Thank you all for sticking with me through this story and I hope you all are enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it, even if it does give me trouble and stress every now and then. Thank You: Aaron Ashbaugh, Andrew Bohl, Animephilosopher1, Ankhseram123, Ant Franklin, Badmr7, Christopher Mitchell, Clark Kent, Claude Walker, Cordell Sanders, Cory Johnston, Darko129, Dave Gh, David, David Bowling, David Reynolds, Emi Stafford, Eric Bandel, Eugene Malone Jr., EvilJelly, Fenrir ragnarok, FlakeTrain, Garvin Lee Nelson-Mathlin, GLADIUS315, GODA98, Illiasse Naji, Immagenius, Inucbus, Jacob McCarthy, JEP1010, Jkat, John Mekjian, Jonathan Moh, Joseph Baty, Joseph Morrison, Joseph Vargas, Joshua Groves, Kcx1, Kevin Calderon, Korakas, Kyo Anamoto, Lamont Hale, Marielle Orff, Markoos, Matt Walther, Matthew Burley, McBanjo, Mcgin28, Milagros Peres Davila, Milla, Neridian, Rafael Cardenas, ReactedLyric, Ranger Ellis, Richard Barkley, Riley Bolerjack, Ryuu, Sasha, TheWolfThatExist, Thomas Sanders, Tom Peissig, Ty Chaos, and ViewtifulSoul!
Chapter 44:
Infighting
"Fuck!"
Nami's scream caused Sanji to freeze, his head spinning to try to find the woman across the room. Turning, however, took his attention away from his opponent. Myrm took advantage of that, its toxic tongues slithering forward to wrap around the chef's extended leg. The blond grit his teeth as the toxins burned through his pants leg, redness bubbling over his skin. He bit out his own curse as the muscles dragged him off his feet, holding him aloft upside down. Seeing what was to come, Sanji focused, a miasma of black smoke covering his chest and stomach.
"AAATATATATA!" Myrm laughed, raising its claws before swinging them down. Sanji coughed, the attack slamming into his torso as he refused to block with his arms lest something happen to them. The force of the attack launched him from the tongues' grip, the blond bouncing across the floor before rolling to a stop.
"Oww," the man groaned, rolling onto his stomach to push himself onto his hands and knees. He coughed, a few drops of red falling to the concrete below. A shadow fell over the blond, Myrm giggling to itself as the once-human face looked down on him.
"AAATATATA!"
Sanji twisted, rolling himself over to avoid the claws that carved lines into the floor. He spun into a handstand, his legs kicking into the Mania's closest arm one after the other. It hissed but never lost its disposition, as if the pain were merely an afterthought to something else.
Sanji didn't take the time to think about it. He jumped backward the way the pair had come, putting his back to the wall so he could observe Myrm and the rest of the room in one go.
The arena was now more of a disaster than it had been when they entered, but that really wasn't saying much. All of the Manias were still standing, though the Giraffipede did have a long, shallow cut along its side that was dripping red. As Sanji watched, Grassland swiped its horned trunk through the blood and flicked it at Tashigi. She raised her arms, protecting her eyes and glasses, but the rest of the crimson liquid dotted her outfit.
Something akin to black lightning sparked from Gin's fight with Ocean, the Logia's Haki-covered wings and arms deadlocked with the aquatic-based amalgamation's similarly-covered tentacles. Gin would break the stalemate periodically, charging the creature in an attempt to get his hands on it for a decisive attack that could get through the beast's Haki, but it would snap at him with its beak whenever he got closer.
Smoker seemed to be faring the best out of the group between his jutte and Logia powers, but Desert had apparently taken note of the marine's maneuverability and was playing a long game, charging the white-haired man while using its scorpion claws on its back as protection. Desert was getting faster the longer their battle lasted, so it was only a matter of time before Smoker missed something vital and ended up losing something vital as a result.
Finally (and most importantly to Sanji), Nami's Clima-Tact was a blur in her hands, the young mother's arms lined with enflamed burns from Insect's poison powder. The floor around them was covered in the dust-like toxin, coating it orange while also preventing Nami from building any large wind attacks lest she kick it up and hurt herself more. Insect, however, was not without injury. One of its wings had a tear in it and a gash along its stinger dripped blood, but the creature's be-mandibled smile did not waver. Rather, none of the Manias with anything like conventional lips held anything less than a smirk.
