I wasn't planning on writing another One Piece story this soon, but this idea popped into my head and I had to write it down.
In one of the flashback episodes with Ace, Sabo, and Luffy there is a scene where the trio were jumped by the Bluejam's pirates as they were rummaging through Gray Terminal. They were actually doing well against the pirates until one of them pulled a gun and they all understandably panic and try to get out of the line of fire, including Luffy who tried to hide himself behind a piece of wood. When I watched that scene, I wondered when Luffy learned that bullets could not harm him. This story explores this idea.
Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I am nowhere near that awesome.
Bulletproof
Luffy moaned in annoyance as the sunlight hit his eyes, breaking him out of his sleep. He didn't want to wake up. He was having a wonderful dream about sailing the seas and finding the legendary island of Meat. He was just about to take his first bite of a juicy steak when he was rudely awakened. Why do dream always end at the best part?
"Time to wake up, Luffy," the voice of his older brother urged as he felt Ace gently nudge him.
Luffy responded by pulling the covers over his head. If he was lucky, he maybe able to get back to his dream and finished his steak.
"Fine, I guess I get to eat your share of breakfast," Ace said nonchalantly.
This caused Luffy to shoot right out of bed, knocking the covers off. "Don't you dare!"
Ace gave a good nature laughed as he patted his baby brother's shoulders. "Using your love for food never fails."
Luffy grumbled something under his breath as he stretched his limbs.
Ace quickly noticed that Luffy's nightclothes were much too small for the boy's ever growing limbs. Almost half of his arms and legs hung out, making him look even lankier than he already was, especially now that he was beginning to burn the last of his baby fat.
"We need to go shopping today once we finished at the exchange," Ace said. "You're beginning to outgrow all of your clothes."
Luffy looked down at his nightclothes and pulled on his shirt. "They have been getting a little tight lately."
"That's because you're finally beginning to grow," Ace said in good humor. "Maybe eventually, you will also grow a chest too."
Luffy glared at his older brother. Ace knew that his brother was jealous of the six-pack that he had spent the entire summer developing. As hard as Luffy trained, he couldn't seem to develop one of his own.
"Hey, you no good brats!" a loud voiced yelled from downstairs. "You're breakfast is ready!"
This was Luffy and Ace's cue to run downstairs as quickly as possible. If there was one thing they had learned by living with Dadan it was first come, first serve when it came to food.
Breakfast was fast and hectic with both Luffy and Ace stealing eat other food and trying to keep their own plates safe from the other thieves. It wasn't until almost all the food was gone that things began to settle down and everyone began to eat normally.
"So, what are you troublemakers up to today?" Dadan asked in her best, 'I don't give a damn', voice.
"We're going to finally turn in the gold we stole the other day and buy Luffy some clothes," Ace answered as he took a bite of his eggs.
"Oh, you mean the gold you pillaged from one of the nobles?" Magra asked. "Isn't it kind of dangerous to return to Goa this soon? You did knocked off a powerful family and they will be looking for you."
Ace shrugged. "I already know how to bypass them. Besides, what good is gold if you can't spend it."
Dadan took a huge bite of her pancake. "I have to admit, you have some balls. Stealing from thieves and pirates is one thing, but it is something different to steal from the nobles. You can never underestimate their influence."
"Hey, it was that stupid noble's fault for going around town bragging about the big shipment he had coming in and then leaving the ship alone overnight with such modest security. If we didn't rob him, someone else would have," Ace said.
"I still find it strange that a noble would be that callous with their money. Those pieces that you stole aren't just for vanity," Dogra said, trying to hide his worry.
"You and Luffy also have been targeting the nobles more and more lately," Dadan said as she tried vainly to hide her concern.
Ace put his head down, not wanting to meet Dadan's eyes. He knew what she was thinking. Dadan may act dim at times, but she was much smarter than most gave her credit for. She knew that their recent attacks on the nobles were his way of avenging Sabo.
