Vergo

Part Two

Neo stumbled on her weak legs as Vergo led her down the hall like a dog. Her body was heavy and her forehead was hot. I feel like I'm getting sick. Maybe that's why my magic isn't working right. I really don't think it's because of Caesar's gas. This disruption started before he released it. And I wasn't close enough in the beginning to be affected by it.

Monet paused at the door of the main lab where Law and the others were being held. She turned to Vergo. "What now? Are you going to take her right inside?"

"No. I want Law to sweat for a while," Vergo replied. He pushed Neo's chains into the hands of one of Caesar's men. "Keep an eye on her for the moment. When I signal, bring her in."

"Right!" The man nodded. He clutched a hold of Neo's chains and held her firmly.

Neo flinched at his closeness, but didn't have enough strength to pull away from him. She closed her eyes and took a couple slow, deep breaths when her stomach began to spin again. She gritted her teeth and hoped she didn't retch everything up out of her stomach. She reopened her eyes just as Monet walked through the door.

"What the heck are you?" Neo heard Luffy asked. He then said, "Never mind! I don't care about you! Where's Neo?! What have you done to her?!"

"You should be more concerned about yourselves," Vergo said as he entered into the room shortly after Monet did.

"What?! You're…" Tashigi-Smoker gasped.

"You're the head of the G-5! Why the heck are you here?!" Smoker-Tashigi demanded.

Neo's knees buckled at that point. The voices from inside the room faded away from her as her vision started to darken. She dropped to her knees. She felt her solar crystal trying to come out and heal her. She shook her head slowly. No. Don't come out. Not right now. I'm not alone. I'm fine. I don't need you right now. I can handle this for a little bit longer.

"Hey. Are you all right, Lady Law?" the man holding her asked. His voice was full of concern, but he quickly cleared his throat and changed his tone. "Uh, I mean, get up! Who told you that you could sit down like that?! On your feet!"

He grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. She flinched at his touch, but didn't have enough energy yet to pull away from him. Once up right, she glared at him and summoned just enough energy to pull away from his hold. Hissing, she said, "Don't touch me! You're going to regret that! Remember what Law did to your fellow subordinate?! You're a dead man!"

The man stumbled backwards when his mind filled up with the one guy who tried to take advantage of this woman. He recovered from his shock and tried to put on a brave face. "Shut up! He can't do anything to me now that the master has decided to fight! Besides, we have Vergo here now! You all are in such trouble! You're the ones who are dead!"

"Hey! Was that Neo?!" Luffy asked from inside the room. "She's here, isn't she?! Let us see her! Right now!"

"Straw Hat," Neo said. She tried to move towards the door, but the man jerked her back to him. "I want to see Law!" she hissed, pressing her back against the wall and glared at the man. "Let go!"

"You'll see him when Mr. Vergo says you can," the man said. "Don't cause me anymore trouble. I don't want to hurt you, Lady Law."

Neo took a deep breath before dropping her eyes down to the ground. She could tell that his man was being honest when he said that. He didn't want to hurt her. She really didn't want to hurt him either so she chose to ignore him and focus on her returning magic and how she was going to escape from these chains. I wonder if I can pick the lock of these sea prism stone chains. If these were just regular chains, I could easily break them or cut through them with my fire crystals. I guess Caesar still has the key with him. I never saw him pass it to Vergo or anyone of his minions. If I get a chance, I should try and take it from him just in case I can't do anything on my own to get out of these chains.

"Answer me!" Luffy growled. "Where is she?! That was her that I heard, wasn't it?! What have you done to her?! And why aren't you upset over this, Tra?!"

"I am upset, you moron," Law replied calmly when Luffy turned his glare to him. He glared right back at the younger pirate. "But getting loud like you are is not going to do us or Neo any good."

"He's quite right, Straw Hat Luffy," Vergo said as he walked over to the couches. He sat down and crossed his legs just as Monet was finishing up with her call on the transponder snail. "You don't have anything to worry about. She's fine. For now."

Law frowned deeply. He struggled to keep his heart rate low as his chest burned with anger. He knew Vergo was lying and she wasn't fine. He knew that Vergo had hurt her. His stinging chin and throbbing stomach was solid proof of that. And he knew that Vergo was only trying to make him become furious. But what Vergo didn't know is he was already furious. And he was going to make Vergo pay dearly for hitting her.

"All the shutters are finally closed!" a man said from the other end of the line of the transponder snail.

"All right then," Monet said before hanging up the transponder snail. "It sounds like they're starting to move ahead with preparations. Poor little navy soldiers. They should have left this island when they had the chance."

"What exactly is Caesar up to?" Vergo asked. He looked up at the bird woman and waited for her answer.

"Well, I'm not sure exactly, but he has woken up his pet Smiley. I think he might be planning to do a big experiment today. And from the looks of it, it looks like it's going to be a very dangerous one," Monet replied. She shot a smirk over at Law. The warlord glared back before she turned her attention back to Vergo. "By the way, Vergo, did you have hamburger for breakfast this morning?"

"Yes, I did. It's my favorite. Why?" Vergo asked.

"You've got a little left over on your cheek. Right there." Monet tapped her cheek.

