The stench hit Lysandra like a physical blow as she shoved through the mangled doorway – rotting meat, chemical bile, and the sickly-sweet tang of corrupted sugar syrup. Her boots squelched in viscous puddles that reflected the sputtering emergency strips overhead. Before her lay a corridor transformed into a charnel house. Twisted forms, the failed experiments of Sigma-Null, lay in grotesque heaps. Some were frozen solid, shattered like ice sculptures by Marya's spectral reapers; others were liquefied messes dissolving into the yellow-tinged sludge covering the floor. Severed limbs, some ending in bone drills or stingers, protruded at unnatural angles. The air hummed with the fading crackle of residual energy and the wet drip… drip… drip of thawing fluids.
"Whoa," Proto-Mono breathed, her violet eye-sensor flickering rapidly as she cartwheeled to a halt beside Lysandra. "Ugly statues all broken! Glitchy fixy?"
Jelly wobbled violently beside them, letting out a low, shaky "Bllloooop?" His translucent blue form shimmered with distress as he took in the carnage.
Lysandra, however, grinned, a feral flash of teeth in the gloom. "Not statues, Glitchy. Consequences." She scanned the devastation with a scientist's eye, noting the precision of the frozen shatters and the sheer, annihilating force of the dissolved matter. "Stabby friend indeed, Jelly," she murmured, her voice tight with a mix of awe and grim satisfaction. "Stabby friend did good."
Her head snapped up as a distorted voice crackled from a miraculously intact speaker grille embedded in the ceiling.
"...signal degrading. Rayleigh, do you copy? Systems are intermittent. I don't have eyes on your position. Report status." Sentomaru's voice was strained, laced with static.
Rayleigh's calm rumble answered almost immediately, echoing slightly from further down the ruined corridor. "Still breathing, Sentomaru. Made some new friends. Unpleasant sort. We're heading towards the source of the tremors. Found the 'big puppy's' kennel."
"Wait!" Lysandra's shout ripped through the corridor, raw and urgent. She broke into a sprint, her mismatched boots splashing through gore and chemicals, the mercury-powered prosthetic whirring faintly. Jelly bounced frantically after her, and Proto-Mono cartwheeled erratically alongside, her oversized coat flapping. "WAIT! You can't just—!"
She skidded to a stop, breathing hard, at the edge of a wider junction. Rayleigh stood framed in the flickering red light, his simple sword held loosely. He turned, his weathered face impassive as he took in the wild-eyed scientist, the wobbling blue jellyfish-man, and the cartwheeling patchwork girl.
"Was that Dr. Lysandra?" Sentomaru's voice crackled again, sharper now.
Lysandra ignored him, gasping for air, her gaze locked on Rayleigh. "You... you did all this?" she rasped, gesturing wildly at the frozen and dissolved horrors surrounding them.
Rayleigh offered a faint, knowing smirk. "Had a little help, Doc." He inclined his head slightly towards the shadows behind him.
Lysandra's gaze followed his motion. Leaning casually against a buckled bulkhead, arms crossed over the Heart Pirates insignia on her leather jacket, was Marya Zaleska. Her golden eyes, calm and observant, regarded Lysandra with detached curiosity. Beside her, Galit Varuna adjusted his cracked glasses, his long neck coiling slightly as he analyzed the newcomers with unnerving speed. Atlas Acuta stood with Stormclaw and Thunderfang resting on his broad shoulders, blue energy flickering around his rust-red fur, a look of impatience warring with confusion on his lynx-like face.
"BLOOP! FRIENDS!" Jelly announced, bouncing enthusiastically beside Proto-Mono, who had stopped mid-cartwheel and was now peering at Marya with wide, mismatched eyes. "Papa Punk! Adventure!"
Atlas snorted, sparks dancing on his fur. "There you are, ya blue wobble! Went an' wandered off!"
Jelly bobbed happily. "Found more friends! Shiny Doc! Glitter Friend!"
Marya uncrossed her arms, pushing off the wall. Her gaze shifted from Lysandra to Proto-Mono. A flicker of something almost like recognition passed through her usually stoic expression. She cocked her head slightly, a faint, uncharacteristic softening around her eyes as she took in the chaotic, patchwork child. "I think... I know you," Marya said, her voice lower, less guarded than usual. "Karathys. The...."
