BlueRyuu- The nose was her favorite treat. Duh. XD

Nek'rio is a made-up name; I didn't know the names of any Sirens and didn't feel like looking them up. So there. XD And yes, it might be said that Luffy is a child of Medusa. It's a complicated relationship, though.

And the word is anticlimactic; yes, her death was VERY much so. However, if you were a smart killer, would you fight something that can control everything she sees or would you just plant a small piece of poison in her food that would turn her stone body into ash? She wouldn't feel any heat, she's stone. She wouldn't think of it being poisoned, as you wouldn't reveal your intentions until after you get it in her system; then, you'd make her focus on your weaponry so she thinks you plan on challenging her outright.

Irony, dear children, is my name... And I just want to point out you are my mostest favoritest reviewer of all time.

Kid9535- A lurker comes from the shadows! HE STRIKES! NINJA STARS EVERYWHERE!

XD

Really, though, thanks a bundle. Now BlueRyuu can have help with the 'STOOPID AUTHUR!' rants.

If I ever get any... Which I might... Because I'm st00pid... Muahahaha.

Trust me, there are plot holes, but none that I ain't planning on explainin' later. Bwahahaha! And yes, POD versus SHC would be like Batman versus Spiderman. W-O-W. Not, of course, that the thought ever occurred to me. -scoots what looks suspiciously like a sketch of Luffy using a Gum-Gum Pistol against a dual-colored-hair girl who is holding candy canes like swords behind the desk-

I also am unhappy about Reza's death, but it was-and is- a necessary evil; not only did the events sort of conspire against me, but I was finding it more and more difficult to keep him in the story. When that happens, what do you get? Invisible character, there for the battles but nothing else; I figured he deserved better, so he instead went down in a blaze of glory.

-Duk'zar kel-zhotz-

The sun was barely coming over the horizon when I woke up, the events of the night before bringing an amused smile to my face the instant I was conscious; then I spotted the form of Shasta standing on the shoreline and frowned slightly.

Then I suddenly registered that someone was singing; it was the words of the song that had reminded me of my actions the night before, I realized.

"Day by day, night by night,

I am consumed by the loss of your eyes.

The fading dusk reveals only sadness,

but my heart also knows rage.

From dusk to dawn, throughout the day,

I seek for the home of my heart of rage.

I see what they've done

and what they will do,

and my heart grows hot with the fire of death

for now I have lost my heart of love.

From sea to sea, throughout the world,

I seek for the cause of my heart of rage.

As Shasta turned her head to regard a cloud above us, I abruptly realized she was the one singing; I felt my jaw slacken as the beautiful voice sang the bitter words.

The clouds above bear witness this day

to the heartache those men have caused us.

I swear on the blood of the many I've killed

to bring back with me one who is precious to them.

From heart to heart, within my friends,

I seek an answer to my heart of rage.

Aliza stirred in my lap, the brush of cloth against leather causing Shasta to hurriedly turn her head to look at us, her expression turning stolid as Aliza looked at her.

"Finally awake, are you?" Turning back to regard the sun that was rising in the distance, she continued softly, "Good. We have much to do if we are to regain your friend."

Aliza, however, simply stood up and stretched before trotting over to stand beside Shasta, watching the sunrise as well. "I liked your singing, but it sounded... Sad."

I felt one eyebrow raise in surprise, while Shasta winced. "You heard me?"

As I got smoothly to my feet, I smiled gently at her. "I agree with Captain Al; beautiful voice, beautiful way to wake up in the morning, bitter song to be singing." Stretching widely, I heard something crack and pop in my shoulders and smirked. "'Specially when this is going to be a victorious day; I can smell it in the wind."

Shasta snorted as she turned to face me, her four swords sheathed on her back as her loose white tunic waved in the wind, her dark green shorts flapping against her legs. "How can you be so sure, oh mighty First Mate and great Captain? We're facing an army of pirates and scum that will kill at the slightest hint of trouble, while their leaders are not only vicious, but powerful. How can you expect to get out without sacrificing something?"

I smirked as I settled my hat lower on my head. "We're sacrificing time; we all know that, swordfighter."

Aliza giggled, then she reached up and patted Shasta's shoulder, a determined smile on her face as she caught Shasta's gaze.

