Flying home is so boring-yoi... yoi-yoi-yoi~
...
SHINY ! - Phoenix has changed course!
I'm slightly changing how Sea stone works.
This whole thing starts off as, seeming to just be an explanation, but I promise we're going somewhere with it! This chapter is not just an explanation of Sea-stone!
Skim through untill double line if first part is boring for you!
Sea-Stone, the greatest enemy to even the strongest devil fruit. Draining and weakening their target with a simple touch. The discovery of this mineral put an end to the reign of unbeatable powers. One who is normally untouchable with their devil fruit, now becomes but a simple human being, prone to even the smallest of damages. Even the smallest bit of Sea-stone will guarantee its effects, their power to nullify any devil fruit isn't to be underestimated.
For generations the above info is what has been passed down, everyone seems to know it naturally. It's as of this information is ingrained in everyone's very being from birth.
... If only it was true ...
Contrary to popular believe, Sea-stone doesn't simply nullify a devil fruit's power.
Sea-stone actually only nullifies the future usage of said fruit.
'That's exactly the same...' is what you may be thinking, but nothing is more true. Listen, read, think, about what is nullified, EXCACTLY what is nullified.
Is it the devil fruit? - No
Is it a specific action or ability? - No
Is it the general use of a devil fruit? - No
It is the FUTURE usage of said devil fruit.
Still confused?
Let me give you an example, one unrelated to devil fruits and Sea-stone.
Imagine you made a tray of ice cubes, you have them in your freezer, the low temperature in there is what keeps it frozen. You taking them out of the freezer, putting them in a hotter place, will make them melt and turn to water. It's essentially the 'Sea-stone' for the ice, you've just taken away the one thing the ice needs to survive, coldness. You've weakened it greatly. But remove the 'Sea-stone', remove the heat - give the ice cubes the cold back, and they'll be able to return to their solid- and strong state, ice, as if nothing ever happened.
What is so important here and how is this related to the original question at all is what you're starting to wonder?
Well, when you removed the ice cubes from the freezer, and they touched the hotter air around you, did they instantly dissolve and become water? No, no they didn't. They'll slowly melt.
Why? Because they've simply lost the ability to 'keep freezing themselves'.
Get it yet? Because of the ice's Sea-stone, heat, their future usage of their 'freezing' ability has been nullified, but that doesn't simply make the ice disappear. The ice that was already there, the parts that were already formed won't instantly disappear into thin air or become water.
The same can be applied to Sea-stone and devil fruits. Yes, Sea-stone stops the user from using their abilities in the future, but it doesn't nullify everything that's already there.
Of course, depending on the fruit, this could seem the same, simply because some fruits require a constant re-activating of the fruit's ability, even if the user doesn't notice it. Let me think of a quick example, hmmmm, let's say you're a rubber-person. You have a power that literally made your whole-body rubber. I know, I know, what a silly example right, who would eat something that makes them a dog's chew toy for life? But well, hear me out.
If someone puts Sea-stone on them, it will always seem like they've instantly lost their ability, they can't stretch anymore or take blows, but that is because their future usage of the fruit's ability 'Stretching' was nullified.
Now, imagine if they have their arm stretched out when they get cuffed. What would happen?
If your answer is 'The arm returns to their body and they can't stretch it anymore', Congratulations! You are correct! - ... - Yes yes, you're all thinking I am fooling around all to get to this, we all knew this already.
But this is actually only possible because the FUTURE actions of stretching are nullified and not the ones happening at the moment itself.
Think of it, if the person were to instantly lose their full devil fruit ability, it would turn them back into a human made of flesh and blood, no rubber to be found, but their arm is maybe 15 meters long at the moment they touched sea stone. So, if they were to become flesh and blood in the same second of touch, there's two things that could happen:
1. The arm becomes flesh and blood, and just drops to the ground because of its weight, no harm done. Congratulations, you now have a 15-meter-long arm made of flesh and blood! (And I am not even getting into if the arm will stay alive, because 15m is kind of a long one-way ticket to add extra for the heart to suddenly have to pump blood to, and let's not start on trying to move that arm with stretched out muscles.)
2. Just like trying to stretch a rubber band that you had forgotten in your drawer and became hard, once the arm becomes flesh and blood while stretched, the skin, bones, muscles,... they can't take it and ... SNAP. Bye bye arm! If you're lucky it snaps low and you only lose your lower arm part, even if the rest will still be stretched out and laying there uselessly while bleeding out. So do still try to get out of the Sea-stone quickly, the remaining parts didn't magically come back to you like a normal arm's length either. But hey, if you can get out of the sea-stone cuff quick enough, you won't have bled out and you'll still have part of a working arm, yeeey!
Especially the second one would be horrifying, wouldn't it? So even with almost everyone knowing the wrong workings of Sea-stone, they should all be very grateful that they're wrong.
The main reason for everyone thinking that a devil fruit nullifies the whole fruit, is simply because the sea stone still severely weakens you. And as some sort of reflex, people will stop using their fruit, even if it is just for a fraction of a second, it's enough, and you will no longer be able to activate it, meaning that it looks like you've just been robbed of all powers the instant you got caught.