"You're wasting my time," Nami scowled, another Air Wall smacking away a couple of Insect's grasping hands. The woman spun, a yellow light forming at the end of her back-up weapon, though not as quickly as it would with her newer one. "Too bad for you, I haven't been idle. Little bugs are advised to be careful, even inside, lest they find a shocking surprise. Thunderbolt Tempo!"
Lightning lit the room as it came down at the navigator's beckoning, striking the amalgamation in the back. Insect screeched as the electricity pulsed through its body, its wings going limp as it crashed to the floor. Its limbs jerked.
"Damn," Nami hissed, wanting to put pressure on her chemical burns but unsure if that would only make matters worse. She eyed Insect warily, but other than the spasming arms, it wasn't moving. She turned, readying herself to jump into another fight. "Ow. Stupid bug thing."
She took one step before something went wrong, a soft, firm substance wrapping around her foot. She looked down, finding a white, somewhat-shiny substance wrapped around her ankle. Eyes widening, her gaze slowly followed the scarily-familiar substance backward to Insect. The substance —webbing, as much as Nami really didn't want to accept it— led directly into the creature's mouth.
"Ah, shit," Nami cursed, Insect climbing up to all eights and yanking its head to the side before cutting the webbing with its mandibles.
"Donna!" Gin yelled at the sound of her screaming. A pulse of lightning shot out from him, forcing Ocean away for a moment. A moment was all the electric Logia needed to break away from his fight with the creature, the man turning away from it and pushing off the ground with a single beat of his Haki-coated wings.
He shot into the air, interposing himself in the navigator's flight arc. The Electric Demon snatched the Cat Burglar out of the air, spinning away her momentum before the pair of them could crash into the wall.
"Donna!" he gasped. "Are you alright?"
"More important things to focus on, Gin!" Nami pointed her Clima-Tact at Ocean, a Thunder Ball building at its tip. The amalgamation Gin had been fighting raised its larger pincer, readying to crush both pirates under its blue, exoskeletal bulk. Armament Haki grew over the claw.
"Thunder Lance!" Gin and Nami yelled in tandem, the Logia running his powers through the navigator's weapon. The Thunder Ball shifted, forming the shape of an arrowhead just before blasting forward. Ocean moved its Haki-covered claw in an attempt to block the attack only for its bulk to work against it, the Thunder Lance slipping through its pinchers before stabbing into the beast's shoulder.
"GRAAOOOOWWWW!" Ocean yelled, its eyes taking on a maniacal gleam unlike those before. Its stingray tails whipped forward, lashing against Gin's wings. They didn't hurt —the wings were only a construction of his powers and not an actual part of his body— but the force was enough to send the pair skidding backward. Gin's shoes ground into the floor to slow and stop their momentum before he set Nami back on her feet.
"These things're crazy strong, Donna," the monk commented. "We can't keep fightin' a long battle while they've got Young Master Ace."
"I know that, Gin," the woman muttered. "I noticed they aren't looking at each other. Do you think we can change their focus?"
"Ya think we could turn 'em against each other?"
"I think it's worth a try If we want to get out of here quickly."
They jumped backward, avoiding the claw that caved the floor where they'd been standing. Gin took aim with his finger pistol, firing several shots at Ocean to keep its attention before he and Nami turned, running toward where Sanji and Myrm battled. The myrmecophagous mix lashed at the chef with its toxic tongues, Sanji avoiding them with liberal use of Sky Walk while trying to break through the creature's thick plating. The claws didn't help matters, of course, only adding another layer to the Mania's defense that Sanji needed to avoid, but it appeared the blond was slowly overpowering the beast if the numerous cracks were any indication.
"Sanji!" Gin called, pitching his voice to it could be heard over Ocean's roar. Nami glanced back, finding said aquatic amalgamation scrambling toward them on its many tentacle-legs like a wobbly freight train. "Sanji, go up!"
The pirate silently did as bid, dodging the claw Myrm swung his way. Gin, holding Nami on his back, joined his friend in the air as they watched chaos unfold below. Ocean tried to stop, its eyes watching the pirates as they got higher, only to not notice it had gotten into Myrm's range. The giant sloth claw bit into the turtle shell that covered Ocean's torso, carving a gash into the keratin there.
"GRAAAOOOWW!" Ocean yelled, swinging its smaller pincer at the other Mania. It crashed into Myrm's armor where one of Sanji's many kicks had cracked it, bits and pieces falling away to reveal taut muscle underneath. Myrm let out its own screech.
