Luffy immediately turned around and his grin widened, as he rocketed over towards the two.
"Rosan! Robin! You're back!" he cheered, crashing into the redhead who easily accepted the hug. "Woah! Your eyes are glowing a little!"
"Luffy," Rosan smiled softly. "Yeah… catching up with Robin did wonders for me."
"That's great! Thanks Robin," Luffy beamed, pulling the woman into the hug, much to her surprise. "She's traveling with us, right?! Hey, are you a musician?! Sing a song!" The rubber boy demanded.
It was like looking at little Rosan again and Robin had spent four years dealing with and getting used to the walking, overbearing, unrelenting headache.
"I'm right here," Rosan deadpanned.
"I said what I said," Robin retorted, smiling slightly at the beaming rubber boy.
"I'm in your care and no, I'm not a musician. I'm an archaeologist. Rosan is the one who can sing, not me. I'm much better at dancing."
"I'm a scout," Rosan said flatly, glancing at the other two people with Luffy.
The giant was regarding them with cheerful curiosity while Vivi immediately stiffened at the sight of the two. She immediately zeroed in on Robin, making the Devil Child glance over with a neutral expression.
"Friends of yours?" The giant boomed. His voice was so loud, they could feel their bones shaking as a side effect.
"Yeah! They're apart of my crew!" Luffy beamed, not having the slightest problem with Robin at all.
The, now introduced, Dorry waved them over cheerfully. "Welcome friends! My name is Dorry! Come, we're eating dinosaur meat!"
"Thank you for having us," Rosan nodded, taking a seat and accepting the meat. Glancing at Robin, he grabbed her portion and expertly cut it into smaller slices.
She smiled at the thoughtful gesture and grabbed the much more tolerable sized pieces. "Thank you Rosan."
"Of course, Robin."
Vivi began staring a hole into the duo and Rosan took it upon himself to return the favor.
Unfortunately for her, his eyes were far more unsettling then her own.
The bluenette began fidgeting at his intimidating gaze, idly grabbing her neck, and glanced away first.
"What happened between you two?" Robin asked curiously through their connection. She dearly missed being linked up and they had done so almost immediately after exiting the Pocket Dimension.
"She wanted us to capture and interrogate you. I immediately denied her request but she persisted and got too close to us so I choked her out."
Robin felt warm inside at how he was willing to protect her from his entire crew if he needed to. That explained why they had been in the castle. He doubted anyone would have tried anything but he didn't want her to be too uncomfortable.
"You're too adorable sometimes, Rosan," Robin said fondly.
"I'm not adorable, I'm handsome," he countered.
It was a miracle that Dorry and Luffy didn't sense the unbelievable tension, lost in their own conversations, as Rosan, Robin and Vivi stared at each other.
Rosan and Robin were content to remain completely silent, communicating through their link about when the visibly anxious Vivi would crack.
Watching the two smile to each other occasionally did nothing for her nerves. Why were they doing that? What reason did they have to just randomly smile to the other in unison?
The exploding volcano seemed to do the trick because Vivi jumped high into the air with a loud shriek before blushing hot at the amused stares from the two adults.
Dorry explained to the group that he had been fighting his fellow former captain, Brogy for over 100 years and that the volcano signified that it was time for the two to duel so that they could see which one was permitted to head back to their home island, Elbaf.
Luffy naturally wanted to see this and eagerly watched the battle with starry eyes.
With Dorry gone and Luffy distracted, Vivi saw that this was as good as chance as any to try and get some answers because these two weren't taking her serious at all.
Remembering what Nami said, the princess smoothed over her anger and took a more professional air.
"Miss All Sunday and Rosan-san…" Vivi coughed to get their attention. They had taken their eyes off the princess to observe the even battle between the two giants with some interest.
"Could you beat them?" Robin asked suddenly, gazing at the redhead curiously.
"Of course," Rosan replied disinterestedly. "It doesn't matter how hard they hit if they can't hit me and I can hit even harder. Besides, I've been fighting foes bigger than me for as long as I can remember. The size difference would be their undoing because I'd be in my element."
"Rosan and Miss All Sunday…" Vivi tried again, an annoyed expression on her face.
"Have you been keeping up with your training?" Rosan asked in return. "I have to admit, I haven't trained nearly as hard these past 10 years but I think it's about time I pick it up again."
"You and me both," Robin sighed. "I have gotten much more adept at battling with my clone, thanks to our teamwork back in the days and I'd be happy to show you while I get back into the swing of things. Being in the Grand Line for so long did wonders for me."
"MISS ALL SUNDAY AND ROSAN!" Vivi roared, fed up with them ignoring her.
"I no longer go by Miss All Sunday," Robin said, shooting her a coy smile. "Rosan stole me away from them so I'm just Robin now."
"W-What?! So you just… left because of him?" Vivi asked, not believing her ears. "And I'm supposed to accept that?!"
Robin raised a brow at her angry expression but she half expected to be treated with such hostility. "I don't care if you accept it or not," she replied coolly. "I was never loyal to Crocodile in the first place and always planned on betraying him. Doing it for Rosan was the best scenario I could ask for."
"I won't allow anyone to use you like a tool," Rosan muttered, eyes glowing menacingly. He idly pulled the woman closer to him and hugged her with one arm.
Robin smiled at him and easily returned it, pleased that someone looked at her like the human she was. Luffy was the same, staring at her like she were an old friend.
Vivi... not so much but Robin didn't really care. She had no feelings for the princess of Alabasta at the moment so to her, Vivi was just the same as every other person who looked at her like that.
"Y-You'd just betray them…? After everything you've done? You killed Igaram right in front of me!" Vivi snarled, not accepting that for even a second. Her attempt at being civil was swiftly thrown out of the window at the infuriating duo.
The Devil Child looked unfazed by her anger.
"I am only loyal to one person and he's right here," Robin said bluntly, leaning onto Rosan to stress her point. "Also, Igaram isn't dead. I made sure he'd survive that attack but I had to play up appearances you know? After all, I did lead you to Crocodile's identity. You're very welcome for that, by the way."
Vivi's eyes widened in epic proportions at that revelation and she actually took a step back at the woman's words. She felt her heart stop cold and failed to stop her mouth from opening.
