Robin let out a sigh as she watched the screen, drinking a cup of coffee atop her bed.

"So am I gonna be the one to address what's going on right now?" Koala asked with a look of pure confusion. "Okay. Fine. Why is Rosan currently facing off with Crocodile?"

Robin turned towards her with a calm expression.

"Rosan despises Crocodile. To the point where he'd rather force him into submission than let him rot in prison," Robin explained patiently.

No one was as vindictive as her boyfriend and he would quite literally, never forget what Crocodile had done to her.

And now she wasn't there to calm him down.

Robin hoped he didn't lose control. She was Rosan's main voice of reason, able to talk the most sense into him when he was about to lose control.

"So is that what happened after Alabasta," Koala muttered, watching as the two went at it.

Rosan had many connections...

"I'm still so surprised that Queen Maro is his student," she said in surprise.

Robin nodded with a small smile. "She's his prize student. They're very close and even though she's utterly depraved towards both Rosan and I, we still love her very much," she murmured, heart panging at the depressed stance of Maro.

After all this, she'd have to go see the Queen and cheer her up.

"Wow," Koala muttered. "You guys never have a boring day, do you?"

"No, we don't," Robin sighed.

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

Rosan's eyes narrowed as he immediately launched himself away from the wave of sand.

They were currently on an island and Rosan heard the sounds of citizens screaming as a sandstorm immediately formed.

As the sandstorm got stronger and stronger, Rosan returned Crocodile's sneer.

"EMP: Storm."

Crocodile grunted, surprised as a thunderstorm suddenly engulfed the battlefield.

Lightning and sand raged, forcing the onlookers to find cover lest they get struck down by the clash of elements.

"Lightning?" Crocodile thought to himself. Just how strong had this damned redhead gotten in that span that had crossed between them?

Every time they met, he wielded some new ability.

That rate of growth of his...

Crocodile wasn't able to dwell on it much, as Rosan immediately closed the distance between them.

His hook clashed with a heavy gauntlet and Crocodile immediately opened up a hole in his body to avoid the blow to his midsection.

"Haki isn't enough for a competent Logia," Crocodile snarked, swinging his hook at Rosan's cheek.

Rosan batted it away and opened his mouth. "Good thing I'm not facing a competent Logia."

Then, he fired a hellish amount of flames that Crocodile dashed away from.

"So you've unlocked your Haki?" Rosan mused, cracking his neck as he stared at Crocodile with a raised brow.

"Unlocked? No, I regained," Crocodile corrected, sand seeping off his body.

"Good. That means I can put a little more effort into breaking you," Rosan said darkly, activating his boost.

Crocodile's Observation blared, as a speeding redhead closed the distance almost instantly, forcing the sand Logia to disperse and appear elsewhere.

"You only have Armament," Crocodile observed.

"Wrong," Rosan snarled, letting loose a heavy blast of Conquerors that stunned Crocodile.

The former Warlord felt his eyes widen at that, before they narrowed in hatred and he rushed Rosan.

Rosan narrowed his eyes and held out a hand, letting loose an enormous amount of wind that blew away both the sandstorm and Crocodile himself.

Crocodile grunted, then grit his teeth as a lightning strike forcefully dispelled him, turning bits of his body into glass and forcing him to discard it.

"He wields different elements like he's a Logia himself. What Mythical Zoan is that?" the Pirate grunted, transforming his hand into a blade.

"Sables: Pesado."

Rosan grunted at the attack, noting that it was stronger and faster than last time they fought, and launched himself over it, ignoring the sands buffeting him repeatedly.

He narrowed his eyes and rushed the man again, only to note that Crocodile had no interest in keeping the fight close ranged.

The former Warlord leapt back, bottom half turning into sand to carry him away at high speeds and Rosan sucked his teeth.

"Modify," he thought, palming the floor a forcing a wall to raise that trapped the two in a more enclosed area.

Crocodile glanced back at the walls fearlessly, merely placing a hand on it that degraded it into nothing.

"You can't keep me trapped in here, redhead," the Warlord snarled.

Rosan frowned. He didn't know Crocodile could even degrade walls into nothing with his touch.

"You haven't used water," Crocodile pointed out. Perhaps it was foolish to do so but he knew how intelligent this redhead was.

Forgetting water was not something he would do.

"There's no need for that," Rosan said blandly. "I don't want you thinking you only lost because I exploited your weakness."

Crocodile snarled at that, feeling a vein form as his anger mounted.

"It's a good thing you didn't bring your weakness with you. Nico Robin is such an easy target, I'd be exploiting it without meaning to," he retorted coldly.

No sooner did he finish that sentence, did a fist embed itself firmly onto his face.

"Deary me. He really is as reckless as you are," Mod sighed, watching as Rosan's expression turned terrifyingly unhinged.

"You must have a fucking death wish mentioning my woman," Rosan hissed, as gravity registered and launched Crocodile into the wall.

Ram swooned happily, placing both hands to her cheeks.

Crocodile spat out blood as his back crashed into the wall. The man glared at Rosan and forcefully adjusted his nose.

"You even know how to take a hit," the redhead snarled, leaping back to avoid the spiked sand erupting from the ground.

The intensity of the sandstorm increased and Rosan scowled as Crocodile burst from a side, lunging at him with his hook poised.

It grazed his cheek and Rosan instinctively took a step back, grunting as a wave of sand slammed into his midsection.

The wave carried him to the far end of their battleground, slamming him violently into the wall. Rosan tapped it, forcing the wall forward and having it block the spikes soaring towards him.

As the protruding walls blocked the sand, Crocodile appeared in front of it and palmed the stone.

"Ground Death."

Rosan watched with a surprised gaze, as the area around them began degrading. He immediately pushed himself off the wall just as the technique reached it and launched himself into the air as the ground became useless.

He grunted slightly, as Crocodile immediately capitalized on that.

Sand materialized above his airborne form, all in the shape of sharp blades.

"Sables: Ejecution."

Rosan spread his wings and began soaring, as blade after execution blade came dropping down on him.

He flew at rapid speeds through the sandstorm, dodging each blade all while getting buffeted by the heavy sandstorm.

The redhead finally grit his teeth in annoyance, as Crocodile himself cut off his course, hand extended.

"Sables: Pesado!"

The extremely dense sand connected firmly with Rosan's midsection, causing a shockwave to pulse through the battlefield and launching the redhead far away.

Crocodile sneered, summoning a crescent of blades before launching it towards Rosan.

Rosan snarled in fury and his eyes lit up, before he exploded in a dome of red energy.

"Alright that's enough," he snarled in a tone of finality.

The redhead put both hands out and glared darkly at Crocodile.

"Eye of the Storm."

Crocodile watched in shock, as gigantic and heavy winds suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

They quickly overtook his sandstorm, blowing both the grains and him away. He was forced to keep his body solid, lest he get blown far into the sea with no chance of recovery.

"Wind?!" Crocodile thought in disbelief, instinctively placing his hands in front of his face to offset the strong gale.

All around Rosan, a maelstrom of wind battered everything in sight. It blew in a single direction, gathering all the sand with it and ensuring that it would stop being a problem.

But that wasn't all. Like this, if Crocodile transformed his body into sand, he'd get blown away too.

Wind was his weakest element he had under control but it would serve its purpose well in winning his battle.

The redhead rocketed over to Crocodile, sparks surging off his body as he closed the distance between him and the Logia.

Rosan placed a palm on the surprised Crocodile, knowing that the man would avoid turning himself to sand at all costs, and activated the impact dial.

"Retribution," he said cruelly, watching in delight as Crocodile hunched over from his insides getting blasted by his attack, in combination with his actual midsection as well.

Crocodile went flying backwards, spittle flying out of his mouth, that transformed into blood as another fist landed on his midsection, accelerating his flight even more.

Rosan refused to let his momentum halt for even a second, just continuously chasing the sandman and bombarding him with physical attacks.

"It's just like that damn move Straw Hat did," Crocodile snarled in a moment of true hatred, unable to withstand the assault.

Rosan finally grew tired of his assault and flew right above Crocodile, aiming his gloved hands at the man.

Crocodile's momentum was forcefully halted, as he was wrapped in a red bubble.

"Using the defensive barrier as an offensive attack, as if you needed anymore offense."

Rosan sneered and launched the barrier towards the ground at hellish speeds.

"Hopefully that didn't kill him," he scoffed. "He's stronger. More useful. Would be a shame if his body was too broken to survive."

"So you intend on forcing him to go regardless?"

"Of course," Rosan replied, running a hand through his hair as he gazed down at the battlefield.

"I only left him alive because he's still useful to me. Can you believe how badly I wanted to kill him for mentioning Robin?"

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

Raisa stared at the screen with a stunned expression.

Well truthfully, it had been stunned since the moment the Stream had started back up.

For one, Raisa had stared in complete and utter shock at the ones known as Angel and Demon.

It was like looking at a batch of triplets.

First, there was Demon. He was downright gorgeous, with pretty and soft features, that were enhanced by his striking red eyes and his head of purple hair.

He reminded her of Mod. The two shared a very similar color palette.

Currently, his eyes were narrowed in worry, visible distraught on his features as he gazed at both the two woman there and Rosan himself.

He looked just like them...

"Wow, he's pretty," Oren pointed out with wide eyes, gazing at Demon with wide eyes.

"Right? Holy shit, Raisa your kids are a couple of lookers!" Dalia gaped.

Her... kids?

Raisa's gaze shifted to the final triplet... the girl who looked almost exactly like her.

Long hair, looking smoother than Rosan's but spikier than Raisa's... with purple glowing eyes exactly like her own...

And there was a sapphire ring on her finger and a blue daisy in her hair and she stood so close to that blue haired young woman that was also donning a ring.

Angel... she looked every bit as haughty as Raisa had been as a child and Demon looked like such a kind young man...

Raisa knew they probably thought less of her but... she wanted to connect with all of them and show how sincerely she regretted her actions.

She wanted the right to get to know the three who had inherited her appearance... it would be an honor to her.

As Raisa felt her resolve to get to know these three deepen, she focused on the final person there. The one who looked seconds away from having a breakdown.

Blue hair, orange eyes... beautiful by every metric of the word beauty, Raisa gazed at the woman with a tilted head, trying to figure out who this person was.

Rosan only confirmed it seconds later by saying her name.

"Queen Maro?!" Raisa's eyes widened slightly.

"You know her?" Dalia asked in curiosity.

Raisa nodded slowly. "She's... the Queen of Celadon in the North Blue. Her island's prestige has exploded at almost unbelievable speeds."

The Queen of Celadon? Hold on... Rosan knew such a person?

Raisa felt her eyes widening more as she digested the information.

From what she understood... Rosan was Maro's... teacher?!

That... was absurd!

How did that happen?! How was Rosan connected with the Queen of Celadon?! Was that why it looked as if Maro and Angel were married?

So many questions... Raisa just felt them continuously piling up to the point where she may explode from the curiosity.

Maro was clearly Rosan's student before she was Queen because the woman wanted to come with him and jeopardize everything...

Raisa could relate. She also wanted to throw caution to the wind and help Rosan.

But Rosan was right. They had far too much to lose helping him...

Raisa sighed in defeat and slumped into her bed.

She wanted to help so badly but that was a reckless thing to do and Rosan would probably scorn her for it as well.

The Queen watched with soft eyes, as Rosan placed a gentle kiss on all three of their heads, staring at the distraught group with a firm resolve in his eyes.

He truly... loved everyone he interacted with. He cared so much about their wellbeing.

...

"Jealous?" Oren asked knowingly.

