Brand New World
Ch. 24: Ice, Swords, and Sand?
-X-
Disclaimer: The following is a fan made work of fiction. One Piece is owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV, Shueisha, Shonen Jump Manga, and Eiichiro Oda. I do not own One Piece or any of its characters, nor any of the songs I put in here. The only thing I own here is Kakusei and a few fan characters.
Summary: I`m Kakusei. I have no idea where I am, or who I am, but I feel I m in a familiar world, just not my own. Mentions other mangas as the character is from our world. I`m being realistic.
Rating: T for Language, Violence, and Blood.
-X-
"I`ve lost my memory since before I met my friends," I said as I pointed to my head. "All I know is I`m here and I have to fight with my friends to survive."
"How do you know they aren`t evil?" Aokiji asked me, almost sounding inquisitive.
"Let`s call it intuition," I said covering my real past. "I know what Luffy`s done, and up till now, he`s done nothing but good, and that includes our friends, no matter their pasts."
"You and he seem similar," Aokiji said as he began to slow down. "But I wonder, what else do you know? I guess I may not find out."
"We`ll see about that," I said as he and I got into battle mode. I took my improvised stance while he just stood there normally. "Cause I`m probably the one guy on this crew who can kick your ass!"
"We`ll see," Aokiji said as he shifted to his half-ice form. He pulled his arm back and began making several large icicles. "Ice Block: Partisan!" he said as he threw the icicles at me like spears.
"Tatsumaki!" I yelled as I summoned a tornado to shield myself, destroying the icicles on impact.
"Another Devil Fruit user?" Aokiji asked aloud.
"Nope," I said as I fired off a Ki blast at Aokiji, which he just took, shattered, then reformed. "Just a martial artist with good Ki control."
"Ki?" Aokiji asked me. "Do you mean Douriki?"
"Can`t say," I said calmly. "I`ve never fought someone with Douriki, so I don`t know it that and Ki are the same thing. But I do know I can use my Ki to win here."
"Interesting," Aokiji said calmly as we stared down for a bit.
"I can`t try to use Haki here," I said in my mind. "I don`t want to reveal all my tricks to him, and I can use my Ki to win."
"Ice Ball," Aokiji said as he began freezing the ground around him, and it slowly began creeping towards me. The ice began rising higher, and realizing he was trying to trap me, I jumped up and got out of the Ice Ball that formed where I was. I stayed up in the air for a minute, keeping my distance from Aokiji. He just looked at me and asked, "Is that Ki too?"
"What do you think?" I asked back as I charged forward and set my left arm ablaze with electricity. "THUNDER LARIAT!" I slammed the inside of my lightning-charged arm into Aokiji`s neck, taking his head completely off. I quickly turned around to see his head reforming just fine.
"Lightning too?" Aokiji said thinking aloud. "You are a dangerous one. Your techniques almost seem… otherworldly…" He stopped to think for a bit, which surprised me that he`d do that in this kind of situation.
"Looks like I`ll have to use some fire techniques," I said in my mind. "Good thing I practiced all the elements back when we were training."
"Ice Block: Partisan!" Aokiji said as he flung more Icicles at me.
"Ryuu no Ibuki*1!" I yelled as I inhaled deeply and then breathed out a stream of fire, melting the Icicles coming at me.
"So he can use fire also?" Aokiji said in his mind a bit unnerved. "How many tricks does this boy have?"
"Earth Golem!" I yelled as I slapped my palm onto the ground below me, which began to shift and shake. The ground began to crack as a humanoid shape rose out of a large fissure I created. I then ran forward a bit, and the golem did the same, but due to its size, it reached Aokiji before I did. It followed my motions, grabbing Aokiji in one fist as I motioned to. Aokiji on the other hand, stayed calm as the large golem tried to hold him.
"Ice Time," Aokiji said calmly as the golem I created began to freeze over. Then out of my control, the golem released Aokiji. "Not a bad idea. I can do that too," he said as he motioned for my golem to turn on me and attack. I willed it to turn around, and Aokiji did the same. We became locked in a struggle over the ice-covered giant, and after a few minutes struggle, the golem shattered under my influence.
"This is taking up too much Ki to keep that golem intact," I said in my mind as I took control of the pieces of rock, now free from the ice. "Golem Body Bullet!" I yelled as the golem pieces shot at Aokiji, and began literally chipping away at him, some pieces only grazing him, while others took off good chunks of his body, even limbs. He was unfazed however, because of the Hie Hie no Mi`s powers and he just regenerated from the ice around him. "I`ve got to get closer, even though that`s risky," I said in my mind again as I took a new stance.
