.: I'm honestly surprised that I uploaded a week later considering how long I've deliberated this battle. I've been watching a lot of anime recently while thinking things over, and finally I jotted down thousands of words in two sittings. It takes a lot to get me in the zone and concentrate. Apparently me listening to songs on repeat with noise-cancelling headphones does the trick. I feel good about how it turned out because I tried incorporating many layers of conflict in it. It's not exactly like One Piece battles where an episode focuses on one character's fight and then moves on to the next in the following episode. I more so jumped around without it getting annoying with page breaks. I think it worked. Now I can get to things that will flow starting with the next chapter, which means we're getting closer to backstory time. I'm nervous but optimistic. :.

The Girl with A Half-Soul

Chapter 41:

More Dead Than Alive

She reached into her pockets for bullets. In the middle of her running, her breath was steady. Her knees repeatedly touched the inside of her skirt as they were restrained from extending farther. When the empty shells were released from her rifle, she quickly reloaded and cocked it shut again. "Billy!" she called out again. "They've surrounded you!" Her feet kicked her off the ground again, sending her in a leap that picked up at least three yards before she touched it again.

Hearing his wife in the distance made Butler glance over his shoulder. But he was interrupted by a loud snarl. The mountain lion devil fruit user had returned just to single out one of them. Billy almost did not react in time. The moment that paws touched his back, he was suddenly shifting into a different form and rolling to avoid the rest. The cowboy understood now. This was about to be a predator trying to catch prey. It just so happened that they both possessed fruits that were perfect for the matchup.

"Oh, I see now," Billy commented as he faced up to his attacker. "Cougar model. You're my natural predator."

The other user stood on two legs, his massive size matching Billy's. His paws mixed with human hands, but his fingernails were replaced with black claws. Everything from the nose up was feline in the face. Meanwhile, Billy stood with two hooves on the ground and horns still coming out the sides of his head.

"I never thought I'd meet Bison Billy," he sarcastically greeted. "But you're right. I am."

Billy glanced at the others. "I can take care of this wun myself. Y'all got the rest?"

Luffy snapped his arm back to its original length. "Don't worry about us," he assured him.

Zoro suddenly got a bad feeling and just happened to lift his blade at the perfect time. A bullet ricocheted off it, sounding off an unpleasant metallic squeak. He was spared from a grave injury that could have paralyzed him. It made him pivot to see they were being advanced on from a different angle. "We got company," he narrated with the Wado Ichimonji still between his teeth.

Oakley suddenly slid with the bottoms of her boots against the grass until she rejoined. She saw how Billy was brawling with the feline away from them. "It's a lot more than we thought," she told the remaining three.

"Yeah, I can see that," Zoro replied.

"No, a lot more." She held her rifle up to eye level and started picking some off with perfect individual shots. A glass barrier was erected in front of her to protect her from the chest down. She instinctively rested the barrel on top as she pulled a handle to discard an empty shell. "Thanks, Hun."

Butler had already encased the two cows in a dome to prevent collateral damage. He quickly dropped many glass bullets for her, too, before getting tired of being riddled with them. His powers caused him to not be hurt since it just caused his body to liquify. But it worked in his favor because he spread glass across the ground until it was being stood on. That was when he suddenly gave the unlucky victim a boost. Tall glass pillars shot up, launching them into the air high enough that landing could break bones.

"BRING IT ON!" Luffy bellowed as he ran out to take care of business. The outlaws tried shooting him while thinking about what kind of idiot went headfirst into gunfire while screaming. But when bullets started flying back at them, they suddenly realized it was because he was immune. Everyone he laid eyes on received a punch. When they tried escaping, the rubber man would just grab tree branches to swing and catch them. It was almost a game to him.

In the midst of the gunfire were the sounds of Zoan devil fruits going face to face. The sheer size of their bodies was already intimidating; they could slam each other into a tree and knock it down without a second thought. The only aspect that could tip the scale was that Billy was on the backside of his middle age. Physical fights like this were more taxing on his body than his opponent. Still, he refused to let that be his ultimate downfall. When claws tried slashing at him, he batted them away with a hoof kicking. Bisons were animals that killed by goring with their horns, but it was hard to do that in this situation. Cougars were already nimbler and had easier ways of taking down prey. It did not help when human intelligence was added to the mix.

