Rosan was beginning to realize that maybe he was going to have a hard time learning Observation Haki.

After all, Satori made good on him feeling like the forsaken one by focusing almost the full brunt of his aggression, onto him.

Case in point, the blindfolded redhead grunted for the umpteenth time, as he was launched away by the impact dial to his chest, landing on one of the many white balls that littered the forest that was their battleground.

This one erupted in spikes that pierced him through. Normally it wouldn't have, but he didn't have his Raid Suit on right now.

Rosan spat out some blood and unceremoniously ripped the spikes out of his body, grunting due to the fact that his shirt was practically destroyed and idly repairing it, much to the severe annoyance of Satori.

"Are you alright?" A bruised Robin asked worriedly, panting from the battle.

After Rosan, she, followed by Luffy, were the ones Satori targeted the most, likely because her Devil Fruit countered observation haki perfectly.

Like the redhead, she opted to not place her raid suit on.

The scientific outfit gave them too much durability and defeated the purpose of this training so they opted out of wearing it, despite Rosan insisting that she do it only.

She should have known he was going to attempt to coddle her. Overprotective redhead brat he was.

Robin hoped one of them unlocked their Haki soon because after the first gasp of pain, Rosan had let loose a terrible snarl that very much sounded like he wanted to commit murder and she had to remind him that this was training that he proposed.

"Stop coddling me!" She said firmly, finally putting her foot down at the adorably (not right now) overbearing redhead. "I can't get as strong as possible with you worrying so much about me. If you didn't want this to happen, you shouldn't have proposed such a reckless idea!"

Honestly, was he serious right now? He was the one that suggested they do this and made these blindfolds difficult to remove! Now that she was under a bit of fire, he wanted to go back on his plan.

She didn't want such special treatment! Why should she be left out of the plans just because she had the potential to be hurt?!

"I…" Rosan trailed off, lost for words.

"Isn't this exactly like the time he got hurt and you wouldn't even let him breathe alone? I remember you hovered him even when he was eating a simple snack just so he didn't choke on it and then when he began eating too fast, you just decided to feed him instead!" Mod laughed, choosing to play Devil's advocate.

Robin spluttered at Mod's interference.

What was she doing?! Rosan was just about to concede before she opened her mouth?!

"I'm not doing anything! Just trying to show you some perspective!"

She felt Rosan puff up before the redhead realized what he was doing and sighed.

"You're right. I can't believe I turned as bad as you… especially considering how weak this priest is."

She hated Rosan so much for some of the things that actually left his mouth. No truly... why was he born like this?

"...It's fine Rosan. This training is as genius as it is reckless. Haki blooms in the heat of battle like Sabo and Ace said and having someone legitimately try to kill us will definitely help as well as the fact there are dangerous balls everywhere."

Despite how extreme his plan was, it was also incredibly effective… Robin felt something that she was trying to reach into but she needed more time. The training they had been doing on the ship, was paying dividends because she could tell she was so close.

It just hurt.

Quite a bit.

The group of 5 had been relegated to just defense, due to the fact that they couldn't see an opponent wielding Mantra.

Sanji grunted as he felt the air shift close to him and leapt back, only to land against a tree that he couldn't see. He got impacted to the chest for his efforts and spat out some blood as he clutched his ribs.

"No good," he muttered to himself. "I'm still relying on what I already have to try and dodge… This is tough."

"T-Tell me about it," a near comatose Usopp groaned. The sheer fear he felt, at potentially getting hit, was doing even more damage then the surprise balls and Satori.

He ran into plenty of trees, fell into the water a bunch and still got attacked by the balls. The sniper was running on fumes right now and all his fear, was being enhanced by the fact that he couldn't see.

He hoped someone unlocked this damn Haki soon. Preferably Rosan so he didn't recommend something so reckless again.

None of them were unscathed but despite that, they were all still able to continue, trying to get a feel for their Haki in the process with little success.

Satori, despite having such an overwhelming advantage with blinded opponents, was beginning to get slightly nervous.

No matter what he hit the Forsaken One with, Kami's enemy just got back up with no injuries, content to take even more punishment as they continued to make a mockery of his trial.

Was… Was he actually equipped to deal with such a foe? It really was beginning to look like only Kami Enel could take care of him.

The Devil just shrugged off getting stabbed by spikes and Satori watched in horror as the holes of the blindfolded man, sealed right back up before his outfit followed suit.

Despite being the brunt of his assault, the heathen looked the healthiest of his allies.

At least the Demon's own priests, seemed to lack his regeneration. His consort especially, needed to be taken out quickly, due to the ability she wielded that countered Mantra.

An ability from the Devil that countered Kami's gift to them… how typical for this scum.

"Ho, ho hoooo! I warned you about this trial's success rate but you still treated it lightly," the rotund man sang. "Now take off the blindfold and stop messing aroun—"

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" Luffy interrupted loudly as he ignored everything the man said in the pursuit of hitting him.

Satori's eyes twitched as he effortlessly moved out of the way of the wild blows.

"Watch where you're throwing those, idiot!" a bleeding Sanji barked, as a stray punch nearly caught him in the face.

"Please…" A battered Usopp wheezed, blindfolded eyes rolling a bit at the fist currently resting against his nose.

The bloodied Luffy recalled his fists with an, "Oops, I thought I felt him for a second," and laughed at his mistake.

"Don't just swing and pray you connect a hit Luffy, you'll end up hitting either us or a ball more often then not," the bruised Robin instructed, warily glancing around despite being blindfolded.

It was a good thing Rosan was blindfolded, if he saw the state she was in, he'd completely flip.

She got caught by an explosion that tore her outfit in plenty of places, if the sudden gust of wind on her skin meant anything, and she was pretty sure she got pinched by a crab that she ruthlessly stomped to oblivion.

Perhaps Rosan did influence her a bit much…

Satori grit his teeth in annoyance.

He was winning in an overwhelming fashion right now. Besides the one hit he took at the beginning, he was unscathed…

So why was he the one who felt like he was being toyed with?

He impacted them, hit them with various surprise balls, dodged all their attacks… yet they still refused to remove their blindfolds.

This… This was absurd! Who did they think he was?! Some type of joke?! He was one of Kami's Vassals! A Priest!

AND THEY THOUGHT THEY COULD CONTINUE TO UNDERESTIMATE HIM?!

Satori's jovial expression fully melted away, replaced by a scowl and he glared at the ones who caused it.

"Still taking this lightly?!" He muttered, manipulating all the balls around him with his cane.

He would show the Devil what happened when you treated a Divine Priest too lightly.

All of his most dangerous surprise balls began lining up one after another as he carefully moved them.

Once he finished with that, he finished it off by placing a dragon mask atop the front most cloud.

Let's see if they continue to take him lightly after this.

"Ball Dragon."

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

Chopper distantly remembered the crew arguing about what they would do with the whistle given to them by the Sky Knight and how eventually, Nami placed it on the mast of the ship for one of the weaker members of the crew to use.

She banished the strong members from using it but… Chopper was considered one of the weak ones so he could totally use it!

He was also the only one guarding the ship… so the whistle was practically for him!

With that reassurance, Chopper grabbed the whistle and placed the string around his neck, making sure it wouldn't slip off in the process.

He nodded to himself confidently. As long as he had this, the Sky Knight would answer his call but he needed to make sure he didn't just up and use it for any little thin—

"You're the only sacrifice here that I can kill?" A voice asked in disappointment.

Anything Chopper was about to say, was stopped by that sudden voice and the reindeer's expression slowly but surely shifted into one of true horror.

As his expression began shifting, he steadily grabbed the whistle until the reindeer's face reached its apex of terror.

Coincidentally, that's the exact moment he blew into the whistle.

"TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

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

"Conis… are you alright?"

"…"

The girl said nothing, continuing to string away at her harp with a downtrodden expression on her face.

Pagaya glanced at his daughter worriedly. "Conis…?"

"He knew everything you know?" she said abruptly, causing her father to freeze. "The Forsaken One… he knew that we were deceiving them the whole time…"

Both her father and Gan Fall froze at that. "Did he really?"

She nodded slowly. "At any point, he could have killed us both… but instead, he saved me. The one with the Devil's wings, saved me from our Kami… it just doesn't make any sense to me!"

Conis could see now in the questions he asked and the way he acted. There was never a moment where he wasn't suspicious of them and they proved him right so why?

He wasn't a benevolent Kami like Gan Fall… if anything, he was much closer to Enel in regards to how a Kami acts…

So why were they alive? Why didn't he kill them?!

"I'm just a humble scout."

Gan Fall gazed at the torn angel with a knowing expression.

"I met a group of Blue Sea dwellers known as pirates over 20 years ago and I learned many things about them," the former Kami of Skypiea informed them.

