Disclaimer: One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda, I only own my OCs
It.
Was.
Hell.
What did I unleash?
God, I feel so bad for Sanji right now, he's probably screaming inside that wax statue of his. I can almost hear it. Turning around, I saw Ms. Valentine trying to sneak away from the Titan I had unleashed. She was almost succeeding too.
Pity.
I sped over to her, and the sting in my legs turned into a dull throb. I ignored it, opting to figure it out later on the Merry. I took sadistic pleasure in seeing the different shades of pallid white Ms. Valentine became, and as nonchalantly as I could, I said,
"How's the weather?"
She promptly turned around and ran full speed away from me. Not that that meant anything though. I laughed and ran over to her without using my Devil Fruit. Even without my Fruit, I was pretty fast, which to me was unsurprising. I had tried out for the Track and Field team back at home, but they told me I was a "jack of all trades and a master of none,".
What a pile of garbage.
I did pretty good in my opinion. It's not my fault I was good enough to qualify for the basketball team, and the softball team, and the girls' football team, and the… volleyball team… and…
Okay, so I'm a master of none. I get it.
Snapping back to reality, I did a right hook across Ms. Valentine's face, leaving an ugly bruise on her once-pristine skin.
She turned around and glared at me, but before she could say anything, I delivered an uppercut, and snapped her jaw shut. Her voice grated on my nerves. I didn't want to hear it.
This time, she seemed to learn something. Instead of trying to monologue to me (great choice, by the way) she grabbed her umbrella and thrust it at me like she's been fencing for the past 20 years.
…
You know, I realized something—having the power to change one's weight can make you extremely fast. With little-to-no backlash. She was running at me 100 miles over the speed limit! Not that there was one to begin with, though.
I would've lost if I hadn't remembered that I had a Devil Fruit.
I sped around her, trying to minimize tunnel vision, and hit her on the back of her head. She dropped like a marionette with their strings cut. That was… actually kind of a let-down. I was hoping for a longer fight. Oh well.
Marionette with their strings cut, I shuddered, Having Dressrosa flashbacks, man, Dressrosa flashbacks…
I turned around to see how the fight was going, and simultaneously thanked Oda that I had, and hated myself for the same reason. Luffy was… not being Luffy. He wasn't blinded by the promise of meat, per se, it was like… he was being possessed.
He looked weird, his eyes were glowing purple, black magic, that looked of corruption swirled around him, and he was not blindly hitting Mr. 3 like I was expecting him to. He was hitting him in all vital points, and would've killed Mr. 3, had he not stopped.
Would've being the key word here.
The second I turned around, I realized that Luffy was on me, and going to attack me, so I did what any normal person would do: I ran.
I ran towards the Candle Set, and arrived just in time to see the wax melt from the prone forms of Zoro, Sanji, and the others.
Speeding up my vocal cords, and knowing that it's going to hurt like hell afterwards, I yelled, "LUFFY'S GONE MAD! HEL—" I was cut off by Luffy launching himself into me with a Gomu Gomu no Rocket, although, he didn't announce it, which again, sent warning bells ringing through my mind.
"Uurgh…" I blinked through the haze that was my vision, and belatedly realized that Luffy had undergone, yet another transformation.
Horns? Wings? A tail? What is he? Some Impel Down Reject? What's going on? I closed my eyes, and then slowly opened them, only to see Luffy clutching and glaring at his hand like it killed his brother.
"Stop." He gritted out, "I don't know who you are, but… GET OUT OF MY HEAD!", he yelled the last part out to the heavens, and a light blanket of something fell over Little Garden, making Mr. 3 fall unconscious, the giants snap to attention, and the rest of us to feel dazed.
The forest fell silent. After it picked back up again, I shoulder bumped Zoro, who was helping me up, cautiously walked over to Luffy, and voiced the question on everyone's minds, "What was that?".
Luffy frowned, "" he let the question hang in the air.
