LW: We see the aftermath of Law's shenanigans, and a reunion of Straw Hats! Enjoy
Rubber King and Mirror Master - New World Chaos: Gateway Drugs, Twitchy Greetings
Outside the lab
Law stood over Smoker's unconscious body for a few moments longer, letting his haki pulse and scan for threats, before giving up for now as there was nothing worth dealing with at the moment 'I have what I came here for, the rest will die eventually' the Warlord shrugs as he heads for the door, still clutching the Vice Admiral's heart, dismissing his Room as he does.
A little down the line
"Keep going Crocodandy, we're almost there!" Luffy cheers, jabbing at Brownbeard to make him go faster, with limited success.
"Um, does anyone know what that is?" Robin asks, pointing to the amalgam of bits and pieces sticking out of the ground just in front of them.
"Looks like a ship, well it used to be one it seems" Usopp hums, climbing up to Luffy's level for a better look "Yeah, that's a Warship alright" he nods, then tenses as he considers what could be powerful enough to do THAT to a Warship.
"So the navy is here? It must have been while I was being chased by that ghost, because they weren't here when I was here with the Sunny" Brook wonders, confused more than anything else.
"Looks like the Sunny's gone too, probably by whoever kidnapped the rest of the crew" Zoro notes, just as Luffy spots someone walking through the snow.
"Hey, I know that guy" Luffy chirps, then starts yelling "HEY! Over here! What you doing in an icebox like this? Remember me? You saved my life that one time" he continues shouting, which has Law turn to look at him, his eyes widened for a moment, as well as a shiver of panic, as Straw Hats equal mayhem and destruction wherever they go.
"Straw Hat" he grumbles.
"Wait a minute, wasn't he one of the ones from the Auction House?" Zoro hums, something about the guy, either his sword or his hat seemed familiar to the swordsman.
"The quieter of the 2 that's for sure. Trafalgar Law if I'm not mistaken" Robin agrees "To run into him here of all places, is quite strange"
"Right, that guy. Hey Traffy, it's me Luffy! How you been?" Luffy continues screaming, now with a name to match to a face, more or less, before bouncing on Brownbeard's centaur half to talk to the others "He saved me back at Marineford, patched me up after he got me out of there in his sub. He's a nice guy, I should go see why he's here. Be back soon" Luffy explains, before jumping off the alligator and running over to his fellow Supernova.
"He's about to do something stupid again, isn't he?" Brook asks with a sigh, getting nods from the other 3.
"Hi Traffy, been a while. Thanks for saving me back after the war. Anyway, weird running into each other again on an island like this, guess the New World is smaller than people think" Luffy chuckles as he reaches the Warlord, then pauses, looking confused "Where are the rest of your crew, it's weird seeing you by yourself"
Law frowns "It looks like you pulled through after all Straw Hat. Glad my treatment took, but you don't need to thank me for it, I did it on a whim, that's all" he shrugs.
"Oh, a Tsundere like Chopper, I get it" Luffy nods sagely, causing Law (and the rest of his crew who were just entering earshot) to spit-take at his comment.
"That's not it at all you idiot" Law groans, pinching the bridge of his nose "What I'm trying to say is we're not friends, there's no connection between us, we're rival pirates heading for the same prize, that makes us enemies" he stresses.
Luffy just chuckles "Yeah, yeah I heard it all before, pirates, rivals, competitors, enemies, I don't really care. You helped me, and therefore I give you thanks, it's the very least I can do. Funny though, 1st Jinbe and now you, I'm getting a lot of overdue thank yous checked off my list" Luffy giggles as he goes off on a tangent.
"Um guys, I think that's a marine over there" Ussop whispers, pointing to the body a little behind Law, then noticing the effects with him "Oh crap, that's Smoker isn't it?" he hisses, Zoro perking up as he knows what that means.
"A little help over here Trafalgar!" Brownbeard bellows, just as more trouble comes the Warlord's way
"SMOKER!"
"Smokie!"
"Yep, that's the marines" Brook hums "We should probably run away, right?"
"Most likely, especially as it sounds like Smoker's little apprentice is here too" Robin purrs "And we'll already have our hands full with Law and whoever's running this facility, we don't need the marines to add to it"
Hmm?" Luffy clicks his tongue and turns, just as Tashigi reaches Smoker, starting to check and fret over the Vice Admiral "Hey look, it's Smokie and his guys… also the sword lady Tatsumaki. Hey guys, how you been?" Luffy shouts, waving over at them.
'Straw Hat, so that's where the others were' Tashigi notes, her focus momentarily drawn from Smoker by his yelling, then despite her efforts, they kept going, scanning the battlefield until they locked with Zoro's. That probably would have allowed her to keep her cool, had her hand not run over the square hole in his chest left by Law's heart removal technique, at which point all Hell broke loose! "Damn you. DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU!" Tashigi cries, eyes a glacial blue as snow white highlights spread through her hair, icicles erupting from the ground around her, and even Luffy can tell this was a very bad sign.
"Shit, this is going to be messy" Zoro grimaces, surprising his crew mates.
'For fuck sake, not this again' Law grimaces as he blocks a strike from the manically pissed Yuki "Room. Heartswap Shuffle!" he cries, double tapping Tashigi and causing her to drop like a rock.
"He took her out in a single shot? No, she's not dead" Zoro mutters to himself, he could feel something coming from the marine, though he'll refrain from kicking Law's ass for the moment, knowing she wouldn't want him fighting her battles for her.
"No, but whatever he did, was quite a powerful technique. But also telegraphed like a rampaging SeaKing, she could probably have avoided it if she wasn't hyped up on pure rage" Robin critiques, none of the straw hats in earshot having an argument, especially as Law seemed to use long sweeping motions when he counterattacked the marine Captain.
"Soooooo, is he an enemy, or isn't he? He took out a marine, but they're supposed to be our enemy" Brook asks, curiously.
"That's kind of complicated, mostly because it's Smoker and Tashigi, we're kind of on good terms with them" Ussop explains.
"From what Kaos tells me, Zoro's banging one of them" Robin shares with a giggle.