The nobles in the city may not have directly killed Sabo, but it was their system of oppression that pushed Sabo out to sea that day. As far as he was concern, they all had blood on their hands. He may not have the power to physically oppose their system, but he was more than able to hit them where it hurt most, their pocketbooks.
"Just be careful, okay," Dadan finally said. "I don't want to come to your brats rescue again."
"Don't worry, we're more than strong enough to take care of ourselves." Luffy grinned as he flexed his right arm. "My punches are stronger than ever."
"At least you've stopped hitting yourself," Ace said with a smirk on his face.
"That's not funny, Ace!" Luffy yelled.
Ace just laughed as he finished his food.
Once breakfast was over, Ace and Luffy prepared for their trip. Since they were wanted within the Goa Kingdom, they had to dress in cloaks and hoods to get inside the city. Thankfully, even if they were recognized as thieves, the patrols outside the Great Gate were easily bribed to look the other way.
"Be careful with that sack, Luffy," Ace warned as he lifted a heavy bag of gold over his shoulder. "We can't afford to drop anything, especially in Gray Terminal."
Luffy picked up his own bag with ease. He knew all too well that going to Gray Terminal with any kind of valuables was dangerous given the amount of murders that happened there in a given day.
"Take care!" Magra yelled as he waved the boys off. "Hope you buy yourselves something nice."
Pochi also barked his goodbyes.
"Hold down the folk, Pochi!" Luffy yelled back.
Their walk was long and silent since they had to take several detours to keep from running into wild animals. As strong as they were, it still took both of their efforts to take down a Goa Beast.
After about an hour of walking, they finally reached the entrance of Gray Terminal. The smell of decay and rot was still something Luffy couldn't get used to. It was still hard to believe that Sabo was able to live here by himself for a number of years.
"Luffy, stay by me," Ace said as he kept his senses opened.
Even though Gray Terminal had become a lot safer since the death of Bluejam it was still a place that shouldn't be taken lightly. It didn't help that some of the nicer people that once lived in the scrapheap died in the fire a couple years ago.
As they were making their way though the junkyard, they ran across three dishevel men who were blocking the road to the Great Gate.
"Hey, what ya got in the bags?" one of the men, who were eating a rotten apple, asked.
"Nothing that you need to know about," Ace answered curtly.
The other man chuckled. "What a rude little thing. I bet it's filled with stuff we can sell within the city."
The man next to him smiled as he wiped some dirt off his nose. "I can smell gold coming from those bags. No doubt about it."
The first man stood up and pulled out a large knife. "Pickings have been light lately and I haven't had a good meal in over a month. How about you be good boys and hand over your sacks."
"I have to decline," Ace said in a deadpan voice.
"Yeah, steal your own gold," Luffy said.
The other men stood up and took out their own knives. "That wasn't a request."
"Just hand over the gold. It would be ashamed to add to the body count here," the third man threatened.
"I agree," Ace said. "Added your bodies to this dump will only make it stink worst. Although, I can't imagine your rotten remains smelling even worst than you do now."
The first man's eyes narrowed. "You son of a bitch."
Luffy turned towards his older brother. "Hey Ace, I can handle them."
Ace glanced at Luffy for a moment. Normally, he would fight against any thugs that bothered them while Luffy watched over their stuff. Luffy had gotten stronger and was fairly capable of taken care of himself for the most part, but he wasn't sure if Luffy was ready to fight solely, especially against armed murderers. Then again, if Luffy wanted to become a pirate, he had to learn to fight by himself. He couldn't look after him forever.
"Fine, just be careful," Ace said. If anything happened, he could easily jumped in.
Luffy gave a wide grin as he put down his bag. He was ready to show his brother how far his training has come.
"Stupid kid, it's your funeral," one of the men said as he charged Luffy.
Luffy easily sidestepped the clumsy knife thrust and shot his hand back. "Gum Gum Pistol!" His arm snapped forward and hit the first man right in his face, breaking his remaining teeth.
The man gave a cry of pain as he fell unconscious onto the ground.
"The hell, his arm stretched!" the second man yelled in disbelief. "Is he some kind of demon!?"
