Life's full of secrets.
Chapter 14 And Bombs
Shanks watched as the island bobbed up and down in the horizon. He had received a message only a few hours earlier and had moved out. He would meet up with Whitebeard on the country of sand on the outskirts of Alubarna. There the two groups would plan on how they would get the two boys and hopefully the rest of the country safe.
Ben walked up to the captain. "Two hours till we are at the capital." He said looking at the island as well. Shanks nodded so that the man knew that he had been acknowledged. Ben side at his captain's lack of talking but knew not to pressure the man.
Shanks had been good friends with the two boys since he had met them when Dragon was aiding them. Shanks met them when Luffy was seven; it had been right before the house fire and the death of them. The red-haired man hadn't been able to find them until years later.
*flashback*
Shanks sat in the living room of the man the government had asked him to meet. The man wasn't sure of why he had to meet the hacker at the man's house, but he didn't care. Shanks thanked the woman who had brought him tea and looked around.
The TV was off and the curtains closed. A rather large stuffed animal was lying on the carpet. A pink top with a white on it was placed on its head. "Raccoon…?" Shanks asked himself looking at the small thing.
"Reindeer."
The red-haired man turned to see a boy walk into the room. His reddish-brown eyes stared at the man with curiosity. The small boy picked up the stuffed thing with some effort. The said reindeer was about the size of the little boy.
"His name is Tony Tony Chopper." The boy said squeezing it happily. Another boy came from the kitchen. He was older then the first one and had freckles under his similar colored eyes.
"Luffy, you were told to stay out of the living room." The older boy said addressing the younger. The littlest one looked up at his older brother and pouted.
"But Ace-nii, I was hungry and you have to go through the living room to get to the kitchen." The boy said looking up at his brother with pleading eyes. The older one flinched at the look and quickly led the boy to the kitchen after giving Shanks a small bow.
"I'm sorry about that." Shanks turned to see Dragon walk in from the same room the one called Luffy had come from. The man sat in a chair across from Shanks's and picked up his cup of tea.
"It's okay." Shanks said politely. Dragon nodded and pulled out a piece of paper. Shanks looked at it carefully and then back at the man. "That is the sword, how did you get it?"
"The island that it is on isn't that hard to get into. The missing marines are probably caused by the sword." Dragon said noticing his sons peeking at them from the kitchen door. "Spying and eavesdropping are bad habits." The two boys fell and quickly stood up to face their father.
"Sorry." They said with a small bow before going back into the kitchen.
"They are going to keep listening." Dragon said with a small sigh before going back to the matter at hand. Shanks let out a small chuckle and picked up the picture of the cursed sword.
"The island of Aska has a ceremony for how to stop the spread of the cursed sword, but the person who is possessed will try to stop it even though they can't get near the orbs." Dragon said explaining what he had found.
"So the possessed person controls others to get the orbs?" Shanks asked going through some other files.
"No. The people who are controlled will lose their senses. Like the one in possession of the sword, they too cannot touch the orbs." Dragon answered giving another warning look at his sons who continued to watch.
"What are Papa and the man talking about?" Luffy asked his older brother.
"Something about a cursed sword, orbs and an island called Aska." Ace replied not noticing his mother come up behind them. The woman picked both boys up and placed them on the counter.
"I thought your father told you not to eavesdrop on the conversation." The woman said to the boys.
"But this is a way to gather information. Father was the one to always say that the more information you gather, the better the mission goes for you and your nakama." Ace said in a matter of fact way.
"Don't be a smartass." The woman said grabbing Ace by his ear. Ace complained about the pain and Luffy giggled as his brother got punishment. "You too." The woman said grabbing Luffy's ear as well.
She let go and sighed. The two boys were becoming more and more like their father. She walked up to the wall and pointed a finger at the wall.
"Fine, it is my turn to teach you two a lesson." The woman said looking at the now eager boys. "I will teach you the art of eavesdropping."
Ace and Luffy watched as their mother grabbed three glass cups from a cabinet and handed one to each of them. She went over to the now closed door and locked it so that it didn't swing open when she leaned against.
Luffy and Ace copied as their mother placed the glass against the door. The bottom was facing her. The woman placed her ear to the cup and listened carefully.
"I can't hear anything." Luffy said. Ace sweat dropped and flipped the boy's glass around. "Kishishi. Thanks Ace."
"So, is that enough?" Dragon asked the red-haired man. Shanks nodded and stood up. He looked at the door and smiled.
"I think your kids are taking lessons from more than just you." Shanks said pointing to the door.
"Crap." The woman said before quickly putting the glasses back and unlocking the kitchen door. The boys sat on the counter and acted as if nothing happened.
"So that's where they were learning it." Dragon said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Stupid red-haired man ruining my perfect plan." The woman said crossing her arms and pouting.
Dragon raised an eyebrow, "Perfect plan?" His wife stuck her tongue out at him and went back to washing dishes.
*end flashback*
Shanks continued to watch as the sand kingdom became closer and closer. The fight was getting nearer and so were Ace and Luffy. The man just hoped that they were okay. The boys had been through a lot and the red-haired man couldn't help but agree with what the old man had told him, they weren't making this any easier.
Luffy squirmed as he and Ace were led down yet another set of stairs. Miss. All-Sunday hadn't let them go and Vivi was still with Crocodile. The king and his two defeated warriors were locked up again. The boys were stuck with the man.
