I've been reading One Piece Luffy met Buggy for the first time and since then I've always been fascinated by the way devil fruit works. So this story is basically about my OC, a DF user, who's trying to find out about his ability while at the same time trying to go about his life.

His full utilization of DF is going to be ignored until farther in the story

I do not own One Piece

Prologue part 1

12 years ago

NEW WORLD, below the deck of a Marine battleship stood Marine officers and lackeys alike who were gathering around a table with a detailed Grand Line map sprawled on it, the dank environment of the crowded room seemed to not bother them much. No, they had no time to worry about it because in a matter of minutes their foe would have caught up with them and when they did everything wouldn't have mattered for them anymore. The few surviving Marine officers were intensely studying the map and exchanging information via their mini denden mushi with other ships. while the other listened intently to the ship's navigator quick explanation about the route out of this doomed island their ships were currently anchored in. The navigator wiped a little sweat off his forehead, on an ordinary day he'd just tell them to follow the log pose, in an ordinary day they'd all be laughing, boasting about their 'kills' and having a feast at the canteen after another long and hard day at work saving islands from Pirate attacks. But today was not an ordinary for them, and nothing could have prepared them for this hard reality. Today was the day the entire force of the World Government had admitted defeat to the greatest killing machine in the whole planet. The Golden Lion Pirates.

"From here the only choice we have is to cross the Calm Belt into the North Blue, approximately 5 days sailing, it's the safest route that I could think of" despite the darkness of the room some people could be seen frowning and some explicitly scoffed at the idea.

"You've got to be crazy to cross the Calm Belt! We'll be crushed and eaten by the sea kings!" a skinny officer whose face resembles that of a rat protested.

"There must be another route!" one Marine said, the speaker was well hidden behind the shadows of his hood.

The room was getting irritatingly louder and louder with their "better" ideas before the navigator has had enough and slammed his fist onto the table, cracking the table and launching a candle cup nearby into the air, a Marine caught the candle cup it just in time before it burned the whole map.

"Look at this! This is the last log pose we have!" The originally 3 needled log pose now only have 2 needles, the spot where the third needle was supposed to be in was missing.

One needle was shaking violently up and down, it points to the desert island in which their ship currently docked at while the other needle was spinning wildly about. Any sailor who's sailed all their lives in this part of the sea whould have known very well what that means. It was one of the sailors' worst nightmares and many unexperienced sailors have undoubtedly fallen prey to it.

"It wasn't like that before…" an ensign who was the lowest rank possible in the Marine battleship said, with shaking voice, obviously the young officer were too scared out of his wits that he couldn't comprehend what the spinning needle translates to.

"This spinning needle folks...indicates that island's magnetic wave is very abnormal, it's one of those few islands that's very difficult to find, one day it's normal and then before you even know it, it starts to spin like crazy, who knows when and how long the magnetic wave will go back to normal again! It could take minutes it could take months or years! So tell me does this sound like a better route to any of you?" the navigator looked around the spectators' faces. He didn't want to get them all even more demoralized but he had no choice.

"We have no choice but to cross to North Blue, we'll just have to follow the north star, it is our only chance of ever getting out of here" the navigator said.

"What…what about the sea kings?"

Everyone went silent, even those who were earlier too busy talking to the denden mushi, everybody knows there was no easy answer to that. They didn't know though how hard it was for him to tell them this. To tell them that the best solution is sometimes still worse than death itself.

People started to disperse, some went upstairs, some went back to their posts and some continued with their denden mushi with protests spewing from the other end of the line.

Minutes later an ensign came running down to the room, stumbled into buckets and other things in the process and opened his mouth after he took some time catching his breath, arm pointing outward.

"There's a survivor in the desert!"

Now the survivors were well en route to North Blue and so far the weather was the typical Grand Line weather which was usually unpredictable and strange. 1 hour into the journey, the ships have experienced multiple near-miss with icebergs and a couple of rogue waves created by sea monkeys.

"So Lieutenant Hank, whose kid is this?" An old lady, one of the curious passengers onboard asked

"He's my son Leo" He said while stroking the baby's light blond hair, the baby just kept on snoring, oblivious to anything happening around it. She still could see the obvious though as she nodded and smiled at him sympathetically.

"Uhm..sorry..do you know where we're going?"

"Oh you don't know it? We're going to the nearest Marine base, don't worry little one…you'll be safe soon" The lady smiled, then she pulled her blanket up to her nose and turned her back on him.

