XD YAY! Bonus Chapter~

WARNING: This bonus chapter contains an intentional Mary Sue and OOC for other characters. Do not panic!

Special thanks to Kaiyumi7788 for the use of her OC Yumi!

-"~"-

Mariko sat cross-legged on the couch, the newspaper spread out in front of her. Yumi sat on the old piano bench, her fingers resting delicately on the keys. Yumi pushed a lock of her messy dark blue hair out of her face.

"Any requests?" Yumi asked looking over her shoulder at her friend.

Mariko shook her head without looking up from the paper.

Yumi sighed, and hit one of the keys. The note filled her with a strange satisfaction. She held the key for a moment, letting the note fill the room. Then her fingers began to move across the keys. At first, she kept the piece quiet and slow shaping the piece to be mysterious and almost frightening, enough to raise Goosebumps on her flesh. Each note was played with purpose and flowed together. She picked up speed and with it volume, until her fingers seemed like a blur. The piece bounce around the walls like a wild thing trapped in a cage, waiting to be release, and still she fed it until it was as wild and anxious as she was. She threw back her head and let the music surround her. Only at the piano was she able to fully express her feelings, her thoughts. It reassured her that even when the world was falling apart, she always had this to hold onto and keep her afloat.

She let the piece fade as it ended, savoring every last note as if it were the most mouth watering candy.

She spun around on the bench, letting in creak under her weight. "Any good news?"

Mariko looked up angrily. "This paper's getting worst every day. Pretty soon it'll be pure shit. Can you believe that there's only one little ad shoved in a corner that isn't about her?" Everything else goes on about how wonderful and powerful she is." Mariko scooped up one of the pages. "I mean, listen to this: 'Today, our glorious and stunningly beautiful Queen Mary Sue blessed us with her appearance at the local mall. Store owners were more than happy to give her whatever she desired at no cost.' I mean, why the Hell should I care?"

Yumi's light blue eyes darkened. "I want that bitch dead Mariko not imprisoned or changed or any of that happy unicorn shit she likes. I mean, bloodied and dead at my feet." She couldn't help but glance at a photograph she kept at the piano. A young man leaned against her laughing. They both had the same hair color and eyes.

Mariko followed her friend's gaze. "We'll save him you know, right after we kill her. We'll save them all." Her fingers brushed against her right shoulder, where her newest tattoo was, a smiley face, which could be mistaken for a virus, the Heart pirate's flag. She knew Yumi had gotten the Strawhats flag tattooed on her left shoulder blade. They wanted something of their crew's to stay with them.

Yumi brushed the tears out of her eyes. "She's taken everything, the Strawhats, the One Piece, even my brother." She blinked back tears. "Yami's my twin! I thought we were supposed to stick together. How could he just leave me for her?"

Mariko thought of Law, the way his eyes had gone all puppy dog when he'd told the crew they were going to give up being pirates and go live with the Queen. The way he'd spoken about the Queen had been like a knife being stabbed in her back, he hadn't even sounded like himself. The Hearts had long since left, they abandoned their ship and pirate lives. And she'd been left alone, she'd cried bitterly for hours. Even though she tried not to think about it, the Queen was probably screwing Law, along with the dozens of other Captains, pirates and marines she'd lured into her trap.

"I got some news about Yami the other day from one of my sources." Mariko said quietly.

At the sound of her brother's name, Yumi jumped up. "Tell me." She said fiercely.

"He's in one of her rooms, apparently, we weren't the only ones who loved hearing his music. She's having him play her favorite songs over and over again on the piano."

Yumi's eye widened in horror. "You don't mean…"

Mariko nodded. "Pop music and hip hop."

Yumi closed her eyes. "My poor, poor brother."

"There's one more thing you should know Yumi."

"What?"

"According to my source, Yami's been smiling happily the entire time."

Yumi's eye twitched. "That's it!" she screamed. "We're killing her! No one does that to my brother! No one! She hasn't just crossed the line anymore! She's dancing on the other side laughing at us! Tell me you have a plan!"

Mariko sighed. "I've been contacting our allies from around the world, and our allies on the inside who haven't been completely brainwashed. We're gathering as many weapons as we can, and the devil fruit users are mastering their power the best they can. Give me time Yumi, we're not ready yet!"

"You're wrong Mariko," Yumi said quietly, "we'll never be ready. She has every power and every weapon mastered. She has legions of people to do her command and be her bitches. Even if we had a thousand years to prepare, we'd never be ready." Yumi looked her friend in the eye. "We need to get her before the world falls."

Mariko dropped her gaze and picked up another paper. "It already has Yumi." She said quietly. "It already has."

"What are you talking about?"

"The World government has fallen and the bounty hunters' are giving up. The world is hers."

Yumi stared at her friend for a long time. "Then it's time we ended it. How soon can you get everyone here and form a plan?"

Mariko looked at her friend slyly. "What do you have in mind?"

"This isn't going to be just a dream anymore Mariko. We're going all out. It's everything or nothing now, in her 'perfect' world, we don't exist. It'll only be a matter of time now before she comes to kick us out. It doesn't help that we're living on the same island as she is."

Mariko's mouth twitched into a smirk. "We came here knowing the risks. I'm with you all the way to the end." Mariko looked at Yumi and snorted. "I'm in. Let's kick that bitch's ass!"

-"~"-

Mariko leaned against a wall, her grimoire in her hand. She studied the spells written inside, looking for any spell that might help. Her knives and guns lay shining on a table nearby, she'd polished them and sharpened them until she was sure they would slice flesh apart with ease. She closed the book quietly and held it against her chest. She glanced at the pile of books she still needed to look through before she would be ready to go to bed. Most of the books had been in one way or another banned. Another rule courtesy of the Queen, which led her to believe there, might be something in those books that could help them.

She thought she would cry, but her eyes remained dry. She leaned her head against the wall and stared at the shadows cast by the moonlight outside.

She sighed and breathed out the name that seemed to always be on the tip of her tongue lately.

"Law," she whispered. "You better be alright you dumbass."

She picked up another book. It was going to be another long night.

-"~"-

Yumi woke up to someone shaking her by the shoulders roughly.