"..." Raisa said nothing.

Oren snorted in some amusement. "Listen Raisa. You fucked up. You know you fucked up. Rosan knows you fucked up. Mod definitely knows you fucked up."

Raisa flinched at that, remembering the purple haired woman's glare of hatred well.

"But all that's left is to try your best. Rosan isn't pushing you away so work from there and reconnect with him. If things go well, maybe he'll be inclined to introduce you to his family," Oren told her patiently.

Raisa said nothing once more, before nodding in determination.

"You're right. I want... I want to make it up to him in anyway I know how," she said passionately, a fire in her eyes that was foreign to everyone who knew her.

She continued to gaze at the screen and felt her mouth open as Rosan appeared in an area, only to be immediately attacked by a wave of sand.

Her eyes widened.

"Crocodile? The former Warlord?" she asked in confusion.

"I heard he was revoked after the Marines exposed his plans on the country of Alabasta," Dalia mentioned, crossing her arms as she regarded the man.

"The Straw Hats were mentioned during that as well. They managed to escape I hear," Oren mumbled.

"A lie I imagine," Raisa scoffed. "The Straw Hats likely defeated Crocodile and the World Government took all the credit."

Nothing was mentioned about Crocodile escaping, except for a quiet increase in his bounty that had been steadily climbing but now it was clear to see what had happened...

Raisa watched that care that had been on Rosan's face, vanish and in its place was a merciless redhead. One who took far too much joy in crushing someone.

She wasn't sure what the relationship between Rosan and Crocodile was... but it was surely one that was not positive in the slightest.

The two hated each other with every fiber in their being. Raisa had no idea why Rosan teleported to his location but the two had immediately resorted to a violent battle.

"Those two hate each other," Dalia said in disbelief.

"There's some respect but yeah... it's definitely mostly hate," Oren scratched his head, watching the two go at it.

They bombarded each other with attacks that would have been lethal on any lesser foe and Raisa once again had to wonder... why the hell did Rosan teleport here?

Perhaps it was to clear his stress because currently, he was flying around battering Crocodile with heavy blow after heavy blow.

Dalia and Oren both winced as Rosan finished off the battle and gazed at their terrifying nephew with wide eyes.

"I only left him alive because he's still useful to me. Can you believe how badly I wanted to kill him for mentioning Robin?"

Right... Crocodile did mention Nico Robin being his weakness and Rosan had quite the scary reaction to it.

"He's very overprotective," Dalia gushed with a small smile. "He reminds me of you, Raisa."

Raisa jolted at that and turned towards her with wide eyes. "T-Truly?" she asked hopefully.

Dalia nearly melted at just how unreasonably adorable her sister was in that moment and put a hand over her heart.

"Yeah! He's alot like you, Raisa! You guys have very similar mannerisms too! My favorite is how you two like to raise a single brow and tilt your heads! Oh oh! I also love that you two are always humming!"

Raisa felt a warm pulse through her body at that and she smiled.

"Okay you're right... I just need to be better and maybe he'll return his affections towards me," she muttered.

Rosan loved to fight... but there were many aspects he was lacking in. Perhaps if Raisa offered to help him with training, he'd take that as a chance to visit her more and they could bond from there?

Yes perfect. Then she'd tell both him and Nico Robin anything about the Iris, to lessen her hostility as well.

Dalia and Oren looked at their plotting sister with fond eyes, just leaving her to scheme.

It was nice seeing Raisa so heavily motivated towards something with an actual desire to do it.

It was very cute.

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

Rosan gazed at the battered body of Crocodile with a blank expression, bruises healing until he looked perfectly healthy.

Crocodile coughed up a glob of blood and gazed furiously at the perfectly healthy redhead. He clutched his bruised sternum and raspily let out a painful breath, only to grit his teeth as a foot slammed into him.

"Do you realize that back in Alabasta, I could have killed you anytime I wanted?" Rosan said idly, crouching in front of the Logia and gripping his head.

Everyone flinched back in horror as the redhead hoisted Crocodile up, before brutally slamming him onto the floor again.

"Do you realize, you were going to die, the moment you put your hands on Robin but her safety was my priority and then she told me to spare you?" Rosan asked curiously, hoisting the much taller man up.

Crocodile sneered at him, spitting out blood that Rosan dodged by tilting his head.

"I don't like when another person's blood is on me," he replied calmly, dropping the Logia.

"This was a better fight. You're getting far stronger," Rosan noted. "But I'm not in the mood to play anymore games. There's work to do so on that note..."

The redhead turned towards the petrified crowd who had slowly come back after the battle had died down. "Anyone else want to fight me?" he asked quietly, looking at Crocodile's underlings with a stormy gaze.

All of them furiously shook their head.

"N-No sir!" they saluted, backing away from the almost feral redhead.

The redhead tilted his head and nodded in acceptance, before his eyes shifted to Daz Bones.

Rosan gazed at the man made of steel, who made no move, and slowly walked up to him.

"You didn't shake your head," Rosan said calmly. "So you want to fight, right?"

The question was asked softly, without any signs of intimidation but Rosan's tactics were very clear.

"...No," Daz Bones said after a while.

"No? You don't want to fight? Then why didn't you do anything when I asked the question?" Rosan asked, expression neutral as he bore his gaze into the other man.

Daz Bones shifted, those unnatural eyes of Rosan making him wildly uncomfortable.

"I wasn't... thinking right," he said slowly, averting his gaze as Rosan made it a point to humiliate him.

Rosan gazed coolly at him, expression not betraying anything.

"I'm going to ask one more time. Do you want to fight me?" he asked calmly.

Properly cowed, Daz Bones merely bowed his head and said, "No… I don't want to fight you at all."

Rosan peered at him and nodded in satisfaction, taking a step back.

"You're going to Marineford in the coming days," Rosan ordered Crocodile. "There's going to be a war between Whitebeard and the World Government over the execution of Fire Fist Ace. You will be on standby in case things go awry."

Alvida's eyes widened at that. "Your brother?" she asked tentatively.

She immediately seized up as Rosan appeared directly in front of her, those predatory eyes boring into her with an ice that assured the wrong answer would end up with her dead.

"How do you know that?" Rosan asked warningly.

She shuddered terribly at that, feeling his presence impose itself onto her.

After seeing that battle with Crocodile... Alvida wanted nothing less than to get away from this monster. Crocodile could kill every single one of them here and be bored by the end of it... and he had lost to Rosan.

She was out of her league. This went beyond bad luck.

"We… met Fire Fist Ace sometime after your bounty was revealed… he's a pleasant person. He praised you and Luffy and we... threw a party with him."

The redhead gazed at her, before nodding. "Yeah, my brother. Naturally, I'm not going to let him get executed. You all are going to assist me in making sure that doesn't happen."

Everyone looked at the redhead in blatant horror at that.

"Y-You want us to get in between a war with the Whitebeard Pirates and the World Government?!" someone squeaked.

"Yeah," Rosan said without hesitation.

"B-But we'll die!" another shrieked in the crowd.

Rosan's eyes took on a cold and cruel glint. "You either take a chance at survival with them or die certainly to me. Make your choice now," he said grimly.

There was a horrified silence as the redhead dared anyone to back out.

As it stretched, Rosan grew satisfied and turned towards the audible snarling noise.

"You're outta your goddamn mind, redhead. You think I'm going to ally myself with Whitebeard of all people?" Crocodile hissed, clutching his ribs with one hand as he glared murderously at the redhead.

It would be a cold day in hell before Crocodile decided to willingly ally with Whitebeard of all people.

Rosan glanced at him, deathly calm.

"Think? I think?" Rosan asked curiously. "I don't think you understand."

Everyone watched in terror, as a red ball began forming atop Rosan's rested palm.

"I don't give a single fuck whether you agree with my demands or not. You will listen to them or you will understand."

The redhead's face turned soulless, looking eerily similar to how he appeared without emotions.

"None of you are my friends. All of you are my pawns because all of you are weak. I'm not asking any of you to do anything. I'm telling you exactly what the hell you're doing," he intoned with a grim frown.

"The strong decide the course of the world and the weak have no choice but to follow the will of the strong."

The redhead turned towards Crocodile with that eery expression. "Your grievances with Whitebeard mean nothing to me. I didn't tell you to help Whitebeard. I told you to assist me in saving Ace. If you refuse, you may as well kill yourself in the coming days because after I'm done retrieving my brother, I'm coming for you."

At that last sentence, a wave of vitriol killing intent spread out and everyone froze, before it vanished as quickly as it came.

"Clean yourself up. I didn't break anything too badly so you should be fine. Set a course for Marineford," Rosan grunted.

Then he turned towards Crocodile's subordinates.

"For your sake, I hope he goes. Because anyone here who doesn't show up is joining him. Don't think you can run away either, he won't let you," he warned.

With that, he vanished.

Alvida let out the breath she didn't know she was holding, hating the way her chest pounded in terror.

She didn't know if the redhead without emotions was scarier than this version who freely showcased how little their lives meant to him… but Alvida considered herself very unlucky to have unwittingly put herself underneath that demon's command.

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

"R-Rosan?" Izumi stammered in terror, watching the redhead land on the ship with a chilly expression.

At once, every former agent of CP9 seized up and turned towards the redhead...

Who was alone.

Like it or not... Nico Robin served as a very good deterrent to their lives being kept intact. With her nowhere in sight and that demon with such a severe expression on his face...

It was natural that they came to the conclusion that they were all going to die.

"The World Government is allocating all their resources to Marineford in the upcoming days. I want you to raid every single base you know of and take anything important," Rosan instructed coldly.

There was no greeting, no threatening... just a harsh order that left Izumi ramrod straight.

"O-Okay. We'll adjust our course!" she said immediately.

Rosan didn't even bother nodding, just turning on a dime and preparing to fly off.

"Um... is everything okay?" Izumi asked quietly, only to yelp in horror as a hand gripped around her neck and immediately slammed her into a wall.

Rosan glared down at her with venomous eyes, tightening his grip and making Izumi squirm uncomfortably.

"I didn't come here for small talk. The last thing on the fucking planet that I need, is you of all people asking me if I'm okay," he whispered quietly to her, breath hot to a level that clearly wasn't natural.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked, gripping his hand pleadingly with both of hers. "I-It won't happen again!"

"Rosan. You must relax. This isn't good for you," Mod soothed patiently.

Rosan continued to fix her with a heavy gaze, before dropping her to the floor.

"I'm just fucking peachy," he snarled to the coughing Izumi. "Instead of staring at my girlfriend, I have to look at you and then you ask a stupid fucking question. Did you really think I was going to answer you?"

Izumi coughed slightly and shook her head hastily, even as Kalifa warily approached to make sure she was alright.

Rosan's eyes immediately shifted to the blonde, noting their close proximity and he tilted his head.

Izumi watched how they began glowing ominously and shuddered.

"Rosan. No. You two made a deal and I won't allow you to be the one to break it. You made this decision, you have to uphold it."

"..."

The redhead scoffed and turned away.

Whatever. He shouldn't have even come here. All it did was serve to make him angrier.

"I-I'm sorry," Izumi coughed, holding her chest and taking in deep breaths. "W-We'll get started on the mission right away."

An insidious part of Rosan nearly turned around just to inflict more pain on her but he merely took a deep breath and decided that it was best not to go down a road that dark.

He just began stepping out of the darkness, it would do no good to step back into it.

"Do... you need any supplies?" Rosan grit out, noting that Robin probably wouldn't be pleased if he didn't at least check their status.

Izumi looked at him warily, fear on her features as she mulled over the benefits of answering that question.

