Ang3l: Hey!
Asa: How's it hanging?
Ang3l: Everyone seemed to really like the last chapter! I hope you'll like this one just as much.
Asa: You finally kept your promise too!
Ang3l: Yep! This is officially the longest chapter I have written so far! So here's your extra long chapter you were promised a long time ago:)
Chapter XI
Reunion of Brothers and Friends.
A wall of fire exploded through the streets covering the sky and separating the Straw hats from the pursuing Marines. The pirates stop running and turned around in shock. Some of them immediately recognized the man who had been looking for their captain while the others were totally confused as to why this random person would help them. Much to their amazement fire licked up the man's shoulders and arms. A collective thought was shared throughout the crew. Who is this person?
Well, the whole crew except one.
Luffy was probably the most shocked out of all of them. There stood his brother, right in front of him. The same brother that left their island when Luffy was 14. The same brother who would always punch him in the head and call him a cry baby.
Ace…
"That guy has a Devil Fruit ability?" Zoro asked. If this man was their enemy then he just got a whole lot more dangerous.
"Who the hell is he?" Ussop mumbled staring in awe. "Why is he helping us?"
The crew looked over at Luffy as he stepped forward and addressed the man. "Ace!"
Ace looked over his shoulder and smirked at his little brother. "You never change, Luffy."
"Ace… It's Ace! You ate a Devil Fruit!?" The rubber boy asked getting more and more excited.
"Yeah, the Mera Mera Fruit." Ace took notice of the Marines collecting themselves and falling into line again. He took a battle stance. "Anyway, we can't talk like this! I'll catch up later! You guys run for it! I'll keep these guys busy!"
Without hesitation Luffy turned around and bolted, calling for his crew to follow. They struggled to keep up as they lugged the supplies with them.
"Who the hell is that?" Sanji asked. Luffy only grinned and kept running.
It was Nami who asked next. "Wait, Luffy. Just who was that?"
"Is he someone you know, Luffy-san?" Vivi chipped in, just as curious as the rest of them.
"Yeah," Luffy said finally answering them. "He's my brother!"
The crew's eyes widened. Not just because Luffy had a brother that none of them knew about but also because of the amount of pride that was put into that sentence. The crew had only ever heard that tone on the rare occasion that he spoke about Shanks or his Straw hat! This Ace person must be someone he truly looks up too.
The shock was quickly overcome by the dire need to escape and they focused on running. Zoro had tossed a barrel to Luffy so he wasn't the only one not carrying anything. They had just about reached the edge of town when a large explosion caused them to stop. The crew looked back from where they came to see a massive ball of smoke and fire fly into the air and dissipate.
Nami turned to Luffy once more. "Is that guy really your brother?"
She was answered with a simple "Yeah! He's Ace!"
"Well I'm not surprised you have a brother but what's he doing on the Grand Line?" Zoro asked shifting the barrel on his shoulder.
"Ace is a pirate. He left our island three years before me in search of One Piece."
Everyone looked back at the swirling elements that were coming from the fight.
"A-Anyway, let's hurry back to the ship. We should get out of here before they come after us." Nami ordered.
They turned around and continued running. Luffy however wanted to continue to watch the fight and started running backwards so when Nami told everyone to go left, he took the wrong left.
Luffy sat in the kitchen of the Going Merry with his brother and Ussop. Sanji was at the sink washing the dishes. After having gotten lost, Luffy ran into his brother again. They beat up some of baroque works billions and reminisced the old times. He really liked being with his brother again. He hadn't realized how much he really missed him. Luffy also enjoyed introducing Ace to his crew, they all seemed to get along pretty well and he was glad for that.
Ace watched his kid brother play with the Onigiri that was served by Sanji. The pyro couldn't help smiling at seeing how happy Luffy was here. Ace thought back to everything he had to go through just to find the rubber idiot. The boy was troublesome even when he wasn't around. He rested his cheek against his fist.
Suddenly he remembered something from early and sat up straighter. He looked over at Luffy and blinked at the younger boy. "Oi, Luffy. Do you happen to know anyone by the name of Asa?"
At the mention of the girls name Luffy gasped and ended up chocking on a bite of Onigiri. Ace raised an eyebrow at him. Was that supposed to be a yes? When the boy stopped spluttering and coughing he turned to his brother with wide eyes. Ace had also seemed to catch the full attention of the sniper and cook as well.
"Asa!? You saw her!? Where is she!? Is she okay!? Did she look sick!? Was she injured!? What did she say!? Wh-"
"Woah! Calm down!" Ace said raising his hands to try and stop the boy's barrage of questions. He really didn't expect this kind of reaction! "So you do know her then. I ran into her when I was looking for you around town. She told me where you might be."