Vergo pulled the hamburger off his cheek and shoved it into his mouth. "I think I'd like to see what kind of experiment this is before I go. Do I understand correctly that everyone outside will die?"

"I believe so. But we'll be safe in here," Monet replied. "So don't worry about that."

"Hey! Vergo! Those are all navy soldiers from G-5 outside! They're your subordinates! Are you really going to leave them out there to die?!" Smoker-Tashigi demanded.

"Yes. I believe I am," Vergo replied casually.

"What did he just say?!" Tashigi-Smoker asked in disbelief.

"Anyway, I can't believe there are such big names in one cell." Vergo stood back up and walked over to the cage. "I like the view thought. The look really suits you, Law. I think it might be even better if your lover was in there with you. What do you think? Would you like her to join you all?"

"You jerk!" Luffy snapped.

"Maybe so," Robin said calmly. "But it's just like the old days, isn't it, Luffy?"

Law gritted his teeth. His chest flared up with even more anger than before as Luffy and Robin started going on about the past and being locked in the same cell or some other such nonsense and at how the cyborg could easily sleep through all of this. He struggled to keep his eyes from wandering over to the door that led to the hall where Neo currently was. He could feel her just right there, but she wasn't contacting him. He knew she was just trying to conserve her magic and strength. He just wished she were in his sight. He wanted to see her.

"How could you?!" Smoker-Tashigi screamed, bring Law's eyes back to their prison. "And how could I have not noticed it before?!"

"I don't blame you for not noticing before," Law said, forcing his mind off of Neo. "It's not like Vergo is suddenly turning on the navy here. He's a pirate through and through. He enlisted in the navy on Joker's orders long before he made a name for himself."

"What?! He's a pirate?!" Tashigi-Smoker asked. She then glared at Vergo.

"He's spend fifteen years climbing up naval ranks from the very bottom. He's the most trustworthy subordinate Joker has," Law continued. "He's been Joker's man from the very start."

"If I remember correctly, Joker is the name of an underworld broke," Smoker-Tashigi said. "And he was right under my nose this entire time! How could I have not noticed this rat?!"

"You should be praising this rat for eluding the sharp eyes of the great White Chase," Vergo said as he turned his back to the cage and took a few steps away from it. "From the day you were transferred from headquarters, I was on high alert. I'm glad now that I'm free from all that stress of working for the navy. Anyway, you blurted out far too much, Law."

Law flinched when Vergo held out his heart. He swallowed and braced for the heart crushing pain that was about to come not only to him, but to Neo as well. He narrowed his eyebrows when Vergo just lowered his hand back down. What's he up to? Oh crap! Neo!

"But it doesn't really matter. I know exactly how to handle you all from G-5," Vergo said as he walked over to the bar and poured himself a drink. "It won't matter one single bit if the G-5 soldiers do learn about me and my background. I know exactly what to do. Isn't that right, Vice Admiral Smoker and Captain Tashigi?" He gulped back his drink then crushed it using his armament haki coated hand. While walking back over to the cage, he said, "You all will die here. That way you can't reveal to anyone what you have learned here. I can't just let people walk away who've learned about Joker's identity. And I will report it as an accident just like I always do."

"Hey, Tra, I've got a question for you. Who's this Joker you keep talking about?" Luffy asked.

Law glanced at Luffy and sighed. He felt momentarily relieved that Vergo's attention was off Neo. "There was a time when I use to work for him. That's how I know about Vergo. Joker is just his underground alias. He's actually a man you all know very well."

"What do you mean? We know him?" Robin asked.

"He's one of the seven most notorious pirates. He's a member of the seven warlords that are used by the world government." Law raised his eyes and glared at Vergo. "He is Don Quixote Doflamingo!"

"Uh, who's that?" Luffy asked completely clueless.

"You idiot! You saw him at the war at Marineford!" Smoker-Tashigi snapped.

"Huh?" Luffy thought back to the war. He hummed and tilted his head this way and that way before realizing who they were talking about. "Oh! You mean that guy with all the pink feathers?! The one whose tongue is always sticking out of his mouth? He looks so silly doing that."

"You better not take him lightly," Law warned.

"Hm?" Luffy blinked.

"Anyway, let's move on," Vergo said, pulling the captive pirates and navy soldiers attention back to him. "I'm sure you're just dying to see your lovely little wife. I'll let you all see her now."

Law's eyes turned sharp as Vergo snapped his fingers.

Neo sighed and pivoted her body so she could press her throbbing forehead to the wall. Her body had become even heavier that it was before. She just wanted to curl up against Law's side and sleep. Her only comfort was when she heard Law's voice, but that was only when he raised his tone. Other times, he was talking normally and she couldn't hear him.

Turning back around, she pressed her back to the wall again. Carefully, she glanced down the hall when she felt Chopper near. She couldn't see him, from where ever he was hiding, but she was sure he was panicking. She glanced back at the man who was guarding her. She could easily take the man out, but knew she couldn't handle a fight with Vergo, Caesar and Monet right now. She had to buy herself more time while her magic continued to regenerate.

She peaked back down the hall when she caught a glimpse of Chopper peaking around the corner. He shot her a worried look before disappearing again just as the man guarding her looked down the hall. Neo tensed up, but relaxed when the man turned back around. He didn't see Chopper. She sighed internally and wished she could tell the reindeer that she was fine with her voice. Knowing she couldn't she had to use his animal side and her connection to that to get her message to him.

