Chapter 33: Too Much Sand 2

Nami frowned at that. That made sense… Rosan didn't normally create, he altered things.

"So if I give you a specialized staff, you can make it even more specialized?" She asked curiously. She already had a staff but it wasn't good enough and while Rosan could make it strong, he wouldn't be able to apply what she wanted to it very easily.

"The better it is, the better I can make it and the faster I can do it," Rosan confirmed. "Ram is so impressive because I modified the best materials to create her. If you can start it, I can finish it."

"I have a solution!" A voice called.

Nami, Robin and Rosan paused at that and turned towards a triumphant Usopp.

"How about I create your specialized staff for you!" The liar pointed to himself cockily. "Captain Usopp assures that it'll be the best staff ever!"

Nami didn't really know what to think about that…

On one hand, Usopp was quite crafty but on the other… he was a bit of a coward so maybe her weapon wouldn't be too effective?

"This works out fine," Rosan spoke up, much to their surprise. "Make the staff and give it to me afterwards. Then I'll refine and make it as close to your image as possible."

"You'll be refining the most impressive staff ever!" the liar grinned confidently.

"I look forward to it," the scout nodded, returning back to his conversation with Robin.

Nami thought about it more and decided that this was perfect. Rosan and Usopp were two extremes on different ends of their respective spectrum.

Rosan's cold killer disposition would balance out well with Usopp's goofiness, giving her a weapon that didn't err too much to one side.

She didn't think she could handle a weapon made solely from Rosan. The redhead would give her nightmares.

"Thanks, you two!" She beamed.

"Of course!" Usopp grinned.

"Thank me when you actually get and like it," Rosan said simply.

Flashback end.

Nami grabbed the 3 pieces thrown at her with a contemplative expression.

"Behold, the clima-tact!" Usopp grinned. "What do you think Rosan, super impressive, right?"

The redhead nodded. "Honestly, it's quite creative… as a party tool," he replied calmly. "Usopp, I think you misunderstood what Nami wanted."

Usopp began sweating a bit. "Uh, she didn't want an entertainment tool, for parties?"

The liar squealed at the punch to his nose sending him flying.

"WHY DO YOU THINK I'D ASK ROSAN OF ALL PEOPLE TO MAKE ME A PARTY TOOL?!" Nami roared in fury, grateful that the redhead asked to see it.

He was such a moron!

"You shouldn't be too upset with him. Despite it's usages, the clima-tact, with a bit of work, could be a formidable weapon. I quite liked the idea behind what he crafted and when the idea is perfectly executed, you will have formidable firepower," the redhead defended their liar.

"With a bit of work, I'm sure he can turn it into a formidable weapon but until then, I added a few extra functions that turn it into a weapon," Rosan finished.

He liked Usopp's vision of the weapon so he didn't change anything about it. In fact, he expanded on the idea and added some things that she could use to actually fight.

It actually worked out perfectly with one of his goals in the future, so Rosan would be keeping a vested interest in Nami's new weapon.

Despite his mistake, Usopp couldn't help but preen at the compliment from Rosan. "Now that I know what you actually want, I'll work up upgrading my half as soon as possible!" He promised.

Nami sighed. If it were being praised by Rosan, it had to have been decent.

"Wait, which is yours and which is Usopp's?" She asked, sensing a headache already.

"Usopp can explain his half. As for me? I think it's more fun if you find out what I added yourself. I'm sure you'll be able to tell what's mine," Rosan replied calmly, getting a giggle out of Robin and a snarl of fury out of Nami.

"I hate you," she said flatly, strapping the three pieces to her waist.

"You'd be #1210 to say that."

Robin couldn't help the tiny snort at that. "I can't believe you're actually keeping track. There is something wrong with you. Also, wouldn't it be 1211, since Ace said it to you before leaving?"

"I'm a computer man and it's fun and easy to keep track of small little statistics like that... And I don't count it every time someone says it, that would be too easy. It's each individual person and Ace said he hates me long ago," he explained.

They sweatdropped.

"Here's another one... Mod-chan, how many people have flirted with me in my lifetime?"

Everyone watched as Rosan's eyes turned blood red.

"I will kill you. I'm serious. I will seriously kill you."

Then they turned back to normal.

"See? She only says that because she knows the exact number."

"There's something wrong with you," every Straw Hat said.

"?" Rosan tilted his head. "Should I add "There's something wrong with you" to my statistics as well? It will take me a bit to update since I've heard that quite often but I'll be sure to tell you when I'm done."

They groaned.

"I'm glad I suggested splitting up," Rosan muttered, honestly in awe at how wild their luck was.

Luffy simultaneously had the best and worst luck on the planet.

Almost immediately after entering Rainbase, their captain and Usopp quickly found themselves encountering Captain Smoker and Hina while securing water and now all his dear crewmates were getting chased down by the Marines.

"If they thought we were dead before, they definitely don't think so now," Robin muttered in her disguise. Her white hair flowed to her shoulder and her shades did a wonderful job hiding her exasperated blue gaze.

"This is why I tend to vanish before they start their business," Rosan shrugged, adjusting his strawberry blonde hair and slightly widening his honey brown eyes and forming a small smile so that he didn't look as lifeless as the picture they took of him depicted.

"That's incredibly ironic, considering I had to deal with this exact same thing when it came to you," Robin retorted, glancing unimpressed at the man who chose to disguise as his deceased mother.

He was honestly very good at pretending he had all his emotions. Years of practice turned him into an expert it seemed.

Though, she did prefer him with his red hair and heterochromatic eyes. He was handsome regardless of his disguises but she was fond of the colors that made him unique.

"I was training you to be more flexible in your thinking, that's all. Look at you now, no change in plans phase you anymore," Rosan praised, patting her on the head.

