Blood in the Water

Victor and El Toro stood motionless, two great opposing forces staring eachother down. The only ones that remained inside the crater.

"So how did you like the fireworks?" Victor asked arrogantly.

El Toro just snorted as his hooves clawed the ground.

"You've got to be a real idiot to take me on after what I did to you last time."

"Everybody gets lucky once in a while." Victor stated.

This made El Toro laugh.

"You think it was because of luck that I won that battle! You must be joking. It was pure power. Which I'll gladly demonstrate to you again in case you forgot." He declared as he flexed his muscles, which were even larger in his Bull form.

"Sure, go right ahead. Show me what you've got." Victor beckoned with his hand.

"Gladly, Bull Rush!" He roared as he charged like a train, horns down and aimed right for his target.

Victor set himself in a bracing stance.

"Don't think you can beat me with the same thing twice!"

Victor stuck out his hands and grabbed El Toro's horns just before they could hit. The great beast plowed into the smaller combatant hard to impale him with his weapons, but Victor wouldn't let him, keeping the horns from stabbing him. Finally, El Toro managed to push him into the far wall, his horns just mere centimeters from Victor's head.

"Hmph, it seems like you've improved a little bit since last time. More importantly, you feel far heavier than before. How did you do it?" El Toro asked.

Victor just smirked.

"I would say, it's a secret, but really I was about to show you anyways." He said as he took a long, deep breath.

"Sea Dragon's Roar!"

El Toro was shot with a high pressure water cannon, pushing him away from Victor very quickly as his hooves ripped apart the ground, slamming him into the far wall of the crater. The water pinning him against it.

Slowly, but surely, El Toro managed to handle it and brace himself as he pushed against it.

"Do you really think you can beat me with this sprinkler attack!" He yelled as he continued to push.

Despite the intense force, El Toro was noticeably pushing the water beam back as he gained momentum.

"Come on! You can't keep this up forever!" He shouted.

Within moments, Victor finally stopped. He coughed violently for a few seconds before he caught his breath. Then he got his grin back.

"I wasn't planning on it, but this fight is already mine." Victor said confidently.

El Toro could only crack a smile as he stared at the little man.

"Really? And what makes you say that…" He tried to take a step before he suddenly felt weak as he stumbled, tossing water around as he tried to keep his balance…Wait a minute, water?

El Toro looked down to see that he was standing in water as high as his knees. He was practically standing in a lake.

"What is this?" He demanded.

"Water, what did you think?" Victor asked sarcastically, the water level as high as his chest.

"It doesn't really matter. Now you're in my playground."

El Toro looked confused.

"What do you mean? You can't possibly think that you can fight me in this."

Victor just dove underwater, vanishing from sight, surprising the bull.

"Where'd he go?"

"Flying Fish Clothesline!"

Victor shot out of the water like a missile, catching El Toro in the throat with his arm. The bull went flipping head-over-heels before splashing into the water.

He got up as he rubbed his neck.

"What the hell? How can he move so fast in the water?" El Toro said as he looked around.

"Take a guess." Victor shot up from behind and dealt a powerful kick to his back, sending him skipping across the water like a stone.

Victor appeared in front of him, showing incredible speed even underwater.

"Sea Dragon Upper!" The fist catching El Toro's chin as he was launched into the air and plummeted into the water with a giant splash.

El Toro sat up, breathing heavily as his power was dwindling to nothing.

"What are you saying? Are you telling me that you're a fishman!" He shouted, fighting to stand on his feet.

"Bingo!" Victor shot out and dealt a rapid barrage of spinning kicks to his face. El Toro tried to attack, but Victor easily flipped over him, slamming both hands on the back of his head before disappearing in the water.

He rose to the surface as El Toro turned around.

"You see, because you're a Devil fruit User, it's obvious that you would weaken in sea water as we fishmen are at our strongest." Victor explained before diving again.

"Damn you! Come out and fight like a man you coward!" El Toro roared.

"Ok." Victor said and then proceeded to come from the water in all directions.

