One Piece 1. Twenty Years Later

It was a cold day in West Blue, but it was a day that would be forever marked in history books.

Today was the day that the Third Pirate King departed from his home on a journey that would redefine the word "pirate".

The Path of the King

Chapter One

Twenty Years Later

"Aaah...life is good." Caleb said as he sunk back into the tree. He was sitting in the branch of a particularly strong tree in his yard that overlooked his town, Robinville. Robinville resided in West Blue, three islands before the Grand Line entrance. It was a small island, but it was well known for its primary crops; mulburberries, a fruit that was said to taste like the seven colors of the rainbow. Caleb popped one into his mouth as he stared out at the falling sunset.

"Caleb!" A voice called from down below the tree, "Aren't you cold?" Caleb looked down at what he was wearing. He had a long sleeve green shirt on and baggy black pants, as well as his signature silver bandanna around his left arm. He grinned and shook his shoulder length auburn hair at the person below him.

Caleb's father grinned back up at him. Caleb's father was Robinville's blacksmith, and a well-known one as well. He made everything from lances to harpoons, and he once supplied an entire army in ten days. He was named "The Speed of the West" for this trait, but his real name was Gerheart, and only a few of his most loyal customers called him by that. "In any case," he called back up, "come on down, it's time for dinner." Caleb smiled again as he dropped off of the tree and, without hitting a single branch, fell to the floor. "Still working on that nimbleness, eh, boy?" Gerheart said, tustling his son's hair.

"Just tryin' to get a little stronger, dad," Caleb said as he walked with his father into the house. "What's for dinner?"

"Same thing as always," Gerheart said as he opened a paper bag on the counter, "Whatever Mrs. Leary made yesterday."

"She's a really nice lady." Caleb said as he started cutting onions next to his father. "I mean, every day she makes extra food just for us, and we don't do anything for her."

"Whaddya mean, we don't do anything for her?" Gerheart laughed, his voice booming like a lion's. "I fix up her house every year on the house in repayment. It's small, but it works." He took the knife from his son and started cutting up some peppers. "Let that be a lesson to you, boy; always take care of your neighbors-"

"Or else they'll move away," Caleb finished as he set the two-person table, "you've told me a million times." He set down the water pitcher and turned to his father. "Are you dating again?" he asked.

"'Course not." His father huffed as he set the vegetables down on the table. "Women are far too much hassle, and not enough reward." He looked into the bag and whooped in joy. "We get steaks tonight, boy!" He smiled as he slapped his son on the back.

After they finished dinner, Caleb and Gerheart started washing the dishes. Gerheart turned to his son, a quizzical look on his face. "Why'd you ask if I was datin' again?" He asked his son.

"No reason." Caleb answered as he finished washing. He started to dry the washed dishes, but Gerheart kept questioning him.

"Are you dating someone?" Gerheart asked, a playful smile creeping onto his face. Caleb's face flushed for half an instant, and Gerheart pounced. "I knew it!" He laughed, "You were so distracted on the farm today!" He put an arm around his son. "What's her name, Mr. Ladyslayer?"

"Terese." Caleb mumbled as he dried the dishes as quickly as he possibly could. "Can I go upstairs now?"

"Not until you tell me more 'bout this Terese!" Gerheart laughed as he sat back down in his chair. "Is she smart? Blonde? Brunette? Please, son, tell me she's not a fishwoman."

Now Caleb laughed. "No, dad, she's a human. She's a brunette, she's my age, and yes, she's very smart." He ran towards the stairs, but turned around for one quick comment. "Oh, and she's really cute, too!" Gerheart's laughter boomed as Caleb sprinted back up the stairs.

A loud noise woke Caleb in the night. Grumbling, he flicked the light on and looked outside. The sight shocked him. From his room, Caleb could see that the entire town was ablaze. People were running around and screaming, and he could even see some of his fellow classmates among them. Various peoples were lying on the floor, and Caleb hoped to God they weren't dead.

Suddenly, he heard the loud noise again. Caleb realized that someone was trying to bust down the door to his house, so he grabbed the nearest object – a baseball bat – and left his room. His father was standing at the bottom of the stairs, however, and shook his head, silently telling Caleb to stay upstairs. Almost immediately after, the door was busted in.

Caleb stayed out of sight as his father told him to, but that didn't stop him from hearing what occurred. He heard his father attempt to make peace with the invaders. Then he heard the sound of a rifle butt connecting with flesh and cringed at what it meant. Then he heard the scariest words he'd ever heard before; "Go get the boy".

He hid behind his doorway when the men came up. He could hear them entering the rooms around him and started sweating in anticipation. Suddenly he heard the door to his room opening, and he swung the bat at the intruder.

It hit the man's rifle, knocking it out of his hands. The sudden attack stunned the man, and he wasn't able to provide a good block for Caleb's right hook. It connected with the man's face and sent him flying back down the stairs, landing at some very large boots. Caleb's face paled as the owner of those boots peeked up at him and snarled. "Wuji!" It called off to its right side, "take care of this brat; we got what we came for."

Almost immediately a man came rushing up the stairs. He had an Eastern style kasa hat and a katana tied to his waist. He wore a traditional white martial artist robe and had a scar over his left eye. He drew his katana and slashed out at Caleb, who howled in pain as the sword sliced the skin on his arm open. Caleb heard the door to his house close and focused on the man in front of him.

"You'll die here." The man said as he raised his katana for another charge.

Caleb grabbed the baseball bat at his feet and growled. "Bite me." He snipped to his attacker as he charged forward in a futile attempt to hit his opponent. The man named Wuji merely dodged the attack and smacked Caleb in the head with the hilt of his katana, knocking Caleb to the floor.

"As much of a pain as it is," Wuji said as he placed the blade of his katana over Caleb's exposed neck, "I'm going to kill you now." Wuji raised his sword and swung it down, fully prepared to end Caleb's life. It was not meant to be.

The clang of metal on metal was like the sound of an angel singing to Caleb. The young man looked up to face his savior and was shocked at who it was. It was a man with a black hood and mask that covered all but his eyes with a long dark red cape that went to his ankles. He also had a sword, although it was much more ornately decorated than Wuji's. He had a rectangular guardplate of some kind on each of his limbs with eight holes in each one, and a cylindrical tube above his left arm. He turned to Caleb and nodded, saying, "You need to go save your father."

Caleb didn't need to ask anything. He sprinted downstairs as the sounds of metal on metal continued behind him and ran out the door. A tear came to his eye when he saw that the tree he had been sitting in that day was now on fire. It soon passed, however, when he saw a group carrying an unconscious man walking down the path towards the village.

"DAD!" Caleb yelled as he sprinted towards the group. Two of them broke off to intercept Caleb. He blocked the first one's tonfa with his forearm, then responded with a palm strike that both broke the man's nose and knocked him out. The second one attempted to shoot Caleb, but missed wide left. Caleb took advantage and hit him with a flying kick, sending him to the grassy floor as well.

After dealing with them, Caleb jumped on top of the group with his father. There were three more grunts along with a very large man covered in a cloak. The cloaked man pointed his finger at Caleb, silently ordering the grunts to kill him. The first one's punch was blocked and returned with another, but Caleb couldn't block the second punch. It sent him sprawling to the floor, blood coming towards the corner of his mouth. When the grunt who he'd hit first tried to finish the job, Caleb whipped his legs out from under him with a low kick and then knocked the man out with a powerful ax kick.

The man in the cloak laughed as he watched the fight. Caleb blocked the next punch sent his way and then responded with a headbutt, dazing both fighters. The third man attempted to run Caleb through on his sword, but only managed to slice him in the side of the chest. Grunting with pain, Caleb grabbed the weapon-wielder and threw him into the other man, taking both men out of commission.

The man in the cloak clapped as Caleb panted, clutching his injured side. "Very good, Caleb." The man's voice was slow and deep, just as Caleb expected it to be. "Your father taught you well."

"Give him back and he can teach me more." Caleb said through gritted teeth. The man laughed again and waved his finger.

"Ahh, but you're funny as well! How wonderful." He removed his cloak, revealing a young face with a scar on the left cheek and piercing icy blue eyes. "However, I'm afraid I can't do that. We need him, you see, to help us in our mission."

"I don't care!" Caleb yelled as he swung out at the man, who snickered at the raging teen. Caleb felt a funny feeling in his chest and then was sent flying backwards, the fall causing more blood to spurt from his side. "Wh-what the hell was that?" He coughed as he stumbled back to his feet.

"The Devil Fruit." The cloaked man smirked as he fully removed his cloak. Underneath it was a chestplate of bright blue armor with white markings and red and black pants. Tied to his back was a sword much larger than Wuji's or the mysterious man; Caleb recognized it as a claymore from the South Blue. "Technically, the Push-Push Fruit. It gives me the gift of Telekinesis." The man laughed as he once again sent Caleb flying backwards without even touching him. "How's it feel to be beaten by someone without them even touching you?"

"Dammit!" Caleb thought as he stumbled back up, slower than the last time. "I can't fight this guy if I can't reach him!" He looked around for something to fight with, and his eyes fell upon a large rock, bringing a grin to his face.

"You must be joking." The cloaked man said in boredom as Caleb picked up the large rock and tossed it at the cloaked man. With a swipe of his hand, the man used his power to send the rock flying away, completely missing the fact that Caleb had sneaked behind him.

"Eat this, bastard!" Caleb yelled as he punched the man square in the face. He grinned, the feeling of his fist hitting this guy's face feeling quite good. However, that feeling soon turned worse when the punch had no effect other than angering the cloaked man.

"I'm a bastard, eh?" He said, swiping Caleb's hand away from his face as he drew his claymore. "Well, this 'bastard' is going to tear you limb from limb and then feed you to your own father. How's that sound?" Inside his head, Caleb was screaming to run away, but he wouldn't do it. "Let's see what you're made of, brat!" The cloaked man hollered as he rushed at Caleb to strike him down.

Caleb never forgot what occurred in the next three seconds. They would redefine his life. The man swung his sword down in an attempt to kill him, and so Caleb put his own hands up in defense. As he did so, he saw small little energy particles gathering together towards his hands. As the sword was about to slice his hands off, those particles combined and formed a medium length, energy-based longsword that blocked the attack and knocked the man backwards.

Both fighters were stunned. Neither one of them had ever seen this before. "You ate a Devil's Fruit?" The man yelled out towards Caleb.

"No!" Caleb yelled, swinging around the sword. "I have no idea what this is!" It was incredible, though; it seemed to be the perfect fit for Caleb. It was the perfect length and weight necessary for him to utilize it to its fullest potential. Caleb had been raised from a young age in how to use weapons, but this sword was unlike anything he'd ever seen. "But I know that now we're on even grounds!" He taunted his opponent.

"You wish!" The enraged man yelled as he came charging once more. Caleb swallowed his fears and answered the charge with one of his own, energy sword in hand.

He never remembered what happened next.

Caleb woke up the next day in a place he'd never been before. All around him were shards of glass, pieces of rubble, and the occasional surviving silverware. It took him a while before he realized that this was what was left of his house. He cried as he realized that it wasn't all a crazy dream.

"Quit the crying." A voice said from behind him. "It's not like you." Caleb turned and saw the mysterious man from his room, the one who had fought Wuji. "Although," the man said as he approached Caleb, "I guess I can understand it. I mean, your home's destroyed, your dad's abducted, and-"

"Dad was abducted?" Caleb yelled as he tried to rise to his feet. The pain, however, was far too great, and so Caleb was forced to fall to his knee.

"Wouldn't try that if I were you." The man said as he walked around Caleb and towards where the tree had been. "That guy yesterday did quite the number on you. I gotta say, though, the whole lightning sword was one hell of a trump card." The man said down near the ashes of the tree and waved his hand for Caleb to come over. "If you can." He added playfully.

Caleb scowled and rose with difficulty. He limped over to where the man was sitting and glowered at him before sitting back down, hearing the creaks in his joints as he did. They sat there for a moment, looking out at the ravaged town and listening to the breeze before Caleb broke the silence. "Who are you?"

"Name's Leaf." The man said without moving an inch. "I knew your dad." This got Caleb's full attention. "Don't get any ideas." The man said, already anticipating the answer. "We used to work together, that's all."

"As what?" Caleb asked angrily. "Dad's been a blacksmith since I was born."

