Hellooooooooo people! I'm back with a (RARE) quick update.
Granted, this chapter is relatively short and didn't take me very long to write. I promise the next chapter will be longer, but that'll also mean it will take slightly longer to write :( Bear with me, 'kay? I'll make it worth y'all kind folks' time!
Anywho, thanks for all the reviews and kind words, people! I'll answer some of them later below, so don't leave just yet after you finished reading!
Oh, on a side note, I just got a new tattoo today.
On another side note, my uploading schedule is kinda whacky. I could upload within two days, or up to two weeks (Though I promise to try my best to upload once every week, tops!). I have quite a lot going on in my life now, so... please understand if my uploads are very irregular and have no pattern whatsoever.
Onto the story!
New Beginnings
"Damn it Luffy!" Shanks shouted irritably, holding up the boy in question with one hand gripping the top of his head. "What in the world possessed you to eat that Devil Fruit?!"
Luffy, his arms crossed and lips puckered into a pout, refused to answer and just looked away from him while hanging in mid-air. The rest of Shank's crew had stopped carousing for a moment in favour of observing the trio and their captain's reaction to losing a Devil Fruit. When it became apparent that nothing of overt interest was going to happen, they groaned in unison and resumed drinking and making merry.
The red-haired captain wasn't quite done with Luffy yet, however. "Do you know what this means? You can't swim or float anymore. You're literally going to sink all the way to the bottom of the sea if you so much as fall off a boat! And, to make matters worse, the Devil Fruit you just ate is unidentified. We have no idea what power is possesses; it could be something as useless as the Hito Hito no Mi, which is a human human fruit – absolutely useless when consumed by a human!"
Coby, sitting on the seat previously occupied by Luffy, nodded furiously in agreement before wincing as it aggravated his headache caused by the concussion he suffered from tackling the quiet and sullen boy next to him.
"Now, in the best case scenario, you got lucky and ate a fruit with decent powers. This brings in yet another problem – Mozaru Hantas. Translated to be Demon Hunters, they're essentially Devil Fruit hunters. They are a group of extraordinarily strong ex-pirates who switched professions after realizing how much more lucrative it was to hunt down and exterminate people with Demon Fruit powers and capture the powers into another fruit before selling it off to the highest bidder." Shanks paused, finally letting Luffy down and placing him on the bar counter. "You have no idea what you just got yourself into, boy. This is an entirely new world we're talking about here. Only the strongest survive."
After being silent and prone for possibly the longest time ever in his life, Luffy sent a scathing look at him. "Then train me to become stronger, Shanks! I want to be a pirate like you too!"
"It's not so easy."
"Why not?"
"Because Luffy," Shanks explained slowly, wearily, "it takes years for you to master your Devil Fruit power, assuming that it's not something utterly useless. Furthermore, don't your gramps want you to become a Marine?"
Coby visibly perked up at the mention of the Marines.
Luffy pulled a face. "Don't wanna. Marines are boring."
Coby audibly gasped, causing both of them to turn to regard him. Blushing, he gesticulated wildly. "I-It's nothing! Don't pay any attention to me!"
"Oh, that's right." Shanks smiled, patting the pink-haired boy on the head affectionately. "Coby here wants to join the Marines."
Luffy studied him with squinted eyes as if he was a never seen before alien life form. "You're dumber than you look, pinky."
"Hey!"
Shanks laughed. "Now, now. Let's both agree to disagree, shall we?"
Coby and Luffy glared at each other briefly before turning away with identical annoyed expressions.
"Anyway," Shanks continued thoughtfully, tapping against his chin with a finger, "do you feel different, Luffy? Your powers – if you have any – should have kicked in by now."
The raven-haired boy's reaction to his question was to poke and tug at every single part of his body before attempting numerous stunts that just left him panting and out of breath – all to no avail. Red-face and gasping for air, Luffy glumly plopped back down on his seat and sighed loudly. "I don't feel any different and I can't do any cool new stuff that I couldn't before." All of a sudden, he brightened up like a lightbulb switched on. "Oh wait, I nearly forgot!" Immediately, his facial features scrunched up into that of immense concentration and his hands balled into fists on the table. A second passed, then two, then five.
Shanks raised an eyebrow, not exactly certain what to expect. Coby, who was pointedly ignoring Luffy up until then, also glanced over reluctantly.
They didn't have to wait much longer though, as Luffy rewarded their patience with a soft belch that could hardly be heard over the din. His absolutely crestfallen look made Shanks burst out into laughter. "I was so sure that was going to be it!" He grumbled to no one in particular before drowning his disappointment in a glass of orange juice.
"That's the power you want? The ability to burp loudly?"
Luffy stuck a tongue out at him upon hearing his incredulous tone. "At least it's better than nothing. Bleh."
"You know, Luffy, it's not a bad thing to not have a Devil Fruit power. I don't have one, and I'm doing just fine. Sometimes, it can prove to be more of a liability than an asset, especially when you don't even know what it is." Shanks said sagely, nodding in gratitude when Makino, the bartender, refilled his tankard with ale. "Let's just hope that it'll suddenly pop up and reveal itself sooner rather than later."
