From where we left off:


"Cuatro Fleur!"

As Robin called out her attack, four arms immediately sprouted behind the female officer, both pairs reaching for their own targets - the base of the chin and the arms, respectively. In shock, Candella then rotated her head slightly to where the archaeologist was standing. Seeing the pirate's arms still in their X position, the woman in white uttered in hatred.

"N-Nico Robin!"

"I suggest you give us the boy now, Marine-san," a serious Robin repeated the earlier request.

"Not a chance."

"Well then..."

Shutting her palms into a fist, the pirate shouted.

"Clutch!"

At that moment, the two arms below Candella's chin pushed her head upwards while the two below pulled Candella's own arms downwards, bending the officer. After finally breaking the lady marine, Candella's body fell down onto the floor, shocking both Yuu and his captor. As the four arms disappeared, Nico Robin directed her attention to the two bystanders.

"Will you hand over the boy to us now, Marine-san?" The same question, but now, to the actual captor.

"I-I... Uhm..." The soldier was shaking. His hold onto Yuu's arms made the Yuu shake with him, too. "C-Candella-san won't allow me."

"Are you sure? She's already down."

"I-I..."

"Tell it to her straight, sweetie~"

I knew it!

In front of all three of them, the fallen officer's body quickly disintegrated, changing into white sheets of paper in the process, her coat and clothes included. As the archaeologist slowly backed away, the pieces of paper gathered around one spot and started forming an upright humanoid form, starting from the feet up. Little by little, the small sheets merged with one another and changed its appearance once all the papers fused together, returning to its previous form – the supposedly knocked out female officer's body, now void of any bruises or injury.

What?


A/N: I really apologise for not updating for almost a year now. In my defense, the thing that's making it difficult for me to update this is the fact that I have no clue who would join the crew apart from Jinbei. I'm sure that there will be others joining until after the end of the Wano arc, so I'm trying my best not to exclude them here.

Yes, I know. In fanfiction, anything can happen. But, it just feels wrong if I can't add the new crew members here.


Chapter 7 - Cease and Desist


What?

The swordsman was not able to hide the shock on his face as the female Marine, now appearing to have not been injured in any way, teasingly flipped her hair to the wind.

The white-haired lady looked at her assailants through the corner of her eyes before speaking in a mischievous tone. "What seems to be the problem, Roronoa? Cat got your tongue?" Zoro scoffed at the taunt.

On the other hand, the teen in chains was yet to return from his shock. Seeing the female officer bent in an uncomfortable way and later transformed into bits of white paper was too much for him to process.

W-What the. What was that?

Yuu was brought back to reality when the officer holding him gently shook him. "See that? That's our beloved Vice Admiral! The one who ate the Kami-Kami no Mi and became the Paper Woman. The most frightening and most loved of all the female officers in the Marines! Vice Admiral Candella!" the soldier announced rather proudly.

K-Kami Kami no Mi? A Devil Fruit user?

"Sweetie," Candella looked straight at her underling who replied an alert 'Yes, Vice Admiral?' in return. Shifting her weight to her right hip while resting her right hand on it, she continued. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me a Paper Woman. You'll get me confused with those people who deliver newspapers. I don't like it," she finished in a flirty-like tone.

"Call me," she stepped forward with her right foot and, using her toes as support, spun in a carefree manner, her coat swinging along in the air as well as her left leg. Before she could spin for the second time, she stomped her left foot forward and swiftly positioned her right palm as if holding a wine glass with her left palm beneath her right elbow acting as support. "The Paper Artisan. It sounds more glamorous that way, does it not?"

"Glamorous, you say?" The swordsman cut in, bringing to his mouth one of his held swords before unsheathing another. "Try saying that after I cut you to bits," his mouth may have been blocked but Candella seemed to have heard it clearly.

As Zoro raised the two held swords horizontally and above his sword arm with the blades behind his head, Candella did nothing but only watch the swordsman prepare his attack.

"1080... Pound Hou!" Circular swings performed by the Pirate Hunter launched air compressed projectile spiraling towards Candella. As the attack closed, she did not move from her spot and was easily cut into pieces, her body returning to its paper-like state. The buildings behind her got caught up in the attack.

But before Zoro can even relax, the cut pieces of paper remerged similar to how it did previously – from the bottom up. After a few seconds, Candella reappeared. Unharmed and uncut.

"Pirate Hunter Zoro," the swordsman was obviously lost for words. "To you, what is paper?"

"If you slice it, if you cut it in pieces, if you crumple it to wrinkles, will it cease in being paper? Will it become something else?"

How can this be? I even put Haki on that swing! Zoro thought to himself.

"Regardless if you put Haki in your attacks or not, Roronoa," she confidently walked towards the swordsman, "if you can't change paper into anything else, you won't be able to do a thing against me." Candella was now within arm's reach from Zoro. The condescending stare she was giving the man only earned a grunted response.

"The same goes to you, Nico Robin," she slowly turned her head in a teasingly manner towards the archaeologist who already had her arms in the usual attack position. "Breaking my spine would not make a difference. Nor twisting my body in any way you like. Both your attacks are useless against me, you might as well surrender and get this farce over with."

