Replies to my Reviews

zeonneus: They'll stay in contact. I have big plans for them.

Hexylen: I know, right? Bell's already pretty broken but I still want him to achieve Awakening down the line. How do I make a broken character even more broken without making him too broken?!

XenoLucifer: Noted. Even though you're comparing her against Monkey D. Dragon of all people, I'll be making Akame more badass., regardless.

Amatsumi: Garp(40), Roger(39), Bell(18), Kaido(21), Linlin(30), Newgate(36)

Hashirama 1710: Hmm...

Guest: Bell's bounty won't jump that high so soon, even if he is Xebec's brother. Bell's crew are all technically in their late teens. I explicitly mentioned Bell to be 18 when he fought Dragon who was 17 himself. He's definitely fucking Hancock at least.

Monxu Aki: Sorry, Bell won't meet Linlin face-to-face for many years, so no saving the Charlotte kids. At least until Charlotte Lola runs away and seeks 'Mama's former Boss' for sanctuary.

Chapter 03: Chimamire no Hōfuku (Bloody Retribution)

9 Years BPKC (Before Pirate King's Challenge)

"Her bounty rose again!"

"Of course, it did! Even if she has disgraced her noble lineage by becoming a lowly pirate, she must still triumph over them all!"

"But does she have to attack our slave transports?!"

"How is the Donquixote Family dealing with this?!"

"They actually had the gall to be amused!"

"What?!"

"Well, I can understand the appeal at least. A rogue family member wreaking havoc all over the world does make good entertainment when you take in the commoners' reactions... That would be interesting at least."

"True, true... But understanding does not equal to acceptance!"

"Oh, of course not! Damn that Donquixote Elizabeth!"

Ducking past the chatting World Nobles, Donquixote Rosinante(6) swiftly headed for where he knew his brother was.

For a second, he nearly slipped but quickly righted himself! Good job, Rossy! It was nearly evening so once the sun set, Rosinante's clumsiness would've only caused him to have fallen just twice today!

He'd have to thank that slave that saved him from falling at what would've been a third time, though.

Father always said it was good to be thankful to those who help you, especially when they don't have to. Good thing the slave was a new one who hadn't been taken yet. Rosinante would get them for himself and treat them well.

Rossy was a nice World Noble!

"Ah, there you are, Rossy." Donquixote Doflamingo(8) muttered as his little brother finally arrived. "Did your chronic clumsiness hold you back again? This is why Mother is hesitant about taking you down to Sabaody."

"Sorry, Doffy." Rosinante awkwardly patted his knees. "Still, did you...?"

Doflamingo cockily adjusted his sunglasses (He'd gotten them from some shop in Sabaody and had liked it well enough that he never went anywhere without them again) and tossed over a newspaper at his little brother. "Here you go, Rossy!"

Awkwardly catching it, Rosinante unfolded the newspaper and instantly gushed at the wide spread of the Sun Pirates on the first page, written and published by 'Big News' Morgan himself. "Ah! Elizabeth-nee-sama went and crushed three entire battleships herself! She's so cool! Why does a D. have to be her captain?! She's awesome enough to take that position!"

"Isn't it obvious, Rossy?" Doflamingo crossed his arms with a sneer. "It's because the person holding her back is a D.! How else would a pirate member of our family not have become the head of the crew?! You can tell by how she's listed as the Sun Pirates' First Mate! The only position higher is the Captain himself! She should just mutiny and take-"

"Doflamingo-sama? Rosinante-sama?"

Both Rosinante and Doflamingo turned to see a slave maid approaching them subserviently. "I have been sent to call you by Homing-sama. He wishes for you two to meet him in the library."

Looking at each other in confusion, Rosinante shrugged as he followed his disgruntled big brother and dropped the newspaper aside.

He'd get back to it later.

(He didn't get back to it later.

He would never get back to it later.

Because by tomorrow, he and his immediate family left Mary Geoise and were never allowed back.)

"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'VE LOST SIGHT OF THEM?!"

Apart from Monkey D. Garp, Sengoku, Tsuru and Zephyr, every other marine in the room with Fleet Admiral Kong flinched at his raised voice regarding the news they'd just received.

"A-As I said, F-Fleet Admiral Kong sir, we're no longer able to confidently chase after the Revolutionaries." The lower ranked officer stuttered, trembling slightly under the intense glare and miniscule Haki that had escaped the Fleet Admiral's tight control. "There have been multiple sightings of the Taiyō Kaizoku-dan as well, but they're becoming harder to track down. After that last battle against them which resulted in the loss of twelve battleships, the storm that followed after did well in disorienting us all. While some believe that they may have perished due to it but..."

The officer swallowed and licked his lips, glancing at Garp very quickly. "The leaders of the two groups are both of the D clan. Ds have a habit of giving a middle finger at... everything they don't feel like accepting."

Tsuru scoffed. "That feels like a gross understatement."

