Chapter 15: The Angel's Demon

A body slammed into the wall with crushing force and the victim crumpled. She took a deep breath before focusing her attention on the next target. It was easy to crush them like this. They were of no challenge to her.

"S-so the rumors were true?! Reaper really does have a partner now?" A panicked voice asked. This couldn't be happening! Just the Angel of Death was bad enough and now there was another one? The Angel's Demon was real?!

"Yes, b-b-boss! We thought our eyes were playing tricks b-but there's another one and t-they have on w-white instead of black — GAH!" The voice was cut off as he was bludgeoned in the skull by a club.

"White instead of black?" An amused voice, sounding as androgynous Reaper but much different, asked causing the bandit to fearfully glance at the source. Standing there, in all their glory, was exactly what his subordinate had been so terrified about.

Just like he described, they were dressed almost exactly like the infamous Reaper but instead, their colors were inverted. They wore a predominantly white cloak with black streaks all over. The sleeves were tinged with black and so was the hoodie and the bottom of the cloak.

All in all, it simply looked as if Reaper had decided to swap outfits, removed his wings, and replaced them with blue flames.

"You must be talking about me~," They finished cheerfully and held up that gigantic club. The captain tried to back away, but a presence behind, stopped him in his tracks.

"Finished, Grim?" A hauntingly cold voice called and he paled as he knew exactly who it was. Everyone always mentioned how…vacantly the figure spoke. As if they weren't fully there. Like they were on a different realm then the people they hunted.

"Yea I'm done, Reaper!" The now identified Grim answered cheerfully and the contrast between her tone and Reaper were night and day.

It was all the more terrifying.

"Bandit Dan," Reaper said as greeting and the terrified leader hesitantly turned to face the Angel of Death.

"We've already dealt with your crew so that leaves just you left!" Grim sounded way too amused at his situation. It was clear that the Angel's Demon was not taking this serious whatsoever.

"Do you have any last wish?" The obsidian winged Angel asked politely. They made no move to attack yet, as if they were actually going to wait for the person to tell

"I dunno why you still do this, they never take you up on your offer," Grim chimed in, now speaking to their partner.

"It's a courtesy that I like to see through," was all Reaper said.

Predictably, Dan tried to make a run for it by running past the smaller (though much taller) threat that was Grim. Reaper's reputation was too fearsome for him to ever attempt going past the Angel.

"They always run my way," Grim grumbled, letting Dan run past without much trouble.

He didn't make it very far because the white clad figure waved their giant club and a giant wall of blue flame cut him off.

The man tried hard to find an exit, but he realized that he was completely trapped with two monsters eyeing him as if he were nothing more than a insect. Dan contemplated running through the flames, but there was something off about them and he just knew he wouldn't be able to survive.

"Oh? You got good survival instincts," Grim said, sounding proud despite the fact that they were trying to kill him. "Most people try to run through that and don't even have time to regret their decision. Something about gigantic blue flames don't seem to set off their warning bells!"

Dan felt something snap at how smug the white clad bounty hunter acted towards him. He let out a furious roar and charged Grim, who had not moved an inch from their spot.

Reaper stared at him with a tilted head as they watched the man lose his sanity. They were content to just stand there and let their partner handle the criminal.

Before he could even plan an attack, Grim grabbed their club and smashed it into the mans face sending him flying into the blue flames. He lost consciousness on impact and didn't even let out a groan of pain

"Oh wait, we need him to be recognizable," Grim gasped in realization. They banished the flames right before Dan flew into them and the man crashed into a wall instead with a sickening THUD.

"Are we done?" The Angel's Demon asked and Reaper nodded in response.

Letting out a sigh of relief, 12 year old Maro put down her hoodie, removed her white mask, and took a deep breath. Her long canines shortened dramatically, though they were still rather sharp, and her green skin reverted back to its fair color. Her long, wild hair, went back to its original chin level and it's pure white color went back to azure blue with white streaks.

"You've gotten much better at using your Devil Fruit," Rosan commented idly as he went to go pick up Dan's battered body.

Maro beamed in excitement at his praise and did a happy little dance. "I'm glad you trusted me enough to give me such a strong ability, Master! I hope I haven't disappointed you yet," she gushed and she rushed to glomp the cloaked 13 year old.

Rosan accepted it and wrapped an arm around the strong girl with practiced ease. "On the contrary, you've done nothing but impress me since your declaration a few months ago," he said calmly.

The bluenette grinned up at him as she remembered their conversation.

Flashback

"Master," she called sounding more confident then she had ever sounded.

"Yes?" Rosan replied with a tilted head.

"I want a Devil Fruit," she claimed.

The thought had been lingering in the back of her mind since Rosan had introduced the concept of the fruits to her but now, seeing how useful his own was, Maro wanted one that would she could call her own.

Mod's delicate purple brow was raised in surprise and Ram's grin was savage.

Rosan stared at her for a moment with his head still tilted. Eventually, the boy said "Okay," which left her grinning happily.

"I have just the one for you."

The two left Rosan's mindscape with some simple goodbyes (Maro stuttering nonstop around a clearly amused Mod while Ram laughed uncontrollably) and they were back on the ship.

When Maro awoke, she saw that she was hugging Rosan's, now equally awake, body and she embarrassingly removed herself from his grasp.

"S-sorry Master, didn't mean to hug up on ya like that," she mumbled and Rosan just waved her off.

"Think nothing of it, now let's go."

She raised a brow in confusion at that. "Y-you already have a Devil Fruit for me?"

"Yes, I stole it when I was 11 from someone named Joker and I haven't done anything with it," Rosan explained as he told her about the event that caused him to get it.

