Chapter 2
Adam tapped his foot impatiently on the bow of the ship he and Ms. Valentine were still using. Despite his requests over the last year, Mr. 0 had refused to build a custom ship that he could power with his Devil Fruit. It was such a waste! He'd even tried to get some time to go to Water 7 and have the shipwrights there build him something small, like the tiny boat Ace used, but he'd never gotten the time. It sucked!
Well, Mr. 0 wouldn't be able to tell him no after today. Currently he and Ms. Valentine were just a few hours out from Whiskey Peak and would arrive some time after night had fallen. Mr. 0 wanted them to hunt down a traitor who had learned secrets she shouldn't have. In short, Vivi was busted and it was time for them to take her out. Something he had zero interest in actually doing.
After all, he was a citizen of Arabasta and at least a little loyal to the royal family who'd done their best at all times. His plan was to protect Vivi to the best of his abilities, and his abilities were rather diverse at this point.
While he stared stoically ahead and occasionally double checking the Eternal Pose, Ms. Valentine walked up next to him her parasol open and twirling in her hands, “We'll be there soon, Mr. 5. It's so exciting! We've never taken down royalty before!”
He didn't react even as she cackled. He'd hoped to get along with Ms. Valentine but she was just rotten to the core. She reveled in using her strength to torture those weaker than her. She was a sadistic bitch through and through. He'd tried to temper her sadism and even offered some options for her to train her power. She was extremely lazy and refused to even try. She was perfectly content with just dive bombing people, no matter how easy it was for them to dodge if they had half a brain.
It was kind of sad really, because she was otherwise pretty hot and fun to hang out with. She was also really good at cooking sweets, especially chocolate. He was going to miss that quite a bit. Still, not everything could go his way all the time, sadly.
They sailed on in silence, the sailing pretty easy going since they were within the weather zone of Cactus Island. It was just a little while after the sun set that the island came into view. Adam tilted his head slightly, the sound of revelry was coming from the island. If he recalled right... that meant they were still hosting the Straw Hat pirates.
As they drew closer, the sounds started dying out. Shortly after the sounds of partying stopped, the sounds of combat started ringing out. Zoro was likely kicking the shit out of the Millions and Frontier Agents on the island. None of them were very strong so he expected things to go the way they had in the story he knew. It was only after he arrived that things would change drastically.
When they arrived at the island, he tied their boat off at the dock and they made their way toward where they could still hear a commotion happening. He and Miss Valentine arrived to see the Unluckies, collectively known as Friday the 13th and a group of Millions that appeared the be running away. Looking past them he could see piles of bodies taken down by Zoro. He smirked at the sight but addressed the agents in front of them as they pulled out flintlocks and aimed them at himself and Miss Valentine. One had enough nerve to shout, “Who are you people?!”
Adam tilted his head in a cocky manner. He actually had no fear of regular firearms anymore. He'd become immune to mundane bullets thanks to his Devil Fruit, “Mr. 5.”
From his side came the cold voice of his partner, “Miss Valentine.”
With introductions out of the way, Adam did his duty one last time. The ground beneath his feet shattered as a nearly silent explosion of pure force launched him like a rocket. For a brief moment he was a whirling dervish, and then the Millions who had tried to run away were flying through the air like bowling pins.
Miss Valentine threw her head back and cackled while she walked up to stand next to Adam once more. It was only a short walk until they came across the scene of the crime, so to speak. The Frontier Agents stationed at Whiskey Peak, minus Miss Monday, were all down and out. Though Mr. 8, aka Igarappoi, aka Igaram, was pushing himself up despite the nasty sword slash across his chest. Adam didn't say anything but miss Valentine's laughter drew attention to them regardless.
Igaram looked shocked to see them and exclaimed, “Mr. 5?! Miss Valentine?!”
Igaram was a tall man with a small red nose and had blond hair in a style that resembles a powdered Wig. He was dressed like a gentleman in a nice suit, currently damaged and bloodied. Reflecting his codename Mr. 8, he had the number 8 at the tips of his collar. While the curls in his hair also look similar to the number 8. Currently he had the barrels of several guns sticking out from the thick curls of his hair.
Miss Valentine laughed some more before exclaiming, “You guys really got creamed huh? Well, we can't expect everyone to be as good as us, right Mr. 5?” Igaram grit his teeth in annoyance, “Did you come here just to make fun of us?”
Adam shook his head, “We're here for business, not to hold your hands.”
Miss Valentine giggled while her eyes panned over the beaten members, “Someone learned a secret they shouldn't have!” She spoke with a sing-song tone that sounded almost childish, “The boss said, 'My secret has been found'. We can't have anyone's secrets getting out now, can we?”
Adam chipped in, “Our credo is 'secrecy' after all, no one is supposed to know anyone's identity.”
Miss Valentine looked like the cat that caught the canary, “It seems and agent of a certain kingdom has infiltrated Baroque Works and learned something they shouldn't have.”
Mr. 9, a man who wore a crown as part of his costume jumped in, “I know I wear a crown but...!”
Mr. 5 cut him off, “Not you, idiot.” His gaze fell on Miss Wednesday, aka Nefertari Vivi, the princess of the Arabasta Kingdom, “The spy we're talking about...”
Before Adam could finish, Igaram pulled on a pair of ribbons around his neck causing the guns within his hair to fire. Adam stared blankly as the bullets from Igarams hair-guns came flying at him. He was annoyed that he hadn't been allowed to finish speaking before the bullets hit near him and detonated into large explosions. He snorted at that. Fighting him with explosions was even less effective than farting in the wind.
Vivi's scream of, “Igaram!” was countered by Igaram shouting, “Run away!”
Vivi didn't even get a chance to attempt running away before Miss Valentine fell out of the air and kicked Vivi in the head, knocking the princess to the ground. A slash from the silly 'Peacock Slasher' that Vivi used as a weapon caused Miss Valentine to hop into the air and float away in retreat while laughing.
