Chapter 16: Grim Reaper

The North Blue was the sea that Rosan tended to frequent the most due to his connections with Fregate. It was natural that he knew about heavy hitters like the Germa Kingdom.

It was a seafaring kingdom that was ran by the Vinsmoke Family. Not much people knew the kingdom, along with its army Germa 66, actually existed. Their knowledge of the army only extended to its story and everything else was merely labeled a myth.

How nonsensical.

In a world where eating a fruit gave you a variety of abilities, people found an underground army mythical. It was fascinating how people managed to reach the conclusions that they did.

Well, he wasn't surprised. A majority of people either thought Reaper was a myth or that he was not human. Both were wrong.

But he digressed, Germa was very real. They were just elusive and did all their dealings, as he mentioned, underground. It was like his rival in the Grand Line, Joker but on a much larger scale.

He had spoken to Aiko as well and she was one of the few people who was aware of the existence of the kingdom. The woman was a big name in the North Blue these days and she was used to dealing with shady business (her partner was Reaper after all). She had taken part in her fair share of...less then legal dealings.

Mostly everyone that dealt with the Black Market knew of Germa's existence.

"Why the sudden interest in Germa anyways?" Aiko couldn't help but ask with a raised brow. They were in the lounge area of their castle (Rosan had teleported in without announcement as usual) and the leader decided to make tea for everyone there (mostly to calm her racing heart).

"We're gonna invade em!" Maro beamed in her spot on Akemi's lap. The 12 year old was laying down on their sofa with her head being subjected to rubbing from the 23 year old. She sighed in bliss at the attention she was receiving and Aiko could have sworn she saw her potted plant growing a little taller.

"You're gonna do WHAT?!" Aiko screeched. The 24 year old looked at the two as if they had grown a second head.

"Maro wanted to invade the Germa Kingdom and I agreed to it after weighing the benefits," Rosan explained, while calmly sipping his honey and lemon dipped (just how he liked it) tea. "Since we are going to invade them, I'd like to learn more about the Kingdom of Science. It will increase our rate of success this way and we can prepare for anything."

"G-Germa is an army, Rosan," Aiko pointed out, concern clear on her face. "You two are an insanely strong duo, but I don't think you guys can handle all of their grunts and their commanders."

"Aiko used to read to me about Germa 66 when we were kids," Akemi said worriedly. "Their commanders in particular, seem really powerful so you should be wary of them," she said, before going back to patting the lazing Maro.

"You should try a bit harder to convince them this is a bad idea. They listen to you more than me," Aiko grumbled at her younger sister.

"That's not true," Rosan said, getting a raised brow out of the leader. "I value your words more than you could imagine. You are one of the few people I actually listen to, you know," the 13 year old explained quietly to her and Aiko was not blushing in appreciation at his words.

She grumbled and looked away from the teen so that he couldn't see the embarrassment on his face.

"Maybe if it was Rosan's idea, but Maro was the one who thought of it and this little goblin always sees her plans out," Akemi sighed fondly at the girl lying in her lap.

The younger sister had discovered Maro when the bluenette had grown bored of Rosan and Aiko's business talk. She was getting better at understanding what they were speaking of but it was so boring.

She had wandered off to see if she could do something else, only to find Akemi and the two had hit it off immediately after one conversation.

It was probably because Akemi spoiled Maro rotten due to how adorable the girl was.

"You know me so well~," the goblin girl said cheekily and she nuzzled deeper into Akemi's gentle hands.

"It's not our intention to fight an army," Rosan said dryly. "Maro wanted to do an infiltration mission with stakes behind them and this is what she decided on," the teen explained to the sisters. He wanted his partner to start having more independent thoughts that weren't related to him and this was a step in the right direction.

"Mhm!" Maro nodded excitedly. "We're just going for their technology! Germa is said to be really advanced in science so I wanna steal some, or all, of it for ourselves!" She shook in excitement as she said that, just thinking of what she could possibly get from the kingdom of science, left her grinning wildly.

"Naturally, as our longtime partners, you get access to whatever we can find as well," Rosan explained and Aiko's eyes sparked in interest at that tidbit of info. The woman heard about Germa's technology and to say that she didn't want it, would be a bold faced lie.

"I can't convince you otherwise and the deal sounds way too good so...just be careful alright, you kids?" The gray haired older sister requested, unable to keep the worry out of her voice. She was like a big sister to these little idiots and damn it if anything happened to them, she'd be pissed.

"Naturally," Rosan said, forming a smile that he had been working hard to perfect. Aiko had to admit, the redhead sure was a boy of effort! It looked real!

"Aww! You act like such a hard-ass but you're really just a worrywart, Aiko-chan!" Maro gushed and the bluenette rushed to hug her.

"Right?" Akemi agreed readily, with a large smile on her face. "Under Aiko's tough exterior, is a pretty sweet person that can be seriously overprotective!"

"Can you guys not make fun of me?" Aiko grumbled in annoyance but she hugged the girl back.

"They are simply stating the truth. I've known you long enough to verify that you are a kind person," Rosan spoke softly.

"All of you are so annoying," the brown eyed woman glared.

"Odd way to say you love us~," Maro purred.

"We love you too!" Akemi gushed happily.

"It's fine to be honest with us," Rosan informed her.

Aiko really did hate them.

Maro was excited and the girl was shaking at the prospect of doing something fun.

Her and Master's very first infiltration mission! On Germa! This was going to be awesome!

