Hello everybody and welcome TO THE REMATCH OF THE CENTURY!

Without further ado, let's get the story underway.

Also, on a related note, I would like to inform you all of a story being written by PolarFanfiction called 'The Winds Of Karma', which is actually a prequel to Scarlet Wind that he wanted to write. Of course, because I'm a nice guy (and because Polar has given me loads of advice on what to put in this story), I allowed him to write the prequel. I urge all of you to give it a read and review it, if you haven't already and I hope you enjoy it and this latest chapter.

Chapter 1: Predators Act 4

Nami P.O.V

"I told you that he was the killer…" I say shaking my head at Nojiko, who's still staring at the screen in shock.
"Well how was I supposed to know? I thought the cute ones were always good guys" she replied, eying up the actor as he appeared on screen once more, this time in handcuffs. I shook my head once more.

"Listen to yourself. What would Ace say if he heard you talking about that guy like that?"
"He'd probably agree" Nojiko argues with a wink. I roll my eyes and reach for the TV remote.

"Don't you have better things to do than watch horror movies all night?" I ask.

"IS there anything better?" Nojiko asks in reply. I ignore her question and tap one of the buttons on the remote. Immediately, the TV channel changes from the DVD to a news channel. As this happens Nojiko playfully grabs my leg, as if pleading to me to change it back…

And SHE'S the oldest…

I sigh at her antics and I look towards the screen. It was showing a news report about a scuffle today downtown between our resident super hero, Scarlet Wind, and some sort of super villain. Bellemere was there. I know she was but she didn't say anything…

In my distracted state, I end up looking towards the picture of Scarlet Wind on the screen. His raven hair was standing on end in the wind and the straw-hat on his head was barely clinging there to be honest. His eyes were obscured by that black mask of his. He looks so…

"Nami" Immediately, I turn around to see Nojiko staring at me.

"What?" I ask, nervous at her focused stare.

"Nothing" she replies with a sly smile "it's just that you seemed VERY interested in our city's latest 'law enforcer'" As if to add some context to the sentence, Nojiko returned to her usual place on the sofa, lying down on her front with her hands cupping her chin as she added "Hmmm, he does look cute though…" I shake my head at my sister's antics and head towards the kitchen, in search of some food. Both I and Nojiko haven't had any dinner yet, so I'll have to try and find something we can both eat. Our kitchen is quite small and a lot of the cupboards are bare, seeing as we'll be going shopping for food tomorrow. Luckily, I do find some possible dinner in the form of a large pizza topped with mozzarella and pepperoni.

"Hey Nojiko, you want some pizza?" I shout to the front room.

"Yeah, go on then. Nami, can you turn up the TV a bit?" she calls. Carefully, I take the pizza out of the box and place it onto a baking tray.

"You have a pair of arms don't you?" I ask with a smile.

"Yeah, but what I don't have is the remote!" she replies. I turn the dial on the oven, waiting for it to preheat and sigh. I flick my right arm back, tapping the + volume button for a bit until I was sure Nojiko's horrible ears (and probably anyone who was present outside out house) could hear it. With that done, I strolled back into the living room and sat down on a chair, waiting for the oven to finish heating up. It was at that moment, when there was a knock at the door. Both I and Nojiko looked upwards towards the door and then, exchanged confused glances.

"You expecting anyone?" she asked. I shook my head. Nojiko sighed at this and calmly pointed towards the door.

"Me?" I asked, realising what she was hinting at "why aren't you going to go answer it?"

"Duh" Nojiko replies, pointing down at her attire, which at the moment, was nothing more than a pair of blue pyjamas in a purple dressing gown. I sighed reluctantly and looked down at my own clothes, consisting of the dark red school blazer, a white shirt and a black skirt. I sighed loudly and muttered a 'fine' as a stood up. Slowly, I walked towards the door to the small entrance hall. As the door opened, however, the TV caught my attention once more.

"Breaking News!" the news reporter yelled from the screen "we have just been informed of a hostage situation that is occurring at the estate of Donquixote Doflamingo. Police are currently surrounding the building but the kidnappers have not yet issued their demands. We have news that among the captives is Police Captain Bellemere and business man and owner of the Grand Line times, Shiki…" My eyes widened and almost immediately, I was back in the front room with Nojiko, though this time, we were both staring at the TV in shock.

"Mum…" we both whispered with fear.

"What are we gonna do?" I asked, feeling a twinge of sadness in the back of my mind.

"Don't worry" Nojiko reassures me "There's nothing we can do…except hope she comes out of there alright and, knowing mum, she will…" After a pause, I nodded.

"You're right Nojiko…this is her we're talking about after all and she's been in worse spots that this"

"That's the spirit" Nojiko comments with an encouraging smile "get the door and see who it is and I'll keep watching the channel to see if we get any news" I nod gently at Nojiko's request and quickly walk to the door. As I move to the door, I hear the sound of movement, as if someone was once outside but suddenly, without reason, had decided to run away. I open the front door…but no-one's there. The street is empty and it doesn't seem like anyone was here to begin with. I shrug and I turn to head inside…when I spot something on the floor. Slowly, I crouch down and pick up what's there with a loud gasp. A small bouquet of flowers? What are they doing here? With an incredible curiosity, I reach into the bouquet and withdraw a small card from within the tiny group of plants.

