Chương 68: Chapter 33: Too Much Sand
"Haki?" Maro asked in fascination.
Everyone watched Sabo demonstrate it with curious eyes.
To the Queen. Things that didn't make sense, suddenly did. Her and Master's fight with Judge, suddenly made so much more sense with this unknown power added into the mix. It was no wonder nothing was working against him... Wow, if he had his Raid Suit they would have gotten obliterated.
Just how reliant on it were the Germa Family? Judge was certainly strong as all hell, but without his suit he didn't feel even close to someone like say, Garp.
Haki seemed super strong but clearly it wasn't unbeatable... but still, Observation and Armament... the ability to predict, hit Logias and gain an armor?
...THAT WAS SO COOL! IF SHE LEARNED THIS, NO ONE IN THE NORTH BLUE COULD STOP HER! NOT EVEN THAT STUPID JUDGE!
"I wanna learn it! I wanna learn it! How can I learn it?!" Maro jumped up and down eagerly, not noticing Sanji's eyes bugging at her actions.
Angel did and she swiftly delivered a fist to the chef's face.
"We're gonna start training in it after we liberate Alabasta," Rosan mused.
Maro and Luffy instinctively shuddered, backing away from their demonic teacher and getting looks of worry from everyone else.
What exactly did Rosan do to those two?
The redhead in question, blinked at their fearful expressions. "I don't know the techniques either you know? I won't be teaching you. We're all at the same level so we'll all learn with the methods Ace left us."
"If anything, Sabo will teach us and Rosan will just enforce that training when he leaves," Robin supplied helpfully, giggling at their antics.
The looks of relief on their face, made the Straw Hats laugh and Rosan tilt his head.
"Sabo's much nicer then Ace and Rosan," Luffy exclaimed, looking pleased with the concerned blonde.
"Is your training really that bad…?" Sabo couldn't help but ask, getting a fearful nod of agreement out of Nami and Usopp.
Zoro nodded with a snort. "It wasn't nearly as bad before we got Chopper but afterwards, he went full psycho mode on me and Robin."
The Devil Child nodded in agreement. "I felt sore in places I didn't think were possible. I even told him I haven't trained for a long while and he called that the beginner workout..."
"Join the club," Maro whimpered. "Our first time sparring ended up with me in the infirmary! He totally didn't realize I wasn't a monster like him!"
"Good luck," Demon said to a concerned Chopper. "Master is effective but completely ruthless... and I know that best. At least everyone is pretty developed unlike Maro and Luffy who he built up from zero."
"Please don't hurt them too bad! I'm only one person," the reindeer pleaded.
"I blame Mod-chan for him turning out like this. Those two are incredibly unaware of people's limits," Robin said shamelessly, shaking her head.
That woman was an absolute slave driver and it sometimes didn't occur to her that her two children were human and she wasn't.
Rosan tried to warn her with his gaze when they were kids but Robin wasn't aware that Mod-chan was that unaware. She foolishly agreed to join them on their training, thinking that her best friend was over exaggerating but for once, he wasn't and Robin had her sore body to remind her.
"Y-You blame me too?!" Mod gaped in disbelief, red eyes wide at Robin of all people blaming her.
U-Unaware?! Her?! W-Was she truly that harsh on the two growing up?!
"I'm sorry... but it's the truth," Robin said, smiling slightly at her shock.
Nami gawked at that. "Mod-chan?! Really?"
She didn't expect the motherly woman to be so cruel!
Rosan nodded triumphantly, neutral expression managing to come off as smug. "Mod-chan was my only ever teacher and I picked up nearly all her methods considering I was four when she began torturing me."
He was her perfect little soldier, absorbing everything she taught him with a speed that truly did make them look like a mother son duo.
Mod crossed her arms and began sulking in a corner. "It's not my fault… I only had emotions for a few weeks a-and I was barely human in nature! Plus you handled it just fine!"
"I know Mod-chan," he soothed through their connection.
Rosan was hardly a good example to base something on, considering his natural gifts but he wouldn't say that.
"I can't believe I'm actually learning something at the same time as Master," Maro muttered in awe.
He was always five million steps ahead of her and displayed such mastery over his Devil Fruit, compared to her, that she was jealous.
Well, that was in the past. Maro was an incredible user of her own Devil Fruit too! Modification felt like it was Rosan's Devil Fruit to have and she felt the same way about being a Dokkaebi!
It wasn't as versatile but the queen wasn't as creative as her teacher and it was still plenty resourceful. She had always preferred to keep it simple and transforming into a Dokkaebi kept things simple (smashing her club into their skulls).
The group was making their way through the scalding desert and they conversed with each other about various topics.
"Because Maro is training with you guys, that means we get to see Master and Luffy more!" Angel cheered, grabbing her little brother and squeezing him happily.
"Woohoo!" Luffy cheered, squeezing the taller woman back gleefully.
Sanji glared at his captain returning the hug jealously and grumbled to himself.
Rosan and Luffy got to spend years around these two! YEARS!
Both Maro and Angel were incredibly beautiful yet they casually called Rosan Master, initiating contact at any given moment for the hell of it with either the captain or the scout.
Angel especially was either latched to Luffy, Rosan or Sabo and it filled Sanji with pure envy.
The redhead's beauty was not one you saw often. Mature and beautiful, with curves in all the right places (just look at her hips!) and an outfit that she was aware showed it off, Angel was easily one of the most beautiful women he had seen.
Still, acknowledging her beauty felt like he was acknowledging Rosan's own because the two looked remarkably similar and he couldn't acknowledge his love rival's good looks.
No! He wouldn't let his love rival stop him from appreciating beauty in any capacity!
Angel was a beauty and it didn't matter if she looked like Rosan! She was still one of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen!
To be honest, the only people who Sanji had seen so far that surpassed her natural beauty, were Mod-chan and the female form of —
Everyone paused in confusion, at the sight of Sanji letting out a strangled yell of horror. Without any prompting, the chef fainted.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Sabo asked in concern, watching the chef collapse in the scalding sand with wide eyes.
Nami shrugged, unbothered by the sight. "Eh, he'll be fine. He's been fainting a lot recently."
Demon's own face turned concerned at that. "Why? Is he sick? Does he need a checkup."
Robin shook her head with an amused smile. "No he doesn't need any of that. I believe it's an after effect of seeing Rosan's female form."
The three leaders of Celadon's eyes immediately turned into one of sympathetic understanding and they nodded sagely.
No one reacted normally to seeing Rosan's transformation for the first time.
"Master's overwhelming in more ways then one," Demon nodded sagely. He could freely admit how good looking his older brother was in both forms.
It's not like his male form looked worse… It was just his female form was so… noticeable. It was hard to miss someone walking around with all that...
"Who actually convinced Master to transform? He normally only does it to help me!" Angel gasped in a bit of jealousy. She actually… she actually managed to miss one of Rosan's transformations?! B-But those were meant for her!
"Robin," Rosan grunted in confusion.
Why on Earth was his female transformation causing Sanji to faint? He was aware that she was widely considered attractive but wasn't this a bit much?
A figure collapsing into him, made him pause and he looked down to see a teary eyed Maro looking up at him.
The Queen's lips were wobbling and everyone, barring Angel, Demon, Luffy and Robin, wondered what got her so upset.
"Y-You're telling me I missed out on seeing that hot piece of ass?" Maro whimpered, gripping Rosan's shirt pleadingly. "N-No fair! Please Master, transform again for me! You don't understand how much I look forward to this! We only see it once a year! ONCE! IT'S INJUSTICE!"
The Straw Hats collapsed, not expecting that to be the reason she was so distraught. Queen Maro sure was… shameless and perverted.
"H-Hot piece of…?" Vivi turned scarlet at the queen's crass words, not expecting it out of nobility and the poor princess began steaming in embarrassment as she was forced to remember said hot piece of ass.
"No," Rosan replied blandly, despite Maro getting increasingly grabbier. Was she climbing him? She was climbing him. His student was currently crawling atop his body like some incessant spider.
Sometimes he wondered where he went wrong with his student. It was probably when she asked him if h preferred butts or breasts and he answered butts, much to her delight.
Kindred spirits, she had called them. That's what should have alerted him to the fact that she had a serious problem.
"Robiiiiiin," Maro whined, clambering on Rosan so he didn't think to escape from her. She expertly maneuvered herself on his back, wrapped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist so he didn't get any funny ideas of escaping her.
"Yes, Maro?" Robin asked, amusement glittering in her eyes at the Dokkaebi's antics.
Rosan looked wholly unbothered, just letting the goblin do what she wanted.
"Make Master transform again please," the queen requested, fixing adorable puppy dog eyes on the Devil Child.
Before Robin could even open her mouth, Rosan decided to call his trump card.
"Angel. Maro is crushing your boobs on me."
The squeak Maro let out, was instantaneous and the Dokkaebi went white in fear.
Angel's expression immediately turned unamused and the redhead stared at her wife calmly. "Dear," she said serenely.
The Queen began spluttering and the Straw Hats couldn't stamp down their amusement, as she tried to shrink behind her teacher.
"Angel, you need to stop letting Master control you like this! He has you eating out of the palm of his hands!" Maro gaped.
If Master said something, Angel listened! This was ridiculous! He managed to trigger her so easily and she suffered for it!
