A Fun Time, Not A Long Time: Clockwork Island 3.1 (ch. 8) (Patreon)

I breathed in through my mouth as slowly as I could, feeling the wind funneling into me to become air for my lungs. My heart pounded powerfully in my chest in a steady rhythm, I could feel the hardwood underneath me as I sat down on the deck of the Icarus. Blood surged through my veins, the energized blood cells fortifying my body. My lungs felt full, like they were about to pop. There was a sharp pain in them like the skin of my core was going to tear, and right when it became unbearable, I let out all the air I was holding in.

It took me a solid minute of slowly exhaling until they became empty. My heart still pounded in my chest, but the number of energized blood cells was vastly reduced and their power was waning. It was precisely then that I sprung into action, my hands hitting the deck as I began to do rapid-fire pushups.

Sweat dripped off of my body as I struggled to support my weight and the weight of the training tools Momo made for me. We couldn't do too much weight since it took a lot of her, and it would weigh down the Icarus, so I was stuck with a hundred pounds worth of weights slapped around my body.

"You better not be overdoing it, brat," Tae remarked, overseeing my training even if she was just pretending to read the newspaper that had been delivered by a pelican. It only found us when we were at sea, but now that it did, it was delivered to us in the air as well. "If you injure yourself because of your own stupidity, I won't heal you."

My exercise regime was a punishing one and one made by Tae. It got all the major muscle groups, the lesser muscle groups, and had me so sore I wanted to die at the end of the day. But, as she promised, I was seeing results.

The training could be broken up into two categories -- strength training and breathing training. Even when I tried, I couldn't really stop breathing with the pattern of my Flame Breathing. Not without consciously paying attention to how I was breathing. So, the energized cells strengthen my body, which would make my training see less results since I would be using fortified muscle. My solution was to empty my lungs and work out between breaths.

At the same time, I tried to expand my lungs and deepen my breathing. The more air I could take in, the more energized blood cells I'd have. Deepening my breathing was like tensing a muscle, so I could draw out more physical power and heat from those energized blood cells. More than that, it gave me a better understanding on how the flames actually worked so I could use them better.

Taking in a slow breath, more sweat dripped off of me as I continued doing my pushups. "One thousand nine hundred and ninety-six, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight…" It was grueling as I forced myself to pause, taking in a deep breath, my lungs screaming in pain, before I let it out and only when my arms felt like they were made of jelly did I finish my set. "One thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine… two thousand!"

I threw myself over into a position to do crunches -- I had three different types, and each was a set of two thousand.

"I said don't overdo it! That was meant to be something to aspire to, not a challenge!" Tae snapped at me, sounding annoyed. "I said do as much as you could, didn't I?"

"I am… doing… as much as I can. I'll… just collapse… if I can't finish it!" I responded, doing rapid-fire crunches, my voice breathless thanks to my nearly empty lungs. They felt so hollow I thought they might collapse. I had always enjoyed going to the gym, but I had never pushed myself like this before. I never wanted to. Now, I had a really good reason to push myself to the limit and beyond -- I had actual superpowers. I was superhuman.

The stronger my body was, the more my breathing could enhance it. So, I had to push myself and push myself and push myself.

My reassurance didn't look like it had reassured Tae at all. So, I sought to distract her. "Anything interesting happening in the paper?” I asked, and as I did, I saw Kim flying around with Bochi and Kobeni. It had taken a lot of coaxing to get them to try flying again, and one of the stipulations was that I couldn’t be their teacher.

"You made the news. Got an article about you," she showed, displaying the local news section of the paper. By local, it meant East Blue. It showed a picture of me taking down 'Iron Mace' Alvida, one of the major bounties. She was a pretty woman that looked absolutely nothing like her wanted poster.

