Post by BlacKitten on Jan 31, 2019 22:07:55 GMT -5
Home.
The grey cloudy sky blocked any warm, nourishing sunlight from shining down. A barren wasteland was presented before her as she arrived back to the island from the shores. A solemn gaze casted forth as the seventeen-year old brunette leaped off her little ship before treading the dry, lifeless dirt. From the distance of where she stood, her ears could pick up the echoes of gunshots. Everything appeared to be the same as she last saw it. The war was still ongoing as it has been for many years.
Eventually, Koneko Miu journeyed back to her home town where buildings were mostly abandoned. Windows were shattered with fragments of glass shards lying on the ground. Some of the doors were knocked down. And above else, there were no people in sight. Many of them had been killed by the raiding pirates a while back. There were still blackened blood stains that could be found in certain spots.
Her chest felt tense as she stepped towards a vacant alleyway with grey stone walls on either side. Down the path, there was a door on the side that led her inside the building. Upon stepping inside, she was immediately greeted by three cats, all of whom quickly lunged towards her.
“Ah!” A nostalgic sensation gripped hold of her heart as she squatted down, petting the three felines by her feet. “I missed you guys!” Their little pink noses all sniffed her, recognizing her scent. They nuzzled their cheeks against her, purring in an endearing way.
A gasp sounded in the distance from a little black-haired girl. Hands covered her mouth as eyes quickly grew teary. “Nekohime! Is that you!?”
“Kimiko!” Miu uttered the name of the girl with an expression full of mixed emotions, “Yes! I’m back!”
The little one quickly rushed forth, wrapping her arms around the cat princess. As she buried her face into her stomach, she sobbed, “I thought you were gone forever!”
Footsteps treaded up the stairs from the basement as an older boy spoke out, “What’s all the ruckus about?” As his eyes laid sight on the brown-haired girl with golden-hued eyes, his jaw dropped. “Nekohime! You’re back!?” Suddenly, six more cats rushed up the stairs in excitement as their noses caught whiff of a familiar scent. They brushed past the boy’s legs and huddled together by their master’s feet.
Afterwards, over a dozen more kids stormed up the stairs, squeezing out from a single exit point. Dumbfounded eyes watched as their leader had returned.
“Nekohime! You’re alive!”
“Of course, she is! Idiot!”
“Miu, how did you make it back? I heard you were captured by slave traders. We were all worried sick about you.”
“Ah, that’s right,” the brunette looked down as her hands stroked against the fur of the felines’ back. “I was captured. But then, someone saved me.” She remembered it vaguely like something out of a dream, bits of fragments lingered in her mind. She remembered being shackled in a cell on a vessel that sailed away to the unknown. Her freedom was sealed.
But just as she had lost all hope, a mysterious being emerged from the darkest of night. It was difficult to see it in detail, but whatever she could recollect involved black claws that were thin as blades, able to slice through the hull of the ship like butter. Large demon like wings that could collapse behind a humanoid figure that’s shrouded in black. She never saw the face of her savior; she didn’t even know if that creature was good or evil. Perhaps, it was all just a nightmare, a dream. Yet, the fact that she was standing, breathing, and living was proof that something miraculous happened that freed her from her confinement. Ever since then, she wanted to meet this demonic creature that may or may not be human. It slayed many lives, sliced through metal prison bars and chains with ease, and flew away into the night at the end. It didn’t steal anything as if its sole mission was merely to free the captured prisoners. That made her believe that despite its menacing appearance, her savior was on the side of good.
After that, she ended up being on an island known as Inlet Grove Stop, a paradise-like island filled with delicious fish. Tropical trees, sunny weather, creatures known as fishmen, she met a bounty hunter named Kite.
While giving the felines her attention, Miu told her adventures to the children and adolescents in the room. She was the only one who saw what the outside world was like. At the very least, there existed an island where there wasn’t perpetual war like what they see here. The kids in the room were all gathered together by Miu long ago in order to survive in the war zone taking place between pirates and marines.
“Is that the treasure chest you mentioned?” Kimiko pointed towards the small little wooden box on the floor next to Miu. Its size made the box appear rather insignificant but at least portable to be carried around comfortably.
The brunette nodded, “Yes! This is the treasure chest that I got after the fishmen were defeated.” The one souvenir from the outside world had a rectangular base with an arch-shaped lid. A golden stripe on either side of the chest, and one down the middle. There was a lock dangling at the front with a keyhole to open it.
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know,” the leader admitted, but that didn’t stop her face from appearing all excited. “I don’t have a key to open it. However,” she turned towards the little black-haired girl. “Kimiko. You’re good with lockpicking, right? Do you think you could try and open the chest?”
The girl paused for a moment as if honored to be of use, “Yes! I’ll do my best!”
Later on the day, the group of orphans caught up with their leader, and in the meantime, Kimiko managed to successfully tinker her way through the cheap security that sealed the content of whatever was inside the box.
Click!
“Nekohime, I did it! I unlocked it!”
“!” Curiosity intensified. Miu leaned closer towards the treasure chest and rested a hand over the rounded top lid before slowly opening it by the hinges. She was meticulously slow as if worried that the box was boobytrapped. The shadows within the hollow space waned as light gradually revealed the single item dwelling within this prized possession. Pairs of eyes scrutinized the same object before their expressions simultaneously turned quizzical.
“What is this?” asked the lockpicker.
The leader of the gang remained silent as she continued to glare at the round orb-like object. It had a mystical shade of blue like the ocean with light cyan swirls decorating throughout its entire surface. On top, there appeared to be a blue stem that forked in two – one was straight as the other ended with a downward curl.
“I don’t know,” answered the brunette. She had never seen anything like it. Her hands soon reached forth to grab hold of the colorful item. It had a hard-exterior surface, but it felt organic. With the stem on top, she was inclined to believe that this was some sort of fruit, but for such an item to be locked up in a box for who knows how long, she was surprised that this wasn’t rotten to the core yet. There was no malodorous scent to indicate that this had spoiled.