With how explosive his mood currently was, it was probably not many benefits at all.

"We've... accrued many supplies at the moment and aren't in need of any," she replied eventually. "We'll likely gather more by raiding the Marine bases."

"Good. Make sure you aren't spotted. You assassins should be good for something," he grunted, vanishing from his spot.

Izumi watched him go and slumped back.

He was even more terrifying than before if that was possible. It seemed like anything even slightly minor would set him off...

Sometimes Izumi wondered if it truly was worth it to offer him her services... he had let her go, given her an out and she had foolishly thrown herself back into this toxic relationship of theirs.

This couldn't have been healthy...

"Are you alright?" Izumi asked Kalifa quietly.

"I should be the one asking you that," Kalifa replied, hoisting the woman up.

Izumi said nothing and let loose another rattled sigh.

For a moment... it almost seemed like Rosan was going to kill Kalifa for the hell of it.

...Izumi let loose another sigh. "Kaku, change course. There should be a Marine base around here."

Best to just accomplish his mission. After all, with the news that Fire Fist Ace was set to be executed, the Marine bases truly would be practically empty, barring non soldiers.

It would be easy. She just hoped she raided enough to not incite his wrath.

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

"Rosan? Are you good?" Aiko asked in concern, noting that he didn't immediately scare her to death on his arrival.

Rosan grunted, allowing Akemi to move his head back and forth with ease.

"Lot on my mind. I'm sure you saw the news," he told her, marching towards where she kept a stash of alcohol.

Aiko didn't even reprimand him, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Ace," she said bluntly, frowning as she thought of the spitfire brother. "I'm guessing you aren't gonna just stay still while this happens, right?"

"Not a chance in hell," Rosan denied ferociously. "We're gonna save him, don't worry about it."

Aiko nodded. "Be careful. You're getting better but you're still self destructive."

"You're going alone?" Akemi asked in concern, noticing that Robin wasn't with him.

Rosan shook his head, taking a heavy swig of the bottle.

"No. I left Robin and Maro behind because they'll attract too much attention," he said truthfully.

Aiko's eyes narrowed in concern and she sighed. "Akemi, let's set a trip to Celadon. It's been a while since we've checked up on the goblin brat."

Akemi was nodding along with her. "Yeah, we'll get some provisions... and alcohol. Maro probably wants some alcohol."

Rosan sighed and pulled the two in a hug. "Thanks you two. Sometimes I feel like you can read my mind."

"That's what being partners for years does," Aiko grunted, squeezing the redhead reassuringly. "Seriously be careful."

"I will," Rosan told them. "Maro has a stream of me playing currently. You'll be able to watch it too."

Akemi perked up at that and began waving. "Hi Maro! Hi Robin!" she waved.

Rosan raised a brow. "How'd you know Robin was watching too?"

"..."

"..."

"...Yeah that was a stupid question," he admitted with a sigh. "Though, my birth mother should be watching too I think."

They blinked at that.

"What?!"

"Your birth mother?" Aiko asked slowly.

Rosan nodded in amusement. "Looks just like me so you'd probably wanna bang her," he mentioned.

Aiko blinked before a snarl overtook her flushed features.

"Don't say shit like that if she's watching you shitty redhead!" she barked, looking poised to lunge at him.

Rosan chuckled slightly and pat the short woman patronizingly.

"You need to be less of a pervert. Do you cry at night knowing you can no longer shamelessly ogle me?" he asked in concern.

The redhead didn't even flinch as she leapt on him, her small hands wrapping around his neck.

"You seem like the type to really prefer someone shorter than you. Maybe my aunt would be more your cup," Rosan mused, thinking of Dalia.

Aiko paused her unsuccessful strangling of him. "You have an aunt? Do you just have a family of people who look like you?" she asked.

"Pervert."

"Pervert."

"I'll let you meet em after all this is over," Rosan said with a sigh. "I don't mind but it'll have to wait. I'm sure everyone has something to say to Raisa anyways."

Aiko paused.

"Raisa? Wait, your mom's name is Raisa?" Aiko asked in shock. "Do you mean the Queen of Wisteria? That Raisa?"

Rosan nodded. "Yeah that's her. Surprised you never made the connection if you know of her."

Aiko shook her head in surprise. "That's because hardly anyone knows what she looks like. Last I heard, she hasn't made an appearance for nearly a decade."

The redhead mulled that over. "Makes sense. She seemed like a recluse."

He shrugged. "Well whatever. Maybe I'll have you guys meet her. Depends on what problems everyone else has with her. Mod-chan really hates her," he pointed out.

Both the sisters brows shot up at that.

"Mod-chan? She hates someone?" Akemi gaped in surprise.

"That sweetheart of a woman?" Aiko whistled.

Mod blushed red at that and temporarily took over. "It's complicated but yes, I've harbored deep dislike for her for about 20 years," she admitted.

Aiko whistled again and shook her head. "Damn. I didn't know you had a hating bone in your body."

Akemi nodded. "You're so sweet and kind! I melt everytime I speak to you!"

The Devil Fruit ducked her head at that to hide her embarrassment. "Well, I'm a mother first and foremost and Rosan is my son after all... it's my duty to make sure he's safe. So I'll be monitoring her with heavy scrutiny."

The sisters nodded easily at that.

Mod was severely, severely, overprotective of Rosan. It eased their hearts knowing she was watching over him all the time when he wasn't with them because the woman was levelheaded and wise.

"Keep watch of him, Mod-chan," Aiko requested. "You know how reckless he can be."

Mod nodded. "I'll do my best. I plan on getting everyone out in perfect condition."

The sisters nodded in relief and pulled her into a hug. "Be careful you all. I don't doubt you'll succeed so I won't stop you."

"We will," Mod and Rosan said at the same time as they swapped with each other. "Don't worry. Make it to Maro's island fast and you can watch me."

They nodded and waved, watching the redhead vanish from their sight.

"Good thing Angel and Hiroshi upgraded our ships," Aiko mused, grabbing a suitcase to store a batch of clothes.

"Yep! We should be there by the end of the day!" Akemi replied, packing her own essentials.

Aiko sighed.

A war between Whitebeard and the World Government and her little brother was going to jump in between that, to go save their other little brother.

It sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. Aiko wished she had a way to help him.

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

"Rosan!" Hancock beamed, shamelessly wearing Luffy's Straw Hat and leaping right up.

Luffy was nowhere to be seen because his little brother was currently off training with Sabo, considering he was completely immune to his electricity. As a result, Hancock didn't have to risk her position being compromised by his dumbest sibling.

Though with how proudly she was wearing Luffy's Straw Hat… Rosan wasn't sure how that part was going.

He sighed. They were both idiots.

"Hancock," he greeted easily, noting the slight pleading in her gaze and beckoning her towards him.

Her eyes lit up and she rocketed over to his position, causing him to roll his eyes.

He effortlessly wrapped her in the hug she was too embarrassed to request and asked, "How's everything on your end?"

She eagerly returned the embrace, not being used to something as warm as hugging and wanting to experience it more.

Then she began pondering the question.

"It's a little boring in here," Hancock admitted with a slight frown, pushing her hair behind her ears so that it didn't get in the way of her precious hug. "I have yet to leave my room and I have no intentions of doing so, and I also firmly warned them of what would happen if they entered."

Rosan hummed at that and nodded.

Being in a ship full of people you hated… there was a reason why Rosan was barely here. He couldn't trust himself not to blow their covers.

Even now, he was strongly contemplating blowing this whole thing up.

"How often do they bother you?" Rosan suddenly asked, with pursed lips.

"Enough for me to consider it an annoyance... they bother me for meals of the day," Hancock scoffed.

The redhead nodded at that, holding out his hand for a moment and having a bird land on it.

Hancock's mouth opened in shock, as the bird began transforming into a carbon copy of herself.

"What?!" she gasped, looking at her stunning figure through something that was not a mirror.

The copy of her stared back and began perfectly mimicking her mannerisms, much to Hancock's further amazements.

"There," Rosan muttered, grabbing Luffy's Straw Hat off her head and hiding it in the room.

"You've paid this much attention to me cousin? You can even copy my mannerisms?" she asked, swooning at how adorable he was.

Rosan rolled his eyes. Hancock's mannerisms were very unique. It was hard to miss them. "Yes I do. How could I not know how my adorable cousin acts?" He said appeasingly.

He absentmindedly put a hand over her mouth, as she happily squealed and the redhead sighed.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

He really was dealing with two idiots.

"C'mon," the redhead said in some amusement, not bothering to hold out his hand because Hancock was back to gripping him happily.

He was so glad they were cousins. Robin would have murdered him otherwise.

She blinked and nodded in curiosity.

"Is it fine, if I'm not in here?" she asked cautiously.

"This can pose as you perfectly. We're the ones who made you come here, so might as well make your time more enjoyable," Rosan grunted, gazing at his slightly shorter cousin.

Hancock's cheeks turned rosy and she squealed at how adorable her cousin was.

Rosan rolled his eyes and patted the bird disguised as Hancock. The copy grinned and leaned into his touch, getting a small smile out of him.

"Cousin."

"Yes, Hancock?"

"...I would like a pat as well."

Rosan sighed again and began patting the giddy woman, before the duo vanished into his Pocket Dimension.

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

"Hancock!" Luffy greeted, wiping the sweat off his head and accepting Sabo's hand up.

The two had been sparring furiously for practically the entire day, getting a feel for each others fighting styles and helping Sabo deepen his understanding of his fruit.

Having someone who was completely immune to his Devil Fruit, was a godsend for Sabo. It allowed him to really cut loose in figuring out how much output he could let out, and how much he could control.

It was great! Sabo was getting to a level of understanding with his fruit that he was finding very acceptable. He wasn't anywhere close to Rosan and Luffy's expertise but he'd only had his fruit for a few days now.

He'd get to that level soon enough.

The rubber boy was pulled up by his blonde brother and turned towards the Warlord, waving at her happily.

"Luffy~," Hancock greeted, materializing next to him with, quite frankly, ridiculous speeds.

The woman began immediately gushing over the boy, pulling a towel out from who knows where and wiping the sweat off of him with no hesitation, flushing happily at how pleased he was by her actions.

"Huh, she really is in love with him," Sabo muttered to Rosan, watching the interactions with an amused eye.

Luffy didn't even seem to realize, just obliviously accepting her attention with that smile of his.

"Told ya," Rosan snorted. "Hancock, this is my other brother, Sabo," he introduced.

Hancock snapped to attention at that and resisted her natural disgust at seeing a man she did not know.

Sabo understood that she probably had more than enough reservations about men, so he just offered her a smile and a dip of his head.

"Nice to meet you, Boa Hancock. Rosan and Luffy have a lot of good things to say about you."

Hancock's eyes lit up at that and due to the fact that she'd catch a heart attack if she dared to hug Luffy, she flew at Rosan instead.

Rosan grunted as he was knocked to the floor and he ran out of sighs to give out, just accepting her affections with a defeated expression.

Sabo watched in amusement as she began squeezing the life out of the redhead happily.

"You said good things about me?! My little cousin is just the most adorable! After all this is over, we must go out on a cousin trip," Hancock gushed.

"How old are you?" Rosan asked suddenly.

"29!"

"...Fuck. Yeah alright, I'm your lil cousin," he conceded, merely patting her hair. "Hancock, I know he's a man, but Sabo is very important to Luffy and I, so could you treat him nicely too?" he asked patiently.

Luffy didn't have the foresight to realize that he could practically make Hancock do anything he wanted at the drop of a hat.

