2/6

The Demon Child chuckled wryly and shook her head before sobering up. "This experimentation inevitably leads an ability user to think that they're invincible, a god, until they get a reality check, somehow, that reminds them that they. Are. Human. The message doesn't sink in as well for some as it does for others, but it happens to every Paramecia, it happens to every Zoan…"

Vivi's expression had frozen in shock one sentence into Robin's lecture, and by the final word, she had gone completely limp in Robin's grasp. "But… But not Logia…" she whispered hoarsely. "Logias… never dissuade themselves of that notion… Can't be dissuaded, and they go their whole lives thinking of themselves as gods—"

"Until someone forces a reality check on them. Until someone reminds them that they're still as normal and human as anyone else," Robin completed smoothly, removing her knife from Vivi's neck and standing off of her, allowing the princess to flip onto her back and stare up at her. Up at the hand that Robin had extended to her, as well as a kind smile.

"I worked with Crocodile for four years. I spoke with Eneru for ten minutes. And through that, I know how bad Logias can get, and I know that I will not let you become like them, Vivi. Any time your mind gets lost in your powers, I will do my best to remind you that you are mortal and draw you back. I promise."

As she stared at Robin's hand, Vivi's eyes watered up, and she lunged at it as though it were a lifeline, pulling herself up and wrapping her other arm tightly around her crewmate, sobbing into her shoulder.

"…thank you. Sincerely, thank you, Robin," Vivi wept, her body wracked with terrified sobs.

Robin nodded, patiently rubbing her crewmate's back. "I could be an optimist and assume you won't need another reminder, but realistically? One day you're going to go stark raving mad and try and wipe out some kingdom or other with a superstorm you whip up with your bare hands. And when that happens—!"

Vivi pulled back and gave Robin a teary smile. "You'll be right there to stick a knife in my back."

Robin's expression flattened and she tapped the butt of her knife against the princess's forehead, and not gently at that. "No, I'll be there to smack some sense into you. Really, please, try and do me the courtesy of listening better."

Vivi smiled sheepishly.

"And really… if you ever need any help with handling your powers, just ask," Robin gently assured her. "My first few days with a power were intensely disorienting, and I would have given anything for some help…" the archaeologist grimaced and shuddered in disgust. "Especially with the taste…"

"Oh, Ra, don't even mention 'taste' to me!" Vivi gagged, facing herself out towards the ocean and slapping a hand over her mouth as she kept from heaving. "I've eaten a variety of cuisine over the years, and a lot didn't agree with me, but that was… was…"

"Rest assured, that will be the most horrific taste you will ever know in your entire life," Robin gagged, idly rubbing her thumb over her throat. "To this day, I can't get the taste of fertilizer composed of human feces, human ash, and actual humans out of my mind."

"Yeah? Well, I honestly think that eating it so small made mine worse," Vivi hung her head with a tortured groan. "That aril was smaller than my fingernail, but the second it hit my tongue, it was like the air from a thousand-thousand compacted balls of swamp gas expanded into being inside my mouth all at once. And I can still taste every one of them!"

Robin shook her head with a weary chuckle. "To reiterate, I do know how what it's like. As do many others on this crew."

Vivi sobered up slowly, and her gaze turned pensive as she looked down at her hands. "Yeah. But, you know… I understand a lot more now," the princess said.

"Understand?" Robin queried, leaning on the railing.

"…I don't think you can imagine the power rush that being a Logia gives you, Robin," Vivi explained, watching her palms and fingers fade in and out of gusting air. "Even I can't fully understand it. To come apart at the seams on a whim, to split your senses everywhere just like that, become untouchable… it's unfathomable. And… the sensation…" Her eyes turned heavensward, gazing into the deep blue of the sky. "I can feel… pretty much every breeze around us for several metres, without focusing, and the only real reason I didn't feel you coming was that I wasn't actually trying. And while, I'll admit, I might be biased because of how broad of a spectrum 'wind' is…"

Her fists coalesced and clenched. "What Crocodile and Eneru became is inexcusable, but if they were feeling the same way that I was, the way that I am, feeling so… so connected to the world like this, a connection that's going to be there for the rest of my life��� I can see where it came from. So, again." Vivi looked Robin dead in the eye, this time with her usual steel. "Thank you for reminding me that I'm not invincible, Robin. I needed that. And, seeing as you've volunteered yourself for this?" Vivi gave her tutor a smirk. "I'll be relying on you to keep me humble when I need it. I warn you, that is a full-time job."

