Welcome to Chapter 7 of TSABL! This chapter covers three events. One, Ace's birthday, two a trip to somewhere in the Grand Line, and three an incident that separates the trio from the Whitebeard Pirates. Don't worry about the last bit, it's resolved by the end of the chapter. We're getting closer and closer to me not having any chapters! TT That means I need to dedicate a week to writing up more chapters for this story. Decisions isn't going to be posted today unless I can write a whole chapter plus another today. Donquixote also needs more chapters posted… With this story I need a definitive timeline and from how difficult it's getting writing more chapters I'm going to be quickly making my way to canon timeline. If you guys actually want Brook to join Luffy then I'll have to do it before twelve because when Luffy's twelve Brook gets his shadow stolen. I'll discuss this more at the end of the chapter anyways enjoy!
Disclaimer: Don't own OP, if I did there'd be a spinoff anime where it'd be like an ASL fanfic where Sabo stayed and Ace and him took Luffy.
To Save A Brother's Life
As usual with a birthday party there's planning. However, because it was Ace's birthday and he wanted a party just between the three of them, Sabo was having some problems. Thankfully though, Luffy was the better party planner of the three of them. Luffy absolutely loved parties so Sabo guessed it made sense that their little brother was party savvy. So, what Luffy had Sabo and himself do was compile a list of things that their big brother liked. The first thing they put on that list was beaches. Sabo was the one that put it on the list. From his memories of before Luffy popping up in their life, Ace had loved going to the beach. He loved to feel the grains of sand on his feet and stand in the water. Of course, that clinched it for Luffy so he circled it as the location for the party. Next, they needed games they could play. Luffy suggested volleyball because that was a game played at beaches, right? However, there was a problem with that, sure, volleyball could be played one versus one but, there were three of them. So, Sabo suggested that they play games when one of them loses the one not playing takes the loser's place.
Of course, Luffy said that there couldn't be just one type of game at the party for the three of them. Sabo hesitantly offered playing in the sand and making sand castles and the such. The reason being, neither Sabo or Ace having ever done that. Sabo because his family deemed playing in sand to be for commoners. Ace because, well he lived on a mountain his whole life and only visited the beach rarely. Luffy however, just smiled and gleefully put it on the list. Next would be the food, Sabo said that he had already asked Thatch to make the biggest picnic basket he could with a large blanket as well. So that was already done.
Now, concerning the cake Sabo had an idea at first. It was to make a volcano-like cake for their big brother but Luffy quickly turned it down, confusing Sabo.
"Why not the volcano cake?" Sabo asked.
"Because! I already asked for a very specific cake from Thatch. Ace'll love it!" Luffy said with a smile.
"Alright… if you say so." Sabo said, trusting in his little brother.
So, with everything set they knew that they had to get their brother gifts. Even though on Ace's birthday it'd have been roughly a week after Christmas, they still needed to get him gifts. Luffy already had an idea of what he wanted to get Ace, although it was technically a gift to all of them. He wanted to get a three-piece necklace thing, you know the ones that connect together to form something? Yeah that. He wanted to get one that had their initials on each piece so it could form ASL and each of them would carry their initials. Sabo, however wasn't exactly sure what to get his older brother by like two months. Ace didn't want for much and while Luffy's idea was good, Sabo didn't want to copy him. Then, Sabo thought of something. He had noticed that Ace had been going through pipes like matches because they weren't immune to his magma, as the magma would quickly melt the pipe. So Sabo decided he would get Ace a pipe made out of Carbon, something he had read that had a melting point of over six thousand degrees which was way higher than magma's temperature. Thankfully, Carbon wasn't expensive, it was rather cheap. It was its allotropic form that was rather expensive, which was Diamond.
Of course, getting it made was a rather tedious problem. For Luffy to get his necklace all he needed to do is ask Izo because the crossdresser could make jewelry. Sabo, however, had to first purchase a kilo of carbon, which was very difficult, and then make his way to a blacksmith. He then had to ask the blacksmith, quite awkwardly if he might add, to forget a pipe from it. The blacksmith had given the boy an odd look but agreed, since he was being paid for it. After it was said and done, Sabo had a dark grey pipe made out of carbon. While Sabo was getting this all done Luffy had the job of, once again, asking Marco to make a stop on Ace's birthday at an island with a nice beach. Of course, Marco agreed because he couldn't exactly say no to Luffy's begging eyes. Thus, everything was set for January 1st.
Ace woke up on the morning of his birthday to two smiling faces.
"Happy birthday Ace!" Sabo and Luffy shouted, both of them giving Ace a kiss on opposing cheeks.
Ace blushed red from the kisses but then smiled lightly and hugged the two of them.
"So, I'm afraid to ask but what do you two have planned for my birthday? It is just you two, right?" Ace asked.
"Yup! But we're not telling you, it's a surprise." Luffy said.
"Yeah, our lips are sealed." Sabo confirmed.
Ace just sighed and got up, knowing he wouldn't get an answer out of his brothers. He strolled over to their shared dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts, sliding them on, before putting on his boots. After his brothers got dressed, the trio made their way to the galley. On the way there Ace was met with plenty of smiles but thankfully no happy birthdays. Like Ace had said before, he wasn't exactly fond of his birthday, but since his two brothers wanted to celebrate it with him he'd celebrate it, but only with them. However, when they reached the galley Ace was met by Thatch.
