Crocodile was confused.

Why? Well, it was simple really.

Since hearing the words "Gear Second" uttered from Straw Hats mouth, he had been reduced to a living punching bag.

In his arrogance, he didn't realize just how much stronger this technique made Straw Hat, content to insult him for steaming up.

That was a mistake.

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol," Luffy uttered, holding out a palm as if taking aim and throwing out his other fist.

Before he could hurl out another insult, spit flew out Crocodile's mouth, due to the fist impacting with his gut at speeds he wasn't able to react to.

He was launched back a few feet and held his stomach in disbelief gazing up at the one who did it—

There was no one ther—

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Bullet."

Another fist impacted with his face and sent him soaring through the air but not before a rubbery appendage snaked around his leg, gripped him and began slamming him up and down at speeds he couldn't keep up with, blood spurting out of his mouth at the continuous impact.

"What the hell is this?" Crocodile grunted, back whining in agony from the excessive slams that seemed too fast.

This speed, this power… Who was Straw Hat Luff—

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Rifle."

His eyes flickered as his gut caved in from the punch and he hastily formed a sandstorm to hide his body, desperately trying to catch his breath from the overwhelming onslaught threatening to knock him unconscious.

This wasn't what he was expecting. He wasn't able to keep up with him at all right now, just getting constantly bombarded by the rubber boy and his strange new ability.

The rubber boy was so much faster then him now, it was baffling. Crocodile had been toying with him before and now he couldn't even track him...

This was bad. He needed to think of something and quick.

"Ground Death," He groused, draining the floor of all moisture and drying it up completely.

But that's not all.

Luffy watched the entire floor crumble up and realized he'd probably be joining it next so without any hesitation, he began rapidly kicking his legs until he began to fly.

It was a good thing Rosan made Garp show him techniques he could add to his arsenal! It served him really well learning Soru and Geppo!

Now… he needed to get Crocodile out of the desert because he was pretty strong in here!

Crocodile couldn't believe his eyes at seeing the rubber nuisance actually fly.

Was he capable of flying just like the redhead too?! Just who the fuck were these pirates?!

He only had a moment to brace himself before Luffy rocketed towards him at speeds he couldn't react to.

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!" The captain of the straw hats roared, planting both his hands into Crocodile's gut.

Pain bloomed into something overwhelming almost immediately.

Crocodile's body contorted awkwardly, as he went soaring from the sheer force of the blow and the Warlord was nearly knocked fully unconscious, only managing to wake up when he went through the first building of many.

He lost count of how much material he flew through but by the time he was done, he realized he was in a sandstorm free Alubarna.

The Warlord had never felt so humiliated, at realizing that he lost control of the technique while getting sent flying by Straw Hat.

Crocodile crashed onto the floor and began tumbling repeatedly until his body crashed into yet another building, this time not breaking it and resting back first (his back was a bruised mess) against it.

He vomited up blood and came to the conclusion he had internal damage currently.

It was a miracle he was even still awake. He hadn't taken damage in a long time and only the training he did in the past few days kept him conscious.

As Straw Hat appeared in his vicinity, Crocodile blearily looked up at him and began sweating in disbelief.

Was he… Was he going to lose here? To this greenhorn? All of his careful planning… His goal to amass an army… His plan to find the Poneglyph... his goal to find and utilize Pluton to force the world into submission...

All of that was about to go up in smokes by this deceptively monstrous rubber boy?

That just couldn't be.

Luffy glared stonily at him, skin steaming hot from Gear 2 and aimed an open palm at him, ready to take out the defeated man with one more attack.

"Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol."

Crocodile braced himself but knew there was no way he could take this attack and began cursing Straw Hat, the redhead, and Nico Robin.

He felt himself snap at the actions of the three.

Damn them. Damn them. Damn them!

They ruined everything! He had accounted for so much, he had gathered useful pawns, he even had someone to read the Poneglyph and NONE OF IT MATTERED BECAUSE OF THIS CREW!

DAMN THEM!

He didn't even see the attack fly out but he already knew how fast it was… The Warlord snarled in rage at the look of finality in Luffy's eyes and vowed to get his revenge on Straw Hat in any way he knew how...

...

Something wasn't right.

Why was he still awake?

Crocodile watched his sandy stomach turn back into its original state and grinned violently despite the excruciating pain he was in.

He was dry.

Luffy's eyes went wide as the Warlord instantly vanished from his sight in a gust of sand and a bloody laugh.

"WAIT! COME BACK HERE!" He roared looking left and right wildly.

Where did he go?!

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

A bloodied Pell panted over the bodies of the defeated Baroque Work agents that were guarding the bomb that would blow up all of Alubarna if allowed to set off.

He looked at how much time was left and let out a sigh of relief, holding his ribs in pain.

6 minutes. That was more then enough time to fly it somewhere that wouldn't result in the casualties of millions.

The agents had done quite a number on him, shooting him repeatedly while he flew to the clock tower and combined with that freak sandstorm that showed up battering him every step of the way, he was quite beat up but he was still capable of moving the bomb far enough.

Not wasting any time, he transformed into his hawk form and grabbed onto the bomb with his talons, flying off into an isolated area in the desert.

As long as he got far enough from Alubarna he could just leave it there and everyone would be saved from its effects.

The hawk man flew off with the bomb in tow, flying as fast as his injured body could take him and soon, he was out of Alubarna.

As he flew, Pell allowed himself the time to think.

Right about now, Princess Vivi should be in the process of stopping the rebellion. Crocodile was being preoccupied by one of her allies and the missing King Cobra should have now been accounted for.

There was just actually defeating the Warlord, fully stopping and explaining the rebellion and dealing with this bomb—

Pell froze as the bomb began suddenly beeping.

What?

He had only been flying for about a minute? The royal guard had just flown out of Alubarna when the bomb began beeping.

There was still supposed to be five minutes left and not only that, it hadn't even been lit up!

What was happening?

Why was it about to explode—

A deafening explosion went off.

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

"So Crocodile is the one who orchestrated all of this and not the King?" Koza asked in disbelief.

Their guardian of Alabasta… was the one behind all of this?

They had all been tricked?

But... King Cobra had... and he... when they...

What...?

"Yes. For years now, Crocodile has been sabotaging our entire kingdom and pinning the blame on the royal family," Vivi explained patiently, glad that Koza was capable of listening to reason.

An injured Cobra nodded along, glad that they were able to talk this out. After the arrival of the sandstorm he thought all hope was lost and Alabasta was doomed to collapse.

Vivi had already tried to announce her presence and get them to stop fighting but the sandstorm stopped her voice from reaching them and she was forced to take cover, lest it deal real damage to her.

The rebels and guards were caught off guard by the strength of the sandy weather but they ignored it and continued to fight, heedless of the fact that their injury tolls were rising from Crocodile's attack.

Koza, using that monstrous sandstorm, snuck onto the top of the kingdom to understand just why the king was doing all of this, but the shock of seeing Vivi had stopped him from doing something reckless.

She then took the chance to explain everything to him and to say he was shocked, would be a vast understatement.

In the midst of explaining to him that Crocodile was the one who was doing all of this, the sandstorm abruptly stopped and further proved her point.

Vivi glanced in awe as the weather turned back to normal like it was never there in the first place.

It was impossible for Koza to prevent the stab of guilt from piercing him through his heart as the princess explained everything to him.

All this time… All this fucking time he had been getting strung along, playing right into the palms of that… of that bastard!

The king didn't forsake his people… Koza did by doubting him and bringing it to this point.

All because of Crocodile.

"Where is he? Where's Crocodile? He needs to pay!" Koza snarled, unable to believe he had been tricked so thoroughly.

He would pay for this. Crocodile would be dealt justice for trying to bring ruin to their countr—

"Who needs to pay, boy?"

Everyone froze at that voice and Koza hesitantly looked down at the poisoned hook piercing his chest and slowly lifting him.

Crocodile sneered down at the idiot pawn and ruthlessly removed his hook from the man, discarding him to the side and not paying any more attention to his fallen body.

Koza did not move.

"K-KOZA!" Vivi screamed in shock, unable to believe her eyes.

This couldn't be real… In just a matter of seconds he was… No, please no.

Crocodile stared at them all with a crazed look in his eyes, looking like he had been through a war.

His normally neat appearance was gone, clothes torn in multiple places and blood pouring from different spots of his battered body.

"Your use ran out long ago, rebel boy," the Warlord intoned, staring Vivi down. "You've brought along quite the pesky crew, Princess. I don't know where you found them but they've managed to unravel my plans by quite a bit."

Straw Hat Luffy and Rosan… those two ruined everything for him. A greenhorn rookie worth 35 million and his scout who didn't even have a bounty.

They were both monsters in their own right and Crocodile begrudgingly acknowledged that they could very well defeat him today.

But he wouldn't make it easy for them.

No, he'd make them suffer every step of the way until he won.

"It seems like you were tipped off about my bomb too," he remarked calmly, disturbingly calm despite the situation he was in. If Straw Hat showed up... even if he were dry again, he'd be in trouble.

"I assume that hawkman… Pell was it? Has it," Crocodile commented, utterly unbothered by the tears streaming down Vivi's face. "I wonder if he knows the timer on it is wrong."

Everyone's gaze snapped up to him at that.

"W-What do you mean?!" Cobra asked in hesitation. If the bomb's timer was wrong then that meant…

"Pell…" Chaka said, rage forming on his features. "WHAT DID YOU DO, CROCODILE?!"

The Warlord sneered, sand seeping off of his body. "I don't trust a soul on the planet but myself. After some thinking and more then enough failure, I decided to speed up the detonation of the bomb by 5 minutes on the off chance that it never gets set off."

This was exactly why he never expected anything out of his allies. They couldn't even light up a hidden bomb.

Oh well, that 15 minute timer was actually on a 10 minute one but the timer hadn't been updated.

If that Pell took too long to retrieve and get rid of it, he'd likely be caught off guard by the explosion and die.

Vivi fell on her knees at that, eyes white with shock as the tears continued to fall.

Pell… too? No. No. N-Not Pell...

"CROCODILE!" Chaka roared, transforming into his Jackal form and charging the sandman with a single minded fury.

"CHAKA NO!" Cobra cried out. He wouldn't be able to defeat him even with the injuries sustained!

The jackal hit nothing, phasing through the man who absentmindedly grabbed him and drained him of all his moisture before tossing him aside like yesterday's trash.

The mummified form of Chaka fell on the floor without a noise, defeated in an instant.

It didn't matter how injured Crocodile was. All of these people were weak. They were so weak that they should have never been able to challenge his takeover of Alabasta.

Princess Vivi got lucky managing to find an upstart pirate crew full of freaks but they weren't here to save her right now.

He brandished his hook and began walking towards the frozen princess.

"No more games. I've had enough of today so I'm going to kill you now and bury this country in the desert, retreat and regroup with the few useful agents I have, then make every single Straw Hat pay," Crocodile grunted, raising his hook up high.

Vivi let out a choked sob, staring into the eyes of her bloodied tormentor.

She hated him. She hated Crocodile. She hated him. Hated him. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Crocodile swung down his scythe and blood soared through the air, as his attack struck true.

"!" Vivi let out a teary gasp.

Crocodile's face morphed into one of shock.

"But how?! How did you find me so quickly?!"

Monkey D. Luffy glared at Crocodile with barely suppressed fury. "Because I heard Vivi's cries loud and clear."

"L-Luffy!" She sobbed heavily, both in relief and horror.

Luffy turned back towards her and grinned reassuringly. "It's okay Vivi, I'll finish this!"

Vivi didn't stop crying though. How could she?

After all, there was a massive wound across Luffy's chest, courtesy of the hook that Crocodile threw out to kill her.

Crocodile's shock soon turned into a dark satisfaction as he took in the wound.

Oh this was good.

"It's only a matter of time until you die now, Straw Hat. Not only are you poisoned… but that technique of yours speeds up your blood flow doesn't it?" He asked knowingly.

The poison was going to course through his body even faster now if he kept it up. Crocodile just needed to outlast him and with his intangibility back, it would be simple.

Already, Luffy was breathing harder and harder, audibly panting now.

Crocodile's grin widened and he began laughing maniacally. Straw Hat would die here before the redhead could interfere. Then, he'd bury this place in sand and be done with this filthy country—

"You just don't get it," Luffy said lowly. "As long as Vivi keeps fighting to save her kingdom… THEN SO WILL WE BECAUSE SHE'S MY FRIEND!"

Cobra's eyes widened at that and he looked at the rubber boy in shock.

Who was he? This was the person Vivi chose to put her trust in?

Vivi covered her mouth at his conviction. If possible, even more tears began falling and combined with all the events of today, she finally let it all out.

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Vivi cried freely, throwing her head back and screaming to the heavens. "L-LUFFY, PLEASE SAVE US! P-PLEASE SAVE ALABASTA! PLEASE STOP CROCODILE!"

Luffy, who had fallen on one knee, shakily pushed himself back up and wiped the blood from his mouth.

"Of course I will. I won't lose to a creep like this," was all he said.

Crocodile felt a vein form. "WHAT CAN YOU DO? YOU'RE PRACTICALLY DEAD STRAW HAT! YOU CAN'T TOUCH ME LIKE THIS!"

He was a dead man walking! The poison was working even faster then he expected and combined with his extensive injuries and that no doubt draining technique, he should be unconscious.

He was just full of bullshit! Crocodile wasn't going to lose to this dead greenhorn!

HE WASN'T GOING TO LOSE HERE UNTIL THEY ALL PAID IN BLOOD.

"Sables: Pesado!" Crocodile roared, launching the dense swirling sand at the stubborn NUISANCE.

"FALL WITH THIS KINGDOM, STRAW HAT!" The warlord announced victoriously, watching the ensuing shock wave that took out the entire section of floor it connected to and then some.

That was it. There was no way he could have dodged that. Straw Hat was finished—

A bloodied hand gripped his shirt.

Crocodile froze in disbelief, realizing the rubber boy was using his blood to grasp him.

He looked at the Luffy who was red now not only because of his Gear Second, but because of the sheer amount of blood that was currently on him.