"Only you can make my blood pressure rise," she retorted. "Will we be interfering right now?"

"...No," Rosan replied eventually. "We observe for now and interfere when the opportunity arises."

She nodded. "What will we do in the meantime?"

The redhead hummed. "Well we're near a casino. I should show you how "lucky" I am."

Robin sighed. He was such an ass sometimes. Gambling in the casino that Crocodile was casually staying in?

"You know Rosan, you actually are rather lucky outside of life situations. You don't have to use my Devil Fruit and I'm sure you'd still win."

That was true. His luck wasn't always terrible... in fact, it erred more so on the good side as long as his mental health was not involved...

"Don't feel like it. Let's drain them for all their money until they try to get me kicked out. It's actually happened before, then I snuck back in and robbed them dry… Meiko was not pleased with me for multiple reasons."

"You were gambling at 11 years old, you robbed them for all they had and you cheated... of course she wasn't pleased."

"Irrelevant details. She certainly enjoyed the gift I got her right after with the money I stole."

"WE'RE RICH!"

Robin giggled at the two. "Never change, Rosan. Never change."

"You say there's something wrong with me but tell me to never change? I guess there's something wrong with all of us," Rosan snorted.

"Of course there's something wrong with me! I'm your daughter!"

"Anything that is wrong with me is because of you."

"Ditto," Robin replied.

"All I hear are excuses. Learn to take some accountability," Rosan shrugged.

They groaned.

Staring at the pirate crew (and Marines) trapped in the cage, it was very easy for Crocodile to come to the conclusion that it was absolutely the redhead who had been actively sabotaging him.

Inside of the cage were, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Smoker and Hina.

The Warlord stared at the pirates joking around, while the Marines conversed with each other and immediately dismissed them as a threat.

This was who he was somewhat worried about? Pathetic.

It seemed like his only problem would be the redhead.

"Straw Hat, where is your redheaded crewmate?" Crocodile asked. "I have some business with him and if you answer, I'll give you all a chance to survive."

"Don't tell him anything, Luffy!" Nami barked, shoving both hands over her captain's mouth.

Crocodile withheld a snort. "I don't think you understand your position. I could kill you all at any given moment but only my interest in your mysterious crew member, is keeping you alive."

Smoker and Hina's brows furrowed at that. Were they talking about the redhead who had saved Straw Hat? What interest did Crocodile have in him when the captain was right here?

"YOU DON'T GOTTA WORRY ABOUT ROSAN! I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" Luffy roared.

"I SAID DON'T TELL HIM ANYTHING!" Nami shouted, punching her captain on the head.

"Idiots," Zoro sighed, getting in a comfortable position to get some sleep.

Rosan eh? Well that was something.

He wouldn't kill these people just yet. He needed this Rosan to show up but in the meantime, Princess Vivi should be getting captured right about —

"Oh? You must be Sir Crocodile," a deep voice called out from atop the flight of stairs. "Aren't you a bit too fascinated by someone you don't even know? I'm flattered."

Rosan stared down at the Warlord who he had been thwarting with a neutral expression on his face.

"I'm sure you were expecting Vivi but I thwarted that part of your plan too…"

Crocodile stared up darkly at the enigma, sand seeping off of his body at the one who was interfering with his business.

"...So just why are you so interested in me, Crocodile?"

Rosan showed himself for a reason and it wasn't to fight Crocodile.

It wasn't time to fight him.

He showed himself to piss the Warlord off of course.

Oh and to save his crew. He couldn't forget that part.

Robin, along with Sanji and Chopper, were currently assisting Vivi on his orders because she was getting overwhelmed by the agents sent her way so he decided to come save his crew.

It was such a shame. He had been racking up quite the money from the slots and the employees were minutes away from kicking him out.

Luckily for them, he called it quits (of course he got his money) and seemingly left the establishment.

Well, his strawberry blonde persona did. Shifting back to his red hair and neutral expression made him look like a completely different person and no one, apart from some flirty women, paid him any mind.

Crocodile was planning on forcing him to show himself from the start by using his captured crew. Rosan accounted for that and prepared accordingly.

What was interesting, was the focus Crocodile seemed to have on him specifically.

How did the Warlord know to zero in on him? It's not like he was the only Straw Hat not inside the cage. Chopper and Sanji were both free but the man was looking for him...

Was it a hunch? Was it a logical deduction?

He must have clearly known he was being sabotaged by someone so perhaps he just assumed it was the stony demeanored Rosan.

It's not like his crew gave off the impression that they'd do something so underhanded.

Ah, well. It's not like he truly cared at the moment.

"You're the one who's been sabotaging me, right?" Crocodile snarled. "Tell me, where is Nico Robin?"

Smoker and Hina's eyes widened in shock at that question.

The redhead simply hummed in disinterest.

"As much as I'd love to answer your questions, I don't really feel like answering your questions." Rosan stated softly, eyes beginning to glow brightly as he idly touched the wall next to him.

Crocodile's snarl of annoyance was very short lived because without any warning at all, the entire room began to shift and change, wiping his anger off in favor of shock.

The sandman watched as the floor surged and moved, surrounding him in the process completely and obscuring his vision.

Did he think this was going to stop him?! Did that redhead understand who he was dealing with?!

The modified floor stood no chance against the sand bursting out of Crocodile and crumbled into pieces, revealing a scowling warlord.

He'd show him for treating him so light —

There was no one else in the room but him.

No redhead, no caged enemies, no one.

Just him, the steadily increasing flow of water that had been activated and the sight of the Banawani crawling out of the hold and eyeing him hungrily.

Crocodile felt a litter of veins forming on his head as his rage mounted to unprecedented levels.

