happened to Usopp. He didn't know the sniper was at his lowest already. This wasn't making things better!

Rosan ignored her. His eyes were glowing in fury and his teeth were bared as he spewed venom.

The crew themselves didn't realize that Rosan was already extremely stressed and in an incredibly volatile state right now. Usopp had just been the first one to fully set him off.

"If you had such an inferiority complex, you would have done something about it instead of letting it fester. Now, you're trying to risk all our lives to save a ship that's already finished because it's the only time you do feel useful," Rosan sneered.

His words were purely toxic, hitting every point like a bullseye because no one could hide anything from those eyes of his.

"Well take it from someone who you think is so perfect," the redhead growled. "I've already gambled with someone's life because I couldn't control my emotions and I lost everything. I'll be damned if I let you try and do the same thing."

Everyone shuddered at that statement.

It didn't take a genius to realize who Rosan was talking about.

The redhead covered his mouth with a hand, as he went into a coughing fit and they gazed worriedly at the flecks of red.

"Rosan you need to rest," Nami pleaded, holding him with clear concern. "You shouldn't be expending so much effort right now, either of you!"

Rosan huffed and sagged in her grasp, bigger frame draping weakly over Nami.

"This ship has been finished since our trip to Sky Island. She... couldn't handle the pressure of the Knock-up Stream and her keel cracked. I was hoping… the shipwrights would have helped you see that without me having to say something, but I wasn't expecting you to be so… irrational," he panted, shutting his eyes.

"You knew this whole time?" Everyone asked in shock.

Was that why he was nudging them towards the possibility of getting a new ship?

"Of course but you'd be reluctant to believe me… Which is why I left it in the hands of the carpenters. If… you… still refused to believe them then I'd reinforce their words…"

Rosan's eyes turned heavy as he felt the lull of sleep calling to him and Nami steadied the swaying redhead with the help of Sanji.

He expended too much energy. Damn it…

"I won't discuss this topic… again… when I wake up, I have faith that you guys will… have moved on. I need to discuss something with you all of utmost urgency," Rosan said tiredly.

With that, he allowed the wave to fully wash over him and the redhead slumped unconscious.

Rosan's words did nothing to quell Usopp. In fact, they only made his temper flare even more.

The redhead was not the only one stressed from the events of the day.

"So he knew this whole time… he really doesn't trust anyone of us and you all are totally okay with that!" Usopp growled.

They jolted at his words and gazed in shock at the sniper, not believing this only made him more upset.

"He doesn't tell us anything and marches around and gives orders that we're expected to follow! If we question him he just dismisses us and none of you even care! Especially you, Luffy! I thought you were the captain of the ship but it doesn't feel like it!" Usopp growled, rounding on the rubber boy.

Luffy's eyes darkened.

"Usopp," Zoro said warningly.

"Rosan didn't affect my decision. I already made up my mind, Usopp. We're parting ways with the Merry here and if you have a problem with that then—"

Luffy was cut off, as a kick from Sanji sent him crashing into a wall.

Nami shrieked at the loud noise.

What was going on? Everything was just snowballing out of control right now!

"Hey, hey. Just what were you about to say?!" Sanji barked at the rubber boy. "None of you are thinking straight right now! Cool down and we can discuss this another time!"

Luffy snapped out of his anger and nodded. "You're right. Sorry, I didn't mean that."

"No it's alright. That's probably how you all feel."

"?!"

Usopp huffed and got up, ignoring the pain of his body. "Merry is just the beginning. You just want to get rid of useless members one after the other."

Your reasoning for lying means very little to me. If you find comfort in deluding yourself to reality, be my guest. Just don't apply the same thing to me. I'm not such a coward that I'd run away from the truth of my life.

"Usopp, stop talking like that," Sanji demanded.

The sniper shook his head violently. "No I'm serious. Quite frankly, I can't keep up with the monsters of this crew. I'm just a liability."

Luffy, Rosan, Zoro, Sanji, Robin… even Nami and Chopper were becoming monsters in their own right.

And he was just here.

You lie nonstop about even the simplest of things, you're a complete coward and it makes you a liability.

A wave of confusion coursed through the crew.

"Huh?" Chopper said quietly.

Nami's eyes widened.

Zoro said nothing.

"Our only connection is the fact that you guys invited me on this ship… but beyond that, I don't share any of your ambitions. I can't travel with someone who doesn't share the same views as me," Usopp decided, pushing himself up and making his way out of the ship.

"W-Wait! Usopp where are you going?!" Chopper shouted in concern.

"Don't worry about it. None of it is your business because… I'm quitting the crew."

"But you can't… Wait!" Nami shouted in concern.

"Hey! Come back!" Sanji exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.

"HUH? D-DON'T GO USOPP!" Chopper cried.

"…" Zoro looked on.

"…" Rosan slept.

"Sorry for burdening you but I can't follow you anymore," Usopp said gravely, before turning towards the silent captain of the Straw Hats.

"You're the captain and this ship belongs to you… but I won't leave Merry in your hands."

"IF I WIN, I'M TAKING THE GOING MERRY SO MONKEY D. LUFFY, FIGHT ME!" Usopp roared.

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

Pestilence hummed in delight, inspecting their nails as they sat on a throne made purely of ice.

"Quite the problem we've run into," the virus muttered curiously, listening to all with an amused expression.

Seems like not only little Rosan was stressed by the events of today. How fascinating. All the Straw Hats were stressed...

But despite that, Pestilence wasn't happy about these turn of events at all.

"That woman... Nico Robin. I didn't realize she was capable of making such idiotic decisions," the white haired mimic of Rouge pondered.

Normally, Pestilence would delight in a situation like this and go full throttle on breaking Rosan... but things had changed over the years.

Things had changed since this castle formed.

Pestilence discovered many things about themself and now, there was a far more important task than breaking Rosan.

No, keeping Rosan as whole as possible was imperative. If this castle gained more chains, Pestilence doubted it would open again and that was the nightmare scenario.

That was why they chose to approach Rosan out in the open this time. As far as Mod's boy toy was concerned, Pestilence wanted Nico Robin saved just as much as they did.

So they would assist until the traitorous bitch stopped sleeping.

They glanced at their hand with a contemplative expression, before conjuring a black gas that solidified and transformed into solid black mirror.

In it, Nico Robin, the whore who had tortured Rosan and some tall man were gazing down at the prone body of some man.

Pestilence's eyes narrowed slightly at seeing them use the large man to quickly vanish from the room.

"That technique..." they muttered. "The Doa Doa no Mi? Come to think of it... that technique is quite similar to Rosan's own..."

Hm. That just wouldn't do. Right now, it wasn't Cipher Pol's power that was an issue. No one's power was an issue to the virus.

No one was as destructive as them.

It was their resourcefulness that was an issue...

And this man's power was resourceful to a worrying degree. How far could he transport them with those doors? Was his range as large as Rosan's?

Pestilence would need to slow them down if worse came to worst and he could send them right to Enies Lobby.

The black fleck that she was watching through, that was latched onto the tall man, waited for an opportune moment before lunging in his mouth.

He made no sign of noticing it and Pestilence hummed, making the fleck go dormant. If he stepped out of their range, it would activate but for now...

"There. I doubt it, but if push comes to shove, I suppose I'll play a stronger hand," the virus muttered, black dress emitting the strange black gas that they could control.

Pestilence would accept nothing less than Rosan saving Nico Robin... but if they truly were going to Enies Lobby...

Hm, that was a great opportunity to thin their numbers greatly. Rosan was rather murderous at the moment, so many people could die and if they were of the World Government variant...

It was risky, but Pestilence believed in Rosan's capabilities. As long as he had Modification, he'd eventually save his favorite wench and Pestilence would be a step closer from achieving their goals.

"The effects of Meiko dying were catastrophic to you, I cannot have this woman dying either," Pestilence decided, standing up with a flourish of that long, wispy dress.

Such a bother. Why was it always up to them to save Rosan?

Well, Pestilence supposed it wasn't all bad. After all, Rosan was just perfect wasn't he?

Some things were worth it. They would save him.

Their red eyes gleamed in delight and the virus calmly slid into bed with a delighted purr, wispy dress stripping off their body in a single thought.

In the end, it'd all be worth it.

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

"Wake up my little Rose."

Rosan suppressed the urge to yawn. "In… a second, Mom."

Then, his eyes snapped open and a violent snarl made its way across his face.

"Who do you think you are to impersonate my mother?" Rosan hissed.

"Hmhmhmhm," Pestilence laughed darkly, sounding so much like Rouge but also nothing like her at all. "What? Am I not allowed to be inspired by how someone looks? Mod picked you after all, so why can't I pick someone? I love Rouge too!"

"You chose my mother. Someone like you should have taken the form of that depraved woman Sachie or Doc."

Pestilence scoffed. "I chose my appearance when you were 4, Rose. I hate those two as much as you do for daring to imprison me."

He snarled. "Which explains why you assisted them in breaking me, right?"

"Broken but never one to submit. I knew you could do it. Someone needed to show you the cruelty of the world and that Mod was intent on coddling you until you suffocated against something not even I could help you with."

Rosan clenched his fist. "So you turned me on my best friend. Don't think I forgot that, Pestilence. You will slip up one day and I will have your head."

Pestilence shuddered at that simple statement. "Whatever, I woke you up because you might want to witness what's about to happen."

"…"

"That pathetic liar and your stupid captain are about to fight soon for ownership of this useless ship. Apparently the sniper left the crew because you have no trust in your heart."

What? Usopp left?

Rosan sighed in annoyance and got up with a bit of effort, noting that his wounds were slowly but surely healing and Modification was stirring a bit.

It seemed the closer he got to recovering his health, the closer he got to gaining Modification.

Everything hurt though and he was still extremely pissed off.

"How do you know this?"

"You and Mod are practically one and the same but as for me? I do my own things. I enjoy the sensations of the real world due to not being able to feel them for so long so I've been awake since you first met your main wench again… and I've been greedily enjoying the sensations of the senses since your battle with the inferior Logia. Well done on that by the way."

"You talk too much."

Pestilence actually balked at his audacity. He was the one that asked them the question!

"You sure are a fucking cunt."

Rosan scoffed. This virus had more vulgar language then both he and Ram.

So Usopp left the crew? If Pestilence was serious, Rosan himself would prevent the liar from joining if he tried to slink his way back in.

The redhead felt an incredibly rare headache forming and bared his teeth in barely suppressed rage.

Too much was going on right now and all of it could be solved if he wasn't. So. Fucking. Injured.

Pestilence watched the redhead get slowly overwhelmed with a deranged smirk.

"Don't worry. I'm still here. If you wish to borrow my power again, feel free. I have some similarities but I'm also very different from Modification."

Rosan hated how deeply he was thinking of accepting that. He needed immediate strength to deal with those CP9 agents and if Pestilence was as dangerous as Mod made them out to be… he'd probably have to use it.

His body didn't show any adverse side effects from using that power anyways.

"Honestly, that was rather shocking for me too. Most people who use my abilities for the first time, end up bedridden even without my desire to kill them. But you… even if I wanted to kill you, it seems as if you've already adjusted to the corrosive aspect of my powers... to an extent. How admirable."

Rosan didn't comment on that and slowly made his way out of the room.

Adjusting to that corrosive energy… it could have been a lie but he couldn't detect any at all and besides the pain from using it the first time, it seemed only his injuries were truly affecting him.

This was all too complicated. Rosan didn't like when things were complicated for him. He liked to be in control and right now he was not in control.

The cool night breeze brushed against his face and Rosan shuddered a bit at the temperature, frowning as Zoro immediately turned to face him.

"You're awake again," the swordsman said calmly, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Why do you keep waking up?" a depressed Chopper asked.

Rosan grunted and gazed out at the clearing, where a steadfast Luffy was waiting for something.

"What happened?" He asked calmly.

Chopper immediately teared up and glanced down.

"Usopp left the crew," Sanji sighed.

"Rosan… why did you say those things?" Nami asked with a frown. "Usopp was already going through a lot. He got beat up and some goons took 400 million from him."

Rosan glared darkly at her and she flinched. "And how was I supposed to know that?" He asked incredulously, anger flaring irrationally once more.

"I don't know if you realized, but I was dealing with my own troubles and dozens of holes in my body," the redhead frowned, pointing at his bandaged bodies. "I was just brutally tortured and the moment I woke up, I was being blamed for something that wasn't even my fault. I already have too much on my fucking plate. Why is it my fault that I was trying to convince someone that a sinking ship is actually going to sink."

Nami flinched back, scalded by his lashing out and withdrew a bit into herself.

"Right… you haven't been here the whole day and the state you were in… Sorry," she whispered.

Zoro placed a hand on his shoulder and the redhead took a deep breath.

This is what he meant when he said he couldn't control his emotions and the stress wasn't making it any better.

