A brother's love! The metal hero!
AN: I am going to be completely honest with you all here. This chapter will be a brief summary of the "Childhood era". Personally, I am not really a fan of it, I like the fact that it shows how Luffy met his brothers, but I don't want to write out all the detail for my character. I am mostly interested in the main story.
It has only been a two months since Ohara. Nick has been enduring a lot of hardcore training by Garp and his top Lieutenants. Garp has Nick learning some of the basics in hand-to-hand combat, part of Garp's plan is for Nick to learn how to fight without his powers first before he learns how to use them correctly.
Garp then decided to let Nick have a month to recover from all the training, he sent Nick to meet Ace. When he arrived, Ace was less than amused to meet Nick.
It took a few weeks for Ace and Sabo to like Nick. Nick even covered for them when he was capture by the bandits. When Ace, Sabo and Nick officially became brothers, it was the happiest day of his life.
(AN: Like the Childhood arc, Nick did a lot of the same things as Luffy did in the original story. The only difference however, is what happened to Sabo in this story.)
Nick watched as he saw Sabo's boat leave the shore. He had learned that Sabo's boat was being attacked by the World Gov. ship and practically sprinted through the forest and town to get there.
He couldn't believe what was happening before him. His new brother, Sabo, was being shot at for no apparent reason. From where he was standing, he could see that Sabo was trying to put out the fires with his jacket, with no luck. Tears started falling down Nick's face like a waterfall. "Again… It's happening again… Why does this always happen to the people I care about?"
This time he didn't have his grandfather to help him this time. Nick felt helpless, so he did the only thing he could do. "SOMEONE SAVE MY BROTHER!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping someone would listen.
Luckily for him, someone was.
A shadowy figure was watching the whole thing, and when it heard Nick scream it disappeared. As Sabo was still attempting to put out the fires, another blast form the Government ship hit his small boat, knocking him unconscious. Then it looked as if he were being picked up by something, but at the same time, there was nothing there.
Nick fell to his knees as he saw the little boat explode and then finally sink. He looked up and was shocked to see something come his way. It was Sabo, judging by the way his body looked, you would think that he was being carried, but at the same time, nothing was there.
Sabo was heading towards the forest, Nick ran after him, he didn't seam to care that he was being carried by something; all he cared about was that he was ok.
Nick stopped running when he saw that Sabo stopped in a clearing. Nick slowly got closer to Sabo, who was floating in mid air.
"Please. Do not worry. He is ok. Just unconscious." A mysterious voice said. Nick looked around to see who was talking to him, then whatever was holding Sabo, revealed itself to him.
It appeared to be a metal man. Its metal plating was black, with what looked like red lights on its arms and a red glowing triangle on its chest. Its eyes were red as well.
(AN: Iron Man Mk XV: Stealth Suit)
The man slowly put Sabo down on the grass; it then looked up to Nick. "Hello, Nick. I had wished that our introduction had been under better circumstances. But then again, nothing is ever happens the way we want them to," the man spoke with a strange accent. Well, strange for Nick, mostly because he has never heard an accent like it before.
Nick got closer, he was about to say something but was stopped when the metal man raised his arm, "I know you have a lot of questions, believe me. Meet me at the tree where you hid all that money, and I will answer your questions."
The metal man then disappeared again, right then, Dadan arrived along with some of her tribe. She looked pissed off and worried at the same time. "Is he ok? How did he get out of there alive?"
Nick had to think quick, she and the rest of the guys would have never believed him, "He, uh… He washed up on shore after his boat exploded. I have been trying to bring him back to the house. Wait, how did you guys know I was here?"
"The people in town said they saw you run this way," Dogra said.
They took Sabo back to the house; he was treated for first-degree burns and a concoction form the blast. Nick left the house and started making his way to where the metal man had asked him to go.
Nick arrived at the tree where they kept the stash of money they stole and waited. The metal man appeared a few feet in front of him. "Hello. My name is Jarvis."
"How did you know my name?" was the only thing Nick go say at the moment.
