A.N.: I feel like this one took a really long time to write. The fight scene changed at least three times. I still feel like I need more practice in that department. I have more balanced encounters coming in the future. I hope you like your first glimpses at the new character. She'll be sticking around like gum on a shoe.

Karmen sits downwind of the vineyard. Her emotionless mask has spread down into her rigid shoulders and the stiff set of her back. There is a stringentness to her muscles that hasn't been there throughout the other missions as she tries to acclimate herself to the smell.

Pierce's claws squeeze her shoulders and his nose nuzzles over his curving thumb, trying not to fog up her ear as he breathes through his mouth. "This must be unpleasant for you," he states gently. He'd never had a chance to become unaccustomed to the smell, she'd had over two years breathing clean air.

The concern in his tone isn't missed. Karmen tries to relax some to reassure him, but she can't quite manage it and gives up. "I'll be fine," she says, more to herself. "The air here is more breathable than the islands we lived on." But it still turns her stomach. There's no denying that. She's sure his feet resting on her waist aren't missing the seizing muscles. "I can handle it for the duration of this mission."

"If the smell bothers you, we can reassess the mission," he says. "This is one that you can't be distracted for."

"It's not only the grapes," she says, deciding that he should know what she's seeing. "They've elevated security."

"He's here, isn't he?" Pierce asks in a low growl. "That's what that strange shape is around the island."

"Yes," Karmen answers. "I haven't sensed him yet, but he has silk all over the place, like a spiderwebbing cocoon. On top of that, he has the snipers on the roof and the ships in the water. I think his plan is to kill the slaves if anything out of sorts happens. We can't approach this with our usual tactics, as expected."

"What do we do?"

Karmen watches as the guards check each slave's identity carefully as they enter or leave the building, how they dig through the baskets of grapes and supplies, how itchy the trigger fingers are on all the bounty hunters. "We'll go from underneath, during the day," she answers. "There are strings in the water as well, but there are uncovered areas beneath the ship paths. They're monitoring their weak points, but we can use that."

"Shouldn't we confront him?" Pierce asks, skin rippling with what may very well be bloodlust. "It might be wise to take him out here and now."

Karmen considers it but shakes her head. "No. Our priority here is to rescue the prisoners. Seeking out altercations will only cause delays and narrow our escape routes."

His skin ripples with sharper motions, but he only nods and simply says, "Yes, Mistress."

"Don't worry, Pierce," she tells him gently. "We'll get him someday, but not now." With a small smile, she gently elbows him. "Besides. Think of all the trouble he'll be in when we're done."

Pierce's skin settles and a wide, almost predatorial grin settles on his face. "True. I don't mind waiting. That is, if he survives this time. Ikaika isn't one to accept multiple failures."

Karmen almost feels sorry for the guy. Almost.

"So what's the plan? That would be solid rock down there, right?" he asks.

"How good are bats at digging?"

"Honestly, they're better at finding crevices to squeeze through."

"Then let's go widen a crevice," she says, grinning as the gears turn in her mind. "Oh, and I need to get to the top of that cocoon before we dive."

An hour later, they are down at the shore. Pierce is encased inside a makeshift diving suit of barrels and plant material sealed with tree sap, trying to fit the helmet over his horns. "And when did your Captain do this?"

"Right before Skypia," she explains. "When we were investigating the ship that fell out of the sky."

"I won't be able to hear or sense anything. I'll be completely blind down there," he says. "I trust you to be my eyes, Mistress."

She helps him secure his air tank and helmet before they lower themselves into the ocean. Karmen straps Pierce to her back, ties rocks to her ankles, and signals the rays to stay well away. Instead, they kick up the sand, allowing the current to wash the silt toward the shore, clouding the water and making it near impossible for anyone to spot them from above. Karmen can mask their presence, of course, but she needs to save her energy for what's coming next.

It's a slow progression through the water, step by heavy step, but they make it to the desired location. They work in the shadows of the ships that pass overhead. Karmen follows water currents and changes in temperature to a slender crack that runs in the direction of the island without quite reaching it. She takes Pierce's hand and lets her fingers spread out from the center of her palm before she shows him where the crevice is.

