Bounty Seven Chapter 22: The Heroine of Love and Justice, Part 2, an one piece fanfic

One Piece: Bounty Seven

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Heroine of Love and Justice, Part 2

"No, really. What?"

The girl didn't show any signs of being a mirage, however. Now she was wagging her finger at the men. "Really now, is this any way to behave? What would your mothers think about you throwing bombs at people-"

One quicker on the draw gentlemen flung a throwing knife up in quite a good throw. The girl – Siegfried sort of doubted 'Venus' was her real name – raised one hand and another flash of light happened. One second later what was left of the weapon clattered back to the street, in two pieces.

That gave the crowd pause as Venus put her hands on her hips. "And now you're throwing sharp things at an innocent girl like me?" she pouted. "That's so cruel! Isn't it?"

She'd cupped one hand to her ear at these last two words, and a chorus of agreement came from all around. Siegfried turned to see people watching the proceedings with interest, from windows, doors, even out in the street. This by itself wasn't odd; there were sometimes some gawkers back home for this kind of thing if it wasn't too dangerous. But she seemed to be the center of attention here.

"Well, the ayes have it!" the girl said cheerfully, beginning to twirl her rod. "I was going to be nice, but you've earned yourselves some real punishment now!" Venus smiled. "So you better get ready~!"

On paper, it was idiotic – Siegfried almost could have mistaken it for a play if he hadn't been there firsthand. But it had put the men off their groove: they hadn't been hired to fight a Devil Fruit user (and if the girl wasn't one, he'd eat his shades), and certainly not one that acted like this.

She probably knew what she was doing, odd as it seemed, but he wasn't one to leave a lady be, questionable fashion sense or no.

"I think you'll want to hang back a bit, young man." Siegfried turned to look at the hotel's clerk, now inspecting the hole in his business' wall. "Miss Venus is quite a good shot, but I think you'll end up being in her way."

Now there was something he wasn't used to hearing. But he was new here, wasn't he? He took a step back and watched.

"And here – I – go~!"

Venus leaped off the roof with an acrobatic flip, aiming to come down right in the middle of them. The clock seemed to have resumed for the men, and they gripped their weapons, a few prepared throwing knives for where she'd be coming down.

However, the girl didn't, instead coming down on the wire between the inn and the building she'd been standing on, bouncing straight up again. Siegfried whistled; he could see Adrian or Asakura pulling that off, but certainly not him. That explained the odd design choices around the town, at least.

Flipping around to face them in midair, she winked. "Nice try. Venuuuuuus…"

Instinctively, Siegfried took a step back. The inn owner nodded beside him.

"RAY!"

The street erupted into a light show again as a shower of pink beams left the rod. Just as the man said, her aim was precise; several of the thugs recoiled as their weapons were blasted out of their hands.

She landed and bowed to applause: Siegfried found himself joining in. The men who still had weapons raised them, growling, but Venus held up her finger, beginning to rock back and forth again. "Are you suuuure you want to keep going? Your little sneak attack's all done now, and you don't gain a single Berry by fighting me, win or lose."

"You mean 'lose or lose!'" Came a catcall from somewhere around. Venus didn't comment, still smiling sweetly.

A collective 'screw this' went through the minds of all the men then, and they turned and ran.

"And don't come back!" the heroine called after them happily.

The clapping resumed, now with cheers mixed in. Venus twirled around and flashed a peace sign to the crowd. "Victory~!"

She took another bow. "And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I believe my work here is done. So then-"

Siegfried knew to shut his eyes before she clapped this time, and risked opening them a bit early. Agile the girl clearly was, but low-key she certainly wasn't; he caught a glimpse of pink disappearing over a rooftop, and quickly followed.

"Well that was boring."

"I do not mind boredom if it comes from survival."

Adrian shrugged, walking over to one of the prone men and hoisting him up by the collar. "Okay, time to fess up. Who hired you? And you better be honest, unless you lie better than you can fight."

The hired gun struggled futilely. "D-dammit! He's not going to be happy about this – and you two are going to regret taking the hard way, I-"

He gurgled as she shook him up and down. "Yeah, yeah. Who's 'he'? Can't expect us to get scared without a name, can you?"

"R…Rolando! Rolando Tepe!"

"I hate him already," she remarked to Asakura, "who the hell has a name like that? Bet you left out a few middle ones, too, and initials. Let me guess, he's after that girl up in the mansion, right? Just nod." The man did.

