Whew! This chapter made me sweat! I was editing the crap out of this thing so I'm hoping it all makes sense and flows with what originally happens in the anime. Crossing my fingers that I did well (Please tell me if I didn't!) and that you all like it!

Glad to hear how much you guys liked the special mini-type-story-thing. I loved writing it and I hope to make another one day. The Movie stuff is coming, it's just taking me a bit longer than expected... but that was to be expected...ha. Anyways, I want to try a new approach to my reviews from now on, hope you like!

Taiski: I thought the same thing! (And I wrote it!) Now the fun is how exactly did they get together? Muahaha

ZabuzasGirl: Hope this is a good update for ya!

Totong: Kimi made sure she didn't get drunk but she really wanted to know more about the secretive swordsman. And yes, he is definitely opening up more to her... if only he wasn't so stubborn he could have told her the truth about their relation to each other. Ah, oh well!

DinoZilla: Yes, their heart-to-heart was needed and I think he's just too stubborn and weary to open himself up to her completely. Maybe one day he eventually will? But for now... time will only tell! I didn't want to have them retire...but let's just say they found one piece and then got married? Idk... I wish Oda would hurry it up with this new arc and get to it! And yes Tashigi would probably be mad they retired and got married! hahaha. (I dont really like her.) Also, when you make your story be sure to comment on with your account and not the guest account! I'll read it for sure!

Fanboy316: Ha, no hangover scene... Kimi got drunk when she first joined and didn't like it. You'll have to see if Zoro will make a move on Kimi... or if its the other way around, maybe?! Hahaha. Only I know!

"Damnit! We were too late!" Franky cried. How much more foolish could they have been throughout the course of this battle?! They should have focused, Kimi cursed in her head. They should have paid more attention to the underlying tactics Moria was planning out instead of using all their energy to defeat the zombies.

Moria planned the battle to be a struggle of time for the Strawhats. Their battle with Oz got them nowhere fast, and even when Moria gathered the shadows of every zombie on the island wasted more time.

With the sun's full presence in effect, Kimi and the other Strawhat's gasped watching their friends' bodies begin to disintegrate.

"I thought we beat Moria!?" Nami screeched as she stood in horror watching Zoro, Sanji, Luffy and Robin's heads disappear.

"Luffyyyyyy!" Chopper and Usopp cried to their captain. "Sanji! Zoro! Robinnnnnnnn!"

Then suddenly, the heads and torso's of the vanishing crewmembers returned.

"WHAAAAAA?" The strawhats stared in shock.

Zoro held a fist outwards while chuckling. "Well… I seem to be alive!" He made a closed fist while examining the muscles in his hand.

"Oh, for a second I thought I was going to heaven." Robin smiled with her hand on her cheek. As she smiled in relief, Sanji managed to run behind her with a heart in his eye, "If I'm with Robin-chan, I'll gladly go to heaven!"

"Don't just laugh this off! We thought you guys were dead for sure!" Usopp cried to the three since Luffy was still passed out on the ground. "You hearing me!"

Chopper and Nami fell to the broken ground, "That was scary~!"

"My goodness, you almost scared me to death!" Brook sighed. "Oh right, I'm already dead though!"

Birds seemed to sing in the next moment as Lola's pirate crew cheered over the fact their three-year departure with their shadows had now returned. They were a colorful bunch to say in the least, especially Lola, their pirate captain.

"Well, it looks like everyone over there is alright, too." Chopper sighed after examining Luffy's resting body. If it hadn't been for their rubber Captain defeating Moria in a final blow, no one would have had their shadows returned.

"Anyways…" Usopp sighed as he flopped onto the ground. "I'm just glad everyone is safe."

Franky nodded while sitting as well. "I'm finally feeling drowsy and beat. Anyone got some cola?" He placed his large arms on the back of his head while closing his eyes.

"Relax." Zoro declared while placing his swords into the crease in his arm as he sat on a large piece of broken castle wall. "I'm sure an exciting incident like our shadows being separated from our bodies will never happen again."

