A.N. I would have had this up MUCH sooner, but I acidentally left it at my sister's house who lives in another state, and she finally mailed it to me. So, without further adeu... I present the next chapter in my tale.

Ch. 9

The Vice-Admiral's Guest

The silver lit tunnel was amazing. It wasn't just a single corridor; it was an entire underground complex. Following her ears, Robin made her way through the branching sliver halls until she came to a bolted door. This was the right place, for she could hear the music streaming through the cracks in the worn and heavy doorframe.

Curiously, she unbolted the door and cautiously pushed it open. Inside chained to the wall by his left leg was a man. He was unkempt and unshaven, his long white hair was matted and he glared at her with vibrant green eyes. Though he was clad in colorless rags, he held himself with the quiet dignity of a king in exile.

"Nice trick, but I'm not buying it this time." The chained man spat as Robin came into the room. "But that form does look a lot better than what you usually wear."

"What?" Asked Robin in surprise. Of all the things she thought that she would encounter on this island an underground tunnel system with it's own bound man wasn't it. "What do you mean?"

"Well Miss Robin, What are you doing here?" Came an all too familiar voice from behind her. Spinning around, he saw Saros leaning against the doorframe. "What a stroke of luck. With you here I might finally have all the tools I need to find out our dear Kaicen's secret."

Falling back on her instincts, Robin attacked. "Ocho Fleur!" She called, binding Saros with her disembodied arms. As she did so the man just laughed, supremely unconcerned.

"Kill him! Kill him now!" Kaicen urged from behind her.

"Yes miss Robin…" Saros drawled. "Kill me now. It's your only chance. Because if you don't you will never see the light of day again."

Robin, being a former assassin, had no qualms about killing someone, especially someone stupid enough to threaten her life. With no expression, and even less mercy she constricted his body into a torturous shape with her disembodied arms.

Saros merely bent and twisted as if he was made of rubber. Much like she imagined Luffy would have if he were subjected to such an attack. "Surprise!" he mocked as his head touched to the floor.

"Dammit Saros! Where did you find a Gomu fruit?" Kaicen snapped, surging to his feet and wishing that his chain was long enough to allow him to rip the bastard of an admiral limb from limb.

If Saros was a rubber-man like Luffy, that changed everything. There was no way that she could defeat him with merely her Hana Hana powers. Grabbing a dagger from within her jacket she started forward to end the life of the Vice-Admiral. As she came close to Saros the entire world inverted. Black was white, up was down, and the word orange rhymed with everything.

"Poor miss Robin…" Mocked Saros as he was freed of her many handed grasp. Somehow he had not only managed to disentangle himself from her hold, he had slipped behind her in the instant that she was disoriented. Before she could adapt to the situation, Saros had her arm twisted painfully behind her back in a submission hold. "…You have no idea what you have stumbled into."

In retaliation to his impudent attack she tried to summon her disembodied arms to pry the larger man off of her. Unfortunately for her, nothing happened. Finally, Robin understood. She understood why Luffy's arm hadn't stretched the day before. Saros had stolen his Akuma no Mi powers. That was how he had escaped her attack, and why she couldn't use her own powers.

"Thank you though…" Saros whispered in her ear as he turned her own powers against her. Blooming forth from the walls and floor his hands clamped around her ankles wrists and even her throat with an iron, vice like grip. "I've been searching for someone blessed with the Hana Hana powers for quite some time."

"Leave her alone, Saros!"

"Leave her alone, Saros! Leave her alone, Saros!" The navy-man mimed, mocking his captive. "Kaicen, you should be thanking me for bringing this woman here to accompany you in your cell. True… I'm going to torture her until you tell me what I want to hear, and then kill you both… But hey, it's better than dying alone."

In a mindless fury Kaicen unleashed such an epithet laden tirade that it caused even Robin to blush. Most of what he suggested that Saros could do was physically impossible, a good portion illegal, and all of it was indecent. The part about Saros, the cabin boy and the porpoise was all three.

"My oh my… Do you kiss your mother with that same mouth?" Saros asked as Kaicen finished his rant. "Oh, I guess that you can't do that anymore since that day…"

Kaicen only snarled at him.

Robin felt a shudder of revulsion creep down her spine as Saros turned his attention back to her. "I'm almost sorry to do this, but I find myself in need of your clothing."

"No!" Robin protested as Saros advanced upon her bound and helpless body, her own knife in his hand. She hadn't even remembered loosing it. It must have fallen from her hands when he drained and stolen her power. "NO!"

Striding purposely toward her, Saros only laughed.

The moon shone brightly above the Merry Go illuminating the empty deck and the salty sea breeze toyed with the black pirate flags adorning the masts. Up in the crows-nest supposedly on watch, Zoro stirred in his sleep, pulling the blanket wrapped around him even tighter to ward off the chill night air.

Below deck the crew was sound asleep, with one exception. Suffering from a severe bout of cottonmouth Chopper awoke from a sound sleep, blurry-eyed and barely cognizant. With halting steps he made his way by memory to the galley and drew himself a tall glass of water. After a very refreshing drink he began his return trip to the men's quarters. As he passed by the girl's cabin a very odd sound caused him to pause in his tracks.

"Mhmmm…. Sanji…" Nami moaned into her pillow, obviously deeply in the throes of a dream.

Sanji calling out Nami's name was no big thing. Chopper heard it every night. The cook was almost obsessive about the crew's navigator. But to hear her dream about him in return was something completely new. The little deer's mind whirled with the implications. It seemed that she just might returnSanji's feelings.

With wide eyes and a mind running at who knew how many knots per hour, he climbed back onto his couch and spent a long time staring up at the ceiling before he was able to return to his untroubled slumber.

A.N. Isn't Saros just a bastard? I've found that Mary Sues make the best enemies. Now that Robin knows about the underground and Kaicen will Saros let her live? find out in our next thrilling installment!