By that time the flames and smoke from Igaram's attack faded to reveal a perfectly fine Adam who continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, “The name of the spy is Igaram the head of Arabasta Kingdom's Royal Guards. The second spy is Nefertari Vivi, Princess of Arabasta Kingdom.”
He ignored the byplay between Vivi and her eccentric partner Mr. 9 to watch as Zoro actually dashed between them to collect a fat Luffy who was still unconscious in a food coma. After that duo disappeared he focused on Vivi. He was here to help her after all and this was his first time actually seeing her in person. Vivi was a young woman of medium height with long wavy light blue hair, with two locks hanging down, one on either side of her head about chin-length, expressive brown eyes, and a slender body.
“We've been ordered to eliminate you...” Was as far as he got before he was cut off once again.
A very battered looking Mr. 9 jumped up and began charging at him while shouting, “I may not know what's going on but you've been my partner for a long time! I'll hold them off while you run away Miss Wednesday!”
Mr. 9 began a complex bunch of hand springs and cartwheels as he charged at Adam while shouting the long ass name to his weak ass attack. Adam sighed deeply while he calmly pulled his hand out of his pockets, something he hadn't done since they found the group. Pinched between two of his fingers was a small bit of white clay that he was calmly rolling into a ball between his fingers. As Mr. 9 approached, he stuck the clay to the tip of his index finger and pointed it at Mr. 9 while making a classic finger gun, “Bang.”
A small detonation on the tip of his finger sent the clay through the air like a bullet. As it approached Mr. 9 it detonated just a few feet away from his face and sent his body flying through the air. Adam had a small smile as he observed the effectiveness of his attack. It was actually one of his weakest using what he'd dubbed 'C-1'.
It was a simply concept and way less gross than picking his nose and firing off boogers. By kneading clay with his bare hands the clay would be impregnated with dead skin cells. An average human shed hundreds of millions to billions of skin cells per day. He used clay to collect as much of that shed skin as possible. The more shed skin his clay collected, the higher he numbered it. Originally he'd just been trying to replicate C-4 to have something he could always detonate, but now he broke it down into ten tiers of one through ten with ten being something he was actually a little nervous to detonate.
Sure collecting his skin cells into clay was a little grody, but it was a hell of a lot less disgusting than mining for nose gold and firing it off at people. It was also a lot more flexible since he could plant it like charges of C-4 and detonate them at his whim. He'd managed to collect quite a lot and was always making more as an idle action by kneading clay in his pockets.
Once he looked away from his work on Mr. 9, he noticed something concerning. Miss Valentine and Vivi were both already up and running away. He growled to himself and took off after them. He couldn't allow Miss Valentine to harm Vivi any further!
As he ran around a corner he was just in time to see Miss Valentine stepping off of the brutally crushed body of Miss Monday. That bugged him, Miss Monday had been a friend while he'd worked at Whiskey Peak. He narrowed his eyes behind his shades and focused on his target. He dug into his pocket and pulled out another piece of clay that was quickly rolled into a ball and stuck to the tip of his finger. He took careful aim and fired it directly at Miss Valentine's back.
Zoro dropped from the sky out of nowhere his blade interposed between the ball of clay and himself. The edge of Yubashiri easily sliced through the clay and sent the two halves off to the side where they detonated on contact with the ground. That was one trick he'd learned with his ability, programming his explosives. He couldn't do anything complex, but he could program his explosions to go off on impact with something, or after a certain time has passed, or just will it to happen. In the case of the clay Zoro sliced, he'd planned for it to detonate on contact with Miss Valentines back.
Miss Valentine stopped running and made her way back to Adam, eyeing Zoro suspiciously. The pair watched as Vivi attempted to attack Zoro from behind, only to get smacked for her effort. Zoro stared at Miss Valentine and himself as he addressed Vivi, “Calm down, I've come to save you.”
Adam took the opportunity while she was distracted to point his hand at the back of Miss Valentine's head. His palm detonated with an explosion that was mostly carefully regulated force. Miss Valentine swayed on her feet before falling to the ground, out cold. That got the undivided attention of Zoro and Vivi.
Adam stuffed his hand back in his pocket to knead clay while he addressed the confused looking duo, “Perhaps this time no one will interrupt me when I try to speak?” When nothing immediately exploded or attacked him, Adam continued by addressing Zoro, “Aren't you the pirate swordsman who attacked everyone here? Why are you protecting the Princess?”
Zoro stared at Adam while holding a single sword at the ready, “I have my own circumstances.”
Adam kept an eye on Zoro while he addressed Vivi, “Princess, my name is...”
“ZOOORRROOOOO!!”
Adam's shoulders slumped, “God fucking dammit!”
Everyone looked in the direction of the shout to see a still fat Luffy glaring at the swordsman. Zoro smiled and addressed his captain, “What is it? Does that harpy have something on you too?”
Luffy's response was to shout, “I'LL NEVER GORGIVE YOU! FIGHT ME!!”
“What kind of idiotic thing are you spouting now?!” Was Zoro's very understandable reply.
“SHUT UP! AN UNGRATEFUL BASTARD LIKE YOU NEEDS TO GET HIS ASS KICKED! HOW DARE YOU CUT UP THESE PEOPLE AFTER THEY GAVE US SUCH YUMMY FOOD?!”
“Luffy! Listen to me! Those people were actually...!”
Luffy charged Zoro while cocking his arm back, “DON'T MAKE ANY EXCUSES!”
Adam watched as Luffy ruthlessly attacked Zoro for a moment before he sighed and hung his head, “This is so frustrating.”
He ignored the pair and calmly made his way toward Vivi, who was distracted by the fight and didn't notice his approach. Once he was close enough to be heard over the sounds of fighting he knelt on the ground, “Princess Vivi.”
That got her undivided attention. She snapped around looking ready to fight, but paused in confusion when she saw him kneeling. He calmly continued, “My name is Bakuto D. Adam and I am your loyal servant. I joined Baroque Works with the explicit intention of finding you after you went missing.”
