2 Jacket King

Flop!

Rex felt himself falling onto the ground harmlessly. His body seemed to deflate and become hollow as he was split apart down the middle by a zipper. He was a jacket.

"NOOO!!!!" Rex cried out in agony as he immediately identified his ability. He had eaten the legendary F-class, trash-tier devil fruit, the Jake Jake no Mi.

Deactivating his ability, Rex gets into the fetal position, rocking himself back and forth in the fetal position. In his past life, Rex recalled how he and his friends had unabashedly dissed the Jake Jake no mi, calling it the worst devil fruit in history, claiming that even a fish fruit would be better.

Now, in a moment of weakness, he had accidentally consumed the legendary garbage fruit, and was locked into its weak power for life. Rex cursed Oda and all his editors for creating this cursed fruit, wanting to travel to earth just to beat him up.

"Hey Rex, that's a cool trick!" Kid said with a grin on his face as he watched Rex turn into a jacket.

Rex turns to Kid with a menacing glare, wanting to punch him in the face but sighing instead.

Gathering Kid and Killer, Rex told them about devil fruits, their types and the power they gave, as well as the cost of never swimming. He explained the power of various fruit and mentioned that the three top vice admirals of the navy all had powerful Logia type fruits.

"Wow! Does that mean you have a devil fruit power!? What kind is it? It isn't a Zoan, so it has to be a Logia or a Paramecia, right!? What can it do? Does it make you flat? Is it a paper logia!? But there was a zipper too…" Kid immediately starts speculating.

Rex's forhead twitches in anger. "Forget about my fruit! Your fruit is called the Jiki Jiki no mi. It turns you into a magnet human meaning you can control metal."

"Wow!" Kid says, opening his mouth wide to eat. But just before he does, he sees Killer out of the corner of his eye and stops. "You're the one who found it. You should eat it."

Killer stares at the fruit solemnly, seeing the glint in Kid's eyes. Then he shakes his head.

"Nah, you should eat it. I need to stick around to save you two fools in case you ever fall into the water and drown. If I ate it, we'd have to trust you with that job!" Killer guffaws, but Rex can see a faint desire in his eyes.

Rex shakes his head. It was better this way. From the manga, Rex knew that Killer would become a powerful swordsman without a devil fruit and there was no need for him to eat one now. If there was a suitable fruit in the future, Killer might eat it then, if not, he could be strong without one.

With Killer's assent, Kid throws the fruit up in the air, opening his mouth to eat.

"Oh, and one more thing Kid." Rex says with a sadistic smile. "Devil fruits taste awful!"

After which Killer and Rex laugh uncontrollably at Kid's green face after eating the devil fruit.

(Six Years Later)

Rex stares down his age-old foe, his muscles tensed and ready to pounce. Today would be their final battle.

Opposite him, a large, one-eyed, vicious tiger stared back at Rex, hatred evident in its eyes.

Ever since that fated day, the enmity between Rex and the tiger had become insurmountable. Rex blamed the tiger for him finding and eating the Jake Jake no Mi, rather than returning to the camp and eating the Jiki Jiki no mi. Likewise, the tiger blamed Rex for blinding its left eye.

"It looks like this is our final fight, Lumberjack." Rex says, using the name he had given the beast. "Like an old jacket, I've finally outgrown you."

Rex found that, since eating the Jake Jake no Mi, he had become deeply philosophical in terms of jackets. He had pondered deeply upon the nature of a jacket and how everything in the world could be described in terms of jackets. All his metaphors now involved jackets and his thoughts were all jacket-centric.

Kid had had a similar reaction with his moods becoming increasingly polarized. Sometimes happy and other times enraged.

Wordlessly, the two run at each other at full speed, determined to end this battle as quickly as possible.

Lumberjack leaps at Rex, going for its favorite target, the left shoulder. Rex predicts this attack, but doesn't dodge at all, instead going for a right hook.

Just as the tiger's claw is only inches away from its target, Rex's left side deflates, becoming flat and hollow. Like a matador's cape, Rex's arm moves out of the tiger's way as Rex lands a solid punch on its jaw.

This move was called 'Jacket-E' and was inspired by the Rokushiki technique, Kami-E.

