I don't like you!

by BloodyMarryMe

By pure chance and unluckiness Miyako finds herself at the Sabaody auction house as a slave. And of all the people, the one interested just had to be the most smug, egoistical and sadistic pirate she has ever met. So at least she can give him as much trouble as possible, right? LawXOC

42. Chapter 42

"I don't like you!" by BloodyMarryMe

It's done! So happy I was finally able to finish it; I've been writing it little by little every day. Slowly but diligently I guess. ^^' Life is hectic right now so I'm really sorry for the wait but I'm trying my best to continue writing this fanfic even if it will have to proceed slow. As you know this is the final part of the final Arc before departing for the New World. :D I'm really excited to start writing about the New World and hopefully Oda sensei will show us more about Law's past and Doflamingo so I'll have more material for my fanfic too. :P

Since I was quite in the hurry to post this (it's 3am here right now) I haven't finished proofreading all the parts so I apologize if there are still some grammatical mistakes left. I'll get to proofreading it as soon as possible.

Enjoy and have fun reading it! :D

Disclaimer: This is a LawxOC story, rates T for blood and language. I do not own One Piece or any OP characters, but I do own my OC Suzune Miyako.

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CHAPTER 42

Miyako was desperately trying to hold the only doors that were separating Shachi and her from the group of marines outside. The control room was small and the only way out were the metal doors that were currently barricaded with a few chairs, with Miyako and Shachi holding them.

"What do we do?" Miyako looked at the mechanic and one of the most trusted Law's men in the crew. The older mechanic always seemed to know what to do in desperate situations, probably due to his long experience working with Law and being at sea.

Shachi thought for a while then nodded as if confirming an idea in his head. "For now we proceed working on plan B for the escape." As he said that, Shachi went back to the control panel.

"What are you going to do? They already cut us off and switched to manual. What can you do?" Miyako looked puzzled at Shachi but didn't have time for confusion as she noticed there were dents forming in the metal door. It won't hold for much longer. The marines must've given up using brute force of their bodies and started using brains instead; the must've taken something to help them break down the door more easily. "We don't have much time, whatever you want to do, do it fast! If we get surrounded here and cut off from the group we'll lose are chance of escaping."

"Believe me, I already know." Shachi murmured as he worked on the control panel. "They put the system for locking and opening all the gates to manual but they don't have the power to do that for everything." As he explained, he typed a few more times on the control panel. "This is something Sai showed me for this mission." He pushed the final button and suddenly all the lights and the monitors went down. In a second everything was engulfed in complete darkness and both pirates had to wait a moment for their eyes to get used to the dark. It didn't help much though.

"You cut off the power." It was said more as a statement than a question. It was pitch black and Shachi could only notice Miyako's outlines and a gleam of her bright eyes, reminding him of the nickname she was given by the marines.

Shachi nodded. "It is only a matter of time before the marines pull themselves together and run the back-up generators for power but at least we'll give everyone some time to move out. It'll be easier to hide for us in the darkness.

"Well that's nice for the others, but that won't help our current situation." Miyako said but then stiffened. Something was wrong. She didn't notice it before because she was focused on Shachi's ministrations but now that she thought about it…*Isn't it too quiet? The marines stopped trying to break in…why? Did the loss of power confuse them?* She looked back at Shachi as if searching for some conformation in his expression that her suspicions were real. She couldn't see him clearly and his face was covered in his usual sunglasses and hat anyway but his body looked stiff just like hers. As if he was trying to hear what was going on out there, the mechanic moved carefully to the door and leaned on the metal surface with his face.

"There's something…like a hissing sound?"

Just as the words left his mouth, both Miyako and Shachi understood immediately and looked at each other with wide eyes before leaping away from the door. "Under the table!" Shachi yelled as both of them crawled there just in time.

The loud explosion pierced their ears and was followed by the big metal doors slamming in the opposite wall of the control room. Debris and dust was everywhere. Miyako tried her best to curl under the table and cover her ear and eyes but she could still feel pieces of what she could only guess was the wall hitting her as they flew from the blast.

As the situation finally quieted down, the samurai girl coughed from all the dust in the air and slowly opened her eyes to check her surroundings. By now the marines were already hurrying inside the room with their guns and swords out. Luckily it as still dark so her and Shachi weren't really visible as they were hiding under the table of the control panel.

"Are you alright?" She heard the mechanic's voice not far from her.

"Still alive at least." Miyako whispered back, checking for any injuries but she felt neither pain nor could see any blood on her.

Two flashes of light appeared as the marines used their flashlights to look around and find the pirates in hiding. One of the marines stepped forward with his sabre out and yelled into the darkness. "Heart Pirates, we know you are in here! Surrender at once, you have nowhere to run! You're trapped like rats here!" There was obvious sneer in his voice even if it could hardly be seen due to darkness.

There was no response. But suddenly a shadow moved through the darkness. One of the marines quickly turned the flashlight in that direction but there was nothing there. The figure had already disappeared. The marine swallowed loudly in the quiet room and moved onwards though very cautiously. Suddenly another shadow passed, this time right through the light and the marines fired at it instantly. But as soon as it was seen, the figure was gone and swallowed into the darkness again.

"They're too fast!" One of the marines holding the flashlight said.

"Tch. Give me that!" The man who yelled before and who was obviously in chair grabbed the flashlight from one of the young marines and stepped forward fearlessly. He scanned the room carefully but a scream of pain from behind interrupted his actions.

The marines quickly turned around but only saw an unmoving body on the floor. It was one of the marines. His colleague knelt down to examine him. "Sir, his dead…he's throat has been cut."

The leader gritted his teeth in anger. "Those bastards…"
Just then, another sound was heard. This time it sounded like a blunt sound as something hit the floor. Everybody turned to see another body on the floor, it's neck bent in an unnatural way.

"Hiiie! They're picking us one by one in the dark! They're gonna kill us!" One of the younger marines started panicking but was grabbed by his collar by the commander. The tall middle aged man with a neatly-combed big beard and piercing eyes stared fiercely at the young marine.

"What are you panicking for you little shit?! Who loses his cool dies; it's as simple as that! If you don't wanna die, get your shit together, stop pissing your pants and do something useful! You understand that marine!?"

"Y-Yes sir!" It seems the youngster soon replaced his fear of pirates with the fear of his commander. He sighed in relief as the bigger man released him not-so-gently and turned to use his flashlight again.

"Everybody, form a circle! No more surprises behind our backs." As the commander ordered, the marines went into a circle formation to protect each other's backs and were carefully scanning their surroundings. They were aiming at the darkness with their rifles but there was nothing out of the ordinary around them…or at least it seemed that way. Everything was eerily quiet, not a shadow in sight.

"Where are they!?"

"Did they already escape through the entrance?"

"No, there are guards outside. They would have sighted them and alarmed us."

"This suspense is killing me! Where are you bastards?! Show yourselves already!"

But they got no response. Everything was still quiet. It was as if the pirates were purposely prolonging this, letting the marines stew in their own fears and doubts. Together with the growing impatience, it was making the marines more nervous by the second.

Suddenly there was a cracking sound of glass on the right and all the marines quickly turned in that direction. The commander of the group lit the space with his flashlight and all the men fired at once. But they made a mistake. Their thin nerves and impatience produced by being picked off by the enemy in the dark made them jumpy and too rash. Their guarded formation broke as all of them turn to fire into the darkness even though there seemed to be nothing there anymore but it was enough to leave their backs open and unprotected once again.

The commander soon noticed the folly of his men and tried to get them back in line. "Get back in formation you fools!" But it was already too late.

A gleam of steel flashed through the darkness, followed by two piercing, golden orbs. That was the last thing the two marine saw before they felt the pain of a sword cutting into their flesh and soon an endless darkness engulfed them. Before anyone had time to react, an equally quick flash of white came at them from the side and in a second tripped one of the marines by kicking him in the shin, taking his gun in the process and striking him with the stock of a rifle hard enough to break the jaw. The marine next to the now unconscious one quickly turned around as he heard the blunt sound but as he turned, he got shot right in the chest. The shot echoed throughout the dark room, sending chills to marines' spines. The two pirates didn't waste time as they once again pulled back and disappeared as quickly as they attacked just moments before. Once again they retreated into the darkness.

"H-How can they even be so organized when they can't even communicate with each other here?" One for the marines asked in shock. True enough, any whisper would be heard in room where everything was so silent and echoed.

"And it's like they can see us in the dark even though we can't see them." Another said, looking around nervously. "What are they?!"

The commander watched his men as they were slowly losing to their fears. He needed to get them to focus again and fast. *It's not so shocking as you guys might think…If my Intel is right then the ones we're fighting with are Shachi, one of the first crewmembers of the Heart Pirates and Burning-Eyed Miyako, the samurai from Wano. We don't have much information about her yet but it seems she can at least use Kenbunshoku Haki, which explains how she can move so well in the dark and pinpoint my men. They are both strong members of the Heart Pirates even though it pains me to admit it. It's obvious how they work…It's just plain teamwork. They judge the situation and decide on the best course of action but they also know what the other one will do even without communicating with them. So they know what to do and just act on it…they work separately each from their position but they're so well synchronized they still end up working together when attacking. They just have to trust the their partner and believe in what the other will do.*

"At this rate we'll-" One of the marines started, cutting off the commander's thoughts.

"That's enough." The said commander didn't even let his subordinate finish that ominous sentence. His voice was surprisingly calm. "We're not dealing with amateurs, we're dealing with the Heart Pirates after all. I didn't think we would have to do this but…We have to call for backup. We have to call them." The commander didn't look nor sound pleased about what he said at all. You would expect some kind of relaxation when the word back up was involved but it only seemed to make the tension around the men grow more. The men looked at each other with uncertain expressions. Then one of them took out his den den mushi and said something in it.

"Listen carefully men! Our objective now is to slow these bastards down as much as possible. We need to keep them here! Nobody leaves this control room until they arrive, you hear!" The commander stared fiercely at his six remaining men.

"Aye, sir!" The marines seemed to strengthen their resolve.

"In the end, it's just like he said it will be…" The commander mumbled to himself before taking out his custom made sword in one hand and holding a holster in the other.

And just then as the group finally pulled itself together a little, a voice was heard for the first time. It was a woman's voice, cold and sharp as the sword she wielded. "Have you decided to get more serious? In that case, it is time for us to get serious too. We can't waste any more time on you here."

The marines opened their eyes wide as they searched for the direction of the voice. The commander gulped as he thought of something. *It's impossible* Even so he looked up and moved his flashlight to follow. Just as he did, for only a second he saw the woman on the ceiling, holding onto the lamp with one hand and clutching a sword ready to swung at them in the other. He only had time to yell out of word as the woman leaped down at them with her katana in front of her. "FIRE!" The guns of the still shocked and confused marines filled the room with noise and gun powder while the metal of the incoming sword reflected in their eyes, coming closer and closer down on them.

~…..~

"Huh? Did you just hear something? It sounded like screams."

Two marine guards were standing in front of the armory.

"Hm..the lights went down. It seems it's time for Plan B." The other, much taller marine said in a thoughtful voice.

The shorter one grinned as his eyes seemed to have a mischievous sparkle in them. "I guess we better get ready then too."

On better inspection the two marines looked very similar to certain two head medics of the Heart Pirates crew. The one known as Joshua scratched his head over the marine cap, some of his messy red hair falling down on his face out of the confinements of the hat.

"Let's go then." The taller one, with strangely colored, light blue, hair grinned as well and took out what looked like a lock pick. He crouched down at the lock of the armory door and started working.

"Will you be able to do this in the dark?" Josh questioned rather skeptically.

"Don't doubt my abilities. Go stand guard instead." Cody answered still smirking confidently.

~…..~

"Captain, captain, the power is out!" The polar bear walked quickly after his captain, nervously looking all around him. Due to his animal vision, he could see much better than the humans and even Law, but that didn't seem to lighten up his nervous emotions.

"Yes, I see that Bepo." Law simply answered and continued walking as if the darkness wasn't bothering him one bit. "Since we've already been discovered, Shachi must've moved to Plan B."

"Will we really be alright?" Bepo sounded even more depressed than usual. He was worried for his nakama, of course. He didn't like this place one bit. There was an eerie sensation coming from this research laboratory. He didn't know what Vegapunk was researching here but a part of him didn't want to know.

His captain was silent for a while. It only made Bepo more nervous, but then he suddenly spoke. "Bepo, have trust in your nakama. They've all become much stronger now."

For a while, the first mate seemed surprised, but then a feeling of slight shame crept inside him. How could he even doubt that his friends wouldn't be alright. Of course they would! "Of course captain! I believe in them!" There was no uncertainty in his strong voice now.

*tap tap tap*

A sound of someone approaching echoed through the dark, seemingly empty hall. Both Law and Bepo turned their heads towards the sound. There was a hallway on their right, connecting to theirs and just as dark. But at the end there was a shape, an outline standing in the dark.

Bepo was the first to recognize the shape as his eyes worked better in the dark than Law's. "It's a person!" He exclaimed.

"Indeed I am." By the voice the two pirates could decipher he was a man. His voice sounded light and relaxed; you could almost hear the clear amusement in it. The shape in the dark started moving and the man walked towards them. His pace didn't seem cautious at all; he just strolled towards them as if he saw old friends he wanted to greet.

On the other hand, Bepo was already stiff and ready for anything. Law looked more relaxed but his sharp eyes were cautiously following every movement the man made, ready to dodge or attack if need be.

When the man got close enough for Law and Bepo to see him, they noticed he was wearing a marine uniform. But it wasn't the usual kind; he's uniform was black instead of pure white and the marine logo was a bloody color of red. He had a red and black jacket over his shirt and a same colored cap on his head. The cap hid his eyes from view until he looked up at the two pirates, showing two amused brown orbs and a grin on his face. He looked like the whole situation was amusing to him, as if he was aware of something that Law and Bepo didn't know about.

Law certainly didn't like the look on that man's face. He's whole persona was showing that he was different than the rest of the plain marines in this place. "Who are you?" Law knew they didn't have time for chit-chat but he also knew this guy won't just leave them be without a fight.

"Me? You could say I'm….reinforcements." As he said the last sentence, the young man's grin got even wider.

~…~

Miyako cleaned the blood of her katana with a piece of the marine's shirt before putting the sword back into its sheath. She was standing outside of the control room, two marine guards at her feet. They were supposed to let no one and nothing in or out of the room, but the two pirates proved too much of a challenge for them after all. After taking care of a surprisingly stubborn group of marines in the control room, Shachi and Miyako went to deal with the ones outside, finally free to proceed with their plan of escape.

The mechanic soon joined Miyako by her side as he made sure all the marines were taken care of. "We should go. I still remember what that big marine commander said into his den den mushi and I don't like it; I think they were expecting someone to come help them."

Miyako nodded, agreeing with the man "Yes, good thing we were fast enough before that happens. We don't need anything else slowing us down." As she said that Miyako felt the familiar feeling with her observational Haki, as if something was approaching. She only had a second to turn her head in that direction as they saw a bright light coming towards them through the darkness.

"Get away!" Shachi yelled and jumped, together with Miyako, as the explosion suddenly destroyed the ground under their feet.

Miyako coughed as the dust and smoke engulfed her lungs for a while and clouded her vision. Her eyes that were already so used to the darkness hurt from the bright flash that blinded her for a second. The blast had knocked her down on the ground and she needed some time to pull herself together, but then she was surprised to suddenly see the damage that explosion made. Next to her was a big hole and the corridor was missing for a good 10 meters. Underneath, in the hole were the floors ruins and Miyako looked down to see something white trapped inside them. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was. "Shachi!" She yelled but got no response. Then after a few seconds that seemed like hours, a visible hand finally moved indicating he was alive. Miyako let out the breath she was unconsciously holding. "Shachi are you ok?!"

