Hi, guys! I was a little busy this morning, so I wasn't able to post today until now.

Vergil Leonidas - I'm glad you like how I'm tackling this! It really makes me grin knowing that there are people who really like my writing! And I understand that your tastes are different from mine - and I don't mind if you read the other stories or not. It's just that they would probably provide a little better context to some of the things that Maria ends up remembering.

chaosrin - I will be showing some warzone stuff, that's for sure. And it was dialog heavy only because I know you guys have seen (or read) the Marineford arc already, and it was easy for me to imagine the chaos going on around them as they're talking. *shrugs* I'll keep that in mind when I write future arcs, though - I've already got all of Marineford written out.

Anyway, here's the chapter!

Chapter 123 (or 28) - New Technique! Protocol Memory!

Memory Break

The area around Cap and Maria began to warp, changing from what looked like a universe in the center of a collection of universes to an old building with high-vaulted ceilings, like the dining hall. However, this new stage looked like it had been made out of metal, and was now starting to rust. Peeling murals ran around the entire room, depicting a certain blue-armored kid with a cannon for his right arm taking on others in strange costumes and strange auras about them.

Maria caught sight of this and sucked in a breath through her teeth. "This...it looks like it used to be part of a boss stage or something."

Cap sent her a curious look. "Boss stage?"

"Yeah..." The Reploid swallowed nervously, then pointed across the room at the two figures that had suddenly materialized. "One of his - a final boss stage."

Wily cackled. "Today is that day you both will fall to my wrath!" he exclaimed, grinning like the madman he was.

Maria snorted, doing her best to keep whatever nervousness and fear she had buried. "Yeah, sure. Like I'm going to be believe that, Bat Ears!"

As soon as Maria had uttered her retort, the cloaked figure standing next to Wily suddenly dashed forward. A yellow and purple cannon appeared from under the brown fabric, and it fired a large, purple blast in the Reploid's direction.

Maria moved quickly, avoiding the blast, a look of surprise appearing on her face before it turned to shock. This was definitely something she hadn't been expecting.

"That's Bass' charged Buster shot!" Maria identified. "He's the one Robot Master that rebelled against Wily some time ago - a few years, at least!"

Wily cackled. "Do you really think that, Maria? Bass is back under my control now!" A sinister grin appeared on his face. "And soon, you will be, as well!"

The hood of the brown cloak fell back, revealing Bass' face. The purple crystal lodged in the robot's head was glowing brightly. His eyes, instead of their usual purple color, were completely black.

Maria sucked in a breath as a chill was sent down her spine. "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes! Bass - destroy her human friend!"

*With pleasure* Bass replied coldly. The robot turned and started running at Captain America, who raised his shield just before Bass might have rammed into him. The controlled Wilybot rammed into the Avenger anyway, pushing Cap back and away from Maria.

As Cap was being pushed into a corner, Wily started to approach Maria, who was standing in a defensive position, not sure whether she should run or not.

"You're mine," Wily stated with a grin as he pulled out a remote-like device from a pocket of his lab coat.

Maria fired a Fire Sphere at Wily, retorting, "Not on your life!" She leapt up into the air, activating the jets in her boots. "You're not getting control of me again! Not ever!" If she still had an actual heart, it would have been going at a mile a second at facing her fear.

"Fear makes one courageous," Maria muttered under her breath, in a tone that Wily would have been unable to hear. "Fear makes one courageous...but why do I still feel like a coward?!"

To this point, Wily pointed his remote at the Reploid and pressed the large, blue button that took up most of the space. Maria didn't register it until a moment later, when a stream of data entered her head.

The Reploid let out a scream of pain as her boosters gave out; she crashed into the floor on her knees, doubled over and gripping her head with her teeth clenched.

*No no no no no!* Inferno's voice echoed through Maria's mind as data streamed in and started to work away at what was already there. *You are not going to do this! Not today!*

Over in a corner, where Cap was defending himself from Bass' attacks with his shield, the Avenger yelled a near-unidentified phrase, which disappeared into the loud clangs of Bass' fists connecting with Vibranium. All the same, his voice did manage to reach Maria's ears...and Inferno's, to a certain extent.

*Yes!* the woman's voice crowed. *About scrapping time, Avenger!*

Maria's entire body started to glow brightly; the light would have forced others to look away, but Cap and Wily still kept their eyes glued on the Reploid.