She let go, allowing the man to flop to the ground and flee…well, limp away, with the rest of his cohorts. "Tell him to mind his own business. If he wants it so bad, we can make his ours. Is he interested in that?"

Asakura watched her spit on the ground. "You seem upset."

Adrian waved a hand vaguely. "I saw a lot of this kinda stuff from nobles. Everything else is like a game to them, why shouldn't this be? Get the girl, you win, don't, you lose. You get to make up your own rules, too." She shrugged. "Wouldn't be surprised if Miss Lanster herself has a hand in this too. It'll be her husband, after all."

"And one at least, does not seem like they will take no for an answer."

"One would be bad enough, but I get the feeling there's more with that kind of gameplan." She walked back to the main street. "Come on, let's find Siegfried."

She would have been child's play to track on an open plane, but Venus clearly knew the town better than him. Her path led into a series of narrow, winding alleys between the main streets. He wasn't very surprised when the path abruptly turned onto a dead end.

Something came whirling down from the rooftops above, straight over his head: a pink orb just a tad bigger than his closed fist. Siegfried let it hit him (although it would have been a close thing even if he wanted to dodge), and blinked as it expanded into a set of chains that wrapped around his waist, pinning his arms. He staggered, and then let himself drop with his back to the wall.

Venus dropped down a moment later, staring at him and tapping one foot. "Y'know, I don't really like being followed." She took a moment to look him over and added, "Even if it is by someone as cute as you."

"I don't suppose you'd believe I was entranced by your beauty?" Siegfried replied, smiling. The chains were surprisingly tight.

"If that's enough to make you follow a girl with strange powers into an alleyway alone, then you're not as smart as you look." Venus said, toying with her rod. "I guess it's lucky for you that I'm a heroine, isn't it? Just don't ask me to do the speech again; no room."

She waved her hand and the chains vanished. Siegfried got up, dusting himself off. "Yes, so I couldn't help hearing. I'm a hero as well, actually, although one for hire. I was wondering if I could ask you about what's going on in this town. You seem to be in the now, going by how quickly you arrived on the scene.

"Heroes are supposed to be quick, aren't they?" Venus said. It was a good line, enough to let him ignore her dodging the question. "I suppose I can let you know a little, but only because I'm in a good mood. And because you're good looking."

She folded her arms. "Basically, the girl up in that mansion, Victoria, turned eighteen a little more than two weeks ago. I guess her suitors wanted to be fashionably late." The girl giggled slightly. "It would have been funny if they showed up to find she'd already proposed, wouldn't it?" She toyed with one of her outfit's ribbons. "I don't really get it – they could have come met her a year or two earlier, couldn't they?"

"I suppose they felt that wouldn't be proper."

"They probably got that out of the 'Noble Handbook' or something." Venus replied. "Any~way, most of them are pretty harmless; half of them brought roses and boxes of candy, if you can believe that. But two of them make some of the pirates I've shown the door seem like big teddy bears. Rolando Tepe is one of them. If I had to make a guess, he'd be about more than twice her age, give or take how much his make-up is worth."

She tapped herself on the cheek. "And just in case you're wondering, I'm not wearing any. You wouldn't believe some of the rumors they've come up with about me. I haven't seen him since he arrived in town, but I'd bet my hairstyle those were some of his men."

Siegfried nodded. "And what makes you think that?"

Venus slowly winced, toying with a strand of hair on one of her pigtails. "Weeeell, because the other person I'm worried about wouldn't-"

Sometimes he really thought the Grand Line worked like a play, and if so a cue happened just then in the form of a loud bang from nearby. "And that's all I need right now." the heroine said with a sigh. "Gotta go."

From where she was standing Venus leaped up to the rooftop, and lingered there a moment. "I'm not sure what you have planned here, cutie, but I'd get ready if you're going to stick around. Things are going to get a lot messier around here in the next day or two, and I'm not sure I can put a stop to it in time. So be careful, ok~ay?" She winked, and was gone.

That sounded dangerous. And even a lady with some steel behind her needed help every now and again. Siegfried followed quickly…as soon as he found his way back to the main street, anyway.

With a loud crack a young man flew back across the street, landing in a heap of his limbs. His jaw was almost certainly broken, but that was small change compared to the pair of teeth that had clattered to the cobblestones nearby. There probably wasn't a proper orthodontist around for miles, was there?

