DISCLAIMER: EIICHIRO ODA OWNS ONE PIECE, I OWN THIS FANFICTION

I would've cried that we lost our only way up… if my tears didn't dry up many years earlier. Damn, that sounded edgy.

"Would you stop crying?" I heard Katrina's dry voice sound out next to me.

I grimaced and retorted, "What makes you think that I am crying?"

"Have you forgotten that we literally share a mind?" Katrina looked thoroughly unimpressed with me. Which, come to think of it, was completely normal.

I'm becoming hysterical again. This isn't good.

"How do you think we'll be going up the mountain now. Miss Shivani?" Dalton asked, staring at me.

All of a sudden, I felt extremely, extremely unnerved, and like I was being stripped down naked for the world to see.

"I…" I swallowed, trying to moisten my already dry throat, "I don't know…"

For a moment, everything was silent, save for the mutterings of a few disappointed people. "Don't you have a speed-based Devil Fruit?" Dalton questioned.

"Well, yeah, I do, but if you're asking me to defy gravity and run up a 90-degree angle, I'm truly, really sorry, but I'm human, and I just can't do that," I said sarcastically, catching a few winces and grimaces in the crowd.

"Well, the way you killed Kuromarimo said otherwise," I heard an unknown man mutter under his breath, and my blood ran cold.

From the emotional connection we had, I'm pretty sure that Katrina heard whatever the guy said as well, and she was fighting down the urge to walk up and give a tongue lashing.

Dalton walked up to me, and questioned in a pleading tone, almost bordering on begging, "Please, can you at least try?"

I looked at him for a moment and sighed, "When I said I couldn't do it, I meant, I couldn't do it. I can only have my Devil Fruit active for a certain amount of time, otherwise it… malfunctions for lack of a better term to put it," I grimaced.

Dalton frowned, "At least try," he implored, getting on his knees, "Please, I'm begging you!"

I grimaced, "Hey, hey, you don't have to… you know… get on your knees and all, I just…" I sighed, "Fine,"

I faced the mountain, slowly tracking it to the peak, which extended well above my eyesight and beyond the clouds, but then again, I need glasses, so who am I to say?

I took a few steps backwards and ran a few quick calculations in my mind. I activated my Devil Fruit, and felt the familiar rush of energy through my legs. Not wanting to waste any time, I yelled, "Wish me luck!" and jumped.

Mid-air, and mid-jump, I immediately began to feel my leg muscles spasm dangerously violently, and my knee-jerk reaction was to deactivate my devil fruit, so I did.

At least I was midair, so I didn't start falling?

Then, I realized that I was three seconds away from having my face leave a royal, permanent stain on the side of the tallest Drum Rocky.

Panicking, I activated my Devil fruit again, and shifted my center of balance lateral. Huh. Who knew that skydiving would come in handy here?

A split second after I hit the side of mountain, I ran upwards, feeling the biting cold eat at my nose, ears, and eyes.

After about five seconds of running, which got me absolutely nowhere from my point of view, my devil fruit started spasming, before proceeding to completely shut off.

I let out a shriek, and felt my legs lock up and slide down the side of the mountain, making that terrible sound.

You know the sound you get when you rub your sleeve on a chalkboard? Yeah, that's what I was hearing.

I slammed my fingers into the mountain, and immediately felt skin break and tear, along with a cold wind on exposed skin.

Once I was sure that I stopped sliding downwards, I looked up, and saw 10 trails of blood nearby. 10 trails of blood that I did not make.

I tried. I really did. But I just could not stop grinning like a loon. Just how high did I jump? Once I felt that I had stopped moving downwards, I sucked in a breath and closed my eyes.

Time to rock climb.

~\_o_/~

Zoom to Wapol for a sec. For some reason, it did not occur to Shivani to search for Wapol once she was high enough. Although, like with most people who steal head starts without consent, he was already far, far ahead of her.

Far enough, in fact, to make it to the very top of the Drum Rockies. As of now, he was currently facing off with one extremely angry Monkey D, one lost swordsman, and one befuddled mutant-reindeer.

There was also a sniper whose face was so swollen, he couldn't do anything, and a certain blue-haired princess, both of which were watching from the sidelines.

At the moment, there was a psychotic old lady clinging to his nape by her teeth, and at least 12 different axes, spears, and blades were sunken into his back, none of which seemed to kill him.