"So what! Get my boobs off of him!" She barked, marching up to her wife with a scowl. "Honestly, you really should stop being a pervert right now! Stop ruining Robin's perception of you!"
"That's okay. My perception of her won't change," Robin assured, only to blink as the redhead rounded on her.
"Don't even think about encouraging her, Robin!" Angel barked to the Devil Child. "Maro is the type of idiot who only needs one person to enable her bad habits and I won't allow even you to do it!"
Robin was a bit taken aback but Angel was never afraid to speak her mind, no matter her undying respect for the person.
"Understood. I will not say anything next time," she nodded eventually, getting a pleased smile out of the clone.
That smile was quickly wiped off her face as she rounded on her perverted wife. "Hot piece of ass, Maro?! Could you not talk about my sister like that! It doesn't matter how hot and sexy she is!"
"I'm not your sister. And please don't call me hot or sexy, you're my sister you know?" Rosan replied calmly.
They ignored him.
"B-But she looks like you and you're also a hot piece of ass!" Maro whined pleadingly, clambering off the redhead to stand in front of her slightly taller wife. "Can you blame me for wanting to see two of you?! Look at you!"
The Straw Hats don't know how it worked, but Rosan and Luffy's family proved to be just as weird as their captain and scout.
Angel blushed beet red, anger forgotten and she immediately jumped on a pleased Maro. "O-Oh you! Don't go trying to worm your way out with compliments!"
Maro beamed and nuzzled her wife. "I'm just speaking the truth!"
"How did that work?" They all thought in disbelief.
"Sanji's been face first in that sand for a while now," Sabo pointed out in concern, confused by everything going around him but not minding that disturbingly familiar exasperation.
"OH NO, SANJI!"
"So our opponent is Crocodile?"
Rosan raised a brow. "Our? You're not fighting, Maro. You're not even supposed to be here. Do not reveal yourself. Not you, not Angel and not Demon."
Maro stuck out her tongue and blew him a raspberry. "Bah, you're no fun. Queen this pirate that… you owe me a serious fight after this is over!"
The Straw Hats watched Rosan and Maro argue with sweat. Why was the Queen upset that their scout was trying to not jeopardize her position?
Rosan knew Maro was willing to throw a tantrum about this (and then he'd have to discipline her), so he decided to appease her in another way. "Maro, did you know Chopper developed some medicine called the Rumble Ball exclusively for his Devil Fruit that you happen to share a name with?"
Chopper, Demon and Maro perked up at that.
Chopper because he was suddenly mentioned, Demon because developing medicine for Devil Fruits sounded fascinating, Maro because her and Chopper both shared the Hito Hito no mi.
The reindeer blushed at the attention of 2/3 of the leader's of Celadon and decided to speak up.
"It uh… The Rumble Ball is a drug that distorts my biochemistry that's enhanced by the Hito Hito no mi so that I gain more transformations. I get four additional forms because of it..."
Demon's eyes glittered in fascination while Maro's glittered in awe and confusion.
"You tamper with your own buildup to get full use out of your zoan…? That's so fascinating!" The purple haired doctor awed, staring at the genius with shining eyes. "Would you mind explaining it in detail to me later? I'd love to understand how you managed to come up with it!"
Chopper balked, not expecting anyone to be interested in his Rumble Balls but he nodded eagerly with a happy blush on his face.
It was clear the doctor was pleased to share his knowledge with anyone interested in knowing.
"Could you explain it like you were explaining it to Luffy but just a little smarter? Please?" Maro asked shamelessly. She didn't understand that explanation very well but she did understand that he was using more than human, animal and hybrid using some type of drug.
The doctor sweat a little and blushed bright at being the center of attention to everyone right now. He wasn't used to such eyes being filled with interest beyond his appearance and he realized this was Rosan's way of getting him out of his shell.
He would need to thank the scout later… after attacking him for making the reindeer the center of attention.
"Um… Basically the best way to explain it… You know how we have 3 forms of Zoan, right?" Chopper began, getting a nod out of his fellow zoan. "Right now, you're in your default form, which I call 0% and I'm in my hybrid, which I call 50%!"
Transforming into his animal (or human form since that was his Devil Fruit) the muscular humanoid looked at a curious Maro and said, "This is my 100% form, my "human" transformation like how your 100% form is the Dokkaebi!"
Maro transformed into her own 100% and the massive Dokkaebi inspected herself. "OH! I GET IT NOW!" She roared. "You're basically using combinations of your human and animal form! Like... 20% human, 80% animal to get different hybrid forms?!"
Chopper blinked, not expecting her to understand before he began nodding at his fellow Zoan in excitement. "Exactly! I have a Jump Point that lets me keep my reindeer legs in a human form for example!"
The doctor yelped in fear as the Dokkaebi instantly closed the distance and Maro grabbed his massive hands with her own large ones.
"That's INCREDIBLE!" She squealed. "I never thought of doing that! Using mixed percentages of certain forms... I'd be so fucking strong and it'll let me keep up with all the monsters in my family! Oh, oh! But do you really need the drugs for that? I feel like with enough practice, you can naturally achieve it!"
Chopper opened his mouth, but then closed it as a contemplative expression made its way to his face. "No, I never considered trying to transform into those forms without the Rumble Ball... In theory, that should be possible though... The Rumble Balls don't give me new forms, they just let me alter and combine forms I already have..."
Actually, he was pretty interested about that now. He'd have to find out more about that later.
For now though... he really needed to stop looking at Maro. She was scary!
"You're scaring him," Demon admonished, gently removing Maro's much larger hands out of Chopper's.
Honestly, his queen was so overwhelming and it matched perfectly with Angel's overbearing nature.
"O-Oh! Sorry! I tend to do that a lot," Maro said sheepishly, transforming back to her human form. "I was just so excited because you gave me so much ideas that I need to start practicing immediately! That's genius of you Chopper!"
The reindeer blushed at her praise and began dancing. "S-Stop complimenting me you damn goblin!" He said happily.
"I have to agree though on how genius it is… Could you tell me how you make Rumble Balls? I want to try and make one for Maro so she doesn't pester you until you give in. Obviously you're a reindeer and it'll be different but it'd be an interesting project to make it work on her."
Watching the genuine interest in the kind doctor's eyes and the excited gleam in Maro's eyes filled Chopper with a delighted feeling.
"Okay! I'd like to help. My Rumble Balls are exclusively for me, even with our similar fruits but maybe I can steer you in the right direction…" The equally excited reindeer mused.
Hoisting up the tiny Chopper, Maro hugged him ecstatically much to Sanji and Angel's rage.
"You're the best Chopper!" She gushed happily.
"D-Don't think your compliments will make me happy, you bastard!" Chopper beamed happily, accepting the hug despite her words. But then the reindeer sobered up as a thought came to him.
"If you do succeed in making the Rumble Balls... make sure you don't eat three," he warned Maro.
Her eyes widened in confusion at that. "Three? Why? What happens if I eat two or three?"
The reindeer frowned. "When I eat two, I lose control of the transformations that I use... When I eat three... I don't know what happens but apparently I lost control and went on a rampage, then I was left paralyzed for days."
Maro frowned at that and cupped her chin. "Got it... I'll keep that in mind. Maybe we can experiment it in a controlled environment to see just what happens and if there's a way to stop it."
Chopper gazed at her with slightly wide eyes, taken aback by her total lack of fear. It was a far cry from him, who was deathly afraid of using 3 Rumble Balls once more unless given no other choice.
She... She was kinda cool.
"We can also inspect Sabo before he has to leave," Demon mused. He wasn't expecting to be learning something from another doctor but one who had lived in the Grand Line would be so helpful to grow his knowledge.
Also, he'd get to spend more time with Rosan and Luffy while learning. This was a golden opportunity!
"Sounds good to me, I don't have to leave immediately and you two seem like experts in your craft," the blonde replied with a smile on his face.
"SABO'S TRAVELING WITH US?!" Luffy beamed, jumping excitedly and landing on Rosan's back. "See Rosan, we were right! They should have just joined my crew and let me be captain!"
Rosan nodded along with him. "They ended up following other people anyways. You're the only one who's still a captain so we should have just all sailed under your ship."
"Not a chance! I'd never follow Luffy!" Sabo retorted like it was second nature, pausing as he realized that.
Huh, seems like they had this conversation more than once.
Judging by the look on Rosan's face, he realized that too, letting a tiny smile replace his neutral expression.
"Maybe I'll travel with them too while Demon is learning and leave Maro by herself. This sounds like too much fun to pass up," Angel mused with a look of contemplation on her features.
"!" Maro's jaw dropped at that and she began shaking Angel incessantly. "I don't care if I'm queen! I will not be left out of any type of fun! I can accept Demon going out occasionally to learn but if my wife tries to go too, then I'm joining with my paperwork! What the fuck is wrong with you guys!"
Nearly everyone sweatdropped at the look of outrage on Maro's face, already quickly growing used to her antics.
"You should all just join my crew!" Luffy beamed.
They were basically already apart so just make it official!
Maro sadly draped her taller body over the rubber boy. "I'd love to Luffy but I have my duties as queen and I really do love what I do. I couldn't just leave my citizens like that! I made a promise to them and I love them as much as I love you two."
