Beauty and the Beast

Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece

Kilnorc: Guess what guys?! Special chapter! Not just because it involves Monster-Dusty and her nakama, but because of this! Recently, I have recieved my 100th review for Dead or Alive, yay! -waves arms rapidly- Here's to 100 more!

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Herman cursed loudly as he rolled out of the way of Monster-Dusty's giant hand, her claws slicing a group of trees, causing them to fall over. The merman swiveled his eyestalks around and watched as his Captain and Shifter dragged Monster safely out of the battlefield before coming back.

The lobster man looked up and saw that Monster-Dusty seemed to be a bit distracted by something, so he took this opportunity to join his leader and the strange thespian on the sides. When he joined them, he looked back at the large beast in front of them, who looked confused.

"This is nuts," Axe whispered, scanning his transformed nakama, "I can't believe she did it!"

Herman looked at him, "Did what?"

"I remember listening to Kirsty as she told Dusty over and over not to eat three Rumble Balls in a certain time limit," Axe scratched his chin, "She must've thought one could've helped her beat Monster, but when it looked bad, she thought the power of three Rumble Balls would've helped her win...but now look at her,"

Herman looked back at Dusty with sad eyes, "So what do we do?"

"Easy," Axe cracked his neck and tossed his giant and throwing weapons to the ground, "We'll have to bring her back to her senses. I can control myself with my weapons, but I don't know how her body is against them...don't wanna use too much force," he turned to his chef, "Herman?"

"Yes, Captain?'

"Be careful, eh?" Axe looked back at Monster-Dusty, who was looking from side to side, her backside to them, "That...thing...may have the body of a monster, but Dusty's still in there somewhere,"

Herman nodded solemnly as his left hand was soon covered by some of his red shell covering and turned into a giant claw, "This is gonna be rough,"

"Rough, yeah, but it's necessary," Shifter folded his arms across his chest, "I think we should divide and conquer on her...,"

Both Herman and Axe stared at him in silent surprise.

Shifter glanced at them from behind his mask, "What?"

"Why are you helping us, helping her?" Herman asked, pointing to his friend.

Shifter scoffed and rubbed the back of his head, "I'm not. I'm helping myself. The kit took out the bounty hunter, which is good, but with her likethat...," he nodded to Monster-Dusty, "I'd probably get killed if I'm alone and personally, I'd like to get off this island!"

Axe looked at him for a few moments, "hmphed", and turned back to his nakama, "Splitting up sounds good. Herman, take the left...Shifter, take the right...I'll take her from behind,"

"I'm glad Azu's not here," Herman smiled, "He'd make that into a bad joke,"

Axe laughed under his breath as the three of them slowly made their way around the large beast.

I'm surprised she hasn't smelled or heard us yet...Herman thought as they crept towards her, Foxes are supposed to have keen hearing...so what's going on?

A loud snapping sound filled the air and Herman looked down to see that he had just stepped on a piece of wood that once belonged to one of the fallen trees.

"Oh shit...," he slowly lifted his head and paled slightly when he saw that Dusty was looking down at him, her glowing red eyes staring into his stalks, "Oh shit,"

"Herman, move!" Axe yelled as he suddenly broke into a run and jumped onto Dusty's huge body.

Feeling the presence of the treasure hunter, Dusty turned her attention to him instead of Herman. Axe grit his teeth as held on tightly to Dusty's fur, "Don't worry, Dust, this'll be over soon...," he whispered as he began to climb the coat of fur.

As Axe began to climb, Monster-Dusty growled and pushed off the ground, rising to full height as she stood on her thick legs.

Herman stared in amazement as the giant fox was now standing on her hind legs, "Oh man...didn't know she could do that,"

"LESS TALKY AND MORE FIGHTY!" Axe screamed from his spot.

Right... Herman took a deep breath, "I never thought I'd be doing this to a friend...,"

"Stow it and bring her down!" Shifter barked as he shot a glare at the lobsterman, "For now, keep those sentimental feelings of yours inside and don't think of this thing as your friend!"

"I can't!" Herman shot back at him, trying to find an open spot on Monster-Dusty, "I just can't!"

While the other two debated on what they could, or couldn't bring themselves to do, Axe continued to climb up Dusty's back.