Not only did they manage to fucking escape him and get him drenched in water, he heard one last thing before the redhead seemingly vanished.

"Nico Robin is mine you silly little reptile."

The Warlord began slowly transforming into sand and eyed the Banana Crocs with white hot rage.

Rosan had a sword out and measured it evenly towards the two unwanted presences there.

His expression was unnaturally cold and it was clear that he was seconds away from attacking them. Some of his crew glanced nervously at him but he ignored them for now.

"Who said you could touch me, Marines?" He asked quietly.

After surrounding Crocodile with the environment, Rosan activated Luffy's save point, teleported inside of the cage, grabbed them all and then activated Robin's save point to quickly vanish from the casino.

Unfortunately, the two Marines in that cage jumped at that chance to escape and actually touched him.

A Marine? Actually touching him?

They were dead.

"Hina understands that we tried to capture you earlier but as of right now, we have a bigger problem. If we didn't grab onto you, we would have died," Hina said in a placating manner.

It was clear the two groups had a mutual enemy in Crocodile. Was he seriously making a big deal about this right now?

"Then you should have died," Rosan replied coldly, eyes beginning to glow menacingly.

The pink haired Marine captain gaped at his words. He was serious.

"Hina doesn't understand! Crocodile is—," she tried to say before the redhead rudely interrupted her.

"I don't like Marines. I will never like Marines. I would never save a Marine and I'd never let a Marine touch me," the redhead said, eyes never leaving the two.

"Rosan now's not the time," Vivi pleaded. They needed to stop the rebellion!

Hina saw her opportunity to try and defuse the situation and took it. "Hina thinks the princess is right! Now is not the time for us to fight with each other! We can deal with Crocodile and decide what to do from there!"

Unfortunately, her partner was Smoker.

"No, this is the perfect time. Stop trying to negotiate with them, Hina," Smoker intoned gruffly, grabbing his own weapon and making Hina groan in exasperation.

"Straw Hat, what are you doing with Nico Robin? We've had a bounty on her head for over 20 years now and according to some sources, this is Crocodile's partner. What do you have planned with the Devil Child?"

"Oh no," the Straw Hats thought, feeling the already scalding temperature spike around them.

Rosan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"...All of you, go on ahead. Baroque Works has already begun and it's nearly at the point of no return," The scout instructed softly.

"What about you?" Zoro asked, knowing what he was going to hear.

"...It's best if we deal with this loose end now. Marines will never have the best interest of anyone but themselves in mind so the idea of negotiations was impossible from the start," Rosan replied.

Hina bit back the noise of frustration at the situation and glared at the unapologetic Smoker.

Rosan would make him apologetic soon enough.

The Straw Hats were about to protest but surprisingly, Robin stopped them.

"I'll be here with him. They're interested in me after all so we'll deal with them and catch up to you guys quickly, okay?" The Devil Child assured.

Honestly, Rosan was so jealously protective of her. Perhaps he would have been willing to hear them out before, but now that they mentioned her name... well, they were about to fight the bigger Devil between the two.

Best if she stay here and make sure they don't get too sidetracked.

"Let's go!" Luffy declared, already running off.

"We can trust them!" Vivi agreed, joining him. She hoped Chopper did that thing she told him to do...

They balked at the fact that Vivi of all people trusted the two but that was enough to get them moving.

"BE CAREFUL!"

"D-DONT DIE!"

"KEEP ROBIN-CHAN SAFE!"

Rosan said nothing, eyes trained on the two Marines the entire time. He only took his eyes off of them for a brief second to regard Robin.

"I didn't tell you to stay here."

Robin rolled her eyes. "As if I'd leave you alone. Freedom privileges revoked, remember?"

"...Fine but be careful, I have no clue how to deal with a Logia. I don't have armament yet."

"We'll find a way… Besides, it's been a while since we teamed up!"

"Let's show them what Robin and Rosan are capable of doing then."

Smoker glared at the retreating Straw Hats. None of them were getting away from him so he shot a plume of smoke at them.

His eyes widened minutely, as an unnatural red flame crashed into it immediately and the two attacks stalemated until they cancelled out.

"Fire? I thought he had an earth Devil Fruit..." Smoker thought.

He wasn't able to dwell on his thoughts for long because Rosan was already on the move.

Hina's eyes widened, as the redhead appeared in front of her in a burst of speed, sword poised to cut deeply into her.

The woman only had a split second to defend the attack with her Devil Fruit and used the iron bindings as a shield, gasping as the strength behind his attack made her knees buckle.

A flurry of arms sprouted over her body and began pulling threatening to bend her in extremely painful ways.

She grunted in pain and the split second of diversion was all Rosan needed to break through her guard and land a cut on her abdomen.

"!" she hunched over as blood began pooling at the shredded spot and the captain clutched her stomach.

Rosan didn't spare her a glance. He vanished from his spot, only to appear directly in front of Nico Robin so he could summon a wall of flame that neutralized Smoker's attack once more.

Once the flame died down, both Marines could only blink in confusion as neither was there.

Their curiosities were soon sated as movement from behind, alerted Hina to the rapidly approaching figure behind her.

The woman turned just in time to see that demonic redhead lunging at her with speeds that belied how thick the sand under them was.

She stumbled backwards and summoned her bindings once more...

"Trip."

Only to trip on her butt as a flurry of hands grabbed onto her feet.

A brutal kick shattered her weakened defense and she was sent flying until she landed flat on her back on the scorching sand.

A shadow over her, allowed Hina to see her life flashing before her very eyes, as that silver sword gleamed in malicious delight.

She tried to move out of the way, as that silver sword prepared to plunge through her stomach, but Nico Robin made her presence known once more as they held her down with incredible strength.

