"Zeiko!" Shaska said in disbelief.

"Zeiko?" Schwarz asked, approaching his boss.

"Zeiko… my daughter…" she responded, mildly seething.

Mother and daughter looked each other dead in the eye and exhaled smoke.

"It's nice to see you too, mother," said Zeiko. "You're looking well… for someone who defrauded the government out of two billion berries and then slaughtered a city."

"Please, don't tell me you actually believe I did that second one," Shaska responded.

"After the childhood you gave me, I wouldn't be surprised at the levels you'd sink to."

A five-year-old Zeiko ran up to her mother. "Mommy! Look at the picture I made of us!" she said with a smile.

"Oh, a child," twenty three-year-old Shaska replied dryly, puffing on her cigar and not looking up from her work.

"Mommy?"

Shaska grabbed her child's drawing and touched her cigar to it, setting it on fire and burning it to ash. The young Zeiko started crying.

"Next time do something that makes me money," Shaska said, blowing smoke in her daughter's face.

"Ugh, well… good to see you're still a disappointment, working for the government that continues to support the enslavement of our people," Shaska said, puffing on her cigar.

The other members of Worldwide Smoke present couldn't believe she'd talk about her own child that way… or, maybe they could.

"And what about your brother?" Shaska continued.

"Zeimaru's on a different assignment. Though I'm sure he'd also love to take you in, just like me."

"So, you're here to take me in? You'd really capture your own mother, Zeiko?"

"I have no mother. You and I both know I was always a burden to you, just a source of government benefits. You literally named me 'tax child'."

Zeiko took a puff on her cigarette.

"Besides, my main goal here is to put the screws to Prince Ta'gup XIV. Just like you, he's a cheapskate who's defrauding the government out of a whole bunch of money."

She cracked her knuckles.

"But I can always say something else came up and bring you in instead," she said, cracking a smile.

"Girl…" Shaska growled. She cracked her knuckles too.

"You don't have to do anything," Zeiko responded. She held up her hand and flicked her index finger in her mother's direction. "Flying Finger Pistol."

A sharp blast of compressed air shot out of Zeiko's finger, flying at Shaska, and slicing her cigar in half. Shaska's blood really started to boil. She clenched her fists, which suddenly became pitch black and shiny.

"Ooh, breaking out your Haki, eh?" Zeiko responded.

Shaska bolted forward at her daughter with a flying punch. Zeiko blocked it by crossing her arms (which also became pitch black and shiny) in front of her face. She didn't budge an inch. "Iron Body."

Schwarz, Zinnia, and Samudra drew their weapons in preparation for combat, but Shaska shouted them down.

"Stay out of this! This is between me and the brat!"

"Distraction will cost you a battle, mother," Zeiko said, poking her in the shoulder with the force of a bullet. "Finger Pistol!"

Shaska howled in pain as she jumped back. Zeiko withdrew her finger, now covered in her mother's blood. Shaska clenched her bleeding shoulder and glared at her.

"Get to the palace!" Shaska ordered. Schwarz, Zinnia, and Samudra did as they were told.

"Shave!"

Zeiko teleported behind Shaska and delivered a Haki-infused kick to the back of her head, sending her flying into the cafe.

"Hmm. I quite liked that coffee, maybe I should have planned my attack better," Zeiko mused.

As the cafe workers fled, Shaska stood up and rubbed the back of her head. She started drawing all the water out of the cafe and swirling it around her fingers.

Zeiko simply puffed on her cigarette.

"Shave!"

Zeiko blitzed forward, landing a devastating knee strike right into Shaska's face, sending her flying through the back wall and the next building over.

—-

Franco and Johnson landed at the port of Nagar. A soldier ran up to them with news.

"Captain Franco! Lieutenant Johnson! Sirs! We've just received an alert from Shahar police that the assassins from last night have entered the city and have taken hostages!"

"Crap," said Franco, head in his hand.

"Also, sirs, it seems that Shaska the Squeeze is indeed in Shahar. She's currently battling someone who the police say is also an assassin."

