LW: Now, these chapters have been previously uploaded, to my side stories story "Drop in the Ocean" but on the advice of what is basically my beta-reader and collab guy, he suggested I upload the entire flashback arc to the main story too, now that it's complete, especially given the end of the arc, takes place back in the main series aka this one. For those of you who didn't know about the side series… enjoy!
Rubber King & Mirror Master - Ace & Sabo
Mt Corvo/Colubo - Dawn Island
"What's wrong with being King of the Pirates Grandpa? Pirates are cool!" Luffy whines as he's dragged up the mountain by the side of his face
"AND WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I CARE?" Garp bellows, reminding the entire mountain the man has no inside voice
"The fact you punched him through a window the 1st time he said it may have given us the impression you both cared, and disapproved" Kaos mutters, following the 2 rather than being dragged like the younger boy
"Snarky brat" Garp mutters then turns to Luffy with a sigh "Seriously Luffy, eating that Devil fruit wasn't enough of a hassle, now you want to be a pirate? You, and you big brothers Ace and Kaos are going to be upstanding marines when you grow up, just like your old man" he grins
"Did any of our fathers grow up to be upstanding marines, or just you?"
"We don't speak about those men" Garp speaks hoarsely "Instead look at me the perfect role model, ah hahaha!" he cheers
"Owowow, let go of me you old bastard. I thought being made of rubber meant this shouldn't be hurting anymore" Luffy cries as he squirms in Garp's grip
"I thought leaving you in a nice village would keep you boys safe" Garp monologues "but pirates clearly won't stop until they get their greedy mitts on everything. So instead you're going to live up here!"
'Da fuck?'
About an hour later
Bang bang bang
"What's this dump?" Luffy mutters as he goes exploring, Kaos choosing to wait and see before running off, mostly because he's watched Garp chase Luffy enough today to know he didn't want to experience that any time soon
"What do you want? We're not buying whatever you punks are selling!" shouted the large, gruff looking woman who flung open the door to the house Garp had just been banging on.
"Dadan" Garp growls, startling the woman who shuffles backward and nearly drops her cigarette
"Garp! What the Hell are you doing here?" she gasps, 2 scruffy looking men peeking out the doorway at her declaration
"Charming as ever" Garp grunts
"Sorry about the less than warm welcome Garp, but I really hope you're not here with some other ridiculous favour you want me to do for you" Dadan half apologises, half snarks, while her subordinates panic behind her "You do realise Ace is already 10 right?"
"Oh he is, and how's the little scamp doing?" Garp asks, sounding genuinely curious
"Well he's a handful of course and we've been watching over the brat long enough, so just take him away" Dadan's shorter minion, Dogra complains
"Never mind that, I've got 2 more for you" Garp chuckles, pointing to the energetic Luffy running all over the place before being picked up by the marine, and the quiet Kaos… with a dangerous-looking Khopesh strapped to his hip. "Say hello boys"
"Yo" Luffy waves
"Hello Miss Dadan?" Kaos nods his head "and whoever you 2 are"
"Wait a minute, who are these kids?" Magra, a larger man with a red mohawk asks
"This one" Garp waves Luffy around like a ragdoll "is my grandson, by blood. The other, is basically my Grandson, but he's Medusa's kid and I want him to grow up safe, for both of them to be safe" he explains
"YOU WHAT!"
"I never knew you even had a kid, never mind a grandkid"
"And Medusa having a kid, that wasn't something people ever mentioned either"
"And you want us to look after the little brats huh? Well fuck you Garp Ace was bad enough!" Dadan bellows
Garp smirks "Then I'll give you 2 choices: You can raise these 2 boys alongside Ace, OR, you can all come with me as I arrest you for the various crimes you've committed and lock you away for many years"
"NO FAIR YOU BASTARD"
"Well, I personally would like to avoid the slammer" Magra says, voicing his opinion
"Depending on the day really, it can't be worse than Ace on his worse days" Dogra mutters
"You want us to mind 3 brats now? Yeah not going to happen Garp" Dadan decides "That short one, I can tell is yours as a glance, he looks like a real charmer,
"Like your face?" Luffy laughs, then runs off before the woman could beat his face in
Garp sighs "Kaos, try to keep Luffy out of trouble while I have a chat with some old friends, ok?"
"Yeah yeah, got it Gramps" the 9 year old says with an eye roll before following after Luffy at a much more sedate pace, finding the boy yelling at someone in a tree after they spat on him
"You jerk, apologise!" Luffy demands, getting a deadpan/ irritated look from the older boy
"Oh good you boys found Ace. Hi Ace, these are your new brothers" Garp greets like it was an ordinary Tuesday
"Get lost old man, I don't want new siblings, younger or older ones" Ace sneers
"That's great cause I didn't bring any" Garp grins then notices everyone but Kaos and Luffy point at the purple haired boy "He's 9, he's just a lanky fucker"
"HE'S WHAT!?"
"Yeah, takes after his dad, well he's less lanky and more built like an Oak tree, but same difference when your 9" the marine laughs "Anywho, get used to these ruffians, this is your new home from now on kids" he adds, ruffling the boy's hair even as Luffy and Ace continue their staring contest "Bye kids, I'll be back whenever I guess, try not kill each other or whatever" Garp says as he walks off, at which point Ace huffs and walks into the house shoving past Luffy as he does
"What a jerk" Luffy huffs
"He is… a dick. But given they're all mountain bandits like that Higuma guy, did you really expect anything better?" Kaos asks, getting a shrug from Luffy as he adjusts his hat and both follow Ace into the house, only to end up in the middle of an attempted mugging
"Give us all your money!"
