A path forward

Soon after Hattori made his entrance, noise of footsteps come from outside the door as all the former members of CP9 entered inside the room after Hattori. What greet them was not only an awake but also fully healed Rob Lucci standing in silence while watching the city below from the balcony of his room.

Not even turning, he addressed his former colleges with an indifferent sounding voice, no doubt inherited from the former Rob Lucci personality.

"I assume that wretched weasel let us took the fall, right ? " Asked Lucci.

"Yes, that seems to be the case, as right now we are wanted by the W.G. We barely got out with our lives after saving you." Replied Kalifa as she touched her glasses.

"Forget about that, Lucci, what's happened to you, how did you heal so fast the doctors said it will take at least a few weeks before you could walk again?!" Said Kaku.

"Yoyoi... Is this perhaps a sign of divine intervention?" Said Kumadori.

Faced with their inquiries, Lucci did not waste any time and began to think of a way to explain his sudden change of character and his new set of powers. After struggling for some time in silence and not being able to come with a reasonable explanation, he decided to just this once use some extreme means on his colleagues.

As he managed to come to a decision, his body immediately started to change as he grew taller, his black curly hair turned red in the same manner as his eyes and beard did. But that's not all, two gigantic bat wings appeared on his back, his ears elongated looking similar to those of an elf from a fantasy world, two dangerous looking fangs grew in his mouth and his nails also grew sharper making them look like sharp knives. Red mist started to appear all around him, then the rest of the CP9 former agents felt their bodies stuck in place, unable to move as Lucci used his blood manipulation powers on their bodies making them lock in place. This power is rather strong but also limited by the power of its recipient, so it will only work on those weaker than him, but it's still a terrifying power to have!

'~~Blood Paralysis ~~' Named this new move.

'This is the first time I use my new powers, they are rather easy to understand I can't wait for a fight to test more of them, but that will have to wait for now let's get back to my team, I can't let them get too scared of me!' Thought Lucci as Jabra was already talking in the background.

"Oye!!!... Lucci what is this, release us !" Said Jabra with some fear as he looked at his former rival new change.

Without paying attention to his pleas, Lucci, started to use a higher application of his powers by combining Conqueror Haki with his Vampire powers he managed to add a new set of memories to them about how things had happened after their escape in Enies Lobby. Now, from their point of view after their escape, they somehow found a new Devil Fruit as soon as they got to this island and left it in Lucci's room waiting for him to decide what to do with it. Also, his wounds from the battle have lead to his heart to stop, thus and him dying for several minutes, just enough for him to justify that his former Devil Fruit power to be gone after which he erased the part where he used his powers on them and just left things end when he just turned into his hybrid form.

"Fine... there you go!" Said Lucci as he turned back to normal and releasing the group.

As they looked at him, about to inquire what was that form all about, they were interrupted by the serious voice of Lucci.

"I know you are all curious, so I'll clear all your doubts, after I have wakened up I realized that my Devil Fruit powers were gone I assume it has something to do with my wounds since I'm pretty sure I died for a second or two so my Devil Fruit may have reappeared somewhere else by now, Luckily it just so happen that you left a new one in the room, so I took a bet and eat it. I seem to be quite lucky since my new fruit seem to be a Mythical Zoan type and a powerful one at that, the current me can probably defeat a hundred of my former self without batting an eye!" Said Lucci with a scary grin on his face.

"Also, I seem to have awakened a strange ability that rarely appears in the world due to this whole endeavor named scrying, it allows me to see certain things in the future and from what I know the only other person who has a similar variation of this power today is a mermaid in Fishman Island." Added Lucci deciding to blame some of the meta-knowledge he will use in the future on this ability.

All the former CP9 were astonished as they heard him boasting, some even doubted his words, especially the last part. But the fact remains that a second ago, they had witnessed it first hand. His new form that looks nothing like his former Zoan Fruit convince them that he was telling the truth. Their doubts didn't last long and were soon replaced by anticipation, as a more powerful Lucci means that now they have a better chance against their pursuers. As for why they don't suspect him, maybe because they grew up together and went through a lot of things during their training and job as CP9 agents, so a sense of trust built among them abide in their own weird way.

Lucci then looked at them in a serious manner, prompting them to direct their attention to him as he spoked...

"We have to decide what are we going to do next ! You know we can't go back, not after they throw us away like that... Also, I don't even think I want to go back to being a clown under them. During this life and death even, I got a chance to revised my life so far and reflect on it, and I was disappointed to realize just how less the W.G. cares about everyone under them. I used to be called the most talented CP agent in ages but look at how I ended up... defeated... by a brat half my age, so I started thinking how could that happen, and I've come with an answer... How could an organization like W.G. not be able to arm their best weapon with a decent Devil Fruit and instead give him garbage fruit like a normal Zoan, even a random Paramecia Devil Fruit would have been better than that. Also, do you know in the second half of the Grand Line, named the New World, the most powerful people are using something known as Haki to decide who's at the top. Haki, is a powerful art which was kept secret from us, no doubt on purpose to make sure we are just good hunting dogs and nothing more... So I've decided not only I will take revenge on that waste of a human named Spandam, but I'll make myself into a legend in that sea, living the life how I want!" exclaimed Lucci with a firm face as waves of conqueror haki coming out of him.

The group belief in W.G. was shaken by the speech of their leader delivered together with his wave of haki, but they were also still confused why he was telling them this, and before they could ask he kept going.

"This is my plan for the future, I did tell you this because we have been a team since we finished our training, I trust you more than anybody else, so I'd like to officially invite you all to join my crew!" Said Lucci in a rare honest tone.

The former CP9 members were silent for a second, then looked at each other, nodding in agreement as Kaku took a step forward and replied.

"It's not like we have a better option now, do we, captain!" And so the Blood Moon Pirates were created!

"So... captain... what is your plan from now on ?" asked Kalifa obviously not used to Lucci new title.

"Hmm... for now let's go and eat and maybe have some fun, go bowling or whatever. I'm sure you guys worked hard during this few days, so a little break is in order. Also in a few days or so a pirate ship should land here, but before that happen me Kaku and Blueno will go to East Blue for a bit to get Kaku a power up, so you will have to deal with them and take their money." Said Lucci as he dressed up.

"Power up?" asked Jabra rather concern as he started to view Kaku as his rival now that Lucci is out of question.

"Yes, but don't worry, all of you will get one in due time, it only happens that this place is close to East Blue." Replied Lucci.

"May I ask how do you plan to improve our strength ?" asked Kalifa.

"Hmm... I guess I can provide you with a demonstration. Kaku come here and don't resist!" Said Lucci, as his right hand turned crimson red, he made a grabbing motion with it towards Kaku abdomen and his hand actually punctured his body only to be soon pulled out. The only difference was that now in the hand there was a strange fruit. Immediately after the shocking scene, Kaku checked his body for a wound but found nothing. This series of events left the rest of the crew utterly shocked, not even allowing them to process things up.

"Chapapa... The captain killed Kaku... eh ? Fukuro didn't even get to finish and saw Kaku still moving, which prompt him to stop mid-sentence.

"Captain that is...? " Inquired Blueno.

"This is Kaku's Devil Fruit, one of my Devil Fruit powers is called life manipulation and I can use it to extract the Devil Fruit of someone as long as they don't resist it. My plan is to change everyone Devil Fruit to a more useful one! So the reason I'll be going to East Blue this time is to get a new Devil Fruit for Kaku as for Blueno we may need him as well during our journey. His current fruit is too useful for us to change it, but I'll teach him some new ways to improve it." Said Lucci looking at the group.