"Pirates?" Conis asked in confusion.

Gan Fall nodded. "They are criminals who sail the seas in order to find treasure. They fly a black flag with a skull atop their ship's mast… Those Straw Hats are probably such people."

Pagaya jolted in shock. "They were criminals from the start?!"

"Perhaps… or they could have just been outsiders like my friends from long ago. Despite being pirates, they were not bad people. There are just people who do not play by the rules… you are not so different are you?"

They flinched at that accurate observation.

"I will say this… Do not try and understand the mind of the one with black wings," Gan Fall advised. "People like him operate on their own whims and the black wings of the Devil signify chaos and death. You will never be able to make sense of his motives."

Death and chaos… that certainly did hold true with him…

"PIEEEE!"

Gan Fall went alert at the cry of Pierre and he immediately turned to regard his partner.

"Duty Calls! Please watch this place for me," the Knight of the Sky requested, leaping onto the back of his Pegasus and departing with haste.

The two watched him go before Conis took a sip of the pumpkin juice offered to her.

Try not to understand the mind of the Shinigami… That was good advice. To her, it really did seem like Rosan was doing whatever it was he wanted.

Terrorizing their citizens, catching their lies easily, inciting Kami, exposing her plans, making her breakdown, saving her… saying so boldly that he'd teach Enel a lesson…

He was treating this all like it was a game. Everything he did, was to entertain himself in some way and he did it with no remorse.

Black wings truly did signify mayhem…

Perhaps that's what Skypiea was in need of. A little bit of chaos to shake up the natural order.

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

"S-STOP! PLEASE STOP ATTACKING THE SHIP!" Chopper begged, bloodied and bruised from the punishment he had been dealt.

This was really bad. The ship was catching fire right now and if he didn't do something, it would burn down fully!

Chopper reluctantly ripped the flaming mast off and launched it in the water, lest it reach any other part of the ship and he watched in despair as it sunk to who knows where.

"What should we do about this, Fuza?" Shura asked with an annoyed look on his face.

"Kuka Kaw!" The bird chirped, blowing a puff of fire out of its mouth.

"You don't want me to attack your allies… you don't want me to destroy your ship… and you don't want to die… You're not leaving me with a lot of options," the priest sighed.

He glared at Chopper. "What a spoiled brat you are. People like you make me sick."

Grabbing his lance, the priest lunged at the reindeer and stabbed at him with his super heated spear.

Chopper squealed and barely dodged it but he realized the spear was heated up too late and he could only watch in horror as the Merry was set even further ablaze.

"I said STOP!" The zoan yelled, transforming into heavy point and taking a swing at Shura that the man effortlessly dodged.

"How is he doing that?! He's predicting my moves? But how—"

Chopper froze in horror. Did the priests have Haki?!

That was bad… he wasn't even close to unlocking his own!

Oh no… no no no. The ship was in genuine danger and there was nothing he could do about it!

No, that didn't matter! He promised he would protect the ship and that's what he'd do!

Without any warning, Shura's eyes widened and he quickly had Fuza fly up.

The reason was soon revealed, as a weapon slammed into his spot with concussive force and the priest looked at it warily.

If that hit him…

"Sorry I'm late. I was a little far when I noticed someone else was on the ship."

Chopper's eyes glittered in joy. Tears of relief began rolling down his face and he let out a happy sob.

"Sabo!" The reindeer cheered.

Sabo glanced at the damaged ship with a severe frown before turning towards Chopper. "Where are Nami and Zoro?" He asked curiously.

"T-They went off to explore… that's why he's here," the doctor explained.

The revolutionary nodded at that and turned to face the man on his bird.

"I'll deal with him then," Sabo muttered, glancing coolly up at the flying man.

"He has Observation Haki. Do all the priests have it?" He thought to himself, spinning his pipe and tensing his muscles.

"That would somewhat explain why I couldn't sense the presence of the one who used that lightning bolt… But isn't his range still insanely high? He was at the top of that beanstalk and hasn't moved yet… but he was able to pinpoint exactly where we were earlier?"

This one named Enel seemed to have incredible Observation… If Rosan was right, then he also had a lightning Logia too…

That didn't sound easy to deal with. Not only did his older brother have to get through his intangibility, he then needed to deal with the man's Observation Haki.

This would be a tough fight for him but Sabo wanted Rosan to do this more then ever now.

His brother might need to use everything to win and if that wasn't enough…

He'd just have to go further beyond, castle be damned.

Sabo nodded to himself. He would need to push Rosan further before he got into a battle with Enel. The closer he got to unlocking his Haki, the better. A good fight sounded exactly like what he needed and if it really came to it, the revolutionary would save him before he died.

"Just to be 100% sure, you're not Enel, right?" Sabo shouted to the man flying away from him.

He was fairly sure Enel was the one he felt on the very top of that stalk, but who knows? Never hurt to be sure.

Shura glared at the blonde for his impudence. "Of course I'm not the Almighty Enel-sama! I am Shura and I have jurisdiction over the Ordeal of String tria—"

The Ordeal Master's eyes widened in disbelief as Sabo appeared atop of Fuza with speeds he couldn't even comprehend, pipe already at the ready.

"Swing to the left side of the head with the pipe."

"Your Haki's pretty good but it could use some work," the revolutionary grinned, gripping his pipe.

Shura knew the attack was coming. His Mantra alerted him. He knew but he couldn't dodge it.

The pipe smashed into his face with no hesitation and sent him soaring off of Fuza. Blood gushed from his nose and his face caved in, as he went careening into the forest.

"I-In one hit?!" Chopper gaped in awe.

Sabo really only needed one attack to defeat that scary Priest?

T-That was amazing! All of the brothers were incredible!

"My word…"

Sabo eyed the approaching Gan Fall with a neutral expression, noting that the bird hadn't flown off yet even after he hopped off of it.

Rosan told him he liked to give Maro random gifts… Maybe she'd like this one? It could breathe fire after all...

It was pretty ugly though and Maro liked cute things... maybe not then. Angel especially would hate this thing...

He would check with the redhead but for now he'd let it fly to its unconscious master.

The bird finally realized that it's master was the one sent flying away and with a panicked squawk, Fuza flew off to go retrieve Shura.

"… I'll probably let another of the crew fight him so I didn't put too much force into that but maybe I should have done less…"

"Eh, he'll be fine."

"You possess incredible strength," the Knight of the Sky said in awe, glancing warily at the blonde revolutionary.

To so effortlessly take out one of Kami's Vassals… Gan Fall himself would struggle and likely even lose against Shura.

But this blonde one did so with no effort… It was not only the one named Rosan who was dangerous. Just from what little he saw, Gan Fall was sure this one could defeat all of them here.

Sabo smiled good naturedly and adjusted his top hat. "It was nothing serious. That guy might try to get revenge on me later though."

He would fail but people were really arrogant these days.

The revolutionary glanced back at the ship in contemplation. "Now… let's try and fix up this ship a little. We wouldn't want to bother Rosan too much would we? Since you're here old man, lend us a hand!"

"Yeah!" Chopper nodded, eyes glittering at how cool Sabo was.

Gan Fall sweatdropped at the blonde's rudeness but merely nodded his head. Since he didn't actually have to fight anyone, he may as well assist them in repairing up the badly damaged ship.

Besides, with how easily one of the Priests were taken out… and how nonchalant the blue sea dwellers were… Perhaps there would be big changes to Skypiea in the upcoming day.

He would not mind observing this.

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

"So the former Kami has shown himself," Enel mused, unbothered by what just transpired between Sabo and Shura.

That poor excuse of a Kami… being usurped so easily by someone greater then him.

Enel didn't truly care about the pathetic former Kami of Skypiea but he was an eyesore.

Not to mention, he was a wanted criminal as well. It would do no good if he allowed a criminal to roam his holy land for free, especially one that was banished.

"I suppose I can deal with him then," he decided to himself.

Once the games truly started, Enel would eliminate Gan Fall once and for all if he made it far enough.

My, wasn't he just the busy one all of a sudden? A Devil, a former Kami… based on how easily Shura was defeated, he'd probably have to eliminate the one who had done that as well.

"How disappointing, making Kami do all this work. What good are Priests who cannot do their jobs?" he sighed, biting into an apple and laying his head back.

Shura was defeated in one blow, Satori was being toyed with… half of his priests were already disappointing him but that was to be expected.

They were only mere Vassals after all. They couldn't hope to match up to him.

Besides, it would be a shame if the so called Shinigami was taken out by a mere priest.

No, the one named Rosan, the one who claimed to be the Devil, was Enel's problem to deal with.

And he'd deal with him thoroughly.

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

"Another Kami has stepped into Skypiea?" Wyper asked, unable to keep the disgust out of his voice.