"We don't got money, we're just kids!" Luffy shouts
"Well then where are your parents so we can go steal all their money"
"Hey, this kid's got a pretty fancy piece of gear on his hip, think it'll sell for much"
"I don't gots parents and neither does he, but we have a Grandpa"
"I'd recommend you not try, Miss Zelena said she tends to kill things all by herself if left alone" Kaos says partly as a joke, but mostly as a warning
"We got ourselves a comedian here. We'll deal with him after we shake his old man for all the money he's got. What's his name?"
"Garp" Dogra reveals, interrupting the incident "Also those kids will be staying with us, and yes if you touch that thing you die, it's cursed or something Garp was as vague and unhelpful as always" the man adds with an irritated scowl
"WHAT! How could you agree to this? We're not running a daycare here! Ace is bad enough, never mind 2 more of them!"
"Quiet down!" Dadan bellows as she re-enters the building "Now eat up and stop complaining!"
What came next was a mad scramble as about 20 men trampled each other trying to eat as much of the large stack of meat as they could as quickly as possible, which also meant the 2 boys were unable to get to the pile until there was basically nothing, the last piece being picked up by the dog… until it took a mallet to the face.
"Is it dead?" Luffy asks before ripping the meat from it's jaws and beginning to eat it
"It's belly is still rising and falling, so he'll be fine" Kaos shrugs "Unless dogs can get concussions"
When everyone finally calmed down, and small bowls of rice were handed out to those who failed to get their own meat, Luffy decided to be his usual self "Old man, can I have more?" he asks, poking at Dadan's knee
"I'm a Lady you little brat! And do you know where you are right now?"
"A hut in the forest?" Kaos asks, as that was pretty much all he knew about this place besides them being on Mt Corvo, and these scruffy-looking people probably being bandits as they reminded him of Higuma and his goons, except maybe a tiny bit smarter
"No, well yes, but anyway. This is the House of the Dadan Family, a group of mountain bandits who rule over Mt Corvo"
"Mountain Bandits? Lame!" Luffy whines
"Well too bad, you punks are stuck with us, or more we're stuck with you because of that damn grandfather of yours kid. But if you don't wanna stay that's fine by me go get eaten by a bunch of wolves for all I care you dirty punks!"
"Easy there Dadan, remember your blood pressure"
"MY BLOOD PRESSURE IS FINE!"
"I just want rice, or meat" Luffy groans, then starts shuffling his way over to the plate of meat Ace had in front of him
"Probably best not to do that Lu, kid would probably beat the shit out of you" Kaos whispers
"Of course he would, all this meat came from the bison Ace brought back. He's only a couple years older than you 2 and he still has to work for his keep. The bandit life is tough and starting tomorrow you'll earn your keep just like Ace, in blood sweat and tears. That fancy knife of yours better be good for more than tenderizing my pooch you get me?"
"Hebi will behave, she's just temperamental" Kaos assures her
"Huh, never heard someone call their weapon a girl, their ship, that I've heard" Magra hums
"Anyway, you boys get 1 glass of water and one bowl of rice a day guaranteed, everything else you get for yourself, understand, because if either of you pussies go and complain to Garp…"
"K" Luffy nods with a grin
"That was easy" Dadan thinks aloud out of surprise
"You forget Garp attempted to raise us, we've had to rough it in the forest before, a fair few times at this point" Kaos nods
"Yep, there's plenty of water and we've learned which snakes, frogs and bugs are edible after some trial and error" Luffy adds with a wide grin "We're gonna be pirates one day so we've gotta be strong" he adds with a fist pump "This might actually be kind of fun"
"Or at least a vacation from Garp, so not technically fun, but better than the alternative" Kaos argues "Ah damn he's run off again"
"He do that a lot?" Magra asks, Dadan still processing the new information, as well the surprising non-reaction from both boys "Also,he ran after Ace, don't know where, just that way"
"Yes, he's a boundless well of energy, meaning we'll all be chasing him for the next decade or so" Kaos warns the man before getting up and following Luffy, catching up to the boy mid chase of the grumpy older boy, Ace
"Hey! Wait for me!" Luffy shouts, ensuring he wouldn't be lost anytime soon, and eventually managed to at least get Ace to pause in his clear retreat/ignoring of the loud rubber boy "Hi my name's Luffy, everything's cool now, I'm not mad, about you spitting on me earlier!" Luffy says with a wide grin "it's not worth getting bent out of shape, I'd rather we be friends. So can I come with you?"
Ace stares at him for a minute, before in a surprising show of strength, kicked a tree until it fell down, and rolled toward the brothers
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
CLANG!
"Yeah, this Ace guy is a huge dickhead" Kaos sighs, Hebi in her greatsword form having slashed through the tree and pinned it to the ground "You sure you want us to be friends with him Lu?"
"Yup"
"Alright then, onward after the boy with the pole" Kaos sighs, managing to catch up to Ace on a rope bridge "Not much of a people person are you?"
"I'm back. Can we be friends now?" Luffy pants having to sprint to keep up with Kaos' longer strides as he ran
Ace's response was to smack the rubber boy off the bridge with his pole like he was a baseball, sending Luffy tumbling into the ravine, Kaos conflicted between at least knocking Ace in after him or following Luffy, before deciding his brother was more important than revenge…. For now. The asshole would get what's coming to him eventually.
Evening time
"Ace is back. FOOD!"
"But he's alone…. Shit" Dogra hisses
"Hey, didn't those 2 other boys go out with you earlier, where did they go?" Magra asks
"How should I know?" Ace shrugs as he enters the building after dropping off his haul, this time a large pile of various sized fish
Later
"Come on, come on, where did you too little fuckers go?"
"Think they died out there?" Magra asks with a twitch putting down his telescope
"If they did, we're next once Garp hears about it" Dogra shivers "One day and Ace has already killed them"
1 week later
Bark Bark Bar.. arrooo THUMP
"Shit, what's gotten Pochi so worked up this time" Dogra whines as the barking wakes him up, though the thump did make him rush over to the door and fling it open "Oh my….. BOSS WAKE UP!"