"I have to say, this was quite dull, man." said the person who did it, dusting off his hands. About the only thing his opponent had been able to do was scuff them a bit.

He didn't fit the common perception of a nobleman whatsoever. He stood tall, almost seven feet, and saying he was built like a brick wall was almost putting down the wall. The suit he wore seemed less tailored than sculpted around him. This along with his blonde hair and sharp green eyes set him apart from the rest; he didn't look like the romantic type. They didn't usually have knuckle dusters on both hands.

Several other young men had gotten the same treatment, and they lay around the square, groaning. "You all came here to woo a lady, and you can't even throw a punch properly? Truly shameful."

He raised an eyebrow. "Hm?" Turning at the nose, he blinked as a gunshot went off, the end destination being the left side of his chest. The gathered townsfolk let out cries of shock.

"I think I'm about through playing fair with someone as brutish as you." said one of his former opponents, holding a smoking pistol. "What do you have to say to that, then?" He fired again.

The bullet went from full speed to stopped cold in a moment – shuddering between the other suitor's pointy finger and thumb. He flicked it to the ground, then held up one finger as he dug beneath his suit for the other. It had been squashed flat.

The sight of it might have made the young man drop his gun if that very bullet hadn't knocked it from his grasp. Dusting off his damaged suit, the giant walked toward him. "Well, if you want to make things impolite, I can do that just as well." He pressed the other noble's forehead with one finger, forcing him to his knees. "Now, where to start?"

"Stop right the-"

He let out a world-weary sigh as he kicked up the gun and threw it toward the nearby rooftop. Venus blew it out of the air mid-way, and pouted. "That's twice now you interrupted my speech! Don't you know how this is supposed to go?"

"How what goes?" he said back, folding his arms. "Dealing with a silly little girl who likes sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong?"

Venus sat down on the edge of the roof, swinging her legs to and fro. "And what does fit? Beating up everyone who wants the same girl you do? She's not even as pretty as oh, I dunno, lil' ol' me. You could probably have any other girl you wanted without any fuss, too."

The suitor frowned. "Surely you jest, girl. What exactly is the point of a prize anyone can claim? None, that's what. A victory is meaningless unless everyone understands exactly what it is you've won."

He indicated the groaning noblemen around the square. "My fellows understood that, but I'm sorry to see that they lacked the resolve. People so often compare love to war, but I suppose most don't connect the dots completely."

Venus frowned as a big finger was pointed toward her face. "It's irrelevant exactly what my reasoning is, however. You can show up and act dramatic as much as you like, but we both know you're not capable of harming me."

She bit her lip.

"Now then," he said, turning back to his shooter, "if you have nothing else to say…"

"Stop it!" she said, preparing to hop down.

"Or what, you'll-"

He paused frowning, and then reached up to pat away bits of a rock that had shattered on his skull. "Now that was simply rude. The barber worked quite hard on this, you know."

Siegfried nodded. "Ah. I do apologize."

"I suppose you're another one of those heroes, then?" the man said, sniffing with distaste. He took another, closer look at Siegfried. "Ah, of course. You're that new lad. I suppose you it's safe to say you haven't come here thinking we could be the best of chums and win the lady's hand with fair play?"

The bounty hunter let out a whistle. "I can see how that would harm even a patient man's mood. And," he said, looking across the battered street, "it's quite clear you're one of those. But you can rest easy. I've come to fight."

His new foe's face split in a wide smile. It almost made him look charming, from a certain angle. "I'm quite pleased to hear that! Ha ha, at first glance you looked like the sort who'd use his looks in this matter more than anything. No offense of course."

"None taken, my good man." Siegfried replied. "But I feel you may have the wrong idea. I'm not one of Ms. Lancaster's suitors, sadly."

The man frowned back. "Really? Then I shouldn't have any quarrel with you. Or should I?"

"You should," Siegfried replied, "because I'm quite close to Ms. Lancaster. Certainly close than you."

Venus leaned forward on her perch, looking curious. "Really~? And how is that, cutie?"

"Because I'm her bodyguard."

The bruiser's eyes bugged right out, while Venus nodded. "Oh, is that all? You didn't need to...WHAT!?" she nearly fell off the roof.

Siegfried nodded. "But of course. My client is quite the prescient young lady. She had me contacted as soon as you and the other gentlemen arrived on the island." He looked around the square. "Quite the wise decision, if I may say. Most of the would-be grooms I've seen have been harmless, but you know what they say about apples and bunches, hm?"