"Holy shit, it's workin'," Gin muttered as Ocean lashed at Myrm with his tails, one of them landing on the newly-exposed skin.
"Forget about them," Nami said. "Sanji, go help Smoker. It looks like that Mania is starting to learn his patterns."
"Right away, Nami-swan!" the chef answered, kicking off in that direction.
"I'll join Tashigi against the giraffe thing—"
"Giraffipede," Gin said.
"I'm not calling it that. Anyway, Gin, can I leave the bug to you now that these two big guys are caught up in their own thing?"
"What am I, a glorified bug light?"
"If this is about the giraffipede comment, we don't have time. Now drop me."
"Drop you? But Donna—"
"Drop me now!"
Gin let go, allowing Nami to fall the full 12 feet back to the floor. Myrm and Ocean had, luckily, moved away in their new brawl, but it was only after she landed that Gin was subject to why the navigator had been so insistent suddenly. Four arms and a pair of legs, all slim, pale, and covered in a thin layer of Armament Haki, wrapped around the Logia's body. His wings dissipated in a crack of thunder.
"Oh motherf—"
Insect flipped backward, driving the man's face into the floor with a "KEEEKEKEKEK!" in a perfect German suplex.
"That's got to hurt," Nami commented to herself, fashioning a disk of solid air. Ahead of her, Tashigi scowled as each clash of her Shigure and Grassland's horns caused sparks to fly through the air and her shoes to skid backward a few inches. The human of the two was splattered with the former's blood, but not by accident. Marine and Mania stared at each other, the taller with delight dancing in its eyes and the shorter with frustration. Grassland reared back, raising all of its front legs. "Look out!"
Nami threw the circle of solid air, knowing that its stabilization was not so stable considering her lesser Clima-Tact. It did the job, however, distracting Grassland from the attack it would have performed. The Mania trumpeted, using one of its elephant ears to smack the oncoming air. Said air expanded as it depressurized, blasting the creature's face with an eye-wateringly-cold wind.
Tashigi saw an opportunity, slashing upward with Shigure at the Mania's exposed stomach. A slash of air shot forth, cutting a long gash into the raised chest of the former human.
"BREEEHEHEHE!" Grassland bellowed, gravity bringing it down. Its feet hit the concrete with enough force to cause a localized rumble that sent Nami and Tashigi stumbling. Grassland tried to capitalize on that, snapping at them with the hippo mouth on the end of its elephant trunk.
"Cat Burglar, move!" Tashigi ordered, dodging to the left. Nami dove the opposite direction, the creature's thick teeth chomping on nothing but air. "They say you have a Devil Fruit power! I'd love to see it!"
"Devil Fruit?" Nami blinked, barely ducking under the swinging trunk that came for her. She spun her Clima-Tact, Heat and Cool Balls floating upward. "I don't have a Devil Fruit! Why would they think that?"
"You don't?" Tashigi blinked. "But the reports—"
"Don't know anything about me!" Nami formed another Solid Air Dome, but she didn't trust it, throwing herself backward as the giraffipede (loath as she was to call it that even in her head) swung its upper body downward. The navigator's partial dome shattered under the creature's weight, the destabilized air expanding in a blast that blew Nami back another several feet.
Grassland stopped, its human eyes furrowing as it began to turn back.
"Just go down already!" Tashigi yelled, Shigure biting deep into the flesh of the Mania's side. It roared, a sound less like a trumpet and more like a lion coming from the mouth on the end of it's trunk. Grassland swung around, the marine having only just enough time to bring up an arm and cover it in a thin layer of Armament before impact. The attack still rattled her bones, tearing Tashigi's grip from her sword buried in the creature's side. She flipped, using Moonwalk to slow and control her decent before reaching the wall and skidding down to the floor.
Grassland's mane of elephant ears flicked, several of its feet stomping the floor as it turned to stare down the now-weaponless marine. Said weapon remained in its thick hide, blood leaking from the wound. To her credit, Tashigi stared back without flinching.
"Hey!" Nami yelled from the creature's other side. "Big, long, and ugly! She's not the one you need to worry about!"
Nami ran toward the beast, forming Air Steps to rise upward in lieu of not possessing Moonwalk. Each step dissipated behind her, but Nami only worried about her goal as the giraffipede's eyes rose to find her. Nami jumped, praying that her gamble here would pay off. Another Air Wall formed, this one on the end of her Clima-Tact and shaped like the blade of a sword.
