Chapter 123
Wild Tim's General Store
Vasco and Tore stared at each other as Caterina Devon stood up and wiped her mouth.
"You little bitch..." Vasco spit, looking behind Tore at Devon who nodded angrily and pulled out matches from her pockets, Devon snuck a match out the box.
Tore continued to stare.
In the closet, Robin was using her power to untie herself.
"I-I didn't even see who snatched me away... I think they were invisible! I-I gotta make sure he's okay...!" Robin said.
Robin eventually freed herself and smiled, standing to her feet and opening the door to the closet. Robin was filled with fear to see Tore staring with seemingly killing intent.
"Oh no...! I bet he thinks they kidnapped me... or worse! He's going to slaughter them in here... I-I need to-" Robin was cut off by what happened next.
At the strike of Devon's match, Vasco's eyes shot open as he tried to drink the alcohol he was holding but Tore swayed to the right, dodging Devon, who was attempting to use Vasco's liquor to light Tore on fire. Tore used his left arm to palm Devon's arm, breaking it and flicking the match away. With his right hand, Tore created a red, cosmic looking kunai and threw it at the giant bottle at the same time, breaking it and spilling liquor all over Vasco.
"MY ARM!" Devon yelled in pain.
"ARGH!! I'M SOAKED!" Vasco yelled.
Tore gracefully spun around as he performed hand signs and got low, sweeping Devon off her feet and kicking her out the window of the shop while she was still in the air.
"DEVON!" Vasco yelled before his eyes widened, noticing the match flying towards him.
"N-NO!!!!" Vasco yelled as he burst into flames.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!" Vasco screamed as Tore flipped in front of Vasco and finalized his hand signs, filling up with water and blasting it at Vasco, blasting him out the store and saving him from the fire. Robin couldn't believe it. Robin stood and stared with absolute shock.
"Did he- just-" Robin couldn't speak for a moment, "Save someone? Let alone an enemy?..." Robin finally said. Staring at Tore, who looked at a frightened clerk. Tore smiled big.
"Sorry about all that! I hope this covers the damages..." Tore said nervously, handing the clerk a bag of Berries. The clerk nervously accepted.
Robin couldn't help but be continuously mind blown by the drastic differences between Psycho and Tore. Robin sweat as she continued to watch Tore from the closet.
"Psycho would have killed them in an instant, especially over me.." Robin said, tearing up.
Tore continued to smile at the clerk.
Robin stared with tears flowing, thinking of everything she's heard so far of Tore's past.
"What happened on that island?" Robin asked softly.
Tore quickly raised his left arm and caught something in his hand as he nonchalantly looked up to his left. Robin jumped with surprise.
"H-Huh?" Robin asked.
"Man you guys just can't play fair at all huh?!" Tore said.
"You bastard...! How did you see me?!" Shiriyu said angrily through his teeth.
Robin was mind blown as the invisible man revealed himself. Former Impel Down guard, Shiriyu of the Rain, angrily struggled to stab Tore with his sword.
"The invisible man! That must have been who grabbed me earlier.." Robin said.
Tore snatched the sword and moved back, loading up a side kick. Shiriyu's momentum forced him to walk right in Tore's path.
WHAM!!!!
Tore's kick cracked Shiriyu's ribs as Shiriyu coughed up blood and went flying out the door. Tore grimaced at the sound of Shiriyu's cracked ribs.
"I destroyed that guy..! Sheesh." Tore said.
Robin was amazed and smiled softly. Tore truly was a kind spirit. Robin could see why her mom had fallen for him, which was still on her mind constantly since it was revealed. It felt amazing seeing bad guys take an old fashioned pounding instead of becoming slaughtered corpses all over the store.
Robin smiled and began to walk towards Tore who looked back with a smile.
"Robin!" Tore said happily.
Robin smiled with dry tears as she walked up to Tore. Tore made a confused face and licked his thumb, wiping Robin's face.
"You were crying.. Did you they hurt you?" Tore asked seriously.
Robin's eyes widened, she was intimidated!
"N-No!" Robin said, "I just... I saw you fight.."
Tore became nervous and embarrassed, blushing and rubbing the back of his head.
"You saw that?! Umm.. S-Sorry! Dad's shouldn't fight in front of their daughters.." Tore said.
Robin laughed, to Tore's surprise.
"You've already fought in front of me enough, each time was way worse than a broken arm and a few ribs!" Robin laughed.
Tore became even more embarrassed.
"Hey that's not fair!" Tore yelled.
Robin then became serious.
"And you.. you saved him.." Robin said softly.
Tore became serious too.
"Of course! All life is sacred after all..." Tore said.