We found her completely by accident yesterday when we stopped on a lone island for supplies. Apparently, she used it as a base or something. Either way, if it wasn't for the mace and Alvida outright admitting it, I never would have guessed it was here. Either way, we were five million beli richer from the bounty and we had gained another twelve million from the treasure on board. Not bad for a stop on the way to Clockwork Island.

I skimmed over the article that more or less gave a breakdown of what happened. "How'd they get that picture?" I wondered, earning a nod from Tae.

"That's what I was wondering. Either way, we need to be more careful. If there was a photographer on that island, I completely missed him," Tae admitted. And… I completely forgot what number I was on for my crunches. I guess I had better take it from the top. I was in crunch number three when the door to the control room opened up, revealing Nami.

"We need to go to a lower altitude! A storm is coming," Nami informed. I looked around to see that the sky didn't really show- oh, never mind. Before my very eyes, I saw the not-so-distant clouds begin to swirl and darken. The weather in this world was weird. Like, really weird. Sudden flash storm, massive whirlpools, it could be burning hot one day and freezing the next. And, apparently, according to Nami, the Grand Line was rumored to be far more intense and that East Blue was considered the calmest sea.

Kim, Bocchi, and Kobeni drifted towards the ship as it began to sink down towards the ocean. I saw Nami watching the skies before going into the command deck for the ship as the hull hit the ocean. The Icarus hadn't had any difficulty before with the storms, but Nami treated it with deadly seriousness. Inside of the command deck were a bunch of meters, a wheel for the rudders, and levers to control the engine, burner and whatever else Mei had packed into the ship. Momo really was something -- I had to give her that.

"We're in the territory of the Trump Pirates," Nami remarked to me, looking at the dials and meters. She had gushed about them when she first saw them and grilled Momo about how they worked. Since then, Nami had kept a very close eye on them. "They've taken over Clockwork Island for around seven years at this point… but I think you should know something."

I paused my crunches as the ship began to sway with the churning waves and the wind, the front of the storm hitting us not long after the warning. "And that would be?"

Nami bit her lip for a moment, almost pensive on if she wanted to tell me or not. "The Trump Pirates are strong. I've never seen it myself but they have a small fleet of ships -- maybe a dozen or so. But just because Buggy and Bear's bounties are comparable doesn't mean you should put them in the same weight class."

I cocked an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. She grimaced ever so slightly, looking away before looking back at me. "I'm saying that this might be a really bad idea. The Trump Pirates are more illegal arms dealers than actual pirates. Sure, they plunder but comparatively, not anywhere near as much as Buggy did. So, I'm saying that his bounty might not reflect how dangerous he actually is. I've heard that all the Trump siblings have devil fruit powers -- I thought that was just a rumor because devil fruits weren't real, but after Buggy and Alvida…" Nami trailed off, almost as if she were kicking herself for saying anything at all.

I see. She was worried enough that she was willing to avoid a major payout. In response to her words, I brushed a thumb over my bracelet and opened up my inventory. Grabbing a black band, I took it out and tossed it to Nami. "Leave the fighting to us, Nami. You just focus on getting the treasure," I told her, my tone confident. Nami seemed pensive as she looked at the back band before nodding, putting it on her pinky finger.

They were the black bands we took from the island. They were inert until they activated with contact, and while we didn’t really know what they were, they were too useful to ignore. An inventory, tracking, long distance communication, and possibly more we had yet to discover.

"I'm just covering my bases. Now you can't complain that I didn't warn you," Nami pointed out, giving me a cheeky grin that told me she was less worried.

"That, I can't," I agreed before I glanced away. Despite the pitter-patter of the rain and the rising and falling of the ship, I saw Mikasa was still working out on it. Like me- or, rather, like her, we were both wearing weight suits that were repurposed 3d Maneuver Gear harnesses since it was designed to perfectly balance the additional weight.

I was strong. Punch stone or a tree and it breaks kind of strong. Mikasa was on a completely different level though. I had caught a glimpse of it back on Skull Island -- we would fell a tree and Mikasa would just throw it over her shoulder like it weighed nothing. But, since we started to work out together, I saw just how far ahead she was.