"Happy birthday! Oh Luffy, I got the foodstuff you need for when we get to the island." Thatch said.
Ace rolled his eyes but Luffy looked excited and thanked the man. What could they possibly have planned for today? It was starting to make him really curious. Nevertheless, Ace wandered over to the table and started piling pancakes, sausage, and bacon onto his plate. In the corner of his eye Ace spotted Luffy and Sabo accepting a bundle of something from Izo. He however, ignored it in favor of the delicious food in front of him. Ace had figured that Thatch was spoiling him today because there were a lot of chocolate items at the table which is why his pancakes were currently doused in chocolate. If there was one thing that Ace loved more than meat, a like that he shared with Lu, it was chocolate. Growing up with the bandits there was a lack of sweet items, however, one day Makino had bought him a chocolate bar and he was instantly hooked. When Sabo and Luffy came over with their food, Sabo just shook his head and laughed at the amount of chocolate on Ace's plate.
"You know, I picture you one day dying a death of drowning by chocolate." Sabo said with a chuckle.
"Mmmm that'd be a wonderful way to die." Ace said as he moaned after taking a bite of a chocolate covered pancake.
"Shishishi! Ace is silly." Luffy said, laughing.
"You have no room to talk Lu, if there's anything you like more than meat it's white chocolate." Ace said, giving Luffy a look.
Luffy blushed and looked away pouting. It wasn't his fault that he liked it! It was really sweet and delicious! If he could have white chocolate covered meat he'd be in heaven but whenever he suggested it to his brothers, they vehemently said no. Actually, it was odd because all three's favorite type of sweet was a chocolate, even if white chocolate couldn't be considered a chocolate really. Ace loved milk chocolate, well any chocolate that wasn't bitter. Luffy absolutely loved white chocolate to the point that the boys had to drag him out of sweet store to prevent him from buying everything. Sabo, however, loved dark chocolate, the more bitter the better.
Soon enough though they finished eating, Luffy shoved a bundle into Ace's arms. Ace looked at it and saw that it was a pair of black swim trunks with flames along the sides.
"Swim trunks?" Ace asked confused.
"Shoo! Go put them on." Sabo said, pushing Ace towards their bedroom.
There Ace reluctantly took off his pants and underwear and put on the swim trunks. When he turned around he saw that his brothers were in swim trunks as well. Luffy's was white with black clouds and Sabo's was purple with small pictures of his top hat and goggles all over it. However, when he saw Luffy's bare chest he glared at it. He glared because he could see reminders of Luffy being tortured. Jagged scars were littered all over his little brother's body. Ace however, quickly shook that out of his mind. After all he didn't want to make Lu uncomfortable after all. Afterwards there was a knock at the door before it opened, revealing Marco.
"We're here, yoi. Don't forget to grab the stuff from Thatch, yoi." Marco said before leaving.
The two brothers grabbed Ace and dragged him to the galley where Thatch was waiting with a really large picnic basket and a large, cake shaped box. Sabo grabbed the box while Luffy grabbed the picnic basket. They then dragged Ace up to the deck where he could finally see the island. It was a tropical island with a forest and palm trees but he couldn't really see why he was here. The two brothers however just dragged him off the ship and started taking him around the side of the island. It wasn't until something came into sight that he understood why his brothers had taken him to this island. In his line of sight was a beautiful beach that was connected to gorgeously blue waters. Now he understood what the surprise was, it was a day at the beach, something that Sabo must have come up with considering Luffy hadn't known. The boys dragged him to the middle of the beach where Luffy set down the basket and opened it, pulling a large blanket out. Luffy then, with Sabo's help, put the blanket on the sand. Luffy afterwards turned to Sabo.
"Sabo help me with this pleeeease." Luffy begged.
'Help Lu with what?' Ace thought, confused.
It was when he saw Luffy dip his arm into the air, his arm disappearing into an invisible hole. It was always really weird looking when Luffy accessed his pocket dimension. Luffy started to pull out two large metal poles that Sabo helped Luffy take out. When the item was fully revealed Ace saw that it had a large net attached to the end. His confusion was eased when he saw the two put the thing up. It was a volleyball net. Luffy then once again dived into his pocket dimension and pulled out a volleyball, setting it down next to the net. After that he pulled out a few buckets and tiny shovels, which confused Ace. Then Luffy pulled out bottle of sunscreen and two boxes, which Ace guessed to be his presents.
"What are the buckets for?" Ace said, having to ask.
"To make sand castles silly!" Luffy said, giggling.
"Oh." Ace said, interested, having never done that really.
Of course, Luffy then pulled out one last thing, a pair of floaties. Ace really wanted to laugh at that but wouldn't. It wouldn't be nice to his little brother at all because it definitely wasn't his fault he couldn't swim, even if he did have an immunity to the sea weakness that Devil Fruit users normally had. Though, Ace was thankful that he could swim or that would be really embarrassing. Luffy then immediately put on the floaties and ran out to the water, yelling at his brothers to join him. Ace and Sabo smiled at each other and ran into the water with Luffy. Ace had to lock down his control on his powers because otherwise he'd forming steam or land and that'd be no good. The three boys swam in the water, playing and laughing and occasionally having water fights.