These words hit Robin hard. Given Psycho's complete disregard for life and the fact Robin had to kill over half her life. All those souls, with families, and kids. Robin began to break down. Tore immediately consoled her.
"Hey hey hey.. I know what you're thinking about.. that's not you anymore.. just like that's not me anymore.." Tore said.
There was a commotion outside.
"That bitch kicked our asses! We are not leaving without his head on a stick!!!" Vasco yelled.
Tore looked at Robin and smiled big.
"He's already seen them.. you wanna see something cool?" Tore asked.
Robin's eyes widened slightly as she nodded her head. Tore put his fingers together and opened his eyes, revealing his mother's sharingan once more.
After a moment, Vasco and the rest of the Blackbeard Pirates came barging in once more. Vasco looked around but couldn't see Tore anywhere and all the damage from before had been fixed.
"Quick little repair team they've got, huh?" Shiriyu asked.
"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS THAT BITCH!" Vasco yelled.
"Who-Who sir?" A worker asked nervously.
Vasco pulled out Psycho's WANTED poster.
"HIM! THIS BITCH! ERM HIS BROTHER I MEAN! HE WAS JUST HERE! IF YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING GET OUT IF MY FACE BEFORE I KILL YOU!" Vasco yelled.
The worker grabbed another female associate and ran out the front door.
Vasco looked around as well as the other Blackbeard pirates.
Vasco saw a man that looked just like Tore and dashed over to him, picking him up by the collar. Tore screamed with fear.
"Are you prepared to die for what you did?" Vasco asked as he heard Devon yell out.
"Vasco that's not him! What are you doing?" Devon said.
"Huh?" Vasco looked at Devon then back at "Tore" who was now a regular civilian.
"Please don't kill me!" The man said.
Vasco grew frustrated and threw the man out the window and looked around again. Vasco spotted a man behind Devon.
"DEVON HE'S BEHIND YOU!" Vasco yelled.
Devon licked her lips and turned around at lightning speed to choke the man and hold her knife to his throat, but she was disappointed to see it was another regular man! Devon threw the man to the side and turned to face Vasco.
"This isn't funny anymore if it ever even was! Stop joking around so we can kill this bastard!" Devon said, "Vasco?"
"Oi, Vasco. Shiriyu said, slightly concerned.
Vasco had already started losing his mind. In his eyes, everyone in the room now looked like Tore, even Devon and Shiriyu.
"Wha-What the hell is this?! Which one is the real one!" Vasco yelled.
Vasco grabbed his alcohol gourd.
"I'll just- burn it all down!" Vasco yelled, drinking the liquor.
"NO!" Shiriyu yelled.
Shiriyu dashed towards Vasco as the man put a match to his mouth and slapped away the match.
"Are you crazy?! You're going to burn down the entire building with us in it?! The man is not even here!" Shiriyu yelled.
Vasco punched Shiriyu and threw him across the room.
"FINALLY THE REAL ONE! I'LL MAKE YOUR DEATH QUICK!" Vasco yelled, confused by Tore's jutsu.
"He's corrupted your mind somehow... I'll put you out of your misery." Shiriyu said, dashing towards Vasco.
"ARE YOU IDIOTS SERIOUS!?" Devon yelled as Vasco and Shiriyu came to a stop and stared at each other.
CUT!!!!!!
Blood squirt from across Shiriyu and Vasco's chests as the two fell over. Devon couldn't believe it as she looked up.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH IWATAKA! THESE'S FOOLS WOULD HAVE DONE MORE DAMAGE IF YOU HADN'T CUT THEM DOWN!" Wild Tim yelled with rage.
Iwataka put his sword back in its sheath as the two pirates fell over.
Iwataka rubbed the back of his head.
"It was nothing! The blade is mighty sharp by the way!" Iwataka said.
"WELL OF COURSE IT IS!" Wild Tim yelled.
Devon tried to back away and go out the front door but bumped into two people.
Devon turned around slowly.
"N-No!" Devon gasped.
Amaiya and Zoro blocked her path.
"Caterina Devon, Shiriyu of the Rain, and Vasco Shot, all in the same place, I'll meet my quota for the next year bringing you three in!" Amaiya said, cracking her knuckles.
"I don't know who you are but if we gotta fight you then so be it." Zoro said.
Devon let out a scream of defeat and misery as Zoro and Amaiya closed in on her.
A little down the road, the man and woman who ran out of the store laughed at the situation as they were revealed to be Tore and Robin.
"Th-That was amazing!" Robin said.
Tore smiled big.
"I know right? I love it because It keeps me from having to fight and potentially really hurt somebody." Tore said.