The mechanic coughed much like she did previously and then moved again. With a little bit of grunting he managed to shove a piece of a big rock from his and get himself out of the ruins. "I'm alright!" He yelled back after hearing the worry in Miyako's voice. But soon after he said that he realized that his leg was stuck under a particularly big boulder. For now it was just stuck between some rocks but Shachi knew if he tried to shove that heavy boulder away, it would crush he's leg right away. The only option was for someone to lift it but it was too heavy and he couldn't even try it in his current sitting position. "Uhh….scratch that. I'm stuck!"

"Stuck….?" Miyako gasped out, looking at her friend down below.

"Miyako, get the captain! With his ope ope powers he'll have no problem taking care of this boulder. It's too heavy for you to lift it by yourself anyway." Shachi looked up at Miyako and then down at his own den den mushi, which was completely destroyed by the fall. "I would do it myself but…"

Miyako knew the mechanic was right and that they had to hurry. They had already lost too much of precious time here and the more they stay in this base the more harder it will be for them to escape it. She knew all that but…For quite some time she was noticing someone coming towards her and by the killing intent she could feel around them, she knew she could neither leave or do anything. She stood up slowly as a big silhouette appeared through the smoke, once again unsheathing her katana. Her expression instantly became colder and harder, her eyes piercing towards the unknown man. *I'm sorry Shachi, just wait here for a while…I'll get help soon.*

The heavy footsteps rang throughout the hall and soon as the smoke cleared out a man stepped in front of Miyako. He was on the edge of the hole dividing the hallway, while Miyako was on the other side. He was big and muscular, a big marine coat draped on his bare shoulders like a cape. Instead of snow white, it was black with a red marine symbol on it. His eyes were covered by sunglasses even though it was dark here and there was a big scar on his face, beginning from the top of his forehead all the way down to across one side of his mouth. His face looked gruff and unshaved, with silver hair that showed his middle-age. But even if he was around 40tish, he was far from weak or elderly. His toned body showed it clearly since he wasn't wearing a shirt, probably because it was hard to find one big enough for his torso. But what caught Miyako's eye the most was a large weapon that he held in one hand and against his shoulder. It looked like a large cannon made from metal and wood. There was smoke coming out if it, indicating it was used recently. *Must be what made this explosion…it's powerful.* Miyako narrowed her eyes but the cold, piercing look still remained as she stared at the man silently.

„Ooh, what do we have here? Little missy, you're not one of the marines." The man finally talked in a deep, rumbling voice. A small smirk formed on his lips.

„To be honest, you don't look like the rest of the marines yourself." Miyako answered shortly in a rather cold tone, not wanting to waste time on idle chit-chat.

The man grinned at her words, which made the vains on his thick neck pop out. „I guess we are not your ordinary marines, you can say we're...special forces." The man's smirk never left his face.

„We?" That part interested Miyako but also gave her a bad feeling. *Are there more of these guys around? I can't let them get close to Shachi...but we can't waste anymore time here either.* Miyako's eyes narrowed. *It doesn't matter…I'll have to take them all down no matter how many of them are there.*

"Hehe yeah…We. But don't worry yourself Little missy. For a girly like you, I am more than enough."

Miyako narrowed her eyes again, this time because of the man's patronizing tone and words. "Do not underestimate a samurai from Wano, even if they are female. Or you will regret your words dearly." The warning was accompanied by a suddenly heavy tension in the air, as Miyako released her warrior's spirit towards her opponent, filled with killing intent.

"Ooh, you're pretty serious. Did I offend you? But I wonder if you can really do it…after all it seems you're too distracted to fight me openly. Could it be because of your friend down there?" The man's smirk turned into a wide grin and even though Miyako couldn't see his eyes due to the sunglasses, she was sure he had a sadistic expression on his face. It was clear as she felt the sudden killing intent coming from him like earlier. "Then…should I help you focus…by getting rid of that distraction first?"

Miyako instantly realized what he meant as he aimed his portable cannon down the hole and towards the mechanic. "Shachi!" The light flashed again, blinding and painful as the first time.

The explosion echoed through the halls along with the bright light. Then no sooner as it begun, the light disappeared and everything went quiet. The man was still standing at the edge of the hole, looking down. He whistled as if impressed, but coming from him it only sounded mocking. "I'm impressed you managed to do that…"

Miyako was now standing down below, in front of Shachi who was staring at the scene with a surprised expression, propping himself up on his elbows as far as his trapped leg would let him. The girl was standing protectively in front of him, shielding him from any more upcoming attacks from above. She had her trusty katana out and holding it in front of herself with both hands.

The man just looked down at both of them as if looking at two bugs in need for squashing. "Who would've thought you'd be strong enough to cut through it. Little missy isn't as weak and helpless with that sword as I previously thought, hm? But if you managed to do that then you already know right…? The extent of my power."

Shachi looked up the samurai girl and noticed her hands were gripping tightly at her katana and shaking pretty fiercely. "Miya-chan…?" There was obvious worry in his voice as he softly called out for her.

Miyako never turned her eyes away from her enemy as she continued to glare upwards even as she spoke back to Shachi. "I'm fine Shachi-san. That guy uses his own haki as his weapon. The cannon is only a conduct, which makes his haki accumulate and then adds pressure before firing it out."

"Wha-? You mean he has been firing his haki at us?!" Shachi's eyes widened under his sunglasses. "But to create such massive explosions…what kind of crazy amount of haki does he have?! How can he use so much of it. Even captain would be out cold if he used that much!"

Miyako swallowed hard at Shachi's words, knowing he was right. She nodded in agreement. "When he tried to attack you, I managed to cut at his haki with my own, using my sword. You could say the principle is the same. However, that blast of haki was so strong I thought my hands would break just from cutting it. They're still shaking…" Miyako looked down at her hands for a moment, trying hard to make her hands stop shaking and calm her breath down. But that impact was so strong she could still feel the aftermath in her arms. Even her shoulders felt slightly numb. "If I do that one more time…I'm not sure I would be strong enough to cut through it next time." Miyako pictured herself disappearing inside that big explosion, her body tearing to shreds. She quickly chased away those thoughts before fear started to consume her…Samurai were never to let their emotions get the best of them in a match, or else they would become completely useless. That's one of the first things her master taught her.

"Shachi-san, how is your leg, is it broken? Can you walk?" The girl turned to other topics, making her forget for a while the ominous feeling in her gut.

"I don't think it's broken, but it does hut a lot…my ankle might be sprained but I am no doctor. But that doesn't matter as long as this piece of rock is here." The mechanic gritted his teeth with a frustrated expression as he stared at the boulder keeping his leg in place.

"I'm going to try and cut that boulder. It'll be risky and I have to be careful not to cut your leg but...it's a better chance than staying trapped her with this guy trying to kill us."

"You're going to cut rock? B-but...can you do that?" There was uncertainty in Shachi's voice, perhaps due to the fact he never saw Miyako cut something so hard before, or perhaps if she fails his leg will be cut clean off. And they didn't have time to stop the bleeding...the weird marine guy would kill them before that. So if Miyako fails, he's options were; either die by a cannon loaded with some insanely strong haki or by blood loss. Shachi gulped at the thought. Neither sounded attractive to him.

Miyako looked at him with a small, reassuring smile. "It's not 'can I?' I have to. I won't let you die, Shachi-san."

For a while Shachi was silent, as if looking at the girl in slight surprise. Then suddenly he turned his head away, blushing like an idiot and with a foolish wide grin on his face. "Miya-chan, when you say it like that…and with that face..hehe…" He couldn't stop the grin on his face getting wider as he looked away embarrassingly.

That made Miyako lose her focus for just a second as she too felt the stung of embarrassment due to the mechanic's odd behavior all of a sudden. "S-Shachi-san, this isn't the time for that! Be serious!" The girl scolded the grinning man loudly, reminding him of the situation they were in.

"Oy, oy, do you really think you have time to look away and mess around?" The gruff voice of the large marine echoed through the dark room and Miyako noticed movement up in the shadows where the men stood. He was preparing to fire again.

She remembered the beginning of her training, when her master gave her a wooden pole to practice on. "When you are able to make a clean cut through it, come to me again." With those words he left her in the backyard of his dojo. And she did stay…practicing all through the night. Practicing for days and still unable to cut it. She remembered that the frustration had brought her to the brink of tears; the first time she really felt like crying in her life of 8 years. After a while her muscles were so sore and her bloody hands so wounded from broken blisters she could barely hold the heavy katana, which was made for adults in the first place. When she thought she couldn't handle it anymore she heard a laugh behind her and quickly turned around.

"Hahaha, giving up already, runt?" Her master walked to her, amused at the sight, which she found completely cruel.

"Master, I can't do it! It's impossible!"

"Hn, so you're going to give up, runt? Well I suppose that's alright. This just shows the extent of your seriousness and ability. If this is all you can do, it just means this is all the work you are willing to give into this." As he said that, her master didn't show any anger or disappointment in his voice or expression. And yet, it was still enough to sting at her heart deeply. Suddenly she felt the urge to fight once again.

"I-I'm not giving up! There's no way this stupid piece of wood will beat me!" A new fire was born inside of the 8 year-old girl's heart.

Suddenly her master grinned as if pleased. "Is that so, that's good then." He came closer and took the katana from Miyako's hands. "Listen, kid. All you need is will! Even before you become a swordsman…no, even before you become a decent human, it all starts with will!"

"Will?" Miyako blinked at him puzzled as she looked up at her master, suddenly intrigued.

The man nodded and grinned again. "That's right! If you have the will, the will to move on, the will to cut, nothing can stand in your way! It is the will you need, to become strong. Until one day when there will be nothing you can't cut down on your path!"

As her master spoke, Miyako's eyes widened and gleamed in excitement as if she was a child listening to the most magical bedtime story. But for her, this man's words were even more than that. It was something she would remember and cherish forever….something that helped her pave her way of the samurai. "Like the will to be strong…I'll definitively do it, master! I will become strong! Strong enough to make my own destiny! I will become a samurai you can be proud of and nobody will say that I am just a girl anymore!" Little Miyako's eyes were full of determination now, all pain from before long forgotten.

Her master looked a bit surprised by the sudden outburst but didn't let it show. Instead he roughly ruffled the girl's hair. "Don't get ahead of yourself, kid! You need to eat much more rice before you can even utter such words!" He turned around and walked away, leaving Miyako with the pole she had yet to cut in half. The girl watched her master as he disappeared but never saw the well hidden smile that was lingering on his face.

Miyako cursed under her breath as she saw the big marine preparing to fire again and then looked back at the boulder. *That's right, I have the will…I have the will to protect my friend! And with that, there is nothing that can stand in my way! This little rock is nothing!* Miyako swung down at the rock, with force but still careful to stop the katana at the right moment, before it goes into Shachi's leg. It needed a lot of self-restraint and good judgment being able to stop at the right time but Miyako had no doubt in her heart now.

Only seconds later, the marine shot his cannon again, the bright light enveloping everything for the third time. But by the time the haki hit, Miyako had already cut the boulder and jumped with Shachi to the side.

"Wah, you did it!" The mechanic looked surprised and happy, but that expression soon faded and he flinched in pain as he tried to put more weight on that leg.

Miyako helped him lean on her shoulder. As the bright light faded she looked at her surroundings for the first time. It seemed they were in a lower level, in another hallway. There wasn't much room to move, which put them at an even bigger disadvantage. A loud thud got her attention and Miyako looked in front her to see that the marine has effortlessly jumped down below to their level.

"Tch, you just won't stay still will you? Just like little bugs, jumping around….but now it's time to squash you, little bugs-" The man grinned sadistically.

Miyako noticed a door to her left and jumped towards them, hoping they were unlocked, just as the man fired again. The blast went thought the hallway and destroyed the wall at the end, leaving only rubble behind. Thankfully, just before Miyako and Shachi were destroyed along with it, the girl pushed her friend towards the doors, opening them in the process and they both fell inside a dark room before the blast could hit them.

"This looks like an old storage, it's pretty big." Shachi commented, still holding onto Miyako for support.

The girl nodded and quickly looked around. Everything was full of shelves and crates, making a whole labyrinth in the room. They continued walking until Miyako found some crates and put Shachi down so he could rest. She was already panting a bit, not used to his weight that she had to support for so long. "This will be a good place to hide. You're in no position to fight, Shachi-san. I'll lure him away, and you sneak out and meet up with the others as soon as you find a chance to. I'll keep this guy busy."

Shachi didn't look like he liked her plan one bit. "No way! You can't expect me to just leave you here, Miya-chan! I have to protect you as your senior! And besides, if something happens to you the captain would kill me!"

Miyako was a bit surprised but felt glad that she had such a nakama on her side, trying to help her. But the mention of Law only strengthen Miyako's resolve. Shachi was one of Law's closest crewmembers and friends. She couldn't even imagine how Law would feel if something would happen to Shachi. That seemingly stoic man probably wouldn't let it show but inside he would be thorn for sure. "Shachi-san!" Her voice was more reprimanding now and she gave him a harsh look. "Right now, if you stay and fight in your condition you would be more of a burden to me than of help! We would just both end up dead. " Harsh words but it needed to be said. Her voice became a bit softer. "Our best bet is for you to bring the others here. That's the best way you can help right now." It seemed Shachi wanted to protest again but Miyako cut him off, giving a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I won't die so easily."

It seemed there was nothing more the mechanic could say after that. He just nodded with a sigh. "I understand. Be careful, Miya-chan. I'll meet with captain and Bepo and bring them here as quickly as I can."

Both pirates quickly quieted down and turned their heads as they heard footsteps coming towards the storage house.

„He's here..." Shachi's voice became darker and even more serious.

Miyako's expression hardened as she looked in the direction where the heavy footsteps were coming from. They echoed against the stone floor, getting closer and closer.

The big marine slammed the door of the storeroom open with his steel boot, sending the metal doors flying from their hinges and into the quiet room. He looked around for any signs of movement when suddenly a quick shadow passing caught his eye. He quickly fired in the direction where it disappeared behind high metal shelves. The pieces of metal and wood flew in every direction. The man saw something floating in the air lightly, falling to the ground, something different than the other materials. It was cloth. The marine grinned in satisfaction; it was a piece of clothing the girl was wearing. The man gripped the piece of cloth before it fell on the ground and gripped it tightly in his hand, grinning. „Heh, of course, that must've been a direct hit after all." Sure he at least hurt the woman, the marine strolled away from the entrance and towards the ruble he just created, still careful of any sudden attacks. However, he's grinning face fell a bit when he looked at the ruble but didn't see anyone there. There was a sound behind him and something caught his eye so the man quickly turned to see Shachi exiting the room as quickly as he could on his injured leg. The marine cursed and turned to follow him but saw a flash of metal with the corner of his eye. Quickly he turned to block the slashing katana with his large cannon.

„You're not going anywhere." Miyako said coldly.

„Heh...letting him escape by sacrificing yourself? How noble of you." The man grinned but it looked different than before...more impatient.

„Not really...since I have no intention of dying here." The woman answered and quickly spun around, attacking the large man at his side. The marine quickly used the cannon again to block Miyako's attack once more. For a large man with a heavy weapon, he was pretty fast even in close combat.

Miyako smirked. „What's wrong? Isn't this the perfect time to fire your haki at me?"

The man gritted his teeth a bit annoyed but said nothing. She didn't know with what kind of eyes he was looking at her under those sunglasses but she could guess it wasn't pretty. He looked more pissed than before.

„I knew it...You have to wait a while for your haki to accumulate again. That's why there was always so long a wait after every shot. If not, you would've shot us while Shachi was still stuck down there." Miyako watched the man's face for any sign of acknowledgement as she still put pressure and strength with the katana which was blocked by his cannon.