There was still some unrest against Garp after news of his son's defection had reached Marineford. Both for the defection... and Garp's reaction to the news.

Even though five years had passed since then, Tsuru still freshly remembered the memory of Garp getting a letter directly dropped into his hands from whoever currently owned the Mail-Mail Fruit.

Garp had opened the letter, skimmed through it, choked out his biscuits and read through it again, slower and much more thoroughly, until he reached the end of it and blanched, letting the letter slowly fluttering to the ground.

And then, out of the blue, his mood had flipped. Now Garp got furious, the air itself rippling around him as he flooded the entirety of Marineford with his presence, and crushed everyone within in the establishment. Crushed their very beings with the image of a titan, a monster, a colossal beast full of righteous wrath, feral desperation and paternal outrage, fists clenched and threatening to pummel the World.

"-THAT FOOLISH, ASS-FACED, BUGGER-HEADED, SHANDY-DRINKING, SHIT-BRAINED, DUCK-FUCKING, SEWAGE-SMOKING, RAT-EATING, SKUNK-KICKING, BARNACLE-"

Language aside, what a day to discover that Monkey D. Garp did have Conqueror's Haki after all.

At the very least, it kept off the Five Elder Stars from bothering him, and Sengoku and Tsuru finally rested a bit as many uncertain things of their 'anti-authority' friend now made much more sense.

A Conqueror was one would not Bow easily to others, being chosen by the World itself as One Worthy of Being above others.

A 'D' was one who Dreams unto reality, giving no regard to the impossibilities. A person who might have dreamt up the idea of making an island-sized city floating in the middle of the ocean would have left that as a dream. A 'D' who dreamt that up... went on to create Water Seven.

A combination of a 'D' and a Conqueror?

The Five Elder Stars definitely knew better than to alienate the one Conquering 'D' who had willingly joined their ranks with a genuine ideal of Justice to uphold.

Gol D. Roger and Rocks D. Bell were certainly giving the Marines enough trouble without being as subtle as Monkey D. Dragon was.

(A subtle 'D' was frankly terrifying, especially to Sengoku and Tsuru as they both doubted Dragon to be Garp's actual son until they had a look at the medical records.

Frequently.)

Sengoku sighed from his spot, seated at the large round table where he and a group of high ranking marines were in the process of having a meeting. "Let's forget about the Revolutionaries for now. Do we have an idea of where the Taiyō Kaizoku-dan will show up again?"

"We've predicted that the likeliness of them showing up around West Blue is the highest." The officer reported. "Considering their captain's habits of attacking slavers and freeing the captured slaves before they reach Sabaody, he might soon find their trails again."

There was a wave of unrest at that. It was no secret that not a single marine in the room appreciated the existence of a slave trader and would usually celebrate quietly at their demise.

The problem was that it was a pirate doing it instead of the Marines, which really rankled at their pride.

"Well, nothing we can do but wait, then." Garp commented. "If that dastardly brat acts as usual, he'll show up on his own sooner than later. He's not a show-off like Roger, but Bell's the type of pirate who just doesn't care."

"For once, I'm in agreement with Garp." Sengoku muttered as he leaned back into his chair and stole one of Garp's biscuits.

"Really?" Tsuru asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at her friends. "Would you care to explain the cause of this rare occurrence?"

"Garp has a point when he says that Kaenyari has no regard for authority." Sengoku swallowed the biscuit and stole another. "If we put more effort than usual into tracking him down, he'll hide away until he feels like fighting. It's better that we direct our resources into prioritizing pirates who are actually making a point of attacking civilians like Big Mom and the like."

"I see..." Zephyr muttered as he exchanged glances with Tsuru. "That does make sense. There's even still the matter of Kinjishi to deal with. I heard he's been building up a pirate army-"

"Ah, right." The lower ranked officer spoke up again, gaining all of their attention again. "Speaking of which, Big Mom gave birth again. The kid's name is Charlotte Melise."

"AGAIN?!"

"Aren't her kids numbering in the twenties now?!"

"Forties, actually." The officer corrected.

"Forties?!"

"My ovaries hurt just from imagining it."

"She can't be human."

"Obviously! She's five times the size of a regular human!"

"There are no humanoid species in the world that can give birth so many times."

"Is she trying to make a record or something?"

"If such a thing exists, no woman is ever going to take it from her."

"You make it sound like there are women who would actually try!"

"Well, I'm done with this meeting, now." Garp stifled a yawn as he got up. "I'm going on my lunch break. I'll be back in an hour."

"What the- HEY! GARP, GET BACK HERE!" Zephyr yelled after him. "THE MEETING ISN'T OVER YET!"

Garp pointedly did not 'get back there' as he exited the room, completely ignoring Admiral Yorukuma's orders.