"My bad Nami… I didn't mean to lash out at you like that," Rosan apologized, letting out a pained rasp. "...Robin is missing and the person who did this to me, is the one who has her."

Everyone froze at that and gazed at the redhead with a stunned expression.

"The one who did this to me is named Izumi… we have a past," Rosan frowned. "She is the one who killed Meiko."

"What?" Sanji whispered in horror, gazing at the visibly stressed redhead.

"She… killed Meiko?" Nami asked in a daze.

Rosan clenched his fist. "Yes. After killing her, I tortured her to insanity but because of Meiko's final wishes, I left her alive. Clearly that has come to bite me in the ass."

"You tortured her?" Chopper asked in fear.

"For your sake, I won't go into detail. But she's come to enact revenge and she, along with her World Government allies, made Robin give herself up so she can try and protect us," Rosan explained calmly.

Zoro frowned deeply at that. "Is Robin an idiot? Why would she do that? We could just fight them," the swordsman scowled.

"And that's what we're going to do," Rosan said darkly, eyes smoldering. "I'm going to tear them all to pieces. That's why I was hoping this was settled before I woke up again… but I guess not."

Sanji looked worried. "We have to find her. Do you have any birds out right now? What about her Save Point?"

The redhead scowled. "No. I don't have access to Modification at the moment."

They balked at that. No Modification?

"So what was that scary horse?" Nami asked tentatively. It didn't look like any of Rosan's normal techniques... and it was terrifying in a different way from Ragnarok.

Ragnarok emitted a primal terror. One that a dragon would always emit.

But that horse was different. It was terrifying in an unnatural way. The black wisps, the ghostly characteristics... the mask.

Nami could believe a dragon was real... but Nami would never believe that horse existed somewhere. It was just so uncanny.

"...I'll tell you about it after this blows over. Right now just thinking about it pisses me off and I already have a headache," Rosan admitted.

"You need to sleep and regain your energy!" Chopper admonished in concern.

He was already sad that Usopp refused his help. The doctor at least wanted Rosan to listen to him.

Rosan raked a hand through his free hair (it was getting too long, it went way past his shoulder right now) and nodded. "After this, I'll sleep until tomorrow. I promise. I need to regain as much energy as possible."

He was heavily injured and lacking Modification for awhile as his body worked to repair his insides and flush out the poison. If he were to fight CP9 as he was now, he'd just be a liability.

The redhead suddenly found Pestilence's offer a lot more tempting… No he suddenly found that it was inevitable because he was going to look for Robin tomorrow and he didn't think he'd be fully repaired yet.

"You don't have to be wary of me just yet, little Rose. Our goals align. I want your number one wench back as much as you do."

"Refrain from calling her that or else."

"How does favorite whore sound then? I don't understand why you're so worked up though. You have Mod, that sexy goblin girl, her sexy wife, that sexy purple doctor, the two cute sisters that may as well be twins and can't forget that ring all slobbering over you. I'm sure if you ask any of them, they'll give it up. Are you sure you need one little girl when you could easily distract yourself with—"

A wave of rage washed over the virus so quickly, Pestilence wisely went silent and they shuddered. Even they knew not to test Rosan's very short temper right now.

"…" Rosan slowly but surely receded the wave of anger. The only reason he was putting up with this nonsense, was because his options were very limited right now and the virus offered him a distraction from the fact that his connection with Mod-chan was so weak.

It would do him no good to be stressed, weak and panic stricken. Whether the virus knew or not, their presence angering him, was better then no one's presence driving him into madness.

How ironic. Robin was gone. Mod was gone. All he had was Pestilence.

It was just like on Daybreak. Nothing but the words of a demon who wanted to see its fellow demon break.

Fitting that his mental state was currently as bad as when he was on that hellhole of an island.

Rosan hated Water 7 and he hadn't actually met a single person or explored the island in full yet.

"There's Usopp…" Nami called his attention.

Rosan gazed at the injured Usopp and wondered just what the Sniper's goal here was.

Unless Luffy threw the match, which was something he'd never do, Usopp was just trying to get even further injured.

He resisted the urge to grit his teeth in rage and failed, baring his sharp fangs in fury.

The Sniper could have been valuable in getting Robin back but instead he was causing a fuss.

Now, if Usopp was actually hellbent on leaving the crew, Rosan would have to make sure his secrets didn't get out. It was a waste, but if he had to, he'd need to eliminate Usopp once all this was settled.

This was why he didn't like telling people things.

"Look at you. Without any hesitation, you've decided to eliminate him. Aren't you just proving him right? You really don't care about any of them."

"I do care about them... but I have guarded my secrets for 20 years. I have known Usopp for a few months and he has proven me correct in being untrustworthy. Is it not natural that I would prioritize one thing over the other? Every human has their biases."

"That's true but monsters like us don't get to act human so why do you think you suddenly have that right?" Pestilence whispered cruelly.

The redhead froze at that statement.

"I... that's right... but aren't monsters fully biased?" Rosan asked in return, clenching his fist at their words.

"No. Monsters don't think about those things. Those are demons Rose. Monsters destroy for their own pleasure and that's it. But demons? They lure in humans and pretend to be like them... but we all know what they really are once you take a deeper look. Isn't that right, Devil?"

The stressed scout shut his mouth and abruptly ended the conversation.

Pestilence smirked at that and said nothing.

Rosan glanced at his uneasy crew and shook his head to get the thoughts out.

"It may not occur to you guys often, but Luffy is first and foremost our captain," he began, catching their attention. "His words are the one we follow so if he says we part ways with the Merry, we part ways with the Merry."

Zoro nodded along with his words. "What Usopp's doing right now, is disrespectful to Luffy. He's going against the words of the captain of the ship."

"That's mutiny," Rosan said darkly, making the other three flinch at the grave word. "Don't take advantage of Luffy just because of his nature. If this were any other ship, Usopp would be dead for going against the laws of the captain."

That was why Rosan was here. To make sure no one took advantage of his cheerful brother.

"T-That's true but…" Nami trailed off.

"The captain's orders are law. If you don't want to follow them, you shouldn't be sailing with him," Zoro said stonily.

Sanji bit his cigarette at their words and nodded tightly, still displeased with this whole situation.

They were right but the entire situation was just shitty.

"So you didn't get cold feet… I hope you don't regret this no matter what. This is the duel you chose!" Luffy declared.

"Of course. You'd better try and kill me or I'll beat you at your own game. I already know how to beat you," Usopp stated calmly.

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

Usopp's eyes narrowed as he immediately withdrew his slingshot and fired 3 pellets that Luffy effortlessly sidestepped.

Then, the rubber boy dashed forward with a fist cocked back—

Only to hesitate as Usopp keeled over and spat up blood.

"See?! He's way too injured to fight!" Chopper said in worry.

Usopp continued coughing… only to reveal that the blood was actually ketchup.

"Why are you hesitating?" He rasped, taking his slingshot out and firing 2 rotten eggs at his former captain.

Luffy scowled and tipped his head to the side, dodging the projectiles before he planted a sandal against Usopp's sternum.

"!" Usopp spat out actual blood, as the kick sent him tumbling across the ground.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy shouted, launching a fist towards the sniper with intents to finish this quickly.

Usopp desperately leapt aside from the punch and aimed once more at the hard to hit rubber boy.

"Shuriken Star!" Usopp shouted, firing shuriken after shuriken at Luffy.

The rubber boy began dodging every single one with a focused glare, but let out a yelp of surprise as one of the "shuriken" turned out to be a net that captured him.

"W-Wha?!" Luffy shouted as he tried to untangle himself from it.

"You taught him that," Pestilence laughed.

Seeing that Luffy was somewhat restrained (but not for long) Usopp began pressing his advantage.

"Blinding him is useless as long as he has observation… so I'll hit hard."

"Special Attack: Flame Star!"

Luffy grunted as he caught fire, mostly unbothered by the attack, before a hammer slammed into his gut.

"Usopp Hammer!"

The rubber boys eyes widened in confusion, as the physical attack actually hurt him and sent him soaring away.

"Ugh!" Usopp gasped, as the heavy hammer Rosan gifted him weighed him down.

The sniper wasn't finished yet.

Luffy yelped as he landed on a bunch of caltrops, the spiked traps digging into his skin, until even more shurikens crashed into him.

"Usopp's totally controlling the fight," Zoro observed accurately.

"Using my gifts to do it too..." Rosan said neutrally.

The redhead suddenly felt compelled to look down at the figurehead of Merry, as a wave hit her.

Like this, he could see that it appeared as if the ship was crying.

Rosan frowned. "Sorry, Merry. I thought this was the best course of action… but it appears that I just don't fully understand other humans yet."

"Do you truly think you'll ever be able to understand them? You are too different. A dragon, an angel and a plague... You were human at one point but that was a long time ago."

Rosan said nothing.

This was why he shouldn't have been tasked with this.

"You tried your best… maybe some things were meant to be."

He went still at that voice and felt a strange sadness well inside of him.

Usopp huffed as he prepared to finish this and he glanced down at the pulsing red pellet.

"You have potential."

The only way he could keep up with the monsters in the crew… relying on someone's stuff.

He steadied his resolve and loaded up the pellet.

Taking aim at Luffy, the sniper said with a tone of finality, "Special Attack: Mine Star."

The pellet fired.

The explosion was deafening.

The Straw Hats watched with wide eyes, as an explosion covered the battlefield.

"…" Rosan gazed at the explosion using his flames, with a neutral expression.

"This is too much…" Chopper sobbed.

"The fight is over," the redhead whispered softly.

Sanji and Nami looked over in surprise.

"Over? I know your flames are strong but there's no way they'd take Luffy out that quick," the chef said a bit unsure.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"…" Rosan closed his eyes.

"I wasn't talking about Luffy."

Usopp huffed as the explosion eventually settled and he felt a puff of pride at having actually beaten his monster of a captain.

"How do you like that?!" He shouted.

Now the Merry was rightfully his—

The sniper's eyes went wide, as a smoking Luffy stepped directly in front of him with a look of finality in his eyes.

"He managed to mostly avoid that?" Usopp thought, stunned as he was left totally open.

Despite wanting to, Luffy did not close his eyes. Even as he relived every moment he had with Usopp, the rubber boy didn't avert his gaze.

Even as he shot his arm back, he stared at his former sniper the entire time.

"Gomu Gomu no…"

Hurry up and get on board!

We're friends now aren't we?

I… I'M THE CAPTAIN RIGHT?

DON'T BE DUMB, I'M CAPTAIN!

"...Bullet."

The fist crashed into Usopp's gut like its namesake and the liar's eyes rolled to the back of his head, as he collapsed.

There was a tense silence as the sniper fell on the floor.

"USOPP!" Chopper screamed in horror as his tears fell freely.

Nami covered her mouth as her own tears fell.

Sanji glanced down with a resigned expression.

Rosan and Zoro stared on neutrally.

"This fight is over," the swordsman eventually said.

"It was foolish of him to think that Luffy would be defeated by the flames I've been using for years on him. He may know Luffy's tricks… but Luffy also knows mine," the scout said softly.

Luffy stared at his defeated ex crewmate and clenched his fist.

"You idiot! There's no way you could defeat me!" The captain shouted in anguish.

"This is too much," Nami cried. "Everything's happening too fast, it feels like everything's falling apart."

Luffy picked up his Straw Hat and placed it back on. "Do what you want, with the Going Merry. We're gonna find a new ship and we're gonna keep sailing forward," he decided firmly.

"Is that necessary Luffy? I can just shrink her when I get my powers back. We don't have to part ways here. She may not be sail worthy anymore, but the Going Merry doesn't have to leave," Rosan actually spoke up.

Even after all these years, he still had the White Rose. After learning that ship's really did have a spirit… it wasn't much, but Rosan had left his longtime ship in a large pool in his Pocket Dimension and he was even planning on finding a way to make her aerial.

"I've already parted ways with it. It's not our decision anymore," Luffy decided, gazing at his brother with a look of finality.

Rosan glanced at the figurehead of Merry and sighed, before nodding his head.

"Whatever you say, Captain."

"So long, Usopp… It's been fun," Luffy said eventually.

"U-USOPP!" Chopper shouted, grabbing his supplies as quickly as possible.

Sanji placed a hand on the doctor and said, "Wait, Chopper!"

Evidently it was the wrong thing to say because the hysterical reindeer immediately transformed into his heavy point and slapped away Sanji's hand.

"WHY?! HE'S IN BAD SHAPE! I CAN'T JUST LEAVE HIM AFTER THAT BEATING!" The reindeer shouted.

"This wasn't just a regular fight, Chopper," Sanji explained patiently.

"SO WHAT?! I'M STILL A DOCTOR!" He exclaimed, taking a swing at the chef that got dodged.