Now, haki is used. With one barreled arm coated black, swimming with distorted light, Pierce drives his blades into the rock. Karmen thinks she hears him coin this move, but the sound is so distorted that it may be a grunt. There is nothing for a moment, then cracks radiate beneath them, running far out into the ocean and widening it all the way to the island.

Water rushes down into it, pulling them in. Pierce's wings protect them from the sharp rocks that rain down in the sandstorm it creates. She'd masked the sound, but she can do nothing to mask the wave that rocks the ships and washes over the vineyard. The cocoon is wrenched and twisted as its filaments are torn asunder. Karmen watches the chaos dancing above her in a symphony of movement, glimpsed in pockets of clarity between the debris. It's beautiful.

Bounty hunters and guards rush to peek out at the ocean like scrambling ants, trying to find the source of the sudden and fading whirlpool and the resulting wave created in the water. After making sure the rays had disrupted the outward flow, preventing a tsunami, she reads the bounty hunter's lips, wondering, waiting, searching.

"Was that an earthquake?"

"Man, I can't see anything down there."

"Is this island on a volcano?"

"Can you sense anything?"

"Is it her?"

She hones in on this particular mouth, trailing her haki across a face, a body, a set of wings, and down into strings that trail across the island.

There he is.

Karmen can feel the disgust welling in her stomach at simply sensing Antwan Geraldo's form, but she keeps her mind on the mission and the mass of silk strings headed their way, driving down into the chasm to capture anything they find. Already she can sense fish being lifted from the water and tossed back. Soon, it will reach them.

She quickly pulls Pierce to the wall and taps morse code onto his helmet. He complies as quickly as he can, creating wings from his palms that spread over them both and spiking out like jagged rock, complete with a coating of armament haki that makes them feel solid. The tracing silks pass over them, forward and back, but they find nothing out of the ordinary. The silk floss trails off down a different branch, away from them.

Silently Karmen wonders how much control Antwan had gotten over his powers in the last few months. She wonders if he'd gotten even a single scar after the mansion burned. For the span of a heartbeat, she allows her mind to slip from the mission itself. For the span of just one breath, she's glad Pierce can't sense exactly where or how close Geraldo truly is.

She wants to wrap her hands around him and pull him closer. To express in some way that as long as he shielded her from harm, she wants to be able to shield him from the shadows that haunt him, the nightmares that he'd had to face alone. She's glad he can't see her face right this moment, because her guilt could raise the level of the sea.

And then that moment passes and she focuses on her senses, on the island, on the hunters who are escorting the slaves inside under heavy guard. Geraldo moves out of his hiding place, some sort of flotation device out in the ocean, and flies swiftly to the island. He lands lightly, barely disturbing the mud, and begins cocooning the exits of the building.

That's all this is. A large cocoon. He can't control his floss to the extent that Doflamingo controls his strings. He can't seem to sense vibrations from them like a spider does. All he can do is create a barrier between her and the island. Pierce has this round won and Geraldo doesn't even know it. With a smirk, she moves toward the island.

Pierce had executed his part of the plan perfectly. The bat-bat man-made earthquake had split several rooms in the building, leaving a jagged gash in the floors. They pass through the basement where barrels of fermenting wine is being stored. Some barrels had fallen into the chasm and had been beaten against the sharp rocks. They seep wine like bloody wounds left on the island all around them.

They pass through the pressing room next. One large tub hangs precariously over the divide, teetering. Only a chip in the wood grain prevents it from toppling into the depths. Karmen has to step over jagged bits of tub and twisted iron. Karmen's bare feet

It is a strange world inside the flooded island. Broken pipes leak down, disturbing their view from below. Soil and rock change shade every ten feet or so. Light filters down from lamps and flickering candles, making sharp spears of light illuminate the chasm with shifting shadows.

Finally, they reach the slave room. Karmen can see the weary faces of chained individuals. She unlatches the stones around her ankles. They climb the rock wall, stones digging into the palms of Karmen's hands only to be left behind as Pierce's wings speed their ascension. She has to make him pause at every so often so that they don't add the bends to their list of factors to deal with. Within ten minutes, their heads break the surface and they're able to peer around the enclosure and get an idea of the situation inside.