Vivi studied him carefully, still very clearly on guard around him, “Why join Baroque Works to find me?”
He smiled a little, “It was the only way for a street rat like me to sail the Grand Line in search of you.”
Vivi's caution didn't drop one iota as she continued to stare at him, “Why search for me at all? I don't know you and have no reason to believe you.”
He nodded in acceptance of that, “I understand, princess. As for why... There's something rotten in Arabasta and now I know why. I only need to know who and I will fight to protect our country from that person, from Mr. 0.”
Vivi stared at him in shock, “You don't know what you're saying! You have no idea who he is or how dangerous he is!”
Adam shrugged, “Perhaps not, but Arabasta is my home and you are my princess. I am yours to command and I will fight for you until the end.”
Vivi studied him as they both ignored the growing escalation between Luffy and Zoro. Finally Vivi spoke, “I will... trust you for now. Don't make me regret it.”
Adam climbed to his feet and gave Vivi a bright smile that lit up his face making her realize that he was around her age. She'd thought he was older but... clearly if he was it was only by a year or two. He silently moved behind her and took up a position to guard her. Of course, he knew the Straw Hats wouldn't attack, but Vivi didn't know that.
What happened next made it hard for Adam not to laugh out loud. Nami seemed to appear out of nowhere and clobbered both Luffy and Zoro knocking the dueling duo to the ground with large lumps on their heads, “What are you idiots doing?!”
Her gaze shifted to Vivi, still sitting on her Super Sonic Duck Carue, completely ignoring Adam in her greed, “Well at least you protected the princess...” Only then did she notice Adam. She reached down and grabbed Zoro by his collar to yell in his face, “Why is he so close to the princess?! You're supposed to be protecting her!” With a heave of strength that belied Nami's lithe frame, she launched Zoro through the air to slam into the ground in front of Vivi and Adam, “Protect her dammit! You're about to cost me a billion Berry!”
Zoro jumped to his feet and spun around to yell back at Nami, “He's not attacking her woman!”
Vivi, very clearly confused, spoke up, “What're you people talking about, and why did you come to save me?”
Nami took on the countenance of a sleazy salesman, “Ah! That's right, you wouldn't know. How would you like to make a contract with me?” She finished her pitch with a bright toothy smile.
From there things calmed down and everything was explained to everyone. Luffy laughed it all off, which annoyed Zoro. Vivi though firmly turned down Nami's request for a contract and explained the recent history of Arabasta. The revolutionaries, the frame job on her father using Dance Powder, how she found out about Baroque Works and their efforts to instigate the rebellion. How she joined them to find out about the leader and their end goal of completely taking over Arabasta. All of it that she knew, except for the leader's name.
Nami sighed, “I see. A country in a civil war wouldn't have any money. No wonder you refused.”
Luffy piped in, “So, who is this boss dude anyway?”
Adam silently watched as it all went down. Vivi exuberantly waved Luffy off, “You mean the boss' true identity? Don't ask me that! You're better off no knowing! If you knew Baroque Works would hunt you down until the end!”
Nami chuckled and nodded in agreement, “Right?! A guy wanting to take over an entire country must be incredibly dangerous!”
Vivi nodded in agreement, “Exactly! No matter how strong you pirates might be, you're not match for Sir Crocodile, one of the Shichibukai!”
There was a beat of silence before Vivi slapped her hands over her mouth and Nami looked like her soul was fleeing her body. Zoro stared at Vivi with an incredulous look on his face, “Did... did you just say his name?”
Adam watched as everything went downhill from there. The Unluckies were spotted and Mr. 13 actually made excellent drawings of the three Straw Hat pirates. He had trouble not laughing at how depressed Nami was while Luffy and Zoro were excited at the prospect of getting to fight a Shichibukai. The comedy routine only ended when Igaram showed up wearing a horrendous Vivi cosplay.
From there a plan was made. Igaram, disguised as Vivi, would lead Baroque Works on a wild goose chase while Vivi and Adam would join the Straw Hats to sneak into Arabasta. The group saw Igaram off on a ship that had been hidden previously.
However, things took a turn for the worse when the ship violently exploded. Everyone stared in horror before accusatory looks were turned toward Adam. He quickly held his hands up in the air, “This has nothing to do with me! Just because I can explode doesn't mean all explosions are my doing! Someone else had to have done it!”
Vivi, feeling a mixture of shock, anger, fear, and sadness screamed at the others, “We need to go! Someone else is already too close to us!”
Zoro and Luffy took off ahead, Luffy going to get the missing two members of their crew who'd slept through everything while Zoro dashed toward the ship to get it ready to leave. The log pose Nami had was already reset so they were good to go at any moment. Adam stuck with Vivi and Nami keeping to their pace as would be expected of someone determined to protect Vivi, which he was. His memories of Arabasta might not be anything but stuff stuck in his head when he reincarnated, but those memories felt pretty real and he considered himself a patriot. He would help Vivi and the Straw Hats through this, then he hoped he could join the Straw Hats permanently. If not, he'd figure something else out.
After Luffy grabbed Usopp and Sanji, and Zoro had made the ship ready to leave, Adam, Nami, and Vivi finally arrived. After a bit of back and forth over finding Carue, Vivi's duck companion, and finding him on the ship already, they were ready to go. They began sailing down the river that cut completely through the Cactus Islands to make their way back out into the Grand Line. While doing so, everything that happened was explained to the two who missed out while Adam was prompted to introduce himself to everyone.
“My name is Bakuto D. Adam. I'm from Arabasta and joined Baroque Works to find Princess Vivi. I'm a pretty good fighter and I ate the Bomu Bomu no Mi making me a Bomb-man. I can detonate any part of my body and cause explosions.”
To demonstrate he lifted his right hand up and set off a small explosion on his palm. This earned him starry-eyed looks from Luffy and Usopp, both boys screaming about how cool it was. As they were about to exit the river into the ocean Nami spoke up, “The fog is lifting, it's almost morning.”
