A/N: Hi guys! I'm sorry for that unannounced hiatus. August was an unexpectedly busy month. The writer's block was real with this one. I know where all the characters need to end up, and I have crucial scenes in mind, but this was just difficult. I predict as much difficulty with the next few. Sorry in advance!

Reviews and comments are always appreciated: they keep my inspiration/motivation up. Thanks to all who have continued to review in the past!

N'Joy

Ch. 19 – Ring a Ding Ding

Calypso would have been happy to discover that Zoro had in fact seen his handiwork. The pirate's zig-zagging, back-tracking, completely disoriented trajectory had brought him to a promontory overlooking the harbor. With Kuina still riding his shoulders and Cygnus honking beside him in alarm, Zoro stared as the ocean parted, mercilessly swallowing a slew of the navy's backup fleet.

Zoro couldn't see Calypso from that distance, but he recognized the work of a master swordsmen. He could easily deduce who had done it.

"That guy's dangerous," he admitted quietly to himself.

"Honk?" Cygnus asked. But before Zoro could answer, a growling in the bushes behind them snagged their attention. With a hand on his swords, Zoro whirled around to face what turned out to be a pack of wolves.

"Puppies!" Kuina exclaimed, bouncing on his shoulders in delight.

"Don't get too attached, kid," Zoro warned her in good humor.

"Y'always were a mite overconfident, weren't ya, Cyclops?" Zoro glanced sidelong at the trash blimp that had just come into view, floating over the side of the promontory.

"You again," Zoro huffed at Circe as she jumped over the side the blimp to land a few meters from him on top of the cliff. He quickly ripped the mask up off of his face, stuffing it in his belt. It wasn't a piece of litter like his last mask, but one couldn't be too careful.

The moment he did it, the litter litter girl still riding in the blimp suddenly turned pink. "Oh em gee, Mom. He's actually good looking under there. Like, why do you keep covering your face, handsome? A face like yours with a bod like that is a gift to the world."

"Uh…" Zoro and Circe both blinked at the besotted teen, but quickly returned to the matter at hand. Drawing two blades, Zoro kept one sword between him and the wolf pack, and another trained on the Navy Captain. "You got the drop on me once; you won't be so lucky this time, lady."

"This time I got a little more than sheep defendin' me. I realize now who I'm dealin' with, pard. I ain't stupid," Circe said, waving a hand at the wolves, who growled on cue. "Yeh done made off with m'goose and the little Princess. Regent's gonna want 'em both back, I reckon. You hand 'em over, I can guarantee that the girl at least reaches him in one piece."

"Yeah, no," Zoro replied, widening his stance in preparation to attack. "I'm not letting you near my daughter."

Cygnus honked indignantly as if to say, "What about me?!" but Circe and Zoro both ignored him.

"Suit yerself," Circe went on with a dramatic sigh. "I don't even hafta use my yodeling on these fellas. Thems well trained. Get 'em, boys!"

She hadn't been bluffing; the wolves moved with military precision into a pincer formation. Within seconds they were prepared to tear at him from all sides. Zoro didn't give them the chance, though.

He didn't even bother with a special attack. The humandrills were stronger and faster than these guys by a long shot. With a few well-placed slashes he took all of them down while Kuina applauded giddily:

"Yay, Papa!"

When he had finished, Zoro turned an incredulous gaze upward toward his daughter. "Should I be worried that you're enjoying this so much, kid?"

Kuina giggled.

"Do again! Do again!"

"Hmph. I may have underestimated you a bit, pard," Circe admitted, reaching toward him as though to grab him. Zoro sidestepped her easily, and she nearly stumbled off of the edge of the cliff face.

"Try it again and you'll lose a hand," Zoro warned.

"I shoulda picked a differ'nt animal fer you," Circe spat. "I don't have a clue what the gol'blasted fox says."

"Ring-a-ding-ding," the litter litter girl put in suddenly from her perch in the hovering trash blimp.

"What was that Nausicaa, darlin'?" Circe asked, turning to her daughter.

