The old, battered car drove down a road of long shadows made by the setting sun. Ahead was the rundown town of Ponda, but known as "Grey Terminal" by all those in Dawn's District. A welcome sign graffitied over from generations of misfits greeted those who came through. The driver took a moment to roll up the sleeves of his white dress shirt. The other young man in the passenger seat was hunched over, sleeping. Curly, black hair draped over his freckled face. A spot of drool was faint against his black muscle tee. The car bumped as it rolled over a scrap piece of metal. The sleeping man stirred, mumbling for the driver to be more careful. He yawned and stretched.
"A lot sure happened today," the driver, Sabo said. He looked forward, turning at the empty T-intersection. The road they were on lead out of the surrounding woods.
"Certainly so," his brother Ace responded. He leaned back against the seat, arms folded behind his head, and smiled. "We helped catch a vampire today. Our first one!"
"We barely did any of the dangerous work. We're vampire investigators still in training after all, so we only did the interrogations. It's such a small part in a big scheme."
"At least we made an impact, no matter how small. Did you see the look on its face when it confessed? Priceless."
"I sure did see its face." The incident earlier in the day replayed in Sabo's mind. The vampire shook and sobbed during the interrogation. It begged for its life while being dragged away. 'PLEASE, I WAS DESPERATE! I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!' Its cries echoed in the interrogation room and left an uneasy feeling in his stomach. Sabo pushed that memory down. That monster killed someone. He should be happy that justice was served.
"The money we get from that is going to last us way more than another month." Ace brought him out of his thoughts. "I'm glad we took this job."
"Yeah, same here," Sabo said. The screams of the vampire faded into the back of his mind. "I can't wait to get home. At least I'm not cooking tonight."
Ace puffed out an indignant protest. "No, it's your turn!"
"Bull. Two weeks ago you were sick. Which means I had to cook that week, so it was your turn. But you ordered takeout five out of seven days," Sabo rattled off. He raised a hand off the steering wheel to point his index and middle finger up, the palm facing himself. It was a sly way to flip off his brother. "This left two days in which you actually made something. You still have five left. I'm not going to cook extra days."
"Reheating takeout counts. We had ingredients and I was using them," Ace argued. "If both of us don't even want to cook, let's just not do it. We can store the groceries for tomorrow."
"We have to save money. We need to use what's in front of us. Or in this case, sitting in the backseat. Those groceries aren't going to spoil due to your forgetfulness on my watch," Sabo said. "And, takeout is not cooking."
"Yes, it is."
"No, it isn't."
"It is!"
"Not at all."
They went back and forth like that all the way to their small home. Sabo opened up the front door. "Like I said, it's still your turn!"
"No way. I even paid for the takeout, that should count for something!" Ace yelled from behind, put there was no heat behind his words.
He turned around, ready to explain away why that logic didn't work, but paused. Ace's eyes drooped, his face went slack. A narcolepsy attack. His legs gave out under him and fell forwards. Lucky for him, he was right before the porch stairs, so his fall was slightly cushioned by the wooden stairs.
Sabo let out a small sigh. He set the grocery bag down and picked his brother up in a fireman's carry. He carried him into the house and set him down by the door. He slapped his face until a string of curses filled the silence. The arguing resumed right where it had left off. They packed the groceries away and stood in the kitchen, both of them refusing to back down. It was at a standstill, and it was getting tiring if Sabo had to be honest. He was hungry after all.
Ace seemed to feel the same and pulled a coin out of his ugly, orange shorts' pocket. "This resets the order. Heads or tails?"
"Heads." Sabo was confident luck was on his side.
Ace flipped the coin. He gave a smug smile. "Look who's cooking."
Sabo ruffled his curly, blonde hair, pulling his head back along. He covered his eyes and the scar on the left side of his face. "Why'd I agree to that? Lady Luck, how could you?"
Ace chuckled and turned down the hallway to his room. "I'll be waiting for dinner. Hurry up, I'm starving."
A cold breeze blew into the kitchen. They were so preoccupied with each other that the front door was left open. Sabo walked to the door and rested a hand on the doorknob. He looked out to the dark street. The lantern by the door flickered, holding out for them. The old street lights should have been replaced with newer models, but where was the landlord? Sabo paused for a moment. Ah yes. He was on a golden toilet laughing at his tenants. The rickety front door closed with at least a sound click.
