AN: Long wait, I know. Important note at the bottom. Now let's finally get on with this chapter!
The friends looked at Luffy with slight confusion and curiosity. Why did he know this man? They were both not human, so were they friends? Some looked at Zoro for help, but he was also in the dark about this. He had never seen this man, nor had Luffy, or even Ace, ever said anything about another creature just like them existing.
"So you know about me already? Well, we can skip introductions then." The blond man, Sabo, smirked. He threw his hat at the nearest guard and stretched his arms out in front of him, popping his knuckles. "It's been a while since anyone has beaten me, so I hope you put up a good fight."
Zoro slowly reached for his swords. He didn't like this man one bit. He could sense the man's blood thirst directed at Luffy. He had to intervene before the man hurts his friend. He had promised he would protect Luffy, even if it costs him his own life!
"Zoro." The green-haired man halted his actions and directed his gaze to the owner of the emotion-ridden voice. Luffy looked back at him as the boy shifted into his other form. He could see that the teen was struggling. If only he knew what the other was thinking.
"Don't intervene, no matter what."
The man froze. He stared at Luffy who had now directed his eyes at the blond man in front of them. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it instead. The tone of voice the teen had used told him that this was a battle he had to fight on his own. Why, he didn't know yet. But had faith that Luffy would pull through, like he always did.
The half-drawn sword slid back in its sheath. He couldn't promise he wouldn't step in when Luffy was in serious need of help, but he would try to respect his friend's wish.
Sabo smiled when he saw Luffy step forward in his demon-like form. All the other people in the area stepped back, giving the two young men room. The teen looked nervous and confused, which he had expected. What he hadn't expected was for the other to know about him already. He himself had only found out about this creature like him after the boy had escaped. So who had told the teen about his existence?
Somewhere, at the far back of his mind, something told him that he already knew this boy. A small twinge of pain made itself known as he tried and failed to recall ever meeting him. He rubbed at the side of his head as the pain disappeared. He shrugged it off.
Well, it doesn't matter, the man decided. He flexed his claws and swung his tail behind him, the blade on the end of his tail carving patterns into the dirt floor. He stared at the other as the boy shifted in place. He could tell that the teen wouldn't attack first, so he did it himself.
Sabo made the first move. The man rushed at his target and slashed at him. Luffy was caught off guard at the other's speed and barely avoided the man's sharp claws. Sabo then thrust his knee into the younger's stomach. The teen flew back a few yards, rolled, got back on his feet and dashed back at the other man.
Luffy threw back his fist and aimed it at Sabo's face, only for the other to simply sidestep him. The man grabbed his arm and threw the boy over his shoulder and slammed his back onto the ground. Yeah, Luffy's still healing wing didn't really like that..
Sabo grinned at him from above. "Is that all you got? Your friends must be disappointed at your weakness." He sneered. Luffy glared at the man as a low growl escaped the back of his throat. The black-haired teen directed his long tail behind the other and slammed it against the back of the man's legs in an attempt to make him fall. Of course, he didn't. The blond looked at the tail and laughed.
"What did you think was gonna happen? That I would fall over?" He mocked. Unfortunately for Sabo, the teen's tail proved to be enough of a distraction for Luffy to jump to his feet and slam his fist into the other's chest at high-speed. The man stumbled back and Luffy wasted no time aiming another fist at the other's face. However, he wasn't fast enough as his fist was easily caught by the other. The teen gritted his teeth as the hand holding his began squeezing the appendage a bit too tightly.
After a second Luffy pulled his hand out of the man's grasp, surprised at how easily the other had let go of him, and jumped back a few feet. He breathed in deeply before staring right at Sabo. He didn't want to fight. Not with him. Not like this.
"Why are you following their orders?!" The teen shouted. "They're the bad guys! You shouldn't listen to them!" His voice quivered. Sabo quirked an eyebrow and scoffed.
"Why wouldn't I follow them? They are the ones who raised me and trained me while others would kill me on sight for being the monster I am. Working for them is the least I can do to make up for that." He said as he narrowed his eyes at the other. Luffy gritted his teeth in frustration and confusion.
"Have you forgotten what they did to us? To you?! They're bad people Sabo! Please listen to me!" The teen exclaimed as the older man began to make his way over to him once again. The black-haired boy narrowly avoided the punch meant for his head and blocked the next one with effort.
"Don't speak to me like that! You don't know me! You don't know anything about me!" The next punch hit its target and the younger of the two was set flying to the other side of the garden. He slammed against the house with such force that the wall gave in. Luffy could hear some of his friends gasp from where they were watching the fight. It probably looked a lot more painful than it actually was.
