Chapter 3: Two Men, A Pet, and A Liar

Author's Note Part 1: Well, here's the third chapter, and in this one, I've decided that he's not just gonna have one Vigor. Yes, he's getting more powers from Infinite. Now, I know that you guys haven't seen him use Devil's Kiss yet, but that's because I'm saving it for the large battle with the pirates during the Usopp arc. That way, the Straw Hat Pirates (Read: Luffy) will be even more impressed with him when they see it.

Now, for those of you who have played, or seen gameplay of, Infinite I'm pretty sure that you guys know which Vigor he's getting next. For those of you who don't know… Well, you'll just have to wait and see. But for now, let's get on to the actual chapter!

Ken's POV:

The darkness is always to first thing to get to you, being completely alone with no sense of… Anything really. And just when you can't stand it anymore, noises start to trickle in from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Try as you might, you can never decipher what you're hearing. It's just… Noise. Almost like that sound those older televisions make when the screen changes to be static. Soon, that too becomes unbearable and light starts pouring out from inside yourself. Burning and comforting you all at once. You feel pricks up and down your skin, like when your foot falls asleep and then "wakes up", as smells assault your nose. The sensory overload fights on the edge of torturous and blissful, as if waiting for some unseen force to make up its mind. My fate was decided long ago, the light burning as I gagged on the smell of rotting flesh and blood. Tastes of horrid bile and effluvial grime filled my mouth as I thrashed to escape it all. The memories of what happened in Damnation. "Until we have you back, your dreams are ours!" Voices yelled to me, full of malice and disdain. I scream for it to end, twisting and turning in a futile attempt to worm my way out of the sensations.

…And then somebody stuck an apple in my mouth.

"This isn't going to work." A voice says, sounding annoyed.

"Why not?" A familiar voice asks. "Food always helps me."

"That's because you're a monster!" A different, familiar voice yells to the previous one. "Other than his healing, Kendrick is a normal person! …Except for the voices, that's just crazy." They continue, letting me know who it is that's talking. After all, I've only told one person about Angela and Demona. That, and I only knew one female.

"You be tortured for three years straight and find a better way to cope with it." I reply with slight annoyance, pulling the apple out of my mouth and swallowing the bite. I hear various gasps and some people scrambling away. It's then that I realized my eyes are still closed, so I hesitantly peek through my lids to see Luffy, Zoro and Shushu looking down at me. "Where am I?" I ask them, taking another bite of the apple when I realize that not only am I hungry, but it's likely that I'm injured. Which means that I need to eat to heal.

"At the doctors, the villagers found us and brought you here." Luffy answers, before giving his signature grin. "They were looking for the old guy."

"You mean Boodle?" I ask, taking another bite of the apple. "How is he?"

"I'm fine." I hear another familiar voice answer, prompting me to slowly turn my head toward the mayor in question.

"Well that's good." I reply, attempting to sit up from the bed that I was lying in. Unfortunately, I don't get very far, still too tired to move effectively. The most I get is shifting around a bit. "Would anybody happen to have some food?" I ask them, finishing the apple. "Luffy's apple seemed to work." I hear some rustling, and a piece of meat is offered to me. I slowly take it and started chewing, swallowing and feeling energized in the process. The pain of having pushed my muscles past their limit dulled with each piece of food I eat, and eventually I have enough strength to sit up and stand. "Well, what are we doing now Nami?" I ask the orange haired girl as I stretch a bit. Nobody answers, choosing instead choosing to look at me in amazement.

"We're leaving soon. Have to make it to the Grand-Line after all." Luffy answers me, grinning once again.

"How…" One of the nearby villagers starts. "How is that possible?! Your muscles were torn apart!" They exclaim.

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away." I reply with a shrug.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Demona remarks, before letting out a chuckle. "But I love the looks on the villager's faces." She admits, talking about the disbelieving facial expressions on the villagers at the moment. I look over towards Nami, who sighs and looks at the ground in defeat for a few seconds.

"I give up!" She finally exclaims, picking her head up to look to the sky, and throwing her hands up into the air in the process before walking out of the doctors. "I'm done trying to figure you out!"

"Don't be like that." I laugh, following her out of the doctors without bothering to check to see if I'm cleared. After all, what's the point when I can heal from anything? "I'm like a puzzle box, once you figure me out there's a prize inside."

"Only in this case the prize is a kid that's a shell of himself, filling out his self-imposed roles with forced personality and 'shoulder conscious' archetypes." Demona remarks.

