Ch. 9- Enter Ace and Sabo
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, Kovar, and Monkey D. Star © Me
"So that's how it all began," Zoro mused.
"That was SO cool!" Chopper exclaimed with starry eyes.
"I'll admit," Usopp began, "I almost thought Shanks was joking around, but I see that even back then, he wasn't to be taken lightly!"
"Mister Shanks was amazing!" Aika added.
"Yeah, no wonder Luffy idolized him!" Kumi piped up.
"Plus, he also gets his best traits from him," Blizzard pointed out.
"Luffy's mom started his dream," Nami started, "but it was Shanks who made his ambition stronger and gave it more depth."
"Yohohoho!" Brook laughed. "He truly was an inspiring man!"
"He certainly was," Robin smiled.
"...Hey, I noticed something," Sanji spoke. "Where the hell was Ace during all this?"
The Straw Hats glanced at Sanji in realization.
"Come to think of it," Brook began, "you'd think that Mister Luffy's older brother would notice if something was wrong, wouldn't you?"
"Actually," Robin spoke, "I don't think Luffy even met Ace yet during that time."
"Hey, you're right!" Nami said. "If that were the case, wouldn't he be living with Star, instead?"
"Well, if he wasn't there," said Franky, "where was he?"
As if to answer his question, a new memory appeared before the group. This time, they found themselves in a deep forest, where they could hear all manner of wildlife, some friendly...and some, not so much.
"This place is scary," Aika said, worriedly. "What is this?"
"AGH! Let go of me!"
"QUIET! I've had just about enough of your foolishness!"
"Oh, no, don't tell me..." Nami bemoaned, and sure enough, Garp appeared, holding Luffy by the cheek.
"I leave you at home for a year, and what do I get?!" Garp questioned. "My grandson, driven to lunacy!"
"I'm not a loon!" Luffy shouted. "Loons are birds!"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!" Garp barked.
"Oh, great," Blizzard muttered. "The guy comes back after a year, and already, he's harassing Luffy again!"
"Put me down!" Luffy shouted. "I keep telling you, Grandpa, I wanna be the King of the Pirates!"
"Over my dead body!" Garp barked.
"Rrrgh!" Luffy groaned as he tried to get away. "Dammit...put me down, already!"
"Good grief," Nami said in annoyance. "Why can't Garp just let him be? To think, I actually fell for that heartwarming moment back then."
"Again," Aika said, "I'm glad he's not MY Grandpa."
"...When do you think we should tell her?" Usopp asked, softly, only to be shushed by Robin. "What?! I'm just saying!"
"First I find out you ate a Devil Fruit," Garp said, "and now, I hear you spouting more crap than ever! I'm telling you for the last time, you and Ace are gonna be the strongest Marine soldiers, and you're gonna LIKE IT!"
"Aaaggh!" Luffy cried in pain as he slapped Garp's leg in a futile attempt to make him let go of his cheek. "Dammit! I'm made of rubber, so why does it hurt so bad?! Put me down, Grandpa!"
Sanji only sighed and shook his head.
"Did he really have to use his Haki?" he asked. "He's hurting the poor kid!"
"Does it look like he cares?" Zoro queried. "Rhetorical question: of course he doesn't."
"Leaving you in peaceful Windmill Village was a big mistake!" said Garp. "It was bad enough your mother encouraged you to be a pirate, now you're actually friends with one, and of all people, Red Haired Shanks!"
"Leave Shanks outta this!" Luffy argued. "He saved my life! What do you know?!"
"He's kinda right," Usopp said. "Garp was gone for a whole damn year."
"Perhaps if Garp wasn't so overbearing," Brook began, "then maybe would've liked to be a Marine."
"But it's like Star said," Nami said, "it didn't matter if Luffy wanted to be a Marine or not. Garp just refuses to accept the truth."
"Yeah, Nami, I'm pretty sure we got that," Zoro said.
"Enough of this!" Garp shouted. "That Shanks was a bad influence on you!"
Luffy growled as he grabbed onto a tree.