Kimi nodded while placing her glasses into her back pocket of her shorts. "Everything that's happened since we arrived on this island was all an illusion shown to us by Moria." Her dark blue over-shirt had been ripped to shreds during the battle with Oz. She felt extremely uncomfortable exposing her firmly shaped stomach to the others in the dingy and blood stained white crop-top.

As much as she hated being noticed in her exposed skin, Kimiko was beyond the point of exhaustion to care about her insecurities. "Now that he's been beaten, there's nothing left on this island." She smiled with a proud sigh. The scientist placed a hand on her forehead while looking out towards the graveyard. With all the lifeless zombies lying about the area, it seemed as if they had just woken up from a bad nightmare.

"Anyways…" Usopp spoke in the pit of the silence in the group. "Don't you think Luffy's new fighting styles are a bit too harmful to his body?"

The pirates focused their attention on their sleeping captain. Despite the serene face he had, they knew the damage to his body from their intense battle. The fact Luffy was still alive was mind blowing!

"I'm worried," Usopp continued. "If there's gonna be stronger enemies than this from now on, he's gonna have to keep using these techniques. If we don't pull ourselves together soon…"

Everyone in the crew nodded. It was just like Kimiko had told herself after her fight with her zombie. She had been lucky enough to survive the past couple of battles alongside the Strawhat pirates but sooner than later, she feared, there wouldn't be a lucky break with the rate her fighting ability.

A set of steady footsteps forced the crew to lose focus at Luffy and look to the intruders. "I think we're long due for some thanks!" Lola gave a warm-hearted smile at the broken-spirited crew.

"We're truly grateful to the lot of ya!" A man with a large brown afro cheered. "Sorry for getting' ya involved in our troubles!"

"You guys really were our one and only hope against those guys!" Another male added. "Thank you so much from every member of the Thriller Bark victims." The entire group of men and Lola bowed thanking them once again.

"We can offer you Moria's treasure as our thanks!" Lola stood up abruptly with a cunning smile on her oversized red lips, "More importantly than that, one of you may marry me!"

There was an abrupt pause in the group. Simultaneously, all of the men growled, "NO!"

"All at once, she was shot down by five people! That marks the 4449th rejection!" Her men of her crew joked. It almost seemed cruel that the oversized woman had been rejected so many times, but from the looks of her crew she must have been used to it.

Zoro sighed while scratching the back of his head, "Even if you thank us, Luffy already told you…"

"Hey, you over there!" Lola screeched.

"We only fight on our own terms." He continued to scratch.

"Don't you want to marry me?!"

Kimi's eyes widened for a split second after discovering Lola was continuously persistent in attempting to find a husband. Kimi wasn't jealous…she decided in her head, but rather upset that Lola want to take her friend away… okay, maybe she was a little jealous.

Zoro didn't respond to the woman and only continued his thought, "You guys were just rescued as a bonus."

Suddenly, Nami smacked the cheek of the green-haired man. Her force threw him into a piece of the broken wall on the other side of the battlefield. "Just what the hell are you saying!?"

"Nami can be scary…" Chopper clung to the scientist ankle. Kimi looked down with a slight giggle while picking him up into her arms. "Yea. Just don't ever tell her that." She whispered.

"Yea, we're gonna give every piece o' Moria's treasure to you guys!" One of the men smiled.

This caused the navigator to have Belli symbols in her pupils. "Well now, if you insist –" She unexpectedly gasped in absolute horror. "That's right! I forgot something!" She exclaimed.

"What?" Usopp questioned.

"That guy! He was here earlier..."

It was Robin's turn to question. "What's wrong?"

"It's really serious!" The navigator responded back. However, instead of her answer, both crews received their answer just by looking above at the muffled voice towards the top of the only remaining portion of the castle."I see…So my greatest fear has become reality?"

Looking up at the figure, Kimi caught a glance at a large bloated man with skinny limbs protruding out of his body. His legs were crossed and he held a den den mushi in his hands. The small device provided the other voice. "So it would seem." He replied back.

