Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eichiro Oda and Rising of the Shield Hero belongs to Aneko Yusagi. I own nothing but the plot.

A Gas-tly Spectacle

"Captain-chaaan!" all the marine screamed in anguish at seeing their beloved captain, along with her sword, be cut in half by the Warlord.

"You're still alive, aren't you? Tashigi-chan!"

"What a disgrace! To be cut down and still be breathing..." Tashigi, still very much alive, looked up with frustration and shot Law a furious glare. "If you're going to cut me, kill me!"

"And performing such an act makes a decent swordsman?" Law looked down at her with disdain. "Remember this, marine woman. Weaklings can't choose how they die."

"BASTARD!" Tashigi got her upper body up with one arm and sliced with her other, but with her sword cut in half, the attack didn't reach its target.

"You won't reach me with that sword," the surgeon mocked. "But if you like, I can cut you up some more."

Law raised his sword to strike down at the woman before his feet. His eyes then noticed a trail of footprints in the snow. His expression turned to surprise and quickly moved his blade to his side to block an invisible sword that tried to cut him. He then immediately followed with a kick to where the attack came from.

"Ugh!" Raphtalia materialized as she landed beside the marine woman, but very quickly got back to her feet, ready for battle.

Law moved in to attack again, but his attack was blocked by a jitte this time. Smoker had moved in to engage Law while Naofumi quickly moved in to grab Tashigi and pull her back to relative safety. Filo stood by his side, ready to attack as well.

"Th-thank you!" While Tashigi was grateful at the shielder, her attention couldn't be taken away from the fight.

"Fall back!" Smoker ordered Raphtalia. "He's mine."

His body, with the exception of the arm holding the jitte, turned to smoke and rematerialized behind Law. Before the pirate could react, a smoky hand formed around his neck and squeezed hard while slamming him on the ground. The jitte quickly came down with the intent of crushing his head on the floor, but a simple hand gesture was enough to switch the pirate's body with a piece of wood. It was completely destroyed by the missed attack.

"I feel some unpleasant energy coming from the tip of that jitte. That's seastone, isn't it?" Law asked as he readied his sword for another attack.

Smoker deflected the attack with his weapon, but it was far from harmless. The slash was so strong it cut a few glaciers and the top of the rock pillar where half a warship was stuck. It began falling down on the marines, but a green translucent shield materialized on its path and it stopped it for a moment.

"Everyone! Move quickly!" Naofumi commanded. "It won't last for long!"

"Woah! Thanks, shield-bro!"

"Captain Tashigi, we need to get out of here!" one of the men said. "We're no match for this!"

"Filo! Raphtalia!" Naofumi called.

"Yes, master!" Filo turned into her bird form. Naofumi got on her with both halves of Tashigi's body in hand. Raphtalia quickly got her place right behind him.

Around him, the marines that were in one piece grabbed whatever body parts of their less-fortunate coworkers and made a run for it, desperate to get out of the Warlord's infernal Room while their commanding officer fought him.

Once they were out of reach, Naofumi got down from Filo and hesitantly tried sticking the two halves of Tashigi's body together, not really sure if it would work. To his and everyone else's relief, her body stuck together. Seeing it worked, most of the disassembled marines quickly reassembled themselves. However, due to their haste, not everyone did a perfect job.

"Are you ok?" the hero asked the newly assembled woman. "Did your body attach together? Can you stand?"

"I'm alright, thank you. More importantly…" her attention quickly went back to the fight between Smoker and Law.

"Damn! This sucks!"

"We can't contact anybody, we don't have ships…"

"Aren't the Seven Warlords our allies? That bastard!"

"Pirates will always be pirates…" Tashigi said, echoing the words her superior officer told her some time ago. She got to her feet and ran to rejoin the battle. "I need to go help Smoker-san!"

"Wait! You can't go alone!" Naofumi ran after her. "Dammit! Filo!"

Without a word, Filo scooped up Naofumi and followed the swordswoman. Fearing for their precious captain, the marines followed as well. The fight between the vice-admiral and the Warlord raged on. As they traded blows, Law eventually managed to outmaneuver Smoker. With a thrust of his arm, a meaty cube went flying from Smoker's chest. Law caught the cube in his hand and simply walked away as the marine collapsed. By the time Tashigi made her way back to them, Smoker was lying on the floor unconscious. Naofumi saw this and simply imagined the worst.

