"Miss you? Not particularly," said Miwagyo, flicking ash off her cigar.

Shaska looked around the room, making mental notes of all the carnage: the damage to the walls and ceiling, broken glass strewn everywhere, dead Kemurchants, as well as her son's unconscious, crushed neck body near the door. She locked eyes with Roxanne and asked "you do that?", to which Roxanne nodded.

"Good work, Roxanne," Shaska said, blowing smoke with a smile. She pulled out a stack of cash and tossed it to her subordinate, who caught it and smiled back.

Shaska then walked over to Zeimaru, nudged his unconscious body with her tentacle-foot, then crouched down next to him, picking up his head by his hair.

"I guess you learned not to mess with Worldwide Smoke, didn't ya, brat?" she asked before dropping his head.

Miwagyo was not at all amused by this, and finally stood up, sarcastically clapping her numerous hands.

"Very nice, Shaska. You and your lousy employee have managed to survive this far. But this fight is far from over."

Shaska cracked her knuckles and said "is it though? It's two on one now."

It was then that one of Schwarz's holes appeared in the office, and Ren stepped through, followed by Schwarz himself. Schwarz was covered in bee stings and mosquito bites, Ren had her shirt blown open, was missing several teeth, and had her face covered in blood and soot.

"Make that four on one," Shaska said, flicking ash off her cigar.

She turned to the new arrivals and exclaimed "you guys look like crap! I'd hate to see the other guys!"

Schwarz and Ren rolled their eyes before Shaska added "where's everyone else?"

"Clearing out the lower floors," said Schwarz. "Zinnia is heading to the infirmary."

Shaska cocked her head to the side with a confused look on her face. "Zinnia is…?"

Ren pinched the bridge of her nose. "The one with the snake. C'mon, Shaska, you know this."

"Shaska! Kemurchant Enterprises is allied with Minus World!" Schwarz declared.

Shaska's eyes shot open at this, and she turned to Miwagyo, who promptly looked away and started whistling nonchalantly.

"Honest to God, Miwagyo, I can't tell which is worse: siding with Minus World, or letting the employees unionize!"

"The first one is obviously worse!" Schwarz, Ren, and Roxanne shouted in unison.

Miwagyo stepped out from behind her desk and casually strolled over to Shaska. "Shaska, Shaska, Shaska… I'm just playing for the winning si-"

She was interrupted by a Haki-powered punch in the nose from Shaska as soon as she was in striking distance. She went flying into her desk, breaking it.

"What you're doing is supporting tyranny!" Shaska angrily exclaimed.

Miwagyo pulled herself up and spat out a tooth. "Got another one in ya?"

"Give me my company back!"

"Oh, please. We're making money hand over fist now that I'M in charge. And what's best for business is to ensure that Balthasar von Esens and Minus World come out on top! Panda Corp. will be no more after he's done!"

"Damn it, Miwagyo, there's more to life than short sighted profits!" Shaska declared.

Everyone else in the room who was conscious was taken aback at the fact that Shaska of all people was saying that.

"…I'm sorry, what?" Miwagyo asked, completely nonplussed.

Shaska lowered her head and took her cigar out of her mouth.

"My kids…" she said solemnly. "They hate me because I prioritized this company over raising them properly. And for the longest time, I hated them too because they look so much like that scumbag who knocked me up."

She looked back up and continued with "but no more. I'm gonna beat that king guy and prove to them that I'm more than just a walking money obsession. The brat there honestly believes I'm the one who slaughtered that city. So, to fix that, I'm gonna do what the government refuses to do and take down Minus World. And to do that, I'm gonna need my navy back. And to do that-"

Miwagyo lunged at her with fists made of pointed glass. Shaska's eyes flashed red, and she intercepted by grabbing Miwagyo's wrists with her hand and two tentacles.

"I'm gonna have to beat the shit out of you," she growled.

Miwagyo responded by shooting glass spikes through Shaska's hand and tentacles. But all Shaska did was wince and inhale sharply, not letting go. Instead, she delivered another mighty, Haki-enhanced punch to Miwagyo's face, sending the latter flying again. Giant glass shards were left impaled in Shaska's hand and tentacles, which she pulled out while wincing.

"Face it, I've got you cornered, Miwagyo. Now, why don't you come with-"

"Unlike you, Shaska, I haven't done anything illegal. I don't cook the books or cheat on my taxes," Miwagyo retorted, coating Shaska's name with as much venom as she could.

"You… you really think siding with a terrorist organization bent on world conquest isn't illegal?" Shaska asked, crossing her arms.

The gears slowly turned in Miwagyo's head as she realized what she was doing was, indeed, a criminal conspiracy to commit treason against the World Government. Her eyes lit up, and she punched one of her palms.

"Ah!" she exclaimed.

"YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T REALIZE THAT?!" the members of Worldwide Smoke shouted.