The chef grit his teeth and tackled the reindeer to the floor. "He already lost and now you're trying to pity him? Think about how that would make him feel! He made the challenge knowing what the outcome would be, so don't hurt him anymore with your excessive kindness!"

"!" Chopper went silent as his tears fell freely.

"This is really tough," Luffy whispered.

"It hurts doesn't it, Luffy?" Rosan asked knowingly. "Hard times will always accompany the easy times and no one feels that more than the leader. Being able to deal with them is what makes a good captain."

"That's the burden all captains must face," Zoro said. "Don't doubt yourself. If you start to waver, who can we have faith in?"

Luffy simply tucked his face deeper into his Straw Hat as his tears began to fall.

Rosan glanced back and shook his head, as Chopper jumped off the ship and dashed off to leave some supplies for Usopp.

Then, the redhead leapt off and followed after him.

"Rosan…" Sanji said.

"Don't worry, I won't stop him," Rosan assured.

Zoro shook his head. "...Let's leave the ship to him. This is it for us… we can never return to this ship."

Chopper, Nami, Usopp and Luffy allowed their tears to fall freely.

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

Rosan watched Chopper flinch as they walked past each other but the redhead just waved him off.

"I just have some things I want to say… Then I'll go back to sleep," the redhead promised.

"O-Ok," the teary eyed reindeer said and he ran off.

Rosan looked down at the former sniper with a neutral expression.

"You've already made your decision and I'm not here to reprimand you for it… but I hope you understand the gravity of your decisions. Good luck with the Merry... try not to make the wrong decision"

The redhead turned away from the silent sniper. "Keep the remainder of my gifts. They are rightfully yours… For what it's worth, I did think you had potential and I hope you can realize it on your own journey…"

"...But if you ever tell anyone my secrets, I will kill you. I will know if it was you and you will regret your decision. This is not a threat, this is a promise I made to myself years ago when I made my alter egos. I hope you are considerate enough to not do that."

With that, Rosan turned and slowly trudged away from his ex crewmate.

If he noticed the sniper begin crying in earnest at his words, he did not mention it.

"Goodbye, Usopp."

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

"Hey did you hear? Iceburg's been attacked!"

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah he was shot!"

"It must have been that Franky!"

"Who would attack him?!"

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

"We got rooms… but Rosan's the only one actually sleeping in them," Sanji sighed. "Guess everyone else is too restless."

"Did he actually sleep through the whole night?" Chopper asked quietly.

The chef nodded. "As soon as his head hit the pillow he fell asleep and he's been dead to the world ever since. I have no idea when he's gonna wake back up."

The doctor sighed. "I hope he gets Modification back soon… his injuries are really bad but once it comes back, he'll truly heal up."

"Not to mention he'd be incredibly useful in finding out where Robin is," Sanji frowned. "Luffy, do you feel her?"

The rubber boy shook his head slowly, frowning. "There's too many people and my range isn't big enough yet. I need to get better at using it."

Zoro grunted as he pushed himself up. "You guys go look for her. I'll stay here and make sure that person who went after Rosan, doesn't come back to finish him off."

Sanji and Chopper nodded and the duo prepared to set off to do just that…

"LUFFY!" Nami shouted, causing all of them to jolt. "Bad news! Last night, Iceburg-san was shot!"

The rubber boy's eyes widened at that. "Ice guy was shot?!"

The navigator nodded. "There's a huge uproar going on right now! The town is going crazy!"

"Who's Iceburg?" Sanji asked curiously.

"The mayor of this city and the president of the shipbuilding company," she explained.

Sanji raised a brow. "Quite the big shot…"

Luffy frowned at that. "I'm gonna go check things out."

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The rubber boy leapt off his perch and Nami said, "Wait, I'm coming with you!"

"Don't forget to be on the lookout for Robin!" Sanji barked. "C'mon Chopper, let's go."

The reindeer nodded and the two walked off.

Zoro frowned and closed his eyes.

Everything was going way out of control. He'd need to be prepared.

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

Franky froze in disbelief, as he gauged the state of the Franky House.

"Kiwi… Mozu… am I dreaming this?" He asked, as his rage began surging.

"No, bro. This is definitely where the Franky House used to be," Mozu stated in surprise.

"But this is… brutal," Kiwi said in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Franky roared, pupils dilating as he began heaving in anger.

Then an epiphany hit him.

"Straw Hat," he snarled.

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

"Chimney! Gonbe," Kokoro called. "Pack up your bags! We're heading back to Water 7!"

A southern wind with rough waves…

Staying out here wouldn't be very good.

"Okay!" Chimney beamed.

"Looks like Aqua Laguna is on its way."

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

Luffy and Nami had made their way over to Iceburg's mansion in hopes of seeing him, but unfortunately it was far too packed.

It would be impossible to even get a glimpse…

What were they going to do now—

Suddenly, a rhythm began playing through the air and the crowd of people got even more restless.

"It can't be!" Someone in the crowd panicked.

"Not him!" Another moaned in defeat.

"?" Luffy and Nami tilted their head to the side.

What was going on?

Their curiosity was soon revealed in the worst way.

Way up on a tall building, was a weirdo doing some type of bizarre performance along with two woman.

This was one of the most peculiar people they had seen yet…

He was tall, with enormous forearms, bright blue hair, an angular chin, a weird metal nose… and he was dressed in a speedo along with an open Hawaiian shirt.

"Who's this weirdo?" Luffy asked with a puzzled expression.

"He called himself Franky… you don't think he's the same Franky that's apart of the Franky Family, right?" Nami asked with wide eyes.

As if answering their answers. Franky pushed his shades up.

"STRAW HAT! COME ON OUT!" The boss of the Franky Family shouted.

Luffy's gaze darkened. This was Franky?

"HEY SPEEDO GUY!" Luffy shouted, despite Nami's urging.

"Huh?!" Franky raised an incredulous brow and glanced down at the one who said that.

The rubber boy glared up at him. "I'm Luffy."

Franky's brow raised even higher.

"Perfect. I was looking for you," the man sneered.

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

Iceburg awoke to many people surrounding him and gratefully accepted the glass of water hoisted his way.

"Thank goodness you're alive," Paulie sighed happily.

"We were so worried for you!" Kalifa admitted, tearing up at the thought of it.

The Mayor of Water 7 glanced at all his employees to the best of his ability.

"Sorry to make you all worry," Iceburg said slowly, still struggling a bit.

As his memories returned to him, the mayor suddenly said, "Last night… the one who entered my room…"

"That's still under investigation," Kalifa informed him but the Mayor just shook his head.

"No... I remember."

"What?! You do?!"

He nodded. "There were 3 people in the room. One was a large guy in a mask…"

His expression turned grave. "And the last two were Nico Robin and the Red Devil."

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

"Why did you trick Iceburg into thinking Rosan was with us?"

Izumi glanced over at the slightly angry woman and raised a brow.

"Because he's in no condition to defend himself. I doubt he's even been found yet," she thought cheekily.

"Everyone knows that where you go, he follows. You take orders from him after all so it would be suspicious if you showed up alone…" she answered in amusement.

"Besides, it's fine this way. With the town distracting the Straw Hats, you'll be able to quietly disappear like you wanted."

"I don't want this," Robin thought before swiftly banishing the thought. "As long as you leave them out of this."

"We had a deal after all," Izumi rolled her eyes. "Can I ask you though? Do you really think darling will take this lying down? I mean, you recognized the memory of him torturing me, so surely you know about his connection with Meiko. He's rather possessive, isn't he?"

The woman got up and leaned in to whisper in her ears.

"Or maybe you're doing this because you realize you'll never be able to matchup to the actual love of his life. Saving yourself from impending heartbreak?"

Robin said nothing but Izumi knew she got under the woman's skin.

"This is for the greater good, Robin-chan," Izumi chimed, sitting back down and sharpening her nails. "It's better to only lose one person, isn't it? You or you and your entire crew… Well the choice is obvious."

Yes… yes the choice was obvious…

But it was still so hard.

Robin shut her eyes and stayed silent.

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

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Franky sneered as he tanked the attack and retaliated with one of his own.

"Strong Right!"

Much to his annoyance, Straw Hat once again dodged the attack well before it reached him.

This was infuriating, the rubber boy couldn't be touched no matter what Franky shot his way.

Luffy frowned at how little effect his attacks had.

This cyborg dude was really weird. He could breathe fire, detach his arms, shoot out cannons and above all, had a hard body that took very little damage... without having a Devil Fruit.

It was about time to up the output—

The rubber boy stopped his plan of action and immediately jumped out of the way of a punch aimed for his cheek.

Franky was not so lucky and got sent a ways away from a similar blow.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here, Straw Hat."

Luffy blinked in confusion before sidestepping another attack thrown his way. "What did I do?" He asked.

"A lot of nerve?" Nami muttered in confusion.

"Hey hey! Don't get in my way!" Franky scowled, pushing himself out of the rubble.

Paulie's scowl deepened. "You know what you did! Last night, our Mayor was attacked by Nico Robin and the Red Devil, two people in YOUR CREW!"

A wave of shock ran through the crowd.

"The Red Devil?" Someone whispered fearfully.

"The pirate whose first bounty was 100 million?! He did this?"

Luffy's and Nami gaped in shock.

"W-WHAT?!" The captain shouted in confusion. "Rosan? Robin?! DON'T GO ACCUSING MY CREW OF DOING THIS!"

"Yeah! Rosan's injured! He was sleeping the entire time!" Nami shouted in agreement, a look of bewilderment on her features. "He's in no condition to go breaking into people's houses and trying to assassinate them!"

"SAVE IT! I DON'T WANNA HEAR YOUR EXCUSES!" Paulie roared.

The shipwright summoned his ropes and launched them at Luffy, only for the rubber boy to once again dodge the attack.

"We didn't attack anyone!" Luffy exclaimed, allowing himself to get hit by the bullets before rebounding them backwards. "Let us talk to the Mayor! We need to clear this up!"

"Not a chance!" Paulie shouted. "We're killing every single one of the Straw Hats today!"

"Hey she's apart of the Straw Hats too!" someone shouted making a grab for Nami…

Only to run headfirst into a steel wall that instantly knocked him unconscious.

"It seems we have been framed. Master Rosan has been fully incapacitated for the entire day and should still be sleeping," Clima murmured, as a wary Nami pieced him together.

"Luffy! I think we've been framed!" Nami shouted, using the iron cloud to completely shield herself from the people trying to grab at her.

"BY WHO?!" Luffy screamed as he bobbed and weaved through every single attack of the visibly frustrated shipwrights.

"Is this…?" Lucci thought to himself in slight disbelief as his entire onslaught failed to land on Straw Hat.

Nami huffed and threw out a massive gust of wind, that sent all but Luffy flying.

"W-WOAH!" Everyone shouted as they tumbled away.

"The same person who injured Rosan and kidnapped Robin," she whispered, grabbing onto the rubber boy. "C'mon we need to get out of here and find everyone else."

Luffy nodded and wrapped in arm around her waist, before he jumped, kicked his foot and jumped again until he was out of sight.

"What the hell?!" Franky thought. Damn they were impressive… that rubber boy was no joke being able to dodge every single one of those foremen like that.

Lucci and Kaku looked absolutely stunned, as they saw Luffy's manner of escape.

Robin tightly shut her newspaper.

"Rosan's hurt? No… that shouldn't be possible. Only something excessively strong can give him lasting injuries… so that must mean he's still incapacitated by what I said to him?!" she thought to herself.

She frowned sadly at that. She hadn't mean to hurt Rosan so badly, where he was even isolating himself from the crew...

Izumi's eyes were narrowed in confusion.

How did they know darling was so injured? Did they already find and tend to him…?

She was planning on freeing him right as they departed, then she'd catch up but it sounded like he already escaped.

How did they have a key to free him…?

"They're gonna start looking for you in earnest," Izumi grunted, grabbing Robin's arm and hoisting her up. "Let's go. We still have one last thing to do before we leave."

Robin was too caught up in her worries for Rosan to resist and Izumi wrapped the two of them in an illusion.

Izumi's frown deepened as a small tremor shot through her body.

A lifeless set of eyes piercing into her core, as heavy tremors shook her.

Losing control of her body.

A small knife used to torture the person she loved most.

I wish you were never born.

"I hope the consequences of this victory are worth it though, because if you thought things were bad now, I'm going to show you that it can get much worse."

She wasn't ready to face Rosan yet. Not here, not while so unprepared.

If that happened…

Izumi was unable to hide an even larger tremor.

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

"I want to talk to the Mayor," Luffy decided, as he and Nami perched out on a roof parallel to the mansion.

Nami sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll come with you. How do you plan on sneaking in—"

The navigator let out a shriek as Luffy wrapped an arm around her waist, and rocketed right through the window.

"W-WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"STRAW HAT BROKE THROUGH THE WINDOW!"