"Yes… they say he has... large black wings," Raki mentioned, going stiff at the thought of saying that.

Everyone tensed at her words.

"Black wings?" Someone muttered, voice tinged with a bit of fear.

"The Devil has shown up…?" Another whispered.

Wyper scowled at that. Was it perhaps… "Does this Devil have blonde hair? I encountered a ship of Blue Sea dwellers and one nearly knocked me unconscious in one blow."

That blonde was unbelievably powerful. Wyper had no illusions what would happen to him if they battled once more which was why he refrained from attacking that group of Blue Sea dwellers again.

Besides, he had his hands full with figuring out how to deal with Enel.

Raki shook her head at his question. "The Deviant is said to have red hair. From what I've heard, he's rather chilly and likes to torment people. They are also apart of the group of Blue Sea dwellers that have shown up on this island."

Wyper felt a headache forming at that.

The blonde wasn't the deviant? There was a Blue Sea dweller apart of their little group with red hair?

The closest thing he could remember, was the girl with orange hair that he also happened to see skirting around Upper Yard.

Who was the one with red hair?

"U-Um…"

Everyone gazed at the little girl hiding behind Raki.

"What is it Aisa?" Wyper grunted in annoyance, not wanting to deal with her nonsense unless it was serious.

She flinched at his harsh tone and shrunk into herself, before Raki placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

That seemed to give her some confidence and she said, "I… I think the Devil is fighting one of the Priests right now."

They went still at that.

"How can you be so sure?" Wyper asked, eyes narrowing in contemplation.

Aisa fidgeted, sweating a bit. "They feel… wrong," she began, thinking of the person she could feel with her mantra.

"It's almost like they're covered in a blanket. I can barely feel anything from them but what I can feel…"

The little girl shuddered and curled into herself. There were some things peeking out from that blanket. The things Aisa could feel… She was sure of it.

They had to be the Devil everyone was speaking of because they were terrifying.

"Aisa…?" Raki said in concern.

"What can you feel?" Wyper asked.

"So much..." she answered after composing herself. "The little things I can feel... There's just so much chaos! Rage. Mischief. Hate. Love.They're a torrent of emotions but all of it is being covered by something cold…"

They listened to the girl's explanation with wide eyes.

Just what were they dealing with…?

"It's to be expected," Wyper grumbled, unfazed. "They are the one with black wings after all. I never believed in such a fairy tale but perhaps it has some merit."

Death, chaos and anarchy. That's what the one who was born with black wings represented.

The antithesis to order.

Deviant. Forsaken. They were one of many names but the most universally accepted one was of course, The Devil.

"Kami… Devil… Former Kami… All obstacles that we need to rid of in order to reclaim the former glory of Shandia," Wyper sneered. "You mentioned that they're in battle with the Priests currently?"

Aisa nodded. "There were two Priests who fought just now… One of them was defeated and the other is still in battle with the Devil—"

The little girl jolted. "Two of the Priests are defeated and both of them were by the outsiders."

Everyone froze at that.

"WHAT?!"

Wyper's eyes widened in shock. "Two priests defeated?! Neither by Gan Fall?"

She nodded hesitantly.

One of them weren't completely down for the count but the one fighting the Devil wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, considering his voice had v-vanished.

"This is perfect for us," Wyper said, standing up and preparing himself for battle. "It's finally time to take back what's ours."

"YEAH!" The Shandians roared.

Aisa watched them walk away with a look of trepidation that Raki didn't miss.

"What is it? Still afraid of Wyper?" She asked.

Surprisingly, the little girl shook her head.

"The outsiders who took out the priests… there are three monsters in that group," she said quietly.

One was near the sacrificial altar and two were fighting the other priest. But all three were monsters on the level of Enel.

Besides the Devil, there was the one with him full of an endless amount of joy and freedom. It was overwhelming how one creature could be filled with someone that seemed so boundless.

The final one was the biggest monster of them all, full of conviction and resolve that yielded to nothing.

That must have been the blonde Wyper mentioned...

"I think if we fight them, we'll all die," she admitted with a look of fear. The other two monsters didn't feel as scary as the Devil but that didn't matter when the Devil was their ally.

Raki looked at the genuine fear on Aisa's face and sighed to herself.

It was a good thing she didn't have mantra. To feel what this little girl felt, must be terrible.

"Come with me," she said.

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

"Ball Dragon."

Satori glared down at the blindfolded fools. "This is my special attack, Ball Dragon! It's made up of surprise clouds that are filled with blades, explosives and one has a special fireball that will set off a fiery explosion on every single surprise ball."

Angling the Ball Dragon at Rosan, the Priest said, "Let's see if that regeneration of yours can handle the full brunt of every single ball exploding on your body. Once I kill you, none of you will be able to reach that boat anymore."

Rosan couldn't even pretend to be surprised that this Priest was going to focus his special attack on him.

Unfortunately, his Observation showed no sign of activating so he had to rely on his base instincts to avoid this Ball Dragon.

He wasn't even sure how it looked…

"Rosan are you sure you'll be fine?" Robin asked in worry. An explosion that would set everything off… what if it completely annihilated his body?

Could he regenerate from that? What were the limits of his regeneration?

"I don't know he sounds very sure that I won't regenerate from this," he replied truthfully.

He did know. The force needed to kill him, was not something this man had. It would hurt and probably completely drain his regeneration, but he'd live.

"Then we shouldn't risk it!" Robin barked in concern.

"…" he said nothing to her.

"Well, come then. Don't leave me waiting," Rosan taunted, standing straight and unfazed.

"Rosan! What are you doing?!" Robin asked in shock.

What was he thinking? Didn't he hear her?! Why would he goad the man into using it on him?

Curses... she couldn't take the blindfold off either because Rosan made sure they were tight with his ability.

What the hell was he doing right now?!

Mod's eyes widened in realization.

Rosan missed the way Satori's expression darkened but he certainly heard it in his voice.

"Still not planning on taking that blindfold off? The Devil surely is arrogant but I suppose that's why you would dare to go against Kami in the first place," he muttered.

With that, the Ball Dragon took off.

Rosan's wings flexed at the noise and he rushed away, not flying too fast in case he crashed into a tree.

Unfortunately, Satori didn't use all his surprise balls to create the dragon.

The redhead crashed into one of the floating balls and grunted as it halted his flight for a moment, erupting into a plethora of ropes, slowing him momentarily.

That was all the dragon needed to catch up to him.

Satori grinned as the first ball of the dragon erupted into sharp knives that impaled Rosan right through his gut, rooting into every inch of his midsection with expert precision and drawing out blood.

The redhead huffed at the stabbing and felt his mouth fill up instantly.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

Robin's eyes widened in horror as she heard Rosan begin throwing up a lot of blood.

"ROSAN!" They yelled in shock.

"Rosan… are you okay?" Robin asked quietly.

The wet squelching noise of Rosan ripping out the knives, made her regret agreeing to let him make the blindfolds so difficult to remove.

"I'm... fine," he grunted, removing the last knife with a sickening noise that made Robin vow to shatter every bone in this Priest's body until he couldn't even beg anymore.

She really was as a hypocrite... because the thought of Rosan being in pain, infuriated her on the same level as how angry he must feel everytime she was in pain.

"What a disappointment. That wasn't the special fiery ball," Satori sighed. "Perhaps the next one? Let's find out, Heathen."

Rosan let loose a heavy breath and prepared himself again, wounds closing as his body prepared to take even more punishment.

A catastrophic explosion crashing into Rosan and consuming—

Robin went cold at the sudden influx of information, heart slamming in her chest as a well of confused terror formed inside of her.

She saw it...

She saw it.

The next one... the next ball to explode... That one was the fiery explosion and it was going to catch Rosan.

How did she know that—

Haki.

She unlocked it. That had to have been this overwhelming sensation telling her that Rosan was in so much danger.

Robin gasped loudly at the influx of everything flowing into her and rushed without thinking, to the direction where she felt Rosan.

The rage, hatred, love… all being covered by such a cold and oppressive blanket. Her best friend was a tightly restrained tsunami, building higher and higher due to it was held back by such a firm wall. Once that wall broke, the water would flow and consume everything in its path, years of building up only increasing its power.

She could feel him completely…

And that's why she knew she was going to be a step too slow to stop this.

"ROSAN!" She screamed in panic.

Rosan went stiff at that, eyes going wide under his blindfold at just how close Robin was to him.

She… What the hell was she doing?! Was she trying to die?!

This wasn't going to kill him. It would certainly hurt, but he'd survive this.

He could not say the same to Robin.

How did she know where he was? She made it to him so quick—

Haki.

His plan worked. He actually managed to get one of them to unlock their Haki by putting his life in "danger".

The only problem was that she was doing something incredibly stupid. His dear best friend was being an idiot… He'd laugh at her reckless action if she wasn't at risk of dying.