On the dark and unlit berth, people were huddled together, no hammocks, no ventilation, sub-zero hygiene, he couldn't believe the deck could be filled with this many people…and rats, then, suddenly…the baby stirred and began to whimper, knowing what to expect he tried to rock the baby, cuddle it, sang one of the songs his parents used to sing to him during his childhood and even made some funny faces but to no avail, usually the funny face works but of course he didn't, he probably couldn't see his face, it was pitch black in here!. Maybe the kid misses his mother, can he really felt that? Doesn't he know that I feel the same way too, that I wanted to just curl up in the corner and cry and shout and do anything that could make this suffering a bit easier?

The crying was starting to get louder, and it wasn't his diaper. People started to wake up, obviously annoyed that their, already disturbing sleep was worsened by the baby's cry. One suggests throwing the baby off the ship, if it wasn't for the darkness he would have beaten the bastard to a pulp.

Not wanting to disturb the others any more than they need to, he went to the upper deck to find if anybody was up, maybe the kid was just hungry, he thought. When he went to the upper deck he was dazzled by the moonlight, it was unusually bright, maybe it was because there were no clouds or fog or smoke that usually covers the sky of this part of Grand Line. The sea was unusually calm. But nevertheless, you couldn't ask anything better than this in New World, it felt like he was in North Blue, his homesea, except here's warmer.

"Sir what's wrong with the kid?" the sound from behind him woke him up from his little torpor.

"I think he's hungry, he hasn't eaten anything since this morning" He turned back to see the young and blond ensign which earlier introduced himself as Ensign Ralvos…or was it Rovloo? Anyway the kid ensign looked out of place in this godforsaken ship. He looked like he belongs behind a desk in a lowly Marine post in East Blue with that clean cut and slim figure.

"Well, why don't you go to the canteen? there ought to be some food there, come on I'll show you" he lighted his lantern and he followed the ensign.

"So ensign, are you one of the Marines from the G-5 Marine base? You don't look like one from here" Len asked, he always like to get to know people, especially his potential foes, he believes in the saying 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'

"No Lieutenant Hank I am actually stationed in Enies Lobby" Hah! Just as I've guessed, thought Len.

"Enies Lobby huh? Do you want to be one of them special government agents, what are they called? Chiper pol?" Asked Len, pretending to not know what Cipher pol was when the truth it he's had a few run ins with those 'justice nuts'. His question was greeted by a light laugh from Ravlos. "Maybe, someday…you know Lieutenant…they really have high standards, you have to undergo a real serious training and tests to even be considered as eligible, one step at a time, just by simply fooling around in this part of Grand Line would actually look good on my resume, that is if I survive this"

"Well..you're here right now aren't you? Instead of being one of hundreds of thousands of people who were…you know..left behind…I think it's already a great accomplishment" the ensign just nodded though he was not quite sure if it did much to his already weak spirit "...and please just call me Len, it's what my friends usually call me" he said while rocking the baby back and forth not realizing the baby's been quiet for some time, too preoccupied thinking back about his lover, whom he'd left to die back in the desert. Leo tried to look back at the direction of the island where he left his wife but it was already too far gone.

"Well yeah I guess we're lucky, you're indeed very lucky the doctor managed to save all of your frozen limbs, it would have been really ugly if we had to cut off your legs, thank God for that" speaking of his legs, Len still couldn't move it as flexible as it used to be, He wondered if it was going to be permanent, to which the doctor said if he kept resting and kept it warm it'd function like it was "new"

"Well here's your baby food, just make sure you make it soft enough for it to eat, while I'm going to get my stash of beers, hope nobody's found it, drinking some alcohol always calm me down and you probably need it too" Len just nodded and now in the dark, he started to blindly searching the inside of what seemed to be a crate of fruits, and could faintly make out the shape of a guava which he threw back to the box because it would probably be too hard for the baby to digest. Then he found a jackfruit and a melon, and some weird hairy fruits which he threw back into the box. After taking some time searching for edible fruits his hands found what he's been looking for, grapes. He always liked grapes, it was what his parents fed him when he grew up, in fact his mother planted her own grape trees back then. They always tell him that eating grapes was what made him this big. Standing at 10.9' feet high, he was the biggest guy in his village in North Blue. Of course being big has its pros and cons, the main advantage is that he's naturally stronger but the main problem is, he can be easily spotted, and he's tired to have to bow down every time he walks through doorways and small corridors.

He picked one of the grapes and gently crushed it to bits and pieces and put it on his hand from which he'd feed little Leo with. Well he ate it quite fast and he calmed after gulping the mashed grape, for a normal baby that one little grape would have been enough to overcome its hunger. But not to his, he knew the kid's a monster when he caught him eating a durian single-handedly. Even his so-called 'barbarian' crews wouldn't go near that 'smelly' stuff. Len couldn't help smiling when he remembered that now distant day he once had with his crews as he crushed another grape and fed it to little Leo, hungry too Len took some and ate it but before he could swallow it, he quickly threw it up because it tastes so awful, it was the worst grape he had ever eaten in his life. He worriedly looked at little Leo, expecting for the worst but everything seemed to be alright with little Leo, but he couldn't take chances.

