Note: So, the Adventure Time episode "Hot to the Touch" came on tv today and I got the idea for this. This can possibly turn into something more but I'm not sure.
For AceLu week. Not very birthday-y.. sorry luffy
Mentions of slavery, tyrany. Implied genocide.
Run, Run, Run
Luffy grins as his grabs onto a ledge, lowering himself slowly into a pit. Chopper sits up above, looking up at him nervously.
"Are you sure, Luffy?" The shapeshifting reindeer asks tentatively.
The adventurer smiles up at Chopper, reassuring and full of excitement. It was just the two of them exploring today, all of their nakama back on Sunny or back in the next kingdom. Everyone else had been too busy, but Chopper had been interested in finding new plants to use for medicine, but it didn't look like they would be finding any plants down there.
The pit led to flames, but if you looked close enough, you would be able to see large buildings. Naturally, Luffy wanted to explore.
"Yeah! It'll be fun! And if I'll kick anyones ass if they try anything, shishishi!" Luffy grins confidently, arms still holding onto the cliffside.
"...Okay." Chopper concedes and climbs onto Luffy's back carefully, holding on securely with his hooves. If he fell (likely, knowing Luffy's tendency to bounce), he knew his Captain would catch him.
"Alright! Let's go!" And Luffy does the exact thing that Chopper didn't want him to do.
He lets go of the cliff.
The adventurer and the hybrid reindeer start freefalling, Chopper screaming as he tries to get a better grip on his Captain and Luffy laughing with absolute elation.
They pass another cliff ledge, the flames below becoming closer and closer at an alarming rate. Luffy brings his arms backwards before snapping them forward like a whip. They stretch beyond normal size, like rubber, and grip onto the cliff ledge.
Both adventurers spring forward in the air, similar to a rubber band and land on the cliff, Chopper now laying on Luffy's stomach due to the black-haired straw-hatted Captain's quick moving.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" Chopper yells, shaking a little.
Luffy smiles cluelessly and pats Chopper's hat. "The stairs were destroyed and I thought this would be faster!"
Chopper sits up and looks behind them and it's true. A staircase begins on the side opposite them, but it ends. It looks as if it's been destroyed by flames or an explosion. The tiny reindeer swallows and crawls off of his Captain, looking around the area.
"Ah!" He points his hoof to a staircase just a little feet from them. "Luffy! There's an actual staircase! We don't have to fall the rest of the way!"
"Awww... Falling's fun, though." Luffy pouts.
"NO!" If Chopper didn't want to so anything right now, it was falling into a sea of flames. Again.
Luffy makes a little whine but complies with his doctor, taking the stairs.
It takes them longer than falling would, but they're able to see more of the area beneath them. It seems to be a Kingdom, made of dark stones and fire. A large, ornate castle sits in the middle of the city.
"Cool..." Luffy says, looking at everything his owl-like eyes can see.
When they reach the bottom of the stairs, they start seeing people. People made of flames, looking at them with fear in their eyes.
They whisper to each other in hushed voices and Chopper feels unease settle in his stomach.
"Luffy..." Chopper murmurs to the taller teen next to him, tugging on his red cardigan. "I think we should go..."
"Whaaaaat? No! We just got here! Jeez, it's really hot!" The Captain shrugs out of his cardigan and ties it around his waist. He continues to walk, sweat glistening on his chest, completly unaware of the flame people looking at the two with absolute fear and some even running away.
Soon enough, as they turn a corner and see more buildings made of fire, footsteps that sound like fast marching starts to come straight for the two newcomers.
A large group of what is definitely soliders comes into view and groups around the two like a wall. They look different than the others Luffy and Chopper had seen around the city thus far, with reptile-like skin and tongues, but their eyes glow with flames.
"Halt!" The largest of the fire-reptiles say, brandishing a large spear made of fire. "Surface goers are forbidden in the Kingdom of Fire! Surrender at once and we will allow you to retain your lives!"
Chopper tenses, but Luffy looks at the group of wall of reptiles in front of him with interest.
"Hey..." Luffy says, his eyebrows furrowing in question. "You're like a lizard, but you're... Firey. Do you poop normally? Or do you poop fire?"
The soldiers all splutter and the largest raises its spear high in the air. "Insolence! You had your chance! Soldier! No mercy! Leave not even a piece of the surface dwellers!"
"Whoa!" Luffy says, easily dodging a fire sword and kicking the soldiers down with his extended rubber leg. Chopper changed forms, turning much more taller and bulkier.