"White Rapids!" The water seemed to churn like there was a feeding frenzy from the speed that Victor was attacking.

Victor finished the attack by jumping high into the air and diving like a missile, driving both feet into El Toro's chest, causing the water to explode outward as the two vanished under the converging liquid.

Seconds later, Victor rose above the water, staring at El Toro's lower half that stuck out like a strange tree.

Suddenly, the bull thrashed about wildly before he finally managed to get his head above water, taking a large chunk of ground with his horns. He was coughing violently from the water that got into his lungs.

"You son of bitch!" El Toro shouted, but it was clear that he was losing the battle and his strength was barely enough to hold onto his animal form.

"What? Are you mad because you are losing? People like you make me sick. People who think that they can treat others like dirt and think the world owes them something. You don't deserve anything that you already have. You simply abuse that power and expect things to always roll your way. Sorry, but the world isn't like that." Victor said in a quiet anger.

El Toro spat to the side.

"So are you someone who thinks that things should be fair? That we are all equal. The world isn't like that either so you're living in a fairy tale that will only be crushed by reality." He growled.

"I know that, but its people in power that think they were given some divine right to hurt others and that isn't right. Even if equality is impossible, at least people can treat others with respect. That is something I wish to change, even if I were to die trying."

"So we're in a difference of opinion. No shocker there. Of course, a fishman would think like that because you are all just vermin that should be destroyed!"

El Toro was punched hard across the face, sending his body hurtling into the distance.

Victor cupped his hands into the water as they swirled.

"Aqua Torpedo!"

He launched a massive ball of water that caught up with El Toro and exploded into a massive shockwave of force.

El Toro rose from the water, blood flowing from various injuries.

"Damn, that last attack had some power." He groaned, but he began to notice that he was re gaining strength.

From the prolonged fighting, the water level had slowly been decreasing as it was funneling into the tunnels.

The bull snickered as he flexed his fingers.

"Now the tides are turning in my favor. Come on! I'm still standing! What! Is this all the strength that a fishman has to offer?" He goaded.

Victor took the bait and shot straight ahead, seemingly running on the water from the speed he moved.

El Toro was knocked across the face by a powerful punch, but he stood his ground. Again and several more times, he took Victor's blows as the smaller man zipped around the battlefield.

El Toro grinned when the moment came, predicting a rear assault as he turned with a wide grin. Much to the shock of Victor.

"Got ya."

Victor has hammered by a blow that sent him flying into the side of the crater with devastating force.

"What? How did he manage to counter me?" He groaned as he pulled himself from the hole his body made.

He noticed that El Toro was cracking his knuckles in an arrogant manner.

"What's the matter? Where was all of that confidence you had a minute ago?" El Toro said with a large grin.

Victor walked back into the lake, thinking about how El Toro did it.

"Maybe he just got lucky. One more time."

He shot across the water with a powerful side kick, but the bull blocked it with an arm. Victor tried a punch, but it was caught, surprising him again.

"Hehe, I'll admit that your water trick was clever and proved to be an annoyance, but as you can see. You no longer have that advantage."

"What are you talking about?" Victor demanded, but when he looked down, he could see that the water was far lower than before. Not even enough for him to swim in.

El Toro chuckled as he grabbed Victor's body with one of his massive hands.

"Now lets see if you remember this. Strella Fiesta!"

The bull slammed Victor into the ground, causing the remaining water around them to shoot up like a geyser. He then began to run using Victor's body to tear apart the ground into a long trench. He lifted Victor over his head and dropped him, kicking him hard in the stomach before slamming both arms down on his body.

Victor could barely move from the pain as El Toro slammed a hoof on his back, causing him to cry out in agony.

"You pathetic little worm. If you had simply ran away after I thought I had killed you. This never would have happened. But you have no one to blame but yourself."

Victor was repeatedly stomped and kicked, the force from the blows making the ground sink with every strike that lasted for several very long moments.

Finally, El Toro stopped, standing over a broken man who looked like he was already at death's door.

