Natural Enemy 2-5

The heels of Stench’s boots scraped against the paved road as Kai kept walking, the teen walking with half-lidded eyes as he ignored the stares aimed his way as he walked down the street. 

He ignored the whispers from the townsfolk of the blandly-named Port Town.

“…nggghhhh.” He also ignored the unconscious groans of Patch Grime, or whatever the greasy jerk’s last name was, as the man’s face was dragged over the ground. Not gonna adjust my grip now. He can suffer.

That wasn’t all he was ignoring, either.

There was also the burning on his chin and forearms, the way he was pretty sure he was already bruised all over, and of course, the fact that he was getting Grime Brother stink all over him after twenty minutes of dragging the two halfway across the town as he headed toward the Marine outpost on the island.

Stench was heavier than his brother. Patch was at least a good four hundred pounds, give or take. Stench, though… Kai frowned, his right hand jiggling the bigger Grime brother for a second or two.

Yeah, Stench’s dead weight had to be a good four-fifty at least.

Overweight or not, they were both just meat.

Two lumps of meat that happened to be worth enough Beri to buy a small house. A small, shitty house, sure, but still a house.

That or a really, really nice surfboard.

With a sigh, Kai adjusted his grip, sweat slicking his palms inside the gloves as he walked up to the small building painted white, the door half open even as he pushed it the rest of the way with one foot. 

Alrriiiight. The air in the Marine outpost was cool on his skin, the smell of cheap coffee fighting the stench of salty rot from the harbor outside. Stale and flat, it smelled just as much like floor wax as it did anything else. 

Kai rolled his eyes as he kicked the swinging door open again as it almost shut before he could get through with the haul. One sandaled foot did the job again, wood banging against the wall as a grunted word left his lips.

“Delivery.”

Breathless after almost a half-hour trip with about half a ton pulled behind him, Kai wasn’t even going to pretend like he wasn’t tired as he finally let both Patch and Stench drop. Both pirates hit the linoleum floor with a heavy, wet thud, Stench actually bouncing a little.

The Marine on duty didn’t even bother to look up from his newspaper, Marine whites crisp and clean like an untouched napkin, as he let out a sigh from his high wooden desk. “We don’t buy fish, kid.” A voice sounded out from behind the newspaper, the guy sounding not much older than Kai as the guy flipped a single page. “Try the market.”

“Not fish.” Kai wiped sweat from his forehead, nearly knocking his bucket hat off as he stood there heaving. With another grunt, he jammed it back down. “Pirates. I… I got the Grime Brothers here for ya.”

The Marine on duty finally looked up.

Yeah, he’s young. The guy was probably a recruit, probably no more than three years older than Kai himself. Although, the long face and patchy mustache could probably make him pass for a little bit older.

Squinty eyes narrowed further as the recruit looked down at the two half-washed heaps of dirty clothes slumped over on the floor, both of them half-conscious as Stench leaked slick oil onto the formerly-clean tile.

Those same beady eyes slid back up to look at Kai, his gut pushing against his still-damp white t-shirt. A good second later, the Marine recruit snorted loud; a short dismissive puff of air bursting out with a laugh. “Right. And I’m Fleet Admiral Sengoku.”

Kai’s left eye threatened to twitch, a little twinge in his eyelid already there. Chill. Be chill. He’s just a guy. “Look at the posters.” One thumb jerked over to the far wall, a couple dozen faces glaring out under ‘WANTED’ text. “That’s Stench. That’s Patch. The Grime Brothers, one point five million. Each.”

“Kid.” The recruit slapped the newspaper down and leaned forward to fix Kai with a squinty stare, the chair squeaking under the beanpole’s weight. “Listen up and listen good, if you found some drunks in an alley and dragged them in here for pocket money, I’m gonna have to call your parents.”