"Your father asked me to watch over you. I have been watching you your whole life. Or rather, most of your life: four years, six months, two weeks, three days, ten hours, five minutes and thirty eight seconds to be exact." Nick's jaw hit the ground when he finished that whole timetable. Once he retracted his jaw he spoke again, "You know my dad?"
"Correct." Jarvis replied.
"So are some kind of machine or are you just in a suit?" Nick said with his eyes sparkling like stars. He was so excited at the sight of this strange person.
"Well, yes to both of your questions really," he said as he walks towards Nick and then kneeled down to his height. "Fare warning, this may scare you." He then pressed a button on the side of his helmet and the 'mouth' of the helmet opened up to show that it was hollow.
"WOA! That is so COOL!" To Jarvis' surprise, Nick enjoyed the sight of a robot suit driving itself. "Wait, he said yes to both." "You're a machine?"
"The correct term is, 'Artificial Intelligence'. But in a way, yes, I am a machine." He then closed the helmet and sat down next to Nick. "Do you still have those glasses your father sent you?"
"Not with me right now, they are back at the house. Why?" Nick answered. "So they were really from him after all."
"Ok, good. You will need them when you get older. No, Nick, I need you to understand; no one, and I mean no one is to know about me. At least, not until you turn 18. When you turn 18 you will be old enough to wear the glasses." Nick cocked his head to the left as if he was confused; his hat almost fell of because of it. "What will happen then?"
"You will find out in time. Just know that the training your grandfather is putting you though, I am a part of it as well." He then stand up and starts to walk away.
Nick ran after him and hugged his leg, or the suit's leg to be exact. "Thank you, for saving Sabo. Will I see you again?" he asks with a smile on his face and eyes full of hope.
Nick let go as the suit turned around and kneeled again, "I promise you, you will see me again. And that if you ever feel lonely, I am always there to protect you." Nick then gave him a hug.
The suit backed up, activated its thrusters and flew away. Nick couldn't help but smile knowing that he has a guardian angel, or guardian robot.
"Am I to understand that you spoke with him?" Garp said, sitting in what looked like a computer room. There were monitors and servers all around him, the walls were all metal and there were chairs next to each monitor, but Garp was standing.
"Yes. He was upset, sad, in pain; he was about to lose another friend. My psychological algorithms stated that he could not endure the loss of another friend or loved one so soon after Ohara, without causing permanent mental and psychological damage to him." Jarvis replied. His voice came from a computer that Garp was standing in front of. The screen showed a white orb with lines all around it with what would be described as a river of silver sparkles flowing in a circle around it. Every time he spoke a syllable, the river would sparkle and shift.
"Relax, Jarvis. I am not saying what you did was wrong. In fact, he needed a new friend besides Ace." Garp sighed. He then looked to the screen that showed the footage of Nick talking to Jarvis. Nick was smiling; something Garp hasn't seen that often since Ohara.
"At least he knows he has a new friend." Garp got up off his chair and then walked towards the end of the room. "Will there be anything else, sir?" "No. I will be leaving now." A small section of the floor lifted him up like an elevator.
Outside, a door opened up from the water and a metal bridge extended towards the beach. Garp walked out of the door and walked on the bridge onto the beach. The moment he stepped off, the bridge retracted and the door closed; if you didn't see him walk out before, you couldn't tell if there was anything there at all.
After Nick had returned to the house, he never brought up Jarvis at all. His brother was safe, that's he cared about at the moment.
At the end of the month, Garp arrived and took Nick away for another few months of training. It became a cycle for Nick on how his training went; he would spend three or four months training whatever Garp set him on, then he would spend one month with Dadan and his brother, recovering.
At one point in the training that Nick asked Garp about Jarvis, Garp explained what he was and what he was meant for. But after that he told Nick never to bring him up again, at least until he turned 18.
Every time he returned to the training, after a recovery month, he learned a new form of fighting. The first few months he learned how to fight in basic hand-to-hand. The second time he learned how to use knives, should he ever need them. The third, he learned the basics of using a sword; however, he didn't seam to enjoy it, claiming that it wasn't 'his style'. The cycle continued for years.