"," I selected.
Luffy frowned even more and looked at his hand, "I don't know… the best word to describe it would be…"
~\_o_/~
"…Corruption." I said in the darkness of the galley. Me, Katrina, Zoro, and Nami were there, trying to figure out, what exactly was the thing that managed to take Luffy over.
"So!" I clapped my hands together, "Anyone have any ideas? Thoughts they want to share…?". Nami frowned, "Don't you know what this… Corruption… is, with all your future knowledge, and whatnot?".
I leaned back in the chair and propped my feet up on the table, "No clue, either I didn't read ahead that far, which I sincerely doubt, or this is something new.", Katrina leaned closer to the table.
"That thing took over Luffy, maybe he will know something?" she offered.
Zoro looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "Well, we need to ask him, then, but who's subtle enough?".
In sync, all their heads turned to me, and I began sweating.
"What?"
A smile stretched across Nami's face, and it was simultaneously disturbing and terrifying.
"Oh, nothing," she said sweetly, "We were just wondering if you'd…" she hesitated and bit her lip in what was supposed to be a tempting manner.
"We were wondering if you'd ask Luffy, please?" she fluttered her eyelashes, and I rolled my eyes.
"If you had asked me normally, and maybe shown some respect to the seer here, then maybe I would've done it," I taunted her.
Nami dropped the cute girl act and glared at me, but before she could say anything, Katrina spoke up,
"Listen Shivani, I know that you have your pride, but please, can you just do this once? You and I both know this isn't canon. This could have serious effects on the storyline."
I bit my lip and hesitated for a bit before opening my mouth, "Okay, fine, I'll ask,".
Nami, Zoro, and Katrina all shared a victorious smile.
"BUT—!" I cut in, effectively dashing the celebratory mood, "I'll ask him tomorrow, we've had a long day today, what with all the Corruption and crap going on, so let's get some rest and work on this tomorrow,".
Everyone made noises of agreement and got up to leave. Before Nami went, I remembered something and grabbed her arm.
"Nami,"
"What?" she looked at me.
"Is there a bite on your stomach?"
She looked at me blankly before saying, "There was… a bug bite, but I only feel faintly feverish, I'll be fine,".
I hid a wince, "Yeah… sure, whatever you say, just remember that I'm the seer here," I playfully added the last part to add emphasis to my question. It did its job.
Nami's eyes imperceptibly widened, and her hand twitched as if it was going to rest on her stomach, before she gave a forced smile and left.
I sighed and plopped down in a chair and rested a hand against my face.
"How troublesome…" I grunted.
My attention was stolen by a cracking sound near the fridge. Interest piqued, I decided to walk towards it, keeping a spare hand on the hilt of my dagger just in case. The closer I got, the more cracks I could hear, and small squeals could be heard as well. What?
I opened the fridge as quietly as possible, and was immediately assaulted with the look of… a baby dinosaur.
What the frigg?
I am officially surprised.
"Hey, is that a Velociraptor?" and mentally deficient in something, if how I'm numb to surprise means anything.
The baby dinosaur opened its eyes and made eye contact with me, and I immediately felt a sense of foreboding. It let out a squeal that sounded a lot like a pig and began shivering.
"Scree! Scree!"
"Oh wait, stop crying, GACK!"
Oh wait, don't birds imprint on the first thing they see? I looked at the sleeping dinosaur in my arms, and birds evolved from Dinosaurs, so…
"I'M A MOM?!"
{[(o.o)]}
Norzira shivered somewhere, and the small circles underneath her eyes opened up a little to reveal 3 more eyes underneath her normal eyes.
"Dear Oda, what did I just witness?"
Because, you see, Norzira has 8 eyes. 1 pair is for witnessing the past. 1 pair is for witnessing the present. 1 pair is for witnessing the future. And with those 3 pairs of eyes, she watches everything. She has one pair for herself, too. The 6 extra eyes are for Watching Worlds and deciding Fate.
