Chapter 52 - Miss All-Sunday

(A/N: This is essentially a rough draft since I struggled a bit with it. I may need to make some edits to this one later when I have time. It's just a long chapter overall that doesn't feel perfect to me. Hopefully it reads okay. If something doesn't feel right, let me know. Would like for this chap to be the best it can be.)

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"You want some help?" Jin quietly asked.

"Nah. Let me test out these new swords and that Acceleration skill first."

"Kill them!" Igarappoi yelled.

"Eh, where'd the green-haired one go?" One of the men asked.

"Where, indeed?" Jin asked in return, smirking at the people below.

The people looked around. Every single one of them nearly jumped out of their own skin upon seeing Zoro among them looking up at Jin.

"Now then," Zoro said, chuckling. "Let's start."

From there, Zoro disappeared in front of their eyes, causing many of them to accidentally shoot each other. For the most part, only Jin could perceive his movements.

Veins bulging on his egg-like skull, Igarappoi yelled, "Fools! He's fast, but he is only one swordsman! Hurry up and kill hi-"

A katana blade pierced the man's hair from behind, shutting him up. His eyes turned and trembled seeing the blade that missed his skull by only a few hairs.

"Are you sure you only want to add two tombstones tonight?" Zoro tormented the man.

Igarappoi retaliated with a shotgun blast, but Zoro easily dodged it. A few Baroque Works members fell under the barrage.

While Zoro played with the people down below, three people jumped onto the roof behind Jin. Two were familiar hitchhikers while the third was a macho woman with dark skin and pink hair tied in pigtails. Jin turned his head and greeted his guests with a calm smile.

"Mr. 9, Miss Wednesday, and… Miss Monday, if I remember correctly. Welcome to this random roof."

"Get him!" Miss Monday yelled, charging forward with seatone cuffs in her hands.

Mr. 9 also charged forward with a hesitant expression. Wielding two metal bats, he followed the huge gorilla of a woman. Vivi remained behind and started swaying her hips.

"...Damn," Jin grumbled, suddenly feeling dizzy.

'Didn't expect her hypnotism to be this strong.'

"Wait! Stop, Miss Wednesday!" Miss Monday called out. Unfortunately, both she and Mr. 9 tripped over their own feet and slid to a halt in front of Jin.

"Hm. Well, I guess that works," Jin said, glancing at Vivi who stopped and started chewing her nails nervously.

The three regathered and all charged at him this time with melee weapons. A barrier stopped them. They adamantly attacked it. It cracked and shattered a few moments later.

An eerie and deathly aura suddenly spread out from Jin. A hazy white cloak appeared around his body, and his Zanpakuto appeared at his hip, though it looked semi-translucent to the three. Erasing his smile, Jin stared at them with a cold expression and warned, "I recommend stopping there. I would prefer not to kill any of you if I don't have to."

The three halted. An ethereal heaviness weighed down on them, making their knees buckle. Sweat coated every inch of their bodies.

"Wha-? What is this?" Miss Monday asked in trepidation. Her eyes trembled in fear while looking at Jin. She didn't understand what was happening. Mr. 9 was the same.

In contrast, Vivi widened her eyes. She recalled records from her kingdom regarding something called Haki. She couldn't help wondering if this was the least documented one of the three forms she read about.

"Good. Now, stay there and don't cause trouble, please," Jin said.

Jin then looked down at the crowd and raised a brow. He saw Zoro darting amidst the horde of people, swinging his blades like a whirlwind. As the seconds passed, Zoro's speed increased exponentially. One by one, the bounty hunters fell like wheat under a farmer's sickle. Before long, Zoro only flickered into Jin's perception every few blinks.

'Not bad,' Jin inwardly commented. Then, he looked over and saw Igarappoi's fearful expression. Incapable of perceiving Zoro, the man shot pellets in random directions.

A moment later, a voice spoke up behind Igarappoi.

"It is quite sad that a Royal Guard from a country as old as Alabasta is only this strong."

Eyes widening in terror, Igarappoi spun on his heels and backpedaled away from the voice. There, he saw Jin standing casually with arms crossed.

"H- How?"

"Mr. 0 also knows. In fact, I'd imagine some agents are on their way here as we speak… and speak of the devil…"

Jin looked past Igarappoi's shoulder and saw two individuals walking toward them casually and confidently.

"How pathetic. Losing to a couple of weak pirates?" A tall man with gangly black hair commented while picking his nose.

Igarappoi turned around and exclaimed, "Mr. 5?! Miss Valentine?!"