Unlike the rest, Zoro was disinterested in letting the gang have much room to attack. He caused the most screaming out of them all. One moment, an outlaw was shooting at him. The next, they were being cut down. The swordsman was practically flying over the ground. He was constantly targeting someone else. At the same time, he was careful not to leave his mark on the land. He was simply removing what did not belong. So, he exterminated one after the other. They were around every corner and seemed to never end. It was like they stepped on an ant hill.

This was no gang. This was an army. Many small groups must have banded together and used the mist guy's powers to stay hidden from the Lun'aecho. Staying this undetected was quite a feat. They had no idea how permeated their territory actually was. It was really bad, and this was just one mountain!

After Luffy thought he weeded out the ones in his line of sight, he felt tremors through his boots. It was noticeable enough for him to question if there was an earthquake. But then he saw horned animals stampeding straight for him. Being trampled by horses was not his favorite memory, so he turned tail to warn the others of what was coming. "Look out!" he called while in a full sprint. "Bulls!"

Butler and Oakley saw what was catching up behind him. They realized this problem was greater than what they could handle. "I'll get the others!" Oakley decided in a hurry.

He just nodded and watched her shoot back up into the sky. Times like these made him thankful for her abilities. They were much more useful than just winning shooting competitions. Little did he know back when he lost to her that they would make it this far in life together. She could handle the sky. Let him handle the ground. Bulls did not scare him. They were powerless when on lower ground.

Luffy felt himself levitate as he ran, and although it made him uneasy, he never stopped sprinting. That was because Butler had spread a layer of glass on the ground and was now getting them higher. Billy was forcibly separated from the cougar guy and found the same was happening to him. With both arms liquified and dropped into a crouch, Butler was trying to gain the upper hand in this ordeal single-handedly. The only person he failed to include was Zoro. He was too far, and his location was unknown.

He was completely oblivious to what they were experiencing. He was too busy and getting lost, but he was getting the job done. When it came time to cut down another, he noticed this one was not acting the same way. This one was unarmed and just seemed to be hanging out casually. Still, Zoro was not taking chances. He swung a single sword as he ran by to at least decapacitate him. When he failed to feel contact, he looked over his shoulder to see he was gone.

Bastard ran away like a coward, he thought, astounded.

Without warning, he stopped running.

No, I didn't, a voice whispered.

Zoro jerked in response to how eerie and close it sounded. But then he realized he could not turn around to see if he was snuck up on. In fact, he could not move at all. The Wado Ichimonji fell from his mouth.

Over his head, Oakley passed faster than a bird flying. She knew the general directions where the others had gone and wanted to do a single sweep. Chopper and the warriors with him got the message. Next, she found the river where Rip was leading. "WE NEED HELP!" she yelled down. "THERE'S TOO MANY! GO BACK UP THE MOUNTAIN!"

Their heads turned up toward the sky to see her momentarily. "Oh no," Nami voiced. If Luffy and Zoro were struggling, then it really must be a predicament.

Rip did not hesitate to turn back toward the incline, but Usopp was not on the same page. "Wait! We gotta get Jen," he reminded him.

"There's no time," Rip insisted. He knew her well enough to anticipate a struggle to get her to cooperate. She was a team player when she wanted to be.

The sniper hated that he was about to say this, but it was the only idea he had in the heat of the moment. "I'll get her." Then he quickly turned the blonde cow one-eighty to head back where she ran off while discarding her clothes. "Jen!" he called with urgency. "Jen! Didn't you hear Oakley? We gotta go back!"

The lack of response got him grumbling to himself, but he dismounted and jogged down the embankment to fetch her. When he got down to the water, he hesitated to go dredging through it, but he did anyway. It was not that deep. There were smooth, round stones making up the bottom and causing the water to flow in all kinds of wonky yet elegant patterns. He only got ankle-deep thanks to that. But when he rounded a bunch of reeds, he realized what the hold up was. Jen was submerged up to her neck in the water. She had her back turned to him because up on the other bank were two cowboys on bulls. Usopp froze.

"The hail you lookin' at?" Jen questioned the strangers. "This ain't no free tittay show."

The cowboy on the right looked to the one on his left. "That's a weird way to say 'Howdy.'"

He chuckled. "Yeah, you scrub her behind the ears. She might be worth a twirl."