Closing her eyes, she felt out Chopper and sent vibes to him that she was okay while pushing away her guilt for having to lie to him about the chains around her. I'm fine, Chopper. I got separated from the others during our fight with Caesar. They, plus Law and two G-5 officers, are trapped inside this room. They're tied up with chains and are in a cage. My powers are messed up a bit, but they're starting to straighten out. I think I can pick the lock with my vines. Law and I replace some sea prism stone chains with some regular ones in case something like this happened. Or I might be able to get the key from Caesar. But, either way, I can't escape until I get enough strength to stand up to Vergo. When I get the chance I'll escape and most likely rejoin up with Law. Just keep yourself hidden for now. And be careful. Vergo is a very strong man. He's even worse than Caesar. The others will be just fine. Law will take care of them. They'll escape once they have the chance to.

Chopper slowly slid along the wall. He peaked around the corner and about screamed. He clamped a hoof over his mouth when he saw Neo bound by chains and looking like she was about to pass out. He jerked himself back around the corner. His heart pounded inside of his chest. For a moment, he felt like the pounding was going to crack a few ribs. What do I do?! Neo's been captured! Why?! She was with Luffy! How could she have been captured?! What happened?! What happened to her?! She looks so tired! What do I do?! What do I do?!

Chopper danced around in a circle with his hoof still over his mouth. He started heading back the way he came then paused and walked back to the other hall. He glanced around the corner again before pulling back and pressing his body against the wall. What do I do?! I can't just leave Neo like that. But what can I do to help her? Those are probably sea prism stone chains she's wearing since she's a devil fruit user. We'll have to find the key and that's if I am able to help her escape.

Chopper closed his eyes. Tears stung his orbs as he tried to figure out what he was suppose to do. Suddenly, he felt very calm. He felt like nature had wrapped around his little body. No, he felt like Neo had picked him up and was cradling him in her arms. What is this? Why does Neo suddenly feel so close to me? Is she somehow communicating with me or am I imagining things? I feel like she wants me to stay away. Are you really going to be okay, Neo? If you want me to stay away and not help free you…I guess I can. But I don't like it. I don't like how drained you look.

Chopper peaked back down the hall towards Neo. But I'll stay away. If that's what you really want me to do. Just be careful.

Neo relaxed when she felt Chopper had received her message. She closed her eyes and smiled. That's good. I'm glad he was able to understand me. Though I'm going to have to make up for lying to him about these chains.

A far off snap sounded through the air, pulling her from her thoughts. Neo jumped when the man jerked her, by the chains, off the wall and pushed her towards the door. "Let's go! That's the signal! You're about to be reunited with your traitorous lover! You two deserve each other!"

Neo couldn't help but smile at the man's words as she wobbled into the room. Her eyes caught Law before the man behind her pushed her again. She stumbled before the cage and fell to the ground. She rolled over onto her back then heard Luffy shriek. He said, "What did you do to her?! Is that a bruise on her face?! Did you hit her while she was tied up?! You jerks!"

"Would you have preferred if I did hit her while she was tied up?" Vergo asked as he looked at Neo. He then ran his eyes over everyone inside, smirking when Law caught his look. "Well, here she is, Law. She safe and sound."

Law narrowed his eyebrows at Vergo.

"Shut up!" Luffy snapped. He struggled against the sea prism stone chains. "Let me go! Let me out of these chains! I'm going to make you pay for hurting her!"

"I'm all right, Straw Hat," Neo said. She turned her eyes to them, but looked at Law. 'I'm all right.'

'No you're not.' Law frowned as he focused on how much their bodies hurt. His pain coupled with hers, he couldn't help but wondered how she hadn't passed out yet. She was being incredibly strong through all of this.

'Well, can't blame me for trying.' Neo chuckled at him through their bond. 'But really, I'm going to be fine. We're back together now. No matter when he does…Oh, by the way, he's going to torture me when Caesar comes back. They're trying to provoke me into using my magic while trying to tick you off.'

'It's too late. I'm already ticked off. Besides, I figured something like that would happen if you got captured. I'm so sorry about all of these. I shouldn't have left you alone with the Straw Hats. I should have predicted Vergo arriving here.'

'Don't worry about it, Law. You can't always predict everything. Besides, it was my decision to go with them. And I don't regret it. This wouldn't have happened if my magic were acting correctly. We'll get out of this. I'm sure I can pick these locks with my vines or steal the key from Caesar when he gets here.'

'Why is your magic acting weird? Is it because you don't feel good?'

'It might be because I am getting sick. I guess I didn't notice it before the fight with Caesar. But I'm feeling a bit better now that my magic is returning. I'd be back to a hundred percent if I could just use my solar crystal. It wants to heal me so badly. I'm struggling to keep it from appearing.'

'You'll use it when you get a chance. For now, just relax and focus on regaining your magic.'

'One other thing…'

'Neo, I said relax. Don't make me order you to do it.'

'You need to know that Chopper is near. He's inside the room right now. He's over there in that slit in the wall. He just slipped inside while everyone was distracted by Straw Hat's yelling. I was able to tell him not to try and help us to escape, but he might try and do that anyway. He's really worried about all of us. He's scared too.' Neo carefully looked over in Chopper's direct then quickly looked back at Law.