Luffy laughed and waved her off with total ease. "That's okay! I know you have your responsibilities! You're like an honorary member anyways!"
The azure haired queen just crooned and began fussing over the rubber boy. "Why the hell are you so damn cute?!" She demanded, hugging him.
The Straw Hats watched Maro gush over how adorable the rubber boy was with fond smiles, while Vivi listened with a contemplative expression.
"Angel was just kidding anyways," Demon snorted. "She'd start missing you after about 5 minutes and I'd have to deal with it at the same time as me learning from Chopper."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP, DEMON!" Angel roared, tackling her brother who easily rebuffed her efforts with a peaceful smile.
That peaceful smile turned into one of rare annoyance (that was alot more common when dealing with his sister) at the fact that she began biting him and he put much more effort into pushing his rabid older sister off of him.
"Get off of me, you animal!" Demon demanded.
"Not until you apologize!" Angel snarled.
Soon, the twins began brawling and Maro shot Rosan a pleading look, not willing to break them up herself and thrusting the duty off onto the oldest brother.
She should have known how bad of an idea that was.
Rosan nodded at her look and calmly approached his fellow triplets, before delivering a swift punch to the both of their skulls and immediately stopping their fight.
"O-Ow! What the fuck, Master?!" Angel whined, holding her head with tears brimming in her eyes.
S-Sometimes she hated that he made her and Demon practically human over the years because that hurt.
"I didn't deserve to get hit," Demon groaned, nursing his head with a pained expression.
"Stop fighting, you're scaring Maro and you know how she gets with her overreactions," Rosan admonished the two, hoisting them both up and away from each other.
Maro gaped at his sheer audacity, mouth opening in shock. "I-I just wanted you to break them up because you're the best at that! What the fuck do you mean I'm scared?!"
"...You aren't?"
"FUCK OFF!"
Without any hesitation, Maro tackled Rosan to the floor and the redhead rebuffed her efforts easily, raising a brow as she began biting him.
"Where have you and Angel gotten the habit of biting from? You've been hanging around Aiko too much. She bit me just the other day," he commented idly, watching the goblin glare up at him with his finger in her mouth.
"Do you guys bite often? When I first started my journey, she had quite the bite mark on her neck. Should I begin checking Angel for them too?"
Every gawked at his forwardness, while Angel and Maro turned bright red.
"M-MASTER!" They shrieked in unison. "STOP EMBARRASSING US!"
Kami, he was just the worst! Why did he say such terrible things so calmly?!
"Don't bite me, I do not share your kinks," he replied coolly, watching as they nearly combusted on the spot from his shamelessness.
"I'm surprised though… that one time I accidentally walked in on you guys, there didn't seem to be any biting going —"
He summoned his wings and quickly flew out of reach of the two lunatics trying to end his existence.
"You are the worst brother in existence," Angel snarled, steaming from embarrassment and wanting to bury herself in the sand.
"I-I knew he saw something that one time!" Maro moaned in misery.
Ugh that day was the most embarrassing day ever and somehow, her and Angel ended up suffering from it more because Master was utterly shameless and didn't let the event phase him at all.
It must have been karma for all the times she shamelessly walked in on him changing.
"Rosan's a menace," Nami said flatly, watching him terrorize the two wives with a look of sympathy.
"No one knows that better than I do," Robin sighed.
Everyone glanced at her forlorn expression in sympathy.
"Wait a second…" Sanji said in horror.
"HE WALKED IN ON THEM?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS HIM?! WHY IS IT NEVER ME?!"
"Dumbass," everyone sighed in unison.
"Sir Crocodile is quite the conniving one," Rosan mused, listening to Robin and Vivi explain what was happening in Alabasta.
To put it bluntly, the Warlord was putting up a masterclass performance against the citizens of Alabasta that the redhead couldn't help but admire.
Not a single soul was aware of Crocodile's hand in ruining this, thinking it was all the king's doing. He manipulated in entire country into thinking he was their hero, all while running the organization that was sending them into ruin.
It was rather impressive. It was such a shame he didn't have loyal soldiers, else he'd have a real chance of succeeding.
That was why he valued loyalty above all. Traitors costed you more then anyone else.
Judging by the looks of sheer anger on everyone's face, Rosan probably was not going to let anyone besides Robin know that he was going to force the sandman to submit to him.
It was a good thing he didn't plan on sending him over to Maro. The Queen looked like she wanted to commit murder and the redhead instinctively threw up a disguise on the rulers of Celadon, making sure their faces were hidden with the desert cloaks he had given them.
"My kimono!" Maro protested halfheartedly as her short kimono vanished in favor of the light blue desert cloak. At least it was comfortable.
"Don't show your pretty little faces even once, you three," Rosan commanded, getting grumbles out of the wives and a nod out of the doctor.
"No fair, if you're gonna ruin my outfit, then you need to ruin yours too!" Angel complained, stamping her feet like the spoiled brat she was.
The redhead's stared at each other for a bit before the older one waved his hand, causing the armband on it to seamlessly transform into a long black robe that covered him from the neck down.
"Better?" He asked.
Angel beamed. "Better!"
"I'm going to start disciplining you and your spoiled streak," Rosan muttered.
His sister's mouth opened a bit at that and a flash of fear crossed her face. "Y-You don't have to do that! I'll behave!"
The scout snorted and mussed up her long hair, wiping the fear off her face and making it shift into one of rage instead.
He ignored it.
"What exactly is your Devil Fruit?" Sabo asked in wonder. Flying, ability to change clothes, teleporting massive amounts of distance… Alternating your voice into a females?
It seemed exceedingly useful and something the World Government would absolutely want to keep in their hands!
"I'd prefer if you keep it a secret but it's called the Mod Mod no mi. It turns me into a computer man and I'm allowed to modify what I please... and generally do things similar to a computer," Rosan explained.
Modification… That vaguely rang a bell…
"For some reason, when you said the word Modification, the color purple pops up in my mind. You know the reason for that?" Sabo asked curiously.
"!" Mod's eyes widened. "Is he talking about me?! Maybe his memories aren't as buried as we thought it was!"
Oh she felt so happy!
"Maybe…" Rosan mused, nodding to himself. "You might be subconsciously thinking of Mod-chan, she's my Devil Fruit and you've met plenty of times before. I guess she left a lasting impression on you."
"Can you blame him?" Maro and Sanji muttered at the same time, before getting hit by Angel and Nami respectively.
"Oh! Was that the voice you used earlier today? When you claimed everyone?" Vivi asked in realization.
"That's right. She's very popular with everyone who knows her," Rosan commented.
"I like her way more then you!" Nami beamed.
"I do too," Sanji nodded in agreement.
Mod blushed brightly at that, resisting the urge to grin due to the gleam in Ram's eyes.
Rosan shrugged. "She's beautiful, kind and motherly in nature so I can imagine that she's more popular."
His Devil Fruit spluttered at his compliments and tried to curl into herself, lest she die of happiness.
Sabo had seen plenty of Devil Fruits in his time but one that had a gender and seemed to be conscious?
"I'd like to meet her after we're done with Alabasta, we've gotta stay focused for now so my memories can wait," the Chief of Staff decided. Even though he didn't plan on interfering, if he had to he would.
It wouldn't be difficult if things went south. No one on this island was stronger then him after all.
"Alright," Rosan nodded, nearly snorting at the happiness Mod was exuding.
"I-I can't be happy that someone wants to see me?!"
"No, you can only be happy when it's me."
"Y-You… stop being such a possessive little brat! Ugh, you can be so insufferable sometimes!"
"This is what you signed up for. No complaining now."
"WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR?! YOU ATE MY DEVIL FRUIT WITHOUT CONSENT AND PRACTICALLY FORCED ME TO BE YOUR FRIEND! WHAT EXACTLY DID I SIGN UP FOR?!"
"No one told you to spawn there. You clearly wanted me to be the one to eat it. It must have been your Zoan half."
"Surely you don't believe the nonsense you are spouting… right?"
"Mod-chan... I think he does," Robin said calmly, dearly resisting the urge to laugh.
Rosan said nothing, prompting Ram to laugh heartily, Mod to begin stewing, and Robin to stifle her giggle, lest she face the woman's wrath next.
The redhead hummed in confusion. Was he perhaps wrong?
No, Mod-chan was clearly meant to be his Devil Fruit. She was part Zoan after all so she chose him and he reacted accordingly.
"You are absolutely unbelievable. I hope you understand that you can only get away with this because I love you."
"I'm so hottttt."
"Me tooo."
"Are you going to complain the entire time?" Rosan asked Maro and Luffy.
"Yesssss," they said in unison.
The queen had already taken the liberty of resting on his back and he was now carrying her through the desert but she still felt the need to complain.
Celadon was practically a summer island up until winter where it got incredibly cold, so why was Maro complaining so much about the heat?
The only one who should actually be complaining this much about the heat, was the comatose Chopper being dragged by Zoro.
"Are you seriously not even a little hot?" Sabo asked incredulously, glancing at the utterly unfazed redhead carrying the queen. Even Vivi, whose country this was, had a slight amount of sweat.
Maro looked jealous at that question and began grumbling.
"No. My body's temperature is constantly being regulated so as to shield me from the weather. I cannot feel hot or cold unless I want to," Rosan informed him, ignoring Maro pathetically draping her head on his shoulder.
