RMLLD: Archipelago

Sector GoJuKyu: A Fix in Time

"Yo, kid, you okay?" An old man's voice spoke in French, and I freaked out as I scurried back a few meters on the sidewalk, and the sun came into view as I suddenly noticed my attire.

"These are... my clothes from Earth?" I muttered to myself as the old man looked at me again.

"Oh, uh, Ça va bien, merci." I quickly spoke to the man, and I ran across the street as I checked my watch.

"2:45pm, June 18, 2019." I said as I looked at my watch. "This is... three years ago?"

I quickly ran to my elementary school, where the kids poured out in glee as they were released from the clutches of 'school', and happily got in their parents' cars to take a ride home.

"What did I do that day?" I tried to think back, but my memory was failing me. "Well, I might as well take a trip to my friend's house."

I didn't know this particular friend's address until a year later, which is why I plan on surprising him. I also chose to go the long way since I didn't have anything better to do rather than check out the park that was demolished 3 years later.

As I approached the park, the sunlight seeped through the trees and the forest opened up to a large area, occupied by a few paths and a small playground. The area was silent, as if somebody replaced it with the vacuum in space.

But my calculations and observations were proven wrong as I suddenly heard a few girls arguing or talking harshly. I was curious, so I decided to run towards the direction of the noise. Although I'm in my 13-year-old body, some of my speed I gained in Argentum-Slimona.

As I approached the scene, I heard the sounds of soft sobbing. When I peeked around the corner, a bunch of girls surrounded one girl that was crying. Ah, a bullying situation. This is annoying.

I was about to leave it alone since I thought the bullies would get punished sooner or later, but I glanced at the girl's face and I realized who she was.

"Wait, isn't she..." Memories flooded into my head as I remember the quiet girl I used to watch from afar, hoping that she would notice me, even if it was just with her cold and calming gaze. Was bullying what rendered her speechless?

I couldn't stand to watch it anymore as I suddenly overheard the conversation as I approached.

"Ha! You idiot girl! Who said you could disobey us? Just because you escaped that last little feud in your neighborhood does not mean that it's over!" One of the girls, a blonde haired one, said as she kicked the victim (who I identified as my crush), and the other girls snickered.

The blonde-haired one continued to kick her before lifting her leg to deliver her last blow. "This will end your stupid looks."

"Yo! What's going on here, you bunch of noisy insects?" I said as I approached and let my aura out. Although incredibly weak on Earth, it was enough to make a presence.

"Huh? Who are you? If you don't want to get beaten up, get lost." The blonde-hair stopped as she retorted, trying to ignore the rude comment I made earlier, as if purposely avoiding the topic.

"Me? Beaten up? Hahahaha! You delusional idiots, get lost before I send you to your graves."

"You... you are..." My crush looked at me as she recognized me from the time I saved her from the boys.

"You know him? That's convenient. You can both die here!" The girl suddenly pulled out a retractable craft knife and charged at me with the blade unsheathed.

"Run away!" My crush yelled but to her surprise, the blonde-haired girl hit nothing, and I was already behind her.

"Too slow. Should I punish you for underage possession of weaponry now?" I smirked as the other girl snarled and charged at me once again.

"Well then, I'll show absolutely no mercy." I said as I reared my fist back, now coated in an extremely thin layer of barrier, and punched at the knife as my barrier broke it into pieces, and my other punch knocked the air out of the girl, who was sent flying after my punch.

"You dare hit a girl?" The other bullies yelled as I cracked my knuckles.

"You call yourselves girls? You're no better than beasts. Even if you were, I wouldn't care. I'm an advocate of true gender equality!" I was about to charge, but suddenly, four tall boys came through the forest, and stared at our situation.

"Brother!" The blonde girl yelled to one of the threatening-looking boys. "He was bullying me and stopping us from doing business!"

The boys, who looked around 18 years old, presumably almost graduates, turned on me as they cracked their knuckles as they approached. "Hey, pipsqueak, wanna fight?"

My crush suddenly grabbed onto me as I looked at her. "You can't fight them! They are the strongest four in this city! The Beasts! It's impossible to win!"

"I've never lost a fight, and I don't plan to anytime soon." I replied confidently as I took a defiant step towards the towering teenagers, who charged with their fists reared back.

"Barrier Manipulation- Dome of Exile." I whispered, and the manaki surrounded me as the pulsing dome of pinkish light surrounded my crush and myself. Their fists connected with the hemisphere of manaki, only to bounce off and cause them to yell in pain.

"What did you just do, you little twerp?" The guy asked and glared at me, but I think he finally hit my bottom line.

"Okay, to call me a twerp over and over is quite rude, don't you presume?" I said, anger radiating off my body so much that even my crush scuffled back a little. I undid the barrier, and stretched my arm back as I activated Skill-Absorb-Imprint, and Luffy's rubber body activated on myself. I sped up my own blood flow as I pumped more and more oxygen, my veins stretching and steam billowing out of my skin. I then activated a little flame magic, and sent the arm reeling back at the bullies.

"I believe you should've learned this in school, didn't ya? Newton's 3rd law of motion, right here in your face! Red Hawk!"

The flame punch hit the floor, and sent them all flying as the pavement cracked and bursted into pieces. I stood over the boys, who were now whimpering in fear as I activated the condensed air in my palm. Their leader looked up and noticed the rotating sphere, and suddenly he recognized my power.

"No way. Is that a High Compression Rasengan?" He asked me, shocked as his comrades laughed.

"No way, that thing is from an anime! That's probably just a bluff."

I then slammed it into the ground, creating a big crater around where it hit. "You think this is still a bluff?" I asked them, malice and anger dripping from my voice.

"No, no!" The bullies jumped back in fear, and I turned back to my crush. I used Skill Copy to duplicate and imprint my skill Barrier Manipulation onto her. "This will protect you now."

I then turned to the bullies and their brothers. "Protect her." I pointed to my crush. "When I return, and if you're successful, you will be rewarded greatly. Should you fail, expect the world to flip."

"You're going to leave again?" My crush asked. I winced. It was sad, but this is just a memory, is it not?

"I will, but I will return, when I'm ready and when you're ready." I answered her, sadness forming in my eyes. "But my power will protect you. Use it well."

"How can I ever repay you?" She asked.

"Maybe... just maybe... help me secure a position in this world when I return. Any position, one that feels useful enough to make a change when I come back. Because when I do return, the world will change."

I then opened the portal that led me out last time, and fell head into it as I waved goodbye to the people, hoping that at least for this timeline, I've accomplished something more here than in my own timeline.