As the glow continued to come off Maria's form, there came the sound of something cracking near Wily. The mad scientist looked down, and his eyes widened in alarm as he watched his remote suddenly shatter like it had been hit.

"What is this?" Wily demanded, glaring at the remote before turning his attention to Maria.

The light condensed inward, then suddenly exploded outward in all directions, revealing the Reploid...but in a new form of sorts, if the change of her armor's color meant anything.

Wily frowned and grit his teeth in annoyance, but before he could yell out anything, Maria suddenly shot up and over towards Cap, then lashed out at Bass with a blast of red, white, and blue fire that looked like it could have been fireworks.

"You stay away from the Captain," Maria growled darkly, her eyes narrow.

Cap blinked in surprise upon hearing the anger in the Reploid's voice. When Maria turned slightly and looked back at him, the Avenger saw the result of the transformation because of the code he had spoken.

Maria's armor had shifted: red on her boots, "underarmor," and from her elbows to her gloves, which retained her white color. On her upper arms - as well as the armor on her stomach - white dominated. Her shoulder guards, chest, and abdomen were colored a deep blue, except for the stars that were on her shoulder guards and the one large one was on her chest.

"What are your orders?" Maria asked, her blue eyes serious. "Bass and Wily aren't going to just give up."

Cap gave a nod. "Keep Bass busy. I'll take care of Wily."

Maria gave a nod. "Got it." She turned her glare on Bass, who had been standing nearby with a perpetual sinister grin on his face.

"Bass!" Wily barked. "Change targets to the Reploid!"

*Understood* Bass responded stiffly. He dashed forward and barreled at Maria, who suddenly pulled up a shield of fire to defend herself. It appeared as though Cap's shield was emblazoned within it.

"You're not going to destroy anyone here," Maria growled darkly. She took a step forward, pushing the shield against Bass and forcing him back. "I don't want to destroy you-it doesn't work with my own morals. I'm just going to keep you busy until Captain Rodgers takes care of Dr. Wily."

*You are only destined for destruction!* Bass barked in reply. He brought his cannon back, charged it up, and fired at Maria's shield, causing an explosion of smoke.

Captain America, who had been heading towards Wily, paused and looked back at Maria and Bass as soon as he heard the explosion. When the smoke cleared, however, he returned his attention to Wily...who had pulled out another remote and was grinning wickedly.

"..." Maria, head bowed, her eyes hidden under a few locks of hair lowered her hand. The fire shield that had withstood the attack came down with it. "...So be it." She brought her right hand back, morphing it into her Buster as she brought her head up and gave Bass a look that clearly said she was ready for battle. "You'll be leaving this place in stasis!"

Memory Break - Maria's POV

BOOM! Rumble rumble rumble...

I blinked a couple times, watching with a blank expression as the volcanic rock that had been careening toward us dropped onto the ice and rolled back a short distance before coming to a stop on the other side of the fiery red, white, and blue circular shield that I had suddenly managed to conjure up out of nowhere.

Since when could I do that? And the memory that came back when the rock hit-

I heard a gasp behind me. "Maria!"

I glanced back, and saw Liza staring at me with a wide-eyed expression. "Uh..."

"You might want to look at your armor," Liza told me quickly. "It's starting to disappear."

"What is?" I looked down, my eyes widening as I caught sight of what looked like a bright white star in the center of my chest, which was slowly changing color from blue and going back to its normal orange color.

Wait a second!

I sucked in a breath sharply as I remembered what had gone through my head as I had yelled out mere seconds before the volcanic rock could have hit us and done major damage. But...what I had yelled a moment before didn't sound like anything that I had remembered.

"Maria!"

My head shot up when I heard my name called.

"I know you want to try and figured out what happened, but we can't just stand around here!" Liza motioned to what was happening around us. "Come on! Let's go after Ace!"

I blinked for a moment before nodding. "R-right! Sorry, it's just... I don't remember that ever happening to me before - what happened just now, I mean."

"I can tell." Liza's voice took on something of a dry tone. She raised her scimitar and slashed at a Marine who was coming up behind her without so much as looking at them. "Don't try to loose your focus though, all right?"

I nodded, frowning and gaining a more determined expression. "Right."

I promptly whirled on the closest Marine and punched them in the gut, sending them skidding back. I could hear cannon fire going off above and around us now - obviously, after that explosion of lava that had come up out of nowhere, the Marines had gotten some of their energy back.

