Descent

by JustAProblem

Scars are a sign of pride and strength. A sign of survival. Naturally, this only applies to the physical scars and not the mental scars. No, mental scars are almost universally agreed to be negative and for good reason. Physical scars merely change how your body looks. Mental scars change how a person thinks. Rosan just wants to enjoy life. He didn't ask for all this. OC! Not-Si!

29. Chapter 29: Grand Line

Descent

Chapter 29: Grand Line

Rosan idly gave a coin to the News Coo currently being harassed by Nami and accepted the newspaper out of the bird's talon.

"Stop harassing the bird, Nami. It's just doing its job," Rosan reprimanded quietly. He grabbed and tossed a spare fish in the gull's mouth and got a squawk of happiness out of it.

The News Coo handed him another newspaper for his hospitality and flew off from the crew to continue its duties.

Nami grabbed the newspaper offered to her and grumbled, sitting down to read it. "If it keeps raising the prices like that, I'll just steal your newspapers."

"You can have them after I read it," Rosan countered. He sat on the chair next to her and flipped open his own, gazing through the pages with a bored gaze.

"Just let me read them first! You always make everything so much more difficult then it has to be!"

"I make it more difficult? I read much faster than you. There's no reason I should let you have it first."

Usopp, who was working on his Tabasco Star, interrupted their argument. "Can you guys argue somewhere else?! I'm focusing on making my special attack and need to concentrate."

"Maybe you shouldn't do that in the middle of the deck then," Rosan suggested, flipping another page of his newspaper.

"It'll be fine! The Great Captain Usopp has worked on many dangerous things before —"

A flying figure crashed into the liar and spilled all the hot sauce in his eyes.

The effects were immediate.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH WATER, WATER!" Usopp screeched, running back and forth due to the burning sensation in his eyes. The liar's screeching woke up the napping Zoro and he glanced over at the idiot with a bleary glare.

The figure who crashed into him was revealed to be one Monkey D. Luffy and he was staring at the tangerine orchard in displeasure, not noticing the great agony he just put Usopp in.

"Moron," Rosan muttered as he flipped another page, not even bothering to glance or help the sniper.

That would teach him not to do something so stupid with Luffy in the vicinity.

The rubber boy in question, had been making half hearted attempts to steal a tangerine but the lover boy chef repelled him nonstop due to it being Nami's personal garden.

It was incredible to see how whipped he was already.

Nami laughed at his statement and thanked Sanji for keeping her orchard safe.

"Anything for you, Nami-san!" The man swooned happily.

As Rosan flipped through the pages, he noticed a familiar colored paper protruding from his newspaper and pulled it out curiously.

"Oh Luffy. You have a bounty," Rosan said calmly, holding the poster in the air and tossing it on the floor for his brother to see.

"Eh?"

Everyone blinked in shock at his casualness, glancing at the paper in surprise.

...

They all squinted their eyes.

...

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

"I NEED WATER! I CAN'T SEE!"

---

"ANGEL, DEMON! LOOK LOOK!" Maro squealed excitedly, jumping up and down in excitement. "OUR LITTLE LUFFY HAS GOTTEN A BOUNTY!"

Angel was momentarily distracted by the sight of her wife jumping due to… two large reasons, before coughing and catching what she said.

"REALLY?!" Angel gasped, grabbing the paper out of her hand so that the twins could get a look at it.

Demon whistled proudly. "35,000,000 as his first bounty while he's in the East Blue? He sure is moving fast."

His grinning visage looked up at the three and filled them all with a fondness.

They missed the little rubber boy.

"WOOHOO! LET'S THROW A PARTY TO CELEBRATE!" Angel cheered. "Oh I just can't wait until we meet his crew! I wonder who was crazy enough to accept being on the same ship as him and Master!"

The redhead's face sobered up quickly and a look of confusion appeared on her face as she began looking for something. "Why doesn't Master have a bounty yet?! His should be at least 70 million!"

"He wants to lay low," Demon tried, knowing that logic would fail with his sister but saying it regardless.

"He did fight me only in front of one person," Kaori added. The redhead wasn't one for showing off it seemed.

Angel grumbled, displeased. "But his bounty... How can he accept such a loss so readily?!"

Demon sighed at his sister and said nothing. She was utterly hopeless sometimes.

"PARTYYYY!" Maro cheered happily. "Make sure you don't tell Jango," she smiled.

Angel cackled at that and pulled her wife into a hug. "You really hate him, don't you?" She snorted.

The hippie was practically the redhead's assistant when he was free and labored away for her whenever she asked him to do something.

Demon also made great use of him when it came to attending to some of the patients in the hospital. Hypnotism was incredibly useful and only Maro herself refused to take advantage of it.

The queen only used him to buff up their clone army. His ability to hypnotize you and increase your strength to such a degree was… admittedly useful.

Out of curiosity, she asked him to hypnotize her once and the results were as awe inspiring as they were disastrous.

Hypnotizing a zoan type didn't seem like the greatest idea in hindsight... the completely destroyed training grounds could attest to that. According to Angel, the only reason her rampage stopped was because she refused to hurt her "mate" and that gave the redhead enough time to grab her tiara and call in Master.

Heh, she hoped he got a good fight out of that. With that power boost, she was pretty sure anything less then X2 would result in him losing.

So maybe Jango was sorta maybe useful...

"Yes. I hate him," Maro said seriously, completely disregarding her thought process.

The Queen made sure to pull him aside one day and very explicitly explained what she would do to him if he ever even entertained the thought of making a move on her wife.

Once she had transformed into her Dokkaebi to stress her point, he fearfully nodded and it seemed to have worked because Angel told her everything and Jango harassing her wasn't one of them...

Then again her lover happened to be very oblivious.

He was lucky he had a useful ability… Master sure did love shoving people onto her.

At least Kaori was cool and pretty strong and didn't ogle her wife. That's why she got to stay in the castle unlike that stupid idiot Jango...

A flash of horror made its way onto her face.

Wait… just how many people did Master plan on sending her way?! There was no way he was gonna stop here! H-He always went to the extreme when doing things like this...

Bah, that was for hangover Maro to think about. She'd curse him when the time came.

---

Ace grinned wildly at the bounty poster in his hands.

"Seems like you're already making a name for yourself eh, Luffy?" He laughed cheerfully, intent on celebrating the occasion.

35 million? That was even higher than his first bounty! He was proud of his little idiot brother.

"Now why doesn't Rosan have a bounty yet…" Ace muttered in contemplation.

His older brother probably didn't want one yet. Knowing him, he'd probably operate in the background and let Luffy hog all the glory.

Ace laughed. Yeah that was definitely the reason. Despite shying away from the limelight, his brother was probably still grabbing people's attention without wanting to. He didn't give himself enough credit about how interesting he was, self loathing dumbass he was.

He'd have to meet them soon to make sure Luffy wasn't scarred from training and Rosan didn't regress. It'd been 3 years and he couldn't lie, he dearly missed his brothers and his entire family.

Sure he had a new one but his first family would always hold the most special place in his heart.

If only he was with his second family... They'd love (groan in exasperation) to hear more about his family like the million other times he mentioned them.

Bah, maybe he'd go let some poor random group know. They'd appreciate it.

---

Makino brimmed in excitement as she closed the massive restaurant early and set off to go find Dadan.

Following her, were some bandits that the leader let her borrow in case customers got rowdy and in her hands, was a bounty poster of her surrogate son!

She was so proud of Luffy! Look at his bounty! He had the highest in the East Blue currently and it was only his first one!

She'd have to make a big meal to celebrate the occasion.

Makino hummed a tune she learned from Rosan over the years as she waved cheerfully at all the citizens.

Rosan... she wondered how he was doing. The ass had plenty of ways to contact her but never did (he didn't even give her one of his many Den Den Mushis!) and she'd give him a piece of her mind the next time they spoke.

Over the years, the redhead did a lot for her! The most notable one was turning her tiny little bar, into a full fledged restaurant after one stray comment about how she wanted to upgrade one day but didn't have the funds for it.

Well, he took it upon himself to do it for free and used his ability to upgrade her entire bar overnight.

She literally woke up the next day with a staggering amount of confusion, as she gazed up at the revamped Partys Bar that was at least double the size it had previously been and looking three times as fancy. After triple checking that she didn't get lost, the woman hesitantly entered the establishment and saw a, rather patronizing, note lying on the table.

It read: "Since you admitted to having no money, I took it upon myself to fulfill your fairy tale wish and upgraded your mundane bar for you. Consider this a gift for being my... friend. Also, because I felt bad for you and your state of poorness, I left some extra funds in the back so that you could upgrade how you see fit. From - Who do you think?"

Her mouth just opened more and more at the contents of the note and she promised that she'd give him a hug after trying to attack him because he was such a dick! He didn't have to say half the things he did but he just wanted to be as rude as possible!

Worst, the redhead didn't show up for that entire day so she was left stewing for the whole time!

Though, that anger very quickly vanished when she realized just how much money the redhead gave her.

S-Some extra funds?! He gave her so much money that she was pretty sure she was the richest person in Foosha...

The fact that he considered 200 million beri "some" was just...

He was still an asshole though but Makino was quite pleased with the entire thing and she did appreciate it from the bottom of her heart. The bartender made sure to express that to the redhead and she was sure she got her point across.

Now, her restaurant was probably the biggest pull in Foosha (mostly because people were curious how it showed up after one whole day) and that popularity steadily rose as Maro helped her make a garden supplied with her very own fruits and vegetables from the North Blue!

She even managed to attract people from the nobles of Goa as well!

It helped to have such resourceful friends... They did so much for her!

She missed them all. Look at how sidetracked she got just from looking at Luffy's poster!

After throwing the celebration with the bandits, Makino would have to call Maro and Angel so they could have a chat. Then, she'd thoroughly display her displeasure towards Rosan going ghost and they'd make him do something about it.

Hounding both the Queen and his demanding sister on him... she almost felt bad...

Nah. Rosan 100% deserved it. He always did. He was honestly worse then Luffy at times.

---

"Hey isn't that…!"

"It is! The World's Strongest Swordsman, Hawk Eye Mihawk!"

Mihawk ignored all the fodder, as he made his way over to his target.

"CAPTAIN!" The man screaming man guided him there unknowingly, not that he needed it. "H-H-Hawkeye is here!"

"Oh, Mihawk," Shanks groaned, glancing up at the World's Greatest Swordsman. "You here for a fight? Can we wait for another time, I'm not feeling too hot."

Mihawk wasn't interested in fighting a swordsman with one arm and he made that clear many times. Why Shanks thought that would change suddenly? He would never know.

"I ran into two interesting pirates while in the East Blue," he mentioned. "They reminded me of a story you used to always tell me about, with a little kid and a robotic redhead."

He unfurled the bounty poster he was walking around with and Shank's eyes widened before a massive grin took over his features.

"So the anchor finally made a name for himself! This calls for celebration!" Shanks laughed.

Without any hesitation, he and his crew got back into the swing of things with a renewed vigor and Mihawk let out a sigh of annoyance.

So much for being hungover.

"So you met Luffy and Rosan?!" Shanks asked excitedly, beckoning the man to sit and handing him a bottle of grog. "I didn't think my fellow redhead would actually travel with the anchor! I thought he was just gonna ignore my words totally and go do his own thing! Is he still a robot?!"

"More or less," Mihawk nodded, remembering their encounter. The redhead was strong and if he gained the ambition he lost, he would become an incredible threat. "Straw hat sent you his regards, Ambitionless told you to stop talking about him."

Shanks simply threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Ambitionless eh? That sounds like something he would say!"

"He's quite interesting. You never told me he was so adept at such a large array of weapons," The hawk eyed man commented, downing his bottle of grog.

"Wait, he is?! AND YOU TWO FOUGHT?!" The captain's eyes bugged in interest. Last time he had seen Rosan, the kid had been brutalizing the bandits with just his limbs. He hadn't even known he could use multiple weapons!

"That's right, his ring can transform into a wide array of arsenal it looks like. She is the most unique weapon I've fought to date."

The Yonko paused at that. "You mean that amethyst ring he never takes off? I'm pretty sure he bathes with that thing on! I never knew it was his weapon... that Rosan really doesn't like sharing information..."

"He heals faster than Zoans too. Quite the interesting duo you managed to find. Both he and Straw Hat are overflowing with untapped potential."

Wow, there was a lot of things he didn't know about the redhead. Maybe he should have made more of an effort to be friends...

Nah, Rosan wouldn't have ever let it happen. The robotic redhead was kind of a dick.

"Tell me all about it!" Shanks grinned eagerly.

---

"35 million as your first bounty? I'm impressed," Rosan commented with a small smile of approval, high-fiving his pleased captain.

"I'm so proud of him!" Mod gushed, smiling happily for the rubber boy.

"I'm not. Father's should be 70 million," Ram grumbled. The weapon was crossing her arms petulantly and glaring at the bounty poster with a displeased frown.

The Devil Fruit sighed in exasperation. "Could you be supportive to anyone besides Rosan for one second?"

"Can you stop making me fear for my life every single day?"

"No."

"Then no!"

Usopp was bragging about being seen on Luffy's poster, despite only the back of his head being shown but at least he seemed genuinely proud.

"Maybe one day all of you will make it to the big leagues like me!" the sniper said.

The scout nodded idly at his boasting. "I don't think I'll ever get a bounty that impressive. You have much to teach me, Usopp," Rosan hummed, flipping another page of his newspaper.

"Not to worry! The great captain Usopp will give you any advice you might need!"

Sanji looked at Rosan like he were insane but merely snorted and said nothing. It was clear the crew didn't know anything about him being Reaper besides the chef, otherwise they wouldn't be freaking out over a 35 million bounty.

500 million would cause much more outrage he imagined. Huh, yeah Sanji could see why he didn't tell them that he was Reaper.

Honestly, he was a little (a lot) touched the redhead deemed him worthy of knowing. Even though Rosan was a prick who kept hogging females attention... Sanji guessed he didn't hate him completely.

"That reminds me," Rosan suddenly said. "Sanji I've got two interesting techniques you might like to learn. Since you're so adept with your legs, you might have an easier time than Luffy learning them."

The blonde blinked at that. "Two techniques for me? Sure, if you're saying it's interesting, then it has to be something good."

The redhead nodded. "Luffy and I reverse engineered them from an annoying old man. It will take a while to learn but you won't regret it. I'll tell you about the basics later and the best way to learn them. You might need to up your physical specs a little bit more but the training will help."

"Oh you're gonna teach him that?!" Luffy exclaimed eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Awesome! They're super fun, Sanji!"

Sanji nodded a little eagerly at the two. He was getting excited about these techniques and it sounded like they revolved around using his legs too!

That was perfect. He was already benefiting greatly from travelling with these guys.

Usopp, who finally managed to cleanse his eyes, gazed at Rosan at that too. "Oh, Rosan! Could you give me some pointers on how I can better improve too?"

The redhead blinked at that. Since when did his crew start seeing him as useful? He much preferred when they thought he was lazy and didn't do anything but disappear...

"You need to start small and work your way up so I'll give you some basic exercise routines. First, get your muscles up to a point where you can comfortably lift that hammer I gave you. Once you can comfortably hold it, I'll release the weight restriction and you'll really notice the changes."

Increasing his strength would be immensely useful for the sniper who relied on the slingshot instead of a firearm. In a way, his slingshot had the potential to surpass guns if he got really strong and they fit his creative mind more.

The sniper nodded. "You're really resourceful too! Maybe we can discuss some ideas about potential gadgets I can use?" He asked hopefully.

Rosan hummed. "I see no problem with that. I hope you know that the weapons I create are to kill though. I have no interest in creating things to mobilize my foes when I already have other methods."

"R-Right... maybe I'll just ask for some ideas then," Usopp stammered. The redhead was still as scary as ever...

"Aww, look at my little boy! He's being helpful!" Mod beamed.

"Look at you! I didn't think you were capable of being useful!" Nami cheered, clapping her hands at the redhead.

"Hey Nami, have you ever been tickled?" Rosan asked suddenly. "You aren't safe either Mod-chan. Good luck."

The purple haired woman went white. "I-I was praising you! Did what I say really deserve such a reaction?!"

"Yes."

"You are a brat! It's no wonder Ram is this bad! She gets it from you!"

"A-Am not, Auntie!"

"Quiet young lady! I'm trying to defend myself right now!"

"R-Right!"

Nami blinked in confusion. "Tickled? No, why would you ask me that—"

Rosan struck with a pleased gaze and knocked the navigator over.

The effects were instantaneous.

The navigator's eyes bugged as the redhead began to mercilessly tickle her and she helplessly devolved into laughter as the sensations quickly reached her. "Pfft— Wait, Rosan! I-I'm ticklish! S-STOP— Hahahaha! Rosan, please, I was just kidding—"

"Too late. Think about this next time you decide to harass me."

"I'm fucking s-serious, Rosan— Hahahaha!"

The crew watched Nami plead for her life and they sweatdropped as it failed to move the ruthless redhead.

"I should help her," Sanji muttered resolutely.

Luffy stopped him from doing that with an uncharacteristically serious look that made the blonde begin to sweat nervously.

"If you stop Rosan... he'll do it to you and it's gonna be even worse," he said as if he experienced it himself.

They sweatdropped at the rubber boy. They had a feeling that's exactly what happened and if even the fearless Luffy told them not to get involved... Well maybe they would listen.

Mod resolved to find somewhere to hide even though it wouldn't help her. Maybe he'd be grow tired of searching in that frozen forest...

Rosan never tickled her without modifying her sensitivity so it was always so much worse for the Devil Fruit. Even if she gave up immediately he'd still do it.

He was such a... ugh, her son was lucky she didn't curse.

---

"We're almost at Loguetown, which means we're about to enter the Grand Line…" Nami mused.

"Eh? What's so special about it?" Luffy asked.

"It's where the Pirate King was born and executed," Rosan informed his captain, glancing at the distant island.

The place where his father was both born and killed… But not before going out of his way to put his mother, Portgas D. Rouge in life threatening danger because he decided that thinking with his dick was smarter then using his head and moving he and his mother.

He idly wondered if this is what Roger had been expecting for his family when he did what he did. Rosan certainly wasn't expecting things to turn out like this but at least he still had Ace.

"You won't stay on the ship when we dock?" Mod asked curiously. That's honestly what she expected from him considering he hated Roger.

"No, I'll explore the island and see what it has to offer. I might even visit his execution stand just to soak it all in."

"Sadistic, vindictive child," Mod laughed at her unbelievable son.

They all needed to stock up on their own things before heading into the Grand Line so they agreed to dock there for the looming journey.

Nami perked up suddenly. "That reminds me... Rosan, do you mind showing me where you keep all your money?"

Rosan raised a brow at her, practically asking if she was stupid with his gaze alone.

Despite not saying a word, Nami still began spluttering at his judgmental stare.

"I just want to verify funds! You and I are probably the best at dealing with money so I figure we could deal with it together!" She complained, not liking the look he was giving her.

The navigator really didn't get why he always made everything so difficult but she attributed it to the fact that he was a dick. She dreaded the day she had to deal with a fully emotional Rosan because she'd probably go gray early.

"I knew you liked me," Rosan said, much to her annoyance. "What a poor attempt to want to spend more time with me. Come, I'll show you where I keep my money then."

"That's not the reason why, you asshole!" Nami growled. Despite her annoyance, she followed after the redhead without hesitation, pleased that he trusted her to this degree.

"Speaking of which, I need money for new swords," Zoro muttered, catching their attention.

"You can come too, I'll give you some before we land," the redhead offered. "Ram mentioned that you wanted to train with me? Fair warning, I'm quite ruthless."

Zoro grinned challengingly at him. He liked the sound of that.

"I heard you got in a fight with Mihawk?"

"He wanted to test me because of Shanks so we sparred a bit. I didn't manage to hit him even once and he landed quite a few on me. He even broke Ram in the process which should be incredibly difficult but I learned a lot from the fight," Rosan muttered.

They eventually reached a random part of the ship and the redhead faced them with that standard neutral expression.

"Be warned, the place where I keep my money is quite… unsettling for most people. I haven't heard a single positive comment on it so do with that what you will."

Nami shuddered at that while Zoro raised a brow, unfazed despite his warning.

Rosan hummed and his eyes began glowing.

"Modification: Save Point," he uttered aloud and the three vanished.

---

"W-What is this place?"

Nami shivered uncontrollably at the eeriness of the location and stepped closer to the two there.

Everything was so... wrong. She couldn't put it into words but there was an unshakeable chill running through her body and the navigator could practically hear her heart beating.

"My Pocket Dimension," Rosan answered, offering his hand for the orange haired girl to grab. "It's quite bizarre. It almost feels like the natural order is thrown in disarray when you step in here."

Nami took his hand gratefully and nodded in agreement, looking behind her in paranoia. She idly gripped his hand tighter just to make sure she didn't get lost.

"You don't have to worry, as far as I know, I'm the only one who can access this place," Rosan reassured. The redhead chanced a glance at Zoro and raised a brow.

The green haired swordsman was glancing around, a look of curiosity on his face instead of fear as he took in the eeriness with his own raised brow.

"Weird place," he commented with a shrug, mostly unbothered.

"Interesting. You have a pretty unusual reaction. Only Luffy has been completely unfazed by the Pocket Dimension but you're close," Rosan commented.