"I'm going to become the King of the Pirates," Luffy declared simply, powering through the agony he was currently in.

With that, he heaved Crocodile dozens of feet into the air.

Crocodile couldn't believe it. Who was this? What was this boy? How could he continue to fight? What drove him?!

WHY DID HE PISS HIM OFF SO MUCH?!

"YOU KING OF THE PIRATES? DON'T MAKE SUCH AN IMPOSSIBLE CLAIM!" The warlord roared, unable to comprehend the anomaly that was Monkey D. Luffy.

"MEN WITH MORE STRENGTH THEN YOU COULD IMAGINE CAN'T EVEN ACHIEVE THAT TITLE!"

Crocodile would know. He was one of them at one point.

"THE MORE YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SEA, THE MORE IMPOSSIBLE SUCH DREAMS WILL SEEM AND I'LL BE THE FIRST TO SHOW YOU."

Forming several bladed fans of sand, Crocodile prepared for this to be his final attack and got ready to launch it towards Straw Hat, Vivi and Cobra.

"Desert La Spada—"

He never got the chance.

The steaming Luffy appeared right next to him with a look of finality in his gaze, bloody fist cocked back.

"Gomu Gomu no Missile Strike."

Crocodile's eyes rolled to the back of his skull as Luffy delivered a rubbery punch that carried him through the sky, only to appear behind him and deliver another, sending him in another direction, only to appear yet again in his flight direction to deliver another.

Utilizing his Devil Fruit and speed, Luffy sent Crocodile in every single direction and followed after.

Soon, Crocodile was turned into a human pinball and all Vivi could see was a shockwave and the occasional rubbery fist flying through the air.

There was nothing the Warlord could do about it but accept the punishment and he felt bones breaking from the impact.

Over and over again, Luffy delivered blow after blow on him untrackable with the human eye as he seemingly teleported from one end to the other, battering Crocodile all the while with punch after punch.

Cobra watched it all with wonder in his eyes, not knowing how someone such as Monkey D. Luffy could exist. He was… He was doing it!

He was defeating Crocodile!

Vivi, even despite the fact that she was crying so heavily, watched Luffy do what he promised her he would do.

He was… He was incredible.

Luffy… he really was the man who was going to become the Pirate King. Vivi had no doubt about it.

Because of him, she was allowed to cry freely. Because she could trust him. Trust that he would make things better.

Finally, mercifully, Luffy stopped his unstoppable onslaught and appeared above the prone Crocodile.

Kicking his leg far into the sky, Luffy stretched and stretched and stretched and stretched until they couldn't see the end of his foot anymore.

Without any hesitation, he swung that extended foot down and crashed the sole of his sandal right into Crocodile's gut.

The effects were immediate.

The Warlord of the Sea, Sir Crocodile, was sent plummeting towards the ground with unforgiving force like he were a meteor.

As he fell, knocked unconscious from Luffy's relentless assault, the rebel and royal army were stunned still as rain droplets began to hit their bodies.

"What…?"

"Rain?!"

"It's raining?!"

They were further shocked as a figure plummeted directly in between both parties.

Crocodile lay there on the ground, utterly defeated. The Warlord was bloodied and battered, with no sign of waking up anytime soon.

"What happened to Sir Crocodile?!"

Then they heard it.

Crying.

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Vivi let her cries be heard throughout the whole kingdom. "PLEASE! STOP FIGHTING! THE NIGHTMARE HAS FINALLY ENDED!"

The princess was crying?! Princess Vivi was crying?! Why?!

Was it… Was it because of them?!

What… What were they even doing...?

One by one, the royal guard and the rebels began dropping their weapons, losing the will to fight due to the sight of their beloved princess crying so freely.

Luffy's eyes fluttered as he allowed his, no longer steaming, body to fall and he landed right next to King Cobra.

Cobra looked at the one who saved their kingdom and bowed his head low. "You have my thanks, Luffy."

The bloodied boy grinned widely. "It was nothing."

The birds watching chirped in satisfaction, pleased with the job done.

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

Before Luffy Activated Gear Second

Robin awoke to protective and warm presence near her and a soft hand holding her own.

Opening her eyes slightly, she let out a slight gasp at the sensation of being immediately engulfed by strong and safe arms, relaxing almost instantly in their grasp when she smelt the familiar scent of roses.

Fully awake now, she saw a shock of red hair and her gaze softened as the memories came rushing back.

No doubt, her idiot partner was blaming himself from her error. She hadn't been expecting Crocodile to so ruthlessly take her out the battle with the looming knowledge that she could translate the Poneglyph for him and had let her guard down slightly as a result.

But he did and now Rosan was absolutely blaming himself.

"Rosan…" Robin began gently, stroking his hair gently.

"I'm sorry," Rosan said, voice muffled due to burying himself in her hair. "I… I told myself that I'd keep you safe at all costs but you got hurt in our first fight together."

No matter how he was, or what he tried to cover, Rosan would never be able to hide that self critical nature of his from Robin.

Narrowing her eyes, she gently grabbed his cheeks and forced him to look at her.

The look in his heterochromatic eyes… she didn't like it one bit.

"I know what I signed up for staying behind with you, Rosan. I knew of the dangers of fighting Crocodile and I prepared myself for an outcome like this. Don't you dare get upset with yourself because I messed up," she scolded, frowning warningly at him.

None of what happened in that fight was Rosan's fault. The fact that he took the blame was utterly insane!

She knew he was self critical but this was too much. If something bad even happened to his loved ones, he would automatically think about what he could have done better.

The woman sighed and tested her body a bit.

Her body felt sore but that was it. She guessed that she had been treated by Demon because this looked like Maro's castle.

Rosan still frowned deeply. "I almost let anger rule me again, Robin. When I saw you get hurt… I nearly forewent getting you medical attention immediately so that I could kill Crocodile. If not for Mod-chan, you could have been in even worse condition."

Robin sighed at her idiot, smiling fondly. "You got that angry on my behalf? That's a fantastic first step Rosan. Remember, we're taking this slowly and you haven't had your emotions for years. Of course it will be difficult to gain control of them when they surprise you like that."

She pulled the redhead onto the bed and hugged him close, not minding her severe lack of clothing. "It's alright, Rosan. Please stop criticizing yourself when you did nothing wrong. We can't make any progress when you're like this."

"She's right Rosan. Remember what she said all those years ago when you had that nightmare? You can't just go hating yourself because of what you think, when all facts point to something else," Mod joined quietly, stroking the sleeping Ram's hair gently.

"We'll solve our issues together, okay? No more deciding things on your own… okay?" Robin demanded reassuringly.

Rosan's self critical nature was only enhanced by the fact that he had no emotions so having him decide everything on his own was a recipe for disaster.

Rosan said nothing for a long moment, before the tension bled out of his body and he squeezed Robin back with all his might, burying himself into her.

"...Okay. Okay," he repeated softly.

It was times like this, that reminded Robin that Rosan had been emotionally stunted since he was 12 years old.

Devil this, monster that... Rosan was just someone that needed help. When he got all his emotions back... he would be no better then when he was still a child.

The development would hit him all at once and he might get overwhelmed by it.

They hugged for a bit, before breaking it up and Robin decided now would be a great time to put some more clothes on.

"What's happening in Alabasta?" The Devil Child asked, thanking Rosan for handing over the comfy purple blouse to her.

"I'm not sure," Rosan admitted, much to her surprise. "My birds are currently Streaming the action to everyone but I've been here with you the whole time, so I haven't seen anything since I left."

Robin blinked at that before a tiny flush made its way onto her cheeks and she smiled a small smile.

"That boy didn't take his eyes off of you for a second. I'm pretty sure he didn't even blink! He wanted to be sure he was there for you the moment you woke up," Mod supplied helpfully, grinning fondly at the two.

She had been watching the events of Alabasta through the stream, content to let Rosan stare at Robin the entire time and digesting the information for herself so she could update him when he wanted to know.

The Devil Child couldn't help but stare at Rosan in appreciation at that, touched that he still cared so much for her.

The level of care for her… the fact that he had so much even with so much of his emotions missing…

She wondered how much he'd care for them all when they were all unlocked.

A tiny part of her recalled the way he kissed her and she immediately banished it.

He still needed to pay for that.

"Let's go join the others watching it then," Robin decided.

Rosan was immediately by her side. "Are you fine to move on your own?" He asked softly, watching her every movement with a searching gaze.

"Yes," she replied, knowing that wouldn't satisfy him.

He was such a worrywart sometimes… he must have inherited that from Mod.

True to her point, the redhead picked her up and placed her on his back with no effort, walking off to where he left his stream with calm and careful steps so as to not jostle her too much.

"Just to be safe," he said, making sure she was secure.

Robin rolled her eyes but just let it be, wrapping her arms around his neck and getting comfortable.

It didn't take them long to make it to the lounge area where they were watching the events of Alabasta and Sabo immediately locked eyes with the two, a relieved smile making its way on his face.

Maro caught the slight movement of Sabo's head and whirled around, eyes lighting up in joy at seeing Robin awake and well.

"ROBIN!" She cheered, hugging the surprised woman (and Rosan by proxy) and jumping in glee. "I can't believe you're already awake!"

The bluenette carefully pulled the woman off of Rosan, who looked close to attacking her but stopped at her pleading glance, and engulfed her once more.

Angel and Demon quickly joined the group hug and squeezed Robin tight. "We're so glad you're okay!"

"How are you feeling? You're moving faster then I anticipated so I'll be running a check-up on you later," Demon prodded, inspecting her body up and down and noting that she seemed fine, if not a little sore, at a glance.

"I'm just a little sore but Rosan won't let me move alone anyways, so I'm fine," Robin assured, a little floored to be on the receiving end of so much affection.

She wasn't really used to this. Her sole sources of affection for the longest, were Rosan and Mod-chan so for so much different people to suddenly be so affectionate…

It felt nice.

"I have to admit… seeing Crocodile so ruthlessly attack you, made me very upset," Marianne said quietly.

After all, to the Baroque Works Agents, Miss All Sunday (learning that she was the Nico Robin threw them all for a loop) may as well have been their actual boss. They never saw Mr. 0 and she was his proxy, speaking for him instead and being the face they saw most often.

Seeing Crocodile so ruthlessly stab her, his supposed partner, made them glad that they had betrayed him. He didn't give a damn about any of them, only caring about furthering himself and achieving his plans. They wouldn't be surprised if he threw them away after finally winning.

He was nothing like Queen Maro, who genuinely cared for them despite meeting them so recently.

Gem and Mikita both nodded at that, not believing Crocodile was so ruthless. After spending so much time around their Queen, they realized that they didn't deserve to be treated the way they were in Baroque Works and promised to do everything to help Maro and Celadon out.

Robin was surprised by that. The agents respected her more then Crocodile? Well, she supposed that made sense.

All things considered, she may as well have been Mr. 0.

"I'm fine now," she smiled at them all reassuringly. "Thanks to you all, I was able to quickly get patched up and the poison didn't even get a chance to be life threatening."

They sighed in relief at that, pleased that she was doing fine.

"Now, what's going on in Alabasta? How are the others?" Robin asked, taking a seat next to Rosan and let out a pleased sigh as he tucked her into his frame, not even allowing her to put the slightest of strain on her body.

It felt good to be pampered.

"Usopp, Chopper, Sanji, Nami and Zoro all won their fights," Sabo began, listing off each Straw Hat.

"Oh! I noticed Nami and Usopp using some very familiar flames," Maro said, eyes glinting as she stared at Rosan.

Kaori nodded along with Maro's statement. "Those flames look the exact same as the ones you used on me," the fishman pointed out.

She instinctively shuddered at the sight of those destructive red flames rushing towards that agent.

"That's right. I gave her weapon the ability to store and use my flames. As for Usopp, I created some ammo for him," Rosan replied, tilting his head to the side. "I take it Nami fought Miss Doublefinger? That's the only agent she should need to use it on, lest she somehow got in a fight with Mr. 2."

They all nodded at his assessment.

"They all looked really injured…" Marianne frowned, biting her lip in worry at the sight of the burned woman.

The former agent couldn't stop the well of sadness at seeing the state Mr. 4 was in (he was almost certainly dead) and felt concern for both Miss Merry Christmas and Miss Doublefinger.

All the agents had been soundly defeated barring Crocodile himself… She didn't want any of them to go to jail.

Maro eyed the little girl from the corner of her eye and nodded to herself.

Sabo was surprised to learn that these three were also apart of Baroque Works and he had his slight suspicions on them, but they swore that they were loyal to Maro now and wouldn't do anything that would displease her.

Maro herself had vouched for them and that was good enough for him. If they had their uses, they had their uses.

"Ah that reminds me," Rosan muttered, eyeing Maro. "Did any of the agents catch your fancy? I can go retrieve the ones who did since you saw what they were all capable of."

He was only intending to recruit 1, 2 and Doublefinger but Maro saw them all so she could make the decision on her own if she wanted any or none.

Maro, without hesitation, said, "All of the remaining ones if you can... Besides Mr 4. I think he's dead."

Rosan blinked.

Marianne jolted at that, looking wildly at the queen due to her response.

"You want the rest of them?" The redhead asked, raising a brow.

Maro nodded rapidly, smiling widely. She wasn't really interested in them (her current agents were awesome!) but she saw the look in Marianne's eyes and decided recruiting some more of them wouldn't hurt.

Besides there was one of them that she wanted above all.

"I want that Bazooka Dog especially!" The Queen beamed greedily.

Oh just imagine! Her very own Bazooka, that could transform into a dog! That was so cool! Just call her the collector of unique pets!

Everyone sweatdropped at that.

"Right. I'll go retrieve them after this then," Rosan replied.

Maro nodded eagerly and glanced down at the feeling of someone tugging her sleeve.

Marianne looked up at her with pure adoration and said, "Thank you, my queen."

The Dokkaebi smiled gently and hugged the little girl to her side. "Anything for my cute little citizens."

"What about Zoro?" Robin asked curiously. "Did he manage to defeat Mr. 1?"

Everyone there nodded with a hint of awe on their faces, recalling the battle with varying expressions.

