Kitsune vs Monster
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Axe yawned loudly as he sat up and scratched his belly, "Mornin'...," he mumbled, rubbing the crust out of his eyes.
Herman groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, "Morning, Captain. Morning, Dusty, Shifter...,"
The cave was quiet, save the mumblings of the two pirates. Too quiet...
Axe looked around, but couldn't find his scout, "WHERE THE HELL IS DUSTY?! SHE'S NOT HERE?!" he screamed, shooting to his feet.
Herman looked around as well and noticed that she wasn't the only one missing, "Shifter's gone, too!"
"WHAT?!" Axe jumped over Herman's head and exited the cave, seeing that sunrise had passed awhile ago, and now, the jungle was thriving with live, "SHIT! Where the hell are they?!"
-----
Monster grinned as he and Dusty circled each other slowly around the lakeside, "Mrrow how how...no one's everrr beaten me, even yourrr captain...and you think you can beat me?
Dusty scowled, "I don't think I know! Get ready, because I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"Trrry it!" Monster pulled back his arms, his claws pointing behind him as his grin widened, "Man Hunt!"
I don't need this! Dusty thought as she ducked from side to side, dodging the claws,According to Kirsty's notes from Chopper, I only got three minutes, and I can't risk using more than one in this fight!
She quickly crouched, dodging another set of claws, "Jumping Point!"
To Monster's surprise, the young kitsune girl leapt high into the air, far enough away from his claws. He watched as she flipped a few times into the air and disappeared into the treeline. He couldn't help but scoff, "My jungle...yourrrr mistake,"
Dusty pressed herself against the tree bark as she sat on a tall branch, breathing quietly,Dammit, dammit, dammit! I gotta take this guy down, but I'm wasting time! Jumping Point got me away from him...but how the hell am I gonna beat him with those freakin' claws of his?!
A loud clanging sound brought her out of her thoughts and the next thing she knew, she was falling to the ground. Thinking quickly, she latched herself into the tree using her own set of claws.
"Mrrow how how how...nice rrreflexes,"
Dusty's eye twitched as she looked behind her to see Monster looking up at her, an amused look on his face. Looking around, she saw that the branch she was just sitting on was cut into dozens of pieces. It didn't take a genius to realize what had just happened.
Monster slowly cut into the ground underneath him, "This is my jungle, fox...if you think you can get an advantage herrre, you'rrre wrrrong,"
Running out of time...! Dusty let go of the tree and landed on her feet, Gotta do something quick!
"I think I'll have morrre fun playing with you than I had with yourrr frrriends," Monster cackled before leaping into the air, "Ookami Ame!"(1)
Dusty looked up in time to see Monster rapidly slash the air with his claws, and with each slash, she could see nearly invisible objects come soaring down on her.
Shit! She rolled to the side and dodged the blades, "The hell was that?!"
"One of my many self-taught techniques," Monster replied, swinging his arms again, "Ookami Ame!"
Once again, the nearly invisible blades came raining down on Dusty. This time, however, the kitsune wasn't able to roll out of the way and she took the attack full force. She screamed as the blades cut into her arms and torso, splattering some of her blood against the trees and grass.
Monster landed nearby, scowling, "Didn't expect that much blood to be spilt...I have to end this, orrr else we'rrre in trrrouble,"
"Sonofabitch, that hurts!" Dusty moaned as she looked at the cuts in her flesh, "Least I know what that move does," she looked up at Monster, "Runnin' out of time...alright, pal...speaking of techniques, lemme show you what I got in my arsenal!"
Monster raised an eyebrow as Dusty rose to full height, ignoring her wounds and blood loss.
"You've seen myJumping Point, so allow me to unveil my next ability!" Dusty transformed into her large animal form, "Guard-!"
"Forrrget it!" Monster planted one of his claw sets into the ground, "Kuro Neko Pasu!"
Monster disappeared in a blur, leaving Dusty alone in the clearing.
Axe told me about this move...I gotta be careful! Dusty took a deep breath, "Guard Point!"
As soon as she said those two words, Dusty's coat of fur suddenly stood on end, creating a mess of straightened hairs. Seconds later, her ears twitched at the sound of speeding footsteps coming towards her. She couldn't help but grin as they came closer, Nice try pal...
A few moments later, she felt the familiar blades of Monster's claws rake against her fur, but this time, they did no damage whatsoever. She laughed to herself as his attack was cut short and he appeared in front of her, crouching and not looking very happy.