"Solid Air: Wind Shear!"
The Mania shifted, avoiding the damage the attack would have done to its face. It did not, however, properly estimate the danger in the attack, the Wind Shear shearing off two quarters from two of its elephant ears and a whole third ear that had been in between them.
"BREEHEHE!" it cried, tears in its eyes. It turned said eyes on the navigator, its trunk coming up to launch its mouth at the airborne pirate. Nami gasped, interposing her Clima-Tact between her and the beast. The hippopotamus mouth clamped down on the metal rather than her thin waist like the creature had intended.
Grassland pulled, Nami clinging to her weapon for dear life as the Mania took her for an unwanted ride. The world around her blurred from the speed as the creature dragged her through the air like a ribbon on a pole.
"Aaahhhh!" the pirate screamed, feeling her fingers start to slip.
And then the Mania let go, throwing both Nami and her weapon. She was alone for only a second before smashing into something softer than the wall or floor, a hard "oof!" coming from whatever she'd impacted. They rolled, a mix of tangled limbs, until their momentum was used up. Nami flinched, opening her eyes slowly to find herself on top of Tashigi, their bodies pressed together.
"Dammit!" the marine gasped, pulling her face upward so she was no longer smothered under the voluptuous pirate. "The Hell are you eating to get this big?"
"Are you calling me fat?" the young mother demanded.
"That's not what I— Shit!" Tashigi wrapped her arms around the pirate and rolled, pulling both women out of the way as the giraffipede slammed its trunk down, cracking the concrete where they'd been.
"BREEHEHEHE!"
"If I could just get my sword," Tashigi muttered.
"Could you reach it if I keep its attention on me?"
"Depends. How long can you get me?"
"Depends on how much this can piss it off." Nami raised her Clima-Tact and stared down the abomination aiming for their demises. "I'll show you why they seem to think I have a Devil Fruit. Thunderbolt Tempo!"
Lightning sparked downward, drawn to the metal sword still lodged in Grassland's side. The Mania let out a sound as the electricity ran through it, but it didn't sound like any sort of pain. Rather, as static sparked around the now-somewhat-blackened Mania, its eyes appeared to have crossed and its tongue hung out from the end of its trunk, each breath a puff of superheated steam mixed with smoke.
Nami's face crinkled in disgust.
"Did that thing just moan?"
"I would rather not think about it," Tashigi replied, running forward while the Mania was distracted. She kicked, vanishing with a Shave before reappearing on the beast's side. Taking hold of Shigure while thankful she still had her gloves on considering the grip was smoking from the pirate's attack, she leveraged her strength. The sword cut a deep line as she pulled it free, having opted to not take the easy way and thereby leave a smaller wound by pulling it directly out. Blood sprayed as the marine return to the floor, flicking the crimson liquid from her blade before slowly sheathing it.
"An' stay th' fuck down, dammit!"
Tashigi turned just in time to see Insect, nearly charred and with its stinger missing, slam into Grassland. The Electric Devil landed beside the marine and Nami, the man panting. His robes were torn, part of one side of the bottom totally ripped away and the hood torn in half. There was a hole in the abdomen where Gin's liver would be, but the only damage to the skin underneath was a small puncture.
Insect shifted, moving to get up again.
"No ya don't!" Gin growled, spreading his black wings and taking to the air with a single jump. He reached a hand toward Nami's thundercloud, electricity moving between the clouds. "Jus' die already an' accept your fate for turnin' your fangs 'gainst th' Straw Hat Pirates! Ya won't keep us from th' Young Master any longer! Olympus' Judgement!"
Light flashed and thunder boomed as several bolts of lightning rained down on the fallen Manias. They each let out a screech, but Nami couldn't sense any pain in the sounds even as they faded into nothingness. Gin alighted on the floor beside her, they and the marine taking in the sight of the charred bodies of the two Manias.
Gin folded his hands and bowed his head. "Be freed o' your burdens an' sin an' find peace beyond th' pages o' fate. Rest now in your epilogue."
"So this is the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit…" Tashigi commented, hard eyes turning on the praying Logia. She fingered the handle of her sword, wondering if it would be better if she took out the pirate now before he caused more mayhem. The Navy might never get another chance like this. Slowly, carefully, she started to slide Shigure from its sheath.