Right before the sword plunged through her stomach, a plume of smoke appeared directly above her and absorbed the blow trying to end her life.

At the same times, the arms vanished as Robin deftly moved away from the smoke coming her way.

Smoker glared in fury at the duo. They were completely ignoring him and focusing their onslaught on Hina. They were like a group of hounds, with how they circled the pink haired woman.

"Your teamwork is terrifying. It feels almost unfair how little room you give your opponents and that's not even considering the fact Modification isn't being used actively at the moment."

Robin smiled coyly. With age, her and Rosan's teamwork turned from two children restraining their opponents and using the opening to overpower them, to two monsters overwhelming their foes with an onslaught of attack.

Age had made the two significantly stronger in just the physical department. Robin and Rosan were no longer 8 and 4 year old children, using their size and abilities to outwit their foes. They were grown adults with physical power to match their opponents now, along with their abilities that they already used to such an effective degree.

It almost wasn't fair. Only truly formidable foes could hope to withstand their onslaught and even then, their teamwork hadn't degraded at all over the years. It was as seamless as ever.

Everyone always tried to go after her in a fight. They always assumed she was the bigger threat when that was very far from the truth. As a result though, both her and Rosan thought up quite a bit of ways to help her evade capture.

Case in point, the Robin that Smoker was currently shooting attacks at, was just a clone. The real Robin was currently being camouflaged by Modification some ways away from the battle.

Scratch that. It definitely was not fair.

"Hina doesn't think this is necessary! We all have a common enemy in Crocodile and should focus on that at the moment!" Hina panted a bit of fear tinging her at the amount of near death moments she narrowly avoided.

She was bruised and battered after being the sole target of Robin and Rosan's onslaught and her exhaustion was showing clear as day.

The pink haired marine barely jumped back to dodge the lazy swing aimed her way that would have almost certainly killed her and retaliated by summoning her bindings to try and capture the redhead, failing to do so and suffering a teasing slap from a sprouted arm as a result, sending her tumbling across the sand once more.

"We are not allies. We can deal with Crocodile ourselves. You can die here for choosing the wrong career path," Rosan assured, effortlessly jumping over the rush of white smoke aiming for him and returning fire to another puff with his draconic flames, stopping it from hitting Robin's clone and canceling it out.

Smoker scowled at yet another of his attacks being neutralized. He wasn't sure what Devil Fruit this redhead had, but along with Nico Robin, he was giving them quite a bit of trouble that made capturing the two exceedingly difficult.

The redhead was aware of his Logia advantages too, scarcely ever targeting Smoker and pressuring Hina nonstop, leading the Smoke man to protect her to the best of his abilities, all while being forced to focus on making sure Nico Robin didn't fully restrain Hina and allow Rosan to deliver the killing blow.

"White Out!" He bellowed, shooting out a cloud of smoke to try and detain the Devil Child.

It finally grasped her and quickly converged on the women but that quick burst of victory immediately vanished at watching the women disperse into petals.

He had been attacking a copy this entire time?! But why did that Rosan go through such lengths to protect her?!

...To further fool him of course. These two were dangerous. They were very dangerous.

It made sense that Nico Robin would have such good evasion tactics, the woman had been on the run for 20 years but it was truly annoying right now and this mysterious redhead was making it no better.

He was forced to summon another plume to protect Hina, scowling as it only partially neutralized the swipe, giving yet another cut to Hina.

Smoker's attention being grabbed didn't go unpunished, as Nico Robin once more summoned a flurry of arms on the woman and restrained her fully, allowing Rosan to deliver a violent punch to her rib and making him wince at the crack.

Hina's eyes rolled to the back of her head momentarily, at the brutal strength behind Rosan's blow and she couldn't hold back the whine of agony from the power.

He had a dreadful amount of physical strength and her broken rib could attest to that.

The way these two fought… It was as if they were sharks that smelled blood in the water and acted accordingly.

it was glaringly clear that they were punishing him for being a Logia by focusing their onslaught on the Paramecia that was Hina.

The duo were ruthless predators, not stopping for even a second and running the woman ragged as a result.

No matter what he did, the two avoided it. Whenever he went on the offensive, they punished him by making her suffer.

It also made a detail apparent to the Marine.

They were stronger then him, particularly the redhead who countered him at every given opportunity. It was only his Logia that left him unharmed but if not for it, he'd be in the same condition as Hina, if not worse.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, especially considering not only were they individually stronger, the two worked in perfect tandem with each other.

Smoker and Hina knew each other for a very long time and their own teamwork was getting torn to shreds by the seamless combination of these two devils.

Nico Robin provided stellar support for the redhead and her skillset meant that she could very well defend and escape if she so pleased.

This was humiliating. He was intending to capture the entirety of the Straw Hats and Crocodile, but he couldn't even make it past these two—

Rosan dashed towards the exhausted Hina, katana in hand, with speeds that she wouldn't be able to handle in her state and prepared to finish her off.

Smoker wasn't going to let that happen and with a rare desperation he sent a massive plume of smoke that surrounded Hina and prevented Rosan from finishing her off.

"Oh?" Rosan hummed, pausing in his dash and taking a step backwards to avoid the smoke .

Transforming into his element, Smoker dashed over to his old friend, who collapsed to the floor.

"Hina… didn't expect him to be so strong," she huffed, breathing harshly as she clutched her rib. The women's outfit was shredded, littered in shallow cuts, knowing they weren't any deeper because the redhead terror was toying with her.

She shakily gulped in air and winced at the pain of doing so.

Never did she feel so helpless in a battle before… Every moment was one of intense struggle. No step was safe for her. No attack was allowed. She wasn't even allowed to defend herself...