The teen righted himself into a sitting position and looked up at the figure now towering over him. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. The anger and sadness made his voice crack.
"I do know you! You don't belong with them. They're just using you! What happened to you?! The Sabo I knew would never give in to their demands!" He shouted. Didn't Sabo remember what those people did to them?
The blond man growled. He swung his tail down at the other, who rolled out of the way just in time and got up from the floor. "Shut up! Don't talk about them like that! Who are you to tell me what to do?!" He yelled as he charged at the other once again.
"I'm-!"
Luffy was unable to finish his sentence as he had to dodge the fist directed at his face. He ran past the other man out of the hole in the house to avoid breaking anymore walls. Sabo followed him with clenched fists. The man threw another punch, which was deflected by the other's tail. He gritted his teeth and ignored that little voice in his head telling him to listen to his enemy.
He didn't know Luffy, so what was this boy talking about?
Both sides watched as the two creatures battled against each other. The Government's men all stood as far back as they were allowed to, afraid of getting caught in the middle. Their leader's voice could be heard through the camera giving orders to the guards, though the other side wasn't able to understand any of it as it was just too far.
The inhabitants of the house were watching the fight quietly from the side. They wouldn't dare to interrupt the fight after Luffy told them not to. Still, they were afraid for their friend's safety. The battle hadn't started that long ago, but it was already clear that Luffy didn't stand a chance. The other man was not only bigger and stronger than the teen, but he was also clearly trained to use his powers. For every hit Luffy managed to land on the other, he got at least three back in return.
The only thing Luffy had the advantage of was speed. His wings were bigger and pointier than those of the other, making it easier for him to make sharp turns and create great speed in a short time. Unfortunately, the injury he sustained to his wing withheld him from using the full potential of his abilities, even with the invention Usopp and Franky had made for him.
The only other thing the younger man could use to his advantage was his tail. While it had been (according to Luffy) annoyingly long while casually walking around inside the house, it now proved to be of great help. He could use it to grab, trip or slap the other man.
Despite these things, Luffy was losing. The other man was just too powerful for him at this moment. That, and there was also the fact that Luffy didn't seem to give this fight his all. He was holding back, like he'd rather lose than fight this person.
Everyone was aching to help him. Especially Zoro. He couldn't help but grip the handle of his sword tightly. Every time his best friend got knocked down he had to tell himself to stay put, to respect Luffy's wish and stay out of the fight. It wasn't easy, especially when you didn't know the enemy's intentions and capabilities.
But he trusted Luffy, so he wouldn't intervene. Not yet, anyway.
Luffy panted as he rubbed blood away from under his nose. Sabo walked closer once again, inspecting some cuts on his arm with a smile. The younger got up from his place on the ground where the other had thrown him. He wobbled slightly from exhaustion.
"You're better than I expected you to be. They said you were injured and an easy fight for me." The older man said with amusement.
The teen gritted his teeth. Everything hurt. His arms, his legs, his wings and tail. But more than that, his heart hurt the most. They shouldn't be fighting. They shouldn't be hurting each other! After all these years of thinking Sabo was dead and finding out he wasn't. This should have been a moment of happiness! But he didn't even remember him. He was like a stranger to him..
Luffy knew he should be doing to same. Forget the man he knew before and face his opponent as if he was a stranger. This wasn't the loving Sabo he knew so many years ago. This was his enemy. He had to bury those feelings stopping him from going all out and fight!
But he couldn't.
He sunk down to his knees and sunk his claws into the ground. He couldn't do this anymore. He wasn't going to fight anymore!
If his faith was death at this man's hands, then so be it.
Sabo stopped his approach and frowned. "Oh, what's this? Giving up? I didn't expect you to do that." He said, though not mockingly. "Do you finally understand that you're no match for me?"
Luffy clenched his eyes shut. His body shook and he let out a shuddering breath. "No, that's not it.." He muttered quietly. The other man grimaced stared his approach again. "What was that? Speak louder!" The teen choked on a sob as he looked up and into the blond's eyes, tears in the corners of his eyes.
"I just can't fight my brother."
Sabo stopped before him, pupils enlarged slightly.
"Brother?"
Before he could say anything else, a sword came out of nowhere and slashed in the older man's direction, startling him. The blond jumped back a few feet to dodge the sharp object. He glared at the green-haired man before him.