"Don't even think about it," Nami growled, setting a hand on Tashigi's wrist. The pirate's hands were small, soft and dainty without the callouses on the marine's. Throwing her off would be child's play for the swordswoman, but there was something in the navigator's eyes that gave the marine pause. "If you turn on us now, we'd have to fight you, and we don't have time for that."
Almost reluctantly, Tashigi let go of Shigure's handle.
"Antimatter Kick Course!" Sanji yelled from across the room.
"White Launcher!"
From a cloud of smoke above fell Commodore Smoker, his jutte and boots landing on the upturned, three-humped back of Desert. Sanji grunted from underneath the Mania, his kick and Smoker's attack pinning the beast's torso between them. Desert spat spittle and blood from the compression, Sanji vacating his spot as Smoker doubled the force of his attack, driving the Mania into the floor. Desert struggled, swinging its head at the end of its snake neck back and forth, but the pincers on its back seemed to refuse to move. One of said pincers was bent the wrong way while the other hung limp. Even the movements of its head seemed sluggish.
"Stay on top of him, Smoker!" Sanji ordered, turning into a spin that lit his leg on fire. With his foot burning, he dashed toward Desert's head. "Diable Jambe: Flambe Shoot!"
Fire exploded as the chef's kick landed, Desert's head spinning around to slam into the side of its own body. The beast let out a shaky "Yaa… ha… ha…" and trembled. Smoker shook on its back, hints of its five feet slowly appearing to those on the ground.
"Smoke Out," Smoker muttered, waving a hand as smoke rose from his body. It moved at his command, flowing down to the Mania's head where it enveloped the thing's face. Desert struggled a little harder, but its movements were in vain as it slowed and eventually stopped altogether.
It went limp, Smoker breathing out a final puff from his finished cigars as the fight ended. He looked up, studying where, on the other side of the room, Ocean and Myrm bit and scratched at each other still. His eyes narrowed.
"Let's move to the second floor," Nami suggested, forming an Air Floor to stand on and a wind gust to raise her higher. In doing so, she didn't give the others much of a choice but to do as she said. Gin and Sanji followed without pause while Smoker and Tashigi glanced at each other. Loath as they were to take orders from a pirate, they didn't want to leave the trio of Straw Hats to their own devices considering they'd already lost track of a government traitor, the samurai, and the most dangerous child in the world (according to ex-Fleet Admiral Sengoku).
"I trust there's something you want to discuss?" Smoker questioned as he and Tashigi set down on the second level. "I would think you would be anxious to chase after your son, Cat Burglar."
"Oh, I really want to," Nami replied, "but Kaku's on the trail. He'll at least keep anyone from doing anything if he knows what's good for him and he wants to keep sailing with us. He's an ex-spy, so I doubt we could catch up in time to make a difference there."
"You make it sound like he's not a member of your crew," Tashigi commented.
"He's made it abundantly clear that he isn't," Sanji offered, lighting up a cigarette. He held out his lighter, Smoker accepting his silent offer a moment later as the Marine Commodore lit a new couple of cigars with it. "Apparently, the only reason he's here is a Navy Klabautermann outed him to the Marines. Otherwise, he'd still be maintaining his cover identity in Water 7."
"You realize we'll need to report everything you say to our superiors, right?" Smoker grunted.
"Considering they thought I had a Devil Fruit for the longest time, I'm not that concerned about what your superiors learn," Nami waved off. "What they know and what they don't isn't that big a deal to us. Actually, I want to make sure we're on the same page."
"And which page would that be, Cat Burglar?"
"Page 653, chapter 44, book two," Gin offered. The others turned to stare at him, the monk answering their blinks with one of his own. "What?"
"What was that supposed to be?" Sanji questioned.
"Jus' tryin' t' break th' ice we've got formin' here," Gin replied with his hands raised in surrender. "Can't tell ya where th' answer came from, but I think it's better'n page 394, which woulda been my first answer. Jus' din't feel right."
"Moving past that," Nami said, suspecting his answers were from the chaotic other voice in the monk's head. "I really don't want to run into anymore of Velo's little surprises without talking about them. And," Nami raised a finger before either of the marines could say anything, "I trust your desire to stop Velo's experimentation transcends your dislike of us and ours. Did you all notice anything during your fights?"
"The Sea Prism Stone in my jutte seemed to slow them down," Smoker commented after a moment's hesitation. "We suspected as much considering their containment had also been crafted of the same. It didn't stop them completely, but that confirms there's some form of Devil Fruit at the base of their mutations. What Fruit could do that," —he gestured at where Ocean and Myrm still clawed at each other— "I haven't a clue."