He was flying one day, when he had spotted another suspicious ship that looked heavily guarded. Naturally, that only made the 11 year old more curious about its contents so he decided to check it out.

The redhead would have certainly had trouble dealing with all those people (they looked much stronger then the last ship he raided) and so, Rosan decided that, for the sake of being an ass, he would terrorize this ship.

Unfairly.

Rosan wasn't normally one to use unfair techniques. His goal was to be the strongest and as such, techniques that ended the battle without him learning anything, defeated the purpose of that goal.

When the redhead was fighting a strong opponent, techniques that could instantly end the fight were a no go. He wanted to win with a combination of Modification and his own strength.

But for the sake of trolling?

Absolutely.

The boy camouflaged himself and angled his flight downward towards the ship, already having a plan in mind. He only needed one person alive, the others could drop dead for all he cared and that's what was going to happen to them. As he neared he listened in to see if he could glean some information from them.

He was not disappointed.

"Joker-sama will be so pleased at the unexpected development!" Grunt 1 said to his ally, with an excited grin on his face.

Joker again? Now Rosan just had to do it. He didn't know who this Joker was, but this must have been fate if he found another shipment from the person.

The masked boy grinned mischievously. He was definitely going follow through with his plan now if it meant antagonizing a familiar name.

"There's no way we won't get a raise for this discovery!" Grunt 2 said in equal fervor. "I mean, we managed to find a fucking Devil Fruit! In the Blue Seas! The chances of that happening are super low!"

Poor idiots, speaking so freely. They were just cementing Rosan's plan of raiding the ship. If only he weren't a flying Shinigami that could camouflage himself. They would have been able to get away with this! How unfortunate that someone as great as him existed!

Besides the Mod Mod no mi, Rosan had yet to see an actual Devil Fruit. The chance to see (and steal!) one was far to tempting and any doubts the 11 year old had at raiding the ship (as if there were any), were wiped away.

"Modify: State."

The crew lazing about on the ship were confused to find that they suddenly could not move anymore.

That confusion turned into shock as someone's head suddenly got lobbed off without prompt.

That shock turned into dread as the Angel of Death suddenly materialized from thin air.

That dread turned into fear as he began mercilessly slaughtering everyone on the ship without any prompting. He flew from person to person with astounding speed and they tried to defend themselves, but the floor gluing them down prevented them from even being able to do that.

Rosan snorted at their inability to do anything. If they were smarter they'd have taken their shoes off... Not that it would help. The entire ship floor had been modified into a sticky adhesive and no part was left untouched. They'd need to be able to fly to escape and well, something told him they couldn't do that.

They were caught in a perfect little spider web with no way out.

A fact that Rosan abused ruthlessly.

The Shinigami removed the head of all but one person. The reason he had chosen this one particular person, was because they had done the most intelligent thing on the ship and pulled out a Den Den Mushi.

Rosan would have stopped it, but he didn't want to and he had already dialed it up anyways. The snail was now ringing with a purururu as it waited for the other person to pick up.

"J-Joker-sama?" The grunt said fearfully as he eyed the suddenly still Reaper staring at him.

"What is it?" The voice demanded, sounding amused.

"W-w-we've r-r-run into an issue w-with the s-shipment," he stammered.

"An issue?" Despite how amused he sounded, the underlying threat in his tone was not missed and the grunt paled dramatically.

Rosan took that chance to snatch the snail out of the cowering man's hand.

"Greetings, you must be Joker," Rosan said softly. His voice betrayed nothing (not that it ever did when he was Reaper) as he spoke to the underground broker but internally the redhead was grinning.

"Who is this?" Joker asked.

"I-It's Reaper, Joker-sama!" The grunt replied helpfully, only to scream in agony as a scythe buried it's way into his stomach.

"Quiet grunt. The important people are talking so you can just stand there and look pretty," Rosan said cruelly.

Joker let out a laugh despite the situation his subordinate seemed to be in.

"So you're Reaper," he said in amusement. "I don't pay much attention to what goes on in the Blue Seas, but from what I've heard, you're quite the big fish in a small sea..."

"...After hearing you speak, I've decided that I quite like you," Joker said and Rosan saw that the Den Den Mushi was grinning.

He wasn't taking the situation serious at all and that meant he didn't take Reaper serious at all. The redhead could tell that whoever Joker was, he was quite powerful. If they engaged in a fight, the Angel of Death would almost certainly lose and be forced to flee, lest he die.

The Grand Line was full of powerful people it seemed.

How exciting.

"You flatter me with your words. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be liking me very soon," Rosan said. While conversing with the unknown man, the redhead had been searching for the most interesting item on the ship.

"Oh? And why's that?" The man over the line asked. "If I remember right, nothing on that ship is of great importance to me," Joker finished in full confidence.

The boy smiled triumphantly as he found a locked box beneath the ship.

Modifying the lock away, Rosan opened the, now unlocked, box and grabbed the object in there.

It was a green circular fruit, that resembled a melon, with white swirls and an equally white stem. Rosan wracked his brain as he identified the Devil Fruit.

He had read and absorbed the contents of a Devil Fruit encyclopedia a while ago, in case he ever ran into one of the fruits, so it didn't take him very long to identify it.

The boy actually grinned in excitement at his discovery.

"Not only did your minions find a Devil Fruit that they wanted to hand over to you —," Rosan said getting a raised brow from the Den Den Mushi. Joker was clearly curious but he still seemed at total ease with the situation.

It's not as if he cared that much about just one Devil Fruit.