"We're gonna get Licky an' Nicky back, no matter how many o' them there are. We'll punch 'em and kick 'em and I'll sweet-sweet them and you'll stab them and Argy'll shoot 'em and scare them. They'll get clobbered before they know what's happening!"

I smirked as she finished, then I pulled out Ras'cal and spun it around on one finger. "What say we get this party started before our audience gets bored?"

Aliza smiled queasily. "Yeah, and let's hurry; I gotta use the bathroom and I'm hungry when we're done beatin' those guys up."

Sweatdrops formed on mine and Shasta's heads.

-Levant der'kraus-

The three of us came into the town from the direction of our little mini-island; I flashed us across the water separating us from the shore, then we walked to town from there.

As we entered the walled town from the forest, a pair of drunk pirates looked at us stupidly, then recognition hit and they smiled wickedly as they drew their swords.

"Hey! You! You're thoshe shree th't got 'way yesserday, right?"

One of the pirates reached back for a horn and Shasta placed one hand on a sword, then paused as I held a hand in front of her and Aliza stepped up, a smirk on her face as she folded her arms.

"That's right, dodos! We're the Pirates of Doom and we're here ta kick your butts!"

The pair looked at each other, then burst out laughing before the man with the horn brought it out in front of him and blew as hard as he could into it. Unfortunately, in his drunken state he missed; Shasta cut him down the next second at my gesture.

The other pirate looked in horror at the woman as she calmly straightened up, then Aliza trotted over to the horn and picked it up, looking curiously at it before throwing it at me, a grin on her face.

"Here, Argy, blow it. I think it's their alarm."

Shasta looked at me in shock, as did the other pirate, then I calmly brought the horn to my lips and, inhaling deeply, cut loose with the loudest blast I could, shattering the horn in the process. As the echoes died away, both the pirate and Shasta gaped at Aliza and me before shouting simultaneously, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! YOU DON'T BLOW THE ALARM IF YOU'RE THE ONES SNEAKING IN!"

I smirked and opened my hand, letting the pieces of the horn fall to the ground. "Better for them to come out so we can fight them all at once..."

"... Then have ta hunt them down one by one," Aliza finished, her arms folded across her chest as she smirked amusedly at the pair in front of us; I drifted up to stand slightly behind her, my hands in the pockets of my coat as I smiled congenially at the pirate.

"And now, Shasta, if you would?"

The pirate realized what I was talking about the instant before her blade removed his head from his body; as he fell, she straightened up and glowered at us, drawing a second sword before spinning them around and attaching them to the other two.

"You're both completely crazy, you know that, right?"

Horns began sounding in the distance, followed by shouts as the drunken crews became alerted to the fact that somebody had blown the alarm horn. Smiling, Aliza shrugged.

"We're the Pirates of Doom; craziness is obli... Obli..."

I smiled. "Obligatory."

"Yeah! What he said." With that, she turned and began trotting down the street. I drifted along behind her, while Shasta brought up the rear; our senses were alert for anything that might have resembled somebody coming to attack us.

We all saw it at once; the scurrying of men as they moved in the shadows behind and around us, the scrape of metal against the walls, the glint of sunlight on steel, the eyes watching us furtively and smugly as we moved toward the center of town. Shasta moved up beside me.

"I think they're herding us into an ambush."

"Quite." I continued walking calmly as she looked at me increduously.

"And you're fine with that?"

Aliza looked behind at us and frowned. "Sassy, what did we say before?"

Shasta sighed and screwed her eyes shut as if a headache was brewing. "Never mind, then, captain." As she fell back to the rear again, I heard her muttering to herself about how she would have preferred to die in honorable combat, not an ambush; I just smirked and continued walking. Little did she realize that, at least in my case, the combat skills of the team were enhanced by large numbers of opponents gathered in one place.

We finally reached the town square to find our enemies emerging from everywhere around us; scores and scores of the pirates emerged cockily from their hiding places, swords and guns held ready in their hands as they contemplated killing us. Shasta cursed under her breath and turned around, the three of us facing in three different directions.

"So, great leaders, how do you plan to get us out of here?"

I smirked as I drew Ras'cal and aimed it at one pirate on my right, not even looking in his direction.

"I believe there is a technique that should work; if I do it right, it might even kill half of them." Shrugging, I felt my smirk widen. "If I do it wrong, of course, we'll all die, too."

Shasta gurgled something shocked-sounding, then the pirates burst out laughing, clearly not believing that what I was saying was true. Aliza, on the other hand, smirked with me.