Rosan's body surged with as much adrenaline as it did panic, as he whirled toward where he heard Robin scream his name and got ready to soar with her away from the Ball Dragon.

His worries were for naught though.

As he prepared to rocket off, a hand grabbed him and, judging by the gasp, Robin too and yanked them both out of the way of the incoming dragon.

Satori's eyes widened in confusion and he stopped the ball dragon before it crashed and exploded on the tree.

"You… but how?!" He balked in horror.

They were blindfolded! How could two of them react to that…?

Don't tell him…

Robin and Rosan both gazed in the direction of the hand holding them, though Robin was already aware of just who grabbed them.

"You too…? Did you also unlock Haki?" Rosan asked in surprise. After all, only one person would have been able to grab him that quickly.

"Yeah, I saw it! You two were about to get caught in the explosion so I moved to save you..."

Luffy grinned down at the two before it turned into a frown. "Are you stupid, Rosan?! You and Robin almost got seriously hurt!"

"I was going to heal from that," Rosan countered, pleased with the outcome. "I noticed that you guys were making more progress then me so I decided to give you a final push. I was hoping that by doing this, one of you, would actually unlock your Haki but I didn't account for… the next part."

He figured the one closest to getting it, was Luffy. He honestly didn't expect Robin to unlock her Haki as well and he didn't expect her to recklessly charge him in the process.

Robin felt a frown form on her face at that. "You can't just do that, Rosan! What are you—," She said, resisting the urge to scowl at him.

"I… You know what, we'll talk about this later," she decided.

Rosan's mouth closed at the finality of that statement and he frowned as Robin pushed herself away from him.

"Uh oh, someone's in trouble," Mod mused, shaking her head at his antics. She realized what he was planning but made no move to stop him, because if she did, he would never learn from his mistake.

It was more likely he'd ignore her too.

"You've gone and done it now, Father," Ram sighed. She didn't have a problem with his plan but she knew mother would.

Rosan had no comeback. He was just confused as to why he was in trouble.

"Luffy, can you feel the Priest?" Robin asked, composing herself since she remembered that her Haki would go out of control otherwise.

She needed to keep this sensation going for as long as possible to really get a feel for it.

"Yep, I'll deal with him!" The rubber boy grinned eagerly, looking directly at a nervous Satori.

Robin nodded and glanced over at Satori as well. "I'll continue to get used to this sensation then. Be wary of that ball dragon."

"Yep, the next one's gonna explode!"

So he knew that as well.

Good.

Luffy took off towards Satori with an excited laugh, looking sure of his movement despite the blindfold and avoiding everything that could hurt him with few mistakes.

Robin herself, went over to where the largest cluster of surprise balls were and decided to practice evading them so as to take her mind off the absolute lashing she was going to give Rosan soon.

"Are you alright, Rosan?" Sanji asked worriedly. "You were taking a brunt of the damage from that bastard."

Rosan removed his blindfold and repeated the process with Sanji and Usopp, frowning all the while as he moved to repair their tattered outfits.

"I'm fine. I'm used to some pain so it was nothing serious…" he said, slightly confused.

Why was Robin so upset with him? He knew she was afraid of seeing him get hurt, but they all knew just how weak this Priest was…

It's not like they were fighting Enel. This Priest had no chance of killing him and she knew how durable he was... so why?

Sanji slapped his head at the look of slight confusion on Rosan's face. "Just because you're used to pain, doesn't mean people who care about you want to see you in pain, shitty redhead," he stressed.

...But it was intentional on his part? He did it so that they could benefit from it and it worked so why be upset? He had gone through far worse already so something like this, wasn't worth getting angry about.

Sanji sighed at the oblivious idiot. He'd let Robin-chan explain it to him then because she had a way with words that seemed to always get through to the stubborn redhead.

Usopp collapsed on the floor, thankful that someone finally unlocked their Haki.

This was pain and misery and scary and pain… and misery.

He needed to never be around Rosan in case a fight broke out again. The redhead was a psycho.

Satori couldn't keep the panic off his face, as the rubber boy began to slowly but surely get more and more adept at moving with the blindfold on.

His somewhat unsteady steps as he dodged the ball dragon and the surprise balls (he could fly?!), became more confident and soon, it was like he were moving without the blindfold.

"Alright! I'm pretty used to it now," Luffy cheered, spinning his arm and glancing up at Satori. "Prepare yourself Balloon!"

"He has Mantra?! But how?!" Satori's eyes bugged in disbelief as the rubber boy charged him with ease.

How did he get the hang of it so quickly?! It took Satori years to get his Mantra to proficient levels and not only was this stretchy boy able to do it, the consort was as well?!

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

The rotund man moved out of the way of the attack but his eyes widened as the fist followed him and landed a punch directly on his face.

"O-Ow!" Satori cried out. He wasn't good with pain a-and that really hurt!

"Shishishi this is so cool!" Luffy laughed, jumping up excitedly and activating Geppo to close the distance.

Satori panicked as he watched the human missile flying towards him and he began to steer the ball dragon towards Luffy.

In his panic however, he didn't realize what doing that entailed.

The Priest's eyes bugged even further out of his skull, at seeing the Ball Dragon get closer to him as a result of Luffy closing the distance.

"Ah! S-Stay away!" Satori shrieked, trying to use the ball he was currently sitting on to move away from the incoming Luffy.

The man went pale, as a plethora of arms appeared atop his body and he gazed in horror at the two Nico Robin's looking up at him.

"I owe you tenfold for all you've done to Rosan," the blindfolded one crossing her arms said coldly.

"Clutch."

Satori's eyes rolled to the back of his head behind his shades, as Robin did good on her promise to break every one of his bones but his misfortune didn't end there.

Luffy sensed that the dragon was about to crash into him and cheekily placed himself behind Satori, pushing the man forward and himself away in the process.

The Priest crashed into the ball.

BOOM!

The ensuing explosion was deafening.

"You've gotten used to it far too quickly," Robin commented with a shake of her head.

Luffy was a monster, she was still in the process of getting the hang of it but already she could feel the progress.

He was a battle genius alright. The fact that he was already adjusting to it so well...

"Shishishi. We can practice it together! It'll be fun!" The rubber boy laughed good naturedly, landing right next to her.

Robin smiled at his attitude as they began walking towards the rest of their crew. "It's quite the strange sensation, to feel so much… I can't help but feel slightly overwhelmed... But it's undeniably useful."

"Mhm!"

They stopped in front of the one that felt like Rosan and waited patiently for him to remove their blindfolds.

The redhead glanced at Robin's neutral expression and opened his mouth but the Devil Child immediately shut him down.

"We should go find the ship," she suggested quietly.

"…" Rosan said nothing for a moment before he sighed.

"Right. Follow me."

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

"Listen up everyone! Upper Yard is currently in turmoil and now's the best time to attack!"

The crowd roared as they skated towards Upper Yard with Wyper in the lead.

"Our target is Kami's Temple! Do not fear the false Kami, do not fear the Devil! The spirit of the Great Warrior Kalgara will watch over us!"

"RIGHT!" They chorused.

"Everyone, come back alive! NOW BREAK!" He roared.

Wyper grabbed his bazooka and aimed it at the massive forest, before firing and ensuing a massive explosion.

"WE WILL BRING BACK THE LIGHT OF SHANDORA!"

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

"Two defeats? How disappointing," Ohm sighed, adjusting his shades as he regarded his giant dog, Holy.

"Shura is unconscious but should be awake soon. Satori is dead as a result of his battle... But, this changes nothing."

"Many challengers always show up, yet the outcome is always the same," the bald Priest said.

"Blue Sea dwellers, guerrillas and the former Kami all trying to take advantage and see Kami."

It wouldn't happen. He'd cut them down long before they got to catch a glimpse of the Almighty Enel.

"The sun is about to set and for the enemies of Enel, there will be no dawn!"

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

Shura groaned as he abruptly woke up and the Priest grabbed his head.

"That… damn," he grunted, glaring furiously as the memories of what happened to him, surfaced to the forefront.

How shameful, he allowed himself to lose a battle. That would put a stain on his name that he needed to rectify immediately.

To be dismissed so casually…

"Your Haki's pretty good but it could use some work."

He could not let this stand.

No, Shura would kill that arrogant human who would dare spout Enel's name with such casualness.

He was just caught off guard. Of course a person who had association with the Devil, would have ways to counter him but it mattered not.

He would get his revenge.

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

"I wonder if they made it to Sky Island yet?" Maro mused, picking up a green grape and popping it in her mouth before giving one to the Angel resting on her lap.

Her wife idly bit into the fruit and hummed, prompting Maro to give her another.