Rosan and Maro had planned perfectly on when to attack Germa. It had not taken the intelligent redhead long to find the elusive kingdom and, so as to have an easier time invading, the teen scouted them out for information.

Currently, they were in the East Blue because they had reason to believe that Germa was going to attack the kingdom of Cozia soon.

Rosan didn't come to the East Blue often. It was his least visited sea due to a variety of reasons. The biggest one, was that it was the sea the Hero of the Marines visited the most.

The bounties weren't very interesting either. Maro hated coming here because there was nobody interesting to fight, so they didn't come to the weakest Sea often.

With Germa being here though, the two had made their way over with haste. It had the added effect of being good practice for Maro as well!

The bluenette discovered that, with enough practice, she could use her blue flames to fly! The discovery was made soon after her fight with Rosan. Since she could use her blue flames to displace herself, what was stopping her from using it to soar through the sky like her Master?

Case in point, Maro and Rosan were hovering over what was no doubt the Germa Kingdom as they thought about their best course of action.

"So the moment they begin their invasion on Cozia, we go?" Maro asked curiously. It was simple enough but things didn't need to be complicated to be effective.

"Yes," Rosan confirmed. "Most of their army will be attacking the island and that will give us more freedom to take what we want."

The bluenette nodded excitedly. They were both naturally dressed as Grim and Reaper for their infiltration mission.

"Link, separate, regroup in case of battle?" The white clad girl asked.

"Link, separate, regroup in case of battle," the black clad boy repeated in confirmation. He tapped her head and instantly linked the two together.

"Testing, testing~," Maro sang as they successfully established a connection.

"Hello, Maro!" Mod called with a small smile on her face. The purple haired woman had grown quite fond of Rosan's student over the months. The girl had made good on her promise she declared so boldly to them and she was becoming a more and more valuable asset every day.

"Goblin!" Ram greeted cheekily. Seeing as Maro was no longer a life threatening hindrance to her Father, the silver haired girl no longer had an issue with the bluenette anymore. Maro had managed to completely prove her wrong and the ring respected her for being able to subvert her expectations like that.

"Mod-chan! Ram-chan! It's good to see you guys!" Maro greeted the two cheerfully. When the Dokkaebi learned that Rosan trained in his mindscape, she demanded to join him. This had the added effect of letting her hang out much more with the two, more talkative, inhabitants of her master's body.

Ram especially, warmed up to the girl over time after seeing her dedication to Rosan and the two had become good friends. All the ring wanted was for the girl to be useful and here she was, being useful. There would be no complaints from her.

"Seems that they've begun," Rosan idly remarked, as he watched a various amount of ships embark onto the island.

"It's showtime!" Maro cheered, as she activated her tiara. Grim hugged Reaper and vanished from sight.

"Good luck, Master," the Oni said and she rocketed downwards to the Kingdom.

"That girl has no patience," Mod sighed with a fond smile.

"Don't get left behind, Father," Ram demanded competitively.

Rosan nodded and camouflaged himself. It was time to grab anything of value from Germa.

With that, Reaper flew downwards.

Grim, currently invisible, landed on Germa's territory with a thud. The white clad girl let out a tiny "oops" before verifying that no one was around her to hear that noise.

Germa was pretty weird. The "territory" of the kingdom was comprised of platforms surrounded by railings, that were built on the shells of large snails. Said snails also doubled as ships, that were currently being used to invade the island of Cozia.

The Oni had chosen to land on, what was probably, the main part of the kingdom (if the huge castle was anything to go by) and she was sure Master was gonna land here too.

This was probably where all the goodies were!

The castle seemed mostly barren and all the soldiers were gone so that left the non combatants.

They would be easy to get past. She just needed to not touch them.

Reaper's right hand thought about barging through the main entrance, but this was a stealth mission! She didn't want to attract attention!

Besides, Master was probably going to have a way easier time entering the castle and Aiko expressed an interest in their scientific technology so she'd look for that! She was sure the leader of Fregate would appreciate her efforts!

She remembered Reaper's warning and hummed. Her partner had told her, in a tone that brook no argument, to "Avoid Vinsmoke Judge."

Vinsmoke Judge was apparently the head of the Vinsmoke Family, the rulers of Germa, and as such they probably couldn't take him one on one.

Despite the curiosity of seeing how strong he was, Grim did not fancy fighting a losing battle. Her Devil Fruit may be strong, but she was still young! Master was scarcely wrong so, if he wanted her to avoid Judge, she would avoid him.

Besides, she wasn't here for battle! She was here to pillage! Her blood demanded that she take everything of value in this kingdom and she was always one to follow her heart!

The Oni summoned one of Rosan's bags with a wave of her club and headed in a random direction with a skip in her step.

It was time to see if Germa had anything worth stealing!

A camouflaged Reaper landed in the front of the castle without making a sound.

The Angel of Death placed a palm on the castle walls and did a quick Scan of the building.

He paused at what he was sensing. There were 6 people in the building currently. 5 of them were condensed in one area near the bottom and the final one was by themselves in a room near the top. Despite being alone, Reaper's scan deduced that they were a much bigger threat.

That was likely Judge. It seems that he had chosen to not attack Cozia along with his soldiers yet.

He doubted this castle actually had anything of value (it struck him as too lavish for that), but Grim made it clear she wasn't interested in going here so he'd be the one to do it. Just because it probably had nothing interesting, didn't mean it had nothing. He was sure he would find something good here.

Besides, he was much better at being incognito then his partner was.