"God damn it Dogra what now?" Dadan grouses as she pulls herself to her feet and waddles sleepily to the door "Oh. Well damn they're both still alive. Beat to shit but alive"
"Huh, maybe they will make good bandits after all" Mogra muses aloud as the other bandits (and Ace) begin to stir from the commotion
"Do you know how many dangerous animals there are on this mountain, beside you people?" Kaos asks, Hebi wrapped tightly around his arm, blood dried on the jagged edges and bite marks on his arms and legs.
"TOO FUCKING MANY!" Luffy shouts, his clothes shredded and various parts of him bitten or clawed
"You little brats made me worry, where the Hell were you?"
"Bottom of the ravine, got lost, and attacked by wolves" Luffy answers
"And why did you go and do something that stupid in the first place?" Dogra asks with a tired sigh
"Because Dadan's son is an asshole with a bright future for beating people's skulls in" Kaos snarks tiredly
"The fuck does that even mean?"
"Do you care?"
Dadan scowls "Not at this hour of the night, get to sleep you little ingrates, you're up bright and early tomorrow to start working"
"Whatever" the brothers nod and follow Dadan to the storage room where both collapsed and fell asleep quickly, meanwhile Ace just scowls at both of them.
The next day
"BOSS! He's running after Ace again!"
"For fuck sake, get back here you little brat you still have chores!" Dadan screams as Luffy runs after an almost fearfully fleeing Ace
"Sorry Miss, my only chores are to keep my idiot brother alive, see you hopefully tonight, or else next week I guess!" Kaos waves before chasing the other 2 idiots, and Dadan wonders if this was really worth not going to prison over.
The unofficial game of tag continued until they reached a river which Ace easily crossed "Ace! Wait up!" Luffy shouts "Come on, I just want to be friends with you!"
"I don't, but you giving up and being Luffy's friend will make all of our lives easier, so please be his friend" Kaos mutters as Luffy decides to follow Ace again, jumping onto some gators in the process 'Still an idiot' Kaos thinks as Ace abandons them like a dick and Kaos has to save Luffy, getting some unintentional Devil Fruit training in the process as gator skulls don't fare too well against reflect armoured fists
This began a pattern that lasted for about 4 months, Luffy chases Ace, Kaos chases Luffy, Ace either abandons them in a dangerous situation or causes said situation, rinse, repeat etcetera, the only reprieve the day they fell into that snake pit, because Kaos told them to back off and they surprisingly did, also the time Ace fell into a patch of marigolds and Luffy started laughing at the boy covered in yellow flowers long enough for the older boy to lose both of them. Honestly, all 3 of them should be dead or at least severely injured at this point… but never mind.
"What does that little dumbass think he's going to accomplish chasing Ace day in and day out?" Dadan sighs one evening
"He's getting pretty banged up every time too. You'd think the kid would lose interest after so many failed attempts" Dogra argues
"He better cut it out soon, those punks are really stressing me out!" the Bandit Chief screams
Dogra smirks as he sips his tea "You're worried about them Boss? Admit it, you've gotten attached"
"No I haven't, those kids are just trying my patience is all" Dadan denies with a deep scowl, just before the 2 problem children once more return, Kaos coated in Reflect armour and Luffy puffed up like a swollen balloon due to the beehive Ace dropped on his head.
The next day
"Ace! I'm not giving up, not now, not ever! So be my friend!" Luffy shouts as he chases the older boy
"He might actually believe that… and he is harder to lose this week than the last one" Ace mutters aloud, before movement to his left has him tense 'Crap, too far'
"ACE! Damn it, where did he go now?" Luffy whines
"You think one of these days he's just going to beat the shit out of you and tie you to a tree and be done with it?" Kaos asks with a frown
"Nuh ah, cause you'd set me free…. Then beat me up and haul me back to Dadan" Luffy argues… and Kaos sighs because the boy is 100% right "Anyway, oh something over there, I bet it's Ace!" Luffy cheers
It wasn't, it was a huge tiger instead
'FUUUUUUUUUUCK!' Luffy and Kaos think as the beast stalks toward them, both knowing they weren't nearly fast enough to outrun the big cat
'That's gotta be the nastiest monster in the forest, even I can't beat that thing' Ace thinks, feeling a momentary flicker of pity and sympathy for the 2 about to be dead boys just below him
Luckily fate had other plans, as to counter the huge fuck off Tiger, an equally massive Bear entered the clearing and decided to pick a fight with it, distracting the animal from Luffy and Kaos so they could scramble away.
"I think, that might have been too much, even for you" Kaos pants as they both lay down and gaze into the sky a safe distance away from the beasts
"Maybe…. But we're getting stronger from it" Luffy winks, getting a light punch to the face from his brother, though he knew Luffy was right for a change.
The next day
"We made it to the end of the forest….now what?" Luffy wonders as they gaze into the wasteland/trash heap known as Grey Terminal
"Explore?" Kaos asks with a shrug, getting a nod and a grin from Luffy before leaping a the now metallic landscape
"ACE You out here?" Luffy calls as he bounces and then crashed through one of the many piles of junk, Kaos skittering and sliding across the piles as he follows him
"Given he almost never responds, I doubt he will just because we're in this shithole rather than the forest" Kaos mutters, knowing Luffy wasn't listening, but he liked talking even if only Hebi was actually listening or willing to respond to him, until some asshole crashed into him
"Oy move it brat!" the lumpy-looking man shouts, while Kaos just slowly blinks "You fucked in the head or something?"
"Considering you're the one who looks like he suffered a head injury, that's a stupid question" Kaos hums as the slightly less scruffy man chasing him began to catch up
"Never mind I'll teach you manners next time punk" lumpy man says as he rushes off, looking for a place to hide
"Huh, what a weirdo" Luffy notes, popping up beside Kaos like a shadow "Well, time to find Ace!"