"Well, we wouldn't be th' Pirates of Doom if we didn't feel a little doom now and then." Lowering her head, she nodded. "Do it, First Mate Argy!"

I nodded and squeezed off my shot. "Barrage of FiveThousand Skulls!"

The bullet went in the pirate's eye and shot out of his ear, entering another pirate's ear and exiting through his eye. The projectile shot across the clearing, missing me by a half-foot, and entered another pirate's eye before shooting out his ear. The bullet continued this deadly game of hide-and-seek, flashing back and forth around the three of us before it finally slammed into the heart of the final victim. The next second, fifty percent of the pirates in the clearing found themselves staring at the rest of their comrades as they collapsed to the ground, their skulls shattering. Smiling, I spun my pistol back into its holster before gesturing to Aliza.

"They're all yours."

She smirked and cracked her knuckles as she stepped toward the survivors, who found their former pride had been shaken and began backing away. Aliza would have none of that, however; raising one hand, she smiled toothily at them.

"SWEET-SWEET NEEDLES!"

Candy canes began popping into existence in the air, their tips sharpened to needle-fine points, then they rocketed toward the pirates around us; the men and women screamed as they fell, dozens of the projectiles embedded in their bodies. Beside me, Shasta was stock-still, her jaw slack as she watched in awe the thinning of the herd; Aliza smirked and gestured, causing the needlestorm to cease before she turned and beamed at Shasta.

"Your turn, Sassy!"

Shasta grimaced. "My name's Shasta." Smirking then, she crouched down and brought her swords back behind her, resembling a hawk as her expression turned wicked. "Oh, well. I guess we'll survive this, after all." With that, she leaped forward, screaming as she went, "SPIN DANCE!"

She began spinning the swords behind her as she ran, forming a pair of windmills that began churning the air around her from the sheer violence of their rotation. Before the few remaining pirates quite knew what was happening, she struck, bringing the windmills around from behind her and slashing through the survivors could recover; they died as had their comrades, leaving only a blood- and body-covered square behind.

As the dust settled from her charge, the sound of mocking applause could be heard and I turned my gaze to the roof a building on the side, regarding the man from the night before, his six swords still sheathed as he smiled arrogantly at us.

"Yeah, that's it! Kill, kill, kill!" His head went back and he laughed, then he looked back at us, his arms folding across his chest. "Ain't it fun? Kill everybody and everything and leave nothing behind; this is what makes piracy fun!"

Aliza snorted. "Idiot! Treasure is what makes being a pirate fun! Killing ain't fun at all; it's boring!" She brought one finger up and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Although... Fighting is lots of fun!"

The man snorted and unfolded his arms, drawing two swords from behind him as he smirked at her. "You're a stupid little girl; good thing I'm gonna kill you, otherwise you might live on believing such stupid drivel."

"Drivel?" Aliza looked confusedly at me, then the man leaped, causing me to flash in front of her, my own hands snapping out a pair of knives. Before the man could reach me, his eyes wild with an insane excitement, Shasta appeared, one sword behind her and another in front. Snapping the sword behind her forward, she shouted, "DANCE OF SCORPIONS, FIRST STEP!"

The sword disconnected and shot out, my eyes widening as a thin chain trailed out behind it, keeping the swords attached as the blade shot toward the suddenly-surprised pirate captain. He spun in mid-air, avoiding the attack, then Shasta snapped her other sword out and that blade grazed his arm, causing him to look at her with a wicked smile on his face.

"That's it! Kill!"

Shasta snapped her arms to the side, whipping the chain and causing the swords at the ends to split apart. "DANCE OF SCORPIONS, SECOND STEP!"

The swords came apart, then Shasta flicked her wrist and they came back together, the twin blades diving toward the man like the tails of scorpions. Grabbing Aliza as he spun, his own swords deflecting hers, I flashed to the top of a nearby roof. As I planted her on top of my shoulder, Aliza turned and beamed down at Shasta.

"We'll get outta your way, Sassy, okay? If you need us, we'll be rescuing Licky 'n Nicky, 'kay?"

Shasta looked at us in shock, then snapped her swords back as her opponent leaped forward, his own blades darting toward her heart.