Igaram… he was alive...? Miss All Sunday hadn't killed him? She was always planning on betraying Baroque Works? Was that why she let Vivi follow her in the first place? But why? It's not like she knew this Rosan was alive. There's no way she could have known...
"Honestly, now that I have Rosan back, I don't care what anyone thinks of me. As long as he approves, I won't be bothered so if you want to hate me, that's fine with me," Robin declared simply.
When only one person in the entire world acknowledged you as a person, then eventually that one person's acknowledgment would be all you needed. That was the case between Robin and Rosan.
Rosan was the only one who saw her as human, so Rosan was the only one who she'd be human around.
If Vivi hated her so be it. Millions of people hated her already.
"I'll always approve," Rosan smiled softly, idly watching the battle between the giants end in a draw. They were far too evenly matched it seemed. It was no wonder they were fighting for 100 years with no results.
"That's all I need," Robin smiled back.
Vivi watched the two interact with pure confusion on her face, anger evaporating in favor of befuddlement.
She just… she didn't understand either of them! Miss All Sunday had gone from a chilly and mysterious agent, to… to this! Her entire personality did a complete 180! The woman didn't care about anything, didn't regard anyone with emotion and followed any instructions given to her without a hint of hesitation.
Now, the woman was content to stay close to Rosan, never pushing him away when he initiated contact (the last person to touch her wasn't functioning at a level where he could talk about it!) and she was smiling genuine smiles! Her glacial gaze turned warm when around him and it was just so hard to wrap her head around!
As if to further throw her off, Miss All- Robin was saying that Igaram was alive and that she always planned on betraying Baroque Works?!
All of this because of one person?
She thought Rosan was just a demonic robot. He was clinical, ruthless and showed no emotion despite how brutal his actions were. His actions at Whiskey Peak were still fresh on her mind and she had more then one nightmare of watching the redhead slaughter those people without a hint of remorse.
Spending time around the Straw Hats, showed her just how different they all were compared to the redhead. Even Zoro, who seemed like the most hardened one after him, was much less… terrifying then the monster who seemed as bad as Crocodile.
Yet here he was being anything but. Despite killing those agents without blinking once, he could still smile and look like a normal human being and that was just too polarizing to her because wasn't acting human before.
It just wasn't fair that a monster like him, could act so human. He had things he cared for... things he'd kill for and one of them happened to be one of the people that played a strong hand in ruining her life.
It just wasn't fair...
"I think we broke her," Rosan hummed.
"She's hopelessly naive and young so I wouldn't expect her to understand either of us," Robin replied, idly adjusting the cardigan. "This is so comfortable, where did you buy it from?"
"Most of my cardigans are from Fregate but this one's from Celadon. I'm assuming most of your wardrobe is still on Alabasta, right? We can go there to buy you some new clothes after this journey."
Ah, only a few days of reuniting and Rosan was already back to spoiling her.
Robin missed this. She deserved to be spoiled a bit.
"Wait, what's Celadon?" She asked.
"An island that Maro is the queen of. The twins are there too... Did I ever mention that Maro and Angel are married?"
"You have been incredibly productive over the years, haven't you?"
Rosan snorted quietly and Robin shook her head in amusement.
The redhead had connections in big places it seemed. The North Blue was practically being controlled by him at this point, having two powerhouse islands as allies, especially ones who apparently were allied with the World Government, gave him a plethora of benefits...
Honestly, only he could do something like this.
"Nami and Usopp are with the other giant?" Rosan repeated. "Huh, good for them. I figured they'd be too cowardly to leave the ship."
He paused for a second, tilting his head to the side as he really thought about it. "Who am I kidding, they are definitely too cowardly. They probably were found first."
Luffy laughed cheerfully at that.
Rosan stood up and stretched a bit, before saying, "I'm gonna go find some dinosaurs. Since I know where most of you are, I'll explore this island a bit."
"Why are you off to find a dinosaur?" Vivi couldn't help but ask, watching Robin get up at the same time as him.
"A present to my student. She's always wanted a dinosaur. Thinks they're cute. Upset they're extinct," Rosan drawled, marching off after a short nod to Robin.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Dorry-san," the Devil Child smiled politely, following Rosan deeper into the forest.
"Gegyagyagyagya! It was my pleasure!" Dorry boomed heartily, holding a cup of ale that he had gotten from Brogy, who had gotten it from the crew.
Vivi didn't trust the idea of letting them go off alone but they had already crossed quite the distance and Luffy was content to hang around Dorry. If she went alone, she wasn't sure what would happen to her… whether by inhabitants of the jungle or those two.
Best if she just stay here then...
"I trust you aren't only looking for the Triceratops?" Robin asked once they were alone.
"It's my number 1 priority but you're right. Baroque Works has begun moving and their target is Dorry," Rosan replied, pushing through shrubbery and allowing Robin to walk through it.
She smiled thankfully at the small gesture before humming, "So not only are they after the ones on their hit list, they want the giant's bounties too. Mr. 3 is always trying to move up the rankings so this doesn't surprise me."
Almost on cue, the two heard a small explosion from the area they had just left.
"That must have been Mr. 5's doing," Rosan mused, not glancing back and continuing forward. "Does anyone know how you look besides Crocodile?"
"Yes, it's how the princess knew to follow me. As his secret proxy, I give out all the orders to the agents."
"You need a disguise then. I went off alone because I suspect they want to isolate and capture us. Luffy and I have already shown our strength and they know they cannot defeat us," Rosan warned, turning towards her and humming in contemplation.
He gazed almost blankly at the red strand and Robin let out a quiet sigh.
"You don't need to feel guilty, Rosan. I quite like how the red compliments my hair so I was planning on keeping it," she said softly.
"...Right. You do look good with it," he nodded, almost looking like he were trying to convince himself that it was normal that a strand of her hair was red.
Well, small steps. At least he thought it looked good.
Grabbing a black strand of her hair, he uttered, "Modify: Appearance," and began the process of turning her head of hair purple, leaving the red strand there. After finishing, he took out a pair of shades and handed it over to her.
Robin was impressed with his thinking and accepted the accessories. "Let's communicate like this from now on then."
"I was thinking the same thing."
The duo walked in silence while communicating through their link and they noticed the volcano erupt again, signaling another duel between the giants.