Behind him, the fridge squeaked open. Frantic digging and the shuffling crinkle of plastic bags filled the quiet kitchen.
"Ace, are you so hungry that you're willing to do the cooking yourself?" Sabo turned around. "I didn't think you were ever going to-"
In front of the fridge raiding it, was a short kid with messy black hair and a straw hat. His clothes were simple: a red tank top, long jean shorts, and bare sandals.
Sabo blinked. He rubbed his eyes and opened them up again. The kid was still there. Where did he come from?
"Ah, excuse me… Could you not go through my fridge? It's rude after all," Sabo asked.
The kid stopped to look at the interruption and said, "I'm hungry." He went right back to digging around.
What a weird kid. Sabo went and placed a hand on the kid's shoulder. He pulled the kid to face him and closed the fridge door with his free hand. The kid had a young, round face with average features and olive skin. A scar curved under his left eye.
"Hey, same here. Wanna stay over for dinner?" Sabo offered with a welcoming smile.
The kid grinned to match him, showing off his impeccable white teeth and fangs. "Sure!"
Sabo's smile faded to a thin line. He felt himself start to jump back but forced his body still. "Please wait a bit. I have yet to start cooking." He turned the kid — vampire — around to the living room. There was a circular wooden table by the front window. He pointed towards it. "There are stools underneath. Wait there. I'm going to get Ace so that he can entertain you."
"That's nice of you dude. Thanks!" The vampire picked its nose with a pinky finger as it walked over to the table.
"No problem." Sabo hoped to never come into contact with that booger. He scurried down the hallway to the first bedroom. He turned the doorknob, stepped inside, and closed the door behind. Ace was lying on his bed, staring at the laptop screen. He raised an eyebrow and looked up to the sudden intrusion, headphones still on.
"Take those off." Ace complied. He walked over the wrinkled clothing on the floor and bent down to whisper in his ear. "There's a vampire in the house."
Ace stopped scrolling through an article. His mouth fell open, but a hand stopped his panicked response. "Calm down, it's not that bad. It was just searching through the fridge when I stopped it." Sabo stepped back and pulled his phone out.
Ace turned to him with shoulders tensed up. "Do you have a plan?" he whispered.
"Not so much." Sabo ran a hand through his hair, at a loss. He texted a message.
2 vs 1 but we're up against a vamp
lets pretend to be kind hosts at least
The phone on the pillow next to Ace dinged. He picked it up and read the messages. He typed back.
Fine
But we can't keep that up for too long
Every moment we wait is another moment that vamp can attack
Sabo took inventory of all the things in the house that could be used against a vampire. He twiddled his thumbs over the phone's keyboard and hummed. A vague outline of a plan popped into existence. He looked down at a new text message. That outline became a solid list of what to do. He responded.
They nodded at each other and got to work. Sabo searched the nick-nacks in the spare room across the hallway. It didn't take long for him to find some woven rope. He walked into the kitchen, rope swung around his shoulder and placed it behind the island. He got a rag and a shaker of garlic salt from the drawers and pocketed them in his jeans.
"How long are you going to take?" a voice behind him whined.
"Wait a bit. Ace is on his way with something special." Sabo looked over his shoulder to see the vampire still at the table. It rocked back and forth on the middle stool as it looked around the house. Its eyes landed on the pile of beanbags and throw pillows in the center of the living room. Past that, a TV rested on a coffee table with too many coffee stains. It didn't look judgemental at the state of their house. At least they weren't dealing with an uptight vampire. Instead, they were dealing with a bored kid. Sabo suppressed a snicker. His shoulders began to relax. How dangerous can a bored kid be?
"I may be a bit rusty, but prepare for a show," Ace announced. He strolled into the living room with an orange bag full of fire dancing equipment. Setting the bag down by the island, he began to toss all the clutter to the far corner. Within five minutes, an open space was set. Ace began to coat his fire torches in fuel.
Sabo went to pull the fire blanket out of the bag. Safety first with fire, even if they planned to attack a vampire afterward. He walked behind the island and picked up the rope, stashing it between the folds of the blanket. Then he went to sit next to the vampire and placed the fire blanket between them.
"Ready?" he called out.