A second feminine voice calmly called out, “Be careful not to crash on the rocks near the shore.”
Nami scoffed, “Who do you think I am? I'm the... greatest...”
Nami slowly turned along with everyone else to see a woman calmly sitting on the upper rail of the Going Merry. The woman was, in a word, gorgeous. She was a tall, slender young woman with shoulder-length black hair styled in a classic hime cut and eyes that were cerulean blue. She was wearing a cowgirl outfit consisting of a purple cleavage-exposing corset and matching miniskirt, both with white ornamental fringe hanging from them, and a white fur-lined coat paired with a white cowboy hat and white high-heeled boots.
The woman, whom Adam knew to be Nico Robin, propped her elbow on her thigh and rested her cheek in the palm of her hand, “You know Miss Wednesday, I met with Mr. 8 just a little while ago...”
Vivi was shocked, “Are you saying... it was you who did that to Igaram?!” She practically growled, “What are you doing all the way out here Miss All Sunday?!”
Nami piped up asking both Adam and Vivi, “Who is it this time? Who's partner is she?!”
Vivi answered, “She's the partner of Mr. 0. That's why Igaram and I followed her to find out his identity!”
Robin smiled playfully, “Well, it was more like I allowed you to follow me.”
“Oh, so she's a good guy!” Came from Luffy.
Vivi was having none of that though as she yelled at Robin, “I already knew that! And I bet you're also the one who told the boss his identity was leaked!”
“Oh! So she's a bad guy!”
Vivi continued to shout at Robin, “What exactly is your objective?!”
“Now now, no need to get so upset. I only let you follow me because you looked so desperate.” Her lips curled into a cruel grin, “It was just too amusing to watch. A single princess foolishly trying to save her kingdom. Thinking she can take on an organization such as Baroque Works?”
Vivi jerked as if slapped but quickly recovered and was practically frothing in rage, “Don't you underestimate ME!”
Everyone moved at the same time. Sanji and Usopp moved to the upper portion of the rear deck on either side of Robin. Sanji aimed a flintlock at her while Usopp had his slingshot out and pulled back. Zoro drew Sandai Kitetsu while Nami's three part staff seemed to assemble itself into her hands. Adam drew his revolver and calmly leveled it at Robin. Meanwhile, Luffy just stood where he was, his body was his weapon.
Robin didn't look phased in the least as she calmly closed her eyes, “Would you mind...” Suddenly Usopp and Sanji were tossed off of the upper deck, “not pointing such dangerous things at me?”
While everyone else looked on in shock, Robin continued to act knocking the sword out of Zoro's hand and the staff out of Nami's. However, her plan hit a roadblock when a small explosion cracked loudly on Adam's shoulder. Robin jerked in shock and winced in pain. Her gaze now laser focused on Adam who continued to calmly aim his revolver at her head. His lips curled into a vindictive smirk, “What? Thought you were the first Devil Fruit user I ever fought? Come now, you should know better than to touch a living bomb.”
Robin tried to play it off, letting out a little laugh while Sanji drooled over her looks. Adam, however, could see the nervous sweat on her brow at having a deadly weapon aimed her way without a way to disarm him. Still, she didn't let on to her fear and continued to talk calmly, she was a professional after all, “No need to get all riled up. I'm not here on any orders nor do I have any reason to fight you people.”
Adam's voice cut into her, “Ah, but we have reason to fight you. You did just admit to killing Igaram without even being ordered to. That's more than enough reason to kill you in return.”
To prove his point, he pulled back on the hammer to his revolver, the loud click of the hammer's spring echoing through the air. He was rather satisfied to see further nervous sweat beading on Robin's forehead at his casual threat. Strong as she was, she was no match for him. He was a perfect counter to her usual methods of attack and she was far from bullet proof. Worse, his gun wouldn't be firing bullets but his own explosive breath. He'd copied that from the canon Mr. 5 but improved on it. Not only was it still invisible, but the shots moved faster than any conventional bullets due to how he shaped them while making them.
Robin tried to move past the continuous reminder of her murdering Igaram for, apparently, no reason, “S-so, you're the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates...”
Adam cut her off by twitching the barrel of his revolver ever so slightly to the side and pulling the trigger. There was a loud pop from the revolver's barrel before an explosion detonated just behind and above Robin, far enough away to not cause any damage to her or the ship, but more than close enough for Adam to make his point. He wasn't going to let her change the subject. She seemed to understand that as she was now positively sweating in fear, though she had enough nerve to narrow her eyes at Adam in anger. He was completely derailing her from the entire reason she'd snuck onto the ship!
Alternatively, Vivi was giving him a thankful look for not letting Robin simply brush past the murder of her dear friend and companion. Feeling bolstered by Adam's steady presence, she glared at Robin with all the hatred she felt for the woman, “Give me one reason why I shouldn't have Adam execute you right here and now Miss All Sunday!”
Robin grit her teeth, losing her cool was a very uncommon occurrence for her, but how was she supposed to predict that one of the strongest and more ruthless pirate hunters within Baroque Works would betray them? She'd been certain that she would need to find a way to take Mr. 5, Adam, down or pit him against someone who couldn't win. She honestly considered him the second most dangerous person in Baroque Works. The invisible bullet and explosion just behind her a moment ago was just another indication of how right she was.
Robin grit her teeth as she finally addressed Vivi, “Mr. 8, Igaram, is not dead. I removed him from the ship before I destroyed it. I had hoped causing the ship to explode would put at least some suspicion on Mr. 5's shoulders, but clearly I was wrong.”
That last bit was just tacked on at the last minute. She'd been planning to hide Igaram and explode his ship regardless, it's why she'd planted the bombs in the first place! Though she had expected both Igaram and Vivi to be on the ship, but she was nothing if not adaptable. Usually.
“Why should we believe you?!” Vivi's voice was cutting.
