Chapter Text
‘Added five points’‘Added five points’‘Added five points’‘Added five points’
“There.” Anne grinned, looming over Kohaku, the man’s side bleeding, a chunk of his flesh ripped out as if cleaved with a knife... Was indeed torn by the speed of Anne’s knuckles. “Now, piece of crap, will ya fight me like a man? Or shitting your pants too much for that?”
Kohaku clicked with his mouth, coping with the fact that he was dead. One of his soldiers was alive, he got sent flying way before... Was it even worth sending that poor fellow to the slaughter? He might as well take the brunt of it, giving him an opening to leave... Don’t look at him, don’t tattle on the survivor.
“Buying time?” Anne sent shivers down Kohaku’s spine, as she slammed her fist against his sword, the man striking her fist, reinforcing his sword as much as he could so it would survive the blow. Kohaku’s teeth clenched, but before he could even counter, Anne rushed past him, making a turn and looping around, stomping on the ground as she repositioned, and Kohaku realized something.
She couldn’t take any steps that weren’t strictly forward. And much like a real shark, Anne couldn’t breathe through her gills if she didn’t move. This meant that, in spite of the enormous power of the transformation, she wasn’t entirely unbeatable or unpredictable... Kohaku got an idea.
He was already familiar with his technique’s usage. For one, he made the ground below him into amber so he could read Anne’s moves, a now moot idea since the crystals shattered with the weight of her boots, but perhaps one advantage he had over other crystal based techniques... It was resin.
Amber was just solidified resin, a viscous fluid, which was staggeringly good at entrapping others. Kohaku had a plan. He could win, he’d make good on all those soldiers who died taking this monster down. He was their leader, it was his responsibility, so he wouldn’t stagger, he wouldn’t hesitate.
Kohaku leapt out of the way as Anne stampeded toward him, slashing toward her once again, sword coated in thick resin, and while he failed to truly slice her flesh, his saber bouncing off of the hide, nevertheless, that minuscule gash, now had resin within it, hardening, and forcing her flesh open.
The amber beneath the two liquefied, Kohaku turning around as Anne rushed to his position, her feet sending shockwaves within the arena as she lunged, fist aimed at his smaller frame as the man focused everything he had, make a type of crystal beyond any he ever did-
The remaining soldier tackled Anne, piercing her flesh with the tip of his spear as she stumbled just slightly enough that her punch failed to breach Kohaku’s new blue shield.
Cerulean Amber
“I WAS OFFERING YOU A WAY OUT!” Kohaku shouted, the soldier pressing Anne further, before collapsing to the ground to dodge her swing, her powerful arm sliding through the air, with enough force to decapitate him with even a graze, sending the soldier’s helmet careening away
“‘I’M NOT FAST ENOUGH TO RUN AWAY!” The soldier argued, leaping back as he repositioned, of course, he wasn’t quick enough to outspeed Anne, and she wouldn’t let up.
“-AND NO RETREAT!” Shino, with a disfigured face, his spine crooked and one of his arms missing, rushed Anne from her other side, slashing the woman’s side as the resin on the floor built up around her feet, solidifying into amber as the two men avoided her strikes.
“YOU RAT FUCKS-!” Anne spat, her joints were being pressed, she couldn’t even tense the muscles in her legs, let alone move them. The amber was-
Encased Arthropods
Kohaku leapt back, spawning large, pig-sized mosquitoes, covered in orange crystals, along with a large blue oval as their abdomen. The soldier and Shino leapt back, as Anne swung her arms, downing two of the Shikigami, while three managed to pierce her flesh, injecting resin inside the woman’s body.
That tar hardened, blood didn’t even gush from the wounds as crystals solidified from underneath her skin, Anne’s tendons were utterly clogged, her body couldn’t move as the mosquitoes shattered, having emptied their tanks.
Debilitating agony crossed through Anne’s body as she felt her body harden and nevertheless be pierced and crushed, stopping dead in its tracks as searing pain rushed her nerves, whichever were left.