"Thanks for getting me back up on my feet" the card reads. I feel a small smile come to my lips and without taking my eyes off the card, I step back inside the house.

"What's wrong Nami?" Nojiko asks as I walk in "wow, they're beautiful. Where'd you get those from?" I smile in reply to her question and shrug.

"Oh…just some secret admirer…"

Secret admirer? I wish…

Beckman P.O.V

I'm not usually an angry man. I don't like to be. I think that if there's a conflict that can't be properly solved by words, then it's a conflict that I wouldn't really like to be apart of…but if something's worth fighting for, then I'll fight for it. Despite what anyone else says and anyone else believes, I think that Luffy is defiantly someone worth fighting for. I've known the kid since he was little, being a big friend to the family through his adoptive dad, Shanks. He's been pretty much been my best friend for as long as I can remember, so it's kinda obvious that I'd know a bit about his adoptive son. To be honest, Luffy is a nice kid. Makino and Shanks have raised him well. He's smart and dedicated too…there's just his punctuality that's the problem. Luffy is barely ever on time. At first, seeing as it's the new school year, I thought it was just going to be a one time only thing…then the absences and the lateness became more and more prominent until, finally, it's become a really big problem that needs to be addressed. Luffy's constant absences are getting not only himself in trouble, but also me. So, today, I gave him the ultimatum. I really like Luffy…but right now, he needs to make a choice. He needs to get focused and see that it's important for him to stay focused on school. Luckily, I think I've gotten it into Luffy's head, but you never know. As I carry the collected homework for Biology in my suitcase, I still keep thinking back to Luffy this afternoon. The guy was good at revising. Underneath that incredibly thick exterior, there's a brain…somewhere…but it is there. Luffy CAN think and he CAN learn…he's just never in. If he can pass this test tomorrow and if he can actually start turning up on time, Luffy may actually be a competent student. Right now, however, I'm not too sure whether or not he'll do that. My thoughts stopped for a moment as I slipped my suitcase into the boot of my BMW and carefully closed it shut. What am I doing? I'm a teacher. Teachers shouldn't play favourites with students…it's not right. I shouldn't be giving Luffy special treatment. With new conviction, I look at myself in the reflection of my rear window and nod. Alright then, Luffy needs to learn to stand on his own and if he doesn't learn to, I can't help him anymore…if he passes on the other hand…

Suddenly, I stop midway in thought as I notice something out of the corner of my eye in the reflection of the window. Despite the dark night sky that encompasses the area in a veil of shadow, I still notice the strange figure atop the school roof, standing silhouetted against the full moon. As I turn to get a better look at this mysterious person, his arm stretches out onto a distant building and he swings away before I can get a better look. Who was that guy?

After a while staring at the roof, I finally decide I'm seeing things and enter my car, shutting the door with a loud bang. Something tells me I'm going to need to lie down.

I've been working too hard.

Lucci P.O.V

I just loved this. Everyone in this room is watching us, afraid for their lives. We are the strongest people in the room…and out of all of us, I am the strongest. These powers really seem better and better by the minute. I love the look of fear inside all of those eyes. For once, I'm not the mercenary standing around pointing guns at people. This time, I'm the boss…true I'm a giant freak of nature, but I'm also in charge of this whole operation and I wouldn't give it up. I needed to keep in control of the situation. I was a professional after all, and I've seen this kind of thing done before.

"I'll ask you again" I snarl, causing a woman near to me to whimper into the arms of one of her friends "WHERE IS DONFLAMINGO?"

The reply I receive is silent. Why do they always do it the hard way? I look at one of the mercenaries and point towards the woman crying on the floor.

"Take her…" I mutter and the man does as I ask, pulling out the young woman from the crowd and pulling her onto her feet. With that done, he places the cold end of a pistol to her head, his machine gun now held in a large holster on his back. The woman's screaming stops as I move one of my claws and run it along her cheek slowly, drawing a small drop of blood.

"I'll ask again…" I mumble with an evil grin "TELL ME WHERE DONFLAMINGO IS OR I WILL HAVE HIM BLOW HER HEAD OFF!"

"We don't know!" I heard one of the people in the crowd call out "I haven't seen him all night…" I growled angrily. Either these people were testing my patience or they were telling the truth…either which I am going to make it known that they will not mess with me.

"For the last time..." I yell, rage building in my voice "Where is DONFLAMINGO?"
"I'm sorry, Donflamingo isn't here right now kitty" a loud voice calls from behind me "please leave your message after the beep..."
"What the..." I tried to say, before a great force hit my back sending me flying to the floor with an almighty crash.
"Beep!" the figure calls from behind me, smirking with glee. I whirl around immediately and so did the other mercenaries in the room. In the middle of the room, there's a man crouching on the floor, wearing a red spandex patterned with two black triangular stripes stretching vertically down each side of the man's chest. The man also wore a small black cape around his left hand shoulder. A black figure eight mask is resting over his eyes, whilst a straw-hat was clutching at the man's head with a string tied neatly from the hat under his chin. He's wearing a pair of tight fitting black boots on his feet and a pair of black gloves are being worn on his hands. The same scars were decorating the costume from this morning, exposing parts of a bandaged chest. It couldn't be…yet here he was. I feel my teeth grind with pure anger.

Sorry Mr Zero, I lied…

The Scarlet Wind still lives…

Luffy P.O.V

That look on Predator's face is priceless. His eyes are wide at the mere sight of me and that large scowl forming on his face shows that I've definitely made my entrance.

