Ch 35 Beast in the East

(Forewarning: There will be drama and cringe. No crying, but there is depression.

My brain works in a really weird way lol. I had accidentally integrated the 5 stages of grief.😂

I got to over 6000 words in this one. Like, damn.)

After a long nap, that went into the next day, Leo and the girls got up, letting Leo dispell the pillow he was using, which caused Zoro to fall on his back, as he was asleep while using the pillow as a back rest.

Zoro - "Uhg."

Leo - "Sorry..."

Zoro grunted and stood up while dusting himself off.

After a short discussion, it was decided that they would spend some time on the island, because Luffy wanted to play with the animals.(Couldn't think of a reason.)

Leo wasn't really bothered about how long they stayed. He was more concerned about the fact that Aokiji wasn't on the Island for some reason, though he could guess why. The newspaper they got had said that an Admiral was sent to deal with his golem, so it was probably Aokiji.

He decided to just forget about it. If Aokiji does show up, then he'll be screwed anyways.

Leo was in a bit of a mood, because he missed out on a good Devil Fruit and another reason that he kept to himself. To uplift his mood, he dispersed all the clones he had training in his dimension.

Leo "..."

Only to be greatly disappointed and feel the sudden urge to scream in anger. It turned out, he can't use his clones to train his Haki to a higher stage, they can only be used to train his efficiency. Atleast he got the training for everything else, along with stuff that they did when they finished their training and got bored.

He decide to go work out his frustration. He did this by making a multi-piece training suit weighing 7777 tons, causing him to sink into the ground, which was his greatest issue for trying to train normally. But, he had figured out a way to get around it and that is by creating a platform with his Hellfire, then keep it floating in the air.

Leo started working out, fueled by his rage from being screwed by his abilities.

The thing is, his strength seems to be the same throughout his entire body, so no matter what exercise he does, it makes his whole body stronger. Plus, he doesn't even have to worry about muscle damage or becoming bulky. For example, the average person's legs are generally 3x stronger than their arms, but that can change depending the type of workout they focus on.

So, Leo just started doing push ups relentlessly and didn't have to worry about muscle damage or fatigue. He can regenerate from having his body reduced to atoms, what's muscle damage when compared to that.

After doing a few thousand push up, his strength went up by a few tons, but he was still short of getting to 80%.

He eventually got bored of doing the push ups, so he recreated the wood training dummy gauntlet from Kung Fu Panda.

With a single punch to one of the dummies, they all started spinning at high speeds, resulting in him getting hit a lot. While doing the gauntlet, he decided not to use his Haki, otherwise it wouldn't be as effective for reaction training.

He wasn't able to dodge any of the dummies and struggled to block any hits in time. Though it was a good way to practice the Kami-e of the Rokushiki techniques, so he tried to relax his body as much as he could and got hit even more, as that meant forgetting about blocking.

Unfortunately, getting hit so much while in a bad mood was only expediting the problem.

As he took more hits, he just got angry and eventually abandoned the Kami-e training, opting for going on the offensive, once again, fueled by rage.

Gritting his teeth, he started throwing punches. The punches started off slow, slower than a normal adults, but they started getting faster the more he threw. Soon enough, each of his punches were like cannon fire, drawing the attention of the crew, but most importantly, Nami's.

Zoro threw a few glances while chugging down some booze.

Zoro - "What's with Leo?"

Sanji put some food on a table and took a draw off his cigarette. Luffy started stuffing his face with said food, having returned from messing around with the weird animals.

Sanji - "Did something or someone piss him off?"

Usopp - "Don't think so. Though, he has been kind of quiet the last few days."

Usopp was making more ammo. With Chopper beside him making medicine.

Luffy - "Maybe he's just really into training. It's the first time he's actually training, isn't it?"

The sound of Leo's punches got louder and faster, which slightly alarmed them, but what Luffy said made some sense, so the guys decided to just forget about it.

Nami and Robin were not so quick to forget about it. Nami was watching him with worry, but Robin put her hand on Nami's shoulder to comfort her.