“NOW OR NEVER!” Kohaku shouted, Shino, the soldier and Kohaku rushed the woman, each with their weapons primed, but managing to twist her fingers, Anne spawned sharks from her body, not to attack the men, but rather... To tear off her own arms.
Goblin Shark
Ensnaring her limbs, still tense with the crystals, the sharks rushed into the air, above the three men, as the armless Anne grinned, the tense hands, forming strange signs with her fingers, were brought together, and surprising the three men, the corsair grinned, chanting the opening of her final gambit.
Domain Expansion: Calico Ranger
Wooden floorboards overtook the ground, the rocking of a ship overwhelming the three fighters, the familiar ship of Anne’s time, where she truly found her calling. With her arms brought back to their sockets by the sharks, she regenerated the torn tissue, re-attaching them both, as her grin grew wider, her muscles clenching and shattering the subcutaneous amber.
While Calico Ranger didn’t have a sure-hit, it instead permitted Anne to ignore any restrictions for her technique, such as needing to move in order to breathe, and only being able to move forward. Anne cracked her neck, freeing her body with the surge of energy brought by the domain.
Falling Blossom Emotion
All three of the fighters positioned themselves to defend from any incoming attacks, but Anne was... Painfully nonchalant.
The boat rocked, the tides slamming against the fighters, and against Shino particularly, a large Shikigami ensnared its maw around his torso, and tried as he might to slice it, the damage he had already endured was too much.
“You cockroach are long overdue.” Anne pointed, as Shino’s torso was clamped entirely, the teeth crushing through his spine, killing the man instantly, his remains falling to the deck. Kohaku and the soldier were too exhausted to move properly, they couldn’t react fast enough... “Now, it’s just the two of you.”
Anne rushed, slamming her fist against Kohaku’s shield, a blue amber formation, that despite being harder, and by extension more expensive than his orange variant, shattered like glass under her fist, cracking his forearm and sending him flying, sharks of assorted kinds rained down on him, but quick slashes with the sword, along with a quick return to running allowed him to escape, the soldier rushed toward the woman, blocking a nonchalant strike from her arm with the spear, sending him careening away, slamming his back against the mast.
“Stop running, will ya!” Anne stomped on the deck, the ship not breaking, but instead, shifting with the weight, and Kohaku, from circling around, found himself sliding down the wet wooden floor, directly into Anne’s fist, the woman striking the side of his arm, and Kohaku spat out blood as his entire bicep was shredded in half, going further into his chest, his ribs shattering and piercing his lungs.
But in turn, with everything in the line, breaking his remaining arm, Kohaku thrust his saber into Anne’s chest, striking her heart with the blade, and shredding her innards further with the amber he thus materialized through the weapon.
The rain ceased, the rocking of the sea disappeared, and from the dark skies of a roaring ocean, the three remaining fighters reappeared in that broken concrete, in the middle of the destroyed area of the city.
Anne staggered, as Kohaku stepped back, vomiting dark blood, one of his arms gone, his chest caved and his remaining limb broken in the forearm. He forcibly created a cast using the amber, clenching his fist as he picked up Shino’s saber, breathing heavily as the soldier, damaged, but not as lethally, used his spear to remain standing.
“Run away, kid.” Kohaku advised, as Anne stuttered, her eyes growing unfocused, her body convulsing as she attempted to breathe, but her lungs also had been thoroughly punctured. “This... This is my fight.”
“I’ve already gotten to the conclusion that I’m either winning this fight, or dying here.” The soldier replied, throwing his helmet off of his head, and positioning his spear forward again. “There are no other options.”
Anne’s head shot back forward, her breath labored, heavy, as she shakily made a step toward the two, fists clenching as she pulled the sword out of her flesh with all the strength she could muster, dragging what appeared to be an impromptu mace of amber that had been created within her flesh, forming a gash much greater than before on her torso.
This was the closest she got to dying in a fight. Even when she fought her leader, a young up-and-comer with a mean left hook who nevertheless put her on the ground with very little... But even then, the boss was forgiving, she gave her a second chance, these two bugs, off of the backs of all those soldiers she put down, were going to finish her off, a gruelingly slow, painful battle.