"—It's a Mythical Zoan of all fruits. Aren't I just the luckiest to find and own the rarest type of Devil Fruit. Maybe if they knew it was a Mythical, they wouldn't have tried to surprise you and just told you immediately so you could personally come retrieve it," he finished and it was his turn to sound amused.

There was a silence on the other line. The Den Den Mushi was no longer grinning as he digested the information.

Then, a litter of veins appeared on its head and it grinned again but this time, Rosan could clearly sense his annoyance.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Reaper," he laughed in thinly veined annoyance. "If you know what's good for you, you'll give me that Mythical and I'll allow you to join me. I do still think you're interesting after all."

Joker couldn't care less about some random Devil Fruit. But Mythical Zoan's were not just some random fruit. There was a reason they were classified as the rarest type of fruit. The abilities they granted to the user were perhaps the best of all Devil Fruits.

Marco the Phoenix was a prime example of how powerful a Mythical Zoan was.

"Join? Now why would I do that?" Rosan asked, voice still tinged in amusement.

"You don't want to have me as an enemy," the unknown man promised, as his agitation steadily grew to levels of anger.

"I think I've been an enemy since that first shipment I destroyed in this same sea. You're welcome by the way, I bet you were wondering who did that," the redhead supplied helpfully.

Another silence flooded the area.

"That was you?" the smile was gone now and the veins deepened.

"Joker… you seem to be a little upset. Is something the matter? Would you like to talk about it? I'm all ears."

"Pray that we never meet Reaper."

"Oh we won't. Not yet at least. I have no illusions on what will happen to me but, when we do meet, I won't be the one that's praying," Rosan promised with a wild grin despite his calm tone.

"I wonder how you'll feel, on your knees, praying to an Angel of Death."

Not letting Joker answer, Rosan shut the connection.

Elsewhere, Donquixote Doflamingo looked at the sleeping Den Den Mushi with a litter of veins on his head. He was grinning so widely but despite that, anyone watching him knew he was very displeased.

"Doffy?" Trebol called, being the only one brave enough to speak up at the moment.

Doflamingo ignored him however and just kept staring at the snail. Eventually, he spoke.

"Reaper," Doffy grit out through his teeth. "I'll be keeping a close eye on you. If you ever make it into the Grand Line, I'll be the one to personally take out the so called Shinigami."

A blast of Conquerors Haki washed over everyone there as the Heavenly Demon made his declaration to the Angel of Death.

Rosan looked terribly amused at the interaction he just had. It was going to be an interesting game of Chicken. Neither he nor Joker knew of each other's identity and it would likely remain that way for a while.

The redhead had no plans of going to the Grand Line at the moment and, if Joker personally came for him, he wouldn't be able to capture the elusive Shinigami. The 11 year old also had the added benefit of being able to travel between the 4 Blue Seas with ease. Not much could claim to be able to do that.

The redhead was the one with the advantage here. If Joker did show himself, then right before Rosan escaped, he'd be able to identify the mysterious person. Then, he would get stronger and stronger and when he felt sufficiently powerful, he would personally hunt the underground broker down until he made them pray to him.

Only after that, would Rosan would deal with him accordingly.

For now though, he would take his hard earned Devil Fruit (heh) and store it in his Pocket Dimension. The boy had no clue what he'd do with the Devil Fruit, but he didn't plan on selling a Mythical Zoan of all things.

They were the rarest Devil Fruit. It would be much better for him to just hold on to it for future use. Maybe if it were a normal Zoan or a Paramecia (he wouldn't sell a Logia either) but this was special.

No, he would definitely be keeping it.

"Only you would willingly agitate a powerful enemy who you have no chance of beating," Mod said fondly as she shook her head.

"No chance of beating yet," Rosan corrected with a cheeky grin as he transferred everything else on the ship into his dimension. Aiko could have them, Rosan had no use for them and he had already gotten what he wanted from this trip.

Finished with his job, he flew upwards until he hovered steadily above the ship. He contemplated the ship's fate before quickly coming to a decision.

His cheeky grin turned into a much more savage one, as his dual eyes turned into slits and he began growing larger and larger.

When in doubt, use Ragnarok.

No evidence left behind after all just in case his newest enemy personally came to check up on it. He hoped Joker had a lot more of these ships because this one was about to disappear.

With that, Rosan obliterated the entire ship and sunk it to the bottom of the ocean.

Maro listened to his story in awe.

"This Joker fella…he sounds really strong. Can you beat him now?" She asked curiously.

"No, probably not." Rosan replied honestly. "I'm sure he's keeping tabs on what I'm doing now and if he personally comes after and catches me, then I will die. I haven't heard or seen any of his ships since our conversation a year ago though."

Maro nodded, a bit fearfully, at that information.

So Master, had a very strong person looking to kill him and he wanted to give her the fruit that he had stolen from the man.

Was she in danger?

"I didn't tell him what the Devil Fruit was. He won't know it's you unless you advertise that you got it from Reaper," he explained bluntly.

"Now come, grab my hand."

Maro did just that and she braced herself for the eeriness of Rosan's pocket dimension.

The two vanished from the ship, only to appear in the bizarre Pocket Dimension. The bluenette shivered terribly and held Rosan tighter.

Maro didn't think she would ever be able to get fully used to the sensation of being in such a strange place. It was so…wrong. Nothing in here made any sense and the fact that Rosan walked around like it was normal, bothered her to no end.

The boy shot her a side glance as her grip tightened, before focusing forward again and walking towards the gigantic castle that Maro had never stepped inside.

The orphaned girl had been in the Pocket Dimension multiple times, but not once did Rosan bring her to this castle. She had been curious about its nature but asking the redhead about it, kind of scared her.

Now she was getting to see it without having to ask!