My harness had a hundred pounds of additional weight strapped around it. All across my arms, chest, back, stomach, thighs, and calves.

Mikasa had five hundred pounds. And the only reason why she didn't have more was that Momo and Nami complained about destabilizing the ship.

Her expression was blank as she did one-arm push-ups, her hair plastered to her face while rain dripped off of her body with each motion. Her sports bra and shorts showed off her lean muscles that flexed and tensed with each movement. Mikasa didn't seem to mind the rain at all, even if it did look like she was quickly soaking to the bone.

I probably should head in and bring her along with me inside. If only to avoid catching a cold.

Instead, I walked on over towards her and resumed my own workout, not minding the rain at all. As I took up my position next to her, I didn't fail to notice the slight grin she wore either.

…

Clockwork Island was a sight and a half. It wasn't a large island as far as I could tell. It was probably the smallest in diameter that I've seen so far. However, what it lacked in size, it more than made up for in height. At the center of the island was a corkscrew spire that went up and up and up and up, all the way into the sky to the point that it pushed past the clouds. At the very top, the spire widened out into a flat top that was roughly the same size as the island it was built upon.

"So fucking cool," I summarized my thoughts, looking up at the island.

"It's amazing!" Momo agreed with visible excitement. "It's all man-made. It never occurred to me that it would be possible to create an entire island out of gears." Momo started, looking out at the island. "I never imagined you could accomplish so much with simple gears."

"Glad you came?" I asked her and I got a small smile in response.

"Of course," Momo admitted. “Just because the circumstances of our arrival were less than ideal doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy what this world has. If nothing less, it can provide plenty of inspiration for how to use my powers once I return home.” That was practical of her, and that’s generally what I learned to expect from Momo.

"Focus on the fleet," Tae exclaimed as the Icarus took evasive maneuvers to avoid getting hit by an actual cannonball. In the distance, I heard the pops of explosions that happened in a loud chorus, the Bear Pirate fleet that patrolled around the island. Despite being pirates, their fleet seemed to be a defensive one and despite us sailing through the air, they still noticed us and were taking shots.

"Does this ship not have any cannons?!" Nami shouted, looking over the railing in fear. Like she said -- the Trump Pirates had about a dozen ships that were all firing at us as we made our approach.

Momo shook her head, "They seemed unnecessary!" She admitted and I imagine getting into a ship battle when you were just blind firing cannonballs went against her morals.

I hopped into the railing, a wide smile on my face. This was a proper battle, wasn't it? How exciting! Kim knew what I was about to do even before I did it. "Don't even think about it, Kaine! We don't have to fight them! We can skip in and out at the top. We'll be done before they can get up to us."

She had a point. "They're a big crew, Kim. Even if we take down the captain and the officers, they're still going to stick around. They're not a snake that'll die if we cut the head off. We'd just be making a dozen different pirate groups." She winced, realizing my point and Momo nodded approvingly.

"If we desire for the seas to be safer, we must apprehend them all!" Momo seconded and I heard Tae sigh. "We must carefully plan our-" she began, but I didn't hear the rest before I threw myself off of the railing with a loud laugh that didn't stop as I plummeted down towards the ocean and enemy fleet. As I fell, I focused my breathing.

Fire was a surprisingly versatile element. When it was wild, it just burned hot and everything it touched. However, when it was focused, it generated thrust.

The bottoms of my feet became like thrusters, rapidly speeding me up as I descended down towards the flagship of the Bear Pirate fleet. In combination with the fairy dust, stabilization was no issue and neither were directional changes. The thrusters just gave me a huge boost in speed, pushing me towards the hundred mile an hour mark if I had to guess. Because of it, the crew below barely had a chance to react before I crashed down into their shop, wood planks crunching underfoot.