"Since you were born, yes." Leaf said cooly. "But before you were born, he was one of the greatest pirates the world had ever known." The words seemed to each be a blow to Caleb's already fragile mind as Leaf continued. "I had the good fortune to be a member of his crew, and a loyal one at that."

"What crew was that?" Caleb said abruptly. "Pirate or not, I know my dad wasn't captain."

For the first time since they'd met, Leaf laughed. "Yeah, that's right, Gerheart was never like that." He looked back towards the horizon, and Caleb could tell the man was smiling. "We were both members of the Straw Hat crew."

This made Caleb's face pale. "The Straw Hats?" He burst out, "that same crew that was toe-to-toe with the Second Pirate King's?"

Leaf nodded. "Yeah. He and I worked under Cap'n Luffy for a couple years. He was there before I was. In fact, we worked under him until you were born. Then the Cap'n forced Gerheart to leave, so he could raise you safely." Leaf's eyes furrowed as he frowned beneath the mask. "But they still found you."

"My...dad." Caleb said quietly, disrupting Leaf's train of thought, "what did he do? Like, how did he fight?"

Leaf smiled again as he looked at his friend's son. "Well, for starters, he was the second best swordsman I ever met. Behind Zoro, your father could beat just about anyone with his sword." Leaf turned back to the horizon as he continued. "But he didn't need a sword. A lance, an ax, a bow, hell, your father could kill a man with a book. All he needed was a weapon, and your father could get it done."

Caleb looked down at his feet, which were just as heavily bandaged as the rest of his body. "So what happened yesterday?" He mumbled.

Leaf turned to Caleb and answered him in a montone voice like he had before. "You fought that guy and lost. Big time. Although, you did manage to take two fingers from him, and so you should take pride in that." Inside, Caleb gave himself a pat on the back. "Before he could kill you, I stepped in. My opponent had fled long before, and so I had gotten worried." Caleb smiled, but Leaf held up his hand in response. "About the both of you. As it turns out, they took your dad long before I got there. I just managed to save you." He held out his arm, which was now even more heavily bandaged than Caleb. "Paid one hell of a price, too."

"Who were they?" Caleb asked. "Who were those people? They weren't Marines, that's for sure."

"No, they weren't." Leaf said. "Although I wish they had been." That part he mumbled so low even Caleb couldn't hear it. "Those guys were part of a group called Cameos. A long time ago, they tried to kill your dad and I. They operate under Blackbeard himself, so it's little surprise that they'd come after him. What's surprising, though, is that they attacked you." Leaf's brow furrowed again. "Blackbeard's overstepping the damn line."

Caleb sat there, taking it all in. Just last morning he had been the simple son of a blacksmith in a town people rarely talked about. In fact, he'd just gotten a girlfriend. Now he had learned he was the son of one of the most powerful pirates in the world, and it was yet another of those pirates telling him this. On top of all of that, he could apparently create energy swords out of nothing. "I really hope this is a dream." Caleb thought wryly.

Suddenly, Leaf stood up and faced Caleb. "What now, boy?"

Caleb stared back up towards Leaf, determination on his face. "I get my dad back." He stood up, ignoring the pain. "I go find these Cameos bastards and get my dad back, no matter the cost."

Leaf smiled again. "You know that Cameos runs under Blackbeard, right?" Caleb nodded. "So you know that going against Cameos means going against both Blackbeard and the Marines, right?" Caleb nodded again, and Leaf's smile grew. "You know, kid, I think you are your father's son." He extended his hand to Caleb and said, "Keramono Leaf is at your service, Caleb Dryder."

Caleb shook Leaf's hand and took the first step into a journey that would change the world.

The sun rose on a new day.

End of Chapter One

Author's Note: OHMYGOD

That made me so nervous. First time writing anything like this in a year. Anywhoo, thanks for reading! R&R please!

BY THE WAY VERY IMPORTANT DO NOT SKIP THIS

All stories under my previous account, shadowwing13, are canceled as of right now.

That doesn't mean that they won't reappear under dryderson.

Wink wink. ;)

Howzabout this; if I can get 10 different people telling me to bring back a story, I will. You must know the name of the story, however.

Good deal?

K.

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,

dryderson


	2. Making Your Name

The Path of the King

Chapter Two

Making Your Name

"Get up." The voice called through the haze called sleep in front of Caleb's eyes. "We leave today." Caleb nodded, only half awake, at his new comrade Leaf as they cracked their joints and grabbed their packs. They'd spent the past two days sailing on the high seas, and yesterday they'd arrived at their first destination; Newburgh Island, otherwise known as the Walled-Off Island. The island had gotten its name because it was, essentially, a town held hostage by the Marines loyal to Blackbeard. They had built a wall around the small town that was over thirty stories high, and anyone that went in or out had to have the proper certification. So when Leaf had told Caleb that they were going to break inside, he had been a little more than skeptical.

"It won't work." He had said almost immediately. They were planning the raid on an oaken table in the inn in Robinville, one of the few buildings that had survived the attack. Not only were the two companions there, but the entire town was surrounded around the table, and each of them seemed to agree with Caleb's thinking, with multiple shouts of "that's right" and "it's impossible" going around the room.

"Let me finish." Leaf had said after drawing his blade and threatening to kill the next person who spoke. "If we attack this base, we'll make one hell of a front page, and right now, that's what we did. Luffy broke into Enies Lobby – we don't have the man power to do that," He tapped the plans in front of him as he continued, "but we do have the man power to do this. You and me, Caleb. That's all we'll need."

Now, hanging on the side of the giant wall, Caleb was cursing himself for agreeing to this. The first part of the plan involved Caleb scaling the wall – by hand, mind you – with the assistance of some suction cups that Leaf had made. "You've got one shot!" Leaf hollered up to Caleb when he had gotten halfway up the wall, "Make it count!" Caleb gave him a thumbs up and started Phase Two of the plan.

In the three weeks they had planned this, they had spent the remainder of the time working on Caleb's new powers. Caleb had asked Leaf about this almost immediately after learning his name, and Leaf had, at first, been reluctant to tell him. Eventually, however, Caleb managed to convince Leaf to tell him the bare minimum.

"It's an ability called the Thunder Blood." He'd said. "It's an ability native to a species known as Raiskians on a New World Island known only as Raiskia. Because the island constantly has lightning falling on them, the natives had to evolve this ability. It lets them draw lightning from the air and use it in their attacks. Why you have it, I'm not sure – Gerheart never talked about where he was from, and we never knew your mom."

So for three weeks, Leaf and Caleb had worked on shaping the lightning. After all that time, however, they were only able to get three techniques completed. Luckily, however, they were the only three techniques that they'd need. Caleb grinned as he drew in the electricty from the surrounding air, creating a hammer made from lightning. "**Mjollnir!**" He cried inside his mind as he smashed the wall with the hammer. The lightning from the hammer leaked out and spread into the cracks of the bricks, then exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. Smiling, he gave a thumbs up to Leaf, who motioned for him to drop back down.

"Now what?" Caleb asked when he reunited with Leaf, who was preparing something on his left arm.

"We go around the other side." He said, sprinting off. Disgruntled, Caleb followed him around to the other side before Leaf abruptly stopped. "Here should be good." He mumbled as he extended his left arm upwards towards the top of the wall. Leaf looked over at Caleb, his eyes smiling. "You might want to grab on." He said as he extended his other hand. Caleb grabbed it and the plan began.

A rope shot out from the tube over Leaf's left arm and continued to fly until it reached the top of the wall where it snagged onto something. After making sure it was safe to climb, Leaf retracted the rope, sending the two rebels flying upwards.

When they got to the top, there was a guard waiting for him. Without giving him a chance to strike, Leaf threw a shuriken in the man's throat, silencing him, and Caleb used Mjollnir to finish the poor man off by knocking him off of the wall. Leaf and Caleb watched as the man flew all the way down and landed in the water with a splash. "Your dad woulda been so proud," Leaf remarked, bringing a smirk to Caleb's face. Then Leaf turned and faced Newburgh, saying, "Let's go."

"Sir!" A Marine yelled as he dashed into his superior's office. He coughed as he entered; it was unavoidable. Everywhere you looked in the room was smoke, smoke, and more smoke. "Sir!" The Marine repeated, a little louder this time. The chair behind the desk turned around and revealed the man's superior, Captain Marcus Cancer. He was smoking two cigarettes in his right hand, and every few seconds he would put them to his lips for another hit. His left hand, however, was an iron prosthetic, built in the shape of a claw. It was this claw that gave him the epithet "Iron Claw" Cancer.

"Ye called?" Cancer said as he took a hit. The lower-ranked Marine stumbled a little in his words as he told the Captain that two people had just broken through the Wall. Cancer stumbled and coughed as his cigarettes fell to the floor. When he looked up, there was one hell of a death gaze in his eyes. "Call Captain Pinchetti." He growled in a low voice.

An hour later the two Marine Captains were standing face to face. One was short and muscular, and the other was tall and skinny. One had short black hair, and the other had long blonde hair. One had one arm, and the other had one eye. In fact, the only thing that was similar between the two was that they were both Marines. "You called?" Pinchetti said in a lackadaisical voice.

"Intruders." Cancer growled, causing Pinchetti to stand up straight to his full height of seven feet nine inches. "You search inside, and I'll check the Wall." The captains nodded to each other and dashed off to their assignments.

"We cannot thank you enough for letting us stay," Caleb said as he bowed, "it means more than you can know."

The innkeeper gave him a funny look, handed him a key, and then walked in the back room, muttering something under his breath.

Caleb and Leaf had been able to find a temporary home in an inn here while they prepared for their invasion. For now, Caleb was alone; Leaf had said that one of his contacts lived here and had run off after telling Caleb to find somewhere to stay.

Caleb had never been outside of Robinville, so he was incredibly happy to go wandering around outside. He saw that there were many things about Newburgh that were far different from his hometown. For one, it seemed much poorer. The houses were all made of wood, and the roofs were made of straw. There were no solid roads; just lines of dirt that led you around the town. Caleb was horrified when he noticed that not only were there no trees, but no grass as well.

"This place has no life." He muttered to himself as he sat at a table inside the inn. Even the inn seemed lifeless; there were a multitude of people inside, but almost no noise. There was no whooping, no drunken celebrations, not even so much as a laugh. That is, until a man sat down across from Caleb, a grin plastered all over his face.

"Hey ya there, buddy!" The man said as he shook Caleb's hand vigorously, "It's an honor to meetcha! Name's Jason. What about you?"

"Caleb." He responded, skeptical of the man's intentions. "Do I know you?"

"Nope, never met. I just wanted to come over here and talk to ya, seein as how nobody else here will." Jason swiveled his head around left and right, almost fearful in a sense. "Ya know, it seems like everybody here's 'fraid of something."

"Like what?" Caleb responded, "You? Me?"

Jason shook his head rapidly. "Nah, man, you and me are just a couple 'a normal tourists, right?" He winked at Caleb, and Caleb's skin went cold. Did Jason know why they were there? "Nah, they're scared of somethin else. And I may know what it is." He leaned into Caleb, and Caleb did the same. "Those Marines," Jason whispered, "they got somethin' happenin' in that base of there's in the back of the town." Jason dropped a key onto the table and motioned for Caleb to pick it up. "I stole that from a very important-looking Marine. I heard him talking about it unlocking something great." Jason stood up and put on his jacket, about ready to walk away. "When you do break in," he whispered with another wink, "find whatever's behind that door." With that, Jason walked away.

Caleb managed to catch up to him at the door. "Who are you," He asked, "and I don't mean your name. Who are you, really?"

Jason grinned and saluted Caleb. "A friend. Trust me." With that, he walked outside the door. Caleb tried to follow him, but when he stepped outside, Jason had disappeared.

"It's so nice to have you back, Leaf!" An old woman said as she set a plate of cookies down in front of the embarrassed man. "You send us such few letters, we'd thought you'd forgotten about us!"

"Mrs. Morgan, of course I didn't forget about you," Leaf said as he took a cookie, "but times have been rough lately. You must know what I'm talking about."

"Yes, I do." Mrs. Morgan said as she sat down a cup of tea in front of Leaf. "That Blackbeard is ruining everyone's lives. In fact, just the other day, those Marines of his beat up my son just because he tried to leave the island!"

"Where is Helmeppo, anyways?" Leaf asked, sipping his tea. "He didn't greet me at the Wall like he said he would."