Lysandra finally caught her breath, straightening up and trying to project authority despite her singed coat and disheveled curls. "Yeah. Karathys," she confirmed, her vibrant green eye locking onto Marya. "You were with your father. Mihawk. I'm… a friend of your mother's. Elisabeta."
Marya's gaze snapped back to Lysandra, the fleeting softness vanishing, replaced by sharp focus. The air seemed to grow colder. "Oh," she said flatly. "Right. The professor." A ghost of a smirk touched her lips. "Think you called my father a 'colleague'. Among other things."
"Enough!" Sentomaru's voice roared through the speaker, thick with static and frustration. "Reunion's over! Surface readings are critical! That tainted resin is accelerating! We lose containment topside, we lose the whole damn Archipelago! End this NOW!"
Rayleigh's chuckle was a dry rasp. "Well, Doc? You heard the man. We need to—"
"No! Wait!" Lysandra cut him off, stepping forward, her eyes wide with urgency. "I'm coming with you." She pointed a trembling finger down the corridor towards the source of the deep, rhythmic THUMPs shaking the floor. "You go charging in there blind, you're just fancy chum. That thing… Orpheus wasn't just breeding it. He was waking it up. Trying to merge it. You need to know what you're walking into if you're going to challenge it." Her voice dropped to a harsh whisper on the last word, heavy with dread. "Before it decides we're the main course."
The rhythmic THUMPs from the shattered chamber seemed to grow louder, vibrating through the soles of their boots, a monstrous heartbeat echoing through the ruined lab. The dim lights flickered violently, casting long, dancing shadows that made the frozen horrors seem to twitch.
The rhythmic THUMPs intensified, vibrating up through their boots and rattling their teeth. Lysandra led the way, her mismatched boots splashing through viscous puddles reflecting the sputtering red emergency lights. Proto-Mono cartwheeled nervously beside her, her violet eye-sensor flickering wildly. Jelly wobbled close behind, letting out soft "bloops" with each tremor. Rayleigh walked with deceptive calm, Marya a silent shadow at his shoulder, her golden eyes scanning the dripping shadows. Galit moved with coiled grace, Vipera Whips held ready, while Atlas brought up the rear, Stormclaw and Thunderfang crackling with blue energy, a hungry grin splitting his lynx-like muzzle.
"Alright, Doc," Rayleigh said, his voice cutting through the oppressive thrumming. "We're burning moonlight. What is that thing?"
Before Lysandra could answer, the corridor erupted.
A deafening, guttural ROAR tore through the air, shaking loose rust and dust from the ceiling. It wasn't just sound; it was a physical force, a pressure wave that punched the breath from their lungs. The floor bucked violently. Jelly let out a high-pitched "YIPE!" and wobbled violently, morphing his upper body into oversized, floppy hands to clap over where his ears would be. Proto-Mono shrieked, "Scary puppy loud!" and dove behind Lysandra's legs, her mechanical arm whirring as she clamped her organic hand over her hazel eye.
Atlas merely braced himself, his grin widening, blue sparks dancing across his rust-red fur. "Heh! Sounds like it's bringin' the party!"
Galit adjusted his cracked glasses, his long neck whipping towards the source of the roar down the dark corridor. "Define 'it,' Doctor. Tactical assessment requires parameters."
Lysandra shoved a stray, mercury-streaked curl from her face, her vibrant green eye wide. "Right. Time's up. This whole facility," she gestured wildly at the dripping, ruined walls, "was built to study the island's resin. The World Government... they believe it's connected. Not just to Devil Fruits, but to their very origin. Maybe even the Tree itself."
Galit's emerald eyes sharpened. "You seek to replicate the effects? To artificially manufacture power?"
"Not so simple!" Lysandra snapped, her voice strained. "The resin's an ingredient, a catalyst maybe, but not the whole recipe! It's like... like finding flour but not knowing how to bake bread! We were trying to isolate the other elements, understand the process—"
Rayleigh's weathered hand rested lightly on his sword hilt. "And the creatures? The ones frozen and melted back there? Failed attempts?"