Robin, a bit back in her stride, answered in an almost condescending voice, “You shouldn't, but I am speaking the truth. Igaram lives, though I know not how long it will take him to make his way to Arabasta. Sadly, he will make it there long before you do. How unfortunate for such a small pirate crew to be targeted by all of Baroque Works. How unfortunate for the princess to entrust herself to some small time pirates. And, most of all, how unfortunate the route for your Log Pose is pointing! The next island you're heading to... Little Garden. Even without me laying a finger on you it's likely you'll never arrive at Arabasta. You'll never meet Sir Crocodile, and the curtains will close on your mission, and your lives.”
“As if we'll just roll over and die!” Came Luffy's shout.
He, and the rest of the Straw Hats, had been kind enough to remain silent during the discussion between Vivi, Adam, and Robin, but now she was insulting them and Luffy wouldn't take that lying down, “I'm going to become the King of the Pirates! Zoro is going to be the strongest swordsman! Nami is going to map all the seas! Usopp is going to become a brave warrior! Sanji will find the All Blue! Vivi will save her kingdom! NO ONE WILL STOP US REACHING OUR DREAMS!”
Adam noticed he wasn't mentioned, then again no one knew what his dream was. Not even himself. He was still looking for one and had yet to truly find anything that made his soul roar the same way Luffy's did. He was rather jealous of that, to be honest.
“Enough howling. Anyone can put up a brave front. Knowing the difficulty ahead and still rushing in is the act of a fool.” Robin commented before flicking her hand and tossing something to Vivi.
Vivi caught the item on instinct and looked at it, “An Eternal Pose?”
“That's right. With it you will be able to skip over your future troubles. It leads to an unnamed island right before Arabasta. As a free bonus, it's also a route that Baroque Works is unaware of, so no one will be able to follow you.”
Vivi looked at Robin, clearly confused, “Why would you give me such a thing?”
Before she could answer, Luffy's arm stretch out to snatch the Eternal Pose off the top of Vivi's palm. A quick squeeze and he crushed it to pieces while glaring at Robin, “Don't think you can choose the path of our journey!”
Luffy held firm, even after Nami drop kicked him in the face. Robin looked amused, “I see. How unfortunate. Well, I don't dislike bold men, let's meet again soon... If you survive.”
As she moved to stand, Adam pulled the trigger on his revolver once more and set off another explosion behind her causing her to freeze in place. She'd gotten carried away and nearly forgotten he was still there aiming at her with a deadly weapon she could do nothing about. Adam smirked a little now that he had her attention, “I'm sorry, did the princess say you could leave?”
Looking vindictive, Vivi answered for Robin, “No, no I did not. Miss All Sunday, please stick around a little longer. I have many questions for you and you will be answering them.”
Robin tried to look confident as she asked, “And if I refuse? Will you kill me?”
Adam's smile turned downright villainous, “Nope.” That gave Robin confidence, which his next words erased completely and replaced with horror, “I'll chain you up and take you to the nearest marine base, Nico Robin.”
-----Line Break-----
The Straw Hats, plus Vivi and Adam, sat in the galley of the Going Merry while Sanji cooked for them. Robin was off to the side, still in sight, with a thick band of clay wrapped around her neck. It was more than enough to decapitate her with a single thought from Adam, something she was made fully aware of. Added to that, he'd 'programmed' the clay to automatically detonate if it was changed too much from its set shape. There would be no breaking it open or even stretching it out to escape.
Now that things had settled down a bit, and Adam had taken some time to retrieve his belongings, he finally had time to really drink in the fact that he was sailing with the Strawhat Pirates!
Luffy was exactly how he imagined him to be, red vest, jean shorts, and all. He was even ignoring everything else to bother Sanji about how long until the food was ready. Usopp's nose actually was ridiculously long and pointed and he was wearing just a pair of overalls which was not flattering on his stick thin frame.
Zoro sat off to the side watching him, Vivi, and Robin suspiciously. Not unexpected of the swordsman with green hair. Adam was curious about the three swords at his waist and hoped, eventually, to have enough trust from the man to let him at least hold the swords once. They were pretty famous in his previous life, after all! Then there was Sanji currently at the stove cooking up a storm at a rapid pace. It was impressive to watch the blonde main in a suit working so quickly and cleanly.
Lastly, there was Nami, the only female member of the crew. With bright orange hair, warm brown eyes, and a figure to match Vivi's own sensual form, she was a knock out. Though, he definitely preferred her when she had longer hair. The same could be said for Robin, actually. Maybe he just had a thing for long hair?
Vivi, the only one who seemed to care, sat across from him and stared at him, “Tell me about yourself Mr. Bakuto.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but Robin, clearly uncomfortable and trying to exert some control over her situation answered for him, “Bakuto D. Adam, an orphan from Nanohana. Lived on the streets begging and stealing until he somehow found and ate the Bomu Bomu no Mi a couple of years ago. He was recruited by Mr. 3 shortly after that. He's a violent man who happily uses his explosive abilities to defeat and capture pirates for their bounties. He's worked happily, and loyally, for Baroque Works for the last couple of years.”
“Then why isn't he attacking us?” Came from Nami nearby.
Adam pulled off his glasses to reveal his molten gold eyes then ran a hand through his hair causing the flame-like locks to wave. This drew Luffy's attention where it seemed Luffy only just then registered Adam's presence. Luffy's gaze fixated on Adam's hair while his jaw dropped, “Your hair... so COOL!”
Adam glanced at Luffy and chuckled, “Thanks, it's actually natural.”
“Bullshit!” shouted Nami, Vivi, and Robin in unison.
Adam chuckled, “I know, but I swear it's true. Anyway!” he faced Nami, “You wanted to know why I'm not attempting to slaughter you all as Robin implied I should be?”
Nami swallowed heavily while Usopp tried to look brave, despite his clearly shaking body. Adam ignored that and smiled warmly, “You all have agreed to help Princess Vivi, as long as that holds true and no one tries anything with her,” his gaze flicked to Sanji quickly before returning to Nami, “then I have no problem with you all.”
