Chapter 2: Mysterious Abilities
If we were to speak of that man in the futureâŠ
As a pirate, he suffered seven crushing defeatsâand was captured by the Navy or enemy ships a total of eighteen times.
"Worororororo!!"
A man who endured torture after torture, living as a condemned criminalâ
"âŠâŠâŠâŠ"
Sentenced to death forty timesâhanged, beheaded (though the blade shattered), impaled (yet the spear broke)âultimately sinking nine massive prison ships.
In other words⊠no one could kill him.
But in the present, that legendary future version of him was still just a young boy. And right nowâŠ
"Worororo...! Listen to me, waaaaaah...!!"
...he was nothing more than a drunken mess.
This was an island somewhere along the Grand Line, in the era of the Great Pirates.
In a rowdy bar packed with cutthroats and criminals, their table was littered with empty liquor bottles.
"The hellâs up with those brats...?"
"One of âemâs got a weird face, ainât he? Kidâs built like a damn giant..."
"The other oneâs tiny, but sheâs drinkinâ like itâs water. That even legal?"
"Donât give a damn. Long as they got cash and can hold their liquor, Iâll serve anyoneâbrats or half-dead geezers."
The men in the bar murmured among themselves, watching from a distance.
But that wasnât why the girl sitting across from himâmeâspoke up.
My small hands cradled a glass of alcohol as I idly swayed my feet, too short to reach the floor from the oversized chair.
"...What is it, Kaido?"
My voice was calm. Not quite cold, but definitely deadpan. My crimson eyes, dulled slightly by the drink, fixed on him.
Across from me, Kaido clutched a liquor bottle in one massive hand.
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyesâno, huge droplets spilled over as he wailed:
"WOOOOOOOOHHHH!! Whyâre you so damn COLD?! You said youâd be a pirate with me, didnât ya?! WOOOOOOOHHH!!"
"I did say that, but..."
Sobbing uncontrollably, Kaido bawled right in my face.
It was almost childishâbut that wasnât quite the right word. No, this was purely the behavior of a drunken fool. And worseâa maudlin one.
The stares from the crowd were getting unbearable.
Not that I usually cared what people thought, but this was getting annoying. (Though, admittedly, there was something slightly amusing about it. Right now, though, I was more bewildered than anything.)
I understood what he was sayingâand why he was crying.
We were traveling together, after all.
"...But nobodyâs letting us on their ship..."
"WHY NOT?! I WANNA BE A PIRATE SO BAD... WOOOOOHHH!! They sayinâ we canât âcause weâre KIDS?! WOOOOOOOHHH!!"
That was it.
The reason Kaido was drunkenly crying?
Exactly that.
âȘ âȘ âȘ
To recap briefly...
After escaping prison and reaching another town, Kaido and I had gone straight to the docks, asking pirate crewsâto their facesâif theyâd take us aboard.
We were rejected.
The reason was simple.
["Let us on your ship!!!"]
["You two...? Hah... How old are ya?"]
["Ten... ish!!"]
["Same for me..."]
["The hell?! Youâre just brats!! Scram! We ainât runninâ a damn daycare!!"]
In short, every crew said the same thing.
They all turned us down with the usual pirate-brand humorâ"This ainât a kindergarten, brats!"âin that rough, mocking way pirates do.
After getting rejected by five different crews, we ended up in a barâwell, Kaido dragged us in, shouting "I WANNA DRINK!!"âand now here we were.
I got it.
Being denied at the very first step was frustrating.
Enough to make you wanna cry.
Seriously, what the hell were we supposed to do...?
"So we canât be pirates âcause weâre kids?!"
"...Seems that way."
"WOOOOOHHH!! THATâS BULLSHIT!! I mean, sure, you look like a kid, so theyâd say no... but ME?! WOOOOOHHH!!"
"âHey."
Knock it off.
So thatâs what he was thinking? Thatâs just mean.
...But honestly, Iâd thought the same thing.
Youâd think Kaidoâs size alone wouldâve been enough for someone to take him seriously.
Maybe we just had bad luckâran into crews that hated kids.