The other man stared at Luffy for a moment before he dropped his knife in horror. "It...it's one of those demon brats! The ones who always cause trouble in High Town!"
The second man stared at his partner in disbelief. "What...are you sure!?"
The man nodded. "I heard one of them had the power of the devil. That boy is a cursed monster!"
"Damn, let's get out of here!" the other man yelled as they both ran off, leaving their down partner to fend for himself.
Luffy inwardly wretched at their words. He should be used to it by now being called a demon, but the word still stung. Shanks had warned him after he had eaten his Devil Fruit that some people would fear him and call him a monster, but he didn't think too much of it at the time since most people outside of Foosha saw him as abnormal long before he had gotten his powers. But the fear those men showed was something he used to see only in children his own age. It didn't seem right for full-grown men to run in terror of him.
"Hey Luffy, you're alright?" Ace asked gently.
He knew the word demon bothered Luffy, just as it bothered him when people mentioned his father. He didn't know much about Luffy's past before he came to the mountains, but he did remember their grandfather saying he brought Luffy to Dadan not just for training, but also for his own protection. From what he had gathered, Luffy wasn't all that popular among the children back at his home because of a certain incident and him having a Devil Fruit was just a step too far for some of them.
Luffy nodded his head and smiled. "Of course I am."
Ace wanted to say something, but chose to drop the subject. "We better get moving before more thugs try to mug us."
The rest of the walk towards the Great Gate was uneventful and several guards soon greeted them.
Ace quickly showed them the passes that he stole a couple days ago and they were allowed to enter the city without any fuss. Once inside, they took off their cloaks since it was fairly warm today.
"So, where is the exchange building?" Luffy asked. "Is it in Town Center?"
"Of course not. We would have to answer too many questions to the teller if we used the exchange in Town Center," Ace said. "There should be an exchange in Edge Town that we can use that won't ask any questions about where the gold came from. Dadan goes to that one all time when she has business here."
After several more minutes of avoiding the local gangs and patrols, they reached what looked to be a rundown building near the edge of the wall. The area of town was also low even by Edge Town's standards.
Ace quickly had second thoughts when he saw the building and the lowlifes that hung outside the entrance. Half of them looked like they haven't had a bath in over a year and the other half looked like complete drunks. He should had figure as much for any place Dadan hung out.
Nonetheless, the two brothers made their way inside and were greeted by a man with one eye who was behind a desk. He also wore a thick black cloak that covered his face and his skin was extremely pale. He looked like a person who would be more suited running a slave chain than an exchange office.
"What do you want?" the man asked rudely.
"We're here to make an exchange," Ace said, trying to hid his annoyance. He already hated this guy.
The man snorted. "What can a couple of kids offer me, candy? You can't be no more than eight or nine."
"I'm ten," Luffy answered brightly.
"Same different," the man mocked.
Before the man could say anything further, Ace put down his sack and pulled out a large gold bracelet with several precious gems that ranged from diamonds to sapphires.
The teller's eye widened in disbelief.
"I guess we should take our business elsewhere," Ace said neutrally as he swung the bracelet back and forward on his finger.
"Oh, there's no need for that!" the teller exclaimed as he waved his hands. "Please, come inside so we can discuss this in private."
Ace put the bracelet back into his bag. Young or old, the power of money was universal. It was probably the only reliable thing around these parts.
The teller moved from behind his desk and led the boys into the furthest office of the building. It was fairly big with a large desk near the middle of the room with two chairs and a worn out sofa tuck away into one of the corners. There was a single window in the room that provided the only source of light, giving the area a feeling of foreboding.
"Please, relax while you wait for my boss," the teller said.
Ace gave him a suspicious look. "Can't you make the exchange?"
"Oh, for big exchanges like this, only our boss is allowed to handle it," the teller said. "He's away at the moment, but I will call him right away."
Ace had a really bad feeling about this. He was beginning to wish he had taken his chances and went to an exchange in Town Center. But they were in this too deeply to just walk away now.
"I guess we have no choice," Ace finally said.