Robin returned the smirk with a perfectly serene grin. "Oh, I'm sure the rest of the crew won't mind helping as well. Especially if you're going to be even more of an airhead."

"HAHAHAHEEHEEHEEHOOHOOHOO!"

Soundbite's laughter echoed around them. Neither woman reacted to it.

Or, well, bodily reacted to it, as Vivi's eye was twitching furiously.

"…on the one hand," she ground out, her voice set to snap. "I could be responsible and only use my abilities in the most dire and critical of situations. On the other, we're Straw Hats. So thank you, Nico Robin." Vivi extended a clawed hand into the air. "For so kindly volunteering."

"Oh?" Robin cocked her brow in honest amusement. "And what, precisely, have I just—GYAERGH!"

Said amusement died a moment later as she suddenly choked on her own spit, her eyes bugging out as she vacillated between flushing and paling. Unconsciously, one hand darted down, clawing at her pants.

The reason for this was that Vivi had cut her off mid-sentence by yanking her hand upwards with a tangible burst of air. The princess then smirked and began primly examining her nails. "To act as my guinea pig. How does 'Divine Touch' sound for a name?"

Where once Vivi's eye had been twitching, Robin's everything was spasming, jaw working soundlessly. Once she managed to get some motor control back, the archaeologist pinned her student with a downright hellish glare. "…juvenile pranks, princess?" she hissed like a woman possessed. "Really?"

A shrug. "I consider it a step in the right direction. You?"

Robin jerked her head forward so that she was nose to nose with Vivi, lips split in a snarl and her voice on par with the Blue Pheasant's. It was an image somewhat ruined by the fact that she was still fiddling with the waistband of her pants.

"What you just did is a crime that the laws of Ohara considered punishable by death."

"NEEEEER—!"

Robin snapped her hand into a fist.

"—GYERGH!"

"As such…" she continued, heedless of the interruption. "I consider it carte blanche. You have no idea of the pandora's box you've just opened."

Vivi raised her chin proudly. "Bring it."

The twitching intensified, before she suddenly stilled to a nigh corpse-like state and pinched her eyes shut, a rictus smile on her face. "I trust that you've finished your homework, your highness?" the words crawled their way from Robin's lips.

Vivi's confidence faded into the wind even faster than she did, shrieking in horror as she rushed to find her notebook.

Robin stared after her with a satisfied smirk, before reverting to a pained grimace. "The sheer amount of agony and nonsense I go through for my friends…" she groaned to herself.

And so it was that the world-infamous Demon Child made her way back to her quarters, waddling as she fiddled with her waistband.

-o-

Two of the most seasoned Marines in the Navy stood beside each other with identical looks of satisfaction as they watched another detachment of their troops return from Merveille. Serving as the Straw Hat Pirates' cleanup crew again or not, they could hardly help the good mood that only seeing fifty of the most infamous crews this half of the Grand Line trudging onboard in chains could produce.

Shiki himself was already en route to Impel Down thanks to the unexpected but welcome help of Boa Hancock, and those of his crew who had survived were being collected as well. Those not present were presumed dead from the fall of the islands, but were noted just in case.

Perhaps the best part of it was precisely why they were able to set foot on the land where hundreds of beasts still dwelled, collect all of the criminals, and be on their way. The Elder Stars themselves were pleased with the new development, and though Sengoku felt a twinge of annoyance, he had little doubt that the benefits would far outweigh the costs…

~o~

"You up for this, Sengoku?" Garp asked, cracking his knuckles as he faced down the beasts lined up on the edge of the newly-settled coast of the island, or 'archipelago' as it were, given how the impact with the ocean had been decidedly unkind to the island. It was a veritable menagerie of Merveille's beasts: big, small, fast, slow, armored, flying, all these and so many more ready and waiting for the Marines to make landfall so that they could enjoy themselves a fresh meal.

"I am in severe need of a way to relieve my stress, and this serves as a perfect excuse," the Fleet Admiral responded, his fingers drumming over a borrowed shinai; his skill with such a weapon left something to be desired, but as he was expected both to take things easy and to take out the survivors among Shiki's monsters, he needed something that would strain his body a bit less.

"Then let's get to it!" Garp laughed to himself, marching forward as he pounded his knuckles together. The monsters on the shore snarled at them, clearly ready to pounce, soar, charge, or dive at them to tear them apart.

"Horohorohorohorohoro…"

Or at the least, they were until a round of aetherial laughter halted Sengoku and Garp in place. Not out of any kind of terror, of course, but because of how in response to the laugh, the monsters on the shore all suddenly stilled, the beasts all falling quiet as they looked around with varying degrees of nervousness and admiration.

