Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue: Abscission.

-blinding golden light razing and enveloping everything reducing everything to ash. It reaches closer, closer to me and everyone around me and then… Nothing.

“Well, that was one way to go.” And it was. Of all ways I thought I'll bite the dust, fighting Scion for the salvation of humanity was not one of them. At least I can say I´d died fighting till the end, but it's not like I had much of a choice when they tell you, that is either fight or face the destruction of all the Earths spread in the multiverse.

‘A good way to die’, some idiotic battle junkie would say, ‘battling the closest thing to a living god that’ we had. There was just one issue with that:

I didn't want to die. I wanted to live. I wanted to experience everything that world had once again. I wanted to feel the rain once again, kiss someone and be kissed. Travel more, try to work less, and that someone finally…

It didn't matter anymore. I was dead, yay.

My regrets about my life choices don't matter anymore, because I didn't have a life anymore.

Not that it mattered anymore. It didn’t. I was fine. Completely. Yep.

I completely accepted that fact, and honestly I didn't understand the big deal. It wasn't like I was burning in Hell anyway so… I was okay. Yep.

I was just floating around here. In pure blackness and nothingness. Possible forever.

(And maybe, maybe I was regretting the fact that I stopped going to church. I this was the atheist afterlife, then I should have reconsidered that particular life choice more harder than the others.)

I fought and then I died; and in the face of that I reached a conclusion that I´d wish I have made years before when I triggered and started doing my career as a cape.

Death is a funny sad thing.

No, really, it actually is. Everyone makes such a big deal about it, from worrying if they go Heaven or Hell, or debating if these things actually exist, to doing silly thing like praying, going to a confessionary to even doing the always classic ‘daily good deed’ and probably even counting about how many they do day-by-day . Everyone worries about death, and what comes after when in true one thing is creating about death, and specifically our deaths, yours and mine, and that is:

Death is quiet, and being dead is an existence in an eternal quiet void. Or at least my afterlife is like that. Just me, myself and I and my best friend The Void.

I kinda wondered at first if I was in a big empty void because I was a non-believer before, and I’ll be stuck in this eternal nothingness for all eternity. I mean the tranquility that provided being the only being in an unending void was nice at first, everything was so peaceful, that I did not complain for a while at first but then I learned another truth about my current state that should have been obvious before:

Death is really boring, because people suck but without them you’re alone and with nothing to do.

I never thought I would miss the deadlines for the essays in university, or the part-time job I chose as a cover, but the thing I missed more was my job. I loved my job. Being a villain was the best. I mean it wasn’t like I went out of my way to hurt people. I just liked the money, and the power. And now that I was deprived of those things I was craving them more than anything. Was this my punishment? That was kinda...anti-climatic. If they were going to punish me I kinda expecting more fire and brimstone more than… this. I guess that compared to biblical punishments it was kinda tame though no less fitting. Humans always don't pay attention to the things we have for a long time and we only miss them after we don’t have them anymore. And I missed my powers. Fuck that was wrong, I missed everything.

I literally couldn’t do anything, and there wasn’t anything to do. I had no body, or presence only my existence itself prevailed in here, if you could understand that. I was like a ghost, I was able to see around me and sense myself’ but nothing more. The only thing I learned was that I could “sleep”. Which to be honest isn’t even the correct term but an approximation. I called it that way because I close my metaphorical “eyes” and stop everything, I feel nothing, I see nothing, and for that short while I am “sleeping” you could say I’m basically nothing yet paradoxically I know that for that time I’m nothing. Kinda disturbing at the beginning but then it kinda became easier because when you have nothing to, and fading consciously in and out of existence becomes your main hobby. Well it was that, or just ponder my life choices, again, for the rest of eternity. Choice for me was clear then.

For who knows how many years/months/days/ I wondered if this was going to be my afterlife till the universe exploded, or the Apocalypse, or whatever other huge-ass cosmic event started. I questioned myself so many times what could have happened if I had taken different decisions, or life choices. Was this some sort of punishment for my life of don’t giving a crap about anything and hedonism? Was this Hell? Or some sort of really empty limbo? I did to myself so many questions as many regrets
I didn’t notice I had, and all of them were as useless as my ponderings.

I was dead, no fucking solution to that, and if it existed one I was pretty sure that philosophy and a deep look to my inner self weren’t the ones.

All of that was pretty much my daily routine till one day/ week/ month/ year, I found out the most important thing about Death:

Death is many things but the most important one is that it seems to be temporal.

Turns out that of all the countless theories about what happens after, the one I didn't think it was going to happened actually happened.

But really could you blame me? When I heard first about reincarnation the guy that told me about it said that in my next life I’ll reincarnate into a gecko of all things. I don’t like geckos, especially their weird ass eyes and their creepy tongue which they use to lick their eyes. They're unsettling, and really gross and being told that I´ll be one in my next life made a tad bit unhappy at that crazy thinker.

Then it appeared.

A bright light appeared on the “horizon” of the void and kept growing and growing until it was blinding yet so paradoxical transfixing that I had to fight to separate my “eyes” out of it. It was beautiful and it brought back everything I missed with it too.

And for the first time since forever, I felt pain, and noise and life. And it was glorious.

And then I lived.

X-X-X-X-X

In this new life in I met my mother for exactly ten minutes.

I was a newborn baby so I’m surprised that I remember anything about the day I was born.

This doesn’t mean I remember everything; after all I was a newborn. However I remembered enough to make a lasting impression of her and brand a few things to my memory with fire so they never fade away. These are the things I know of my mother:
1. Her name was Rouge. Later I learned that her surname was Portgas and she was married.
2. She had a beautiful mane of red hair, so bright and beautiful that while the memories of her face may fade away, her hair never will.
3. She loved my brother and me very, very much. So much that she sacrificed her life so we could be born.
4. She loved our father very, very much as well even when everyone told her that my father was a devil and that love would end up killing her. They were right at the end, but I don’t think she regretted.

Everyone told me she was very special, kind and brave. A good person, and if she had survived to raise us she may have surely become a good parent. That was special for me, in a small way, because I’ve never had back in my previous life a parental figure worth mentioning.

It was important because I wasn't alone this time. I had a brother. His name is Ace. Someone else besides me depended on a strong authority figure, but sadly there wasn't one willing to pick up the sack. At least not one that could fit the term of proper authoritative figure .

I tried not to think of the life we could have had too much and I tried to encourage Ace as well to do so in order to avoid unnecessary sadness and melancholy. Not use crying over dead milk and choices beyond us. We needed to move forward because there was no choice but that. We didn't made it. Him, more than me. The reason?

They told us they we didn’t deserve to be born.

Our father was apparently a pirate and an important one at that. He was known as the “King of the Pirates”. The most dangerous pirate in all the seas, to be exact and in a world where practically all the lands where islands and the most powerful military force was the Navy and its marines, the pirates were the most immediate and persistent threat of all people existing in this new world I lived in. Ruthless, evil and behaving more akin to beasts than humans, it was no surprise that everyone with some sense hated the shit out of them. He gained all the riches in the world and spit in the World Government eyes so of course that after his capture and death, they would do its best to demonize him and brand him as the Devil.

And we as his son and daughter were Devils too as well and we deserved to die as well according to current government….

How ironic that our mother sacrificed her life to so we could live. We were supposed to be raised with love and a strong support system, I suppose and in the end we got… this. A shit of a life with a big obese woman that is a bandit of all things and can’t do shit to care of us, a big and boisterous old man that only is around to beat us and throw us in horrible life or death situations including tigers, giant jungle anacondas and talking monkeys that only talk in rhyme. Did I mention that our house was shit and we shared it with smelly bandits and it only covered the most basic necessities by only a little shave? And let’s not speak about other less necessary but still very important things: Education? Ha you wish. I lived with a woman who only touched books to burn them. Clothes that offer protection for the elements? Yeah right, only if we stole them. Prospects for the future? Only if ‘bleak’, and “stuck in a life of crime” counted as actual possibilities in my new reality.

In short, I was regretting that I didn’t reborn as a fucking gecko. At least with that I didn’t have to deal with my broody brother that wanted to be a pirate despite hating our father because he was one and for that reason, everybody would hate us if they knew that we existed. That if we were around by that time. I was still unsure of how our odds were, just to get to puberty.

Our grandfather wasn't much better. His reason for beating us up? He wanted to makes us super strong Marines apparently and completely ignored the fact that both of us would never work for the World Government. Too blatantly corrupt for my tastes and that's is something and if that comes from a villain like me…

By that time ( with my brother choosing to be a pirate for the abstract reason of freedom of all fucking things, and my grandfather being useless for everything but fighting) I realized that I was the one that inherited the brains of the family. Now I just needed a way to use them in a way that would get me the hell out of here and everyone in here.

The only upside of the situation of that for some reason my powers seemed to be back. I didn't know why and with not a single answer in hand and more questions that i could count I decided to just make the best with the tools I possessed.

I had powers, the smarts and the drive to do this. I would leave this shitty island in the middle of nowhere and become someone. I did it once, I'll do it again. I mean my previous world was one of superheroes, and monsters, with a living god to boot.

There was no way that this one was actually crazier than that.

Right?

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X
END. Abscission

Chapter Text

Arc 1: Seed

Seed: 1.1.

I wake up and prepare myself to face a new day and, as an automatic reaction, I immediately wish to return to sleep instead of facing what it means: another day of work.

I hate Mondays. I just do. They are the worse day of the week, where nothing good ever happens and I always work. Only bad things can happen today and that's bad because I'm most busy today than any other day of the week.

The routine never gets easier. No matter how much times passes.

I breathe, in and out. No use complaining and doing nothing. Time to get up.

Looking around in our shared “bedroom,” (more like a storage room than bedroom) I see that Ace had already woken up earlier than me and left without saying anything. Typical of him, though I have to admit I should have expected that. Our relationship wasn't close or cordial like other siblings. That was kinda my fault so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. But still, it was a bother to have to get my own food without his help, especially since animals made the most annoying sound when they died, and after that followed the most unpleasant part of the hunting job. It made me wish that Dadan wasn't such a useless bitch when it came to taking care of us but I guess I shouldn't ask for much. A roof and decent living conditions had to suffice, even if the company was lacking.

Rising up to follow my daily routine I can’t help but think that if I had become a Protectorate hero instead of a villain, then I wouldn't be in this kind of situation. You know, karma and all that shit. Hell, If I have known that all of this would have happened if I went the path of a villain then I definitely would have jumped ship from that business and become the most goody two shoes hero on this side of the Atlantic. Heck I'd even go out of my way to kiss babies and save kittens out of trees. Like Scion, before he went all genocidal and all that.

I got up and went to the “bathroom” next to our room ( a medium-sized room with a mirror and a sink, plus a metal barrel as our bath) to wash my face and teeth. I looked myself in the mirror while I brushed my them. I couldn't deny I had very pretty face that could be the definition of “cute and adorable”. I had several freckles in my nose and my eyes were brown and shapely. I was like a small clone of my mother at ten if my grandpa is to be believed, but since I only have pictures of her when she was an adult I didn't believe him much. Garp constantly says all kind of crazy shit, and is really dumb to trust him for others things that aren't to how to throw a punch. I try not to look much at the pictures, (kinda creepy watching photos of people I never knew and they are all dead), so I ignore them the most I can. I did save the majority from Ace rampage, mostly because whatever his opinion on Roger, he was still our dad and he may regret it later in life. Besides in several of that pictures was mo- I mean Rouge, and I owed her at least that. We owed her that.

Looking at myself in the mirror I tried to give the most sunny smile I could muster and tried not to make it too fake and unnatural. I was ten and pretty, so being cute and adorable was easy for me in short quantities with my personality. However, the charade was harder and harder to keep on with people I spend a lot of time at the day like Makino, the nice lady of the bar in the village and my boss, which made me realize that I needed to practice my cheeriness and niceties if I wanted to keep my innocent and nice girl facade for longer.

Makino already knew how I truly was, but the most likely chance when it came to her was that she interpreted my fake cheeriness and nice personality as a way to gather sympathy and make people like me to compensate and hide that my role model and (I can't believe I’m gonna say this) parental figures were Curly Dadan and her good-for-nothing bandits, or Garp who only understands the language of violence and fists.

The only downside of my job at her bar, besides the monotony, was that she insisted, rather heavily, in teaching me manners. I had to be all ladylike and shit now, for my sake apparently. I couldn't blame her though, no matter how annoying it was to take lessons that I already knew. She was right to be wary and concerned about my social skills, with no propel role model in sight. I didn't want to, obviously, but in order to sell my cookies in her bar she had that condition.
Bothersome was the most positive thing I had to say about her training but it worked. Everyone liked the little lady that helped the popular and angelic bartender, while everyone distrusted the little rascal of the mountains raised by outlaws.

I was certainly more popular than Ace at least. He seemed to like hanging out with that blonde loser of Grey Terminal whatever his name was, Sako? Nabo? Ando? Whatever. They probably stole from the morons there without caring who they pissed the fuck off. They were probably going to end up dead at some point. I wanted to do something for him. Little shit he was, he was my brother. But he was being impossible and honestly my patience was running out with his constant stupidity and commentaries.

It was not my fault I was the only one in the family with a brain and common sense. Seriously, it's no my fault I’m mature enough to ignore what those shitheads in town say about the sons of Gold D. Roger a.k.a us. He needs to grow the fuck up and someone had to told him that straight off.

Ugh, stop thinking about that Anne. More important things to do. Like eat.

I went to the kitchen already refreshed and ready for the day. Unsurprisingly bandits from Dadan´s group were sprawled around the hall and all the way to the kitchen. They all probably stayed all the night up, drinking and smoking doing shit all over the house after a hard day of “work” a.k.a stealing and destroying property all over the island. Truly, they were shining paragons of humanity.

Once inside the kitchen I was surprised to find the lady of the house herself, up and going. She was probably hungry like me and that meant that there was still food in the house. Good, most times these pigs ate it all up.

I opened the fridge and was pleasantly surprised to find some bacon and eggs of wild birds of the mountains. Yummy. I remember I hunted that one after it caught thinking me as food. For that, I snapped its neck and I was about to cook its little children before they were even born. Sucks to be them.

I set the pan on the fire. It was big enough for both things so I would eat quickly today. Speaking of food and morons who hunt it…

I looked at Dadan and grunted. ‘So, where's Ace?’

She grunted back at lower and more, defined . ‘Where do you think he is, brat? Don't ask stupid questions and you won't get stupid answers’? Or something like that, probably less clear and eloquent with more spit and shouting if she talked to me. ‘Are you going to finally do you chores today or run off to do your shit at the jungle again?’ Another grunt, a questioning one.

Talk about dumb questions. Of course I wasn't going to do her dumb chores. I already cooked for her and cleaned the stupid room we lived in thrice a week. She can clean the rest. It's her house after all, why the hell should I clean it?

I don't grunt this time, I just stare at her and raise my eyebrows. ‘Seriously?’ they say.

She growls this time. Sign she’s pissed but she doesn’t answer and let it go. She probably expected that as well.

Such a nice system we had going. Born out of our mutual dislike to waste words on each other. I had definitely a future like interlocutor to the stupid and disadvantaged, like the bandits.

I hum this time and point to the newspaper on the table. ’Are you reading that or just using it to look more smart that you are?’

She tosses it to me far more harsher than probably necessary, but it's okay i'm used to it so I tumble just a little this time. As I sit down to it with some orange juice she grunts at me one more time: ‘Burn it after you're done with it, brat. Now that you've touched I don't want anything to do with it’

Yeesh that's prejudice against parahumans. Not my fault she so squeamish after what I showed it to her.

I shrug down, and keep eating. Whatever. If Ace is not here then he is with that blonde rat from Grey Terminal... again. There's nothing I can do about that for now. I need to focus on the most immediate issue.

I grunt a ‘goodbye’ or a ‘fuck you hag ’ to her and leave.

Time to get to work. That means time to go to my workshop. Finally.

Tinker Hour.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back home I could be considered an important figure among the cape community. A name respected among the villains. Someone feared and powerful with underlings and belonging to a strong faction.

I was someone with influence and contacts in high places. Someone considered an “A-lister” thanks to years of work, of building a reputation of professionalism and power, and refining my tinker powers and my specialization. A hard and sometimes thankless job that required more effort that I ever dedicated to anything in my life.It wasn’t easy; normies and even some capes back home thought that just because you have some power that sounded strong and versatile the had you life practically fixed for you. The heroes wold bend backwards just to have you while the villains would either threaten you or offer the entire world, and if you were a tinker then that was multiplied by ten. Even the weakest among us was more valuable that the toughest brute, or so they say. With my specialization being what it was, I had to be very careful in my first months as a cape, after all, being kidnapped or threatened to join a gang at gunpoint was a very real thing that could happen to me and I liked myself just fine, without a bullet decorating my head.

My specialization didn't help matters. A bio-tinker that somehow also affected emotions with her tech? It was a recipe for disaster let me tell you. If I wasn't careful there was a nice bullet with my name somewhere.

Fucking Nilbog, fucking Heartbreaker. Couldn't those assholes do something else with their powers than taking over a city or building a fucking harem? They made my job even more difficult just by existing.

And besides the issue of my powers you could say that it wasn't easy being a newbie I'm every aspect of the word. I was entering unfamiliar territory where one misstep wpuñd be my end. But I knew what I wanted and I was willing to do anything to achieve it. Money, power, respect, love. Being someone that just...mattered.

At one point I could even say I got it. I had everything. I had finally made my mark.

Now, here I was in another body that wasn't my own , making ‘special’ cookies or cakes in a fucking mountain jungle where everything was humid or trying to kill me, to get to ends meet.

Fuck me. And fuck you God as well.

It wasn't hard to make a workshop, or to find someone that would make one. It was the birthday present that Garp made me. Ace refused to accept anything from him so I pounced at the opportunity to have is undivided attention for once. He made me a little treehouse and I helped. I even got that grouch to join in the fun and speed up things. It wasn't my old greenhouse with everything I needed but it had to do for now. The only thing that remained to get the most basic ingredients was a garden. Lush, and green, and pretty and all for me.

And I solved that thanks to Makino’s birthday present. A bunch of gorgeous seeds. I was ready with that

The workshop as a tree house, part of the ingredients as the flowers and vegetables. I only need the actual equipment and some nice fertilizers and I'll be done.

Grey Terminal served for the more mechanical and artificial parts but that only would work for the most barest and amateurish creations. Not only because of lack of prime necessities, but because I really didn't want to drag attention to myself without better equipment. Creating little helpers was a difficult inversion as well. I was never good with minion making and they were costly and clumsy as well. Better as cannon fodder than meaningful help.

