It was a normal day for the straw-hat pirates. The island on the other hand, ….
The sun was shining, pterodactyls tweeting and the mossy exterior of the million-year-old trees were casting off a greenish pollen that made us all cough when inhaled.
And breakfast was as usual.
Luffy stealing everything, Zoro and Sanji fighting, Usopp trying to get Luffy to belch flames of the dead and the girls standing to the side watching the disorder. And of course, I was OUTSIDE the lounge drinking some tea, trying to drag the remainders of sleep I had after taking the night shift, away from me. With the amount of force that Sanji and Zoro were placing in their kicks or respective punches, I was completely sure that I was in an anime. Wind was flying from the sheer shockwave of their hits. The original crew must have had plot armor or anime armor (Where you can fly 200 mph into a brick wall and just crash through it) whereas I was still (relatively) human. I wasn't sure if anime armor was given to everyone that was in this world, and I sure as hell wasn't willing to test that with the unholy ritual that others called a meal.
Alex is a smart and cautious kid.
Be less like Alex.
Noting that it was a calm day as the din only reached a mild roar, rather than the usual thunder, I relaxed my posture slightly, letting the breeze ruffle my hair. Sipping on tea, I let the fragments of green tea hit my senses. Light and fresh, yet still tangible even with the wind blowing the smell away from me. This was truly a calm day, but I was still sweating from my clothing. I was clad in a dark green hoodie and dark jeans, imitating the look of a make-do terrorist. I had made sure that I had as little area of skin showing, in fear of insects transmitting their diseases. Even if the crew didn't contract illnesses, I wasn't going to leave my health to chance. Huh. Must have been another plot armor thing.
I was planning for the day ahead. The island would have the giants Broggy and Dorry, who I didn't have to worry much about. They were nice and only had quarrels with each other. But the problem was the agents. Mr. 3 who had the wax-wax Devil Fruit with him, was the main antagonist and had nearly killed Vivi, Nami and Zoro. On the other hand, Ms Goldenweek had some type of hypnosis, but was still a child, so she could have been easily taken care of, and Mr. 5 alongside Ms. Valentines was easily disarmed by the monster trio at first, so that was simple as well. The only other small (heh) problem left, were the dinosaurs.
"GARRROUUUGGHHHHH!"
Ah yeah, I forgot about that. Did I mention there were dinosaurs?
Taking this opportunity as the roar had startled everyone inside, I picked myself off the ground and dusted off my pants. Time to start the day. Reaching for the doorknob, I paused and slowly retracted my hand.
My subconscious asked, 'WHO DOESN'T LIKE A GRAND ENTRANCE?'
I absolutely agreed with it. So, I kicked the door open.
BAM!
"LISTEN UP EVERYBODY!"
Everyone turned to me, halting their meal/fight.
"As we approach the next island, take precaution when walking through."
It was silent for a moment.
Silence.
Just pure undiluted silenc-
"And we should listen to you because ….?" Zoro muttered out, still trying to pry some bread from Luffy's grasp.
"If you all recall, our dear informant than had nearly tried to kill me a few weeks prior, said that this path back to Alabasta was known by all the agents." I looked at them solemnly, making sure I wasn't going to say too much. "Ergo, that must mean that there should be agent duo either on, or near this island." I turned to Vivi who was starting to look worried. "Vivi, we have met the Mr. 5 pair, which means that we should encounter someone above them. What do you know about the rest?"
She nervously glanced at us. "Well, Igaram and I were only really trying to find Mr. 0's identity, so we don't know much about the others." She flinched at the faces we were giving her.
"Never mind then …. But back to the point, whoever travels into that jungle," I pointed to the window, "-make sure you go with someone to avoid getting ambushed, just in case there are agents there. Also, seeing as you all had heard the roar just now-"
"GARRRRROOOOAAAAHHHHH!"
A roar punctuated the air, as if on cue.
"-I highly doubt that those are the normal type of jungle creatures that we would be traversing with." Clasping my hands together, with a leer on my face, "Now buckle up kiddys, there's gonna be some adventure!"
"WOOO! ADVENTURE!"
"I think I got I-can't-go-on-that-island-itis…"
"We're doomed with these idiots….."
"WHY ARE YOU ALL SO CALM?!"
I turned to Vivi, confusion written on my face. "We don't do panic. Well, maybe Nami and Usopp do, but the majority of us had the option of-" I quoted. "-'running away FROM danger' taken away. Normally Luffy brings the danger to us."
"Aren't any of you afraid of death?"
"If you guys do go out there, could you kill a few things too? I think we're running low on supplies." Sanji pondered, looking at the jungle with a blood lusted grin. "I wonder if we can eat monsters…."
I pointed behind me.
"Well, Nami is currently strangling Luffy over there-"
"GRK! GAK!"
"STOP GOING ALONE INTO JUNGLES WITH MONSTERS IN THEM YOU IDIOT!"
"-And Zoro is trying to kill Sanji again. And vice-versa."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY MOSS FOR BRAINS?!"
