Author's Note: The OC and heroine of this story is introduced in this chapter. Enjoy reading!
I do not own One Piece.
Chapter One - The Blood Devil
8:24 PM. May 6. Port Town of Pyreen, Whertes Island. New World. Grand Line.
"I'm hungry," Luffy complained, rubbing his stomach. Nami, who stood just a few feet away, glared at him.
"You ate everything that was left in our fridge less than half an hour ago, Luffy! It's your fault that we have to stop at a town with a Marine base now to pick up more food supplies. Don't let me hear you say you're hungry again," Nami warned. Luffy gulped and nodded, looking away. He knew how terrifying the navigator could be sometimes. Satisfied, Nami turned back to the newspaper she was reading.
The Straw Hat Pirates were at the small port town of Pyreen on Whertes Island. Luffy's constant raids on the refrigerator, especially his most recent one, had resulted in a dire need to pick up more ingredients for meals. Pyreen was a relatively minor town known for its perfumes and fresh fish. Aside from that, it was home to a small Marine base under the command of a Lieutenant Weller. It was nothing the crew couldn't handle, but their goal was to lie low and not attract attention. At the moment, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, and Franky were still out in town getting supplies while Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Brook were waiting in an alley by the town square, hiding their faces with hats or sunglasses.
Zoro was silently leaning against the wall of the nearest building while Luffy, Usopp, and Brook engaged in antics of some sort. Nami was calmly reading the newspaper that had been printed just that morning. She was about to set it aside when something caught her attention in the Wanted Posters section.
"'Blood Devil Yumi'?" Nami read out loud, staring at a picture of a young woman. She was very beautiful and easily stood out among the others on the Wanted Posters page. Long blonde hair reached down to the middle of her back, contrasted by light skin and vibrant reddish pink eyes. She was fairly slim with an appealing bust. Nami scanned through the additional information about her on the side. Female, age 21, height roughly 171 centimeters… huh, she's the same age as me. That was when she saw the woman's bounty.
"800 million beri?!" Nami shrieked in shock, hands shaking as they held the newspaper. She realized how loud she'd been and quickly glanced around. Much to her relief, none of the townspeople walking around the town square seemed to have heard her or cared. On the other hand, her crewmates had. They all stopped what they were doing to stare at her in curiosity. Luffy was the first one to come over.
"What, what?" he asked excitedly, peering over her shoulder. He was shortly followed by the others, all curious to see what Nami was worked up about, even Zoro.
"Why is everyone gathered around Nami?" Chopper's voice piped up before Nami had a chance to explain. They turned their heads to see the rest of their crewmates walking toward them from the other end of the alley with shopping bags in hand.
"Ah, you guys finally finished shopping!" Luffy grinned in delight. "Come on over! Nami found something interesting in the newspaper!" At the mention of Nami's name, Sanji ran over to her side, singing about how they should have gone shopping together. Ignoring him, Nami cleared her throat and held up the newspaper so everyone could see.
"There's this pirate whose worth 800 million beri," Nami explained, pointing to the picture she'd been looking at earlier. "Blood Devil Yumi." Usopp's eyes bulged.
"That's twice as much as Luffy's bounty! And Luffy's pretty strong," Usopp exclaimed. He shuddered. "She must be some sort of monster." Almost immediately, Sanji bonked Usopp on the head with his fist, an irritated frown on his face.
"Usopp, you bastard! Are you blind?! You don't call a lady a monster, especially one as gorgeous as this!" Sanji reprimanded sharply, turning to look at the picture again with heart-filled eyes. Robin opened her mouth to offer her own input on the pirate when she suddenly closed it, looking out past Nami's head at the town square.
"Is something going on?" she wondered aloud. "The townspeople all seem to be gathering over there."
"Let's go see what's happening!" Luffy shouted excitedly, rushing off before anyone could say anything.