'§We're surrounded by idiots§'
And search they did, finding nothing but trash and junk, until they caught a glimpse of someone about their age, slinking off into the forest. Assuming it was Ace, Luffy lead the charge, Kaos following simply to make sure Luffy didn't find someone else who wanted to murder him.
Luckily, it was Ace, who stopped at what could be any other tree and began shouting up at it "Hey, Sabo! I'm sorry I'm a little late"
"More than a little" another boy responds, a blond about Ace's age in a top hat, grinning down at him exposing a missing back tooth "I've already been out and made a killing"
Ace smirks "Oh really, well maybe I did too" he boasts
"Let's see then" Sabo says as Ace climbs up the tree, then both open their bags to reveal their haul "Holy… that's way more than I got, how'd you do it?" he gasps
"Robbed some chumps down by the gate, didn't stand a chance against me" Ace laughs waving his pole around
"Well, crap. Guess you win this round too bud" Sabo mutters, as he begins to count their current funds
"Doesn't matter if you win or lose, we've got 5 years of pirate savings stashed away up here, we should both be happy about that" Ace argues, a lot less of a grumpy brat with Sabo than when around Luffy, Kaos, or the Dadan Family "We worked pretty hard"
"Yeah, we did. We'll get off this rock one day, and go see places those losers couldn't even dream of. All these years, all this work, it'll all be worth it in the end. Believe it!" Sabo cheers
Ace sighs as the 2 start fantasising "Best put that away, can't have anyone else know about our treasure" he orders
"So how much even is a ship? I want a decent one that's for sure, but we seem pretty rich at the moment" Sabo wonders aloud as he packs away their money
"Could be 10 mill, maybe more. We don't want to rush it and wreck everything for ourselves" Ace says with a shrug
"DID YOU SAY SHIP?!" Luffy bellows from the bottom of the tree, startling both older boys "YOU'RE GONNA BE PIRATES!" he cheers
"Luffy, I think they were having a moment" Kaos sighs, though it was interesting to see Ace acting like something besides a cold-hearted dick for once
"AND YOU HAVE HIDDEN TREASURE ALREADY! SO COOL! I'M GONNA BE A PIRATE TOO WHEN I'M OLDER!" Luffy continues, enthusiasm at 11 as always
Seeing a threat to their booty, Ace and Sabo scramble down the tree and breakneck speed, and clobber both boys, mostly Luffy, but Kaos because he now knew their secret and needed to be shown why he must keep it as such. Which is how both of them were tied to separate trees waiting to see what happens next
"You know the best part? Now I know where you go every day it makes following you all that easier" Luffy cheers, oblivious as usual to how much trouble he was probably about to be in.
"So, this is Luffy, and the other one is Kaos? Also why didn't you let me take away his weapon?" Sabo asks
"You don't want to touch that thing, bad things happen" Ace says ominously
"He means nameless bandit 17 died" Luffy explains
"WHAT?"
"Not important I'll explain later" Ace sighs deeply
"These are the idiots you've been telling me about?" Sabo continues, allowing the previous subject to drop, for now.
"You tell all your friends about us? Awesome!" Luffy beams
"I told my friend how annoying you are, mostly you" Ace clarifies
"He also said you were dumb as a rock and keep needing the lacky fuck to save your ass" Sabo adds
"I mean…. He's not wrong, at least sometimes I need Kaos' help, other times we both could have used a hand, and other times I can handle it fine on my own" Luffy declares
"You do know we're insulting you right?" Sabo asks, genuinely curious about if Luffy was too stupid to be insulted
"He knows, he just doesn't care" Kaos responds, currently using Hebi to cut his bindings while the focus was on the loud as hell rubber-brained future pirate
"The route I took here today wasn't an easy one to follow, you 2 are stubborn brats, but this takes the cake"
"It's nice Ace has other friends, the bandits we live with are so mean. We're gonna be the best of friends" Luffy chirps happily
"I'm not your friend dumbass, you don't know a single thing about me, not even my name!" Sabo scowls
"K. What's your name then?" Luffy asks
"Oh it's Sa….. it's a secret, that you're not going to get out of me" the blond says, catching himself before answering the question
"Hi Sabo" Kaos greets, now free from the rope, to the other's surprise "Ace is louder than you both think, I'm honestly surprised Luffy was able to remain quiet for as long as he did"
"Shit! This is why I wanted to disarm him, he's free already and we hadn't even finished discussing what to do with them!" Sabo shouts
"If you want to die so badly, take her, I'm not touching that thing with my pipe, never mind my bare hands!" Ace defends
"So…. are we done playing?" Luffy wonders, getting a shrug from Kaos while the other 2 calm down
"Ok, they know too much, and I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. So…. we have to kill them" Sabo decides, getting a nod from Ace.
"WHAT! NONONONONO!" Luffy screams "I'M SCARED I DON'T WANNA DIE! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
"Can it you little shit. Seriously Ace you bring the worst guests" Sabo groans slamming Luffy's head against the tree
"Just kill him already" Ace orders
"He's your problem, why don't you do it?" Sabo shouts
"Because I've never killed anyone before!"
"Neither have I you bastard! I don't know how this stuff works!"
"I have" Kaos says, causing Ace and Sabo to blue screen for a second, mostly Ace as unlike Sabo who assumed the purple-haired boy was at least a teenager, knows Kaos' real age "A few months back, before Luffy and I were hauled into the mountains to live with Dadan and Ace. It was a bandit and an accident, but I still killed him" Kaos admits, rolling up his sleeve before coating his arm in reflect armour "He was attacking me, I panicked and my Devil fruit activated… and next thing I knew my fist was in his chest and he was gone"
"PLEASE CAN WE STOP TALKING ABOUT KILLING I REALLY DON'T WANNA DIE TODAY, PLEASE DON'T THROW ME IN THE WATER!"