The teller nodded his head. "Please make yourselves comfortable." He then closed the door behind them, leaving them alone in the room.
"This place is creepy," Luffy said as he looked around the room.
"Tell me about it," Ace said. "I'm beginning to wonder if they exchange money or body bags here."
"Why would they exchange bodies?" Luffy asked innocently.
Ace didn't want to answer that question. From what Sabo told him, it was good business in the city to sell dead bodies for their organs among other things. This town really was sick.
They both took a seat and waited for what felt like hours for the boss to come. Ace amused himself by tapping his fingers against the armchair, while Luffy kept shifting back and forward in his seat. He had looked uncomfortable for quite awhile.
After over an hour had passed, Luffy turned to face his brother. "I have to pee."
"Really, you want to use the bathroom here?" Ace asked in disbelief. He wouldn't even send Pochi to pee around here. "I told you to go before we left anyway."
"I didn't have to go then," Luffy moaned.
Ace gave a loud sigh. Seriously, Luffy could be such a baby at times. "Fine, just don't be gone for too long. You're liable to get stab on the stool around here."
Luffy wasted no time jumping out of his chair and rushing out the room. He ran around the building several times searching for the bathroom, but all he found were old offices. Before long, he accidentally ran into the teller in one of the hallways. The man looked terrified to see him for some reason.
"Sir, what are you doing out of the room?" the teller asked nervously. "You're not thinking of taking your business elsewhere?"
"No, but where's your restroom?" Luffy asked as he did a little dance. His bladder felt like it was going to explode.
The teller looked greatly relieved. "We don't have a restroom here, but you can use the back ally to do your business."
Luffy crinkled his nose at the suggesting. Even by his standards, that was nasty. But he really couldn't be picky at the moment.
"Fine, thanks a lot," Luffy said as he ran out the nearest door.
"You didn't send him away, did you?" a large man asked as he towered over the teller, causing him to jump back in fear.
"No sir, he just went to use the restroom outside," the teller said as he trembled in place.
The man stroked his thick black beard in thought. "This will due. We can take care of him outside. Send our men to get the job done."
"What of his brother?" the teller asked.
"I will deal with him personally," the man smiled, showing his yellow teeth.
Unaware of any of this, Ace began to lose patient as he waited for the boss of this place. How long did they intend to make him wait?
Just as that questioned entered his mind, the door opened. "Sorry for the long wait. I just had some business that I needed to take care of before seeing you."
Ace looked up to see a giant of a man standing at the door. He had a thick unruly black beard that matched his stone cold eyes. The business suite he wore did little to hide how muscular the man was. Ace knew just by looking at him that this man had broken more than a few necks in his time. He better stay on guard.
"No problem. We just have to wait for my little brother," Ace said, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Oh, there is no need for that," the man said calmly. "We can get most of the petty details out of the way before he returns." He then paused for a second. "Forgive me, I'm being rude. The name is Tookie, but you may call me Mr. S."
Ace flinched when he heard the name. He knew of Mr. S. Everyone who lived in Goa did, no matter what part of town you lived in. He ran most of the underground crime syndicates within the city. His 'businesses' stretched as far as prostitution, child labor, slavery, and even murder. Rumor even had it that he was in good standing with some of the nobles and even the Royal family. Given his previous dealings with the Bluejam's pirates it wouldn't surprise him if those rumors were true. Dammit, how did Dadan get him mixed up with a scam bag like him?
"What is your name, boy?" Mr. S asked.
Ace wasn't sure if he should give him his name given this man's record. "Ace."
Mr. S smiled. "What, no last name?"
Ace shook his head. "Just Ace."
There was no way in hell he was given this man his full name. Even though most people mistakenly calls his father Gold Roger instead of Gol D. Roger he didn't want to take any chances of this man connecting any dots. He really needed to change his last name one day.
"Okay, Ace, what can I do for you today?" Mr. S asked he took his seat.
Ace picked up the two sacks of gold and laid them on the table. "I want to exchange this gold."
Mr. S gave a loud whistle. "How did a little boy like you get your hands on such a stash?"