"Who's that?" Usopp asked with a shudder.

The heaviness in Nami's breathing was starting to make the others worry. "He's here…!" She gasped standing with her fists held down by her waist. "Guys, listen to me… during the fight with Moria and the others I forgot to tell you! On this island… there's another, Shichibukai!"

Nami's words caused the entire crew to panic but not nearly as much as much as Kimiko did. She wouldn't allow herself to let the others see her fear, the less the crew knew about her and the Shichibukai, the better.

"What'd you just say?!" Usopp screeched. "Th-There's just no way…!"

Chopper turned his head at the sudden shaking Kimi had while holding onto his small body. "Why are there two Shichibukai on the same island!?"

"Just when we finally chose a successor for Crocodile, it's not good to have lost another Shichibukai. Is he still breathing, even in the faintest?" The den den mushi questioned. The man holding the object offered a small, "Who knows?"

"As long as he is still alive, we will wait for his recovery and hope for him to remain in his position as Shichibukai. The dignity of the Shichibukai would be lost if we were to lose them this easily, especially after we had to replace Crocodile with his successor two years ago… this news must not reach anyone else."

"It's him…" Lola shuddered. "The pirate called 'The Tyrant'… Bartholomew Kuma!"

The name sent buzzing signals to Kimiko's ears. "No…" She gasped attempting not to fall from her shaky legs at the recognition of the man. "Not him… anything but… him…"

Chopper seemed to notice the scientist's petrified stance around his body. But the voice of the den den mushi continued. "Do you comprehend what I'm saying? We cannot afford to let anyone else know of Moria's defeat. This is a direct order from the World Government. Obliterate the Strawhat crew and everyone on that island!"

"…Too easy." Kuma stated calmly while rising to a standing position.

The men of Lola's pirates, and Usopp, cried over the word 'obliterate,' realizing the World Government meant for Kuma to kill them. With a small wiggle, Chopper escaped Kimi's shaking arms. "We just barely beat Moria! This is terrible…"

The sound of light footsteps rang in the dead silence. "You guys stand back." Zoro instructed with one of his swords drawn. "I'll do this."

The words of the swordsman only proceeded to cause more fear in the mind of the scientist. Not only was Zoro and the others completely drained from their fight with Oz and Moria, but to fight Kuma – someone none of the Strawhat's truly knew… they couldn't. They wouldn't survive… no one…

"Be careful!" Nami instructed. "I saw him make a person disappear with just the touch of his hand! And he can change locations in an instant!"

Kimi shuddered under her breath, "You don't even know the half of it."

The only sort of movement from 'The Tyrant' was his removal of his thick brown gloves. In keeping with his secretiveness, he spoke no words and only offered to stare at the crew. Then instantly, he appeared down on their level.

"So, he can really change locations in a second." Franky murmured for the crew to hear. The reaction of Kuma forced the scientist to take a couple of steps backwards. She didn't want to see him… Moria was enough Shichibukai for one day, but two!?

And especially a Shichibukai she personally 'knew'.

Lola's crew raised their weapons as Kuma stood silently in the middle of them all. With a single motion of his hand, Kuma caused an explosion to the men in the direct line of the blast.

Without another thought Kuma disappeared. His disappearance shocked everyone, even Kimi. The air was still… she could hear every slight breath or moan someone would make. The chilling atmosphere of the engaged battlefield kept everyone on their toes despite being completely exhausted.

Then… suddenly… Kimiko felt a small breeze of wind from behind her back.

"Multiplying Beauty, Tomoko Kimiko…" Kuma's voice almost seemed to whisper causing tears to bubble at the base of her sky blue eyes. "Shall I start with you?"

She took a sharp breath in…and then wheezed her gasp out.

In.

Out…

As if she was a simpleton to the Shichibukai, his question inferred the fact he had no explanation to who she was. With a shaky turn of her head to the large man, Kimi trembled aggressively. He knew exactly who she was, he was only pretending… for her sake.