'They're already here? I thought we got here a bit earlier, but maybe not,' Jin thought. He rubbed his chin and wondered how hard it would be for him to fight them at his current level.

"Are you idiots playing children's games here?" Mr. 5 asked in a taunting manner.

Likewise, Miss Valentine added, "Kyahahaha! You can't expect everyone to be as capable as us."

Igarappoi narrowed his eyes and thought about the words of the pirate just now. Although he wanted to consider it manipulation, he could not dismiss the possibility.

"Finally! With you two here, we can handle the swordsman and devil fruit user!" Mr. 9 called out, jumping down from the nearby building.

"Hah? Stop joking around," Mr. 5 said, putting a damper on the hopes of Mr. 9, Miss Monday, and even Miss Wednesday, who all jumped down from the building's roof. Looking at them as if looking at fools, he said, "You think we're backups? You really think the boss would send us out here to deal with… you said devil fruit user?"

"Eh? Yeah," Mr. 9 replied. He pointed at Jin and said, "This guy has a barrier fruit."

Both Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine frowned. Then, Miss Valentine asked, "Does he have a bounty?"

"Uh…"

"I don't," Jin answered, resting his hands in his pockets.

The next second, Zoro skidded to a stop next to Jin. He raised a brow and asked, "What is all this? Who are they?"

"Nobody important," Jin answered.

"Hmph. I'll ignore your rude remark for now," Miss Valentine said. Then, she said, "Since you don't have a bounty, consider it your lucky day."

Mr. 5 nodded and said, "Indeed. Since our organization's creed is secrecy, anyone who knows our boss's identity must be silenced."

"And it seems a certain kingdom has infiltrated and discovered said identity."

"W- Wait!" Mr. 9 reacted by shaking his hands and saying, "I might wear a crown, but it's not me."

"We know," Miss Valentine responded, twirling her lemon umbrella nonchalantly.

"Um, Jin."

"Yeah?"

"Isn't that our captain there by that building near those two?"

"...That seems to be the case."

"Anyway," Mr. 5 continued, ignoring the two pirates' conversation, "The spy we mentioned is the Alabasta-"

"Igarappa!" Igarappoi exclaimed, firing a barrage of bullets at the two.

"Igaram!" Vivi exclaimed.

"Oh, how exciting," Jin commented, rolling his eyes at the following explosions.

"I'll go grab Luffy," Zoro said in response.

"There's a barrier around him right now. I'll pull him over."

"Oh, that works too."

"Please run away!" Igaram yelled at Vivi.

"No chance," Miss Valentine said, suddenly falling from the sky above Vivi.

With a sharp kick, Miss Valentine shattered the ornament holding Vivi's hair in a ponytail. At the same time, explosions fired off in front of them.

"It's a bit noisy," Jin said while dragging Luffy toward himself using his barrier.

"The spy is Alabasta's Royal Guard captain and princes-"

Mr. 5 did not get to finish his sentence since a barrier carrying a rotund rubber man knocked him face first into the ground. Jin blinked and mumbled, "Whoops."

"Ah! You, what do you think you're doing?" Miss Valentine exclaimed, widening her eyes at Jin's barrier.

"That was an accident. Just look at all that smoke," Jin retorted.

Behind them, Vivi yelled, "Carue!"

Her ostrich companion sprinted through the smoke, and she jumped onto his back. The landlocked bird dashed away from the scene.

"You won't get away, Nefertari Vivi!" Mr. 5 yelled, a vein protruding from his forehead. Then, he glared at Jin and flicked his finger. An explosion blasted away rubble and shook the thick barrier that appeared between them. However, he and Miss Valentine chased Vivi, leaving the others behind.

"Did he think that he got me or something?" Jin wondered aloud.

"Dunno," Zoro mumbled.

At Jin's feet, Igaram crawled toward him and Zoro, grabbed their ankles, and requested, "Since you two are so strong, please allow me to make an unreasonable request to help my princess escape!"

"Let go of me! I ain't gonna help you just because you suck up to me," Zoro chided angrily, shaking his leg.

"Alrighty, then. How about ten billion berri?" Nami's voice suddenly interrupted now that the combat had died down.

"Nami?" Zoro asked, raising his brows.

"That's a bit much, Nami," Jin said. "One billion is plenty."

"No, no. They definitely said that girl is a princess. Ten billion is easy."

If Igaram could cough up blood, he definitely would have.

"I thought you were dead drunk," Zoro said.

"Please. As if you two are the only ones capable of being wary of these guys. Besides, I could have downed more if I wanted to."