It was… She hadn't been this outclassed against pirates ever and to know he could have killed her at any time, terrified her truthfully.

She just didn't know why he hadn't killed her yet. He was planning something.

Smoker glanced at her injuries "You can't do anything with those injuries. I'll cover you so you need to —"

"Run?" Rosan interrupted calmly, making them both freeze at that daunting presence. "Do you really think you can protect her and yourself? Enough for her to run away?"

Smoker grunted in confusion. The whole point of this fight was that they couldn't damage him and focused their efforts into dismantling Hina, but now he should suddenly be worried about himself?

Rosan hummed as his eyes flashed. "Ah, it's about time. I was getting tired of resisting the urge to kill you."

Hina shuddered at the blatant admittance that he was leaving her alive on purpose.

Smoker was confused.

What was he talking abou—

"CAPTAIN SMOKER! CAPTAIN HINA!" Tashigi screamed, a platoon of soldiers behind her at the ready.

Smoker's eyes widened in uncharacteristic horror.

Tashigi?! But how did they know where he…? Was that what the redhead was talking about?!

"Yes, that's exactly what I was talking about. I led them here with some "suspicious" leads," Rosan replied calmly, reading the man's body language with startling ease.

When he said he wanted to clean up all loose ends, he meant all of them and that included every Marine on this island. It's why he hadn't outright killed Hina because Smoker might have had the idea to flee and he wouldn't be able to stop the smoke man.

But now, he knew exactly how to stop him.

"Robin, let's finish this up."

The Devil Child giggled as she materialized (where did she come from?!) next to the redhead. "It's good to know your hatred for the Marines is still as strong as ever."

"That is something that will never die. I will make them all pay," Rosan replied, eyes glowing brightly.

Hina and Smoker felt dread welling up in their bodies at the intelligent demon named Rosan.

This sadistic… How was he possibly apart of the Straw Hats?!

"ALL OF YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Smoker barked, turning into smoke to try and stop whatever it was Rosan was doing.

He charged the redhead with a single minded focus and so, he was completely unable to account and deal with what happened next.

His flight was halted as his form abruptly vanished and his smoke dissipated. He crashed stomach first onto the floor due to that and felt all the energy drain from his body.

Smoker only had time to let out a confused noise, before a multitude of arms surrounded his body, trapping his suddenly tangible form...

"Clutch."

"CAPTAIN SMOKER!" His allies screamed in horror as they were forced to watch the man's body bend awkwardly from the force of Robin's clutch, bones breaking from the strength behind it.

Robin grabbed Smoker's weapon out of her clones hand and inspected the jitte curiously. "I can't believe he never noticed that I stole it while he was protecting Hina-san."

"Not used to getting hit? You Logias must think you're invincible," Rosan muttered.

When Rosan made that dash to finish off Hina, he only did it to bait Smoker into focusing all his attention on him.

Once the Captain did that, Robin summoned two arms and stole the jitte from him, waiting for the opportune moment to use it and using her clone to deliver the draining blow.

Hina felt a tremor shoot through her body at the casualness displayed by the two devils and slowly felt the hope draining out of her body.

For one reason or another, the redhead named Rosan despised the World Government and would even ignore a temporary alliance to rid the world of them.

"You all need to run, now! Hina has given an order! Get out of here now!" She coughed, dragging herself up to try and at least delay the two.

Transforming her arm, the woman prepared to let out a long cage that would capture the two visible pirates.

She was too slow. Hina felt all the energy drain out of her at what she was currently witnessing and the Captain fell on her knees.

"Run? No one can run from me," Rosan commented, eyes still glowing brightly as they jumped out of the way of the iron cage.

Sand shifted nonstop and there was too much of it so it was a tad difficult to get a firm grasp and modify but he was already getting accustomed to it.

Case in point, any hopes the Marines had of escaping, vanished at the sight of massive walls erecting themselves up and cutting off all routes.

Hina sagged in defeat. There was nothing left they could do. Smoker was their only hope and the two were aware of it, using her to get an opening on him and taking the Logia out first despite not having any notable injuries besides the brutal contortion attack from Nico Robin.

Tashigi glanced around wildly, realizing that there was nowhere to go and gazing at the one responsible for it.

Gripping her sword tightly, she glared at Robin and Rosan and set her stance.

"Another swordsman of the Straw Hat? I don't know where you pirates get off on stealing such quality blades, but they don't belong in your hands. Once I defeat you both, I'll confiscate it out of your hand!" Tashigi said, breathing in and out as she prepared to fight with everything she had.

Even despite the unfavorable odds.

"CONFISCATE ME?! SEPARATE ME FROM FATHER?! KILL! SLAUGHTER! MURDER! RIP HER APART!" Ram howled, going feral at the mere thought of not being with Rosan.

Mod sighed at the look of primal anger on Ram's face and held her back with a patient expression.

Rosan ignored his weapon, tilting his head at the idiotic woman filling herself with bravado. "We've just sapped the will to fight out of one of your captains and defeated the other but you think that you and your fodder gang can stop us? Are you stupid?"

"No. I'm a Marine and it's my job to detain pirate scum like you no matter the situation!" She retorted with a growl.

Rosan closed his eyes and nodded thoughtfully. "That's an interesting answer."

He vanished from his spot in a burst of speed and appeared in front of Tashigi, Ram raised high to cut her in half.

"It's not even the wrong answer and I commend you for sticking to your values. You're probably one of the good Marines..." he replied.

His eyes sharpened. "Too bad you're a Marine."

Tashigi wasn't quick enough to throw up her sword but she was saved from certain death due to Rosan's blade connecting with shackles. They were unable to withstand the sheer strength behind the blow and shattered but that gave her more then enough time to step back and gaze wildly at the broken pieces of Hina's ability.