Both men looked straight up. And both men saw a familiar face.

"You… Perona. You were one of Moria's subordinates. Then you joined the Straw Hat Pirates."

"Past tense, Fleet Admiral," the specter said, floating on her back. "I cut my losses when the Straw Hats beat Moria and talked them into letting me sail with them until I could find somewhere else that I could live in luxury. And with that tyrant gone, I decided to take over his palace and help myself to all of the adorable pets that I could ever want!"

Several Marines sweatdropped as they watched the beasts on the shore swoon loyally in Perona's direction. Garp and Sengoku's eyes narrowed, however.

"Nice story, brat. But you don't think that your 'pets' are going to be able to slow Garp and I down, do you?" Sengoku demanded.

"Of course not!" Perona giggled. "If I did, I wouldn't be here to negotiate, would I?"

The top-ranked Marines exchanged wary glances before glaring at her. "Negotiate what, brat?" Garp asked.

Perona smiled impishly. "The Government was left with no choice but to strip my former master Moria of his Warlord title thanks to what Jeremiah Cross revealed on the SBS. And last time I checked, you still haven't filled that slot. Sooo~ I'm putting my name in for consideration."

The Vice and Fleet Admirals both stiffened, and a chorus of whispers and shouts filtered in from the nearby battleships.

They were all silenced when Sengoku took a stomp forward, the deck of his ship splintering beneath his boot. "And why should we consider your application—you, a no-name, no-bounty minion, and associate of the Straw Hat Pirates—for a position in what is literally the most exclusive taskforce in the whole of the World Government instead of swatting you?" Sengoku demanded, two seconds away from blinding the insolent spectre, heart condition be damned.

"Well, let's see here…" Perona crooned, holding up a finger as she dropped into a sitting position. "Well, normally I'd save the best for last, but since you asked nicely: Unlike the ones that you had to fire thanks to the Straw Hats, and some of the ones you still have on the roster, I don't have any ambitions. I just want to live my life in luxury and safety." She laced her fingers beneath her chin and smiled in a cutesy way. "Isn't that just wonderful?"

The grind of Sengoku's teeth was answer enough.

Still smiling cutely, Perona moved on, holding up a second finger. "Moving right along to reason number two, you may be able to swat my pets. You may somehow be able to fight off my powers. But you don't have to; it would be more convenient for all of us if they were on your side. Less trouble, less fuss, less men fed to beasts who were literally bred to eat them. I don't know about you, but that sounds like the most logical military decision, no?"

Once more the lack of response was deafening, the subordinate officers cautiously—not nervously, never nervously—eyeing their bestial opponents and then their own men.

Up came the third finger. "I have all of the captains and most of the crews of everyone who was stupid enough to follow Shiki here with me, in the palace, and I'll gladly hand them over if you accept. And really, at this point, can you afford anything less than live captures, if you really want to save face?"

By this point, Sengoku's might as well have been carved from stone.

A fourth finger joined its brethren. "My powers could help you with that stress relief that you just mentioned."

This time, Sengoku actually did blind Perona for a moment. "Never."

"Okayokayokay!" Perona reeled back, waving her hands in frantic panic. The light faded, and the panic did as well, the ghost-girl levelling a flat glare at the Admiral of the Marine Fleets. "Alright, no more screwing around. You want serious, let's be dead serious: You, if we're being completely honest, can't afford someone other than me in the position at this point. Not after two lemons in a row."

As Perona shifted into a reclining position, she let a playful smirk spread on her face. "So, shall I continue listing reasons, or have I made my point?"

Sengoku's eyes twitched, leaving Garp to stare up at the ghost. "Let's say, for the sake of argument and nothing more, that you get the title. What are you expecting in return?" the Hero asked, growling.

Perona's smile didn't budge, though she did move her hands so that her fingers were splayed against one another. "Oh, not much beyond what comes pre-packaged with the Warlord position: immunity to the law as long as I don't terrorize civilians, like my predecessors have oh so frequently and flagrantly flaunted in the past; no Marines set foot on this island without my express permission; and no attempts to take any of my pets, or samples of the IQ plant." Her gaze sharpened at that last stipulation. "Shiki almost levelled the East Blue with his serum, I'm not letting that genie uncork itself if I can help it."