"All the while fighting the knowledge that if he ever accepts this he'll fall apart at the seams and dissolve into broken mess of a being, the reality of what's happened to him crashing down upon him." Angela agrees. Nami turns to face at me, looking like she's trying to decide something. Luffy and Zoro catch up to us, carrying large bags with them.

"I'm sorry." Nami says. "About what I did. You trusted me and I used it against you, so I'll understand if you don't want to travel with me anymore." She says, looking away in shame.

"Nami, you are one of the only three people I know in the whole world." I tell her, putting my hands on her shoulders. "You'll have to do something drastic for me to leave you guys alone." I say. Nami smiles when I say this, seemingly happy that I don't hate her, though there's still something that I can't really make out in her eyes.

"Alright then!" She exclaims, breaking my train of thought as she turns away and starts walking off. "Let's set sail!"

"Alright, I can't wait!" Luffy giggles, rushing past us. I share a glance with Zoro, before shrugging and walking after them, the swordsman not too far behind.

We return to our ship, finding Luffy and Zoro's right beside it. "Convenient." I note with a grin. Suddenly, the three pirates we'd scammed earlier jump from our ship.

"We've been waiting for you two!" One of them exclaims, brandishing a sword in our direction.

"Yeah, we knew you'd come back." Another agrees.

"Imagine our surprise when…" The third one starts to say, before being distracted by something next to me. Which happens to be Zoro.

"You guys again? Why don't you get lost?" Zoro asks, glaring at them. In response the three pirates scream in fear and jump into the sea, swimming away as fast as they can.

"That was strange." I remark, taking the bags from Luffy and Zoro and placing them in mine and Nami's boat before using one of them as a rudimentary chair.

"Don't sit on my treasure." Nami scolds, pushing me off. I get up and rub my head, unprepared for the shove. I look at Nami, about to say something until I notice the face she's making. She looks stuck somewhere between furious and shocked, slowly turning to Luffy. "There's a bag missing!" She yells at him. "Where is it?!"

"I left it there so I could carry more food." Luffy answers as if it's obvious. "And so they could fix their town."

"There was at least half a million Berri in that bag!" Nami shouts out, grabbing Luffy to try to force him overboard. "And you gave it away!"

"To be fair, he had a good reason." I defend, stepping between them, in the process stepping into Luffy and Zorro's ship, and pushing the two away from one another. "Why do you need that treasure anyway?"

"I need it buy a village." Nami answers, turning away from us. "I have to collect 100 million Berri."

"That's a lot of money, even for a pirate." Luffy remarks. "It could buy a ton of meat." He says, grinning with stars in his eyes.

"Or Sake." Zoro continues from his place on the ship's deck.

"Why do you need to buy a village?" I ask her. "Interested in becoming an- Oh shit!" Before I can finish what I was going to say, I slip while climbing between our two ships, falling into the sea below. The result is instantaneous; I lose total control of my body as water fills my lungs and stomach. I can't move an inch, my lungs burning for air as I slowly sink toward the bottom of the ocean. While this is happening, my brain decides that now is a good time to remember that I could use Devil's Kiss, except that I'm not being attacked. Then, I hear something enter the water and feel someone grab me, dragging my body back to the surface. I'm flipped back onto the deck of one of the ships, still unable to move. My eyes roll a bit, making it so I could only see the feet of everyone.

"Kendrick!" Luffy exclaims. "Why isn't he moving?!" He yells out. Nami kneels next to me, leaning close.

"He's not breathing." She announces. "Stand back, you need to give us room." Nami pumps my chest a few times, attempting CPR, and then tries to breathe some air into my lungs.

"You know, I wonder if this would count as a first kiss." Demona remarks idly.

Really?! I'm practically dying here, and that's what you're worried about?! I yell at her.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, look at her! You know you need to get laid anyways." She says, ignoring my yells at her as I attempt to remind her that I'm dying. After a few more CPR attempts, Nami slams her fist on the deck.

"Dammit, this isn't working!" She growls.

"I have an idea!" Luffy exclaims, running off somewhere. He quickly returns, putting something in my mouth and practically shoving it down my throat. Whatever it is gives me enough strength to roll over, allowing me to lean off the ship's edge and hurl up all the sea water in my stomach. I lay there heaving for a few moments, gasping for air in between each wave of stomach acid. Eventually I finish, and slowly turn around to lean against the side of the ship so that I can face the others.

