Welcome back, all, to another chapter of Coby's Choice! What did you all think of the Live-Action One Piece? I thought it was great! I even got my normie family members to watch and enjoy it, so I think they did amazing. They even got confirmed for another season already! I blame them being so good for why this chapter is coming out a little later than normal.

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Chapter 52:

Stories Shared

Grace-Billy and Zoro-Grace insisted on being part of the group that went looking for Law. Coby opted to join them alongside Robin, Gin, and Tashigi. Luffy was ready to go as well but decided that he trusted his crewmates to handle the trip without him, mostly because Gin offered to go in his place so they'd have at least one pirate proficient in Armament Haki in case Caesar decided he got bored of waiting around. Luffy also didn't want to leave his family alone when a mad scientist might be actively out to get them, despite how fun chasing down Zoro in the body of a duck might be. Sanji almost chose to tag along, if for no other reason than to laugh at Zoro's misfortune alongside the female marine, but Gin insisted he say to care for Amy until she woke up since he couldn't.

A quick search of the SAD room found a ladder to a second level with a couple doors. Hopefully, the Shinokuni wouldn't become so dense that it rose upward to the second level, but they had to worry about Caesar Clown getting bored and coming after them. Still, between Robin and Coby's tracking capabilities and Tashigi and Gin's battle prowess, Luffy was sure they had nothing to worry about.

That led them here, having wished the group luck and seen them out the door, Coby already trying to focus his Observation to find the swordsman who couldn't find himself or a way out of a paper bag with half a dozen holes in it.

"Now what?" Ace questioned, the boy leaning against the discolored seaweed that still held the unconscious children. He had unzipped his coat, the egg his father had gifted him (which he had lovingly dubbed Eggy until it decided to hatch) all but hidden within the confines of the boy's outer layer. Bucktoof laid beside him, eyes closed but ears perked. "This is kind of boring now."

"We could practice our Poneglyphic," Merry suggested, sitting on his other side. "How about that?"

"Really?" Smoker grunted. "You wish to speak in an illegal language in front of a Marine Commodore and his company?"

"Look, Ace," the Klabautermann grinned. "It'll make the Bluecoats mad, and they change colors when they do. Do you want to see that?"

"Oh, that sounds fun! Do you want to start?"

"æɜɻ! ɭ ɬøʉ̈ Ʃïæɭƛ ɜɭǂ Ʃʛɻïʎæ. ɶɜ ɭɜ ʛæ?"

"ɭɜʛ Ʃïɻï! ǂïɭ ʛɻ χɜɻʎɭƛ ɛɜɻɛɬ ʛɬɻïʛɶɭ!"

Smoker swallowed a snarl as the toddler and fairy giggled, making probably-snide comments about him and his men in their very-illegal language. Still, they had more pressing concerns than the immature pirates' choice of (illegal) words. He turned to the boy's parents, both of whom were now part of a circle containing most of the remaining pirates. Only the Monster Doctor remained outside, the human-reindeer mixing chemicals carefully off to the side.

Smoker didn't know what the Monster Doctor was trying to accomplish. At this point, it was probably better not to ask. More than likely, it was also illegal. Whatever it was, he hoped it was necessary.

Sighing to himself, Smoker sunk into a sitting position within the circle of pirates, studying them now that the majority were together. The Cat Burglar leaned on Straw Hat's shoulder, soaking in his warmth and presence where she could still keep an eye on the Heir of Chaos. The Weightless Woman was under the watchful eye of Black Leg, the chef having stripped his coat to make it a pillow for the woman to use until she woke up. The rest of the pirates —those being Long Nose, the Cyborg, Soul King, and Spring Wind— as well as the samurai were in the middle of a discussion about how to move forward.

"We can't just super hole up here and wait," Franky insisted.

"Why not?" Usopp rebuffed. "There are monsters and that gas out there. Why can't we just stay here?"

"Think about all the super technology out there! This is another former lab of Dr. Vegapunk. There could be revelations of technology beyond anything anyone's ever thought of just sitting out there gathering dust!"

"I'm with Usopp on this one," Kaku offered. "Splittin' up is what got us into such a big kerfuffle last time. The smart thing to do here is to wait for Horn and the others to come back with the Pirate Hunter and Law in tow and rifle through the lab once everythin's solved."