"Don't badmouth Shanks...!" he said as his arms began to stretch as Garp kept dragging him along behind him. "I'm gonna be as strong as him one day! Maybe even stronger!"
Before Garp knew it, Luffy managed to uproot the tree from the ground, causing it to hit the old Marine in the back of his head. However, it merely stunned him at best before he shook his head and kept walking.
"Did he just uproot a tree?!" Kumi questioned.
"Well, it was shown that Luffy's strength was pretty monstrous," Chopper pointed out, "even back when he was 4, remember?"
"And Mister Garp just kept walking," Aika said. "He must be really strong!"
By now, Garp decided to let Luffy go and walk on his own. It wasn't long before they reached a large house in the middle of nowhere with a lookout tower in the back and some halberds on the roof for decoration. There was even a clothesline outside with laundry gently swaying in the breeze.
"Well this is a nice looking house," Aika noted. "I wonder who lives here."
"...Wait a minute," Blizzard said. "I'm pretty sure Luffy told me about this place. This is-"
Of course, Garp had to interrupt by loudly banging his fist against the door.
"Stop that damn banging!" a voice shouted from inside, and soon, the door opened, revealing a rather overweight woman with orange hair came outside. "All right, who's the wise guy who..." She trailed off when she saw Garp, and almost instantly, her face paled. "G...Guh...GARP?!"
"Hey, Dadan," Garp greeted, casually.
"W-what are you doing here?!" she questioned. On that, two other men appeared behind her. One was rather short and wore a turban around his head. The other was a man who had either his hair or a headpiece that was styled like a chicken's comb. All in all, they looked like a strange bunch.
"Who are they?" asked Aika.
"A bunch of weirdos, that's what they are," Kumi answered.
"Wait, I think I figured it out," Nami said. "That woman is Dadan."
"Uh...well, she kinda does look like a man," Aika said.
"Not 'Daddy', Aika," Sanji corrected. "Dadan. She's the lady who took care of your brothers back when they were kids."
"Oh!" Aika realized.
"She sure is an ugly lady, though," Usopp murmured, and Zoro nodded his head in agreement.
"Jeez," Dadan grumbled. "You just come and go as you please, don't you?! It's been years since you've been here last time, and Ace is already 10 years old!"
"Is he, really?" asked Garp. "Boy, time sure flies. Ace was barely walkin' when I last saw him."
"Seriously?" Nami asked. "He never bothered to visit Ace, either?"
"What a shame," Robin added.
By now, Luffy wasn't even paying attention. He was running around, exploring his surroundings like most little boys would do. The Straw Hats had to admit, they found it rather cute.
"This is serious!" Dadan barked. "Ace is becoming wilder every damn day! We almost can't take much more!"
"Wait...did she just call Ace 'wild'?" Chopper asked. "That doesn't sound like him."
"Yeah, she's making Ace sound like some kind of monster," Sanji added.
"The only time I've ever seen Ace act wild is when Luffy gets himself in some kind of trouble," Zoro added.
"Anyway," Garp began.
"You can't just change the subject!" the short bandit shouted.
"I need you guys to do me a favor," said Garp as he grabbed Luffy and held him up by the back of his shirt, like holding a puppy by the scruff of his neck. "Dadan, this is Luffy. I need you to look after him for a while. Luffy, say hello!"
"Yo!" Luffy greeted.
"What?!" Dadan questioned. "Another brat?! Who is this?!"
"My grandson," Garp answered, bluntly.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Dadan questioned. "ARE YOU KIDDING?! YOUR GRANDSON?!"
"We have to take in another one?!" questioned the man in the turban.
"She looks like she saw a ghost," Kumi said.
"Being with Big Brother isn't THAT bad, is it?" Aika asked.
"...Again, should you tell her or should I?" Usopp queried.
"Don't," Sanji replied. "Just don't."
"Not gonna happen!" Dadan barked in defiance, only for Garp to glare her and her two underlings down.
"You guys have got a choice to make," he told them in an imposing voice. "Either you raise Luffy or you end up behind bars. Which is it?"
Dadan gulped nervously at this.
"I've managed to turn a blind eye to your crimes, so far, Dadan," Garp said, "but you've committed so many, it's almost hard to keep track! BWAHAHAHAHA!"