"Yumi! Yumi wake up! I found it!" Mariko said excitedly.

"Lemme alone, I'm sleeping." Yumi growled.

"Please, just for a minute."

Yumi muttered something under her breath and turned on the lamp beside her bed. Mariko was standing by her bed with a large dog eared book clutched to her chest. Mariko had dark circles under her eyes. Yumi couldn't help but think how similar her eyes seemed at that moment to her captain's.

"Alright, what's so important that you needed to wake me up for? Tomorrow's a big day with the whole, all out war thing."

Mariko flipped to a page in the book and shoved it in Yumi's face. "This,"

Yumi's eyes went wide. "Is this what I think it is?"

Mariko nodded. "It is, and I'm sure it can take her down."

"Can you make it?"

Mariko grinned maniacally. "Consider it done."

Yumi suppressed a shiver as she watched Mariko run out of the room, she wondered if that was the same look Trafalgar Law had on his face when he was about to do a particularly painful operation.

-"~"-

Yumi knew she was awake, she could see the morning's early rays shining through her eyelids. She grumbled to herself, she didn't want to get up. All she wanted to do was to sleep until night then get up and run around outside, but today was the day she and Mariko were meeting with their allies to plan their attack on the Queen.

"Why do mornings have to be so damn bright?" she wondered.

She kicked off a few of her sheets, then almost launched herself in a roll off of the bed, planning to just land on the floor. However, she misjudged the distance and hit her head on the side of the bed, practically fell onto her ankles (which for a moment she wondered if she'd broken them) and fell face first onto the floor.

She lay there for a moment in complete silence. Then she got to her feet, she took a step forwards, not noticing one of her feet were tangled in the bed sheets and suddenly fell onto her face again. She closed her eyes and almost fell asleep again.

"Hey, dumbshit! You need to stay awake!" a nagging voice in the back of her head shouted at her.

She opened her eyes. "Damn, I really need to get up…Wait…why am I getting up so early again?"

The voice in her head sighed. "Does attacking the bitch Queen ring a bell?"

"Oh yeah…But it's pretty comfy here on the ground, I can sleep for a little bit longer. It won't hurt anybody."

"No, if you fall asleep again you'll stay asleep for hours! You need to get up."

"Well maybe I don't want to!" she argued with herself.

"You need to! Get up lazy ass!"

"Hell no! I'm sleeping!"

"Get up!"

"No!"

She argued with herself for a while longer, and could have gone on for much longer if her stomach hadn't started rumbling.

"Right," she muttered under her breath, "food…orange juice…"

She dragged herself to her feet and stumbled zombie-like to the door.

Food first, orange juice, then shower.

With those goals in mind she set off.

-"~"-

Mariko yawned as she wandered into the room.

"Morning," Yumi said taking a gulp of her orange juice.

Mariko stopped and took in the scene in front of her. "It's morning,"

"Yeah and?"

"You're awake,"

Yumi rolled her eyes. "No, I'm a figment of your imagination. Of course I'm awake!"

Mariko blinked sluggishly. "It must be the end of the world if you're up before noon."

Yumi snorted. "What about you? You look like shit."

Mariko rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "I was up for most of the night working on our," she paused for a moment. "…advantage."

Yumi looked at her curiously. "Advantage? What's with the codename, it's not like the Queen's listening in on us."

Mariko looked at her gravelly. "I'm being a bit cautious. All I know is that every plan we've had so far has gone belly up. This is our last chance. I'm just taking some extra precautions."

Yumi snorted. "Poor Mariko, I think your paranoia has finally gone to a whole new level."

Mariko glared. "Whatever, just don't tell anyone else about it, kay?"

Yumi poured herself another glass of orange juice. "Yeah, no problem. I can keep a secret."

Mariko rolled her eyes and dropped some bread into the toaster. She stared into the distance. "Why do you think she does it?" she asked absentmindedly.

Yumi looked up from her glass. "I'm not sure. She does a lot of things. Depends which you're talking about." Yumi didn't need to ask who it was Mariko was talking about.

"I mean taking people. She's taken the most well known pirates, their crews, bounty hunters and marines and lured them to her palace. She's taken your brother and most of our friends. Hell, she's even taken-" Mariko bit her tongue. "She's even taken Arasoi! And for what reason? Some bullshit reasons, that she'd take better care of Arasoi then I ever could. That she could be a better owner then I could be? That Arasoi would be happier with her?" She slammed her fists on the counter just as the toaster popped her toast up. "It doesn't make sense! It's like she just took them all because she could!"

Yumi sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Look, Mariko. I know you're upset, but you need to just chill. You're beating yourself up too much about this whole thing. The only reason why she'd take them is because she's a bitch. And she wants us to back down." Yumi looked at her friends with fire in her eyes. "But we're not going to, we'll fight and we'll win. This time it won't just be a few of us, we've called in our allies from around the world and they'll be here soon. So I don't want to hear any whining from you, you're one of the leaders, so god damn it act like one!"

Mariko stared at her, then, a corner of her mouth twitched into a smile. She covered her mouth, but the giggles started to pour out of her. Her mad giggling turned into outright laughter, and tears started to form out of the corners of her eyes.

Yumi looked at her in disbelief, than started laughing along.

The two stopped for a moment, then erupted into a giant giggle fest.

For a moment, they were just two friends, with no upcoming wars, no Queens, no kidnapped friends and no cares. Both were completely unaware of the events that would occur in the next few hours.

-"~"-

Mariko leaned against the wall, against the house. There was no breeze, with only a few clouds in the sky. The sun felt warm against her skin. She looked up at the sky. It was another boringly perfect day, just like it had been yesterday, and the day before that, and the week before that, and so on.

"Do you see anyone yet?" She yelled up to the roof.

Yumi poked her head over the edge. "Not yet! It's weird you know? It's a perfect day and how are we going to spend it? By throwing shit into the fan and seeing if it'll fly!"

Mariko laughed. "You know, I swear the Queen controls the weather! She's probably worried the wind will mess up her hair!"

Yumi stuck her tongue out. "I just wish we'd have a big thunder storm. We've had these boringly perfect days ever since she took over!" She flopped onto her back and lay sprawled on the roof. "It doesn't make sense, it hasn't rained in months and yet everything's still green."