He was used to this. She did this all the time when he finished training her and especially loved to hold him tight.
"Shameless pervert," Ram grunted with a hard glare. Oh Maro better hope she didn't find her one on one or else the ring would remind her just what mission they were trying to do right now.
How could she even be so utterly perverted to both genders?! Or... was it her just being shameless to Father? Ram had never once seen Maro flirting with Demon after all...
Rosan hummed. His allies, barring Vivi and Robin, were clearly not having a good time right now.
They were traveling through the scorching heat of the desert and it was already taking its toll on them. The crew was suffering something fierce and they sent more then one jealous look towards The triplets, Vivi and Robin.
"Shouldn't you regulate their temperature like you did with me?" Robin asked in amusement.
The redhead thought about it and said, "No. They need to get used to all temperatures. They won't always have me and besides, you've lived in this country for years. You'd be fine regardless."
"You are something else," Robin giggled. She couldn't help the swell of appreciation at basically hearing him imply she would always have him. It was super endearing and adorable.
The duo watched a fed up Luffy beg Vivi to let them have a lunch break.
The kind princess finally relented, saying that they could stop at the nearest crag and Luffy took those words to heart…
Which brought them to their current situation.
"All our supplies were stolen?" Rosan blinked, listening to Luffy and Vivi's explanation about how some birds were playing dead and took all the supplies that Luffy forgot in his haste to get help for them.
"I told you guys not to let Luffy hold onto the supplies," the redhead sighed, watching them hold their heads at his truthful statement.
"THAT WAS THREE DAYS WORTH OF FOOD!" Sanji roared in disbelief, throttling Luffy back and forth.
"THEY TRICKED ME! I CAN'T HELP IT!"
"STOP CHOKING LUFFY! HE CAN'T HELP BEING SO NICE!" Angel roared in fury, tackling Sanji and throttling the chef in return.
"Of course, Angel!" Sanji gushed despite running out of breath.
"I imagine it's those birds right there?" Rosan asked, pointing at the group of avians drinking their water and carrying their packs.
Luffy's eyes bugged in recognition and he immediately took off with a "GET BACK HERE".
"WAIT LUFFY, YOU'LL GET LOST!"
Rosan sighed. "I'll get the supplies," he said calmly, plopping a sullen Maro down and sprouting his draconic wings.
"W-What about Luffy?!" Vivi asked in concern.
"He'll be fine. The supplies are more important."
With that, the redhead rocketed off and quickly vanished from their sight.
"What a surprise, he actually didn't take me with him this time," Robin commented in surprise.
They all nodded, only to blink as the redhead suddenly appeared again, grabbed a visibly amused Robin, and rocketed off for a second time.
The group couldn't dwell on Rosan's eccentrics because Luffy came sprinting back with a gigantic sand dragon chasing him and a camel next to him.
"Isn't this a bit much?" Sabo asked, watching all the chaos unfold with a slight sweatdrop. He knew he was a headache for his allies at the revolutionary but he wasn't this bad.
"This is just a normal day with Master and Luffy," Maro nodded sagely.
Angel hoisted the Dokkaebi up and placed the bluenette on her back, much to Maro's joy. "Those two are probably the most chaotic people on the planet. Every single action they take seems to support it too, without exception. Even with no emotions, Master and Luffy have scary compatibility."
"The twin incarnates of chaos who march to their own beats," Demon joined with a wry smile.
"Tell us about it," the Straw Hats groaned. Those two were too much sometimes.
Rosan effortlessly caught up to the thieving birds and delivered swift justice onto them, grabbing all their supplies and dumping it in his Pocket Dimension in the process.
He did notice Luffy getting chased by some large sand lizard while he was chasing them... but he decided his brother would be fine and ignored him to continue pursuing the bird.
"You really didn't have to drag me with you to do this," Robin said, amusement clear on her features.
"You've lost freedom privileges, remember? This is your punishment for making Maro, Demon, and Angel hound me."
As if making his point clear, the man dragged the, currently white haired, woman closer to him and began crushing her in a hug, leaving her no room to escape.
"Stop!" Robin protested, squirming to escape his unbelievable grip and failing spectacularly.
Were him and Mod-chan just freaks of nature with their strength? Why was it so hard to escape their grasp?
"No," Rosan replied calmly, watching her struggle with a mockingly smug smirk.
Eventually, she gave up and just slumped in his grasp, glaring at him halfheartedly because she was never the type to get angry.
"How would you like to approach this?" He asked her suddenly, holding her bridal style so that they could slowly fly back to the crew.
Ram grinned in a wolfish manner at that and practically picked up an amused Mod in her happiness.
Robin hummed, not minding being held like this, and got comfortable for the slow flight back.
"Crocodile still thinks we're dead so we can use that to our advantage. Mr. 3 is the only one who could have told him otherwise and he's more than likely dead on Little Giant since we destroyed all their ships…"
Rosan nodded. "What about Mr. 2? Do you think he's recognized us yet?"
"Mr. 2… is a bit stupid," Robin admitted. "I doubt he thought twice about our crew and unless Crocodile brings us up, which he has no reason to considering we're "dead", I don't think he'll mention us but we should prepare for that scenario in case."
"It's good to account for everything," Mod mused.
The redhead hummed and Robin closed her eyes at the gentle tune. "It's only a matter of time before Luffy reveals that we're alive. Before that happens, we should try and sabotage Sir Crocodile."
"It won't be easy… Crocodile has planted many agents in both the rebel and royal army. It will be difficult to capture them all," Robin informed him.
"Leave them be then. I don't really care what the moles stir up and it'll be impossible to stop everyone of them. We're just here to liberate Vivi's country, destroy Baroque Works, give my cute student a soldier or two and force a Crocodile to submit."
Robin rolled her eyes. He really was planning on forcing Crocodile to his side wasn't he? If he could actually keep the man on a leash, he'd be an incredibly useful ally, she would never deny that but it would be difficult with someone like the Warlord.
"I'll support you in anyway possible," the Devil Child replied.
Rosan squeezed her gently. "That's all I can ask for."
"Please just fucking kiss already I'm losing my mind," Ram mouthed to herself, making sure neither heard it.
"Language," Mod mouthed back, struggling terribly to hold back her laughter.
Honestly, all her children were so special.
Rosan grunted at being mobbed by most of his allies.
"Y-You really got all our supplies back?!" Usopp sobbed happily.
"Now we don't have to starve!" Luffy cried.
"I take back everything I said, you're the best big bro!" Nami joined.
"You can't possibly be a monster! You're like an Angel!" Chopper wept.
"If only you knew," everyone who knew of Rosan's alias thought.
The redhead sighed, ignoring Robin and Sabo's amused look and wondering why the hell Maro and Angel joined the group hug.
"I just like hugging you," Angel beamed, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Ditto!" Maro grinned, shamelessly groping his muscles.
Rosan ignored them all for now, focusing on where they were currently located. "This is Yuba? I thought it was supposed to be an oasis. Why is there only sand and this old man wasting away here?"
"Why is he so rude?" they all thought in disbelief, before explaining the situation to him.
Yuba used to be an oasis but it had been wracked by constant sandstorms, leading the rebellion to relocate to Katorea. They had come here for no reason then because the only person here was this old guy digging away for water.
"Constant sandstorms for three years out of nowhere?" Rosan mused suspiciously, glancing at Robin. The Devil Child caught his eye and nodded to confirm his thoughts.
Their allies didn't miss that notion and all came to the same conclusion.
Crocodile.
Vivi grit her teeth in rage. "He… When will he stop this madness?!"
When they crushed him, obviously. Even with his Devil Fruit, no one suspected Crocodile of anything... This wasn't even to the Warlord's point anymore, the people were just incredibly stupid for not even throwing a hint of suspicion onto him.
"There's no use dwelling on it now," Rosan said calmly. "Let's all get some rest and continue our planning tomorrow."
They all chorused in agreement and prepared to get some much needed sleep.
"GROUP SLEEP!" Maro cheered, causing everyone outside of their family, and Sabo, to jump in confusion.
"WOOHOO!" Luffy jumped up and down in excitement.
"Group sleep?" Nami muttered in confusion. What were they talking about and why did Rosan suddenly exhale so tiredly?
She soon found out why.
"I call Master's left arm!" Maro grinned.
"I call his right!" Angel beamed.
Ah, so that's why. The two wives were utterly unhinged when it came to their scout.
"Can we not?" Rosan sighed in annoyance as he took his hair out of its bun to let it fall free, cloak transforming into a pair of sweatpants and a sleeveless tee that showed his tattoo. "I don't see why you guys need me to be at the bottom of our piles every single time and now you're renting parts of my body? You all are so shameless."
"Shouldn't have been the tallest," Maro sniffed, crossing her arms under her bust as she had the scout modify her outfit into some blue and white pajamas. "I'm cold and you're warm. I need your body heat!"
"Modify the bed! It's too uncomfortable and sandy and overall gross," Angel complained as Rosan transformed her outfit into some shorts and a sleeveless tee.
"This can't be real," Sanji gaped. "Please tell me this isn't real?!"
Demon, trying to be a good younger brother, decided to intervene as Rosan transformed his Yukata into a night robe. "You two are forgetting about Robin, aren't you? Don't go taking her spot now."
