One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
All OCs belong to me.

-Chapter One-

Our story begins on a relatively normal day; the sun was shining brightly up in the sky as not a cloud could be seen. The young heroine of this story had led such a simple life, one that any normal teenager of her age would expect to live. With her over the top appearance from her red hair dyed a brighter color than normal, to her few piercings and tattoos she had the luxury of getting from certain family members. This young heroine's name is Scarlet. Scarlet had led a somewhat normal life, despite her bright appearance and spunky attitude she always tried to keep more to herself.

Sure, there have been a few fights here and there, but it was only natural for someone with a rash decision-making attitude like hers to experience such things. Though she never expected her life to turn upside down so quickly as it did. One minute she's discussing her plans for after-school activities with her friends and the next the world was in shambles. She didn't understand how it all even started, only from the rumors that flew around on the days leading up to the mess. It all just felt so surreal to her.

They say it had started when one person had caught sight of something strange, a creature that appeared as if it wasn't human or animal. Though it had the shape of a human—a human male to be exact—but was taller, thinner, and had such a sinister atmosphere to it. One would have mistaken it for a shadow as its whole existences looked like nothing but a black hole. Which allowed its blood red eyes and sharp teeth to stand out and show it wasn't just a trick of the mind. And it wasn't long after until more of these creatures started popping up left and right.

That's when things started changing drastically. Those in office were thrown out into the streets, confused and dazed at what had happened while all necessary utilities were shut off one by one. Manufacturing had stopped as the stores started growing bare and people started growing desperate. Everything seemed to be breaking at the seams as the country started falling into chaos and others around the world soon followed. People became selfish and greedy, sneering and attacking one another just to have what little they could find.

Burning, stealing, and other acts of violence had spread quickly around the country as people fought one another over large portions of land and supplies. Scarlet didn't expect any of this to happen, she was only sixteen and her only knowledge of situations like this was what she read from pure fictional stories. How could that be of any help to her? Part of her had hoped it all would have blown over…it was a big mistake on her part though. She ended up experiencing many accounts of murders from a woman killing her own child, so she'd have enough food to one of her friend's snapping and killing their parents before turning the gun on themselves.

The reality of the situation started crashing down on her when she painfully experienced her own parents being brutally murdered right in front of her. The deed was done by a family friend that desperately wanted more food. It was also the first time she felt the horror of taking another human's life as she irrationally attacked the man, bashing a metal bat over his head over and over until he stopped moving. She was nothing but a sobbing mess after she came to her senses and was left alone in a house filled with nothing but the dead.

-Two Years Later-

The years to come did not seem to look up as it seemed that everything continued to fall apart, people were still killing, buildings were being destroyed and raided to the point that this was becoming the norm. Scarlet had barricaded herself in her own desolated home, only venturing out when necessary. It took her awhile to learn how to defend herself, many of the bruises and scars on her body proved that. Her hair was a mess as all the dye that was once in it was now gone and revealed her naturally light reddish/orange colored hair that was choppy at the end. There had been many times she had taken to cut it herself.

Her appearance itself had looked nothing little but sloppy, clothes ripped and stained by dirt and sweat. Eyes sunken in from lack of sleep and her body appeared underweight enough to be noticeable. The days had passed by quietly, not strange as some of the people that still lurked around didn't feel the need to try and claim her rundown home that was on the verge of collapsing any minute. Even she didn't know why she still stuck around, maybe because it's all she had left. At the current moment, she sat at the kitchen table, debris and scratch marks littered the home as well while a lantern rested close to her, giving the only source of warmth and light.

Her green eyes were illuminated by the light as they stared forward, glazed over and lost in thought as her eyes appeared to be void of emotion. One might have thought they were void of life as well. Her ears soon perked up at the faint sound of a knock coming from the front door. For a minute, she just sat there, staring out towards the direction of the living room where the front door was located before standing as another knock sounded out. She grabbed the handgun that she had found in her father's bedside table drawer. It wasn't the best she had to admit, especially since she was running low on ammo.