"We've been boarded!" One shouted, taking out a flintlock pistol and pointing it at me. He opened fire, and I still couldn't get over how flintlocks had multiple shots. They were more Glocks in function and accuracy than a flintlock, even if they did use black powder and a round ball of lead. There was a single thought that ran through me, the danger making itself known as fire gathered at the back of one of my heels before I launched myself at the private, avoiding the shot and kicking the holy shit out of him. He crashed through the top deck and into the one below, and it was then that the rest of the ship took notice of me.

There were a good fifty pirates on the large ship alone. One that easily dwarfed the Icarus. They looked at me with shocked expressions as I gave them all a toothy smile, "Let's get this party started!" I shouted, going on the offensive. I'm pretty sure that I was the first kind of adrenaline junky, but I found a special love for fighting. It was fun.

I lashed out with my feet and fists, throwing myself into the thick of the pirates to stop them from shooting at me while I dismantled them one by one. And, when they grouped up more than I liked… "Flame Breathing: Fire Fist!" I shouted, unleashing my new and improved version -- a thruster at my elbow while flames washed over my fist and forearm. I punched one pirate in the face, sending him flying into a group of a dozen before the fire was launched with my fist and washed them all in fire.

Naturally, the ship began to burn, and even more than my presence, that sent them into a tizzy. Pirates broke off from the fight to grab buckets to get water to put out the flames that licked at the floor and railing. It was during that lull that a voice made itself known.

"A riddle for you, you who were so foolish to attack us!" I heard from above, warning me. I threw myself back with a leap and a back handspring, looking at who landed just in time to see them crash into the top deck. A large fat man -- and I meant that in both ways. The guy was seven feet tall and built like a soccer ball. Emerging from his back were thick black spikes, kinda giving him a porcupine look.

I knew him. Boo 'Prickly' Jack. A bounty of three million and two hundred berries.

"Who is the pirate king?" Boo Jack asked me, his gaze meeting mine and I saw we wore matching smiles.

"That's a question, not a riddle!" I told him, launching myself forward just as he curled up into a ball and began to roll. His spikes tore up the ship, but they gave him incredible traction that he used to quickly throw himself at me. Looking at him, I quickly absorbed all thought of actually striking him -- it looked like I'd be putting my hand into a blender. Instead, fire washed over my leg as I flipped in the air, "Pinwheel!"

Fire washed over Boo Jack, though he quickly escaped it when he shot out the wall of flames that quickly charred the deck. He came to a stop, sporting some burns, but otherwise okay.

I landed on my hands, kicking out and sending a wave of fire at him -- shaping the flames was harder, but doable. However, fire rapidly lost its intense heat the further it went. Still, Boo Jack dodged it by leaping into the air by a solid dozen feet. He started to curl into a ball, but that's when I got him. Launching myself up like a speeding bullet, I planted a foot into his gut just as he began to curl into a ball, kicking him so hard that I'm pretty sure the bottom of my foot touched his spine. I could hear his lungs expelling all the breath that he had before I twisted sharply, fire gathering at the top of my foot. "Corkscrew!" I declared, kicking him in the side of the head with my other foot.

Boo Jack fell like a meteor and crash-landed about as hard when he hit the top deck of the ship.

"And to answer your question," I decided, lightly landing on my feet. "I have no clue, but it sure as hell isn't this crew," I told him, much to the shock of the crew, who watched the short fight with growing terror.

"How rude of you," I heard a voice as sweet as poison. Looking over my shoulder, I saw… a… naked lady? She was an absolute bombshell -- the definition of an hourglass figure with full perky breasts capped with light pink nipples and wide hips that hinted at a fat ass. A small gap between her thighs revealed a cleft that was underneath a neatly trimmed blonde pubic hair, the same color of the woman's hair. It actually took a second for me to look at her face to see that it was also someone I recognized as she looked at me with an expression of utter contempt.