Rosan parted the doors to the castle and stepped inside.

Maro unknowingly let out a sigh of relief, as the effects of the Pocket Dimension vanished and she stood just a bit straighter. As the two walked together, the orange eyed girl took the chance to observe the castle.

If she could describe it with one word, fancy would be the one because she didn't know much big words…

But it was really fancy.

They were walking down a corridor on an incredibly soft purple and black carpet that Maro wouldn't mind sleeping on if given the choice. Furniture and decorations were everywhere and they looked more advanced then anything she had seen (which admittedly wasn't much but she had broken into some houses before! These things were way better than the ones she entered).

Sleek short and long chairs, that were not made out of wood, dominated one area and in between all of them was a table that was made out of wood with a potted plant on top of it. Fancy drapes, that were purple with black roses on them, covered the multitude of windows.

There were multiple rooms and she distantly wondered what was in each of them as they walked past each one. Her curiosity got the best of her when they walked to a set of stairs, one that went up and one that went down, and took the one going down.

"What's up the stairs, Master?" She asked and Rosan just looked at her for a moment.

"Something important to me. Never go up there or I'll kill you," he said bluntly and she froze at his words. The way he delivered that left no room for doubt and it terrified her.

"Y-yes, Master," she stuttered and the boy simply nodded. Maro made a note to herself to never climb up those stairs.

Her fear was quickly wiped away in favor of awe, when they reached the bottom of the stairs and entered a room. Her jaw dropped at the contents inside of the very large room.

There was so…much…treasure. Maro had never seen so much gold in her life!

The sheer amount let her know that Rosan would never have to worry about expenses again.

"This is the treasury," Rosan explained softly to her. "It's where I keep anything of interest along with a majority of my treasure. If I haven't given it to Aiko, I likely put it in here," he explained and Maro started swooning at just how much stuff there was.

The 12 year old boy walked towards a podium with a box on top of it and opened it without hesitation.

Inside was the same green and white fruit that he had mentioned in his tale and Maro's eyes shone in curiosity at the odd looking piece of food.

She walked up, almost reverently, at it and gulped at the implications.

When Maro had asked Master for a Devil Fruit, she had expected him to find a standard one and just have her eat that.

The bluenette didn't think this one was some standard one.

"Master...do ya really think I should be eatin this? Do ya really trust me that much?" She asked hesitantly, looking towards the taller boy with nervous confusion. She was beginning to doubt her abilities now that she was actually face to face with the fruit that would change her life.

"Of course," he said without hesitation and her eyes widened at his blunt answer. "I am training you to be Reaper's partner. If I didn't trust you, I would have already failed and this would never have worked," the dual eyed boy told her honestly.

Maro felt a strange, warm sensation at his words that felt surprisingly pleasant and a large smile made its way onto her face.

She would not let his trust go to waste.

With a determined gaze, the 11 year old grabbed the green fruit and, without hesitation, took a large bite, and then another, and then another until the entire thing was gone.

Now Maro, being a homeless orphan, had eaten plenty of things. When you didn't have a home, you couldn't be picky with what you ate. The girl had even eaten literal garbage just to get rid of the hunger pangs.

None of that even came close to what she had just consumed.

The girl coughed with tears in her eyes at the absolutely foul taste of the Devil Fruit she just ate. The taste was so horrible that she immediately collapsed, still coughing terribly, and the girl clawed at her tongue to get the taste out.

If eating garbage couldn't even prepare her for this, Maro didn't know if anything could.

It took her embarrassingly long to compose herself and she let out a sigh of relief as Rosan placed a hand on her back and the taste went away.

"I had a similar experience," he explained and she hugged him for dear life at the small mercy he had given her.

"Yer the best, Master," she moaned in pathetic relief.

After she finally gathered herself, Maro realized something.

"Wait Master, what exactly is my Devil Fruit?" Maro asked her, now, fellow Devil Fruit user.

"I was expecting you to ask before you took a bite into it to see if you actually wanted it but, it seems you no longer have a choice," Rosan remarked getting a blush of embarrassment out of her.

She hadn't really been thinking.

"It's fine though, I think you will find that you quite like you're Devil Fruit. The name of it is…"

Maro waited with bated breath as Rosan revealed the name of the fruit.

"...The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Dokkaebi."

Flashback End

Rosan was right. Maro had not been disappointed.

She absolutely loved her Devil Fruit. The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Dokkaebi was an incredible and fun fruit that Maro was glad to have!

Every day she learned something new about the fruit, only reinforced her loyalty to Rosan, who had entrusted her with it, to even higher levels.

Maro had never heard of Dokkaebis before but, she had a wonderful Master who had done research on them the moment he identified the fruit. The boy refused to let her go in blind because that was a "Waste of time and an unnecessary delay," by his words.

So Rosan had told her everything he knew about the mythical goblins to see if she were capable of it.

Flashback

"I'm going to be informing you of Dokkaebi lore and you will check to see if you are also capable of doing that," Rosan informed her and the 11 year old nodded in determination.

"Before we begin, I'd like to give you basic information about Zoan's in general."

Rosan, along with Angel, Demon, and Maro, were sat in the training room of his ship. His two clones were shocked to know that Rosan had given his new student a Devil Fruit of all things!

They were curious about the outcome of things.

"There are 3 types of Devil Fruits," Rosan began and Maro listened to his every word. "Paramecia, Zoan, and Logia."

"Paramecia are the most common and there is no specific category of abilities that they grant. The power between them all varies. They can give you the ability to sprout pieces of your body on the surface of things or they can allow you to modify anything you touch."