"Argh, Luffy!" Nami screamed after him in frustration. She folded the newspaper with a frown and started walking in his direction. "Honestly, he never waits! Let's go and make sure he doesn't get in any trouble." Knowing how troublesome Luffy could be sometimes, everyone agreed and headed off.
It didn't take long for them to catch up to where Luffy was. He was at the back of a crowd of townspeople who'd formed a large circle around something. They were whispering in low voices, looking at whatever was in the center.
"Luffy-" Nami started to scold him for his impatience, but he quickly cut her off.
"Is that shouting?" he interrupted, tilting his head in the direction of whatever the townspeople were looking at. "I think it is!" Eager to see what the commotion was all about, Luffy began pushing his way through the crowd up to the front. Nami groaned and quickly followed after him along with the others. When they'd finally made it to the front of the crowd, they all stopped suddenly in surprise.
In front of them was a rather serious scene: roughly forty Marines had formed a ring around a young woman. Each of them had their gun or sword pointed at her. The young woman herself had a pair of Kairoseki Cuffs around her wrists. A dark red gun with gray accents lay inside a holster attached to her right thigh. Then, hanging from a sword belt on her left hip was a katana with a black handle in a blood red scabbard. She wore a dark red spaghetti strap shirt with black short shorts and matching colored heels. A large man stood beside her, grasping her by the left arm tightly.
Nami's eyes widened in recognition at the sight of the woman, as did everyone else's. Usopp took a sharp intake of breath from beside her.
"Isn't that…?" he trailed off as Nami slowly unfolded the newspaper she held to the page they'd been inspecting earlier. A picture of a beautiful young woman stared up at her.
"Yeah. It's Blood Devil Yumi."
8:36 PM. May 6. Port Town of Pyreen, Whertes Island. New World. Grand Line.
Yumi had been too careless. She'd stopped by the town to pick up supplies before hiding on a ship headed for the next island. She'd done it even while knowing there was a Marine base in town, thinking that she'd be able to evade them. She'd heard reports that the Marines there had average fighting skills and decided it was okay to head into town. Yumi had been completely unprepared for several experienced ambush teams that the Pyreen Marine Base had kept secret about. She'd fled into an alley, but a Marine in hiding had placed Kairoseki Cuffs on her. In the end, she had been cornered at the far end of the town square.
The man standing next to her, Lieutenant Weller, tightened his hold on her arm, eliciting a wince from Yumi.
"We finally caught you, Blood Devil Yumi," Weller sneered. "You've caused the Marines a lot of trouble, this year especially." Yumi said nothing but looked down, refusing to meet his gaze. He laughed, turning to one of the soldiers behind him.
"Call the Marine Headquarters with a Den Den Mushi and tell them we've captured the Blood Devil. Also, make sure they send an admiral and an entire fleet of ships out to retrieve this one," Weller ordered. Yumi's eyes widened a fraction of an inch, but she forced herself to stay calm. She needed to escape before one of the admirals arrived. Otherwise, she'd be heading towards her own execution for sure. She'd killed and injured too many people to deserve anything less than death. I can't die yet.
"Yes, sir!" the soldier behind him promptly lowered his gun and pulled out a Den Den Mushi, turning away to make the call. Weller returned his attention to Yumi, a sneer still on his face.
"You'll most likely be executed," Weller told her. She already knew. He didn't have to state the obvious. "This is just a hospitality. When the backup gets here, you'll be in a world of hell. What a shame for such a pretty lady." With that, he looked down at her chest. Disgusted, Yumi turned away, her mind whirling with ideas for escaping. She'd seen Weller slip the key into his coat pocket earlier. If I could just get these Kairoseki Cuffs off… She'd teach them a lesson they'd never forget. Unfortunately, she couldn't attempt anything, not with all the soldiers aiming their guns at her.
"Not going to say anything?" Weller growled. He increased the pressure on her arm again, and this time, Yumi cried out in pain.