Luffy leaned forward holding onto his brothers every word. Before he could say anything however Sanji spoke up.
"So Asa is in Alabasta!" The cook said going into love mode at the thought the girl.
"This is great! Now we can get her back!" Ussop stated excitedly.
"Did she say anything else?" Luffy asked, oddly enough, being the logical one in this situation.
Ace looked between the three crewmates. It was odd seeing Luffy get this hyped up over a girl. Was his little brother finally growing up?
Ace almost scoffed. No way, she's probably just one of his nakama. He does get pretty protective over his friends.
"Well, I asked her if she lived in Alabasta but she said she was only here temporarily. She also seemed to know we were brothers. I'm assuming you told her." Ace said.
Luffy blinked at him. "I never told her that."
"It might be because she's psychic." Ussop suggested, remembering what she told them when Nami was ill.
Ace hummed. "A psychic huh? So what, is she a part of the crew?"
Luffy frowned and shook his head. "No, I want her to be but she left before I could ask."
"Do you know why she left then?"
Ussop and Sanji shook their heads but to their surprise Luffy nodded. "You know why she left? How?" Sanji asked, lighting a cigarette.
Luffy looked at his cook. "I ran into a little girl when I was looking around town. She said that she knew Asa and that Asa was sad because she had to leave her friends to protect them from the monsters."
Ussop's knees started shaking at the mention of monsters but he tried to hide it. "Monsters!? Ha! I can take on a million monsters any day! That's why they call me CAPTA-"
Sanji clonked him on the head. "Not now idiot."
Sanji frowned and sighed. Even though it was something, it wasn't much to go on. "We should probably inform the rest of the crew so they can keep an eye out for her. In the mean time you two can come dry the dishes."
Ussop and Luffy groaned as Ace looked on in amusement.
I walked in through the front door and didn't stop to say hello to Alex. I bolted straight up to our room and grabbed my back pack. Making sure I had my camera with me I shoved the book into the bag, grabbed the cloak I had bought and threw them on. When I got back downstairs Alexandra came out of the kitchen to see what was going on. She noticed what I was wearing and smiled brightly. "They're here aren't they?" She asked. I nodded excitedly.
"I'm ready to go back now."
She stared at me calculatingly. "Are you sure? You still need a lot of practice with your powers." She reminded.
"I'm ready." I stated my voice laced with determination. "I can control my powers enough to be able to avoid hurting anyone. That's all I need right now." I put my hands on my hips and grinned at her. "So? Do you want me to introduce you to them or not?"
Her grin grew into a full out smile and she ran upstairs to gather her stuff. As she did that I wrote a quick thank you note to the family and left it on the table with the last of our rent (and a little extra). In no time at all Alex and I were making our way out of Nanohana.
We walked in comfortable silence for the first few hours before Alexandra spoke. "Um… Where are we going?"
"To Rainbase of course!" I told her like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why?"
I rolled my eyes. "To meet up with Luffy and the others!" Wow it's like she's never seen the show before!
"But uh… If I remember correctly, don't the Straw hats go to Yuba first?" She said slowly watching me carefully. I blinked my smile faltering. My pace slowed the more I thought about it. Thirty seconds later I slapped a hand to my forehead and groaned. You freaking idiot!
"I must have been so excited I wasn't thinking properly! What do we do!? We've been walking for hours!" I'm not gonna lie. I was freaking out a bit. Then another thought struck me.
"We don't have any water do we…"
I sunk to my knees in depression. This was my entire fault! Now I'm gonna die in the desert before I get to see Luffy again! Uh… I mean Luffy and the others! Hehe…he…
Alexandra came up to me and patted me on the back. "Don't blame yourself. I didn't exactly remember either. But we do have to do something! How long will it be before Luffy and the others reach Rainbase?"
I looked up at her, having to block out the sun with my hand. Ugh, Its so hot!
"Not for a days at least. It'll take them awhile to get through the desert and that's only to Yuba!"
She nodded and hummed in thought. "Well we might as well keep walking, otherwise we're never going to get there. We'll figure it out as we go."
I nodded, knowing we didn't really have much of a choice. It was either walk a long way and hope to god we live long enough to see the next town, or sit here and basically dry up. Which would you choose?
I stood up and began pushing forwards, neither of us said anything in a desperate effort to save our energy. I wasn't going to let a little thing like a desert keep me from seeing Luffy …. and the others… again! I would get to Rainbase even if it killed me! Except then there would be no point because I'd be dead and….
Ugh… I think my brain melted…
It wasn't until the sun started to set that Alex and I come across another problem.
