Lightning flashed brilliant blue behind clouds thick enough to bury the stars. Thunder cracked over the crash of waves and the roar of wind.
The elements themselves seemed to be screaming in protest to the storm overhead as it pushed the world into a maddened state. The large ship tore through the massive waves as they crashed into its hull with enough force to shatter stone. Somehow, it felt fitting.
It was a large and imposing vessel. Even in this storm, it felt like it could smash right through any obstacle in its path. White sails hung tight as they struggled against the wind, holding on to the mast despite the gale's best efforts to tear them away.
White, except for the sail at the very front. Black, with a single word emblazoned across it in large letters.
ROCKS.
The figurehead was a corpse tearing forth. Whether it was modelled after one of those unlucky enough to cross paths with them, only those on board could know.
As the winds soared with a horrible, pining wail, the crew on board seemed wholly unaffected. Grim, set faces mixed with jolly and unbothered ones alike.
"We're almost to the island, Cap'n!" a loud, slurred shout broke through the noise, its tone far too merry for what they were facing. A tall, wiry man with long, light pink hair stood at the wheel, his hair flapping madly in the wind.
His cheeks were ruddy from how much he'd already drunk, yet he had another bottle clutched in one hand as the other wrestled with the wheel to keep the ship moving in the right direction.
Wind whipped about as silence reigned between the crew again. A moment later came a gruff, gravelly voice. His voice was barely a murmur, yet it carried like a shout in an empty church.
"Good... Ready yourselves. Attack as soon as we land."
With that, a figure emerged from inside. Dwarfing the other man from before, his sun-kissed skin blended in with the pitch black of the night. The occasional flash of blue from lightning striking overhead lit him up for barely a second.
Maddened eyes stared straight ahead with a murderous glint. A wide, toothy grin stretched tightly across his face. His unruly mess of dark locks tousled in the wind as his very presence left everyone uncomfortably stifled.
Even his own crew felt suppressed under his gaze as he joined them, the feeling of a knife being pressed to their throats every time he drew near.
The others all continued to stare ahead, refusing to look at him as if it would trigger some kind of curse. Instead, they looked at the solitary island holding on through the strong storm battling to wipe out all around it.
It was nothing special as far as islands went, but that was by design. No pirate or merchant, or anyone for that matter, would give it a second glance. That was if they even ever came this way in the first place.
Stuck in a never-ending storm that could tear the average ship to shreds in seconds, no one would be willing to traverse all that to get to an island with nothing worth taking.
Beneath the island's bare rock, behind walls lined with sea stone and steel, Doctor Roff's team worked in silence under the authority of Saint Jaygarcia Saturn.
Tonight, it would become his deathbed, if the Rocks Pirates had their way.
---
While the Rocks Pirates' ship pushed through the destructive storm outside, inside the facility things were different.
Gone was any sound of the storm or sea. Instead, silence pervaded every corner; a pin dropping would sound like the crashing of a thousand waves.
White and sterile, the lab was clinical. The soft padding of footsteps on ceramic floor tiles broke the silence occasionally as people in white lab coats, with impassive faces, stalked around with a robotic gait.
Within this lab, for all its size and secrecy, only one experiment was being held.
Atlas awoke with a start. The lights flashed on a moment later, at the exact same time as they had every day for the last ten years.
He could barely remember the life he had lived before he was brought here. It was simple and... nice.
The sight of a river of blood and bodies splayed about, lifeless and dismembered, flashed across his mind before he had time to stop it.
All because of him. They died because he ate some fucking fruit. He would have laughed, but after all he'd been put through, he wondered whether it was better they died than went through this too.
"Subject 00, please make your way to training hall 01," the disembodied voice crackled through his empty room.
Standing up and donning white clothes embossed with 00 on them, in case his identity wasn't already known by the handful of people on this entire island, he headed over to the door.
With a soft click, the door slid open. There was no handle or lock. At least, not on the inside.
He slipped into the corridor, making his way down to the hall. The facility wasn't all that big. With him being the only experiment there, there didn't seem much of a point in making it any bigger.
Coming up to the hall, the door opened with the same click and smooth whoosh as his own had.
Inside, he was greeted by a stone-faced man in one of their signature lab coats. These people never seemed to change what they wore. Ever.
Atlas raised his hands without a word. The scientist nodded perfunctorily before moving forward with a device.
Waving it silently over Atlas' wrists, the scientist released the sea stone bracelets. They fell off with a thud as they hit the ground.
A sigh escaped his lips as the suppression effect lessened. Even still, he knew the walls were lined with a thin layer of sea stone to stop him from being able to go all out.
It was funny to him. They wanted to test his limits, yet knew they couldn't allow him to have full control.
Even now, ten years in, they didn't trust their own brainwashing procedures to have fully taken hold of his mind. The thought that they still tried that on him almost made him smirk.
Even a kid like he had been could work out what they were doing. Did they really think that would work? Especially after he had seen them slaughter his entire village just to get their hands on him.
He couldn't tell if they were just that confident in their own abilities or incredibly stupid, but either way, he could only remain thankful that they were.