"You?" he asks, growling with rage "How are you...how the hell did you get in here?"

"Come on" I reply with a sly grin "you guys are super villains right? Haven't you ever seen any action movies at all? Air vents are a hero's best friend" Predator growls angrily, heaving himself to his feet. For a moment, it looks like he's going to try and pounce at me when, all of a sudden, he stops in his tracks, shaking nervously. Both I and the crowd watch in shock as Predator roars out at the ceiling and then, suddenly, his skin becomes paler, his eyes become less feral and the tail sticking out of his pants retracts. In an instant, Predator is gone and instead, standing in his place is a topless man with a short black beard and a black mullet. His eyes are dark as he looks up at me with a glare. What the hell happened to the giant leopard beast that almost broke me earlier this same day? He's turned completely back to that man who ambushed me earlier. Instead of panicking, however, the mysterious man just points towards me and then yells angrily "SHOOT HIM NOW!" At his command, all of the men in the room do just that, firing at me with the machine guns they had stored on their back. The bullets flew past me as I leaped back onto the ceiling, firing out a rubber arm towards a nearby chandelier. Luckily, my hand grabbed it and I was able to pull myself out of the way of the firing range. With that done, I spun around the chandelier and flew back towards one of the guards. I kick the guy hard in ribs and he falls to the floor with a groan. After that, I stretch another arm, punching the guard at the other side of the room and sending him flying to the floor. Of course, more bullets follow that as the remaining two guards, standing behind all of the hostages, start shooting in an attempt to hit me. My rubber legs allow me to spring up for a second and I fly over the hostages to where the guards are, managing to send them both to the floor as I stretch my two rubber arms out to catch them in the stomachs as I land. Finally, the two guards fell to the floor so now; it's just me and the normal looking Predator.

Speaking of Predator, the bearded man once more removes the familiar small yellow pill I remember from our first meeting earlier today and swallows it whole. Almost immediately, his transformation reverses in the blink of an eye and once more, he's the large leopard again.

"And that…" He mutters as the savage smile reappears on his lips "is why you don't send the pawns to do the work of the knight" then, with a loud roar, Predator bounds over from his place towards me and he leaps at me with his claws bared. I vault over him with ease, allowing the leopard to go crashing into one of the columns at the other side of the room. I land down on the floor and then look over towards the now unguarded civilians.

"Get out of here!" I yell to them. Luckily, I recognise Bellemere in the crowd and she stand up and calls to them.

"You heard the man. Let's get out of here! Head for the stairs! Move! Move! Move!" At her command, all of the others in the room do just that, running out of the area as fast as possible. With that done, I turn towards the recovering Predator and…

"WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU?" I sigh as I turn around. Shiki. Of course it'd be that guy.

"Oh I'm sorry sir" I mocked with a roll of my eyes "Would you like to remain her as this guy's chew toy?" Immediately, Shiki paled and with a growl, he ran after the escaping hostages.

"Heart of a poet…" I hear a voice shout from my left. I turn to look in the direction of the voice with wide eyes, only to get slashed across the chest, ripping another part of my costume. I groan in pain loudly and quickly, leap over to the other side of the room. Predator is standing right now and, to be honest, he's looking pretty angry.

"How are you still alive?" he asks with a raised brow. I chuckle at the question and smirk at him.

"Well, I guess you weren't as effective as you thought you were at dealing with freaks like me, eh?" Predator grits his teeth at that comment and then, he pounces forward at me with his claws barred. I quickly dodge him with a jump to the left and I fling forward my fist. Luckily, the fist hits Predator straight in the face, sending him once more to the floor…not for long, however, as he quickly spring up back onto his feet with a sneer at me. His eyes are focusing on mine but…he seems…angrier for some reason. Less in control…maybe it has something to do with those pills…pills? Of course!

Those pills!

I dodge another slash as Predator dashes forward.

The pills give him super powers!

Another slash with his claw, this time barely grazing my cheek.

And I've just seen that those powers aren't permanent since he changed back into his usual form a while ago...

Now, he kicks forward with his leg and I block it with my arms as a guard.

Meaning all I have to do is wait and avoid him for me to win this…

It's not a glorious victory…but this guy wiped the floor with me before and I'll take small victories where I can.

With that thought, I finally begin a counter attack, lashing forward with my left and right arm at the same time. The two fists hit Predator square in the stomach and the beast recoils in pain. Now's my chance for a comeback, so I quickly jump up and deliver a successful kick to the leopard's head once more. That's all the leopard needs to recover as immediately after wards, he grabs a hold of my leg and spins me around, flinging me at the wall. I stretch my arm towards Predator quickly and I manage to gain a firm grip on his shoulder. Before I hit the wall, my arm snaps back and I go flying into Predator, head-butting him in the chest and after I step back, kicking him there for good measure. Predator staggers back for a moment and then glares at me with his cold dark eyes.

"You're better than before" he comments, charging forward and slashing at me with another claw "what happened to you?"

"I had a nice sleep after you kicked my ass" I explain, dodging the blow and retaliating by kicking him in the face with my right leg, sending him spinning "Now that I'm all rested up and I've taken some pain killers, I'm ready to beat you this time" Predator cackles at this and cracks his knuckles, slashing out at me once more with a fist. I dodge the fist, but not the set of claws as Predator's left arm sweeps at me from out of nowhere, scratching my right shoulder slightly.

