The Arena

The night sky was clear, the stars and moon shining upon the ocean. Hecate was leaning over the railing of the Roaring Ox, drinking a bottle of sake. She sighed, throwing the empty bottle out into the ocean. She looked at her feet, cursing when she realized she was out. She slowly walked towards the kitchen, opening the door. "Hey, Xaroz! Where are you hiding the extra sake? I know you got reserves!" Hecate's expression changed right away as she became sober. "Who are you!?" she said as she controlled knives moving to the person's neck.

On the table a boy sat in blue tattered robes with a tattered blue wizard styled hat. He smiled as his eye glowed red. "Forget and replace," he said. Shortly after, the knives fell to the ground and Hecate passed out. Behind the boy Sokkyo and Xaroz were passed out as well. Up in the crow's neck Licoal had passed out and down in the aquarium Rock was passed out.

The boy walked out to the main deck where a man with green hair was standing in a black suit. "Everything's ready Ferryman," the boy said with a smile as the man turned away from him, flicking his fingers, causing the air in front of the ship to crack and tear as it opened into a black void, the ship slowly flowing forwards into it.

Several hours had passed before Hecate awoke. She was wearing a set of leather armor with some chainmail. She had no helmet and no real arm protection. Most of her armor was centered, leaving her sleeveless with her underarms unprotected but her shoulders fully guarded. The leather armor went slightly down her legs but wasn't full on protection, the rest of her legs protected by a thin layer of cloth. For shoes she was wearing sandals with various straps.

Across from her were various people she didn't recognize. The first was a gloomy looking man with what seemed to be a metal left arm. He had a black outfit that looked to be some type of armor for the chest area. While his left arm had no sleeve, his right arm was covered in cloth. His pants were much like his chest area, although layered with cloth. He had a black bandana keeping most of his hair back. He had woken up before her and was staring at everyone with an intense look.

Next to him was a girl who was the most covered member. Her entire body was covered in a leather suit, although it was a thin leather and skin tight. A noticeable difference was she had long boots made of metal. Her hair was wild and her red eyes pierced through the darkness, studying everyone else like a wild animal.

Across from her was a man with bright blonde hair. He was dressed much like Hecate, although with more leather armor than her, and his armor was dyed red. Next to him was a boy who was still asleep with drool flowing out of his mouth. He had armor that was much like the two other men, although he lacked any upper armor other than a pair of leather wrappings around his fist. Hecate noticed various scars on his body before they the boy with blonde hair shook him waking him up. "Better get up, were almost to the top," he said, looking upwards.

Shortly after, the group was shot into the light and a roaring sound of people. And then they heard a booming sound, "I PRESENT TO YOU SOME OF THE STRONGEST FIGHTERS WE'VE HAD IN A WHILE. GATHERED FROM ACROSS THE KINGDOM WE HAVE THE BLOODSIGN LAIKA!" Although this was not her name, Hecate snapped to this name, standing up, memories flooding in. She walked off the platform that had taken her up to this arena, raising her fist, causing the crowd to cheer. "AND FOLLOWING HER IS THE HORSEMAN OF DEATH, UCHIMASU!" Following 'Laika'. the man with the metal arm that we know as Xaroz stood up, walking off the platform, raising his metal arm, causing the crowd to once again cheer. "AND THE MAN THAT COULD SHATTER A VELCOX, WE GIVE YOU THE VANGUARD, NARA!" The boy who had been woken up that we know as Rock stood up following 'Uchimasu'. Simply yawning. Not raising his fist or anything; simply smiling. This as well gained a crowd of approval. "AND NEXT, THE MAN ALL HUSBANDS HATE, THE SOUL, AMETSU!" Following 'Nara', the man we know as Licoal stood up, walking off the platform, smiling and blowing a few kisses at the girls in the crowd, causing them to faint. "AND FINALLY, THE KINGDOM HATES HER, EVERY ARENA HAS FAILED TO KILL HER. THE WINGED DEMON AYRIA!" The girl we know as Sokkyo slowly stood up not looking up or down, simply looking straight as she began to walk. The entire arena boo'd and yelled death threats. Finally, all 5 of them were standing side-by-side in the middle of the arena.