“Do you think it’s edible?” the lockpicker asked with a raised eyebrow of uncertainty.
“For all we know, this could be poisonous,” the leader was leaning on the side of caution for now.
An eerie presence.
A sinister voice snuck up from behind without warning, “In that case, hand it over.”
Not recognizing the cold, detached tone as one of her own underlings, Miu shifted her eyes around, greatly alarmed. Standing in the middle of the room, there was a man shrouded in a dark-grey cloak; his face concealed by the shadow casted from a low-hanging hood. The surroundings kids were all startled, flinching back as if they had not noticed him standing there a moment ago. Throughout their entire time on living on this island, this had been their secret hideout. They were all trained to make sure not to be followed on their way back to their main base. One mistake would endanger the whole group. There was an entire system in place, yet this single man intruded on their turf just as their leader had returned.
In other words, there was a strong likelihood that he managed to follow Miu all the way here. From the looks of it, this man did not appear to be neither a marine nor a pirate. He didn’t appear to be from this island at all for that matter. Could he have followed the girl all the way from a different island?
Scanning the room, the curtains were closed. The entrance should have been guarded. Someone should have noticed him entering inside. So, why was it that no one had notified her of his existence? Heck, even none of her numerous cats had even bothered to alarm her of an intruder. How did he get into their home turf without detection? There were nearly two dozen pairs of eyes lurking around right now, and she was supposed to believe that none of them saw this blatantly suspicious-looking man?
“How did you get in here!?” Miu snarled. Her posture shifted to a defensive one, ready to pounce.
But the enigmatic one ignored her question and went straight to the point of his intention, “Hand over that Devil Fruit. You all clearly have no idea what that is.”
“Devil… Fruit?” The leader of the gang repeated that term. It sounded vaguely familiar. She may have heard the term a few times in the past but never bothered to explore behind its true meaning. “What’s that?”
“Give that to me first, and I’ll explain it to you all in return,” he gestured with an open hand, clearly willing to trade information in exchange for the item.
“Hmm,” Miu hummed to herself. It was difficult to decide as she didn’t know just what a Devil Fruit is. And judging from the reactions of her allies, they didn’t seem to know either. Otherwise, one of them should have at least identified what the treasure in the chest was. “Alright, if I give you this Devil Fruit, will you promise to tell us what it is?” This man clearly knew a lot of what this item is. She needed to extract information from him to quickly get herself up to date on just what sort of item she just possessed. Turning around towards the desk with her back facing towards the intruder, she began to prepare the treasure box for regifting.
“Yes,” the intruder nodded. “I’d rather not use force to obtain it. I’m not fond of fighting little kids. If you give it to me, I’ll answer any question you have about it.” He sounded sincere and reasonable, but his anonymous appearance would make anyone distrusting of him.
Turning to face the man, Miu presented the treasure chest in her hands. With the lid open, it was clear as day that the blue Devil Fruit remained present inside. “Here it is,” she showed it to him before closing the lid.
Click! She locked the treasure chest back in place, making it appear just like when last left it. Turning around, the girl strode towards the hooded man at a moderate pace while holding the box in both hands. “Now, you better tell me all about it,” she smiled and outstretched her arms, offering it to him in exchange for information. Meanwhile, the other kids were notably dissatisfied with this trade but remained silent in respect of their leader’s decision.
The cloaked man lifted the box from the bottom with his palm and retracted his arm, securing it close to his body. Keeping his side of the bargain, he began to explain, “Devil Fruits are said to be the incarnations of the sea devil. If consumed, you will gain devil powers. Each Devil Fruit grants a unique power, meaning that no two Devil Fruit users can have identical powers. Once a Devil Fruit user dies, that power get reincarnated back into a fruit, able to be eaten once again by someone else.”
This sounded like something straight out of legend. Miu did not believe in the existence of sea devils. “What kind of power might a Devil Fruit give to the consumer?” asked the brunette, listening attentively just like all the other kids.
“The powers can be classified into three types. The Zoan-type grants you high-speed transformation into an animal of some kind. The Logia-type allows you to turn your body into a natural element, capable of mass-producing and manipulating said element. And, the Paramecia-type is essentially anything that doesn’t fall under the other two categories. They may modify your body in some way, might be permanent or might be transformative. It might allow you to mass-produce and manipulate something. It might allow you to alter the environment itself. But, unless it’s recorded by researchers, you have no way of telling what sort of power the fruit would grant you. It’s not something you can easily pick and choose.”
As she expected, this man knew a lot about Devil Fruits. Miu was now educated in the three categories of these supernatural powers, but she had a hard time believing that such powers existed in the world. They must be quite rare as she had never encountered such bizarre sounding abilities. “Then, do you know what sort of Devil Fruit is inside that chest?” she asked inquisitively, wondering if the fruit she obtained was renown enough for someone like him to go out of his way to take it from her. Had she not willingly surrendered the item to him, she had no doubts that would employ force to snatch it form them.
“I have no idea,” he replied, not even sounding like a lie either. Everything he had said seemed rather honest. “Just to be clear, I have no intention of eating this fruit myself,” he admitted.
The leader took that statement by surprise. After all that talk about gaining a devil power, why wouldn’t he want to eat it himself? “Then…, why do you want it so badly?” the girl asked.
“It is my duty to not let this fall into the wrong hands. Had you chosen to just carry this around, without a doubt, pirates, marines, and even commoners would all try to obtain it for themselves. I cannot risk my enemies to strengthen their forces with such a power. While I personally have no use for this power, at the very least, I can control who consumes it. This is not something for little kids. Once you eat it, you’re stuck with it for the rest of your lives.”
In other words, eating this fruit was a giant gamble. Without a clue as to what power might befall the consumer, it would linger for the rest of their life. However, even with that risk, Miu was greedy and still wanted such a power to herself. Depending on what happens after she consumes it, she might be able to do something about ending the war that’s ravaging her home island for all these years.
