Chapter-2:The Nova Unveiled

David woke up at the base wide call of liberty and managed to roll out of his bed at the base's T.P.U. cabin. Like he predicted, Captain Smoker was up in arms since the Strawhats had escaped yesterday with the aid of "The World Revolutionary" Dragon. And when he had wanted to chase them out to sea it turned out that all of their ships were out on deployments, with only his future ship the McCampbell close enough to recall. But the storm that had helped the pirate crew escape had also postponed the McCampbell, so he and Tashigi had been forced to deal with the irate Smoker for the night. Suffice it to say, he would be more than happy to leave the ship's CO and XO to deal with the man today. Quickly dressing, the young seaman made his way towards the mess hoping to meet Tashigi and calm her down from her loss to Zoro.

He found her on the drilling grounds with over a dozen unfortunate marines. Shaking his head slightly as he watched the woman beat down another three, he decided that he'd help her work this out. Patting two petty officers on the shoulder as he passed David stepped into the Master Chief's range and promptly sidestepped a downward slash. Ducking under her follow-up, the seaman punched up towards her blade spinning his fist and arm inwards at the last second, the sword was pushed aside and his spinning fist connected solidly with her diaphragm. The sergeant major coughed and sputtered as she fought to get air back into her lungs.

Back at his starting point, David watched calmly, but internally he was feeling horrible for hurting the woman he had just befriended. However he also knew that this was something Tashigi needed if she was going to move on and continue to grow. She'd hit a wall when she met and then fought against Zoro, if she was going to continue as a swordswoman she would need a drive. Once she had something she could strive for with all her will she could begin to awaken her Haki.

"You can't let your loss to Roronoa effect your emotions so much Sergeant Major," said the young Logia wielder as he moved into his favored Wing Chung stance. "Hold your anger and change it into Drive, then focus that Drive into power."

As the swordswoman charged him, David calmly stepped into her personal range before pivoting to the right while grabbing her left arm with his, placing his right knife hand against the back of her neck, and promptly slamming her into the ground with enough force to instantly clear her head. Tashigi blinked dumbly for a moment before getting up and looking towards her new friend/sparring partner/secret crush and asking, "Okay, what did you just do?"

The Seaman gave her a small, amused smile. "I figured that you, as a talented swordswoman, would understand the nature and importance of subtlety. Particularly as a female sword wielder, as you don't have the build to match the sheer physical might of swordsmen."

Receiving an annoyed look and what he could only assume was an annoyed hiss in return, David gave her a friendly smirk as he continued. "Well then, let this be lesson one; knowing and executing are two VERY different things. Right now, and in your fight with Roronoa, you met both of us head on trying to overwhelm us with your speed and power."

The unusually dressed young enlisted moved towards the cool down benches and motioned for the attractive officer to follow. "Now I can slightly agree with the speed factor, seeing as women have a slight edge in speed and agility. But as you have experienced, female fighters should not simply lash out with brute power. Roronoa simply forced you back, overpowering you with his far greater strength. And just now I displayed to you a martial artist's subtlety and turned your own power against you. Had I chosen to add my own force you would have been lucky to have gotten away without dizziness or a concussion."

"So you're saying that I can't win because I'm a woman!?" David shook his head in slight annoyance at his superior.

"NO." He decided to emphasize his statement with a small, controlled burst of his Haoshoku Haki… just to make sure she understood. "What I'm trying to get you to understand is that you cannot fight using a style meant for a completely different body type! If you were stocky and more muscular then I'd just tell you to work on the control of your swings and toss training weights at you."

David suddenly stood up again and pulled the shocked Master Chief up with him. Then, before she could ask what he was doing, he had already moved behind her and caused a not so subtle blush to rise across her face as he pulled her against his chest and used his arms to move her into a stance. The Devil Fruit wielder did his best to fight back his own feelings as his beautiful sempai unintentionally pressed her perfectly sculpted backside into his groin.