"Hmm... Kaenyari was the Navigator of the Rocks Pirates, I believe?" Sengoku took a look at the map detailing the Sun Pirates' movements as Zephyr snarled while leaping out of his seat to chase after Garp. "He must've gotten better."

"Obviously." Tsuru idly cracked her neck. "It seems that actually striking out on his own over the past five years must have granted him an even better mastery of navigational skills and evasive maneuvering."

"It shames me to admit this as your Captain and Navigator but..." Rocks D. Bell(23) honestly declared as he faced his crew. "I have zero idea where we've been for the last 12 hours. Stupid blizzard cyclone kicking us off so course. I still can't believe that we actually got blown out of the New World and into East Blue of all places! The Log Pose is useless here!"

"Five years of this madness and I still can't get used to it!" Donquixote Elizabeth muttered as she clutched the rails while glaring down at the ocean. "What madness is this bullshit weather?! Why does the weather always go insane whenever there are no islands in sight?!"

"Because islands dictate their own climates and magnetic fields in all seas except East Blue. That's why Log Poses exist specifically to guide towards the nearest ones." Bell answered as he poured through the maps Kurome had brought him. "East Blue is unique in the fact that Irrationalium has the weakest presence here than anywhere else. Ergo, normal weather, normal waters, normal islands, mostly normal residents... and useless Log Poses."

For some unknown reason, Eternal Log Poses however, still worked just fine, even for East Blue islands as well.

"Captain!" Kurome called from the ship nest. "Land ho!"

"Thank goodness!" Bell threw up his maps in relief. "If I can get a map from there, I'll know our location!"

"I've never been to East Blue before." Kurome commented as she dropped down next to Oregano as the later left the sick bay. "What should we expect from one of their islands? Anything dangerous?"

Bell blinked and eyed his crewmates in utter skepticism. "It's not that I want you guys to be arrogant... but it's not much of a stretch when I say that we're the most dangerous creatures in East Blue at the moment."

"Really?" Elizabeth perked up eagerly.

Before Bell could answer, a Sea King suddenly bursted out of the ocean right next to Elizabeth, it's jaws wide enough to bite their ship in half.

If this were a ship full of East Blue residents, there would have been lots of screaming as the ship was bitten in half, dragging down the vessel along with the souls onboard into Davy Jones's Locker.

But this was a ship full of New World Pirates, so a moment of silence of the soon to be dead sea monster.

*BANG!*

*BAM!*

Bell blinked idly as the unfortunate sea king was respectively shot with a Hardened bullet that blew off the upper half of it's head and had it's left side gouged out by an extremely powerful kick.

"Yeah, you'll all be fine." Bell nodded in assurance at his crew. "In fact, I feel sorry for anyone who tries to pick on you here."

"Bell-sama." While Elizabeth put her smoking gun away, Oregano dragged up the sea king's corpse over the rails and onto the deck, dropping the bleeding carcass before him. "We have procured breakfast."

Bell blinked dully as the blood slowly inched towards his shoes and took some steps back. "And why did you bring it to me instead of Akame?"

Oregano blinked and tilted her head as if she didn't understand the question.

"Whatever." Bell shook his head before calling to Kurome who had taken position at the helm. "We're heading for the island! Set sail!"

Late at night, in a mansion surrounded by a dense forest, a young and pale man gazed up at the moonlight that shimmered down onto the foliage and gave it a silvery sheen.

"Ah, what a lovely night." The man commented as he ran his tongue over his teeth and lips, licking off a miniscule bit of red liquid on them. "Still not enough... Maybe I should have another drink before I go to bed-"

The door to his room suddenly banged open, alerting him as a couple of women scantily dressed in nothing but white cloth wraps. "What's wrong, girls? It's quite late for you all to approach me like this... unless you would like to entertain me again~?"

"Lvneel-sama..." One of the women stepped forward, distinctive by her ponytail of red hair. "Where is my younger sister?"

"Hmm? Your sister?" Lvneel tilted his head in mock confusion. "I wonder what happened?"

"Don't you dare pretend to be clueless! It's already been two days since she disappeared!" Ponytail snapped. "What did you do to my sister?!"

"Oh, did you mean... that thing?" Lvneel pointed to his left, prompting the women to follow the direction and recoil at what they somehow hadn't noticed when they had arrived.

There was a woman's body pinned to the wall by shadowy rods stabbed into her wrists, the redness of her disheveled hair nearly indistinguishable from the copious amounts of blood that had leaked out from the many cuts on her body.

"Sofia!" Ponytail yelled out in despair. "You... bastard! How could you?!"

"I got bored." Lvneel shrugged. "Or rather, it's unfortunate that I simply got bored of you. I usually love to sample myself on women but frankly, I've been feeling a bit... stale regarding you guys. Maybe it's time for some fresh blood."

"You..." Ponytail gritted her teeth as she drew her sword, prompting the other women to wield the weapons they had brought along as well. "I'm going to kill you!"