Robin - "I'm sure he'll be okay. And if he needs to talk, he will."

Nami - "Yeah. But he doesn't usually get angry... Unless it's something personal..."

Robin - "Let's just wait until he's calmed down."

Robin gave Nami's shoulder a pat and walked over to her seat to read a book. Nami continued to watch Leo for the rest of the day.

Leo continued his 'training' for the rest of the day and throughout the night. He was considerate enough to move it into his dimension.

When morning arrived, Leo walked out of his dimension in a fouler mood than yesterday.

He walked over to the rest, who were about to get breakfast. Nami saw him and went over to ask him how he was doing, but she wasn't able to as Leo walked straight over to her and handed her one of his Hellfire beacons.

Leo - "I'm going to go away for the day. I need some... Alone time. I'll be back by the end of the day. I'm sorry, but I love you, okay."

Nami looked at him sadly and held his hand.

Nami - "Okay... I love you too and you can always talk to me if something is wrong, you know that right?"

He held her hand with a downcast expression.

Leo - "I know... I just need to get away for a bit."

He released his grasp on her hand and disappeared in a burst of speed, flying straight up.

When he got high enough that he couldn't even see the island, he started releasing Hellfire from his whole body and let out an angry scream.

He started panting like a crazed beast and reined in the fire coming from him.

Feeling no better after expressing his rage, he waved his hand infront of himself and opened a portal, which lead to a random location in the East Blue that he had passed through.

When he went through the portal, he immediately turned into his Ghost Rider form. He then focused on the higher level sins and blasted off towards them, letting loose a roar that marked the beginning of his hunt.

- A few hours later -

One after another, Leo went around destroying pirate ships, along with the crew aboard them.

Pirate's weren't the only ones he killed, there were also bandits and random scum on a few islands he came across.

But, he didn't just one shot them. No, that wouldn't help him relieve himself of his burning rage.

Leo restrained himself and would beat the absolute shit out of them. Quite literally in a few cases. And when he was finished, he incinerated them, leaving only the ship wreckage behind.

He did multiple laps around the East Blue, even getting to Log Town and most the islands that Luffy had been to before the Baratie. He would kill every murderer, every greedy thief, every r*pist and some people that were just scumbags. There were also Marines that he killed who fit the list.

Once he had cleared away all scurrying insects, there was only one place that was left. A collection of sinners. So, he made that his next destination.

Of course, it didn't take him long to get to his destination thanks to his strength and powers.

He arrived at a rather large island, hovering above it, his hollow sockets taking in the view.

Below him, he could see a large town with tall walls surrounding the majority of it, protecting the inhabitants, leaving the port as the only part without a wall. Inside, there was a separated area with fancier buildings and a Palace. Outside the wall was an expanse of trash that created hills. And beyond that, great mountains, which created an extra layer of protection. Finally, beyond the mountains, a few villages were dotted around.

Leo - 'It looks like I've made my way over to Luffy's home...'

Leo looked at the village closest to the sea and saw that there were some sinners, so he decided to start his purge from there. Though, he will read their minds and make sure that they aren't friends of Luffy.

With a sharp dive, he landed at the docks, startling some fishermen. Still in his GR form, with his hood up and hands in his pockets, he started walking into the village while receiving some fearful gazes. The strangest part is that no one went running at the sight of him.

Deciding to ignore the villagers reaction or lack there of, he made his way to a build with a big sign saying 'Party Bar'. Without pausing, he walked through the swinging doors, which made squeaking noises that drew the patrons and bartenders attention.

He look over to the bartender, then slowly passed his gaze through the rest of them, who were his targets. Then he started reading the minds.

His targets were all bandits.

Being bandits and being drunk, they seemed to think they were worth a damn and that they owned the world. So, having a stranger walk in on their good time, they weren't too happy.

One of the inebriated dumbasses walked over to him with a drunken stagger.