"Smoker-san!" she screamed in despair. She ran towards him and kneeled beside him. "There's a hole in his chest…"

"Hey, it's smokey! It's been so long!" Luffy, who Naofumi just now noticed, happily said. His casual tone made the hero question whether he was a psychopath or just a complete idiot.

"HOW DARE YOU!" consumed in rage, Tashigi ran after Law once again.

"Don't be reckless!" Naofumi yelled after her, riding Filo to assist her in battle. He quickly wondered if his support magic would work with her, but before he could do anything he felt a tug at his heart. His shield flashed very briefly and whatever strange sensation in his chest disappeared.

Apparently, the same could not be said for Filo, who simply collapsed under him, sending him tumbling. And just like her, Tashigi fell to the ground some feet away. He immediately panicked and rushed to the filolial's side, then let out a breath of relief once he saw was still breathing. His panic returned when a quick check to his HUD showed the characters of her name illegible and glitching.

The shielder barely registered what was happening around him. Filo lay unmoving before him and Tashigi next to Smoker. The G-5 marines were enraged and shot at the pirates that had just entered the scene to retreat just moments later. Law went back inside the facility.

"First Heal!" Naofumi used his magic to give Filo some first aid, not really knowing what else to do. He then moved and did the same for Tashigi and Smoker, who despite the hole in his chest was still breathing. Given what he had seen from the Warlord's powers, he figured Smoker could be healed. He turned to the G-5 marines. "We have to get them somewhere safe! This cold won't be good for them."

"Who named you commanding officer?"

"Shut up! He's right. Besides, he proved to be trustworthy until now. Let's get Smo-yan and captain-chan to safety."

"Hey, I can see a cave over there! We can go there!"

And so the marine personnel and interdimensional trio took shelter inside the cave. Moments later, the three unconscious fighters woke up.

"Filo feels weird…" Tashigi said as she came to herself.

"Ugh, me too. Why does my chest feel exposed?" Smoker continued.

"Shit! That damn Trafalgar!" Filo said at last.

"Filo! Watch your language!" Raphtalia admonished the giant bird.

"But Filo didn't say anything bad!" Tashigi replied.

"AHH! Why am I looking at myself!?" Smoker yelled in a very unmanly fashion when he saw Tashigi.

"Everybody shut up!" Filo transformed back into a little girl. For some strange reason, she had a cigar in her mouth. "It seems Law switched our bodies."

Everyone stood speechless for a few moments.

"EEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH?!"

After everyone eventually calmed down and reassessed the situation, they continued.

"If that's so, why wasn't Naofumi affected as well?" Smoker-Tashigi asked.

"That's probably because of my shield. It has several abilities," Naofumi answered. "And stop messing up Filo's lungs with your disgusting habit!"

"Tch." Filo-Smoker spat the cigar.

"Master, look!" Tashigi-Filo was happily poking her own chest. "Filo has boobies now!"

"STOP THAT!" both Naofumi and Smoker-Tashigi yelled in unison.

"This is so weird," one of the men said. "I can't get used to cute Filo being so scary..."

"Yeah. Or seeing Smo-yan being so feminine."

"What are you scumbags not getting?" Filo-Smoker yelled again. "I told you this is Law's work!"

"Uwaaaah! So scary!"

"By the way," Naofumi noted. "Smok...Tashigi. Are you ok without a heart?"

"Yes, strangely so," Smoker-Tashigi answered.

"Mr. Naofumi, what are we going to do now?" Raphtalia asked.

"We must find that pirate and make Filo recover her body," he answered.

"And my heart as well," Filo-Smoker interjected. She somehow had another cigar in her mouth. "There was a mark, 'CC', on the side of that ship hidden beside the research facility."

"There was something like that?" one of the marines asked.

"Before, everything that was used here had 'PH', for Punk Hazard, marked on it." Filo-Smoker let out a cloud of smoke. "Assuming there's someone else lurking behind Law and that 'CC' are his initials… If he's on this island, I can make sense of a lot of things. That crazy bastard, Dr. Vegapunk's former colleague, and the leading expert in weapons of mass murder, the scientist, Caesar Clown."

Smoker-Tashigi looked pensive for a moment after listening to the vice-admiral. "If I remember correctly, in recent years, there have been many reports of children being kidnapped in these seas."

