The Marine ships stopped not far away from Foolshout Island, naturally the new CP9 agents didn't think three mediocre Marine captains could contribute much so they went on ahead.
Using their Sky-walk they landed on the island before the rest of them could even drop anchor.
In Mercer's opinion, confidence in ones abilities was a positive and desired trait, but overconfidence was not. The nine agents were assuming that they had the uper hand on their predecessors simply out of ignorance.
"Do any of them have any abilities?" he asked Hina as they walked down the ramp.
She could only shrug "If they do, nobody cared to inform Hina."
Alex could only roll his eyes on how half-assed this mission was planed. Spandam obviously had either forgotten to give a good debriefing or was keeping something secret for unknown reasons.
At least the island didn't have a lot of vegetation. This will make any search a lot easier, although he had to admit the cacti did look...rather on the big side, and could provide good cover.
"Since I have only ten crew members I will leave them to guard the ship and do the searching myself" he informed Hina.
She grunted "First you complain that the agents rushed in blindly now you're doing the same...aren't you a hypocrite."
"I'm only going to look around, if I find them I will meet up with your group and we will attack them together" Alex replied.
Having that cleared Mercer walked to the nearest town. But before reaching his destination he decided on a little less obvious appearance. One of the civilians I consumed in London should do the trick.
It was not a long walk and he could already see buildings doting the landscape. Moving through the streets he examined the people passing by. They all had the appearance of simple, content humans. None of them revealed any traits that could be connected to fighting. He then decided to look in the pub, as good a place to gather information as any.
The place was surprisingly clean, Alex took one of the empty chairs by the bar and ordered a drink, the best the place had.
The waitress nodded and filled a glass with some kind of liquid. He didn't actually care even if it was motor oil, he wasn't here to quench his thirst in the first place.
Mercer glanced around the tables and found only a few people chatting away their time, even as minutes passed there was hardly anyone entering the pub.
"Is the business usually this slow?" he asked
The waitress forced a smiled and shook her head "No, today is simply one of those days."
Mercer accepted the answer but said nothing. Something was bothering the women but that didn't mean it was somehow related to his mission, he also noted that she held herself as a trained fighter even if she tried to mask it.
"Koala, another glass please" said one of the elderly patrons.
She nodded and took a bottle of sake.
It wasn't what Mercer hoped for, with so little people here it was a slim chance that he could grab some useful info from them...perhaps if I consume the waitress...she should know most of the things that were happening here.
"Thanks Koala" said the man, obviously happy about his full glass.
"So how long did you work here?" Alex inquired from her as she returned to the bar.
"Ohh for two years now" she said with a smile "I work only in the morning shift though, normally Blue works the afternoon shift."
"So why the change now?"
"One of his friends needed some help so he asked me to jump in for today" she answered.
The talk was overheard by the other patrons and soon they started to spin the local rumor machine.
Most of the things they said were unimportant, but one thing was interesting.
The bartenders friend was a man with a long rectangular nose...and that was a very unique trait to posses.
"Thank you for the drink" said Alex as he paid the bill with his pick-pocketed money and left the building.
Now then...he glanced around and found what he was searching for.
Alex followed one of the townspeople until they were out of sight. He approached the man quietly and consumed him in the blink of an eye. He loved this ability, more than once he simply walked around a military base consuming patrols. It was far faster and cleaner than killing them outright.
Simply walk behind a man, consume him and proceed with the soldier now in front of you. It was over so fast the first in the line never saw that he lost three men in seconds.
But enough reminiscence. From the man's memories he had a rough idea where his prey was located, and indeed it was them. Personally he didn't understand how they can be considered agents. Blue-no, worked as a waiter...as on his last mission. He didn't even try to change his appearance. Kalifa and Kaku thought that dying their hair would make a difference...basically the only reason they were not found sooner was the lack of any military personnel on the island.
Alex looked for the highest cactus. Spotting one he ran to its top...and jumped.
He changed his eyes into those of the hawk and searched as he glided along.
Then he saw sixteen figures a long walk from the town...well if you were walking of course, it was a short distance when going by air.
When he was close enough he shot down like a rocked, crashing into Fukuru. The fat ex-agent was easily buried into the Earth. Also making a shock-wave that send the rest flying back.
Mercer had no use for him and after standing up concentrated on the rest of the group.
The nine new operatives lay dead at their feet, obviously being easily outmatched by their prey.
The six ex-agents looked shocked by the sudden assault...well five looked shocked, Rob Lucci had a look of disinterest on his face.
Mercer had a civilian appearance, brown hair, blue jeans, white t-shirt...nothing even remotely indicating him being a fighter. But the splattered body of Fukuru stated to the contrary.
"Who are you?" asked Kaku.
"Ten agents?" questioned Kalifa.