He should have known how greedy the two most important people in his life were, even with the fact that they were playing matchmaker.
"Robin will sleep on his chest," Angel decided bluntly, smiling in satisfaction at watching Rosan modify all the beds in the room. "Hurry up, I'm tired!"
"You don't need sleep."
"Who are you to decide that?!"
"Your creator."
"You're the only one focusing on such irrelevant details!"
Robin sweatdropped a bit at how demanding Angel was and had Rosan change her outfit into some comfy shorts and a sweater. "Don't I have any say in this?"
"Nope!" Maro chirped, jumping on the bed excitedly. "Luffy you're sleeping next to me!"
The rubber boy was way ahead of her, already leaping on the bed with visible excitement and the Dokkaebi followed suit.
"Sabo, c'mere!" Angel demanded, watching the revolutionary try and claim a bed for himself. "You thought you were getting out of this?! You're sleeping next to me!"
The blonde tried to protest. "But —"
"No buts!"
The harsh glare from the redhead silenced his complaints and he reluctantly walked over to the budding pile.
Angel was way too demanding. It was insane!
"Sorry Master, I tried," Demon apologized, laying next to Luffy with a sympathetic smile and patting the rubber boy on his head.
"That's okay. This is why you're my favorite of the three," Rosan said easily, lying on the bed and beckoning them all to get it over with and surround him.
Maro and Angel gawked despite clambering to their claimed sides and crushing him.
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW, ASSHOLE!" They both shouted in anger, nestling in.
"This is too much chaos for one crew to handle," Nami muttered in awe. Poor Rosan (he deserved it) looked tired of his families antics.
"Isn't this chaos a bit too organized though?" Vivi joined, watching them quickly get situated despite the bickering going on. There was so much going on but it was incredibly seamless.
Luffy was already comfortably sleeping, draping himself across both Maro and Demon, with his head just reaching the resigned Rosan.
"Rosan's always been smart with his chaos… we all just picked up on it," Robin shrugged helplessly. The way the two wives were glaring at her made it clear that they weren't sleeping until she joined the pile so the Devil Child made her way over and took her spot atop of Rosan.
At least they normally slept with each other. She was normally to his left but this was fine too she supposed.
The redhead sighed. "I'm sorry for them. We've been doing these for years now," he muttered.
"It's fine. This is surprisingly comfortable," Robin muttered, listening to the steady heartbeat of Rosan and quickly falling tired, brushing his chin with her black hair.
"I was going to kill you two, Auntie Angel and Maro, but this is the best outcome," Ram nodded in approval, watching the proximity of Robin and Rosan in glee.
"Come to the mindscape so we can cuddle you both as well!" Mod beamed shamelessly.
Sabo thought it was pretty bad that he was way to comfortable with this for his liking but he attributed that to his lost memories. It did actually feel pretty nice despite the chaos and their collective warmth was quickly helping him fall asleep.
Rosan sighed in annoyance and dragged both him and Robin into the mindscape to give the Devil Fruit what she wanted.
"Yay!" Mod cheered as the four got ready.
"Woohoo!" Ram beamed.
"I know what I need to do now," Sanji said with a serene expression on his face. It was a far cry from how the crew expected him to act at the sight of the three beautiful women surrounding his so called "Love Rival".
"What is that…?" Usopp asked warily. He didn't like that look on the chef's face one bit.
"I'm going to kill him of course," the chef smiled. "He has too much of a head start on me so it's only fair."
They balked at his admittance, listening to how serious he sounded saying it and backed away from the unhinged chef.
Zoro smirked. "If you kill him, that means you'd kill Mod too you know? And don't even get me started on that psychopath Ram."
Sanji froze at that, jaw dropping at the realization that yes, Mod and Rosan did share a body with each other and if he died, the chef would probably never see her beautiful face again.
Not to mention, if he killed Ram's Father... how could he ever live with himself if the beauty cried because of him?
Like he had gotten shot, the blonde collapsed on his knees and held his chest.
"It's not fair! I can't even get my revenge! C-Can I even hit him?!" Sanji cried, crawling into his modified bed in misery and crying himself to sleep.
"He is such an idiot," Nami sighed, sliding into her own bed and letting out another sigh, this time of relief. The bed was incredibly comfortable. It felt far more luxurious then it looked.
Modification was so useful.
"Least he doesn't have such dumbass ideas floating through his head anymore. He'd probably regret not seeing that female form of Rosan again," Zoro snorted.
"What did you just say, shitty marimo?" Sanji snarled, waking up instantly and closing the distance between him and the swordsman.
"I said our scouts got you confused, dumbass love cook," the swordsman snarled back.
The two looked like they were rearing for a fight right now in the middle of their room.
"Seriously?" Nami groaned in exasperation. She really didn't wanna get out of bed right now to deal with these two idiots.
Luckily, she didn't have to.
"I swear to all that is fucking holy, if you two wake Maro or Luffy up, I'm going to rip your balls off and feed it to the other," Angel hissed, pushing herself up and glaring at the two dumbasses with a look that promised pain.
The two began sweating slightly and slowly made their way back to their respective beds, Angel glaring at both all the while until she huffed in satisfaction and tucked herself back into Rosan.
She sighed in bliss and fell right back asleep next to Rosan and Sabo, peaceful smile on her face contrasting the womanly fury from earlier.
Nami sighed in bliss herself and fell asleep.
It felt good to have someone else to deal with all the idiots.
"I quit."
Rosan couldn't say he was too surprised that Luffy said it and he was sure his family was the same way.
His captain wasn't a man of words. He was a man of action and he followed his own whims much like Rosan did.
Luffy didn't want to talk anyone down. What purpose did a pirate have trying to talk negotiations? It's not like anyone would listen to them.
He wanted to kick Crocodile's ass, plain and simple.
All of this talk about negotiations and talking people down just wasn't exciting enough. Luffy and Rosan were both people who hated being bored so the redhead wasn't even remotely surprised to see his brother lying on his back with a serious expression on his face.
Vivi thought simply talking to her childhood friend was going to solve everything but did she really think Crocodile was going to just stop? Even without Nico Robin, he seemed hellbent on continuing his plans so naturally people would die.
"You don't want anyone to die in this fight even when we're up against a Warlord and millions of people are going wild but you still think everyone will make it out safe…?"
"That's naive," Luffy said bluntly, much to the agreement of his family and some Straw Hats.
Vivi's eyes widened before narrowing at his uncharacteristically harsh statement.
Nami tried to stand up for the princess despite seeing where he was coming from.
"Shut up, Luffy! Of course Vivi cares about her people," the navigator defended.
"But he's right, Nami," Rosan interjected calmly, causing her to wilt a bit in surprise. "You shouldn't go into such a situation thinking everyone will survive… It hits much harder if you fail to save even one."
The Straw Hats and Sabo didn't miss the nods that came out of the three leaders of Celadon and were a little surprised they so readily agreed with Luffy and Rosan.
They wondered just how much they all had to go through.
Sabo wondered if he was one of the reason they were so pragmatic sometimes.
"So what?!" Vivi responded with a look of anger directed towards the two. Her face was slowly morphing into an angrier expression and the upset princess was close to erupting. "Why is it so bad that I don't want anyone to die?!"
"There's nothing wrong with not wanting anyone to die..." Rosan began neutrally.
"But people die," Luffy finished calmly.
Maro swiftly intercepted a furious Angel due to the fact that Vivi viciously slapped both Rosan and Luffy, sending the rubber boy sprawling and turning the head of the computer man.
"LEMME GO MARO! I'LL FUCKING KILL HER AND SEE HOW SHE LIKES SLAPPING A DAMN KAMI!" Angel snarled, fruitlessly trying to escape the impossible grip of her too strong wife and flailing wildly.
"I know you will that's why I'm not letting you go!" Maro sighed, effortlessly holding the angry redhead back by the waist. It was a good thing she was so strong because there was absolutely nothing weak about Angel's physical, not human, strength.
"LEMME GO AUNTIE! I'LL FUCKING RIP HER SPINE OUT AND SHOVE IT UP HER ASS!" Ram roared, flailing herself in Mod's grasp. Who did this idiot fucking human think she was, putting a hand on her Father for speaking the truth?! Oh Ram would definitely show her a different truth alright.
"That's not necessary, Ram," Mod sighed.
It was rare to see Rosan get slapped... in fact, she couldn't recall a time someone did slap him which was a good thing because everyone in their family, including herself, would attempt to rip that person to shreds.
Despite being so strong, Rosan sure did have a lot of people who were protective of him.
"Are you alright?" Robin asked, grasping his cheek and straightening his head.
"It was just a slap. I hardly felt it," Rosan muttered.
Vivi was so caught up in her anger, she didn't even look bothered by Angel's fury. No, the princess was staring daggers at the captain at the scout.
"DON'T SAY THINGS LIKE THAT! I WON'T LET YOU SAY THINGS LIKE THAT!" The princess screamed angrily, glaring at the two.
"I DON'T WANT THERE TO BE BLOODSHED! I WANT TO SAVE THE REBELS AND I WANT TO SAVE THE ROYAL ARMY! WHY DO THEY HAVE TO DIE WHEN IT'S ALL CROCODILE'S FAULT?! WHY DO THEY HAVE TO SUFFER BECAUSE OF ONE PERSON?!"