"SHIT COOK I JUST FUCKING SAID, I CAN KILL SOMETHING THAT'S LARGER THAN WHAT YOU WILL EVER BE ABLE TO!"
"SAY THAT AGAIN AND I'LL MAKE SURE YOU WON'T SEE THE SUN TOMMORROW!"
"Usopp's playing with Carue"
"QUACK!"
"HOLD STILL SO I CAN HELP YOU!"
She stared at them all.
"And then there's me, who's smart enough not to get in a fight with either pair, and I try to meditate. Wholly ignoring the fights behind me."
I sat down and poured more tea into another small porcelain cup, sprinkling in some spice. I let the aroma waver through the room, and offered it to her with a small smile.
"Would you like some tea? I find it calming after a shock." Pondering about what I had just said, I took back the cup. "Ignore that, I only find alcohol calming after losing your sanity. I lost mine after joining them."
Walking to the beer rack, I took a bottle and threw it across the room. "Here you go."
She could only drag her face down with her hands, groaning.
Taking a sip,
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
-0-
"I SMELL ADVENTURE!"
"We'll be back soon everyone!"
And with that, Vivi, Carue and Luffy were off, traversing into the dangerous jungle, absolutely unprepared for what was to come. I tried, right?
Watching the trio enter the mass of green, I started packing my bag, absentmindedly taking my medical supplies. Never hurt to be too careful, right? Now how did this arc go?
Nami and Usopp were taken by Brogy, or was it Dorry? Meh, either way they would get pulled into the fight no matter what I did, so I'll leave them be. Then Zoro and Nami get trapped by Mr.3 and then get placed on the death candle. I couldn't do jack shit against Mr.3, so I'll also leave them be. Mr. 5 and Ms. Valentine would arrive some time later, capture Vivi and give her to Mr.3 but be saved by Luffy, Carue and Usopp.
So where did Sanji fit into this?
The log pose.
Oh yeah, he accidentally found the Mr.3 duo and took the Alabasta eternal log pose. That was the priority now. Without it, Vivi wouldn't be able to return home and we would probably all die due to the viruses here. The monster trio couldn't fight a microscopic disease, and Nami would have died without medical attention.
Speaking of which, I winced at the fact I was prospecting the choice in the original series, letting Nami suffer through that hellish ordeal. But we also needed Chopper, and to save Drum kingdom. And because of my actions with Dragon, Sabo was going to be there as well!
One for the many, right? Hell, she wouldn't even die!
"…."
Wow. That felt psychopathic.
But first things first. I needed to find a certain candle house.
"Seeya!"
"WAIT!" Shrieked Nami, "Now that Vivi and Luffy is gone, what's on this island?"
I turned to her, making sure I had my best shit-eating grin on my face, chuckling darkly. "That's against Luffy's orders, so all I can say is this." I pointed towards the jungle. "prepare yourselves, this island is going to get bumpy."
She sighed at my antics. "Well, at least it won't be that bad-" She turned to me. "-right?"
I smiled like I had never smiled before. "When I said bumpy, I meant by Luffy's standards."
She went rigid as she processed my words.
FWIP!
With a flourish of my bo, I vaulted over the railing and landed onto the shoreline, stumbling a bit at first, but quickly brushing it off.
"SEEYA! HEY SANJI! WAIT UP!"
"GET BACK YOU MANIAC!"
I decided to pointedly ignore the crying behind me.
-0-
WAP!
"So, tell me again why you're following me?" Muttered Sanji as he kicked another small dinosaur away.
THWACK!
Ducking underneath the black furry projectile, I turned to him. "I told you, I can't tell you, but you'll understand when we get there."
Rolling his eyes, he picked up the small bird(?) I looked at it curiously. I was never a dinosaur person, but I knew the basics.
"The hell is this thing …" He wondered, prodding the dead dinosaur.
At first glance, it would have seemed that it was a black bird, but instead of talons, it had hind legs, adorned with wings. It had a long tail trailing behind it, which could have been mistaken as a monkey's tail, except for the feathers on the end of it. The bird was the length of my arm, and seemed like a bizarre and mutated version of a normal pigeon, proving my suspicions of this universe. This was a dinosaur, probably a prehistoric version of the modern-day pigeon.
'Which could not have possibly flown' I thought as I poked its hind legs. With the extra weight, it would have been difficult to do so.
"I'm pretty sure that's a dinosaur Sanji." I answered, observing at my surroundings.
If I took some leaf samples with me, could I have sold them back on earth for money? Scientists would probably love some and paid a hefty amount of money, but there would be too many questions asked. Grumbling as I broke through some vines, I followed the trail of the steadily-growing-larger bodies as I kept traversing along the makeshift path. As I strolled through the jungle, I let the scenery engulf me.