"...Wow," Nami muttered. "Blackmailing bandits."
"Why does this seem familiar to me?" Zoro asked as he remembered when Luffy "recruited" him.
"Oh, boy..." Blizzard muttered.
As for Luffy, he was just standing idly by, picking his nose. It seemed he got bored with the place pretty quick.
"Well," the chicken-haired man started as he scratched the back of his head, "I really don't wanna go to prison...but..."
"Honestly, sometimes prison sounds better than being here!" the turban-wearing bandit exclaimed. "Ace is already such a handful!"
"And now you want us to take in your grandson, too?!" Dadan questioned.
"Was Ace really that hard to rein in as a kid?" Franky asked.
"Apparently, judging by the memory," Brook replied.
"I bet your own grandson's just as much as a monster as Ace is, isn't he?!" Dadan asked.
"...Did she have to say it like that?" Nami asked, sadly.
"Yeah, that's not nice," Aika added. "She sounds just like those kids in the village."
"What a crappy mountain hut," Luffy said as he looked up at Dadan's house.
"YOU WANNA DIE, YOU LITTLE BASTARD?!" Dadan questioned, but Luffy then spotted a butterfly fluttering passed before he gleefully laughed and chased after it. "See that?! He's not even listening!"
The Straw Hats smiled at Luffy's innocence, despite the situation he was in. It was almost like all that ostracizing and discrimination never happened at all. However, the moment was short-lived when something wet and slimy suddenly flew and hit his cheek, causing him to stop in his tracks.
"Agh!" he cried as he wiped it off. "Oh, gross! Someone spit on me! Who did that?!"
It was then that the Straw Hats saw the culprit...and gasped upon seeing the familiar freckled face of a ten-year-old Portgas D. Ace...but instead of that usual cheery grin...he had this cold glare in his eyes as he held a lead pipe that had what looked like dried blood and dirt in his hand like a staff and sat on the corpse of a dead buffalo. Obviously, the boy had bludgeoned it to death with that pipe.
"Hey, you!" Luffy shouted. "Apologize! That's nasty!"
"Oh, my...!" Robin whispered.
"Is...is that Big Brother Ace?" Aika asked. "He looks so...mean!"
"More than mean!" Kumi added. "He looks like he's out for blood!"
"Jeez...!" Sanji muttered. "What the hell happened to him that made him like that?!"
Blizzard only sighed and shook his head.
"This is what I would've continued to be like if I never met Luffy," he said.
"Oh, Ace, there you are!" Garp exclaimed.
"You're back already, Ace?!" asked the chicken-haired bandit.
Ace only scoffed as he sat on his quarry, while Garp approached Luffy from behind.
"That's your new big brother, Luffy," the Vice-Admiral said. "Ace is 3 years older than you are." He then smacked Luffy in the back of his head. "You two had better get along, got it?!"
"Wait, you mean it's already been decided?!" Dadan questioned, causing Garp to turn and glare at her.
"Got a problem with it?" he asked.
"N-no, sir," Dadan answered. "We'd be happy to take care of him."
"That's what I thought," Garp said.
"Sheesh," Franky said. "That Garp's one tough S.O.B."
"No wonder people are so afraid of him, sometimes," Usopp said.
"He sure scares me...!" Chopper squeaked as he hid behind Zoro.
"Well, my business here is done," Garp said. "See ya later, Luffy. I'll visit you when I get the time, hear me?"
Luffy didn't answer him, but he just walked off, anyway. However, Garp didn't notice the dismal look on his grandson's face...but the Straw Hats sure did.
"Why couldn't Garp be a normal grandfather to Luffy?" Nami asked. "He just dumps him here with a gang of mountain bandits and then leaves like everything's just fine."
"He wonders why Luffy always gets mad whenever he shows up," Usopp added. "Not to mention why he decided to become a pirate in the first place."
"Poor Big Brother," Aika said, sadly.
Just then, Ace jumped down from the buffalo and headed inside, not even giving Luffy a second glance, but then Luffy seemed to remember what Ace did to him in the first place.