"FINE! WHATEVER!" She screamed, her own swords blurring as they began going at it in earnest, "JUST DON'T COME RUNNING BACK TO ME 'CAUSE YOU NEED A SWORD OR TWO! ALL MINE ARE BUSY!"

I watched them for another second, then smirked and flashed away; from the way they were moving, I knew she would win. Or, if she didn't, I'd have to kill the man and us his soul to bring her back or something.

Then we came to the building I had seen the night before and I stopped; Krieg and Kuro looked up at us amusedly from the front door, their expression smug.

"Well, well, well, Don, what have we here?"

The big man flexed his arms. "Looks like a couple of rats, Kuro."

"Yes, indeed." Bringing his glove-blades up, Kuro crossed his arms in front of him and smiled thinly at us. "I believe we shall have to fire our pest-control specialists."

"And deal with 'em ourselves?" Krieg brought his cannon-arm up and aimed it at us. "Good idea."

I focused and found where Licone and Wellingtoes were; turning, I raised one arm and pointed at a distant steeple. "Captain, Wellingtoes and our friend are by that church. You go get her; I'll deal with these lowlife lieutenants myself."

Aliza smirked at the two. "Too bad, boys! I wanted ta fight all three of ya, but a captain must always fight a captain, so First Mate Argy's gonna kick your butts! Tata!"

With that, she leaped off my shoulder and rocketed away, speeding toward the distant steeple. Below, Kuro smirked and flashed after her, then froze as I flashed in front of him, my expression suddenly steely.

"My captain has decreed that I am to defeat you; therefore, defeat you I will."

Kuro smiled, then an explosion rocked the street and he flashed down to the cobblestones below, Krieg's projectile slamming into me and exploding violently.

As the smoke cleared, Krieg snorted. "Little punk thought he could defeat the strongest man in the East Blue! Ha!"

Kuro sighed. "Well, he did delay me, I suppose; we should give him credit."

"Oh, you're about to give me way more credit than that, little man."

They both turned to stare open-mouthed as the smoke cleared away to reveal me still standing, my right hand out in front of me, clenched in a fist. Opening it, I let the pieces of the explosive fall down and smirked.

"If that was your best shot, Admiral, I must say that you should be embarrassed. I've been hit by Navy fire stronger than that."

The big man took a step back, his face pale. "H-How did you survive that?"

Kuro looked just as pale, but, instead of retreating, he leaned forward, his claw-swords extending with his fingers. "It's impossible!"

His feet began blurring as he performed a Stealth Walk, then I reached behind me and grabbed him around the throat, his swords bouncing off my coat harmlessly. Smiling grimly, I shook my head regretfully.

"You three should have just let the girl go."

With that, I hefted him up and over my shoulder, flinging him into Krieg and sending the two of them back into the building. The house shattered and collapsed in on them, then I pulled out my shotgun and held it ready. As the two of them crawled out of the rubble, coughing from the dust, I fired three bursts at Krieg, denting his armor pretty badly before replacing the weapon on my back and smiling at them.

"I suppose you two are a waste of good lead. I don't know why I just wasted those rounds, but..." I pretended to have a revelation, my eyes going wide. "Oh! I know!"

My expression and voice dropped to sub-arctic temperatures. "It's because you took a friend of mine. I want to hit you with as much as I can."

Krieg straightened up, a smirk on his face. "Hah! Your shots had no effect on me!" Bringing his sword-arm up, he smirked wider. "And now-"

My fist in his jaw shut him up. Leaping up as he flew into the air, I ax-kicked him back to earth, where he slammed into the ground with a loud 'BOOM'. Kuro attempted to slip around behind me, leaping into the air behind me and slashing with his claws, but all he got for his trouble was the view of my afterimage blurring away as I materialized behind him.

"You're slow, Kuro. Quit pussyfooting around and give me your best shot already!" I smashed a fist into his back, sending him into the side of a building. As I landed in a crouch, I smirked. "Krieg wants to, I'm sure."

The man in question was, slightly surprisingly, back on his feet; with a bellow, he charged me, his cannon-arm coming up and unleashing a barrage of missiles at me while he readied his sword-arm. I brushed each missile aside, sending them careening into the buildings around me, where they exploded violently, clouds of flame and smoke ripping through the town. As Krieg ran out of ammunition, he leaped up, his sword coming over his head and down toward my head. Smiling, I crouched down, focusing on my fist, where a small amount of power began churning. As his sword approached my skull, I leaped up, my fist shooting up and shattering his sword before crushing his skull.