He could tell they were both watching him a bit more carefully now. "So, then," the giant romantic murmured, "anyone wishing to obtain the lady's hand..."

"Would have to go through me?" Siegfried nodded. "Of course. And I can already think of a few that are going to have to do it the hard way."

Murmurs were already passing through the on-lookers, but they were drowned out by two massive sounds: the man facing him cracking his knuckles. "I see." The satisfied smile hadn't gone away. "A worthy foe, then!" He pounded one fist into the palm of his other hand, making a loud whump. "My name is Oxwald P. Warrington, man. I hope that Victoria wasn't too mistaken in hiring you - I like my women to have good money sense."

Venus settled back, nodding. "Yeah, and good money along with it, right?" She pointed at Siegfried with her rod. "I guess if you really are her bodyguard then he's your problem, cutie. Have fun."

Siegfried tried to come up with a snippy remark, but something about a tree-trunk sized arm swinging toward you made you focus on more pressing matters.

"So, Oxwald is fighting someone? I fail to see how that's terribly important news. You almost ruined this batch, you know."

"Terribly sorry, sir! But the person he's fighting claims to be Lady Lancaster's body-guard!"

Rolando paused, looking up from the tins of liquid before him. "Really? That is news." He paused, thinking to himself. Rolando liked to think of himself as a great thinker. If there weren't far more worthwhile places for him to be than on some dirty battlefield, he was sure he could be a superb tactician. "I assume the rest of you are in location? Prepare...the shots. And make sure that our Ace is, aha, in the hole."

"Uh. Yes, sir." The grunt didn't envy the guys on the ground. The only way to take one that he wouldn't complain about was to not take one at all. The pay cut was almost worth it.

Adrian hadn't needed to apply very deep logic when they'd heard the crash. That meant a fight, which probably meant Siegfried, now or eventually. Asakura couldn't quite argue with that.

They'd taken to the rooftops, and as they approached the square the ladies of the night saw something odd. On the rooftops surrounding it, groups of men with binoculars were setting up...tripods? Weird. But when in doubt, break it, right?

She landed behind the closest batch and raised a hand, smiling. "Yo. Anything good on?"

The two not behind the camera drew guns, while the third kept fiddling with the dials.

"There's no need to waste your time with that." said a voice from nearby, and Adrian knew it wasn't talking to the men. That was because she'd heard it before.

Sighing under her breath, she turned to look at the other end of the rooftop. And yep, there he was. Same fashion sense, same expression, same headache ready to happen.

"So, I see the GLAA couldn't even leave the matter of a young woman's marriage well enough alone, I see! Well I won't let you get away with it, Adrian, or my name isn't Rottwell Pinscher!"

The man before her...well, even without the name you couldn't really look at him and not think 'dog'. Flared nostrils, sharp teeth, and red hair that really needed to shave. Even his clothing looked half-chewed. It was like whoever was in charge of this stuff accidentally stuck one where a person should have gone.

Asakura had landed nearby, staring at him. "Do you know this person, assassin?"

"You bet she does!" he pointed a finger square at Adrian's face. "Wherever the GLAA lurks in the night, so does the GLBA, shielding the weak from their wicked acts! I've seen the Black Cat here more times than I want to count!"

"That means five. Well, six now." Adrian said to the shinobi helpfully. "Hard worker, I'll give him that."

Asakura looked between the two. "And the GLBA is...don't tell me-"

"Correct!" Rottwell said, finger switching to her. "I come from the Grand Line Bodyguard Association! For years we have protected people from the dark grip of the GLAA! I am only one of their many paws!"

Adrian shrugged at the glance Asakura gave her. "Don't look at me. I mean, it makes sense if you think about it. Who's gonna hire an assassin to protect them? And he's good. Total screwball, but good."

She stepped forward. "So, Rotty, you working for one of the grooms here?" She turned to look at the men, who'd gotten back to work. "None of these guys look like Rolando, though."

Rottwell let out a barking laugh. "Ha! I suppose you'd love it if I told you I was working for Mr. Tepe, wouldn't you? Well I-" He paused. "Well, he's not here, so there!" He pointed a finger at the set-up. "But I'm sure that whatever they're doing, it has to do with his safety. So I'm not letting you lay a finger on it!"

Adrian grinned. "The usual, huh?" She looked over her shoulder. "You can handle the other cameras, right? This guy's kind of a handful."

