Zrocker119: Hope this chapter provides a bit of entertainment for those of you that are self isolating. Stay safe and health everyone. Especially during these trying times.

-A True Devil on the High Seas-

-Start-

The trip to Little Garden was smooth sailing, for the most part. There was a small bit where the crew had been chased by a dolphin roughly twenty times the size of the Merry, but other than that everything was the usual.

With the exception being that the Straw Hats had two extra passengers Vivi and Carue.

For the princess of Alabasta however, everything was all but fine, and despite reassuring herself that the crew was more than capable of being serious when it was required of them, Vivi couldn't stop worry from creeping into her heart.

The main fighters of this pirate crew were strong, of that she had no doubt. Not just anyone could defeat a numbered member of Baroque Works after all. 'But even so,' Vivi thought as she watched Luffy and Usopp goof around on the deck, while Zoro was napping against the mast. 'They don't know what we're going up against like I do.'

A glass being shoved in her face brought Vivi out of her thoughts. Looking to her left she saw Nami sipping on a fruity drink. Seeing that the glass being offered was identical to it, she accepted it with a small smile.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Nami responded with a smile of her own. "You looked like you could use a little pick me up. You were thinking about your home, weren't you?"

Vivi's smile fell a bit. "Was it that obvious?"

"Call it an educated guess based on personal experience," Nami said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Oh." Vivi turned her gaze downward, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"I know better than most what it's like to carry the weight that you're dealing with." Nami turned to face her, a bright smile on her face. "But unlike me, you're willing to put trust in others to help shoulder the burden. So while I won't tell you not to worry, I will say that you can afford to relax a bit."

"I'd listen to her." Vivi jumped at Dante suddenly speaking off to her right. She turned to see the red clad pirate casually leaning against the railing. How did he get there without either her or Nami hearing him?

"I know that they don't look part, but this odd bunch are some of the most badass people around. So relax and let yourself live a little bit."

Vivi pondered their words. After a few moments of silence, she allowed a small smile to slip on out. They were both right. Until they reached her home, there was nothing that she could do to halt what was already happening.

So until the time came for her to step up and end it all...she would allow herself to relax...just a bit.

"Thank you. Both of you. I-I really needed to hear that." With renewed vigor, Vivi took a long drink. It really was delicious.

Nami watched the slightly younger woman with a kind smile, glad that she was able to help lighten what was clearly a stressful load. Her smile didn't last for long however as she saw Dante's expression.

He sported a serious frown as he stared out over the sea. The number of times she had seen the oldest member of the crew without his confident smirk could be counted on one hand.

"Hey, Nami?" He pointed into the distance. "Is that where the Log Pose is pointing?"

Facing the direction he gestured to, Nami had to squint in order to see the Island in the distance. Checking the Log Pose she saw that the needle was pointing directly at it. "Looks like it. Why?"

Dante didn't respond right away. He continued to stare at the landmass for what felt like an eternity when his smirk returned in full force. But there was something slightly off about it that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"Oh, no reason." And like that he was back to normal. "Just got a feeling is all."

Nami didn't know why, but something about how he said that sent a shiver down her spine. If something on that Island had Dante excited, then it was something she wanted to avoid.

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It didn't take long for them to arrive at the Island. Sailing up a river that connected to the sea, the Straw Hats and company could see nothing but thick, luscious jungle on either side. That fact that it appeared to be made up of plants that none of them had ever seen before only added to the mystery of it all.

"Just who decided to call this place Little Garden?" questioned Nami. Nothing about this place screamed little.

As she spoke, a guttural roar echoed from the forest, causing the more easily frightened members to shriek in terror. From the jungle stepped out the largest tiger that any of them had ever seen, easily being several times larger than any normal tiger ought to be. It took one more step before collapsing in a bloody heap, leaving Nami and Usopp shaking in their boots.

"This is not a normal jungle!" cried Nami.

Usopp nodded alongside their navigator. "It's decided then. We are not leaving this ship."