They did this for about thirty minutes before they got out, Ace drying them so that they wouldn't get sand stuck to them. Luffy then started making sand castles, Sabo and Ace joining in soon after. The boys had a lot of fun competing with sand castles. Luffy's sand castle was reminiscent of Makino's Bar, as much as Luffy could make it. Sabo's sand castle was made to look like the Moby Dick, of course he couldn't make the masts because the sand would just fall down. Ace's sand castle was made to look the Mountain Bandits' place. After that they were hungry so they laid out the food and dug in. It didn't take long for them to finish eating. Ace wanted to see the cake but Luffy said that presents had to come first.
"Can't we have cake first, it is my birthday." Ace said, pouting.
"Yes but the cake's special! It needs to go last." Luffy said.
Ace sighed and mournfully looked at the box holding the cake before relenting to Luffy's request. Sabo handed Ace his gift first which Ace promptly opened. He had a confused look on his face when he found a grayish-black pipe. So, Sabo explained to him the point of the gift.
"It's made out of Carbon. Which means it won't melt from your magma." Sabo said.
"It's perfect then! Now I won't be yelled at for melting pipes." Ace said, hugging Sabo.
Ace then opened Luffy's gift to him and was once again confused when he saw three different necklaces that seemed to connect to each other and spelled ASL.
"It's so that we're always with each other. There's one for each of us." Luffy said, causing Ace to hug the boy and promptly put on his A piece, Luffy and Sabo following.
"Now can we eat the cake?" Ace asked.
"Yup!" Luffy said.
When Luffy opened the box, Ace ended up choking out a sob. The cake was perfect, it was a triple chocolate cake but that wasn't why Ace was sobbing. Etched out in different colors of icing was an image of the three of them with Sabo and Luffy hugging Ace and giving him a kiss on opposite cheeks. At the bottom of the cake were the words in icing 'Happy Birthday Ace! We're glad that you're alive'. Ace weaved around the cake and tackled Luffy to the ground, crying into his chest. Sabo was shocked as well at the cake because it was perfect for Ace. For someone like him who believed that he didn't deserve to be alive it was a blessing. Luffy just held Ace to him as his older brother was repeatedly sobbing "Thank you" into his chest. Ace lasted like that for about five minutes before the sobs died down and he sat up and pulled Luffy into a tight hug, burying his face into Luffy's hair.
"I love you Lu, you're the best brother ever. I really don't deserve you." Ace mumbled.
"Of course, Ace deserves me. Ace deserves to be happy." Luffy said, causing Ace to once again blink back tears.
"Come on you two crybabies let's eat." Sabo joked.
Ace sniffled and looked at the cake with a fond smile.
"I don't know if I want to eat it now, I want to keep it like this forever." Ace murmured.
"Don't worry about that Ace! I made sure Thatch took a picture of it." Luffy said, causing his big brother to smile at him.
They then quickly dug into the cake, Ace once more moaning when he took a bite of the chocolate. It was safe to say that the cake quickly disappeared. Afterwards they started playing with the volleyball. The first match was between Ace and Sabo but Sabo ended up losing because Ace was too good at doing spikes. So then it was Ace versus Luffy where Ace lost quite horribly because Luffy was using his gravity powers to make the game in his favor. Of course, Ace declared that cheating but Luffy stuck his tongue out and said it was never in the rules that he couldn't use his powers. Ace looked like he was about to retaliate with his Logia powers but Sabo quickly put a stop to it. After all, the volleyball was not magma proof. So, they just made an addendum that they couldn't use their powers. It was actually during this that they realized that they were used to the gravity enforced by the Grav Locks, which meant it was time for them to upgrade. After a few more games they packed up everything and then Luffy presented them with their new bracelets. Ace and Sabo were both now at two and Luffy was at four point two. Luffy's jump was bigger because well you know weight is mass times gravity and all that stuff and Luffy's mass wasn't as much as his brother's. With their increased gravity, they slowly made their way back to the Moby Dick. Everybody on the ship just raised an eyebrow at it and continued to work.
Two months after Ace's birthday Ace had come up with an idea for a raft that he could use to travel with his brothers that functioned on his Magu Magu No Mi's ability to generate heat. Of course to be honest the idea came from Luffy who had told them about geothermic energy. Ace, obviously, was confused when Luffy said that word so Lu, for the first time, had to dumb it down for his big brother. Luffy explained to Ace that you could generate energy from heat. That gave Ace the idea to have a raft created that had an engine that ran on that kind of energy. Which in turn gave Luffy an idea to do the same thing but instead an engine that ran on kinetic energy from his gravity. This resulted in Ace and Luffy begging Pops and Marco to take them to Water 7. When they got there Marco had Kuzan escort the trio with their treasure chest to Galley-La. It was there that they found only one person, who happened to be the mayor of Water 7, Iceburg.
"What's three kids who seem to be with Whitebeard doing with an Admiral?" The man asked.
"Former Admiral, and these brothers are here to ask about getting rafts designed here." Kuzan said, pushing Ace and Luffy forward.
Iceburg then noticed that the boys each had a sheaf of paper while the third boy who wasn't pushed forward was carrying what seemed to be a large heavy treasure chest. The man then looked at Kuzan.