A boy asked the man a question of his own, “How much would it cost if one were to sell it?” Clearly, the other kids had been listening attentively to the man’s explanations, entranced by the lore behind it.
“At the very least, a hundred million beri. If it’s an especially rare and potent power, possibly even billions,” the man answered with point-blank honesty, unhesitant of telling them about the facts.
“EH!?” the boy along with a few others dropped their jaws at the huge numbers being thrown at them.
Without warning, Miu lunged towards the cloaked man whose attention was diverted away from her. She reached out her hand towards the box with haste. The intruder reacted promptly, pivoting his stance and overextending her reach by luring her with the box. With a gentle nudge from behind, he rendered the youth off balance as the she tumbled across the floor.
“Tch!” She gnashed, realizing that this man had some skill and wouldn’t be so easily robbed. “Everyone! Get him!” she ordered her entire gang to go after him. Boy and girls grabbed hold of random weaponry, ranging from clubs, swords, and even rifles. They quickly surrounded the man, and in such a confined space, there was no escape. From the looks of it, the man appeared unarmed with the possibility of concealed weaponry hidden beneath that cloak. Furthermore, one of his hands was preoccupied by holding that treasure chest. No matter how one analyzed this situation, they had the advantage despite being just a bunch of children and adolescents.
But they soon found out that it wasn’t going to be all that easy. Despite being outnumbered, the cloaked man was incredibly nimble and elusive. With minimal movements, he evaded thrusts and slashes of weapons while singlehandedly -in the very literal sense of the word- rendered his opponents to ram into each other.
Like a wild animal, Miu ran on all four limbs, approaching the man from behind at a very low angle. Against all expectations, her target jumped into the air as if knowing that she was sneaking up on him. And at the very next moment, a streak of black sliced through the air as the intruder vanished from the room altogether.
“Eh!?” Golden-hued eyes widened in utter shock. It was as if he disappeared, but what if that was just sheer speed all along? But how could a human be that fast?
“Where did he go!?” a boy wielding a club glanced around the room like everyone else. The intruder simply left all their fields of vision.
“Sorry Miu, we lost him,” a girl apologized as even their group effort failed to seize that slippery man who has now taken the treasure chest that their leader had brought back with her. The one souvenir from the outside world was gone, and guilt began to grow on their faces.
“Hmm, that is a shame. I kind of liked that box,” the brunette responded with a nonchalant tone. One of her cats at least would have surely enjoyed sleeping inside that wooden container. “But I think it’s a fair trade. He got the box, and we got some important information on what Devil Fruits are.”
“Huh!? How is that a fair trade?” an older boy protested. “You heard him! That fruit costed at least a hundred million beri. We would be filthy rich if we sold that!”
“And what good would money be in a war zone?” Miu retorted, uninterested the financial worth of that fruit. There were no stores or active businesses around these parts of the island.
It was then, a smirk formed on her face, “And, it’s a fair trade in our favor because in additional to the information, I only gave him most of what he asked for.” The devious girl grinned triumphantly as she took something out from her pocket.
…
Meanwhile, standing a few blocks away, the cloaked man stood on top of a roof, holding the treasure chest in his hand. With a single sharp tug, he snapped the metal lock right out of its compartment. There was no denying that he saw the Devil Fruit being present inside the box as the girl gave this to him. But just in case, he wanted to make sure. Opening the lid up, he saw the blue orb-shaped fruit, confirming that it was indeed inside the box. But, for some reason, he felt like there was something he was missing. It seemed too easy. Why did that girl offer up this treasure to him so easily? Perhaps they were just that confident that they could get the treasure back as shown when they attempted to steal it from him through sheer numbers. But, would an ordinary person let go of a treasure so easily, knowing that it’s valuable enough for someone like him to want it?
As he picked the Devil Fruit up, there was no doubt about it. This organic surface, it was truly a genuine fruit that’s been cursed by the devil. But then, his fingers felt a dent, and as he spun the fruit around, his violet-hued eyes widened in surprise.
There was a chunk missing!
THAT BRAT! SHE TRICKED ME!
Unbelievable! Despite initially knowing nothing about Devil Fruits, that cunning, crafty, sneaky, sly little girl had such a plan right from the start!? He underestimated her, thinking she was just a naïve girl.
This was bad! He had never considered this possibility before, but if a Devil Fruit was partitioned into two pieces, the one who eats it first gains the power. And, since he was already a Devil Fruit user, if he were to eat the fruit now just to rob the girl of the opportunity of consuming it, the process would kill him on the spot. After all, one could not consume more than one devil fruit power at the same time. The only exception to that rule was the Yonkou Blackbeard. For whatever reason, he was the only precedented one who succeeded in obtaining at least two of such powers.
“Damn it!” He gritted his teeth as not much time was left. “I must retrieve the other piece as soon as possible,” urgently, he leaped off the rooftop.
He had never failed a mission before. Will this be the first? He was too careless.
…
“EH? IS THAT?” Eyes widened in shock. In their leader’s hand was a small piece of the blue Devil Fruit that was clearly ripped out of the main body.
“That’s right. I gave him the Devil Fruit. But I took a small piece of it for myself before I placed it back inside the box. I don’t know whether eating just a small piece of it would have the same effect as eating the whole fruit. But, even if the consumer does have to eat the entire fruit, he would probably come back the moment he realizes it. And, I believe there are only two possibilities: either I gain the power, or no one gains the power.” According to her calculations, this would either end in a draw or a win for her. If all the information given to her was accurate, then as long as she was willing to gamble for a devil power, there was no risk involved.
“What do you mean by that?” asked a boy.