Dumbass - "*Hick* Heyyy~ Bonehead! What do y-*hick* you think you're doing in here!? Today's bandits only, so get lost!"

By now, Leo had read everyone's mind and made up his.

The bartender or Makino as he has now confirmed her to be, tried to avoid any conflict by talking things out.

Makino - "I'm sorry sir, but would it be possible to come another day? These gentlemen have reserved the bar today."

He turned his head towards Makino, making her nervous.

Dumbass - "*Hick* Yeahhh! That's right! So, get out of here if you know what's good for ya!"

Leo just continued staring at Makino, completely blanking the dumbass. The dumbass didn't take kindly to this and stomped closer towards him.

Dumbass - "Don't ignore me you basta-ACK!!!"

Faster than their eyes could see, Leo grabbed the dumbass by the throat and turned his head towards him.

GR Leo - "Scum like you, isn't worth listening to."

He clenched his hand and snapped the dumbasses neck.

GR Leo - "You're barely worth killing."

He engulfed the body in Hellfire and turned him to ash.

When they saw their ally get killed infront of them, they all instantly sobered up and grabbed their weapons, going to attack him. Their attempt to attack him was fruitless however, as he simply opened his hand and shot Hellfire at them, killing them instantly, but avoiding damage to the bar.

Makino was stood there in shock. But then, she saw Leo start walking towards her and became nervous.

Leo stopped infront of the counter and lifted his hand in her direction. She closed her eyes, waiting for him to attack her, but nothing happened and then she heard his foot steps again.

She opened her eyes and saw a pile of money, then looked to Leo and saw him walking to the exit.

Before he walked out, he left her with three words.

GR Leo - "For the inconvenience."

He left the bar and started walking away.

He got a few feet away before Makino came running outside.

Makino - "Please wait!"

Stopping and turning his head, Leo waited to hear what she wanted.

Makino - "You're part of Luffy's crew, aren't you? Leo, right?"

GR Leo - "Yes."

Makino - "What are you doing here?"

GR Leo - "... Hunting sinners."

Makino paused, not sure what to take from that, but left it for later.

Makino - "Umm... Where's Luffy? How is he doing?"

Leo stayed silent for a moment, then turned back to human and took his hood off.

Leo - "We've dropped anchor at an island on the Grandline right now and Luffy's doing good. He's got a lot stronger since he was here and is having fun fighting strong opponents."

Makino, along with some other villagers, smiled fondly and laughed a bit.

Makino - "That's good."

Leo stared at her and couldn't help having memories of his friends surface in his mind, along with the foggy memories of his parents, causing sadness to well up inside him. The sadness was then converted to anger, so he put his hood back up and looked at the ground.

Leo - "... I need to get to get going... Bye."

He turned and started walking away.

Makino - "Ah! Wai-"

Before she got the chance to really speak, Leo had already disappeared, leaving only small cracks in the ground.

Leo went around all the villages and exterminated the scum, then he went to the mountains and got rid of the bandits in them, not including the group Luffy knew. While doing this, he didn't even bother changing forms.

With the village and mountains cleared, he only had the trash heap and Goa Kingdom's Town.

Deciding to start with the town first as it was the greatest point of sinners, Leo flew over to the main gate and landed a few metres away from it.

The guards stationed at the wall became alert and pointed the spears that they were holding at him, then shouted at him.

Guard - "You! State your name and business!"

Leo of course didn't give a damn about the guard and simply started walking towards the entrance.

Guard - "Hey! Stay where you are! Don't come any closer and tell me what you're doing here."

He continued walking and started changing his gear as he did. He turned his clothes to be like Kakashi, but without the flak jacket and shirt.(No headband)

Following his clothes, he made a ball and chain for each limb. Each ball was hollow and filled with a hundred smaller 10 ton balls, making the full weight 1000T per ball. The chain links also weighed 10T, making them create drag marks through the ground and in the case of his arms, the chains were wrapped around his forearms like Kratos. He did this until he was limited to just 500T.