At this, Mrs. Morgan hung her head and began to weep. "They took him!" She bawled suddenly, startling Leaf. "Those Marines took him and locked him away in the base out back! They didn't even care that he used to be one of them!" Leaf put an arm around her, comforting her in the only way he could.

"Don't worry about it," Leaf started to say, "I'll get him ba-"

Suddenly, a knock came at the door. Mrs. Morgan stood abruptly and turned to Leaf with a finger over her mouth, motioning for him to stay quiet. Leaf nodded and ran back into the hallway as Mrs. Morgan answered the door. In busted two Marines, fully clothed in their black attire.

"We've received reports that an Unauthorized Immigrant has been in this home." One of the Marines announced. "Therefore, we are going to search this house in its entirety, and arrest you if we find anything." With that, the two Marines began to systematically destroy the place; they overturned bookshelves, tables, couches, nearly everything in an attempt to find Leaf.

The man in question was hiding inside one of the rooms towards the back of the house. From the looks of the room, it had been Mrs. Morgan's. Leaf knew that Helmeppo would never paint his walls pink. The sound of footsteps grew louder, and Leaf slowed his breathing as he heard one guard enter the room.

"What a horrible place." The Marine spat on the floor as he began overturning everything in the room. Eventually he got to the closet where Leaf was hiding. Without any warning, the door busted open, and Leaf took a small knife from his belt and cut the man's throat out.

The other Marine heard the commotion and came into the room with his pistol out, but Leaf threw the knife directly into the man's eye, forcing the man to shoot wildly into the ceiling. As the Marine screamed in pain, Leaf pounced upon him, removed the knife, and stabbed one more time into the man's heart. This finally killed him, and Leaf was relieved.

He ran back out into the main room to find a very distraught Mrs. Morgan. He took her by the shoulders and told her what to do. "Go to a friend's house," he said, "and don't come back here until you hear a big commotion. My friend and I are going to make it all better, I promise." With that, Leaf ran out the door to find Caleb.

Caleb was drinking a mug of soda when Leaf came in, panting like a dog. He motioned for his friend to come over, and Leaf complied. "Good soda here," Caleb said as he took a swig, "much better than the stuff back home." He set down the mug and stared across at Leaf. "Whatcha find?"

"My contact's in jail." Leaf said cooly. "We're gonna go bust him out."

"That jail wouldn't happen to be anywhere in the base towards the back of town, would it?" Caleb asked.

Leaf was a bit started from Caleb's knowledge. "Well, yes, actually." He cocked an eye and leaned towards Caleb. "How'd you you know that?"

Caleb looked left, then right, and then pulled out the key that Jason had given him. "A man named Jason gave me this," he explained, "and told me to open whatever door this opens. He said it'd be in that same base." Caleb grinned as he pocketed the key. "Looks like we're gonna go piss someone off."

End of Chapter Two

AN: REVIEW THIS STORY OR BOWSER WILL EAT YOU AND SAY MWAHAHAHAHAHA

Anyways.

So Helmeppo's one of the good guys now, eh...

Sketchy Sketchy Sketchy!

What will happen next to our heroes?

…

Hmm. Haven't thought about that one.

Wink.

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,

dryderson


	3. Unci

The Path of the King

Chapter Three

Unci

The Newburgh Marine Base, or Base #354, was not well known throughout the Blackbeard Empire, but the Captains who commanded it were. Captain "Iron Claw" Cancer, known widely as one of the most physically powerful men in the world, and Captain "Silent Sword" Pinchetti, who was rumored to have killed an entire pirate crew without even revealing his weapon. These two Captains were two of the Marine's finest men, and currently, they were freaking out. At least, Cancer was.

"They weren't on the Wall, they weren't in the city, and they damn sure aren't in our base," Cancer growled as he lit up another two cigarettes, "where in the hell are these intruders?" The two captains were sitting across from each other, each on a different couch. On the table in front of them were search warrants, witness descriptions, and, of course, an ashtray.

"Well," Captain Pinchetti said nonchalantly, "two Marines were found dead at that Morgan's house just now." He was listening to one of the many Den-Den Mushis in the room. Each one connected to a different guard post on the Wall. "Apparently, it looks like they were killed from a knife of some kind." He put the Den Den Mushi down and started eating an apple. "So now we know he's armed."

"They." Cancer growled from his cigarettes. "They're armed. Don't forget there's two of them." Enraged, he swiped at the table, knocking all the papers off as well as the ashtray. "Dammit, how can we not catch two rats?" He roared as a lower ranked Marine walked in.

"Sir!" The Marine saluted, "Those two intruders have just been spotted, sir!"

Both of the Captains stood and faced the Marine. "Where, soldier, spit it out!" Cancer growled loudly. The Marine stuttered and shivered as he gave his answer.

"W-well, sir, they're in the Main Hall!" He said as a shuriken came flying from below him and killed him where he stood. Almost immediately the two Captains rushed out to where he had fallen.

From the second floor balcony where they were standing, the scene could only be called chaotic. The two intruders, Caleb and Leaf, were systematically destroying the Marines. Leaf was slicing through men with ease using his sword, and Caleb was displaying his martial arts knowledge by knocking out the ones that Leaf missed. Leaf looked up at the balcony and his eyes narrowed. Almost instantly, he appeared in the air above the captains, swinging his sword for a deathblow. Pinchetti, however, would have none of it.

"You're good." Leaf grinned as the Captain blocked his sword with...nothing. There was no solid object where Leaf's sword was blocked, but he still couldn't budge his sword.

"I suppose that's a compliment." Pinchetti said with a bored look on his face. "Cancer, I'll take this one. You go get that boy."

Cancer grinned and nodded, then jumped down from the balcony, creating a crater where he fell. He waved the other Marines away and brandished his iron claw like a deadly mace as he approached Caleb. "Well, boy," he grinned as he put out his cigarettes, "let's see just how powerful you really are."

"**Ragnorak.**" Caleb muttered as his lightning sword came forth. Without another word, Cancer charged and swung his hand at Caleb. The young man only barely managed to dodge it, but he was able to return it with a slice of his own. It nicked the larger man's shoulder, causing him to hiss, but it didn't do any serious damage. "Shit!" Caleb thought as Cancer swung back at him, forcing him to dodge again. "I need some help!"

Help, however, was going to have to wait. Pinchetti was proving to be more of a challenge than Leaf had thought, and the two were still meeting in the air with deadlocks.

"What's your secret?" Leaf called as his sword sliced through where Pinchetti had been a moment earlier. "It's like you move faster than the air, and even I know that's not possible." Without looking, he blocked Pinchetti's stab from the back. "But you are predictable."

"It's called Soru." Pinchetti said as he disappeared again and reappeared in front of Leaf. "I'll return your compliment now." Pinchetti said as he held out his invisible sword. "You're good." Without a warning, he dropped the sword and swung a punch at Leaf's face, which wasn't fast enough to dodge it.

Leaf grunted as the punch knocked him backwards. He could only squint and watch as Pinchetti used his foot to throw his hilt back to his hand. The Captain grinned as his next slash sliced right through Leaf's arm.

"Not so tough with only one arm, I guess." Pinchetti taunted as Leaf howled in pain, clutching the stump where his arm used to be. "Ah well. Guess I'll finish you." With that, he clenched his sword and attempted to behead Leaf, telling him as he did, "You were a good opponent."

The sound of metal hitting flesh was music to Pinchetti's ears. It took him a half second, however, to realize it was his flesh that was being cut. "Wh-what?" He gasped, staring at the sword in his gut. His sword.

Leaf grinned, waving his decapitated arm in front of the Marine. "It's a false arm." Leaf explained. "Why do you think I was fighting so poorly?" With that, he grunted a little, and then his real arm popped out from where the fake had disappeared. "There we go," Leaf sighed, "much better."

"Bu-but that's my sword!" Pinchetti cried hysterically. "You stabbed me with my sword!" He held up his hand and was shocked that his own sword was still in his hand. "H-how?" He looked back up at Leaf, who was still grinning.

"I stabbed you with my sword. It just took the form of your sword." He slowly removed the sword from Pinchetti's stomach, causing great pain as he did. Then he tapped the hilt twice, and the sword's original form was returned. "The Nuevo Kyubi, one of the ten greatest swords in the world." He explained. "They say that a shapeshifter created this sword, and when he did, he implanted his own flesh into it. Because of this, my sword has the power to take other sword's forms. But it can only copy eight other forms. Thus the Nuevo part." He sheathed his sword and grinned. "But they do reset each time the sword changes owners. Take some pride in being the first image my sword has taken." With that, Leaf walked away, leaving Pinchetti to die.

Caleb was not having the same luck Leaf was. Cancer was, quite honestly, kicking the snot out of him. Caleb had been lucky just to get a slice or two in. So he'd done the only thing he could; he'd ran away.

"Come on, boy!" Cancer yelled as he chased Caleb down the hallway. "Show some damn spine!" He leaped out and thrust his iron claw into the ground, creating a shockwave which sent Caleb flying forward to the end of the hall, where a door barred his path.

"Gah!" Caleb grunted as he hit the door. Dazed and injured, he tried to open the door, but it was locked shut. Suddenly connecting the dots, he pulled the key from his pocket. Saying a silent prayer, he tried to open the door.

"I can't believe that worked." Caleb said after he'd opened the door and locked it behind him. "It's like I'm in some freakin fantasy or something." Suddenly, there were heavy knocks at the door, and Caleb knew it was Cancer trying to get in. He knew he didn't have much time. Then he turned and realized why the door was locked.

There was a giant glass orb in the center of the room connected to a bunch of machines in the corners and sides of the room. Inside the room, surrounded by a large amount of green goo, was a very large cat. Well, it would be inaccurate to call it a cat; in fact, it was a snow leopard. Multiple wires were connected to this leopard, and it seemed to be in a lot of pain. The sight made Caleb sick to his stomach.

Almost immediately, Caleb knew what to do. As the knocks grew louder, he created Mjollnir in his hands. "I really hope this doesn't hurt!" He yelled as he jumped up and smashed open the orb, spilling the goo everywhere and dropping the leopard and Caleb to the floor.

Immediately afterward, the door was blasted open. Cancer took one look at the room and nearly blew up. "YOU BASTARD!" He yelled, his face beet red. "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK US TO FINALLY GET A WORKING SPECIMEN IN THAT CAGE? AND YOU JUST BREAK IT?" He sprinted over to Caleb and slammed down his claw, trying to kill him, but Caleb managed to dodge it.

"Specimen?" Caleb said angrily, "You do this to this wonderful creature, and you just call her a specimen? **Ragnorak!**" He yelled as he charged towards what would have been certain death. Suddenly, a large white blur appeared before him and tackled Cancer to the floor, growling as it did. Caleb watched as it clawed out at Cancer, who growled and threw the cat off of him. The snow leopard looked over at Caleb, its teeth showing, and Caleb wondered if he'd be next.

"_Him._" A voice said to Caleb. "_I'm a him._" Caleb's jaw dropped when he realized that the voice was coming from the snow leopard – and it was inside his mind_._

Cancer realized what had occurred and got up, but much slower than he had before. "It spoke to you?" He growled, "You of all people?" He slammed the iron claw to the floor in anger. "Dammit! Now we need to start all over!" He pointed towards Caleb as he said this, "All because you synced with it!" He regained his composure and sadistically grinned. "Although," he said menacingly, "I guess that does mean I can kill the both of you now."

"You can try." Caleb said, brandishing Ragnorak. "But you'll fail." With that, he charged at Cancer, and was amazed when the snow leopard did it at the same time. In fact, as he swung his lightning sword at the Marine, the cat clawed out at the same time. Cancer attempted to block the attacks with his arm, but paid the price for it.

"ARGH!" The man yelled as his arm was both clawed and shocked simultaneously. He attempted to swing his claw at his opponents, but they both dodged at the same time. Caleb grinned as he realized that his movements and the snow leopard's were linked. Using this to his advantage, they attacked the man from each side, clawing and slicing away at his powerful exterior.

"You...brats!" Cancer cried as he fell to his knees, bleeding from both sides of his chest. "You've ruined everything!"

"And we're totally fine with that." Caleb said coldly. "**Ragnorak: Twin Form**." Another lightning sword appeared in his other arm, and Caleb prepared for his finishing attack. He jumped over the fallen Marine and, using his two blades, cut the man's throat out. As he watched the man die on the floor, Caleb celebrated his first real victory.