"It looks to me that you only have mere moments left so I'll let you have these last few minutes to regret the decision to fight me. I wouldn't want you haunting me for not giving you this moment of mercy." He said as he turned to walk away.

"Wait." Victor gasped, blood dripping from his mouth when he spoke.

El Toro stopped, but didn't turn around.

"What is it? You don't have much longer to live so why are you wasting my time?" He asked, annoyed.

Victor tried to get up, but his strength was gone and he fell back down.

"Are you still trying to fight? Commendable, but futile. Don't worry though. Soon, your friend will be joining you." El Toro said as he continued to walk.

"What? No, you can't do that! This is between you and me!" Victor shouted, the muscles in his body tensing up as he fought to stand.

"Yes it was, but this fight is over. What good is a 1st mate should their captain die? Just another life to be snuffed out. If Spada hasn't taken care of him, I'll make sure that he is. Adios." El Toro said with a wave.

"Hey! Get back here, dammit!" Victor shouted.

El Toro didn't stop this time, not paying attention to a dead man.

"HEY! I SAID GET BACK HERE GOD DAMN YOU!"

El Toro stopped, the sheer intensity causing his hairs to stand on end. He turned in surprise to see Victor standing despite his injuries. His posture as if he about to keel over, yet he refused to fall.

"Nobody threatens my friends and gets away with it!" Victor snarled as he glared with eyes that were now more animal than human.

"You want a fight! I'll give you a fight! Come on!" He roared.

El Toro couldn't understand what was happening. What was standing before him couldn't be a man. But none of that mattered as he grew angry.

"I don't know how you are able to stand, but I'll make sure that you never get up again!"

El Toro charged, quickly gaining momentum.

"See if you can withstand my Bull Rush at full speed! Hunter!"

Victor braced himself as he clenched both of his hands into fists, his knuckles popping loudly.

"Now die!" El Toro shouted.

Victor let out a great yell as he raised his arms just before they collided.

El Toro seemed pleased when he heard the sound of flesh being pierced, that was until he saw what he had hit.

Victor had intercepted the tips with his bare hands, both were bleeding from the holes that were made.

El Toro wasn't sure what was going on until he looked into Victor's eyes that were giving off an unsettling thirst for blood.

Victor roared as his fin exploded from his back, ripping apart his shirt as he snapped El Toro's horns from his head.

El Toro cried out in surprise as he backed away, his perfect weapons snapped like brittle twigs.

Victor dropped the broken, bloody pieces, stepping over them.

"You damn hypocrite that preaches about freedom and yet you take the freedom of others! I won't stand for a twisted ideal such as that!" Victor shouted in raw fury.

El Toro seemed to back away in fear at the man before him, yet he was looking above him.

"What the hell is this guy? It's like he's a monster!" He said as he could see an image of a great Sea King looking down on him with a deep hunger.

"Come on, he's just one man. I've got Devil Fruit powers! A normal man, even a fishman, can't match up to my strength."

El Toro managed to psyche himself up as he charged.

"I won't be defeated by the likes of you!"

The two were now in an all out brawl as they punched, kicked, and grappled. The sheer magnitude of their fight was crushing the ground around them.

Blood splattered to the ground as the two fought without even thinking about guarding. It was just a bloody fight to see who could withstand the most damage.

Both threw powerful punches that knocked eachother away, but neither refused to fall.

"Damn you!" They both shouted as their fists collided, creating a sound like thunder.

El Toro managed to close in and grab Victor in a bear hug, causing the man to scream from the pressure.

"Now to finish this! Strella Destroyer!" He jumped high into the air, spinning into a blur as they turned upside down.

"With this, your bones will turn to dust!" El Toror said as they fell faster and faster.

"Don't think you've won yet!" Victor pulled back his leg and rammed his knee into the bull's side.

El Toro lost his grip enough for Victor to kick him off, sending the bull crashing to the ground.

El Toro groaned as he looked up to see Victor diving right for him.

"1000 Brick Taki!" (Waterfall)

El Toro tried to defend the attack, but he was too late as an endless barrage of punches rained down on him.