"NOW, BEFORE WE THROW THESE 5 AGAINST THE TOUGHEST FIGHTERS AND BEASTS THIS ARENA CAN GIVE THEM, LET'S MAKE SURE THEY CAN GIVE A GOOD SHOW!" the announcer yelled as the crowd began to chant 'WALL OF WAR' repeatedly. Shortly after, a large wall with various weapons had risen into the arena in front of them. Laika grabbed two swords right away, putting them in empty holsters that were on her armor. Ametsu grabbed a large broadsword with a grin on his face. Uchimasu took two eastern oriental blades, looking at Ayria and Nara, "Aren't you two going to pick some weapons?" They both shook their heads. "A real man uses his fists!" Nara said with a big grin. Ayria simply stood there, not talking. "Wonderful, we're going to die because these two don't believe in weapons." Laika laughed, "No worries, can't you smell it? The pure blood thirst. Our winged demon is ready to rip apart anything that comes out of those gates." Ayria stayed silent, her arms crossed.

"NOW, WE'VE GATHERED THESE FIGHTERS, THE LEGENDS OF THE ARENAS AROUND THE KINGDOM. WHAT COULD WE POSSIBLY THROW AT THEM!? WE'LL TELL YOU!" A gate opened out, purple eyes peering out from it. "A BEAST UNLIKE ANY OTHER, CAPTURED IN THE GRAVEYARD FOREST!"

4 footsteps could be heard as the beast entered the light of the arena. It was extremely ominous looking. Black was a way to describe it. Most of the skin, similar colored pieces of what looked like armor covering the calves and knees of its four legs, was pitch-black in color. Certain areas of the body parts, however, emitted light of a very light-purple. One such area was the four clawed feet. Another, which could be considered the main area of the body, was the face. Its eyes were this light-purple, the teeth and basic face area almost resembling the shape of an elf or orc from fantasy stories. Surrounding the face was a circular, yellow thing pentagram-like in appearance. Fanning out from between the basic face area and the pentagram were 9 bundled locks of glowing purple hair. Protruding from the ass was a tail which almost resembled a large sword, a rigid, scratch-like purple line running up the center. The arms were rather short and stubby, but on each held hands that were like the snouts of great wolf-like beasts, the inside of the "mouth" glowing of purple flames. Despite these teethed things appearing almost like heads, they had no other such head or face-like features.

Laika had an un-nerving feel in her stomach. Every fiber of her body yelled at her to destroy this monster, but she didn't understand how it wanted her too. Ayria felt an unnatural connection to this beast, it felt almost primal. Before the others could react, Ayria was off. She jumped into the air with such force that it cracked the ground, shooting off into the sky. While in the sky, Ayria put her hands into two pockets, an expressionless look on her face as she hit mid-point in the sky. Her metal boots opened up. Two wing-shaped blades extended out of them as she went downwards towards the beast. Right before she landed she spun her body, hitting its 'face' with both the blades. But then the mouth-like hands grabbed onto her right leg, biting down, the purple flames increasing. Seemingly the flames didn't effect Ayria as Nara rushed forward applying quick jabs at the mouth that had caught her.

Uchimasu ran past the beast in a flash of light, appearing on the other side with his two blades out. Two slashes appeared on the beast, flames flowing out of its wounds. Due to Nara's jabs it had dropped Ayria while Laika followed up, jumping and spinning with both her swords, causing various slashes at the back of the beast. Ametsu wasn't far behind, slamming his broadsword into the beast's two front legs. The beast simply replied with swinging its large tail around, pushing them around as it jumped off away, bringing the tail back up, pointing it at them. A large horn noise was heard as the tail began to light up. "SHIT" Laika yelled as she tried to jump out of the way. As she jumped, a large stream of energy shot out of the tail, creating explosions on contact. During this, Ametsu tried to rush the beast, only for it to grab him with its mouth-like hands, tearing at his face. Laika and Uchimasu rushed, cutting off the arm to save Ametsu; but it was all too late.

Ametsu laid on his back, his hand grabbing his face. "IT TOOK MY FUCKING EYE!" he yelled. Uchimasu tore off part of his right sleeve, throwing it to Ametsu. "Cover the eye and worry about it later, this beast isn't down yet." Ayria was back in the sky, coming down at the beast, ripping apart its skins, causing more purple flames to flow out of it.

Laika let out a battle cry as she charged forward, attacking with Ayria. She felt a buildup of energy but wasn't sure what it was. For now, she decided to ignore it and focus on the battle.