Zoro's reaction was similar to Ace's. Mostly unbothered, but slightly unsettled.

He guided the two of them to his home with practiced ease.

Despite her increasing unease, Nami's eyes somehow glowed brighter then Rosan's when he activated an ability, at the sight of his black and purple castle and when they entered, her interest only grew.

It was becoming very clear to her now that Rosan didn't just have a lot of money... he was completely loaded.

"How did you get a castle in here?" Zoro asked curiously.

The redhead touched one of his black walls with a hum. "I brought the materials and created a basic building. Then, I changed it into my image with Modification. It took me quite a while and energy and I had to learn how to create various types of buildings, but it was worth it."

That explained why he managed to repair Gosa so easily. The redhead technically knew how to create a castle...

"You told Nami about your Devil Fruit?" Zoro asked with a raised brow and Nami raised one too.

"You told Zoro?" She asked in return.

Rosan nodded at the duo. "I told Nami when we were on the way to Arlong Park. I told Zoro when we were on the way to Orange town. No one else besides Luffy knows about it in our crew but I'll tell Sanji about it soon."

They nodded before sweatdropping as they realized something.

"What about Usopp?"

"Would you trust Usopp with an important secret?" Rosan asked in return and they thought about it.

"I see your point…" They nodded in amusement. Usopp was probably not the best choice when it came to keeping secrets.

The group went downstairs (though they shot a curious look at the stairs that went up) and eventually stopped in front of a door.

It was rather stylish for a door, being pure black with Treasury embedded into it in royal purple and having similar purple roses dotting the entire frame.

"Pretty," Nami thought idly. Did Rosan design this? He had very good taste despite his partialness to black, purple and red.

When Rosan opened it, their jaws dropped to the floor and no matter what they tried, they couldn't close it.

"Holy shit," Nami and Zoro both whispered in disbelief.

Loaded didn't even begin to describe all the treasure they were currently looking at.

T-There was so much stuff. Gold, silver, jewels of all kinds, artifacts that couldn't have only come from the East Blue...

But that wasn't even half of it. Nami was pretty sure she died and went to heaven because the actual beri wasn't even there. It must have been sitting pretty in that massive safe in the back corner of the huge room. It spoke volumes of how much he had that he needed to actually have a whole separate area for it...

"I've been getting a bi-weekly allowance from a friend who runs an island since I was 9," he supplied, pointing at the vault full of beri he had mostly gotten from Fregate.

Aiko alone had given him enough money to never have to worry about expenses again. It had been going on for 15 years after all and she was leader of one of the most prestigious islands in the North Blue.

On the off chance that he ever did run out of money, his surrogate older sister would make sure it was filled back up, worrywart that she was.

"From a leader of an island... s-since you were 9?!" Nami gaped.

What the hell kind of connections did he have?! His sister was married to a queen... and she wasn't the one giving him all this money?!

Rosan nodded before gazing at the contents of the room.

"This is the treasure I got from doing various things, mostly stealing. I've amassed quite the collection over the years but most of the things I find, I give away," he gestured towards the large stack of objects ranging from silver, gold and all sorts of other gems neatly sorted by his diligence.

"You're hoarding is unhealthy and if you didn't give away so much things we'd have talked about it by now."

"How is me collecting things unhealthy?"

"Just the fact that you've downplayed it already with that sentence, tells me that you will be purposefully ignorant with me. There are moments when Ragnarok's influence really shines through."

His mother worried about the stupidest things. Hoarding? Really? What next, she was going to complain about how he should spend all their money in one go because he was hoarding too much?

Ridiculous.

Mod let out the most long suffering sigh in a while and it nearly made the redhead crack a smile. "I truly do you hate you sometimes, Rosan."

"I love you too, Mod-chan."

Nami could now why Rosan didn't give a single damn about giving her 100 million beri. That must have been nothing to him at all and she had to wonder...

"You could have easily bought one of the nicest ships on the planet but yet you went through the trouble of getting us the Going Merry for free… Why?" She asked, gazing at the redhead in confusion.

The Going Merry was pleasant but with his money, Rosan could probably get a ship 10x better (no exaggeration) then their little caravel. Why didn't he? Was it because he was so lowkey? Humble was the absolute last word she'd describe the redhead as but he did go around claiming to be a humble scout...

"I only spoil Luffy to a certain degree," Rosan admitted shamelessly.

They sweatdropped at his admittance.

"It's his privilege as the youngest. I will use my money to buy food and supplies that we need, but a ship is different. This is my money and not Luffy's. I wanted him to gain a ship without me needing to buy it and he doesn't want to overly rely on me. Kami knows he did it enough when we were kids."

So Rosan just didn't want to make it too easy for their captain…

Zoro nodded in respect at that. It made a lot of sense and he supported that decision wholeheartedly. An easy journey was no fun and they'd never accomplish their dreams by solely relying on the resourceful redhead.

"I knew you had money but this it too much," Nami awed. She was pretty sure if he put even half of this on the ship, they'd sink. The fact that he even showed them his treasury just showed that the redhead actually warmed up to them!

"I don't mind if we handle the funds together. It's less work for me and despite your unnatural greed, you are the most trustworthy with money," Rosan said bluntly, much to her annoyance. "You ask me for a certain amount, give me a good reason and I'll give you the money. In return... hone your thieving abilities and steal interesting things for me when you see the opportunity. I've suddenly gained an interest in hoarding."

"We are going to have a talk tonight about your sassy attitude."

"All that talking will get in the way of the massage I planned on giving you."

"Nice try. I'll be talking while you give me that massage!"

"We'll see about that. You've fallen asleep during every single massage I've given you."

Mod pouted angrily at his accurate observation. She couldn't help but fall asleep... they felt very nice and Rosan learned from Akemi how to give a proper massage due to how harshly they trained!

It helped out with their sore bodies and Mod learned that his rather gentle hands felt very nice! Even Ram enjoyed the massages and that girl had her mind on one thing only.

Nami nodded in agreement at that arrangement. That was a fantastic deal, especially considering this was his personal treasury. She was a pretty damn good thief too and this was a great incentive to keep honing her skills.

Huh... was that his plan? Was he helping her increase her abilities and using money as a motivator?

Conniving redhead... No wonder Kuro got outplayed so thoroughly.

The redhead walked up and opened the massive door to the vault for them. "Now take the amount you need for supplies and the new swords. Don't worry about paying me back, just make sure it doesn't go to waste." Rosan waved them off and closed his eyes.

It didn't take them long to get the proper amount (something Nami had way too much fun doing) and soon they were making their way out of his treasury.

They began gazing curiously at the castle in general, taking in all the sights, and noted just how neat everything was. Rosan was surprisingly diligent because there were no signs of dirt anywhere!

The predominantly black, with a hint of purple, color of the castle looked fantastic and Nami had to wonder if the redhead was naturally this stylish. Nothing in here looked cheap (quite the opposite) and it seemed to maximize comfort too.

Though, it honestly didn't look like any of this was for Rosan besides the color scheme. It had a woman's touch to it that Nami could see from a mile away...

Who worked on this castle with him? She had an inkling that he didn't do it alone...

"What's up the stairs by the way?" The navigator asked curiously.

She and Zoro couldn't help but tense as Rosan's neutral gaze suddenly turned piercing. His face never changed but his eyes... they looked alert.

They looked alive.

They looked dangerous.

He seemed to catch himself and that alertness vanished after he closed his eyes for a second, replaced by the apathy that they were used to. "Something important to only me. There is nothing up there of convenience so you'll never go."

It was curt and to the point and so, they didn't push the issue further. They knew the redhead wouldn't go into detail and if they prodded, he'd probably change his mind and refuse to bring them here again.

Hell, based on that look in his eyes, he might even attack them.

The two released a breath they didn't know they were holding and just nodded in unison.

"Since you're dealing with the money, you'll have to come here a lot, Nami. I hope you get used to things quickly," Rosan said softly.

Nami groaned in misery and the redhead just pat her head. She was too downtrodden to even remove it.

Nothing was ever simple with Rosan.

---

"I'm off to the execution stand!" Luffy said, already dashing off to some location because there was no way he knew where the execution stand was.

"I'll get some cooking ingredients," Sanji muttered to himself. He rubbed his chin and thought about what he would need.

Nami had given him quite a hefty amount of sums to get food and simply said not to hold back because "Some people eat way too much," plus he wanted to see if there were some new ingredients here he could try out for his dishes.

"I'll go exploring and then I'll head off to mock the execution stand," Rosan said, walking at a moderate pace and disappearing into the crowd.

Making fun of Roger seemed like a fun thing to do. How sad that he wasn't there to see his father get executed... unfortunately, he doubted anyone would bring a 2 year old...

"What do you mean by mock the execution stand?!" Nami asked in disbelief, watching him disappear into the town at a lazy pace. Seriously, he was so rude sometimes! Couldn't he have even a bit of respect?

"Guess I'll go buy those swords," Zoro mused, grinning excitedly at the prospect of sparring with Rosan. The redhead claimed that he wasn't swordsman but he certainly was proficient with them. He wouldn't be surprised if the weapons expert was the best sword user in the four seas.

He certainly was a contender for one of the strongest here in general.

"Wait you two! We haven't even decided where... we're gonna meet up... yet..." Usopp trailed off, watching the two brothers vanish with an exasperated expression. "Can anyone tell those two what to do?"

"Nope, I've tried," Nami said in complete monotone. She told Rosan not to cause any trouble back at Cocoyashi and the redhead assured her that he wouldn't... only to cause the most chaos they've ever had along with his equally infuriating captain. Those two just amplified each other's chaotic tendencies and trouble seemed to revolve around them...

They were utterly insufferable.

"No matter what Rosan tells you, they were made for each other," the navigator sighed tiredly.

Usopp glanced at her in sympathy and patted her shoulder.

---

Rosan idly bit into a green apple, as he observed the town. He tossed a coin and some extra to the vendor and accepted the bag full of more of the apples before walking deeper into the town, waving offhandedly at the man thanking him profusely.

"What do you think about the place where your father was born?"

"I have no opinion on such a mundane place. It's a town. I much prefer Celadon and Fregate's aesthetic due to how immersed in greenery they are. Celadon especially has super fresh fruits because of Maro. We should tell Sanji to stop buying fruits and just let me get them."

Mod giggled softly and said nothing. Rosan was being quite spiteful without realizing it, writing off this town without giving it a chance and eyeing everything with a critical gaze.

A normal town like this would never be able to compare to Celadon or Fregate and he should know that better then anyone but he was still comparing them. It was so childish of him and she loved it.

The redhead polished off his current apple and placed the stem in the bag. He'd probably modify it into something later for fun and no one liked a litterer so he'd be a nice upstanding civilian.

The redhead took out another apple from the bag and he was about to take a bite but paused before doing so.

"You're still following me?" Rosan asked, not glancing back as he finished biting into the apple.

There were always eyes on him when he was in a town but these almost never left his person and had been following him since he separated from his crew. That wasn't completely out of the norm. He had been followed before by both men and women who were attracted to him but they would have gathered the courage to speak to him by now.

Now was as good as time as any to verify if they needed to die or not.

"So you noticed me this entire time?" A sultry voice mused, making Mod groan internally.

"I wish you could be left alone for even one day."

Rosan didn't recognize it so he turned to face his fan of the day.

She was quite beautiful, very tall, barely inching him out, slim with dark green eyes and long, wavy black hair. She had on a white cowboy hat, tight Capri-length pants and a cape-like, pink cloak with red hearts on it that covered her torso.

Her painted red lips were curled up at him, seemingly enjoying being checked out by the redhead and relishing in his attention.

"What business do you have with me?" Rosan asked, tilting his head and leveling his even gaze on her. After a moment, he took an apple out of his bag and offered it to her questioningly.

Was she homeless and hungry? He doubted it... most women with her beauty would be picked up by a man by now.

Perhaps she was expecting him to do it...

No, he wasn't interested in picking up anymore strays.

The woman faltered a bit, surprise on her features and she dumbly accepted the fruit. After a few seconds though, a smirk made its way back onto her face.

Slowly, confidently, the tall stranger made a show of sensually biting into the juicy apple, staring into his eyes all the while and licked the juice off her lips slowly, eyes gleaming as his eyes never left her person.

Rosan was sure he heard more then a few male gasps at the sight and he was also sure that growling noise was not his imagination, but his feral Devil Fruit.

"What business do I have? Are you some type of big shot now? Don't even recognize me?" She asked with a confident smirk, satisfied with her performance.

She expected him to be unfazed by her beauty, considering his reaction last time they met but he didn't even recognize her? Wasn't he quite the arrogant one!

"Am I supposed to? My apologies but I don't think I've ever seen you before. I have good memory so I wouldn't just forget you either."

"?" Rosan's puzzlement reached both of his inhabitants.

"My best bet is that she is possibly one of the girls that you've… had… intercourse with and I shut off the connection whenever that happens. I don't know her identity either and I would really rather not have to dig through your memories to find out."

"Yeah I'm not trying to see you have sex! That's gross, Father."

"Ram... please don't be so crude!"

"Aww is Auntie too embarrassed to say sex? Don't worry I'll get you used to it!"

"Please don't —"

"Sex sex sex sex se — O-Ow! What the hell?! I was trying to help you!"

"I didn't need it and watch your language."

"You are so much ruder than you look!"

Rosan didn't think that was it. He would remember someone taller than him (years of being short did this to a person). They definitely did not get physical because it would be hard to forget having sex with a person taller then him and he especially had good memory when it came to remembering people.

He took the time to inspect their features again while racking his brain and she soaked in the attention.

No, he had nothing. This was an entirely new person.

The redhead took out another apple and turned away from her, walking to the execution platform.

The lady gawked as she watched the redhead put more distance between them. "W-Where do you think you're going?!"

"I think you should go to a hospital. We've never met before," Rosan replied, finishing his apple and pulling out another one.

Her confident smirk was gone now, replaced by a rather irritated frown.

"Never met?! Maybe you aren't as smart as I thought you were! I may have lost my freckles but I look practically the same!" She barked in annoyance.

Rosan paused as he heard that and his brain finally began involving Devil Fruits in his search.

Could it be… freckles and a cowboy hat? But that was impossible. The hat was all different and so was the personality... and the appearance.

Unless... no, in a world full of Devil Fruits that was definitely possible. Limiting his mind would do him no favors.

But no... did they perhaps have some type of fruit that enhanced a person's lewdness... that's the only way he could see this working...

Well, time to see.

He turned around slowly and stared at the person again just to make sure he really didn't know them.

He didn't.

Rosan took a small breath and glanced at the woman before slowly saying—

"...Ace?"

...

...

...

"Pftttt Kahahahaha!" Ram burst out laughing and fell on the floor, clutching her stomach as her high pitched laughter rang through the air and she crashed into a wall from the rolling. "Oh Kami, my stomach hurts! A-Auntie help, I can't breathe! Father is too much for me!"

Oh there was no way everyone wasn't going to learn about this and Ace would be horrified to learn this himself.

The Devil Fruit herself fared no better by his conclusion. She could only blink owlishly as her features remained stunned.

"I… I can see why your… mind makes you a more creative user of Modification than me," Mod mumbled, actually scratching her purple head. It sort of made sense, considering Ace was probably the only people he knew with freckles and a cowboy hat but was that really his first guess?

"...You never know? Last time I saw his bounty he was still male and had a Logia but maybe he met a Devil Fruit user that could change genders and enhance his hormones to unreasonable levels?" Rosan pondered. It wasn't that far fetched… he could transform himself after all.

The only problem, was how blatantly this woman was flirting with him, which was why he thought the person increased Ace's hormones and by extension, his lewdness. His little brother would actually prefer dying then acting like this he was pretty sure.

No, he was definitely sure he'd prefer dying. Actually, Ace might kill him if he learns about this.

"No! Who the hell is —" The annoyed woman cut herself off with a deep breath, grabbing her head. "To think the first man who managed to defeat me, would be so dumb. Perhaps I made a mistake developing feelings for you."

"Defeated? Feelings?"

So they fought before… The only woman he had attacked so far that lived had been Izumi, Kaori and —

"No fucking way," Ram gaped, absolutely not accepting it for a second. The ring sobered up so quickly, it was almost like she wasn't laughing before.

There was no way this was who she thought it was. That was impossible!

"I find that a bit harder to believe then this person being Ace," Mod laughed disbelievingly.

"Are you "Iron Mace" Alvida?" Rosan asked bluntly, tilting his head to the side and gauging her reaction.

She finally smirked in confirmation, pleased with his discovery.

"How was I ever going to figure that out? She said all that changed was that she lost her freckles but she's practically become a new person…" Rosan thought to himself.

The woman was very clearly delusional about her appearance to a worrying degree.

Last time he saw her, she had been obese and foul tempered, housing an unnecessary amount of aggression and confidence.

Now she was soft spoken, relaxed, seductive and most obviously, not obese, though she still carried that unreal confidence but he guessed it was a tad warranted now.

"It's about time, you were beginning to disappoint me," Alvida complained, stepping closer to Rosan and pausing for a moment as those dual eyes of his bore into her.

"The lack of freckles really threw me for a loop. Makes you look like a whole new person," he replied dryly. "What do you want? Revenge? If you do, just know I'll kill you this time. I don't like having loose ends to clean up."

She withheld a shudder at that simple, cruel statement and smiled coyly instead. "I'm not here for a fight. Tell me, who's the most beautiful woman in all the seas?"

"Auntie Mod!" Ram gushed, hugging the flustered woman.

"Nonsense! It's clearly Rosan's female form," Mod blushed, dearly hoping her plan to divert the attention off of her worked.

"OH! YOU'RE TOTALLY RIGHT! I forgot how much of a hottie she was! How can you even move with all those curves?!" the weapon gasped, thinking of Rosan's transformation. She would surely give Auntie Mod a run for her money if people knew of her.

"I don't know," Rosan replied to both her and the voices in his head, turning around and walking away. He didn't count his female form and Mod-chan didn't have a real life form yet.

Maybe it was Angel then if they considered his female form the most beautiful. She did look like him after all with a good amount of differences but none took away from her beauty.

The world was a pretty big place though, so he couldn't be too sure. If she were only asking about the Four Seas, he'd have a more set answer but he didn't know anyone in the Grand Line so he didn't know the answer.

He wasn't surprised to hear footsteps following after him and a voice yelling out wait but he didn't feel like stopping anymore and he finished all his apples...

How unfortunate, Maro's apples were much larger, healthier and tastier too. The Dokkaebi's personal garden probably had the best fruits he ever tried. Sanji would love them.

Speaking of which...

"Oh, Rosan!" Sanji called, greeting his crewmate and making the redhead stop.

"Sanji, have you gotten what you needed?" Rosan asked as he inclined his head at their chef.

"More or less… I was just looking for the most beautiful woman I've ever seen! She was about this tall, with a white hat and a large cloak. Have you seen her?"

Rosan was about to answer that, yes he had seen that exact person just moments ago, but Alvida chose that moment to catch up with him.

"It's rude to leave a woman behind when she's talking to you. I can respect playing hard to get but you're pushing it," the pirate scowled, glaring at the redhead.

"Aren't you a little too comfortable talking to me right now? Surely you remember our last encounter so I have no clue why you're so confident. What makes you think you can handle me now?" Rosan retorted quietly.

"Things have changed since back then, Red."

"That won't change anything. Even a Devil Fruit won't help you but you're welcomed to try."

The smirk was back on Alvida's face as she gazed at the redhead close to her in height. "Hm. No, I'm not interested in that just yet. You're headed to the execution platform right? I'll come with you and we can handle our business after in a more private area."

Rosan tilted his head at her, expression not changing even once as he gazed at the harmless enemy. "You talk to me like we're friends... Fine, do what you want. I don't really care. I'm sure you're aware of the difference in our skills but I'll entertain you for now."

To the two, it was obvious that they were talking about. But to Sanji's perverted ears, their topic of discussion was totally different and he could only watch with a dropped jaw, as they walked away.

Together.

Last encounter?! P-Private area?! B-Business?! Difference in skills... ENTERTAIN?!

Rosan and this woman already met before and the redhead had won in their encounter?

That ungrateful dog! How could he leave such a beautiful woman behind?! She went out of her way to pursue him and he was just treating her like some insect?!

What the hell was wrong with him?! Woman practically threw themselves at him but he was too cool to accept?! Did his years as Reaper affect his perception of the female gender?!

It should have been him!

---

"Don't you want to know about my Devil Fruit? How did you even know I ate one?" Alvida asked curiously. Was the loss of her freckles that big of an indicator?

The redhead didn't even glance at her. He just continued to walk at a leisurely pace. "I don't question my enemies unless I'm torturing them."

"Kinky. I ate the Sube Sube no Mi so now I'm a smooth woman. You aren't slightly curious about my infatuation with you?"

"I don't date my enemies… Or anyone for that matter."

"Charming. You must be quite the heart breaker but I'm infatuated with you because you're the first man who defeated me. You won't question why I'm here?"

"If I had to guess, you've teamed up with Buggy to assassinate my captain?"

Alvida felt herself freeze completely and the look of confidence on her face vanished in a flash. She finally began looking at Rosan like the threat he was and she confusedly asked, "H-How do you know that? You didn't even know who I was before!"

The redhead spoke like he was talking of the weather and he didn't even stop his lazy stride. There was no hint of inflection in his tone, no pause in his step, no change in his demeanor as he calmly exposed her plan. It was almost like he didn't mention it.