The Shinigami modified a hole into the castle and stepped inside. A second later, said hole closed and Reaper made his way deeper in. He summoned two of his scouting bugs and had them track the two groups of people.

He wanted to ensure their location constantly so as to not run into them by accident. He did not want them to find each other, lest the mission get ruined.

This was a stealth mission after all.

His little scouts flew off and the obsidian winged Angel floated in a direction that would avoid the two, the single presence in particular.

It wouldn't be hard. One was at the very top and the others were at the very bottom.

Now, let's see what this castle had for him.

The fun stuff always had to be watched over. Honestly, why didn't they just leave it out in the open for any onlookers to see!

Grim had quickly found something of interest and it seemed to be where they kept their weapons!

The only issue was that it was being guarded and that sucked.

Luckily, she was invisible and that meant she could get away with any shenanigans she had planned.

The white clad Oni had moved out of sight of the two unassuming soldiers blocking the door and was currently smiling cheekily to herself. This was a stealth mission but as long as she didn't get caught, she wouldn't fail!

Grim summoned her blue flames and palmed it. Then, as if she was a pitcher, she launched the flame in the direction opposite of the building she wanted to invade.

The resounding boom, made her grin madly.

Like she predicted, the guards, being one of the few ones not invading the island, immediately went to check the noise. They would probably think someone from Cozia managed to sneak in an attack and would search for a foe that didn't exist.

Or well, a foe they just couldn't see~

Honestly, she was too smart for her own good! Now she had free reigns to explore this building even if they did come back! They had not once, looked inside the building they were watching while she observed them so she was safe!

Grim took that opportunity without hesitation. Pushing the door open and shutting it behind her, the right hand of Reaper hummed a tune to herself as she walked past all manner of weapons.

None of them really caught her interest. They were just weapons and that wasn't exciting (she saw some type of energy weapons though and decided that Master and Ram would appreciate them)! She wanted something a bit more fun!

The fun stuff was always most heavily guarded in the deepest parts of a room so that's where she would go!

She was growing more and more bored as she went deeper and the girl was getting slightly disappointed. Wasn't Germa supposed to be big and terrifying because of how advanced they were? Were they just hiding all of it?

Of course not. Something told her the kingdom of science were quite arrogant and thought too highly of themselves. They probably didn't think they would ever be infiltrated!

As Grim was musing to herself, a piece of paper caught her eye. Upon closer inspection, she identified it as a blueprint, with a journal next to it, and picked it up in curiosity.

Her eyes glittered in fascination.

"A Raid Suit...?" She muttered to herself before picking the journal up and reading its content.

The Dokkaebi grinned.

She wanted this bad. Imagine if her and Master changed their cloaks to be as amazing as the Raid Suit! What it was capable of seemed so damn useful and it would be a massive increase in strength for the two!

Boost in physical abilities, water proof, resistant to fire, bullet proof, and it had some goofy looking boots that let you hover and accelerate!

Okay so maybe she didn't want a carbon copy because the design was seriously goofy. But she wanted one with all its capabilities!

Apparently they had created 6 Raid Suits and each one was biometrically locked to the commanders, who were genetically modified. Looks like she couldn't steal them then… that meant they had to somehow craft them.

That genetically modified commanders part, had her rather interested but there wasn't much information on that in the journal.

Looking at the blueprints, had Grim scratching her head too. There was no way she'd be able to make this on her own and she didn't think this was Reaper's field of expertise either.

"Master?" The Oni called.

"Yes?" The Shinigami replied and Grim explained the situation of the raid suits to him.

"You said they are biometrically locked?" Reaper asked and Grim hummed in affirmation.

"Yeah, why?"

"I believe I have found one of the Raid Suits. Are they always in suit form?"

"Nope, apparently they start off as a canister that can transform. Do you see one of those, Master?"

"Yes, this one is a green canister with a white 4 on it. I found it in a child's room. I'll steal it as reference," the Angel of Death said.

"Sweet! Also, there's no way we can make one on our own," The Dokkaebi said bluntly. It was too difficult and though Rosan could maybe learn it eventually, that would take too long and she was nothing if impatient.

Reaper was silent for a moment before he said "Understood, I'll kidnap a scientist from Germa and have them do what we want."

Grim sweatdropped at his declaration but decided that it was probably the best course of action to get the suits as quickly as possible. "How do you plan on getting him to obey? Torture?" she asked.

"No, torture is too ineffective for long term working. You'll see when we're done," the black clad Angel said. "Now, store all the materials, even the ones we don't need."

"Way ahead of you, I'm taking everything!" Grim replied gleefully, as she did just that. There was no way she'd leave anything here! She was not a weapons expert like Master so she didn't see the value in them but Reaper certainly would.

"Right, I'll leave you to it." With that, Reaper cut the connection between the two.

Grim was beginning to find stealth missions really fun! It had a certain charm to it that wasn't just beat the hell out of anyone that they wanted to and the white clad Oni enjoyed that. She really did enjoy beating the hell out of anyone though...

The disguised Dokkaebi greedily took every single thing of interest in the room and stored it in her bag.

She was going to be getting a Raid Suit one way or another!

This looked like a room he wasn't supposed to go in.

Naturally, that meant he would be going in. It probably held valuable assets that were just begging to be taken.

Reaper had just finished his conversation with Grim before finding this room. He had been in some child's room who had the canister he mentioned previously.

Based on Grim's explanation, the Raid Suits were meant for the commanders which meant either the current commanders were into some questionable things, or they had children in the midst.