As I said before Grey Terminal was perfect to find unique elements and oddities. It was dangerous but if Ace and his sidekick could do it then I could do it too. I was, maybe, less aggressive that my twin at fighting or or in my training but that was because I wasn't a fighting enthusiast like him and honestly I considered the use of violence at everything dull and moronic. Fitting to the rest of my family in this weird world but I could do better. At least back then when I had the time. I still trained hard practically everyday but tinkering took its sweet time, even more with this shoddy workshop I have so It was a constant balance needed between both things.

I couldn't help notice that the inhabitants of this land were physically more powerful that the ones in Earth Bet, so with the right training and consistency I thought that I could achieve very easily a Brute rating without actual physical enhancing powers. However that revelation didn't make his training less awful to me or Ace when it came to Garp.

Being able to punch a hole in a rock and jump really high was not enough to wave down the fact that the things he did to us and still does are abusive and have a negative impact onto us. Besides who the fuck thinks that bandits are good for raising a pair of children anyway? That was a pretty big alarm on itself about his sanity.

He definitely wasn't smart enough for his high rank. That I could tell easily. I mean does he actually thinks that me and Ace are going to be Marines? If there was something we had in common it was that. No future in the Navy for us

Ace wanted to be a pirate. And I wanted to be... something else. Anything else.

A pirate was like the thing everyone else expects me to do (except my grandpa) if they knew who was my father, but I needed a proper reason to become one- unlike my big brother who wanted to be one for some inconclusive or abstract reason like “freedom”. No, I needed more than that. A concrete goal.

I go to stairs dangling from the tree and enter the treehouse. Before that I give a once over to the garden to check everything is okay and growing strong. It still does. I smile.

Once I'm in my little hideout I immediately start making inventory: vats? check. chemistry set? check. Microscope? check. Fungi, dry flowers, biomass that I don't remember where the hell I got? Check, check, check. More stuff? Check. Ready and raring to go then.

Being a tinker gave the capacity to built tegnologies beyond the wildest dreams of anyone without even needing to understand what I was actually doing. The bad thing about that was the world I lived seemed to be far more behind in terms of technology than Earth Bet, so I lacked the super high- grade stuff I used to bought.

I needed more funding, more materials. A bigger garden, and of course more of everything. But i'll make do for now. It’s actually pretty surprising that my powers came back at all but I decided that nothing could come out of searching answers for that right now, so I took the wise decision of just roll with it.

My little treehouse was quiet as always. Ace didn't like coming here since he called my stuff boring and girly so I put a ‘no boys allowed’ in the front door and since that he didn't came back. Kids logic was the best logic after all.

I went to the left side. My actual workshop. I already made the cookies, three trays of them, yesterday at midday, I just needed them to cool down and mature a little. Then a little bit on the sun and, presto, they were ready and gripe for the eating after some time out of the sun in the dark as well. I could consider the consequences of feeding innocent people tinkertech in the form of the “super-healthy, super-delicious organic cookies” but they didn't have any actual detrimental effects on people… almost. They were organic, as in made of organic parts ( as in made of a mix of flowers and vegetables and other vat- grow and artificial materials) and homemade ( in a literal vat with a previous substance inoculated before and during the maturation process), and they were really delicious ( a simple paste that when integrated in the process gave it their multi frutal flavor and stimulates the generation of endorphins. Easy peasy.) I made them as a nutritive and addictive option for the people and the most basics of my meals. They were the easiest to do and honestly they sold quite well. In the most intense summers they sold really well with my “natural juice”, and in winter with my “sweet tea”. I made them and Makino sold them, and it worked.

Three bigs trays yesterday and four boxes from the production of the weekend. An another big batch already in preparation. They weren't very big so I could get a lot of them.

It was a good business for now that I was ten and I lived with the bandits but I needed more. I wanted more. And the mere idea to live forever in this island without achieving anything was enough for me to consider to throw myself to the sea and be eaten by the sea monsters.

Oh yeah we had those as well. Sea monster and abnormal beasts all around. It kinda really feels like a shitty remake of Jurassic Park sometimes.

I checked around me. On the left against the the left wall was my old vat. Five feet tall, cracked in some places and looking like its glory days were long past with it´s shody top I found among the trash. A tube connected its top to the my “sink” (a big basin with a tub for disposal connected to the ground to the base of the tree) , when the water touched the ground, it was observed by it, or more specifically to the little l garden at its side. The flowers and vegetables would grow with my water and a fertilizer I made from dead things and then I'll use them to made more of my products. It was a recycling cycle that while useful only worked for limited and simple things but as everything in my life, it had to work until I was far more grounded and settled. In somewhere else.

I had other experiments lying around but I’ll to see those later. In the jungle, alone. With meat in hand.

A small cauldron was on the table in the centre of the room. At its side were several pots, all of them with the top covered. I uncovered one and smelled it. I could help but smile at the fragrance that escape the pot. It was almost done. I'll need more thing to complete this and then I´ll have to take it to the wild to finish it. Too risky if Ace or Dadan discovered it. I didn't want them drooling for me after all.

At the other side of the table, only occupying a quarter of it, stood my chemistry kit and some bisturies at its side. Another thing I needed to safekeep, if someone got inside. I also needed to clean the bisturies and knives, some blood remained in them.

Looking at the clock, and paling at the hour I realized that it was far more late that I intended and I needed to fucking hurry. And I still needed to put the cookies in the empty boxes! Fuck, Mondays are always heavy days on requests as well.

I had a feeling today was going to be a even more shitty day then normal as well. A foreboding feeling that I couldn't shake off.

“Fuck me. I hate Mondays.” I said aloud as I rushed out of the treehouse grabbing everything I needed along the way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Thank you for buying, and for coming!!” Makino smiled as the old couple left Partys Bar. Her smile was honest of course, without a hint of sarcasm or unhappiness for the fact that she seemed to be stuck working in the costumer service area for the rest of her life. She was so nice, and so earnest, and so kind. I’d honestly thought I was hallucinating when I met her.

I didn't have anything of her natural charm so I had to fake my happy waves and goodbyes. I feel envious about her sometimes. Some people… are just born that way. The happy go lucky kind that it always optimism no matter what happens and has a nice thing to say about anybody. And of course everybody has a nice thing to say about her. People… for her they seemed to be way too easy. Like she could strike conversation with anyone and not fuck it up just for being her. So unfair to people like me…

Eh, but I have superpowers so I guess with that the situation was even.

I continued cleaning one of the empty tables as I counted the hours to do anything else. Since she handles the sales of my bakery, and I have mostly nothing to do, besides training and reading or or in my lab, I stay around and work as her little helper.

“Phew, I'm glad that you made it in time Anne. Your cookies as always are one the best desserts around here. You arrived a little late tough. Is... everything okay up there at your home?” Makino´s words held no double meaning, or hidden intention. They never did. She seemed to care for me a lot if I interpreted her fussing in a correct way, but that also had the side effect of her being very noisy sometimes. I had to hold down my annoyance several times because of that, because I'm trying to be nice to her in gratitude for all she has done to me. She may fuss a lot about me but compared to the other two, she as well may be a saint. I had another gift for her as well. I just needed time to finish it and give it to her.

“It's alright, Ace wasn't around as always and the fatso was gorging herself up as always so she didn't talk and left me alone. Too complex for her.” She frowned disapprovingly at my comment about the obvious weight excess (all muscle my ass), of my caretaker and probably was about to comment about that when the door of the bar opened and more people entered forcing to go there and attend to them. The rush was always bigger at midday and night, when its main function as a bar could shine to give the boring inhabitants of this sleepy village some entertainment and booze.

In Foosha village there wasn't much places to ‘go out’ for saying so. It was a very small place, with very few inhabitants and, from an outsider point of perspective it would look like a few buildings, an a few streets loosely organized with the most notable building building being the bar, and some windmills that were really big and around them? Nothing but pure and wild fields. It was the definition of a sleepy town in the middle of nowhere were everyone knew about everyone and everything.

It was also the most boring place i've been to, and I desperately wanted to get out of here, but living in the main city of the Goa Kingdom has it fair share of troubles with Garp around. That old man would probably hunt me down to the Grand Line just to beat me up…

Also I have zero money, or friends living there. I probably wouldn't even last a week on my own.

I sigh and continue my work. No use thinking about that. After cleaning the last empty tables, I´d need to go to and check in the deposit how much food, drinks, and other necessities for the bar we have. After that I'll probably be sended to buy the stuff that we don't have and after that...who nows. I work here only a few hours and then I go back to the mountains. If it were for me I´ll be all day long on my lab or the jungle tinkering. But being cooped up and crafting abominations of nature all day apparently isn't healthy for a ten year old girl so I work here to do something at mornings that isn't tinkering and for a change of scenery. Even if the change is from a deadly jungle to the most boring place on the world.

As the hours keep ticking and the waves of people start to slow down I started counting the remaining minutes I could go back to the jungle where my love- I mean my ongoing projects waited for me. I wonder if Makino would let me take some fresh meat with. They are probably hungry by now and to handle that I'll probably need-.

I stopped. Something was going on outside. A commotion or something. Did another pirate crew docked just now in this sleepy village? Or maybe today was work day for the bandits? What’s happening?

I got my answer when the door of the bar opened and to my surprise someone that I didn't really wanted to see entered. Makino was surprised as well but I beat her to the punch at expressing it.

"What?" I said numbly. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Ah!! There you are brat!! Stop staring and come here to give your grandpa a big hug, Annie!!” His voice was high and loud and there was no doubt that with that tone half of the village had listened to him already.

He shouldn't be here. Not now, did he really wanted to beat us both that badly that came earlier? Or worse was he trying to actually bond with us in another way, like, oh god talking to us. I didn't know which one was worse. His beatings as training, or him fumbling and reminiscing about the good ol’ days. It was a lose-lose situation, no doubt.

Garp was dressed sharply in a blue suit that actually made him look good while his face had a huge grin. It increased in size and practically split his face when he looked at me. I couldn't be fooled, that wasn't the smile of a grandfather looking at her granddaughter and being happy to see her. That was the grin of a predator trying to lure his prey close to him to devour her without mercy.

His right hand remained outstretched and inviting at me ( a deadly iron maiden) while his left one was occupied with….what? Seriously? What the fuck?

No, focus!!

Fuck, fuck, fuck me. But focus on what? Where the fuck was Ace when I need a decoy? What should I do now? Run? Hide? Set the bar on fire? And the last question:

Who the fuck was that little brat with the straw hat that Garp was holding in his left hand and looked like he wanted to get the hell out of here?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

SEED 1.1. END

Chapter Text

Seed 1.2

“What?” I said after a few seconds of being shocked.

“You heard me, Anne! Luffy here is going to move in with you and Ace and be your new brother!! He's also three years younger than you, so be nice!!” Garp answered me with a big dumb smile and a happy tone.

“Oh right," I thought. "The straw hat brat is going to live with us and he was going to be my new broth- OH HELL NO. “

Another brother!? I wasn't even happy with my biological one!! Now he was throwing me another one!? And worse this one was younger than me and Ace. He was seven according to what Garp had told me. Everyone knew that seven year olds were the most annoying things with their constant curiosity about everything, and so immature and of course, so... active, they couldn't keep still for fucking five minutes and in those five fucking minutes they could pretty much fuck-up everything.

Looking at the little brat that was now running around the bar like an excited little puppy, I didn't doubt for a single minute that he was not an exception to the rule. Another tiny brat to watch out for. If he stumbled on my laboratory on the tree house or in the jungle and touched something…it gave me shivers. I didn't need a walking, talking disaster near me, no thanks. Especially one that is so…young.

I disliked kids when I was an adult. I still do even when I'm one. I had one babysitting job in my whole life before becoming a cape and I hated every second of it. I only did it because my mom forced me to, and the pay was kinda good for just watching a pair of brats. I even, naively, thought it wouldn’t be so bad. Kids were kinda cute, right?

I was wrong. So very fucking wrong. Kids are disgusting nightmares and all adults that want to have children should just die.

Now here I was a in a body of a child and having to go through puberty again with fucking Garp having decided it’d be great to dump another one on me and everyone else up in the mountains. Worse, for this Ace would be in an even bigger mood than ever. Fucking tween angst.

I looked at the brat who was with Makino now, all happy and giddy with her while she was fussing about his hair and clothes. Luffy, uh. Makino had told me a few times about a kid with that name, and this village was too small for two kids with same name running around. She had mentioned to me about some brat that always hung around here after my shift, with a straw hat on his head. I never paid too much attention to that, mostly because I never thought it mattered too much. It seems I was wrong, and that the world is a small place. Or just this village.

However, if he was the old man’s biological grandson, where had he lived all this time? I didn't think that Garp took him to work. Too dangerous. Did he live alone in the island, or with caretakers? Did he throw him to the wolves both literally and figuratively like us? Or perhaps he was his little boy loved and coddled with this ice people while we were the ones destined to be super-soldiers?

That last one was very unlikely but it didn’t matter in the end. He was with us now. Stuck in the wilderness with a bunch of filthy low-lifes.

““Dadan is not going to like this,” I told Garp looking at him once again with the most serious look I could muster. “She already complains a lot about Ace and me. I’m pretty sure she’s praying for the day you come pick us up and take us out of her hands forever.”

Garp laughed boisterously as he ruffled my head with a lot of more force than necessary, leaving me bamboozled. Did he think I was joking? Because I had seriously seen her praying one day about that. She really didn't wanted us there. She thought we were ruining her rep as a ruthless mountain bandit and for once I had to agree. Being a mountain bandit didn’t seem to be a very productive career, and maybe we were the reason why she was so lame in general.

“You let me worry about Dadan,” he said, his tone cheery as he decided to ruffle my goddam hair once again. “You just worry about presenting yourself to your new brother and getting along.” After saying that he stopped touching my hair and extended his hand to grab the little boy, catching him as he ran in the bar. He dragged him in front of me and the kid looked at me with his big, innocent and expressive eyes.

He was a lot smaller than me, I noticed, and quite a bit shorter. He had short black hair and tanned skin, with big and expressive brown eyes that grew even larger while looking at me. I was surprised to find a small scar just a little bit under his right eye. How did he get that? Lastly, he was wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts with some sandals. He didn't look too bad, in general. At least he didn't look like he lived in poor conditions if the pristine condition of his clothes indicated something.

“Luffy, this here is Anne and she’s three years older than you. From now on you’re going to be living with her and her brother Ace. She’ll be your new sister. Say hi, just like I told you to.”

“Hi there,” Luffy simply said lifting his hand and giving me a big toothy grin accompanied with an excited tone as he spoke. “My name’s Luffy, Grandpa told me you make those nice cookies can I have one, can I please. I wanted to grab one but Makino told me that that wasn’t nice and I had to say please to you if I wanted one so I didn’t grab one but you made them and I’m going to live with you now! So I can grab one now that we’re going to be friends? Please? please, please, please, pretty ple- Ouch!.” His rambling was stopped when Garp fist descended on his head, and shut him up. God, he didn't even let me answer him. Was he like this all day long? Did he came with an off button or something?

“Not like that, brat,” the old man said with a tired tone as if he’d had this conversation several times already. “You didn't even let her talk and introduce herself… again. How do you expect to become a strong marine with your siblings if you don’t know when to shut up! Also no cookies! You don't have any money and she sells those. So nothing for you!”

“Awwww…” The kid started, until his eyes widened at the realization of something, then they narrowed when they looked at Grandpa once again. “And I don't wanna be a stupid marine anyway. I’m gonna be a pirate! Like Shanks cause’ he’s cool! And one day I'll be the King of the Pirates!!!”

Oh. The brat wanted to be a pirate too? And not just a common one but the King? How cute. Kids and their dreams. I wanted to be a witch when I was a kid, mostly because princesses were boring, but also because I wanted to live in a candy house and eat all the sweets that I wanted without Dad or Mom around.

He also mentioned that redhead pirate that docked in here some time ago and made some fuss in the village. Red Haired Shanks was it? I could agree with his coolness. He was also kinda suave in a very rough way. He even gave me extra tips. I liked him, he was the kind of guy that made me wish to not be a ten year old and be my adult self. Too bad I wasn't. Makino seemed to have called dibs on him anyway.

Poor Garp, not one of the family wanted to be a marine. Both me and my brother seemed to be a rotten bunch when it came to being kids. Some kids wanted to be medics, bankers, or even lawyers. Me and Ace? Not so much. He wanted to be a ruthless and famous pirate feared and respected across all the seas. And me? I'd told myself long ago that in order to be someone I have to do things that nobody else would. Getting powers just made it easier. And now this one wanted to be a pirate as well much to the old man’s displeasure. We seemed to be just a group of future criminals, or outlaws to be.

From the look on his face it was pretty obvious that displeased was an understatement. Garp was furious. He growled at Luffy and his left hand twitched. I took a step back.

“Ow Ow Owwww!” To my surprise instead of hitting him with his infamous “Fist of Love”, he instead grabbed Luffy by his cheek and pulled. And to my shock the cheek stretched like it was elastic or something. Luffy complained and cried as one side of his face was unnaturally stretched to a length way beyond a normal human.

“What the hell. There's no way that a normal human face can stretch like that.” No matter how many differences in the biology between the humans in Bet and in this world existed, something that didn't seem to change was the fact that faces didn't possess that much in terms of flexibility.

And now that I thought about it they completely forgot I was here as well, didn't they. I didn't even introduce myself to the brat and they were already fighting. I should say something...after I see how this ends. I was having too much fun just watching the old man doing that to someone that wasn't me or my dumbass brother.

Makino laughed nervously as she stood at one side while Luffy was reprimanded. With no people in the bar until later, when the workers and farmers came for lunch and some cool drinks, she could take a small break and clean a little. She didn't seem that much alarmed for how Garp was treating Luffy so that meant that she knew the old man wouldn't hurt him too much, or this happened a lot more that I thought, making her already accustomed to their antics.

Did the kid have some sort of power? It was possible. I had seen weirder powers than that. But did he trigger? He seemed too cheerful and young for something like that to happen. It was possible but highly unlikely. There was a high possibility that triggering was impossible in this world. Though that was also unlikely. The Entities’ reach was everywhere and it was known that Eden and Scion weren't the only ones. I also didn't doubt that there were others like me around this blue world. Others that came from before, or just plain triggered and gained powers. Some vials from the powers-brokers were also a possibility, even if a small one. But I refused a reality where I was the only parahuman in this world. There was no way that other people didn't come over like me. Mostly because the chances of that occurring raised far more alarms and questions.

“Pirate king my ass. Not only do I come back here and learn that you ate a Devil Fruit without me knowing but you even have the gall to speak to me like that!!” He lowered his head to be closer to the the brat but he was also far enough to avoid being hit by the little boy’s hands that were pointlessly trying to reach the old marine’s face. “You and your siblings… are going to become the strongest Marines that ever lived when you three grow up, so cut that pirate crap!”