We were on the wrong side of the Sandora River.
We stood at the bank trying to come up with a way to get across. Our brain's had completely evaporated a few hours back so neither of us could come up with a good idea. I found myself wanting to drink the water more so then get across it. So hot… so thirsty… so hungry…
Alexandra and I both groaned and flopped on our backs. I winced when a corner of the book in my back pack jabbed me between my shoulder blades. I rolled over to take the bag off so I could lie more comfortably when an idea struck me. Something that I remembered from reading the book! I pulled it out of my bag and quickly flipped through pages trying to find the right one.
Nope… Nope… Not it…. Nada…. N-AHA! Here it is!
I quickly read through how to perform the spell before clapping the book shut and putting it away. Standing up I slowly raised my arm in front of me, in the direction of the river with my palm to the ground. Taking a deep breath, I curled my fingers into my palm before opening it back up again. I felt the burning in my eyes as a small amount of Dark energy formed below my hand. Concentrating, I ignored Alexandra moving to stand beside me and sent the energy towards the water. It absorbed into the liquid and instantly turned it black, the darkness spread from that one spot all the way across the river making a long strip of black about as wide as a side walk from one bank to the other.
Sweat beaded on my head from the strain of concentrating but I held on as I slowly walked forward. Cautiously I placed on foot on top of the black bridge and was relieved when it held. Keeping my hand stretched out I motioned for Alexandra to follow.
In no time at all we both set foot on the other side and I released my concentration. The darkness returned to me and the water took on its natural colour once more. I gave Alex a weak smile as I tried to step forward only to collapse. My legs felt like jelly all of the sudden. She caught me before I hit the ground and lowered me down gently. "That was amazing Asa! How'd you do that?"
"Apparently I can combine the Darkness with water. It's like a natural conductor but it only works with water. It makes it easier to control the darkness when it's combined which is why I could hold it for so long." I explained. I was breathing pretty heavily from the excursion but other than feeling exhausted I think I was okay.
Alexandra laid me down and we decided to call it a night. The sun was setting now and it wouldn't be safe to travel at night. The red head pulled out the blankets but with there being so few we had to curl up together for extra warmth. It's a good thing we were both girls, otherwise this would have been rather awkward.
After we were both cozy, lying with our backs pressed together, I heard a soft whisper from Alex. "Your eyes change you know."
I glanced over my shoulder at her. "What?"
"Your eyes. When you use your powers. They turn black."
I really didn't know what to say. Was that what the burning feeling was? I didn't know that they turned black! "Well… that's pretty cool…"
"I thought so too." Alex agreed.
We both giggled before letting sleep take us, neither of us dreamt of anything that night.
It was two days later.
Two of the longest days of my life. Between fighting off weird desert animals, multiple collapses of exhaustion and dehydration (for both of us), freezing our butts off at night and almost going completely insane I can honestly say I hate the desert.
We have to close!
It didn't really help that neither of us knew what direction we were going in.
I had lost all capability to think at this point. My throat was so dry I often thought I tasted blood. I didn't need to look at Alexandra to know that she was just as bad as I was.
My vision blurred and I stumbled, falling to my knees. Alexandra slowly came over to help me up but both of our attention was drawn to something else.
We stared as the strange thing came to stop in front of us. It was a… turtle wearing a Stetson… smoking a cigarette and pulling a weird carriage that looked like a cross between a tank and a mushroom… with an alligator on top.
"I think I've finally lost it." Said Alexandra with a hoarse voice. I nodded.
My brain promptly shut itself down when the ugliest ballerina ever, walked out of the mushroom tank.
I blacked out, not being able to handle the weirdness.
The next time I opened my eyes, I was pleased to know that I wasn't in some dream from my world. That always seemed to happen when I really didn't need it to. I was however not too pleased with finding myself tied to a chair and gagged in what looked to be an office.
How the heck did I get here? Where exactly is 'here'?
The door to my left (which I just noticed) opened and a very familiar person walked in.
Robin!
But if she's here then that means… I'm at Rain Dinners! Thank god!
Well… that was good and bad… Good because Luffy would show up soon and bad because Crocodile was here too.
Robin walked up to me carrying a glass of water that I couldn't help but stare longingly at. I wasn't as thirsty as I was before which made me wonder if they were hydrating me when I was unconscious, but I was still really parched. She untied my gag and lifted the glass to my mouth before I could say anything.
When I had gulped down all the contents she was just about to put the gag back on but I stopped her by asking "How did I get here?"
She looked at me with cold eyes and I almost shivered at the pain that lay behind them. "Baroque Works number agents ran across you in the desert. They were going to leave you and your friend until you started talking about Monkey D. Luffy in your sleep." She explained in a harsh tone.