These slaves are in poor condition. It's surprising that they're able to keep up the physical demand of tending, pressing, and treating the grapes into wine. Nearly all of them are sporting large bruises and whip cuts. Their wrists, ankles, and necks are red and raw from the chains and collars. The salted sea is going to be hell on them, but if they've made it this long, they can recover once they're dried and treated. At least, their bodies would.

The guards all have their guns poised, ready to fire, and the overseer has the detonation device to their collars in his hand. The doors are locked and there is poor ventilation in this room. If they enter with the wrong approach, things could heat up very quickly. Karmen lowers herself down and taps her plan out to Pierce. He is to keep his helmet on for the duration.

Gas is released into the room with the whisper of, "Angel's Cappi. Memory Sync: Desert Locust."

Fully masked, Karmen crawls gently from the water and leaps from slave to slave, pricking their wrists with spines filled with antidotes and puts a small drop of Super Sunblade on all the pistol hammer joints. While the gas is taking effect, she waits for the overseer's grip to loosen on the detonator to replace it with a bar of soap.

When she has it in her hand, she bounds back to the water like an eel. The remote short-circuits in her hand and she wedges it into a crack in the wall so it doesn't float too far away from the collars, just in case. Now that the pieces are in place, it's time for the show.

She has to wonder what the gas is making the guards see as they rise from the water again. Pierce has created eight wings with multiple joints, keeping them folded tightly so that they look like golden-silk orb-weaver spider legs. Together they dramatically elongate their limbs to claw their way onto the dry floor.

Her haki washes over her form in rolling waves, making her clothing seem ragged, letting her bones and Pierce's teeth show. There is a tap, ta-tap, tapping that mirrors the movements of the "legs" as Karmen gives her guard orders. The sound echoes around the aghast forms that fill the room.

Pierce pulls her up into the air and braces his wings against the wall, ceilings, and floor. Even Karmen gets a chill at the imposing form they make. "Your guns and bombs are useless. Death always takes what it's owed. Tell me, can you account for the sins you've committed when it comes?" She inhales sharply and lets out a satisfied sigh. "I can smell your fear. It may be strong enough to keep you alive… for now."

The guards' Cappi-dilated eyes dart between Karmen and whatever hallucinations their minds are conjuring. It's hard not to give into the desire to watch them all squirm.

"She's not a ghost. She's just a person. Remember what Mr. Geraldo said," the overseer says in a quivering voice.

Pierce's wings clatter against stone and plaster as he skitters toward him in quick, jerky motions until his charge is dangling just before him. Karmen lets one sharp nail drag up the man's neck until she's angling his shaking chin toward her face.

"Do you truly believe that?" she asks. "You should hear some of the lies little Antawan spouts every day. Does he tell you how Ikaika cares for you? How he values you? Does he tell you that you're useful and needed?" She lets out a gloating chuckle. "My dears. If I was expendable, then what does that make you? When you've been lied to for so long, how can you know what is real?"

The overseer lifts his hand and squeezes. His thumb squishes into the soap in his hand. Confused, he manages to peel his eyes off Karmen to look. "This is some trick," he whispers. "The detonator is in my hand." Soap squelshes between his fingers and dropping in chunks to the floor.

When he realizes nothing is going to blow up, he casts the soap aside and pulls his pistol and aims it at her chin. He pulls the trigger, but there isn't even a click. "Has anyone told you that you don't listen well? How did you ever become an overseer? I pray for your future romantic relationships."

"Shoot her!" he yells.

Karmen looks over her shoulder. Half the guards seem to be terrified of their hallucinations. Two or three of them have even dropped their weapons and are backing away toward the door. Still, five of the guards have enough sense left to shake off the effects of the Cappi enough to level their pistols at her.

Raising her legs up, Karmen plants her legs in the overseer's chest and springs off him. Pierce's body responds as she does, allowing her to lead this dance into a twisting backward arc. She uses her synchronization for powerful leaps that would make Luffy proud.