There was silence for a grand total of five seconds before it was shattered by Luffy literally vibrating in place with sheer excitement. "Sanji, make me a pirate lunch box! I smell adventure!"

Nami all but broke down into tears at his declaration, she knew that once Luffy made up his mind that there was no way to disway him. So much for them just waiting on the ship until the Pose was set.

"Actually, can I come with you?" Vivi piped up unexpectedly. "I could use a distraction from everything that's happened."

"I'll make you lunch as well Vivi~!" Sanji sang, turning into a literal tornado before disappearing into the kitchen to prepare said meals.

Vivi couldn't help but giggle at the cook's antics. Looking around at all the others the princess frowned in confusion when she noticed that there was someone missing.

"Hey everyone, where'd Dante go?"

Confusion spread through the Straw Hat crew as they came to the same conclusion as Vivi. Dante was gone. Spotting a piece of paper near the spot that Dante had last been seen, Zoro picked it up to find that it was a note.

"Went to check up on a hunch. If you need my assistance, be sure to scream very loudly...looking at you Usopp."

"Hey!"

"What?" Zoro flipped the paper around and pointed at the line he just read. "Literally says that right here."

The sniper's became crestfallen at being singled out like that, a dark cloud forming over his head.

"Does the note mention what this hunch of his was about?" questioned Nami. Given how their interaction had been thus far, it was pretty unusual for Dante to just take off without saying anything.

"Nope." Zoro crumpled the note, tossing it aside. "I wouldn't worry about him. He's proven that he's more than capable of taking care of himself."

Luffy sat down, his legs crossed and holding his chin in thought. After a moment he broke out into his signature grin. "Looks like Dante smelled adventure before I did! Sanji! Is lunch ready!? I wanna catch up to the old man!"

"Almost! Be patient!"

Nami rubbed her temple, the makings of a headache coming along. Dut despite that, a small smile played on her lips. Leave it to her crew to take something like this in stride.

Her thoughts drifted back to the look Dante had been sporting earlier, right as Little Garden had come into view. It had been brief, but she had seen a flash of concern in his eyes. But not for his well being, but rather for their own.

Just what could get that kind of reaction out of him?

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"So...this place has dinosaurs...cool!" Dante spoke merrily as he ran along the back of a massive sauropod, the animal ignored his presence as it grazed on prehistoric ferns. The Devil hunter, while initially caught in boyish awe by the appearance of the giant lizards, didn't let himself get distracted.

The feeling he first had out at sea had only grown stronger and stronger the deeper he moved into the Island. Coming to a stop on top of his mount's head, Dante had an amazing view of his surroundings, being able to see everything for miles in all directions. In fact he was pretty sure that he spotted Luffy in the distance, doing the same thing as himself, but blinked when the dinosaur his captain sat upon slipped him up and swallowed him whole.

...Eh, he'd be fine.

Going back to what he was doing, Dante missed the sight of Luffy being freed from his fleshy prison via a giant decapitation of the dinosaur that had swallowed him, but that was neither here nor there.

His gaze fell upon one of what Dante had initially assumed to be mountain ranges, but with his current vantage point he realized that it was in fact the skull of a massive creature. Judging from the sheer size of it, he could only assume it to be the remnants of a Sea King.

And it was there, at the top of it where he would find the source of the infernal residue that he had sensed earlier. Kicking off Dante all but tore through the air. A few air hikes later and Dante had reached his destination, landing on top of the ancient skull with a heavy crash.

Dusting off his coat, the devil hunter scanned the area for any kind of demonic activity that he entrance may have awoken. After a few moments of absolutely nothing, he strode forward. The closer he drew to the center of the skull, the stronger the residue grew.

Upon reaching the epicenter, Dante found the source of the demonic presence. There, at the center of the skull, was a hole over twenty meters in diameter. No doubt this was the source of its death.

Approaching the edge, Dante actually staggered back when he was hit by the miasma that hung within. The tell tale sign that a demon of titanic power once stood here.

"Smells like hot garbage." Fanning himself, Dante explored further.