Perhaps this was for Judge's child. He couldn't see any other reason why there would only be 6 Raid Suits and a child got access to one.

Unfortunately, Judge was going to have to make another one for whoever Green 4 was because his Raid Suit now belonged to Reaper.

The Raid Suit sounded interesting. If he were able to make one, in combination with Modification, he'd be able to have a Raid Suit that didn't look as ridiculous as Grim claimed they would be.

An Angel did not need a cape. Or hovering boots.

It was likely that he'd just modify the appearance of the Raid Suit, while keeping all of its bonuses. Reaper knew Grim was going to make him do that for her own suit and he did not see the point in swapping out his signature black and white cloak.

Now he just needed to find a competent scientist here that could make the Raid Suit.

It seemed that fortune favored him because, as he entered the room he was no doubt not supposed to be in, he was greeted by the strange sight of a scientist manning a bunch of… humans? Inside of liquid filled capsules.

Reaper tilted his head as he noticed something.

None of these humans looked unique. There was at least a dozen others that shared an appearance to each other.

Clones then.

"Grim," Reaper called.

"Master?" She replied curiously.

"It seems that Germa's army is so powerful because they can make clones," he explained causing Grim's eyes to widen.

"That's…wow!" She exclaimed in awe. "There's no way we're not stealing that right?"

"Naturally, it even comes with a scientist," he said softly.

"Awesome! I think this was pretty successful so we can wrap this up soon!" His partner replied with a cheer.

"Right. I will take anything of value in here then," Reaper told her.

"Have fun~," Grim said and the connection cut.

Reaper was not one to waste time. The lone scientist had yet to notice his presence and he was going to keep it that way.

The Angel of Death quietly made his way over to the man and in a matter of seconds, he chopped him, knocked him unconscious, and dumped him into his Pocket Dimension.

It was done without a single noise. The scientist hadn't even been able to gasp before getting dumped in his dimension.

He wasn't remotely interested in the already developing clones so he'd leave them be, but the technology used to make them would be imperative.

Did he want clones? No. If he wanted more clones he would have given Angel and Demon siblings. He believed in quality over quantity and those 2 were quality enough that he didn't want more.

Would it still be useful to have? Yes. If Aiko had a clone army, Fregate would be unstoppable. Convincing her wouldn't be difficult either. That woman was ruthless when it came .

With that, Rosan took everything of value that wasn't a clone and placed it in his Pocket Dimension. His newly acquired scientist couldn't work from scratch after all. Though…he'd probably leave him with Aiko, Reaper would rather not have anyone he didn't trust on his ship.

"You're ruthless, Father," Ram commented in admiration.

"You're nonchalance is scary," Mod teased with a slight smile.

"Thank you," Reaper said softly.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"Mine was!"

"Of course it was."

"What is that supposed to mean, Auntie Mod?!"

"Stop calling me Auntie Mod you spoiled little —."

Reaper tuned them out for a moment as something interesting was relayed back to him by his bug.

Something in the lower part of the castle.

Oh? A Dungeon? And it appeared that it had a prisoner in it too.

Normally he wouldn't have cared (he still didn't) but the prisoner looked rather young and he was currently being assaulted. For what reason did they have a child locked up? He almost looked to be the same age Rosan was when he was captured back on…

This required investigation.

"Uh oh," Ram said but she sounded excited.

"I figured Maro was going to be the one to mess up the mission but if it's Rosan, then I guess it's fine. I'm much more used to him messing missions up anyways," Mod mused. Rosan hardly did something of his own volition these days so whenever he did, everyone just watched with bated breaths and thinly veiled interest.

Reaper said nothing, already making his way to the dungeon.

Sometimes, Vinsmoke Sanji wondered why he didn't get turned into a monster like his siblings. If he did, he wouldn't be living in a hell like this, despised by all his family members barring his dead mom and his older sister.

These thoughts really only came to him when he was getting beat on by his brothers, like right now.

Vinsmoke Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji took a sadistic glee in stomping on their brothers fetal body while Reiju listened in with a stony expression.

The little blonde boy had tears streaming down his masked face, as his brothers cruelly beat him down. They hurled insult after insult with sadistic smiles on their face and Sanji could do nothing but endure.

"Dad, help!" He begged for something he knew was not going to happen.

Reiju frowned deeply at what was happening to her only brother with emotions. Sanji, he didn't deserve this at all! He was a kind boy and her mother had been nothing but proud of him for being something his other siblings were not.

To see him reduced to this was… disgusting! She was deeply disappointed in her father for allowing this to happen to her younger brother. He was cruel and heartless and she despised him for going to such extents just because Sanji wasn't like them.

Hearing her little brother cry from the abuse, broke her heart but she couldn't do anything about it, for fear of retaliation from her brothers. She couldn't go against all 3 of them and if she defended Sanji, they'd turn their aggression towards her.

The sound of the dungeon cell opening, cut her musings off. The pink haired girl paused as she heard that and her confusion amplified.

Was it food? No, Sanji wasn't scheduled to get dinner for a few more hours.

She ruled her siblings out as well because all 3 were currently in his cell.

So that left…her father? He was the only other person, besides a few guards, that knew Sanji was down here. But why would he be down here? He had not once visited her blonde brother since locking him up and seemed content to leave it that way.

There was also the fact that besides the cell door opening, there was no other sound. Reiju almost believed someone left the door open! There was no indication that someone else was in the dungeons.

Not even footsteps.