"Doing a Vice Admiral, very impressive Roronoa" Brook nods, this getting a crack to the skull from his sheathed sword.
"You idiot… It's Tashigi. She's also the one who got my eye, albeit while possessed by a demonic sword, but it still counts" the swordsman adds.
"Only you would fall for someone who got possessed by a sword" Ussop sighs, then turns to Luffy" Come on, the rest of the marines will be here any second, that guy just took out 2 of their best guys!"
"That's fair. Oh one more thing!" Luffy says as he turns
"Head into the lab, round the back, you'll find what you're looking for. We'll meet again Straw Hat, this isn't goodbye,as much as I wish it was" Law preempts, getting a thankful smile from Luffy as he leaps back onto the alligator centaur.
Elsewhere, outside the facility
"Can't you do something about the cold, I don't think the kids can last much longer?" Kaya frets as everyone shivers.
"Given we've lost both of our primary magic users, I'm going to guess no" Nami sighs, frowning as he notices Artemis and Valentina looked run down and inattentive, like they've been going all day without any breaks.
"And in a similar vein, if we asked Franky to use Artemis' power, he'd probably torch the lot of us with how little control he has over that much magic" Sanji agrees, the former cyborg unable to argue with the statement.
"Then I guess it's up to me" the head states, surprising everyone "I need all of you to place a leaf upon your head!" he orders…. To which the response is crickets.
"You idiot! We're in a frozen hellscape, there are no trees to get leaves from!" Valentina screams, adding irritability to Nami's list of symptoms.
"Fine, get some stones then, just find enough for everyone and do it quickly!" the head argues, to which the pirates comply, hopeful that whatever he's doing will work, but also just to shut him up.
"We got the rocks, now explain your magical bullshit quickly, before most of us freeze to death!" Franky grumbles, trying to hold in the sparks dancing across her fingertips.
The head scrunches up his face, then yells "POOF" at which point the entire group is enveloped in a pink cloud of smoke, which when it clears, everyone is dressed in full winter outfits.
"This is, so weird, but also really comfy" Alvida grins, noticing the coat clung to her curves without feeling suffocating "Wait, how come none of your guys even suggested this?" she shouts at the 3 primary magic users.
"Because it's not magic, it's Devil fruit shenanigans" Kaos sighs "I didn't notice because it's just a head, but Kinemon is a Devil fruit user. Paramecia class, some kind of clothing fruit or something"
"I only mildly understand what you just said, but yes I did develop this skill after eating a strange fruit, afterward I was able to disguise myself and others with a simple flare of my magic. Also, given the nature of the clothing, they will disappear if you remove them." the head explains/confirms his status as a Devil fruit user.
"Well we outside of Wano, call the fruit you ate Devil fruits, because they give you powers in exchange for not being able to swim anymore" Kaos explains.
"That's one issue sorted but what's up with you, I topped up on cola before we got kidnapped and I'm pretty sure I'm still at like 80% at least" Franky asks, crossing her arms over her chest, before swiftly uncrossing and moving them to below her bustline.
"Not. Cola. Magic" Artemis pants, breathing slow and heavy, while Valentina just grunts.
"I don't understand, did Law do something else to them?" Vivi asks, confused and concerned.
"If by something else you mean put 2 magic users in the bodies of people with none…. Then yes. What's his done is artificially induce magical exhaustion in both of them, because their bodies are used to the energy flowing through their bodies, so if their body has an inactive core, they're quite literally running on empty" Kaos explains with a hum and a frown, then turns as Franky lets out a cursed hiss and covers her eyes.
"Yeah. Don't look at Pops with Mage Sight active. It's like staring into a Black Hole and a Supernova at the same time" Artemis drawls as he slowly blinks "I don't think I've ever been this tired"
"Can we do something, I don't want them to get hurt just because they swapped with Franky and I?" Chopper frets and twitches.
Kaos nods "I believe so, just not out here in this eternal blizzard"
"Hey, I see the others! Hi guys we'll be right over!" Luffy shouts and giggles, drawing all eyes to him.
"§Chadros Higelyges§" Kaos hisses, a viscous smirk flickers across his features.
"Well, this is going to be fun to explain to the others" Alvida hums with a sarcastic grin, then frowns "I'm hungry"
Transition to a safe location
"Yeah this is nice, out of the cold but not so hot it's burning again" Ussop sighs as the Straw Hats, and their temporary tag alongs made camp in some of the ruins of Vegapunk's old lab.
"This one reminds me of the old building, just blown to crap" Franky muses.
"Can you finally explain what happened while we were gone?" Robin asks with a sigh, eyes focusing mostly on the members of her family who were acting oddly
"Law body swapped us, and not even Psycho believes he can swap us back right now, so we're kind of stuck like this until we find the bastard again" Sanji fumes, getting a flick to the back of the head from Shirahoshi of all people, mostly out of concern as Nami's body was starting to turn a peach colour.
"Didn't we just run into Law earlier?" Ussop asks his group, getting nods from Zoro and Brook.
"Yep, and he said we'd meet up again eventually, so he could fix everyone then" Brook suggests.
"Eventually isn't good enough, I feel like I'm about to pass out" Valentina snarls.
Kaos sighs, but agrees with the ninja "Chopper, Franky!" the 2 look over at him confused "Do I have permission to activate your magical cores?"
"If it's to help Valentina then ok, but you guys need to help me control it later" Chopper nods.
"Helping the kiddo and giving myself a SUPER upgrade for later? No problem Special K!" Franky cheers, posing and getting slapped because of how much jiggle her movements cause.
Kaos sighs deeply, then focusing on his hand it begins to glow a deep indigo "Now, this shouldn't be a problem or even hurt, so long as I don't slap you in the face doing so. Ready Artemis?"
"You got it pops" Artemis nods and flashes a thumbs up before the researcher places his hand upon the cyborg's barrel chest, his magic flowing into and igniting his core. There was a hum in the air as light flowed outward from Artemis' chest, glowing lights ran across their skin like circuit lines, before a hearty chuckle began to bubble from deep within, electricity sparking off even as they slide into their pose, and a bolt is fired from their pincer-like hairdo "OH YEAH! I FEEL SUPER!" Artemis bellows, grinning widely "You know, you didn't need to stand there the whole time Pops, things could have gone badly when I cascaded" he states in concern, but Kaos shrugs.