"I have my methods," Ace answered curtly.
"I see, don't want to name your sources. I can understand that," Mr. S said as he opened the bags of gold. He examined each piece with a magnifying glass that he had on his desk. "These are some high quality pieces you have here. Even the cheapest on this table would fetch a couple hundred belli."
"So, how much is the total worth?" Ace asked impatiently.
Mr. S paused in thought. "I would estimate that these bags of goods could fetch well over one-hundred million belli."
Ace had to fight to keep a poker face when he heard the number. That was more money than both Sabo and he stole in two years. If he knew a couple bags of gold stolen from a noble would go for that much, he wouldn't had wasted his time stealing from pirates.
"It looks like you hit the mother load, kid," Mr. S said as he put down his magnifying glass. "One could only wish to get this lucky on one haul."
Ace simply nodded.
"Although, I do find it interesting that this is the same amount of gold that was reported stolen from one of the noble's ships just the other day," Mr. S mentioned casually.
Ace glared at the man. "I didn't think stolen goods would be an issue for a man like you."
Mr. S leaned back into his chair. "You're right. I don't care if something is stolen when it comes to me. If a person is careless enough to lose their property, they deserved to have it stolen." His eyes closed for a moment. "But you see, the person you stole from happens to be a very important client of mines."
Ace felt himself stiffened. He was beginning to realize that he has made a big mistake.
"Being the rich bitch that he is, one-hundred million belli means nothing to someone like him. What has him enraged, however, is the fact that someone would dare steal from him knowing that he has connections to me," Mr. S said as he fingered a piece of gold. "You see, for a healthy fee, that man borrows my name to keep thieves, like you for example, from raiding his stuff since everyone knows who really runs this city."
Ace never took his eyes off the man. He had an idea where this was building to. He inwardly cursed himself for being so stupid. He knew the patrols around the ship seemed light, but he figured it was because the noble was an arrogant asshole and didn't want to pay for proper security.
"You must see the problem in this," Mr. S continued in a pleasant tone. "By you stealing from that man, you have undermine me and put my business at risk. If anyone was to learn that someone had the balls to rob a client of mines and get away with it, it will bring into question my ability to bring fear and would cause the rise of others to challenge me."
"So, you have to kill me. Is that what you're trying to say," Ace said with no trace of fear.
"Since you're a child, I will assume you didn't know these facts, but as the marines say, ignorance is no excuse for a crime," Mr. S said. "Once I've bring you and your brother's bodies to the nobles, this city will learn once again why I'm not one to mess with."
At that very moment, Ace heard several gunshots outside, causing his heart to freeze in place. "LUFFY!"
"Don't be sad," Mr. S said almost cruelly. "You'll be joining him shortly."
A few minutes earlier: Luffy was not please about relieving himself in the filthy alley. It smelt badly of other people's pee as well as vomit. Thankfully, no one decided to take a dump in the alley too.
Nonetheless, Luffy gave a sigh of relief as he empty his bladder. Being rubber, he could hold his pee much longer than most normal people, but even he was full. Guess he shouldn't have drank all that water before coming here.
"Hey, is that one of them?" someone from behind Luffy asked.
"Of course, how many people around here wears a strawhat," someone else said.
Luffy didn't pay too much attention to the conversation since he was used to it by now. Ace and he had build up a reputation in Edge Town and it was common for people to point and stare at him.
What he wasn't expecting, however, was the sounds of several guns cocking. Luffy turned around to see several people aiming their shotguns at him. He felt his heart stopped as he realized that they were also blocking the only exit to the alleyway. He was trapped.
"So, you're one of the demon brats," one of them mocked. "Don't seem like much to me."
Luffy was frozen in place as he considered his options. Even if he ran as fast as he could, he could never stop them before they fired at him. His only other option was to climb the wall using his powers, but that would mean abandoning Ace.
The leader of the group seemed to have read his thoughts. "We know of your powers and we won't give you the time to escape. You're maybe a monster, but even a freak like you can't outrun a bullet."