"Y-You aren't Lun'aecho warriors," Usopp stammered as his knees started trembling beneath him. Those bulls were big, and their riders did not look like tourists.

Jen whipped her head to look at him. A little bit of relief came over her when she saw she was not alone anymore. But she returned her attention to the strangers since they were clearly trouble.

"Neither are y'all," the left cowboy pointed out. "What difference does it make?"

"The diff'ince is we're visitors and y'all are nothin' but a buncha thieves!" Jen declared.

"Jen, shut up," Usopp urged with gritted teeth.

"Oh, yer visitin' the Lun'aecho, aren't ya?" the right cowboy replied.

"I want you to give the Lun'aecho a message for me," the left cowboy told her.

"Oh yeah? Wut's that?" Jen challenged.

To answer, he whipped his bull to make it run toward her in the water. Jen immediately tried to avoid it, but it was too fast. That was when Usopp's body moved before he could think. Despite his terror, he dove for Jen right in the path of the bull's hooves. There was an instinct to protect her in her vulnerable state. Even when their heads were beneath the water and they were being trampled, he still tried to pull her out. His calls for help were drowned out by being pulled under.

Rip trotted up to the abandoned cow. "Usopp!" he called as he looked down at the empty embankment.

The girls came up behind him. "We'll get a head start," Robin told him.

"Yeah," he replied shortly, dismounting to go follow the pirate. This was absolutely ridiculous, and he was prepared to give them both an earful when people were possibly fighting for their lives. Every minute wasted was one that could be the last one for one of their friends. Why was he the only one who thought about these things?

Without another word exchanged, the three of them departed with haste. Nami held onto Robin as their cow worked harder than it normally does. Aurilee passed them up without trying, but her bison was better equipped for this kind of terrain. They all just hoped they were not the only ones who were the calvary.

When Oakley flew over where the horse drive was, she could see the various coat colors through the treetops. She yelled down the same message as before, really hoping to get Tonto's help. Both Sam and Sanji looked up, unable to see her but comprehending that their enterprise was changing. Suddenly, their conversation was a thing of the past. They put it aside for now. Sam mounted his bison again, and Sanji (knowing his cow was slower) hopped on behind him so they could get there faster. Time was of the essence. They just hoped they were not too late.

Up ahead of them, Tonto, Garrett, and Ware had met up with a faction of warriors. It was clear that their assistance was needed pronto. Ware was told to stay with the horses and some of the warriors so they could continue guiding him to the canyon. As for Tonto and Garrett, they were going with the rest of the warriors. Hopefully the numbers were enough to push back against however many the cowboys and pirates were fighting. The two partners led the legion side by side with all the galloping sounding like rolling thunder. "Just like old times?" Garrett questioned as his exhilaration showed with leaning forward in the saddle and his grin wide.

The chieftain, in that moment, saw all his friend's wrinkles smooth out and his hair darken back to the brown pigment of his youth. He could not help but smile with him despite the gravity of the situation. "Just like old times," he repeated with confidence.

After passing the drive, they found Sam and Sanji nowhere to be found – just the tan cow starting to munch on some grass. But they just took it as a sign that they had gotten a head start.

The only ones who were behind schedule were half of Rip's group. He stepped into the river as he listened to the rhythmic splashing of the cold water. At first, he was fuming, but he noticed splashing that did not match what he was perceiving. An investigation led him to the gruesome scene. Usopp and Jen both tried to get enough air to cry out for help again, but the bull was having none of it. The other cowboy just stayed on the bank watching with twisted amusement.

His ire turned to panic. Rip pulled the gun from his hip and shot at the cowboy committing the act. It alerted the bystander enough to make him leave. Unfortunately for his partner, the bullet caught him in a spot that made him stop maneuvering his bull. Rip kept the gun pointing at him as Usopp surfaced. He put weight on his feet and limped out of the water while coughing. All he could feel was crushing pain. Jen crawled out behind him.

The bull rider fell off as too much blood soaked the inside of his shirt, allowing Rip to lower his weapon.

"Jen!" Usopp said with fright. He had turned to see nothing but blood drooling from her face. His colorful poncho was thrown off to cover her nakedness, and he forgot about his pain as he pulled her out of the water and brushed her pink hair away to get a better look at her injury.