She pounces lithe-like from slaver's chest to slaver's chest, kicking them back into walls and barrels while avoiding flailing, panicked limbs. When she's tired of toying with them, she leaps to the center of the room and breaks out in a set of spins. Pierce's wings spiral like fan blades behind her, pummeling the guards while missing the slaves on the ground.

Deciding that they've had enough, the guards flee for the door. Karmen makes one final leap, tapping an order to Pierce. One wing strikes out, sleek and black, and severs something from the overseer's belt. Keys clatter to the ground and scatter across the floor. By the time they've stopped moving the room is left in stunned silence.

Karmen closes the door and Pierce scoots a barrel in front of it while she picks up the key to the chains and collars. "Hello, dears," she says gently as she begins freeing the slaves. "I'm sorry if any of that frightened you. We've come to take you to safety. Once you're loose, please head toward the water. We have transport waiting below. Don't worry if you can't swim. You'll be perfectly cared for."

The slaves look between the door and the chasm. Most make for the water before their chains hit the floor, but others hesitate. She can sense the rays sweeping in one by one. They have air tanks on their backs. They sweep up anyone who enters the water, directing them to the aspirators with their tails. Another presence outside the door draws her attention and makes her put up her cloak as she drops a curse.

"Right. Sorry to do this, but we need to move. Now." She pushes the remaining slaves into the chasm and gives the rays a burst of haki, ordering them to work quickly. Karmen jumps in after them.

Seconds after, the door is shattered in with a shower of splinters. Wings drag the floor. "I can smell you, kid," his mouth movements say. Parvati swims beneath Karmen so she can grab the harness. "Master's waiting. Are you trying to slip through the cracks?"

He's too close. They won't get away in time. Masking their presence won't do anything if he tries to close their escape route.

Geraldo raises his hand to strike into the chasm. At this angle, he'll hit them and at least three of the new patients. Something must be done before this rescue turns into a tragedy. Karmen reacts nearly on instinct, remembering what she knows about moths.

With the last twist of her wrist she can muster, she forms a haki representation of the Gallowcomb Ghost directly in his line of sight, three feet in front of his face in a soft white glow. His mouth forms a word that she repeats around her aspirator. "Moon." She can feel it as his eyes dilate on the image of the immaterial winged woman before him.

His arms fall and his shoulders droop and he begins to shuffle toward the image like a zombie. Almost as if his dropping hand had given a signal, the cocoon around them bursts into flames, radiating out from the central point above the island. Flaming silk rains down upon the island like stinging wasps. The vineyard, which is still soaked from the wave, does not receive any damage, but small fires break out across the building. Chaos ensues as the guards try to contain the flames while the snipers leap into trees and bushes, scrambling to the safety of the boats.

No one notices the pod of stingrays slipping through the deep, dark ocean chasm, back out into the welcoming ocean.

Karmen keeps her senses trained on the activity above them, every nerve on high alert. The last spear of the chasm deposits them into a drop off far from the island and no one from the compound has yet made a move to follow them.

Twelve naval ships approach from the horizon. At first, Karmen thinks they're going to pass harmlessly overhead, but then she sees the telltale sign of fishing nets. She releases a curse that floats away in a string of bubbles from her aspirator. Haki bursts from her in precise electrical formation and the rays react instantly.

Those that aren't carrying passengers rush ahead to gather information. How deep does it go? Is it short enough and far away enough for them to go around? If not, how strong is it? The biggest question of all, however, is what is it made of?

The rays don't seem to notice the netting. They don't adjust their speed as they near the ships. This answers her final question. The only material a sea king stingray wouldn't be able to sense and avoid is sea prism. They can't break through this. If they don't slow, they'll receive serious injuries. Frantically, Karmen sends a wave of haki forward to warn them. A few still scrape against the nets, but most are able to angle themselves away so that they simply bounce off.

Karmen nearly gives a sigh of relief, but activity on the lead ship tells her this isn't over. Someone had sensed her signal and they're reacting.

She's curious as she sets to work with hand motions instead of haki bursts. The rays carrying patients are to circle around the long way while all the others lead a diversion led by Karmen herself.