Seeing the strange scene unfold before them, the guards were confused, shocked and thanks to the murderous gaze directed at them, scared beyond belief.

Guard - "S-stop! I m-mean it! If you don't, we-we'll attack!"

It was then that Leo attacked. Using Soru, he appeared infront of the the guards and grabbed them by their heads. Giving them just enough time to realize what was happening, he then forcefully brought his hands together, not letting the heads between them stop their union.

There was a quick, but loud *Crack!*, then *Squish!* and finally *Splat!*.

Leo was soaked in their blood and grey matter, not bothering to look as the two corpses fell to the ground. He then started walking into the town that would soon be soaked in blood.

The towns people saw him enter through the gate and were horrified by his appearance. Many of the people gagged and mother's shielded their children's view.

Leo's eyes scanned the people around him as he decided whether to kill any of them. There were certainly some that had sins worthy of death, but they either had a good enough reason and/or had a family that relied on them.

He thought over it for a few seconds and decided not to kill them, but that doesn't mean he won't put the fear of God into them. So, he used his Ghost Rider voice to warn them.

(Cringe warning!)

GR Leo - "You sinful vermin that reside here, my name is Leonardo Blaze and I am the Spirit of Vengeance! My purpose is to rid the world of your vile existence!"

His voice resounded through the whole town and shook the residents to their core. A large majority of them trembling in fear, worrying that they were the ones that he spoke of.

GR Leo - "By the end of this day, all whome I deem beyond redemption shall be dead! Those that remain may not be entirely innocent, but have yet to become my prey, that will be their only chance at redemption!"

Many started to prey that they will be safe, while others started to arm themselves. In whatever way they could in some cases.

Leo had one last thing to say and it was accompanied by a tidal wave of killing intent.

GR Leo - "My hunt begins... NOW!!!"

He roared lowly, adding to the fear factor in the hearts of many.

Some people started running, hoping to escape from their potential retribution. Leo obviously wasn't going to let that happen, so he shot his Hellfire into the sky. Over the centre of town, the fire burst out like a net, covering the town and creating a cage. If someone were to touch the cage, well... Let's just say, they won't be touching anything again.

With his prey trapped like rats, Leo started walking through town. Why walk? Because the foolish sinners were making things easy for him and forming groups.

Three to be precise. One at the port, likely wanting to escape to sea, but that would fail thanks to the cage, which would prevent ships from passing and was boiling the sea, so swimming was out of the question.

Another group, which he was heading towards, while smaller in number, had a couple of Devil Fruit wielders. So, he was looking forward what he might get out of.

The final group, funnily enough, was at the Royal Palace. The very people that were supposed to protect and serve the Kingdom, were the greatest evil in it.

The majority of people didn't even attempt to save themselves and awaited their potential demise.

On his way to the Devil Fruit wielders group, a child was running through the street to get to his mother, but he tripped and fell a few metres infront of him. The boys mother ran towards her child and embraced him while crying from fear.

She heard as Leo's steps got closer and started trembling, expecting her death. But it never came. She opened her eyes and found that they had been moved over to the side of the street, with Leo continuing on his way.

Soon enough, Leo got to an open area with a fountain in the centre. Opposite of Leo, the group of 2000 or so were ready with their weapons.

After quickly reading their mind, he found that they were consisting of a few low rank gangs and one higher ranked gang with connections to the underworld, which was headed by two brothers with Devil Fruit abilities.

Without hesitation, Leo immediately attacked by swinging his right hand overhead, letting the chain unravel from his arm, letting the ball travel through the air and smash into some of the gang members. Needless to say, they were turned into a paste, while other falling thanks to the tremors his attack created.

He pulled his arm back, wrapping the chain back round his arm. With him striking the first blow, the battle began.

The gangsters started shouting and charged towards Leo, while he just walked towards them. He was going to take his time killing them.

- 10 Minutes later -

If he were to describe them in one word, it would be 'fodder'. They were like lambs to the slaughter and who was he to refuse their willingness to die at his hands.