Reiju, who had tensed up, allowed herself to relax again. It must have just been a rat or somethin —

"Oh?" A soft voice said in front of her and the girl jumped up in surprise with a small squeal. The sound of violence stopped immediately as her brothers no doubt heard that.

Soon, the source of the voice revealed itself and when it did, Reiju's blue eyes widened in recognition and a hint of fear.

She knew who this was. Who didn't? At this point, everyone in the Blue Seas was aware of this person's identity.

Black cloak with white streaks that covered them from head to toe, a cold unfeeling presence, an unknown pressure, a faint red glow under their hoodie covered face.

And those signature majestic obsidian wings, that looked to be devoid of all light.

Yes, Reiju was looking at Reaper, the Angel of Death, in all their glory.

What was he doing here?!

How had he gotten in? Why had there not been an alert? W-was he just invisible? He had appeared right in front of her with no prompting and was now eyeing her through the endless black of his hidden face.

Were the rumors about him actually true?!

"Being a bystander, can be even worse then being the abuser," Reaper said idly to her with a tilted head, causing her to flinch. "It means that at the end of the day, you're complying with what they are doing. Do not consider yourself righteous because you haven't taken part in it, that only makes you a weak coward."

She reeled at his words as they slammed into her viciously. The last thing she expected was for Reaper to be here scolding her and for those words to hit so close to home! How could he tell what she was thinking just by looking at her? Was she that easy to read?!

The obsidian winged Angel did not bother to wait for a response. He floated down the steps to where her 4 brothers were located and made eye contact with every one of them.

Even Sanji, despite struggling, was wondering just who this person was.

"Wait...I know you!" Ichiji said with a raised brow, showing no fear whatsoever. "You're Reaper right? The Angel of Death? What the hell are you doing here?" He demanded, taking a threatening step forward. This one had red hair and a red shirt with the number 1 on it.

Sanji's eyes widened as he heard that. This was Reaper? The Angel of Death was very famous in the Blue Seas. What were they doing here?

It was said that wherever the Shinigami appeared, someone was going to die. Maybe they were here for the blonde? He was the only injured one and maybe they were worse than he initially thought...

His fears were seemingly confirmed as Reaper ignored Ichiji's question and turned their hooded face towards the 3rd brother.

"How old are you?" Reaper suddenly asked the blonde, who recoiled in fear.

"I-I'm 8," Sanji replied hesitantly. At that moment, the blonde really did fear for his life.

"Why are you here, imprisoned?"

Sanji was confused at that question but he answered regardless. "Because I'm a failure…"

"I see," was all they said and he seemingly dismissed the boy there. Sanji let out a sigh of relief as the pressure abated and stared warily at the Shinigami.

"Tell me, do you take pleasure in attacking a person who cannot defend themselves?" Reaper asked the three perpetrators in that neutral tone of his.

"Yes," Niji said bluntly with a smile on his face. He had blue hair, with shades and a blue shirt that had the number 2.

"Why? He is already a prisoner so what's the point of continuing to torture him?" Reaper asked another question. He didn't seem as curious as his question portrayed but they had heard he was a man of few words.

Reiju had heard many rumors about Reaper and now she didn't know which was true because right now, he was having a seemingly polite conversation with everyone there. Wasn't he supposed to be some type of murdering machine?

"Because it's fun and he's weak," Yonji said as if that explained everything. "Since we're stronger than that failure, can't we do whatever we want with him?"

"That is true," Reaper admitted in agreement. "The strong are allowed to dictate how the weak live, I agree with that sentiment."

Sanji shrunk as he heard that. For just a moment, he thought Reaper was on his side. Seems like it was too good to be true.

"In any other situation, I would not have even showed up," the Shinigami told everyone there. "I do not typically care what you people do. Unfortunately, the circumstances of this situation are filling me with undesirable memories."

"Torturing an imprisoned child is not something I'm fond of," the Angel of Death finished truthfully.

What he was witnessing reminded him of his days imprisoned on Daybreak. It didn't help that the blonde boy was around the same age as him at the time. It filled his empty heart with…something and he deduced that stopping this would satisfy him.

Or not. It was worth trying regardless.

"Oh? So what are you gonna do about it?" Ichiji asked already getting ready for a fight. His 2 other brothers followed suit they looked raring to go.

"I'm going to dictate how the weak live," Reaper replied softly.

"Man you can be so badass sometimes!" Ram gushed in awe at the words of her father.

"Grim, I have revealed myself, wrap up what you are doing."

"You did?! What happened?" Grim asked curiously.

"I ran into something that reminded me of my past."

"Will you explain it later after we leave?" His partner asked. She didn't know anything about his past and that was fine with her but to say she wasn't curious, would be a lie.

"Naturally."

"Alright! I'll get ready then we can meet up, try not to be too long!"

"Okay."

Before anyone could react, Reaper vanished, only to appear in front of Yonji. The Angel of Death delivered a vicious punch to the boys cheek that sent the surprised boy flying.

Reaper paused to look at his fist. "His skin is hard. Are these the genetically modified commanders? I didn't expect all of them to be young."

"The green one you just hit must be the owner of the canister you stole. It's safe to assume that they all have their own."

"They all look rather similar as well," Ram mused taking a look at their swirly eyebrows. "Genetically modified quadruplets then? Maybe the blonde boy's modification failed, I can see that he has similar features to them through that overkill of a mask."

"That's out of his control and his own siblings choose to treat him like this?" Mod frowned at their cruelty. That didn't seem fair to the child, why do this to him when he didn't even look old enough to make the decision to be genetically modified.