'All right. Message received. Now relax. Don't use our bond for a while. Save as much magic and energy for escaping and fighting.'

"Vergo, I've made some coffee," Monet said. She picked up the tray and walked it over to the couches and Vergo. "Would you like some milk with it?"

"Sugar will be just fine. And this really isn't necessary," Vergo said as he turned away from the cage and walked back over to the couch. He sat down and poured him a little sugar into his mug. "What's taking Caesar so long?"

"Hey! Come back here!" Luffy screamed. "I'm not done with you!"

"Drop it, Straw Hat," Law said. "You're in no position to fight him anyway."

"I don't care! I'm still going to pound his face in!" Luffy growled as he struggled against the sea prism stone chains. The chains then zapped his energy and he slumped against the wall. "Sh-tupid sh-ea pris-hum sh-tone."

"Relax, Straw Hat," Neo said. "He's not going to do anything until-"

"Until I return," Caesar then said as he slithered into the room in his smoke form. He took his human form and laughed. "Sorry to have kept you waiting. Shall we continue from before?"

Vergo gulped down his coffee then stood up. "That's fine. I was just enjoying some coffee and cookies. That's strange. I don't see the cookies anywhere."

"I didn't serve you cookies," Monet replied.

"That's right. I didn't have cookies," Vergo said. He rounded the couch and walked back over to Neo. "Well, anyway…"

"Just make this quick. I have to proceed with my experiment after all," Caesar said with a smile.

Both Neo and Law narrowed their eyebrows at Vergo when the man pulled out his bamboo staff. Her heart took a jolt. Law wrapped his presence around her as much as he could. 'It's okay, Law. I can handle anything he throws at me.'

Law gritted his teeth, silently cursing himself for not being able to do a thing to stop this.

"What are you doing?!" Luffy demanded while the others stared on in silence.

"Just this," Vergo said. He twirled his bamboo staff, covered it with his haki then struck Neo on her right side. The chains bit into her body from the hit of the staff and from colliding with the cage.

Though she tried to hold it in, a small yip passed through her lips when her body collided with the cage. She forced down the pain and glared up at Vergo with as much defiance as she could manage. Hit me all you want, Vergo. You won't break me.

"Hey! Stop that!" Luffy screamed as the others gasped in shock and horror.

"She's tied up, man!" Franky added, having woken up from his nap at some point. "At least unchain her and give her a fair chance at defending herself!"

Vergo only responded to the cyborg was with multiple whacks of his staff on Neo's body.

Neo gritted her teeth as his staff slammed into her right knee. Instinctually, she tried to move away from him. When she did, he cracked his staff against her left shoulder then swung it against her already bruised face. The bamboo staff collided with her skin, cracking it open causing blood dripped into her mouth. She started to lick her blood soak lips then stopped when the tip of Vergo's staff slammed down on her right wrist. She cried out. Both her and Law felt the bone in her wrist crack.

"Stop it!" Luffy screamed. His eyes shot daggers at Vergo. "She hasn't done anything to you! Leave her alone!"

Law's entire body burned with rage. His hat cast dark shadows over his face as his mind spun through countless ways of painful revenge scenarios that he could and would inflicted upon Vergo just as soon as he got out of the thin cage that separated them. He forced himself to not look at anyone, even Neo. He kept his hat down over his eyes, trying to block out the sounds of the staff colliding with her body. But he couldn't do it. The sounds were just as bad as the pain he was feeling. He knew Vergo slammed his staff into her lips, cracking both of them. He felt the air leaving her lungs as Vergo slammed his staff against her ribs again, cracking a few in the process.

"Stop it!" Luffy growled again.

"This is just sick!" Smoker-Tashigi said. He narrowed his eyebrows and glared at Vergo. "I know she's a pirate and I'd do just about anything to see her brought to justice, but this is just flat out wrong. Where's the honor here? Beating up a defenseless woman who's bound by chains?"

"She's quite the resilient one, isn't she?" Caesar asked with a small laugh. He ran his eyes over the bruises and blood on Neo's body. "Any normal person would have passed out by now from the pain."

"What? Normal?" Tashigi-Smoker asked. She looked at Caesar then over at Neo. She blinked in confusion as she focused on Neo. Her eyes then widened slightly when she finally felt something different about the blue haired woman. "No way. Those newspaper reports were…"

Panting hard, Neo glanced at the navy woman before rolling over on her right side. Her body screaming with pain from the movement, but also from hitting her bruises on the hard floor. While moving, she caught a glimpse of a very frightened, very angry Chopper. She lightly shook her head at him, hope that he and Law would both keep their anger contained and not do something stupid.

How could he do that to her?! What did she do to him?! She chained up for crying out loud! Chopper growled to himself as he watched Vergo strike Neo again and again. His anger building with each hit he was forced to watch. He wanted to look away, but he just couldn't. He wanted to run out there and help her. He had to do it. He had to do something. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself to charge out there. Before he could, he caught Neo's eyes. She shook her head at him.

He froze, knowing she didn't want him to reveal himself. He hated it. He hated having to stand there and do nothing while she got tortured like this. Gritting his teeth, Chopper forced himself to nod at her and forced himself to remain in his hiding spot.

