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The damp walls of the cellar seemed to pulse with the rhythmic dripping of water, a sound that usually marked the slow passage of hours. But today, the air felt different. It was charged with the quiet intensity of two predators waiting for the perfect moment.
Two weeks of meager rations had left their stomachs growling, but their spirits were far from broken. "The moment he sets the plate down," Yamato whispered, her voice barely a ghost of a sound. "His guard will be at its lowest. That's our window."
Goku nodded, his dark eyes fixed on the iron door. "I'm ready. I can feel it... even with barely any food, my body feels like it's screaming to move."
Finally, the heavy clank of the bolt echoed through the hallway. A Beast Pirate guard, a hulking man with a jagged scar across his nose, kicked the door open. He looked down at the two children with a sneer of pity and disgust. To him, they looked pathetic—hollow-cheeked and exhausted. The boy with the tail was slumped in the corner, his head hanging low, looking like he didn't even have the strength to swat a fly.
"Eat up, you runts," the guard grumbled, stepping inside. "It's more than you deserve."
He bent down, placing a single, dented plate of cold rice on the stone floor. He took one last look at them, satisfied by their silence, and turned to walk out.
He didn't see Goku's eyes snap open.
He didn't see the boy's tail coil like a spring.
Tap. Tap.
The guard heard the faint sound of small footsteps on the stone. He started to turn his head, a confused "Huh?" beginning to form on his lips, but he was too slow. Goku launched himself off the floor with explosive power, his small fist connecting square with the guard's temple.
THUD.
The pirate's eyes rolled back as he hit the floor like a sack of stones, completely unconscious before he even knew he was under attack.
"Yes!" Yamato hissed, scrambling toward Goku. "Quick, the chains!"
Goku didn't waste a second. He walked over to where Yamato was tethered to the wall. He didn't look for a key; instead, he drew back his fist and focused every ounce of the strength he had been building through his secret training. He punched the heavy iron chains that connected her shackles to the stone.
CLANG!
The iron links shattered under the force of the blow, falling to the ground in broken pieces. The cuffs themselves remained on Yamato's wrists—the "explosive" part of it—but she was no longer anchored to the wall. She was mobile. She was free to run.
Goku stood up, flexing his arms as a vibrant, humming energy surged through his muscles. "You were right, Yamato," he said with a toothy grin. "After those days of just sitting here, I feel even stronger. It's like my body was just waiting for a reason to fight."
Yamato stood beside him, rubbing her bruised wrists, her eyes burning with a newfound light. For the first time in forever, the path in front of her wasn't blocked by a wall.
"Alright," Yamato whispered, glancing at the open doorway. "Let's go. The kitchens are five levels up. We move fast, we move quiet."
Goku nodded, his tail twitching with excitement as they stepped over the fallen guard and slipped into the dark, winding corridors of Onigashima
The two of them moved through the fortress like shadows, a pair of ghosts in the belly of the beast. Yamato led the way, her knowledge of the winding, jagged corridors proving invaluable. Every time the heavy thud of pirate boots or the drunken laughter of a group of beast pirates echoed down the hall, she would pull Goku into a dark alcove or behind a decorative suit of samurai armor.
Goku followed her lead, his senses dialled to their limit. His Saiyan instincts were screaming, attuned to every vibration in the floor and every shift in the air. He was a natural at the hunt, even when he was the one being hunted.
They dodged a patrol of pirates, who were pressing their backs against the cold stone as the pirates passed just inches away, boasting about their latest raids in the grand line. Once the coast was clear, Yamato beckoned him forward, darting across a wide bridge that overlooked the flickering torchlight of the lower levels.
Finally, they reached a cramped, dusty corner of the fortress where the air smelled of old wood and cedar. Tucked behind a heavy tapestry was a narrow, rusted ladder leading upward into the darkness of the ceiling.
"Here," Yamato whispered, her eyes bright with a memory of lonely days spent running from her father's shadow. "This leads to the space between the floorboards of the upper palace. I used to hide here all the time when I was little. They never found me there—it's the only place in Onigashima that feels safe."
Goku looked at the small opening above, then back at Yamato. He gave her a firm, encouraging nod.
One by one, they scrambled up the rungs, the wood groaning slightly under their weight. As they pulled themselves into the narrow, dark crawlspace above, the sounds of the fortress became muffled, reduced to a distant, rhythmic hum. They were inside the walls now, hidden in the very bones of the island.
The crawlspace was cramped and layered with dust after a while, a scent drifted through the cracks in the wood acted like a magnetic pull on Goku. His stomach let out a roar that sounded like a miniature Oozaru, his pupils dilating as the aroma of slow-cooked meats and sweet broth filled his senses.
"Food..." Goku drooled, his tail twitching uncontrollably. He began to scramble forward on all fours, his speed increasing with every inch.