Nick collected his share of scars over the years, mostly on his body, and one on his face. The one on his face was across his left eye, it was pretty small.
When Nick turned 15 Ace and Sabo left the island. There was a going away part for the both of them. Surprisingly, Sabo didn't go with Ace, he said something about finding a man he talked to a few years ago, a man with a face tattoo.
Years later, Nick finally turned 18. He went to his room and pulled out the metal capsule that Shanks gave him so long ago. When he opened it, he pulled out the glasses.
The glasses had a black matte frame, a blue circle on the side close to where the glasses collapse, the lens was one whole piece that covered both eye holes, the lens itself was blue. (AN: If my description of the glasses didn't make sense to you, look up "Oakley Oil Rig sunglasses" and imagine the colors I used.)
Nick put on the glasses and heard a hum. The lens projected a little light that shined on his eyes, Nick then heard a voice, "Retinal scan confirmed. Hello, Nick. It's good to see you again." Nick was completely caught off guard when Jarvis spoke. He looked around trying to find out where the voice was coming from. "Jarvis? Where are you?" "Here," Jarvis said while Nick looked around again. "I'm in your glasses. Or rather, I'm talking to you though them."
"You're in my glasses? How can I hear you, it's like I can hear your voice in my head?" "The parts of the glasses that go over your ears are vibrating in a certain way that sends sound to your ears for you to hear me. You had to be at least the age of 18 for the glasses to fit on your head for it to work correctly. By the way, happy birthday." Nick smiled at that remark. "Thank you."
After a few days of talking with Jarvis, Nick learned of his perpous; Jarvis is not only the controller and keeper of the mobile armory in the East Blue, he is also Nick's protector/partner in combat. There were even things that Jarvis introduced to Nick from the future, such as songs, jokes, and even a brief history lesson that would help them on their journey that Nick has planned once the training is over.
The months of training began not long after. Jarvis brought the first armor Nick needed to learn to control: the Mark V "Suitcase". Garp told Nick that the reason he needed to learn how to control this suit in particular is because it is the most basic suit he will use; all of the other armors have the basic controls as the V.
Like the time before, instead of learning normal combat, Garp trained Nick into using the suit's to their full potential; although, the Mark V was the only one he used to train with.
Nick even asked Garp and Jarvis why they haven't been training with any of the others. "It would appear that there is a security lockout that is preventing me to send any other suit to you. From what I can guess, it was placed by your father." Nick's face showed not only frustration, but he was mad the moment Jarvis mentioned his father.
"What right does he have to do that?!" Nick says with anger in his voice. "To my understanding, he is just trying to protect you. I am sure, in time, the lockout will lift. Until then, you still have a lot to learn with this suit."
Nick didn't like it, but he went along with what Jarvis said and continued to train. His next step in his training was how to fly; he crashed more times than he was caught stealing food.
It took a few months for him to get it down, along with any of the other skills he had to learn in the '20 year training' but he eventually achieved Garp's goal. Before long, he was 28 years old and was ready to go out and start on his journey.
Nick and Dadan put together a boat with supplies and the "suitcase" with it. Before he left, he said his last goodbyes to Dadan and her family. Even Garp was there to see him off. "You and I both know that I don't like the idea of you being a pirate. But that choice was yours to make, not mine." Garp gave Nick one last hug before Nick got onto his boat. "Make your granddad proud."
Nick waved everyone off he set sail. A few hours after the boat left the island, there was no island in sight; Nick set the sails and sat down. "Hey, Jarvis. Play the song please." "Yes, sir."
"Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A pirates life for me!" started playing though his glasses.
TO BE CONTINUED
On the next "Marvels of One Piece", "Young Marine! Nick's first fight!" I'M GONNA BE KING OF THE PIRATES!
AN: And so, the next chapter will be the OFFICIAL start of this guy's story.
I know this chapter was short, but i hope you bare with me.
I hope you guys like it so far.
I will try to update soon.
R&R