Ace looked at the Luffy. The pain from the gash was surely hurting him. There was nothing the elder brother could do at the moment however. He too was in the grip of the devilish woman and was unable to be freed. Even though his implant would allow him to get loose, he couldn't use it due to the anklet the croc had stuck on him. Luffy didn't have one, but he was already exhausted to the point where he could only walk forward. The little boy had a brave face though.
Ace looked up at the blue-haired princess. She too was putting on a brave face as the croc carried her by her cheeks down the stairs. The girl was trying to get out but showed no indication that she was in pain.
Luffy looked at the woman who had him and his brother in an arm lock. She wasn't showing any emotion right now, but the boy knew that the woman could laugh. If a person could laugh with meaning, then there was no way that they could be that bad.
Nico Robin stared straight forward as she helped lead the boys to a room with a computer that was hooked up to a projector. She gently shoved the boys to the computer. Crocodile smiled at the woman's wanting of the poneglyph.
Ace and Luffy carefully walked to the computer as soon as they could move their arms. Luffy stretched and looked at the rather expensive looking machine. "Hurry up." Crocodile said lifting the still struggling princess up.
Luffy stuck his tongue out at the man and turned the machine on. The boy could hear the man curse him for being such a kid. He also heard a small chuckle come from Nico Robin. Ace sat in the chair and turned towards the man.
"What exactly is it that you want us to find?" he asked the man seriously. Crocodile looked at the boy as if he was trying to stall.
"If we don't know what we are looking for, we don't know where to go." Luffy said bored. The SunaWani was stupid.
"It is an ancient text." Miss. All-Sunday said ignoring her boss. "It was forbidden by the government to be translated."
Ace turned back to the now powered up computer and began to tap away. Crocodile tossed the princess to his partner and walked up to the boys.
The elder of the two was busy typing in random codes while the younger never took his eyes off the screen. Crocodile was impressed by the speed at which the boy was typing. He listened carefully and realized that the two were talking back and forth. They were naming codes and talking in numbers that weren't understandable.
"Do you mind backing up?" Ace asked as his brother took over so he could talk. "If we lose concentration and get detected, all government agencies will be on your tail. I don't think you want that. We don't want to be busted either. The government doesn't exactly like us." The boy turned back towards the computer and took control again.
Luffy ran to the projector and turned it on. He messed with it and a computer screen popped up onto it. The boy pushed more buttons and opened up a file. The two adults watched as a cube was digitalized onto the screen.
Vivi gasped at the structure that held the key to a weapon that she had never heard of. The ancient writing on it was weird and seemed to hold no pattern yet still held a concrete design. "What an eerie feeling." She said without thinking.
"Yes, but it holds what I need." Crocodile said walking closer to the projection. Nico Robin let the girl go and walked up to it as well.
Ace turned off the computer and walked up to his brother who had backed up from the projector. "It is permanently on there." Ace said walking to the blue haired girl. "Now let us go."
"I don't think so." The man said walking up to the kids. "Part of the deal was for you to help me unlock the weapon once I have it."
"We're hackers, not weapon specialists!" Ace said pushing the younger two behind him. Luffy glanced at the woman who looked frustrated at what she read on the cube.
"Yes, but one of you is needed for me to unlock the weapon Pluton." Crocodile said grabbing Luffy be hi shirt. Ace quickly grabbed the man's wrist and pulled down but he was slammed against a wall. Ace screamed as the pain from the torturing and the blade-man came back at him.
"Nico Robin, tell me. Tell me where my weapon is." Crocodile said ignoring the boy's attempt at getting free.
"It's not on here." The woman said calmly.
"What!" Crocodile said dropping Luffy. "What do you mean it isn't on here!'
"The word 'Pluton' isn't written on the poneglyph anywhere." Nico Robin said simply.
"I see, well I guess that is too bad." The man said before disappearing. "I won't be needing you anymore."
Luffy watched as the croc stabbed his hook through the woman. The black haired lady's eyes became hazy and she collapsed as the hook was pulled out of her gut. Vivi screamed in horror and Ace tried his hardest to stand up through the pain.
"I guess I will just have to turn the desert upside down till I find it. The task won't be too hard for me." The croc said laughing a humorless laugh. He turned back to the boy who was finally feeling the pain of the attack from earlier. The boy swayed as his eyes became blurry. "Hm, it seems that you might be dying."
Luffy looked up at the man. He looked down on the boy with disgust. A smile creeped on his face and a cage of sand quickly surrounded the boy. "Can't have that now can we?" the man said as the boy tried to get out. As soon as Luffy touched the bars, he yelped back in pain as is hands were cut.
Ace tried to stand up, but a rumbling from above made him fall again. Vivi gripped on to his arm as the ground continued to shake. Rocks began to collapse from the ceiling of the old cavern.
"What is this? It is too soon for the bombing!" the croc asked looking at the three kids.
"What bombing!" Vivi asked gaining some courage.
"I have a few of my subordinates ready to ignite a bomb that will destroy everything in a five kilometer range." The man said with a confident smile.
"That will get you too!" Ace said trying to stand again. He had to get to Luffy.
"I can just turn to sand and with stand the blast. The brat should be able to with stand it as well with that rubber implant of his." Crocodile said kicking Luffy who was trying to dig his way from the sand cage. "But this is not the bomb."
"It's the guys." Luffy said confident with who it was.
"You mean…!" Ace began. Luffy nodded and stared at the croc with a confident grin.
"Just wait SunaWani, you're about to get your ass kicked!"
This would have come up earlier but I found the 10th movie of One Piece subbed this morning adn did not leave my room till I watched it all. Hope you like 3