He just continued to walk with a quiet assuredness, somehow managing to have no presence despite being so imposing.

He was a living paradox. A contradiction to a normal person.

An anomaly.

"You shouldn't question your enemies unless you're torturing them," Rosan advised, glancing at her with a face she was beginning to realize didn't change.

His little blue bird noticed a group of disguised folks running around the island searching for something and decided to follow them since they were the most interesting things around. He wouldn't have known who it was, if not for the massive lion that was apart of the group.

Honestly, why even bother with disguises if you were going to have such a distinctive creature?

He figured Alvida had formed some sort of alliance with them the moment he learned her identity and she seemed like the most competent of that idiot group so he kept her in his sights.

Rosan suddenly whirled and closed the distance between the two.

Alvida, shocked by his sudden movement, instinctively stepped away from him until her back hit the wall there and she gazed at the redhead with wide eyes.

She was trapped...

To onlookers, it looked like a romantic gesture but it was anything but. He leaned in close to the shocked pirate so that he could whisper in her ear and gazed calmly as his hand seemed to slip off her body.

"You act far too confident for someone who got knocked out in one hit. If you really think your Devil Fruit can save you, you'll find out just how large the gap between us truly is in your final moments. I'm not sure what your perception of me exactly is, but you might find out what I'll do to an enemy who doesn't have any sense."

His voice was soft and gentle and it contrasted his violent sentence so greatly, that her eyes turned into pinpricks.

It must have looked like the handsome man was whispering something sweet to her but they didn't know anything.

Despite threatening her in broad daylight, he manipulated everyone watching into thinking otherwise. So terrified was she, the woman didn't even think to activate her Devil Fruit in case she set him off, evidenced by the fact that he stroked her cheek to keep up appearances.

What a terrifying person. Alvida realized at that moment she knew absolutely nothing about the first person to defeat her and maybe it should have stayed that way.

He stepped back and held out his hand for her to grab. "Come. You're stuck with me for now until this situation is dealt with. I gave you many chances to get out but this is what your infatuation gets you. Next time choose wisely who you pursue, I'm one of the worst choices."

Alvida shakily grabbed the offered hand and seemed to finally realize what she got herself into. Rosan had not been this dangerous when they first met, content to throw just a few insults and letting his captain direct things before he knocked her unconscious.

The redhead hummed. "I don't think I have to say this, but don't act suspicious or else. You won't escape from me and if you tip anyone off, you'll figure out that I carry out my threats thoroughly."

Maybe the presence of that Luffy was a blessing in disguise when it came to this psychotic redhead. His clear naivety and general joy must have worked wonders to tame the monster within this man.

He was a lurking demon, one that only seemed to unleash when not in the presence of his crew.

They walked hand in hand to the execution stand and his warning of acting suspicious, rang clear through her head and stopped her from doing anything rash.

Idly, she could hear jealous men and women muttering things under their breath.

"Lucky bastard," one man grunted, glancing longingly at Alvida.

"Lucky bitch," one woman complained to her equally annoyed friend, both greedily eyeing Rosan.

Somehow, Alvida thought that luck only applied to her and not in the way they thought.

---

When the two finally arrived to the execution platform, the action was well underway and by that, he meant that Luffy's head was currently being shackled to the platform and the stupid clown was about to execute him.

"How does he always get himself in these situations?" Rosan muttered, tilting his head as his eyes began glowing.

This wouldn't do. Luffy dying in the East Blue would be less than ideal. Luffy dying in the same area his deadbeat father died in would be doubly bad.

"It's too late for you to save him," Alvida said, shaking her head. "It looks like Buggy is actually going to get his revenge."

That... Suddenly that didn't sound promising for her... If Straw Hat died here, w-what would this man do to her? She had the strangest inkling, that not a single soul would escape him if his captain died and he spoke of torture before like it were a hobby...

She dearly hoped Straw Hat survived this.

"You think so?" Rosan asked softly.

Zoro and Sanji were here as well and it was storming. He ignored the heavy raindrops that seemed to get stronger by the second and gazed up at his incapacitated captain, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Oh! Rosan, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Usopp!" Luffy beamed at his crew with a large grin. It was almost like he didn't register what was about to happen to him.

"Sorry, I'm dead!" He grinned.

Rosan's eyes began mimicking the sun.

Alvida gasped in surprise, at the sight of the redhead vanishing from his spot, only to appear right in front of Buggy.

One thing Rosan was pleased to have achieved over the years, was his ability to skip out on entering the Pocket Dimension to access the Save Point.

It had a condition of course, that being he could only do it quickly to the point closest to him (the others require plenty of concentration which meant more time), but since the one closest to him was his idiot of a brother who always found himself in dangerous situations, it was perfect.

"I didn't say you could die yet, Luffy. I'd be in a lot of trouble if I let my little brother die," Rosan muttered, getting ready to put a hole in Buggy's skull.

"I knew you'd save me!" Luffy laughed, despite admitting he was dead earlier.

"Y-You! Redhead!" Buggy shrieked in surprise. Where did he come from?! Didn't Alvida say she was going to deal with him?! H-How was he so fast?

"Me," Rosan said, holding up his gloved hands and aiming it directly at the clown. "I knew I should have pursued and killed you. I never did like clowns. They're just stupid and embarrassing."

Before his attack could unleash and kill the clown for good, the smell of raw ozone began to fill his sensitive nose and he felt the hairs on his skin go sharp in warning.

A very clear warning.

He chanced a glance at Buggy and confirmed that he was in fact holding metal.

In the air.

During a storm.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Mod moaned sadly.

"I wonder if Luffy is super lucky, or you're just really unlucky," Ram giggled.

"At least I'm used to getting shocked," Rosan joked darkly. Seems that Doc really was setting him up nicely for the future. Most of the things that would hurt normally, he barely registered because of the man.

How touching of him.

Every onlooker could only watch in disbelief, as the sky split apart with a shrill scream and a shrieking blast of lightning crashed into the platform with a thunderous roar, hitting every person on it and sending it crashing to the floor.

The world lit up brightly, forcing the awed spectators to shield their eyes until it settled down.

After what felt like an eternity, a lone straw hat floated down and landed gently in front of a completely unharmed (besides the damaged outfit) Luffy. The rubber boy grinned cheerfully and picked it up, placing it back on his head.

"Wow! I'm still alive!" He laughed.

"You got me struck by lightning because you're so stupid. I think it's time we pick up on your training again so you understand the benefits of keeping your guard up," a bland voice interrupted his cheer and the rubber boy shuddered in genuine fear.

Rosan glanced down curiously at his scorched skin and hummed.

So Luffy was immune to lightning. He found it quite funny that the thing used to torture him the most, was completely ineffective against his younger brother.

Good, he never wanted anyone in his family to suffer like he had.

Getting hit by lightning was not a pleasant experience. An unconscious Buggy, skin steaming with dangerous burns, could attest to that.

"Are you alright?" Luffy asked worriedly, glancing at his brother's blistering body. He would be fine but that probably didn't feel good at all.

Everyone watched in fascinated disgust, as his burned body began to somehow steam even more only to begin peeling to make room for new, undamaged layers of bronze skin. It took them a long while to realize he was actually patching himself up and soon, even the steam from the lightning vanished, leaving the stone faced redhead unblemished.

"I probably could grow a limb back," the redhead mused to himself with a tilted head. He placed a palm flat on his outfit and began repairing it with Modification. Soon, he was as good as new and it didn't look like he had been struck by literal lightning.

"M-Monsters…" The crowd whispered in terror.

"W-What the fuck is he?" Alvida thought in genuine horror. No one could just heal from that. No one should heal like that.

It was dawning on her that he could probably kill her at anytime and just chose not to for whatever twisted reason his mind could come up with.

She just watched the both of them get struck by lightning and while the rubber boy was seemingly unaffected, Rosan had very clearly taken brutal damage b-but his body had just… it just shed the damage off and put him in mint condition.

But that wasn't the most unnerving thing. Don't get her wrong, it was disturbing to witness and honestly a bit nauseating but the most terrifying thing?

The fact that his demeanor never even once changed still. The fact that much like earlier, he was treating this whole thing like it was just another day. She heard Buggy's scream as the lightning crashed into them but Rosan didn't make even a peep.

No matter how much she looked at him, he was unchanging from his ways. He was still standing with that assured confidence, he still had no presence, he still had that infuriatingly neutral expression on his face and he still spoke in that damn tone of his. The tone that had no interest in it, no anger, joy, sadness.

Nothing. Gazing at the redhead felt no different then staring at nothing itself. How could something like this exist...?

Was he some kind of demon?

Alvida couldn't dwell on it for long, because Marines were swarming into the plaza and she needed to get out of here lest she get captured.

"Do you get it now?" A voice muttered next to her.

She froze in genuine terror, heart stopping for a split second as she looked into that utterly expressionless gaze. A gaze that reminded her of the depths of the ocean. A gaze that reminded her hat this man was no different from the void.

There was no shine in his gaze. Just an unnatural blankness that reminded her that this person wasn't normal. She was hard pressed to even call him a person.

"Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? The more you learn about a certain person, the less you wish you knew. Try not to poke a sleeping dragon too much," Rosan whispered, before he walked off to go catch up with his retreating crew.

"Have a nice day, Iron Mace Alvida."

Alvida let out a shuddering breath and distantly realized that she was clutching her chest. She glanced warily at his retreating back, noting that he still didn't seem to be in any rush.

That man— No, that monster wasn't something that could be comprehended by the average person. It was foolish of her to act so confident around such a terrifying entity.

He was completely immune to her beauty unlike all these other men and made it clear that it wouldn't save her. She could only thank the lucky stars that he had decided to not kill her. She didn't know why he didn't, but trying to understand that thing was a hopeless cause.

Now, she needed to focus on escaping these Marines.

Shaking her head of those unnerving thoughts, Alvida activated her Sube Sube no mi abilities and slid off.

---

Now that the pirates had been dealt with, that left one last obstacle.

That Marine Captain... Smoker. He was the one in charge around here and Rosan hadn't encountered him yet.

It's not like he was strong or anything but one glaring detail made him troublesome.

His Logia Devil Fruit.

If it was anything remotely related to his name, the amount of cigarettes he smoked at once and his gray hair (Did Logia's change a person's appearance too? He'd have to look into that...), they were no doubt dealing with a smoke man.

"Any natural counters to smoke?" Rosan asked.

"Wind?" Mod offered.

He couldn't manipulate wind yet. How unfortunate. Looks like it was escape time. He didn't really fancy escaping from someone weaker then him but such was the price of having no counter to intangibility.

Rosan continued his pace as the rain got heavier and heavier and he sighed at the pleasant feeling. Despite how heavy the rain was, it felt wonderful on his skin. Sure, his family hated when he allowed himself to just remain in downpours, calling him a "Brooding, wet, idiot," but he couldn't help it.

He missed his rainforest themed Mindscape. If only he could forcefully transform it back.

His inner musing was cut short as a figure appeared in their line of sight, wielding a sword and glaring at them.

"Hey who's that pretty lady?!" Sanji swooned in the middle of his running.

"Hm?" Zoro grunted before his eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"RORONOA ZORO!" The woman called out, glaring at him with fury in her eyes. "I didn't realize you were him and a pirate to boot… you were mocking me back then and I won't stand for it!"

"We don't have time for this," Rosan said softly, holding out his hand to blast her out of the way... or into dust. "Whatever problems you have with Zoro, deal with them after we've departed."

Before his glove could even begin glowing the redhead suddenly tilted his head back to avoid the kick aimed at him and glanced at the offender with a blank expression.

"Don't just go attacking a pretty lady like that, shitty redhead!" Sanji barked warningly. He knew that Rosan was more than willing to kill a person and he'd be damned if the scout killed a woman in front of him.

Idol be damned, he wouldn't let anyone compromise his values.

"Who the fuck does he think he is?!" Ram snarled in disbelief.

Rosan didn't blink as he softly said, "Sanji… if you ever stop me from doing something again, I'll show you why that's a terrible idea and do it to you instead. Don't test me."

"I could say the same thing," the chef said resolutely.

The two eyed each other down for a long moment before the swordsman interrupted their altercation.

"Relax, you guys go ahead and let me deal with her," Zoro grunted. The last thing they needed was for a fight between these two to break out in the middle of this freak storm.

Rosan finally took his eyes off the chef and simply nodded, moving past the two with a simple, "Don't get lost."

They left the two behind and kept on running, only to run into the one actual issue on the island.

"You aren't getting off this island, Straw Hat," Captain Smoker grunted, outstretching his arms for an attack.

"White Fist!"

Luffy and Rosan leapt out of the way of the attack but Sanji was too slow, getting slammed into a wall as a result and groaning at the pain.

"Sanji!" Luffy called out in worry before rounding on the Marine in anger. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

To Luffy's surprise, his fist went right through the man and Smoker took full advantage of that, materializing behind the rubber boy and pinning him to the floor immediately.

"Like I thought. He's not strong but his fruit makes him a nuisance," Rosan mused.

"Are you really worth 30 million? How disappointing," Smoker sighed pinning his face onto the floor. "Looks like your devil's luck has run out."

"Don't be so sure about that."

Smoker froze at the unknown voice and glanced up warily, freezing in the process.

Rosan had been about to grab Luffy and Sanji so that he could fly them out of here, when a surprise presence made itself known.

The redhead actually blinked.

"Is that…"

"Monkey D. Dragon," Mod finished, eyes slightly wide in confusion.

What was he doing here? Had he been keeping tabs on Luffy? For how long had this been going on?

Perhaps he never wanted to leave Luffy behind if he was worried enough to come all the way over to the East Blue. Rosan supposed living a life as the son of the world's most wanted man could be difficult.

"Who is that?!" Luffy mumbled, unable to see due to currently eating cement. The rubber boy wiggled fruitlessly but was unable to free himself no matter what he tried.

Smoker's eyes widened in disbelief at what he was looking.

Seriously, now of all time?!

"You… the government wants your head!"

What on Earth was the leader of the Revolutionaries doing in East Blue?! The world's most wanted man... Dragon the Revolutionary.

Dragon simply grinned. "The world is waiting for our answer."

As soon as he finished speaking, a massive gust of wind blew in through the town and swept anything and everything away. Marines were tossed back by the vicious winds and not even Smoker was spared, smoky form truly being countered by the powerful breeze.

The winds died down and soon, the only ones left in the area were Dragon and Rosan.

"Did he do that?" Rosan wondered, glancing at the world's most wanted man with a tilted head. Why didn't he get blown away along with everyone else? Perhaps the revolutionary wanted to speak to him.

Well, according to his Save Point, Luffy and the others should be on the ship soon so that was a plus.

He supposed he could spare some time to speak to the man.

"It's been a while, Dragon. What's the occasion?" He greeted politely.

"Rosan." Dragon nodded in respect. "I wasn't aware that you were also joining Luffy's pirate crew."

"He was the first to ask and I have no interest in leading my own crew," Rosan replied softly.

Dragon raised a brow at that.

"Were you all planning on being pirates?" The head of the revolutionaries asked curiously.

"That was the plan before Sabo died. All 4 of us planned on becoming pirates and he wanted to be a captain of his own ship. I never did thank you for watching over him when I entrusted you but that probably doesn't matter anymore," Rosan explained quietly, idly tugging at his damp hair matting itself to his head.

Perhaps he'd stand on the top of the ship while it stormed like this. This was fine weather to sing a song to.

Dragon's face morphed into confusion for only a split second before he quickly came to a realization and the man's face turned grave instead.

Rosan tensed at the look in his eyes, wondering if the man heard something that suddenly made them enemies.

"I'm still watching over him, you know," the world's most wanted man told him.

…

"What did he just say?" Mod said softly, not quite believing her ears.

Rosan felt the whole world freeze around him at hearing the words that just came out of Dragon's mouth and he regarded the man he met 10 years ago with a piercing gaze.

Did he mishear that? No, he couldn't possibly have misheard that. Rosan didn't just mishear things.

"What did you just say?" The redhead found himself saying, despite knowing what he heard... despite just telling himself he didn't mishear things.

It was just... What?

"I had no idea you thought he died and that's my mistake for not verifying with you. Sabo is alive and he's currently apart of the revolutionaries."

Rosan couldn't explain his thoughts currently. They were all running a mile a minute and nothing made sense to him.

Sabo was… alive? After 10 years? He was just now finding out his brother was still living and breathing?

Was this some type of sick joke? Rosan did not play with death.

"Why hasn't he reached out to us?" The redhead questioned, resolving to hunt this man down at all costs if he found out he was lying.

"He has severe amnesia from taking damage to his head, to the point where he couldn't even remember his name. When I mentioned all three of your names, he only shook his head in confusion and said he knew nothing about you all. He refused to come back to Goa for any reason and I respected his decision," Dragon explained grimly.

Dragon only knew his name because of Rosan himself and the fact that he had it embedded in his shirt. After treating the blonde and understanding that he wanted nothing to do with his home, he heeded Rosan's request and watched over him, personally training him up.

"Amnesia to the point where he can't even remember his own name?" Mod whispered in horror. The Devil Fruit was left staggered at the information they were receiving and her eyes were narrowed in worry at what damage poor Sabo must have sustained.

"Why have I never seen mention of him… anywhere? You are the world's most wanted man and you speak of him highly so how don't we have any idea who he is?"

Dragon nodded at the logical question. "We revolutionaries don't make our work very public. Sabo, despite being my Chief of Staff, mostly deals with covert missions where his identity is not in jeopardy."

Rosan hummed at that.

"If that's the case, why are you telling me? Even despite being my brother, this could jeopardize your army."

The revolutionary simply grinned. "I told you didn't I? You can consider me an ally and it was obvious to me how much you cared for Sabo. I apologize for not telling you sooner but our campaign has left me busy and I didn't know you all thought he died."

So Dragon considered him an ally... It was a good thing he hadn't been hostile to Luffy's father else he might have never learned of Sabo's real fate from the man.

His little brother was alive but he had amnesia… That was troublesome but it was better than being dead. It meant there was hope he could remember.

It didn't him very long to come to an obvious decision. "Can I see him? I don't care if he doesn't remember me… I just would like to see him in the flesh," Rosan requested softly.

The leader of the revolutionaries didn't even hesitate in his reply. It seemed he truly did consider himself an ally to the redhead and Rosan was beginning to respect that.

"Of course. He's currently on a mission so I will contact you with details and we can arrange a meetup."

"That sounds good to me," Rosan nodded. "...Thank you, Dragon."

Dragon simply grinned that signature grin of his and waved off the rare show of gratitude from the redhead. "Don't be too disappointed if he doesn't remember you. Here, I'll call you."

"I won't," the redhead said and he accepted the Den Den Mushi out of the man's hand. "Now, I need to go to my crew before they think something happened."

With that, the redhead vanished, leaving the revolutionary alone.

Dragon watched the redhead disappear and recalled his son's declaration and grinned. "Pirate King? If that's your decision then go. Go change the world!"

The thunder crackled with his words and the man gazed in the direction Luffy flew at.

"Will you tell Luffy?"

"Not yet. I want to see him first and if he really does have amnesia, Luffy will overwhelm him. It won't do any good to get the hopes up of anyone in our family after so long."

"I just… I can't believe he's alive after all these years. It's a little hard to fathom and honestly, I can't properly process it."

"That's why I have to see him. It's been 10 years and I thought he was dead but he's not? It's unexplainable."

"Just imagine how Robin will feel when she realizes you were alive this whole time."

"…" Rosan inhaled sharply at that

"I really messed up."

"We both did," Mod smiled sadly.

---

"That gust of wind sure helped us out," Buggy groaned in agony. They ended up getting captured by Smoker (mostly due to the fact that the lightning really messed him up) as they tried to escape but the sudden freak storm, managed to release them from their bindings and now they were sailing away from that cursed town.

"What will we do now, Buggy?" Alvida asked curiously.

"We'll set sail for the Grand Line. I still have business to settle with Straw Hat and the stupid redhead."

Normally Alvida would have been in agreement, but Buggy didn't seem to understand exactly how dangerous the redhead named Rosan was and she couldn't blame him.

After all, she only just learned that he was very capable of slaughtering them all and went in with unwarranted confidence.

He was not someone who's radar they should ever be on. It was even worse that they were trying to put themselves on it intentionally.

Despite her clear knowledge and terror of the scout, she couldn't help but be somewhat interested in him. Why did he choose to follow Straw Hat? He seemed more than capable of making his own crew and the two were polar opposites in personality. What did Straw Hat Luffy have that allowed him to control such a demon?

What was his Devil Fruit? No normal person could heal the way he had done after getting struck by lightning. He hadn't made any expression of discomfort and didn't even seem to register the pain he should have been in!

Why did he spare her? Was it merely on a whim? Alvida wasn't sure but to know that her being alive was a miracle... It terrified her.

She shuddered at that unnatural gaze in his eyes. The look that let her know that he barely considered her human or worth his time. That he was merely using this as some sort of game to entertain himself.

A large part of her didn't want to see that dangerous monster again but a small part, was quite fascinated by the enigma. She knew it was a terrible idea but there was something... captivating about the first man to defeat her.

Something otherworldly...

So Alvida said nothing that may make Buggy reconsider his decision and just remained silent, nodding her head in agreement at his plans.

---

"Rosan! We thought you got caught in the storm and feared the worst!" Nami exclaimed in worry.

