Haunt 3: Haunted Festival
The inclusion of Shyarly into the Lion Acupuncture household was a quick one.
No one was going to really question it and it wasn't like the Kingdom really looked into matters like this. In fact, it was unfortunately common to find adults or teenage merfolk and fish-men taking in young ones who had lost their parents in some shape or form.
Not something many tried to think about a lot.
Shyarly herself had been rather shy and uncertain about the sudden shift in her life, but she soon found herself very happy about it with Tami acting as an encouraging and supportive mother-figure she never had. The little mermaid soon began offering her 'services' at the clinic and café with much greater fervor now that she was free from the negative repercussions of her father.
That said father was banished from the kingdom, impotent and had a badly damaged arm he couldn't afford to get fixed certainly helped her feel more at ease.
And as a result, she and Adam became even closer friends, spending time together as he took a protective role around her. Adam took his time to help her learn to read and write better, also showing her how to count and save her money or spend it with a bit more wisdom.
Tami found the whole situation adorable because it made Shyarly enthusiastically follow Adam while he was out training in various ways and she wasn't 'working'. The fact that her new charge and her own son somehow had incomes and were remarkably self-sufficient certainly didn't put any hamper on her desire to keep her as well.
And it was during this change in the life of the mother and son that a major event occurred on Fish-Man Island: the Coronation of a New King Neptune.
The one Adam knew from his past life.
A giant coelacanth merman with a full height of 40' (1220cm) with great muscles from his training in Merman Combat arts and experience protecting Fish-Man Island as a Prince and member of the army. The merman also had an iconic look, like most important individuals in this world, having a frizzy ginger beard and long curly hair matching it, a long point nose emerging from said beard, hairy chest and forearms he usually displays in manly fashions, commonly found wearing his officer clothing and armor alongside his great golden trident.
He was known for his strength and continuous defense of the Island over the years, but many also knew he wasn't a great political or economical thinker, which is why they were relieved that his nature welcomed advice from his advisers.
But after the passing of his father, the previous King Neptune, ironically enough he had been a King Mackerel merman, having died from illness, allowed the 44 year old Crown Prince and only child to ascend peacefully.
To celebrate this, a grand festival was organized throughout the island, thus why the small family find itself in Conchcord Plaza.
All around were booth and attractions of all kinds, with even humans having set up their own as they joined in the festivities. Shyarly herself had been very torn in regards to joining the booths or enjoying the festivities, but fortunately the decision was made for her by her new guardian.
Although, she could only stand by the side at what she was witnessing before her and giggle fondly.
"C'mon Adam! Is that the best you've got? I thought I taught you better than that!" Tami taunted as she expertly threw another dart at a moving target, knocking it over.
"Not everyone plays with needles and their own spines all day!" Adam huffed as his aim was a little off, but still effective.
The two had been getting competitive in the games, enjoying themselves fully, with a surprisingly even set of victories between them.
Tami won in games involving accuracy and throwing, while Adam bested her in the strength and control ones. Of course Shyarly was unbeatable when it came to those requiring guesswork and 'luck'.
Although it did result in vendors and booth operators to quickly dread the appearance of the trio as they swept through the place, gleefully earning prizes and free food.
"Step right up Mermaids and Fish-men!" A voice announced from a large attraction which seemed to be a raised platform surrounded by a large audience. "Witness, experience and challenge our Island's pride: Fish-man Karate, first hand!"
Hearing his introduction, Adam noticed the group of Fish-Men wearing Karate Gi and an assortment of belt.
"What's going on?" Shyarly questioned curiously as Adam stood unblinking as to not miss a thing.
It was a chance to see real Fish-Man Karate!
Seeing her son not answering however, Tami rolled her eyes with a smirk knowing very well his obsession with growing stronger.
"It's sort of an... advertisement. Like how the café hands out flyers or I paid to be mentioned on the Island's newspaper. It's just that they are going to show how strong they are because of Fish-Man Karate to get more students." Tami patiently explained to the young mermaid who nodded along in understanding.