Sanji watched in shock as Reaper casually sent the 4th brother flying into a wall. Even through their hard skin? Sanji never even made them flinch!

Reiju was just as surprised. One second it was rather peaceful, if not tense, and the next, Reaper had moved faster than they could react, landing a solid hit on her youngest brother...and it worked!

Maybe those rumors really did have some merit!

"It seems I will have to hit you all harder," Reaper concluded and his gloves were replaced by Ram's own combat gloves. These were changed a bit to hide his hands fully. It would do no good if they saw a glimpse of his skin that his regular combat gloves showed.

"Yay! It's my time!" Ram cheered but she dialed down her bloodlust.

He was aiming to knock them unconscious, not kill.

This was a stealth mission after all.

Yonji pulled himself up and rubbed the cheek that got hit. It looked a little dented but he easily fixed it back into place.

The 3 brothers were a lot more wary now at the threat in front of them. He moved quicker than they could react and just one punch, that didn't even seem to be his strongest, was enough to hurt them through their exoskeleton.

Reaper's reputation seemed well earned.

The slight lull was broken by the 3 brothers charging the Shinigami at once. They all came in from a different angle so as to split his attention.

"They have good teamwork," Reaper thought as he saw 2 going low and one going high. They would be formidable in the future when they properly aged, in conjunction with the raid suits that they had.

Unfortunately, this was not the future.

The Shinigami floated above the two going low (Blue and Green) and grabbed the one who went high (Red). Clutching the boy with the 1 on his shirt, he flew higher and higher until he slammed the boys head into the ceiling. His fellow redhead crashed through with a thud before Reaper gripped him again and threw him to the floor.

Ichiji couldn't even make a move as Reaper slammed into his belly with one foot, indenting the ground beneath him.

His eyes bugged and spittle flew out his mouth as he was knocked unconscious from the force of the blow.

"Easy!" Ram preened at the easy knockout.

Sanji's eyes had bugged at seeing the sight of one of his tormentors, knocked into dreamland with minimal effort. Was he dreaming? This nightmare had drastically transformed into something a lot more pleasant and he wasn't sure he wanted to wake up.

Reiju was being overwhelmed by the events of what was happening today. It was all so surreal that she must have been dreaming. This seriously made no sense at all to the pinkette and she was convinced she was going insane.

A small part of her felt a vindictive pleasure watching her brothers get beat up.

Reaper was curious to see how unfazed the two remaining brothers were at seeing Red get effortlessly knocked out. They displayed no amount of fear and it was rather curious.

Everyone displayed even the slightest amount of fear at the unknown entity known as Reaper, but their eyes betrayed nothing of the sort.

"A side effect of the genetic modifications maybe…," Mod mused.

"Heh, Ichiji got taken out pretty easily," Niji remarked with a smirk on his face.

"It was fast too!" Yonji cackled. "Seems like we're next," the green haired brother remarked.

"Looks like it," the blue haired brother said with a grin before they charged the Angel of Death.

Reaper watched the odd brothers with a tilted head. The Shinigami caught a fist from Green and raised a brow at the power behind it. He was strong for his age. Very strong. That punch was strong enough to casually break bones.

His own reinforced bones could attest to that. Unfortunately for them, he had an unfair regeneration that quickly patched up the injury.

Shoving the green brother back, he grabbed an extended foot from Blue and used him as a living weapon by ramming his flying body into Green, bowling the boy over.

Reaper, wanting to finish this, appeared in front of the two and grabbed them both by the head. He tensed before slamming them into the wall repeatedly until they were knocked unconscious. The wall dented at the repeated slamming and he unceremoniously dropped the two.

Sanji and Reiju flinched at the rather brutal display but they knew that their brothers skin was made of tough stuff.

"They will be strong when they are older," Reaper said softly, catching their attention. "And you will be punished more harshly as a result." This was directed towards the blond prisoner, who flinched from his truthful words.

"What will you do?" The Angel of Death asked quietly. He was directly in front of the beat up little boy and the only thing separating them was the cage.

Reiju watched, frozen, as Reaper spoke to the only brother she actually cared about. Their words replayed in the back of her mind and she resolutely moved to stop them.

The obsidian winged Angel glanced back at her, freezing her on the spot. "How very odd, unlike your 3 brothers, the 2 of you are showing a very real fear," was all the Shinigami said before he deemed her as a non threat and focused his attention back onto Sanji.

Sanji looked at the black clad figure before him, before realizing that was a genuine question directed to him.

"If...if I could anything..." the blonde's squeaky voice hesitantly started. "...I don't wanna be here anymore. I wanna run away and leave Germa!" He exclaimed as a waterfall of tears cascaded down his masked face.

"If I leave here… I'll never have to see Dad again," Sanji sobbed in misery at the torture he'd been put through. Reiju's eyes became a little foggy at the pure pain in her brother's voice.

She needed to help him escape, even if it meant going through Reaper themselves.

"You're father did this to you?" Reaper asked with a tilted head. "Vinsmoke Judge?"

"Y-yes," the 8 year old sobbed. "H-he called me a failure and locked me in here for 6 months!"

"How awful," Mod said with a frown on her face. What type of parent did this to their children? First he willingly modified them, then, when one failed, he threw him in the trash as if he were useless.

He was scum.

"I see," Reaper said softly as he digested the new information. "What will you do?" He repeated his question and Sanji focused watery eyes onto the man.