"Shit..." Luffy muttered under his breath.
"FIRE!" the leader yelled as all the thugs shot at Luffy. The impact of the bullets sent Luffy flying back into the wall and he could feel each person unload their ammo into him.
Was this the end? Was he really going to die like this? Was he going to die before he could even go out to sea and fulfill his dream? It couldn't end like this. What about his promise to Shanks and his brothers? He couldn't die here.
The gunfire was deafening and soon Luffy couldn't hear anything. Strangely, he felt no pain either. Yes, he felt the sting of the bullets hitting him, but that was as far as it went. He remembered people saying how one could go into shock if they experience too much pain at once. Was that happening to him?
As soon as it had started, it was over. Luffy fell back to the ground and sat there for a long moment. He was shaking from shock and could feel his heart pounding in his chest. How was he still alive?
Luffy was knocked out of his trance like state when he heard the cries of pain around him. He looked up to see that most of his assaulters were on the ground, nursing gunshot wounds.
"GODDAMMIT, I'VE BEEN SHOT!" one of them screamed.
"Dammit, how did I get hit by a ricochet!?" another person yelled. "We were no where near the wall!"
"I think it happen when we hit that kid," one of the men said. "Did his skin just stretch?"
"Impossible," one of them dismissed. "You're just seeing things."
Once Luffy's head was cleared, he slowly stood back up, shocking all his attackers.
"What the...how the hell are you still alive!?" the leader yelled in incredulity. "We filled you with more holes than a fishnet!"
"Maybe he really does have the powers of the devil," a man said in horror.
"What...?" Luffy started as he felt all over his body. To his surprise, he was left mostly unharmed. He did, however, have bruises starting to form over his arms, legs, and chest.
The leader growled in frustration as he pulled out a handgun and walked towards the stun boy.
"Die, already!" the leader yelled as he shot Luffy point blank in the heart.
Luffy was thrown back by the impact, but he felt his skin quickly begin to stretch as the bullet attempted to penetrate him. After a moment, his skin recoiled and the bullet bounced off of him and hit the leader right in his chest.
The man grasped in pain and shock as he collapsed to the ground.
"Boss!" the other men yelled in terror.
Luffy looked down in surprise at his own body. He slowly began to realize that bullets couldn't harm him.
"That...that boy really is a demon!" a man screamed in terror.
"Screw this, I don't get paid enough for this!" one of them yelled before they all retreated.
Luffy paid them no mind as stood completely still, dumbfounded by his own ability. His trance was broken, however, when he remembered something more important.
"Ace!" Luffy yelled as he ran back into the exchange building. It didn't take him long to run down the halls and enter the room where he had left Ace.
When he entered the office, he saw Ace on one knee as a large man loom over him. The office was nearly completely destroyed; showing that one heck of a fight had broken out. Mr. S looked up and was completely surprise to see Luffy.
"What the...how are you still alive?" Mr. S demanded.
Ace turned to face his brother and pure relief shone on his face. "Luffy, thank god you're okay."
"Dammit, can't anyone do their job around here?" Mr. S questioned in annoyance.
"Ace, some guys outside tried to kill me," Luffy said in a near panic.
"I know," Ace growled. "This guy set us up."
"But why?" Luffy asked.
"I'll explain later," Ace said as he stood up.
"I don't know how you survive, but neither one of you will be leaving here," Mr. S said coldly. "I'll kill you both myself."
Luffy grit his teeth. "Just try it!"
Ace suddenly grabbed Luffy by the arm and he bolted out of the room. "He's too strong!"
"STOP THEM!" Mr. S yelled as he chase after them.
Ace looked behind him and was surprise to see Mr. S right on there tail. For such a big man, he could really move.
"Stop right there!" the exchange teller yelled as he pulled out a huge shotgun and attempted to gun down the duo.
"Shit!" Ace cussed as the bullets headed towards them.
"I got this!" Luffy exclaimed as he jumped in front of his older brother and took the bullets right in the chest.
"Luffy!" Ace yelled in horror.
The teller grinned victoriously. "Gotcha."