Was it too risky to tell him that I'd rather become a professional clown than a member of the Navy? Or would saying that be straight-up suicide? Also did he say that the kid ate a Devil Fruit?

Now that was something interesting. It was kinda disappointing that he didn't trigger but that was kinda evened out with the fact that I had heard of the mysterious and mystical fruits (of all things) that granted superpowers and I was, really curious about them and their differences when it came to powers from trigger events. Mostly because the fact that powers came from magical fruits was ridiculous in itself but even more was the fact that it was true and it worked!! Also there is the fact that you can't swim after eating one which makes everything even more bizarre. There has to be another explanation besides the obvious superstition of “the sea cursing those that eat the Devil Fruits.” I really want to open up one and see what make them tick and everything and how their powers affect their organism. Maybe even put some stuff in and see how their bodies react.

Just joking. Really.

Luffy didn't budge in his defiant face at grandpa’s punishment even though it was clearly obvious that it hurt a lot. Hell he even growled at him. Perhaps I was too hasty to think about feeding him to the giant snake near the house. Kid had balls.

“Grrrr how the hell does it hurt if I'm rubber? Lemme go already grandpa!”

Was that his power? Being a rubberman? Kind of a letdown but it could be far more interesting that it seemed. And compared to other Devil Fruit powers I read in that book I stole it wasn't so ridiculous and lame. Being made of rubber sounded kinda cool when compared to the fruit that makes you tell bad jokes constantly so I guess it wasn't that bad for a power. Seriously who the fuck would eat that kind of fruit. Being a cat, or a duck I could understand. But an oven?

Garp sighed but didn't let go. “This is the reason you have to go live with your siblings in the mountain. It was a mistake leaving you here. I left for a while and now you want to be a pirate.”

It was time to end this. I was getting bored and I just wanted to get this over with.

I coughed a little and everyone, including Makino, turned to look at me. I refused to flinch for the attention that it earned me.

“I didn't get to say hi.” I pointed out in the most dry tone I could manage. I wasn't in the mood for doing it in a sweeter tone. I really wanted to leave now that the show was apparently over. Too much to do in my lab.

Garp and Luffy both looked at me while their eyes widened. Oh, so they had forgotten that I existed. Fuck them.

Garp immediately set the brat down and immediately tried really, really hard to pretend that the last few minutes didn't happen at all. Great job grandpa I can see now why you're an inspiration to every little marine out there.

I looked to Luffy and approached him. Even if he looked annoying as hell that didn't mean that I had to be a bitch from the get-go. “Hello, I'm Anne. It's a pleasure to meet you.” I hesitated for a second. And then pulled out a cookie for him. Only one wouldn't hurt him. It wasn't like they were drugs. They didn't made people addicted to them. Just that they really liked them. “Here, you can have one if you want.” Garp was about to say something but I looked at him and smiled. The nicest one I could muster. He relented after that. I was just trying to make nice with my new baby bro, after all.

Luffy looked at the cookie and his face split in two with a huge smile, then he grabbed my offered cookie and practically aspired it. My eyes widened at the sight of that. He didn't even chew! He just ...swallowed, at a speed I hadn't even thought possible.

“Wow, that was yummy. Can I have another one please?” He cleaned the crumbs on his face with his tongue and gave me a big toothy grin with his eyes begging for more. He was like a puppy!!

Before I could answer however, Garp spoke “That's enough for today Luffy. We need to go to Dadan's and if you’re done too you're coming with, Anne.”

Back to the mountains then. I tried to keep the grimace out of my face. Great, that also meant that Luffy moving in was official. The old hag was going to be so pissed and angry at Garp, without being able to do shit, since she was a shitty bandit and Garp was...well himself. And Ace well...could someone be even more pissed and angry at the world than him? He was angry at everything and everyone so I could easily guess his reaction to this.

“And now besides those two and the whole bandit club I had to deal with a hyperactive seven year old ball.”

I was going to fucking kill Garp one day. I swear it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After picking up my things and saying goodbye to my kindly employer we start our way back to the mountains. The first patch of the way is filled with Luffy asking me a constant barrage of questions about myself. From what I like (“I like to read”) to why I work with Makino (“I just like it”), to my favourite food (“Chicken and salad”), to if I wanted to be friends (“Umm, okay…”), and even if I could make more cookies for him (“Umm, sure but only some.”)

I kept the answers intentionally short to try and not reveal much about me, and because riling him up with actual truthful and more complete answers would probably cause himo ask more and I’d be forced to answer more.

Garp also tried to ask me some questions about how everything was going with me and Ace’s life and where he was right now. I just answered with a shrug and told him that everything was the same as always and he probably was doing the “same of everyday” and left him to think what that meant. Further attempts at striking a conversation with me ended the same. I was curt and short to Luffy, and intentionally frustrating to Garp. I was in no mood for chit-chat after the cluster-fuck that was today. I just wanted to go to my lab and tinker all my worries away, and then go to bed trying to leave all of this like a bad dream. But I couldn't because a new member was integrating into the ‘family,’ and I wanted to puke at the thought of having to look after a new immature brat. And of course the useless hag would be more overbearing than ever with a new kid around and being much more of an annoyance because of that. Fuck her, fuck Garp, fuck Ace, and fuck Luffy just because, even if I knew this was more the old man's fault than his.

I fucking hate Mondays.

Once we were near the house Luffy started to ask questions to Garp instead. Mostly about his new home and his new caretaker. After being told pretty much where he was going to live, who was going to take care of him, and how Grandpa still expected him to become a marine just like him, he expressed how pissed he was for all of this by wrapping himself up in a tree and pretty much telling grandpa where he could shove his expectation of him.

The old man just grabbed Luffy by the back of his neck and pulled him, tree and everything.

“I told you already grandpa, I don't want to be a stupid marine!! I'm going to be the king of the pirates!!!!”

“Shut up, brat!! You'll become a marine alongside your siblings even if I had to drag you myself!! I knew it was a mistake leaving you in that village with those nice people. I should've thrown in the jungle more!”

They were really discussing this again? Did they ever grew tired of arguing about the same things?

Apparently not.

And that was pretty much the whole trip to the house. I was glad they were too busy with each other so the old crazy coot couldn't try to make me comment about how great it was to be a marine or something. I didn't, but I also had the lowest record of the Fist of Love in my head and I liked it that way. I hadn't actually told him I was going to be a marine, I just… kept a close lift on my opinion that I wasn't going to become one. I was going to tell him one day about my opinion about them though. One day. On a letter, or in a call. With thousands of miles between us and him with no idea where I was.

It was a perfect plan. And no one was going to tell me the opposite.

We finally reached the house after a while and everything went just as I thought. Dadan metaphorically shit her pants when she saw Garp and immediately went to kiss his ass and revere him like a living god. And usual exchange when it came to them. That was of course until she learned of her new task.

“You're bringing another!? And he's y-your grandson?”

The shock and outrage was palpable in her voice and it was pretty obvious she would be shouting at him if she didn't know the consequences of it. It didn't help that Luffy's first words to her was to remark how ugly and fat she was. He even bit her nose.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad that he lived here.

I looked around and noticed that he was running around the exterior of the house and looking at everything with the curiosity of a child.

Considering how curious he seemed to be locking down the lab seemed to be more and more appealing by the second. He would probably break some important tubes or vats and then everyone in the surroundings would have a really bad day.

“Yep, so I'm giving you the same choice as before. Either you raise him alongside the twins or go to jail. Your choice.” He practically oozed smugness and he was right in doing so. There was no way that she would go to jail with her whole bandit clan. Too much of a coward to do that.

“W- well I obviously don't want to go to jail b-but you can't just bring him out of nowhere, you know. We already have our hands full with Anne and Ace and now you decide to drop another one!? They are a pair of little monsters that give me no respect. This one is just like the other two isn't he?”

Her panicking tone was just delightful. I couldn't help it. I giggled a little bit. Sadly she noticed. She looked at me and pointed her finger at my direction.

“A-and your granddaughter! I told you of all the things she's doing and you still don't believe!! She's crazy!! Even more than Ace, and he's a savage on the best of days!!

I stuck my tongue out just for her and I burned into my memory the expression on her face.

“Who, Anne? Are you seriously still trying to convince me that my granddaughter is some sort of crazy scientist that does weird things to the plants of the jungle? No way!! Just look at her, she’s a little angel. She even works in the village to help that bartender lady!! She'll make a fine marine one day!!”

Her bewildered look at me was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in a long time and I would treasure it forever. As if he would ever believe her. But before she can say anything else, probably something bad about me, he speaks again.

“By the way where's Ace? It’s been a while since I last saw him.” His tone was casual but still raised red flags among the bandits.

They looked at him and tried to figure out a response that wasn't “beating the shit out of thieves and human trash in Grey Terminal.” Obviously they were very bad at pretending they were not doing this, as always, and it wouldn't be surprising if they gave in any minute and prayed for an answer to come down from the skies.

However it seemed that his answer and their prayers couldn't come soon enough.

“Ah what the hell!” Luffy's shouts drew my attention to him and I could see that in his face he had...spit?

Oh. He did it again. By now it was like his customary way to say hi to everyone he doesn't like.

He was standing a little to the the left, covered in the shadows of the tree where a lot of people wouldn't be able to see him. But I did, my eyes didn't have that issue.

In a large dead beast, ready to cut and eat, and looking at us like he wanted to kill us, stood my twin brother: Portgas D. Ace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

SEED 1.2. END.

Chapter Text

Seed 1.3.

Dinner was tense that night.

Before leaving, grandpa made it pretty clear to the bandits that Luffy was staying whether they liked it or not, something important to note because practically everyone in the house wanted the little boy to be gone.

Dadan saw him as another mouth to feed (something ironic since we were the ones feeding her), I saw him as a walking disaster zone that would constantly poke his elastic nose in places where no one but me should poke, and Ace… he would be mad and angry even if Luffy wasn't here. The brat being around just gave him another excuse to be pissed off at the world.

After Garp left, as he always does, dinner followed. Ace brought his dead animal and I some fresh vegetables from the safe garden. Dadan tried to regain control of the situation by explaining to Luffy “the rules of the house.” In short words, and with less growls and spit, she told him that he would eat more when he hunted some game for everyone, o, if he did some house chores, like washing the floors, or cleaning some dishes, or you know, things adults usually do instead of leaving them for children to do.

Luffy just told her how lame she and the rest of the bandits were and that he was...pretty okay actually at the prospect of having to do chores like us. Apparently Garp did throw him at the raw and wild jungle just like us with the same goal. He boasted how he was capable of eating anything in it to become strong and become a very strong pirate. Dadan, meanwhile, was obviously very rattled at the fact she couldn't even intimidate a seven year old.

Ace ate next to me in silence, (obviously not because he wanted to but because there were no other better places to sit) and listened to the little kid’s words with a stony and cold expression. After finishing his bowl of food he got up and left without saying goodbye to anyone. I hesitated about following him; maybe I could talk to him, strike a conversation or just cause a reaction but in end I decide it would be worthless. He was stubborn like a mule on his good days and an outright asshole on his bad ones and today or the other days before this ones weren't good ones.  I didn’t want to be the receiver of more tween angst or anger. I had better things to do.

Only another person besides me noticed Ace was leaving.

“Hey where’s Ace going? Hey Ace wait for me!” Luffy immediately set off to follow him, solving another problem for me without even trying.

With those two busy and Dadan and her loser club getting drunk I had my way clear.

Time to do my night shift.

                             XXXXXXXXX

To become a parahuman one needs two things: an Agent and a trigger. Not anyone can become one. You have to possess the potential for powers which shows on our brains in the form of the Corona Pollentia: the portion of our brains that changes and adapts to allow us to control our abilities. It's also the way our brains can connect to our Agents which are the source of the powers.

But that alone is not enough to have powers. You have the Agent but you still  need the other  part of the process. The trigger.

Back in college I went to a seminar on powers and capes for those in the advanced courses that spoke of triggers. A PRT scientist brought by the university talked about the different powers classifications and the general nature of triggers and the events behind them. It was an experimental study full of flaws and holes mostly because powers were still a relatively recent thing even after thirty years.

Mental pains and triggers caused mentally-driven powers while physical threats and triggers caused physical-driven powers. Some other stuff was theorized and because of that was less certain and full of hypotheses. Other things were more certain, like the fact than ambient threats seemed to end in powers like force fields or that sons and daughters of capes had an easier time getting powers and those powers would be  related to the parents in some way.

Hearing of triggers and learning more from that topic also caused far less pleasant memories and questions to arise. About my own trigger, and the causes behind it. It was an awkward line of thought because I swore to myself to never dig up those memories for any reason yet here I was, giving them some life once again.

I knew enough of triggers by hanging around other capes most of my life, and  thanks to that my knowledge about them grew and I  learned things about what makes us what we are. In retrospect it was pretty easy to see in all parahumans, but especially so for tinkers like myself.

Suffering. That’s what forms us and make us capes. Making  tinkers,  I noticed, was a long process of just that.  Long and drawn-out suffering and bad experiences full of pain until everything just... explodes. It was no surprise that most of us chose to be villains. What person would trust a system that they knew failed them?

That and everyone knew that government jobs pay like shit.

But back to triggers: I remembered a friend I met when I was just starting my career as a villain. He liked to compare people with the potential to trigger to bombs, ready to explode. They were already armed, they just needed the right spark to set them off. That spark was a traumatic situation and the resulting explosion was the trigger. Powers came from the chaos of the explosion.

Something that he also loved to remark to me was that we weren't that much different from normal people.  If you wanted a textbook definition of what we are it would be “individuals that go through a traumatic situation which results in the awakening of superpowers.”

We were basically fucked up people that instead of getting just trauma also got superpowers along with them. Really dangerous superpowers.

“We are bombs each one of us,” he told me once during a job. “Both heroes and villains, the only difference between us before and after powers is the size of the explosions we can make.”

A really depressing worldview, I told him that night, but after several years on the job I realized that it wasn’t completely wrong.

A lot of the PRT propaganda and PR was about averting that image. Trying to show the heroes as more than traumatized humans with dangerous abilities and more like paragons of truth, justice and whatever other virtues they could get away with. They had to look heroic and in control of every bad situation that came up because that was what they were for . Because if even the great heroes with their amazing abilities couldn't handle something then the situation was really bad, and if the truth came out about the kind of damaged people that could become heroes then the situation for them and for all of us with powers would deteriorate really fast.

No, it was better to hide the true nature of trigger events from the masses to avoid complicated situations for everyone.

“Good powers for those that did amazing things and bad or lame powers for those that did bad things or went through horrible stuff.” Easier like that, to avoid people throwing themselves in situations they really didn't want to be in just for the slim chance of getting the power to fly or something like that.  They wouldn't know what they would be sacrificing for that chance and most likely a lot of them wouldn't be happy with the result.

Powers didn’t solve anything at first. In fact, they were prone to create more problems, but if you were smart enough they could give you the tools to solve a lot if one was willing to use them to their fullest. You just had to be ready for the fallout of such use when the time arrived.

Just like now. They were helping me a lot.

“It's okay sweetie, just eat it all. It's all for you,” I purred to my beautiful creation as I caressed part of its lovely trunk. It was one of my finest works since my rebirth, I could admit.  Made with blood, effort and a lot of love and several dead animals as tests for its appetite

Its head and its mouth kept moving as it chewed and digested the fresh meat. The head was inspired by  Dionaea Muscipula,  the Venus Flytrap, but only on the surface. This plant required a pure meat diet to keep producing what I needed and because of that its entire biology was different from flowers or plants. For one, it had a “throat”. I called it that because it had the same function as the ones in a human or an animal. To carry food to its stomach. Its three stomachs. And it showed, its long neck ended in a round body above the ground. On the outside it looked like the plant had a red pot belly but in the inside it was actually more complex than that.  One for processing and separating. It consumed what it needed for its growth and maintenance, then separated the rest for the other two. These two had the most important job and because of that they  were less stomach and more processing centers. Their function was to mix the nutrients of the meat with the artificial fluids of its insides and then carry them through the ground to another project. This one was a much delicate and dangerous creation than the previous one.

I called it project Embryo. Shitty name, I know, specially since no one but me knew it existed but I've always insisted that important things should always have names and this was the most important thing I had going on for me.

This one looked like a weapon on the outside with its threatening exterior, its pathological consumption of meat and its really big mouth filled with sharp protrusions that probably would made someone think that it was more shark or leech than plant. And while it looked threatening and terrifying enough the sad truth was that it could defend itself only slightly well. It wasn't made for combat, sadly, but that was okay as I had installed enough defenses on the body to make a good deterrent of both beast and people that came near.

I moved from my spot next to Embryo while it ate and followed its most superficial roots, to an area on the ground where its roots extended until they sank once again near cordoned off areas of planted ground. and the real focus of the project. In there sleeping flowers, separated from one another by a wide margin, waiting to bloom at the end of this long process. When they opened their petals it would mean that project Embryo would finally end and the next stage would start. However after three failures and two... incidents,  I was wary. My resources were limited and the only reason I insisted so much on keeping working on this was because the result, if successful, was absolutely worth it, but until now the odds hadn't been in my favour. For now it had a good development streak, but with this kind of thing you never knew. Sometimes my power was too much like actual gardening to be convenient.

I knew immediately when the nutrients arrived at their respective stomachs when the flowers started to shine.  It was like they were mirrors and the sun itself reflected off them -- something that was quite eye-catching since it was the middle of the night. At first that was quite troublesome since a big part of this experiment was it's secrecy. But some slight and very careful modification of the petals made the glow subside to be less bright and attention catching.  I have to admit that it was quite pretty the first time but the effect and awe at my creation passed with time like everything else. Still, the beauty of  the flowers weren't the important thing. The things under them were.

It was a womb and breeding center all the same. A giant plant feeding from life and making flowers that at the same time gave birth to something bigger. Something that was my way out of this fresh hell. A new type of seed, and even more super seed among those that were already considered “super”. I just needed to keep it hidden from anyone or anything. My attempts weren't always successful. Dadan had found me in the middle of a tinkering session in my first attempts at what would become Embryo. Obviously her reaction wasn't something good but luckily I managed to calm her down with some paralyzing dust I made beforehand for a situation like this. I blew it in her face before her shouts could drag all of the bandits and wild animals to our position and then calmly explained to her all the things I would do to her if she didn't shut her trap and told anyone what she saw. I also explained to her that even if she did managed to do something to me Garp was going to annihilate her. He was neglectful yes, but not unloving.

That shut her up. For a while. When my grandpa came again to visit, she couldn't resist the temptation to blurt pretty much everything to him. He was doubtful obviously, but her annoying insistence that he should go and check the place finally convinced him, if only to shut her up.