"Goku, wait! Slow down!" Yamato hissed, reaching out to grab his ankle, but the boy was like a streak of lightning.
He reached the edge of the kitchen ceiling just as the heavy double doors below swung open with a bang. Yamato lunged forward, her hand snatching Goku's tail and yanking him back just as he was about to go down . Goku let out a muffled "Gah!" as he was pulled into the shadows.
Below them, the floorboards creaked under immense weight. Queen waddled out into the hall, cradling a massive, steaming pot of Oshiruko. He dipped a giant spoon into the sweet bean soup, his eyes rolling back in his head.
"Ohhh yeaaah! That's the spot!" Queen moaned, a drop of soup splashing onto his mechanical chin. "I love Oshiruko! It's the fuel for my funky soul!"
"You damn fat-ass," a cold, sharp voice echoed behind him. King stepped into view, his black wings folded tightly, the fire on his back casting flickering shadows against the ceiling where the children hid. "You wasted our time coming here. We were supposed to be in the war room with Kaido ten minutes ago, but you had to take a detour for your stomach."
"Me? A fat-ass?" Queen turned, pointing a finger at King. "I may look chubby, but it's all muscle, baby! If I got any thinner, I'd be too popular! The world couldn't handle this much funk!"
King rolled his eyes behind his mask. "Whatever you say, fat-ass. Move it."
Goku, unable to help himself, leaned forward to look through a tiny crack in the wood. His movement was slight, but the tiny skritch of his knee against the beam sounded like a gunshot in the silent hallway.
King's head snapped upward. His eyes narrowed, locking onto the very patch of ceiling where Goku's face had been a second before. Goku pulled back just in time, his heart hammering against his ribs.
The silence in the crawlspace became absolute, a suffocating vacuum where even the falling of a single speck of dust felt loud.
Through a narrower crack in the floorboards, Goku saw a single, red eye—cold, sharp, and predatory—pierce the darkness of their hiding spot. King didn't just look up; he stared into the void with the precision of a hawk.
The temperature in the small space seemed to plummet. The flame on King's back flickered, casting rhythmic, hellish shadows against the wood just inches from Goku's nose. The scent of burning ozone drifted up, a sign that the Lunarian's power was coiled and ready to ignite.
"Did you hear that?" King's voice wasn't just serious; it was a low, vibrating growl that vibrated the very beams they were lying on. "There is a presence up there. Not a rat. Not a draft. Something... living."
"Come on, not this again," Queen grumbled, though his chewing slowed as he sensed the sudden shift in the air.
"Shut up," King commanded, his hand ghosting over the hilt of his blade. The sound of the sword's guard clicking against the scabbard rang out like a death knell. He slowly unsheathed an inch of the cold steel, the metal singing a high-pitched, murderous note as it caught the torchlight.
"Anyone up there... get down now," King whispered, his voice dripping with a terrifying, calm promise of violence. "Before I stab your ass through the floor and let the fire finish whatever is left of you."
Yamato felt the blood drain from her face. She clamped her hand over Goku's mouth so hard her knuckles turned white, her other arm pinning his tail to the wood to keep it from twitching. She could feel the killing intent—the power—oozing from King like a physical weight, pressing against the floorboards, searching for a heartbeat.
King leaned in closer, the tip of his blade hovering directly beneath the crack. The children could see the black leather of his mask, the stitching visible in the flickering light. He was so close they could hear the slow, rhythmic hiss of his breathing. For five agonizing seconds, King stayed perfectly still, a statue of death waiting for a single flinch.
Just as the flame on King's back roared higher, ready to explode through the wood, Queen's massive hand slammed down on King's shoulder, the force of the punch rattling the floorboards.
"C'mon, you crazy ass! It's just rats!" Queen shouted, the sudden noise shattering the tension like glass. He began walking away, his heavy footsteps thumping rhythmically. "The place is old! You're getting jumpy because the boss is in a bad mood. Hurry up and let's go before he comes looking for us!"
King's gaze lingered on the crack for one more heartbeat, his eyes narrowed to slits. Finally, with a sharp clack, he slammed his sword back into its sheath.
"If you ever hit me again," King growled, his voice fading as he finally turned to follow, "I'll make sure you have two metal arms to match that fat head of yours."
"Sure, sure, sure, sure," Queen's voice drifted back, mocking and distant. "Whatever you say, Mr. Grumpy-Flames..."
In the darkness of the crawlspace, Goku and Yamato finally exhaled, their bodies trembling from the sheer terror of being seconds away from a Calamity's blade.
Goku let out a long, shaky breath as Yamato finally let go of his mouth.
"That was too close," Yamato whispered, her forehead covered in sweat. "That was King and Queen... the Calamities. If they had found us, we'd be back in that cell in pieces."
Goku looked toward the kitchen door, his hunger momentarily replaced by a sharp realization of the power he had just sensed. "Those guys... they're strong. Really strong." Then, his stomach growled again. "But they left the kitchen door open!"