Which reminded me...

"Hey, what caused all that lava to come up out of nowhere?" I asked, looking over at Liza as we kept going through the Marines and deeper into the harbor.

Liza's expression shifted at the question. "That's Sakazuki, or Akainu, the Red Dog. He's the third Admiral, next to Kuzan, or Aokiji, and Borsalino, or Kizaru."

"You mean all three of them have different names?" I blinked.

Liza nodded. "Yeah. Sakazuki is his real name, but everyone below him and not in the Marines calls him Akainu. He's called that because when a pirate gets his attention, he'll go after them until either they die, or he dies. Obviously, he hasn't died yet."

I frowned at that, feeling more than just concerned as I knocked down another Marine. "That's...well, I guess the Marines think it's a good thing, but to a pirate...? I'm guessing he's got Devil Fruit powers, if he can control magma, right?"

"Yeah." Liza nodded grimly. "He's a Logia, just like the others."

"...I can't help but get the feeling that not even I could stand up against him."

Just as I finished speaking, the ice beneath our feet started to tremble; the Marines and pirates who were fighting around us noticed at the same time we did, turning in order to see what exactly it was that was coming.

"What's-" I turned, then cut myself off when I saw the shape that was coming: the giant, round form that towered above the ships, horns rising up into the sky...

I was instantly reminded of something that I never thought I would see again. "Uh oh."

A shot rang out, and Katie appeared next to us. Her black bun of hair was starting to look more and more like a ponytail. "What do you mean, 'uh-oh'?"

I nodded up at the figure. "That looks like one of the zombies that Moria had on his island ship, Thriller Bark...Oars..."

Understanding flashed across Katie's face, and she actually laughed. "You have nothing to fear, Maria. Little Oars Jr. is on our side."

With that, Katie dashed off into the fray again.

Liza saw me staring after her, and she shook her head. "She gets like that." A grin crossed her face. "And Little Oars Jr. is a good guy, Maria. Don't worry, okay?"

Shing! CRUNCH!

I turned when I heard the noise, and my jaw dropped when I saw what looked like a giant green version of Oars slice one of the Marine ships in two with a gigantic sword. A great cheer went up from the pirates that were mixed in with the Marines.

"Ace-kun!" Little Oars Jr. - I guess? - rumbled. Then he let out a loud roar that made me get chills down my spine. He did sound like Zombie Oars, after all.

"Oars!" came Ace's yell.

"Ace-kun is a nice person! I won't let him die!"

I couldn't help but gape a little. "Whoa...my captain's brother sure makes a lot of unexpected friends. What next? A dragon?"

"Unfortunately, no, but it would be really cool if he did," Liza responded, laughing. She turned, twirling her scimitar. "Let's keep clearing a path so Little Oars Jr. doesn't get swords stuck in his bare feet!" With a roar, she went dashing forward, slashing left and right.

I followed after her, letting out a roar of my own as I let my arms become encased in flames again. Marines cried out left and right as I sent them flying back.

"Hey! That's Fire Staff Maria!" someone called again. "Isn't it?"

"Maybe it's her sister! I didn't think she had family in the Whitebeard Pirates!"

"Think again, dunderheads!" I called back, grinning somewhat wickedly. "I am Maria! Fire Spheres!"

Explosions took off all over the place as I sent my attack flying, getting multiple Marines and sending them flying back.

"Get back to the scaffold!" someone shouted. "The Giant Unit is on the move!"

I looked towards where I had seen the giants earlier, and my eyes widened when I saw that the several large figures were, indeed, coming across the harbor. One giant slashed at the ice with his sword, and another swung his spear and sent multiple pirates flying. Most of them, though, just went straight over us without so much as looking down.

"They're after Little Oars Jr.!" someone cried.

One of the giants roared, "It's our duty to-"

"-Stop him!" another finished.

I gritted my teeth and got ready to leap up, to throw fire, to do something, but then another Marine was practically on top of me, swinging his sword at my arm...before bouncing off and leaving a small nick.

The Marine stared at me in surprise. "What the-"

"You're not gonna beat me that easy!" I slammed into the Marine, full-force. "Swords aren't gonna pierce this stuff, that's for sure!"

