RIAEVANS: Thanks!

phoenix: Thank you! I have that be Marco's backstory in multiple fics.

Just finished another sort of fix-it/sorta time travel fic and am editing it right now. It's very different from my last fix it (from like, a week ago). 78,000 words in 6 days, so I was clearly really into it. I hope you check it out once I post it! There are some gruesome descriptions in this chapter, but nothing worse than what we've already seen. Enjoy~

Luffy stood in the commanders bathroom, in his huge form, made of sticky black goo and slime, staring in the mirror. He hadn't know he'd missed being able to turn like this, even though he was gross and ugly to look at. He felt more powerful like this, less vulnerable.

It had only been two days since he was given the all-clear and he not changed forms often, mostly in their room or when Ace and Sabo were bathing, since Luffy bathed at night before bed. "Luffy, why are you in that form?" Sabo questioned curiously. Both boys had gotten over the sight of their brother like that. Since the boy had no face or mouth in that form, he couldn't speak. He changed back seamlessly into human form, shrinking and his skin turning the tan color again.

"Makes me feel stronger," he replied, and then walked towards the bath, putting his feet in the water. "It's too big to walk around in, but I haven't been allowed to be like that in a long time. I'm sad everyone thinks it's scary looking. I'm not gonna hurt anyone here."

Ace was lethargic, sitting in the shallow part of the bath, and asked, "What does it feel like to crush someone when they're inside you?" Luffy and Sabo were surprised by the question, but Luffy told the truth.

"Like when you tense your stomach. Then they get crushed and I throw them out. Like, spit them out but I don't have a mouth or eat them," he explained honestly.

"Does it feel weird?" Sabo questioned, becoming interested as well. They'd never really asked Luffy about his powers in that form, since they only found out about it a few months ago, and had been distracted by other things.

Luffy shrugged in response. "Not too much."

"How do you see and smell and hear if you have no face?" Ace asked next.

"I dunno. I just do," was his answer. It wasn't what the boys were hoping for, but they didn't press it or make him feel stupid for not knowing. Ace than asked what it felt like to be sticky. "I don't know anything else. It's normal for me. And helpful when I have to climb stuff or grab things or stay in the same place. So it's not too bad."

The three stayed quiet for a little while, enjoying the nice silence. They were able to reserve the commanders' shared bathroom because they were uncomfortable being naked around strangers. Ace especially. They may know the commanders, but were still not comfortable being in the nude around anyone other than each other. After all, they had bathed together before when Luffy had insisted they be clean, but he also wanted bath so it made sense to share!

After the water cooled down, the boys dressed and left. It was time for Ace and Sabo's training, while Luffy was in partial form, trying to form his body in different shapes. It didn't go very well, but people were staring at his humanoid form even though he was doused in that sticky substance. It didn't bother him though, as the stickiness was normal for him. He was so happy his injury was healed.

Ace fought against Marco so no one got burned, and he lost pathetically. He had said not to go easy on him, so the phoenix was just doing as he asked. He did refuse to fly, though, since most of the opponents, if not all, that Ace would fight in the future could not fly. It was rare to have a devil fruit that could make someone able to fly.

Sabo trained with his jitte, which was officially given to him as a present, against Vista. He was much bigger than Sabo, but everyone was bigger than the boys. Whitebeard watched from his throne as the boys fought and Luffy sat and tried to work his own fruit in different ways.

He finally formed a circle in his hadn't of the goo, which was a success to him, and he got up and cheered, the stickiness on his bottom snapping back up once it was no longer attached to the ground. The substance disappeared and Luffy told his brothers what he'd done.

Vista and Marco were skilled enough to stop their attacks the moment Luffy got his brothers' attention. "Good job!" Sabo exclaimed, earning a grin from Luffy. "I'm sure you can show anyone with our next game."

Just then, Thatch came out. "My boys, our game today with be a celebration of Luffy's full physical recovery!" he shouted with a giant grin, holding a box of balls. Luffy ran over and asked what it was, relishing in the ability to run again.

"Dodge ball!" Thatch exclaimed. None of the boys had played it before, so Thatch explained the rules. Everyone around seemed excited, so Sabo assumed they hadn't played this often before the boys came along, since it had never been played while they were there.