"No, you're going to try and kill me." Lvneel corrected as he grabbed the sword next to him and slowly drew it. "C'mon now! You better all come at once!"

"I will avenge my sister!" Ponytail headed the charge, slamming her sword against Lvneel's. It was telling of how angry she was that she didn't notice that Lvneel's sword arm hadn't budged in the slightest from how hard she had hit his sword. "Die!"

Looking directly into her eyes, Lvneel's free arm caught the two arrows that had been shot at him from his side.

"What?!"

"He caught them without even looking?!"

"One second, Nalia." Blurring away from Ponytail's view, Lvneel's blade reddened as he cut down every single one of them faster than they could've reacted. With a satisfied flick of his sword, Lvneel sighed in bliss as death cries and bloody gurgles filled the room. "Amazing. You managed to dodge away from what should've split you in half."

Nalia shook as she clutched her bleeding side. It wasn't deep, but the pain was still too much as it was instincts and luck rather than skill that allowed her survival. "Argh...! Damnit...!"

"Well, well, I'm glad." Lvneel commented as he grabbed her from behind and held her close to his chest, causing her to shiver in fear and revulsion as she felt the hard shaft pressed against her butt. "N-No! Get away from me! Not like thi-"

Ignoring Nalia's words, Lvneel brushed her ponytail out of the way... and sunk his lengthening fangs into her shoulder, causing her to scream in pain as he started to drain her dry of her precious life fluid.

Clutching her breast hard enough to bruise it, Lvneel idly humped his hips against her ass as he slowly lowered her onto the bloody floor, pulling away from her mangled shoulder to free his stiffening shaft. Ripping the cloth off Nalia's hips, Lvneel wasted no time in brutally thrusting into her, pumping his hips as he kept feeding.

"You bastard... I'll kill you..." Nalia whimpered through the pain as she tried to glare at Lvneel from beneath him, half of her face covered in blood from the floor.

Lvneel simply thrusted faster and harder, the sheer hatred in her eyes combined with the carnage around him acting better than any aphrodisiac in the world.

"Pie!" Linlin roared as she stumbled past the broken door she just smashed through, her eyes blank as she grabbed everything in sight and stuffed it into her mouth, only to roar in anger as it obviously wasn't what she was seeking. "Pie!"

"Linlin's rampaging again?" Bell muttered as he looked up from the map he was perusing. "What happened to the pies I left for her?"

"I ate them." Kaido unrepentantly revealed.

"Why would you do that?!" Bell snapped at the oni. "Those were my rightfully stolen pies, damnit!"

"And then I stole them just as rightfully." Kaido gave a small burp as he emptied his bottle before getting up as he cracked his neck. "So, who's gonna deal with Linlin this time? Ochoku's just about to get his soul ripped out."

"Never mind." Bell shook his head. "Xebec's already on it."

Indeed, the Captain of the Rocks Pirates had an angry snarl present on his face as he approached Linlin and ripped Ochoku out of her grasp, before shoving his palm against the woman's throat and grabbing it.

"Linlin... Get a fucking hold of yourself!" Xebec growled as he lifted the large woman over him before slamming her down hard enough to smash through the deck and into the deck below.

Leaping down below, everyone winced at the sound of fists repeatedly pummeling Linlin's body, especially as bursts of Haoshoku Haki were added to each strike until they stopped just as Linlin's Voice dimmed to Bell's Kenbunshoku Haki.

Satisfied with a job well done, Xebec leapt back up and wiped his hands clean of blood on Ochoku's shirt before returning back to his quarters.

"Yikes." Bell murmured. "I can't believe he went that far."

"Yeah." Newgate said in agreement.

"That hole's gonna be a bitch to fix!" Bell snapped. "We still don't have a shipwright!"

"And most of our money goes into getting food and drinks." Newgate sighed.

What?

Did you think anybody actually gave a shit for Linlin? All pity for her died considering that one time she had actually taken a large bite out of one man who had been unfortunate to have the food she wanted in his hands, taking in both the food... along with the man's entire right side with one large chomp.

After witnessing that, Xebec had firmly put his foot down. As much as an asshole he was, allowing Linlin to be indulged in her hunger pangs was absolutely foolish. Therefore, a rule was passed that if Linlin was ever in such a state, she was to either be fed the desired food within seconds... or be brutally beaten down with extreme prejudice.

Very rarely did anybody ever obey the first part of that rule-

"Bell! We're here!"

Bell awoke from his nap, still groggy from the little trip down memory lane. "No wonder Linlin looked so slim as a Rocks Pirate... The Rocks Kaizoku-dan as a whole forced Linlin into a nonconsensual diet... That just makes me feel bad for her kids all over again... We were the only ones totally capable of beating the shit out of her in her hunger pangs."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Elizabeth asked as she dragged Bell by his arm as they both jumped over the rails and onto the dock. "Let's go! I wanna see how the East Blue peasants fashion their jewelry!"