Vergo swung his staff at her once more. It collided with her jaw.

"Stop it!" Luffy screamed. His eyes burned with fire and anger for the man hitting his friend. He wiggled against the chains holding him, ignoring how they were zapping him of his energy.

"How much longer do you think you're going to be able to keep her secrets secret, Law?" Caesar asked as he turned to the warlord. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three vials of blood. "I have her DNA. As soon as my big experiment is over I'm going to do all kinds of experiments on her blood. I'll know exactly what kind of creature she really is."

Law looked out from underneath his hat. Forcing himself to fake being surprised and shocked at the revelation that Caesar had a DNA sample from Neo. He glared as Caesar laughed. Keep thinking that, Caesar. You'll learn nothing from her blood.

"Tsk," Smoker-Tashigi scoffed. He glanced over at Law. "So I was right. She's not a devil fruit user after all. She's not normal at all. Is she, Law?"

"Not normal? What are you talking about?" Luffy asked, momentarily forgetting his anger.

Smoker-Tashigi scoffed again. He said, "Don't tell me you haven't noticed. With how strong you are, you should have noticed immediately that she's different."

"She's different?" Luffy asked.

"How so?" Franky asked. Both the male pirates turned to Neo.

Neo dropped her eyes to the floor when she felt the two male pirates looking at her. She was still lying on her right side, panting hard and glaring up at Vergo. Then Franky's eyes focused harder on her for a few seconds before he noticed the strange inhuman feel she gave off.

"What?! That's not possible! What is she?!" Franky asked.

Neo flinched at the cyborg's words.

"Hm?" Luffy tilted his head to his right then to his left, his eyes steadily roaming all over Neo's body. "Hm? Err, I don't get it. She seems normal to me. What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing's wrong with her!" Law snapped at the Straw Hat captain.

"Then why did Smokey say she wasn't a devil fruit user? And that she wasn't normal?" Luffy asked.

"Take a close look at her, Straw Hat," Smoker-Tashigi growled. "Don't you feel something odd about her? Does she feel human to you?"

"Human? Why wouldn't she feel human?" Luffy asked as he turned his eyes to her once more.

Neo couldn't stop herself from looking at the young captain. He narrowed his eyebrows and stared at her for several seconds. Her heart raced. His eyes popped wide open when he finally felt she was different. Now he knew.

"What?! She does feel different! But why?! How is that possible?! Tra, what's going on?! Why does she feel so different from everyone else?!" Luffy said.

Neo closed her eyes and exhaled.

"Yes, Law. Do tell us why she's so different," Caesar said with another laugh. "But I know that you won't. It doesn't really matter. I'll know soon enough with these blood samples. And I'll have all the time in the world to experiment on her and figure out what she is when we get back to Dressrosa. Right now, I have more pressing matters to attend to. That is, if you are done playing with her, Vergo."

"I think that would do for now," Vergo replied. He put away his bamboo staff and turned to Caesar. "You can proceed with your experiment."

"Very good. Get the video feed up, Monet," Caesar said, turning to the bird woman.

"Very well," Monet replied. She turned from the group and lifted herself into the air with her wings.

"You know, Vergo, you could do a better job at keeping your men under control," Caesar said as he sat down on the couch. "I about broke out into a cold sweat when I learned that Smoker was here."

"He can't be controlled. He's like a wild dog," Vergo replied. "But you won't have to worry about him after day."

"Yes, I suppose that's true," Caesar said. He got up and wandered back over to the cage. He paused momentarily to look at Neo. He smiled at her when she glared at him. He then proceeded to move closer to the cage. "This look suits you, Law. I bet you were rather helpless against Vergo. Weren't you? Looks like I was right in making that deal with you, wasn't I?"

Neo gripped her fists. The pain from that deal became fresh in her memories.

"You should have known better. It's your own fault. I guess you learned the hard way that Vergo has your heart," Caesar said as Vergo stepped over to him.

Neo's eyes widened when Vergo pulled out Law's heart. It pulsed once. Before anyone could say anything, Vergo squeezed Law's heart. Sharp, intense pain shot through both Law and Neo. And both screamed out at the pain.

"Hey!" Luffy shouted. He looked at Law then over at Neo. His gaze bounced between the two in complete confusion. "What's going on?!"

"They're both in pain?!" Franky asked. His eyes also bounced between the two screaming.

"How is that possible?" Robin wondered.

Vergo turned his eyes to Neo. He watched as she curled into herself.

"Hm?" Caesar blinked. His eyes darted from the heart in Vergo's hand to Law then to Neo then back to the heart. "What the heck? How is it possible that she's screaming in pain when Vergo squeezed Law's heart? Vergo, do that again. Maybe we all were just imagining things. Perhaps she was just pretending or something."

Crap! I can't let him do that! Law thought to himself. "Caesar! Why did you give my heart to Vergo?! What good was that suppose to do?! All you had to do was squeeze it and I would have been at your mercy! How did you even know what we were up to?!"

"How you ask? Well, that's thanks to Monet," Caesar replied, forgetting about Neo's pain for the moment. "She cleverly changed her shape and followed you two when you left the lab. She heard everything you guys plotted."