The two children dropped from the ceiling, landing with a soft thud on the polished stone of the kitchen floor. For a moment, they simply stood there, stunned by the sheer scale of the room. Massive iron pots bubbled over hearths, and the air was thick with the savory, heavy steam of roasted sea-beast and spiced ribs.
"Meat!" Goku hissed, his eyes widening until they looked like black stars. He didn't wait. He launched himself at a massive pile of grilled haunches, grabbing two bones and tearing into the flesh with a primal, ravenous speed. His jaw moved in a blur, swallowing chunks of meat whole as he rebuilt the energy Kaido had beaten out of him.
"Goku, hurry up!" Yamato whispered frantically, though her own stomach was roaring. "We can't stay long!"
"Come on!" Goku muffled through a mouthful of steak. "It's not always you get so much food! Eat, Yamato!"
Yielding to the hunger, Yamato dove in beside him, grabbing a loaf of bread and a roasted bird. For a few minutes, the only sound in the kitchen was the frantic tearing of meat and the rhythmic gulping of water. Goku felt his blood begin to hum again, the familiar Saiyan heat returning to his limbs.
"Wow," Goku whispered, wiping grease from his chin. "I'm getting my energy back. How about you?"
Yamato flexed her small arms, her eyes brightening. "Yep! This is amazing. I feel like I could run all the way to the coast!"
But as they celebrated their small victory, the atmosphere in the kitchen shifted. The temperature didn't drop, but the air became heavy, suffocatingly still.
Deep in the shadows of the very back of the kitchen, near the oversized washbasins where the light of the torches couldn't reach, something massive began to stir.
A figure—monstrous and silent—slowly rose from a hunched position. It was Jack the Drought. He had been tucked away in the darkness, ordered by King and Queen to clean up a massive mess Queen had made during a previous tantrum. Jack, usually a terrifying engine of war, had been working in a cold, disciplined silence, moving with a terrifying stillness that had kept him completely invisible to the hungry children.
He stood to his full, towering height, his shadows stretching across the floor like the fingers of a giant. His metal jaw-mask glinted dully in the low light. He didn't speak. He didn't roar. He simply stood there, a mountain of silent, murderous muscle, staring at the two small intruders who were eating like it was their last meal.
Goku and Yamato were still laughing quietly, clutching their food, completely unaware that the youngest Calamity was looming over them from the darkness, his eyes cold and unblinking
The shadows at the rear of the kitchen didn't just shift; they curdled, coalescing into a silhouette so massive it seemed to swallow the flickering light of the hearths.
Jack the Drought took a single, deliberate step forward. The sheer weight of his movement caused the heavy iron pots on the stoves to rattle, yet the sound was instantly smothered by a sudden, suffocating vacuum of silence. With a slow, rhythmic shink-shink, he unsheathed his dual, curved shotel blades. He didn't rush. He moved with the terrifying, mechanical patience of a machine built for one purpose: the harvest of lives.
"Ogre Princess," Jack's voice rumbled. It was a sound stripped of humanity, vibrating like tectonic plates grinding deep beneath the sea. "And the monkey-boy monster."
In that heartbeat, the warmth of the kitchen vanished.
A wave of pure, unfiltered killing intent—a thick, sickening pressure of Haki—poured over Goku and Yamato like freezing water. It was physical. It was heavy. Goku's Saiyan instincts, usually so sharp and aggressive, flared in a panicked warning he had never felt before. The meat fell from his hands, hitting the stone floor with a wet, hollow thud. Their bodies locked; muscles seized as if turned to lead. They stood paralyzed, their pupils shrinking into pinpricks, their breath hitching in their throats as the oxygen in the room seemed to vanish.
"Aren't you two supposed to be chained up in the dark?" Jack asked. His metal jaw-mask glinted like the teeth of an open bear trap. "What are you doing in my kitchen?"
Goku and Yamato slowly, agonizingly, turned their heads. From their small, eight-year-old perspective, Jack didn't look like a man. He looked like an ancient, vengeful deity carved from prehistoric rock. His braided hair swayed like heavy serpents over his shoulders, and his eyes—cold, yellowed, and devoid of mercy—stared down at them as if they were nothing more than insects to be crushed.
"Kaido-sama, Queen, and King will be pleased if I bring you back to your cages," Jack stated, his voice flat and dead. "Now... let me take you there."
He took another step. The floorboards beneath the stone groaned. Instinctively, as if their nervous systems were screaming to flee before their brains could process the danger, Goku and Yamato took one step backward. Their heels clicked sharply against the tile.
Jack tilted his head, a predatory bird watching the frantic pulse in a rabbit's neck. He lifted his right blade and let the tip tap against the marble counter—click... click... click...—the sound echoing through the room like a ticking death clock.
