A/N: I'm back, baby! Here with your new chapter thanks to the quarantine! Actually, not really. I still have to work because my job is, apparently, "essential". Even if it closes, I'll still have to come in. But hey, that leaves plenty of time for writing! And since I have been nagged almost ceaselessly by two people in my life to update, I'm updating.

Happy, now?

Shiichiro sighed as he walked down the long, winding staircase. He hated that he was put in this position, but the heavy weight around his throat practically dared him to disobey the Master's orders. Shiichiro knew what it was like to disobey the Master, the sharp pain of the electrical prongs as they stabbed into his throat. And yet, he was still about to risk everything.

Fifteen years ago, Master had given Shiichiro a special task: to monitor all news sources and report back anything about the youngest member of the Red-Hair Pirates. It had only taken one look at her picture in the paper for Shiichiro to recognize Neko-Chan. Back then, no one even knew her name, nor her correct gender. But she was starting to gain the attention of the world, right alongside the big-shots of the crew she was with. In every picture, she was next to the Captain and covered in blood. They said that she fought like a cat straight out of hell, so when she had finally gained her first bounty five years later, the name stuck: Hell Cat Elle.

And that had been an incredible thing to find out, her new name. When they were younger, before she escaped, Neko-Chan had been close with Shiichiro and Hebi-Chan. Their cages had been one right after the other, first Hebi-Chan, then Neko-Chan, then Shiichiro. And oftentimes, late in the night after the Master and his assistants had finished with them for the day, the three of them would talk. Neko-Chan had whispered into their dark lab one night that she hated being called Kuniko, that it wasn't a real name like the other experiments had. The three of them knew on some level that they were different, but Neko-Chan was the first one to openly talk about it. Shiichiro was older than the girls, was old enough that when he remembered a few things from before he was brought to the lab. Like what the animals the girls could transform into were often called.

Shiichiro had asked if they would rather be called Hebi and Neko, for Snake and Cat. Both girls had scrunched up their noses at him and it was under those intense, predatory glares that he remembered something else. That if you add 'Chan' to anything, it makes it cuter. That seemed to appease the girls, which made Shiichiro feel better. That is, until Neko-Chan had asked what he wanted them to call him. Truthfully, Shiichiro didn't really mind the name Master had given him. It had 'Shi' in it, and he knew what that meant. Death. And Shiichiro hoped that he would become his name, become Death, to those who took him away from his family.

So Shiichiro had shrugged, shifting in his small cage as those predatory eyes stared at him once more. He felt his shadows trying to form around him, but the new chains that Master had put on him made Shiichiro feel weak and kept his beloved shadows away. But those sharp amber and emerald eyes noticed Shiichiro's cage get darker, almost as if a dense fog were trying to envelope Shiichiro. The two girls glanced at each other, nodded, then both said the same thing.

"Kiri-Chan."

Shiichiro had remembered from his lessons that 'Kiri' had several different meanings, but he knew Hebi-Chan and Neko-Chan well enough by then to know what they meant. They were calling him Mist, for his beloved shadows. And that was when Shiichiro had made a promise to himself that he would uphold for the next twenty-three years. Yes, he still hoped to become Death to those who sought to destroy all he cared for. But he could become a protective Mist for those who had his affection. And when he had read a newspaper article saying that Hell Cat Elle had been captured by the Marines, Shiichiro decided to keep the news to himself.

When he saw a picture of some Marine officers saluting a Celestial Dragon on a tiny island in the East Blue, he noticed that one of them had a tail, so he burned the paper.

When Shiichiro read about a new Marine Rear-Admiral making a bloody name for herself, he smiled before throwing the paper into the sea.

When some guards returned from delivering some new experiments to Joker and talked about the Cat-Woman who almost managed to assassinate the man, well—they never made it back from Dressrosa.

When a certain Marine Rear-Admiral had been seen drinking with the Whitebeard Pirates, her arm thrown around the newest hot-headed 2nd Division commander, Shiichiro quietly celebrated by soaking the picture in booze and flambe-ing it.

