Metal from hell

The salty taste of the ocean clung to Kid's lips as he sank toward the seabed. A crushing pressure bore down on his chest, but it was nothing compared to the weight of his last failure.

Memories of the battle replayed in his mind like a cruel joke: Killer, unconscious and lying in a pool of his own blood. His crewmembers, pleading for Shanks to show mercy as they surrendered their Road Poneglyphs. And Shanks himself, standing tall with that cold, pitiless stare as he approached Kid with murderous intent, ready to end their ill-fated relationship.

"Have I… failed?" Kid's thoughts churned, the words bitter in his mind. He couldn't believe it, even as the ocean swallowed him whole. His crew, their ship, their dreams—all of it had sunk alongside him, ending the great saga of the Kid Pirates in one short, humiliating battle.

"No… Akagami no Shanks! I will… kill you… one day for sure!" Kid roared inwardly, rage burning so fiercely that it drowned out the cold grip of death. He clawed at the encroaching darkness, cursing Shanks with every ounce of his soul. But even someone as notorious as Eustass Kid, couldn't fight forever. Death tightened its grip, and his body went limp.

Darkness claimed him. It was his end.

As Kid drifted into the abyss, he felt his soul being pulled from his lifeless body. It wasn't gentle—the force yanked at him, dragging him through the inky void like prey caught in a predator's jaws. A fiery gate loomed ahead, its jagged edges glowing crimson, as if forged by a demon. The heat seared him, even from a distance.

"Let me go… you bastard!" Kid roared into the void. Even now, when all seemed lost, his will remained unbroken. He fought against the unseen forces dragging him forward, thrashing and cursing. His soul refused to bow, refused to surrender.

The gate loomed closer, its molten glow intensifying. But just as Kid's soul crossed the gate, something shifted. The oppressive pull faltered, and out of nowhere someone or something yanked him back, out of hell.

"An interesting little soul finally appeared." a deep, mocking voice thundered in his mind. "Fighting even at the edge of oblivion. I like that." It sounded amused, like it was laughing aside a child's tantrum.

"Well then, little soul, I have an offer you can't possibly refuse," the voice continued, its tone filled with grave authority, clearly underestimating Kid's reckless and unyielding nature.

"Who are you? I am already pissed as is, so either show yourself or fuck off," Kid spat, despite his confusion.

The voice chuckled. "Impatient, aren't we?" No sooner had the words left his mouth a tall figure materialized before him, wreathed in shadows that seemed to twist like a living thing.

His spiky hair framed a face shrouded in darkness, save for his piercing eyes that glowed with a cruel light. In his left hand, he held three flaming chains, each coiled tightly around the necks of familiar souls. "Captain…" One soul weakly muttered.

"Killer… Heat… Wire…" Kid's eyes widened as recognition struck. His crewmates were bound and helpless, their faces twisted in pain.

"You bastard!" He instantly snarled, his body or rather soul lurching forward in a desperate attempt to free them.

"Not so fast, newbie" the figure chided, amused. More chains erupted from his hand, wrapping around Kid, stopping him in his tracks.

"Why don't you first listen to my… 'offer,' little soul?" The man's voice dripped with mockery as he stepped closer, his cold eyes piercing straight into Kid's defiance.

Despite searing chains tightening around him, Kid's glare didn't falter. "Let them go, or I'll kill you!" he growled through clenched teeth.

The man chuckled. "That's not how this works. But don't worry, Kid… you'll find my terms quite generous. After all, I'm offering you lot a chance to rewrite your stories."

Kid's eyes narrowed, taking a long second to comprehend what he just heard. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The figure's smile widened. "You'll see soon enough."

…

South Blue, 1520

A rancid smell of oil and decay lingered in the air as Eustass Kid's eyes shot open. He gasped, his hands clawing at the damp cobblestones beneath him. For a moment, he thought he'd feel the cold embrace of the seabed, but instead, he felt uneven stone beneath his fingers.

He scrambled to his feet, his head spinning as he scanned his surroundings. The broken windows, the abandoned houses, the faint echoes of drunken brawls and gunshots—it all felt painfully familiar.

"No way…" Kid muttered. His heart pounded as his eyes darted to his left arm. It was there, whole and unscarred, albeit leaner and less muscular than he was in the new world. "My arm… it's back?"

He flexed his fingers, disbelief coursing through him. This wasn't the afterlife, nor was it some cruel illusion. This was Iron Town. Largest city on Kutsukku Island, where he was born.

A crooked grin spread across Kid's face as the pieces fell into place. The ramshackle streets, the faint smell of desperation that clung to the air—it all matched his memories perfectly. Today was the day.

