Chapter 43
The Demon Inside
The explosion was hard to miss. He was just pulling Ellie down when he heard it. His instant reaction was to pull her and Josie to safety. But it was at town. No where near their house. He ushered Ellie inside with a crying Josie. He grabbed his gin and sword then rushed out through the door.
"Terry!" Ellie ran out.
"Ellie, you stay here, no matter what you two need to be safe." He told her.
She nodded. "You come back to us Terry. I won't be able to go on without you. Neither of us will."
Terry nodded. "I'll be back don't you worry. Mari is here too. And Luffy. They will help me protect our home."
Terry was off. Heading straight for town.
xxXxx
Mari slashed at another in coming cannon ball. The cut turned the ball into five small parts that exploded around her without leaving a single mark. She leapt forward again, ice jutting from the water to form a stand for her to jump from. She was now a little closer again to the ships. The others combated the cannon balls that flew past her. There were three ships, they needed to be stopped. She would leave it to the others for now. She wanted to get Forte. She started this whole thing when she killed his brother. Now she would end it with him.
Her heart couldn't take another death on her shoulders though. She would try to convince him to stop. But deep inside she knew; he would never stop.
"Mari! Don't do anything without me!" Luffy yelled over the water to her.
She smiled. He didn't want her to get hurt she assumed. But in this form she would never get hurt. Forte on the other hand….well she could see him from here, that arm had not finished healing although he no longer wore it in a sling. She could see that his shirt was stretched tight around his arm, he was wearing a cast. She locked on to him and landed on the railing of the deck, facing him. Her tail swished in the air and she thought for a moment how strange it was that she had a tail when she could not even feel it. But it had saved her many times, fixing her balance and attacking enemies that tried to get her from behind. Now it slashed violently, as if it knew what she was planning and agreed.
"Ah, demon. You came to die freely, I'm glad; I have been waiting so long for this moment. Come then, prostrate yourself before me and I will kill you quickly." Forte pointed to the area before him.
Mari tipped her head back and laughed. "You think I would bow before you and beg for mercy? Forte, you have mistaken me for a fool. You have no mercy." Mari stepped onto the deck and walked towards him slowly. "However, I will show you mercy. Turn around, never come back here again, never follow me again and never come near Terry or his family. In return, I will not destroy your whole crew and kill you."
Forte did not back down though she could see him pause for a moment. She had not said it nicely. However she was sure that was not why he held pause. He had not been so close to her in this form. Had not fought her like this. She was confident and dangerous. But he was not going to back down.
"You are a fool indeed demon. For I will not stop at anything to kill you and all of those stupid townspeople. Prepare for death girl. You will beg for it when I am done with you. FIRE ALL CANNONS! KILL EVERYONE!" Forte bellowed before he charged Mariette with a battle cry.
xxXxx
"Damnitt! Mari why do you have to go and do things without me? You know I am not going to be happy about this." Luffy tried to figure out a way to get to those ships without drowning. "Zoro how far do you think you can throw me?"
"I'm a bit busy here Luffy!" Zoro slashed at three cannon balls at once. The explosion threw him back.
"Hm." Luffy looked do Franky next. The man caught on.
"Don't ask, the blast will be too short or too long, you are not heavy enough." Franky shot at a cannon ball. It exploded mid hair throwing debris around.
Nami put out fires from the debris while Chopper and Robin ushered everyone to safety. Usopp and Brook had spaced themselves to cover other cannon balls that came. They needed to destroy those ships.
"Luffy, did you forget you can stretch or something? Grab onto the nearest ship and start destroying their cannons!" Nami barked at him.
Luffy had a moment of realization. Duh! He looked at the nearest ship. It was not the one Mari was on. But it was a start.
"Guuuuummm guuuuummmm! REACH!" He threw his arm back then forward hard; stretching far to grasp the mast of the ship closest to the land.
He flew across the water and crashed into the Mast. There was a loud crack and when he let go the mast began to tilt to the side. The impact leaving a huge dent where the mast began to fracture. Men began to run around wildly trying to stop it while others attacked Luffy. He easily defeated them and began to kick and destroy the cannons.
xxXxx
Forte sported many wounds, large clawed marks that raised his skin and exposed his muscle. Damn but she was a fierce fighter. The blood loss and pain was sapping his strength. He only fought with one arm which was making this more difficult but she had not thought to go easy on him. Which would have been her mistake had she done so. He would have slaughtered her. But now he was struggling against her. But he would not give in. He would die to kill her. His mind fleeted to the devil fruit he had still. She had said anything about it yet. He frowned. He may use it himself. If it meant killing her. Boris had not been able to remember what it was that he made. Something powerful enough to defeat Mariette would be ideal.