"Some more food would be appreciated." I gasp out, wiping tears from my eyes.

It's about an hour later that I find myself sitting on the deck of mine and Nami's boat, a spare blanket wrapped around me. After I regained my strength, Nami gave me the blanket to cover myself with while my clothes dried. "How are you doing?" Zoro asks, watching out for Luffy and Nami. We had found an island that was supposed to be uninhabited, but Luffy wanted to explore it anyway. Zoro was taking a nap at the time, and I didn't feel up to going, so Nami and Luffy went alone. A sudden noise had woken Zoro a little while ago, but he decided it must have been nothing as we heard nothing else since then.

"I'm doing fine, thanks." I answer. "It's just…" I trail off and look at the deck, not exactly sure how to continue. Zoro doesn't say anything, but turns away from the shore to look at me. "I forgot how awful it was. Being trapped in the dark, no air, and no way to escape. The burning." I finally continue quietly. "I forgot how cruel the world can be." I tell him.

"You say that like you've drowned before." Zoro notes.

"I've down more than drowned." I reply, still looking at the deck. "Crucified, boiled in steel pots, shredded of my skin before being whipped, electrocuted... Pumped full of lead. I've met my fair share of tortures." I tell him. We don't say anything for a moment or two, before I start to talk again. "I suppose if I think about it, things turned out pretty good." I continue, a small smile appearing on my face. "All things considered, it could have gone far worse for me. I did meet you guys after all, didn't I?" Zoro nods in agreement, the slight smile on his face saying everything. "I think I'm going to go for a walk." I announce, standing up and placing the blanket on the deck, throwing on my now dry clothes, and jumping down to the ground. As I'm about to walk away, I hesitate and look over my shoulder at the boats. "Hey Zoro!" I call out, getting his attention. "Thanks for listening!" I thank him, getting a nod in return before he leans back against the side of the boat to nap I assume. As he does this, I start to walk along the beach, feeling better about things.

I've been walking for a while now, and I'm about to head back when I notice a cave entrance along the sand. "I don't think it's a good idea to go in there." Angela says as I walk closer.

"It's just a cave, what harm ever came from entering a cave?" I ask her.

"What harm ever came from entering a lighthouse?!" Angela counters, making it so that something in the back of my mind stirs, but I'm not entirely sure what.

"I don't think there's going to be many robots with drill hands on an island like this." Demona replies, again making it so that something in the back of my mind stirs. "Let's see what's inside." She suggests. I walk in, brushing some webs out of my way as I go. Cracks in the ceiling illuminate the tunnel, which become more and more open as I follow it. Eventually the cave opens up into a large cavern, a skylight showing a large chest in the center of it. It was shaped like the stereotypical pirate's chest, but much longer. "~Oooh~ Maybe there's treasure in it!" Demona exclaims giddily. I walk closer and grab the lid, struggling to open it for a moment until it snaps off its hinges. The reason quickly becomes apparent, a mixture of rust and webs exploding outwards and coating the front of my shirt. "What's inside?" She asks. I peek inside the chest and my jaw drops open in shock. Inside the chest is a bottle much like the one on the pirate ship. I take it out, and notice the differences right away.

First of all, the bottle isn't circular, but rectangular. And, it's designed so that it looks like the thing was the body of a raven, except that the middle was colored light blue, light green, and yellow. The top was styled like a regular, black feathered raven, with the head as the cap. Also different from Devil's Kiss, was that there was a symbol of a raven holding something in its mouth, but it was on a string that looped around the cap's "neck". I look it over for a minute, before I decide to drink it. Hey, if Devil's Kiss gave me fire grenades, imagine what this could give me. So, I start to chug the bottle, only to stop and splutter a bit. This thing tastes like garbage! I yell in my mind, before looking at the bottle again, grimacing, and chugging down the rest of it. Mind you, I plugged my nose while I did this.

Once I finish, I drop the bottle, a bit surprised as everything around me turns a slight grey, and then listen as there's suddenly a bird call. I look at my left arm, only to see that there's a rave- no, a crow sitting on it, with something in its mouth. To me, it looked like the organ of some small mouse or something. Then, the crow takes off, and my vision returns to normal. Suddenly, I'm assaulted by information. Turns out the thing is called "Murder of Crows", meaning the bottle is actually shaped like a crow, not a raven. Oops. As for the power that I now have… Basically, I can summon crows to attack my enemies… Sweet! I clench my fist, noticing how gains a few feathers, before deactivating my new power, and looking through the chest to see if there's anything else in there.