"We play it after some parties when we're all drunk," Marco explained, having come outside as well. That made sense, since the pirates had severely limited their outdoor parties after the boys arrived. It didn't click for Luffy, for he might have felt guilty.

"Ace and Luffy will be fine if they are hit, as haki is not allowed!" Thatch shouted for everyone to hear. "Now, if you catch it, the person who threw it is out!" Luffy grinned mischievously. He knew a way to catch the ball every time. Thatch clearly saw the look. "Ah, ah, no devil fruits allowed." Luffy pouted, earning a chuckle from the captain, who was watching everything. "Now, being hit is nothing personal, it's just how the game works. There are two teams, and the game is played on the deck.

Izo was running a piece of yellow tape across the deck. "No passing the tape." The three nodded excitedly, Sabo putting the jitte away and being sorted with his brothers. No one would separate them, so they were all on the same team. The balls were put in the middle of the court. "Namur is on retrieve duty!" The fishman grumbled, but agreed to fish out the balls if they go over the side of the ship so they didn't lose any of them.

"Ready… and… GO!" Thatch shouted, the hundreds of pirates running forward and taking the balls. Ace, Sabo and Luffy didn't run forward, and Luffy was determined to catch the balls. The three dodged them and picked them up to throw them back. Luffy nailed someone in the crotch, throwing the ball much harder than anyone thought he would. Ace was just as violent, nailing a few pirates in the face until he was told they couldn't hit faces.

Sabo was doing a better job catching the balls, but dropped one and was out. "Haha, Sabo!" Ace taunted, earning a disgruntled glare at him from the blonde. It was a lot of fun, until Ace got out, which made him growl, but stomp out of the court. Luffy was small enough to dodge easily, ducking and catching the balls what he could.

He accidentally let one slip out of his hand, only for Jozu to catch it before it hit the deck, saving Luffy. "Thank you!" Luffy shouted as he dodged another ball tossed at incredible speeds. You could tell who the strong ones were on the crew.

The three brothers were surprised with how merciless the otherwise calm Marco was being, pulling no punches against his ship brothers. The commanders were divided between the teams, and only one of them was out, which was Jiru, and Namur was doing his duty at fetching the many balls being thrown over the side of the ship.

Luffy was beaming the whole time, and when he got hit in the arm, it stuck to him, and he was out because of that. After all, no devil fruits were allowed. But, he was a good sport about it and ran off the court grinning. "That was fun!" Luffy exclaimed when he ran to his brothers, who were sitting against the railing and watching.

Sabo ruffled Luffy's hair. "You lasted a long time, Lu," he praised. "I'm glad you had fun." Perry, one of the underling pirates, said, "Did you think we were done after this round? It's only mid-afternoon, we play for hours."

"Yay!" Luffy cheered. They watched the game happily, and everyone cheered when Marco was out. A ball bounced out of someone else's hand and hit him in the back, disqualifying both of them.

Thatch got out quickly afterwards and then went inside to fetch some water for the sweating pirates. He brought out a barrel of water with a huge stack of plastic cups. "Shoulda' brought this out sooner, commander!" someone complained. Thatch rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry, Leon, I didn't think about it," the chef replied in good nature. The pirates and boys gulped down the water, liking how nice and cold it was.

The round was almost over, only six on one team and three on the other and no one was surprised they were all commanders, when Namur shouted that the game was over. "The air pressure changed, we're gonna hit a storm!" he shouted.

Ace, Luffy and Sabo collected the balls in the box while the pirates got ready for the storm, effortlessly preparing the ship. "Inside, boys!" Whitebeard called as he helped, too. The three hurried inside, Ace holding the crate of balls above his head and brining it to the galley, not sure of where to take it.

"That was more fun than cards. And people helped me, too, and said nice things when I dodged or got someone!" Luffy gushed while they held onto the tables while the ship swayed so they weren't thrown everywhere. Luffy was glad his stomach no longer hurt when they were jostled about.

Sabo nodded. "I gotta agree. That was very fun."