When they arrived there was nothing, only an empty clearing, as far as a jungle could be empty. Dadan’s credibility flew out the window and mine was raised. I was tempted to just tattle right there how much of a useless bitch she was and watch how Garp gloriously put her into her place, but something stopped me. It wasn't some newfound sense of empathy with her, or some sort of attachment or anything like that.

It was the haunting realization that even if Garp did punish her, and, more unlikely, take my brother and me out of this fresh hell, we could land somewhere worse than this.

If Dadan was his first choice to raise a pair of children and she was a bandit, then who was his second? God, for all I knew we might land with some psychopath or Marine buddy of his. Murder victim in one path and forced into the Navy on the other. Which was worse, I had no idea and honestly I didn't want to find out.

So I did what I considered to be the most sane choice and saved her from her posible death by fist. But I made it  clear that it wasn't free.

‘I own you now, bitch. If you thought you were getting rid of me then you thought wrong. You are mine in body, mind and fucking soul.’

Our deal was easy. She just got me some specific things that I needed during her raids and I didn't do anything that would imply that she was involved in my tinkering in the jungle in case someone stumbled on it again. After that everything was unchanged between us. I still did my excursions to Grey Terminal when I needed more things but thanks to her contribution I could space out the visits. Something both my nose and my clothes could thank.

She still tattled to gramps about the two of us constantly, but now I just let her. I learned over time she could complain about Ace killing someone, or me burning the shack and all Garp would do was laugh like we just did something funny and just punch us in the head.  That probably was his way of showing how many shits he gave about her issues with us. It was raising us or jail, and complaining about it and insulting us were probably the only ways she had to cope about being stuck with us.

When the feeding process ended the glow began to recede and that meant it was time for me to go to my next ongoing project. After my departure the plant would stop reading my emotional signature and go back to sleep once again till my next visit. I made it so it would awaken only to my signature. For others it would remain asleep, but ready to strike if someone that wasn't me got too close.

I sighed. I really wanted to go to bed but checking the other experiments was a priority. Also, I didn't want to help Ace hide the body of Luffy if he’d killed him.

“This is going to be a loooong week. I can tell that already.” I said to no one.

                           XXXXXXXXX

It was a long week, but one where we settled into some kind of odd routine.

Every morning the three of us kids would wake up, eat and do the opposite of what Dadan or her bandits told us to do.

Ace went to do whatever the hell he did with Blondie in Grey Terminal while Luffy followed him like a puppy. The boy didn't know how to get a hint, it seemed.

Ace didn't want to do anything with him or with anyone, and it showed on Luffy. Everyday of that week he came back with bruises, cuts, and some slight bleeding, and only one person in the whole house gave two shits about that and ironically that person was me.

Not only had I had to keep constant daily contact with the little brat but I also had to play nurse with him since there wasn't anyone else who could. I hadn't wanted to do it at  first - in fact I purposely tried to avoid contact with him unless it was absolutely necessary - but Dadan probably knew this and after seeing him like that decided to send him after me anyway, telling him I could heal him.

I was really tempted to just leave him like that after he went shouting and calling to me the loudest he could at the tree house. His presence was even more unwelcome since I was in the middle of refining a new formula for my cookies that would make me earn more money. His voice broke my concentration and almost made me throw the tube with the substance to the floor, almost ruining an hour of hard work.

So here I was, cleaning some of his cuts and bruises while he ran his mouth, constantly asking questions about everything non-stop and a few times even trying to eat some of my ingredients, after asking if they were things he could eat and not waiting for my answer. I was tempted to just let him eat one of the poisonous plants with some meat to see if I could shut him up but I quickly crushed that line of thought. He was fucking annoying, sure, but that didn't mean he deserved to be poisoned.

After patching him up I made sure his clothes were fixed and in place, and after that I immediately put a cookie into his mouth, and two more after he swallowed the previous one. Some cookies were worth a few seconds of pure, gorgeous silence to let me regain my bearings.

As Luffy chewed and swallowed the cookies I put another one in his hands before he could open his mouth once again.

A few seconds more.

Despite my desires for Luffy to leave, I had a burning doubt about him that wouldn't stop bothering me no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, and since I had him here with me…

“Hey Luffy.” He perked up at hearing his name. “Why do you keep following Ace all the time. You do realize he doesn't want to be friends with you right?”

He looked at me for a few seconds and then laughed like I just told him the funniest thing ever.

“Shishishishi…”

What.

When he stopped laughing, I was surprised to find that instead of his goofy look as always, there was a serious and determined one. I had no idea a kid could even pull it off without looking ridiculous, but somehow he did.

“That's because I want him to be my friend! He’s also really cool just like you even if he's mean. I want us to be friends too, big sis!!” His voice was full of the innocent belief and honesty that only kids could give which was only multiplied by his conviction he could actually be his friend. How cute, but how naive. Despite that his answer was disconcerting.

“I see…” I didn't know how to answer. Friendship? That was the reason he tolerated Ace’s beatings or whatever was thrown at him? Seriously?  Didn't he get that my brother didn't want to be friends with him? Also why would somebody want to be friends with my brother?  He was the definition of an asshole.

A normal kid would have taken the hint already. If you could call all the things he put you through as hints…

“Shishishishishi, it's okay big sis, you're cool too. You give me cookies. Those are yummy.” And before I could do anything he stretched and grabbed the whole bowl on the table and chucked all the cookies inside his mouth and somehow managed not to die from choking. I knew that I should have hidden the stupid bowl, thank the gods that Makino gave me the week off to “help Luffy adjust” because every time he came he ate dozens of cookies. After the first day I stopped making my special cookies and decided to stick with the normal kind. I didn't need him to become addicted to them and considering how much he ate that was probably the right choice.

After chugging them down he immediately stretched his arms to reach for more , except these one were still uncooked and were just pure cookie dough. At first I was shocked he could be such a glutton, but now? Unfazed was the word to describe me.

Before he could reach the tray I stepped in and grabbed his hand with more force than necessary and stared at him.

“No,” I told him. I was still curious about his powers but he didn't know anything besides that they came from a magical fruit and because apparently that fruit was cursed by the sea he couldn't swim. A ridiculous notion, I told myself, but since I was the girl with the powers that came from a planet-consuming alien, who I was to decide what was ridiculous or not?

“Come on! I'm still hungry big sis, and cookie dough tastes good.” He tried to pull free but I didn't budge.

“No,” I told him again, and when he still tried to struggle I pulled a knife. He stopped struggling upon seeing it and I let his hand go.

 A previous time he tried to do the same but after  I slightly stabbed his arm he understood I wasn't fucking around when I told him no. Pretty fucked up, I know, but I wasn’t his mother or his actual big sister and my patience was already running out that day. I was taking care of him, but only because I realized that in the vast array of bad choices for caretakers in the house I was probably the least bad, and because Ace wouldn't stop trying to get rid of him if Luffy kept following him, and it was a known fact by now that he would. Healing his bruises was the least and only thing I'd do if he kept doing this stubborn and stupid thing. Stupid kid trying to melt that frozen heart with the power of friendship, he should have gotten the memo that not even Disney could pull it off.

“And stop calling me big sis, I told you already my name's Anne.”

“Okay, big sis!”

I twitched. Fuck Garp for telling him to call me that and fuck the old hag for encouraging it.

Perhaps I should have fed the kid to that giant snake near her when he first came. Less troubles if I had done so.

I just hoped he didn't get in a too big of a mess tomorrow. I could use the extra hours of peace.

                                      XXXXXXXXX

That day everything went just as always. Ace left the house stoically in order to steal shit, Luffy followed him like an annoying puppy and Dadan issued orders that nobody paid any mind. As for me I decided to gather some ingredients in my garden and check out my projects, do some personal training to keep me in shape, and lastly have a tinkering session to keep me up and going. A normal day, except for one thing.

Luffy didn't come back with Ace that afternoon.

At first I didn't give it too much thought. I told myself that he probably fell somewhere or got distracted on the way back by a butterfly or something.

Then the night fell and I grew more worried. Where the hell was he? Did he get lost? Did an animal get him, like the giant snake or those rhyming monkeys? Was he lost and cold or dying somewhere? Was he crying and asking that someone find him?

He was just a kid.

I didn't know and that uncertainty only filled me with more dread. However I knew something for sure.

If Luffy died or went missing we were all fucked.

He was the biological grandson of Garp, his flesh and blood. He had him for seven years before throwing him to the proverbial wolves that were the bandits, instead of leaving him at birth like us. Worse, he told me to help him out, to take care of him. He told the brat I was going to be his new “big sister” and to be nice to me. He wanted us, for some reason to be a family, support each other and all that crap. And now there was a chance that he was dead and all of us would pay for that.

If Luffy dies then Dadan is fucked even if she doesn't realize, but what about Ace and me? What is  he going to do about us? Punish us for not taking care of our baby brother? That was obvious, but how? How was he gonna do it?

I didn't want to know and because of that I needed to find the brat and bring him back and only one person  knew where the hell he had been.

Ace.

                                     XXXXXXXXX

Ace did know about Luffy and after some “coaxing” ( I just blew some emotion dust in his face to make him more pliable) he told me.

I was not happy.

“What the fuck do you mean you left him there, you idiot!? He's seven, you fuckwit!!”

Earlier today Luffy followed Ace like a puppy, as always, but apparently he was in a shorter mood that day because he couldn't take the pestering and he ended up pushing Luffy… off the hanging bridge that were on top of an empty abyss full of sharp rocks on the side. And didn't search for him, after that.

What a fucking idiot.

With the effect of the dust passing quickly Ace, once again, looked at me in the same pissy and broody way as always, with a bigger scowl decorating his face. He did that for a few seconds before speaking again.

“Yeah, so what if I did? He should've stopped following everywhere, the stupid brat.”

I looked at him without knowing what to answer. How to find a word to express my feelings about this? I couldn't. So I did the next best thing.

I punched him. Hard.

As he took several steps back, while clutching his left cheek I spoke again. This time, having found words that expressed what I thought.

“Are you insane?! He's seven goddammit!! Are you a fucking psychopath or something!? How could you!? Do you have any idea what Garp would do if that kid dies? Do you?” He tried to talk but I didn't let him, I was too furious for that.  “Of course you don't, you're too stuck in your stupid dreams to actually know what the real world is actually like, you dumbass. And since you live in a world of fucking impossibilities, let me tell you the harsh truth. If that brat dies we're all fucked, so you better wish he’s still alive somewhere in this forsaken jungle, because if he's not I'll kill you myself, Ace.” I huffed while recovering my breath, then I looked to my brother. That was foolish, my relationship with my brother hadn't been good for a long while and now…

It was a problem to be solved tomorrow, after I found the boy and made sure he was okay.

And why was I doing this? Because fuck others being useful for once in their lives.

 I went to the door. Ace mumbled something, and I stopped, I shouldn't waste time but...

“What did you say?”

He looked at me, dark and angry.

“Of course you care more about him than me, that's what I said.” His voice sounded vindictive but it also had an undercurrent of hurt. I had gone too far. “You're always around him and the brat can't stop talking about how cool you are and how you always give him cookies and heal him.” I tried to talk but nothing came out. He chuckled with no joy.  “You think you're so much better than me with your books and that job and Gramps thinking you're an little angel but I know you. You're no better than me. You're nothing. You always talk big about how my dream is stupid and I should do something better, but you never tell me what I should be instead of a pirate. And I know why. That because you don't know. And you hate that. So don't pretend you're better than me when I know how clueless and empty you are and what do you do in the jungle.”

I stared at him. Those things he told me...my fist tightened and I felt the sudden urge to punch him again. I was clueless? The one that got nothing? I was much more than that little shit could ever be and I almost told him so. But I didn't, because that was what he wanted and I couldn't waste more time. I'd deal with this after I'd dealt with the situation with Luffy. And what I did in the jungle ?  What the fuck would he know. He knows shit about me as well.

So I turned my back on him, left the room and didn't bother looking back, with my only satisfaction being that I smashed the door behind me.

                            XXXXXXXXX

The vial in my hand had never felt so heavy.

This was a bad idea. I was no hero and I had no sudden compulsion to become one. I could just pretend that nothing happened and wash my hands of this business

But I couldn't, because like it or not Luffy's safety was partly my business now, since everyone else was seemingly ignorant or indifferent to the consequences of something happening to him.

So, yeah. I had to save a little boy's life apparently. And wasn't that an irony.

I didn't want to do this, but I couldn't leave him to rot in the jungle. Kids were annoying, especially this one, but that didn't mean that they deserved the horrible fate of having to fend for themselves in this jungle wounded as he probably was. Besides, everyone should have standards, and leaving kids to die crossed so many lines that I knew that if I left and ignored this I wouldn't be comfortable in a long while.

Decision made, I unplugged the vial and downed its contents in one go.

And as I felt my whole body burn I knew I had made a huge mistake. I closed my eyes as  hard as I could and bit my hand trying to hold down the scream.  I stayed like that for a while - how long I didn’t know -  and when the pain finally receded and I felt like I could breath once again, I opened my eyes and a new world greeted me.

Colours. They were everywhere and in everything that breathed, a beautiful multicolor world constantly shifting with multiple songs accompanying each one. A world that didn't know silence or blackness and where the emotions of every single living being in miles around created a portrait worthy of remembrance.

And I hated it.

I wanted the colours and the music to disappear, to fade away and leave me be, but I couldn't because this power was the fastest way I could track down my objective.

I focused on colours and the music, not just those around me but all the ones I could sense and when I did, I searched for the one I wanted. Ignoring the ones closest to me, I focused on how I always perceived Luffy in the most objective way I could.

“Warm, annoying, curious, childish, upbeat, determined…”

I searched, began adding words until I found him. It wasn't easy. There were so many colors and I just wanted it to-

There.  I found him.

He wasn't that far but from what I could see he wasn't okay. That was fine. That meant I still had a chance.

I just needed to get there. I grabbed everything I needed and left, ready to start my rescue mission.

XXXXXXXXX

SEED 1.3. End.

Chapter Text

Seed 1.4

“You do realize you aren't as smart as you think you are, right? If you think you're getting away with this then you're insane, girl. If you don't stop this, right now, you're going to get caught by the heroes and then they're going to-aghhh!!”

“How many times have I told you. Do. Not. Call. Me. Girl. My name is Oleander. O-L-E-A-N-D-E-R. There, I spelled it out for you since I know that you're stupid. Remember  it if you didn't like that.”

“Ahhh, y-you fucking bitch!! I'll kill you!! Crazy cunt!!, You’re going to- AHHHHH.”

“Also don't call me bitch, or cunt. Nothing personal sweetie, but you know. You need to learn how to treat a girl. Now where was I? Oh yes!!”

“Y-You, bitc-AHHH!!”

Behind her mask, Oleander smiled and licked her lips.

                                                            XXXXXXXXX

Why had I thought starting a rescue mission in a jungle at night  was a good idea? Oh yeah, because I was a fucking moron, so maybe I deserved to die like one, right? I guess it could be worse if I had started this without my emotion sight, but that didn't made the fact that I was running like crazy in a jungle full of deadly predators at night any easier. As I avoided another fucking panther whose  territory I inadvertently entered, I couldn't help but think that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if Luffy bit it.

Fuck, why the hell was I even doing this? I'm supposed to be the bad guy, the one that causes the rescue mission on the injured kid, not the opposite. Then again,  I never was that kind of villain anyway, and killing kids or leaving them to die always seemed to be the kind of thing that only the highest kind of psychopath would do, which I worked hard to not to be like.

However, that didn't mean that I was comfortable doing this, and I had someone to blame.

This is your fault Ace.  Hope you fucking get the worse case of acne in the history of teenagers. That's if I don´t kill you first, you brooding piece shit.

Our relationship... it never was easy, but some tacit cordiality existed between us, but now… well “broken” seemed a good term for it, not to say “horribly fucked and re-fucked beyond repair.” I knew that our relationship would never be as close as I hoped to be, we were… too different for that kind of closeness, but still. The thought that whatever we had between us was destroyed...bothered me even though I didn't know why. I knew somewhere along the line that this was going to happen and it did. So why the hell did it bother me so much?

I could ponder that the whole night but it wouldn't be useful at all, so why bother? My method of leaving everything that wasn´t vital till the last moment had worked for me so far, so why change it? I had a job and I needed to do it. My personal feelings on the matter were not useful for it, so for now they needed to be discarded. Just the mission remained.

And speaking of that where was that little boy?

Moving in the world of colors was a difficult task when unfocused, because everything that breathed had its own song and every soul is it's own colorful hue souls. But humans were the easiest to find and the hardest to ignore. Their emotions were the most addictive drug to have ever existed, their love, their pain, their everything the most delicious thing I could touch, drain, and feel. Better than sex, money or the the thrill of success.

And that's why I hated it. When I was using the Sight I was like a junkie constantly searching for their drug of choice, but it was worse, much worse. People were everywhere, and it was so easy…

People should stick to their own emotions. Easier that way for everyone involved.

I avoided another dimmed light (another giant snake, a human eater this one) and went down and down, following the brightest light with the loudest music of them all to find the lost kid in the ugly wild place.

You're going to owe me so much, Luffy, that you would't be even be able to comprehend it until you’re fifty-two with grandchildren.

As I kept going down I heard a roar behind me. A dimming light full of protective wrath barrelled close to me. I sped up and jumped up into a tree, narrowly avoiding what would have been an ugly slash. A bear, and I was such a fool for entering its territory. I purposely dimmed Luffy´s light a little and focused more on those around me. A small light in a branch-a spider, possibly venomous- which I avoid, only to jump to another closer branch as I sensed a slightly  larger light - a viper- gets too close for comfort. I jumped to a lower branch and then let myself fall; the bear was still near, but at this distance it wouldn’t pursue me anymore.

I focused once again on Luffy's light and...it’s moving!? Um, that probably meant that he’d finally regained consciousness. That’s good, but if he’s moving then finding him was going to be slightly more complicated than I thought and with all those predators in the area smelling fresh meat…

I needed to hurry or else I’d be bringing home a body instead of a kid.

                                                           XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“You know dearie, you’re a terrible conversation partner. You barely speak anything, or at all! You should say something, y’know.”

Ugh, you’re a fucking bitc- AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

“Sorry, I’ll correct myself darling. You should say something, except that or any of its variations. Um, with such filthy mouth of yours I don't know how that lovely wife of yours ever chose to marry you. Do you say such awful words to your daughter as well?”

“M-My daughter!? How do you know about her!?”

She laughed, full of amusement and grace as if  he had just told something hilarious.

“Did you seriously think I would do this without some information? I know everything about you dearie. From the food you like, to your favourite coffee shop, to even how many girls you fucked before your wife and that little mess you made with the gym teacher and even at what age your ugly teeth started to fall off when you were an ugly ass kid. I’m practically like your bestie since I know everything about you and all  that. Can you feel it. The connection between us? It’s there, I know dear.”