Asakura nodded, leaping off the rooftop toward another. Rottwell frowned, trying to follow, but one burst of Soru later and he was blocking a move from Adrian.

"Six times it'd be now." Adrian said conversationally. "Let's see if we can get something other than a draw this time, eh?"

"S-shut up!"

Venus had gotten used to having people look at her when she went out on business. It came with the territory, after all, and right now even a few bystanders were more interested in her than the fight going on. She felt a bit bad about that, because anyone willingly fighting someone like Oxwald really deserved to be the center of attention. Oh well~.

But someone watching her at the moment wasn't interested in her status as the town hero, and she was the complete center of their attention. "So, she's Venus?" they thought, and scoffed. "Two men there, fighting each-other over that girl, and she just sits there. Hmph, well, you don't need to paint me a picture. Let's see exactly what you're made of, 'heroine'."

Siegfried had fought people like Oxwald before. They'd read the books, studied the diagrams, they'd memorized everything about how to fight. And then they went out and find that other people hadn't, and that ultimately it didn't matter. There'd been a few people like that in training, although not for very long.

But apparently Oxwald had never run into that bit of trouble before, probably because of the way he had to stoop to go through most doors. If a fist from someone that size was swung at you, it didn't matter if he wasn't street smart: you'd probably be getting a very up-close education of the street you were on very soon.

He had noticed the men setting up cameras nearby; there was even one in the crowd, who probably just thought they were there for Venus. What harm could a camera do? If you had to ask, you hadn't been in the Grand Line for long. At least guns were straight-forward. What would happen if they caught him him on film?

Not that he could do much about it at the moment. Siegfried leaped back from a blow that sent air whistling across his face, and was kept from lunging forward to counter by a powerful stomp that rattled his footing and cracked cobblestones. He wasn't skilled, at least not in a practical way, but Mr. Warrington got by.

"You know, I'm wondering something." he put forth as he ducked a haymaker that could have had any door in the town off its hinges.

"Hm? You have time to think about other things right now? I'm surprised." Oxwald said, launching into a flurry of jabs Siegfried just barely avoided.

He nodded. "Yes. I can see you're quite strong. I'm sure I'm the only person on this island who can fight you as an equal, and you've been here longer than I have. If you want Miss Lancaster this badly, why not break down that gate and go take her?"

Oxwald stopped suddenly, and then harrumphed. "Simply take a woman, like a common brute? The Warrington family does not take things, you common sell-sword. We earn them with force. I'm quite certain Miss Lancaster has enough money to go around-"

When Venus didn't interrupt, he shrugged and continued. "-and I won't insult her by acting like she'll be satisfied with looks or grand displays. A woman looks for power in a husband, and she will not find me wanting there. Allow me to give you some information for her."

As Siegfried watched, what he could see of the man's skin began to glimmer. Not a pretentious metaphor, either: Oxwald's skin began to sparkle in the sunlight as it shifted to become that wasn't flesh. It was hard, blocky, and the color of-

"Gold?"

Oxwald let out a booming laugh, slamming two carat fists together. Even his hair and eyes looked made of the stuff now. "Splendid, isn't it? I'm the owner of the Gold Gold Fruit. It may have been a touch vain, but I had to have it when I saw it on auction."

"...I think a 'touch vain' would be visiting the spa," Siegfried thought, "not eating a devil fruit that covers you in gold."

He watched as Mr. Warrington pulled back the sleeve on one arm and flexed. There were some ooohs and ahhhs. Noblesse Island liked a show, regardless of who it was from. "Are you at a loss? That silly girl was the same, after she found out how much her powers are worth compared to mine. Will your punches do any better?" He tapped himself on the chest. "Go ahead. One free shot, right here."

And a free way to break your arm, too. Not that Oxwald probably saw it that way. Siegfried hadn't been able to get a hit in yet, though, and the giant might have shown less bravado if he had. Clenching his fist, the psychic stepped forward. "Geist..."

"FAUST!"

He didn't actually punch Oxwald, of course, pulling his punch just before the fancy suit and the gold armor underneath. The telekinetic wave his fist sent out didn't, however, traveling right through the shell. It had more than enough force behind it to bend a man double, and deal noticeable harm to a man even his size.

Oxwald looked down and squinted hard at the space between Siegfried's fist and his chest. "Hm? Is this an attempt at humor, friend?"

Well, this was a first to say the least. "Don't tell me...he's too thick-headed for that to work?"

