-Tower of Law-

The events that had transpired reinforced its belief that today would be different. It had witnessed the chaos from far away quickly moving to the gates below. It had seen a boy with Straw Hat, who at first glance seemed weak, beat the horned agent. It saw the rest of his group rising up as a force of calamity to the roof, them stand united against the weak leader and his more powerful flock, witnessed the boy's comrade burn the symbol of pride, as well as Straw Hat and the grape-haired girl declaring war, and finally, watched them enter the building in the most dangerous and reckless way.

Who are they? Why are they determined to retrieve their companion? Why does the boy in the Straw Hat appear weak but have a strong conviction? It was curious about the boy and his companions. How much of an impact will they make, and what would be the result of this conflict? It ruffled its feathers, thinking of how to use the chaos to leave. However, it was useless; the woman held the key unless someone from this group defeated her... but would they come here and set it free? Vegapunk naively believed it would serve as a companion, not merely as a weapon. The man had ideas but was a fool when it came to thinking his products would be used wholeheartedly. Being in this place made it bitter, and it wanted to poke the foolish man's head for having naive thoughts.

-Anya P.O.V, Tower of Law-

Leaping off a platform, riding a flying Sea Train, and crashing into the tower was no joke. Sometimes, Luffy has bright ideas, and bringing those ideas to the real world can be dangerous, but it helped get us here. We learned that each black suit has a key to Robin's cuffs, we defeat them we get the right cuffs. While we do that, my brother will head straight to the strongest opponent, which would be Top Hat. I felt that bloodlust upon seeing him again. The others had 'We kill you dead' feelings, but Top Hat was on another level. Be careful, Luffy. We're on a time limit; the moment she passes through those gates, we lose Robin, and this will have been a waste of time.

Currently, I am looking for a punching bag, and I'm not turning up any leads. Every single dumb door open leads to either a broom closet or rooms that seem weird for a place like this. Why is there a gambling room? Tower of Law, my ass. I was frustrated at not finding my opponent. Where are those suits? Suddenly, I felt the building shake. What happened? Was there a battle or two occurring around here? Huh, leave it to them to start before me. I ran down the corridor again and opened another door. Nothing. It was just another stupid broom closet. How many broom closets does this place need? I am wasting time!

Hmm? A melody echoed through the air, probably from a flute. Should I follow the melody to its source, even though it might be a trap? Bah! This whole building is a trap. I hurried down the corridor, anticipating a throwdown. At the far end stood the enemy, a black-suited woman with brown hair. She played the flute like she was the only person in the world. As I approached, she stopped playing and gazed at me with a dismissive look.

"Lavender Lancer," She smirked. "I have been waiting for one of you intruders."

"I found you!" I shouted as I pointed my spear at her. "Surrender the key!"

"You are in the domain of justice; a little girl like you shouldn't think she is in control."

"Jokes on you! I have you right where I want you." I chortled.

"You're as crazy as the rumors say." she tilted her head. "Then again, Straw Hat led the charge here, so I can't say it's unexpected."

"And you're a government slut, so what does that say about you?"

"I get to exterminate threats." She smirked as she held up her flute. "People get to hear my song all day and not do a damn thing."

"Give me the key."

She frowned and then placed her flute against her lips. "Nico Robin can't be helped. You should let her be."

"She needs help, and you are in the way."

"The world only sees a woman trying to remove the tranquillity we know.

"'Tranquility'." I spat the word like it was foreign. "We both know that hardly exists."

She shrugged. "The Shepard has to shield the blissful sheep away from the darkness. My name is Greta, will play a song I made for you. Titled: 'Woe is you.'

"No tricks!" I rushed, trying to stop her from doing something weird. Suddenly, I felt a ringing in my ears, causing me to stop and jump back. Here it is, the weird thing. Oh no! My vision is blurring, and I felt like I was spun around like how Gramps always did. Damn, I need to rethink. My attention was barely on the woman, whom I will now call Songbird. Now I'm seeing 2 more of her, I don't know which one is which. I need to do something. So… I ran away! I need to do something with that flute.

I breathed a sigh of relief, seeing my vision clear up. I turned around, but now my vision was messed up again. I ran off to a path upstairs.

"You can't hide pirate wench."