The man didn't say anything on the subject though, instead he growled menacingly. „I can't believe I let that little bug escape me...but don't think you outsmarted me little pirates, luring me closer into the room like that. I'll take care of you real quick, little missy, and then hunt down your little friend." The man grinned sadistically again. „He won't go far with that leg anyway."

The man couldn't really see well Miyako's expression in the dark, but he could feel the sudden intense pressure appearing around her as her killing intent grew even bigger. The air around them seemed colder and thicker, almost suffocating. Her head was lowered, her expression hidden behind her long bangs. "I will…make you regret those words." Her voice was sharp and sliced the air just like her katana would.

The man just stared at the girl expressionlessly, impossible to guess what he was thinking, and his overly toned body tensed as if preparing for something. "Bring it on."

~…..~

"Reinforcements?" Law repeated after the strange man who was still smiling mischievously.

"Yes, we are here especially for you. Don't you feel honored?" The man gave a slight bow in a greeting.

Law's eyes narrowed suspiciously. *Especially for us..? They knew we were coming?! But how? Don't tell me….Joker betrayed us?!* His expression didn't show any of the concerned thoughts he was experiencing though, and instead stared at the young marine coldly. "How did you know we would come here?"

The man chuckled. "I little birdie told us. But before that, let me introduce myself properly; after all we aren't barbarians." The man smiled as politely as possible and put his hat lower to cover his eyes. Even though there was a big smile on his face, it wasn't reflected in his eyes at all. Hi brown irises remained somewhat numb-looking, like in a dead fish. My name is Will and I'm currently #4 in Annox7 . But don't let my number fool you, I am quite strong."

"Annox7, never heard of it." This time it was Bepo who spoke. Until now just quietly examined the stranger with suspicion, trying to figure him out. He couldn't really tell much though. He thought since the man was a marine, he would surely feel the hostile intent coming from him but strangely he didn't. However, that didn't calm Bepo, only made him more nervous. Because one thing Bepo could tell immediately on the man; the strong smell of blood around him.

"Well I'm not surprised, after all we are an organization working for the marines that only comes out in special situations. Though you could say we are more like mercenaries than marine soldiers…do you understand?" As he asked that, the young marine pierced Law with his eye, and his smile suddenly reminded the pirate captain of a snake coiling around its prey. "We do the marines' dirty work…" The man explained, still smiling ominously.

Law's eyes narrowed. "In other words, when they need to take out the trash, they call you." There was clear despising in Law's tone.

The man laughed amused. "Don't be so hard on yourself." The man stepped closer to the pair and tightened his ponytail. "Well then, I'm starting to get bored with this conversation…I think I'm gonna kill you now." The smile disappeared from his face and was replaced by a cold, expressionless stare towards the two pirates.

Bepo instinctively tensed and growled, prepared to start combat.

Law also took out his nodachi. Suddenly his calm expression changed, as he smirked ominously. "I don't know what this Annox7 is but you are a fool if you think you alone can beat the two of us." He raised his arm and in an instant created the blue sphere, encircling everyone and everything. The sphere even went through the walls, as it was bigger than the narrow hallway in which they were currently standing.

But then a tense feeling appeared deep in Law's gut and a chill went down Bepo's spine. The suspicious man called Will gave them such a look that both pirates instantly knew something was up. In a low voice and a devilish grin, Will spoke to them; "Who said I was alone."

That feeling became stronger and both Bepo and Law suddenly jumped aside, right in time, as white spikes appeared from the floor, destroying the ground and piercing the air where the pirates stood only seconds before. They both watched as the spikes disappeared and turned into slivers that almost looked like white dough as they returned back to their master.

"Ah…I missed."

Law's eyes widened and Bepo gasped.

"Captain!" The polar bear called as if he wanted to test if Trafalgar was really seeing the same thing as he was. "It's him!"

"What is he doing here…?" Law mumbled almost to himself, still not believing their bad luck. They have no time to waste yet the worst opponent just appeared before them. "Mr. Abaddon if I remember correctly."

The tall and eerily quiet man was bent down, his hand inside the stone floor. He obviously tried to use his dangerous limbs as weapons by traveling underground, trying to pull a surprise attack on them. When it failed, Abaddon retracted back his arms as stood up, in all his height which was more than 2 meters. The pasty white man looked as hollow as ever, as if it was only a doll, as he moved towards them.

Suddenly a voice was heard behind them. "Don't forget about me." In their momentary surprise, the two pirates completely forgot of the threat still behind them. Will used the opportunity to attack without giving them time to even think. With a flick of his wrists, two kunai came out of his sleeves and right into his hand. He threw them at Law while he was still focusing on Abaddon.

"Captain, look out!" Bepo realized Will's intentions and yelled to warn his captain but it was already too late. The only thing he could do is to jump in front of Law as protection. "Hiii-ya! Ya!" With two battle cries he used the sides of his pawed hands to deflect the kunai one after the other, but on his dismay he didn't notice that there was a shadow kunai hiding right next to the other one. The third kunai lodged itself deep inside Bepo's right shoulder and the polar bear cried out in surprise and pain.

Law, who's focus returned to Will and Bepo, widened his eyes as he saw his first mate's blood splatter on the orange jumpsuit. "Bepo!" The captain called out for the polar bear in fear of the worst.

"Ghn!" The said polar bear gritted his teeth and pulled out the kunai from his shoulder. The metal weapon made a loud noise as it dropped on the floor. "I'm fine captain, something like this isn't enough to stop me." Bepo glared at Will who was smirking in front of him. "Captain, you take care of that creepy Abaddon guy, I'll take care of this one. It'll be piece of cake!" Bepo's confidence in a fight and in usual life was completely different. Usually he was enveloped in low self-esteem and negative thoughts, but when it came to keeping his crewmates and captain safe, he was entirely different.

Law was still a bit indecisive on the matter but when the bear gave him a firm nod, all Law could do was nod back and have faith in his first mate.

"You took something from Vegapunk's lab didn't you? That's the reason you came here…So what did you take?" Will stopped attacking further for the moment as he looked at Law.

The pirate captain didn't say anything. Him and Bepo stood back to back with each other, both focusing on their own opponent. He didn't have time for small chit-chat any longer. Not with Abaddon here, a thorn in his side ever since Jade Island where they first met him.

Will was relentless though. "How about giving it back, hmm?" The polite smile from before appeared on his face again.

"Tch. Are you a fool?" Law spared an annoyed glance towards Will who just wouldn't shut up. "Should I give it back just because you tell me to?" His annoyed look soon turned into a glare. "I will warn you, however, I don't like people ordering me around." He had enough of that with Joker, he didn't need it from some snotty brat in a marine uniform as well.

"Ooh…should I test if your bite is as good as your bark then?" Two more throwing knives appeared in Will's hands and he threw them towards Law's head. But once again, they were blocked by the first mate.

"Haya! The one you are fighting is me!" The bear had no intention of letting Will through and for the first time, the marine's expression turned into an annoyed one.

"So it seems…" He muttered under his breath. Then his face turned distorted into a sadistic, sick grin and once again those eyes looked like a predator's, eyeing his prey. "In that case I have no choice…I'll just kill you first!"

The marine charged at Bepo and he was extremely fast. Even Bepo got a surprise as it seemed the man closed on him in a flash. A right fist came towards Bepo's snout, but the bear stepped back and managed to block it with his paw. However, a stinging feeling enveloped Bepo's palm and son pain followed as cuts appeared on his hand.

"Wha?" With a confused, painful gasp, Bepo jumped backwards and looked at his hand. The palm had several cuts that were bleeding. His black eyes darted back to Will and his fist, but there was nothing there – no weapon that he could've used. Nor did Bepo feel any. Only the usual feeling of a bare fist bumping into his big paw.

Will gave the bear a satisfied smirk but didn't give him any answer to Bepo's unasked question. He didn't even give him time to ask. Instead, the marine charged at the bear again. This time he used his other hand to form a fist and try for Bepo's head but once again the bear dodged. The fist only missed his snout for a centimeter and Bepo could feel the wind on his fur created by Will's swift attack. But suddenly, blood started coming out of Bepo's nose and he stumbled backwards in confusion. *W-what's going on?! I'm sure I dodged that attack!* The bear wiped the blood from his snout but the red blood still stained his snow white fur. He tried to get some time to think, keeping a fair distance from the young marine. But Will was faster than expected and didn't give the pirate time to pull himself together. *I can't block but I also can't dodge?! What is this? Is he a fruit user?* But Bepo doubted it was that…there was something very familiar about the power Will had shown him, almost as if he felt it before.

"Bepo!" Law called out when he saw his first mate stumbling down the hall. They were pulling away from Law and Abaddon. Was this Will's plan all along? To separate them and then lead one of them into a trap? Trafalgar wanted to follow after them but if he turned his back to his own enemy, he was doomed. Abaddon wouldn't let him go. He stared at the said man who had turned the end of one of his limbs into a white scythe and swung it at Law when the pirate seemed distracted. Thankfully Law wasn't like before...he got stronger now. He used his nodachi to block, transferring his haki into the sword just like Miyako had taught him. There was a clashing noise as two hard, sharp substances met.

The masked-covered head tilted to the side as Abaddon quietly stared at him. "Haki?" The scythe retreated towards its master. "You're…stronger…How?" His voice sounded weak as always, but now also confused.

Law didn't see the point in asking such a question. Neither did he understand why was there confusion in Abaddon's voice. "Isn't it simple human nature…for every human to want to improve and become stronger?"

"Human…nature..? What is that? I…don't…understand? Is it…inside humans, this…human nature?" Abaddon's head was still tilted to the side as if a child trying to understand something but unable to. Law couldn't see inside the two black voids on Abaddon's mask but he was sure, Abaddon's eyes staring into him intently, following his every move. Somehow, that thought gave him an uneasy feeling.

"Inside..? I guess you could say that..?" Law didn't know what to exactly answer to this person…if he could even be called a person. He certainly didn't act like one. He didn't have time for philosophical or biological debates of human nature and such; this whole scene started seeming ridiculous to him.

"I…see." Abaddon didn't stop however. And this time his voice, even though still slow and quiet, sounded different. It sounded more cheerful. "It is…inside. So if I open you up…I can see it, this...human nature. I can take...it, and then...I will have a human nature too." His voice sounded more excited than before. Just like a child's who was about to obtain a treat. But combined with the content of his statements, it just sounded disturbing. It reminded Law of something he saw in Vegapunk's laboratory. While he was looking for the research notes for the experiment he needed to steal for Joker, he opened one of the folders and found something familiar inside. He knew Vegapunk was here working on a lot of experiments but it still surprised him to read about that one. It was about Abaddon; he was one of Vegapunk's experiments created in this laboratory.

Vegapunk found Abaddon as a child, abandoned and starved, half-dead. He didn't have any memories, not even any recollection of his own name. Vegapunk's notes said, it seemed he was abused as a child and probably abandoned by his family. So Vegapunk took him in. By that time, Vegapunk has just started working on artificial, man-made devil fruits. Abaddon was a code name of his first experiment…but the child took that name and used it as its own. Abaddon was Vegapunk's first experiment on artificial devil fruits. By the notes, it seemed Vegapunk was against that idea but the Government ordered him to make that child first human to test that experiment on. When Law thought about it, it made sense. They probably thought the child was a good opportunity; no family or anyone to search for him. For the rest of the world, that child didn't even exist. Even if the experiment would fail, nobody would know; nobody would be able to find out about one dead no-name child. It was cruel, but practical. Vegapunk had no choice but to obey the World Government. However the experiment went wrong and the child was stuck in its devil fruit form, unable to become a human again. The Government isolated him here and Vegapunk continued to do experiments and research on him. Slowly, they had trained him into a perfect weapon for the marines; that's all he became to them. The child soon grew into a man, but he had no contact with the human world, and so his mentality stayed that of a child. The closest he had to a parent was Vegapunk. Gradually, he was allowed to go on missions, outside the lab, only to be used as a weapon for the marines to use.

*It is a pretty pathetic existence you live, Abaddon. No wonder you have become like this. However, I am not one to feel sympathy for my enemy. If you stand in my way, I will cut you down, no matter who you are.* Law tightened the grip on his nodachi as he held it in both hands. "You want to cut me open?" A devilish grin appeared on his face. "That should be my line." He cut the air a few times using haki to enhance his attacks but Abaddon blocked the attacks with his scythe. This time he didn't just let it slice him up and then regenerated…he knew fighting a haki user is much different. But the strange man didn't show much regard and concern for his safety as Law thought he would. Abaddon's hands started branching out like three branches of a white willow, until there were a lot of sharp parts that looked like numerous long claws. The finger-like claws stretched towards Law, surrounding him from both sides. But in one swift, circular motion of his sword, Law cut all the claws about to slice him. Abaddon's strange limbs continued to extend and come at him, but the captain just continued slicing them up. *Does he not care what happens to him? He really is just a weapon, his only goal is beating me, no matter what happens to him. Those kind of opponents are dangerous…they're too unpredictable.* Law tried to get closer but every time he would be stopped by Abaddon's attacks, and had to pull back to safety.

"Open…Cut you open…Become human…Father won't look sad anymore…When he looks at me…always, looks sad. Father…not be said…I'll be human…Father!" Abaddon's voice became more loud and frantic as the tentacles just proceeded to come at the pirate captain, enveloping Law. He tried his best to cut all of them, but there were so many. It was becoming hard. He was gradually slowing down, the usage of haki and the sheer amount of claws around him wearing him down. Every now and then he felt a prick on his skin when one of the claws managed to cut him.

One of the parts managed to coil around Law's leg. The captain cut himself free but only to find his other arm restrained. The hall here was pretty big but still there was not enough space to dodge so many of these things. Law looked around to see if there was anything he could use, but the hall was bare. Only metal walls restraining their movements. Then Law got an idea and his eyes narrowed. He made a few cuts, but not at Abbadon. Instead he cut the wall next to the tall man. With a quick movement of Law's finger, a large chunk of the wall came off and went straight into Abaddon. The metal crashed into Abaddon with both force and speed, sending him into the other wall and squashing him.

Anyone else would think that would've surly killed him, but Law still had his doubts. He knew Abaddon wouldn't die so easily. He slowly walked towards the crashed metal wall but stopped when white spikes pierced through the wall and tried to go after Law. He cut them down but soon the whole metal chunk came flying towards the pirate. Once again, Law cut the air with his nodachi, splitting the metal in two. The two sides missed him by an inch as they flew past and crashed onto the floor behind him.

Law could see Abaddon's slender, tall frame rising up slowly. His black suit was cut and destroyed in some places and so was the part of the tragicomic mask he was wearing. Now only the tragic part remind, where the mouth frowned back at Law. Instead of the other part, Trafalgar could see parts of Abaddon's real face. It looked uneven and distorted, with numerous little scars on it. It was pale and pasty just like the rest of his skin. The eye was small and completely black; no irises, no sclera…nothing but a void of black darkness, almost as if pulling you in when staring at you. It seems Abaddon had some trouble getting on his feet, but finally managed to, as some inapprehensible sounds started coming from his mouth.

Law couldn't understand what the tall man was trying to say but at this point it didn't matter. The pirate captain was panting a little from exhaustingly using so much haki to cut at Abaddon's appendages. He needed to finish this, check on Bepo and then meet up with the others. There was still a long way to go to their meeting point.

Suddenly, all those branches of claws combined into an unbelievable, big mass that barely fit into the big hallway. Abaddon was still screeching and making hacking sounds now and then. The mass flew through the hall towards Law in a surprising speed. "Ghaaa…Kill….KILL!"

