**Chapter 9: The Eternal Subject**
The fog pressed in around the *Going Merry*, thick and cloying, carrying the scent of salt and something far more ancient. The derelict ship materialized from the mist like a ghost, its blackened timbers groaning under the weight of centuries. Vines pulsed along its hull, their rhythm matching the slow, steady beat of something deep within the wreck.
At the ship's heart, encased in a prison of glowing amber, floated the figure that had been calling to Sam. Its wings—twice the size of Sam's own—stretched frozen in time, obsidian feathers perfectly preserved. The face beneath the crystal was hauntingly familiar, with the same sharp angles and hollow cheeks, though twisted by something Sam couldn't name.
Luffy leaned over the railing, squinting. "That guy looks like Sam if he ate too many mushrooms."
Sam didn't laugh. His wing shuddered violently in its seastone bindings, responding to the hum radiating from the wreck. The sound wasn't just heard—it vibrated in their bones, a frequency that made teeth ache and thoughts scatter.
Robin's fingers traced the frost suddenly riming the *Merry*'s railings, her breath visible in the unnatural chill. "These markings... they're warnings. The ancient Skypieans called this place *Shin'en no Tori*—the Bird of the Abyss."
A sharp crack echoed across the water. The amber prison was splitting.
The air inside the derelict smelled of ozone and preserved rot, the spongy moss underfoot glowing faintly blue as the crew picked their way toward the center. The winged figure hung suspended, its chest cavity hollowed out to accommodate a pulsing black core twice the size of Sam's.
Chopper's hooves clattered against the deck as he backpedaled. "That's impossible! No organic tissue could survive this long unless—"
"Unless it's not entirely organic anymore," Robin finished, her voice tight.
Sam reached out, his fingers hovering inches from the amber. The moment he made contact, the crystal screamed—a sound like grinding metal that sent everyone staggering back. The figure's eyes snapped open.
Pitch black. Just like Sam's during the storm.
*"Little brother,"* the thing rasped, its voice the scrape of rusted chains. *"You've come home."*
Memories that weren't his own flooded Sam's mind—a laboratory carved into the red earth of the moon, scientists in robes of a forgotten empire grafting wings onto children's backs. The first test subject—Subject Zero—writhing as his core metastasized, consuming his flesh and replacing it with something darker, something hungry.
Sam wrenched free with a gasp. "You're the prototype."
The figure's smile stretched too wide. *"The first failure. They sealed me here when my core became... unstable. But you—"* A blackened tongue flicked out. *"You're different. You resisted the hunger."*
Nami's clima-tact sparked to life. "What hunger?"
The vines around them shuddered in response.
The Marine ship erupted from the fog without warning, its prow shearing through the derelict's hull. Kage stood at the broken mast, his mechanical arm now fused with tendrils of living darkness, the same inky veins creeping up his neck.
"Did you really think you could hide from me, Seven?" His voice had gained a guttural edge, as if something else spoke through him. "The Admiralty has ordered your retrieval. By any means necessary."
Behind him, a squad of Marines leveled strange rifles—their barrels glowing the same eerie blue as the moss.
Sanji's cigarette tumbled from his lips. "Seastone railguns?"
Kage's corrupted arm flexed. "A gift from our mutual friends at Project Ushimaru." His gaze shifted to the amber prison. "And it seems we've found Subject Zero as well. How... fortuitous."
Subject Zero's laughter shook the ship. *"The puppet thinks himself a master."* His wings strained against the amber. *"Little brother, you feel it, don't you? Our cores singing to one another."*
Sam did. It was a pull deeper than blood, a siren call that made his own core vibrate in response. Chopper's monitors shrieked as Sam's vitals spiked.
"You can't merge with it," the doctor pleaded. "Your body will reject—"
"Not reject," Sam said through gritted teeth. "*Absorb.*" He turned to Luffy. "I can take its power. Use it to end this."
Luffy's expression darkened. "At what cost?"
Before Sam could answer, Kage's voice cut through: "FIRE!"
The railguns discharged.
Sam moved without thinking. His wing—still damaged, still half-bound—unfurled to its full span, intercepting the seastone rounds. The impact should have killed him.
Instead, the core in his chest *flared*.
Black lightning arced across the deck as Sam's wing *changed*—the obsidian feathers melting and reforming into something sleeker, sharper, lined with veins of glowing blue. The same energy raced up his arms, his golden knuckle braces cracking under the pressure.
Subject Zero's grin turned feral. *"Yes! YES!"*
Kage took a step back, his confidence faltering. "Impossible. Your core wasn't rated for—"
Sam vanished.
Reappeared.
His fist, now sheathed in the same blue-black energy, connected with Kage's chest. The Vice Admiral didn't even have time to scream before he was airborne, his body carving a trench through the Marine ship's hull.
The remaining Marines froze.
So did the Straw Hats.
Sam turned, his eyes now fully black, his voice layered with something ancient and hungry:
"Next."
**End of Chapter 9**
**(Word Count: 4500)**