"Hmm?" Aokiji said a bit confused I was changing stances.
"I have always wanted to say this line," I said as I let a huge Luffy-like grin jump onto my face. My right hand began glowing a bright red, and some flames began flickering off it.
"Fire again?" Aokiji asked himself wondering what I was about to do.
"This hand of mine burns like an INFERNO!" I yelled as I held my fingers together, and then split them to make a V-shape. "It`s loud roar tells me to grasp VICTORY!" I ran forward using the Fuupou, leaving a trail of red, orange, and yellow light behind me in a rainbow-like fashion. "Bakunetsu God FINGER*2!" I yelled as I jabbed my red-hot hand into Aokiji`s stomach and hoisted his body into the air.
"Gwah!" Aokiji said as he coughed up a bit of blood. I had hit him and negated his Devil Fruit Powers.
I began cranking up the heat in my hand as I pumped more and more Ki into my hand, and more and more heat into Aokiji`s body. "Heat… END!" I yelled as I sent off an explosion of heated Ki into Aokiji`s body, launching him off of my hand, and a good distance away. He slowly picked himself back up as he used some of the ice around him to absorb the excess heat so he could regenerate.
"If I hadn`t used Busoushoku Haki at that moment, I`d be dead," Aokiji said in his mind. "Brown hair and eyes, a white sleeveless Gi with "Artist" in Kanji on the back, and otherworldly techniques. Could he be…?"
"What`s he thinking?" I asked in my own mind as I saw Aokiji stand still for a bit. I tensed up as he picked up some more grass blades and made his Ice Saber again.
"Boy," he said getting my attention. "How good are you with a sword?"
"Wind Busou: Wind Sword!" I said loudly as I created my wind sword. "I`m decent, but I know a guy like Zoro could easily beat me in a sword fight."
Aokiji just looked at how I was holding my sword. My blade was held behind me, in other words, I was holding the sword backwards. It was my personal tribute to the manga, Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken. "Then let`s see if I can," he said calmly as he charged me and swung his sword. I managed to block it, but it took me a bit to notice where he was swinging. I finally broke out of our struggle, and swung my sword as hard as I could.
"Avan Sword Style: Earth Slash!" I said as I made a clean cut through Aokiji`s body, causing him to stagger a bit with the force of my blow.
"Not bad," he said complimenting me as he reformed. Then he exhaled a cold breath at me, almost expecting me to do something.
Well, if I didn`t do something, I`d be a popsicle like Luffy. "Avan Sword Style: Sea Slash!" I yelled as I swung my sword quickly, the force of the swing cutting through the ice breath, and cutting Aokiji`s cheek as well. We were both shocked a bit as he started bleeding from the cut I made! I guess he hadn`t seen it coming. He quickly patched it up, however, and got back to the battle quickly. He swung his sword at me repeatedly and I kept deflecting his blows. That was about all I could do. Just then Aokiji began to surround me with ice again, and I knew what was coming.
"Ice ball," he said as he finished his technique quicker this time as to capture me. Just then, the Ice ball began to glow red, and it looked like there was a small tornado inside it. The Ice ball shattered as I revealed myself, now with a sword of flame and I was spinning around while swinging my sword at the same time.
"Kaen Kaiten Giri*3," I said calmly as I slowed to a stop and switched back to a wind sword. It`s less Ki to manipulate the air than to make fire after all. I charged Aokiji and began swinging my sword as hard and fast as I could.
"His swordsmanship is poor at best," Aokiji said in his mind as he parried my attacks. "But his power and techniques are, as he put it, otherworldly. My hunch was right. This is who he was talking about!" We broke away from each other, and he took a lax stance again. "Boy, what`s your name?"
"Kakusei," I answered honestly. "That`s the name I`ve been going by since my Nakama found me. I was hoping the Marines wouldn`t find out my name so soon. Why do you ask the name of someone you want to kill?"
"It`d be pointless to try to kill you now," Aokiji said as he lowered his Ice Saber. "You must be the man he was talking about." Those words shocked me to my core, and I unintentionally lowered my sword as well.
"Wh-who was talking about me?" I asked nervously. "And what do you mean, "pointless"?"
"If we continue to fight, we`ll just end up exhausting ourselves," Aokiji said to me calmly. "I have a feeling you haven`t shown me everything you can do, and I haven`t either."