Mari watched his face closely, each move he made she simply side stepped him. His blade would simply skitter off her armour without a scratch. Nothing could penetrate this shell of unknown metal. She slashed his chest with her clawed hands and jumped back, blood seeped from several wounds that overlapped. Yet the man still struck out, till fought. His will to keep going was immense. Mari knew he was not just avenging his brother. There was another reason he fought so hard.
"Why! Why do you fight on?! Vengeance is one thing but this is stupid! You will only die. You cannot beat me!" She bellowed at him.
Forte wiped the sweat from his head with his broken arm, barely wincing from using it. She narrowed her eyes. Not that he could see.
"You insulted my family name. You took what I had left and destroyed it in one moment. They told me how quickly you defeated him. He may have been large but my brother was the most skilled pirate around. You could not have defeated him so easily! Our family passed down sword skill so powerful that it was outlawed. You, a woman could not have beaten him. I see now how you managed it. You are a devil. A beast of another realm. You will pay and so will all of those people, for bringing you to kill him."
Mari frowned. "Sorry to disappoint you Forte. But I defeated him with a water power. Not my demon form. And I would kill him over again if he showed up now. He killed innocent people! And murdered Terry's family! I will not let you kill the people I saved! I WILL STOP YOU!" She screamed. Rage pushed her forward.
Forte stopped one clawed hand but could not stop the other from ripping his leg open. He jumped back in pain and fell down. Mari stood over him as he turned to get up using one hand. He was on all fours now looking at the deck, so much pain. So much blood was lost. At this rate, he would lose no doubt. He needed to win! He needed to fight with more power than her! His eyes widened as he realized that there could be something more powerful, something that he can beat her with. He reached up and took down his hat. She approached him slowly, her tail slashing the air. She took his lack of standing as defeat. She would let him go, but after he swore never to return here.
Forte pulled the sack from his hat and opened it with quick fingers. He could feel her behind him. Her approach made hairs stand up on his neck. He pulled out the devil fruit and took only a moment to reflect. His mind screamed for power. For a power to fight Mariette. The consequences didn't matter as long as he could defeat her. He swallowed it in one bite. His mouth vigorously chewed until it was sliding down his throat. The taste was horrifying but it was working. His body felt on fire now. He could feel something building up inside him. POWER!
Mari looked over his shoulder to the empty sack.
"NO!" She cried. "You fool! You have no idea what you have done!" She screamed at him as she grabbed his shoulder to spin him around. She could get it out! But it was too late. He had devoured it whole.
Forte began to laugh as his skin began to burn away. Mari pulled her hand off him, it burned through her Armour. What? She took several steps back as he stood, fire slowly engulfed his body and he started to grow.
"What…what is this?" She watched in horror.
xxXxx
He rode along side the beach, his horse moved fast. He could see the town, clouds oddly floated around on their own putting out fires. One of the ships was no longer firing and people were running closer inland. Good. He urged his mount on. He could approach the docks from here. The ships were in view.
xxXxx
Luffy destroyed the first ship. He turned to the next one. Mari was on this one. But something was different. Mari was backing up and Forte was on fire. Mari had fire powers now? Ace would find that fun. But wait. Mari was too shocked as Forte started to grow larger…that was not normal.
"Mari! Get out of there!" Luffy yelled.
xxXxx
Zoro looked over to the ships; his side was no longer getting a barrage of cannon balls. They stopped thanks to Luffy. He looked to the land as pirates abandoned ship, they would probably run off in fear. He watched a rider approach fast, a little closer and he saw it was Terry. He raised his blade to the man and waved. Terry was coming in fast. Good he could help the people get to a safer place for now. Zoro felt the hairs on his neck stand up and he looked to the ship Mari was on. Now what was that? Flames began to eat the sails and something large was forming.
xxXxx
"POWER! SO MUCH POWER!" Forte laughed. His cast broke off and his clothing burned away. Flames became his clothing, his body his life. He was flames. Horns began to sprout from his head curling and curling to sharp points. His fingers became longer, thicker and his nails were like sharp blades. Muscles burst from old skin, red and flaming, it didn't hurt him one bit. "WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! LOOK UPON ME DEMON OF ICE! I AM FIRE! I AM DEATH!" He grew and grew until he was towing over the ships and over the town. Burning hotter and hotter. So hot the ship broke apart, but the water didn't hurt him. It simply burned away. He stood a massive column of flames.
