Chapter 2

Harry panicked and said, "How can you expect me to stay calm? And why do I have a bomb inside me?"

Kayla motioned to Harry to lower his voice and asked, "Don't you remember what they did to you?"

Harry answered, "No."

Kayla then explained, "I guess you lost some memories before Mystique rescued you. Your powers of knocking out people were a huge problem for these scientists. The power activated even when you were unconscious. So, the leader of this laboratory put many tiny bombs inside your body.

The bombs can last for years, but they will explode if the power in the circuit is cut off. There was another trigger to it, which was with the scientists experimenting on you. They had to keep the button pressed to prevent the bombs from exploding. So, if you used your powers and knocked them out, the button would be released and the bombs would explode."

Harry said, "That's messed up." and Mystique agreed with him.

Kayla said, "That's why we need to destroy any info on you in this laboratory. The trigger to set off your bombs uses a special frequency. If no one knows that frequency, you are safe."

Mystique then gathered all the computers and took a grenade from one of the fallen armed men. She blew up all the computers and Harry threw in another grenade just to be sure."

Harry then turned to Mystique and said, "This is not enough. I can't take any risks. Anyone from this laboratory might know about me. I need to blow up the whole thing."

Mystique replied, "You don't have to worry about that. This base is attached to a dam. All those explosions should take care of this place."

Just when Mystique finished saying that, Harry saw the ceiling crack and water started leaking through it.

Kayla said, "We have to get out of here fast."

The three of them went through a secret passage in the laboratory and got out of the base.

Harry was a little suspicious that everything went smoothly. There were no men chasing them, the base got destroyed by the broken dam.

Harry then turned to Kayla and asked, "You killed everyone of them. Aren't you also a scientist? Why would you help me escape and help us kill them?"

Mystique said to Harry, "It is because she is also a mutant like us."

"Oh. What are your mutant abilities?" Harry asked out of curiosity.

Kayla replied, "I can hypnotize anyone I touch, except you."

"Why doesn't it work on me?" Harry asked.

"Don't you remember your powers? You were able to cancel mutant abilities when you touched that person." Kayla replied.

Harry thought, 'Is my haki canceling their mutant abilities like how haki can cancel devil fruit powers?'

Harry wanted to try it out, so he coated his hand with armament haki and grabbed Mystique's hand. He then asked her, "Can you try morphing into someone else?"

Mystique nodded and tried to turn into Harry. She morphed into Harry, but the hand that was in contact with Harry was still the same, blue skin.

Mystique and Harry were amazed by what they were seeing.

Harry thought, 'Wow, this is going to scare many mutants.'

Harry then let go of Mystique's hand and Mystique returned back to her normal self. She then asked Harry, "What are you going to do now?"

Harry thought for a while and said, "I always wanted to take control of my life, but I couldn't. I was just an orphan and had to do what I was told to survive. Now that I am free and there is no one controlling my life, I want to help people like me, who have no control over their lives and have to live in fear or hide, just to live another day. I want to let people like me choose how they wish to live and do things they want to do, not what they have to do."

Mystique and Kayla just looked at him silently. Harry felt awkward after saying all those cheesy things. He meant what he said and he planned to do just that, but his reason for saying it out loud was to recruit Mystique and Kayla to join him.

Harry had a lot of enemies and he wasn't really free. To be truly free from anyone's control, he needed to grow stronger and have people to fight with him.

Mystique then said, "Fine. You can follow me if you want."

Kayla said to Shanks, "I like your goal so I will follow you for now."

"Thanks. We first need to get out of here. We can think about what to do later." Harry said because they were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but trees.

Kayla suggested, "There is a small village nearby. We can get there by sunset if we walk."

They didn't have any other options, so they headed towards the village. While walking, they got to know each other.

Mystique then realized that she didn't even know Harry's name. She asked, "It's been so long since we've met, but I still don't know your name."

"Oh, he is Ja..." Kayla was about to tell his name, but he replied before her and said, "Shanks. I want you to call me Shanks from now on."

(A/N: Even I will call him Shanks from now.)

The reason he didn't go with Jake, is because Jake's life wasn't any different from Harry's life. Both were agents for the government against their wills. Shanks was the only one among his memories who could do what he wanted.

"My real name is Raven Darkholme, you can call me Raven." Mystique said.

They then talked about themselves throughout the journey and by the time they reached the village, it was dark. This was because Shanks still couldn't walk properly.

When they arrived at the village, there were no inns or motels, but an old couple was kind enough to let them stay in their house. Kayla actually proposed to hypnotize someone to give them shelter, but thankfully that wasn't needed.

As he was sleeping, he looked at the ceiling and said to himself, "In the end, I couldn't even control my death."