"Where's Chess and Kuromarimo?" Chopper muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Oh. I killed Kuromarimo, and knocked out Chess," Shivani replied nonchalantly, with a cinch of breathlessness.

"Eh?"

"You," Wapol growled, inching towards Shivani's form which was half lying on the top of the mountain, and half hanging off the edge.

"Yes," Shivani drawled, "Me. Your point?"

Wapol growled, but said nothing.

~\_o_/~

Rock climbing is way harder than it looks. Especially for people who have an innate fear of heights. Read: Me. Unless I know for sure that I'm not going to fall, I freeze up and panic. Otherwise, I reach an adrenaline high, and laugh like a maniac because of how close I am to death, and how far I am from ground.

So, I do the reasonable thing, and let go of one of my hands on the brick, reach for my daggers, and sink one into the brick, before sinking the other one parallel to it. Then, I went climbing Flynn Rider-or whatever-style.

Once I reached the top, my arms were aching, my legs were aching, I was dizzy, and I wanted nothing more than to throw up. Preferably on Wapol, but not everything can be that good in life, I suppose.

I had to seriously resist the urge to squeal when I saw Chopper, and his adorable BLUE NOSE—

Ahem.

He questioned where Chess and Kuromarimo was, and I was understandably upset. I mean. Now, Luffy won't ever get to see the 7 cool transformations of the reindeer-human that is Chopper. Which means that, by extension, Chopper won't join the crew!

Oh.

Dammit.

I forgot just how fragile canon was… I grimaced and sunk my daggers into the mountain, creating a more-or-less stable ledge for myself to stand.

"Oh, I killed Kuromarimo and knocked out Chess," I said breathlessly. What? The air was pretty thin up there. Damn. Now I sound like a porn star.

"You," Wapol snarled venomously, and this time, I just could not hold back my reply.

"Yes. Me. Your point?" I drawled, giving a lazy smirk, to finish the set.

I had no doubt that Luffy knew that I was acting. Putting on a mask, and letting the mask do the work for me. But what else could I do?

(AN: The category for this story should change to Angst. Lol)

I hoisted myself up onto the snowy mountain, and resisted the stupid urge to look down. "Yep. Okay. Captain?" I turned to Luffy, who was looking at me with a slightly disappointed gaze. No doubt from how I was wearing a mask.

"You are superhuman, considering you were able to make it the entire way to the top, while carrying two people, without a jacket," I praised, nodding sagely.

I saw a glint of amusement and pride in Luffy's eyes, before a smile broke out on his face.

"Shi! Shi! Shi!" he giggled.

I smiled, and activated my Devil Fruit for a split second, running towards Wapol, before turning it off, and using my momentum to elbow him in the side. I grunted, and pivoted on my foot, so my back was facing the castle, and I was evenly standing with Zoro.

Wait. Zoro?

I turned a questioning look towards him and he shrugged before doing a circle motion with his fingers, and I immediately got a feeling of what happened.

Seriously? He got lost? Again? I rolled my eyes and just stared forwards, allowing a mask of cold indifference to take over; no chances could be taken, at the moment.

What I didn't know at the moment was that a glint of exasperation shone in my eyes. Genuine exasperation.

I looked at my captain, and he returned the stare, smiling softly, before looking at Wapol's legs. Now. I'm not psychic like Zoro, who instinctually knows what Luffy's thinking, because they both share the same nigh-superhuman qualities, so I took a wild guess, and shrugged, before disappearing in a kick of snow and slashing at Wapol's legs.

"AARGH!" he screeched inhumanly, before kicking me into the castle walls. Damn. For someone so fat, with such thin legs, that was strong.

I grimaced, and pried myself from the castle wall, peeling open my eyes to watch the fight. I opened them just in time to see Captain send me an approving look, before turning to Chopper and saying, "This is your fight, not mine,".

I was half-expecting Chopper to start crying at that moment, but I was equally surprised when Chopper nodded resolutely, sniffled, and then popped a rumble ball into his mouth.

The fight went on for a while, but as it went on, I noticed something. While Chopper was showcasing his abilities, Wapol was putting on a show. It was… eerily familiar. At one point, Wapol started panting really hard, and Chopper's 3 minutes were up.

Then, it hit me like a brick. Dear Gods, Wapol's… faking—

I was ripped out of my thoughts when a dark, scratchy laugh ripped from Wapol's throat, and I immediately felt chills go down my spine. Oh. This is not good.