To everyone's surprise, however, the bullets bounced right off of Luffy and nearly hit the teller instead.
"THE HELL!?" the teller yelled.
"Luffy..." Ace started, but felt his words die in this throat.
Luffy smiled as he turned towards his brother. "Ace, I've just found out. I'm bulletproof!"
"Bulletproof?" Ace repeated in shock.
Now that he thought about it, it did make sense. When he sparred with Luffy, he seemed almost immune to any blunt attacks. While his punches and kicks could break any normal person's bones, it merely stuns Luffy for a few minutes. Looks like being made of rubber wasn't such a useless power, although, he would never tell Luffy that.
"So what if he can reflect bullets!" Mr. S yelled as he quickly approached them. "Cut him open if you have to!"
The teller quickly regained his bearings and pulled out a large dagger.
Ace took this as his cue to leave and once again dragged Luffy by his arm. Since the doorway was blocked, Ace chose to jump through one of the side windows. He felt a slight sting from the glass cutting into his legs and arms, but that hardly slowed him down.
Ace could hear Mr. S yelled for more people to go after them.
"Why are these guys trying to kill us?" Luffy asked. Ace had finally let him go and he was running on his own.
"I told you I'd explain later. This isn't exactly the time for explanations," Ace said as he ran into the main street. Several thugs were also there, but didn't pay them too much attention. Scenes like these were an everyday event in Edge Town.
"Quickly, get those kids!" the teller yelled to the passerby. "Mr. S will give a huge reward to the person who brings him those kids' heads!"
Several of the people smiled in delight and malice.
"Mr. S, huh?" one of them said as he brought out his sword. "How can we turn down such an offer?"
Ace gave another cussed under his breath, as they were now being chase by nearly every thug within a one-feet radius. They had to get out of the city, fast.
"Luffy, get ready to rocket once we get near the gate!" Ace yelled.
Luffy nodded as they quickly approached the Great Gate.
"Come on, we nearly got them cornered!" one of the thugs yelled.
Ace stopped and allowed Luffy to grabbed onto two buildings' side and quickly stretched his arms until they were completely taunt.
"What are they doing?" one the men asked.
Ace got in front of Luffy and gave a cocky smirk towards their attackers. He also gave them an obscene hand gesture for good measure. "Love to stay, but we need to fly. Give our regards to Tookie."
Luffy also grinned. "Gum Gum Rocket!" he yelled as he allowed his arms to snap back and both Ace and him were sent flying over the Great Gate. They flew so fast and so far that they were well over Gray Terminal before they began to descend.
"Gum Gum Balloon!" Luffy yelled as he sucked air into his lungs and inflated himself like a balloon. Luffy used his expanded form to break their fall.
Ace gave a sigh of relief as he lay on the cool ground. They had made it out alive. "Too close."
Luffy quickly deflated as laid next to his brother. He was laughing madly at their great escape. "That was great, best trip ever."
Ace set up and looked over his brother's bruise body. Bulletproof or not, those bullets had obviously hurt him.
"This is all my fault. I'm sorry, Luffy," Ace said in deep regret.
Luffy looked towards his brother. "Ace?"
"I was a fool," Ace continued bitterly. "That noble we robbed was under protection."
Luffy titled his head, not sure what Ace was talking about. He finally settled on a wide grin. "But we made it out alive. That's what counts."
"You don't understand," Ace said harshly. "If you didn't have your powers, you would have been dead. I allowed my anger and bitterness towards the nobles to blind me and put us both in danger. Now, we may never be able to go back into the city."
Luffy frowned, not sure how to cheer up his brother. He still wasn't sure why Ace was so upset. They both escaped relatively unharmed and they had a great adventure. There was nothing to be sad about, except for not being able to buy new clothes.
"We better get moving," Ace said, interrupting Luffy's thoughts. "We're not safe here either. As far as he knew, Mr. S could have goons out here too."
Luffy just nodded and they quickly made their way back towards the forest. Even if some of the thugs from the city attempted to follow them, they could easily lose them in the thick trees.