.
Has this cleared things up yet? No? Yes? Either way, you'll definitely get it in a bit, I promise. But let's get the real point of this story on their way shall we.
Finally.
Finally?! I've been working out this explanation for so long and you say finally!? Ungrateful-yoi! Ah excuse my tick, it still comes out when emotional.
Who am I? - Am I really asking myself who I am? - Author? - Brain what are you saying, that someone is writing this? You're growing more stupid by the day, we were just thinking by ourselves and asking ourselves questions... Okay that does sound stupid.
But well, who am I?
I am the first division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, one of the only ones with a Mythical Zoan devil fruit. The Tori Tori no Mi, Model: Phoenix, to be precise. As you can guess by the name already, these fruit's name leaves nothing to the imagination, I can turn into a Phoenix.
This gave me the very original epithet 'The Phoenix'. Yes, you've been listening to no one other then Marco, Marco The Phoenix, without a speech tick, because this is my internal dialog and I won't allow it in my own thoughts!
Why am I speaking to myself for this long? Am I lonely? - No... Maybe ... NO, I am simply stuck in my Phoenix form and thus can't talk, making thinking my only amusement. So what better to do then give yourself a whole internal explanation of what's going on, even asking yourself questions hahahhaah ha ha h... Someone help me...
Why haven't we heard Thatch laughing at me yet? Very good question brain, always be alert for the food-man. Because he isn't here, we're literally in the middle of nowhere.
I should finally explain to myself what happened shouldn't I?
-Sigh- A few hours ago I finished off a mission on one of our islands in record time. Nothing surprising, I am the first commander. Since it was a solo-mission I not only flew over here as a Phoenix, I will also fly back, no need to a boat or anything, very convenient.
On my way home I passed by a Marine ship, I was going to ignore them, but then they started shooting at me, those pricks! I didn't even do anything yet and they shoot at me, and they say pirates are the bad ones.
So of course, I couldn't just let that be, so I very expertly swooped down and started to defeat them, no need to even release my transformation. But somehow, SOMEHOW, one little prick was able to get a Sea-stone shackle around my leg.
Now, with years of training I was able to stop the instinctual reflex to release my Phoenix-form when getting hit by that stupid stone. And now here come where u needed the whole explanation for at the beginning! Since I didn't release my Phoenix-form, and the Sea-stone only nullifies the future effects, I CAN STAY A BIRD HAHAHAHAHAAHAH SUCK ON THAT U STUPID MARINES-YOI
Ahem, excuse me. So yes, I am still a Phoenix even with a sea-stone shackle stuck to my leg.
In the shock of the marines, of me not returning to human form, stupid people should really do research themselves instead of escaping what every says, I quickly took care of all those stupid white uniforms.
And now I am once again on route to my home, the Moby. I am angry though, one sh*t was able to hit me with a bullet in my side! It freaking hurts! I made sure to peck that one in the no-no zone before tossing him overboard.
... - yes brain? - ... - Just say it, I already know your questions anyway, you just need to voice it for the readers. - Readers? - Don't mind that. - Ah ehm... okay, so ehm... Just heal yourself? You're still a Phoenix...
Aaah yes there it is, why can't I heal when I was able to keep my Phoenix-form? Simple. It's another ability of the fruit. One that wasn't active. So, I can't activate it, Sea-stone blocks future usage.
Right now, the only 'power' I have, is the power to be a bird. A flaming bird though.
I can do all things a normal bird can do! Fly, scratch people with talons, peck people, chirp, fluff up, poo- Ahem, you get it.
I am just a normal bird, on fire, the fire is my plumage, I don't know how it works, don't question it, I don't want to be a naked Phoenix. Where was I? Ah yes, normal bird. No healing, no unlimited stamina, nothing. 'Flying', is my biggest prop right now.
Now now now now, why am I REALLY talking to myself this much, explaining everything that happened? Even for me we've been going on for a while. Well...
Because... (And I'll never admit to this) ...it seems that, just like Thatch always says, I really have a birdbrain in this form... I hate this so much...
I WAS casually flying home after defeating the stinky marines, when I suddenly saw something sparkling in the distance, in the middle of the sea. And ... I am embarrassed to say, if birds could speak, the screech that came out of me would have been 'SHINY!!!', before instantly changing route to said shiny object, completely off-course btw.
So, here I am, the mighty Phoenix of the Whitebeard pirates, the first mate of the strongest crew in the world, chasing some dude with a fire fruit on a tiny boat powered by his on flames.
... You heard that right. I, with full conviction, went after something sparkling in the distance, completely messing up my own route.
... Don't look at me like that, you're in on this as much as I am, brain...
Getting closer to the object of my deepest desire, it became clear that the sparkling had come from a beaded necklace. Each bead a deep blood red, each one polished to perfection, catching the sun in every angle, it's so pretty-yoi and it creates rainbows and - ahem excuse me once again.
So yes, when I got closer and saw it was something in the possession of another human being, I had blessed Pops to home and back because I thought the bird in me would give up, not risking a fight for it above the ocean, I still can't swim. (And believe me, was it on land, I would have had a full-on fight for that necklace, I saw it, it's my precious necklace now.)