“Remember what he said?” Miu gestured with an index finger before reciting the exact words spoken to them, “No two Devil Fruit users can have identical powers.” Her grin widened. “So, that begs the question. What happens when you split the fruit up? If two people were to consume each half, the possibility of them both gaining the power is ruled out. That means two possible outcomes remain: either no one gets the power since you must eat the entire fruit or the one who takes the first bite gains the power. And, he already said that he has no intention of eating the fruit himself, so if it’s an eating contest, I’ll surely win.”
Upon hearing and understanding her reasoning, the other kids applauded her, “Ooo! That’s Miu for ya. Sneaky as always!”
Later…
The hooded man from before had abruptly returned, “Where is she!?” This was awkward. After having escaped this place once, voluntarily coming back here was just plain embarrassing for whatever reason.
A little girl walked up to him with an innocent and timid look, “Oh, if mean our leader, she’s gone. She left because she figured you might come back here to find her.”
“Tch,” he glanced around the room before closing his eyes.
Kenbunshoku Haki!
Spreading the reaches of his senses throughout the entire building, he searched for other lifeforms that might be hidden in other rooms. Then, he opened his eyes, confirming that this little girl wasn’t lying to her. Their leader was indeed no longer in this building. The possibility of her hiding in some hidden room in the near vicinity was ruled out.
Tch… she already anticipated my next move. I see… she’s trying to lure me away from these kids, fearing I might harm them. The longer I stay here, the longer she’ll have to run away.
He asked in a stern voice towards Kimiko, “Where did she go?”
Elsewhere…
Miu analyzed the chunk of the fruit in her hand. The interior part of the fruit was pale yellow, much like what one would expect from the insides of an apple. There were no visible seeds in her piece either. With a quick sniff, it didn’t smell particularly good. Perhaps it was a rotten piece of fruit after all? The more she scrutinized it, the more incredulous she became at the thought of being able to gain some supernatural powers. A part of her wondered if that man lied to her or made the whole thing up? But the explanations were too detailed and sophisticated to have been a lie. And for someone capable of infiltrating their hideout and escaping with such ease, that was a clear telltale sign that he was no ordinary person. Someone of that caliber would have no need to lie.
“Very clever,” a familiar voice loomed from behind, causing the brunette to flinch and flicker her glance around in surprise. The hooded one from behind was standing a stride away, impressively stealthy to have snuck up her so closely without her notice. “Trying to trick me like that.”
“Ha-ha…,” she gave a nervous chuckle. While she expected him to come for her, she didn’t expect to him to approach her out of the blue like this. “I gave you the Devil Fruit, so it’s not like I lied to you.”
“But you didn’t give me the entire fruit,” he grumbled.
Miu looked up at the man who stood half a foot taller than her, asking with an innocent tone, “Do you want the piece that I have, then?”
“Yes, I’ll be taking the other piece that you possess right now,” he nodded, partly relieved that she hadn’t eaten it yet.
“Mmm,” she hummed. “Alright. You can take it,” the girl concurred.
Eh? She’s agreeing to it that willingly!? No! It’s a trap! The last time she was this obedient, she tricked me. There must be a catch to this.
Suddenly, Miu placed the small piece of fruit in between her cleavage, partially covered by the collar of her pink tank-top. “Go ahead! Take it then.”
“What!?” Pluto froze stiff. “What are you doing!?”
“Nothing,” she said sweetly, tilting her head. “I’m letting you have it. Here, you can take it back.”
“That’s playing dirty!” He clenched his fists. Sure, he had done far worse things in life such as murder, but for whatever reason, sexual harassment was crossing the line for him.
“What’s wrong?” Miu stood her ground, more confident than ever now that she found out his weakness. Unexpectedly, this guy was more innocent than he looks, at least enough to be hesitating from reaching for her bosoms.
THIS ISN’T FAIR!
“Well now,” the brunette gleefully grinned at him, “If you don’t want it back, then I guess I’ll eat it then.” Taking a few hops back, she gained some distance away from the hooded figure before turning around and grabbing ahold of the piece of fruit that was sitting on her cleavage.
“What!? Wait! Stop! Grr!” He was losing his composure, clearly flustered. What was supposed to do in this case? He had been dancing at the palm of this girl’s hand this entire time. Ever single response he had made was likely going exactly as she predicted.
Opening her mouth, Miu tossed the fruit into her mouth before sealing her lips shut. Her eyes playfully glared at him in a taunting manner.
“Spit that out right now!” Pluto barked with a pointer finger gestured towards her. But it was too little, too late.
As the girl munched on the fruit, her face began to cringe at a foul taste lingering on her tongue. She forced herself to swallow this disgusting piece of fruit. “Bleh! That was gross! You never mentioned that it would taste this bad!” She talked as if she was mad at him for not warning her about how unpalatable the fruit would be.
“That’s because you weren’t supposed to eat it!” Pluto snapped back. Relaxing his posture, he let out a sigh. This mission wasn’t what he had in mind. He thought he had lucked out when finding out that a little girl was in possession of the item of interest. He thought it’d be like taking candy from a baby. But this was one tricky girl for him to handle. Normally, he wouldn’t mind using force to get what he wants, but the idea of striking a little girl left a bad taste in his mouth as well.
Miu took a few moments to analyze herself. Arms displayed in front of her, noticing no apparent changes about her appearance. Overall, she didn’t really feel any different. Could it be that she needed to have consumed the entire fruit after all? Or did it take some amount of time for the effects to kick in? Her eyes shifted towards the expert in this field, “Hey! Nothing happened!”
The cloaked figure tossed the small treasure chest aside as there was no point in holding onto it anymore. Now that the fruit -even if it was just a piece of it- was consumed by this girl, there was no way to reverse it. Crossing his arms, he remained silent for a while before speaking, “That’s because you have no idea what power you’ve received and no clue how to even activate it.” Given all the hassle this girl had brought him so far, he secretly hoped that she received a pitifully lame power of some kind. But for the time being, he might as well find out what sort of devil power is lying deep within her. Taking a half-step forward, the pressure in the air shifted.