Then again, when her father had purchased it, he never expected to use it that often so why bother buying lots of ammo for it? Leaving the lantern, she made her way to the front door and without a hint of hesitance, she pulled it open and pointed the gun at the individual that had knocked. It was a man, he appeared to be in his late twenties almost early thirties, his hands were up in a motion of surrender as his tired blue eyes were wide with fear. "D-don't shoot!" he stuttered out as he peered down at the barrel of the gun. Swallowing thickly when the redhead didn't lower her weapon.

"I-I'm not here to rob you or cause any harm, I-I just wanted to know if you have any f-food to spare. Please, I just recently ran o-out and I have nothing left" the man whimpered, taking a small step back.

"No, now leave, you're on my property" Scarlet mumbled as she let her finger tease the trigger of the gun.

"P-please, you don't understand, just a few months back my wife and I were separated a-and I'm not a fighter! It just isn't in my blood, so I can't just forcefully take what I want. T-this is my only other option!" he pleaded desperately, voice shaking as he continued backing up. "I have no weapons, I-I won't cause you any harm, just h-help me."

"Look" Scarlet sighed, lowering her gun just enough that she would be able to react quickly if the man acted differently from how he was at the moment. "There should be a store two miles from here, with any luck there might be supplies left that you could take, just as long as you don't get caught taking it" she said, mumbling the last part.

"W-what was that last part?"

"I'd get going, you never know when someone else might take all that supplies before you even get there" she said, brushing off the man's question. He nodded his head, turning away from the redhead and started to make his way down the walkway of the house. "But, before you go, I have a bit of advice for you."

"And what would that be?" the man stopped and looked back.

"Don't go knocking on people's door, next time you might not be so lucky to walk away" and with that Scarlet walked back inside, slamming the door shut behind her and leaving the man all alone outside. She walked through the dark house and back into the kitchen, her lips twitching upwards just a little once she spotted the light of the lantern on the table. Ready to let her reveal in its warmth and light. Plopping down onto one of the dining room chairs, she continued to look into the warm glow of the lantern.

The longer she stared the more she felt her throat close up and her vision started to blur. Digging the palm of her hand into one of her eyes, she looked around the empty table, releasing a choked sob at the faded memories of her and her parents having dinner or playing games at this table. "Where did it all go wrong?" she choked out, resting her elbows on the table as she buried her face in her hands.

-Somewhere Else-

The surrounding trees shivered as the ground started to shake, this action seemed to frighten the animals as they scurried around frantically in search of the danger. A loud ripping sound echoing through the air as a swirl of black and green appeared out of nowhere, nine figures spilling out of it and onto the ground. "Ugh, my head" a young ginger-haired woman grunted, rubbing at her skull as she sat up, looking around.

"W-where are we?" a long-nosed man stuttered out, body shaking like a leaf as his head swirled around in all directions. Desperately searching for something familiar, but found nothing but trees that were barely illuminated by the moonlight. "What was that?!" he cried out, turning his head at a neck breaking speed when he heard some nearby bushes rustle.

"It appears we're somewhere in the woods, but the question is, how did we get here?" a raven-haired woman asked, her calming blue eyes studying her surroundings. Before they stopped on a pair of red filled eyes that quickly disappeared as the owner to them darted further into the woods. She raised an eyebrow, before turning her attention back to the others.

"The woods? Weren't we just on the ship a few seconds of ago?" the long-nosed man asked.

"We can worry about that later" the ginger-haired woman butted in. "We need to find a village or at least somewhere safe because I don't feel comfortable staying in these woods for a little while longer. Isn't that right, Luffy?" she shivered as all she got in response was silence. "Luffy?"

