Roxanne was in trouble.
No, "trouble" would be an understatement.
She had hopped off Miwagyo's desk just in time for Zeimaru to re-enter the office from the hole in the wall.
"I'm back. Miss me?" Zeimaru asked as he landed on the edge.
Roxanne's eyes darted between Miwagyo and Zeimaru. She backed up and assumed a fighting stance.
"I'm in way ov-" she began to think.
"You're in way over your head, girl," Miwagyo said, interrupting Roxanne's thinking. "'Bar Slinger' Roxanne. Not even worth a million berries for her head. Trying to go up against a bounty hunter whose largest bounty was over seven hundred million. Not to mention a top Cipher Pol agent."
She leaned forward and tented her hands, then blew smoke.
"Tell me, girl. What hope do you possibly have of defeating us?"
Roxanne began to sweat. Miwagyo picked up one of her cash wads and waved it in Roxanne's direction.
"My offer's back on the table. Wouldn't it be better to walk away with your life and five million berries?"
Roxanne flicked away her cigarette butt and took a sip from her hip flask.
"I'll say it again. I don't like Shaska. But I'm still loyal to her. She's the one who's going to help me avenge my husband's death and take down Minus World, not you."
Miwagyo pinched the bridge of her nose and exclaimed "oh, for the love of… are those the only things that matter to you?!"
"My husband was the love of my life. And he was stolen from me before we could even start a family together. I'm hellbent on getting my vengeance, and I'll crush anyone who gets in my way."
Miwagyo rolled her eyes and said "blech. Love. Love doesn't pay the bills, girl!"
"Hm. I can definitely see why you were Shaska's protegé."
Zeimaru grew impatient. He puffed on his cigarette and used his Shave technique to instantaneously appear next to Roxanne, then kicked her into the wall.
"Talk is boring. Miwagyo, can we finish this?" Zeimaru asked.
"Since she can't be bought, sure."
Roxanne picked herself up from the rubble of the wall. Zeimaru closed the distance with another Shave and picked up Roxanne by the throat.
"Normally, I'd let someone as weak as you go. You yourself haven't committed any tax crimes… but since you're an accessory to a mass murder and an employee of my mother's… I'm gonna have to rough you up a bit before I take you to Enies Lobby."
He used his free hand to flick ash off his cigarette, then said "it really is nothing personal."
Roxanne's face contorted from one of fear to a smile. Zeimaru looked confused.
"Has fear made you lose your mind?"
Roxanne grabbed Zeimaru's arm and bent it into an unnatural shape; the shock caused him to release her.
As she landed, she waved her hands in front of her face and called out "Bend Bend Blink!"
The light bent around Roxanne and made her invisible, and she ducked past Zeimaru and sprinted for the door of the office.
Miwagyo's eyes flashed red; she found Roxanne's aura heading for the door. She stomped her foot, and a trail of glass shot out.
Before Roxanne could reach the door, it was completely encased in a thick wall of glass. Roxanne, unable to actually see due to the light not reaching her eyes, ran headlong into it. As she recoiled from the shock, her bending wore off and she turned around to find Zeimaru slowly walking toward her. He flicked his cigarette away, and stuck his hand in his pocket, letting his other, unnaturally bent arm dangle at his side.
"That was a cute gimmick. But a gimmick, nonetheless," he said.
He approached Roxanne and picked her up by the throat again.
"Now, you're going to bend my arm back to the way it was before, okay?" Zeimaru growled.
Her eyes filled with determination, she once again reached for Zeimaru's arm. He anticipated this though, and instead dropped her and kneed her in the stomach, causing her to spit up blood. He picked her up by the throat again.
"I'm gonna ask you one more time. Unbend my arm, or I'll kill you on the spot and get a government doctor to do it for me."
Roxanne nodded as best she could, and Zeimaru dropped her again. She promptly bent his arm back to its natural position. But then, while Zeimaru inspected his arm, she jumped as high as she could. Which was quite high now due to her training. And she needed it, as Zeimaru was literally twice her size.
Zeimaru and Roxanne locked eyes. The startled Zeimaru wasn't able to react as her hands shot out and grabbed his throat for a change.
"Bend Bend Strangle."
As Roxanne landed, Zeimaru reflexively grabbed his throat, unable to breathe properly. His windpipe had been crushed in such a way that, while he wouldn't suffocate, he also wouldn't be getting enough air to fight anymore. Unfortunately, the gills he naturally had as a fishman only worked when wet.