“!” Miu felt her entire body flinch as an invisible wave washed over her. Her eyes darted towards the cloaked man, widened with trepidation. The thick miasma oozing out of him was being directed straight at her; it was suffocating. Ever fiber of her being was sending danger signals to her brain; her instincts told her that this person was extremely dangerous.
“Do you remember what I said?” a cold, sinister tone sliced through the air. “When a Devil Fruit user dies, their powers get reincarnated,” he reminded her with a threatening demeanor.
It was at that moment that the brunette wholeheartedly believed that this man was going to kill her in order to extract out her power. She was frightened. Having been raised in a warzone with soldiers and barbaric pirates roaming about, she was used to danger. But never in her entire life had she felt so afraid of death. Her pupils dilated. Her heart pounded faster and louder like a beating drum. Her breath grew shorter and quicker. Her limbs were trembling.
Fight or flight.
There was no way she could win. This ugly, hideous bloodlust was overwhelming. How could a human possess such a terrifying presence and maddening urge to kill? It was inconceivable. Clenching her fists and teeth, Miu bolted in the opposite direction, sprinting as far away from this man as possible.
What is he!?
Gasping for air, her legs carried her as if her life depended on it. Her eyes shifted towards the back, daring to gaze at the predator, only to find that the shrouded man was gone!
What? Where is he?
Bump!
Miu slammed into face first into something hard. Staggering back, she glanced forward before dropping her jaw in disbelief, “H-How!?” The man was right in front of her. But that was impossible. She didn’t even see him move an inch! How could he already be ahead of her even after having a head start?
In a swift motion, the man stepped within range and struck an open palm at the girl’s abdomen.
“Kurgh!” Her torso collapsed as she felt the wind knocked out of her lungs. Then suddenly, a discharge of electricity was conducted straight into her. She screamed. Her muscle spasmed and convulsed uncontrollably. And, for whatever reason, the electricity was colored violet.
Phantom Shock!
Gradually, the girl’s form was wavering. Her body beginning to expand and bulge. The coloration of her skin darkened.
Pluto halted his assault and leapt back to observe the strange phenomenon at a safer distance. The girl was transforming. Her arms and legs beefed up with muscles. A layer of brown fur coating her limbs with strange black spiraling markings. She was growing, pressing the ground on all four like an animal. Two tails sprouted from behind.
“A Zoan-type is it?” the cruel figure watched with a blank, detached expression was the girl was no longer recognizable as a human being. But then, just as he thought he correctly identified the type of power, something unexpected occurred.
A surge of blue flames enveloped the entire body of the giant monster that now towered over him, well over twice his height. The beast roared, sending a gust of wind the blew at his way.
Crossing his arms, the man felt his hood being blown off his head, revealing his true face. Short black hair, violet-hued eyes, and a youthful face where he should barely even be in his twenties.
What the!? Where did the blue flames come from!?
Something was off. He could not identify what sort of animal was looming over him. It appeared like an oversized feral cat with two tails that were as long as the main body itself. Its golden eyes glared at him with resentment. Its open mouth revealed sharp white fangs; its entire jaw could likely consume him whole.
“What kind of animal are you supposed to be?” he asked with a perplexed tone, placing a hand on his chin.
A cat? A tiger? No. This was a monster!
With a stupefied expression, he casted a casual glance at the giant feline leering over him, “Well… this is new.” He was officially confused. This was a Zoan-type, right? But, what the hell sort of creature was this? It sure wasn’t a type of cat that he was aware of.
After a fierce growl, the beast swiped its right paw which crashed and hurled the young man off into the distance. Flying, Pluto collided straight through a wall of a desolated warehouse, buried in the deepest end of the room as his body made its dent against the wall before plopping onto the floor with debris falling on top of him. “Ow…,” he let out a dull, monotonous cry.
What? What is this? I have… paws? I’m covered in flames. It’s hot, but it doesn’t hurt.
The two-tailed beast analyzed her new body. She realized that her fiery form was humongous, larger than any big cats that knew of, and from her size came a massive amount of weight. Yet despite her heaviness, she didn’t feel cumbersome at all due to what felt like an unfathomable amount of strength. She felt like her entire body was a giant mass of raw, dense muscles. She had black claws on her paws that were retractable. She had two long tails wavering at the back. This power surging within her, these flames enveloping her, she felt immensely powerful, far beyond what her mind could comprehend. She felt unbeatable.
What… am I? Am I not human?
She tried to stand up like a human being. The cat-like monster shifted towards her hind legs, standing like a giant werecat. Taking a few steps around on just two legs, she realized that despite her quadrupedal tendencies, it felt rather normal to walk as a bipedal creature as well. Strange.
Is this… a devil power? It’s… amazing. Am I… a cat?
Without being able to see a reflection of herself, she was uncertain what her full appearance looked like from an outsider’s perspective.
Can I… return to being human?
She didn’t remember how she managed to transform into this state. When shocked by electricity while under a state of deathly fear, her instincts had simply guided her into this animalistic form. Slowly, she began to shrink, contracting herself down to a small, humanoid build. And eventually, her eyes were glancing at her humanly hands before scanning the rest of her body. Thankfully, the transformation was not permanent. She had returned to her ordinary self, meaning that this power likely allowed her to alternate back and forth.
“Amazing,” she uttered in awe, still in disbelief. The existence of a devil power was hard to swallow and hadn’t sunken in yet. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.
Her golden eyes shifted to the side, glancing at the gaping hole in the warehouse where she had launched the cloaked man with a swipe of her massive paw. Never could she ever dream of being able to unleash such strength. That person could very well be severely injured to have received that level of power at pointblank range. She wondered if he was still alive. It didn’t matter though.
That man was dangerous.