She was aware of advertising. She even tried to do it with her homemade sign!
It was a great sign! All the big sisters at the café said so.
"How are they going to do that?" Shyarly asked with a tilted her because showing your strength to her usually meant what Adam did: lifting heavy things and beating up mean people.
"Likely breaking things even Fish-Men would find difficult and taking on challengers." The older mermaid casually answered as she internally couldn't help but role her eyes at all the testosterone involved.
"Where did Adam go?" The younger suddenly asked as she tried to look through the crowd, but her being little and Adam being so as well certainly didn't help.
"*Sigh* I swear. He's probably at the edge of the stage." The Lion Fish Mermaid knowingly answered as she understood her son rather well.
If they lived near the dojo, she knew for a fact that she would have to drag him back home every day, so she knew he was taking full advantage of this opportunity.
And she was completely right.
Adam couldn't wait to see his first taste of the ludicrous martial skills found in this world and managed to place himself at the edge of the platform.
Though he was initially disappointed with the displays of things he could already do himself like breaking large amounts of tiles or boulders, he soon grew excited we then managed to do the same from a distance, or destroy specific tiles in a stack. He was especially focused when he witnessed the students beginning to manipulate water.
No one really noticed, maybe not even himself, but as he witnessed the showcase before him, Adam's senses focused beyond anything he'd ever achieved. He began to see the entirety of their movements, how they affected their surroundings with their techniques, and especially how they used the water all around them to fight.
Unconsciously, Adam began mimicking their actions. Attempting to get the feeling right with his punches and reaching out to the water.
Those around him thought it was just at child mirroring what he found 'cool', but for those with great skill and experience in the martial art displayed on stage saw something else.
"Master." A large bodied Fish-Man softly spoke as he went to gesture towards the child, but stoped when he noticed that said master was already intently looking at him.
This master was an elderly Frilled Shark fish-man, with wrinkly gray skin, a longer neck than most, small black eyes, and frill-like fins atop his bald head while sporting a well kept beard, he was the current head of the Fish-Man Karate Dojo as well as the island's foremost master on Fish-Man Jujutsu.
The duo watched the young boy actually grasp the essence of their Karate and Jujutsu simply by observing the extravagant displays on stage, quickly managing to cause minor vibrations to flow out of his fists, quickly growing them in strength with every repetition.
"And now, we invite audience members to come and test their might against our disciples!" The announcer declared. "Come one and all, and prepare yourself for combat!"
Cheers rung out all around in excitement as eager challengers rushed out to get a chance at glory.
Many fish-men did have naturally more combative instincts than humans due to predatory halves. Adam himself had great combat instincts and was a talented simply due to Siamese Fighting fish being remarkably suited to learning and responding to stimuli.
One after another, challengers entered and were soundly defeated as the Martial Artists rotated their participants carefully to respond to various opponents. It was smart really, making sure to stay undefeated would be great publicity.
But then, a very large Beluga Sturgeon merman floated into the arena.
He was at least 20' tall, with a grizzled look, scars showing experience, and with a tattoo on his right shoulder indicating hat he had at least been part of the army at one point.
Seeing this, quite a few grew serious on the practitioner side, until one of their members walked in with calm confidence, causing Adam's eyes to widen in surprise.
Because before him was Jinbe.
The most famous and powerful fish-man in the main storyline and future member of the Strawhat Pirates.
He was obviously younger, being around 20 years old at the moment and wearing a Gi with a blue haori over it, but any One Piece reader would immediately recognize the whale shark fish-man's shape, iconic tusks, unique sideburns and eyebrows, and his presence.
"What a treat folks! Today we witness a fight between our very own prodigy of the Fish-man martial arts, Jinbe!" The announcer revealed with great enthusiasm. "And his opponent today is no one other than our Kingdom's chief military instructor: Commander Huso!"
The two firmly locked gaze as they respectfully bowed to each other.
Jinbe taking a steady stance while Huso parted his hand at the ready.