Although she didn't have her glasses on, the details of Kuma's figure were promenade in her diminished vision. Everything about him was just as she was ever told… yes, this was the first time meeting him in person. But from everything Kimi was told by the World Government three years ago, Bartholomew Kuma hadn't changed.

"Just get the hell back!"

A voice demanded to the side forcing both Kimi and Kuma to look. There, standing with his fists by his sides was none other than the green-haired swordsman. "If it's a fight he wants. Then I won't back down." He grimly spoke with the shadows of his forehead covering his eyes. The intensity of his figure only added to the seriousness of the moment.

He was defending Kimiko. He was not allowing anyone to hurt her.

"Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro…" Kuma turned his full body towards the lone swordsman. "You lot are pretty famous. It would seem that on Strawhat Luffy's ship, there are quite a few skilled subordinates. And you all have caused quite a bit of trouble." His words didn't even affect the skilled swordsman. Instead, Zoro only held his two blades in his experienced hands glaring at his enemy.

"Oi, oi Zoro! Don't be so damn reckless! Aren't your bones about to fall apart?!" Usopp tried to reason with the over protective swordsman, but the words floated through one ear and out the other.

"When the world shoves you around, you've just gotta stand up and shove back. It isn't like you can do anything just by giving excuses." He smirked looking straightforward at Kuma. "If I die, then I am just a man who can only make it this far!"

His words struck Kimi with fear. She didn't want him to fight Kuma, no matter if this was an action of pride or admiration. Kuma had chosen Kimi first as the one to pick off in the Strawhat crew. He obviously had a reason as to why.

Before the woman could protest, both Zoro and Kuma disappeared in their attack. The swordsman landed about a couple of feet away from his original position after slicing through the air.

However,

His attack missed the Shichibukai completely.

Instead, Kuma reappeared right above Zoro with his hand right above his back. "No!" Kimi gasped in a terror. Cloning him quickly, she traded places with the real Zoro while the clone took the blast of the Shichibukai. Along with saving her friend, Kimi cursed at the attack of her clone which allowed her mental capacity to be harmed.

"Oi!" Zoro snapped at the woman as she intruded in his fight. She expected that response from the buff swordsman, but she hadn't expected the cry for her safety.

Looking above her figure, Kuma appeared. She only had a split-second to jump to the floor before his hand forced a blast through the broken ground. "Gah!" She called out landing on her stomach.

"KIMIKO!" The Strawhat's worried for their female friend. "What's with that guy's ability?! What are those marks he left on the rubble?!" Nami screeched.

Zoro attempted to strike an attack at Kuma, but it was deflected with the wave of his hand. "Oi! Cook!" He called out in a panic.

Already knowing what exactly the swordsman was inferring, Sanji ran towards the battle towards the woman still recuperating on the ground. Clutching Kimi around her torso and pulling her into his grasp triggered an irritated moan from the woman, "Let go!" She tried to wiggle from out of his grasp, but in her weakened state Kimi failed miserably.

Trying to draw attention towards himself, Zoro shouted to Kuma. "So that's your ability?"

"The power to deflect everything." The Shichibukai nodded. "I ate the Nikyu-Nikyu no Mi… I am a paw-man." He explained while showing his paw-like hands to the group.

"Whaaaa? P-Paw?" Sanji gasped still holding onto Kimi's wiggling form.

The other Strawhat's seemed to ridicule the ability of Kuma. Franky even stated, "I don't know if you're a Shichibukai or a Weeniebukai…maybe he's not that tough after all-"

With his words caused Kuma to blast the cyborg to a diminishing blow. The force caused the impenetrable cyborg into the remaining wall of the castle.

"Cyborg Franky… is that all there is to your strength?" Kuma mocked back. Nami gasped after seeing their indestructible robot fall, "What kind of move was that?"

"Perhaps," Robin offered, "He is possible of deflecting even the air itself? A normal cannon wouldn't affect Franky at all."

"I call it the Pad Cannon. By repelling air at the speed of light, I make a shock wave that can pierce through anything." Kuma explained before digging his heels into the ground. With the same technique he used on Franky, Kuma began to repel the air with his Pad Cannon but at an intense rate that it almost seemed like he was sumo-throwing punches.

