About Freedom

**Date Started:** January 11th, 2023
**Date Completed:** April 16th, 2023
**Previous Role-Play:** Carnival of Fears
**Next Role-Play:** Adventures in a New Sea: The Wreckage Separated
**Users Involved:** User:Haraxmant, User:KesshinGaia, User:Black Dwarf Star, User:ThePirateKingmaker
**Setting:** Ocean, Grand Line, January 1585
* **Wreckage Pirates**: Armani D. Lazuli, Gaia Kesshin, Yoshoku Bonny
* **Marines**: Shizuku, Barton, Regis, Chord
* **Everything Pirates**: Squeak, Beewolf, Tank, Spine

## Wreckage

Sailing away from their humble beginnings in the East Blue, the Wreckage Pirates now find themselves in the waters of the Grand Line and in the process, in much more dangerous waters. Though, things didn't really seem that way. The waters were seemingly tame, the sun high in the sky, and all around, a seemingly boring day.

"UGGGGGGHHH" a groan could be heard all over the ship. Lazuli was lounging on the rail of the ship, chewing on a stripped bone with one arm hanging over the edge of the ship. "I'm so bored!" she shouted before suddenly jerking upright and looking to Kesshin "I thought the Grand Line was supposed to be this big bad dangerous place! I mean, It's not my first time here, but I thought entering would at least be this big ordeal, you know?" she complained, before giving a sigh "But look...noth-" she jumped off the railing and excitedly onto the deck of the ship "They're scared!" she exclaimed "That's why they're not showing their faces, I literally scared them all off after whipping that last dude's butt!" she added, looking to Kesshin with excitement.

Princess Bonny groaned and slowly brought herself up from the lower decks, wincing in the sunlight. She was dragging her teeth-filled head by her hair, which was still snoring, although the body moved by itself. Without hesitating, the body dunked her snoring head into a rain barrel on deck, shocking the head awake. "GAH! ATTACK ATTACK! MOLESTATION! RAVASHER! HELP HELP!" She started viciously biting herself as her body punched her head until finally the two were reattached at the neck.

A minute later, Bonny stood in the sun, her face swollen and her body covered in bandages. Her hair, however, was nice and dry, poofy and beautiful, although her eyes were still covered. "It could be that my suitor... no no, suitors, scared everyone away. They're all super strong, like Yonko Commander strong, and handsome, and have their own fleets. That's probably what happened. So how's about we take make something to eat, or take a bath, or find a ship to rob?"

Kesshin lazed about in a hammock, one foot hanging out as his coat hung about one the opposite side of the hammock where his head rested. His eyes were closed but he could hardly go back to napping with all this groaning and moaning. He felt it better to pretend though lest his crewmates bother him... which failed. At the loud bellyaching Lazuli was making he opened one eye wondering to himself, *"What in the world is she going on about now?"* He had hoped to take a quick peak before she noticed him but in a shear moment of bad luck she turned to him just as he opened one eye to peak. Before Kesshin could even get a word in Lazuli trailed off into her own fantasy egotistical fantasy land again. As she went on Kesshin chuckled to himself, "Laz is your name, but patience is not your game. Relax, enjoy while you can. No doubt one of one of us will break something or someone soon and the gest will begin." He gave her the small smile of a sly fox.

Another trailed up from below deck. Ah, it was the princess of the crew. Kesshin would watch this comical display of her own body waking herself up. Did he actually believe she was a princess? Did it really matter? Nah, not to him, but she was always an odd but interesting watch if not lightly amusing in her own right. As she spoke of suitors Kesshin finally sat up from his hammock and looked around the ship not very surprised or confused but hopeful that one day she would say something outlandish and it would just magically happen, "Um... I think you're still dreaming, maybe you ought to dunk your head a couple more times just to make sure you're awake Bonny?" his tone boded genuine concern with the facial expression of a saint, though obviously neither were true. One thing for sure about this crew for Kesshin at least, *"Never a truly dull moment and always an interesting watch around here."* he thought to himself.

Laz looked to Kesshin as he spoke, he was just...so cool. He was relaxed and patient, the way he didn't even care if they ran into crazy fights at all. As he turned his attention to Bonny, Laz slowly slipped over next to him and crossed her arms, looking to Bonny. She spoke up after Kesshin "Yeah...still dreaming" she said in a low tone, trying to mimic Kesshin. She wiped her nose and chuckled "You should be more calm and patient, like us.." she said, continuing the façade.

Bonny had prepared a stunning retort to Kesshin's words, but as soon as her name exited his mouth without the word Princess attached, she froze. She ground her teeth against each other, eye twitching. She licked her lips, fists tightening at her sides. "Kesshin... my darling... how many times do I need to remind you? It. Is. PRINCESS. BONNY. NOT BONNY. NOT BON-BON. **NOT HEY YOU! *It is Headless. Princess. Midnight Snacking. Bonnabell.*** It's not that hard!" She turned towards Laz, pointing firmly at her. "And don't you even START, CAPTAIN! You aren't cooler than me or more patient than me! May I remind you who struck first on the slave ship, hmm?!" Without warning, her head snapped off of her shoulders and shot towards Laz, aiming to bite her dumb, smug face!

Laz chuckled a bit before continuing her façade "You're not being very Kesshin about this princess thing..." she said, lowly, before flailing backwards in an attempt to avoid Bonny's 'attack'. She leapt back to her feet, tossing Bonny's head back to her. She bit at her lip, trying to hide the smile slowly creeping its way onto her face, before bursting out laughing. "Come on, Princess! We're amongst eachother here, if we're gonna attack anyone for not addressing you properly, it should at least be people who aren't sailing with us, yeah?" she argued, "I feel like I have so much to teach you about the freedom out here." she added. The two of them came from similar backgrounds, though their perception of losing it was almost polar opposites.

The ship itself seemed to vibrate. It was an uncommon occurrence, only really done when there was something important or noteworthy. It was easy to forget that the ship had a mind of its own, courtesy of a secondary benefactor. But there was something that it needed to check with the crew before it did anything about it, itself. The vibrations and movements of other objects on the deck pointed the crew to the side of ship. It seemed as though something was in the water nearby.

Bonny huffed and grabbed her head back, smushing it down onto her neck and tying a black collar tightly around it. "If we had something interesting to do, other than fighting, orgies, or eating, I would be doing that. But I can't fight very well, y'all are a bunch of prudes runnin' around all attractive and shit and ain't doin' nothin' about it, and there are NO snacks available for me RIGHT NOW. If something deep fried and covered in Ranch doesn't cross my lips soon, I will LITERALLY kill some-" Of course she wouldn't have actually killed any of her crew. Right?

The Princess gasped as the vibrations of the ship started. She scuffed a black-leather heel against the deck, snuffling angrily. "NOW something happens. I swear to god, you pick the most DRAMATIC times." She pulled out a snailphone and clicked open a screen. She took a short video and posted it to the SnailTrail. "This is #SoNoHeadBonny coming at you with something actually interesting. Something is rocking my boat, and I'm not talking about the fun way. Stay tuned and we'll see if we all die! Follow for more!"

Kesshin laughed lightly at Bonny, She was so fun to watch, full of vigor, maybe too much vigor. She reprimanded him the same way she usually did since he got on the ship. Meanwhile Lazuli's impression of him was... actually not that bad, "Heh, c'mon Cinna-Bon, cut us some slack ***HeadlessPrincessMidnightSnackingBonnabell*** is too hard to remember..." Kesshin lightly pouted at her. He definitely had no real intention of calling her a princess sadly. "I'll be very Kesshin about this and I will cook you something as a show of good faith, how's that sound Ms. Nom Nom?" He would like to get along with the crew, if only to be able to observe them fully as people.

Kesshin agreed with Lazuli on the sentiment of freedom, "Now thats something we can both help her with captain. There's nothing better in the world than indulging in your own desires how you want, when you want. Buuuut I have to agree with Bon-chomp over there, you were... PRETTY pissed at the circus, gave ol Mortde a massive wallop." Kesshin spoke as if he didn't doubt back and string up the old ringmaster before he left with them but that was neither here nor there.

The ship began to vibrate shaking Kesshin's hammock. Finally he decided to move, he got up from the hammock, "Hey... I enjoy a good fuck and a fight, especially when its rough. And if you can't cook your own meals then I suppose it might fall to me, if I feel like it. Anyway if you ever desire any advice ol Kesshin is here to support you Bonny." Kesshin said vaguely, did he mean fighting, fucking, cooking, or all? He continued, "I could "magically" whip you something up, but I have to say it would probably upset your stomach later." He chuckled, though he was completely serious, his constructs were edible but they definitely didn't agree on the other end... if you understood what he was saying. He made his way over to the side of the deck, "Oh, captain you wanna check out what Star found?"

Lazuli was having a merry time messing with Kesshin and Bonny on the deck, she had almost missed the 'ship alert' completely, until the others brought her attention to it. She rushed to the side of the ship murmuring something to herself 'please don't be food, please not food...' as she came to the side of the ship. She pulled out her handy binoculars, which were still just her own hands, and looked out to the water. "Wowee! Look at that." she shouted before offering her binoculars over to someone else. "There's someone there, in the water!" she said, pointing out. Out at sea, here in the Grand Line, there was a body afloat on a piece of driftwood.

It was that moment that Lazuli perked into a form that wasn't often seen, she became...serious. She climbed to the rail, holding on to ropes to keep herself stable. "Kesshin, head to the kitchen and prepare food for us all, and our upcoming guest, something nourishing and warm." she commanded before turning to Bonny "I can't confirm this one's edible unless we can get them talking Princess, We need towels and possibly a blanket for warmth." She turned to look for the others, but they must've still been busy below deck. "That's alright, we can handle this."

She climbed higher into the ropes before pointing out to the person in the water "Starlight, we need you. Get us closer, and gently get the person there from the water, we need them on deck, as unharmed as possible." She said, before gripping the rope a little tighter in her hand "Oh, and thank you for keeping us on our toes..." she whispered before turning her pointed finger into a fist "Now lets do this!" she shouted one final time.

Starlight rumbled once again, beginning to move in a methodical manner towards the "man overboard"; fast enough to get there in a hurry, but not so fast that the wakes would knock the person off their driftwood and into the sea. As they got closer, Lazuli would feel something nudging against her leg, a life preserver.

Lazuli looked down and quickly grabbed at the ring, tossing it into the water towards the person who needed their help. "Hey! Grab onto this!" she shouted, waiting for them to grab ahold, and then quickly pulling them onboard, pushing them towards the middle of the deck and awaiting the others.

Bonny snapped to attention as the person was brought on board. Drooling at the smell of something new, she licked her lips, moving in hungrily towards the unconscious form before she was stopped by Lazuli. Listening, she slumped and pouted. "Two things? You need me to do TWO things?" She looked ready to cry. "FINE! But I better get a trophy and a reward for doing this." She glared at the unconscious form, secretly setting a grudge on the form for interrupting her chance to eat or fuck Kesshin. She ran downstairs, her exuberance lacking and her excitement at an all time low.

She returned momentarily, lazily dragging a handful of towels and a half-eaten comforter from someone's room. Not Bonny's room, but certainly someone's room. She also had a pillow in the other hand. "Hey Laz, I brought this stuff. It's heavy, so where can I put it down?" She fought off the temptation to kick the man-overboard. She fought it, but she still tried to kick him anyways. Who was he/she to interrupt a Princess's morning?

Lazuli ignored Bonny for the moment, partially worried about this newcomer, were they breathing? Was she going to have to- NO. Lazuli was not about to lock lips with some stranded sailor, not unless they were Tank, of course. She paused for a moment, before looking to Bonny. "Princess!" she said, rushing forward and grabbing the towels and blankets. "You like kissing right?" she said, nudging her head over to the body.

Bonny dropped the towels on the ground, groaning and shuffling her feet as she was disarmed of her load. Her narrow, predatory eyes blinked stupidly at her captain, slowly turning to look at the drowned person. She knelt by the body, pulling an apron with her own face on it from her pocket and tucking it neatly into her collar. She did a little prayer. "Itadakimatsu." She licked her lips and prepared to eat the drowned man, only stopping to season him a little with salt and pepper. "Am I sharing or can I just dig in?"

The person on the deck suddenly tilted to the side, coughing up a small amount of water. They were a woman, with pale skin, platinum blonde hair, and red eyes. She turned back onto her back, trying to get her bearings, only to be met with the drooling visage of a woman with razor-sharp teeth as she came closer. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" she cried in fear, rolling from the mat she had been laid on and springing to her feet. "Who are you? Where am I? What's going on?" she asked the questions rapid fire as she began to look around the ship wildly.

Lazuli was going to stop Bonny, but before she could a loud scream made its way across the entirety of the ship. Lazuli rushed forward and held out her pointer finger "Hey! We rescued YOU, we should be the ones asking the questions!" She said, standing still and silent for roughly the next five seconds before dropping her pointer finger and rubbing the back of her head. "I actually- don't have any questions..." she said, before dropping to her buttox and smiling. "We're pirates. The Wreckage Pirates, actually." She quickly jumped back up as a barrel rolled to her, placing her foot on it and smirking "We sail the seas and- aw hell..what do we do again? whatever we want, really."

She moved her foot from the barrel and it rolled back into position against the rail of the ship "Thanks, Star." Lazuli muttered under her breath before continuing with the woman. "It just so happens, what I wanted was to make sure you were alright. Either that or Bonns would eat you..probably.." She added, looking over her shoulder to Bonny for a moment. Lazuli snapped back to the woman and started counting on her hand. "Who- What- Wh-OH!" her head jerked upwards to look at her again. "You're on Starlight, the most Kesshin-est pirate ship on all the seas, somewhere in Paradise I think, I normally get lost, but Starlight keeps us on track." she said, starting to drone on, she stopped suddenly, awaiting the woman's reply.

The woman's breathing, which was quick, seemed to calm down somewhat. Even though they were pirates, it seemed to be a good sign that they hadn't killed or imprisoned her yet, even if that one woman was apparently going to eat her. "Who's Starlight?"

Kesshin took a glance over at the floating driftwood. He placed his hands together generating a green digital light before he pulled them apart creating a spy glass for himself. "Hmm..." Kesshin wasn't really concerned with the person, this being the Grand Line he wondered more about what wreck them in the first place. In any case he had his orders, "Yeah I got it, I know just the stuff." he sigh lightly as he thought of other foods that may be good for a person near the brink of death maybe, and whether or not to make good on what he said to Bonny. "Fine... I guess I'll have to dig into my personal secret food cache." Kesshin muttered to himself, he would leave the the rest to the captain, and if they didn't like the person they could always feed her to the little princesszin.

Kesshin enter the kitchen and lock the door behind him. It was always annoying to be cooking for someone other than himself and not have the peace and tranquility he got from it at least. He checked the food stocks marking things he would need, spices he wanted but didn't have, and taking note of other things they already consumed. When there spices he didn't have he always generated them himself, as he said before, his power was more or less consumable just might've upset the stomach or gave the runs, but in this case using for spices didn't do any harm. Kesshin rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands, with a meal plan already set in his mind h was ready, "Okay star, lets make some magic."

Kesshin heard a scream from outside but he went on as if he didn't hear it at all. He could only assume one of three things happened two involving Bonny, "Oh uh Star..." Kesshin moved some barrels from the corner of the kitchen, "Do you mind opening up my secret food hidey hole?" Kesshin said in a kind tone, he was always sincere with Starlight. There was a bit of light vibrating and rustling before some clinks and a few of the floor board could be shifted. Kesshin reached down to grab a couple more things namely a preserved red-bellied river piranha. Feeding Laz was more or less easy in it's own right, you think she was highly into red meat given her build but you'd be wrong. "Oh! Heh... how could I almost forget" Kesshin whirled his middle and index finger around himself as he created his apron classically labeled on the front, *Kiss The Cook! (The Cook Chooses)*. He started off with Ginseng Salad, moving on to a bowl of black jelly ear mushrooms with pine nuts tossed in light dressing. For a little soup portion he was creating Chicken and Star Anise soup and he would make Lazuli take a portion even if he had to feed it to her himself like a baby doing the aerodynamic noises, it was either that or shoving it down her throat forcefully. Next was Kinshinsai and Spinach pickled in Goji vinegar. Winding down with Fennel Jujube Pork Stir-Fry, and a nice big bowl of plain fluffy white rice for them on the side. As he cooked some of the smells oozed from the door but he did his best to keep them in-house lest he be disturbed.

"Whew... maybe I might have over did it Star? But they say a way to the heart is through the stomach." Kesshin washed his hands again, now he was to make more personal dish form himself, Bonnies would come seconds. Using a bit of the leftover ingredients Kesshin made himself his Spicy Red Pepper Almond Special Fried Rice, with a small helping of Beef Short Ribs. Lastly he worked on some of Bonny's fish. Kesshin knew she liked it sautéed in butter but he always tried to bring out the best in his meals usually because it calmed him. He would try to bring out the flavor more, he didn't have all the spices he wanted for this so he created them taste tested them first before putting sets amount on as to compliment the flavor of the fish as opposed to overpower it, he also tried to do small portions as to not have her consuming to much of his power. He made it known originally that he used it to cook, but he would never tell them when he used it, just that it did get used sometimes; after all where was the fun in that? After some time he was finished.

After cleaning the door unlocked and opened, "Hey, the foods done guys." Kesshin carried a huge covered platter while still wearing his apron labeled *Kiss The Cook! (The Cook Chooses)*, though his was a decent amount of dirty given everything he made. Kesshin himself was slightly messy with sauce smudge or two on his face. He glanced at everyone there with a slick smirk, except the newcomer who he didn't acknowledge yet. He placed his free hand on he around and again the digital green light expanded from it. He slowly rose his hand; under it, a table was growing like a blow up bed only big enough for the platter itself. "The meal prepared was for you in mind miss, I do hope you enjoy it." Kesshin said finally acknowledging the new woman's presence. He opened the lid everything was there except the food he made for himself and Bonny's Piranha. He wasn't going to bother explaining what he cooked as he was sure they were all starving and didn't care. As they presumably dug in he brought out Bonny's exclusive dish platter.

"A man of my word Ms. Bon." Kesshin lifted the lid and the aroma for her piranha flowed from the fresh dish. The piranha was laid on a huge lettuce leaf with 3 slices of lemons. This one was a pretty above average size for her favorite piranha, which is why he chose it specifically, "Your Red-bellied River Piranha sautéed bathed in butter with a little extra to bring out the flavor a bit more." Of course in Kesshin fashion he wouldn't simply just give Bonny the meal even if she tried to steal it away from him. Kesshin abruptly closed the lid with a teasing smile, "Before you devour this beauty, what are the magical princess words?" This was his life now, and he was kinda sorta enjoying it.

Bonny wordlessly moved to her hands and knees, crawling towards Kesshin with a predatory look on her face. Her fingernails scratched little marks in the deck of the ship, her toes curling in anticipation. A long, red-pink tongue licked her strangely sensual and blood-stained lips, giving them a slight sheen in the morning sunlight. "Oh Kesssshhhhhiiiiinnnnn-Onichaaaannnnn..." Her movements were slow and timed to mimic a fish in a stream. "May I have some of my breakfast now? Or do you want more from me?" She sat back and held her hands out to request her food.

Kesshin was a bit taken aback, he wasn't expecting her to humble herself like that, but it was certainly a treat, "I could dine off this memory alone and be satisfied." Kesshin knelt down to her level; with a smile slightly different than his usual mischievous one, perhaps maybe a genuine one, he gave her a loving pat on the head still mindful of the teeth, "Very well done, I can always count on you to appreciate my food." He placed her plate in her hands, "Enjoy." He said as he raised himself then proceeded to shoot a look at Lazuli, "You better sup on some of that soup Laz." short, brief, to the point. Without any other word he excused himself back in the kitchen to have his own food alone, maybe to chat with Starlight.