"Ready... BEGIN!" The announcer called out, causing Huso to fly forward with a powerful beat of his tail.
Using his advantage in size, he sent out a powerful palm strike, which was blocked by a steady Jinbe with a basic outside block flowing into a grasp of the wrist as he used Huso's momentum against him. The commander wasn't a fool and slapped his tail on the ground to jump with his own momentum, flipping into a tail strike and forcing Jinbe to release his hold to use his other hand to perform a staple of Fish-Man Karate: A Brick Fist.
The powerful punch managed to cancel out the tail strike, forcing Huso to adjust himself in order to properly orient himself midair, but Jinbe was not simply going to let the opportunity slip by as he formed a Water Shot and expertly threw it as his opponent. Huso was forced to take it head on, but used the attack to at least position himself better while Jinbe peppered him with oddly powerful Shots.
Not wanting to remain on the defensive, Huso surprisingly began using Merman Combat to redirect the Water Shots away harmlessly and even send them back to sender. To his credit, Jinbe took it all in-stride, either using new Water Shots to block old ones or simply using his own Jujutsu to redirect them again.
It eventually became akin to a high-stake juggling competition, but it was a display of great skill and water manipulation. Something young Adam was absorbing as he began playing with a small ball of water he himself had formed in his hands, trying his best to maintain it while moving it around.
He failed quite a few times, causing his little water balls to splash onto the floor, but he was getting better at playing around with the water.
All under the deep gaze of an old man.
Meanwhile, the two combatants heated up their exchanges with more powerful techniques as Huso gathered large amounts of concentrated water to shoot at his foe while Jinbe used special footwork to close the distance and deliver a truly powerful side quick to the body, sending Huso flying out of the ring. The result was an epic scene of the fish-man slowly lowering his upraised led as he intently looked at his opponent, with Huso having unfortunately been struck masterfully in the Solar plexus, jamming his diaphragm as he struggled to breath at the moment.
"Winner by ring out... Jinbe!" The announcer declared to the cheers of the crowd. "Now will anyone else step up to the prodigy of our great Dojo?
Does anyone dare?"
That made the audience quite down.
They just saw something most of them could never believe themselves capable of doing, with a respected Commander of the army losing, so not many had any inclination to step forward.
"I want to." A clear voice sounded out from near the stage, causing everyone to try and spot the brave soul even if the voice caused them a bit of confusion.
"Who said that?" The announcer asked as he dramatically tried to find their volunteer, actually being clued in by a section looking down in the same direction.
"Me." A small figure answered as it jumped onto the stage, revealing Adam grinning excitedly, freezing everyone in confusion over this small a child appearing.
Well, except for one person.
"ADAM! GET YOUR ASS OFF THAT STAGE MISTER!!!" Tami yelled out in fury over seeing her son doing something like this.
"But mooom, they won't be mean. I just want face our karate." Adam pleaded. "Pleaaase."
"ADAM!!" She roared as her spines flared.
"Please be at ease Madame." An aged voice resounded, causing people to pay attention to the sudden appearance of a person between Jinbe and Adam. "Your child will be safe, I promise this."
"Master!" Jinbe exclaimed as the audience now realized who this old man was.
He was the Grandmaster of the Fish-Man Dojo. It's 14th head. Anguin!
"But he's only a child." Tami softly responded with great worry.
"One who possess great talent and has made this old shark curious. So would you please allow me to test him?" The old master humbly requested, causing gasps throughout the audience, even the martial artists and Jinbe himself.
Tami, wasn't sure what to do.
She knew well that Adam strongly desired to learn and grow stronger. It was something she feared was genetic at this point, but she still worried for her baby. He was only 3 years old.
"Mom." Her child suddenly called out, meeting her eyes with fire and certainty before grinning brightly. "It'll be ok. Trust me. I'm the son of a lioness after all."
"That's not fair and you know it." Tami pouted before relenting. "But fine. You better not embarrass me up there then!"
"Wouldn't dream of it!" Adam excitedly responded as he turned to face the old man shooing away a fussing Jinbe like he was a child.