Rosan was far more shameless. Hancock was incredibly useful and he was not above using his older cousin for his benefits...

As long as it didn't heavily jeopardize her. He quite liked how adorable she acted around him and well... she was his cousin.

He liked Hancock. He'd feel bad taking negative advantage of her.

Hancock nodded eagerly and stood straight.

With almost herculean effort, she turned towards Sabo and held out her hand, stamping down all the disgust in her body.

"It's nice to meet you, ma — I mean, Sabo," Hancock grit out.

To Sabo's point, he just thought the whole thing was amusing so he captured her hand with his own before mercifully releasing it.

Hancock gazed at her hand for a moment, almost confused that it didn't start melting or something before she whirled towards Rosan with an expectant expression.

"Isn't she in love with Luffy? Why does she keep coming to me?" Rosan sighed in exasperation, patting her on the head.

"Despite being hopelessly in love with Luffy, you are the one who "saved" her and you're her cousin. She has all the excuse in the world to seek your attention now without having to faint like with Luffy. She loves you just as much."

He guessed that made sense... and he was a little happy that someone loved him so innocently.

That just made him warm up to his cousin even more.

"Good job, Hancock. It must have been hard but I knew my cousin could do it," Rosan praised.

"But of course! We're cousins after all! Something like this is nothing to me!" Hancock exclaimed happily, making a point to continue shaking the terribly amused Sabo's hand.

"You are shameless, Rosan."

"I'm well aware, Mod-chan."

"Luffy, you should give her a hug."

"Huh? Okay!" Luffy beamed, wrapping his arms around Hancock and making her seize up.

She immediately went limp in Luffy's grasp, placing the back of her palm on her forehead and Rosan snorted.

"How's progress with your Devil Fruit?" He asked Sabo.

"Better, I'm getting the hang of it. Luffy's great in helping me figure things out since he doesn't feel anything," Sabo replied, holding out a hand and eyeing the blue sparks that came to life a lot easier.

"You're way more mature than Luffy and I," Rosan laughed. "The first thing I shot for was techniques. Mod-chan was the one who forced me to learn fundamentals."

"You literally cannot use Modification well without fundamentals."

"Try convincing 4 year old me that," he snorted.

Sabo laughed along with him. "I watched Enel's fight. I don't have those drums of his but his techniques were impressive. I think I'll steal those first."

Rosan nodded proudly. "You could become a real monster at a distance. I bet your Observation is naturally better than Enel's without the Goro Goro no mi in effect... so with this fruit, it might have become even more exceptional."

"I've been getting used to the expanded range," Sabo admitted. "It's not that easy and I feel like my brain is gonna fry sometimes, but once I get it down, it's going to be a massive advantage for me."

Rosan scowled. "How are you getting used to it? I'm not anywhere close to making my observation usable."

Sabo raised a brow at that.

Right… Rosan's observation also granted him quite the big range but he couldn't really use it.

"That might be because of Modification," Sabo offered. "For me, it feels like I'm reading the electrical signals in the air."

Rosan pursed his lips at that. His Observation didn't quite feel like he was reading the signals in the air.

"It feels more like I'm latching onto electrical sources in general, living and inanimate," Rosan offered him.

Sabo nodded thoughtfully. "That would explain why you can't hear conversations. It's probably because you're a computer."

Realization dawned on Rosan's face at that. "That might be it. I think it is because I'm a computer," he muttered.

Sabo and Enel were reading electrical signals in the air, latching onto it to expand their range by gargantuan levels…

But Rosan couldn't read those electrical signals in the air… no, Rosan could feel electricity in general and the stronger it was, the more he could feel it. He likely couldn't feel electrical signals because they weren't strong enough.

The redhead shut his eyes and reached out with his observation.

Almost immediately, his senses began assaulting him as he latched onto every single electrical source in the vicinity… but Rosan realized the one currently assaulting his senses the most, was Sabo.

The man made of electricity.

Rosan nearly grinned ferally, but instead staved off the headache forming as he realized.

The redhead reached out and grasped and to his utter delight, Sabo let out a startled yell.

"Rosan what the fuck?!" Sabo gasped, exploding in electricity without doing anything.

The redhead was still prone but Sabo could just tell his older brother was the one tampering with him right now.

Further proving his point, Sabo watched as his own electricity was forcefully brought to Rosan's position, before the redhead absorbed and assimilated it into his own body.

"That's weird as hell, Rosan," Sabo sighed in exasperation, just allowing his brother to do whatever the hell he was doing.

"I think I figured it out," Rosan laughed in a rather unhinged manner. "My Haki and Modification combined in some form of freak mutation, that allows me to detect electrical sources. The more electricity, the more I can feel. With a bit of tampering, I can even manipulate it too..."

He'd just have to get used to keeping Observation active... and with Sabo around he might get used to it quicker.

"I can tell," Sabo muttered, watching his own electricity settle down. "You just forcefully used me as a battery. Not cool."

"My bad. You're like a beacon," Rosan informed him. "I think we counter each other. My observation will almost always latch onto you…"

"...And you can use my electricity to fuel yourself, forcefully too," Sabo muttered.

With enough practice, Rosan could probably do way more with that manipulating electricity aspect…

"Technology could become completely useless around me with enough tampering," the computer man mused.

Sabo wasn't going to lie… sitting here and brainstorming potential ways to improve their abilities… it was fun. Just this aspect alone, made him find eating his Devil Fruit the right decision.

There was just something…

"Really fun about Devil Fruits, huh?" Rosan grinned.

Sabo laughed and nodded at him. "All these years and you can still read my mind."

He missed his brothers so damn much. It felt like nothing had changed. They were still as seamless as the days before, even with all that had happened.

Rosan smiled fondly and pushed himself up. "Hancock, come join us in training. We've been warming up in preparation."

Hancock fanned herself and gazed at her cousin. "Training?"

The redhead nodded. "I've heard about how strong you are. If you wanted, you'd probably have kicked me and Luffy's ass at the same time."

Judging by the look of horror on her face, Hancock was thinking about the possibility and she did not like it one bit.

"I-I'd never do such a thing anymore!" she stressed, looking terrified at the prospect. "I admit that I've been... not the greatest to you two before but I've changed!" she pleaded.

"Don't worry about it, cousin," Rosan waved her off. "We aren't mad at you or anything. Just be better from now on."

"Yeah!" Luffy beamed.

Hancock looked at the two in shock, before she began swooning.

Why were they so adorable?!

"Let us train!" she declared, despite having hardly trained ever in her life.

Sabo sweatdropped at watching her rush forward to meet the redhead.

Boa Hancock was so unbelievably whipped by these two and Rosan was well aware of it.

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

When Rosan mentioned Hancock being able to kick both his and Luffy's ass, he may have grossly underestimated his cousin.

She was absurdly powerful, even disregarding her cheating Devil Fruit.

His cousin was even able to beat Sabo! Those two were going at it but Hancock actually managed to pull out a victory against him!

"Make sure… you don't put in too much effort at the war if worst comes to worst," Rosan said, watching his bruises heal up from their spar.

He got his ass kicked left and right to be blunt. Hancock was strong as hell and she packed a lot of physical power in her kicks.

Hancock was by his side in an instant, terrible worry in her eyes.

"Did I hit too hard? Are you hurting anywhere? Do you need a massage?"

Before he could reply, Hancock began doing her best to give him a massage and Rosan nearly laughed aloud at how terrible it was.

Clearly, Hancock had never given anyone a massage before.

Rosan snorted and gently removed her hands, patting the putout woman to appease her. "Robin probably wouldn't appreciate that. It's fine."

He'd just ask Ram, she was damn good at giving massages too.

Hancock blinked in confusion. "Who is Robin?"

Rosan's gaze lit up and he immediately pulled out a copy of her bounty. "My girlfriend," he said proudly.

"Father you are such a dork," Ram cackled and swooned at the same time.

Rosan ignored both her cackles and Mod's giggles, just proudly showing off her bounty.

"This is her. We met when I was four and I've loved her ever since despite how dumb she is sometimes. She's 28, her birthday is a month before mine and she's two inches shorter than me. She's a huge nerd that studies archaeology but I love her all the same even despite the fact she has a coffee addiction."

"She's going to kill you, you know that?"

"Why? I praised her."

Sabo laughed loudly at that. Rosan being such a dork when it came to Robin, was not what he expected, but it somehow fit him perfectly.

He was an extreme mother hen too so it stood to reason that he'd be a dork.

"Your girlfriend?" Hancock asked, expression turning thoughtful.

Rosan's smile widened and he nodded. It was like all his energy had returned to him and he immediately sprung up.

"We've got enough time, let's meet her," he decided without any hesitation.

Sabo sweatdropped deeply as Rosan vanished without another word.

A tentative tap brought his attention to Hancock and the suddenly demure woman gazed at him.

"D-Does Luffy have a girlfriend?" she asked in a near whisper.

"Definitely not," Sabo replied, stifling a laugh and gazing at his brother wolfing down his food.

Hancock let out a sigh of relief.

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

Rosan fixed Koala with a soulless gaze, noting that she was in bed with Robin and they were both wearing pajamas.

"What is this?" he asked calmly.

"Rosan," Robin said in exasperation.

"You told me he wouldn't mind," Koala hissed, watching in horror as his hand began glowing in preparation to vaporize her.

"He literally calls you his brother's wife. I didn't think he'd be this ridiculous," Robin muttered back, standing up and gently wrapping the redhead in a hug.

"Stop being so jealous of everyone," she reprimanded.

"No," Rosan replied, taking his eyes off Koala. "I refuse."

What type of possessive monster would he be if he let anyone get away with lying in bed with Robin? Everyone would have to suffer the fate of death unfortunately.

"Do you think the way you think is normal? I assure you that it's not."

"The way I think is perfect. You can keep pretending like you don't understand."

"P-Pretending? Rosan, I genuinely don't understand!"

Robin sighed tiredly and just allowed him to tuck her into his frame.

"I'm very sure you're just using this because you miss me… but I miss you too so I'll allow it," Robin said in amusement, cheeks glowing just a little.

Hearing Rosan's nonstop gushing over her was always a joy. Just the way his eyes lit up at the mere mention of her name…

She reached out and violently gripped his cheek.

"Stop insulting me. I really don't appreciate it," she warned.

He looked utterly nonplussed and just grunted at the violent pulling.

"I don't know what you mean," Rosan replied softly. "I was praising you the entire time."

She glared at him, but it melted away in favor of worry. "Are you alright? Your tempers been short."

Rosan's joking features vanished slightly. "You're talking about what I did to Izumi? Yeah... seeing her when my mood is so jarred, was not the smartest idea."

She nodded in agreement and just offered her steady presence to him, listening to how quick his heartbeat pulsed.

Robin was beginning to now realize how much of a part she played in keeping Rosan's hellish temper in check.

She never realized just how often she just put a hand or said something to calm him down... but just seeing how swiftly he nearly choked the life out of Izumi and knowing she would have been there before he reached a very quick melting point...

Rosan was very unstable right now and it was easiest to see when Robin wasn't around him...

She felt a little flattered by that. In a weird kinda way but she was still flattered.

Robin looked on in genuine amusement at how physically ill Rosan looked removing her necklace but he did eventually take if off of her.

"Do you wanna come with us, Koala?" Robin asked her fellow pajama wearing friend.

"...You guys are training right? I guess we can train for today too. We've just been watching this stream thingie," Koala nodded, pushing herself up.

"Weird way to say you miss Sabo," Rosan snorted.

Koala immediately glared at him. "Stop that! People might really get the wrong idea!"