Mariko sighed. "I think even nature has been corrupted by her."

"Hey Mariko?"

"Yeah?"

"If there's a chance, let me kick her ass first alright?"

Mariko snorted. "Sure thing Yumi, but you're going to have to fight for it. Everyone who's coming here will be after her blood."

Mariko heard Yumi laugh.

Behlep. Behlep Behlep Behlep.

Mariko reached into her pocket and pulled out a small Den Den Mushi. "Hullo?" she asked curiously.

"Mari, are you there?" asked a hushed whisper from the other end.

"Yeah Zeke, it's me." She replied quietly. "What's going on?"

Zeke seemed to be sucking in a breath. "I'm getting out of here, where are you?"

"What? You're leaving? But you're one of our inside men."

"I know, but I think they're starting to suspect."

"Running away will only confirm that."

"I know but," Zeke seemed to hesitate, "there's some really weird shit going on here. It's like the captain has turned into another person!"

"He and everyone else. What's so different today?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly, but I think it's getting worse."

"Worse? By how much?"

"Well, a lot of the people are, loudly, reciting declarations of love to her. Swooning over her and getting her anything she wants."

Mariko gritted her teeth. "Doesn't that happen every day?"

"Yeah, but here's the thing, they used to only say it maybe once a day, now it's getting to be several times! And, I used to be able to kind of have a conversation with the Captain without any mention of the Queen, now it's all he talks about. It's getting to be really weird."

Mariko suddenly growled, but had no idea why.

"Also, I think I'm turning,"

"How can you be sure?"

"I almost got down on my knees to be her foot stool."

Mariko was silent. "You're kidding me right?"

"I'm being completely serious. I wasn't even drunk or anything, I was wide awake."

Mariko chewed her lip. "Alright, but don't you dare get caught!"

She could hear him give a sigh of relief. "Great, where do I find you guys?"

Mariko thought for a moment. "Well, I shouldn't tell you exactly where we'll be. You know, in case you get caught and they try and get some information out of you. So, just head in the direction of where we were thinking of leaving the ship when we made landfall here and we'll have someone go down there and keep a look out for you."

"…Mari I don't remember where that is! That was months ago!"

Mariko sighed. "Alright then, do you remember where you guys left the ship?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, just head over there. Someone will be there to pick you up."

"Thanks Mari, I'll see you soon."

"Bye," she whispered.

She hung up the phone and looked up at the sky. She'd moved the ship months ago to a safer location, but there was no point telling Zeke that. After all, she wasn't planning on meeting him there. There was no telling who might have overheard the conversation. She'd meet him somewhere in the middle, just to be a little safer.

She sighed. She should trust Zeke a little bit more. After all, he'd been serving as an inside agent for months. And even more importantly, he hadn't laughed off her accusations and told her she was just being jealous of the Queen.

"Hey Yumi!" she shouted.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going for a walk for a little bit. When everyone gets here, try and organize them. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"A walk? Right now? I mean, I love a little exercise every now and again but we're kind of getting ready for all Hell to break loose."

"I won't be long. Besides, I'm picking up a friend."

Mariko could almost see Yumi roll her eyes.

"Fine, but get back here in one piece alright? We can't have you taken or killed before the fighting even starts."

Mariko grinned. "Trust me. I wouldn't miss this for the world."

-"~"-

Mariko walked back with Zeke in silence.

"You guys are really going to do this…aren't you?" he said calmly.

She looked at him in surprise. "Of course,"

Zeke looked at his feet. "I've seen her army Mari. It's almost suicide to go against them. She's got some of the best of the best on her side."

Mariko punched him in the arm. "You idiot, you think we don't know about that?"

Zeke gave her a confused look.

She grinned back at him. "Besides, we've got some pretty badass allies of our own. Speaking of which, we should hurry, we wouldn't want them to have to wait for us."

Zeke stopped for a moment. "Allies?"

Mariko widened her grin. "Just some people the Queen banished, and some…special reinforcements."

Zeke shook his head in disbelief. "When this is all over, the Captain's not going to believe this."

Mariko laughed.

-"~"-

Yumi wove herself through the small army of people gathering around the house. She'd already yelled at a few people to shut the Hell up but they'd mostly ignored her. It pissed her off, but it was nothing compared to how she'd feel if the Queen's army saw them and attacked them.

She scanned the crowd. She really hoped Mariko would show up soon, she didn't want to have to organize everyone by herself.

Finally she spotted her in the distance, talking with a red-headed guy wearing sunglasses, whom she assumed was the "friend" Mariko went to go get.

"Oi! Mariko, get your ass over here!" she screamed ignoring the few people nearby who flinched.

Mariko shouted something back and sprinted towards her, leaving the guy to follow her.

"S'up Yumi?" Mariko asked panting.

Yumi glared. "Nothing much, just dealing with an army. No big deal. How about you?"

Mariko shrugged. "Oh, just grabbing a buddy." She nodded to Zeke. "Zeke, this is Yumi, my friend. Yumi, this is Zeke, one of my crewmates from the Hearts."

"Umm, hi…Nice to meet you." Zeke said awkwardly.

Yumi stared at him for a moment. Then, a slow grin spread across her face. "Buuuuuuddy~,"

Zeke blinked. "Umm, yeah…?"

Yumi's eyes widened, until they seemed to be popping out of her head. "Buddy~,"

Zeke took a step back.

Yumi stepped forward. "Buddy~,"

"Mari," he asked pleadingly.

Mariko laughed. "Come on Yumi, don't creep him out too much."

Yumi flashed Mariko a grin. "I can't help it, its fun messing around with people's minds."

Mariko snorted.

"Oh yeah, Mariko, have you seen my Beat-You-Up stick? I can't find it."

"Did you check under the couch?"

Yumi thought for a moment. "I don't think so, I'll go check. Oh, and some of the former big shots want to ask you a few questions."

"Alright, thanks Yumi."

Zeke watched Yumi disappear looking considerate. "You know, the odd part is she's kind of how I always imagined your friends would be like."

Mariko grinned. "If you thought Yumi was interesting, you should meet some of my other friends!"