"It doesn't matter, he attacked us – he dies" answered Lucci. With a flesh he appeared before Alex and using Shigan pierced his chest.
Only instinct prevented Lucci from being hit by Mercer, managing to evade the punch by millimeters. The ex-agent put some distance between himself and the newcomer.
"What the hell!" shouted Jabra "he should be dead!"
Mercer looked over the assembled group, he had no interest in them ...except Blueno.
Alex shifted his hand into claws and rushed his prey, but before he could kill and consume the agent, a flanking attack by Lucci send him crashing into a large rock. Mercer's body mass and speed crushing the rock to pebbles but sustained no real damage from the colision.
Alex easily pulled himself from the shattered boulder and saw that the rest watched from the sidelines, leaving the fight to Lucci.
"Be careful Lucci, he might be a Logia" said Kaku "better use haki!"
Haki?! Mercer allowed himself to grin Now that's a find!
"Why are you attacking us?" asked Lucci in a bored voice.
"You...are my prey" said Mercer as he rushed the ex-agent.
He's fast! Thought Lucci as he evaded the attack with his soru. He couldn't take this fight easy, the defeat he suffered from Straw Hat was still deep in his mind...and he had no intention to loosing again.
His form shifted into that of a leopard hybrid and used Bachi on the newcomer...to no effect. Any hole he shot through the man simply regenerated in seconds. Lucci growled So he is a logia...well, melee attacks are my strong point.
To his surprise the man slammed his claws in the ground...and pain!
"LUCCI!" shouted Kalifa.
To everyone's shock the spikes pierced all over his body.
Lucci could only stare in shock at the strange spikes coming from the ground, but thanks to his tekkai the hits to his torso were superficial...unlike his right arm that was clearly pierced, bone and all.
Alex grinned and shifted his right arm into a whipfist "Get over here!" he said and pulled the were-leopard to be consumed.
Mercer's plan fell apart when strands of pink hair grabbed and lifted him from the ground, giving Lucci time to free himself from the appendage.
Alex was not amused by Kumadori's trick and made spikes burst from his body, impaling the man easily.
"Lucci, we should fight him together" said Kaku angrily "we underestimated him, and because of that two of us are already dead" the were-giraffe glared at the intruder that killed two of his friend.
Lucci looked to the remaining ex-agents and nodded
Blueno, Jabra, Kalifa, Kaku and Lucci surrounded Mercer and prepared to deal with him as fast as possible.
First to act was Lucci, giving the stranger the time to attack first was the wrong thing to do. Using soru he appeared behind his target and used Rokuogan to send Mercer flying on Kaku's blades.
But the second the blades connected, the swords...turned to rust.
"Wha..." his shock was interrupted when a whipfist slammed into his torso sending him flying. His tekkai preventing most of the damage but still suffered from a few broken ribs.
Kaku saw claws coming on his head and tried to dodge the attack...in vain.
The claw's came down and...before they could connect Blueno appeared from one of his doors and pulled Kaku through.
Yes! That's the ability I want!
The two exited a few meters behind him.
Kaku looked at his destroyed blades and scowled "Rust?"
"Didn't Shu eat the Sabi Sabi no Mi?" asked Jabra.
"He did..." answered Lucci as the group focused on the enemy.
"So that's how you look under the veil" said Kaku "but I'm honestly surprised, you weren't so strong two years ago."
Mercer turned to them but before he could attack again he was covered in bubbles.
Bubbles? His thoughts were interrupted when Kalifa touched his arms giving them a strange slippery feeling.
"Ha! now you wont be able to use those claws of yours!" she said in triumph, an arrogant smile on her face.
He snorted and used the powers of the Mizu Mizu no Mi to clean of the nuisance.
"What the hell?! Shu wasn't a logia!" growled Jabra.
"I don't understand...but the rust...only Shu should have the ability to rust metal" said Kalifa.
"Not necessary...perhaps the Mizu-Mizu no Mi also allows to increase the oxidation in metal" said Kaku.
"Enough talk!" spat Jabra "Let's finish him already."
They all nodded and used soru to swarm Mercer.
As soon as Alex blocked Blueno's frontal charge, he was kicked by Lucci from the right sending him flying...only to be intercepted by Jabra that stomped him in the ground.
The wolfman quickly dodged the claws that were coming his way and allowed Kaku in his giraffe form to land a devastating hit making Mercer crash into a giant cactus, impaling himself on a rather huge thorn.
Alex growled as he broke the thing and pulled it out of his gut..well where his gut would be if he had one. He used the improvised spear together with his muscle mass to launch it at Jabra but the wolfman easily used soru to evade the projectile.
He blocked a kick from Lucci that appeared in front of him and gave the leopardman a punch to his gut sending him flying.
He again shifted his hand into a whipfist and smashed Jabra into the ground.
These guys are tough...thought Mercer.