After he dealt with the underlings, only 5 people remained. The two Devil Fruit wielders and the leaders of the other three gangs.

Leo began walking in their direction, carrying the head of the last person he had killed. He threw the head in the gang leaders direction and then did a sharp kick, performing the Rankyaku of the Rokushiki techniques, sending an air blade at the head. The air blade cut the head and continued moving towards the gang leaders.

One of the Devil Fruit wielders put his hand up, with his palm facing the air blade.

Older Brother - "Reject!"

A telekinetic blast came from the man's palm, pushing against the air blade in an attempt to nullify it, but it only weakened it. The blade continued its trajectory towards him, which is when the younger brother pointed his hand at the older brother and shouted.

Younger Brother - "Attract!"

With his shout, the Older Brother was pulled out of the air blades path, leaving it to fly right past.

While walking, Leo's eyes glinted for a moment as he identified the abilities.

Leo - 'Basically force push and force pull. More potent than the telekinesis from the Float Float fruit at their base. Should be useful.'

Using Soru, he shot towards the two brothers and used Shigan, piercing his index fingers through their skulls. He then shot a blast of Hellfire at the other three leaders, who seemed to have lost their will to fight.

He looked over to the Palace. It was situated at the centre of town, on what seemed to have once been a mountain, so that it was above all those of a lower class. Surrounding the Palace, was the residence of nobles or 'High Town' and a wall surrounding them, truly separating the upper and lower classes.

Leo moved the corpses into his inventory, then flew over to the wall surrounding the nobles district and looked below, where he saw a good 10,000 soldiers waiting for his arrival. He did a quick scan of those present, then stretched his hand out and then did a raising motion, lifting around 2/3 of them into the air.

The soldiers all started freaking out, which was when they noticed Leo standing on top of the wall.

GR Leo - "To those of you suspended with the air, you are not without sin, but are yet to be beyond redemption! Drop your weapons and continue to live or keep them and join your comrades in death! Decide now!"

After a moment of struggling, around 90% dropped their weapons. He separated them from the 10% and spoke.

GR Leo - "Not the smartest decision, but you have my respect. Your death shall swift."

He clenched his hand and the 10% were instantly crushed, turning them to bloody mush. He release his grasp on them and left their remains to rain down on the soldier on still on the ground, creating horror amongst them.

Jumping from the wall, Leo caused the ground to shake and the soldiers to be destabilised. So, he took advantage of the disorganisation and started culling the herd.

- 25 Minutes Later -

After killing the last of the soldiers, he took the bodies and then let the ones in the air, watching his rampage, down to the ground.

He then turned to walk away. But, one of the the soldiers had a question.

Soldier - "Wait!"

Leo turned to him, who looked at him with dread and dismay.

Soldier - "Why did you do this? Any of it... What do you have to gain!?"

GR Leo - "That is none of your concern."

He then disappeared from sight and the soldiers dropped to the ground with vacant expressions.

Leo had started going Manor to Manor, killing all the nobles that were corrupt and had bad personalities. Those that thought that anybody lower in class to them, doesn't have any rights.

Out of 30 noble families, only 2 were left. He killed multiple mothers, fathers and children above the age of 6 if they had been corrupted by their family, which they always were. He hesitated in killing a child previously, but right now, he just didn't care. As for the ones below the age of 6, he placed them in his dimension with time stopped for them and would find homes for them later. Erasing the memories of the weak minded should be simple enough.

He took the two families that survived and went to the Palace, opening the doors, he found; The King, an egotistical brat with a bowl cut. The Queen, who liked to pretend to be a good person. An older couple, who he found were the parents of Sabo and adoptive parents of the King. And 30 Royal Guards, along with the Head Guardsman.

King - "Who do you think you are to enter my throne room? Peasant!"

The brats behaviour just pissed Leo off, so he got rid of his restraints and instantly killing the guards. Head guard included.

GR Leo - "I'm going to enjoy every second I spend torturing you."

He created three clones so that he could torture the other three at the same time, then got to work.