I heard yelling behind us; the Marines were trying to concentrate their fire on the giant green monster that was entering the harbor. I was amazed that something so big was able stand on the ice - Aokiji must have buried his ice down pretty deeply into the water in order for that to happen.

Speaking of which...where was the ice guy? I was starting to wonder what damage I could do to him with just my fire.

"Oars, don't! You're an easy target for them since you're so huge!"

"Ace-kun!" Oars Jr. roared back in response. He leaned forward, causing the ice to crack under his bare feet. "Here I come!"

My jaw dropped when I saw Oars Jr. lift the ship up from the ice. "Whoa! I figured he'd be strong, but not that strong!"

"Stop him!" one of the Marine giants roared.

"You're not going another step, girlie!"

I turned when I heard the yell near me, and I ducked to avoid a swing of a sword before ramming into the Marine's stomach with enough force to cause him to collapse, gasping for breath.

At the same time, Oars Jr. let out a loud roar and threw the ship he had lifted up, sending the giants flying back into the buildings that were ahead of us. Man, I'd hate to be going against that brute!

Pirates started pouring into the bay, waving their weapons and yelling battle cries as the Marines quickly moved in order to stop their advance. I kept plowing through, jumping from one Marine to the next and knocking them down with blows to the gut or sides.

I flinched when I heard a loud screech, and I caught sight of a Marine falling with blood spattering out of his gut. A pirate with a sword dashed past a moment later, grinning maniacally and waving his sword around like it was some kind of victory.

I gagged a bit, then shook my head and kept going.

"Maria."

My head turned when I caught sight of Max landing next to me, her wings looking bigger than they had been when we were going through my memory landscapes.

Her katanna had some red splatter on it.

"You can't stand the sight of blood."

I shook my head at her. "I don't like the idea of people getting killed. Even if they're against us."

"You're going to have to deal with it." Max's eyes narrowed. "I warned you what this place was going to be like. And it's going to become a lot worse. Keep your wits about you and whatever you do, don't snap."

And then she was gone.

"I must reach Ace-kun!" Oars Jr. roared somewhere ahead of us. "Don't get in my way!"

I started running, following after the carnage that Oars Jr. was leaving behind. My right fist clenched as I remembered the Buster cannon that I had hidden there; I hadn't made use of it yet, which would give me an advantage against most of the Marines that were running around, but I didn't know whether or not I should make use of it yet.

Oars Jr. let out a loud roar ahead of me; I decided I didn't want to think about what it was that he was doing.

"Brave men don't seek death!"

I looked up and caught sight of Whitebeard looking over at Oars Jr.

"Pops, don't stop me!" Oars Jr. called back. "I just wanna save him! I just wanna save Ace-kun as soon as possible!"

Whitebeard didn't say anything for a moment, then barked, "Everyone, help him! Give Oars cover!"

The pirates around me roared in response, then started running towards where Oars Jr. was advancing. I followed after them, my right fist still clenched, but I didn't let my Buster cannon activate. It felt like it wasn't the time yet.

Marines started coming at me left and right, bringing their swords down on me from over their heads and slashing in from one side. I dodged and punched them out of the way, occasionally letting sparks fly along my fingers and leaving small, burning patches of clothes that sent the Marines into a panic. Still, they kept coming at me, while I kept my gaze locked on Oars Jr. and Ace.

"It looks like there's some chaos going on up ahead."

I turned my head and saw Justin appear next to me, armed with his daggers.

"The Empress Boa Hancock is doing it again." He shook his head and sighed.

"Empress Boa Hancock?" I repeated, frowning.

"The only female Warlord. It's said that anyone who looks at her falls in love with her beauty and is later found turned to stone. Not even women can avoid it." Justin gained a wistful look on his face for a moment, then shook his head. "Anyway, be careful, okay?"

I nodded. "Right, gotcha."

"Yaaaarrrrrrgh!"

I punched the Marine in the face, sending him flying back.

"Ace-kun!" Oars Jr. roared.

"Oars!" Ace yelled back.

"Someone get that girl! That's Fire Staff Maria! If she's here, then the other Straw Hats might be nearby, too! We have to draw them out!"

I turned when I heard the person shouting, and I snorted. "These guys don't know anything." I held up my right arm as my Buster cannon activated.

A mere moment later, I felt a tension fill in the air that sent shivers down my spine and felt so familiar that I instantly stopped.