-"~"-

Mariko stood in front of the army trying to fight down a sense of panic. The only reason why everyone was mostly getting along was because they needed each other to take down the Queen. There was everything from marines to pirates and several other in-between. There was no telling if everyone was going to set aside their differences for the upcoming battle.

A messenger dressed in a suit of armor came up to her. "Excuse me, are you one of the heads of this uprising?"

Mariko nodded stiffly.

"I'm here to regretfully tell you the World Nobles themselves will not be participating physically in this battle. But they've told me to remind you of the financial support they've given you, and sent myself and several others in their service to fight alongside of you." He looked her closely in the eye. "I'm also told to remind you of your bargain."

She scowled. "Tell the World Nobles that if we win, we'll be sure to reinstate their positions as high class society. Their banishment will be nullified and they'll be able to return to the Holy Land."

The man nodded and left without another word.

Mariko messaged her temples. She hoped they'd be ready to go soon. She really needed to get the fighting out of her system. She looked at the sea of people, they had a few celebrities in their midst, as well as the ordinary small time pirates and dedicated marines.

She saw the former admirals talking amongst themselves, after the Queen had utterly destroyed the World Government, the Queen had banished them before they had a chance to regroup and strike back. Of course with the falling of the World Government, the World Nobles had been cast out of their homes and their slaves freed. There were a few former Warlords of the Sea, Boa Hancock (the Queen considered her the only true rival for the title of "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World"), Gecko Moria (the Queen did not approve of zombies) and Donquixote Doflamingo (The Queen just decided he was too creepy to live in her perfect world). There was the former Head Warden of Impel Down Magellan and the former Vice-Warden Hannyabal.

Mariko shook her head. The Queen seemed to have banished several of these people for similar reason, Fear, Vanity, Disgust and Self centeredness.

Although there were a few people she was a tad confused as to why the caught the Queen's attention. Such as the former King Wapol and his "crew", Foxy the Silver fox and his crew, and (which puzzled her the most) a man named Enel, who claimed to have been a "God" on one of the Sky Islands. Mariko had barely heard of any of these men, yet here they were ready to fight against the Queen. It was almost amused Mariko how the Queen claimed to create a perfect world, yet had so many enemies.

She noticed one of the admirals coming towards her. Akainu, she remembered, was the sternest and possibly the most cold-blooded of the former admirals. She thought of the rumors she'd heard about him and had to suppress a shiver.

"Admiral Akainu," she said formally. She didn't want to offend him. The reason why she'd had so many former marine soldiers join in the ranks was because of his presence.

He watched her sternly and Mariko couldn't help but shrink a little under his gaze. "You're a little young to be running this rebellion. I wonder if your inexperience and weakness will do us any good."

Mariko swallowed something bitter and said nothing. Her hands curled into fists.

He ignored her reaction as if it were beneath him to notice, it were as if he considered her nothing more than scum. And if the rumors were true, that was probably more or less true. "Do you have any idea the level of chaos is going to occur when the fighting starts? Have you even thought of the consequences of your actions? How if we fail due to some poor judgment on your part?"

Her nails were digging into her flesh so much she was afraid they would cut her to the bone.

"No," she said quietly. "I don't know what I'm doing. All I know is that I'm going to save the people I care about, no matter what." She looked him in the eye. "Whether it means I have to sign away my soul to the devil, or even a hundred devils, I'll save them."

He glared and Mariko had to force herself not to look away.

"If we win, the World Nobles will come back into power."

"I know,"

"And slavery will come back."

"I know,"

"The pirates will run free again and will continue to attack the world."

"I know,"

"Until one side wins, the world will be bathed in blood again."

"I know,"

"You know this, and you'll still try to destroy this 'peace' that scum made?"

Mariko nodded. "I will,"

Akainu looked at her for a moment then turned back to the crowd of people around them. "When this is over, and if we win. The World Government will come back into power. And I'll regain my position, and the world will revert back to its ruthless self. The pirate scum will run wild again. But most of all remember this, if we win, I'll never forget how you and your little friend brought all of us together to form this revolution. And I'll hunt you both down, before your ideas can manifest and cause the world any more damage."

Mariko felt her eyes widen in shock. But nodded grimly, she knew the risks.

Akainu scratched his head. "The admirals and I have been doing some calculations. Although we've managed to gather many people, the Queen's army is still larger and could take us down. Do you have a plan?"

Mariko looked off into the distance. "Yeah, them." She said pointing across the field.

A few heads turned and stared in shock at what slowly advanced towards them.

An army came marching.

It were as if the world were walking towards them. Hair of every length and color and style, every being whether fishmen or human or other unknown beings, piercing, tattoos, varying heights and weights, clothing ranging in every way imaginable. But all wore the same gleam in their many eyes, determination.

Although a few looked familiar, no one could remember meeting them before. Yet they knew who these strange people were, as if they had just now remembered a forgotten memory.

Akainu turned to Mariko. "Who are they?"

Mariko grinned. "The same as I and my 'scum' friend."

"Meaning?"

Mariko's grin widened. "We are the 'OCs' of the world."

-"~"-

Mariko could feel confidence grow in her chest. They'd gotten her message! Now with their added numbers they could win!

A young man stood in front of his army and walked towards her. His decorated brown coat hung loosely on his body and his jeans were ripped and torn. His curly hair was as blue as the sea, and his eyes were brown. "Are you Mariko? The one who sent the message?" He asked in his gruff voice.

Mariko cleared her throat. "I am,"

The young man looked around the camp. "Are these the characters that have resisted her?"

Mariko nodded, ignoring a few confused looks. "They're mostly villains or minor characters that she never paid any attention to."

"And the mains?"

Mariko closed her eyes. "Gone,"

The young man sighed. "We wondered, how long has this been going on for?"

"A few months, give or take."

The young man's eyebrows arched in surprise. "And her world is still intact?"

Mariko nodded slowly. "She's far more stable than some of the others we've faced. My friend Yumi and I had hoped that her world would have collapsed on itself."

"That's very troubling. We'll lend you our strength. As OCs we can't allow for something like her to exist."