"The fox says, Ring-a-ding-ding," Nausicaa said again, "Everyone knows that. Duh."

"Ring-a-ding-ding?" Circe repeated incredulously, then gave a start. Zoro did too. His body had started to glow yellow gold.

"No way…" he and the Navy Captain uttered together, only his words turned to yips (that sounded nothing like 'ring-a-ding-ding') as he started to shrink. His swords and clothes seemed to mold into his hands and body, leaving him feeling horrible exposed despite the green fur covering him from snout to paw. Zoro stumbled beneath the weight of the toddler still riding his shoulders.

He'd turned back into a gol'blasted fox.

Calypso basked in Helena's awestruck attention, grinning at her cheekily. When she finally came to herself, the words erupted out of her without a filter:

"You could do THAT all this time?! And you had trouble with twelve freakin' axes?!"

"Well, I can't do that with my mouth, mon," Calypso pointed out.

Helena quickly composed herself. "That's just one more reason Zoro's the Hurricane, not you," she said, tossing her head. "So, do you think you could do it again? There are still a lot of ships out there."

Calypso grew sullen at mention of Zoro's nickname. Oh, he knew he had already lost the battle for her heart. But then again, she had just mentioned the twelve axes with some incredulity and disappointment. Perhaps he'd only lost the battle, not the war.

"I could," he grinned suddenly, mischievously, "For a ki…"

Helena pre-empted him before he could finish the word. Apparently she knew what he was up to:

"Thank you! Glad to know I can count on you. Now I'll just go help Hector out, shall I?" She turned on her heel and marched away, arms pumping as she walked with purpose.

Calypso watched her go, then turned his focus out toward the "enemy" ships. As he wound up for a second attack, his grin didn't falter. He may not have gotten the kiss he was after, but he'd managed to fluster her majesty. That meant she could still be reached.

"Brace yourselves, men! Here comes another one!" Vice-Captain Helmeppo cried.

Coby didn't move from where he balanced with precarious ease atop the prow of his ship. He held a looking glass to his eye, searching Ilium's harbor for the origin of the enormous slash attack currently flying their way. His search proved fruitless. "Is Zoro doing that?" he murmured, more to himself than anyone. "Just how strong has he become?"

He stowed the glass with seconds to spare. Leaping into the air, he focused all of his spiritual energy into the end of one blackening fist. He met the enormous, glowing slash head on, punching it toward what he presumed would be an uninhabited promontory beside the harbor.

Though Coby had jumped out to meet the slash as far as he could, it knocked him crashing back onto his own deck, shattering some of the planks and leaving him momentarily dazed. The ship rocked violently, still in danger of careening into the crooked trench that the slash had dug into the ocean despite its new trajectory.

When the water settled, cheers erupted from the safely defended ships on all sides. A few of Coby's men helped him to his feet, slapping him on the back and crowing his praises. He smiled at them, but gripped the now bloodied fist by his side and quickly turned his keen gaze back toward the shore. After all, there was still quite the stretch of ocean between them and the harbor. They were a long way from safety.

The powerful slash flew past the promontory, nicking the edge of the cliff. It easily cut off the part on which Zoro, Kuina, Cygnus and Circe stood, sending it crashing toward the sea.

Zoro had barely managed to wiggle out from under Kuina. Thinking fast, he nipped her by the back of her nightgown and jumped to safety. Circe was right behind them, and she quickly nabbed the fox by the scruff of the neck, tearing the back of Kuina's yellow nightgown as she ripped Zoro away from his daughter.

For a moment everyone remained frozen as they listened to the falling rocks crash into the ocean below.

"Hoo-wee!" Circe whistled, eyeing the splash that the broken cliff left behind. "It ain't safe here fer a little person, is it Cyclops? 'Course, now yer a little person too." She looked him condescendingly in the eye, before turning to dangle him out over the cliff's edge.

"PAPA!" Kuina cried. She tried to run to him. King Cygnus, who had taken wing during the whole ordeal, quickly settled himself between his granddaughter and the cliff, raising his wings to shield her from falling.

