Yo everyone! Did I make you wait...? I guess I did -_-

Anyway, finally chapter thirteen is complete and here it is. In last chapter I said that this chapter will give you a heart seizure...or at least a bit of a surprise. So, let's not waste time and get going.

Here we go...

Chapter 13: An Unexpected Visitor?

"It's all because of you."

Zoro turned his attention toward Robin and uttered those words. Robin wasn't able to understand the meaning behind them, and realized her situation wasn't getting any better. He spoke again as he began to walk slower, his words surprising her again. "I'm still nameless. So many years have passed and I still don't have a name."

Robin's ingenious mind started working and her eidetic memory replayed all the recent happenings in her head, focusing on the memories that coincided with the swordsman's mysterious remark. 'He took it. He stole it. You can give it back. Give it back. Give back our names.' I'm sure those were the words I heard back there, at the tree. Does it really have anything to do with this?

Robin was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't realize the possessed swordsman approaching her until he blocked the moon from reaching her, his shadow darkening her confined body. Jerking herself from her musings, she gathered her thoughts and slowly raised her eyes to meet his gaze. His piercing ocular and wide evil grin was enough to once more ensure her that he wasn't himself.

Zoro didn't waste a moment and stretched his bloodstained hand to grab her face, covering her lips under his palm. His skin stank of decomposing flesh and blood, and Robin could feel her stomach roiling in distaste. "You are capable of doing it," he scorned, pulling her up until they were eye-to-eye." So, just give me a name already." Robin was forced to stare directly into his eyes, and her own widened slightly when she witnessed the darkness she saw there. Zoro's normal eyes were dark by nature, but this was the darkness she had inside herself, the evil lurking behind the bright smiles. She might as well have been looking into a mirror.

It suddenly became clearly evident to her. Zoro's current condition and that Tree were definitely related somehow. Two immediate possibilities were that while he was near that Tree, he was either possessed by some ghost or something of sort, or, while remaining on more logical and realistic explanation, he was infected by some kind of virus or parasite. Either way, Zoro was not himself, and she was the only one who could do anything about it. She was pulled out of her thoughts again when another of Zoro's deep-throated growls reached her ears, indicating his frustration and anger. Zoro, on his own was powerful enough to destroy an entire island. There was no telling what damage he could do with additional demonic abilities.

Unbeknownst to them, another spectator, his presence on the island hidden from the population, observed the entire scene. About a mile away from the swordsman and archeologist, the events were reflected in the eyes of a particular black-haired figure standing on the roof of the highest tower of the Cloud-Ring's Mayor's office building. His expression displayed a generous amount of surprise as any other audience should, but it stood out from others due to the wide grin curling his lips. His whole body shivered, an uncontrollable amount of excitement building up in him.

"What the hell?" He mumbled as his eyes bulged with excitement. "Oi! Oi! Just what is this? I thought it would work out fine in the end but this...this is fucking amazing. I never even imagined that the day would come so soon." Walking few steps forward, he placed his hand on the stone railing of the tower. "Come on. Nico Robin, show me, what will you do now?"

Back at the main scene, Zoro's growl echoed in Robin's ears. She looked back at him as he scorned her again "Don't make me wait any longer. Just give me a name already, you damn woman."

One thing was similar in both personalities of Zoro, Robin noticed. No matter how many people he slaughtered, no matter what kind of things he was uttering right now, he was still Zoro, and he was still rude. This one was overly rude though, and obviously Robin didn't like it. If he was asking a favor, it's natural to be politer than this. But that was a different matter, and there didn't seem much that could be done about it. But as she calmed her mind a bit, Robin came to a decision. Being the overly lazy swordsman he always was, maybe he wasn't trying to awaken. Perhaps he had grown addicted to this newfound power, and wasn't willing to give it up so easily. If this were true, then Robin would have to administer the wake-up call.

