Heart vs Blackbeard

"It would be really nice if I could use my solar crystal on Blackbeard's devil fruit and remove it from the equation completely." Neo stared up at the ceiling, thinking about what she knew about the emperor's devil fruit powers. His darkness was nothing like the darkness crystal. It could suck stuff into it then throw it right back at them. And, worst of all, if could stop other devil fruit users from using their powers.

Cora's cooing pulled her attention down to him. He was still in his diaper only as she had gotten distracted while dressing him. She grabbed the bottoms she had for him and pulled it on.

"Mommy is being annoyingly distracted this morning." Law leaned against the bathroom's door frame. A towel was draped around his shoulders as he dabbed his freshly shaven face.

"Oh, hush! You're the one who said we were going to talk about my nightmare this morning. I've only started without you." Neo moved on to Cora's shirt. She lifted his head, slipped the shirt over it, and then poked his arms through the small holes before pulling it down over his stomach. Her eyes paused on the words Little Pirate that decorated the front. "His darkness must be a solid form, of sorts. Surely I can blow it away with my winds. That is, if I can do it before he sucks up my winds."

"True." Law moved from the door and sat on the bed in front of her. He fiddled with Cora's hair, drawing the baby's attention to him. Cora cooed then puckered his lips. "Remember, I'm going to be Blackbeard's main target. While he's focused on me you can use your sniper skills to attack him. Use your training. You've gotten plenty of battle strategies."

Neo nodded. She would need to take some time and go over those strategies. Surely one would work better against Blackbeard and his crew. "Okay. I'll do my best not to worry, but no promises."

Law reached over and flicked her on the nose. "Stop it. It's in your nature to worry about us. Just don't over do it to the point you get stressed. We all need you to be at the top of your game right now. Whether or not Blackbeard attacks us we are still part of the group who took down two emperors."

Neo nodded.

"Now let's go eat." Law stood.

Neo picked Cora up and followed Law out of their room. Breakfast and the crew greeted them as they entered into the galley. She greeted them back as usual. For a second she parted her lips to tell them about her nightmare, but stopped. She didn't want them to worry. She was doing that enough for all of them.

As the day progressed Neo wandered from room to room, thinking about battle strategies and escape plans. When she stopped at the training room, to watch those inside, the sub took a sudden dip. The crew was throw off their feet. Neo's elbow collided with the floor. She yipped as pain shot up her arm. Her solar crystal appeared. Her eyes darted to the crew. "Anyone hurt?!"

"Just my pride."

"I'm fine."

"Okay here."

"What was that?"

Neo sensed out the area. "There's a ship. A horse. And..." She gasped as a sense of an earthquake and darkness engulfed her. "It's Blackbeard!"

"What?!" the men gasped.

Sirens blared in the sub. They were followed by Archer's voice. "Prepare for battle! We're being attacked by one of Blackbeard's ship!"

Neo darted for the voice pipe. "Correction! We're being attacked by Blackbeard! Everyone, be careful!"

More cannon balls were fired into the water. The sub rocked with each one that came close.

Neo flew out of the rec room. Topaz and Kailen met her at the stairs. "Keep an eye on Cora! He's in our room napping!"

"Right!" The two elementals nodded and headed to protect their youngest member.

Neo headed on down the stairs and into the control room.

"It's no good, Captain!" Archer said.

Members of the crew were darting around desperately trying to cover up leaks the attack caused. Neo summoned her fire and water crystals to each hole and sealed them tight. She then shifted her water crystals outside of the sub to redirect the cannon balls.

"You're a life saver, Neo! Another hit like that and the water pressure would have crushed us!" Ikkaku said.

"Let's surface!" Shachi said.

"Neo?" Law turned to her.

"There's land north east of here. We can surface there." Neo reported. "Kailen and Topaz are looking after Cora."

Without warning Neo and Law froze. Something shifted between them. At the same time Law's body began to change. The hard edges of his body began to soften and became curvy. His hard chest became soft and enlarged with breasts. His goatee vanished as his cheeks smoothed out as well as his chin. His sharp eyes also softened and became round.

A dark, empty sensation came over Neo as her and Law's connection faded. Her legs gave out on her and she dropped to the floor. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Law was a woman. Or had a woman's body. Or something. He wasn't a man. He wasn't her bonded. "No... Not that... Law..."