Leo strung up the King and started flaying him alive, constantly healing him with his Angel Flames. Tearing off limbs, gouging out eyes, removing nails and crushing bones. He did whatever popped into his mind and then healed it all so that he could start again. Even boiling him from the inside at one point, making sure to continously heal his brain and heart to prevent an accidental death.

The four peoples screams echoed around the Palace and out of it. Many of the Palace servants had arrive and were watching the display. They were frightened, but at the same time, they reveled at the four's suffering.

For years, the nobles and royalty had been oppressing, looking down on and abusing the lower class. Many of the servants, were actually those that had been enslaved and were equipped with explosive collars.

It was a long while before he was eventually bored of torturing them and when he was, he used Penance Stare and killed them. He then sent two of the clones to go clear the rest of the sinners in the town and the last one to go look at the treasury.

Looking around, Leo saw the servants, who were crying tears of joy and relief from being freed from their oppressors.

Seeing as they were not people that he wanted to scare, he spoke to them, but with his regular voice.

Leo - "Those of you that have slave collars, come forward and I will remove them."

The servants were hesitant, but one by one, they stepped forward and got their collars removed, then rejoiced with one another.

It didn't take long to finish taking the collars off and was going to send them off, but thought of taking advantage of the opportunity.

Leo - "Can I have everyone's attention!"

The servants looked at him, curious about what he wanted.

Leo - "While killing the nobles, there were children that hadn't yet been corrupted by their parents ideals. I would like to give them a chance at life, so I want to know if any of you are willing to take them as your own?"

The servants looked at each other uncomfortably and unsure of what to do, but soon enough, some stepped forwards.

Leo - "Okay then. I will trust you all with the children. But, be warned."

Seeing Leo's tone take a sudden change, they got nervous.

Leo - "If you betray my trust..."

GR Leo - "The consequences will be death."

Leo - "Understood?"

They gulped and nodded.

Leo then brought the children out and let the new parents take their pick. Altering the memories of the children a little.

With all of that dealt with, he just had to arrange new leaders.

He brought the 2 families that he deemed 'decent' and showed them the dead royals, shocking them and making them nervous.

GR Leo - "Congratulations, I have decided that you two families will be next in charge of this Kingdom."

The two family heads looked at each other.

Noble - "E-Excuse me? I'm afraid we don't understand... Are you saying that you aren't doing this to become the King?"

GR Leo - "I do not desire to be the King. I have deemed your two families to be the only decent nobles in this God forsaken Kingdom and so, you will be the ones to take over. But, if you misuse your new positions and continue the abuse to those of lower status, I will be back and I will kill you. Am I understood?"

The two Heads were overjoyed at their at their raise in status and power, but they were also wary of the warning he gave.

Nobles - "We swear, we will not disappoint you."

GR Leo - "You better not..."

Leo felt his three clones disperse and received their memories. He gave the two noble a final look and then left the Palace, shooting to the sky above and shouting.

GR Leo - "To the ones that remain, be grateful! Not all of you deserve to live, but I spared you for the people that need you! But that can easily change! My hunt ends for now, however, if you continue increasing your sins... THEN YOU WILL FACE VENGEANCE!!!"

He released all of his killing intent, pressuring everyone to the ground and making it hard to breathe as the air vibrated.

Now that his business was done, he got rid of the cage surrounding the town.

Leo then flew over to the trash pile or Grayterminal as it was called. He covered it in Hellfire and used the Chomp Chomp fruits abilities, removing all of the trash and exposing the people hiding there. He quickly killed anyone that deserved it, then raised the others into the air.

Withe the ground clear, Leo then incinerated the 10 feet of the ground, only to replace it with fresh earth. He then used the materials he devoured and created multiple housed, furniture and other stuff for the people that would live there. Once he was done, he lowered the people to the ground.

GR Leo - "I have done you this favor, make sure not to ruin it."

He then flew over to a mountain, overlooking the people in town, relief washing over them. He grunted dismissively and then brought out what he got from the treasury.