The castaway looked at Kesshin and Bonny with a cocked head as they performed their ritual. As Kesshin began to walk away she gestured towards them, sort of towards the entire ship. "What the fuck was that?" she said. "And who are the... did you say Wreckage Pirates?"

Lazuli paused, she was dumbfounded at the scene. The only thing to break her trance was the castaway speaking up, "I'll be honest, I don't have a fucking clue. I- I just wanna see what happens next, but at the same time I don't..." she said, mulling over the options in her head, the whole display was just, unexpected. She looked back to the castaway "R-right, the Wreckage! A name given to us, the remains of destruction. Whether it be a destroyed kingdom or a broken home, we are the wreckage." she smiled. "What about you, Miss? Floating in the ocean, you seem a wreck yourself?" she asked.

As Kesshin placed her food on her hands, she moved quietly over to the side and started eating silently, almost daintily. She used a tiny bone fork and knife, pulling apart her fish in small, flaky pieces and chewing. Unlike when she ate normal items like lamps or anchors, with Kesshin's food, it was an experience that she would not sully with childish tantrums, silly grudges, or tempermental bestial intrusions from her Ancient SMILE that threatened to overwhelm her thinly held together brain. She was in her own paradise. She hummed gently to herself, giggling a little when she plucked out the other piranha's eyes, staring at them intently. "I'm sooooo much better than you..." She whispered before popping the unblinking orbs into her teeth-lined jaws, applying slow, gentle pressure to the fish flesh before squeaking with almost naughty pleasure when the eye finally burst.

Finishing up her meal, she quietly cleaned her spot and face before kissing Kesshin on the cheek and happily going to the galley to do her dishes.

"Oh..." she seemed to hesitate a little, still trying to digest what she had just seen, "my name's Shizuku. I was just sailing on a small vessel when we got hit by a storm. I've been floating around for days hoping someone would pick me up." She walked over to Lazuli and quickly took her hands. "I know that you're all pirates, and this is probably a long shot, but could you please take me to my destination. Or even just the next island on your Log Pose and I can try to figure it out from there. I don't have anything to repay you with, but I'm sure we can figure something out!" She was staring into Lazuli's eyes, pleading, begging with the destructive pirate.

Lazuli began to yawn when suddenly her hands were grabbed by the woman, she quickly jerked them away. "Yeah, we can help you...just don't do that." she said, before stretching her arms out "ugh, what time is it, I feel like I'm already beat!" she said, a little loud trying to fight the feeling. She looked to the woman once more, "Well Shizu, you're free to take a ride with the Wreckage, just be careful who or what you touch. Bonny is a little protective of her things, and it looks like she's taking a liking to Kesshin." she moved closer to whisper "but that's okay, really. There are two more men down there somewhere if you really want.." she added, moving back and winking. She turned away and began walking toward the kitchen "KESSHIN! I need energy!" she shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you Haphephobic?" said Shizuku at the mention of not touching her. "And it's Shizuku, not Shizu." When Lazuli began to walk away, calling to Kesshin for food, Shizuku's own stomach began to rumble. "Actually, I'm pretty hungry myself. I've been at sea for a while, could I trouble your cook a meal as well?"

With everyone squared away Kesshin was now ready to enjoy his own food. Kesshin in the kitchen, reaching he grabbed a bottle of red wine and a glass from his personal stash. Pouring a glass he sighed to himself, "Being so involved is... exhausting." he muttered to himself. Not even before he had time to sit down with his food did he hear his name called with talk of needed energy. An annoyed vein formed on his left temple; he had to wonder if sometimes they listened when spoke. Kesshin snapped his fingers and formed three meat carving knives with his power. As soon as Lazuli body meet the entrance of the door the knives would be there to greet her face to face with their pointy ends, "I know you just saw me place almost a whole banquet between the three of you." Kesshin said in a polite tone with a underlying trace of agitation.

With cup in hand, Kesshin walked over to a small table for two near a window where his food rested, He didn't make eye contact with Lazuli as he expected her to leave him be on the knowledge of the meal already placed out there. The knives would back off a bit and dissolve when she left if she left. Kesshin valued his time alone, he used that time to think, reflect, and recharge. When she left he would swirl his glass and think to himself, *"My opinion might change, but I wont ever forget, nor will I forgive."*

Lazuli stopped in her tracks, knives pointed at her face, she took a long moment, would those knives even effect her? Now wasn't the time to find out, unfortunately. She closed the door and looked around, looking for the feast that she clearly missed. It was, bluntly, right there in the center of the deck. Maybe it was the oncoming energy loss, or maybe the distractions from meeting a new person, but she felt bad for not noticing sooner "My a-, I mean, sorry Kesshin.." she mumbled, not wanting to disturb him further.

She moved to the meal and motioned for Shizuku to join her "C'mon miss big words, chow down before I beat you to it!" she shouted over. She started shoving things in her mouth as soon as possible, bare handed, no cutlery, while also replying to Shizuku from earlier. "Shizuku then, I said that didn't I? oh- om- well, my bad" she said, absolutely stuffing her face at this point "-and, I'm not haphephobic, I just wasn't expecting that, and sometimes my powers have a mind of their own, wouldn't want to have affected ya!" she added.

"Oh, I see," said Shizuku, "what kind of power do you have?" Shizuku was staring at the food, her mouth beginning to water. Ordinarily she wouldn't eat with her bare hands, but Lazuli's "threat" and her current disregard for any form of cutlery made it clear she couldn't risk waiting for it. She reached out, her hand accidentally brushing up against Lazuli's, and took a handful of food before stuffing it into her mouth. "Mmmmmmm!" she moaned in surprised, swallowing before she continued speaking. "That's delicious!"

Lazuli growled a bit as Shizuku brushed against her hand, did the woman not just get told to be careful with touching Laz?! "Well, if I- OHM- touch people, I can completely hold them in place- NOM- I don't really know what it feels like, but if I had to guess, I think it's like- OHM- like if your body isn't obeying your commands. Or maybe it's unable to?" she said, still talking over her eating.

"It's more like an additional power to my main one, really." she continued "I rust things, with a touch though. It basically goes rust, dust, poof and gone!" She added, giving more strict details about the power itself. It was a lot to go on, and at this point, could be the reason Lazuli doesn't use cutlery herself.

"Oh, I see," said Shizuku, taking quick bites out of her food between her sentences. "Well is it a reversible process on people? Maybe I could help you get it under control."

Lazuli nodded "Yeah, if I let go before it takes control, then they slowly return to normal." she chuckled "and I'm not sure I want to control it, it kind of acts like a permanent defense right now." she said, stopping for a moment and glancing at Bonny across the ship. "I guess, there are some things I can't do, though..." she added, before shaking her head and going back to stuffing her mouth.

Shizuku followed Lazuli's line of sight, catching her looking at Bonny. She swallowed before she spoke again. "Are you talking about sex?" She took another bite of food without missing a beat.

Lazuli burst out in laughter "what- NO!" she blurted outward at Shizuku "Hey, what, no. Hey, list- Me?! I fuck, okay? Hey, I fuck." she reassured Shizuku, though it was, not quite believable as she flubbed over her words, almost embarrassed. Lazuli rolled her eyes "That's not even important, anyway. The point is, it's an unbreakable defense, and makes me a threat to everyone on the sea, really." she added.

"Well, you could make it a great defense without accidentally rusting people you care about," said Shizuku, "then you won't have to worry about turning someone into rust while you're having sex."

Lazuli let out a large groan "puh-lease, I just said- It's not a sex thing." she said, rolling her eyes "but maybe you're right, maybe I should learn more about it, I kinda just let it do it's own thing and live with it." she added, giving in to Shizuku's suggestions. "But hell, what kind of applications could it even have?" she asked.

"Who knows," said Shizuku, shrugging as swallowed another piece of food, "but we can find out together." She held her hand out to Lazuli to shake.

Lazuli paused, looking to Shizuku's hand, and then her own for a moment, before reaching forward and grabbing her hand slowly. The effects would take hold almost immediately, Shizuku would feel her joints freeze up and refuse to respond to her commands, followed by her skin around her hand beginning to shift to a brown or orange color and move up the length of her forearm, before Lazuli pulled away, nullifying and affects she had on Shizuku. "Sorry...I told you, I can't control it." she added, shaking her head.

There was some slight fear in Shizuku's face as she did her best to wrest her hand from Lazuli, only doing so when Lazuli, herself, let go. Shizuku did her best to calm herself down, looking at the pirate captain. "It's fine, don't worry about it. It can take a while to get a handle on the more uncontrollable powers. You know what they say, Nemea wasn't built in a day."

Lazuli stretched out "Right, Nemea..damn I must be stuffed, I could use a nap, ughhhh" she groaned again, overcome with a sudden urge to sleep until they reached their destination. Letting out a yawn she started toward the cabin "Just, make yourself at home and stuff. Meet the crew, make friends, or nap, like me!" she said, moving past Bonny and finally into the Captain's Cabin.

Shizuku had been standing in front of the kitchen door, or at least what she thought the kitchen was, based on Lazuli's earlier walk over. She knocked on it, calling for the chef's name; "Hello! Kesshin, right? I was hoping I could get some more food."

His plate 3/4ths of the way finished, glass of red wine half empty as well as the bottle itself; Kesshin still gazed from the window, always to himself looking with an expression of lost expectation. At the sound of Shizuku's knocking Kesshin's sharp gilded eyes fell on the door, "More food? I made a literal banquet... She's liable to vomit if she eats so much so quick." Kesshin mused to himself. "Doors open, but the kitchen's closed for the time being." He had no intention of cooking more food right now, not without her convincing him in some way. On the offset Kesshin appeared to be friendly but he definitely was not very trusting off-rip. Kesshin would wait for her to enter before speaking once more, "Did Bonny eat all your food? Or was it Captain Laz?"

Shizuku entered the room as instructed, carrying an empty platter, clean as a whistle. "Oh, no. Lazuli went to go rest, she said she was still feeling tired. She got a few bites in, but I ate most of it myself. I haven't even gotten to really meet Bonny yet. I'm just really hungry, been drifting on the open seas for a while and all. Do you know when the kitchen will open back up?"

Kesshin's eyes narrowed a bit at Shizuku for a moment, "Doesn't sound like the captain. Her and "a small quantity" don't mix very well." He took a sip of his glass before speaking again, "Bonny will most likely come around demanding something of you I am sure, she is a princess you know." Kesshin his tone was light as he joked about the later part even if it was true, "As for the kitchen, generally speaking, cooking wise... whenever I am in the mood or when Lazuli or Bonny "insists" that I cook before they are die from hunger." He scooped up some fried rice and took a bite, he said nothing for a moment but motioned for her to sit with him, he didn't really want the company but he needed to see if Shizuku was worth observing as a person. That and he was sure Lazuli didn't really ask any of the important questions.

"So... What happened to your ship and crewmates exactly? I know the Grandline can be perilous if unprepared but your demeanor doesn't give me the careless type like Lazuli and Bonny in their own rights... at least based off appearances, we've only just met of course." Kesshin wasn't expecting much from Shizuku, "What will you do now?"

Shizuku sat in the chair across from Kesshin, seeming slightly apprehensive as she sat down. "I was just traveling. I was going to visit my family on a nearby island, but we hit some really bad weather. The Grand Line's weather systems and animals are unpredictable already, but the vessel I was on was particularly unprepared for how powerful the storm ended up being. I don't know if anyone else survived. I don't know how long I was adrift at sea, I just want my family to know that I'm safe." She reached across the table to take Kesshin's hand. "It's why I'm so grateful that you're taking me there. I imagine it might be a bit more dangerous for you considering you're all pirates. You might not receive a warm reception."

Kesshin listened as she spoke, though he continued to eat his food at a leisurely pace. He didn't make eye contact as he listened, instead focusing on his food and drink, to savor the flavors in tandem, also because he was told he had a gaze that could kill when he wasn't teasing or playing around though he supposed that was one of the good things he learned at the carnival. "I can't say I'm surprised, it never ceases to amaze me how people value their lives so much but are never prepared for the worst. Especially holding the responsibility of lives on your ship." Kesshin laughed a bit at the thought as he spoke, "If you had died, they'd be none the wiser, at least not for awhile or they would have maybe requested help or some such yeah?" He didn't know how long she drifted for but surely their vessel had a schedule and regular times they might have needed to communicate. Not to mention even maybe the time to send an S.O.S. *"All I see is carelessness, if they don't care about their own lives why the hell should I care if I take one?"*

Kesshin was going to for a few finishing scoops of his food when she reached out eagerly to grab his hand forcing him to drop his spoon. Taken aback it took all he had to calmly fight the impulse to growl at her or worse, "I... appreciate your.... appreciation, but it should be directed to the captain, if it were me? I'd have left you out at sea thinking you were a dead body afloat and not giving much thought of it." Kesshin withdrew his hand a small insincere smile on his face, "Nothing against you specifically mind you. The captain must have good instincts to fish your unconscious body out of the water, well... actually maybe it was Starlight here who spotted you first. So you should be thanking her, as well as for transporting you to wherever we are going, especially your family will be ungrateful, us being dirty pirates and all." It occurred to him that he didn't even know where they were going now. Kesshin finished the last of his food and got up to clean his and her dish, "Where is it that we are taking you again?" he asked as he rolled up his sleeves.

"It's an island called Widow's Peak," said Shizuku, "or at least that's where I thought we were headed. It was the island the captain's Log Pose was pointing to before we got capsized. It's not a glamorous name, I know, but it used to be the base of operations of a crew of buccaneers before the marines chased them out and it was colonized by normal folk. They used to set up ambushes for unsuspecting vessels. It was a common island that Log Poses would point towards so it was pretty difficult to get past without a visit."

Kesshin proceeded to wash the dishes as he listened, he found himself rubbing his temples as if he was exhausted but... *"That can't be right..."* His head half-turned to where he was sitting, where Shizuku was sitting, "...Yeah, not a particularly great name for an island but I've heard worse." Was it maybe the effect of the Grand Line? Or was he just imagining it? Kesshin pulled out some cups from the cabinet and grabbed a moka pot, along with a bag of grounded coffee, "Besides the ungrateful welcome Lazuli and Bonny will be receiving, will they be expecting a heated welcome from the marines as well? You're not running them into an old ambush are you little miss?" His honed gold eyes half-fixed on her as he continued to go between a few dishes and setting up the brew. "Are you related to a marine family or something?" He started the coffee for himself but left an extra cup out for her once it was done. If he didn't feel like cooking then he definitely didn't feel like cooking more right now. Maybe Shizuku felt like Kesshin was grilling her, and she'd be right. Kesshin made no real effort to hide it, "I can't say I am a fan of surprises."

Shizuku seemed somewhat taken aback by the assertion. "No, I'm not. My family members are all just regular, blue collar-types. No marines whatsoever. And Widow's Peak doesn't have an active marine base on it anymore. They cleared out as soon as the locals move in. They just cleared out the pirates because of how commonly the route was taken."

"I'll take your word for it." Kesshin looked at the brew on the stove, it was bubbling but not quite done. He caught a glimpse of Shizuku's expression, "Are you surprised? I am not as nice as the captain? Well maybe nice isn't the right word. We're pirates after all, I watched her a rust a whole man to death, former employer actually. Can't speak for her other deeds, might need to ask Bonny about that." Kesshin finished with the dishes and dried his hands leaving the air stagnant. he leaned his back on the counter facing Shizuku, "So do you have any questions for me? Or would you like me to interrogate you more?" he teased in an light apathetic tone.

Shizuku started to get up from her seat. "I think I'm just going to go..." she said. Whether it was Kesshin grilling her for information or the volatility of the pirates she was traveling with that he had just explained, Shizuku was clearly beginning to get uncomfortable. "I'll come back later when you're done eating."

Kesshin shrugged and simply gestured to the door. She didn't need to like him and nothing of interest came from her lips. He wasn't interested in making friends nor did he have interest in being hospitable to everyone who graced the ship. In that same vein he didn't expect the courtesy from others; so far, that was the human nature he'd experienced. Even with their rules of politeness their hearts spoke a different story, that was the people he sought to observe. Once she had made her exit he began to make his coffee. He stared into is cup, thinking before leaning back on the counter with his cup and looking back at the door, *"What was that...?"*

Shizuku walked up to the room of the last crew member she hadn't met yet. According to the others, Yoshoku Bonny was a princess. Former or otherwise, it'd certainly be interesting to hear her story. They had gotten off on the wrong foot, with the sharp-tooth piranha towering over her as she regained consciousness, but she was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Who knows, maybe they would become friends.

She knocked on the door, "Hello? Bonny? This is Shizuku, the woman you guys picked up. Is now a bad time?"

Bonny opened her door, wearing a clean dress and smelling of sweet perfume and soap. She had a toothbrush in each hand and was scrubbing her teeth. She stared at the woman for a moment. "Do I know you? And I don't REMEMBER giving you permission to not address me by my title. Is this some kind of joke? Did Kesshin send you here to irritate me? Like 'haha, Princess Bonny just brushed her teeth and now she got blood all over them again from eating the stranger'." She looked Shizuku over for a moment before shrugging and turning, going into her room. "Enter. Just don't touch anything. And don't eat any of my food. Or drink my drinks. Or breathe too much of my air. Or step on the floor or carpet a lot."

Her room was decorated as best it could be for the little amount of money Bonny had. A comfortable single bed with a ramshackle canopy was made in the corner, covered in blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals, all in immaculate repair. A small desk and three-way mirror sat near the window, a variety of expensive makeups, perfumes, and oils lined up against the glass. A large armoire was half-open and stuffed with clothes both gothic and frilly. Lastly, a snacking table was covered in candy wrappers, corn-dog sticks, fried chicken-stained paper towels, and soda cans.

The Princess sat at her makeup table, rinsing out her toothbrushes in a small cup of water before starting to apply white powder to her face. "Speak. What do you desire from the Princess?"

Shizuku tentatively entered Bonny's room, taking in the sight. She was already taking shallow breaths and being careful not to step on anything important, especially the carpet. "Apologies, your highness," she said, giving Bonny a deep bow. "Honestly, I just wanted to meet royalty. I had never had the pleasure of doing so. Your lodgings are quite wonderful."

Bonny yawned and powdered her face as she listened. "You've met the Captain, she's royalty just like we are. Captain of a crew, princess of a kingdom, very little difference. We just hold ourself to higher standards than the Captain. I am perfection and beauty and grace, while she is... the captain." She huffed. "No wonder you haven't had the pleasure. You've been floating in the ocean like some kind of flotsam. Or jetsam. Whatever the one is." Thinking, she clapped her hands. "I assign you this task, peasant. You will find the difference between the two and report back to me. So sayeth the Princess."

"Um... okay...," said Shizuku. She stood still for a few seconds, seeming nervous with a few beads of sweat collecting on her brow. "Do you need me to leave to do that?"

Bonny shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm not a tyrant. Just figure it out before lunch or I'll have the Captain throw you overboard." She gestured to a small seat. "Sit. Do you want a chocolate or something?" She fished out a box from under her bead. "You can have one of the gross ones."

"Sure, I'll take a gross chocolate," said Shizuku, a bit too casually as she sat down. She seemed to have caught herself, giving a half-curtsy, half-bow before taking a seat. She wasn't just in the presence of royalty, but she was talking to someone who she was told might eat her, or have someone else throw her from the ship. Neither result was good in her eyes. "I apologize if I'm mistaken, but, based on my understanding of naval vessels and governments, a captain is an appointed position while a princess is an inherited one. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but a princess can only be a woman, while a captain can be a man or a woman."