"Hm. Well if that don't beat all," Miwagyo said as Zeimaru collapsed, gasping for air. Roxanne turned to her with a look that simply said "you're next." During all this, Miwagyo still had yet to move from her desk.
It was then that Shaska made her reappearance. She climbed back into the office through the hole in the wall using the suction cups on her tentacles, then turned her tentacles back into legs.
She puffed on her cigar and said "I'm back, bitches. Miss me?"
—-
Zinnia stepped forward and cracked her knuckles. Her expression had softened from one of near-demonic rage to one of more tranquil fury.
"Destroy me?! You're just a dame! A human da-" Gershfin tried to say before he was interrupted by a Haki-powered punch to the jaw.
"No talking. Only destruction," Zinnia said.
She followed with a punch to the gut, and another punch to his jaw. She wasn't even bothering using her martial arts training at this point; all she was concerned with was beating the living hell out of the smug, condescending scumbag who hurt her best friend.
"Wh-why are you even using a snake to beat people?!" Gershfin choked out. "If you're so concerned about its safety, you shou-"
"I SAID NO TALKING!" Zinnia shouted as she landed another punch in his gut. He dropped his swords as he staggered.
Zinnia wasn't quite sure how long she wound up beating Gershfin. Seconds? Minutes?
…
Hours?
But at the end of it all, Gershfin was left beaten, battered, and bloody in a heap on the ground, his secretary too stunned to do anything. Zinnia huffed and puffed, then quickly turned on her heel and ran back to the office, where Ruth lay in a pool of her blood after having been impaled on a rapier.
"Ruth! Baby, are you okay?!" Zinnia cried as she crouched down over her beloved snake friend. Ruth let out a weak hiss, and tears began flowing down Zinnia's face as she picked up Ruth's limp body.
"Let us go, there must be an infirmary somewhere in this building! Or, maybe Mister Puerco will be able to help!"
Zinnia left the office carrying Ruth, and turned to Hilda, the secretary.
"Please, miss secretary, where is there an infirmary in this building?"
Hilda, not wanting to be on the receiving end of a beatdown like Gershfin was, peeped "seventh floor."
"Thank you, ma'am," Zinnia said before taking off into the hallway.
—
"Think, Schwarz! Think!" he thought to himself as he listened to the massive swarm of insects on the other side of the door. "I can't attack this guy directly, or else I'll get stung and bitten six ways from Sunday! And he has Tizona!"
He flashed back to his fight with Sirhan Princip in the Panipuri Kingdom.
"Try to be more creative with your Devil Fruit. Your attacks were pathetically predictable."
"Hm…" Schwarz muttered. "Let's see… I got it!"
A lightbulb appeared above Schwarz's head. Much to his confusion, as lightbulbs were a rarity in this world.
After disposing of the lightbulb, Schwarz spawned a portal right in front of himself and its companion in the office right behind Beegyoven and the swarm. He reached his hand through, grabbed Beegyoven's collar from behind, and dragged him out, leaving the swarm behind.
Beegyoven's eyes flashed red as he was pulled through. As Schwarz let go of his collar, Beegyoven swiveled around with a roundhouse kick at Schwarz's jaw. Schwarz managed to catch Beegyoven's foot, and followed with a kick of his own to Beegyoven's gut.
As Beegyoven reeled from this, Schwarz growled "give me the sword."
Beegyoven responded with "very poor choice of words," as he thrust Tizona at Schwarz.
Schwarz's lightning fast reflexes kicked in, however, and he threw up a pair of holes so that Beegyoven wound up stabbing himself in the back. Beegyoven stumbled forward from this, and was promptly met with a Haki-powered punch to the jaw, Tizona still stuck in his back.
Schwarz reached into a new portal and grabbed the sword, yanking it out and brandishing it in a threatening manner. Bees flew out of the stab wound in Beegyoven's back and began to repair it.
"Let's finish this, you freaky fish… bee… guy…" Schwarz said, coating the sword with Haki.
"Chihaha… that the best insult you got?" Beegyoven asked, assuming a fighting stance as bees and other stinging and biting insects poured out of his mouth.