He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, “I gladly hunted pirates because they were pirates. Many of them were the scum of the earth. If you all prove to be the same, I will do everything in my power to protect Princess Vivi and destroy you.”
Nami swallowed heavily under his gaze. Zoro's voice came from the side, “Ho? You think you can beat us?”
Adam glanced over at Zoro while tilting his head, “Can you fly? Do you have any powerful long range attacks?”
Zoro frowned but didn't answer. Adam continued, “Because I can fly and I can drop bombs for hours before I run out of materials. I don't have to fight you face to face to defeat you. But, even face to face, I would win. That explosion Robin here set off back at Whiskey Peak?” He held his hand out palm up and set off a small firecracker, “I can cause explosions larger than that with just one hand.”
Robin grimaced as his comment turned several intense hate filled stares her way. She was normally far more composed, but the explosive choker around her neck was throwing her off her game something fierce.
Adam continued, “And that's just my hand. I don't think you can, but try to picture what would happen if I were to detonate my entire body, which I would survive.” His golden eyes drifted to Robin who began sweating heavily, “Why don't you tell them what I did to Little Creek Island.”
Robin swallowed heavily while sweat dripped down her forehead, “Little Creek was a small island with a single port town of a few hundred people on it. A pirate group calling themselves The Bone Reavers attacked the town. From all reports, they did unspeakable things to the villagers for days before Mr. 5... Adam, and his partner arrived to capture them. From the report Miss Valentine filed...” Robin shuddered, “It was the only time we have confirmation of Adam being truly enraged.”
Her blue eyes locked onto Adam's golden gaze, “She said you told her to leave, to get far away, while you attacked the pirates and drew their attention. She... she said she'd never seen an explosion so large. That even miles away the water of the ocean churned violently and the blast wave was strong enough she had to brace herself. That she could even feel the heat of it on her skin.”
Robin swallowed heavily, “She said that when the smoke cleared enough for her to see, you were flying in the air above a massive crater with the ocean flooding in to fill it. Little Creek Island doesn't exist anymore.”
There was silence for a long moment before Adam broke it, “There was no one from the village left alive. The things those pirates did to them...” He trailed off and noticed that only Nami, Sanji, and Zoro seemed to comprehend what they'd gone through, “I destroyed that island to give those innocent people peace and to send those scumbags to the depths of hell where they belonged.”
His gaze shifted to Zoro, “You might be stronger than me in a melee fight, but in a life or death struggle... Nah, I'd win.”
He turned away from Zoro and faced Vivi, “I said before that I joined Baroque Works to find and protect you and I meant it. Robin didn't lie, I am an orphan who begged and stole to survive, but I still love my country and I never blamed King Cobra for our problems.” Adam smiled as a memory came to him of his life in the One Piece world, “He once visited my orphanage, before it kicked me out at fifteen, and you were there with him. You treated all the younger children like they were family, even asked your father if you could give the orphanage your allowance.”
Vivi's eyes widened, she remembered that day. Seeing that he smiled, “I don't think you noticed me, but I saw everything. When you went missing, I knew I couldn't do anything to help find you. I was just a kid on the streets. But then.” He grinned, “Then one day I stole what I thought was an apple and happened to be the Bomu Bomu no Mi. After eating it, I suddenly had power, but still no way to help you. Then came Mr. 3 and his offer to join Baroque Works.”
Adam's grin grew wide and happy, “How could I turn him down?! A group that would not only give me money to hunt scumbag pirates, but would teach me how to sail, provide me opportunities to fight and grow stronger, and, most importantly, explore the Grand Line looking for you?! How could I turn that down! I signed up immediately and I'd been looking or you ever since.”
He laughed, “Imagine my shock when I found out you'd joined Baroque Works too! If we'd ever worked together I would have recognized you and offered you my help. But, eventually, fate conspired to get us together. Now we can go back to Arabasta and destroy Crocodile and his plans.”
His golden gaze turned to pin Robin in place, “And Robin here can tell us all about those plans of his.”
Robin swallowed heavily and tried to look calm, but the sheen of sweat gave her away, “I can't tell you anything.”
“Oh, well, in that case we should just throw you overboard.”
Robin blanched but still said nothing. Adam just grinned at her, “Or, we can wait for Crocodile to call you and explain to him, in excruciating detail, how you admitted to leading Princess Vivi to him on purpose. I wonder how he'd react to such a betrayal... Oh, wait, Baroque Works only has one punishment for that, right?”
Luffy jumped in there, “It doesn't matter what his plans are! We'll just kick his ass!”
Adam chuckled, “That we will. Even if Robin keeps her mouth shut, I know a lot about the inner workings of the organization and can tell you all about the people involved.”
At that moment Sanji served the food he'd been cooking. Obviously he served the three best portions to the three ladies first, earning him shouted questions from Luffy and the stink eye from Zoro. Adam just sat back and reveled in the atmosphere. He still had trouble believing he was on the Going Merry and all that entailed.
-----Line Break-----
Adam grunted as he performed a push up with a stack of Zoro's weights sitting on his back. The weights were borrowed with permission so that he could get a good workout in. Over the last few years he'd bought his own weight set, but he'd left it behind on the ship he shared with Miss Valentine. It was simply too much to carry onto the Going Merry.
Fortunately, that was all he'd really had to leave behind. The rest of his supplies, mostly clay with a smidgen of other items, had been transferred over for his use. He'd spent the first few days aboard getting to know everyone, except Robin. She was still pissed at him for being taken prisoner. The first couple of days had been fun and filled with activity. After that... well sailing was boring as hell the majority of the time. He'd asked to borrow Zoro's weights to get in a good workout and now, here he was.
He grunted as he continued to do his push ups, his muscles straining and sweat rolling down his naked torso in rivulets. He was using all of the weights that Zoro usually swing around like a sword to strengthen his arms. It just went to show that he was definitely weaker than Zoro in pure physique. His Devil Fruit let him overcome that gap pretty easily though.