"You know..." Jack whispered, his eyes narrowing until they were mere slits of malice. "Bringing you back in pieces wouldn't be that bad, would it? You'd be much easier to carry if you didn't have legs to run on."
For five agonizing seconds, the world stopped turning. The only sound was the distant, rhythmic drip of grease into a fire pit. The tension was a piano wire stretched until it began to hum with the threat of snapping.
Then, the wire broke.
Jack lunged. His massive, hulking frame moved with the horrifying, explosive speed of a landslide. His dual blades were outstretched like the scythes of a reaper, slicing through the thick kitchen steam and whistling with a murderous intent as he barreled toward them.
"RUN!!" Yamato's voice broke the silence in a shriek of pure terror.
Goku and Yamato spun on their heels, letting out a frantic, panicked scream that echoed off the high rafters. They bolted for a exit, their small feet skidding on the greasy floor as the shadow of the Drought rose behind them like a tidal wave of cold steel and inevitable death.
The pursuit through the kitchen was a frantic nightmare of grinding iron and lung-burning speed. Jack didn't just run; he plowed through the kitchen like an unstoppable juggernaut. Every time his curved shotels swung, they whistled through the air, carving deep, jagged gashes into the counters just inches from Goku's lashing tail.
"He's gaining!" Goku yelled, his small feet skidding as they rounded a corner.
Ahead, the kitchen had a decorative window—the only thing between them and the open air of the performance floor. They didn't need to speak; the same desperate instinct flashed between them.
"Jump!" Yamato shrieked.
They put on a final burst of speed, launching themselves through the glass just as Jack reached the wall. His dual shotels swung in a twin arc of silver, slicing through the heavy stone frame and the reinforced wall in a shower of sparks and pulverized rock.
Goku and Yamato tumbled through the air, falling several stories down into the massive, torch-lit expanse of the Performance Floor. They hit the wooden stage in the center with a heavy thud, rolling to their feet amidst the sudden, deafening silence of the room.
The Performance Floor was packed. Hundreds of Beast Pirates—Waiters, Pleasures, and Givers—had been mid-celebration, surrounded by barrels of sake and piles of weapons. Every head turned in eerie unison, staring in stunned confusion at the two bruised, dirt-covered children who had just fallen from the ceiling.
"What the—? Are those the brats from the basement?" a Giver muttered, his hand drifting to the hilt of his blade.
High above, Jack's massive silhouette appeared in the jagged hole of the shattered wall. He leaned over the edge, his voice a guttural roar that shook the very rafters of Onigashima.
"GET THEM! SURROUND THE BRATS! DON'T LET THEM ESCAPE!"
The confusion vanished instantly, replaced by a predatory hunger. In a heartbeat, the pirates drew their notched blades and flintlocks, forming a choking, tightening circle of steel around the center of the floor. The exits were blocked by walls of armored men, and the air grew thick with the smell of cheap ale and impending violence.
Goku and Yamato immediately moved, pressing their shoulders together. Back-to-back, they stood in the center of the ring, a small island of defiance in a sea of monsters. Goku dropped into a low martial arts stance, his tail lashing behind him with aggressive intent, his eyes darting from enemy to enemy. Yamato raised her fists, her eyes burning with a fierce, unyielding light.
Goku took a deep, steadying breath, a small, fearless grin beginning to tug at the corner of his mouth despite the hundreds of blades pointed at his heart.
"You ready, Yamato?" Goku asked, his voice low and steady.
Yamato tightened her stance, her teal hair whipping as she braced for the impact. "Yeah," she whispered.
"LET'S GO!!" Their voices merged into a single battle cry that echoed off the high, curved ceiling of the Performance Floor.
Goku and Yamato exploded into motion simultaneously. Goku was a blur, diving low and sweeping the legs of the first three Waiters who dared to close in. He didn't have a weapon, but he didn't need one; his fists moved with a snap-link speed, striking pressure points and joints with the precision Gohan had taught him.
Beside him, Yamato was a whirlwind of raw, untamed fury. She ducked under a heavy swing from a Giver, reached out, and snatched a iron club right out of his hands. "I'll take this!" she roared, swinging the heavy weapon in a wide horizontal arc. The weight of the club felt natural in her hands, a mirror of her father's style. With a sickening crack, she sent four pirates flying backward into a stack of sake barrels.
But the Beast Pirates were an endless tide. For every ten they knocked down, twenty more surged forward.
"Don't let them breathe! They're just kids!" a Gifted pirate with crab-like claws yelled, lunging at Goku.
Goku leaped into the air, spinning for a kick, but mid-flight, a heavy net made of weighted rope was tossed over him. He crashed to the wooden floor, struggling as five pirates immediately piled on top of him, pinning his arms and legs.
"I got the monkey boy!" one yelled, pressing a boot into Goku's back.