"Kurome, come with me." Akame leapt down after them. "We need to check out the island's cuisine as well as stock up again. I only hope that this place uses the same currency."

"It should be the same. There shouldn't be any East Blue island out of the World Government's jurisdiction." Kurome followed closely to her as she and Oregano. "Oregano, be sure to return here within 2 hours after you get the medicines you want."

"Understood." Oregano replied as she Stored away the entire boat, removing the need for a guard on the Romance Dawn. "What is the directive for if we encounter enemies?"

"Leave them alive but thoroughly defeated." Akame replied as she handed a Transponder Snail to the nurse. "However, if the enemy is someone who makes an intention of actually attacking our crew, you are permitted to kill them."

Oregano blinked. "Understood."

''Mm, burgers are so tasty~!''

''I can't believe that you've never had a burger before.''

"There was nothing like this back home at Mary Geoise!"

After seeing the jewels (with Bell buying the ones Elizabeth liked before she caused a heart attack to the shaking clerk who quickly realized he was serving pirates), Elizabeth wasted little time in whisking her captain around in what was suspiciously similar to a date.

(Bell was outright suspicious as he was easily the only man Elizabeth had ever had prolonged contact with, but Elizabeth would never say it outright, simply conveying everything through her actions.)

From the park populated with colorful birds to the long streets filled with busy shops, they took their time exploring and just savoring each other's company through the night.

''Hm? Oh, look at that outfit, Bell!'' Elizabeth tugged on his arm as she came to a stop, gesturing to one in the window. ''It's quite cute, isn't it~?''

Bell followed her finger up to a mannequin adorned with a loose blue top and pink skirt, humming. ''Yeah, it looks pretty... but not long lasting in the sea.''

"No, no, no." Elizabeth shook her head in disappointment. "Since when have I ever bought any clothes with function in mind?"

Bell rolled his eyes, although doing nothing to resist being dragged into the store.

Perusing the market, Akame eyed the products critically. While they hadn't actually been lacking in food, most of their recent meals seemed to have consisted of meat and fish mostly. It would be good to add some variety with these fruits, if only to avoid scurvy at the very least. "Excuse me, sir, how much for twenty of these each?"

"That'll be B2,000, miss!"

"Great. I'll take them."

"An excellent choice!" The vendor exclaimed, pleased to have made a large sale. "I'll pack them up for you."

"Aren't those a bit too much?" Kurome muttered in discontent. "We should've gotten some sweets..."

"That's just your addiction talking." Akame chided as she received the bags and dropped one into Kurome's arms. "Now help me carry these back."

"Forgive me if I sound too rude, but would you lovely ladies require any assistance?"

The sisters turned as one to regard the man who had just intruded into their personal space. He was like a noble except for the fact that he was heavily muscled and twice their size, with long dark hair and a rather short but thick beard.

"Forgive me if I feel like I'm intruding into your conversation, but I couldn't bear to witness two lovely flowers as yourselves alone."

"Sorry, but we do not require your assistance." Akame replied, with Kurome nodding beside her. "So please, excuse us..."

"Lvneel." The man bowed exaggeratedly. "Sir Daniel Lvneel, at your service."

"Lvneel?" Akame frowned as she looked him over. As he talked longer, Akame felt a small sense of familiarity, like she had met this man or his name before. As a former Cipher Pol agent, this was distressing. To think someone potentially dangerous from her past might actually elude her memory. Even if she was confident in her strength after having trained with her Captain many times, she'd prefer the path of discretion as usual.

"Now that I'm looking at you, you've got quite the attractive body." Lvneel said as he actually bent forward and sniffed heavily at Kurome, causing both women to instantly put distance between them. "You two are martial artists, right? What brings you here to this island?"

"What we are doing right now is leaving, you creep." Kurome demanded as both of the sisters' instincts prioritized them to get away from Lvneel, Akame starting to notice that he had somehow herded them into an isolated area as he kept hounding them in their walk.

"Now, now... who gave you permission to leave my presence?" Lvneel spoke, his expression a lot darker now as his form blurred away.

Not missing a beat, Akame dumped her cargo aside and drew, clashing it against Lvneel's blade hard enough to cause a shockwave.

"Hahaha! I'm surprised that a human like you could withstand that hit!" Lvneel chuckled as he ground his sword against Akame, pleasantly surprised when she didn't budge an inch. "How about this?!"

Lvneel disengaged and unleashed a flurry of slashes, each one nearly faster than sound. However, Akame perfectly deflected each one with ease, not suffering a single scratch.

"Kurome, take our things back to the Dawn." Akame sheathed her blade and entered an Iaijutsu stance. "I'll deal with him and come after."

"Fine, then." Kurome retreated, picking up their dropped foodstuff and disappearing with a quick application of {Soru}.

"Hah? Giving her a chance to run away?"