The way he was at the moment, mercilessly slaughtering and rudely snapping at her could be a possibility, but the Zoro Robin knew would never let something like that happen, whether it was a disease or a case of possession, he should be able to pull himself out of either scenario with no problems.

Robin contracted her eyebrows to form a frown. She surprised even Demon! Zoro as she pulled her face back, her cheeks slipping easily from his grasp, the slick blood streaking over her face acting as a balm and allowing her to free herself. The moment her mouth became her own again, she lashed out faster than a snake and, mustering all the strength she had left in her body weakened by kairoseki, sunk her teeth in the skin of his hand in the region between his thumb and index finger. Blood flowed into her mouth through her teeth, though whether it was the blood of the women or Zoro's own, she couldn't tell.

Zoro was frozen, staring at Robin with a blank face. Their spectator bore almost the same expression as Zoro, as if all of his excitement flew away within an instant as he witnessed this unexpected and yet daring act by Robin. Zoro stared at her for a couple of seconds before he burst out in a delirious laughter, surprising Robin once again.

He finally regained control over his laughter after a few seconds, and attempted to speak, excitement making his voice tremble. "I never thought you were such an idiot."

This was something Robin predicted he would say. The frown returned and Robin poured some more force to sink her teeth even deeper. She had no idea how or why she came up with this 'biting on his hand' plan but she had to do something. When you suffer from a nightmare, isn't pinching the best way to wake yourself up? Could it be true the other way around as well? As common a practice as it was, she could've thought of yelling out some touching words to call the swordsman from his sub-consciousness, but that wasn't Robin's thing and it felt somewhat awkward for someone like her.

As her teeth sunk into his flesh further, Zoro finally seemed to experience pain. His expression twisted, biting his lip to force himself not to reveal his pain. That was another surprise for Robin. How could a single powerless bite hurt when a big wound in his shoulder and his massively bleeding arms failed to do so? Thinking about that, Robin could only wonder just how much blood he had, even after losing such an amount, and he was still on his feet. At that moment Robin deduced that maybe his reaction was because of blood-loss after all. Was it possible to get high off of blood loss?

Meanwhile, their special spectator was sitting on tower's stone railing like a frog, his knees hugging his shoulders. Even the stone under his iron grip was cracked due to the force with which he gripped the hard stone with his hands, eyes bulging and lips stretched out to their limit in a wicked grin; he seemed like he would explode with excitement anytime as he whispered, anticipating, again. "Idiot, Nico Robin! I never imagined you'd be such an idiot!"

Back on the main scene, Robin's impromptu deduction suddenly proved wrong as Zoro peeked at her from the corner of his eye, lifting his face to the dark sky, his back arching in an inhuman fashion. He spread his lips and let out a bellow, more shockwaves causing the cobbles beneath them to ripple and crack with sounds like gunshots. The sound beat on her ears, and Robin was forced to release Zoro's hand. She was blown backward a few feet, her bonds not allowing her to catch herself. She lay panting on the hard street as the roar died away, silence once again settling around them. Robin was surprised that despite being so close to him and even in such a weakened state, unlike some women who passed out after the first hit from the shockwave, she was still conscious. Was it purposeful?

Zoro's growling became even more vicious, and his head fell forward to direct his glare toward where the archaeologist lay. His demeanor was even more demonic than before. He lifted up his right hand, firmly clasped around Kitetsu's hilt, and aligned it with his right shoulder, adjusting his wrist to face the blade forward. Just then, he opened his mouth to let out another similar roar in Robin's direction, a powerful wind buffeting her clothing. His actions made it clear that as out of control as he was, he may attack her after all and with none of their nakama around to help, this could be the last moments of her life. There was no such feeling as 'being happy to die by her loved one's hands' for Robin. She didn't want to die at all. She wanted to fulfill her dream and wanted to help all of her nakama to fulfill their dreams. If she died here, what had their siege on Enies Lobby been for!?