"You sound confident that you're going to win" he says with a laugh "don't be so arrogant. I'm still way out of your league. Look at me! I'm stronger and faster than you" To illustrate his point, he kicks forward with his right leg, sending me flying backwards. Luckily, I recover and clutch the ground, stopping my flight backwards.

"Faster? Well, we'll have to test that…" I yell, stretching my arm backwards to grab hold of the part of the doorway out into the hall. I kick off the floor with a smirk, being pulled backwards into the empty corridor by my elastic arm. Predator growls as I flee and quickly begins bounding towards the door in pursuit.

"What's this? You trying to run away coward?" he taunts as he sprinted after me.

"First off" I bellow, landing in the corridor and stretching my arm to grab hold of a part of the ceiling further down the corridor "I'm not a coward and second, I'm not running away…I prefer to call it a 'tactical retreat'" After all, if I can waste quite a bit of his time, Predator may snap out of his powerful form and turn back into his human form.

"Come on Kitty cat" I shout, spotting Predator run out into the hallway "I'm waiting!" The leopard growls and, with a flash of rage in his eyes, he quickly bounds towards me, leaping from wall to wall as he claws his way forward. In an almost mocking motion, I do the same, using my rubber powers to maintain the same distance between us all the way down the corridor. It's obvious that I'm buying time for myself but as long as I can defeat this guy, I don't care. At the end of the corridor, the hallway turns to the right and I follow it, skidding along the floor in order to come to a stop, before sprinting as quickly as I can down the new path. Predator comes round the corner far more clunky and far faster than I do, crashing his shoulder into the wall. He roars in anger for a moment, kicking at the wall in irritation, before following me down the hall.

"~Aw~" I taunt as I stick out my tongue "~itty witty kitty hurt himself!~" Predator roars louder at this and his speed almost doubles, like he's suddenly in the mind of a lion, chasing its prey. To be honest, that it kind of the situation we're in at the moment after all.

"SHUT UP!" Predator roars as he thunders down the corridor. Unfortunately, before I can dodge out of the way, I'm tackled by the leopard and he continues to run with me in his grasp right to the end of the hallway, right into the wall. I impact the wall with a loud crunch and I scream in pain. Predator laughs at this and quickly, bares his claws.

"I left you for dead once…now, I'm going to make sure you die…" he mutters just loud enough for me to here. Anticipating the pain of the claws sinking into my body, I lash out with a leg, striking Predator right in the knee. Predator growls in pain and then, with rage, flings me to the floor of the hallway. What he doesn't expect is that I land on my feet and immediately, I bounce away from him, launching a fist which hits the leopard once more in the face.

"And you call yourself 'Predator'?" I ask with a laugh "I think a better name for your new identity might be 'butter fingers'!" Predator howls loudly and runs after me down the corridor. As we begin our little chase of cat and mouse once again through the corridor, a thought comes into my mind. I want to get as far away from this guy as possible…but there's no space to do so. I need to get out of this corridor into a more wide-open area…

As I think that thought, I suddenly feel a grip around my shoulder and my eyes widen as I realise that Predator is literally right behind me.

"So you wanna get away from me, do you?" he asks with glee in his voice "Well then, let's see just how fast it takes for you to get away from me…when you're falling out a building!" My eyes widen as Predator gets a grip on my other shoulder, slowing me to a stop and then the large leopard throws me at the window to his right. The window breaks with a loud crashing sound and within seconds, I find myself falling. The cold wind catches me as a go down and I shiver. Recovering slightly from the shards of glass that I'm sure are now caught in my arm, I stretch out an arm and grab hold of a nearby building. In any other circumstances, my arm would be ripped clean off my body right now, but, due to my rubber powers, I instead slow my descent mere inches from the ground, allowing me to land softly. Now with my focus not being on preventing myself from splatting to the floor, I can now take in my surroundings. All around me, there are police cars and police officers everywhere. All of them are looking at me, completely stunned as to how I appeared there. Still a little dizzy from falling I don't know how far along a skyscraper, all I can do is shrug and chuckle.

"Remember boys and girls. Don't try that at home" I say to the watching officers.

"SCARLET!" At the loud yell above me, I raise my head, only to look upwards and pale at the large beast crawling…almost falling at the speed he's going, down the side of the building.

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME!" The leopard roars at me.

"Well I can still try right?" I shout up to him with a wink. As Predator descends the wall towards me, I realise that this area isn't the best place for a battle. After all, with the police scattered everywhere around here, there's a big chance Predator may put them in danger.

"Hey come on Predator! I think I've been winning this little game of cat and mouse so far. Try and keep up this time!" I yell, firing off a rubber arm onto the roof of another building and then quickly swinging away. Noticing me retreat, Predator follows me, leaping off of the side of the building and flinging himself onto another rooftop. Miraculously, the leopard is still standing and quickly follows me by leaping along the nearby rooftops.

"DON'T YOU DARE TRY AND ESCAPE FROM ME!" he roars, quickly racing after me. Looking back at him, I smile widely. Okay, now he's following me…all I need to do now is find a deserted area for us to fight in, where we can't hurt anybody fighting. Luckily, as I swing around the corner, I notice just the thing I'm looking for. There's an abandoned construction site nearby. The area is lit brightly from nearby street lights but there are still quite a few areas of the building I can use as a hiding place. With a large smile on my face, I swing down into the yard, dropping into a roll as I land.