"IN BROAD DAYLIGHT?!"

"WHERE ARE THE FOREMEN?!"

"THEY'RE DEPLOYING PEOPLE ON THE ISLAND SO THEY'RE BUSY!"

"Luffy you're a goddamn idiot," Nami hissed in rage as they began sprinting away from all the people chasing them.

The rubber boy scratched his head and laughed sheepishly, before they turned a corner.

The mass followed, only to yelp in shock as a gust of wind blew them away.

The two continued heading straight for Iceburg, before surprisingly, Kalifa ushered them in with a whisper.

"?!" They tilted their head, listening as the woman informed them that they were nowhere to be seen.

The duo gazed at the bedridden Iceburg with twin frowns.

"Letting us in after accusing us of trying to assassinate you is a bit bizarre," Nami stated.

"I don't think you'd barge in my room in broad daylight to try and kill me," Iceburg observed accurately.

"I'm here to know the real story!" Luffy demanded.

The mayor stared at them. "I saw Nico Robin along with The Red Devil, Rosan and a large man with my own eyes, before they attacked me."

Nami shook her head immediately at that. "That's not possible! Rosan's severely injured and can barely move! He couldn't have been in your room last night because we made sure he was sleeping to recover quicker."

"If Rosan wanted you dead, you'd be dead," Luffy frowned, not buying it for a second.

"?! Injured?" Iceburg thought in confusion. The redhead who had watched the entire event unfold with that lifeless expression, didn't look injured whatsoever.

Were they lying to cover their crewmate?

"You mentioned a large man?" Nami asked curiously.

The mayor nodded slowly.

"Rosan's the tallest member in the crew," she denied instantly. "Isn't it a little suspicious that you could clearly see Robin and Rosan, but not this stranger who we don't even know?" She argued with a deep frown.

Iceburg paused as he pondered the observation.

"We were framed," Nami informed him with a pleading expression. "There's someone out there, who's targeting both Rosan and Robin and they're using you to do it."

"…" Iceburg's expression furrowed.

Their expressions were earnest… but Nico Robin was also one of the last people who could read the Poneglyph and what was being said about the Red Devil.

Cruel, demonic, with a Mythical Zoan of sorts… He had earned his bounty after wiping out the majority of a Marine squad.

But if he took out a Marine Squad… why did he fail to kill Iceburg?

He needed answers.

"I want to talk to Nico Robin and Rosan," Iceburg demanded, pointing a gun at them.

Nami's eyes widened at the violent action, as Luffy stepped in front of her.

"Rosan's sleeping and hurt. We don't know where Robin is," he answered bluntly.

That was the wrong thing to say because clearly, Iceburg was tired of them.

The Mayor shot at them and Luffy pulled Nami out of the way, before leaping out of the window and flying away.

Iceburg watched them leave with a conflicted expression, filled with some doubts.

Why did one of the assassins have a mask on… while Nico Robin and Rosan were showing their faces freely?

"We were framed."

Iceburg pursed his lips in confusion.

Something was going on here… did he accuse the wrong crew?

But he knew what he saw…

Did he?

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

Chopper and Sanji had just learned of the Aqua Laguna and were a little worried for Usopp's safety.

It was an annual storm.. where a high tide would crash and completely cover the lower part of the city.

So they ran off to where the Going Merry was located to try and alert Usopp about it.

(He did not hear much, only about a high tide)

Now, they were learning that the crew was being targeted… On the newspaper an assassination attempt on Iceburg had been attempted and the main culprits were the Straw Hat Pirates, particularly, Robin and Rosan.

"But Rosan's injured! He couldn't have possibly done this," Sanji muttered in confusion.

"Someone's lying!" Chopper agreed.

What was going on?

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

Zoro read the newspaper in his hiding spot with a frown.

"Attempted assassination? But Rosan's been injured this whole time," he muttered.

The redhead was the only one willing to assassinate someone and if he did try to do so, no one would know it was him. He was a master at his craft and wouldn't make such a severe mistake like leaving him alive or having his face shown.

Even after all these years, no one had a clue he was Reaper except for people he deigned to tell.

Wait a second.

Zoro's jaw dropped.

"I left him in the hotel!"

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

Rosan's eyes snapped open and he immediately pushed himself into a handstand to avoid the person attempting to grab him.

Then, he slammed a foot down on the opposing person's head and embedded it firmly into the ground.

"Even without your abilities, you're still hellishly strong."

Rosan ignored them, eyes roving over all the people crowding his room with a calculating gaze.

"What is the meaning of this? Didn't anyone ever tell you it's rude to enter without knocking?" The redhead intoned.

None of these people were a threat to him. They were all just civilians with weapons.

Was this a ploy by Izumi? Why would she send civilians after him?

"Iceburg was in a coma and you think you can just sleep away?!" Someone shouted.

"You damn assassin! We'll have your head!"

"?" Rosan tilted his head to the side.

Who the hell was Iceburg?

Assassin? Rosan was a professional assassin to the point where hardly a soul knew he was an assassin.

If he attempted to kill someone, they died and no one would ever know it was him.

"Illusion whore set you up I'd imagine."

That was the most likely outcome.

Rosan scowled. "I'm not in the mood, civilians. Get out of my way."

He didn't want to fight them… he still needed to regain his abilities... he was probably going to gain it sometime tonight or the next day but that was just too long.

The redhead wasn't going to waste his time with these idiots. He focused and had his Raid Suit cover his entire body, ignoring the panicked yells, before leaping on the railing of the window and rocketing off.

"GET BACK HERE!"

"AFTER HIM!"

"HE'S TOO FAST!"

"First things first, locate Robin's Save Point."

The redhead utilized his boots to land on a roof and focused hard.

It took longer then he'd have liked, but he eventually managed to pinpoint it and he rocketed off to the direction of it.

The night sky had long arrived and he felt annoyed at not having Modification to help him see better. At least him sleeping through the whole day put him in workable (he was still very injured) conditions.

"Where is the rest of the crew? Have they been compromised?" He thought with pursed lips.

So much to do… Could he deal with Cipher Pol by himself in this condition?

Unlikely.

Rosan grunted as he landed where the Save Point felt strongest and his frown turned into a deep scowl of rage when he saw that it wasn't around Robin's neck.

The pendant lie there, hidden perfectly from view, with a note on it.

"Please do not look for me. It's time we part ways here, Rosan. Thank you for everything... but I've decided that this is for the best."

"Oof, getting dumped over note must suck."

"I mean can you imagine, best friend of 20 years just deciding to cut you off and she doesn't even have the balls to do it face to face?"

"Maybe she really is the Devil of Ohara… I don't even think I'd do something that cold—"

"She thinks she can make these decisions on her own now?"

Pestilence went silent at that eerily calm voice.

"Nico Robin thinks she can decide to cut off our relationship on her own?"

The virus' eyes went a little wide in excitement as venomous anger slowly but surely seeped into Rosan's voice.

"She thinks I'd ALLOW THAT?!" He roared, making Pestilence jump at the volume.

"WHO THE FUCK DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?! SHE THINKS SHE CAN DECIDE THESE THINGS ON HER OWN?! NO! NO SHE CAN'T! SHE THINKS I'LL SIT HERE AND LET HER THROW HER LIFE AWAY FOR NO GOOD FUCKING REASON?!"

UNACCEPTABLE. ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. ROSAN WOULD DRAG HER BACK KICKING AND SCREAMING IF HE HAD TO, BECAUSE ROBIN DIDN'T GET TO DECIDE THINGS LIKE THAT ON HER OWN.

SHE WAS HIS. NICO ROBIN. BELONGED. TO. HIM. NOT ANYONE ELSES! HIS! SHE COULD ONLY MAKE THIS DECISION WHEN THEY TALKED ABOUT IT. NOT WHILE SHE WAS IN THE HAND OF THE FUCKING. WORLD. GOVERNMENT!

"Pestilence," Rosan snarled hatefully, hunching over as a deep black miasma began roiling off of him.

"I'm on it, Rose," Pestilence saluted, grinning in psychotic excitement. "You won't be able to use it long, so you need to go after their most resourceful asset before you become powerless again."

"Most resourceful... who is that?" He hissed, black sclera pulsing wildly as the miasma began thickening over his raid suit.

"Why… it's the one who's closest to accessing your Pocket Dimension of course."

Rosan's anger deepened even further and a snarl of hatred escaped his mouth. The miasma completely covered the redhead from head to toe, until not even his eyes were visible.

No, the only thing visible under that amorphous figure, was a glowing red orb in the left socket of the hole and a glowing purple in the right socket.

"That's right. Let me in, Rose. Show them why no one should mess with you. Let me in."

The area where the creatures mouth should be… actually opened to reveal a gaping white maw and Rosan let out a distorted roar as the very ground underneath him began to dissolve.

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The black figure rocketed off with murder on its mind, beelining directly for the intruder who thought they could take what was his.

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

Earlier

"You forgot Rosan?" Nami hissed, battering the swordsman with a furious glare.

"They suddenly swarmed me outta nowhere so it slipped my mind," Zoro frowned, crossing his arms.

"We should go get him!" Chopper decided, before Sanji stopped him with a shake of his head.

"Don't you remember what he said? Finding Robin takes priority, even if he's still sleeping. Rosan will be fine," the chef said calmly.

Luffy nodded. "He'll be fine. Rosan's a light sleeper. We need to get to Robin."

Nami frowned in worry. "But how? Do we know where she is? Or where she'll be?"

The woman was in the grasp of a group of assassins and they surely knew how to hide her presence, especially because Rosan mentioned one of them could control illusions.

"Master Nami… I have an idea of where they will be headed."

Nami listened to Clima before her gaze went wide. "Of course!"

Everyone glanced over at her in shock. "What's the matter Nami?"

"The guys who framed us, left that Mayor alive for a reason," Nami explained. "It's so that we could take the blame! Now that the blame is firmly on us, they're—"

"Going to finish the mission they started and kill the mayor," Sanji finished grimly.

"What?! No way!" Luffy scowled. "We won't let that happen!"

"They're probably gonna do it tonight so that's our best bet of getting Robin," Zoro guessed.

The Straw Hats nodded.

They would strike tonight then.

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

That Night

"Do you remember the plan?"

Robin nodded with a neutral expression on her face. "It's not a difficult mission. I just wait for your signal and kill him."

The tall man wearing a bear mask nodded. "Then Izumi will start us off."

She knew the Straw Hats showing up were inevitable. The woman had her observation out and she could feel them, waiting.

But Rosan was not with them.

Good, if Rosan was here, she wouldn't be able to hold out. She couldn't stand to see his heartbroken face again. Not after knowing that she was the one who broke it.

"Job correct. Crew lives," Izumi intoned shortly, voice flat and emotionless, much like how it always was when she wasn't alone with the psychotic woman.

Robin simply nodded and adjusted her shades, which allowed her to see the ring resting on her finger.

A surge of agony coursed through her body, as she saw the ring that matched with Rosan's before she masked it once more.

"Izumi, you know what to do," Blueno muttered.

"Illusion up," she muttered, hiding the two from view up until they made it to a wall and Blueno activated his Devil Fruit.

For the umpteenth time, Robin couldn't help but notice the similarities between this man's Devil Fruit… and Rosan's Pocket Dimension but perhaps she just couldn't stop thinking of her best friend.

The two swiftly made their way over to Iceburg's location and entered seamlessly with the resourceful Devil Fruit.

The Mayor in question, was lying on his bed and staring at them in surprise.

"So that's how you managed to sneak in the first time," Iceburg praised.

"That's right," Blueno muttered, before pulling out a gun and shooting the man.

Robin tilted her head. "What are you doing? We're not supposed to kill him yet." She stated calmly.

"He has the energy to talk. We must properly immobilize him," Blueno said matter of factly, before turning on a heel and walking out of the door. "Remember the signal."

Robin watched him leave with a neutral expression.

"Ah so we finally meet, Nico Robin… and it's without your guardian too."

The Devil Child froze at that, turning towards the prone Iceburg pointing a gun at her.

"Finally the day has come, where I can silence the Devil of Ohara," Iceburg stated confidently, despite his injuries.

"You have a problem with me as well then?" Robin asked neutrally.

Of course he did. Everyone had a problem with her. Everyone only judged her based on her bounty and what they've heard of what she was capable of.

All except for him.

"Of course. After all, you're the only person alive who can pinpoint where the Ancient Weapons are and you're even taking orders from a rather dangerous person too."

Robin's eyes narrowed at that and she immediately summoned a flurry of arms that quickly disabled the man. "Do not speak of Rosan in front of me. You wouldn't even begin to understand him so don't pretend like you do."

Iceburg struggled a bit but went limp. "It's not hard to understand. The Devil of Ohara who can read the Poneglyphs, allying themselves with the Red Devil, famous for their cruel and cold demeanor. What else would he want but to activate the ancient weapons?"