As his body hit the ground, I landed on a nearby wall, the roof that had once sat on top of it now lying in pieces around me; a breeze blew against my cheek and I smirked before spinning around and snap-kicking Kuro across the street and into a building again.

As he struggled to get to his feet, his glasses shattered and strewn everywhere, I smiled. "Little kitty got whipped, huh? What a surprise; you used to be a smart man, Kuro. What happened? How did you become such an idiot in the company of idiots?"

He spat and got to his feet, his eyes blazing. "Silence! Whatever I may be, I am not going to be defeated by a simpleton like your-hurk!"

I smiled from his side as he collapsed, my knife sliding out of his throat and back into its sheath after I flicked the blood off of it. "Simpleton, shmimpleton, as my captain would probably say. At least I'm still alive."

With that, I strode away toward the sound of explosions that were coming from where Aliza had last been sighted, a smirk on my face. Nothing like ending the lives of powerful opponents to get the blood running; too bad they hadn't been anything more than single-faceted fighters. Power for Krieg, speed and stealth for Kuro.

It was like fighting a Siren; just beat them once at their own game and they could no longer concentrate on what they were doing. It was as easy as stealing candy from a baby.

As I walked away from the battlefield, the stray thought ran through my head. Unless, of course, the candy is owned by Aliza; at that point, it's more like easy as getting impaled.

It made me smirk.

-Los'krios del nos-

It took me only moments to reach where Aliza, Wellingtoes and Licone were; staring down at them from inside the steeple, I felt hatred growing in my soul. The little man had his arms folded, a smug grin on his face as Aliza faced down Licone, both girls breathing heavily from the battle that had been going on already. Two houses were shattered, while another was teetering and a fourth was stuck full of candy canes and punctured with hard candies.

"So, captain, are you ready to give up yet!" Wellingtoes' voice was as smug as his blasted face. "As you can see, your little friend is completely under my control."

Aliza spat. "Freak! Why'd ya need to do this ta Licky 'n Nicky?!"

He smiled condescendingly. "Why, to see if I could make two minds become one, of course!"

Aliza's eyes widened, while I felt a shiver run down my spine. He was messing around with the human mind; not even Medusa had felt comfortable venturing into the section of twisted science.

"This girl was my first subject; when she was born, I used this device," he tapped the helmet-thing on his head, "to implant a mind-seed, as I call them, into her brain, which I had chosen from many at birth because of a certain set of specifications I had arrived at from experimentation with other subjects. Then, when she was of a ripe age, I hired mercenaries to kill her family and friends in front of her, creating the perfect trauma for the mind to emerge. Because it was a mind formed of fear, it, of course, became a violent one, bent only on killing and protecting the other mind from feeling pain, because it, too, would also feel that pain and would do anything to stop it."

"Once that was done, I simply had to wait; due to the other mind's violent nature, she would naturally become a deviant from the law, who would dispatch the Navy to fetch her. It became merely a matter of timing then to send a group of pirates under my control after her. You disposed of them all, of course, and she fell in with you for a time, but then she came back to me." He smiled merrily, then blinked as a moan came from Aliza, who was standing limp, her eyes spinning and drool coming from her mouth.

"Too... Many... Words..."

He snarled and pointed. "Fine, if I am so boring; NICONE! DESTROY HER!"

Nicone?!

As she snapped her feet into a kick at Aliza, I flashed down, my fist pounding into the skull of my target like a hammer. She froze, then collapsed, and Aliza looked at where Wellingtoes was falling beneath my fist, his teeth shattered, and smiled.

"Good work, Argy! Ya got him!"

I stood over him, my rage billowing like my coat, then he looked up at me and smiled toothlessly.

"You're too late for your friends, little man... Even as I forced them to fight your pathetic little captain, I was performing the final steps to form the final creature, Nicone!" Gesturing at where the girl lay on the ground, he coughed and laughed, the pieces of his helmet falling off his face.

"I will probably go to prison, but I will still devise a new helmet and, using the success from this experiment, I will construct a new creature, perfect and powerful, and use it to destroy the world!"

"No, you won't." As he looked confusedly up at me, I flexed my fist. "Don't you remember what I said last night about the survival rate on this island?"

His eyes widened, then I slammed my fist down, Aliza's horrified scream filling my ears.