Shock rose to my face, and I turned around while swinging my spear. Nothing. She wasn't there, but it felt like she was an inch away from me. What weird crap is this? Wait, did she act like a bat, echoing her voice? Is that what it is? Does she have the fruit powers of a bat? No, I need to figure out a plan for dealing with Songbird. That flute needs to be removed. I left the stairwell, and ran along the corridor. I opened a door and found myself a broom closet of all places. I grabbed all the mops, brooms, buckets, and anything that could hit. I broke the mops and brooms in half, then tore off the threads and straws. Good, I got some makeshift throwing spears.

Whether this will hold her off for a while is another story. Hearing footsteps, my eyes focused down the corridor, where the footsteps were getting louder. The moment she appeared fully around the corner, I chucked the first spear as hard as I could. As expected, she moved aside like it was nothing, so I chucked the remaining spears and junk, then rushed at her after I threw the last piece of junk at her. After she dodged a bucket, I tried to strike, but she blocked my attack with a tonfa. Then she swung her leg, to which I realized her next move. I had to backflip away from being slice by her air slash technique. I twirled twice and unleashed my air slash, which she dodged.

"Huh, interesting," She remarked as she prepared to attack. "Given enough time, you could perform the Rankyaku with your legs."

"Why do I feel you think generating air slashes is a special technique only for you jerks?"

She chuckled, and I flinched as she brought up her flute. "The average person is not capable. You are, therefore, a threat."

I tossed my shield just before she was about to play. She quickly, and annoyingly, moved to the side and began to play that annoying flute. My vision started to blur, seeing triplets of the woman in my vision. The music stopped, but my vision was still off as I still saw three Gretas before me, each raising a tonfa. They rushed at me at the same time, quicker than I thought. I did I what I had to do and rolled over from a horizontal swipe.

I tried backing away, but as my vision was slowly recovering, I still couldn't tell if she was near or far, since it appeared the three Greta's were approaching in me in a single file. Instantly they rushed at me, leading to jump away from being hit, but pain shot through me as a dumb tonfa smacked me on my shoulder, then I got the wind knocked out of me when one hit me in the stomach. I retaliated by swinging around my spear, but I didn't hit her. Then I got struck in the face and was thrown across the room by a kick.

I rolled on the ground, then instantly got up and shook my head. I looked ahead, noticing my vision was whole again. Good, there was one of her, but that flute was still a problem. I needed to make sure that the flute leaves her hand.

"When I play my flute, your vertigo manifests." She chortled annoyingly. "Nothing you do here will help you win."

"We'll see." I growled. She needed to go down somehow.

Something unexpected happened; the building shook, and then it felt like the area around us was moving down as if the building was falling in a diagonal direction, like, let's say, we were moving southwest, for example. I don't know, but I felt like my center of gravity was off, and that woman seemed surprised before shifting to being annoyed. Someone damaged the building; I wonder which monster did this. I glared at my opponent, seeming ready to attack, then a surprised look instantly showed up on her face. She cursed out loud before turning around.

"Wait there." She raced down the hall.

I scoffed and chased after her. I was not about to be told to wait for her return. I'm not waiting around for that moron to come back to kill me. That Cipher Punk won't elude me. I raced after her through the building, discovering that it looked like the building had been cut in half. Huh, maybe Zoro or another Cipher Punk sliced it. Doesn't matter, Cipher Punk is still running around. Finally, I watched her enter a room. I nodded and chased her into the room. The room was big and spacious to be an office and had a window, but the thing I noticed was Cipher Punk examining a cage big enough to house a person, but shaped like it was for a bird. Actually, there was a bird inside the cage. It resembled an eagle; it had chestnut-colored feathers and gold tips on the wings. Its yellow eyes were strikingly fierce as it stared at the woman. It noticed me and appeared to be intrigued before it puffed its feathers out in an adorable way, then turned from us as if it thought we were not entitled to be gazing at it.

"Whoever cut the building at least did not do anything to him." Greta turned her head slightly to me. "Not that it concerns you."

"That's a beautiful bird." I smiled at the bird.

The woman scoffed. "Sure, but bird is putting it lightly." She turned around.

"What is his name."

"No name. Not important."

"HE DESERVES A NAME!" I shouted with conviction. They keep a bird like this in this stupid building and have the balls not to give him a name. "He's your pet! You should treat him with care. I would have thought secret agents would've at least given proper care to animals, like Top Hat does to his pigeon. Don't you use your music to soothe it with a calming lullaby?"