Law, on the other hand, stayed composed and cold as always. He gripped his nodachi with both hands while trying to steady his breathing. He could feel his power surging through his body, all the way to his hands and into his sword. The mass was just about to him when he swung his sword and charged in front, right into the enemy's attack. As he hit the strange slivery substance, there was a bit of resistance at first, but his muscles tensed, pooling all his strength into that slice, and soon the sword cut through it. Law continued to charge forward, cutting right into the massive white worm, slashing it in two and coming closer to its source. Soon, Abaddon himself came to view at the end of the white mass.

"Haaaa!" With a loud cry, Law finished cutting the mass and ended up close enough for his finishing attack. He couldn't see anything in Abaddon's one eye; no fear, or surprise, not even his reflection. As if the tall man had no idea what was about to happen, as if he couldn't comprehend the situation. Law put the palm of his hand on Abaddon's chest, right where his heart is. "Mes." With one simple word, a strange feeling mixed with pain came over Abaddon and then a cubical void appeared right where his heart should be.

The man looked at his empty chest and then at the person in front of him. They had a strange cube-like object in their hand…like a translucent box with something inside it. A heart? Why a heart? Once again he looked down his opened chest. "Oh…" Realization hit him and he stared silently at his own still beating heart in the pirate's hand. "Sorry…father…I…failed." His voice was back to its usual quiet tone and broken speech. It seemed he finally calmed down. Abaddon watched as the heart left the pirate's hand and floated above and then the captain swung his sword once and sliced the beating heart in half. Abaddon's body fell to the floor with a blunt thud and his eyes slowly begun to close, still focused on his bleeding heart; before darkness finally enveloped him forever.

Law watched expressionlessly as his old enemy died, before sheathing back the nodachi and resting it on his shoulder. Around him was a mess of pieces of the wall, large cuts and dents in the walls and the floor was pierced in numerous places. It looked like a hurricane of blades went through this place. Law didn't really pay attention to any of that, he just turned around and started walking silently. After a few steps the pirate captain stopped and looked behind him at the tall body on the floor, its heart bleeding in front of it. His eyes stared calm and expressionless as before, even as he said; "Don't worry…you were more of a human than some people out there." With that, the captain of the Heart Pirates turned away again and continued walking down the dark hall.

~….~

Will hit Bepo with a palm of his hand right into the stomach and the bear fell to his knees coughing blood. His big body swayed unsurely and the bear almost hit the ground completely, but with the last of his strength he managed to stand up again. The marine didn't have any mercy for the injured bear however, and kept coming with new, quick attacks.

*I get it now…It's haki. I knew the power seemed familiar to me; it's the same that Law and Miya-chan use.* Bepo continued to somehow dodge Will's attack, trying to put as much distance from himself and the marine as possible. However, he took a few serious hits already and his strength was slowly giving away, as was his body. *Even when he doesn't hit me directly, the blow and the force of his haki transmits almost as if it's surrounding his body and every attack. Even if I block, the haki surrounding the attack damages me. In this situation…what can I do? How can I win against an opponent like this?...Captain…Will I…lose?*

Will briefly stopped his fierce attacks and stood relaxed, out of his fighting pose. He turned his hat so that the rim was in the back and fixed his ponytail. Once again there was a slight smile on his face. "You look like you're ready to give up...why don't you just close your eyes and let me finish it. Don't worry, I'll make it quick." He stopped to look behind him at the dark labyrinth of corridors. "We've gone pretty far from Abaddon and your captain. Abaddon must be finishing too by now…Your captain is already either dead or captured to be taken to the Headquarters, interrogated and executed…just like that pirate kid…aaah…what was it again?...I'm bad with names…Asu? Ace? Whatever." Will continued to ramble in an almost bored tone, as if he wasn't interested in this fight at all. "Aww…And I really wanted to be the one to take down the infamous Surgeon of Death…But that freak Abaddon took the spot." He looked back at Bepo and sighed. "How disappointing…Well you did well surviving this long. But there's only so much you can do by just dodging. Well, let's end this now." The marine started walking towards Bepo, crackling his knuckles and ready for another round.

Bepo stood back up and gritted his sharp teeth, glaring at Will with his small, black eyes. "Don't…*pant*…underestimate…*pant*…captain Law!" He took a fighting pose again even though every part of his body ached and screamed for a rest, but Bepo just couldn't give in yet. He was the first mate of the Heart Pirates. How could he possibly lose here and bring shame to his crewmates. *There has to be a way! I just need to think! He is a haki user and he can enhance his attacks. It's no good blocking him or dodging either. I can't dodge forever anyway and he's too fast while my body is already tired. The only way is to attack him and break through his defenses but I already tried that. He's just too quick; every time he manages to block or dodge me. But I can only face him head on, it's my only option! Fight fire with fire, or so they say...Who said that anyway? Now that I think about it, it makes no sense- Ah! Don't get distracted with stupid things, Bepo! Ah...I'm so stupid, getting distracted like that during a fight…Ah! Don't get depressed either!*

Will stopped for a second and a drop of sweat appeared on his forehead as he looked at the strange bear, whose expressions changed erratically as if having numerous mood swings. "Eehh…This might be a foolish thing to ask now but…Are you ok?" *Is this some kind of preparation for a special attack or something…or a strategy to confuse your opponent…?* Then suddenly he snapped out of it and blinked a few times. *Gah, I got pulled into his pace!* "Whatever, let's finish it!" The marine finally had enough of stalling and charged at the pirate bear.

The sudden change in the young man and the intense killing aura made Bepo become alert once again. *The only way is to use this same power. But can I really do it!? No, I have no choice. I have to do it!*

Will charged and jumped into the air, bringing down his right foot for a kick attack. Bepo dodged to the side and was met with Will's incoming fist. *It's now or never!* Bepo accumulated all his power, making a fist of his own and putting all his strength and skill into his counter punch. *I just have to trust my body to do the rest!* With that thought, the two fists collided in such punches that created a little swirl of air around them. For a moment it seemed like time stood still. Then suddenly Bepo's eyes widened. He felt excruciating pain starting from his knuckles, then wrist, then elbow and going up through his bones and muscles all the way to his shoulder. Cuts formed all over his arm with blood spraying from them, staining his orange jumpsuit. "Gaah!" With a pained scream, Bepo stumbled back, holding his hurt arm with the other one, then fell on the floor from both surprise and force of Will's powerful attack. He could feel his left arm pulsating in pain and he was sure it was broken in some places. The surprised bear just panted on the floor, with wide beady eyes looking up at the marine. "I…I failed!?" There was confusion and despair clear in the bear's voice.

Will tilted his head as an amused grin formed on his face…an amused, sadistic grin. "You actually wanted to straight-on counter my attack with your strength? You may walk and talk like a human, but it seems inside you still have a brain of a simple animal." There was scorn in Will's tone. He was looking down at the fallen pirate with an obvious victorious expression. The marine slowly walked towards the bear and Bepo soon realized there was nowhere to escape. "Now stand still and let me finish this." With a sadistic, preying eyes, the marine stalked towards Bepo; a snake ready to pounce on a wounded bear.

*No…This can't be...I can't die like this. I can't let everyone down! I can't let captain down!* The bear gritted his teeth, but not just in physical pain. What pained him more right now was his heart. Will he really never see his crewmates again…his friends? He knew the moment he pledged allegiance to Trafalgar Law that one day he would face death as a pirate…and he didn't mind dying for Law. But somehow this looked too pathetic of a way to die…they haven't even traveled to the New World yet. The faces of his smiling nakama appeared in his mind; Shachi, Penguin, Miyako, Cody, Josh…so many others…and finally the smirking face of his captain. Law. He could still hear the words his friend said to him such a long time ago.

"Come with me and see for yourself. I'm going to change this world!"

This Trafalgar Law didn't lose any of the confidence his younger version showed that day. He still remembered the young man, resting the same big nodachi on his shoulder and lazily smirking at Bepo, like the man had not one care in this world. But at that moment Bepo was sure that man would one day be able to obtain the legendary One Piece and truly change this world.

"Now, just give up and die…and after that, all your friends will join you anyway." There was a murderous glee in Will's tone as he loomed over Bepo who was pathetically sitting on the floor, still cradling his wounded arm. His head was down, his bear ears lowered in defeat. Will's grin got bigger as he could already taste his victory along with Bepo's blood. He raised his fist into the air, bringing forth enough power to crack Bepo's skull and silence him for good. His fist flew down at the polar bear, ready to make contact.

And then it stopped….no, to say more precisely it was made to stop; by Bepo's own remaining fist that was still healthy. But this time Bepo's hand didn't break, or get injured or anything. The bear didn't even flinch. The bear's head was still lowered down, with a shadow over his dark eyes. He was silent and unmoving. Time seemed to stop for both of them once again.

"Not like this…" A small murmur escaped the bear's mouth.

"Huh?" Will seemed confused more than ever so for once he didn't have any smart remark as an answer.

„I said; there is no way I'll let myself die the likes of you! Not when there's still so much I want to do! I can't die yet!" Bepo was surprisingly loud for a change, quite different than his usual depressed, shy self. But he didn't even notice it himself. Neither did he notice what he had actually done. It seemed the strong will to live really did make Bepo's body act on his own, awaking the dormant power hidden and stewing inside of him. Bepo didn't know how to do it by himself and so he failed the first time but in extreme circumstances as his life was hanging by a thread, his body worked on its own accord, ensuring its survival. Later, Bepo won't really remember what happened and won't know how to explain or repeat the process of calling out the power of haki. But right now, his head seemed completely clear; all other thoughts unnecessary except one; I want to live!

A nervous half-smirk appeared on Will's twitching face. He seemed like he was trying to hide his surprise but was failing. „N-No way..." He tried to make his voice amused like before, but it sounded tense and uncertain now. „You couldn't have possibly...I mean, just some third rate pirate like you-„

„I may be third rate...and awkward, and slow in understanding stuff sometimes, and a weird bear..." Bepo seemed to have lost the point of his words as he continued to number all the bad qualities he thought he had.

*Oy, oy, you're getting carried away...If he talks like that, it almost makes me feel bad for insulting him further...* Will sweat-dropped once again as Bepo pulled him in his own depressed pace again.

„-But even so, Captain entrusted me with an important role of being the Heart Pirates first mate. I can't disappoint him!" The polar bear continued, standing up. *To be honest I have no idea how I did it but this feeling...I'm certain; this is haki! I managed to put exactly the same amount of power into my fist as this guy, nullifying his own attack. I'm not even sure but…my body just reacted on its own.* The bear found new courage and strength, giving Will a defying glare that said he won't be taken down that easily. "I won't give up! I was a fool for even thinking that!"

Will's face distorted into an angry expression, as his glare looked maddening now. "Don't fuck with me you piece of pirate shit! Don't think so highly of yourself, you piss me off! Enough of this; I'll kill you!" The marine attacked swiftly with numerous punches and kicks aiming for Bepo's vital points. He knew he still at least had the advantage in speed over Bepo.

The bear managed to dodge a few of the attacks but then suddenly stopped and shifted into offense, disregarding the fact that Will's deadly attacks were still coming. Will threw a punch with his fist but Bepo blocked it with the forearm of his injured arm, as Will's arm slid of the pirate's forearm to the side. Luckily it seemed the damaged of the arm wasn't as bad as he thought and he could still move it in the shoulder and elbow, even though it hurt like hell. Without wasting time both of them continued their attack. Will didn't give Bepo advantage even as his attack failed and Bepo's forearm block pushed him to one side. He still had his other hand and quickly he used it to punch right at Bepo's side and into his ribs. The fist with the heavy haki power behind it collided with Bepo's ribs. However, Bepo wasn't through either. He ignored the tight feeling in his ribs and painful throbbing that came soon afterwards. Instead, at the same time as Will's attack, the bear swirled around, his one forearm still blocking Will, while using the other, free hand, to aim an elbow attack right at Will. He moved surprisingly quickly for a large bear. Bepo coughed blood from Will's attack but still kept going as everything seemed to go into slow-motion now. As he swirled, he used his foot for his grounding and stepped right into Will's space, breaking his defense. Bepo could feel that strange power surging through him again and it must've stopped and released in his elbow, as he hit a surprised Will right into the face.

*H-He…let me…hit?! He sacrificed himself…?* Will didn't have time to finish his thought as he only saw bright orange from Bepo's jumpsuit in front of him. Soon the elbow attack hit him right into the face and the force of the attack pushed Will's head backwards. The motion was swift and forceful and a loud snap clearly came from the marine's neck. Soon after, the young man's body fell limp and lifeless on the cold floor, his neck broken and bent backwards in a strange angle.

Bepo couldn't stand anymore and with a thud he fell to his knees, coughing blood once again. His vision was becoming blurry again. He held his injured side with his healthy hand, while the other now fell limp beside him. It had reached its limit with the last attack. Or rather, the bear himself had reached his limit. His eyes begun to close on his own and painfully he fell face-first on the floor. He thought he heard a voice calling him but everything was fuzzy and no matter what he couldn't keep his eyes open. They closed on their own accord and Bepo fell unconscious.

~….~

Bepo opened his eyes with a grunt and felt the pain when the bright light hit him. *Light? But wasn't the base out of power?* It took him time to get used to his surrounding and the bear looked around, realizing he wasn't lying in the hallway anymore. Instead he was in a room that looked like a small infirmary. Perhaps it was a backup infirmary, in case the main one was too full, in case of emergency with a lot of casualties.

"Bepo?" A familiar deep voice brought him out of his thoughts and the said bear quickly looked in the direction the voice came from, earning himself a headache in the process.

"Calm down, you need to rest for now." The voice continued.

The polar bear could feel his eyes sting and prickle with tears of joy. "Captain!" He would've jumped at the tall man if the pain in his side and arm didn't stop him and instead the bear started rolling around in pain. "Ow ow ow!"

"Idiot! what part of rest did you not understand…?" Law scolded his first mate in his usual doctor, matter-of-fact, calm tone. But there was shades of irritation and worry in his voice as well; the pirate captain hid it well but not completely.

Bepo finally calmed down and saw for the first time he was covered in bandages, the upper part of his jumpsuit lowered down so Law could work on his injuries. There was an IV needle stuck deeply in his healthy hand while the other was immobilized with a medical cloth. Looking around Bepo realized he was on the bed which felt quite comfortable. That's when he heard pained moans somewhere from the corner. He saw two clumps that used to be marine bodies but were now some abominable creation that Law made with his devil fruit power. His limbs were all jumbled up and in wrong places, and both marines were joined at their sides, stuck by an invisible force, that made it even harder for them to coordinate their movements and try to escape. A small shiver ran through Bepo's spine. It always did when he saw such sites the captain created with his power. It reminded him exactly what this man was capable of doing. But to Bepo that just made Trafalgar Law all the more amazing.

"What happened?" Bepo looked at his captain in wonder, still quite confused about the whole situation.

"I found you passed out on the floor, next to that marine. You were in a pretty beat up condition so I brought you here to treat you. The power seemed to return in the meantime." At the last statement, Law made a slightly irritated expression. "That will make our escape even harder…we weren't able to leave before the power returned after all…"

"Wah, captain, what will we do now?! How are we going to get out of this?" The beginning of Bepo's panic begun to creep out again. But soon it turned into a depressed look with his head bowed down and his ear lowered. "I'm sorry captain, it's because my fight took so long…"

Law sighed, already used to Bepo's depressed fazes and mood swings. "It's not your fault, I just didn't expect this Annox7 group to show up. I miscalculated…."

"Who were those guys anyway?"

Law shook his head as an answer, indicating he didn't know either. He worked on taking Bepo's IV out and handing the bear some painkillers, still in thought about the whole situation. "In any case, we can't stay here any longer. We need to move on with the plan."

Just then, Law's mini den den mushi crackled and rang signaling an incoming call. "Yes?" Law answered and one of his mechanic's voices rang from the other side.

"Oh finally! Captain, where are you now?" Shachi voiced the question from the other side of the line. He panted as he talked, like he was straining because of something. Law's sharp sense didn't fail to catch on that fact. Something was wrong with Shachi.