Schwarz lunged forward with his sword raised. Beegyoven responded by sending a swarm at him. But Schwarz was fast, and teleported behind Beegyoven and the swarm, then delivered a mighty, Haki-fueled slash to Beegyoven's back, drawing a significant amount of blood this time instead of the honey he had been getting. Haki attacks the true self of an opponent, allowing the user to hit even Devil Fruit users who would normally not be hurt by such attacks.
"Grrrrr!" Beegyoven seethed through clenched teeth as he lurched forward due to the pain.
Schwarz once again grabbed Beegyoven by the back of his collar and said "I don't know if Shaska wants you alive or not, but as first mate, I'm making an executive decision based on how you scumbags are aligned with Minus World. I'll deal with the consequences later."
He yanked Beegyoven backward with his immense strength, spawning a hole behind him as he did so. Beegyoven went flying through the hole… whose companion was outside the window of his office, ten stories up.
Beegyoven fell and fell, before finally Schwarz spawned another hole at the bottom and kept him going until he reached terminal velocity. It was at that point that Schwarz stuck Tizona through a hole and covered it with his Haki. Beegyoven landed on it at top speed and became skewered on it.
Schwarz withdrew the sword and wiped the blood off as Beegyoven landed on the ground outside the building with a weak thud. Schwarz sheathed his sword and shook his head before heading out into the hallway.
"Freaky bee guy."
—-
Shostagyovich bolted up the stairs back to the tenth floor, clutching his bleeding eye stalk, now missing an eye. He flung the door to the stairwell open, only to be greeted with a…
BANG!
…and the loss of his other eye stalk, leaving him completely blind without his Haki.
As he howled in agony, Ren lowered her rifle, smoke billowing out the end. She had positioned herself at the end of the long hallway, opposite the stairwell.
"Hoo. I'm glad gambit actually worked," she muttered.
"MY EYES!" Shostagyovich shouted. "WHY IS IT ALWAYS THE EYES?!"
He began making a mad dash toward Ren's location, using his Haki as a guide. He pulled two of his right fists back to punch at her… but due to how Haki works, he could only see Ren's aura, not the grenades she was holding.
Ren pulled the pins and threw them right in his path, where they exploded and blew another hole in the floor. The carapace around Shostagyovich's legs finally shattered, and he fell through the floor, only barely managing to catch himself with his top pair of hands.
Ren walked over to him, pulling out her last fragmentation grenade. He noticed this thanks to his Haki.
"Listen, human girl, spare me! I'll make it worth your while! I can give you riches beyond your wildest dreams if you work for me!"
"Are you richer than Shaska?" Ren bluntly asked as she pulled the pin.
"N-no…"
"Goodbye," Ren said, dropping the grenade as she walked past the hole. As it exploded, Ren wished she had a pair of sunglasses for dramatic effect.
Ren made her way down the hallway at a brisk pace. As she did, she came across Zinnia and Schwarz leaving the offices where their battles took place. Zinnia was carrying an injured Ruth while bleeding profusely out her chest; Schwarz was absolutely covered in bee stings.
"You guys okay?!" Ren called out as she ran up to them.
"Ruth has been badly injured. I need to get her to Puerco or an infirmary!" Zinnia declared.
Ren stared at Zinnia's bleeding chest. Zinnia noticed this.
"Um… I believe the expression is 'my eyes are up here'…"
Ren blushed and shouted "that's not what I'm staring at! You are bleeding severely!"
She turned to Schwarz and exclaimed "and what happened to you?! Why are you covered in insect bites?"
"Fish guy had a crazy Devil Fruit ability," Schwarz said, scratching at some of his mosquito bites. "You're not looking too good yourself, Ren. You look like you walked through a bomb factory."
Ren blushed at him saying her name. "He cares!" she thought.
"That shrimp guy could punch really hard. So hard he could make air explode."
"I must go look for Puerco," Zinnia said, running off to the stairwell. "I will meet up with you two again later!"
As Zinnia descended, Ren blushed and turned to Schwarz.
"I guess that leaves just us…"
"I need to talk to Shaska," he said, spawning a portal. "I learned that this company is tied to Minus World now."
Ren's eyes shot open at this. "We must hurry back to top floor!"
Schwarz gestured toward his portal. "Ladies first."
Ren nodded and jumped through. Schwarz followed soon after.
—
As the Mercury Collective survivors engaged the Kemurchants, Gyozart threw his yo-yo arm at Johnson holding a sword. It spun rapidly.