"Neo." Law knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her cheek. "Focus. I know this happened between us just now, but I'm still me."

Neo nodded and grasped his wrist.

"Prepare for battle, and be quick about it!" Law ordered.

"Wow, Captain! You're so cute now!" Shachi and Penguin squealed as they hugged each other.

"Do you have a death wish?!" Law growled.

"Crap! We're sorry!" The two men trembled.

"It got me too!" Penguin said as his body changed into that of a woman's.

Neo regained enough of her senses to notice Penguin, Bepo, and a couple others had the bodies of women, too. This had to be the work of a devil fruit. But how could it reach past the water and into the sub?

"Keep away from the infected! His power's contagious! They're hoping to disorient us with this forced gender flipping!" Conner backed away from an infected crewmate.

"What?!" Neo found her voice and her senses. She jumped to her feet. "How is this even possible?! What kind of devil fruit is this?! How could it reach us here?!"

"It'll be fine." Law clenched his fists, focusing on his haki. "Our clashes with the emperors taught me that devil fruit powers can be countered if you use a great deal of haki!"

The empty, dark feeling of their bond fading vanished as Law's body reverted back. Their bond was back and as strong as ever. Neo exhaled with relief.

"Captain, we've surfaced!" Archer shouted.

A fire ignited inside Neo. Whoever changed Law and messed with their bond was going to pay for it. She flew towards the door.

"Neo!" Law called.

Neo whipped back, ready to snap at him for stopping her, but paused upon seeing he had her boots dangling from his fingers.

"I know you're upset. I am too," Law said walking towards her. "But you need to remain calm and focused."

"Right. Sorry." Neo pulled on her boots then flew herself and some of the crew towards the exit. Another crewmate already had the door open when they arrived. She picked him up and they filed out of the ship, with her and Law in front.

'Set us close to the shore.'

Following Law's mental instructions, Neo sat them down on the island. She sensed out the area. It wasn't a small island, but it wasn't a big one either. There were few animals, mostly birds, take up residence on the island. One informed her that there was a human in the forest near a small mountain. Can you give me more information? What color is his hair? Neo listened. Shoulder length, wavy hair, muscle tank, thin waist but large arms. 'Law, sounds like Burgess is a distance away from here. I'm not sure what he's doing but-'

Just then the mountain the bird warned her about started to rise off the ground. "Somebody's in the woods," Bepo said.

"It's Burgess ! Apparently, the devil fruit he ate gives his inhuman strength!" Neo announced. She shook her head. With her crystals shimmering around her, she grabbed onto the mountain and removed it from Burgess's hands. She lifted it into the air then slammed it back down towards the man. Burgess jumped out of the way. Barely. The mountain and surrounding ground cracked a bit at the force. Her crystals flickered with their elements. "I won't allow you to use the earth to flatten my babies! Come out, Blackbeard pirates! Which one of you messed with my babies' bodies?!"

"Whoa! I don't think I've seen Neo this ticked off before!" Shachi gripped his crystal sword.

"That change in the captain must have really affected Neo," Penguin said. "Poor baby."

"Superhuman strength, bizarre contagions, teleportation." Law scanned the area for his target. He held up his hand and readied for the attack. "Room!"

Neo whipped her eyes to the air when she sensed a horse. "There!"

The crew looked up to see Blackbeard was standing on the flying horse with Doc Q. Blackbeard grinned. "It's been a while. Hasn't it, Trafalgar Law?"

"What do you want?" Law narrowed his eyebrows.

Neo didn't give the emperor time to answer. She launched herself into the air. Reaching the horse she disappeared into the wind then reappeared. With the wind at her back she spun and landed a solid kicked on Blackbeard's face. The man went flying off the horse and landed on the island, taking several trees down as he went.

Neo forced away a wince. She didn't mean to damage the island. Knowing she could fix it later, she turned to Doc Q. Vines shot out of her earth crystals and held the man aloft by his wrist and ankles. The horse whinnied and moved to intervene, but stopped when she tossed a "Do not interfere" glare at him. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Huh?" The man slowly lifted his head. Before answering his body was wracked with coughing. "What are you saying?"

"You changed them, didn't you? Bepo, Penguin... Law..." Neo gritted her teeth. "I could be wrong, but if that ability is anything like Law's devil fruit then a doctor is needed to use it to its full potential."