There were no tears in her eyes, but she was shaking in fear. The gash she received from a hoof rounded her right eye socket and went down close to her ear. It was dangerously close to the thinnest part of her skull; a few more inches would have shattered the bone and killed her. "I-Is it bad?" she asked with a shaking hand going to touch the broken skin.

He quickly held her hand to keep her from touching. Seeing it made him sick, but he tried to keep calm for her. "It probably looks worse than it is," he comforted. "We gotta get you to Chopper. He can fix you right up."

Seeing him be kind to her when he barely wanted anything to do with her before sent butterflies to her stomach. It was more than likely just him feeling pity for her, but she still appreciated it. This was not how she intended to get his attention at all.

"Can you both walk?" Rip inquired as calmly as he could. There was no point in scolding them. The consequences of Jen's stupidity were already paid in full, even if she did not deserve something this extreme.

"Yeah," Usopp answered. Without hesitation, he helped her walk through the river by pulling an arm over his shoulders. They all had to catch up with the others first.

To help guide the others to the conflict, Oakley returned to the area to check in. Her body hopped around due to her constantly changing her final destination. Once she got a glimpse of glass reflecting sunlight, she erupted through the leafy canopy and landed on her feet. The most important detail she noticed was that they were safe. She stood on glass because Butler had given them the high ground. Beneath them were angry bulls and cowboys trying to find a way to get to them.

"Good. Y'all're still alive," she said with relief.

"We're fine," Billy confirmed, keeping an eye on the cougar as he tried finding a way to get up there with him. "We can pick them off, but it would be nice to have pressure down there."

Luffy stood on the very edge of the glass. Gunshots were absorbed by his body, but he quickly shot them right back. "Can you guys stop shooting me?!" he complained. It was obviously not hurting him, so why continue to try? To air out his annoyance, he punched them off the bulls to try thinning out the crowd.

"I got them coming this way," she told them. "Just hold on for a few minutes." Then she looked around for Zoro just to see he was missing. "What's going on with Sword Guy?"

Butler twitched his mustache. For some reason, his wife understood that he was not in the vicinity to be up here with them. He looked like a tough son of a gun, so there was probably nothing to worry about.

She nodded. "Okay. Next time you see me, I'll have backup." Then she flew off again.

With that, Butler formed a glass spear and picked someone beneath him to be his first test subject. Maybe if they saw what a human skewer was, they would back up a little.

The moment Oakley reemerged, she entered a domain that was invisible to the naked eye. But she failed to notice, so she just continued as normal. The first people she managed to find were Sam and Sanji. She descended back underneath branches to fly over their heads. "I'll try to lead the way," she told them. "Follow me."

"Of course, Oakley dear!" Sanji endorsed lightheartedly. Then he switched to an ascetic tone for the warrior doing the driving. "You heard her."

"Yes, but I can get there without her help, too," Sam contended without provocation. He was getting better at it. Without needing as much concentration, he could sense people in the mountains up to a certain radius.

When Oakley disappeared from them, she tried looking for another group while not leading the two men astray. She tried measuring the distance from the river and where Rip's group was when she originally found them. The briefest movement caused her to dive back down to find Robin, Nami, and Aurilee. "Oh, good," she said with relief. "Where are the others?"

"They're catching up!" Aurilee explained.

"Follow me," she told them before pushing back up into the sky. Now that she had them, she slowed her speed and positioned herself so they could all see her. The only problem was that someone got an idea that she was bringing reinforcements. They preferred not to have that added to the mix.

In the middle of her flight, she noticed a cloud forming faster than normal. But she remembered the thick fog that had been dispelled by sending it up toward her. She realized what was happening and prepared herself with a fragile plan. If this was the Mist Mist Fruit, then it would be impossible for her to combat it. But she knew somebody who could.

When a figure started manifesting in the cloud, she gripped her rifle tighter. It was hovering right over Billy's group. Maybe if she kept him right there, her husband could encase him in glass to trap him. It was the only tactic she could think of. "I see you," she muttered as she held her rifle up to her dominant eye. The figure collected itself enough to start looking more human with actual flesh. She fired to warn him.

Everyone heard it. Attention focused on her. But she was the only one to feel the new cavity be punched into her body. She gasped and staggered. Then she noticed the figure brandishing a rifle, too. They had accidentally synchronized their attacks. When she did not fall, he pulled the trigger again. That time, blood splattered, and she plummeted.