Kirsty's gonna have a long talk with you after this... he thought angrily, "Kit, if you can hear me from in there, I'm sorry for what I'm about to do!"

Axe raised a fist and aimed for the nearest joint, but before he could even try and disable the joint, Dusty reached over her shoulder and grabbed him. The huge fox monster brought the young captain to it's face and snorted loudly, sending foul smelling breath his way.

Coughing and gagging, Axe waved his hand in front of his nose, "Aw man, that's nasty! We'll talk to Herman, too, make sure you're careful about what you eat...or at least brush your teeth more often, kit,"

Monster-Dusty snarled loudly, as if she or rather it, understood what he just said...right before throwing him hard into the air. Herman and Shifter watched as their comrade-in-arms flew out of sight, past the trees.

"Oh, for the love of-," Shifter pushed Herman away and walked a short ways toward Dusty, who was now turning to face them, "Kit, you won't have an easy time with me!" he knelt down and planted both hands on the ground, eyes staring up at her, "Ground Seco!"

As soon as those words left his lips, the grass around Shifter started to dry up and die. Herman watched as the ground began to crumble away and turn into sand. Though stunned, Herman quickly moved far enough away, while Monster-Dusty advanced on the concentrating Shifter. As her hind feet touched the crumbling sand, she immediately lost her balance and fell forward.

"Jackpot!" Shifter rose to his feet, panting. Without wasting a moment, he raised his hands again, but this time, aimed them at the sand around Dusty's form, "Hiken!". For the second time, Herman watched as flames erupted from Shifter's arms. Shifter waved his fiery arms from side to side, using his borrowed Mera Mera powers to melt the newly created sand. He also watched as the sand turned to shiny glass while Dusty's limbs remained buried.

First, he turned the earth to sand, then he melted the sand into glass, trapping Dusty in one spot! Herman slowly shook his head, amazed at Shifter's strategy. Once he was finished, Shifter lowered his arms and fell to his knees, panting heavily. Herman ran as best he could over the sand and hauled Shifter to his feet, "What's wrong?"

Shifter took a deep breath, "I told you...my fruit wears me out. Depending on how much I use my abilities, it varies on how much I sleep and eat afterward...that's one of the major weaknesses of my fruit. If I overexert myself, I've left myself in severe danger,"

(Author's Note: To those wondering how this fruit is with weaknesses, hope that satisfies ya curiosity for now! LOL)

"Well, I think after what you just did to help us out," Herman cracked a smile as he wrapped Shifter's arm around his shoulder, "I think you could use a good rest,"

"And a good meal," Shifter added, chuckling.

Herman looked back at the trapped Zoan Monster in front of them, "Well, she ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon...she's stuck in the ground, but we have no idea as to how to bring her back to normal...any ideas?"

"Why the hell ya askin' me?" Shifter mumbled behind his mask, "I don't know anythin' about this freaky Monster shit...all I know is that I'm tired, I'm starving, and I wanna get the hell off this god damn island!" he screamed.

"Alright, alright...," Herman turned and began walking off, carrying Shifter with him, "Let's go see if we can find Axe, my friends, and something to eat...,"

Shifter grumbled something inaudible, but didn't resist as he walked alongside the lobsterman. As the two of them resumed walking, a loud roar and the sound of glass shattering made them stop in their tracks.

"You gotta be-," Herman turned his stalks around.

"-friggin' kiddin' me!" Shifter's jaw dropped behind his mask.

Monster-Dusty slowly rose from the broken glass pieces, some of which was sticking into her body, but she didn't even seem to notice as blood began to stick to her fur.

"Anymore bright ideas, Mr. Glass?"

"Bite me, fish-boy!"

The two of them could only back away as Monster-Dusty came towards them, looking severely pissed off at them both. Herman was about to run for it with Shifter in his arms, but just as Dusty came lunging for them, a familiar voice cried out.

"KACHI KACHI NO DRILL KICK!"

A dark blur shot out of the jungle treeline and collided with the side of Dusty's torso. Herman squinted and saw that it was his captain, his feet planted in Dusty's fur as he spun around rapidly. Dusty stumbled back at the force of the blow and fell onto the ground while Axe landed on the ground, a very serious look on his face.