"RAZOR WHIRL!"
Johnson simply caught the blade with one of the hands from his robot backpack and activated its electricity. However, due to Gyozart's arms being attached by rope, he didn't get shocked.
"Hm," was all Johnson had to say to this.
Gyozart then flung his other arm in an attempt to wrap it around Johnson's ostrich neck. He succeeded, but Johnson transformed into his full ostrich form, allowing him to slip out.
Gyozart then pulled his arms back and lunged at Johnson. Johnson simply intercepted him with a mighty kick from his ostrich legs. As Gyozart reeled from this, Johnson shifted back to his half-ostrich form and pulled his wing arms back as far as he could. He started making tiny micro-flaps of his wings, and spinning air currents began to appear in front of him and Gyozart. He then made a giant flap as hard as he could, creating a massive spinning air current that (figuratively) tore Gyozart to shreds.
"OSTRICH HURRICANE!"
Gyozart was thrown around like a ragdoll and slammed into the wall, leaving a massive imprint. Johnson dashed over and delivered a final powerful kick, sending Gyozart through the wall and into the wall of the next office over.
As Gyozart lay there unconscious, Johnson shifted back into his human form, inspecting himself for any damage.
"Hm. Not even a scratch on me," he said. "How pathetic. I guess middle management isn't all it's cracked up to be."
He looked down the hallway at the Kemurchants and Mercury Collective survivors fighting; fortunately, the latter were winning, though not without casualties.
"So, which way did Lulupo go again?" Johnson mused. "I think he went that way… but the stairwell is this way. Which way to the infirmary, I wonder…"
He wandered around for a bit and came to a directory.
"Hm. That's convenient," he muttered. "Seems like the infirmary is on the seventh floor. Then where the hell is Lulupo going?"
Lulupo had made it back to the stairwell and began descending, having run around the ninth floor in a circle without noticing the directory due to the confusion of the battle. As he descended, Puerco began to moan again.
"Puerco, darling, we should almost be to an infirmary!"
"Ooooohhhhhh… how do you know?"
"I… don't," Lulupo replied, wincing.
The pair came to the eighth floor, where fortunately, the coast seemed to be clear. Lulupo laid Puerco down gently, then extended a small hair tendril.
"This might… probably… will definitely sting," Lulupo said. He stuck the hair tendril into Puerco's bullet wound, causing the smaller man to scream in pain.
"Not so loud, darling! You'll draw attention to us!" Lulupo chided as he dug around in Puerco's shoulder.
"Owowow… YOU try getting hair shoved into an open wound!" Puerco growled. "That hair hasn't even been properly sterilized!"
Sooner rather than later, Lulupo managed to dig out the bullet, and dropped it right next to Puerco.
"How's that?" Lulupo asked, picking him up to his feet.
"Ugh… better I guess, but I'm still bleeding like a motherf-"
"Intruders!" shouted a Kemurchant. A squad of Kemurchants rounded the corner, guns drawn and pointed right at the Worldwide Smoke officers.
Puerco clutched his shoulder and muttered "shit."
Lulupo, on the other hand, wasted no time leaping forward and snatching the bullets out of the air easily with his hair. He quickly dispatched the Kemurchants and turned back to Puerco.
"Let's hurry and find that infirmary so we can stitch you up properly, darling!"
"Hey, is that a directory?" Puerco asked.
Sure enough, right next to Lulupo was another directory, with the building's infirmary labeled on the seventh floor.
"Well, how about that…" Lulupo said.
The two hurried back to the stairwell, where they bumped into Zinnia carrying the injured Ruth.
"Oh, hello, Mister… Miss… Lulupo and Mister Puerco. Please! I need you to help fix Ruth up!" Zinnia pleaded. "There is an infirmary on the floor below! We must hurry!"
"Zinnia, darling, you look quite injured, yourse-"
"I DO NOT CARE!" Zinnia shouted. "Ruth needs help! If she dies, I… I…"
Tears began to form in her eyes.
"I do not know what I will do!"
"Why do you bring her into combat then?" Puerco asked, which earned him a smack from Lulupo.
"Please, Mister Puerco!"
"That's Doctor Puerco, but yeah, let's get her fixed up. After we stitch up my shoulder."
Zinnia gave a tearful nod, and they bolted downstairs to look for the infirmary. Johnson came down soon after them.
TO BE CONTINUED