"They didn't seem to feel pain," Sanji offered, a hand on his chin. "No, that's not it. They felt it, but it was like they enjoyed it."
"Not impossible," Gin commented. "Ain't like that's not a thing, ya know? I've got times like that when…" He paused, considering how his words sounded. He blushed. "Well, when I slip," he decided, tapping his forehead.
"It's horrible," Tashigi spat. "What Velo's done. What she's doing, it's sick. Those Manias were people until Velo got hold of them."
"Humans," Sanji listed. "Devil Fruits. Mas—"
"Ahem," Nami coughed. Sure, Ace wasn't around at the moment, but that was still edging into territory she didn't want to talk about with anyone.
"Er, pain enjoyment," Sanji amended "I've heard about Zoans getting mutated through Awakenings, but nothing like this. Those things were not just one animal. Could she have spliced Devil Fruits together?"
"Impossible," Tashigi said. "If someone eats more than one Devil Fruit, they'll die."
"I don't know what else it could be, then."
"We'll just have to corner her and force the answer out of her," Nami decided. "She said herself that there are more of those things out there somewhere. Now, that might not be our problem right now, but it full-well could be. We have a bad habit of getting into shit like that because Luffy thinks it's fun." The inflection in Nami's words made it easy for the marines to pick up her meaning. She sighed with a small smile. "I'd hoped he'd moved past that after two years, but I guess he wouldn't be Luffy if he did."
"If you are done ranting," Smoker interjected, "I would like to return to pursuing Dr. Velo. Now that we are aware of what she has been doing, I would rather not leave her free any longer than necessary." He reached out a hand, forcing some of his smoke into the crack between the automatic doors. A twitch of his fingers was all it took for the smoke to condense, forcing to two sides open to reveal the hallway beyond. Nami poked her head out, the first image to meet her being three separate doors either smashed or cut to pieces before reaching a corner.
"Well," she commented. "We don't need to look hard for our path."
Ace's head spun, his eyes all but swirls as so many pretty colors he didn't know the names of danced in his vision, creating myriads of things that melted and morphed into other things. Butterflies turned into bread before dancing a jig as they hopscotched into a toaster. It's tongue dispensed butter as it licked each slice of bread until it bloomed into a happy little tree. The trees then grew meat that the crows could eat to turn them into robot crows! Ace wanted some of that meat so he could be a robot, too, but the mean crows gobbled it all up before flying away. The robotic birds gathered together in the green-orange-blue sky, coalescing into two islands that fell one after the other. One landed, shaking the earth, only for the other to land, sending the first back into the air! Little pieces of the islands broke off each time, turning into animals that stampeded into the misty flowers. It was all so pretty that all Ace could do was stare in awe.
In the real world, Ace laid on the bar counter, the toddler drooling as the drugs in his system did their hallucinogenic work, giving him visions of the impossible. Law and Velo watched over him, a frown on the former's face as the toddler's drool started to run over the counter and onto the floor. Velo lounged several seats away, Caesar's own The Chemical Compounds of the Living Body, a Comprehensive Guide to What Makes All Sentients Tick: Sixth Edition in one sleeve-covered hand and a glass of sherry in the other. Law eyed Caesar, the man standing at his desk and muttering to himself about how to start teaching his newest little minion all the things he wanted him to learn to top even Vegapunk himself.
Of course, Caesar wanted to beat Vegapunk and carve his own name into the annuls of history, but he had heard that one learns more by teaching others because of the questions they ask. Up to this point, however, the only ones of note around him had been Law, Monet, and Velo. Two of them were already certified doctors in their own rights and the last was more of a secretary than a lab assistant. They had not come here to study under him and stayed out of this way, as noted by their continued survival. Four scientists had come to gain his knowledge in the past couple years, but they had become lab rats for him like so many others. They had been too smart to be useful idiots, and too stupid to keep up with him.
Perhaps, the gas-man considered, that was why he had yet to beat any of the scientists from the now-defunct MADS. They were older, had more funding, and had taken on protégées or had children of their own. At least, as far as he knew. Sure, Vegapunk didn't need assistants last he remembered, but he had a head sized to fit his massive ego.