The redhead scoffed. "Right... wrong idea... I bet," he said dryly.

Koala was going to throttle this redhead.

Rosan chuckled slightly and turned towards Robin. "You can officially meet my cousin."

Robin rolled her eyes. "You just want to show me off."

"Of course I do. I'm very proud of you. I would have shown you off to Raisa too," Rosan said truthfully.

Robin said nothing and just felt her smile widen.

"Stop trying to embarrass me in front of people."

"No."

"You two are disgusting," Koala decided.

Rosan peered at her and an evil smirk made its way to his face, before he gripped Robin's cheek and —

Koala let out a strangled yell and dropkicked him after about 5 seconds.

Rosan grunted with an amused smile. "You're strong as hell too, not bad."

Robin shook her head in exhaustion, far too used to his antics to be embarrassed. "Didn't you say multiple people were watching you? Doesn't that mean Raisa just saw what you did to me?" she wondered.

Rosan nodded. "Probably? Not like that was going to stop me," he shrugged.

"One day you will be a normal and stable person, Rosan," Robin muttered to him.

"You could have stopped me."

"I won't stop something I enjoy."

"That makes us both unstable doesn't it?"

Koala sighed in misery.

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

Robin had to admit, seeing Hancock in person put into perspective how beautiful the woman was.

It was a good thing Rosan was this woman's cousin… else Robin would admittedly be a lot more jealous.

"Hancock, this is Robin," Rosan introduced with a proud smile, pointing towards her and lifting her up around the waist like she were a prop. "She's my girlfriend. Look, she's shorter than me."

Robin twitched at that and resisted the urge to throttle Rosan, instead focusing on Hancock herself.

Hancock was slightly taller than Robin and the snake empress looked at her with a contemplative expression.

The two gazed at one another, sizing the other up with curious expressions.

"So you are my dear cousins spouse," Hancock muttered.

"I'm his best friend as well," Robin added with a small smile.

Hancock looked at her with a pensive expression.

"My cousin is very dear to me and you make him happy so please stay with him forever. If you break his heart, I will have to hunt you down," Hancock said resolutely.

Robin could practically feel Rosan's outrage but she simply held his hand and smiled gently at her.

It was adorable that Hancock cared so much for her like 3 day cousin so Robin took no offense but still…

"Rosan has been my best friend since I was 8. We fought a lot as kids, we fight a lot now… but throughout it all, Rosan and I have always loved each other and that will never change," Robin began.

"When he gave up on himself, I was there for him every step of the way. When I gave up on myself, he was there for me every step of the way… and it made me realize that a life without him isn't one that I would ever enjoy… so I'll keep a firm hold onto him."

Robin laughed slightly and hugged him. "I'm the one at risk of getting my heartbroken here, I wouldn't be able to leave him even if I tried. I'd just come running back."

Rosan laughed in return and squeezed her. "Shut the hell up Robin. You at risk of getting heartbroken? Who do you think I am?" he snorted. "You're stuck. Trapped. Kidnapped. Mine."

"And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Koala and Sabo both smiled at that and Hancock looked properly appeased.

"You've been my cousin for like 3 days, Hancock. Don't you find it a little strange that we're related?" Rosan asked curiously.

While it was rather funny, Hancock was genuinely acting like they had known each other for years.

"Not at all!" Hancock said with a flourish. "I'm actually quite glad we're cousins. You are as beautiful as me, you've helped me become a better person to you and now that we've connected, I'm going to dote on you like a good big cousin should!" she beamed.

"Rosan would appreciate that," Robin agreed shamelessly, ignoring the incredulous look he shot her. "He loves being the little sibling. He called me Robin-nee all the time."

She held herself together at the astonished look Rosan was donning but she dearly wanted to crack.

"I can be Hancock-nee then!" Hancock declared without missing a beat.

"No seriously that's fine," Rosan said holding his hand out. "I don't call anyone nee anymore."

"Now you can start!" she beamed, completely missing why Rosan had no interest in calling her Hancock-nee.

A shy blush adorned her cheeks. "I'll be your older sister sooner or later anyways," she muttered.

No one missed the glance she shot Luffy's way and the rubber boy blinked at all the eyes on him.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Nothin," Rosan chuckled. "Let's continue training. We have a couple more days before we reach our destination."

Hancock nodded fiercely. "If I can help you all in anyway, I will. Let's continue!"

"I don't know how you manage to drag everyone into your obsession with training but it needs to be studied," Robin said in exasperation, watching how eagerly Hancock looked at the prospect of sparring with Luffy.

"All this charisma needed to be used for something," Rosan cackled. "Little sister! Show me what you can do!"

Koala whirled on him with a sneer. "I'm so sick of you and we've barely hung around each other! Oh I'm going to trash you!"

"Not something you should say to your older brother. Pretty rude."

Koala let out a herculean roar, lunged at the redhead and they were off. They could hear Rosan laughing as the two blurred around the field.

Robin shook her head and turned towards Sabo, before pulling the blond in a hug.

"I saw that you got your memories back and I'm so happy for you," she said earnestly.

Sabo's expression softened and he eagerly returned the hug. "And I'm glad I fully remember one of the first people my oldest brother loved with all his heart. You were a gem in those memories, Robin."

Robin smiled at that. "And you were too. Now let's go train ourselves. The Goro Goro no Mi… perfect for me to try to learn armament."

"You'll get shocked you know?" Sabo replied in some concern.

Robin looked nonplussed. "Just more motivation to learn it. That's what it is."

The revolutionary sweatdropped. "Rosan's turned you nuts."

Robin let out a suffering sigh, smile still on her face. "I know."

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

"You've gone and done it now."

Ace, battered and left in a bundle of injuries, glanced up. It was hard to move considering how heavily chained he currently was but he managed.

Across from him, sitting outside his cell, was his own gramps, Garp himself.

"What are you doing here?" Ace asked, spitting out the backed up blood.

Garp said nothing for a moment, just crossing his arms and looking at the sorry state of his grandson.

"I wanted you, Luffy and Rosan to become great Marines but you became criminals instead," he began.

"I spoke to Luffy and Rosan about their fathers you know… though, I don't think either of them cared to hear about them."

Ace's brows furrowed. "Rosan's father? You know who he is?"

He knew for a fact that Rosan didn't know nor care about who his father was. Ace wasn't aware that Garp knew of him.

Garp grunted. "He's in this room."

There was a pregnant silence at that, as Ace digested that information with wide eyes.

"Rosan's father is… the little brother of a very dangerous man. And that very dangerous man was taken out by both me… and Roger. He holds a grudge and it was his undoing," Garp revealed.

Ace said nothing for a moment.

So Rosan's uncle was killed by Ace's father and Luffy's grandfather… and Rosan's father held a grudge, raped Rosan's mother and was now in Impel Down, which left Rosan to be adopted by Ace's mother and father.

And now Rosan claimed both Luffy and Ace as his little brothers. Brothers who he was incredibly overprotective of.

"The world works in funny ways," Ace grinned sardonically, finding the energy to do so even now.

To think the three brothers were tied together even before they were born. What a strange twist of fate... though Rosan would vehemently disagree with the notion that fate handled this.

"Do you think anyone who cares for you is going to take this lying down?" Garp asked him suddenly.

Ace went stiff.

"Whitebeard is already preparing for war, Ace. We've angered the king of the sea," the Marine informed him.

The pirate said nothing and Garp sighed.

He didn't get it. Ace didn't understand what was fully happening.

"What about Luffy or Rosan? Do you think those two will take it lying down? Do you think your brothers are going to accept this?" Garp asked him, watching the way Ace actually froze up completely.

It was as if he finally realized the gravity of the situation and when he did, Garp watched as genuine terror made its way onto Ace's face.

That… wait. No. That couldn't... His brothers couldn't try and save him. That was insanity!

They had their own journey to accomplish! Ace didn't need them to visit! If they... if they died because of him then he didn't know what he'd do!

"You know how Luffy is. You know what he'll do... but when was the last time you saw Rosan?" Garp asked this time. "He isn't emotionless anymore you know? His shackles have almost completely disappeared… and Rosan destroyed Enies Lobby just to get one single person back."

"What do you think he's gonna do once he hears about this? What will Rosan do once he hears that you've been captured by the World Government he hates so much?"

Ace began shuddering, horror beginning to fill his body more and more as he realized the amount of peril he just put his brothers in.

He didn't… Ace didn't give a damn about being executed but… but his brothers. His reckless brothers who would read the news in the horror he was currently feeling would...!

Oh no… if something happened to any of his brothers because of what Ace had done… what could Ace do?

No no no. Not them. Ace couldn't lose anyone in his family. Not his brothers, not his sisters… none of them.

"You need to stop them, gramps," Ace said urgently, eyes frantic for the first time since he was in here. "You need to make sure they don't show up! Go stop them now!"

It would be his fault if something happened to them. Why was it always his fault?! Ace didn't think about how his actions would affect the people around him. He just acted on his emotions...

"Your stubbornness is going to get you killed, Ace," the voice of his older brother said knowingly, 10 years before this disaster...

"If I could stop them, I would… if I could, you wouldn't even be in there… but I can't," Garp said, shutting his eyes.

He dearly hoped Rosan and Luffy didn't show up… he dearly hoped Whitebeard saved Ace… because if any of his grandchildren died… Garp didn't know what he'd do.

Ace hoped his brothers didn't show up. They couldn't. They weren't strong enough yet… it was his job to protect them but right now, he had thrown everything in disarray.

"You're father changed the world with his death, Ace! When you become a man that important, then you can do whatever you want!"

"You are one of the strongest and most respected Marines in the world, yet you condemned my mother to death when you could have saved her."

The words of Dadan ringed into his ears from years ago and it felt like gravity was crushing Ace from all angles.

The words of Rosan ringed into his ears from years ago and it felt like he aged more than he already did.

Garp didn't know what to do.

Ace didn't know what to do...

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

All signs of playfulness was gone from Rosan, mood quelled and replaced by a cold blooded machine.

The only sign that he felt something was the sight of his glowing, smoldering, eyes.

Today, Rosan would make his second statement on a Marine Stronghold and show them exactly why they should not mess with him.

They called Impel Down hell on earth, but Rosan was going to show them that hell was just a fraction.

Rosan was going to show them a glimpse of what true hell looked like. By the time he was done, Impel Down would take inspiration from him.

"Ready?" Sabo asked, tightening his gloves and grabbing his pipe.

"Yeah," Rosan grunted, armband wrapping around his entire body and forming a coat.

He grabbed his hair and tied up the back into a bun, letting the front drape over his face.

The redhead touched his earrings for a moment and nodded to himself, preemptively transforming Ram into gloves.

"We don't know anything about Impel Down that could help us find Ace faster… so we probably have to do this the old fashioned way," Sabo frowned, tapping a finger against the pipe rhythmically and watching as sparks periodically coursed through it.

"I'll speed up the process to the best of my ability but it seems like it," Rosan frowned, waiting for the signal. "Impel Down has 5 levels to it. Logically speaking, Ace should be on level 5… but there's a chance they've put him on any floor since he's scheduled for execution."

"Should the 3 of us split up?" Sabo asked. "With Modification, we could probably explore 3 floors at once."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea… but I worry for Luffy," Rosan admitted with a frown. "You know how reckless he is and unlike me he doesn't have a versatile ability to bail him out. He could get messed up if he's too careless."

Sabo nodded. "We'll decide as we travel. For now, staying in a group is smart. Nothing in there should be able to handle all 3 of us at the same time."