Doc Q wheezed a laugh. "You're a smart little girl. It was my devil fruit power that-"

Neo flipped head over feet, slamming her heel down on the man's head. His eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out. She then flung him onto Blackbeard's ship, even though she wanted to drop him in the ocean. "Never change my bonded's body."

"Yeah! That's my girl!" Penguin cheered and clapped.

"She is definitely the mama bear now." Shachi placed a hand on his hip.

"Hey!" Blackbeard forced himself to his feet and dusted himself off. "Don't ya know it's rude to interrupt someone while they're talkin'?!"

"That's rich coming from you." Neo landed beside Law and crossed her arms.

Blackbeard chuckled. "Well, can't really argue with that. Anyway, when your crew, Kid, and Straw Hat left Wano, I knew one of you would end up comin' this way. But I had no way of knowin' which of you it would be."

Neo eyed the man carefully. Did he have a pollution stone on him? Did one of his crew?

"Don't worry, missy," Blackbeard said. "I don't have one of those pollution stones. Neither does any of my crew. Don't needed 'em."

"Rather arrogant of you," Law baited.

Blackbeard cocked his head. "It doesn't matter. It's not what I'm interested in. Kaido had one, didn't he? Just how many rode poneglyph rubbin's have ya got? I'll be takin' 'em off your hands!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth. Let's settle this, winner takes all." Law grinned.

Neo shifted, uneasy, as her nightmare came back to her.

Blackbeard laughed. The air crackled with his second devil fruit power. "There's no escape! So don't bother runnin'!"

Neo's fingers twitched. She could feel the earthquake coming. It was like a storm she could feel building up in the distance. The animals felt it, too, as they fled the island. Good. One less thing she had to worry about.

"Hakugan! Take care of the Polar Tang!" Law ordered.

"I'm on it!" Hakugan rushed back to the sub.

"Penguin! Shachi! Get in the ocean and provide cover!" Law threw out his hand.

"We're on it!" Penguin and Shachi ran to the edge of the island and disappeared below the surface.

Neo sent out a mental call for any sea life that would come close enough to stay out of the battle but assist her family if they needed it.

"Room! Amputate!" Law sliced the horse in half.

'Sorry. Guess I should have done something with the horse so they couldn't use it, even though Doc Q is out of the fight.'

'Don't worry about it. That horse needed to be taken out of commission. That's something you wouldn't have done.'

Neo's lips twitched. No truer truth had been spoken. At least the horse was out of the fight now too. The only real threat was Blackbeard.

"No one told me his power could do that! Is he usin' an awakened power?" Blackbeard's eyes were wide with shock. His mouth hung open, revealing missing teeth. Shaking the reveal of Law's awakened devil fruit powers he slammed his fist against the air. "Quake Crash!"

A rumble released from Blackbeard's fist as the island began to shake under the devil fruit's power.

The crew stood their ground, moving with the flow of the earth.

"What the...?" Blackbeard stared in confusing. "Y'all should be fallen to the ground! No one can with stand the power of my tremor tremor devil fruit. Not unless..." His eyes shifted to Neo. "You!"

Neo cocked her head with a smile. Her earth crystals started to glow. The ground quieted and stilled.

Blackbeard glared at her.

"That's right, Blackbeard," Law said with a proud smile. "Our crew is not like others. We have trained with an elemental. Nature attacks will never affect us with her around."

Blackbeard scoffed. "Well, I must admit that I underestimated your precious little elemental's abilities. Doesn't matter. I still have my dark dark devil fruit. It swallows up anything in its path. I guarantee this battle will be mine. I will-"

Explosions came from the ocean. Everyone turned to see Blackbeard's ship rocking. Blasts of water spouted up from the sea.

Neo smiled. Shachi and Penguin were already attacking the ship. It won't take them long to destroy it.

"Jean Bart! Sniper at three o'clock!" Bepo grabbed his head. Upon on a hill Van Augar has his rifle pointed right at Law's back.

The gun fired.

Jean Bart jumped behind Law to take the hit. "Protect the captain!"

Neo watched Jean Bart until he gave her a thumbs up. He was fine.

"K-Room!" Law pushed his blade through Blackbeard's body. "Shock Wille. This battle won't be as easy as you think it will be."