After that freakish wind, more akin to a hurricane, hit, no one saw the redhead and they began to fear for the worst.

What if he got swept into the ocean? Was their scout currently in the middle of drowning? T-They didn't want that to happen!

They were unable to turn around due to the sea current but Luffy confidently told them to keep going.

"Something like this can't kill Rosan!" The rubber boy said confidently, not even looking remotely worried for his brother dammit!

The amount of faith the two had in each other was unreal!

"I saw something of interest and dealt with it," Rosan replied softly. "It would be shameful if I died to some storm. That's too anticlimactic for me."

They sweatdropped at that statement but couldn't help but agree with the redhead who's ego was way bigger then he made seem.

The group stopped worrying about the redhead after chewing him out a bit for taking too long to show up (in which he said, worry more about yourselves not me, much to their annoyance) and continued to set sail, relieved to have made it off that island.

"Hey look! There's a lighthouse!" Usopp pointed out.

Nami grinned excitedly. That lighthouse was the guiding light to the Grand Line! They were almost there!

Sanji smiled eagerly and brought out a barrel. "Let's launch a ceremony for us setting sail on the great ocean."

All the straw hats agreed and soon, they placed their foots on the barrel.

"You too, Rosan!" Luffy demanded, glaring petulantly at his brother who did not move from his spot.

Rosan tilted his head. Was his current goal really worth saying aloud?

Judging by their demanding looks, they thought so.

"You're outnumbered," Mod smiled gently.

"It looks that way," Rosan agreed, conceding and placing a foot on the barrel. They all grinned in satisfaction and began listing off their dreams.

"In order to find the All Blue!" Sanji smirked.

"In order to be King of the Pirates!" Luffy exclaimed.

"In order to be the World's Greatest Swordsman," Zoro grinned.

"In order to draw a map of the world!" Nami beamed.

"I-In order... to become a brave warrior of the sea!" Usopp stammered.

"...In order to find a reason to live," Rosan whispered.

"In order to make Father the strongest!" Ram shouted.

"In order to make Rosan happy," Mod resolved.

All their feet raised high into the air...

"WE'RE GOING TO THE GRAND LINE!"

"Yeah!"

...and broke the barrel under it.

---

"I cannot stress how stupid you all are," Rosan decided calmly. "Every single one of you with no exception."

Why was he insulting his crew?

Well, there was a very good reason for him to be doing so and that was because the idiots managed to sail straight into the Calm Belt.

Rosan, who just exited his mindscape due to the shrill screams of Nami, was giving both Mod-chan and Ram massages to start off the day.

While doing this, his crew were wisely discussing the oddity of Reverse Mountain and how it was needed to get into the Grand Line.

That wasn't worth insulting them about. In fact, Rosan would have praised them for actually doing something right for once.

Unfortunately, because Rosan had to do everything around here and because at the end of the day, his crew was full of idiots, no one thought to pay attention to where they were sailing.

Cue, them ending up in the almost certainly death inducing Calm Belt.

"I'm especially in awe at you, Nami. You actually know about the Calm Belt and how close it is to the Grand Line yet you still let this happen," the redhead chided.

She was the one he had the most faith in to keep things in order. If Nami weren't in the crew, he wouldn't allow himself the luxury to sleep in because then they'd be dead in no time at all.

Alas, seems like she could be just as hopeless.

"I'm sorry," Nami moaned sadly, holding her head in her hands at her mistake.

She didn't think she would ever be compared to the other idiots but the navigator guessed they infected her way faster then she expected. Now, the only other smart one probably thought she was an idiot too.

Dammit all.

The orange haired girl shook her head rapidly. "Now's not the time though! We need to get out of here before —"

Whatever she was saying, was cut off by the sight of Rosan turning and jogging off the ship without any hesitation. The redhead leapt clean over the railing and quickly vanished from their sights.

There was a stunned silence as they digested what just happened.

"WHAT THE HELL ROSAN?!" Usopp gaped at watching him leap overboard. Was he that mad at them? He'd just throw himself into the ocean? Just like that?!

W-Wasn't he a bit of a drama queen? Risking drowning just to accentuate how upset at them he was? He was nuts!

"What is he doing?!" Zoro asked with a raised brow, getting ready to dive after the Devil Fruit user.

He still didn't understand why Nami and Rosan were so upset right now. So they were in a place with no wind? They could just sail out of it until they found wind agai —

The ocean under them began trembling of all things, to the point where the Going Merry was being upheaved in time with the sudden waves.

They stumbled at the rocking of the ship and Usopp yelped as he fell flat on his ass.

"W-What's going on?!" The sniper balked, watching as the others tried to regain their footing to little success.

Every single straw hat froze in unison at the sudden emergence of some of the most massive sea kings they had ever seen. To make matters worse, the gargantuan creatures were looking directly at them.

Their jaws dropped to the floor at the amount of sea kings they were surrounded with and it was then that they realized exactly why they were stupid.

Holy shit...

"We're dead," Nami sobbed. "This is why the calm belt is so dangerous. It's home to the largest Sea Kings in the world! We're just free food for them!"

They all gawked in raw disbelief.

"Don't worry! Rosan will save us!" Luffy beamed, initial shock from seeing them gone.

"SAVE US?!" Usopp screeched. "ROSAN DIDN'T WANNA BECOME FISH FOOD SO HE DECIDED TO DROWN INSTEAD!"

That was when they heard it.

A noise so terrifying that it invoked a primal sort of fear in them. A noise that let them no that they were in the presence of an apex predator and the already terrified group, went ashen white.

"RAOOOOOOOOOOOOGHHHHHHH!" A creature roared.

"It was nice knowing you all!" Usopp sobbed. This was the end for them. They were about to get eaten ship first because they were so stupid.

"I didn't think it was going to end like this!" Nami wailed comically, hugging the mast desperately.

A Sea King tried to dive for them, but a massive blast of fire connected squarely with its face and sent the scorched face back into the ocean.

There was a brief moment of stunned silence and it was only broken by the gigantic fish splashing against the water.

"W-What the hell?!" Sanji gaped in disbelief. Fire?! Was that—

The group could only watch as a large scaly claw gripped their ship and easily lifted it higher and higher out of the Sea Kings grasp.

Sanji and Usopp glanced to each other in confusion at not being dead yet before the liar hesitantly began walking up to the railing.

Usopp looked over for a split second and shrieked to the heavens, going white in fear. The sniper fell on his ass and began crawling backwards as fast as possible until his back connected to wall and tried to push himself further inside.

"W-WHAT IS THAT?!" He yelped, sweat dripping from his features at those piercing slits. Yeah, he probably wasn't going to be getting some sleep for a bit.

"Rosan!" Luffy replied bluntly, grinning happily at being in the sky.

If only the Merry could fly like this always!

"HE'S A MONSTER?!" The liar roared in disbelief.

He knew that damn scout of theirs wasn't normal. It was no wonder he was so robotic! He wasn't actually a human! Trying to fit in with them must have been so difficult for the revealed creature...

"He can transform into a dragon," Nami told him in relief. She forgot about that detail in her panic and she thanked the stars that Rosan was smart enough to remember.

Honestly, the resourceful redhead was way too useful.

Rosan flew the ship out of range from the gargantuan sea kings, making sure to burn any still in range, and soared out of the Calm Belt until he was intercepted by a typhoon.

Then, he angled himself downward and placed the ship back in the water before gazing at his crew with an intelligent gaze. The only noise, were those massive wings of his that seemed to distort the air around him with each flap.

The straw hats looked at the obsidian dragon with varied awe and terror.

He was huge, dwarfing the Going Merry, with red streaks that coursed through his entire scaly body, massive black wings with a red underside, and a long black, razor sharp, tail.

Familiar red and purple slits stared at the crew, as the dragon got closer to them and Usopp couldn't stop his shaking.

"S-S-Scary…" He muttered. What if he really pissed Rosan off and the redhead just chose to eat them...? His teeth looked so sharp, he was sure the dragon could chew steel with no problems.

"Holy shit," Sanji gaped. He didn't know the redhead could turn into a dragon of all things... He was only aware of his angelic wings when donning his disguise!

"W-Wow," Nami stammered, unconsciously taking a step back and failing to hide her tremors from the massive creature that could very well swallow them all whole. Rosan told her he could transform into a dragon but she hadn't been expecting it to look so… dangerous and big!

Zoro simply whistled, impressed by the sight of the dragon and wondering why the redhead didn't opt to use it more.

Luffy stretched out his hands and began petting the massive dragon. "Thanks, Rosan!" The rubber boy beamed.

Nami and Usopp both squeaked at the low rumble of the Dragon. They felt that growl in their bones and a primal surge went through them at the magnificent creature.

The group watched the creature slowly get replaced by their scout and the only thing that remained of the dragon, were those massive scaly wings.

He slowly flew over to the crew and landed on the deck gently before dispersing his wings and staring at them all with an unimpressed gaze.

One minute later, all 5 of them were crouched on the floor nursing the bruise on their heads with comical tears and groans of misery.

They didn't expect the redhead to hit them but damn did it hurt really bad!

"Don't be so stupid next time. You guys are lucky I've sailed through the Calm Belt before," Rosan informed them, drinking a cup of lemonade as he reprimanded them. "I knew what to expect so I knew I had to get us out of there as soon as possible."

"I've never seen you hit someone for doing something stupid," Mod laughed. Her son was normally much more tolerable but it seems even he had his limits and this crew was checking all the marks.

"Imagine if I didn't save them. What a stupid way to die," Rosan replied. They were so lucky that he had been alerted while in his mindscape.

"You've sailed through the Calm Belt before?!" Nami asked in surprise. That... but how? He said sail so it couldn't have been with his dragon!

Was it his nice ship? She noticed that it always moved at the same speed no matter the strength of the winds.

"Yeah, to get to the North Blue. I was born in the South Blue and wanted a change of scenery," he explained.

"You were?!"

Rosan was born in the South Blue?! They didn't know that! The crew never really thought to deeply about it but they just assumed everyone on the ship was born in the East!

How did he end up in the East Blue then? Considering the redhead mentioned knowing Luffy for 10 years... he must have traveled through the seas at an incredibly young age...

"Rosan… what exactly is your Devil Fruit?" Sanji asked slowly. It was impossible to pinpoint just what it was because of how versatile it seemed to be. Was he a shapeshifter? He could transform himself and his weapon into various things so maybe that was it?

The blonde thought his Devil Fruit was being able to transform into an Angel but it seemed like transformation was just one of the core concepts of his actual ability...

It seemed like the only one who was also curious was Usopp, which probably meant the redhead already told his other crewmates.

This was only proven to him, as Rosan said, "I'll tell you but I need to stress the importance of leaving the name of my fruit secret."

Sanji nodded without hesitation but Rosan wasn't even glancing at him. The scout's dual gaze were piercing Usopp like the liar had stolen something from him.

"Usopp, I don't really trust you to keep a secret but just understand, if you tell a Marine the name of my fruit, you will all probably die and I'll get captured," the redhead stressed.

Usopp was about to protest mid sentence, but went ashen at Rosan's blunt warning. He nodded shakily and the redhead took that as his sign to continue.

He still honestly didn't trust the coward but well, If he told anyone then Rosan would make sure all of his crewmates but Usopp escaped.

"My Devil Fruit is called the Mod Mod no mi," Rosan began, explaining to them exactly what his fruit could do and why it needed to be kept secret.

Mod-chan must have been beaming with joy right now, considering every one of his crewmates would now know about her fruit. She sure did want him to put trust in more people and it was adorable how naive she had become over the years.

But he supposed she had a fair point. At the end of the day, he didn't care if he trusted a person or not but this was... his crew and perhaps he should put a bit more trust in people that Luffy acknowledged.

"The government is hunting your fruit down?" Zoro asked in surprise. His fruit was very useful but he hadn't known that was the reason he wanted it secret.

"I had no idea..." Nami muttered. No wonder he was so hesitant to share the information. If someone leaked his fruit to the World Government, who knows who'd they send after him!

"Yes. If they capture me, it's likely that they'll try and brainwash me to be their dog, experiment heavily on me, or they could even use me as a breeding tool to keep Mod-chan in check. I'd rather that one in particular not happen," Rosan replied calmly. "Though, it's quite difficult to capture me if I want to escape."

They balked in horror at his bleak statement. All those things sounded, really... really bad. The last one especially...

Rosan told Luffy long ago that they might not be together if he told people and his little brother, not wanting to be separated from his scout, actually managed to keep it a secret to the best of his abilities.

You just needed to not ask him because he might accidentally reveal it but that was better then nothing.

"You mentioned a Mod-chan... is she the silver haired beauty?" Sanji asked. If the World Government dared to try and control her using the redhead... there'd be hell to pay.

"Beauty?" Ram repeated curiously, raising a brow. Maro had made it clear that she was hot since the first time they met and the few times she was out in public proved the Queen's point but still... she didn't think anyone ever called her a beauty.

It was gross.

Surprisingly, Nami was the one who answered.

"Mod-chan and Ram are two completely different people," the navigator explained, getting looks of surprise from them.

Did she meet them both?! When did that happen...

The redhead nodded in confirmation. "That's right. Ram is my weapon, Mod-chan is my Devil Fruit…" Rosan explained, tapering off with a hum before nodding to himself.

Their confusion at watching Rosan's eyes burn brightly, lasted only a split second as shock very quickly replaced it.

Before the entire crews very eyes, they watched as Rosan's body swiftly morphed into that of a purple haired woman and their jaws dropped to the floor.

The woman was downright gorgeous with a bronze hue of skin similar to Rosan's and piercing red eyes that lacked pupils.

She smiled warmly at them, practically glowing in happiness, before glancing down in dissatisfaction at the size of her clothing. The clothes were too big on her and it looked like she were wearing her older brother's outfit...

Mod shook her head and decided against changing its size since she wouldn't be out for long. Rosan was still too tall for his own good and the long sleeved purple shirt, looked more akin to a sweater.

Don't even get her started on his pants and sneakers...

"We should get you more wardrobe. All those black dresses must be tired," Rosan hummed.

"Shut up. I would never cheat on my black dresses."

"Aren't you just the most faithful? That dress does nothing to protect your curves you know?"

She hated him so much sometimes. That's not even why she wore it but he was so willingly ignorant and it was so infuriating.

"Once I find a way to coexist with you, that black dress is going in the trash. I refuse to have anyone think my mother is broke and lacks style."

"S-SHUT UP, ROSAN! YOU ARE NOT GETTING RID OF MY DRESSES!" Mod scowled, before quickly wiping it off her face at the worried looks shot her way.

Did she say she hated him sometimes? She meant all the time. He was so terrible.

Well, there was no point dwelling on her insufferable son...

"I'm so glad to finally be able to meet you all! I wanted you guys to know about me for a long time now but someone is very overprotective of me," the woman greeted with a soft mature voice. It was deeper then Ram's but not by much and she spoke as if she were filled with a wealth of knowledge.

Opening up her arms, the Devil Fruit easily accepted the flying missile known as Luffy, not even moving from the impact.

"Hi Modi!" The captain greeted happily.

"Hello Luffy," she said warmly, snuggling the rubber boy.

"Mod-chan! You can take over Rosan's body?!" Nami asked in surprise, stepping up to the woman in glee and joining the hug.

The Devil Fruit graciously accepted the second body attached to her person, smiling all the while. "Yes, that's right. I do it on occasion when I want to enjoy the real world."

Sanji's jaw dropped to the floor at the sight of the beautiful woman and his eyes bugged out of their skull. The clothing that fit Rosan's larger frame, did nothing to hide her curves despite how much larger he was then her and the gentle smile she was directing towards them all, made his jaw drop further.

How did she make just a smile look so good?!

T-This was utter bullshit! He wasn't really sure how to react right now, considering Rosan's body was being possessed by one of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

First Ram... now Mod?! Who did this guy think he was?! Was he just the luckiest person on the planet...?! WHY WAS HE HIDING THIS FROM THEM?!

Mod had no idea Sanji was going through such inner turmoil and just pointed at herself with a motherly smile.

"I'm Modification but you can call me Mod," she introduced happily, glad that Rosan actually trusted them enough to do this.

Well, glad was an understatement. She was over the moon actually. "I've been with Rosan since he was four years old and I raised him for the whole 20 years we've known each other... You can call me his mother or sister, both are fine with me!"

"Mother...? You look younger than him," Zoro pointed out. Rosan himself at a glance, looked about 4 years younger then his actual age but this girl here looked the same age as Nami.

Mod nodded at his observation. "Well to be honest, I didn't have an appearance until Rosan demanded I get one and when I did, this is what I chose. I saw no reason to change it because Rosan loved it and I loved it but perhaps I should age myself a little bit? Angel said I look like his little sister... Maro said I look like his girlfriend..."

Perhaps she shouldn't trust Maro's judgement too much... That goblin was such a pervert honestly.

"Oh? You're going to age yourself? Try not to make it your real ag—"

"Portgas D. Rosan."

"..."

"..."

"...Regardless, maybe you should age yourself a bit. You are so reluctant to change anything about yourself. You need to be less rigid. I will always approve of what you do."

Be less rigid... Mod would keep that in mind. She really should change some things about herself.

"Maybe I'll make myself a man. Then I can be the father figure a troubling child like you needs."

"Don't overstep your boundaries."

She giggled.

Usopp didn't expect Rosan to be able to transform into a whole other person who had their own personality and name but he was beginning to learn that the redhead was full of way too many surprises.

At least that explained how he was able to so quickly give him the mask and hammer... Or why he didn't consider himself a crafter. Modification let him skip all the steps needed for that...

Cheater.

Mod coughed to get all their attention and they all stood at attention at her gentle but commanding air.

"Since I'm out here, I suppose I can help you guys make it to the Grand Line! I've actually been there before without Rosan so I'd like to warn you that it can be dangerous and that Reverse Mountain is rather tricky to navigate," the Devil Fruit explained.

Nami beamed happily at that. She wanted to speak to the wise Devil Fruit again since their first conversation and to know that she could just possess Rosan's body, was a massive boon! She'd get to speak to the Devil Fruit whenever she wanted now, Rosan be damned!

"You'll be staying out then?" Rosan asked, patting a giddy Ram.

"Yes, if you don't mind," Mod replied.

Mod-chan knew he didn't mind but she was verifying anyways because that's just how his mother was.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "It's called being polite, Rosan. Something you should dearly learn besides your artificial kindness that does nothing to hide your rude words."

"Oh? Perhaps I should be polite to all the woman that speak to me then."

"Nevermind, please continue to be rude."

"Right..."

She grumbled to herself and sought to fix the biggest issue being out gave her.

Sanji almost went into shock, due to the woman placing a hand on her charge's expensive clothing and modifying it to perfectly fit her frame. Rosan had been wearing a purple silk shirt and long khaki pants.

It looked just as good on Mod-chan as it did on him. Seriously, it wasn't even designed to be tight but the woman was just that...

"Alright, before we make it there I want to tell you guys some things about Reverse Mountain!" Mod informed them, clapping her hands to get their attention. One mistake and they'd all die, so she would make sure that didn't happen unlike Rosan who'd just go with the flow until they were actually about to die.

"You're such a mom," Ram snorted, only to immediately squeak at the warning hum Mod shot her way.

---

"Woah, it really is a mystery mountain!" Luffy gaped in awe.

Reverse Mountain was massive, standing high in the sky and eclipsing the, in comparison, tiny ship beneath it.

True to Mod and Nami's words, the rivers from the Blue Seas flowed up the mountain in a bizarre display that looked unnatural to witness.

"The water actually does flow up the mountain," Zoro gawked. He hadn't believed them when they were saying it, but it was actually true! Even though he was looking at it, the swordsman still found it hard to believe.

"It's huge!" Usopp bugged.

"The entrance to the Grand Line…" Nami awed. She couldn't even see the top of it!

"C-Can't Rosan just fly us over?!" The sniper stammered, looking at the hellish waves in fear.

"No way! We have to do it this way!" Luffy stubbornly refused.

"Rosan's preoccupied with Ram anyways. She's not going to let him go just so he can help you all," Mod giggled softly, glancing at the familiar mountain. Rosan flew over it plenty of times while Reaper or during Ragnarok but he always avoided the Grand Line.

"Yeah! He isn't going anywhere," Ram purred, nuzzling her complacent father with gusto.

"I hate him so much," Sanji muttered.

"Did you say something, Sanji?" Mod asked curiously, glancing at the chef and drinking a smoothie she gave to him. The crashing waves were quite loud so she couldn't be too sure.

Though, he really was an incredible chef. This tasted delicious!

"Nothing Mod-chan!" The chef swooned, resisting the urge to charge and reassure her due to his internal dilemma.

"Idiot," Zoro snorted. He heard the chef loud and clear and the blonde was just showing that he was a complete moron.

"What was that?" Sanji said warningly.

"You heard what I said," The swordsman mocked.

The two got up close and began glaring at the other, only to let out twin yelps of pain at the incredibly soft hands firmly gripping both of their cheeks.

"Now's not the time, you two," Mod admonished with a slight glare, flooring the two to their knees with her deceptively monstrous strength. "Fight each other after we make it into the Grand Line! You all need to be able to help!"

"We're sowwy," they groaned in pain.

How was she this strong and how did the simple action of getting their cheek gripped, hurt this damn much. Hands that soft should not hurt so much!