"Goku!" Yamato screamed. She turned to help him, but the crowd surged around her, a wall of weapons and spears. She was hammered from all sides, her club ripped from her hands by the sheer number of bodies pressing in. Within seconds, she was forced to her knees, dozens of hands grabbing her hair, her arms, and her throat, pinning her down beside Goku.
The laughter of the pirates returned, cruel and mocking. Jack watched from above, his eyes cold. "Break their legs," Jack commanded from the hole. "They won't run then."
Goku gritted his teeth, his face pressed against the rough wood, his tail thrashing uselessly. He looked at Yamato, who was trembling with a mix of terror and a white-hot, volcanic rage that had been building since the day she was first put in those chains.
"GET... OFF... OF US!!" Yamato screamed.
It wasn't just a shout. It was a physical shockwave.
Suddenly, a terrifying, invisible pulse erupted from Yamato's body. The air itself seemed to crackle with jagged streaks of black and red lightning. A massive, soundless boom rippled outward, hitting the pirates like a physical wall.
The pirates pinning them didn't just fall; their eyes rolled back into their heads as foam flecked their lips. One by one, then ten by ten, hundreds of soldiers simply collapsed, their spirits shattered in an instant. The weapons they held clattered to the floor in a chaotic chorus of falling steel.
The massive hall went silent, save for the thud of unconscious bodies.
Goku felt the pressure lift. He scrambled to his feet, his jaw hanging open as he looked at the sea of fainted men surrounding them. He looked at Yamato, who was gasping for air, her eyes still glowing with a fading, ethereal light.
"Yamato... what... what was that?" Goku stammered, his hair standing on end from the static in the air. "You just... you blew them away without even touching them!"
Yamato didn't answer at first. She grabbed Goku's hand, her grip tight and desperate. "I don't know!" she shouted, her voice shaking. "My dad calls it Conqueror's Haki! He says only those with the qualities of a king have it, but I can't control it—it just happens when I'm angry!"
She didn't wait for him to process it. She yanked on his arm, pulling him toward a dark service hallway as the few pirates who had survived the blast began to shake off the dizziness.
"Run! Before the big ones get down here!"
They sprinted into the hallway, their footsteps echoing through the narrow Wood passage. Goku kept glancing back at her, his mind reeling. He had seen strong people before, but that invisible force was something else entirely. It felt like the power of the Great Ape, but focused into a single, piercing needle of will.
"Conqueror's Haki..." Goku whispered to himself as they dove deeper into the fortress. "I want to learn how to do that!"
"Focus, Goku!" Yamato yelled, her teal hair flying behind her. "We're not out of Onigashima yet!"
The wood turned into a stone corridor as it opened up into the final gatehouse, the salty tang of the sea air beginning to cut through the heavy scent of incense and gunpowder. Yamato's face lit up with a desperate, hopeful light. "This is it, Goku! Just past this hall and we're at the docks! We'll be free!"
But as they rounded the final corner, the air didn't get fresher—it grew hot, searingly hot.
Standing silhouetted against the moonlight of the open bay were two towering figures. To the left, Queen stood leaning against a massive support pillar, picking his teeth with a mechanical claw, a fresh pot of Oshiruko sitting at his feet. To the right, King stood perfectly still, his black wings unfurled just enough to catch the light, the flame on his back roaring with a violent, orange intensity.
Goku and Yamato skidded to a halt, their heels dragging against the floor.
"Mhm... I knew it," Queen drawled, a smug grin spreading across his face. "I knew you little runts would try to make a break for it. I guess you were right, King. Those sounds you heard from the ceiling weren't just your imagination or 'rats' after all."
King didn't move his head, but his eyes tracked them with a lethal, predatory focus. He let out a cold, dismissive scoff. "Smh... You really thought you could leave? You got further than I expected, but it ends here. You've caused enough trouble for one night."
The pressure in the room was immense—the combined weight of two Lead Performers was enough to make the stone walls feel like they were closing in. Any other eight-year-old would have collapsed in terror, but Goku and Yamato didn't flinch. They had tasted the freedom of the kitchen, they had felt the surge of Yamato's Haki, and they had seen the horizon. They weren't going back to the dark.
"I don't care who you are!" Yamato shouted, her voice echoing with a new, iron-clad authority. She stepped forward, her small fists trembling not with fear, but with adrenaline. "We're so close to leaving this island! After we get past you, we'll find a way to remove these cuffs and we'll sail away from Wano! You hear me? We're never going back in those cells!"
Goku dropped into his signature turtle-style stance, his knees bent and his tail coiled tight. He looked up at the two giants—one a mountain of fire and the other a mountain of steel—and felt his heart racing with a thrill he couldn't explain.
"We're going to the sea!" Goku roared, his spirit flaring.