What I find surprises me, because I'd never seen anything like it. It was made from a mixture of wood and metal, and had a leather grip on one part of it. I pick it up, and turn it over in my hands, trying to figure out what it is. One end was obviously the hand grip, and I grip the object in my hand, looking over the other end. This end looked something like a pinwheel, with three hooks attached. However, it was slightly different, as I realized when I saw four holes in front of the hand grip, and pulled on them. The next thing I know, the hooks are spinning, with the pointed parts aiming away from the thing! "What the hell?!" I exclaim, immediately letting go of the thing, and looking it over more closely. Then, I see the name. "Sky-Hook?..." I mutter, and just like that, the flood works start.

I see flashes of myself, sitting on a couch with an Xbox controller in hand, playing a game called Bioshock Infinite. After reliving a few events, I return to the present, and look at the Sky-Hook in a new light, as well as my Vigors. "There's no fucking way." I mutter, flaring Devil's Kiss again just to make sure. When it works, I let off a laugh. "Oh man, I'm going to have fun with this." I say, flaring my hand a bit more as a grin makes its way onto my face, before spinning the Sky-Hook again. However, I frown a bit when I remember that the only two Vigors that I knew about, I'd already gathered. "Huh… Wonder if this is it then…" I mutter to myself, disabling the Devil's Kiss, before another thought strikes me. "Wait, how the hell am I going to get Salts?!" I exclaim in fear, before a familiar voice speaks up.

"You idiot. Don't forget that this is a different dimension. If anything, the stuff will have a certain time period to "recharge" instead of needing something else." Demona says, reminding me that this isn't Bioshock. I let out a quiet sigh, happy that the stuff isn't going to be a one-time use. After a few more minutes of admiring the Sky-Hook, and finding a holster for it in the chest, I turn towards the entrance and get ready to leave, stopping only when I notice something moving at the edge of the light that's raining down into the cave via the hole in the ceiling. I walk over to inspect it, finding what looks like a rock jostling around. As I lean closer, cracks appear and pieces fall away to reveal a spider about the size of my hand. The spider scrambles about a bit, but finally drags itself out of its egg to look at me. I gingerly reach my hand down to pick it up, the spider taking the opportunity to crawl up my arm and around my shirt before finally deciding to settle itself on my right shoulder.

"Hey little guy, aren't you friendly?" I remark, laughing a bit. "Do you have me confused for your mother maybe?" I ask. The spider turns to face something behind me, making a hissing sound. I turn around as well, finding something that nearly stops my heart. A group of five or six dog-sized spiders had amassed behind me, making a semi-circle that trapped me against the wall. "Hey there guys, sorry for breaking into your house." I laugh nervously, holding my hands up in surrender and backing up slightly.

"I told you not to come in here!" Angela declares angrily. "But you didn't listen to me!" She scolds, just as one of the spiders hisses at me, freezing me in my tracks. More cracking sounds prompt me to look behind myself, seeing more spiders hatching from their eggs. They crawl from their eggs and over to the bigger spiders, climbing onto their backs. I slowly edge around the cave towards the entrance, taking extra care to not step on an egg or baby spider while holding out my hands to show that I wasn't going to do anything. Also making sure not to use either of my Vigors. As I do this, the bigger spiders back up a bit to allow me through, but hiss threateningly when I start to leave. I'm confused for a moment, before I realize that the first spider is still on my shoulder. I reach up and pluck it off me, gently setting the little thing on the ground. The spider seems hesitant to go toward its brethren, but scamper over to them none the less. One of the big spiders twists around it, as if inspecting it for damage, before it hissed angrily and uses one of its eight legs to punt it away. All the other spiders suddenly turn on it, herding it back toward me with hisses and clacking mandibles. We're driven back out of the cave, the spiders heading back in once we had completely left it with a few more hisses.

I look down at the spider, feeling guilty. I must have done something that pissed of the bigger ones, and now it has nowhere to go. "Sucks for it." Demona remarks. "Let's head back to the ships." She continues as if nothing new happened.

"We can't just leave it alone, we need to do something." Angela tells us. I think for a moment, and then kneel down next to the arachnid.

"Sorry about getting you disowned." I tell it. "Why don't you come with me and my friends, it'll be fun." I suggest. I don't think it understood me, but the spider crawled back up to my shoulder none the less. I heard a laugh nearby, turning to my right to see two men watching me. They were both wearing large concealing cloaks, and the only distinguishing feature was that the one to my right has on a black cloak, while the one on my left is wearing a white one. "Hello." I greet them. "I didn't know anyone lived here."