"How do you know they'll find Law?" Sanji questioned.

"We only stood against him for a moment," Brook commented. "Still, I get this feeling in my bones that he is strong. He'll not lose his life to any of the creatures you say are roaming the halls."

"That's another reason to stay here," Nami pointed out. "Sure, we could fight Velo's beasts, but why bother when they can fight each other for us?"

"I mean, not all of them are hostile," Kaku pointed out, gesturing to Bucktoof who was on the verge of napping beside Ace. "That does bring up a question. What are we gonna do with that cryptid?"

"We can't keep him," Nami said before Luffy could get a word out. "Yes, I know we kept Billy, but he was a special case. He helped me escape from Shiki's palace when he captured me the first time and helped you beat him for good, Luffy. Bucktoof, for all his amicability—"

"Agreeableness, Captain," Brook translated. Luffy closed his mouth, his unspoken question answered.

"—isn't nearly as smart or beneficial. He can't fly, can't control electricity, and we can't tell if he understands Common like Billy does."

"I don't want to just leave him here, though," Luffy said. "Don't get me wrong, this island's cool and everything. I mean, half the island's hot enough to burn water—"

"Which still doesn't make sense!" Merry yelled from across the distance before jumping right back into her conversation in Poneglyphic.

"—and the other half's colder than Drum—"

"It's called the Sakura Kingdom now," Brook commented. "It was one of my stops on my World Tour, and that snow chilled me to the bone."

"—but I don't want him to die as soon as we leave. So, in conclusion, this island is fun to explore but a crappy place to live. I don't want to leave Bucky here."

Nami sighed, quietly accepting the creature's nickname. "If we take Bucktoof with us, You and Ace will get attached and we won't be able to get rid of it at our next stop. We don't even really know where our next stop is."

"It's wherever the harpy took the doctor lady you were talking about."

"That's not what she meant, Luffy," Sanji said. "We don't know what kind of place Monet took Velo."

"I can tell you," Smoker spoke up, the pirates' eyes turning on him. "The Surgeon of Death said Velo worked for the Emperor Kaido and that Monet worked for the Warlord Doflamingo. He is the current king of the country of Dressrosa. The island is practically one large city."

"Dressrosa, you say?" Kin'emon questioned, turning eyes on him. Momonosuke was wrapped around his neck, eyeing Kaku and Chopper with an uncertain look. "That name sounds familiar."

"Why?" Smoker blinked.

"I believe one of my allies is currently upon that island, or soon will be," the samurai answered. "When Momonosuke was abducted along with a number of these children, there was only one island official ships were sailing to from the port. I managed to use my… you called it Observation? I used my Observation to follow the hints of Momonosuke's presence as best I could, bringing me here. My friend Kanjiro went on to Dressrosa in case we predicted incorrectly and I agreed to meet him there."

"What are the odds?" Kaku breathed.

"With our crew?" Franky laughed. "Super good! I'm not surprised in the least!"

"But Father," Momonosuke spoke up. "Will Kanjiro recognize me like this?"

"Honestly kid, it's weird you haven't changed back," Kaku noted. "See, when I ate my Devil Fruit two years ago —nastiest thing ever, just so y'all without know— first thing that happened was a transformation into my Beast Form. I clomped around like that for a few minutes before tryin' to change back and got my Man-Beast Form. After another couple minutes, back to human again. Fact that you're still like this is honestly a little worryin'."

"Man-Beast form?" the dragon echoed. "I do not understand."

"Well, lookee here." Kaku stepped out of the group, backing away so he had enough room. His form started to grow. "My Devil Fruit's called the Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Giraffe. It let's me do all the cool stuff giraffes can do." When he finished, he stood upright as a full giraffe, his head bent down to look at the group. "This is what I call my Beast Form, 'cause it's all beast and no man."

"I suppose that is self-explanatory," Kin'emon grumbled. Clearly, he was still wary of anything pertaining to beastly pirates or any of these so-called Zoans for whatever reason. Kaku then started to shrink, rising onto two legs as his nose became more square

"This," said he, "is my Man-Beast Form 'cause it's half man, half beast. Theoretically, you should get one, too, but one that's half-dragon. More like Horn's, really."

"Horn? Who is this Horn?"

"He means Coby," Sanji answered.