"Hey you!" Luffy called. "Apologize to me!"
"Hmph..." Ace scoffed.
"Hey! I said..." Luffy started, but then he trailed off as he seemed to remember something. Then, after a moment, he then walked into the house with him.
"What happened?" asked Sanji.
"Dunno," Zoro shrugged. "He looked like he was thinking about something."
Once Luffy was inside, the whole place seemed empty.
"Hmm..." he hummed as he looked around. "I wonder where he went."
All of a sudden, Luffy found a knife being held against his throat, causing the Straw Hats to gasp. However, Luffy didn't react at all. He just stared blankly as two men appeared behind him.
"Who are you, boy?" asked one of them.
"If you don't wanna die, hand over your money!" said the other.
"Seriously?" Nami asked. "Luffy's only been with these guys for about 3 minutes, and already, someone's mugging him?"
"What was Garp thinking?" Robin asked in disbelief.
"I don't have any money," Luffy spoke.
"Then call your parents and tell them to bring some!" one of the bandits ordered.
"I can't," Luffy answered. "My Mom's dead and I don't know who my Dad is. I'm not even sure if I have a Dad. I only have my Grandpa."
"Oh, yeah?" asked the bandit holding his knife against Luffy's neck. "Who's your grandpa, then?"
"Garp," Luffy answered, and immediately, the bandits gasped as all color left their faces.
"D-did you say Garp?!" asked one of them.
"Yeah, he did," answered the turban-wearing bandit. "This is his grandson. He's gonna be living with us, now."
"Are you kidding?!" asked the other bandit. "It's bad enough we got Ace under our roof!"
"Why did the boss agree to take this little monster?!" asked the other. "Seriously, is the boss that spineless?!"
"QUIT YOUR BELLYACHING!" Dadan barked as she put down a plate stacked high with meat. "Ace brought dinner, so it's time for everyone to eat!"
As soon as she announced that, the bandits dropped Luffy and began to charge at the plate, ravenously.
"My word," Brook said. "Such horrid table manners."
"You're one to talk," Sanji glared.
"Hey, I want some meat, too!" Luffy exclaimed as he tried to get some, as well, but he was soon knocked back by the bandits.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Aika exclaimed. "Big Brother just wants to eat!"
"Yeah, even I don't eat like that!" Blizzard added. "And I'm half-wolf, for goodness sake!"
"...I think I figured out why Luffy always guards his food like a starving animal whenever it's mealtime," Sanji surmised.
"Yeah," Nami said. "Now I really feel bad for him."
When the bandits dispersed, Luffy found one last slab of meat on the plate and tried to reach for it...only for it to get snatched up by a white dog with a curly tail. The dog seemed to snicker at the boy mockingly before he walked away.
"He said 'You snooze, you lose'," Chopper translated.
"I'm pretty sure we figured that out, even if we did have you around, Chopper," Usopp said.
All Luffy got to eat was a small bowl of rice and a glass of water, and he quickly at the rice in just one gulp, but it was barely enough for his stomach.
"More rice, pops!" he demanded.
"I'm a woman, you little brat!" Dadan shouted. "And don't you realize where your gramps left you?!"
"Not really," Luffy answered, bluntly, which caused Dadan to glare at him in a sadistic manner.
"Well, lemme tell you then," said Dadan. "You've been left in the hideout of the mountain bandits who rule Mt. Colbo, the Dadan Family!"
"...Mountain bandits, huh?" Luffy muttered before he scowled. "I hate those guys."
"I guess remembers that Higuma guy," Blizzard said. "After what happened with him, I don't blame him."
"Ah, shut up!" Dadan barked. "It's already a pain in the ass that we have to raise you! If you don't wanna stay, then that's fine by me! Why don't you go off into the forest and die?!"
"She cannot be serious," Nami muttered.
"She sounds like she is," Zoro answered.
"I don't think I like Miss Dadan," said Aika.
"Me, neither," Kumi agreed.
Luffy glanced over at Ace, who was chomping on some meat, and it looked like he got more than anyone else.
"...I'm still hungry," Luffy bemoaned, his stomach gurgling. "I want some of that meat, too."