It's an easy fight for Luffy and Chopper, much easier than all of their other fights on the surface world. They defeat nearly every soldier, including the commanding officer, but have to start running once they hear other soldiers running towards them.
Luffy grabbed Chopper by the hand and led him away. Chopper, after slipping his hand from Luffy's and shifting into his reindeer form, notices that they're heading a completely different way from the stairway.
"LUFFY! WE'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!" Chopper exclaims, skidding to a stop. He knew that Luffy was almost as bad with directions as their swordsman, Zoro, but this was a complete new level of stupidity.
"No we're not! I'm not done exploring yet!"
"WHAT?!" Chopper's mouth falls open in shock as he starts running again.
Luffy only laughs in response.
He can hear the commotion going on, but Ace doesn't bother moving. The fire elemental sits in the middle of his cage, his brown eyes as deadly as they can be without turning to their black state.
For a moment he can hear a loud peal of laughter and an even louder battle roar, but it's muffled due to the hourglass he's trapped in.
He growls under his breath and his hands alight only just slightly, pressing to the glass. Quickly, he can feel his power sap out of him.
"You should know that won't work by now, dear Porgas." A condescending voice says behind his cage. He only turns his head a fraction of an inch and, lo and behold, his imprisoner smirks down at him. "You would think after seven years of this you would understand your place as a display, but I suppose you fire elementals always were terribly slow."
Ace glares with all of the hatred burried inside of him, his eyes turning from brown, to black, to a burning red.
His imprisoner sneers at him, looking disgusted. "Filthy elemental, I should have ordered your death when I had the chance. Perhaps... That will be what I do once I deal with after the surface goers are decimated."
Ace squashes the urge to roll his eyes. Over the past seven years the salamander-hybrid king had threatened to off him numerous times, perhaps a way to instill fear in Ace, but never actually went through with it. Ace was too unique of a decoration for him to simply kill.
Little did the intruder king know how bad Ace has wanted to die for the past seven years.
Luffy laughs as he punches down four more lizard soldiers. They had been fighting for a while now and some of the soldiers looked tired, but Luffy was just warming up.
Chopper fights by his side while running, shifting forms when he needs too. He looks a tired due to the heat. Luffy decides that, for Chopper, he'll tell Nami to fine a cold place for them to adventure to next
He jumps and flips in the air, kicking one soldier into a whole group of them, sending them all to the floor. They come to a fork in the road, both leading to large castle. Luffy points at the right road.
"THIS WAY!" He yells excitedly to Chopper, jumping over the bodies he knocked down with ease.
Chopper follows and halfway through the road, the air changes and becomes heavy. Luffy freezes, nearly causing the reindeer to crash into him.
Heavy footsteps echo from the fork next to them. Normally, Luffy would stretch and see what was causing the air to be so tense, but something inside of him was screaming at him. Screaming that there was something very important up ahead and he didn't have time to deal with whatever was causing the heavy atmosphere.
He starts running quicker than before once the footsteps grow smaller. The castle comes into better view in no time, flames licking up at the carefully built structure. Idly, he thinks that Robin, Nami, and Franky would like it.
They exit the fork and the castle is right in front of them, bigger than how it seemed at a distance. Luffy's eyes sparkle in excitement, unable to wait to explore it.
It's weird though, because there aren't any guards surrounding the palace. Maybe they're all back in the city, beaten up or searching for him. Luffy doesn't know, doesn't really care.
When he throws open the doors to the palace, everything is very bright for a moment. And he can hear movement, but he knows it's not from an enemy. They feel hostile, but after a moment the hostile atmosphere settles and the air becomes hesitant.
Luffy walks into the castle and the first thing he sees isn't what he expects.
It's a flame person, but he's trapped in what looks like one of Nami's hourglasses, only a lot bigger. He's made out of fire too, but he's clearly different. He looks more humanoid than the other fire beings. Dark hair frames his cheeks, his skin is tanned and looks like it had once been much more muscular. Freckles cover his body.
Something inside of Luffy feels warm just looking at him and it has nothing to do with the surrounding heat.
He's vaguely aware of Chopper closing the castle doors and barricading them with a nearby statue as he steps forward, the sound of his sandels slapping against the floor echoing in the room.
"Stop right there!" The fire person says, his voice muffled by the huge hourglass. "You're the surface goers, right?"