"Former? So you resigned to join pirates?" Iceburg asked.
"Well, to be honest I resigned to join that little one, putting my faith in the next generation and all that." Kuzan said lazily, pointing at Luffy.
Iceburg however, laughed and smiled at Kuzan.
"Faith in the next generation eh? Sounds great. Now you said rafts? Don't you know we do ships?" Iceburg asked.
"Yeah! But we think you might like to try your hand at these!" Luffy said, giving the man the papers, Ace doing the same.
Iceburg walked over to the nearest workshop table and rolled out the suggested blueprints. He took a look at Luffy's first and began scanning them. The former Admiral may have said rafts but they were more like tiny boats. Overall Iceburg was shocked. The idea that was presented by the blueprints were pretty good. With a few modifications and tweaks it'd be perfect. He then looked at Ace's and they were great like the other set of blueprints. Of course, they weren't complete blueprints, as neither boy knew how to completely do something like that. Iceburg could also see the tiny comments written on each one, with some comments in the other's handwriting. Like how on one sheet there was a crossed out design of a small surfboard looking raft with the words 'Ace that's stupid, you did say this was for all of us to ride, we'd end up flying off this.'. The final designs the boys ended up making looked like small raft-like boats, basically rafts that had high edges so nobody could go flying off the thing, and in the middle was a pole that would be connected to the motor. Of course, at the top of the pole was a place for a flag which Iceburg chuckled at for the cuteness as well as room for a sail below it. Both vehicles seemed to be designed to seat five to six people. The man then turned around and faced them with a serious look.
"Overall the designs are sound, a few adjustments will need to be made but it's doable. Also, I agree with your little brother's comment that the first design was stupid." Iceburg said, chuckling at Ace's blush and Luffy's laugh.
"Hey! They're not that stupid!" Ace said.
"Kid, had you actually had passengers on the raft then the second you started the engine they'd go flying off. It would have been a good idea as a one-man raft but if you're intending for passengers then it's a bad idea." Iceburg said.
That made Ace blush and sheepishly rub the back of his head. Sabo however stepped forward to ask a question.
"So uh, how much is it going to cost?" Sabo asked.
"Well, normally a ship is a hundred and fifty million Belly. But since yours is the equivalent of a raft-like boat then the price is severely reduced. Considering it's an engine based, they'll be about two million Belly a piece, totaling to four million Belly." Iceburg estimated.
The boys let out a breath of relief nodding at each other.
"Uh, can you help us get that much out of here?" Sabo asked, pleadingly.
Iceburg chuckled and went over to them helped them gather up the needed Belly from the chest. The man was shocked when he saw how much the three kids had, because the amount had to be around sixty five million. While they were gathering the money Iceburg had to bring up a problem with the little kid's design.
"You do know the boat won't go that fast, right? Normal gravity doesn't provide enough energy for it." Iceburg said.
However, the kid just smiled at him.
"Don't worry! I can manipulate gravity, it's why I asked for the motor to be able to withstand strong amounts of weight and pressure." Luffy said happily.
"Devil Fruit user?" Iceburg asked.
"Mhm!" Luffy said with a smile.
Well, that did explain why the kid wanted a gravity-powered engine. That made him believe the kid with the orange cowboy hat was one as well. Because asking for an engine that ran on heat and everything made of carbon didn't make sense otherwise. So, after taking the required money the man stood up.
"Alright, it should be done in about a week, come back then." Iceburg said with a smile.
The kids and Kuzan departed after that, making their way back to the Moby Dick. For the next week, everyone spent time hanging around Water 7 while they waited for Ace's and Luffy's vehicles to be finished. Time passed quickly as it was soon time for them to pick up the vehicles. When they got to Dock One, their eyes widened when they saw their vehicles. Ace's looked similar to his first design but was much bigger to where it resembled a canoe. What he really loved was the pirate flag that was attached to the top. It was a skull and crossbones with his hat on it (with only the smiley face and sad face), and pouring from the top of the hat was magma. The whole thing was imposed over a large red spade icon. The pirate flag was what Ace would have wanted if he didn't plan to join the Whitebeard Pirates when he got older. Luffy's vehicle was like Ace's but instead of yellow it was a dark purple and his flag was much different. The pirate flag consisted of a skull with his straw hat on it and the skull was positioned on a cross made out of bones. Surrounding the skull was a four-sectioned circle made of bones with each bone crossing over a part of the cross.
"Do you kids need help taking those to the ocean?" Iceburg asked.
"Nope, but thank you for your work!" Ace and Luffy said, bowing, Sabo bowing as well.
"No problem! It was fun working on them." Iceburg said, waving them goodbye.
Luffy and Ace each picked up their vehicles, Luffy reducing the weight of both of them to practically nothing, shocking Iceburg and everyone who saw them carrying them to the ocean. From there Luffy levitated them onto the ship where everyone ooh'ed and ahh'ed over them. Everyone wanted to know what the two had named their ships. Ace replied that he named his Striker and Luffy said that he named his Accelerator.
It would turn out that the vehicles would end up coming in handy about a month later when Marines attacked the ship with three Vice Admirals, more than likely after Kuzan. Of course, the three brothers were fighting with everyone on the deck but then the Vice Admirals converged on them. That prompted Marco to step in front of them and shout for them to go.