"Hm? What did you witness?" a bored, yet keenly alert voice sounded next to her.
Norzira turned her head and scowled, "You're not allowed to know, you should know that,"
"If I'm not allowed to know, how would I know?" Srinidhi gave a sly grin.
Norzira grumbled, "You're really stupid, you know?"
Srinidhi gave another grin before grimacing.
"Although, the fact that their lives are so fun to watch won't mean a thing if Corruption actually makes it here…"
"About that…" Norzira winced, "My… dear sister seems to have set her sights on the Straw-Hats, just as she set her sights on you, me, and Joyboy during the Void Century, all those years ago,"
Srinidhi gaped at her before pressing two fingers to her temples and groaning, "Too much math…"
"SUCK IT UP, IDIOT!"
{[(o.o)]}
I stumbled with an oversized sleeping lizard in my arms, into the girls' room. I walked over to the bed and as silently as I possibly could, I tapped Nami on the shoulder. When she didn't wake up, I tapped her a little harder.
That's when she stirred.
"Hmmmm…? Ai…ka...?" she slurred.
She got up and rubbed her eyes blearily, "What…" she yawned, "What do you need?"
"Help," I whispered, "I need help,"
She sent an inquisitive look at me, and I just couldn't form any words, so I shoved the sleeping baby dinosaur in her face.
Her eyes widened comically, and I was numbly aware of the fact that she probably woke up the entire ship with her yell.
"WHAAAAAAAAAATT?!"
I winced and stage-whispered to her, "Keep it down!"
She abruptly got out of her bed, and smoothed her clothes down, "The hell do you mean, *cough* 'keep it down' ?!"
I grimaced at her cough, and countered, "Would you really want to wake the rest of the crew up with your yelling?"
"Too late," a new voice entered the scene.
As one, me, the baby velociraptor, and Nami's heads turned in the direction of the voice. It was Vivi. She had an irritated look on her face, and was visibly trying not to fall asleep right there.
"Ah heheh… Sorry?"
"Shut up Nami,"
"Squeal!"
Vivi's eyes widened, "What in all of Ra is that?!" she pointed at the whining baby velociraptor in my arms. I was too tired to retaliate, so I complied with what she asked. Maybe giving subtle barbs here and there, too…
"You see, this is a Velociraptor. It is an extremely smart type of Dinosaur, and yes, it came from Little Garden, no it will NOT eat Carue, so long as it is given enough meat to begin with. It hatched not even 20 minutes ago, meaning that the first living being it saw was me, so in all of Oda's wondrousness, and that blue goddess's puzzling glory, I am now a mother. Whoopee. Not to mention that since we have a new addition to the crew because there is no way in hell that I'm leaving this child alone, I shallst take care of thee, and no one will stop me!"
Vivi was fully awake at this point, "You mean…" yes, she's getting it now, "That thing is a predator?" Is that seriously all she got from my speech?
She pointed a shaking finger at the now awake dinosaur in my arms, "Do you seriously think that's… safe?"
I shot her a deadpan expression, "As safe as a baby dinosaur can be, but I can tell you this," I took in a deep breath, "It's most definitely safer than Sandora Lizards," I caught her wince, "Man-eating plants that inconspicuously live under sand," she curled in on herself, "And carnivorous catfishes," she wilted under the weight of my words.
"Please do tell me…" I started again, "That you didn't forget the rest of the things that reside in your home country that would probably be more than tenfold as dangerous as a baby dinosaur," I glowered at her form.
As much as I loved the manga and the anime, the fact that Vivi kept on forgetting things about her home country just didn't sit well with me.
I sighed and slipped into the bed. I'm guessing it was sheer luck that Nami's scream didn't wake up the rest of the crew.
"What do you think you're doing, sleeping in my spot?" Nami muttered, while getting under the sheets next to me.