They retold it to the two who just listened with calm expressions.

"He's a real damage sponge," Rosan nodded. Zoro was capable of taking plenty of punishment and it was something that served him well. Unless he was well and truly dead, he would keep fighting.

Rosan liked that. The two were remarkably similar in battles.

"So he did manage to cut steel… I wonder how? Was it brute strength like Rosan?" Robin muttered.

"No, it was haki," Sabo replied calmly.

Everyone froze at that.

"What?" Rosan and Robin asked, slightly stunned.

"In the final moments of that battle, after Zoro got up, he began subconsciously using Armament and Observation," the revolutionary explained.

He didn't get hit by a single piece of that building, knowing where it was going to fall. That was definitely Observation Haki at hand.

He also managed to effortlessly cut through the steel body of Mr. 1 with just one attack. Sabo was confident, that if he used that exact same attack on Crocodile, it would have connected.

Rosan hummed at that. "So Zoro was the first one of us to begin using Haki... that's unexpected."

"It's a good thing we managed to catch it, otherwise he might have taken much longer to begin tapping into it," Sabo said, cupping his chin.

There were plenty of people who subconsciously used Armament or Observation in dire times but due to not knowing anything about it, they tended to never actually unlock the ability to consciously use it.

It would still be pretty difficult, but Zoro already had one foot in so it was good for him, especially considering he knew about Haki already.

"I'll be sure to inform him. It'll be a boon if he begins consciously using it," Rosan said, pleased with this outcome.

"Haki?" Kaori asked curiously, glancing at an eager Maro.

"I'll explain it to you guys later. It would be great if I could get you all started on a routine too," the queen informed them.

The soldiers nodded at that.

"There's just Luffy and Crocodile left…" Angel said, glancing at the screen in worry.

Crocodile was in the midst of summoning a massive sandstorm in Alubarna and not only that, he managed to stab Luffy right through his stomach with a crescent blade of sand.

She began gnawing her teeth in concern, chancing a glance at Rosan to see if he was going to save their youngest brother.

"Trust Luffy, Angel," Rosan said calmly. "Didn't I tell you? He's gotten strong over the years. He won't lose here."

She wanted to protest, but stopped at the sight of Luffy placing his fist on the ground and immediately calmed down.

"What's he doing?" Kaori asked, watching as the rubber boy's legs began… pumping?

"Ah! Gear Second!" Maro beamed, sitting upright to see this.

Luffy had never used the technique on anyone else but her and Master so she wanted to see just how good it was against a person who hadn't spent years fighting him.

"Gear Second?" Sabo asked, noticing Demon's face shift into one of slight displeasure.

"Gear Second is a technique Luffy developed to keep up with my speed and Maro's teleportation," Rosan began as Maro nodded along eagerly. "He speeds up the blood flow in his body and it makes him much faster and stronger as a result."

He began developing the technique when he was around 16 years old.

One day (when Ace had already left), Garp had visited to deliver his beat down quota and Rosan managed to get him to use a technique called Soru. With that technique, he was able to achieve massive speeds instantly that made it hard (absolutely impossible) to keep up with him.

"You could probably keep up with other users of it but not me," the old man bragged, sticking a finger up his nose as he puffed up at the blatant interest on Luffy's face.

Luffy, seeing the technique, instantly developed an interest in it and, with Rosan's assistance, began reverse engineering the technique for his own use (they all hated asking Garp for help).

This was in order to keep up with the immense speeds Rosan achieved when he applied a Boost to himself or when Maro decided to be particularly annoying and displace herself all over the field.

At x2, Luffy found it nearly impossible to match him and whenever Rosan activated it, their fights would end quickly.

That's where Gear Second came in.

Learning Soru wasn't enough for the rubber boy (Rosan technically knew it too but he refused to use it… he wanted nothing from Garp and he was already fast enough). The battle genius quickly connected the dots and used his foundation of Soru, to learn Geppo (in order to reach Rosan when he was flying) and his trump card, Gear Second.

It was a stunning technique that pushed his Devil Fruit creativity to the limits and both Rosan and Maro had praised him for coming up with something so ingenious... right before Demon chewed him out for developing such a dangerous technique.

The doctor demanded he find a way to reduce its strain on his body and with some help, they managed to get it to levels that made Demon's hair not go gray.

Everyone watched in awe as Luffy threw out a fist so fast, it blurred on the screen.

Crocodile couldn't react in nearly enough time and what followed next, was a thrashing they weren't expecting to ever see.

Robin was in a bit of awe. She never expected little Luffy to be handling Crocodile like this! She knew that the captain was incredibly strong, but this was something else!

"He's gotten better at using it," Maro grinned, watching him pummel Crocodile with a look of glee.

"We basically exclusively practiced with not making it so strenuous the last few months before setting sail," Rosan said calmly.

"Good, that technique is bad on his body. The more he develops and masters it, the better I'll feel," Demon frowned.

"He developed this to keep up with you two?" Sabo asked, impressed by the battle genius Luffy displayed. He was proud of the rubber boy but he couldn't really explain why.

Rosan nodded.

"Could you have beaten Crocodile?" The revolutionary prodded.

"Yes," he replied nonplussed. "His Logia intangibility is his greatest advantage but otherwise, I can beat him and so can Luffy. Maro most likely can too. I don't think Crocodile has the power needed to pierce her defenses and she's also versatile."

The agents looked at their Queen with wide eyes and saw the smug grin on her face.

They knew she was strong... but had they really never seen her go all out?

"I'm the most naturally durable in our family!" She preened, slapping her chest heartily. "Maybe I'll show you guys what I'm fully capable of against Master one of these days!"

They nodded eagerly, curious to see just how capable their carefree leader was, before focusing on the one sided beatdown.

Seriously, it wasn't even close.

"His rate of growth is insane," Maro muttered, shaking her head as she perfectly tracked the fight. She was a prodigy but Luffy was a true genius in battle like Master.

It was only her years of experience and absurd Devil Fruit (she was a very good matchup into Luffy and any close combat fighter really) that gave her the edge but even then, Maro found it hard pressed to beat Luffy when they were going all out.

It was only a matter of time before the youngest fully surpassed most of them. After seeing what he turned the Gomu Gomu no Mi into, there was no doubt in her mind that eventually, Luffy would be standing near the top of their little ranking list.

Most of them couldn't even keep up with what Straw Hat was doing.

Rosan, Sabo, Maro and Robin watched the battle like it were happening normally, tracking every movement with an easy gaze.

Everyone else only saw Crocodile getting battered. Luffy was moving too fast for them currently and it filled them with as much awe as it did envy at the fact that the former four were capable of doing so.

But right as it appeared that Luffy was going to finish the fight, Crocodile gained his intangibility back and promptly vanished with a maniacal laugh.

"Oh no," Maro said, watching Luffy glance back and forth wildly before the rubber boy took off in a direction.

Not only that, another of Rosan's bird had been keeping track of the bomb that the Hawkman was holding, so it did not miss how he was caught in the crossfire of the explosion.

He did not survive.

"He's psychotic," Maro muttered, eyes smoldering as she beheld the madness of Crocodile. A man who wanted only power and trusted no one but himself to achieve it.

People like him were dangerous because they truly didn't care about anyone but themselves. Everyone else's life was insignificant in their own eyes so they didn't care who died in their p.

It didn't take very long for them to find Crocodile (made easier by the lack of a sandstorm) but the damage had been done.

Koza (who was the leader of the rebellion and Vivi's best friend) lay there, dead and unmoving from a stab wound that could only be from Crocodile.

The Warlord himself had clearly dipped a bit into madness at the trashing Luffy gave him and was acting accordingly.

"He's been trying to lure you out this whole time," Sabo scowled, staring at the sandman with repressed fury.

Alabasta may have been allied with the World Government but that didn't mean this man was free to do what he pleased with it and Sabo would let it slide.

Rosan said nothing. Crocodile would see him soon enough. But… he'd probably leave the fact that he was going to recruit the man to just Robin (if she had no problem with it of course).

"I don't. I can see the use of having him as an ally," Robin said.

His anger had tapered off and that allowed him to see how immensely useful having this man as an ally would be.

Yes, Crocodile going to prison would be a waste when Rosan could make him submit.

Despite trying to strike Vivi down, Luffy managed to show up in time and took the blow in her stead, getting greatly injured and poisoned on top of it.

Demon was already standing up, eyes focused on Luffy's injured body. "Crocodile is right, Gear Second accelerates his blood flow by a lot and with the poison in his system, he'll be in trouble."

"Right, let's go." Rosan said softly, watching the conclusion of the battle with a… proud look in his eyes.

Good. Well done, Straw Hats. All of them did a good job today.

Maro nodded eagerly and launched herself up, removing her tiara and placing it on a surprised Marianne's head. "Keep that safe for me so that I can come back, okay?"

The artist nodded just as eagerly, tenderly touching the tiara.

Robin was silent for a long while, watching the end of the battle with unreadable eyes and prompting her best friend to look at her.

"Impressive isn't he? My weak youngest brother isn't so weak anymore," Rosan said quietly, gently hoisting her up and placing her on his back again.

"Yes… he's even stronger then I thought," she replied softly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

They all were rather impressive actually… fighting that hard for someone who wasn't even apart of their crew.

She found it quite admirable.

"Gotta say, I'm looking forward to traveling with you guys for a bit," Sabo chuckled. They looked like a lot of fun to be around and he found himself liking everyone quite a bit.

"An adventure with Luffy is never boring, that's what we tried to tell you before but someone wanted to be his own captain and isn't even that," Rosan chided with a shake of his head, eyes glowing as everyone grabbed onto him.

"As if I'd ever sail under Luffy's flag!" Sabo retorted instinctively, eyes widening at that reply.

"Even amnesia can't hide your repulsion at sailing under Luffy," Rosan snorted, activating his Save Point.

They all vanished, leaving Kaori and the agents to watch through the lens of the bird.

"They're all monstrous," Kaori muttered with a shake of her head. It was truly unfortunate that Arlong ran into quite possibly the strongest crew in East Blue and that they had a vested interest in Nami.

Straw Hat Luffy and Rosan still had so much they could do… to know that they had been defeated by them without even pushing them…

The others nodded in agreement, remembering the trashing they received clearly.

They needed to train harder.

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

"Y-You guys," Vivi whimpered in surprise, watching everyone appear right next to the sleeping Straw Hats.

King Cobra was out there explaining to everyone what part Crocodile had played in the ruin of their country. Igaram (who Vivi had immediately teared up at seeing alive and well) was there as well to help explain.

They were currently in the King's castle, with Chopper working on each member of the crew. Demon wasted no time and went to go assist the reindeer, offering a smile at him and getting the young Doctor to light up in happiness.

Maro immediately engulfed the princess in a tender hug. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that Vivi but everything's gonna be alright now. It's over, okay? You're so strong for someone so young but I'll be here to help in any way I can."

Vivi sniffed and nodded in the crook of the queen's neck, returning the hug fiercely and allowing the comfort of the Dokkaebi to soothe her.

"It hurts… a lot," she said through shaky breaths, tears spilling onto Maro's frame.

All that happened… it was so overwhelming. She still couldn't even come to terms that Pell and Koza were both d-dead...

Not only that, even now they were finding a plethora of moles in both the royal and rebel army who were apart of Baroque Works.

It was just so much...

"I know," Maro soothed. "It's going to hurt but we're all here for you and not just us, your citizens too. Just the sight of you crying drained the energy to battle out of them. Your people love you and for good reason, Vivi."

They watched Maro soothe the crying princess with soft eyes.

Vivi had lost so much so quickly but she was still capable of moving forward. She truly was strong.

"I'm sorry," Rosan said quietly. "I wanted to hold off Crocodile long enough for you to stop all this but I let him get away."

"It's because I let my guard down and got poisoned," Robin joined, frowning slightly.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The princess peeked out from Maro's shoulder so that she could shake her head vigorously. "You guys did so much! None of this would have even been possible without you two intervening so much so thank you," she retorted, truly meaning it.

Robin was surprised but eventually it transformed into a tiny smile.

Vivi truly was a kind person. She would be a fine queen.

Rosan stabbed that tiny amount of paranoia telling him that no one was this kind and regarded her with a hint of curiosity.

Eventually, he nodded and said, "A lot of your buildings were destroyed, I will go repair them now."

Not waiting for a response, he swiftly departed from the confused people and Robin followed after.

"Don't worry, he's not upset… it's just in that moment, your kindness reminded him of Meiko and he didn't know how to deal with that," the Devil Child informed her, making sure she didn't get the wrong idea.

"Ah!" Vivi's features turned sympathetic as she looked at the spot Rosan was just at. "I understand, please thank him for going out of his way to repair the buildings for us!"

Robin nodded and quickly left the room before Rosan got too far.

"I should go make a call as well," Sabo muttered, tipping his hat to the occupants before exiting the room to inform Dragon of what transpired.

Angel frowned at having nothing to do and just shrugged, sitting down in a comfy seat and eyeing her wife.

She should get into knitting. Then she could make ugly sweaters for all of her family and force them to wear it.

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

Those pesky Marines managed to recover quick and managed to call for backup too.

It was annoying.

Already, Crocodile had been arrested by them and they were beginning the search for the other incapacitated agents.

"I should have killed all of them," he muttered in annoyance.

That was okay. He'd just kill two birds with one stone later.

"I still remember how often you used to incorrectly say that quote," Mod said lightly, utterly unbothered by his slight annoyance.

"Two stones with one bird… only Rosan," Robin laughed lightly.

He ignored them both, grabbing onto Robin and quietly moving away from the Marines.

Mr. 1 and Crocodile were already in cuffs while Mr. 2 was missing… They were still searching for the other 3 but they wouldn't find them.

Rosan knew exactly where they were so he'd go for them first.

First, Miss Doublefinger. She was the most injured due to being attacked by his flames (the ones in Clima were weaker until Nami got stronger and needed them to be stronger as a result) directly and if left alone for longer, she'd die.

Mr. 1 was far too loyal to Crocodile so perhaps after speaking to the sandman, he'd force his subservience by using the former Warlord.