The Princess's head slowly, a predatory gaze in her eyes. Her pupils were tiny, like dots of black ink on a ceramic white tile. To coin a phrase, she had dolls eyes. She stood, walking slowly towards Shizuku. "Are. You. Telling. Me. I'm. Wrong?" She licked her starkly white teeth with a tongue altogether too thick for her mouth. "You must have said something wrong. So let me correct you. You say-" Her hand snapped out, grabbing Shizuku by the throat and squeezing with Ancient Zoan strength. "I am mistaken, Your Majesty. I apologize, and will not attempt to correct you again." Her hand shook in barely, BARELY suppressed rage.

Shizuku's hands immediately moved to Bonny's wrist, as soon as the fingers were wrapped around her throat. Even if Shizuku wanted to rescind her statement, she couldn't breathe. However, the longer Bonny maintained contact with Shizuku's skin, the less energy she would seem to hold onto, as if it was being sapped directly from her body, and at an alarming rate. Shizuku hoped that after a few more moments, she'd be able to pry Bonny's fingers from her neck and flee from this place.

Bonny was too dumb and too laser focused to notice she was weakening. She instinctively let go, flexing her fingers. "Get out of my room. Beg the Captain that I don't kill you for that insult." She turned back to her mirror, sitting and flexing her tingling hand. "Insolence."

Shizuku absconded from the room without another word, not even looking directly at Bonny as she fled in fear. She opened the door to Bonny's room and closed it behind her, continuing to run until she reached a part of ship with no other occupants. She took a moment to breathe, rubbing her neck which still had a few marks on it from Bonny's hand. Shizuku looked around as she panted, checking if there was anyone else nearby. It appeared as though there was no one. She beat her chest twice and burped. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a miniature Den Den Mushi, speaking softly and with as few words as possible. "Three targets, one confirmed Devil Fruit user, two other potentials. The ship is self-propelling. Be ready when we arrive."

## Widow's Peak

The famous spires of the mountain were in clear view by now as Starlight approached the island. Widow's Peak certainly looked like a more beautiful island than its name suggested. It had only taken about eighteen hours to get there, but for Shizuku that time seemed like an eternity. She looked over the bannister towards the island, rapidly tapping her foot as she chewed on her thumb nail. The pirates were more hospitable than she expected, but that didn't exactly make her feel safe. Especially after she had found out that their ship was actually alive. However, it had strangely remained quiet about her goings-on aboard, like it didn't want the Wreckage Pirates to know she had been up to either.

Lazuli approached from behind Shizuku, wrapped in a blanket. "Hey...did you sleep at all? I guess after all that time at sea, you wouldn't have much reason to sleep more..but..I don't know, I can always get more sleep." she commented, moving to her side and looking out to the distant island, still wrapped in her blanket. She squinted to try and get a better look before speaking up again. "what's so special about this Island that's keeping you up?" she asked.

Shizuku almost jumped out of his skin as Lazuli approached from behind. It took her a moment to recollect herself before she answered the captain. "Nothing much," she said, "I'm just anxious to get back on land, ya know. It's... been a while."

Laz rubbed her eye from an underneath-the-blanket knuckle "Well, I think...ugh" she said, pulling her hand away from her face and adjusting the blanket to be tighter around her shoulders "I think you're going to hit the dirt and then hit the dirt, like as soon as your feeeEEEt" she yawned "Feet hit the dirt, you're gonna pass out onto the ground." she finished.

Shizuku cocked her head to the side at what Laz was saying. "I feel fine, are you sure you don't need anymore sleep?" she said.

Kesshin peaked his head out, "Well if it isn't the little big log finally crawling out of their quarters. I felt as though I barely saw you yesterday Cap'n Laz." He saw Shizuku was present but where was the other one? "Our little princess hasn't woke yet huh? Well there is coffee and tea waiting for you guys in the kitchen, if you find yourself wanting." Finally he stepped out with his mug taking a good look at the island they were approaching. He'd never heard or been to this island before during his many travels but at this point there were so many of course he'd miss some not every island has a target. Kesshin took his place in his hammock and began to lounge.

Lazuli was to reply to Shizuku, before Kesshin spoke up and she smiled cheerfully, humming as she made her way towards the kitchen *"Coffee, Coffee..."* she gleefully spoke under her breath. After a few minutes, a loud thud quickly followed, Lazuli's boot pressing open the kitchen door with a kick. "WOOH! All fucking right, Kesshin!" she shouted. She rushed over to the ledge of the ship, jumping up onto the railing, spinning around on one foot, 360 degrees, before landing and sitting on the railing, hands clasped around her eyes, trying to hand-binoculars the island. "It appears...to be an island...definitely.." she murmured under her breath.

Shizuku sighed, although, it wasn't one of worry or exhaustion. It seemed to be one of relief. Her gaze drifted across the island and at some of the ships already docked at Widow's Peak. Most of them were stationary, anchors down and out of service. But one was headed towards them at a rather quick speed.

Lazuli scanned the island slowly and maybe a long humming sound before looking to Shizuku, still with her hands clasped around her yes like binoculars "So, where should we drop you off, Shizu?" she asked, looking back to the island again, although her sight began to fixate on the oncoming ship. "Well that's weird, they're coming at us pretty fast, you don't think we did something to make them mad, do you?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sure it's nothing," said Shizuku as she turned to Lazuli. "This is a pretty popular port after all. They're probably just setting sail... in our general direction."

Kesshin didn't bother opening his eyes, he felt he had a pretty good guess of what was coming. He sipped his cup of coffee before pointing up at their Jolly Roger, "A ship was scheduled to be to this island couple of a days ago according to her, and it never showed. We sail in waving around our Jolly Roger to an island also according to her, was revoked from pirates by the marines and colonized." Kesshin finished his coffee and placed his cup on the floor beneath his hammock. He smiled at Shizuku, his eyes more sly than the smile on his face, then his gaze moved to Lazuli, "I can only assume they're running away from something we're likely walking into, or someone is not happy to see our lot." Laying back down in his hammock Kesshin closed his eyes and let out a yawn, "Either way, should be fun to watch." He had only one stake in this bet.

A red beam of energy flew from that approaching ship. It slammed right into their hell. A heavy vibration resounded through the ship, almost as if Starlight was screaming out in pain. While it hadn't been fully vaporized, there was now a noticeable hole in the side of the ship, slowly repairing itself through its own power. Starlight continued moving towards the island, but at a faster pace now. Yet, even so, more beams of energy began to fly from the ship, now accompanied by metal cannonballs as well. Starlight was able to avoid some of them, but not all of them. And the energy beams in particular, pure, thermal heat, seemed to never miss. They were doing far greater damage as well.

Bonny screamed as she was violently thrown from her bed. Waking up from a dream of men and candy, her temper was already at a dangerously high boiling point. The hole that the heat beam had drilled through the ship let light into her room. Standing, the naked princess shuddered in anger, kicking her door open and rushing onto the deck. "WHO HAS THE FUCKIN' BALLS TO-" A cannonball slammed into her face directly. Her head snapped back, the iron ball caught in her teeth, her mouth and head dismorphed into a huge piranha body. Her teeth couldn't pierce the iron, but she was able to stop it. Spitting out the ball, she licked her lips. "Someone's dying today." She looked around. "Where's the BITCH we were dropping off here!? She has some explaining to do."

The unexpected attack on their ship made Lazuli fall forwards, only just having the time to catch herself on the railing of the ship. She pulled herself up onto the deck and stood with a furrowed brow. She walked to the opposite side of the deck, straightening her hair upwards, fixing her 'hawk. "Starlight, throw me." she said, before full sprinting towards the railing she was just sitting on, she jumped up, perched from a moment, before spring-boarding off the railing, jumping forward. The railing itself uprooted itself, helping to launch Lazuli forward.

As she flew through the air, Lazuli moved her body to try and adjust her path, heading for a cannonball, she pulled back a fist, smashing it straight through the ammunition. It burst into a rain of rust, and through it, Lazuli continued her trail completely unhindered. She began losing momentum and flew right into the opposing ship's sails, fumbling downward, rolling her way down towards the deck, and landing in a widow-esque pose before standing tall and looking around "Now, who's attacking my ship?!" she demanded.

Kesshin wasn't braced for that sort of impact. The vibrations rattled his hammock violently and he fell on the deck. When he got up he saw that his favorite cup was broken... "Goddamnit..." Kesshin muttered to himself. He also didn't enjoy the sound that Starlight was making, what sound they made her make. Bonnie kicked the door down in all her voluptuous glory. Kesshin dusted himself off, "Well if she wasn't awake, she certainly is now." Seeing her naked was a nice surprise but he supposed now wasn't the time to lose his hands coping a grope, "Veeeery niiiiice. I knew I put up with your princess piranha personality for a reason." Kesshin gave her two thumbs up. He stopped messing around for now and started to focus on the task at hand as he casually to made his way to the front of the ship as more canon balls flew. Letting the captain do her thing first, he stopped at the near edge of Starlight, "Don't get arrested captain." a sinister grin crept on his face without his notice, "But make them hurt...!"

Kesshin extended his right hand outward, one with a keen eye may have noticed something was off with him, "Don't worry about the ship cap, I'll take care of Starlight, she's been good to me." Kesshin shouted to Lazuli, whether she heard him or not was a different story. Three green pixelated lights began to form as another energy blast came forward but this time it slammed into another force, Kesshin. When the smoked cleared three walls stood behind each other, two of the three walls were melted through but not entirely, *"Doga Doga no mi: Light Screen Barrier."* Kesshin would focus on defending Starlight for now, that way he could also keep an eye on Shizuku, "Bon Bon what will you do?"

Bonny spat a handful of broken teeth onto the deck, her teeth rotating in her mouth like a circular saw until new teeth reappeared. She rushed towards the railing, grabbing a length of rope and feeding one end into her mouth. Biting down, she removed her head and started spinning it like an improvised flail. Spinning in place, she hurled her head hammer-toss style towards the opposing ship. Halfway across the distance, her body was yanked by an invisible force, pulled underneath her head just as she landed on the deck of the opposing ship. She rolled as she landed, her head snapping onto her neck.

There was no humanity in Bonny's eyes now. There was blood in the water, and her already weak mind was overwhelmed by the ferocious nature of the Ancient Zoan Devil fruit. She fell to all fours, Fish-Head squishing into her shoulders. "Princess Privilege: Head-Cannon." With a burst of primal power, her head erupted from her body again, in a straight line towards the deck, intending to chew into the ship in search of the attackers.

Shizuku ran towards Kesshin. A worried expression was on her face as she went to put her hand on his shoulder. "Kesshin, wait!" she shouted.

Meanwhile, back on the other ship, Lazuli would soon realize who the enemy were. The enemy of all pirates: Marines. They were running across the deck, preparing boarding parties and arming cannons to be fired. They were in full combat mode, yet they weren't flying the marine flag. Most of the marines didn't look up after Lazuli jumped aboard, seeming to ignore her declaration.

But one did look up. His hair was grey, shaped into arrows. And he was wearing a coat with the words "Justice" emblazoned on the back. It was clear that he was the commanding officer.

"I wouldn't have expected you to board us first," he said. "Although, I'd prefer if you would disembark. Commander Regis! Remove this pirate!"

Another marine officer looked up towards Lazuli. He stretched out his arms, them suddenly becoming covered in feathers as they took the shape of wings. But that wasn't the only part of him that changed. The top of his head became covered in a crest of feathers, like a crown. And the shape of his feet changed into talons. And, of course, a yellow beak on his face. It was the power of his Devil Fruit, the Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Secretary Bird.

"Yes, captain. **Soru!**"

He rocketed up towards Lazuli, faster than the eye could see. The technique generally relied on the user kicking off the air ten times in a second. But this person was flapping their wings at that speed as well, flying up towards Lazuli. "**Boshigan!**" A flat-footed kick, the speed of a bullet was aimed towards Lazuli's chest. The kicks of a secretary bird were already strong enough to easily kill prey in a single strike, crushing their bones before their target could retaliate. Although, that wasn't the only intent in this case. Regis' aim was to remove Lazuli from the ship and send her into the oceans below.

"Captain Barton!" another marine called. "There's another intruder. it's chewing through the lower deck!"

"Great," said the marine captain. "Looks like Shizuku didn't do her job well enough. She'll handle the ones still on the ship, I'm certain she can manage that at least. Send the cyborg to route the other intruder."

### Marine Ship

Lazuli was immediately outclassed, a realization that overcame her suddenly via a speeding-bullet kick toward her chest. She moved to try and defend herself, but she wasn't nearly fast enough. Lazuli flew backwards, blood shooting from her mouth as she flew back, knocking into the rail of the marine ship, and flying over.

She caught herself on the hull of the ship, narrowly avoiding the water below. "Hell..." she muttered, trying to pull herself back up, but quickly grabbing at her side as she failed to move an inch, the intense pain in her body was too much to ignore. "These...are no pushovers..." She groaned. She took a deep breath and grunted, pulling herself back onto the deck of the ship, rolling out onto the deck, there she would lay, holding her side, there wasn't really any way she could combat these men...

The marine, Regis, flew slightly overhead, landing and planting his foot on Lazuli's chest as she laid down, not wanting her to move anywhere. "You pathetic pirates!" he said, "Shizuku made it sound as though you'd actually be a challenge. But I shouldn't have expected you to amount to much, especially against a royal such as myself."

Lazuli might not have been able to see it, but Barton rolled his eyes. Regis was technically a royal, but on a small island in the East Blue. The population was around 5,000 people. And even then, Regis was 27th in line for the throne.

"Surrender now!" Regis continued, "and we'll show leniency."

Lazuli let out a coughing laugh, it was painful, but all the same, the man was somehow dumb enough to get himself caught in Lazuli's only advantage. As he made prolonged contact with her, his body would lack to respond to his commands, frozen in time. In reality, as soon as he touched Lazuli, she rusted all of his joints, stopping him in place.

"You might be fast...but boy...are you dumb...Didn't Shizu tell you?" she asked, before reaching up and grabbing the mans ankle. "You can't touch me..." she torted before fully activating her power on the man, attempting to rust him over completely.

Regis was completely shocked by the sudden rusting of his leg. He was completely paralyzed. Shizuku had neglected to mention how fast-acting the fruit was. Or how it didn't even need contact with her hands. The rust began to crawl up Regis' leg. It wouldn't be long until he was rust himself.

"**Teru Arrow!**" A beam of light, in the shape of an arrow flew towards Lazuli and Regis. While the point looked sharp, the impact would be blunted, curving around as it would hit Lazuli in the side to send her across the deck of the ship and breaking the contact he had with Regis.

As was aimed, the arrow hit its mark, sending Lazuli rolling across the deck of the ship, she let out a chuckle, though it was also half a cough "...Dumbass..." she let out before closing her eyes, she had hope that her team could do more than her.

As soon as he could move again, Regis took the sky, ready to continue fighting Lazuli, only to realize she had already lost consciousness. "You couldn't have done that earlier!" Regis shouted.

"I thought you had it covered," retorted Barton, lowering the finger gun he had been making, light disappearing from its tip. "After all, you *are* royalty. Just get some Seastone cuffs on this pirate and throw her in the brig. She's the captain after all. All of the other ones will come to us as long as we have her."

### Starlight

Meanwhile Kesshin continued to defend the ship. He had a good awareness of his surroundings at most times but he was busy defending Starlight, while keeping an eye on Shizuku, and occasionally trying to steal glances over to keep Lazuli's position just in case they needed to make a quick get away. Bonny launched her head over at the ship, Kesshin nearly missed it as he shuffled his barriers around to stop a couple of canon balls. He couldn't keep track of her and he assumed her body was more autonomous from what he understood. Kesshin turned his head as Shizuku approached him. He could halt her advance toward him but no, he was trying to piece together a few ideas and maybe she could help with that.

The oddest thing came out of her mouth though, a plea to wait? Kesshin allowed her to touch him. A dulled sigh escaped his lips, "You're in the way. But since you're here-" Kesshin's jacket sleeves' length extended and wrapped around her arms tightly up to her shoulders like a snake strangling their prey. Kesshin's voice lightened a bit to his polite but insincere tone, "I guess I never mentioned this but I don't like to be touched." He made no effort to remove her hands from him nor to bind her feet, "Be honest, did you send my crewmates and I into this ambush?" His sleeves began to tighten their hold slowly but painfully so as if they would pop her arms like a piñata and see what was inside, Kesshin tone shifted to cold and apathetic but still carrying that casual nonchalant weight to it, "I will only ask once."

Shizuku winced in pain. A look of confusion as opposed to any actual fear or pain appeared. While the clothing seemed to coil harder around herself, she otherwise didn't seem to give in, like her arm was too hard to be broken so easily in the first place. "Well, the jig is up anyway," she said. "**Rankyaku!**" Her leg shot up, a blade of air flying from it to sever the clothing keeping her tied down. And as soon as she was freed, she would retreat, jumping into the air and hopping off of it like it were solid. She, too, was using **Geppo**. Two of the pirates had already headed over to the marine vessel, including the captain, it would be best to draw them in from that point on. There would be no point in fighting on their home turf. Especially when they had a sentient ship.

Kesshin had to say, there was a certain delight he took in that look on Shizuku's face. He didn't think she realized it just yet, what he was, but he wouldn't tell. Kesshin fully intended to break the woman's arms either way but it seems he couldn't. She freed herself and retreated, "Pirates, marines, the world government; tch... all the same." The tears of his sleeve repaired themselves, the digital thread weaving bit by bit until they were restored. He looked on to her retreating but he wasn't going to blindly pursue, it was again, an obvious trap. Kesshin sat next to Bonny's naked body, peering over the other side to the marine ship's deck where Lazuli was already laid out it looked like. Kesshin let out a small sigh, "I'm not seein any way outta this one Bon Bon... it looks like we've been caught by the o'l marine sea trap." he turned his head looking at Bonny as if he was expecting some sort of response. After a moment of silence he brought his attention back to the marine ship and looked on, "I wonder how your head is fairing over there."

### The Head of a Princess

The marines were forced to abandon their posts, running and screaming as the enemy cannonball attacked. Some were nursing wounds, but others were simply screaming because of the horrible injuries they had witnessed. None of them had ever seen a man get his stomach chewed through before. Although, further inspection would reveal that it wasn't a special cannonball that had been fired by the Wreckage Pirates, but a certain princess' head. Regardless, they didn't want to get close enough to figure that out.

Bonny's head was massive, and got larger the more she ate. Her boy was sitting on the edge of her own ship, kicking her feet gently and happily as the Princess's noggin went on a rampage. It was the size of a snailcar, it's split mouth filled with serrated teeth, swimming through the air and diving into the ship to take chunks out of the deck as it stalked the marines out in the open. Bonny's consciousness was in and out, basically along for the ride as she chewed through anyone stupid enough to get close. She avoided cannons, swords, or anything iron however, as she lacked the power to cut through it.

"Intruder detected..." a voice, distorted by some kind of mechanical apparatus sounded. Heavy footfalls as the source came closer and closer to Bonny's head. It was a Fish-Man. It was a cyborg. It was both. "Target acquired, scanning pirate bounties database." It looked at Bonny, keeping its eyes on her for a some time as the visor that made its eyes glowed. "Error, data not found. Pirate is not within database. Specific countermeasures, unknown. Standard countermeasures in progress. Priorities, capture. Excessive force, not authorized. Plasma cannon, not authorized while aboard ship." The cyborg began walking towards the head, a steel blade coming out from its wrist.

This wasn't just any ordinary cyborg, but one created by the deadly vice admiral, Phoebe. This was Chord.

Bonny's Head didn't care. Bonny's Head was like a honey badger. It saw something moving, something loud and annoying, and it turned to eat it. Bonny's Consciousness (B.C.) steered towards Chord like a hungry, hungry hippo aiming for a delicious marble-shaped fruit. "Toot-Toot, here comes death!" She 'breached' the deck, giving herself a bit of air time to aim herself before lunging like a hungry shark at the Cyborg.