"What?!" Raphtalia stood up, her face twisted with anger. "I can't forgive anyone that would kidnap children!"

"Hey, Tashigi! What do you mean? I don't know about any kidnappings," Filo-Smoker said.

"We often get reports of accidents in these seas. Surely many kids die on this sea," one of the men admitted.

"Yeah, lots of kids die around these waters."

"Actually, when I went to the communications department, there were many reports of children being kidnapped at G-5," Smoker-Tashigi said as she tried to adjust glasses that weren't there. "Ah, I don't have glasses... But by the time those reached the newspaper, they had changed to accidents at sea, trouble with pirates, or missing person cases. Of course, the reports might be jumping to the wrong conclusions! But I mean, there's still a possibility…"

"You seem to have trouble saying what you mean, Tashigi," Filo-Smoker admonished. "If you have something to say, then say so! Considering the number of kids we saw just now, you think the reports of the kidnappings are true and that the kidnapper might be on this island. But if that were true, the articles that went into circulation were fake… And someone inside G-5 is trying to cover up these child kidnappings!"

"Whaaat!?" The marines all yelled looking shocked and offended. "You think the kidnappers have a mole in G-5?"

"Hey hey, Smo-yan! Don't look down on us! We might be a bunch or army rejects, but we still have our pride as marines!"

"SHUT UP!" Filo-Smoker exploded. "A bunch of idiots like you are not even worth suspecting to begin with!"

"Gyaaah! So scary!"

"And don't have any weird fantasies about the marines!" the chibi vice-admiral continued. "Don't ever think there's any perfect society made by humans. If you think that way, you'll overlook the enemy. Don't be fooled by appearances!"

"Ain't that the truth…" Naofumi said to himself as he listened to Smoker's words, thinking back to his first days in Melromarc. Raphtalia smiled and put her hand on his shoulder, but he could clearly see she was holding back some intense emotions. Anyone who knew her story would know why.

"Filo-chan!" all the men cried, moved by the words.

"Huh? What is it?" Tashigi-Filo asked.

"I give up…" Filo-Smoker sighed.

"Ahh! We were fooled by appearances!"

"But Smoker-san! I… I'm not sure if that's really..." Smoker-Tashigi began saying, looking nervous.

"It's fine," Filo-Smoker consoled. "It's good to keep those things in mind."

Raphtalia looked at Smoker, trapped in Filo's body, and smiled at his words. "You are just like Mr. Naofumi. You may seem scary, but deep down you are very caring."

"In any case," Filo-Smoker continued, seemingly ignoring Raphtalia, "my body and heart are under Law's control. I can't leave the island until I get them back. A third of you can go report this stuff by boat."

"What are you saying, vice-admiral?" the men argued. "Our warship was cut to pieces…"

"You remember I said they had a ship, right? Steal it."

"Ahh, that's true! Man, you can be really evil!"

"But be careful," Filo-Smoker warned. "Before this situation gets out of hand, I mean to take back my heart and body, and expose the mastermind behind all this."

"We need to get Filo in her body again," Naofumi added, "so we're helping you until she's back to normal. And I told you to stop smoking in Filo's body!"

"Now, there's something you need to know." Filo-Smoker threw his cigar once again with an annoyed expression. "The one responsible for this island's incident 4 years ago was none other than Caesar Clown."

"What? For real? I always thought it was Vegapunk's fault! To think it was Caesar..."

"That's right. He's the one that caused the whole incident. He built the weapon and set it off. He has always been Vegapunk's second in the science division, but he was very cruel. They were always rivaling each other. As the head of the science division, Vegapunk was held responsible, but that was it. Of course, developing weapons of mass murder is illegal. Caesar was arrested, but he escaped using his ability and was not seen again. If he really is continuing his research on this island, we have to stop him. If we don't, he'll cause another incident."

"We'll help you bring this guy and you'll help us get to the samurai," Naofumi offered. "Both our parties have business on the island. Might as well help each other."

"Normally I wouldn't be involving civilians in these matters," Filo-Smoker conceded. "But at this point you're not just civilians. You've proven very capable."

"We're happy to help!" Raphtalia added. "Especially since I've become friends with Tashigi-san! She's taught me new things about sword fighting!"

"Raphtalia…" Smoker-Tashigi gave an honest smile. "Thank you."