"What?" Akame tilted her head in confusion before hastily shaking her hand. "No, no, no, no. It's not that you're that much of a threat. It's just that you're... Well, you pretty weak to actually require both of us to deal with you."

"...weak?" Lvneel dumbly repeated in disbelief, before his form suddenly exploded with copious amounts of malice and bloody shadows, transforming from his human form into a vampire with his coat morphing into massive bat wings. "You're calling me weak?! You tread beyond your station, human! If you have any delusion of defeating me, there are two irrefutable facts that render than null!"

Akame blinked. "Oh?"

"First is the superiority of my race!" Lvneel declared as he spread his wings wide, his crimson eyes and gleaming fangs prominent. "Compared to you puny blood bags, we vampires possess the advantage in physical prowess, latent energy and regenerative abilities! You all exist to be nothing more but our livestock and toys!"

"I see..." Akame replied, completely unintimidated. "And the second one?"

"...secondly, this blade I wield is one of the famous Meito(Famed Sword)!" Lvneel displayed his katana for Akame to behold. "This is one of the 12 Supreme Grade Swords, {Murasame}!"

(KingVessel: Yes, this is Akame's actual sword from her original anime. No, it does not have the cursed poison. Yes, it has the 'spirit of a demon'. It's still a freaking Meito.)

"Ohhhh!" Akame finally made an expression of interest. "How long have you had that Meito?"

"Four centuries!" Lvneel boasted, pleased to finally gain a proper reaction from her. "I haven't had to sharpen or maintain this blade ever since I gained it!"

"Nice... Very nice..." Akame cast a dispassionate glance at her own unnamed sword. "The truth is... I've been looking for a Meito myself ever since I once fought against Rayleigh. I don't want to disrespect my skills but..." Akame started to slowly pace sideways, prompting Lvneel to mimic her. "I really feel that my loss would've been less likely if I had possessed a Meito as well to match his own {Gin Rakurai}... All right, then...!"

Akame nodded to herself before sending a challenging smirk at Lvneel. "Lvneel, that's my Meito you've got in your hand!"

Lvneel tilted his head as he tilted {Murasame} so that it glimmered under the unholy light his eyes were giving off. "Your Meito, you say?"

The shadows that graced Akame's hair tinted pitch-black as her eyes shone like scarlet torches in the gloom, bloody trails of electricity coming off her form as she tightened her stance. "Did I stutter?"

"Hmm..." Lvneel held up the sword in a battle ready stance of his own. "I don't think I like your tone."

For a second, the two stared each other down as the air started to vibrate between the two.

Akame's sword exited it's sheath by an inch-

"[Hekireki Issen (Thunderclap and Flash)!]"

-before ripping through the air at blistering speeds, red lightning trailing after it as it slammed into {Murasame}, forcing the vampire several feet back as the duo smashed through several trees.

"Hahaha! Wonderful!" Lvneel declared as he stomped forward in retaliation, crushing the ground where she'd been standing a second ago.

Their blades flowed like ghastly apparitions, solidifying upon contacting their opponent's weapon. Metallic screeching sang throughout the lethal dance, which increased intensity as neither combatant backed down from their relentless assault.

Throughout the entire battle however, Akame had used copious amounts of her Haki to protect her blade. Despite how much Akame surpassed Lvneel in skill, it showed just how superior {Murasame} was that she could still feel the high likelihood of her sword breaking without the Meito even needing it's wielder's Haki.

Eventually, cracks were slowly forming until...

*KRRRSH!*

Akame stared with zero surprise as her sword finally gave up and shattered, her Haki only going so far as it sent glimmering shards that returned from glossy black to steely silver. "What a shame."

"Indeed!" Lvneel dissipated into smoke, rushing around Akame in a flurry. He hadn't such a great meal like this in centuries!

There was nothing as great as a powerful woman being broken down by him-

"I really wanted to gain {Murasame} via a sword duel, but I'll have to finish this immediately then."

'What does she mean-'

The World slowed from his perspective as two fists approached his torso in unison, both of them curiously glistening as black as Akame's weapon had been when she'd been using it while radiating a crackling yet flowing aura.

"[Hakai Buso: Rokushiki Ōgi: Rokuōgan (Destructive Armament: Six Powers Supreme: Six King Pistol).]"

Those two fists rammed themselves into his torso with immense twisting force, shredding through all of Lvneel's bones, muscles and organs as he was sent flying away in a corkscrew manner.

Vampire physiology could've only taken so much damage in one go. When Advanced Busoshoku Haki got added in...

Akame waited until she could no longer feel the vampire's aura with her Haki before approaching the dropped {Murasame}. The moment she grabbed it's hilt, her Kenbunshoku went haywire.

It is a pleasure to be wielded by you, Akame. Akame's ears rang as she fought the urge to buckle as a Voice as sweet and toxic and vengeful as poison whispered directly to her soul. I am Murasame.