"Today was a good day so far. I played a fun game, could change into my other from and made made improvement with my powers," Luffy said with a very positive face, grinning ear to ear. If they weren't all holding onto the table, Ace would have ruffled his hair affectionately. The two were very glad to hear how much fun Luffy had. They'd never played sports like that before.

Maybe, this was a place they could stay, was what all three brothers were thinking, almost hearing the smiles in their thoughts.

-x-

"Alright, Luffy. Are you sure you want to do this? Last chance to back out," Izo said, holding the tattoo removal gun in his hand Luffy leaned back on a nice chair, which was much too big for him. Izo was the tattoo artist, as he had the most steady hands.

"I want it gone," Luffy said in a strong voice. Izo told him to stay still. No one else was in the room so Izo didn't have the risk of being distracted. Luffy had a cover over his left eye, and Izo began the long process of removing the tribal tattoo that covered half of his face. It didn't hurt, and Luffy had his feet and hands inside bowls of water to weaken his fruit, even a tiny bit, so the removal was more effective.

Luffy stayed absolutely still, looking forwards to not having it on his face anymore. When Luffy was told what brands were and their significance, he knew that was what the tattoo was and wanted it gone even more. So here he was, getting the tattoo removed for good while his brothers waited outside.

It took over and hour before Izo stopped and told him they would continue with the next session. Luffy nodded, already having been told that it would take awhile to complete. But, with the boys knowing they were welcome to stay, even if they hadn't accepted or even been asked yet, they knew Luffy could get it removed while they were still there, no matter how long it took.

Luffy looked in the mirror to see it was faded just slightly. He was going to be patient though. There was no rush.

When he went outside, Ace and Sabo immediately checked if he was alright, and Luffy said he was fine. The water was gone and he felt better now. It was only when he was full submerged up to the neck that he fell asleep. "I'm okay. I can't wait for it to be gone, even if it's gonna take a long time."

He felt they should have accepted to stay before anyone asked, but the captain still hadn't asked. None of them were uneasy, as no one treated them as if they changed their minds and wanted the three gone. And, if they were no longer welcome, why would they approve of a long process or removing the tattoo?

They would wait for someone to ask, as they must have a reason to not ask yet. Hopefully it was a good one. It had been a week since the dodgeball game, and after that one, they played a plethora of different games. Luffy had the most fun with hide and seek. Devil fruits were allowed in this one, and Luffy's hiding place was stuck in the rafters of the galley, hiding and sticking in the shadow of one of the beams.

He was the last to be found, and crowned the most creative with his spot. It made him feel smart, and liked the feeling. Ace and Sabo had crawled into vents around the place, being little menaces as they made noises in each room to make the pirates hiding in them be found from the noises. But, no one but Luffy and Thatch knew about that. Thatch had gotten very excited, saying he always wanted partners in crime when Haruta wasn't around to help.

The brothers had bonded with other commanders and much of the crew during the games and talkative dinners. Even though Luffy was more comfortable, everyone knew that playing games and going to a counselor for a couple weeks was not long enough to heal his trauma, so they still gave him ample room when being around him. No more loud noises in his presence. The bedroom had been fixed as best as it could, but the boys couldn't live in it again yet, as more than just the walls had been broken. They had to repair the vents that had been in the ceiling and that would take awhile since they needed special metal to replace them that they just didn't have yet.

Luffy still had nightmares, but the baths before bed kept him from harming anybody. His powers had broken through during one nightmare, but Sabo only woke up to see the black substance had tried to reach the door leading to Marco's attached room, but had fizzled out and was unable to go very far, so it just laid limp on the floor of the room, not moving at all.

-x-

There had been a pirate raid on the ship, and the boys were given permission to go wild and practice their training. Ace was brutal, burning the enemy pirates so that they'd never be healed again, or had died. Sabo clubbed men in the heads and guts, going for the groins sometimes just to be mean.

Luffy didn't kill anyone. He incapaciated them, ruining their legs or arms and tossing them overboard. But he didn't kill anyone or give them wounds that would kill them on the spot. They might bleed to death, but that was because they didn't have emergency treatment. He didn't transform into full form, not wanting to scare the pirates on the crew, even though they knew what he looked like.