"Sorry it took some time to search for these fine stuffs in the darkness" Ravlos showed up from the darkness only to be greeted by a panicked Len. It wasn't that hard to see with the giant pacing back and forth in the room, cradling the tiny baby and rock it gently. He was clearly someone who wasn't yet used to parenthood.

"What happened?!" Ravlos approached the frantic father hurriedly

"The fruit we ate, I think it has expired!" yelled Len

"What? No way, the box just came out of the ice, I took it out remember? Let me see" Ravlos put his beers away and took a look at the "rotten" grapes, or what was left of it and was certainly appalled at the state of decomposition the grapes was in, he could even faintly make out swirling patterns on it which he dismissed as nothing but shadows.

"Hey I think you're right" Ravlos said, while putting his palm gently on the infant's forehead, checking if the effect has already started. Still normal.

"What are we going to do?" asked Len, while cradling the baby, he looked for any sign of poisoning but the baby was quiet as hell, and also he didn't feel anything wrong with him, maybe it wasn't that rotten yet or the effect would probably set in later?

"Just wait here I'm going to wake the doctor" Ravlos stood up from his kneeling position and disappeared in the corner

Meanwhile Len just cradled the baby, singing musical tunes he still remembered being sung to him when he was a child, he didn't know what to do, he was no doctor, fixing dislocated joint or putting on bandages or using alcohol to disinfect wounds (though the method is quite inaccurate and sloppy) was the closest thing Len has to medical skill. Len wished his wife, Vera was here; she'd know what to do, or maybe let him have his ship's doctor back, which he knew were impossible because they were all dead, his crew, his family, all gone.

Not more than 3 minutes later sounds of footsteps came rumbling through the dark and dank corridor of the ship. The doctor, still in his blood stained lab coat quickly took out his stethoscope to check for any sign of irregularities.

"I can do nothing for now, the baby has not shown any symptoms usually associated with food poisoning…but then again the symptoms could begin hours or even days..so until then I can't give you any meds..." the doctor put the stethoscope around his neck. He then reached for his bag when Len with lightning speed grabbed the doctor's hand, visibly displeased by the answer

"JUST GIVE HIM THE MEDS!" He shouted at the startled doctor

"I cannot, I'm sorry, there are many other injured people who need every single medicine we still have left more than your baby does! I can't risk wasting antibiotics just to find out which one is the right one"

"Hey, look at me, look me straight in the eyes and tell me he's going to be okay, then, I'll believe you" Len said seriously, he didn't care the least bit about the injured people.

The doc paused, eyes locked into each other, the doctor took the time to make up his words before sighing. "I can't guarantee it" The doctor hesitantly said.

"…Tell you what, just give me the thing that he ate and hopefully I could find out whether there was something in it or not, that's the best I can do for now…I can't give him any medications YET" Len thought about it for a second and understood that it was the only choice he has, pushing him further would result in him completely refusing treatment for his son and he under this guise cannot afford the attention he'd cause if he sent the doc flying through the decks.

"Alright" Len handed the doctor the remnants of the 'rotten grapes'

"Yep, this is expired alright" The doctor said, putting the grapes right before his eyes for clear view...weird, the doctor thought, he could almost make out a curious swirling pattern on its surface

"Just keep watch on him, let him rest and maybe his immune system will fight it off" the doctor said as he walked away.

"So I guess we can hold the beers for later then…" Ravlos said only to be met with a glare from Len.

"Listen Ravlos this is not enough…" Len said groggily brushing back and forth the dark tangled mess that was his hair.

"Yeah, I'm sorry that your son is almost definitely poisoned, but the doc's right, it's too soon!"

"What if it's not?"

"Well for now just think about how we're going to survive crossing the frickin' Calm Belt!"

"Calm…"

"BOOMMM!"

Suddenly an explosion and the sound of something hitting and solid surface broke the silence of the night, the ship rocked really hard and soon footsteps could be heard outside the canteen toward the upper deck. Hysterical screams of women and children echoed throughout the ship as they realized what was going on. Their ship was under attack!

"BAMMMM!" Another cannon hit the side of the ship, more screams. The ship then rocked wildly and before they knew it the kitchen utensils were already flying around the room. The candle lights flickered ever so slightly.

"Not good!" shouted Ravlos.

Reviews are always welcome