It made a twisted sort of sense. He'd often heard that nobles didn't care much for other's opinions, but that was taking it a bit far, wasn't it?

"Well, if you're not going to take me seriously, I suppose it's only fair I show you why that's so unwise." Oxwald said, sighing as he did, like this was some annoyance he'd rather not deal with.

Siegfried had already backed off when his attack didn't work, and it was wise that he did. The giant noble suddenly charged forward like a coach going full speed, right at him. "Six Carat..."

There weren't many people alive that wouldn't flinch at someone so big moving so quick, and Siegfried just barely rolled out of the way.

"Smasher!"

Behind Siegfried had been, unfortunately, a building. It was going to need a new front wall, door, and windows. Siegfried stared as wood, glass and brick fell broken to the pavement: Oxwald's fist had gone through it all like it was tissue paper.

Brushing some of the debris off his suit, the suitor stepped back. "Now do you see? Surely you can agree I'm...hm." He took a good look at what he'd done, and held up a finger. "One moment, please."

As Siegfried watched, jaw slowly hanging open, Oxwald reached into his pocket and produced a check-book and pen. "Who owns this...quaint residence?"

A woman nearby in the crowd raised her hand, and he strode over. Siegfried watched, tapping his foot, as information was exchanged. He wondered what the odds were of Mr. Warrington paying for breaking him. "Probably not very good."

"So what's happening now?"

"Big guy's paying for the house he just busted open." the grunt manning the camera said. "Bet that'll be a good ice breaker for her, eh? 'Miss, did you know I accidentally broke someone's building the other day, and then reimbursed them immediately?'"

Another goon spoke up in falsetto. "'Oh, I could just kiss you. Wait a moment while I find a ladder!'"

A chorus of snickers went across the roof. "The other one's just standing there. Kinda small to be a bodyguard, if you ask me."

This got a shrug. "Won't have much to wonder about him once you take that shot. Go ahead already."

The cameraman frowned. "The other guy will notice. Can't get them both in the picture at this angle."

"So? We're up here. What's he gonna do, pull the building down?"

They gave this due consideration.

"A-anyway, it's just a camera as far as either of them know. Just take it."

Something dropped down behind the group, and then they heard the cheery, sing-song voice they'd all been dreading. "As far as they know? Hm...maybe this is just a guess, but that sounds like these aren't just normal cameras you're setting up. At least, that's the opinion of a simple girl like me."

They turned to see Venus smiling at them. "Plus, you're taking a picture of someone who's not me. In this town I'd say that's suspicious enough. So why don't you just step away and-"

She sighed heavily as they drew guns. "Oh well, if you want to do it that way..."

A few blasts from her rod, and the men lay groaning. Venus skipped up to the camera. "Unless he's suddenly interested in taking pictures of men, I don't think this is a normal camera. But what's it for, I wonder~?"

To her ears suddenly came an unpleasant sound, the kind children and certain shops dread most of all: the tinkle of breaking glass. A normal person would have put it out of mind (and if they were of a certain age, ran), but Venus had learned very quickly in this line of work how important small noises like that could be. So she tucked and rolled, and was rewarded by not being skewered as a hail smashed apart the camera's stand. It fell to the ground and went off, getting a shot of her face.

Venus didn't really notice, though, since she was more focused on the person climbing the stairs up to the rooftop. This wouldn't have been all that peculiar, except there were no stairs heading up here. And if there were, they probably wouldn't have been hanging in midair, and made out of glass.

"So, this is what passes for heroic in this town?" they said in a haughty voice. The kind that belonged to people used to eating off silver plates, buffed perfectly so they could see their beautiful face in them.

And the woman before her now was beautiful, Venus had to admit, but in the same way say, an iceberg was beautiful if you weren't watching it approach you. She wore a blue-white gown, studded with glittering gems. Everything about her outfit glittered, actually, from the white gloves to the high heels she wore below. They were made out of glass too, the heroine noticed: it was always funny, seeing the kind of things people thought they could get away with wearing.

Brushing a bit of her long, platinum-blonde hair away, the woman gave her a cold stare. "Defeating a bunch of common thugs? Forgive me if I don't bow down to you over that, Miss Heroine." An odd object was in her right hand. It looked like the hour hand she'd broken off a giant clock somewhere. It was made of glass too. As she stared at it, Venus couldn't help noticing how closely a clock hand resembled a spear.