Unfortunately, this one probably wasn't going to end in a draw.
"You won't interfere?" Robin asked curiously.
"No. I have my own way of doing things that goes against what my crew want to do. Their priority will be defending the giants pride."
"And you?"
"To find a pair of Triceratops of course. Whatever I happen to find along the way, is just a bonus."
"You never cease to display how terrifying you can be," Mod mused, amusement clear on her features.
Robin had to agree with her because they actually managed to find two baby Triceratops first in their mission to sabotage Baroque Works.
The dark green creatures stared at them warily while chewing on the vegetation around, not moving at the threats but being cautious all the same.
They immediately stopped chewing and froze at the slight pressure washing over them.
Rosan took a confident step forward and began patting one of the ancient baby creatures between its three horns, applying his pressure the whole time, until it submitted to his will and began growling in satisfaction.
In a matter of moments, it was putty in his hand and Robin swore she heard it purring of all things.
"Modify: Size," Rosan hummed, eyes pulsing as he modified the herbivore and made it smaller. It rumbled in confusion at the change in size and Rosan picked up the puppy sized dinosaur.
Since it was a baby, it would grow bigger but he would rather not give Maro to gigantic triceratops because the idiot would still try and keep them in her castle. So to prevent that, he made sure their full size wouldn't be the actual size of a triceratops.
"What do you think? Will she like it?" Rosan asked curiously, patting the little baby soothingly to get it to calm down.
"It's… really adorable," Mod admitted reluctantly, resisting the urge to coo at the tiny thing and failing miserably.
"I agree," Robin said, holding out her hands and smiling as Rosan placed the miniature dino in it. Remembering exactly how he had pet it, the Devil Child repeated the same process and it relaxed in her grasp as well.
Rosan turned to the other one and repeated the same process until he was finished. After some quick inspection he figured out that the one Robin held was male and his was female.
Perfect. He wouldn't have to find another and Maro could raise a little army of Triceratops if she so pleased. He was not going to get her any other species so this would do.
"Goblin will love it," Ram laughed. It was no T-Rex but it was probably the second best option on the island.
"Good, maybe it'll make her happy enough to accept the upcoming agents going her way," Rosan said, getting a sweatdrop out of all of them. "Alright, we can focus on said agents now. My bug has found a wax base and is currently camped there so for now, we'll go deal with Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine."
"You know where they are?" She asked, grabbing onto him with one hand. She made sure to safely tuck the little dinosaur into her frame and secured it.
"With Luffy and Vivi," he muttered. "Modification: Save Point."
The two promptly vanished from view.
Rosan and Robin showed up just in time to see Usopp get crushed under Miss Valentine after attempting a valiant effort in a 2 on 1.
"Ow," Rosan said blandly, looking at the struggling Vivi. She was currently being held up by her neck, courtesy of Mr. 5 and Karoo was struggling next to her.
"Rosan!" Luffy beamed, crushed under the house of Dory. "Great, get me out of here!"
Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine went pale at the sight of the redhead, instinctively backing up, only to freeze at the piercing gaze of the one who had effortlessly dealt with them. He glanced at them for just a moment, making it clear that they wouldn't be escaping, before taking his eyes off of them.
The male agent's head was still throbbing from the excruciating pain of getting his skull crushed and having it slammed into the pavement over and over again.
"Luffy, look. I got a present for Maro," Rosan said, prompting Robin to show him the tiny little dinosaur. He showed the one that he was currently holding and the little thing blinked sleepily at being presented but accepted it without fuss.
The rubber boy's eyes turned into stars. "AWESOME! I WANT A PET DINOSAUR TOO! GIMME ONE!" Luffy screamed excitedly.
"No. You'd have to take a lot of time to tend to it... Including feeding it," Rosan denied, using words that would absolutely dissuade Luffy.
"Feed it?! No way," the rubber boy immediately lost interest.
He was not sharing his meat with the dinosaur.
Rosan had no plans of telling him it was a herbivore. Luffy probably wouldn't share anything regardless... he'd end up taking care of the dinosaur and he had no intentions of doing that.
"A little help," Vivi groaned, watching the exchange with disbelief because of the fact that she was still being choked.
The agents were in the same boat as her. Part of them were relieved that he had not deigned to regard them yet, another part was outraged at being treated so lightly and a tiny part was wondering how they managed to get a dinosaur that small, along with trying to figure out the identity of the mysterious woman holding it.
Rosan made his way over to Luffy and regarded the mountain curiously. Eventually, he nodded to himself.
Rearing his foot back, the onlookers jaws dropped in horror, as he planted a sneaker and shattered the entire area blocking Luffy.
The rubber boy stretched and grinned thankfully towards Rosan, before glaring at the visibly terrified agents.
"Luffy, there's two others on this island and they have Nami and Zoro," Rosan said suddenly, handing the female dino off to the helpful clone of Robin. "Take Usopp and Vivi and go find them? I'll deal with these two," he suggested.
Luffy reeled back in shock "They have Zoro and Nami?!" Without hesitation, he picked up the unconscious Usopp, while effortlessly yanking Vivi out of Mr. 5's grip (the man spluttered at that) and he took off in the direction Rosan pointed at, Karoo hot on his heels.
"I'll leave them to you, Rosan!" Luffy hollered, vanishing in the shrubbery and leaving behind just the four.
It was only when Luffy disappeared, did Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine realize that the rubber boy's mere presence, was holding back a true demon.
The air turned cold around them and they did a sharp intake, gazing at the neutral redhead with trepidation.
"I'm impressed by your ignorance," Rosan began idly. "Despite losing so easily, you still showed up to harass my crew…"
"Good, this makes things much easier."
Mr. 5 didn't have any time to react as a fist planted itself in his gut and he bent over a complete 90 degrees at the pain.
Rosan was merciless. The redhead forcefully straightened the keeled over man by driving his knee upwards, connecting directly with the man's nose and causing a spurt of blood to spill.
The agent teetered back but Rosan lashed out quickly with his left hand. Soon, the man's face was once again being crushed by the redhead's grip.
"M-Mr. 5!" Miss Valentine screamed in horror. She couldn't be left alone with this monster again. S-She needed to save him!
Trying to assist him proved impossible though, due to the multitude of arms forcing her onto the floor, courtesy of the shade wearing woman that was following the redhead.