The engine in his chest pounded, blood pumping faster under skin; sharp and hot. “They’re not drunks… I mean,” Kai looked over at the two beaten and bruised pirates, “I’m pretty sure they’re not but that’s not really… “ 

Shutupshutupshutup! A sigh exploded out of him as he shook his head. “Not the point, what I mean is, they’re pirates and I’m here to get the bounty on them.”

“You?” Those beady eyes widened.

“You who?” The office door behind the recruit’s desk opened, a man stepping out. 

Kai blinked over at the bigger older man who stepped into the lobby, the officer wearing a white coat with its sleeves rolled up over a blue shirt and a matching white cap on his head that said ‘MARINE’ in dull blue letters. A steaming mug of coffee that smelled like burnt rubber rose high, the rim almost vanishing under a thick mustache that drifted down the side.

“What is this noise?” The mug lowered as the officer looked down his nose, eyes sweeping over the mess on his floor. “Recruit, why is there trash in my lobby?”

“Lieutenant Junior Grade, sir!” The recruit’s palm slapped to his forehead, chair clattering back with a squeal of wood on tile as he jumped to his feet.

“At ease, and answer my question, Recruit Mori.”

“Kid says he caught the Grime Brothers, sir.” The recruit jerked his chin over at Kai, hand lowering to his side. “Says he wants the one-five for both.”

“One-five for each.” He clicked his tongue. Giving any of these guys in white an inch already seemed like a bad idea, given what he’d seen, and he definitely wasn’t gonna risk it with a payout on the line. You’re not cheating me on this.

The lieutenant looked over at Kai, one eyebrow rising high at the correction. “Impossible.” He took another sip of his coffee. “Pull the other one, brat. Grime Brothers are active West Blue crazies. Seasoned. Violent. Skilled.” He gestured vaguely at Kai with the mug, somehow not spilling a drop of the steaming sludge. “A civilian couldn’t take them. Certainly not a little tub of lard like… you.”

“I did it,” Kai pushed forward, leather gloves groaning as he made a fist. The hit about his weight barely even landed, sliding right off him as he frowned at both men. “Check them. Stench has a broken nose and… I think I broke his ribs. Patch is out cold.”

“Uh… sir.” The recruit spoke up, both Kai and the commanding officer turning his way to see the young Marine holding up the poster in question; the sketch of both Grime Brothers staring back at everyone in the lobby. “I… I think those are the Grimes, sir.”

Eyes dropped down to the two fat men on the ground, a low slow hum leaving the man holding the coffee mug.

“Well… whaddya know?” The lieutenant clicked his tongue, shaking his head as he eased his eyes back over to Kai. “Lucky find, boy. Betting you probably just found them passed out behind a bar or something.” The mug came up again, the Marine taking his longest draw yet as his eyes stayed firmly locked on Kai. “We’ll take them off your hands for you. But a bounty this size requires a certain… rigor.”

What? Kai made a face. “Rigor?”

“Might not have learned that word yet. Rigor, you know… investigation.” The lieutenant shook his head, tongue tut-tut-tutting as he did so. “Verification of capture, you understand? If you just found them, well, then there’s no reward. Civic duty and all that.”

“Y-you’re…” Kai’s frown deepened, words stumbling on their way out as confusion faded away to something harder. They’re gonna keep my money. More than that, they were going to take the credit, file the paperwork, and do anything and everything to make sure he couldn’t get what he put the work in for. “That’s bullshit!”

The lieutenant’s frown matched the one Kai wore, a tight scowl beneath the mustache. “Watch your mouth.”

“It’s bull-shit! And you know it too!” Kai took a step forward, fists tightening. “I fought these two sickos and I dragged them eight blocks. Run me my money.”

“Go home, boy.” The lieutenant’s free hand hit the table hard, the big man still staring down at him. “Before I arrest you for obstruction.”

Arrest? Kai’s breath hitched, left eye fighting him for control as it fully started twitching. “Arrest me for what?”

The lieutenant scoffed loud, air ruffling his thick facial hair. “Test me and you’ll find out the reason after a night in a cell.”