"Yes…" Caesar grinned. "If I turn the Bohr models into something like a puzzle, that should make chemical equations a breeze for him. Once he understands the basics there, I can use his assumption-free mind to consider all the formulae that allude me now." He flipped a page of his book, a copy of Compounds Thought Impossible and Other Such Nonsense. One of his failed wannabe disciples had brought the book with him and Caesar had to admit it was an interesting read. He could do without the snarky humor, but the information within was on the level of some of the MADS research he had been witness to some two decades ago.
The bang of the door opening pulled Caesar from his thoughts, the man snarling at the wall for only a moment before composing himself.
"Master!" one of the workers called. "The pirates somehow subdued the children's hunger pangs!"
"Have they?" the scientist questioned, turning to face the hazmat-suited satyr. "Well, that is unexpected. How?"
"We aren't quite sure," the man answered. "We were hoping you could direct us. They have the children tied up and unconscious by their ship. The marines seem to be working with them."
"I could have told you that last part," Velo commented, not looking up from her book. "Dreadfully unfair to team up on us if you ask me, but their leader is a simple Commodore. While they might look scary, I'd wager the marines' leaders and several of the pirates are little more than dreadful piles of bloody mush by now. My cute Manias should be about done with them."
"Leave the kids to me," Law offered, getting up from his seat. "I didn't get them last time because we had other priorities but pulling them away from the Straw Hats should be easy with my skills."
"Yes, yes," Caesar waved. "Go on. I've about learned everything I could from this group of children. Get the ones who reacted well to the gigantification serum and leave the rest. We'll send the successful ones to the hag and get a new batch."
Law did not verbally respond, only grabbing his sword and heading to the door.
"There are a few… other problems," the lacky reported once Law had left.
"And those might be?" Caesar prompted.
"The samurai and another man are running around the halls," he reported. "And the second captured group has also escaped containment. They are fighting some of Dr. Velo's Merville projects right now."
"What‽" the periwinkle-haired biologist demanded. "Who authorized that?"
"Lady Monet, Dr. Velo. She said you'd given permission."
"I absolutely did not! Where is that dreadful little harpy?"
"I-I don't know," the man admitted.
"I need to go give that dreadful birdbrain a piece of my mind. She'll learn her dreadful lesson, putting my gifts to my savior in danger." Velo stomped out the door, unsure of her destination but certain Monet would be at the end of it one way or another.
"I need you to send a message for me," Caesar said, redirecting the lacky's attention to him. "Contact the centaur squad in the Burning Lands. There are a few errands I need them to run to help rid us of our unwanted guests still on the outside. Shilolololo!"
"It is good to see you again," Monet smiled, the harpy perched upon the top of a cliff. Snow blew hard and fast around her form, pulling at her hair and clothes, but the winged verdette did not seem bothered by the weather. If anything, she seemed much more at ease than she had been within the laboratory. "How long has it been? Fourteen years?"
"Fifteen, actually," the man on the shore replied. He was tall with short, black hair and a well-groomed beard. Said beard was shaped into lightning designs on each cheek, one of which was covered by a half-eaten steak that seemed stuck to him. He was dressed in white, his long coat trimmed with blue. His eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses, but it was clear he was making eye contact with the woman. "I must say, a lot has changed, hasn't it?"
"Depends on who you ask," Monet grinned, waving one of her seafoam-colored wings. "I hear Sugar is the same as ever."
"I was just there, so I can confirm." A grin crossed his face, Monet spreading her wings to alight on the snow before the man. "Since when have you had wings and bird legs, Monet?"
"Parts switching has been all the rage here since Law arrived," the woman responded. "I kind of got swept up into it, but I quite like the change. I can fly now and my talons are razor sharp." She turned slightly, fanning her tail feathers. "Do you think Sugar will like it?"
"I think she'll just be happy to have her sister back." His eyes went to a spot hidden by the snowstorm, the perpetual white hiding the lab. "It seems things are more exciting than usual around here."
"Well, we have plenty of guests right now. Besides that shorty Velo and Law, we're also playing host to the Straw Hat Pirates and your annoying underlings."
Light glinted off the man's sunglasses. "I knew Smoker was getting sent here, but you say Straw Hat is here, too?"
"Oh, yes," Monet confirmed. "He's energetic, just like the Young Master warned us he would be. The scar he received two years ago is still prominent. Currently, Straw Hat is separated and contained."
"Good. Anything else to report?"
"So much, Vergo. Follow me; I'll show you the back entrance. The sooner we finish here, the sooner I get to see my sister again."
End of Chapter 44
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-SwordOfTheGods