"WE'RE GETTING SUCKED IN!" Luffy gaped and the straw hats immediately went into a flurry of action.

"PULL UP THE SAILS! SANJI, USOPP, KEEP STEERING THE RUDDER!" Nami ordered.

"WE'RE GOING OFF COURSE! GO TO THE RIGHT! RIGHT!" Luffy barked.

"RIGHT? YOU MEAN STARBOARD? ALRIGHT!" Usopp nodded.

Together, he and Sanji pushed the rudder through the strong currents, only to get sent flying as the rudder broke.

Time froze as they felt their life flashing before their eyes with that simple action.

"THE RUDDER!" They screeched in horror.

"Oh dear that's not very good," Mod hummed. She was about to interfere and try to redirect the course of the ship but Luffy was already on the move.

"Gomu Gomu no Balloon!" He roared, getting in the way of the Going Merry and the wall that it was about to crash into. His face went blue at being squeezed at such a high pressure but he successfully redirected the ship back on course and set it straight.

Mod smiled as he latched back onto the ship and went to the broken rudder, picking it up and placing it back on its broken spot, before saying, "Modification: Repair," and fixing it.

"You are so much more useful than Rosan," Nami sobbed, hugging the woman for her life.

The Devil Fruit smiled and pat her back reassuringly. "I'm sure he wouldn't have let you all die! He just doesn't like to baby people and if he thinks you can handle it, he will let you. I'm a bit more of a worrywart and I like to stop it before it happens."

"A bit?" Rosan repeated and she flushed.

"I can't help it!" She whined. Years of being a mother to a redhead that caused her nothing but worry, did things to her! It was Rosan's fault for being so chaotic and making her prioritize their safety!

"Can we replace him with you?" Nami begged.

"As flattered as I am, I wouldn't want to swap positions with Rosan. I can't imagine how insufferable he'd be if he were Modification," the woman sighed forlornly. She was pleased that her presence was so well received by them all. It was always nice to be reaffirmed about how much people liked her.

"I've always wanted to do this," Rosan suddenly said.

Always wanted to do this? What was he talking about—

The woman blinked in confusion, before gasping at the sudden headache she received. "O-Ow! Rosan you—"

That little brat! Her head was pounding right now and she began nursing the spot it throbbed the most.

"Mod-chan, are you alright?" Sanji asked, watching the woman grab her head and steadying her with a concerned glance.

"Thank you Sanji... I'm fine, my wielder just thinks he's very funny," the purple haired woman grit out, sighing in relief at the feeling vanishing. "I'm going to be teaching him a lesson very soon about how he should treat his mother," she promised.

"You've done that to me more times than I can count. It's only fair I return the favor," Rosan countered.

"I didn't even do anything to warrant that! Everytime I do it to you, you deserve it," she growled.

"Sure you did."

"Would you mind telling me?"

"...No."

For someone so emotionless, he sure did manage to come off as smug all the time. No worries, Mod would be getting her hands on him once all was said and done!

The shock of the entire situation wore off, as the ship sailed steadily up the mountain and the crew beamed at the realization that they finally made it to the Grand Line!

"WOOHOO! WE MADE IT!" Luffy cheered ecstatically.

They all cheered at their accomplishment and began celebrating joyously as they sailed up the sea.

"Nami, I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji called suddenly.

Nami's high vanished as she blinked in confusion and looked back at him. "A mountain? That's not right, there should be open sea past the Twin Capes… Mod-chan, do you have a clue?"

The woman's eyes were narrowed and glowing, looking past the clouds and into the distance.

Nami was right, there wasn't supposed to be a mountain so something must have happened.

"Oh. That's not a mountain, I think that's an Island Whale... they're from the West Blue and are the largest whales in the world," Mod pointed out, gaze turning contemplative.

"IT'S A MONSTER!" Usopp shrieked. That was the largest whale he'd ever seen! It was huge!

"WHAT DO WE DO?!" Nami screamed in panic.

"I fixed the rudder and there's an opening to the left," Mod supplied helpfully and they rushed to move the ship.

The Devil Fruit blinked in confusion at Luffy running in a different direction, but that confusion turned into open mouthed disbelief, as the rubber boy fired off a cannon directly into the whale.

The force of the cannon shot was enough to halt the momentum of the Going Merry, but it had the added effect of breaking off the goat figurehead.

"Another thing you have to repair," Rosan spoke up, relaxing on the comfy sofa with Ram on top.

"Handy Woman," Ram chimed.

Mod was too shocked at how stupid her little rubber boy was to bite back a retort at the two most annoying people she knew.

Luckily, the whale didn't seem to notice them and they quickly steered the ship past it, hoping to get away without drawing its attention. All seemed to be going well and they held their breaths at making it directly to the whale's eyes that wasn't focused on them.

Unfortunately, they forgot just who their captain was.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SPECIAL SEAT?!" Luffy roared, cocking his arm back and launching it at the gigantic whale, punching it right in its eye.

"YOU IDIOT!" They all screeched in horror.

What happened next, could only be read in story books. The whale eyed the ship, opened its mouth and began sucking in everything from the water, to the fish, to the ship that had offended it.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"GWAHHHH!"

They all screamed in terror as the Going Merry was swallowed whole and the whale closed its mouth.

Luffy managed to avoid being swallowed and currently lay on top of the whale in horror.

"What do I do?! They all just got eaten," the rubber boy muttered to himself.

"I can't believe you got our crew eaten, Luffy," Mod admonished, floating right next to him and shaking her head in disapproval.

She immediately noticed what the whale was trying to do and had quickly summoned Ragnarok's draconic wings to fly away.

Unfortunately she hadn't been able to grab anyone in her haste to get out but there was no way she was getting swallowed by a whale before Rosan did.

The amount of fuel he'd have on her wasn't worth it...

"Modi! You're alive!" Luffy gasped before rounding on the whale again and violently punching the top of its heads. "GIVE ME THE REST OF MY FRIENDS BACK YOU STUPID WHALE!"

In response to his demands, the whale began to dive back in the water and left the rubber boy stumbling. Luffy realized what it was about to do and he renewed his attacks in desperation.

"DON'T GO UNDERWATER WITH MY FRIENDS, STUPID!" He roared, pounding harder and harder.

"Luffy, look," Mod said, pointing at a... door on the whale. "I think they might be in there and alive. Go save them please."

The rubber boy made a mad dash for the entrance and dove in without hesitation, just as the whale fully submerged itself.

Mod scratched her head at being the only one there and floated over to the Twin Capes.

"I don't understand," she muttered in confusion. "I was so much more helpful than Rosan, yet it still ended in disaster? Did I do something wrong?"

She wasn't understanding. It felt just like the days when she used to help Rosan as a child, but the redhead chose to do the craziest thing regardless.

"You expected something to go right when dealing with Luffy. That's what you did wrong," Rosan replied blandly.

"You can't control chaos, Auntie! You can only slightly influence it," Ram agreed sagely.

Seriously? Were they serious right now?

"I don't need you two to lecture me right now. That's the last thing I need actually. I'm already confused and I don't want you two to make it worse."

"Old age has taken its toll on you."

"Maybe we should put her in a retirement home…"

They were so dead.

---

"Ah so the whale has so much scars on its head because its slamming it against the Red Line," Rosan mused, nursing his head in his palms.

"I thought it was because it fought a whale with a sword," Ram mused, nursing her bright red cheek.

"That doesn't make any sense," Mod tried to join.

"That would have been much better," Rosan nodded, agreeing with his weapon.

"Wouldn't it?! I wanna fight a whale wielding a sword one day!"

"Why would you want to fight a whale with a sword?! How would it even begin wielding it?!"

"We're in the Grand Line so we might find one to fight one day, Ram. Do aquatic zoans even exist? How does that work...?"

"An aquatic zoan sounds insanely stupid! It's biggest advantage is just lost so I don't think it exists."

"You never know... I've never seen one personally but they might exist."

...

"Can you two please stop ignoring me?!" Mod whined pleadingly.

After disciplining them both, Rosan and Ram unanimously decided that the best course of action, was to ignore the Devil Fruit and they had done so for the entire duration of waiting for their crew to exit the whale.

It had been amusing to her at first, but she hadn't accounted how stubborn they were and they didn't acknowledge a single word she said.

It was driving her insane! They were the ones who bullied her and she was getting ignored for retaliating?!

"Do you hear something, Father?" Ram asked, puzzled.

Rosan tilted his head to the side at that question. "Are you alright, Ram? I don't hear anything," he replied.

"Must be the voices in my head that constantly tell me to kill everything," she shrugged.

The two were content to exclude Mod from their conversation for even longer, until they heard sniffing and all those thoughts were immediately thrown out of the window.

"F-Fine! I know when I'm not wanted," Mod stammered, bottom lip wobbling in defeat as tears sprung to her eyes. "I'll just go to my room and sleep if that's what you two want..."

Ram saw Mod wipe her eyes with the back of her hand and immediately folded, Rosan followed soon after.

"W-Wait, Auntie! We were just messing with you!" Ram placated desperately. She grabbed the teary eyed woman and engulfed her tightly into her bust. "We didn't mean to make you cry! We won't ignore you again!"

"Are you okay? Should I come in there to make sure you're good?" Rosan asked, getting ready to enter his mindscape.

"I-I'm fine! You don't have to come in here just to check on me!" Mod whimpered, hugging the silver haired woman and burying her face into the crook of the tall girl's neck.

"We'll spoil you for the next few days as apology. I'll even transform into my childish form and let you cuddle me," Rosan reassured and she nodded with a small, "Okay..."

Mod smiled brightly to herself at a job well done, still hugging the surprisingly comfortable body of Ram.

Those two were bullies but they still spoiled her rotten and she knew just how to get what she wanted from them. A little bit of tears here and a whimper there and they always apologized.

They deserved it for ignoring her for so long! She would gladly take her reward, thank you!

They spent some time spoiling the oldest inhabitant of their body before noticing that the whale stopped crashing its head into the Red Line.

"I guess it got tired," Rosan hummed.

"Maybe it's settling down so that it can fully digest our crew."

"How morbid! Luffy's Save Point is still pulsing strongly so they should all be fine. You won't move to them?"

"No thanks. I'd rather not go inside of a whale. It must smell terrible and my nose is sensitive."

Mod sweatdropped but didn't say anything else. She had also opted to not go inside the whale after all.

After some time, their attention was grabbed by the sleeping whales… sides opening? What type of whale was this? Was it like one of Rosan's modifications? But his creations were just as weak to being submerged as he was and they sunk immediately...

The Going Merry rowed out and Rosan watched them from his spot on the cape. There were unknown people there so he wouldn't make his way to them yet.

Well, that was until Luffy ripped of the mast of their ship and began fighting the island whale.

"It hasn't even been a day yet and 3 parts of the ship have been broken," Mod groaned.

It was a good thing Rosan didn't plan on this ship being their permanent one. He'd find a way to upgrade as soon as possible because this tiny caravel would be torn apart by the Grand Line.

"I feel like I missed some information while they were gone," Rosan hummed. The redhead chose this moment to jump away because his brother was bringing the action right to him.

Transforming his hidden armband discreetly, he utilized his raid boots and hovered over to his crew saying, "What did I miss?" once he landed.

"Oh, Rosan, you're back," Sanji said, sounding disappointed.

"Mod-chan is gone already?" Nami sighed sadly.

"What a warm welcome," Rosan replied, not even blinking. He could see how Mod-chan was more popular than him. She was much more willing to help and kind as well.

He hadn't been kidding, if the purple haired woman had a real body, she'd have a plethora of suitors. Her personality and appearance, would make her very desired and it would make him very murderous.

"S-Stop!" Mod flushed. "Why do you guys do this so often?!"

"Cuz you're hot, hottie!" Ram chimed.

"Someone has to appreciate your beauty," Rosan nodded.

"Ugh, you two never stop giving me headaches!" Mod complained with a smile on her red face. They were honestly so annoying sometimes.

Nami sped him up on the details, as Luffy made a heartfelt declaration to the whale and got it to stop crashing its head in the wall by painting a horrible insignia of their jolly roger on it.

The whale, Laboon, met a pirate crew a long time ago and attached to them as a baby, becoming the whale's family for a long time.

Unfortunately, they needed to continue their journey through the Grand Line and they refused to bring the whale with them, claiming that he'd be in danger if he tried following them through the dangerous sea.

So they made him wait. They promised the whale that they'd come back for him and left him at the Twin Capes with the old man, Crocus.

But that had been 50 years ago and they never showed up even once. Laboon was convinced that they were on the other side of the Red Line and repeatedly crashed his head into it, in hopes of meeting the pirates again.

Rosan simply tilted his head at the story. "Normally I'd call someone waiting 50 years stupid but I guess I can't blame a baby animal for believing in them."

"You don't feel bad for him?" Usopp asked in shock.

"No. You shouldn't rely on a person to fulfill their end of the bargain. It's always better to take action yourself," Rosan answered. It was exactly what he had done on Daybreak. His overreliance on Robin, when she didn't deserve such expectations placed on her, is what broke him in the first place. If he had been more self reliant in the first place, he'd have crafted a plan to get out of there long before 6 months.

It wasn't worth relying on someone else so one-sidedly...

"R-Right... I can see that..." The liar nodded hesitantly at the redhead's logic. It sounded like he had quite a bit of trust issues...

The redhead grabbed the broken off mast of their ship and placed it in its original location, until it looked exactly as it did, before saying "Repair," and patching it up like it had been glued back on.

He did the same thing with the figurehead of Merry and stepped back after finishing his job.

"So useful," Usopp's eyes glinted in fascination.

"Why would he rip off the mast to our ship… Does Luffy ever think about his actions?" Rosan muttered.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Everyone paused at that screech of horror and the crew looked over at their navigator who released the noise of distress.

She showed them all her compass and they saw that it was spinning rapidly. Having a broken compass on the open sea was a recipe for disaster and if they didn't get one fixed, they'd probably die.

"Oh, I didn't get the chance to explain that to them…" Mod muttered. It didn't seem like she'd have to take over to explain because the old doctor, Crocus, took it upon himself to do so.

They (everyone but Luffy) listened to his explanation with undivided attention.

The Grand Line was filled with abnormal magnetic fields due to how rich in minerals all their islands were. As a result, normal compasses didn't work and would just spin in every direction as long as you remained in the bizarre sea.

To make matters worse, the sea and winds of the Grand Line had no clear pattern, being extremely random. If you tried to sail the ocean blind and with no direction, you'd almost certainly die.

"You speak with experience. How much of the Grand Line have you explored?" Rosan asked the old man curiously.

He smirked gruffly. "A whole lot of it. I've seen it all."

Seen it all... surely he wasn't implying. The redhead gazed at him with a tilted head.

"You were a pirate?" He asked curiously.

"I was the doctor for about three years," Crocus confirmed, idly tapping his single crutch on the floor.

The redhead simply nodded before focusing back on the issue at hand.

Mod had taught him and Robin about the Grand Line's nature when they had been sailing to the North Blue. It was one of the main reasons they hadn't been allowed in the dangerous sea They were both skilled, but neither were very well versed in Navigation and only learned it to a level that would help them survive in the Blue Seas.

If the two had stayed together and decided to go there, they'd have had to recruit a competent Navigator (something neither wanted to do) and secure an item called a "Log Pose."

It was a special compass that recorded magnetic fields and the best way to sail the Grand Line. It was practically your lifeline and if you didn't have one, your days were numbered.

"A weird compass? You mean like this?" Luffy asked, through a mouthful of food. He showed Crocus a literal Log Pose and the man nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, just like that. Without a Log Pose, you can't sail the Grand Line," the doctor told them.

Nami was nodding along with his words. "I see… but wait a second…"

The Navigator rounded on Luffy and punched him right in the cheek, flooring him.

"WHERE'D YOU EVEN GET THAT?!" She roared.

"Those two weirdos dropped it!" Luffy explained bluntly, patting his belly in relief.

After some talks about Raftel (Rosan knew it), their captain declared that it was time to set sail and brought all of their attention to the elephant trunk tuna that Sanji so graciously prepared for them, or lack thereof.

"Wait… YOU ATE ALL OF IT BY YOURSELF?!" Sanji roared. H-He wanted Nami and Rosan to try that! This stupid rubber idiot! Why did he have to be so selfish!

The chef delivered a vicious kick to Luffy's stomach that sent him flying past a Nami who had just finished attaching the Log Pose to her wrist. This of course meant that it broke from the sheer speed Luffy flew past her and the navigator's eyes went blank in shock.

Without any hesitation, Nami punted the two into the ocean with a look of rage on her features.

"They deserved that," Rosan muttered with a sigh. If Nami didn't do it, he would and his idea of punishment was much more severe.

"Hasn't Maro been to the Grand Line on Government business before? She may have some for you," Mod sighed tiredly.

She had hadn't she... about two years ago. He would have to check with her, else they're journey might be on delay for a while.

"Don't worry, you guys can have mine as thanks for helping Laboon," Crocus smiled slightly.

"Oh, thank goodness," Nami sighed in relief, accepting it gratefully.

Ah, never mind. He didn't have to go ask Maro then. Good, that girl loved to brag about the simplest of things and then threw a tantrum when Rosan's wordplay proved too much for her.

"She never lacks in confidence," Mod mused fondly.

Rosan used to always tell her never to doubt herself because he knew what she was capable of and it was good enough to be confident. The queen had taken those words to heart and did everything with utmost faith in herself and it proved to help her out more often then not.

Sanji burst out of the water with a swirly eyed Luffy, both gulping deep breaths of air.

Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 burst out of the water, both gulping deep breaths of air.

The 4 looked at each other with confusion on their features.

"Huh?!" They all repeated.

"Hey, we have a request," Mr. 9 said to the back of a Sanji who had only helped up Miss Wednesday.

---

"You guys agreed to escort them to Whiskey Peak?" Rosan asked, raising a brow and staring down their two new passengers. They tried to appear brave, but he could see the slightest tremors in their body at his empty gaze.

Nami punched him softly on the shoulder and he finally took his gaze off them, getting a sigh of relief out of the two victims.

What an unnerving gaze…

"Don't bully them too much. They promised us a reward," she said knowingly.

"Oh? Then I have no complaints," the redhead nodded, giving their navigator a high five at a job well done.

She grinned smugly and the two began discussing in detail what they could extort from the agents.

"They're so greedy," Usopp and Zoro muttered at the same time, watching the two interact with sweatdrops.

Rosan idly tapped Nami while they were talking and she withheld a shriek at the sudden, "I'll keep an eye on them," that reverberated through her head.

"Don't speak aloud. This is my link technique and allows us to speak to each other without verbally saying anything."

Nami nodded minutely.

Useless would never be a word she could describe Rosan as.

"Good, I was going to keep an eye on them too. I don't trust them for even a second," Nami said. It was a good thing someone else was rightfully wary of them. Sanji was already smitten with the girl, Zoro didn't seem keen on doing anything about it, Usopp was a coward and Luffy was too stupid to think of their ulterior motives.

"That's why I'm discussing this with you. You're crafty enough to not make our intentions clear. If Whiskey Peak is their base, we can use that as an opportunity to take anything of value when they inevitably betray us."

Nami grinned at that. "Sounds good to me! I'll focus on stealing the valuables and giving you anything useful. You do whatever you do and keep me from dying!"

"Right."

With that they ended their conversation and he let her walk off.

Nami was a person familiar with the darkness of the world. After revealing some of their past to each other on the way to Arlong Park, the scout and the navigator reached a much deeper level of understanding with each other and it strengthened their bond to that of siblings who annoyed each other.

Rosan knew Nami could handle some of the darker aspects of his personality so she'd be able to handle what he was telling her and he… trusted her. She deserved it.

He cut their connection and the entire crew boarded the ship before saying their farewells to the lighthouse keeper and the whale.

"I wonder if they're the ones we're waiting for eh, Roger? That kid has such a mysterious air about him, not to mention the straw hat," Crocus mused, leaning on his good leg. He was almost positive that the rubber boy's straw hat was the same one that Roger had given to that squirt Shanks.

Not to mention that redhead. He was sure the one who he barely saw knew he was apart of Roger's crew.

There was something about him... a familiar air that reminded him of a lone pirate that took his leg around 24 years ago while passing through the Twin Capes to exit the Grand Line.

That man... seemingly polite at first but with a savage air that turned lethal once he somehow connected the dots to who's crew he sailed with. The only reason he wasn't killed was because the man said, "You weren't at that incident so I'll make do with your leg."

That redhead, while nearly nonexistent, had a very similar aura as him. The wild aura of a person who loved nothing more then the thrill of battle.

He must have been a real problem before getting traumatized. At least it seems like he didn't hold a similar vendetta against Roger.

What an interesting crew! He was looking forward to hearing about their exploits.

---

Zoro's three blades collided with the swing of a sword that was similar in design to Mihawk's own and he panted in strain at the power behind the blow, before using the attacker's strength against them and suddenly letting up the pressure.

"Tiger Trap!" He called, swinging all three blades down to hit his target.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to capitalize on it like against Hachi because his opponent already anticipated that.

The assailant leaned back the perfect distance to avoid the swords, before swiftly diving back into his guard.

The flat of the blade crashed into his gut and sent him flying before he recovered with vicious coughs, clenching the sword in between his mouth tightly.

He wasn't able to recover his breath due to the flash of red making his way over at incredible speeds and he gripped all three swords to begin spinning in a circle.