She couldn’t die here, she wouldn’t allow herself to die here.
With her breath uneven, muscles tensing once again, technique in cooldown, Anne rushed for the two, who themselves were wounded enough that their exhaustion had evened out, and even in this reduced state, Anne was still barrelling toward them with the strength of a raging bull, arm raised to hammer it against Kohaku, who jumped away, allowing the remaining soldier to dash past the woman, piercing her side with his spear.
Kohaku lunged, striking Anne’s leg as she managed to swing her arm toward the man, knocking him away, but failing to perform the same absurd damage as before. The soldier rushed, piercing her forearm with his spear, and dragging it back before she could break the weapon, but it seemed that it had been a miscalculation.
Anne’s muscles clenched around the blade, as her body spun, her fist aimed at his face, with that rotation, she would surely kill him-
Kohaku leaped between the two, bodyblocking for the soldier, and taking the brunt of the attack against his already wounded chest, sending the two men careening away from Anne, sliding against the shattered concrete, as the leader of the squadron’s breath grew weaker, and then stopped without any final words to give, Kohaku died.
‘Added five points’
The soldier desperately rose back to his feet, spear in hand as he coped with Kohaku’s dead body under him. Anne, for all that wounded beast was suffering, was still far above him. And still, with that spear in hand, the soldier positioned himself again. He had to attack. He’d win the fight, or die. This was the compromise he made, that’s the conclusion he came to.
That’s how things were meant to be, as a soldier of the Triumvirate, the stability he sought came at a cost, and without anyone else to aid him, any of these people he briefly considered comrades and potential friends, he stanced himself up again.
What Anne this day saw, was a rarity. A rarity among the entire world, that was, of the talented warrior.
Someone who, born outside of violent circumstances, was yet inordinately capable at the art of combat, who could, with very little, uproot even masters, trained for years. Simo Hayha, Nobutsuna Kamiizumi, Ragnar Raudson, Harry Strauss, Adrian de Wiart and Anne Bonny were all examples of fighters who exceeded conventions of their birth, and found that they truly shone among warfare and battle.
The soldier pointed his spear forward, and in spite of the monster ahead of him, rushed, dashing with his weapon jabbing forward as Anne swung her arm, the soldier sliding underneath her attack, using the blade of the spear to vault over her arm, but failed to land an attack as she dodged, kicking up and striking the handle of his weapon, sending him flying.
The soldier rolled to the ground, jabbing the blunt end of his weapon against the ground, to remain standing. A failed, and yet disgustingly lucky event that she didn’t land a clean blow against him. He had to focus, he had to put everything he had into this fight. There was no running, there was no escape. If he failed, he would die. Who even was he? No one was coming to his aid, no cavalry to help him? He was a random soldier!
Even if he didn’t have his technique to access due to that Binding Vow, he could still become great, he could rise to her level. Anne was a monster, but she was human, and how much would it cost for him to become a monster like her? He didn’t have his ability? Good shit, Master Ashiya was born without one, and he was even greater than her!
Taking a deep breath, sliding the spear against the ground to support his collapsing body, the soldier advanced, rocketing forward with his spear as Anne’s leg suddenly reached the weapon, kicking the weapon into the air and utterly disarming the soldier, with a quick lunge, the woman aimed her fist against his face, only for him to slide to the side, feeling the brunt of his redirection, but nevertheless, surviving, as he vaulted up her arm, used her back as footing, leaping into the air, and aimed the spear downward, before kicking the air, and cascading back into the ground.
Anne stepped back, a large cut made on the side of her eye, as the soldier leapt back, taking a deep breath as he drew his first solo blood, supporting himself in his spear.
“Nice to meet you.” He greeted, taking labored breaths, but looking at the woman dead in the eye.
Culling Game Player: Yoji Shungo
“Huh.” Anne uttered, in disbelief at what she saw. How in the world... Was Yoji still standing?