Or maybe they had some weird moral code. (Doubtful, since they were pirates.)
"...Well, weâll figure it out. Probably..."
"PROBABLY AINâT GOOD ENOUGH, DAMMIT!! WOOOOOHHH!! What the hell do we do...?! At this rate, Iâll never be a pirate...!!"
"Hmm... Well thenâ"
"WAAAAAAAAAAHHH!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
"SHUT UP!! And whatâs with that "WAAAAAHHH!!" crying noise?! STOP IT!!"
Hearing Kaidoâdeep-voiced, gruff, practically a walking disasterâlet out a "WAAAAAHHH!!" was... something else.
Weirdly, it didnât feel completely out of place, though...
"...Anyway, weâve just gotta keep trying, right?"
"Thatâs really our only option...?"
"Yep. Now come on, letâs get moving."
...Wait.
Why was I the one encouraging him?
Wasnât I just supposed to follow his lead?
My head was starting to hurt a little, but... whatever. The booze was good, at least.
"...Hey, Kaido. Pay up so we can leave. Give me the money, Iâll handle it."
"Huh...? Nue, whatâre you talkinâ about...?"
Whether his hearing was bad or he was just too drunk, Kaido swayed unsteadily as he responded.
Ugh... This is why I hate dealing with drunks...
"The money. You were the one who dragged us in here, so youâve got some, right?"
A perfectly reasonable questionâbut when Kaido finally turned to face me, he dropped a bombshell.
"âLike hell I do."
"âŠâŠâŠâŠHuh?"
As if it were the most obvious thing in the world, Kaido said it so casually.
I was speechless.
And as if on cueâ
The bartender started walking toward us.
âȘ âȘ âȘ
"Hey, brats. You payinâ or what?"
"Uh, ah⊠umm⊠wellâŠ"
The bartenderâa burly man with a face full of scars, fitting for a bar packed with roughnecksâloomed over us. His voice was calm, but his presence was heavy.
To him, it was just a normal question. But to me? It felt downright intimidating. I was just a girl, after all...
Scrambling for a way out, I averted my gaze, stalling with an innocent smile. Maybe if I played dumbâtapped my toes on the floor like some clueless little kidâheâd let us off?
But before I could come up with a proper excuseâ
"...Ainât got no moneyâ"
"Huh?"
"Oh."
Before I could react, Kaido grabbed his kanabĆ from where it leaned against the wallâ
"THE HELL YOU MEAN, NO MONEY?!?!"
"WHâ?!"
âSWING!!!
With a single brutal motion, he sent the bartender flying straight through the wall and out into the street.
Then, without even considering payment, Kaido chugged the rest of his liquor straight from the bottle, wiped his mouth, and bellowed:
"YOU KNOW WHO THE HELL I AM?!?"
(...No. Youâre not even a rookie pirate yet. Youâre just some punk.)
I wisely kept that thought to myself.
CRASH!
The bar erupted into chaos.
"The hell?!"
"That kid just launched the bartender?!"
"They startinâ a fight?!"
(Nope. Just a temper tantrum. Dine-and-dash edition.)
I shouldâve seen this coming.
Did I really think Kaido would politely pay for his drinks?
Maybe if he were older, sober, and in a good mood. But right now? He was a fearless, reckless, broke-ass kid who wanted to drink but had no cash.
And instead of not drinking, he chose violence.
...Unbelievably stupid.
But as I watched the chaos unfold, a thought crossed my mindâ
âThis is kinda fun.
"...Kaido, letâs go before this gets worse."
"WHAT?! WHERE THE HELL WE GOINâ?!"
"...Oh no. Heâs a rage-drunk now."
If I said "run," heâd just get angrier. But before I could phrase it better, Kaido was already shouting. At least he wasnât swinging his club at me.
Still, if we just bolted, theyâd remember our faces. So⊠time for a trick.
"...Havenât done this in a while, but..."
I raised my handsâ
"âDARK CLOUD!!"
"?!?"
"The hellâs this?!"
"Black⊠fog?!"
Thick, inky darkness spilled across the bar, swallowing the vision of every thug inside.
As they flailed in confusion, I shoved Kaido from behind.