Unfortunately he wasn't the first to discover this. Lying near the edge a few meters away, was the dried out husk of some poor bastard that had climbed up here. Only for their very soul to be sucked out from them, leaving behind the body to wither away.

"Damn." If it wasn't for his heritage and his ludicrous levels of vitality, Dante was certain that he would be going through a similar experience right about now. But what demon did this?

For taint like this to be left behind, they would have to be on the level of Mundus and Argosax. But that shouldn't be possible. Both had been powerful rulers of the Demon World. But as much as he wanted to deny that a demon of that caliber was loose upon this dimension, the evidence was right there in front of him.

The only question was...where was it?

Kneeling down, Dante ran his hand along the holes edge, finding it to be covered in a thick layer of soot.

"Someone likes to play with fire." Before Dante could investigate further, the all too familiar sound of claws digging into bone reached his ears. Leaping backwards, Dante felt a rush of air as a blade missed his neck by mere centimeters.

Landing on his feet, Dante looked up to see nothing there. Rubbing his chin, he moved to step forward, but back peddled as something red rushed past him. Keeping his composure, Dante's hand lashed out behind him.

The demon that had tried to ambush him jumped back to a safe distance, letting out a low hiss when it saw that he had merely pointed a finger gun at it.

"Ha-ha," Dante mimed shooting it and grabbed Rebellion. The demon was reptilian in nature with red highlights and stooding several feet taller than Dante. "Haven't fought one of you in a while."

The Fury brought one arm forward, a red blade spawning out from its forearm. It let loose a low growl. That must have been the signal as several Riots, the lesser evolutions of its kind, began crawling out from the hole.

"You wouldn't happen to know where the big boss is would you?" Twirling his most trusted weapon, Dante idly side stepped a lunge from one of the surrounding Riots, decapitating the demon as it passed. "Cause it would be great if you could just tell me. Can't have something that powerful just walking around."

His answer came in the form of all the demons rushing him. Though, in true Dante fashion, the devil hunter wasn't worried in the slightest. But it looked like he would be tracking the big baddy down the hard way.

But just as shit was about to go down, the entire skull began to shake. The demons and devil hunter all paused as the ground tilted, as if something was lifting the whole damn thing, before it was suddenly dropped, landing with a thunderous crash that shook the very island to its foundation.

'The hell was that?' thought Dante. Hearing a growl, the hunter looked to see that the Riots were backing down, with the leader of the pack slowly backing to the edge and towards the forest.

"Oh, no you don't!" Quicker than the eye could track, Dante lunged at the Fury, the ancient skull fragmenting from the sheer force that he exerted. But he wasn't fast enough, as the Fury used raw demonic power to perform a space-time jump, allowing it to phase right through Rebellion's blade and retreat down the skull and into the forest.

"Tch, Damn it," Dante spared a glance towards the hole, mentally weighing his options, but decided that the rouge lizards were the more immediate threat. He couldn't allow them to roam free any longer than they already had. If they managed to reach the other members of the crew...

The Riots, while boasting incredible strength and speed, someone of Luffy, Zoro and Sanji's caliber would be able to make short work of them. But if that Fury got to them.

No.

Dante banished those thoughts from his mind. He wouldn't allow any demon to harm a single hair one those kids' heads.

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It could sense Him.

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Deep within the heart of the one dormant volcano on Little Garden, a single ember lingered.

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That ember grew to a raging inferno as an ancient being of fire and destruction awakened from its slumber.

"The blood of the traitor...I can smell him."

With but a mere thought the ground beneath its feet cracked, allowing lava to flow into the chamber, slowly filling it.

But the awakened demon did not flinch at the sweltering heat. For it was fire incarnate.

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"SPARDA!"

Zoro wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation he currently found himself in. One moment he was dragging along the body of some giant lizard that he had cut down and trying to find his way back to the ship.

Then the next thing he knew, his arms and legs were bound in candle wax stronger than stone and dragged into a clearing by some trench coat wearing guy, where Zoro found Nami and Vivi in similar circumstances.