"To come to a ship uninvited and to insult its crew," Honey Queen, a pirate with the bounty of seven million and eight hundred thousand berries, continued. She didn't seem at all embarrassed or uneasy at her nudity. "A handsome face doesn't make up for bad manners."

"Could… could you put some clothes on?" I interrupted her spiel. I'm sure she had a very lovely face. Unfortunately, I would never see it because of her very lovely titties. They were down right hypnotic when she laughed lightly in response.

"Men fight bare-chested all the time," Honey Queen returned.

"Okay, I'll give you a point there, but we also don't fight with our dicks out," I countered. I wasn't getting shot at or attacked. I couldn't bring myself to look away, but out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the rest of the crew was also completely hypnotized by the sight. That's not good. The ship was going to burn if they didn't do anything.

Honey Queen planted a hand on her hip, "I also have nothing to be ashamed of with this body of mine."

"No, you do not," I found myself in complete agreement. "It's a real unfair advantage you got there if we're going to fight-" I started, and because I couldn't look anywhere but at her breasts, I only realized what happened when it happened. A blur of motion raced by Honey Queen and only when she landed next to me did I see that it was Mikasa. A second later, Honey Queen's head tumbled down from the railing that she stood on and hit the deck.

Mikasa looked at me with a dark look, "You are way too reckless, Kaine," she muttered at me. She flicked her swords as if to clean the blood off of them, and that brought my attention to them. They resemble the swords that had been a part of her 3D maneuver gear, but with a few minor differences -- the handle was a little more compact, there were no triggers or a hose at the bottom, and the crossguard reminded me of the long division symbol. The actual blades were about three feet in length, they lost the segmented sections, while the tip became more of a point.

I also noticed one other thing.

There was no blood on her swords.

"That," I heard Honey Queen remark as her body leaped down from the railing where her head was before it lost its shape, becoming a ball of… honey? I watched in awe as Honey Queen's head regrew itself from the honey that merged into her leg. Mikasa's eyes widened dramatically as she took a stance with her longswords. "Was very rude. You're cute enough, but I won't let someone like you become my brother's wife even if you drop to your knees and beg me."

I had to say, I really don't think Mikasa cared very much. She darted forward, moving with an almost unnatural grace before she plunged her blades into Honey Queen, who simply stood there, letting Mikasa attack her with not an ounce of care. The same could be said for the crew, who quickly rallied upon seeing their queen attacked. I heard a shot ring out, bringing my attention back to the crew while I left Queen Bee to Mikasa.

"It's pointless!" I heard Queen Bee declare as I fought the crew, dismantling them with my superior speed and strength. "I ate the Liquid-Liquid Model: Honey Devil Fruit! You can't injure me," She said, placing a hand on her hip and as if to prove her point, Mikasa's blades continuously flowed through her. I'm not really sure what was going on there, but even when Mikasa was going for kill shots, Queen Bee was completely unharmed.

Devil Fruits are cool. And annoying, I decided, seeing Boo Jack push himself into two legs, even if they wobbled. I kicked a pirate in the head before stomping on one's knee. Leaping up into the air, I dodged out of the way of a swipe from a katana before kicking down on two separate pirates' shoulders, destroying their collarbones. There were more pirates, but they were struggling to keep the fire contained, and I wasn't exactly helping there.

There was a rocking motion when one of the other pirate ships clashed against the flagship, so they could join the fight. I turned my attention to them and Boo Jack, who glared at me.

I smiled, "What's fat, has a crack in it, and is black and blue all over?" I asked him, darting forward while Honey Queen began to attack Mikasa by splashing the liquid in her body at her, leaving huge swaths of honey. Mikasa dodged, flipping through the air and attacking at wild angles -- she wasn't letting her lack of success slow her down.

Based on the look that Boo Jack gave me, I think he suspected the answer. "...What?"