An amusing scene for the young Fish-Man, causing him to chuckle a bit, much to the embarrassment of the future Warlord.
"Alright young guppy, show me what you learnt while observing our little show." Anguin requested with a knowing look.
"Oh... I'm not in trouble am I? I know you're supposed to pay tuition, but I was just so excited and I kind of did it without permission." Adam worriedly asked.
"*Chuckle* No, you aren't in any sort of trouble." The elderly fish-man gently answered with soft smile. "I just want to see what you've understood."
"That's good then. Wouldn't want to piss off all those guys and force mom to beat them up." Adam jokingly sighed as his mother felt both pride and irritated at her son's image of her.
"A true lioness indeed." The master commented. "Now, attack me without fear. Show me who you are."
"I am Adam, son of Tami! Thank you for your guidance!" Adam cried out before bursting forward with speed surprising nearly everyone as he focused on his fist.
Chuckling at the move, Anguin moved not an inch beyond raising a thin eyebrow at the boy suddenly stoping and unleashing a surprising powerful vibrational wave with a heavy stomp. The grandmaster simply smiled as he used his body control and his internal water to mimic the strike's frequency to allow it to pass harmlessly through himself.
"Hoho! A good strike!" He praised as he caressed his devolved beard. "What else?"
Looking momentarily starstruck at what just happened, Adam refocused and intuitively combined the Chinese Kenpo concepts of earthly support and power learnt in his past life as he matched the way to interact with water molecules in the air with his other leg to perform an astounding powerful roundhouse kick, even if it was incredibly raw in terms of refinement and heavily limited by his body and age.
Anguin's eyes sparkled at the sight, using the gentleness of Jujutsu to redirected the force and throw the child upward to see how he would handle the sudden change and failure.
Not being disappointed at all when he saw the child grinning wildly as he righted himself easily. Adam then began focusing his senses around himself, gathering the minute amounts of water all around to his hands, forming two small Water Shots, gathering more water and compressing it, spinning it even, before sending the two small drills forward as best he could.
Unfortunately, his efforts in controlling the water hampered his aim for one of them, but the second was on target, even if not effective as the master matched the Shot's momentum and caught the thing playfully.
Seeing that, Adam's fire was stoked even further, even beginning to joyfully laugh as he unconsciously began lifting all the restrictions he always placed on himself.
He was always aware that he was born strong. His mother joked about him pinning the doctor who birthed him, a full grown Fish-Man, just after coming out, but Adam knew full well why. He had been startled by the decidedly far from human Jellyfish Fish-Man and used his uncontrolled strength without thinking. After that, he made every effort to learn control, especially since it was one of the only things he could really do as a newborn and toddler.
But now... now he felt light as a feather, even when falling towards the old master as he focused his strength and being into his upraised leg, readying an axe kick, earning the widening of Anguin's eyes even further as he felt something totally unexpected emerging.
He was feeling Haki.
The most basic awakening of Armament Haki, but it was there nonetheless as the clearly ecstatic boy aimed the small weapons of destruction he called legs down at him.
Before this, Anguin used a defensive technique dubbed Counter-Current, which allowed him to absorb the force of the blow using advanced Armament and then rebound it, except that he didn't want to harm the child he was letting play and let it flow out beneath him for dramatic effect.
This earned gobsmacked and boggle-eyed looks from the audience, but an old man should be allowed his pleasures and earning such looks was one of them. No one expects old people and young ones to be so ridiculous after all.
Two of those observers had different reactions however.
Shyarly held nothing but admiration for how her friend was so strong.
In her mind, Adam was being slowly built up as very reliable and a strong person who would protect her from people like her father. It was a very childlike and innocent view of him, but it made her feel much better about some of the things she had seen in her Crystal ball.
Like she had found something that could help.
Tami on the other hand was almost crying from seeing her baby enjoying himself so much and in such a carefree way.