Rosan glanced down at Miss Doublefinger's burned body and nodded in satisfaction.

He would need to praise Nami and Clima later for a job well done. He hoped she enjoyed having a weapon that could help her out.

The redhead walked up to the scantily clad woman and nudged her.

Seeing as Miss Merry Christmas was far enough and Mr. 4 was dead, he figured he could learn more about this one.

The agent gasped in agony as soon as he made contact and tried to shoot up, only to let out a whine of pain as her body flared.

Everything hurt.

Her body was in so much pain. She couldn't think straight right now due to her blistering skin and tried desperately to bite back her tears.

"Are you going to destroy her self worth?" Robin asked curiously, wondering how he was going to convince Miss Doublefinger to join their side.

"There is no need."

"You look like you're in pain," Rosan said quietly, managing to break through the woman's hazy fog with his voice.

Bending down, he placed a hand on her and idly numbed her body.

The effects were immediate. Miss Doublefinger let out a shaky sigh of relief and finally focused her attention on the two new arrivals.

That relief and gratefulness swiftly turned into horror as she realized who they were.

"Y-You're—," the woman immediately stopped talking as she realized just how dry her throat was but she knew these two and it caused her to go pale in fear.

One was the redhead that Crocodile himself said he would deal with and that same redhead was staring down at her without a single injury on his body.

The other was the more surprising one because this was the missing Miss All Sunday.

Was this why Crocodile wanted to deal with the redhead himself…? Did he understand just how dangerous the man before her was?

If he was standing before her uninjured, what could she possibly do?

Robin offered her a glass of water and despite her wariness, it was so hot and she felt so parched so she drank it with far less hesitation then was befitting of her.

"Miss Doublefinger, it's nice to meet you. I'm Rosan," the redhead greeted, never taking those unnerving eyes off of her for a second.

She noticed her burned attire and hastily covered some of her modesty, warily staring at the two the whole time.

"W-What do you want?" The woman asked, unable to hide her fears fully.

Rosan hummed, taking a step forward (which made her try to crawl back… to little success).

"Let's start with your real name," he said quietly. "I gave you mine after all, wouldn't it be rude not to return the favor?"

She shuddered at that quiet order and began fearing the consequences of not doing so.

His words demanded respect and she found herself quickly submitting to them.

"Zala…" The woman replied, averting her gaze towards the ground.

Rosan nodded and crouched in front of her, making the woman shudder once more. "Zala, are you aware that the Marine's are looking for you as we speak?" He asked softly.

Her eyes widened at that. "S-So it's over… we—"

"Lost? Yes, you did," he replied calmly. "I think it would be a waste for you to get tortured in Impel Down though, so I'd like you to join my side."

Impel down… Zala heard of that hell like prison and someone with her bounty, would be sent there without hesitation.

She shuddered at that. Going to Impel Down was probably the worst thing that could happen to a pirate.

"Y-You'll really save me from that if I join your side?" She asked hesitantly.

"I wouldn't have approached you otherwise," he replied bluntly, offering her his hand. "Crocodile didn't know how to utilize you and that is why you all lost. Join my side instead of wasting away in a prison. Of course, I'll have someone heal your burns as well."

Zala looked at the bronze hand with a conflicted expression but that didn't last long. She grasped it and the redhead gently pulled her up, inspecting her wounds all the while.

Looking into the eyes of the one who offered her safety, she couldn't keep the admiration out of them.

"You… you have so much different ways of manipulating people," Robin said, a little shock in her tone at how easily Rosan made her submit.

"At the end of the day, these people are inherently followers. It's all about understanding the correct buttons to push but they will all submit to a stronger force in time. It's in their nature to flock to someone who will lead them," Rosan replied.

That's why he was looking forward to recruiting Crocodile. That man wasn't a follower. He wasn't the type of person to take orders from someone but he would be taking orders from Rosan.

Was it risky? Yes, but it was beneficial and most of all, it was fun.

"Come, we still have one more to approach. Unfortunately, they've already captured Crocodile and Mr. 1 and I cannot find Mr. 2 anywhere," Rosan said softly, eyes flickering towards the desert.

The agent might have been utilizing his Devil Fruit at the moment. How unfortunate...

Zala paled a bit at hearing that the two strongest in their organization were already captured and felt her loyalty to Rosan grow.

That could have been her… She was glad it was not her.

"Who else is there?" She asked, trudging slowly behind the duo (she was stunned to see Miss All Sunday of all people allowing someone to carry her on their back).

"Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas. Although, Mr. 4 is just a corpse at this point." Rosan took one look at her and grabbed the injured woman, much to her surprise. With a slight glow, her outfit repaired itself and he began carrying her bridal style.

"Aren't you a gentleman?" Zala couldn't help but say despite shuddering at hearing how casually he mentioned Mr. 4's death. What was that technique he just used? How did he manage to completely repair her outfit?

He didn't even spare her a glance. "You're moving too slow is all. It'd take hours if I allowed you to walk on your own."

The redhead looked utterly unbothered at having to carry both the tall women, swiftly making his way towards the location of Usopp and Chopper's battle.

"I imagine we won't be traveling with your crew?" The spike woman asked. They were enemies after all.

"Correct. You will be staying on an island in the North Blue run by my student. Your other agent friends are there too," Rosan replied softly.

The other agents?! Which ones were he talking about? Wasn't Mr. 3 dead?

"We're here."

Robin was about to get off his back but the fabric of his shirt was far too comfortable and she was more sore then she thought, so she just opted to lie there instead on his rumbling body.

Zala wanted to question Miss All Sunday but thought better of it after Rosan glanced at her warningly.

She simply nodded hastily and let the woman doze off.

It was just odd to see her so… comfortable around a person. It was honestly the weirdest thing the former agent had seen in a while and she just fought a girl with split personality.

Rosan made sure Robin was comfortable and glanced at the bodies of Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas.

True to his words, Mr. 4 was dead and Miss Merry Christmas was probably only alive due to her Zoan physiology...

What a crew of monsters. Were they all pyromaniacs?

"Miss Merry Christmas is stubborn so she might put up a fight," Zala informed helpfully.

"Noted," he responded, glancing at the bazooka lying there. He picked it up and observed it, running a quick scan on the weapon in the process.

So it was actually a bazooka with a dog devil fruit… He wonder if he should—

No, not yet. He still needed to practice that some more and Maro wanted this anyways. Besides it would be useless to try that here.

"?" Mod tilted her head in confusion.

Was… Was Rosan practicing a technique that she didn't know about? When did he have the time to do that and why wasn't she privy to it?

"Because he doesn't trust you like you think he does," a voice in the back of her mind whispered cruelly.

The Devil Fruit bit her lip and banished that thought immediately, subtly tightening her grip on the sleeping Ram's hair.

"She doesn't seem like she's going to be waking up anytime soon," Rosan muttered. "Fine, I'll just bring you all to your new location now and you can explain the situation to her when she wakes up. I imagine as one of the highest ranked females in the organization, your words hold weight?"

Zala nodded. "I might need some medical attention in the meantime."

"That will be arranged."

Demon was here right now helping Chopper out but there were plenty of doctors on Celadon that could help them.

Rosan dragged Miss Merry Christmas over before glancing at the male agent who was dead.

Outstretching his hand, he shot a simple burst of red flames that consumed the body and swiftly reduced him to ashes.

Zala felt a surge of primal fear, as she realized where the girl with mental issues got access to such hellish flames.

She was looking right at him.

Memories of those flames crashing into her, made the woman take a step back from the demon before her and she felt her breath hitch.

"Where are you going?" Rosan asked calmly, rooting her in place with that cold expression of his. "I need you to be touching me, not backing away. I've already recruited you, there is no reason to think I'd turn my flames on you, unless you thought of betraying me."

Robin continued to rest, head nestled in the crook of his neck. The sight was honestly adorable but it didn't help alleviate Zala's fears at all.

She shuddered and nodded hesitantly, moving closer to the duo and grabbing onto him.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Rosan activated his Save Point and they all vanished.

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

"Mr. 5, Miss Valentine and Miss Goldenweek!" Zala gasped in surprise, staring at the agents with wide eyes.

They looked different now, likely due to not wanting to match their bounty posters, but she could still tell that it was them due to knowing them for so long.

"I go by Gem. Not Mr. 5," Mr. 5 said coolly, unfazed by her arrival and nodding towards Rosan.

His shades were gone, replaced by visor sunglasses instead and his spiky dreadlocks grew longer, stopping at the bottom of his ears and spilling past his new eyewear.

"And I'm Mikita…" Miss Valentine interjected quietly.

She was a far cry from the over confident and sadistic women, trying to shrink into herself instead.

The woman also looked different, getting rid of her entire lemon themed outfit (including that hat at Angel's behest) in favor of a yellow turtleneck and jean combo. Her hair seemed to also be growing past the chin now.

"I'm Marianne," Miss Goldenweek finished, idly clutching a tiara in her hand. She had the most changes appearance wise and was the hardest for Miss Doublefinger to pinpoint.

Only her childish appearance and the fact that the other agents were there made her recognizable.

Angel had taken one look at the girl's outfit, made exaggerated gagging noises and summarily burned it into cinders (literally, Marianne watched in disbelief as she had an apologetic Maro do the deed), leaving only her pink hat in the process.

She then proceeded to use her own money to update the girl's wardrobe, an excursion that took them the whole day.

Despite the slight injustice at getting her outfit destroyed, watching Angel dip into her own funds just to update it more then made up for it and she was incredibly touched.

"That just means she's adopted you basically!" Maro had assured, grinning widely at the satisfied look in her wife's eyes.

Currently, she was dressed in a white and pink shirt and skirt combo that complimented her hat (she had gotten different colors too!) well.

It was honestly the most thoughtful act someone had ever done for Marianne which was why it was so surprising Angel was the one to do it.

Adopted was pretty accurate, Angel seemed to very much like her for whatever reason.

"Kaori, could you and Gem bring these two to the hospital?" Rosan asked politely. They could catch up when he wasn't here and Maro was. They were her soldiers, not his.

The two, being Maro's strongest soldiers, caught his desire immediately and nodded.

His message was simple, make sure they don't do anything stupid.

Formerly, the two would have slaughtered the former Mr. 5 but they had no idea how much more proficient he had become with his powerful Devil Fruit.

He could undoubtedly deal with the agents individually now if they proved to be rowdy.

"Marianne. This is the Bazooka Dog. Make sure it doesn't cause a mess and use your paint if you have to. I'm off," Rosan muttered, adjusting Robin. It seemed that she was more exhausted then she let show because the women was fully asleep now, breath even and quiet on his neck.

He handed the bazooka to the girl (it was comical how they were practically the same size) before waving at them all and vanishing.

Zala blinked at his abrupt departure, staring at the spot he was just at before gasping as the pain in her body returned. She doubled over and desperately tried to hold back her tears.

Kaori coated her body in some water and gently picked the women up.

"Can someone explain what's happening after I get healed?" The spiked agent asked, shooting a grateful look towards the fishman and stabbing down her slight discomfort.

"It's a lot to explain…" Marianne said truthfully.

"I suddenly have time," she replied, clenching her eyes shut.

What the hell was in the schizophrenic navigator's fire?

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

His crew was still asleep and he had repaired many of the destroyed buildings (to the tearful joy of Cobra and Vivi) so Rosan and Robin decided to pay Mod and Ram a visit.

"MOTHER!" Ram cried, tackling Robin over and beginning to immediately cry on her. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was so scared a-and I couldn't stop crying but I hate crying and now that you're okay I'm crying again and I'm so confused!" She blabbered.

"Ah, this really is Rosan's daughter," Robin thought for the umpteenth time.

Their similarities were too apparent and it was honestly super adorable.

...She had been using adorable a lot lately. No wonder Rosan teased her.

"I'm fine, Ram. It was a slight mistake but I'm good!" she assured, stroking the woman's silver hair in assurance.

"D-Don't worry me like that again," Ram whimpered, burying herself deeper in Robin's frame.

"Does Ram actually consider Robin her mother?" Rosan mused, watching the exchange with a curious gaze.

"Her desire for a mother caught me by surprise too. I was unaware that she wanted one," Mod replied, smiling softly as she tucked herself into Rosan.

Despite slight hiccups, it was an overwhelming victory for the Straw Hats and she smiled proudly at them all.

Rosan raked a hand through her lustrous hair and she sighed happily, pleased that they were all doing fine.

"If she truly wants one and Robin doesn't mind, then I see no problem with it," Rosan said, watching as she easily calmed the ring down.

Huh, that was far easier then he managed to do.

Mod wanted to tell him that saying things like that carried heavy implications but just kept her mouth shut with an amused smile.

"That reminds me…" Robin muttered, fixing Rosan with a heavy stare. "You must think you're awfully funny, don't you Rosan?"

The redhead raised a brow, Mod went scarlet and Ram grinned brightly.

"I've been told on some occasion that I'm funny despite thinking otherwise," he said dryly, watching as his best friend marched up to him with a purpose.

She gazed into his heterochromatic eyes with a flat gaze. "You kissed me in front of all of our enemies and you squeezed my butt for a very long time," she stressed, flushing slightly at the memory.

"You were trying to ruin my plan. I refused to let you be Crocodile's target and Ram had a good idea so I implemented it."

Ram grinned brighter at that, looking utterly shameless at being exposed.

"Of course I was trying to ruin your plan! I don't need to be babied by you and that's what you were trying to do," Robin frowned slightly.

Rosan stood up from the comfy couch he and Mod were sitting on to regard the Devil Child.

"I'm not trying to baby you, Robin. Crocodile would absolutely target you after realizing you betrayed him for me," the redhead said softly. "I'm stronger then him but even I would be wary fighting a person in their own domain. It's just… I just got you back and I don't want to lose you already."

Her eyes softened at the rare vulnerability in his eyes and she immediately hugged him.

Robin sighed, she was still incredibly whipped it seemed. For all intents and purposes, she should be completely upset with the redhead but she hardly paid any stock to the fact that he groped her so shamelessly and instead focused on the fact that he was being overprotective.