"Oh no! What if that assassin kills her before we get the chance?" Johnson asked.

"We gotta get to Shahar as soon as possible then," said Franco.

"Ensign, what's the fastest route to Shahar?" Johnson asked.

"Sir! There are no other points of entry to the country. Our only methods to get to Shahar are to go on foot, which would take several days, or to charter Nagar's entire fleet of giant birds to get there in a few hours!"

"Looks like we have our answer, then," said Franco.

"Sounds awfully pricey, though," said Johnson. "Hopefully we have the funds on the ship."

"We don't really have any other options," Franco responded. "Let's go, Lieutenant. And pray she's still there by the time we arrive."

—-

Zeiko ducked through the holes in the walls that she made with her last attack. In the wreckage was Shaska laying on a pile of rubble, blood dripping down her face. Her legs had de-fused back into tentacles. Zeiko stood over her mother's broken body and puffed her cigarette.

"You're rusty, mother. This is the power of the great bounty hunter, Shaska the Greedy? Pathetic."

Shaska did not take kindly to this. Her tentacles wrapped around Zeiko's ankles, and she sat up in a flash, grabbing Zeiko's wrists with her hands.

"Respect your elders, brat. Shark Grip!"

Shaska squeezed like a vice, and her grip shattered the bones in Zeiko's wrists like they were glass, causing her to scream in pain. Shaska used this as an opportunity to handstand, then used that momentum to slam her daughter into the ground head first with her tentacles.

Shaska stood up and turned her tentacles back into legs with small tentacle feet, then pulled out a cigar and lit it up. She turned to Zeiko, who was pulling herself up through the pain of her broken wrists. Zeiko pulled her sleeves up slightly to inspect the damage; her wrists were horribly bruised, but at least no bones were sticking out.

"You learn your lesson, you little ankle-biter?" Shaska asked, puffing her cigar. "You can't do your fancy Finger Pistol anymore."

"Heh," was all Zeiko managed to say before using a Shave to teleport behind Shaska again. Shaska's eyes flashed red, and as she went to grab her daughter's kick, Zeiko Shaved away into the nearest building, then again behind her mother.

Shaska's red eyes darted back and forth to follow her daughter, who kept teleporting.

"Let's see how good your Observation Haki is, mom!" Zeiko shouted, coating the last word with as much venom as she could. She then combined her Shave with her Moon Walk, teleporting around her mother in three dimensions now. "Razor!"

"Focus, Shaska…" Shaska thought. She closed her eyes, trying to predict exactly where Zeiko would be next.

"Gotcha!" she called as she reached out in front of her. But she was too slow, and Zeiko teleported above her and brought her heel down on her mother's head, causing her to bite her cigar in half. Zeiko immediately followed up with a kick to the small of Shaska's back, sending her flying into another building. She finished the combo by kicking the air lightning fast as Shaska stood up, sending a razor sharp air current at her. "Tempest Kick!"

Shaska took the attack head-on. The building was sliced apart, but Shaska managed to survive with a massive slash across her abdomen. As the building collapsed on top of her, she spat out the cigar nub still in her mouth and lit up a new cigar, seemingly unperturbed by her blood loss and, well, the fact a building was collapsing on top of her.

—-

"Aaaah… this is nice…" said Puerco, relaxing naked in a cauldron of purple goo. "What did you say this stuff was called again?"

"Ground Phalphal Fruit," said the Shahar doctor. "Cures any sort of itch, even that of the Machchar mosquito. Seems you ran into a lot of them."

"I sure did!" Puerco exclaimed. "I was covered in them!"

The doctor's office was cheap, being in the open air without much privacy. But it was all Puerco could really afford.

He stuck his finger in the goo and tasted it. "Not half bad to eat, either! How much for a bunch of these?"

"You'll have to find the market to actually buy them, but generally they go for 1,500 berries a fruit."

"Yo, Andy!" Puerco called to the couple, who were sitting outside in a restaurant right across the street. "You gotta buy some of these fruits!"