"Your ass when I'm done with you," I told him, making him scowl deeply before he turned himself into a ball and launched himself at me. His body spun in a blur, revealing the deadly spikes that I knew would rip me to shreds if he got a good hit in. So, I made sure that he didn't get a good hit. Leaping up, I flipped over his attack before I formed thrusters at the bottom of my feet to keep pace with him. Boo Jack slammed into the wood railing of the ship, and that was his cue to unfold from a ball.

He couldn't see with his head all tucked up, and I imagine it was further complicated by all the spinning. He could only attack in straight shots, and he had to drop his defense to actually see where he was going.

Boo Jack opened up just in time to see me deliver a powerful upper knee to his nose that snapped his head back. There was a loud crack from the wood railing before Boo Jack was sent over the edge of the ship. I pivoted, ready to start taking on the boarding pirates, only to catch myself while Honey Queen watched on with horror. I'm not sure what had changed exactly, but Honey Queen was smaller and I heard thumping coming from a mug. She rushed to the railing, heedless of Mikasa's decapitating strike that Mikasa then followed up by using a glass jar that she got from… somewhere to scoop her liquid head up.

"He'll drown!" Honey Queen exclaimed, reforming, but she was a literal head shorter than she had been a moment ago. I'm guessing that while she was intangible, she only had so much liquid mass.

I cocked an eyebrow, "What kind of sailor doesn't know how to swim?"

"It's the curse of a Devil Fruit! If you eat one, you lose your ability to swim! Save him! Please!" Honey Queen demanded, grabbing hold of my shirt and glaring at me. My gaze darted to Mikasa, who simply offered a single curt nod before she went to square up on the boarding party. I looked to Honey Queen again, whose desperation increased by the second.

"Alright, fine," I agreed, stepping back before I hopped into the ocean below. It was cold and vast, but when I opened my eyes I could see pretty well. Boo Jack was sinking like a rock below, his hands lashing out but he was completely unable to swim. Swimming down after him, I pulled out a black band and wrapped it around him when I reached him after a long thirty seconds -- I had hoped with the prisoner setting, which would disable his ability, he'd be able to swim. No such luck there.

Grabbing hold of him, and weighed down by my harness, it was a fight to swim back up towards the surface. With my expanded lung capacity, air wasn't really a worry, but I was concerned about taking too long. Honey Queen might react badly if she thought that her brother had drowned. Her ability was one I was having difficulty puzzling out -- she was intangible, but she could be sectioned up into smaller pieces. Her main sense of offense seemed to be sticky honey blasts, but…

Reaching the surface, I heaved and threw Boo Jack into the air where he then crash-landed onto the deck. My trip into the water washed off my fairy dust, so I was stuck with the more mundane way of climbing. When I reached the railing and looked over, I saw that the deck was littered with bodies -- most of them dead.

Mikasa never outright said it, but she had heavily implied that she was a soldier. She was looking down at them, and only noticed me when I threw myself over. I gave her a smile and a reassuring grin, idly noting the blood spatter on her cheek. "Looks like we're both killers," I told her, reassuring her that there was no judgment coming from me. Glass houses, and all that.

Mikasa searched my face for a moment before looking over at an unconscious Boo Jack and a Honey Queen that was half her original height. "What about them?" She asked me, and I strode forward. After taking down two of the ships, the rest of the fleet was going back to the island. They were choosing to hold up on it as if it would protect them. And, as far as I could tell based on how the Icarus lowered to pick us up, that wasn't likely.

Honey Queen looked up at me as I approached, her expression far more guarded than what it was. "It won't matter," she declared, her tone certain. "You won't defeat our eldest brother. He's invincible," she said with so much confidence that it actually gave me a moment of pause.

"Then I'll just throw him in a lake or something," I dismissed, taking out another black band. Honey Queen eyed it, then me, then Mikasa, and lastly Boo Jack. Her lips thinned but I don’t think she was going to continue the fight. She was banking on her brother to beat us for her.

"For now, though -- tell me everything about your Captain," I instructed… and the more I heard…

The more I wanted to kill him.