…
Meanwhile, by the docks of the island, navy vessels line up in a neat and orderly line across the borders. They had their usual murky-green hull with six cannons along each flank. Three masts standing tall, supporting a set of pristine white sails with the blue symbol of the World Government etched into the fabric, appearing as cartoonish representation of a seagull with a wrench at the bottom. On the uppermost sail, the word ‘MARINE’ was written in capitalized letters in dark-blue. And at the very top, beyond the crow’s next was a small white flag that wavered in the wind, symbolizing their allegiance with one of the Three Great Powers.
A platoon of soldiers dwelled within the ships as well as several patrolling the main decks. They were their usual uniforms consisting of a white button-up, sleeveless shirt with a blue tie around the collar, a pair of dark-blue pants, heavy brown boots, and a white cap on top of their heads with the words ‘MARINE’ written across the front. Only those roaming the decks were armed readily armed with cutlasses sheathed by their waists or rifles strapped across their backs, locked and loaded.
“?” a few of the soldiers pointed inland, sighting a girl who’s approaching them all by herself. And with looks of recognitions, their expressions quickly grew to irritation. They all knew who that girl was. She was that troublemaker who led a gang of misfits. They were a small force, not exactly known of their combative prowess. But that meager-sized force was backed up of this girl’s tactics and strategies. Leading a small group of children, she would have them be an utter nuisance by stealing their supplies such as food, medical aid, and weaponry. Whether it’s guerrilla warfare, baiting, ambushing, or distracting, that girl was such an annoyance to them and brought them a level of embarrassment for even struggling to handle her, that the navy went as far as to slap a bounty on her head. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to at least label her as a criminal for thievery and assaulting navy soldiers.
“Koneko Miu!” One of them shouted out to her with an assertive tone. “What are you doing here!?” It was strange. She normally wouldn’t act alone like this, and her lackies were nowhere to be seen or at least as far as the eyes could tell. A casual walk right to the front doors of the enemy’s den, this was completely uncharacteristic of her usual approach. That girl was just plain sneaky, but what could she possibly accomplish by coming to them all on her own? Was she voluntarily going to turn herself in?
Suddenly, the girl began to morph at a rapid rate, enlarging, expanding, and bulging. Engulfed in blue flames, her appearance was hidden before taking on a large, four-legged form with two tails extruding from behind.
“AHHHHH~!” a scream sounded out as a navy soldier recruit pointed towards the giant monster that loomed before them. They had just witnessed it, that girl’s transformation. Never had she shown such an ability before. Without a doubt, she had obtained a Devil Fruit power.
The large cat-like behemoth with two long tails approached them on all four legs with its body completely shrouded in blue flames that sizzled the air. Its golden round eyes glared menacingly. A creature that they have never seen before, one that was clearly not native to this island. The scorching heat radiating off its flaming body was intense enough that simply getting close to it was unbearable.
After taking a couple of strides back, the marine recruits strained their eyes even more as if a girl transforming into a flaming monster wasn’t already ridiculous. The cat bared its white fangs at them, roaring with a ferocious and wild growl that caused the air itself to shook, and from that open jaw, a small blue sphere began to take shape before expanding into a ball of fire that took up the size of its mouth. In an instant, the scorching hot ball was launched out like a cannon ball before.
Before the soldiers could even think of counterattacking, they must first survive the incoming blast. Turning around, they ran off as the sphere of fire crashed into the frontal part of their ship, incinerating planks of wood into ashes. The blue flames began to spread with temperatures notably even hotter than ordinary flames.
The soldiers on the main deck panicked, conflicted as to whether to put out the fire, aboard the ship, or attack the monster. Doing any one of those tasks would require a decent chunk of manpower.
From below the deck, a certain man rushed out in urgency. He wore the same attire as all the others with the exception that he was wearing a special white cape that bared the symbol of justice on his back. The garment suggested that he was a navy officer, higher ranked than those around him. A lean, muscular build, greyish-tan skin, a sharp jawline, unruly dark-cyan hair, and a stern expression. “What’s going on?” The officer gritted his teeth, eyes immediately drawn towards the fire that was spreading across the main deck from the front with a giant flaming monsters about to pounce on top of them.
“Captain Woof!” the underlings turned to the man with relief.
“Abandon Ship!” The captain barked at them before leaping off the side as a giant paw crashed down from where he last stood. The surface of the deck cracked and caved in by the sheer weight of the behemoth. The entire vessel began to slant forwards as the monster’s forepaws ravaged about with those black claws, each physical contact only kindling more flames to spread. With the combination of the fire and the large beast, there was no saving this ship.
Soldiers dove off the railings and landed into the shallow waters.
A navy ship at the flank prepared their cannons, immediately ready to fire at the flaming beast while sacrificing one of their ships. A round of six cannonballs whistled into the air with a short trajectory. Some crashed into the ship, damaging it further. Some landed into the waters. And some made a direct hit onto the hulking monster, causing the beast to let out a cry of pain as it retreated to land, prowling away.
Unsheathing his dual swords from their shared scabbard, Captain Woof leaped into action as he launched himself straight towards the two-tailed cat, “Wolf Fang Slash!” While wielding both blades in both hands, he came down from above the monster with the tip of the blade pointed downwards, resembling the canine fangs of a wolf.
In response, the four-legged beast glared with those golden round eyes and attacked the airborne swordsman by whipping its flaming twin tails.
“ARUGH!” Struck from behind, the captain was hurled off to the side, feeling an intense burn on his back as his cape was caught on fire.
Meanwhile…
“Ahhh…,” Pluto clambered onto his feet before yawning. “I almost fell asleep. The Revolutionary Army sure don’t hold back on giving me these missions.” He was used to operating at night and sleeping by day, much like a nocturnal creature.
Now then…, what do I do now? At this point, I’ve failed to retrieve the Devil Fruit. I’m not supposed to let it fall to the wrong hands, so I guess that all depends on what kind of person that girl is. If she turns out to be harmless, I guess it’s fine. If she turns out to be a threat, I might have to eliminate her.