Without another word, the two of them launched themselves forward. They didn't wait for an opening; they created one. Like twin bolts of lightning, they jumped straight at the two most powerful commanders of the Beast Pirates, their small forms silhouetted against the moon as they bridged the gap between captivity and the unknown
[Couple moments later]
The heavy iron door of the cellar groaned open once more, and two small, battered figures were tossed inside like discarded dolls.
Goku and Yamato slammed into the back stone wall, the impact knocking the remaining breath from their lungs. They slumped onto the damp straw, their clothes torn and their skin covered in dark bruises and burns from the brief, one-sided clash with the Calamities.
King stood in the doorway, his black wings casting a shadow that seemed to chill the very air. He looked down at them, his expression hidden behind his mask, but his voice was like ice.
"You lasted well, brats," King said, his tone devoid of any praise. "Be happy you got that far. That is the most you will ever achieve in this life. Do you hear me? You will never see the docks again." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "Commander Kaido will arrive shortly to deal with your 'rebellion.' Pray he is in a merciful mood."
With a final, echoing SLAM, the door shut, and the heavy iron bolt slid into place with a sound of absolute finality.
The cell returned to its suffocating darkness. Yamato sat with her head bowed, her teal hair matted with dust and blood. A soft sob escaped her throat, and hot tears began to carve tracks through the dirt on her cheeks.
"We were so close," she whispered, her voice cracking. "We almost touched the sea, Goku... but we failed. We're never getting out. My father is too strong. His monsters are too strong. We're just... stuck."
She felt a small, warm hand rest on her shoulder.
Yamato looked up, her vision blurred by tears. She saw Goku sitting next to her. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and a dark bruise bloomed across his jaw, but his spirit hadn't shifted an inch. He looked at her and let out a small, sheepish laugh, his white teeth flashing in the dark.
"Don't worry, Yamato," Goku said, his voice steady and warm. "So what if we got caught? If we did it once, we can do it again. And the next time, we'll be even faster. And the time after that, we'll be even stronger."
He leaned closer, his eyes shining with a light that even the darkness of Onigashima couldn't swallow.
"There are infinite possibilities until you die," Goku said firmly. "And I'm not planning on dying anytime soon. Remember the promise we made? We're a crew now. The Goku Pirates don't give up just because they took one hit."
Yamato stared at him, stunned by the pure, unyielding optimism radiating from the boy with the tail. The weight on her chest seemed to lift just a little. She reached up, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, and gave a shaky but determined nod.
"Right," she whispered, her voice regaining its edge. "You're right, Goku. We'll get stronger. We'll make it out, we'll become pirates, and we'll free Wano. Together."
[Couple hours later]
The silence of the cell was shattered by the rhythmic, mountain-shaking thud of heavy boots. The iron door didn't just open; it was kicked off its hinges, flying across the room and clattering against the stone.
Kaido stepped in, his massive frame forcing him to stoop just to fit into the room. He smelled of sake and lightning. He looked down at the two children, his golden eyes narrowing as he noticed something that would have shocked any ordinary doctor: their wounds—the deep burns from King and the bruises from the pirate horde—were already closing, leaving behind nothing but faint red marks.
"Mhm..." Kaido rumbled, a dark grin tugging at his scarred lips. "Your bodies are as stubborn as your wills. I heard the reports. You two turned the Performance Floor into a playground. Troublesome brats... you made a mess of my men and dared to look my Lead Performers in the eye."
He reached down, grabbing Goku by the back of his vest and Yamato by the collar of her shirt, hoisting them both off the ground like they weighed nothing.
"You need to pay for the trouble you've caused," Kaido growled, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly calm register. "But I'm not going to throw you back in a hole to rot today. I want to see if that fire I saw in the reports is real, or if you're just barking pups."
He dragged them out of the cellar, through the torch-lit corridors, and out onto a high, isolated stone plateau overlooking the churning, violent sea surrounding Onigashima. He tossed them onto the hard rock, where the wind whipped around them.
Kaido reached behind his back and gripped Hassaikai, the black iron studs of the mace glinting under the moon.
"Hurry up and get ready," Kaido commanded, the air beginning to vibrate with his rising Haki. "You're going to fight me. Right here. Right now. I want to see if you're worth the effort of keeping alive. If you don't fight with the intent to kill me, you'll die before the sun rises!"
Goku scrambled to his feet, his tail lashing behind him as he dropped into a fighting stance. Beside him, Yamato stood tall, her eyes reflecting the lightning crackling around her father's mace.
"We aren't just worth the effort, Kaido!" Goku shouted, his hair blowing in the gale. "We're the ones who are gonna take you down!"
The plateau shook under the weight of Kaido's killing intent, but Goku and Yamato didn't hesitate. They moved as if sharing a single mind, two streaks of light darting across the dark stone.