The jungle in which I was originally placed on was a bit dense, but the trees didn't block out all the sunlight. There was room for flowers to grow, and I would occasionally stumble upon a colorful grove of flowers, or some type of fruit or berry. The wildlife was relatively calm, consisting mainly of omnivores rather than carnivores, and the few there were tended to keep to the shadows, ignoring me and tending to themselves. This time, the jungle around me was nothing but a dense pack of leaves that took up almost all light sources, leaving meager amounts of light filtering through.
The bugs had extra limbs and were much larger than usual, scattering back into the bushes as we came close. And the plant life was weird, to say the least. Instead of flamboyant colors, the different species seemed all be only in a dark murky green, and they were all moving to some sort of invisible rhythm or beat, almost hypnotically. I cautiously stroked what seemed to be a touch-me-not plant, but to my surprise, instead of recoiling away, it seemed to extend itself a bit, grasping at the air….
Then slamming shut.
FIP!
Gawd damn. Even from half a meter away, I felt the breeze of the leaves snapping together, which must have been lethal to bugs and small predators. Needless to say, this jungle was clearly nature formed, and mother nature was terrifying. Another thing I noted, was that the trees all had the same dark mossy green color. This coupled with the lack of light created the effect of being on a place untouched by man, lost to all traces of humanity.
"CALIBER SHOT!"
THUNK!
Oh, that poor dinosaur. At least it was quick.
It felt almost alien, but it could have just been my city senses popping up again. A thing that comic books didn't show you, while you were reading in your air-conditioned room, was that the humidity was overwhelming. The constant itch of your skin as your body thought it was being attacked by insects was only enhanced by the infrequent breezes, and I had to check every time just in case a bug was biting me. Who knows what diseases that they carried? My shirt was damp with sweat already, and I was glad for my combat boots, as they repelled all water.
I sighed as I kept walking, heaving myself up on a dead dinosaur. The dinosaur was twice the size of me, lengthways, but I my height was almost equal to that of. It had brownish grey skin, but a white under belly, that felt rough and rubbery under my touch. At a passing glance, it would have seemed like a small tyrannosaurus rex, but when up close, you could see the differences. The arms were still much larger than a t-rex's and it had no teeth. It must have been an omnivore. Maybe a distant relative of the ostrich? Its beak was sharp, attached to its small head, its neck was almost half the size of its torso. But a thing I wondered as I stroked its neck, was how the hell did Sanji even kill that thing?!
I mean of course, he broke its neck, but how could he have possibly generated that much force to break its neck without piercing the skin? Was it just anime physics again or was he able to control his strength to an uncanny degree where he could potentially use as much force that was needed to finish a single task, yet still able to keep some in reserve? Or was it anime for kids, censoring the part where he would have kicked it to oblivion, breaking the neck completely and leaving a massive gaping wound open? Either way this simple task of killing a dinosaur showed how adept he was at his power. I used brawling as my go-to, but all I did was hit them as hard and as fast as I could. No was skill needed for that and my Devil Fruit was only used as a defensive tactic to make my skin like steel, but without more training my punches wouldn't do much. Even with hardened skin. I really did need to train more with Sanji.
Speaking of which, where was he?
'….'
"H-Hello?"
Looking around, I saw that the trail of bodies had disappeared with nothing but trees towering around me. Unless you included the occasional buzz of insects and the blood stains from where I came from. Logs that had fallen to the elements were littered around me and I found myself to be in a small clearing where the sun was shining down upon me. Dead roots were entangled with each other at the base of the trees with bugs crawling over the upturned dirt, which so happened to be in a near-perfect circle around me. Still stood upon the dead dinosaur I realized what this was.
…
…
…
…
A pterodactyl flew above the dense greenery. "CAW! CAW! CAW!"
'….'
Shit.
My eye twitched.
"FUCKING ANIME LOGIC!"
I slapped my hands on my mouth, aghast at how loud my voice was.
Whacking my head, "Stupid, Stupid!" The agents were on this island! Not to mention dinosaurs! I probably alerted the whole fucking island!
I needed to get the hell out of here before something or someone decided to fuck me over!
Unlocking my bo, I chose a random direction and sped back towards the jungle, looking for higher ground. I kept running in a single direction, scattering the leaves and wildlife as I raced across the mossy ground. Breaking branches as I raced across the wilderness, I was pretty sure I cut myself a few times but I was too caught up in panicking to care. If I was caught by either party, human or dinosaur, I was dead. Human meant broken bones or turned into wax, while dinosaurs meant getting eaten. I was eager to try new things but not suicidal enough to try either experience.
The morbid thoughts kept me on the task at hand and I piled on the speed. Breaking through another misshapen log, I started reinforcing myself, preparing to fight. My lungs were already burning with fatigue, and the atmosphere of the jungle wasn't helping. I knew I would soon have to slow down but I needed to get as much distance from where the clearing was, to …. uh…. ANYWHERE ELSE. Thankfully it wasn't long until I heard the tell-tale sound of splashing liquid and that was when I knew I had to be close to the shoreline. I could recollect my directions there, follow the river and find the Merry.