"In section C's right wing of the first floor. In the secondary infirmary."

"Infirmary? How fitting…" Shachi mumbled. "Ok, I remember seeing that place on the base's blueprints. Can you stay there and wait until I come?" Shachi asked, still panting as if he was hurrying while talking on the den den mushi.

Law looked towards Bepo who was still resting on the bed. "Hurry, we can't stay in one place for long. We need to keep moving so they won't find us." He could still see the loud alarm going off inside the base and now and then shouts and heavy footsteps of marine boots as they ran passed the infirmary. Luckily, no one checked inside yet. The whole place was in chaos and stand by, looking for the irate invaders and anything suspicious. Luckily, his crewmembers were all still wearing marine disguises but that will only help them for so long. Then one more thing crossed Law's mind. "Shachi, what happened? Wasn't miss Miyako supposed to be with you?"

"Yeah…there were some problems. MY den den mushi went dead after…well no matter now. After some handling I was able to make it work somehow…perks of being a mechanic. Miyako's fighting right now. I'll tell you everything once I get there, captain." There was strain in Shachi's voice again, as if something was bothering him. Law didn't ask anything more and hung up, deciding to wait patiently for his subordinate.

It didn't take long for Shachi to arrive and when he did, just the site of him answered some of Law's unasked questions.

"Shachi, you ankle." The pirate captain gave the mechanic a questioning look.

"Wha, Shachi, you're injured too?!" Bepo, again way too loudly, exclaimed after seeing the mechanic limp into the room. He tried to sit up but Law gave him a hard look that told him to lay still and rest. He was given a dose of painkillers so the pain become bearable which made Bepo move more, but that didn't mean his body was in any condition to move yet. However, both the bear and Law knew they'll have to soon.

"oh? Bepo, man, what happened to you?! You look awful!" Shachi widened his eyes under his shades, his mouth slightly open in surprise.

Law sighed. They were wasting time again. "Never mind that now, Shachi-ya. What happened?"

"Ah, right." The mechanic remembered his initial goal and started his story, trying to make it as quick and simple as possible. Finally he ended with a disappointed sigh; "Actually I was hoping to warn you that something was up since that guy said there were more of them…but I guess I was too late. We won't be much of a reinforcements for Miya-chan, either." With a sigh, Shachi looked at an injured Bepo.

"Reinforcements? Miss Miyako asked you to get help?" There was slight surprise in Law's voice. "That doesn't sound like her at all…" Truthfully enough, Miyako was always trying to bear all the burden on her own. She always wanted to handle the problem on her own, which sometimes gave her captain quite the trouble. Perhaps that's why he was always worrying about her more than he liked to admit. Over the past few months, Miyako decided to trust and depend more on her comrades and was finally acting like one of them but even so she never asked for help in a battle, especially not one-on-one. No matter how tough or deadly the match got, she always pulled through on her own. She had too much pride to say she can't beat someone on her own, and Law was sure she would rather die in battle then to let others involve in her fight. He didn't know if all Wano samurai were like that but if so, it was a country full of stubborn fools.

"Hmm…I guess you're right, now that I think about it. Well she said the fight could get very dangerous but she didn't seem to despair about it…" Shachi thought back on how Miyako handled the whole situation. She was even able to save him from that boulder while protecting them from the weird haki cannon.

"Miyako isn't that weak. She wouldn't just give up." Bepo said behind Law, firmly believing in his nakama.

Law was silent but still thinking about the situation. He bit his thumb and looked down, then noticed the hurt ankle Shachi was trying to save by not putting any weight on it as the mechanic half limped-half hoped towards a nearby chair. An idea came into Law's had. A theory that soon explained the whole situation with Miyako. *Oh, so that's what you were thinking…Miyako. Of course; you must've knew from the beginning, by the time Shachi came to get us with his bed leg, your fight would already be over.* He looked at Shachi thinking if he should explain to the others Miyako's behavior but as he saw Shachi's worried face, he decided against it. That would just make Shachi feel worse. Instead, Law walked to the medical cabinet and took some needed supplies. "Come Shachi, I'll treat your leg before we go."

~…..~

~ A little earlier ~

The room was dark and silent, except for the clashing of steel and grunts of two fighters. Though one looked quite more beat up then the other. Miyako was kneeling a few meters away from the big marine. She stabbed her katana in the ground to help prop herself up and back to her feet. She was panting hard and parts of her clothes were charred and tattered. Most of her long hair was out of her ribbon and fell down on her face, hiding her eyes. But as the samurai looked up, it was clear she didn't lose any of her sharp edge from before Her eyes were still piercing in focused on her mark – the marine. "Annox7? Never heard of it." She answered after the man mentioned his origins in the marine forces.

The big guy just grinned. He didn't look as beat up as Miyako though his shades were broken on one part. "That's fine…This is going to be the first and last time you hear about us anyway. Since I'll kill you soon."

Even through her tired expression Miyako smirked. "You've been telling me that this whole time, but it didn't happen yet."

The man didn't look annoyed by her provocation, though. "It's only a matter of time before they bring back the power in the base. You only survived till now because you've been using the crates and shelves to shield yourself and hide from my haki blasts. But once the light is back, that won't be so easy anymore. You might be quick but you can't run forever, your stamina is already wavering."

Miyako bit her lip in annoyance. But she knew he was right. *It's not a question of how much longer I can keep this up. Because it won't make me win. But…* There was another problem why Miyako wasn't able to beat this man yet. If it was only his cannon power, it wouldn't be such a problem. He's fast, but not as fast as she was and even though his physically stronger than her, that didn't matter as long as she was quick enough to dodge so he wouldn't hit her. However there was one more thing. Miyako remembered what happened soon after Shachi managed to escape from the storage room.

The man had shot from his cannon again, the blast destroying everything in sight. Miyako barely managed to dodge it and then swung her own sword, cutting through the air and blasting her own slashes of haki towards the marine. Before even checking if it would hit or not, she charged towards him. The marine dodged one and blocked others with his cannon but by then Miyako was already at his side. She swung her sword with both hands, ready to slice his side and true enough, she was too fast for the marine to dodge. *Go, Yawarakai-Te!* The katana made contact, but a strange sound followed. Instead of steel cutting into the flesh, there was a sound of clashing as if it hit something extremely hard. Her hand stopped together with her sword, unable to continue and Miyako's eyes widened as she saw why. Her katana hit the man's side but didn't go in at all. There seemed to be a black-looking, hard substance on his torso, which wasn't there before. Miyako would have surly noticed. *Wha-?* Her second of surprise took her off guard and that was enough for the marine to counterattack. She felt a heavy blow in her stomach as the man hit her with his big knee. The force of the hit made her yelp in surprise and gasp due to lack of air at the same time. In the next second she was already flying away from him and onto the floor, rolling on it when she landed hard. The girl clutched her stomach with one hand and her whole body twitched, trying to quickly recover from the pain and shock. She didn't have time to look away or rest. He was already preparing for his next shot.

All that incident, no matter how many times or places Miyako tried, that armor just reappeared like armor whenever the man was attacked. He wasn't even trying to dodge anymore.

"It seems my Busoshoku Koka is giving you some trouble." The man grinned once again. "Don't tell me you don't know of it even though it's a part of Armament Haki. Little Missy, I'm disappointed." The marine made a theatrical sigh and the mocking expression on his face was clear even with the shades still hiding his eyes.

*A part of Armament haki?* Miyako was surprised. Of course she knew about armament haki but she could only use it as a force to protect her to some point. It was like a force shield that she could use only a few times, usually to deflect attacks coming at her. It was like a blast of power that came out of her body and then disappeared. But she was never able to use it to actually make an armor that would shield her from direct contact. This was a totally different level of Busoshoku Haki she was seeing here. *It's even harder than steel. How do I cut through that…But it always appears no matter how quick I try to attack. I can never get around it.* While thinking and still breathing pretty hard, Miyako used her katana to stand up on wobbly legs.

"Miyako, you just have to cut everything in your path! If you're facing a wall that's standing on your way to becoming a samurai, then just cut it down!"

Once again, Miyako's master's words echoed in her mind. *That's right…until now, every time I faced a difficulty, I was able to overcome it with hard work and strength. I never gave up before, so I'm not giving up now! There has to be a way…* Miyako looked at the katana she was clutching in her hand. *Yawarakai-Te…* even though this katana had been through a lot already, it didn't even have a scratch on it. It still gleamed brightly and with pride in the darkness around it. True, it was partly due to Miyako taken really good care of it every day, but there was no doubt that this was a remarkable sword. *If any sword can withhold and concern that man's power, then it's this one. But if the wielder isn't strong enough then the katana won't be able to be used to its true potential either. But right now, Yawarakai-Te, please lend me your power!* Miyako gritted her teeth as she looked at the large marine before her. The man locked on her with his cannon and she could feel the tension in the air grow as he was about to fire his haki again. She could see the stirrings in the air around the weapon as large mass of haki slowly accumulated. The samurai looked down at both her hands, gripping the katana firmly. There was one technique she was working on for a long time now but never had a chance to use it in battle She only practiced it while sparring and training with Law. Now was the perfect opportunity to try it out. If it doesn't work…Well she was doomed either way. She couldn't just keep dodging and running until she falls down exhausted at this man's mercy. In that case, she'd rather face him head on. *That's right...I don't need to think anymore. I just need to cut what stands in my way.* The girl looked up at the grinning marine with a piercing stare. Her golden eyes weren't cold right now, they were burning. Burning from adrenaline, from excitement, and most of all, from determination.

The large man grabbed the marine coat from his back and tossed it to the ground so he could have more freedom of movement without worrying about it. "I am Cirus Bonty, one of the members of Annox7! I thought you should at least know the name of the man who will kill you. Now show me what you've got!"

The man fired his cannon, the bright shining light was blinding as ever as it engulfed the room. The blast went right towards Miyako and he could see her black silhouette disappearing into the light. The man's eyes widened a little in wonder. *She didn't try to dodge?* He looked around but couldn't see any movement around him. Meanwhile the explosion hit its peak, destroying everything in its path and finally creating a large hole in the wall with parts of wood and storage items flying everywhere.*Don't tell me…She tried to cut it again and failed?* The man's surprised expression slowly turned into a big grin. "Ha..haha…hahahaha HAHAHAHA!" He laughed like crazy at the thought. "What a fool! She really believed she can defeat me head on? Hahahaha!"

"Ittouryu secret technique: Vanishing Sword….was a success!" A voice came behind him and the marine's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?" He turned around quickly, to see the samurai girl in a battojutsu stance behind him, her katana back in its sheath and ready for use. Her eyes were serious and burning as before, glowing a bright golden color in the darkness.

"To find out what is strength and find my own way of the samurai…I will definitively not lose before I reach those goals! And I will cut everything in my way that tries to stop me." *My strength, all of my haki, my pride, and even my life….I will stake everything, every bit of my power to reach my goal…and to cut you down!* The woman gripped the hilt of her sword with one hand.

"Haha, fool, you already know about my Koka technique. I don't know how you were able to dodge my attack and come behind me but it doesn't matter! It will be all the same no matter how many times you try!"

The woman ignored his gloating statements and focused only on the target in front of her. "Ittouryu: Kiritateru!"(2) With one hard leap she charged forward, at the same time unsheathing her katana and slashing at the marine. The man's torso turned black with haki armor just like always. Her attack was so quick, he didn't even have time to dodge or block but he didn't look concerned by that fact. She wasn't able to cut through his armor anyway.

Miyako felt hard resistance coming from the material under her sword, but that only made her push on more. "hyaaaaa!" With a loud cry she gave it her all and a small cracking sound was heard.

"huh?" The marine looked down. *Impossible…was it my imagination?!*

But then another crack was heard and even appeared in his amour as her katana went a bit deeper.

*Why? She wasn't even able to scratch me before!* The marine's eyes widened underneath his sunglasses and he looked down in full puzzlement and shock.

Miyako pushed through and felt her katana finally reaching its true target, the flesh underneath. The sword finally went in and formed a line from the man's right hip and up towards the left side of his chest. Miyako's charge ended behind the marine as she passed and her cut ended. Even though it felt like a lifetime for her, the whole attack actually lasted only a few seconds. She was panting and her hands were shaking considerably. She could barely stand and have a grip on her sword; she was completely spent. But she didn't even dare to turn around until she heard a lard thump of something big hitting the floor. She looked at the man on the floor, bleeding from his torso and unmoving. She stared at his body for a while. "So it didn't cut completely through his body, huh?….I was hoping to slice him in half." A barely visible smirk appeared on her face. A smirk that someone might say looked very similar to a certain pirate surgeon just before he was about to experiment on his latest specimen. "Next time I'll definitively be strong enough to slice all the way through." With that last promise made to herself, a dark room and a dead body, Miyako sheathed back her katana and slowly walked towards the exit. She wanted to just lay here and sleep for a week but knew she didn't have the time. The marines will be coming any second surely. *I hope Shachi made it to the others safely…Sorry for deceiving you Shachi, but I had to get you out of here. And the only way I could think of was for me to ask you to go get help…even though I knew something like that was useless. You would never get here in time with Law and the others but...* She was leaning against the wall to help her walk but her legs gave out and she slid down the wall and onto the floor. The woman panted slightly as she rested her back against the cold wall; it felt good. *Damn...My legs won't listen to me anymore. At this rate all I can do is just sit and wait for the marines to find me and pick me up.* A small, amused chuckle escaped her limps.*Honestly, the only way those worthless guys can arrest someone is if the person is half dead like this anway.*

Miyako's eyes closed for a while as she was unable to keep the tiredness away any longer. When she opened them, a bright light hit her eyes and made her head hurt. She quickly closed her eyes again. *Light? Did the power come back already? Dammit, how long was I out!?* She dared to open her eyes again but slowly so she would get used to the bright light. She blinked a few times before her eyes felt comfortable in the light again. The storage room was still destroyed as before and the big marine's body was still unmoving on the floor. *No sign of marines either.* Then suddenly she heard footsteps coming towards the room and her body tensed. *Me and my long tongue… I just had to say it.* She took her katana, ready to unsheath it and at least give the marines some hell before they take her away. She tried standing up but her leg muscles just twitched painfully and she slid back down. She was right beside the exist, so maybe she'll at least cut off the legs of the first unfortunate who tries to get inside. The footsteps kept getting closer and louder until they stopped right in front of the entrance that was now missing a door since they got broken at the beginning of the fight. Miyako focused at the sound of the person's footsteps to decide on the right moment to strike and right when they were about to step inside, close enough for her to use her katana, she swung at the entrance. But on her surprise what met with her katana was another sword and it didn't take long to realize the situation. What blocked her was a sheathed long nodachi. Miyako's surprise grew even more when she heard a familiar voice.

"You're lucky I poses Kenbunshoku Haki so I saw that coming. If you had sliced my leg, what would you have done, hmm? A lifetime of being my surgical experiment wouldn't suffice as repayment." A deep amused voice pierced her ears and the first thing Miyako saw was the familiar white, spotted hat only he would wear.

"Law?!" It sounded like something between an exclaim and a question, since Miyako still seemed a bit confused. She still couldn't believe she was saved before the marines came. The pirate captain walked inside the room and looked around with his gaze, until it felt on the big body lying on the floor.

"Are we too late, is she alive?!" A worried voice exclaimed and soon Shachi rushed in, searching frantically with his eyes. Miyako could guess what he was looking for.

"I'm down here, Shachi." A small chuckle escaped her lips for the second time.

"Miyako, thank god, you're alive!" The mechanic proclaimed with a big relieved smile on his face and knelt down beside the girl.

"I don't think God has much to do with it though…" A bit bitterly Miyako mumbled.