"It's fine, Franky's a lighting primary so I wasn't in any danger, honestly kind of surprised we have like 4 of those on the 1 crew" he notes, smirking before turning to Valentina "Want to go next, then worry about sealing, as I might as well do everything now rather than later?"
"Sure. Also for someone who had none yesterday, a core that's mid-Chunin on day 1 is impressive, let's see where Chopper's at" Valentina hums, switching to Heavy Point to reduce potential backlash. Unlike with Franky-Artemis, Kaos' palm had barely touched the reindeer's chest before he scuttled backward as quick as his talons would allow on the ice, Val's fur bristling in a way that made them initially assume the Doc was another Lightning, until furry fists slammed the ground and a ring of jagged icicles encircled the Reindeer human, the most likely reason for the researcher's hasty retreat.
"Oh, he's just like me. Neat" Brook grins, now wondering if Chopper could also channel Hel energy the same way he could, or if it would just be normal ice.
"Well shit, guess Brook will be doing most of your elemental training when this is over Chopper, I don't have the skills for this sub-element, sorry" Valentina admits awkwardly, much more herself now her energy levels were rising and balancing out again.
"It's fine, something to worry about later I suppose" Chopper shrugs "So, about sealing so I don't blow myself up?"
"Same! I'm already getting glared at by Robin for inhabiting the body of her kid, I don't know what freaky Voodoo she'd do to me if I did any damage to her" Franky adds, eyes shifting fearfully as Artemis' body was much more sensitive to Robin's raging aura than his own had been.
"Ok, we're going to need a 5-element seal, though given Artemis is a Sorceress, maybe a 6-8 Trigram seal might work better" Valentina mutters, remaining in Heavy point due to needing proper fingers even just to draw what he needs in the snow "Also my seal will have to go on my stomach, as most of my back contains the Seal of the Sky" he adds before returning to drawing out the suppression seals.
"Right" Chopper nods, then strips off "This is so cold, can you work faster?"
"I'm doing my be…. CHOPPER YOU IDIOT! Stop showing everyone my tits!" Valentina screams, the reindeer hiding behind Luffy, the correct way for once.
"I'm not an idiot, I know to just roll up my shirt so there's space" Franky states before Robin could say something.
"These look like they should work" Artemis nods, peering over Valentina's shoulder "They should hold back most of it, without putting our bodies into shock or simply moving the exhaustion to Franky and Chopper instead of ourselves. Think you can draw them Pops?"
"We'll just have to find out" Kaos shrugs, Sitting as Franky and Chopper lift their shirts, his long taloned fingers cutting his palm before he drew exactly as was shown to him, both shivering as they could feel the effect start to build, a chill running down their spines as power they didn't even notice was wicked away, thankfully to a tingly rather than a draining level.
"And that's 4 of these problems dealt with, now the last 2" Ussop mutters.
"Nothing we can do, besides try to convince Sanji to not get too angry, as his flames are something his body has adapted to, Nami, not so much" Kaya admits sadly.
"You did also remind him no Tiddy squeezing, yes?" Robin teases, mostly to distract herself from Artemis' situation.
"Unfortunately, but at least it was us, not Nami, she'd probably have strangled him, or smothered him with his own tits, before remembering that it's her body she's murdering" Vivi sighs.
"In that case, maybe we should move on, and make sure everyone knows what's going on in this island" Victor suggests.
"Right! Kaos, I need a whiteboard!" Ussop commands, before getting pointed to the wall, as this lab already had one "Oh, sorry"
Several diagrams being drawn later
"Ok, here's the lowdown on everything. The head you guys found and the legs we found belong to the same guy, a samurai from Wano, technically making him the reason we ended up here in the first place" Ussop begins the presentation "Said distress call being for the Crocotaur we rode in on, rather than us out at sea"
"I went up against his middle part earlier, at least I believe so. It's quite powerful despite having no head or legs, no wonder he was able to cut through all those centaurs so easily" Brook adds.
"I did fight them, but only to rescue my son, Momonosuke. As you can see from the children you rescued, they were doing a lot of bad things to kids here, my son being one of them, I believe." the head defends.
"There are other sections, so maybe your son is with those guys" One of the kids admits.
So how did you go from fighting Centaurs to being in pieces?" Zoro asks.
"Law happened to him" Kaos answers, deciding to cut to the chase "Same as the others, or at least all of them were caused by his Devil fruit fucking around with logic and matter"
"Yes, that dastardly Warlord took his blade and slew me, but yet I didn't die, how disgraceful" The samurai grumbles.
"Wait, TRAFFY'S A WARLORD? When did that happen?" Luffy shouts.
"Sometime while you were training on Ruskina, so, maybe about a year ago" Kaos answered.
"A lot can happen in 2 years, this being just 1 of them" Robin hums.
"Maybe Medusa is in the same place as Momonosuke, it would make all of our lives easier" Artemis suggests/ hopes, at which point Franky passes out from Robin's haki flare.
"What. Happened. To. My. Daughter?" Robin snarls, even the samurai shuffling back as fast as his reunited legs would allow him.
"Come with me" Kaos sighs, his anger having cooled, simply because holding onto it the entire time was pointless, it was simmering but ready to flare into a blazing inferno once they found Medusa's kidnapper "We can discuss this more privately," he says, leading her away from the rest of the group.
"Did I just fuck up?" Artemis asks nervously, while Kaya and Chopper worked on waking up Franky, unsure if they should wait for Robin to finish her outbursts or not.
"No honey, you did nothing wrong" Vivi assures the cyborg artist "Your mother was going to find out regardless, and she needed to be informed sooner rather than later, even if it could have been delivered more, delicately than you did" the princess admits.
"I also wanted to tell her, but wasn't sure if it was my place" Shirahoshi adds, wringing her hands nervously "It was always going to be better coming from you or Kaos"
"So, what happened?" Robin asks, her tone cold and blunt, understandably in the younger pirate's eyes.