"We don't." The one on the left answered. "We were just visiting, making sure things fell into place." He tells me.

"That makes you sound like you're plotting." I note, standing up. "What's your story?"

"You'll figure that out for yourself." The one on the right says, before a lighting suddenly starts to strike around the area, effectively blinding me as I cover my eyes to make sure that I don't go blind permanently. I'm surprised when it clears to see that the two men are gone, vanished as suddenly as they appeared. I look around for them, but can't find a trace or clue as to who they were. I shrug before I head to the ships.

I return to find the others waiting for me, Luffy and Nami back from their excursion. "Here." Zoro suddenly says, handing me an envelope.

"What's this?" I ask him, looking it over.

"Two guys were here earlier, they asked us to give this to you." Nami answers, looking pensive about something. I open the envelope, finding a letter of all things. Huh. Who'd-a-thunk it? I think in surprise. The letter reads,

Dear Kendrick,

Sorry we couldn't stay and chat, but we had business to take care of. I'm sure you're wondering who we were, but you'll just have to find that out on your own. For now all we can give you this advice. Live for now. Things are only going to get more difficult from here, and you'll never live life without regrets, so try to have a good time. If you ever think that you're asking too much, or if a little voice tells you that you're being too greedy, tell that voice to go fuck itself. You've done your time, and now is your chance to make up for it. This world, and many others, owe you their awe. Make sure they give it to you.

Sincerely,

Some Friends

P.S. Don't wait too long, she's a keeper.

I have to smile at the letter, a small chuckle escaping me even as a small blush creeps into my cheeks when I realize what they mean at the end. Then, I fold it back up and slide it into my pocket, before looking up in time to stop Nami's staff from hitting me again. "Oh come on!" I exclaim in annoyance, jumping back slightly to get out of her range. "What did I do this time?!"

"Hold still, there's a spider on you!" Nami responds, taking a step forwards and swinging again.

"I know there is!" I exclaim, as I dodge the swipe. "I put it there!" Nami stops trying to kill my new pet long enough to glare at me.

"What?" She asks in a deadpan voice.

"It's my new friend." I continue, picking up the spider and holding it out. "I accidentally made it an orphan, so I'm taking responsibility." Nami freezes for a moment after I say that, a sad look appearing on her face. Then it disappears and she turns away with a huff.

"Fine, it can stay." She says. "But if I find it anywhere near my bed, I'm squashing it."

"Fair enough." I agree. "Now all I have to do is think of a name." I continue as I sit down across from my new spider pet, staring at it as I try to find a suitable name.

It's dark when I shoot up, finally thinking of the perfect name. "I've got it!" I exclaim.

"What?!" Nami shouts out blearily, stepping out of her room. "What's happening?!"

"I know what I'm going to call him!" I answer her, picking up my new friend and not noticing the tick mark that appears on Nami's head. "His name will be Wilson!" I exclaim. Suddenly, with a painful ~crack!~, Nami hits me over the head with her staff.

"Don't wake me for something as stupid as that again!" She yells at me, a scary look on her face as she stomps back to her room and slams the door shut.

"Who took the jam out of her donut?" I wonder aloud, lying on the deck to get some rest, the newly named Wilson moving to sit on my chest.

I wake up to the sounds of gunfire and explosions, dust falling on my face from a concrete ceiling. "Sir, ve are running out of time!" exclaims an elderly man with a thick German accent.

"I know zis dummkopf! Ze Golem is almost complete, I just have to make sure it vill follow our orders." A far younger looking German man says in response. Sounding slightly rushed all the same.

"What's going on?" I try to say, only for nothing to come out.

"Golem, rise!" The younger man commands. I was going to do nothing, just ignore the man and what he was saying, but instead I stand up from the table I had been laying on.

"What the hell is happening?!" I try to yell out, once again staying silent.

"Good, good." The younger man mutters, nodding his head with a slight smile. "Now Golem, kill him!" The man exclaims, pointing towards a person behind me, my body turning against my will to face a fairly old man tied to a pole. Seeing me look at him, the man starts thrashing to get free.