Her expression turned frosty. "You don't know anything. Refrain from opening your mouth again or else I'm going to forcefully silence you."

The Mayor simply laughed, unbothered by her threat. "You're going to kill me regardless. I have no idea why you, who has been running from the World Government for 20 years, would suddenly team up with them… but I imagine this didn't sit well with the Red Devil did it?"

"So the Straw Hats were right on one point. The Red Devil didn't do this... it was only you. Are you proud of this? Framing your lover and throwing him to the dogs? You truly are the Devil —"

The arms restraining him began to brutally choke him, until he went slightly limp and Robin released her grip.

"…" The woman turned away from him and simply awaited her signal. She refused to show how much that final sentence affected her.

"Rosan would never use me… which is why this hurts all the more because I'm betraying the one person who loves me for me."

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

"I feel Robin," Luffy said, gazing at a random space of the crowded mansion, that was seemingly empty.

"Where is she?!" Sanji asked as he prepared to dive into the building.

"In the house. She's by the mayor," Luffy frowned.

Their eyes widened at that. "Alright let's get in there then."

Nami smiled determinedly. "Luffy shoot us high all high with that rocket, I can get us in there!"

"There's people up there too," Luffy pointed out.

"It'll be faster then dealing with all the people down there. It should take them a while to reach the rooftop," Nami urged.

The rubber boy nodded and wrapped one arm around the wary crew, before launching them high into the sky.

The navigator summoned an iron cloud under them and had the entire group land on it, before slowly but surely making it descend to the rooftop.

"You didn't think you could enter through the roof for free could you?!" Someone shouted.

"No but it should be much easier," the Straw Hats declared.

Izumi watched the pirate group with a tilted head and decided against slowing them down.

She wanted Robin to see them.

That was odd though… where exactly was Rosan? When she went to check the warehouse, no one was there except for the discarded handcuffs and dried blood so he should be with the Straw Hats.

Was he perhaps still too injured?

He should still be heavily incapacitated. She had not struck anything lethal, but enough where recovering would be a tall task. He should have access to his Devil Fruit... but with those injuries, he would be useless.

Perfect. The Straw Hats were formidable but Izumi knew that Rosan was the true demon of that group—

Izumi's instincts began screaming at her and she completely froze, pupils going white as a primal terror coursed through her body.

This feeling... it was oh so similar to the day that everything in her life changed for the worst.

She had always had good instinct. It's how she had found this Devil Fruit. It's how she survived.

It's how she knew Reaper was going to arrive moments before he did and slaughtered everyone.

It's how she knew that something dangerous was very quickly on the way. On the level of… no… even more dangerous then Reaper.

"We need to go. Now," Izumi thought, unknowingly wrapping her arms around herself as that deep seated fear of Rosan came roaring out.

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

Iceburg couldn't believe the series of events that were currently transpiring.

Straw Hat really had been framed completely. Nico Robin allied herself with the World Government. The Red Devil was nowhere to be seen... no the Pirates hadn't set him up.

The culprits had been… had been people he had thought he knew for 5 years.

Kalifa, Kaku, Blueno… and Lucci.

Even after leading them on and showing them the fake blueprint, Iceburg never accounted for the people pursuing it, to be so close to him in relationship… so they even correctly deduced that the person who had the blueprints was Franky.

Now, he was about to die and Straw Hat was about to take the blame for something that wasn't their fault—

"ROBIN!"

Robin's eyes closed in acceptance, as the entirety of the Straw Hat crew, burst through the door with looks of determination.

She knew they were coming. She felt them the entire time.

That's why it was much easier for her to don this mask.

An injured Paulie (Luffy had saved him) looked at the ones hovering over Iceburg with a look of shock.

Was that… what?

Lucci? Kaku? Blueno… Kalifa?!

"Luffy, did Rosan not read the note to you? I'm leaving and I'm not coming back," Robin said calmly.

Luffy tilted his head to the side, eyes never leaving Lucci. "What note? Rosan's badly injured! He's been sleeping all day!"

Robin froze at that. "He's… what? Injured? But how is that…" she tried to ask, trailing off as an intense look of concern crossed her features.

Every Straw Hat noted the look of concern and realized that Rosan was right, Robin really was trying to sacrifice herself for them.

"Robin, no one told you to do this," Zoro said calmly, gauging the appearances with an appraising eye and clutching one of his swords.

"Yeah, Rosan's been really stressed and if you go through with this, who knows what he's gonna do. Please just come back and let's talk about this," Nami placated, hoping that using the redhead would snap her out of this insane idea.

Stressed? Robin felt her worry magnify at that, her brows furrowing as she thought about her best friend.

How did he get injured? How bad was it that he was still hurt? They had mentioned him being hurt earlier today... and that was more then enough time for him to heal.

Did his emotional state perhaps slow down healing?

Maybe she should go check up on him—

I'm sure the Vice Admirals and Admirals would love to hunt down Reaper.

"Do you think we'll let that happen?" Lucci said seriously, eyes not once leaving Luffy.

Right… no matter what she wanted to do, she couldn't. Robin didn't even want to do this in the first place.

"You're the ones pushing Robin to do this," Luffy growled, cracking his knuckles. "I'm gonna kick your ass good, traitor guy."

Lucci's eyes narrowed at that claim. "Straw Hat… tell me something, how is it that you have two techniques of Rokushiki?"

The rubber boy tilted his head. "Huh? Rokuwhat?"

The agent felt a tick forming at that. "Rokushiki. An ancient martial arts taught to CP9 to turn us into living weapons. You have two of them. Geppo and Kami-e."

If they all had some of the techniques, there would be no way they could kill them before the building blew up.

The agents who didn't know, felt their eyes widen. "What?!" They gasped in shock, gazing at the rubber boy with disbelief.

"I dunno what those are," Luffy shrugged before a scowl made its way to his face. "STOP TRICKING ME!"

Lucci resisted the urge to snarl, hellbent on figuring out how he knew the techniques.

"Fine, I'll just beat the answers out of you," he decided.

"Lucci…" Kalifa warned. "The Mansion is about to blow up in 3 minutes. We cannot defeat them in that time frame. Especially if he knows the six powers."

"She's right. You saw how effortlessly Straw Hat dodged our attacks earlier today with Kami-e. If you add the other six powers into the mix, it will be far too long," Kaku stated.

"They think Luffy's Observation Haki is Kami-e," Nami thought to herself with a calculating frown.

They said he had two techniques… but all Luffy did that wasn't use his Devil Fruit was...

Ah! She got it! That flying technique of his! So these agents had reflexes to dodge attacks and the ability to kick off the air…

She would need to store that away for later.

Lucci finally calmed down at their words and sneered. "We need to ensure Iceburg dies but it appears that there's been a hitch… No matter, we already have the information we wanted so we can leave—"

A figure blurred into the room and Lucci's eyes turned to the panic stricken Izumi with a raised brow.

Robin went tense at the sight of the woman, wondering why she looked so fearful.

What had she seen?

"Go. Now. Leave this place," Izumi urged to her fellow agents. "We need to hurry and head back. Remember the deal with Nico Robin."

Robin's eyes fell at that a bit.

Lucci looked down at the woman with a look of disgust. "And what's got you so worked up? You coming here was already unnecessary but you have your uses. Now, at the moment of your victory, you reveal your true colors as a coward."

Izumi's eyes flashed in irritation, that Lucci's words normally didn't evoke, behind her shades.

Lucci felt a wave of tiredness hit him that vanished as quick as it came. He stumbled a bit and gazed at the puppet with a furious expression.

"Me being here is the only reason things went so smoothly," she hissed. "But everything we've done, will be for nothing if we stay here any longer. Abandon the ideal scenario. It's too late for that. Blueno get us out of here quickly."

Blueno raised a brow at the woman speaking far more then she ever had. "And why is it that it's too late?" he asked before acquiescing with her wish and summoning a door for them.

That's when Robin felt it and she felt her heart stop in a moment of true utter terror.

Evidently, Luffy felt it too because at once, they both looked in the same direction.

Hate. Disgust. Jealousy. Frustration. Loneliness. Fear…

But above all else… an all too familiar —

Rage.

Izumi shuddered and hastily shoved Robin through the agent's door, before following directly after her. "Because the actual Devil has finally arrived."

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A distorted roar sounded out in the distance that sent a primal and foreboding surge through every single person's bone.

Unlike a certain dragon, whose roar was dominating and powerful, this roar was more akin to a shriek that sounded as if they were grinding their claws against metal.

No one was able to resist covering their ears as that shriek got louder and louder and Blueno urged the other agents to enter his door so that they didn't have to see what that was.

It was for naught.

Everyone shuddered in horror, as two bright glowing orbs appeared directly outside of the window for a split second before it crashed through.

They watched as a serrated white maw, nothing inside, opened and the monster let its presence be known.

"RAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The creature shrieked in fury, sharing its hatred with everyone there.

No one could keep the unease and fear off their faces, as the alien monster released a heavy pressure, filling the air with malice and disgust.

Hatred and rage washed over them all. Everyone in the room, barring the monster and Luffy, took a single step back as the negative emotions seeped into their bodies.

"W-W-What is that?" Nami and Kalifa asked in terror, gazing at... this thing as goosebumps began forming on their skin.

Iceburg nearly went into shock at the overwhelming pressure, clutching his chest in agony as the creatures disgusting presence threatened to consume his sanity.

"I've never seen anything like this before. What is this?!" The mayor thought in fear, crawling away from the amorphous beast.

For only a moment, there was a temporary lull, as the creature's red and purple sockets gazed at them all, floor degrading underneath them as it remained completely still.

Wait… red and purple sockets?

It couldn't be… was that…

The demonic looking creature was covered in a black aura that they couldn't properly identify as a gas, solid, or liquid, sticking onto them as if it was their skin from head to toe.

The only other things they could identify, was the long black spiky… tendrils that was their "hair" and as it snarled, they saw that the creature could almost form a mouth but it was as unnerving as the eyes, being just a gaping white serrated maw with no signs of actual teeth.

The eyes...

Where the creatures eyes should have been, was instead two perfectly drawn circles. There were no pupils, no sclera, just two circles… one was colored a blood red… and the other a royal purple.

Was this… was this eldritch horror… their scout?

Was this Rosan?

As if proving their observations, the demonic entity gazed at the Straw Hats for a moment, before shifting his gaze to the CP9 agents with pure hatred in its soulless eyes.

That disturbing pressure doubled at the shift of attention.

"T-That's Rosan?!" Izumi thought in horror, feeling signs of a panic attack forming at the strange and terrifying demon that wanted her dead.

The creature's strange skin, erupted from their body, transforming into what seemed to be a solid and liquid tendril that immediately latched onto Blueno's leg right before he could step through the door.

The agent let out a surprised yell, as he was forced to the floor, clawing at the ground beneath him as he was dragged towards the hellish creature.

All the while, he began screeching in genuine agony that had everyone wincing. The area where the tendril wrapped around, was akin to being dipped in acid and they watched in disgust as it began searing through his skin like it were made of butter.

Izumi watched on in horror, even as the door of Blueno's creation got smaller and smaller. "W-What? But… But I thought…?"

What was he?! What was this Devil Fruit?!

"You would use this power so brazenly to take what's MINE? A power that brings you to MY dimension with MY WOMAN?!" The creature hissed venomously in that distorted and ear bleeding voice of it.

Robin flinched back at that. Was... Was Rosan calling her his woman? So this truly was her best friend (she had no right to call him that)?

Did... Did Robin guide Rosan right into Pestilence's hand...?

"You must learn what it means to intrude upon a demon's belongings. Even one time is one too many, so you will be made a lesson of," the creature promised, words leaving its mouth despite said mouth not moving.

The tendril began dissolving the area around Blueno's leg to the bone, as the man tried to activate Tekkai, eyes widening in fear as the defensive move failed to protect him.

Not done yet, even more tendrils formed from the horrific creature and wrapped around every part of Blueno's limbs, sinking into him like his skin was made of paper and causing the man to howl in agony. Only for that scream to be cut off as the strange tendril slammed down his throat in a liquid state.

His eyes rolled back in agony as he gargled.

"My Kami what is this? Was Rosan really pushed to this point? W-What's he doing?!"

The Straw Hats were frozen tight, as they watched the black creature begin slowly murdering the agent.

His dimension? The creature could only be talking about how similar the Doa Doa no Mi felt to the Pocket Dimension.

But this... this was hard to watch. Rosan was paying no regards to anything or anyone, torturing the man before him with something they haven't ever seen.

"Rosan! Are you okay?! What's happening?" Luffy asked in concern, taking a step towards his brother with a worried gaze.

"Don't come closer!" The monster hissed in that spine chilling voice. "If you touch me, nothing good will come out of it! Back away from me!"