Mari looked up with blue eyes wide in terror. This…this was something else. What was this? Why had Boris made something like this? There was too much power! She…she was scared. The ship broke beneath her but ice formed below her to keep her still. Smoke billowed from Forte as he spoke flames so hot nearly burned her through the Armour. So hot!
"Mari! RUN!" Luffy bellowed as he made for the shore before he drowned.
She couldn't move. Forte was so large, so powerful. Flames at the ocean around her and burned the ice she stood on.
"FEAR ME! RUN FROM ME! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! WEAK LITTLE MARIETTE!" Forte tossed his flaming head back and laughed into the sky; flames ate the clouds and turned the sky into fire.
Stop it….her mind cried. Stop, this is not right! She felt tears coursing down her cheeks, her eyes stung from the heat of the flames. "Stop…stop it….STOP! STOP! YOU WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING!" She screamed. This was too much power.
Forte looked to her and grinned, his mouth was terrifying, flames of death licked from he corners. Everyone was grounded with shock. They could not move. Forte swiped his hand and destroyed his other ship, men screamed as they dropped into the water burning and drowning. Such an act. It was horrifying.
"I WILL DESTROY ANYTHING! SO MUCH POWER! I A GOD! ALL WILL BOW BEFORE ME!" Forte laughed.
Luffy stood on the shore and frowned. "I defeated a God once! I will do it again." He spat. He was worried for Mari who still stood so close to the man.
"Mari! Get out of there!" Terry bellowed from the road.
Forte looked at Terry askance.
"AH! THE BRINGER OF THE DEMON HAS JOINED US. A LOVELY REUNION. HOW ABOUT WE START THERE HMM?" Forte lifted a single hand.
"NO! Your fight is with me!" Mari jumped up suddenly and floated on iced wings before Forte. "Leave them all be! I am your apponent."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! YOU ARE A PUNY LITTLE THING COMPARED TO ME! YOU WILL ALL DIE THIS DAY!" Forte blew wind at her knocking her off kilter and she flew down hard and fast, landing on ice that formed to catch her. She stood up and looked at Forte. "SAY GOOD BYE BOY!"
"No! TERRY!" She screamed. Her eyes turned to him and her heart wrenched. He was out in the open. She couldn't reach him in time.
Within his hand a ball of flame formed and it shot towards Terry with a terrifying force. The water rocked with waves. Mari screamed her hands thrown out as if she could grab him. Armour melting off her. Luffy turned with a bellow of his own. Terry looked to the ball of fire, his horse rearing, he fell off and his horse ran leaving him. He saw it coming, so close. His mind brought images of his family, his mother and father, his siblings. And his beautiful wife and daughter. This was it. He could hear Mari screaming. His amber eyes closed. No time. Not enough time to tell her thank you.
The explosion was deafening. So loud it cancelled out any other noise. The flames, the debris, it rocked the earth and pushed the sea back from the land. Her blue eyes saw white flames and in the center a body until it melted away as if it had never been there. The light went away. Ringing filled their ears. Where Terry once stood was a huge crater quickly filling with water and sizzling from the heat.
Mari stopped breathing. Her heart thumped so slowly. Unable to move. There was a thrumming but it was so distant. She could barely make the sound she heard that was closer. As sound began to return she could make out booming laughter. And closer, almost right from where she was. Screaming.
"BYE BYE BOY!" Forte laughed hard. "UGH! STOP THAT INFERNAL SCREAMING STUPID GIRL." Forte grinned and reached down to Mari.
She was screaming Terry's name over and over. Everyone looked at her and tried to get her to notice them. Tried to warn her that Forte was reaching for her. But she couldn't hear them.
"TERRY!" She cried. "TERRY-UGH!" Her screams stopped. He looked down at her chest. A sword stuck through her, flames eating it eternally. She brought her hands up to touch the blade, they burned.
"NO! MARI!" Luffy raged.
"GOODBYE MARIETTE, DEMON NO MORE!" Forte laughed.
She fell backwards, the ice melted around her. Terry….dead? She couldn't think…couldn't breathe. Pay…Forte must pay.
Demon…demon….rage.
Her eyes turned white and as he dropped into the sea it turned to ice from the banks of the island and miles out.