She rarely saw him like that because he always tried so hard to help her, or the neighbors. He trained and studied, never complaining and always pushing himself and mostly doing as she asked. But she knew that, just like herself, he was scared of hurting others without meaning to.
Her baby wanted to grow strong, but he had been born too strong already, so he feared hurting those who weren't like it. She knew for a fact that was the case because of how gently he treated everything in the house before he managed to hone his muscular control.
So seeing him up there, laughing and having found someone who could let him go wild, it made her so happy. To see him so strong at such a young also made her feel so much pride in her baby because she could already tell he would flip the seas upside down if he desired.
"Hehe... Haha... HAHAHA!!! So much FUN!!" Adam cried out with a bright smile as his being surged for more after being allowed to let loose and landing from that awesome collision.
He gathered water to his limbs anew, but this time down the back of his right calf and hand.
"Let's try THIS!" He cried out with a swing of his hand as he concentrated the water into a slicing arc as a test first, it was easily blocked by Anguin's wrist flicking a small Water Shot at it, but Adam didn't care as he twisted his body to gain more momentum as he grasped the ground with his leg and sweeping the other upwards to recreate a water version of Rankyaku, the Tempest Kick, cleaving the stage as it flew out.
"Good!" Anguin declared as he masterfully pushed his palm and timed a minute vibrational release to a clearly unstable section of the water blade perfectly to disperse it completely.
"*Huff Huff* That was so cool." Adam quietly noted with awe at the mastery on display, feeling quite drained from the 'battle'.
Normally, he would be able to fight and train for hours at a time without rest, but today was different due to the much higher level of techniques and abilities he was using.
Fish-men spend years of training and studying to use even a few of the techniques Adam had managed to mimic and improvise. This was because they obviously required guidance and a powerful enough body to support them. So a young child, no matter how monstrously talented, using them for the first time in such an unrefined manner, while also utilizing Observation Haki unconsciously to learn even more while his mind and senses were going full speed and then awakening the embryonic form of Armament Haki mid-fight, would obviously be exhausted.
"Indeed. Do you want to learn how to do it?" The old master asked with a kind smile. "As my disciple that is.
None of these gold fish would be able to handle a rising tide like you."
That offer caused the entirety of the audience, which was stuck in awe at the 'playtime' between the two to simply have their brains stop for a moment.
""""EEEEEHHHHHHHH?!?!?!?!?"""" They all cried out in surprising unison.
"Really?!" An almost vibrating Adam asked before looking out to his mother.
He desperately wanted to, but he wouldn't do it without her permission.
So when she finally calmed herself, Tami couldn't help but smile pridefully at her boy controlling himself like this and how much he cared about her opinion. Seeing that, she just couldn't stand in his way when such an opportunity emmerged and nodded, earning a great big smile as he turned to the grandmaster.
"I'd be honored!" He responded with a bow after catching his breath.
"Good. Good. Then come to the dojo everyday at 7 in the morning." Anguin cheerfully instructed before turning his head. "Jin-kun, come and greet your junior brother!"
Snapping out of his shock, Jinbe hurriedly followed his master's order and approached they young fish-boy who was almost sparkling with excitement and awe as he looked up at him. Seeing this, Jinbe put on a kind smile and knelt down closer to his level.
He might not be fond of humans, being an orphan who had grown up in Fish-Man district, witnessing the pain and fear they inflicted on his fellow Fish-men, but he wouldn't stoop so low as to hate a half-breed child native to the island and chosen by his master.
"Nice to meet you Adam. You can call me Jinbe." He greeted as he shook the boys hand. "I guess we will be brothers from now on, so don't be afraid to come to me if you have any questions."
"I look forward to it!" Adam replied passionately, causing Jinbe to chuckle as he stood up.
-Ryugu Palace, that night
"Hoh Hoh Hoh Hoh! Today has been a good day, Jamon!" The newly crowned King Neptune happily stated in his throne room after returning from enjoying the festivities.
"Indeed, "The Minister of the Left, an middle-aged catfish merman with a well trimmed black beard and long Fu Manchu mustache wearing marine robes replied, "the kingdom has shown tremendous positivity towards your ascendency to the throne."