"I-I want to leave a-and become a cook!" He exclaimed with passion. Everyone may have laughed at his dream but he would remain steadfast in his goal.

"You want to become a cook?" The Angel of Death asked softly and he stared into those resolute gray-blue eyes. Despite the pain he was in, they were utterly determined when discussing his dream.

"Yes!" Sanji exclaimed and, even though there were tears falling down his face, the confidence in his answer was admirable.

"Okay," Reaper simply said before summoning his black scythe making Sanji yelp in fear and forcing Reiju to tense up in preparation for battle.

"Stand back, you cannot become a chef in there."

Sanji blinked dumbly before his body automatically took a step back. They both watched in disbelief as Reaper swiftly swung that giant scythe and it cut through the cell like butter. He repeated the process a few more times until an opening for the prisoner was made.

"Such a strong resolve does not deserve to be stifled and killed here," Reaper told the awed boy. Reiju's mouth was opened in shock at the compliment and at the fact that Reaper had freed her brother.

Who was the Angel of Death really?

Sanji hesitantly stepped through the cage and came face to face with his savior.

Reaper was taller than the boy and exuded an intimidating pressure. He couldn't see anything under their mask except for a faint glow and he couldn't even tell what their gender was!

"You...you freed me?" Sanji said in disbelief and for the first time, he didn't look afraid of the Angel of Death. Just confused.

"You cannot become a cook in there," the Shinigami said simply and Sanji's eyes widened as he heard that.

"Why aren't you making fun of my dream?" He asked quietly. No one but his mother had taken his dream seriously and the boy didn't know how to react to the idea that anyone else could believe him.

"It's not in my nature to make fun of a person with such conviction. No matter what their dream may be," Reaper replied softly. "You fully believe that you can become a cook after being imprisoned for an unknown amount of time, why would I not believe you if this can't change your resolve?"

Sanji felt his tears reforming as he digested the words and the boy let out a sob at the overwhelming emotions.

Someone believed him! Someone thought he could be a cook! The boy almost collapsed in relief at the positive reinforcement from a source that wasn't his deceased mother.

"Why do we always run into a child with some fucked up life," Ram sighed.

"Language...but I agree. This world is cruel and even the safety of your parents, are not guaranteed," Mod said with a frown on her face. The safety of your parents...

"You should not show your tears so boldly," Reaper commented idly. "People will think you weak."

Reiju watched all this with her own tears brimming. The first person besides her mother to support her brother's dream, was a person who hunted people down. It said a lot about their family that Sanji was finding solace in a renowned murderer.

Reaper bent down to the child's height and touched the mask. After deducing that it wasn't Seastone but iron, he gave the boy a warning to brace himself and unceremoniously ripped it apart with his bare hands.

Both siblings gawked at the casual show of strength from the man who was supposed to be wielding a scythe. He was good at hand to hand combat and physically strong too?!

"Pink," Reaper said suddenly, looking at the oldest Vinsmoke sibling, who jumped at being addressed. "I will escort Yellow outside of the building, you secure him an escape and make sure no one will see him," he instructed.

Reiju gawked at the audacity of the figure before her. "You come here, knock out my brothers, release a prisoner and now you're giving me orders?!" Her voice was full of disbelief.

"Yes," he said bluntly making her eye twitch. "You didn't jump to the aid of your other brothers, but the moment you thought Yellow was in danger, you were about to intervene. Right, Pink?"

The 11 year old glared at him for noticing that. "Why can't I just escort him then?" After a pause she added "And my name's Reiju! Not Pink!"

"I-I'm Sanji," the 3rd brother chose to introduce himself as well.

"You are one of Germa's commanders Reiju. If you were caught helping Sanji escape, you'd need to escape as well," Reaper explained and she didn't like how smart he seemed to be.

He was right though and it would be really bad for her because she couldn't disobey her father's orders.

"Even so, I won't leave Sanji alone with you," she declared to the Shinigami. Reaper himself had called her a bystander and dammit he was right! The least she could do, was spend time with her little brother before he escaped this place for good.

"Okay, be mindful that you don't get caught," the Shinigami said simply and Reiju was shocked at how easily they conceded. She just dumbly nodded as a result, unable to muster up a response.

Reaper was one of the strangest individuals she had ever met!

"Good, now follow me Sanji, Reiju," Reaper spoke softly and he floated away slowly. The freed boy and his sister moved to follow him after a moment's hesitation. The moment they stepped through the door, the Shinigami paused for a split second.

"Be prepared for a meeting with your father," the Angel of Death said suddenly causing Sanji to freeze in terror and Reiju's eyes to widen.

Wasn't he supposed to be helping with the island…? What was he doing here and why was he in their way?!

"W-why?" He stammered.

"The path to exit is currently being blocked by him," was all he said before summoning his signature scythe.

"Grim, to me. Prepare for combat."

"Calling me personally? What, are we fighting Vinsmoke Judge?" Grim joked cheerfully, already pivoting her path to where Reaper was.

"Most likely."

There was a silence before Grim replied in a way that let Reaper know she was grinning ear to ear.

"This trip turned out even more fun than I thought!" The Oni cackled in glee. "I'm on my way!"

"Don't underestimate our opponent."

"Oh I won't~," she replied before cutting their connection.

Grim seemed to be the only one excited at the prospect of running into Judge. Sanji was shaking in his boots, Reiju was preparing to hide and Reaper didn't feel anything.

"I never expected you to go so off the rails with your plan," Mod commented offhandedly with a small smile on her face.