Victor roared like a beast as he threw punch after punch, driving the bull deeper and deeper into the ground.

The crater began to crack and cave from the repeated strikes, before it finally disappeared in a giant collapse as a giant dust cloud that covered the battlefield. The aftermath was a deep hole that had swallowed the two.

XXXXX

For a moment, there was only darkness, an endless void of nothing. The sound of heavy breathing could be heard as light began to pierce through the dust cloud above, striking a raised fist.

Victor was motionless as he looked down at the man he had defeated, the light showed that he was unconscious as he was back to his human form.

The bloodlust subsiding, he lowered his arm and stood up, although a bit uneasy. He looked around to see himself surrounded by darkness.

"Where am I?" He asked as he tried to see beyond the light.

Further within, he could just make out an image of a large object. As his eyes adjusted, it looked to be a very large cube of some sort. He walked up to it so that he could get a better look.

"What is this? I've never seen anything like it. These symbols, they look so old." He said as he placed his hands on them, tracing them with his hands.

"Do you know what you're even looking at?" El Toro asked. Due to his injuries, he couldn't move.

"No, but it looks like you do." Victor replied, not seeing him as a threat anymore.

"That, is a Poneglyph. An ancient message handed down from a long destroyed civilization that belonged to a forgotten era of our history." El Toro explained.

Victor's eyes widened to the realization.

"You mean the 'Void Century'?" He had heard of it, but nothing more than it was considered a crime to even try to figure out what happened during that time.

El Toro nodded.

"Within these Poneglyphs, are supposed to be information about terrifying weapons that could destroy the world. The group I work with have been searching for them to uncover their secrets so that we could destroy the World Government and truly free ourselves of these shackles of so-called 'Justice'."

Victor turned towards the man.

"Why are you telling me this? What do you have to gain?"

El Toro just laughed a little.

"Who knows? My life will soon end. Our organization doesn't like failure so anybody involved will be swiftly erased."

Victor grew angry.

"That's a foolish way to go about something like this. Eliminating a comrade simply because of something like this."

"What do you care? A moment ago, I could see that you wanted to kill me. Why didn't you?" El Toro asked.

"Because that would be tainting the name of my father's people and the name of the hero, Fisher Tiger. Even though people still despise fishmen and have even killed our kind. Fisher Tiger vowed never to kill. My father followed that rule and I follow it as well."

El Toro just shook his head.

"I don't really understand you at all, but let me offer you this piece of information as a parting gift. Only the people of Ohara have ever been able to decipher that language and because of that, they were wiped out by the Marines. An entire island of people were wiped out because of that."

Victor almost couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"There has been word that a woman from that island still lives. The organization is searching for her in the hopes to use her knowledge to resurrect these weapons. As she has been on the run for over 20 years, most likely, she is still in hiding. Her name is… Nico Robin. If the World Government were to find her and use her knowledge to resurrect those weapons for themselves, many people would die."

Victor walked up to him and knelt down.

"Who is your organization? Do you belong to the Revolutionary Army?" He asked.

El Toro shook his head.

"I cannot tell you that. That is why death is the only option after failure, either in our mission or in combat. To prevent such information from being leaked. Now get out of here."

Victor didn't listen as he reached out and pulled the man onto his back.

"Hey, what are you doing?" El Toro demanded.

"It doesn't matter who you are. I won't stand by and let you die for something so petty. Even if our opinions and ideas are different. You're still a human being."

"Hey! Anybody down there?" Came a familiar voice.

Victor looked up to see Jesse waving from high above them.

"Hey! Could you get us a rope! I don't think there's another way out!" He shouted back.

"No problem, leave it to me!" Jesse said a vanished.

Victor let out a small smile, seeing his friend had made it out ok.

"Besides, I've still got to collect that 75 million berri bounty you are so proud of."

This made El Toro chuckle a little.

"Still a Hunter to the end, I see."

XXXXX

El Toro and Sangre Spada were tied up to the mast of the Magna Carta as Victor and Jesse made preparations to leave.