Lumberjack snarls at Rex, upset at being caught by this trick for the umpteenth time, before going for its second favorite target. A head strike.

Seeing the tiger moving its claw towards his head, Rex's eyes are fierce going for a kick to the tiger's throat.

Once again, as the claw is almost upon him, Rex reacts; only this time, his head shrinks into his body like a turtle. A move dubbed 'turtleneck'

Lumberjack is confused by this new move and forgets to dodge the kick to his throat.

Bang!

The kick leaves the massive beast gasping for air as Rex does a rockstar slide under the tiger's stomach. Unzipping his chest, Rex punches his head back out delivering a powerful headbutt, deep into the tiger's stomach.

"Awooo!" Lumberjack howls in pain at this strike, before rushing at Rex even more viciously.

Rex is confused by this, but with the tiger's injured state, a single roundhouse kick is enough to slam the animal into a tree injuring it further.

Rex then walks towards Lumberjack and sees that its expression becomes increasingly feral. The tiger rushes towards him, but its speed has greatly suffered.

'What was going on?' Rex couldn't help but think.

Lumberjack was far weaker than it usually was.

Still, Rex did not allow his confusion to dull his mind. He had a clear goal and would achieve it no matter what.

Flicking out his wrist, Rex uses his second new move.

"Pocket Pairs!" Rex cries out as two pocket like openings form on his wrists each launching out a thin dagger into Lumberjack's eyes.

This move exploited another ability of the Jake Jake no Mi, namely the fact that jackets had pockets.

While it wasn't as ludicrous as Blamenco's fruit that let him pull a hammer twice his size out of his pockets, the pockets Rex made could only hold a total volume equal to his own volume making it a convenient storage ability.

The objects also couldn't be wider than the place he made the pocket. Meaning he couldn't store an axe in his finger or something along those lines.

Still, launching hidden weapons was a powerful enough ability in Rex's eyes as it meant he would never be truly unarmed.

The now blind Lumberjack stands up one more time, blood pouring out of its eyes, and growls savagely.

Rex is truly baffled at this point. 'Why was this stupid tiger so stubborn?'

He noticed that his current position was not far from where he had first met the tiger and it had exhibited odd behavior then too. Maybe…

"Is this your den?" Rex mutters, not expecting any response.

Rex takes a few steps further in the direction Lumberjack had come from, trying to find the den and the tiger seems to go berserk. Following the sound of footsteps, Lumberjack charges with all its might at Rex, ignoring all defense to attack him.

Rex is prepared for this and readies his strongest move. His left arm suddenly droops down, turning in a jacket sleeve. Then, it retracts itself into his body and as this happens, it seems to reappear overtop of his right arm, like a second skin.

Rex then pulls back his engorged right hand and punches right where his dagger was embedded.

"Sleeve DOUBLE PUNCH!"

The enhanced fist slams into Lumberjack, piercing the dagger through its brain and smashing it through two trees.

Rex grins in pride at the power of his super move. The move worked by turning one of his arms into a sleeve, then 'wearing' that arm on top of his other arm. That way, he would sacrifice one arm to strengthen the other.

The biggest disadvantage to this move was that, like in real life, it was harder to take a jacket off than to put it on. While Rex could instantly 'jacket' his right arm, 'unjacketing' took much longer and couldn't be done in combat. That meant that if 'Sleeve Double Punch' didn't knock out his enemy, Rex would be down an arm for the rest of the fight.

Taking a few minutes to 'unjacket' his arm, Rex then walked over in the direction where he suspected Lumberjack's den was.

After a short walk, Rex hears a soft mewling and rushes towards it. There, he finds a small, baby tiger, all alone in a den. Rex's mind is blown for a moment as he tries to wrap his head around what he has just learned.

'Lumberjack is a girl.'

"That damned minx!" Rex curses. Now it all made sense.

While this cub was still young, Rex could see some evidence that there had been another cub sometime in the past. It was likely that the reason Lumberjack had been so aggressive to him when they first met was that it, no she, believed that he was after her cub.

Rex curses viciously. Such a simple misunderstanding forced him to eat the Jake Jake no mi.