He started to speak, his look a panicked one but Oleander put a gloved hand on his mouth.

“Shush, it's okay, everything is forgiven, because I know it all comes from the heart, so it's okay dear. But I need you to understand something. I´m the nice one, get that? Because everything I do, I'll do it just to you and only you because I’m not the type to blame the daughter for the father’s dumb mistakes. But my friend on the other side of that door won't be so kind. Does the name Bastard Son ring any bells to you?”

The man paled. She smiled and got closer to him in a way reminiscent of a lover about to kiss their beloved. Then, when she was near enough, she whispered into his ear.

“He's going to make that lovely wife of yours his favourite toy of the day while your daughter watches. And the only thing keeping him in line is me and the promise that you’ll sing for me. The pain of before? That was your punishment for being naughty and, of course, your first and final warning. This is the final offer, if you won’t talk to me then Bastard Son is going to make them talk.  Do you understand?”

His face got red and his mouth opened, but he stopped before saying anything with a resigned look on his face. “I'll do everything you want, just… just please let them be. They don't know that I work for your lot. They believe I have a regular job. Just... please.”

She touched his face, caressing his cheek as if to comfort him. A move that looked so intimate and delicate but yet so wrong in this kind of situation.

“It’s okay dear, I understand the temptation of the money, so if you’re lucky and start to talk  right now you may see them again safe and sound, just like that. But remember this: You don’t steal from the Elite. Remember that or we’ll brand it into you so you don’t forget it.”

                     XXXXXXXXXXXXX

I found him. He was alive. Good. He was also really terrified but that could be solved.

Another light was really close to him, all ferocity and hunger. A tiger. Fuck, that was bad.

I hesitated for a second, then I looked in my bag and grabbed the last thing I hoped to use. Two things in fact.  Another flask with liquid, this one of the purest white I could ever imagine. I downed it -- fuck precautions. My head burned once again, but the colors and sounds dimmed a little, so mission accomplished in that.

I pulled out another thing. A weapon. I wasn’t even sure why I made it this way but I guess nostalgia won me over in the end.

Time to whip it.

The tiger approached too close to Luffy and he swiped a huge tree branch with its tip on fire at it to keep it away. It only does the opposite, as the beast swiped at him and sent the branch flying away.The boy slipped back closer to the big fire he made at the center of the clearing, panting and terrified. How had I not seen the smoke? Oh right, the colors, fuck. I saw how Luffy frantically looked around- probably in search of another weapon- while slowly moving back to a dark part of the jungle. Fuck, if he ran again I would have to resume all that searching. As he panicked the tiger prowled closer and closer to him..

I needed to do this.

Time to fight a tiger. Fuck, I was gonna fight a fucking tiger. Luffy, just so you know, you’re going to become my bitch after this.

I jumped to the clearing and as I touched the ground, the rose on my hand was already growing and expanding its trunk and extending like a sudden growth. It kept going like that until it's a few feet in length, twitching and covered in thorns. A memento from my past that was useful once and I hoped it would be again.

I land a few feet away from between both Luffy and the tiger, near the big fire the kid had built. It noticed me immediately and looked at me, roaring. It was hungry and Luffy was afraid, but shocked as well. He hadn’t expected me, or anyone to come and help. He wasn't the only one. I had really thought that I was going to give up on this whole attempt at being heroic halfway through,  but I guess I had underestimated myself all this time.

Still...I had to fight a fucking tiger, in an uncontrolled situation without anyone to help me, so honestly running away sounded kinda good right now.

“S-sis…” Luffy stared at me. Fear and some determination were still present in his colors but something else was mixed in now: relief. Oh, he’s glad to see me, happy even. Well buddy you shouldn’t count on me so much because you see I’m also really fucking scared-as-shit. Why? Let me say it again. I’m about to fight FUCKING TIGER.

Okay girl, you can do this. Probably. You fought things and guys badder and meaner than this one...in your previous life when your body was far more developed and had years of experience to rely on, and you had  high-end equipment. But you have a weapon, that dumb tiger doesn’t (besides it's obviously very sharp claws and teeth), while your main one is a whip you're not even so sure you can handle properly like you once did.

It’s okay though because you-I mean I can do it. Totally. And just out of curiosity has your heart ever pounded that hard? Oh yeah it always did when a big fight was upcoming.

The tiger looked at me and I tensed while my heart sped up and blood started pulsing  in my body and… I couldn’t help but think that with the colors and sounds dimmed, and the fire casting shadows on its face and the hairs on its back straight up it looked terrifying . Like a monster that used to live under the bed and now was alive in here. Ready to make me its next tasty morsel.

I stared at it for what seems to be an eternity, but then I made my move. I didn't think; I just acted, mostly because I knew that if I stopped and did that I would probably run away due to how much of a terrible idea this was. It turned out to be the right move since the second I start the predator followed me. It roared and went straight for Luffy, provoking me to move faster and attack with more desperation than I ever thought I’d have. The whip lashed out in a way more clumsy than I would wish and cracked the floor a few steps before the tiger, but that was okay since it was never my target in question. I knew I could never actually hurt something with this as I was right now, so I added a few more tricks for it to work as intended.

Where the whip cracked the floor a whirwhild of watercolor energy started to form up, and the beast which had retreated a few steps, took a few more and gave a roar. It tensed and looked at the new thing that formed in front of it. In a few seconds the energy was a full whirlwind of watercolor yellow, and most importantly, ready to burst.

“Luffy, jump back, now!!” And in his defense he did, jumping and scrambling several feet back. The whirlwind of power burst and sprayed on the wild animal like paint, soaking it and turning its fur yellow for a second before returning to normal as it had was absorbed by its skin. It stopped, paralyzed.

We both looked at the predator and it looked at us. For a moment it looked like it was about to charge at us again and then… it turned its back to us, running away and making sounds that  was more suited for a large domestic cat than one of supposed deadly predators of the wild.

What.

Really? That was it? That was kinda...underwhelming.  I was expecting a more challenging fight ...it just ran away. I looked at my whip. Had I made it better than I thought I did?

“Big sis Anne!! That was so cool!!” a tiny voice said before a tiny body collided with me, and for the first time I didn't push him away. He pushed his face to my collarbone and remained there, his hands wrapped around me, and I hesitantly returned his hug. One time wouldn't hurt me and he needed it more than me.

“Are you okay,” I asked him as I pushed him back. “You weren't bitten or scratched by anything right?”

He looked at me and shook his head while smiling. “Nope, I'm alright.” A huge rumbling sound came from his stomach in that moment and before he opened his mouth I already had the cookies out just for him. He made a delighted sound and started munching them. I breathed in relief. Finally everything seemed to be fine. We just needed to get the hell out before something else came.

I looked in the direction that the tiger had run. A part of me wanted to stay and spend the night here in this relatively safe area with the fire still on. Part of me was sure that I could do something to stop animals from coming to this place, but the most cynical and realistic part of me told me that I didn't have all I needed to be sure it worked properly and that there were far more dangerous things in this jungle than a tiger.

Doing this mission at night and with such basic equipment seemed dumber. Why the fuck hadn’t I planned better? I could say that Luffy being in danger made me rash, but the truth was that being impulsive was something common for me. I could tell myself that I was a cautious person and that I think things through to the last step, but that would be lying. I did these kind of things back on Earth Bet constantly, and that caused a lot of issues, even from the start of my career, but...that wouldn't be addressed right now. Focus on the right now, Anne, then you can deal with your flaws and your failings. Imaginary and real.

Okay. I had made my mind on we were going to… Wait.

“Luffy did you hear that?” He looked at me, face full of cookie crumbs and a questioning look. “Ummm, hear what?”

“Exactly.” Something was wrong; the jungle was never quiet. Too much life in it for that to happen. Especially at night.

The colors, I needed them back so I could-

“ Weird. Pioneered. Neared. Sheared .” A guttural creepy voice said near us, up on the trees in the darkness of the jungle where the light of the fire didn't reach.. And before I could process it another had joined and I knew what it was.

Oh no.

“ Drill. Fill. Shill. Skill. Kill .” Another one and sooner more and more  whispers joined the chorus.

“Anthill. Landfill. Playbill. Kill.”

“Sawmill. Wind-chill. Overkill-”

“Instill. Fulfil-”

And more. So many that I lost count of how many there were. All words without connection, all in the same ugly, unnatural and guttural tone. All words that could rhyme.

Rhyming monkeys . Pests of the jungle, a talking creepy plague that took joy in attacking everyone around, with humans as their favourites targets.

And they were all around us.

                             XXXXXXXXX

Oleander looked herself in the mirror, took off her mask and emptied her stomach in the toilet, disgusted with herself for what she had done.

She knew that this path wouldn't be easy but still to have to torture a man…

It’ll all be worth it in the end, she thought. When I'll be happy and successful and they will be nothing but an ugly memory.

She gave herself a few minutes to compose herself and to clean everything. She had an image to maintain during this assignment and presenting weakness in Bastard Son’s Branch of the Elite would be costly for her.

Breathe In. Breathe out. Then time to work.

She immediately went to report her success to her handler while trying not to think too hard of the man who she probably just traumatized.

He was a fool for trying to con the Elite, but that didn't erase the fact that while she didn't torture him in the physical sense, she did plenty on the emotional and psychological ones. She tortured a man. That wasn't easy to digest but she forced herself to do it since the last thing she wanted was to ruin her costume again during the duration of this arrangement. He liked two particular types of employees: brainwashed or willing to get their hands dirty and sleep it off. She really didn't want to be the first so that only left being the second, no matter how distasteful.

She breathed in and out once again, and entered the office. Time to play her part

Bastard Son barely looked at her when she entered, too focused on some papers on his table but he still spoke. “Report.”

“It's done, sir,”  she said and left the pen drive with the recorded interrogation on his table.

“Is it now?” She couldn't see due to his mask but she didn't have to see it to know the barely subtle doubt in his voice. She didn't let that annoy her. She was still an uncertain card on the organization's table after all.

“Sit newbie. I'll watch this and evaluate your performance.” She did as told and remained still, as he watched what was basically a torture session.

After finishing it, he looked at her and spoke with amused mirth. “So, the little flower has some thorns after all. Good to know. I had my doubts when Agnes Court sent you to me. I thought that the bitch was giving me some dead weight that messed up, but I'm glad that for once I was wrong. You have some steel behind such pretty colors. Heh, that’ll be useful to me .”

He passed to her a nondescript file. “This is your next job. We believed that the little rat that you just questioned has ties to a rival organization from the other side of the sea and this little thing that you did confirms it. The Gesellschaft, heh. Those nazi fucks decided to stick their racist fingers in this city and our business and you're going to help me root them out.”  He pointed at the folder. “That has everything you need to start tracking some of their plants and resources in here. Go to see Myriad tomorrow, she'll give you what you need and instructions on how to use them and, of course, tell you how I like things done around here.” She nodded, interpreting this as a dismissal, however when she was about to grab the knob of the door he spoke again. “Oh also, try not to fail. You know what would happen don't you?”

She nodded tersely, fully aware of his power, and left, leaving the man with the smirking mask alone again.

“Heh.”

                        XXXXXXXXX

With their teeth bared, they approached and I grabbed Luffy's hand.  This was bad. I could handle a few of these pests but a huge group like this? Every one as vicious and mean-spirited as the last one? This was really, really bad.

I was surrounded on all sides, with a kid alongside me that was probably more of a liability than actual help and the possible solution in my bag of tricks was as much of a danger to me as the monkeys. There was only one word to say about this situation.

Fuck.

XXXXXXXXX

SEED 1.4. END

Chapter Text

Seed 1.5

If you asked me what was the most dangerous beast in the jungle, I would answer with only one thing:

Rhyming monkeys.

I know right. It sounds stupid. What the fuck are rhyming monkeys and why should everyone  fear them?

Well I would start with the fact that their voices are the creepiest thing I have ever heard in my life. If you ever watched The Lord of the Rings (I heavily recommend the Aleph version without Nicolas Cage) then you should remember Gollum. Their voices are like that, only with more gravel and screeching and with the constant need to do rhymes that end on threatening words.

Oh and that. Apparently they decided as a group what to do when they start to rhyme the same last word at the same time with impressive coordination. Why? I don't know.

They might be small, but they shouldn't be underestimated because of that. They attacked in groups, in semi-organized ways (seriously how the fuck do they manage to coordinate attacks) and divide themselves into close combat groups and those that attack from a distance, throwing rocks, sticks and toxic shit. Yeah toxic shit. It's purple, or green or even fucking yellow.

It stings and burns when they hit you. When it's yellow, it melts your skin. When it's green and when it's purple it's poisonous and leaves you with an ugly rash. It doesn't kill you but you'll end up wishing that it did.

What species they resemble? I don't know. And to be truthful I didn’t know why they were called monkeys. They certainly didn’t look like the  monkeys from Bet. They looked like someone had decided to grab things from several species and stitched together to make some weird abomination in monkey form. Their faces could be, in an alternate universe be called cute, if they weren’t so bony, and with a constant snarl on their faces. Their heads were too big for their bodies,  their eyes were cat-like and their fur and skin coloration was odd. They looked green, with purple eyes and splashes of orange across their bodies and sometimes black dots on them. Unnatural colors in animals to add to the creep factor of their existence. Their arms were long and thin with retractable claws in them, while their legs were more muscled and defined with paws instead of feet. They didn’t have a tail and their ears were bat-like and heavy with fur.

And lastly their meat was toxic as well. You knew they were evil when you couldn't even eat them in any way. I mean I ate giant snake and even those giant creepy bugs and if these talking vermin were inedible then you knew there was something nasty on them. I had a great number of horrible thing coming from this jungle and nor me or Ace had died of  them but somehow this monkeys could kill us?

And how  I knew this?. I tried once and  regretted instantly when my stomach started to hurt, my breath drew short and  my sight became blurry. Only after vomiting their disgusting flesh I became better, and even after that I was still weak with an ugly aftertaste on my mouth.

Yeah they’re a fucked up species.

Which is why this situation (me and Luffy surrounded by dozens of these pests and without help coming soon) was highly distressing for me.

Fucking nature and its incessant need to fuck me over.

“Luffy,” I told him in the most serious and firm tone I could muster, “Grab my hand and don't let go. I'm gonna make us an exit.” I just hoped I wouldn't kill us or turn us into machines while making it. He looked at me and nodded. Okay, it was all or nothing.

A few monkeys, some of the bigger ones, dropped to the floor and started to come to us slowly, constantly dropping rhymes about tearing us to pieces. On the top of the trees and branches the others monkeys were spreading around and getting ready. Garp told me once that the rocks thrown by them had enough strength to kill us if they hit the right spots, like the eyes or the head.

Killed by a monkey. What an embarrassing way to die. So... let's try not go out like that.

I started digging through my bag trying to find what I wanted but one of the monkeys got too close for comfort, so I used the whip to drive him a little further away. The others started to make noises that were actually animal sounding ones, instead of their usual ones. Shit, that was bad. Change of plans.

"Luffy, I need your help," I said quietly, glancing towards him. He was staring at one of the little beasts that were circling us, and his eyes didn't seem to leave until I called him. "I need you to dig through the bag and pull one of the little bags in there, okay? I need one of the grey ones. A grey one, got it? Don't touch any other. Especially the red ones okay?"

He mumbled- for the first time in a quiet tone of voice- a typical "okay big sis." And started to dig through. I was fully aware that getting him to dig through my bag full of - literally- emotional sensitive items was a risk, but I didn't have anyone else to help with this and of the two of us I was the one with the more controlled abilities and a weapon with reach. My powers could also give a few seconds’ warning before one of them attacked, so that was another point in my favor. I just needed to hold them down until Luffy found what I needed.

More and more monkeys were falling down the branches, some staying up but the majority going down.

"-bear, shear, tear, tear , TEAR ." T heir voices were reaching a crescendo and that meant they were agreeing on what to do with us. They knew we were listening, the fucking sadists. They wanted to enjoy every fucking second of it.

Well, too bad for them because my plan was flawless...if only Luffy hurried the fuck up.

"Luffy, buddy, please hurry up," I said nervously, looking at how much bigger the group was getting.

“'M trying, but they're too many funny-smelling bags inside, big sis.”

"We need the grey ones!" How hard can that be, there are only four colors inside!?

"It's hard to see. It's too dark!!" Fuck, he was right. Even though we were close to the fire it was pretty hard to see. I got by with the color sight but- I snapped my arm to the side and the whip cracked, releasing yellow fear at a monkey in small quantities and making it step back- for the kid it was harder.

The monkeys began to approach closer and closer to us, snarling and spitting, their faces turning into an ugly ructus while repeating the same word: "tear". As in tear us to pieces. Shit.

“Got it!!” I turn to look  and see that Luffy had in his hand a  a few gray bags, while others lay sprawled on his feets. All of them of a different color.

I smiled at him, relieved and happy. "Good! Now I nee-" I couldn't finish talking because that was the moment when the rhyming monkeys attacked. All snarl and claws with hungry looks and salivating mouths.

The little beasts approached fast, jumping and running to us.  I cracked the whip with both yellow fear and blue sadness to keep some at bay, but at the speed they were approaching... there was only one choice.

“Luffy, grab the ones on the floor and  throw them all alongside the gray ones . Now!” One of the monkeys jumped to me but I dodged and punched the little shit right in the stomach

“Huh,” he says. “But didn't you tell-”. He yelped as another one approached but the whip got it  on the face and threw it at another two.

“Do it!! Also don't breathe!!” I tell him as another throws itself at my face before getting headbutted. Fuck that hurt.

Luffy yells in pain from behind -he's facing three- and I try to help him before four more throw themselves at me. I can't help but start thinking that I'm going to die by a group of shitty monkeys before Luffy throws the bags and my vision is filled with nothing but multi-colored dust.

                                                                     XXXXXXXXX

Back in Bet one of the first things I made were emotion dusts. Simple, easy, and at worst having them on me would make look like a druggie instead of a cape if they checked my backpack.  Each flower and plant represented an emotion or a meaning in their own unique language, but my power helped me cheat with that so I didn’t have to spend hours upon hours searching flower meanings and the emotions tied to them.

Apathy was one of the easiest ones. Turns out, it’s pretty easy to make people and animals not give a shit about anything. The complicated thing was to not overdo the effect so they wouldn’t be indifferent to eating, or sleeping, or even living for a long time, so usually I only used a small portion of it. Too much and whoever or whatever was affected would spend hours to days staring at a wall drooling.

Luffy had just thrown  the full contents of several bags of different emotions. Enough to give an  herd of elephants  bipolar disorder.

I coughed out the dust and cleaned my face of it. I brushed it off my clothes when I noticed that my lefty hand was free and without the tiny hand that was there a minutes ago. Luffy, where was he!? I needed to find him. Fuck, fuck, shit I needed to-.