She was all finished with her paperwork and most of her agents, Kaori, along with an army of clones, were off dealing with some pirate alliance thing that the Unluckies managed to find out about.

Idiots, who said they could go around making alliances with each other on her sea? The North Blue pirates were getting more and more desperate it looked like but never fear because Maro was here.

That reminded her of that one Pirate Crew she ran into one day while sailing... Was it the Heart Pirates? The one with... Trafalgar Law! That was it!

She ran into them sometime ago when they were upstarts and she saw their submarine. She had never seen one before and saw it just poking out so how could she resist?!

Though, pulling it out of the water and launching it on the beach was probably not the nicest gesture... She could understand why they had been rather wary around her.

They didn't have any bounties on their heads and didn't seem to want to fight her, so Maro didn't feel the need to absolutely obliterate them where they stood and instead chose to talk to them.

Also they had the cutest polar bear ever. He was so shy and so quiet and had the softest fur ever!

The Captain had been a pretty awkward guy (it was because an overwhelming Queen who shouldn't be talking to him, was talking to him), but he was also pretty chill and wasn't as bad as the other pirates she hunted.

He was also very smart. He and Maro had been having a mental battle with each other, before he deemed her not worth attacking and they actually spoke!

His fruit was really cool too! That Ope Ope no mi was kind of like Masters with its own strengths and limitations!

Master would have overhauled him without a second thought. Even at a glance, Maro could tell how valuable the dubbed "Surgeon of Death" was.

Maro had thought he was fairly cute despite his goofy hat and wanted him to meet Demon... but alas, he rejected the offer for a blind date.

That was a fun day. That dude was doing pretty good for himself too with a lower bounty then all of the Straw Hats with bounties but he was still making his name heard.

He wasn't as terrible as pirates tended to be (the rumors didn't sound very promising) so she let them sail off with a cheery wave and even managed to hug the Polar Bear again!

His other crewmates looked depressed at that fact... she wasn't sure why!

But he was still an outlier of pirates... most of them did suck and what she did know is that some group was getting ready to do something big... so she'd further get in the World Government's good graces and deal with them herself (she already notified them, much to their joy).

Since Maro was not allowed to go (being Queen suuuucked) the Dokkaebi managed to finish up all her paperwork for the week!

And now she was bored.

"Of course they made it," Angel said, head resting on the Queen's lap. The redhead was idly tinkering with one of her gadgets as the two discussed with each other.

Maro raked a hand through her wife's hair, chewing on a grape with a pleased hum as she gazed at her assorted fruit with a blank expression.

"I wanna see what a Sky Island is like," she said bluntly.

Angel didn't even bat an eye at that, just continuing to fiddle with her item. "Then let's call Master over. They might have different technology over there so I'd like to see it too."

"Kay, that's settled… Now where's Demon?" Maro muttered.

Marianne, being the only agent who didn't go, glanced up from her drawing. "He's working on something important. He told me to tell you guys not to interrupt him and if you don't listen, you can kiss your Rumble Ball goodbye."

Maro, who was definitely just about to go interrupt him, froze at that and slowly placed her back on the comfy throne again.

"So let's wait for Demon to finish up then," the Queen decided, thankful that she didn't stand up all the way and force Angel out of position.

"Smart," Angel said dryly, perking up as she reached the finishing touch of her trinket. "AHA! I'm done!"

Shooting up, the redhead presented her item to a surprised Marianne.

"Here you go! I stole one of your brushes and upgraded it," the redhead grinned cockily.

Marianne's eyes widened at that and she grasped the advanced mechanical brush out of the woman's hand. "Wow… for me?!"

The clone nodded. "It can even generate its own paint and change the color so that you can skip the process of dipping it! You just have to refill it when it runs out. Here, I'll give you the full run down."

Marianne's eyes glittered with awe as Angel sat next to her on the comfortable carpet and the former agent scooted up close to the redhead, idly leaning her head on the clone's body as she explained all the functions.

"This is amazing, Angel-sama!" The artist gasped.

Angel gagged. "Angel-sama is way too formal! Just keep it at Angel!"

"Oh… okay!"

Maro watched the two interact with a fond smile.

She always knew Angel wanted kids! Her headstrong wife didn't make it too obvious but it was one of those things Maro just picked up on. It was kinda why they both unknowingly adopted short little Marianne.

Maro herself wanted a biological child too but that would be pretty difficult considering… they were both girls and Angel was also a clone. Even with all the changes Master made to them over the year, they were still not human... so unless he swapped their consciousness somehow into an actual living body that looked like them... then yeah.

It'd be pretty impossible.

It was actually one of Angel's insecurities in their relationship. But Maro assured her that she had nothing to be afraid of. She would always love Angel no matter what and nothing would change that.

Angel had been touched by that but she really did want to somehow help Maro.

A lecherous grin made its way onto the Queen's face.

Ah, how unfortunate! Guess she had no choice but to ask Master in the future. If they wanted a child as genetically close to the two queens… he was really the only choice and since Angel was a clone (and his sister!)… Well that left Maro with the terrible terrible task of having the baby.

Her Dokkaebi enhanced body should make the process much easier though so that was a plus—

A large book planted itself right on her face and Maro squeaked as it slowly slid down into her lap.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, you pervert," Angel said, staring at her with a flat expression. "Please don't ever grow up to be like Maro, Marianne. She's completely hopeless."

The agent nodded at that. "Shameless too. Right in front of you? I didn't think it was possible to be so perverted."

"To my brother too. I understand Master is hot but please, have some decency. At least think about how hot he is when I'm not in the room. I know I do sometimes," she sighed.

"H-Hey, she's my soldier! You can't make her think these negative things about me," Maro spluttered. "I-I was thinking of our future!"

Angel looked utterly unimpressed. "And it involved Master?"

Maro, bless her stupid soul, nodded without any hesitation.

Her wife stared at her, expression not shifting one bit before she opened her mouth and said, "You're sleeping on the couch for the next 3 days."

The Dokkaebi's mouth opened in shock, eyes going wide.

"Our Queen is so hopeless," Marianne sighed.

"Yes she is," Angel nodded.

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

It was pretty impressive that even despite sitting on his lap, Robin was still ignoring him so effortlessly.

To be fair, he didn't say anything but that was because he wasn't sure what to say and she completely shut him down before they got on the boat.

Maybe she was waiting for him to speak up?

"Robin I—"

"How could you be so stupid?!" She interrupted immediately, rounding to glare at him.

Guess not.

He furrowed his brows, stamping down the slight annoyance at being ignored followed by being interrupted.

"I knew I was going to be fine, Robin that's why I did it… I wanted to help at least one of you unlock your Haki and it worked."

Robin's uncharacteristic glare got deeper. "Besides the fact that you toyed with our emotions, which is a whole other issue that we need to speak about, none of us asked you to put your body on the line!"

She shook her head furiously, thinking about all the disturbing noises she heard while blindfolded.

"Who cares if you'll regenerate, Rosan? I had to listen to you throw up blood. I listened to you rip multiple knives out your body but it's okay because you weren't going to die?"

Memories of a Rosan who was so much younger flashed into her mind. A little boy screaming for help... her help, as he was continuously tortured in whatever way his jailor saw fit. So many horrors inflicted onto his body and there was nothing anyone could do about it but him.

A memory of a child willingly throwing himself in the way of an attack meant to kill her, made her shut her eyes.

"Am I supposed to just be okay with the fact that you're so willing to sacrifice your own safety just to help us?" Robin asked quietly. "I can't do that, Rosan. I won't. If I have to get better at your expense, then I don't want to get better."

Robin didn't care that she unlocked her Haki if this was the way she got it. Being scared to death that Rosan was potentially going to die?

It wasn't worth it... It just wasn't.

"…!" Mod gasped silently and Ram was right there with her.

"…" Rosan's expression turned neutral, going into thought. Surprisingly, he chose not to divulge said thoughts with anyone else.

Was that really what they all thought? They didn't like seeing him take damage?

Considering the look on their faces and the fact that no one spoke up yet, then yes, they did agree with Robin.

Was him taking damage that big of a deal? He was used to pain. Pain barely bothered him. Besides, he healed up very quickly so it didn't matter. Even now he was fully healed up... he was just a little tired now.

When he was just 14, he got skewered by a Logia to save his student… Who also got mad that he would do something like that.

Looking at the genuine concern under the anger in Robin's eyes, made Rosan frown.

Robin saw him getting tortured by Doc. Of course she'd hate to see him in pain. His reasoning for being unbothered by it, was the reason she was bothered by it.

"I'm… sorry," Rosan said quietly, voice actually filled with remorse. "I never stopped to think that anyone would have a problem with the dangers I put myself in because I do it so often. I figured that since we all knew he was so weak, it was fine."

Rosan didn't consider that people would be concerned about something he considered trivial these days. After all, pain kept him alert in battles. He welcomed it.