"S-Such strength?!"

The redhead glanced behind him and was greeted by Hina holding out one hand that had transformed into the same iron like material that had blocked his swing.

Her face was morphed into an expression of pain, most likely due to him shattering her ability, and she shot him a pleading look.

"Please… Smoker and Hina are the ones who agitated you so leave them out of this. They are not a threat to you so just kill us and leave them be," the pink haired captain begged.

Robin raised a brow but remained silent, arms cross and awaiting Rosan's orders.

How admirable. Quite the stand up Marine they had here. Perhaps... Maybe he should kill them all and force this one to be a mole for him.

But first.

"You think I'm doing this only because you touched me?" Rosan asked as he stared at the pink haired captain with a tilted head.

He idly diverted a swing from Tashigi and caught the stumbling girl by the wrist of her dominant hand.

Without any effort at all, he hoisted her up and snapped it clean before dropping her on the floor.

The effects were immediate.

"AGHHHHH!" She screeched, crumpling into herself and clutching her wrist with tears in her eyes, weapon clattering uselessly to the floor.

Hina watched the merciless act with wide eyes. Did the Straw Hats really have such a Devil lurking in their midst?! Monkey D. Luffy was nothing at all like the redhead in his crew.

"I cannot stand Marines," Rosan informed her, turning fully towards the Captain and ignoring the screaming mess in front of him. "I despise your organization with every fiber of my being and if I could, I would tear it all down immediately."

She shuddered at his matter of fact statement.

"W-What did the Marines do to you?" Hina asked quietly.

To have this much hatred for them that he'd get upset just by being touched…

"Everything but your job," Rosan replied immediately, causing her to flinch. "I know you're awake over there, Smoker. You are a prime example of a scumbag Marine."

Smoker couldn't move any part of his body but his head and he looked up to glare at Rosan in slight confusion, unable to get out a word as his body screamed at him.

"You are deployed in the East Blue with a Logia of all Devil Fruits and what do you do instead of going around to capture legitimate threats? You stay on one little island to prevent anyone from going to the Grand Line," Rosan replied calmly.

Buggy, Arlong, Alvida… All of these pirates would have been nothing to the man with the Smoke Logia but yet it was left to pirates to deal with them.

"That's not even the bad part. It makes sense that they would have a Logia stationed around the area closest to the Grand Line. Would you like to know the bad part?" The redhead asked rhetorically, grabbing Robin by the waist and floating upwards.

"Your ego was so hurt from us escaping, that you abandoned your station and chased us into the Grand Line," Rosan informed him coldly. "You, the strongest Marine stationed in the East Blue, couldn't be bothered to sail and deal with the severe problems in the East Blue but one little pirate crew set you off all because they escaped."

Smoker could say nothing, both because he had no power to and because the words shocked him.

"You Marines are all on a power trip and have no interest in doing your actual job. None of you care about upholding justice. You just do whatever satisfies yourself. Honestly, you're no better then pirates. You're just allowed to flex your power legally."

"Not all of us are like that," Hina protested.

He was right, there was a plethora of corrupt Marines in their midst but some truly did care about upholding justice and he refused to see that.

"When the top of your chain is corrupt, all of you are, no matter what beliefs you think you're fighting for," Rosan replied coldly, pupils transforming into draconic slits.

Charging up a massive amount of flames, that would consume every Marine trapped in the walled cage he created, the redhead glanced down at them with that ever present apathy, bright gaze being blocked by the glare of the desert sun.

"You're still as vengeful as ever," Robin commented, gazing down at the soon to be dead Marines neutrally, uncaring of their fate.

Rosan got what Rosan wanted unless she or Mod-chan said no and neither liked the Marines either.

The redhead opened his mouth, preparing to unleash his Annihilation so that he could catch up with his crew —

Only to instantly straighten his head and fire it straight ahead instead.

The terrified Marines looked on in confusion, not understanding why the monster had redirected his blast.

That was soon revealed however, as the blisteringly hot flames crashed into a wave of sand, boiling it and turning the material into glass immediately.

The heat of the flames were so strong that the glass shattered and rained down on the Marines below, cutting into a few and injuring them.

"What…?" Smoker muttered in shock, trying and failing to push himself up.

This was bad. That sand could only belong to one person and if he and his allies were caught in the crossfire, they'd be buried in the desert here.

Rosan glanced at the raining glass and sighed.

"Mod-chan, be sure to punish me after this is over so that I don't make such a mistake again. I cannot believe I allowed myself to monologue like some stupid villain."

He let his vindictive nature get the best of him. When Rosan hated something, killing them immediately wasn't enough. He needed them to understand so he tortured them but that was only when he was guaranteed to not be interrupted.

He accounted for Crocodile's appearance but still did it because at most, the Warlord wouldn't have showed up for at least 10 more minutes. Rosan didn't think the man would immediately charge and find his location but he should have accounted for every possibility.

That was sloppy. He was not like these idiot pirates, who would brag and cage their enemies, instead of immediately killing them.

He needed to be better then that.

Mod frowned at his demand. "We didn't expect Crocodile to be so reckless. I won't punish you because he made a mistake coming here with his weakness exposing him."

"We all make mistakes every once in a while and this is more Crocodile's mistake then yours," Robin reassured. "That's what makes us human, remember?"

He remembered the words of Meiko well and nodded, glancing at the furious Crocodile with a neutral expression.

The man was still soaked from his trip in his base no doubt and looked more akin to a grumpy cat then his namesake.

He was currently glaring at Rosan with a palpable fury that only turned into a storm when he saw just who was next to him.

The cocky demeanor was gone, Crocodile was pissed.

"I take it you didn't enjoy the gift I left you?" Rosan greeted with a short nod, taking some of his attention off the Marines.