"If they know what's good for them, they'll fall silently and without struggle," Rosan grunted. "I'm in no mood for games. Anyone who gets in our way, dies. I won't rest until I get Ace back."

Sabo shook his head. "As scary as ever, Rosan."

The two waited, until Rosan's gaze snapped open and he stood up.

Sabo followed immediately after and without needing prompting, placed a hand on the redhead.

"Let's give them hell," Sabo said grimly.

"Hell will be a paradise when I'm done with them," Rosan snarled.

With that, the two brothers vanished.

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

"Please be careful you three," Hancock pleaded.

As Sabo and Rosan arrived, they were greeted to the sight of Hancock and Luffy in a room with both a stone woman and a stone snail.

Rosan grabbed Hancock into a hug. "Thanks cousin. You've done a lot for us and I'll repay you once this is all over."

Their time together actually made Rosan rather fond of his cousin and seeing the risks she was so willing to take, no hesitation at all in her body showed him that she was worth being apart of his family.

After this was over, he'd find the time to actually visit her more because he knew that's what she wanted. Since she had been such a good cousin to him, it was only right for him to be a good cousin to her.

She shook her head furiously at that. "There is no need! You've done so much for me already… this is the least of my concerns."

Rosan smiled at her, frigid features melting slightly so he could grace her with one.

"You're awesome, Hancock! Thanks a bunch!" Luffy beamed, gripping her hands in his own.

Hancock's hand slammed against her chest at that.

"Does this mean we're getting married?!"

The woman swooned and nearly fainted right there, up until Rosan slapped both her cheeks with his hands.

"Focus, Hancock. You still have to play your part. Focus on getting out of here without arousing suspicion. We'll see you again after this all blows over," Rosan murmured to her.

She nodded once more, hugging all 3 (even Sabo! She had warmed up quite a lot to him!), before Rosan modified a hole into the roof and the three slipped in.

He watched as Hancock undid her ability, allowing the petrified woman to continue her inspections (no recollection of being frozen whatsoever) on his cousin with a small blush on her face.

After a few more minutes, Hancock was permitted to leave the room and the two woman departed.

Rosan left a fly out there and had his brothers wait in their hiding spot, while they waited for the group of World Government agents to leave.

It didn't take them very long to vacate the area, clearly feeling the haste to get this over with and Rosan grunted.

Once the coast was clear, Rosan's wings sprouted from his back and he grabbed Luffy and Sabo, before floating out of sight of the snail and towards the door.

It took him less than a second to make a sizable hole in the frame and he floated through, tapping it again to make it go back to normal.

The 3 caught Hancock's eyes right before the elevator went down and they shot her a smile, that made her begin swooning.

"Alright," Rosan muttered, as he landed on the floor without a sound.

"Modification is such a bullshit fruit," Sabo replied with an exasperated smile, watching as Rosan tapped the both of them and linked up.

"Sabo not you too!" Mod complained. "You of all people cannot say that, after eating the Goro Goro no mi!"

The three took off running immediately, Rosan at the lead as he began muttering under his breath.

"I can and I will. The sheer versatility of your fruit is ridiculous," Sabo replied, following Rosan.

"He's right! Modi can do way too many things," Luffy exclaimed.

It didn't take them very long to find a set of stairs that went downwards and they immediately began descending.

"Ugh, I can't believe we just got all of you back and you're teasing me too!" Mod complained.

"Can't resist. You make it too easy Mod-chan. You're very adorable," Sabo replied cheekily.

"Noise. People," Rosan said shortly gaze focused.

Without needing any further words, the three brothers leapt atop the ceiling of Impel Down, watching as guards ran through the location they were just at.

"Looking for someone," Rosan grunted with a frown, hanging upside down as he stared at the guards and resisted killing them. "Don't think it's Ace. Would have been more widespread panic."

"Probably just a random. Ace is the most important prisoner in this prison. They wouldn't dispatch such a small group just for him," Sabo frowned, watching as they disappeared down the corridor.

The three leapt off and continued at a cautious pace, eventually making it into a gigantic room full of cells.

Rosan grunted and continued his pace, eyeing all the cells with a contemplative expression.

Finally, he walked up to one and saw the people perk up.

"How did you get out there?! Do you have the key?"

Rosan ignored them.

"Where is Fire Fist Ace?" Rosan asked quietly.

Someone in the cage snorted. "Fire Fist Ace? There's no way he's on the first floor!"

"Yeah someone like him would be on level 5!"

"Hey let us out! We could use some fresh air!"

Level 5… He wouldn't trust their words but he'd keep stalk of them.

Rosan relayed the information to his bug following Hancock and gave it the order to find out where level 5 was…

Only to find out that it began malfunctioning the moment it seemed to reach level 4. The only thing he noted was the excess heat before his bird went dark.

Rosan frowned. Note to self, make his future creations resistant to extreme weather. He only thought about rain.

"The fourth floor, has an extreme shift in temperature," Rosan grunted, tapping both his brothers and making them resistant to the effects like he was. "For now, we'll search all the floors for him on our way to 5 —"

The rapid sound of footsteps interrupted the redhead and the three brothers looked to see someone getting chased by a bunch of blue humanoid figures.

Rosan's eyes narrowed as he realized just who was being chased.

The redhead held his hand out and the person who was screaming for their life, thought it was a hand meant to save him.

Buggy's tears of joy, transformed into unbridled terror as he saw the gloved palm glowing bright in warning.

The clown shrieked in horror as he realized that it wasn't salvation… but an execution about to happen and he hastily changed direction —

Just in time for a massive beam to barely graze his body.

Every prisoner went white, as that beam of energy ran over all the Blugori, vaporizing them on the spot.

"H-Holy shit... I don't think that guys supposed to be on this floor."

"No shit... did you... did you see that?! He just took out those Blugori like they were weeds!"

Rosan sneered, eyes glowing menacingly as he put his smoking gloves down.

"We don't have time for this," Rosan grunted. "Luffy, that Vivre Card for Ace… do you still own it?"

Luffy nodded and pulled it out of his hat, showcasing it to them all.

Rosan's fangs bared in murder at just how tiny it was and Sabo let out a disgruntled noise, equally as bothered.

"Straw Hat?! Redhead?!" Buggy exclaimed in disbelief. "You nearly killed me back there!"

He was ignored.

"So they finally captured you two?!"

Rosan ignored him.

"STOP IGNORING ME!"

Rosan pursed his lips.

They probably had their location outed a bit and Rosan didn't want suspicion to befall Hancock any further…

The redhead began concentrating slightly.

Finally a wave of harmless sparks left his body and he grunted.

"What did you do?" Sabo murmured.

"Disrupted electrical signals. Cameras should be messing up for this floor and maybe the next depending on how far down it is," Rosan replied back, turning on a dime and continuing his course.

"Useful. Wonder if I can learn that," Sabo muttered, following his brother.

"Almost certainly, but it would require a lot of control... or you could just use a heavy dosage and overpower it completely," Mod replied.

Sabo nodded at that. "There's a lot of things I'll need to practice with after we save Ace."

"The vivre card is pointing downwards so that means Ace is down!" Luffy exclaimed.

"Should I destroy a hole into the ground?" Rosan pondered.

"Save your energy, we can just reach the next floor normally. No one knows we're here yet," Sabo replied, years of covert missions kicking in.

"You three are trying to save Ace?!" Buggy asked in shock.

Rosan partially glanced back at the clown in some confusion. "You're still alive?" he muttered.

"DID YOU EVEN PAY ATTENTION TO ME AFTER THAT ATTACK?!" Buggy roared in indignation, more than a little offended by being treated like a side gig.

Rosan ignored his screaming. "You've probably been captured for a while. How do we get to lower levels?" he asked the clown.

Buggy spluttered at the insufferable redhead. "Why the hell would I tell you that —"

A super heated palm rested on his nose and Buggy stared into the reptilian eyes of one Rosan.

"Next time, instead of being a whiny bitch, just answer my question. I was going to leave you be but now I change my mind. You're escorting us for the rest of this or you're only going to know pain and misery for as long as I have the will to torment you and I have a lot of will," Rosan warned.

"Asshole," Sabo snorted in amusement.

Buggy thought about protesting, but he saw Rosan actually begin forming a beam while still grasping his nose and thought better of it.

"O-Of course! Right this way!" Buggy stammered in terror.

Rosan snorted and beckoned his head.

"You and I will focus on dispatching enemies, Sabo."

"Yeah. We can alternate."

"Aww what about me?!" Luffy complained, much to Buggy's confusion.

Rosan glanced at his younger brother. "You have to expend more energy to take enemies out since you're so physical. Save your stamina."

Luffy grumbled, clearly not content with that idea and it made Rosan sigh.

"Clown. Explain this structure," he demanded, narrowing his heterochromatic eyes.

Buggy squeaked in horror at that.

"E-Each floor of Impel Down gets more dangerous the lower you go," the clown explained to them. "The higher the bounty, the lower you're put… I even heard there's a level lower than 5."

Rosan's attention was grabbed at that.

"A level lower than 5?" Rosan muttered. "Why don't I just blast a hole downwards continuously?" he asked the clown.

Buggy spluttered. "That's reckless! Don't do that! Who knows what could happen?! We're underwater after all!"

Rosan pursed his lips.

He didn't know the infrastructure of Impel Down so doing something like that, could be dangerous in the long run.

It could lead to a situation where they absolutely needed to find Ace while water was filling up the entire prison...

He sucked his teeth. Less than ideal.

"It's fine Rosan. Patience over recklessness."

That was right. Patience would be key here. This required a more steady approach lest they get overwhelmed.

The redhead nodded and they continued their course, until they arrived to a forest full of trees.

"This is the first level of Impel Down, the Crimson Hell!" Buggy exclaimed.

The Crimson Hell was a forest that contained red trees, along with red grass. The reason they were red, was because each blade of grass and each tree, doubled as blades themselves and as a result, every step a prisoner took would spill their blood on the foliage.

Even now, Rosan could hear pained screams, agony ringing through the place in an almost practiced symphony.

"How sinister," Mod commented, shaking her head at the cruelty.

It was all just so vulgar to her. She would never derive joy in this.

"I think it's smart! We should do this!" Ram beamed.

Rosan glanced uncaringly, wings sprouting from his back as he held both Luffy and Sabo.

Buggy looked at those giant wings with no small amount of nervousness, remembering both his encounters with the redhead earlier.

The first time on Orange Island... where the redhead was just content to taunt and make fun of him, always at ease and never seeing it fit to kill him...

And then at Loguetown, when the redhead actually had been about to kill him but he was saved by the lightning strike.

To think he had been so dangerous this entire time... did he really leave Buggy alive just out of boredom?!

"Where do we go for the next level?"

Buggy gulped and led the way, guiding them all to a giant hole that led to level two.

While heading there, they had been intercepted by a few more Blugori's that Sabo shocked to incapacitation (Buggy's eyes bugged out in terror at seeing the unknown blonde in action) but there weren't as many enemies, likely due to Rosan tampering with the cameras.

Sabo stared at the burned bodies and nodded to himself, even as Rosan soared with them on each hand.

"We should be close to level 2 now, right?" he asked.

Buggy nodded hastily. "Should be just ahead these trees! It's a giant hole!"

"Perfect," Sabo smiled good naturedly, on the lookout for anymore enemies that could halt their flight there.

While Rosan was flying through the air, he was taking up the role of their makeshift turret and was blasting down anything in sight.

It worked out pretty well! They were advancing at a speed that they were all satisfied with and it took them no time at all to make it to a suspiciously large hole.