"Yeah." Ace tossed over a lighter as he walked over. In each of his hands was a skinny, cylindrical dowel with a tiny rod connected to the bigger end. He held out the marshmallow-like wick of the two juggling torches. "Light 'em up."
"I hope the fire alarm doesn't go off," Sabo said, lighting up the torches. He pocketed the lighter and reached to his right for the light switch. "Oh, I forgot. It broke weeks ago."
The vampire next to him giggled, sounding like a mix of chirps and human laughs. "That sucks for you guys. You should get it fixed, ya know?"
"Yeah, but we've been pretty busy this month. But at least we can do this."
The click of the lightswitch began the dance. Harsh yellow porch light fell behind them from the window. The artificial lights were replaced by a warm orange glow spreading up all the surfaces. The sources were brightest in the center of the room. There Ace stood bare-chested, enveloped by the flame. The torches framed either side of his face. They flew up, crossing each other's path, then fell in a graceful curve. They stopped around his torso to take turns flipping. One went and finished, only to prompt the other to do the same. It fell into a rhythm.
One torch got thrown higher into the air this time. It stopped mid-air above Ace's head. The other was still by his torso. His face appeared right in the center of it. All three points lined up, lighting up his smiling face for a brief moment. The lights drew a spinning circle around his body as he did an aerial cartwheel.
The vampire clapped in awe. Its mouth wide open, the corners upturned in a cheer. It continued to do so as the dance continued. What a kid. Sabo looked over and saw the light reflecting in the vampire's wide eyes. The soft glow cast over its face. He remembered when he and Ace were introduced to fire dancing. Both of them had the same look, mesmerized with the living fire. He shook his head out of his thoughts. Not a kid. Vampire.
Sabo pulled the rope out of the blanket, tossing the cloth to the edge of the living room stage to put out the torches. He readied the rag, sprinkling it in garlic salt. As the vampire continued to focus on the show, Sabo got behind it. He shoved the main part of the rag into its mouth and tied it tight. He grabbed both arms and bound them down with rope. Both of them crashed onto the hardwood floor with a shove. A dirty shoe dug into its red-clothed back. The vampire's coughs and wheezes were muffled by the gag. He finished tying up the hands and feet.
The lights turned on. One lit torch was pointed at its head. The other was put out in the blanket. It looked up, tears forming at the corners of its red, bloodshot eyes. A cry rang from it and it descended into its next coughing fit.
Ace went to go get a folding chair from the stack by the left corner. He returned and opened it. "Not so tough now, right vampire?" he jeered.
"I thought this was going to be at least harder to pull off." Sabo got off of the convulsing body. It was making such a racket. He yanked it off the ground, onto the chair. More rope tied it to the seat.
"Guess we outsmarted it. If it had any in the first place."
Ace handed the torch to Sabo and undid the gag. The former scratchy piece of cloth was now a soggy, smelly mess of spit and garlic flakes. He turned to his right and held it out by the ends, expectant. A mashed up face of disgust was the response.
"You put the gag on it, now put it away like a good little boy."
"It's in your hands! No need to dirty mine." Sabo took a step back, a hand held up to distance himself.
"C'mon, do your brother a favor." Ace took a step forward with a playful grin on his face.
"No! You do it, you-"
A raw gasp cut their squabble short. "Whew! I thought I was going to die! Don't you know vampires are weak to garlic? Don't do that again!" the vampire panted. Its red face faded back into olive skin with a couple more breaths of air. Watery eyes dried up and its chest slowed to a steady movement. Its eyes darted around the room before landing near Ace's feet. A straw hat with a red ribbon was there.
"Hmm? What's this?" Ace followed the vampire's gaze, bent down, and picked up the hat. He turned it around in his free hand, inspecting it. "This yours?"
"Yeah. Hands off." Its voice stilled.
"Oh? Or what?" An amused grin taunted it. "You'll kill me?"
"That's my precious hat. Hands off." A slight growl was underneath that steady voice.
What a shift. It wasn't mad because it was tied to a chair, but because its hat was touched. Sabo looked at the object of value. It was just a hat, a bit banged up and dirty. What was so special about it?
Ace laughed. "You threaten me over a hat? Aren't you a bloodthirsty monster, not a straw-thirsty one? Hey, we're over here."
The vampire glared back, unblinking. "Hands off."