The wolfman pulled himself from the crater and spat blood Thank god on my tekkai...without it..he slowly got to his feet I would have probably died from that hit. He touched his torso and winced from the pain probably broke something.
At the same time Lucci walked out of the shattered rock, panting heavily. He glanced at his injured arm and winced...the damage was interfering with his techniques, and his punches were not as strong as they could be.
Mercer had enough. Instead of going straight for his prey, he decided to eliminate the pesky weaklings that have been getting in his way.
Alex turned his body into water and rushed Kalifa, her bubbles being easily washed away. He would have probably been defeated by her ability if he didn't consume that annoying monkey.
She saw the attack and quickly used soru to change position
"Lucci we need your haki..." complained Jabra. They were all training to master it but without a teacher...it was slow, and only Lucci and to a lesser extend Kaku managed to learn it.
Jabra didn't even need to say it as Lucci was already on his way. He and the stranger traded a few claw strikes but where their foe's injuries healed instantly, his cuts remained...and he was getting tired.
Not surprising, the battle against the CP agents was short but brutal and the damage to his arm didn't help their cause...
On the other hand their opponent didn't seem to have even broken a sweat.
Mercer planted a kick into Lucci's torso sending him flying but received a sneak attack from Jabra in return.
As soon as Mercer landed he received a kick from Kaku that send him flying again...into Kalifa's path. She on the other hand delivered a kick to his midsection, making him burst into water.
The droplets quickly turned into steam that engulfed her.
"Kalifa!" Jabra and Kaku shouted.
Mercer's form solidified and he held the woman by the neck above the ground.
With a quick throw she was send flying in the air...and was sliced in half by his claws, her remains being instantly consumed.
The humans looked shocked by what they saw, it became a rather frequent emotional state the longer they interacted with their enemy. Where the man stood only moment ago, now stood Kalifa...
"W-what happened? Kalifa?" gasped Kaku.
"Don't be deceived...that is not Kalifa, he cut her in half..." answered Lucci.
"D-did he just eat her?!" stuttered the slack-jawed Jabra.
Only two nuisances left...
Mercer used soru and appeared before Jabra and pierced his chest with the claw's...but again he felt more resistance then there should have been.
But the attack wasn't completely blocked as his claw's managed to pierce at least some two centimeters into the wolfman's chest.
Mercer was about to finish him off when a kick send him tumbling headlong into the earth.
Before he could rise to his feet Lucci stomped on his back, and clawed at his face, easily tearing it to ribbons.
All in vain.
He had no bones to crush, and the face easily regenerated back. He grabbed Lucci's leg and covered it in bubbles, sapping the zoan's strength.
He stood up and looked down on the ex-agent who tried to stand on his now useless leg.
"No more soru for you" smirked Mercer and shifted his hand into hammerfist, ready to crush the man into paste.
But then suddenly jumped...
And evaded a kick from Kaku.
Blueno and Kaku grabbed Lucci's arms and dragged him away from the thing that was attacking them.
"That was Kalifa's attack!" said Kaku "How is that possible?!"
"Rust, water, shapeshifting, regeneration, bubbles..." mused Blueno "it's possible that he is some sort of hunter after the people with abilities. Rust is Shu's ability and bubbles were Kalifa's...who or what ever he is can gain others people power's...like Blackbeard is doing in the New World."
"You mean he is attacking us so he can eat our flesh..." spat Jabra who barely pushed himself to stand.
"I don't think he is after any ability" said Lucci "he was targeting Blueno from the start and had no interest in the rest of us."
That actually pissed Jabra off "What! Is my ability not good enough?!" he shouted.
The man now wearing Kalifa's skin only smirked as his/her hands shifted back into claws, the thing then slammed them into the ground.
The four were already familiar with the attack and quickly jumped in the air, away from the underground spikes.
As soon as they were divided, Mercer rushed Blueno and Lucci. The two agents got ready to use soru but to their surprise their movements were slow...so slow.
What! Thought every single of the ex-agents as Mercer's clawed hand rose over the slowed down Blueno and Lucci. With two fast strikes deep long cuts appeared on their bodies...
Now for the finishing touch...he grinned as he prepared to impale them on his claw's and consume his prize.
Before he could finish them Kaku used a Bigan to blast Mercer.
In the same time the Noru Noru beam on Lucci and Blueno lost its effect and the two collapsed on the ground, blood gushing from the deep cuts.
"We should get out of here" said Kaku worriedly as he saw the monster stand up. Half of his right side was blown apart...but it didn't seem to bother the Kalifa impostor.
Mercer looked down on his shredded body. This will cost me a lot of biomass he thought as he pulled his reserves to regenerate.
He flexed his now regrown right arm and shifted it back into a hammerfist. That giraffe guy is far more dangerous than I thought...and since he managed to hit me even with the logia's power he probably has haki.