As soon as I'm on the ground, I sprint towards the frame work for the building being built and slip into a dark area, shielding myself in the shade of a girder. My ears prick up and I begin to listen carefully to the sounds outside, awaiting the sound of Predator's arrival. The inevitable thump on the concrete I can hear outside reveals his arrival.

"So we're back to running and hiding are we?" Predator calls, stomping forwards through the area. I held a hand to my mouth to stop a witty reply and instead, I slowly sneak along the wall, sidestepping to my left. Luckily, parts of the building's walls have already been made, meaning I don't get spotted as I slowly move from one girder to another. Hearing Predator's footsteps nearby, I quickly but quietly slip from where I'm standing into another part of the building site.

"You do realise you're not fooling me right?" the suave and sinister voice calls out again as I stretch an arm upwards onto another level of the building, carrying me soundlessly up to the next level

"I know you're stalling" the voice continues "you're trying to hide from me in order for my powers to drain out right? That's not going to work…and neither is hiding from me, because I'll let you know one interesting piece of information. This little transformation has heightened my senses to a super human level. All of senses are now amazing. Everything has been affected, my sight, my hearing…" Before I can move any further, a claw bursts out of the concrete floor I'm standing on, grabbing my leg. I swear loudly as I get pulled roughly from the first level of the building down to the ground floor, landing on the pile of rubble that used to be the floor I was standing on.

"I can smell where you are too…" Predator mumbles, his jagged fangs barred as he looks down at me. I groan as I try and lift myself off the floor, unfortunately, Predator tightens his grip on my leg and I end up screaming out loudly, pain flowing from my calf all the way up my body. The pain killers have been doing a pretty good job of numbing all the pain I've been experiencing, but now, I think they've finally stopped working. Without any moment of hesitation, Predator takes advantage of my injured state, throwing me against a nearby concrete wall. I scream again as I make contact with the wall. Unfortunately, Predator isn't done there as once again grabs my leg, throwing me against a girder opposite the wall, grinning as I scream once more.

"What's wrong Scarlet?" Predator mocks with a rather wide smile "not in the mood for any puns now are we? No more wise cracks?" Instead of dignifying that question with a reply, I stretched my arms further backwards through the building site, grabbing hold of one of the girders in the ceiling. Almost immediately, when my arms tried to snap back, I was pulled towards the exit, ignoring the baffled Predator who was being pulled along with me. I delivered a simple kick to the leopard's arm with my free leg and, sure enough, his grip loosened enough for me to slip out of it. Without anything to hold me back, I literally flew out of the building site, landing on the gravel outside. I sigh with content, nursing my leg (and probably my ego as well) with a constant eye focused on Predator. Sure enough, the spotted beast soon emerges from the construct and grins at me.

"You said my stalling tactic isn't going to work?" I ask the creature "why is that?"

"Idiot" Predator responds with a snarl "don't you remember anything? Each pill can keep me going in this form for just over half an hour. So far, you've only wasted about five to seven minutes of my time, ten if you're lucky. My point is that I've still got over twenty minutes to still do whatever I want and do whatever I need to do. I could waste all my time fighting you…or, to ensure you actually fight me, I might just start picking off random civilians one by one" My eyes widen at Predator's words.

"Anything that gets you to fight harder and stop running away, I'll do" the leopard concludes, his eyes wandering towards the street nearby.

"Oh, so you're a coward then?" I ask with a sly smile. Immediately, I notice that Predator's body shudders at this.

"…What did you just say?" the leopard mumbled, his gaze turning to me with an extremely angry gaze.

"You heard me kitty cat" I shout to him with a grin "I'm calling you a scaredy cat. You failed to kill me earlier, so now you doubt you actually have the strength to do that now. You're afraid I'm going to beat you now, aren't you? That you're not strong enough any more, that's what you're scared of right?"

"Listen to me fool!" Predator roars, his rage obviously rising "I AM NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING! ESPECIALLY NOT LITTLE PUNKS LIKE YOU!" I couldn't help shudder at Predator's sudden outburst. Is it just me or…is he slowly losing control of his temper and becoming blinded by rage?...

Wait a second…

THAT'S IT!

I know how I'm going to beat him…

As the large leopard lunges at me, I leap upwards, landing on top of a pile of girders, waiting to be used in the creation of a new building.

"Alright Predator" I announce loudly, looking down at the leopard man with a smirk "time to become the prey" The large cat laughed at my words and gestured with one of his claws in a beckoning motion.

"We'll see runt…and this time when I kill you, you'll stay dead…" he responded with a growl.

In a flash, Predator pounced from his place on the floor towards me. As he did so, I launched my right rubber leg forward. The blow impacted Predator right in the jaw and the leopard flew backwards, colliding to the floor with a loud crunch.

"Wow" I say with a shake of my head "you're really off your game old man" Predator growls in reply and once more charges head first towards me. This time, however, I leap over him, jumping off his back with a powerful kick and sending the leopard crashing into a wall.

"I thought you said you were going to kill me this time. You've got a worse aim than a blind person" I taunt once more with a smile.