"Damn it, those birds are not similar at all!" She scoffed. "This is a shield that 'ate' a bird devil fruit."

Wait! A shield that ate a bird devil fruit. I need more information. "An eagle like that needs more flight room. Do you tame it by soothing it?"

"I don't soothe!" She scoffed. "My primary purpose is destablize your senses." She scoffed. "This shield ate the Mythological Bird Devil fruit of the Roc. It's not an eagle and there is not need to soothe into submission. I'm an agent. I don't calm people. Dumb kid."

I nodded. Got it, so it must be the Bird Bird Fruit: Model Roc. Hmmm, funny. She is giving me this information so freely. Is it because she thinks she can kill me and the information would be useless? Hmm, I did mock her music.

"Who's the unlucky bastard you had to brainwash with your music to construct a sturdy shield."

She scowled. Ha. "I don't brainwash with my music, pirate whore. I can't play with the mind. I use my devil fruit and my specially constructed flute to induce vertigo in my opponents. Dr. Vegapunk gave us the Roc Shield made with Wapometal because he works for us."

Ah, yes. Vegapunk. So-called smartest man in the world. Master met him once. Told me he was an odd man. I have no idea what Wapometal is, so there is that. Nothing else matters right now except the bird. A Devil Fruit shield sounds great, but I doubt birdie wants anything to do with being use with the way he is acting. Wanting to be used and abused by someone who may not treat it with care. That half-mask man obviously is not the right fit, but even if someone wants to... it would be a tool. Would it want to be a tool? Master taught me it was an extension of the user. Something living could be a battle partner and not used by someone with a huge ego.

"Okay, how about this? If I beat you... when I beat you, I'm freeing that bird. Something that beautiful and majestic should be soaring the skies."

The bird turned its head slightly for a brief moment but turned back to the window. I did not expect that, but hopefully I gave him some reassurance, even if he did not believe me.

"Sure," said Greta. "I have the key, but are you sure this is something you should be concerned over? Isn't Nico Robin your top priority?"

"I get a key that could also open her cuffs."

"This key does not open her cuffs."

"You could be keeping an extra key!"

"True," She chuckled. "But let's say I don't. I can let you walk away."

"I doubt you would let me go, and if you did, you would go after the others. I trust them to take care of their problems while I stop you."

"Hm." She chuckled. "Fine, try and back it up. It could be your fault for losing Nico Robin."

I flinched when she brought up her flute, and I immediately ran out of the room as she played a tune. I growled at myself for running away, but I couldn't afford to succumb to her weird music. Now that I know her devil fruit helps amplify her flute, I need to destroy that. I stopped and dropped my shield on the ground. That way I will know where this place is when I return to free Bird Shield. I can do without that shield; after all, a Dragoon needs to improvise if their sub-weapons are gone. I don't really need it; it's just fun to throw to catch people off guard, but losing a shield will cost money to buy a new one, and I doubt Nami would let me buy another. That's why I look for them.

I ran downstairs and jumped over the gap where the person sliced through. Whoever did this, a serious fight is happening, and I'm running away from my opponent. I blinked when I saw an object lying on the ground. I skidded to a halt and gasped. It was Sanji, but why was he looking like a glass doll?"

"Sanji?"

"A-Anya-chan." he groaned.

"What happened? Who did this?"

"Sorry, it was the woman with the glasses."

"Her? You let her beat you?"

"... I can't h-harm a lady. Y-you know that."

An exasperated groan escaped my mouth. I get it. Whenever I asked him to help me train, he never struck me, only went on the defensive. That always bothered me, I'm not delicate. I can take a hit, but he told me that the old man beat it into him about how to treat women, and it stuck with him. So... yeah. I can understand old people beating the crap out of your until you get it right. Gramps did train me for a short time, but his methods weren't working on me, which was why he requested for Master.

"Well, I'm in trouble. This other lady keeps playing her flute, which makes me dizzy."

"Lose the f-flute." He remarked. "If s-she v-values the tool, do something that makes her drop it."

"I tried that! I threw stuff at her."

"It's not about throwing things at her. Think. A lady like her must have a reason to use it. Something sentimental."

I scrunched my face, wondering what it meant. It's not about throwing things at her? Sentimental? Hmm. Wait! That's it!"

"I got it."

"Great, I knew sharing the same blood as Rubber Brain wouldn't mean anything."