"Ah! Help, I'm stuck! I can't get out!" Luffy's muffled voice cried out as he placed his hands on the ground. Backing up as he desperately tried to pull his head out of the ground. His neck stretching out to the length he was backtracking, looking unnatural and strange. If anyone were to walk by they would have been scared to death at the sight. It wasn't until he was halfway across the small clearing they had landed in did his head finally pop out of the ground. Shooting towards his body and snapping back into place as he stumbled backward before falling onto his ass.

"Whoa! That was amazing!" he laughed as he sat straight up. This only seemed to cause the ginger-haired woman to roll her eyes.

"Let's just get out of here" she grumbled, standing up and dusting off her jeans before she started to walk.

"What's the rush, Nami? It's not like anything's out there that's gonna attack us and even if there were, we would just kick its ass" Luffy smiled as Nami pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Why do you have to be dense about the situation? We're in a strange new place with no idea how we got here. Our best bet is to get somewhere safe and find some people who can explain where we are" Nami explained, walking over to the raven-haired man and grabbing at his cheek as she started to drag him behind her. His cheek stretched as his body was dragged along the ground, while his arms flailed around as he loudly complained. The others silent followed behind the two. All of them following a path through the woods before spilling out onto a cracked, deserted road.

The air was covered in a thick smog that burned at the senses and made the surrounding area look dreary. As they walked down the cracked road, they all started to feel unease at the distant sounds of running and shouting. There also seemed the be the occasional sound of gunfire. A moss haired man stayed near the back of the group, one hand resting on top of the three swords attached to his side. His one functioning eye darted left and right, in search of any danger that might be lurking around.

"This place is so creepy; why did we have to end up here?" the long-nosed man shivered as he clung to the back of a blond-haired man's suit.

"U-Usopp's right, why did we have to end u-up here?" a small reindeer echoed, whimpering as he looked left and right. His senses going crazy as they were more heighten and sensitive than the others. His nose twitched at the stench of the fog and various other unpleasant smells while his ears twitched upon hearing various growls, some close by and others far away.

"Quit your whining, Chopper, Usopp, there's nothing out here but wildlife" the blond said, digging into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Taking one out and putting the others away, he lit it, taking in a long drag before blowing out a cloud of smoke to add to the fog as the group continued walking. Soon the smog lightened up as rows of rundown houses and stores started coming into view. At first, it appeared that there was no sign of life anywhere to be seen in the small town.

"I wonder what happened here to make this place look like such a mess" Nami mumbled as she looked around at the dark outlines of debris and strange machines that were sprawled out on the road. It was too dark to see anything else other than the large outlines of certain objects. The deeper they got into the town the more frighten some of them became before they came to a complete stop. Just a little way up ahead was a broken down two-story home that had the faded light of a lantern coming from one of the lower rooms windows. But, that wasn't the only thing that caught their attention.

In front of the house was a hunched over figure of what appeared to be a man. His body was shaking as the sound of crunching and flesh tearing filled the air. "Oh my, do you think they're alright? They seem to be shaking an awful lot" a tall skeleton said as the group moved forward with caution before stopping a little way away from the figure. At that moment the sounds stopped as the figure straightened out its body, showing that it was the same height as the skeleton. Maybe even taller.

For a minute it didn't move and then with a sudden jerk it twisted its body around causing Nami, Usopp, Chopper and the skeleton to scream. Each one growing pale as they jumped away from the creature before them. Blood stained its shark-like teeth and dripped down its chin, blending perfectly well with its obsidian colored flesh. Eyes wide and completely red, its body continued twitching as a loud screech escaped past its throat.

"S-so loud" Nami groaned as the group covered their ears and made noises of agony. With little time to react the creature got on all fours and shot forward towards them. With its claws outstretched it lunged at Luffy, but before it could touch him though, a loud "bang" sounded out and the creature was blown to the side.

"Take that, fucker" a new voice sneered out as the creature stood back up. Hissing before it scurried off.

A/N: Enjoy

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