I grimaced, Katrina, now would be a really convenient time for you to come up here?

'…I'm kinda preoccupied at the moment,'

What the seven hells do you mean 'pReOcCuPiEd'?! I screeched internally.

I got no reply.

Whatever you're 'pReOcCuPiEd' with better be good, dammit, I mentally cribbed a bit, before settling myself into a fighting stance.

Before I analyzed the enemy, I decided to analyze my allies. You know, to see how they're doing, if they're ready to fight, and stuff. Totally not to check their emotional state out like a hypocrite. Yep. Totally.

Zoro seemed to be intrigued, and fighting a mental battle with himself nonstop. Huh. Weird. Luffy had raw, unadulterated rage on his face, and for a moment, I was 100% sure that he would start spewing smoke out of his nostrils not unlike a dragon.

Usopp… was terrified. Although, he seemed sane enough to set a lead ball into his slingshot, which is something I can completely respect. I expected no less from someone who's a part of the Future Pirate King's crew.

Vivi… must have forgotten her peacock slashers, if she was cowering behind Usopp. You know, I think my respect for her went down a few notches.

Chopper—Oh my dingdongs-CHOPPER! He was being choked by Wapol—how'd the guy even move that fast?!—and he was soundly blue in the face.

Wait—where's Kureha?

As if on cue, I felt a pang of fear, guilt and shock through the back of my mind, along with a very gory image of a broken, just-barely breathing Doctor Kureha at the bottom of the Drum Rockies.

Oh my god.

This just got… very… real.

~\_o_/~

Invictus was confused. His mama just left him inside this weird box, and covered him in all this cloth that humans wear, so Invictus thought that his confusion was entirely justified. Which it was.

Invictus whined, low and deep in his throat, before shifting around a bit, and throwing off the cloth from his scales, exposing them to the surprisingly cold air.

That's cold! He yelped.

He turned back to the cloth to bury himself inside the warmth once more, but before he could even move, 2 arms picked him up.

What? What? He made a questioning sound, and tilted his head to the side.

The lady that picked him up wasn't his mom, and she gave off bad vibes. Therefore, Invictus, as any baby velociraptor would do, shrieked for his mama. Unfortunately, there were two reasons that wouldn't work.

1—his mom couldn't hear him, as she was technically on the top of a mountain, with a snowstorm raging around her and fighting a psychopathic tyrant.

2—the lady used two fingers to hold his jaw shut before he could even start screaming.

"Shh… Little Invictus," she crooned, stroking his scales with another arm she grew out of her back. Now that Invictus had nothing better to do, he took a good look at her.

She was… for lack of a better word, grotesque. She had stark white skin, with cracks running down from her eyes, four arms, 2 of which were long, thin, and spindly. She could've been a supermodel had she put more fat on her bones. As of now, she was skin and bones, with gaunt hips, and stick-like shoulder bones.

But really, Invictus would've had to be an idiot to not notice the rippling muscle underneath all that. Her smile wasn't really helping the picture. It was sharp, lilting, and had a distinct promise of death in it.

Invictus froze up.

"Velociraptor? Hmm… Shivani made a very… appealing choice, to say the least," the voice murmured softly, stroking Invictus' scales in what he supposed should've been a soothing way, but really, all it did was make Invictus want to take an ice-cold shower and then sleep for a very long time.

To put it bluntly, Invictus didn't like it one bit.

He didn't like how she was trying to imitate his mama's hands when she stroked his scales. He didn't like the mutation she made on his scales.

Wait—mutation?

"You have impeccable timing! I was thinking of a new idea for a Devil Fruit, and you will make a perfect host!" she crowed.

Invictus felt his snout elongate, and fill with sharper teeth. He felt his tongue fork up like a snake's, and then taper off into a pointed tip. He felt wings poke out of his back, and spine-like ridges go up and down his back, before stopping at the end of his now, much, much longer tail.

Then, he exploded in pain.

Two tailfins sprouted at the end of his tail, horns burst out of his skull, curling backwards like a strange gazelle's, and his back, oh gods, his back!

Two, huge bat-like wings sprouted out from his back, extending outwards a good one-and-a-half foot each, before coming back, narrowing into the same place they started out in.

His forelegs mutated differently, becoming longer, and more like a lizard's. Then, he began feeling a burning sensation in his stomach. It wasn't the feeling of fire, no. It was like… an insatiable hunger that he could never fill.