Jumping onto an upturned stone, I kicked off and flew over a smaller unrooted tree. Rolling backwards I knelt on the ground wiping away the sweat on my forehead, trying to catch my breath. I paused and strained my ears, on the lookout for some rumbling of a stray dinosaur, or the footsteps of humans trying to look for some easy prey.
.
.
.
'CA-CAW MOTHERFUCKERS'
Other than the occasional prehistoric bird flying, nothing.
"Fuck mmeee…"
I moaned in relief and laid my head on the rough bark, panting softly as I tried to recollect my thoughts.
Well, that was dramatic. Also, what was the point of that again?
Yeah? Well, fuck you too. And to run from potential threats.
So basically, to further the plot.
Hush you.
"Fucking love-cook. I bet he did it on purpose…." I grumbled out clearing my bangs out of my eyes. Spinning a card in my hand, I looked at my surroundings. Trees surrounded me, and-
"Garoughh?"
I froze as the upturned tree shifted underneath my back. Sweat cascaded down my back like a waterfall, I slowly turned to the piece of (What I thought was) dead bark. What had seemed to be an innocent log on the overgrown ground had turned to be the scaly, dark brown, blood drenched rear leg of what seemed to be a dying dinosaur.
So, are they one of the ones that try to eat you, or is it a vegan? Also, Blood.
"SHIT!"
Noticing the half-dried blood spurting from his form, I leapt backwards, slamming into a tree.
"Garough…"
"holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit." fervently whispering, teeth chattering, eyes widening at the sight.
FWIP!
My cards had started to defensively encircle around my waist, twirling in sync, ready to strike at anything. Clutching my bo in a death-grip, I leaned in closer peering at the suffering animal.
"Garoughh."
With the 3 horns on its scaly head, a duo on the forehead and one on its hind nose, it was easily identifiable. As the triceratops had turned its head towards me, it unrooted leaves and dirt with its frill on the back of it skull and looked at me with curiosity for a moment. It's seemed to be crying from the wound and its moan was slowly diminishing in volume. It wavered its gaze on me for a few scant seconds, before losing interest and slowly turned away and looked back at its legs, where it seemed to have been pierced by sharp objects covered by its blood.
Why the hell was a dinosaur just lying on the ground covered with (I hope) was its own blood, away from its pack or den? Wasn't a triceratops an omnivore? Why would it come so near to the water's edge without a stable food source? And if it had been wounded by a carnivore, wouldn't it have been eaten by now? I knew for a fact that food was always a fickle thing around dinosaurs, so why would a big predator willingly leave its prey, completely defenseless and ready for consumption, alone?
Because something else was bigger than it?
The triceratops was now trying to prop itself on its non-injured knees, to lie on a tree but failing abruptly. It had gotten halfway up the bark, scales scraping against the wood. The tree started tilting dangerously, creaking ominously as the sudden mass was placed upon it. The triceratops stood up straight, showing its true height, towering over my form. It took an unsteady step forwards, before placing a tad bit too much pressure onto its hind leg and blood spurted, spewing blood. It cried out, and the mighty beast succumbed to its wounds.
"GAROOUUGHHHH!"
I winced as the blood started flowing freely, washing over the ground, the smell of the coppery liquid overwhelming. The dinosaur was truly down now. Its legs had some dried blood on them, acting as a bandage and stopping blood from spilling out, but as it scraped across the ground it had been ripped off. If the blood before wasn't enough to cause predators to come check the smell, its roar of pain certainly was. I peeled myself off the tree that I had been gripping onto and started trotting in the blood, cautiously checking the fallen giant.
Unlike the carcass that I had touched earlier, the dinosaur still had life within. I slowly stroked its back, noting how much it felt like rough bark, with smooth coiling muscles beneath the skin. Surprisingly, it was warm blooded, disproving theories of modern science. You would have thought that a dinosaur was a reptile, right?
"garoughhh…"
Flinching at the sound, I used my bo to push off any remains of dried blood, trying to find the wound. I knew that it was most likely that another predator had wounded it, but that still didn't explain why it left. Even if a predator heard me coming, why would it leave its meal?
Wiping off sweat of my head, I peered into the gaping wound and promptly fell back. What had seemed like skin and muscle sinew covered in blood, turned into what used to be a trio of white stakes, driven into the hind legs of the dinosaur. The blood of the dinosaur must have degraded the stakes, and I gingerly touched them and noted how they were all placed in a single vertical line upwards, proving myself right. A certain assassin had passed by here and the dinosaurs that were in his way must have been obliterated.
But why?
A triceratops was an omnivore so what was the point of Mr. 3 harming one? The horns were only there to protect itself from carnivores, so they were relatively peaceful creatures. It had treated me with some curiosity, but had left me alone to my own instruments, more focused on itself. Did Mr. 3 provoke it? And if so, why would he? Why would an assassin go out of his way to kill a passive animal? Was he here to get some meat?
…
Wow. I've been spending too much time with Luffy.
Or was he just a psychopath, who enjoyed the pain of others, preying on things weaker than him?
I sighed as the depressive thoughts re-appeared.