When the live broadcast of the execution of Fire-Fist Ace showed a Cat-Woman sitting on the platform next to the condemned pirate, the Snail had unexpectedly passed out from fear. If anyone had bothered to look at Shiichiro, they would have seen the face of a demon glaring at the Snail.

And when an achingly familiar Neko-Chain stepped off of the Red Force and became a human stranger, Shiichiro had ordered his guards to check out a made-up disturbance on the other side of the island.

Shiichiro opened the door at the base of the staircase and stepped into a bright room, blinking away the spots that appeared in his vision. He took a deep breath and put his hand in the pocket of his cloak. Shiichiro let out a small sigh of relief when he touched the contents. He knew the true reason that Neko-Chan was on that winter island. And Shiichiro knew that he would do anything to help her succeed.

Even if it meant he died trying.

Because Shiichiro knew that by helping out the Benineko, he was fulfilling his promise to become Death.

Shanks lay flat on his back, gasping for air as he stared up at the hole in the ceiling, watching it slowly close. What the fuck was going on? One minute he was silently backing up Elle's thinly-veiled threat, the next he was in total blackness and sliding down a long, winding chute. And before Shanks could kick out his legs to try and slow his rapid descent, he had been spit out into—where ever he was. Shanks slowly pulled himself up off the ground, his back protesting. He had fallen far enough to get the wind knocked out of him, but a quick assessment told Shanks that other than some possible bruising, he was fine.

He turned in a small circle, trying to get a feel for his surroundings, but all Shanks could see were white walls triple his height. Shanks took a few steps and saw that two of the walls didn't quite connect, insead turning into a narrow hallway. When he looked down the hall, he saw a few branches before it ended at another white wall. If he had to guess, Shanks would say that he was in a maze. But where were Elle and the kid?

A loud bang followed by a shouted expletive let Shanks know that the rookie was more than likely also in the maze. But the bang and the curse only brought up more questions. Shanks let out a small sigh and rested his hand on the hilt of Gryphon. Lightly tapping his fingers on the handle of his sword, Shanks took a moment to assess the situation they were in. He had a few options with how to proceed.

Shanks could sit tight and see what Brutus had in store for them, but that option just made the food in Shanks' stomach turn to lead. Brutus could do any number of things to Elle while Shanks just sat on his ass, twiddling his thumbs—er, well, thumb. So yeah, sitting tight was out.

Then what if he were to climb the wall to try and get a better view of the maze? The walls looked pretty smooth, which was confirmed by a light brush of his fingers. Anyone would have a difficult climbing these walls, but with just one arm, Shanks knew that he couldn't do it alone. It's too bad he hadn't gotten Elle to teach him any of her special Marine tricks yet. That Moon Walk-thing would be helpful in this situation.

He couldn't use Marine tricks to try and cheat his way through the maze, but Shanks knew other ways of cheating. He closed his eyes to better focus his Haki and felt...himself? What? It was almost like these stupid walls were too smooth for Shanks' Perception Haki, that it just bounced back at him. Which was something Shanks had never heard of, let alone experienced, before. Well shit.

So sitting tight was a no-go, and there was no apparent way for Shanks to cheat his way through the maze. That left him with just one option: just start walking and hope that he found either Kitten or the kid. Shanks would rather his Kitten, of course, but he trusted the kid more than anybody else in this fucking place.

Shanks had taken no more than two steps forwards when another loud sound caught his attention. He glanced up and saw Brutus' smug face appear on the ceiling, obviously being put there by a Video Transponder Snail. And as the little prick opened his mouth to speak, Shanks heard an enraged snarl roar around him, almost as if it were amplified by the smooth walls of the maze. A grin spread across Shanks' cheeks and he suddenly found Gryphon drawn and in his hand.

Elle was somewhere in the maze.

And she was pissed.

This was some (mother)fucking bullshit. What (the ever-loving) fuck was going on in this (gods-forsaken) place?!

With a ((growl)) groan of frustration, Kid picked himself up off the (stupidly) white floor. Which matched the (stupidly) white walls. And the (stupidly) white ceiling. At least the (fucking) cannon that had blasted him off of the (stupidly white) wall was a different (fucking) color. It was only thanks to his incredible ((luck)) skill that Kid had managed to avoid the massive (and fucking white!) cannonball that had been shot at him. But Kid hadn't been able to ((dodge)) avoid the resulting explosion. And (unfortunately) Kid had been ((blown off of)) knocked down before he could see over the top of the (motherfucking white) wall.