The anger and frustration was clear on his face. Seeing that he was reincarnated again, he was sure that there was someone responsible for this. This is when the memories of Shanks played in his head and he said, "I wasn't strong enough to control my death."

This was something Shanks realized in the world of One Piece. Only the rich and powerful get to choose how they live their lives. The rest just have to live their lives under someone to see another day.

Shanks understood that if he wanted control over his life, he needed to become strong enough so that no one could control him.

His body had accumulated enough fatigue to interrupt his thoughts and make him go to sleep.

At midnight, when everyone was asleep, a woman with black hair and blue eyes, quietly got out of bed and walked out of a house. She headed to the telephone booth in the village and called a number.

When the other side answered the call, she said, "This is Kayla. I got him out of the lab safely. I am with him and we are now in the village near the laboratory."

The person on the other side of the call said, "Good. Keep me updated on everything he does and make sure he doesn't suspect you. Try to seduce him if necessary. I need you to stay by his side at all times."

"I still don't understand why you set him free instead of taking him to your laboratory." Kayla asked.

The person on the other side of the call replied, "You don't need to know that. Just do what you are told to do." and hung up.

Kayla then silently went back to the house and went to bed. She made sure no one saw her leave and return.

The next day, Shanks woke up and started exercising. He had lost a lot of muscle mass while he was in the laboratory and his only superpower was haki, which depended on his mental strength and physical strength. His mental strength was at its peak now with the memories of three people, but his body was very weak, especially if you compare it to the body of Shanks from One Piece.

The Shanks from One Piece could destroy a ship with a single attack and go against giants like Kaido and Whitebeard. Compared to him, the current Shanks was like a malnourished kid.

Shanks went around doing all the exercises he knew until he felt like his muscles would give up even if he took another step. Even in this state, he still helped the old couple manage their farm in return for giving them a place to stay.

At the end of the day, during dinner, the old man asked Shanks, "So, what are you doing here this far from the city?"

Shanks made up a story on the spot, "We actually live in New York. Raven wanted to do something crazy and proposed we visit some random place for vacation. We took a map, closed our eyes and chose a random spot. Our fingers landed on Alkali Lake.

After setting up our camp near the lake, we went on a stroll into the forest. That's when the dam broke. We were lucky to have wandered far from the dam and survived, but all our belongings got swept up by the water.

We asked our friends to pick us up, but they are busy with other things. We might have to find our way back somehow."

The old man nodded and said, "You kids are lucky to have survived. If you want to get to the airport, you have to catch a train or a bus to the city from the nearest town. Fortunately for you, I have some work there next week. You can wait if you want, or I can ask my friend to drop you there."

Shanks replied, "We are not in a hurry. We can wait for a week. Thanks for everything."

They then continued their dinner and after the old couple went to bed, Mystique called Shanks and Kayla to the kitchen to talk alone.

She then asked Shanks, "Do you have a plan?"

Shanks replied, "No."

"Then why did you tell that old man we want to go to New York?" Mystique asked, clearly against going to New York.

"I need to get stronger, Raven, and I can't do that here. I need training equipment and enemies to fight with. You can find plenty of these in New York. Also, we can't just live in someone's house. We need some place to live and I think a big city like New York is the perfect place to hide." Shanks explained.

"You are right, but you and I are wanted fugitives. We can't roam around freely like we can here. I don't think we can live in New York without trouble. I think we should focus on the next important thing. We have to find mutants that need our help. I know a guy in Berlin who can locate mutants. I think that should be our next destination." Raven suggested.

Shanks looked at her and said, "Raven, you said so yourself. We are fugitives. How do you plan on getting past the airport security? Kayla can only hypnotize those that she touches."

Shanks could tell that Raven didn't think this through. He also knew why Raven was completely against going to New York. The Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was in Westchester, New York. Since the government was chasing them, when Raven and Shanks fought back, Charles would definitely try and stop them. Raven didn't want to go against Charles, who had helped her ever since she was a child.

Raven thought for a while and said, "I think I know someone who can help us solve that problem. We might have to search a lot for her though."

Shanks and Kayla were confused, but still decided to trust Raven and they all went to bed. Just like the previous day, Kayla again snuck out of the house and reported everything that had happened that day.

The three of them spent a whole week helping the kind old couple while Shanks also trained constantly in his spare time. If he wasn't working or sleeping, he was training. By the end of the week, his strength had improved a bit and he had the same strength as an average adult.

After the week, the three of them travelled by various means and got to California from Canada. After they arrived in California, they checked into a hotel. Raven paid for everything during the trip and most of the money spent was on Shanks' food. His appetite had increased since his body was developing and growing.

After they rested for a day, Shanks said to Raven, "We need to at least know who we are looking for. Will you at least tell us her name or how she looks?"

Raven replied, "Her name is Emma Frost."