"Listen up, men!" Filo-Smoker barked once again. "We're going to take that ship, so get ready and let's go!" All the sailors roared their approval with his order.

With decisive steps, the marine personnel and trio of adventurers marched back to the research facility, where the hidden 'CC' ship was hidden. They didn't get close to the ship without being spotted and attacked by enemies. The rowdy marines eagerly engaged them and a battle ensued.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Naofumi yelled in angry confusion while he blocked a sword attack. "Why are these guys half animals?"

"They aren't demihumans, I can at least be sure of that." Raphtalia jumped and cut down Naofumi's attacker.

"They look funny. Uwah!" Tashigi-Filo kicked another centaur. While her attack had more reach now, it was not as strong as she was used to. The centaur took the hit and retaliated. He didn't manage to land the attack as he was cut down.

"Please be careful, Filo-chan! That's my body!" Smoker-Tashigi said. As soon as her body was relatively safe, she took out several papers from her (Smoker's) jacket. She gave one last look around and confirmed her suspicions. "'Iron Bar' Smoothy, Fen Bock the Gourd, 'Rope Master" Chappe...Smoker-san! These guys are definitely the ex-prisoners from 4 years ago! Even if they look a little different… What happened here? Why was it reported that there were zero survivors after the incident 4 years ago?!"

"I don't know!" Filo-Smoker answered as her tiny form still took out centaur after centaur with an expertly wielded jitte that was longer than he was currently tall. He had a beaten-up centaur grabbed by the neck of his shirt. "Just keep the enemy on land. We need to get that ship moving to report this!"

"If only Filo had her body, she could send them all flying with her wind magic," the hero lamented as he blocked another attack with the Chimera Viper Shield, letting the snakeheads come to life and poison the attacker.

"Ah! Filo didn't think of that!" Tashigi-Filo said. She concentrated for a couple of seconds, then unleashed a powerful gust that sent most of the enemies flying through the air. "Zweite Tornado!"

"WHOA! Since when can captain-chan do that!?"

"Idiot! Remember that's Filo-chan! You're awesome, Filo-chan!"

"You're right! You rock, Filo-chan!"

"The ship is ours now!"

"Quick! Let's set sail!"

Just as planned, a third of the marines were on board the ship and set sail as soon as it was clear of enemies. The rest of the platoon stayed behind and fought off the rest of the centaurs so they wouldn't get on the ship.

"Is the door still closed?" Filo-Smoker asked, referring to the facility's giant doors. "The real enemy is inside. Every second we stay here is time lost!"

"It won't budge, Smo-yan!" one of the marines answered, firing a bazooka at the door.

"If only I had my body, I'd be inside by now…"

"Hey! What is that?" Raphtalia, whose ears twitched when she heard something, pointed to the sky, where a round object was approaching with great speed.

"It's a huge cannonball!"

"No, wait!"

"That's…!"

The incoming projectile was soon identified as Straw Hat Luffy. Riding with him was the same robot man seen with the children, Franky. A few moments later, Robin landed with her wings made of arms.

"Come out, Master! We're gonna kidnap you!" Luffy exclaimed loudly.

"Luffy, that's supposed to be a secret," Robin admonished.

"It's rubber boy!" Tashigi-Filo happily exclaimed when she saw the newest arrivals.

"Straw Hat!"

"It's the Straw Hats!"

"Kill them!" A few centaurs shifted their attention to the newcomers, but were quickly dispatched by a rocket fist courtesy of Franky.

"Ok, we're here. But where's the master?" Luffy asked as he looked around.

"He's probably not here," Robin answered. "Let's check inside the facility."

"Straw Hat Luffy!" Smoker-Tashigi readied her sword in a stance. "What are you planning on this island?"

"Oh! Smokey!" Luffy had a happy expression on his face. "I saw you on the ground earlier so I was worried!"

"Don't mock me! Hiyaa!" Tashigi's arm turned to smoke and used it to lunge her sword at Luffy, who simply evaded the attack and grabbed the smoky appendage with his hand.

"What happened to you? You're all weak now!"

"No! I'm not…"

"Give me a break! I don't want to see myself losing to him!" Filo-Smoker moved to attack, just barely missing Luffy's head with his jitte.

"Aahhh! That weapon!" Luffy jumped back to put some space between them.

"So you're back at sea, Straw Hat." The vice-admiral glared with a grudge. "But I'm going to stop you right here!"