The piranha's teeth would soon meet their mark, Chord hadn't even attempted to move out of the way of the incoming assault, merely putting his arm out in front of him. But her fangs wouldn't bite any deeper into the cyborg's body. After all, his chassis had been reinforced with steel. And not just any steel, but high-quality Wootz steel, one of the strongest varieties there was. With his other hand, the cyborg moved to grab Bonny's head from the top of it, to yank her off of his arm and firmly grasp it in order to prevent her from thrashing about any more. "Capture: complete."

Bonny's head, now held at arms length, ferociously and ineffectively chewed away at the metallic arm holding her top head-fin. Try as she may, she couldn't get free of the grip, nor could she get a grip of the ferocity of her power. She was captured two ways.

Chord began walking towards the brig of the ship, his quarry in hand.

Bonny's body hopped up and frantically pantomimed and pointed over to the ship, trying to get Kesshin's attention.

It would soon become clear that the marine ship was turning around, still firing at the Wreckage Pirates' own in order to prevent it from following, with Lazuli and Bonny's head nowhere to be found.

Kesshin watched Bonny's body hop up and down and do whatever it is headless body's do. He had to say he was very much enjoying the view. Yet his eyes leered from the direction of the kitchen onward. Kesshin sighed, "I suppose..." he rose to his feet  once more. Now, he decided  to morph the reflective panels into a sort of holding jar, catching the canonballs. He pulled a handkerchief out of his sleeve as all great jesters do. He whipped it out over where Bonny's head would be and the handkerchief grew in size until it was a nice cloth around Bonny's body. Kesshin grabbed her hand, "Lets go to our mates, eh?" Starlight might have to hang back a bit.

He stepped out onto what looked to be thin air, be we all know by now that it wasn't. As they continued to step out and make their way toward the marine vessel with the swirl of his fingers the holding jars became air cannons  and proceeded to fire a barrage at the opposing ship. Kesshin didn't think he could sink the ship with that outright.  He kept his eyes still on Lazuli and the two who pacified her so easily. And the one who was coming up with Bonny's head. None among them head of the ship.

Kesshin reached the Marine deck he hopped down from translucent foot panels he was making, guns trained on both he and Bonny's body. Kesshin raised his hands slowly with a smile for what little that was worth. His sharp gilded eyes scanned the ship, he then trained them on Shizuku. He couldn't help himself he had to have a little fun to right? *"They always watch the hands..."* Something jutted out from his coat sleeve, *"But usually not the hem."* Generating one of his combat knives already aimed to take out her right eye. That was it, it didn't need to work. His body had not moved a muscle and would take no further action against the marines except if they were rough with Bonny's autonomous body. But his eyes would stay trained Shizuku with a smile.

The blade flew towards Shizuku at a breakneck pace. The revealed marine almost didn't have time to react to it herself, only able to raise her arm to cover her face. Although, it would soon be clear that even that gesture was unnecessary. Another light arrow flew from out of nowhere, striking the blade to knock it off course, if not outright shattering it. Barton's arrow then immediately curved, headed towards the latest intruder, aiming to strike him in the head. It was another blunted arrow, so the damage would likely be non-lethal, but even so, it packed a wallop. Enough to give someone a concussion.

Kesshin's last attempt failed but he thought he got his point across. With that, as the arrow whirled toward his still hands raised he still didn't bother to step out of place. He reinforced the overall area of where the impact may have been and turned his head to ensure it did so. That smile on his face never waned, only getting more and more ferocious, bordering savage like a beast. The arrow made contact getting some resistance with the shielding layer he made. After the impact his face, looking as though he shed skin or scales. He fell to one knee, looking at Lazuli's slumped body he had nearly forgotten, "I told you, s...-o." He collapsed on the deck.

A glint disappeared from Barton's fingertip as he lowered his hand, which was in the shape of a gun. "Well, that could have at least gone worse," he said, "I wouldn't have expected three no-name pirates to even give us the slightest bit of trouble. But just so that we're not pressing our luck, cuff him!"

"Yes, captain!" A pair of marine solders ran up to the collapsed, Kesshin, Seastone cuffs in hand, moving to place them around the pirate's wrists.

"Excellent work, Shizuku," said Barton, "they may not have bounties now, but piracy is still a crime. And the world's safer with each one we remove from the seas. I'm beginning to think there might be a promotion for you in the future."

"Thank you captain," said Shizuku, saluting her superior.

"Now then, let's get back to port. We'll have to call this one in."

## Trapped Like Mice

The members of the Wreckage Pirates would awaken, finding themselves all in the same holding cell. It seemed as though it was either kindness or foolishness that the marines had allowed them to all be imprisoned together, but a quick look around showed that there weren't very many cells in the marine base to begin with. After all, it wasn't a prison. Lazuli and Kesshin would find their wrists bound by Seastone cuffs, a heavy enough concentration that the pirates would find themselves groggy. And while Bonny was cuffed as well, her predicament was a little bit less ideal than even her companions. The pirates were unsure of how to reattach her head to her body, so they simply left them disconnected, both parts attached to Seastone in one way or another. They weren't certain if negating her powers this way would simply cause her die, but the nature of Devil Fruits was strange, and they would be surprised to see that, even though she may have been weakened, both parts of her body were still able to survive on their own.

Lazuli was sitting on the floor, back against the wall and knees propped up, her head leaned back against the wall, looking toward the ceiling. "We lost, what a friggin' cheat, that guy moved so fast...." she said, blinking a few times before speaking up again. "I didn't even get to comment on naked Bonn's Buns...that was gonna be the best part. They're so rude!" she complained, the weight of the scenario seemingly missing her.

Kesshin just had a dumb smirk on his face, "I hate to say it... honestly? I don't, but I'd like to think Kesshin told you so." Kesshin sat up next to Lazuli, "Kesshin- the real Kesshin, knew you were hard-headed. He also kinda figured after talking with Shizuku that she was full of crap after listening to her story and the way you consumed the dinner that was made specifically to replenish energy in mind. So he decided to hang back on Starlight." Kesshin knew the real Kesshin probably wouldn't be coming, which is why he was here, why in a sense he was created. "At any rate, I'm at your disposal, tell me what to do and I probably do it." He spoke in his usually tease of a tone, knowing full well he had to be a bit more cautious. This one was more sturdy then the usual copy, particularly for two reasons; because the real Kesshin put a good deal of work into crafting him despite it usually seeming like there was no work put into his creations at all, and because the real Kesshin wasn't expending to much energy at the moment. One critical blow or severed limb and poof, that was it for this copy. "And before you ask, despite being a copy, I'm just as helpless in seastone cuffs as you are.

On the subject of Bonny, he wouldn't tease her for now, he considered it a treat he got to see her in all her morning glory, besides she was essentially a chained up Dullahan right now, sure she might have been used to it, but he didn't quite know how she was feeling in seastone cuffs. "How are you holding up Bonny? Everything in one piece? Hmm... poor choice of words. Are you alright?" He guess he just can't help it.

Bonny's naked body was sat cross-legged on the prison floor, her hands tied behind her back. She was covered by a blanket, thanks to Lazuli, though, so her other crewmates would at least not be distracted by bouncing Bon-Bons. Her head was in front of her, muzzled in seastone and looking like a gasping fish out of water. She was fumbling with her head by trying to get it to attach back to her neck with her feet, but so far, her power of reattachment wasn't activating. Frustrated to the point of crying, she simply slumped in defeat, embarrassment, and confusion.

Lazuli squinted at Kesshin "wait, are you not really here? UGH! I hate you, you're so cool, I hate you." she said before pushing herself up from the floor, she walked over to the bars and started yanking on them "Hey! Let me outta here! I wasn't done yet!" she shouted, taking a few steps back before ramming into the bars, falling to the floor "ughhhhh" she groaned. "Man, if I have to call in a favor imma be so mad" she mumbled under her breath.

Heavy footsteps, like the sound of metal, were heard from just outside of their cell. The footfalls were slow and monotonous, something that had no real emotions and moved in a robotic fashion. It didn't take long for the source of the footsteps to appear before them. It was their guard, the cyborg Fish-Man. His visor seemed to glow as he stared at the pirates, arms crossed, before the glow faded. "No hidden weapons detected... Error... only two lifeforms detected... Error..."

"Well that's interesting," now Barton walked in front of their cell, the marine captain who had remanded them to this prison in the first place. He stopped next to Chord, stroking his chin as he looked slightly towards the ceiling, as if in thought. "Your ship has been uncooperative. As our wonderful commander informed us, your ship seems to be alive. It hasn't moved since you all left it and it fights back against our ships that try to tow it to the main land. We're completely comfortable just letting it go, but you'll have to be honest with us. Are there any other crew members aboard that ship that we have to worry about?"

Lazuli grew silent as they approached the cell, her eyes staring at the large Fish-Man. As Barton spoke however, it seemed to go in one ear and out the other, as Lazuli leaned against the wall near Chord. "so like-" she said, cuffedly pushing hair behind her ears. "I thought it was really funny, the way you said only two lifeforms detected and all. Do you like, consider Kesshin lesser or something? that's kinda like...cute or whatever.." she commented a little flustered in her words. It was almost as if she didn't notice Barton existed at all.

Barton looked at Chord, then back to Lazuli. Then back to Chord. "Chord, which two are reading as lifeforms?"

"No heartbeat detected from the male presenting individual," said Chord, "no organic matter is detected. Individual is made entirely of inorganic matter."

"Hm, I see. Keep an eye on him." Barton turned back to Lazuli. "Fine specimen, isn't he? We managed to get him loaned to us from P.B. Inc. One of their weaker models to our knowledge, but he's certainly more than enough to take on a crew as strong as yours. Which is why I think it's very important that you tell us if you have any more crew members in hiding. So that they won't wind up dead. Trust me, considering your lack of criminal record at this junction, your only real crime is flying a Jolly Roger and resisting arrest. You'll be getting a more lenient sentence in comparison to other pirates. If you all just come quietly, I'll make sure you all end up in a nice, quiet prison to serve your sentences. Maybe something like Hellion Prison. Sound good?"

Kesshin sat and waved to the two marines, "deeply offended" by Lazuli Kesshin put on his best fake sad face, "You're meant to compliment or even kiss the cook, not flirt with something even lesser of a human than myself." Kesshin still chuckled which didn't match his pathetic attempt at a sad face. "Lazuli, NO FOOD FOR YOU WHEN WE GET BACK! COOK YOURSELF!" Kesshin teased, his face turning into an evil one. Kesshin wasn't going to respond to what the marines said though, He felt there was no point. He had seen many unremarkable marines spouting justice this and justice that when they honestly aren't any better than the pirates themselves. But at this point there wasn't much he could do and the threat of a sentence didn't bother him. As they said he wasn't real, and after today he'd probably cease to be anyway. He did have a question though. Kesshin put on a polite smile, "Hey fishman, where is Shizu? Or the guy that knocked me out with a devil fruit? Maybe I will talk to them."

"Chord isn't permitted to say or do anything unless he's following my orders, pirate," said Barton, "and if you're looking for the person that knocked you out, although I'm not certain how that's possible for a construct..." he pointed at himself with his thumb, "...you're looking right at him."

Bonny was able to stagger to her feet, slipping the blanket off of her shoulders before turning and throwing the blanket at Chord. She then kicked her still chained up head at him like it was the world's Angriest Football before leaping at him, attempting to strangle him with her feet. The Princess, like her companions, wouldn't even acknowledge that Barton was there, instead only focusing on Chord. Unlike the other Marines, the Princess didn't attack him out of any spite or anger, but of a strange, too-human desire to get stronger. Her tiny feet would kick him in the dick, the ass, the tits, anywhere she could land a blow, but she was weak from the Seastone, and weak in general.

Getting past the bars to even attempt to hurt Chord was already difficult enough for Bonny, but then there was his metal chassis to deal with for any attacks that managed to slip by them. Barton looked at the pirates in their cell. Surprisingly, he wasn't annoyed. This wasn't the first batch of uncooperative pirates he had talked to and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Chord, watch them," he said, "if they get out of line, kill the construct first. They're not as useful to us dead, but don't be afraid to use lethal force. Just make sure to keep collateral damage to a minimum."

"Orders: updated," said Chord.

"Excellent," Barton moved away from the bars, beginning to walk away from their cell. "Well, it's been fun... you know, you were defeated so quickly I never got the chance to learn what your crew was called. Oh well. We'll be sinking your ship soon and anyone else on it. I hope you enjoyed your last day of freedom."

Lazuli seemed to lose interest in the mechanical man almost immediately, he didn't seem to even have a free will, just another drone to someone else's rules. "Orders updated? ugh!" she made retching sound before shifting her weight to her other hip "You don't have a free thought in your body, do ya?" she commented, looking around the room. "All of us in chains and we still got more freedom than they give you." she moved over to sit next to Bonny in a huff "I mean sure, work for the marines, I don't care. But do it by your own choice at least. I don't know who you were before this, but I'm sure he wouldn't like it." she assumed, before looking to Bonny.

"Bonns, you should save your energy, we'll probably be here a while. You don't think any of your royal family knows your here, do you?" she asked, leaning over into headless Bonny's lap. "My cousin might, but I don't know if she'd be the type to spring me after everything." she commented. "Should've stayed in Tesoro..." she mumbled finally under her breath.

Chord didn't respond to Lazuli's taunts. It was as she said, he had no will of his own. No will to respond or communicate. All he could do was follow the orders of others now. Although, Chord would soon be only one of the things the Wreckage Pirates would find themselves talking to.

Next door, in the cell beside theirs, there was a soft, cute sound, a sneeze. It was immediately followed by the sound of rolling, distant thunder. Next was the sound of a thud against the wall. And finally, the voice of a woman saying "Ow..."

Kesshin didn't say much to Barton. He did wonder if he could take him though, it sounded like fun. He wasn't feeling 100% thanks to the cuffs but he was feeling a minimal high at the thought of wreaking some havoc in this place, drawing some blood, specific people's blood, "I suppose I will just have be a good little inmate for now."

Kesshin watched his two crewmates sitting together with each other, his smile soon faded. Watching them made him think... remember... and he hated it. His eyes some slowly peeled away from the two onto Chord, a look of disgust creeping on his face, *"Thats what they wanted to turn me into. A tool. They would have been better off turnin me into somethin like that, would have been easier that way..."* he thought. His hands unconsciously clenched themselves. Sure he wasn't real... but these feelings definitely were.

He was snapped out of by a thud next to their cell, a woman's voice. "Uh... " Kesshin scooted next to the wall where the thud came from. He knocked on the wall, "You... alright there cell neighbor?" The only thing that was going to be killed right now was time.

A soft whimper was heard from the cell next door, followed by a sniffle. "I'm fine, thank you... wait, who are you? When did you get here? Are you a pirate too?"

Kesshin's face contorted a bit, *"Is she crying? Or did she really hit the wall that hard?"* Kesshin kind of just shrugged it off when she proclaimed she was fine, and for a moment he didn't answer her, he slinked down the wall next to their new cell neighbor, sitting again and leaning his head against it, "Yeah me and my crewmates are currently sharing this cell. We're the Wreckage Pirates. We arrived not to long ago, heard great things about Widow's Peak so we thought we'd have the Marines give us the tour, thought we'd save beli on lodging and take a free jail cell." Kesshin sighed, "But I gotta say, this place ain't what its cracked up to be so I think we're gonna bail." He spoke with his usual nonchalant confidence but weaker. "What about you miss?" He didn't give a name nor did he ask for one.

The woman was still sniffling, but that seemed to dissipate, at least a little bit at the mention of the crew Kesshin belonged to. "The Wreckage Pirates? Your captain wouldn't happen to be Armani D. Lazuli, would it?"

Kesshin was intrigued. They weren't very popular or well known. Sure Kesshin heard that Lazuli wrecked some slave ship or something, and destroyed the traveling circus he was with, but those were negligible feats at best. So how did this woman know who the captain was? Maybe one of those allies Lazuli always went on about? "Who wants to know?" he asked letting a faint cackle escape from his lips, Lazuli, having an actual fan? The thought was simply amazing... Hard to believe... but not out of the question.

"My name's Squeak," she said, "my superior told us to watch out for a pirate crew called the Wreckage Pirates. Is Lazuli your captain? Is she here now?"

"Ah, so you must be apart of the Everything Pirates Crew I take it?" Kesshin supposed it was fine, "Yeah she's our captain, and yeah she's kinda the reason we're in this mess, but hey, she really knows how to show us a good time." Kesshin glance over back at his crewmates, "Yeah... They're currently brainstorming how to get us out of this as we speak." Probably not.

Bonny had finally been unmuzzled, instead a seastone tag stapled into her ear. She had been given the simple black and white jumpsuit of those who were jailed, one that was too big for her to boot. Her anger had died down, as well as her ferocious demeanor. Instead, she was reclusive and quiet, her knees pulled to her chin, her eyes quiet and beaten, glaring fearfully at anyone who would get close. Her thoughts were ranging from demanding to be released due to her heritage to killing Kesshin and using his body parts to get free to digging out with a spoon. Anywhere she went though, there was a black wall. What had happened on the boat had caused something strange to be unleashed in Bonny's SMILE-infected mind.

Lazuli stood up, and began pacing. "Explosion? No explosives..Digging? Not enough strength..." she mumbled under her breath. "What if we took a large crane and just moved the jail away from us? that would wor-" she mumbled, quickly looking up to Kesshin. "Everything?" she said, quickly moving to Kesshin and smooshing her face up against his cheek "Do we have a guest? A partner? A PiC, have you?" she asked, whispering.

Kesshin paused for a moment, a subtle eye twitch about him, "Captain... what have I told you about personal space? If you aren't going to kiss me..." Kesshin squeezed his hand between their faces and politely shoved her face away from his, "The please don't be so close." Seemed as though Squeak might have wanted to talk to Lazuli. Kesshin figured them huddled together in the corner might look a bit too suspicious especially if the big hunk of soulless metal was watching him extra intently, "Squeak, was it? The captain is here now. I will let you two talk if you wanted." Kesshin moved from his spot against the wall, he didn't make eye contact with Chord but he was still aware of him in peripherals.

He caught glance of Bonnie, she didn't seem to be taking this too well... He was sort of used to being caged like an animal, but for her... If she was an actual princess saved from a life of slavery, then this could be a potential catalyst to trigger some unwanted trauma, but that was only mere speculation. His gilded eyes softened at the sight of her, well... as much as they could from a man who deeply despised humanity. He sat next to her leaving some space between them. Kesshin realized her muzzle was free and still not a word, "You're awfully quiet... The only time I see you this quiet usually is when you're eating." he chuckled lightly, his voice a bit more solicitous than usual. Glancing over to his captain he continued, his voice moving to a tone that was more affirming, "We're gonna get you back on the open seas. Lazuli and Kesshin will make sure of it." Kesshin looked at her once more, "And when this is all over, Kesshin will take whatever meal request you want." Kesshin brandished his trademark smile, you can never really tell what he was thinking when he did smile but... it was the only one he had, the only one they helped him practice all those years ago. One thing was for certain, Kesshin was made to be a good liar, whether people chose to believe his words were up to them.

Bonny watched as Kesshin approached her. Her eyes went wild for a moment, as if he wasn't something she recognized, but a moment later it faded and she went back to staring at the wall. The young Princess as chewing on the inside of her cheek, blood starting to fill her mouth. Wether she knew it or not, she was scared. Panicked. Weak weak weak. His kind words fell on deaf ears. Cage. She was caged and scared. No one to serve her. No princes were coming to save her. This was the end of her kingdom and her line...

She remained quiet, letting the blood dribble down her chin and stain her prison clothes.