The old rattling air conditioner in the corner sputtered, louder thick heavy droplets of water hitting the white tile. “I brought them in.” His words came out low and quiet under his breath as something started to hum under his skin. “It’s my money.”

“Are you deaf?” The lieutenant barked, face a new shade of red. “I sai-“

“Sir…”

The marine jerked his head, heated glare meeting the recruit head-on. “What is it, recruit?”

The recruit stepped back, the young marine easing away. “Sir… the air…”

Kai stared forward, barely even seeing anything outside of what was right in front of him as water inched up his body, against any law of gravity. Papers on the desk curled, suddenly damp and limp as the table itself suddenly began to sweat out of nowhere. 

Just water. It’s just water. His eye twitched again, fingers jerking in place as his palm dripped onto the floor. No. Chill. Be ch-

“He… he did it!”

The voice came from the door.

The water in the air instantly lost its charge, new puddles formed from mist wetting the floor, as every conscious in the room looked over.

“He did it!”

Kai blinked at the sight of the scruffy bartender from before — the tired old guy with the rag and the squint — standing in the doorway. More than standing, he was clinging; thin arms gripping the door frame as if to keep from falling over as his breath came in heavy rattles. 

Did… did he run here?

“Did what?” The lieutenant stepped forward, the man frowning down at the wet tile under his feet for a second.

“He did it, officer!” The bartender’s finger jabbed over at Kai. “Saw it myself. Back of Yaba’s store is wrecked. He took the Grime Brothers down all by himself!”

The lieutenant slowly trailed over, the officer looking from the bartender to Kai as he swallowed a mouthful of something that wasn’t his coffee. “You saw… this child… defeat the Grime Brothers?”

“Kid’s one of those, the monsters of the sea.” The bartender nodded, the word monster leaving his lips the same way a regular person would say ‘hurricane.’ “Yaba said he blew the bigger one through the floorboards, water blasting out of him like a storm or something. He’s got one of them Devil Fruits.”

Devil Fruits.

The magic words. 

Kai didn’t know what else they could be, the way the whole room seemed to shift on a dime as everyone looked his way again with wide eyes. 

“I… I see.” The lieutenant’s voice was tight, clipped almost as he set the mug down on the desk very very carefully. “A… Devil Fruit.” His gaze stayed on Kai, lips curled back in something that wasn’t a smile as something uncertain crept into his eyes. “Recruit Mori… process the claim and give the… young man his immediate payout.”

“…s-sir?”

“Just get them… get him out of here.”

“Y-yes, sir.” Keys jingled as the recruit scrambled for something on a hook, eyes still on Kai by the time he finally grabbed them.

“One point five each.” Kai clicked his tongue. “Don’t short me.”

The recruit opened a drawer somewhere in that giant wooden desk and one by one by one, he counted out the bills into a small pouch; each one crisp and colorful as the stack got higher and higher inside it. “It’s all here.”

He shoved the pouch across the counter along with a piece of paper and a pen; both without making eye contact. “Sign here.” 

As Kai stepped forward to take the pen, the recruit pulled back and away as if touching Kai’s hand would burn him. “J-just… keep your distance.”

Kai took the pen, rolling his eyes as he signed his name as best he could on the sheet. Kai Douglas Wade.

He grabbed the pouch full of cash and looked back at the twitchy recruit. “We done?” 

“Just go.” The lieutenant answered for the recruit, the man answering from the safety of his office door. “Just don’t make any trouble.”

Trouble.

Kai shoved the money into his pocket, the pouch already bulging against his leg. “Pleasure doing business.”

The bartender stepped aside without a word, Kai not even looking at him as he pushed out into the sunlight. The door swung shut behind him, sealing in the stale air inside as he stood on the sidewalk.

Port Town’s noise washed over him; the scream of gulls, the shouting sailors, and the ocean lapping against the pilings.

With a sigh, he patted his pocket. Three million Beri.

He was rich. He was successful. 

He… he… He sniffed himself. “…ewwww.”

He needed a shower.