"Oh, yes," Momo nodded. "I got a glimpse of his transformation during the fight with the bird. I do wish he could have explained more, but we were short on time at that moment."

"Well, kid?" Kaku prompted. "Try to change back. Your powers might feel like this buzzin' over your skin. If you want your human form, just try pullin' that buzz inside you. That's how I think about it."

"Hmmm…" Momonosuke narrowed his eyes, focusing inward to try to find that buzz Kaku mentioned. "Hmmmmmm… Hmmmmmmmmmm…"

"You can do it," the giraffe-man insisted.

"Nothing is beyond you, Momonosuke," Kin'emon said.

"You've got this, Momonosuke," Nami muttered, using her motherly voice out of habit.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…"

POOT!

"SHIIISHISHISHIHAHAHAHAHA!" Luffy laughed, falling backward onto the floor. Nami barely caught herself as his voice echoed through the room, joined in chorus by Ace, Merry, Franky, Brook, and a number of the marines.

"Giiihihihihi!"

"Baaahahahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Yoohohohoho!"

"Do not laugh at Momonosuke!" Kin'emon insisted. "I am certain that man's instructions were flawed!"

"Nah," Luffy chuckled. "Maybe Momo's just stupid."

"My name is Momonosuke and I am not stupid!"

"Do not call Momonosuke stupid, pirate!"

"It's ok, it's ok," Sanji said, trying to placate everyone involved. He breathed out a lungful of smoke. "Being stupid isn't that bad; just look at Luffy. He's a moron but he's made it this far with a beautiful wife way outside his league, so being stupid can't be all bad."

"Yeah, see!" the pirate captain grinned. He blinked. "Wait a second… Hey! Not in front of Ace! He'll think I'm stupid!"

"Easy, Luffy," Nami muttered, setting her hand on his cheek. "I love you just the way you are. Not being smart doesn't change that."

"I'm being ganged up on," the rubber-man pouted as his crewmates laughed at his misery, drawing a circle on the floor with his finger. Nami laughed, lifting his hat to plant a soft kiss on the top of his head before replacing his treasure. Despite his pout, Luffy couldn't hold back a smile.

"Pardon," Smoker interjected. "I believe I am lacking some details. Did you receive your powers recently? As in, within this laboratory?"

"Yes," Momonosuke answered, turning to look at the Commodore. "I do not know how long it has been since I was trapped within the waste disposal area, but it began directly after my transformation. I was there until Mr. Luffy found me, but I know at least one night passed."

"I arrived on this island two days ago," Kin'emon commented. "I am sorry to say that I do not know which actions of mine coincided with which actions of yours in the short-term, Momonosuke. I was incapacitated in that cell for quite a while"

"I see," Smoker muttered. "If that is the case, then your power's progression is as strange as the Spring Wind says. I am a Logia myself, my Devil Fruit allowing me to turn into smoke, but I know many different Zoans in the ranks of the Marines. Of them, the longest tale I heard of their power acclimation was half an hour, that person having eaten a Spider Zoan and having to learn how to walk with eight legs."

Sanji shivered. Sure, spiders weren't insects, but they were close enough and burning Tararan the spider monkey zombie back on Thriller Bark was not enough to alleviate that fear.

"I think I saw that guy," Luffy commented. "Didn't fight him myself, though."

"My point," Smoker emphasized, ignoring the pirate, "is that you should have returned to your human form by now. Tell me, what did this Devil Fruit look like?"

"Like any other, I would think," Momonosuke answered. "It was shaped like an apple, but its base color was a darker purple and it had yellow and orange spots, much like the seaweed over there."

"That's not what Devil Fruits look like, Momo," Luffy said. "Each one is different, but they're all kinda swirly with bumps and stuff."

"I would have to agree," Smoker commented. "I have seen many Devil Fruits in my time in the Marines, and each has carried a rather distinct pattern. Dots is not one of them."

"Then what did I eat?" Momonosuke questioned.

"Well, Caesar Clown is making Artificial Devil Fruits, isn't he?" Nami questioned. "Usopp's seaweed soaked up the green blood stuff and changed color to what Momo described, so I'd say the evidence is pretty clear."

"I suppose that makes sense," Brook nodded. "If the activation method was different for other Zoans, then it makes sense for the Fruit to have been different fundamentally. Yohoho!"