"Yes! I am with the Everything Pirates," Squeak responded, "I was captured because I lagged behind... but don't worry, the Everything Pirates always watch out for their own! You won't have to wait long. A rescue party will soon be here for all of us!"

A red glint seemed to appear in Chord's visor. He uncrossed his arms as he turned to the side, moving stiff and methodically, like the robot he was, and began to walk out of the prison.

Lazuli watched as the big man walked away from the prison, it didn't really make sense to her, but also she didn't care. She rushed to the bars, shout whispering to the cell next to theirs. "Okay Squeaky, what's the plan then? we're not just going to sit here are we?!" she asked, excited to get back to her freedom.

Kesshin would make note that Bonnie when quiet and not eating may just mean she wants to be left alone. He lightly sighed giving her space, *"What a relief..."* he thought. His attempt at consoling her failed which normally would be a bad thing, but for him it just meant he didn't really need to try again, he wasn't very good at traditionally encouraging or comforting people.

Hearing that Lazuli's allies were on the way was good. It seemed they'd lucked out this time. Kesshin would quietly watched as Lazuli boiled over with excitement at the prospect of escape. She didn't want to sit around and despite Kesshin's calm demeanor, he didn't want to either, he just wanted to draw some marine blood.

"I don't know when they'll be here exactly," said Squeak, "but I know they'll be here soon. We just have to wait until they get here. There's no way that they'll be able to transfer all of us to an actual prison before my friends get here... I hope..." Another sneeze, another thunderclap, another thud, another "ow..."

Did Kesshin's ears deceive him? That response didn't inspire confidence nor patience, "Give me something thin enough and I can pick our locks and be done with this. All this waiting around is boring me to tears." Kesshin usually had something but he was relieved of anything useful he had on his person when he was knocked unconscious and imprisoned. Kesshin laid on his side to contain his patience, "Whats with you anyway? Do you have like allergies or somethin? All that loud boomin', you might be able to blow the cell door down."

"No, I just have overly sensitive sinuses," Squeak sniffled. "And they clear out all thin pieces of metal or wood. They're not a prison, but they're extra thorough to make sure we don't get anything we can use to escape. They don't even give us forks or other utensils when giving food... and it's always soft and sticky. It really doesn't mix well with my fur..." Another sneeze, thunder, crash, and moan of pain.

Shizuku was walking down the halls of the Widow's Peak marine base. Since returning, she had changed back into her commander's uniform, her coat billowing behind her like a cape, but something seemed to bother her. Her occupation had led her down a path of constant lies and deceit, doing things most people wouldn't be proud of, but that's not what weighed heavily on her mind.

"Hey! Shizuku!" Regis called as he ran up next to her.

"Oh... it's you."

"Don't sound so disappointed to see me. After all, I am royalty!"

"Yeah, that's never come up before."

The two walked, side-by-side, but in silence for a few more moments.

"So I hear the captain's going to recommend you for promotion," said Regis. "I mean, I think that I should've gotten one first, but congratulations, regardless, even if they deny him. You might end up getting transferred off the base, which just leaves more glory for me! I'm sure I could do your job so much better."

"Really?" said Shizuku. "You're willing to fornicate with pirates?"

"Oh god no! Wait, do you...?"

Shizuku shrugged her shoulders.

"Disgusting! You would never, on my life—!" he coughed, stopping himself before he went too far. "Anyway, the idea of getting a promotion doesn't seem to enthuse you that much."

"Yeah. I guess I just like where I am now."

The two were suddenly parted as Chord walked right through them.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" called Regis. "I'm royalty! Or did you forget!"

Chord didn't even slow down as he continued on towards his destination.

Regis scoffed. "Whatever. Damn robot."

"Wait," said Shizuku, didn't Barton tell Chord to watch the prisoners? Where's he headed?"

A young woman looked through a telescope towards the island, the spire that earned it the name "Widow's Peak" was front and center. Although, it was the marine stronghold at the mountain's base that drew her attention.

"Spine!" a man on the ship called. "What's her status?"

"Squeak's fine," she said, her voice dreamy and detached, not taking the telescope away from her eye. "Plenty of activity, she keeps hopping around. And it looks like she's talking to someone." She began to move the telescope, slowly, as if scanning the marine base. "Defenses aren't weak, but they operate off of the assumption they'd be able to see us coming."

"Excellent," said the man. He rose from the barrel he had been seated upon, revealing a monstrous and massive visage. The movement of his joints sounded almost like metal scraping against metal. "You start the fireworks here. Aim for their leadership and take them down. Tank and I will make a beeline for Squeak."

A pink-skinned man with a tentacle on his head stood up. He moved to crack his knuckles, but there wasn't exactly a sound that was produced, despite the stiffness his body produced. "Are we taking this one over?"

"The commodore says that our Paradise forces are spread a bit thin right now." What appeared to be the man's lips curled into the shape of a smile, once again creating the sound of creaking metal. "I'm sure the pirates in this part of the seas would appreciate the removal of a potential obstacle."

## About Freedom

Barton was calmly sitting in his captain's chair. He wasn't on a ship, but the base on Widow's Peak had a very comfortable "bridge", which acted more like an officer's lounge than anything else. Of course, it was also where the marines made their calls.

"*The pirates you seem to have captured don't have a bounty*," said the person on the other side of the Den Den Mushi, "*of course piracy is still a crime. I believe you said they all had Devil Fruit abilities.*"

"Yes sir," Barton answered.

"*Well then, we'll make special accommodations for them. They'll be getting sent to a lower security prison. I hope that you can hold onto them for the next three days while we send a transport your way.*"

"Thank you, sir," said Barton, "it shouldn't be anything we can't handle. We've got them locked down tight."

"*Very well. See you in three days.*" There was a click and the snail returned to sleep.

The door to the lounge suddenly slammed open.

"Jeez, Chord!" Barton shouted, "next time knock first."

"Captain Barton, I have urgent news," he said.

"Well what is it!"

"The pirate captured two days ago, known as Squeak, is a member of the Everything Pirates. In addition, the other pirates, self-designated the Wreckage Pirates, are also affiliates of the crew."

"What?"

As if on cue, something flew through the window, striking one of the officers in the head. Barton immediately dropped to the ground. A few others attempted to as well, but others found themselves falling as well as they were shot themselves. Chord stood resolute, the shots ricocheting off of his armored chassis.

Barton crawled over the the first officer of his that had been hit, a hail of bullets still happening overhead. He rolled him onto his front to the see the damage. That is, until he noticed that there wasn't a bullet that was lodged in his head. It looked more like bone.

"Unseen ship detected," said Chord, "scanning... scanning... cloaked ship belonging to the Everything Pirates. Designation: The Ghostmaker. Captained by Beewolf."

"Return fire!" Barton called.

"Inadvisable with cloaking device in effect."

Bullets continued to fly overhead, just as the sound of cannonballs hitting their base began.

"Then get me out of here!"

Chord moved over to Barton, picking him up off onto his feet, using his own body as a shield between the bullets and Barton. They fled the lounge, with other marine officers doing their best to crawl after them.

Below ground in comparison to where it had began, the holding cells were only really exposed to a rumbling and the sound of cannon fire. That, and the prisoners were exposed to the occasional thunderous sneezes of Squeak.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm just excited! They're here! That's got to be them!"

Lazuli jumped up with glee filled with an impossible energy, given she was in seastone cuffs, she rushed over to Bonnabell and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. "You hear that Bonns? Those are chimes of chaos. Symbols of freedom. We're going to get out of here soon, I promise." she said, before turning to look at the cell bars "Easy to say, they royally fucked up bringing us here" she said, determined, before shouting over to Squeak "Oh, it's a pun because she's a princess, Squeaky...I kinda, do that..." she said, looking back and forth, kind of awkwardly.

Kesshin continued to lay quietly, he had nothing to contribute to the conversation, Lazuli had enough excitement for him and Bonny in his opinion. He would simply observe with one eye open for a moment before closing them again. A beast of prey, he simply waited for his cage to be opened and his shackles to be loosed before he could run wild and sink his teeth into suspecting and unsuspecting flesh alike. They tried to rid him of his primal nature, but in reality they only made it worse.

The real Kesshin on the other would capitalize on the commotion to bring Starlight around to pick up their crewmates when the time was right. During that time he had Starlight fall back and assist her with temporary repairs via his fruit as the ship continued to recover on its own, replacing Kesshin's temporary planks with her own. The interior was still not fully repaired but that could come later, the hull had priority.

The rumbling above seemed to get louder and louder, the vibrations growing in strength as well. And the sounds of crumbling rock were getting closer and closer until–

From the ceiling, a black figure dropped, dust and debris falling with him. He slammed onto the ground, producing the sound of a hammer hitting granite. The figure rose to its feet, staring down the Wreckage Pirates, a monster with black skin, appearing more similar to metal than to flesh. Her flared his nostrils, steam coming out from them.

"Oops, wrong cell," he said.

"Beewolf!" called Squeak.

"Squeak!" he immediately stopped paying attention to the Wreckage Pirates as he walked back over to the cell next door.

Not long after Beewolf, another massive and muscular figure appeared in front of the Wreckage Pirates. His skin was pink, and he still had the consistency of skin. All things considered, he looked like less of a monster than his companion.

"Oh, Lazuli, right?" said Tank. "What are you doing here?"

Lazuli stepped back as the ceiling caved in, letting the dust settle. The first man was someone she didn't recognize, but he seemed to be friends with Squeak, seeing as how they practically ran to eachother. The next man however was very familiar to Lazuli, one of the first people she met on her journey as a pirate.

She smirked "Play it up all you want, Tank." she commented, stepping closer to the man "We both know I'm what you came for." she said confidently. It was a side to Laz that, no one here had really seen, on character for her to turn emotionally on a dime, but this version of her was, different. She tilted her head and pouted, holding out her cuffed hands "Did you bring me a key? Or..." she poked him "Did you wanna leave these on me a little longer?" she said, really phoning in the flirtatious pressure she pressed on the man.

Tank cocked his head to the side, raising the ridge where one of his eyebrows would be. "I didn't even know you were here. I just came to get my friend."

As Tank gestured towards Beewolf, who was just out of sight for the Wreckage Pirates if they were to stay further in their cell, the metallic beast put his hands around the bars and started to pull. Although, it didn't take long for him to give up on this endeavor.

"The bars are made of Seastone," said Squeak, "you won't be able to pull it apart that easily."

"Damn..." Beewolf seemed to ponder this statement for a moment before snapping his fingers. Although the sound was more akin to someone lightly hitting some sheet metal. "Is the wall made from Seastone too?"

"No."

Beewolf's metal mouth groaned as it curled into a smile. He put his hands onto the Seastone bars once again and started to pull. Except, this time, he wasn't trying to pry the bars open. He began slowly taking steps back, pulling with all his might. It didn't take long for the bars to begin to slide across the ceiling and floor. And in one more tug, the bars that made up Squeak's cell were gone.

"Beewolf!" She ran out to greet the pirate ship captain. She moved to throw her arms around him, but it soon became clear that she was bound as well by Seastone cuffs. Beewolf met her halfway, wrapping his arms around her. It was now that the other pirate crew could see their new ally. She was completely covered in fur, turquoise in most places, but her lower jaw and the bottoms of her arms were white. Her nails were also long claws and she had medium-length, blonde hair. She bore the overall appearance of a fox.

"Oh yeah, we should let these guys out too," she said, "they're the... the... A-choo!" she sneezed, and suddenly disappeared in a burst of electricity. The sounder of thunder followed, and she was suddenly at a completely different part of the hall. "Well... at least I won't be hitting the walls anymore."

"They're the Wreckage Pirates," said Tank, "the one Avery told us to watch out for."

"Ah, yes, I believe you mentioned them before. Well, step away from the bars then. Tank, let's get them out."

Beewolf and Tank both placed their arms on the bars. Working together, it didn't take them long to pull the bars from the Wreckage Pirates' cell. They were free now... aside from the Seastone bindings that they still wore.

Kesshin now sitting up with legs crossed watched the scenes unfold quietly with a dumbfounded look on his face as he'd look back and forth between his captain and Tank. Her demeanor was quite amusing and almost even feminine as opposed to her regular behavior. At any rate, the three were interesting, not like the common filth that Kesshin came across on a regular basis, and that was in terms of aesthetic and in strength.

At the sight of the bars being pulled from their foundation Kesshin finally decided it was time to get up, "What a cast of characters we have here." He was referring to all of them including himself, "Thank you, for the save." he gave his usual smile double-sided smile and walked out of the cell. He looked around but of course there was nothing he could use to free himself, "I'm going to head further up. If we're as lucky as we are now they may have something I can use to pick the locks or even better, a spare set of keys tucked away." He looked down the hall as he continued to walk and talk, "I'm sure we'll most likely be seeing Shizuku, the cyborg and the marine that knocked me out here soon, once they figure out the priority was to release Squeak." His eyes dulled with killing intent and his voice grew cold, "I'd rather be ready to wreck... Unless you two took care of them already?"

As Kesshin made his assertion, Beewolf had already gotten to work on Squeak's cuffs. One of his fingernails elongated before he jabbed it into the key hole, wiggling it around in there. It wasn't much longer before the sound of a "click" resounded, and the cuffs feel to the floor.

"Thank you Beewolf!" She wrapped her arms around him and held him a tight embrace, one which he reciprocated. For a moment, it seemed as though the violent temperament of the pirate ship captain had been tamed, a tender moment between two beasts. The scene even brought a tear to Tank's eye.

"So beautiful," he said, as he wiped it away.

When Beewolf and Squeak ended their embrace, they turned to the Wreckage Pirates. Particularly Kesshin. "Oh, you got your cuffs covered? That's fine, just make sure to give us the cuffs if you don't want to keep 'em."

Kesshin turned again, Squeak's cuffs were off, "Yeah, unless you feel like helping out a stranger some more?" He said with a smirk holding his arms up. Kesshin was used to having to take care of himself given his background, but how would any of them know that? It was his natural impulse but he also liked working smarter not harder, unless he had a point to make. "If all you want are the cuffs take them. Toting them around right now would be a bit of a hassle for me anyway." He would walk back to Beewolf and would wait his turn if Beewolf was going around.

With Kesshin offering himself up first, Beewolf simply shrugged and got to work. It didn't take him much longer before each member of the Wreckage Pirates were freed from their bonds. And those same bonds were now fastened to the belts of three of the most visually interesting people this crew may have seen.

"Always good to acquire some Seastone if you can," he said. "So, do you guys wanna just get out of here, or do you want to live up to the name your captain gave your crew?"

Kesshin rolled his wrists then his fingers, and finally his hands began to pulsate and digitize, "As I said before... I'm ready to wreck." He clenched his fists and they returned to normal. He looked over to his captain, "But ultimately the decision is yours Lazuli. I'm certain I'm, well the real me has Starlight on standby, and is cooking something up for your safe arrivals ready to swing by and pick you up." He nudged her, "Oooor you can spend more time with Tank~ What say you, captain?" he teased her aloud for Tank to hear.

Bonny wordlessly picked her pumpkin-sized head up once it was free of the shackles. Once completely free of seastone, the Princess snugged her head down firmly on her shoulders. She didn't know who these other people were. Strangers. Enemies. Prey. It didn't matter. They were a two in her mind. Only Kesshin and Laz mattered. Only the ship mattered. Only getting out of here mattered.

Staring at Beewolf wordlessly, Bonny licked her lips, her tongue long and slimy, wiping her face clean before she moved past him. Whatever he said would fall on deaf ears. She only wanted out of here. More time to hunt. More time... MORE... to hunt... TO HUNT... Hunting...

**click**

Something snapped in her head, in her tiny predatory brain. Something between instinct and need. The beginning of something extraordinary within the Piranha Mama. She just needed time and opportunity to grow now. She waited for someone, one of her handlers, to tell her what to do.

As her bond were removed and her strength return to her, Lazuli smirked. Really, her silly persona had left finally, leaving behind only the Wreck that she was known as. "It's not that we aren't grateful, but I'd prefer if you didn't get in the way." she commented. "You can leave..." she said to Beewolf, moving to stand next to Kesshin and Bonny. "We've got playtime to see to." she said, giving a laugh.

"Bonny, every mother fucker you see in white? Make it red." she ordered, growling a bit before looking to Kesshin. "I want the one in charge. Don't touch him." she commanded with a smirk. She began running toward the nearest door, and up a flight of stairs, not a damn thing was going to stop her from barreling through this entire base.

The metallic grin of Beewolf seemed to widen. "Now that's what I like to hear!" he shouted. "Although, we're not going to be leaving yet. Not until this base is a pile of rubble. But we won't stop you from enacting your grudge." He turned to his own companions. "Tank, Squeak, let's make sure they regret ever doing harm to the Everything Pirates!"

"Yeah!" The other two pirates cheered, the Everything Pirates headed towards the exit as well.

Bonny grinned wide, her smile making her head split at the middle. Nodding to Lazuli, she gnashed her teeth. "I can do that." She clapped excitedly, but turned towards the doorway and dashing through. She was hunting for something. A kitchen. She had a stupid, dumb, childish idea that needed form before she was caught again.

And there it was. The huge table that the soldiers of the base all ate at. Giggling, she pulled her head off, holding it in her hands **like a chainsaw, mouth chewing away rapidly.** "Alright, Chewy Head. Let's make something... Piranha-wonderful... Mommy wants something dangerous."

Just as Bonny appeared to be ready to start her meal, rapid footfalls would sound behind her. The marines were mobilizing, yes, but why would any of them be headed towards the kitchen? Running right through the doorway, and halting as soon as they saw the pirate, were Shizuku and Regis.

"Oh great, like this couldn't get any worse," said Shizuku.

"This is the one that Chord caught, isn't it?" said Regis. "Shouldn't be too hard then."

"Don't underestimate her, she's stronger than she looks."

"Oh please!" said Regis, shifting into his hybrid form. "I'm royalty after all. This should be a piece of cake." He pointed towards Bonny. "You! Pirate! Come quietly, or else we're be authorized to use lethal force!"

Bonny turned towards Regis, eyes wide in the head she held in her hands. She heard their talk from the hallway. Words that would have been ignored by others.

Replacing her head on her neck, she started walking towards Regis, arms swaying underneath her. "Royalty. Cake." She looked at him with doll eyes. "Royalty! CAKE! MAKE WHITE RED!" She screamed a hunting cry that would make a commoner's ears bleed, her speed and force a magnitude higher than when she first fought Chord. Direction. Orders. Focus. Hungry. Hunting.

Jumping on top of the table, she lunged using her arms and legs to propel her like a bullet towards Regis. "I AM ROYALTY! YOU ARE CAKE! MAKE ANYTHING WHITE INTO RED! BE RED, CAKE!"

There was no hesitation in Regis' movements. He brought forward a swift kick, right towards Bonny's head. Even with her jaws open he expected the sheer force to knock her silly, sending her back and away from the marine royal. Although, he soon would find that Bonny was, in fact, not sent flying away from him. There was a moment of confusion, followed by a sharp pain in his leg. He looked down to see blood dripping down as Bonny had sunken her teeth into his flesh.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Regis shrieked. "GET HER OFF!"

Even though Regis was knowledgeable in Rokushiki, his **Tekkai** wasn't exactly up to ask in this situation. It would prevent Bonny from sinking in her teeth much deeper, but it certainly wasn't his forte. If she continued to sink her teeth in, he might not get to keep the leg. Fortunately, he wasn't alone.

Shizuku immediately ran over to help her comrade. She reached out to grab Bonny by the back of the head and hopefully pry her jaws open. Although the last time she attempted to use her powers had proven less than successful, she knew full-well how they worked on Bonny. She had eaten the Haku Haku no Mi, which allowed her to absorb the nutrients of others through physical contact. This was what had weakened the Wreckage Pirates before they had arrived at Widow's Peak in the first place. And the longer the contact, the more nutrients should would absorb. Hopefully, she would weaken Bonny fast enough that she wouldn't get the chance to bite through Regis' leg.

