Right, I decided to start yet another fanfiction for one reason and one reason only. I needed to have an even five. Don't worry about the others, they will be updated the moment I get an ounce of motivation for them- they are not abandoned. However, I wanted to start this to make five fics. Along with that, I have been into One Piece a lot recently, so I decided I'd write one, and I had a good idea for a Devil Fruit...I looked it up and its already been used, but I'm still going to use it- so credit to whomever thought of it first but I'm still using it.

Also, I wanted to have a story with an OC as a main character for once- somewhat of a blank slate to write upon :D

Chapter One: I Want to Be A Shichibukai!

Shark made his way back from school slowly and tiredly. He'd spent all day learning boring things, which whilst he understood that they were applicable in a normal life, didn't apply to him. He was going to be a pirate- and not just any pirate, one of the best! Who cared if he couldn't do algebra...it's not as if you need it to steer a boat straight is it?

Before we continue, I just would like to note that Shark wasn't his real name. No, his real name was Toby Jobbs. But that was a ridiculous name for a pirate, and he always thought that sharks were cool, so there you go- what other reason could he need for changing his name?

But if there was one thing worth heading straight home for, and not to the park it was this. Today was his 15th birthday, and he was almost shivering in anticipation. In the Jobbs household, it was tradition for every 'man of the house' to get given a devil fruit on their 15th birthday, in order to protect them from bandits and outlaws. He had seen pictures of his fruit, and even once saw the mahogany polished box it was being kept in. It wasn't well known, but Sharks family had a large orchard out back, and 15 of the trees grew devil fruits once every 60 years, cycling so that one was always in bloom. It was because of this that they had never been robbed despite living in a coastal town, where pirates were said to be.

Shark had wanted to be a pirate since he was twelve, and read the stories of Whitebeards adventures and the epic fights between Yonkou and Shichibukai. It was then that he made his decision. He was going to be a pirate- and not just any pirate, he was going to make Shichibukai, the world would respect him and he would be the strongest pirate out there. You see, on the outside Shark made it out that he wanted to do this to keep everyone safe and rule through peace- but in reality, it was a very different matter. He wanted to take over for one reason- power. He pretended to be all nice on the outside, he pretended to be friendly, but in reality he only did this to guarantee his acquiring of a devil fruit. After that, he was going to flee, become a pirate and eventually, rule all. It was only a matter of time, he knew.

After 20 more minutes of mindlessly trudging forward, he almost walked directly into his front door. Twisting the handle, he stepped inside and saw his family stood around a table, a polished box in the centre.

'Yes!' he thought. 'I'm definately getting a Devil Fruit now!''

Stepping forward slowly, so as not to appear to eager, he stood in front of his family, awaiting his mothers speech which he had been informed was coming. She cleared her throat, and pulled the box into her side of the table. ''Okay Toby,'' she began, using his name which he so despised. ''As you know, today is a very special day. Every time the eldest son of the family turns 15, we give out our one bloomed Devil Fruit, in order to preserve our families safety and security amongst all of us who live here. Now, I have something important to tell you. Recently, a new, Devil Fruit bearing tree has flowered. As a result, we have two this time around- you can either choose to eat the one we were going to give you, or this new one. However, we don't know what it will do. Please make your choice.''

Shark thought to himself for a short while. Whilst it was possible that this new fruit could be incredibly powerful and useful, there was also the possibility that it could be something ridiculous like the Gomu Gomu no Mi he had heard such a lot about. Sure, it had proved to be useful, but it was stupid and wouldn't help in his plans for world dominition.

But this new one could be powerful, and it could even be exactly what he needed. Something strong, something fast, something clever and unexpected- just what he needs.

''I'll try the new one. We need to make sure it's safe for future generations, and I'm willing to be the guinea pig.'' he said, using what he thought was a clever ruse to cover up his true inspiration for the new fruit.

As the box was opened, he saw a second draw underneath it This lid was then opened, and underneath was a deep red fruit, roughly the size and shape of an apple but a rich red covered in darker red splotches. The stem was forked, and it looked delicious- even though he knew it wouldn't be...he'd been told how disgusting Devil Fruits were supposed to taste, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Picking the red fruit up from the box, and drawing it closer to his face, he inspected it briefly.

It was shiny enough to reflect his face clearly in it, and it was obviously foul tasting- a small amount of juice had sapped into his hand, and it even felt nasty. Raising it to his lips, he took a deep breath and made his first bite into the fruit.

The effects were immediate. A taste of iron and salt took over his senses and assailed his mouth and nose, and the tang even shorted out his vision for a second. He retched slightly, and coughed a little but managed to keep the bite of fruit down. He continued in this sense, gradually reacting less to the fruit with each additional bite he took, and by the end he was munching on it as if it were a regular apple. After the first two bites, it kept getting blander and blander, until it was virtually tasteless.

His family watched in horror as his skin began to turn a bright red all over, and then starting at his left hand, it began to drip a dark red fluid. It spread up his arm, until his entire left arm was sopping wet, covered in red and dripping everywhere. Eventually, even the muscle below it turn to liquid and fell off- the bone quickly following suit. It spread from both arms now, melting his entire body until it took over his face. He felt no pain- in fact, he felt nothing at all until it got to his chest and he realised that it was tingling from his heart, as if it was forced into mass production overdrive mode. It took only a few minutes before his entire being was a thick, red puddle lying on the ground in front of his family members. It took almost double that time before he managed to realise what was going on, and reform himself into a human with great concentration.