"So Master," Maro began with a curious gaze. "That means you're a Paramecia right?"

"Yes, the Mod Mod no Mi is a Paramecia Devil Fruit," Rosan confirmed.

"Logias are the rarest of the 3 Devil Fruit types," the boy continued. "People who have eaten Logias have their body composition transformed into a natural element that they can freely control. Due to their body composition being transformed into the element that they have gained, they can transform parts of their body into that element, making them impervious to damage. There is someone who can transform into ice for example."

Robin had told him about that.

"That…doesn't sound very fair," Maro frowned as she heard about the rarest of the 3 fruits. "How are you supposed to defeat someone with a Logia?"

"I'm not sure," Rosan admitted and Maro got the sense that he would have frowned if he could. "There is elemental advantage. If you have an ability that counters the element you should be able to touch them but otherwise, I haven't found a concrete way besides using Seastone…," Rosan finished before he paused and started thinking.

"Actually…," he mused.

"Yes Father," Ram's voice spoke causing everyone to jump slightly. They were all linked to the boy so they could hear his weapon loud and clear but he hadn't even asked her a question!

They were totally in sync.

"If you give me seastone to absorb, I can transform into the material but I don't really know what the drawbacks would be," she said, sounding apologetic.

"We can discuss it later then," the redhead said and she replied with a "Yes Father!".

"Do you understand so far Maro?" Rosan asked. "It's possible that the two of us will fight our share of Devil Fruit users."

The bluenette nodded in confirmation. Paramecias could be bad news. Logias were bad news.

There was no doubt in her mind that Rosan understood her rather simple thinking and Maro blushed but, the boy deemed it good enough.

"Finally, there are Zoans," Maro perked up even more as she heard Rosan speak about the Devil Fruit she had.

"Zoans are more common then Logias but rarer then Paramecia. They allow you to transform into an animal species at will. You can either turn into the full animal, or a hybrid between the animal and your human form. What's interesting about Zoans is that, unlike Paramecias and Logias, they are said to have wills of their own even unconsumed. Probably a side effect of being an animal," The 12 year old told everyone there.

Maro nodded in fascination but something was bugging her with what he said.

"Master, you said Paramecia and Logia fruits don't have wills?" She asked the boy.

"That is correct," he said.

"Doesn't that mean Mod-chan is a Zoan instead of a Paramecia? She has a will of her own and you can even transform!"

Rosan tilted his head at her question in contemplation. "My transformations are not due to me being a Zoan. I am modifying myself into an entirely new creature. I don't only transform into a Shinigami, I can also transform into a Dragon and I know of no mythical creature capable of doing that."

The first part was a bit harder to answer because the redhead didn't actually have an explanation.

"I can explain," the woman of the hour said, causing them all to gain a surprised look.

"Mod-chan?" Rosan wondered with a tilted head. He didn't delve into her past because it seemed to be a touchy subject for the Devil Fruit and he respected her privacy. He really didn't care to learn more about her past because it was hers to talk about.

"It's fine, Rosan," she reassured. "Truthfully, I should have told you at least some things about myself but it's not something I like to think about."

Everyone there remained silent at the exchange between fruit and boy.

"If it makes you feel uncomfortable, you do not need to speak about it," the boy informed his most trusted person. "It does not matter to me if you don't tell me. What matters is that you're here with me now."

"Oh Rosan," Mod said, voice full of love. "You're just the sweetest ever, you know? There are a lot of things I'd rather not talk about yet but, I can at least tell you about my origins."

"Only if you want," the heterochromatic boy said firmly.

"Thank you Rosan, really. I really do love you for being so patient with me," she said and it may have been an illusion, but they saw a ghost of a smile on Rosan's face.

"I love you too Mod-chan."

The tender moment warmed all of them, Angel in particular, and Maro smiled gently at the exchange.

She wanted what they had.

"Rosan, do you mind if I take over to explain?" The woman asked and Rosan nodded without hesitation.

Angel and Demon grinned in excitement. They always loved seeing Master Mod in person, even if it was in Rosan's body.

Maro didn't even know Mod could take over Rosan's body! At least she would still be looking at Rosan's, still adorable, face instead of Mod's beautiful one. The two may have been able to pass off as mother and son, but Rosan had not matured yet. When he did, Maro would be having the same troubles… Unless she matured too!

Mod was mature. That had been made very clear to the bluenette.

She wasn't mentally prepared to see the woman again after their first encounter (that had only been a couple days ago!). The bluenette was still mortified by how she acted in front of the stunning Devil Fruit and she needed to ask Angel how to better compose herself in the future.

Rosan closed his eyes and Maro's jaw dropped in disbelief as the boys appearance changed. He grew 6 inches taller and the boy's bronze skin grew just a hint lighter. His red hair turned a familiar shade of purple, as the spikes smoothed out and it grew much longer, reaching his back now instead of his shoulder.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Maro said in despair as Rosan transformed into Mod. She wasn't mentally prepared for this and now, instead of Ram, Angel would be witnessing this.

She was so dead.

"I wasn't aware Master Mod could do this," Angel said in awe.

"She mentioned it to me some time ago but I'm still surprised," Demon remarked.

True to Maro's words, Rosan (or Mod now) had transformed the boy's body into her own body inside of the mindscape. The woman opened her eyes, showing off her blood red irises and let out a sigh as the air brushed against her face.

Being free was always enjoyable.

"You're free to take over whenever you want, you know this," Rosan spoke and his voice was muffled.

"You should take Father up on his offer more! It means I get to spend time with him more!" Ram said and Mod correctly deduced that she was probably the reason his voice was not clear.