"Did that bastard really send me back to this time?" Kid murmured. He clenched his fists, his grin widening into something dangerous.

Today was the day Killer and him originally avenged Victoria, who was killed by the 'steel-hounds' the ruling gang, which was controlling Kutsukku Island. Together with Heat and wire all four led their respective gangs in an uprising, ultimately clenching an overwhelming win. Kid's grin widened even further making it look way creepier than it was before.

"Haaaa… Fine then! Let's sort things out one after another." Though that's what he said, what he meant was: "Time to seriously blow off some steam!"

He decided to take control of this Island once more, before talking to Killer, Heat and Wire, whom he believed to also have regressed. Enormous magnetic forces erupted from his body, attracting every metallic object within a certain radius.

"Hey! What the hell?!"

"Son of a gun, is Kid fighting nearby?!"

Men of his own gang as well as members of steel hounds lost their weapons and were frantically looking for Kid, just in case they had to avoid ending as casualties in some back alley.

It didn't matter whether it was a gun being used in a battle or a simple fork left behind in one of the many houses. Cogwheels, steel beams and even pipes got ripped out of the ground. He caused a tidal wave of metallic objects to flood towards him before assembling what he needed into a huge, bull.

"Punk Corna Dio!"

Luckily for all weaklings, Eustass showed no interest in small fries as he mounted his creation, speeding of towards the city's northern outskirt, where a huge, fortified mansion served as the headquarters of the steel hounds.

Meanwhile

Right in front of mentioned mansion, a battle was taking place. The Heat-, Wire-, and Killer-Gangs were already engaging their enemies in a shootout at the southern outer wall of the fortified mansion.

"Tsk! So uselessly persistent." Wire spat, visibly fed up with how long their enemies held out. He together with Heat and Killer were commanding their offense from a small hill just outside the enemies' firing range, though no one seemed like they were taking this seriously.

"What's the rush?" Heat inquired. "It's going just as it originally did, isn't it?"

"That's exactly my problem. Given how far we made it into the new world and how many battles we survived, shouldn't crushing those mutts be an easy game? Why are we commanding troops instead of just breaking through? Aren't we more than strong enough now?"

Standing with his arms crossed and an expression as if he stepped on shit, Wire continued to talk about his dissatisfaction.

"I know that currently we are not as physically strong as we were before our regression but you two must have noticed how our haki changed ever since coming back from hell. Both, quantity and quality are on a completely different level, not to mention how easy it got to use it. It's following my will almost on its own"

As if to proof a point, Wire raised his left arm and covered it in armament haki, before displaying a silly show of fine control. Instead of the whole arm turning black, he used his haki to "draw" small circles and rectangles which, once linked together, formed tens of chains that ran up his arm.

"That's probably because we died. I don't know how or why but haki seems to be a power, connected to one's soul and while death carried ours' through the gates of hell, I for once felt my soul's core in its purest form." Heat had noticed his enhanced haki-potential as well and already came up with a theory.

"Being somehow affected by such an experience was inevitable, especially since we were brutally tortured before coming back. Though I was asking why you're rushing to finish it before the captain arrives?"

"Why shouldn't we? Is there a need for captain to make a move against these mutts? Do tell old mate… while helplessly sinking to our deaths didn't it bother you?" Both men looked at Wire urging him to continue talking.

"During every fight we fought, Kid stood at the front till the very end. Attacking, tanking, commanding, he did everything. Did we ever win something for him? Admitted our crew fought no easy fights, but isn't that more reason why we should have proven ourselves more dependable on countless occasions? Even now we are waiting for our captain more out of a habit than out of necessity. Why don't we just finish things and present him their heads and headquarters on a silverplate when he arrives?"

Hearing Wire's bitter but sharp criticism sure struck a sore chore in Heat. Even before regression he sometimes felt like their captain wasn't fighting with them but for them, with Killer being the only one Kid would count on at times.

"Hmm." Heat took a second to contemplate while painful memories resurfaced. When Shanks interrupted Kid's move and sent him flying, all he could do was 'plead' by 'offering' what red hair would have taken on his own, anyway. Only Killer moved to fight even though he got done in as well.

"You make a good point there." Heat's face crumbled into a sour and bitter expression as he turned towards Killer. "What do you say? Should we move for Kid instead of with him and finish up before he gets here?"

"What do I say?" Killer glanced at them for a second before casting his gaze behind where they stood. "I say this discussion just became useless."

A few seconds later they felt a light tremor beneath their feet just when a quickly approaching, large cloud of dust entered their field of view.