The captain of the Straw Hats paused at that, glancing at his corrupted older brother with a deep frown.

"Are you going to stay like this, Rosan?" He asked seriously.

The creature turned his attention off of Blueno, never once removing the tendrils from the horrified man, to regard his captain for but a split second. "...Everything will be dealt with in time. Once that happens, I will rest," was all it said.

Robin felt her fears get confirmed at that. She knew what this creature was… but she didn't realize this was the effect she would have had on him…

She was... what was she doing? This... This was everything Mod-chan wanted to avoid and Robin herself had pushed Rosan to this state.

"Rosan…" she couldn't help but whisper in sorrow, only to immediately freeze as those circles turned towards her and pinned her in place.

Rage. Love. Rage. Love. Rage. Love. Rage. Love. Love. Love. Love. RAGE.

Robin felt herself freeze as the overwhelming emotions crashed into her and the woman gained an uneasy expression as the monster stared at her with disturbing focus.

She understood why so many people feared Rosan... but Robin never quite got why they were just so afraid of him.

Don't get her wrong, she could see why they feared him... but she could never truly understand just what about the redhead made them truly terrified.

He didn't have one single trait in her eyes that made him truly worthy of all the fear he garnered. All his traits, were overshadowed by the fact that he was always such a lovable person.

Robin herself had almost never once felt afraid of the redhead and the one time she did, she immediately banished that fear.

"You never have to be afraid of me… unless I'm upset with you."

She now saw why people feared him. Robin now knew what single trait made Rosan so scary.

It was his anger.

Robin was terrified.

"ROBINNNNNNNNN!" The creature shrieked in raw fury and she flinched back, as a shudder crawled down her spine.

Unwittingly, she took a step back as the eldritch horror removed every single tendril from Blueno and turned to fully face the Robin rapidly disappearing from its view.

Then, the black… entity began to dissolve off its skin, revealing the scout in all his glory.

His hair was out of its bun, running wild all the way past his shoulder (she desperately needed to cut it) and to the middle of his back. He was wrapped up in bandages that only meant he had been severely injured and he was breathing harshly, still not anywhere close to 100% but still moving forward because of the boiling rage in those heterochromatic eyes… with a completely black sclera.

But the worst part... were the snow white strands running through his long hair, blending in with his blood red locks.

"I really did push him to using the virus," Robin thought in horror.

First the virus used Robin to break Rosan... now Robin once more pushed Rosan into the virus' waiting arms...

She was just...

Portgas D. Rosan gazed at her with such palpable fury, that Robin distantly realized this was the first time he was truly furious with her.

The redhead watched the door begin closing and slowly walked towards it.

"Nico Robin," Rosan snarled, glaring at her with all the rage in his body. His gaze was filled with such heat, she wouldn't be surprised if he started spewing lasers from them.

Robin froze up at the fact that he used her full name and like a deer caught in headlights, she only gazed at him with a fear similar to the one a child would give their parent after being caught.

"No excuse in the world will get you out of this shitstorm that you caused but I beg you to think of one anyways because when I get you back, we're going to have a very long talk about how fucking stupid you are," Rosan hissed, eyes flashing murderously as he gazed at every single CP9 agent.

It was only then that Robin realized how stupid her plan had been.

Disappear quietly? Vanish from his sight? Leave him a note saying not to seek her out?

Rosan was a demon of jealousy and possession. He was never going to rest until he knew exactly what happened to her. He was never going to let her go until she told him to his face that she wanted to go.

Their family never had a problem with Rosan's possessiveness, because they knew they would never push him to show just how wildly territorial he was.

But Robin had done so and she was seeing in full effects that when Rosan claimed something was his, nothing would get in his way of getting it back.

"Rosan I didn't..." Robin tried but the redhead was having none of it.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He roared and she flinched back harshly at the genuine rage and hurt in his voice, going silent immediately with a burned expression. "JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF?! YOU THINK YOU DESERVE TO TALK ME DOWN RIGHT NOW?! SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

Robin took a step back and wisely remained silent, glancing at the floor like a properly scolded child.

"Count your days CP9. I'm going to make you regret every single decision you've ever made, especially you Izumi," Rosan snarled, glaring at the frightened woman with a look that promised death.

The woman stepped back in terror, gazing at the redhead with a long repressed fear.

That fear only heightened, as Rosan showed off a serrated and sadistic grin, a goopy black substance dripping from his jagged sharp teeth.

"Ahhh you're finally showing how afraid of me you really are but it's too late. When I get my hands on you, I'll drag all that fear out into the open. I'll remind you of our first meeting."

"He's going to torture me again!" Izumi froze, resisting the urge to tear up at that terrifying prospect.

With that, the door to Blueno's fruit shut.

"R-Rosan! He's getting away!" Nami shouted, bringing the redhead's attention to the agent who he had brutally assaulted.

The man, despite the excruciating pain he had been in, miraculously managed to create another door underneath him and promptly vanished into it.

"Not to worry. I've dealt with him. He is no longer a threat," Pestilence reassured, grinning with hungry eyes.

"...How was he even able to move? I seared his body through," the redhead asked with a livid expression.

"Just a little something to slow them down a bit further. It would be a waste to die immediately. He may as well go out with a bang."

"Make sure Robin does not get affected by this or death will be something you'll never experience, but always crave."

"Didn't I tell you I want her saved? What good would I do killing her?"

Rosan gazed uncaringly at the spot Blueno was at, eyes still black and smoldering. "It doesn't matter if he's escaped. This building is about to blow up so we need to leave."

"It doesn't?" Zoro asked in confusion, gazing at the redhead with wide eyes.

The crew never knew Rosan could do something like that… and judging by his wide eyes, even Luffy didn't know.

Just what was that?

"No. It doesn't," he said, taking a deep breath and summoning a strange black ball.

This time, it was once again a mixture of solid and liquid, showing off a gelatinous ball that Rosan proceeded to crush.

"White Rage," was all he said.

They didn't know what it did but Rosan clearly did.

"Come, grab that mayor and let's evacuate the building."

Iceburg looked at the living demon and found himself wondering if this Rosan really needed the ancient weapons.

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

"I thought reports said he was a Mythical Zoan that could transform into some type of dragon. That was not a dragon."

"Your guess is as good as mine. We already were reluctant to deal with him before but we still carried out the mission, now he has yet another weapon? What the hell was that?"

"Should we risk going for Cutty Flam?"

"Without Blueno? The mission's already been compromised, all of Water 7 will soon know we're the ones behind the attack and there's some type of demon hunting us down. We will return for Franky another time."

Izumi said nothing as her allies discussed their next course of action with each other. No, she had a much bigger elephant in the room to dwell on (that her allies happened to mention).

What the fuck was Reaper's Devil Fruit?

She had agonized over it for many years and deduced that he had a Zoan that transformed him into a crow or raven and just never used the full transformation aspect.

A bit far-fetched, considering he had a technique that allowed him to instantly teleport to a person but she didn't have much to work with.

After seeing his bounty poster as Rosan, Izumi had searched up what they knew about him… and was understandably shocked to see that his fruit was labeled as a Mythical Zoan which allowed him to transform into a Dragon.

It almost made her think Rosan had a twin. He did have those two others that looked just like him so maybe he had a big family…

But the look in his eyes. The look in that bounty poster… that was him. It couldn't be anyone else.

So Izumi assumed he had a shape shifting Devil Fruit that allowed him to utilize the creature who he transformed into.

That train of thought made her realize dealing with him was going to be impossible, which was why she ambushed him with the illusion of Meiko and brought seastone with her.

But like the freak of nature he was… it seemed he had completely ignored his injuries and revealed yet another transformation, all but confirming her previous theory.

Worst, this was the scariest transformation yet and she didn't know what creature it was.

She glanced over at the subdued and defeated Nico Robin and realized this woman might have a clue.

"Count your days CP9. I'm going to make you regret every single decision you've ever made, especially you Izumi."

Izumi shuddered strongly at that. She couldn't fight Reaper here. She needed more preparation.

"We need to go. That high tide is also going to crash into us and without Blueno, finding out Franky's location and capturing him may take even longer. We know he has the blueprint, we know they will be recuperating. We turn Nico Robin over and return with reinforcements."

Lucci glanced over at her. "Very well. We must at least complete one mission and report Blueno's death to—"

Conversation halted, as Blueno himself appeared through a created door and landed in front of them with a pained groan.

Despite the hellish treatment earlier, the agent still seemed somewhat coherent and they glanced over at him in clear surprise.

Was the Red Devil's technique not as strong as he made it out to be? If that were the case, they could receive Cutty Flam.

"You're alive. Perfect," Lucci nodded. His Devil Fruit was useful. It made him the most valuable person here to the leopard.

"Can you move?" Kaku asked the heaving man. "If so, we can resume capture of Franky and quickly escape the island."

Blueno ignored the agony he was in and dry heaved a bit from the fact that the liquid tendril had entered his mouth.

"I can summon one more door before I require medical attention. Let's do this quickly, that monster's touch ignores Tekkai and I feel—"

("White Rage")

Whatever Blueno was about to say, was cut off, as he began to suddenly throw up an inky black, tar-like, liquid.

"Blueno?!" Kalifa shouted in shock as the man began screaming.

"R-AAGHH" Blueno roared in agony as that black goo began spilling from every crevice of his body.

"Is this… the virus?!" Robin watched with wide eyes as the strange material that Rosan had been using earlier, poured out of the man like it were his own blood.

Everyone stepped back as that black goo, surged around Blueno's screaming body, covering him from head to toe and causing the man to howl in agony...

Only for the howling to stop.

They tensed, as their fellow agent stood up slowly before letting out a bestial roar and drunkenly charging Kalifa.

As he looked up, they saw uncontrolled and the fury filled eyes of Blueno... his eyes were bloodshot, before the entirety of his sclera turned pitch black and a plague doctors mask formed on his face.

"RAGGHHHH!" Blueno howled, as the black tendrils began pulsing across his body with a mind of their own.

The agents lunged back in disbelief, not wanting to be touched by that strange material at all costs.

"W-What do we do?!" Kalifa shouted in terror, resisting the urge to screech as the tendril nearly wrapped around her leg.

"Kill him," Lucci said coldly.

The leopard cocked his leg back and said, "Rankakyu."

The slicing wind soared towards the mindless and controlled Blueno, before the tendrils transformed into a solid and formed a makeshift shield, blocking the attack completely.

"W-What?" They thought in horror, watching that makeshift shield form into a large black fist that lunged for Lucci.

What was this? What had the Red Devil done?! Had he transformed Blueno into... an inky zombie?!

The body of Blueno opened its mouth, shooting out a black liquid that Kalifa flew above. She watched in horror as the area she stood in began melting, before that black liquid dissipated before lunging away in horror, as Blueno dipped into his pocket dimension and appeared above her.

"He can still use his Devil Fruit?!" They thought in disbelief, barraging him with their respective Rankakyu's and failing as the ink protected him.

Robin froze as the creature locked onto her, noticing that she was still on the floor, and it took a single step towards the Devil Child... but her shock turned into confusion, as it suddenly seized up and began violently convulsing.

"Does it... recognize me?" she thought in confusion, watching as the tendrils began assaulting their captive.

The tendrils began tightening around Blueno's body violently, making a form of clarity register in the man's gaze.

"H-HELP!" Blueno shouted in genuine fear, even as that black goo began solidifying more and more around his body. "S-SOMEONE GET THIS THING OFF ME! I-I CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF. I CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT! H-HELP!"

The CP9 agents just watched in stunned silence, not expecting such an outburst from Blueno.

How would they even get this thing off of him? They saw the damage it did. They knew what it was capable of...

What could they do —

"A-ARGHHH!" Blueno howled in fear, as the pain hit. His loss of control had helped him ignore it... but currently his body had been seeped in the black goo... so it had been dissolving this entire time in the substance that felt like acid.

Even if they did remove the mysterious substance, they would be in for the shock of their life at what was underneath.

Well, they'd find out soon anyways.

The tendrils stopped wrapping around Blueno's trapped and incapacitated body, satisfied with the progress they made. Then, they began looming right next to his head, forming more and more tendrils that began coalescing together, until it formed something vaguely familiar.

It took them too late to realize why it looked so familiar.

Because it was a mouth.

"Help me... please!" Blueno begged in a moment of true terror.

In that moment, Blueno wasn't apart of the strongest generation of Cipher Pol. Wasn't a super soldier. Wasn't a cold blooded assassin who had been ruthlessly infiltrating a place and forging fake bonds all for the sake of securing an ancient super weapon.

No, in that moment Blueno was a normal and terrified man who was afraid of death.

Just like every other human.

Before they could look away, the inky black maw lunged and clamped around Blueno's head.

Crunch.

...

Drip... drip...

Then, it vanished as if it never existed. The black goo, the black smoke... the black liquid... all gone without a trace.