"There's no way I'm killing some innocent guy!" I exclaim in protest. But still, nothing comes out. Then I start walking. My footsteps pound heavily into the floor, my body having more weight than usual. The man starts begging for his life, but I can do nothing to stop myself. I have no control over my body as I reach down, taking the man's head in my hands. "Dear God, somebody stop me!" I beg, only for no one to hear my cries as I start to squeeze. "Don't make me do this! I don't want to do this!" I continue to protest. The man screams louder as I squeeze harder, everything ending in an instant. Blood runs down my fingers as I try desperately to look away, the gaze in the man's eyes reflecting a monster just before his head shatters. I'm frozen, horrified at what I had just done.

"Vell done. Come Golem! Zere is still much work to be done." The man says again. A moment passes, and then I scream.

And scream.

And scream.

I don't know who screamed louder. Me… Or all the innocent people I killed that day.

"Kendrick! Kendrick!" A voice calls to me. "You have to wake up!" I gasp and shoot up, almost slamming my head against Nami's. She scrambles back just in time, surprised. I take short, ragged breaths, freaking out because of my dream. "Kendrick, everything's ok." Nami tells me soothingly, trying to calm me down. "You need to breathe. Breathe." I sit there for a minute or two, my legs curling up against my chest as I slowly gain control of myself once again. I calm down, unfurling and leaning back against the railing. "Kendrick, what happened?" Nami asks quietly. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." I answer her. "Just a nightmare."

"Are you sure?" A voice asks behind me. I turn around to see Luffy looking at me in concern, Zoro's expression unreadable.

"Yeah, I'm sure." I reply, forcing a smile. Luffy doesn't look convinced, but thankfully drops it. As does Nami, who has another pensive look on her face. I sigh and lie back down, watching the clouds drift by as I think about the nightmare… And who possibly caused it.

"We need to plan things more!" Nami suddenly declares, gaining the crew's attention.

"What do you mean?" Luffy asks her.

"We are woefully unprepared for the Grand Line right now." Nami answers as if it's obvious.

"You're right." Luffy agrees with a surprisingly serious face… Before it breaks out into one of hunger and excitement. "We've got lots of fruit, but were running out of meat!" He yells out, making me face fault. At this point, I've just accepted that anime logic is actually reality in this world.

"That's because you keep eating it all!" I yell at him with shark teeth as I shoot up onto my feet, before I sit back down and start playing with Wilson, reveling in the fact that I can now do what I've wanted to since I started anime. Now, all I needed was to have a tick mark, sweatdrop about a hundred times, and have a depressing aura hanging over my head… You know, I just realized that for two thirds of that to happen, something negative would have to happen. Well that's a happy thought.

"I'm not talking about the food supplies!" Nami yells at the rubber man.

"And we're running out of Sake too." Zoro notes, supposedly ignoring what Nami's saying.

"Let's not worry about meat and sake right now!" Nami orders. "The Grand Line is the most dangerous place in the world! Pirates from all over want to get the treasure there, so we need to get a better ship first." She tells us.

"It couldn't hurt to get some new crew members also." I interject, looking up from Wilson. "Like a doctor. Or someone who can fix our ship."

"What do we do then?" Luffy asks.

"We have to prepare for our trip, and plan for the journeys ahead." Nami answers, pulling out a map. "There's a village due north from here, we should go there and look for a better ship."

"And eat some meat!" Luffy exclaims excitedly, making me and Nami sigh in defeat. Wilson even takes the time to click his mandibles together, getting a sweatdrop at the scene.

Alright, guess he can understand the human language after all… That, or the other explanation is anime logic. I think to myself, before letting go of the thought to help turn the ship. We sail for a bit more, before an island eventually appears on the horizon. "Wow! There's really an island here!" Luffy exclaims as we beach the ships, surprise evident on his face.

"What did you expect?" Nami asks him. "We followed the map, so we wouldn't be wrong."

"Oh…" Luffy responds. "Is there a village here?" He asks, looking around.

"Uh huh, looks like there's a small village." Nami answers, taking another look at the map that she brought. We disembark, Zoro stretching as he steps onto the beach.

"Been a long time since I last stood on firm ground." Zoro remarks.

"That's because you were sleeping all the time." Luffy notes.

"By the way, I just noticed a moment ago, what are those guys doing there?" Zoro asks, pointing at a nearby cliff. Atop of which are what looked like four people, three of which run off screaming when they realize they were spotted.

