South Blue.

Desert Reef.

Desert Reef, the island where Darcy had lived for all of his life, was much like the desert country of Alabarna, in terms of climate. The island is a crescent shape, and the entire inner region is desert, with only a couple of the hardiest plants managing to survive. On the coast, however, there is lush plant-life, and is the only island in the world where gumtrees, banksia bushes and other strange plants grow. It is also the only island where there is a relative abundance of Zoan Devil Fruits. And it is here, just on a trade route to the port city of Red Cove, that two men are talking about dark deeds.

"Come off it mate, it's not worth it!" Fellow swagman and friend, Bullock, tried to reason with his wayward friend since they were kids. His friend, Darcy Ayer, scowled at him. Both of them were on the road to Red Cove, and were arguing about his current idea.

Darcy was around six feet tall, and built well, especially around his lower body. His prematurely grey hair and skinny body often caused those people who looked at him to nickname him, "Human Kangaroo." His steel grey eyes often laughed with the best of them, but there was often a bar fight soon after that followed. He was wearing a scruffy and many-pocketed long coat with no sleeves, coloured a drab greyish white, along with a silver-coloured pair of pants that ended just below the knees. His feet were covered in a pair of steel-tipped brown boots; though it was hard to tell what colour it was underneath the red dust of the outback. His chest was bare, and his skin was quite tanned, which clashed interestingly with his hair colour. His ever-present white bucket hat shaded his eyes in the intense sunlight of the island.

Bullock, like his name, was huge, around 10 feet tall, and extremely heavily built. His square face and docile brown eyes made him look like a simpleton, and he kind of was. But he was a decent soul at heart, even if people didn't see it that often, and he was extremely practical. He wore a T-shirt with the word 'LUCKY' on it, as well as a pair of long trousers and heavy boots. A tattoo of a heart with 'MOM' on it was emblazoned on his left hand. A flintlock rifle was slung over his shoulder on a brown leather strap. His black hair was arranged into a scruffy mop down to his waist. His swag, along with Darcy's, was on the ground as they argued.

"What's not worth it? Some rich pom's coming through here and we're gonna mug him! Too easy, Bullock! Money, and quick, which is what we need with 'Tinhead' Ned after us to pay our debts." Bullock shook his head.

"It's still not right! Think about our morals!"
"The guy's got loads of moolah, it won't be any skin off his back!"

"Well, I'm not taking part in this, then." Bullock sat down and folded his arms.

"Come on, mate!" But Bullock was having none of it. Finally, Darcy just gave up.

"Fine, I'll do it myself."
"Hey! You can't do that, you'll be killed!"
"Well, you gonna help me?" Bullock looked at him.

"I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?"
"Sorry, but it's either rob the pom, or Tinhead kills us. Do you wanna live?"
"We could just leave the island. Tinhead's a bushranger, and he doesn't know how to sail a ship."
"Neither do we."
"Yeah, you do! You're one of the best navigators I know!" Darcy nodded.

"True. However…" The sound of a horse-drawn cart drew nearer.

"We don't have a boat." With that, the impromptu bushrangers reluctantly sprang into action.

Lord Sydney, one of the nobles of Desert Reef, looked at the surprisingly ugly outback. Really, this wasn't civilised at all. The trees were ugly, dropping their bark however you pleased, and the dry scrub looked like it could shred even leather trousers, if you were mad enough to wear such things in the desert heat. His garden at home grew civilised and beautiful trees, and pretty flowers. As he turned away, a loud voice sounded.

"KANGA BLOW!" Suddenly, his hansom coach tipped on its side, as something extremely powerful struck the side, tipping it off balance. As he wondered what could have possibly done such an incredible blow, his bodyguard, Quill sprang into action, drawing one of the many short swords worn on his back that had gotten him such a name. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Quill cried out in pain and anger as a rifle bullet hit him square in the knee, crippling him. Finally, a young man wearing a bucket hat walked over to the window.

"This is a hold-up, you bloody pom."

The pom in front of him had a pasty complexion, probably from staying indoors all the damn time. He had such a weak chin that it would be amusing to see him in a boxing match- not that he enjoyed any boxing apart from kickboxing. His white hair was arranged into what looked like waves on his head, and his eyes were wide open with terror.

"P-P-P-"
"Well, what is it?"
"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" He shook his head at that.

"I don't want to kill you, I just want your money." The pom looked up, snot dribbling out of his nose.

"But I don't have any money on me." He looked around at the coach.

"Don't try that on me, you've gotta have tons of moolah if you've got a hansom, so cough up!" The pom just shook his head.

"W-Well, I s-spent all my on-hand money on a rare treasure. Here, I'll show you." The pom reached underneath his seat and pulled out a small box. He opened the lid and showed it to him.

The 'rare' treasure inside was what looked like a large cluster of small, bright green berries. Each of them had a swirling pattern, and the stem curled unusually. Pretty, but not exactly valuable.

"Is this it? You got ripped off big time, you bloody pom!" He snatched up the tiny fruit and looked at it.

"N-No, you don't understand! That's a rare Devil Fruit!"
"Devil Fruit? You mean like the legends say?" Darcy scoffed at that.

"It's a Marsupial Zoan- an extremely rare Devil Fruit that only originates from this island. It has a market value of 200 million Beli." Darcy's eyes bugged out.
"TWO HUNDRED MILLION!"

"Yes, approximately."
"Well, I'm sorry, but this isn't gonna help us. You see, Tinhead Ned is after us to pay off some gambling debts, and a little fruit like this isn't gonna help us out much. Besides, Devil Fruits are a legend. You really got conned, pom." So saying this, he plucked the tiny fruits off the stem and threw them in his mouth, chewing them slightly. The foul taste caused him to instinctively spit out some of them, but the majority slid down his throat. He gagged, trying to get them to come up.

"W-what is this, poison?" He grabbed the pom by the collar.

"No, it's a Devil Fruit- the Bukuro Bukuro no mi-Model: Red Kangaroo. You have just gained the ability to turn into a kangaroo."
"Come off it ya bloody pom! I didn't eat all of it!"
"You only need to eat one part." Darcy's eyes, again, bugged out.

"You-you-"

"Well, young man, you're stuck with it now."
"Well, how do I get rid of it then?!"
"You have to die to get rid of your power." Darcy briefly considered strangling the pom, but thought better of it. He moodily kicked a pebble, and only got a small sense of satisfaction when it smashed through a tree like a bullet.

"Well, great. I don't even know how this is supposed to work, and now Tinhead's gonna cook us for breakfast."
Bullock poked his head out of the trees.

"I told you this was a bad idea from the start. Didn't I?"
"AW, SHUT UP!"

Authors note:
OC captain in the makings over here. Desert Reef is based off Australia. See what else you can pick up.

Reviews are loved.