"Smart kid," Circe observed. "Y'recognize it's still yer pappy." She turned her attention back to Zoro. "Sorry t'hafta do this to yeh, pard. But I can't have yeh causin' more problems, see."

"Don't even think about dropping him, Mom," Nausicaa piped up suddenly. She had landed her strange craft and stepped clear of it. Before Cygnus could turn around and face her, Nausicaa had scooped Kuina up in her arms and taken her a step further from the cliff's edge.

"You can't go murdering the kid's Dad, like, right in front of her," she went on. "That'll scar her for life."

"It's just a FOX, darlin'," Circe reminded her.

"No. It's not," Nausicaa replied indignantly. "And as you already said, the kid can see it too. Quit being such a bully."

With lip twitching, Circe looked her daughter straight in the eye…

…and let the fox go.

Calypso narrowed his eyes out at the ships as they drew closer to the harbor. Someone out there had deflected his attack. – a goody-two shoes, by the look of things. Why else would they have sent the attack away from the city?

He glanced sidelong at Helena, noting that she had her hands full defending her livestock from the wolves. Her General remained occupied as well, fighting literally neck and neck with Regent. That meant no one would stop Calypso from trying again.

Sure it was possible that whoever had redirected the slash into the cliff was sending a warning; next time civilians could get hurt. But whoever had deflected him was strong. He wanted to see who was stronger.

"Sky Walk!"

He kicked into the air, muscular arms tense as he prepared both machetes. When he was at the right altitude, he lashed out with the two blades, holding them apart instead of together. It lessened his power considerably, but that meant he could send two attacks in opposite directions.

The move he'd christened, "Sinatra Jr." He grinned as he watched it slice through the ocean at less cataclysmic, though still deadly proportions. "Block these if you can, mon!"

Nausicaa shrieked as Zoro fell. She quickly covered Kuina's eyes with her hands, or tried to. The little girl screamed for her father. She pounded and kicked and bit at the teen holding her back, driving Nausicaa to use both arms to restrain her.

When the moment had passed, Nausicaa glared at her mother through the tears forming in her eyes.

"It had to be done," Circe said unfeelingly.

Despite Kuina's formidable struggles, Nausicaa tightened her arms around her. Turning on her heel, she swiftly boarded her litter vessel.

"Wait! Where d'yeh think yer goin'?

"I'm taking her someplace safe," Nausicaa snapped as the balloon took off. "I'm so over watching you act like a monster."

"Now wait just a minute!" Circe cried, running toward her with her arms extended, ready to grab the side of the candy-wrapper basket.

The blimp floated out of reach in the nick of time, and Circe teetered dangerously on the edge of the cliff. Nausicaa held her breath as her mother struggled to regain her balance. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to throw herself backward, even though it meant landing hard on her rump. A moment later she was back on her feet again anyway, shouting curses and what-have-you in her daughter's direction.

Nausicaa tuned her out. Sinking down inside the basket, she clutched the whimpering child to her and burst into tears. "I just rebelled against the Navy," she sobbed. "I'm, like, a criminal now. And I couldn't even save your Dad, Princess! Dub tee eff am I doing?"

Coby's eyes widened as a pair of slashes came flying at the navy. The swordsman they were up against hadn't cut the ocean down to its bed this time, but even skimming the ocean's surface, the slashes were sure to through-and-through any ships they connected with.

One slash was headed straight for him and his crew. He could take care of it easily enough; hopefully someone on the other side of the fleet would know what to do with the second. Though his fist still throbbed, he didn't hesitate to again jump out and meet the attack head on. This time his aim was better; he redirected it away from the island completely.

He flipped back to land in a three-point crouch on the deck of the ship, his fist dripping red on the polished deck. Even though the attack had been less powerful, it had still left its mark. Coby noted grimly that he had a ways to go with his training, if an attack like this could break his haki.

"Captain Coby-San," Helmeppo asked. "Why aren't you attacking the city directly? Isn't that what we're here to do?"

Coby straightened to his feet. "There are non-combatants and…children out there, Vice-Captain."

