The Tenshū towered ominously over the churning waves, its silhouette cloaked in a spectral shroud of mist and moonlight that seemed to whisper secrets of the deep. Below, tangled in the gnarled roots of a dense mangrove island, lay a hidden World Government outpost. It bore no flag, no name—only a cold expanse of steel and shadows that seemed to breathe menace into the air.
Lila stood firmly at the ship's bow, her eyes locked on the dark structure below. Her voice trembled with barely contained anger as she spoke. "This is the place where they conduct those vile experiments on Devil Fruits, using innocent children as their test subjects," she declared, each word laced with a simmering rage. "Where they turn orphans into tools of destruction." Her mind went to Verya since Verya was one of the kids who was experimented on. Lila cast her a glance to see her expression, but Verya looked ready to fight.
Buzz cracked his knuckles, the sharp sound echoing like thunder, while spirals of ash curled threateningly from his fingertips. "Then we turn it to ashes," he growled, his voice a low rumble full of fierce determination.
Vexa rummaged through her medical satchel, her movements precise and determined. "First, we get those kids out of this nightmare," she stated with unwavering resolve. "Then, we bring hell down on them."
"I want some action, you guys always cast me on the side," Verya pouted like a brat.
"Then make sure you pay attention and stop being battle crazy." Gorren (Stonejaw) scolded her.
"I will follow Vexa to the kids," Juno (Gearwitch) said.
Lila's eyes blazed with an icy, relentless fury. "No survivors. No mercy," she vowed, her words cold and final.
Inside the facility, harsh, sterile white lights buzzed overhead, casting an unforgiving glare on the scene below. Children were trapped in glass cells, some unconscious, others trembling with fear. Needles pierced their skin, restraints held them fast, and monitors beeped with a relentless rhythm. A girl with shark-like teeth wept silently as a scientist injected a glowing serum into her arm.
"Subject 47: Zoan compatibility test. Begin phase three," a commanding voice barked over the intercom.
The alarms died in their circuits as the wall exploded inward, concrete vaporizing into a choking fog. Before the first dust mote settled, Lila materialized through the breach, her silhouette rippling like heat distortion. Guards clawed for weapons with fingers gone numb with terror. Too late. Her arm shot skyward, veins bulging beneath translucent skin.
"GALE FANG!"
The air itself crystallized, then shattered. Bodies split open like overripe fruit. Steel panels peeled back from walls, revealing wet, red circuitry beneath. Screams harmonized with the wet slapping sounds of viscera painting the corridor, a symphony of slaughter conducted by her outstretched hand.
Buzz charged forward, leaving a fiery path in his wake that scorched the earth beneath him. The ground crackled and smoked as ash danced upward, clinging to the scientist like a dark, creeping shroud. In an instant, Buzz ignited the ash, and the flames consumed the scientist, reducing flesh to charred bones, which soon crumbled into dust. Meanwhile, Vexa and Juno maneuvered swiftly through the rows of cells, her every step calculated and deliberate. She shattered padlocks with a swift strike and gently pressed her fingers to the necks of the prisoners, feeling for the faint thrum of life beneath their skin.
"You're safe now," she assured a boy with frostbitten fingers, her voice calm and steady amidst the tumult. "We're here."
The containment unit's seal broke with a shriek of escaping pressure that stabbed at Lila's eardrums. From the churning vapor emerged a monstrosity—seven feet of muscle and bone fused in violation of nature's laws. Its eyes burned radioactive green, tracking her with predatory focus.
"Prototype 0. Codename: Chimera."
It unleashed a roar that shook dust from the ceiling—part lion's bellow, part eagle's screech, part serpent's hiss—a sound no living creature should make. The beast lunged, crossing twenty feet in a heartbeat. Lila's pulse didn't even quicken. "SKYBREAKER!" The air above ripped open as she summoned a cyclone that compressed into a javelin of pure destructive force. She hurled it with killing intent, the impact blasting through sinew and bone. The creature's death scream mingled with the explosion that sent Lila crashing against the far wall. Concrete split. Steel warped. Darkness swallowed the lab as the power grid failed. Blood trickled from Lila's split lip as she stood in the wreckage, her breath the only sound in the sudden silence.
"You created this. You created me."
Her gaze turned to the surviving scientists, who cowered in a corner, their faces pale with fear. Her black eyes darkened, a malevolent shadow crossing her features.
"Now you'll pay for both."
Lila moved with a calculated precision, her eyes narrowing as she wielded her Wind Devil Fruit powers. The air around her shimmered, forming razor-sharp gusts that danced at her fingertips. With each slow, deliberate slice, the scientist's skin split open, and a fresh wave of crimson soaked his lab coat. His screams echoed through the sterile room, a cacophony of agony that only fueled her desire to experiment with new techniques. Yet, despite the symphony of torment she orchestrated, her amusement waned too soon as the man's life force ebbed away, his body unable to withstand the relentless assault.
The Driftborn moved with urgency, their footsteps echoing softly in the corridors. Two children clung to each adult, their small faces pressed against the warmth of their rescuers. Vexa and Juno moved with a practiced calm, supporting those whose legs wobbled with exhaustion, her hands steady as she murmured words of reassurance. Behind them, Buzz meticulously followed, his fingers dancing over sleek devices that emitted a soft, humming glow, dissolving any trace of their passage.
At the exit, Lila stood, her heart pounding as she cradled the last child against her chest. The girl, with eyes as dark and deep as a moonless night, gazed up at her. "What's your name?" Lila asked, her voice gentle yet firm.
The girl's lips barely moved as she whispered, "Sora."
Lila's heart skipped a beat, her breath catching in her throat. Memories surged, unbidden and bittersweet. She managed a small, trembling smile. "Good name," she murmured, her voice laced with a mix of nostalgia and tenderness.
Though the image of her mother's face had faded with time, the name remained etched in her memory like a guiding star. Sora. Her mother, who once whispered that Lila was like the wind, free and untethered. Lila had always dreamed of soaring through the skies with her, their spirits intertwined. Her mother's name was Sora.
Fingers like feathers brushed Lila's shoulders. She looked up to find Gorren's eyes searching her face, one eyebrow raised in silent question. Lila dipped her chin once. Together, they trudged toward the waiting vessel, where Milo and Riven guided the small hands up the gangplank, while Verya stood apart, arms crossed, her lower lip jutting as she watched the children scramble aboard. She was mad that the action didn't last longer and that the whole crew would hear her complaining.
As the Tenshū disappeared into the abyss of the night sky, the lab erupted with a deafening roar behind them — a ferocious pillar of wind and fire clawing its way into the heavens. By the next morning, the World Government intercepted a chilling transmission. A single, menacing sentence rode the turbulent winds: "You cannot quell the fury that seeks to eviscerate you until you are reduced to nothing but a quivering mass."