Robin couldn't help but be moved every time Tore mentioned not wanting to hurt anyone, because of what she's seen from his other side.
"It won't take long for someone to notice those expensive bounties laying on the floor and turn them in." Tore said with content.
Robin stared at Tore with admiration.
Tore and Robin eventually made it to Tore's robin and jumped on.
"Where are we going next?" Robin asked.
Tore looked back and smiled.
"It's time!" Tore said.
Robin was confused.
"Next stop, Wan Shi Tong's Library!" Tore said.
Kataka's Lair (Grimfall Island)
Cyclone with a neutral but tired expression laid out Nagashima's body next to the five elders and Imu's corpses. Cyclone stared at the bodies. Kataka inspected them as well.
"Quite the lineup you've brought me... Cyclone-samaaa." Kataka said in her childish voice, a girl laughing as she spoke.
Without looking at Kataka Cyclone spoke.
"Just take them." Cyclone said.
Kataka picked up her scythe and tapped it on the ground, swallowing all the bodies in her mold.
"You have earned seven wishes Cyclone-sama..."
"When the elders and Imu come back, bring them back as they were 900 years ago." Cyclone said, "And when I call for him, the one in the suit, bring him back with his devil fruit powers."
Kataka grew uneasy behind her porcelain doll mask.
"Souls can only be brought back one wish at a time... to wish all back at once will be using all your wishes Cyclone-sama..." Kataka worried.
Cyclone had turned around but looked back without turning his head.
"So what?" Cyclone asked rhetorically.
Kataka grew nervous.
"You-You-Things haven't gone as planned lately Cyclone-sama... don't you think it would be... easier to just wish Psycho or the Straw Hat Shinobi were dead at this point? Then you could rule without issue!" Kataka tried to explain.
In the complete silence, in the moldy room kept lit by a flame in Cyclone's hand that he had conjured, Cyclone slowly turned towards Kataka. Kataka held up a guard.
"You.. Think I'm afraid?" Cyclone asked.
"No! Not at all Cyclone-sama!... Forgive me for speaking out of turn." Kataka begged.
Cyclone stared at Kataka.
"I didn't spend a thousand years gaining all the power I possibly could just to wish my enemies away. How could you suggest something so cowardly?" Cyclone said.
Kataka put a guard up.
"Please don't kill me, Cyclone-sama!!!" Kataka screamed.
Cyclone smiled slightly.
"And they've decided to show themselves once more... do they really intend to get revenge for back then? As these fools?!" Cyclone said, thinking out loud, envisioning Tore's friends, Wilmot and Bambous visibly enraged, ready to fight before fading away.
Cyclone looked at the Elders, Mu, and Nagashima's bodies in Kataka's collection. Cyclone also thought back to finding out about the curse he placed on himself, limiting him for a thousand years, and his recent losses to Iwataka and The Straw Hat Shinobi, all on top of Psycho's recent behavior.
"This is personal now. I want them to suffer. The Straw Hat Shinobi, the shinobi world, and the ninja world will feel my wrath." Cyclone said very seriously.
"And you too... the biggest thorn in my side from day one..." Cyclone said, envisioning Tore. Tore turned and looked back as Tore and slowly turned into Psycho as he faced away from Cyclone.
"They've gotten lucky lately, that's for sure... but the next time I see them, will be the last time. I promise you that." Cyclone said, turning around again.
The room was silent for a while. Kataka and Cyclone silently understood each other.
"They'll be coming for you soon." Cyclone said.
Kataka sat up.
"I will not lose." Kataka said.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this..." Cyclone grimaced.
"Do not take them lightly." Cyclone said.
Kataka nodded.
"Understood, Cyclone-sama..." Kataka said as Cyclone faded away into the dark.
Village Hidden in Rain (Inside an old tall building)
Never ending rain slammed against the window of the tall, abandoned, building Cyclone used as his own headquarters. Cyclone forced Nagashima to use his portal to send Collector and Who's-Who to the ninja world as Cyclone finished up handling business in the Grand Line.
Collector set down a golden vase he had stolen a while ago and put rare flowers in them. Who's-Who sat at a small table on his knees and dealt out cards, Collector joined him.
"So..." Who's-Who said.
"So, what?" Collector hissed.
"When can I know? About, you know..?" Who's-Who asked.
"I don't know actually and I suggest you enlighten me quickly before I lose my patience." Collector threatened.
"Cyclone's history!... you must know. You said Cyclone used that power.. Jambavan, to kill Nika right? So Nika was real?! He saw him?" Who's-Who got excited.
Collector slapped Who's-Who.
