okay, SES stands for state emergency services and helps ppl when there are bushfires, floods, etc. not sure if that's an international thing so i just added it here in case there's any confusion left.
OH AND there's a bit of substance abuse in this chapter so im probs gonna change the rating...

Flam Salibog was a simple kind of guy.

He lived a simple kind of life.

He grew up with his parents along the coast and before he was in school he was drawing until he found straight edges and begun to design.

What he was designing was always a mystery, it was at the forefront of his mind but he couldn't place his finger on it.

At least, until he completed it and showed his parents.

They'd both been astounded that their four-year-old son was capable of drawing such a masterpiece.

"Flam, do you have any idea what this is?" His mother had asked urgently, shaking the blueprints under his nose, the movements causing her extra rolls to bounce.

Flam had just shrugged like a normal toddler causing his mother's face to redden significantly. "Where did you find this son?"

"I did it." He said, proudly for the invention he did not know.

"Don't lie!" His father growled. "No four-year-old can draw a ship so complexly."

Flam frowned deeply, but he had, he just drew it.

It had been an old itch scratching at the back of his neck, he had needed to draw it.

The blue prints to a ship he had never seen…

Odd.

But, the drawings did not stop there, he did realise that he should probably hide them from his parents.

So he hid the odd blue prints of designs for machines that was beyond his comprehension underneath his mattress and made sure that he had an ever-constant supply of cola – he didn't know why but he needed it.

Flam is 12 when he enters high school, a year younger than most of the students.

He gets in trouble the first day because he just strips in the middle of class, claiming that the uniform is far too uncomfortable.

His parents are lovely people, just, sometimes they're a bit intense, they expect him to do well in school – in all subjects and always not-so-subtly hint that he should go to a university rather than do an apprenticeship like he wants.

So it's probably that that leads him to start his own gang – well, gang is probably too harsh of a word, they're mostly kids like himself.

But they have started saving money to buy the materials necessary for a place of their own.

Flam thinks that they remind him of somebody he used to know he just can't – for the life of him – remember who they are supposed to be.

But, they intend to create their own house on the edge of the sea on stolen materials and gold belonging to those before them.

They won't kill 'cos that too violent, Flam supposes.

Flam is considered extremely weird even by other people's standards – he prefers to wear open Hawaiian shirt and speedos, or 'budgie smugglers' constantly.

But, there are no laws regarding what he can wear so he does it any way.

He is only refused entry on buses sometimes, but it doesn't matter either way, he walks everywhere.

The first time one of the misfits brings pot to one of their meetings Franky declines the offer – he has work to prepare for – then the next time he tentatively agrees.

By the third time he's the one asking for the weed and then somebody mentions LSD and he decides, why the hell not?

His hallucinations are mostly normal after the drug really kicks in but then…

He wakes up five hours to tears streaking down his face and a name at the tip of his tongue.

It takes a while and one too many bad trips that Flam finally is coerced into seeing a councillor to deal with his…

'Flashbacks' his family had dubbed them.

Of course, his blood family had no clue of what he was doing behind closed doors, he didn't spend too much time at his family's house anymore.

They were oppressive, trying to force him to attend stupid school, why should he have to go to school? He was smart enough to live a life of crime without being caught…

Flam doesn't touch LSD after that… he might smoke a bit sometimes and drink cola like some of his gang down shots but that's okay.

He has a feeling he won't need the LSD later on in his life.

And then…

By the fifth time they get noticed by the police parents are called on accounts of 'attempted robbery' – everyone knows that it's not 'attempted' but Flam 'coerced' the victim into keeping their trap shut.

"Flam? Is this true?" His mother sounds as angry as she did when he had said the blueprints were his.

Flam doesn't respond, his silence is enough.

"Son, why don't you tell us what's going on?"

His Dad always tried to bond with him, it was weird. He didn't like spending time with his parents, they made the world seem significantly smaller for some reason, like he was in some sort off cage.

"You're a very lucky young man, the person you assaulted doesn't want charges pressed but consider yourself warned." The police officer says, face completely serious before turning heel and walking out of their little cottage.

Flam shrugs, he doesn't care anymore, his 'family' of delinquents have bought all the materials they'll be needing to properly set up a house by the coast.

So, he begins to argue with his parents because he wants to be free.

Eventually, gets himself half tattoos along his arms in the shape of a star, he doesn't know why but he does.

It's weird that they're only half stars but that's okay.