Sanji forced Kimi towards the others, despite her forceful attempt to escape his grasp. It wasn't until Usopp screamed for Zoro did both Kimi and Sanji loose their focus of retreat. "Oi, that baka!" He snarled.

Dropping her from his arms, Sanji threw himself towards Kuma with a powerful kick to distract the Shichibukai from hurting the swordsman anymore. The release of her containment caused Kimiko to look at the two men now fighting against the World Government pawn.

"Bastard! Don't but in!" Zoro yelled out.

But with the fall of the cook after striking the man's face caused the Strawhat crew to panic. "Sanji!" Kimiko called out running towards him below 'The Tyrant' standing tall from the attack.

"Black Leg Sanji… you have to be him." Kuma muttered.

While placing Sanji into a sitting position, Kimi heard the blonde cook grumble, "Is his face made from steel?" Despite every word through her mind, Kimiko refused to reveal the truth about the Shichibukai.

Usopp screamed for a fire attack, which in turn caused Kuma to look at the blast nonchalantly. "The King of Snipers…? What a ridiculous name…" Raising his hand to the fire, the attack reversed its position back to the crew.

This fight was literally going nowhere fast. With Kimi in-between both Zoro and Sanji, facing the Shichibukai, she came up with the quickest solution she could think of:

Sacrificing herself to the World Government in exchange for her nakama's freedom.

How exactly she going to do this…she wasn't sure.

"As I figured," Kuma spoke, "Getting rid of you all in your injured states isn't fair at all…the government ordered me to completely obliterate you all, but…"

Kuma didn't finish his statement… instead he only placed his hands into the air. The shape of a large white paw print appeared and seemed to grow smaller with pulsating compression of his hands.

"Wha?" Kimi gasped looking towards the figure. "Air? Is he making a giant air bubble with his paws...?"

Sanji groaned. "It keeps getting smaller and smaller."

This statement caused the female scientist to clutch onto the top of Sanji's suit jacket "Sanji! Zoro…" She huskily commented. The sternness in her voice enforced the two to heed her warning. "With that much compression of air…h-he's made a bomb in the palms of his hands…!"

As soon as the paw of dense air was completed, Kuma turned to the group. "I will spare your lives…If, in exchange, you give me the head of Strawhat Luffy! If I return with his head, the government will not complain."

His words caused a panic among both Lola's and Luffy's crew. The man in question, slept peacefully without a known reason why the entire crew was in a panic.

"You're asking us to betray our comrade?" Usopp growled.

Everyone. The Strawhats, Lola's gang… they all stared at Kuma with a glare. He ignored it and only continued his comment. "Come, bring Strawhat to me…"

"WE REFUSE!"

Every single person screamed the words towards the Shichibukai.

"That's a shame…" Kuma released the shimmering paw-bomb into the air. "Ursus Shock!"

She wasn't entirely sure what exactly happened… all Tomoko Kimiko knew was that the entire island of Thriller Bark shuddered after the bomb exploded.

Luckily, Kimi had been quick enough to clone herself and hide her real body inside of the castle. She was quick… she realized, maybe too quick to not include cloning her friends and saving them from the bomb as well.

The entire world seemed to fade into a silent oblivion after the blast exploded through the area. Turning her head carefully from out of the wall, she noticed the bodies of the pirates remained motionless as Kuma took a few strides towards the rubber captain. Now, being the only one remaining from the blast, Kimi had to think on her toes in order to save everyone from the dangerous Shichibukai.

The only sort of noise echoing through the wasteland was the sound of the howling wind. She wasn't even sure if her friends were still alive since she could not hear their distinctive breathing habits. "Please… please be alive you guys…" She whispered to herself.

The booming footsteps of Kuma forced the scientist into a quick thinking-mode/plan-of-action state of mind.

The only sort of reasonable solution was to give herself up to Kuma as Luffy's replacement… the real question was how exactly would she convince Kuma for her life over the captains.

