"It's dark." I said while jogging through the forest.
I did not know why I felt the need to state the obvious when it's night time in a forest of all places. Of course it would be dark, civilization is a mile back with all the wondrous housing and night life. I've begun to realize that I might have to get used to forests, which won't come naturally since I've lived in a city for my entire life.
I was just glad I managed to ditch the Marines. Turns out they had backup on the way and did not take kindly to their comrades being attacked. Aside form the minor assault on the local law enforcement and openly admitting I'm a pirate I didn't know why they were so fervent in chasing me. Not like any of the Marines I first attacked were killed, scarred sure but not killed.
And of course none of them wanted to explain.
So while I not-so-inconspicuously roof hopped around the city I was spotted pretty quickly. Those pegasi were really broken, all of them had the ability to fly and attack from any angle. If I didn't have my own range attack then I would've been in much more serious trouble. And don't get me started on the unicorns, I've had to keep a strong grip on my bisento the whole chase. The bastards kept trying to take it from me with their magic, luckily one can counteract the telekinesis with brute force if they have enough of it. The unicorns got tired much more quickly with the constant strain of trying to force the bisento out of my death grip and giving chase.
I assume that's why they simply gave up and instead opted to fire lasers at me. Laser is an overstatement though, the beams moved much slower and could be easily dodged. Piccolo would've been proud. Oddly enough I could also smack them away with the blade of my spear, I had fun making them deal team damage.
When I decided that I'd had enough fun I dropped down to the streets and did my best to lose them in the alleys and turns. It took a while, I didn't know the lay of the town and those stupid pegasi could fly, but I finally managed to lose them after at least an hour. With my size it was hard to move without attracting too much attention. I was way too much of an anomaly in this town.
But I managed and escaped to the outskirts of town, where this godforsaken forest was.
I exhaled in minor annoyance and wondered how far away the stupid river was. I knew I didn't pass it, I couldn't have missed it since a river is not something you just pass over without noticing. Especially when you have a devil fruit ability. I grumbled in my head for a few more moments until I heard the telltale sign of a river. The rush of water.
I grinned and breathed a sigh of relief. I was that much closer to finding out what Spike wanted to say.
I reached the bank of the river and looked around, I didn't see any sort of shelter around here. Instead I only saw the river itself and a really large boulder sitting off to the side. I concluded that wherever Spike and his mystery girl were they were in either direction of the river.
I tapped a finger on my chin as I tried to figure out which direction to go. A genius idea was born in my head. Why not use all my leg strength to jump up and look around from that height? I'd surely see where the house is from there.
I chuckled to myself, "Oh, this'll be fun."
I did a few stretches to loosen myself up and crouched down. I took a deep breath and jumped upwards with all my might. I cleared the treetops easily and I went to work locating the house. I didn't see anything on my first jump, I landed back down with a mighty crash.
"Damn." I grumbled. "Oh well, one more time. I think I saw a light on the way down."
I went back into position, took a breath, and launched myself back up and over the trees. I looked to where I thought I saw a light and squinted. I was correct, there was a light coming from that direction. And since it was by the riverbank it must also be where Spike lives. I made sure to mentally note the location so I'd be able to find the place again.
The landing was different this time around. Instead of just a crash there was also a yelp of pain and surprise. A groan of discomfort came from some sort of person clad in all black. She, from what I'd guess, was also hooded and twitched a bit.
"Uh... oops?" I said to the downed person. "Sorry about that. Didn't see you there." I lifted my foot off the stranger.
She immediately shot up and back on her feet and turned around, making sure her hood kept her face hidden. I figured it was probably in embarrassment.
"Y-you d-didn't see me!" She yelled and bolted off into the forest.
I scratched my head in confusion. "The heck was that about?"
After receiving no word from the surrounding forest I simply shrugged and began my new trek through the forest. It seemed like the faster route than trying to follow the riverbank. The quickest route is a straight line right? I stomped my way through the forest, hoping that the trip would be a short one.
It wasn't, but I did find something interesting on the way. A tiny cliff, barely over my height, and a metal door with a wheeled knob, like you'd see on a safe, leading into it's depths. I bit my lip, the door looked like it reeked of potential adventure. I looked in the direction where the two people I was suppose to meet were waiting and back down at the door.
"Decisions, decisions..." I muttered.
I came to a conclusion after an intense debate. "They can wait. I'll be an hour, tops."
I grabbed the wheel of the door and turned. It wouldn't budge, seemed that it was either locked or the mechanism was rusted. I grunted in mild strain as I pushed harder on the knob, as if I could make it turn on pure will alone. And it did turn! It just broke in the process...
I stared at the useless bit of metal in my hands and sighed. "Wonderful. Now what?" I chucked the wheeled handle to the side and pondered. My pondering stopped when I remembered I had devil fruit powers. I grinned and a glow appeared around my left fist, I could hold it for much longer now.
I punched the door and it bent in half before flying down the hallway it lead to. I heard it crash and boom around as I shook my hand, the door must've been made from thick steel. I stepped into the dark corridor, minding my head as I walked, the ceiling was barely higher than I was. I got a few steps in and lights started turning on.
I looked to my right and saw light fixtures and wires hanging on the sides of the wall. Perhaps there was some sort of motion detector for living beings, because the flying door should've turned on the lights if it was a simple motion detector. It took about five minutes of walking until I reached another door, passing the folded steel one that laid pathetically on the side of the corridor.
This door was simple wood, not steel, and had a simple knob. I was glad I wouldn't have to force my way through again and I grabbed the knob and turned it. The wood door's hinges fell off and I was left holding the door by its handles.
I rolled my eyes, "Of course."
I tossed the door to the side and examined the new room I found myself in. It looked like a laboratory.
A large semicircle of computers lined the far back wall with monitors up to the ceiling. A worktable with microscopes, vials and petri-dishes. Another table with burners and various tools. Huge racks upon racks of vials and liquids lined the route edges of the lab, and many more tables that were in ruin. Some looked like they had some sort of burn marks on them, others had claw marks.
"Whoa." I said, I couldn't stop looking around. It was like an abandoned lab you'd see in a movie or something.
I walked into the lab a bit more, I heard a clinking sound. I looked down and saw a broken vial that looked like ti once contained something at my feet. Curious I reached down and picked it up, reading the label.
"Serum-12X?" I asked to no one.
After examining it a bit more I put it down on one of the tables and headed to the computers. The chair was broken but I paid it no mind. Seeing if the computers still worked I pushed a button. Nothing seemed to happen and I tsked in annoyance. I was about to turn around and head out but I stopped when I saw something sitting on the computer table.
It was a book.
"Interesting. A completely intact book amongst a ruined and destroyed laboratory? This must be where I smelled adventure coming from." I picked the book up and looked at it. It seemed to shine with some sort of energy upon contact with me. I hummed in thought, it didn't seem dangerous but I kept myself wary.
And I dropped it in shock when it started glowing brightly and vibrating.
"What the!" I looked at the book on the ground, it still continued to glow and vibrate. And it must be my imagination but the vibration sounded like the vibration of a cell phone. I blinked confused, I tentatively reached down and picked the still vibrating book up. I held it in my hands and flipped it open.
I was staring at a blank page, but a blank page that began to start writing itself.
"Did I stumble upon Tom Riddle's diary?" I quieted myself and read what the book wanted to tell me.
Oh my, it's been so long since we last talked.
Have you finally decided to come back to us Twilight?