'What?!' Neo's eyes popped open. Her eyes shot over to Monet. 'But how, Law? If Monet was anywhere near us I would have sensed her!'

'I was thinking the same thing.' Law huffed as he glanced over at the bird woman. Monet smiled back at him before turning her attention back to the giant transponder snail. 'Maybe this issue you've been having with your magic started a lot sooner than you realized. That's the only way Monet could have gone undetected by you.'

'Oh, Law. I'm so sorry. This is my entire fault. You all got captured because-'

'Stop that! This isn't your fault. You didn't know any of this would happen.'

Neo clenched her teeth, but stopped when pain from Vergo's hit shot through her jaw. She relaxed her jaw and pressed her forehead to the floor, biting back her tears.

"Hey, Tra, are you two all right? What happened?" Luffy asked. He continued to repetitively dart his eyes between Law and Neo, unsure of whom he should be more concerned about.

"It really is such a shame," Caesar then said. "I thought we had become friends. My men are so disappointed with how Neo had betrayed them. They grew rather fond of her. She was so nice to them and the children."

"So Monet saved your hide. I guess we should have been more careful around her then. I really didn't think she was anything to worry about since the one she was working for is so stupid," Law said with a smirk.

"Hn?!" Caesar hissed and grounded his teeth in fury at Law's words. He swung his hand back and whacked Law's heart just as Vergo held it up, sending another wave of pain through Law and Neo. "Watch your mouth, you brat!"

Vergo watched Neo carefully as she screamed and writhed on the floor.

Neo screamed. She curled more into herself, hoping it would relieve some of the pain. But it did. She turned and twisted until darkness seeped into her brain and she passed out. Luffy's voice just reaching her ears before everything went black. "I can't believe it! They have your heart and you're still alive?! How and why is this hurting Neo so much?! Tell me what's going on!"

"Hn." Neo groaned when her senses began to come back to her. The sharp shrill of Caesar's laughter cut through her, making her stomach spin to the point of gagging. She wished she had remained unconscious if she was just going to feel this bad. When she opened her eyes she thought the entire room was spinning and swaying before her, but noticed it was just her head and stomach. She closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath as Caesar's voice floated into her ears.

"Yes! That's it, Smiley! Now, come to life! Become the weapon of mass destruction, Shinokuni! Change the entire face of this island completely!" Caesar shouted out. While he continued on ranting, Neo tilted her head to see what was going on. A blinding light from a large screen burned her eyes. She blinked a couple times, allowing her eyes to adjust to the screen's light. "The problem with the last experiment is there were survivors. They could still move even after being poisoned so they were able to escape."

What's he going on about? Neo asked herself. Her vision finally came into focus. She saw a dark pink colored cloud rolling over the island and several men running from it on the screen. She looked around the darkened room and noticed that Caesar, Monet and Vergo were all distracted by the large screen and the terror that was unfolding on it. She narrowed her eyebrows at Caesar's coat and summoned one earth crystal.

'Neo?'

'I have to get the key to these chains and those blood samples. This might be my only chance. They're all distracted.' Neo took a slow deep breath. The spinning in her head and stomach slowed down a bit more. Her vision became more clear. She moved her crystal over to Caesar's puffed out coat. Creating the smallest vine that she could, she slithered the vine into his pocket.

"Which means I should have petrified them!" Caesar shouted, causing Neo to jump. She paused her vine, thinking all of his jerking around was going to alert him to her vine. Her heart pounded in her chest, but he didn't seem to notice the vine as he continued with his monologue. "This gas clings to people's bodies like ash! It enters through their skin and paralyzes their whole body all at once! Now, the perfect weapon of mass destruction, Shinokuni! Give us a good glimpse of your true power! Show all these fools what you can really do!"

'When we get out of this mess, I really hope someone punches that guy in the face.' Neo thought to Law as she finally got her vine twisted around the key and the vials in Caesar's pocket.

Law chuckled to her but didn't say anything. He just carefully took quick glances at her vine slithering out of Caesar's pocket and back over to Neo. His heart about skipped a beat when Vergo shifted on his feet. He relaxed and released his breath when that's all Vergo did.

"What the heck is going on?!" Smoker-Tashigi asked. His eyes glued to the screen before them.

"Are those people solidifying?!" Luffy asked.

Neo turned her eyes to the screen when the key and vials were safely tucked into her own pocket and when Luffy shouted out his question. Her eyes popped open as the bodies of some of Caesar's men hardened with some kind of ash like shell. She hissed under her breath. "What the heck?! Those are Caesar's men! Why would he do that to them?! They look up to him! They practically worship him!"

"Hey! That's Zoro and the others! They're being chased by the smoke!" Luffy shouted.

Neo looked at him then back up at the screen. She vaguely remembered their faces from seeing them at Sabaody and from their wanted posters.

"What are they doing?" Franky asked. "I mean, why are they running like that?"

"Oh, look! That samurai got his body back to normal," Robin said calmly.

Neo looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. The dark haired woman seemed far to calm about all of this.

"Oh, man! He's not going to let me have those legs, then!" Luffy whined. He then shouted at his subordinate in the cage then at the screen. "Hey, Robin! That's not important right now! Hey, guys! That smoke is right behind you! It's deadly! You have to r-run…you have to…ugh…I can't even yell anymore. Stupid sea prism stone!"