"Woah!" Luffy just tried dodging the barrage of attack, but wasn't able to dodge them all. "Ugh, I got hit! Hah… That's seastone! Hey, little girl! Who the hell are you?!"

"I'm Smoker!" Filo-Smoker lunged again.

"WHAAAT!?"

"This seems to be Law's doing," Robin explained.

"So then, that means you are…" Luffy began, looking at Smoker in Filo's body. He burst out laughing. "Smokey! Ahahahahaha!"

"What the hell are you laughing at?!"

Filo-Smoker attacked again, obviously pissed at the pirate's laughter. Luffy tried jumping back again, but his movement was impeded by a floating green shield. This let the vice-admiral land a devastating hit on Luffy. "Uwaah!"

"Luffy!" Robin cried out in alarm.

"I get to keep the bounty if I help you capture him, right?" Naofumi took his place beside Filo-Smoker.

"Filo wants to fight the rubber guy!" Tashigi-Filo also took her place next to the shielder. For some reason, she was wielding a spiked flail.

"Filo, where did you find that?" the hero asked.

"Filo saw one of the animal people swinging it around. It looked fun so Filo wanted to try it!"

"Alright."

"Ahh! It's you!" Luffy recognized Naofumi. "You're the jerk that didn't let me have that bird!"

"Are you stupid? She's mine, you idiot!"

"Ah, I see. Sorry," he apologized in a rather lame fashion.

"You are a complete moron…" the hero said, already getting mentally tired with the rubber boy.

As all four fighters got ready to continue the fighter, a big explosion was heard.

"Gyaaah!"

"There's a hole in the door!"

"Was that a laser?!"

"Gahahahahaha!" Franky laughed in triumph. "Luffy! Robin! I broke down the door! Let's storm this place!"

"Wow! That was fast, Franky!" The rubber captain congratulated as he moved to enter the building, ignoring the trio of opponents he was facing.

Filo-Smoker was about to follow, but was interrupted by one of his men. "Smo-yan! Something's wrong with the ship!"

"What?!" He turned to the ship in question and his face turned to shocked surprise. There was purple goop on the mast of the stolen ship. "What the hell is that?"

"Are these some kind of slime monsters?" Naofumi pondered as he saw the globs move around and combine to grow in size.

"Tell me what that is!" Filo-Smoker grabbed a centaur by the neck of their suit and demanded.

"I...I don't know! I've never seen anything like it!" Judging by the alarm in their voice, they were being honest.

Smoker and his subordinates could only watch powerlessly when one of the men on the ship attacked the blob with fire, which made it explode so violently it completely obliterated the ship.

"MY MEN!" Filo-Smoker yelled in anguish. Smoker-Tashigi could only cry out.

"What the hell was that?" asked one of the ex-prisoners. "It poisons you if you touch it and it explodes if you burn it."

"No idea, but it looks dead now."

"Yeah. And it took down some marines. Serves them right for stealing the Master's ship." The centaurs laughed at their luck.

That luck changed immediately when another purple blob fell right next to them. In fact, several blobs were now raining from the sky. Several men from both parties were immediately poisoned when some of the blobs fell right on them, eliciting several screams of pain.

"Raphtalia! Filo! Don't let those things touch you or get near you! They're extremely dangerous!" Naofumi ordered with urgency, making sure his two trusted companions were right beside him.

"Smoker-san! This is dangerous! We should get to shelter!" Smoker-Tashigi suggested. The vice-admiral voiced his agreement.

"Ah! Master!" one of the ex-prisoners exclaimed. "Why are you outside? It's dangerous here!"

"Shurorororo," laughed a figure on top of the marine warship's wreckage. "Good boy! Sorry for keeping you locked up for three years."

"I knew it!" Filo-Smoker said when he saw the person in question. "So you're Caesar Clown, aren't you?"

"So it's you! You're the master!" Luffy exclaimed loudly.

"That guy is seriously giving me the creeps," Naofumi commented.

"Shurororo! Indeed I am. And you're the Straw Hats and G-5 Marines." Caesar said. "Just wait a little while longer. He doesn't like water, so to cross the lake from the fire lands to these ice lands, he's launching parts of himself, one after the other! And once all the pieces gather here, I'll show you what happened here 4 years ago!"