"She gives us OCs a bad name!" someone shouted from behind him.

"People take one look at us and assume we're all like her!" Another added.

Shouts of outrage rang out from the new strange army. The young man nodded in agreement. "You and Yumi helped us out before, now we'll help you."

Mariko took a deep breath. "Thank you, but it has to be Yumi or me to take them down. After all, it's our world she messed with."

The young man's mouth quirked into a smile. "Naturally,"

Mariko motioned to the army behind him. "If you could all spread out amongst the others, we'll head out."

The young man gave her a blood thirst grin. "And then the battle will begin." With his eyes shining with a touch of madness he went back to his people.

Akainu was silent for a moment, than glanced at Mariko. "That man seemed familiar to me, although I can't remember who he is."

Mariko shrugged. "I think he's a marine turned pirate, you'll find a few of them in that group. It's pretty popular."

A vein popped out on his temple. "Are you saying that they're all filthy pirate scum?"

Mariko thought for a moment. "A vast majority of them are, but there are also some bounty hunters and some marines."

"And why do you call yourselves the 'OCs'? Does it have any meaning?"

Mariko looked away and smiled to herself. "You could say it's something like that."

-"~"-

They moved together. A mass mob of people, each person united with a sole purpose. To kill the Queen. Each warrior ready to fight to the death, each skilled with some form of deadly art. Polished swords and spears gleamed and winked in the sunlight, guns loaded and cleaned, the devil fruit users carried themselves with pride. They knew there would be no way to hide their presence from the Queen, so they had no need for stealth.

At the front Mariko felt her eyebrow twitch with annoyance as she listened to her friend argue with a marine soldier.

"I'm just saying that the proper name for your weapon is a Bo staff." The marine explained.

"Like Hell my Epic-Kickass stick would be named something so retarded!" Yumi yelled back at him.

"Look, when I was a chore boy I polished enough of those things to know what they're called."

"And I'm saying my stick of Almighty-Justice isn't called that!"

Mariko sighed, she wished the marine would realize that nothing he could say would change Yumi's mind about her weapon. It had been crafted by petrified wood, making it as hard as rock, the elements and minerals in the staff gave it a colorful swirling design. It was bad enough that their argument was going in circles, but they'd been fighting over the name for the past hour! If they kept it up, Mariko was sure she would kill both of them before the battle even started.

"Mariko!" Yumi barked. "What's my weapon called?"

"It's your Glorified beating stick."

"Damn straight!"

Mariko rolled her eyes.

-"~"-

They were met by the Queen's army.

Most of the world's greatest warriors stood before them, it would be easy to assume they were doing this out of their free will. But the dazed and glassy look in their eyes told a different story.

"We won't let you harm our outstandingly beautiful Queen. Bow before her and swear your allegiance to her!" One of their generals, 'Red-Haired' Shanks, shouted at them.

His haki was overwhelming, and a few of the weaker members fell to the ground. Drool and foam parted their lips as they lay there.

"The only woman who deserves to be called an outstandingly beautiful woman is me!" cried Boa Hancock.

"How dare you mock the Queen!" Tashigi screamed.

Battle cries erupted from both sides and from that point on all Hell broke loose.

The Zoan users transformed into their monstrous and beastly forms, the Logia users receded into their elements until they looked barely human, and the Paramecia users used their own strange and varied powers. As for the weapon holders, they sliced and smashed crushed without hesitation or remorse.

Soon the ground was dyed red from the blood of the fallen.

Mariko weaved through the battle field, avoiding all confrontation. She needed her magic for her plan later and couldn't risk using it out here. She needed it for the larger prey. Her eyes scanned the area. She caught sight of Yumi smashing in the face of someone. She picked up speed and grabbed her friend's arm, remembering to duck to avoid the blow Yumi reflexively threw.

"Yumi, we need to go!" Mariko screamed. Her nose was filled with the scent of blood and she'd gone deaf from the screams.

Yumi nodded and together they made their way through the battle field. As they passed through the crowd, Mariko spotted Zeke and without a second thought grabbed the back of his shirt and hulled him along with them.

"Mariko, what the Hell are you doing?" He screamed gasping for breath.

"We need you to show us where to go. You're the only one who's been in there and knows where to go!" Mariko screamed back.

They passed by the marine Smoker fighting with his former superior Kizaru, Boa Hancock fought with Nami the cat burglar, Akainu again Ace (whom the Queen had had revived).

Mariko could see Yumi fighting back tears. She knew her friend had seen her former crewmates fighting amongst the crowd. But the comforting words she wanted to say would have to wait. They had to focus on surviving first.

They had almost gotten to the palace when a large figure came crashing down in front of them. A figure Mariko knew all too well.

"I expected this from Mariko but I never imagined you would betray the Queen, Zeke." Jean Bart roared at them.

"Jean Bart, please we need to get through!" Zeke pleaded.

"Traitors!" Jean Bart yelled again.

Mariko looked at him, with eerily calm eyes. "Get out of our way Jean Bart, or else."

Jean Bart growled. "Or else what?"

Mariko looked him dead in the eye. "Because you were once my nakama, I'll warn you once more. If you don't get the fuck out of our way I'll kill you."

"You kill me? The dumbshit screw up failure of a pirate is going to kill me?" he sneered.

Mariko growled and threw two hidden dagger at his chest. He dodged the first, but the second hit it's target. She threw another and another until his clothes were soaked in blood. She jumped up and kicked him square in the face and he fell, the ground cracking under his weight.

The three of them ran around Jean Bart towards the Queen's castle.

"Mariko," Zeke started.

"He'll be fine!" Mariko screamed. "He'll be fine I know he will be!"

Zeke said nothing and was surprised to see the large tears falling down her cheeks.

"He'll be fine." She screamed and repeated the phrase over and over again.

Yumi looked at her friend with dead eyes. "Yeah Mariko, he'll be fine."

-"~"-

"This way!" Zeke whispered, although Mariko couldn't help but feel their attempt at stealth was unnecessary. It seemed like most of the people in the Queen's service were out fighting the war outside, and they'd run into no one after they'd gotten into the castle.