Flam gets another tattoo, on his back in the shape of a jolly roger, he doesn't know why he chooses a straw hatted one but he likes the look of it, the bones reaching the tips of his shoulders and his hips, the tattoo had cost little because one of the family already knew how to tattoo.

So, he thinks, as the tattoo is branded into his back, this tattoo represents his future.

But, back to the problem at hand,

There's plenty of land along the coast that they could claim as their own, the only problem with that is claiming it. They could just steal it but technically, because the government owns it, it would be at a liability of being stolen any time.

So, instead they save up their pennies and work at any shop that will hire them, between them all, they manage to make about 10 grand.

It's enough for a smallish piece of land by the coast, after buying it off the 'crown' they begin to work.

First, the interior support atop a concrete slab. Franky is no fool, he knows how to build a house and by the time the shackish thing is built he's itching to paint it, but he needs a sign, anything he was trying to speak sounded, wrong when it spilled from his mouth.

So, Flam leaves the sign alone and instead builds himself another workshop, beneath the earth because why not? It's not like anyone would be able to find it, nobody rarely comes out this way either way.

But just to be sure, he implants a retina scan and a fence around their property.

And then, the family builds themselves a new business under the name 'Flam Family Ships' and begin construction.

They're all good people and Flam enjoys working with them on ships of all kinds, the names come to his mind and he writes blueprints after blueprints to satisfy customers.

And, in his spare time he begins to build, at first, they're harmless little things – a self-controlled vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, things like that. But as he progresses he wants to really build something he can be proud of.

So, he buys the necessary materials and begins to build, it takes shape as internal implants, technically not internal implants but rather weapons that one could place inside themselves.

He begs and begs and begs until the family gives in and they sedate him as per his instructions and construct something on the inside.

Primarily the weaponry he'd been creating prior to the operation but also metallic plating to make it compatible with his body, nerve endings reconstructed to send impulses to the weapons.

His eyes are replaced with the best face recognition in the country, perhaps the world and outfitted with thermal and night vision – courtesy of their local tech-man; Bradley.

The eyes are used more than any part of his body. The weapons are sick but…

He doesn't use them too often but every now and again he can subtly threaten a shitty customer by the metallic whirring inside of him.

His family thinks it's the coolest thing ever.

And then a man with purple hair arrives in town calling himself Iceberg, stating he wants to meet the shipwrights of the city.

"Iceberg Lana, huh?" Flam mutters to himself, flicking over the files one of the family – she calls herself Kiwi – gave him.

"Yup, as you can see he is quite wealthy, the mayor of a town who also builds ships in his spare time." Another, Mozu adds.

"Where does he want to meet?" He asks Morgan, a man with goggles always on his face, he likes to work with engines which is reflected by his greasy shirt and pants.

"In Birdy café, it's a little old thing run by some young'uns. Here's the address." Morgan adds, tapping on the map of their state on one of the walls.

"Hmm, I'll go in by myself. Did he say why he wanted to meet with me?" Flam glances at Zambai.

"Y'know how there's been that East Coast Low down south? I think he wants us to help out the people there."

Flam snorts derisively. "Does he even know who we are?"

"Don't know… probably doesn't if he's seeking us out for help." Zambai comments.

So, Flam goes to the shop, it's on the corner of a very busy main road in a pretty derelict suburb, but despite this the shop is free of graffiti – minus the green flowery, teapot bush that has obviously been spray painted on the front of the shop.

Flam spots the idiot straight away. He's wearing a pinstripe suit and calmly sipping on some chai tea, Flam spotted him because of the facial recognition software but he knows that he would've been able to spot him either way.

The purple hair is a bit of a give away.

The waitress walks up to him, blowing up a piece of bubblegum. "Hi there Mr Salibog, Mr Lana is waiting for you over there."

"Thanks sister." He murmurs low, because the atmosphere of the little coffee shop is calm and relaxed.

Patrons are calmly sipping their drinks and… reading? Now that he thinks about it, he can see the book exchange over by the door.

It's… nice…

"Iceberg." Franky says, causing the man to look up from his newspaper and chai latte.

"Mr Salibog." Iceberg gets up and vigorously shakes his hand. "Thank you for agreeing to see me."

Flam notices that the man doesn't care about his attire, come to think of it, nobody in the café is complaining about his speedos and open Hawaiian shirt.