"…" Momonosuke blinked at him. "Skeleton! Restless spirit! Haunted man! Yokai!" he screamed, falling off Kin'emon's shoulder as Luffy laughed about him being stupid for just noticing. Something like orange smoke surrounded him, the boy hitting the ground with a thump.

He was no longer a dragon, Momonosuke's true form that of a small child. He work a pink kimono similar in make to Kin'emon's but sized for his smaller frame. His head was almost too big for his body, the top of his head shaved but leading to a topknot made of his black hair in the back. Height-wise, Momonosuke stood only a little taller than Ace.

"So this is what you look like normally, Momo!" Luffy grinned. "I guess you really aren't an eel!"

"Did you think I was lying‽" the boy demanded.

"Kinda makes you wonder," Kaku diverted. "We know you can't eat two Devil Fruit at the same time 'cause you'd pop like an overinflated weasel, but what if you had a normal Devil Fruit and one of these Artificial Fruits?"

"I would rather we not experiment, even if we get our hands on some of them," Smoker pointed out. "We don't have any real information on these SMILEs Law mentioned and considering the outcome of some of Velo's research, I'm not sure how humane it is."

"Right, like you have any leg to stand on about super humane treatment with the organization you work for," Franky muttered.

"I will admit," the Commodore began slowly, "that the World Government and the Marines might not have a spotless track record. Any organization, be it a country or a military, cannot last as long as the Marines have without a few… dark spots."

"A few?" Nami parroted. "The Marines have enough disastrous footnotes from within our lifetimes to fill a dictionary."

"I understand why you might think that, Cat Burg—"

"What about the Conami Islands being left in the hands of Arlong for eight years?"

"If you would let me—"

"Or nearly allowing Alabasta to be overtaken by a Warlord?"

"That was—"

"What about the state-sanctioned slavery happening on Sabaody?"

"I—"

"And I suppose Ohara is just one of those 'dark spots', then?"

"Ohara was a mistake," Smoker growled, panting. "All of that was and is a mistake." The pirates practically recoiled from him, his own marines staring at his back. He turn, glaring at the men. "Men, everything we say here does not make it back to Captain Tashigi. Am I clear?"

"Y-Yes sir!" the men responded. Smoker turned back to the group, his shoulders slumping. He ran a hand through his hair, his other pulling new cigars from his pockets. Sanji offered his lighter, the marine taking him up on his offer. He sat there for a moment, puffing in the hopes that the taste of his favorite tobacco would help calm his nerves. Sensing the moodier atmosphere, Merry and Ace joined the circle, the latter taking a spot on his parents' laps.

"Listen Straw Hat, I don't know what to make of you and your crew," the man admitted. "When you first slipped past me two years ago, I took that as a personal insult despite the interference from Buggy the Clown and your father. No pirate had left Loguetown except in chains since I'd been given that position. I held that standard for three years. And then you came. Not only did your crew escape, but so did 'Iron Mace' Alvida along with most of the Clown's crew. I took that personally and held you at fault. I followed you into the Grand Line against my superiors' suggestions, Tashigi following me just for another shot at your swordsman after he insulted her."

"Uncle Stupid Moss wouldn't…" Ace began only to stop. "Well, maybe, but not on purpose. Uncle Coby calls him…" —the boy screwed up his face, trying to remember Coby's exact words— "prickly and difficult."

"That's one way to put it," Sanji breathed, grinning around his cigarette.

"Yes, well, whatever it is, Tashigi wanted his head," Smoker continued, Ace staring at him with rapt attention. "We met with you all at Alabasta. I doubt you remember it, Straw Hat. You were more focused on meeting your brother, but Tri-Horn and the Magpie stayed behind to talk and keep me from giving chase. Tri-Horn saluted me. Every night after, I saw that salute in my head and I wondered what could have been. I asked myself what could make a boy with a salute like that turn away from the Marines before even enlisting. I couldn't stand it, and the promotion I received that I did not earn to cover up you saving the country only heaped coal on the fire.

"Then we were called to Marineford. I heard that Vice-Admiral Garp had captured Tri-Horn at Sabaody and he was set to be executed in three days' time after a stint in Impel Down. He and Firefist were extradited before you could reach them, as I'm sure you remember, and the Marines prepared for what people now call the Great Summit War."

"That's right!" Luffy realized. "You caught me on the ice, but then let me go. Something about Coby not being evil, right?"