"Medusa was in my arms when Caesar's goons showed up and gassed us, I awoke to a distinct lack of white haired child. It was clear she'd been taken by whoever had captured us, though why she was separated from us was unknown until we found the other kids, and I devoured one of his Satyr minions. Basically everyone on this island is a test subject for whatever experiments come to his mind, and he seems to be hyper fixated, on kids at the moment"
"So a 1 ½ year old Medusa is a gold mine for the sick fuck" Robin growls "Especially given she most likely has her daddy's resilience and resistances" she adds, unsure if that was better or worse, leaning on better as it means no matter what Caesar has planned she'll survive long enough for the crew to rescue her"
"She almost certainly does, and don't worry, I will stop at nothing to locate and rescue her from the Gasbag of a sadistic scientist" Kaos promises, his haki flaring, but unlike most people, Robin drew comfort from it's weight, and it's darkness, feeling safe, and assured by his power.
"We just got her back, I'm not losing her, not again" she whimpers, falling into Kaos' embrace, to which he holds her close and hisses into her ear, before carrying her back to the group so Ussop can continue the meeting.
Elsewhere
"This, is really weird"
"You know, the only reason I'm not complaining about what you're doing is because I don't think I can get frostbite anymore" Tashigi grumbles in Smoker's body, trying to remain calm and avoid his body collapsing into smoke "But can you please not smoke as much as you normally do Boss, I don't want the addiction, or the Lung Cancer. Also please tell me you at least kept my bra, even if you're clearly not wearing it" he adds with a hint of irritation.
"I don't know how you can wear such a thing Tashigi" Smoker grunts, shirt open and barely covering her nipples "But given only Law can put us back together we'll have to make do as is. Such as the ship I saw just off shore with the letters C.C. emblazoned on the side" he relays, switching to business mode in order to distract from her heaving tits and growing bloodlust.
"There was a ship, I don't remember seeing one?" One of the G5 mutter "What does it matter, Vice Admiral?"
"For one, if it was from before the explosion and move, the ship would have said PH, for Punk Hazard, or even just a V for Vegapunk, but it isn't. It also has no connection to Trafalgar, as he's known for a bright yellow sub, even before pointing out that CC doesn't fit his name either. But, it IS the initials of whoever Law is working with, the true mastermind of whatever shitshow is being had on this island. And I think I know who that might be, it makes perfect sense him being on this island, he might even have never left. The person responsible for all this, is almost certainly, a former colleague of Dr. Vegapunk, Caesar Clown"
"Caesar Clown?"
"If he used to work for Vegapunk, how comes we never heards nothin bout him?" the G5 marines ask.
Tashigi sighs before butting in "I have something that might be of use, there have been reports several, going back years, of children going missing in this section of the world" he admits with a hint of nerves.
"What, like a kidnapping ring? All the way out here?"
"I mean, the Straw Hats were accompanied by a load of kids, and Captain did say several years, the Straw Hats have only been active for a little over 2 so it can't have been them doing it" a G5 marine adds, agreeing with Tashigi's information.
"We're getting off track, why did none of this information come across my desk, even just the more recent ones given it sounds like this issue preceded both of us" Smoker grumbles, after clocking the marine staring at her tits between the eyes with her jitte "Though I will agree that is seems accidents at sea are a more common occurrence in this area, and not just because Aokiji and Akainu's duel meant the water on the other side of the island is literally on fire. And a concerning number of them, involved children" she sighs
"Well, per the communication department…" Tashigi pauses mid quirk, remembering Smoker's body doesn't need glasses (while smoker was currently having to deal with them fogging from the temp difference of her cold body and the cigar smoke) "...we get a lot of abduction reports from around here, but the newspaper always labels them as accidents at sea, pirates, or simply 'mysterious circumstances' that kind of crap. And while it's possible some of the incidents are just mis reported, there are way too many for it to be a simple coincidence" he concludes
"Meaning the kidnappings, even if not all of them were real, most DID occur, and they ended up here on Punk Hazard, and amongst other things, Law is working for whoever did this. But that's not the only problem, the fact the kidnappings were true, means the articles weren't simply misreported, but deliberately misled to obstruct the crime… by someone within G5" Smoker snarls around her cigar, and the temperature drops to even colder in their cave than outside, even if just for a moment.
"We didn't do it Smokie!"
"Whoever hurts kids are sick fucks!"
"Even most pirates aren't that bad!"
"I'm aware of that, as well as the fact none of you but Tashigi have the competency to actually abduct a child without getting caught mid act if you even get that far, so i didn't suspect any of you morons" The vice admiral sighs, the rest of G5 unsure if they should be relieved or insulted that Smoker and Tashig never even considered any of them as being the leak/mole/traitor "But one thing should be remembered, not even the Navy is immune to corruption, every organisation has bad apples, and our base has at least one who's been helping Law and Caesar kidnap dozens of children over a number of years. And that's not even including the fact we're both still at Law's mercy as he has my heart and is most likely the only person who can swap us back" Smoker mutters, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Maybe not the only person" Tashigi notes, getting a curious look from her superior "You know Mirror Demon's power right? He could in theory, replicate Law's Opi Opi no mi ability and swap us back, but that still leaves you at the mercy of Law until we can retrieve your heart"
Smoker chuckles "Now this I didn't see coming, you actually suggesting we trust a pirate. Well, one you're not sleeping with at least"
"Sir" Tashigi whines.
"No, you have a point… especially considering I don't think we were the only ones Law body swapped" Smoker adds.
"Some of the Straw Hats, so they could already be trying to reverse the effects!"
"Exactly. And as much as I hate to admit it, Straw Hat, has a code of honour, and doesn't just wreck shit for laughs, he's a pirate…. But he's definitely far from the worst there is" the former logia admits, though his tongue feels like ash complimenting a pirate"
"Seems I'm not the only one acting a little out of character today" Tashigi grins.
"If you don't want to get your body back with pierced nipples, I'd suggest you cease that line of thought" Smoker grunts.
"Right, sorry sir!" Tashigi squeaks.
"Anyway, for now, I want ⅓ of you to go procure use a ship, the simplest would probably be the one I saw just past where we arrived" smoker orders, then seeing the blank look on everyone's faces sighs "Go steal it, but try not get caught"
"Oh, that's what you meant. Sorry Boss Lady" A G5 marine chuckles awkwardly.