"That's our Vice Admiral!" cheered most of the observing Marine soldiers.

The pirates, on the other hand, found themselves in a precarious situation. Zoro couldn't move his hands in sheer fright even when his target was within range. The archaeologist froze on her spot, thinking what she can do against the Devil Fruit user.

While the Marine soldiers continued on yelling their support, a new voice broke the attention of Candella's attackers.

"Z-Zoro-san! You can do it! I know you can!" Yuu was suddenly yanked by his captor, but did not falter. "I don't know who you really are, but I believe in you!"

That one line made Candella turn around towards the teen. With stern eyes behind her eyewear, she looked sharply at the captive while closing the gap between them.

"O-Oi! Don't you dare hurt him!" threatened Zoro while remaining where he is.

"You there," Candella spoke in a cold voice. "You don't know these people but you believe in them?"

"Y-Yes!" Yuu hesitated, but found the courage to speak against the older woman.

"Why?"

"Because they're not you guys!" Eyebrows rose at the remark. "Because they're not puppets of those old men you serve!"

Candella found the statement of the lad offensive. So, with black and red orbs glaring in anger, she raised her hand in an attempt to strike the boy hard in the face, but before she can even hit skin, a familiar voice commanded.

"Clutch!"

Little did the Vice Admiral notice, four more arms already sprouted all over her body, on the same place the first set of limbs emerged, and bent her in an awkward position before her body disintegrated into paper. However, she wasn't the only one who fell on the floor. The nearby soldiers did, too, most especially, the one holding the captive.

Robin's attack did not end there. She immediately sprouted several more arms near the pieces of paper which summed up Candella's body. The limbs she created which stemmed from the dock floor acted as brooms which then swept the white sheets apart from each other, scattering them like used confetti.

If my observation is right, the closer the papers are to each other, the faster she could re-emerge.

Without even being ordered, Zoro immediately rushed towards their target and grabbed the teen's arm. The teen winced at the sudden touch.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

After a quick nod from the younger male, Yuu and Zoro started running away from the group of fallen soldiers. Robin followed suit.

Meanwhile, the scattered pieces of white paper started grouping themselves, though not as fast as before due to the archaeologist's doing.


"Gomu Gomu no… Muchi!"

"L-Luffy-san! In case you forget, you have a passenger with you! Please handle me with care!"

Men in white kept falling one by one as Straw Hat used his stretched leg to strike the soldiers down. His hands were pre-occupied as his left arm caged a certain bartender by the waist while his right acted as a rope, swinging him and his passenger from one place to another for faster travel pace.

Hayato, on the other hand, started mumbling incoherent words in sheer fright with his palms pressed together. Luffy heartily laughed at the bartender's reaction.

"Your reaction is so funny, Hayato!"

"And you're a reckless buffoon! I swear, if we find Yuu and can get out of this place in one piece, I am not letting him join in your crew! I won't accept a suicidal airhead as his captain!"

"Come, on. Don't be like that." Luffy pouted as he launched another set of soldiers out of their way with his outstretched limb.

"Then, don't just start hitting soldiers left, right, and centre, you dope! You–We're not here to kick their asses. We're here to look for Yuu and get him out of here!"

"Okay!" With a cheerful response, Luffy came to an abrupt halt which caught the bartender off-guard.

"Catch Straw Hat!" The soldiers flocked towards the two.

"W-Why did you stop?" Hayato immediately panicked once the men in white with their swords and guns in hand approached Luffy and him closer.

Rather than replying, Luffy stretched his free hand towards a tall pole a few metres above him. "Grab on tight!" he said to the bartender.

Hayato traced his eyes to the other arm of the pirate captain and started turning pale. "Oh no…"

After a few seconds, Luffy pulled themselves up in the air, Hayato shouting his lungs out in fright. Despite the rain of bullets coming from the soldiers under them, the captain continued on laughing at the passenger's cry. Luckily for them, no bullet hit either of them.

As Luffy retracted his right arm, both males found themselves on top of a tall building that oversaw parts of the island. Salty sea breeze combed the hairs on top of the captain's and the bartender's hair and the mob of angry soldiers beneath them were completely forgotten.

"Ooh!" Luffy sounded astounded. "I can see the sea from here!"

"Sealock's not that big, Luffy-san. I can even see parts of Wano from here," Hayato commented.

"Where?"

Before the teen in light green can point his finger towards the Land of the Samurai, he noticed a commotion not too far to where he was actually looking. There's something going on at the port, he thought. Curious, he shielded his eyes from the sunlight with his right hand and stretched his neck towards the port, his eyes scanning the place.

His eyesight was good enough that he was able to take notice of the three figures running away from a mob of white people. Recognising the mob as a group of Marine soldiers, he returned his observation to the three escaping people. As he took a closer inspection, he gasped at his sudden realisation.

"L-Luffy-san! There! There!" Hayato pointed his left index finger towards the dock. "I see Yuu!"

"Where?" Luffy directed his view to where his passenger was pointing at. "Ah! I see Zoro! Oi! Zoro!"

"I believe it would be best if we approach them, Luffy-san."

