One Piece: The Freedom Fighters

Chapter 5: The Mighty Marine Project

Ket crept down the flight of steps that led into the basement of the Marine facility, his vision shrouded in damp darkness. "Jeez, you'd think they would install some lights..." Ket muttered, squinting as hard as he could. He thought back to his eavesdropping on the Vice-Admiral's door... Whoever was on the other end of that transponder snail said something about a 'Mighty Marine' project. The name sounded pretty cheesy, but it could be bad. Seemingly on cue, Ket saw a white light at the end of the stairs. He finally arrived at the basement!

Or... perhaps basement wasn't the right word. Ket was expecting a dinky little room with supplies, but what he got instead was much different. He found himself in a long hallway with white walls and a blue streak along the middle. Each side of the hallway bled out other hallways, creating a labyrinth of sorts. "What the..." Ket muttered. This wasn't what he was expecting at all! It could take hours to search all of the rooms, and it's only a matter of time before people notice that he's missing! It was around this time that Ket realized... what was he gonna do? He had no idea what he was looking for or where to even start! Well, Ket supposes he'll figure something out, and heads down the hall. He takes a right at the first turn, but as soon as he does so...

"AGH!" Ket shouts, falling over. The moment he turned the corner, Ket ran into someone! "Hey, watch where you're going!" He complained, looking up to see who he bumped into. It was Sukato! He was glaring down at Ket and breathing heavily... Uh oh...

"YOU!" Sukato yelled, pointing down at Ket. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"I... What?" Ket replied, slowly getting up on his feet before Sukato pushed him back down. "Dude, keep your voice down-"

"They... They DID something to me!" Sukato cried, curling his hands into fists. "If you didn't bring me here, none of this would have happened!"

Ket was about to say something when he heard something from down the hall... Footsteps! Thinking quickly, Ket shot up, grabbed Sukato by his collar, opened up the nearest door, threw Sukato in, followed suit, and closed it. Not a moment later, two Marines walked by, looking for  the source of the shouting. Unable to find such a thing, they carried on. Ket waited until both of them passed before turning on the light to the room. It seemed to be some sort of office with a professional-looking desk and lounge chair. Now that the coast was clear, he began to talk. "Okay... So I know you're mad..."

"MAD?!" Sukato whipped back, raising his arms angrily. "YEAH, I'M MAD!"

"I know, I know... BUT... Can you at least tell me what happened?" Ket asked, putting his hands together, hopeful that he could get some info from this thug.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Sukato shouted, before taking a deep breath. He was a complete mess right now and was taking his anger out on the one who got him into this mess. But Ket's strong... maybe he can get him out? Sukato hoists himself up onto the desk and sits down, looking at his hands. "W... Well, some scientist put me on an operating table... And then he jammed some kind of red juice into my body..." Sukato explained, shuddering a little upon recollection. "And that like, messed up my muscles or something. They're like... super weak, but whenever I hit something... They get stronger?" He sighs, putting his head in his hands. "Gah, I don't even know... They turned me into some kind of... freak!"

Ket looked at Sukato with a worried frown. "I... I see..." He nodded, turning around and walking up to the table. Ket felt... really bad, actually. Sukato was right, this was all his fault. If Ket had never beaten up his gang, Sukato wouldn't have been experimented on...  "But...  what's wrong with being a freak?" Ket finally pipes up.

"... What?" Sukato replies, glancing up with a confused expression.

"Well, there's plenty of freaks around!" Ket argues, throwing his arms wide. "Like, take me for example! I can create electricity by moving my body around! Isn't that freakish? Even outside of devil fruits, there are so many weird things all around us! Swordsmen who can cut mountains, tribes with freakishly long limbs, and like... Fish people? Call me crazy, but is having some messed-up muscles really that bad?"

Sukato is speechless. "I... I guess I didn't think about it like that..." He responds. gazing back down at his arms. He thought about this for a moment before noticing something on the desk: A manila envelope with the words M.M stamped on it. "Huh, what's this?" He asks, picking it up.

M.M... Mighty Marine?  "Here, lemme see that." Ket instructed. Sukato shrugged before giving it to him. Ket flipped the envelope around before opening it up, pulling out a piece of paper along with a few strange schematics. It read as such:

The Mighty Marine Project

This order comes directly from Marineford. In order to aid the Navy in the battle against pirates, the military personnel of Seagull Cove are to create a special drug. Scientists and materials will be provided, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. If necessary, use the civilians of the island as test subjects. If that's not an option, convicts from the prison Impel Down will be shipped over. This drug should be able to enhance the physical power of anyone who consumes it, causing their physical power to grow to five times their original strength. When completed, the drug will be sent to headquarters in the Grand Line for mass production, where it will be given to our troops. THIS PROJECT MUST BE DONE IN SECRET.

Best of luck!

Head of R&D, Ian Stine.

Ket read the paper over in shock. A strength-enhancing drug? If the World Government got their hands on something like that, the results would be devastating! Entry-Level Marines are typically known for being incredibly weak, but if they were given that drug... The Navy would be unstoppable! Ket took the paper and walked over to Sukato. "I think I know what they did to you..." He says, giving him the paper.

Sukato looked up and took the paper, reading over it. As he read, his eyes grew wide. "W... What? That's awful..." He said breathlessly, standing up and looking at Ket. Sukato folded up the paper and put it in his shirt pocket. "We... We have to stop them!"

"I know, I know... But how?" Ket asked, about to start coming up with ideas when he heard a sound behind him. A Marine had just entered the room, and his gun was cocked! The jig was up! Ket put his hands forward, about to try and stop the Marine when they whipped out a transponder snail.

"H-HELP! Unauthorized people are in the laboratory... THEY KNOW ABOUT THE PROJECT!" The Marine screamed into the snail, about to fire his gun when Ket took action. With a swift roundhouse to the head, the Marine fell over, knocked out!

Ket looked over to Sukato. "We need to get out of here. Now!"

"But what about the project?"

"We can worry about that later! Lets get out of here!" Ket snapped back, running out of the office. Not having much of a choice, Sukato followed. They both ran to the stairs, starting to run up as alarms blared. Up a level, a small army of Marines were awaiting them... This was gonna be interesting!