Soon after Shachi, Bepo came in. "Captain, we gotta go! They're coming again!" The bear was slightly panicking, jumping from one foot onto the other in anxiousness.

Law looked back at the girl on the floor. "Can you walk?"

Miyako tried to stand up again. She used the wall to prop herself up and leaned on it for support. Somehow she managed to stand on her feet but as soon as she made a step forward, she stumbled. Luckily, the captain was quick enough to catch her. It seemed so easy to him, even with one hand, while he still held his nodachi in the other. "I'll take that as a no." Law turned to his first mate. "Bepo." Without any need for explanation Law handed Bepo his nodachi and the bear took it carefully as always. With his now free hands, Law took the girl in his arms and made sure she was secure so she wouldn't fall. However, she wasn't helping him as she started to protest and struggle as soon as Law lifted her up.

"Eh? Wai-Wait, what are you doing?! Put me down!" Miyako struggled against his chest and Law sighed annoyed.

"And how do you expect to follow us if you can't even walk on your own. We don't have time to wait for you to feel better." The captain obviously wasn't listening to her and was already walking out of the room and into the hallway.

Miyako thought for a while about his question and then instantly said full of determination; "With a warrior's spirit!"

"I'll hit you." was all Law answered to her foolishness and continued to ignore her protests.

"Honestly! You even threaten to hit an injured person. What kind of a doc-" Her complaint was cut short when she looked around at the situation in the hallway. Everything was full of marines; some were cut up in parts while others moaned in pain or laid unconscious, beaten up. Now she understood why the marines never came for her. Miyako looked back at her crewmates. They were all injured from before, probably by the same Annox7 organization Miyako had to fight as well, and yet they all took down so many marines. Her thoughts of awe were cut off when Law spoke again.

"Let's hurry, we still need to go down to the lower level." The captain carried Miyako without a problem even though he had some bruises and cuts on him. That made Miyako feel even worse about needing help from an already injured person, but also as respect for him, she stopped her protests and quieted down.

They walked through the hallways, hiding behind corners and inside rooms now and then when marines were passing by. But as they came to the staircases leading to the lower level, they were stopped by a dozen marines, waiting for them with guns and sabers. In the front was a marine officer, leading them. The alarm was ringing in Miyako's eyes and brightly red lights were still flashing throughout the base, showing a state of emergency. It was hard to hear what the man was saying but the girl guessed it was the same old threats and talk about surrender.

"Did you really think you can escape just like that from a marine base?! Don't joke with me you conceited brat!" The middle-aged man glared at Law, who just kept his usual calm face. It seems the man was even more irritated when he didn't even get an answer from the pirate captain. The flare in his eyes got bigger and there was a crunching sound as he gritted his teeth. "Prepare to be taken away you scoundrel!" The man took out his sabre. "Gunmen, shoot!"

There was unusual silence after the man gave his signal and even more unsettling were the sudden change in expressions on the pirates' faces. Law gave him an amused smirk, while the others were grinning rather darkly. The weird silence was worrying him as only the loud alarm ringing throughout the base was heard. Nervously, the man looked behind him, ready to ask irritably why the marines aren't shooting yet. But his eyes widened in surprise at the scene behind him. All of his men were on the floor, either dead or unconscious. Well, not all of them exactly. There were two marines left, one taller and the other shorter than average.

"W-what…? Corporals, what is the meaning of this!? What happened to everybody!?" The man could barely keep his voice from cracking, both from surprise and the loud yelling he was doing. His voice was even stronger than the alarm.

The taller one scratched his head, moving the marine hat a bit up so his dark eyes were visible. "Well you see…you were about to attack our friends so...it was a bit of a problem for us."

The short one grinned menacingly. "It's your own fault for not realizing that we infiltrated your group on the way. You guys are such idiots…"

"huh?" That's all the marine was able to answer, blinking stupidly at the two. Then he noticed the bloodied fists and scalpels they held in their hands, and suddenly it became clearer to him. They were the ones who killed off his men behind his back. And it happened so fast he didn't even realize it. The loud sound of the alarm must've helped them to cover up the noise too. Before he could ask who exactly were those guys, he heard the deep voice of Trafalgar Law behind him and remembered he now had enemies on both sides.

"You're right on time." Law said casually.

"Heh, it was Cody's idea to use our disguises and slip in the group when we heard they are going to guard the entrance to the lower staircase." Joshua grinned again, almost as if he was the one who thought of the plan. He threw the marine cap on the ground, releasing the messy red hair underneath, and pulled out his own hat from inside his uniform.

Cody also took off his hat, showing the usual bandana covering his forehead and keeping his spiky hair up. "I suggest we move on, though the marines will be very busy soon so we'll get some time."

The others didn't have to ask what he was talking about, they already knew. Just then, as if affirming his words, a large explosion was heard, followed by shocked screams and then loud panicking voices. The explosion was big enough for the pirates to feel little tremors underneath their feet.

"I see the armory had a lot of gunpowder…" Miyako mumbled.

"Gunpowder, explosives…everything. Unfortunately for them, the marines were in the process of taking guns out and preparing themselves so a lot of them must've been blown away." Josh answered Miyako while snickering with pride for a job well done. But then his eyes went wide in surprise and he pointed at the samurai girl, or rather at the scene before him. "Ah! What the hell are you doing with the captain, Bakaonna! (1)"

Miyako went red in the face in an instant as her whole body stiffened. "I-It's not my fault. I can't walk!"

"Eeeh…I bet you just wanted to be all smoochy with the captain." Josh started making some teasing and mocking faces, as if kissing the air.

That childish teasing only made Miyako more embarrassed, which soon turned into anger. "S-Shut up! Idiot! You're disgusting! Go die! Just go die already!"

*Are you guys kids?* were the thoughts of all of the others around the two, but the pair didn't even notice the sweatdrops and disbelieved faces their friends were making. Indeed the two bickering sounded just like little children, too immature to give any real insults but still trying to.

"Miss Miyako, Joshua-ya. If you are done, can we proceed now?" A cold air of tension appeared in the air, giving both Miyako and Josh chills down their spines when they heard the icy tone of an irritated Law. Even the others, who weren't the target of Law's annoyance right now, felt the chill in his tone.

Both Miyako and Josh stiffened immediately, not daring to look at their captain. "Y-yes captain!" They said in unison and immediately shut up.

After a while, Miyako dared to speak again, though still in a bit more unsure, embarrassed tone than before. "A-anyway, my legs have rested now. I think I can walk on my own so put me down." She didn't dare to look at his face because every time she did, she would realize how close their faces are, and immediately look away. She realized she was completely enveloped by Law; his scent, his arms around her, his skin so close to hers, his heat…

There was silence on Law's part and Miyako looked at the man with the corner of her eye. She could clearly see his stormy grey eyes, looking down at her legs in thought as if he could diagnose her condition just from looking. His eyes were piercing and clear as always. Miyako remembered the shivers she would feel when those eyes were looking straight at her, as if he was able to see right through her, right into her soul. The thought alone made her to look away from his eyes, down at his perfectly straight nose arch and even lower at the soft lips. They moved to form a word that Miyako couldn't understand. Wait….they moved? A bit confused, Miyako looked up to find those grey eyes staring at her, a bit questioningly, with one eyebrow slightly raised. Miyako didn't know how it felt to be petrified but it was probably something like the sensation she was feeling now.

*H-He saw…He saw…He saw me staring at him….* She still couldn't hear anything but for a different reason now. Because her thoughts were screaming at her in her mind; Fool! Fool! Why did you stare!? What the hell is wrong with you!? Idiot!

"Miss Miyako? Are you alright?" Law called out again seeing Miyako completely frozen and out of this world.

"Is she going into shock…?" Cody looked at the girl, eyeing her reactions carefully. "Her face is all red, is it a fever?"

Even Josh looked a little worried now. "A-anyway, she said she was feeling better, didn't she? Let's try to put her on her feet for now."

The pirate captain did just that and let Miyako down, carefully in case she would start falling again. He had a strange look on his face, as if he was thinking of something but keeping it to himself. As soon as Miyako's feet touched the ground and her face moved a bit away from Law's, the girl managed to get a reality check and overcome her embarrassed feelings.

*T-that's right, maybe he didn't notice after all…He didn't comment on it yet, did he?* Her mind was frantically trying to rationalize the situation to calm her down, and thankfully it succeeded. The pain from her muscles being forced back to work brought her back to reality even more. However, the pain was quite lesser than before, thanks to resting her legs for a while, and Miyako could finally stand on her own two feet again. She felt a bit unsure at first and her feet were wobbly as if trying to walk for the first time, but soon enough she got used to it, ignoring the remaining pain in her body. As soon as she was able to stand on her own, Miyako turned away from Law, towards their path. "A-Alright! Let's go everyone!" Her face was completely nervous and she made a most forced grin she could muster but ignored everyone's questioning gazes.

"What's with the newfound enthusiasm?" Josh muttered but followed after her, along with everyone else.

~…~

"Hey, we just got a report that the pirates are heading for the lower level!"

"What? They're coming here to the port?! Why?"

"Are they planning to steal one of our ships and escape? Those idiots, they'll never get out of here!"

The group of marines ran to their post in the state of emergency, while talking among themselves about the newest information their received from the upper floors.

They didn't even notice they passed a young marine, who looked down and put his hat even lower as if to hide his face. Penguin looked behind him at the group of marines who just passed him. *Damn, so we were discovered after all.*

He looked around him at the port of the marine base. It was built inside the cliff that the whole base was built on, and the port was actually a manmade cave. It had one big exit for the ships to go out to sea. Right now the exit was closing with big steel doors lowering down into the sea, unable to be penetrated by force. The marines decided to close the doors after they heard the pirates were coming down here. They were certain the Heart Pirates would try to take over one of the ships and sail out of here…after all, what other way was there to escape this place? It seemed everyone was still confused by the fact they still couldn't find any sign of a pirate ship near the island.

Penguin ignored the officers shouting orders at group of marines and instead tried his best to stay unnoticed and sneak in the room he was looking for. The control room of the port. He grinned when he finally found the right metal doors with the sign on them. Just what he was looking for. It took a lot of time for Penguin to sneak all the way down here and find the right place without being noticed, even if he was wearing a marine uniform. In the meantime, the power was out for a while so the marines couldn't lower the port doors sooner, then the power came back on and the alarm started ringing accompanied with flashing red lights. Penguin, however, ignored all that and stayed on plan that Law told them about the day before. Of course he was worried about the rest of his crewmembers, especially when he heard there was a whole ruckus going on, but he knew his friends; they were strong so surely they'll all get here as planned.

The mechanic slowly opened the doors and peeked inside. There was a young man in a sloppy marine uniform sitting in the chair and snoring quietly, unaware of the chaotic world currently around him. *Must be nice to be him.* Penguin thought with a sigh and sneaked up behind the man. The mechanic looked at the control panel with many buttons and levers. In front of him was a big glass window overlooking the port since the Control room was high above ground on the second floor of a small, two story tower inside the port. Penguin took a look around, trying to find the right lever or at least a guide book for this place, but without any luck. He was trying to find a way to open the large metal gates, currently sealing off the port from the sea, and he had to do it before Law and the rest come down here. *Hmm, should I just start trying all of them? But that's gonna bring too much attention…Aaah, what should I do?* Penguin scratched his head in slight annoyance. He looked at the sleeping marine beside him. *I could just make this guy talk…yeah, that's not a bad idea.*

"Hey!" The mechanic was just about to hit the marine awake when a high pitched voice echoed behind him. The pirate jumped in surprise and turned around quickly, to see a woman standing before him with an angry face. The woman was wearing a marine uniform as well, but her hat was turned with the rim on the side. Underneath was a face of a young woman in her mid-twenties with a long pink braid of hair on her back. She took a few steps towards him, her eyes never stopping her staring glare. "You're not supposed to be here, what are you doing?"

*Aw, shit shit shit. What do I do? What do I do?! If push comes to shove, I don't really want to hit a woman...* Penguin hid his face as usual, looking at the ground nervously. "Well…I…They told me to guard the control room in case the pirates try to open the port gates from here. They're strengthening security in here." Penguin was lying through his teeth and silently prayed to all superbeings that might exist that it works.

"Hee? I haven't heard about it at all." The girl looked at the marine in front of her suspiciously. Then she took a deep breath, her hands still on her hips. There was an obvious unsatisfactory expression on her face. "That's just like them…As usual, they don't tell us anything. We're just here to push the buttons…Well if it weren't for us, this whole port would be in chaos in the first place! We're the ones controlling everything here!" Somewhere along the way of her rant, the girl turned towards Penguin again as if he was to blame for all her troubles.

The mechanic kept his head down, nervously. He was trying not to stutter. "W-Well I don't know…I'm just doing my job…ma'am."

"Ugh, you foot-soldiers are all the same…" She stared at Penguin intensely and took a few more steps forward. Still holding her hand on her hips, the woman bowed down to try and take a better look at Penguin's face from below, who was still intently looking at the floor. "And what's with you? What are you so nervous about that you keep looking at the floor? At least look at me when I'm talking to you!"

The mechanic looked up slowly, but his marine hat was lowered so much that his eyes still weren't visible. The woman sighed and continued to rant on as before. "Can you even see anything under that hat like that? And you…" Suddenly she lifted her leg, did a round kick and kicked the poor sleeping marine beside them. The man fell on the floor along with his chair, yelping in pain and surprise. "How long do you intend to sleep!?"

"Ow, ow…What was that for…" The young man was holding his back where he hit the floor hard and looked up with sleepy eyes. "Lilly! Why are you always so violent?"

"Tch, shut up! It's your fault for always sleeping on the job." The marine girl, now known as Lily, puffed away the bangs from her face and turned around from the guy with her nose held high.

The young marine looked up, his eyes still hazy from sleep, and stared at Penguin questioningly. "Who's this guy?"

Before the mechanic could explain, Lilly interrupted him. "He's supposed to watch guard here because of those pirates that infiltrated the base." Surprisingly, she offered a hand to her fallen marine comrade and helped him up.

The marine put back the chair in its rightful place and then held out his hand towards Penguin. "Ah, I'm Mark. Thanks for your hard work, I guess." His movements seemed slow and lazy as if he only wanted to sit back and doze off again.

Penguin shook the man's hand a bit uncertainly. "H-Hello."

"He looks nervous. Must be because of the infiltration." Lilly said, pointing at Penguin as she talked with Mark, then turned back towards the mechanic. "Don't worry, there's no way they can even get this far in the base. This port is the lowest level, they'll stop them before that. And even if they did get here, there's no way to escape. The only way is through those large steel doors and there's no way they can open that, even with a cannon. At least not fast enough." Lilly sounded full of pride while she talked about that.

"And the only way to open them is from this control room." Mark ended the story, looking through the big glass window at the large doors of the port.

"I-I see. But there's so much levers and buttons here, it must be hard for you guys to know all of them." Penguin muttered while staring at the control panel. *Maybe I can make them say which one is for the doors. Just stay cool Penguin.*

"Ha! Don't underestimate us. We know exactly what we're doing here. Every button, every level, just ask and we'll know what it's for." Lilly put her hands back on her hips again, with her head held up proudly and a self-confident smile on her face.

A light bulb blinked inside Penguin's head and he had to suppress the urge to grin widely. "Oh…I see. Liiiike…this one?" He randomly pointed at one of the buttons.

"Hah, piece of cake. It's for dock #3, to steady the ship when it's coming to the dock." Lilly said without even having to think about it.

"You're really getting into this…" Mark said, yawning. He casually laid back in his chair and tried to put his feet up on the control panel, but decided against it when he saw Lilly's warning glare.

"Oh. Theeen, what about this one?" Penguin pointed at one of the levers.

"Hah, please! It's for creating a small current to pull in ships inside the cave more easily." Once again Lilly answered.