"Hey you!" The last figure shouts at his retreating allies. "Don't run away!" We all stare at the last guy, waiting to see what he'd do. He seems unsure for a moment, then climbs down and stands between us and the path to the village. He crosses his arms and tries to seem as imposing and intimidating as possible. "I am the great pirate fleet leader, Usopp, who is in charge of the security of this village!" He exclaims. "I'm also known as 'Captain', 'Captain Usopp'!" He declares. Now that he's closer, I can get a better look at the kid. He doesn't seem that much older than any of us with tanned skin and black, bushy hair that's held together under a hairnet. He's wearing brown overalls, has a satchel with him, and has an incredibly long nose. Almost reminiscent of Pinocchio. "It's best if you don't try to attack this village." He continues. "Because my 80 million men would not forgive you!"

"You're lying, right?" Nami asks him in a deadpan voice.

"~Waa!~ I've been caught!" Usopp exclaims with anime tears.

"See! You even said it yourself!" Nami continues.

"~Arghh!~ Did I just say that?" Usopp wails. "Bad planning! Bad planning indeed!" I snicker at the sight before us, amused at Usopp's attempt to trick us.

"~Hahahahaha!~ You're so funny!" Luffy laughs.

"Hey! Don't underestimate me! I'm a man with high self-esteem!" Usopp exclaims, pointing a thumb at himself as if to reinforce the point. "And everyone around here calls me 'Honorable Usopp'!" He continues.

"Yet the first thing you do when you meet us is lie." I remark, pointing at him for emphasis.

"Yea, well…" Usopp trails off, not able to think of a comeback.

"We should probably head into town. We won't get supplies just standing here." I suggest to the others. "It was nice meeting you Usopp." I say with a grin.

"Wait! You mean you're not here to attack us?" Usopp asks, sounding confused.

"No, why would we? We just need to get some more food." Luffy answers with his trademark grin.

"Oh! If you're here for that, I know a good place in town." Usopp says with his own grin. "Follow me."

A little while later, we find ourselves chowing down on some fairly good food. "So you're looking for companions and a big ship?" Usopp asks us between bites.

"Yup." Luffy confirms, taking a big bite out of a piece of mutton.

"Sounds like a big adventure!" Usopp exclaims, sounding excited. "There's only one place where you can find all the stuff you want in this village. Although it's not a very big ship, it's not that small either." He tells us.

"Where?" Nami asks.

"There's a house not far from here that belongs to a wealthy family. The ship belongs to the mansion's owner." Usopp explains. "But the owner is very sick, a young girl that's bedridden all day."

"Then how come she's the owner of the mansion?" Nami asks the long-nosed teen.

"She probably inherited from her parents." I explain between bites of food. "That's usually how these things happen. ~swallow~ But I can't help but feel for her if that's true." I continue with a downcast look.

"You're right. I think it happened about a year ago, her parents died of sickness and left her a large fortune, along with the mansion and over ten servants." Usopp continues. "Even if you're really rich, it doesn't exempt you from sorrow."

"Are you okay, Nami?" I ask our navigator, noticing that she has a strange look on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She answers, waving off my concern and changing her facial expression so that it's back to her normal smile. "Let's forget about searching for a ship in this village, we'll find one somewhere else." She tells us.

"Alright, but I need to get some things before we leave." I say, standing up. "Nami, could I borrow some money?" I ask the orange haired girl.

Nami hesitated for a moment, before smiling evilly at me. "Sure. But I expect full pay in return, as well as three-hundred percent interest." She tells me. I look at her in shock at her terms, before smirking a bit.

"Oh well," I start, shrugging my shoulders to go along with it. "I guess that I'm not gonna be getting that book on how we can take better care of whatever ship we end up getting." I say with fake disappointment in my voice. Nami goes wide eyed, before narrowing her eyes, and handing me money while growling out something that sounded suspiciously like a compliment for my negotiation tactics, as well as annoyance for said ability as well.

"Appreciate it, I'll be back soon." I thank her with a winning smile. "Usopp is there any place to get some books around here?" I ask the teen in question.

"I think the general store might have a few." He answers. "I have to go anyways. I'll show you where it is."

Usopp and I leave the café, arriving at the store a minute later.

"Here it is, hope you find what you're looking for!" Usopp shouts, running off with a wave. I return the wave, and walk into the store, a bell ringing as I did so.

"Welcome!" A man behind the counter greets me. "How can I help you?" He asks.

"My friends and I are planning a trip, and I was wondering if you had any books about ship repair." I tell him.