"Hmph...," he raked the ground with his claws again, "Interrresting, mrrow,"
Dusty reverted from Guard Point and her animal form to her usual form, "Thank you, I do my best,"
"If that's yourrr best, then you won't surrrvive!" Monster smirked as he started to sway from side to side, "Ato Bakemono no Aitou!" (2)
Dusty groaned in frustration as he disappeared in a blur again, That's getting really old here! she thought as she looked around, "Guard-,"
"I don't think so, not this time!" Monster whispered in her ear, startling her.
Caught off guard, Dusty could do nothing as Monster's claws tore through her body and came out the front. With a strangled gasp, Dusty looked down at the bloodied claw blades.
Monster withdrew his blades and licked them clean as Dusty fell to her knees, "Too much...too much...," he murmured before looking at her, "May have been overboarrrd, but you'll live, mrrow,"
Dusty doubled over and held her wounds, blood dripping from both her mouth and wounds,Shit...not good! This was a mistake, he's too fast for me...I can't fight him, even with a Rumble Ball...what can I do, I don't have a lot of options?
She coughed violently,This was stupid...I'm gonna lose this fight, and I'll get nabbed just like the others! I can't do anything to help them... she glanced at the small bag at her hip, ...unless...
"You lose, kitsune," Monster reached down and grabbed her by the collar, "Get you stitched and bandaged...I don't need the jungle coming afterrr me because of you orrr yourrr friends,"
"I'm...not...done...yet...,"
Monster raised an eyebrow and looked down at her, "Don't be a fool, kitsune. Surrrrenderrr beforrre you kill yourrrself," he hauled her to her feet, "Just make it easy on yourrrself,"
Dusty winced and looked at the two other Rumble Balls that she held tightly in her hand, out of Monster's view, They warned me about three Rumbles in the time limit, and I dunno what'll happen to me exactly, other than what they told me...but I have no other choice!
She crammed the two other Rumble Balls into her mouth and bit down hard, "RUMBLE BALL!"
Gotta win this!
-----
"Dusty! Dusty, where are you, kit?!" Herman lowered his cupped hands and shook his head, "Man, why'd she have to run off like that? She's too impulsive!"
Axe scratched his head, "She's a lot of things, Herman...see any trace of her or Shifter?"
"Not one, Captain," Herman rubbed his red dome of a head, "I hate to say it, but I don't think we'll find a trace of her or him,"
"Why do you say that?" Axe turned to him, looking confused.
Herman waved his arms at the trees around them, "Because I think we're lost ourselves! This jungle and island are insane! I mean...first, we got animals that wanna dine on our flesh, and we got a bounty hunter who's not just a bounty hunter, but a wild man with long as hell claws!" he turned back to his captain, "To top it off-hey, where'd he go?"
Axe was no longer with him. The merman looked around, "Oh, this is just friggin' fantastic! First, we lose Dusty and Shifter, now I lost my own captain!" he punched the nearest tree in frustration, knocking it out the ground, it's roots still attached to the stump.
"Herman...HERMAN!" Axe's voice made Herman look around, startled.
"Captain, where are you?!"
"Herman...I think you should see this...!"
Following his captain's voice as best he could, Herman walked through a very thick batch of trees and vines. When he came to the other side, he saw Axe standing a short ways away. Mumbling under his breath, he walked over to him and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and stood very still.
The two of them stared at what was once probably a lush part of the island. But this area was different from the rest of the jungle. There were no trees, there were no animals, there weren't even any bushes. Instead, the land was blackened by ash, covered with many large holes in the dirt.
Herman followed Axe into the ash-covered wasteland, his eyes widened and stalks swiveling around, taking in the horrific sight. Preoccupied with the view, Herman couldn't stop himself when he brought his foot down and a large crunching sound was heard. The merman looked down and picked up his foot, looking at what he had stepped on.
"Oh my...,"
Axe turned around to see Herman stumbling away, eyes filled with shock as he stared at the ground. The young man looked down and saw what had startled his chef. There, half-buried in the ash, was a human skeleton. Frowning, Axe slowly looked around and went to a random, nearby patch of ground. He knelt down and brushed away the ash to see more skeletal remains buried underneath them.
Herman wiped his chin, looking very nervous, "Captain...what the hell is this place?!"
"...this isn't an island," Axe looked straight at his nakama, "It's a damn graveyard,"
The merman gulped and looked around again, "What happened here? I've never seen anything like it!"
"I have," Axe muttered, walking past Herman, back to the jungle area, "A coupla years ago, but even then it was a whole island, not just a part of it,"
Surprised, Herman turned and quickly followed his boss, "Wait, you've seen this sorta thing before? What is it, what did this?!"
Without stopping, even for a second, Axe looked over his shoulder, "Ever hear of a Buster Call, Herman?"