Luffy glared at her and delivered a punch of his own, flooring the princess.
"THEN WHY ARE YOU RISKING YOUR OWN LIFE?!" He roared.
"Luffy you're going too far!" Usopp yelled, holding back a furious Sanji.
The two began brawling in earnest at that, throwing punches and slaps left and right.
"Just one look at this country and I can tell what needs to be done!" Luffy growled, accepting her punches with a deep frown on the ground.
He thought about how Yuba was being ravaged by sandstorms and how that man had been digging nonstop just to find a drop of water that he gratefully gave to the rubber boy and his glare hardened.
"YOU CAN'T DO EVERYTHING ALONE! WHY ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR LIFE ON THE LINE?"
"WHAT CHOICE DO I HAVE?! I… I don't have anything else.."
Vivi's anger tapered off and her voice entered a near whisper, as tears of defeat began forming in her eyes.
"THEN PUT OUR LIVES ON THE LINE TOO! WE'RE FRIENDS AREN'T WE?!" Luffy roared holding the princess up.
"!?" The princess sniffed at the overwhelming feeling coursing through her and tears began falling in earnest.
"We're your friends too, aren't we?" Their captain asked seriously. "The truth is, you want to kick Crocodile's ass more then anyone, don't you?"
Vivi did. Deep down, she wanted nothing more then to get her hands on Crocodile and make him pay for years of suffering. For years of trickery and Luffy knew that.
All it took was for someone to point it out to bring it to the forefront and it was too much for her to handle.
She began crying. To hear the truth was as liberating as it was heartbreaking, so she cried and cried. The princess curled into herself and sobbed freely.
They all watched with sullen gazes and Angel's anger tapered off, replaced by sympathy at watching the, too young, girl shoulder so much responsibility.
Sabo's gaze hardened and he clenched his fist. This is why he was a revolutionary. To stop people from feeling this helpless in a hopeless situation. No one should ever have to feel this crushed due to the whims of another person.
It wasn't right.
Robin couldn't prevent the stab of guilt at causing Vivi to end up like this. After all, Crocodile used the Devil Child for everything involving Baroque Works. She was his mouthpiece, the one who showed their face, the one giving out all the orders.
It wouldn't be so wrong to say that she was as much as the leader of this organization as the Warlord was. It didn't matter if she wasn't given much of a choice, she had still done it.
Rosan gazed at her from the corner of his eye and frowned.
Robin had enough to deal with, he wouldn't let this affect her either.
"It must have been hard, feeling so helpless for all these years," Rosan spoke up softly, grabbing their attention. "No one should ever feel like that which is why you should put a little faith in us... A wise person once told me that if you can't trust even one person in your life, you can't call that living and they were right. Can you really claim to be living if the only person you trust is yourself?"
No one missed how hard Robin, Demon and Angel flinched.
Bending down on one knee in front of the princess, Rosan gently pat her head in a soothing manner.
"I'm not a person worthy of trust but I can tell you that Luffy absolutely is so you should trust him, Vivi," he assured, refreshing the tears in her eyes at the absolute faith everyone had in the rubber boy.
The princess could say nothing so she only nodded tightly.
Everyone stared at the calm redhead in awe, especially the ones who weren't aware he was capable of being… encouraging.
It was… nice. They never expected their apathetic scout to have a heart but it was endearing.
Robin felt her guilt wilt away at his speech, feeling uplifted and being reminded that she wasn't alone anymore and that there was someone alive worth trusting staring right at her with reassuring and beautiful eyes.
Ah, Rosan always knew the right thing to say. She wouldn't be surprised if he did this speech because of her and that made her incredibly pleased.
Luffy looked at the crying Vivi and clutched his straw hat. "Tell us where this Crocodile is, Vivi."
"I still can't believe Mr. 0 is Sir Crocodile," Miss Doublefinger remarked.
"It changes nothing. He's been the one giving us missions all this time through Miss All Sunday so learning his identity shouldn't affect things," Mr. 1 grunted.
"Speaking of which… Where is Miss All Sunday?" Miss Merry Christmas asked. The mouthpiece of Mr. 0 had been missing for quite a long time now but they were never sure who to ask of her whereabouts.
Crocodile bit his cigar in annoyance. "Miss All Sunday, along with Mr. 3 and the Unluckies betrayed me for whatever reason and I am unaware of their location… Mr. 2, what is with that look of confusion?"
The okama scratched his head. "That's right I never did report my findings because I didn't see the Unluckies again. Mr. 3 is dead."
"What? You killed him?" Crocodile asked, stamping his annoyance down at just being told. Not only was Mr. 2 the most pivotal part to his plans (as of now with Nico Robin missing), he had no one to report that too so it wasn't the agent's fault.
"Nope, he was already dead when I found him on Little Garden," Bon Clay shrugged.
This didn't make any sense at all to Crocodile. "… So where is Nico Robin? Is she dead as well? What killed them? What about all the other agents?"
According to the Unluckies, only Mr. 3 had survived but they betrayed him so everything could have been a lie… but that didn't make sense... What reason did they have to lie to him?
Was passive, broken, Miss All Sunday suddenly going rogue?
That was not in line with her character.
"Mr. 3 was the only body I found. There was no one else on Little Garden," Mr. 2 informed him.
The agents grew more and more confused at the agitated expression on Crocodile's face.
The Warlord was deep in thought at the new information and it was giving him a clearer and clearer picture that was making him more and more furious because it was partially his fault.
He just needed one more confirmation.
"Mr. 2," he began gravely, making the okama go white in fear. "Did you intercept any groups on the way back to Alabasta?"
Bon Clay cupped his chin at the abrupt question before nodding. "I did! I ran into a crew who saved my life! Hold on, I even got pictures of them."
Crocodile's gaze darkened into something thunderous, watching Bon Clay transform into the Straw Hat Crew and Princess Vivi with some extras, including a long nose and some raccoon animal.
The Warlord was beginning to understand more and more why things weren't making sense.
Mr. 3 didn't betray him. Mr. 3 didn't even win the battle. Every Straw Hat was alive and they appeared to have far more members then accounted for.
In fact, he probably hadn't even been talking to Mr. 3 over the phone… which meant the Unluckies betrayed him even before Little Garden.
He hazarded a guess that whoever caused the Unluckies to betray him, managed to convince Nico Robin going against a Warlord was a good idea.
Just who was in that crew that managed to do so…? None of who he had seen so far looked like they were capable of doing such a thing and Mr. 2 insisted that none of the ones he saw seemed like they would do something like that.
Someone had been manipulating him through the Unluckies. Someone with enough knowledge to know who CP9 was and to use that against him.
He withheld the urge to turn this entire room into sand and took a deep breath.
The question was who of the Straw Hats was this cunning? To recruit his agents and trick him so thoroughly, demanded respect from even him.
That's when he noticed something.
"Mr. 2, there wasn't anyone else on that ship?" Crocodile asked.
"I'm not sure. I only stayed on the deck and we did make quite a ruckus but no one else showed up," the agent replied.
No one else showed up…
Crocodile took out all the photos the Unluckies had given him back when he first learned of the Straw Hats.
Straw Hat Luffy and Roronoa Zoro were the only ones he recognized at a glance. The first for his bounty and the second due to trying to recruit him and failing.
He ignored the picture of the orange haired girl and instead focused on the only one who had not been accounted for by Mr. 2 or himself.
An empty gaze, captured even by the picture stared up at Crocodile and he realized that this person looked more then capable of doing everything his crew wouldn't do.
After all, the Unluckies pinned the death on Miss Goldenweek, Valentine and Mr. 5 on him right here before his alleged "death".
But according to Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine, they had been effortlessly dealt with by the redhead who's hair color was not captured by the picture.
That's why he had believed the Unluckies when they said he killed all but Mr. 3. But the man accounted for that and even included CP9, which the Unluckies should not even know about.
That should have been his first tip but he had been so gone in his anger he didn't even notice.
How sloppy of him. Because of that, the Unluckies managed to get away from him but the expressionless man must have known it was going to work.
But what did he have that would persuade Nico Robin? That is what left Crocodile truly stumped.
Was it a case of threatening her? Did he catch her off guard?
What had become of her then?
This supposed redhead knew the answer and Crocodile was going to find out one way or another just what happened to her.
After all, Nico Robin was essential to his plans.
"You all, there's another mission added on top of your others," Crocodile intoned, catching all their attention. Placing the photos of all of them in front of his agents he pointed at each one except for two.
"Stop the Straw Hats and Princess Vivi from meeting with the Rebel Army at all costs."
They nodded, noting that he left two pictures to himself.
"And what about those two?" Miss Merry Christmas asked.
The Warlord glared darkly at the photos of Luffy and Rosan, consuming them in sand and reducing it to dust.
"Avoid these two at all costs. I'll deal with them personally."
"That was a nice speech, Rosan," Nami smiled.
The big group was currently on their way to Rainbase to confront Crocodile and they were back in their cycle of complaining about the desert heat.
The redhead, who was finally allowed to walk without baggage, glanced over at his navigator.
"I only try and speak the truth," Rosan replied softly.
"Thank you for speaking your truth, Rosan and Luffy," Vivi smiled gratefully. "I'm sure that wise person you mentioned is proud of you!"