"But you're body is slim, lithe. With muscles toned and compressed like those of a gymnast. You're built for both speed and flexibility and you need to take maximum advantage of your own body type." David stepped back before his attraction for the beautiful chief enlisted became too… noticeable. "Honestly, if you weren't already so skilled with the katana I'd have recommended switching to the jian or straight sword, but as it stands I'll instead be teaching you a style called Watōjutsu. It's a rather unique style of 'lost' swordsmanship that combines martial arts motions with kenjutsu's force. It also requires a unique style of hilt and guard… if you don't mind changing Shigure's…"

"N-no! I don't mind at all!" Tashigi was still blushing from her previous, rather intimate, contact with her handsome kohai. "I-I mean you're going out of your way to help me and teach me a secret art when you're off duty. If changing Shigure's hilt and guard can help me get stronger then I'll do it!"

"Alright then. Let's start with training you in the martial arts since you already have the necessary blade skills." For the next few hours David trained with Tashigi, mostly by teaching her forms and stances, often by being embarrassingly close to the slightly clumsy marine master chief. Stopping for a late lunch, the Navy pair shared stories about their youth and training, and after witnessing his power it didn't actually come as much surprise to her that he came from one of the islands in the Grand Line. David was stunned that Tashigi herself came from somewhere in the East Blue. It was quite rare to find someone from the "weakest sea" with the kind of power and potential she had (though it was true that when they did appear they tended to be destined for greater things). The female marine wanted to "free" all the Meito from the hands of criminals. A truly noble goal, but she seemed to have a common misbelief of those marines who came from the weaker oceans, that the Navy and the World Government were good and just and could do no wrong. Most had not experienced the injustices of the flaunted "Absolute Justice" and most had not had to experience the horrors inflicted upon the common folk by the "holy" Tenryubito (other than his family friends the Donquixote Family). It honestly disgusted him how those in power justified some of their extreme actions against those innocents who unintentionally and unknowingly stood in their way. It was why both he and his own father pledged to follow their own path, that of "True Justice". He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts as he noticed a slightly worried Tashigi attempting to get his attention.

"Sorry… I… was a little lost in thought." The powerful enlisted blushed lightly at being caught daydreaming. It was doubly bad because the one who caught him was his new attraction and respected sempai. "Well then, I think that's enough for today, unless you want to continue practicing on your own Ms. Tashigi. I need to find a much more open spot to practice using my Devil Fruit powers."

"Say, Seaman Patterson–"

"C'mon Chief, didn't we agree you'd call me David or Pat yesterday? I know it's not in reg but I just respond better to those names."

The short haired woman blushed lightly at the thought of calling her kohai (new crush) in such a familiar manner. "Alright… Pat… but only if you call me Tashigi. Anyway, I was just wondering, what exactly is your Devil Fruit? I remember yesterday you used two very different powers against the Buggy Pirates, and I know from Captain Smoker that a Devil Fruit should only give command over one element. So how did you use two different elements?"

"Ah! Yes, you're right. Do you mind if we walk and talk?"

"Not at all." With a quick nod of his head the two stood and began walking towards the forest just outside of town.

"Well you see the Fruit I ate is a very special and unique one. It's one of, if not the, highest tier Logia-class, you know what those are, right?"

"Yes, the Captain is one as well."

"Exactly! But his is actually a lower tier." That honestly shocked her, after witnessing firsthand the power of Smoker's Moku Moku no Mi, she had trouble believing that it could be considered weak. "Now my Devil Fruit is the Hoshi Hoshi no Mi, so basically I'm a star-man! I can create, control, and even become high density solar plasma. No other 'heat' based Logia can match up to my plasma which has a general temperature of about 107 degrees Kelvin. That's more than hot enough to melt steel instantly and even vaporize it within just a few seconds."

David gave her a minute to let that information sink in… and he was rewarded with the most amusing, and cute, look of absolute shock and awe. "I know how you feel. I probably had a similar look when I found out for myself. But that isn't the limit of my Fruit's powers. As you witnessed yesterday the Hoshi Hoshi no Mi has a rather unique aspect to it. The reason its name is 'star' and not 'plasma' is that the dense solar plasma that I am essentially now made of gives me ALL the powers of a star. Heat, light, gravity, – the entire electromagnetic spectrum, I can radiate and, to varying levels, control any form of energy produced by a star!"