"DON'T LET UP, WE GOT IT ON THE ROPES," Nara yelled as he proceeded to uppercut its face with little effectiveness. Meanwhile, the others ripped apart its skin, cutting it up. Purple flames continued to flow out of it, causing the group to back off—all but Ayria, who was unaffected by the flames. She kept tearing and ripping apart the beast. It let out a roar and Ayria stopped. "What's she doing?!" spat Uchimasu. Ayria's eyes were beastlike as she looked up at the sky before giving off her own roar. It was a roar that sent shivers down the crowds' spines. It sounded far more powerful than this beast's which, considering she was considerably smaller and a girl who didn't look a day past 20, was rather impressive.

"What the fuck was that?!" Laika yelled. Ayria ignored her, deciding to jump towards the beast with an onslaught of attacks. Once she was done, the beast's flames dispersed as it fell to the ground. Ayria's nails were long and claw-like and when she turned she seemed to have longer teeth. "What's next?" she said in almost a growl.

"LOOK AT THAT FOLKS! OUR MOST HATED FIGHTER AYRIA HAS SLAIN THE BEAST! AND AN ANSWER TO HER QUESTION, OUR NEXT CHALLENGE IS COMING UP!" The announcer yelled out. Another cage door began to rise as the group took their positions. Chains could be heard running against the ground.

What came out of the darkness was best described as a monster. It was a girl. The girl had dark grey hair that was ragged and long. It flowed to her feet, although it was far from elegant; it was filled with soot and dry blood. Her eyes were wide and glowed like fresh blood. The redness sent shivers down their backs. Her teeth were small and sharp, unlike an animal's but not like a human's either. Her body was uncovered, bare and nude. The only thing on it was dried up blood. The blood was most concentrated on her hands. Most of her arm was covered in it. Her nails were grown out and long, almost like claws, and they were thick and covered in enough blood to seem black. On her left arm was a strange tattoo. It was a letter and a number D – 2 and under it was a barcode. There was not much to her body other than the dry blood and the chains. The chains were wrapped around her body, some connected to her arms, bolted into her skin. Her body had so many chains coming from it that they left a trail in the sand of the arena.

"WE GIVE YOU THE MONSTER, FOUND LONG AGO ON AN ABANDONED SHIP MARKED WITH A SYMBOL UNKNOWN TO OUR KINGDOM. THIS GIRL WAS DISCOVERED IN THE DARKEST PARTS OF THE SHIP. SHE TORE THROUGH OUR KINGDOM'S NOBLE KNIGHTS. BARELY CONTROLLED, WE LET HER OUT ONLY AGAINST OUR MOST POWERFUL CONTESTANTS."

A drop of sweat hit the sand and the monster disappeared. All that followed was screaming. Blood flowed down Nara's body as a better chunk of his torso had been clawed up. Ayria tried to attack the monster—it was pointless. It easily ripped through her metal boots, causing them to shatter. Something in Uchimasu yelled at him to protect her and he did. It resulted in his katana being cut in half. Although they couldn't tell, the monsters claw-like nails were razor sharp.

The next target was Laika. She barely dodged, a better half of her ribs being cut open. She would've died if she hadn't sensed the utter bloodlust at the last second. For some reason she felt like she had been feeling this kind of bloodlust since she was a little girl. She had a memory flash through her head, one of a girl with white hair in a sleeveless shirt and a knife her mouth.

Finally, in a blink, Ametsu laid, grabbing his upper left arm as she tore a sizable chunk of his skin off with her teeth. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS THING!?" he yelled. Laika felt like she knew. Her entire body was screaming at her to do things she knew she couldn't do. That's when it happened. A pulse. Not any anyone would notice, the only thing they'd notice would be a small electrical charge from anything metal. Laika opened her eyes. They weren't red anymore, they were a glowing blue. She was no longer the girl these people had made-up, she was Hecate the Shock Princess once again. The monster shot off at her once again, sensing this new danger from her. Hecate simply stared forward. Now with her Kenbunshoku Haki returned, she knew exactly where it was.

When the monster attacked again it hit a metal wall made of various pieces of metal, although it shattered on impact. The monster jumped back to study what had just happened. "Is that all you got?" Hecate said as the air became more static. "I'd think someone from that project was a bit tougher. My trainer sure was!" she yelled as she sent lightning bolts at the girl. Hecate looked at the others who were staring at her in awe. "Ugh, don't give me that bullshit. I'm disappointed in you Rock. I thought you had a stronger will than this," she said as sent out a very dense pulse, causing electrical bolts to flow through their bodies. One by one, their memories returned. No longer were they the false fighters this place created. The monster just stared at them, although with a more docile look.