Nami started bartering with Igaram after that until Zoro accused her of extortion.

"Well, may as well save her. I'd rather not see her die," Jin said.

"Fine, fine. Then, go, Zoro and Jin! I choose you!"

"Why should I go to help with your money-making schemes?!" Zoro retorted.

Jin chuckled and cast a barrier board. Then, he looked over at Luffy who sat up within his other barrier while Nami and Zoro argued with each other. Dismissing the barrier, Jin floated over to the guy.

"Yo, captain. You're awake."

"Oh, Jin," Luffy tiredly replied. He then looked around at all the destruction in a confused manner and asked, "What happened?"

"Turned out all those people here tricked us. They were bounty hunters who put us to sleep to turn you in for the bounty."

"EHHHHH?! Really?! But they fed us!"

"Yeah, well... Just ask Zoro and Nami. Actually, we're going to go save that blue-haired girl from some real bad guys real quick if you wanna come."

"Sure! Let's go! I need to burn off all this food I ate."

Luffy hopped onto Jin's board, and they flew off where the two Baroque Works members chased Vivi. Zoro already ran ahead, and they quickly caught up with him. However, his speed gradually increased after he saw Jin flying by. Somehow, it turned into a competition. Luffy noticed and also joined by turning himself into a slingshot.

"Hey, mind if I handle the explosion guy? He kind of pissed me off when he shot that booger bomb at me," Jin said, looking in Zoro's direction.

"Sure. I already got plenty of action."

"Booger bomb? Sounds cool!"

A little ways ahead, Miss Monday's life flashed before her eyes as Mr. 5 charged at her. She wanted to protect her comrade, but this was a bit much. Before the man could blow her up, a barrier appeared between them.

"If it isn't explosive booger man," Jin said, floating above them on his board. His two buddies stopped the lemon girl.

"You… should have died."

"You're too overconfident," Jin replied while bringing out his soul powers. His reishi cascaded about, startling everyone in the vicinity, though it landed on Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine the most. Due to their strength, it only hindered them slightly, but it was enough to disturb them. "Well, I'd like to finish this quickly, so… Barrier Magic - Prism Blades."

Three barrier blades appeared behind Jin. Then, they shot downward. Mr. 5 exploded his whole body. The blades cracked and shattered. Buildings crumbled. A crater was left behind. Then, a sharp katana blade pierced his heart from behind. Widening his eyes, he turned his head. There, he saw Jin bearing down on him with a cold gaze.

"I don't enjoy killing, but there is no need for you to live beyond here. Also, this is courtesy of Brogy and Dorry," Jin whispered before pulling back his blade.

Mr. 5 tried to explode his body again, but his consciousness left his body before he could. He passed out and collapsed at the bottom of the crater. Jin looked down at the body and sighed. The man still breathed slightly.

'Since this is the One Piece world, he might live if he gets medical attention.'

With that, he jumped out of the crater. At the crater's edge, he saw Vivi seated on her knees with tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Carue cowered behind her.

"You okay?"

The girl nodded, but then looked up at him and hesitantly asked, "You helped me?"

"Obviously. That Igaram guy hired us."

"Eh? Is he okay?"

"Yeah."

Vivi glanced past Jin and saw Luffy easily beating up Miss Valentine despite her Kilo Kilo fruit powers.

"...I already thought so, but you guys are really strong."

"Well, it helps that these two really don't know how to use their Devil Fruits well, but yeah."

Eventually, Nami arrived to explain her deal with Igaram to Vivi, which she promptly refused since her kingdom was currently in dire straits. She explained a bit about Alabasta dealing with rebels and Baroque Works' involvement in it. Before she could mention Crocodile was Mr. 0, though, Jin placed a hand over her mouth.

"It's best you don't speak further than that," He warned.

In response, Vivi nodded fervently. She didn't mind him touching her since it probably saved their lives.

"...Jin. Was she about to mention somebody dangerous?" Nami hesitantly asked.

Jin glanced up at the vulture sitting not far away and said, "It doesn't matter for now."

Even without Vivi mentioning Crocodile, Igaram still volunteered to act as a decoy and requested the Straw Hats to escort Vivi home. Jin sighed since he knew Robin would 'kill' the man in the original.

After Igaram set sail, the group saw the fire explosion engulf his ship from afar. Luffy mourned over the man. Vivi cried, while Nami comforted her. Filled with gusto, Luffy grabbed Usopp and Sanji and dragged them back to the Going Merry. He met up again with the others where the ship was docked.

The crew boarded the ship, but Sanji and Usopp complained about wanting to party more. Of course, Nami talked some sense into them with fists of love to their noggins.