"Wow, you even have that. Do you have one to create a contra effect too?" Penguin feigned surprise as he looked at Lilly.

"Sheesh, don't you know anything? Of course we do! Marine seamen these days…" The girl pointed at another lever.

Penguin scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly as if embarrassed. "Well I'm just a simple guard after all…"

Lilly smirked, obviously feeling superior by the knowledge, this marine guard obviously didn't possess. Penguin let her feel as superior as she wanted...as long as it was to his benefit. *I already found out something useful. Now just a bit more.*

"Then, what about the one for those big doors over there?" Penguin asked as casually as he could, pointing at the front gate of the port.

"Piece of cake, it's a lever over-" Lilly was just about to show it to Penguin, and Penguin gulped nervously in anticipation, but Mark's voice interrupted their little game.

"Oy, you're really a curious one, aren't you? I didn't know guards are so into these things…" Mark's voice was as casual and lazy as before, and his eyes still seemed hazy from sleep as they watched Penguin. But to the pirate mechanic that gaze seemed more than Mark let on. Like it was suspiciously piercing Penguin and watching his every move.

*Could this guy be sharper than he originally let on? He might be a problem…If I do a wrong move now…* Penguin tried to seemed as laid back and casual as he could, like he didn't think much about what Mark said. "Ah, sorry, I guess I just got carried away." He smiled sheepishly again.

Mark smirked. "That's fine, that's fine." He put his hands under his head like a pillow. "So…from which unit are you?" The question seemed casual enough but Mark's eyes never stopped watching Penguin and the pirate was sure Mark was examining all his reactions.

Penguin's body stiffened a little. *He's on to me. He's testing me…Shit, did I go overboard with the questions before? Should I just lie and try my luck? I don't' see any other options…No. Better to take them by surprise while I still can.*

Penguin was quiet for a while and then suddenly moved to act. As soon as Mark saw that he jumped out of his chair, ready to attack as well. However, Penguin was faster and took a hold of Lilly before she even had time to blink. The marine girl didn't have time to say anything this time as Penguin appeared behind her and put an arm around her neck tightly. His other grabbed one of her arms and bent it behind her back to prevent any movements from her if she tried to free herself. The girl struggled but to no avail. Penguin just tightened his grip and the girl was slowly losing strength.

"Let her go." Mark's eyes suddenly went sharper but he still stopped his attack when he saw Penguin holding Lilly hostage.

"Wh-what are you doing?! Let go of me!" The girl struggled again but without success.

"Now, now. Just do as I say and nobody will get hurt." Penguin sounded calmer now but somehow more deadly. He was glad the charade was over. But now the real problems starts.

"I suppose you want us to tell you how to open those doors, huh?" Mark's voice was strangely calm but very careful. Penguin could see the guy didn't want anything happening to his coworker. And that was Penguin's advantage.

The pirate grinned. "Would you?"

"Y-You! You're one of those pirates! I don't know how you got our uniform and got this far but you won't get away with this!" Lilly gritted her teeth and turned her head as much as she could to glare at Penguin.

Penguin ignored her and stared at Mark. "Which lever is it?"

"Don't tell him Mark!" Lilly shouted.

"I don't think you understand the situation miss. He has no choice, really." Penguin answered with a sigh.

Mark sighed as well and scratched the back of his head. "I'm afraid he's right Lilly. He'll kill you if I don't comply." He turned towards the control panel. "Alright."

"Mark! You can't negotiate with pirates!" Lily shouted in disbelief.

"LILLY!" The marine shouted back, stopping all her protests. The girl gasped in surprise with wide eyes but instantly went quiet. It seemed she wasn't used to hearing Mark, a laid back and slow-paced man, shout like that. The man sighed again. "I won't let you die for a reason like this…" Mark looked at Lilly with the corner of his eye before turning back to the control panel.

"Ah, just one more thing. If you try to sound of the alarm or any other trick, I will break her neck. It only takes a split of second, one quick movement, so don't even think you can act faster than me. I don't really like hurting women so don't make me do it, ok?" Penguin said that in an awfully calm tone, as if informing someone of tomorrow's weather. Indeed, he was a pirate to the core.

"I know already. I'm not an idiot…" Mark muttered and pointed to one of the levers. He put a hand on it but Penguin stopped him.

"Not yet. I'll tell you." With that they waited for a while. Luckily, nobody could see them high up here and Penguin could see most of the port through the big glass window. Then suddenly they heard voices down there and commotion. At the entry, a strange group appeared. A colorful bunch consisting of a large polar bear in an orange jumpsuit, four people dressed in marine uniforms but three men were wearing strange caps and a woman was holding a katana, and lastly a tall man with a fuzzy spotted hat and a long sword. Around them were several marine bodies, lying on the floor. But soon dozens of marines surrounded them and more were coming from the staircase entry. Penguin grinned in satisfaction. The group looked beat up but they were alive and on time. At that moment, the mechanic knew everything is going to be alright.

"Your friends I presume…" Mark said in a low tone.

"Filthy pirates…There's no way to run now, they're surrounded. There's no way you will have time to take over one of our ships and prepare them for sailing." Lilly grinned triumphal at Penguin.

~…~

"Room." Law made a blue sphere that surrounded all of the port and then made a few cuts in the air, sending the marine's bodies flying everywhere in pieces. He saw some were about to shoot, so he let the cut up bodies fly in front of his group as protection from the bullets.

"Heh, how cruel captain." Josh said while smirking.

"We don't have time to play nice." Shachi answered instead of Law as he punched another marine in the face who dared to get too close.

Instead of an answer, Law pulled out his den den mushi. "Sai, are you there."

"Here and ready, captain." A cheerful voice came from the den den mushi.

"Alright, do it." It was all Law said.

"aye aye captain!" Sai's and Bart's voices echoed through the den den mushi.

He turned to his group. "Prepare to run."

"But all this will be useless if Penguin failed." The usual pessimistic side of Bepo came out as he looked around for his friend nervously.

"Penguin won't fail, don't worry." Shachi grinned, having faith in his crewmate.

Meanwhile, Law took another big swing with his sword and then pulled out his hand. "Tact" One of the marine battle ships was lifted in the air, the water, marines and pieces of wood and metal falling from it. There were screams and panicking voices all around.

"Shoot! Shoot at Trafalgar! Don't let him use his power!" One of the marine officers yelled orders and the marines aimed at Law.

Ittoryu no Haki. Miyako cut through the air consecutive times, slicing the air itself with her haki and sending it directly towards the gunmen. All the guns turned to sliced pieces of wood and metal before the marines'eyes as they only stared in wonder.

"Flying tornado kick!" In the next second, Shachi jumped towards the panicking marines and what seemed like just one attack, sent them all flying. The marines fell down unconscious and in too much pain to move. However Shachi also stumbled a little. "Shit, using a kick attack when my ankle is twisted…am I an idiot?"

"Shachi, save your strength, you're about to run." Miyako warned as she prepared herself as well. None of them except Law were really in any condition to run but it was now or never. They'll have to work on fumes and pull out all their leftover strength.

Meanwhile, a large shadow appeared over another big group of marines and they looked up with tears in their eyes knowing what was to follow. The large battle ship started falling down on them. "RUN!" The marines yelled and started running away from the falling ship as fast as they could, but for many of them it was already too late. The ship crashed down on the ground, followed by screams and loud noises of breaking wood.

"Now, let's go!" Law yelled and started running towards the water and the ships there. Everyone followed his lead.

~…~

Penguin nodded to Mark and the man pulled the lever. Another sound went off but it was a sound that signaled the big gates were opening. True enough, the steel metal gates started slowly rising, out of the water and higher towards the ceiling of the cave. The pirate grinned, please with the work.

"Now the final thing. You see this." He nodded towards Lilly's belt with a pistol strapped to it. "Take it off." He said to Mark.

"Eh?!" Suddenly Lilly's face went all red. "You pervert! Weirdo! Sicko! No way!" The girl started struggling again.

Penguin sweat-dropped. "Oy, oy now…"

Mark sighed. "Don't get ahead of yourself Lilly. He's just after your gun…" He went to her and unbuckled the belt from her waist.

The girl's face was still full of embarrassment. "E-Even so…It's horrible, so embarrassing…"

"Just endure it. Are you a marine or not!" Mark tried to make the girl feel better, retuning her fighting spirit.

"Y-your right! Like I'll lose to this!" Lilly yelled and stopped hard on Penguin's foot.

The pirate yelped but didn't loosen his hold on the girl. He only tightened it around her neck and bent her arm more, almost breaking it. Penguin glared at Mark. "Would you not make this even harder for me."

Mark smirked in a response. "I don't really have any reason to make it easier either." The marine unbuckled the belt and tossed it on the floor.

Penguin smirked. He didn't hate this guy even if they were enemies. "I guess you're right. But I suggest you leave now." Penguin smirked and looked at the chaos outside.

The pirate group was running towards the ships and the water but something was different. They didn't seem to be running towards any of the marine ships. Instead they just ran towards the clear part where there was only water and then jumped as hard as they could.

All the marines stared in surprise as if the pirates have completely lost their minds. Then suddenly, that water started raising more and more and something metal and yellow started coming out. The group jumped on the water and for a second it looked like they were standing on water itself but then the whole thing emerged out of the water and the group seemed to have been standing on a deck of a ship.

"A ship!?" Lilly yelled in surprise and all Mark could do was to stare in wonder.

The said ship turned a little and something opened up on the front side of the yellow metal monster. "A submarine…?" Mark said, still confused what that thing was doing here. He could clearly see the grinning smiley of the Heart pirates painted on the side. Meanwhile, something came out of the opening and the submarine fired. An explosion shook the whole cave, sending tremors as the submarine destroyed the doors leading to the upper level where the group came from. It prevented any more marines coming in the port as the doors completely collapsed with rocks and boulders in front.

Both Lilly and Mark jumped in surprise as penguin took Lilly's gun and fired at the glass window. He pressed down the lever to create a current for ships going out of the port that Lilly showed him before and then jumped on the edge looking down, with Lilly's belt in his hands. He saw wires and cables leading from one part of the port to the other.

"He's gonna escape, we gotta stop him!" Lilly shouted and jumped to catch Penguin before he went out.

The pirate ignored the girl and looked directly at Mark. "As I said, you better run away from here. Their next target is this room." They both knew what Penguin meant; they didn't have time to go after him and try to fight him. They'd all be blown away before that. With that warning, Penguin held both sides of the belt, which was now strapped to the cable, and the pirate jumped fearlessly from the window.

"No, he's escaping!" Lilly shouted but then felt a tight grip on her wrist. She turned around to see a very serious looking colleague. "Mark?" Without a word, the man pulled her away and ran out of the room not turning back. A few seconds later, another explosion blasted the whole control room away and the tower started to collapse onto the marines bellow. At one point, Penguin seriously thought the torpedo would hit him as they passed each other by, but luckily that didn't happen. Still, he'll give Sai a piece of his mind when he gets back. Penguin let go of the belt when he was right above the yellow submarine and he fell down, rolling on the wooden deck before he was able to stop himself. The slippery water on the deck made him slide all the way to the front doors of the deck where the hard metal wall stopped him.

"Ouch…" Penguin moaned and threw away his marine hat, putting his own instead. He saw a grinning face of Shachi above him who offering him a hand. Penguin gladly took it and stood up.

"You did it." Shachi said happily.

"Well of course." Penguin answered.

However their happy moment didn't last long as it was interrupted by Law. "Let's go, hurry inside. I don't want to waste any more torpedoes and I'm sure mister Sai would agree." Law was already walking towards the doors of his submarine.

"Captain, the doors!" Bepo yelled and pointed at the half opened port doors. Since they broke the control room, the whole system seemed to break down and the doors were stuck. They stayed quite low and there was hardly room for a ship to go through. The marine battle ship would probably get its mast broken.

Trafalgar smirked with obvious glee in his expression. "Perfect." He opened the doors of the submarine and the group went inside.

Cody chuckled next to him. "The perks of having a submarine, huh?"

The marines used their cannons now to shoot at the submarine while preparing their ships for pursuit but soon the submarine went under again and they could only shoot blindly at the water.

Law entered the control room of the submarine in haste, giving orders to his navigators. "Mister Sai, Bart-ya, dive down and get us out of there."

"Aye aye, captain!" Sai was happy to oblige and soon the lights flashing a warning that the submarine was diving in the water appeared on the walls. Without a hitch, Jean Bart navigated near the rocky floor of the cave, through the water and out of the port, led by the artificial current Penguin turned on. For them it was enough even if the gates weren't fully lifted, since they could just dive into the water and pass down below. A perk, the marines didn't have on their side.

"Are they following us?" Law asked, though he doubted they could. The marines were too busy preparing the ships for the pursuit and still they had to fix the gates so they could even get out of the port.

"It doesn't seem so, I'm not reading anything suspicious on the radar." Sai answered, smirking. "This time those detector jammers to make us invisible to the radars we stole from Silver Pirates sure came in handy."

"Hn" Law answered and sat in his chair in the control room, looking at the large window with hardened glass in front of him. "Keep this depth and keep us in the water just in case." He looked at the log pose, reading the moving needle. "Change our course to North-North -East."

"Aye, captain" Jean Bart answered and moved the helm while Sai typed in new coordinates for their travels.

~….~

"Ya-hoooo! We did it, we really did it!" Penguin jumped high in the air, rising his fist even higher.

It was late morning of the next day when they finally emerged from the sea and were now floating on the light waves of the ocean. The whole crew decided to celebrate their success of a deadly mission, which passed without any casualties, though with quite a few injuries. The Heart pirates were enjoying the sun, alcohol and food on the deck, looking at the vast, open sea around them. It was quite a merry sight.

"Munk, get us more booze and food! We're celebrating!" Sam yelled while stuffing his face with meet and almost choking to death.

Josh hit the assistant mechanic over the head. "What the hell are you celebrating for, you were staying in the submarine the whole time!"

The crew laughed as Sam pouted. "Eeeh? But it was still really stressful ya' know. We didn't know what will happen…And we had to wait in the middle of the marine base at their port for so long."

Munk laughed a hearty and loud laugh. "Aye, aye, ye all did well I say. Even me ole ticker stopped a few times from tha rush. Now come 'er 'n replenish yer energy with Munk's delicious grub!"

Miyako was sitting properly in a seiza(3) and smiling while eating politely with the chopsticks. However it was hard to concentrate when food was practically flying around her. Every now and then she had to dodge a flying piece of meat or move for the Heart Pirates who were currently fighting for the remaining bottle of rum.

"Come on guys, let's have a toast! A toast for a job well done!" Shachi lifted his beer mug high in the air.

"Yeah, I can't believe we escaped right under the marine noses…From a marine base! What incompetent idiots! Hahaha!" Kai yelled and started rolling around in laughter.

Someone handed a glass of sake to Miyako. "You too Miya-chan, let's have a toast."

Miyako looked at the glass, thinking if she really should. At the same time, Cody, Bepo, Josh, Penguin and Shachi whipped their heads in her direction. They still remembered what happened last time when Miyako drank sake. She was a poor drinker who got easily drunk and even worse; she was a total devil when she was drunk.

"Well…I guess just one-" She started.

"NO!" The group yelled, trying to quickly take the alcohol away from her.

The girl blinked in surprise and wonder. She didn't remember what happened last time so she didn't know what kind of horrible ordeal her friends had to experience with her.

"Ah, Miya-chan, why don't you take some juice instead?" Cody offered and gave her a glass of juice while skillfully taking away the alcohol from her hands before the girl could even protest. He had a nervous smile on his face as he tried to avoid any suspicion coming from her.