"Correct. At least you remember that. Well, I had a chat with Tri-Horn before everything started, and I found his reasons for execution to be less that satisfactory for my tastes. He wasn't on that stand because of his own actions, but as a stand-in for the Pirate Hunter who had attacked a Celestial Dragon. And not only was this so much less than Law and Kid who killed Celestial Dragons, but those two were even pardoned for their actions after their escape. Don't ask me why. I don't know the full story. That information is apparently over my paygrade. Anyway… Well, Tri-Horn didn't open my eyes, so to say, but he gave us a glimpse of what you'd done, why you'd done it, and gave us a lead on some corruption within our own forces before the battle. You'll be happy to know, Cat Burglar, that Tri-Horn's information led to the arrest of former-Captain Nezumi of Marine Branch 16. He's been replaced by Captain Ripper, formerly of the 153rd."

"He…" Nami gasped. "That rat's gone? Really?"

"Taken into Impel Down and then spirited away," Smoker confirmed. "I suspect you might have some knowledge about the phenomenon, Straw Hat?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you," Luffy stated, his lips pursed and his eyes refusing to look at the marine.

"As I suspected. Well, anyway, that was only the start. I now knew why Tri-Horn forsook the Marines, and I didn't like what I saw. I tried to make it right, to expose more corruption, but there was only so much I could do, and it didn't help that the new Fleet Admiral signed off on some of the more extreme methods the corrupt were willing to implement. With him in charge, it's only the two less-obsessed Admirals' morals or laziness that have been able to keep the man's rabid protégé from calling Buster Calls on whatever island he tracks pirate origins to. Vice-Admiral Helmeppo even wanted to bombard Shells Town for their slights against him in the past." Smoker sighed heavily, a massive cloud of smoke passing his lips. "Luckily, Admiral Fujitora shut him down. I've been left a Commodore so I can't interfere with his wants, and as a personal insult from the Mad Dog. Even the title of Rear Admiral would be 'too much' for a wild card like me, apparently."

"Why are you tellin' us this?" Kaku wondered. "And why do you want us to keep it on the QT around Tashigi? Don't you trust her?"

"I do trust her," Smoker admitted. "I trained her myself from the moment she was a Seaman Recruit, but I don't think she would agree with my doubts. Marines saved her life in the past; it's why she joined in the first place. She is… mostly blind to the darkness I've started to recognize rests at every level. I fear what might happen to her if I force her to see how deep-rooted the corruption is. Belief like hers doesn't just crack; it shatters. And if it does, I fear she'll go full revolutionary. But, truthfully, I'm starting to think the Marines… can no longer be saved."

"That…" Merry blinked, "is not what I expected you to say, Smokey. You aren't worried about the rest of your men hearing this?"

"These men know what will happen to them if they disobey my orders."

"Smokey knows what's up," one of the marines commented. "We'll follow him to the ends of the earth."

"Yeah!" another agreed. "Onigumo transferred me to G-5 hoping I'd bite the big one! Screw him!"

"My superior wanted my girlfriend, so he sent me here!" another said. "If Smokey decides the Marines can't be saved, we'll leave with him."

"Then why haven't you?" Amy asked, sitting up slowly. "Why haven't you left yet?"

"Amy-dearest~!" Sanji noodled, as much as 'noodled' could be used as such a verb in this context. "How are you? How do you feel? Do you need anything? Lemonade? Lemon Marange? Lemon sorbet?"

"Sanji, you don't have access to the kitchen," Merry reminded him.

"We do have this tasty-looking Snipe, though!" Luffy grinned, gesturing to the dead bird.

"No fire to cook it with," the Klabautermann rebuffed."Uuuuunless you want to use Sanji's leg."

"My Diable Jambe is no replacement for a proper stovetop," the chef denied.

"So, how much of that did you hear, Amy?" Merry asked.

"Enough to get the picture," the blonde replied. "So Smoker, why haven't you left the Marines yet?"

"It's not as simple as quitting," the man answered. "For any Devil Fruit user —but Logias especially— you can't walk out the door without repercussions. If you leave on terrible terms, you might find a bounty on your head, though most likely with 'only alive' on your poster. The higher your rank, the more secrets you might know. If you try to retire at the rank of Captain or above, you either have to go to a pre-approved retirement island, take up watch over a town with some sort of VIP, or work in a base filing records or some such administration. Why do you think Vice-Admiral Garp and former-Fleet Admiral Sengoku still have offices at Marineford despite being retired?"