"I suppose that's a good thing," Reaper said softly.

"It means I'm unpredictable. Even to myself."

Vinsmoke Judge had not been expecting to see his 3rd son running free with Reaper, the Angel of Death. He could not see Reiju due to the girl hiding behind a corner.

He couldn't care less that Sanji was free, if the boy wanted to escape he would let him. The person he was currently traveling with was an issue though.

"What are you doing, Sanji?" Judge asked in surprise, regarding his failure of a son with a critical eye. "Why are you out of your cell and what are you doing with Reaper?!"

Sanji flinched before his eyes hardened. No... He wouldn't allow his father to cow him moments before he escaped. "I...I'm getting out of this kingdom and you can't stop me!" The 8 year old boy declared resolutely, standing firm in the face of the head of his family.

"You tell him kid!" Ram cheered. He had guts, standing up to his dad like that! He cried a lot, which she hated, but she could respect anyone with a backbone!

"That's quite the tongue you've gotten while imprisoned," Judge idly remarked, eyeing the silent Reaper the entire time. The obsidian winged Angel was content to stand there and politely listen to them talk and it bothered the patriarch of Germa. Finally, after deeming that he wasn't attacking yet, he focused his attention back onto Sanji.

"There is no easy sea where a normal and weak kid like you can survive on your own," Judge told the boy matter of factly, staring down his surprisingly angry son. "You'll either die or hold Reaper back in some way that will get the both of you killed!"

Reaper had no intention of letting this boy travel with him but he wouldn't tell that to the blonde man.

Sanji's glare deepened and he snarled out a "So what?! You can't stop me!"

"Well that's a relief!" Judge suddenly said, making the blonde freeze in unexpected surprise. "I guess I am human after all. Even though you're useless, I couldn't muster up the resolve to kill my own son..."

"But you'll go away voluntarily? Without me having to do anything about it?"

Tears started brimming in Sanji's eyes and he began shaking at the words being said. T-This wasn't how he had expected the meeting to go! He thought his father would try harder to keep him locked up but to know that he cared so little about him, that he'd let him run away without stopping him... it was overwhelming him with negative emotion.

"I'm not gonna stop you. The only one I'll be stopping is Reaper," his father said bluntly, relieved that Sanji actually wanted to get out of here.

Reaper remained silent as he watched the exchange with a tilted head.

"But can I ask just one last favor as your father, Sanji?" Judge asked the teary eyed boy and it was the most serious he had seen his father yet.

"Don't ever admit that I'm your father…," he began gravely, closing his eyes. "...in front of other people!"

Sanji felt his heart drop as he heard that and the tears began flowing freely. The boy let out a choked sob at the thought that he had been so willingly disowned by his own father without any hesitation.

Judge, heartless asshole that he was, did not care whatsoever. "It's a shame that I don't want anyone to know!" The blonde man claimed cruelly. "You understand that don't you, Sanji?"

It was as if all the fight had been drained out of Sanji. The boy held his head down and began shaking uncontrollably. Finally, the blonde could hold it back no longer and he began sobbing uncontrollably. The anguish was too much for the little boy and he wailed his pain to the world.

"And the father of the year award goes to," Ram said sarcastically though inwardly, she was seething. If Father ever said that to her, she would want to die immediately. To be denied by the one who created you, could be a fate worse than death and in her eyes, it was. Her heart (for once) went out to Sanji and the silver haired girl frowned deeply.

"What an awful human being." Mod was utterly furious with the human man standing before her. What type of parent would so cruelly do this to the child they had brought into the world? Vinsmoke Judge was a cold monster and she would gladly end his life if given the opportunity.

At least Rosan's biological mother had abandoned him instead of raising him in a toxic environment. That woman would probably be... No. Mod would not allow herself to get any angrier.

Rosan wondered how he would have reacted if his Mama had said those words to him. He would probably go through a breakdown worse than the one he had on Daybreak honestly. The boy cherished his mother and her words dearly and if she said such harsh things to him, he'd be irreparably destroyed for a long time.

Truthfully, Reaper was doing things here in a way that he suspected he would do if he did have emotions. He wasn't able to feel anything at the moment, so he thought finding something that would normally have him react, would trigger a feeling inside of him.

What would his former self do if he saw an eerily reminiscent sight similar to his time on Daybreak? Investigate and intervene most likely and so that's what he did.

What would he do if he saw such resolve in a place where there should only be helplessness? Help retain that person's resolve most likely.

So what would he do if the main culprit of such abuse was in front of the former version of himself? Kill them most likely.

So that's what he would do.

"Go," Reaper said softly to the sobbing boy and his hidden sister. "I will make sure he doesn't change his mind and seek to recapture you," the Shinigami declared quietly.

"Go become a cook, I hope that one day I'll be able to eat your food."

The blonde boy, despite his crying, heard the winged figure and nodded shakily. "It'll b-be t-the best meal you've ever had!" The crying boy exclaimed, trying hard to ignore the pain inside of him.

"I look forward to it. Goodbye, Sanji."

"...Bye, Reaper."

With that, the blonde child ran past his father, who made no move to stop him, only to freeze as he felt a second presence.

"There's no need to stop, Grim is with me," Reaper explained softly, looking at a particular spot right in front of the boy.

Grim?! He had heard some rumors that Reaper had recently began working with a partner, but opinion on whether they were real or not, was rather divided. People didn't want to believe that the Angel had his own personal Demon when he was already so efficient on his own.