She only had one shot at her plan; if it went wrong she would be totally screwed.

As Kuma bent down to reach out for Luffy, he suddenly was pulled onto the ground by an unknown force. With a quick glance to the side, he noticed multiple clones of the blue-haired girl all over him. "Which is the real one?" He asked aloud and started to swipe them with his paw paw ability. As the clones disappeared more and more reappeared in place while keeping him down.

He gave up for the moment as he realized the real girl was walking his way. "Listen to me!" She yelled out.

Kimi only had one shot at this, if she blew it the game was over and her captain would most likely be killed along with herself. "I know you know who I am and you are aware of my family's name." Her eyes narrowed behind her thick glasses lens she had just recently placed back on her face. "I suggest that you listen to me because I know what you are, Kuma. And I know how to dismantle you right now!" She crossed her arms with an army of clones behind her. "Leave the Strawhat Pirates alone!"

Kuma nodded without struggling to free his body from her clones hold on him. "Tomoko Kimiko…" His voice was a low whisper. "I know you. Release me and we shall talk."

Kimi pouted, "What do you think I am, senseless like my Captain? There's no way I'll let you go so you can talk!" Her clones tightened their hold on Kuma.

"I will not attack you or your comrades."

The little voice in her head, screamed for Kimi not to release the Shichibukai and yet she went against her better judgment and allowed Kuma to a sitting position freed from the clones.

"Listen to me…" Kimi stated as both she and the rather large man stood to face each other. Despite their immense height difference, the two made sure to keep eye contact.

The Paw Paw Shichibukai nodded slowly. When he opened his mouth to respond once again, his arm was then cut off, literally, by a large slash emerging on his forearm.

A tired Zoro struggled to take a stance right beside Kimiko, "Bastard… What are…" The swordsman heaved looking behind at Kuma whom still stood despite his attack.

Kimi looked back at the damaged Kuma and gasped at the sight of his arm. "He really is a robot!" She thought aloud and then covered her mouth. "I didn't think it was really possible…"

"What?!" Zoro gasped. "So he's a cyborg, just like Franky?!"

"No." Kimi bluntly muttered forcing a huddle of clones to hold down the swordsman. "He's stronger than steel… he's-"

Kuma's right eye started to glow red and he opened his mouth and it looked like he was about to shoot at the two targets. "Wait! Don't mind him, he's just reckless! Listen to me instead!" She begged still hoping her plan would work.

It didn't.

Kuma continued to shoot his laser at the two. Just in the nick of time, Kimi moved her clones to push Zoro out of the way. Which in turn, forced her clones to be caught directly in the blast instead.

The explosion was so powerful it threw Kimiko at least fifteen feet away from where she originally stood. In combination with the pain from her fight with Zombie-Kimi, Oz, and Moria, the mental pain that struck Kimi from Kuma's blast had completely drained her at this point.

"Cyborg… that is what I am, indeed, but…I am far different from Cyborg Franky. I am what they call a 'Pacifista,' a yet incomplete human-weapons project of the World Government." Kuma stated effortlessly despite the destruction.

"P-Pacifista…?" Zoro gasped. In the moment of stillness, he made sure to take a couple of thick heavy breaths. "W-what?" He looked to the scientist that had landed right beside him.

Kimi refused to look anywhere but at the ground as she attempted to catch up to her racing breath. Parting her dry lips, she kept her face shaded by her bangs as she revealed the truth about the Pacifista, "He was created by the Government's genius scientist, Doctor Vegapunk. He has the highest intellect in the world…They say his scientific knowledge has already reached a level that will take the rest of humanity 500 years to reach. He's the one person in this world that even challenged my own father's intellect, not to mention me…"

"So with him being a Pacifista and his ability on top of it… It seems that our hope is already lost…" Zoro grimly spoke through the blood and dirt on his face.

Kimiko nodded to her crewmate with a frown, illuminating the shadow that covered her face. "Our hope has been lost since he took one step on Thriller Bark…"

The blue-haired woman looked up from Zoro towards their enemy. "Sorry…" She whispered unsympathetically as a group of Kimi-Clones held down the swordsman in his position.