Ace glanced over at Luffy before he went back to eating. Then, Dadan smirked as she held out a piece of meat in front of Luffy's face, which caused him to gasp in delight before he attempted to take a bite...only for her to pull it away.
"Huh?" he muttered before he looked up at Dadan, who greedily bit down on the meat, causing him to whimper like a kicked puppy.
"Tell me she did NOT just do that," Sanji growled.
"Uh...I'm pretty sure she did," said Franky.
"This meat came from the buffalo that Ace hunted down and caught, himself," said Dadan. "Since he shares it with us, he gets to eat at our table AND he gets the biggest share! Aside from me, that is. The life of a mountain bandit is harsh, kid. Starting tomorrow, we're gonna work you half to death! Cleaning, washing, shoe polishing, weapon polishing! Stealing, plundering, fraud, murder!"
"Is she actually telling Luffy he might have to kill someone?!" Nami questioned.
Robin just shook her head in disbelief.
"And you better not breathe a word of this to Garp, hear me?!" Dadan questioned. "You only get one bowl of rice and one glass water of day! That's it!"
"Are you kidding?!" Chopper questioned. "That's not enough for a growing boy, especially Luffy! He needs lots of calories, since his Devil Fruit makes him burn so many!"
"Now I really don't think I don't like Miss Dadan," said Aika.
"If you want more to eat," Dadan began, "you'll have to get it on your own! Got it?!"
"Fine by me," Luffy said, bluntly, taking Dadan by surprise.
"WHAT?!" she questioned. "HOW COME YOU'RE NOT CRYING?!"
"Grandpa used to leave me in the forest a lot of times," Luffy answered with a confident grin. "This place has all kinds of stuff! Earthwords, frogs, snakes, mushrooms, and bird eggs! If I'm gonna be a pirate, one day, then I gotta learn to take care of myself, eventually!"
"Well, at least he thought that far ahead," Sanji said. "I guess Luffy learned how to forage when Garp dropped him in the forest so much."
"Yeah," Nami said, "but...some of that stuff doesn't sound edible at all."
"On the contrary," Robin began, "worms, frogs, and snakes are considered delicacies."
"TMI, Robin," said Usopp. "Too much information."
"Eww," Aika and Kumi stuck their tongues out in disgust.
Just then, Ace had finished eating his food and walked out, which Luffy noticed.
"Where's he going?" he asked before he got up and followed after him.
"Hey!" Dadan called. "Where are YOU going?! And did you say 'pirate'?! GET BACK HERE!"
Luffy didn't answer her, focusing more on Ace than anything else.
"Hey!" he called after Ace, who glared at him before slamming the door in his face. The boy seemed a bit taken back by the gesture, but then he put on a determined face as he opened the door and continued to follow Ace, who was heading back into the forest.
"Hey, wait up!" Luffy called, but Ace ignored him. "Come back! Hey!"
This time, Ace growled as he turned and glared at the younger boy.
"What the hell do you want?!" he questioned. "Leave me alone, dammit!"
"I'm Luffy!" Luffy called. "Listen, I just thought I'd tell you that I'm not mad at you for spitting on me, anymore! Let's just forget it and be friends, okay?!"
"...As if," Ace muttered. "Now go away!"
"Harsh," Usopp said, worriedly.
"I'll say," Nami agreed. "Why is he acting like such a jerk? Luffy just wants to be friends."
"Hey, what's he doing?" asked Sanji as Ace began to kick on the trunk of a tree...which then toppled over and rolled right toward Luffy!
"Uh-oh...!" Luffy squeaked before he turned and ran. "AAAAAAAAAHH!"
KRASH! The tree crashed while Ace kept walking away, while the Straw Hats gaped in absolute shock.
"That wasn't nice!" Aika exclaimed.
"Thank goodness Luffy had his powers!" Chopper added.
"Still, he didn't have to go THAT far!" Kumi cried. "He really tried to kill him, just now!"
Thankfully, Luffy managed to pull himself out from underneath the tree. He had a few scrapes on him and his head was a little sore, and sure, he was probably a bit unnerved by what happened, but he was otherwise fine. With a grunt, Luffy managed to get to his feet before he took after Ace.