"Yeah, I guess." Luffy says, rocking on his heels. "Why are you in that hourglass? Isn't it stuffy? Are you a weirdo?"
"I'm not here by choice." He points above him and Luffy's eyes follow, landing on a sign.
"Former Crown Prince Ace, last of the Gol monarchy. Prize of the Salamandi Warriors."
Luffy's shoulders tense. "Are... Are you a prisoner? Are those yucky lizard guys keeping you here?"
Ace nods, hands reaching up to touch the glass. "Can't break out, they used flame resistant material to build this."
Luffy's mouth puckers and his hands clench into fists. He starts walking forward, ignoring Ace's warnings.
"I hate guys like that." Luffy says when he reaches the glass, pressing his nose against the surface. "If I break this do you wannna come with me and my friends? You could travel with us, be free."
Ace's eyebrows furrow as he looks down into the smaller ones eyes. He cannot sense a lie, only the truth and endless passion swims in his blue eyes. "Why... Why do you want to help me? I'm a stranger, I don't even know your name!"
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm an adventurer! I really, really hate guys like that and I think everyone deserves freedom! So, what do ya say?"
Big blue eyes stare at Ace, honest and accepting. It was strange; very, very strange. Since his mother had died in the siege of the city by the Salamindi, no one had looked at him with such acceptance and warmth. It made Ace's heart ache a little.
Normally, under different circumstances, Ace would not have accepted the help, but desperate time called for desperate measures.
"How can you get me out? This cage is fire resistant."
"Eh?" Luffy says, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "I don't have to wo-"
A loud banging from the door cuts Luffy off. He turns and Ace looks up, only to see Chopper running away from the door that is trying to force its way open.
"LUFFY! They figured out we were here! What are we gonna do?"
Luffy hums softly and the door creaks, almost giving out. He turns to the hourglass on his heel and smiles up at Ace, widely and brightly. He doesn't pay much attention to the short gasp from Ace. "You might wanna step back or cover your face or something!"
Ace is stunned for a moment after seeing the smile but he complies, stepping back.
Luffy's arms turn black, like an armor, and they stretch back to the door. They snap back and Ace quickly covers his face.
He hears a shatter and glass falls all over and around him. After a stunned moment Ace looks up from his arms and shakes off the glass from his hair and shoulders, looking at the the surface goer that he had met just minutes ago with awe.
"How did you do that? You look human, but that can't be possible? Humans never had those powers and last I heard, they were extinct."
Luffy laughs and pulls on his cheek which stretches abnormally. "I'm a mutant! I'm kind of human, but I'm also rubber!"
Ace doesn't get the chance to respond because the door gives up and the statues go flying.
Suddenly the heavy atmosphere is back, but it doesn't have the same effect as before. Luffy just really wants to kick this guys ass now.
But, seeing the way Ace's eyes shift from brown to pitch black, he decides that it's up to Ace to take care of.
A tall lizard man with a nasty face walks into the castle, surrounded by guards on both sides.
"So, you got free." The lizard king snears. "Are you going to attempt to leave with those... Surface goers? I suppose I will have to make sure you end up just like your dear brother, prince Sabo."
Ace tenses in the middle of Luffy and Chopper, his eyes starting to change colors in rage.
"He never did have the same kind of prowess to the skill of fire as you had, did he? But then again, your power is unlike any others."
Ace's eyes are glowing and flames start to lick at his shoulders, causing Luffy and Chopper to back up.
"Don't you dare," Ace seeths, his breath turning into flames. He begins to step forward. "Talk about my brother."
The lizard king didn't seem to detect the same danger that Chopper and even Luffy detected and smirks at Ace. "And what are you going to do about it?"
Ace's arms turn into flames and before anyone can blink, he's across the room. He shoots flames at the guards before punching the lizard king across the face with his fist of fire. The lizard king stumbles backwards, brandishes his own weapon and tries to fight back, but it's useless. In his rage, Ace is untouchable. He dodges ever swing of his past imprisoners weapon and
"You've grown weaker than what you once were." Ace says, spitting on the lizards kings face before making the creature burst into flames warmer than ones flame people typically had control of.
The lizard king screams of pain as he burns and Ace does not hesitate to take Luffy's hand and Chopper follows by closely. He guides them out of the castle, his smile fading when he exits for the first time in seven years before Luffy claps him on the shoulder with a laugh and they start running.
They run, run, run and they never stop.
(I know the ending is a bit rushed but... Oops.)