Once again, the light veil of the One Piece universe was lifted off for a brief moment as reality set in once more. Death was real here, not just some fairy type shit with each death being displayed to the viewing audience was used to invoke emotions or some lesson about life. Some people died without much purpose, stumbling in the harsh game that we call life. Oda made each death tasteful but when placed into the universe he drew, you can see he never was too gory, showing what would have really happened if this had been real.
In the comic, the crew had easily dispatched the two pairs of assassins, but how many before them had been tortured and been turned into wax statues? I shuddered as my thoughts became even more morbid. The victims weren't turned into statues, but been encased IN the steel wax, trapped in darkness, unable to move ever again, unable to feel anything until they died of hunger or from lack of oxygen, whichever came first. Death for them would be a gift to release them from an unending limbo.
Mr. 3 was the dictionary definition of a psychopath.
With Luffy and his crew taking out the Mr. 5 pair easily, I couldn't help but think about how the others killed their victims. At least Robin killed with a quick neck snap but how did others kill? Crocodile literally turned them into dust, while Mr. 2 used martial arts to snap bones. Neither were merciful, but at least they wouldn't suffer for long, and Crocodile, even with all his flaws, wouldn't kill without reason, albeit it being a shitty reason. I had long forgotten about the 1 and 4 pairs, but I knew for a fact that the 5 pair enjoyed taking their time.
They enjoyed the bloodshed and watching their victims writhe and squirm in pain. Valentine would torture them by increasing her weight while sitting upon them, cartilage slowly cracking, as pound after pound of flesh turned bones into dust. Mr. 5 would blow parts of their bodies bit by bit, even going as far to tone down the flames of his explosives to cause burns and blisters. Would it really be that bad to kill them? Were they even in the comic after leaving the island? Who would even know about them-
Stop.
KA-BOOOM!
A volcano exploded nearby and without further ado, so did the sounds of combat. How did no one realize those were sounds of combat, instead of dinosaurs? Was it just the plot?
"Garough…."
I blinked and realized that I had been slowly stroking the head of the triceratops, while in the midst of my thoughts. Snatching my hand back, I noticed that the dinosaur was slowly breathing, each breath diminishing in volume. It's dark opaque eyes stared at me as I held my arm, gradually blinking more and more sluggishly, almost like it was embracing sleep yet still fully aware of what was to come.
Death was a natural part of life in a prehistoric jungle with each predator and prey playing a role in the ecosystem. This triceratops was an adult, and death was no stranger to the memories of allied herbivorous being hunted by carnivores, even sometimes fighting back and killing them.
Looks like dinosaurs die with more dignity that humans.
I stroked his head slowly and it looked at me once more with its final spark of life. The dinosaur seemed to sigh slowly in content, and with that final breath, its eyes rolled backwards, the light within them dimmed and the dinosaur moved no more.
I sighed and placed my head upon the tree, still stroking, and sending a silent prayer for the fallen animal. Nothing should die by anything who didn't care. Life was a fragile thing and should not have been played with. Everything had a purpose in life, whether it be a shitty purpose or not, they still had to exist for something.
I sighed again and made to stand up...
...Only to find the root of my fingers had been stuck to the hide.
My fingers had become numb and to my growing horror, where the tips of my finger had stroked the dinosaur head, had sunken into the skull. They were the starting points of what seemed to be the dinosaur's entire nervous system, glowing a violent red as the lines slowly spread across it's body. Masses of lines focused around the head of the animal, and were evenly spread out from head to toe. Coiling with each other, the lines slowly dissolved into a single system of glowing fire.
I could only watch in morbid curiosity.
As the lines started to connect with each other, the points of contact turned a ashy grey and slowly creeped back up the system of spiderwebs, intertwined with each other now. As the system slowly dulled its colours back into the hide of the animal, the lowermost part of the dinosaurs tail suddenly turned into grey dust.
My eyes widened.
As the system began turning back into a dull red, the lines started recoiling and coiling at a faster rate, slowly eating away at the tail. Feeling returned back into my fingertips, and wherever the grey receded from the "shoreline" of the dust, were fragments of its hide breaking off quickly turning into flakes of grey sand before they hit the ground. Now the tail was completely gone, and the hindquarters were slowly falling victim to wha-whatever I was doing.
"Getoffgetoffgetoff!"
Yanking on my hand, I saw that the system of lines had crawled back into my hand, stopping at where my wrist. Instead of the usual red veins, they were grey, much like the dinosaurs epidermis, and I knew what would happen.
"GET OFF OF ME!"
I continuously whacked my bo onto the skull of the animal, trying to gain some form of ground. Muscles straining, the muscles in my arm firing at full throttle to remove my connection. The dust reached its mid section, dissolving the organs as well, leaking blood everywhere onto the ground as the bones clattered against each other, splashing blood everywhere
"SHITSHITSHIT!"