Kid let out another ((growl)) groan of frustration as he kicked the (FUCKING WHITE) wall. "FUCK!" he calmly said (screamed), his voice echoing all around him.

Before Kid could ((figure out)) decide what he should do, he noticed something above his head. He looked (scowled) up at the face that suddenly appeared on the (white) ceiling. It was the (fucking) smug face of (fucking) Brutus. And a lovely (and heart-easing) snarl rang out, the (beautiful) sound seeming to echo around the (fucking. White) walls.

Well, at least Kid knew that Senpai was safe. And seemingly pissed off enough to tear this place apart.

The small smile (manic grin) that spread across Kid's face showed that he felt the same.

Shiichiro cautiously walked the bright halls of the Labyrinth, trying to stick to the shadows as much as he could, given that the entire place was white. He didn't bother to look up as Master began his broadcast, knowing that the soldiers marching through the halls wouldn't stop either. Everyone but the main targets knew what the goal of the Labyrinth was, after all. Even so, Shiichiro paid attention to what Master was saying. He had only until the Master was done talking to find an appropriate place sufficiently hidden from the Video Transponder Snails before Master started watching the feeds again.

"I suppose you are wondering what I have planned for you, my dear Kuniko," Master said, his voice echoing around the room.

So did Neko-Chan's shouted, "Fuck off!", which made Shiichiro choke on a laugh and look up to see the look on Master's face. And that only made him laugh harder, the sound echoed by Red-Hair and Captain Kid. At least they had all survived the fall, proving their strength. Only about half of the men Master had thrown down the chutes had survived, and none of them had had the ability to laugh after they had landed. Shiichiro shook his head, dropping his smile as he continued his search. When he continued speaking, Master's irritation was clear.

"Of course, I knew there was a chance you wouldn't bring your children to see me, Kuniko. So when you showed up with your—friends, I decided to put my back-up plan into motion. You see, I want the chance to study your offspring, Kuniko, to see if any of the enhancements I made on you are able to be passed on to the next generation. And while I would love to see what I can do to enhance your children's Devil Fruit, I know that I missed the chance to make improvements on a child before it's even been born.

"I'm sure you all know where I am going with this, but I will spell it out for you anyway. You are here in my inescapable Labyrinth, Kuniko, along with all of the strongest men on this island. Not only that, but you drank copious amounts of a very strong aphrodisiac. Which I am sure you are already starting to feel the effects of.

"So here's the game, everyone! First one to Kuniko gets to be the father of her next child. But remember: just because you made it to her first, doesn't mean you will be the only one to do so! So it might help to eliminate some of your competition before then. No one will be able to leave the Labyrinth unless Kuniko has been impregnated, or once every suitor is dead. Good luck!"

With those last cheerful words, the Transponder Snail shut off. Shiichiro took a deep breath as he studied the small clearing in front of him. He had helped Master design the Labyrinth, so he knew of several of these clearing that had limited Snails, but Shiichiro hadn't been part of the team that built the chutes leading down into the Labyrinth, so he had no idea if this was one of the clearings closest to his target. Shiichiro gritted his teeth and crouched down in the darkest corner.

Shiichiro took a deep breath, focusing the energy of his Devil Fruit, before he plunged his hands straight into the shadows cast by the massive walls. Instantly, he was connected to every shadow in the maze. And what they whispered to him made a deep frown pull at Shiichiro's lips. Master must have been able to manipulate where the chutes would let out each of his "guests" exactly where he wanted them, despite the three "guests" choosing their own seats. Shiichiro pulled his hands out of the shadows, but kept a strand tethered to his right hand so his connection to all the shadows in the maze wouldn't be severed.

Things were about to get tricky.

The words of Brutus echoed in Shanks' mind as he gave Gryphon a tight swing, flinging the left over blood off of the sword. If the two men Shanks had easily felled were some of the strongest men Brutus had to offer, then he had no doubts that the kid and Elle could dispatch them just as quickly as he had. But that wasn't what made nervous energy coil in his gut.