Horrified gasps and expressions were shared among her friends. Butler did not know what to think at all. All he saw was the woman he loved falling to her death. Her prized gun had left her grasp, and her brimmed hat drifted away with the wind resistance. His internal organs clenched and vanished. "Oakley," he uttered aloud. At first, he was in denial that it had really happened. They still had an entire future together. The thought of it getting ripped away allowed the fury to settle in.

Without any warning, he launched himself into the air. Billy and Luffy were almost knocked off their high ground from the sheer force. Butler did not care. He only saw the figure in the cloud. When he got close enough, he turned completely liquid and translucent. Logia types were impervious to physical attacks, even from other Logias. Being water vapor made this Logia very tricky. In this case, Butler was his kryptonite.

He touched the cloud and immediately hollowed himself. The Mist Mist Fruit user did not realize he was caught until he was already inside. Butler hardened his shell and let gravity take care of the rest. His beloved had opened a window for him, and he would be damned if he let it go to waste. She sacrificed too much for it to be in vain.

Seeing her fall into the forest was devastating. Aurilee did her best to gauge where she had landed as she pushed ahead of Robin and Nami. It was very possible that she was caught up in a tree, so she was frantic in her search. Eventually, though, a body crumpled on the ground was stumbled across. "Oakley!" Aurilee cried out.

Nami jumped off first and ran over as fast as she could. The first thing she did was roll her over and press an ear to her chest to check for a pulse and breathing. When she pulled away, she looked at them worriedly with her brown irises looking more taupe. "Get Chopper," she told them.

"Is she alive?" Aurilee questioned.

"Yes, but she's in bad shape. She needs Chopper!"

"We'll hurry," Robin assured her, pulling away. They could make their way back to where they started. The only problem was that they were not on the path they had taken down. It was going to be tricky, but as long as they went up, they could do it.

Meanwhile, Sanji felt a petrifying dread as he watched Oakley disappear. He suddenly wished he was riding separately so he could split up from Sam to get to her. "What do we do?" he asked.

Sam took a moment to see if he could sense her. Even the faintest heartbeat should be available to him. If there was nothing, then it was too late. Luckily, he sensed a cluster form and then split again. One of the individuals housed more than one heartbeat. "We keep going," he chose. "Aurilee found her."

The cook could not tell if he was relieved by the news or just as concerned. A part of him hoped Aurilee did not find a dead body, and he also hoped she stayed behind with her. But there was no point in agonizing over the details. They just had to continue moving. Although the loud rumble gave them a bad feeling that things were souring at the fight.

Butler had made landfall again. Now there was no reason for him to show mercy. Getting up, he was still completely see-through and hollow inside. He transferred the Mist Mist Fruit user into a proper prison by creating a large orb and filling himself to push him into it. Then he detached it from his hand to let it drop. He deserved to be restrained in it forever.

As he looked down at the enemy, all he felt was nothing.

"Butler," Billy said with anticipation that he was going to rampage. His friend was quiet and peaceful all day and every day. Seeing that dynamic shift was very rare and frightening.

He melted the glass under his feet so he could drop down.

"No, Butler!"

What he was about to do would never be as painful as what was given to him. It was proof that his powers were deadly, and the world was lucky that he was not evil. While he kept getting shot at, he melted the rest of the glass and molded it around their heads before hardening it back. There was no screaming since their airways were blocked from it. Some had it shoved down their throats, and Butler gave them a quick death by skewering them from the inside. The only ones spared were the bulls, who started scattering when their riders dropped like flies. Some of the riders got the idea that fate was not favoring them, so they started to retreat.

Billy and Luffy's footing staggered as they sank with an unstable surface beneath them. They jumped ship, thrown back into the fray. "What's Butler doing?!" Luffy questioned as they both let the cushiony goo guide them down.

"Can you blame him? Oakley might be dead," Billy answered matter-of-factly.

Hearing it made Luffy uneasy. If one of his crewmates was on the verge of death, he wondered if he would react the same way.

They hit the ground to be immediately left with cleanup. Luffy grabbed a bull by the horns just to jump over it and knock over riders. They were not charging anymore since they had surrounded them. Now there was not much room to move, so it was easy pickings for him. There were more Gatlings that sent people flying all while he stepped on the backs of bulls.

