Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. X.x Internet problems here… Again, Gomenasai… FYI, this chapter was written while listening to some good rock for fight scenes, so if it's too fast paced, sorry… o.o;

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own One Piece or Axe

Chapter 38: Captain or First Mate VII

Aro lowered herself slightly, on guard. Kit shifted her weight, watching the one with the cuts. Axe flipped the fang up once more, caught it and started forward. Kit followed behind him. Aro stood her ground. The green Snake-man motioned to Axe and Kit and let out a strange sound like a pulse of air from an air tank. The brown snake-men moved out in wide circles around the two humans who made their way towards them. Then, all at once, everyone started to move in for the first attack.

Now, for the sake of the fullness of each fight, they shall be told separate, but be warned they all happened at once.

AXE

With a quick side step, the snake-man shot past him. He tried for a strike on the snake-man's neck, fang in a reversed knife hold. It shook its body quickly, the attack gracing his neck. With a quick curse under his breath, Axe jumped back to put distance between the two of them. The snake let out a low hiss and dived towards the ground. Axe swatted a large rock out of the way as it shot from the ground towards him. Once the air was clear again, the snake-man was gone, only a small mound of dirt in its place. "What's with these things?" He muttered, looking around for any sign of movement.

He felt a prickle slowly work up the back of his neck. Something was wrong; something was about to go terribly wrong. A low hiss noise came from below him and he jumped back just as the snout of the snake broke free of the ground. In a blink of an eye, the wide-open jaws of the snake-man filled his vision. Shock filled his system as he pulled back his fist, bringing down a sharp punch to the bottom jaw, causing the attack to swiftly change angles into the dirt. With a quick clamp on the ground, the snake man came back up, spitting up rocks, dirt, and grass. Axe took a step back, flipping the fang into the air while the snake tried to empty its mouth of the fowl taste of the ground. His arm quickly turned to rock, "Kachi Kachi no Bazooka!" He brought his fist down on the top of its head, sending it back to the ground. The fang came down, and met the top of the snake's head. It started to shriek, pulling free of the ground. Axe's arm returned to normal and he pulled one leg up into the air, bringing it down while it turned to stone. "Kachi Kachi no Crush!" His heel came down on the fang, sinking it deep into its skull. The snake's body went slack, lying still on the ground as Axe's leg returned to normal.

"That was a pain…" He muttered, slightly disappointed that the fang wouldn't come back out. He looked at the others, seeing if they were done with their fight yet. Axe frowned, staring at the new yet old sight.

KIT

Kit put her hands on the ground, doing quick cartwheel towards her target. Kat would have been proud if she could only see her now. The thought of Kat being proud made her suddenly flare with energy. The snake made a wide mouth lung at her. She turned her hands slightly, and pushed off with both of them, vaulting over the snake. It turned, hissing loudly at her. She pulled the wire out with one hand, and made a spiral around her. It shined in what little light reached the ground, sending flashes of light here and there. The snake-man lowered itself to the ground, watching her with hunger clear in its eyes. Kit rotated her body, landing gracefully with her heels together and her wire hand held high above her. She looked at the end of her wire, and cocked an eyebrow at a thought.

Sensing her hesitation, the snake man lunged at her, only to have the wire be whipped out to him, causing him to lower to the ground once more to keep from being cut. She swung the wire around, bringing it around a tree behind her. The snake man jumped up and over the wire. Odd, she wondered how does it jump?

The snake-man was suddenly on her and only hesitated at a grinding sound from behind her. Its eyes swiveled to look behind her and then it froze. The tree behind her was sliding at its trunk, cut cleanly by the wire. While it was watching the falling trunk, she brought the fang up into the bottom of its jaw, sealing it closed with the attack. It shrieked to the best of its ability as it clawed at the fang, trying to take it out. Kit pulled the wire back into its normal coiled state and she threw it into its case. She did a quick flip back, kicking the fang in deeper. It shrieked more as she landed and quickly reversed her flip, bringing both feet down hard on the top of its head.

It crashed into the ground and she watched it slowly stop moving. "Well," She panted; "Defiantly a job fit for The Serpent…" She gave a small laugh and looked over at the others, seeing who needed help. "Aro?" She questioned, staring at the other woman as she fought her target.

ARO

Aro spun the scythe head on her hand as the Green Snake rushed her. She braced for the charge, taking the blow with a full force as it lunged at her. Using her scythe as a brace, she rolled back, and gave the side of the scythe a strong two-leg kick while she was on her back. The act made the scythe more like a catapult, sending the snake into the underbrush. She continued the roll, stopping in a kneeling position, watching the underbrush over her shoulder, scythe in one hand, ready to attack to the slightest movement. Her hands started to get the familiar pulse, her ears filled with the sound of her rushing blood as she strained her ears to hear, picking up the other's fights easily. Something moved in the bush and she pulled back her hand to attack when something shout down from the tree branches above her. She barely had time to glance up before it crashed into her back, making her jaw hit the ground with a sharp crack against a stone. Her vision blurred as she could hear her scythe skid across the rocks towards her board. Luck, she decided with a grim look on her face.