"Talk about tenacious," said Franky.
After a while, Luffy found Ace, again, crossing over a rickety wooden bridge that was covered in moss and ivy. When Ace looked back, he had a bit of a surprised look on his face.
"What the hell...?" he muttered. "How are you alive?"
"Haa...haa...!" Luffy panted.
"Hmph!" Ace scoffed as he turned to face Luffy. "Okay...let's see if you can survive...THIS!"
Without warning, he charged at Luffy and knocked him off the bridge with his pipe, sending the hapless boy screaming down the ravine.
"...Okay, now I'm really convinced that he's trying to kill Luffy," Kumi said.
"I don't understand it," Aika said, sadly. "When I asked Big Brother about Big Brother Ace, he made him so nice! Why is Big Brother Ace acting so mean here?"
"...I think something happened to him," Robin surmised. "Something that made him cruel and vindictive...I know because it happened to me before I met Luffy."
Zoro looked over at Robin before he took his hand in hers, but she smiled at him, warmly.
"It's okay, Zoro," she said. "I'm fine, really...but thanks."
"Sure thing," Zoro replied. At that moment, memory shifted...and they saw Luffy, limping towards Dadan's house, covered in scratches, bite marks, and bruises and his clothes were tattered, too. He was panting heavily, and it looked like he was about to pass out any moment.
"Holy crap, what happened to him?!" Franky questioned.
"Bite marks, scratches, bruises..." Blizzard pointed out. "Yep, no doubt about it. He's been mauled by wolves."
"How do you know?!" Chopper questioned.
"Chopper...you are talking to a dog who is half-wolf," Blizzard answered. "I just know these things, okay?"
At that moment, the turban-wearing bandit opened the door and gasped upon seeing Luffy's state.
"B-BOSS! LUFFY'S BACK!" he cried.
"What?!" Dadan questioned. "The little bastard's still alive?! It's been a whole week!"
"A WEEK?!" the Straw Hats, except Robin, questioned.
"You mean nobody even bothered to look for him?!" Brook yelled.
"Luffy, what happened to you?!" asked the chicken-haired bandit.
"I...I got mauled by wolves," Luffy answered, "at the bottom of the ravine."
"Told you," Blizzard said.
"The ravine?!" the chicken-haired bandit cried. "What in the world were you doing there?!"
"Get outta my way, Magra!" Dadan shouted as she pushed him aside and grabbed Luffy. "Get your little ass in here, you piece of crap!" She then carried Luffy to an upstairs room, where Ace was lying on a futon, already asleep, before she tossed the boy inside. "Go to bed! You start chores tomorrow!"
Luffy just started snoring on the floor while Dadan slammed the door behind her.
"She...she's not even gonna treat his injuries?!" Chopper questioned. "They could get infected!"
"Obviously, she doesn't care," Nami said, angrily.
The memory shifted to the next day, and Ace was outside, heading into the forest again, and sure enough, Luffy was trying to follow him, only now, his wounds had been patched up.
"Wait...last night, he looked like he was about to drop dead," Nami said. "How come he has bandages now? He couldn't have performed first aid on himself, could he?"
"...Wait a minute," Chopper said. "I think someone treated him while he was sleeping!"
"But who?" Robin asked.
"Hey! Hey, Ace!" Luffy called, causing Ace to groan as he looked back at him.
"You again?" he asked. "I told you to leave me alone! Go bug someone else!"
"Come on, don't be like that!" Luffy replied. "Let's be friends, already! What do you say?!"
"No!" Ace answered. "Go away!" He then began to walk off.
"Jeez..." he grumbled under his breath. "I never should have bandaged his wounds for him, last night...now he'll never leave me alone."
"I heard that!" Aika exclaimed. "Big Brother Ace treated Big Brother's injuries!"
"Perhaps some part of him felt responsible," Robin smiled.
"Yeah, but something tell me things are gonna go bad real quick," Usopp said.
