San Faldo is far behind the Straw Hats now and five ships line the horizon that are clearly on Gallowcomb business. They hadn't gotten far enough in Karmen's mind. The island is still visible behind them, aglow with the lights of a city that never sleeps. "There's your escapee acquisition squad," Brook says, trying to hide his battle anxiety. Hounding teams of enemies are frightening things for a pirate, even if you're already dead. "Shall I play us a battle anthem?"

"That sounds lovely." Karmen pins her veil into place and flips her quills. "I've been itching to stab these people." She climbs onto the ratlines and hangs off them by a hand and a foot. "Nami, get me onto one of those ships. Your pick."

"Wouldn't you rather run?" Usopp asks in a small voice. There's a clacking sound coming from below her that she strongly suspects is his knees.

Her glare hardens. "I'm done running." Brook begins playing and the music jolts her bones with fiery energy.

"Running's not my style either, little sis." Franky fires the Sunny cannon and blows up a ship on the end. She can see the insignia clearly now. There are large "G's" on the sails and flags that encompass a Neptunian eel crushing a cargo ship. These ones also have a small man inside a cage hanging from the G. It's not Navy, just her mother's bounty hunting crews. They must have been patrolling the waters when Sunny slipped by them this morning and now they had been called back to deal with their retreat. No remorse then.

As soon as Sunny veers past one of the enemy ships Karmen jumps into the middle of the rabble on board while Usopp and Chopper use the cannons to blow up the ship on the other side. She performs a Scarlet Spiral instantly, triple spinning into a lunge and slicing sunblade and delayed antidote into everyone around her. Nine men fell screaming at her first contact. She fades until she's ethereal and synchronizes with the fastest member of the enemy crew. Luffy leaps over her to take out the crew on the ship beyond hers. Sanji, Franky, and Robin are attacking the one on the other side of Sunny. Zoro and Chopper join her on her ship while Usopp provides support from Sunny. A firebird star bursts against a bounty hunter that was about to stab Karmen in the back. "Remember the rule?" Zoro asks, slicing up ten guys at once.

"Protect your back, stomach, friends, and nothing else?" she teases, creating a move called the Scarlet Swarm, stabbing her opponent several times in quick succession in the torso using a scorpion venom similar to bee stings.

"Close enough," he chuckles. She switches to deadbolt and uses her Blind Spot technique to take out fifteen members of the crew at once. Karmen leaps off one man's chest and performs an Aerial Spiral over the heads of four hunters, flinging feather darts as she flips through the air and stabs a woman in the leg with snake venom and a delayed antidote. She quicksteps through the crowd of enemies to collect her darts and administer antidotes.

"Do that after!" Chopper yells.

"I'm fine!" She calls back. Pain shoots through her hand as something skewers it. Darts clatter to the deck as she sees a thick blood soaked string connecting her hand to the deck and extending back somewhere far behind her. Devil fruit powers that control string. She curses and cuts the floss. "You just don't learn your lesson, do you, bounty hunter? You remind me of the thrasher tuna I had to beat with a hammer."

"I delivered your letter, Karmen." She turns around to see the bounty hunter that Willow had sent after her. The letter she had carved into his chest had healed in jagged scars that were still legible. She grins.

"You have no idea how badly I've been wanting to stab you. I don't think I caught your name last time, A. G."

"Antwan Geraldo, your mother's newest acquisition captain." He gives her a sarcastic bow. "No scarring barred this time, princess."

Karmen licks blood off her hand. "I'm going to enjoy this. I've seen what you can do and it's nothing in comparison to the original."

"I never did like being a copycat."

Karmen senses his movements with her Haki and knows what is about to happen. "Usopp, tabasco. Zoro, Mihawk at Baratie."

"Got it."

Karmen splits the first ten strings that he throws at her with the tip of her pens, slicing them off uselessly as they reach their limit. She silently thanks Franky for making them so sharp. As all three men prepare their next move she flips backwards as Geraldo sends hundreds of flat strings flying towards her in a move he calls "Ultimate Cocoon." Usopp shoots a tabasco star at Zoro who angles his sword to deflect it into Karmen's mouth. She lands with watering eyes and breathes flames at the strings, destroying them all. "That tastes like sunblade feels." She wipes her tongue on her sleeve. "You're all force and have no technique. You can't win that way. Like I said, you're a poor imitation." She crouches on the deck, surrounded by fallen bounty hunters. "I know him and I know the people I used to call family. Only Zoans come out of his factory. Isn't that right, moth-moth man?"

The bounty hunter grins. "You've got me. I'm a moth-moth man, silk moth model. They specially modified it so that I have the benefits of all its forms."

"Go hang yourself from a tree." Karmen runs at the mast, digging her heels into the wood to give herself leverage. She makes it up ten feet and pushes off the mast and into the ratlines. She dodges the next volley of strings by spinning horizontally across the netting and onto the yardarm. At this point Luffy destroys his ship with a giant battle axe, sending a cover of debris over them all. Geraldo is struck by flying planks, giving Karmen enough freedom to cloak herself and pinpoint her observation Haki at her crew. "Nami. Robin." She points to the ocean, to herself, and then Geraldo.