Suddenly, a shadow was cast over Caleb. His face paled as he turned around. Maybe Leaf had failed, and the other captain had come to finish what his partner had started?

No. It was the snow leopard, who playfully pounced on Caleb. Caleb laughed as the snow leopard licked his face, saying, "_Thank you!_" as it did.

"It's no problem." Caleb said out loud as he motioned for the cat to get off. The leopard happily obliged and then sat down, licking its bloody paw. Caleb sat there resting for a moment before talking to the leopard. "So, um, do you have a name?"

The leopard looked over at him for a moment, then resumed licking its paw. "_Unci._" It mentally told Caleb. "_They called me Experiment N, but I liked the name Unci._"

Caleb nodded, not believing he was talking to a snow leopard. "Okay, Unci." He said, and he swore the snow leopard grinned at the name. "So, why were you in there?" He pointed to the shattered orb.

Unci stopped licking its paw and sat down like a dog would before answering. "_Well, they were trying to create a super-soldier,_" The leopard said, "_And I was the closest they got. But I didn't like any of them, so I didn't talk to any of them._" He smiled again, and this made Caleb grin. "_You, I like though. You freed me._" Unci bowed his head in respect. "_Thank you._"

"No problem," Caleb laughed, "I'd have done it any day. My dad always told me to be kind to animals." The memory of his father brought a frown to his face, and soon he flashed back to when his father was abducted. Unci's voice snapped him back to reality.

"_Your father was abducted?_" Unci asked. "_I'm so sorry. I never knew my parents._"

"Wait a minute," Caleb said, connecting the dots, "did you just read my mind?"

Unci laughed, which sounded very strange to Caleb. "_No, you shared your mind. Our minds are linked, you see; whatever you think, I see. It works vice versa as well._" Unci grinned again and raised a paw. "_We're partners now._"

Caleb was beside himself in joy. Not only had he beaten a Marine Captain, but now he had a new friend; a snow leopard, nonetheless. Not feeling an ounce of embarrassment, he shook Unci's paw, cementing a friendship that would last a lifetime.

After bandaging his wounds, Leaf had taken it upon himself to find two people; Helmeppo and Caleb. He hoped he'd find Caleb first, but things rarely worked the way he wanted.

"Dammit, Caleb!" He said after killing yet another Marine, "Where in the hell did you disappear to? If you die, your dad will kill me..." Suddenly, he came across the jail. Momentarily forgetting Caleb, Leaf stepped inside to find his old friend.

He wasn't in the first or the second cell, but Leaf found Helmeppo inside the third cell. The past twenty years had aged him quite severly; the blonde hair was still there, but it was much shorter than it had been in his tenure as a Marine. He had a rugged beard, and his eyes were sunken in despair. In fact, Leaf could tell that the man hadn't smiled since he'd been incarcerated.

"You look old." He called from outside the jail cell, instantly grabbing Helmeppo's attention. The man flew to the bars and grinned, pointing towards the keys. Leaf nodded and grabbed them, then unlocked the door to Helmeppo's cell.

"Thank you!" Helmeppo cried as he hugged his friend. Leaf felt a tad embarrassed, but went with it anyways. "I haven't been out of that cell in three months!"

"I can tell," Leaf joked, "that beard makes you look like Paul Bunyan."

Helmeppo laughed as he stroked the beard in question. "Don't worry, the first thing I'm gonna do when I get out is shave this damn thing." His grin faded as he continued to talk. "Those captains here are merciless, you know. I've got about twenty scars all over my body that'l prove that."

"You'll have to show me later," Leaf said, cutting his friend off so that he wouldn't have to see the scars, "we've got a bit of a problem. I killed the tall Captain, but my accomplice ran away with the other one, and things have gotten a little too quiet."

"Accomplice?" Helmeppo asked as he grabbed two oddly shaped swords from behind the desk in the jail. "Who's your accomplice?"

Leaf sighed as he answered. "Gerheart's son." He held up his hand to prevent Helmeppo from interrupting. "Before you scold me, let me tell you this was his plan. And he asked me to come along, not the other way around."

"Doesn't change a thing!" Helmeppo cried, rushing out the door. Leaf sighed and followed him as he listened to his friend rant. "Gerheart told you to look after his son, I told you to look after his son, hell, even Luffy told you to look after his son! And you go and take him to a damn Marine base!" He looked back for a split second, then continued forward. "I mean, come on, Leaf, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I was following orders." Leaf responded coolly. "My orders were to follow Caleb no matter where he went. Well, he wanted to go here. So I followed orders and came here. Besides," he winked up at his friend, "if we hadn't come here, who would have busted you out?"

"Bah." Helmeppo responded with annoyance. "I woulda busted out. Eventually." Leaf hid a snicker as the two continued to search for Caleb.

Eventually they came upon the door. Helmeppo held up a hand, skeptical of something. "This door's always locked," He explained, "but it's ajar now." Telling Leaf to be quiet, he entered the room. And promptly fell down the stairs, creating a large racket. Leaf sighed and followed his friend in.

"Leaf!" Caleb called from the floor. "I thought you'd never arrive!"

"And I thought I'd never see you with a snow leopard." Leaf retorted, staring at the giant cat that his companion was petting. "Why isn't it eating you?"

Caleb's ears perked up a little, and then he smiled and laughed. "He says he doesn't like you at all." Caleb teased.

"He can talk?" Leaf asked, quite skeptical of this.

"_Better than you can._" The voice resounded in Leaf's head, startling him just as much as it had Caleb. Leaf shook his head and smiled.

"Well, that's unusual." He jumped down to where his friend was, completely passing over Helmeppo. "In any case, let's go. I've got my contact."

"Mk," Caleb said, scratching Unci's ears, "but Unci comes with us."

"Unci?"

"Unci."

…

"Dammit."

Needless to say, the town was overjoyed to learn that their tyrants were finally disposed. A parade was thrown in honor of Leaf and Caleb, who both managed to sneak away before it began. As they ran away, Unci's voice popped into Caleb's head. "_Go to the front gate!_" he was saying, _"I got us a ride out!_" Caleb relayed the message to Leaf, who grinned and nodded.

The two of them sprinted towards the front gate and just barely made it through before the townspeople could follow. Unci had procured a small, but reliable ship. It was large enough to fit two people and a snow leopard, at least, and so all of them were happy.

"So let me get this straight." Leaf said for the fourth time as they started to sail away from Newburgh Island, the townspeople cheering as they did. "Unci's coming with us?"

"That's right." Caleb grinned as he petted Unci, who had a grin almost as large as Caleb's.

"And his name's Unci?"

"Yeah, it's Unci.

…

"Dammit."

End of Chapter Three

AN: YAY!

That's the first real arc there and done.

Now, on a more serious note; Unci the snow leopard wishes to let you all know that snow leopards are endangered. Please, if you see one, do not take it out to the ocean.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,

dryderson


	4. Siblings

The Path of the King

Chapter Four

Siblings

"Caleb, I swear, if that cat of yours tries to tackle me again, I will skin it and line my clothes with it!" Leaf roared in anger. In the past three days, Unci had found it to be incredibly amusing to 'play' with Leaf, but because of his size, this typically ended in Unci knocking Leaf over.

"Don't call him a cat!" Caleb retorted as Unci hid behind him. "He's a leopard, for one thing, and he has a name!" Unci nodded as Caleb said this, and Leaf merely shook his head.

"Whatever." The older man huffed as he refocused his attention on the sea. "We'll see Recardna in the next couple of minutes, so get ready." Caleb nodded and gathered the materials together, but then turned back to Leaf.

"Why're we going to Recardna again?" Caleb asked, causing Leaf to slap his forehead.

"For the fourty-seventh time," Leaf said, "we're going there because I know someone who might be willing to join us, and he lives on Recardna." The man turned to face Caleb, and his anger was apparent. "Got it?"

"Got it." Caleb muttered. He re-adjusted the sails and prepared for docking.

It was just getting docked as Caleb and Leaf docked in Recardna. Caleb looked around, scanning the town to see what it looked like. It reminded Caleb of Robinville, actually. The houses were built out of wood and brick, and the streets were paved in concrete. Lights lined the street, and in the darkness of the night it provided an eerie glow across the town. "Something doesn't feel right." Caleb whispered to Leaf as he mentally told Unci to guard the ship.

"No, actually, this town's always been pretty creepy." Leaf sweatdropped. "I think that's why she likes it so much."

"She?" Caleb asked, not knowing Leaf's friend was a she. "Who is she?"

"You'll see when we get there. Now come on." Leaf beckoned for Caleb to follow him as he entered the creepy city.

After a short walk they arrived at the brightest part of the city; a place known as Hollow Inn. Leaf smiled as he and Caleb walked in to a roaring building. Inside were people punching each other, drinking copious amounts of ale, and a multitude of beautiful women. The sheer noise of it was loud enough to force Caleb to cover his ears.

"She may be a downer," Leaf yelled over the ruckus to Caleb, "but damn, Perona can still throw one hell of a party."

Before Caleb could ask who Perona was, a young woman walked up to them. She seemed to be about Caleb's age and was dressed in a very revealing waitress outfit. She had long brown hair and quite the impressive set of...well, you get the point. In fact, if there was any less clothing on her, Caleb would probably have had a nosebleed the size of Arizona. With the outfit she had on now, however, Caleb merely had one the size of Rhode Island. "Can I get you boys anything?" The woman cooed as Caleb clutched his nose. "Like a napkin, maybe?"

"The owner, if you wouldn't mind." Leaf said over the crowd. The girl nodded and motioned for the two men to follow her. She led them to the back of the bar and into a room guarded by a very large, very muscular man. Then she turned around and, without any warning, brandished a pistol.

"Who are you two?" She asked coldly as Leaf and Caleb held their hands up. "No Marines are stupid enough to come here anymore, and I can tell that you guys aren't locals."

"Things are that bad, eh?" Leaf muttered under his breath. He turned to Caleb and said, "Turn your head around." Caleb gulped, but he followed Leaf's orders. After a half minute, he heard a gasp, and then Leaf tapped him on the shoulder. "You can turn back around." He said.

"Terribly sorry about that!" The young woman said as she holstered her pistol. Caleb noticed that her words were rushed now, and it seemed like she couldn't wait to get out of the room. "I'm the owner of this place. Name's Miranda. How can I help you folks?"

"Where's Perona?" Leaf asked coolly, and Caleb could see the shivers run down Miranda's neck.

"Dead, about three years ago." Miranda shivered. "Mom died of a heart attack."

"Mom?" Leaf asked, quite startled. "Perona was your mother?" When Miranda nodded, Leaf grinned. "Ahh, so you're the one who ate the Devil Fruit! Perona mentioned you!"

Miranda's face fell at this. "Well..." she said, "yes and no. I have eaten a Devil Fruit, but only recently. The one my mom told you about was my brother."

"And where is he?" Leaf inquired.

Miranda didn't answer him. Instead, she placed her hand on a panel in the wall, opening a secret door behind her. "Follow me." She said solemnly as she walked down a flight of stairs. Caleb was about to follow her when Leaf held him back.

"Stay close." He said. "I'm concerned. Perona never mentioned having a daughter. Stay on your guard, Caleb." With that, he followed the young woman down into the cellar.

It was incredibly dimly lit downstairs, and Caleb had trouble seeing what Miranda was trying to show them. He heard Leaf's short gasp, however, and knew it couldn't be good. "Let me get the light." Miranda said solemnly as she lit a torch and held it in front of a sight Caleb would never forget.

In front of him was a man, a savage with green skin and red eyes. His hair was dark black with a yellow streak in it, and his teeth were all pointed. He had a gray hood that covered the hair fairly well, but the man's bloodthirsty, sadistic grin was showing just fine. As soon as he saw the intruders, he snarled and lunged out, but he was restrained by chains attached to his four limbs.

Miranda's eyes teared as she turned to her two shocked companions. "This is Petrov." She whispered. "He's my brother."

"So what do we do?" Caleb asked as he finally got Unci to fall asleep. "Do we try to help the guy, or do we just leave?" They were staying inside of Miranda's inn. After she'd led them out of the basement, she'd set them up in the largest room the inn had. Caleb had wanted to tell her a normal room would have been okay, but when he remembered that Unci was going to have to stay with them, he instantly agreed.