"Master Mod!" Angel greeted as she rushed over to the woman. She engulfed the Devil Fruit in a hug and when she did, she paused.

When Mod had taken over Rosan's body, she had modified the boy's appearance into that of her own. This was evident by the fact that she was quite a bit taller then the 12 year old boy and looked a few years older. The only sign that this was in fact Rosan's body, was that she was donned in his, always present, accessories...

And that she was currently wearing his outfit.

Rosan had been wearing an outfit picked out by Angel. It was currently winter and, though the redhead was not affected by weather, his fellow redhead had decided to dress him up with that in mind.

Thank Kami for that because Mod-chan had not modified her outfit at all.

Rosan was in a red, form fitting, long sleeved silky shirt, that had a black star on his left chest and baggy white pants lined with red.

Mod was also dressed in that. But, where it fit Rosan, it...did not fit her.

Angel felt a sense of Déjà vu as she looked at Master Mod and said "Wow".

"Hm?" Mod said before she looked down and blushed. "Oh."

On Rosan it was form fitting. On Mod it was tight. Much similar to that time the redheaded boy had modeled for Angel, the clothing on Mod was very revealing.

The red shirt on her frame squeezed her body in a way that would have had all eyes (like right now) on her. The shirt didn't even reach her belly and she had an embarrassing amount of cleavage showing!

The baggy pants didn't look baggy at all and instead clung to her long toned legs. They, much like the shirt, didn't reach all the way and showed off her bronze skin and bare feet.

Maro nearly went comatose at the sight. The girls face was so red, it looked as if she were going to combust on the spot. She noticed that Mod had a pendant and, when she saw where it ended, she shut her eyes as tight as possible.

Demon flushed and looked away.

Angel whistled. "First Rosan, now you Master Mod? You two really know how to show off the goods. I never knew just how modest your dress was," she teased making Mod blush deeply.

"Enough of that," she chastised in embarrassment, before modifying the clothing to fit her frame. They were a little too tight, unlike her dress. The purple haired woman breathed out a sigh of relief at being less constricted.

She definitely preferred her dress. It wouldn't have people looking at her as much.

"It's okay, Mod-chan," Rosan said. "All their reactions were positive because, like I said, you are a gorgeous woman."

"Hottie," Ram said smugly.

How did Rosan manage to come off as a tease when he wasn't even trying to? Mod would never know.

"T-thank you Rosan, Ram," Mod stuttered before clearing her throat.

The woman smiled, it was the first time she had managed to be in the real world as herself instead of Rosan.

It felt… nice.

"I will somehow find a way to coexist in the real world with you," Rosan promised. "I owe you a hug for everything you've done."

She really did love that boy with all her heart.

"Alright, now that we've gotten this out of the way, I can explain some things about myself," Mod said, instantly grabbing the attention of everyone there.

The woman let out a breath.

"Maro, based on Rosan's information, you were confused as to why I wasn't classified as a Zoan correct?"

Maro nodded in confirmation.

"Well, you're wrong I'm a Paramecia," she said bluntly. "But, you are not completely incorrect."

That got their attention.

"What?" Even Rosan was interested. Well, as interested as an emotionless boy could get.

"The truth is, I didn't have a will of my own for a very long time," Mod admitted. "I was simply the Mod Mod no Mi and I would grant my users the ability to modify what they pleased."

"Naturally, the World Government, or more specifically a scientist, took interest in what I could do and it wasn't long before they acquired me."

"Who was the scientist?"

"...His name is Dr. Vegapunk," Mod whispered. "He's a never before seen genius and is responsible for advancing the world's technology by about 500 years."

"Dr. Vegapunk," Rosan repeated the name on his lips and hummed in contemplation. A potential enemy that he'd have to strike down.

"Yes, he's the one responsible for giving me a will of my own. I am a Devil Fruit that was experimented on by the World Government," she revealed shocking everyone there.

They were stunned silent at the revelation.

Rosan knew Mod-chan was different. Robin had made it abundantly clear that Devil Fruits don't normally participate in a person's life so…freely. Yet, Mod-chan lived inside of him as a person with a mind of her own and she was a completely different person than he was.

Now it made more sense. She was an experiment.

"Vegapunk wanted to create a sentient Devil Fruit and he wanted to use me as a base. Why? I don't know. Probably because of the versatility of my fruit," Mod shrugged.

"What I do know though, is that in order to give me a will of my own, he created a blank Zoan, which was a Zoan type fruit without an actual animal in it. To make up for the fact that there was no animal inside of it, he somehow implemented some sort of AI into the fruit and assimilated it with the Mod Mod no Mi. Afterwards, that's how I came into existence."

Mod shuddered at the memory and everyone there made sure the woman was good to keep going. The crimson eyed woman thanked everyone for supporting her so strongly with a gentle smile on her face.

She appreciated them all.

"I am a cross breed between a blank Zoan with an AI and a Paramecia. It's why you have turned into a Computer Human, Rosan. We are still a Paramecia, but you have some Zoan features."

"Increased strength, regeneration, stamina, and my memory becoming near eidetic, to name a few," Rosan said softly.

"Yes. It's because of that and that is why I am so heavily prized by the World Government, even though I'm considered a failure," she explained calmly. Previously, that may have bothered her but she had Rosan now so she didn't care.

"...You are considered a failure?" Rosan asked and she could practically sense the disbelief.

She blushed in happiness at his genuine confusion. The woman couldn't help but giggle at the sheer confusion on everyone's face there.

The last word they'd use to describe Mod was failure.

It made her feel good.

"When I say failure I don't mean like I was useless to them," the red eyed woman said getting a much more understanding look from the ones there.