Her steps crunched through the bloody and thick debris underneath her boots. "You want a head, right?" The sternness in her voice almost made the scientist cringe. "Then take the head that means the most here…"

Her feet stopped just in front of Kuma. With the howling wind, Kimi waited until it stopped for her to speak once again. "…take mine."

The heaviness of her words caused Kuma's full attention back down at the bloody blue-haired girl standing from the rubble. She swore she could hear Zoro mumbling from the mob of Kimi-Clones holding him down, but she wasn't exactly sure… her voice continued grimly, "I can stop you… I'm a threat to you and the World Government… and they know it. Luffy and the others couldn't wrap a finger around you. Me, on the other hand, you know what I'm capable of."

The air was thick.

"If there is anyone here that the Government shouldn't let live and continue on with the Strawhats, it's me!"

Zoro attempted to scream at the woman for giving herself up so easily. After all their battles and the fight today, why was she willing to sacrifice herself.

"Take me," Kimi separated Kuma from Zoro and her clones holding him still. "My life for Luffy…"

The air got thicker.

"…it's a fair trade." She panted hoping her speech would still convince the man despite Zoro's meddling.

Just then another set of footsteps invaded the silence.

Before Kimi could protest, a head with matted blonde hair weakly limped in front of Kimiko to block her view of the Shichibukai, "There is no way I'm letting you take this precious angel off the face of the Earth. You hear me, big guy!?"

His clothes were torn even more than before due to the bomb detonation earlier. No matter the severity of his distressed state, the masculine cook wouldn't let his pain get in the way of defending a female. Standing protectively in front of the woman despite the shaking in his limbs and chest, Sanji stood. "Kimi," He looked back at her completely serious. "Let me take your place for Luffy." This wasn't a question. This was a demand.

Kimi's eyes widened. "This was not a part of the plan." She muttered.

"I know that the Navy may not consider me a threat as of yet… but soon enough, the one from this crew who will cause the most trouble will be me, Black Leg Sanji!"

The air was impenetrable at this point.

With Sanji's heavy breathing in front, and Zoro's grunting to escape in back, Kimiko was in the middle of a difficult situation at hand. "C-come on…d-d-do it." The cook stuttered. "Instead of them…m-my life…! Take it!"

A gentle breeze of the wind lapped dust and rubble through the messy hair of the scientist. "This was not part of the plan. Sanji giving his life was NOT a part of the PLAN!" She growled while balling her fists so tightly that her nails dug into the thick leather of her gloves.

"Oi…tell everyone. T-to take care…Sorry, but…it looks like you'll need to find yourselves another cook…!"

"NO!" Using what left of her energy, Kimi forced her elbow to collide with a pressure point on Sanji's ribcage. The gravity of the world forced the cook to slowly fall to his knees with a grunt.

Just before his blonde head hit the concrete ground Kimi caught him in her weak, bruised and bleeding arms. "I'm so sorry Sanji... I-I, I just have to do this. Trust me…" She whispered while cupping his bruised cheek. Making sure to be gentle, she placed the back of his heavy neck into the dusty ground.

Despite all of the unexpected predicaments occurring in her plan, Kimi stood to face Kuma once more with a deep and confident sigh. The sheer might of fire rampaging in her eyes only proved to the War Lord of her sincerity of her sacrifice.

Kuma stared nonchalantly at the woman. "You are so willing to give up?"

Kimi nodded with her gaze to the floor, "Either way…I'm probably going to die out here, but I won't let them not finish their dreams…"

"Luffy is going to become the pirate king.

Zoro is going to be the world's greatest swordsman in honor of his friend.

Nami is going to draw a map of the world.

Usopp is going to be a brave warrior of the sea.

Sanji is going to find the All Blue.

Chopper is going to be a great doctor – although he already is…

Robin is going to find all the Poneglyph's and discover the world's history.

And Franky is going to sail the end of the world with his dream ship."