"Should I have put an ad in the paper for bounty heads to come try and wreck up the place?" Venus asked. She tapped her chin with the end of her rod. "I don't suppose you're another suitor?"

She instantly cartwheeled to the side as the lady in white thrust the hour hand at her. The tip shattered, pelting where she'd been with a hail of glass shards. "I guess that's a no, then."

Sniffing, the woman laid a gloved hand on her weapon of choice, and it regrew. "In fact, the subject of Miss Lancaster's beau is exactly why I am here." She slammed the handle of the clock spear onto the rooftop. "I intend to put a stop to that, one way or another. And you, I regret to say, are in the way of that."

"Hm. Going after just Victoria, huh? Kinda tempting, actually..." Venus mused, but then shook her head. "But two devil fruit users after the same thing is going to get someone else hurt, and one other person is too many for me." She waved a hand at the melee below, which had resumed. "Anyway, I might be in your way, but I'm not being paid for it. Shouldn't you go after that handsome boy down there first?"

The woman in white stared down, and then shrugged flippantly. "I don't believe I could do more harm to him at the moment than that golden fool down there. And while he has stated he is her bodyguard," The eyes returned to meet Venus' own, "I have my suspicions about the number of them."

Venus held up a hand. "Hey now, I'm no hero for hire. A girl could call slander on something like that, you know!"

This got another sniff of disdain. "You've certainly made sure of that now. You rout a few simple pirates while acting like a fool, and soon this town is head over heels for you. Now no-one will think twice about any conflict you intervene in. But I've noticed how quickly you arrive on the scene of fights that break out over her courtship." Her glare intensified. "It must be quite convenient to have someone of your reputation under her thumb."

"..." the heroine said nothing for a moment. "I'm nobody's puppet, you fairy tale reject. Don't call me that again."

"If you insist." muttered the cold woman. "Whether I'm correct or not matters very little. You and that boy will both have to go."

She thrust out the clock hand once more. "Shattered Invitation."

Venus frowned as she made a dive to avoid the flurry of glass shards. Using the same move twice? She didn't look dumb - just dress that way.

The lady in white raised her hand in a brief, dismissive wave. With a sharp cacophony, the oncoming wave of glass shattered a second time, scattering another set toward Venus.

Still in midair, she grit her teeth. "Venus Shell!"

A glittering pink barrier shimmered into view ahead of her outstretched hand. The glass shards panged off it, vanishing in the sunlit air like melting ice. Landing from the cartwheel, Venus clapped and took a bow.

Her opponent's mouth curled in a frown as cheers rose up to them. The crowd had noticed where Venus had got to, evidently. A few cat calls came up toward her foe, as well, which didn't seem to improve the elegant lady's mood. "So I'm to play the part of the villain in your little play? Very well, then." She moved her clock hand over to point at the people below. "Shattered-"

"My, very predictable, aren't you?" she said as Venus leaped to get in the way with another barrier. Shifting her weapon, she slammed it into the shield, sending cracks through the hard light. "You think the jeers of commoners is enough to make me angry? I'm insulted." The hit made the peppy girl lurch on the edge of the rooftop, while a second shattered the defense and sent her flying right off.

One that ended just as quickly as it began. Frowning, the lady stepped up to the edge and looked down.

"Predictable~?" Venus smiled back, on the end of a particularly springy-looking rope that had been hung off a window. "Now I'm insulted, Cindy."

With a sproing, the rope shot right back up like a sling-shot. The elegant woman tried to back off, but the thing about gowns was they were good at making whoever wore them look good in ballrooms, not battles. Of course, flopping to the ground after someone kicked you in the face didn't look very good in either situation, and that was what happened a second later.

Landing, Venus wagged a finger at the lady's wardrobe. "Seriously? A dress and heels? If I went out wearing that my first time, they'd have laughed at me. After shooting me, that is."

It was impressive how quickly she got up, though. Planting the clock hand into the ground, she calmly hitched up her skirts and rose. Before she did this, however, Venus noticed her hand pass over where the kick had landed. There was no mark there when she rose.

"...Cindy, you said?" the woman murmured, tapping the clock hand with one finger. "That is not my name."

"It was the first thing I thought of: I have to call you something, right? And if you wanted me to know your name, you would have given it already." Venus reasoned. "Besides, it's not like you know my name either, right?"