Rosan actually paused at that, causing them all to stop in confusion as his expression turned uncharacteristically wistful.
"...If she is proud of me… that's all I can ask for. Thank you, Vivi," he eventually said, beginning to walk again.
"She?"
Who was "she"? Why did Rosan sound so… sad? Maybe it was a trick of the brain because he generally sounded the same but… they felt their hearts pang regardless.
"She…?" Sabo asked quietly, concern set on his features. Seemed like he was the only one unaware of her identity, who was willing to ask.
The redhead stopped again and regarded his younger brother. "Right, you don't remember."
The revolutionary was really beginning to find that losing his memories carried far more problems then he initially thought.
"…"She" is Meiko," Rosan said aloud, making all of them reel in surprise.
He was… He was sharing information?!
So willingly?!
Wait a second... Meiko… they knew that name!
"If you were anyone else… except for Meiko, I'd have buried your head underground by now."
That was what Rosan had said to Robin when she demanded he transform into a female for them.
"Meiko was my other half… my better half," the redhead said quietly. "Gentle and kind… She was everything that I was not. My complete opposite but it made us all the more compatible."
"Y-Your better half…? You mean…?" Nami whispered, dread welling up inside of her.
"Yes. Meiko was my lover," he nodded.
"She was amazing. I've never met a more gentle and beautiful soul," Demon said softly, shutting his eyes.
"Mei was truly one of a kind... patient, smart, humble... she was too sweet for a world like this," Angel admitted bitterly.
Was.
Every single one of them used that word when describing the girl who they wished to meet.
Watching the distraught look on the twin's face, along with the crushing sadness on Robin's own told them everything they needed to know.
"She died when I was 12 but I still hold her words very close to me," Rosan confirmed.
The redhead tapped his earrings and displayed his ring. "These are her earrings and this is her ring... I wear them to honor her in any way I know how... Ram even looks like her."
"If you ever see me without my accessories, it's not me. I will never take them off."
So that was why he always had them on... they had jokingly said he even showered with them but now they felt guilty for making light of something so depressing.
"Is that... is that why Ram calls you Father?" Nami asked quietly, heart breaking in sympathy.
Rosan closed his eyes and nodded. "Ram's official name R.A.M, stands for Rosan and Meiko. It's what I had engraved on the ring when I promised her that we'd get married."
"H-He wanted to get married with her?!" Everyone thought in horror. T-They really did love each other didn't they...
He showed them all the intricate engraving on the beautiful ring with so much history behind it and they couldn't stop the pain from hearing that Rosan of all people, was so in love that he was willing to get married and settle down with someone.
It was so sad... they couldn't even begin to imagine the pain the robotic (it made so much sense) redhead must have been in.
Rosan pulled Robin close to him to reassure her.
Her memories of Meiko were the freshest so he wasn't fond of bringing it up around her.
She smiled thankfully and tucked herself deeper in his frame, trying to calm herself to the best of her abilities.
"S-She… She died when you were 12?" Vivi asked in shocked horror, staring at his expressionless feature with a teary gaze.
A lightbulb went off at the same time with Nami and Zoro.
They recalled the conversation they had with the redhead back on Syrup Village. When they saw the unhinged redhead in all his glory and the aftermath of that... When he told them why he acted so differently when hypnotized.
"My emotions are locked away and they are rather difficult to get back."
"I lost my emotions about 12 years ago when I was still a child and I've clearly grown since then."
Rosan was 24… 12 years ago would make him 12... the same age when Meiko died.
Everything made sense.
His lack of emotions, how little he cared for other people, how he didn't even seem human at times! Her death had to have been what sparked his loss of emotions...
It all made sense and for Nami especially, who knew more about his past then the other members.
She was beginning to realize that Rosan's life was looking more and more hellish the more they learned. The redhead went through so much...
The more they learned, the more they realized that it was no wonder he had no emotions.
Sabo felt awful for remembering nothing about his family's life. Rosan had trusted him enough to tell him this once already and he forgot about it like he forgot everything else.
"Sorry…" the revolutionary said quietly. For everything.
"Don't apologize for something that isn't your fault," Rosan chided. "Amnesia is not something you can control and I already told you once. I don't mind telling you again."
Sabo nodded tightly, still not happy with the situation.
The redhead let his blonde brother stew with his thoughts, only to grunt at the amount of people suddenly tackling him.
"I-I'm sorry for slapping you! I had no idea what you went through!" Vivi sobbed. She felt terrible! No wonder he was trying to advise her to stop being so naive, he experienced it himself!
"It must have been so hard… at only 12?! I'm sorry, Rosan," Nami soothed with a sad frown.
Sailing the seas at 4, being kidnapped and turned into a slave and then losing your lover… that was just so terrible and Nami didn't know if she could handle so much trauma.
Chopper said nothing, just clutching the redhead with teary eyes.
Sanji remained silent as he bit his cigarette harshly.
The chef realized now why Rosan was hardly every interested in women throwing themselves at him. To lose the love of your life at such a young age... it was probably difficult to express any interest in another person after that.
He must have seriously loved her to still value her words after this long…
"That's why your emotions are locked away, right?" Zoro asked their scout. He wanted to confirm it.
"That's right," Rosan replied calmly. "I'm an emotional person who does a terrible job handling loss. For my, Angel and Demon's safety, Modification saw it fit to lock them away and neither Mod or I can manually unlock it."
He now knew why they couldn't. It was not only the castle's will, but the virus was likely resisting as well.
The twins wilted at that, refusing to make eye contact with anyone there.
Maro saw this and quickly moved over to the duo, soothing the two with reassuring words and tender hugs in which they sunk into.
Mod, despite her crushing sadness, was so glad that he was revealing this information with his crew. Rosan set up near impenetrable barriers (that grew a lot more cracks as he spent time with his family) with everyone he met simply because he didn't want to forge bonds anymore.
The redhead didn't seen the point in doing so. He couldn't see the good in people due to what Doc had done to him and lost all his trust in the world.
To him, any person with an ounce of kindness, was just someone who wanted to use him.
Forming bonds as he was now was just a waste and she wanted nothing more for that to not be the case.
But maybe just maybe… he was slowly forging bonds with the Straw Hats that weren't Robin and Luffy?
No, he definitely was.
Rosan and Nami had formed a sibling like bond that only the two shared and Mod was shocked to see that he actually liked her. The two clearly enjoyed arguing (but refused to admit it) with each other and found almost any opportunity to do so!
He chose to put his trust in Zoro incredibly early and the swordsman had not let him down yet!
Outside of Luffy and Robin, Zoro was the Straw Hat member that Rosan trusted the most and they even frequently trained with each other due to her son being intrigued by his ambition
Usopp should have been everything the redhead hated in a person but their relationship had evolved far past what she ever expected it to. The redhead had given the sniper advice that he seemed to take to heart and it was a far cry from the neutral disdain he had for him before.
Sanji was the only one in the crew who knew Rosan was Reaper! Though he pretended to dislike his self proclaimed "Love Rival" there was few people alive who the blonde respected more and it was obvious.
After all, Rosan had been the one to save him, encouraged him to follow his dream and inspired him in more ways then one! One of the chef's goals, was to create the best meal for the redhead and it was a goal he tackled every single day!
Chopper might have been new but it was partly with Rosan's assistance that the reindeer was convinced to join the crew!
It was clear the little animal felt most comfortable around Robin and Rosan and the scout was even going out of his way to have him break out of his shell by forcing him in uncomfortable situations.
It wasn't glaringly obvious and maybe it wasn't as much as she thought, but Mod was sure that Rosan was beginning to value his crewmates whether he wanted to or not. They were incredible and deserved it.
At the very least, he valued them enough to reveal more of his past... something he would have never done. He also would have never told them about his Devil Fruit, or revealed who she was but he did and that told her everything she needed to know.
Little by little, her boy would realize that people cared for him and that he could rely on others.
"So this isn't the real you…" Chopper said sadly, hugging the top of Rosan's head as he lay there. "Is there any way we can help you?"
They all looked at him with their undivided attention.
Anyway to help him? Weren't they just adorable.
"To be honest, I'm not sure... It seems that I have to come to some realizations about myself," Rosan admitted, glancing at his unblemished skin that didn't tell the story of what he went through at all.
"It seems there are layers to my emotions being locked and there seems to be different things needed to unlock them. Meeting and talking to Robin helped me unlock one of those chains..."
He smiled softly and squeezed the Devil Child, who happily returned the hug with a pleased smile of her own. The two just basked in the other's presence for a moment.
If just meeting Nico Robin was enough to partially help, it was clear the two were even closer then the crew initially thought.
"If you noticed, my eyes are glowing slightly since reuniting with her. Zoro, Nami and Usopp... do you remember how brightly my eyes were glowing back at Syrup Village?"
The trio nodded at that, remembering vividly how his dual eyes glowed as bright as the sun.
"I thought that was because of Modification..." Zoro pondered, brows furrowed.
The redhead shook his head and activated his Devil Fruit, eyes pulsing crimson red. "This is how I look when I activate Modification. Both my eyes glow red and if I put in even more power, my sclera glow red as well... with my emotions, my eyes shine more. It used to glow purple, but now it glows red for my left and purple for my right," he explained.