Her eyes suddenly widened, and she snapped her fingers. "Oh, and I also want a promise that you won't make me do anything that takes me more than a few nautical miles away from my island for the first three months. I just got this kingdom, after all, and I need some time to properly build it up. Plus…" She grimaced, letting her head loll back. "In case you've forgotten, I've spent the majority of my life in a support position. I can be as much of a threat as my… colleagues, but I need a little time to get there first. As it is, I'm no good to you on the front lines."

Again, Sengoku's eye twitched, but he also began to seriously consider the offer. And the more he thought about it, the better it seemed. Only one potential issue.

"How are you controlling them?" Sengoku asked as he nodded his head at the monsters, the 'Can they slip their leash?' floating unspoken.

"Horohorohoro. That's quite simple, Fleet Admiral." Perona snapped her fingers and one of the many boars in the crowd trotted up in the wake of a sobbing Hollow, snuffling at the floating ectoplasm with clear eagerness. "A combination of the carrot…"

The hollow shot through the boar, the porcine beast letting out a contented squeal and rolling over to expose its belly. A belly that Perona floated over to and began 'scratching', to the clear delight of the porcine titan.

Perona's expression then flipped to cold. "And the stick." Holding up her hand, she summoned a cackling Negative Hollow. Immediately, the entire crowd of creatures flinched back, besides the gleefully oblivious hog below her.

The Ghost Princess produced another Positive Hollow and started rotating the pair of them around her raised hand. "Euphoria as incentive to behave. Anguish as punishment for disobedience. Shiki and Indigo made them strong, tough, and fast… but they're just like your grandson when it comes to brains, Vice Admiral Garp: meatheads who are only smart when it comes to fighting."

Garp's expression shifted to that of a man who dearly wanted to object but knew he had no leg to stand on.

With a wave of her hand, Perona dismissed the hollows. "Some of them are still a little rebellious, sure, probably the smarter ones. But I've yet to meet a beastie who hasn't reacted to one of my Hollows. When you can control how much or how little joy they feel at a time, it's easy to bring even the proudest, mightiest beast to heel. I wouldn't advise letting them leave Merveille's shores anytime soon, not without me around, but apart from that?" She raised a finger. "One month, and every biological weapon on this island, without exception, will be at my beck and call."

Sengoku remained silent for several moments. He could already tell that this brat was going to be a pain to handle, but that was about the only negative that he could see. He'd had a headache all week, and while he could fight off those beasts and the ghost girl, a chance to not fight them and still arrest fifty of the biggest problems in Paradise was a much more appealing option. And if she was honest about her motivations—which he believed she was, from what he knew and from her stipulation regarding the IQ plants—then it may be that she would be more like Mihawk than Hancock. And if worse came to worst, the beasts were landlocked now, no threat to anyone…

Suppressing a sigh, Sengoku withdrew a Transponder Snail from his coat and dialed a number that few in the world knew.

"Marine Code 95000, Fleet Admiral Sengoku," the Fleet Admiral recited, throwing a scathing glare at the arrogantly triumphant phantom. "I have found a replacement for Moria."

"We are listening," a stern older voice prompted as Perona grinned from ear to ear.

~o~

"This is far from the ideal outcome," the Fleet Admiral mused, his frown not as deep as usual. "But I will admit that I never expected this much to go right for us."

"Mmph, for a given value of the word 'much', anyway…" Garp shrugged. "Seriously, what exactly did we get out of this? A bunch of mega-sized beasts, who can't really make much difference against the Emperors? A roadblock-island that's not in a critical position? A brat with half-developed powers, who's only now going to start trying? Seems like we're just warming a seat to me."

"Mmph…" Sengoku nodded his head to the side ever so slightly. "I'll admit, this isn't the best choice possible, but there was one extenuating factor that pushed my hand."

The world-famous Hero allowed himself a snicker. "What, shoring up the ranks of the Warlords from five to six?"

Sengoku's jaw twitched at the stab of guilt that ran him through, but he otherwise maintained his composure. "No. Something even worse: Gender equality."

For a moment, the only sounds to be heard were the lapping of waves, the jingle of chains as the defeated walked into the hands of Justice…

And then Garp looked over at Sengoku with a bemused expression. "Come again?"

"Don't. Laugh," Sengoku ordered tersely, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You have no right to. You don't have to deal with the monthly demands from the Marine Women's Rights Association. And it was either find another female Warlord or sign their petition to canonize Captain Bellemere, and I refuse to let a pirate's mother become a saint."

"Indeed, he didn't have much choice," a nearby Transponder Snail piped up in Tsuru's cool drawl. "Enough people hate him without throwing more on the pile."