And just as the last word of the sentence left Shanks' mouth, there were a few shouts of warning from the other end of the inn and from the corner of his eye, Shanks caught a glimpse of a poorly aimed dart sailing through the air, with Luffy plainly in its trajectory.
And for the second time in the span of a few minutes, everything went into slow-motion.
Shanks knew he was too late to knock the dart out of the air or shove Luffy out of the way, but that didn't stop him from trying to save the oblivious boy from injury. He reached out with his right hand, at the same time watching with abject horror as the dart, turning and twisting in the air, found its mark with unerring precision…
Before just phasing through the boy in question's side harmlessly and dropping immediately onto the ground with a solid thunk, as if it lost all momentum.
"Huh?" Luffy exclaimed in bewilderment, looking to his left and right so fast that it was a miracle he didn't get whip-lash, "what was that sound?" His eyes went down to his torso, a slight frown marring his features. "And why does my body feel all tingly?"
It couldn't be…
Shanks was staring at the clueless boy who was petting his abdominal area furiously – presumably to try and recreate the sensation he felt seconds ago – with his mouth agape. That boy had a Logia-class power?!
He shook his head – not possible. When the dart had passed through his body, Shanks hadn't seen any elemental shifting of the targeted area. It appeared more as if the dart had been sucked into the body before exiting, albeit without any of its former speed.
It was like Luffy had absorbed all of its energy before spitting it back out.
What kind of ability was that?
Off the top of his head, he could think of a few plausible Paramecia ones, but he won't know for sure unless…
"Luffy."
Hearing his name, the raven-haired boy stopped poking his mid-riff long enough to peer up at him. "Yes?"
"I want you to try to get to the other end of the inn within a second."
Luffy scrunched up his nose. "What for?"
"You want to be a great pirate right?" Shanks asked, and when Luffy nodded eagerly in response, he continued, "then you'll need to do this. All great pirates are capable of such a feat."
"B-B-But that's impossible!"
Not if he had a Logia-class power, but Shanks kept that to himself for now. He'll find out eventually anyway. "It's possible, Luffy. Just concentrate on the wall at the other end of the room, and envision yourself bursting to it."
"But how would that help me reach there in a second, Shanks?" Luffy asked, confused. "It'll be my legs that carry me there right?"
"Not if you possess a certain Devil Fruit power."
The boy's eyes widened fractionally at the prospect of discovering his ability, and he immediately shifted his body to face the opposite end of the drinking hall, his eyes narrowing.
"Now, I want you to clear your mind. Just think of reaching the wall as quickly as possible, and – "
In a blinding flash, Luffy dematerialized.
At that very exact moment, there was a deafening explosion and Shanks stared disbelievingly at the curiously shaped hole on the opposite wall suspiciously resembling a certain black-haired boy that he could've sworn was just sitting opposite him.
"Whoa." A single word laced with worship from Coby. "That was so cool."
Shanks barely paid any attention to the gathering crowd of cheering pirates around the fallen boy, who had quickly gotten back to his feet with a sheepish smile while scratching the back of his head.
He also wasn't aware when Makino sighed deeply beside him before scribbling something down on a list that was only half the length when he had last visited.
All he could think of was that Luffy had actually eaten a Logia-class fruit, and an absurdly strong one at that.
Dear mother of the Sea Devil.
In order to get to the good parts faster, (with the rest of his nakama, of course! Especially Nami and Robin heheheh) I'll be skipping CERTAIN arcs that have no significant effect on my story. Will give you guys a heads up before I do that.
Now, the reviews!
Nil089: You. You are a lifesaver. I could kiss you. 'Cept I won't, 'cos I'm straight and I'm not sure whether you're male or female. Thanks for pointing that out!
Lightningblade49: Ah, that's the problem I'll have quite a lot as I'm definitely pretty far behind. Hopefully my rationalization makes some sort of sense, as this is what I'll be going with in this series. Is it something about awakened Devil Fruits though? Oh well, I'll just have to find some time to go and read the manga since I really don't have enough time to watch the anime right now. Thanks for reviewing btw!
Devlin Dracul: Hello! You guessed right - the fruit will definitely be some sort of partner to Luffy. Question is... will it be a good or bad partner? Heheheh. Well, I do intend to add her in when the time comes (and perhaps a few others!), but until then, this will be the main harem. But don't worry! Hancock is also one my favorite characters with her... interesting character. Plus her possessive tendencies will make for a much more dramatic harem. So let's see how it goes, 'kay? :D
Almighty Imaginative Craziness: That's a real mouthful of a name you got there, buddy! Thanks for the clarification regarding the reason for his personality, but I think Luffy is a tad bit too oblivious to be purely due to his upbringing. At least that's my take, so I'm going to make him more like a hormonal teenage boy in this story rather than someone with the libido of a frigging inanimate object. Oh, and thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely give them a try!
To the rest of y'all, thanks for reviewing and leaving me comments! They really make my day.
Until the next time, ciao.