"Come here. What are you doing crouching over there instead of training?" Vice Admiral Darren couldn't help chuckling at Magellan's furtive posture.
This Magellan was nothing like the sinister, terrifying figure of the future. Sixteen or seventeen, horns and wings notwithstanding, he was all narrow shoulders and shy glances—a boy wearing his social anxiety on his sleeve.
"No, I can't," Magellan said, shaking his head like a rattle. His voice was muffled, hesitant. "I'm the Venom-Venom Fruit user. I constantly emit poison gas. I'm afraid I'll hurt you, Darren-sensei."
"And the others, too. That's why I haven't joined training."
He stole a look at the lively drills on the distant grounds, envy flickering in his eyes. Shoulders drooping, he murmured, "Someone like me belongs in a dark, sealed room… ideally, even my heart should be sealed away."
"This kid's surprisingly gentle…" Darren smiled, a touch of wistfulness behind it. He knew Magellan's type well: a fundamentally kind boy forced into isolation by the danger of his power. He wanted to train and roughhouse with kids his age, but he wouldn't risk harming anyone. Word was his former branch had washed their hands of him and foisted him on Headquarters.
"Don't worry. I'm not like the others," Darren said, patient and steady. "You've heard the rumors about me, right? My physique's tougher than most."
In the original story, Magellan guarded Impel Down alone, a near-unstoppable force. In that cramped, lethal maze, he achieved the legend of single-handedly defeating three Yonko. That was the Devil Fruit's terror.
Truly terrifying.
But at sixteen or seventeen, his mastery was still green. Darren didn't believe a little background poison would lay him out.
"Really?" Hope sparked in Magellan's eyes, then dimmed. He shook his head. "It's no use. Zephyr-sensei said the same thing, but after that incident, he never came within three meters of me again."
"Even Zephyr-sensei?" Darren's brow rose. "You sure?"
Magellan nodded, clutching his head. "Yep. After that day, the Chief Instructor's office toilet was clogged for three days straight."
Darren: …
Damn. Is it really that bad?
He still found it hard to believe. He'd had "guidance" from that overalls-wearing glutton, Queen; his poison resistance should be formidable.
Confident, Darren thumped his chest and grinned. "Come sit next to me. I've got an Indestructible Body. A little poison won't matter."
Magellan stared at the easy confidence in that smile, drew a breath, and crept closer.
"U-um… Darren-sensei, please be careful."
He perched beside Darren, whole body taut as if the bench were hot iron.
Darren shot him an irritable look.
He opened his mouth—and his nose twitched. A thread of purple gas slipped from Magellan's skin and drifted into his nostrils.
Darren froze. His face went rigid.
"Darren-sensei?" Magellan's voice trembled. Darren's pallor deepened to a bluish purple. "Are you okay?"
"I'm so sorry!" Magellan blanched as the Vice Admiral sat motionless, color draining. He lurched back several meters, shaking. "It's over… Even Darren-sensei's poisoned. I've killed the Marines' future admiral…"
"I killed Vice Admiral Darren…"
"I… I… I…"
His face twisted with guilt. He gritted his teeth and ripped his saber free.
"I'll commit seppuku to atone!"
Before the words were cold, he flipped the blade, shut his eyes, and drove the point for his belly—
Buzz—
A sharp hum cut the air. An irresistible force ripped the saber from his grip and smashed it into the ground beside him.
He gasped, eyes flying open.
A handsome, faintly sinister face had leaned in, close enough to startle him.
"D-Darren-sensei?"
"You're alive?!"
"Wait—stay back!"
Magellan tried to retreat, but Darren's hand clamped his shoulder, pinning him.
"Magellan…" Darren's voice was strange and hoarse, trembling as he stared into the boy's panicked eyes. "Blow out another puff of poison."
"Huh?"
Magellan blinked, bewildered.
A wisp of deep purple gas escaped his nostrils and mouth before he could stop it.
"Oh no!"
He slapped both hands over his mouth and nose—
—just in time to see Darren inhale the entire plume in one greedily deep breath.
"Y-you… No—the antidote—" Magellan's eyes filled, sweat pricking his brow.
He knew better than anyone what this venom could do. A trace could drop a dinosaur. And Darren had swallowed it whole.
It's over…
I really am going to kill Vice Admiral Darren…
Despair crumpled his features. His hand twitched toward the fallen blade.
"I never expected this… never…"
Then the Vice Admiral's eyes snapped open. The heat in them—like a sudden blaze—stilled Magellan where he stood.
"Magellan," Darren said, voice low but steady, "will you be my student? From now on, I'll oversee your training personally. Every step."
"Huh?" Magellan stood dumbstruck.
Darren's eyes shone, as if he'd just uncovered a mountain of treasure.
With that single breath of venom, he'd felt a faint but undeniable shift deep within his body…
Physique +0.04!!
To be continued...