"Go! Get off the ship! These guys are too strong for you! We'll find you later!" Marco shouted, blocking three different strikes by using Busoshoku Haki.
The boys tried to complain but Marco gave them a look so they complied. Ace and Luffy grabbed their vehicles and threw them into the water and then jumped on, Sabo jumping onto Ace's. As they were about to speed away, a marine jumped onto Luffy's boat and was about to attack them. With a mental nudge in Luffy's head he thrusted his hand at the man, his hand sinking in. As the voice guided him Luffy clutched at something and pulled it out, revealing a green gem the size of a small ball. Suddenly the man started to age rapidly before dying, his body falling off Accelerator after. Quickly, Ace and Luffy stepped up to the main 'seat' of their vehicles and began to activate the engines, causing the boats to start speeding off.
"Please be safe!" The three shouted as they got out of view.
About thirty minutes later the boys noticed something odd. There was absolutely no wind and the skies were completely calm. A horrified look appeared on Sabo's face.
"G-guys I think we're in the Calm Belt." Sabo said.
"What does that mean?" Ace asked.
"It means we're probably surrounded by Sea Kings." Sabo said before looking to Luffy for confirmation with his Kenbunshoku Haki.
Luffy concentrated real hard on hearing the 'voices' around them before nodding but with a confused look on his face.
"We're surrounded by like fifty different voices, but…" Luffy said.
"But what?" Ace asked nervously, never having faced this many Sea Kings, hell he could barely fight two as it seemed Sea Kings were resistant enough to magma for it to be difficult.
Of course, Ace had only ever fought sea tiger-type Sea Kings which were aggressive pieces of shit.
"They don't sound aggressive. They sound… curious." Luffy said.
Sure enough, the head of a sea serpent-type Sea King rose up a little bit out of the water, staring at them. It tilted its head, looking curiously at them. It then lightly booped its nose to Luffy's face, as if expecting something. Luffy then tentatively patted the nose of the Sea King and it seemed to… purr?
"Why is the Sea King purring?" Ace demanded, wanting to know since when have Sea Kings been like cats.
"Eeer? Maybe it has to do with your devil fruits? I mean the whole the sea will never have a hold on creation thing probably has to do with this." Sabo said.
"But those Sea Kings from a month ago kept attacking me and I had my devil fruit back then!" Ace pointed out.
"…Yeah but that type of Sea King is much more aggressive than normal Sea Kings." Sabo countered.
"Stupid Sea Tigers." Ace muttered before sighing.
Luffy just stood there, petting the Sea King, for a few minutes before Sabo spoke up.
"We should find the nearest island in order to contact Oyaji and Marco." Sabo said.
Luffy got an idea and turned to the Sea King.
"Hey buddy! Can you show us to the nearest island?" Luffy asked.
The Sea King bobbed its head before swimming off, swimming above water so they could still see it. Ace looked to Sabo who just shrugged, prompting Ace and Luffy to follow after it. The Sea King ended up leading them to a jungle of an island with a large village on a mountain in the middle of the island. Not sure of when they'd be back Ace had Luffy store their vehicles in his pocket dimension. Luffy then thanked the Sea King before they headed off into the jungle.
As they traveled through the jungle they spotted many different types of mushrooms. Of course, Sabo told them not to eat any as they could all be poisonous. Thankfully though, they came upon multiple boars that they were able to kill and roast for food. After eating, they wandered around the jungle until they came upon part of the mountain. With a sigh, Sabo asked Luffy to reduce their weight to nothing.
"What for?" Luffy asked, curious.
"You're going to scale up the mountain while we're holding onto you." Sabo said.
"Uh, walking up or grappling hook?" Luffy asked, causing the two to look at him.
"You can walk up walls now?!" Ace asked.
"Yeah… it's easy! I just have to focus the center of gravity on where I'm walking!" Luffy said.
"Uh, then do that." Sabo said, scratching the back of his head.
Luffy then reduced his brothers' gravity to nothing and they grabbed a hold of him. Slowly but surely Luffy began to walk up the mountainside, his use of his powers evident by then pulse of blackish-purple energy every time he took a step. About ten minutes later he made it to the top. In front of them they saw the village and a large palace. Inside the village, they saw woman of different heights and sizes walking all around the village. After looking at the village for a bit Luffy grabbed his brothers and jumped onto the roof of the palace. Suddenly however, the roofing below them gave out and they started falling down. When they landed they seemed to be in a bathing room. They looked forward they saw the naked back of a black-haired woman. On her back seemed to be a burn mark in the shape of a giant hoof. However, having heard the splash the woman instantly turned and saw them, covering her chest and the steam from the bath covering her lower half.
"Children?! Male children at that?! You've seen my back!" The woman shouted.
"Ah, were sorry! We were attacked at sea and were led here by a Sea King!" Sabo said bowing.
The doors behind them instantly opened and in came two large women. One had orange long orange hair and was relatively big, wearing skimpy clothing. The other had long green hair and was relatively skinny, wearing skimpy clothing as well.
"Sister!" Shouted the orange haired one.
"Did something happen?" Asked the green haired one.
"These children saw the mark." The woman said before turning to the kids.
The woman then put her hands in a heart shaped gesture and then she spoke.
"Mero Mero Mellow!" She shouted, a heart flying at the boys from her hands.