The youngest did transform into his partial form once someone used haki on his to punch him, knowing he had a devil fruit. It'd drawn blood on his face. It appeared, though, that haki only worked on his when he was not covered by the substance of his fruit. The haki punches or swords went right through him.

After the fight, Luffy cheered that he hadn't killed anyone. Ace and Sabo picked him up and threw him in the air, proud of him. As were the Whitebeards. Whiskey ate her own words after that, and the two older children had still not forgiven her. Luffy stopped trying to get them to, knowing it was a lost cause by now. Tami was perfectly capable of taking care of them and doing regular check ups.

On the day that marked six weeks, the crew landed on an island that was not under their protection. It also had a marine base on it, but as far as the division specialized on gathering information said, it was no longer active. So, the pirates felt safe enough to bring the kids off of the ship. They wore Whitebeard marks on their clothes for safety.

Vista went with them this time, having grown quite fond of them over the weeks. They headed into the small town to get some candy for the kids. Some good candy that they had never tried. They found a sweets shop that was huge and full to the brim of different types of candy.

Luffy tried a sample of each flavor of ice cream. Ace and Sabo taste tested truffles before using the money they were given to buy whatever they wanted. By the end, they each had a big bag of candy, and their allowance was gone. Vista was clearly surprised that they'd spent all 5,000 berries on candy. It was a small chunk of money, but the boys were happy with it and felt rich.

"Thats a lot of candy," Vista commented. Luffy nodded and said he'd try and not eat all of it today. Vista chuckled. "If I ate that much sugar in one day, I might just lose my stomach." Luffy looked alarmed, and Sabo chuckled.

"He means he would throw up if he ate too much."

"Oh, okay."

When the four walked down the street to see the sights some more, even though they had no more money, Luffy saw someone in the corner of his eye that looked familiar, but couldn't place him. The guy with a bucket on his head hid around the corner again after being spotted. He wasn't the only one who noticed. Vista was watching that area like a hawk, face serious and suspicious. Ace and Sabo weren't stupid, they noticed the change in Vista.

"There is someone or someones following us," he announced. The boys stopped and looked where Vista was looking.

"What should we do?" Sabo wondered. He had the jitte strapped across his back. If Ace and Luffy had their powers everywhere they went, then Sabo wanted to be armed as well.

"They are not particularly strong. We can go see what they want if you'd like," the commander offered, knowing he could defend them and that they were strong enough to take on small fry. Besides Luffy. Vista had faith that Luffy would be able to fight any opponent that was not admiral or emperor status, being unaffected by weapons and haki.

"They better not take our candy," Luffy said when they turned around and started walking towards where Vista could tell they were. Once they reached the edge of the forest, following the presence of the suspicious man who was hiding from them, Vista stopped them.

Sabo looked skeptical as well. "This is a trap, isn't it? Trying to lure us into the forest." Vista nodded in agreement. "We will not go into the forest. It would be foolish to do so based on this behavior. As well as the many people I can tell are further in. We should go back to the ship."

"What? We're not gonna fight?" Ace asked in disappointment. Vista shook his head.

"We are not fools that would approach enemies that are trying to lure us away when we don't know their intentions. Why don't we take your candy back to the ship and gather some more people to check out those luring us?" Vista offered. The three boys agreed. The four were going to turn around when a few men came running out of the forest at them.

Vista was not taken by surprise, and slashed the nearest marine that approached them. The man bled out almost immediately. "G5 again? Didn't they learn their lesson last time?" Sabo asked after clobbering one of the men in the head, knocking him out or killing him. Ace burned another guy, making him scream and hold his blistering, bubbling arm.

Luffy barely moved from his spot, just absorbing marines' extremities that got too close and crushing them to bits. It was his new favorite move, not slashing with hardened blades. That was messy and easy to kill even if he wasn't meaning to. By crushing them, he both harmed them for good and made them unable to fight anymore.

Maybe killing them would be kinder, but Luffy wasn't wanting to kill again. Even if Sabo was going too hard, and killing them, Luffy didn't want to do so himself. He was still healing from his past version and did not want to risk slipping back into old habits.

