Natural Enemy 2-10A

The Naruto sputtered into the harbor, Kai letting the engine die out with a grunt as the skiff bumped against the slimy wood of the pier, the sound swallowed by the noise of the town above.

Blue eyes slid up to the constant buzzing and flickering of neon above him, the dying blue light spelling out "THE LAST RESORT."

No… wait.

The letters were crooked, the 'S' in 'RESORT' long gone dark, meaning it just read "THE LAST RE ORT," which… 

Yeah, that feels about right. Kai grunted, shuddering as he slumped forward over the console, eyes still on the sign for a moment. Broken as it was, it still looked expensive, in a sorta-kinda cheap, flashy way. That and the loud music that thumped against the air made it clear that this wasn’t exactly a quiet port town. 

Too… too loud. The bass line was enough to make his head throb in time with his arm.

His arm.

It wasn't bleeding anymore. Yay, good news.

The bad news was that it had gone from looking like burst sausage to an eggplant that had gotten stomped on. Deep purple, with the muscle and veins swollen tight against the skin, it almost made him sick to look at it. Ugh.

Moving it was still pointless as it hung at his side, the same dead weight it had been the entire time he followed the wake; meaning a whole two hours of travel across the West Blue while keeping his distance.

Cutter Cain’s speedboat had left a trail of white foam and arrogance that was easy enough to track, even for a guy with a concussion and spots in his vision as dark as the streaks running up and down his arm.

One hand still working and teeth still in his mouth, Kai used what rope he had left to tie his skiff tight before managing to stumble onto the dock. The wood was slick with something, Kai not sure what but it didn’t smell too far from beer and fish guts after they’d already been inside a human’s gut. 

As Kai forced himself to push forward, he caught sight of a guy leaning against a piling near the edge. Shirtless, sunburnt to a decent pink, and holding a bottle of something brown, the guy was on his own just laughing at nothing.

"Where..." Kai’s voice cracked before he caught himself. Hand around his neck, he cleared his throat. "Where am I?"

The man blinked, swaying a little before grinning Kai’s way with a mouth full of gold teeth and bad decisions. "Welcome to Dodger Island!" 

Gold-Tooth threw his arms out wide, so wide he nearly tipped over into the drink before he caught himself with another laugh. "Every bounty hunter’s second home on the West Blue! If you can dodge a bounty, you can dodge a... wait, no." 

The man took a swig, cackling again. "Just welcome, kid."

Kai didn't laugh back.

He definitely didn’t smile either, nothing all that funny about the current moment. Three days into bounty hunting and… Kai didn’t finish the thought, the teenager clicking his teeth as he allowed himself a look around.

The port was a mess.

As fun as the place wanted to make itself seem, it looked more dangerous than anything else and it didn’t bother to hide it. Port Town was down on its luck but at least that shitty place tried to keep its rot lowkey.

This was just… just the opposite of low-key.

For one, everywhere his eyes turned, there were weapons. Swords strapped to backs, pistols jammed into waistbands, and knife handles poking out of boots. Men with scars, women with eyepatches, and people who looked like they’d sell their own grandmother for enough Beri and a complimentary bottle of rum. Just hundreds of people out in the open, roaming the streets with smiles and laughs; each one shouting, trading, posturing, flexing muscles and showing off trophies.

It was loud. 

It was dirty. 

It was exactly the kind of place Kai had dreamed about back on the island, when he was bored and wishing for somewhere he could show off.

Now that he was here, it just felt pointless. He hadn’t expected anything crazy his first few days out or anything. Wasn’t out here trying to be Spider-Man or anything. That either; this was about freedom and earning money and returning back to Kaihua after the whole village got over their fear and their overeager gratitude after the pirate attack 

Nothing crazy even, maybe just a year or two out on the sea just doing his own thing.

Being a bounty hunter just made that easier. Turn down a way to use his power and make money off evil psychos like pirates? Why not, right?

But… Kai let out another sigh. Yeah, I’m not a bounty hunter. Three days in, he wasn’t even anything. 

Just a kid in a bucket hat who got lucky once and then robbed twice.

"Not here.” The mutter left his lips as he turned back to the Naruto.

Docking at the main pier like this — looking like a victim — was just a great way to get looked at like an easy mark. Let’s get out of here.

Getting back on his boat, he pedaled the skiff away from the drunk and the noise, easing it around the rocky point of the harbor as the water got darker and deeper around and beneath him, the further away he got from the lights and the music. Soon enough, Kai found what he was looking for, the path and feel of the water guiding him all the way to a small cove, the entrance hidden by a cluster of jagged rocks that looked like broken teeth.

Kai stopped pedaling, the skiff easing to a stop in the heart of the cove. The sounds of the town were almost non-existent this far out and the cove only helped with that. Water dripped from stalactites above him, dripping onto the ground and plop-ing into the cave pool. 

With a grunt, he took his hat off with one hand, letting it drop at his feet as he kicked off his sandals. Another grunt spilled free from his lips as Kai hoisted himself over the left side of the skiff and let himself drop into the cove.

Clothes and all.

It was cold, colder than the open ocean as it hit his skin. 

Not freezing, but brisk enough to force a gasp from him as he sank down until the water was past his mouth, over his nose and stopping right below his eyes as he closed them.

He could already feel it, the water doing what it did. Freshwater worked well enough, but the ocean accelerated everything for him in a way he couldn’t explain. The more water he had in contact with him, too, the faster it worked and he could feel itworking; thousands of tiny, invisible fingers inside him already knitting the torn muscle fibers back together and easing the angry nerves. 

The throbbing ache in his arm was already fading enough that he could relax, just floating in the cove as stalactites kept dripping around him.

As good as it felt, though, the shame stuck around and refused to recede.

The humiliation of standing on that deck, helpless, while ‘Cutter Cain’ laughed his ass off and just stole six million Beri... that… that burned. 

It burned hotter than his arm had.

The water around him rippled as he spoke into the blue, water filling his lungs as he breathed it in and out. "I'm not a kid.”

He stayed there for an hour, maybe two, at least until his arm felt like his again.

Finally, Kai climbed his way out of the water, dripping wet with his clothes plastered tight to his skin. With a frown, he flexed his right hand.

A little stiff, a little sore, but it worked.

Two hands came together, palms slapping each other with a loud clap, and a thousand drops exploded off him. Kai Douglas Wade stood there, fully dry and ready.

"Okay.” He clicked his tongue. "Let’s find Cain."