"How I can't wait to wipe that stupid cocky smirk off of your face" Predator replies his anger obviously rising, if only slowly. If this plan of mine is going to work, I need to make Predator as mad as possible, in order to make him lose enough focus for me to actually do some damage. Predator scaled up the pile of girders and glared down at me. I could tell he was considering lunging at me again but was also expecting me to move. If one of us was going to make the first move, I guess it has to be me. I launch forward one of my rubber arms, only for Predator to sidestep the blow.

"Is that the best you've got?" he say, showing off his sharp teeth in his grin.

"Not aiming for you!" I reply, allowing my rubber arm to pull me forwards, sending me rocketing at the leopard. Predator seemed stunned by the speed at which I flew up to him and even the kick I deliver to his stomach seems to confuse him quite a lot. He was sent, once again, into the floor.

"Come on Kitty cat" I taunt with a smile "you're REALLY off your game tonight. Is it because you need to go use your litter box?"

"SHUT UP!" Predator roars, rage building in his voice. Before I could react, the leopard immediately starts charging towards me again, slashing at me as if he's gone insane. Each time he slashes forward at me, I easily side step to the left and right, but as the tempo of the slashes increase, I find myself almost getting hurt more and more. Finally, one of Predator's claws scratches my arm and as I scream in pain, Predator takes advantage of my pain by kicking forward with his left leg. The leg hits me in my abdomen and I'm forced to retreat backwards, stretching an arm backwards and using the grip I have on the roof of a building to swing myself away from Predator.

"That's your attempt at beating me?" I ask, faking a grin, despite the pain "I've seen stronger hits from TODDLERS!"

"STOP MOCKING ME!" the leopard howls once more, leaping over at me in an attempt to claw at me once more.

"Don't dish it out if you can't take it" I reply with a grin, swinging away from him once more, this time, heading into the building site once again. The leopard follows me as soon as he lands, bounding over to the structure, trying to sink his claws into me once more. Predator then dashes towards me, slashing at thin air just hoping of a chance of hitting me. Luckily, I manage to dodge Predator's claw as it strikes forward, barely grazing the left side of my stomach. I groan slightly but I also punch forward with my left arm, hitting him in his stomach. After that, I lash out with my right leg as well. The attack collides squarely with the left hand side of the leopard's chest and the beast grunts in pain. After that, I once again leap away from grinning happily.

"Catch me if you can!" I yell to him, stretching my arm backwards and grasping hold of part of the girder leading to the other side of the building site. Once again, Predator lets out a roar and runs after me, an almost animalistic rage building in his eyes. In fact, now that I think about it, it looks like the angrier he gets, the more his transformation into his leopard form seems to intensify. It's almost completely un-noticeable and it's only a subtle thing, such as his fangs becoming sharper and his claws becoming larger, but at this close distance, it's the only thing I can focus on. I guess those super power pills had more of a side effect than I first thought. His anger accelerates the mutation, making his mind that of an animal. This plan of mine is going better than I thought.

"YOU WON'T ESCAPE ME!" Predator bellows as he follows me out of the building site. I let go of the grip I have on the girder as I land on the sand and gravel outside. If Predator's not as focused as I suspect, then this may just work. Slowly, I creep backwards, keeping the large leopard in sight as he approaches me.

"Nowhere to run now runt" he snarls, a small smile coming to his lips. I take another few steps backwards but, suddenly, I'm stopped as I bump into the wall behind me.

"You can't go to the left, you can't go to the right and, even better, you can't jump away like you usually do. You're trapped…and I'm going to enjoy ripping you to shreds" Predator replies as he slowly approaches me, now only being a few steps away. Despite this horrible situation, I, however, smile happily as he moves forward.

"Alright then Butter fingers, just try it" I reply. Almost as soon as the words 'Butter fingers' leaves my lips, I notice the large leopard's eyes flare with rage. He roars loudly and then charges the gap in between us, his claws out stretched, ready to slash at my head…

I can't go up…

I can't go left…

I can't go right…

I'm still smiling however.

As Predator's claws near my face, I duck down onto the floor in a crouch position.

Kitty cat has just made the greatest mistake of his life…

I hear the satisfying 'slink' sound as Predator's claws sink into the white fuse box that was behind my head. The second his claws make contact with the inner wiring of the fuse box, the large beast howls out in pain, screaming in pure agony as the voltage that was once inside the circuit comes literally pouring out into Predator's body. I can almost feel the heat of the electricity burning the back of my neck as it flows through the leopard's arm. Straight away, Predator pulls back his arm from the fuse box, obviously injured from the encounter.

I'm not letting him get away that easily.

"Luffy, stand up"