"A bleeding heart, as always," Helmeppo said, shrugging. "This is a war, isn't it?"

He and Coby both fell silent when they saw that the second slash, which had mystically disappeared a moment before, appeared to rebound from one of their own ships. It crashed into the port, cutting through the outer harbor town and stopping short at Ilium's outer walls.

"Guess some of our people don't feel the same as you do," Helmeppo observed as the dust started to settle.

"Guess they don't…" Coby murmured.

More slashes suddenly radiated from the same ship, one after the other. The attacks looked exactly like the ones that had come at them from the enemy; skimming the surface of the ocean, they slammed mercilessly into Mycenae, leaving destruction in their wake.

"Do we have a swordsman over there doing that?" Helmeppo asked.

Coby turned his telescope toward the source of the attacks. It was a moment before he answered.

"It's not a Navy Swordsman," he told Helmeppo, voice tense. "It's a Navy Devil. Captain Yoma Masophat."

Nausicaa gazed over the side of her candy-wrapper basket at the destruction in the city below. "At least I can keep you from down there," she muttered to the wailing toddler in her arms.

The sound of wingbeats startled her gaze upward. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of the Goose King hovering just outside her basket, gripping the ears of a mossy green fox between his webbed toes.

Nausicaa hadn't quite floated out of earshot of the cliffside. She could hear her mother's curses grow louder and more intense when she caught sight of them too. The teen couldn't care less though. She jumped to her feet in excitement as the goose suddenly swan-dived into the candy-wrapper basket, making it rock and sway.

"ZOMG! You're alive!" she shrieked, snatching the fox and shoving it toward the still sniffling princess. "Look, Princess! Your Dad's alive!"

Kuina couldn't have been more overjoyed. She smothered the beleaguered fox in an embrace better suited to a stuffed bear. He let out a little squeak of protest, but otherwise didn't have the air to complain.

"Yodle-ay-ski-dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

"Hey, Princess! Cover his ears like this, see?" Nausicaa said, clapping her hands over where she assumed the goose's ears were.

The little girl giggled, but did as she was told, holding down Zoro's velvety ears. "No yucky singing for Papa," she told Nausicaa, then made a face. "But who hold Kuina's ears?"

Nausicaa laughed. "El oh el! Sorry, Princess. I guess we just have to suffer through it.!" She chanced a glance down at the goose in her lap. He wore a look of relief. "Hey, don't thank me yet," she informed him, though he probably couldn't hear her. "It's only a matter of time before Mom, like, finds someone to turn into a bald eagle or something, and tears us out of the sky." She eyed the trash balloon and wrinkled her nose in anticipation. "Alright, this is going to smell grotty, but I think we could use a little wind power, so…"

She closed her eyes and focused on the liter, bending it to her will. A few seconds later, a burst of smelly, yellow air flatulated its way from the trash balloon. Though using it sacrificed some of their altitude, the force of it blew them further from Circe. Soon they were completely out of range of her voice. It was a good thing too. The smell drove Kuina to release Zoro's ears so she could plug her nose.

"Stinky!"

"I know, right?" Nausicaa replied. Cygnus wilted from the smell, and she released his ears so he could collapse into a miserable heap beside a no less miserable Zoro. "On the upside, I'll have you guys back to the palace in no time. That is where you want to go, right?"

A crash below drew her gaze down toward the city. More slashes had just radiated from one of the navy ships. They'd changed their aim higher now. Ilium was set on a gentle, upward slope, which meant that the slash missed the outer wall this time, and nearly hit the palace. It had to be powerful to reach that far.

"Or maybe not," Nausicaa said, cringing. Zoro popped up next to her, his adorable green paws hanging over the side of the basket as he tried to get a better view. "Like, what do we do now…?" she started to ask him.

"Holo holo hic holo!"

Nausicaa's eyes widened when she caught sight of Perona, who floated between them and their view of the palace. She had her hands on her hips, and might have looked defiant if she weren't cross-eyed.