"So you can't leave without practically erasing your existence or still working for the Marines," Nami simplified. "If you tried, they'd put a bounty on you."

"That's it," Smoker nodded. "It gets worse if you eat a Devil Fruit while enlisted. I had my Fruit before then, so I dodged that bullet, but for those who gain powers while serving, that Fruit is considered property of the Marines. That makes you property since you can't just get rid of your powers."

"That's—!" Kaku blinked. "Oh, that's why my poster lists stealing as one of my crimes. I thought it was just the black-ops secrets I know."

"I'm not even going to get into the deal with the Cipher Pols. Look, the Marines need a complete overhaul of their ranks, but there are few powerful marines free of corruption or apathy, and most of them are still kept in line by those above them. Hina, Tsuru, Dalmatian, Very Good, Jonathan, Moore. Hell, Rear Admiral Wallace is an oddball but he's got a better sense of justice than Sakazuki. Sadly, enough marines consider piracy the greater evil and look the other way unless someone is actively working with them like Nezumi was. It's just sad."

"But you still feel like you can do more good within the system," Merry commented, her statement more of a fact than a question. "You think you can do more now than if you had the Marines on your tail and think pirates or revolutionaries would treat you with suspicion even if you defect. Not to mention the Copycat."

"Defecting would break Tashigi for or against me totally, yeah," the Commodore agreed. "That's why Sengoku has us in the know moving slowly. There's a group of us working in the Marines, trying to uproot the problems wherever we can find them, but we can't do everything. There are certain individuals in the world we legally cannot touch because of their status or rank, so we need to find others that can."

"What sort of people can't you touch?" Luffy questioned.

"Well, the so-called king of Dressrosa, the Warlord Donquixote Doflamingo for one. As the king of an allied nation, he's untouchable… for us."

"You want us to deal with him for you," Nami deduced. "We can do that because we don't have to listen to the Marines' rules."

"…And?" Smoker prompted, unrepentant in having his motivations revealed.

Nami sighed. "We were probably going to do that anyway. Law said Monet was a spy for Doflamingo, so Dressrosa is probably where she took Velo. I don't particularly care about saving her, but I need my pound-and-a-half of flesh for what she pulled kidnapping Ace."

"Hey, Smokey?" Luffy asked. "Does this make us friends?"

"I…" Smoker seemed to be in physical pain, trying to force his words out. "Beyond my better judgement… we are… we can be... amicable business associates."

"We're friends now!" Luffy laughed. "As soon as we kick this science guy's ass, we're having a party!"

"Party!" Ace cheered, throwing his arms up. "Yay!"

"I guess we just have to wait for the others," Usopp nodded.

"Speaking of," Amy blinked. "Where are they? What happened?"

"Amy, we have a lot to explain to you," Nami chuckled. "For one thing, Ace has a dragon egg now..."


"You mean Pirate Hunter's sense of direction is that poor?" Tashigi questioned, doing her best to keep a straight face. The information truly was funny, the image of the man getting irrevocably lost now one of her favorite ideas, but the bloodstained hallways and her present company countered such mirth.

The Demon Child, however, had no such qualms with letting out a giggle, her laughter on one side and Tri-Horn's sigh on the other.

"It really is that bad," the Magpie agreed, unaware that every time she —in the Pirate Hunter's body— turned to speak, Tashigi had to fight a physical urge to draw Shigure. "Chopper, Ace, and I watched him disappear on Fishman Island and he just reappeared later in the Ryugu Palace. I don't know if you've ever been to Fishman Island, but there is a current tube at the top of Fishman Island's bubble connecting it to the palace, and Zoro just… surprise! There with a bubble of his own in the water-filled palace, Hody Jones' New Fishman Pirates holding King Neptune and his daughter captive. And Zoro just… shows up! If he couldn't swim, I'd swear he had a Devil Fruit that causes him to get lost all the time."

The marine didn't have a response to that, but she did know Fishman Island was in the final stages of becoming a formal member nation of the World Government now despite its amicable relationship with the New Whitebeard Pirates, backed by retired Vice-Admiral Garp himself. She didn't know how the Straw Hats could possibly play into that situation, but she was certain they did… somehow.