Now all three of them were ankle deep in hardened wax, stuck to some strange candle contraption that was slowly covering them in flakes of wax that would eventually leave them as nothing more than statues. All while some guy that had his hair styled into the shape of a 3 stroked his own ego.

Well if this was where he was to die, at least it would be in a cool pose.

...Ah who was he kidding. He didn't want to die to these Baroque Works losers.

"Hey, Nami, Vivi. You two get ready. I'm gonna get us out of here."

Nami, having had most of her body covered in wax barely managed to look over in his direction. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Simple." The sound of swords being drawn reached her ears. "I'm gonna cut off my legs."

"W-wait! Zoro, think about this for a second!"

"Don't have that kind of time."

"How do you plan on fighting without legs!?"

"...I'll figure something out."

"Hahahahahaha." Brogy, one of the island resident giants that Naim and Usopp had befriended, laughed at Zoro's declaration despite having his hands and feet impaled to the ground. "You are a brave young man! Just when I was about to admit defeat, you go and make a statement like that."

"Very well. I will fight alongside you! I must avenge mine and Dorry's honor!"

Zoro poised his swords to cut at his feet and grinned. "Good." Before anyone could say otherwise, he went for it. There was the sound of blade cutting through flesh and spurts of blood.

Zoro had managed to cut midway through his legs when two things happened in quick succession.

The first being Luffy, Usopp and the princess' duck came rocketing through the clearing with a pack of strange lizards on their tail.

The second was much more...confusing.

There was a flash of red, followed by sparks and the sound of clashing blades. Even with his perceptive eyes, the swordsman could only catch glimpses of the two red figures zipping about the clearing.

There was another flash and the beasts that had been chasing Luffy and Usopp were reduced to bloody chunks. There was no fanfare of any sort, they were simply dead. Those unused to such carnage were unable to hold onto their stomachs and quickly unloaded their contents.

A select few were unperturbed by the gore, those being main fighters of the Straw Hats and the older Baroque agents.

"Sorry about this kiddo," Dante suddenly appeared behind the young girl, the one that Mr. 3 had called Miss Goldenweek, and tied a blindfold over her eyes. "But everything else that happens here is rated R and unsuitable for child viewing."

Grabbing her by the shoulders, the two seemed to teleport over to the trapped giant where Dante deposited the kid. "Mind looking after the little one? Thanks!"

And he was gone again.

"What the he-" Mr. 3 was interrupted when Dante appeared once again, only now locked in a blade struggle with a giant, bipedal lizard with blades coming out of its arms.

The two suddenly disappeared in a burst of speed. The sounds of combat echoed throughout the clearing, leaving gouges in the ground and surrounding trees.

It was the most intense battle that Zoro and the others had never witnessed.

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'This Fury is something else.' Never before had Dante faced a lower demon of this caliber. The closest experience he had was when he fought a pack of Blitz demons. But it had been just that, a pack.

This one Fury dwarfed them in every aspect. Strength, speed, it out stripped them all. Just what the hell had this demon feasted on to gain such power?

Regardless of the hows, it needed to be put down.

Parrying its claws, Dante stunned it with a boot to the head and pulled out his pistols. Ebony and Ivory leapt into his hands as he unleashed a storm of demonic infused lead. Due to his previous attack, the Fury was unable to properly guard itself, allowing the bullets to strike true.

But it was far from finished.

Enraged by the damage it had sustained and the lack of blood it had drawn from its sworn foe, the Fury was enveloped in a purple hue, earning a slight widening of the eyes from Dante.

The damn thing had just activated a pseudo devil trigger.

The bullets buried in its flesh were forced back out before healing over. Reinvigorated by its transformation, the Fury went on the offensive, unleashing a flurry of slashes that turned everything around it to shreds.

To those watching from the sidelines, it appeared to be nothing more than brief sparks followed by random slashes appearing around the clearing. But little did they know just how many times they had been saved by the Son of Sparda's efforts.