"It's no problem." Flam answers, because truthfully? It isn't, he's going to make the bakaberg pay for anything he orders either way so hey, free food.

"Either way I thank you." Iceberg sits back down, Flam following suit.

"So, I hear that you are in the business of ships." Iceberg begins after the waitress has deposited Flam's cola and his cake, leaning forward and steepling his fingers.

Flam nods. "Well, as you are probably aware, down south has had quite severe weather, severe enough for extended flash flooding, I am hoping that a man with your expertise will lend a hand."

"Wait a second brother." Flam says incredulously. "Are you implying that I will be doing this out of the goodness of my heart?"

Iceberg chuckles humorously. "Of course not, my company will reimburse you appropriately."

It's Flam's turn to laugh. "How much?"

"200/hour."

Flam's jaw drops open. "You've got to be insane."

"Not in the slightest." Iceberg grins minimally.

"That's- all right then, if I'm robbing you blind then that's fine." Flam murmurs.

"When will you be ready?" Iceberg asks, opening his wallet and setting enough money to cover both customers.

"Brother, as soon as we get the ships." Flam assures and Iceberg arranges for him to get a lift back to his residential area.

"Everyone get your asses up we've got work to do people!" He shouts as loud as he can, banging his metallic arms on their concrete floor.

Half of the family growl and tell him in not-so-calm terms to politely fuck off.

Flam sighs and without a second thought fires a single shot up into the roof. "Everyone get up. We're going to get very good pay for this job so get your lazy asses out of bed!"

Finally finally they rise and as a single entity proceed to drink the place dry of any caffeinated drinks. "Alright, we're ready to go!" They shout together.

"Where are we going bro?" Bradley asks.

"Down south to help clean up and save some of the stupid people in the floods." Flam replies, pulling on a raincoat over his attire. He downs a bottle of cola just in case and stuffs three more in a bag.

Despite their grumbling protests ("Remember people, 200 per hour!") the family piled into the supplied cars and drove down to their port and more importantly, their ships.

"Alright, you guys take Hercules, Zeus, Poseidon, Goliath and I'll take this little beauty." Flam commanded, coming to a stop beside a sleek looking boat. "I need you guys to take this one." He gestured at the identical boat sitting next to his.

"This Iceberg guy said that we'll be looking for survivors, possibly stranded ones so be prepared to deal with possibly traumatised people." He called out.

"Whatever boss, let's just get going."

"Iceberg said he'd lead our little 'armada' on the sea." Flam said, making quotations on armada. "And since we sure as hell are men – and women of the sea we will show him the beauty of the super~ Franky Family!" He shouts, slamming his forearms together in a new gesture.

His family tilts their heads in confusion. "Since when are we the Franky Family?" Mozu asks, hands on hips.

"Since just then." Flam confirms and smirks, the name feels right anyway.

Kiwi rolls her eyes but they all like it, Flam can tell.

"Gear up, we're taking off."

And then they're meeting down along the coast with the local services; including firefighters and the SES (State emergency services) in a building quite removed from any possible flooding. The headquarters is located almost as far inland as the mountains and it was a pain in the ass getting the boats into such a secluded location.

But they manage, what kind of shipwrights would they be if they couldn't manage their own ships?

But even so, apparently this isn't even the shelter civilians are supposed to head to – this is just HQ.

The chief has a very thick black moustache and a goatee but only one man really stands out to Flam.

He's young, a scowl on his freckled face framed by curly black hair.

"This is Flam from the Flam Family Ships, I am Iceberg of Galley-law." The man introduces both of them and Flam pointedly ignores the comments about his attire.

"Now, we need to rescue those who were effected by flooding." The chief said, laying out a map, the affected area coloured in red. "We tried to save a group of teenagers here, but they refused to leave."

The unusually hot firefighter's scowl deepened.

"Ace, you said you have a connection to them?"

"Yeah." The newly named 'Ace' answered. "I know all of the idiots."

The chief sighed. "Is there any way that they'd come if you went?"

Ace shrugged. "There's no way to know, they're all lunatics."

"I could patrol that area, y'know, in case they try and leave on their own." Flam offers, if they were being payed so much the least he could do is actually help.

Ace groans again and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like 'stupid little reckless brother'. "They would."

The chief sighs heavily again, stroking his bushy black moustache. "Alright Flam, take as many people as you can spare and I'll allocate the rest of your business to different areas."

"Aye aye." Flam says and turns away.