"This is it!" Buggy explained. "Just go through and you'll make it to level 2! Be warned, it's called the Wild Beasts Hell!"

Rosan ignored him mostly, inclining and diving into the hole without any hesitation.

As they leapt into level 2, Rosan's gaze sharpened dramatically and his draconic instincts began roaring.

The reasoning was soon made clear, as a giant chicken with a beasts head gazed down at them, tongue sticking out of its mouth.

Oh? A lesser creature that thought it could stand to his might?

Ridiculous. Rosan was a far stronger monster than this one.

Rosan didn't even realize that he began subtly activating Ragnarok, as he stared the Basilisk down but he did notice how the beast honed in on him specifically.

They made eye contact and Rosan felt a roar of fury take place, as the creature before him refused to naturally submit to his will and look away.

Foolish. Rosan would show it what that entailed.

In just a split second, he had transformed into Ragnarok and crashed into the beast with raw aggression.

"Goodness. With Rosan's sudden surge of anger, Ragnarok is having a far easier time influencing him."

"It's pretty awesome!" Ram gushed.

Buggy's jaw dropped in horror at seeing Rosan take the form of a goddamn dragon and he backed away, as the creature began brutalizing the Basilisk without any hesitation.

So the redhead was capable of transforming into a dragon... at this point Buggy was just thanking the stars that he was somehow still alive.

Rosan roared in fury and sunk his fangs into the Basilisk's sides, getting a shriek of agony out of the creature and the dragon began ragdolling him like he weren't a gigantic monster.

"Rosan!" Sabo called out suddenly. "Slam it through here!"

Rosan looked at the wall Sabo was pointing at and growled in affirmation, grabbing the screeching Basilisk and slamming it through the wall…

Directly into the stunned guards.

They had been discreetly trying to relay comms to the Chief Warden or actual Warden that something was largely amiss considering their cameras weren't working... but it was then they realized their communications weren't working either.

Then, they heard the shrieks of one of the monsters of hell outside, along with the roars of a monster they couldn't identify and they began panicking, trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

At the sight of one of the walls to their right crumbling into nothing, they could only watch in sheer terror as one of the wild beasts of level 2 flew directly into the room.

The jail erupted in screams of agony as the Basilisk's massive buddy crushed them to the floor and Rosan snorted derisively.

"He's a devil," Buggy balked. It had been a long time since he had been shown the higher levels of power some pirates could display.

While Rosan's was nowhere near the peak of what Buggy had seen… he had been around those same people and was good at spotting who was capable of reaching that level...

He could see that same potential in this group of three right here. Every single one of them were going to be a terrible issue in the future if they survived...

"Good thinking, Sabo," Rosan praised, transforming back into normal. "By now they should know something is wrong, but throwing them into further confusion is good."

The revolutionary nodded and turned towards Buggy.

"How do we get to level 3?" he asked.

The crown laughed nervously. "Well… uh… I don't really know?"

"You don't know?" Rosan asked calmly, too calmly.

"I'LL FIGURE IT OUT! THIS IS BEAST HELL THOUGH SO WATCH OUT FOR THE MONSTERS!"

"Hmph," Rosan grunted.

"HEY WAIT! IF YOU FIND THE KEYS IN THERE, YOU COULD FREE US!" A prisoner shouted.

Rosan tilted his head.

Why would he do that? At the end of the day, these criminals probably deserved to be in here. Rosan was under no inclination to free…

He grabbed the keys and tossed them to Buggy.

"Go free them," Rosan grunted.

"Rosan?" Sabo mused curiously, raising a brow.

"They will be fine distractions. I don't know if they are aware of who's broken in… but these idiots will take up attention."

Sabo pursed his lips and nodded. "Alright. Sounds good to me."

As a Revolutionary… letting these guys free made his stomach turn, but they wouldn't escape anyways and if they did…

Well he'd just deal with them.

As Rosan watched Buggy open up the doors to the cells, none of the prisoners stepped out and he narrowed his eyes.

"There's no point stepping out. You may have beaten one of those beasts but there's way more," someone shrugged.

Rosan listened to the noises of agreement and stared at the one who said that, tilting his head to the left.

The prisoner who said that had no time at all to react, as a giant red beam evaporated him on the spot.

"W-WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"D-DID HE JUST?!"

Shouts of horror rang through the room, as everyone shakily watched the spot the man was at.

Rosan stared soullessly at them.

"Get out of the fucking cages right now. Who the fuck do you think you are trying to waste my time?" Rosan snarled, hand still held up. "You have 10 seconds. Anyone who hasn't stepped out and begun rioting, will die."

He didn't give a damn about these prisoners. Their job was to serve as fodder to die. Whether it was to him or the jailors was the only difference.

The prisoners stared at Rosan in horror, frozen to their spots.

"3. 2. 1," Rosan rumbled.

The stampede of footsteps, were music to his ears.

"Good," he said simply, raking a hand through his hair.

Buggy stared at the redhead with the most insane of trigger fingers with a dropped jaw, numbly watching the prisoners nervously standing at attention.

He wondered if he could blend in with the prisoners to get away from this demon.

Rosan's ear twitched and he, Sabo and Luffy glanced to see an army of beasts charging them.

Buggy and every single prisoner paled. "D-Do we run from them?!" Buggy asked in terror, poised to do just that.

"Run?" the brothers asked, tilting their heads to the side. "Why would we do that?"

Buggy hated these freaks.

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

"Rosan is a demon," Koala balked in disbelief.

"I know," Robin nodded sagely.

The two just watched as Rosan without any hesitation, evaporated a prisoner on the spot.

Koala thought she was used to how ruthless Rosan was after watching his battle with Crocodile and his interactions with that one short girl... but this really solidified that her brother in law (she would balk in horror in a few minutes after she realized her slip up) was a complete terror.

Robin could only hold her breath in anticipation as they began their Impel Down operation. Things were going fine for now but it was only a matter of time before things picked up.

She hoped things stayed like this for at least a few more levels.

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

"Huh... s-so that's why they call him the Red Devil," Dalia stammered with wide eyes, looking at the spot the prisoner was at with her mouth open.

Oren nodded with wide eyes. They were no strangers to death. After all Oren and Dalia occasionally hunted bounties down to replenish their funds.

But the utterly casual way Rosan had disintegrated that body was...

"AT JUST 9 YEARS OLD, YOUR SON MURDERED HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AND DESTROYED AN ISLAND. 9! HE WAS 9!"

Raisa bit her lip and stared at the soulless look in Rosan's eyes, watching how casually he killed people.

There was no hint of emotion in his eyes as he destroyed that person on the spot. They may have been a prisoner but Rosan...

Rosan was an experienced killer. One who didn't even blink at killing others.

He had likely been doing this since he was 9...

Raisa frowned sadly. She never wanted Rosan to don such a look when killing. She never wanted him to do the action so effortlessly. To him, it might have been no different than eating a meal.

It was heartbreaking. Raisa had unknowingly pushed Rosan down this route...

But she did not care. If this was the path he was forced down, all she could do was support it. Raisa would never again doubt her son. She would die before doing such a thing.

That is why she had utmost faith in him accomplishing his mission... and then he'd come visit her and she'd dote on him like Boa Hancock did and he'd have no complaints.

The only problem was getting Mod to agree to this... How could Raisa win the woman over?

Well, maybe she'd find out by watching this more. She was learning a lot about Rosan.

Like how affectionate he was. Even knowing she was watching did not stop him from showing Nico Robin his affections...

Her son was utterly shameless. Raisa was still blushing in embarrassment just thinking about it.

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

"Something on your mind, Ace?"

Ace said nothing for a long while. "Just thinking of my brothers… if they hear news about all this, they're going to try and save me... And knowing my oldest one, he'll already be thinking of a way to do that," he muttered.

He could only hope that they were far enough to not make it in time… Ace couldn't lose them because of something he caused. It would hurt so much more.

"I want to save you too. This war… I'd do anything to prevent it from happening, even give up my life," Jinbe said, shutting his eyes.

Ace frowned at that.

He didn't want anyone dying for his sake. That was one of the few things he'd never desire. Ace didn't want to ever be important enough for his friends to die for him.

"Save me? If I remember, you tried to kill me," he said with a smirk.

"You nearly succeeded in killing me," Jinbe retorted, recalling the duel they had years ago.

It was… not as close as Jinbe expected it to be. Fire Fist Ace had a solid advantage over the Fishman.

It was only Jinbe's guts and endurance that dragged it on for so long… and the timely intervention of Whitebeard that had saved his life.

But that was all water under the bridge. Ace was precious to Jinbe and that was why he was locked in this prison cell… because he could not bare the idea that war with Whitebeard and the World Government was about to pass.

Ace said nothing, allowing his thoughts to wander over to his brothers again.

"Your brothers… they are the Red Devil Rosan and Straw Hat Luffy, correct?" Jinbe asked cautiously.

"You know that already, Jinbe. I never stop talking about them," Ace grunted.

"...Last time I checked, after they destroyed Enies Lobby… they defeated Gecko Moria and then struck a Celestial Dragon at Sabaody."

Ace went cold.

"Rosan and Luffy did what?!" he shouted in disbelief.

He knew his brothers destroyed Enies Lobby… but they also defeated another Warlord and attacked a Celestial Dragon?!

Not to mention… Sabaody was right next to Marineford…

They were going to be there weren't they…

"Fuck," Ace whispered in horror.

Fuck... What had he done?! He was so stupid! Why couldn't he just stop being arrogant for one second?!

If he had employed Rosan's help… they would have defeated Teach but he denied it… With his brother supporting him, it would have been easy to defeat him.

Hell even another member of the Whitebeard Pirates would have been sufficient… but he hadn't listened to anything they had to say. They didn't even want him to go but he ignored everything they said.

Now he was risking everyone's life...

It was almost exactly like how he had risked Luffy and Sabo's life all those years ago.

Ace grit his teeth.

Did anything actually change from the days when he was a stupid 10 year old?

He'd be hard pressed to find a difference. He was still the same stubborn idiot to the end…

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

Rosan…

That name stirred something inside of him. Something exciting.

Cutter pursed his lips at that.

What was it about that name that evoked something out of him?

He shrugged and thought about everything else he had been hearing.

Whitebeard… wasn't that what Newgate went by?

Last he remembered that's what the world opted to call him after he made his own crew.

That damn traitor. He was the worst of his former crew... it was one thing to make his own crew, but to befriend the one who had caused it.

His eyes narrowed darkly.

A war huh? Served him right. Cutter hoped he lost everything precious to him in that war.

Newgate, Kaido, Linlin… all of them were damn traitors and all of them ate off the glory of their former crew, to make their own crew with no goals at all but to be cowards.

Worthless. If moving like that granted them freedom, then Cutter would rather be a prisoner.

If moving out of Roger's way and allowing him to sail the whole world unbothered was how they wanted to live… then they were trash.

But at the end of the day, Cutter was the one imprisoned and they were the ones running free…

And they should be glad for that.

Hmph, whatever. What happened outside had nothing to do with him anymore. It had just been a while since he heard a familiar name.

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

Sengoku nearly roared in frustration, as he pulled out a hair and saw that it was white.

Nearby, Garp was laughing at the entire situation and the Fleet Admiral had half a mind to take him out too.

He had received brief news, that someone had invaded Impel Down and before he could figure anything else out… the call cut.

The call cut.

Almost exactly like with Enies Lobby…

That could only mean one thing…

The Red Devil was in Impel Down trying to free Fire Fist.