"Captain!" Herman called, happy to see him again, "I thought you said-,"

"Forget what I said, Herman!" Axe interrupted him, flexing his hands and cracking his neck, "We can't beat her like this...I gotta stop holding back. I can't go easy on her anymore!"

While Dusty was still recovering from Axe's spinning kick technique, Axe used his Soru training and disappeared from sight. Shifter reared his head back, "Where'd he go?"

Herman shook his head, "I have no clue. I've been with him since before we came to the Grand Line, and I still can't figure out what that move is. I mean-," he stopped and his face soon had a look of astonishment with what he saw next.

Monster-Dusty was rising off the ground, but she wasn't the one doing it, she wasn't even trying to get to her feet. She, a creature that would rival the size of a giant, or a dinosaur was being lifted off the ground. Squinting again, Herman saw that it was Axe that was doing the heavy lifting, so to speak. However, even Herman could tell that this feat was taking a toll on him as well. His face was as red as a tomato, beads of sweat rolling down his face and it looked as though he was trying hard to keep her off the ground.

Shifter whistled, "Damn...,"

Herman shook his head slowly, "I knew he was strong but...," he just trailed off.

The two others watched as Axe lifted Monster-Dusty as high as he could over his head. The captain looked at the giant form that he held, "You...owe...me...," he hissed before using the rest of his strength and with a yell, he threw Dusty as far as he could into the air.

The Zoan Monster roared as she flew higher than Axe had when she tossed him. Herman couldn't help but wonder how that was possible, but it was! Axe looked up at the soaring fox and grit his teeth, "Not done yet...HERMAN!"

"Yeah, boss?" Herman quickly turned to him, "You alright?!"

"I'm fine, but I need you to get ready!" Axe yelled back, "Ready to run, ready to swim...got me?!"

"Uh...yeah, sure, of course!" Herman nodded quickly and lowered Shifter onto the ground, "Sorry, duty to my captain calls,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Shifter fell over onto his back, "I ain't goin' anywhere...,"

"Herman!"

"I'm ready, Captain!"

"Good!" Axe looked up at Dusty and crouched as far as he could go, "Again, I apologize, Dusty,"

Without another word, Axe pushed hard off the ground and flew into the blue sky, following Dusty's tossed body. Using Geppou, he moved from underneath to Dusty's side, then pushed off towards her.

"Kachi Kachi no Crush!"

Axe's powerful kick connected with Dusty's shoulder. The kitsune roared in pain as she was sent flying off once more, this time all the way to the side of the beach where Axe and Herman found the wasteland of skeletons. As he fell back to the ground, Axe watched as Dusty plummeted towards the azure sea.

Hang on, Dusty...help's coming!

As soon as he hit the ground, Axe sent huge amounts of sand into the air as he made a small crater with his body. Shifter closed his eyes as the sand came falling back to the ground. Coughing, Axe climbed out of the crater, dusting himself off and looked around. He and Shifter were the only ones in the area. Smiling to himself, Axe made his way to the Devil Fruit user.

"Glad to see Herman understood my orders,"

Shifter groaned and cracked an eye open, "Ready to run, ready to swim...the first part I got, but the second half-,"

"To tell ya the truth, that was pure luck on my part," Axe plopped down next to him, "I didn't wanna kill her, so when holding back didn't work, I got reluctant. For some odd reason, don't ask me why I don't even know, but this just popped into my head," he shook his head, "Let's just hope that seawater can do something to her in that form, otherwise, we're all screwed,"

He looked around again, "Did we have all this sand here before?"

Shifter yawned, "No, that was me," he held up a hand, "It's one thing to get an ability off of Fire Fist, but from a Shichibukai while he's down?" he laughed, "That's a wonderful thing!"

"You got Sir Crocodile's Suna Suna no Mi ability?" Axe turned and stared at him, "What the-,"

"Hey, be glad I got it," Shifter interrupted him, "With this, I just used Ground Seco and Hiken...boom, instant glass, then kit got through it," he shook his head, "Wore me out and wasn't the best plan, but hey, had to try something,"

Axe glared at him.

"What?"

"How the hell can you use the same techniques of the people you stole their abilities from?!" Axe snapped at him.