Bonny wasn't even aware that Shizuku was there, but as soon as she was touched on the back of the head, she would let go and spin her head in place. This would drag her teeth through Regis's leg, unless he had managed to fully activate his Tekkai. If he had, she would instead leave the broken and jagged teeth to fester in his leg. Either way, she would grow a new set of teeth just in time to try and take a piece out of Shizuku. Blood was gulped and torn flesh swallowed in equal ease as Bonny's strength continued to grow instead of diminish. The more calories that were stolen from her, the more bestial her desperation and frenzy.

Because piranhas became the most dangerous the closer to starvation they became. And right now, Piranha Mama was desperate for food.

Regis let out another shout of pain as Bonny raked her teeth across his leg. His Tekkai was at least partially activated, with a few teeth staying in his leg as opposed to Bonny's mouth. But that clearly didn't slow down the apex predator. Her next target was Shizuku, whose reaction speed was at least a little bit faster than Regis' since she was more prepared. Although, she only really had time to put up her arm as an offering as opposed to letting her bite off her hand or into a more vital area. But she'd soon realize that her teeth sunk much less deeply than they did with Regis.

Shizuku wasn't a fast mover, at least not at first, her forte was fiddling down her opponents over time. And that was particularly useful against enemies that required physical contact for their attacks to work. Her Tekkai had been activated, even if it was later than would have prevented Bonny from injuring her in the first place. But to Shizuku, this was the better option. The power of the Haku Haku no Mi would drain Bonny's strength the longer they were in contact, but that would also increase the amount of power Shizuku had at her disposal. The more nutrients she absorbed, the more physically mighty she became. Bonny was hungry, but so was Shizuku. It was the entire reason she had come to the kitchen after the battle had begun in the first place. Bonny became more dangerous the more desperate she became, but Shizuku would become more powerful by that same metric. Shizuku stared unflinchingly into the eyes of the beast, even as the blood ran down her arm and dropped onto the ground.

Bonny didn't care. She had prepared to bite into something hard. Her hatred for the arm of the cyborg had been on her brain. And she had figured something out to pierce the armor of her enemy.

Her body rushed towards where her head was still biting into Shizuku. Not minding the damage she would do to herself, she smashed the front of her face between her elbow and her knee at the same time. Her newly minted technique, Metaruchu (Metal Munch), had been born in this desperation, forcing her teeth through even the toughest of materials that her normal bite couldn't get through. Her first step onto the Evolutionary Stage of changing from spoilt princess to Pirate Bloodhound.

More blood spurted from Shizuku's wound, her knees buckling. She groaned in pain. Now she was really backed into a corner. At this point, loosening her Tekkai to pry off Bonny might mean she'd lose the arm. Even so, she didn't seem to be willing to back down yet. After all, she wasn't fighting alone.

"**Boshigan!**" Regis had flown in, aiming a strike to the side of Bonny's head with a rapid and strong kick. While a variation of the **Shigan** technique, the force was mostly blunted, so it wouldn't pierce through her skull. Although it would likely rattle her brain and potentially give her a concussion. It was a simple attack, the one used to nearly defeat her captain when the Wreckage Pirates were first captured, with the express purpose of getting Bonny to loosen her grip so that the follow through would send Bonny flying away and into a wall, away from his pale ally.

Bonny's eyes were made for hunting, and she had not forgotten about Regis. Oh no, instead, his taste lingered on her lips something sweep. Her instinct wanted to bite deeper, but something underneath was making her sick, making the hunger and tired worse. So she let go, but she was at a bad angle, and the kick took her in the head anyways, sending her head bouncing around the kitchen before smashing into the refrigerator, crumbling the door. The fridge rocked back and fell backwards onto the floor, her body 'watching' on nervously.

Most of the time, even if your goal wasn't exactly to take the target alive, suddenly decapitating your foe was something incredibly surprising and often horrifying. Fortunately for the marines, they had seen her take her own head off already. It didn't seem like a death sentence for the pirate, especially if her body was still wandering around.

Shizuku immediately moved to put Bonny's body in a grapple, to continue to sap its nutrients until it could no longer stand. "Go take care of the head!" she said to Regis.

"Don't tell me what to do!" he shouted back, lightly landing, so as to not aggravate his leg wound. He limped over to the fridge, but it wasn't for Bonny he was reaching. He reached for the back of the fridge, and with a strong heave, knocked it over, hoping to crush, or at least trap, the head underneath the fridge. Fridges do kill more people annually than sharks.

The green light was given, dibs off the main guy, Kesshin didn't even remember who that was to be honest. He didn't speak just a sinister smile on his lips with a nod. The Wreckage Pirates had their assignments, Kesshin figured he'd watch over Bonny, not to say she needed his watch, but knowing the captain she'd go sniff out the big boss leaving him with nothing to do. But Bonny? He could see that she ran on pure instinct and adrenaline sometimes, there was no telling what kind of fun she'd lead him too. But before that Kesshin needed a window.

*"Doga Doga no mi: Shroud"* He began to glow digital energy flow until slowly it looked as though his skin was changing colors until finally he was cloaked, it wasn't and he could still be perceived if well observed but it would have to do. He trailed behind Bonny as she wreaked havoc but happen to spot a window. He clenched the palm of his hand, *"Doga Doga no mi: Magic Make: Bird"* then he opened generating a small green bird and sending it on its way out of the window into the sky. He hoped it would find his intended target soon. Maybe he was too cautious or an overthinker despite his apathetic attitude, but its how he's survived for so long. What he was feeling right now though was less apathy and more lust.

Hearing a scream not too far for help and to "GET HER OFF" Kesshin followed assuming that Bonny found prey. Came in subtly on watching Bonny holding her own again two seemingly high level marines, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw her, he couldn't help but grin widely! *Doga Doga no mi: Magic Make Guillotine*, Kesshin's inner arm forged a cleaving blade on it, and he made mad dash for Shizuku. His cloak shedding off as if his body was forming out of thin air, his arm was already extended in a close line as eyes shimmering with bloodlust and excitement to see her. Bonny's head was already off so Kesshin had a clear shot at Shizuku. He couldn't allow Bonny to be drained, but he just wanted to see Shizuku even more, "Shi-zu-ku...! I've found you!"

It's dark in here... Safe? No. Food? Yes. This was like home.

**"Idiot Princess!"** A sharp kick. **"A Princess does not do what others can do for her!"**

I don't understand. I was just getting a snack.

Another sharp kick. **"IDIOT PRINCESS! One does not get a snack! One has others bring them snacks! Drinks! Clothes and luxury!"**

Bonny's body shivered in fear. It 'looked' towards Regis, waving frantically to him. Glancing around, the Princess's body dove into a nearby cupboard.

A crunching could be heard as the Piranha's head inside the fridge started eating... and...

**"You must feel the royalty in your blood, you idiot Princess! It must become NATURAL to you. INSTINCTIVE."**

**PRIMAL.**

Bonny's bright yellow eyes peeked out towards Regis from the dark inside of the fridge, blinking slightly. "Marine Man. I promise to savor every bite. Ittadakkimatsu." Another dozen eyes blinked open in the darkness of the broken ice cabinet. "Ancient Hunting Technique: Court of the Crimson Queen."

Bursting forward from the fridge, six small, bullet-fast piranha, the size of a fist, emerged towards Regis. They were HARD, tiny versions of the ancient Piranhas that Bonny had become. With either a hit or a miss, they would tear a chunk of material from their target, or whatever they hit behind them, and swim back towards the fridge.

Regis' eyes widened at the school of fish, flying through the air towards him. "**Kami-e!**" he shouted, his body suddenly going limp like a noodle as it moved to automatically avoid the piranhas. Even so, at such a close range and with so little time to prepare, he felt the teeth of the fish take out small chunks of flesh on his sides. He flew up into the air, kicking wildly, at least with his good leg, and sending off several air blades towards the source of the piranhas. "**Rankyaku!**" The exact position of Bonny's head wasn't particularly clear, but that's why he was kicking as much as he could. He wanted to make sure to cut up that head.

At the same time, as the body tried to move into a cupboard, Shizuku had been reaching out for it, intent on siphoning off as much nutrients as she could. But then she heard his voice. It made her skin crawl, a moment of hesitation that allowed Bonny to escape her reach. It was the same kind of taunting she had heard from so many other pirates before. And that made her eyes go blank.

"**Tekkai!**" The axe would hit her neck, but it wouldn't pierce her skin. If anything, it would be more likely to break on impact. Kesshin had previously attempted to crush her arm, but even then, her Tekkai had proven sturdy enough to withstand it. And now she had siphoned off an ample amount of nutrients from Bonny. It made her skin harder, and the wound that had been inflicting on her arm was already beginning to scab. She whirled around, facing the pirate that had it out for her, and reached to grab him by the throat. As soon as her fingers were wrapped around him, whether he retaliated or not, she'd take the air with **Geppo**, before rocketing herself back down with enough force to crack the floor, adding in some more **Tekkai** to increase the strength of her attack. A switch had been flipped on the pale woman, and she was out for blood. And considering the fact that the last time she had touched Kesshin, her powers failed to absorb any nutrients from him, as well as her new knowledge that this one was likely a fake, there was no reason to hold back at all. She wanted to utterly destroy him.

Bonny's fishhead emerged from fridge, wriggling free of the twisted metal as it was cut apart by the Rankyaku. The usually massive noggin was now sleek and small, darting around more like a lamprey or eel than a piranha. It dripped blood from cuts across the body, but the Ancient Toughness of the Megapiranha protected the otherwise soft and squishable princess. With her body free, her head snapped back to her core, with the tiny piranhas returning back to her and filling her mouth up with pieces of debris and Regis.

Swallowing, she grinned at Regis before squatting down low to the ground, giving her more chance to avoid the kicks. "I like the way you move, slime... I wonder if that changes the flavor." Cheeks puffing out, she took aim at the Marine before firing baby piranhas from her mouth like bullets, taking careful timing to lead him and surround him.

Kesshin's arm made contact but there was no effect and she seemed stronger, he loved it. He still had a free hand, so as she reached for his neck Kesshin placed his palm face down at her right thigh. As she took him up the inside of his palm swirled with digital power and his neck began to glow, *Doga Doga no mi: Magic Make Stake & Piston*. Out of Kesshin palm launched a whirling steel stake looking to drill into Shizuku's thigh. While on his neck, cylindrical piece shot out on each side to push Shizuku's grip free, not enough to push her back outright but just enough that with the force of the stake and the loosening of her grip he could pull back just before takedown. He couldn't let her claim a blow that easily, he still had to be careful. He generated translucent foot plates for himself. He could feel it... she wanted to kill him, didn't matter the reason.

The armor skin was a problem... Kesshin's hands began to glow again and he pointed them out like he was extending two guns, "*Doga Doga no mi: Magic Make Marksman*." He fired rounds digital energy that formed into rifle rounds with pointed tips. He was going to to break that technique or at the very least break the skin, "Lets try the far game." He remember she had one technique she could use from a far, he'd at least watch out for that.

Regis was flying in the air, dodging, bobbing and weaving the fish as he could. He had seen them tear chunks out of his flesh already and wasn't keen on allowing that to continue. He returned fire against Bonny whenever he could with **Rankyaku**, a few, smaller slashes, hoping to cut up Bonny now that she was a larger target. Although his aim wasn't perfect, on account of all the dodging, and the few additional lucky shots Bonny got in that further carved him up, he was expecting to be able to get at least a few clean shots onto the prehistoric fish with attacks of his own.

At the same time, as Kesshin's stake was sent out, Shizuku changed her stance, moving it out of the immediate vicinity of being outright skewered. There was a glancing blow, but it housed more blunt damage than piercing. Her original plan wasn't particularly viable anymore, but that didn't mean that she was out of options. After all, she had a free hand as well. She whirled around somewhat, spinning, before thrusting forward with her other hand, aiming towards Kesshin's gut, not with a fist, but with a finger. "**Shigan...!**" Their information didn't state how durable this clone was, but it had withstood a blow from Barton's arrows earlier, not to mention all the different techniques it was still able to pull off. So she was aiming for this technique to be as strong as powerful as it could be. To help her close the gap, she bounced off the air, increasing her speed even further with **Soru**. She was like a lance with her finger being the tip of the spear, aiming to break through before he could fire off his ranged attack. "...**Shoroko Hoko!**" She wasn't just trying to pierce the skin, she was trying to go straight through him.

Bonny wasn't fast enough to dodge attacks that she couldn't even see. And her natural toughness had a limit to it. Her body, usually cowardly, was taking heavy damage from the rapid slashes, and attached like her head was, if she detached again, her body would flee the area again. She grit her teeth, watching Kesshin pushing himself to fight that bitch who betrayed them. Her Captain and best friend... Her private chef and best friend... that big guy in the hold and best friend... If she let Regis get to Kesshin, they would all go away. No more snuggles and baths with Laz. No more fish from Kesshi-poo. No more peeping on Weegi when he was getting dressed.

The small piranhas in the air returned back to Bonny's head, swelling her head up to full, and more. It started ballooning up, and from her squat position, it was now the size of her torso. "Body... I know you and I don't always agree, but we have to protect our crew. If they take them, no more comfort. So let's work together. TO MAKE ANYTHING WHITE, RED." Again her head detached from her body, but her arms grabbed the fishhead as it started 'swimming' frantically against her pulling. "Ancient... Hunting... Technique..."

She could fly she was fast and deadly. She was the type of enemy he was taught to avoid when he was younger, but somehow always ended up facing. Kesshin's foot panels disappeared as his body shifted backwards like he fell off a ledge. She was moving to fast and was a bit too close for him to anticipate where she was aiming, but she wasn't the only one who could fortify. As he went her attack grazed his chest and his chin revealing a green coating around him similar to a translucent shell or armor. a scratch mark up his chest and a crack at his chin, the armor wasn't as good as the original especially spread out but it'd have to do. This was a battle of life and death for him and if he vanished Bonny would again be fending two off at once. His aim was never to stall so he would try and end this before he got here. Still falling Kesshin resumed his attack. This time his back glowed and golden wings sprouted, *Doga Doga no mi: Magic Make Beast*. He unleashed a new volley of rounds at Shizuku. His tricks were vast and he was adaptable if she continued flying around he'd just have to adjust. He would zip around the air using the walls and his wings as a break to change angles, he would also try to shoot to anticipate where Shizuku would end up, he wasn't sure whether or not she could abruptly stop mid motion.

"What the hell!" Regis shouted as Bonny's head began "swimming" in pursuit of him. "Screw this!" He began flapping his wings wildly as he flew away from Bonny. "Shizuku! Can we switch?"

Shizuku curled up into a ball, slowing her momentum as she headed towards the ceiling, using it like a spring board to jump off it and back towards Kesshin. But a melee attack wasn't her goal this time. She maneuvered in midair, generating a fair deal of kinetic force, and sending that ranged attack Kesshin had been worried about flying downwards toward him. "**Rankyaku Hakurai!**" It was a strong kick with both legs, sending a large blade down towards him with the intent to bisect him down the middle. She had withstood a few of Kesshin's bullets, but they failed to pierce too deeply into her skin. And while she was already healing from the attack, she couldn't withstand too many attacks like this and regenerate, not without regaining some nutrients first.

"Fine." Shizuku jumped off the air, straight into the path of Bonny. She reached out her hand, aiming to grab the piranha princess on the top of her forehead while she was distracted by chasing Regis. Her ferocity had proven dangerous before, so she was more prepared to retract her hand and grab something else should she attempt to bite her again, but her primary goal was getting a hand on her to feed.

Regis had been flapping his wings harder and harder, speeding up more and more to avoid Bonny. The secretary bird wasn't a species well-known for its flight speed, but using the elements of **Soru**, he had developed a new technique that allowed him to fly much faster. "**Soru! Brave Bird!**" He was flying towards him faster than a raptor (the bird of prey), before bringing up his foot to deliver a devastating and lightning quick block to Kesshin's chest. "**Boshigan! Tsumeo!**"

There it was, but nothing Kesshin couldn't outmaneuver simply by shifting his body with his wings seeing it zoom down his face instead of between his eyes and down the middle. He stopped firing, he saw it was slightly affective but still. Kesshin could only assume she couldn't hold that state for too much longer, but he had no time to test this hypothesis. Kesshin squinted at the notion of them switching targets he had no idea who the other one was but he didn't want him. Kesshin dashed toward Shizuku, he knew right now it was probably bad for someone like Bonny to fight Shizuku, being what her power was. But it was more annoying that she wanted to stop playing with him.

"*Doga Doga no mi...*" something small was generating in his hand, he charged toward Shizuku knowing he wouldn't reach but he didn't have to. Seeing Regis coming at him in the air with a kick Kesshin braced himself and maneuvered his glowing palm at the kick, it was heavy, "*Condensed Screen Barrier*..." His hand felt like it was on fire... but most of the attack was absorbed by the two barrier panels he generated. Kesshin could make up to three at one time though... *"Th-Thats one..."* he kept count. Once Kesshin had absorbed the impact of the kick. He extend his other palm and the moment Shizuku extended her hand to touch Bonny his final light screen would reject her the touch she might have desperately needed to sap Bonny and feed herself.

"No switching" Kesshin said coldly, his eyes finally on Regis with a look of inferiority about him. Kesshin pressed the panels on Regis' foot and they wrapped around a glow forming once more before Regis could see a ball and chain dropping from his foot down the the ground. The look of it was deceiving making sure to displace most of the weight in the chain rather than than ball. At the very least the chain wouldn't break so easily even with that kicking technique they used and he'd be more easy pickings. Kesshin pushed away from Regis letting him deal with the struggle of the ball and chain, "Bonny dinner is ready; the menu, a bird of prey." He would turn his attention back to his actual opponent, "Shizuku, our fights not done." the liveliness came back to his voice, he didn't even notice his hand was still shaking a bit from the impact with Regis.

Bonny nodded to Kesshin as he spoke. "Bird of prey!? I LOVE CHICKEN! ANCIENT HUNTING TECHNIQUE: O-SHOKU BANSAN- DINNER OF KINGS!" She finally fired her massive, inflated Piranha-Head like a cannon, letting her body fall away to give her head the maximum amount of speed and power she could muster up. All of her smaller piranhas had returned and fed her head. Spinning as she drilled towards Regis like the world's angriest, hungriest homing missile, the air-current around her started to pull things in towards her, but her eyes never left Regis. She would now hunt him to the ends of the oceans until her hunger for him was sated.

As soon as Regis felt his foot collide with Kesshin's barrier, he also felt it crumple. And as he was using his wings to maintain his spot in the air, it was quite simple to deliver another kick with his other leg. A second **Boshigan** in the same spot, equal in strength to the first one. But before he could launch another attack, to either break the barrier or finish off his adversary, he felt a sudden ball and chain wrap around his ankle. He was strong enough to carry it, but the sudden increase in weight still made him drop a few feet right off the bat. The opening just wide enough for Bonny to launch her attack. He could feel it coming. He didn't need a sixth sense to feel the unsettling maw of that piranha coming right back at him. "**Tekkai!**" But even that proved to be insufficient. He felt a massive gash open up on his side. His body started to feel rather cold and his eyes went blank.

"Regis!" Shizuku shouted. She bounced off of the barrier that Kesshin had created in front of her, augmenting her speed with **Geppo** and **Soru**, the combined technique **Kamisori**, which allowed her to fly through the air with speed greatly multiplied. And that increased speed helped turn her into a ballistic missile as she was headed straight for Kesshin. She had a good feeling of his barrier previously, so she knew how much power would be necessary to break through the at this point. And if Regis' kick could cause them to bend, Shizuku's was certainly about to make them break. "**Tekkai! Rin!**" She brought her foot down in an axe kick, aiming to bring it down on the clone Kesshin's head. To get at least one threat out of the way, the one hyper-fixated on her, before she turned her attention to Regis, plucking out of the air and headed for the door.