''Mother..it appears I got a Logia...'' he said, speaking hesitantly. It was no lie that their family kept their Devil Fruits quiet, or else everyone and their mother would want one, and that simply wasn't something they could afford or even want to do. It was due to this that they never used their powers in public. A point of note was however, that all except one of their trees grew Paramecia fruit, and the other grew a range of Zoan- so to finally have a tree which would sporadically grow a Logia was a massive improvement to their family.

''It appears you have, Toby. I'm so proud of you.'' she said, eyes brimming with happiness- this development would bring a new reign of safety over their household.

''Indeed, I'm rather pleased at this development.'' he said, speech patterns rearranging themselves- there was no need to pose as innocent and kindly now that he had the Devil Fruit he had so eagerly awaited. The best type of Devil Fruit nonetheless. ''And with this, I shall take my leave.'' he said, turning, and walking towards the door.

''What are you talking about Toby? Leave?'' his mother and father said in quick succession, nearly overlapping each others speech.

''I mean exactly what I said- do I appear to look stupid? I'm capable of forming sentences. Remember back when I wanted to be a pirate? I had pretended that the phase had passed, in order to get you all off of my back, but in reality, it never changed. I'm leaving here and this stupid town as soon as possible, to become the most powerful pirate to ever roam the seas, and there is no way any of you can stop me, even with your Devil Fruit- Dad. Mine is Logia, and therefore superior. I'm going to port, taking our family ship and leaving. It may be a small vessel, but it will suit my purposes for now. You're all fools, you provided me with a possible Logia as a test, and now you have given me the tool I needed to leave you all behind.'' and with that, Shark marched out of the door, slamming it behind him and leaving his mother to break down in tears.

=== BREAK ===

It only took him a few minutes to reach port, and he was pleased to see that none of his family had followed him- presumable still weeping over their 'lost and misguided son' as they had called him when he first announced his dream of becoming a powerful Pirate Captain. They had claimed it was a silly ambition fit for only liars, traitors and scoundrels. Well they were probably right- he just betrayed them right there and he wasn't even a proper pirate yet. His ship was small, only fit for a few people at a time at best, and he was a long way off from mastering his devil fruit- he still had to form a concious effort on preventing himself from randomly melting away. He had already needed to resolidify his pinky finger on his left hand twice, it seemed to be the trickiest part to get right.

He reached port and checked his supplies on the boat, and realising that he needed more supplies, immediately headed to the nearest market. Using his Logia powers, he survived getting shot in the head twice in his theft of a large amount of salted/cured meat and vegetables, and had only recieved a large wound (still healing) from an unexpected knife blow to the back of his head whilst he chose which type of onion to get. He figured that pirates were thieves, and with all things, piracy starts at home. He managed to avoid being majorly hurt and took off from the shore quickly. He was all too aware of the dangers of falling into the ocean for a Devil Fruit user like him, and so was careful to move as fast as he could without splashing himself of his clothes- anything could later hinder his escape.

His compass was mediocre, as were all the compasses on the fishing vessels not made to leave far from the port, but he didn't care. It was sturdy, it floated, and it would get him to the next big island with no problem. It was an island notorious for holding hundreds of wannabe pirates, and he was hoping to begin building a crew from stratch there. If he managed to recruit enough people in his short time available, as he was planning on spending two or three months only there, he would steal a larger boat, cause some large amount of damage in order to procure a decent starting bounty (something he was confident in doing as he would spend the three months also training in his newly dubbed, Chi Chi no Mi) and set off on the high seas. He had no delusions of finding the famed One Piece or becoming pirate king, but he knew the Grand Line would be where he found fame and began on his path to become a Shichibukai.

He was aware that the Shichibukai were allied with the World Government, but he also knew that it was in a pirates nature to lie and decieve those in positions of high authority. He knew Shichibukai was a titled which gave fame, glory and reknown, but he was also aware that like Gecko Moriah or Doflamingo, he wouldn't have to listen to direct orders, or even attend the meetings on schedule like he was supposed to. He knew there was currently a space in the Shichibukai, due to Crocodile having his title revoked, but he would have to act fast if he wanted to steal the position before anyone else did. That was why he had to aquire a decent bounty to start off on, preferable something above 5,000,000 beli, although he knew it was unlikely. Shichibukai however, such as Gecko Moriah and Doflamingo were infamous for their exceptional bounties in excess of 300,000,000 beli, which was enough for any large group of people to live an entire lifetime without a problem in terms of both necessities and luxury.

With his plan set out, and his knowledge well organised, he prepared for the long, lonesome sail across the pond to the nearest pirate island.

So guys, hope you liked it. I geniunely don't know that much about One Piece despite having watched it, so I'm frantically trying to plug gaps in my knowledge, so if anyone spots a problem just point it out and I'll edit it to better reflect the reality of the situation. Either way, please review and tell me what you think so far.