Hell, he was pretty sure he was slightly masochistic because pain only made his battle lust grow when he had emotions.

But he wasn't normal. He knew he wasn't normal so of course his perspective of things wouldn't be normal.

Of course Robin wouldn't want to see him in pain. He didn't even want to see her in pain.

Rosan didn't take into account that people cared for him, as much as he cared for them.

He would have to start being more considerate… he was only ever consciously considerate to Meiko because he hated hurting her.

Robin's eyes softened at the guilt on his face, starkly reminded that Rosan didn't choose to be the way he was.

For the umpteenth time, she cursed Doc for separating the two and causing him to turn like this.

Not only that, she loved them… she really did, but everyone who cared for him, Mod especially, needed to stop treating the redhead like they were treading on eggshells!

Naturally there were some exceptions, that being Ace and Luffy. But... those two were the youngest and they were also the ones least equipped to deal with this. The brothers didn't know how to properly help Rosan with their words!

Rosan was truthful, confident and blunt. He was the type of person that you had to give the same energy he exhibited when trying to talk to him.

The stubborn man would never listen to someone that was unsure or meek, but he would respect you all the more if you spoke to him the way he spoke to you.

With complete conviction. No sugar coating.

In order to get things through to that thick skull of his, you needed to be clear, blunt and sure of yourself, regardless if it was ruthless or not because that's how he worked…

Mod should know this especially... so why was she allowing herself to become so meek around him? Was her guilt over the virus inhibiting her this much…?

If things kept going like this, the Devil Fruit wouldn't be able to stop Rosan from doing what she knew he was planning to in regards to the virus.

She would need to sit them down soon so that they could finally get this sorted.

That was for later though. Robin needed to focus on what was happening now.

Rosan he… he probably didn't mean to in that way but he emotionally manipulated them all and that was unacceptable. Even if it was for their benefit... callously taking advantage of their emotions was out of line.

They weren't his enemies… they were his friends. It didn't matter what his intentions were, he couldn't just manipulate them like that even if it were for their own gain.

To put his body on the line like that without a single thought… Rosan's self destructive thoughts were even worse then she thought, if he really didn't think they'd have a problem with him putting himself in pain on purpose.

Why exactly did he think like this? They were constantly telling him they loved and cared for him... so why did he keep seemingly regressing?

"Rosan… Please put more value in yourself," Robin said firmly. "I don't care how badly you view yourself right now, that's a hurdle we can jump over later but you need to understand that people do care about you."

"You have no idea how much everyone cares about you, Rosan. No matter how much we show you, you just choose to be selfish instead!"

Luffy and Ram watched on with big grins as the redhead got chewed out for once.

"Scary…" Usopp thought. Robin was normally so calm and collected but here she was making the infallible Rosan, uncomfortable!

Sanji nodded in approval at the tongue lashing Rosan was receiving right now.

As someone with siblings who lacked emotion, Sanji was more aware then anyone how terrible that person could turn out. Rosan had the benefit of having had emotions before, but his life as Reaper showed that he was more then willing to do terrible things.

If they wanted Rosan to stray away from that path, they'd need to actually help him understand what he was doing was wrong. If his emotions were gone as long as he mentioned, they'd need to do a lot of work.

Mod stood there in shock. The woman couldn't remember the last time someone reprimanded Rosan so thoroughly and he actually learned from it.

They just got used to him acting like this and no one could really dispute him because… because he was a genius that always brought up good points that they could rarely argue against...

Even Mod stopped reprimanding Rosan over the years because somewhere along the way, she realized she lost the privilege to do that.

More and more, she realized how big of a mistake she made not telling Rosan about the virus and the more she realized, the guiltier she got and the more meek she became when it came to her son.

She had no right to tell Rosan off because his issues were caused by her.

But even then… if she didn't, who would?

Mod was his designated guardian. She had the honor of being considered his mother. Before all of this... Rosan had trusted her the most on the entire planet! Whenever he needed help with something, he would look to her... he said he trusted her with his life...

They had their ups and downs… so why was she currently being such a coward, that Robin felt like she had to step up in her place and talk to the redhead?

That was unacceptable. She needed to fix this to the best of her ability a-and get over her own fears.

Rosan never expected Robin to start shouting and he couldn't help but avert his gaze at the intense look in her eyes. By now, she had fully turned her body around to regard him but the rather compromising position was ignored by everyone there.

When was the last time someone spoke to him like this? It must have been when Meiko was still alive because she never did care about upsetting him if he needed to hear something.

They would spend hours arguing with each other over something... and she never even felt close to backing down against the stubborn redhead. Even if he refused to concede, she would make sure he at least saw her point.

She was always like that. Rosan found it funny how someone so weak, could stand up to him so effortlessly, where so many others failed. Was that just her unique gift? To be fearless when it came to the one she loved?

No, she simply did it because she cared for him—

Ah, that's right… Meiko did everything she did because she cared for him. Just like Robin did. Just like how everyone in his family did…

"You're looking for something you already found, Rosan. You already have reasons to live and you'll realize that soon enough."

He had no idea how much everyone cared about him huh…

"Day by day… little by little, I'll try and get better until I can be someone you're all satisfied with, I promise," Rosan assured quietly, head bowed as he fully conceded.

Robin's fierce expression immediately melted, at hearing him promise of all things and she pulled the redhead into a hug.

"I'll always be satisfied with you because I love you Rosan... but I want you to be a better version of yourself regardless until you can become the best version," she murmured.

"For the longest… I didn't think I could get better because I lost my better half. But everyone thinks otherwise… everyone but me so maybe I'm the one in the wrong," he admitted.

Luffy laughed at that. "You can't always be right, Rosan! You're too stupid for that!"

"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!" Sanji roared, butting the rubber boy's head with his foot.

Robin couldn't contain her laughter at Luffy of all people saying that. "I'm beginning to think that you actually believe you're incapable of being wrong. How does your confidence not clash with your self destructive thought process? Are you an anomaly?" She wondered.

Rosan snorted at that. "No one can understand the mind of Rosan. It's hopeless to even try."

"I do love to explore the unknown… maybe that's why I took such an interest in you," Robin sighed forlornly.

That made sense. Even when first meeting, Rosan had been an anomaly to her and she felt herself light up with joy every time she figured something about him out.

For instance, he was terrible at taking what he dished! He had no problem embarrassing people, but the moment you did the exact same thing to him, he would lose it!

Robin had once gotten tired of how often he dished out those kisses of his and decided to give him a taste of his own medicine!

Her embarrassment was only secondary to the bugged eyes of the embarrassed redhead himself. 7 year old Rosan's jaw had dropped and a brilliant red had marred his cheeks as he fled from her.

That had started a bit of a war. Whoever got the jump would just win and she won more often then not!

"You're still coming up with excuses for yourself after all this time? Just admit that you admire and are jealous of me and call it a day," Rosan scoffed.

"I'd sooner admit that Luffy is smarter than you."

"You're slowly becoming a compulsive liar. Have you been spending time with Usopp?"

"No, I've been spending all my time with a needy and possessive brat."

"...You have a kid?"

"You aren't being serious right now."

Usopp (who spluttered at being dragged into this) interrupted their impending argument that was sure to turn into a brawl. "I'm glad that we all made up but uh… where are we now?"

At his words, the group glanced around, taking in the scenery with alert gazes.

They were floating along a prairie that was dotted with poles adorned with skulls atop of them.

That got a startled shriek out of Usopp.

"Perhaps there is a trial here that will leave us like this," Rosan mused.

"Perhaps a monster who feasts on skin?" Robin asked.

"D-DON'T SAY SUCH SCARY THINGS!" Usopp shrieked.

Robin smiled before her gaze narrowed at the same time Luffy's did.

"Someone's coming," they said in unison, gazing in a direction.

A few seconds after saying that, one of the totems was blown to bits and a group of people surged from the trees.

Rosan's eyes narrowed and he stood up abruptly, hands already forming into the gloves he enjoyed using way too much.

At the same time, the man leading the group of warriors, flew over them and aimed his bazooka at the group once he made moderate distance.

Luffy was already on the move before the man even aimed his weapon, sucking in a breath of air.

"Gomu Gomu no Balloon!"

Wyper scowled in annoyance as the rubber man caught the artillery and rebounded it to them.

The Shandians grunted in surprise as they were forced to dodge the explosion that took place and they all landed on trees to regard the group.

Once the smoke settled, Wyper had only a moment to react as a massive red laser attempted to take off his entire midsection gazing at the spot with wide eyes.

"Fascinating looking skates... I think I'll take them after I kill you but that's for later."

The leader of the Shandians glanced at the one who said it and went still.

"Is that…" he heard one of his allies mutter in slight apprehension.