The first group splits off, running parallel to the approaching ships. Karmen steers Parvati in the opposite direction and releases a burst of haki shaped like a ray. Her focus is split now. Keeping the patients and her two-man party masked is hard enough at this growing distance. Her muscles are already threatening to lock up. She releases another burst of haki, encouraging her rays to go faster.

She's so focused on masking life signs that she doesn't notice the nets until it's too late. The ships have overtaken the rays behind them and they are collecting in the nets. Refusing to leave them to their fate, she changes her orders. With another burst of haki, the rays allow themselves to be caught, lining the net and filling the negative space. Right before Parvati is swept up, she taps a command on Pierce's helmet in Morse Code, hoping he has time to follow it before they're discovered.

Her weight shifts to her heels and Parvati is swept up with her children. They too are captured in the net and Karmen makes herself as small as her tight muscles will allow, curling into a fetal position. She cuts Pierce's bonds and makes sure to push him away from her with a gentle kick as he transforms.

Sails are drawn and the net is pulled up. The rays surrounding the pair only create a barrier between them and the sharp, power-halting lines of the netting, they block the sight of those up on deck as Pierce puts on his final touches as they're rising from the water. His black wings enfold him, flattening together into two points above and below his body, creating a bulging pouch around him.

By this time, the rescued slaves are far enough away that they no longer need Karmen's protection from anyone here or on the island. She pulls her haki back from them and focuses it on herself and Pierce. She makes herself as invisible as possible and makes a distinctly stingray-shaped lifeform where he should be.

Their rise is halted with a jarring stop. Footsteps moving across the deck stop near their section of net. The rays around her give cries of alarm as they flap their fins desperately and gasp for water to be returned to them. Karmen holds her breath, praying that her plan will work.

"It's… stingrays, Sir," a baffled Marine says. "Is this what you sensed?"

The source of the footsteps is quiet for a moment, then a woman's voice says. "This is the source of the strange signals I was picking up, yes. It's coming from that black pouch."

"It's called a mermaid purse, Sir," another man says. "It's an-"

"An egg, I know," she finishes for him. "I can see the developing ray pup inside."

"I've never heard of one giving off such strong life-signs before."

"Maybe because these are all young sea kings?"

"Seriously?!"

"These usually hatch in the Calm Belt before anyone sees them," the woman continues. "This one may have been bumped into a current. The others following after it is interesting, though. Perhaps the bursts I sensed were distress signals. I wasn't aware that this species has such protective instincts toward their young."

All conversation halts when a new sound approaches. A shadow passes over with the sound of wings. It's not the leathery snap of Pierce's bat wings, but the padded and powdered sound of an insect that sends a wave of loathing through Karmen's gut.

"Where is she?"

"We didn't catch any people, I'm afraid," the woman says. "Only rays."

Geraldo sneers. "Rays. That girl loved them," he says. "You should kill them all and eat them for dinner."

"We will not be doing that," the woman says firmly. "And I would appreciate it if you refrained from doing them harm as well."

"I don't take orders from Marines."

"I understand that," she says casually. A bubble pops. "But for a bounty hunter and sniper, you aren't very perceptive." There is a brief pause and Karmen senses the woman waving to her right. "There is a sea king below us that could destroy all our ships and kill the crews in a single breach, yours included. These rays are already sending out distress signals. If we harm one, especially the baby, I cannot guarantee your safety."

"You're just going to let them go?" The accusation in his voice can't be missed.

"I am."

"My Master will not be pleased."

"Would he prefer we butcher fish or continue our search?" the woman asks. "We came to catch a terrorist on his assumptions. If we waste time here, it is that much more of the day wasted that could otherwise be used to find your kidnapped workforce."

So that's the story they were told. It's not the dumbest thing Ikaika has done.

"So are you going to stand here telling me what to do, thinking you somehow have authority over me," she lets a bubble pop and continues, "or are you going to prove to me that you actually care about your missing people? That is, unless there's something else going on here that needs to be dealt with. Is there another story you'd like to inform me of, Mr. Antawan?"

"Just keep looking, Marine," Geraldo growls, clearly dissatisfied. "I need to redirect my ships to make up for your incompetence." His wings snap and he flutters away.

Karmen finally allows herself to take another breath.