Shortly after, a tear in the sky appeared and a boy dressed like a blue wizard came out. "This won't do at all! You can't regain yo-" He never finished his sentence, for this boy had come out right next to the monster. The upper half of his body was now floating up into the sky as the monster had ripped it in half. Rock raised his fist defensibly, but the monster just cocked its head in a confused matter. "I thought we all regained our memories?" It questioned. "What…" a majority of them said, still having memories from their time in the Arena.

"My name is Zoey," she said with a smile, which showed off her very dangerous teeth. Licoal stared at the teeth a bit afraid before turning to Hecate. "What do you mean trainer?" Hecate scratched her head, "I may or may have not been trained by Aoichi during those 5 years. I was going to tell you, but she said if you couldn't make it to the New World you didn't deserve to know." Licoal fell down in shock before looking back at the girl. "Aoichi…is like that now?!" he said in disbelief. "Oh, no, my sister is much worse. Although she probably looks better than I do now. I can't use any of the stuff she can. I'm pure physical improvement." The words went around in Licoal's head; sister; worse; improvement. Shortly after, he passed out. "Is he okay?" Zoey asked, taking a step forward. Sokkyo, Rock, and Xaroz all went into a defensive stance. "Right, because that will protect you from the girl who easily ripped apart your weapons and then nicely spared you," she said, taking another step forward. "Spared us nicely!? You ripped through our bodies! We're lucky we didn't end up like that guy that came in!" Xaroz yelled, referring to the blue wizard boy.

Zoey only laughed at his statement before vanishing, appearing again with her nails at his neck. "If I wanted to kill you guys I would've done it within the 5 seconds that I came out into the arena." Xaroz could feel his sweat dropping as he gulped, backing away slowly. Hecate just laughed at them. "Can we get out of here?" she said yawning. Xaroz and Rock went to get Licoal as they started to walk away. Zoey just stood there until Hecate turned her head. "Aren't you coming?" she said questionably. Zoey's face lit up as she ran to catch up, starting to talk to Hecate, asking her all kinds of questions. The group couldn't help but think of her as a child in that sense. "Do you know the one who saved my sissy?! I remember the doctors calling her The Runaway."

Several thousand miles away, a ship came up on an island with various lights coming out of it. Near the front of the ship on the main deck was a woman. She had bright red hair that was in a lazy ponytail shaped upwards. Much of her hair was still out in the front, causing her to have large bangs. She had a cigarette in her mouth. As for clothes, she was wearing a grey tank top that showed her red and black bra. The tank top was torn at the bottom, causing most, if not all of her stomach to be visible. For pants she was wearing green cargo pants. On her left hip she had a strange tattoo. Along on her wrist was a tattoo of the sun. She sneezed slightly as a man approached her from behind. "Sick?" he asked. She just laughed, throwing the cigarette into the ocean. "I'm sure someone's just talking about me," she said as she stepped onto the railing of the ship. "I could never feel sick doing this," she said as she fell down off the ship, her body transforming as she took flight, flying towards the base. She threw a volley of balls of energy, causing explosions where they hit. After that, she sent lasers, causing even more explosions. This woman was the Yonko, Rika the Runaway.

At marine HQ; a marine entered the office of Shen the Transcended. "Fleet Admiral, we have another report. The Runaway bombed another one of the Demon Labs last night." Shen sighed, taking the report, motioning for the man to leave as he walked over to a window. "What are you doing, Rika? Our sister is in emergency care. The Revolution has declared utter war upon the world, and you're distracting me by doing this…I wonder if you truly hate me and Victoria that much…" he said as a tear hit the floor before he turned around, regaining his composure. He began writing out instructions to increase the bounty of The Runaway. The paper stated; Increase bounty to 2,500,000,000. Under that paper was what seemed to be a report of location. On it in bold text was "The Demon".

***Chapter 14 is here! And for those wondering yes Zoey and Aoichi are connected, although Zoey, was the second person in the experiment, Aoichi being the first, on Aoichi's left arm is a tattoo exactly like Zoey's except it has D – 1 since she was the first attempt. Rika saved Aoichi from the world government but Aoichi ended up deciding to join Kikou (Or Akki)

***No Zoey isn't joining the Rock Pirate's, she'll be more like Hecate considering the one she is following is Hecate.

***Also yes, Shen is related to Rika and Victoria, they're all brother and sisters. But their backstory is one for another chapter.

***I was excited to not do too much work, but then she edited the ending and made it a bit longer qq—Elementninja111