Putting his hand out in front of him, a Devil Fruit appeared in his hand. Thanks to the numerous Devil Fruits he had encountered, he could more or less distinguish between the three types and the one in his hand was a Zoan. He wasn't sure what animal it was, but it was something with a savage nature.

The easiest way to find out was to consume it, so he did and then used the transformation. His upper body arched forward and down to the ground, black fur covering his body as his clothes disappeared. A tail and dog ears forming.

He turned into an enormous, jet black wolf, as tall as a horse, but thicker and much more muscular. The Devil Fruit was the Inu Inu no Mi, Model: Dire Wolf. It was actually an Ancient Zoan and gave him a bit of a strength increase, similarly to the Angel Fruit, but not as strong.

Leo stretched his canine body and stood to his full, 2 metre, majestic visage. He then let out a grisly snarl that resounded like thunder.

He sat down in his wolf form, continuing to watch the town at a distance.

His gains from today were quite large, but he just couldn't find it in himself to feel happy about it. Multiple Devil Fruit abilities, quick increase in strength and purging this world of some evil. And yet, he didn't feel even an iota of joy.

< Low Mortal - 87.65% >

After spending the day venting his rage on onto others, he was still somewhat angry, but most of all, he felt fed up and melancholic.

For the next few hours, he sat there, unmoving, like a statue.

- Nighttime -

Leo sat there until the sun had set and even a while after. Only when the moon was high did he decide to return to the ship.

He turned back to his human body with his Creed gear and opened a portal to the ship deck. When he got through the portal, he looked around and saw Luffy asleep on the figurehead, so he made float and moved him through the ship, to the sleeping quarters.

Leo sat down on the deck against the railing and stared at the nights sky for a bit. He then shifted his gaze and made some pictures in his hand. Pictures consisting of memories he had with his old friends, some coming from pictures he had taken on holidays with them.

He sat there looking at them for a few minutes, when he suddenly spoke out.

Leo - "Can't sleep, Robin?"

Robin - "I could ask you the same."

At his question, Robin walked over from the cabin door and sat beside him.

Robin - "So? What's got you in a bad mood?"

Leo stopped looking through the pictures for a second, before continuing.

Leo - "It doesn't really matter."

Robin - "You disappeared for the whole day, I think it does matter."

Leo - "Can we just drop it, please?"

Robin - "It's clearly bothering you, so why not talk about it? Nami has been worried sick..."

He tighten his grasp on the pictures, causing them to crumple. He took a deep breath, then loosened his grasp and made the pictures smooth out.

Leo - "I didn't want her to be worried about me..."

Robin notice his shift demeanour and curiously looked at the pictures in Leo's hand. She wanted to see what they were, but she couldn't quite see them thanks to the way Leo was holding them.

Robin - "Well, she is and she just wants to help you."

Leo - "... It was because today would've been my birthday. I usually would have been with my friends!"

He hissed and threw the pictures on the deck in anger, causing them to get sprawled out. Robin started looking at them with intrigue.

Leo - "But, I can never do that again and it pisses me off!"

Sighing in frustration and leaning his head back against the railing.

Leo - "I'm not used to not having them. Yet, now, I have no other choice than to accept it, but I don't want to."

Robin - "Can't you just make a portal to your friends."

Leo - "... Long story short, no. It is an impossibility..."

Robin was looking at the picture, moving some around to get a better look. Listening to Leo, she felt sad for him, but didn't know how to comfort him. She then saw a picture that particularly caught her attention.

Unlike the others, which tended to be a group of people messing around or posing together, this picture was of a handsome man and gorgeous woman, both of them smiling happily. The man had his arm around the woman's shoulder, while the woman had her arm around his waist.

She picked up the picture, holding it so that Leo could see.

Robin - "Who's this?"

He looked at the picture for a moment, before looking away again.

Leo - "Her name's Vanessa..."

Robin - "She's quite pretty."

Leo - "Yes... Yes, she is."