The monkey did know how to turn his body to water when he saw the threat...but it didn't develop the ability to protect him from surprise attacks...although against a haki attack it didn't matter if it was a surprise or not. Something I will have to correct.
Mercer used soru to appear in the air above Kaku and with an elbow slam buried the zoan in the earth.
He turned around just in time do dodge a punch from Blueno, but lost concentration when his face started to spin around and around.
Blueno watched as his Doa-Doa ability made Kalifa's face into a spinning door. But that was a trivial thing for Alex who grew eyes from other parts of his body. Blueno for his trouble received a foot to his injured torso.
He landed a distance away, barely able to stand up, blood staining the earth.
"We have him!" shouted Jabra.
That made Mercer look back and see Jabra and Lucci hold the unconscious Kaku...although they were barely standing themselves.
In a blink of an eye a door opened behind them, a battered and bloody Blueno grabbing them and disappearing into...where ever he goes with his ability.
Mercer waited patiently for them to emerge... but with each passing minute he become more certain that they retreated.
So close! He raged, the chances of him finding them again were very low. I should have attacked Blueno first! But then again hindsight is a bitch.
Well no use crying over spilled blood he looked down on the corpses of the agents left behind. He used up a lot of his reserves in this fight and the corpses will be good enough to replenish some of his biomass.
One of the corpses was indeed an ability user, a zoan that allowed him to transform into an owl.
Since he already consumed a few birds the devil fruit ability didn't give him anything new. The Awe-Awe no Mi was not completely useless but it was insignificant compared to the Doa-Doa no Mi that slipped through his claws. Even acquiring the Rokushiki wasn't enough to make this hunt worthwhile.
I didn't even manage to get the haki user! This side trip was a complete failure.
Having nothing to do he shifted into Shu's form and started to walk back to Hina.
The four surviving ex-agents watched...well three since Kaku was still out-cold, from Blueno's pocket-dimension as the things tendrils engulfed and consumed the corpses one by one. Every time it consumed one it assumed their appearance. After all the corpses were gone it took Shu's appearance and left from where ever it came.
"That was creepy" said Jabra "do you think the thing will continue to hunt us?"
"We were careless...and we paid for that" gasped Blueno "the next time...we will be prepared now that we have a rough idea with what we are dealing with."
"Should we inform the Marines?" Jabra asked.
"The Marines are full of parasites, what's one more" said Lucci "...but on the other hand, if the thing takes any more devil abilities I don't know who will be able to stop it" he thought out loud "perhaps a warning to Fleet Admiral Sakazuki would be in order."
"What will we do now" asked Jabra tiredly.
"Rest, heal, train" said Blueno "this encounter proved that we are still far from ready."
First Straw Hat now this...from where do these people come from...thought Lucci as he allowed unconsciousness to take him.
When he returned to the ship Hina was already waiting impatiently.
"Finally. Hina was getting annoyed with your tardiness. Have you found out anything on your side?" she demanded, and from the number of smoked cigarettes around her feet it was clear she didn't do any serious investigation.
Alex nodded "They were here, the new agents found them some distance out of town but were no match for their strength. They probably already left the town, but it would be good if we left one or two people here for a few days to watch the town."
She grunted "It looks like Spandam's goons are getting weaker and weaker..." throwing the cigarette on the ground "good idea, you do that."
"I have ten men, you have around one hundred..."
"Your idea, your men."
Normally he would have left a few of them here...but he already had a skeleton crew "Then forget it, I'm leaving."
As Alex jumped on his ship he hears her shout to wait.
"What is it?"
"We received new orders from the Fleet Admiral himself...we are to travel to the New World" she stood there quietly for a few moments before she continued "...it's about Zephyr sensei..."
"What about sensei?"
"He stole Dyna Stones from Fire Islands marine base, we are being gathered to stop him."
Dyna Stones? Mercer looked into Shu's memories and found the needed information. Nasty fire crackers.
"Any more details? Like what will he do with them?"
"Hina has no idea, that's why we are meeting with all the other captains, vice-admirals and admirals for a debriefing."
Great I finally will be in the same room with a vice-admiral but wont be able to move a finger "Then lets move."
AN:
Most people have favored Mercer staying a Marine for now (for three more chapters), then go solo. (Don't worry he can always infiltrate them in the future).
If there are any Devil Fruits you wish to be used in the story, feel free to tell. Naturally if the fruit doesn't benefit Mercer in any way he will not attempt to consume the character, if on the other hand he considers it important he will do so (success would depend on the fruits strength - and if it has any exploitable weaknesses).
You can also give suggestion who do you wish for Mercer to interact with and in what way. If it's a OC please send me a PM with (Name, abilities if any, a short biography of the character-personality and that he/she possesses at least one vice for every one or two virtues. (I'm a D&D pen and paper lover).
The Mizu Mizu no Mi was suggested by Totong.