While Rex had managed to make something of the fruit's powers in the past six years, he was still resentful of the fact that Kid got the Jiki Jiki no mi. After all, Kid's fruit was cooler, easier to train and much more useful in day to day life.

Still, as Rex looks at the small, innocent tiger cub, he couldn't help but think of Chopper. Maybe he could find the Hito Hito no mi on Drum Island and feed it to this tiger, creating a companion. Rex felt a little guilty that he had just killed the cub's mother.

"While you were worn out and off-season, you were a good jacket." Rex says, looking at the deceased Lumberjack. "With you, I have grown immensely, so I shall do you this last service."

Rex takes Lumberjack's corpse and the tiger cub, who he named Rouge after his favorite female One Piece character. He then moves off towards Kid and Killer. Now that his business on this island was done, it was time to leave.

On the shore, Kid, Killer and the few other crewmates Rex had picked up over the years were loading a large pirate ship.

The ship had been bought with money the trio had saved up over the years. After the tiger fiasco, Rex had used the treasure he had found to buy some weapons for the group. Then, they had hunted various animals in the forest and sold them to the village as well as neighboring islands for money.

They had bought the ship off of a corrupt marine, who took it out of a marine impound lot. The ship had originally belonged to a decently famous pirate group who was captured after retreating from the Grand Line.

It was better than the average civilian ship, but it was nothing too impressive. In fact, Rex refused to name the ship, as he felt that it was only a 'half-way' ship until he found a good substitute.

With the ship, they had also bought some cannons and a large amount of metal. The metal was embedded across the ship, such that the whole ship could be propelled by Kid's magnetism.

While Kid's magnetism was currently weak and could only give a slight push, Rex felt that in the future, it wouldn't be impossible to soar through the skies with such a ship.

Along the way, the trio had recruited several crewmen, including two of the future Kid pirates, Heat and Wire. While in the Kid pirates, they were cadres, in the new King pirates, they were merely crewmen.

After all, Rex had much higher standards than Kid. In the future, Rex wanted the weakest cadres on board his ship to be comparable to top Emperor commanders. People like Kid and Killer both had Emperor potential and a few other people Rex planned on recruiting also fit the bill.

"Rex! You're finally here to help me! Killer refuses my idea of making the Jolly Roger out of human skin, tell him we should do that!"

Rex sighs as he hears this. Killer and Kid should really have their names swapped. Killer was as innocent as a child and Kid was as vicious as a murderer.

If it weren't for Rex coming along, Kid would have corrupted Killer with his ideals, but now the two were like the angel and devil on his shoulder. One telling him to do unspeakable things while the other acted as his conscience.

"No human skin flags, Kid!" Rex says, never having imagined such words would come out of his mouth. Kid raises a finger. "You're not making the mast out of bones either!"

Kid's finger falls.

"I was going to say a bone steering wheel but okay." Kid mutters causing Rex to almost trip over his own feet.

"Are we ready to depart?"

"We will be soon Captain. The men are stocking the food stores right now and we should be able to leave by noon." Killer responds.

"Come on, I told you that you and Kid don't have to call me that. We're friends, call me Rex."

Still, Rex cannot hide the grin on his face. A few weeks ago, he, Killer and Kid had multiple fights with each other to determine who would be captain.

Killer had been decimated by Kid, as his swordsmanship was ineffective against Kid's magnetism and also lost to Rex, though it was a much closer fight. After that, Rex and Kid had a long fight, lasting several hours, where Rex managed to beat Kid by a hair.

Of course, Rex's true strength came from his ability to fight together with Killer. Unlike Kelly Funk, who took complete control of his target, Rex and Killer worked together in perfect unison.

The 'Jacket Fusion' allowed the two to communicate easily and Killer would control the arms using his swordsmanship, while Rex would use his legs to flank and kick. Together, the duo could beat Kid and all the crewman with ease.

As for fusing with Kid, Rex tried that, but Kid was way too stubborn. Maybe due to his latent conqueror's haki or just his personality in general, Kid refused to be controlled, always fighting with Rex.

While Rex could force Kid to move, as long as he was worn willingly, Rex didn't want to go to that extent.

Still, from Rex's one experience in fusing with Kid, he was able to make a theory about how his fruit interacted with other devil fruits. One that he had mixed feeling about.