"They are your friends right, Straw Hat Luffy?" Caesar asked as he hovered near the cage. "That's just what I'd expect from your friends. They're rather tough. But soon they're going to run out of breath and strength. That's when my poison gas will get them. And eventually, there'll be there will only be the uninhabitable 'Land of the Dead'! No one outside of this laboratory will be able to survive. Neither will any of you."

Suddenly, a loud clank from a lever being pulled sounded throughout the room. Everyone gasped when a section of the wall opened up from behind the cage. The cage then lifted up off the ground. Those inside the cage jerked and fell around as it rose up into the air.

Neo, ignoring the pain in her body, pushed herself up into a sitting position then up onto her feet. She ran towards the cage. "Law!"

Vergo jumped in front of her. Slamming his leg across her shoulder, he sent her flying across the room.

Neo's back slammed into the wall, pushing all the air out of her lungs. She slumped to the ground. Her anger flared up and a low rumble of thunder rolled around the room. "You're going to pay for all you've done, Vergo."

"Don't tell me Law taught you all of his disobedient mannerisms," Vergo said. He started to walk over to her. Once close enough, he pulled out his bamboo staff and infused it with his haki. "It's Mr. Vergo to you children!"

'Neo! Break free of the chains!' Law shouted for her as they got pulled outside the laboratory.

'What about the sea prism stone?'

'It doesn't matter now! They already know! We can't hide it from them any longer! Escape! Now! Find somewhere safe and use your solar crystal. I need you to help fight once we get free of this cage!'

'Right!' Neo pulled out the key from her pocket, careful to not let anyone see her doing so.

"Well, that lab was very well built," Franky said, impressed.

"Yes, it was," Robin replied in agreement. "You can easily carry big equipment with this thing."

"How can you two possible be this relaxed about all of this?!" Tashigi-Smoker demanded. "We're in some serious trouble here!"

"Hmmm…Okay, but what should we do about it? We're all tied up here," Luffy said. "Neo's still tied up as well. I hope she's going to be fine. She didn't look so good down there."

"She'll be fine, Straw Hat. I didn't plan on or even suspect that Vergo would show up here," Law said. "But we're not going to get held up at this stage. We're still moving forward with the plan. So don't screw it up this time. It's time for us to fight back."

"Hm? All right then. But what about Neo?" Luffy asked. "Are we going to go back for her?"

"Don't worry about Neo," Law said. A smile pulled over his lips causing the others to blink at him in confusion. "She'll be just fine. Caesar and Vergo did the worst thing they possible could do to her."

"That was some kind of beating they gave her," Franky said. "And also stealing some of her blood. The poor thing."

"That's not what I'm talking about," Law replied.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asked.

"I take it you don't read the newspapers, Straw Hat," Law glanced at the young man beside him.

"Nope. I don't," Luffy replied, carefree.

"Neo only lashes out strongly, with all her fury, at someone when they hurt someone she cares about," Smoker-Tashigi replied. "How in the world have you made it this far, Straw Hat? Pick up a newspaper once in a while! You should know your rivals!"

"They have no idea the kind of storm they've just unleashed on themselves," Law said. His eyes rose up to the darkening sky as it rumbled with thunder and the wind began to pick up.

"What the heck?!" Luffy asked as he and everyone else shot their eyes to the sky. "Where did that storm come from?!"

"Never mind that," Law said. "We need to focus on escaping from here. Time for us to make our counter attack."

"Counter attack?" Luffy asked with a blink.

"Yeah." Law nodded. "And this time, don't screw it up."

Neo jammed the key into the lock and turned it just before Vergo swung his bamboo staff at her.

"Element Crystal! Vine Snap!" She summoned her earth crystals, wrapped a large vine around the staff then, using the momentum from Vergo's swing, she swung his entire body. Landing a kick to his stomach before lifting his feet off the ground, she flung him up into the air. She slammed him into the walls a couple times before slamming his body into one of the couches, tipping it over as he fell to the floor. She wrapped multiple vines around him in an attempt to trap him.

Yes! Way to go, Neo! Chopper silently cheered as he watched Neo launch her attack on Vergo. He jumped and danced around. Kick his sorry butt! Make him pay for what he did to you!

"What?!" Caesar screamed. "How did she escape from the chains?! Even if she's not a devil fruit user those sea prism stone chains are practically indestructible!"

"Do you still have the key?" Monet asked calmly.

"Of course I do!" Caesar snapped. He shoved his hand into his pocket. "What?! It's gone! The blood samples are gone as well!"

"She must have picked your pocket at some point," Monet said. "Probably when we all were watching the screen."

"Who cares?! Vergo! Stop her! I want those samples back!" Caesar demanded just before Neo charged right at him. "What?!"

"Wind Lift!" Neo wrapped her winds around her. She landed a kick to his head, sending him flying across the room. She flinched when pain shot through her body from Vergo's beating. When Caesar picked himself up, she held up the vials of her blood.

"Give those back!" Caesar demanded.

"No," Neo said flatly. She tossed them into the air and engulfed them in her fire crystals. "Fire Flare!"

"Kill her, Vergo!" Caesar shrieked as the smoke from her fire crystals cleared, leaving nothing behind. "Kill her in the most painful way ever!"