"He may not want to fight you, but I'm not letting you take him. You'll have to go through me first." Zoro spat at the man. He looked over his shoulder at his young friend with slightly guilty eyes. "I'm sorry, Luffy. I know you didn't want me to interfere, but I couldn't stand by and let you get hurt." He said with a frown. The black-haired teen didn't reply. He just looked at his best friend with teary eyes.
Zoro looked back at the enemy before him. The man was looking past him at his friend. There was something in his eyes that he hadn't seen before. A certain glint of something he couldn't quite place. As quick as it had come, it disappeared again as the man rubbed the side of his head a bit in, what seemed to be, pain. The man then flexed his claws and glared at the man in front of him. "It's quite rude to interrupt a fight. This isn't something that concerns you." He squinted his eyes. "Or maybe it does. You're the wayward guard, aren't you?" Zoro gripped his swords tighter. "You stole important property of the Government. I will be obligated to kill you if you don't return him to us now."
The swordsman gritted his teeth. "Like hell I will. I'm not letting you take him back to that place ever again!" And with that he rushed forward and swung at the man. Sabo easily dodged him of course, and waited for the perfect opportunity to land a solid punch right in the other man's gut. Zoro gasped as the air left his lungs before narrowly avoiding the claws that swung at his neck. He crouched down and rushed back at his opponent.
This wasn't going to be easy.
Everything was just a blur for Luffy. He was stuck in the middle of a battlefield as his best friend was fighting his battle for him. He wanted to help so badly, but his body wouldn't move. He was just so.. he didn't even know what he was! Scared, sad, angry, confused? Everything was just blurring together at this point. He could only watch as the two men fought before him.
There was Zoro, fighting for him, defending him. And there was his brother, fighting to bring him back to that awful place. He wanted so bad to be able to treat the man as any other enemy and just fight him! He knew there was no way that either he or Zoro could win this fight. They were simply not strong enough. But there has to be a way to win! There must be..
This can't be the end of his freedom, right?
He glanced back at the rest of his friends. Most were watching the fight with horror visible on their faces. Others, like Sanji and Robin, looked like they were itching to help them, but knew that they wouldn't stand a chance if neither Luffy nor Zoro could beat this man. And honestly, Luffy was glad they didn't help them. I would never forgive himself if any of them got hurt. He was the one who caused all these problems in the first place.
The fight didn't last long. Zoro just wasn't as strong or fast as the enemy. Luffy's heart stuttered to a stop as the blond man yet again ducked underneath Zoro's swords before thrusting his pointed tail right into his friend's stomach. The man groaned in pain and fell to one knee, releasing the grip on one of his swords in favor of gripping the enemy's tail. Blood spilled from the wound and his mouth as the swordsman glared up at Sabo.
"You really know how to use those swords of yours. I can respect that." The demon-looking man said. He yanked his tail free from the man's chest and hand before raising it high. "I won't prolong this fight any longer. Any last words?" He smirked, tail now close to the green-haired man's neck.
'No!' Luffy thought. 'No please! I can't lose anyone else!' He tried to get up, his legs shaking. He needed to move!
The wound in his chest was bleeding profusely even as Zoro pressed his hand against it. He looked up at the other man before spitting blood down on the grass between the two of them.
Luffy opened his battered wings, blood rushing through his system. Move!
His friend glared up at the demon.
"Go back to hell."
Then, Sabo's tail moved.
It swung at the swordsman's neck at high-speed. Zoro didn't flinch, not afraid of what would happen. He vowed to protect, and if he died, then so be it. He was prepared.
"STOP!"
The blade on the tip of the man's tail narrowly missed Zoro's throat as the man disappeared in front of him. The swordsman blinked, ears ringing slightly. Several meters in front of him, right in front of the enemy lines, was a big cloud of dust. No, wait.. Was that smoke? What just happened?
Luffy heaved loudly as he straddled the man underneath him. His skin glowed with power he didn't know he had. His brother wheezed from the impact as he tried to sit himself up, but the teen pushed him back down rather harshly.
"Just stop.."
Sabo looked up at the man on top of him. The teen looked angry, tired and.. sad? Everything inside of him screamed at him to throw the teen off and do what he was ordered to do. But..
That little voice at the back of his mind was back again, now stronger than ever.
He hissed and gripped his head. Flashes of something he had long forgotten flashed before his eyes. What the hell was this?! Was this the boy's fault? He used one of his arms to prob himself up. He opened his eyes and was ready to snarl at the man who called himself his brother-
His breath stuttered to a stop.