As they sailed back out to sea, the fog lifted, revealing the rising sun. Aside from Jin, who waited patiently near the cabin door, the Straw Hats started to relax, but then an unfamiliar voice startled them.

"Be careful not to crash your ship into the rocks near the shore, and congratulations on your escape."

"Thanks," Jin said, casually sitting behind her with hands resting behind his head, which elicited a raised brow from the woman.

Meanwhile, the others reacted strongly to having an uninvited stranger on board.

Turning her gaze back to the rest of the crew, the woman dressed in rather revealing American West clothing and cowboy hat said, "I must tell you, Miss Wednesday, I met up with Mr. 8 not long ago."

"It was you, Miss All-Sunday?!"

"Hey! Why're you on our ship?" Luffy asked.

"Who is she?" Nami asked.

Vivi blatantly answered the question, explaining that Miss All Sunday was Mr. 0's partner, and that she and Igaram tailed Miss All Sunday to find Mr. 0's identity. This time, she let slip that it was the Shichibukai, Crocodile, which made Jin pinch his nose. Robin also admitted that she allowed Vivi to tail her.

"You must have a lot of fun in Baroque Works surrounded by these fun personalities," Jin commented.

"Hm. Well, I can't deny that," Robin quietly responded, taking a second look at Jin. She briefly narrowed her eyes at his casual attitude that persisted even after hearing about her current position and title. However, Vivi distracted her.

"Why did you do all this?! What was your objective?!"

Robin set the matter of the purple-haired guy aside for a moment since her goals were more important. Focusing on Vivi, she smiled casually and answered, "It was too amusing to observe… a single princess who thought she could save her country by taking on the entirety of Baroque Works."

"Don't underestimate me!" Vivi yelled in retort.

To either side of Robin, Sanji and Usopp pointed weapons at her.

"I'm not really sure what is happening, but this seems bad," Usopp said, sweat dripping from his brow.

"All I know is that my precious Miss Wednesday is in trouble," Sanji replied.

Jin simply raised a brow. He barely saw Robin's arms move before the two got thrown down to the lower floor of the ship's deck.

"Would you please mind not pointing such dangerous weapons at me?"

Jin patiently waited while Robin brought up Little Garden and tossed over the eternal pose that would lead to islands close to Alabasta.

"Seems like a trap," Zoro said.

"Oh, I wonder about that."

"Enough with that!" Luffy said. He grabbed the eternal pose away from Vivi and smashed it. However, a barrier stopped him. Instantly, Luffy glared at Jin and said, "What are you doing, Jin?"

"That thing is cool. I want it."

"Nobody will tell us where to go. I'm gonna break it."

"I won't even be here for you to use it, but remember my dream? Eternal poses are rare, so I'd like to keep it. I want to visit where it leads one day."

Luffy narrowed his eyes. The two stared at each other for a few seconds until Luffy laughed, tossed it over, and said, "If you tell me to follow it, I'll break it. I won't allow an outsider to choose the path of our journey!"

"You're the captain. Why would I ever tell you where to go?" Jin replied with a smile. He caught the eternal pose and stowed it away in his Chat Group inventory.

Robin glanced down at Jin with her chin resting on her palm. Then, she looked back at Luffy.

"Hmm. Well, that is unfortunate. I don't dislike bold men… Let us meet again if you survive."

"Don't wanna!" Luffy replied.

"Before you go," Jin said, stopping the woman from returning to her turtle immediately. "I'd appreciate it if you don't attack me for asking this, but I'm very curious how many of the 'stones' you've read and what they say."

Instantly, Robin's eyes narrowed. She crossed her arms. Before she could do anything, though, Jin frowned and added something else.

"Do you hate them?"

Robin paused. The threatening glint in her eyes sharpened, but the direction of her hostility changed to something distant. The others on the ship watched the exchange with puzzled looks.

"You aren't alone."

"..."

"Interested in talking for a bit?" Jin probed. Since he did not know if things would play out the same, he wanted to make sure this woman would eventually join the crew. Without her, confronting the World Government would become an even taller order for the Straw Hats.

"..."

A half hour or so later, Robin left the Going Merry on her large turtle. Her brows creased as though deep in thought. As the Going Merry sailed away from her view, she silently mulled over the things she and the young man discussed out of earshot from the others. Once the ship vanished from her view, she sighed.

Back on the Going Merry, Luffy asked, "Neh, Jin. What did you talk to that bad lady about?"

"Books and old languages, mostly. Are you interested?"

"Yuck. No."