"Meanwhile, the rest of us are going to find a way into that facility, find my heart, get our bodies back in order and find the sick bastard in charge of all this" Smoker concludes.
Caesar's Lab
"And it's finally done. We have full approval to kill anyone on the island: The Straw Hats, G5, Foxfire Kin'emon, thanks to Joker all will be listed as accidents at Sea" Caesar laughs, then turns to his goons "Capture as many as you can alive though, the more guinea pigs the better. But if you have to, just kill them"
"Understood Master!" the Satyr nods and runs off
YAAAAAAAAAAAWN
Medusa blinks owlishly as she awakens in an unfamiliar location. Inside, cold, weirdo made of smoke or dust or something like Aunt Vivi, oh! Pretty bird lady!
"It seems your newest test subject is awake" Monet hums, then notices the child was just staring at her "Strange one aren't you?"
"Ah good, she's awake, I may have gassed her a little too much when I first retrieved her, but it was best to have a baseline before doing anything to the kid" Caesar muses, entering Medusa's field of vision "Hello little one, My name is Caesar Clown, but you will soon know me, as Master"
Medusa tilts her head, looks the scientist dead in the eye and states "Papa kill you. Mama kill Fish guys, she kill you too"
"Oh, seems you have a cocky one, or just a smarter one that you would expect, what is she 3?" Monet muses as she moves to investigate.
"Pretty bird!" Medusa chirps, giving a smile with less teeth than the harpy expected.
"How come you get called pretty and I'm just told her parents are going to kill me?" Caesar whines.
"Maybe it's cause you have creeper vibes, maybe she can tell you kidnapped her, who knows? You gonna inject her, drug her, or whatever?" Monet dismisses, adjusting her glasses with her flight feathers.
Caesar sighs but nods in agreement "Fair enough. You must be very hungry after sleeping for so long, I have some nutrient pellets I've been working on for a growing girl like yourself" the gasman purrs, Medusa's narrowing eyes lasting until her stomach grumbles.
"Ok" she hums, the gasman grins evilly, before taking a small tray of pellet sized things that reminded Medusa of Chopper's Rumble Balls…. Which were promptly devoured by the child at an almost Luffy speed "Grape?" she says with a head tilt (Monet did not coo at her cuteness, you have no proof Trafalgar!)
At Monet's similarly confused look, Caesar explains, to her at least "I used grape to hide the stronger taste of some of the chemicals I was using, mostly the stabilising agent from the SAD, in order to ensure the lineage factor didn't break down before consumption or injection"
"You don't need flavouring for an injector" the harpy deadpans.
"True, but for the 'candy' I certainly do. Shame she ate all of them, I hadn't considered what that combination would do, but I suppose I can jump forward a few steps and see if she survives, Shurorororo" the gasman cackles.
"What was in those candies?"
"Some were the standard growth treatment, but others had bat, snake, and Incubus lineage factors, should be quite a surprise to see how they manifest, provided they don't just kill the child outright" Caesar shrugs.
"You know Incubi are male right?"
"True, but with the exception of the area determining sex, Incubus and Succubus are genetically identical, based on the good Doctor's findings at least. So either the kid becomes intersex, or the 'incubus' becomes 'succubus' factorials" Caesar explains, to which Monet sighs and returns to her own notes, as she's stopped caring, though even she grimaced when she heard him saying how he used NHC10 as an accelerant, to 'ensure noticeable results before subject's expiration'.
Straw Hat Encampment
"What's got you in such a good mood Crocoduck, you were pretty tight-lipped on the way here but haven't shut up since we made camp?" Zoro asks, clearly suspicious of the centaur's sudden shift.
"I'm in a good mood, because Law knows where I am, and he'll come for me. I despise the worthless pirates of your generation, but Law is the exception" Brownbeard states freely.
"Hey, what do you mean 'our generation' you dick?" Luffy shouts, angry and offended.
"You really don't know? The 12 Supernovas from 2 years ago, you and Blackbeard were all lumped together and labelled as 'the Worst Generation' by the general public and the World Government. Troublemakers who were born at the changing of the seasons, the cusp of a new era. Wreckless fools whose actions will determine the fate of this world"
"You'd think if we're that important we'd get a cooler title than that, or at least an iota of respect" Kaos muses, still eyeing up the alligator hungrilly.
"For the past 2 years since the Battle of Marineford, every time something big has happened your generation have been right in the middle of it" Brownbeard continues, unknowingly describing Luffy's entire crew, not just him, Zoro and Kaos, given the global antics some of them got up to while away from their captain "That bastard Hawkins is the reason I'm even here, he wrecked me and my crew something fierce, destroyed my legs and left me for dead, we were lucky to wash up here" Brownbeard continues to explain, his anger clear as he speaks of 'the magician' "Do you know anything about this island?"
"Besides it being a hellscape? No" Ussop admits.
"It didn't always look like this, it was a beautiful place 4 years ago, with a vast multitude of native flora and fauna. This island originally housed a laboratory belonging to a government scientist known as Dr. Vegapunk. He and his team were stationed here with the task of developing new chemicals and weapons. Vegapunk needed test subjects on which to test these new inventions of his, so criminals were often sent here to be experimented on, rather than simply being sent to prison. 4 years ago, while testing one of his chemical weapons, things went Very, Very wrong. 2 of the 3 labs exploded, destroyed almost entirely, in fact we're standing in the remains of one right now"
"Hm, so Franky was right about the place looking like it blew up, because it was" Kaya hums as the others look around at the aftermath of Vegapunk's 'mistake'.
"Intense heat and toxic chemicals seeped into the air, and none of the native plants or animals survived. The Government ordered the island evacuated, retrieving their own people, but leaving the test subjects behind. Vegapunk's experiments were shut down, and the guinea pigs tossed aside like trash" Brownbeard continues to narrate.
"Honestly, that doesn't surprise me, the World Government doesn't care about most people, why would they care about criminals?" Artemis sighs.