Shaska shook her head. "So! It looks like you have three options now. I'm guessing the king guy isn't the forgiving type, either. So, you can die to him, die to me, or spend the rest of your days rotting in prison with the other executives."

"Oooh, I don't think those guys are going to prison," said Schwarz.

"What, did you kill them?" Shaska asked, nonchalantly.

"Yup," Schwarz and Ren replied in unison.

"Were we… not supposed to?" Ren asked, rubbing the back of her head.

"Eh. They knew what they were getting into when they signed up for this job. Gonna have a hell of a time telling their wives, though," Shaska said, puffing on her cigar.

She turned back to Miwagyo and asked "so. What'll it be?"

"I choose a fourth option," Miwagyo responded. She crouched down and touched all six hands to the ground. Waves of glass shot out in all directions.

"CRYSTAL CATASTROPHE!"

Huge pillars of razor sharp glass shot up at the feet of the members of Worldwide Smoke, who each barely managed to dodge. The pillars extended up to the ceiling of the large office, and pretty soon, the walls and floor were all covered in glass. The members of Worldwide Smoke had jumped onto the glass, while Zeimaru was half-encased in it, still barely managing to breathe with his crushed neck.

"Mihihihi…" Miwagyo laughed as she absorbed her body into the glass, completely disappearing as she did so.

—-

As the battle between the various grunts raged on upstairs, the other officers of Worldwide Smoke (Lulupo, Johnson, Puerco, and Zinnia) made it to the infirmary, easily dispatching a squadron of Kemurchants who were patrolling the seventh floor. Puerco promptly ripped his shirt off, and Lulupo got to work stitching up his shoulder wound.

"How'd you enjoy your first battle, Puerc?" Johnson asked with a sarcastic air in his voice.

"Owowow…" Puerco moaned as the needle pierced his flesh. "I think I'm just gonna stay back and patch you guys up. Maybe teach some of those Mercury Collective guys first aid."

Lulupo finished stitching up the wound, after which Puerco exclaimed "and stop calling me 'Puerc'!"

"Excuse me, Doctor Puerco, could you please examine and heal Ruth now?" Zinnia pleaded, holding her beloved snake tight.

"I'm not exactly a vet, but I guess I could give it a shot," Puerco responded, rubbing the back of his head. He took the snake (which was longer than he was tall) and laid her down on the table, where he immediately began feeling for her pulse.

After a moment's examination, he looked up and said "well, the good news is that her vital organs appear to be intact. I'll try and patch her up, just don't go swinging her around like a club if you don't want her getting hurt like this again."

"It is customary among my people to use our snakes as weapons," Zinnia explained. "Most of the other women of Amazon Lily use their snake friends as a bow and arrow. However, I am terrible at archery, so Ruth and I adapted our fighting style accordingly."

Puerco nodded and stuffed Ruth's wound with gauze to stop the bleeding, then wrapped her up with bandages. Ruth let out a weak hiss of pain as her wound was stuffed. Afterward, Zinnia rushed over and picked the snake up, holding her close in a tight ball.

"It is okay, Ruth… you will be okay…" Zinnia said, reassuring herself more than Ruth, in all honesty.

"So, what's the plan now?" Johnson asked, crossing his wing arms.

"Well, darlings, I say we assist our lower ranking compatriots in clearing out this building and asserting our dominance, wouldn't you say?" Lulupo said.

"What's our endgame here, anyway?" Puerco asked, putting his shirt back on.

"This is not a game, Doctor Puerco," Zinnia interjected.

"Like, how does beating up a bunch of rank and file employees do anything but create resentment?" Puerco continued.

"You know what they say," Johnson began. "Money talks, BS walks. These guys are really dedicated to not working for Shaska. So us throwing some weight around and flashing some cash seems like a good way to get them in line."

"But… none of us are overweight…" Zinnia said tilting her head to the side in confusion. "And the only one with any money is-"

"Okay, can we teach this girl how to not think so literally, too?" Puerco interrupted, to which Lulupo and Johnson nodded.

"Darlings, let's head back upstairs. We can give Miss Zinnia idiom lessons another time," said Lulupo with a slight flourish. "Let's get back upstairs."

Puerco and Johnson nodded. "Roger," the latter said.

"But Gold Roger is-" Zinnia tried to say, only to be interrupted by her three compatriots shouting her name.

—-

"Mihihihihihihi…"

Miwagyo's sinister chuckle echoed around the office. Shaska, Schwarz, Roxanne, and Ren were completely surrounded by razor sharp glass.

"This is bad…" Roxanne muttered.

"It'll be fine," said Shaska. "We just have to draw her out and deck her one more ti-"

A wave of glass shot out from behind Shaska, to which she promptly swiveled around and delivered a Haki-powered punch to the wave, shattering it.

"Mihihihi… NO ONE has defeated the Crystal Catastrophe before!" Miwagyo taunted. "I'm invincible!"

"We have an ace in the hole, so to speak," Shaska said, turning to Schwarz, who nodded.