"Vegapunk's original goal was a complete success, but afterwards was a failure because they could not control me. If I did not accept my wielder, they would meet an unfortunate end. The World Government eventually stopped trying to have me consumed so much when I killed a Vice Admiral prospect," she told everyone there.

"Then one day, when my latest user died, I reincarnated into a fruit and Rosan found me before they did." Mod had a fond smile on her face at the memory of meeting the hyperactive 4 year old for the first time. Had it really been 8 years since they met? Time flew.

"Were you planning on killing me as well?" Rosan asked bluntly, causing everyone there to gawk at his straightforwardness.

"Not immediately," she said truthfully. "I could tell from the start you had no affiliation with the World Government and I saw your memories so I had no reason to kill you. Also, you were so very young and killing a child doesn't sit right with me. If I did plan on killing you, it would have been after I got an accurate judge of your character when you were older."

"That makes sense."

"I'm glad it never came to that though. Now you are my most precious person and just me telling you my original intentions makes me sick," Mod told him with a deep frown on her face.

"There's no need Mod-chan, I know you won't kill me because I trust you with my life."

She smiled gently, anger forgotten, at how honest he was. "This is why I've chosen you as my wielder."

After a moment, she said "That's another issue. If the World Government finds out just how compatible we are, I fear they won't even kill you. You are the only person I have ever accepted and as a result, you are the best user of Modification to date," she explained.

"They will try to control me," Rosan deduced.

"Yes, without a doubt," she confirmed.

"I cannot be controlled. We already know what happened last time it happened."

"I guess we're even more compatible, neither of us can be controlled!" Mod smirked and she swore she saw Maro flinch after taking one look at her face.

Weird.

"It is a bit odd though," Rosan said suddenly, getting a raised brow out of Mod. "You never struck me as the type to be so rebellious. I found it a bit hard to believe that you would just kill your previous wielder if you were not fond of them."

"…," Mod's face was expressionless and Rosan knew that this was not something she wanted to delve into.

"Don't worry, I'm just speaking my thoughts aloud. You don't have to talk about it," Rosan soothed.

"Thank you Rosan, I really do appreciate you."

"Think nothing of it. Is that all you wanted to talk about?" The redhead asked.

As a response, Mod immediately reverted the changes and soon, Rosan was back in his own body with some much larger clothes on.

He ignored Angel's gushing about how adorable he looked in the oversized clothes and modified them to their original size.

"A bit of a sidetrack, but I trust no one had an issue with it?" Rosan asked and they all rapidly shook their head no.

Mod was a mysterious woman. Not even her beloved Rosan knew everything about her and it was obvious she trusted him more then anyone in the world. For them to learn more things about her past, was a rare opportunity that they would be hard pressed to pass up.

"The only issue I have," Angel suddenly said before turning to Maro with a glare. "Is how hard Maro was staring at Master Mod! You little pervert! I knew you had bad intentions when you asked Rosan to bathe with you!"

"Oh dear," Mod sounded embarrassed. "I thought it was because of my story…"

Maro looked like she had been caught stealing from the cookie jar. Her mouth was open in shock and her face was an interesting shade of red. She tried to defend herself but nothing came out and Angel's glare deepened.

"T-that wasn't my intention A-Angel-chan," she explained. "I j-just didn't wanna be alone so soon!"

Angel was having none of it and she looked like she was about to throttle the poor girl.

Rosan decided to throw her a bone.

"Angel, you don't seem to be upset with Maro when she's staring at you longer then necessary," the emotionless boy pointed out and Angel froze at the revelation.

"She… does?" Angel asked in disbelief as she looked at Maro, who was about to faint at being exposed.

Maro sent out a short prayer. There was no way she was making it out of this alive.

"Y-y-you," Angel stuttered in shock. "PERVERT!" she howled before jumping on Maro.

Demon, sensing what was about to happen, had spaced himself right next to Rosan who could only look at his purple twin with a tilted head.

"Is there a problem with what I said, Demon?"

"Yes, Master."

"What is it?"

"I think you should ask Master Mod, she will explain it better then me."

"Mod-chan?"

"When you're a bit older Rosan."

"I wanna know too!"

"You and Rosan are the same age, Ram."

"Okay."

"Okay!"

Demon sighed. Was he perhaps the only normal person on this ship?

After Angel had properly punished, a now sulking, Maro, Rosan had returned to his lesson.

"Zoan's are interesting," Rosan told the members of the ship. "Whereas all Logias are powerful, and Paramecias vary, Zoans are either in the middle of the two, or they surpass both."

"Surpass?" Maro asked in curiosity. She was convinced that Logias were the absolute strongest and no matter which one you had, it would be better then either a Zoan or a Paramecia.

Then she remembered a key detail.

"You called my Devil Fruit a Mythical Zoan," she said and Angel clapped happily at her for catching that particular detail.

"Impressive, you caught that," Rosan praised and she blushed at the compliment.

"When I said Logias are the rarest of the 3 types, that was true," Rosan explained and Maro's eyes were wide in fascination. She knew now that the fruit Rosan gave her was no ordinary Devil Fruit.

"Zoan's have 2 known subclasses," the redhead began. "The first are Ancient Zoans and these allow their users to transform into ancient animals like Dinosaurs. They are rarer then normal zoans and are seemingly stronger as well."

She awed at hearing about that. Dinosaurs were extinct, so to hear that some people could transform into them still, fascinated her.

"The final sub-class and type of Devil Fruit are Mythical Zoans."

"They are the rarest sub-class of Zoans and the rarest type of Devil Fruit in general. They are even rarer then Logias."

Maro's eyes widened at that information and the realization that Rosan had given it to her of all people, made her gawk.