"That was a strange request" Sabo notes
"What did I tell you, he's the dumb one, now if only we could get him to stop squirming for long enough to reach the river…" Ace's thoughts were interrupted by a commission nearby "Shit, they must have heard your bellowing Luffy. Guess we have to set him free, if only to stop people from snooping too close to our treasure" he decides, letting Kaos cut him free with a swipe of Hebi in it'd default form, before all 4 of them slipped into the undergrowth as the group passed them by, overhearing their conversation
"Shit, those guys were Bluejam's? I'd have never robbed them if that were the case" Ace mutters
"They big news or big talk?" Luffy asks, being quiet for a change
"Big trouble, especially the big guy, Porchemy" Sabo says, referring to the buff-looking guy with long blue grey hair and a large cutlass-type sword "He's ruthless and crazy, lose a fight with him and he'll scalp you alive, just to hear them scream" he explains, then turned to Ace "And you managed to piss him off"
"I never even saw the bastard, I just beat up and robbed one of his goons, that blond one over there" Ace whispers, pointing to the blond who was beaten to hell and partially bandaged up
"They're right on our tail" Sabo hisses "If they even look in this direction we're fucked"
"I have an idea" Kaos offers
"Kill them?" Ace and Sabo ask, Kaos' response was a slow blink that A) the blond was sure he'd seen cats do, which was weird as the lanky teen made him think of reptiles, and B) Ace was beginning to learn meant confusion, given the purple teen was almost Luffy's polar opposite in terms of outward expressions, from what little he'd seen of the kid
"What? No! I'm not going to kill anyone" Kaos denies, looking oddly flustered
"Well sorry, you're the one who bragged about killing a guy to us two non-killers" Sabo snarks
"Because I panicked ok? I wanted you and Ace to calm down and shut the fuck up about killing Luffy, and I blurted it out" Kaos groans, running his fingers through his short hair
Ace hums "I mean, it worked, even living around bandits you don't hear many people claiming they dropped their 1st body age 9" he agrees, then the penny dropped for Sabo
"WAIT YOU'RE " he screams (not helping their situation) before being muffled by both Ace and Luffy
"Shut up, shut up, shut up" both hiss, in sync for once since the 2 boy's arrival
"But yes, Luffy's 7, Kaos is 9, he's just freakishly tall for his age" Ace explains, getting a confused, and also worried nod from Sabo "So, what's the plan?"
"I can use my fruit to blind them like a flashbang, and then we all make a break for it in the confusion" Kaos explains, the silver material covering the inside of his hands and shimmering lightly
"Huh, not a bad plan, if it works" Sabo nods "But how do we make sure they get caught in the blast?"
"HEY ASSHOLES!"
'Oh come on!' Ace and Sabo think as Kaos stands up and shouts at the group of pirates
"You talking to us you little punk?" Porchemy sneers
"Well, there's nobody else here…. So yeah"
"Hm, you picked a bad day to mouth off to me kid, I'm having a shitty day, and now I'm going to take it out on you!" the man shouts raising his sword
FLASHBANG
The reflected sunlight flash all 4 pirates square in the face, giving the kids a chance to run away, only one problem with this plan, they lost Luffy
"God damn idiot! How do you get lost when we were all running in the same direction?" Ace scowls, punching a tree
"HEY LET ME GO! ACE! KAOS! HELP ME!"
"For fuck sake!" Ace, Kaos and Sabo groan
"Well, that plan was worth, basically nothing, figures" the taller boy groans, reaching for Hebi and beginning to spin it in his hand "What now?"
"Give me a minute" Ace sighs deeply
A little later - Porchemy's base
"You're gonna tell me everything I want to know" the man scowls, hefting a large mallet onto his shoulder
"Nu uh, I'm not telling you nothing!" Luffy yells defiantly
"Stubborn brat, guess we're doing this the hard way" he scoffs, before slamming the mallet down on the kid, his men panicking for a second as they think the boss killed him…. Until he popped up like a cartoon character and send the mallet flying backward
"The gomu gomu no mi made me rubber, stuff like hammers, even huge ones don't do a thing to me" Luffy smirks
"Calm down" Porchemy barks, then turns to Luffy "A Devil fruit huh? Rubber, so blunt force is out, but I have more than one way to make you talk. Bring me my pair of gloves" he orders, one of his men panic but rush out to retrieve said item, meanwhile the other guys string Luffy up like a pinata "I'll explain this to your simply kid, the money Ace stole isn't some chump change or grocery money, it's a matter of life or death, as in if you don't tell me where the money is, you die, and then I die, you get me" he explains, his minion having returned with the gloves during his explanation, Luffy now seeing they were spiked like the outer shell of Chestnuts, or a sea urchin "So tell me where it is!"
"No way! You'll get nothing from me!" Luffy shouts, Porchemy growls before sending Luffy swinging, then punching him straight in the face with his spiked gloves
"Oh, that looks bad"
"I'm telling you this now kid, you don't piss off a pirate if you want to keep living, and that's exactly what you're doing keeping quiet on me, because by doing so you're just ensuring Captain Bluejam kills you, me and everyone you hold dear. So talk!"
"Let me go! You're hurting me!" Luffy cries and flails, bouncing around on the rope erratically "SOMEBODY HELP!"
"Guess we keep going, can't take that many hits to break a little crybaby like you" Porchemy sneers "You idiots get out there and look for Ace and Sabo while I deal with this one, we NEED that money!"