Didn't Bartholomew Kuma say he annihilated the Straw Hats? Did that damn pirate lie to him?! There wasn't even anything he could do about it anymore! Kuma had been fully converted to PX-0.

Would the Red Devil continue to pull his teeth over and over again?!

At this point, Sengoku wanted him to show up to Marineford, so he could deal with him once and for all.

The forces stationed outside should be enough to stop the Red Devil along with the guards of Impel Down... but just knowing that he managed to break in...

Sengoku scowled.

Well, unlike CP9… the forces of Impel Down were far more formidable… It was a good thing before the call ended, Sengoku relayed that order…

"STOP LAUGHING OVER THERE. THESE ARE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN!" Sengoku roared at Garp.

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

Buggy, along with every single prisoner, felt their jaws falling slack at the havoc caused by the three brothers.

It wasn't even a fight… Rosan and Sabo were annihilating all the beasts in troves, shooting out whatever the redhead chose to and lightning respectively.

Any thoughts of trying to revolt against the redhead had gone away when he vaporized someone on the spot.

Any chance of going against what he said vanished with the portray all the brothers were showing.

"I think I'm really getting the hang of this," Sabo muttered, glancing at the burned beasts with an impressed gaze. Sparks idly ran through his body and he hummed in delight.

Something Sabo noticed after eating this fruit was that thinking became so much easier. After eating his fruit, Sabo honestly like how Rosan claimed to be in regards to having such a fast mind.

In fact, the world around him seemed slower. Perhaps he was processing things too quickly...

It was jarring but he spent the days up to here getting used to it.

Rosan had helped him. He didn't view the world as quickly as Sabo now could, but his processing speed was still absurd by virtue of being a super computer.

"You guys are barely letting me fight!" Luffy complained.

"Because your skillset doesn't have moves that casually take out waves of enemy without blinking," Rosan grunted.

"Yeah, this hardly drains our energy," Sabo added, using his electricity on Rosan to fill him up to prove his point.

Luffy frowned but accepted it… for now.

"I imagine they know we're here now so let's not waste time," Rosan decided, taking off in a direction.

"R-Right!" Buggy squeaked in renewed horror. "There should be a set of stairs around here that lead to level 3! I don't know if there's a special way to get there but the stairs are surefire!"

Thoughts of escaping, had long vanished. Buggy's honest best chance at getting out of Impel Down was just sticking with these monsters who were psychotic enough to even break in.

Rosan grunted as a figure blocked their path and he looked at the giant beast in annoyance.

It was a large creature with a dark humanoid face and a winged, leonine body.

What the hell was this?

"A… sphinx? I believe this is a sphinx," Mod called in confusion.

Well, he didn't really give a shit what it was. It was going to die anyways.

Before he could eviscerate it on the spot, Luffy lunged forward, fists growing gigantic immediately.

"Wait hold on Luffy!" Rosan shouted, holding his head in disbelief as his youngest brother finally lost his patience.

The Sphinx roared in fury and lunged at Luffy in return, poised to smush the rubber boy.

The rubber boy launched himself over the swipe of the giant sphinx, before using the gigantic fist of Gear Third to embed the creature into the pavement.

As the attack crashed into the sphinx's head, it forced the creature further and further down...

And further and further down...

Rosan's eye twitched, as the floor began shuddering and he let out a suffering sigh.

Sometimes, he was so tired of Luffy's bullshit.

The redhead wasted no time sprouting his wings and tail.

He lashed out and grabbed the mini Luffy with his tail, while Sabo laughed helplessly and gripped his arm, right as the ground broke beneath them.

"This is why you let us deal with it," Rosan groused, glaring at his chibi brother.

"Hahaha but we got to the third level now!" Luffy beamed.

Sabo burst out laughing at the way Rosan's eye twitched further.

"You know damn well your intention wasn't to get us to the third level. You were just upset that we were hogging the defeats," Rosan huffed in annoyance.

Luffy whistled and turned sideways. "T-That's not true," the rubber boy whistled.

"Liar," every single person thought with a sweatdrop.

Rosan huffed and glared at the Buggy clutching him like his life depended on it.

"You're useless, I don't know why you're still tagging along," the redhead scowled. "You can go run off like you were planning. We don't need you anymore."

Buggy spluttered at that. "W-Wait! I'd rather stay with you guys now! It's safest with you all!"

"Fuck off... but I guess you could be a useful shield," Rosan sneered, eyes glancing over the entire area and feeling the heat brush against him.

Naturally, it had no effect… on him and his brothers.

"So… hot," Buggy moaned miserably, body beginning to falter as the heat washed over him.

He looked at the utterly unaffected brothers with blatant jealousy.

Was this just a trait of being a natural born monster? Being completely unaffected by things like extreme heat?

How the hell were they able to look so normal?!

Rosan's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, since his arms were occupied.

Without any prompting, a red laser shot out of the redhead's mouth and he razed the entire area as he moved his head from right to left.

The red beam washed over the field without discrimination and Buggy's confusion washed away as he heard screams ring out.

"O-Oh," Buggy stammered. How was it possible for this redhead to keep getting scarier?

Rosan listened to the screams of the guards trying to set up a trap and sneered, cutting down the net that was going to capture them and watching as it fell uselessly to the floor.

Saldeath watched, petrified as the laser nearly connected with him in his hiding spot.

The trap they had set up for the offenders had completely failed. Saldeath hadn't known that the ones invading Impel Down was the Straw Hats, but if he was aware, he would have better prepared for this.

Was this the reason communications weren't working? Did they do something?

Not good... luckily, he didn't get hit. He would have to wait for them to progress and then go find Magellan asap.

Saldeath let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding —

Only for that breath to get sucked back in, as a figure landed directly in front of him.

Saldeath felt a genuine well of terror, as he stared into the heterochromatic and cruel gaze of the Red Devil.

Rosan was looking at him without a shred of emotion in his stance and Saldeath felt his breath quicken, as he looked for a way to escape.

The moment his leg twitched, Rosan struck.

Without anytime to react, a tail lashed out and gripped him by the neck, lifting the Chief Guard off the floor and making him drop the pitchfork in his hand.

"Not very smart of you but it's not like you knew who was in here," Rosan commented, tightening the grip on the boy and getting a panicked shout out of the guard.

He forcefully brought the midget closer to him, forcing the boy to hold his gaze.

"You thought this little hiding spot of yours woulda saved you?" he mused.

The redhead looked at the remaining guards with a malicious smirk, aiming their boss at them with a delight in his eyes.

Their guns were poised, aiming at him with clear desire to shoot but with the knowledge that their boss was being held captive...

Naturally, they stopped shooting and the redhead hummed.

His disruptor no longer reached the first floor so if anyone was aware of what was happening, then they had already been reported.

Not great. They'd probably need to speed up a bit.

"You're going to be staying with us for a bit, midget," Rosan smiled gently. "You're in our care. If you do your job well, you'll live. If you don't, I'm going to rip you to pieces and it's going to be slow."

Saldeath began shuddering in fear at the horrible turn of events. What was he going to do? How was he going to get out of this? He was being held by a tail as an afterthought...

He was trapped... the Red Devil had one of the chiefs of Impel Down held hostage.

Oh no...

"Where'd Luffy go?" Rosan asked Sabo, turning towards his brother and showcased the hostage he acquired.

Sabo smiled a little at that and pointed in a direction. "He ran off over there for some reason. I don't know why."

Rosan nodded and took off, while Sabo transformed into lightning and pursued.

As they vanished, the guards hesitantly lowered their guns and watched as the two criminals disappeared.

They turned towards each other with resolve firm on their features, coming to the same conclusion.

"We have to inform Warden Magellan about this —"

Before the guards could finish, a tiny orb caught their attention.

It floated slowly, glowing red and they only had a moment to realize that it was an attack, before it exploded into a giant dome of energy.

Saldeath struggled fruitlessly in Rosan's grasp, eyes wide in terror as the redhead merely tightened his grip warningly.

"You'll make a good hostage and guide," Rosan grunted, eyes roving over the entirety of the floor. "Where are you keeping Ace?" he asked calmly.

Saldeath said nothing and Rosan sighed.

"Listen, you look like a kid and I don't fancy the idea of torturing a child," Rosan admitted, bringing the teen in front of him with a deathly calm look.

"But you don't seem to understand just whose life is on the line."

Saldeath shuddered as those strange glowing eyes bored into him.

"Ace just isn't a pirate. That's my little brother so if you really know what's good for you, you'll understand that I'm going to find him regardless of if you say anything and the only thing that will change, is whether you are alive or not," Rosan said gently, violent words greatly contrasting his tone.

Saldeath shuddered as an ominous aura began looming over him.

"Level 6," he said eventually, bowing his head as the terror of the situation finally took over. "Fire Fist Ace was brought to level 6."

A truth.

"What is level 6? I thought there was only 5 levels." Rosan pointed out.

"Level 6 is... where we keep the criminals who are the worst of the worst. They're the ones we want to erase from history."

Rosan mulled that over and nodded.

"Good. You're going to bring us there. So long as you do your job, I will not hurt you. As long as I leave satisfied, your life is saved," Rosan assured.

Saldeath shut his eyes and nodded.

Sabo shook his head, finding no complaints at Rosan's actions.

He was just surprised to actually be witnessing Reaper in action. Rosan was acting as cold as the Shinigami and until he got Ace back, he'd bring hell to anyone he encountered.

Sabo was of the same boat. He'd do anything to get Ace back as well.

And that included using someone as a hostage.

This was incredibly effective. This was a boy who looked like he knew what he was doing.

Saldeath merely shuddered in terror, hoping Magellan showed up eventually.

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

Hancock ignored the sounds of terror as Magellan tortured the prisoners.

She had barely registered their words but she heard the typical whistles and noises of awe that normal accompanied wherever she walked.

The screams of terror and pain normally accompanied too. Not because of her, but because of Sonia or Mari.

When Hancock personally took action, they never made a noise.

Just the way she liked it.

The Pirate Empress stared at the beaten and battered Ace with a neutral expression.

Ace stared back at her in some confusion.

Why on earth was the Pirate Empress paying him a visit?

Of all the people Ace had met before, he could safely say Boa Hancock was certainly not one of them —

"All 3 of your brothers are in Impel Down right now trying to save you," she muttered to the injured man so quietly, only he could hear it.

Ace jolted in shock at that abrupt sentence, gazing at the Pirate Empress in abject horror.

How did the Warlord know that? Why did she know that?

How… did she know about his brothers…? How did she know that he had brothers?!

All 3 of them? Was Demon here as well? Was Rosan seriously going to jeopardize Demon's livelihood?!

Did... he bring Maro too?

Ace didn't want any of them to come but if Maro lost her island because of her desire to save him... he'd never under any circumstances be able to forgive himself.

Ace didn't know the answer to any of these questions... but Ace knew that his brothers were even more insane than he initially thought.

Raiding Marineford was one thing… the idiots were in Impel Down?!

What was Rosan thinking?! Didn't he understand these were his younger brothers?! He couldn't just risk them like this!

Dammit all... why were they in Impel Down? Were they crazy?!

Hancock looked at the turmoil in his eyes and turned away with a soft sigh.

It appeared that Ace was as worried for his brothers, as they were for him.

"They are determined to save you at all costs," was all she offered, before waltzing off.

"I'm done here. Escort me to the exit," Hancock demanded.

Ace watched her retreating back with a helpless look.

"What did she say?" Jinbe asked in concern.

"…My brothers are here," Ace breathed out.

Jinbe's eyes widened. "Straw Hat and Red Devil? They're here…? How foolhardy of them!"

Ace shut his eyes in despair.