Aro let out a quiet curse as the tail started to wrap around her. She got to her knees, shaking under the weight of the thing. Her bones started to move oddly as she felt the Devil Fruits effects start to kick in. Fur started to sprout along her skin as she gritted her teeth, which slowly grew to the sharp fangs. The snake paused, unsure of what was happening. Just enough time, Aro figured, for a turn. She kicked off the ground, in her full panther form, and twisted while in the air. She pinned the head under her front two mighty paws, pushing down with all her might. The neck started to collapse and the snake shrieked. Eyes fell on her, one set of them, she knew. Someone finished his or her fight already.

The tail suddenly crashed in her side, sending her skidding in the dirt. She quickly got to her feet, the skid coming to a halt as the large jaws of the green snake opened wide. She caught sight of the throat and then darkness surrounded her.

"Aro?" Kit's voice came muffled, and suddenly she shouted her name once more, getting louder as the ground moved with her running. Someone else was running. Both Kit and Axe were coming. Was it that bad looking, she wondered? A distant beating and she felt herself being drawn to it. She couldn't fit, and that angered her. She felt her body shifting, and slowly the path grew larger. It was relaxing as she worked her way down the throat. The pulse soon came under her paws and she pushed with all her might, feeling it strain below her. Suddenly there was a shriek that came from around her and she answered it with a growl and even more of a push. The body gave, and went still below her. The rush of blood left her ears, and the pulse in her paws slowly started to leave. Slowly, but determined, she wiggled her way out, and finally pulled out of the jaws of the snake. With a short shake of her head, she looked at Axe and Kit, purring softly.

Wait, when did they get so tall? She wondered.

Kit slowly smiled, trying not to laugh. Aro stopped purring, looking from one to the other. Axe bit his lower lip, trying to figure out how to react. Aro slowly tilted her head, watching the two of them. She laid her ears back, and she growled slightly. "What's wrong?" She asked, her voice furry sounding, a growl in it, and with… a cute tone in it? Kit exploded into laughter and Axe had to look away. Aro growled at them, "WHAT?" She ran over to her scythe, cursing under her breath as it seemed to take forever to get there. She climbed on the scythe, looking down at her reflection.

She let out a small and cute yelp, fur standing on end. "I'm a cub!" She sat on her back legs, looking at her large, but cub-like proportions. She let out a whimper and turned to the other two. Kit was hugging her sides, still laughing. Aro frowned.

"You just look so CUTE!" She gasped.

"I'm not cute! I'm Oni! Scary! The Demon on the Sea…" She looked at herself again. "And I don't know how to shift back yet…"

Axe and Kit looked at one another. Kit sighed, "I'll get her things."

"No, I'll shift back… just like my other form…" She closed her eyes, curled up slightly, and felt the fur start to leave her body. She soon felt herself return to her normal self. She shook her head, and looked at them. Yep, she was normal again, but she had a strange feeling inside of her. Like the animal side was pacing around in her. It was as if she could feel the fur rubbing along her sides. Her skin crawled as a thought came to mind: Was she loosing control of her transformations?

She shook the thought from her head and gathered her things, "Come on, it's going to get late soon. We better find somewhere safe to stay for the night."

"Or the safest we can find." Kit corrected.

"And it's not here. Lets go." Axe turned, and started off before either could comment. Aro shifted her board slightly, and followed hands in her pockets. Kit fell in step beside her.

"Feeling any better, Aro?"

Aro looked at her, royally confused. "From what?"

"You still don't remember the bite and your… loopiness?"

"Not really…" Aro's ear twitched and she suddenly laughed loudly. Axe glanced back at her, just as she put both of her hands over her mouth.

"Apparently not…" Axe muttered, looking back to where they were heading. "There's a house up ahead."

"What?" Both girls asked at once.

"At the end of the woods, there's a large… hotel looking building."

Aro ran up next to him, grabbing his right arm to look around him. Kit mirrored her on his left side. "Really?" They both asked. Axe looked from one to the other. To help show them, he pointed ahead as he continued walking, both still holding on to him lightly. Up ahead in a large clearing, a tall, wide and cabin-like building stood ahead of them. "WOW!" The girls chimed together.

"Yeah, great… it might be a trap…"

The front door opened and some one motioned them in. The three glanced at each other, but looked back when an old voice called to them: "Hurry, before the night wakes."

"What do you mean?" Axe asked, shrugging out of Aro and Kit's grasp.

"The night, not even the Master lets people wonder the night… too many dangers…"

"Like what?"

"You don't want to know, trust me, child… it's for your own good…" and the person left. With a quick glance between the three of them, they headed inside.

"If this IS a trap, then that's one scary old lady." Aro muttered.

"Old people bother me anyway…" Kit muttered.

"And you both are a headache with your pointless complaining…"