The coppery smell of blood was intoxicating and I was starting to feel panic stricken now. I could feel the tendons and ligaments in my forearm stretching to their limit, and as I started kicking the skull I sent reinforcement into my legs and arms. As I kept walloping the skull, I found that my hand wouldn't reinforce itself, going as far as my wrist. It was at the upper part of its torso now.
"FUCKING GET OFF!"
Blood splattered onto the overgrown ground. I was hysterical now. Abandoning my bo, I placed my feet onto the fin of it's neck and pushed off.
Need help? I don't know about you, but I'd like BOTH my hands. Oh, wait. I DO know you! SO LET ME HELP YOU PRIC-!
"FUCK OFF-"
CRACK!
As I kept applying pressure, the fin broke apart, shards of bone flying. I fell backwards, and I laid on the ground panting in exertion, as the dust kept advancing. It was at the uppermost part of the spine now. Blood pooled around me, drenching my clothes as the smell started to disorientate me, making me drunk on the fumes. That was a lot of blood.
This is what you get when you don't let me help. You die. Now we both die, and it's your fault. You happy now?
The fin started crumbling down, mixing into the blood soaked ground. I blinked back tears and closed my eyes. I hoped it would be painless.
Fwish!
.
.
.
What?
Peeking an eye open, I saw the remains of the skull dissipate into the wind, and red, wispy ethereal chains floating where the head previously was, hovering in the air. The lines intertwined in the air, as if a intricate dance was being performed.
"What the…."
I waved my hand through the lines, and they recoiled at contact. Once more did the lines sway, before breaking apart and pooling into my fingertips. As the last tendril of the incoperal filament flew into my digit, my veins turned red, and I blanched and fell backwards, drenching myself in blood again.
SPLASH!
It felt as if I had drunken an entire case of redbull in one sitting and the energy from 6 cans had been concentrated into a single glass. But I wasn't focused on that. I was more focused on what the hell I had just done.
I had turned an entire being into dust. Not metaphorically but literally. I had LITERALLY turned something bigger than me, which was JUST ALIVE, into DUST AND ASH.
WHAT THE FUCK.
Holding my hands in front of me, I saw I was shaking in trepidation. It might have been the adrenaline racing through my veins, the exhilarant smell of the blood, o-or the realization I had the power to kill with a simple touch. Would I have to wear gloves for the rest of my life now? I couldn't harm anyone like this!
I shook my head and slowed my breath down, letting the scene wash over me. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and envisioned a plain of grass that stretched over the horiz-
But this smell is wonderful~
I ran.
I kept running.
There was no logic in that.
I kept running from that smell of blood, mixed with the stale air of the jungle. I didn't care where I went, as long as the stench of blood couldn't follow me. The jungle dissolved into a blur of green and brown, but I still kept running. Nothing else mattered more now, but the desire to place myself as far away from the odor of the jungle mingled with the coppery smell of blood.
I wasn't hemophobic, but I had a feeling if I had stayed there, something horrendous would have happened. Standing in the blood felt…. wrong, as if I had entered another person's territory and my subconscious screamed at me to get away. Being covered in blood was bad enough, but combined with the amount of blood staining the ground was going to bring back memories. Bad memories.
I stumbled into another clearing, legs slowly losing momentum as I pulled up, panting from the run. As soon as I had regained normal footing, I shoved my hands into the dirt, and started tearing it up. Why did that happen? How did I turn that being into dust?
I looked towards the sky, devoid of clouds, the sun staring right back at me. I unrooted my hands from the soil and grasped at my chest, confirming my belongings. I fumbled with the silver locket's hinge, creaking slightly as the rust was scraped off. My gaze lingered on it's contents for a meager second, before slamming it shut.
This wasn't earth. This was a completely new universe.
The past had no hold over me now. It was just a single bad day. Bad days happened to everyone. This wasn't any different.
I stood up and stared at my hands, flexing them slowly as they remained colourless, where the grey veins had once been. I sighed as I placed my hands back in my pockets. I would put off that problem until I got off this island, and we were well underway in travelling to Alabasta. For now though? I would have to find a certain wax house. The revolution was more important than some remnant of the past.
I stood back up and turned back towards the trail that I had smashed through as I had panicked, leaving a path of havoc. Mr. 3 was a psychopath, but the only reason why a triceratops would have been injured within his wake was because he was going towards somewhere. That somewhere was most likely his house, which meant I had to go through all that again. It was a shitty theory, but that was the only path I had.
Unlocking my bo, I headed back in.
But whacking through another undergrowth, I found that I hadn't ran far, and it wasn't long before I had met with the unholy sight of blood once anew. The jungle creatures didn't have seemed to have touched the blood, but insects had started to crowd around the cerise liquid, stumbling at the sides.
I carried on through the scene, determined not to stare at it.
If a dinosaur had been close to his hideout, then the duo must have had dinosaurs littered around the exterior, meaning that the more dead dinosaurs I found, meant the more likely I was closer to my goal.
The path to the salvation of Alabasta is through death…
Shut up.
Make me.