"LET GO OF HER!" a male voice suddenly yelled. Surprised at the yell, both Yumi and Weller looked over in time to see a man in a suit throw his sunglasses aside and kick two Marine soldiers out of the way. Immediately, all of the Marines started shooting at him, but the bullets never reached their intended target.
"Gomu Gomu no Fusen!" a boy shouted, jumping in front of Sanji. He suddenly inflated himself, reflecting the bullets back at the Marines who scattered under the fire.
"What the…? Isn't that Black Leg Sanji and Straw Hat Luffy?!" Weller's voice rose in volume. "What are they doing here?" Yumi was equally shocked. As a fellow pirate, there was no way she wouldn't know about them. They were some of the most famous pirates around. She watched as the rest of the Straw Hat Pirates joined the fray, taking out the Marines one by one. The townspeople fled the scene, running for shelter. Why did they reveal themselves? And why are they helping me?
Whatever the case, she needed to use the confusion to her advantage and beside her, Weller was too stunned to speak. She soon felt his grip loosen on her arm. Now! In an instant, she'd kicked powerfully at his side, digging her heel into a vital spot.
Groaning in pain, Weller let go of her arm completely and fell backward, clutching his side tenderly. Yumi swiftly knelt down and grabbed the key to the Kairoseki Cuffs from his pocket. Now the only problem was inserting the key into her own cuffs. Clumsily, she tried putting the key into the lock and turning it, but with her limited hand movement, it was impossible to properly unlock the cuffs.
"Come on," Yumi muttered pleadingly, attempting to unlock her cuffs again. She was so absorbed in unlocking the Kairoseki Cuffs that she didn't hear the Marine coming up to her from behind until the last moment. She turned just as the soldier was slashing his sword down at her. Her eyes widened as the blade descended.
It's over.
In a split-second, a man with green hair came between her and the Marine, parrying the blow and delivering his own. The Marine cried out and fell back, a large gash across his chest. Turning around, the stranger glanced down at Yumi who was still on the ground, the key in her cuffed hands. She blinked once, recognizing the man as Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hat Pirates. He'd saved her.
"Thank you," she told him sincerely, but before she could say anything else, Zoro sheathed his swords and hauled her up by the arm. She stumbled slightly, but he steadied her with his arms before taking the key from her. His eyes went to her katana for a moment in interest.
"You're welcome," he grunted, unlocking her cuffs and throwing them aside without so much as a second glance. Yumi glanced down at her freed hands, relishing how light they felt without the cuffs on anymore. She could feel her energy returning to her in full force.
It was time to return the hospitality the Pyreen Marines had shown her.
"You don't have to do anything," Yumi told Zoro, noticing him unsheathing his swords once more. He glanced at her, a single eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Oh really?" was all he said. She chose not to explain her words and turned away, concentrating on the battle going on around her. A familiar feeling coursed through her body like fire.
The feeling of bloodlust.
"Chi Chi no…" Yumi murmured softly, holding her right arm out to the side. Zoro's eyes widened as blood began dripping from her index finger. "Missiles." In one fluid motion, she flicked her hand out. The blood that had been dripping from her finger suddenly expanded into large, jagged needles of solidified blood as they flew through the air and embedded themselves in vital spots of all the remaining Marines. The precision they'd been aimed with could only be described as inhuman.
One by one, the soldiers fell to the ground, blood gushing out from their wounds. Luffy and his crew stopped fighting in a mixture of horror and surprise as all that was left of the battle was a field of corpses with pools of blood spilling around them. Slowly, they all looked over at Yumi.
She stood in the middle of the fallen bodies wearing a bitter smile, her left hand lightly holding her right arm. Zoro, who was standing right next to her, could clearly see the conflict raging in her eyes and the various emotions than ran rampant in them. In all his adventures with Luffy, he'd never seen something like what he'd just witnessed.
"I'm the one known as the Blood Devil…" Yumi spoke quietly.
"I ate the Chi Chi no Mi."