"You mean Petrov?" Leaf asked from the windowsill. He was munching on an apple, one of his favorite snacks. "I don't know," Leaf's brow furrowed, "it's a strange case. Miranda said that his current condition was because of his Devil Fruit. As far as I know, there's no way to cure a Devil Fruit."

"Yeah...I suppose you're right," Caleb sighed, "but that doesn't mean I can't try to fix him." He stood up from Unci's side and faced Leaf. "Someone's coming towards the door."

Leaf smiled as someone knocked at the door. "Your hearing's improving." He complimented Caleb as he opened the door to let Miranda in.

"Sorry for intruding," she explained as she walked in with a tray full of food, "but I figured you guys might be hungry, so I made you guys some food." She set down the tray, and almost instantly Unci shot up from his sleeping spot.

"_That smells super good!_" He mentally said as he rushed over to the food and started eating it.

"Hey!" Caleb yelled as he jumped for the remaining food, "That's for me!" The two comically wrestled each other for the food as Leaf and Miranda watched.

"He's such a child." Leaf complained as he finished his apple.

"Yeah, but he's good-natured." Miranda said, smiling. "And the cat's a cutie too."

The two friends turned around from fighting after she said this. "He's a snow leopard." Caleb said with a deadpan voice as he tried to remove Unci's paw from his face.

"_But thank you for the compliment!_" Unci smiled as he smacked Caleb with his other paw, drawing a cry from the young man as the leopard went back to munching.

Miranda's eyes widened as Caleb rubbed his cheek and Unci continued to eat. "Did that cat – I mean, snow leopard – did he just speak?"

Almost instantly there was silence in the room. Leaf dropped his apple core and Caleb's jaw dropped in awe of what Miranda's statement meant. "You can hear him?" Caleb asked in amazement. When she nodded her head, he turned to Unci, who was proudly grinning. "Why didn't you tell me you could talk to anybody else before?"

"_It was funny making Leaf think he wasn't special._" Unci thought proudly. "_And besides, I don't really like him._"

"What? What'd he say?" Leaf asked angrily as Caleb laughed and Miranda stifled a giggle.

At two in the morning, as the residents of the inn were finally falling asleep, someone knocked out the window to the basement and slipped in through the now-gaping hole. He had a headband on his forehead just below his bright orange hair, and he wore all black clothes in an attempt to blend in with the shadows. At his side was a rapier with no sheath. Pulling a key from his back pocket, he walked up to the now – docile Petrov. His appearance had drastically changed; his hair had now become the same color as his sister's, and the gray hood had transformed into a large black hat which was hung over his shoulders. He was wearing a black overcoat with a blue undershirt, and he had fingerless gloves on. If his eyes had been open, they would have been blue instead of the green his sister had.

"Come on, boy," the man said as he freed Petrov from his shackles, "let's get you out of here." With a grunt, he threw Petrov's arm over his shoulders and attempted to walk up the stairs. However, before he could get to the door, a voice stopped him.

"You know, I came down here to see what Petrov looked like when he wasn't startled," Leaf said as he stepped out from the shadows, "but I must say, I'm not impressed." He brandished the Nuevo Kyubi and pointed it at the intruder. "Name yourself and your intentions or you'll lose your head."

"Dustin." The man said in a bored voice. "Do we have to do this? I'm on a tight schedule."

Leaf grinned underneath his mask. "Well, yeah, we kinda do. I'm under orders too." He used his speed to jump in front of Dustin and point his sword at the man's exposed forehead. "Now, drop Petrov or die. Your choice."

Dustin's eyes furrowed for a moment, and then he sighed and walked back down the stairs, bringing a surprised reaction from Leaf. He put down Petrov and motioned for Leaf to follow as he jumped back out of the window. Leaf made sure that Petrov was still unconscious, then followed Dustin outside.

Just as he jumped out from the window, Dustin attacked. Leaf was barely able to raise his sword in time to block the blow. "Cheater!" He said through gritted teeth as he swung back at Dustin, who nimbly dodged the blow.

"What can I say," Dustin mocked him as he returned to a fencing position, "I don't play by the rules." With that, he charged at Leaf, thrusting the rapier at a speed too fast for normal eyes to comprehend. Leaf, however, was not a normal man, so he was able to block the blows.

"You're good," Leaf complimented Dustin as he parried thrust after thrust, "but not good enough, I'm afraid."

Dustin grinned and repelled Leaf's next attack, then jumped back and sheathed his sword. "I may not have to."

Leaf furrowed his brow. "And what do you mean by tha-" He was cut off from a shadowy figure knocking him out from behind.

"Never figured you to need help." The shadowy figure said slowly as it shook Dustin's hand.

"Never figured you to give me help," Dustin grinned as the figure emerged from the shadows, "Petrov."

"Anything for a comrade." Petrov smiled. "Now let's go." And with that, the two men disappeared into the night, leaving the unconscious Leaf behind.

End of Chapter Four

AN: DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

So is Petrov a good guy or a bad guy?

I WANNA KNOW!

Wait, I do.

…

Wink.

In any case, next time, the crew discovers Petrov is gone, a deal is struck, and Petrov's problem is discovered.

Plus, as a bonus, we're gonna see a fight! Who it's between is a secret...mwahahahaha

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,

dryderson


	5. Runaway Wrath

The Path of the King

Chapter Five

Runaway Wrath

"I'm sorry." Was all Leaf could say to the furious Miranda the next morning. She'd discovered him on the lawn the morning after Petrov had run off with Dustin, and after questioning him about the events of last night had instantly gone into a tirade about how horrible it was that Petrov was gone.

"That won't cut it!" Miranda shrieked. Her normally cute appearance was far different today; her hair was standing up in odd ends, she had no makeup on, and she was wearing a plain green robe instead of her much more attractive waitress outfit. Although, to be fair, she hadn't had the chance to change. "You just let my brother get kidnapped, no, you let my brother ESCAPE!"

"He said he was sorry." Caleb said from across the room. He and Unci were lying down, watching the one-sided shouting match unfold. Unci found it quite amusing, but Caleb didn't like it one bit. "Don't worry. We'll go find him. How's that sound?"

"Bad!" Miranda yelled towards him. "You don't know how powerful Petrov is; hell, he doesn't know how powerful he is!" She sunk down onto Leaf's unused bed and started to cry. "Oh, hell, mom, I'm sorry, I couldn't look after my little brother, I'm so sorry." She wailed as she flopped around on the bed.

Unci stood up from his spot on the ground, yawned, and then leaped up onto the bed. "_Silly human_," he said as he licked Miranda's tears off of her cheek, "_trust in Caleb. And me._"

"Unci's right." Caleb said, grinning again. "Trust in Unci and I. But not Leaf; he's already proven that he's incompetent."

"It was a damn sneak attack!" Leaf yelled in response. "And I don't give a damn whose brother he is, I will be repaying him for that."

Miranda shot up from the bed with a look of murder on her face almost immediately. "You touch a hair on his head," she whispered coldly, "and I will personally see to it that you don't see tomorrow." She stood up and leaned towards Leaf. "Got it?"

"Sure," Leaf said, a large sweat drop rolling down the back of his head, "anything you say."

"Say, Miranda," Caleb said in an attempt to break the silence, "you said that you and your brother ate Devil's Fruits. So what fruit did you eat?"

Miranda sighed and extended her arm. "**Crystal Shard**." She said as energy gathered about in her hand. Suddenly, a green, gemlike shard appeared in her palm, shocking the others in the room. "I ate the Gem Gem Fruit," Miranda explained, "so I can create crystal structures."

"That is super cool!" Caleb said, clapping his hands. Leaf merely grinned and nodded, but his admiration was very clear. "Can you make anything cooler?"

Miranda gave a weak smile. "I could, but now's not the time." She looked around the room at each of the men (and leopard) with a fierce glare. "I'm going to go get Petrov back." She said with cold determination. "Who's going with me?"

"_Totally_." Unci replied, jumping off of the bed and smiling. "_It's so boring here. I could use a good exercise._"

"Unci's answer is mine." Caleb said as he cracked his knuckles. "I'm in it if he is."

"Well," Leaf said, shaking his head, "I suppose I can't let you three go alone. I'll join in on the fun too."

"Then it's settled." Miranda said with a grin. "I'm going to go change." She started to walk out, but stopped when she realized Unci was following her. "Want to come with me?" She asked smiling. Unci nodded his head and followed her out.

As soon as the door was shut, Leaf turned to Caleb and grinned. "So." He said playfully.

"So what?" Caleb said, blushing. "I didn't wanna let her go alone."

"Not what I was talking about." Leaf teased. "I thought you said that you and the cat's minds were linked?"

"They are...what're you getting at?" Caleb inquired, bringing a laugh from Leaf.

"So when Unci licked Miranda, was that your mind doing it or his?" Leaf asked. Caleb's nose gave way, letting loose a decent stream of blood as he fell to the floor and Leaf laughed openly for the first time in years.

"Okay, ready to go!" Miranda said, stretching her arms. She'd finally changed out from her bathrobe. Now she had a light brown vest over a short sleeve green shirt, with black yoga pants on her very fine legs. She looked around at her companions and frowned. "Caleb," she said with worry, "you might want to get that nosebleed looked at."

"I'll be fine." He muttered. He looked over at Leaf, who still had a wide grin on his face. "Quit the grin," He said lowly to Leaf, "or I'll shock you till you're dead."

"Big words from a small man," Leaf said, "lover boy."

Caleb rolled his eyes and turned away from Leaf, thinking to himself, "_You know, I'd have been totally fine if she wasn't wearing yoga pants_."

"_Keep telling yourself that._" Unci replied mentally, smiling at the now-angry Caleb.

"_That was a private thought!_" He mentally screamed at the leopard, who shook his still-grinning head.

"_No such thing with me._"

"Hey!" Miranda hollered from a distance. "While you two were fighting, or whatever it was, we started walking!"

Caleb glanced ahead to where they were and muttered something under his breath. Then he turned to Unci and got the last word in. "_Sorry Unci. But that's private, and I'd rather you not look at that._"

"_I'd love not to_," Unci replied, "_but we're mentally connected. So I can't help but read your mind, and you can't help but read mine._" He winked at Caleb, who noticed that Unci was steadily becoming more and more like him. "_Don't worry. I won't tell a soul._"

"_Thanks._" Caleb replied as the two of them ran to catch up with Leaf and Miranda.

"So, Miranda." Leaf was saying as Caleb and Unci finally caught up with them, "where exactly are we going?"

Miranda pointed ahead towards a large forest. "In there, towards the center, lies the base of a mercenary guild known as Phoenix. They say it's run by a former Whitebeard Pirate," She shook her head as she continued, "but they're wrong. It's run by a man named Mongo. He didn't eat a Devil's Fruit, but he's got some sort of strange power..."

"I'll fight 'im!" Caleb piped up from the back. "I haven't been in a fight since the last island, and I've got a whole bag of tricks to try out." He looked towards Leaf, who was grinning. "You don't mind, do ya?"

"On the contrary," Leaf said as they approached the forest, "I admire your enthusiasm. Sure, you can fight him." He looked up towards the sky with a strange look in his eyes. "I want to fight that Dustin guy. He's strong, but I would have beaten him," he gave a dark look towards Miranda, "if your brother hadn't hit me from behind."

"We're over that." She said coldly. She looked towards Leaf with an even darker look than his and leaned towards him. "Right?"

"Right." Leaf said as the sweat rolled down his head again.

"Guys," Caleb said softly, "I think we found it." The other two turned around and were shocked at what they saw.

They had found the base of the mercenaries. It had been burned to the ground.

"I'm telling you, Dustin," Petrov said as he approached the forest with his companion, "I didn't want to leave, but Mirry made me."

"That sister of yours is something else." Dustin said, shaking his head. "So cute, yet so scary. It's no wonder why she clings to you so much, though; you're all she has left."

Petrov hung his head in shame. "You think I was wrong in leaving?" He asked his companion as his appearance changed. He now had black hair with a purple streak that hung low over his face and a chained black cloak that he wore over a purple shirt. "I mean, was it really the right choice?"

Dustin clapped him on the back. "Quit worrying so much; your Sloth is showing." Petrov nodded and smiled as his appearance changed back to normal.

"Thanks, Dustin." Petrov said as he put his arm around his friend. "I just hope Mongo isn't too mad at me for running off like that."

"Nah, you'll be fine." Dustin reassured him. "But, I gotta ask, why were you chained up?"