"Dragon Twister!" he barked, conjuring a massive gust of cutting winds and successfully stopping the figure from finishing their charge, lest they get caught in the winds.

He should have known that it wouldn't be enough to stop the man's onslaught.

"Clemency."

Zoro was not expecting the wave of energy and wind from the giant sword that tore the ground beneath it and crashed into him with crushing force, sending him flying until he rolled to a stop.

The swordsman hacked up and tried to regain the air that was knocked out of him.

"Let's call it here," Rosan said, transforming his giant sword back into its trusty ring. "Are you alright? I dialed the power down behind that attack by a good amount but it should have still done damage."

Zoro groaned and accepted the offered hand, pulling himself back up. "It only hurts that bad because of how long we've been going for."

The two had taken to training with each other because of Ram and Zoro quickly learned some things about the redhead.

For one, he genuinely was as ruthless as he claimed to be. He never gave Zoro much time to rest and battered him with all manner of weapons, never letting him get well adjusted to one and only giving him enough of a break to drink water and catch his breath.

Two, the redhead had a dizzying amount of stamina. They had been training for hours now since the morning had started and Zoro was exhausted from the sheer physical workout he was put through.

Their scout seemed like he was more then ready for more but he said that was enough training for today.

Three, he gave great advice. It was obvious that Ram had been able to instruct him so well against Hachi because of the redhead. To be honest, the silver haired woman was the kind to tell him to smash things into pieces with no thought processes.

Already, Zoro could feel himself growing stronger and he grinned despite the pain he was in.

"Once we get a doctor, I'll be able to push you even more," Rosan muttered, repairing the swordsman's clothing. "We made good progress today. I've learned your strengths and weaknesses so I know what to pinpoint next time. Let's go back to the ship."

They were currently in the castle of the redhead's Pocket Dimension in his custom created training grounds and the two had been here since waking up quite early.

Rosan figured the perfect time to train was while traveling between islands and Zoro agreed with that notion so when either were on watch duty, the redhead would leave a bird behind and they'd be off.

"Right, I need to get something to eat then take a nap," the swordsman grunted, grabbing the redhead's shoulder and closing his eyes as they both vanished.

He idly shivered at the massive drop in temperature as they appeared on the Going Merry.

Even after working up such a sweat, it was still cold as hell... Wasn't it hot just this morning?

"I like your snowman, Luffy," Rosan greeted, idly stretching parts of his body and looking unbothered by the drop in temperature.

"It's not bad," the swordsman nodded, cracking his back and groaning in relief as the slight pressure abated.

"If you want, I could give you a massage," the redhead offered. "Helps release tension in the muscles and I've gotten pretty good at them."

Zoro thought about it before shrugging. "You're the expert. If it helps me grow stronger faster, I won't say no and caring for the body is more important then training it."

Rosan nodded in approval as he and Zoro both began walking towards the kitchen to grab something to eat, conversing about the next session and what they would focus on.

"Hi Rosan, Zoro!" Luffy beamed. "You guys were training? Lemme join next time!"

"Sure," they agreed.

"What about my snowman?" Usopp preened, showing off his artistically sculpted Snow Queen. It was much better than Luffy's so he was sure to get even more praise —

Zoro closed the door behind him and the training duo vanished to get some food.

Usopp's eyes bugged at being completely ignored by the two. "A-AT LEAST LOOK AT IT!"

"Oh! Nice snowman! Snowman punch!" Luffy said, punching the head off of the snowman Usopp crafted.

The sniper blinked in confusion before he registered what happened and an all out snowball brawl ensued between the two after he let out a yell of outrage.

"How are they able to move so effortlessly in the cold?" Nami muttered with a slight shiver under her blanket.

"Youthful energy," Rosan commented, glancing at their two passengers for a moment. "Did Luffy eat everything?" He asked their navigator.

"Shit, I forgot about that possibility," Zoro muttered. That damn Luffy always eating others food.

Surprisingly, Nami shook her head no. "Sanji put a lock on the fridge to stop him from stealing you two's portion. I'll get the key for it."

"No need, I'm used to breaking into things. I can do it," Rosan replied, getting a sweatdrop out of all of them.

"Why can't you just use the key?" Nami asked slowly.

"This seems more annoying," Rosan replied.

"More annoying? Let's do it then," Zoro grinned. Anything to get on that lovey dovey chef's nerves.

The three watched the duo vanish into the kitchen with dumbfounded gazes.

"There's something wrong with him. I swear," Nami moaned to herself.

It didn't take Rosan long at all to get the fridge open and the two grabbed their separate plates, taking turns reheating it and eating in peace.

"Something's been bothering me," Zoro suddenly said. "It's about those two passengers. Their names ring a bell but I can't remember where."

"Oh? It's likely nothing good, right?" Rosan asked, getting a nod out of the swordsman. "Stay on your guard then. Nami and I are already aware that they may be up to something and I see no problem including you."

"You don't gotta tell me twice," Zoro nodded. It was good that he wasn't the only one wary of them.

Just where did he hear their names… It was hard to think deeper about it, with all the chaos going on outside.

Wait. Chaos?

"Eh? What's all the noise?" The swordsman muttered, glancing up from his plate of food. There was a lot of screaming right now and a lot of movement... and a lot of screaming.

"I don't know but I'm not checking until I finish my food," the redhead replied. He took another bite to prove his point and Zoro snorted.

"ROSAN, COME HELP US!" Nami's voice roared in the distance, making the scout pause.

"Did… Did she hear me?" He asked himself. "Why didn't she call you?"

"Dunno, but I'll be enjoying my food since you're on the case," Zoro snickered.

"Tch." The redhead placed his fork down and stood up to head out there.

Their Navigator might actually be a witch.

When he made his way outside, watching the ship sail towards an iceberg, was really not what he was expecting.

"You guys seem like you're having fun," he commented idly.

"DO SOMETHING! YOU ARE NOT STAYING OUT OF IT THIS TIME!" Nami screeched and he rubbed his ear.

"When someone tells me what to do, I get the urge to not do it," he said, standing on the railing and staring at the looming iceberg approaching.

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOUR A BRAT!" The navigator roared.

The redhead ignored her. Turning Ram into a set of gloves, he aimed both his hands at the ship and began accumulating the necessary energy. It was massive at first before quickly condensing into something smaller, particles flying in at every direction and fusing with the tiny ball of red energy.

"W-WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Usopp screamed, watching the Merry get closer to the massive pillar of ice. They might be able to just barely scrape by it but they'd take damage in the process—

"Exoneration."

Everyone paused in stunned silence as the once tiny red ball, flew off and turned into something enormous, crashing and consuming the iceberg that was the same size as it.

Their jaws dropped to the deck as Merry was allowed to safely sail through the suddenly open area. There was nothing left of the icy pillar that was going to send them to an early grave and they felt their eyes bug.

"You interrupted my meal for that," Rosan said softly, drawing all eyes to the one who had done it.

He was utterly unbothered by the rapid shifts in weather and glanced at a tear in the sail, floating up with his raid boots and getting closer to it so he could seal it shut.

He landed on the floor without a sound and glanced at the shell shocked members. "Why are you all staring at me? Get back to work. Don't expect me to do everything for you and I'm still hungry."

"Monster," they all thought at the same time, getting back into the swing of things far slower then they would have liked.

It took a lot of effort, but they managed to weather the bizarre weather of the Grand Line and soon, everyone, sans Rosan and Zoro were lying on the floor in defeat.

"What an interesting ocean," Rosan said, glancing at the perfect weather with a tilted head and an empty plate of food. "You weren't kidding huh, Mod-chan?"

"Nope. One second there's peace. The next, utter chaos. The Grand Line has its own set of rules that you have to be aware of or else you'll be consumed by its nature," Mod said, smiling all the while.

"That's so exciting!" Ram cheered. "I love this place already!"

"It does sound quite interesting. I'm looking forward to sailing this sea more."

"We should be arriving to the island soon," Rosan commented to the sleeping members.

"This place… my navigation skills are totally useless here," Nami said determinedly. She had a solid idea of how dangerous the Grand Line was now. There was no way she'd allow herself to get so caught off guard again and next time, they'd deal with this way better.

"Will you really be okay?" Usopp asked, sounding unsure.

"Of course! Look, the first leg of our journey is over!" She smiled.

They all picked themselves up at her words and looked over the railing, seeing that she was right, there was an island in the distance and they were fast approaching.

"Oh! I see it! The island is right there!" Luffy cheered excitedly.

"An island of cactus?" Sanji muttered. That was strange but apparently this was probably the norm for the Grand Line.

The mostly silent agents (they were left staring at Rosan the entire time) took that time to bid them farewell in... whatever way they wished.

"We'll be taking our leave now!" Mr. 9 said. Both he and Miss Wednesday had jumped onto the railing and we're now regarding the Straw Hats with cocky smiles.

"Thanks for the ride, darlings!" Miss Wednesday smirked. "Maybe fate will allow us to cross paths again!"

"Bye-bye, baby!"

With that, they leapt back into the ocean and began… swimming to the island.

"Idiots," Rosan said, tempted to blast them but dropping it.

Everyone shrugged and dropped it. After some discussion (dominated by Usopp not wanting to step onto the island in case of monsters and Nami reminding them that the log pose needed to reset for them to sail off the next island), the crew set sail into Whiskey Peak.

It was mostly silent in anticipation and they couldn't see very well due to the dense fog but that didn't stop Rosan from gazing around with glowing eyes.

"We're being watched," Rosan commented idly.

"Yeah, I hear people talking," Luffy said.

Everyone tensed up as they heard that. They prepared for the possibility of attack and began warily glancing around.

Silhouettes of people began appearing in their vision and their tension was replaced by confusion, as the group of pirates gasped in surprise due to hearing cheering of all things!

"PIRATES ARE HERE!"

"THE HEROES OF THE SEA!"

"WELCOME TO THE TOWN OF CELEBRATION, WHISKEY PEAK!"

"T-They're cheering for us?" Usopp muttered in confusion, pumping up a bit due to the noises of adoration.

"Woah!" Luffy awed.

"Bullshit?" Ram asked. She wasn't buying this at all.

"Bullshit," Rosan confirmed. Unless it was a Yonko's territory, there was no way pirates would be celebrated. Either they were trying to save themselves from their potential wrath, or there was something else going on.

"Ram! Don't make Rosan curse too!" Mod scolded, crossing her arms and glaring at the taller woman.

"B-But when Father curses on his own, you never have anything to say!" the silver haired woman retorted with a look of disbelief.

"Rosan is an adult! He's allowed to curse!"

"WHAT?! I'M AN ADULT TOO!"

"You are the youngest here, young lady! You may physically be 24 but you aren't fooling anyone!"

Ram spluttered at the bullshit being spat out by her Auntie. What type of nonsense was this?! Why was she being discriminated by her own aunt?!

"Y-You just want to treat someone like a kid!"

"And?! If I want to treat you like a child, then I will! You deserve it with your personality and if we want to get technical, you're TWELVE!"

"T-TWELVE?! Why you... little shorty!"

"W-What did you just call me?!"

Rosan listened to them argue back and forth, while the mayor, Igarappoi, told them about their island and how they loved pirates.

As expected, Luffy, Sanji and Usopp were totally fooled, while Nami, Zoro and himself pretended to be.

The mayor offered to throw them a party, which was readily accepted by the three idiots and they merrily marched away.

Rosan expected this much out of Luffy. Offer his brother food and he'd think you were his best friend but he didn't expect Usopp and Sanji to be as stupid...

Actually, scratch that. Usopp was just as gullible as his brother and if a woman so much as smiled at Sanji, he was a goner too.

What a hopeless crew sometimes...

An arm wrapped around his own and a woman flashed him a flirtatious smile as she urged him to follow the festivity, rubbing on his arm all the while and squeezing his bicep with a pleased noise. She dragged him towards a larger group of waving woman and the redhead closed his eyes at hearing Nami giggle.

"Have fun, Rosan!" She commented, walking off on her own and laughing at him all the while.

He withheld a sigh as the current argument between Mod and Ram immediately stopped in favor of what was happening in the real world.

"WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN?! RUN ROSAN!"

"BECAUSE HE'S HOT, AUNTIE! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO — O-OW! YOU CAN'T SIWENCE THE TWUTH!"

He didn't get paid enough for this.

---

"Here try this, darling~."

Rosan smiled as he accepted the offered fork from one of the woman feeding him and they squealed at the sight of his lip curving upward slightly.

"It's good, can I have some more?" He praised, blinking innocently at them as he tilted his head.

"So handsome!" They gushed, hugging his sides and getting a slight blush out of the redhead, causing them to coo even more. Without any hesitation, they clambered up to feed him from all angles and— was that even more people surrounding him?

"You might actually be a sociopath," Mod laughed, watching him make the girls eat out of his palm with his actions.

"Akemi gave me a lot of tips on how to abuse my appearance despite my lack of emotions. She's very good at her job."

He also took a page out of Demon's book since it seemed to work so well for his pretty younger brother. It never ceased to amaze him just how popular Demon was in Celadon. He was almost positive that some people got injured just to see the head of the hospital.

His little brother looked far more gentle than him but it still seemed to work out exceedingly well.

That was good.

The party was well underway and it had prolonged far into the night until the moon hung high and the wind turned chilly. There were various activities going on and they made sure not a single member of the Straw Hats were left unattended to.

His crew was really getting into the swing of things right now and he could hear Usopp loudly boasting about he had saved them all from the Calm Belt.

That got a snarl of irritation out of Ram.

Even Zoro and Nami seemed to fall victim to a drinking competition that offered 100,000 beri as a prize.

The less said about the three idiots, the better. At least this might make Sanji stop being so envious of him for a while. The chef seemed to think this was a competition and had much more girls surrounding him, which was saying something because Rosan had a lot of people around him currently.

If not for the act he was putting up, he would have long ago put distance between them because they were downright suffocating.

He made a show of downing yet another cup of the special grape beverage that they so graciously offered and the woman cheered, feeding him again.

Rosan basically got an idea of what they planned on doing from the moment he saw how hard the celebrations were going. It was suspicious that they'd spend so much money and resources on one random group of pirates but they were probably betting on cashing in Luffy's 35 million bounty to sustain themselves for a while.

He imagined this is what they did with every group. Spend money on them and get that money back by sending in their bounties.

How wasteful. Maro just beat down any pirate that showed up on Celadon and cashed in their bounties, while keeping her own money. He was glad his student didn't do stupid things like this because he taught her better.

Despite claiming there was no alcohol in their drinks, Rosan's body had immediately identified and purged its influence when taking a sip of the grape wine, alerting him to the fact that everyone else probably had spiked drinks as well.

They were probably waiting for them all to fall asleep then…

It seemed like they especially wanted him asleep, considering how much of his things were spiked. Those two agents they escorted must have told them about his exploits involving the iceberg...

Usopp, Sanji and Luffy were unconscious and Zoro and Nami soon followed suit, leaving just him awake. The woman surrounding him were urging him to drink more and so he acquiesced, downing a cup in one go and falling backwards into the lap of one of them.

"I've had enough... I'm hick going to shleep now," Rosan slurred, modifying his cheeks to make it look as if he were flushed and changing the way he spoke to make it appear as if he were drunk.

In a matter of minutes, he gave off the image of sleeping and he felt his head get placed on the cool floor. Everyone that had been in the room began vacating it, leaving just his crew and when he was sure everyone had left, the redhead pushed himself up, red dust gone and neutral expression back into place.

"Alright," he muttered, placing his released hair back into its bun. "Let's get started."

Nami stretched and regarded Rosan and Zoro curiously. "You're pretty scary, Rosan. You actually managed to fool me into thinking you had emotions."

"Yeah, smiling and blushing like you were genuinely enjoying yourself," Zoro smirked.

"My strengths lie in assassination, infiltration and scouting but I am well adept in other forms of espionage as well," Rosan muttered. He often spied on people to get beneficial but he rarely pretended to be someone else. He was still adept in it however and Modification only made it easier.

They shuddered at how casually he stated that. Using those birds to spy on his foes and then Modification to sweep in undetected... the redhead was the perfect assassin/spy.

"Nami you can go steal anything of value. Zoro you can attack them with me. They are likely planning on capturing us and cashing out on Luffy's bounty."

"Should we wake them up?" Nami asked, glancing at the three morons.

"Nah, let them sleep," Zoro grunted.

"Ram will be happy. Her bloodlust has been rising and Mod-chan has her all riled up," Rosan commented, transforming his weapon into the double bladed sword he fought Mihawk with.

Nami shuddered at the violent looking weapon and shook her head in pity. There was no way she was watching her scout fight with that weapon.

"That reminds me," Zoro suddenly said. "I remember who these guys are now… They're an organization called Baroque Works."

Rosan and Nami listened to Zoro's explanation of them with curious expressions.

Baroque Works was a criminal syndicate of bounty hunters who were so secretive, they didn't even know each other's identities. Nobody knew who the boss was but they all swore loyalty to him and faithfully carried out any missions given to them.

"They tried to recruit me once but I refused," Zoro informed them. He had gotten in a fight with someone named Mr. 7 long ago. The man tried to recruit him and Zoro said, he'd join if they made him the leader, then he killed the man after he turned aggressive from his refusal.

"Just a bunch of no name criminals, hm?" Rosan hummed. He wouldn't feel bad about slaughtering them then.

"As if you'd feel bad regardless," Mod laughed.

The redhead shrugged. Some of them could have been useful for Maro but now he doubted it.

Plan set, the group set off to do their own thing.

Nami grinned cheekily at the two and did a coy wave. "Have fun you two~," she sang before rushing off to go take any and all valuables.

"There's about 100 bounty hunters out there," Rosan informed him.

Zoro grinned savagely. "Split it 50/50?"

"Sounds good to me."

With that, the two marched out of the building.

"Yo, Baroque Works," Zoro waved, grinning at their shocked expressions.

"But how are you two awake?!" Mr. 8 gaped, glancing nervously between both the green and red haired man.

Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 made sure to stress the importance of making sure the red headed male had no chance of waking up so they spiked everything they gave him.

The two agents fearfully explained how he had destroyed an iceberg in one attack and to avoid fighting him at all costs.

Now, that same threat was staring at them all with a lazy gaze and a tilted head. There was no sign of sleepiness, no sign of drunkenness, no smile, no blush...

Did he trick them? How... even if he did... they spiked all of the things he consumed. How was he even moving?!

The entity before them took a step forward and straightened his head out. "Using my brother's good will against him... It's my duty to make sure he isn't taken advantage of…" Rosan started off, eyes glowing dimly.

"...So I'll have to teach you all a lesson in good manners. Don't worry, you did feed us after all so I won't kill you… Maybe."

"They know our secret. We can't let them live," Mr. 9 said, getting ready for battle.

Miss Monday cracked her knuckles and glared at the duo. This is what she wanted to do in the first place so this worked out well for her.

"Kill me?" Rosan asked inches away from them.

The "mayor" jumped at the sudden proximity between the two (how did he close the distance so fast) and tried to back away to no avail.

"The list of people who want me dead, is far more then you could ever imagine but I'm still here, alive. What do you possibly think you can do to me?"

Mr. 8's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he spat out a glob of blood as one part double bladed sword slashed into him, drawing a deep wound and making him collapse on the unforgiving floor.

"I have some questions for you since you're probably the highest rank here, Mr. Mayor. Rest until I make it back to you."

"MR. 8!" Miss Wednesday screeched in horror, tears welling in her eyes at the injury and resisting the urge to rush the agent due to the redhead looming over him.

Rosan didn't miss the palpable worry radiating off of her and froze her in spot with a piercing gaze.

Didn't Zoro say they weren't even aware of each other's names? Why was this one reacting so strongly to the other agent getting attacked? They shouldn't be loyal to each other at all.

Fine, he would leave that one alive too for information. It required later investigation but for now…

"1 down, 49 to go. Try and keep up, Zoro," Rosan taunted softly. "If I have to take out some of your half, our next training will involve dealing with multiple enemies from all angles and you won't be using that twister of yours."

The green haired man simply snorted and clutched one of his swords. "As if I'll need you to finish these guys off. Even 100 of them is nothing to me," Zoro smirked with a dangerous air.

"I don't think you need me, I just think I'll finish way too fast and get bored enough to interfere," Rosan shrugged.

---

One second, the redhead was standing over the fallen Mr. 8, the next he was mowing his way through the bounty hunters.

Everyone turned cold at the sight of him vanishing again and they began glancing around wildly.

"W-Where'd he go?!" A voice of one of the bounty hunters said before he went still at suddenly feeling something dangerous behind him.

"I'm right here, 2."

The bounty hunter was about to whirl around to confront their enemy, but a squelching noise forced him to shakily look down instead.

A silver blade, courtesy of the redhead standing behind him, protruded from his gut and pointed straight ahead. The pierced man tried to speak, but coughed up spit and blood instead.

Rosan unceremoniously ripped the blade out, kicked the man away and began idly spinning the double blade sword like it were a baton.

"S-SHOOT!" A voice roared.

At once, 10 of the bounty hunters began shooting at the redhead with their respective firearms to very little effect.

Rosan watched them all with a bored gaze as each bullet bounced off of his outfit, much to the terror of his enemies and he looked over at the one who ordered them to shoot.

They desperately continued to fire at him, as he walked through the hail of bullets, spinning Ram all the while, and he eventually stood right in front of the one who had ordered them to shoot.