Because of his mistake, they'd likely make it out alive today...

As if. He'd take some out if he could.

The redhead had Ram transform into his favorite gloves and began charging up a ball of energy.

Crocodile stiffened at the strange attack but his worries were for naught, as the redhead dropped it into the prison he had created.

The Marines could only watch with wide eyes as a red ball dropped into their pit.

The noise of the explosion deafened out the screaming.

Rosan took his attention off of the Marines fully.

"This is why I didn't want you here by the way. I accounted for Crocodile showing up but I figured it would be fine if I just sped up the time it took me to slaughter the Marines... he's more reckless then I thought so be careful," the redhead hummed.

"I won't die," Robin assured, gazing coolly at the man staring a hole into her.

Crocodile gazed at the disguised Nico Robin and saw how the redhead held her close.

"Nico Robin is Mine."

"Miss All Sunday, what is the meaning of this?" The Warlord asked calmly, despite the boiling rage he was feeling. "What does this man have that could possibly cause you to betray me?"

Robin raised a brow, unwilling to divulge in her and Rosan's past.

"No worries, I'll give him a satisfactory response," Rosan commented, getting a curious nod out of the woman.

Trusting Rosan to do things normally never turned out well for her but it worked out eventually… his way of thinking was just too much.

Being with him for 4 years also made her morbidly curious about what disasters he could cook up so despite the headaches, she typically let him do it regardless and deal with the consequences after.

"You still can't figure out why she betrayed you in favor of some random person?" Rosan jumped in with a raised brow, playing on Crocodile's ego to trick him. "I'd have expected you to be able to tell by now with your experience but since you can't I'll tell you."

Crocodile stamped down his annoyance at that insult. Him? Not knowing? Of course he already had his suspicions!

"I brainwashed her of course," he finished calmly. "Why do you think your Unluckies betrayed you so effortlessly? Why do you think they informed you of information they shouldn't know?"

Brainwash? Is that how he got three members (as far as he knew) to betray him so easily?

That made sense. So this redhead over here had some type of Devil Fruit that allowed you to hypno—

"What are you talking about, Rosan?" Robin frowned, catching onto his game immediately.

Was he serious right now? Why was he trying to protect her from Crocodile?

She didn't ask him to do this so she wouldn't let this work. Robin had no interest in letting Rosan take the brunt of Crocodile's aggression.

Robin's perplexed expression was enough to somewhat dissuade Crocodile from that silly notion, if the scowl of annoyance meant anything.

Rosan's outward expression didn't change even a little but on the inside he was pursing his lips in annoyance.

So she caught on to that plan quickly and didn't approve.

That was too bad. He refused to let her be the main target of Crocodile's ire while they were in the middle of the desert. She was not nearly as durable as he was so he wouldn't let her get hit.

Surprisingly, Ram and Mod were in full agreement.

Good, now he just needed to convince Crocodile that no matter what Robin said, she was brainwashed by him.

Ram grinned so violently, Mod actually took a step back with sweat.

What was their violent little ring planning and why did she look like she just won the lottery?

"I know what you can do, Father!"

"Isn't this a bit excessive?"

"The more excessive it is, the more convincing!"

Rosan tilted his head and nodded. That would work fine.

"It's quite impressive isn't it? Even with me saying it outright, she still thinks she hasn't been. It's very potent," the redhead said idly, gripping Robin's waist a bit tighter and catching her attention.

Robin glanced at his arm in confusion.

"I don't normally do this but I guess I can give you definitive proof."

Robin raised a brow at the fact that he was still trying to convince Crocodile and prepared to speak up again—

Only to let out a noise of surprise as Rosan promptly whirled her around, allowing her to look him directly in his heterochromatic gaze, grabbed her chin , cupped her butt of all things and planted a kiss directly on her lips.

Mod's jaw dropped in disbelief and her eyes widened to epic proportions, as a brilliant blush made its way to her face at the utterly shameless action of her utterly shameless son.

For some reason, she hadn't been privy to Ram and Rosan's plan because the two managed to abuse the connection they had to instantly convey their intentions and her son had put it into plan immediately.

Perhaps she should talk to them about informing her of their plans next time because this was maniacal.

What was wrong with Ram?! This was why she wasn't allowed to participate in their planning because she was unhinged!

"WOOHOO!" Ram cheered ecstatically jumping around her mortified auntie with unrestrained glee, completely unaware of Mod's awed horror.

"My Kami," Maro gaped, watching the screen with a dark red blush and blocking the vision of a severely confused Gladiolus and Anemone.

Who the hell taught Master how to kiss so well? And the way he was groping her ass so... holy shit!

She was currently watching Rosan's stream with Angel, Demon, Sabo, Kaori and the Baroque Works agents (along with her pets!) but she never expected to see live view of her teacher sucking someone's face off and being so grabby!

Angel and Demon's mouth dropped to the floor, dark twin blushes donning the twin's faces as they watched their creator and older brother make out with and grope Nico Robin with a level of shamelessness that only he and Luffy had.

W-What the hell...? T-Their innocent master?! T-The one who went beet red at just being kissed by Meiko?!

Sabo raised a brow. "What's the surprise for? Aren't those two dating each other? They're never far apart and almost always touching. Why is it so surprising to see them being lovey dovey?"

"B-Because they aren't dating," Angel wheezed, face turning progressively red as her eyes remained glued onto the screen with fascinated horror.

"Oh," Sabo gaped. Seriously? Koala told him only couples did things like this! The two had kissed before but that was only when they went undercover on missions!

(Sabo was just as oblivious as his brothers)

Kaori, who put her massive hands over a blushing Marianne's eyes (she was too young to see this!), blushed in embarrassment. "S-Should we really be watching this? I feel like a pervert."