"So where are we off to now, Captain?" Jesse asked as he unfurled the sails, letting the wind catch them as they exited the cove.

"Well we're taking these two to the next island. Hopefully, they'll have a branch office that will take them off our hands."

"And fill our wallets." Jesse said, his eyes flashing at the thought of so much money."

"Yeah, that too. Well, the log wants us to go due east. Maybe we'll have some nice weather on the way."

"That would be nice." Jesse said as he took the helm, steering the ship to starboard as they headed east.

XXXXX

(Elsewhere)

A group of figures sat around a very dark room that masked their appearances. Despite the darkness, the room itself seemed rather elegant and expensive from the large paintings and architecture that the owner was of refined tastes. The table being the focal point from the gold that trimmed its frame.

The group numbered up to 9, each sitting in a large, sculpted chair with three of them unoccupied.

"It's been a while since we've come together. I can only wonder what it could be about." Said a female voice who sat to the right of the largest seat.

Lilian the Scorpio

"Gugugugugu. Something interesting must have happened if we were summoned so suddenly." Said a man who was clearly a giant, sitting next to the woman.

Doreah the Capricorn

"The boss must have some important information. I wonder what it can be about as to make him summon all of us?"

Alex the Rooster

"Hmph, they sure like to take their sweet time. Being late after being summoned. Worse, the Leader himself is still absent.

Krakar the Monkey

"Relax, there's no point in getting frustrated." Said a man who sat with one leg across the other, a large object leaned against his seat, from the looks of it, possibly a sword.

Shune the Serpent

"So why isn't he here yet? I'm getting bored." Said another man who was rather short and round as he played with his thin mustache that always curled no matter how much he pulled on it.

Basus the Tiger

"That is quite enough. If we're summoned, then all we can do is wait until he arrives." Said a woman. Her chair sitting right of the only chair that faced the others.

Harriet the Rat

"Heh, who put you in charge. The only one that can give orders is the boss. Know your place, woman." Said a man who was between two empty chairs.

Valen the Dragon

Harriet was about to explode when a hand blocked her path.

"Don't mind him. He's just a fool who doesn't deserve the title of Dragon." Said the man who stopped her.

Riey the Virgo

"What did you say, bastard!" Valen growled, his eyes turning into large yellow slits.

Riey didn't seem the least bit worried as he slid down the large chair and propped his feet up on the table as he rested his hands behind his head.

"Just because you killed the last Dragon and took his place, doesn't make you top dog. Scalely bat." (a play on the word scale (as in reptile skin) and scaly which means flaky/crusty (similar to shedding). Basically an elaborate insult).

Valen slammed his hands on the table, standing up.

"Say that again and I'll bite your heat off!"

The wall behind Valen suddenly exploded, revealing a perfectly round hole. This revealed that Riey had his fist aimed in Valen's direction, although a bit nonchalantly.

"You can try if you like. Just know that I won't make it easy for you. You flying pair of boots."

"Enough!" Came a voice that echoed across the room, bringing the argument to a halt.

Footsteps could be heard as they all went silent, waiting for the person to appear.

Finally, through the large double doors, a figure appeared.

"I'm so glad that you all could make it on such short notice." Said a tall man who gave off an overpowering presence, even among this elite group.

He calmly walked towards the far seat and sat down. Harriet placing a glass of wine next to him.

Mr. X the Aries, Leader of the Zodiac Faction

"As I am sure what you are all wondering as to why I called you together is to reveal some surprising news." He stated.

He pressed a red button on the arm of his chair and a large sail rose from a hatch on the table. A large white screen also lowered on the far end of the table.

"This visual denden mushi will show you what I mean."

The snail's eyes lit up. Acting as a projector, showed two pictures. Mr. X took a drink of wine before speaking.

"The first part. A new rookie has begun to cause some problems for the Marines. This man and his crew wiped out the Crime Syndicate Baroque Works and even took down Crocodile. Of course, the Marines are covering up the incident by saying that Captain Smoker was the one who defeated him."