I calmed down and took a small breath. Panicking wouldn’t help, but my power would. The fire was out, but my sight would still function. I focused, and after a few seconds I managed to pin him down. He was at least a meter to my side and close to a small cluster of monkeys with varying emotions, the majority of them gray and blue, with a few yellow and red among them. That was bad. Luffy seemed to be safe but his emotions were off . Damn it, he probably respired some of the dust in the air, but as long he hadn’t consumed an exorbitant amount of it then he should be fine in a while.  

I was immune and the monkeys...

I looked at the closest one to me. It had a vacant look in its eyes and was drooling with its mouth slightly open. To the side there were a small group that were huddled together and making noises that seemed to be crying?

Well they seemed taken care of and sadness blue did work on-

My eyes widened and a cold chilling feeling started creeping on my back as my breath quickened. H-how!? What’s this?

Something snarled and I barely managed to roll to the side as a not-so-small monkey came barreling in. I looked at it and saw the unnatural fur of a rhyming monkey, its mouth frothing and the most terrifying look on its face. His colors were the most violent red I‘d seen in a long time. Shit.

I barely managed to get my bearings again before it came barreling to me once again. I yelled and rolled, its claws barely missing my belly. It turned to me and screeched, sending  spit and saliva all over the ground before launching itself at me once again.

I jumped out of the way but I was very aware that I couldn't keep doing this. I needed to grab Luffy and get the hell out of here. So when the monkey came at me, jumping at my face, I went low and rolled my arm, lashing out with my whip. The monkey seemed fast enough to avoid getting the whip full on but not enough to avoid hitting one of its sides. The cut was shallower than I wanted, but that was fine because before it could come after me again the wound started to glow in a blue light. The little beast stared at it for a few seconds before the light spread to the rest of its body, and the monkey starts seizing before slumping. I smirked, that was my cue.

I rushed to it and cracked the whip. It wrapped itself on the monkey's neck and I pulled it towards me before the effects wore off. When it was close enough I pulled my small knife and stabbed it in its eye. I stared at it for a few seconds before pulling the knife and the whip away, letting it slump to the ground.

I turned to look at Luffy. He was sitting on the ground staring at nothing, next to another monkey drooling and picking its ugly nose. I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding and I knelt next to him and-oh shit.

His eyes, they are dull and unfocused. And his colors...he took in too much of apathy-gray.

I stared at the monkey close to us and the others around us. Above in the trees I saw monkeys either not giving a shit or doing their version of crying. The ones going berserk are few  and not focused on me nor the kid, thank God.

"Luffy," I said as gently as I could, "How are you feeling buddy? Good?”

"Ummm? His voice is flat and monotone as he answers. Fuck. "Oh, there you are big sis. Are you ok?"

Shit. I told him to cover his mouth and nose.  At worst that dust could leave him like that for days. And he was a kid, he was still developing his emotions and shit right? I never used my dust on kids before!! Did I just turn him into some sociopath or something or maybe-

I push Luffy's head to the ground and moved to the side just as a rock passed by. I snarled to the monkey that threw it as it came at me all bark and spite.

"Not-" I stood up. I was tired of these overgrown rats. I ducked under its swipe and punched it right in its ugly mug.

"The-" I punched him again and jumped behind it, stabbing my knife in its neck. The critter yelled and howled but I didn't stop.

"Fucking-" I grabbed a nearby rock and hit its head with it before it can swipe me again. " Time !!" I don't stop hitting until the rock is covered with blood and the wild animal stopped moving.

I returned to the kid's side. He still had the flat and emotionless look as if nothing had been trying to kill him.

"Big sis? Are we leaving here already? I wanna go." I breathed in and out. Focus on the now Anne. First return to the house, then figure out if you turned a nine year old into a robot.

I knew what I needed to do though. I grabbed another colorful vial and drank all of it . I tolerated the burn of my whole body with my eyes closed, and when I opened them once again the world of colors and music had returned

I moved my eyes to my adoptive little brother once again and smiled, as if that could make things better. "Sure thing buddy, let's go home. Grab my hand and don't let go. Okay?"

He nodded, and grabbed my free hand while with the other one I held the whip. We ran  together out of the clearing and didn’t look back.

                                                                                                   Seed 1.5 END.

Chapter Text

Seed 1.6

“Are we there yet?” that irritating monotone voice asked. Again. At first, I thought that Luffy constantly talking to me in a creepy and emotionless tone would really freak me out, especially since he usually was so energetic and happy and just so...full of life. And at first, he did but then...

Turns out the freaking out part passed quite quickly and the being annoyed part started just as fast, if not even faster than the previous one. Turns out that an apathetic Luffy was just as annoying as the normal one, with the difference being that this one didn’t shout and for once did as told. Probably because he just didn't give a shit about anything and had the willpower of a spoon.

“No,” I answered him, again . “Stop asking, you’ll know when we arrive."

“Okay,” he said quietly. I just sighed and kept moving, all the way holding his hand. It was warm and kind of clammy, with the air around us being just like that. I wanted to let go and put some distance between us but I didn’t. I wasn’t going to let go of him until we reached the house, even if for that I had to glue our hands together.  It didn’t mean I had to like it and I didn’t.

I was hot, tired, with sweat in places that no one should have it and ready to just call the night quits. But I didn’t, because this little kid with the hands full of sweat was the reason I was up and diving through this fucking jungle in the middle of the night with only my memory and a world of colors as my guides. I did this just as much for him as for me. 

He needed to know that as much of a bitch I could be to him a lot of the times, I at least could be someone that he could depend upon when everything was dire and he needed help. I knew how it was to grow up feeling that I was alone with nobody to depend on, and with only a single place where I could feel myself. It wasn't pretty and it led to a lot of moments full of ugliness and bad thoughts and Luffy...he didn't deserve to grow up like that. Believing he was alone against the world. I had lived like that, and right now I had a live example with Ace. His heart full of bitterness and hatred of this world was the result of such a type of upbringing. I didn't want Luffy to become like him, and if nobody was stepping up to avoid that then I guess that, of all people, I had to.

And I guess I did it for me... because if I couldn't convince Ace that the path he was on right now would end with him dead, then at least I could help this one to not die. Besides, I finally got a Devil fruit user near me to check and prod. There was no way I was going to miss this.

We kept going through trees and vines, skipping little streams and avoiding predators and deadly animals looking for food. He was quiet and vacant, while I was alert but thoughtful. We were both tired, we both wanted to go home, but for now, just one of us cared to do something.

Luffy was still an apathy zombie and for a while, I thought that what I had done was irreversible. That he was going to be like that forever because of my mistake and that I had ruined another life. Another torture victim without emotion, only emptiness. I quickly quashed those thoughts. My powers had never been too lasting with overarching consequences when they were in dust form. In other forms, they did but never in the dust. But, of course, I’d never used my powers on kids in my entire career as a villain (a victory on my book) so I didn't know if they affected kids differently. There was also the fact that Luffy was a "rubber man": his entire body was composed of such material or maybe his flesh was infused to be like rubber giving him an elastic body and immunity to blunt damage. Did that mean that his brain, and by extension his limbic system, were rubber too? What did that mean for the effect my powers had on him? Were they going to have long-lasting consequences or not? 

A lot of fucking questions and zero answers. Practically the norm these days. It felt that everything I did, all the research I’d conducted the only thing I’d gotten were more questions.

I just breathed and kept going with the hollow kid following me all the way. Representation of another mistake I made, I guessed. What a great start to the beginning of my duties as a big sister. I had officially started this fucking job for like five minutes and I sucked at it already.

I kept going through the jungle, tired and with a kid in tow, and despite seeing nothing but colors and being in the middle of the warm season I couldn’t help but think that the jungle was darker and colder than ever.

                                                           XXXXXX

The knife slid across the flesh of the beast's neck, spilling blood all over the ground and a little on my face. The baboon screamed as it fell, sweeping his hands and trying to hit me but I neatly sidestepped it and finished it off with a stab to its eyes. The dirty thing finally shut its damned mouth and fell to the ground alongside the rest of its friends.

I fell down to my knees, my breath short and my legs tired. To my side, Luffy was holding a sharp stick with the tip covered in blood. He had part of his face lightly scratched and even through his still emotionless face I could see signs of tiredness.

God, I was so tired. I hadn't noticed how much ground I had covered before when I was alone and avoiding fights. Now I had to take care of a little person and was forced to pick up fights just to protect Luffy. The little guy tried to help a few times at my prodding, but his powers were still unrefined and his form, while probably impressive for a seven-year-old, was shit when compared to mine.

I stared at the stick with the blood. Despite his poor form, he had at least had pulled his weight in this fight at his own volition, without me having to ask. My heart filled with relief because it meant that the effects of the dust were finally starting to pass, and with some luck, he was going to return to normal in a while. Or at least I hoped so; I still hadn't the faintest clue at how my powers interfered with his, and right now I was too tired to care for how they did.

I looked at the corpses of the five baboons that attacked us. The dirty animals had attacked us after we wandered into their territory while they were sleeping. I was surprised that there were so few since back on earth they used to gather by the dozens but… why complain now? Their colors at first were muted and dormant, so I thought we could just sneak through without making noise. And we almost did, but just as we were crossing the territory of this baboon family, Luffy’s stomach showed his hunger by making the biggest grumbling noise I ever heard from him. That woke up the ugly primates and their obscene butts and they showed their displeasure at our presence. A relatively short but intense fight ensued and now we were both standing on top of five corpses.

I looked at my little brother (that sounded odd, even in my head. Better get used to it.) "Are you alright? Did one of them get to you?" He shook his head and opened his mouth, but before he could spout a word on that creepy flat tone of his a loud sound interrupted us. A growling sound. 

I looked down at his stomach and chuckled for the first time this night. My mood increased, seeing that faint flickers of embarrassment appear on the colors of his body.

Another stomach growls and I realize it's mine.  I guessed all this running around had obvious consequences.

"I'm hungry," Luffy said in a laconic way. "Do we have any meat?"

I looked down at the corpses of the monkeys. And then to my stomach and the emptiness inside of it and then to his that just at that moment started to growl again. Then I looked back at the corpses.

"We do," I told him. "A lot of it, in fact."

A few minutes later we had a nice fire going and some monkey meat on the fire, with the dark night slowly clearing away to another bright day. We ate in silence and for a while, all I could think was that we could take a small breath and just enjoy our meal. The monkey meat was a little dry and its taste left a lot to be desired, but it was good and it was filling so I kept eating it. Luffy kept eating it too, but I was sure that he could eat a mountain of rocks with bread and cheese, so I was sure that eating this, even if it was tough as steel, wasn’t a problem for him.

I checked our surroundings with my sight to watch for predators or other threats around us. There were none, and I breathed out in peace. For now, we were safe, but we’d have to move soon. I was getting tired and ready to drop, my whole body screaming for some respite and I wanted to give it but I couldn’t, not now. We had to find a safe space, but I knew of only one truly worth it: that shitty shack in the middle of this ugly mountain, full of good for nothing bandits and a surly brother that was more stranger than family. But it was also the only place he knew. Luffy. I didn’t care about myself, mostly because I felt that I could be fine even if I lived in a fucking shoebox in the middle of a wasteland. I could deal and learn. I had done that my whole life. But him? He probably knew nothing but this island and its people for his short life. He had Makino before, kind and sweet, who represented what a mother should be. But she was gone now, miles away in her own warm home and probably thinking of both her business and Luffy. He also had  Garp who was never here and the times he was, it was better if he was just gone. And finally, Dadan. Who, to not repeat myself too many times, was the kind of person that shouldn’t be allowed to be a mother, or just be within a hundred meters of kids. The antithesis of what a mother should be, to summarize.

Then, of course, there were me and Ace. He was an asshole and I was not too far behind, or worse. We were not the kind of people a kid should be around. Ace was probably going to be a pirate, or die gutted by one before his sixteenth birthday, and I was probably going to restart my criminal career once I managed to get the hell out of that ugly house. I never once questioned if there was another path for me to take, mostly because I knew there wasn’t. From my birth to this very moment Garp just taught me how to fight and how amazing the Marines were. The rest was taught by the mountain and its tropical forest, books that I found or memories from a past life long gone. Not exactly the kind of education that spoke of a bright future, except for one thing. My powers. Those were the thing that made me special, made me someone. Without them, I was just like before, alone and toothless. Another kid in a big world without a way out.

No. I was better than that. I was a cape, a parahuman . For good or for bad my powers were a big part of my identity and I was tied to them in a way only another like me would understand. And the thing was that I didn’t want to deny that part of me. It was a messy life and I did die young while living it but… I don’t think I would really redo anything in it. Why cry over spilled milk? Just bring another glass and this time tries not to shit in it like the last time — that was my life advice. And why a criminal? Simple. I was good at it. Like really good. Why change what works? I mean I didn’t hurt that many people, just guys that really had it coming! Heck, instead of calling me a “deranged, unstable mastermind” they should have given me an award or something. I mean, I kinda did their jobs for them, you’re welcome by the way Legend. Useless cocksucker, excessive use of violence my ass.

And after that admission and seeing all the people available in his life, was I the best person to practically raise a kid? The answer was actually pretty easy. Fuck no.

I was good at a lot of stuff but I was pretty sure that child-raising wasn't one of them and I never wanted it to be. But ironically, despite the fact that I was or I intended to be a villain, I was the only one in this goddamn mountain that seemed to care enough for the kid, and the only one that, apparently, seemed to give two fucks if the kid died. So it all fell to me. It was a responsibility I could push away and pretend didn't exist or would solve itself as everyone else did. I knew that, and I wanted to do that, or at least a part of me did. Just pretend and move on, like on a theater play, but I didn’t. Why was that? I really didn’t know much at least. I knew enough, however, to know that it would feel like shit if I did it. But still...

I stared at Luffy shoving meat in his mouth and sighed. Yeah, that kid was going to be fucked up no matter what I did. But at least I could try, no matter how uncomfortable it was to me to be the one that suddenly had to take care of a kid. In fact, it made my skin crawl, and my nerves go haywire. I didn't want that responsibility, that weight on me. Kids were hard, and this kid, in particular, was even more of a pain than the usual ones, with all the annoying characteristics of children his age plus powers that he couldn't yet control and, for what I could see, a thought process that was too similar to the Old Man for my comfort.  However...if we all got what we wanted I wouldn't be on this cursed mountain and its tropical forest, Luffy would be the so-called “King of Pirates” and Garp would be twenty and hitting the face of Roger once again, so I had to just suck it up and do something. Preferably without messing up this life as much as the last one.

I sighed as I stared at my monkey meat and took another bite. It was still dry and the taste was still shitty but it helped to fill my belly and gave me the energy to keep going. Just a little more. Then we’d be safe and I could finally take the blessed and expected break. 

I looked at the sky. Dawn was coming and with it, the jungle stirred awake. That meant we needed to keep moving.

But for now...I looked at Luffy that was eagerly eating his meal, and then to the fire near us. Leaving could wait, just for a while.

We kept eating in silence alongside the nice fire. My feet still hurt, my eyes kept threatening to close and a nasty bruise from my many fights was forming on my left leg, but just for a while I could leave that behind and rest  A temporary yet still needed moment of respite alongside a nice fire.

                                                                  XXXXXXX

We were getting nearer and nearer, I just knew it. Still getting near didn't mean that we were close.

The colors had faded a little while ago but I didn’t need them anymore. The day had arrived and with it some clarity for me to finally see. That was good.

Luffy was showing more and more emotions as time passed by. That was good. I was getting more and more concerned about how much effect my powers had on him, and even after seeing him recovering, I had a variety of ever-present questions still unanswered.

What consequences was it going to have for his growth? And… What would happen if I used my dust on a kid without his power and atypical body? I was aware of Heartbreaker and his family and how much of a bunch of psychos all of them were. And of course, how much responsibility he had on that. Still, even accounting for the way his powers differed from mine... could I do the same thing? Back then I was never too interested in that aspect of my powers, what with the PRT breathing down my neck. I had done other things but always being too cautious about it, but now…

Now I was sounding like a fucking psychopath. Do something else before going too crazy, Anne.

“We’re getting close, are you okay to keep going or want to rest for a little while?” I looked back at him. He was tired, that I could see. I no longer had my powers to fall back on to check his emotional makeup but I knew enough to understand that he was returning to normal. Well, that was an honest relief.

He gave me a tired smile, this one less forced and more emotional than the previous ones, as he answered, “‘M okay, big sis, but…” His stomach growled and my eyes widened. Again!? “I’m hungry,” he whined.

Ughh. Fucking kids, why did they all eat so much. I perused inside my bag to see if I had something to give him but the only thing I could find was some leftover baboon meat. I pulled it out, little bag and everything and showed them to him. “Well, I have this if you don’t mind-” Before I could finish speaking,  he moved faster than ever before, his mouth opening to epic proportions, and before I could honestly comprehend what was happening my hand was inside his mouth, bag, and everything. I could feel his tongue.

“Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew. Luffy get your slimy tongue off my hand!!” I somehow managed to wiggle my way out of his mouth with the bag, but I was still really grossed out. I threw away the bag- no way I was going to use it after that- and clean my hand on my pants. I could yell at him but knowing him it wouldn’t work. So why bother? 

Luffy finished chewing all of his meat and belched. Loudly. Then his stomach growled again. Seriously!? 

He looked at me and smiled a little more certain this time. “Seconds please!!”

I didn’t have seconds so we just kept going while he constantly asked me what there was to eat.

“Can I eat that?”

“No, that’s a poisonous frog.”

“That?”

“That’s a viper. Also poisonous so don’t touch it”

“Umm and that?”

“That’s a rock with moss and bugs in it Luffy…”

“Uhhh, and about that?’

“That’s a fish Luffy, but it would take too much to fish it and I’m too tired to do it.”

“Shishishi, that’s okay. I can do it. Watch me, big sis, I’m just gonna jump right there and...”

‘Uh? Wait. Jump? Water? Hold on Luffy, no. Hold on you stupid brat!”

And so on. I had to drag him out of the water two other times as well. It didn’t help that I was barely standing. However, when the sights turned out to become more and more familiar I breathed in peace. So close, practically at a touch.

Then of course because it was a rule of the universe everything went to shit.

                                                                  XXXXXXX

I was such an idiot. The biggest one. Really. I shouldn’t even be allowed to live for how much of an idiot I was. Good thing I was about to die in a horrible way.

How the fuck did I forgot about the giant snake living near the house?

Now we were about to be eaten...all because I forgot that.

Luffy was tired and so was I, so we decided to rest a little on several interconnected branches of the tall trees of the Mount. Our reasoning was that several nasties lived on the ground, and while above was also dangerous at least there we would be safer in a corner or something? Right?

Nope. WRONG. And we were about to die because of that. What a joke. Well not Luffy, he was safe. Me on the other hand...