Only one left, this wasn’t the time to be questioning herself, she was at the cusp! Anne rushed Yoji, sending her fists flying into his range as he was unable to block fast enough, taking a punch to the abdomen, and allowing himself to barrel away, Yoji knew only one technique was able to predict her...
Focus, focus on what he saw, just that once-
Simple Domain
Anne rushed, fist raised, and the moment she swung her arm again, Yoji struck her fingers with the spear’s tip, crushing her bone with the metal, disfiguring the woman’s hand with his well-placed strike, right before reeling back the weapon, dragging the shocked pirate with it, and with a swing of the spear, slashed open her chest, before lunging to the side, and piercing her abdomen again.
The corsair kicked up, sending Yoji out of the ground as he blocked the strike, but failed to account for her longer range, the woman grabbing onto his ankle, and slamming the soldier into the ground, his entire body rattling in pain as his already open wounds gushed even more blood, his body shaking as he couldn’t muster the strength to get up again... But he had to.
Anne stomped where Yoji was lying, the soldier rolling to the side, the spear was out of range, having been dropped too far away for him to reach while lying down. There was barely any sense to this battle left, in truth, Anne and Yoji were well and simply wild animals, battling until mutual destruction and simply nothing was left of either.
Yoji made one final push, lunging for his spear, as Anne swung her body around, and the moment he picked himself back up, raising the weapon again, both trembling horribly, pain coursing through every ounce of their flesh, the sound of incoming footsteps was enough to alert them both.
“Barely anything left in this flesh o’ mine... So step aside, lest you force me to empty the tank.” Hazama uttered, hand on the handle of his sword, his family, all in different, but equally derelict states of damage, interceded. And Anne and Yoji both, discarding their pride for one final step, splintered off, each in opposite directions, clearing the Muta Family’s path.
“Huh...” Kokichi huffed, surprised, him and Yasuhiro holding each other up, while Umi temporarily carried Yoshiko, still unconscious from her battle.
“I too thought these wouldn’t budge that easily...” Hazama commented. “Good omen!”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
Anne stumbled around, she smelled blood, but wasn’t sure of the source. Her wounds were too numerous to heal this instant, and as the adrenaline subsided, the pain, which she already believed to be at an epitome, rushed to a crescendo, finally coming to a seeming limit as every inch of her body was begging for rest.
She came damn close to dying. She had to develop not one, but two techniques entirely impromptu just to not die, and even then, one of the bugs got away. She was pissed, her hand crushed the concrete doorframe she walked through, entering a convenience store with a partially caved roof... The smell of blood came from underneath the rubble... It was oddly fresh.
Heightening her senses, to see if there was perhaps a hidden threat, Anne picked up a heartbeat. Someone was under there. Not as a means of rescue, but instead, to eliminate an opponent, Anne removed the rubble with two swoops of her hands, only to find the collapsed body of a man, already dead, and in his arms, still alive, albeit barely, a child.
A baby.
Didn’t even have the strength to cry. Too small to be able to escape, getting caught up in this game... And now, utterly orphaned. If not for Anne’s mercy, chances were that this child would die.
Anne hesitated, but lowered herself down, and picked the child up, carefully, with her blood soaked arms, built for violence, yet, offering comfort, just this once. A small name was sewn into the bib, ‘Joji’. While Anne, for a reason she wasn’t sure of yet, knew how to speak Japanese fluently... She had a better name, one she was more comfortable with.
Because in these few instants, this baby was no longer a stranger she found by pure luck, destined to die without a chance to ever see a comfortable life...
“George... How about that?” Anne uttered so softly she couldn’t recognize her voice, in English no less. She didn’t know what she could use to feed him, but holding him firmly in one wounded, pained arm, she took to finding something, anything.
There were distress calls by the boss, one of their strongholds got attacked, one of the upper management almost got poisoned and killed, survived, though, and there was an active invasion in the main fortress... Oh, who even gave a shit.
Right now she had bigger concerns than some cooky organization she didn’t even care for.
Call it wish fulfillment, but to Anne...
It was perhaps a new purpose.