Billy had to admit that his strategies were goofy, but he was a young kid who was nimble enough without the Gum Gum Fruit. If he was in his boots, he would probably do the same. Instead, he transformed into his beast form and started leading the bulls away to ease the crowding problem. For all he cared, the Lun'aecho could keep them.

While Luffy failed to take things seriously, a person appeared nearby. He just stood by and watched how the gang was dwindling. Instead of joining, he watched. That did not stop Luffy from noticing him. His demeanor immediately brightened upon noticing the green accents in his shirt and hat. "Zoro!" he called out, changing directions to come greet him. "We were wondering where you went! I'm surprised you found your way back."

As Luffy stepped once on a bull before moving onto the next one, Zoro cringed. "No, Luffy, stay away!" he warned him.

He did not heed the warning and continued to come until he touched grass again. "Why–" That was when he saw a blade coming his way. For a moment, Luffy wondered if he was about to lose his head, but his survival instincts made him roll backwards to avoid it. Seeing his first mate stand with a sword ready for seconds confused and annoyed him. "What the heck was that for?!"

Zoro grunted as the blade was swung hard enough to make a whirling sound until it was pointing directly at his captain. "I-It's not me," he tried explaining.

"I just watched you do it!"

Feeling like his muscles were being pulled hurt, but it hurt more to resist. The last thing he would do was betray his captain. Luffy knew that. But he remained a prisoner in his own body as both of his swords aimed to test the durability of his rubber body. He was immune to gunshots, but not to sharp edges.

Luffy backed up and ducked or stepped aside to not be sliced. "You're doing it again!" he persisted. Getting targeted by his best friend baffled him. He did not want to fight him, but almost getting slain was making it hard. The only way he could evade it altogether was flipping back up onto the bulls.

"That's why I told you to stay away," he muttered, getting a running start before jumping up onto a bull also. After that he wasted no time in chasing after Luffy. Realizing this was going down a bad road, he turned his back and went to get Billy's help. Even with him going for blood, he could not get himself to hurt him. It just was not something he would compromise on.

He looked over his shoulder at him, noticing how he failed to be as agile as him. He had slowed a little because he could not traverse the backs of moving livestock as smoothly. That was very strange to witness. If Luffy was using his powers, it would make sense. But he just was not. In addition, Zoro was very skilled in swordsmanship. Being sloppy or careless was distasteful. Something about how he swung at him felt very barbaric instead of tactful.

"Billy!" Luffy alerted, stopping next to him after finding him in the herd. "Something's wrong with Zoro."

Before Billy to react, Zoro came flying at them with his hilts flipped so he could impale them both. They jumped back in time for him to puncture the ground instead. "Yeah. I can see that," Billy replied.

It was clear that he had forgotten about his original opponent because when that familiar snarl sounded off, Billy's first impulse was to turn back into a human-beast and shield Luffy. Instead, though, the cougar guy hurdled them both. It almost looked like he was about to maul Zoro, but he stood behind him. "I was wonderin' when you'd catch one," he commented.

The tenseness in Zoro's face faltered. He wanted to cry out in pain, but there was no control over it. It was no longer Zoro as he smirked and gazed at who should have been his comrades. "He came right to me," an off-putting voice said using Zoro as a vessel.

Hearing it startled them both. It all made sense now. It really was not Zoro who was targeting them. That was why his swordsmanship was off. Just to make the situation even more real, they watched his eyes roll back and his mouth gape open. He wanted to scream as an intense pulling sensation exited his body. A little goopy creature oozed out from the back of his neck. It kept its hold on him intact, making him unable to be rid of it himself.

"A symbiote," Billy identified with repulsion.

The knowledge that he was being hurt right in front of him angered Luffy. "What is it? What is it doing to him?" he asked with dilated pupils.

"It's taken control of him. That ain't Zoro anymore, sun."

"He's still there," the symbiote teased, its little face twisted with amusement. It made him drop a sword to it could press the other's blade across his throat. "But, of course, that doesn't have to be the case."

"ZORO!" Luffy yelped frantically.

"Wait," Billy interjected, holding a hand on his shoulder. "Let's think this through. It wouldn't make since if he could kill Zoro and walk away unharmed. He invaded his body like a parasite. Surely that means they're now intertwined together."

"I'm intertwined with his body, yes, but not his life," the symbiote confirmed. "It doesn't matter if he's alive or not. I can still puppet him all I want. Isn't the Sym Sym Fruit great? So, you can either tell your Glass Glass friend to stand down or your buddy here gets it."