"You will need to find a wife soon however." The Minister of the right, a sea horse merman sternly recommended for what seemed to be the hundredth time.
But this time was different as the new king seemed to blush intensely to match the color of his nose.
"T-That will hopefully not be a worry for much longer... jamon." He shyly revealed, much to the surprise of the ministers.
"We must begin an investigation into this person!" The Minister of the Right declared fervently,
"No! You will do no such thing! Otohime would never talk to me again if she thought I ordered something like that!" The king ordered urgently.
"So her name is Otohime? At least it is a fitting name." The Minister of the Left noted, causing the King to pale at his slip up.
But before they could continue, a guardsman came in rather urgently.
"I beg your pardon for interrupting, but I have urgent news from the festival!" The merman announced as he knelt before the king.
Taking this opportunity, he composed himself and redirected his attention to him.
"What is the matter? Has there been an attack?" He regally questioned.
"No, your majesty! Grandmaster Anguin took in a new disciple during the Dojo's showcase. A young half Fish-Man by the name of Adam, the son of a former worker at the Mermaid Café and now current owner and founder of Lion Acupuncture!" The guard reported, earning surprised looks from the highest ranking trio in the kingdom.
This was a big deal.
To be chosen as the personal student of the man who stood at the peak of the island in terms of strength for so long thanks to his martial arts and had already trained very powerful defenders of it, including his current disciple, was a momentous opportunity for any. It almost guaranteed that the chosen disciple would reach great strength if he made it through the training and would become an important factor to Fish-man Island.
The fact that it was actually a hybrid did bring some concerns to the Ministers, but the boy had been born and raised on Fish-Man Island while surrounded by some of its best aspects, as such they were relatively certain he wouldn't do anything like betray them.
"Be sure to have some additional patrols assigned near Lion Acupuncture from now on. We will ensure the boy retains a home untainted by possible tragedy." The Minister of the Right swiftly ordered.
"Also, see if we could do anything help his mother and find out who the father is. This could help us assure he remains loyal to the Kingdom." The Minster of the Left followed.
"Y-yes. Please relay these orders, jamon." Neptune concurred, feeling slightly depressed that his Ministers were quicker to the punch than himself.
"Yes your Majesty!" The guard responded with a bow before quickly swimming out.
"Now your majesty..." the ministers then turned back to their king. "Let us hear more about this Otohime."
Author Notes:
My first One Piece battle scenes, short but I think they display some cool things on the skills down in Fish-Man Island.
Jinbe is already quite strong, being someone who could overcome the Military's strongest trainer, a merman who is past his prime but still very strong in Merman combat even if he would be more dangerous with his weapon of choice.
I created his master, also look up Frilled Sharks because thems are pretty neet, because Jinbe would have needed at least some guidance to have reached so far passed any other user of Fish-Man Martial arts, so now there is a stereotypical Old monster and the Head of the Dojo.
The set up with Adam and Jinbe being Disciple Brothers is also very Asian, but I thought it would be fitting to have both form a relationship like this due to the age difference. And yes, Jinbe is 17 years older than Adam.
Interestingly enough, that's the same age as Otohime, who I decided to have start seeing Neptune a bit before his coronation was decided. The fact that there's a 24 year age gap between her and Neptune as well as the size difference really is striking, but Fukaboshi needs to be born in 2 years and Adam wouldn't have influenced that to change.
A lot of stuff happened in Fish-Man Island this year, so next chapter is going to have some timeskips happening before another few years good by to the next great change for everyone there.
I just wanted to have a bit of family stuff for Shyarly, Tami and Adam before kicking up his training and strength while spreading his name across the Island with this initial bang.
And finally, his hot-bloodedness and desires for battle are inherited from Oden, but his previous spirit and his current upbringing push him into still being kind and considerate, just also while having his wanderlust and really enjoying fights now.
Hope you enjoyed, cause there's an interesting guest coming next chapter.