The boys braced themselves for when it hit but when it did, nothing happened. The three boys looked at the woman curiously.
"Was… something supposed to happen?" Ace asked.
"They're not petrified!" The green haired woman shouted in confusion.
"We were supposed to be petrified? Just because we saw your mark?" Luffy asked, curiously.
"Boy, do you know what this mark is?" The black-haired woman asked.
"Uh, no? Am I supposed to?" Luffy asked.
The woman seemed to sigh before giving the boys a narrowed look.
"It is the Hoof of the Soaring Dragon, a mark used by the Celestial Dragons to brand people as their slaves." She said.
"So… you were a slave? But you're now free? Why are you sad then?" Luffy asked innocently.
The woman's eyes narrowed at Luffy before she took up a haughty pose.
"I am not sad little boy. Do you know who I am?" She asked.
"No? Again, are we supposed to?" Ace asked this time.
That seemed to offend the woman who glared at Ace.
"Such insolence! I am Boa Hancock, Empress of Amazon Lily, the Island of Women, and Shichibukai!" Hancock said, introducing herself.
Luffy waded up to the woman's back and touched the hoof mark, causing her to flinch.
"This mark… it's what makes you sad, isn't it?" Luffy said before taking out the small green gem from earlier.
Everyone but Hancock, as she couldn't see what Luffy was doing, watched in shock as Luffy pushed the gem into Hancock and the woman started to glow. The glowing woman then started to shrink, de-aging rapidly. When the glow vanished it revealed an eleven year old Hancock who seemed to be extremely confused.
"Marigold, why are you so much taller?" Hancock asked, addressing the orange haired one.
"What did you do to our sister?!" Marigold shouted.
Luffy turned her around, causing the now young girl to face him. She was confused when she heard her sisters gasp.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"S-sister! Your brand it's gone!" The green haired one shouted.
"Wait! What?! Show me a mirror!" Hancock shouted.
Marigold dashed over with a large mirror and Hancock looked and gasped for two reasons. One, she was eleven years old again and two, she no longer had her slave brand.
"What did you do boy?!" She asked, desperately.
"I have the Yami Yami no Mi! I'm a Darkness Human! I can extract people's life force and put it in other people!" Luffy said with a smile.
Sabo, seeing the women confused still, decided to explain.
"Basically he regressed your age to before you got the mark by putting another person's life force in you." Sabo said.
"But would he be able to age us back to normal and we still not have the mark?" The green haired one asked.
"Mhm it should work like that. I mean she doesn't have the mark anymore and her body doesn't remember having the mark anymore. At least that's what the voice says." Luffy said.
"Voice?" Hancock asked.
"Yup! My Devil Fruit has a voice, so it can teach me!" Luffy said with a smile, causing Hancock to blush from the adorableness.
"But Devil Fruits don't work like that, we should know we have them." The green haired one said.
"Ah, my brothers ate two of the Six Judgements. They're the six most powerful Logia fruits, powerful enough to have a conscience." Sabo explained.
The women gained a confused look on their faces, not understanding what Sabo meant.
"Six Judgements? Why are they called that?" Hancock asked.
"Because, they judge whether or not a person is worthy to eat them. If you are you get full access to the powers and a voice that helps you, if not the most powerful aspects are locked away and you get no help." Sabo explained.
That explanation allowed them to understand. Hancock then got on her knees, prostrating herself before Luffy.
"Sister!" The two other women gasped, never having seen their sister bow before a man in their lives, willingly that is.
"Can you please age me back and do the same to my sisters?" She begged of Luffy.
"Sure! Why not? Everyone deserves to be happy." Luffy said, causing Hancock to smile which shocked her sisters.
"Big sis is smiling!" Marigold said in shock, but it had a tone of happiness to it.
Luffy then thrusted his hand into Hancock's back and grasped her life force. The voice then instructed him on how to regulate how much life force he was taking and then told him that this would be the last time he'd hear from it, as he had learned everything. Nodding mentally, Luffy then focused on how many years he wanted to take from her, which was nine, and then pulled. Out came a greenish-blue, but mostly green, gem the same size as the one he pushed into Hancock. Hancock then rapidly aged back to her original age, but her body was mark free. Luffy then walked over to Marigold and looked up at her.
"Um, it might remove your weight gain, er unless it's part of your Devil Fruit." Luffy said.
Marigold thought about what the boy said. She had put on all this weight, which was in fact mostly if not all muscle, from a special form of training. So, that caused her to give a response.
"This is actually muscle. I worked hard to get this, but really I don't mind training all over again if it rids me of my shameful mark." Marigold said.
"Oh! Then might have something that'll allow you to train and not gain muscles." Luffy said.
"Really? What is it?" Marigold asked, curiously.
Luffy quickly held up his right arm and showed them the bracelet on his wrist.
"This is a Grav Lock. It's part of my Yami Yami no Mi powers, my ability to manipulate gravity. It increases the amount of gravity on your body. But we'd need to see how much you can lift when you age back." Luffy said.
"That sounds interesting I'll try it, go ahead and free me." Marigold said with a smile.
Luffy pushed the gem in and Marigold shrunk, de-aging to before she got the slave mark thus losing the muscle she had gained. He then pulled back out the gem, aging her back to her normal age, the gem looking like it did when it went in. Marigold looked similar to her green haired sister in size after she aged. Luffy then went over to the green-haired woman.