But Mariko felt uneasy. Several of the Straw Hats hadn't been present in the battle, and neither had Law. She couldn't help the sinking feeling in her gut as they moved closer to the heart of the castle. The Queen's rooms.

They came to a ridiculously large door.

"We need to get through this room, then it's just another hallway that connects with other rooms and at the end of the hall is the Queen." Zeke said catching his breath.

"This place is like a goddamn maze." Mariko growled in annoyance.

"What's in this room?" Yumi asked who was for some reason staring in awe at the shine of the doorknob.

Zeke shrugged. "It's some sort of a play room. I took a peek inside once. All I saw was fluffy pink rooms and happy stuffed animals."

Mariko lifted an eyebrow and Yumi stifled a laugh. "This place is weird." They said in unison.

Mariko was about to open the door but Yumi elbowed her out of the way.

"Hell no, I'm opening this door." Yumi said sternly ignoring Mariko's pissed off expression.

Yumi gleefully turned the doorknob and pushed the door open with all her might.

The room was more or less the way Zeke had explained it. Wall to wall plush multi-colored carpet and fluffy pink walls, with creepy stuffed animals stared at them with possessed eyes. At the far corner of the room, two figures sat on chairs by another door, one large and one small. Bepo of the Heart pirates and Chopper of the Strawhats sat in silence, grinning like fools. Maniac psychopathic fools.

"Chopper?" Yumi asked fearfully.

Chopper didn't respond. He didn't even flinch as Yumi came a little closer.

"Chopper, are you…alright?" Yumi asked again.

Chopper remained silent.

Mariko shifted uncomfortable. She tried a different question. "Bepo, why are you in here instead of outside fighting?"

At that Bepo turned his unblinking gaze at her. "The Queen said she didn't want our fur to get dirty. So we're waiting in here until it's all over and we win. We love our Queen." He said dreamily.

"Your fur getting dirty? Why would she be worried about that?" Mariko asked as calmly as she could.

"The Queen loves us for our fur. We live here and the Queen comes to visit us and she hugs us. We love the Queen." Chopper said softly.

Yumi stared at them both in shock. "But Chopper, you hate it when people hug you! You say you want to be a man!"

"Same with you Bepo! Come on, you're not going to tell you're not a pirate warrior anymore?" Mariko protested.

"I want to be a teddy bear." Chopper said dreamily.

"I wish I were a stuffed animal, then the Queen could bring with her wherever she went." Bepo mused.

Mariko felt goosebumps run up her arms and shivered. She had no idea the Queen had that much control.

Yumi was silent and continued walking towards Chopper. "Chopper, is this what you want?" she asked, her voice void of emotion.

"Yes, more then anything." The two former pirates responded.

Yumi gritted her teeth. "Then you're not my nakama." And with that she took her Bo staff and swung it with more strength then Mariko could have ever given her credit for, into Chopper's head. Chopper screamed and flew into Bepo and the two were sent flying into the wall.

Mariko and Zeke looked at Yumi in shock. Yumi swung her Bo staff over her shoulder.

"What?" She asked.

Mariko blinked and gave a nervous laugh. "Nothing, nothing what so ever."

"Oh my god," Zeke muttered under his breath.

"Sorry Zeke, but this is as far as you go. We'll take it from here." Mariko said suddenly.

Zeke looked at her in shock. "What? Why?"

"Because, Yumi and I need to see this through. Besides, we need you to do something else for us."

Zeke snorted. "Oh really? And what might that be?"

Mariko seemed at a loss of words. "Uhh, well. It's…something."

"Right, well I've been with the Hearts longer then you have so I'm coming whether you like it or not."

"Wait, no you can't!" Mariko protested.

"Watch me."

"Actually Zeke, we do have something important for you to do." Yumi said quietly walking over to Zeke. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked deeply into his eyes. "Zeke, do you know a guy who's about the same age as me, with the same hair, eyes and skin tone as I do?"

Zeke shifted uncomfortably. "I might."

"He plays the piano all day for the Queen, while smiling. Do you know him?"

Zeke looked to the ground. "Yeah, I know him."

"He's my brother, his name is Yami. I need you to go to him and save him for me."

"Why me?"

"Because," Yumi said with a sigh, "you're part of Mariko's crew and she seems to trust you, so I trust you. Please Zeke, my brother is a shitty bastard but he's trustworthy and loving and shit like that but he's my brother! Please Zeke, I need to do something else but I need someone to go help my brother." A few tears dribbled down Yumi's cheek. "Please, he's a smartass but he won't be able to come out of the Queen's spell all on his own. I need you to go and wake him up."

Zeke sighed and looked to the ground. "Alright, I'll go find your brother."

Yumi wiped the tears from her eyes. "Thank you Zeke." She leaned in and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Zeke's cheeks burned bright red. "Umm, right! Don't worry Yumi, I'll go get your brother don't you worry!"

Yumi smiled sadly. "Thank you Zeke."

He turned and practically bolted from the room.

After a moment of silence Mariko and Yumi stood there.

Mariko snorted. "That was so cheesy."

Yumi grinned. "It worked didn't it?" She paused for a moment. "I hope he does find my brother…I want noodles."

Mariko laughed and punched her lightly in the shoulder. "You're so weird."

Yumi grinned like she's been paid a compliment. "Shall we move on?"

Mariko made an elaborate bow. "After you madam,"

Yumi laughed. "Why thank you madam."

And together they opened the door.

-"~"-

They stood in the hallway, staring at the door. They were about halfway there, the close proximity made them both anxious.

"Yumi," Mariko said softly, "I need you to take this." She reached into her pocket and took out a small fragile looking glass orb from her pocket. She handed it to her friend. "You know what to do."

Yumi nodded and took the orb from Mariko's hand. "Will it work?" she asked nervously.

"It has to. And it will."

Yumi gave her a serious look. "You know that Jean something guy was being directly controlled by the Queen right?"

Mariko hesitated and nodded. "Yeah…"

Yumi gave a half-smile. "Just don't die okay? It would suck if we won and I couldn't hang around you at the after party."

Mariko grinned. "Same to you." And she turned to the door. "See you later Yumi."

"Yeah, see you later Mariko."