Petrov hung his head again, and the 'Sloth' appearance reappeared. "Well, when Mirry found out that my powers were going out of control again, I got really angry." Dustin's hand flew to his own forehead as Petrov continued. "Yeah, I know, I let Wrath get the best of me. Well, Wrath attacked her, and 'cause she's so strong, she managed to beat me and chain me up in the basement to make sure I wouldn't hurt anybody. I was so angry about it, she assumed I was locked in Wrath."

"She doesn't know you're in full control now?" Dustin asked, quite surprised at this.

"Not full control." Dustin said as his appearance reverted to normal. "But pretty close. I mean, I can make any one of them appear," he sighed, "except Wrath. He shows up when he wants to."

"Ahh." Dustin grinned as he punched his friend on the arm. "So, then, it's just like before. You're still not in control."

Petrov grinned and punched Dustin back a little harder. "You going deaf? I said I have some control."

The two continued playing like this until they reached the base, or rather, what was left of it.

"What the hell..." Dustin said, his voice carrying off into the wind. "It wasn't like this when I left!"

"Shh." Petrov motioned with his hand. "Somebody's coming." The two mercenaries dropped back into the woods as Caleb, Leaf, Miranda, and Unci emerged from the other side.

"That guy with the hood...that's the guy that we knocked out!" Dustin whispered as they saw the ruins of the base. "Why is he there?"

"I think why is he with Mirry is a better question." Petrov said angrily.

Dustin put an arm on his friend's shoulder. "Calm down. Wrath doesn't need to come out now."

"I'd actually like it if he did." Petrov said as the skin on his body started to heat up. "And from the looks of it, he just might." As he said that, Petrov's appearance changed to how he looked in the basement of the inn. Dustin sighed and leaped away from the new Petrov, disappearing into the woods.

Petrov, or 'Wrath' as this form was called, didn't seem to mind. Without warning, he jumped out from the woods, his hood billowing in the wind. He landed in front of the group, his sadistic grin replaced by something much like his sister's evil gaze. "Which one of you bastards burned this down?" He asked angrily as his fists clenched tightly.

Miranda knew that Petrov would show up, but she never expected Wrath to be in his place.

"Petrov!" She called to him as she noticed his fists clenching. "Control yourself, please!"

"Why should I?" Wrath roared in a twisted form of Petrov's voice. "Because you want me to?" He lunged towards the group, his hands open to reveal claws instead of fingers. "I DON'T THINK SO!" As he was about to swipe out at his sister, however, a lightning hammer knocked into the side of his head and sent Wrath flying to the side. He got up and growled as Caleb walked towards him, cracking his knuckles as he did.

"I don't want to hurt you, Petrov." Caleb said coolly. "But I can't help it if you attack us like that." Wrath roared again and lunged at Caleb, who merely sighed. "**Mjollnir.**" He said as the hammer formed in his hands. As Wrath came closer, he swung the hammer towards his opponent's face and sent him flying even farther than before.

"He's gotten stronger." Leaf noted from afar as Caleb disengaged Mjollnir. "He knows the limit of his lightning and he knows the most efficient way to use it." He grinned as he watched Caleb take a new stance, as if he was throwing a javelin. "He's begun to master the Thunder Blood."

"**Gungnir!**" Caleb cried as a lightning spear was created in his hand. As Wrath started to get up, Caleb gave a loud cry and threw the spear, narrowly missing Wrath's chest.

"Not gonna hit me like that!" Wrath cried, his pointed teeth grinning wildly. Caleb grinned right back and showed Wrath the hand he'd thrown the spear with. Connected to his index finger was a chain, seemingly made of lightning. Wrath followed the path of that chain all the way until he noticed it at his side. "Shit." He said as the spear reversed direction and pierced his upper left shoulder.

"PETROV!" Miranda yelled as she attempted to help her brother. Leaf, however, placed Nuevo Kyubi in her path.

"Caleb is in there, fighting as a man for the first time in his life." He said coldly. "No matter what you may threaten me with, I will not allow you to interfere in that."

"I'm not going to interfere!" Miranda yelled. "I'm going to stop it! Petrov's bleeding!"

Leaf nodded. "Yeah, that tends to happen when you battle someone."

Miranda shook her head frantically. "You don't get it!" She wailed. "When Petrov starts bleeding and he's like that, he just gets stronger!" She pointed towards Caleb, who was grinning in triumph. "If we don't step in, he'll die!"

Leaf shook his head. "If we step in at all, Caleb will lose his pride." He turned back to the fight, his brow furrowing. "Which is something Petrov seems to have lost as well."

The man in question was rising to his feet, his chest bleeding quite heavily. But the grin was back on his face. "You've lost." He uttered to Caleb before charging him again.

"No way!" Caleb said as he raised his arms in front of his face. "**Ymir!**" He called as a yellow shield materialized in front of his arms, intending to block the blow. The blow, however, shattered the shield and kept going, slicing open Caleb's arm and drawing a "Gah!" from him.

"_What the hell is happening?_" Caleb thought. "_Why is he so much faster now...and so much stronger too_?"

"_Apparently Petrov gets stronger as he bleeds._" Unci replied. "_You need to knock this man out, Caleb. Hold nothing back._"

Caleb grinned. "_You don't need to tell me twice!_" He extended one hand out in front of the other, as if he were firing a bow. "**Brynhildr!**" He yelled as an electric bow with three arrows already notched was created in his hands.

"Caleb, you fool!" Miranda yelled. "Piercing attacks will only make him stronger!"

Caleb grinned back at her as he tilted the bow sideways. "Well, yeah," he said haphazardly, "but if I pierce him to the ground, he won't move, right?" With that, he fired the arrows, sending them flying straight up.

"Where the hell was he aiming?" Miranda and Leaf wondered aloud. Unci thought the same thing, but because of the mind link, this was the only person Caleb heard.

"_His feet._" Caleb responded as the arrows flew down and pierced Petrov's feet. As the man roared in pain, Caleb disengaged Brynhildr and ran towards Petrov with his arms out. "**Gungnir: Duals!**" He yelled as two of the electric spears were created. He leaped over the still-bound Petrov and planted one spear in each arm, further binding the poor man.

Caleb turned around with a wild grin towards Petrov. Petrov looked back at Caleb with the same grin. "Do it." He commanded as Caleb wound up his fist.

"Of course." Caleb replied as he punched Petrov square in the face, knocking the man out. The young man cried out in joy at his first solo victory, then fainted to the ground from exhaustion.

End of Chapter Five

AN: Being suspended may suck, but I will say this; I am getting a lot of writing done.

Two week suspension for passing out in class...i swear, schools are only getting tougher.

In any case, next time, the gang learns the truth about who burned down the merc's guild, a new rival appears, the name of Petrov's fruit is revealed, and Petrov may or may not make a life-changing decision.

And no, it's not to announce he's staying a mercenary.

…

Wink.

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,

dryderson


	6. Beta And Epsilon

The Path of the King

Chapter Six

Beta and Epsilon

"Well, that was impressive." Miranda complimented the unconscious man in front of her. "I didn't think the kid had it in him."

"Neither did I," Leaf admitted as he hoisted the reverted Petrov onto his shoulders, "but, apparently, he got a lot stronger than I thought." He pointed towards Caleb, who was now snoring loudly. "Wake him up, will ya?"

"_I'll do it._" Unci said proudly as he waltzed over to the sleeping Caleb. Mentally sighing, the leopard raised his paw and smacked Caleb in the face, waking him up almost immediately.

"I'm up! I'm up!" He yelled as he jumped to his feet. He scowled as the surrounding people laughed at his reaction. "Not funny." He said as he cracked his neck. "Oh, man, that was a goooooood fight."

"It was fun to watch, too." Leaf said.

"Well, not so much from my side," Miranda admitted, "but damn, kid, you've got some skills."

Caleb laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, shucks, it was nothin." He blushed.

"_Idiot._" Unci said as he smacked Caleb again. "_She was complimenting you, not proposing._"

"_I know that!_" Caleb responded angrily.

"In any case," Leaf said, gesturing to the man on his shoulders, "what the heck should I do with him?"

"You could hand him over to me," a voice beckoned from the woods, "but I doubt you'll do that willingly." Leaf's muscles tensed and Caleb's head swiveled around in an attempt to locate the mystery man, but their efforts were in vain. "Relax." The voice said as a man emerged from the forest with his arms raised. "I hold no ill will towards you."

"Well, I do." Leaf growled, handing Petrov to Caleb and drawing his blade. "What the hell do you want, Dustin?"

"Nothing." Dustin answered, holding his hands up higher. "That's what the hands are for. I'm telling you I don't want to fight."

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you." The atmosphere was chilly as Leaf continued. "As I recall, you don't play by the rules."

"Let 'im be, Leaf!" Caleb grunted under the weight of Petrov. "He doesn't want to fight, just let 'im be!"

"Can't do that, Caleb." Leaf answered, raising his blade to eye level. "Now then, Dustin, how shall we do this?"

"You won't." A harsh voice said from the woods. Leaf turned his head towards the voice, but regretted it instantly as a man appeared before him. The man wore no shirt, probably because he had eight arms. He was bald and wore shorts that were ripped in many places. "**Iwahibana**." The man said as he palmed Leaf in the chest. A shockwave ran up Leaf's body, and soon Leaf coughed up blood and collapsed to the floor.

"LEAF!" Caleb yelled, forgetting all about Petrov and running towards the man who had hurt his friend. "**Ragnorak!**" He yelled as the familiar sword formed in his hand. With an angry cry, he swiped out at the man with eight arms, who merely sighed in response.

"**Igamusato**." The man said as he extended a palm to block the sword. The sword connected with the man's palm and was instantly dispersed, with some of the energy flying straight up, some of the energy being deflected to the side, and some of it flying right back and hitting Caleb in the face.

"Gack!" Caleb said as he stumbled back. He turned back to the strange man, his face beet red. "That does it, you ero-spider!" He extended one arm and put his other palm on his shoulder. "**Sleipnir!**" He yelled as a cannon was formed around his extended arm. "Eat this!" Caleb yelled as a large blast of electric energy was sent out from the cannon and headed straight for the man.

"What I cannot block, I will dodge." The man answered sagely as he merely sidestepped the blast. "From your look, I guess that was your full power." The man smirked as Caleb's jaw dropped in amazement. "It was quite powerful, that I'll admit. But not nearly fast enough, I'm afraid."

"Who the hell are you? And why are you so perverted?" Caleb asked in awe. The man grinned and struck a pose similar to a superhero as he introduced himself.

"I am the hero of all, and the villain to none." The man said in a deep voice. "I am not the Alpha nor the Omega, but rather the Beta and the Epsilon. I am, in short, not God, but a Savior instead. My name is Mongo," he smiled as he extended all of his arms out, "and I am the head of this mercenary guild!" He frowned as he stared towards the ashes of his guild. "Which, from the look of things, is not doing as well as it was when I left."

Miranda, Caleb, and Unci sweatdropped as they all thought the same thing. "_This guy's an A-Class idiot._"

"Master!" Dustin said, dropping to a knee. "These people were attempting to impede one of our own from returning to the guild."

"Tattler." Caleb said as he stuck his tongue out and pulled at his eye. Unci mimicked him, creating the best gag face he could (and it was not a very good one).

"Furthermore," Dustin ignored the two, "I suspect they had something to do with the burning of our guild." He drew his blade and stared at the ragtag group with fires in his eyes. "I vote we kill them."

"Hey, hey, hold on!" Caleb protested, holding his hands up in defense. "I'll admit, we were trying to get Petrov back, but we had nothing to do with this!" He looked towards Unci for help. "Tell them, Unci!"

"_It's true._" Unci said mentally, causing Mongo to look up towards the sky and raise his arms into a defensive position.

"Who goes there?" He yelled, circling in his place. "By the power of Mongo, I order you to remove yourself from hiding and face me like a man!"

Unci growled as he pawed Mongo in the face, knocking him to the floor. "_I said that, fool_." Unci thought. "_Do not anger me more than you already have._"

Mongo bowed to Unci, who took it like a king. "I have much to learn, master." Mongo said as he began to pray towards Unci.

Miranda leaned into Caleb as the young man frowned. "Unci's good at manipulation." She admitted.

"Only against idiots." Caleb retorted, huffing in anger. "I just wish we'd get to the good part already. I wanna fight that Mongo guy again." He grinned as he thought about fighting. "And Petrov."