But as this happened, all the fighters in the room were reminded of something. That the battle that they were having was one of many on this island. The sounds of battle got louder and louder, until a cannonball suddenly flew through the air overhead. And suddenly, the ceiling was beginning to cave in.

Bonny had only just reattached her head, licking her lips and looking pleased with herself, before she realized that the roof was falling. She readied herself to try and bite or chew through, but she was tired. DEAD tired. Her body felt heavy, like she was moving through mud, and her vision was blurry. Panting, she stared up nervously, biting her lower lip and grinning in fear. "Uh... K-Kesshin... save me? Again? Please?"

Shizuku came at Kesshin with incredible speed, he didn't have time for a full retreat. He descended while pulling back to create more time for himself as Shizuku closed in. He formed a small under each of his feet to stabilize himself to brace for a strong impact. Folding his arms above his head, he reinforced his defense by also placing his wings above his arms and changing their properties to steel; this was all he could do on such short notice. Shizuku's kick would meet Kesshin's defense, clashing with it before his wings relented and his foot holds gave way, both shattering under the weight of her blow. Kesshin was launched down to the ground but still on his feet landing his feet creating cracked floor beneath him. Before to long he had nearly bent the knee, "*Tch, one left...*" he counted in his head his Doga Doga shield coating shedding and fading as they hit the floor.

"Better make this coun-" the base began to rumble and before they knew it the ceiling gave way, Bonny called out to him again, "Damn it I wasn't done." Despite that, he did say Kesshin would get her out of here and right now he was filling that role, it was partially the reason he followed behind her in the first place. His fee buckled for a moment as he took a big breath he dashed to Bonny. He was now in energy conservation mode, "*Doga Doga no mi: Magic Make Anatomy...*" Kesshin's jacket sleeves filled out forming two muscled arms. He reached Bonny scooping her up with his hands and smashing any oncoming falling debris with his sleeve hands. He secured her close to make sure she would be shielded from any impact that might occur. Taking a quick big breath his peripherals caught Shizuku moving to the door, he would go out the way they came, "Hold on tight 'princess'." with all his strength he kicked off in the opposite way from Shizuku.

Down the hall and though that window he could see his little green-feathered friend he let out before the skirmish. Moving as fast as he could even the floor beneath them was degrading and crumbling. Nearly there Kesshin lost his footing and they were falling, he had to sustain himself and Bonny so wings again were out of the question. *"I'm not going to fail here!"* in that moment he thought back to how Shizuku moved, flying without wings using their feet and her recent stunt, "Yeah, I can manage that." small panels appeared beneath Kesshin's feet, the instant he kicked off them they dissipated. Kesshin was now propelling them through the window is muscle arms breaking the wall first to create better space. clearing through the window he formed panels under his feet again redoing the same process as if he was taught by the marines himself.

Following the green bird he found the Starlight fully repaired and the real Kesshin was waiting for his crew's arrival. The clone touched down on deck his body showing signs of screen tearing and digital energy disintegrating from bit by bit. "Man that was a close one." He put Bonny down, "Oh... One last thing..." the clone's bird friend flew up in the sky before shimmering and exploding into green digital particles forming the Wreckage Pirates' jolly roger in the sky for Lazuli to see. With his work done Kesshin placed his arm on the clones shoulder and nodded, "Thank you." he said, the clone gave a small smirk, "Yeah... whatever." the clone turned into video particles and went into Kesshin, his eyes shinned green as he got the visual playback in his mind on fast forward, "Maybe another day we will play again then... Shizuku."

Before the video particles disappeared, Bonny hopped onto the deck and turned to the fading figure. She clapped her hands together and nodded her normal-shaped head again. It seemed that she had reverted back to her fully human form, her Ancient Devil Fruit in hiding for now. Head clear of bestial instincts, she cried and reached out to the fading figure. "Th-thank you for saving me!" As it faded, she sniffled and fell to her knees, sobbing and smashing her hands into the ground. "Stupid Kesshi-Clone..."

## Rust

Lazuli burst through to the next floor, only to be met with a firing squad pointed at her. **BANG, BANG, BANG**. The bullets hit her and puffed away into a rusting dust in the air. "Where- The Fuck- is your leader?" she asked, rushing forward grabbing one of the rifles, having it turn to dust in her hands before headbutting one of the marines, as her head contacted the man though, he broke apart like a statue, part of his head itself turning into rusting dust and his face rusting over where the wound would have been.

She turned to the next man "Where..." she demanded, repeating the action with his gun before stomping at his leg, breaking it off like a brittle rusted piece of metal, leaving residual rust at the wound area similar to the previous man, he screamed himself into a coma before she looked to the third man, who at this point was in a panicked scramble running away "Gotcha." Lazuli stated, before running after the man.

"Right here!"

As Lazuli ran towards the final marine, a beam of thermal energy flew towards her from the side. Down another hallway, his visor steaming from the shot he just fired off, was Chord. And just behind him was Barton.

"I'd prefer if you left my men out of this," said Barton, "as a matter of fact, I'd prefer if you just went back to your cell altogether and put your cuffs back on. It'd would make things so much easier for both of us."

Lazuli quickly slid on her knees narrowly avoiding what seemed to be a whole ass laser beam coming from Chord, she slowly stood up from her knees. "Yeah well, I'd prefer if you-" Lazuli began, before a cannonball barreled through the wall, hitting her, it immediately shattered into rust, filling the room with a rusty dust. As it began clearing, Lazuli stood, completely unharmed, rushing forward and jumping at Chord with a tackle "I'd prefer if you EAT MY BUTT!" she shouted.

"Chord," Barton began, "take her down. With extreme prejudice."

Chord's visor glowed. He had scanned Lazuli previously, but seeing her Devil Fruit ability in action seemed to unlock new data for her. "Scanning complete. Countermeasures ready." He planted his feet firmly on the ground, pulling back his open palm before sending it forward with a strong thrust, just before Lazuli would have made contact with him. Although, his fist didn't touch Lazuli, herself. Yet, she'd still feel the damage from the attack.

It wasn't so much external, as it would be internal. A shockwave would travel through her abdomen with the force of a palm strike from a Fish-Man cyborg. Whether or not Lazuli would be familiar with this technique or not, it would be clear what type of technique he was using to anyone that had been on the Grand Line long enough. Chord was a Fish-Man after all. And even though his free will had been taken away, he still knew how to use Fish-Man Karate.

"**Fish-Man Karate: Onitomakiei Penpen...**"

Lazuli was prepared to take a shot, just for a chance to touch Chord, what she wasn't expecting, was the shockwave internal damage that he was sending her way, she slammed downward into the floor, her abdomen was on fire, but she was running on pure adrenaline, she pushed herself up and leapt forward at the man, trying to wrap her limbs around the cybernetic man "Rust can be a bitch too..." she growled under her breath.

"**Teru Arrow!**" Barton shouted. A yellow arrow flew from his fingertip, flying towards Lazuli to strike her in the stomach, not dissipating initially to continue to push her backwards and into the wall before she could touch the cyborg. "Oh, so you're ignoring me again?" he said. "Go ahead and keep doing that. It'll make this all the more easy."

Lazuli was knocked away once again, their ranged attacks were already starting to make her skin crawl. She growled as she slowly stood back up. "I am Laz- the- Wreck...the Captain....and basis of destruction...for the Wreckage Pirates." she said, before falling her her knee and slamming her palm onto the floor "I do one thing. Wreck everything." she growled, before the entire building began to rumble and shake, more than before.

While her ability was seemingly passive, she actively focused it on the building itself, targeting the iron within the structure and rusting it all over, causing it to crumble away, weakening the foundation and structure of the entire base. Between that, and the cannonballs ramming into it, the building wouldn't last long. Lazuli sprung forward once again "Come on!" she shouted.

It didn't take long for Barton and Chord to figure out what Lazuli was trying to accomplish. The rusting of all the iron in the base was already causing it to destabilize, giving many of the marines rocky foundations to stand on. Barton wouldn't let his base be destroyed so easily. He pointed his fingers out, the light firing from them once again, several arrows coming out this time. "**Hanchokusen Kosen!**" They bended through the air, shifting downwards and they flew towards Lazuli, going underneath her before suddenly shifting up to slam into her stomach. They'd carry her up and off the ground, through the ceiling and outside of the base, battering her repeatedly to continuously knock her higher and higher. Stopping her from touching anything seemed to be the top priority in this instance. Even if Barton's attack proved to be successful, the Sabi Sabi no Mi's effects on non-living things was permanent. And plenty of damage had already been done to the base.

Lazuli had a split decision to make, to finish her move on the building, or dodge. But she never really was one to back down so- She slammed through the ceiling, again and again battered in the air. Lazuli began to fall from the sky, flashbacks filled her head, the days running through the streets, she had to learn to survive in her own ways there, the streets of the New World weren't friendly to someone like her. Even the most simple of crimes, like pickpocketing could be fatal for a kid, She had to learn to get past the obstacles of the streets, free-running is what many would call it. Her friends were taller, stronger than her back then, she had to learn to overcome heights, heights like this.

She opened her eyes, looking down at the building, she kicked off the air, launching herself back towards the hole she was shot up through. She utilized the same skill once more, coming to a softer landing on the floor, she was bruised to shit, these marines fought dirty, though she was always used to that anyway. How much did she still have left in her? Her initial adrenaline dialing down, her body was starting to feel heavy from these hits.

She couldn't really play around anymore, time to open up. She dashed forward, seemingly disappearing for a moment from sight, comparably Soru, She had spent years running, years trying to avoid been seen by dogs just like these. Well, her dogs had more bite. To the common eye, It'd seem like she was appearing in different places, left, right, left, center. She reached forward for Chord once more.

Chord had increased processing abilities, so keeping track of her movements, even when using the speed of **Soru**, was a simple task. After all, the marines he worked with often used the same technique. But the problem was that the technique was unexpected. "Recalibrating..." Chord mumbled, his processing power taking in the additional information to alter his countermeasures. It was that brief moment that, when Lazuli sent herself forward towards Chord, allowed her to touch him for the briefest of moments. Just before Chord would unleash another strike using his Fish-Man Karate, just as powerful as the first if not stronger, but angled upwards so that she'd be sent slightly into the air, not able to continue her rusting antics right off the bat. It was simply fortunate that Chord's strike would have managed to hit before Lazuli's ability took hold, as rust had begun to appear on his armored chassis.

She felt her fingertips begin to touch the man's chest as she was soon knocked upwards by another of his killer punches. This time, she flowed with the punch, as she began flying upwards, she clutched onto his mask..helmet...thing, and flung herself around, aiming to land on the man's shoulders, locking her legs around his neck and shoving her hands onto the big man's Dome...Face...thing. "Just...Go....DOWN!" she shouted, trying to overcome the man in rust.

The one who seemed the most worried by this maneuver was Barton. As rust began to take hold of Chord's helmet, parts of it already beginning to fall off, Barton held out his fingers and fired three more of his arrows. The first two were aimed to knock Lazuli's hands off of him, while the third was aimed at the back of her head to knock him from his shoulders. Chord would assist as able, to grab her and throw Lazuli from his body. But even then, as soon as Lazuli would be removed from Chord's shoulders, the cyborg would fall face first to the ground, the shine in his visor disappearing.

Lazuli pushed off finally managing to dodge some of Barton's arrows, his method of attack was getting repetitive. She landed on the ground, followed by the thud of Chord. She turned and placed her finger under her eye, pulling downward slightly and sticking her tongue out at Barton. "See that!? I killed your boss dummy!" She said, aiming to taunt Barton, completely oblivious to the fact she attacked what was considered a henchman.

Barton didn't even say a word. He simply pointed his finger at Lazuli and fired. But the arrow wasn't yellow this time, it was dark, a purplish color. And it traveled far faster than any of the other arrows Barton had fired before. This one was aimed towards Lazuli's leg, but it wouldn't just deliver kinetic force like the previous attacks. This one was going to pierce through Lazuli's leg, making it far more difficult for her to move around, whether she stayed on the ground or tried to take to the skies with **Geppo**.

"Chord simply made things easier," said Barton, "especially with you constantly focusing on him. I'm perfectly capable of taking you out all by myself."

It was almost as if she had blinked and missed it, an arrow piercing through her thigh like a bullet, she fell to her knee, grabbing at her thigh. "You bastard, that was a cheap shot!" she growled. "what kinda guy hides behind their boss, shooting cheap shots from far away the entire fight?" she argued, growling once again in pain. "You ain't nothin' but a wimp, a wuss, a scaredy-cat." she said, she attempted to stand and quickly fell back to her knee, holding her thigh. "Fine, I yield, you can cuff me again..." she said, attempting to just get the man closer to her.

"No," said Barton, "I think I'll wait until you're nice and unconscious before I get anywhere near you." He pointed his palm towards Lazuli, a glowing yellow light appearing on it. But even so, there seemed to be a twitch on his eye. "You know, this entire operation is mine, and I'm getting irritated you assume it's the cyborg that I already told you was a slave to my command. These are my troops, my officers, my plan that had you locked up in a cell to begin with. So the least you could do is remember that!" The anger seemed to evaporate and be replaced by an almost devilish smirk. "That is, if you'll even be able to remember this after the concussion I'm about to give you."

This arrow was yellow again, but far larger than the other ones he had fired so far. It was about the size of Lazuli's head, and aimed straight for it. It wasn't a piercing attack, but the damage would certainly be severe.

Lazuli pushed-off with her good leg, rolling to the side to dodge the arrow, as she landed she thrust her bloody hand forward, tossing a cloud of rust into the air attempting to blind Barton. She had turned her own blood into a weapon against him, while she couldn't rightly affect her own body with her powers, blood that left her body was another story, an impromptu pocket-rust. Following her rust, she lunged forward, using her good leg to Geppo nearer to the man, and try to knee him in the stomach with her injured leg.

Barton ran backwards, doing his best to avoid the rust Lazuli had launched at him. While it didn't get into his eyes, it was an ample enough distraction that Lazuli was ample to close the distance relatively unimpeded. She was right up to him, almost able to land her blow. However, simply dodging Barton's attacks weren't enough to stop them from landing. The large arrow curved and flew back around, aiming to strike Lazuli on her back now. He moved his arm to block Lazuli's knee strike with his arm, but the momentary stunning from his massive arrow would hopefully break contact long enough for him to attack again. Ranged combat was his forte, but he had learned a few more techniques for fighting up close and personal. With his palm shaped in a fan, he brought it forward to strike Lazuli in the chest, a yellow light glowing from it, as if he would be firing off one of his arrows. "**Yashi Ya!**"

Lazuli was struck in the back, only pushing her closer to Barton really, running into his palm-strike, she clutched her hands around his arm and growled "You can fire that all you like..." she hissed through her teeth, clearly in pain from his attacks. "But I ain't lettin' go this time." she said, her powers already making their way up Barton's arm.

Barton could already feel his body having been paralyzed by the power of the Sabi Sabi no Mi, but the trajectory of his arrows wasn't dependent on his physical state, as long as he was still alive. He had put a lot of energy into the arrow he had fired, and he'd make sure to use all of it before he even would think about going down. The arrow would continue to curve back down and around, striking Lazuli all over, only gradually getting smaller with each successive hit. He'd target her hands and arms first in an attempt to get her to release her grip. Then he'd aim for her head, as a concussed person often had trouble maintaining their motor functions. Their brawl had turned into a battle of attrition. Either Barton would become rust or Lazuli would be rendered unconscious.

But as this happened, Chord's visor began to glow once again.

Lazuli wasn't expecting the arrow to continue its assault, it seemed Barton's control of it didn't rely on his personal movement, apparent because he clearly couldn't move at this point, being in contact with her. Lazuli had to act quick, she couldn't stay on him and also maintain the ability to dodge his arrow. She lifted her arm, bringing her elbow down onto the man's outstretched and rusted arm, shattering the connection to his body, luckily he wouldn't bleed out, the remaining rust acting as a cauterized wound. She rolled backwards, holding what was left of his severed arm before smashing it in her clutch, shattering it into pure rusted dust.

"Just give it up already, damn!" she shouted, before wiping blood from her mouth. Barton was proving himself a hard fight, Lazuli was winning though, she thought. But, what of Chord?

Barton fell backwards as his arm shattered into rust. He was in shock, more so than he was in pain. He started to scramble backwards, trying to get back onto his feet, but finding it difficult due to the loss of his arm. The arrow he had fired was going haywire now, seemingly because of a complete lack of focus. But there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Chord was back on his feet, walking right up from behind Lazuli. The sounds of combat and cannon fire nearby would certainly be too loud for her to hear his footsteps. He just needed to keep her focus on him for a few seconds.

"Why don't you give up, pirate!" shouted Barton. "You should have known this was the end of the line for you when you first got captured! Your blood's all over the floor and you're about to pass out, and you've barely traveled through the first part of the Grand Line they Paradise! You may be allied with the Everything Pirates, but they came here for their own crew member, not you. They won't be around to save your neck every time! And even if you win here, destroy my base, and move on to the next island, there are so many more marines and pirates more powerful than me! Your *adventure* will not be long!"

His lips curled into a smile as Chord was right behind Lazuli. This was it. It was all over.

And then Chord walked right past her.

"Wait, what?"

Chord was still walking, scraping some of the rust from the back of his head. And that's when a terrible realization crossed his mind. Lazuli destroyed the control chip.

"Oh shit..."

Chord picked Barton up off the floor by the neck, the strength of a Fish-Man restraining his airflow. He started gasping for air, grabbing onto Chord's wrist and flailing wildly as he tried to breathe.

"You were rude to me..." said Chord, tightening his grip, "but you weren't the one that did this to me."

He slammed Barton's head onto a nearby wall. Blood spurted, coating the bricks as it created a small crack. Chord let go of his neck as the marine captain fell onto the ground, totally limp. Chord turned back towards Lazuli, the Fish-Man cyborg letting out a big sigh. "What a relief! Can we please leave?"

Lazuli was ready to spit more words at Barton, before catching sight of the big Fish-Man walking past her. She waited, watching what happened between them. She swayed a bit, wiping blood from her mouth. Chord turned to her and spoke friendly words, Lazuli could drop her guard... She fell forward, losing consciousness. It would be foolish to think she didn't take a heaping of damage from the fight with Barton, but whatever was driving her finally gave out once she realized she was safe.

## The Peak is Free

Cannon fire rained down upon the marine base on Widow's Peak. Its foundation crumbled. First the ceilings all caved in on themselves, then the walls began to fall. It wasn't much longer before the base was a pile of rubble, with only a handful of marines left to even wave the white flag.

Beewolf walked along the rubble, Tank and Squeak alongside him. He walked past the fallen marines, but did nothing besides that. While they had been ordered to destroy the base, they weren't exactly interested in eradicating all of the marines present. That would just be overkill. The goal was to remove an obstacle for incoming pirates. And the more pirate crews that came through Paradise, the more marines that would need to be dispatched to deal with them. And the more freedom in the pirates in the New World would have to fight each other.

But as Beewolf and his crew mates were returning to the Ghostmaker, they saw a figure walking near the dock, towards the Wreckage Pirates' now revealed ship, Starlight. Squeak would recognize him as the cyborg she had encountered earlier. And he was now carrying Lazuli.