The trees acted as guardians to the forest, each large and unyielding from the elements and the constant combat, yet still seemed ancient, each a skyscraper from the glades. Through a small opening through a bush, I found a well worn path, leaves scattered around it, as the naked earth stood freshly unturned.
I went down the distressed path, confident that I would find either sanji, or the house.
.
.
.
But that plan went to shit, as soon enough, I had found the bodies of dinosaurs, each adorned with entangled limbs with wax protruding through their extremities. As I continued along the path each carcass seemed to be more and more grotesque.
A simple spear through a gut turned into an intricate piece of wax haphazardly swirling around the head of another, it was clear I was nearing the little wax house of horrors. I reinforced my torso, making sure that I had the light sheet of armour around me. It wouldn't do much against a direct strike, but at least an indirect hit would probably glance off, giving me time to counter. If I made contact, I could quickly disable his powers, giving me a much larger advantage than him.
But that was the only chance I had. The main goal of this was to obtain the log pose and get out before anyone noticed, so combat was a strict no-no this time.
Awwww...
As I stepped over yet another body, I turned around to check my surroundings. I was in a much bigger clearing with several paths, each leading to different parts of the forest. None of them looked particularly inviting.
The clearing that I was in was filled with the "art pieces", each inscribed with a different memo. I peered inquisitively at a raptor with a colourful red plumage of its feathers, each lined with a single barb at the end. Through its gut was a spear covered in blood. The simplicity of the kill ended there. The ends of the spear had multiple lines entangled through the air, each blossoming into another lily as the points touched, surrounding the bird within its prison. It closely resembled a fucked up ball cut open in two. But within the lillie's anthers and styles, there was a sentence carved into the wax.
'Death should never be quick, it should be a opera~'
'You shall become art~'
'Each death must be choreographed, each a piece of a set~'
Well then. This was certainly a psychopath.
Fucking Jhin mains…
Turning back to the paths, I stepped over a ston-
FWIP! SHICK!
"FUCK!"
The ground imploded, scattering leaves everywhere. The scenery changed instantly, sky turning into ground and ground into sky. As I ascended, or descended, into the sky, I dropped my bo as my sense of gravity was lifted from beneath me, and placed me upside down.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Hollering out obscenities through the air, and as wind shifted, the rope tightened on my legs, leaving me strung up like a fish, still screaming.
"THE FUCK IS THIS?!"
Spinning on a pivot, I could feel the blood rushing towards my head as I laid helpless to the world. As the novelty wore off, I looked back at my legs, the rope kept tightening whilst blocking the flow of blood to my legs. Not that there was much flow anyways.
Cursing at my breath at my stupidity- the forest must have been headquarters for the assassin duo for months! Why the hell wouldn't they put down several traps! The whole place must have been Mr.3's backyard for 'art', which clearly meant he must have visited here regularly!
"Oh fuck me …" I ground out, still spinning in the air.
KA-BOOOM!
I turned towards the sound, staring at where the volcano stood. This was when they were captured, slowly turning into wax. I sighed again as I realized that the crew was in danger, and I hadn't even seen the smallest speck of white stone.
Oh fuck the plan, I needed to help them.
And how do you plan to do that?
"FUCK OFF!"
As I said moments prior, make me.
"YOU DON'T E-"
"You know, people say speaking to yourself is the first sign of madness."
I froze at the voice of a child, accompanied with the crinkling of wrapper paper. Crunching on a cracker, tone bland and uncaring to the point of boredom, I was sure this was Goldenweek.
I kept staring at the mossy bark, back still faced towards her.
You know she can hit you right? Her entire job is to ensnare people and let Mr.3 kill them, sooooo….
NOT HELPING. FUCKING HELP M-
"Hey! Stop moving! Sadness blue!"
FWIP!
Through my struggling, I had caught a glimpse of the paint hurtling through the air.
Hypnosis was as powerful as the victim let it be. The weaker the will, the easier it would be. The stability of the mind also helped the victim, and so did knowledge of what the hypnosis consisted of, such as how the particular hypnosis worked. She used colours to invoke emotion or feelings within the target, and capitalized on that to keep them in place until help arrived. Blue stood for aloofness or sadness, or could be used for lack of emotion.
I thought this knowledge would be enough to stop the initial reaction.
As the paint hit me, the shock faded away, and for a brief moment I thought it wouldn't affect me.
I thought wrong.
Like a hurricane hitting a shoreline, emotions erupted from within me.
I was useless. I had no place in this world. I was just a kid- barely a adult- who was playing hero in an entirely new universe. I was nothing but a nuisance to everyone around me, both to friend and foe. The crew would have to pick up after me, while I just created more work for enemies. Nothing I did would have changed anything, and life would continue as it was. The others would carry on without me, leading to great feats in this world, but me? I couldn't protect anyone even if I tried, and my efforts to help would only hurt them. I was just the glorified stowaway, just a parasite leeching upon the crew and basking in their victories.
Which is the difference between you and me. Let me out. Let me hel-
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
I violently thrashed within my confinement, trying to claw upwards to the knot, trying to break free.