"I-I agree," Marianne squeaked, shamefully peering through a gap in Kaori's fingers in morbid curiosity. D-Did people really kiss like that?! She only saw light pecks from Maro and Angel!

One second, he was going out of his way to torture and slaughter a group of Marines, the next he was locking lips with his fellow demon a-and squeezing her butt!

How inappropriate!

"Miss All Sunday n-never struck me as the type to let this happen," Mikita stammered, face scarlet.

Despite the smile she carried on her face, everyone knew not to test Miss All Sunday and anyone dumb enough to even put a hand on her, paid the price in bone.

The former agent chanced a glance at Demon and idly wondered if he was that good of a kisser as well.

"That's probably Rosan-sama's plan," a cool headed Gem replied, unfazed by what was happening. "Miss All Sunday doesn't show interest in anyone. I've never seen her have a conversation with anyone outside of mission debrief and the last person who touched her ended up with bones broken beyond repair."

They sweat a little at that.

Robin was scary.

"Ah!" Maro said, features still red as she reluctantly tore her gaze away from the screen (what?! they were both hot!). "Mr. 0 being her partner, should be aware of this more then anyone then! Master's using the information Crocodile should know about Robin to manipulate the situation in his favor! How crafty!"

Gem nodded proudly. "Exactly, Queen Maro. It's working too because Robin-sama and Rosan-sama are excellently playing their parts."

"Something tells me, Robin had no idea this was going to happen," Demon said dryly, noticing Mikita's gaze and flashing a small smile towards her.

The agent flushed even more and averted her gaze, smiling to herself in the process.

"W-Well, based on how she's melting into it, I'd say it won't be as hard as we thought to get them together," Angel croaked, mouth dry as she stared at the screen with a stunned expression.

S-Sure she supported the two of them getting together b-but this was still her beloved Master and she had been defending his chastity for so long, her instincts were screaming!

W-Why was he so proficient?! H-How much of his chastity did she fail to protect?! H-How shameless was he to grab her butt? DID MARO TEACH HIM THAT?!

"This was absolutely Ram's idea," Maro sighed tiredly.

She knew it was a bad idea for the ring to be the main orchestrator of getting these two together. Her best friend was terribly unsubtle and incredibly forward. Doing all these discreet things was really not her cup of tea and it was obvious she'd do something dumb soon.

She had to hand it to Mod-chan for keeping her in check for this long.

"Still… I-I never expected the Warlord Crocodile to be our former boss…" Mikita pondered nervously.

To think that someone so dangerous had been the one to oversee their missions and everyone was none the wiser... that was a scary thought.

"Why isn't Rosan trying to flee?" Marianne asked curiously. He was up against a Warlord of the Sea! Though he still terrified her, her Queens and Demon still loved him with all their heart and she didn't want to see them cry.

"He's buying time for his crew. If Vivi shows herself, there's a chance she can stop the rebellion," Sabo informed them.

Kaori patted her gently on the head. "If you're worried about his safety… you shouldn't be, Rosan is a monster."

They watched the tall fishman shudder idly. "We fought and well... he toyed with me the entire time. I thought I was strong, the strongest in the East Blue actually but he showed me that there are bigger monsters out there."

That fight had done more then just humble her. It had lit a fire under her that Maro fueled every single time they fought.

Her queen was also outrageously strong and Kaori learned that underneath the genuinely kind student of Rosan, was a bloodthirsty monster who showcased exactly who her teacher was.

The woman felt unstoppable in a similar yet different way then Rosan. The two weathered blows largely the same, but whereas Rosan felt like an immortal demon who would just regenerate anything done to him, Maro felt like an invincible tank, unflinching from every blow and firing back with devastating force.

Even with the knowledge that only one side of her was immune to damage, she still tanked blows on the other with seemingly no effort.

She still had yet to defeat the Dokkaebi… but Kaori was improving much faster then when she traveled with the Arlong Pirates. She was the second strongest on Celadon, a spot that Gem was eager to take.

Mikita shuddered fearfully at that, horror filling her body as she recalled that terrible day. "H-He toyed with us too. Not once did he take us serious..."

Demon soothingly pat her shoulder and she instinctively relaxed, shooting him a grateful look.

"You should be grateful he found a use in you guys… getting killed by Master is a terrible fate," Angel sighed.

"Yeah and don't worry about it! I never beat him either," Maro beamed.

"N-Never?!" Marianne gaped along with her allies.

Queen Maro was a complete monster in battle.

None of her soldiers had ever defeated the Dokkaebi in a fight. Her sheer prowess in and out of her Devil Fruit, combined with her unreal durability and versatility made it impossible for them to beat her.

The few times she deigned (begged because she was bored and her soldiers were too good) to deal with invaders, they quickly awed at how powerful she was when she didn't care about the person's wellbeing.

It made sense that she was so powerful, considering she was the prodigious student of an even bigger monster.

"Have I ever beat you or Rosan?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Nope!" Maro chirped. "Master and I were way too strong for you when you were a kid! But based on what we saw against Ace, you'd probably beat us now I bet?"

He nodded. "Most likely but it's no big deal. Ace and I have just been in the Grand Line way longer. It's only a matter of time before all of you guys catch up to us... that's if you train up," he added cheekily.

Maybe he'd spar with the both of them while hanging out with the crew.

"Bah! I don't need to sail through the Grand Line to get as strong as you bastards," Maro exclaimed, sticking out her tongue.

"I wonder if Crocodile can make Rosan fight a little serious," Kaori mused.

They all saw how effortlessly the two dealt with the Marine Captain duo and realized that there was very little they knew about the redhead who terrorized each and every one of them.