From the corner of her eye, she saw Vergo break free of her vines and picking himself up off the floor before charging at her. She ducked just in time to avoid a punch from him. The sudden move shot more pain through her, slowing her moves down. Seeing Vergo coming after her again, she clapped her hands together as hard as could.

A sharp crack of thunder vibrated through the room, causing all of them, but for Neo, to cover their ears and buckle over in pain. Her heart skipped a beat when she realized she had forgotten Chopper was in the room as well. Crap! I'm sorry, Chopper! Give me second and I'll get you out of this place!

Pushing through the pain, Neo steadied her winds and flew towards Chopper. She turned when she felt Vergo coming towards her, but she wasn't quick enough. He landed landed a kick to her head. Her body spun until she collided with the floor. Picking herself up, she placed her hand on her head to try and force the ringing in her ears to vanish. Sensing Vergo coming at her again, she used her winds to hurl herself away before he could land another kick to her head. She continued to use her winds to dodge multiple kicks and punches from him. With each move more pain shot through her. This isn't good. I'm still not back to a hundred percent yet. If I'm going to land a blow that will actually do some harm to him, I'm going to have to use my solar crystal to heal my body. I can't fight with this much damage even though I'm raising a storm outside due to my anger.

Neo glanced over at door. Looks like I'm running for now. All right then, first a distraction so I can get Chopper. I'm not leaving him in here with these nut jobs. She summoned her fire crystals and hovered them close to each of the three others in the room. She put over a hundred around Vergo, since he was the biggest concern, and fifty around Monet and Caesar. She smirked at their confusion before saying, "Fire Flare!"

Her crystals flared up. Caesar screamed. Monet pulled in her wings with a gasp. And Vergo just frowned. Neo then wrapped her winds around herself again and flew over to Chopper. He was still on the ground, recovering from Neo's thunder attack when she used it. Guilt stabbed into her heart when she saw him. She was going to make up for that later as well as lying to him. She grabbed him and flew out of the room. "Come on! I'm getting you out of here!"

"Neo," Chopper said while glancing at her. "Wh-what did you do? Did you create thunder?"

"Uh, yeah." Neo nodded, unable to look at him. She summoned her solar crystal. Keeping the crystal hidden under her coattail, she let it wash its healing magic over her body, instantly feeling some relief. She also felt Law's relief that she was now using it.

"What?!" Chopper screamed with sparkling eyes. Neo faltered in her flying a bit thinking he saw or sensed her solar crystal. "That's so cool!"

"Huh?" Neo looked down at him and blinked. "How can you say that was cool when I hurt you?"

"You didn't mean to hurt me. So it's okay," Chopper said with a smile. "It was unavoidable anyway. Don't worry about it. We need to be more concerned about how to free Luffy and the others."

"You don't have to worry about them," Neo replied turned down another hallway. "Law's chains aren't sea prism stone."

"What?!" Chopper screamed.

"He'll get free in no time and they all will be able to escape. He'll warp them back inside the lab," Neo said. "You need to focus on helping the kids. Did you figure out the drug?"

"I did. And I have everything that I need to help them. But I don't know where to go from here," Chopper replied. He looked around the unfamiliar laboratory. "This place is just so huge."

"If Caesar brought the kids back like he said he was going to, then they will be heading for the Biscuit Room. I know where that is. I can take you to it. We should check it out either way just in case the kids really are there," Neo replied. "Thought they might still be outside. It hasn't been that long since Caesar returned to the lab. I have no idea if he really did bring them back or not."

"What are you going to do then?" Chopper asked.

"I'll join back up with Law," Neo replied. She narrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not going to let him fight Vergo alone. Not while that madman has his heart."

...

NOTICE: Posting for the next week/week and a half-ish might be spotty, if I get to do it at all. I'm gonna be in and out of the woods (deer season) and not going to be able to write much. :( As long as nothing happens, I'll be back to posting normally after that.

SilverHerron: I think that's gonna happen. We'll get more Neo action in the next chapter (I hope). I really would like to get her hooked up with Sanji before reuniting her with Law, but with the locations of everyone it's not going to be able to happen.

PuddyKatz: It is a sensitive place. But remember what Ortiz said in chapter 49? Elemental bodies are different from human bodies.

loveanimation4life: Not many people noticed a pregnant woman shouldn't be fighting. I recently came across a fic that has the pregnant Oc doing just that. I'm staring at it thinking, 'Um…technically, you just killed the kid'. But for mine, no worries. I took that into account when I started the rewrite. That's talked about in chapter 49 by Ortiz. Elemental bodies are different than human bodies. The crystals protect unborn children. It's there to reread if you need to refresh your memory about it. I'll be bringing that back into a future chapter too so people will remember what Ortiz had said. :3

rodinaashraf: Remember when Neo fought Ren? I hinted at her working for Mingo. :3 She's forcing her solar crystal not to come out, as shown in this chapter. She can't reveal it to anyone despite Vergo and Caesar pretty much already knowing she's not human. Kinda pointless in a way isn't it? Hm, I do wonder what Robin is hiding.

KittyCCCC: True, she didn't have trouble in Touching Time. But things are different. :3 We're getting closer to the truth with each chapter posted.