SMACK
SMACK
SMACK
A good while later - other side of Grey Terminal
"They're looking for us? But why, surely Luffy would have blabbed by now" Sabo mutters
"You clearly underestimate how stubborn Luffy is blondie, now if you don't mind I'm going to do a very Luffy thing and charge straight for those idiots" Kaos sighs deeply before pulling Hebi off his hip
"You're kidding, you can't fight Porchemy by yourself!" Ace shouts
"Well there's not exactly a line of people offering to help, and who knows how Luffy will be in the time it would take me to run back and explain everything to Dadan" the purple-haired kid mutters as he lets the blade spin
"You know what…. Fuck it! Maybe he's not as bad as I thought, maybe, maybe he's worth risking our treasure for" Sabo declares, knuckles white as he clenches around his pipe
"You're serious aren't you" Ace sighs before he nods "Yeah, we should probably go rescue that little brat"
"Great, now we're all in agreement" Kaos grins, as Hebi latches onto his arm, the blade expanding and extending into what would best be described as a spiked bat "Now…. where are we going, exactly?"
Porchemy's base
"Come on kid, spit it out" Porchemy snarls, beginning to get tired of smacking Luffy around like a punching bag, but he can't stop until the kid spills his secrets and he gets Bluejam's money
"Boss, you need to stop, I think he's broken"
"Yeah, he's not even crying out or calling for help anymore"
"Exactly. If he was going to talk, he would have hours ago already"
Porchemy scowls, even if he agrees with them, he couldn't go back to Bluejam empty handed, not if he wanted to still be breathing tomorrow, so he kept punching
"TELL ME WHERE IT IS YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
"I won't. I won't talk" Luffy wheezes, head spinning and vision blurred from pain and tears "Just let me go. I'm Not. Telling. You. Anything" he cries, pissing off the pirate even more… though he seems to finally believe him.
"Fine, enough of this" Porchemy sighs, removing his gloves and walking over to the wall to retrieve his cutlass "You're a stubborn kid, but we're done here" he states, raising his blade to deliver the killing blow…
CRASH
CLANG
"LET HIM GO!" Ace, Sabo, and Kaos scream, smashing their way through the wall, the tallest one skidding to a halt right in front of Luffy, catching the blade against' Hebi, or more importantly the spikes of the bat/mace/Kanebo?... Eh, it was a large blunt object with spikes, even he didn't care what it 'technically' was.
"That's him Porchemy, that's the kid who stole the money!" one of the minions' shout
"Ace, nice of you to come to me, if I'd known that I wouldn't have beaten your little friend half to death" Porchemy laughs, catching Ace out of the air as the boy leaps at him attempting to slam his pipe into the man's smug face
'§Kill him§'
'Shut up, shut up, shut' Kaos scowls as he tightens his grip "Let Ace go"
"Not without my money brat"
"Sabo now!" Ace shouts, and with both arms occupied, there was no way for Porchemy to block the 2nd attempt to slam a pipe into his face, at least managing to free Ace and break the deadlock, even if he was able to maintain the grip on his cutlass
"That kinda hurt, which of you punks hit me" Porchemy sneers, then looks down at the slightly shaking kid "Ah, there you are. You kids really have no idea who you're messing with" he raises his arm to slash, only to get a pole strike to the throat, causing him to lose concentration as the disrupts his breathing for a second
"Sabo, get Luffy free we'll handle this ugly fuck" Ace yells, nodding to Kaos who was already starting to spin his current weapon, a smirk starting to form on his face even if his eyes burned with rage
"You brats think you can take me!" Porchemy bellows, lunging for Ace who dodges then has the blade edge glance off Kaos' bat, leaving him open to another blow to the head, this time a successful one from Ace.
Meanwhile, Sabo managed to snatch a knife from one of the goons and cut Luffy free, hefting the semi-conscious rubber boy onto his back he turns to flee "I got him lets go!" he shouts
"You can go"
"Ace, don't be stupid" Sabo yells
"I don't run from my enemies, ever!" Ace declares boldly, his eyes locked onto Porchemy…. Which was why he didn't see the blow to the back of the head coming
"You weight a fucking tonne, you know that" Kaos grunts as he hefts Ace onto his shoulder, similar to what Sabo was doing to Luffy just behind him
"You're just making my job easier. Now tell me where that shitbag hid my money, and I'll let you walk away with only a beating" Porchemy threatens, waving his sword at the currently dead eyed purplette
"No, I'm not going to. Instead, we'll be leaving now" Kaos shrugs as best he would with Ace on one shoulder and a kanebo on the other
"If you won't talk either, I'll just cut you down and beat the answers out of Ace instead!" Porchemy bellows as he lunges straight for the lanky brat
Clang
The sword hits centre mass and shatters like glass off the boy's armored skin, Kaos taking the moment of shock to pull back his arm, as Hebi melts back into her normal form, and slams a reflect armoured fist right between Porchemy's eyes, sending the man backwards into the opposite wall, the crunch a mixture of his nose, and 2 of Kaos' fingers breaking in the exchange
'§He's still breathing§'
"§I know. But he's not my problem anymore, so long as Ace and Luffy are ok§" Kaos hisses, getting a sense of 'approval' maybe before the prescience fades
"Holy shi…. I can scream later, we need to get out of here now!" Sabo shouts pulling Kaos out of his own head long enough for him to turn on his heels and run, following the blond out of Grey Terminal back into the forest
Ace and Sabo's NEW hideout
"What the fuck you lanky bastard? You knocked me out!" Ace yells once he comes to
"Good thing he did, your stupid policy nearly got you killed, and possibly the rest of us too" Sabo snarks
"Oh yeah, then how did you and him escape?" Ace scowls
"He didn't know I had a Devil fruit, or that it could break his sword. Also I may have broken my hand on his face" Kaos answers as he wraps his fingers now they were done wrapping up Luffy's injures as best they could
"THANK YOU GUYS FOR COMING TO RESCUE ME IT WAS SO SCARY I WAS SURE I WAS GONNA DIE!" Luffy cries
"Shut up already!" Ace shouts, already pissed off
"Calm down, he's just saying thanks, between all the blubbering" Sabo says, trying to play peacekeeper
"Whatever. Though I have to ask, why did you keep your mouth shut?" Ace asks, causing Luffy to stop crying and stare at him "You think they'd let you live just because you're a kid, no they'd kill you once they got what they wanted regardless of your age"
"I was afraid, that you wouldn't be my friend" Luffy admits, his voice low and, empty for possibly the first time since Ace had met him
"That's it, seriously? That's still better than dying dumbass. Besides, why do you want to be my friend so badly, you've chased me across this mountain for months now"
"Because…"
"It's not like I've been nice to you or anything, Hell I'm probably just below Porchemy in terms of how I've treated you, and that guy beat the crap out of you for nearly half a day"
"Because people shouldn't be alone. Kaos and I are all each of us have, but if we can't go back to the village, and the mountain bandits are almost worse than nothing, why can't we get along with the only other person on the mountain? I can handle pain, been doing it all my life, but the loneliness, it eats away at you"
"Unfortunately he's right, why are you so determined to shoo away everyone else…. Well actually that question is wrong since meeting Sabo, but still, why do you seem so determined to keep Luffy and I away from you, to the point at least one of us should be dead by now?"