A pause came from 'Cindy', and then she chuckled slightly. "Indeed not. That piece of information is no doubt worth your weight in gold to this town." She pointed the clock hand toward Venus, gripping it with both hands. "You can rest easy. Even after I grind you beneath my feet, I doubt your popularity will suffer much."

"Ehehehe, that sounds kinda dirty. Nobody's made any merchandise like that for me...yet."

"...yes, I'm going to enjoy this very much."

Speaking of enjoyment. Adrian would admit any time that she hated talking with Rottwell. She'd never exactly thought of herself as an intellectual, but there weren't many people out there who wouldn't feel their brain cells shrivel while talking to him, she'd wager.

Fighting him, though...every muscle in her body had woken up like a kid on holiday at the thought of it. He was fun.

A lot of people might have thought Adrian's idea of fun was a bit...unusual. Perhaps a little extreme, if you wanted to be less nice. And she would have replied that there were people out there who got enjoyment out of playing with pieces of cardboard, and bits of plastic with dots on them. Just because something was more common didn't mean it made any more sense. The enjoyment she got from fighting was far more real than any stupid game.

It wasn't to the death: Rottwell might work for guys that would kill people they'd beaten, but she'd seen him balk at the sight of blood before. What it was was for self-respect, and for stakes like that Adrian would give one hundred and ten percent.

"Canine Art One: Mutt Chases Cart!"

...because no way in hell was she losing to a guy who came up with move names like that. Rottwell had dropped to all fours and was charging across the rooftop at her. She wouldn't have even cared if he was a Zoan, but he was just weird. Sure, she kept up the old man's cat thing, but if it ever crossed her mind to name a move after batting around balls of yarn she'd turn herself in.

"Rankyaku!"

The bodyguard sniff as the wave of air came at him. "Canine Art Seven: Run Away From Bath!"

It was a swift, short hop to the side, almost as quick as she would have gone using Soru. Which she had just after firing off that Rankyaku, and now swung a kick at Rottwell just as he landed.

"Canine Art Four: Fido Plays Fetch!"

This one had been a bit of a surprise the first time he'd used it. His teeth didn't just look sharp, they could bite through clean to your bone if he got a hold of you with 'em. She'd been up a while that night dealing with it, and had worn heavier clothes since. Just as she felt the jaw close over he leg, she kicked him away. You had to be careful about the way you did that, too: he had left a tooth in her when she'd punched him that first time. She still had it, somewhere.

He flipped back from the kick and landed on two feet. Rottwell could move from one stance to the other pretty fast. He had all kinds of moves he could use, big and small, fast and slow. You had to remember all of them.

It was awesome.

Punctuality was a quality Rolando quite liked in people, partly because it was one he so often practiced himself. His portrait studio could be quite drafty at times, so he made sure his subjects didn't have long to wait on the stand, provided they did exactly as he said and didn't fidget much. Sadly, for some reason most of his subjects seemed to do that - but when you were in the presence of a man like him, it couldn't really be avoided, could it?

Perhaps that was why his men were taking so long. Knowing their dear employer's high standards, they were trying to get the best possible shot of the man in question. They weren't to know that his power would work like clockwork as long as the individual was in the shot somewhere. Of course, that requirement turned out to be very troublesome indeed in the case of one other irritating fly, but someone on the ground couldn't be too much trouble, could they?

At last though, the snail printer before him shuddered before belching out a picture. Rubbing his hands together, Rolando snatched it and held it up to the light. "Why, speak of the devil." The subject was none other to the girl. Hardly a flattering shot - as irritating as she'd proved to him, he had to admit she had a certain something - but that didn't matter. He called on his power, squinting hard. The picture began to blur, and slowly whited out. A new image appeared.

He grinned. "Ha ha. Some muse must be very pleased indeed with me today. I've got you now, miss; I know who you really are!

To be continued...

Next time, on Bounty Seven...

Siegfried: It is a troubling matter. I know I wouldn't want to leave my island in such a mess.

Adrian: Guess I better get used to the color pink then, huh?

Rolando: Don't lie to me! I know she's somewhere here!

The Heroine of Love and Justice, Part 3

Victoria: Mr...Siegfried, was it? How do you do?

Ice Queen - Thanks, I appreciate knowing I haven't made any characters that someone really dislikes. I noticed I hadn't gotten any reviews for the last chapter before yours, and I wondered if that might be because some readers didn't like the idea of a character like Venus in One Piece. And if any of you don't really like her right now, I think you probably will by the end of this arc. If you still don't, though, that's fine too.