"Come on! Letâs go while theyâre blind!"
"Huh� The hell is this� You do this, Nue?"
"Yeah! Not much, but itâs something!"
Thatâs rightâthis was my ability.
After eating the Zoan-type Mythical Beast Devil Fruit, Model: Nue, I gained the powers of the "Sealed Beast Nue."
In other wordsâthe ability to obscure the truth.
But it wasnât like I could use it freely. This wasnât some conceptual powerâit was a Devil Fruit ability.
Like all Zoans, I had three formsâhuman, beast, and hybrid. And like all Devil Fruit users, I was cursed by the sea.
My human form was just⊠me. My hybrid form boosted my strength a little. And my full beast form?
...Letâs just say itâs not pretty.
But more importantlyâDevil Fruit powers donât grow on their own. You have to train them.
Right now, all I could do was transform, create weak disguises, and summon this Dark Cloud.
No lasers. No UFO illusions. Nothing like the true Nueâs "Heian Dark Cloud."
I was weak.
Nothing compared to the legendary beast I was modeled after.
All I could do was run away.
"âŠPathetic, huhâ"
I let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
But thenâ
"WORORORORO!! NOT BAD AT ALL!!!"
"...Huh?"
Through the darkness, Kaidoâs laughter boomed.
Before I could react, his thick left arm wrapped around my neckâmore like a headlock than a hugâ
"Ghk?!"
"WORORORORO!! WEâRE GONNA BE THE STRONGEST PIRATE CREW EVER!!!"
"W-Wait, this isnât even that impressiveâ"
"LETâS GO, NUE!! TIME TO START THE GREATEST WAR!!!"
"You're not even listeningâ"
What the hell?
Was this⊠happy-drunk Kaido now?!
One second, he was ragingâthe next, he was laughing, arm slung around my shoulder like we were best buds.
...And somehow, it was kinda infectious.
Maybe it was stupid, but watching him go all out without a care in the world made my own worries feel⊠small.
"...Alright, fineâ"
"HELL YEAHâ"
We spoke in unisonâ
"Letâs runâ"
"LETâS FIGHT!!!"
"...Wait, what?"
My voice cracked.
...Did we just not sync up at all?!
But before I could reactâ
"HERE WE GO!!!"
Kaido hurled me straight into the crowd.
"WHY ARE YOU THROWING MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!!?"
"WORORORORORO!!! THATâS THE SPIRIT!!! LETâS HAVE SOME FUN!!!"
Instead of escaping under the cover of darknessâKaido had decided to beat the hell out of everyone.
"GYAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"WHAT THEâAGH?!"
"WHOâS HITTING WHO?!"
With my clear vision inside the Dark Cloud, I saw it allâKaido swinging his club, mowing down every thug in sight.
...Classic Kaido.
Normal people would run.
But Kaido didnât do normal.
"...Well, if heâs gonna clean up anyway, might as well let himâ"
"âNUE!! YOU FIGHT TOO!!!"
"HUH?!"
Kaido suddenly reared back his left arm.
And before I could protestâ
"DONâT FUCKING THROW MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"
"WORORORORORORO!!! HELL YEAH!!! LETâS GET WILD!!!"
âResult.
The nameless, now-defunct bar lay in ruins.
Rest in peace.
Meanwhile, in a deserted back alley, two nobodies slumped against a wall.
A girl with black, bobbed hair and peculiar wings.A horned, black-haired giant with a club.
For now, just Nue and Kaido.
"Ughhhh⊠Aghhh⊠Drank too muchâŠ"
"âDrank too muchâ?! Thatâs the least of our problems right now!!"
"Shut the hell up⊠We had fun, so who cares�"
"Tch⊠Well⊠I mean, thatâs not the pointâ"
âŠCrap. I almost agreed with him.
Sure, it was fun. But if I started thinking like Kaido, Iâd be on the fast track to disaster.
Charging in, wrecking the place, getting captured and tortured again? No thanks.
âŠThen again.
Compared to the actual torture weâd already endured, what could these lowlifes even do to us? Honestly⊠raising a little hell didnât seem so bad.