Ace turns to him and pulls him aside before he can leave the building. "Oi, thank you for doing this," the firefighter rubs his head nervously and ploughs on before Flam can get a word "Luffy is my only family and I don't know what would happen if he died."

Flam doesn't feel embarrassed, he doesn't know why, if it was anyone else he'd already by feeling awkward, but with this man, it seems… natural?

"Don't sweat it, but if I might ask, why didn't you go before?" Flam questions, if the guy loved his brother that much then why sit around and wait?

"Because the chief wanted my expertise elsewhere."

"Expertise?"

"Before I'm a pyromaniac I can also perform first aid without the aid of a hospital." Ace says.

"Huh." Is all he can say.

"Anyways, thanks again!" Ace calls over his shoulder and walks away.

Flam stands there dumbfounded before he makes his body move to where he anchored the beautiful Mayflower.

"Alright baby, let's go." He murmurs to the purring engine before he turns to the other ship. "Alright! We're doing a quick sweep but these are floodwaters, be careful!"

And then they're off, quickly getting out of the headquarters and back into the murky floodwaters, they use the currents to get to their destination a lot quicker.

And just in time by the looks of things because Flam can see three… canoes? (!) speeding down along the current, edging closer to the open sea.

Flam orders the other ship to go to the other side through their two-way radio and between the two they manage to drop anchor and the net simultaneously to stop the reckless fools from an early, watery grave.

"Get on board!" He shouts and they're quick to comply.

"Superrr Franky, at your service!" And he is quick to slam his forearms back together, forming a full star.

And the name he has been waiting for all of his life spills from the boy's lips.

So, Franky – Flam was never his real name anyway – takes them to the Aquarium they desire because why the hell not?

In the process, he sends the others away for a status report.

"Oi, Luffy-bro, there was a guy who was pretty pissed off about you staying at home." Franky comments as he steers the ship around a sunken truck.

"Was he by any chance named Ace?" Luffy asks, stars gleaming in his eyes.

"Yeah."

"Shishishi, I'm glad he's safe." Luffy says and pulls the safari hat down further on his eyes.

Franky observes the boy for a moment before shrugging. "What is he to you?"

"He's my brother." Luffy closes his eyes, clearly enveloped in some deep memories.

"Oh?"

"Yeah." And then the boy smiles and Franky can't help but smile along with him.

"Oi, Franky, we're almost here." The self-appointed navigator says, glancing down at her compass and the map in her lap.

"Super!" He cries, the water is beginning to become much shallower and Franky doesn't know if they'll be able to make it much closer.

As soon as they approach the falling apart aquarium, Franky frowns. He doesn't know why, but it hurts his very soul to see it falling to pieces.

Luffy is the first to jump out into the ankle deep – possibly crocodile infested – water and begin crying out. "Jinbe!"

Soon after the rest of the misfits join him and begin to cry out for their friend. Before long they're approaching the front door and Franky watches in awe as an enormous man walks out of the building.

His eyes are puffy and red, and he seems to be shaking. The members of the boat abruptly pause in their moments before Luffy continues onward, Franky shouldn't listen; it's a private conversation…

"Jinbe."

"Luffy-kun."

There isn't anything said for several minutes. "What happened?"

"Fisher Tiger he… escaped."

"I see."

"Y'know, it isn't nice to eavesdrop." The green haired guy comments, literally appearing next to Franky who has to fight the urge to withdraw weaponry.

Strangely enough, he feels safe around the guy anyway.

"Can't help it, I've got some enhance hearing." Zoro chuckles lightly at that.

"You coming?" Zoro asks as he hops over the side of the boat.

"Not onto that side…" Franky mutters and waits for the other shoe to drop.

"Shit, wrong side…" Zoro flushes crimson and instead of walking around the ship like a normal person or even climbing over the side of it, the grumpy looking man just leaps over the boat casually.

Like it's something he does every day.

Usopp, Chopper and Nami have already reunited with the large man and were comforting him.

Franky frowns, he wants to be a part of whatever is happening here, he hasn't felt so safe ever in years.

So he jumps over the side of the ship, ensuring that they're anchored correctly and wonders over to their little group.

Nami and Chopper move a little to give him some space to join their circle as they comfort the man.

And there is nowhere else Franky would rather be.

that's franky done and i hope y'all enjoyed, the next chap should be up in a couple of days. also, Franky's last name was kind of mixed version of the Japanese word for cyborg