"Sugoi! That's amazing Pat-san!"

"Huinhahahaha! Yeah and it's a good thing too, because my plasma is just too dangerous for normal use. One time I accidentally used one of my most basic plasma attacks onboard a ship, and just the ambient heat was enough to ignite the entire deck along its path! That and my plasma is so insanely hot that a direct hit is basically a death sentence to anyone without some kind of Devil Fruit or a good mastery of Busoshoku Haki. So I trained up my control and created techniques for the other energies I can freely use. Magnetism and gravity are great for capturing dumb pirates and bandits. It also allows me to sense the flux of ambient cosmic energies. This gives me certain heightened perceptions. I call it my Cosmic Awareness." From there the pair's conversation dwindled down into more mundane topics. Favorite food (cheesecake – David, chocolate – Tashigi), music (surprisingly both rock, though Tashigi preferred soft), hobbies (writing, deduction – David, caring for her sword, singing (in private) – Tashigi, and they both enjoyed reading and training); by the time they reached a good open beach with nice high rocky cliffs over two hours had passed.

David instructed the Master Chief to observe from a good seventy meters away, for her safety, as he began his training. Instantly his body lit up with a bright, but not blinding, glow, while flares of blue/white plasma arced randomly from his form. The sand around him melted into volcanic glass and some close to him even began to boil and vaporize while the air up to a good meter or more away from him rippled and rose like a mirage. Raising his right arm and drawing it back from his fist to his elbow, it instantly became a bright blaze of erupting swirling energy-like matter.

"Stellar Eruption!" Throwing his arm forward, the Seaman launched a fiery horizontal pillar of destruction hurtling out into the water, where it detonated in a spectacular geyser of superheated steam that became a mountainous mushroom cloud as it rose into the sky. All the way back on the beach Tashigi had to go to a knee and shield her face as the shockwaves crashed into her and stirred up a small storm of sand.

Without breaking, David turned and with his fist still ignited leaped towards part of the cliff face with amazing speed. "Meteor Knuckle!"

The air around his fist actually ignited into a ball of fire, making it look like a blazing meteor as it struck the rock wall. With an impact that leveled a good part of the cliff, it left a crater like that of a meteor as well. Tashigi was about to stand when suddenly the dust and debris were blown away by another huge wave of plasma. She watched from her seated position as the fourth state of matter consumed everything like an apocalyptic wall. But as soon as it dispersed she noticed the plasma on both of his arms change from blue/white to blue/black.

"Incendium Gehennae!" Slamming his flaring arms together before him David unleashed his most impressive spectacle yet. A spiraling maelstrom of black and blue flame and plasma that flew into the sky and caught the vary clouds aflame! And as the marine swordswoman stared up into the burning heavens she only had one thought.

'Am I witnessing the work of a god? Or a devil?'


Chapter 2 is finally out, and I couldn't be happier! I've never worked on multiple stories at once before and I didn't realize how stressful it could be. Well I might as well take this time to answer some questions I know I'll get.

1.) If it seems like David is over powered that's because he is. Like Luffy he was trained since childhood by a man on par with Gol D. Rodgers, only David's father didn't have his screws loose like Garp. David will be quite Gary Stuish to most his enemies up until around after the Skypiea Arc.

2.)I have decided that this will be a harem fic for both David and Luffy. But as David isn't the kind of guy to go purposely looking to make one and Luffy is mostly clueless about just about everything, I decided that their harems will be formed for them by other people. In David's case it is going to be either Sadi-chan or a female OC who will actually be Bellmere's niece. While for Luffy it will likely be either Margaret or Vivi (I'll make it an amusing and unexpected cultural thing)

3.) David will be teaching Tashigi (and latter Smoker) Haki and later some Rokushiki. I think Tashigi will learn Soru, Kami-e, and Rankyaku while Smoker will just learn Shingan as a means to speedup his smoke attacks.

As always I appreciate good reviews (complements, critiques, and corrections) I will also take any and all ideas presented to me into consideration. So please review! Any and all flames will be doused by pure solar plasma and forgotten... so don't even bother.