Nonchalantly, the black-haired youth stepped out of the gaping hole on the wall, leaving the shabby warehouse. Having completely lost track of how much time had passed, he scanned his surroundings, noting that he was alone. Neither the girl nor the giant freakish cat monster was in sight. Sighing to himself, he dreaded having to find that brunette again.
Cannon fire sounded in the distance, followed by screams, and eruptions.
“Huh?” In a single leap, he propelled himself into the air, landing on a rooftop for a clear view. He blinked at the sight of blue light emitting from the shores with rising grey smoke. There were little men white uniforms being attacked by a giant flaming four-legged creature with two tails. “Well… that was easy,” he muttered to himself, having already located his target.
The flaming cat let out a nasty growl as it preyed on the marine captain who’s lying on his back.
“Damn, this monster,” the navy officer cursed. He didn’t think that troublemaking girl would have gained devil power. And to top it off, this clearly wasn’t a run-of-the-mill power. Gritting his teeth, he watched as the massive paw came crashing down from above, ready to crush him flat like a pancake. “Grr,” he closed his eyes, admitting his defeat and failing his men. But then, seconds later, he found himself still alive, so he hesitantly opened his eyes to find a mysterious cloaked person standing in front of him and blocking the paw with a single hand.
Captain Woof dropped his jaw at the sight of a mere human fending off such a heavy blow to the point that ground beneath defender’s feet was cracking from the sheer weight of the force.
“Hey,” Pluto shifted his eyes, “Hurry up and leave. My hand is burning right now, and it hurts like hell.”
“… R-Right, thanks,” the bloodied navy captain ached and groan in pain before limping away.
A ferocious roar boomed from the giant creature as the other paw came crashing down a flaming comet, crashing the ground which shook from impact. “!?” Golden eyes leered. With a raise of her paw, she found that the black-haired boy was not pancaked and was gone.
“Quit growling at me,” Pluto was found squatting towards the shores, submerging his left hand into the cool waters to counteract the burn. “You should be able to speak.”
The flaming cat turned his head before treaded towards the speedy human with a malicious glare. “Die!” A cold, sinister, yet feminine voice echoed out as the opened its jaw and began to concentrate blue flames towards the center of its mouth, expanding in size before being launched at the single human who attacked her from before.
The cloaked boy sharpened his glance, observing the creature’s ability to conjure up a blue fireball before shooting it out of her mouth. That ability would be something he’d expect from a Paramecia-type power.
With a flicker of his arm, the entire ball of flames dispersed into a hot breeze before even contacting the black-haired martial artist. He had seen many Devil Fruit powers in his numerous voyages across the Grand Line, but never had he ever come across such an anomaly.
Is this really a Zoan-type power? I’ve never seen anything quite like this. Could it be…?
“Are you mad at me because you thought I was trying to kill you?” asked the human fighter before evading to the side as a paw struck down. Arching and bending his back, he avoided the same paw which swooshed over his torso. With his opponent’s mouth gaping wide open, he leaped to the side to evade another fireball came launching forth and casting burnt marks onto the ground.
The oversized feline moved in a very frantic and untamed manner, wild and brash. Its flames flared, threatening to burn whoever dared to come close to her.
“I see. So, you’ve lost control. That’s what happens when an ordinary person suddenly gains superhuman powers out of nowhere.” Playing defensively, the boy continued to evade with his peerless speed and efficient maneuvers. Stomping forepaws, whipping tails, bites, claws, and fireballs, he was dodging them all.
“Do you think you can beat me with such clumsy attacks? Without control and precision, your strength cannot reach me,” after understanding the beast’s pattern of attacks, he shifted towards the offensive and flickered towards the monster’s flank.
Cannon Fist!
The martial artist executed what appeared to be a simple straight punch, a basic move heightened to a peerless level. With both power and precision, his blindingly fast punch generated a shockwave, unleashing a blast of air that struck the beast from the side of her length body. The monster cat growled out in pain as it toppled over onto its side, causing a loud thump as several tons of mass crashed into the earth.
W-Who is he?
He appeared to be a mere human being. Yet, despite having taken on his form and gaining what felt like unimaginable strength and power, she could not land a single hit on him and had just received a painful blow. With her muscle density, she didn’t feel like anyone could possibly harm her body.
“Don’t worry, I’m holding back. I’ve no intention of killing you,” the boy reassured the oversized cat with his calm and nonchalant words. “Maybe you haven’t realized it yet, but there is another form to your power. By combining your current physiology with your human self, you can achieve a hybrid of the two. Go ahead, give a try.”
What? Is he… teaching me? I can combine both forms?
Slowly, the Bakeneko shrunk in size down to much smaller and compact form. She took on a humanoid build, being a few inches taller than their human self and gaining some dense muscles on their lithe body. Her feet and legs become digitigrade, and two long tails -as long as their height- wavered from her lower back. She had a humanly face with triangular cat ears, feline fangs, black claws at their fingertips, cat-like eyes of golden hue, and tan-brown fur covering the body with spiraling black patterns on her body. With the flames waning, her true form was semi-transparent to an outside observer. Panting from fatigue, the girl analyzed her own body once again, feeling closer to her more human self. With this normal size, she felt more in control of her movement as well.
“Ah, so that’s what you look like,” Pluto noted as this was his first time witnessing her hybrid form. “This is your Human-Beast Form. Zoan-type powers allows you to freely transition among three forms. These are the basics of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit power.”
Miu looked at the boy with a bit of hesitance. Why was he teaching her? Didn’t he try to kill her earlier? “I see,” she uttered.
“How does it feel?” asked the boy in a very mentor-like manner.
“It’s incredible,” the brunette admitted. Placing a hand on her bicep, she felt an incredible amount of dense muscle as she flexed, “I feel so strong.” Her eyes were clearly possessed by the power surging through her.