"I understand but we're partners and that means we should be equals. I don't want to hold you back in a fight because you're stuck worrying about me. I want you to only look forward with the knowledge that you have fantastic backup keeping you safe," she said, gazing up at those mesmerizing orbs of his.

It still filled her with a guilty satisfaction that just reconciling with her, managed to make them spark with a bit of life.

Rosan returned the hug and nodded. "I'll try not to overprotect you too much but you'll have to become much stronger to put my mind at ease," he told her.

"Of course. I have you here to motivate me," she replied, enjoying his natural flowery smell.

They embraced for a while before it was broken up by the most obvious source.

"So, Mother! What did you think about the kiss?" Ram prodded, pleased to see that light dust of red. For someone like Robin, that was the same as a normal person going scarlet.

Robin enjoyed it more then she would like to admit but there was no way she was going to inflate the redhead's ego more then it already was (she didn't actually think it was possible to inflate it more but she wouldn't risk it).

Instead, she'd make good on her promise.

"Ram, I think you need to be disciplined by someone else besides Mod-chan for once. Telling him to squeeze my butt? That's not something a daughter should be thinking about in regards to her parents," Robin smiled at the problematic ring.

Ram squeaked and went white. "Y-You have a nice ass though! I wouldn't be embarrassed about that!"

"You've completely missed the point, exactly like Rosan. That means I have to teach you exactly like I taught him." Robin let out a mock sigh of sadness.

"I'm in a lot of danger!" Ram balked.

Before she could even turn, arms sprouted over her body and she let out a noise of protest as they brought her to the floor.

"Y-YOU'RE ALL CHEATERS!" The ring protested, struggling violently in her grip to no avail.

No fair! They all had ways to instantly catch her!

"I wouldn't want to go through the trouble of chasing you. You seem like you run pretty fast," Robin smiled, approaching the ring with a look that promised bad things.

Mod giggled, pleased that she wasn't the one who had to discipline Ram this time.

That giggled turned into a laugh at the betrayed look the ring shot her.

Rosan snorted as he shamelessly allowed her to take full blame. It was Ram's idea so let her take the hit.

Better her then him.

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

"You wish to see our secret Poneglyph? Of course! Anything for our saviors," Cobra nodded at the duo.

Rosan and Maro especially, were helping Alabasta out so much in these past few days.

Robin and Rosan followed after the King with short nods of their own.

"Someone who can read the Poneglyphs… an almost impossible thing to see," the king remarked idly.

Robin smiled thinly at that.

Rosan, sensing her slight discomfort, chose to jump in the conversation.

"I heard you and Maro have been having some discussions?" He asked the king, not missing the grateful look Robin shot him.

"Ah! Yes. Queen Maro is an incredible person," Cobra began, smile making its way onto his face at the mention of his student. "I hear you have trained her? I don't know what circumstances brought a pirate and royalty together but you did a fantastic job raising her."

Maro had introduced herself as the ruler of Celadon to Cobra and to say the king was surprised, was an understatement. After all, Celadon was an island whose prestige had grown so quickly, they had almost immediately been identified as an official kingdom by the World Government and were granted access to the Levely.

The duo of Rosan and Maro had picked out an empty area in their kingdom and within a matter of hours, had created a few greenhouses for Alabasta, filled with a plethora of fruits and vegetables that were growing at an insane rate.

They understood why Celadon was so prestigious now. These two were incredible and had managed to solve some of their issues instantly.

"These are my specially grown crops as well, consider them a gift!" Maro beamed as she absentmindedly hugged the grateful Vivi.

To be so kind with no ulterior motives... it was only right Cobra did something as small as show them the Poneglyph. It would be shameful if he could not grant them one of their requests.

Rosan dismissed his praise. "All I did was make her strong and make sure she doesn't use that kindness for the wrong people. That is just her inherent nature."

Cobra laughed. "You should give yourself more credit. She would disagree with you based on how much praise I hear from her."

"And I'd be chopping her head for bragging about a pirate so much despite being a queen," Rosan sighed.

The king laughed merrily at that. "Don't worry, I would never think of outing such a kind and gentle queen who's trying to help our country."

"I'd kill you if you did," Rosan told him, gazing at the secret passageway the king revealed.

"It's down here, right this way."

The three made their way to the Poneglyph and Rosan looked at it with a raised brow.

"So this is a Poneglyph…" Rosan mused, glancing at the large rock. It was his first time seeing one.

He idly remembered the time Robin offered to teach him how to read them...

"This giant rock is what you're so impressed by? Nerd."

...It was a good thing he said no. They were so lame.

Robin idly summoned a hand on top of Rosan's hair and yanked it harshly, getting a grunt out of him.

"You all need to stop trying to find out my kinks, perverts," he retorted, promising he'd get his revenge on her later.

"The one who reads just as much as me is calling me a nerd," she countered, sighing at how aggressive she became around him.

She couldn't help it. Rosan infuriated her too easily.

Running her hand through the Poneglyph, Robin focused on its words and remained silent…

She took a step back and frowned slightly.

"Found out where it is?" Rosan hummed, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes. But I was hoping it had something else on it. I don't much care for the ancient weapons."

Robin informed the redhead of the location and saw him tilt his head.

"I see," he said. He wasn't very interested in Pluton in general but this was good to know.

"Is that all?" Cobra asked, eyes a bit fascinated at watching her rove her fingers over the ancient stone.

"Yes, thank you," Robin said, smiling in satisfaction.

That smile quickly turned into a yelp as Rosan yanked her hair with that smug expression of his.

"Oh? I suppose that's not your kink either," he shrugged, smirking at her glower.

Without any hesitation, almost like they were kids again, Robin lunged on Rosan and began choking him, a brawl quickly ensuing between the two.

"I've put up with you enough these past few days!" Robin said with a glare.

Rosan scoffed slightly at her and immediately flipped her so that he was on top. "Cry about it. Don't apologize now when I teach you a lesson."

Cobra sweatdropped and watched the two roll around. "Could you two not have a lover's spat in Alabasta's secret chamber? It's a rather sacred area and I wouldn't want any damage to fall on it…"

They ignored him. Completely.

"Only Rosan can irritate Robin to such a degree that she'd actually attack them first," Mod smiled fondly.

They used to fight all the time as kids and it was always Rosan's fault. The redhead was infuriating on the best of days.

Not a single person on the planet but him managed to rile young Robin up so effortlessly... It seemed intentional at times on his part.

It was good to know that held true.

"GO MOTHER! GO FATHER!" Ram cheered. Fighting was like the most intimate form of love right for someone like her Father right?

Mod sweatdropped.

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

"Captain Smoker, Hina and Master Chief Petty Officer Tashigi are all being promoted by two ranks for the defeat and capture of former Warlord, Sir Crocodile."

The injured Smoker snarled in disbelief, ignoring the warning glare a bandaged Hina shot him.

"Did you not get the report?!" He barked in annoyance. "We were soundly defeated by two people, most of our men died and the Straw Hats dealt with Crocodile. Why exactly are we being rewarded?!"

This was humiliating. Tashigi had been deeply depressed ever since the redhead had effortlessly broken her arm, Smoker was in a body cast because of Nico Robin, and Hina had to receive a blood transfusion due to all the blood she lost from the various cuts on her body, not to mention the bones they broke and the burns they suffered.

Most of their men died in that one-sided slaughter.

Yet, they were being promoted? Was this some type of sick joke?

The Marines contributed nothing to Alabasta being saved besides assisting in picking out Baroque Work members inside of the rebel and royal army. They were just caught in the middle of two overwhelmingly stronger forces, so why were they taking credit for everything?

"We received your report and the necessary steps will be taken to ensure the world is aware of the Straw Hats threat due to evading the Marines that managed to capture Crocodile."

So this is what they were doing?

Memories of two apathetic gazes looking down at them, words as sharp as a razor piercing into them all the whole while.

"You Marines are all on a power trip and have no interest in doing your actual job. None of you care about upholding justice. You just do whatever satisfies yourself. Honestly, you're no better then pirates. You're just allowed to flex your power legally."

"When the top of your chain is corrupt, all of you are, no matter what beliefs you think you're fighting for."

If they accepted this, they'd just be proving that vengeful redhead right. Listening to what they had to say, Smoker realized that the one named Rosan may very well have a good reason for hating the World Government.

Covering the truth, general corruptness… it wouldn't be shocking if he was at the tail end of one of the underhanded tactics of the Marines.

"I don't want your promotion," Smoker growled, slamming the call shut with a deep scowl.

All they did was clean up the aftermath of the Straw Hat's victory.

Two members. Just two members managed to dismantle them like that. By the time they were finished escaping and tending to their injuries, the battle had long been over.

They were only alive due to how pathetic they were. Rosan simply prioritized a higher threat and treated them like an afterthought.

Smoker grunted in disdain. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"We're done here. Another ship will come and escort the captured agents while we recuperate at headquarters."

"W-What about the missing agents? We were unable to locate multiple."

"Hina thinks they're dead," Hina said quietly, deep in contemplation after her near death experience. It was very possible that the terrifying redhead dealt with them.

"We got the most important ones anyways," Smoker grumbled. "Tashigi, let's go."

The dazed woman shot up at being called before hesitantly saluting with her good arm. Her dominant hand was wrapped up in a sling and more then once, they saw her staring at it with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Don't allow one defeat to drag you down, Tashigi," Smoker advised gruffly. "Just train and get stronger so that it doesn't happen again."

She sniffed before nodding resolutely, making sure to burn that red and purple gaze into her mind and having it fuel her.

Never again would she rely on the pirates who defeated her. The Straw Hats not only saved Alabasta, they made sure every Marine was a non factor in the process.

She never wanted to feel this helpless again.

"To think the Devil Child had such a powerful partner… This can't bode well for the world," Hina muttered.

They weren't just allies either. Those two were almost perfectly in sync with each other and not only that… they were lovers too.

The Marine sighed and gazed at her injured body, shuddering a bit as a tremor shot through her.

Smoker and Tashigi didn't have to deal with what she did in that fight, being constant prey the entire time and knowing you could die at any given moment... Only surviving because they were using you as bait...

Hina didn't want to run into that monster again anytime soon. Someone like him would be very displeased that he didn't get to kill them and would make sure to finish the job next time.

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

Sengoku stared at the report of Alabasta with a deep frown on his face.

This was yet another report on the Straw Hats… but this time there was even more urgent information.

They had the Devil Child in their midst and not only that, the Devil Child had a partner who she took orders from.

A blank gaze stared at him, expression lifeless through the pictures and Sengoku grunted in confusion at the familiarity coursing through him.

Had he seen this boy before? Where did he remember him...

Rosan was his name. The one who had seemingly perfect synergy with Nico Robin.

If Sengoku was right, then this was the mysterious person who had been traveling with her all those years ago. The same person who had been with her in not only the South Blue… but the North Blue as well…

He was dangerous, with an unknown Devil Fruit that they weren't able to identify. According to that one Captain, Smoker, he was speculated to have some type of Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit, due to his ability to manipulate the terrain, fly, and breathe fire…

Sengoku froze.

Mythical Zoan… Breathe... Fire…

"Based on evidence, we suspect that… it was someone with some type of mythical zoan… most likely one that can breathe fire."

...Red Demon.

Snapping his finger to grab the attention of the Marine there, Sengoku said, "Increase the intended price for the one named Rosan. He is far more dangerous then we were led to believe."

"Sir…?" The Marine questioned. They were already planning on giving him quite the price but the Fleet Admiral wanted to increase it?

"I gave you an order!" Sengoku barked.

His subordinate jumped and saluted hesitantly, departing from the room quickly.

The Fleet Admiral gazed back at the paper with a contemplative expression.

If he was right, this was the same "Red Demon" who had burned down the entire Marine Base back in East Blue.

No, he was certain of it. This boy was a member of the Straw Hats, the Straw Hats had just defeated the Arlong Pirates and that Marine base had been colluding with the Fishman.

It all lined up too well. This Rosan was almost certainly the culprit... and the verification of a Mythical Zoan made another thing clear to him.

He knew why the boy was so familiar now.

Sengoku also had reason to believe that this same redhead was Nico Robin's partner and lover? The one who managed to help her navigate two seas that she should not be able to reach normally? This man, who hated the World Government, had one of the few who could read the Poneglyphs in his palm?

And not only that, he had an unknown Devil Fruit. That wouldn't be too much of an issue but Sengoku knew how dangerous a Mythical Zoan could be. They were the rarest class of Devil Fruits for a reason.

One that allowed him to do all those things… If left unchecked, Rosan could be quite the problem.

The fact that he was choosing to follow Monkey D. Luffy, made the rubber boy all the more dangerous as well.

After all, he was the son of Dragon.

…

Was Rosan also the son of Dragon? The report mentioned that he had a particularly strong hatred for the World Government, calling them corrupt in the process so perhaps…

There were too many mysteries surrounding this sudden threat. The one named Rosan suddenly burst out of nowhere and it left him reeling once he realized how much things were connected to this, at first, unassuming redhead.

He needed to find any and all information about this man.

Yes, that's what he'd do but for now, he'd settle for increasing his bounty price past what it was going to be.

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

"There's no way I'm bathing with you all," Rosan said calmly, fully clothed. Turning towards the king, he asked, "Do you have another bath? I'll go there instead."

"Oh, yes we do!" Cobra said, slightly confused but not questioning it too much.

After some instructions of where to go, Rosan glanced at Robin and she nodded, moving to follow him.

"WAIT HOLD ON!" Sanji roared. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, ROSAN?!"

The redhead tilted his head. "To bathe. Did you not hear me? Did Mr. 2 give you brain damage?" He asked genuinely, leaning forward slightly and placing a hand on Sanji's forehead.

The chef swatted the man's hand away and his teeth turned serrated.

"I KNOW DUMBASS! WHY IS ROBIN-CHAN GOING WITH YOU?"

Now it was Robin's turn to tilt her head. "I would like to bathe as well," she answered calmly.

Sanji's jaw dropped in disbelief. "W-With him?"

They both blinked at that.

"I thought that was obvious?" Rosan muttered, brows furrowed.