Bonny turned as the cyborg approached. Eyes widening, she tried to take her predatory stance. "Kesshi, that THING has the Captain! Let's t-take her back~~~~~~..." Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell to her knees, stomach twisting and knotting painfully. "Urgh... g-gimme a second... so hungry, so tired. I think that Marine I ate upset my stomach." Still, she wouldn't let it take the captain. She started crawling towards the Cyborg. "I c-can't chew you up, but I can still-" Thump. Her face hit the deck.

Chord walked onto the deck of Starlight. The shipped hummed at the return of its captain, but made no moves against Chord. The cyborg placed Lazuli gently back onto the deck of the ship in front of Bonny. "I owe this woman everything," he said. "I have no intention of holding her against her will."

Bonny gave him a weak thumbs up. "Oh good. Another falls before the might of Princess Bonna-" Snoring could be heard afterwards.

Kesshin raised an eyebrow when the cyborg appeared, his base was all but destroyed. Was he no longer their weapon? Kesshin for the moment didn't feel like trying to logic it all out. He looked at Bonny shaking his head. Lifting her in his arms he looked over to Chord, "I didn't quite catch your name, but if you owe her your life then maybe you can watch her for a sec while I put the little prinzessin in her bed." Kesshin headed for the lower deck, he was surprised by Bonny, she did a good job holding her own against her opponents, "You deserve your rest, I was gonna tell her about the food but, I'd rather not wake her." He opened the door to her room and placed her in her bed and tucked her in, "Maybe I'll stop teasing her, well... only a little bit." Kesshin said to himself as he lightly shut her door behind him.

Coming back up to Chord, Kesshin looked over to Lazuli. He supposed this was par for the course assuming she fought both Chord and that other guy from the sound of it. "So... did they teach you how to do first aid or are you purely a weapon of war? She's lookin a little worst for ware." It was fine if Chord didn't, Kesshin wasn't a doctor but he had to patch himself up often before he joined the wreckage pirates, given his fruit he more or less always had the supplies needed to take care of them. "Oh... Also there is food in the back. It was for them but unless they can sleep eat its probably gonna be a little cold by the time they wake up so..." Kesshin pointed out the kitchen for Chord. He knew Lazuli would probably be upset if he didn't at least offer to the person who saved her life and of course Kesshin didn't want to seem ungrateful to the guy, "You... do eat food right?"

Chord didn't say another word, but at the offer of food, he got up and went over to it. He placed his hand on his helmet, somewhat rusted from Lazuli's powers, and removed it. He made sure to stay with his back facing Kesshin as he began to eat. He was a Fish-Man alright, with gill slits on his neck and gray skin. But a few chords seemed to be sticking out of his body, going into the armor he was wearing. "My name is Chord," he said between swallows. While he wasn't eating voraciously, he was still eating rather fast. After a few moments, he placed the helmet back on and turned back towards the pirates.

He wasn't a big talker, Kesshin couldn't tell if that was because of the whole cyborg weapon thing or if he just wasn't that friendly. When he started to the Kitchen for food Kesshin at least knew he could hear well enough. Kesshin looked over to Lazuli, "Well... guess I better get started." before Kesshin began tending to Lazuli, Chord spoke. Kesshin nodded remembering now, "That's right that's right..." Wasn't much to talk about after that, Kesshin felt it wasn't his place to pry with questions of Chord's past and how he became the way he became. He was sure Lazuli would butt in with those questions with the tact of a Sea King when she woke up, if Fish-Man was even still around.

Now for Lazuli, Kesshin created all the necessary things he needed. He sterilized the open wounds piercings by the look of it, probably from the arrows, like the one that hit his face. After cleaning he started stitching the deeper cuts and wounds. Shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Well she certainly lives up to her name... She's a wreck." never did Kesshin imagine he would actually be doing this on anyone but himself, without some ulterior motive at that. After tending to her wounds and making sure the stitches were set, he dressed them, removing anything unnecessary that got in the way clothing wise and he placed them off to the side.

With all that done he let out a sigh, looking at the back of Chord's head he thought he ought to try again, "Man... you really did a number on her, or was that your boss-FORMER boss I assume." Kesshin touched the floor using his power to create a small futon bed for Lazuli, instead of resting on the completely on the floor, also tucking her in. Kesshin's chores finally taken care of he would walk to his usual spot near his hammock. He was a little mentally drained coming down from the high of taking in the information from his clone and a little exhausted using his power for the supplies and cooking, but there was still another matter to tend to. Kesshin looked over to Chord, "So, what happens now?"

Chord sat on the floor of the deck. He just looked at Kesshin for a moment, before averting his eyes. He didn't have an answer. But even if he did, he wouldn't have gotten to say anything. As the soft moment was interrupted by a strange creature landing on the deck of the ship.

"Congratulations Wreckage Pirates!" Beewolf shouted, "how was destroying your first marine base? I'm sure it was a ton of fun!" Beewolf looked around, seeing the unconscious and tired members of the crew. "Oops... sorry." He changed to a whispered tone. "It's probably best to set sail. Wouldn't want to be around in case they call in for reinforcements. We've got medics over on our ship if you'd like any help with that."

Kesshin could get nothing out of the Fish-man, he just stared back at Chord and simply shrugged, "You're not a prisoner here, you're a G-" Beewolf landed on the ship. He seemed to be in the mood to celebrate but he read the room, "Um... Beewolf right? Captain Laz's allies from the Everything Pirates..." Kesshin repeated it out loud to himself rubbing the back of his head. It was always still kind of weird having to talk to people he technically met but didn't through his doppelgangers, "Yeah I was just getting to that, we'll sail along side you guys for awhile, at least until the captain wakes up and decides otherwise. Also, thanks... for taking time to bail out my idiot captain and rescuing the hungry little princess." Kesshin looked back over to Chord, "Yeah, if the medics wanted to look over Chord here first... Lazuli's guest I'd appreciate it." If they were setting sail he couldn't leave Chord on the island, probably not after abetting pirates. One thing Kesshin knew was that when you were a weapon you didn't get treated like person, at least in his experience. Chord being a Fish-Man at that might have made it worse for him from what Kesshin understood. "If they wanted to look over the work I did with Lazuli, that should be fine. And Bonny is downstairs sleeping, if they want to check her out. From what I saw she didn't have any grave injuries, just seemed to have over exerted herself and fell asleep, but I'm no doctor."

Kesshin headed toward the kitchen, "Do you drink Beewolf?" He wouldn't stop him from celebrating at the very least he could partake in some of the food and drink Kesshin prepared for his crew if he so desired. He just tried to follow the hospitality that Lazuli would offer as best he could. "Starlight, if you'd please set sail along side them thank you."

"Do I drink?" said Beewolf. "Hell yeah I drink! Whaddya got?" He followed Kesshin to the kitchen, his metallic body creaking once again. It was certainly a fine day to be a pirate.

**1583**

Shizuku stood at attention. She was in the captain's office. It was her first day at Widow's Peak. He was looking at papers on desk, sifting through them. Even from where she was standing, Shizuku could still see her name and photos of herself on the files.

"Pretty high marks for your academy score," said Barton, "within the top ten. Although I imagine your Devil Fruit power had something to do with that. What I find more interesting is your espionage score. It was the highest in your graduating class. As a matter of fact, it was high enough to get you into Cipher Pol. Why do you want to work with the marines?"

"May I speak candidly, sir?" said Shizuku.

"You may."

"Cipher Pol is too cloak and dagger for my tastes. Their work is often lacking in honesty and is more so focused on eradicating perceived threats as opposed to actual ones. I want to work someplace where my actions can make a tangible difference. And actually help those that need it."

Barton say back in his chair, a smile on his face. "Well then, welcome aboard commander. I'm sure I can expect great things from you."

**Now**

His heartbeat was faint, but still present. If Shizuku had taken any longer to get the tournaqnuette on him, Regis probably would've died. Shizuku was panting, barely able to stand herself. She had used up almost all of her absorbed nutrients protecting Regis from the rubble and there was no one in sight for her to regain more from.

"Shizuku!"

She turned to face her captain, a moment of relief and joy, immediately followed by horror.

"What happened to your arm!"

"That bitch, Lazuli," he said. "What happened to Regis? Is he...?"

"No, but he's in bad shape. That piranha tore out a chunk of his stomach. We need to get him to a hospital."

"When the base crumbled it destroyed our communications system. Some of the remaining soldiers are trying to get it back online. Otherwise..."

Shizuku knew what that meant. They would need to wait for three days without medical supplies. She looked down at Regis. Things were looking dire.

Tank was seated with Spine laying her head in his lap. He was stroking her hair, gingerly, like a bother with his younger sister. They had boarded Starlight alongside Beewolf, Squeak, and a few of the Ghostmaker's medics as they had looked at Lazuli, Bonny, and even Chord. Several hours had passed since they had left Widow's Peak, and the worst appeared to be over. And that was a cause for celebration.

"I was worried about you," said Spine.

"You're always worried," said Tank.

"Woohooooooo!" Beewolf shouted. He walked over to Laz, Squeak by his side, pointing one of his sharp claws at her. "Your crew must have really put in some work. With the amount we were bombarding that base, it shouldn't have crumbled for at least another hour. What'd you guys do in there that made it fall so fast?"

Lazuli used her pinky finger to dig into her ear "That place was put together like shit" she explained, before flicking a bit of earwax from her finger. She swatted Beewolf's finger from her before giving an annoyed sound, kinda like 'nyehhh'. "OOH!" she quickly changed paces, looking around "Everyone's good though, right? You should've seen that dude's face when I took his arm!" she said, rushing over to Bonny.

Lazuli folded her elbow, pretending to be missing half an arm "He was all- *OH NO MY ARM! I knew challenging the Wreckage Pirates and their awesome captain was a bad idea BLEGGHHHHH*" she shouted, playfully playing pretend, using her other hand to simulate a burst of rust from her elbow. She fell back playfully onto the deck, before holding her stomach and laughing.

"I remember when I first took a man's arm," said Beewolf wistfully, "good times... good times..."

Shocking him out of his stupor, Starlight began to vibrate beneath his feet. And the nearby Ghostmaker began humming as well.

"Oh my god! That's so adorable!" said Squeak. She had her hands pressed to her chest and her knees slightly bent. Of course, she also suddenly sneezed, ramming into Beewolf. But the metallic man caught her with no problem.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," said Squeak, "I know you could never hurt me."

Beewolf had his hands wrapped around her for a few more moments before releasing her, nervously scratching the back of his head.

Bonny was looking healthy and hearty, wearing a new dress made from the uniforms she had stolen from the burning Navy office. She grinned at Laz, laughing at her impression of the one armed man. "I bet he's not going to be patting himself on the back for that! And my guy? I don't think he could STOMACH another round with me!" She grinned and licked her lips. "He was tough. He had some real GUTS, but I bit off exactly as much as I could chew. And then Kesshi saved me." She glared at Chord. "I still don't understand why he's here though, but as long as you're okay with it..." She looked at the other pirates dismissively. "BARF! It's so sweet it's giving ME diabetes. Thanks for the help, boss loves you, woohoo you guys are dope. What else can we do for you?"

Chord sat with his arms crossed. He wasn't participating in the merriment, but wasn't making any attempts to take it away either. He simply grumbled to himself.

Beewolf opened his mouth to continue to speak to Lazuli, but was suddenly interrupted by the hum of the two ships. Squeak dropped to the deck, rubbing her hand against the grain, softly and lovingly. "It's been so long since you've seen your sister, huh?" Starlight hummed in affirmation. "Don't worry, we've been taking good care of her. And we'll continue to do so. I'd be more worried about yourself. Squi! Squi! Squi! Squi!"

Kesshin stood at the front deck near the bowspirt. He took in the celebration going on around him with a slight smile and small chug of a bottle of liquor he usually kept for times such as this. As he savored the sweet notes he looked upon his two crewmates and their silly impressions of their opponents as they lost their limbs. He couldn't help but smile a bit wider while they did them. He was glad to see them up and about after their adventure. He took another light chug as his eyes focused on Lazuli, "Well... maybe I'll let this 'I told you so' go... this time." His eyes then fell too Chord, who was not participating, but in all honesty to Kesshin it made sense. A guest sure, but he was not apart of any of these pirates, *"It would be easier for him to celebrate his freedom, but he doesn't seem to be the type for that."* Kesshin thought. He was confident Laz would break him out of his shell, maybe even help him figure out what he wants to do. Chord was interesting to Kesshin now as opposed to then, what would he do now given his new circumstances? A new one to observe, at least for now.

As for the Everything Pirates, their whole crew seemed very tight-knit. Kesshin was grateful that Lazuli had their support. They seemed to have taking a liking to her almost immediately, even the faces that Lazuli didn't recognize at first from Kesshin's take. The whole celebration unfolding in front of him, "She does have an infectious spirit." Kesshin turned to face the sea leaning on the guard rail. He took another light swish from his bottle, an old memory rising to the surface, "Kinda makes me feel how I felt around you two... Is that a good thing?" after a pause another thought escaped his lips to himself, "Geez... I'm really pent up..."

Bonny watched the other pirate crew happily, her grin splitting her face. The party in the air made her uplifted. Rushing to her room, she brought out a Snailphone Music Player, one of the many radio products by Mon Reji she had due to her HUGE fandom of the personality, and turned on some music. "I love Joplin Joan. Hope you guys do to." She danced while the other talked, enjoying the atmosphere. Seeing Kesshin, she grinned and bit her lower lip, approaching him quietly and standing next to him. "Sooo... I wanted to thank you. For saving me. Again. I know that clone did it but you did it too."

Still in his thoughts, Kesshin didn't notice Bonny's approach until she spoke, "Oh? It was nothing. I-he said he'd get you back to the open seas, and we're men who deliver... well, most of the time." Kesshin joked, his voice was kind and devoid of his usual teasing or silver-tongued tone. A rare moment, but he was only human. Kesshin nudged Bonny's shoulder lightly with his elbow, "Besides, this place wouldn't be the same without your wide smile to greet me when the meals are prepared." Kesshin enjoyed cooking, it was the only other thing that channeled a certain genuine calmness in him like when he carried out his mission or he was in a fight. When he started to serve his food to Lazuli and Bonny, and he saw how their faces would light up when eating his meals, he discovered a new pleasure... when they weren't being annoying about being hungry. Kesshin took quick gulp from his bottle before offering the bottle to Bonny for a swig. He had realized he had nearly forgot something, "Oh that's right. I'd offered to give you whatever meal you wanted when you got back. I forgot to ask you what you wanted before you had your little rest."

Bonny made a show of thinking about Kesshin's offer. "Hmm. I've actually given that some thought." She grinned naughtily and grabbed Kesshin by the collar, turning and bringing him through the doorway leading to her room, leaving the others to their party. "I've got just the reward for my valiant prince." She bit her lower lip as she brought Kesshin into her room, closing and locking the door behind her...

That look on her face... Kesshin's eyebrow raised, when she began to guide him he then understood where this was going. He didn't look back at the party, he didn't care who saw. She locked the door behind them and Kesshin smirked at her, "A prince? I've never been anything more than an domesticated animal." He removed his coat jacket and loosed his ascot tie. Placing his liquor bottle by her bed, he walked over to her, and positioned his face close to her ear, "But today, I think I can make an exception... only for you princess." he whispered before proceeding to grab her by the waist and kiss her neck making his way up to her lips. Pausing for a slight moment to look at her, he then kissed her softly on the lips. He wasn't sure how experienced she was, so he would lead, but let her explore, guide, and teach if need be. *"Who would have thought that the meal she wanted was one of my favorites... Guess I get to do a little devouring of my own."*

Lazuli flipped herself up, rolling backwards and landing on her feet, moving to the edge of the ship, shaking her head wildly to the music Bonny had set. Her body naturally reacted to the music, twisting and turning on the railing of the ship. She leapt back down, moving between each of the members on the ship, mouthing the words while dancing around them. Giving each of them a friendly taunt before making her way to the next person. As the song came to a close, she laughed, tripping backwards onto the deck once more, this time falling in front of Chord, she looked up to him from the floor.

"Hey!" she shouted, before sitting up and crossing her legs, sitting opposite of him. "You uh..." she said, tapping on her forehead before continuing "Why didn't you kill me?" she asked, most of the scenario from earlier slipping her mind, including the fact that Chord was being manipulated the entire time.

"Because," Chord began, "you saved me. Why would I kill my savior?"

"Savior?!" she replied, she hadn't considered it. "I mean-" she turns away from chord, blushing "Well, I'm no hero or nothing" she mumbled, before turning back "Shut up dumbass! I was clearly just tryna beat you up! You're lucky you're so tough too or it could've been over!" she shouted, before the ship creaked under her feet a bit. "Ugh- I mean- Shit, sorry. I don't like controlling people, and I'm glad I didn't mess you up, giving you your freedom back is... kinda really cool, so I'm glad you're grateful." she finally stopped talking, going silent for a few moments.

Chord gave Lazuli a little nod, starting to look down at the ground now. Words could not exactly express his level of gratitude to her. But that was fine. Words were never really his strong suit anyway.

"Lazuli!" Beewolf shouted as he came up from behind her. "You did good work today, so you've earned yourself a little reward." He reached into what was only now clearly a pocket, and pulled out an Eternal Pose. He reached out to hand it to her. "This is an Eternal Pose to our base on Haran Island. Feel free to follow it when you get near the end of Paradise. We'll give you guys some supplies for the final stretch into the New World. And probably have a party! But if you get caught, you destroy this thing before you lose the option. Got it?"

Lazuli turned to face Beewolf, grabbing the eternal pose. "I guess it works but, I thought Starlight knew the way." she slapped herself in the forehead "Imagine us getting lost because we didn't have this or something!" she exclaimed, looking up to Beewolf once more. "We'll see you there, don't you worry!" she said, before looking back to Chord. "What about you??" she asked. "Watcha wanna do? You're free now." she asked.

Chord looked back up to Lazuli. It was hard to tell how he was feeling. Even though his voice now had a tone, his expression didn't change while he was wearing a helmet. "I think I'll stick around for a little while. I need to repay you after all, for all the years I won't have to be in service to those damn marines anymore. And perhaps I can use this new enhancements to have some fun on the open seas again. Besides..." Chord looked around the deck. Bonny and Kesshin had disappeared, but he had seen their abilities first hand. And he knew what supernatural abilities like theirs meant. "...You'll need someone that can swim to fish you out of the water if you fall in."

"No." Lauzli replied, crossing her arms. "We don't play that whole life debt shit here." she explained. She paced the deck of the ship for a couple second before looking to Chord once more "It's one thing if you need a ride, in which case we can take you to the next island. Or if you personally choose to stick around, I wouldn't say no, freedom is kinda what we do after all, whatever we want, we do." She paused for a moment, noticing the absence of practically her entire crew "Case in point, I don't know where my crew even is!" she said, giving a hearty laugh.

"Fine," said Chord, "then I'll stick around because I *want* to."

"Well that's nice!" said Beewolf, "a new crew member for you to wreck shit with! Well then, we'll be taking our leave. Say goodbye to Reanne, Starlight!" The two ships hummed to one another once again.

The two ships weren't that close to each other, nor was a gangplank connecting them. Yet, Beewolf got to the edge of Starlight and stood on the bannister. "Hope to be seeing you again soon. Maybe next time you can meet my boss!" He jumped from the Wreckage Pirates' ship onto his own.

"Bye Lazuli," said Squeak, "and tell Kesshin and Bonny I said bye too... wherever they went off to." She sneezed, and with a flash of lightning and the sound of thunder, suddenly found herself on the Ghostmaker.

Tank walked by Lazuli, giving her a big smile, turning his back to her as he prepared to jump from one ship to the other as well. Spine was clinging to him like a baby monkey. "See you around Lazuli. Make sure you get to Haran Island. That way we can really party!"

Spine gave her a soft wave with her melancholy expression, mumbling but a single word; "Goodbye..."

The ship shook from the strength of Tank's departure. He was all muscle after all.