Once again, Luffy chased after Ace once more, and sure enough, Usopp was right, for Ace jumped over a lake full of alligators, one of which tried to eat Luffy had he not gotten out of the water. Then, the following days after, Luffy barely escaped from a rock slide that Ace intentionally caused to get the boy away from him. After that, Luffy was seen, lost in the forest again and was about to get eaten by a snake, but thankfully, he managed to get away that time, too, and after that, he had been snatched up by territorial vultures who tried to feed him to their young. Then, Ace threw him into a river where he almost drowned, but thankfully, two of Dadan's lackeys saved him by pumping the water out of his stomach. There was even a time he almost got eaten by a giant tiger, but thankfully, a bear showed up and the two started to fight over who would eat him first, and Luffy used that chance to get away, and if the Straw Hats didn't know any better, they could've sworn that Ace looked momentarily concerned.
During that time, Luffy would end up going to bed with new injuries on him, but that seemed to be nothing new to the Straw Hats, since they practically saw him wearing bandages almost every day. Still, the sight of him sitting in a corner, crying in hunger, exhaustion, and pain was enough to break their hearts.
"Jeez," Usopp said as he kept watching. "How long has Luffy been following Ace around? I almost wish he'd just give up, already!"
"I estimate that about three months had passed during this time," Robin said.
"Look!" Aika exclaimed as she saw Luffy again, groaning as he was using a stick to support himself.
"Finally," he said. "I made it outta here."
As Luffy emerged from the forest...he found something that stunned the Straw Hats: a gigantic landfill with mountains upon mountains of rubbish.
"Ugh...!" Luffy gagged as he covered his nose. "It stinks! What kinda place is this?!"
"I'll tell you what it is," Franky said. "A shipwright's paradise! Think of the possibilities!"
"Luffy told me about this place," Blizzard spoke up. "It's called the Gray Terminal."
"The Gray Terminal?" Chopper repeated.
"Oh, so that's what this place is," Robin realized. "I thought it sounded familiar."
"You know about it, Aunt Robin?" asked Aika.
"I've only read about it in books," Robin answered. "The Gray Terminal is a gigantic junkyard city that sits outside Goa."
"Wait a minute," Nami said. "I know what Goa is! It's said to be a pristine country! The city streets are so clean, you could eat off them, and there's no garbage to be seen for miles!"
"Except this place," Zoro said. "This must be where everybody throws all their trash."
"But why on earth would do something like that?" Brook asked.
"Psh!" Sanji scoffed. "Nobles will do anything to keep their 'clean' reputation."
"But people are bound to notice this place, eventually," Chopper said. "Plus, this place looks like a hot bed full of diseases!"
"Look!" Aika exclaimed. "Big Brother's on the move, again!"
The Straw Hats looked to see that Luffy was exploring the mountain of trash. He saw several people inside...even a family or two. He greeted them kindly, but they only shooed him away. Luffy even stood up on one of the mountains, calling out for Ace, but he had no luck. He even fell through one of the heaps, but he was no worse for wear.
Still, the sight that disturbed them most was when he stumbled across a disheveled looking man who was holding a bag of some kind...and in his hand was a rusty knife that was dripping with blood, and yet Luffy didn't even seem the least bit startled by it!
"What kind of place is this?!" Usopp questioned. "Seriously!"
"Robin, you covered Aika's eyes, right?" asked Nami.
"Yes," Robin answered, who used to her powers to cover Aika's eyes, and even her ears, just for good measure.
"It's almost hard to believe that Luffy grew up on this island," Sanji said. "Compared to that little village, this place really looks like hell on earth!"
"No wonder Luffy got so much stronger, here," said Zoro. "In a place like this, you'd have to get stronger."
Just then, Luffy gasped as he spotted the familiar red color of Ace's shirt, causing him to run after him until he found himself in the forest, again, standing before a gigantic tree, but when Luffy looked around, he saw no sign of Ace, anywhere, causing him to groan in disappointment, but then...
"Whoa!" a voice exclaimed. "You got way more than I did! Where'd you get this stuff?!"
"I got it from some stupid street thugs," Ace's voice answered. "They were over by the main gates. I think they were from some merchant ship."