There were now two of her and one was holding onto the sleeping dinosaurs, while the other was presumably the one holding her down.
"Don't interfere just yet. Don't you want to wait for your turn?" the woman smiled coyly, looking infuriatingly familiar but Miss Valentine couldn't find out from where.
She didn't know anyone with purple hair but there was something familiar about this person's voice. Not to mention this Devil Fruit ability...
The kilo woman wasn't able to dwell on it for long, due to the terrifying redhead hoisting up her partner like he was yesterday's trash.
"What do you plan on doing?" Robin asked curiously.
"Making him my subordinate," Rosan replied ominously.
"Mr. 5, I have to say… You've been nothing but a disappointment since meeting you. You and your partner actually but your Devil Fruit is much more impressive then hers and the way you use it… attempting to throw a booger on me of all things?"
The redhead tutted. "I was going to propose that you join my side but after what I've seen. I think I can use your Devil Fruit better then you can. Even if you joined me, someone with your talents would only be a liability, so I'm going to mold you into the perfect weapon for my dear student."
Robin raised a brow curiously at that simple declaration. Mold into the perfect weapon? It sounded like Rosan had a technique for this and that was a terrifyingly immoral prospect.
Mr. 5 tried to struggle in his grip but Rosan was unyielding and the redhead slammed him into the floor, stunning him and making the man go still.
"Modification:…" Rosan thought to himself and Robin.
Miss Valentine struggled helplessly and could only watch in terror, as the redhead's hand began glowing ominously.
"...Overhaul."
The agent was helpless to resist and Rosan began the process of altering the bomb man's mind.
"Overhaul?" Robin asked Mod-chan, noticing that Rosan was focused on the task.
"Do you remember Hijack, The technique Rosan used on Izumi?" Mod asked and Robin shuddered at the memory.
How could she forget that technique? Everything in Rosan's memories were still fresh on her mind and that one was one of the big ones that stuck out.
To no longer have any control over your body… doing whatever it was someone else wanted.
It was horrifying. Robin was glad she knew Rosan because she had no doubt that he'd have found a way to force her on his side.
He did like capable people after all.
"Believe it or not… Hijack is the more ethical of the two techniques. Overhaul is the counterpart to Hijack but instead of taking over a person's body…"
"...It takes over a person's mind," Robin finished, actually taking a step back in surprise at the revelation.
That was… This was Rosan's way to prevent people from betraying him... it was...
Terrifying.
Rosan removed his grip from the bomb man's head and stood up, dusting himself off in the process.
Mr. 5 slowly pulled himself up and inspected his own beaten body for a moment, before focusing on Rosan.
"You sure did number on me… Boss," the bomb man grunted eventually.
"I needed to check your tolerance. I can't just have anyone be my student's bodyguard," Rosan replied coolly, face not betraying anything.
Miss Valentine's eyes widened in confusion and she began to struggle even more. Increasing her weight did nothing considering she was already being forced to the ground and the unknown woman's grip was unforgiving.
"Of course! I won't let her highness down," the former agent saluted.
"M-Mr. 5 what is the meaning of this?!" Miss Valentine screeched, terror dominating her body at watching the male agent answer to this demon. "What's going on?! Don't you remember the mission?"
The agent glanced over at her for half a second. "Mission? I only answer to whoever Rosan-sama or Maro-sama decides I listen to," he answered coolly. "And I no longer go by Mr. 5, my name is Gem," the former agent added, adjusting his shades.
Perfect. Rosan had been refining Overhaul over the years. He no longer required the person to be unconscious but someone with a strong will could still resist it.
Clearly Gem didn't have a strong will.
"Right. Gem, standby in my base until further notice. I'll be bringing you over to your new station soon and have you checked out."
Gem saluted and didn't resist as Rosan grabbed him. With a glow of his eyes, the man vanished into his Pocket Dimension, leaving just three.
Watching Rosan so effortlessly recruit Gem, gave Miss Valentine a startling realization.
"You… You're Miss All Sunday," the woman whispered in horror. That explained why everything was so familiar about this woman.
But why?! What was she doing here? Why did she betray Baroque Works?!
Robin, who had been deep in thought, gazed at the woman with a tilted head. "That's right. I'm impressed you noticed through the disguise. Like Gem-san, I decided to change allegiances for personal reasons."
Miss Valentine had no idea who this redhead was to so effortlessly recruit not only her partner, but the partner of Mr. 0 too. He was so much more dangerous then led to believe.
"I don't know w-what you did to Mr. 5 and Miss All Sunday... but it won't work on me." Miss Valentine tried to appear brave, despite how bad the situation was for her.
She had no help right now. Mr. 5 was already on his side, same as Miss All Sunday… Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek were probably in the midst of their performance…
The woman was at the complete mercy of these two. What were they planning on doing to her? She didn't care if he tried to recruit her, she wouldn't fall for i—
"Recruit you?" Rosan interrupted her musing with a hauntingly cold statement.
Miss Valentine froze at that questioning tone, dread and horror filling her at the implications of that simple and short sentence.
Rosan walked towards her and knelt down, nodding to Robin in the process.
The multitude of arms released the woman, allowing her some freedom to move but she was unable to do so because of Rosan gently gripping her chin a warning clear in his hold.
"I think you're dearly mistaken, Panty Flasher-san," the redhead said softly, staring directly into her horrified green eyes. "I recruited Gem because his Devil Fruit is strong but he has no clue how to use it. You think I'm going to attempt to recruit you?"
His voice was set in a low whisper as he spoke to her and she began shuddering at what he was implying, cool feeling in her body turning downright freezing.
"Tell me… why exactly should I even bother trying to recruit you? What are you good for besides giving the world a view of what you wear? I'm better off killing you so that you don't tell Mr. 0 about Miss All Sunday's whereabouts, don't you think?"
"You are a one trick pony. You're use of your Devil Fruit, is even more atrocious then Mr. 5's and it's not nearly as interesting to me. There's much more uses yet you do one thing. Do you think I'm going to go through the trouble of fighting with you to find them? Do you think I want to?"
Rosan's voice never shifted, constantly conveying no emotion as he ridiculed and shattered Miss Valentine's worth. Tears were pricking her eyes at his cruel assessment, a combination of the terror and his harsh words overwhelming her.