Justin stopped and looked back at me, frowning. "Maria? What is it?"

And that's when I heard it. Bwump. Bwump. Bwump.

My eyes widened. "Chaos, Merlin, and Aurora. Kuma's using that attack of his again. Ursus Shock."

Justin's eyes widened as well. "What? He's going to use that here? What is he thinking?!"

"I don't know." I gritted my teeth. "But I don't want to be caught in it when he sets it off. We need to move - now."

I started running, my Buster charging up.

"I'm gonna save you now!" Oars Jr. was still moving forward. I don't know where Kuma was, but I was starting to get the feeling that Oars Jr. was walking into a trap.

"Ace-kun." Oars Jr. was almost on top of the execution platform, and I was getting close enough now that I was up alongside Whitebeard's flagship. There were a lot of Marines there who were fighting even more pirates.

I stayed on the outskirts of the group and aimed my Buster at a group of Marines. Concentrating on the yellow energy that I knew I had fired before, I focused on gathering it together...then fired.

"Charged Stun Shot!" I barked as the explosion hit the Marines. They were sent flying back from the pirate they had been starting to wear down, sparks flying from their bodies.

"Whoa!" Namur appeared next to me, grinning with shark-like fangs. "I didn't think that a kid like you could do something like that."

"I'm even surprising myself sometimes," I replied, lowering my Buster. I smirked. "At least I know that I have more long-range stuff to work with. This is gonna be fun."

BOOM.

I raised my right arm to block the blast of wind from hitting my face as I looked up in shock at Oars Jr. as he was caught in the epicenter of the air-based blast. I leaned forward as pirates and Marines alike were sent flying back and away from the center of the blast. I could feel the ice crunching under my feet, digging me in as I managed to remain in place as the air blasted past us and slowly lost strength.

I lowered my arm, shaking off the pieces of ice that had slammed into it, and I looked around in order to see the damage that had been caused.

It looked like the ice had been torn up a little, and people had been tossed all over the place, but they weren't any worse for the wear.

Oars Jr., on the other hand...

"Oars!"

My eyes widened when I saw how the monster and how damaged he was. I couldn't see how bad his front was, but I thought that he was probably bleeding from somewhere.

"That's enough! Stop! You can't reach me!"

Oars Jr. collapsed onto his hands and knees.

"Captain Oars!" came a number of roars. I figured they had to be his crew.

And then the cannonfire started hitting Oars Jr. in the face.

"He shouldn't have gotten off his knees!" a pirate yelled. "He's a ready target!"

I gritted my teeth, scowling. "Okay, now I'm getting mad." I stepped forward, starting to charge up another salvo of Charged Stun Shot for the next group of Marines that might come at me. A few of them had managed to get up to their feet, but a bunch of them still looked a little too woozy from the blast to be able to do anything.

...thinking about the blast got me wondering what other Warlords were around here besides Kuma and Boa Hancock, who I hadn't met face-to-face and never plan to do so.

Oars was clearly straining to stay upright, despite the cannon fire and Kuma's air bomb. "I still...can't get to him! At least I can...take out one of the Seven Warlords!"

I saw Oars draw back a fist and slam it into the wall below the execution stand at the same time that I unleashed my Stun Shot at a group of Marines in front of me.

And then his foot flew off.

I stopped short when I saw the foot go flying, my eyes widening. "What the - how did-"

Somehow, over the sound of the fighting that was picking up again around me, I could hear laughter. It was almost like...someone was enjoying themselves in all this chaos.

"Oars!" Ace screamed.

"Just a little more...just a little more to get to Ace-kun!" Oars Jr. reached forward, now on his knees as he tried to get closer to Ace and the execution platform.

"Come on, come on..." I started running forward, occasionally shooting at Marines who got close to me. "Come on, Oars! You can reach-"

My exclamation was cut short as I caught sight of something suddenly go through and stick out of the mass of red hair on Oars Jr.'s back.

A black lizard-thing that looked suspiciously like a shadow.

"OARS!" Ace yelled again.

"I'm gonna...save you now..." Oars was still reaching forward with great difficulty, trying to get to Ace. A few moments later, he collapsed.

...and I'm gonna end it there.

OPFan37, if you're reading this, what happened up there is what Maria's Protocol turns into. This is the first time she's had that happen, though, so I'm going to be exploring that technique a LOT later!

I'll see you guys on Friday!