I had thought that snakes weren't aggressive by nature. At least some of them, if they were well fed and they were left alone. Some people even used them as pets for some sick reason.

I should have figured out that such preconceptions didn’t apply for snakes from this world since this one was not only aggressive but really hungry. I had always avoided this part of the jungle out of the possibility that it could attack me on the way of the house. Now I knew that in that at least I was right.

It was a huge thing. A humongous specimen that seemed more akin to those huge reptiles from B-list Hollywood movies than an actual living being. Huge, black scaled, thick and really strong. In another life, I may have found it slightly fascinating, like watching a house burn. But now? I was too concerned and afraid to wonder about how this creature was born. Why was I too worried about it? Simple.

It was choking the life out of me. 

Have you ever been choked? By anyone, I mean. It’s not funny, it’s a slow, painful thing, where you feel the hands of someone crushing your neck, your way to breathe, to live. It’s an act of dominance, of strength, of brutality, where someone overpowers another and makes them weak, vulnerable. A victim. It’s a sadistic way to die.

And this creature seemed nothing but sadistic as it crushed and choked my body, slowly but surely. Enjoying the show of seeing me trying to squirm and cry. Its version of show with dinner.

I choke and scream as the grip tightens. The damn thing showed up from nowhere and in the first five seconds, everything went to shit. From one moment it looked like a panther or another feline from the wilderness, its true form hidden under the foliage, but then it got taller and taller and bigger. By the time I knew what I was facing the thing was already lunging at the two of us, maw open and hungry. I pushed Luffy away and tried to do the same but the thing was already coiling around me before I could do anything, preparing me to turn me into its next appetizer. Luffy was gone and hopefully in a safer place. My whip and my bag of tricks were just a few feet away yet completely out of reach. It wasn’t like there was anything inside that would work on this thing anyway.

Before I had joked that Luffy would be more comfortable on the inside of a snake than the house but now… with me looking straight into that thing’s face...yeah it didn’t sound so funny now. 

However, I could find it hilarious that I was about to become a typical victim in one of those movies that demonized wild animals into man-eating monsters. Crack.  Ouch.. turns out, that bad as the movies were, they had a point. D-Don’t have giant anacondas/ pythons/ whatever as pets kids, because they’re gonna, eat you up and shit you back later.

Hah, I’m so fucking funny that my bones are practically breaking from how hilarious I am.  And...

Those eyes... I was never familiar with the different species of reptiles. They were never something interesting for me — too ugly, too cold, with no warmth on those eyes. Just like dad’s. Heh, I always said he was a lying snake of man, and because of that he died like one. Now I was about to be killed by one. I could literally feel the irony on my bones.

Grind. CRACK

I couldn’t help it. I screamed.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.”  Something else broke. Fucking, shit- fuuuuuuck.

I could feel tears running down my cheeks. God, it hurts and I’m...just so tired.  Not just of getting almost killed, but of everything. Living in the middle of nowhere, with people I didn’t like or that didn’t like me, of having a grandpa that showed his love by punching the shit out of me. Just… everything.

And...god but I missed home. Bet. If it even exists still. Scion fucked up a lot of that place. And...it was shitty, full of issues and honestly and a big headache half of the time. But it was...home.

I had a life, friends, a career and… for the first time in my life, I was living the life I wanted to live, not one that was imposed on me or one that I landed on and was forced to just keep rolling with. And then I died and I was stuck here. Where I was a nobody again. Weak. A little girl.

Hell on Earth.

The snake opened its maw. My body hurt and I...just wanted it all to end.

“J-just, kill me now you huge piece of...AHHHHHH!!” Pain,  just...god. It hurt like nothing ever did in my entire life. God, fuck me.

I felt my body moving up and up near the maw of the monster. God it stinks inside, and those fangs… Eaten alive, uh. Just the way I always wanted to die.

And those eyes.

Brown eyes without warmth looked at her. Ones that never felt joy or sadness. “You’re a disappointment to this family, girl. A waste of space. Go. I do not wish to see you for the rest of the day. Disappear.”

“ Yeah… y-you’re just...like him. A c-cold blooded piece of shit. AHHHH! ” Another squeeze and so near the end. Did it understand me? Eh, perhaps this thing was my dad. I’m shit and got another chance right? Maybe he got another one. This time as his true form.

“Hilarious…” I muttered. Just eat me your shit. Or maybe…

‘Karma is truly a bitch.’ Perhaps this is your revenge on me daddy dearest, isn’t it? Is this you getting back at me?

Because I killed you?

I would laugh If I could. I’m here about to die and the best thing I can think of doing is complain of my daddy issues? Nice job Anne. Just die already bitch.

I closed my eyes and just...try to disappear. Back to the black.

“...sis..si-...”

Umm, is that a voice? Or it’s just the lack of oxygen. Maybe it’s both.

“...her go!!”

Wait.  I was forgetting something, wasn’t it? A girl couldn’t die in peace anymore it seemed. 

“Sis, wake up!!!” Oh right, Luffy.

Luffy.

How could I forget about him!!. I open my eyes and hear his voice. I close them again.

“Let her go!! Big sis come onnnnn. Wake up!!! ”

That stupid brat was going to get himself killed. Didn’t he see I couldn't escape or something?

Just leave Luffy. This thing really has me pinned.

Just...leave.

“Big sis!! Wake up.. .please!!” A tremble in his voice. Fuck me.

A part of me wanted to let go. That part was tired and hoped for some rest or a redo of everything that had been this past ten years. But...this wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about an annoying child that for some reason I decided to take care of as well. Because I wasn’t so awful to just let him waste away, because he didn’t deserve it and…

Nobody deserves to grow up in an unloving home.

I opened my eyes. Luffy threw a stone at the snake and it landed on its head, making it flinch, then another one follows and this time it buries in its eye. The snake shook its head and choked me while it moved. It looked at Luffy, all its attention on him, finally showing something akin to emotion on its cold reptilian face:

Hatred.

“Luffy, run!!” I shouted. He directed his eyes at me for a second and was about to say something with a stupid grin forming on his face. A second the snake used.

Fangs bared and jaw wide open, exposing its insides, it lunged at Luffy. The boy screamed, his eyes practically spilling out of his sockets as he moved to avoid the attack. He dodged the snake by literally one inch as it bit to the ground. But the snake wasn’t done and his powers were useless. He couldn’t do anything to help right now. I had to help myself.

“Run, Luffy. J ust run you, dumb brat. I’ll be fine!!” I lied.

“B-big sis, I-” The snake pulled itself from the ground and went to chase fast as lighting. Luffy yelped and went to the foliage. The snake stopped and watched as if looking for his prey lost among the trees.

One side of a bush rustled and the reptilian lunged. My heart was beating hard and painfully in my chest but immediately relaxed after the creatures raised its head with its maw empty. He was safe for now.

But I was still stuck in here and if I didn’t start to work on that then none of us were going to be okay.

But of course, it had most of my body in a hold, so that limited my attempt to escape to a pitiful movement that barely counted as a struggle. I couldn’t move, or punch, or kick or even reach for my weapons and equipment. That, however, left one thing I was still capable of doing.

Ineffectively shouting while wiggling and, of course, hoping that this thing would get a hint and just drop me to the ground. 

“Let me go!!” The snake just ignored me and kept going after Luffy ruthlessly. I wiggled more, even tried to reach down and bite scales. I didn’t manage to reach and that made me even angrier.

“LET ME GO!!” The thing still refused to but I did manage to annoy it, since it squeezed harder, making it hurt even more. Fuck, now I didn’t want to die anymore, but the sad part was that even with that I was still left with no ways to escape. I was still in a deadly chokehold with no way out. With my only way to escape being just to shout. Like a victim.

A trapped girl once again, with daddy being a literal snake this time.

And that...that made me frustrated, angry, desperate. It brought forth sensations from a time before I was Oleander when I was just...her. That little kid. And I hated that. And that hate made my pain dwindle because of the outrage.  What the fuck did this thing believe it was to do this to me!? I used to be a fucking crime lord , I told Legend to go fuck himself and he did.  

“I said…”  The thing keeps coiling around me, slowly squeezing as it kept its search for Luffy, but something was different now. I was angry, really angry but for some reason, I knew that something was going to happen if I did this. For some reason, I knew this time it would work.

I focused on that on that feeling. No. That need , I had. This thing was  going to let me go and leave us alone. I was going to make sure of that. I just needed to express myself in the correct way.

Lucky for it I the perfect way on my mind already. I took a deep breath and then I… yelled with all my strength. Stupid, I know. But… for some reason I knew this time it was going work just right.

“LET ME GO, YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT !!” My scream echoed something else that came from within, filling the clearing and making the reptile finally be still. Everything was silent and still for a while. As if the world had stopped. The creature stopped it’s incessant coil and stilled, like a statue.

Then the snake uncoiled at incredible speeds and I fell to the floor ungraciously, my entire body in pure pain. Just as fast as that it slithered away into the deep jungle, once again at amazing speed.

Wait... that actually worked!?

What the fuck did I just do!?

And how?

No, stop that line of thought. It doesn’t matter right now. 

Only running matters now. That, and the kid.

“Luf-fy” I eventually manage to growl out. God, my throat is so sore and my body is too. Fucking snake. “Come out, please. The snake is...gone. For now”

His hat covered in leaves appeared from the foliage and his face lit up when he looked at me. “Big sis, you’re okay!!”

He ran to me and hugged me. I was about to return it when my left arm burst in complete pain. I yelled and pushed him. God, it fucking hurt. I looked and saw I had a few huge bruises forming. I was also pretty sure it was broken. I turned my head hesitantly from my injured arm and saw that my right arm wasn't that far. But... it didn’t hurt as much. Good. I moved that one and touched my chest. My ribs more specifically and my suspicions were confirmed when my left side hurt a lot and my breath…

I breathed deep and my left side caught fire and I couldn't help it. I screamed

“B-Big Sis?” Luffy said his voice wavering and uncertain. God that hurt, stupid of me to try to do that to confirm what was obvious. Fuck, healing the ribs would take a while. Dadan better gets me a fucking doctor or I’ll feed that bitch to my plants. “Anne?” the little kid asked this time, the uncertainty in his voice more clear. Right, I had to answer.

“It's okay... buddy.” How do you call kids besides their names anyway? “I'm just… a little hurt. Let- let’s just go. Okay? 

He nodded as we went our way but when he noticed that I had some trouble moving without feeling like shit, he offered me some help by leaning on him and he on me. We grabbed my bag with my things our way out and I decided to wait till later to see and despair of the damage to the things inside. My whip included.

We left this place once again but before leaving I swore that I was going to come back… and make me a nice pair of shoes or a dozen out of that legless lizard.

                                                                   XXXXXXXXX

I stared at Dadan and she stared at me, shock on her eyes and her mouth hanging open. Luffy was at my side, and we both looked like shit, covered in bruises and just tired.

I looked at her and said, “Here, I got the brat. Now do your job, dumb bitch.”

I softly pushed Luffy to her, who also looked ready to fall dead at any given time,  flipped my finger to her and the rest of the crew gathered to eat, walked three steps and then happily fall unconscious.

Rescue Mission: Complete.

                                                          XXXXXXXXXXXX

                                                            SEED 1.6. END.

                                                             ARC 1. END.

Chapter Text

Seed Interlude: Poisonous Flower.

Flower Girl.

She stared at the mask for what felt like hours.

It was pretty thing- no, a beautiful thing, of golden color with decorations of soft shiny pink that looked like interlocked vines with pretty flowers, the last of which made with what she believed to be actual gemstones, or at least really good imitations. The whole thing was nothing but extremely well done, its aesthetic inspired by the ones used in Masquerade balls she often saw in movies or in plays.

It was beautiful, it was gorgeous and it was all hers. Done specifically at her own instructions and requirements and paid handsomely for. And now that it was here she felt that it was worth it.

But she still stared at it. Because this was her new self. A bolder, freer and more powerful new her. One that wasn’t a prisoner in her own house, who could truly be her own person, and not a pretty doll to be dressed up by “mommy and daddy.” Fuckers.

She was still staring at it and just beginning to feel around it with her hands when the Seamstress spoke.

“Is something wrong with it?” Her soft and regal voice startled the young woman who yelped in surprise and almost fell where she was sitting. The Seamstress kept looking at her, but the girl could have sworn that behind the older woman’s full face mask the look was one of incredulity and exasperation. She must think I’m an idiot.

Better rectify that.

“No, it’s okay. It just...” She tried to keep her nerves from affecting her voice too much and she could feel how she was failing at it. Fuck she was so fucking useless!! She couldn’t make a fucking good impression to one of the most important and notorious rogues in New York City even if her life depended of it and now she was about to…

Right. She needed to keep it together. To be “cool and chill” and all that slang that she would probably know how to use if her only friends weren’t plants. She could do it. Just relax and talk like everything was under control.

“Well, I'd been waiting for it and the rest of the costume to arrive for so long and now that it’s here… well it’s hard to take. I mean, I like it and everything it’s just, well… It just hit me that I’m about to do this. I’m about to put on a costume and be a cape. It’s well...you could say I’m really nervous.”

The Seamstress stared at her a few seconds before she spoke. Had she said more than necessary? “Um, it’s not an unusual feeling for newbies, so calm down. Being nervous and unprepared is going to get you killed out there, especially for a tinker like you.”

She flinched. Right, tinkers were in high demand in NYC. Everyone wanted one on their side, from the Protectorate to the those weirdos in the Adepts. They were just that valuable, and by extension, so was she.

That meant she had options. If everyone wanted a piece of her, then she was going to take her time to decide.

She looked at her costume, the dress and the bodysuit. Professionally made, with a flower and nature motif all over it, its colors not too bright or dark — just as she asked.

Heroes. Villains. Those were just words to her for now. She only wanted one thing and to get it she was capable of dressing up like a witch and sucking up to Epoch and his weirdos or just go full blown psycho and join the Butcher. It didn’t matter to her. Not right now at least.

Only her actions mattered now. She couldn’t care about the morals behind it.

Or at least she would try to. She wasn’t heartless; she was fully aware that the things that she was probably about to do weren't going to be easy.

They never were, but she hadn’t gotten as far as she did now by being chicken-shit at everything. Well...she technically did but that was before!!

Getting her powers was a wake up call. It meant it was time to stop others from calling the shots in her life and start doing it herself. Becoming a cape without asking anybody seemed a great start.

Screwing her parents’ business and assets while making their life harder and unhappier seemed another by a better margin.

The fact that by doing this she was spending a lot more time away from that house only made her decision far more simpler.

Knowing what to do was the easy part. Gathering the courage for it however…

“You’re such a disappointment.”

“Don’t speak until I say so. Understood?”

“Ummm, honey could you be, I don’t know, less you?”

Yeah, that was the really hard part.

But now she was here, having taken all the necessary steps and ready to cross the line. Too far gone to get cold feet now, really.

“Have you thought of a name, or is it too personal?” the Seamstress asked
her, out of nowhere.

“Umm, sorry can you repeat that?” she said, broken out of her reverie.

“A name”, the Seamstress repeated with an uncaring and still flat tone. “A lot of rookies are unsure about what to call themselves and then end up with names that don’t fit them or are just straight awful. Have you thought of any, or is it too personal to ask?” She stopped for a few seconds. “It would also be better for business if I could call you by any other name than the obviously fake one you gave me.”

She blushed. Right. Who the fuck would call her daughter Agatha in this day and age? She had to admit, she hadn’t thought that part too well. Still, it was better than Plant Girl.

She looked back at the costume and then to the mask in her hands. A name…well she did have one ready to use. It wasn’t perfect like her costume, but she honestly thought it fit her better than anything else she could imagine the PRT could come with.

“Yeah,” she said. “I’ve got one.”

She put the mask on. Perfect fit. “Call me Oleander.”

�
XXXXXXXX
�

Emily hated her name. So common, so ugly, so bland. And she hated it even more because she knew that those things described her to a tee.

In fact, you could say that there was very little she didn’t hate about herself. She was the lonely, nerdy and useless rich girl with no friends and parents that loved their money, reputation and all that rich crap more than their daughter. They expected perfection from her, but all they got was disappointment after disappointment, at least according to them.

“Your father and I will be leaving for the gala tonight,” her mother announced, dressed in a fine gown that wouldn’t be out of place at those award shows. Her mother had come to her room to tell her they were going to one of their fancy rich parties for bored snobs to raise money for some grand and benevolent cause, that probably none of those people cared for at all. Ironically, charity was the last thing that would happen at those parties. Honestly she had stopped caring about what they were for, once she realized that none of the people bothered about some dead kids in a faraway country. They only cared about drinking and boasting who gave the biggest paycheck or to gossip who was wearing the Gucci purse that was so last season. “As you're aware we’ll be returning late so don’t wait for us, also your father announced you’re grounded until further notice, after your underperforming on your last exam. Is that understood Emily?"

She nodded. “Yes ma’am.” Another thing to hate. How her voice sounded so submissive, so meek. She hated she could only be strong only in her thoughts and she hated having to obey her mother. However, it seemed to satisfy her as she only nodded instead of berating her for wasting the opportunities they gave her. Again.

As she began to strut outside of her room, Emily did her best to not sigh in relief. Her mother’s visits were always so frustrating, at best. There was always something to comment on, something that wasn't up to her mother’s beauty standards.

However just before leaving the room, her mother turned around and went her way. Such a sudden move sent Emily’s heart racing, something that only increased when she touched her face, and her hair.

“Ummm, have you taken care of your body and hair just like I told you, sweetheart?” She just nodded and her mother just kept humming, probing her body for any slight imperfection to correct or criticize. It was invasive and frustrating, but she knew it would be worse if she stopped her.

Her mother touched her ribs and her belly and surprisingly pinched her side. Emily bit down a yelp and stayed still, like before.

Her mother frowned and looked down on her. Shit.

“Have you been...overeating Anne?” she asked with a measured tone. “Or perhaps you ate something outside your list of allowances? Like chocolate or those disgusting cakes from the bakery a few blocks away?”

She shook her head. The fear was real but her next words weren’t. “What? Of course not,” she said in the same measured tone. She had of course eaten something outside the list, but she didn’t care anymore. Her workout had probably made all those calories null anyways. But for now it was better to just lie. It didn’t make it easy though. She had never done something like this in her whole life and it showed. To get it right she had to practice a lot in front of the mirror with a picture of her parents, trying to get over the feelings they provoked in her when angry or disappointed.

"I was, however, forced to eat food from the cafeteria, after they forbade food from home after that incident a few weeks ago with those kids, and I think we both know that sometimes the school food is a little...subpar to my usual meals. I was waiting to tell you the whole week but you weren't available according the Katie. I'm sorry mother." Be the good daughter, don't raise your voice or talk back. Even if you want to gag because of that.