But of course, the human just had to light himself on fire when he was within sight, and oh boy... Did you know a Phoenix apparently experiences love on first sight? ... Yea,... this was it.
There was a portable, living bonfire, with a shiny necklace, right in front of him.
One with beautiful Sunkissed skin, wavy black hair and the most breath-taking patches of freckles right on his cheeks. How did I know about the freckles? When a blue light comes at you from behind, you look to see what it is, logic.
A few minutes ago, the young man had looked backwards to see what had gotten behind him while in open waters. He had instantly gotten a wide-eyed look, of course, who expects a huge fire bird to suddenly be behind you? And in that moment, he had seen the freckles, those beautiful spots adoring his cheeks. Would they cover more of his body Marco wondered, he would love to find out...
At first there had been awe at seeing his bird-form. He did look magnificent, if he was allowed to say so himself. Not only was he on fire, the hues of his fire always slightly changed colour, intertwining with each other as if dancing, from the lightest- to darkest blues, but also from a faintest yellow to the brightest orange. Then there was his tail, elegant feathers made up of the same fire, almost the same size as his whole body, trailing behind him and moving with the wind, three long strands of golden ringlets woven in between, and- ... he is a pretty bird okay! You have to appreciate your own beauty!
The face of the young man however had quickly changed from awe to dread, exactly when the kid realised that no, this was not just a passing bird, the bird was following him. Actively following him, seeming to want something from him. The kid had sped up, trying to lose the bird, even making manoeuvres left and right when just going faster didn't work.
The phoenix was loving it! His new fire, literally and figuratively, was inviting him for a lovely dance, -Cough- 'chase', as a first get to know each other! He trilled while flapping his wings harder to keep up with his true love.
Aaaah, his bird was so carefree. Marco had long since seen the dread also change to fear, the poor teen trying to up his fire-powers even more to get away from him, looking back every few seconds to see where the bird was.
What else can he do, he's in open waters, there's nothing to hide behind and he is being chased by a bird that's not only about his size (Tail excluded), but one that's also on freaking fire. Blue fire even, fire normally hotter than the ones the kid seems to be able to produce. His were cold though, saaaaaad. Marco would have loved for them to be nice and hot, nice and cosy.
Ow and, not to forgot, since the kid before him can use fire, he's obviously a devil fruit user and so will reach his inevitable doom if he hits the water.
So yea, being chased by some big bird above the world biggest swimming pool, with no obstacles to hide behind or lose anyone, really isn't the place anyone would want to be in if you can't swim.
Man... Marco really feels a bit sorry for the kid, he must be scared shitless. He had even tried to throw a fireball at the Phoenix. He had slightly missed on purpose though, it seems like it was only a warning shot to get him away, not to actually hurt the bird. Such a nice young man.
But of course, it didn't work! The phoenix had seen it as a token of love, that the kid had wanted to send him some of his flame, as a gift, a first gift to proof their love for each other!
Absorbing flames wasn't a real power to his devil fruit or anything, it would just merge with his already existing flames, he doesn't need to re-activate anything. So, what did the phoenix do?
FLY STRAIGTH INTO THE FIREBALL, THAT'S WHAT!
Marco... The Phoenix... had literally altered his course, noticeably altered his course, to make sure that the fireball hit him straight on. The kid had looked horrified when he saw the bird flying into his fire, his fire that was powering the boat had instantly simmered down and it seemed like he wanted to turn around to catch the bird after it would start falling. No bird just takes a fireball to their very being and flies away! Unless you're a phoenix... he just flew further, coming out of the frontal hit unscattered, looking to be happier, delighted even, and most importantly, seemed to be even more dead-set on catching him.
Aaaah, the poor kid doesn't know what's after him. Marco really should try and put more effort into stopping himself, the Phoenix, from going after the poor soul.
But Marco found himself to be quite attracted the human himself. He was pretty handsome, and with the freckles, also very cute. And while the kid seemed to be much younger than him, that's not going to stop him. He's a pirate, he doesn't care about those kinds of etiquettes.
As a nice bonus, he still wasn't supposed to be home from his mission for a couple more days. No one on the ship would miss him, and they wouldn't call him, not because they didn't care, no, it was a rule. What if Marco was sneaking up on someone and then a den den rang? Yea, bye bye stealth and sneaking around.
So, he had some free time, he would see what would happen, enjoy his time chasing the fire-boy, maybe he'll even be able to find more spots of freckles, ones that are hidden away by evil fabric.
... Yea, Marco would probably enjoy this, he could always use the excuse that he had absolutely no control over his birdbrain right now. He was just a poor soul himself, 'helplessly' watching on what his Phoenix was doing...
Marco wonders where they will end up the longer the flight continues, but for now, the Phoenix and fire-boy's fate are intertwined by a lovely romantic chase to an unknown destination.
Definitely still a POV from Ace on the way.
Am also thinking if this would be a nice start to some funny shenanigans of Bird Marco on the ship of the Spades.