Lysandra nodded grimly. "Mostly Zoan types. We'd gotten some grasp on that framework – forcing animal traits onto living tissue. But the Paramecia? Logia?" She shuddered. "That's where things got… messy. Unpredictable. Like trying to bottle chaos." She trailed off, her gaze darting nervously down the corridor as another heavy THUMP echoed.
Marya, who had been silently observing a frozen horror with multiple insectoid legs, turned her head slightly. Her golden eyes, usually so distant, held a flicker of intense focus. "And?" Her voice was low, cutting through Lysandra's hesitation.
Lysandra flinched, meeting Marya's gaze. "And... we found it. Entangled in the roots deep below the mangrove. That's why the lab's buried here. We... woke it up." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "At first, it was... curious. Almost benevolent. A massive, ancient presence."
Rayleigh's calm rumble held an edge. "Until you started poking the bear. Experimenting. Torturing it."
Lysandra didn't deny it. Her shoulders slumped slightly. "Orpheus… he saw a weapon. A key. Not a living thing. By the time they called me in, desperate…" She shook her head, her brass monocle glinting dully. "The thing you saw? That serpent? That's not it. That's… that's a symptom. A physical manifestation of its pain and rage, twisted by the experiments, by the forced merging of our crude attempts with its ancient essence. Orpheus tried to fuse our failed monstrosities with its power. We didn't just wake it… we infected it. And now…"
Another deafening roar ripped through the corridor, closer this time. The walls groaned. Patches of the tainted, amber-colored resin coating the walls pulsed with a sickly inner light, veins of corrupted energy snaking through it like diseased lightning. Frozen chunks of failed experiments nearby trembled, cracks spider-webbing across their surfaces.
Proto-Mono whimpered, peeking out from behind Lysandra. "Bad puppy... hurts..."
Jelly wobbled anxiously. "BLOOP! Scary!"
Atlas cracked his neck, the energy around his chui flaring brighter. "Infected ancient rage-monster? Sounds like my kind of dance!"
Galit adjusted his glasses, his long neck coiling tighter. "Doctor. Clarify. The entity you describe – is it sentient? Does it possess a weakness?"
Lysandra looked towards the source of the growing thunder, her face pale. "Sentient? Oh, yes. And angry. As for weakness..." She gave a shaky, humorless laugh. "Right now, we are." The monstrous heartbeat pounded through the metal beneath them, a drumroll for annihilation.
A hush fell over the corridor, dense with the memory of violence and the tang of spent energy. In the wavering, red-lit gloom, the ragged assembly gathered before the final barrier: a door of reinforced alloy, pitted with scars old and new. The sigil of Sigma-Null, half-melted and spiderwebbed with cracks, glared balefully from its center.
Dr. Lysandra pressed her back against the cold wall, her breath shallow but steadying. Her gloved hand found the comforting shape of her key card, and for a fleeting moment, the world shrank to the trembling pulse in her wrist.
Rayleigh's heavy, scar-laced palm reached out, settling on her shoulder—a warm, grounding presence amid the horror. His gaze, under craggy brows, was unreadable, but his words were gentle iron. "Why don't you stay out here, Doc? You will only be a liability."
The edge of Lysandra's protest—sharp as a scalpel—died on her lips, and instead, she nodded. "I… I understand. I'll monitor from the console." Her fingers closed around the card, knuckles paling, but her eyes were clear. She stepped aside, pressing herself to the wall, the flicker of emergency lights limning her silhouette with anxious gold.
Proto-Mono performed a nervous cartwheel, coat tails fluttering like signal flags. Jelly, quivering with anticipation, bounced protectively near Lysandra, emitting a muted, comforting "Blllloop!"
Lysandra inhaled deeply. The key card's edge pressed into her thumb as she approached the sealed door. For one electric second, the world stilled—her fears, her fury, the ghosts of the creations swirling in the chemical air. Then, with a determined flick of her wrist, she swiped the card.
A pause. The mechanism considered her credentials. Then—hiss—the seal broke, the lock's red rune flashing green as the doors slid apart with a grinding groan.