The punishments had slowly lessened as he played along, though. Now they seemed like just a bad memory, one that left a burning pit in his stomach that he swore he would fill.
"00... Subject 00!"
A stern voice broke him out of his dark thoughts. Looking up, he saw the scientist now looking at him safely from behind the glass window of the control room.
"Good, you're responsive again," the voice said dully. "We will begin with test No. 134. You will keep going for as long as you can."
With that, the crackle of the speaker ended abruptly.
As soon as it did, a loud groaning echoed through the hall. Atlas shuddered as he prepared for what was to come.
He hated this test in particular. If he didn't know any better, he'd think it was just a way for the scientists to let their sadistic side have some fun.
The groaning ended as the top of the walls slid open, revealing grates behind them. Soon, a new sound came through: the sound of gushing water.
It flooded the room, flowing down from above in an endless waterfall as it slowly filled the space.
Atlas stood in the centre as his feet were slowly submerged beneath the salty water. His strength left his body rapidly as the water wrapped around his ankles.
Quickly, he used his fruit. His body changed. Grabbing desperately onto the image of himself as a Fishman, he pushed his self-belief into reality, distorting the image of his future self to become that of a tall, robust Fishman.
The scientists watched without a single change in their expressions. Atlas' body started to change, growing slightly larger as his skin became blue and scaly. His teeth sharpened into points as gills formed on his neck and webbing grew between his fingers and toes.
Finally, the transformation was complete. Instead of the tall, young human man, there now stood a giant Fishman. His long limbs were packed with muscle as scaly blue skin shimmered in the fluorescent lighting.
His eyes snapped open, full of scorn and hatred as he looked straight at the scientists. Yet still, they seemed completely unaffected. The sound of pens scribbling down notes and soft murmurs being shared between each other filled the control room as they fiddled with the data outlining the details from within the hall.
Soon, the entire hall was filled. Seawater from the ocean left salty residue on the walls as it sloshed around. Atlas remained unmoving in the centre.
He couldn't move. That was the simple truth of it. This wasn't the first time they had done this test. Each time, they made him stay under for longer and longer until finally they emptied the room.
Every passing second, strength sapped from his body as he felt himself deflate in power. Energy seeped out of him like he was a sieve.
As he lost more and more, it became harder to keep his transformation up, but still he gritted his teeth harder and refused to give in.
He would make it through this test and any other that they put him through. One day, he would get out of this hellhole, and when he did, it would be his turn to make them suffer.
Until then, he had to endure. The pressure from thousands of litres of water bore down upon him as his every muscle burned, but still he refused to fall. He would remain standing, if only to deny them the sight of him struggling any more than he already was.
Each second felt like an eternity as his body screamed at him to just give in already, but he refused its call, instead doubling his efforts every time.
Then he took a step forward. The weight of the water tried desperately to squash him as his strength rushed out of his body in a steady flood. Each step felt like it weighed a ton and took all he had left to take it.
But he didn't stop. First one, then two, then three. Steadily, he moved, his gait awkward and clearly struggling, but he moved even under so much pressure.
The scientists watched, their faces hiding any sign of worry even as they stopped writing notes and instead stared at him. Each step seemed to cause them more concern.
The room was lined with a thin layer of sea stone, and he was currently submerged under about ten metres of seawater! How was he still moving?
The dangerous glint in his eyes made some of them shift uncomfortably in their coats as they stared in concern.
Halfway to the window, one of the scientists finally spoke up. Gone was the calmness that he always tried to keep.
"Sir... shouldn't... should we do something?" he said, his voice carrying signs of slowly building worry.
He spoke to the only man still sitting comfortably in the centre of the room. It didn't seem like he held even a hint of the others' fear. Although, when you had lived for hundreds of years as one of the strongest entities in this world, it wasn't hard to see why.
Saturn lifted his gaze from the young man in the fish tank to look at the worried scientist with distaste. He hated the weak-willed.
"Do what exactly... Doctor Roff?"
His voice came out languidly as he stared the smaller man down. Dr. Roff shrank in on himself under the intensity of Saturn's eyes. A chill ran down his spine as he struggled to form any words.
"I-I... don't k-know, sir. N-nevermind... It was stupid of me to say."
He finally stuttered out each word as they caught in his throat. He looked away helplessly as he tried to hide within the shadows of the room.
Saturn grunted at the pathetic display. He would remember to have this man removed after today. He held no interest in keeping such weakness in his labs.
Instead, for now, he focused back onto Subject 00. His eyes now held a different light, one of fascination at a successful experiment.
'He will become the perfect weapon for our council yet.'
The thought made him happy as a small smile traced his lips.
Lost in thought, he watched as Atlas took another step, now almost to the glass. Suddenly, the facility shook. The lights switched off, leaving them fumbling in the dark before the emergency power kicked in.
Loud, blaring alarms rang out as red flashed through the rooms, signalling an alert.
The scientists broke into action. Rushing around to understand what was going on, they tried desperately to fix the power problems.
The door to the control room burst open as one of the few guards on the island ran in.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"