"Ah, what's your name?" Luffy asked, curiously.
"I'm Sandersonia, Boa Sandersonia." She said with a smile.
Luffy nodded and then repeated the process on Sandersonia, causing her to de-age and then age back. The three sisters then walked in front of the three boys and bowed.
"Thank you for ridding us of our shame." They all said together.
"It is odd though, that males would be the reason we lose the mark on our backs." Marigold mused.
"Well it doesn't matter; these boys will be welcome in our Kingdom." Hancock said.
"Ah, why wouldn't men be allowed in?" Ace asked, curiously.
Sandersonia gave a raised brow before answering Ace's question.
"It is as my sister said before, this is Amazon Lily, the Island of Women. Men are forbidden to step foot on here." Sandersonia said.
Well, that explained why they only saw women walking around in the town.
"Should we introduce everyone to our saviors?" Marigold asked.
"We should, but to warn you boys, our people do not know about our history as slaves. Rather, they think that we slayed a gorgon and received a curse of gorgon eyes on our backs." Sandersonia said.
"Why would you do that?" Luffy asked, curiously.
Marigold explained that the world didn't have the nicest view of former slaves. The Kuja, the name of their people, however would see them as weak whereas the world would fear the wraith of the Celestial Dragons. Hancock then explained that everyone in their kingdom believed that their Devil Fruits were the result of the curse. Now understanding, the boys were asked their names before they were to head out.
"Ah, I'm Monkey D. Luffy nice to meet ya!" Luffy said with a smile.
"I'm Portgas D. Ace, same here!" Ace said with a smile.
"I'm just Sabo, though Luffy keeps telling me to call myself Monkey D. Sabo." Sabo said.
"Hey, we're all brothers! Since you don't like your parents, then you should take one of our names." Luffy said, Ace nodding.
The three women smiled at their sibling-like bond. Hancock then got dressed and started to lead the boys out of the palace. When they walked out they were met by a lot of gathered women who seemed to be shocked at the three boys.
"Fellow Kuja! We have been released of our Gorgon Curse while being allowed to keep our powers to protect ourselves! We owe our safety to these three little boys." Hancock said.
"Boys? Males saved you?" One of the women asked.
"Yes, and for this they're now considered under our protection and honorary Kuja Pirates." Sandersonia said, the other two nodding.
The women got a confused look on their faces before shrugging and cheering. It was then that everyone in the city threw a party. The party lasted all night long, with everyone surprised by Luffy and Ace's appetite. They at first thought it was the norm for men but Sabo assured them it wasn't and that men eat about the same as women. During the feast Luffy was talking to Hancock, Sandersonia, and Marigold about how much they could lift now.
"Hmm, I can lift about maybe two hundred fifty pounds easily." Hancock said, thinking.
"I tried earlier and found that I can lift six hundred pounds. I used to be able to lift a thousand." Marigold said.
"I can lift about four hundred and fifty pounds." Sandersonia said.
"Mmhm okay." Luffy said.
He then turned to Sabo, who knew a lot of different facts.
"Sabo, what's the ideal weight for someone of six foot one and twelve feet?" Luffy asked.
"Hm. Six foot one should be about a hundred and sixty pounds and twelve feet… uh three hundred and seventy." Sabo said, after taking a bite of steak that was on his plate.
"That means um, uh, Hancock, can use this one. This should put three hundred and twenty pounds of gravity on you." Luffy said, materializing a black beaded bracelet with the number two on it and handing it to Hancock.
The woman looked at it curiously before sliding it on. She instantly grunted in effort when the weight slammed onto her. Despite the obvious effort that it should take to lift that much for her Hancock showed no strain on her face.
"Um, for you two it should be uh. Sandersonia's is five hundred and eighteen, Marigold's is six hundred and sixty two." Luffy said, having gotten better at math thanks to Sabo.
Luffy generated two bracelets one that had the number one point seven nine and another that had the number one point four on it. He then handed the one point seven nine to Marigold and the other to Sandersonia. They put them on and grunted as well, but like Hancock didn't show any strain on their face.
"Hmm, don't take them off until you get used to the weight, because it disappears when you remove it. And by used to it, I mean being able to move normally as if there was no weight." Luffy said.
"What should we do when we get used to it?" Marigold asked curiously.
"Then mail me and I'll send you a new one. AH! That reminds me we need to get back to Oyaji and Pineapple!" Luffy shouted.
"Oyaji and Pineapple?" Hancock asked.
Ace turned to them, remembering as well.
"Yeah! We live with the Whitebeard Pirates! Marines attacked us and Marco, that's Pineapple, told us to get away so we wouldn't get hurt cause they sent Vice Admirals after us." Ace said.
The three sisters were shocked at that. These three sweet boys lived with the Whitebeard Pirates.
"Why do you live with them? Aren't you a bit young to be a pirate?" Sandersonia asked.
"They saved us, well actually they saved our little brother's life. They're our family now, our brothers and sisters and Pops of course." Ace said.
Luffy and Sabo however looked at Ace in shock.
"You called him Pops!" Sabo said in shock, causing Ace to blush.