He'd worked his Devil Fruit completely into his fighting style, much like Luffy had, but still continued to work hard on his base body. He knew that, soon enough, his basic explosives would be less effective due to the prevalence of Haki users in the second half of the Grand Line. Not to mention their complete uselessness against all Logia users. No, a strong body was the single most important thing for his future survival.
“You need to let me go.”
Adam paused with his arms extended to turn and face Robin. She was standing nearby with her arms crossed under her bust, emphasizing it as if making him horny would help her get her way, “Ask Princess Vivi.”
“She won't let me go. She actually intends to imprison me when we arrive at Arabasta.”
Adam hummed and looked away, “You're a criminal, one happily working toward the total destruction of her kingdom. Explain to me, why exactly, I would advocate for you against her wishes?”
“I don't care about her kingdom...”
“Not helping your case.” he cut her off.
Robin glared at him, her voice firm, “Let me finish. I don't care about her Kingdom. There's just something hidden within it that I want access to. Everything else is all Crocodile's doing.”
“Uh huh. And you had no hand in helping him move his plans forward? Didn't lift a single finger to help him?” His gaze turned cold, “Go ahead. Tell me you've never worked against the kingdom, never did anything wrong.”
“I...”
He cut her off again, “You can't. Because you sat here, on this ship, and admitted to setting Princess Vivi up by leading her to Crocodile and then telling that bastard. Her life is in immediate danger and it is entirely your fault. You might not have tried to kill her yourself, but you sure as hell made sure dozens, if not hundreds, of people would be attempting to do so in your place.”
“You know, when I figured out who you were, I felt some pity. No child could ever do something worthy of the bounty they placed on you. I am more than willing to believe that back then you were innocent and something rotten happened to you. It's a common enough story, after all. But, somewhere along the line, that innocent girl turned into the twisted thing you are now. I don't know what is driving you, and I don't care. Just understand this, you are now no better than the monsters that placed a bounty on your head as a little girl.”
Robin looked stricken, and even a little sick. There were tears in the corners of her eyes, though she refused to let them fall. Without a word she turned and walked away.
“Harsh.”
Adam turned to face Zoro where he'd been leaning against the mast pretending to be asleep, “Truth.”
He shrugged and closed his eyes, “Be sure to put my weights back.”
“Don't I always?”
-----Line Break-----
Adam hummed as he looked into the thick jungle of Little Garden from the deck of the Going Merry. Seeing a massive tiger walking along the water's edge makes him smirk. In his previous life, such a sight would have filled him with the same terror that Nami and Usopp were showing. In this life? He was a badass capable of destroying an entire island on his own. The tiger looked more like a hissing kitten to him than any actual threat.
It gave him new insight into why Luffy was always having so much fun. When you were strong, there was nothing to fear.
“Sanji! Sanji! Make me a pirate lunch! I want to go exploring!”
“Hai hai, one lunch coming up.”
Adam hummed when Vivi decided to go with Luffy. He knew Mr. 3 was on this island somewhere and he was going to find the man before he could do anything. He was honest enough to admit that Mr. 3 was one of the deadlier agents because he was actually mildly creative with his Devil Fruit. Way more so than others like Miss Valentine.
After watching Vivi and Luffy leave, Adam turned to the others, “I'm going to go explore.” His gaze fell on a disgruntled Robin, “Don't try anything.”
Robin scoffed but said nothing. That was good enough for him. He highly doubted Robin would be stupid enough to try anything as long as that bomb was around her neck.
Adam hopped off of the Going Merry. In mid air his feet erupted into a continuous burn as he set off dozens of explosions per second that propelled him into the air. He laughed as he flew. No matter how many times he did it, he always found the experience thrilling. He flew at a decent speed, but nowhere near his top speed. He was searching for something, after all, not trying to get from here to there.
It didn't take him long at all to find what he was looking for. Stark white really sticks out like a sore thumb in a green jungle. Mr. 3 really should have had Miss Goldenweek give his little wax house a camouflage paint job. Oh well. It made his life easier so he wasn't going to complain.
With a wide smirk he came flying down and drop kicked the door to the house open, “Honey! I'm home!”
He laughed at the shocked look on Mr. 3's face before the world went black.
-----Line Break-----
Sanji scowled around his cigarette as he trudged through the jungle. Zoro hadn't shown up with his game for their hunting competition and it annoyed him. Worse though, all the women were missing. Robin, Nami, and Vivi, he hadn't seen any of them in hours. Then there were the sounds. He didn't know what they were, but they were loud and seemed like they might be signs of danger. He hoped the girls were okay!
“Hmmm?”
He paused when he spotted something white in between the trees. Moving closer he realized it was a small house made of some weird white material. He walked around it until he found the door and pulled it open. He was surprised at how nice the interior was. As he closed the door, he noticed something behind it and jumped away.
Standing there, where it had been hidden by the door, was a human sized white statue made of the same material as the rest of the small house. Sanji slowly walked around to the front of it and froze. He recognized the statue, Adam! It was so life-like, it even sounded like it was breathing...
It was breathing!
Sanji quickly spun on his left heel and lashed out with his right leg. There was a thunderous crash as his foot slammed into the chest of the statue with enough force to bend iron. The substance coating Adam cracked but didn't shatter. Sanji kicked it again and again until the section covering Adam's chest shattered revealing he really was stuck beneath a layer of the stuff.
Sanji frowned in concern. He could see Adam's chest rising and falling. He didn't like getting so close to a man, but Sanji got closer to Adam and checked him over. It only took a quick look to notice that the material around Adam's nostrils seemed to have melted allowing him to breath. Even if just barely.
Sanji got to work. A few more kicks had the white substance surrounding shattering into pieces and freeing the man. Yet, even once freed, Adam just stood where he was staring blankly. Sanji grabbed and shook his shoulders, “Hey! What's wrong with you?”
Getting no reply annoyed Sanji. He grabbed Adam by the shoulders and jerked him forward to get right in his face, “You ignoring me you bastard?!”