"You are useless. That is why I have no interest in dead weight like you. Even that Mr. 5, who used boogers of all things, was much more powerful then you. So tell me and I want an honest answer… why should I ever let you leave this island alive? What purpose should you serve, besides dying by my hand? Please tell me." The redhead asked, satisfied with his job.
"…Ahhh!" Miss Valentine was outright sobbing now, confidence destroyed by him and he released his grip on her chin. She didn't even try to run, curling into herself and shuddering in terror at the demon in front of her.
"P-Please don't kill me! I-I can be useful… please just give me a chance to prove it!" Mikita begged, pleading for her life. "I'll… I'll swear my loyalty to you, I won't ever even think about betraying you. I'll do anything you want so please…please let me live!"
"Was it really necessary to destroy her self worth?" Robin asked softly, watching the entire exchange with an unreadable expression.
It was much more jarring to see how heartless he could be in person, then in his memories. She was used to Rosan's speeches being uplifting but right now, they were anything but.
"You don't approve?" Rosan hummed curiously. "I find that it's much easier to manipulate a person when they're like this."
"Yes that's true but… not everyone is as ruthless as you, Rosan. You should have learned this from Maro," Mod said softly.
"You're moral compass was always off and I'm very used to it but it's just… combined with you rewiring someone into a puppet, I'm a little jarred," Robin admitted.
It must have been because she had been giving these agents orders for years but Robin was actually beginning to feel bad for the mess of a woman who thought she was really about to die.
Rosan glanced back at her in contemplation.
Perhaps he was the real Devil if the Devil Child and a Devil Fruit couldn't handle his actions.
"You'll do anything?" The redhead asked quietly.
A tremor shot through her body at that question but she fearfully nodded.
He tilted his head.
"Get up. I have no interest in your body," Rosan demanded, glancing calmly at the broken agent.
Everything had gone as he had expected, though he expected her to be a bit more resilient... He also didn't expect Robin or Mod to disprove but oh well. Perhaps this method would have to be employed against enemies they truly disliked.
Miss Valentine fearfully looked up at him and hastily complied with his order, stumbling due to how quickly she got up. She was visibly shaking as she gazed at the apathetic redhead and the woman ducked her head to avoid eye contact.
"Tell me your name. Your real name," the redhead requested softly, gripping her chin and making her gaze into his eyes.
Let there be no doubts about who she was answering to.
"M-Mikita," Miss Valentine replied shakily. Her heart felt constricted right now, looking into those dimly glowing eyes of his and she dearly hoped he accepted any answer she gave.
Rosan hummed. "You just declared your loyalty to me. I hope you understand what happens if you let me down. I'm going to send you to my partner after we're done here and when I do, you will do anything she asks of you. Luckily for you, she's much more gentle then I am so don't anger her on purpose," he informed her.
Mikita was filled with a well of relief at hearing that. Not only would she be kept alive, she wasn't going to be in the redhead's presence.
She didn't think she could handle being near him for long so it was a mercy that he seemed to be able to detect that.
"We're done here. Go back to that wax house you have set up as your base. I will retrieve you after I'm finished with business," Rosan ordered, turning away from the woman and making his way back over to Robin.
He... he even knew about the wax house?
"Don't do anything that might hint at betraying me. I will know and death will be the only thing on your mind when I'm finished with you."
She bit her lip and shuddered, tears forming in her eyes again at his heartless words, before nodding at his order. The woman turned on her heel and dashed off without hesitation, eager to get out of his sight.
"You are dangerously effective," Robin said calmly, glancing at the redhead up and down.
"There's a reason I was so cruel. Maro is the complete opposite of me and once Mikita realizes that's who she'll be working under, then her loyalty towards the queen will become unshakable," Rosan uttered.
"How manipulative of you," Mod hummed idly.
"I just love that you're leaving all these people to Maro!" Ram cackled. She was the only one truly unbothered by Rosan's methods. It was his right to use any method he deemed necessary against his enemies. She was one of his many methods and she was also the most dangerous. In her eyes, everything else was child's play.
"She only has the clone army and most recently, Kaori. I want her to have more backup in case things go awry and agents from the Grand Line should be incredibly helpful."
With his work on Mr. 5, the man should be significantly stronger then he used to be. He had Rosan's mind powering up his thoughts on more ways to implement his Devil Fruit after all. Like this, he'd become a valuable asset for Maro—
"Rosan… that Overhaul technique… could you promise me not to use it again, unless you see no other option?" Robin asked suddenly, making everyone go silent.
Mod and Ram nervously eyed the conversation.
Rosan blinked before turning to regard Robin.
"Why?" He asked curiously. To just not use a technique he had been refining over the years seemed incredibly stupid and inefficient of him.
"I just… I don't want to see you forcefully molding someone into your perfect weapon… it reminds me of what Doc tried to do to you," Robin admitted quietly. The only difference was that, whereas Doc failed, Rosan didn't.
Rosan froze at that and pursed his lip in displeasure. "It seems even years later, I can't fully wash off the mark he left on me," the redhead muttered. "I wonder… Did I do to Maro, what Doc did to me?"
He practically forced her against her will, to become the perfect weapon… even going so far to force her to kill someone. In fact, he had only chosen the queen as his student because he could sense her potential —
"OF COURSE NOT!" Mod snarled loudly at Rosan, a look of pure anger on her features.
Ram's jaw dropped, at hearing her Auntie actually scream. The look of genuine anger made her jaw drop ever further.
"Mod-chan?" Rosan and Robin said at the same time, stunned by the volume. They had never expected to hear her scream so loudly for something so serious.
"Don't you ever, and I mean ever, even think about comparing yourself to that monster of a man who would mercilessly torture a little boy for months straight," Mod growled.
"You saw something in Maro and took her away from a life of inevitable death to one of unconditional love. You fed her, clothed her, nurtured her, named her. Maro is your daughter in all but blood."
Robin's eyes went soft at that. She really wanted to meet this Maro now.
"Doc took you away from a life of love and threw you into one of hell. The situations aren't even close and the intentions may have been but you always gave Maro a choice. You never had that choice. I can't… I won't allow you to think you and that man are similar at all!" Mod finished, panting after her rant.