Mod struggled to hold back her laughter at their genuine confusion. Robin and Rosan bathed so often together they didn't see it the way others did.

Vivi decided to just be the one to ask the looming question that had been on their minds since Robin and Rosan reunited. "Are you two dating?"

"No," they replied in unison, wholly unbothered by the question.

"Y-YOU AREN'T?!" Everyone asked in confusion.

"All this because we bathe together?" Rosan muttered. He bathed with Luffy all the time but no one ever asked if they were dating.

"I told you guys we bathe together," Robin said with a small smile. "It gave me peace of mind knowing Rosan was accounted for instead of going off by himself to cause chaos and then it became routine."

"She's very good at washing my hair," the redhead chimed in, already walking off.

"He's very good at washing mine too," the brunette smiled softly at that and went to follow.

Sanji collapsed on his knees. "H-Have they been bathing together this whole time…?"

R-Robin's voluptuous body… you were telling him that Rosan got to see it every single day?

"It's. Not. Fair!" Sanji bawled, slamming a fist against the ground with each word.

"I can't even say I blame Sanji for that reaction," Nami sighed. She, along with Luffy, were the only ones there not surprised to hear Robin and Rosan weren't dating.

After all, Maro (who was back on Celadon) had filled her in on the plan to get them together and as Rosan's annoying little sister (and the only intelligent one on the ship besides them), it was her duty to progressively get them together.

Though… it may be harder then she thought because they did everything that couples did… but didn't acknowledge their relationship as one of couples.

For being so smart… Robin and Rosan were being quite stupid.

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

Robin hummed in delight as Rosan lathered her hair with shampoo, summoning two hands to do the same to his own red spikes.

"We should be going on our next journey soon," Rosan mused, humming a gentle tune as he dutifully cleaned Robin's hair.

"I wonder where we'll go? This one was quite eventful," Mod pondered.

"We still have some business to wrap up here," Robin said, glancing back at Rosan. "Is Vivi coming with us?"

Rosan shook his head. "I don't think so. She loves us but this kingdom needs her," he replied.

Maro played a big influence on the princess as well. He was sure that she would stay here but the crew would wait for her response regardless.

"I figured. Hopefully it doesn't hurt the crew too much when they find out," Robin replied, sighing as he rubbed a particularly nice spot. "What about Crocodile? He's getting further and further as we speak."

"That's fine by me. I've been tracking his ship the entire time. I can attack them soon," Rosan muttered.

The further the ship got, the better it would be. Sinking in the middle of the ocean could just be attributed to a freak storm in the Grand Line.

"I?" Robin raised a brow. "Don't you mean we? Do you think I'm letting you go alone?"

Rosan grunted. He wasn't sure if she wanted to see Crocodile so soon but if she did then that was fine.

"So sorry dear, how could I ever make this up to you?" Rosan mocked, washing her hair down with water.

The two hands cleaning his hair dispersed, only for two more to pour a bucket of water of him, wiping the small smirk off of his face.

Robin smiled in amusement as Ram began cackling. "You can stop annoying me for 1 day."

"You're very lucky that you're naked," Rosan said dryly.

"And you're very lucky that you're not a pervert," Robin returned.

The Devil Child let out a surprised yell, as the floor shifted into a ramp and dumped way too much water on her.

"Kahahaha! You two are so childish," Mod laughed, watching Robin glare at Rosan with a look that promised yet another brawl was going to break out between them.

It seemed that with the threat of Baroque Works dealt with, Robin was very quickly allowing herself to fall back into her old habits with Rosan.

Good, she was happy as can be that they were fully relaxed now.

"You're very lucky that you're naked," Robin threatened.

"I'd say you're lucky you aren't a pervert, but after watching you shamelessly grope my female form, I'm beginning to think otherwise. Now that I think about it, we can just call it even," Rosan returned, smirk back on his face.

"You want to talk about groping? Perhaps we won't shower together anymore unless you're in your female form since your male form is so grabby," Robin said, getting up to go dry herself off.

Her redheaded best friend snorted. "Do you have a crush on my female form? Maybe you wouldn't have been so upset if she was the one kissing you."

"Who said I was upset?" Robin thought to herself, before banishing that thought. "You always come to conclusions that boost your ego."

"I simply come to the most logical conclusion and that conclusion happens to make me look good."

"Egomaniac."

Robin nodded. "It's good to know that your unwarranted confidence as a child still remains."

"Father is super skilled but he is pretty arrogant."

Rosan's expression turned neutral. "I'm not a child anymore so this ganging up on me will be punished accordingly. I'll see you three tonight."

They immediately began protesting at that.

"I don't think that's really necessary," Robin informed him. She could only defeat him in tickle wars when utilizing her Devil Fruit but that also involved being a safe distance from him.

The last time they had a war, she used her Devil Fruit and then Rosan used his.

Getting tickled with heightened sensitivity went about how you expected.

"I hardly said a thing!" Mod said, panic set on her features.

Oh dear, if he tickled her again she wasn't going to make it.

"Ah shit," Ram said, going off to look for one of her hiding spots that never hid her from Auntie.

"Should have thought twice messing with an "egomaniac's" ego," Rosan snorted.

"You can be utterly insufferable," Robin groaned, accepting her fate.

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

"Nico Robin is with the Straw Hats and is under the protection of Rosan?" Dragon asked in surprise, eyes widening slightly over the Den Den Mushi.

"Yeah, I know you were interested in meeting her but he's not gonna even think about letting her go," Sabo replied calmly, adjusting his hat.

"Right, I'll keep that noted then… And what about you? How are you feeling?"

The Chief of Staff removed his hat and raked a hand through his hair.

"It's… complicated. I don't know them but it feels like my body does," he admitted. "More then once, I'm responding in ways that makes it feel like I know them but I still can't remember anything."

"You've had amnesia for 10 years. It's to be expected that it wouldn't be so easy."

"Yeah…"

He wanted to remember. The familiarity that his alleged family acted with each other… dragging him into it like he had never left… how he seemingly slotted perfectly in their antics…

"You don't mind if I travel with the Straw Hats for a bit longer, do you?" Sabo asked suddenly.

"Of course not. This is your family after all. You've earned the vacation after your contributions over the years. Give Rosan my regards."

"Right. Thanks, Dragon," he nodded, smiling at the thought of spending more time with them all and hanging up the call.

Luffy, Rosan, Robin, Maro, Angel and Demon… if only Ace were still here, he wanted to spar with his alleged best friend again.

Maybe he really should have just joined Luffy's crew…

Nah never in a million years.

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

Vivi was conflicted.

That was a nice way of putting it really. Vivi was extremely torn.

The Straw Hats were gone, leaving in the dark of night and making their way back to the ship.

There were more and more Marines converging on the island in light of Captain Hina and Smoker being injured so to avoid conflict, they decided now was the time to leave.

Maro, Demon and Angel were gone too, promising to visit whenever they could (once they found out a solution to sailing into the Grand Line) and being given an eternal pose to Alabasta for the future.

They had all done so much for her but there was still one last thing…

Would she be joining them?

"We'll wait for you to make your decision but it won't be for long," Nami informed her.

"We'll stay until 12!" Luffy beamed, munching happily on some meat.

Would she go with them…?

Memories of Koza and Pell sprung in her mind and she immediately teared up.

For Koza and Pell… She knew what she needed to do now.

Igaram burst through the door with a panicked look in his eyes, holding four bounty posters in his hand.

"BAD NEWS!" The man shouted, glancing wildly around the room in confusion at seeing only Vivi. "W-Where did they go?!"

"They're already gone," Vivi said, staring at the posters in his hand. "Those bounties… I'm sure at least two of them will be happy but the other two… not so much."

"This is no laughing matter! These prices for a rookie crew…" Igaram said, staring at the four of them.

The first two were of Luffy and Zoro respectively (these were the two that would be pleased).

Wanted: "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy – 140,000,000 Beris

Wanted: "Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro – 70,000,000 Beris

The last two would not be as happy… in fact, Vivi was sure they'd be quite displeased.

Vivi had no idea what Rosan did to deserve a starting bounty this high but the most secretive member of the Straw Hats would be very annoyed to know that he was officially on the World Government's radar.

They even had pictures (well updated for Robin's case) of them now! That nearly lifeless gaze of the scout stared into her soul through the poster, exposing all her fears and failures.

She already missed that gaze of his. She missed all their gazes and wanted nothing more then to see how they'd react to their new bounties...

"I'm going to sleep Igaram, I need to prepare for my coming of age ceremony tomorrow," Vivi said.

Igaram nervously looked at that contemplative expression on her face but nodded, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Vivi stared into the night sky for a little longer before getting in bed and staring at the sleeping Karoo…

Eventually, she went to sleep, resolve set.

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

Rosan gazed at the Marine ships with contempt, still displeased by letting that other squad escape.

They were currently waiting for Vivi and it seemed the Marine's had been waiting for them.

That was stupid. That was really stupid to show their faces while he was still very deeply annoyed that the other ones got away.

The Straw Hats watched in disbelief as Rosan held a hand out and obliterated one of the Marine ships trying to capture them with a gigantic red ball that was clearly not his fire.

"I'm in no mood to play with any Marines," the redhead said coldly.

Without any hesitation, he leapt on to the top of Merry's sail and transformed Ram into his gloves, before holding his hand up into the sky.

Everyone's jaw slackened as it began raining dozens of red beams into each ship their, tiny but packing enough force to put holes in everything.

"He's in a bad mood," Zoro pointed out, watching him deal with the ship with far too much ease.

The others nodded in agreement, balking at the screams going on right now and finding themselves thankful that Rosan chose to work in the shadows so often.

"The Marine's we were fighting managed to make it out alive because he underestimated Crocodile's anger. He considers that a loss and Rosan's a very sore loser," Robin sighed, watching him land next to them, Ram back in ring form.

"That should be all of them. Now we can peacefully wait for Vivi," he muttered.

They sweatdropped in fear.

"Is she even gonna show up?" Usopp questioned. They had been waiting for quite a bit…

"She'll come!" Luffy said resolutely, staring at the shore with a set expression.

Despite the captain's confidence, more and more time passed until even Luffy looked a bit unsure.

It looked as if she wasn't coming after all...

Finally, when they called it quits and began setting sail, a voice yelled out to them in the distance.

"YOU GUYS!"

They all perked up in joy as Vivi appeared in their line of sight, looking stunning in her coming of age attire.

"VIVI!" They screamed back, excited to actually see her.

"Turn the ship around!" Luffy beamed.

He knew she was gonna show up!

Rosan raised a brow but said nothing.

Vivi looked at all of them, tears brimming in her eyes but a smile on her face. "I've come to say goodbye!"

They all blinked owlishly.

"What?" Luffy said in confusion.

"I love you guys and I'd love to continue traveling but… I love this kingdom so I can't go!" Vivi shouted grinning brightly at them all.

The captain's confusion turned into one of understanding and an equally large grin made its way onto his face.

Memories of traveling with them all ran through her mind and Vivi let out a choked sob.

She really was going to miss them all.

"I-If we ever see each other again... WILL YOU CALL ME YOUR CREWMATE?" She asked, allowing her tears to fall freely.

All the Straw Hats smiled fondly at her vulnerable question and turned away from her.

The sadness in Vivi's eyes only lasted a second, as all of them raised their hands to the sky and showed off the X mark that showed they were all friends.

That's right, they would always be friends.

Vivi smiled beautifully and raised her own arm, showing off the X mark on it as well.

"LET'S SET SAIL!" Luffy yelled and the Straw Hats quickly dissolved into a flurry of action.

The princess of Alabasta watched them go, before sitting on Karoo and racing back to give her speech.

"I'm going to miss them…" She sighed fondly.

She really did want to see Luffy become the Pirate King. Maybe one day she'd use Maro's connection to Rosan to meet them again.

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

"Hey did you hear? The Straw Hats completely wiped out every single ship waiting for them on Alabasta," Jatt, a rookie Marine, whispered to his night shift buddy.

"Seriously?!" Logan, the buddy in question, replied. "I don't know why they even tried to capture them honestly! This is the same crew that managed to defeat Captain Smoker and Hina who just defeated our prisoner!"

"We're lucky we got the mission to escort him… imagine if we had to stay back and fight those monsters…" Jatt shuddered.

"Yeah, I think only our ship and the one escorting that agent captured late… Bentham I think his name was? Are alive… It's nuts! They're being called super rookies already…"

"Yeah, 4 members with bounties that—," Jatt paused as he saw something flicker in the distance. "Hey, did you see that?"

It was dark but underneath the pale moon, he swear he saw something move for a split second.

But now he couldn't see anything...

What was that?

"See what?" Logan said, puzzled.

Jatt scrambled for his binoculars and hastily placed them over his eyes to get a better look and let out a sigh of relief at the fact that there really was nothing there.

"Must have been because I'm sleepy or maybe I've been thinkin of the Captain and her "assets" too much," the Marine joked.

Commodore Emma was a complete babe and he thanked the lucky stars that he was allowed to work under her.

He continued to laugh at his own joke before coming to the realization that Logan was not laughing with him.

"Not funny?" Jatt asked rhetorically. "I thought it was pretty good…"

…

"Logan?"

The Marine finally turned around to regard his friend, wondering why he was being ignored—

There was no one next to him.

Why was there no one next to him?

He nervously began glancing around, a cold feeling seeping into his bones that made him begin shuddering.

Where was Logan? He was just next to him… Where did he end up going?

S-Should he go call the Commodore? Y-Yeah... that s-sounded like a good—

Splash.

The jittery Marine whirled around fully at what he thought was a noise and let out a shaky breath at seeing nothing there once more.

His mind was playing games with him. Logan probably went to the bathroom while he was thinking about Emma's amazing body.

Yeah… that had to be it.

Sighing to himself, he turned to sit back down and keep up with his night shift—

And came face to face with an all black figure, looming over him.

"AHHHHH! W-WHAT THE FU — mmgh!" Jatt tried to scream but two fucking arms sprouted from his shoulder and immediately covered his mouth.

He tried hard to struggle but it was for naught.