Her mother looked at her a little longer and then gave her a little smile, all while caressing her hair and softly touching her skin. Emily had to fight the swell of disgust inside of her so it didn’t show. “Hmm. I’m gonna have to talk to your director then to make an exception for you. The dinner with your father’s associates is only a few weeks away, and they have a nice son that is just your age. I heard he likes slim girls with pretty skin and fair hair, just like yours.” Her mother kissed her cheek lightly and then rose up. “So try to follow your diet as best you can and keep doing those exercises of yours. We need you pretty and ready for that boy. Okay, sweetheart?”

She nodded and the smile on her mother widened. “Good, you understand dearie. Everyone has a role in the family and it’s time to play yours. Anyways be nice and moisturize your skin, you look awful dearie. Bye-bye.”

Her mother left, and Emily’s smile and every other fake thing left with her. But what was left was the disgust, with plenty of space to fester and grow. It was a common feeling by now and she’d thought that she was used to it already. Of course her mother could surprise her and lower Emily's expectations of her even more.

Role in the family. Yeah fuck that. She wasn't her mother. Maybe her mother had reached her current position by literally fucking her way to the top, but Emily wasnt that desperate.

She wasn't anyone's pawn. Not even her dad's, and she was going to prove it.

She checked the clock: three minutes till nine, at which everything would be different. A new her. The left at nine. Then she was free.

Anxiety ate at her and she tried to shake it off by walking around her room. It was a fancy, expensive thing. With a king's bed bigger than her by at least three times, and covered in stuffed toys of dogs, cats, bunnies and all kind of animals which could easily be considered cute and fluffy. The room was so softly and tastefully decorated it could have been the cover of Plush Magazine.

She fucking hated it. Since when did she like plush toys? Also pink? Seriously? But of course it was her mom who chose how her room was going to be designed. Her mom who was probably one of the most vapid and stereotypical blonde girls at her high school. A trait that Emily swore hadn't disappeared at all, if any of her interactions with her mother were an indication.

She brushed any thoughts about her family away. This was supposed to be her big day!! So she better get ready for it.

This was her debut after all.

Her watch arm did its little alarm noise and Emily got ready to work.

Hiding her costume wasn't actually that hard. Her parents rarely paid her any mind unless she screwed up too much, and they rarely stayed at home. In theory, as long as she managed all her obligations and schedules in time she was free to do whatever she wanted.

Practically, all those obligations amounted to quite a lot, and what little free time she had was used in a carefully selected list of hobbies that her father had prepared for her which sucked the joy out of it. Well... for all of them except one, but gardening has since been forbidden for her. A huge irony now.

She dragged the costume out of her wardrobe (what a stupid idea it was to put it there, but of course dad never comes, mom has the attention span of a mayfly for anything not body related and Sarah cleaned it yesterday) and searched for her mask hidden among the dozens of clothes.

She knew she was in a delicate position when it came to the matter of handling her secret identity while living under this roof but everything was temporary for now. She was getting out of this hellhole and it was just a matter of time now.

She just needed a sponsor, and to tie up some loose ends, but then everything would flow like silk.

Lucky for her she knew the kind of people that would pay a lot for her skills and not kill her on the way.

The Seamstress did a lot more than make pretty costumes, and for the right price she could either give her the right information or lead her to the kind of people that could.

She was enough of a big player that she could also arrange "auditions" of sorts for her, with groups that were open for either recruitment of new capes or searching for new talents. Among them were even some proxy groups belonging to the Elite or other big players. Her ideal groups if she ever managed to get their attention.

But the Seamstress wasn't a skeleton key; she was a facilitator, one of the bigger ones among several in this huge cosmopolitan city. She wasn't Emily’s only choice, but she checked and she was one of the more trustworthy ones, with enough connections and prices that weren't too exorbitant.

She had to pay a lot but she hoped that at least she managed to make a good first impression.
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"Are you sure about this?"

The Seamstress looked at her with the same flat expression behind her black mask, with golden decorations covering the superior half of her face. Behind her two armed men wearing black suits stood —Bodyguards, and a sign of strength. She doubted the information broker even needed them, considering her powers, but having them meant a sign of status, of her importance… and highlighter Oleander's lack of those.'I don't need to kill you or subdue you, because I have these guys behind me to do that and because you aren't a threat to me.' She didn't know if they had powers of their own and she wasn't eager to try and find out. She wasn't stupid. She wasn't Emily.

"Are you doubting me?" the woman asked, her voice lacking any sort of inflection.

"Not really, but I need to be sure about this. These guys aren't exactly F-listers and this city isn't easy on a newbie like me. Now let's see:

"A proxy group of The Elite, a mediator from the Adepts eager to 'illuminate my path', PRT and Protectorate, The Lambs, The Thorburns, and The Circle, more of the usual ones and... seriously The Teeth and Lost Garden?" she said with incredulity.

The Seamstress just shrugged. "You told me to get you the information of any group open for fresh blood that could check your particular boxes. These are the ones. What you do with all that information is up to you, but I wouldn't recommend you the Teeth personally. I worked too hard on your costume to see it ruined with spikes and bones."

"And Lost Garden?" She knew what was Oleander's end goal in this among others. Getting out from someone's thumb just to go to another's wasn't something she was eager to. Especially one belonging to a creep like Barrow and his ‘happy’ family of teenagers.

"They're not a sex cult," the broker told her immediately and Oleander flinched back. Was that a thing people usually asked her about Lost Garden? "I mean, I'm eighty percent certain that they aren't at least." Well that was nice to hear, there was only a twenty percent chance of her joining a creepy orgy in the extremely unlikely case she chose Lost Garden. "Barrow may be a little on the... disturbing side of the villains of the city but I assure you that from what I've managed to find out, he treats all of his kids very well. They may not be your first choice but they're a choice."

Well, she had a point there. Still there was one last important issue to work out. She wanted to appear reliable after all.

"I see. By the way is my... payment to you working as intended, or were there some troubles?" Her mother always told her that makeup was a lady's weapon and in this case she was right. "Love fragrance," for lack of a better name and imagination, was how she decided to name one of her first creations. One small sniff of her perfume and the person on your mind was going to be paying you a little more attention than usual. In their eyes you were more beautiful, more gentle… more everything. A fragrance that stuck to the skin and remained there even after it seemed to vanish. Figuring it out how to make it affect only a particular person was the tricky part, but the Seamstress solved that with some hairs and saliva.

She was surprised that the seemingly unemotional woman asked her for the fragrance out of all the other things that she offered to her, but in the end it was none of her business what or whom the Seamstress did in her spare time.

The cape in front of her nodded and for the first time a trace of a faint smile almost appeared on her face.

Now she was more curious but, sadly, it was still none of her business.

"It did. You have my thanks and your discount for the information I gave you. Now do you know what you're going to do?"

She mulled that question for a few seconds. Then looked at the files. "Give me all of them."

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She looked at the mirror.

Emily was gone for now. And Oleander had stepped up to replace her.

"Better this way," she thought. Mostly because she knew that Emily would never be brave enough to wear what she was wearing right now. She was the mousy girl, the one always chosen last. The lonely girl pushed by everyone.

Oleander was better. The brave, the bold, the beautiful. She was the one that was going to achieve impossible things. The one actually making waves in this harsh world.

And tonight was the start of that.

But first she had to do a costume check.

First, her mask. Beautiful and in place, with the vine decorations adorned with oleander flowers, in honor of her name. Check and done.

Next, her little summer dress made of a special fabric which apparently was resistant to a lot of things. She didn't pay much attention to the material's name. It was black and like the rest of her costume had a flower theme. These ones were red narcissus, mostly at the end of her dress, close to a so-called strategically placed slit that allowed her to show off a little more of her legs in case she wanted to. A little rebellion of her part that also allowed her more freedom of movement.

Then her tail jacket. Reinforced, with and some hidden pockets. The interior was soft and pink while the outside was white.

Those were the individual pieces of costume. And with those done she focused on her accessories: A golden necklace in the shape of a margarita, and the roses in her hair. Her blonde hair was braided around the flowers, which she’d bred herself. It was a hairstyle she would never have worn without the mask, but with it she knew she could pull it off. The roses at first seemed a bit excessive, but then she decided to turn them into weapons. And at her command their fragrance would turn into a soporific. . She even made them fireproof! It wasn't excessive or gaudy once they had a purpose, right? Well gaudy or not they were staying so check.

Next her boots. Black but comfy. They weren't anything special but they were going to be useful.

Finally her bodysuit. Black but with pink patterns of flowers in it. From roses, to narcissus, to orchids, and even some beautiful gardenias. Pink wasn't her first choice of color but in the end she just gave in. Pink wasn't her favourite color by far and thus it was an un-Emily thing to do. So pink worked. Bodysuit - check.

Now her weapons. Oh, there was her suitcase. Weapons - check.

God, this was so exciting. She was so nervous! She just wanted to get out and punch somebody's face! Such a not girly thing to do according to her mother!! She just wanted to do it right now! Oh but she still couldn't go. She had to take care of the maid first, oh and the cook. She pulled a little bag out of one of her hidden pockets (she had to improve on that- a bag seemed a very unsafe way to keep an emotion changing dust made of plants, but oh well) and went to her phone to call Sarah to her room. Her parents didn't have any cameras on the house — she had checked already — and the possibility of her being a cape probably didn't cross their minds, so she knew what she was about to do was safe.

Well...not safe to them. But she was going to make it up to them. Definitely.

Well, anyways, better get to work. She grabbed her phone and called to the kitchen. " Sarah? Oh, hi there. Listen, could you come up here? I'm not feeling so well you see…"

Oleander smiled as she talked. She couldn't wait to be the best.

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Dadan: The Bandit.

'Fuck', she thought. A thought that was repeating itself a lot more than usual. It was a recurring thing to do on her last few days since Luffy and Anne had disappeared. She hadn't worried too much. They were both Garp’s grandchildren and she knew that just like that old man it would take more than this fucking jungle to put them down.

'After all, bad weeds never die do they?' She laughed a bit of her own dumb joke,but quickly sobered. She immediately decided to rectify that and get more fucking drunk.

'Fuck', she thought again. What a fuckikg mess this whole thing was.

She agreed to take care of those brats on the simple promise that she and her boys wouldn't be arrested. She knew that making sure a pair of snot nosed little shits didn't die being eaten by a giant snake or something was going to be a hard job. However, she didn't know how hard it was actually going to be.

She expected kids (even if they were his kids) not…fucking demons.

Ace was a delinquent, plain and simple, and that was coming from her. The boy was strong but a fucking little piece of shit. His constant trips to Gray Terminal meant he was constantly in danger of the trash (Heh, she was still fuckiing hilarious) that lived there but as long as he returned safe and didn't bring problems to her doorstep she was going to let him be. Garp told her that she needed to keep him safe but that didn't mean she had to follow him every second of the goddamn day.

But the girl… Dadan shivered. God, that was a piece of work if she ever saw one. Anne was, plain and simple, fucking creepy. She was always too mature, too smart for a fucking child and Garp didn't see it or worse pretended not to. Of course he couldn't (or wouldn't). He’d always had a weakness to Anne, ever since what happened to his daughter…

Dadan took a drink. She still remembered what she saw that day in the forest when she went to fetch the girl. That giant plant… eating those bear cubs while the girl watched unperturbed like she was watching the paint dry instead of that freakshow. The plant, after finishing its gory meal, purred to her while the girls caressed it like a goddamn house cat. And then the girl had looked at her. Something Dadan was surprised since she was hiding.

"You shouldn't be here." That was all she’d said...but it felt so much worse. Especially when that giant plant turned to her. And other smaller ones started appearing around her. Rising and blooming like they’d just woken up from a dream. Dadan hadn't felt more scared in her whole life. For one second she thought she was going to be plant food...until Anne just told her that she should leave and she was also going to the house and she should come with. She just nodded her head dumbly, and still scared, and followed her. The sleeping flowers returned to the ground and the carnivorous...thing disappeared into thin air. That freaked Dadan even more.

She had tried to warn Garp of what his granddaughter was doing but the old man just shrugged it off. And even if he knew she was sure he was going to celebrate how 'brilliant and amazing and strong his little girl was and how strong a Marine she was going to be’…

Yeah. She didn't know what Anne was. She wasn't as dumb as the creepy girl thought and she was aware how many weird things existed outside her island. About the Devil Fruit users and other freaks running around.

Yet she was sure that the girl wasn't one. Something that was only confirmed when the Luffy brat came to live with her. Several of her boys saw her swimming on the river to catch some fish. So a Devil Fruit wasn't the thing that made her a fucking freak. But then, there weren't that many possibilities about what made her so different once you discounted them. The boys thought she was a witch of some sort and acted liked it. If they were already a little wary about her then that turned into full blown fear of being turned into frogs or some shit that old hags in town said. Personally Dadan thought it was bullshit. Her money was that the girl was done sort of super genius like that famous guy the Marines hired. Dr. Something or whatever.

In the end however it wasn't any of her business. She tried to meddle and everything went to shit because of that so, Dadan decided that it was fine, as long as Anne didn't try to feed her, one of her boys, or one of the other brats to her plants or whatever the hell she was cooking in that house of horrors that was her treehouse.

She already had her hands full with those two before the one made of rubber joined them, so she decided to let bygones be bygones. If Luffy or Ace ended up fertilizing the garden then she would take her fucking punishment and point to the person responsible. She agreed to take care of kids, not a fucking psychopath with apparent plant magic, a delinquent that was well on his way to be an angsty teenager with violent tendencies and now a fucking hyperactive monkey.

Seriously, what the fuck was Garp thinking when he shoved those on her? What part of her getup screamed nanny or mother. She should just shove those ideas of his right far up his-.

"Fuck", she said aloud and took another drink. She didn't want to think, just be drunk tonight. This week had been the worst. A new kid, a disappearance and now this.

She looked at the card.

The Empire, it said. What a fucking ridiculous name.

Still, awful as it was, it was a name she soon have to deal with, or bow down to. They were the new up and coming group of criminals of the island. They’d suffered pushback from the groups in the city, and now they wanted to mark their territory outside of it. A secondary HQ. And her mountain was the perfect place for it. It was secluded from prying eyes, and only some individuals from the Goa Kingdom’s capital were willing to make the trip from there to here.

Dadan didn’t like to share. She’d fought for what little she had since she could walk, and that had made her into what others would call protective of the things she owed. This mountain was one of them.

She claimed this place from a man that lead a group like hers, but was worse than her in so many ways. He crossed limits that she never would. Did things that gave her nightmares to no end. Terrorized places and took people, Foosha Village among them, since Garp’s fame wasn’t an all protecting shield and he was constantly busy and away from his home. Kids, elderly, and little girls were his preferred targets.

Dadan and her boys showed him that even in this business some limits and boundaries were important and when he still decided to be a persistent piece of shit she decided that the fishes could convince him in ways she couldn’t. She secured her hold on Mt. Columbus thanks to that and since then she has stopped other groups.

Until now. Now this group had appeared from the Capital and Dadan knew she couldn’t do anything to stop them even if she wanted. The expensive weapons and that level of equipment and security only meant one thing.

She took another drink. Fuck. Now even the Nobles wanted to fucking play at being outlaws, or gang leaders. Just what she needed.

And that man...who could be so, so...white. Bleached hair, skin pale as snow, and pink eyes of all things.

And that look he gave her. Just like Anne’s to her when she discovered her in the woods. That made her more wary of him and that charming attitude of his didn’t fool her.

She took another drink and found nothing. Another bottle then.

The new guys weren’t yet moving in on her territory but it was only a matter of time. And for some reason she couldn’t help but think that nothing good would come if they met one of her kids. Especially Anne and Luffy.

She took a last drink of the new bottle. She was only a little tipsy. Good. She would need to be if she was going to hear the price of the doctor for his treatment of those two dumbasses that got lost in the jungle. Fucking Drum Kingdom and its fucking famous doctors. He had arrived half an hour and he was still there. She hoped he wasn’t dead.

Still, that was only a momentary distraction to what she had to do. Time for him to pull some weight around here.

Garp owed her after all.

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The Hunter.

The prey moved and he moved accordingly to finish the job. Fired bloomed and formed in the shape of a spear and the woman yelled, sending it to meet his heart.

He dived and rolled, feeling the heat of the projectile but ignoring it He needed to get close to use his gift. Only then would the woman be vulnerable and he could strike.

He licked his lips as he approached. Soon, he thought. He had hunted this woman for weeks, eager to claim her life. To sharpen his skills and to taste the sweet rush of conquest. The bounty was only the secondary prize — the fight was the real reward.

Another fireball sizzled close to him and he rolled once again, a little closer…

He could almost taste the blood. Savor it, enjoy the rush of the dying prey.

Fire bloomed all around and the heat became almost unbearable, but he ignored it. Pain and heat were only secondary things to him as well. Hunger and the hunt drove him and that was enough. Everything else was just meat and trash. Useless, superfluous.

The woman retreated and raised her hands, named her technique and suddenly fire licked his entire body, his meat burning, his eyeballs melting, body churning.

And he just laughed and laughed. Pain, blood, sweat and shit. That was what a human was at the end.

And for him? For him it was nothing.

He rushed to the woman, who yelled and screamed help before she said something else. He didn't paid it any heed. It was just shit after all. Animals didn't talk, they just gave death yells and this woman was already dead the moment he focused his killing intent on her.

He rushed, flesh mending and pain receding, and the woman took to the air all fire and brightness.

That didn't stop him. He jumped higher than he did before in his past life, and rose to meet her.

His power touched her before his hatchet did.

He relished the shock on her face as her fiery body returned to her weak fleshly being.

His hatchet met her neck and he savored her fear and realization that she couldn’t turn into fire in the split second before his weapon separated her head from her neck.

Blood spilled on the sands of the Alabasta desert and a body fell.

Hatchet Face rose from the ground and went to retrieve the corpse. On the way he checked his satchel and gave an ugly smile.

The apple inside had turned into a Devil's Fruit. He chuckled. Logias were always too overconfident in their abilities.

All in a day's work.
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He grunted as he collected his bounty for both the Logia criminal and the one for her Devil’s Fruit. As always since he started working as a bounty hunter he had more money than he needed or wanted. Well, he didn’t complain. Hunting required resources, especially for the toughest enemies.

Still, a job on the board caught his attention with practically all the things he loved about them. However the odd thing out was the place where the contract was going to be carried out. He was rarely asked to do a job in the East Blue. Especially for his favourite prey. Challenges were rarely encountered there, so to his eyes it was a worthless place to go.

Still, a job was a job and the chances of meeting prey from his home…

Too tempting to pass.

On the way to find a ship he wondered what kind of parahuman would live on the trash heap that was this so called Goa Kingdom and this Dawn Island.

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SEED INTERLUDE: POISONOUS FLOWER. END