Mariko took a deep breath and started running to the door. The guys were outside fighting for their lives and she'd been goofing around inside. She needed to end this, now.

"Don't die! You have the house keys! Without you I won't be able to get inside!"

Mariko stopped at the door grinning.

"Idiot," she muttered and opened the door a crack and slid inside.

-"~"-

The Queen's room was beautiful. There was no other way to describe it. The trim along the walls was flawless. The golden wall paper properly captured the light so the room felt larger then it seemed. The floor was made of some sort of a white smooth tile that was polished to a mirror like quality. The windows let in the fading light into the room. And in the midst of this room was the Queen.

Mariko couldn't help but stare. As much as she hated to admit it, the Queen was beautiful. Her long golden hair that parted at her brow, and fell perfectly on both sides of her face in lazy waves. Her tanned skin, which was the shade you could only enjoy for a day before it peeled away like paper and flaked to the ground. Her stunning blue eyes that seemed to draw you in, making it more painful to look away then it would to be lost in her gaze.

Yet that was what Mariko did, she focused instead on the Queen's ear, small and perfectly round. Anything but those eyes.

The Queen smiled and smoothed her emerald green dress calmly. Her smile made her glow as she radiated her beauty.

For a moment Mariko felt herself loosing the will to fight, then she remembered all that this woman had done and her hate brought her back.

The Queen's smile wavered for a moment, and then she brought it back at full blast. "Are you the stupid girl who thought she could beat me? By what? Gathering the rejects of the world?" Her voice was soft but firm, with a mildly musical charm to it.

"I think that's pretty obvious bitch. Also, I wasn't thinking I was going to kick your ass, I know I'm going to." Mariko spat.

The Queen laughed a laugh that would have put the most beautiful songbird to shame. "Oh really? Please, you're just a little scum who thinks she's tougher then she actually is. How could you possibly beat me? I ate the Souzou-Souzou No Mi! The imagination fruit! Anything I think of becomes reality. I'm invincible!"

Mariko felt a chill run down her spine as the Queen's words echoed on her mind.

Invincible Invincible Invincible.

"Scared yet?" The Queen taunted.

Mariko shook her head. "Yes, I am. But not for the reasons you think I am."

The Queen raised one of her perfectly arched eyebrows. "Really?"

Mariko took a deep breath. Just remember the plan. "Yeah, and I'm surprised you haven't run off into hiding by now. After all, as scared as I am of you, you're the one who should really be scared shitless."

The Queen smirked. "Oh really? And why is that?"

Mariko shrugged. "Because I gave the call. Did you really think there were only characters down there fighting?"

A flicker of fear flashed across the Queen's face. "What are you talking about?"

"I called the other OCs. They're down there right now, fighting. Even if you beat me to a pulp, there'll be other to come and take my place." At this Mariko smiled sweetly. "After all, I know how much power you used up brainwashing Yami. It's not so easy taking control of an OC as it is a cannon character is it?"

The Queen's eyes burned with fury. Her sweet smile a distant memory as her mouth twisted into a snarl. "How could you call other OCs? This isn't their story!"

Mariko looked at the Queen darkly. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. Especially when we're against Mary Sue."

The Queen screamed in fury. "I'll kill you!" she shrieked and threw a ball of energy towards Mariko.

Mariko jumped to the side in time to avoid it. Her heart was thundering in her chest. Remember the plan.

The Queen screamed again and summoned a thousand blades out of thin air and with a hasty motion of her wrist flicked them towards Mariko.

"Izanami!" Mariko screamed and ducked as a rock wall burst from the floor and rose in front of her like a shield, protecting from the worst of the blades.

The Queen's cruel laughter echoed through the room as the blades hammered away at her defenses.

"Shit, we've barely started and I'm already on the defensive." Mariko muttered furiously. Spells ran through her mind each begging to be used. She hesitated, she needed to stretch her magic out, use the weaker spells and tire the Queen out. She needed to stick to her part in the plan, and at the moment that included keeping the Queen busy until the time was right.

She saw something out of the corner of her eye and shifted her weight to the side, narrowly avoiding one of the Queen's blades impaling her. She felt her face pale.

She'd forgotten to cover her back with her shield…

She almost facepalmed herself. Idiot!

She abandoned her shelter and narrowly avoided another blade. "Cheater!" she screamed.

The Queen sighed. "Is that all you've got? How disappointing, I was expecting a challenge!"

Mariko responded by throwing a knife to the Queen's face.

The Queen leaned to the side and avoided it completely.

Mariko growled in her throat. What was taking Yumi so long? She felt her legs shake from exhaustion. The side effects from the spells were starting to take their toll on her body.

The Queen tilted her head, as if suddenly amused. "You're from the Heart crew right? I've had a lovely time getting to know your captain, such a nice man."

Mariko felt heat on her cheeks. "Slut," she spat.

The Queen laughed. "Jealous much? Really, you're so pathetic."

Mariko was stalling for time. If she couldn't keep the Queen occupied by fighting, she needed to keep her talking. "Why should I be jealous of some little bitch? You're nothing special!"

The Queen actually stepped back in shock. "Nothing special? Nothing special? How dare you call me 'Nothing special'! I was born from royalty but I was separated from the and thanks to a case of amnesia I forgot who I was! I was living in poverty until I was saved by Gol D. Roger who brought me onto his crew and taught me how to be a pirate! However he died shortly after I joined and I was alone again! But then years later I joined Portgas D. Ace's crew and became the second in command! When Ace joined Whitebeard's crew I came along with him and became one of the most powerful members of the Whitebeard crew and I was loved by everyone. After Whitebeard and Ace's death I set out on my own and after being hit in the head I remembered a faint memory of my parents. So I returned to my homeland and my family welcomed me with open arms! I discovered of my family's secret powers and I was able to master them as I was a natural! AND YOU CALL THAT NOTHING SPECIAL?"

Mariko blinked. "That doesn't make any sense! It's complete bullshit! For one thing, you're not old enough to have been around before the Age of Pirates began. There's no way you could have known Ace was Gold Roger's son, no one made the link until the World Government told the world! Everything you just said is impossible!" She rubbed her temples. "I think my mind blew up from thinking about this too much. Seriously, that's the stupidest past I've ever heard."