"On it." Nami begins throwing heat balls at the ocean, causing a thick fog to form. Karmen jumps from the sail and Robin creates an arm chain to swing her around to the bowsprit. She uses her cloaking Haki to land silently and draws out her quill. Geraldo produces two velvety wings from his back and blows away the fog and ripping up his shirt in the process. He brushes his hair out of his face, revealing two short black horns sprouting out of his head as he searches the sails for her. Karmen levers angel's trumpet stem extract into the chamber of her quills and stabs him in the shoulder where he had embroidered his initials into hers weeks ago. She gets buffeted by his wings as he turns to strike at her and gets thrown from the ship. Luffy catches her before she can hit the water and deposits her on deck as the poison starts to take effect. Geraldo's face begins to go blank and his eyes lose focus. His wings disappear and his hands hang limply at his side.

"I'm not alone anymore, bounty hunter," Karmen says. "I'm done playing their twisted games. My life is my own." Geraldo stares blankly at nothing. She sighs. He won't remember a word she says now.

Brook hops over and inspects the man. "What did you do to him?"

"I sent his mind on a vacation for a few hours. Help me tie him up before he starts wanting to mutilate himself." When that is done she turns to her captain. "Luffy, would you do the honors?"

With a grin Luffy flings his arms back, stretching them to their limits. "Gum-Gum Bazooka!" Karmen hadn't experienced the kind of satisfaction that she feels now as she watches him shoot into the distance for a very long time. You can't touch me, she thinks after him.

The Straw Hats sail away unpursued and Karmen breathes in free air with the crew on top of the rear observatory. "Gallowcomb Jenevive Willow Karmen is dead," she says. "Long live the Secretary."

"Then let's celebrate." Zoro holds out his hand. He'd said he'd dance a smooth with her.

Karmen can tell he's not anywhere near recovered from his battle with Kuma and running around San Faldo had taken its toll on him. "Are you sure? It can hold for a while."

Zoro ignores her and looks to Brook. The skeleton seems to grin as he sets his violin under his chin. "I promised, didn't I?" Despite her reservations, she remembers the feeling of shock at seeing Sanji instead of Zoro in the ballroom of Itluk Manor and decides a few dances wouldn't hurt. She finally accepts his hand and lets him lead her in a mid-paced smooth across the deck. She's satisfied to note that the liquid dial she'd given him is securely around his neck this time. Franky and Robin pair up and Sanji pulls Nami to her feet. Usopp and Chopper form a pair and Luffy dances around with Brook, grinning happily. "So what does a kidnapped woman do when she's not orchestrating her own escape and the poisoning of a few hundred nobles?" he asks.

"She trains her Haki," Karmen replies. "Do you know how boring all their talks about wine production are? I trained like mad just to tune it all out. And shopping. Willow can babble for hours about shopping. Do you know she bought fifteen sets of jewelry all priced at five million apiece? You can't wear jewelry like that every day. Who needs fifteen? She showed them to me and half of them were different shades of purple. I used my Haki to listen to the blood flowing through her left eye just to drown out her describing all the purple." He listens politely until her own babbling boils down to a groan. "I'm so happy to be back on Sunny. Being trapped in a manor with Baldwin and the Davenwell family is Hell on earth." They talk for a while longer before Karmen and Zoro separate for some individual footwork. She can't help but laugh as she watches him.

"Tell me that was a swordless Onigiri you just threw in there."

"Why not? I saw that Scarlet Spiral you used."

"Oh my. I've been found out."

"Was that flashy move supposed to be discrete?"

"I told you before. I dance while I fight."

"And I told you that dancing reminds me of swordplay."

"That's because you bend your knees too much."

"Told you," Robin says as she's spun in steady circles around them. She smiles and turns her focus back to Franky.

Zoro adjusts his footwork and rejoins Karmen who finds his leading much more agreeable now. "I think you would have done just fine in that ballroom," she says.

The look he gives her is almost regretting. "I did try to go get to you. I just ended up back at the ship somehow." He gives Sanji an almost accusing look, but doesn't say anything to him. Everything's worked out and he can't prove that Sanji was the one who sent him over the cliff.

Karmen lays her head on his chest and closes her eyes, assessing his vital signs with her Haki as he tries to control his breathing through the pain she knows he's in just so he can keep a promise. "You're here now. That's all that matters." As long as you stay alive.

They dance a waltz afterwards but she catches signs that he's diminishing rapidly and declares herself tired. She sits on the fencing and watches her crew happily. By this point Luffy and Chopper have started dancing with chopsticks in their noses and Franky has gone down for some cola. Sanji comes to check on her a while later when Usopp whisks Nami away. "That was thoughtful of you. He wouldn't admit it to anyone."

"You men and your shows of strength," she agrees. "Thank you again for coming for me. Despite my shock, I really do appreciate what you risked to step into that ballroom." She smiles at him. "You're a really good dancer. I'd enjoy taking another spin with you in the near future."

He returns the expression. "I'll keep that in mind."