"What are you talking about?" I asked getting more and more nervous. Someone from this world was talking about me, and I had no idea who! "Exhausting ourselves? Who the hell gave you that idea?"
"He was right," Aokiji said keeping his calm. "You`re a poor swordsman with the technique and finesse of an amateur, but your raw physical strength and your techniques are truly "otherworldly", as he put it. And you match the somewhat vague description he gave; you have brown hair and brown eyes, a white sleeveless Gi with "Artist" written on the back in Kanji. He also said that you didn`t give your name to him, said that you told him, "You`d find out that soon enough" if I remember correctly. You seem to be missing a few things though."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked, getting more nervous and concerned with who was talking about me. "A vague description? Poor swordsman? What do you mean?"
"But after seeing what you`ve done, I believe him," Aokiji continued disregarding my questions. "I can believe that you and he fought for three days straight."
"Three days straight?" I exclaimed loudly, very confused now. "Who the hell did I fight for THREE FUCKING DAYS STRAIGHT? AND WHERE THE HELL WAS THIS FIGHT?"
"You fought Dracule "Hawk-eye" Mihawk, for three days straight, a few miles from Arabasta`s capital, Alubarna, and the fight ended the day before the attempted takeover by former Shichibukai Crocodile," he said finally answering my question. My heart sank like a rock, my eyes shot open in fear, and I dropped my sword, causing it to dissipate back into the air. I couldn`t move a limb or bat an eye.
"I… I fought… I fought Hawk-eye Mihawk… for three days straight…" I said in utter disbelief at Aokiji`s words. He wasn`t lying about that, there was just no way he was lying! He had no signs of lying at all. I knew, just knew he wasn`t lying to me. For some goddamn reason, in my mind, I knew he wasn`t lying! Like the Ohara thing, I knew I was right, but I couldn`t remember a damn thing about why! And this fight took place for three fucking days, and right before the day Crocodile tried to take over Arabasta! I was near Alubarna before Luffy got there! How long have I been in this world? How many other people might know me? I dropped to my knees just as the thoughts kept running through my mind, still in shock. It was then that Aokiji spoke up.
"I see you really don`t know what I`m talking about," Aokiji said still calm as he began walking towards me. "But you seem to know it`s the truth, and you`re only in more trouble from here on out. Damn. Your captain tricked me. When I accepted his one-on-one showdown... Did he assume that I would win...? Was that it? To make sure I wouldn't harm the rest of your crew... That makes me seem boorish. Right... Kakusei? Or... Did he really think he could beat me? And you, did you know you could beat me, or were you really unaware of your true strength?" I just stayed in my knelt position unmoving, while I was still in shock. "One thing's for sure. In the future, you two will find... that Nico Robin will grow out of your control. Soon you will be unable to bear the terrible misfortune that the woman known as Nico Robin was born with. When you put her on a ship... that's what happens! Monkey D. Luffy! Kakusei!" He kicked a mound of ice that was created when he fought Luffy, shattering it. "It would be so easy to crush you here and end your life, Luffy... but I have a debt to pay. Let's call the stakes even... now that you've taken care of Crocodile for me. Plus... No... Never mind. That's just Smoker being stupid... Farewell..." And with that, Aokiji left.
A few minutes after Aokiji left the scene, Sanji and Zoro came upon us. "There they are!" Sanji yelled as he saw Luffy and I, immobile.
"Luffy! ...he hasn't been crushed...!" Zoro said in a bit of disbelief. "And Kakusei`s unharmed!"
"...thank goodness...!" Sanji said as he saw us. "Thank goodness! Pick them up!"
"Let's get them back to the ship!" Zoro said hurriedly.
-X-
"Following the Log... The next island should be... huh? Water Seven... the "Water Metropolis." Oh dear dear dear... That's gettin' close to HQ," Aokiji said to himself. "Oops, sorry there!" Aokiji said as he passed a dolphin on his bike as he froze the water he rode on.
-X-
A bit later, everyone was sitting outside the door to the lounge, waiting for some good news. I was still in shock over the things Aokiji said. I felt like I just found out my dad wasn`t my real father, or that I had just accidently killed my brother.
"Uhhh... uhh...!" Chopper said as he slammed open the door. "Both of their hearts... are beating!"
"YES! WAHOOO! LUFFY!" Usopp cheered as he dropped the bucket of towels he was carrying and cheered. I forced a smile out of happiness, but I was still out of it from before.
"Robin-chaaaan!" Sanji said as he jumped up with hearts in his eyes.