The question strikes a cord in Ace's mind and he frowns, head bowed in contemplation "Do you think I deserve to live?"
The 2 boys look confused by the question "What? Of course, you do you dummy!" Luffy states bluntly
"Does explain why you're so reckless all the time if you don't think you should be alive. Still stupid though" Kaos agrees
"I see" Ace mutters, then turns away "But you're still annoying, weak crybabies and creepy weirdos like you two piss me off"
"Given until an hour ago all I've seen you be is a grumpy asshole, that's progress, I think" Kaos hums as Luffy jumps to his feet
"I'm not weak, I'm really strong!" Luffy argues angrily
Ace scoffs "Yeah real strong, I bet you were crying like a wittle baby the whole time you were tied up" he says mockingly
"Have you ever been beaten by spikey things that big before?" Luffy shouts "I'm only 7, just wait until I'm 10 like you and then I won't cry over anything!"
"Age has nothing to do with it, I was tougher than you are when I was 6 never mind 7"
"Oh Yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"They're going to be at it for a while aren't they?" Sabo groans, himself and Kaos sitting down and watching the 2 butt heads
"That's what it looks like, but it is technically better than what came before, so again…. Progress" Kaos shrugs
"Still, probably best we break them up before they come to blows" Sabo argues, getting a nod from the younger boy "That's it guys calm down, we have bigger problems than, well this pissing contest"
"We do?" Luffy asks in confusion
"Yeah, we do. Those guys we just rescued you from and Ace stole money from, they work for a pirate called Bluejam. And as Ace already mentioned they'll kill us if they find us, regardless of the fact we're just a bunch of kids"
"True, they don't seem the type to let this thing go" Ace nods
"The thing is, this part of the forest I've been living in is awfully close to their main hangouts, the Den of Pirates. What if one night I'm a little more tired than usual, sleep a little deeper, and they catch me?"
"Then you're dead, possibly before sunrise" Kaos frowns
"That's about the jist of it, unless Bluejam drags it out to make you suffer" Ace agrees
"Then you'd just wish you were dead" Luffy nods
"That's why I need your help, because I have a plan" Sabo says with a devious grin, which was soon mirrored by the others as he pulls them in to brainstorm
The next day - Dadan Family House
"Shit what happened to those brats, they finally dumb enough to try fight the mountain bears or something?" Dogra groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sees the sleeping kids
Mogra shakes his head "That's… not the problem. Count the kids in this room"
"Seriously? That's easy. 1, 2, 3, 4….. Wait a minute, why are there 4 of these brats?!" the man groans "Boss! We have a problem!"
"What now it's too fucking early" Dadan groans as she stumbles into the storeroom the kids sleep in '1, 2, 3, 4? That's not right. Ace, Luffy, Kaos,... Huh?' she thinks as she scans the room and finds the kids curled up, practically on top of each other, only there was more than there were supposed to "OK WAKE THE FUCK UP AND EXPLAIN YOURSELVES!" Dadan shouts
"Too tired, recovering from getting the shit beat out of me" Luffy groans before rolling over back to sleep
"Too early for questions" Ace mutters sleepily
"He followed us home. Can we keep him?" Kaos asks with an only semi-conscious expression on his face, before his eyes droop shut again
"Meh" Sabo grunts, not even opening his eyes
"Jesus these brats are multiplying, who the Hell are you?" Dadan scowls
"Who me?" Sabo asks, rubbing sleep from his eyes "oh right, forgot to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Sabo" he smiles
"Ace's friend, well as least I know have a face to match to the name" Dadan mutters
"Oh great, it's like I already live here, and you must be Dadan right? Hiya" he greets, trying to shake her hand only for it to be yanked away
"What's this crap about living here I have a hard enough time with these 3 worthless brats, I don't need a forth"
"Yeah, that tracks given I'd heard what a grumpy old hag you are" Sabo nods, causing Dadan to scowl "I've also heard from Ace you're a nice old hag who wouldn't let a kid like me die in the forest, and that you're a tough old hag, so I should mind my manners while I'm staying here"
"Well, the tough part is true, the nice part is a rumour I'm going to have to crush before it spreads… and I'M NOT A HAG!" she scowls, before sighing deeply, knowing he was right about one thing, she wasn't going to just drop kick him and leave him to die in the woods, who did he think she was, Garp? "Luffy, Kaos, Ace, Sabo" she lists off, getting all 4 boys attention "There are no free rides, especially not in my house, you boys better pull your weight around here, understood?" she asks/ orders, getting various forms of yes or nods from the kids "Good, now get moving!"