Before Herman even had a chance to reply, a deafening roar ripped through the air. Both pirates looked at the jungle and watched as what seemed like hundreds, if not thousands of birds took flight. They also watched as some of the trees were being torn down.
Axe frowned, "Now what?"
-----
Devon turned his head to the island while Austin and Pingu stopped playing tag, "The hell was that?"
"That didn't sound like a good thing," Kirsty murmured, leaning against the railing, her soda in her hand, "Didn't sound good at all,"
-----
Monster stared silent shock at the...thing that occupied the entire clearing. It wasn't too long ago that he had, supposedly, won the fight against the kitsune Zoan user, and he was about to detain her and bring her back to join her friends when she suddenly...changed, to say the least.
From what had been a cocky, angry fox-girl, came a huge beast that even made Monster almost crap himself. He had been living by himself on Isla Cadaver for years and years, and he had never seen anything like this before! In the clearing, growling and no doubt trying to find him, was a huge, four-legged beast with massive fangs and glowing red eyes. The clothes the kitsune had worn in their fight were shredded and laying on the ground beneath the behemoth. Monster looked closer at the beast and he could see huge, shiny claws sticking out of the gigantic paw-like hands of the creature.
"This, I didn't expect," he muttered, crouching on the branch he was on and hiding behind the tree, "Is this a new ability of Zoans?"
Another loud roar from the creature snapped Monster out of his thoughts, and the giant claws swiping at him and his hiding spot made him fall to the ground. Disoriented, he landed on his back and stared up at the beast as it loomed over him, saliva dripping from the fangs.
Growling, Monster raked the beast's face with one of his claw gloves...which he soon learned was a big mistake. Angry at the attack, the giant fox grabbed and lifted Monster off the ground by his legs, it's fangs digging into his flesh. The wild bounty hunter held back his screams as his blood oozed down on the creature's fangs, mixing with it's saliva.
Wincing, Monster brought himself up and found himself staring into the glowing eyes of the thing that was trying to eat him. Without a second thought, he brought his claws up, glaring at the creature, "I don't die that easy! I surrrvived the Firrre R-R-Rain, I can surrrvive you!"
Before he could thrust his blades into it's hide, however, the creature jerked it's head violently, sending Monster flying into a nearby tree. The bounty hunter hit the tree bark hard and fell to the ground, crippled and motionless, blood trickling down his forehead.
Growling, the huge beast stomped over to the unmoving form of the clawed wild man. It came to a stop and looked down at him, as if confused by what it was seeing. That confusion didn't last long though, because with another roar, it raised it's claws high, ready to tear the man apart when...
"Hiken!"
The fox-beast snapped it's head to the side just in time to see a column of fire ram itself into it's side. Roaring again, this time in pain, the huge creature stumbled away from Monster, it's fur and flesh burning.
"Someone's been a bad girl, playing with her food like that," Shifter muttered from behind his mask as he came out into the clearing, his right hand engulfed in fire, "Kitsune, just what the hell did you do to yourself?"
He looked down at the bounty hunter, then shook his head, clicking his tongue, "Bad girl indeed," he looked back at the recovering Zoan, who seemed to be glaring down at him, looking very pissed off as the flames on it's body died away.
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE PIRATE KING-!?"
Shifter didn't even turn around as Axe and Herman entered the clearing, staring wide-eyed at what used to be their nakama.
"Shifter, what the hell is that thing?" Axe hissed as he reached for his weapon.
The thespian nodded to the creature, "That...would be your foxy friend,"
Axe's hand stopped short and the captain kept staring ahead, "...Dusty?"
"Very same. I'm not sure what she did, but she's definitely not herself," Shifter jerked a thumb to the side, "She did, however, manage to take out your bounty hunter friend. So...I guess that's good to some degree,"
Herman stared at the glowing eyes of his young friend, "Captain, now what do we do?" he asked just before the giant fox roared once more and charged at them.
Axe scowled, "We fight!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kilnorc: Oh man, this is nuts! Another slight clue to Axe's history and Dusty takes out the bounty hunter, but at a terrible price! Can the others bring her back to normal, and can they get info out of the bounty hunter about their friends? Stay tuned!
On the next chapter of Dead or Alive...
Axe: Herman, be careful! That thing may have the body of a monster, but Dusty's still in there somewhere!
Herman: I never thought I'd be doing this to a friend...
Shifter: Stow it and bring her down!
Axe: How can you use the same Devil Fruit Techniques of the people you stole them from?!
Shifter: I don't know and I don't care! Besides, I get the feeling we'll need them!
Beauty and the Beast
Axe: Kachi Kachi no Drill Kick!
Ookami Ame - Wolf Rain
Ato Bakemono no Aitou - A Beast's Lament (according to a friend)