"Ace, what did you mean earlier about being angry towards the nobles?" Luffy asked once Gray Terminal was out of their sights.
Ace didn't answer for a moment. "It was the nobles and the system that they've created that killed Sabo. In my own way, I wanted to get back at them."
"But I thought you said you weren't sure what killed Sabo," Luffy said.
"I had plenty of time to think about it since that time," Ace stated. "The nobles, the Goa Kingdom itself helped killed Sabo that day. It wasn't just work of the World Nobles."
"World Nobles?" Luffy asked in confusion.
Ace knew it was pointless to go into too much detail about the Celestial Dragons. Luffy was too young and naive to fully understand the politics of the world. Even he didn't fully understand it.
"We have to be more careful in the future," Ace chose to say instead. "Mr. S is not one to forgive or forget what happened today. If we ever go back to Goa, we can't give our identities away."
That was something Luffy did understood and nodded his head in agreement. Even if bullets couldn't kill him, they still hurt.
It was early afternoon when they returned to Dadan's house and Pochi was there to greet them back. He barked loudly to tell everyone that they were home.
The homecoming didn't end well, however, when Dadan saw the shape that Ace and Luffy were in. Their adoptive mother was anything but please when she saw Luffy's bruised body and Ace's battered form. Once she had finished yelling at them for being stupid, she took the two boys out back to the bathhouse to have their wounds tended to.
"Dammit, what did you kids do?" Dadan asked as she washed Luffy's wounds with alcohol, much to the younger boy's dismay as he cried in pain. "I have to use my good stash to clean you two up."
Ace rolled his eyes. "We both know that isn't your good stash."
Dadan glared at the older boy, but decided not to comment on Ace's smartass remark. "Well, what happened?"
"We had some problems with some jerk named Mr. S," Ace said casually, trying to downplay the situation.
"Mr. S, how the hell did get mix up with him? That guy is a stone cold killer, even by our standards," Dadan stated before she paused in thought. "Don't tell me. That noble you knocked off had a connection with him."
"Pretty much," Ace said a in a deadpan voice. He really hated how Dadan was able to figure these things out.
"Sheesh, I told you not to go around and mess with those nobles," Dadan scolded. "Ripping off normal people is one thing, but those slimy aristocratic have their hands in everything. They're even worst than the common criminal since they're above the law."
"Don't I know," Ace sighed. Luffy and him had paid for their petty revenge.
Dadan turned his attention back towards Luffy. "But how did Luffy get so bruised up? I've never seen bruises like these before."
"I got gun down in the alley," Luffy said neutrally.
"What!?" Dadan exclaimed in surprise. That was the last thing she was expecting to hear.
"Mr. S tried to assassinate Luffy," Ace said with shame in his voice.
"How the hell did you survive getting shot up?" Dadan asked in disbelief.
Luffy stretch his cheeks in response. "I'm bulletproof."
Dadan looked even more confused.
"Bullets bounced right off of him," Ace explained. "It seems to be an expansion of his powers."
Dadan shook her head awe. Nonetheless, she was relieved that Luffy was left mostly unharmed from an incident that should have killed him. "You're really are a demon."
Ace smiled as he thought about how Luffy saved him from those bullets. "He maybe a demon, but he's our demon."
Luffy gave a wide smile towards his brother before he gave another cry of pain as Dadan poured more alcohol on his wounds.
These kids would be the death of her.
Believe it or not, this is my first ever one-shot, which includes my original stories. That is not saying much, however, considering the length of this story. I really cannot keep anything short. Nonetheless, I hope this was a fun story to read.
I know it maybe a little strange that I portrayed Goa Kingdom as some slumlord city with a kingpin figure running things behind the scenes, but I wanted to keep in mind that Luffy and Ace are operating within the crappiest part of town where crime is more common. Dragon also stated that Goa Kingdom is a, 'miniature blueprint for this world's future', which I took to mean that Goa is pretty much a miniature size version of the World Government and we have seen how mess up they made the world, just look at the World Nobles.
Anyway, until next time.