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 storm overhead pushed the world into a maddened state. A giant ship tore through the waves crashing into its hull with enough force to shatter stone.
Large and imposing vessel. Even through this storm it smashed right through any obstacle in its path. Sails spread tight as they struggled against the wind.
All a dull white, except for the one at the very front. It was 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 their past victims, only one man onboard knew.
The crew though, seemed wholly unaffected. Grim, jolly and unbothered faces spread among them.
"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 stood at the wheel. His light pink hair flapping madly behind him.
His cheeks ruddy from weather and drink, even while he had another bottle clutched in one hand. The other wrestled with the wheel keeping the ship on course.
Wind whipped between the crew again. A moment later came a gruff, gravelly voice. It was barely a murmur. Yet it carried like a shout in an empty church.
"Good... Ready yourselves. Attack as soon as we land."
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 blue flash striking overhead lit him 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. A feeling of a knife being pressed to the throat 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 watched the solitary island. Holding on through the 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 would give it a second glance. That was, if they 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. Only to end at an island with nothing worth taking.
Tonight though, it would become a graveyard, if the Rocks Pirates had their way.
---
While the ship pushed through the storm outside, inside the facility things were different.
Gone was any sound. 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. 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'd lived before he was brought here. It was... simple and... nice.
The sight of a river of blood and bodies splayed about. Lifeless. Broken. Flashed across his mind before he had time to stop it.
All because of him. All 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 had died than this.
"Subject 00, 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 didn't seem much point in making it any bigger.
Coming up to the hall, the door opened with the same click and smooth whoosh of air.
Inside, he was greeted by a stone-faced man in one of their signature lab coats. These people never seemed to change.
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. 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.
They wanted to test his limits, but knew they couldn't allow him to have full control. Not yet, not until their brainwashing was finished.
'Did they really think that would work?'
That same river of blood, his hands slick red. His eyes slammed shut as he forced it back down.
He couldn't tell if they were just that confident in their own abilities or incredibly stupid. Either way, he could only remain thankful that they were.
The punishments had slowly lessened when he played along. 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. 234. 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 out.
The groaning ended as the top of the walls slid open, revealing grates behind. Soon, a new sound came through: the sound of gushing water.
It flooded the room, flowing down from above in an endless waterfall until it slowly filled the space.
Atlas stood in the centre, his feet slowly submerged beneath the salty water. His strength left his body rapidly. The water wrapping 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 robust Fishman.
The scientists watched without a single change in their expressions. Atlas' body started to shift, growing slightly larger. His skin became blue and scaly. His teeth sharpened into points. Gills formed on his neck and webbing grew between his fingers and toes.
Finally, the transformation was complete. Instead of the tall, young human, there now stood a huge 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. He looked straight at the scientists. They seemed completely unaffected. The sound of pens scribbling down notes and soft murmurs being shared between each other filled the control room. All while 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. Atlas remained unmoving in the centre.
He couldn't move. That was the simple truth. 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. He felt himself deflate in power. Energy seeping out of him like he were a sieve.
Still, he gritted his teeth harder. He would make it through this and any other 'tests' they had left.
He had to endure. The pressure from thousands of litres of water bore down, but he refused to fall. He would remain standing. If only to deny them the sight of him struggling any more than he already was.
Then, he did what none of the emotionless spectators could ever expect. 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 make 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 hid any sign of worry, even as they stopped writing notes. Instead they 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 20 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 calm that he always tried to keep.
"Sir... shouldn't... should we do something?" he said, his voice carrying signs of his 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 was hard to feel fear.
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. Eyes pinning the smaller man down. Dr. Roff shrank in on himself under the intensity of Saturn's scrutiny. A chill ran down his spine. 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, 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. A small smile traced his lips. Years of refining the boy would pay off soon.
Lost in thought, he watched while 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. 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, one of the few guards on the island ran in.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"