"Relax fool! You're still fresh meat in this crew, I shouldn't tell you anything." Collector said, "But if it will shut you up, I'll tell you about our history with Nika, but to help your tiny brain comprehend exactly how Lord Cyclone and I ended up here, I will start from the beginning."
Who's-Who held his face and nodded excitedly as Collector looked at his cards, Who's-who did the same.
With his two upper arms, Collector grabbed two golden glasses from his bag with a big, bottle shaped, ruby. Inside was a beautiful turquoise liquid.
"A drink?" Collector asked.
Who's-Who held up his glass as Collector poured the drink into their glasses.
"It's an extinct alcoholic beverage. I learned how to make it around.. I don't know three or four hundred years ago." Collector said as Who's-who took a sip. It was heavy, but sweet, Who's-Who could feel it immediately and began coughing.
"G-Goodness..." Who's-Who said.
Collector drank his glass in one go and began going through his cards.
"1,000 years ago tomorrow, Lord Cyclone and I traveled back in time to kidnap some boy, the brats father got involved and we lost him for over 20 years! When we finally found him again he had already been raised by someone else, he was so sweet and kind, it was disgusting." Collector said.
"Lord Cyclone didn't get to raise the boy into being a cold hearted killer like he wanted so his excellence decided to play chess. His lordship would instead play the brother role, and trick the brat into thinking he was his long lost family. The two would train together for the next 1,000 years so Lord Cyclone could rule with the man under him." Collector continued.
"Then the World Government in their early years decided they wanted the man's home island, ha ha, they thought they had us checkmated but it was they who were the ones who would be backed into a corner!" Collector laughed.
"How so?" Who's-Who asked.
"You see, that boy had a special power in him, the about to manifest his will as a cosmic power. He got it from his father." Collector said.
Who's-Who put the pieces together immediately.
"That-That boy... at the castle..." Who's-Who said, thinking of Naruto's crystal fox form.
"Exactly! You saw what that power is capable of. That's why Lord Cyclone needed the boy. Come to find out, after slaughtering a rouge shinobi clan, the boy's father was on an island a sizable distance away from where we were, but manageable." Collector said, pouring another drink.
"The elders were checkmated because they thought we were really pledging allegiance to them and would inform them when we found the boy's father. We instead were going to let the old elder, Dubois I think his name was, make peace with Nika and let the Government take over." Collector explained.
"Obviously Nika wouldn't allow this to happen and would without a doubt start a great war between Nika and the Government!" Collector yelled.
"Whoever won didn't matter, we would swoop in and clean up the mess with our two sources of cosmic powers! We would take over every country and kingdom the Government already had under them and go from there!" Collector cheered.
CRACK BOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!
An intese thunder clap shook the entire building.
"But none of that happened... as soon as we stepped on that island, we were in over our heads. A fog so thick you could barely see your own feet and filled with so many bells and sounds it was impossible to tell what was going on!" Collector continued.
"I had gotten knocked out but some giant tree monster and lost Lord Cyclone for an entire year." Collector said.
Who's-Who was shocked, mainly that Collector survived on his own for a year.
"Why did it take so long to find him?" Who's-Who asked nervously.
Collector was silent for a moment.
"That damn fog played tricks on me... I swear it did!.. I ended up in some dank, disgusting, bloodstained city ruled by Lizard people and an insane, religious lunatic...! It's a shame what happened to him." Collector said.
Who's-Who didn't know what to say.
"I made peace with them and we planned Lord Cyclone's escape for the next year. He was confirmed to be in the Highland Forest, but getting up that mountain was the first problem... once we actually got in the forest!... I-I-I..." Collector stuttered.
Who's-Who was incredibly nervous now.
"Sometimes... I still don't know what's real and what's not..." Collector was silent for a while.
"Illusions, after illusions, after illusions, after illusions!" Collector yelled, "You think the man next to you is an enemy but the entire time it's an ally. I saw a Lizard man pull out a weapon to chase an enemy but was actually chasing a butterfly and ran right off the mountain!" Collector yelled.
"Th-That's terrifying..." Who's-Who said.
"Terrifying?... It was impossible to know what was true..." Collector said.
Dubois Castle (Present Day)
"Ju Peter was an incredibly smart man and competent fighter, I will give him that.. he gave us a run for our money before.. she saved us.." Dubois sounded like he was about to break down.
"Her name, was Cyl.. she was... she was princess of the Barbarios and a mighty warrior... but probably the sweetest soul on that entire island if I had to be honest.." Dubois was silent.
"She was Tore's best friend.." Dubois said... "I-I never found out what happened to her..."