Shifter looked taken back, even from behind his mask. He then scowled, "Hey, I dunno how I can use them and I don't care! If you ask me, kid, we'll need them on this island! You've seen the freaky shit this island has and-,"

"Shit, that reminds me!" Axe cut him off, rose to his feet and ran over to where Monster still lay, knocked out cold and almost covered by sand, "This asshole needs to answer a few questions...,"

The unique Devil Fruit user looked at him, shook his head, then closed his eyes, "First...sleep,"

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-A Short Time Earlier...-

"What the hell was that?!"

Devon ran out of the galley, some of his steak lunch in his mouth and his friends behind him. He swallowed his meat and looked out at the island, "That's like the tenth time we've heard that roar...swear this is like an ill omen," he shook his head, "Odin, watch over us," he whispered as he patted Austin on the head.

"I wonder what keeps making that noise?"

Devon and Austin turned to see Chizuru leaning against a nearby mast, a book in her hands and her hat pulled downward, hiding her eyes from Devon.

"I'm guessing something big and nasty?" Devon half-asked, half-cracked, "Hell, I dunno, but it can't be good," he looked down at the book, "What're you reading?"

"Oh, just a book Kirsty read to Austin while we were gone that day," Chizuru flipped to the next page, "Interesting tale, Norland the Liar," she flipped to the next page, "I find it even more interesting that I've never heard this of this story before...considering I'm originally from the North Blue,"

Devon raised an eyebrow, "You're from the North Blue?"

"Mhm," Chizuru nodded, not even looking up, "From a place called Sparrow Island. I lived there until I was thirteen,"

"Why? You move to a new island?"

Chizuru slowly closed the book and shook her head, "No...when I was thirteen years old, my island was raided by a pirate crew who had recently lost their previous captain, thanks to my father. They obviously wanted revenge for their nakama, so they came to my house, shot my mother to death and abducted me. I had a choice: serve and live with them as a crewmember, or die in the sea," she pushed the brim of her hat up and Devon could see some sadness in Chizuru's eyes, "You can guess which one I chose...,"

The two of them looked at each other for a while, then Devon turned and looked back at the island.

"This crew has so many things in common," he murmured.

Chizuru nodded as she opened up the book and began reading again, "You have no clue whatsoever,"

As Devon stared out at the island, listening to the sloshing of waves against the ship, movement out of the corner of his eye made him look to the side. Austin had his hands over the railing, but he was moving his fingers quickly. Devon growled slightly, but kept his cool and looked back at the island.

"Hey, Chizuru, would you mind taking Austin inside for lunch?" he asked casually, "Herman says he needs to get more meat on those bones of his and it is about that time of day,"

Chizuru closed her book and walked over to him, "Of course, Devon," she took Austin's shoulder and as she walked, she stopped just behind the blonde swordsman, "Be careful,"

"Thank you, Chizuru," he called, waving as she walked to the galley.

Once the door closed, Devon cracked his knuckles and neck, then casually unsheathed Geri and Freki.

Leave the other two in case I need them...

Gripping his swords tightly, Devon spun around just in time to block two strange blades from cutting into his body.

"Devon the Demon, anittoryu swordsman worth 40,000,000 Beli...not a bad bounty for a rookie,"

Devon scowled, "You picked the wrong place to earn a living...,"

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Kilnorc: Oh man, that was a rough chapter -rubs head- I really hope I did this well. I mean, it's hard to think of a way to beat a Monster-Zoan when the only way to revert them to normal is to plunge them into water...anyhoo, I hope this was entertaining. Some of my reviewers have been wondering about the downsides of Shifter's fruit, and I've revealed a couple of them here...so get off my back! LOL, j/k, just hassling ya'll. Anyhoo, once again, hope you've enjoyed this and later!

On the next chapter of Dead or Alive...

Herman: I hope that Dusty won't do that big ass creature thing...at least for a long while.

Axe: As soon as this guy wakes up, leave the talking to me, guys.

Shifter: I got no problem with that, hell, he's after you not me.

Devon: Damn bounty hunter...tougher than most I've come across!

???: This'll definitely be one of my better jobs...wonder if my friend's got the others?

Kirsty: Devon!

???: Demon and White Dragon...hell of a payday!

The Huntress

Dusty: Aw man, what hap-...WHY THE HELL AM I NAKED?!