By the time it was done, Invictus looked and felt like a monster.

"Void Dragon fruit. Mythical Zoan. Powers—turns into a dragon, can travel through shadows, can breathe darkness, and for animals—speak human language. Backlash—still in testing stage, not very good at fighting the Dark-Dark fruit, and insatiable hunger for souls," the lady frowned for some strange reason, and Invictus felt an ugly hate well up in him.

What? Is this still not enough? What more could she want?!

"Well. Even if I couldn't make you as perfect as my other Devil Fruits, have fun!" the lady cackled, and then disappeared.

Invictus groaned, and fell unconscious.

~\_o_/~

Katrina was scared. She wasn't sure what was going on up there, but the sheer amount of pain she was feeling seemed to equate to that. Then, she saw a dot getting bigger towards them at an alarming speed, and she almost rejoiced, because she thought they had won.

Then she found out it was Doctor Kureha.

Broken, bloody, just-barely-alive Doctor Kureha.

A myriad of different emotions pumped through her veins, so much so that she didn't know what to feel. When she told Shivani that she was preoccupied, she wasn't lying.

She was helping Dalton build a makeshift gondola to go up the mountain, and they were coming pretty close. She cut the connection to her thoughts, considering she didn't know how to cut the connection to her body, and continued to work.

For a split second after she saw Kureha, her focus slipped, the connection went up again, and everything probably hit Shivani like a 10-ton sledgehammer.

Oh my god, she cried, not even caring if the tears froze in her eyes, I'm so, so sorry.

~\_o_/~

After I saw the bloody, mangled body of Dr. Kureha, I had to put a mask on if I wanted to keep from puking my guts out.

I grimaced and kept my eyes trained on Wapol.

"Ah… Now that that hag is off of me… I can actually move," I could barely comprehend what he meant by that, before he disappeared, and then reappeared in front of me.

I moved to block him, but I was too slow. Me. The one with the speed-based Devil Fruit was slow.

Luffy's angry shout was muffled in my ears, and I distantly noted Chopper running up to me. He had big purple bruises around his neck that I doubted would heal. I sluggishly reached up a hand to trace those bruises, and then dropped it once I saw him wince.

"Sorry," I said in a soft drawl.

Chopper began panicking, and making even more noise, that was still muffled in my ears. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Is this really how I'm going to die? Oh well—

—

What happened to that 'conviction' you talked about? I don't see any.

—

My eyes snapped open, and I felt my finger twitch for a second. All of a sudden, all the sensations around me hit me like a brick. Once, where everything was muffled, was now clear as day.

I could hear Chopper fussing over me, and tending to my wounds. I could hear Luffy getting angry on my behalf. I could hear the grunts that Zoro makes whenever he fights. And in the wake of all these emotions, my heart swelled with an indescribable warm feeling, and at that moment, I wanted nothing more than to cry my heart out.

I ignored the aching in my limbs, and sat myself up. I felt a warm, sticky liquid seep out the back of my head, and I hummed. So, I'm bleeding from a headwound.

If I do go down here. Then it will be fighting. The day I roll over and die, will be the day that my captain asks me to. As of now, I pledge my loyalty, faith, and unending devotion to Monkey D. Luffy.

I turned to Chopper. First things first. That rumble ball forcefully awakens a Zoan Devil Fruit… I wonder if it could work on a Paramecia.

"Hey, Chopper," I said slowly, "Think you can give me one of your rumble balls?"

AN: Hey. I should probably pay more attention to this story. Granted, it's almost a month. Okay, maybe it has been a month, but in my defense, I had like, 4 different projects to work on, and by the time I was done, another science project and history project was dumped on me. Currently, I am writing this story while doing my math homework, against my better judgement. Things have been really hectic lately, and I read over the last few bits of my story, and I just realized how angsty it was, so I'm changing the rating to Angst/Adventure. Not to mention, I'm switching fandoms a lot these days. As of now I just switched from Attack on Titan to HTTYD. So please, forgive me if I forget that I have fanfictions I need to write. I promise I'll pay extra attention to this particular story.

Thank you.

~~OracleNorzi

(FYI, Invictus has an incomplete Devil Fruit. I'm not planning on making my characters ridiculously overpowered, mkay? Besides-someone's gotta include DRAGONS into this story.)