Kaido let out a grunt, swinging Hassaikai in a devastating horizontal arc. The wind pressure alone was enough to send rocks flying. Thinking fast, Goku lunged toward Yamato, shoving her out of the way just as the mace whistled over their heads. Using the momentum of his fall, Goku planted his hands on the ground and sprung upward like a coiled snake.
He vanished for a split second, reappearing in the air right in front of Kaido's face. "HAAA!" Goku roared, pulling back his fist and delivering a precision punch square to Kaido's jaw.
The impact made a dull thud. Kaido's head snapped back an inch—not because it hurt, but because the raw force of the boy's strike was actually enough to move his massive frame. Kaido's eyes widened in surprise. He felt that. "Insect!" Kaido growled, backhanding the air where Goku stood. Goku performed a mid-air backflip, his tail acting as a rudder to keep him balanced as he skidded back.
But as Kaido focused on Goku, Yamato was already there. She surged from his blind spot, her fists clenched as she delivered a flurry of strikes to his ribs. As soon as Kaido turned to grab her, Goku was back, diving between Kaido's legs and striking his calves. They were perfectly in sync, a rhythmic dance of distraction and assault that kept the King of the Beasts turning in circles.
These brats... Kaido thought, his golden eyes flickering with a rare spark of interest. They aren't just strong. They move like they've fought together for decades. Their teamwork is seamless. Maybe they really are worth a damn.
"ENOUGH!" Kaido bellowed.
The fun was over. Kaido shifted his stance, his muscles bulging as a dark, purple aura erupted from his skin. He stopped being a stationary target and went on the offensive. He moved with a speed that left afterimages, his mace moving in a blur of black lightning.
"Kongo Kabura!"
He didn't hit them directly—he didn't have to. He slammed the ground between them, and the resulting shockwave exploded with the force of an erupting volcano.
Goku and Yamato were blasted backward, their bodies skipping across the jagged stone like stones across a pond. They hit the far cliff side with a sickening crash, coughing up blood as the sheer physical pressure of Kaido's true power pinned them against the rock.
Kaido stood in the center of the crater "Is that it?" he challenged, a terrifying grin on his face. "If you can't even handle a gust of wind, how do you expect to survive the New World you so desperately want to go to ?"
Goku and Yamato dragged themselves out of the rubble, their bodies screaming in pain, but their spirits remained unbroken. Yamato spit a mouthful of blood onto the stones, her eyes fixed on her father. "We aren't done yet... we can do this!"
"Right!" Goku shouted, his voice raspier than before.
They rushed back in, a desperate, high-speed blur of teamwork. They traded positions mid-air, Yamato feinting low while Goku aimed high. But Kaido was finished being a spectator. His eyes glinted with a cruel wisdom.
"Yamato, let me teach you a lesson about the real world," Kaido rumbled.
As Goku dove in for a strike, Kaido didn't even look; he threw a brutal, lightning-fast elbow that caught Goku in the chest, sending him skidding across the plateau like a broken toy. In the same fluid motion, Kaido's heavy boot caught Yamato in the stomach, lifting her off the ground before she crashed back down.
"When you're fighting multiple enemies," Kaido said, looming over his daughter as he raised Hassaikai high above his head, the black lightning of his Haki crackling around the studs, "you first take out the weakest link."
Yamato looked up, paralyzed by the sight of the massive mace descending like a falling mountain.
"NOOOOOOO!!" Goku's scream didn't sound human. It was a raw, guttural roar that tore through his throat.
Suddenly, the entire plateau buckled. An invisible, terrifying pressure erupted from Goku, a shockwave of Conqueror's Haki so potent it turned the sky a bruised purple. But there was something else—a primal, ancient sound echoed in Kaido's ears, the deafening, bone-chilling roar of a Great Ape.
Kaido froze, his mace inches from Yamato. He turned his head slowly, his eyes widening. Standing across the crater was Goku, but the boy looked... different. His eyes had bled into a terrifying, feral red, and his muscles had bulged, stretching his clothes to the breaking point. His hair stood on end, vibrating with a golden-red heat.
For a split second, Kaido didn't see a child. He saw the towering, spectral silhouette of a moon-beast, a creature of pure destruction he had fought a while ago.
A dark, savage grin spread across Kaido's face. "Interesting..."
Goku teeth bared. Instinctively, he pointed his hand out , and a ball of pure, swirling blue energy—Ki—condensed in an instant. With a roar, he fired it point-blank.
Kaido raised his arms to block, but the explosion was so violent it forced the Yonko to stumble back not taking any steps though still in the same place. The heat of the blast scorched the ground to glass.
Kaido lowered his arms, his eyes burning with a manic delight. He wasn't even trying against them yet, but this boy... this monkey-boy was something else.
"You aren't just a brat," Kaido laughed, his voice booming over the wind. "You're a monster in the making! Come on, boy! Show me more of that beast inside you!"
Goku didn't just run; he blurred. Even in his feral, red-eyed state, he kept his feet, moving with a staggering speed that would have been impossible for any other child his age. To an observer, he was nothing but a streak of flickering light.