Blood flew from Blackbeard's mouth.

"That's what happens when you charge in half cocked. Warp." Van Augur waved a hand. Blackbeard disappeared then reappeared by the tall sniper. "Shall we return to the ship, Commodore?"

"Don't be an idiot! We finish what we started!" Blackbeard pushed himself up off the ground.

'He seems to be taking his time to actually start fighting.' Neo kept her eyes locked on Blackbeard.

'I noticed that, too. Don't be fooled though.'

'I know. You be careful. Getting too close to his dark dark powers can cause you a lot of problems.'

'I'll be fine.' "Do all your officers have devil fruit powers?" Law asked his enemy. "Must be a pretty raw deal hauling around so many anchors."

"They call 'em devil fruits for a reason!" Blackbeard brushed blood off his chin. "That weakness is well worth the trade off."

More explosions from under the sea. Burgess walked closer to them. "They're attacking from below! The bastards are tryin' to sink our ship!"

"Who knew they were so strong underwater?! Unless..." Van Augar said then looked at Neo. "Is this your doing?"

"It's not. My babies know how to defend themselves well enough without me," Neo said. "It comes from them growing up and training in the harsh, cold waters of the North Blue."

Van Augar frowned. "Pesky little crew."

Law thrust his sword again.

"Black Vortex!" Blackbeard's dark void poured from his palm. The darkness moved like flames as it block Law's attack like a shield.

Neo shifted a couple earth crystals behind Blackbeard and ordered some vines to wrap around Blackbeard's ankles. As they slithered from the green crystals, she used her winds and lifted a couple large boulders and threw them at Blackbeard. She watched as the pirate laughed and increased his void before summoning her solar crystal near the darkness. The crystal started to glow. The darkness stopped expanding but didn't vanish. One of the boulders disappeared into the darkness as the rest flew past Blackbeard and hit the ground.

Blackbeard's brow furrowed. "What the heck was that? What did you d-"

Law thrust his sword. The blade sliced Blackbeard's chin.

'Sorry. Guess I can't do much with my solar crystal against him.'

'It's fine. We assumed as much.'

Blackbeard jumped back. "What the heck! Got distracted. Guess I under estimated you two. A little bit, anyway. You two work well together."

Cannonballs fired. Splashes rose from the sea. Sounds similar to bullets being fired echoed through the air. The crew's attacks were growing stronger and bolder.

Neo forced herself not to turn around. Relax. Breath. Focus on Blackbeard. The crew will be fine. They know how to handle themselves. Continuing her breathing, she tracked Law's movements through their bond while keeping her eyes on Blackbeard, looking for a moment to strike or a way to defeat him.

Law moved to attack.

Blackbeard's eyes followed Law.

Neo lifted the ground at the pirate's feet, throwing him off balance. His back hit the ground with an "Oof". Lifting a large boulder out of the ground she slammed it down on him. For a second she thought she got in a hit, but the boulder started to crumbled as dark wisps spread from underneath the rock and sucked it in. She growled.

'It was a good try.'

'Not good enough'

'Burgess. Left.'

Neo shot into the air as Burgess closed in on her with a laugh. She flipped over and slammed her wind infused heels into his back.

Burgess hit the ground then bounced to his feet. He laughed again. "You're good. How did you know I was coming?"

"Like I'd ever tell you." Pain erupted on Neo's right side. She stumbled. Looking she found Law was holding his side, blood staining his shirt. He had been shot. Jean Bart released a determined yell and charged at Van Augar.

"Don't get distracted!" Burgess charged.

Neo dodged his punched, but his ankle caught on her side. She yipped before her body went flying through the air. Wind gathered around her, halting her. She flung the wind at him, throwing him to the ship. His landing caused the ship to rock dangerously. Water poured over the side of the ship before righted itself.

"Neo!" Archer and Conner raced to her. They stood in defense in front of her.

"I'm fine." Neo said the words but found she couldn't believe them. The nightmare she had kept replying at the back of her mind. With each attack she could feel Law's energy draining. Her solar crystal didn't work on Blackbeard's darkness as she hoped it would. They were in a tight spot. The chance of defeat was high. That meant the possibility of death was also high. But that was one thing she would not allow to happen. She didn't care about losing the fight. All she wanted was her family to remain alive. And she was going to make that happen.