They all stood still for a moment. It was like they did not believe him. To prove he was being serious, he pulled the blade closer to Zoro's neck until it broke the skin a little.

"Okay! Okay!" Luffy quickly settled. "Butler! You need to stand down!"

The cowboy paused to look over. His initial disgust for his lack of sympathy was quickly sapped away when he saw how things had climaxed. One of their own was being used as a pawn to gain leverage. He did not want to do it, but he let the glass fall away. People were free from the clutches of death. The sound of lots of glass shattering was prime evidence of that.

"Now let Zoro go," Luffy demanded.

"Not until he follows through," the symbiote upheld.

"He just did!"

"No," Billy rebuked, looking at the ground between them and Butler. After a couple of bulls walked away, the large glass orb holding the Mist Mist Fruit user came into view still intact. The man inside was sitting cross-legged as if he was waiting for inevitable freedom. Luffy knew just as well as everyone else that letting that guy loose again would be the end of this fight. Their hands were tied. It was either surrender to defeat or lose Zoro for good. His fists balled up.

Butler approached the orb and hovered his palm over it. All he had to do was touch it to reabsorb it but doing that would undo all their work. And would he disgrace his wife like that? The thought of her murderer escaping made him sick to his stomach.

The Cat Cat Fruit user twitched his ears as they picked up something. And he also swore that he felt vibrations in the ground. They started out undetectable, but then two of his senses were noticing the same thing. When he sniffed, there was nothing. But then he looked, and he was met with a longhorn bull appearing out of nowhere.

A rescue battalion burst through the seams. One second it was silent, the next it sounded like an explosion had gone off. Large beasts leapt into the arena. As Garrett purposely mowed down the big kitty, Tonto saw Zoro's predicament. He reached down while passing by and grabbed the symbiote just to yank it out. Its hold on the swordsman was unlatched as it stretched to its maximum length in shock and finally separated from him completely. He felt his muscles relax, and he dropped to his knees as he tried catching his breath.

Luffy, Billy, and Butler all watched in amazement as Lun'aecho warriors cleared the vicinity by forcing all the bulls away and causing remaining gang members to run for it. It was so graceful yet authoritative. Arrows were shot at the stragglers to show how serious this was.

Billy stared at Tonto as his bison skidded to a stop. The symbiote writhed in his hand, trying to invade his body, but for some reason, it was not working. It ended up going still and reverting to a human form, showing that he was being held by the neck with his feet not touching the ground.

Garrett dismounted from Bessie to detain the one he took down. Luffy did not hesitate to throw his arms around Zoro to squeeze him in a hug. "ZOROOO! YOU'RE NOT DEAD!" he yelled elatedly.

He did not return the favor, but he had to admit that it relieved him to have his body back.

Down the mountain, Sam sensed the event and grunted with relief. His father must have taken a faster route. He was still going to follow up with Sanji, but the urgency had dissipated within him. "They did it," he communicated.

"Did what?"

"Ended the fight. The interlopers–" He paused mid-sentence as his senses continued tracking the different presences.

Farther up, Robin and Aurilee were racing to get help. But retreating gang members were intercepting them. Thinking they were getting ambushed, they started shooting at the two of them. Aurilee screamed, harshly pulling Amella's reins to change course. Robin was startled by the unexpected visitors and failed to match her efforts. "Aurilee!" she exclaimed in a panic, watching her get chased. Her arms crossed her chest in an instant, causing extra ones to sprout on the riders. "Clutch!"

All at the same time, yelps of pain rang out and riders fell from their bulls. But gunshots still rang out from the ones she lost sight of.

"What? What's wrong?" Sanji urged Sam.

The warrior had anxiety filling the empty space in his chest cavity as he felt Aurilee's cluster of heartbeats trying to outrun others behind her. His mind was running a mile a minute. The last time he felt like this, it ended with his wife's demise. It was all too familiar to him. There was this helpless sensation that brought misery with it.

"Get off," he said, deadpan.

Sanji did not respond or react at first. It was so sudden that he questioned if he misheard him. "Get off? No way."

Without thinking of the repercussions that could come from it, he pressed a hand to his chest and gave him a single shove that was strong enough to get the job done. Sanji went deaf as he lost his balance and watched the forest shift beyond his control. The bison grew larger, and then it was out of reach when he hit the ground and tumbled. By the time he stopped, Sam was gone.