Kimiko… despite wanting to be the world's greatest scientist… would never see her dream accomplished. "It doesn't matter anyways. I can't beat Vegapunk… I have to protect my friends." She frowned ignoring Zoro's grunts and fits to escape her clones.

Kuma then picked up Luffy. "Hey wait!" She thought he was going to hurt him but instead Kuma placed his palm on Luffy and a huge red ball removed from Luffy's body. "What is-?"

"What I have just repelled from his body was his suffering… his stress. This is all the damage he accumulated during his battles with Moria and Oz. If you can survive this then you may live. This is how you will save your friends and die. Take all of Luffy's pain." Kuma stated.

"KIMI!" She heard Zoro scream pass the clones attempting to silence and turn his head away from her position. "I'm sorry…" She muttered to him and then walked over to Kuma.

"Have a little taste of this pain. Maybe you'll think otherwise before taking the entire amount…" Kuma floated a portion of the bubble towards Kimi while the remaining large amount continue to float next to Kuma's side.

Instead of jumping into action right away, Kimi stared at the small bubble of red while taking in as much oxygen as her lungs would allow. Feeling brave, Kimi nodded to herself and allowed the bubble to graciously float into her chest. At first the pain tingled. It started deep in her chest and then quickly spread up her neck and through her limbs. The agony multiplied by 1,000 within a millisecond as if to threaten to burst her body into a thousand pieces.

This was the wickedest pain she had ever sensed in her life and it was only a small portion of the agony Luffy had received! The feeling of being picked apart by vicious needles tore through her skin as thick sticky streams of blood continued to pour from out the abrasions. She screamed as loud as she humanly could with the intent that maybe the pain would diminish. Yet, her screams only seemed to make the agony worse.

Her control on the clones holding down the confined swordsman had ceased. Falling to his knees, Zoro quickly looked to the source of the piercing screams. Just seconds ago when he was trapped, the screams he heard were nothing compared to actually seeing the blood and invisible attacks lash across Kimiko's body. With each passing second, her voice seemed increase but that only correlated to the amount of blood and attacks lashing at her body. Using all his might, Zoro kicked up the dirt from below his boots and ran across the wrecked battlefield to the scientist.

As the last laceration of pain struck Kimi's weak body her knees gave away allowing gravity to take control of her…into something warm and soft, rather than striking the concrete below.

Her senses had obviously kicked into high gear as a state of emergency the body obliged to. Rubbing her cheek against the warm body holding her, she attempted to open her eyes to see her protector.

Her lashes fluttered until a tiny opening of her eye was allowable for her to make sense through the blurry vision. "Zor-…" She slurred incoherently. The green was a dead giveaway.

Zoro tightened his hold on Kimiko. Although her arms swung naturally through the air and her head limply fell out of the curve in his bicep, he was shocked at out comfortable her body looked in his grasp. "You're an idiot." He muttered causing a slight curve on her bloody lips.

With the thin smile still on her lips, Kimi attempted to speak once again… but no matter how many times she attempted to whisper through her lips, the thick amounts of blood flowing down her throat stopped her from doing so.

A slight twitch from the fingers in her left hand struggled to push out of his grasp but no matter how much of her will power she attempted to use, it would not happen. "I- a… ah…"

Her fingers fell, almost seeming to weigh a thousand pounds as they collapsed and rebounded against the air. With one last glimpse, Kimi fluttered her eyes to attempt to see the swordsman but instead her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "Kimi?" His voice was heard as if he seemed to be fifty-feet away. "Kimiko…?" He was fading, no, she was fading. Zoro's voice was gone and instead sounded as a loud gasp for air. It wasn't until Kimi huffed the air out did she realize it was the sound of her breathing…

Taking in another breath, the feeling of her hands and legs was gone. Huffing the breath out, she realized she could no longer feel her torso either. With her last inhale, Kimi tried to absorb the body warmth from the swordsman to at least prove that he was still holding onto her.

But she couldn't feel it… she couldn't feel anything...

Muahaha, the never ending cliffhangers...