Miranda frowned and smacked Caleb, and that was the end of that discussion.

"Oh, so you guys were just trying to find Petrov!" Mongo laughed, sipping from some ale. "That makes total sense now!" He clinked glasses with Petrov and Caleb as the three of them sat at a table in the lobby of the inn. "You know, you're all right, Dryder-san!"

"You're not too bad yourself, Mongo!" Caleb laughed drunkenly as he took another swig of ale. "And Petrov, you're pretty strong? What was your Angel-whoops, Devil Fruit again?"

"Sin Fruit!" Petrov laughed as the music picked up the pace. "I'm a Sin-Sin Man!" He thought about it for a moment, then forgot all about it and laughed as the three men finished their drinks.

"I swear, they're all idiots." Miranda smiled from behind the bar. "I really shouldn't let Petrov drink, considering he's only fourteen," she put her elbow on the table and rested her head on her hand as she smiled, "but this is the first time he's ever had a friend outside of your guild. I can let it slide for one day."

"He's only fourteen?" Dustin said as he swallowed a whole glass of booze in one gulp. "He never mentioned that when he was slugging beers back with me." He grinned at Miranda's angry stare. "Hey, if he had, I wouldn't have let him, don't worry bout it."

"Not the problem, idiot." She said angrily as she started to wash a mug. "The problem is, he still wants to go back to that damn guild." She looked up at Petrov, who was now dancing with Caleb as Mongo clapped and laughed them on. "I mean, what happens if he gets hurt? What happens if he gets trapped in that form again?" She shook her head, not noticing she'd been washing the same spot of the mug since she'd started talking. "I can't bear to lose him. Not after we lost our mom."

"He never did talk about family with me." Dustin said as he filled himself another beer. "What happened to your parents?"

"A woman named Perona raised us." Miranda started. "She wasn't our real mom, but we loved her like it. She raised Petrov since he was a baby. Sometimes she was a downer, but most of the time she was really fun and lively."

"Sounds like a fun woman." Dustin drunkenly mumbled. "So what happened?"

"She was killed." Miranda whispered. "A group of men came by a couple of years ago, demanding Petrov. He'd just eaten a Devil Fruit, and since Perona had eaten one too, she knew the danger that Petrov was in. The men were in something called Cameos; I've been trying to find more on them ever since." Her voice began to crack as she continued. "Anyways, when she said no way, they shot her right there. Petrov was horrified; that was the first time he ever transformed into Wrath. He managed to take out a few of them, but they eventually overpowered him. I somehow helped him escape, and that's how he met you guys." She bit her lip, and Dustin could tell that she was fighting back tears. "I ate my own Devil Fruit to try and get him back."

"I'm sorry." Dustin said, and for the first time, Miranda could tell that he wasn't actually drunk. "If I had known, I wouldn't have let him join. I swear." She nodded and wiped her eyes, then went back to washing glasses. Dustin let her think for a moment before asking another question. "If Perona wasn't your real mom, who was?"

"Petrov didn't know our real parents." Miranda said after pausing a moment. "His first memory was showing up at this door, the door of this inn. He was born four years after I was, so I remember a little bit more. I remember playing with a woman in a large foyer when I was little. I think it was my real mom." She shook her head as tears started to fall. "One day, though, soon after Petrov was born, they were gone. A man came and took Petrov and I away. He brought us here." She looked up and rubbed her eyes as she continued. "I'll never forget that man for as long as I live."

"What was his name?" Dustin asked, completely forgetting about the beer now. "What was that man's name?"

Miranda smiled as she filled up a beer of her own and chugged it all back. "Gerheart." She said softly, rubbing some foam off of her mouth. "He called himself Gerheart."

"Geez," Miranda complained an hour later, "they drank all the booze." She sighed and looked around her inn. Mongo had fallen asleep at the piano where he'd started to play some drunken melody, Petrov and Caleb were asleep on top and below the table, respectably, and Dustin had collapsed long ago at the bar counter. She shook her head and smiled. "Idiots. I'm just glad Unci's watching Leaf; he looks like he could put away some serious booze." She said as she went towards the back to grab some more beer.

Before she could, however, she heard the chimes that signaled someone coming in. "Gimme a moment!" She yelled out to her new customers. She grabbed the beer and rushed back towards the counter to greet them, or, rather, him. He was a tall man with blonde hair tucked into a ponytail and a green cape with green armlets and green body armor. "Can I help you?" She asked sweetly as he took a seat next to the unconscious Dustin.

"I'd like to speak to Petrov." The man said in an airy voice. Miranda shook her head at the demand.

"No can do, I'm afraid. He's...out." She winked at him as she poured a beer. "I'm his big sister, though. Can I be of any help?"

The man grinned and nodded. "Yes," he said, "you'll do just fine." Without warning he chopped Miranda in the forehead, knocking her out cold. "Now then," the man said as he grabbed Miranda and hoisted her on his shoulders, "to make it back to the manor." With that, he left through the door without saying another word.

Caleb was the first to wake up. The hangover was enormous; considering it was his first one, he wasn't surprised. "Ow...hey, Miranda," Caleb called as he emerged from under the table, "can you grab me a pick-me-up? I have no idea what it is, but my dad always used to make them when he came home hung...over..." Caleb glanced around, suddenly realizing Miranda wasn't there. "Miranda? You there?" He called out to the now silent inn lobby. Suddenly worried, he shook Petrov awake.

"I'm not hungover, sis, really." Petrov mumbled as Caleb tried to wake him. "I'm just tired. Five more minutes." Caleb sighed, unable to get him awake. Then he grinned and placed his palm on Petrov's head. Without any warning, Caleb zapped Petrov with a few volts of electricity, shocking him awake. Literally. "I'm up, Mirry!" Petrov hollered as he stood up and awkwardly fell from the table. "Hey, where the hell is Mirry?" He wondered aloud, looking around.

"That's what I was wondering." Caleb said, cracking his neck. "I can't find her anywhere."

Petrov pointed towards the bar. "Mirry always leaves me a note back there if she goes anywhere. Did you check there?"

Caleb shook his head. "Nope. I'll go do that." He went back behind the bar, but his eyes widened and his jaw dropped at what he saw. Etched into the wood of the bar wall was a sign that Caleb had seen before. It was the same sign that had been on the Push Push man's chest. It was Cameos' insignia. "Petrov!" Caleb yelled, completely forgetting about the hangover. "Come over here!"

"No need to yell," Petrov groaned as he walked over behind the bar. When he got there, however, he had the same reaction as Caleb. "What the hell?" He yelled, pointing to the mark. "That's the same mark that the guys who killed my mom wore!"

"It's also the same mark that the guy who took my dad wore." Caleb explained. "It's the insignia of a group called Cameos. You ever heard of them?"

Petrov nodded, suddenly realizing something. "Yeah, I do remember something." He explained. "My guild received a report about a group called Cameos making a base in the abandoned manor towards the back of the island. It might be nothing, but...I have to know!" With that, he tried to sprint out, but Caleb grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him back. "What?" Petrov protested.

"You can't go alone." Caleb explained. "Those guys are professional killers. You'll die."

"And so will Mirry if I don't go now!" Petrov yelled. "Dustin and Mongo are knocked out cold, your buddy Leaf's still hurt, and I don't know anybody else that can fight!"

"I'll fight." Caleb volunteered, putting his arms on Petrov's shoulders. "I'll fight with you. On one condition."

"What's that," Petrov huffed, "that I can't join the mercenaries again?"

"Nope." Caleb said. Then he grinned as he gave his offer. "You have to join me instead."

Petrov waited for a moment, then sighed and closed his eyes. "Fine." He said after opening his eyes again. "I'll join you. Only if Mirry comes too, though."

"Of course." Caleb said, clapping his new friend's shoulders. "I wouldn't have it any other way." With that, they departed for the old manor, running faster than they ever had.

End of Chapter Six

AN: Hmmm. No special sound effect this time.

Besides MWAHAHAHAHAH!

I tricked you! All of you! I said a new rival would appear...but I didn't give his name!

...THWACK!

Okay, fine. Just cause you asked/hit so hard. It's Verdunline. Oh, and he's quite the asshole.

Next time, Caleb and Petrov invade the Cameos HQ, Leaf finally wakes up (and he is PISSED that Caleb left like that), and it's discovered that a 'certain someone' has followed the two of them.

Who is that certain someone?

…

Wink.

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,

dryderson

PS: Mongo's a perv because of his attacks. Iwahibana can mean both Rock Spark, meaning the shockwave, or Rock Flash, as in the flashing of his 'rock'. Igamusato can mean both Palm Deflect and Being Perverted On the Wrong Side (aka – Man taking it up ***). And no, he's not gay. I think.


	7. Bust Down Silence

The Path of the King

Chapter Seven

Bust Down Silence

"Sir, we have a problem." In all of his time as Commander of the Recardna Post of Cameos, Thrax Rain had only heard those words one other time. That other time was when his most prized possession, his Devil Fruit (taken from his dying brother), had been eaten by a brat in the village on the other side of the island. He quit chomping on his steak and motioned for the woman next to him to wipe the remains off of his mouth.

"What's the problem, son?" Thrax said in his booming voice. His thick mustache bristled as he talked, and the Cameos soldier had to hold back his urge to laugh because it reminded him of a caterpillar moving on the man's lip.

"Sir, we have two intruders in the fort." The soldier explained. "They came here only thirty minutes ago, but they've already penetrated the outer wall and are currently decimating our forces."

"Why was I not told earlier?" Thrax yelled out as he threw his fork across the room. He huffed and puffed and tried to stand, but the effort was far too much for the grossly obese man, and he was wheezing as he sat back down. "Whose fault is this?"

"W-well, actually, s-sir," the soldier began to stutter, "i-it's nobody's f-fault. They're just r-r-really str-strong, sir."

"How strong is really strong?" Thrax asked threateningly. Before the soldier could answer, a loud noise came from the room below. Thrax motioned for the woman to open a secret window below him so that he could see what was occurring.

It was a madhouse. The two men, one dressed in a green long sleeve shirt and the other in a black overcoat, were systematically destroying his troops. One of the men was tossing spear-shaped lightning at the men, felling them where they stood, and the other had no need for weapons or powers, for he was merely swinging his fists out at the men and dropping them cold.

Thrax felt threatened almost immediately. "Can't anybody stop these guys?" He moaned as he watched the long sleeved one smash a man through the wall with a lightning hammer.

"We could." A voice said from the doorway. Everyone in the room turned to see a man in an all white martial arts uniform with his hair tied back into a bun. He had a very menacing looking sword at his waist, and it appeared to be a backwards katana. "Myself and the other three Shoguns of the Palace."

"Jyovoro," Thrax said menacingly, "let me make one thing clear. If you fail, I, and Cameos itself will have no use for you here. We do not tolerate failure, you know this is true."

"Of course, my lord." Jyovoro said, bowing. "If we lose, you will have our heads in the morning."

"Good." Thrax said. "Now, go kill those men. I've got business to take care of." Jyovoro nodded and disappeared, startling all but Thrax. "Now then," he yelled, "to take care of the business." He tapped a button on his chair, swiveling it around as the wall flipped out to reveal a woman chained to the wall.

"So then, Ms. Miranda," Thrax said with a sneer, "Do you remember my face?"

"You're pretty good!" Caleb yelled as he finished off the last of the Cameos foot soldiers. "Then again, these guys are really weak."

"You can say that again." Petrov said, dusting off his hands. "I didn't even break a sweat!" He laughed and looked ahead. "So now what?"

Caleb nodded and looked where Petrov was. "We move forward." They started walking for a little while before Caleb asked Petrov a question. "Hey, Petrov. What's with that Devil Fruit of yours?"

"It's the Sin-Sin Fruit." Petrov explained. "It manifests the seven cardinal sins – Sloth, Wrath, Gluttony, Pride, Greed, Lust, and Envy – into forms that I can transform into. Although," he sighed as he admitted, "I have some trouble controlling Wrath. To transform willingly, you see, I have to contain that sin. I can control my Gluttony, my Envy, my Lust, and all the others, but for some reason I can't control my Wrath."

"I think I know why." Caleb piped up, putting his hands behind his head. "You said your mom was killed by these guys, right?" Petrov nodded. "Did you ever really get over that?"

