Disclaimer: I Do Not Own One Piece.

Chapter 21: … Jane?

"Stop defending!" Kit said.

"Fight back!" Kat added.

"OR DIE ALREADY!" They said in unison as they attacked once more. Aro gave a spin of her scythe and blocked both attacks. Ezerial slumped to be on his knees, sinking his sword into the ground, swatting at the unseen beings.

"You doing alright back there?" Aro asked, stepping in front of him, watching Kit and Kat carefully.

"Besides feeling like my insides are being ripped to pieces, yeah, I'm fine." He tried to stand, leaning on his sword as he did so.

"Hold it, Sparkie. You are NOT in fighting condition!" Aro gave him a worried look. Ezerial tried to glare at her, failing horribly.

"Fine. Watch out."

Aro turned and blocked two assaults of whips with another spin of her scythe. "You two are starting to get annoying. Do something that would actually give me a chance to attack!"

"Alright, Kitty." They answered, pulling their whips back. Aro blinked.

"… Seriously?" Aro let her shoulders lower, making her guard drop slightly. Kit and Kat grinned, getting back to back. The both took their whips and attacked the ends together, forming two bladed circlets. Aro swallowed as they put on black and white striped leather gloves. They looked at her with sneaky grins. "Oh hell…" Aro said, "Get up Ezerial, get ready to run…" Kit and Kat attached thing string where the ends met, and started to take a few steps away from each other.

"You want something different? We'll give you something different." Kit and Kat stopped, three yards apart. Aro pulled Ezerial to his feet and then towards the woods.

"Come on, Ezerial!"

"You try being poisoned and run at the same time. I can hardly stand as it is!" He growled. Kit and Kat threw the circlets at them. A loud whistle filled the air. Aro grabbed Ezerial's collar and tripped him. He barely caught himself. Aro felt the blades cut her arms, leaving two even cuts at the same height. She let out a low his of pain, turning to them quickly.

"Now you two are weaponless…" Aro's ears filled with a pulse and her hands began to tingle. "Now it's time for a counter—"

Something grabbed her legs and she face faulted. She quickly picked herself up to her hands and knees. She looked back at Ezerial, the one who grabbed her legs. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

The circlets passed back over them and she understood instantly. They passed right where her neck would have been. Ezerial's grip slowly left and he lay still on the ground. Aro got to her feet as Kit and Kat caught the circlets.

Her eyes filled with anger, her appearance turned cold, her aura turned violent as her gaze settled heavily on the twins. As she spoke, Kit and Kat's faces paled, their bodies froze, and they began to tremble slightly. "If Ezerial dies, you both will feel the full fury of Oni. His death will be avenged by both of your deaths…." She said in a low whisper.

"You're Oni?"

"Yes."

"Murderer of… the great seas?"

"Yes…"

---

LeStine pulled the gun out from his coat. He slowly pointed it at Guzen. "Please, Guzen, rethink this…"

"Please LeStine… don't do this…" He readied his die. LeStine got a sad look and cocked the gun.

"Forgive me my friend…"

"NO! JANE! DON'T DO IT!" Kise's voice filled the room. LeStine lowered the gun slightly as Guzen lowered his die. "JANE! NO!"

A sudden explosion of crates and barrels flew at LeStine. "How'd he—" He ducked under the first crate and side stepped a barrel. The wooden containers crashed and shattered on the wall behind him, spilling food and wine everywhere. He hopped a barrel and landed on a still air born crate. A third barrel flew directly at him. The gun rose and with a pull of the trigger, the barrel of wine exploded, sending redness everywhere. The crate hit the ground and he walked along it until it finally stopped.

Rubble now filled the entryway, food and wine painting it different colors. LeStine turned his gun to where the containers had come from. Kise sat Indian style next to the wall. A few feet away from him was a large wrench. LeStine's face blanked as he watched Kise point at it. In a frightened voice, he spoke, "Jane did it!"

"You insane nitwit… that wrench is an inanimate object! It can't move on it's own!" LeStine said in a 'teacher' kind of voice.

"How DARE you say that! You'll hurt Jane's feelings!" Kise got to his fee and went to Jane. He gently picked her up and held her. "It's ok Jane… shhh…. I'm here…."

"You are mentally unstable…" LeStine sighed, "That's going to seriously lead to your—" He cut himself off, turning to where Guzen was. The attack from 'Jane' had moved everything, and he could no longer see where he was. He turned back to Kise, "You proved a distraction! Do you know what he can do?!"

"No, but Jane does…. What's that Jane?"

LeStine growled out of annoyance, "YOU IDIOT! JANE—THAT WRENCH IS NOT A LIVING THING!"

"She saved me" Guzen's voice came from somewhere. Something red flashed and LeStine leaned back on the crate, making the crate rock back some. The explosion from the Fire Bomb sent the crate flying like a rocket. He jumped at one point, landed in a kneeling position next to Guzen, and pointed the gun at the side of his head. Guzen was frozen in stance from the shot still.

"Don't you start too… I know you're mentally balanced…" LeStine said in a grim tone.

"Jane! Stop!"

"Arg…" LeStine popped his neck as he slowly looked at Kise while talking, "What now—" The wrench suddenly pinned his arm to the wall. He looked at the scared looking Kise. "You fool!"

Kise's jaw dropped and he pointed to Jane. "Jane did it, not me! I was just sitting here!"

LeStine looked at Guzen, as if looking for reassurance. Guzen only gave him a shrug with a small smile.

---

Aro slowly raised the scythe, the staff part sinking back into its hiding spot. "Now Kitty… there's no need to get so angry at us… it was LeStine that poisoned him… not us…" Kit and Kat were slowly starting to back up from Aro. They had dropped their rings by mistake. The tower door opened suddenly, startling the twins to cause them to give a short scream. Kise came out, Jane on her hip sheath, and Guzen with a die loaded and walked backwards from the door. Kit and Kat held to each other tighter. "L-LeStine?"

"He's in there…" Guzen answered, not turning to face them.

"Both of you, what's Veldoro's plan?" Aro asked.

"He wants to take the strongest fighters from the tournament to be part of his new crew." Kit answered.

"And if I beat them all?"

Kit and Kat looked at one another, confused. Aro rolled her neck. Kit and Kat looked back at her, Kat speaking in a whisper, "We don't know…"

"In the tower…" Aro said, starting towards them. They squeaked and ran in side. Aro stumbled, walking to the door still. Kise watched her, slowly drawing Jane from the sheath. He raised her to his hear, paused, then grabbed Aro's tail as she passed by. She looked at him slowly.

"Jane says you're going to pass out or die if you keep bleeding like that…" Aro stared at him as he spoke. Her arms were covered in dirt, sweat, and blood. Her white clothes weren't so white anymore, but more of a dark read-brown.

"Doesn't matter…" LeStine said, approaching the doorway with his hands up. "With her blood loss at the moment, she's bound to live." He stopped as Guzen readied himself. "That is, if infection doesn't kill her… let me treat her wounds—"

"You killed Ezerial!" Aro shouted, "Why should I trust you?!"

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Sorry this took so long hehehe...