"Ugh⊠Ahhh⊠Uuuuuuuuâ"
"The hellâs with the groaning?"
"Just⊠wrestling with how much of this nonsense I should tolerateâŠ"
"Quit overthinkinâ shit. More importantlyâhow the hell do we become pirates?"
"Itâs not âoverthinking,â but⊠yeah. Right. How do we become piratesâŠ?"
The only thing that came to mind was asking nicely.
Maybe weâd just had bad luckâsurely some pirate crew somewhere would take in a couple of capable kids, right?
The problem was when and how.
"What was it called again⊠that island�"
"Hah? This one? Think itâs âHachinosu.â"
"No, not this one. I mean the one they call âPirate Islandâ⊠Hmm, but still, this place is called Hachinosuâ"
âŠâŠWait.
"âŠThis island is called Hachinosu?"
"Thatâs what I said."
"âŠâŠâŠâŠ"
I turned, glancing upâ
And there it was.
A massive, skull-shaped fortress looming in the distance.
"âŠâŠWHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"
"The hellâs got you so shockedâŠ?"
Kaido looked genuinely confused for once, but I was too stunned to care.
This islandâHachinosu, the Pirate Island.
The place where Kaidoâs legend⊠and many others⊠would begin.
The Grand Line â Pirate Island, Hachinosu
The usual rowdy, lawless atmosphere of the island had shifted.
Instead of the roar of brawls and drunken bickering, the murmur of unease filled the streets.
Pirates, mercenaries, and outlaws alike whispered among themselvesâ
"Hey, you hear? Anyone interestedâs gotta gather at the center of the islandâŠ"
"Yeah⊠Rocks. That bastard⊠Struttinâ around like he owns the placeâŠ!"
"Shut it, man⊠Pick a fight, and youâre deadâŠ"
"I know! Damn itâŠ!"
"Gather at the center⊠Some big money scheme, they sayâŠ"
"Yeah, I got the invite too⊠Rocksâ deal. Might as well check it outâŠ"
The name "Rocks" spread through the island like wildfire.
Some cursed it. Others rushed toward it.
And among the gathering crowd⊠a few stood out.
"âOi, Newgate. Whatâre you planninâ?"
"âŠGot the invite. Might as well hear âem out."
A towering man with a white mustache, gripping a massive naginata. His crew loomed behind him.
"H-Hey, Linlin! Wait! You ainât ready for Rocks yetâ!"
"SHUT UP, STREUSEN!! HAHAHAHAHA!!"
A voluptuous woman with pink hair, clad in a wide-brimmed hat, roared with laughter.
"Perfect timing⊠The kingpin of this island⊠Kill him, and weâre one step closer to my dream country!!"
"Whatâs the plan, Captain?"
"Jihahahaha! Rocks, huh? Been wantinâ to meet that bastard⊠Perfect chance."
A golden-haired, lion-like man with sharp brows grinned, his crew flanking him.
"A money-making scheme? Canât pass that up."
"Treasure?! Hehehe⊠Ainât lettinâ âem hog it allâŠ!"
"âŠSmells like gold to meâŠ"
More figures emerged from the shadowsâ
A raven-haired woman with alluring lips.A young man with an obsession for riches.A sunglasses-wearing woman who could sniff out wealth.
One by one, they all converged toward the islandâs center.
And among themâ
"Put the booze down, Kaido! Weâre going! This is our chance to become pirates!!"
"WororororoâŠ! A money scheme, huhâŠ? Sounds funâŠ!!"
A horned teenage brute dragging a massive kanabĆ.
A small, black-haired girl with peculiar wings.
Still just a duo.
Their destination?
A massive, open-air tavern at the islandâs heart.
And at its centerâ
A man whose infamy preceded him.
"ââGYAHAHAHAHA!! Thatâs right⊠A money-making scheme⊠Letâs get right to it, shall weâŠ?"
A grinning demon.
A face like hell itself.
His nameâ
ROCKS. ROCKS D. XEBEC.
And at this momentâ
With this single ambition-laden schemeâŠ
A legend was about to be born.
Comments (3)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.