3 Reborn
"Hurry up and push, if you take too long we won't be able to trade your breast milk for any food!"
"Uhhhh I'm trying! I'm trying!"
John's consciousness returns to a pressure squeezing him from all sides, trying to forcefully move him downwards. Combined with the voices John instantly understands he's about to be born.
"I can see his head!" A man's voice booms.
"Then help me pull it out!" A shrill woman's voice immediately follows.
John panics slightly and tries to push himself out faster, he doesn't know much about babies but being pulled out by his head doesn't sound good.
Before he can make any progress five fingers clamp onto his skull tightly and pulls. With the combination of pushing and pulling John is yanked free from the fleshy walls of his mother.
Without even time to look around his umbilical cord is sawed in half with a dull knife causing a rush of air into his lungs and placed on the dirt floor covered in a puddle of his own fluids.
"Help me up, there are other pregnant women who can trade and we need to be fast!" The woman doesn't even look at her newborn child and reaches for the man.
Opening his small eyes John sees two people in brown rags barely covering their bodies. Their hair is matted with filth and a rancid smell assaults his nose as he continues to breathe.
Looking at their filthy face John can see his parents don't care about him at all, which makes him feel a lot better. One of the reasons he chose to be born here is he wanted no emotional connection with his new parents, and from what he knew this was the best place.
The man helps the woman to her feet and they both exit the small room. Checking out his surroundings he appears to be in some sort of house made of rotten wooden planks. It would be more accurate to call this a house of cards as the walls aren't even attached to each other, but leaning against each other. The door is nothing more than a rectangular hole cut into the wood with a small piece of cloth blocking some of the opening. One good push and this whole structure will collapse to the ground.
Realizing he has almost no control over his body he closes his eyes to sense his mutant powers. A few minutes later he realizes his power is extremely weak, weaker than when he first got his power.
The only thing he can sense within his range is his own electromagnetic field and the light coming in through the cracks.
"Ahh gaa" Testing out his voice, moving his arms, and kicking his legs to test out the limits of his body leaves him stomped on what to do next.
After a few minutes, his eyes open wide as he realizes the trap he almost fell into. Closing his eyes he begins to concentrate on himself and the surroundings.
For the entire time he had these powers, he's focused on controlling metals even though metal control is nothing more than a by-product of his power.
The EM field around his body ripples ever so slightly as he tries to control it. A small smile forms on his face as he continues to practice.
"We got half an apple and some hard bread, not bad."
Pushing aside the old cloth his mother and presumed father return to the shack. Continuing to ignore the baby they sit on the ground with food in hand.
"Now that the baby is born I need to keep pumping milk or soon my body will stop producing."
After dividing the food and begin to eat slowly, savoring every scrap of food.
"How long do you think it will last? We need to know when to have another kid."
"Last time it was for a full year." Turning her head she looks at John on the ground. Her lifeless eyes travel along the perfectly still baby's body covered in fluid. "Is it dead?"
The man reaches over and touches John's chest briefly "No, he's alive. This is the first baby of the year, so his name is Baby 1."
"What should we do with it?" The woman places the last part of the bread in her mouth and grabs a clay bowl. Exposing her debilitated breast she begins squeezing milk into the bowl.
"Well, we sold the last baby to the slavers who came to port so we can see if they return. He can live off breast milk for a few months, but if they don't come by then just dump him somewhere." Stuffing the rest of the apple into his mouth he grabs his dull knife and cuts the remainder of the umbilical cord closer to John's stomach.
Listening to the conversation John isn't the least bit fazed. If everything goes according to plan he will leave here soon. Ever since the man walked in his attention has been partially focused on the knife in the man's possession.
As of now, he doesn't even have enough power to cause it to move, but he can actually feel his power increasing ever so slightly so he continues to train.
The mother scoots closer to John and opens his mouth slightly before pouring in a mouthful of milk from the bowl into his mouth. Seeing the baby swallow she doesn't give it more but drinks the rest herself.
John swallows the milk without worry, as he knows mutants are immune to most disease and isn't worried about getting sick or catching anything she has. Knowing that humans in this world have incredible powerful bodies he's even more excited to see how his power develops.
For the next few days, John hones his abilities until he passes out from exhaustion, drinks a little bit of milk, and listens to his parents talk about the other people in the area. Before he knows it two weeks have already passed.
From conversations he knows that there are six other pregnant women in this area, and one of them has to be Baby 5's mother. Just like he originally thought when he chose to come here the port town Spider Miles is not far from his location. Close to Spider Miles is a waste processing plant, a perfect place to train his abilities while he waits.
In the two weeks, his body has become weaker and his thin body doesn't have close to enough nutrients to survive. Because his physical condition has deteriorated since birth his power development has slowed down.
Even though the progress has slowed down, he has made great progress Controlling his own EM field. Controlling other living beings field is next to impossible as every thought and idea constantly changes the field around them as neurons fire in their brain. Even if he can't control them he can still sense every EM field in a 10-meter radius.
As night falls the area turns quiet. Closing his eyes and controlling his EM field he sits his body up and rises to his feet, slightly levitating off the ground. By changing his EM field to repel the natural EM field of the planet he can lift himself from the ground. Reaching out with his powers he causes the knife to float towards his side.
Checking that his actions went unnoticed he slowly floats outside. Looking at the night sky filled with stars for the first time in his life he's left stunned. After taking in the beauty and the urgency of the situation, he looks around using the moonlight and sees twenty other houses just like his before losing interest in the camp fast. Glancing towards the forest surrounding the camp he can see a plume of dense black smoke off in one direction, indicating the factory.
Lifting himself above the tree line he flies away from the direction of the smoke. After a few minutes, the strength begins to leave his body from the use of his powers. Choosing a place with no EM signals in his range he lands with his back against a tree and the knife on the ground next to him.
Realizing he's far enough from camp a small smile appears on his face. Closing his eyes he thinks about his third wish and the item that he wants.
After a few seconds, a blue fruit appears from nowhere between his legs. The fruit is shaped like a fig with lightning bolt shaped scales and black swirls.
Looking at the fruit his little heart beats rapidly. Using the knife he digs out a small piece and floats it to his mouth. A sliver of fruit enters his mouth and he doesn't even try to chew it with his gums but directly swallows.
The taste of year old fermented milk mixed with salt assaults his mouth, but before he can even complain his body is transformed into pure electricity.
Arcing bolts of lightning strike the ground and trees and his body loses all human shape. The ground and tree around him blacken from the generated heat from his body and smoke begins to rise from the tree. Concentration on a human shape his body slowly regains human semblance before solidifying against the tree.
His eyes gleam as he feels the power coursing through his body. If before his EM field was like a car battery with a radius of 10m, now it's a nuclear reactor with a radius of 500km.
"What do you want for dinner tomorrow?"
"Those dirty vagabonds came to steal food again today, where's the navy when you need them?"
"No matter how much trash we process, more keeps coming in from other islands."
Every living creature and every metallic item on and beyond this island is in range of his perception. With the Goro Goro No Mi, his mutant powers are literally supercharged. Listening to the conversations of people on the island soon bores him and he opens his eyes.
Looking at the rest of the fruit in front of him he continues to cut it up and swallow, even though it tastes terrible it's the first full meal of this life and he won't waste it.
After a few minutes, his belly is bloated but his face is warped in pain and disgust. Pointing his figure at the remainder of the fruit he can feel the EM field around him changing rapidly.
Blue sparks crackle between his fingertips before an arc of lightning shoots from his finger and zaps the fruit, charing it black and turning it into charcoal.
Almost all the energy is sapped from his body just from that small display of power, yet he is still unable to control the smile from forming on his face.
