Luxury hotel penthouse suite.
The air was heavy with a woman's perfume, laced with the lush sweetness of heather in full bloom.
Clothes lay scattered in disarray—her elegant lavender gown torn to ribbons, the snapped diamond necklace strewn across the floor, catching the light like fallen stars.
Click.
A flame flared from the lighter and kissed the end of a freshly tipped cigar.
Tobacco bloomed through the smoke as Darren drew in slowly, his eyes narrowing with satisfaction. The tension drained from him, pore by pore, muscle by muscle, as if his whole body were finally uncoiling.
"What had you so eager today?" he murmured, glancing at the trembling blonde beside him. A smug curve tugged at his mouth.
She was exquisite, skin pale as snow. Her breaths came shallow and quick, cheeks flushed a deep crimson, lips parted as she tried to steady herself.
From Darren's angle, the graceful line of her back was on full display. In the hollow of her lower spine, a black devil tail slipped back beneath her skin and vanished.
Even now, she carried that intoxicating, dangerous allure.
The sight filled Darren with a fierce, almost ridiculous sense of accomplishment—so sharp it nearly eclipsed what he'd felt when Saint Michael, Commander of the Knights of God, finally fell.
"Y-you promised…" Stussy's unfocused eyes slowly gathered themselves again. She heard Darren's infuriating tone and clenched her teeth. "Just once," she spat. "Just once!"
Darren exhaled lazily, shrugged, and smiled. "Don't underestimate your charm, my Queen."
Stussy shot him a murderous glare, then took a long moment to catch her breath. She reached for a black silk nightgown draped nearby, sat up, and slipped it on with effortless elegance.
Darren watched openly, his expression bright with undisguised appreciation.
Some women were simply born with an otherworldly magnetism.
Toki's beauty was like cherry blossoms—brief, dazzling, the kind of splendor that could topple kingdoms in the instant it bloomed.
Gion's allure was like a rose with thorns—haughty, sharp-edged, and all the more irresistible for it.
Stussy was something else entirely.
She had a natural seduction that seeped into the air, yet every so often she revealed a peculiar, almost innocent naïveté. Like a perfectly ripe peach—sweet enough to make you reckless, with just enough tartness to leave you craving more.
"What have you been busy with lately?"
Stussy crossed to the tea table and poured herself a cup of clear tea. She lifted it to her lips, using the rim to hide whatever flickered across her face as she asked.
"Recovering," Darren said casually, taking another drag. "I just took down Saint Michael, the Commander of the Knights of God. Ridiculously strong. Mythical Zoan Awakening. Nearly capsized me."
Stussy's lashes fluttered.
"Your injuries…"
Only then did she let her gaze settle on Darren's bare upper body. Beneath the dense web of scars, there were patches of newly healed flesh—pink, tender, still raw-looking.
"I'm basically fully recovered," Darren said with an easy grin.
Stussy paused.
Silence gathered, heavy and slow.
She stared into the teacup in her hand, the clear surface reflecting the faint crease between her brows.
Darren's eyes shifted, but he didn't press her. He waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
"Actually…"
Stussy's fist tightened, as if she had to force her hand into the decision. Her teeth ground together before the words finally came.
"The reason I came this time… is because the Gorosei gave me a final ultimatum. They ordered me to get information from you at any cost. They're desperate to learn about that new ability you used—what let you defeat Saint Michael… and kill him."
Her voice hardened, then wavered.
"I know what kind of person you are. You don't forget a slight. You don't tolerate betrayal. I'm not asking for forgiveness." She swallowed. "I only hope that if the chance ever comes… you'll rescue Dr. Vegapunk from the World Government's control. Please."
She let it all spill out in one breath—like she couldn't bear to taste it any longer.
When it was done, she seemed to accept whatever awaited her. Her shoulders slackened, and she sank onto the sofa, eyes closing as if quietly bracing for the end.
"Now…" Her voice was almost steady. "You can strike."
Silence.
In the suite, the quiet pressed down so hard Stussy could hear her own heartbeat speeding up, heavier with each passing second.
As the seconds dragged on, restlessness clawed at her. A thin sheen of cold sweat formed at her hairline.
And then—
"My Devil Fruit has awakened," Darren's deep voice said at last, calm and unhurried.
"But unlike most Paramecia awakenings that spread their influence outward, the Magnet-Magnet Fruit works in the opposite direction. It exerts its influence inside the human body."
"By accelerating the magnetic fields within my body, I can unleash strength beyond human limits." His tone sharpened slightly. "I call it Magnetic Field Rotation."
"With Magnetic Field Rotation, I beat the Commander of the Knights of God—this so-called 'Strongest Celestial Dragon'—into a whimpering dog."
Stussy's body jolted.
Her lashes trembled. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
But instead of the lethal Three-Fingered Dragon Claw she'd been waiting for, she saw Darren's face—handsome, infuriating, wearing that same smug grin.
"You shouldn't have hesitated," Darren said lightly. "If you wanted to know something, you could've just asked me."
He winked at her, grin widening. "All that agonizing, dithering, and stammering… you nearly scared me into thinking you were pregnant."
Stussy froze.
The familiar teasing hit her like warmth poured into her chest—foreign, humiliating, and somehow achingly comforting all at once.
"Y-you…" she asked blankly. "You're not going to kill me?"
Darren stepped closer, his smile gentler now. "If you want to protect Vegapunk, you'd better stay alive and protect him yourself."
Stussy's face tightened, confusion twisting through her expression. "You… you're not angry?"
Darren chuckled. "Of course I'm angry. Furious, actually."
"But I'm not angry that you tried to pry information from me." His eyes glinted. "You confessed in the end, didn't you?"
"What really pisses me off is that the one time you actually came to see me… it wasn't because you genuinely wanted to see me."
He pressed a hand to his chest with exaggerated drama, as if his heart had been pierced. "That's cruel, you know."
Before Stussy could even react, Darren pinched her cheek, stood up, shrugged on his coat, and strode toward the door.
Stussy watched his back, and panic suddenly seized her—sharp and immediate, like a hand around her throat.
"…Actually," she blurted, the words escaping before she could stop them, "I really did want to see you too!"
The moment she said it, she realized how foolish it sounded. Heat rushed up her neck and into her cheeks.
And of course—
That infuriating bastard turned around, wearing a teasing grin.
As if to say:
See? You finally admitted it.
To be continued...