"Come on now. No need to provoke it," Sabo sighed and took the hat. It felt like needles were prickling his skin with every move. Who knew a vampire that was at their mercy had this much of an aura over the room. He placed the hat on the vampire's lap. In a snap, the pressure lifted, the needles retreated.
It looked up at Sabo, then to Ace, and stretched out a smile. Its fangs were on full display. "Don't touch my hat ever again," it said in a cheery tone, not a trace of hostility to be heard.
"...You're weird. You know that?" Ace said.
Sabo pointed the burning torch to the vampire's head. "I won't touch your hat if you keep your fangs off both of us."
"Deal." It looked Sabo straight in the eyes and gave a firm nod. He couldn't help pulling back the torch a bit.
"Pff, as if it'll keep that. Answer our questions," Ace said. "How'd you get inside here? I thought vamps had to be invited in."
"Only if they're polite. I was hungry and that's worse than being rude," the vampire said.
"Eating us is way beyond just rude." Ace spat.
"I'm not going to eat you!" It looked at Ace with a face of disgust. "I smelled raw beef from your car and I followed. It's my favorite after all. Along with chicken. And pork. And fish. Actually, all kinds of meat are my favorite!"
"We all know vamps eat humans. You were waiting for the right time." Ace crossed his arms.
"Some vampires eat humans. Some humans eat humans, even." It shrugged. "But not me, I don't want humans or vampires to die. So I'm not going to eat you. Just dead stuff."
"So, you're telling me that you haven't eaten a human," Sabo said. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head a bit to the side.
"Oh no, I've eaten one. But that was it. No more for me."
Sabo paused, retracting the torch. This was new information. That explained why he was still alive. It was baffling to say the least. He swirled the thought in his mind like one does when taking a ladleful of hot soup. He took a sip of that thought and wanted another. "Why'd you do it in the first place?"
"I was attacked and had to defend myself." It paused for a moment and looked down at the hat. "But I went overboard. I regret that moment even today."
Guilt? This situation was now getting familiar and foreign. He took a step back. It had to be lying, vampires feasting upon humans was in their DNA, there was no reason for any of them to feel guilt. But in front of him, the vampire was silent as it stared at the straw hat. Its mouth was set in a thin line, jaw muscles tense. It was undeniable.
"That's some BS." Ace turned his head to him. "Let's just kill it. We would be doing a good thing. Imagine being able to brag about killing a vamp. This is our chance."
Sabo stayed silent, contemplating how to go about this. He looked at the vampire and knew that it had at least a shred of humanity left.
It had registered the words uttered. Its mouth went slack, face scrunching up before it yelled out, "NO! Don't kill me! I don't want to die!" It twisted and turned against the constraints.
The unpleasant feeling from earlier returned. Sabo waved the torch to the side. "Stop struggling!"
It froze up, biting its lips to shut up. It watched them with wide eyes.
"What if it's telling the truth?" Sabo turned to look at his brother's hardened face.
"What if it's not? We risk our lives trusting a vamp."
"It was searching through the fridge behind my back. If it wanted to eat me, then it would have."
"Don't tell me you're growing soft on vamps all because of this one. Don't be fooled. What next, we reject society and become them?"
"I'm not suggesting that. But look at it." he gestured to the vampire. The current state of it did not scream anything near merciless bloodsucker. In fact, it looked more human the more Sabo looked at it. His stomach churned at the thought of this vampire getting dragged off like the other one, and at having to kill it. "This one is different. The one earlier today killed for fun. This one doesn't. I took up vampire hunting because I thought all vampires murdered humans on the spot." He stepped back and gestured to himself. "But look, I'm perfectly fine. I'm proven wrong."
Ace bore his gaze into him, eyebrows furrowed, arms still crossed. His mouth and nose curled into a small scowl. His foot tapped on the ground in an irritated manner. That was his thinking face, no matter how mad he looked. He was one to trust those he held dear, always considering other's thoughts and feelings. Sabo smiled a bit. "Let's give it what it wants. It'll be on its way. I don't want a bloodbath tonight for us or for this vampire. It did nothing to deserve death."
"That's a rid-"
"I'll be on my way if you give me food! I don't go back on my word," the vampire interjected.
"Put this out." Sabo handed the torch to Ace. He went to the fridge and pulled out a foam dish of raw beef wrapped in plastic. He came back and presented it in front of the vampire. "You want this?"