"Look what you've done to these children!" the woman from the ship asked angrily, holding a sword in both hands, running out of the forest. Luffy had no reason to treat the woman any differently than any of the men, and almost absorbed her leg when she got too close to Vista, but Luffy was punched and knocked away before he could crush it like he had the others.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted in concern.

"Don't get close to that one, Tashigi," Smoker said, finally coming out of the shadows. Luffy grew angry, but not so much that he was going to do something he'd regret. Since Smoker could use haki, Luffy shifted into half form, not feeling the need to expose his monstrous appearance.

"Don't you hurt Luffy!" Sabo shouted, but wasn't stupid and didn't let his anger overpower him and run forward, like Ace did. Luffy ran after him and grabbed onto the back of his shirt yanking him backwards with his stick attached to his back. "Don't be reckless, Ace," Vista scolded. "This is a strong marine. He's not like the underlings."

Luffy walked forward, but didn't go any closer. Luffy reached out his hand like a lasso and flung it at Tashigi, the woman, pretending he was going to stick her. When Smoker went to defend her, as she refused to hurt the children, and his arm turned into smoke with a haki fist, aimed towards Luffy's gut, he let the fist go right through him and clamped down on it, the sensation of tensing his core, he utterly destroyed the vice-admiral's left arm, making him scream in pain.

Luffy made no noise, as it wasn't possible without a mouth. Vista looked impressed with Luffy's feint and strategy. Smoker fell to his knees in pain, holding his mangled arm. Tashigi looked horrified and ran to him.

"Should we kill them?" Sabo wondered. "They'll spread the word about Luffy's powers, and we don't want that, right? We don't want him to be a target." Vista thought for a moment.

"I will take care of it. I don't want you three to get involved with killing the vice admiral and whatever rank the woman is," the commander said. He went up to the two remaining marines, as everyone else was dead or incapaciated and helpless. "I don't know who you think you are to tell us to not take care of these children, since you work for the World Government, you aren't qualified to raise concern about how others are treated," Vista said coldly. "You should have stopped pursuing us after we kicked your asses the first time."

Luffy didn't look away when Vista offed both higher ranking marines with a haki covered sword. He went to each marine that were not dead yet and killed them, too. No one was left, G5 was gone. Or at least, this part of G5. There had to be more out there.

"I am sorry you boys had to see that," Vista apologized. They all walked around the bodies, some horribly disfigured by Luffy and Ace's powers.

"I've done and seen worse," Luffy said, though not without emotion in his voice. Ace wrapped his arm around his shoulders.

"You didn't kill anyone, Lu. You had very good self control," the freckled brother said with a smile. Sabo was looking at the blood on his jitte with disgust. "And the fake you did and then attacked was really skilled. I'm impressed."

Vista voiced his agreement, and Luffy smiled. They arrived at the ship, Luffy having a little blood on the side of him that was absorbing the marines to kill, with Sabo having a few drops as well. Vista's swords were bloody, and they attracted attention as they got on the ship, the boys all holding their sacks of candy.

Seeing the blood on the boys freaked many of the pirates out, including Haruta and the captain. "Sons, what happened?" Whitebeard asked, trying to sound calm but looking uneasy. Haruta ran over and started checking the boys for injuries. "We're not hurt, Haruta," Sabo assured.

"G5 followed us again. The boys got a chance to fight some marines. I had to kill them all after they saw Ace and Luffy's abilities. Luffy is a good strategist, I think he'll grow up to a very skilled fighter, as will Ace and Sabo. They didn't sustain a single injury."

"Have you left any evidence of who killed them?"

"Their bodies are in the forest, but no one saw us and we didn't walk back through the village with blood on ourselves. We should be safe. Though, if they do find out, I doubt anyone will retaliate. You know the marines, they don't care about one another at all," Vista explained. Someone from his division had gone and grabbed a towel for him to clean his swords with.

"That is true. Well, good job, boys," the captain said.

"And I didn't kill anyone, too. And we got candy," Luffy said, holding his sack up. The emperor laughed at the immediate change of subject the youngest made.