"You really thought your friend disappeared without a word?" Rosan asked calmly, raising a brow at the idiot. "Well, I can't say I blame you. I'd also come to such a stupid conclusion if I wanted to work off my fear."

"MGMMHM!" Jatt tried to scream for help to no avail.

He knew this person. Oh Kami he knew this person. They were making waves across the whole world with their incredible starting bounty and that handsome visage.

W-What was he doing here? How did he get here?! Wasn't the Red Devil supposed to just be leaving Alabasta?! What was the second most dangerous member of the Straw Hats doing here?!

"It's disappointing that your first option is to scream for help instead of trying to fight but I can't expect much from a Marine," the redhead muttered.

Without any hesitation, Rosan took a step forward and gently plunged a silver tanto into his chest, watching neutrally as blood bloomed from the injury and began seeping into his white uniform.

The hands covering his mouth vanished just in time for him to vomit blood and before he could scream, a gloved hand, courtesy of Rosan this time, replaced the previous pair and successfully muffled him again.

"Shhh," he murmured gently, watching the man fail to grip the tanto stabbing through him, cutting his hand in the process. "There's no need to struggle. Just close your eyes and rest. It'll all be over soon."

Jatt's struggles lessened over time and the soft, gentle whisper of Rosan began lulling him to a sleep that he wasn't going to wake up from.

"That's right. There's no need to be so noisy. Isn't that inconvenient? You wouldn't want to wake up your allies would you?" He asked, finally removing the blade from his chest and staring coldly at the bleeding body.

Right… noisy… wouldn't that be bad? H-He should join his sleeping allies… but wasn't he doing something…? He couldn't remember…

So… tired…

"I have to agree with Mod-chan, you are terrifying," Robin said with a shake of her head, watching the body drop with an uncaring gaze. She wasn't keen on feeling blood spill on her arms so she had dissolved them after Rosan stabbed him.

One thing she noticed about this version of Rosan, was that he had a tendency of questioning a person in a way that made them unsure of themselves.

He would ask you something in such a calm and genuine tone, that it really made the person have no choice but to question if he was right or not.

It was horrifically manipulative and incredibly effective but above all, it was terrifying. To make a person question what they knew... it was subtle but it was honestly scarier to her then a person who was blatantly imposing.

Her best friend hardly gave off that intimidating air. He was handsome and unassuming most days... and then you heard what he said and saw what he did and you realized he was even scarier.

Rosan wiped the blood on his gloves off with the Marine's outfit and regarded her. "You guys should never be afraid of me, unless I'm angry with you of course."

"Considering you were so quick to anger with emotions, that doesn't sound very reassuring," Mod said dryly.

"She's right, anger seems to be your most used emotion," Robin teased.

"Father's never gotten angry with me so I'm safe!" Ram beamed.

"Hm, we can discuss this later. We have more pressing matters," Rosan said, tossing the Marine's body overboard so he could join his friend.

"Let's kill the rest. We only need the Captain alive for now," the redhead said softly.

He needed her for one thing then she could join her soon to be dead crew.

"Right," Robin said, unbothered by his actions and content to be his support. She had seen too much memories of his as Reaper and compared to that, this was timid.

He was a complete demon as a child and the years truly did mellow him out.

Not by much though. It was in his nature to be their little monster.

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

Despite being imprisoned in the same room together, Crocodile and Daz Bones didn't bother speaking to each other.

What was there to say? They both lost their respective battles and their plans crumbled right before them due to the hands of one crew.

Besides the acknowledgment of each other's presence, they both chose to remain completely silent.

The two Devil Fruit users were chained up with seastone and accepted their fate, content to wait until they were shoved into Impel Down.

They had gotten used to the utter silence of the night so it was a complete surprise to the both of them, when the door to their holding room burst open.

That surprise turned immediately into contempt, when Crocodile realized who it was.

"You didn't think that fight in the desert would be the last we saw of each other, right? After all, there was so much more to be done, Crocodile," Rosan greeted, stepping into the room like he owned the place.

"Nico Robin and Rosan…" Crocodile grunted, anger immediately subsiding.

There was no point in being angry. His rage had tapered off with the knowledge that he had been utterly defeated by Straw Hat.

Robin and Rosan stared at the Warlord without emotion on their features. They didn't even spare a glance at the other presence in the room, focusing on the former Warlord.

"How did you find me?" Crocodile couldn't help but ask.

"I've been watching you since our battle and I never stopped," Rosan replied calmly. "Would you like to know why?" he asked rhetorically.

Crocodile grunted uncaringly. It was likely that this boy had taken out all the Marines on the ship which meant he was at the complete mercy of the duo. "I'll bite then. Why?"

"Because I was curious on how you managed to become such a disappointment."

That roused Crocodile from his apathetic mood, if the scowl on his face indicated anything.

"You were a supernova. A notorious pirate when Robin and I were just children. Luffy wasn't even born yet when you were making a name for yourself," Rosan began calmly, piercing a hole through Crocodile with his gaze alone.

"You even traveled through the second half of the Grand Line… the New World. You have a strong Devil Fruit, a cunning nature and good head on your shoulders with years of experience..." the redhead praised.

"…You should be strong. So, why did you lose to a crew who had just entered the Grand Line? Don't you find that a little disappointing? Shouldn't you feel more ashamed?"

All the apathy was gone. Crocodile's momentary ego boost at his former accolades, was sent crashing at the realization that he should have never lost to this crew.

"Now you realize? You should have dominated every single one of us. In the desert, the Marines would have had to send an Admiral or an exceptionally strong Vice Admiral to defeat you. Your claims of being invincible in the desert should be true but it isn't because you're far weaker then you should be, Sir Crocodile," Rosan finished mockingly.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but Rosan was right. He never was the same after suffering such a humiliating defeat at the hands of Whitebeard and it led to him losing to a rookie crew.

No matter how strong they were, Crocodile, if he had stayed in shape, should never in a million years have lost that fight, even if they all ganged up on him.

Yet he lost one on one against Straw Hat and likely would lose to this redhead too.

That was unacceptable.

Rosan saw the fire in his eyes and knew he won.

Now, he could strike.

"That was a great dissection of me, redhead but that doesn't explain why you're here," Crocodile rumbled with a deep glare of annoyance.

Was he here to finish him off? Bragging before landing the finishing blow? The redhead seemed spiteful enough to do that—

"Join me."

Crocodile and Daz Bones (who was slightly annoyed at being treated like a non factor) blinked in genuine surprise at that statement.

"What?!" The former Warlord asked in disbelief.

Rosan looked nonplussed by their surprise. "I said join me. I've already killed all but one Marine so you aren't going to Impel Down. I've had plans for you from the start."

Crocodile snorted.

Was this redhead insane? After everything he had done, he was being invited to work with him? They weren't just enemies, this was two of the three who ruined all of his hard work.

The former Warlord would admit, he garnered a respect for the redhead for being just as cunning as him but this was too ambitious.

"You're insane redhead. I have no interest in being friends with you."

Robin shook her head, much to their confusion, and finally spoke. "That, was the wrong thing to say, Crocodile."

"Wrong thing to say? What are you talking about Nico Rob—"

Crocodile wasn't able to finish his sentence as a fist planted itself into his gut with brutal force and a glowing gaze bored into him without remorse.

The Warlord, who was still not even remotely closed to healed from the thrashing Luffy gave him, threw up blood at the strength behind the blow, before a searing hot hand wrapped around his throat.

"Don't speak to Robin unless I say you can," Rosan intoned, heating up Crocodile's body with no mercy.

He watched the man try to hold back his pain but he was failing miserably.

"I think you're sorely mistaken, Crocodile," the redhead whispered dangerously. "I want to use you and your skills for my own benefit. That's all."

"Friends? With you? After what you did to Robin? You should be glad I'm even giving you this alternative because one way or another, you will be useful to me," the redhead promised him, eyes flickering slightly.

If at any point in time, Robin asked him to kill Crocodile. He would do it. It didn't matter what the man was up to, Rosan would get rid of him.

His life lie in Robin's hand. And well, if he refused to join their side, there were plenty of other things he could experiment on the man with.

He would be the perfect subject to practice his technique on.

After all, there's no way he'd let the Suna Suna no mi go free.

Crocodile couldn't hide the flinch from the pain he was currently in and he spat out another glob of spit.

"You… You don't plan on killing me if I refuse," the Warlord huffed.

"You are smart," was all Rosan replied. "Surely you didn't think I'd kill you immediately, right? It's either you join me or suffer the consequences of attacking Robin."

Robin shuddered a bit at that protectiveness, gazing piercingly at Rosan with an unreadable look in her eyes.

Not only would he kill Crocodile on a dime if she requested it, he never forgot that the man attacked her and would punish him if they didn't exploit the sandman…

All for her…? Just how far was Rosan willing to go for her...

Crocodile didn't fancy getting tortured by this apathetic redhead. He didn't miss the hot rage on his face during their last encounter and realized that the redhead probably wouldn't have extended this offer if he truly didn't see his value.

Tch…

"What do you want from me?" The former leader of Baroque Works finally asked, voice full of hate.

Rosan stared at him for a moment. "With your experience, you will be a valuable source of information. You are free to do as you please most of the time. But when I ask something of you, you will do it. It doesn't matter what it is, you will do it without complaint. Make no mistake, you are my subordinate."

"Other then that, you can do whatever but do not go back to Alabasta. You can even take Daz Bones and this ship if you want."

All things considered, Crocodile expected to be a slave but this wasn't terrible. It was still awful by his standards but he could work with this.

"Good. If you can get stronger then me, then by all means free yourself but until then, I'll beat you into submission as much times as it takes until you understand who's in charge," Rosan promised.

Despite everything, the redhead's words were lighting a fire under him that he hadn't felt in a long time.

He didn't feel like dying out right after being reignited.

Besides, he could grudgingly respect how the redhead handled business.

"Fine," Crocodile grunted.

Rosan released his grip and stood up. "I look forward to working with you."

Robin smiled in amusement, no hint of animosity in her eyes. "We're the only ones who are aware of this. Let's keep it like that."

That made sense. Crocodile was very sure the Straw Hats hated him with every fiber in their being. They did care for that princess after all.

This would be kept under wraps...

He was used to that. He preferred this actually. If anyone found out he was answering to this damn redhead...

"How will we keep contact with each other?" Daz Bones asked curiously.

Since he was being permitted, he saw no reason to not follow Crocodile. He had a healthy respect for the Warlord so he would do so.

"I've already handled it. I will visit you when I feel like it," Rosan replied. Wouldn't want him to be ambushed after all.

While burning him, Rosan placed a Save Point on his hook and left it at that…

But that wasn't all.

Rosan hated traitors. He hated them with a passion that was badly expressed due to his limited emotions.

So of course he had countermeasures in place. The very tiny mechanical fly resting inside of Crocodile was proof of that.

He had even taken his intangibility into count and the mechanical fly would secrete water before exploding, instantly killing the former Warlord.

Crocodile didn't need to know that though. Perhaps if he proved his use, Rosan would disable the fly but for now, it was glued to his heart.

The former Warlord snorted, not aware of what Rosan had done and just accepted his response.

"Now, there's just one last thing to do and then you're free to remind the world who you are," Rosan commented.

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

A ringing Den Den was swiftly picked up by the busy Marine there.

"This is Marine Headquarters."

"T-This is Commodore Emma! We're currently under attack b-by an unknown enemy!"

Commodore Emma… Wasn't she the one escorting Crocodile?! Who was attacking them?!

"Commodore Emma, what's going on?!"

Emma seemed to gain her composure at hearing the urgency on the other line. "I… There was a storm and it struck our ship, leaving it severely… leaving it severely damaged and then an unknown assailant began attacking our ship!"

The Marine grew worried at that. An unknown assailant? Who was tracking them? How did they even know where their ship was?

"Are you alright? Did you deal with them?" He asked.

"No. I called to let you know that they're here to free Crocodile and that they will probably succeed. Most of my men are down but are doing their best to hold them back," Emma said grimly. "Before they get me, I need to let you be aware that there is probably a mole in our ranks."

A mole…? That made sense considering someone managed to find their ship but he would need to see if she had proof.

"Do you have proof, Commodore?" He prodded.

"Yes I have proo—"

Shlick.

The other line went silent after that wet noise and the Marine grew concerned at the gruesome noise.

"Commodore Emma?! Are you there?! Speak to me!" He asked, paling slightly.

There was nothing on the other line for a moment, before the noise was broken up by a weak, wet gasp.

"Help… me," Emma gasped out before the call hung up.

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

Crocodile underestimated Rosan. In fact, he underestimated everything about him but now he could see loud and clear why things went so haywire on Alabasta.

The redhead was more then just cunning. He was a demon. To so effortlessly manipulate the information the Marines were getting...

Perhaps crossing him wasn't in his best interest at the moment.

"Well done, Commodore Emma," Rosan whispered, removing the blade from her chest and staring at the blonde Marine beauty with a tilted head. "It's such a shame you weren't Captain Hina or Commodore Smoker. Now you have to take the fall for them."

Her response was to gag, cough up blood and collapse on the floor.

The Marine Captain (who had finally regained control of her body) stared at the monster with terror in her eyes, not understanding why he did this and what he gained from it.

He… He killed all her men right under her nose, attacked and tied her up, went to recruit Crocodile and then… and then he took control of her body and fed the Marines with lies that would throw suspicion onto their own allies instead of the rightful culprit.

Never in her life had she ever felt so violated...

The Straw Hats would never be suspected. They were just in the middle of a battle with the former Warlord after all which made this all the more confusing.

Why? Why did the Red Devil free his enemy? What was the point?!

Robin was so very glad that she was on Rosan's side and that he cared this much about her. The things he did to people he didn't care about… to be blunt, it was horrifying.

If they thought she was the Devil Child… Rosan would look like hell itself to the world.

"That should be all. I'll revamp this ship in your image and then I'll be on my way. Don't try and keep track of my visits, they will be random," Rosan said softly, glancing back at Crocodile and the visibly nervous Daz Bones.

Crocodile merely felt his respect for the redhead begrudgingly grow.