"They did what they could to survive, taking shelter in the 3rd laboratory, which had managed to remain intact despite everything that had happened, there they were protected from the poison gas that contaminated the entire island. Those who survived were paralysed from exposure to the gas, which stole from them the use of their lower bodies. Despite all this they lived on, with little hope for their future, until they arrived. A year later, a kind Master arrived on the island, restoring the lost hope, with his abilities he purified the island of the toxic gas, and gave the prisoners who couldn't walk mechanical replacements. More than that, he gave them purpose and meaning which had been lost since they became Labrats for Vegapunk, by making them his loyal subordinates." Brownbeard explains, many feeling joy for the arrival of this 'kind master', though a few like Robin and Vivi noticed Kaos' talons drawing blood, while Val was just naturally suspicious of some random weirdo showing up and solving all their problems, especially on an island that should be off limits to everyone.
"I showed up a year later, desperate and broken. Some toxic substances still remained in the air, making my condition slowly worsen with every breath, I began to think I didn't have the strength to continue, I had fought to survive but I was reaching the end, almost at the limit of my will. But then I saw them, the men who'd lost the use of their legs as I had, and with them, the Master. I owe everything to him, his kindness saved my life as it did others. Vegapunk and his comrades stole my companion's legs, but then the Master arrived and fixed everything. And finally, a few months ago, fate brought another into our midst, Trafalgar Law, one of the new Warlords, arrived and became our 2nd saviour. His powers gave legs to those of who couldn't walk without mechanical assistance, they were not just healed, but better than ever! We thought we would never walk again, so we pledged ourselves when our bodies were restored"
"That's the most beautiful story ever!" Franky and Chopper cry, tears and snot running down their faces.
"See, told you Traffy's awesome" Luffy laughs.
"Yeah, it's amazing the things you can use to draw attention away from kidnapping, experimenting, and drugging children, he gave a bunch of no-name criminals legs and in doing so gained an eternally loyal minion army" Kaos snarls, his statement like a bucket of ice water for the Straw Hats. The 'kind master' was behind the kidnappings, and Trafalgar Law was working with him.
"Wait, how do you know this, if the guys in the hazmat suits are as loyal as this guy, they wouldn't have talked" Nami asks curiously.
"Because he ripped their soul out and read their memories. He has the Rinnegan just like Nagato" Valentina answers, mostly because she had a feeling Kaos would be blunt but vague, aka say 'Because I ate him' or something equally unhelpful.
"Yup. Annoyingly he didn't know Law was still here, so he caught me off guard" Kaos mutters bitterly.
"You bastard, I won't let you disrespect the Master in front of me!" Brownbeard bellows, trying to free himself from the chains to smash the purplette's head in
"I think not R̶̭̼̰͖̟̞̘̭͒́͝ͅṏ̸͎́̈́̇͗̎̅̕̚͝ő̶͇̳̯͓̱̃͛͑͆̽̓͝m̶̨̭͓̤̣̗͓͍̦͔̾̊̃̑̀̽̂̔̓͛" Kaos hisses, glitchy Red energy enveloping his hand
Shing
"My legs!" Brownbeard cries as with a flick of the wrist Kaos separates the former pirate from his alligator legs.
"Fuck!" The others quickly look over in concern as Kaos grunts, his right arm steaming as he pulls his cloak tighter around his body "Seems the Opi Opi no mi doesn't play well with others" he mutters, his arm melting into the reflection material and reforming, though it was clear it was going to be a work in progress.
With the marines
"Wait, how was it not Vegapunk's fault for the explosion, if he was the one in charge?"
"The same way it's not my fault if you idiots shoot each other, the weapon being tested, and accidentally set off, wasn't one of Vegapunk's inventions, instead belonging to none other than Caesar Clown" Smoker explains gruffly "He and Vegapunk worked together for years, he was 2nd in command here in Punk Hazard, but because of his tendency towards inhumane methods of data acquisition and experimentation, he and Vegapunk regularly butted heads. After the accident and meltdown, Vegapunk was listed as responsible due to being the Head of the facility. Of course, it was a crime to develop a chemical weapon, especially one capable of rendering an entire island uninhabitable as rapidly as this one did, so when Caesar Clown's involvement came to light after the explosion he was arrested, but he was able to escape from a prison ship due to his Devil fruit powers, and his location has been unknown to anyone ever since" the Vice Admiral explains "If my suspicions are correct and Caesar is the one responsible for what's going on in this island, then we need to put an end to his sick, inhumane experiments, once and for all!" she declares, slamming her jitte into the stone floor.
With the Straw Hats
"Well we lost the samurai, thanks for not telling us Brook" Sanji grumbles.
"He seemed determined to find the rest of his body, and got very excited when I told him about fighting a disembodied torso, and ran off once I told him where that fight had occurred" the skeleton defends, just barely, unsure why it mattered all that much "Why do you care so much, I didn't think he'd have done anything to endear him to you"
"Because he's my responsibility, he was just a head when we found him, and I'm the one who took him out of the cell. If we'd found his torso and he was whole I'd probably not feel this way, but as he is…" the cook trails off.
He's completely defenceless, I see" Brook nods "We'll just have to go assist him then, at least until he finds his torso and can fend for himself again" the skeleton suggests, getting a grateful smile from Sanji.
"Thank's Brook" she grins, taking a quick drag of her smoke then calling over to Luffy "We're going to find the lost Samurai, try not do anything stupid while we're gone!"
"No promises!" Luffy calls back with a smirk, getting on pretty well with the kids, on account of being a big kid himself.
"Zoro, go with the idiots before they do something stupid!" Nami orders.
Why me?"
"Because Sanji works best in your prescience, as he needs to be better than you. And vice versa" Nami explains with a smirk.
"I hate that you make sense. Stupid pervert" Zoro mutters, but complies.
"Me too, I might even get to fight something while we're gone" Alvida grins 'Also beating things up might distract my stomach from it's emptiness' she thinks with a grimace.
"The more the merrier" Nami shrugs, getting a cheer from the Smooth woman and a shrug from Zoro, before both chase after the pervy duo.
"They all seem to be happy and energetic, like normal kids" Robin muses, watching the group with a sad smile.