Kaido's golden eyes tracked the movement, his head swiveling with predatory precision. Goku slammed a flurry of strikes into Kaido's midsection. Thud-thud-thud! Once again, it didn't draw blood, but the pressure was real. Each hit carried the weight of a falling boulder, rattling the Yonko's internal organs and forcing him to brace his legs.
"Aggressive little beast!" Kaido roared. He swung his mace in a named strike, the air screaming around the iron studs. "Kongo Kabura!"
Goku didn't retreat. He leapt directly toward the danger, his small feet landing on the spinning shaft of the mace itself. Using the weapon's own momentum, he launched himself high into the air, hovering momentarily against the backdrop of the full moon.
He had never been formally trained in this. Grandpa Gohan had only shown him the basics of Ki before he passed, but Goku had seen his grandfather's silhouette practicing in the woods—the way the energy gathered, the way the stance felt.
Goku cupped his hands at his side, a brilliant, flickering sphere of azure light erupting between his palms. The air began to whistle as the energy condensed into a volatile sun.
"KA... ME... HA... ME..."
Kaido looked up, his eyes widening as he saw the pure, raw energy swirling in the boy's hands.
"HAAAAA!"
Goku loosed the beam point-blank. A pillar of blue light slammed directly into Kaido's face, the explosion illuminating the entirety of Onigashima. The force was so immense that Kaido—the man who could not be killed—actually stumbled back, his heavy boots carving deep trenches into the plateau as he fought to stay upright against the unexpected surge of power.
But the effort was too much. As the smoke cleared, the feral red faded from Goku's eyes. The bulging muscles receded, and the glowing blue aura flickered out like a spent candle. Goku hung in the air for a second, completely drained, his body turning limp.
Before he could hit the ground, Kaido moved. He wasn't even angry; he was impressed. With a flick of his wrist, he flipped his mace and tapped Goku squarely in the gut with the blunt, iron pommel of the handle.
THUMP.
Goku's eyes rolled back as he lost consciousness instantly.
"GOKU!" Yamato screamed, her voice cracking with terror as she scrambled toward her fallen friend.
She didn't even get halfway. Kaido vanished in a burst of speed that bypassed the human eye. He appeared behind her, his shadow looming over her like a mountain. With a swift, precise strike to the back of her neck, he silenced her cry.
Yamato slumped to the ground beside Goku.
Kaido stood over them, the steam still rising from the scorch marks on his chest and face. He looked down at the two children, his chest heaving slightly from the exertion. A long, low chuckle started in his throat and turned into a booming laugh that echoed across the sea.
"Mhm...your something special monkey boy" Kaido muttered, remembering the boy's form . He looked at Goku with a newfound curiosity. "You aren't just a soon to be pirate, boy. You're something the world hasn't seen in a long, long time."
The cold, damp stone of the cell floor was the first thing they felt as consciousness slowly returned.
Goku groaned, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up. He looked down and saw that the Beast Pirates had put a new set of heavy iron shackles on his wrists and ankles—normal ones, not the explosive type, but thick enough to hold a giant. Across from him, Yamato was already awake, her eyes wide and sparkling with a mix of shock and pure adoration.
"Goku!" she whispered, her voice filled with awe. "That was... that was incredible! I've never seen anything like it! You hit my father so hard he actually moved back! You used that light... and your eyes... oh my god, we're actually going to do it. We're really going to beat Kaido one day!"
Goku blinked, looking at his hands. His head felt fuzzy, like he had just woken up from a long, deep dream. "I did?" he asked, tilting his head. "I don't really remember much. I just remember feeling really, really angry... and then everything got hot. What did I do? Did I land a punch?"
Yamato spent the next several hours frantically explaining every detail. She told him about the red glow in his eyes, the terrifying roar of the Great Ape that seemed to echo from his soul, and the way he had gathered the blue light between his hands to blast Kaido point-blank.
"You called it a 'Kame-Hame-Ha' or something!" Yamato said, mimicking the hand motions. "The whole sky turned blue! I bet Even King and Queen would've looked scared for a second!"
Goku listened, his eyes widening as she spoke. He remembered his Grandpa Gohan moving like that in the moonlight, but he hadn't realized he could do it too. As they sat there in the dark, the bruises on their bodies began to ache, but their hearts were light. They talked for hours about the techniques they would invent, how they would train their "Haki," and how, next time, they wouldn't just make Kaido stumble—they would make him fall.
The cell was still a prison, but as they talked and laughed into the quiet hours of the night, it felt more like a training camp. The promise was no longer just a dream; it was a countdown.
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I think this is my last time using 8 year old them and you maybe wondering how 8 year olds are doing this and idk I wanted this like a horror theme if you know what I mean
Hoped you liked it see you guys next chapter