Adam slowly blinked, then shuddered violently as his mind returned to normal, “What happened?!”
Sanji shoved Adam back a step, “That's what I want to know!”
Except the blank look was back in Adam's eyes leaving him standing like a living statue. Sanji growled, “Are you messing with me?!”
Sanji dropped his cigarette on the ground and ground it out with his shoe, unknowingly grinding through a white mark painted on the ground. Adam jerked back to consciousness once more, “Sanji?! Where're Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek?! They were just here!”
Sanji glared at Adam with his uncovered eye while pulling out and lighting another cigarette, “There's no one here but us. What the hell is wrong with you?”
Adam looked around confused and then realization dawned, “That little shit. It had to be Miss Goldenweek. I don't know how she does it, but she can use paint and specific symbols to, basically, hypnotize people.” He looked at the ground, “There must be a white symbol on the ground. White blanks out a persons mind.” He spotted the ground out cigarette, “You must have accidentally broken it.”
Sanji stared at Adam, clearly disbelieving, “Riiiiight. Magic paint.”
Adam turned to face Sanji and smirked, “If you can't believe that, you'd best return to the blue seas. Hypnotic paint is far from the craziest thing you will run into sailing the Grand Line.”
Sanji, nonplussed, stared at Adam, “Now what?”
“Now, we find the others. If Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek are out there, then they are in danger. Luffy wouldn't stand a chance against Miss Goldenweek and Mr. 3 is one of the deadlier Officer Agents. Like me, he puts at least some thought into how he uses his Devil Fruit, the Doro Doro no Mi.” He gestured around them, “This place is made from his wax which he can make as hard as iron. It's still wax though so heat melts it fairly easily.”
Sanji nodded, “Must be how you survived. It looked like this... wax? The wax around your nostrils was melted, letting you breathe. If your mind was blank... subconscious reflex to save yourself?”
Adam scowled, “So, I got lucky.” He clenched his hands into fists, “I can't drop my guard like that again.”
“Puru puru puru.”
Adam turned to face a small basket on the floor.
“Puru puru puru.”
He walked over, opened the basket, and pulled out the Den Den Mushi inside of it and set it on the table before answering it in a much higher tone of voice than he naturally had, “Mr. 3 speaking.”
There was a tense pause before a deep commanding voice spoke, “Your report is late.”
Sanji watched, curious, as Adam worked, “I apologize for that Mr. 0. The Strawhats were more difficult to deal with than predicted.”
“And the giants?”
“Far easier and dealt with as well.”
“The ex-Mr.5 and the princess?”
“The same. All added to my lovely collection.”
“Good. The Unluckies will be with you soon to deliver an Eternal Pose. Return to Arabasta and report back to Rainbase. It's time for our plan to move forward.”
A loud click emanated from the nearby window causing Adam and Sanji to look over. There, sitting in the windows were Miss Friday, a vulture , and Mr. 13, an otter in a pair of pajamas. Both wore sunglasses. The clicking sound came from the twin machine guns mounted on the vultures back being cocked.
Adam's eyes widened in surprise. It didn't last long though as he whipped out his revolver from inside of his coat. Miss Friday was faster. Gunshots continuously rang as as the vultures automatic weapons fired rapidly. Adam didn't move, he was immune to bullets, or at least ones not imbued with Haki. Sanji, on the other hand, leaped out of the range of weapons fire only to be faced with Mr. 13 wielded a pair of seashells with blades sticking out of the edges.
Sanji dodged the otters charge and swipes with the blades and countered with a kick to the back of his head. The kick was strong enough to slam Mr. 13 into the wall and leave an imprint in the iron-hard wax. Adam, meanwhile, aimed his pistol at Miss Friday and fired off several of his explosive breaths. The small, but deadly, explosions rocked the wax house.
As the smoke cleared, Mr. 0's voice could finally be heard coming from the Den Den Mushi, “What's going on?!”
Adam, voice still falsely high, spoke, “Apologies Mr. 0. The wildlife on this island is quite large and violent. A giant tiger seemed to think Miss Friday would make a tasty treat. She... disapproved.”
“I see. I will be awaiting your return.”
“Ka-chak”
The line went dead. Adam let out a sigh and looked at Sanji, “That should buy us some time. He'll believe everyone is dead until we show up on his doorstep.”
Sanji exhaled a cloud of smoke and nodded, “Good job. Now, let's find the girls.”
Adam snorted as Sanji completely ignoring the male half of the crew but didn't argue. He started toward the door, but stopped when he noticed something. With a frown, he walked over to a shelf and picked up a lump of clay. He scowled, “Damnit.”
“What?”
He held up the clay, “I'm pretty sure this was the clay I put around Robin's neck. She's escaped.” He rolled the clay into a ball and stuffed it in an empty pocket. Waste not ,want not and all. He moved to the door muttering to himself about Miss Goldenweek's stupid color traps. He fully blamed her for Robin getting free. She had to have done something to him before Mr. 3 tried to kill him.
Together, he and Sanji headed into the jungle to find the others. He wanted to know what the hell had happened while he was out of it. Hopefully, things went much like they did in canon and everyone was alright, if a little banged up. If something happened to Vivi...
They burst through the underbrush into a clearing where everyone was standing around. His gaze swept over everyone until he locked on Vivi. She looked roughed up, but she was alive. That was what mattered the most. He could find out what happened later.
-----Line Break-----
AN
First, 9.8k words.
Second, I know this isn't what the voters selected because it wasn't even an option. Let me explain! I was going through my files when I found this chapter a little more than halfway finished. So I reread what I'd written and decided to finish it off so you guys could have something to read while I continue to reacquaint myself with Fabricator.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I've always liked the concept of the Bomu Bomu no Mi, and the two chapters of this were some of my exploration of it.
Anyway! I'll put up the next poll right after I publish this chapter, so you guys can vote on what comes after the Fabricator chapter.
Later!