"Indeed, they don't seem sick at all, it's very strange but I'm sure I can find something" Chopper agrees, curious and a little concerned for whatever underlying issues these kids may have, if Caesar wasn't just lying in order to kidnap them that is.
"So, how are we going to check them Chopper?" Kaya asks "And what can we do to help?"
"I have some ideas for the tests I'd need to run, but I need samples. Could you get me some of their sweat please, it's the least invasive option, especially as I don't know if the doctors here were rough with them, or if any of them are afraid of needles for blood samples" the doctor requests and explains.
"You got it, let's get these kids sampled and tested" Nami nods, then rounds up a few 'helpers' in the form of Vivi, Valentina, Victor and Artemis, Kaya having already been chosen to help Chopper directly with the testing rather than sample collection.
"And giant baby is last" Artemis hums to herself as she ruffles the sleeping child's hair and begins making her way out of the giant basket.
"Um, miss" one of the larger kids, Moka, calls meekly "Do you think I'll get better? For real?"
"Yes" Artemis responds almost instantly "Chopper will figure out your problems easily, and maybe even cure you in a matter of days, or at least devise a treatment by tomorrow" she assures the girl who responds with a Megawatt smile, hope reignited in her heart.
"Thank you. I want to see my Mommy again so badly" she sniffles, eyes beginning to mist up.
"Please don't cry, Franky's a sympathetic crier, he goes off like a sprinkler" Artemis whimpers, tears ducts already starting to act up.
"So, anyone got plans?" Ussop asks those not busy with other things.
"We need our bodies back, I don't want to spend any more time in Sanji than I have to, or have him roaming around in mine any longer than necessary" Nami argues.
"You'll be fine, not like the pervert is going to let you get even a scratch or a chipped nail" Franky scoffs, crossing his arms under his bust.
"Franky, until such time a Law puts you all back together, do not speak as long as I can see you, it's painful to hear your voice coming from my daughter's body" Robin hisses, her tone notably irritated.
Not wanting to piss her off more, Franky nods and gives a thumbs up, which was enough for Robin.
"So, did you find anything Mr.?" One of the kids ask Chopper as he and Kaya ran as many tests as they could on the sweat samples.
"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time" Chopper assures them, running her fingers through her shoulder length hair as the hat had been getting in the way of her field of vision. Just as she says this, the test tube she'd been working on, turned blue, with glowing flecks of red "Oh, oh no!" Chopper gasps, just as screaming was heard further in the wrecked lab.
"Chopper the kids are going down, this one says he can't breathe too well, anything we can do to help?" Luffy shouts as the larger kids were the first to succumb and collapse.
Chopper stares at the test tube silently, before it shatters in her hand, the anger in her eyes reminiscent of Thriller Bark, whatever she found, was potentially as bad as the shit Dr. Hogback at been doing "They're not sick" she spits before waking over to the 1st child to fall "What do you want right now, more than anything in the world?"
The boy slowly raises his head, staring up at blazing crimson eyes "Candy. Candy from Master. When I eat it, I feel happy. I want it, I need it!" he wheezes, the other kids also expressing their desires for the special candy.
"It's in the candy, oh that's just every kind of fucked up" Valentina frowns "But what are we dealing with Chopper?"
"NHC10" she scowls "I detected trace amounts in the sweat samples, but even still, a drug that addictive and powerful, shouldn't be showing up in a child's tox screen under ANY circumstance, and given the identical symptoms, it's clear they'd all been dosed with it!"
"So they're not sick, they're going through withdrawals?" Kaya winces as more and more of the kids fall and begin writhing in pain.
"Correct. Only a select few doctors the world over are even authorised to work with NHC10, I know because Dr. Kureha was one of them, otherwise I wouldn't have even considered or known the signs, never mind caught the results so quickly. While in low doses it can be useful against certain diseases, it's used sparingly because of how highly addictive of a drug it is."
"And it sounds like these kids, have been getting daily doses of the stuff, ever since they arrived here" Robin growls, fists clenched so tight her knuckles crack.
"Correct. I know Kaos said Caesar was experimenting on the kids, but given he didn't know any details…. I didn't think it would be something like this" Chopper snaps, denting a support pillar with her fist.
"So, besides cold turkey… Can we do anything for these kids?" Ussop asks, concerned.
"Please Straw Hat, I need candy"
"Ok" Luffy nods, before getting a smack to the head "What?"
"The drugs are IN the candy, weren't you paying attention?" Vivi groans.
"Right sorry, I missed that part, did get the other stuff though" Luffy admits before turning back to the boy "Sorry, but Chopper's my doctor, he said the bad stuff that makes you sick is in the candy" he explains, as best he could.
The kid didn't take it well, flying into a rage and slapping Luffy into the wall of the ruined facility.
"Oh…. Roid Rage. Shit!" Valentina hisses as the giant starts rampages in his hunt for 'candy'.
"We could really use some kind of antidote right about now!" Ussop cries.
"The only antidote is more drugs, but even that is just kicking the can down the road to making it tomorrow's problem" Kaos guesses with a scowl "And even if we had the drugs, who knows how their altered physiology would react, or I suppose more accurately, how would any of us know the safe dose"
"Altered, what do you mean altered physiology?" Nami shouts.
"None of the kids arrived like this, they'd have to have raised Elbaf, repeatedly in order to get this many massive kids and if they did that, this island would already be a crater" the researcher states bluntly "The satyrs don't know WHAT Caesar is doing, and they don't care, because the Master is always right, always doing the best he can, but they got that size while under his care"
"He's right, we all thought our sickness is what made us so big, that it was a side effect of either our disease or the treatments" one of the smaller kids confirm.
"I know a lot about strange diseases, the Grand Line is full of them, but none of them are capable of changing someone's size in this way, or to this extreme" Chopper states, Kaya nodding as neither the East Blue, nor anywhere she'd been during the time skip had even legends of size changing diseases.
"Kaos would have tried catch one by now if there was" Luffy mutters having patted himself down after bouncing off the wall.
"Giants aren't made, nor are they a condition, they're quite literally a completely different species to humans" the reindeer continues to explain.
"Our bodies just keep getting bigger the longer we stay here, what's happening to us" another child cries as they fall to their knees.