"After lunch!" Andy replied, helping himself to some authentic Panipuri cuisine. "This chicken is amazing!"

"And I'm on my eleventh Jaljeera mojito!" Roxanne said, not visibly drunk at all despite all the liquor she had consumed.

It was at that point Corcoran came bolting down the street, chased by police officers. The police were gaining on him due to being longlegs, while Corcoran was a little guy, less than four feet tall, and being weighed down by a huge bass.

"Stop! Assassin!" shouted one of the officers. This caused Andy, Roxanne, and Puerco to look up from what they were doing.

"Assassin?" they collectively thought.

Corcoran came to a screeching halt. "Oh, to hell with this," he said.

He threw off his hooded cloak, revealing exactly who he was: a light-skinned man standing around 3'10 with a pink afro the size of his head. How he managed to hide the afro under his hood was anyone's guess.

"You guys ready to get funky?!" Corcoran shouted at the police, who drew their guns.

"I recognize him!" said one of the police officers. "That's 'Funky Fresh' Corcoran, worth 76,000,000 berries!"

"You're daaaaaamn right!" Corcoran responded, planting his bass in the ground.

Corcoran started plucking notes on his bass. It was the funkiest bassline anyone had ever heard, running up and down a blues scale with a syncopated rhythm. Everyone in earshot got up and started to boogie. This included the police, who dropped their guns during their dance.

"W-what's going on?!" shouted another officer. "Some kind of Devil Fruit ability?!"

"Nah, man, I got no need for fruit! This is the power of funk!"

As the police officers danced (along with Andy, Roxanne, and Puerco, who was dancing naked in the cauldron of ground fruit), Corcoran drew a knife, and at blinding speed, dashed into the line of officers and annihilated them, stabbing them in the guts and slashing their throats, before returning to his bass to lay down the groove again.

"Now… what will I do with all these witnesses?" Corcoran wondered aloud.

"This… has become a very difficult situation," said Andy, unable to draw the gun he was given due to the power of funk. Roxanne, somehow, was able to keep chugging her drink while she danced.

—

Lulupo and Rima entered a local boutique with an interest in buying new clothes.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to Kapade Boutique!" the shopkeeper greeted. "How can I…"

She then noticed Rima's clothes, marking her as Unclean. "I'm sorry, sir, ma'am, whatever, is… is that an Unclean you have with you?"

"And if she is?" Lulupo asked defiantly.

"It will have to leave," the shopkeeper said bluntly. "I will not have it sullying my fine clothes with its filthy, dung-ridden hands."

"I apologize for my insolence, ma'am," Rima said with a bow. She turned to leave, but Lulupo grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Rima, darling, we're fighting this oppressive class system peacefully," he said. "Go and pick out some new clothes."

"If it does not leave at once, I will call the police," said the shopkeeper, growing more impatient. "And you, sir or ma'am, will have to leave, too, for bringing this filth into my store!"

"I will do no such thing!" Lulupo replied, putting his hands on his hips. Rima just stood there, unsure of what to do.

It was at that point Gabo ducked into the store after being chased by cops. He lowered his hood to get a better look around… and he made eye contact with Lulupo.

"Hello… Charles Lulupo," he said, flipping his hair back.

"Hello… Gabo," Lulupo replied coldly.

The shopkeeper saw the police run past and tried to get their attention, but to no avail.

Again, Rima was confused. "Mr. Lulupo, is this man a friend of yours?"

Gabo struck Lulupo. "You idiot! Don't you ever talk to another man like that again!"

"B-but Gabo…!" Lulupo cried, tears streaming down his face. "It's not like that, darling, I swear!"

Lulupo paused. "Not anymore," he said acridly.

—-

Schwarz, Zinnia, and Samudra dashed through the streets of Shahar to get to the palace. Likewise, from an alley, Ubitsa emerged and stretched.

"Aaaah, it's good to have finally shaken off the cops," he said, walking with his eyes closed.

Zinnia, whose mind was elsewhere, slammed right into him, causing Schwarz and Samudra to stop, too.