Leo's voice shuddered for a moment and it didn't go unnoticed.

Robin - "What about the man?"

He closed his eyes, as if to suppress something.

Leo - "It's me."

She looked up from the picture in confusion.

Robin - "Then why-"

Leo - "When I had to leave my friends, I wanted to forget my life... That face only brings back memories, so I changed it."

He touched the contours of his face, feeling the difference from what it once was.

Robin looked at him, worried about what his mental state was like.

Robin - "Why didn't you try talking to anyone? Nami? You said it yourself, you love her, so why not talk with her about all this."

Leo - "Because she has already helped me enough... I don't want to keep burdening her with my problems, when my only option is to move on."

He clenched his fists.

Leo - "I know she worries about me, even when I'm smiling. She looks at me from the corner of her eye, like she's worried that I'll break or disappear. I hate making her feel like that..."

Robin placed her hand on his shoulder.

Leo - "I promised that I would try to make her happy, but all I've done is make her worried and sad."

Robin - "But she is happy. She's happy whenever you are near her, it's obvious."

Leo - "I still feel like shit. I mean, she has told me she worries about me whenever I kill someone, yet I spent most of the day doing just that. Even to the point where you can't return from."

He looked at his hands and remembered the children he killed.

Robin - "And what about the rest of the time?"

Leo relaxed and stared at the nights sky.

Leo - "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I just sat and stared at the sky."

Robin placed the pictures on the deck and followed Leo in stargazing.

Robin - "Do you regret it?"

Leo - "Killing them? Any of them? Not a bit. But that just makes me realize how much I've changed since my death. I never feel guilt for the people I kill and it makes me to wonder what my old friends would think of me. Would they be scared, like others are? Would they hate me? Abandon me?!"

Robin - "I doubt they'd-"

Leo - "Don't! You don't know that they would stay by me! And I don't have a right to blame them if they don't. People call me a 'monster', a 'Demon' and 'The Devil'... I don't mind, but I don't think I could handle it if I heard it from them... Maybe I should be glad that I can't see them anymore. Haha..."

He laughed, but it was filled with depression.

Robin was stumped on what to say to him, but felt that she needed to say something, so she said what was in her heart.

Robin - "*Sigh* Leo, it has been a long, long time since I've had friends, as you know, so you should know that I can't give you any meaningful advice. But, I have thought similar things to what you are now. I have done things I'm not particularly proud of and have been alone because of most of them. So the advice I can give you, the thing I learned thanks to you..."

Leo looked at her, wondering what she was going to say. What had he done that could have taught her anything? Other than how to fight and kill.

Robin - "It's that you should focus on the here and now. The people that have accepted you for who you are in the moment and not the ones you can't know the reaction of. You offered me friendship and trust, even though you know all of my sins. I accept you, like you have accepted me. Nami accepts you and always will, no matter how many you kill, she just worries that you will lose who you are in the process. Zoro accepts you and will be there if you need him, despite him acting like he isn't concerned. The others are the same. You might get angry with each other or argue, but they will still help you, just like you will help them."

She placed a hand on his cheek.

Robin - "You will never be a burden to us, so when you need to talk, never hesitate to come to us. We worry about you more when you don't say anything and we always will. No matter how strong you might be."

Sh then leaned over to him and gave his forehead a small kiss. She then got up, patted her pants of any dirt.

Robin - "You help us whenever we need it, so don't be afraid to ask for it yourself. We're here whenever you need to talk, just remember that."

She walked back inside the cabin and went off to bed, leaving Leo to think about what she had said.

Leo picked up the the picture of him and Vanessa. He sat and looked at it for a while.

Leo - "'Focus on the here and now'... They will always be my friends and Vanessa will always have a place in my heart... But I can't keep focusing on the past like this."

The pictures all started to disappear and Leo looked the picture of his old self until the last second.

Leo - 'I'm no longer that person and I'll never compare myself with him again!'

(This took a while, but I had fun doing it and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I strengthened the relationship between Robin and Leo, so it won't be long now.)