"It's a pleasure to have you, {Murasame}." Akame groaned as she sheathed her new Meito and made her way back to the Romance Dawn. "Captain's gonna be pretty pleased with me."

"What happened to me?" Lvneel muttered as he trudged through what seemed like water that was reaching up to his thighs, surrounded by impenetrable mists. "Aaah, I can't remember too well... But...I can't have lost to that woman, right? Haha, that's right. I can't lose, that's impossible!"

"Actually, you did lose, your majesty."

Lvneel flinched. 'That voice... I haven't heard that voice since...!'

Lvneel sharply turned about to see who had spoken and saw two men standing atop a grassy bank just a few feet from him, his attention solely focused on the one with more clothes. While the other looked like some tribal savage with markings on his tanned skin and stupidly long spiky red hair, the speaker was a well built man with brown hair... and what looked like a chestnut on his head. "Noland...!"

"To think four centuries would pass before I saw your face again." Mont Blanc Noland idly commented. "Using a dark ritual to transform yourself into a demonic creature... Devouring the entirety of your own kingdom and using all those lives to gain a facsimile of immortality... You've come quite far, haven't you... your Majesty?"

"You-" The former king of Lvneel started to charge forward, unaware the water had reached up to his waist and was looking suspiciously reddish-

"But that's neither here or there." Noland shrugged. "I'm not the only one who waited for you to die."

Lvneel only had a second of confusion before many hands surged out of the bloody water around him, each belonging to a familiar face as they grabbed onto him.

"Lvneel-sama, come down with us." Nalia cooed cruelly, her ponytail shifted aside to show the mangled bitemark still on her shoulder.

"Lvneel-sama, come down and play with Nalia-nee and I." Sofia grabbed on to his hand, her smile bloody as the many cuts on her body kept bleeding profusely.

"Do you not know how long we've been waiting ever since you executed Noland-sama?" A man crushed the leg in his grip, dressed in the same uniform as Noland but less dignified.

"We are all here." Another similarly dressed man grabbed at Lvneel's hair.

"As are we, your dear subjects." An unknown hand grabbed his shoulder.

Lvneel tried to struggle, futile in his efforts as the many, many souls he had wronged all sought to drag him down to the bloody depths. Desperately, Lvneel tried to reach out to Noland-

*SWISH!*

*SHUCKSH!*

-only to fail as the savage swung a spear out of nowhere and lopped off his arm.

"You will not touch my friend again, false ruler."

And with that declaration being the last he heard, 'Lvneel' was dragged further down into the red darkness, the voices of his victims accompanying him.

"Come down with us, your majesty." "Come down with us, Lvneel-sama." "Come down with us." "Come down with us." "Come down with us." "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with us!" "Come down with all of us!"

"Are you telling me that while I was essentially being Elizabeth's pack mule, you got to fight a vampire and gain a Meito?!"

Bell looked at his cook's new sword with some envy as he surveyed it in his hands. "I can't believe I missed that fight..."

"You didn't miss much." Akame assured as she leaned on his back and looked over his shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, not only does our crew now have two Meito like the Roger Kaizoku-dan, we can go after them and let you all watch me win as I beat Rayleigh!"

"That does cheer me up." Bell chuckled at the thought before bellowing out. "Our next destination is Loguetown! SET SAIL!"

""""Aye, Captain!""""

It was two years later that he met... her.

The Sun Pirates had grown a bit, with them having two new members and the first other guys to their small but mostly female crew.

First was their shipwright, Spanner, a blond guy who was dressed in a mechanics jumpsuit and had a habit of building contraptions with death lasers. Despite the initial complaining of his crewmembers, Bell loved him from the start.

"We're in need of a competent shipwright and inventor in our crew. As long as you mean no harm to us or any civilians while keeping the Romance Dawn above average sailing conditions, you can whatever you want to the ship."

It wasn't the weirdest recruitment pitch ever, but there was something to be said about Spanner's enthusiasm as he and Bell eagerly shook hands. Nobody knew what was more disturbing; Spanner's declaring his ambition to turn their ship into a transforming, fully weaponized death machine with land and flight capabilities or Bell's complete support of it.

Second was a swordsman, whom Bell recognized as a 12-year-old Dracule Mihawk. He hadn't gained {Yoru} yet, but he had a sword and still possessed an unwavering stare that seemed to pierce into one's very soul.

Anyways, back to... her.

The Romance Dawn's new sensors detected another pirate crew already on the same uninhabited island the Sun Pirates had just arrived on.

Bell, of course, had wanted to go 'greet' them ahead of the others.

"Look, I'm telling you. We can totally handle New World now." She excitedly stated to her First Mate, waving about the caveman meat in her hands before she finished it off and tossed away the bone. "Our top fighters all use Haki, along with me having the Haoshoku and our pirate kid's finally gotten a good grip on his Devil Fruit."