There was no one restraining her this time. So, even if in the slightest, she decided to struggle for her and Zoro's sake. As she looked around, her eyes landed on Wado Ichimonji, still lying beside the corpse of the woman whose leg was impaled. Her body had gone cold, her skin pale from blood loss, rigor mortis already setting in. But after so much blood loss, Zoro was still alive and moving around like that. Without thinking, because of her limbs tied by sea stone lined ropes, Robin squirmed toward her and awkwardly caught Wado between her jaws. She mustered all the strength she could and quickly tried to stand up on her bound feet but as soon as she stood, she was forced down again to her knees, the sea stone still affecting her, and not to mention the katana was ten times heavier than it looked, and her jaw was not trained to bear the weight like Zoro's was.

Zoro let out another beastly bellow. She looked up at him and clenched her hands and jaws even tighter in frustration, always hoping Luffy or anyone else to appear and offer aid in this situation. But she was yet unaware of another surprise she had to witness. Robin caught the glimpse of something glistering in the sky above Zoro's head from the corner of her eye. With amazing speed, the object headed in their direction from behind him, he seemed to not notice it approaching. Robin didn't get a chance to distinguish the object either but soon enough it revealed its identity.

Zoro's roar stuck in his throat. The frown that had been forming on Robin's face disappeared and Wado dropped down from her mouth as her jaw dropped, the katana clacking against the stones. Zoro blinked, looking down with interest at the blade of a massive sword protruding from the center of his chest, its tip buried about a foot into the cracked ground.

Where did that sword come from? That was obvious for Robin to figure out, but what she wanted to know was who owned such a magnificent blade, powerful enough to take this demon by surprise. This question was answered a split second later when a figure suddenly plummeted from the air, his long black cloak flapping wildly as the wind buffeted the creases. The man held a hand to his hat to prevent it from flying off, the other outstretched like a bird.

Zoro's efforts to pull the sword from the ground suddenly ceased as the man landed heavily on the guard of the large sword, his knees bent to absorb the shock of the landing, and his feet positioned strategically to divide the weight and therefore drive the weapon further into the ground, keeping its prisoner tightly secure. The hand that had been flying out to the side found a home on the man's knee comfortably, the other still keeping the brim of his hat over his eyes. The cloak fluttered gracefully as it settled to its usual position.

Robin instinctively analyzed the newcomer. From his neck dangled a crucifix pendant, casting a soft shadow on his bare chest. His wide-brimmed hat shaded most of his face, the feather swaying with a light breeze. After a brief moment, the man raised his head, the brim of his hat tilting upward to confirm Robin's suspicions.

"Dracule…Mihawk…" the archaeologist murmured the name of the world's strongest swordsman with surprised eyes. The Shichibukai reclined against the hilt of his sword without a word to her, looking down curiously at the back of Demon!Zoro's head.

"I should've listened to you sooner," he mumbled to himself. "You were right. At the very least we were able to avoid the worst possible situation."

Suddenly, Zoro moved a hand behind his back and, ignoring the sickening sounds of disturbed flesh, grabbed Yoru's black blade firmly. His action seemed to take even Mihawk by surprise, who's eyes widened a fraction of a degree, yet he did not move from his perch. Zoro turned his head and looked at Mihawk from over his shoulder, eyes burning menacingly. "Mihawk, you bastard!" he said in his devilishly coarse voice. "This is the second time you've butted in. Once I get a name, you'll be the first one I'll slice up."

Mihawk didn't seem to be fazed much by his words. He took one moment before replying, "Well, until then…go back to sleep, you vermin." At the word 'sleep', his voice deepened an octave, and Robin felt a disturbance in the air. Haki? No, it didn't have the same feeling. This was a deeper power, an ability from long ago.

A scream ripped itself from Zoro's throat, his body thrashing wildly as a black smoke-like substance was excreted from his skin. Robin recoiled at the sound. The dark aura surrounded the swordsman's body, obviously trying to find ways back inside. Finally, it magnetized toward Zoro's back, seeping into the deep wound made by the black blade and disappearing back inside the pirate's flesh.