"Status update," the Fleet Admiral ordered, entirely ignoring the jab.

"The last of the now-defunct Golden Lion Pirates have been pacified and placed in chains," Tsuru smoothly replied. "We'll still need time to transport them from the center of the archipelago, but we should be ready to depart in no more than an hour."

"Aww, already?"

Sengoku twitched viciously, refusing to give the spectre he knew was floating above him the benefit of his glare.

"And here I was getting used to your horrifically un-cute battleships sullying my horizon. Ah well!" She waved her hand as she 'flopped' down in front of Sengoku in a prone position, an arm tucked under her head. "Don't let the currents whip you on the way out, would you?"

Sengoku shot a sharp scowl at the newly inducted Warlord. "Don't forget that these warships could just as easily return, only in the capacity of a Buster Call instead. As you yourself said, two lemons in a row. I won't be merciful on the third."

Perona clicked her tongue in a chiding manner even as she floated well away from the Marine. "Touchy touchy. And you're sure I can't ameliorate our new-forged relationship a bit? Or rather…" She smirked as a weeping Hollow peeked out over her shoulder, ignoring the way Sengoku's expression darkened. "Your mood? Why, who knows! It might even help out that little bum ticker you're sporting."

The Fleet Admiral stiffened, and Perona flinched as the air suddenly grew heavy around her, apparent even to her astral form.

"How the hell did you—!?" Sengoku growled.

"Shiki found out, he was gloating the entire way back to the castle!" Perona yelped in an entirely dignified and not-at-all panicked way. "B-But seriously, you already know how bad stress is for someone in your position! M-My Positive Hollows could help, even just—!"

"You had a ten ton hellbeast dancing to your tune after less than a day," Sengoku interrupted, his voice absolutely frigid. "If you bring even one of your ghosts within a five-foot radius of me, you'll be cooling your heels with Crocodile before the day is out."

"That's not how it—aw, screw it," Perona grumbled, flicking her hand to dispel the Hollow. "If you want to turn me down when I'm offering you a miracle stress-reliever out of the goodness of my heart, I'll take my charity elsewhere."

Turning to leave, Perona looked back over her shoulder and smirked in a way that made Sengoku know that what she was about to say was going to make him snap, and he sagaciously turned on his heel and entered his cabin, the door slamming behind him.

The princess sighed, and her eyes slid to Garp. "One day, he's going to have to realize that not everyone who calls him or herself a pirate is untrustworthy."

"Tch, and you expect me to believe you for a second?" Garp asked flatly, his gaze never leaving the marching line of prisoners. "C'mon, the first thing out of your mouth was a lie."

"E-Excuse me?!" the ghost princess stammered in equal parts terror and indignation.

Garp looked up at her, and at that moment, Perona became acutely aware of exactly who she was talking to. After all, only so many people could manage to look so terrifying with barely any effort. "You honestly expect me to believe that after two months on the same ship as my grandson, you didn't fall in love with them the same way that everyone else to join their crew did?"

Perona opened her mouth to object, but when she thought about it, Garp was right. On both counts. Her expression paled.

Garp, for his part, just chuckled. "That's what I thought. Don't worry, I won't tell anyo—"

"You promise?"

"GAH!" Garp flinched back from Perona, who was suddenly up in his face, her expression totally blank.

"You really, truly promise that you'll never tell anyone, no matter what?"

The Vice Admiral took a moment to regain his wits, and then he gave a wry grin. "How deep is it?"

Perona looked away. "…I abandoned Moria for convenience. I tried doing the same thing to the Straw Hats… but Shiki wasn't the only one who underestimated them. I'd put my life on the line… for any of them."

As far as she could see, somehow, nobody was paying attention to the two of them. Silver lining, that.

"I won't tell anyone," Garp said with the utmost seriousness. "But you had better put on a damn good act if you don't want anyone else to figure it out."

"Oh, I think I can manage that," Perona said softly as she flew back. "Because I have something I really want to tell you."

"And what would that—?"

"Get," Perona cut in, her face gradually screwing up in rage. "The hell. AWAY. FROM MY ISLAND!"

The final word was shrieked out at the top of Perona's lungs. And far more importantly, a veritable geyser of howling ectoplasm erupting from the specter punctuated it.

Garp stared up at the aetherial pillar in mildly respectful silence.

"Well, I think we can safely say that she does have the sheer power to stand among the rest of the Warlords," Tsuru drawled tonelessly.

"Tcheh, don't gloat just yet, hag," Garp smirked. "That went perfectly according to my plan."

"Bullshit."