All that was left, was Blueno's horrifically mutilated body.

None could look at Blueno's body for long. Even battle hardened assassins like CP9, cringed at the sight before them.

"I believe we should board the sea train," Kaku said quietly.

No one had any complaints.

"I-I... so this is Reaper... this is the man who can even invoke fear out of the fearless," Izumi thought in terror.

Would she... w-would she have to fight that? Would she have to suffer like Blueno did...?

No... it was too late to back down. She'd need to fight that creature. Rosan would hunt her down with his dying breath now... so she needed to finish this.

Robin watched the entire thing with wide terrified eyes.

Was this what the virus was capable of? Was that why their name was Pestilence? This ability... to infect Blueno like this...

This was bad. This was very bad... That same Pestilence, seemed to have a firm latch on Rosan, who was hellbent on coming to her.

Now that she knew the Straw Hats were coming for her no matter what…

What could she even do? If she resisted, they'd kill her. If they came, they would die.

She shut her eyes tightly.

Robin had made everything worse. Now, she had to watch them throw their lives away attacking the World Government.

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

"I targeted that man for a reason. I won't have my full abilities for a bit longer, so I got rid of their most resourceful member," Rosan grunted, normal heterochromatic eyes, smoldering.

"He's dead. He was going to attack your wench so I silenced him. Such a shame," Pestilence faux sighed.

"Is that why you didn't go straight for Robin-chan?" Sanji asked curiously, stamping down his fear at the unnerving creature the redhead had just been.

The redhead nodded. "Yes. She was already in the door and being guarded by the agents and I didn't have much longer until that form ran out. I need my powers back to increase my chances of saving her to positive levels… and taking out that man in the process, has increased it considerably."

If he could use Pestilence for a little longer, he could have potentially ended it right then and there but since he couldn't, he settled for going after the man who had the potential to access his Pocket Dimension.

The Doa Doa no Mi… He'd need to ensure no enemy got that Devil Fruit... Blueno couldn't directly enter his dimension and Rosan couldn't directly enter those little pockets... but with enough practice, the man would have discovered it.

Which was why he had wanted to spare the man and leave him captured until he could extract it… but the virus had something else to say.

"It's been a while since I killed someone. I couldn't resist and since we didn't have enough power, we couldn't fully control him back to us for you to do whatever it was you wanted with him. He was destined to die."

He grunted. It wasn't a big deal because if they did access his Pocket Dimension, he'd know.

Be that it may, Pestilence's power was useful.

"You won't be able to use it again for a while. This castle prevents me from doing too much so now it's time to wait for Mod to wake up."

"Is that all you can do? Control and destroy?"

Pestilence smiled cruelly.

"I am a hammer, not a scalpel. Modification is the surgeon. I'm just a butcher who needs one cut, Rose. If you care about versatility, go suck on sleeping Mommy's massive tits."

"Do not think I will allow you to say anything because of your assistance. Watch your fucking tongue, Pestilence."

"Aww, is the Little Rose upset that his Mom's getting attention? She's very hot you know? I don't know how you have practical free reigns to her and don't do a thing... Keep it up with the protective streak and people really will think you're doing illegal things to her!"

Rosan snarled warningly and Pestilence simply laughed mockingly.

The group had exited the mansion after getting as much people out as possible and were now seated a ways away to discuss their next course of action.

"How long until you get your abilities back?" Zoro grunted.

"Hours I imagine. I'm almost restored," Rosan replied. "We can't wait here for them, we need to pursue them and hope it comes back in time."

"Yeah, we need to get Robin back," Luffy exclaimed.

Footsteps halted their conversation and they gazed at Iceburg and Paulie with confused expressions.

"First and foremost… I'd like to deeply apologize for accusing you all of attempting to assassinate me," Iceburg bowed lowly at the group, even despite his numerous injuries. "I've already explained to everyone out here that you guys are completely innocent but I'd still like to make it up to you in anyway."

Rosan glanced up at the supposed mayor. "I need a form of transportation to catch up to those agents. Something very fast. That is the only way I'll forgive you for tarnishing my name."

Iceburg looked over at the Red Devil, vividly remembering that horrific creature he had transformed into and resisting the urge to shudder.

"Rosan was it? My apologies but someone perfectly imitated you," he said simply.

"Your wish isn't easy to accomplish… but I can attempt it. I just have one question for you."

Rosan inclined his head, long red hair draping over his front half.

"What is your purpose for wanting Nico Robin?"

The redhead's expression darkening, was all Iceburg needed to know to understand, that his motives were less then anything good.

Such a shame, he wouldn't acquiesce with their wish then—

"I'm so sick of people like you."

Iceburg blinked in confusion.

What?

Rosan pushed himself up and glowered. "People like you who are hellbent on not giving Robin a normal fucking life," he snarled, glaring murderously at the slightly taller man.

"Let me guess what you're thinking. You don't have to confirm if I'm right, I already know I am. Devil of Ohara, bring about the destruction of the world and other bullshit rumors, right?"

Iceburg went utterly silent, baffled at this response.

The Straw Hats looked curious at Rosan's frustrated expression.

Robin and Rosan's past was shrouded in mystery and it made them wonder just why Rosan was so protective of her.

"Can you imagine being an 8 year old girl and the entire world hates you?" Rosan asked, resisting the urge to yank his hair (the white strands had vanished, leaving it all crimson once more).

"I've known Robin for 20 years. I know everything about her and I know that she doesn't deserve any of this bullshit that's been thrown her way. All my best friend wants to do, is learn about history and people like you tack these stigmas onto her for no fucking reason at all."

The Robin that Rosan had met was no Devil. She was such an innocent little thing who had wanted nothing but a friend, but instead was villainized to no ends.

Robin was more human than half the people on the planet. She was so kind and gentle, refusing to even punch people, but no one was willing to see that side of her.

The side of her that just wanted to live normally.

"You want to know what my purpose is with Nico Robin?" Rosan asked furiously, standing up and glowering at his fellow injured person.

Iceburg was stunned. Something about the words of the Red Devil... they were deeply affecting him and he began to shamefully think of how he had truly been ostracizing a poor little girl.

"My purpose is for Nico Robin, my best and first friend, to be free to do as she pleases without assholes like you, who'd paint an entire image of a person based off rumors and propaganda, hounding her every time she even blinks. All I want for Robin, is for her to understand that as long as I'm alive, she's allowed to live with the knowledge that someone will always acknowledge her as the human she is. Is that good enough for you, Mayor Iceburg-sama?"

Whatever Robin's goals were, he would support them because he was the only one willing to without questioning her at all. She had done so much for him, so it was only right that he let her live her life in peace and she couldn't do that under the World Government.

"So that's how it is?" Nami sighed, smiling at the utterly sweet redhead.

"When you put it like that… How can I not want to save her even more?" Sanji muttered, a fire in his eyes.

"Let's get back Robin at all costs!" Chopper decided.

"YEAH!" Luffy roared. "We're gonna get her back!"

"Of course we are. I still have to slap the shit out of her," Rosan promised.

"…" Iceburg gazed at the redhead with wide eyes, as Rosan tore into him with words alone.

Then, he closed his eyes. "Alright, I'll help you to the best of my abilities but I just have one favor."

Rosan glanced at him. "Asking for a favor while doing something to earn our forgiveness? Aren't you rather shameless?"

"Franky. I need you to check on him and bring him to me," Iceburg requested.

"Franky?!" Luffy said in disgust. "Why?!"

"Who is Franky?" Rosan asked with a frown.

"He doesn't know him?" Iceburg thought. Based on the fact that he really was bandaged up and claimed to need time to regain his abilities… This Rosan probably had nothing to do with any of the events that transpired.

How shameful... the Straw Hats had even pointed out how they were framed but he was dead set in his ways.

They informed Rosan of who Franky was and the redhead closed his eyes.

"CP9 were attempting to go after him. He has blueprints to something."

"How do you know that?"

"The door man. I learned through his ears right before you activated White Rage."

Pestilence... could hear far better than Rosan or even Mod could.

"What do you want with him?" He asked eventually.

"CP9 might be after him… I want to know if he's okay and I think he'd be a valuable asset to your goals," Iceburg said.

"The agents have probably already boarded the Sea Train and there won't be another one because Aqua Laguna is coming tonight… Knowing them it's probably scheduled to leave at their command so they're gone now."

There was no way they'd be able to get off this island either which is why he needed to do something reckless.

"I know he attacked one of your crew but please, with Franky we'll be able to have your mode of transportation ready as quickly as possible."

Rosan's interest was immediately captured at that. Despite how uncomfortable his crew looked, he didn't care about any of that.

An asset was an asset.

"I'll go retrieve him," Rosan said calmly, tapping his shoes against the ground.

"Are you sure?" Nami said in concern. "This is the guy that beat up Usopp… I dunno if we should trust him."

"I will do anything to save the people I care about… even make deals with the Devil. Even if this man spit on me, if it's to save Robin, I will throw away my pride until I get her back," Rosan said softly.

They all gazed at the redhead's conviction and felt their own resolve strengthen.

If Rosan was willing to say even that, then who were they to be uncomfortable?

The redhead gazed at Iceburg before he jumped up and floated in midair.

"Tell me his location, please. I'll be back in 10 minutes."

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

Usopp had no idea how him and Franky somehow got on friendly terms but it was kinda there?

The cyborg was very strange and they had both mutually agreed to put the past behind them…

Well up until Franky decided to dismantle the Going Merry.

"That ship won't last another minute! How do you think it'll feel knowing you separated with your friends because of it?"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! THE GOING MERRY IS MY SHIP AND I WON'T LET YOU BREAK HER!"

The two began tussling, which ended up with Franky as the victor who proceeded to make good on his promise.

"You must be Franky."

The shipwright froze at that soft voice and glanced back in surprise.

"Who the hell are you?" Franky asked.

Usopp glanced up and went pale as a sheet.

"R-R-ROSAN?!"

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

Rosan glanced at the one known as Franky with an utterly unimpressed gaze.

This shameless pervert was the one who was going to help them out?

He sighed. Well, beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Who let you into my super secret base?!" Franky asked in surprise.

Rosan pointed at the square haired sisters, who were blushing right next to him. "They did. I just asked if I could come in and they said yes."

The cyborgs eyes bugged. "H-HEY! DON'T LET ANY HANDSOME MAN ROPE YOU IN!"

"Sorry, bro…" Mozu said eyes not even looking back at him.

"It was just so hard to say no," Kiwi sighed dreamily.

"Thank you, you two," Rosan nodded.

"Anytime!" They chirped.

"NO NOT ANYTIME!" Franky roared. "YOU, HOW DID YOU FIND THIS PLACE?!"

"A bunch of your goons were screaming out how they had one of our crew mates in this place," Rosan replied. "Oh and Iceburg told me."

"Iceburg?! Weren't you trying to assassinate him last night?" Franky asked in surprise.

"We were framed by the World Government. They attempted to kill him tonight as well but my crew saved him," the redhead answered, satisfied to see a dark look take over Franky's eyes.

"The World Government tried to have him killed?" Franky growled, removing his shades with a serious look.

Rosan nodded. "That's why I'm here… Iceburg mentioned that they'd want you next for some reason and… I wanted to ask for your help."

Usopp's eyes bugged. Rosan was asking someone for help? What the hell?!

Franky didn't need much more explanation about why Iceburg wanted to see him so he focused on the second part. "What do you need my help with?"

"My best friend was coerced by the World Government into giving herself up. I want you to help Iceburg create something fast enough for us to catch up to the Sea Train that already left."

Usopp went cold at that.

Best friend…? Coerced? Robin was with the World Government?

"We have more pressing matters to worry about."

Usopp felt his guilt well strongly at that. Rosan was talking about Robin wasn't he?

Hold on... did Usopp, blow up on a Rosan who just found out that Robin was kidnapped? Looking at those injuries... the redhead had probably been tortured too.

Oh no...

"Iceburg wants me to help with something like that…?" Franky pondered off, an expression of shock taking over his features. "...Well how can I say no! Seeing you put aside your pride, almost super moves me to tears!"

The cyborg pulled a guitar out and began strumming it.

"I can almost play a song for it—"

"We have no time to waste," Rosan interrupted, turning on his heel. "They are headed to Enies Lobby. If we don't make it in time… I might lose her and I can't have that happen."

Franky's eyes darkened at those words.

Enies Lobby eh? She was coerced into getting sent to Enies Lobby?

Almost just like Tom...

"Hey Red Devil," the cyborg called out. "I suddenly have a condition."

Rosan turned and raised a brow, trying to hide the visible frustration.

"I'll help you guys build whatever you need, but I want to tag along."

The annoyance vanished and Rosan nodded.

"The more the merrier. I'll need all the hands I can get while I'm recovering."