Glass spikes shot out at the group from all directions, but Schwarz threw up a series of portals to redirect the glass back to where it came from.

"This is getting nowhere fast," Shaska said, flicking ash off her cigar. "Hmmmm… Pretty b-Schwarz! Get us and the brat out of here! To a lower floor!"

"Got it," Schwarz responded. He clapped his hands, and a giant hole opened up under the feet of Worldwide Smoke. Another one opened up under Zeimaru's unconscious body, and all five of them fell down to the ninth floor.

As everyone (except Zeimaru) found their bearings, Ren crossed her arms and asked "well, now what? I think we have stalemate upstairs."

Shaska bowed her head in thought for a moment. "We can't let it end here. We've come too far to just let it be a stalemate. Shipwright gir-Ren, got any more grenades?"

"Used them all during my fight with giant shrimp."

"Mrrr…" was all Shaska could respond with. Then, she got an idea. She turned and looked at Zeimaru's unconscious body, then said "hey, Roxanne, unbend the brat's neck, I got a plan, and we need as many Haki users as we can find."

Roxanne nodded and did as she was told, stooping down and reshaping Zeimaru's neck to where he could actually breathe properly and blood was flowing to his brain at more than a trickle.

Shaska kicked her son in the gut to wake him up. "Nap time's over, brat!" she shouted, causing him to start hacking up a lung as he stirred.

The other three members of Worldwide Smoke couldn't help but bury their faces in their hands and collectively think "mother of the year…"

Zeimaru struggled to his feet and pulled out a cigarette, then lit it up.

"And don't think of attacking us, brat, it's four on one now," Shaska said as she puffed on her cigar.

Zeimaru coughed a little bit more as he took a drag, then said "what do you want, mother? Why did you save me?"

"Like any good mother, I don't want to see my child die," Shaska responded.

"So that's why you left Zeiko for dead in the Panip-"

"You're gonna help us now!" Shaska interrupted.

Zeimaru's brow furrowed at this. "Why on EARTH would I do that? I hate you."

"Because that snake, Miwagyo, is even worse," she responded. "That snake, Miwagyo, is siding with Minus World in their plan for world conquest. In other words, if they succeed in toppling the World Government, you're out of a job."

Zeimaru flicked ash off his cigarette and blew some smoke. He thought for a moment and said "loath as I am to admit it, you have a point. Assuming what you say is true, of course."

"As awful of a mom as I was, I never lied to you, did I?"

Six-year-old Zeimaru and Zeiko were minding their own business, playing with their toys, when twenty-four-year-old Shaska swam into the room. They turned to their mother with smiles on their faces.

"Brats, you're absolute disappointments and I wish you were never born. Your existence is a drain on me, and I'd be much happier and wealthier without you two ankle-biters around."

Tears immediately began welling up in the children's eyes.

"Every time I look at your faces, I see that bastard who knocked me up. Don't forget that your father is an absolute deadbeat and deserves nothing but scorn. Capisce?"

The young Zeimaru and Zeiko burst into tears, sobbing their eyes out.

"Understood? Now, let's go get some ice cream so you stop your wailing."

"Y'know, I'll give you that much," Zeimaru muttered.

"Exactly. So perk the hell up and let's go put the hurt on that snake, Miwagyo. I need as many Haki users as I can get to break all her glass."

Then, Shaska got another idea, promptly pulled out her baby transponder snail, and dialed up Lulupo.

Purupurupurucaaaaalick

"Yes, darling?"

"Bald prett-Lulupo, it's Shaska. You busy?"

Lulupo looked around at the piles of defeated Kemurchants and said "not anymore, darling."

"Great. You and snake girl get up here to the ninth floor. I need everyone on the crew with Haki to help out here."

"Understood!"

caaaaalick

—

Miwagyo was alone in the office, and while everything was still covered in glass, she assumed her humanoid form again and went over to her desk. She picked up the receiver on her transponder snail and began dialing.

purupurupurucaaalick

"Yes, vhat is it?" said the deep, imposing voice on the other end.

"Comrade Balthasar, we have a situation. Shaska kno-"

"I vanna talk to her!" Rusila interrupted.

"Rusila! You vill contain yourself!" von Esens ordered his younger sister. "Vhat iss zis about Shaska?!"

"She knows, comrade. I know you have business on Vicks Davis Island soon, but-"

"Comrade Mivagyo, if you do not clean up your mess, I vill haff your head ze next time you show your face in front off me! Do I make myself clear?!"

It was then that pounding began on the office door, and soon after the door was broken off its hinges and the glass in front of it was completely shattered. In the doorway was Shaska, flanked by Schwarz, Lulupo, Zinnia, and Zeimaru.

"Oh. You're back to normal," was all Shaska had to say.

"Shaska!" Miwagyo called.

"Hm? Shaska ze Greedy, eh?" von Esens asked, intrigued. "Comrade Mivagyo, hand ze receiver ofer to Shaska. Ve need to talk."

TO BE CONTINUED