He was someone willing to do whatever he needed to do to win.

Looking at this display… He'd need to get stronger on the off chance this uncaring redhead thought to get rid of him.

To him, most people were just pawns to be used.

Not exactly like Crocodile (who treated everyone like a pawn) but respectable enough.

He couldn't help but think he made a deal with the Devil though.

"Very well," the sandman said, testing his body and nodding in satisfaction after being freed. "Watch your back. Don't think you can control me forever."

"Thinking like that will only make you more useful to me," Rosan countered.

He didn't care about acquiring Crocodile's loyalty. It would literally never happen and they were all aware of it.

Earning his compliance while the sandman trained to get stronger, would just make him do tasks easier for the redhead.

He wouldn't dissuade that. He'd encourage it as long as he benefited off of it.

If Crocodile grew too strong (which wouldn't happen) then Rosan would just blow up the bug.

There was no escaping this. No one escaped him.

Before the redhead could begin on the ship, a wet gurgle caught their attention and everyone's eyes roamed to the struggling Commodore.

She tried to push herself up to grab the Den Den Mushi and Rosan had to respect her. Even in her final moments, she was trying.

An admirable Marine…

He cut off her course and hoisted the women up with one hand, gripping her neck tighter and tighter.

...It was such a shame that she was a Marine.

"You are not needed anymore. You performed your job admirably, so you may rest with your allies," Rosan told her kindly, walking over to the railing and hanging her right above the ocean.

Crocodile and Daz Bones watched, reminding themselves that this could happen to them at any point.

Robin watched with a neutral gaze, no empathy in her eyes.

Emma struggled for naught and could only stare at that merciless gaze with defeat, accepting her fate.

"Why? Why did you do this...?" She rasped.

"Why?" Rosan tilted his head. "You won't understand what goes through my head. Why should I explain my rationale to you, Emma?" He said eventually.

She shuddered at the uncaring reply and gripped his arm weakly.

"You're a monster..." Emma said limply, tone helpless as those soulless eyes drained all the hope out of her.

Rosan's response was to crush her windpipe and drop her in the unforgiving water below, no hesitation at all in his stance.

Just that cruel, empty gaze as he watched her sink into the cold water below.

He stared at the splash with a neutral eye before snorting to himself.

"You'd be #4171 to say that."

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

Memory Viewing With Robin and Rosan - 3

Continued!

Time frame is before they land on Alabasta.

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

Robin had to admit, she was thoroughly enjoying viewing Rosan's memories.

It was never boring, especially with Maro becoming more and more outgoing.

Right now, the future Queen was proposing that they invade the kingdom of Germa and Rosan, pleased to see that she had come to a decision on her own, agreed readily with her.

The redhead quickly sought out to find information on the elusive kingdom and consulted Aiko with it.

"You are incredibly effective," Robin muttered.

It didn't take him long at all to pinpoint and find out where Germa was located and after a meeting, Rosan and Maro had a good enough plan on what they'd be doing.

"I'm not one to waste time," Rosan replied calmly as the memory version of him flew the two over the kingdom located in the East Blue.

They chose a great time to attack because Germa was currently in the midst of invading some kingdom.

Maro's excitement rang true because without wasting anytime, she cloaked herself and flew straight into the kingdom.

"So you guys weren't even sure what you were raiding them for?" Robin asked in amusement, as Rosan walked through the castle with no set purpose.

Mod rolled her eyes. "No, they just assumed that it would have something valuable in there."

"It's called the Kingdom of Science... surely it would have something great. You have to take risks sometimes, Mod-chan... you're far too cautious all the time," Rosan replied calmly.

The Devil Fruit opened her mouth to refute his claim and then closed it.

He... was kind of right. She was a bit too cautious wasn't she?

"Don't worry, Mod-chan... someone has to be cautious in Rosan's head. We all know it isn't him or Ram," Robin reassured, running a hand through her hair with a slight smile.

Mod sighed in bliss and nodded at her words.

They watched Reaper enter some child's room, who was fond of the color green, only to find a strange canister with the number 4 on it.

The Angel of Death tilted his head and Maro, who had went another way, chose that moment to speak with him again.

"So Maro is the one who found the blueprints of the Raid Suit," Robin said, rolling her eyes at how excited she sounded to have one eventually.

After some discussion, the two both agreed to have the suit created and Rosan made the very immoral decision to kidnap a scientist to work for them way too easily.

"You are a trip," Robin sighed in exasperation as she watched Rosan knock out and kidnap a scientist, before stealing all of the technology in their cloning room.

So Germa had clones... that would explain why they were such a dominant kingdom. If their technology allowed them to even create clones, it was a great thing Rosan and Maro chose to invade them because now Celadon had the means to it...

"Germa must truly hate you. I wouldn't be surprised if you are the greatest enemy they have," Robin couldn't help the tiny laughter at that.

"Based on what we did to Judge, I'm inclined to believe that," Rosan muttered, eyes glimmering in a bit of amusement. "Reaper has a lot of enemies to be wary of. Both Marines, Pirates and Kingdoms dislike me."

Robin raised a brow. "Judge? I thought your main point of this mission, was to avoid Judge at all costs... you guys ended up finding him anyways?"

Mod smiled brightly. "Things went a little haywire..."

Haywire was one way to put it... Robin couldn't keep the surprise off her face at seeing a very familiar face there.

"Is... that Sanji?" She asked in shock. The woman glanced at all the other children there and realized that it was almost certainly Sanji locked in that prison with the strange head piece on.

After all, every kid there had a swirly brow.

"Oh right... I was supposed to keep that a secret," Rosan muttered, furrowing his brows. "Well, it's fine. I won't hide anything from you so Sanji will just have to accept it."

"Sanji knows your Reaper?" Robin mused.

Rosan nodded. "I revealed it to him before he officially joined our crew. I trusted him enough to do so."

She had no idea Sanji's past was so sad... the blonde was being constantly bullied by his modified quadruplet brothers and even his father treated him like dirt!

His sister feared what would happen to her so she stayed out of it... but at least she didn't actively bully him...

Still didn't stop Rosan from tearing into her though. Her best friend really had a way with words.

Her heart went out for their chef, at seeing the tears of sadness spilling out of his eyes.

Being told he was a failure because his Father's sick experiment failed on him... and then being relentlessly bullied by his emotionless brothers...

She was glad that he was doing so well now on the Straw Hats. This was too cruel.

Evidently, Rosan agreed because he proceeded to beatdown Sanji's brothers with no remorse, before choosing to free the blonde himself, much to everyone's shock.

"It's not in my nature to make fun of a person with such conviction. No matter what their dream may be," Reaper informed the confused blonde. "You fully believe that you can become a cook after being imprisoned for an unknown amount of time, why would I not believe you if this can't change your resolve?"

Robin smiled as the tears formed in Sanji's eyes and the blonde looked up at Reaper with clear worship in his eyes.

"I had no idea Sanji went through that," she remarked softly.

Another child with a difficult life... Sanji was rather similar to both her and Rosan.

"And look how he turned out now," Rosan commented. "He didn't let this drag him down. No longer is he weak and he's a fantastic chef. I knew I did the right thing freeing him," the redhead smiled slightly.

"And I'm all the more proud of you for it," Robin smiled, stroking his hair in a pleased manner.

"Me too!" Mod smiled brightly, before her mouth formed into a scowl. "I'm glad you managed to get him out of such a hellish environment... Judge is a terrible person."

Robin didn't think a parent could be as terrible as Mod and Rosan made them out to be... until she actually saw Judge.

The man... he was so callous. He truly didn't care at all about Sanji, to the point where he was relieved that the blonde was running away from him.

"Don't ever admit that I'm your father…," Judge had said gravely, closing his eyes. "...in front of other people!"

"What type of parent is he?" Robin frowned deeply, watching as poor Sanji burst into tears and began truly sobbing in anguish.

She just... all because he wasn't afflicted by the modifications his other children had? All because he was kind? What type of human being was Judge, to forsake his own child at the age of 8?

"If I ever see him again and I'm strong enough, I will kill him," Rosan commented. "Sanji may not want him dead, but I do. Someone so callous shouldn't be a father."

Robin found herself nodding at his words. "The world would be a better place without him. I can't believe him..."

What would cause someone to act so cruel with their child? Robin would never have the heart to tell her own flesh and blood to refrain from admitting she was their mother, even with the knowledge that she was the Devil Child.

It was just awful...

Thankfully, Sanji did manage to get away from him and Reaper stayed behind to ensure that Judge had no intention of pursuing.

The duo of Grim and Reaper stared off with the giant of a man and the battle ensued.

Even without the Raid Suit to greatly enhance his capabilities, Judge was still dealing with the bounty hunters with a startling ease.

Predicting all their moves, weathering all their blows...

He was handling them well and looked none the bothered.

"I don't even know how we won this fight," Rosan admitted honestly. "He was too arrogant, didn't take us serious enough."

"Spoilers much?" Robin asked with a raised brow. "I'm still watching the battle you know."

"...My bad," he muttered.

She cracked a smile at that. "Kidding. Kidding. I'm still rather curious how you even managed to break through... this looks like an unwinnable battle."

Despite how unfavorable the battle was for them, Rosan and Maro abused the enclosed terrain to slowly but surely overwhelm the close ranged specialist.

It was like catching lightning in a bottle. All the stars aligned well for Maro and Rosan to win the battle.

The enclosed environment that favored the flying duo more. The fact that Judge didn't have his suit or his weapon and was forced to rely his much worse hand to hand combat...

And of course, their utterly nonsense Devil Fruits.

After realizing they were at such a heavy disadvantage, the duo decided it was time to cheat.

You never wanted Rosan to cheat.

The very first thing Rosan did, was modify Judge's sensitivity and as someone who had been on the receiving end of that so much, Robin would never want to take damage while that ability was on her.

She was proven correct, because everything snowballed out of control for the leader of Germa the moment that happened.

Grim and Reaper were utterly relentless, as they repeatedly attacked the man, who was desperately trying to account for two mobile demons.

Judge tried to go back on the offensive, but the moment he hit Maro, the tempo of the match increased even further.

"I can't believe your teamwork evolved to this level in a matter of months," Robin muttered in awe.

Was it just the effect Rosan had on people? Was he actually adaptable despite the stubborn front he put up?

After all, Rosan and Robin reached such levels of teamwork this quickly too and it was the same with Meiko and Rosan as well...

How polarizing...

The duo continuously attacked and made sure to counteract Judge's precognitive abilities, by giving him no room to move.

Finally he made a fatal error and a pillar of fire erupted from underneath him, shooting him up into Reaper's merciless grasp.

They took full advantage of it. Rosan cut continuously into the man until launching him down.

Into a full Zoan Maro's club.

"Monsters... I can't believe you and Maro actually managed to make a both of your unnatural aggression cohesive," Robin complimented.

It was very different from the way her and Rosan fought. Robin was fine being ranged support for the redhead.

Her style of fighting, was actually why Rosan became so partial to close combat. It was to balance out their skills. Mod-chan utilized far ranged options much more then her son.

Huh, he really was adaptable.

Rosan smiled slightly. "Yeah, teaming up with Maro is for a relentless assault with no breaks at all. My most aggressive partner by far."

She nodded at his assessment, frowning at seeing the duo flee as they were about to kill Judge.

Such a shame...

But they got everything they came there for so she wasn't to disappointed. She was even getting a Raid Suit far into the future because of this trip.

How pleasant.

"I'm excited to see my Raid Suit now," Robin smiled eagerly.

"I am too... I wonder what ability it will derive from your Devil Fruit?" Rosan mused.

"We should find out soon enough. I'm looking forward to it," the Devil Child responded.

After revelling in their victory and converting the scientist to their side, Rosan and Maro quickly made their way back to the ship.

It was there that Maro saw Rosan's female form for the first time.

"I regret showing her this form. She's been obsessed with it ever since," Rosan sighed with a shake of his head, staring at his female counterpart with a neutral gaze.

He could see why so many people were attracted to her, but then again he could see why so many people were attracted to him.

"She looks like she's died and gone to heaven," Robin laughed, watching Maro shamelessly stare at the woman's large breast.

She had to admit, 13 year old female Rosan was adorable. She could see why the Dokkaebi was so attracted to her.

"Well, I guess her seeing this form turned out for the best. It's how we found out Maro and Angel had crushes on each other," Mod giggled.

Robin joined her because it was adorable!

The look of horror on Maro's face when she realized just who she had a crush on, cemented to Robin that the girl truly was Rosan's student.

Angel herself probably didn't realize she had a crush on Maro, but based on interactions, the redhead had liked the bluenette for quite a while.

"How did those two manage to get together?" Robin asked curiously.

Rosan snorted and shrugged. "Apparently, Angel confessed to her the moment Maro was about to confess and she ended up fainting."

That got the three others to giggle before Robin paused.

"Apparently? You weren't there?" Robin asked.

The redhead's small smile vanished and he shook his head slowly. "No, it was right after I left them on Celadon..."

Robin frowned in anticipation at that. "That's coming up soon I imagine."

The redhead nodded. "Are you hungry? Let's go eat first before continuing."

The brunette thought about it before nodding. "A light snack please. I can't go getting fat off of your cooking."

"Just work it off. Your figure is already incredible though so you have nothing to worry about," Rosan complimented.

Robin blinked at his compliment and looked down at herself. "Incredible you say? Aren't you just the flatterer?"

"I just speak the truth," he nodded.

The Devil Child rolled her eyes in amusement. "It's no wonder you're so popular with the opposite gender. Why if I were any easier you might have wooed me over."

"Please be a little easier!" Ram thought shamelessly.

"Wow, passive Robin doesn't do with every flow? Color me shocked," Rosan snorted as they began vanishing.

"Don't imply such a dangerous thing. I'll hurt you," she said flatly.

"...My bad."

"Forgiven."

Ram collapsed on the floor in despair. "Auntie, this is impossible. I'm about to start acting really reckless."

"Ram, please don't," Mod said patiently.

Ram nodded but she wasn't truly listening.

No, the ring wouldn't be satisfied until she at least saw them kiss.

She just needed the opportunity to arise.