Light—silver-cold and merciless—spilled from within, illuminating them in stark, shifting shadows. Towering ceilings arched overhead, lost in webs of ductwork and chains. The vast chamber waited, cyclopean and silent, the lair of whatever Sigma-Null had left for them.
Atlas, his frame crackling with kinetic anticipation, shouldered past the threshold, a grin splitting his jaw. "Let's do this," he called, voice booming with bravado. Behind him, Marya's feet barely made a sound, her eyes wary and bright.
Rayleigh, last to enter, cast a final glance over his shoulder, his gaze meeting Lysandra's. "Don't worry, Doc," he rumbled, the ghost of a smile softening his weathered features, "we'll have this handled in just a little bit."
The doors yawned wider, swallowing the team one by one. Alone in the corridor, Lysandra exhaled—half-prayer, half-promise—and turned to the console, fingers poised above the trembling keys. The screen flickered to life, data cascading across its surface, and Dr. Lysandra, scientist and survivor, prepared to bear witness to whatever wonders—or horrors—awaited within.
The reinforced door hissed shut behind them, sealing Lysandra and Proto-Mono outside. The chamber was a cavernous maw of shadow and cold steel, dwarfing even the ruined corridors. Towering support pillars vanished into darkness high above, where sparse emergency lights cast feeble, swaying circles on the floor. The air hung thick with the stench of stagnant brine, corrosive venom, and something older – like wet stone from a drowned tomb. The rhythmic THUMPs were deafening here, vibrating up through their soles and into their bones.
"Just how big is this thing?" Galit murmured, craning his long neck upwards, his emerald eyes darting across the unseen ceiling. His Vipera Whips coiled like nervous serpents in his grip.
Marya adjusted her stance, the Heart Pirates insignia stark on her leather jacket. Eternal Eclipse felt heavy and cold in her hand, its obsidian blade seeming to drink the dim light. "We're about to find out," she stated, her voice flat, golden eyes scanning the impenetrable gloom at the chamber's far end.
"Here it comes," Rayleigh announced, his voice a calm counterpoint to the thunderous heartbeat. He stood relaxed, his simple sword held loosely, yet radiating an aura of absolute readiness.
The shadows rippled. Then, they exploded.
The yellow serpent surged forward with terrifying speed, its segmented bulk like a runaway island chain. Diseased-mustard scales, each larger than a shield, scraped against the metal floor with a sound like grinding boulders. Its circular beak of overlapping, razor-sharp plates gnashed open, unleashing a guttural roar that shook dust from the ceiling and forced Jelly into a wobbling crouch. Dozens of whip-like tentacles, tipped with dripping stingers, lashed the air like angry scourges. Its glowing yellow eyes fixed on them – ancient, alien, and filled with a rage that felt older than the Red Line.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Atlas bellowed, not in fear, but exhilaration. Blue energy exploded around Stormclaw and Thunderfang as he leapt, not away, but towards the charging monstrosity. He met its descending beak head-on with a thunderous CRACK! that sent visible shockwaves rippling through the air. The serpent recoiled minutely, a chip flying from one metallic plate. Atlas landed in a crouch, skidding back several yards, a feral grin splitting his muzzle. "Tough hide, ugly! Atlas likes a challenge!"
Galit was already moving. His long neck whipped, Vipera Whips hissing through the air. They didn't strike the scales; instead, they snaked around the thick base of two flailing tentacles. "Redirecting momentum!" he called out, bracing himself. The whips went taut as the tentacles thrashed, using the creature's own strength to yank it slightly off-balance. "Atlas! Left flank, third segment! Structural weakness probability: high!"
"On it, Spaghetti Neck!" Atlas roared, blurring into motion. He zig-zagged beneath a sweeping tentacle, Stormclaw crackling as he aimed for the joint Galit indicated.
CRUNCH! The seastone-core mace connected. A sickening crack echoed, and a spray of viscous, dark fluid erupted. The serpent shrieked, a sound like tearing metal. It whipped its massive tail around, aiming to crush Atlas against a pillar.
Rayleigh moved faster than sight. One moment he was beside Marya; the next, he was in front of the swinging tail. He didn't swing his sword. He simply placed the flat of the blade against the oncoming mountain of scale and muscle.
BOOOOM!