1 hr later
"Bye Dadan!"
"Luffy, get back here you're supposed to clean this place!"
"Cleaning is boring" Luffy calls back sticking out his tongue "Hey Ace, what are we gonna do today?"
Sabo then freezes, causing Luffy to run into, and Kaos to scuttle around him "Knew I forgot something when we came in" he mutters then turns around "Hey Dadan you might be receiving some guests later! We pissed off some of Bluejam's men and they probably want to kill us, so play it cool ok?"
"Please tell me that little brat is joking" Dogra groans
"Nope 100% the truth. We beat up some of his crew and now he's really mad. It's why I had to move in with you guys, it wasn't safe to just live in the woods anymore" Sabo confirms
"FUCK! And I can't even blame this new headache on Garp" Dadan groans
"Technically you could as Ace living here is Garp's fault, therefore his friend moving in with him is Garp's fault because if Ace wasn't here he wouldn't have brought Sabo along with him" Mogra tries to argue, but Dadan just stopped caring at this point
"It's cool Dadan just lets us do what we want, it's like before, but with an actual place to sleep" Sabo grins as the 4 run through the woods
"She's still a grumpy old hag" Ace argues
"And ugly, like a butt!" Luffy giggles
"Kind of surprised she hasn't beaten us black and blue yet" Kaos hums, as like Luffy his only actual caretaker/parental figure so far had been Garp, and to a lesser extent Shanks the previous year
"Eh don't worry about it, now to figure out what to do today"
"FOOD!" Luffy shouts, getting an eye-roll from Ace and Kaos, but Sabo nods, deciding that was as good a place as any to start the day
A little later
"So, you 2 ate Devil fruits right, meaning you can't swim?" Sabo asks
"Yep" Luffy nods, munching on the fishtail
"I was a bad swimmer anyway, so it's no great loss" Kaos shrugs
"Still, so what fruits did you eat?"
"Gomu Gomu" Luffy grins
"Suru Suru" Kaos answers
"Ok…. what the hell does that mean?" Ace now asks joining in
"I'm made of rubber!" Luffy cheers
"Lame"
"It's not lame! I'm all springy and stretchy and have all these cool secret moves only I can do!" Luffy argues
"I guess that's cool or something" Ace shrugs
"And Kaos, what's the Suru Suru do, besides make weird goo?"
"Reflections. Mostly just light and impacts at the moment, which was how I blinded those goons and broke Porchemy's sword, but I think I can do more, just need to tinker with it a little" Kaos explains
"This is very interesting" Ace says sarcastically "But unless either of you can get us some more food, I don't care, freeloaders" he sighs and lies down, missing Luffy's attempt to beat him up as Sabo and Kaos grab his cheeks
"Wow, he really is made of rubber, this is so weird"
"Let go of my face now" Luffy groans, then falls over when they comply "Plus I made a super cool new move, I call it the Gum Gum Balloon" Luffy announces, bouncing back
"Oh, can you show us?" Sabo asks
"Are your injuries going to allow you to?" Kaos wonders, not that Luffy was listening
"Yep, private showing just for you guys, not this jerkface" Luffy huffs, then begins to suck in air and expand
Gum Gum Balloon
"Wow, he just keeps getting bigger and bigger, hope he doesn't pop" Sabo gasps
"Hopefully he'll lose focus on holding in the air, before he stretches himself to the point of exploding"
Ace chuckles as he rolls over "Huh, guess it's pretty cool, as a ball" he laughs as he kicks Luffy into the air "Sabo kick it back!"
Unfortunately, the blond panicked when a giant Luffy Balloon was coming straight for him, and kicked him sideways, into the river, where a crocodile managed to catch and swallow him
"OH COME ON!"
"We better go save the dumbass, shouldn't we?" Ace sighs, getting an annoyed "YES!" from the other 2, mostly Kaos "Fine, fine, no need to yell" he mutters, before the trio leap into the fray
Later
"Well, that happened" Sabo shrugs
"Don't try to play this off, I NEARLY GOT EATEN!" Luffy cries as the foursome heft the crocodile through the forest
"Oh quit complaining, we got you out and we have plenty of crocodile meat for everyone, everyone wins" Ace argues
"Good point" Luffy nods already salivating at the thought of crocodile meat, Sabo starting to realise what a mad house he'd invited himself into
"Hey guys, before dinner, I need to check something, want to tag along?" Sabo asks, getting nods from all 3 of them
"Well, I guess helping you guys move all that stuff was worth it after all" whispers from the bushes as Bluejam's men swarm the tree him and Luffy had first met Sabo in
"Yeah, those idiots will never find the new place. Though we should probably have a peek at Grey Terminal while we're out, just to see how bad things have gotten
That turned out to be a bad idea, as Bluejam had put a bounty on all 4 of their heads, meaning that once they were spotted, what felt like half of Grey Terminal were on their asses, chasing them from one end of the scrapyard to the other until they finally managed to lose them in the woods
"Well, that sucked" Sabo groans, lying against a tree
"I don't see why we have to run, if they catch us, we'll just beat them up like Bluejam's goons" Ace argues
"That doesn't mean we should go looking for a fight" the sole voice of reason counters
"It just means that if worst comes to worst, we aren't completely screwed" Kaos agrees
"Sorry Ace, Sabo, and Kaos are right" Luffy giggles as he swings from a branch
"Luffy…. Shut the hell up"
Dadan Family Home
"Boss, Ace, and the other kids are back!" The lookout calls down, the bandits surprised…. And maybe a little impressed by the 3 grinning dumbasses, and the perpetually scowling Ace had bagged such a huge croc for dinner.
TBC
LW: Not the best 1st impression for the KLAS boys, but eh they're starting to grow on each other :P