"They are considered to be the most powerful sub-class of Zoans and, when consumed, allow you to take the form of a creature from myth or legends. Off the top of my head the first one who comes to mind is Kaido of the Beasts."

"Kaido? Who is that?" Maro asked curiously.

"He's the most recent Yonko," Rosan said bluntly, causing Maro's eyes to widen in disbelief.

Angel had told her about the power balance of the sea. There were Three Great Powers and they consisted of Marine Headquarters, the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the Yonko.

The Yonko were the most powerful pirates around and Rosan was telling her one of them had a Mythical?!

"Yes, Kaido became notorious around 6 years ago. He wields a Mythical Zoan that allows him to transform into a Dragon. He was recently granted the title of Yonko and is widely known to be one of the strongest pirates alive, after Whitebeard, and unkillable."

"A-and I have the same class of fruit as him?" Maro asked fearfully.

"That is correct."

"You really believe in me that much…?" Maro asked.

"I don't think you understand how impressive you are Maro," Rosan told the surprised girl.

"Barring the fact that you were incapable of killing someone, which I now know is a normal reaction —," everyone sweatdropped at that statement.

Rosan really wasn't normal.

"—You are a prodigy. I'm not sure how no one managed to sense your latent potential but that's fine by me because now I have you," the redhead explained to the girl.

"If I didn't think you would do well with this Devil Fruit, I would not have given it to you. If I didn't think you were worth recruiting, I wouldn't have recruited you. If I didn't think you had what it takes to be Reaper's right hand, I wouldn't be training you."

"Make no mistake, I'm no hero, Maro," Rosan said quietly. "Heroes are selfless, they do things for others best interest. They have to care about everyone and I don't want to care about everyone. I only want to care about the ones that matter to me and when someone matters to me, I will do anything for them. Tell me Maro, can you prove that you matter to me?"

Master had a way with words that always captivated her. It was why she chose to follow him in the first place. They were like drugs being injected into her and when he said them, you listened to everything he had to say.

Maro stood up and walked over to the one who had given her a purpose. "Master, despite how much I let you down, you still chose to believe in me and you even gave me such a rare Devil Fruit as proof of your belief."

"Even if the whole world turns against you Master, you will always have my loyalty. You saved me from an eternal hell that would end up with me dying miserably and your giving me all the tools to stop being weak. That is a debt that cannot be repaid."

"You'll find out very soon how much I will matter," Maro told the boy with a confident grin on her face.

Angel and Demon were stunned at her declaration. They hadn't seen Maro's speech inside of Rosan's mindscape so to see the burst of confidence from the 11 year old, was quite impressive.

Angel in particular was assessing the girl in a new light. There was a hint of approval on the middle triplets face.

"I look forward to it," their leader said calmly.

"Big words for someone who can barely read," Angel sneered at the bluenette, who suddenly began cowering. Naturally, this was behind Rosan and Angel didn't take appreciation to that fact.

Demon sighed as he watched Angel and Maro.

Some things never changed.

"Mythical Zoan's are said to give their users abilities outside of just transforming, before you transform let's find out what you get being a Dokkaebi."

Maro really wanted to transform, but seeing what she could do in her human form was imperative. Reaper's identity was a secret and so, hers would be too. She would be in human form a lot because it was much less conspicuous then a full zoan transformation.

"Zoan's rely on their transformation too much. You will master everything."

Maro figured out a few things about her fruit just from the few days she had it.

For one, she had gotten strong. Like, really strong. Even Rosan commented that her strength was even more then the standard zoan boost.

She was inclined to believe him. The girl had almost broken a door off Rosan's reinforced ship by just opening it.

That made her excited to see what her actual transformation would grant her.

Her appearance had also altered a bit. Her hair currently had white streaks in it and her canines had gotten even sharper then Rosan's! Her jaw had dropped as she looked at herself in the mirror and saw that her body had gotten a lot more toned and she didn't look malnourished anymore!

She couldn't help but flex looking at her new frame.

Awesome!

Other then that though, she hadn't discovered many things on her own.

That's when Rosan decided to help her out. Painfully.

Maro leapt back hastily but wasn't quick enough to dodge the blow from Rosan. The boys punch connected solidly with her gut and the bluenette grunted.

Maro had reflexively let out a pained noise but, that's when she noticed as well.

It didn't hurt. At all.

The boy as well seemed to notice that his blow did next to no damage to her and tilted his head.

"How interesting," Rosan said and he loosened his stance to instead walk closer to her.

Maro was surprised herself. Despite his small stature, Rosan hit very hard. She had many nights of sleep where her body was bruised and battered from the boys training and she had seen his power firsthand when he fought as Reaper.

Yet, the spot he struck didn't even sting. She knew Zoans were more durable but that didn't make any sense at all.

"If this aspect of a Dokkaebi is apart of you, then I'm confident everything else is," Rosan said softly as he inspected her body. She blushed at the attention only to keel over at the incredibly strong punch the redhead planted in her gut again.

"Master…that was…rude?"

It didn't hurt.

"It's as I suspected," Rosan said calmly. "Dokkaebi are said to be incredibly skilled at wrestling and the only way to defeat them is to exploit their right side. I suppose that translates to you being impervious to damage on your left side," he explained to the girl, who had wide eyes at the revelation.

That sounded… really strong.

Rosan hit her, softer then his previous punch but still pretty hard, on the right side of her body and the gasp she let out was one of actual pain.

"Don't get a big head. Like I said your right side is still vulnerable. I will train your right sides durability so that it doesn't become a huge concern but don't become overconfident," the redhead scolded quietly.