No one will be able to leave the Labyrinth unless Kuniko has been impregnated, or once every suitor is dead, Brutus had said. The fact that Shanks and, presumably the kid, were in the Labyrinth seemed to lead to the idea that they were also suitors. Which meant that one of them had to either knock Elle up, or kill the other. Shanks had no doubt that Brutus would have rigged this place up so that his men would reach Elle first. And aphrodisiac or no, Elle's anger was almost palpable. There was no way in hell that any of those men would be alive long enough to even think about siring a child with her.

Something flickered from the corner of his eye and Shanks whirled, stopping just short of decapitating the man walking from the branching hall to his right. But Shanks didn't lower Gryphon, even as Kiri-Chan held up his hands in the surender. Shanks wasn't surprised to see the other man here, looking so dark against the sheer white of the Labyrinth. The man was strong; Shanks felt as much using his Haki as soon as Kiri-Chan had dropped his shadows. Of course Brutus would have him in the Labyrinth as well. So why wasn't he attacking Shanks?

Shanks asked him as much, but Kiri-Chan just shook his head and said, "You're in last place." Shanks just narrowed his eyes, so Kiri-Chan explained, "Master's men are almost to Neko-Chan, with Captain Kid not far behind. Master had me enter the Labyrinth at the most direct path to the center, where Neko-Chan is."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Kiri-Chan flinched subtly at Shanks' cold words, but never broke Shanks' stare as he said, "You need to trust me. I only have Neko-Chan's best interests in mind, but you aren't going to like what I'm about to say. But you need to hear me out."

Shanks was silent for a long moment, Gryphon unwavering against the other man's throat. But despite this, Kiri-Chan never dropped his gaze, never acted nervous. It seemed like the kid truly believed what he wanted to tell Shanks. If he really had been on the quickest path to Elle, why had he bothered to come find Shanks?

"Please," Kiri-Chan said, his voice quiet, but still cracking at the end.

Shanks made up his mind and moved.

Kid ((ran)) stalked through one (white) hallway after the other, trying to move in as straight of a line as possible. He could hear ((scary)) unsettling snarls, growls, and (worst of all) screams coming from not too far away. Kid assumed (probably rightfully so) that the ((scary)) sounds meant that some of the other (insert heavy sarcasm here) contestants of this (more sarcasm) game had reached Senpai. Kid hoped Red-Hair was one of them ((no he didn't)).

It was taking (way) too long to get to Senpai. Her ((terrifying)) snarls and growls were getting (even more) intense, putting Kid ((one step from pissing his pants)) on edge. He stopped ((running)) stalking and stared hard at the (fucking. white.) wall in front of him. Clenching his weapon-coated fist (so helpfully ((taken)) donated by the small group of Brutus' men he had run into ((killed)) a few moments ago), Kid punched the (mother. fucking. white) wall with ((all of his)) considerable strength. To his ((vast amazement)) relief, the (cracked)(wHiTe) wall gave one immense shudder before crumbling to the ground (well, part of it).

Smiling (like a lunatic) at the new (soon to be demolished white) hallway in front of him. Oh, yeah. Kid just ((made)) found a shortcut. Kid clenched his left fist, the sound of (that stupid) paper crumpling echoing around the (oH sO wHiTe) walls and making Kid ((scowl)) frown. He (really) didn't like the situation (they were all) he was in. But as Kid geared up to smash (finally!) the new (soon to be dust-white) wall, he knew he had no choice.

A/N x2: I thought about ending it with Shanks' last POV, but I just like writing as Kid, so I tacked on the last bit here rather than the beginning of the next chapter. As you probably noticed, things are coming to head! After four-ish years of writing, we're finally at the climax! So woo! Hoo!

Another fun thing, I believe this is the first chapter without a POV from our main leading lady, Captain Elle! Shock!

What is happening with Elle?

What did Shanks do with Kiri-Chan?

What's in the Little Bastard's hand?

And did Kid really quote that stupid SpongeBob meme?

Tune in next time on Akagami Shiro Neko to find out!

Much love!

~Shini