"Gotcha!" Luffy launched himself up to Caesar and grabbed him.

"Why you! Let me go, you bastard!" the newcomer said with some fright in his voice.

Despite apparently being made of gas, Caesar couldn't free himself from Luffy's grip. The rubber boy then stretched his neck very long and tried to headbutt his captive, but missed as Caesar twisted his gassy body to evade it.

Naofumi watched with attention, trying to figure out why Luffy's solid body could grab gas. From what he had seen from Smoker, fruits like that were seemingly invincible since you couldn't cause any physical damage. There was always a way to counter something, however, so he studied the rubber boy and the gas man intently, determined to come up with a weakness he could exploit if the need to fight people like that ever rose.

It was much to his surprise to see how resistant to poison the rubber boy was. Caesar had made poison gas surround Luffy's head, who inhaled deeply and breathed it all as if it was air. Judging by the reactions from the people around him, it was safe to assume those gasses were extremely dangerous. The hero wondered how his poison resistance would fare against such lethal gas.

Luffy then retracted his neck with such speed Naofumi could barely see the pirate's head deliver a devastating headbutt to the gas man, who was shot into the ground below.

"Master!" Caesar's subordinates yelled in worry. "How dare he hurt our master!"

"Stay out of this, you maggots!" Caesar got up, looking rather angry. He took out a castanet and clicked it, making a huge explosion that completely swallowed Luffy. "Gastanet!"

"Luffy!" Robin yelled in worry. Luffy looked very beat up as he was falling.

"Smileys! Stick yourselves to Straw Hat!" Caesar ordered. The blobs of poison slime listened and threw themselves at the falling pirate. Once they completely enveloped him, Caesar clicked his castanet and made them explode, much more violently than the explosion from before. It was so powerful Naofumi had to brace himself to not be blown by the aftershock. "Shurorororo!"

"Phew! That was a close one! That explosion was huge!" Much to Caesar's surprise, Luffy was standing just behind him, admiring the explosion that was meant to take him out. He then stomp kicked the gas man in the stomach. "Jet Stamp!"

"Master!" The centaurs once again cried in worry as their master was sent flying fast and hard into the ground.

"Gotcha this time!" Luffy landed on Caesar and held him down. "Robin! Franky! Do we have something to put this guy in? We can't just tie up a logia!"

"Hey hey! Wait up, Straw Hat! The Marines will be capturing Caesar and you along with him!" the G-5 men declared.

"Smoker-san! The Straw Hats have Caesar!" Smoker-Tashigi pointed out. Filo-Smoker simply looked on. That is, until Luffy started tumbling and fell unconscious.

"You underestimated me," Caesar said, getting up with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"Hey, Luffy! What's wrong? What happened?" Franky asked in alarm.

"Straw Hat!" Tashigi yelled.

Even Naofumi looked with confusion. Was he not as immune to poison as he thought? Did Caesar do something? The shielder didn't know, but he didn't have time to keep observing. Filo-Smoker and Smoker-Tashigi jumped in to attack. And much to his chagrin, so did Tashigi-Filo. As his responsibility, he couldn't let her fight such a dangerous opponent on her own.

"Raphtalia!"

"Yes, Mr. Naofumi!"

Naofumi rushed in, followed closely by Raphtalia. He didn't know how well they'd do, given the nature of the enemy's power, but he felt a little more at ease seeing the marine officers on his side. Even Luffy's companions joined in on the attack; probably to avenge their fallen captain. As soon as they got close to Caesar, Naofumi knew what it was that knocked Luffy out. All of the attackers stopped moving and began asphyxiating. For some reason, the air around Caesar had no oxygen, and before long, they all passed out.

Next thing Naofumi knew, he was locked up and shackled in a cage with his two party members, Smoker, Tashigi, Law, Luffy and his two crewmates. He spotted a bird woman and a big man wearing shades outside the cage. For some weird reason, the man had a burger stuck to his face.

"Hey, Vergo!" Filo-Smoker yelled at the man with shades. "All the guys outside are G-5 Marines! They're your soldiers!"

"Yes, that is true." The man calmly stood up and walked over to the cage. "However, this is quite the line-up of faces to see locked inside a cage. White Hunter Smoker, Captain Tashigi, Straw Hat Luffy and...some poor fellows that got caught in the crossfire. It's a nice sight."