"Not so fast, you hic stinky Indie wannabe!" she proclaimed, holding out a hand as though to stop them, though it was angled about a foot in the wrong direction.

"Well, if it isn't the #LameGoth," Nausicaa said, wrinkling her nose from more than the stench of her blimp now. "What's wrong with you, anyway? Your bo peep outfit's on fleek, but you look totally wasted! You drunk, bro?"

Perona hiccupped again, glaring as best she could through her crossed eyes. "I'm hic fine," she slurred. "But you're not gonna be when I'm hic through with you. I see your Mom changed Zoro and King Goosey into animals again."

"Yeah, and I'm trying to save…!"

"A likely story! Holo Holo Holo hic!" Perona cut her off. "Well, good thing I hic know how to take care of you!" A tubby little ghost formed in her hand, and she launched it at the blimp.

"Oh em gee, WAIT!" Nausicaa cried. "If you blow me up you'll blow them up too!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears. Perona snapped her fingers, igniting the ghost and the blimp. Leaving the animals to fend for themselves, Nausicaa grabbed Kuina and jumped from the basket just in time to avoid the explosion.

"You got soot on my shirt!" Nausicaa called angrily to Perona.

"Weeeeeeee!" Kuina cried in delight.

"You're a weird kid," Nausicaa observed.

"Tee tee eff en!" Perona called to them as they fell. "You're welcome, Zoro!" In her drunken stupor, it made perfect sense to her that destroying Nausicaa meant destroying a roadblock for the fox. But then, she also wasn't entirely convinced that she wasn't having a weird lucid dream.

"Strange," she observed aloud to one of her sheep ghosts, which waved to and fro unsteadily in the air just like its mistress. "I thought I saw a mini, girl version of Zoro in there."

The ghost giggled and hiccupped. Perona giggled and hiccupped back.

"You're right. Holo hic! Zoro having a kid would be too weird," she said. "H'ooooh-kay, let's get going. I've got an overalled freakshow to catch."

She summoned a plethora of her ghosts, laughing maniacally. "Holo holo holo hic! Holo holo holo hic!" The puffy ghosts surrounded her like little clouds, echoing her drunken giggles louder and louder the more she called to her aid. "Holo holo holo hic! Holo holo holo hic!"

Soon she had so many, anyone looking below wouldn't have been able to see her through the storm of sheep. "Go get 'er!" she cried, directing the flock out in all directions. The enormous cloud around her exploded in an energetic flurry, each ghost moving with purpose to search for its mistress' enemy.

But then they all suddenly stopped short. In her addled state, Perona had exhausted her power by summoning too many. She keeled over as most of the ghosts disappeared. Her astral form landed on a convenient patch of gathered ghost sheep midair, where she lay quite comfortably, mirroring her sleeping body back at the palace.

Circe would have to wait until she caught a few more Z's.

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A/N: *voice of Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures* One moooore thing! - I need help with naming Calypso's attacks. I've decided to use various heart throbs, but I want to stick to more old timey, classic ones if possible. My old timey heart throb knowledge is somewhat limited, so please float ideas out there if you have any.

I'm thinking of changing "Sinatra Slash" into "Sinatra Song" so that the names more correlate with the actual person they're named after. I'm not opposed to simply naming attacks with non-related alliteration though. (Sinatra Slash, Casanova Cut, that sort of thing). Ideas are greatly appreciated, even if you can just give me some names to research.

Along that vein, here's a fun fact. Hector hasn't had named attacks until his King Gidorah in the previous chapter. Though the Dance Masters in the last story are loosely based on the husband and I, I discovered that I tend to picture my husband when I write or draw Hector. (Probably because on our second date, I remember having a long discussion with him about why General Hector is the best character in Homer's Iliad. Yup. We're nerds). Husband is a huuuuge Godzilla fan (as am I, though he's definitely got me beat), which is why Hector has kaiju attacks.

I mentioned in the first story that Hector is a personal favorite. Now I guess you see why. ^_^*snuggles hubby*

But let's not get distracted about the topic at hand. Calypso moves. Go!