"Yes!" It lurched towards the meat.
"See Ace? It doesn't want to eat us, doesn't want to harm us," Sabo said. This was the tipping point and he had won.
"Not tonight it doesn't." Ace mumbled, face still set in the same expression.
"Not tonight, not ever! You have nothing to worry about from me."
Sabo beamed, smile growing wider. It stared open-mouthed at the dangling raw beef like an eager puppy. Drool began to drip from its mouth. Ace considered the scene in front of him for a couple moments. His facial features relaxed into a simple smirk.
"Fine. Killing it wouldn't even amount to anything. It's pathetic, not like those vamps the hunters go after. What's the point of telling people you killed a dumbass?" Ace went to put out the torch and throw the gag away. He returned with a knife and bent down to free the vampire from the chair. "Let's at least know the name of our troubles."
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy," Luffy said. He stood up, tipping the chair over, his arms and legs still tied.
"I'm Ace. He's Sabo. Hey, stay still or I'll cut your wrists open."
Luffy complied. The moment he was free, he jumped into the air, limbs stretched out like a starfish. He grabbed the package out of Sabo's hands and rushed to the front door. He turned his head back to them, a grin on his face. "Thanks for the food, guys!"
"Have a good night, Luffy!" Sabo yelled after him. The vampire didn't seem to be mad at them. That was amazing. He watched Luffy fiddle with the lock for a moment, then throw open the door. A rush of cold air filled the house. Black bat wings grew out of his back. Then he was off rushing down the porch with a loud clunk on each step.
"It didn't even close the door behind," Ace huffed.
"Don't use 'it'," Sabo said. "We know his name."
"You definitely grew soft on vampires." Ace faced him with a disappointed look.
"And you managed to let that vampire go free," Sabo smiled. He gave a playful punch to his shoulder. "I never thought you would do such a thing."
Ace glared at him for a moment. Then turned away. "You know, this is a one-time occurrence."
Sabo hummed. "Yeah right."
"No really. If it -he- comes back, he's going to catch these hands," Ace bounced into a fighting stance and punched the air in front of him.
"Burn that bridge when we get there." He walked to the door and locked it. "Now, it's finally time for dinner."
"Can't believe this day got even longer. We helped catch a vampire in the afternoon, we feed one at night." Ace shook his head. He turned around to the mess of a living room. His shoulders sagged and sighed.
"That's life for you," Sabo said. He opened the cupboard next to the stove and reached for a frying pan. His hand stopped on its handle. "Ah shit."
"Hmm? What is it?" Ace was in the corner of his vision. He paused with a pile of pillows in his arms.
"Being an accomplice to vampires is illegal. I just remembered."
"Now you consider that? All those training courses, wasted." He was rolling his eyes. Sabo knew it even without looking.
"Did you consider it?"
"Yeah. But do you think the law is going to stop me?" Sabo pictured him with a raised eyebrow as if to say it was a no-brainer. "I know we're technically law enforcers, but I joined to hunt vamps, not to be a cop. That was the best way to do so."
Sabo gave a small huff. "Of course." He placed the pan on the stove and lit the burner underneath. "I guess it's a shame that innocent vampires are harmed along with the dangerous ones."
"Well, on the bright side, I'm going to add this day to the list of illegal things I've done."
"A law enforcer continuing his list of breaking the law. The system is truly corrupt," Sabo laughed and Ace joined him. "Tell me about the other illegal things you did. I didn't have the chance to ask you about them before."
Ace began to rattle off a long list of petty crimes and the stories tied to each of them. Sabo listened as he made them dinner. Some of them were hilarious. Some of them came from Ace's own pettiness. Some of them were touching even. They finished the day like any other day, unfazed by what had happened. Their minds had not scratched the surface of what the consequences of their actions would be.
A/N: This entire premise is inspired from chaotichero 's halloween fanart of Ace and Sabo adopting Luffy as their vampire brother, so thank you chaotichero (found on instagram and tumblr). Also, BIG THANKS TO Countedas0 and MasterQwertster for being betas for this chapter! I named the cities around Goa after cities in Goa, India. No ill intent to anyone from Ponda since it's also called "Grey Terminal" in this, I just picked a random city for the name.