Rosan remained silent, a look of slight surprise on his features that would normally not have been there even a few days ago. After a moment, he snorted quietly and said, "You're right, Mod-chan. You always seem to be right when it comes to stuff like this."
She flushed red at that and began grumbling, pleased that he had so quickly seen the truth in her statements.
"Of course she's always right," Robin smiled teasingly. "Mother knows best after all."
"C-Could you two stop please?" Mod whined. Here she was, motivating Rosan and now she was being made fun of.
That wasn't fair! Why did they have to treat her like this!
"Sorry, Mom," they replied in unison, smiling at each other all the while.
"Ugh, I hate you two so much sometimes. I miss the days when we used to bully Rosan, when did I suddenly become the target?"
"Everyone has an equal chance, even Robin," Rosan replied.
"Let's leave me out of this, I much prefer being on the opposite side," Robin smiled placidly.
"No/Nope/No can, Mother!" They chorused at the same time, causing her to sweatdrop.
She was never going to get used to that.
Nami vowed to make sure Rosan was here whenever they docked. From now on, he was going to be her personal bodyguard because this was absolutely nonsense.
The redhead wouldn't let this series of events happen because he wasn't silly and he seemed to know everything and he would have scouted this out because his claims of being a scout were not bullshit... If this is what happened after one island they landed on didn't have him scouting it, she would never doubt his claims again.
First, she realizes a little to late that they actually landed on an island called Little Giant, then the crew decides to leave her and Usopp alone on the ship, like Usopp was going to be able to protect them, then a dinosaur waltzed out to try and make them food, only to be eliminated by a giant of all things and finally that damn Usopp had left her behind to get captured by some wax machine.
This was stupid.
Now, it was raining wax on her and Zoro and the idiot swordsman was doing every stupid thing in the book, including but not limited too, posing to look good, making light of the situation and trying to saw off his legs.
Mod-chan wouldn't have let this happen to her. She'd save her immediately while dealing with these morons but her and Rosan were busy catching up with someone important from their past.
She was happy for them, really. It's just she didn't really fancy losing her life in the process of them being happy.
At least Luffy was here…
That normally would have made her happy but the rubber boy was currently being subdued by Miss Goldenweek's hypnotism paint. Now, their captain had lost the will to fight and was picnicking with the childlike agent.
"DIE IN MISERY TO MY BEAUTIFUL ART!" Mr. 3 raved, holding Usopp and Vivi's body up with wax. They had tried to get Luffy free from the colors trap, but the wax agent had quickly dispatched of them and prepared to add them to the candle figure too.
He had no idea where Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine were, but to allow these three to escape… they were definitely dead. If not to him, then to Mr. 0 for failing their mission twice.
"Where are Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine?" Miss Goldenweek asked the docile Luffy.
"Rosan's dealing with them," the rubber boy replied calmly, sipping tea.
"Dealing with them?" She replied slowly, eyes furrowed. The moment the straw hat had shown up, she had thrown her paint on him to prevent him from interfering, due to how dangerous the agents stressed he and the redhead were.
What happened to them if they were left with the redhead?
The answer to her question revealed itself, at the sight of a gigantic, unnaturally red fireball crashing right into the wax figure and completely melting the part that was dropping the pieces onto them.
"Trying to turn my crew into wax figures?" Rosan said idly, walking through the shrubbery with a smoking mouth. "When you wish to kill someone, I only accept torturous deaths if they've wronged you. Killing everyone slowly otherwise, is tasteless. Death is not something you should toy with."
"Rosan!" Nami sobbed comically, tears of happiness falling from her face at being saved finally. While there was no longer wax falling on them, they were still stuck, probably due to Rosan not wanting to hit them with the dangerous flames.
Miss Goldenweek was already on the move, throwing one of her color traps right onto the redhead who didn't dodge it. He looked down and tilted his head at the green paint on his sleeveless shirt.
"Calming Green," the agent said. This one made the person wish to have a picnic with her, much like Straw Hat was doing right now.
"No," Nami gasped in horror. Was Rosan no longer going to help them either?!
Rosan slowly walked over to the placid Goldenweek and stood right before her. She offered him a cup of tea, which he accepted and the redhead downed it in one gulp.
"That's good. This is green tea?" Rosan asked conversationally, reaching his cup out for another refill.
"Yes, my favorite," Miss Goldenweek replied, taking another sip.
"I prefer lemon tea with honey and a lot of sugar. White tea is also very nice," Rosan hummed. Green tea was pretty good… not enough sugar (he had a dangerous sweet tooth) but it was adequate.
Without any warning, Rosan darted forward and grabbed the girl by her neck, catching everyone there by surprise. With no effort, he hoisted the shocked agent to the sky and began to squeeze.
"M-Miss Goldenweek?!" Mr. 3 gaped. Her colors trap didn't work on someone?! But how?!
Miss Goldenweek gasped in surprise and immediately reached for the large arm choking her out. She let out a gagging noise of fear and desperately asked him to put her down with her gaze alone.
"Hypnotic abilities based on paint... You use them to alter an individual's personality... Impressive," Rosan correctly deduced, rubbing the green paint on his shirt.
"Unfortunately for you, not only is my mind incredibly fortified, I have no personality for you to manipulate so all you've done, is ruin my shirt," he finished.
"I don't like when people mess up my outfit," he said ominously.
Everyone shuddered at those words.
"Will you offer them a chance to join Maro as well?" Robin watched Rosan deal with this from out of the agents sight. She idly pat the still sleeping triceratops on its head and smiled at the adorable creature.
"I will offer Ms. Goldenweek, I will not offer Mr. 3."
She raised a brow at that. "Why not Mr. 3?"
"I won't overhaul him and his base personality is not to my liking. He won't be useful to Maro."
Robin blinked at that, before a small smile made it's way on her face and she rolled her eyes.
This was why she loved Rosan. He treated her with so much respect. They truly were equals in his eyes and the Devil Child was one of the few people who he would actually listen to.
"Sleep for a bit," Rosan told her kindly. "Modify Target: Rest Mode," he thought to himself.
Miss Goldenweek tried hard to resist but Rosan's grip around her neck was unyielding and tears began to unwillingly form in her eyes. She gasped but no sound came out and Rosan simply tilted his head at her.