I looked at her with half lidded eyes. If my hands were available I'd slap myself right now.
Robin moved to put the gag on but I pulled my head back out of the way. "Wait! What about the other girl who was with me? Where is she?" I asked quickly.
Robin rolled her eyes. Jeez she puts on this evil person act really well. "She escaped." Was the answer I got. Relief flooded through me. At least Alexandra was safe. The gag was tied around my mouth once more and the chair I was sitting in was shoved up against the far wall. Robin left without another word.
I had to get out of here. I don't know how long I was out for but Luffy and the others would be here soon and this room was gonna flood. I looked around from my new position. There was a sea stone cage that the Straw hats would soon be kept in and a large banquet table with a nice variety of rich foods. Behind the table was a large window that seemed to lead out into water and every so often a weird crocodile thing would swim by.
I struggled to free my hands, pulling at the ropes. This only served to give me really bad rope burn and I growled around the gag in frustration.
I only had to wait about an hour before I could hear distinct screams coming from above. If I wasn't gagged I'd be smiling like an idiot right now.
Luffy, Ussop, Nami, Zoro and Smoker hit the ground of the cage with a loud thump. They al groaned as they got up and I wiggled in my chair, trying harder than ever to get out. They're right there! I finally came back and I can't even… Ugh!
Luffy and Ussop walked up to the bars. "A clever trap indeed." Luffy said, trying to make it sound like they didn't just make a stupid mistake.
"Yes, we couldn't help but fall for it." Ussop agreed.
"It was TOTALLY avoidable!" Their navigator yelled at the two idiots. I almost broke down crying right there. I missed you guys so much!
"But more importantly I keep feeling my strength draining away…" Luffy moaned as he clung to the bars.
"What's wrong?" Ussop asked. "You hungry or something?"
"LUFFY!"
Before the rubber boy could react to his first mates warning he was knocked and pinned to the floor by Smoker. I winced as the Marines jutte dug into Luffy's chest. I pulled at my bindings even harder causing my wrists to bleed slightly but I didn't notice. I have to help!
"What the… My strengths all drained out… It feels like I fell into the ocean or something…"
"What did you do to Luffy?" Nami demanded.
"The end of my jutte is made of a mineral called Kairouseki." Smoker said, he went and explained the properties of sea stone and that the bars of the cage were made of it too. I ignored him in favor of getting these damn ropes off. I had yet to be noticed thank goodness because I felt the bindings around my feet loosen a bit.
"She's right. Just give up." A voice spoke, addressing the people who were about to start a fight in the cage. I froze and slowly glanced up.
Crocodile…
When did he show up?
"You're all going to be dying together. Why not try and get along?" The man said in a calm voice.
"Crocodile." Mumbled smoker.
Luffy growled. "What?!" He looked up from his place on the cage floor as Crocodile spun around on his chair to face everyone.
The sandman's dark hair was slicked back and he had a nasty scar running horizontally under his eyes and across the bridge of his nose. Luffy glared.
I slunk back in the chair, a little less anxious to get out now that he was in the room.
"So he's one of the Shichibukai…" Zoro said, standing with his hand on his swords.
Smoker glared. "Our long awaited guest as finally showed up." The marine said around his two cigars. Could you be any more unhealthy? Seriously… Smoke or not, I bet you can still get cancer!
"Oh-ho, so the rumors about you being a wild dog are true, Smoker-kun." He said in a teasing tone. "You never thought of me as an ally. Although of course, you were correct. Smoker, I think I shall have you die in an unfortunate accident. I'll inform the Government that you fought bravely against this pathetic Straw Hat pirate here. I don't know why you came to this country, but you are obviously acting of your own accord. The Government would never send you here. They believe in the Shichibukai you see." Crocodile spoke as he walked around his desk, towards the cage.
Luffy punched the ground and struggled to stand. I looked over at him with wide eyes. "So you're Crocodile!?" He finally stood and grabbed onto the bars in anger. "Oi! You! Fight me…" The rubber boy trailed off when the sea stone took effect and he slumped to the ground.
"Can't you get it into your head NOT to touch the cage!?" Ussop yelled.
"Straw Hat Luffy." Crocodile addressed. "I congratulate you for coming this far. I'll kill you properly in due time so please be patient. Our guest of Honor has yet to arrive."
I glared at him for speaking like that to Luffy. How dare he belittle him!?
"Guest of Honor?" Nami wondered, sweating nervously.
We all waited for a moment for something to happen. When nothing did, Luffy and Ussop resorted to doing impressions to pass the time, while I went back to quietly trying to escape. My wrists had been rubbed raw by now and I bit down tightly on the gag to keep from hissing each time the ropes would dig in.