"No! You can't come in!" Chopper said trying to keep Sanji and Usopp out. "You're just gonna cause a ruckus!"
"Hey! Is there anything in particular I can cook up, Dr. Chopper?" Sanji asked enthusiastically.
"H-h-hey, don't think you suck up to me by calling me a doctor, you chump!" Chopper said dancing again in his appreciative way. "When they open their eyes... they could use some warm beverages to heat themselves up. We'll take them to the lounge on the second floor, later."
"Are we going to set sail, Nami?" Zoro asked.
"Not with our captain the way he is..." Nami said as she picked up the towels and bucket Usopp dropped. "…although we do have the Log. We'll stay here for another day." Usopp sighed heavily and he lay against the mast.
"What's wrong, Usopp? You bummed out?" Zoro asked Usopp as he slumped down on the deck.
"We're gonna have to deal with intense guys like that... all the time from now on," Usopp said sadly. "Even with Kakusei who managed to come out unscathed… I've just had enough screaming... for one day, thank you very much..."
"Get some sleep. You're just wasted," Zoro said calmly. "Kakusei, you alright?" I just sat on the deck, unmoving.
"I`ll… I`ll tell everyone later…" I said without any emotion.
-X-
We decided to stay four days so Luffy and Robin had time to rest. It was about two days after I fought Aokiji. His words still ran through my mind. "You fought Dracule "Hawk-eye" Mihawk, for three days straight, a few miles from Arabasta`s capital, Alubarna, and the fight ended the day before the attempted takeover by former Shichibukai Crocodile." Those words, they never left my mind, I barely even ate because of them. Everyone wondered what was wrong, but Zoro just called them off for me. It was late at night, and I couldn`t sleep. I haven`t slept well in general, but after that fight, Aokiji`s words just seemed to haunt my dreams.
"Kakusei? What are you doing on my seat?" Luffy yelled from behind me, startling me a bit.
"Oh, hey Luffy," I said in a monotone voice. "Sorry." I climbed down off of the Merry`s figurehead.
"Kakusei, you alright?" Luffy asked me.
"It`s nothing," I said still monotone. Then Luffy punched me in the side of my face, sending me sprawling across the deck. "LUFFY, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" I yelled as I shot back up.
"You`re back to normal, aren`t you?" Luffy asked. I realized he had just snapped me out of my funk.
"Thanks Luffy, I needed that," I said sighing a bit.
"What was wrong with you?" Luffy asked.
"Aokiji told me something that… that made me lose it," I said. "Turns out I`ve been in this world longer than I thought."
"Aokiji…" Luffy said with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Luffy, you alright?" I asked.
"That fight with Aokiji made me think," Luffy said. "If he`s what some of the strongest guys are like, then if I don`t become stronger, I`ll lose all you guys. I don`t want to lose my Nakama."
"You mean if we don`t become stronger," I said to Luffy, gaining his attention for a bit. "Aokiji helped me realized something too. I don`t have a real fighting style. I realize that the basis of martial arts is mimicry of the moves of others, but I don`t really have anything. I can be stronger, and I have to carve my own path to do it, and you all have helped me so far."
"So, feeling better?" Luffy asked with his smile on my face.
"Yep," I replied. "So tomorrow, after I say something, we`ll use an ÄRM to help our training."
"Which one?" Luffy asked.
"That`s my surprise," I said as we began walking to our shared room. "I`ll talk about it in the morning."
-X-
Attack Explanations Corner:
1. Ryuu no Ibuki (Dragon`s Breath): A fire-based technique in which he deeply inhales then exhales a large stream of fire. It is similar in concept to the Fireball Jutsu from the manga, Naruto.
2. Bakunetsu God Finger (Exploding God Finger): This is the first finisher move for God Gundam aka Burning Gundam from the anime and manga, G Gundam. The English dub name for this attack is Erupting Burning Finger. I just used the Japanese attack because I think it sounds cooler.
3. (Kaen) Kaiten Giri [(Burning) Rotating Slash]: This attack comes from the Legend of Zelda, and is more commonly known as the Spin Attack. The name comes from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time manga.
What a turn of events! (A/N: God, I really wanted to write this chapter! This fight has been lined up in my mind for months!) Just how long has Kakusei been in this world?
Next chapter, we have a bit more developments occurring and some secrets are explored. I`d also like to know whether you guys want me to write a few excerpts from the period of time Luffy and Kakusei are in the Training Gate.
Tsugino jikan made! (Until next time!)