The Queen stared at her. "It is true because I said it's true!" she shrieked.

Mariko felt her eye twitch. This was the person who was controlling the world?

"I've had enough of your bitch mouth!" the Queen shouted. "I'm going to kick your ass!"

Mariko took a step back. "Brilliant Mariko, piss off the ridiculously overpowered bitch." She muttered under her breath. "Nice,"

The Queen threw her hands into the air and a swirling ball of energy materialized.

"Shit shit shit!" Mariko cursed.

"I'll show you which of us is 'nothing special'!" The Queen screamed.

Mariko watched in horror as the ball grew larger and larger and a terrifying thought came to her. "I can't dodge this." She thought. "I can't avoid this and I can't fight back." The thoughts rooted her to the spot, after all, there was no point in running, and she couldn't outrun that thing. She didn't have the strength or the magic to beat it. So she did what anyone would've done at that point.

She closed her eyes and instinctively threw her arms in front of her as if to ward off the danger and she prayed for her life.

"This'll teach anyone stupid enough to go against me!"

"Don't you kill my friend! This one's for my brother!" A voice rang out.

Mariko looked up to see Yumi appear out of nowhere. The Queen looked at her in shock as Yumi thrust her Bo staff into the Queen, impaling her. Ruby red blood splattered against the floor as the Queen fell to the floor with a sickly thud.

"How is this possible?" The Queen demanded weakly, blood passing through her lips as she spoke.

"The same reason why you can still talk with my damn Staff of almighty power impaling you." Yumi snapped. "Our secret weapon."

Mariko glared at her friend. "I'm not sure whether I should punch you for almost being too late or to hug you for saving your life."

Yumi stuck out her tongue.

"How did you get in here? There's only one door!" The Queen protested.

Yumi and Mariko looked down at the fallen queen.

"Mariko looked through some forbidden magic and created this." Yumi said holding out an orb. The orb seemed to have a thousand colors bouncing around inside, as if frantically trying to get out.

"What is that?" The Queen whispered.

Mariko grinned. "A plot hole device. After you messed around with the story so much, it's been easy to concentrate enough of that energy into this little beauty."

The Queen opened her mouth as if to scream, but fell silent, as her last breath disappeared.

Mariko and Yumi stood over the dead Mary Sue Queen in silence.

Yumi punched Mariko lightly in the arm. "Come on, let's go find everyone."

-"~"-

Mariko leaned against a wall and watched a parade of young men walk past her upstairs to freedom. Most seemed dazed and could barely speak when Mariko and Yumi had found them.

Yumi seemed to be in a deep conversation with a young black haired man with a scar under his eye and a spiky green haired man. Catching Mariko's eye she excused herself and walked towards her.

"Can you believe it? All these guys and none of them are wearing any shirts." Yumi snorted. "Not to mention all the different rooms and such I found while exploring."

Mariko grinned. "Kinky."

Yumi looked at her for a moment and laughed. "Something like that. Hey, did you find your captain?"

Mariko shrugged. "He's around here somewhere. He's probably getting himself into trouble."

Yumi giggled. "I might have an idea where he might be."

"Really where?" She paused for a moment and frowned. "…He's right behind me, isn't he?"

"It's a pleasure to see you again too." A voice said coolly behind her.

Mariko frowned. "Aren't I usually the one who appears out of nowhere?"

She didn't need to turn around to know he was smiling.

"You do have a habit of doing that, don't you?"

She smirked and shrugged. "I don't deny it."

There was a silence between them, Yumi looked from one face to the either with a plainly annoyed expression on her face. "Well there's a party outside and I don't know about you guys but I'm ready to drink until I'm too drunk to tell the sky from the ground. Are you guys coming?"

Mariko glanced at Law and then back at her friend. "I think that's just what we need."

-"~"-

Mariko watched Yumi glomp her brother, Yami. Tears flowed easily down Yumi's cheeks and Yami's shinning eyes held his sister close to his chest. Yumi glanced at Mariko and gave a thumbs up.

Mariko grinned and mimicked her.

Yami said something to his sister and the two vanished into the crowd.

Mariko watched the spot where they had been and felt a sudden loneliness in her heart. She quickly downed her drink and sighed as she stared at the ground.

A pair of dark shoes and blue spotted pants appeared in front of her.

"S'up?" She asked looking up and rubbing her eyes.

Law shrugged. "Well, I was talking with Jean Bart and Bepo about how the battle had gone when I noticed your friend leave and you sitting here alone. So I thought to myself, 'If I don't go over there and ask her to dance she'll just sit there moping and it'll dampen the entire mood of the party and she'll be an anti-social bitch tomorrow.' So here I am."

Mariko looked at him for a moment in silence. She remembered the Hearts leaving, her plans with Yumi, the battle and the Queen. A slow smile spread across her face, the earlier loneliness disappearing. "Alright," was her brilliant answer.

Law held out his hand and she took it and let him guide her into the crowd.

Although it was the dead of night, at that moment it seemed brighter than any day.

-"~"-

The party was pure chaos. For a single night all the barriers of society were ignored. Pirates danced with bounty hunters and marines had drinking contests with fishmen. All positions, ranks and differences were put aside. For the first time in the world, all were on equal standings.

At the edge of the party two girls sat watching the scene in front of them. Although many people assed by them, none seemed to give them a second glance. It was as if they weren't even there.

Both girls wore hoodies. One wore black the other light blue. Both had brown hair, one was straight the other curly. One had a sketch book, the other a notebook.

"I love a good party myself, and I'm not complaining that all this crazy shit is happening but is this going to be alright?" The girl in light blue asked taking a sip of her orange juice.

The girl in black put down her coke and considered the question. "I think its fine."

The two girls watched as Marco slapped Smoker on the back during a drinking contest of some sorts.

"They can do what they want, they'll all forget this whole thing ever happened by tomorrow." The girl in black said, writing a few words down in her notebook.

The girl in blue leaned back and grinned. "Ah well, shit happens."

The girl in black grinned back. "Indeed it does. Cheers."

The two clinked their drinks and laughed.

Their laugher mixed with that of the characters, as all celebrated their freedom.