"Sir, was it safe to speak to him that way?" someone asks. "His boss used to be married to a Celestial Dragon."

A bubble pops. "Probably not. Gallowcomb didn't get rich on grapes alone, but his divorce burned plenty of bridges. Still, I apologize if any of that comes back to bite us. They have to go through me first. I'll take any blame," she says. "However, there's more going on here than they're saying. That story is fishier than our nets."

Her footsteps turn away and another person asks, "So what are we going to do with the rays?"

"Let them go," she says flippantly. "They'll only slow us down and stink up the ships."

Feet shuffle. There is a clank of gears, then they're falling. The gasping rays kick their fins to get water across their gills and soon Karmen feels a tail wrap around her ankle. Her frozen fetal form is drug through the water and she is angled so that she can barely see Pierce receiving the same treatment. With the groups traveling in opposite directions, the presence of the ships quickly fades.

Water moves over skin. Entities appear far below or high above, then disappear. Muscles remain frozen. Time fades into oblivion.

An expected presence does not fill the void. There is no voice, no familiar visitor.

Something else does register though. First there is one creature, then another, then many all at once. The lifeforms turn around and swim back toward them, family reuniting with family until the rescuing pod is complete.

They remain submerged for another three miles. Karmen's muscles remain locked tighter than a clamshell as the water is shed from her skin. As soon as he's free of the surface tension, Pierce wrenches off his makeshift helmet and tosses it. It splashes noisily into the ocean as he lifts Karmen further up onto Parvati's back.

"Mistress?"

F-I-N-E, she blinks.

"That was quick thinking," he says, wringing out his ponytail. "How did you know it would work?"

D-I-D-N'-T.

The short, silent conversation begins then.

That was a precarious position that could have been easily compromised. We were defenseless. I assume you had a plan for that eventuality?

Three, actually.

Very well, Mistress.

"It was him, wasn't it?" he asks. "I couldn't hear much through both the helmet and my wings, but I could have sworn someone else came. It had to have been him."

She gives him a long blink of acknowledgment.

T-H-A-N-K-S F-O-R S-T-I-C-K-I-N-G T-O T-H-E P-L-A-N. S-A-V-E-D U-S.

"I could not risk your life by taking action. Revealing even myself would have been futile in that net," he says. "I'm not sure I could have remained so had we not been trapped."

She knows he wouldn't leave her unprotected in her current state, but she can see his skin rippling. He's not in a good place. He needs a task to keep his mind occupied.

R-A-Y-S. I-N-J-U-R-E-D?

"I do smell blood. I'll see how bad it is." He flies up and does a quick sweep across the group, sniffing the air. When he smells a concentration of blood, he lands lightly and checks the injury, then returns. "Six of the rays have lacerations from the net. It's not serious, but we should watch for predators."

T-H-A-N-K-S.

"Do you feel as if you might come out of this soon?" he asks. He shifts his wings and turns his ear toward the waiting patients.

H-A-L-F H-O-U-R.

His skin ripples again. "Very well, Mistress." He stands, shuffles his wings, and reassures the freed slaves. He drops back down beside her as soon as he's finished. "There are times when I think you freeze up like this on purpose."

She has enough control over her lips now that she can tweak her mouth up in a slight smile.

"Did you hear a voice this time?"

N-O.

"Don't blink so disappointedly," he says softly. "Maybe it's for the best."

D-I-V-E S-O-O-N. N-O-T S-A-F-E.

He nods. "As soon as the new tanks get here, we'll go under again. I assure it."

The rays arrive. Air tanks are switched out. They dive. Karmen welcomes the silence. It had been a while since she'd seen Geraldo. Perhaps she should feel bad for asking Zoro to carve up his back, but she feels no remorse whatsoever, especially after seeing the state they returned Pierce in. He'd gotten stronger. Not strong enough, but he could pose an actual threat in the future. The haki trick likely won't work for long. It also sounds like Ikaika is recovering well, of all the bad luck.

They're getting wiser to them. She'll have to change her tactics in cycles so they never know what to expect. But that could be figured out after they get this group to safety. Now, she needs to recover so that she can deliver her apology. She still doesn't know exactly what she wants to say. She can figure that out during their next dive.