"H-Hey you! Stop that!"
"DONT FUCKING TOUCH ME!"
Roaring at her, she stumbled at my outburst, but quickly picking up her brush again and mixing up another colour. Yellow and Blue.
Malachite.
Pine.
Jade.
Or more simply,
Green.
My eyes widened as I realized her intentions.
Oh no...
Oh yes~
"Uh kid?" I asked hesitantly, praying to whatever entity was up in the sky. Not the one with the god-complex though, right ?
"I don't know you kid-," I took a deep breath, still unsure of what I was about to do.
OI!
"-but I'm warning you, don't use peace green on me."
She froze and turned to me, still swirling her brush.
"How do you know about tranquill green?"
I placed as much hope I could into my voice, praying she would heed my warning.
"You don't need to know that, but please-" I looked into her blue eyes, still full of life.
NOT FOR LONG!
"-don't do it. You don't know what I'm capable of, so I'm warnin-"
I stopped as she chuckled at my statement.
Wait what?
"You are aware you sound like one of those villains from comic books right?"
I looked at her blankly.
"Tranquill green!"
"NO!"
Time slowed down as the paint flew through the air.
Tranquill green radiated peace, serenity and congeniality.
The polar opposite of what was in me. The thing which I had always wished never existed. As I closed my eyes once anew, the darkness took a single form. One that I had hoped- even prayed for, that would have disappeared after so long. The form tilted its head, looking at me with distaste, almost disappointed. It then crouched down and jum
She lowered her brush. Tranquill green should have been enough. She then frowned, chewing on her end of her brush, thinking back on the weird behaviour. Why was he shaking? Green should've calmed him down. She had a bad feeling about this…
"HEEHEH! #$HAHEEHA$%^#HEHAH(*&^$AA!"
What? Why was he laughing? His laugh didn't even seem normal, more and more insanity imbuing the laugh with every shake, wracking his body. It chilled her to the bone, scaring her.
Twisting in mid air, he had abandoned the task to free himself from his confinement. The branch dipped slightly, creaking ominously as he placed his hands on his face, covering it as he kept shaking, continuously cackling at some inside joke.
Taking an unsteady step back, she turned to her colour pallet again.
"One more time… Sadness blue should do the trick-"
FWIP!
"-eep!"
One of his hands flew to the wrist holding her brush, clutching it in a death grip, still shaking as he held her. She stared fearfully at the single eye burning into her own, seemingly staring into her soul, his other hand still covering his right eye.
"Let go of me!" she yelped.
The eye seemed to narrow dangerously, his grip somehow still increasing in power. Tears welling up, rolling down her cheeks, she let go of her pallet and it fell to the floor with a muffled thump. She tried to pry his fingers apart, but they were holding too tightly to her wrist. It hurt and she wanted it to stop! Shaking her arm, she tried with renewed vigor, prying the ironclad fingers from their-
"Ya know-"
She froze at his tone. It was the same voice, but it was condescending, tilting dangerously on the point of total psychotic breakdown and parental sentiment.
A few meager minutes ago, he was terrified of something that was to come, which was weird enough since she was a child. Then he asked-nay, begged her, accompanied with crying for her to not hypnotise him, but now?
Now he had an aura of bloodlust around him, extruding fear and terror all around him. Even the wildlife around them seemed to wilt and decay around him, going as far to droop down as he spoke. The branch holding the rope seemed to gradually darken, as if it was burning, and the threads of the rope binding him upside-down started to fray, leaving a tinge of burnt rope odor lingering in the air.
She turned upwards, slowly reaching his unaltered gaze, noting how the iris had shrunken into a pinprick of red undiluted hatred, seemingly conveying a silent message of longing of what was to come.
The rot ascended midway onto the line, and with a SNAP!
The rope split into twine, and he fell towards the ground. Swinging in midair just so, he landed gracefully, still grasping her wrist, glaring at her.
"It would be nice to thank you for helping me get out,-"
He let his arm covering his face fall to his side, and she gasped, trying to tear herself away from him, to get as far as humanly possible from that boy. Smiling a smile-no that wouldn't describe what was on his face- that thing belonged on a demon, rather than a human, with a glowing red eye on one side of his face, the other shrouded by his hair, he looked as like a monster made from children's dreams. With his back covered with blood, which was slowly dripping off him, he bore no resemblance to the boy who had been caught in the trap. His smile seemed too wide for him, nearly breaking skin as he somehow widened it, turning it outright demented.
"-but it would be SO, SO much more fun beating you to death~"
...
..
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WUT. NOONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISTIO-UPDATES.
WHAHAHAHHAHAHAahahahaahahahahahahahaha.
Well. Exams are ganking me, and the professors ain't calling mia's. So I will probably update around the holiday season.
As usual, Review please :3 Once again, the fanart of this fic is on my profile.
And to my good friend who likes to fuck with me on a daily basis,
FUCK YOU TOO A-A :). Oh. Her name was censored. Fuck.