Disclaimer.


As Ace watches Luffy's crew, he notices that all of them are fond of him. Very fond. They all call Luffy troublesome and don't hesitate to hit him (or push him overboard in the case of a fiery orange-haired cat burglar) but they all look at him with the same look.

It's the same fond look in their eyes that reassures him that they will take care of him. It's full of warmth and the promise that they're his nakama and he is their captain. They look at him like he can't do anything wrong, a child full of innocence.

But they're wrong. Luffy is a monster. The worst kind of monster.

Ace knows his brother and that they he will do anything for the people around him. Luffy'll keep out of people's fights but if you hurt someone close to him, he will hunt you down and kill them. It doesn't matter who it is: the king, Marines or pirates; Luffy will hunt them down. He won't take anything in consideration. And afterwards, he won't feel a single shred of regret or grief for the enemy.

Even if they were the enemy, they were still human and have a life. He'll think he's doing it for the good of his crew. Luffy won't feel anything when taking another person's life.

And he almost had. Twice.

The first time, it was because of Sabo.

*Flashback*

They had gotten into trouble with some of the thugs in town. The men chased them and they had fought back. They were winning and some of the men were unconscious. But then one of the men had knocked Sabo out, flinging him into a tree. It was then that Luffy went berserk, raging towards the man with his lead pipe. Luffy beat the man on the head until blood was dripping and his little brother wouldn't stop. Ace saw the look in Luffy's eyes. It was scary. Ace didn't like it. Ace stopped him and dragged him back to help carry Sabo.

Later that night, Ace had quietly remarked, "You could've killed that man today, Luffy."

Luffy looked up and his eyes darkened. "They hurt Sabo," he pointed out.

Ace frowned. "You shouldn't kill people." No, that was Ace's job, protecting his brothers. Luffy was supposed to be the innocent one, hiding behind his brothers. Ace didn't like it.

Luffy was quiet. "I'll kill anyone who hurt my brothers. I'll kill anyone who hurt my nakama," he said bluntly. And Ace knew that he wouldn't think about the other person.

The second time was when Ace was hurt. They had a run in with a bunch of bullies this time. They were just boys, a little older than them. Somehow in the entire squabble, one of them had punched Ace, hard. Hard enough to break his nose.

That was when Luffy brought out his lead pipe. They never really used their pipes when dealing with kids their age. That was a sort of an unspoken rule: Don't use the pipes if it's not dangerous. Otherwise, it would cause too much trouble.

He bashed the kid on the head and kept hitting him. The other boys were startled and went to save their friend but retreated when Luffy lashed out at them. Sabo was shouting stop but Luffy kept hitting.

It was terrifying to watch Luffy being so aggressive and he would've murdered a kid, only a bit older than him, for a broken nose. He wouldn't be affected at all. He would've cried if they scold him. Apologized, offered a small portion of his dinner but not to the kid. No, he'll apologize to his brothers. Cry for his brothers.

Luffy would maintain that innocence while murdering (almost) people. A human doesn't feel guilt if they do things that they thought was right. And Luffy wasn't going to feel guilt if he killed a man.

And that, in Ace's eyes was the worst kind of monster.

His crew would never realize that Ace's little brother is a monster. They'll blindly follow him, never questioning him.


This was something I came up with a long time ago, before I knew more about the whole crew. Set in Alabasta (obviously).