The teen on top of him was crying, which wasn't a first. But something about the sight was so familiar to him. In the far back of his mind he could hear a younger version of himself scolding this boy to quit being a crybaby. He closed his eyes for a second and an image of two boys came to mind. One of them looked very much the same as the teen on top of him, minus the scar on his face and chest. The other boy looked slightly older, had dark hair and freckles. Their clothes were worn and dirty, but they smiled anyway.
He remembered a time before everything he knew now. A time he wasn't under constant surveillance of the guards he called his colleagues and supervisors. A time he wasn't used as a weapon to hurt anyone the Government didn't approve of. A time he wasn't forced to fight his own brother.
A time he was free.
Luffy flinched hard as one of Sabo's hands grabbed one of his own still on the other man's shoulders. However, instead of the pain he expected to feel from the man's grasp, the hold on his hand was very gentle. He looked through his tears at the man. The man was smiling, tears threatening to escape his eyes.
"You're still a crybaby, even now.."
The teen choked on a sob as a whole new wave of feelings hit him. Instead of sadness, he now only felt relief. The smoke that his body had been expelling slowly vanished together with his glowing skin as he calmed down. The older man chuckled wetly and used his other hand to uselessly rub away one of the many tears rolling down his brother's cheeks.
"Sabo.."
The teen pulled his brother up from the ground and into a hug. Sabo coughed slightly as the younger man's arms crushed his body, but he wouldn't dare complain. His brother's long tail also joined in and wrapped itself around his middle. The man returned the embrace with one arm as the other was used to prop him up from the ground.
"I'm sorry I forgot, Luffy. I'm so, so sorry."
The dark-haired teen sniffled in the crook of his neck. "It doesn't matter now. I missed you so much." He choked out. Sabo tightened his grip on his brother in comfort. "I know.."
Despite the moment they were having, Sabo knew they had to move. He hadn't forgotten about the Government's men standing way to close for them to be safe. It was just luck that most these guards were too scared to attack them and stayed away form the two. But sooner or later one would attack them, and more would surely follow.
He wasn't wrong. As soon as the initial shock of him turning to his brother's side had passed, the voice of Akainu rang through the silent battlefield.
"Capture them now! Do anything to prevent them from escaping!" His command send the guards moving. Sabo was so glad the man was too busy to attend in person and had to use a camera and microphone to communicate with his men. At least now they had a chance of getting away from the Government. If Akainu was there, he would never stop before he had their blood on his hands.
The blond man stood up, pulling his brother up with him. They had to defeat the these guards, because running was not an option. Luffy lived here with his friends, and he really didn't want his brother to lose that.
He stepped backwards a few feet, trying to get a good assessment of the situation. They were severely outnumbered. That normally wouldn't be a problem for him, but now he had someone to protect. He couldn't let any of them even close to Luffy. He knew what they could do to him. He didn't want to lose his younger brother after just meeting him again.
Luckily, he wasn't alone in this. The swordsman he stabbed earlier (he'd have to apologize for that later) came to stand beside him, although a bit unsteady on his feet. The green-haired man glanced at Luffy who was clinging to the older brother's shirt before readying his swords. The rest of Luffy's friends stepped forward too. They would've never been able to defeat Sabo, but now he was on their side they had less to worry about and could finally join the fight.
Sabo, despite the turmoil and ache in his head, kept one arm around his brother as he took a battle stand. His tail swung agitated behind him, the blade still dripping with the swordsman's blood. Ice-cold eyes glared at the enemy in front of him.
It's time they pay for what they'd done to them.
AN: First time uploading a chapter of a story in almost a year and for this story more than 1 and a half years..
This was NOT AT ALL my intention.
I had this chapter halfway written for over a year and a half, but I never got around to finish it. I simply just wasn't able to put my thoughts down into words. I also didn't really help that I had/have some struggles at home which basically prevented me from doing anything productive. I didn't have motivation to write for any of my stories, including this one. I started writing again a few weeks ago and FINALLY finished this chapter. Originally, this chapter was twice as long, but i decided to cut it in half so I could upload a new chapter sooner.
Just to be clear, I won't ever discontinue this story. I still love One Piece, I still love writing and I still absolutely love this story. My life is just a bit of a mess right now..
I've decided I'm officially putting this story on hiatus. Hopefully it wont be as long as the unexpected break between this and last chapter. I'm going to try to write like 3 or 4 chapters in advance before starting uploads again.
All that aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Like I said before I had some struggles writing this part of the story down as it was in my head. But I think it came out okay.
Follow, fav and comment if you want! I appreciate it
'Till next time!