"Personally, I find Zoro's lack of direction a humorous anomaly from my experience with it on Thriller Bark," Robin commented. "Indubitably confusing, but quite—"

"Cute?" Coby grinned.

"I was going to say intriguing and an interesting study," the archeologist replied with a side-eye at the teen.

"I'm sure you'd like to study Zoro-sensei in greater detail, Robin."

"Coby," Robin said, her voice like ice. "Do you, perchance, recall Franky's recruitment? Because we can have a reenactment of it if you wish to keep this coquettish line of questioning active."

"Don't you dare!" Z-Grace denied, spinning around in Zoro's body to glare at the woman. "Those belong to me!"

"Excuse me‽" Coby demanded as Gin choked on his own saliva, trying and failing to muffle his laughter. Tashigi and G-Billy shared a confused glance. "Don't say that with Zoro-sensei's mouth! In fact, don't say that at all!"

"What happened during Metal-is-per—?" G-Billy began. "Actually, no. I don't want to know."

"As much as we marines like intel, I don't think I want to know either," Tashigi agreed.

"Let's just say there was screaming, crying, stolen speedos, and a lot of forceful but heartfelt blackmail," Coby sighed.

"I want to know even less," G-Billy grumbled, trying to get the mental image out of his head.

"Hey, Tashigi?" the roset asked, turning the woman's attention to him. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Only if, in return, you answer one of mine," the marine responded.

"Deal," Coby agreed. "I could ask him and I will later, but do you know what Billy did to earn himself a bounty while we were separated? If I remember right, his moniker is the Thunderbird."

"I'm very proud of it," G-Billy nodded.

"Is that all?" Tashigi blinked. "Based on the story I heard, he broke into a Marine base and stole a Devil Fruit. G-517 if I recall. The Rear-Admiral there was in recovery for weeks."

"It was pretty funny," the duck in the body of a young woman laughed. "He has Mean-Golden-Alpha's Float-Float Fruit now, but he didn't know how to use it against me. I lured him outside where I could fly and he took the bait since he could fly, too. Kept trying to trap me with these metal marbles, but they were all conductive and I shocked him until he couldn't move anymore."

"I still don't know why, however," Tashigi admitted. "It appears your crew does not possess the Cloth-Cloth Fruit currently."

"I refuse to tell you where it is now," G-Billy grinned. "Suffice it to say, it has returned to its proper home but you cannot prove it got there directly through me, because it didn't. And you can't get a confession out of a bird, after all, Female-Marine-Second."

"No, I can't," Tashigi muttered. "But, as long as it's not in the hands of pirates, I suppose I can accept that."

"It's not."

"Good. Now then, Tri-Horn. My question to you is this. Your swords are Named Blades, aren't they?"

"Yes." Coby grinned, staying silent as Tashigi's face started to discolor at the realization that he had, technically, truthfully answered her question. The pirate relished it for another second. "I'm messing with you. Yes, these are Hoshokusha and Emono, Predator and Prey, a matched set. Zoro-sensei took them from a pirate swordsman on Fishman Island and gave them to me after one of my Sabaku no Kiba broke in a different fight. I don't know what grade they are, but they're certainly better than the swords I named myself."

"That means your crew has seven Named Blades," the woman muttered.

"Seven?" Coby blinked.

"You have two, your teacher has three, and 'Spring Wind' Kaku had two of his own."

"Wind has—?"

Coby cut himself off, diving forward to tackle Z-Grace off her feet. She gasped, turning to yell at him only for her eyes to widen as the air where her head had been was pierced by a giant scorpion's tail. It kept going on a course for Tashigi only for Gin to jump in the way, his Logia constitution taking the blow and giving the creature in question a nasty shock for its trouble. The pirates and marine jumped back, their eyes going to the monster that had attacked them, its hard shell darkening as its camouflage faded.

"This thing hasn't gotten any cuter since the first time I saw it," Tashigi frowned, the group studying the lizard clinging to the wall. Its tail —lightly singed but clearly still in working order— waving over its spiked carapace, its bloodied fangs bared at those it viewed as prey.

"That," G-Billy said, "is a big fucking lizard."

"Thank you, Billy," Gin muttered. "We noticed."

End of Chapter 52


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-SwordOfTheGods