"Super!" Franky shouted, slamming his forearms together. "Seems like we've all got a common enemy then! Let's head out!"

Usopp watched the duo prepare to leave and felt a strange sadness, at not seeing Rosan spare him a single glance.

"He already wasted too much time on you. Robin's the one who needs help now."

The sniper steadied himself, before pulling out his mask that he had been decorating and putting it on.

"Wait just a minute!"

Rosan paused and glanced back at Usopp for half a second, raising a brow at seeing the sniper don the mask he gifted him.

It was different from the all white of before and personally, Rosan hated it but whatever suited Usopp.

The mask was a simple yellow and blue, with the kanji for liar embedded into it… that also did nothing to hide how long Usopp's nose was.

"I, Sogeking, couldn't help but here of your plight and offer my assistance!" Usopp, now dubbed Sogeking, stated.

Rosan looked terribly unamused. "Stop wasting my time, Uso—"

Franky put an arm in front of him and leaned in close to whisper something in the redhead's ear.

"This is his way of apologizing?" Rosan scowled.

"He's guilty! Regrets leaving the way he did and is trying to make it up while saving face!" Franky whispered back.

"Then he should just fucking apologize," the redhead growled.

"We don't really have time for that, do we?! Didn't you just say you need all the help?"

"…"

"Your assistance would be very much appreciated, Sogeking," Rosan said eventually, marching out of the door.

Franky shot him a thumbs up and followed suit, "Mozu, Kiwi! Let the gang know what we're about to do!"

The sisters saluted.

Usopp let out a sigh of relief and quickly followed after the two.

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

"So you're safe?" Iceburg sighed in relief as Rosan appeared from the sky with Franky and… some masked man that looked a lot like their crew member.

"They never even came for me," Franky shrugged, gazing at the condition of the Mayor with a look of concern.

"They must have wanted to get away from me as soon as possible," Rosan grunted.

Pestilence hummed in delight.

Luffy and Franky stared at each other, before the blue haired man held out his hand.

"Let's let bygones be bygones. I can't let those Government dudes get away with thinking they can attack Water 7 for free whenever they want."

Luffy stared at the hand and shook it. "Right! We're gonna get back at them no matter what!"

"Rosan… who is this?" Chopper asked, pointing at the masked Usopp.

Rosan glanced down at Chopper and followed his hoof, before slowly glancing back at the reindeer again.

"You don't know who that is?" Rosan asked slowly.

Luffy perked up at that question and glanced over.

"Nope!" Both he and Chopper replied.

Every single person sweatdropped.

Sogeking looked at them all. "Greetings! I, Sogeking, am a sniper hailing from the legendary Sniper Island! I am here to assist you all in the retrieval of Nico Robin!"

"L-L-LEGENDARY SNIPER ISLAND?!" Chopper and Luffy's eyes bugged in excitement.

Rosan zoned out the morons as he gazed at Iceburg. "We need to be able to sail as soon as possible but you mentioned this Aqua Laguna… how are we supposed to sail in the sea in that condition?"

As if proving his point, everyone watched as a gargantuan wave smashed into the lower city of Water 7, completely engulfing and damaging everything it touched due to its rough waves.

"No ship can sail these seas," Iceburg stated calmly. "...But I know of one thing that can potentially do so… follow me, all of you."

Franky's eyes popped open at that. "You mean that feisty thing?!"

"That's right. If they want to catch up, it might be their only hope. Come help me get it ready."

Everyone gained a puzzled expression at that.

What were they talking about?

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

"This works," Rosan muttered with an impressed gaze.

"SO COOL!" Luffy exclaimed, eyes turning into stars.

It's smokebox was distinctively cone-shaped, and jokingly painted to resemble a shark's head; to this was linked the standard driver's cab coal-tender, and a single passenger car.

Iceburg smiled. "It's called the Rocketman. Please use it but be warned… this ship is uncontrollable. It's never been used for a reason… Franky, come help me start it up."

The cyborg nodded and they quickly got to work.

"And how do you expect them to control this?" A drunken voice called out.

Franky and Iceburg had twin looks of disgust, as Kokoro smiled at the two apprentices of Tom.

"That's why I sent you the note," Iceburg grunted. "You're the only one who can safely get them there so please do."

Kokoro nodded without hesitation. "I like this little ragtag group so of course I'll help them."

"My boys are coming too!" Franky shouted. "Rosan mentioned needing as much help as possible, right?"

Rosan nodded. "Their sacrifices will not be forgotten."

Franky sweatdropped. "Hey… don't write them off as dead already."

"I'll sit next to you, Kokoro-san," Rosan muttered. "I'll let you know if you're straying off course."

"Oh? A handsome man sitting next to old me? I'm flattered but how will you tell me if I'm doing that?"

They glanced at the redhead who was scowling with a superior look in his eyes.

"Robin thinks the pendant is the only thing I can use to track her."

Their confusion only lasted for a second as the Straw Hats remembered.

"OH!"

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

Robin sat alone in her train, as it headed straight to Enies Lobby. The woman stared out the window and half expected to see Rosan's Dragon attempting to burn the entire train to cinders.

But all she saw was rain.

The woman frowned deeply to herself.

She had made a mistake but… but she just couldn't bare to let anyone suffer the fate of the World Government. Robin never wanted anyone she loved to witness the Buster Call because it was completely unstoppable.

If she saw them get attacked by it… if Admirals converged on them they'd die instantly.

Robin was just trying to protect them by doing this… but she made everything worse.

Her irrational fear had blinded her to what she knew about Rosan. The moment she heard Aokiji had given them access to the Buster Call, Robin had given up completely.

Two of the words that gave her nightmares in the same sentence. Aokiji and Buster Call. They had overruled logic and made her adopt this stance.

But now she realized things were never going to go the way she thought.

Even after hurting Rosan, the genius had Mod-chan. If he couldn't figure it out, she would and correct him accordingly.

He would have found out about her ruse immediately and sought her out.

But he was attacked… presumably by Izumi and it looked like he resorted to the virus as a result.

This was the worst case scenario. She didn't see him use Modification even once so Mod was incapacitated… which meant it was only Rosan, the Virus and possibly Ram.

She messed up. They were all so wary about the virus and Robin herself shoved Rosan into its hands…

Damn it. She messed up terribly.

She just wanted to protect them but wasn't she making everything worse? Now they were going to come after her.

Perhaps she really was the Devil Child. Perhaps she should have just continued to let Rosan direct things… she feared for his safety but he would have never done something like this…

Robin froze, as she felt a tiny vibration and she finally remembered a very important thing that she forgot.

Fishing into her pockets, the Devil Child's mouth opened as she saw her designated cube flashing with a picture from her best friend himself.

Hesitantly, she picked up the cube, expecting Rosan to tear into her immediately.

"So you really did forget I gave this to you."

She winced at that calm tone of his.

"Rosan... please I..."

"If you're trying to explain yourself, you can shut up now. I don't wanna hear it," Rosan interrupted coldly. "Considering you picked up the cube, I'm assuming you're alone. Then again, you're clearly not as smart as I thought you were."

Robin flinched at the restrained fury in his voice.

"I'm sorry Rosan, I never expected it to turn out like this..." she explained quietly.

The redhead snorted disbelievingly. "The story of my life is people not expecting their actions to be so dire when it comes to me. First my birth mother, then Mom, then Mod-chan, then Doc, then Izumi and finally, you. I never expected you to be on that list, but you've been surprising me a lot lately," he said snidely.

The Devil Child withered at that, trying to disappear in place and think of anything to say that wouldn't get her shut down immediately.

"Let me guess, you're just now finding out that Izumi tortured me right? Even after she said she'd leave us alone if you turned yourself in?"

So Izumi really had tricked her... Robin was so stupid.

"Based on that silence, I'm right. Thanks Robin, you left me completely vulnerable to an attack and since I don't have Modification, I've been relying on this virus to help me out," Rosan sneered.

The virus...

"Rosan I didn't mean to force you to resort to the virus... please, please stop using it," Robin pleaded, gnawing her lips in worry. She hadn't fully understood why Mod-chan was afraid of the virus, but one look at that hellish transformation was all she needed to know.

They were bad news. Rosan needed to stop using it immediately.

"You have a lot of nerve trying to tell me to stop using something, when you're the reason I'm using it," the redhead retorted, raising a brow incredulously at her audacity.

How could one person manage to make Robin feel so terrible? Everything Rosan said, practically stabbed her through the ribs. Every sentence was spat with so much venom...

He had never spoken to her like this. Not once. She had seen this venom in his memories, but he had never truly directed ire towards her.

It made her feel like true scum... maybe that's what she was for causing all of this.

"I'm sorry... I would never intentionally push you towards the virus. Believe me," she mumbled.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, Robin. The only thing I know, is that I will use even the Devil itself to bring you back."

Robin froze in terror at that.

No. He couldn't. He couldn't go against the world. Not even Rosan could do that. Aokiji had been enough... but the entirety of the World Government?

No. No. No. NO.

"Rosan... please don't come! I've already made a mistake but you guys don't need to pay for it! Please, take this chance to esca —"

"Escape? ESCAPE?!" Rosan snarled at her and Robin went silent immediately. "You fucking hypocrite! You sit here and tell me to put more value into my life, then you try and KILL YOURSELF?! The only thing you should be afraid of, is just how pissed I am with you right now. You have no fucking right to try and tell me what to do right now. You've lost that privilege until further notice."

Robin felt a vicious stab in her chest at that, holding her head in despair at Rosan's words as a hopeless feeling seeped into her.

It hurt so much, listening to the words that came out of his mouth. Rosan was mad and hurting and he was lashing out at the right person.

But still... with those injuries... Robin didn't want them to suffer for her mistakes. Rosan wasn't even fully healed yet.

She didn't want him to die for her. She never wanted that.

"Please I'm begging you Rosan... don't come," Robin said in defeat. "Please, I just want you all to live."

There was a long silence that made Robin hesitantly glance at the cube again.

"Fuck off, Robin. Just listening to you is pissing me off."

With that, he hung up.

Robin looked at the cube in shock, glancing at the small version of Rosan staring at her with that smug smile, levitating her Devil Fruit up.

The Devil Child held her head in defeat, pocketing the cube once more as tears sprung to her eyes.

Rosan was... Robin never expected Rosan's genuine anger to hurt so much...

But it really hurt.

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Rosan gazed out into the turbulent ocean with a wild look in his eyes. Even despite their insistence, the reckless crew had chosen to sail well before the Aqua Laguna was over.

"That's incredibly reckless," Iceberg chastised.

"We can't let them get any further. You said this train can survive it so that's what it will do," Rosan grunted.

He'd get Robin back and he'd do everything in his power to do so. If it meant braving these wild waters, then so be it. If it meant fighting with these injuries, then oh well. If it meant killing thousands of World Government officials, fine.

If it meant allying with an entity that hated him as much as he hated it, he'd accept the contract.

It was nothing compared to what she suffered.

Nico Robin was his best friend and the World Government had taken too much from him already.

He'd be damned if they got their hands on her too. If they did, Rosan wouldn't allow himself to break until he brought down the entire system of the world.

If Rosan lost Nico Robin, then he'd use the knowledge she gave him and find the two Ancient Weapons that he knew the location of… Neptune and Pluton.

It was selfish. It was possessive. It was even toxic. But he did not care. Nico Robin was his best friend and no one could take her from him.

He'd do whatever it took to get her back…

His eyes pulsed lowly, as Modification slowly but surely began to come back to him.

...By any means necessary.

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Character Sheet: Izumi

Name: Izumi

Gender: Female

Born Sea: North Blue

Age: 25

Birthday: October 31

Personality: A lifeless disposition. Person of very few words unless Rosan is somehow involved, in which she suffers a complete shift, turning deranged and unhinged. Only Rosan and Robin have seen this side of her.

Affiliation: World Government, Cipher Pol 9

Summary: Izumi is a young woman who had a chance encounter with Reaper that changed her life for the worst. Forcefully controlled into killing her brother, the woman lost her sanity and now has only one goal in life, break Rosan the way he broke her and keep him all to herself where he can spend the rest of his days as her pet.

Now apart of the assassin specialists, CP9, she seeks out revenge by targeting the most important thing to Rosan.

Devil Fruit: Moso Moso no Mi (Illusion)

Type: Paramecia

Description: Allows the user to control illusions. Does this by altering the perceptions of a person's mind. They are more akin to hallucinations, in contrast to Maro's environmental changes.

Appearance: Curly black hair, olive skin, teal eyes. Mostly seen wearing a black suit with bandages wrapped around her midsection to hide the mark engraved onto her skin of a sinister black rose.

Height: 5'6

Favorite Food: Marshmallows (reminds her of the times she and her brother used to eat while gazing at the stars)

Disliked Food: Anything with bird meat

Loves: Rosan, Reaper

Hates: Rob Lucci