In combination with the lack of oxygen, the technique was devastating to the little agent and she passed out with purple and red burned in her image.
He slung the child over his shoulder and glanced at Luffy. His little brother was still drinking tea with a serene expression on his face.
That expression turned into distress, as a fireball collided with him and burned his shirt.
"AHHHHHHHHH HOT, HOT, HOT!" Luffy howled, desperately rolling around to put out the flames. "ROSAN, WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?!"
"Payback for punching me in the cheek at Whiskey Peak," Rosan hummed, getting a sweatdrop out of everyone there.
"He has got to be one of the most vindictive people on the planet," Nami muttered in awe. She could only hope to reach that level of petty one day.
"A-Aren't they brothers?!" Vivi gaped in disbelief, watching as Luffy rolled around in a desperate attempt to put out the flames.
Mr. 3 wasn't even sure what was going on right now. Miss Valentine and Mr. 5 were missing, Miss Goldenweek was currently resting on the redhead's shoulder like a sack of potatoes… and the redhead had just struck his captain with a fireball.
Surely they weren't about to be defeated by this crew right?
No… they had been defeated, not him.
Nodding to himself, Mr. 3 turned tail and ran off.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Luffy roared, patting himself off as he jogged after the cowardly agent. Everyone watched the smoky boy run after the agent with a sweatdrop.
"You guys need some more fire too?" Rosan prodded calmly, watching Robin walk up to him with a calm smile. He offered to take the triceratops out of her hand but surprisingly, she shook her head no.
"Always pretending to be so cool and collected when you actually gush over cute things," he taunted, crouching down to melt the wax that was securing the giant and his crew.
"You didn't seem to mind when you were the one I was gushing over, jealous little boy," Robin retorted, glaring slightly at him for calling her out.
"Some things never change and one of them is how possessive Rosan is," Mod laughed.
Robin and Ram joined her and all three began laughing at him.
"Hmph," Rosan scoffed, freeing Zoro, Nami and Brogy from their prison. "If you have a problem with my possessive streak, you're free to exit my body otherwise, it won't stop."
"That's not fair," Mod pouted, grumbling at his demand.
"I like you're possessive streak! Everything should belong to you!" Ram grinned eagerly.
Robin and Mod sweatdropped at that.
Ram was severely problematic and it was a good thing she wasn't the only voice in Rosan's head.
Nami tearfully hugged the redhead in relief. "Thank you for saving me big bro! From now on, you're my bodyguard!" She sobbed.
Rosan ignored her, used to her antics by now and glanced in the direction his brother had ran off to.
He no longer cared about the fate of the wax man. There was no point in recruiting him. He already took liberties to destroy his ship so the man was trapped here... it was only a matter of time before he died.
The same couldn't be said about the girl on his shoulder. Her ability was interesting and while it wasn't able to evoke his emotions like Jango, it could still be a boon in battle and had an even faster application then the hippie.
He also needed to retrieve Miss Valentine…
"I'll be back," Rosan told them, walking off in the direction of the wax house. "I have some things to finish off so you guys wait for Luffy. Feel free to set sail without us too, I have to visit someone."
"You two leave a lot," Vivi pointed out warily. None of this would have happened if he had just been here the whole time. The redhead seemed like he could easily deal with these issues.
"I thought you didn't like me. Why are you trying to learn about me?" Rosan shot back, not waiting for a reply and vanishing into the jungle.
"Worried about us? I was under the assumption you hated me even more, princess," Robin smiled teasingly, disappearing after the redhead.
Vivi growled and resisted the urge to yank out her hair. "I hate them both. Every time I talk to them, I get a headache and I can't deal with that on the daily."
"Welcome to the club," Nami nodded sagely. It seemed like from what little she had seen of Robin, the woman could be infuriating if she wanted to.
Despite looking physically the same, albeit with different colored hair (Modification maybe?), the woman's change in demeanor made her look like a completely different person.
Even Rosan looked a little happier.
She was happy for them! She wanted to speak more to the person that Rosan seemed to hold in such high regards.
"Can someone patch up my legs?" Zoro asked suddenly, glancing down at the mess of his legs. He had cut about halfway through before Luffy showed up so they were bleeding quite a bit.
Nami punched him on the skull and snarled out an, "Idiot. You were totally useless up there!"
Usopp was just glad he didn't have to interfere with the fight. Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine sure hit hard.
Sanji had to wonder… Should he really be drinking tea right about now?
No… he probably shouldn't.
The chef placed the tea down and began glancing around at the weird place.
"Who makes a house around here…?" He asked himself curiously. Sanji had ran into it while searching for Nami and Vivi and decided to check it out.
The tea was nice but it was also warm, meaning someone had been here recently. Not only that, there was a Den-Den Mushi here...
No sooner was he caught in his musings, did the Den-Den Mushi begin ringing.
He raised a brow and answered it, saying, "Hello, this is the Crap Cafe. Would you like to make a reservation?"
The voice that answered was visibly agitated, barely holding it behind a calm tone. "Cut the shit, you idiot. Where is your report? You're late."
Sanji raised a brow at that. Report? "Er… who is this?" He asked.
"It's me. Mr. 0," they replied, remembering that this suspicion was warranted.
Mr. 0? Wasn't that the leader of that Baroque Works group? So that meant that Baroque Works were on this island even now...
"You've been gone a long time. Have you accomplished your mission, Mr. 3?" Crocodile prodded.
Why did this guy sound so annoyed already? Was it because of his joke? Sheesh, what a stiff. But still, this made everything a little more clear to him.
"Why are you hesitating? Answer my question. Did you eliminate Princess Vivi and the Straw Hats?" The voice on the other line was getting more and more impatient and Sanji had to hazard a guess that his joke wasn't the only reason he was so uptight.
"Yeah, they're all dead so there's no need to send anymore agents after them," Sanji answered.
Crocodile grunted. At least one thing was going well.
"Good. The Unluckies should be on their way with an Eternal Pose to Alabasta, after dealing with some business I have for them…"
An Eternal Pose to Alabasta? That sounded perfect! Now they could sail straight there while no longer attracting any agents.