As Sabo's voice rings out in my mind, I curl by right arm around onto itself, creating a spiral and obey the command given to me. As I leap up off the floor, I fling a mighty uppercut straight at Predator's jaw. It hits Predator and sends him flying into the air. Before he can hit the floor, I dash under the flying body and grab hold of Predator's tail in my hands. I pull down on the tail and then start to spin round on my heel, dragging Predator in a circle. As I spin round, I go faster and faster until finally, my muscles tense and with as much strength as I can muster, I throw Predator forwards, into the structure of girders and concrete of the building site. I must have thrown Predator a lot harder than I thought as when Predator collides with the girder, I hear a loud clanging sound and with a loud creaking noise, the girder which he's crashed into collapses down on top of him, followed by another two girders and shattered pieces of concrete. My eyes widen as I take in what's happened and, without any hesitation, I dash towards the rubble covering Predator. He may have left me for dead but I wasn't going to do the same to him. I wasn't going to kill anyone. I'd already promised Sabo that. As soon as I reach the rubble, I get to work. I plant both of my hands under the main girder and I take a deep breath. From there, I slowly try and lift the large pole of steel off of Predator's body. I heave and groan as I attempt to raise the girder but it is extremely heavy. I doubt I've lifted anything heavier in my life…but I can't fail...I won't let someone die because of me. I scream out as I lift the piece of metal, using all the strength I can muster to raise the girder off of the man who had once buried me under a similar pile of rubble. Finally, with a great strain on my body and my costume (which actually tears under the pressure), I manage to lift the heavy girder off of Predator's body and roughly fling it to the side. It looks as though Predator's leopard form must have protected him from the rubble that fell on top of him, as despite having reverted to his human form, he looks relatively unhurt…for someone who'd just had a giant girder fall on top of him. Slowly, I pull Predator's human body out of the rubble and I kneel down next to the body and quickly inspect Predator's pulse, as I rest my head against the man's chest. Miraculously, I can hear the soft beating of a heart on Predator's chest; however, the heartbeat is extremely faint and Predator's breathing sounds irregular. I swear under my breath and gently pick up Predator, carrying him over my shoulder. Predator was barely alive right now, so I needed to get him to a hospital as soon as possible. Now that I think about it, there was an ambulance outside back at Donflamingo's party. That's pretty near here so I need to head there to get Predator's condition stabilised. As I stretch my arm upwards to grab hold of a nearby building, I suddenly realise that I've actually no idea what Predator's real name is. I definitely need to find out who this guy is when I can.

In just a few minutes, I'm back in front of the building where Donflamingo's party was held and the police and medics in the area are tending to quite a few of the hostages. I land on the street, stretching my arm in order to slow my descent and gently land on the floor.

"This man needs a doctor!" I yell out, attracting the attentions of one of the medics. One of them turns round to me and almost immediately I recognise him. He's an old man wearing a top-hat and a long black coat. His white hair stuck out of his hat in an odd way, as if it was trying to leap off his head but was obviously failing. I feel a small smile come to my lips as he approaches. Of course, whenever anyone's in trouble, Dr. Hiriluk will always be on the scene.

"Let me have a look at him, I'm a doctor!" Hiriluk announces. I give him a nod but as the quack doctor takes the man into his own arms and quickly dashes to the ambulance, I yell after him

"Be careful! He's a dangerous criminal!" Hiriluk looks back at me and nods before placing Predator on a stretcher in the ambulance and getting to work. Hiriluk is Chopper's dad…well, adoptive dad, but it still doesn't make them any less family. He's a nice guy and his heart's in the right place…though even I can admit his procedures are a little…extreme…

"SOMEONE FETCH ME A PLUNGER!"

Yeah…kinda a little extreme…

"Looks you've had one hell of a night Scarlet" I hear a voice call. I smile wider as I turn to my left only to see Bellemere grinning at me.

"You could say that" I reply, rubbing my sore arms "Did everyone get out safely?" Bellemere nodded and then her gaze turned towards Predator (and Hiriluk, who was now being pulled away from the scene by other paramedics).

"What exactly happened?" she asked, turning her gaze once more to me.

"He just had the shock of his life" I mumble with a sly smile "do you have any idea what his real name?" Bellemere shook her head.

"I've no idea. I'll do some research about his identity and get back to you on it. In the meantime, you young man need to get some rest" I sighed at Bellemere's concern, yet still looked back up at Bellemere with a smile.

"I know…" I mumble happily "I'm working on that…I think I need to get my life in check first"

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bellemere asks giving me a soft smile. Despite how happy I was that Bellemere was taking an interest in me, I waved off the offer with a thank you.

"I need to do this on my own...I'll probably be back to normal in no time" I reply with a grin. Bellemere nods in understanding.

"You've done good work tonight Scarlet" she says "Apprehending four highly trained mercenaries AND taking down some sort of mutant super villain. You sure know how to bounce back after a defeat, don't you?" I shrug in reply, winking at her happily.

"What can I say? Rubber always bounces back…I don't think I'd have got as far as I did in this fight without your help though" I admit "those pain pills you gave me really did wonders"

"I recommend you should still go see a doctor though" Bellemere advises me with a stern gaze. I laugh at that, looking over to Hiriluk.

"No thanks" I reply with a grin "I don't feel like dying yet" Bellemere chuckles and slowly turns around on her heel.

"You better get out of here as fast as you can" She reveals "I hear Garp is on his way and not only that, but…" All of a sudden, Bellemere's interrupted in mid sentence by none other than Shiki, who pushes past her.

"YOU!" the blonde haired man yells at me "HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE HERE YOU ELASTIC MENACE!" I chuckle quietly. I guess that's the second thing Bellemere tried to warn me about.

"Actually I'm not showing my face" I reply with a smirk "that's the point of the mask ~Duh! ~" Shiki grumbles to himself for a second and then immediately responds with a loud yell.

"YOU FIEND! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!"

"Fiend?" I ask in reply, stretching my arm upwards onto a nearby rooftop "Menace, maybe, but FIEND? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you!" And with that, I use my elastic arm to pull myself upwards onto the roof of the building.