He could tell. His opponent was just a little girl who suddenly tapped into a level of strength that’s beyond her understanding. “Do think this power of yours make you invincible? You said you feel strong. But, in actuality, you feel unbeatable, right? Go ahead and attack me because I don’t think you actually understand the meaning of ‘strong’.”
Miu glanced at him with doubt, but she was certainly very curious at trying out what this hybrid state could accomplish. “You sure about that? I can attack you however I want?”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
Eagerly, the cat-girl bolted into action with a burst of speed. She jetted across the gap between them, feeling a rush of excitement bubbling within her. She was grateful for his permission to attack him because if she remained still any longer, she felt like this power bottling up inside of her would just explode. She simply couldn’t stay still and wanted to unleash her energy all at once.
Clenching her fist, she shot out a punch faster than she had every unleashed in her entire life. “!” Her eyes widened in surprise as her opponent blocked her punch with an open palm from an outstretched arm. The collision was enough to release a small shockwave of air, yet this man wasn’t budging at all. Retracting her arm and shooting out a straight jab with her other fist, she attacked, only for her force to be completely nullified. Again, and again, she continued her onslaught of punches, wild and untamed. She was trying to overwhelm him with brute force and speed. But every single one of her punches was blocked by a single palm.
What was going on here? It didn’t feel like she was hitting a brick wall or anything like that. More like, she was hitting dense rubber that absorbed the shock of her blows.
“Impressive,” he commended her attempt. “Given how pathetic your technique is, you can deliver quite a lot of power. But a punch is something more like this,” a split second later, his fist was already pressed up against her abdomen.
“!” Shocked, Miu could not see his movements at all. His fist was already in contact with her, but there was no momentum at all as if he was merely posing. Then suddenly, a jerk of power exploded from his fist, hurling her dozens of meters away as she tumbled across the ground uncontrollably. Upon rolling to a stop, she repeatedly coughed while covering the spot of impact with a hand. Had she received that blow in her human state, that would have surely broken her ribs at the bare minimum. The sheer muscle density of her current form provided a natural layer of defense, making her more durable.
H-How? He didn’t even wind up his punch, so how can he deliver that much force?
“Well, this is more or less what I’d expect from an ordinary person who suddenly gained the strength of a few hundred men. You have a strong body, but you don’t know how to use it. You’ve never experienced what it’s like to have that much muscular strength before. Naturally, you don’t know how to use your new body; you’re just throwing around raw strength with poor technique, lousy precision, and little control.”
The brunette leaped into the fray, eager to prove him wrong. She dished out a variety of punches and kicks, but her combo led each strike hitting nothing but air as her target elusively slid, leaned, or pivoted just enough come out unscathed.
It’s as if he can predict all my moves.
Her breathing had grown heavier and more audible, contrary to her slick and silent opponent. For dozens of times, she had observed the movements of countless of fighters, including soldiers, officers, pirates, and of course, cats. However, even as she watches this black-haired adolescent with those calm, focused eyes of mystic violet, she could not even begin to understand the secrets of his movements. She, the copycat, could to mimic him at all. His movements were too fast for her eyes to properly make out, and on top of that, his masterful use of timing was not something she could emulate.
Strength. Speed. Endurance. Stamina. Technique. Miu thought she could obtain it all with her physical enhancement. She thought she could learn technique by emulating others. Yet, why was it that this mysterious person, with just a normal human body, was able to toy with her so easily? It was painfully obvious that he wasn’t even trying at this point, each of his movement with the intent to prove a point – that there was something beyond just raw physicality which separated the two of them.
The cat-girl came to a solution. Rather than playing his opponent’s game of regular hand-to-hand combat, she decided to make use of something that only she possessed. If she was able to cloak herself in blue flames as a hulking cat monster, then she should be able to do the same in her hybrid state. A flare flashed from her entire form, wild and unsteady before slowly calming down into a stable aura that encased her whole, radiating just inches away from her body. The air around her grew fuzzy from the heat emitted from her. Close-range combat shouldn’t work on her anymore. After all, if this guy so much as touches her, he’d get burned.
With a spring in her step, the flaming combatant darted towards him, ready to attack again.
“Urgh…,” he casually wiped his forehead, “Get away from me! You’re making me sweat!”
“!” For a split second, Miu felt her entire momentum killed of the spot before being hurled back in the opposite direction. That boy was going further and further away from her until she realized that it was her that’s flying away. A sharp pain emerged from her abdomen. Did she get hit? But, she hadn’t even finish closing the gap yet; he shouldn’t have been able to reach her.
SPLASH!
Crashing towards the shallow depths of the shores, she found the world suddenly grew blurry with ripples distorting her vision. The flames that were encasing her were quickly extinguished, and coldness replaced that warm sensation, sending a chill down her spine.
“?” Her eyes widened in concern. As she held her breath, her limbs wouldn’t respond to her will anymore. Her body felt paralyzed. Energy seeping out of her at a continuous rate; draining her of strength. She couldn’t move at all.
W-What did he… do to me?
Was it from his attack earlier? Or, was it because she overused her powers in some way? Whatever the reason, she could hold her breath for much longer. Her consciousness was slipping away. Her vision fading into black.
“Ah geez…,” Pluto stepped into the shallow waters as he watched the cat-girl returning into her human form, now unconscious and submerged beneath the seas. “Of all the powers she could have obtained, it just had to be one of the rarest ones.”
Reaching down, he pulled the limp body of the brunette out of the waters, “A Mythical Zoan Type Devil Fruit.” Although he was hesitant to make that conclusion at first, there was simply no alternative possibilities in his mind. This girl seemed to have a Zoan-type power with some aspects from the realm of the Paramecia with the way she could summon those flames and even manipulate the shape of it to unleash a fireball. He had never seen such a rare type of power in person before; this was his first time. A power even rarer than a Logia-type.
There was just one thing that he wasn’t sure about.
… Seriously though... What kind of animal are you supposed to be?