Meanwhile, Law watched all of this from the side while sitting on the railing and drinking a bottle of liquor. He was glad they made it, due to his detailed planning of course, but he still felt uneasy about the whole thing. He couldn't stop thinking about the conversation he had with Joker over the den den mushi in the dead of the night while the sub was still sailing underwater, trying to put as much distance from the marine base as possible. As always the conversation was unnerving and uncomfortable, leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

"Do you have it?" Joker asked as soon as Law made contact with the shichibukai.

"Yes. But my men went through a lot to get it. We almost got killed! Can you explain to me how they knew we were coming?!"

"Ah, so it was a trap huh…?" The broker of the underworld didn't seem fazed by it at all. "I only found out now myself. It seems a little rat found himself a way inside our organization." A loud scream somewhere in the background came to Law's ears and it was enough to give Law a chill. He could picture what the 'little rat' was currently experiencing.

"I see you caught him though." Trafaglar said, without much emotion. "There was some marine organization called Annox7 there…"

"Oh, those guys? Hmm...yes, they are quite a problem sometimes. But…" An obvious amused tone appeared in Doflamingo's voice and Law could completely imagine Joker's usual grin on the older man's face. That disgusting grin that Law always wanted to wipe right off the broker's face. "…I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, Law." Somehow the way Doflamingo said it, left Law feeling even more irritated. As if there was no way anyone would be foolish enough to betray or disobey Joker's orders. It was always like that with him and his subordinates; Do or die. Nothing more. Law's fist unconsciously tightened by his side.

"Joker…what are you planning? This thing you want...I read Vegapunk's files. It's an ingredient for creating Devil Fruits, isn't it?"

A small chuckle was heard from the other side of the line. "Law…Didn't anyone tell you; curiosity killed the cat?" There was a deadly, but amused tone in Doflamingo's voice.

Law stiffened but kept quiet and soon the shichibukai continued. "But you did good kid, so as a reward I'll tell you." Law hated when Joker called him that but ignored it and listened on. "You're right, it's to create Devil fruits…or rather an army of devil fruit users."

Law's eyes widened a little. "What would you need an army for?"

Doflamingo chuckled again as if he was amused that he had all the answers Law apparently wanted. "Not for me…" And then Joker said a name that almost made Law drop the receiver of his den den mushi. "Kaido."

Law's eyes widened as he thought. *One of the Four pirate Emperors?! Joker is in some kind of agreement with Kaido, and I didn't even know. And Kaido is creating an army?* Law thought about it for a while and soon pieces of the puzzle started coming together in his mind. *Of course, after the War of the Best, the scale was tipped. The marines got an upper hand since Whitebeard was killed but that old man went and said that One Piece was real. Now more pirates than ever are roaming the seas looking for Roger's treasure. And that means more competition for the Four Emperors too. And there's also Blackbeard. Marshall D. Teach…He showed an amazing ability and announced war to the world. The other Emperors must be weary of him as the new rising power, even more than of the World Government. Kaido must be doing everything to strengthen his power too, he doesn't want to lose his position in the pirate world. So he made this deal with Doflamingo.* Then Law thought of something else. A crucial point.

"But what do you get from that?" Law asked. He knew Doflamingo was still acting in the underworld even though he promised to give up all that when he joined as a shichibukai. But Doflamingo never had any intention in doing so. He was still a pirate through and through…he just did things a bit differently than before. He let others do his dirty work for him. Just like Law had to yesterday…The thought of being used made Law's fist tighten its grip even more, his blunt nails digging into the palm.

Once again, Law could almost hear Doflamingo grinning on the other end. "Law…You really are a curious one, aren't you? But don't get ahead of yourself…you don't want to get me mad." The tone seemed light but the threat was clear. Joker didn't want to revel too much and he was starting to get tired of Law's questions. "Don't forget Law…who you work for." Law kept quiet, a dark tension around him accumulating. A killing aura he didn't feel in a long time. *Not for long Joker, not for long…*

"Yeah." The only thing the captain of the Heart Pirates managed to squeeze out through his gritted teeth.

"I'll send another messenger bird to your ship to take the package from you. That's all." Doflamingo ended their conversation and didn't even wait for Law's answer before he turned off the den den mushi.

The line went dead and Law was left standing there with the receiver still near his lips. His body stood calmly, but Law was seething inside. There was such a clear sharpness in his piercing eyes that nobody could mistake the dark meaning behind them; Death.

Law closed his eyes to calm himself and momentarily forget about the nasty conversation. He took a sip from the bottle and felt the strong alcohol burn his throat all the way to his stomach. It was a soothing feeling though. A feeling that made him forget, even if for a while. Forget everything from thirteen years ago. But he'll definitively have to find out more about this whole Kaido ordeal. He needed to if he wanted an edge over Doflamingo. He needed to for his future plans. But before that, he had one more thing to discuss with his whole crew. He looked across the deck, at all of his crewmates. They all got stronger…much stronger than when they started their journey. And a lot stronger since the day Law decided to wait and stay in the Grand Line before going to the New World. Especially since he knew one day his opponent would be Doflamingo himself and everyone who stood behind that man. They all had to be prepared for that. Law wanted to start something…and the beginning of the New Age was also his signal to start preparing. Now that all the forces were shifted, when it wasn't certain anymore who will stand at the top, now was the time to act. This world right now was completely unstable and it only needed a little push to tip the scale and change everything. And Law was the one who intended to make that push. An impatient smirk appeared on his face with his grey eyes alive and shining with anticipation, as if he could see something the others couldn't yet.

"Alright. It's time." As he said that, Law hopped down from the railing and looked at his crewmembers.

The Heart Pirates stopped at hearing their captain's voice and turned around towards him in wonder and anticipation. They all looked at him with questioning eyes.

"It's time you lot. To go to the New World! We're ready!" Law said it in such a simple tone, like it was the most natural thing in the world, but everyone's mouths fell open.

"C-captain, are you serious!? It isn't a joke right!?" Bepo exclaimed in hope. His pain was instantly forgotten after Law's words.

"I'm not one to joke around with these things, you should know that Bepo." The captain said calmly as an answer to the bear's question.

"We're going….ALRIGHT YOU GUYS! WE'RE GOING TO THE NEW WORLD!" Penguin and Shachi yelled in unison, hooking their arms around the other's neck as they started doing something that looked like a Can-Can dance. They proceeded to sing "we're going to the New World! Going to the New World!" at the top of their lungs. Nobody tried to stopped them though, instead most of the crew joined them. Some even had tears of happiness in their eyes.

There was one expression that didn't look happy though…it looked serious, almost troubled. As if the person just got new problems to think about. Miyako sat there silently, looking at the plate in her lap. *New World…And Wanokuni. That means I'll…I'll be heading home. This time for real. Shouldn't I be happy? What's wrong with me?* Indeed, right now Miyako felt more confused than happy. *I'm a fool…This is what I wanted from the start. Yes, it's not like I ever wanted to be a pirate in the first place. I was made to by Law…* At the thought of her captain, Miyako's heart skipped a beat painfully as if she was remembering a painful memory. *Wasn't I planning to use them to get to Wano or close and then ditch them anyway?* To be honest, she didn't think about that plan in a long time. She had forgotten about it, though it was always somewhere in the back of her mind like a trouble that needed to be dealt with, but now it seemed closer than ever. Her dilemma never really disappeared. She looked at the dancing and celebrating crew around her; everyone was smiling, telling jokes and talking about their upcoming adventures. She could hear talk about legendary, beautiful mermaids that were waiting for them with open arms. Yeah right…they're waiting just for you. Miyako sighed. *But…they're my friends. Shachi, Penguin, Cody, Bepo…even that shorty Josh. Everyone. Can I really do that to them; betray them and just disappear?* Miyako sneaked a gaze at Law who was leaning against the railing and sipping from his bottle casually. *Can I do that to him? How would Law react if…? I bet he would be furious…* The girl bit her lip at the thought. *He'd probably kill me for betraying them…I know he has no mercy for his enemies.* She closed her eyes tightly as if trying to discard all those unpleasant thoughts. But she knew that sooner or later, she'll have to face them. This isn't a decision she can run away from. But...she was scared. She was scared of her new self that came out after spending time with the Heart Pirates. Her new self that was whispering in her mind to stay with her new friends, that living like this isn't bad at all, the one who longed for…what? Miyako unconsciously looked back at Law at that question. The realization made her turn her head away quickly, trying to disguise the faint blush appearing on her pale cheeks. *No…but Wanokuni is my home. I can't leave it all….for a man. Argh, I can't even say it! I don't want to say that, it sounds ridiculous! What happened to your pride Suzune Miyako!?*

That's right…She was Suzune Miyako the samurai of Wanokuni. A rounin. Not Burning-eyed Miyako how the marines called her. Her pirate self. Those two can't coexist...it's either one or the other. *I can't be both, can I?* She knew the answer to that question even before she asked it in her mind. She unconsciously bit her lip even harder.

"What's wrong, Miya-chan?" A worried voice brought her out of her thoughts and startled her a little. She looked at her side to see Bepo, tiling his furry head to the side and watching her with worried eyes. He looked pretty beat up and injured, but he still insisted on celebrating with his nakama than resting in sickbay.

The girl smiled at the big bear and scratched him behind one of his fuzzy ears. He made a content sound as his ear twitched a little. "It's nothing, don't worry. You should just focus on healing."

"You too Miya-chan, you got hurt too." Bepo countered. True, Miyako had some bandages of her own and her whole body was still pretty sore. Luckily, she was under a dose of some painkillers that helped the situation.

Miyako smiled to the polar bear and scratched his fuzzy big head. Somehow the bear always made her want to cuddle him and play with his soft white fur. She felt like a child, finding an awesome plushy toy. Luckily, she always managed to restrain herself. Instead she got up, her legs painful from sitting in the same position for too long. "I think I'm going to go rest for a while." Bepo nodded understandingly and the girl turned to leave for her quarters. She felt exhausted, but mostly she just wanted some alone time to think about everything that will soon follow. The decision she had to make was not an easy one…not anymore...not like when she started this journey. And she knew exactly who to blame for that. Her gaze unconsciously sought him out but Miyako realized Law was gone from the deck. Nobody even seemed to notice him leave.

While thinking about everything, Miyako's body moved on her own and she didn't even realize it until she was standing right outside Law's quarters. Why did she even come here? She didn't know but somehow she needed…something….Was it reassurance? As if Law could take those troubles away. But she knew he couldn't, because Miyako could never tell him what she was thinking about. She couldn't tell her current captain that she was deciding whether to leave him and the crew as soon as the chance appears. But even so, she was already lightly knocking on the metal doors and then waited a few seconds before coming in. The doors opened effortlessly and at first Miyako was surprised when the cabin looked empty. She was sure she would find the doctor sitting behind his big wooden desk as always, hunched over a bunch of papers he was working on. But instead, she was met with complete silence and that confused her for a second. Her eyes looked across the room, seeking out the man, and then found his lying form on the bed.

Miyako didn't know why she closed the doors and went inside instead of quietly leaving, which would be more logical. But it seemed her mind wasn't thinking very logical at the moment. Something just got her curious, something about that still form on the bed. Right now Law looked so….different. She had never seen his sleeping form before. It was calm…peaceful. Completely different from the usual picture she had of him; of a smirking, self-confident young man, piercing her with those grey eyes as if challenging her…as if silently saying – Defy me if you dare. Perhaps that's what peeked Miyako's curiosity and called her forward, closer to the bed.

Law was still wearing his yellow hoody and spotted trousers, lying on the covers. His hand was still holding a book on his stomach that he must've been reading before he accidentally fell asleep. His head was resting on the covers, turned to the side as he slowly breathed. He seemed to be in a pretty deep sleep since he didn't wake up even when Miyako sat on the bed beside him. It wasn't surprising since he stayed awake the whole night and they all had such a hectic day yesterday.

The girl sighed and flopped back on the bed beside him, then turned her head to look at the man's peaceful face. "Why did I come here…? Actually I know…But why did I think talking to you would suddenly resolve all my troubles? But even if it was just a meaningless chat like the ones we often have…I wouldn't mind right now." She told him softly even though she knew he couldn't hear any of it. The girl turned to her side, putting her hands underneath her head like a makeshift pillow, and stared at the face before her. Her golden eyes seemed dimmer now…and somehow sad. "If I disappeared what would you do? If I betrayed you one day…what would you do?" But all she got was the same silent breathing as before. Somehow Miyako didn't mind though. Law's expression and whole form right now made her more relaxed. It somehow made her feel better. She looked at the man's face. It seemed to her that it was ages ago since she properly looked him in the face. Nowadays, she would always avert her gaze. She always avoided they're eyes from meeting because it made her embarrassed. She would just remember all the things that happened between them. Now, she remembered the beginnings of their journey. Those days she would always stare right at him, challengingly. Defy him constantly, fight him and irritate him any chance she got. And she would never back down or look away either. Her pride wouldn't let her. Where was that Miyako now? But the girl missed that old self a bit. She still considered herself to be stubborn and prideful but it would be a lie if she said that she wasn't subdued by this man at least a little bit. That word sounded wrong to her and left a bad taste in her mouth. And yet she couldn't hate him for it. But at least now she could look at him properly. She could feel his comfortable body heat even from here, without touching, and his scent was all around her. So close. His messy dark hair that was quite longer now than when they met. His tanned smooth skin. Perfect facial lines that made him quite a handsome man. And just barely parted lips. Miyako could feel the slight tickle of his breath on her skin and only then did it hit her how close they were right now. The realization made her cheeks hot and a small blush appeared on her face. But somehow his whole sleeping appearance seemed to calm her down, making her eyes heavy. Miyako realized how exhausted she really was.

~…~

"Ngh…" Law moaned a little as he started waking up. He didn't even know when he fell asleep. But as soon as he started thinking more clearly, before even opening his eyes, his mind warned him that he wasn't alone here. He quickly opened his eyes, ready to jump out of bed and defend himself but his body froze when he realized who the intruder was. He was lying on his side, face to face with probably the most infuriating girl he ever met. The one who could even break his calm mask and make his blood boil at times. Law's still sleepy and now very confused mind couldn't really process what happened and what this really meant. All he knew was that Miyako lay there sleeping quietly on her side, turned towards him and only inches away. He realized the girl never really got this defenseless and close to him on her own. The thought made him think of some ally cat, weary of everyone, that he was trying to tame. He suppressed a chuckle on that thought but a smirk still appeared. Though it wasn't that trademark, devilish smirk of his this time. It looked different…it looked more gentle. Law noticed a strand of hair falling on the girl's fair face and unconsciously he reached out to move it away, but stopped just before touching her. His hand hovered above her face. Law didn't want to risk waking her up. Or at least that's what he said to himself was the reason. But he knew there was another one. He didn't want to do something he might regret later. He didn't want to attack her and for a moment there he was dangerously close. And then the little cat would run away from him and never come back. Instead, with a sigh Law rolled onto his back and pinched the arch of his nose with that hand while staring at the metal ceiling of the room. "Idiot, don't be so defenseless around me…" With that he closed his eyes and rested the back of his hand against them.

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Bakaonna – Foolish woman, Idiot woman

Ittouryu: Kiritateru – literally means "to slay all." One slash, coming from the battoujutsu stance, precise and strong enough to cut even through steel or stone.

Seiza – (literally means "Proper sitting") A traditional formal Japanese way of sitting.

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Alright! That's it for this chapter. :D I think I did this one pretty long; 57 pages in Word. Once again sorry for the delay but right now college is hectic. I'm trying to write as much as I can though, whenever I have the time. So little by little, this chapter came to an end as well. :) As always, all constructive criticism, reviews or messages are welcomed so do tell me your opinion. So this time I didn't put answers to any reviews since there weren't really any questions and I really wanted to post this as soon as possible. XD But I read all of them and want to thank you all so much for the wonderful comments and support. You guys really make me want to do my best! Ganbarimasu!