"The Devil…" Another gasped.

"He really is here! First Enel, now this?!"

Rosan floated above the ship, glove glowing red for another attack, as he gazed at the Shandians. His obsidian wings were on full display and the less hardened warriors, found themselves growing nervous.

Wyper's scowl was back in full force as he gazed right back into those demonic eyes.

"So you're the one with black wings. The Deviant," Wyper grunted, glaring harshly at the group.

Rosan tilted his head at that. "Oh? It seems word about me is spreading far. Everyone has such a pleasant nickname for me too."

Forsaken One, Devil and now Deviant? He was honored.

"Should we take them out Wyper?"

The man thought about it for a while before shaking his head.

"Not unless he attacks us first. We have to prioritize Enel first then we can deal with them if they stay," he grunted, glaring at the neutral redhead.

They would lose precious members trying to take him out and they did not yet know of his full capabilities. They were not prepared to fight him yet. They hadn't spent years planning for this random appearance, so they would ignore him to the best of their abilities.

"Heed my warning, Blue Sea dwellers, get off Sky Island. If you stay here then we'll get rid of you along with Enel," Wyper promised.

Rosan tilted his head and surprisingly furled up his wings, banishing the glow from his gloves.

"You talk big for someone so weak. If you value your lives, you'll get out of my sight. Send Enel my regards before he kills you," he said calmly, glancing away from the group.

"Why you!" Someone snarled, ready to engage in battle with the arrogant redhead.

"Enough," Wyper ordered. "When I'm done with Enel, you're next, Deviant. The Shandians are tired of these so called higher beings dictating our lives."

Rosan didn't even spare him a glance and had the ship they were on sail even faster. "You have too much belief in what little strength you have, good luck surviving the day. With how outmatched you are, you're gonna need it."

Wyper bit back the snarl of aggravation. "What did you just say?" He growled lowly.

The redhead didn't bother looking up at him. "You're still here? I'm surprised. Maybe you don't value your life," he commented.

"Feel free to attack me. Though, I'm sure you'll regret that sooner then later."

"Remember the objective, Wyper," someone said to the man ready to throw caution to the wind.

The Shandian glared deeply at the ship, before he simply turned away, dashing off with his group while vowing to eliminate the Deviant when all was said and done.

The Straw Hats watched Rosan do nothing to the group, in clear surprise.

"What?" He asked calmly.

"You didn't kill them," Sanji pointed out.

"Yeah I was expecting them to die. I even had my eyes closed," Usopp mused.

"You're rather bloodthirsty," Robin smiled.

The redhead sighed at them. "Do you all think I'm the type to just immediately kill?"

"Yes," everyone said without a hint of hesitation.

They were so annoying.

"I am the scout first and foremost," Rosan said, suppressing his annoyance expertly. "You guys never gather information so I'm the one who normally does it. Those warriors still have information I can get so I left them alive. Once their use has run dry, then I'll kill and pillage them for speaking to me so boldly."

They sweatdropped at his casualness.

"W-We gather some information…" Usopp muttered.

"Good lie. Robin is the only one who would gather info and she's permanently attached to me so she doesn't count."

There was no use killing them immediately. Let them cause their chaos before being snuffed out.

Rosan wanted to see what combat based dials looked like and there was a chance he could see Enel in action too.

His birds were currently flying around the island so that he could gather as much information as possible. He made sure one was attached to the supposed leader of these guerrilla warriors.

They weren't impressive in the slightest, but their technology on the other hand...

"Show me what your other Priests can do, Enel," Rosan said aloud, closing his eyes and getting situated. He idly began messing with Robin's hair and she glared at him as he turned it red like his own.

"Rosan s-stop!" Usopp hissed. "Piss him off when we're not all on this tiny little ship!"

Was he seriously just going to keep antagonizing Kami? What was wrong with him? He swore this was their punishment for not listening to him when they first landed here.

"Consider this punishment for not listening to me when we first arrived," Rosan hummed.

Usopp held his head at that.

Since when was he able to tell what his scout was thinking? That was a terrible terrible thing…

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

"W-What happened to the ship?!" Nami gasped in horror.

The Navigator and Zoro just came back to the ship after making the discovery that Upper Yard was actually the City of Gold!

They weren't able to actually find gold just yet but it had to be somewhere. Her and Rosan would find it at all costs before leaving!

Chopper flinched at her question and gazed away in guilt.

Sabo perked up from where he was crouched down and stood up. "It was attacked by one of those Priests but I dealt with him."

Zoro gazed at the wrecked ship and frowned slightly.

Rosan was right, the Merry wouldn't last much longer in these seas…

"I'm guessing you blew the whistle, Chopper?" Nami asked as she gazed at Gan Fall.

The Sky Knight nodded as he wiped the sweat off his brow from his physical activities. "I showed up just in time to see this young man take out one of the Priests, Shura, in a single blow."

Sabo grinned sheepishly at that. "Sorry for wandering off, I have a habit of doing that. Makes my allies really upset most of the time."

Nami just waved him off. "I expected nothing less from Rosan and Luffy's brother. You're all idiots and completely hopeless. I imagine Ace has a flaw that would make me call him stupid too."

The revolutionary sweatdropped at her words.

He couldn't have been as bad as Rosan and Luffy… right? Sure he was bad... but his two other brothers were almost psychotically chaotic.

Yeah, there was no way he was as bad as them... he was more so like Ace! His middle brother

Speaking of which…

"I SEE THE ALTAR!" A familiar voice screamed in the distance, making them all perk up.

The group glanced up at that, gaining smiles as they watched a ship appear in the distance holding the rest of their crewmates.

"NAMI-SAN! I'VE ARRIVED TO SAVE YOU!" Sanji swooned happily.

Gan Fall's eyes widened at seeing all of them alive and he gazed at the crew with a shocked gaze.

"You survived the ordeal with the Priest?!" The former Kami of Skypiea asked in disbelief.

"Did you think we were going to die? I'm not as weak as you," Rosan replied calmly, raising a single brow. "We would have won faster but we saw a good opportunity to turn it into training since the environment was ideal."

The group nodded at that, though Usopp looked far too tired.

"I can't believe we were in a life or death situation and you told us to use it as training," the sniper groaned.

"It was a good idea wasn't it?" He countered calmly.

"...I hate you," Usopp rasped.

"T-Training?!" Gan Fall repeated with bugged eyes, gazing at the monsters with wide eyes.

"What type?" Sabo asked curiously. If they noticed the same thing he did about the Priests, he could take a guess.

"Observation," Robin answered easily. "We put on blindfolds against him and spent the time trying to learn it."

Gan Fall spluttered at the sheer insanity that they were all spouting.

Didn't they know what they were up against?! Placing blindfolds on against the Priests with Mantra?! What were they thinking?

"How did it go?" Sabo asked excitedly. That was genius of them!

Zoro was just as interested now, gazing at the group with a raised brow.

Luffy grinned widely at that question, jumping up and down in excitement.

Robin merely smiled. "Luffy and I unlocked ours… but it was at Rosan's expense and we made sure to let him know that he can't do what he did again."

They all looked at the redhead, noting that he actually wasn't planning on defending himself and wondered what he did.

Rosan sighed. "I allowed myself to get put in a dangerous situation that helped them unlock their own Haki… It was thoughtless of me to not consider their feelings on the matter though…"

Being considerate wasn't his strong suit. It was rather difficult considering how selfish he was inherently but Robin made great points that he found he couldn't really go against.

"It's fine, we talked about it so he knows now," Robin assured them all, putting a hand on the redhead's shoulder.

Sabo nodded with a thoughtful expression. He learned many things about his oldest brother and though he had a slew of issues, he was not unreasonable. If Robin (who he clearly listened to the most) said it was fine, then he'd drop it.

Still though…

"You guys managed to unlock your Observation already? That's incredible," the blonde muttered.

This must have been how the revolutionaries felt when they were training him. Proud but shocked.

"It's very useful," Robin nodded. "I personally wanted to learn Armament first but this is still incredibly beneficial for me."

Luffy laughed. "We'll learn that one next and before Rosan too!"

Rosan and Zoro grunted in annoyance at the same time.

"Ace already said Observation would be the hardest for me to learn. Don't be so happy that you learned it first. You'll need as big of a head start as you can get," the redhead retorted.

"We've gotta step it up. I don't wanna get left behind," the swordsman agreed.

"The little prodigy is upset that he's actually being left behind? Careful Zoro, if you continue to hang around him, you might pick up his lack of talent," Robin mocked, smiling at the redhead with a superior expression.

She effortlessly moved out of the way of his outstretched hand and her smile widened at the annoyed expression on his face.

"…" Rosan glanced at the woman who moved out of the way of his grab before turning away. "You're lucky Maro is calling me. I'll get you later."