Crocodile had set himself down at the banquet table to wait patiently.
Nami had finally gotten fed up with the idiots fooling around and punched them in the head, yelling at them. She then turned to Zoro and punched him for napping.
"You're an authoritative young lady, aren't you?"
Nami turned to Crocodile with her hands on her hips. "What about it? Enjoy that little ego trip of your while you can! Once this guy busts out of this cage, he'll knock your worthless hide above the clouds! Isn't that right Luffy?" She said proudly, pointing to her Captain.
"HELL YEAH! BRING IT ON!"
You tell him Nami! I thought, proud that she stood up for Luffy.
"Your crew puts a lot of faith in you as a captain, Straw Hat Luffy." A crocodile swam by the window. "Trust. Heh, it's the most useless thing in the entire world."
Nami clenched her fists in anger. "What's with this prick? Making fun of us…!"
Ussop ran over to try and calm her down.
"CROCODILE!" A voice yelled.
"Vivi!" Ussop , Nami and Luffy called.
"Welcome, Princess of Alabasta, Vivi. Or rather, Miss Wednesday. You've done an admirable job slipping through the hands of our assassins." Crocodile complemented.
"I'd come to you." She spat angrily. "No matter where you'd hide! I'd come to see you die! Mr. 0. If you had never set foot in my country…" Vivi ran forward, pulling out her peacock slashers and ignoring the warnings from Luffy. "… Alabasta would have been at peace!"
Just before Vivi let out her attack, I felt my chair suddenly move. My eyes widened in horror as one of Crocodiles hands pulled me across the room in front of Vivi. I watched Vivi's eyes grow with shock and she tried to pull out of the attack. She managed to redirect it so it didn't take my head off but I received a small scratch on my cheek.
WAY TO CLOSE!
"ASA!" I heard my name called from the Straw Hats and I would have smiled if I wasn't almost killed just then. "What are you doing here!?"
Luffy leaned closer to the bars being careful not to touch them. What was Asa doing here? Why did Crocodile have her? He felt his anger boil at seeing her bound up.
Crocodile let out a malicious laugh. "I don't think you want to try that again." The Shichibukai said to Vivi. "Found this little thing wandering around the desert. She made the mistake of mentioning your name Straw Hat. I assume she's a friend of yours, so unless you want to see her floating with the fish then I wouldn't try something like that again."
Crocodile grabbed a fist full of Asa's hair pulling her head up as if he was displaying her to the people in the room. Luffy grabbed the bars of the cage until his knuckles turned white. Not caring that every ounce of energy he had disappeared in an instant. The crew stared at him and had they not been waiting to see what he was going to do, they wouldn't have heard his rage filled whisper.
"Don't touch her." Their captain was positively trembling with hate. Crocodile ignored him and shoved Asa away, her chair slid back, and smacked into the cage before falling on its side causing a yelp to escape the girl. The captain let go of the cage and quickly went over to where she landed. He just managed to squeeze his hand through the bars to untie her gag. Nami and Ussop came to kneel beside him.
I felt the gag around my mouth loosen and I spat it out, sticking my tongue out in disgust. My head hurt from that bastard pulling my hair and from hitting the floor but I didn't worry about it right now. I looked over my shoulder and smiled at Luffy, Nami and Ussop. They returned looks of worry. "Man, I've really missed you guys!" I said happily.
They smiled a bit. "We've missed you too!"
"This isn't exactly the reunion I had in mind... Can you by any chance get my hands free?"
Luffy looked over his shoulder. "Oi! Zoro!" The swordsman got up without a word and carefully cut the ropes through the bars. When my hands were free, I leant down and untied my feet. I got up, rubbing my wrists with my hands. Looking over, I noticed that Crocodile had forced Vivi to sit at the table and he walked over to the cage.
I backed up until I was pushed up against the bars, not wanting to be anywhere near that man. He stopped a good distance away but I felt someone grab my hand gently. Turning, I looked at Luffy through the metal cage and smiled. He returned it and gave my hand a light squeeze.
I would have blushed if Crocodiles voice didn't cause me to sneer in hate.
"Operation Utopia has begun!"
Asa: Well we hope you enjoyed this!
Ang3l: I also wanted to say that I am no longer accepting OC's but thank you to everyone that helped out! When I first started this story I was just kind of writing randomly. I had no idea where I wanted to take this. Now I have a plot forming in my head! It's going to start getting exciting! And also a little freaky... ;)
Asa: There will not be a Coming up on Ang3l's profile for next chapter! She doesn't even know whats going to happen yet so...
Until Next time!