The agent stopped shooting and began trembling in a primal sort of terror, as the demon's gaze bored into his own and he gently grabbed the gun out of his sweaty hand.

"You still haven't realized? I'm targeting whoever makes noise," Rosan supplied helpfully, inspecting the gun in his hand.

To his horror, it disintegrated in the redheads palm and Rosan focused on him again.

"W-Wait, please! I give up!" The agent pleaded, tears welling in his eyes as certain death loomed over him.

"You give up?" Rosan asked softly, tilting his head to the side with a merciless gaze.

The other agents were still shooting at him and it was a wonder that they kept going. Did they think his Raid Suit was going to suddenly disappear.

Maybe this would make them stop.

"If you've given up, then you've lost the right to protest what I do to you."

Rosan grabbed the person he had cornered around their neck, and hoisted them up before turning around.

The effects were instantaneous. Every bullet meant for him, slammed into the screamings agent's vulnerable body and he shook from every impact.

"Oh? You guys haven't stopped shooting yet?" Rosan mused, discarding the lifeless, hole filled, body to the side. "Right. I understand all I need to know now."

The scout took a step forward, before he blurred again much to the agents panic.

He cleaved through three shooters with one slice of his blade and thought, "6," to himself.

"You guys aren't worth keeping alive. Only the 4 with names are relevant to me," he resolved.

With that, the performance truly began.

Rosan grabbed the head of an unsuspecting enemy and threw them into another, making them both collapse on the floor. Before they could push themselves up, the redhead slammed a foot on their lower backs and ran his blade through their spines, making them scream in agony, before the two went limp.

"8."

"More!" Ram grinned psychotically.

He ripped the bloody Ram out of their body and began spinning her again, turning on his heel and rocketing off to his next target.

This one wielded a cutlass and tried to desperately guard against the confusing attack but it was too hard for someone of his level. Rosan continued spinning his weapon and crashed it into the cutlass.

The weapon shattered immediately and due to the constant spinning, the man was not spared either, screaming as each blade tore into him.

He jumped up to avoid a swipe for his back, and landed right next to the offender. Tensing up his leg, he brutally smashed it into their gut and the grunt went flying into a group of people charging him, bowling them all over.

"Clemency."

Rosan cocked Ram back and smashed it forward twice (using both blades to deliver one), sending two shock waves of wind and energy towards the pile.

They didn't even get to scream as their bodies were pulverized from the crushing attack.

"17."

Not stopping for a moment, he took too the skies and aimed at the ones looking up in an archer stance. His flexible weapon began forming multiple arrows of red energy, as his gaze locked onto as much people as possible, calculations running through his mind at incredible speeds about the best course of action.

Finally, he fired.

"Condemn."

Almost like he were wielding a machine gun instead of a blade being used as a bow, the redhead shot salvo after salvo of red beams in the shape of arrows at every person he glanced at.

They never stood a chance. They tried to run after the first arrow pierced through someone with enough force to completely cave their chest but they never got far.

Bodies upon bodies were riddled with holes far bigger then the arrows he shot at them and he stared dispassionately as they screeched for mercy for only a split second.

"49."

Rosan landed quietly on the floor and felt a tiny knife fail to pierce his body.

He glanced back to see who had caused it and raised a brow.

The little child yelped and tears began welling in his eyes at that lifeless gaze pinning him in place, utterly unmoved by his slaughter. He tried to look for a place to run but saw no exit.

The scout didn't even take a step forward before a nun showed up and covered the boy's body with her own. "P-Please lord have mercy," she stammered, clutching the tear filled childe that tried to stab him.

She hugged the boy close to her frame and began to pray for them both.

Rosan simply watched with a tilted head as she pleaded for their lives, expression not shifting even once.

The nun smirked at the opening and revealed that the cross around her neck was in fact a weapon. She aimed it at the redhead and said, "Merciful Lord Blinding Powder —"

A gloved hand palmed her face and the eyes of the Devil themselves began boring into her. Any confidence she felt, evaporated at those terrifying eyes that wanted nothing more then to consume her happiness.

"What made you think that your Kami had any say on if you live here or not? Your life doesn't belong to them anymore. It belongs to me," he whispered coldly, squeezing her face tighter and tighter.

The woman squealed at the feeling of his hand closing around her skull. "I-I'm sorry! Please stop! I won't do it again so please stop!"

Rosan tilted his head. "Why would I stop?" Was all he asked.

"How ruthless of you," Mod commented, watching the exchange with a curious gaze.

Surely they didn't think relying on a person's morals was a good strategy, right? They were dealing with pirates and even if the Straw Hats were a much nicer bunch, Rosan was not.

"You should have tried this trick on Zoro instead of me. He actually has a heart," Rosan said, drawing blood from the woman who's skull he was slowly crushing.

The little child next to her had lost that sinister grin and began shaking in true terror, unable to move due to the utterly unfeeling look in Rosan's eyes.

The palm covering her face began heating up, as he idly charged an energy attack that he wasn't planning on firing and the thrashing nun began screaming in earnest, begging him to drop her and actually pleading for mercy this time.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"

Rosan dropped the injured nun and leapt back, dodging the fist aimed for him and glancing at his brother.

"Luffy, you're awake and attacking me. Why? Are you being controlled?" The redhead asked. Perhaps there was another hypnotist on this island controlling his, rather simple minded, brother.

He'd have to pursue and kill them then.

"Rosan…" Luffy snarled, glaring at his brother with furious eyes after laying eyes on the nun. "HOW COULD YOU HURT THESE PEOPLE WHO FED US?!"

Rosan blinked and Mod snorted loudly. Leave it to Luffy to completely misinterpret the situation and label his scout the bad guy.

The scout tried to speak as slowly as possible so his brother could understand. "Luffy... are you seriously questioning why I'm attacking these people? Surely you know that everything I do is for a reason—"

The Mod Mod no mi user was cut off at the rubbery fist impacting with his cheek, head flying back from the impact.

"YOU CAN'T JUST TOY WITH PEOPLE'S LIVES LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO! I TOLD YOU THAT'S NOT OKAY!" Luffy roared, winding up his fist. He was about to give his brother a real thrashing right now for hurting these nice people.

Rosan mechanically turned his head to regard his brother again, slowly wiping the blood off his lip with slightly glowing eyes.

"Alright then. If you want to act like this, then let's act like this," the redhead decided, clenching and unclenching his fist experimentally.

Luffy simply held up his fists and set his stance.

Rosan followed suit.

"It's been a while since we last sparred. I guess I have to remind you how that always turned out."

---

The last thing Zoro expected, was to see Luffy and Rosan in the middle of an all out brawl.

"What the hell is going on?!" He asked himself in confusion. They got along so well normally so what caused this?! Was it a sibling spat?

The swordsman had been dealing with his half (the screaming happening on Rosan's half didn't sound very promising for their enemies), when he ran into the two brothers duking it out.

"A-Aren't they crewmates?" Miss Wednesday asked, petrified by how effortlessly the agents had been dealt with.

She had seen what the redhead had done to some of them and it made her realize that this was the wrong crew to attack. Her throat still burned from how much she heaved and she honestly felt like she wasn't even close to finished.

Roronoa Zoro being another monster only solidified that and now the one that they had assumed was the fake captain, was in the middle of fighting who they perceived to be the most terrifying one.

"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy roared, throwing out his fist.

Rosan sidestepped it and grabbed the extended arm before Luffy could pull it back. He yanked and his little brother went flying through the air before the redhead cocked his fist back and smashed it into the rubber boys face for his efforts.

Luffy crashed into a building and broke it on impact but no damage was done to him and he quickly recovered, bursting out of the rubble and meeting Rosan halfway.

The two collided with each other and their battle began anew, rapidly exchanging blows that neither seemed to register.

"What the fuck?" Nami said intelligently, watching the two go at it with a confused expression. "Why are they fighting right now?!"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Zoro grunted. The named agents stopped trying to attack him by now, watching the destruction unfold with varied awed horror and wondering if there was any way out of this.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

The floor erupted up to block the barrage of fists coming his way but it wouldn't hold out for long.

Not like Rosan needed it too. The redhead moved the moment the wall appeared and he was already right behind Luffy.

He lay his gloved hand right on the rubber boys back and fired before his opponent could react.

"Retribution," he intoned, lighting up his captain's back with the built up concussive energy

Luffy went flying at the explosive energy that erupted from his hand but the rubber boy twisted himself in midair and sent a hand flying to grab onto his brother's purple shirt. Getting a firm grip he used the momentum of his flight and pulled, launching Rosan past him and into a wall, breaking it on impact.

A dust of smoke erupted from the building collapsing on Rosan and Luffy pushed himself up from his own wrecked building.

It was a good thing he did because he was suddenly forced to dodge a barrage of boulders being thrown at him.

Rosan, who was completely unharmed, picked up a piece of the destroyed building, modified it to ludicrous sizes, and began launching multiple at Luffy.

The rubber boy jumped, ducked and even punched through the boulders but he knew that Rosan could keep this up all day.

He leapt on top of the next boulder and soared off of it, flying towards Rosan with a purpose.

"Gomu Gomu no Whip!" He exclaimed sweeping his rubbery leg to crash into the scout's side.

Rosan was moved by the attack but when Luffy tried to bring his foot back, he found that it was being grasped firmly by the redhead and the computer man began spinning with the elongated appendage.

"W-Woah!" Luffy yelped, eyes turning into swirls as Rosan spun and spun, crashing him into any and everything with zero regard for their surroundings.

He finally let go and the momentum of the spinning sent Luffy clean through another poor building, that was soon destroyed completely by the red energy blast that followed right after.

An explosion ensued and Rosan began sprinting towards it, not letting up his assault for even a second.

"Gomu Gomu no Rifle!"

His charge stopped and he skidded back a few steps at the twisted fist that crashed into his gut but before he could grab it, it snapped back into place.

"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"

Two arms replaced the fist and Rosan flew backwards from the blow, before righting himself in midair and hovering with his sneakers. He landed on the floor without a sound and cracked his neck side to side.

Luffy walked out of the collapsed building and glared at Rosan who stared back with disturbing focus. His gaze remained unblinking and for anyone who fought him, that was a very bad sign.

The redhead's eyes began glowing brighter, a clear sign that he was about to really begin using Modification and Luffy prepared himself accordingly.

"These two are insane," Nami gasped in horror.

This... They were using more power against each other, then they had against any of their past opponents! Luffy didn't even fight this hard against Arlong!

"I still don't get why they're so mad at… Wait," Zoro groaned in realization. "Luffy is such an idiot!"

"What do you mean — Oh," Nami sighed tiredly, realization hitting her as well. "He thinks Rosan attacked the people who threw us a party unprovoked, doesn't he?"

"I'd bet one of my swords." Zoro held his head in exasperation. To think they were fighting for such a stupid reason... it looked like Luffy managed to do something that really irked Rosan off as well because he wouldn't normally entertain this.

They needed to stop this before those two actually started to let loose.

Their plans to do that were stopped rather abruptly, by the presence of two people who were not here before.

"Kyahahaha! You two seem like you're having fun! As much as I'd love to join, we're here on much more important business," An unfamiliar voice, female in nature called.

"Tch, making us come out here on such a boring mission… Maybe after we finish, we can deal with these two," Another voice, this time male, said.

Rosan and Luffy completely ignored them.

Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 went white in realization, glancing back at the voices.

"Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine?!"

Mr. 5 was a tall, dark-skinned man with black hair in short spiky dreadlocks. He wore a brown trench coat with a pink cravat and a pair of sunglasses, despite the fact that it was night.

Miss Valentine was a tall young woman with short blond hair and bright green eyes. She wore a yellow and orange hat, as well as a yellow dress with a lemon-like pattern, lemon earrings, and white high-heeled shoes. She carried a bright green parasol with blue stripes.

"What do you mean much more important business? Aren't you here to help us deal with these pirates?! They're far too strong for us!" Mr. 9 pleaded.

"Help? You think we'd come to the beginning of the Grand Line to help you useless bunch? That's pretty stupid don't you think, Princess Vivi?" Mr. 5 drawled, staring a hole into Miss Wednesday.

Miss Wednesday (or Vivi as that appeared to be her real name) turned cold and her eyes widened in horror, as she took a step back from the two agents focused on her.

Zoro wasn't paying any attention to what was going on right now between Baroque Works. He was trying to figure out how to convince these two to stop fighting because they were still going at it, ignoring the two new arrivals completely and throwing blow after blow at the other. At this rate, they were going to destroy everything surrounding them.

Nami on the other hand, listened intently and felt cogs of solid gold turning in her mind.

This Miss Wednesday, Vivi, wasn't an agent of Baroque Works. She was a princess of a kingdom named Alabasta! A princess! That meant money!

"Miss… Pirate…" A pained voice called, prompting Nami to look down at the source.

It was the mayor (and another infiltrator based on these two agents) and despite the injury Rosan inflicted on him, he still managed to crawl his way over to the ruckus. He was grabbing onto Nami's leg with a desperate look in his eye, groaning at the pain.

She raised a brow at him and he was prompted to continue.

"I know I have no place to ask… but please! Please protect and escort our princess to the Kingdom of Alabasta! You'll be rewarded handsomely!" He begged.

Bingo~

He should really not throw such words around like that. Someone might take advantage of them.

"We'll do it for one billion beri!" Nami grinned cheekily.

Someone like her!

Igaram's eyes bugged in disbelief at the absurd price she was asking for currently.

"A-A billion…?! Ahem ma-ma-ma!"

"That doesn't sound too bad does it?" Nami grinned. "After all, we're protecting your princess from two people that want her very dead! If we don't help, who knows what will happen to her?!"

"Witch," Zoro thought, watching Nami shamelessly blackmail the desperate man.

"I-If you discuss the terms with the princess, I'm sure you guys could come to an agreement!" Igaram tried and Nami nodded.

"Hmm sure! We can save her then and discuss the price!" She beamed. "Zoro! Stop Luffy and Rosan from fighting!"

The swordsman teeth turned razor sharp in indignation. "HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO DO THAT?!" The swordsman barked in disbelief.

The two were still fighting and showed zero sign of tiring.

In the midst of their battle, Rosan somehow managed to get a firm grasp of Luffy's rubbery body and folded him into a ball, using his own limbs against him. He tensed his muscles, hoisted up the rubber boy and launched him with dreadfully strong force in a random direction—

—Right into Mr. 5.

The bomb man was immediately floored by the human bowling ball but his misfortune didn't end there as Rosan ran over his body, further flattening him, to pursue his captain.

The agent's eyes bugged in pain as he felt his bones shudder from the weight of being trampled and he heaved in fury. "Miss Valentine. Temporary change of plans," Mr. 5 said gravely, voice tinged in pain.

The mission could wait, those two were so dead.

"Those two aren't paying attention to anything or anyone…" Nami muttered, scratching her head. How was she supposed to stop them? They were unstoppable right now and were hellbent on beating the shit out of each other.

Eh, maybe they'd forgive each other in time? At least Zoro was still here to protect the princess. There was no way Nami was going to fight those two agents.

---

Rosan and Luffy stared each other down, neither willing to concede this battle due to their infamous stubbornness.

The floor erupted beneath Luffy and the rubber boy leapt away, throwing out a punch in the process that Rosan ducked under.

Palming the floor in the process of ducking, the redhead began manipulating the terrain again and had it seek out the rubber boy in hopes of restraining him.

Luffy yelped and stretched out his hand to grab the top of one of the few standing buildings left, desperate to get away from the floor that was alive.

The moment he made it on the roof, a sneaker connected solidly with his face and he was sent flying, but not before managing to wrap his hand around Rosan multiple times, dragging the redhead with him.

The scout's eyes narrowed as he was sent through the air and he activated his raid boots, halting his, and by proxy Luffy's, momentum. Seeing as his arms were trapped by his brother's arms, the redhead opened his mouth, revealing razor sharp fangs and shot out a weak fireball.

Luffy, who was dangling midair, spluttered as it connected with him. It didn't do much damage to him but it still kinda burned.

3 more fireballs collided with him and he hastily released himself from Rosan's grasp, patting himself down to get rid of the small flames.

"We can do this all day," Rosan taunted from his place in the sky, puffing out a small amount of fire to prove his point.

Luffy sent a punch to the flying redhead as a response and Rosan shook his head, getting ready to grab and pull him.

Why didn't the idiot just come up here? Was he that afraid to battle him in his domain? No matter, he'd teach him to take risks.

What he had not been expecting, was for the rubber boys fingers to expand in a net like formation, surrounding the redhead.

"Gomu Gomu no Rubber Net!" Luffy grinned, successfully capturing his caught off guard brother.

With a mighty yell, Luffy slammed his net down with Rosan in it, once, twice, three times before the redhead erupted in draconic flames, forcing the captain to release him and nurse his burned fingers.

Rosan spat out some blood and dusted himself off. "You thought of techniques to counter me? I'm proud. I'm so proud that it's about time I knock you unconscious," the redhead decided, preparing to activate Boost.

"Oh yeah? I was just thinking the same thing," Luffy growled, placing a fist on the floor.

"You don't even think," the redhead droned. He was about to blast off, but hostile movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Rosan suddenly leapt back to avoid a booger that promptly exploded where he had once stood.

"You damn nuisances, getting in the way of our mission," Mr. 5 complained, digging in his nose to pull out another booger.

"Kyahahaha! Didn't appreciate getting trampled, Mr. 5?" Miss Valentine cackled, amusement glittering in her eyes. "Sorry, but you guys have interfered a bit too much and now you have to die! No hard feelings, we're just doing our mission, kyahahaha!"

The redhead barely acknowledged them until he came to a startling realization.

"Did you just interfere in my fight to try and throw a booger on me?" Rosan asked, finally taking his eyes off Luffy to regard these two…

Who were these two? When did they get here?

"They've been here for a while now, you were just not looking at them because of your fight with Luffy. They're even upset because of you trampling the man."

The bomber agent glared at them with a superior smirk. "Yeah, I'm Mr. 5 and I ate the Bomu Bomu no mi. With my fruit, I'm a living explo —"

A gloved hand wrapped around his head and Rosan hoisted him up, before brutally slamming him into the pavement 5 times until the floor began cracking from the force.

"I don't care about the fact that it was an explosive. What type of demented idiot uses their snot to fight," Rosan muttered, practically crushing Mr. 5's head in his palm. "That's disgusting and a waste of your abilities. Imagine if that landed on my shirt. I don't even want to kill you right now. I want to do so much worse."

Vivi's jaw dropped at seeing how effortlessly Mr. 5 had been defeated.

W-Who was this monster? Taking out a numbered agent so effortlessly... One he wasn't even paying attention to

"M-Mr. 5!" Miss Valentine gaped, before glaring at the redhead who knocked her partner unconscious. This damn...

Activating her Devil Fruit, the woman flew into the air, getting Rosan's attention and glared down at him. He looked up at her with a tilted head and she growled at him.

"Feel the power of my Kiro Kiro no mi!" She scowled. "I can change my weight at will from one to 10,000 Kilograms —"

"Why do all of my enemies keep trying to tell me about their Devil Fruits? I don't care and it's incredibly stupid of you too. You could have easily passed this off as a flying fruit and caught me by surprise with the increased weight."

Miss Valentine let out a shriek at the floating redhead that was face to face with her. He was looking at her with a tilted head and she felt herself grow cold at the lifeless eyes of his.

"Word of advice, Panty Flasher-san… You should wear pants from now on or else you'll give perverts a view they want to see," Rosan suggested, grabbing the woman by her collar.

The Agent's face couldn't even turn red in realization, before he planted a fist in her gut and let her fall. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head at the force behind it and she spat out a glob of blood before floating to the floor, unconscious.

Rosan scoffed and turned away from the blonde. "Interfering with my battle while being that weak… How stupid."

"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!" Luffy roared, marching up to continue his fight with the scout.

"Don't say that like you ever had the advantage. I barely warmed up," Rosan declared, eyes beginning to glow again.

"Ram, if you would."

"Okay Auntie!"

The two paused as Rosan's gloves morphed into the silver psycho herself and she grabbed them both by the cheek to prevent any further scuffle, successfully dissuading them for the time being.

"Don't you guys think that's enough?! You practically destroyed the entire town!" Ram cackled, mirth present in her multicolored eyes.

That fight was fucking awesome and combined with the death of the bounty hunters earlier, she was happy as can be. It's why she had so readily listened to Auntie despite having to stop her Father in the process!

"No," they replied at the same time.

Then Nami appeared and punched the both of them in the skull.

"WHY EXACTLY ARE YOU TWO EVEN FIGHTING?" Their navigator roared.

"Attacking me while I can't dodge… how cheap," Rosan muttered. That was the first time Nami successfully hit him.

He would make her regret that later.

Vivi couldn't make heads or tails of what was going on right now. Her mind felt a little fried by the events of today and she still felt like throwing up.

First they try and failed miserably to take out two pirates (and she learned a new meaning of fear in the process). Then, one of the pirates got in a fight with his captain, ignoring and destroying everything around them and displaying things she didn't know they were capable of displaying.

Then, they take out two numbered Baroque Work agents with little to no effort and now they were being cowed by the, admittedly scary, navigator and a woman she had never seen before…

Just what the hell was even going on?