"Thank you." I turned around and walked back the way I came. Of course, that was probably it. Either she likes correcting me, or I say here skills are stupid. She gave out information easily, probably because I incorrectly guessed her strange flute ability. If she feel proud of her skill and feels offended of how I misinterpret it, then I will have to double down. I ran away from Sanji and turned the corridor. I flinched when I literally ran into her and she too looked shocked, for the moment until she tried to attack. I dodge and tried to strike her with my spear. She blocked with her tonfa before jumping back and took out her flute. Damn, better think fast.

"Hold on! I don't want to be played to sleep!" I shouted as I ran.

"I DON'T LULL PEOPLE TO SLEEP! HEY!"

Ignoring her, I quickly ran down the corridor, into the next room. A big room filled with an assortment of junk, like cabinbates, furniture, papers, and other stuff. It was large, with a window overlooking the courtyard. I quickly ran to the bookshelf and knocked everything on the floor, then tore a piece of the bookshelf. I suddenly heard footsteps and the creak of a door. Immediately, I grabbed books and rapidly threw them at the government dog one by one. She dodged them as she was about to play her flute. I growled.

"Come on, do you always have to play, what's so special about music?"

She hissed. "Music is my life!" A firece glare sent my way. "A backwater hussy like you has no understanding of what music is. Don't you dare mock it."

I scoffed, quickly thinking of how I can play this. "I know music, but all you are doing is playing the flute. That's just blowing hot air and nothing else."

"THERE IS MORE TO THAN THAT!" She shouted as she dodged another. "You don't get what music is!"

"I get what music is, but I don't get why you need a flute to make people feel sick and not feel at peace!" I shouted as I threw a lamp.

"I'm a spy, I don't need scum to be at peace." She quickly moved away, barely an inch from her face. "I need them to suffer for the crimes they commit!"

"How about if they stole bread, you can put them to sleep." A dozen pens escaped my grip one by one. "You can do a little jig too!"

"Shut up!" She growled as she tried to dodge each one. "I wont lower myself to that. My voice is to cause strife to evil, not comfort."

"What about the term music soothes the savage beast?"

"SHUT UP!" She swung her arms like a child. "I won't. Stop, stop it. Music is supposed to hurt, not comfort."

Wow, this is the mighty CP9? Just a little more. "Maybe you need to adjust your technique. How about you play a song that helps the criminal be a peace before you pass judgement. Is that living or not. Play your flut-."

"Shut up, shut up!" She whined as she ran at me as she prepared to swing the arm with the flute. "I won't allow criminals to hear a comforting lullaby. My vertigo flute only for them."

"But."

"Hush!" She thrusted her arm with the flute, then quickly, I swung my leg upward, kicking her hand. My strike made her lose the instrument, and it flew toward the window. I rolled over and watched it disappear out the window, and to the ground or maybe into that big hole in the ocean. I turned my attention back to her and almost felt bad. She had this expression as if I destroyed her dreams. She looked at her hand, then at the window, then at me, then her hand, then at the window. Her mouth continued lower the more she processed what happened. She then shrieked out in terror and collapsed to her knees.

"NOOO! How can I feel better now?"

"Uh..."

She rushed toward the window and looked around for her flute. After searching frantically, her shoulders slouched, then she slid down to her knees. Slowly, the agent turned around and sat on her butt. She clasped her head an... is she crying. Damn, now I feel bad.

"Damn you." She glared at me with tears. "That flute was recommended from my mentor. He died at sea."

"Sorry."

She scoffed while she stood up and wiped away her tears. "I guess I have to kill you normally then." She closed her eyes. "I ate the Bird Bird Fruit, Model: Nightingale." Her eyes snapped open showing bird eyes. Woah. "You will die."

I watched her body became sleeker, her legs became bird legs. Wings grew from her back and her face became a bird face. Her feathers were black, no I think it's dark gray or midnight. Some color. She became a hybrid. The Zoan class of fruit users are soooo cool! But, it depends on who ate it. Welp, looks like things are getting serious here. I chuckled as I twirled my spear. "Try and kill me, but I aim to get that key from you. To free Robin and the bird."

"Go ahead, Lavender Lancer. Your evil will be crushed." She cawed or whatever. She is such an annoying dog… bird dog, but not as annoying as using her flute.

"Let's dance."