The impact sounded like a warship hitting a cliff. The air itself seemed to shatter. Rayleigh's boots didn't slide an inch, but the ground beneath him cratered. The serpent's tail stopped dead, trembling violently from the transferred force. A visible wave of pure, crushing will – Conqueror's Haki – pulsed outwards from Rayleigh, making the very dust particles in the air vibrate. The serpent's glowing eyes widened fractionally, a flicker of something akin to primal fear breaking through its rage.
"Stay focused," Rayleigh said, his voice deceptively mild, though a faint sheen of sweat glistened on his brow. "It's smarter than it looks."
Marya blurred past him, Eternal Eclipse a streak of darkness. "Looking a little flushed there, Gramps," she called back, a rare, sharp smirk touching her lips. "Out of breath already?" She aimed not for the main body, but for one of the eyes. The blade sang through the air, aimed with lethal grace.
Rayleigh chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. "Just saving my wind for when you youngsters inevitably need bailing out, girl!" He lunged forward, his sword a silver flash aimed at the serpent's gaping maw as it recovered from the tail-strike.
The serpent was learning. It jerked its head back, avoiding Marya's thrust, and exhaled a cloud of corrosive, yellow vapor directly at Rayleigh. The Dark King merely pivoted, the cloud parting around him as if repelled by an invisible shield – another subtle pulse of Haki. He drove his sword point-first into the softer tissue beneath the creature's jaw.
SCREEEECH! The serpent bucked violently, throwing its head back. Jelly, who had been wobbling nervously near a pillar, saw his chance. "BLOOP! JELLY JAIL!" He launched himself, morphing mid-air into a giant, sticky blue net that splattered over the creature's face, engulfing its eyes and beak.
The effect was immediate and chaotic. Blinded and disoriented, the serpent thrashed wildly, its tentacles flailing indiscriminately, smashing into pillars and tearing gouges in the reinforced floor. One stinger-laden limb whipped towards Galit.
"Predictable!" Galit hissed. He didn't dodge. He stepped into the blow, his long neck coiling like a spring. At the last microsecond, he twisted, his Vipera Whip lashing out not to block, but to guide the stinger past him, embedding it deep into the floor beside him with a resounding THUNK. He used the whip to vault onto the trapped limb. "Atlas! The net! Amplify!"
"Gotcha, Noodle Neck!" Atlas was already there, leaping high. Thunderfang crackled with blue fury. He didn't hit the serpent; he slammed the chui down onto Jelly's sticky net, channeling a massive surge of Electro through it.
ZZZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!
Blue lightning exploded across the serpent's face, arcing over its scales. It convulsed, a gurgling, choked scream tearing from its covered beak. The smell of burnt chitin and something sickly sweet filled the air.
Enraged beyond measure, the creature gathered its colossal strength. It bucked violently, throwing Atlas and Galit clear. It scraped its face frantically against the floor, tearing Jelly's net apart with a sickening rrrriiiip. Free of the obstruction, its glowing eyes, now bloodshot and maddened, locked onto them. But instead of charging again, it let out a furious, guttural hiss and began to slither backwards with startling speed, melting into the deep shadows at the far end of the cavernous chamber. The rhythmic THUMPs faded, replaced by an unsettling, wet slithering sound retreating into the darkness.
Silence descended, broken only by the heavy breathing of the fighters, the crackle of residual energy around Atlas's chui, and Jelly reforming himself with a series of shaky "Bloop... bloop..." sounds.
Rayleigh lowered his sword, watching the shadows where the serpent vanished. "Tough customer," he remarked, wiping his brow. "And smart. It'll be waiting."
Galit adjusted his cracked glasses, peering into the gloom. "Retreat indicates strategic reassessment. Next encounter will involve environmental exploitation. Probability: 87%."
Atlas slammed Stormclaw and Thunderfang together, sending sparks flying. "Let it come! Atlas ain't done smashin'!"
Marya flicked a speck of dark fluid from Eternal Eclipse's blade, her golden eyes narrowed thoughtfully on the retreating darkness. The smirk was gone, replaced by her usual guarded calm. The real fight, she knew, had only just begun. The drumbeat of annihilation still echoed in the metal beneath their feet.