"I, uh, figured it was time." Ace said, before Luffy tackled him with a hug, causing the three sisters to mentally aw.
"We could help you get back to them." Hancock offered.
"That'd be wonderful!" Luffy said with a cheer.
"Tomorrow morning however, it's late and you three need sleep." Marigold said with a stern look.
Luffy pouted at the woman with puppy dog eyes but the woman wasn't moved.
"That won't work, I've had to deal with my elder sister's puppy dog eyes." Marigold said with a laugh.
"Aww but Sis Marigold!" Luffy said, shocking the woman.
"Sis?" She asked, curiously with a hint of fondness.
"Yeah! You're Sis like Sis Sonia but Hancock is Big Sis Hancock because she's sweet and nice like Makino!" Luffy said.
Hancock turned her eyes to Luffy and blushed before squealing like a schoolgirl, shocking everyone in the room.
'Did Empress Hancock just squeal?' was the collective shock.
She then picked up Luffy and cuddled him.
"Aren't you an adorable little one," She said with a smile.
Luffy just smiled while Ace and Sabo were shaking their heads with a fond smile. Marigold and Sandersonia were smiling as well because their sister's cold heart was slowly thawing. Quickly after that the three boys went to bed, being given a room by Hancock who wished them goodnight. The next morning, they were guided onto the Kuja Pirates' flag ship where they set off. It didn't take them long to actually find the Moby Dick because according to Marigold they had just gotten reports of sightings of the ship off the border of the Calm Belt. When they got near they saw a familiar blue phoenix that landed on the Kuja Pirates' ship. Of course, being wary of men the warriors held up their weapons. Marco, transforming back, just ignored them and picked up all three boys, hugging them close.
"I'm so glad you three are okay, yoi!" Marco said, kissing each of their heads.
"Of course we're okay! Big Sis Hancock took care of us." Luffy said, causing Hancock to blush again.
That caused Marco to put them down and look around, warily.
"Uh, boys would you like to tell me why you're on the flag ship of a Shichibukai, yoi?" Marco asked.
"Cause we're family!" Luffy said again with his innocent smile, causing the three sisters to fondly smile at the little boy.
"Family, yoi?" Marco asked, raising a brow.
"The little one saved us from something personal. We ended up adopting them into our people." Marigold offered.
"Yes, let it be known that Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, and… Boa Sabo are considered honorary Kuja islanders and will always be welcome." Hancock said, pausing a second before adding her and her sisters' last name to Sabo's name, giving a smile to the boys.
"Boa Sabo? … I like it. But why just me?" Sabo asked.
The other two brothers wanted to know as well. Of course Ace didn't want to change his last name mostly because it was a reminder of his mother. Luffy didn't really care, not having that much attachment to his last name.
"Because little nephew, we can tell why you don't like your parents. After all your facial features are very similar to the people we don't like. So, we're giving you our name instead." Marigold said with a knowing smile.
Sabo blushed and thanked the women.
"Of course, all three of you can take our name if you want, we're just giving it to Sabo because he doesn't have one." Sandersonia said.
Luffy then got an idea and put his hand into his pocket dimension, shocking the Kuja Pirates, and pulled out three Sakazuki cups, having kept the ones that they used long ago.
"Uh, do you have a bottle of sake and three more cups like this?" Luffy asked.
His brothers' eyes lit up in recognition as Hancock nodded and went to go get them. She came out with three similar cups, they had snakes wrapping around them, and a bottle of sake. Luffy then took the six cups and poured a little amount in each and handed one to each of them.
"Me and my brothers did this about a year back and now I want to do it with you guys, Ace, Sabo you approve right?" Luffy asked, turning to his brothers with an asking look in his eyes.
The two brothers nodded with a smile, not being able to really say no. After all the women were really nice and did share their story with them before they went to bed last night.
"Good! Then ah, with these cups we become family in all but blood. We will always accept each other no matter what and support each other through thick and thin." Luffy said, trying to remember what Ace said.
Although it wasn't exactly what Ace had said before, it was close enough. So the six clinked their glasses and downed the alcohol. The three boys flinched again from the burn but the three sisters didn't at all, showing that they were used to it. The three boys then smiled and got off with Marco to the Moby Dick. They then waved at the Kuja Pirates and promised they'd visit them sometime. After the women left the three boys started to regale everyone with the story of how they made friends with the Kuja Pirates. Of course, they left out the three sisters' stories, cause after all it wasn't their story to tell.
Sooo what did you think of that. Originally Hancock was going to be called Momma buuuut then the ceremony wouldn't make much sense. Anyways considering what I said at the beginning. It all depends on who you want to join. If you guys end up wanting Usopp to join early then I'd need a way to set up the Kuro encounter because I'm pretty sure that he would have killed Kaya sooner if it wasn't for Usopp. Brook I can easily throw in because him not being present at Thriller Bark doesn't effect anything other than them knowing that salt stops the zombies. But that I can toss in easily. Nami I'm not adding until canon timeline. Chopper, well there's no need to add him early. Neither for Sanji too, in fact Sanji early might get Germa 66 on him faster. Zoro eh, if you guys want? But I really need to get to canon so it's easier to write the chapters because I'd have a guideline and I'm running out of ideas for ASL Fluff. The fluff will continue by the time we get to canon. Also, next chapter is Law :p