Zoro's body immediately slumped forward, the joints all going numb. The red light in his eyes faded back to the normal coal-black color of his irises, but slightly glazed with sudden lack of energy and inhuman power. His one remaining eye blinked a few times, slowly rising from his semi-conscious state. For some reason, he didn't seem surprised to find himself hanging off a black blade like a piece of steak. His entire body ached, though he supposed the numbness helped a bit. All he wanted was to just close his eye and sleep.

But he couldn't. The broken memories of his rampage were still fresh in his mind.

What…happened to me? He thought weakly. What…did I just…do? I…let myself…fall to...the darkness. Mihawk…why is he…here?

Mihawk landed from the top of Yoru's hilt to Zoro's left side, the swordsman not appearing to register the movement. The Shichibukai swordsman gripped the hilt of his sword and dug the heel of his other hand into the green-haired man's shoulder. Bending his knees slightly, he applied the necessary force and pulled his sword out of the ground and through Zoro's chest, a fountain of the pirate's blood accompanying it. Zoro allowed himself no more than a deep groan of pain through this ordeal. More red liquid was coughed up, spattering across the stones between his knees. Mihawk swung down his sword to the right to cleanse it off Zoro's blood before returning the sword to its place on his back.

Despite the excruciating pain, Zoro didn't let himself fall just yet. Stumbling to his feet he shuffled a few steps forward to lean heavily on a dilapidated wall, blood smearing across the bricks. Gathering any energy left, he lifted up his eye, searching for Robin. Finally catching the archaeologist's blurry image, his jaw clenched. She was watching him, too, her eyes glazed with worry.

Using all of the remaining strength that was left in his battered up body, Zoro turned around and strode toward his rival and mentor, grabbing Mihawk by his collar. He glared at the world's strongest swordsman with his bloodshot eyes and used the most threatening tone as he was able to warn him. Mihawk met the younger's eyes defiantly, not backing up a step. "Don't you dare…hurt her."

Mihawk grabbed his wrist and answered. "I've no interest in her or any of your friends. You should worry about yourself now." He jerked Zoro's hand to free his coat from the Straw Hat pirate's grip. Zoro stumbled back from the force and fell hard on his back, only a foot away from Robin.

The historian hadn't moved from where she had collapsed, watching the scene with disbelieving eyes. She watched silently as Zoro collapsed just next to her, her limbs refusing to move despite the kairoseki binding them. Within a moment, Mihawk was standing behind her, the parts of rope that were not lined with sea stone were severed, freeing Robin from the hellish clutches of sea stone. Unable to control sudden freedom, Robin fell forward, catching herself instinctively, her hands flat against the cold bloodstained street. She looked down, discovering that she had caught herself directly on either side of Zoro's head, both of them staring intensely at one another.

Robin's long raven hair fell around Zoro's face as if they were trying to separate themselves from the whole world. Both stared at each other with mixed emotions plastered all over their faces.

He was breathing heavily, blood still flowing freely from the massive wound in his chest. Robin was sure he was in immense pain, but he was strong not to make this fact evident. She was too engrossed in the sight of his eye, returned to its normal color once more, knowing that he was no longer under the influence of a satanic creature. Robin felt her heartbeat slowing down, her lifeless eyes widening and pupils shrinking in horror as Zoro's eyelid slowly shut down to cover his bloodshot ocular.

Zoro didn't know the minute details of his rampage, and he didn't know whose blood was streaked across her face, but just seeing her there alive was enough for him. She's safe…that's a relief. A smile crept on Zoro's lips as he let himself fall into a deep slumber, not knowing or even caring at the moment whether he'd even wake up from it or not.

Phew...again. Yeah...so...how was it? I hope I've earned some points to exchange them with reviews. So, THANKS FOR READING...DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A REVIEW...PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW...REMEMBER ME...REMEMBER ME...PLEASE REMEMBER ME XD

Just re watched drum island arc, hella funny XD