"Once you get it, sail to Alabasta with Miss Goldenweek and standby for orders… We would have begun our plan but a key piece is missing… Tell me, have you seen anything regarding Miss All Sunday?" Mr. 0 suddenly asked.
Miss All Sunday…?
Oh right, that mysterious beauty who Rosan hogged to himself was the partner to this guy. That explained why he was so clearly aggravated. She had been missing for a while due to their scout and probably had no intentions of rejoining the organization.
He wondered just how important she was for him to be this visibly annoyed.
"...Miss All Sunday? Nope, no clue where she is," Sanji replied eventually. He'd let Rosan deal with that since the woman was seemingly under his protection. He'd just play dumb for now to avoid interfering with Reaper.
The redhead was smart, he probably already thought of something to say.
There was silence on the other line before Crocodile said, "Understood, standby for the Unluckies."
Sanji regarded the phone curiously before shrugging.
At least they had an Eternal Pose now.
"Oh, Sanji. I didn't expect to see you here," Rosan greeted the blonde haired chef, with a nod.
"So this is Sanji?" Robin asked curiously, offering the chef a smile. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Robin," she greeted.
The greeting on Sanji's lip was cut short at the voice of Robin and hearts appeared in his eyes as he knelt on one knee and held the, slightly confused, woman's hand.
"A beautiful name for a beautiful woman," Sanji complimented, leaning closer to kiss the woman's hand.
That was cut abruptly short, at the bronze hand crashing into his face.
"R-Rosan, you sunnova —" Sanji's words died in his throat at the furious mixed eyes glaring at him with fury.
"Hands off my Mother, pervert," Ram snarled, glaring at the chef with contempt and dragging Robin a fair distance away from him. "Only Father is allowed to do that! Anyone else can and will die by my hands!"
"Hm?" Rosan tilted his head. He was the only one who could do what? Kiss Robin's hand? Since when?
"Not being very subtle at all, huh Ram?" Mod sweatdropped.
Robin watched in confused amusement, as Ram showed exactly who she got her possessiveness from.
"Stay away from creeps like that, Mother. Auntie Angel showed me exactly what to do so if he approaches you like that again, lemme know," the ring whispered encouragingly.
"Thank you for protecting me, Ram," Robin thanked. She didn't mind the chef's actions but since Ram did, she wouldn't protest.
"M-Mother?!" Sanji whispered in disbelief, watching the two beautiful woman interact with each other. The chef glared at Rosan in disbelief due to his odd kinks.
Already?! Why did he have to be so greedy?! Sanji couldn't catch a break around this guy!
Rosan blinked at the glaring figure. Just what perception of him did Sanji have besides the one from him being Reaper?
He wasn't keen on figuring out.
"What are you doing here, Sanji? Was there anything of interest in this wax house?" Rosan asked, making the chef turn serious for a minute.
"I had a conversation with Mr. 0, actually," Sanji said, recalling the conversation. "I posed as Mr. 3 and he should be sending an Eternal Pose to Alabasta over to us… Also, he asked me if I knew about Miss All Sunday's whereabouts but I told him I have no clue. He was seriously annoyed… something tells me he really wants her."
Rosan and Robin raised a brow at that.
"It's to be expected that he's looking for me. I'm pivotal to his plans after all," Robin mused, a little worried for Rosan's safety. Crocodile was no joke and had rightfully earned his title as a Warlord.
"Hm. He can't continue his plan without you? How unfortunate for him. I'm not letting you go for even a second. You're mine," Rosan muttered. He needed to find an object for Robin to keep on her person so that he could make a Save Point for her.
Robin withheld her blush of embarrassment at his blunt words. Ugh, they had just met again and he was already back to these levels of possessiveness?
He was a trip.
"A pendant. I want a pendant like yours so that I can put this picture of us in it."
He smiled at that and nodded. That would be easy.
Rosan explained Nami's situation to Sanji and predictably, his eyes went wide with worry and he darted off with a, "I'll leave the Eternal Pose to you," before vanishing deeper into the jungle.
"That was easy," Rosan muttered. There was one thing and one thing only on that chef's mind. Honestly, it was rather detrimental but he wouldn't dissuade him of it.
The man had been so distracted by Ram and Robin's beauty, he didn't even deign to mention the little girl flung over his shoulder.
"He didn't mention Mikita… I wonder if she ran away," Rosan mused. Well, if she did, she'd quickly find that there was nowhere to go because he had destroyed their ship.
Guess he'd have to spend more time looking for her. Claiming loyalty and then running away? How dumb. There was no escaping from him and she was going to pay the price for thinking that there was.
Robin had been hoping she wasn't dumb enough to run off. Rosan clearly had a plan and the boy despised traitors so he always had one in store for them. Betraying him would be terribly costly and he'd make sure you knew that.
"I'm right here…" A submissive voice whispered, catching both their attention.
Miss Valentine floated down from her vantage point on a high tree and landed in front of Rosan, holding her head down and shrinking into herself at the sight of the tall redhead.
"I uh… I noticed the blonde and since you only act like that when it was you and Miss All Sunday, I assumed you didn't want the other members of your crew to know about our dealings," she whispered, hoping she had done the right thing.
"Surprisingly insightful. Well done," Rosan nodded, impressed by her foresight. "Come. Let's wait in this base. I need to wake up this little child right here anyways."
It was only then did Mikita notice Miss Goldenweek flung over his shoulder and she realized that the much stronger agents had lost too. Any lingering hope she had, that they'd somehow be saved from this man, was quickly banished by that simple fact.
"R-Right. Miss Friday and Mr. 13 should be the ones to bring an Eternal Pose," the former agent said submissively, bowing her head and making her way into the building.
Robin couldn't help but shudder at how easily Rosan had molded her into a loyal servant. He didn't even need to use Overhaul on the young woman and she was still acting so subservient.
He always had plenty of charisma but this was something so much more dangerous. She was glad that she had run into the man before he was like this… Imagine if they had met not knowing each other and she was still an agent for Baroque Works.
Would he have done the same thing to her, if she proved to be useful? She didn't doubt it.
"Don't think about what ifs," Rosan muttered, making his way into the building. "The only thing that matters is that we're here now, together."
She smiled happily and banished those thoughts like he said.
He was right. There was no need for her think about a timeline where these things happened because that timeline didn't exist.
Leave it to him to say something like that.