---

"Hahahaha! So that's how it was!" Luffy laughed after they explained why Rosan and Zoro had attacked all the bounty hunters. "Why didn't you say anything, Rosan?!"

Nami floored Luffy with a punch to the head as soon as that question left his mouth. "HE PROBABLY TRIED TO, IDIOT!"

"You punched me in the face the moment I tried to explain," Rosan replied, patting a pleased Ram on the head. She purred and buried herself deeper in his frame, closing her eyes in content.

"You are so childish sometimes, Rosan," Mod giggled. The moment Luffy's hit connected, her charge threw out all thoughts of explaining to the rubber boy and stooped right to his level.

"Hmph," was all he said. No one ever reacted well to getting punched unwarranted.

Miss Wednesday (Rosan learned that her real name was Vivi and she was a princess of all things) was currently explaining the situation of Alabasta to the crew after Nami had tried to make a contract with her and she refused.

She didn't have enough money to pay them because her country was in the middle of a civil war, courtesy of the unknown boss of Baroque Works. They claimed to want to create a Utopia but that was a lie.

Mr. 0 just wanted to conquer Alabasta and was sewing seeds of rebellion to do so.

What an interesting person... Rosan wanted to meet the one managing to control so many people.

"Who's the one pulling their strings?" Luffy asked with a curious smile.

Vivi began panicking and the princess waved her arms rapidly. "No, absolutely not! I can't tell you the boss' identity! What a question! Don't ask me that! I can't! I can't tell you! If I did they'd hunt you down!"

Nami nodded in agreement with a nervous smile. "She's right! If he wants to take over an entire kingdom he must be one scary guy!"

The blue haired princess nodded sagely and said, "That he is! You're all very strong but your no match for Sir Crocodile, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea!"

…

Zoro sweatdropped as he said, "You just told us."

"You aren't very bright are you?" Rosan asked softly, as horror dawned on her features.

Nami's jaw dropped in terror. T-This idiot! What was she doing?!

All of their attention, was drawn to an otter and a vulture, staring at the group before they promptly flew off with very accurate photos of the 4 pirates that a fleeing Nami couldn't help but applaud to.

Vivi balked in horror and bowed profusely to the group. "I"m so sorry! Those are the Unluckies… They're messengers for Mr. 0 and are probably going to show him how you all look now. He's going to send agent after agent until you're dead..."

"So we're on Baroque Works hit list now, eh?" Zoro grinned eagerly.

That sounded pretty fun!

"Ram."

Everyone watched in confusion as the tall woman snuggling Rosan, transformed back into a ring (Vivi's eyes bugged in surprise) and the redhead stood up.

"As if I'd let them get away with a picture of me for free," the redhead muttered.

He partially activated Ragnarok and his massive draconic wings burst from his back before he rocketed off, pursuing the two animals with tremendous speeds.

The princess looked at the spot he was standing in with a shell shocked expression.

"I have so many questions," she stated.

"He won't answer any of them and if we do, he'll hurt us," Nami shivered.

"Rosan's really secretive," Luffy sighed, watching his scout vanish into the sky.

"Those animals are dead," Zoro laughed. How disappointing, it was kind of exciting to be on a hit list but that wouldn't last very long if Rosan had anything to say about it.

---

Rosan flapped his wings once and did a barrel roll to avoid the machine guns firing at him, raising a brow at the vulture responsible for it.

"Quite intelligent for some animals don't you think?"

"Capable of drawing us to near perfection, understanding human speech, efficient with weapons… The Grand Line really is interesting."

"You're greedy mind is cooking up something, isn't it?"

Yes it was. Based on what he had seen so far, Rosan quickly came to a decision for his battle with his new enemies.

He wanted all the useful members from Baroque Works and that included their boss, Crocodile himself. Having a Warlord work under him sounded like it could be quite the boon.

"This is why we need to talk about your hoarding problem."

"Let's talk about your lack of variety in attire while we're at it."

"I-I... I refuse to betray my dress!"

"Once you decide to stop being so stubborn, then we can talk about our bad habits."

Satisfied by the noise of Mod grumbling in defeat, Rosan continued his thoughts about his plan of action.

While Miss Valentine was nothing notable, he was sure he could turn her into something much more useful then just flying into the sky, flashing her panties, and crashing into people.

Mr. 5 on the other hand, had a very powerful Devil Fruit that was being limited by how untalented he was. Seriously… he was a bomb man and he used boogers as his offense? To make matters worse, he dared to try and throw one on his shirt.

He didn't give a damn about the explosion, this shirt was too nice to have snot on it.

"You sure have your priorities straight."

That man messed up doing that. He would be joining him and the redhead wasn't going to give him a choice like the others he planned on giving "alternatives" to.

An overhauled puppet was a much better choice anyways then a man like that. He would mold the man's mind in his own image because Rosan was far more creative then Mr. 5 and already thought of plenty of ways to better use such a strong fruit.

He idly opened his mouth and let loose a torrent of flames that incinerated the bullets flying towards him, while forcing the animal duo to fly higher in terror, lest they get torched into lunch.

Sir Crocodile… He was a powerful pirate that burst into the scene before Luffy was even born.

The government quickly offered him the position of Warlord but before that, his bounty had been 81 million beri. He was almost certainly stronger than the price on his head indicated and the redhead pursed his lips.

What was he doing here? Taking over a kingdom in secret? The man should be much stronger than that but perhaps he didn't want to jeopardize his position as Warlord?

He figured someone with his strength would be deeper in the Grand Line but perhaps he made an enemy of one of the Yonko or another powerful pirate.

"Perhaps he simply lacked the ambition to compete with bigger names. The New World is full of monsters and one could have sapped his motivation to get stronger."

"Ah, sleeping ambition. Kind of like me."

"Yes."

It made sense but there was no point speculating about it. All he knew, was that the man was said to have the Suna Suna no mi.

A Logia.

Mr. 13 shrieked in pure terror as a flame nearly burned him into cinders and urged Miss Friday to fly even faster.

"Perhaps we can use Ragnarok to heat the sand into glass? I doubt he can manipulate it but you certainly can with Modification."

It was worth a shot. He wanted Crocodile and the rest of his agents to work underneath him. They could be valuable assets but he couldn't control a Logia that he couldn't touch...

"What if they betray you?"

"I have countermeasures in place. You know that."

Mod snorted at that. Leave it to Rosan to have absolutely zero morals. Sometimes she felt like their roles were swapped and she was the more human of the two.

Actually, that's exactly how it was. These days, facing Mod over Rosan would probably be considered a blessing because unlike him, she was capable of mercy.

He was the stronger of the two now and was infinitely more ruthless as well. That wasn't to say facing Mod was all sunshine, she was just much less violent.

If they were the same level of cruel, facing her would actually be even worse considering she utilized a more ranged style of fighting compared to Rosan's close combat preference and wouldn't even let you get close to her.

It was a good way to separate the two's identity in battle and the redhead fully approved of her genius adaptation.

Once he found a way to coexist with her, they'd be an unstoppable duo.

Ah well, that was for later. Rosan decided now was as good as time as any to begin his overthrowing of Baroque Works.

"That's quite enough running."

Miss Friday froze, as an overwhelming pressure washed over her and Mr. 13. They hesitantly turned around and saw the redhead staring at them with a bow out. It was glowing brightly, seeming to be inches away from firing and they had no illusions about what it was about to do to them.

Rosan, who couldn't maintain this level of pressure for long, released it and gazed at them in pity. "You two are quite impressive. It'd be a shame to kill you here," he sighed softly.

"Alas, you two have drawn a picture of me and that just won't do. I can't have you telling anyone about me for free."

They began trembling. This was it, they were dead —

"Unless…"

They perked up in hope.

"Betray Crocodile and join me," Rosan proposed softly, garnering looks of surprise from the animals.

That expressiveness from some animals... They were almost human in intelligence and that would be useful for Maro, not to mention they specialized in information gathering.

"You have no real loyalty to him, right? At the end of the day, you're just bounty hunters so I want you two to join my side. You can report to Crocodile while working for me until he is dealt with, if you fear him that much."

They hesitated but not for long, due to the glowing arrow. It was obvious what he was suggesting and they really weren't that loyal.

Either they accepted, or they died.

The two glanced at each other before looking at Rosan and nodded in acceptance.

"Good. You can report to Crocodile like normal but if there's any way you can help us, you will do it. If you think I won't get my hands on you for betraying me I will get my hands on you. There is no escaping me once I set my sight on you."

That daunting pressure roared for a moment, before abating and the two terrified animals nodded.

With a clear dismissal, they flew off to deliver the pictures of the Straw Hats to Crocodile.

While proposing his partnership, Rosan had a tiny bug fly over and sneak onto Miss Friday, before it deactivated itself and remained glued to the agent.

There truly was no escape for them anymore.

"Now let's get back to the ship," he muttered to himself, choosing to fly back instead of activating Save Point. Trying to use his pressure to such a degree, when it was seemingly tied to his emotions, was rather draining so he'd be a little peaceful.

Besides, he quite enjoyed flying under the pale moon.

---

Luffy, Zoro, Nami and Vivi watched in pure horror, as the ship Igaram was sailing on was blown up without any prompting.

The man was going to act as a decoy for Baroque Works as he sailed to Alabasta but that plan was clearly a bust because in mere minutes, he was dealt with.

"They found us already…?!" Nami whispered in fear, eyes wide at the massive explosion that took place.

It hadn't even been a full minute since he set sail… They're plan was already found out?!

Luffy glared ferociously at the explosion and snarled. "I LIKED THAT GUY!" He growled angrily.

"Nami, is the log pose set?! We need to go now!" Zoro urged. "Go wake up the other two, Luffy!"

The navigator noticed Vivi wasn't moving and grabbed her arms to pull her, then she noticed the princess biting her lip so hard, that it drew blood.

"It's going to be okay," Nami soothed, pulling her into a gentle hug. "We'll get you to Alabasta safely. My crewmates are strong, they will absolutely save you."

She would know best. In her darkest times, they went above and beyond to make sure she could feel safe again.

It was a whirlwind of action as the crew prepared to set sail. Luffy dragged the broken bodies of Sanji and Usopp, Zoro raised the anchor and Nami and Vivi tried to look for her duck, Karoo, before realizing it had been the first one on the ship.

"What about Rosan-san?!" Vivi asked in concern. The redhead was nowhere to be seen and they were about to set sail without him.

"Ah, don't worry about him. He vanishes and shows up all the time, no matter where we go," Nami reassured, making sure everything was in order.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, the ship quickly sailed out of the demolished Whiskey Peak and headed in the direction that the log pose locked onto.

"We should be out soon!" Their navigator said.

"I see fog again!" Luffy exclaimed.

"It's good we managed to escape the people chasing us."

"That's for sure," Nami smiled in relief.

"We need to be careful not to crash the ship into the rocks."

"Just leave it to me!" The orange haired woman preened...

Nami paused in a moment of pure confusion.

She didn't recognize that voice… Who was that? Was it Rosan? Did Vivi lie to them?

Everyone hesitantly turned around and Vivi's eyes widened in terror.

"No..." She muttered, taking a step back as she realized just who this was.

Frigid blue eyes stared at the Straw Hats with a small smile that looked painfully fake.

"This is a nice ship. I've been on nicer, but it's quaint," she greeted, assessing them all with those unsettling dark pupils.

"What?!" Zoro grunted in shock.

"WHO IS THAT?!" Usopp and Nami screeched.

Luffy stared at her with a confused expression on his face.

Robin ignored them, focusing on the princess of Alabasta. "I ran into Mr. 8 earlier, Miss Wednesday," she said idly.

The expression on the princess' face was what she expected. The horror in her eyes was replaced by a wild anger and she began trembling uncontrollably at the unbothered look on the agent's face.

These days, Robin mostly did things to try and amuse herself and Nefertari Vivi seemed amusing enough. She allowed the princess to follow her and learn of Crocodile's real identity, before revealing to the man that she managed to learn it. Now she was on Baroque Work's hit list and Mr. 0 wanted her dead at all costs.

It's not like she expected the girl to get anything done. She was going to die soon and she brought this crew along for the ride.

What a pity.

"Miss All Sunday…" Vivi growled, glaring at the woman with pure hatred.

"Miss All Sunday? W-Who is she a partner to?" Nami asked hesitantly.

"...Mr. 0." The bluenette answered shortly.

The navigator's eyes bugged in horror. "M-Mr. 0?! SHE'S THE PARTNER OF THE BOSS?!"

"She's the only one who knows his real identity and I followed her to figure it out," the princess of Alabasta replied grimly. "I think she let me follow her and then probably revealed that I knew."

"Correct," Robin hummed, tilting her head and resting a cheek on her palm. "I have to say... there's just something about a princess fighting a losing battle so desperately that's so pathetic to me. Shouldn't you at least have tried to get a little strong while infiltrating Baroque Works? Now you're stuck relying on other people to do the job for you."

Relying so heavily on another person... Robin shook her head in disappointment.

Vivi's eyes went white with rage and she let loose an almost animalistic snarl. "DON'T YOU MOCK ME!" She roared.

Every single straw hat, sans Luffy, aimed their weapon at the stationary Miss All Sunday who gazed at them with that same expression. No matter what she said, that smile remained on her face and it made the mysterious woman impossible to read.

She lazily glanced at them all before saying, "I'd appreciate if you didn't point such dangerous objects at me —"

At once, every single Straw Hat was disarmed and they could only glance in shock at what just happened.

How did she... What was that?!

"A Devil Fruit!" Vivi gasped.

Luffy's eyes furrowed deeper and his head began to actually steam.

Nami idly looked at him in worry, wondering just what was happening with their captain right now.

"—Or well, a piece of me."

That didn't come from the Miss All Sunday sitting on the railing.

The straw hats watched as the one on the railing dissolved into petals and another Miss All Sunday appeared from behind them.

"You should all relax, I'm not here on orders so I have no reason to fight," she assured, leaning on the railing of the ship with that same damned smile.

Luffy's eyes sparked in recognition at seeing the clone dissolve and he slammed a fist against his palm.

"I KNOW YOU!" Luffy exclaimed, making everyone pause in surprise.

Luffy knew this person? The boy could remember people?!

"You know someone that we don't?!" Nami asked in disbelief. That explained why the boy looked like he had been about to collapse. He was thinking too hard...

Wait, just... just how stupid was their captain?! She saw steam coming out of his head and that was because he was THINKING?!

Robin actually raised a brow. Did he recognize her from her bounty poster? How odd, he didn't strike her as the smart type but looks could be deceiving.

"So you're the Straw Hat Captain I've heard so much about, Monkey D. Luffy," Miss All Sunday smiled, snatching his straw hat from his head and spinning it idly. "I heard you caused quite a bit of property damage on Whiskey Peak. Tell me, how do you recognize me?"

"That's probably because of me," a deep voice commented softly.

Robin froze at the feeling of a sudden presence behind her, along with an unfamiliar voice and glanced up at the source.

What she saw, made her go ashen.

"...Miss All Sunday...?"

Vivi couldn't keep the shock off her face, at seeing the shock on Miss All Sunday's face. She never showed any type of emotion besides that mysterious smile. The few times she saw the woman, she was left distracted by the depressingly empty eyes of her that reminded her of winter.

But those empty eyes were bursting with emotion, as they drank in the sight of the new arrival with a disbelieving gaze.

Black, draconic wings (wings that he had desperately been trying to achieve for so long), dominated a tall bronze man wearing an expensive, purple and black, outfit.

They had a head of brilliant, spiky, blood red hair, tied into a messy bun, that left the spikes in the front of their head free.

No matter the style they were in, it was a head of brilliant hair that she'd never be able to forget. It was as striking as ever. As mesmerizing as the first day she saw it.

The figure floated down slowly until they gently landed in front of her and she watched his wings vanish back into his body.

This close, she realized that he was taller than her now and all his childish boasts suddenly sounded so much more truthful to her ears.

So much more truthful to the ears that were blocking out all sources of noise right now as she gazed up at his face.

He wasn't adorable anymore, cuteness replaced by a mature and handsome face that no doubt attracted attention wherever he went and Robin found herself drinking in his appearance like he were a ghost because that's what he should have been.

A ghost.

But he wasn't a ghost. She stared into eyes that could only belong to him.

There were some key differences but to Robin, they may as well have been the exact same because they'd never be able to replicate the intensity that these eyes emitted.

The first thing she immediately took note of, was the fact that they weren't glowing like they normally did.

Instead, the glacial orbs (they looked so much like her own) stared at her without a hint of feeling, reminding her of whenever he was truly furious (almost always for her sake).

It felt like she were looking in a mirror because her eyes looked just as lifeless when she gazed at them and Robin idly wondered what happened to cause this.

One of his eyes were a blood red, reminiscent of the woman who had taken up the role as her mother.

The scent of roses wafted into her nose and snapped her out of her paralyzing daze.

This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. It was a nightmare like every other time —

"Rosan! This is Robin right?!" Luffy asked excitedly, freezing her in place completely.

He remembered her because of how frequently he and his brothers had watched Rosan's earlier memories. The familiar petals of her Devil Fruit finally managed to remind him.

The redhead nodded shortly. "Yeah... I'd recognize her face anywhere," Rosan commented idly, never once taking his eyes off the woman as he roved every part of her.

She was only a little shorter than him, which didn't surprise him considering she had already been slightly taller than Mod-chan when they separated and the Devil Fruit (and Rosan) complained about it nonstop.

Those beautiful, frigid, blue eyes looked at him in a heartbreakingly desperate look, not quite believing the sight before. They were so weary and so exhausted, looking like they just wanted to rest but not being allowed to and he wanted to make sure she got to sleep in comfort right away.

She wasn't adorable anymore. The years had turned her beautiful and she was aware of it. They made sure she knew her worth and they made sure she understood that she was a gorgeous person.

But the most damning thing. The thing that made Rosan feel completely and utterly worthless... was her hair.

Her shoulder length black hair that had a single red strand. That single red strand that lay on her shoulder for the whole world to see, separated from the rest of her hair.

The single red strand that could only be for one thing. For one person. It was her memento... to the best friend who she thought was dead. To him.

To the person who thought she abandoned him.

The virus must die by any means necessary.

Robin heard what the rubber boy said but still couldn't believe it.

Years. She spent years coming to terms with the fact that her sun was gone. It wasn't possible for her to just believe that he was right here in front of her.

But he was (was he?). Was this... Was this another dream...? It couldn't have been, right (but what if it was)?

Taking a deep breath, the Devil Child said in a near whisper, not trusting her own voice, "Rosan…?"

Rosan (?) hummed and gripped her chin slightly, leaning in closely and linking the two together with a slightly glowing gaze.

Robin gasped at the familiar sensation of linking with her best friend and felt her vision growing foggy.

Dreams... Dreams couldn't replicate such a sensation, right? This was real... right?

"It's been 16 years…" Mod choked out, tears welling up in her eyes at seeing her little girl all grown up. "You've become so beautiful, Robin! I... I'm so happy to see you again!"

"M-Mod-chan is... is that really you? Are you really here?" Robin whispered.

"It's me, Robin. It will always be me," she sobbed, lips wobbling as it formed into a watery smile.

It was real. It was all so very real. They were here.

They were here.

The tender palm on her cheek drew her gaze back to the redhead and she realized that this was Portgas D. Rosan.

Her best friend. The person who made her feel like she existed. The one who both gave her the will to live and took it away.

Her sun.

"You've been drinking coffee again... The nightmares are keeping you up aren't they?" Rosan began, eyes narrowed in guilt at what he caused.

He was a fuck up. A complete idiot. He couldn't do anything right because he was a failure. All he was good for, was failing the ones he loved.

Her breath hitched at that statement and tears began to well up in her eyes as her mask melted fully.

What was the point in having a mask, when she never wanted to hide anything from Rosan?

"...It must have been so lonely. You look tired… Robin."

---

We finally made it to the Grand Line! I'm excited to cover all the arcs honestly and we'll start off with Alabasta!

Lot's of things mentioned in this chapter but the most obvious will of course be that after so long, Robin and Rosan see each other again!

Gonna be honest, I had earlier drafts where I was going to make them very nearly miss meeting until Alabasta but I couldn't be that much of a tease and I wanted to change Canon more so here we are!

Besides, if I did that, it wouldn't make any sense for Robin to be so surprised to see him again and I try to make as much sense as possible so having them meet before Baroque Works knows anything about Rosan was the best course of action.

Not only did Robin and Rosan meet again, our scout just learned a very bombshell and that's the fact that Sabo is alive!

Gonna be honest, never made sense that Ace had not a single idea about Sabo being alive so I had to add my own things to reason it. First, I was thinking of just saying that he wasn't the Chief of Staff as of yet but he and Ace are portrayed pretty equally and I wanted to stay faithful to that so I just went with the, they mostly do covert missions route because Rosan's to information heavy to logically miss info about a revolutionary named Sabo running around.

They'll meet up soon! I want Sabo to be more involved in the story before the timeskip because I feel like it's a waste not to use him.

Finally, something happened to Crocus that didn't happen in Canon! He encountered an enemy with a grudge against Roger, who took his leg and that person reminded him of Rosan himself. I'm sure it's pretty obvious who the identity is but thats only half the battle!

Wow, sorry for the wall of text here (maybe you don't mind considering my chapters tend to be long) but I'll wrap it up here! I'll answer any questions I can as usual and here's the title of the next chapter!

Chapter 30: Robin and Rosan