Unfortunately, Rex couldn't use Kid's devil fruit when they fused, but that didn't mean it was useless. Since eating the fruit, Kid had become much more sensitive to magnetism and magnetic fields. When he had fused with Kid, Rex had gained that sensitivity, being able to feel the Earth's magnetic field.

With that, Rex theorized that he could use 'passive' abilities of devil fruits, like the Gomu Gomu's resistance to blunt force attacks or the Wara Wara's voodoo dolls, but he couldn't use 'active' abilities. This meant that possessing Logia's was pointless, Zoans should be possessed when they were in hybrid form and some Paramecia's would be useful while others would be useless.

Not exactly the best news in the world, but it was far from the worst.

Eventually, the ship is fully packed, and the trio prepare to leave. Since the ship wasn't on a dock, the three have to physically push it into the water. Leaping onto as it enters the sea.

"Captain, what course should I set?"

"Kid, which way is due north?"

Kid closed his eyes, his body glowing with a purple hue. After a few seconds, he points in a direction.

"Crewman Wire, set course for 18 degrees north west."

Rex smiles, Kid was like a human compass. With his devil fruit ability, Rex was confident that when they entered the grand line, they wouldn't even need a log pose. Still, Kid refused to study up about grand line storms and tides meaning Rex would have to get a dedicated navigator later.

"So, where are we headed Cap-Rex?" Killer asked.

"Well, first, we need a map to find our way through the south blue. Then, we start finding some new comrades."

"New comrades? Why? We three alone should be the strongest!" Kid says.

"No, we need some comrades. A navigator, a cook…"

"Oh yeah we definitely need a cook. Actually, we should get three so we have spares in case their cooking isn't up to my standards!"

Rex bonks Kid on the head before continuing. "We also need a doctor, a shipwright, a scientist…"

"Scientist?" Killer and Kid ask simultaneously, finding that role a bit odd.

"Of course we need a scientist, who else can research all the cool new stuff we discover. But most importantly of all…" Rex pauses for dramatic effect.

"A demolitionist!? An assassin!? Or maybe a spy?" Kid asks.

"Or a diplomat? A combat instructor? Some nurses?" Killer posits.

"Nope, you're both wrong. The most important is a tailor! Jakekeket!" Rex says with a laugh, retreating into his chambers with that phrase.

Minutes later, Ricordo Island is merely a blip in the sea behind them. At this time, Kid, Killer and Rex all stand at the rear of the ship, sentimentality in their eyes.

While Rex wasn't too fond of the island, he was also a transmigrator who had a whole other life. Kid and Killer were born on that island. All their memories were of that island.

"Let's all make a vow."

"A vow? A vow to beat up all those nasty villagers! Sure, I'm game, let's go back now!"

"No, a vow of something we're each going to accomplish in the world. Then, only when we've accomplished it, can we return to the island and stand proudly."

Kid and Rex look at Killer, whose solemn gaze lies on the island.

"That's a good idea Killer. Kid can go first, then you, and the captain will go last."

"All right!" Kid says, pumping his fists. "My dream is easy! I want to be super strong by the time I get back. Stronger than Whitebeard!"

Rex smiles at Kid's simple dream.

"Me, I want to be the world's greatest swordsman, wielding my blades unrivaled." Killer says, clenching the hilts of his two swords.

"Then I guess it's my turn." Rex says with a grin. "I want to find Roger's legacy, the greatest memory that he left behind and proudly show it off to the world."

"The One Piece." Kid asks, with a surprised expression. It was odd that Rex who was so grounded in reason and logic would believe the old myth of the sea.

"Nah, who cares about some dumb old treasure." Rex sneers. "The true legacy is that beautiful, well upholstered ancient mantle! The pirate king's jacket!"

A gleam can be seen in Rex's eyes as he recalls that glorious jacket that Roger wore in style. The only jacket in One Piece that could be properly worn. Until he found that jacket, Rex would collect all the finest specimens of jackethood from every island he visited, searching for that special one.

"Forget about being the pirate king. Ore wa rekusu! Uwagi-ō ni naru otokoda!

(I'm going to be the Jacket King!)"