Knowing she was in a tough spot, Aurilee fought against her innate fear to turn around in her saddle. The gang members tried shooting at her in the middle of the jostling around during the galloping. She loaded her bow quickly and shot back, hitting one of them right in the center of his chest and making him fall. Seeing it made her smile because she knew it was not a hopeless situation.

She let Amella do the leading as she landed the shots they could not. Having stillness did not affect her accuracy. Three more riders fell. Just one more would end this ordeal. She stared down the length of the arrow as he galloped faster toward her. His revolver was steady as he pointed it at her. The end of the barrel turned orange with a shot, causing her to blink. The bullet whizzed right past her ear. It was so close that she felt the heat radiating from it for an instant.

Her fingers released the arrow in pure fright, missing him. He was a good shot. Facing him scared her. When she turned back around in the saddle, she quickly whipped the reins to get moving faster. That was way too close. Now it was a race, but life or death. Every shot made her flinch. All it would take was one.

This was exactly why she confided with Luffy about a worst case scenario. Back on the Merry, she found him sitting on the figurehead and went over her wishes with him. For whatever reason, if anything happened to her, he was to find a good home for her kids. Keep them together and leave them a note explaining why they were orphaned. She needed them to know how wanted they were, and how they were not abandoned.

"What?! If anything happened to you, we'd keep the babies!" he had argued.

She broke eye contact with him out of amusement. As much as she appreciated his dedication, it was not something she wanted to burden the crew with. "I know you want more crewmates, but…even you should realize how dumb that idea is, Luffy."

"No way! They're just as important to the crew as you are. I can't just dump them somewhere and leave them behind!"

"All I'm asking is for you to put them where they belong. Whether it be with my parents or strangers wanting to adopt them. Please, Luffy. I'm their mom. Consider this my will."

Her eyes squeezed shut as it dawned on her that he might have to fulfill that wish after all. It was only a matter of time before she met her end. There was no winning this race. Her children would have to be cut out of her if they were going to survive. The one thing she was thankful for was that she was dying in this sanctuary that was the closest thing to paradise on Earth. Maybe her kids could be left here to live out the rest of their lives. If she felt like she belonged, they should, too. Her hand caressed the underside of her belly as she told them goodbye without ever having the opportunity to properly meet them. Her little rowdy beans. The only positive outcomes of the worst phase of her life.

Almost as if he had heard her internal discourse, Sam came flying with incredible speed behind the cowboy. The hatchet hanging from his belt was grabbed and thrown so perfectly. It spun once in the air before its blade pierced his back. Aurilee heard Sam's battle cry and looked over her shoulder to see he had hauled ass to get here just in time. While the bull kept running, its rider fell. He jumped off his bison to finish him off.

Aurilee stopped Amella so she could watch. Something about the way Sam pulling the hatchet out of his back just to hack him again and again was oddly satisfying. His fury reminded her of a wolf hurling itself into a deer. Such horror was displayed in killing, but not with him. It was justified. It was magnificent. Every swing of his arm made his braids oscillate in every direction. Little did she know that he was reliving a nightmare.

All he could see was his wife's killer at his feet. He watched her die because he was too late to save her. He would rather kill himself than go through that again, but seeing how he was no longer weak made him angrier. Why did he have to lose her at all? Where was this resolve to protect when she needed it the most?

Aurilee slowly came closer, feeling jittery and dizzy as he stood up straight. The cowboy was dead. His focus shifted to her instead, seeing how she sat unblinking and shocked at what had just occurred. Her adrenaline was pumping. The realization settled in that she had survived when she was certain she would not.

"Aurilee," he said as he stood beneath her.

Her eyes stared at the body. He could see she was struggling to draw in proper breaths.

"You're okay," he told her, reaching up to pull the reins from her hands. Her continued lack of response caused him to pull her off and place her down. As he thought about what he could do to help her, he knew the most important thing right now was to calm her. That started with regulating her breathing. "You're okay," he repeated.

Their height difference was perfect for it. All he did was rest his chin on top of her head and let her feel him breathe. She fit so snugly and was able to breathe in the woody scent that clung to his clothes. It let her know that she was alive and safe. Her lip curled and a tear fell. Because of Sam, she had another chance.