"It seems Caesar isn't just giving them drugs for the Hell of it, or at least not JUST giving them NHC10, but other things in their candy, like some kind of enhanced growth hormone?" Artemis theorises "This is very bad"
"The other kids are starting to go nuts too. Anyone got a plan because despite what most people would expect…. I'm not comfortable putting them down" Kaos grimaces as the giant kids start tearing apart the lab.
"I have an idea, just not sure if I can hit all of them" Ussop admits as he loads his Kabuto.
"Then it's a good thing I have plan B. But…. Franky's going to have to do it" Artemis sighs, getting a confused look from the former cyborg.
"What? I don't know any of your magical crap, plus you put the seal on me so I couldn't use it!" she yells.
"No, it was made to prevent you from overexerting or overloading yourself, but given the sleep spell I have in mind it a powerful AOE, it will draw from my entire core without affecting the seal" Artemis explains "If we use the spell and Ussop's Stars in tandem, we should be able to get all the kids at once"
"I'm ready when you are Franky"
"Let's get this over with"
"Special Attack: Sleep Star!"
"Yume no nai Nemuri!"
In a flash of grey and plumes of pale blue, all the giant kids were soon unconscious and snoozing on the snowy ground, no longer a danger to the Straw Hats, or each other.
"It worked!" Kaya smiles softly, before shuffling to check on the kids, who were for the moment at least, contently snoring.
"We'd already figured they'd been kidnapped, but this, it's just sick" Nami sneers, the crackle of flames audible in her vicinity.
"Luffy. I can't even imagine how much pain these children are in, but no matter what, we NEED to do something, we need to save these kids!" Chopper declares, Luffy staring silently at her, before nodding.
"Ok, let's get them on the ship and get out of here!" Luffy announces.
"Hold on a second, it's not that simple, even if we had the space we can't just throw kids onto a pirate ship" Franky argues.
"I could help, make them normal size or even smaller if we need to until we find their homes" Shirahoshi suggests, eager to help however she could.
"The problem is that we don't have any solid facts besides the NHC10, just speculation and conjecture. We need to find Caesar, and any other kids on this island.…. And shatter a confession out of him!" Robin begins, attempting to be the voice of reason, though her feelings on the matter quickly turned things in a violet direction...
"This is pretty bad timing, what with the others having gone off to help the samurai, but what can you do? We'll just find this clown guy and make him tell us what he did to these kids and how to fix it. Let's go!"
"I can't" Chopper argues "I need to stay here with the kids, Kaya too if she doesn't mind. There is nothing I want more than to hunt this bastard down and beat him black and blue, but right now, the kids need me more than I need vengeance. We'll protect the kids, while you get answers" she states passionately.
"We can't leave Chopper and Kaya alone, I'll stay too" Nami volunteers, getting unsurprised eye rolls from most of the crew.
"Ok, but what if the kids wake up while we're gone, you'll need some way to stop them hurting you" Luffy hums… then has an idea.
"I feel bad for chaining up some kids, but the alternative is probably worse" Kaos sighs as all the kids are sufficiently restrained within the lab.
"Dreamless sleep should keep them out for a while, but I don't know if Franky under or overpowered the spell, so it's a crapshoot really" Artemis muses, Franky shrugging as they were surprised it even worked, not gonna lie.
"We probably shouldn't all split up though, especially if we want Trafalgar to switch us back" Franky argues.
"Though given he literally switched us with other people, as long as the affected pairs are present we should be fine" Chopper counters, getting a nod from Valentina, who had a feeling that meant he was going to be staying with the medics and Nami.
Elsewhere - Out in the snow
"Hello? Mr. Samurai! Are you out here? Find your body yet?" Brook hollars as the 4 trek through the snow.
"Damn it these are bigger than I thought, or I'm just out of practice" Sanji grumbles as Nami's boobs bounced with every step.
"Could just be Nami's bikini top lacks the support whatever you were wearing the past 2 years did" Alvida suggests teasingly.
"True, the Kamabaka kingdom were a bunch of weirdos, but they did know quality and support" Sanji hums, then yelps as she slips in the ice, only for Zoro to not only catch her, but sling her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry "What are you doing Mosshead?"
"Ensuring you don't get injured or lost, you're slowing us down with your inability to run in the snow, pervert" the swordsman grunts.
"Um, guys, I found a footprint!" Brook shouts just around the next bend.
"Is it the samurai?" Zoro asks.
"I, don't think it's human" Brook admits.
"Then it must be one of the centaurs, maybe they're looking for Alligator-man" Sanji suggests.
"No… they're much too big for that" the skeleton continues, the others seeing what he meant a moment later.
"Shit… I've never seen anything this massive, not even Diane could leave a print this big" Alvida gasps.
In the lab
"Shurorororo. The heart of the G5 commander, Vice Admiral Smoker. Oh the things I could do with this" Caesar cackles "With this, the fight is already over, the fools outside just don't know it yet" he grins, Law watching stoically and Monet clearly ignoring his ramblings "Given you destroyed their warship, they'll almost certainly attempt to commandeer ours in order to make a report. Of course, I already have men ready and waiting for their inevitable appearance" he grins as he settles down into a chair.
"That's the marines dealt with, but what about the Straw Hats?" Law asks, already knowing that underestimating those chaos gremlins was a very bad idea, given their track record.
"Oh, they won't be a problem, I already have a plan to deal with them, and retrieve the children" Caesar handwaves "The best part, is that those brats will be begging us to come back, we won't even need to lift a finger to summon them to us" Caesar smirks while Law looks confused "I didn't think much of the Straw Hats, at least until Monet warned me about them. For most people, sending the Yeti Cool Brothers would seem excessive, but with these pirates… one can't take their chances. It'll be a shame to lose such valuable guinea pigs, but I already have the best one on hand, Shurorororo" the gas man laughs, while in a basket, Medusa slumbers, 2 bat wing-like appendages, peeking out of her snow white hair.
TBC
LW: That, wasn't there when this arc began. Robin's going to definetly break some bones, and maybe kill a fucker.
So all the pieces are starting to move across the board, now things are about to get very interesting.