The group stared at the wanted pictures of Monkey D. Luffy and Roanoa Zoro.

Krakar whistled when he saw the bounties.

"160 million between them and taking down a Shichibukai. I must say that I'm kinda impressed, but what about them?" He asked.

Mr. X nodded.

"During the incident, it was revealed that Nico Robin was among the Baroque Works members and that she had discovered a Poneglyph."

The group now realized the importance of the meeting as Mr. X continued.

"Further information is vague, but there is a possibility that she may have joined the Strawhat crew. After that, the Marines lost them due to a decoy. Their whereabouts are unknown, but I'm sure that we'll hear from them soon enough."

Lilian looked towards the door as if expecting someone.

"I know that we all should have received the summons. So where are Taurus and Sagittarius?" She asked.

"That is the second part I was getting at. As surprising as it is, Taurus was defeated and thus has failed his mission."

The group was visibly shocked by the news.

"What? How could Taurus fail? He had a fairly simple task of finding the ancient cube on Crater Island." Asked Shune.

"Well he ran into some unusual fighters, Hunters to be exact." The man explained.

"Hunters? There must have been over a hundred to take him down." Stated Lilian.

"No, only two." Mr. X explained.

The group seemed to be in stunned awe when they heard this.

"Who could have done this? There isn't a Hunter strong enough to defeat a Devil Fruit user. El Toro easily has the strength of a giant." Claimed Valen.

The denden mushi blinked its eyes and the two posters were replaced by two other pictures.

"The intel says that it was the red-haired captain that defeated him, his second in command defeating Sangre Spada." Their leader explained.

Riey seemed to focus on the picture of Victor for a moment, not even listening to the conversation.

Doreah laughed in his strange gugugu fashion, intrigued by the two.

"None the less, his defeat means that he will be terminated. Our group cannot risk failure in any mission. That is absolute." Their leader stated.

"And what of the Hunters?" The Harriet asked.

Mr. X simply smirked as he took another drink of his wine.

"Sagittarius is only under the order to eliminate Taurus and Spada. These Hunters, who are strong enough to defeat one of us deserves a 'reward'. Don't you think?" He said as with an evil chuckle.

"Beruberuberu…beruberuberu…beruberuberu…" Came a continuous sound.

The man pulled out a small white denden mushi from his jacket and placed it on the table.

"Beruberuberu…Kachak… Sagittarius, what is your update?" The man asked.

XXXXX

(Crater Island)

A man stood amongst a large area of bodies that belonged to various groups of pirates. Smoke from the destroyed pirate ships filled the sky. His long coat blowing in the wind. The man was crouched over a bluff that overlooked the sea. A very long-barreled gun resting on his shoulder. Its design similar to the PTRS-41 anti-tank rifle.

Sieg the Sagittarius

"The cube was uncovered during the fight, but without someone to translate. It is useless. As for Taurus and Spada, the Hunters have taken them away to collect their bounties. Looks like they've got a head start on me. They are so far away." The man said casually as the ship was but a tiny dot on the horizon.

"You know the punishment for failure." Said Mr. X.

Sieg chuckled as he placed the butt of the rifle against his shoulder, his right eye peering through the scope. Through it, El Toro was set in his crosshairs.

"Yes I do, Boss." He said evilly as he squeezed the trigger slowly.

"Death."

XXXXX

A/N

Such a large and powerful group to be introduced. This could cause trouble for Sparrow Corp. Things are about to get far more interesting for the two as they press further into the Grand Line.

All are based off of the Chinese and Standard Zodiac. 6 each respectively.

If you've read my other works, several names will be familiar. I'll explain the less obvious ones.

Krakar was my 1st original character of an old DBZ fic of mine. Since it was my first, it wasn't so great so I scrapped the fic. As he was a Saiyan, the Monkey was perfect for him.

Riey is Keith's last name in KOF vs SF.

Alex is from my incomplete fic, Lost Paradise.

Valen is simply a shortened version of Storm's last name, Valentine, from Final Fantasy.