"By the way Goldilocks" I call down to him "Love the paper. Always a laugh!" After that, I launch my rubber arm onto another roof and rocket over there with a smile on my face, still imagining Shiki cursing at me back at the scene of the crime.

I've never felt more worn out when I finally return home. It's really late and I can tell it's late by the large pale moon floating high in the sky. The night is cold but luckily, not too cold that it's unbearable as I'm able to change back into normal clothes a few blocks away from the house. Now, back in my usual school uniform of a white shirt, a red tie hanging loosely around my neck and black trousers around my waist, I can enter the house without any suspicion. Sniffing my damaged suit as well, I think I'll definitely need a shower…or maybe two seeing for how much I sink of sweat and blood after all I've been through. I honestly don't know how any of the people that have got close me to me today haven't just fainted from the smell. Silently, keeping these plans of a shower scaled back until morning, I make my way through the back garden. The moonlight glistens in the small pond there and I'm pretty sure the gnomes are staring at me as if trying to say 'and what time do you call this'. Ignoring their gaze and the gentle crunch my footsteps make on the grass, I finally reach the back door with both my school bag and the bag containing my costume wrapped around my shoulder. Carefully, I pluck out the backdoor key from a nearby hanging basket of flowers, trying not to damage any of them, knowing how much Makino dislikes it when Ace or I mess with the garden's decorations. I gently insert the key into the back door and as I turned it in the lock, I twitched as the lock clicked, to signal that the door was open now. Slowly, I opened the door, allowing me to step into the kitchen. So far so good…

"Where were you?"

And I'm busted…

As I turn around after closing the door, I see Makino sitting in one of the chairs at the kitchen, staring at me with eyes full of disappointment. I shuddered slightly, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, but never the less, I continued to meet it bravely.

I was in for it now…

"Makino, I was…"

"Do you know what time it is?" Makino interrupts, her stern tone never wavering for a moment.

"…Not really…" I reply with a helpless little shrug. I shouldn't have done that. Makino isn't happy.

"It's almost one in the morning" Makino explains "And IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT!" I swear under my breath, carefully not to let Makino hear me.

"Look Makino I…"
"Where were you?" Makino interrupted me once more. Quickly my mind thinks up an excuse.

"I was with Nami"

"First place I called and she said you weren't there" Makino replied, glaring at me in rage.

"Yeah...but I WAS with Nami and Ace phoned me and warned that I shouldn't come home until you calmed down...so I…spent a while at Zoro's"

"Zoro said he hadn't seen you all night and Robin vouched for him because she was with him studying" Makino says, her voice raising in volume.

"Well I can…" I stop mid-sentence and look towards her "Zoro's finally taken her offer and is letting her tutor him?"

"DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT ON ME LUFFY!" Makino shrieked, banging her fist against the table. I stopped talking and paled. If Ace wasn't awake before, he definitely was now.

"YOU KNOW THE RULES OF THIS HOUSE YOUNG MAN. YOU TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE WHEN YOU GO OUT AND YOU DON'T JUST IGNORE ALL MY CALLS AND STAY OUT UNTIL WHO KNOWS HOW LATE!" She thundered, tears starting to leak out of her eyes. I was completely stunned by Makino's anger. She never cried, let alone this much.

"Makino…I just…"
"SO TELL ME LUFFY, WHICH HORRIBLE LIE ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THIS TIME? WERE YOU AT CHOPPER'S? USSOP'S? VIVI'S? MAYBE YOU WERE EATING OUT AT ZEFF'S RESTAURANT WITH SANJI?"

"Makino…"
"SAVE IT LUFFY!" Makino finishes, angrily standing up from her seat and looking me in the eye "I DON'T CARE ANYMORE. YOU ARE GROUNDED!"

My eyes widen.

I could feel my heart stop for a second.

There was a loud sound in my head.

It was the sound of my superhero career ripping in two.

"R-run that b-by me again" I mumble, stumbling over my words.

"You heard me" Makino replied "You are grounded. That means" She lifts her index finger upwards.

"No more friends over" Her middle finger lifts upwards.

"No more being late to school" Finally, her ring finger lifts up, abscent of any golden decoration.

"And finally, you have a curfew. You're home by five or else there will be hell to pay. Do you understand me young man?" I'm stunned into silence.

"I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Yes maam…" I mutter, clenching my fists.

"Good. Then get up those stairs and GO TO BED. WE'LL TALK ABOUT YOUR SCHOOL SITUATON LATER!"

"But Makino…"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT. GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Makino yells. For a moment, I remain still but then, I drop my gaze to the floor and nod gently.

"Yes…mum…" I then proceed to the staircase, my heart aching as I watch Makino sink back into her seat, her head in her hands. I didn't say anything as I climbed the stairs. As silent as possible, I skulk back into my room, closing the door with a loud bang. I sigh gently as I make my way towards my bed, literally throwing myself onto it. I muffle my sadness as I rest my head in a pillow and scream into the object to let out my rage. Wearily, I collapsed onto my back, flinging the pillow behind my head. I groaned as I shimmed out of my shirt, throwing at onto the floor with my tie. I remove my pants to, throwing them onto the side, causing them to land on my school bag that I'd left draped on the floor.

"Great work superhero" I think to myself with a sigh "you beat your first super villain, save the hostages and yet you're still grounded"

To be continued in Chapter 2: Catalyst Act 1

Until then I'm Shadowonthewall6 and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter

Please review. Positive criticism is welcome.