Robin simply smiled wider at him.

Nami perked up at that and grinned. "Maro's calling? Is she on the way?"

The redhead nodded. "Most likely. I honestly expected her to call me immediately but she must have actually chosen to be responsible for once."

Rosan hummed. "This is good actually. You guys have questions for me, right? My old traveling partners should be here as well to hear this and add their tidbits."

They all glanced at his black wings in blatant curiosity and nodded eagerly.

"Could you help fix the ship when you come back?" Usopp asked, gazing at the damage with a contemplative gaze.

"Sure I'll do it later tonight," he replied, grabbing onto Robin.

"We'll set up camp in the forest over there. Then we can all talk about it," Sanji said, pleased to hear that the leaders of Celadon were showing up again.

Gan Fall watched in confusion as the one Forsaken Pne nodded and waved… before promptly vanishing from their sight with Robin.

"W-What?!" He gasped. Where did he go?! What happened to him?!

"You get used to it," Nami said dismissively, eyes turning dreamy at the thought of all that gold.

"H-He just disappears as he pleases?" The former Kami asked.

"Yeah, at least once a day," Sanji shrugged, already going off to collect food for their camping excursion.

Gan Fall watched the entire crew prepare to set up camp in Upper Yard with a baffled expression.

These Blue Sea dwellers… What exactly was wrong with them?

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

"You're late!" Maro humphed, snuggling her teacher with a stern frown.

"I took 1 minute to get here," Rosan replied, holding the three leaders with an almost exasperated expression.

"You need to show up before we call you. You should know us by now," Angel said simply, rubbing her head on his chest with a neutral expression.

"I cannot read minds," the redhead retorted calmly, knowing logic failed 90% of the time with Angel.

"Ignore them, Master. You know how they get," Demon smiled as he hugged his older brother.

"That's why I appreciate you, Demon," Rosan sighed, running a hand through his brother's purple hair.

"I guess I can't be all that mad considering how much chest you're showing! Wow, Master!" Maro beamed, greedily eyeing Rosan's exposed torso with hungry eyes and rubbing her face on it with zero shame at all.

Look at him! He was ripped and the Queen would graciously soak it all in!

"Who dressed you like this?!" Angel barked, poking his exposed chest like it were an unknown creature.

"Robin," he said without hesitation.

Maro pulled out of the hug at the same time Angel leapt on an amused Robin.

"What are you doing Robin?!" Angel barked, glaring at the woman who would dress her brother up so lewdly.

The Devil Child placed a hand on her shoulders and said, "I'm just trying to have Rosan cooldown a little. He's been way too serious lately."

The redhead opened her mouth, before closing it at the answer. "W-Well... I suppose you have a point... but that doesn't mean you can dress up Master like this! It's way too lewd!" She protested.

"Lewd?" Rosan spoke up with a raised brow. "It's just an open cardigan, Angel. What's so lewd about it?"

"You!" She retorted. "It's not the outfit, it's you! Look at your body! I hate it!"

Rosan opened his mouth and then realized it was hopeless trying to argue with her so he just shut it.

Maro chuckled at that before her eyes lit up.

"So… we haven't heard from you guys since you mentioned going to the Sky Island! How is it? Well, we're going anyways but I'd like to know!" The Queen asked as she removed her tiara to place on a tired Marianne's head.

"You can sleep in our room until we come back. There's no point in leaving the castle since you're all alone," she muttered to the former agent.

Marianne stifled a yawn and nodded, lazily saluting with a, "Kay," before walking to the Queen's spacious room to get some rest with the adorable dinosaurs.

Robin, who accepted all their attention next, smiled at how comfortable Marianne was with the three.

"It's rather beautiful, though we weren't able to appreciate it all that much," she replied with just a hint of displeasure.

She really wanted Rosan to relax a bit but alas.

"Trouble already?" Angel asked with a raised brow. "Also, Master… why are you using Shinigami? I haven't seen those wings in forever!"

She loved his angelic wings. They weren't as cool as Ragnarok's but they were far more gorgeous.

Maro's eyes widened at that and she rushed over to Rosan once more.

"Wow! Did you reveal that you're Reaper?!" She asked, rubbing her cheek against his wings and purring in bliss.

As comfy as ever~

"There is a self proclaimed Kami on the Sky Island we are currently visiting," Rosan began. He idly curled his wings around Maro and snorted as her purring got louder, tucking her easily into his frame as he brushed her shoulder length hair (it was getting rather long... just like his own hair).

"I've yet to see him but he's powerful. He most likely has the Goro Goro no mi and I decided I want to fight him. Since he thinks he's a Kami, I decided to reveal Shinigami to them as well. Kami of Death and all that," he explained calmly.

The redhead and Robin both explained the situation to them so far and their eyes, especially Angel's were wide in interest.

"Master… you're stealing everything right?" Angel asked slowly, eyes practically shining in unrestrained greed as she shook him back and forth.

"Without a doubt," Rosan replied calmly, high-fiving his sister with a glint. "I was hoping to split everything I got between you, Hiroshi and I. I imagine it would be quite difficult to use some of the cloud based technology on our surface level but I'm sure you can figure something out because you're my genius little sister."

Angel nodded furiously, blushing bright at his praise. She was practically salivating at the thought of working on such foreign things. "Don't hold back, you have my blessing that you can take everything!"

Robin and Maro sweatdropped as Demon shook his head.

"I had no idea Angel was so greedy," she whispered to the Queen.

Maro simply nodded in defeat. "She's just as greedy as Master but not as universal with it. If it comes to anything that can improve her crafting or being possessive of me… she's the worst! You'd think I'm the bad one in the relationship but trust me, it's 100% her," she whispered back.

"She's awful," Demon nodded sagely. "Sometimes I feel bad for Maro but then I remember they're both insufferable and realize they deserve each other."

Robin nodded sympathetically. She could see it very well.

"W-What do you mean I'm insufferable?!" Maro gaped at her brother with wide eyes.

"Do you actually think you aren't?" Demon replied gently, looking at the Queen with amused eyes.

"..." Maro's brows furrowed. "Alright, you have a good point... but you're a whore."

Demon raised a brow high at that. "What did you just call me?" He asked incredulously.

"You heard me! I'm surprised you haven't fooled around in so long! Been getting real chummy with my soldiers huh? Which one do you have your eyes on? Mikita's been here longer and she's such a cutie but Zala's real sexy and mature don't you think?" She grinned, waggling her brows.

Demon's eyes narrowed. "You and Angel can be so annoying when it comes to my private affairs," he grunted uncharacteristically.

Maro grinned smugly. "Life of being married. I don't have to think about getting in a relationship... so I focus on you!"

He sighed and Robin pat his shoulder soothingly.

"If it makes you feel better, Rosan is preventing 3 people from dating and I'm one of them," she told him.

Demon sighed sympathetically. "The woes of being normal and surrounded by psychos. You start to wonder where things went wrong."

"I began thinking that since I was 8," Robin said forlornly.

The two normal ones shared a hug of understanding.

"It won't get better. People like Master and Angel only get worse," he assured her.

"...I hate how pessimistic everyone else is. Please let that be my thing," Robin sighed.

"Alright, let's go!" Angel beamed, jumping excitedly and getting a pleased sigh out of Maro, which made the redhead blush hot.

Dials sounded so interesting! She wanted to tinker with everything there and get them Blue Sea ready.

"You mentioned some Priests right?" Maro mused. "I want to fight one. It's been so long since I got in a decent fight!"

She didn't have her Tiara though... but she scarcely needed to go invisible these days. Just made fights super easy!

"Priests, guerrillas… have your pick," Rosan muttered, beckoning them all over. "I'm planning on answering my crews questions about me being Reaper by the way. I'll tell them your Grim too if you don't mind."

"Kay! Sounds good to me," she beamed. Look at Master getting all chummy with his crews.

"That reminds me, we totally have to throw a celebration again for you guys bounties! Also, Red Devil? Gross!"

"Don't remind me. I need to find a way to get that changed," Rosan sighed.

"I agree. Angel of Death sounds so much more amazing even though you answer to no one!" The Queen replied with a cheeky grin.

Goblin Princess was the coolest of course.

"Makino also wanted to speak to you. She misses you," Demon mentioned.

"You haven't spoken to her even once since you left! Don't be such a dick, Master! You could have at least placed a Save Point on her," Angel scowled.

"That would be a waste of a point. Though, I should have given her a Den Den. Everyone mentions how much she wants to talk to me... Maybe I'll fly over one of these days and say hi to Dadan too," Rosan muttered.

He had no interest in flying over to the East Blue to do that... But he supposed he could for his friend.

"I'll figure something out later. Let's hurry up and go," he said, eyes glowing as he activated the technique to transport them all over.