"I don't see your name on it," I retorted quietly, cuddling the small baby dinosaur to my chest before drifting off into dreamland.
…
…
…
Shivani looked around. She was on the Straw-Hat's ship. She felt hyperaware of everything going on. All her senses were in overload and screaming, "this is just wrong"
No one was there. It didn't feel like a horror movie though. It didn't scare her. It just made her feel… empty.
Lonely.
"Katrina?" she ventured out with hope in her voice. Maybe since they share a mental link, their dreams will be linked as well! It somewhat worked last time—
She yelped at the sensation of crawling spiders all over her body, and at the sound of something collapsing behind her.
Now would be a great time to put on a mask, she thought fearfully.
But no matter how many times she tried masking her emotions, it just wouldn't work. What was at play, here—?
"Hmm… Little SHIVANI" A voice purred next to her ear.
Shivani yelped and jumped forward, before pitching backwards in an attempt to hit something. She did not like how that thing said her name. It just felt… wrong… It was so garbled, and distorted, it felt like—
Shivani's blood ran cold.
"Corruption,"
"Hm? So, you know me. Not many in this day and age who know me," the voice circled around her, taking a distinct solemn undertone. That alone raised so many warning bells.
"Cut the crap, what do you want?" Shivani raised her fists in anticipation of battle, adrenaline coursed through her veins.
She could feel Corruption still, before shaking with… laughter?
"Ha… HAHAHAHA! You resisted me?! You're definitely that lass Srinidhi's girl," the voice idly mused.
Shivani grinned, "Doubt creates corruption. If you make me doubt my loyalties and my faith, well… We can forget winning the battle, because you've already won the war,"
Although she couldn't see it, she could feel Corruption's intent stare on her. Where? She couldn't quite place it.
"Ah, yes…" the voice began circling her again, "Doubt creates corruption, which empowers me. But so, does desire, lust, hatred, and in some way… ambition, but, that's not why I'm here, my lass," the voice sped up around her, "What I want to know… is what your desire is. What do you want?"
Shivani gulped, and her fists began shaking from an untold pressure. Conquerors…?
"My desire…" she shakily began, "Is for you to get out of my head!"
"…"
The only sound that could be heard was heavy breathing, and the shifting of feet on rotting wood.
"You and I both know that isn't your desire," Corruption stared at her, and Shivani became keenly aware that the voice had materialized into a solid form.
"No matter, then. What do you hate, is the question," Corruption switched topics with ease.
"You," Shivani retorted without hesitation, "I hate you, for getting into my Captain's head,"
Corruption was silent for a moment before the voice burst into laughter. The laughter sounded… weird, though… It didn't grate on Shivani's nerves, but it wasn't too perfect to send warning bells through her mind. It didn't multiple voices overlaying it, but had one singular voice that rang out above them all.
It was a happy, amused sort of laugh, nothing like the maniacal giggling that Shivani was completely expecting.
It sounded… human, but not quite, human. It sounded like how that blue goddess sounded like when she laughed, just… older. And more… wholesome.
Shivani couldn't explain it, but from the second she heard the goddess laugh, she knew that something was wrong. It was beautiful, yes, but it had a distinct… empty feeling to it. After a while, she just shrugged it off as her imagination, but now there's something similar.
Something different was at work, and it involved the blue goddess.
"You are so much like my dearest little sister," aaaaaand the voice was back.
"Little sister?" maybe she could probe for information while she had the chance.
Corruption turned an amused stare to her before replying in a grating tone, "The one who sent you here, my dearest little sister, who locked me away during the Void Century, my dearest little sister," her voice turned into a snarl at the end, "Norzira…"
…
…
…
I woke up with a start, my senses alert. I was numb to the sensation of Nami tugging on my sleeve, and Vivi asking what was wrong, nor could I feel the petulant whining and weak thrashing of the baby Velociraptor on my chest.
"What… was that…?"
So... Who likes the Cliffhanger?