"Okay! Hold on tight!"

You don't need to tell me that now.


"Z-Zoro-san! Why did you guys come after me?"

Yuu, Zoro, and Robin already gained quite a distance against the people chasing them, and as the space between the two parties grew wider, Yuu was able to find an opportunity to ask the swordsman the question that has bugged him even before the start of the chase.

"This woman beside me is looking for you," Zoro pointed his thumb towards the archaeologist running not far behind the two males.

"L-Looking for me?" Yuu tried to turn his head towards the Ohara-born but was scared to actually look at the female. Instead, he returned his eyes to the road immediately. Robin tilted his head in confusion.

W-What does this woman want with me?

"And Chopper wants to finish treating you." Zoro continued.

Chopper-san?

"Reindeer-san?" Zoro hummed in response.

"Anyway. How were you caught by the Marines?"

"I-I was hiding in this old house but did not know that a soldier was already in it. The soldier thought of me as a pirate and cuffed me," Yuu shyly replied.

"Are you an idiot?" Yuu popped an angry vain at the statement.

"Yes. Yes. I'm an idiot," Yuu said sarcastically. "I am so sorry, Zoro-sama." The swordsman hit the back of the other male's head in retort.

As they continued running away from the persuaders, a familiar voice caught the attention of the poorly dressed male.

"Yuu!" The male-in-concern stopped in place as he jerked his head to where the voice was coming from. Zoro took notice and stopped running as well.

"Oi! What are you doing?"

"Someone's calling out to me."

Another shout-out came his way. This time, even Zoro and Robin heard it. Both turned their heads towards the town and saw their captain. In his left arm strapped an unknown man in his teens. The younger male beside Zoro tried to raise his arms but the chains on his wrist proved it impossible.

"Hayato! Over here!"

In the air, Luffy was holding onto his straw hat with his right hand and held Hayato close to him with his left as he just jumped from the roof of one nearby building towards where his crew members were standing.

With a loud thud, Luffy safely landed on his two feet a few metres away from the archaeologist. After adjusting his straw hat, he straightened his back and waved at his crewmates. "Yo!"

"H-Hayato!" Yuu came rushing towards the friend.

"L-Luffy-san, can you let go of me now?" Hayato requested. With an approval from the captain, the bartender anchored his feet to the ground as Luffy removed his arms around the male. Once safely rooted to the ground, Hayato ran towards his friend.

As they stopped in front of each other, Hayato did not fail to notice that his friend's hands were constrained. "What happened?" He asked in a worried motherly way.

"They caught me,"Yuu referring to the soldiers and Hayato understood. "And then this happened," he tried to raise his arms but the chains stopped him.

"We'll get rid of those chains later," Zoro interrupted, walking closer to the two Sealock residents. "Right now, we have a problem on our hands." He unsheathed one of his swords and pointed it towards the rushing men gaining close to them.

"Stay back," Robin came in between the two younger males, her hands already in their attacking position. With the archaeologist near him, Yuu immediately ran behind Hayato, using his friend as a sort of human shield.

"You really need to do something about this phobia of yours," the bartender whispered low enough for only Yuu to hear.

"Make me," Yuu replied softly but with conviction, his hands holding tighter on the friend's both shoulders. Hayato only sighed.

The soldiers were now a few metres in front of them, swords and guns in hand, ready to strike the pirates down. Zoro took another sword into his hand as Robin composed herself, observing the men in front of her. Luffy, on the other hand, walked closer towards his two subordinates, rotating his left arm with his right hand on his left shoulder, easing it out of numbness.

"Straw Hat Luffy! Pirate Hunter! Demon Child! You are all under arrest for disturbing the peace of Sealock Island!" One soldier announced, both his hands gripping tightly on the sword pointing towards the pirates.

"Zoro! Robin!" Luffy grabbed the attention of the two. "Let's finish this quick and meet with the others already." Both crew members replied with a sound 'Yes'.

"Sweetie!" Zoro and Yuu noticeably flinched at the familiar voice. Robin flinched as well but her face did not show it. "That arrest statement needs some improvement."

The men in white then stepped aside, revealing behind them their female superior, completely absent of any cuts or bruises. Adjusting the frame that shielded her eyes, she took a step forward with her five-inch high heels, his men proudly standing behind her. She took a quick glance at every single one of the Straw Hat Pirates and the two civilians in front her before speaking.

"If you want to declare an arrest in a more… convincing manner, do this." Readjusting her eyewear with her right hand, Candella then took two steps forward, her hips swaying with each step. She then raised her right hand and pointed towards the people in front of her. With her dual-coloured eyes giving a stern look, she said in a clear, all-mighty tone.

"Monkey D. Luffy! Roronoa Zoro! Nico Robin! In the name of protecting civilians, keeping the peace, and maintaining order in this treacherous waters, I, Vice Admiral Candella of the Marine Headquarters, arrest the three of you for charges of several escapes from lawful custody, piracy, and conspiracy against the World Government! Give us back that boy you took and don't bother fighting back 'cause I'll get this over very quickly, okay?" The last part, she said in a friendlier yet still demanding manner.