"~hmm~ I think I might, wait here a moment please." The man responds. He walks through a back door, the sounds of rummaging drifting to the store proper. He returns a moment later, volume in hand. "Here you go, "A General Look at Ships and the Building There of'." The man says, placing the book on a counter. "This should have what you're looking for, that'll be 530 Berri." My heart nearly jumps from my chest at the price. I look down at the money that Nami had given me, and I'm surprised to find more than enough to pay for it. Assuming that it's a simple case of different values than what I'm used to, I pay the man and leave to look for the others.

I returned to the café to find that Nami and the others have already left. I search around for them, slightly frustrated that they just disappeared like that. "You got any ideas?" I ask Wilson, who's sitting on my shoulder, as we walk down the street. "'Cuz I can't think of anything." I tell him. In response, Wilson turns, looking in all directions by turning his body with his eight legs. Finally, he looks towards the mansion that Usopp had been talking about earlier, and makes a few clicking sounds with his mandibles. I look at the mansion, and then smile. "You're right, that's the only place we haven't checked yet, isn't it?" I ask the spider rhetorically. "Well then, let's go ahead and check to see if the crew's there." I continue, speeding up my pace from walking to jogging.

Author's Note Part 2: Alright, once again if you read the first version, you can tell that I've changed a few things. The most important? I've given Ken a weapon, as well as "Murder of Crows"! Don't worry, you guys will be able to see the Vigors in action soon. Probably somewhere within the next couple chapters, since there's the whole face off against the Cat Pirates, or whatever their real name is.

Hmmm… What else that's majorly important…? Ah! So yeah, like I've stated in earlier chapters, I've taken out Zalgo, Zane and the like since the original author re-wrote this story. So therefore, some things in later chapters are going to be changed to fit in with this re-write. Such as how Ken is going to be an actual part of the Usopp Arc. Now, I have plans for Ken and the back-stabbing butler. One of which has to do with the butler's choice of weaponry. Now, on with the reviews to reviews! (Updated: February 19th, 2015)

Daisylovesu:

I'm happy to hear that you're excited for updates! As for his description, I'll go a little more in depth on that in the next chapter. I'm going to talk with the original author about that, since they are the ones who wrote this first, and I don't want to erase how they envisioned Ken.

FrozenWulf13:

Good to know that you like it! And don't worry, the Devil Fruit power shall be revealed in time…

(However, now that he doesn't use a Devil Fruit, guess that you'll just have to wait until I show off the Vigors… Sorry if me taking out the Devil Fruit upset you)

missNOBODYa. :

Good to know that you're enjoying this!

(And I hope that you don't mind me replacing the Devil Fruit with Vigors)

DarkLord98:

…I'm not going to answer that since I don't want to ruin the surprise for the other readers. But I will say this. You are so close to the truth, that if it were hot, your face would be melting off in a way similar to that of the people in "Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark."

(In other words, you were spot on. But, now he's using Vigors. Hope you like that either way.)

OhYolanda:

Always like to hear that people are enjoying my story!

Thomas Drovin:

Alright, gonna try to reply to both your reviews in a single one here. So here we go.

1: Glad to know you're happy with the pairing! Honestly, I saw that it was going that way, and I don't see that many OC x Nami pairings for this category. So, I've made one!

2: Well, the differences for what he shall change in the Usopp Arc shall start next chapter, so I hope you look forward to that!

3: You've got a good connection with Wolverine, and it's part of what gave me the idea for the Adamantium. But as for the dark creature… I'm afraid that's false. The sharp teeth were already written in from kta250298, and I ended up keeping them in since I'm just editing the chapters that they already wrote. The next one that I write will be completely original though!

4: Sorry, Ken didn't eat the pirates. I probably should have written that down. But no, because he had eaten the Devil Fruit a few minutes before hand, he wasn't hungry at the time, thus allowing his arm to grow back. Instead, the pirates were all killed, and left on the beach and the sea dead. Also, I haven't watched the Jeepers Creepers films (And have no ideas of watching them any time soon since I freak out like there's no tomorrow during horror movies) So I wouldn't be able to understand the reference. Sorry.

(Now, as you can see, I have gone on to describe that Ken didn't eat the pirates. And I still haven't watched the movies, since my day is spent at school, doing homework, and typing. So, I'm not going to go watching horror movies at nine at night, just before I go to bed.)

Anyways, I look forwards to seeing you all during the next chapter, which will be completely original! However, it may be a little while since it's going to be completely original, and I'm going to need to make sure to stay with Ken's personality, while also taking into mind the changes I've made from my original version. But, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all next time!