"This is quite nostalgic, isn't it?" Robin casually said with a fond smile. "Having you two in the same cage."

"That's right!" Luffy responded quite excitedly. "You guys had me and Smokey captured back in Alabasta!"

"All of you, shut up!" one very angry Filo-Smoker yelled.

"Smoker-san... What can I do about this horrible feeling?" Tashigi, trapped in Smoker's body, sadly asked.

"Your worst fears have been confirmed," Filo-Smoker answered, his words now abnormally gentle. "Caesar's kidnapping of those children was covered up by that guy, G-5's top commander. It seems fitting for G-5, but our military honor was crushed…"

"So this guy is G-5's top commanding officer?" Naofumi asked.

"Yes…" Smoker-Tashigi answered. "Despite our infamy among the marines, we all looked up to vice-admiral Vergo. To think he would betray us like this…"

"I can't blame you for not noticing," Law added. "He didn't suddenly betray the marines. He's actually a pirate that enlisted on Joker's orders before he made a name for himself. In 15 years, he rose the ranks until his current place. There is no better and more useful marine for Joker than Vergo. He's been with Joker from the very start!"

"Joker…" Filo-Smoker repeated. "The name of an underworld broker… I'm pathetic. I couldn't catch the scent of a rat that's right under my nose!

"Don't look so down." Vergo told Smoker. "Instead of disappointment in yourself, praise the clever rat that managed to escape the Hunter's gaze. Ever since you were transferred to G-5, I've been on maximum alert. You don't know how happy I am to finally be relieved of that stress. I trust you understand what learning about my secret identity means. It means I will permanently silence you by making sure you die here, Vice-admiral Smoker and Captain Tashigi. Your men will be given to Caesar as well. Don't worry, I'll make sure this 'accident' is reported properly."

"It's always the ones highest that are the most rotten," Naofumi spat with so much poison it would rival the toxic gas. "You people make me sick."

"I will not forgive you for what you've done!" Raphtalia declared, shooting the double agent a glare full of hatred.

"It doesn't really matter what nobodies like you think, especially when you're going to die here." Vergo shot back.

Naofumi glared with as much hatred as he could, while being careful not to lose control. He barely listened to the people around him, only catching the part where Joker was apparently one of the Seven Warlords by the name of Donquixote Doflamingo. Not that they rang any bells for the shielder.

Vergo, on the other hand, lost interest in the captives and went back to the small table and poured himself some coffee. The harpy took her attention to some papers, then grabbed a snail and sat down with Vergo. She said something to it, but what it was was a mystery. The captives could do little more than sit there and watch.

"Mr. Naofumi, what are we going to do?" Raphtalia asked, looking pretty worried.

"I'm thinking…" he answered. "Filo, you can still use magic, right?"

"Yeeees!"

"Don't move and don't try anything stupid," Law said in a whisper, not wanting to be heard. "Acting now will only make things worse."

"Tch."

Not long after, Caesar entered the room looking quite pleased with himself. After exchanging some empty pleasantries with Vergo and telling the harpy, Monet, to prepare some video, he approached the cage and looked down on Law with a mocking sneer. "This look suits you, Law! Shurorororo! You were helpless against Vergo, right? Our deal was very fruitful for me. That's what you get for trusting people. I'm sure you noticed by now that Vergo has your heart."

The spy in question took out a still-beating heart and squeezed it, which made Law scream and writhe in agony inside the cell.

"Even you didn't realize Monet turned into snow and followed you," Caesar continued to gloat. "She overheard your plan! I'm so disappointed, though… I thought we could become good friends."

"So your trusty secretary saved you. I should have been more wary of her, but with how stupid her master is I couldn't help underestimating her," Law said with a mocking grin.

"Shut your mouth!" Caesar slammed Law's heart with his fist, eliciting another scream from the Surgeon of Death and leaving him unable to move from the pain.

"Wow, you're still alive even after they took your heart?" Luffy wondered.

"Undone by your own power… Where's mine, then?" Filo-Smoker asked.

"It's right here," Caesar answered by getting it from his coat and showing it to the vice-admiral. Before he could make fun of the marine, he got interrupted by Monet informing him things were ready. "I see. Show me."