"Sir! I apologize profusely for my clumsiness!" Zinnia said, standing back up and bowing before him.

Ubitsa, on the other hand, was not amused, and lowered his hood to get a better look at the party. His eyes locked on Samudra.

"I recognize you," he said. "From the papers, yes. You are the crown prince's brother, no?"

"Uh…" was all Samudra could come up with, thinking back to how his brother basically disowned him. "Uh…"

"Capturing you will give us great leverage over the future king!" Ubitsa declared, throwing off his cloak and brandishing his massive axe.

"Actually, sir, Prince Samudra has brought great shame upon the royal family with his actions, and his brother has banished him from the kingdom," Zinnia said with a smile. Samudra couldn't help but smack his head.

"Hm…" Ubitsa became lost in thought. "Well, his head is still worth something. I might as well catch all of you anyway."

"Zinnia! Think before you speak!" Schwarz shouted, taking off with the prince. Ubitsa raised his axe.

"Hm? But I always think before I speak," Zinnia cluelessly replied, turning her head to face Schwarz, thus leaving her unaware of the impending attack. Ruth, on the other hand, was right on it, and slithered around to block Ubitsa's axe strike with her helmet.

She angrily hissed at Zinnia, who turned to face Ubitsa.

"Sir, if you would like to fight, all you had to do was ask," she said as Ruth entered her staff form.

—

Elsewhere in Shahar, Ren was walking around with her rifle slung over her back. She heard gunshots from the nearby hotel.

"Ah… crap…" she thought aloud.

As she rounded the corner, she found police outside the hotel, but not with their guns drawn. She looked up, and at the top of the hotel was Kandar, smoke billowing out of his pipe and his rifle. On the building across the street was the police sniper… slumped over, dead.

"Now what?" asked one of the officers. "That's 'Blazing' Kandar, worth 42,000,000 berries. It's only natural he'd take out our sniper as soon as we got set up."

"Kanahahahaaaaa…" Kandar laughed as he smoked his pipe. "I'm a bit stuck right now… might as well have some fun!"

He scanned the area, looking for potential targets. And he locked eyes with Ren on the ground.

"Uh oh…" she said, catching his gaze. She readied her rifle and took off, looking for cover or a perch to shoot from.

"Looks like battle has already begun," she thought.

—

Schwarz and Samudra made it to the palace… only to find the guards out front, dead. They had bled out from slash wounds to their necks. The doors were ajar

"This is not good…" said Samudra.

He dashed forward and flung the doors open, to find Princip in the process of massacring every guard he could find with the sheath of his sword, which was somehow drawing blood. Schwarz was close behind.

He locked eyes with Princip, the man with kanji for "liberation" on his face, and the scar on his chest began to hurt.

Schwarz reflexively drew his sword and growled "you…"

"Hm…?" Princip asked, turning to face Samudra and Schwarz. "I'm sorry, do I know you two?"

"You took everything from me!" Schwarz shouted at him.

Princip gave him a blank stare. "You'll have to be a little more specific," he said.

"Samudra, go find your brother. I'll take care of this," said Schwarz, not breaking eye contact with Princip.

Samudra did just that, running ahead past Princip, who didn't attempt to stop him. Instead, he was more intrigued by Schwarz.

"I'm sorry… Did I accidentally leave a survivor?" Princip asked.

"You bet your ass you did!" Schwarz declared, opening a hole under his feet. He teleported right behind and above Princip, aiming to plant Tizona into his neck, but Princip blocked it with his sheathed sword without even turning around.

"Fascinating…" he said. He turned to face Schwarz, towering over him, eleven feet tall to Schwarz's six.

"Impress me, kid," he said.

—-

The building collapsed on top of Shaska. Zeiko stood there, waiting and puffing on her cigarette.

"C'mon, mother, we both know you're not dead."

The rubble of the building started to move, and out popped Shaska, bleeding and carrying the building's main support beam like a club.

"Hah," she laughed, blowing smoke. "We both also know this fight has only just begun."

TO BE CONTINUED