He wouldn't allow a demon to claim another life while in his presence. Even those of his enemies.

Quickly pouring demonic power into his sword Dante launched a drive at the demon, forcing the Fury to go intangible or be split in two. With the brief lapse in combat he was able to close the distance between the two with a clever use of trickster, appearing right behind it and wrapping his arms around its waist.

Taking a page from his nephew, Dante performed a textbook suplex, burying the demon right into the ground. Before it could begin to free itself, Dante raised his sword and swung down. There was a moment where the entire clearing was void of sound.

The reprieve was short lived as the Fury erupted into a geyser of blood. Though thankfully for those watching, the remains of all the demons didn't stick around and began to dissolve into little more than flakes of ash blown into the wind.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" True to his nature, Luffy ignored all the crazy shit that just went down and rushed on up to Dante with stars in his eyes. "How'd you do that? What were those lizards? Teach me!"

"As many questions as I have about what we just saw, can you please get us out of this!" Nami had just about had enough with today. Chased by dinosaurs. Captured by their enemies, and now this.

She just wanted to go back to the ship and cry in her room.

The Baroque Works agents weren't fairing much better. None of them had been able to make sense of the fight that had just gone down. It was just too fast.

All of them had recognized the man as Red Coat Dante. But he was only worth $25,000,000. How was it that he was so fast!? It just didn't make sense.

"Captain." With a single swipe, Dante cleansed Rebellion of any and all traces of blood. "I'd hate to give you orders, but can you grab everyone and get back to the ship. Things are about to get much more dangerous."

He turned his gaze to the gathered agents, "That includes you guys as well."

"W-who are you to give us orders!?" Fresh wax began to gather on Mr. 3's arms. "I won't stand here and be made little of by a brute such as yourself." His coworkers, sans Miss Goldenweek as she was still seated by Brogy, prepared for the upcoming fight.

"Sorry, but I could care less about what you think." Mr. 3, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine froze. Dante was no longer on the opposite end of the clearing, but now stood right behind them, his back to them and sword resting on his shoulder.

"I've got bigger fish to fry...or did you fail to notice? The air's gotten much hotter."

Now that he brought it up, everyone was now aware of how much hotter the air was. Just breathing caused their throats to instantly dry up. It wasn't just the air either. The ground beneath them seemed to be heating up as well.

Nami, Vivi and Zoro, much to their relief, could feel the wax that had been encasing them quickly melting. Within moments the three were free from their waxy prison. Though Zoro now had to worry about getting his ankles tended to before he could bleed out.

"I know you're here."

The forest in the direction that Dante was facing was enveloped in a sea of flames, the heat wave generated from it was powerful enough to launch all but the devil hunter flying back. Even the giants Dorry and Brogy weren't spared.

"You, who carry the accursed blood of a traitor."

From the flames, it stepped forth. Towering over even the giants, the demon that had slept for centuries stared down at the only one that had managed to hold their ground.

"Even with dimensions separating us, I heard the dying cries of my former master Argosax echo within the depth of my being. A death that was destined to happen by my hands."

"A death that you robbed from me. Don't bother denying it, though the blood has long since washed away, I can smell it on your blade, the demonic taint laying within its steel."

As if it were possible, the heat became even more unbearable as the demon let its anger be known.

"But I, the mighty Balrog, am nothing if not honorable."

The flames receded to more manageable levels. Though the details of Balrog's form were still hidden from view, Dante could see that the ancient devil was humanoid in shape.

"Prove to be a worthy foe, and I will spare the rest. You'll find my terms more than generous."

Rather than answer, Dante twirled his sword. The gust of wind created from such a simple action proved powerful enough to extinguish the flames closest to his crewmates, sparing them from the worst of the sweltering heat.

"You demons sure love to talk. Must be genetic or something." Holding Rebellion in one hand he beckoned the devil with the other.

"Lets rock!"

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-End-

Zrocker119: And this is the point in where things begin to deviate...at a little...for now. Shit goes down next chapter, so until I have it out please review! Till next time!