"So your glowing eyes, tie into your emotion," Nami observed.
"Queen Raisa also had glowing purple eyes… It was much brighter then yours but now I understand," Vivi mused.
"Raisa's eyes glow bright as well?" Rosan asked.
Did he actually inherit everything from her? What did he inherit from his father besides his spiky hair? Raisa had powerful genes.
"...How nice. Yes, my eyes glow depending on my emotional state. When I'm happy or excited, they glow brightest. When I'm sad they get dimmer... After Meiko died, they stopped glowing completely but the day they fully glow, is the day I've been "saved". As for how that happens…? I'm not sure." He shrugged.
Once his eyes fully glowed… he'd be saved?
"Right!" They chorused.
They would all make sure that day comes. Rosan had done a lot for them and they finally saw a way to repay him.
They would not let him down.
Maro, Angel and Demon looked at them all with pride in their eyes and wide smiles, touched by the conviction in their eyes.
They liked this crew. Master and Luffy did a good job recruiting them.
"Aren't you all just adorable?" Rosan mused, closing his eyes. "Thank you, all of you. I mean that and I can be a difficult person, so please put up with me."
"We already put up with you! You're kind of insufferable," Nami said cheekily.
"Ironic coming from you," Rosan replied calmly. "All you do is milk me of my money. You're a leech."
"S-SHUT UP!" She roared.
Robin gazed at the crew who wanted to save her favorite person and thought that… maybe she could try and trust them a little too.
Mod grinned brightly. Her two original children were finally opening up more and more and she couldn't be happier!
"I have this feeling that I already said I was going to help you," Sabo spoke up, grinning wryly. "It would explain why I feel so determined every time I look into your eyes. But just in case, I'll try and help you unlock your emotions too, Rosan!"
"Just you being alive is a step in the right direction, Sabo," the redhead assured. "And you did say that already, at the same time as Ace and Luffy 10 years ago."
Luffy beamed and Sabo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I'll help when I can but I still have my duties to attend to," Sabo explained with an apologetic smile.
Rosan waved him off. "Of course. Just do what you can."
They all nodded before the redhead snapped a finger.
"Let's stay focused. This isn't about me. This is about saving this kingdom so let's do that."
Everyone nodded at once.
"Actually… Master could you bring us back to Celadon? We shouldn't get in your way anymore and you can always just stream the action to us!" Maro requested seriously.
He had managed to massively increase the range of his streams so they could watch it all the way over at Celadon! It was awesome! She should abuse that more often... it would allow her to see some of their adventures.
Rosan blinked. "My little spoiled student is being mature for once? I'll stream it for you but I'm genuinely surprised."
"Don't make me fucking take it back," Maro snarled. "We'll be coming right back after this is done so hurry up and finish it! Since I'm not allowed to fight, we'd just be getting in the way and I won't cost you guys anything!"
"In that case… I'll go with them too," Sabo said much to their surprise. "My mission is to make sure Alabasta is saved but I can trust you guys to complete it so this gives Demon a chance to run his checkup on me."
"Sounds good to me," Demon smiled, pleased to be spending more time with the blonde.
"Yeah! We have Sabo to ourselves!" Angel beamed, grabbing the blonde and hugging him ecstatically.
"You've never actually been to Celadon! You can see just how awesome we are and how much effort we put into it," Maro gushed, before turning towards the crew. "That applies to you guys too! You're always welcome on my island!"
They smiled at the outgoing Queen. Over the short span they knew her, they already found themselves liking all of Luffy and Rosan's family.
"OH! THAT REMINDS ME!" The Queen suddenly exclaimed.
Turning towards Vivi, the Dokkaebi quickly closed the distance and grasped her small hands.
Vivi balked at the Queen's distance and Maro shot her an easygoing grin.
"I know Alabasta must be going through some hard times right now and I totally get that so when all is said and done, Celadon will find a way to help you guys to the best of our ability," she promised before her expression turned a little sheepish.
"It'll be a bit hard considering I'm in the North Blue and you're in the Grand Line but I'm pretty good at accelerating the growth of crops! Celadon is the #1 fastest crop growing island in the world and that's because of me! Also, before Master leaves, I can give you a few resources, we can set up a couple of green houses, maybe make a few buildings in some areas and —," .
"Why?" Vivi interrupted in a tiny whisper.
Maro paused in confusion. "Why?"
"Why are you doing this? What do you gain?!" Vivi couldn't help but ask, backing away from the Queen slightly with quite a bit of panic on her face.
"Do you want to exploit Alabasta to increase your prestige even further? What reason could the leader of Celadon, the most popular island in the North Blue, have to want to give things to my dying country?!"
The rush of emotions she was currently going through were clouding her judgment at the moment and so she lashed out at the too generous (in her eyes) offer from the Queen.
"Ah!" Maro's face turned into one of understanding. "I don't want anything out of this, honest! I just find myself relating a bit..."
The Queen's expression turned a bit serious at that. "It's not easy getting a beaten down country back on its feet. I was only 13 when Master and I killed the previous king of Celadon and I took over."
They did what?!
Everyone who was unaware, had looks of shock on their at the reveal that Maro killed the previous king of the island.
Glancing between Maro and Rosan, they had to wonder just how crazy these two were to kill and usurp a king. Were they completely nuts?!
Vivi especially had slack jaws at the reveal, going pale in disbelief.
"That king was a terrible person and he drove that island into the ground for no good reason but to satisfy his own greed," Maro frowned heavily. That damn former king had completely ruined Celadon. He had burned so many bridges and was only allied with other terrible nations that had not been happy when she had taken over.
The amount of assassination attempts sent her way... it had been a short affair considering her and Master had quickly gone to the other islands to get rid of the aggressors permanently, but it had still been exhausting.
"It took a lot of work to turn Celadon into the island I know and love today but I never would have been able to do it alone! I had Master, Angel, Demon, Aiko and Akemi helping me all the time and without them, it never would have worked out."
The queen stared softly at Vivi. "You're only 16 years old and your trying to do all of this alone. As someone who's also felt responsible for her country at such a young age, I don't really wanna see someone else who doesn't have a cheat code like Master, struggle! You deserve a little help, Vivi and I want to be the one to help you in anyway I know how," She finished smiling gently at the young princess and dragging the rattled girl back to her.
"I'm here for you, don't worry. I promise we'll make it look like your country never even ended up like this," she murmured gently, running a hand through the girl's bright blue hair.
Vivi didn't know why everyone wanted to see her cry so badly. It was unbefitting of her to show her tears so freely but she just couldn't help it!
"T-Thank you," she sobbed, crashing into Maro and hugging her for dear life. "Thank you so much!"
Maro smiled a motherly smile and returned it gently. "Of course, us bluenettes are rare y'know? Gotta stick together even if yours is a worse shade then mine," she teased.
"Is not," Vivi grumbled with a glare, wiping her tears as she gazed up at the amazing Queen.
It was no wonder Celadon was such a prestigious island. It didn't matter how much help Maro had, a kingdom could be good, but it would never be great without a great ruler and Maro was everything an island wanted.
"I find it hard to believe Maro is your student. She's sweet, down to earth and just an amazing person," Nami teased.
They all watched the exchange with fond eyes and looked at the eccentric Queen with a newfound respect.
"Despite the conditions I found her in… Maro still manages to impress me by being such an incredible person. It's why she is universally beloved in Celadon," Rosan replied softly.
Angel was looking at Maro with pure bliss in her eyes. It never ceased to amaze her that she fell in love with and married such an awesome person and decided the blacksmith decided that her wife deserved some days of leeway along with some heavy spoiling.
"Alright, let's not delay any longer! See you guys after this is all over," Maro waved happily, blushing rosily as Angel planted a chaste kiss on her cheek.
"I'm glad to have met you guys. You're all incredible people," Demon bowed.
"If you ever need anything, feel free to ask me… I might not do it though," Angel beamed, dragging a complacent Sabo.
"Make sure you save this country!" The revolutionary grinned.
"Right!" They all said before Rosan grabbed the group and they vanished.
"Robin and I will split up from you all."
They looked at Rosan in confusion but he vanished a lot so they weren't too surprised.
They were surprised that he was informing them though.
"Crocodile still wants Robin and I don't really want that to happen so while you guys directly attack, we'll lay low and support in the background," Rosan explain softly.
"Ah! Okay!" Vivi nodded. With those two working in the background, that would be great!
"That reminds me… Rosan do you have that thing me you and Usopp talked about?" Nami asked suddenly.
The redhead nodded, recalling the memory well.
Flashback
"Rosan, could you do me a favor?" Nami asked the redhead weapons expert.
He glanced up from his conversation with Robin and hummed. "It depends. What do you need? Money? Did you manage to waste the allowance I already gave you, irresponsible little child?"
"I'M NOT A CHILD AND I DIDN'T WASTE IT!" Nami roared, resisting the urge to throttle him.
Robin giggled at their interaction, content to watch them with amused eyes.
The navigator took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I want a new specialized staff. Can you make me one?" She asked abruptly.
The scout blinked at that. "You want me to create you a specialized staff? I could but I'm not really good at stuff like that. I'm much better at modifying things that already exist, Ram being the exception of course but she's… unique."
"AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT!" Ram cheered.
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