Petrov sighed again and shook his head. "No, I guess not." He stopped walking, causing Caleb to do the same. "When mom died, I had to grow up almost instantly. The Devil Fruit inside of me realized that and aged my body. I was so angry at it...I lost control. I became Wrath for the first time ever. I was a happy kid, Caleb, I really was. But now...all I feel is anger at these bastards." He clenched his fist and looked ahead towards the long hallway they were in. "We have to find her, Caleb. We have to."

Caleb nodded as they resumed walking, this time a little bit faster. "Yup. If only so she can join us." He grinned at Petrov's stunned reaction. "Kidding, only kidding." He looked ahead, and the grin faded. "But we might have some trouble."

In front of the two men was a split corridor. A four way split, to be exact. Each path had an arched entrance that seemed to go on forever, and each path was designated by a different color; white, red, green, and blue. Petrov and Caleb stopped here, not sure of where to go.

"Do we split up?" Petrov asked, "Or do we stick together? Your call."

"I'm not sure." Caleb said as he stared at each of the four hallways. "Any one of these could be a trap. I think we just have to-"

"AIIIIIIEEEEEE!" A voice screamed in the distance. Petrov's head swiveled around to the blue path, for that was where the scream had come from.

"That sounded like Mirry!" He said in anger as he sprinted down the path. "Hang on, Mirry!"

"Petrov! Hold on!" Caleb said as he made his way towards the blue path. Suddenly, a similar scream came out from the white path. Caleb turned back around towards the white path and gritted his teeth. "Dammit..." he thought, "this could be one hell of a trap." He looked back at the blue path in resignation. "Sorry, Petrov," he said as he turned back around and ran down the white path, "but I gotta know!"

He ran down the white path for only about two minutes before he emerged into a large room. "That hallway was longer, I swear." Caleb said, worried that he'd chosen the wrong room.

"It was." A voice said from above him. Caleb looked up and scowled as his suspicions were confirmed. A man in a white uniform was descending from the ceiling on a platform as part of the ceiling opened up to reveal a crowd of people (an audience, thought Caleb) above him.

"Sorry," Jyovoro said as he dropped to the floor, "but you picked wrong."

It took a moment for Leaf to realize he'd woken up. His vision was blurrier than it had ever been, and he couldn't remember a thing. "Ughh..." he groaned as he stood up, making him even dizzier. "This is going to be one hell of a day."

He ached and moaned all the way down the stairs before stopping before what looked like a battlefield. Tables were overturned, beer mugs were strewn about, and he could see two bodies that had yet to get up. When he saw Mongo, he instantly remembered everything that had happened the day before. Drawing his blade, he slowly approached the man who'd knocked him out. However, when he was three feet in front of him, another sword stopped his path.

"Unless you want to get knocked out again," Dustin warned him, "put the sword away." Leaf gave him a death glare, then realized he was in no condition to fight and put away his blade. "Thank you." Dustin said with a smile. "Want a beer?"

"Sure." Leaf said, pointing around the room. "If there's any left. You guys look like hell."

"You should see your buddy Caleb." Dustin grinned. "Damn, that boy can put some booze away." He looked around the room in confusion. "Speaking of which, where is that kid?"

"Left." Mongo said from the floor, shocking both Dustin and Leaf. "He and Petrov busted out the door about five hours ago, talkin' bout savin some girl er somethin."

"You've been awake since then?" Dustin questioned as Leaf ran over to the bar. He'd seen what Petrov and Caleb had seen; the mark of Cameos.

"Of course I have." Mongo slurred as he sat up and cracked his neck. "Weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't." Dustin sweatdropped.

"Hey, morons!" Leaf called from over the bar. "Get over here!" Dustin and Mongo, although upset at being called morons, complied. "You ever seen this before?" Leaf asked, pointing at the Cameos mark.

"Actually, yes." Dustin said. "Some guys with that mark on them took over the manor in the back some time ago. They called themselves Cameos, as I recall." He looked over at Leaf, whose eyes were wide with horror. "I assume you've seen this."

"These men took Caleb's father." Leaf stated. "If he's gone after them, I don't know how he'll react to what he'll find." He turned away from the insignia and looked towards Dustin and Mongo. "How far away is the manor?"

"All the way across the island." Dustin answered as Mongo filled up a mug for himself. "Like Mongo said, they've been gone for five hours, so...they've probably been there for an hour already."

"Then we've got no time to waste." Leaf said bluntly. He grabbed the filled mug from Mongo and drained it in one shot. "You two are coming with me." He ordered, drawing his blade as reassurance. "Right?"

"'Course." They said in fear. Leaf turned back to where the manor was, an evil glint in his eye.

"Dammit, Caleb, why're you always doing shit like this?"

"I'm a fool." Petrov said as he dodged another attack from his adversary. "I'm a goddamn fool." He glanced up, blood flowing freely from a burn above his right eye. Parts of his outfit were torn, or burned if you looked closely. In front of him was his opponent; she had a blue, very spacey outfit on, and she called herself Aquarus.

"I'll concur with that!" She cackled as she raised her weapon; a seemingly-harmless bubble blower. Taking a deep breath, she blew out one large, strangely fast bubble and let it fly towards Petrov, who grimaced as he attempted to dodge it. However, it exploded as it hit the ground, sending Petrov flying from where he had dodged.

"Goddamn bubbles." Petrov grumbled as he stumbled up. "Goddamn bubbles coming from a goddamn wand." He looked up with a face of pure murder as Aquarus cackled loudly. "What's so funny, witch?" He yelled. The insult shut her up quite fast.

"Don't you DARE call me a witch, little boy!" She screamed as she sent a barrage of mini bubbles towards Petrov. "You have no idea what trouble you're in!" Petrov grimaced as the bubbles exploded before they hit him.

"_Time bombs...so they don't explode on impact_," Petrov realized, "_They explode whenever she sets them to!_" He grinned, now knowing how to beat her. "Hey, witch!" He called from below where she was sitting on her platform, "Come and get me!" He spread his arms out to draw her in. The plan worked.

"I'LL KILL YOU, LITTLE BOY!" Aquarus screamed as she took a deep breath, fully prepared to create the biggest bubble she could to blow Petrov to smithereens. Before she could finish, however, Petrov jumped up and grabbed onto her platform, snapping it in half. "You fool!" Aquarus said as they started to fall. "Now we'll both die!"

"Not on my watch!" Petrov yelled. Suddenly, he changed forms. His black hair was now slicked back, and he was wearing a very expensive-looking suit and tie. "**Greed.**" He said simply as he pointed a finger at the wand, halfway into creating the large bubble. "**Multiply.**" The bubbles suddenly multiplied, creating a variety of large bubbles. Then Petrov changed into his Sloth form, a sullen look on his face. "**Sloth Port.**" He muttered, teleporting away from the danger. Aquarus screamed as she fell to the floor alone with a dozen bubbles.

Petrov grinned from the hallway when he heard the explosions. The grin forced him to take his normal form again, but he didn't mind. "Even sins have their use." He said aloud as he walked back into the room. Aquarus was lying defeated in the center, burn marks all around her body. Petrov grabbed her by the throat and hoisted her up. "Where is my sister." He growled.

She coughed violently, then answered with a sinister grin. "I have no idea." She spat. "Find Verdunline, he'll tell you. He's the one who took your sister in the first place." He growled again, then dropped her violently to the floor and attempted to escape. The door, however, shut on its own, trapping him in the room with Aquarus once again. He turned to her and was amazed when she stood on her own power.

"You should stay down," he warned, "you've only seen three sins. The others are powerful enough to send you straight to hell."

"You know nothing about hell, little boy." Aquarus spat as she raised her arms. Behind her, panels opened up in the walls, and birds suddenly started to fly out from the now-open cages. "My true power starts now!" Aquarus cackled as the birds started flying together and dive bombed Petrov.

"You are a good opponent." Jyovoro acknowledged as he wiped Caleb's blood from his sword. "But you lack the experience I have. It is a pity. I would have liked to fight you in the future."

"Bite me." Caleb spat back. His left shoulder had been sliced up really bad, and his legs were starting to tire from dodging Jyovoro's attacks. The worst part was that Caleb had only landed one hit on him, and that was with his strongest attack, Sleipnir.

"I think not." Jyovoro retorted as he charged forward with his sword drawn. Caleb created Ragnorak in an attempt to block it, but Jyovoro smirked and sliced right through it, cutting Caleb just below the neck. "You are lucky that your lightning disrupted the path downward." Jyovoro said as Caleb tore off his ripped shirt in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "Otherwise you would be dead."

"_I wish he were kidding._" Caleb thought as he gritted his teeth from the pain in his chest. "_But he's not. He can kill me at any time. Right now he's just playing with his food._" He extended his two hands out. "I'm not going down without a fight!" Caleb yelled. "**Ragnorak: Twin Form!**" The two lightning swords materialized in Caleb's hands as Jyovoro clapped in approvement.

"More swords means more firepower." Jyovoro acknowledged, holding his sword in front of his body. "However, it does not mean more experience, boy, and for that, you will still die."

"Come an' get it." Caleb grinned, swinging his swords around in circles.

"Quite the odd stance, boy!" Jyovoro said as he charged. "Let's see what it can do!" He swung his sword out, only to be repelled by one of the swords. "I see..." Jyovoro said, his sword deadlocked with the one controlled by Caleb's outstretched hand. "You use chains that connect the sword to your five fingers. That makes your sword react to your movements. A smart strategy for a martial artist." He grinned as he applied more pressure to his sword, drawing beads of sweat from Caleb, "However, you are neither a martial artist, nor a weapons master. You are merely a boy who attempts to use a power he does not fully know."

"You're right." Caleb said in resignation. "I'm not a martial artist. And I'm not like my dad. I'm just a kid." He grinned as his voice picked up an air of confidence. "But I'm a powerful kid. So I'll fight like one!" With that, he swung his other fist at Jyovoro, causing the lightning sword attached to it to pierce the man's upper shoulder. As the older man jumped back, hissing in pain, Caleb grinned and disengaged his swords. "Now we're even." He said triumphantly, pointing to his own injured shoulder.

"I see." Jyovoro chuckled with respect. "I see you now not as a child, but as an equal opponent." With that, his eyes changed. Instead of the grey irises he had had before, now they were yellow slits, similar to a feral dog. "Because of that," his voice had changed as well, becoming more of a growl, "I will use all of my power to defeat you." He whistled, and a white dog appeared from the other end of the tunnel. Actually, not a dog, but a wolf. A very, very big wolf.

"Fuck." Caleb swore, looking at the wolf. It was easily twice the size of Unci. "That's a big dog."

"Wolf." Jyovoro snarled as his muscles expanded, ripping the top of his white uniform to shreds. "Much like me, Shiro here loves fresh meat."

"Ahh, so you're a monster." Caleb said in an attempt to anger his foe. "Okay. I can fight a monster, no problem." Before he could materialize anything, though, Jyovoro lashed out and sliced his already injured shoulder, dropping Caleb to a knee. "_Great, now I pissed him off._" Caleb thought as he fell. "_Well, it was fun while it lasted._"

"_Giving up already?_" A voice said in his mind, "_That was fast._" As Caleb realized who was speaking to him, a familiar white blur dashed in front of him and attacked Shiro the wolf, knocking it back a few feet.

"What is this?" Jyovoro growled in surprise. "Another large pet? A cat?"

"Not a cat!" Caleb grinned as he rose from the knee, scratching his friend's head. "A snow leopard! And his name's Unci!" He looked down at his friend, who was purring quite loudly. "_How long have you been following me?_"

"_The whole time._" Unci said. "_How many times do I have to tell you, our minds are linked. I knew about the plan the whole time. I also knew you'd get yourself into trouble, so I followed the two of you._" He licked his paw in pride. "_By the way, never get drunk again. Your thoughts were positively horrendous._"

"_I'll remember that for next time._" Caleb said as he materialized Ragnorak in his uninjured arm and prepared to go another round with Jyovoro. "_If there is one._"

End of Chapter Seven

AN: (Insert Dragon Noise Here)

That was...long. I hate writing long. I took, like, three coffee breaks.

In any case, my brother wants me to go to Wiz Khalifa with him. How do I tell a fourteen year old kid that his favorite musician in the world is horrible?

…

Just like that.

Wink.

Next time, Petrov finishes his fight with Aqualus, Caleb fights Jyovoro, Leaf finally makes it to the castle, and a certain someone reappears.

Good afternoon, good evening, and good night,

dryderson


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One Piece, Adventure, Humor