"Captain!" Many of the pirate crew below turned to regard their pirate apprentice who had been stationed as the lookout. He was a 15-year-old with deep-set eyes, grayish skin and had his upper and lower halves connected by a long trail of sand as he approached her. "I just saw Kaenyari's ship dock on the opposite side of the island! I also saw him heading this way!"

"Captain, no." The First Mate futilely spoke, sighing as she recognized the slowly spreading grin on her captain's face. Sighing as she briefly ran her fingers through her short black hair and lit a cigarette, she still gingerly cracked her fingers. "The Taiyo Kaizoku-dan are New World veterans. Pirates from there are practically monsters in terms of strength."

"Like Roger and his crew." She answered back cheekily as she drew out her rapier and secured the hibiscus in her long, wavy pinkish blonde hair. "C'mon, Shakky. Where's your sense of adventure? This is a perfect opportunity to find out if we can step into the same stage as Roger and Rayleigh!"

Behind the two, a large, curvy woman with curly orange hair and a beaded necklace simply chuckled as she finished off the large fried fish in her hands.

"Huh?" The Sand Logia muttered in confusion as he saw something else racing towards them. "Someone just raced past Kaenyari... and looks even younger than me?!"

"Huh." Shakuyaku muttered in surprise at Crocodile's new update of their incoming opponents. "And here I thought Roger and Shirohige(Whitebeard) were the only pirates to adopt kid apprentices."

"Mihawk! Be sure not to kill the captain before I reach them!"

Giving no obvious response, Mihawk raced ahead, his gaze set on the strong auras his Kenbunshoku Haki was guiding him towards. Soon enough, he ran into three pirates who definitely weren't among the strongest of what Akame had stated to be the Storm Pirates.

It was ridiculously trivial to cut them down with light wounds and shatter their weapons without slowing down in the slightest.

Sighting the act, the actual strong ones prepared themselves as he approached.

Curly Dadan hefted up a large, double bladed axe in one arm. "That kid's pretty strong for a mere apprentice. Should I set Dogra and Magra on him?"

Shakuyaku breathed out a plume of smoke as she cracked her knuckles. "Nah. Crocodile can have him. Apprentice to apprentice."

Crocodile brought out a long dagger, crouching slightly as sand swirled off his body to hover around him menacingly. "Fine, then."

"Wait, you guys!" However, the strongest Storm Pirate of them all... ran past the three with a wide smile. "I've got to check him out before we set Croco-kun on him!"

Shakuyaku sighed exasperatedly. "You're too fight-hungry for your own good."

Mihawk grinned in anticipation as the Captain of the Storm Pirates hefted up her rapier in preparation of a strike, prompting him to do the same.

It was almost too late before he was forced to shift his offensive strike into a defensive pose.

The Captain's strike came like a thunderbolt, actually sparking with lightning as her rapier thrust into the flat side of Mihawk's Hardened sword, sending him flying through two, four, six trees until he finally stopped, being embedded in the seventh.

"Wh-What was that monstrous strength?" Mihawk muttered as blood dribbled down his face. "Was that really a Paradise pirate?"

"I guess that's their captain!" Bell called out as he passed. "Get yourself out, already while I deal with them!"

"What?!" Mihawk cried in outrage as he ripped himself free and chased after his captain. "I saw her first!"

"And you got sent flying immediately like Team Rocket!"

"I don't know what this Team Rocket is but I suddenly feel seriously offended!"

Mihawk's yell received a hearty laugh as Bell dashed ahead, {Sunshine} clutched in his hands as he Infused it with his Haoshoku Haki.

"There you are, Kaenyari!" She cheered, her rapier turning obsidian while releasing the same blackish red lightning that crackled off her incoming opponent's weapon.

Once the two got within reach of each other, the two swung against each other... and caused the World to Tremble as the Spear and the Rapier refused to meet, their owners releasing golden Sunfire and azure Lightning into the torn asunder sky as they exerted their Wills against each other.

Once they separated, Bell stared at his opponent in rising wonder. "I heard about in the newspaper but... I just couldn't believe it until I saw you with my own eyes."

From afar, Mihawk hummed in agreement. The Captain of the Storm Pirates had blazed though the Grand Line at a crazy pace, despite having originated from East Blue like 'Gold' Roger had.

Her name especially had raised many eyebrows.

(Bell's reaction had been particularly surprising, as if he knew her and had absolutely not expected her to be a pirate at all.)

"Oh?" Portgas D. Rouge twirled her rapier and retrieved her blown off hibiscus from behind her, her free hand detached from his wrist and connected only by a thin, sparking lightning bolt. "I should've guessed that Roger wouldn't be the only 'D' who be interested in me."

KingVessel: Done! I know what you're all thinking... but sorry, this is just their introduction. The epic battle is at the next chapter... Also, yeah, Rouge ate the Goro Goro no Mi.