They all watched a floating screen projected by one of those snails. On it, a massive pile of the goo they'd seen before, only now in the shape of an axolotl, was moving toward a giant piece of candy. Caesar explained how this was a weapon of mass murder, and the video they were seeing was being broadcasted to underground weapon dealers all over the world. They saw how the slime axolotl twisted and screamed, then it exploded in a heavy cloud of toxic gas. The first victims were Caesar's men, who were swallowed by the cloud and completely petrified.

"Look! It's Zoro and the others!" Luffy exclaimed when he saw his crewmates running for their lives in the video. "Run! Run for your lives!"

Caesar didn't waste an opportunity to gloat, mock Luffy, and diss on his crewmates. "No one will be left alive outside this laboratory! Not even you!" As he laughed, the wall opened and their cage was moved outside by a crane, exposing them to the approaching deadly cloud. Outside, the cage hung by a thick rope from a crane. Down below, the G-5 marines spotted them.

"Whoa! We're really high up!" Tashigi-Filo commented on the new view of the island.

As everyone debated on how to proceed, Naofumi pondered. Things were not looking good and he was worried about his party members and the marine officials. Despite not being close, they had grown a bit on the shielder. He was brought out of his musing by Law, who spoke with frustration.

"...can't fail here, Straw Hat!" Law said. "The strategy stays the same. This time, do it right! We're making a counterattack! Is anyone here capable of burning things?"

Naofumi briefly pondered if he should mention his cursed shield, but decided against it. Especially since the massive metal man was promptly mentioned by Luffy to be able to. Wait… did he mention Franky was able to burn things AND shot beams? Beams?! The shielder couldn't help but look at the massive guy and wonder what else he could do. Now that he thought about it, had he made his appearance on tank treads?

"Franky Fireball!"

Franky's attack snapped Naofumi out of his almost-forgotten geekness. Cool and amazing and interesting and awesome as it was to meet a cyborg, they still had to get out of their predicament. Franky had spat a sizable fireball at the ship wreckage under them, starting a rather intense fire.

*cough cough* "Hey, Trafalgar! The smoke came up here!" Franky complained.

"You're the one who caused it," was Law's simple retort.

"Because you told me to!"

Luffy laughed at their antics. The rest of the cellmates were neutral.

"There we go," Law said as his shackles came off. "The smoke will cover us from the video."

"How did you get those seastone shackles off?" Luffy asked.

"They were normal shackles. I can easily remove them with my many months did you think I spent here?." As if to prove a point, Law materialized his sword on his hand and then used it to free the Straw Hat pirates. He looked down on the rest of the captives. "Now, what to do with you?"

"You already decided what to do, didn't you?" Smoker asked in his deep voice. "Eh?"

"Aww, Filo doesn't have boobs anymore…" the sad angel girl said when she returned to her body.

"Filo! Just what are your priorities?" Raphtalia admonished, but quickly looked at Tashigi.

While Naofumi was glad his filolial was finally back in her own body, he decided to listen to Smoker and Tashigi as they almost begged Law to let them live. Despite the apparent cowardice, Tashigi's reason to live was anything but. Without them, both the G-5 marines and the kidnapped kids would surely die. He didn't need to look at Raphtalia to know she had every intention of seeing those kids safe. And knowing just how much this meant to her, he made sure to support her mission.

Law and Smoker came to an agreement. Smoker would rat Vergo out, which suited Law perfectly. In return, Law would allow the marines to live and get Smoker's heart back in his body.

"Now free those three," Smoker said while motioning to the interdimensional adventurers with his head. "We'll need all the help we can get, and I can vouch for their usefulness."

Law stared at Naofumi for a moment, but then nodded. "I know you are quite troublesome and powerful for my ability to not work on you. You better do your part. Don't make me regret this." Using his sword, he broke their shackles and everyone was free. "We are moving!"

"Wait just a moment!" Naofumi said, picking up the seastone shackles and giving them a look. "This material nullifies devil fruits, right?"

"Yes," Robin answered. "They are also quite sturdy. Very useful material to have."

"That sounds even better," Naofumi said with an excited grin. He lifted his shield and let it absorb the shackles.

Seastone Shield conditions met

A/N: I know once again apologize for how long it took me, but at least I hope the double chapter was worth it. I am unsure if I want to pad the story a bit or just go through with the plan. A plan that admittedly needs some revisions with how Wano is progressing. Oda really knows how to hype me.

And as always, I look forward to your reviews and comments. I love knowing what your guys think. Until next chapter!