"Looks like you beat me again, Ace!" the mysterious voice said.
"Who's that?" asked Nami.
"Don't know," Usopp answered.
Luffy walked around the tree until he spotted Ace with another boy wearing some sort of blue jacket, a suit, and a top hat with goggles on top. Aika gasped, instantly recognizing the hat.
"Big Brother Sabo!" she exclaimed, happily.
"I thought that hat looked familiar," Robin smiled.
"Wait...that's Luffy's other brother?!" Usopp questioned.
"It doesn't matter if we win or lose," said Ace. "It's been 5 whole years since we started saving up money to become pirates. Wasn't easy, though."
"I wonder how much a pirate ship is worth?" asked Sabo.
"Who knows?" Ace replied. "Could be maybe 10...maybe 100 million Berries. Maybe more. Anyway, hurry up and close it up before somebody sees-"
"A PIRATE SHIP?!" Luffy called out, causing the two older boys to jump. "YOU GUYS WANNA BE PIRATES?!"
"Oh, boy," Nami muttered. "Looks like Luffy found 'em."
"Shit!" Ace cursed. "What's he doing here?!"
"Hey, I wanna be a pirate, too!" Luffy called.
"Quick! Grab him!" Ace shouted.
"Right!" Sabo nodded, and before too long, he and Ace managed to tie Luffy up to the tree's trunk.
"Shishsihi!" Luffy laughed, completely oblivious. "So this is where you come everyday, huh, Ace?"
"Shut your mouth!" barked Ace.
"Is this that Luffy guy you were talking about?" asked Sabo.
"Yeah, this is him," Ace said.
"Oh, you told him about me?" Luffy asked. "That's nice!"
"I told him how annoying you are!" Ace snapped.
"He also told me you can't take a hint," said Sabo.
"Oh, really?" Luffy asked before he began to laugh.
"Seriously?" Sabo asked, incredulously. "You do know when somebody's dissing you, don't you?"
"I told you, he can't take a hint," Ace said.
"Yep, that's Luffy," Nami said. "Never could get a clue."
"Pretty much," Usopp shrugged.
"I'll be honest," Ace said, "I'm surprised you actually managed to follow me all the way here, even though I took so many different routes no normal person would think to take...but then again, you're not normal."
Luffy seemed a bit hurt by that sentence, but he quickly brushed it off and laughed.
"So, are you Ace's friend?" he asked Sabo. "How about you my friend, too?"
"Shut up, already," Sabo said before he glanced at Luffy. "You see this, Ace? This is why I kept telling you to live in the Gray Terminal with me! This is your mistake, training on the mountain paths! So what do we do with him?!"
Ace paused, contemplating the situation before he sighed.
"He knows our secret, now," Ace said. "If we tell him, he'll blab to everybody...we don't have a choice. We gotta kill him."
"Yeah, looks that way," Sabo answered.
A pause...but then Luffy gasped in horror as those words finally processed in his head.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" he shrieked.
"QUIET!" Ace and Sabo cried as they tried to cover his mouth.
"I DIDN'T THINK YOU GUYS WERE GONNA KILL ME!" Luffy cried. "HELP ME! I DON'T WANNA DIE! MOMMY~!"
"Sabo, hurry up! Kill the kid, already!" Ace shouted.
"What are you, nuts?!" Sabo questioned. "You do it!"
"No way! I never killed anybody in my life!"
"Well, neither have I! Don't look at me!"
"Hmph!" Zoro scoffed. "Figures, neither of them how to kill somebody."
"Well, they are only 10 years old," Nami pointed out.
"And yet, he tried to kill Luffy several times," Usopp added. "What does that tell you?"
"...I guess I see your point, now," Nami said.
"HELP ME, SOMEBODY!" Luffy cried.
"SHUT UP!" Ace and Sabo shouted.
"Hey! I heard a voice!" somebody called. "It sounded like a little kid!"
"Crap!" Sabo cursed. "Someone's coming this way!"
"Quick, untie him!" Ace urged. "We gotta get outta here, or they'll find our treasure!"
"Right!" Sabo nodded as he got a knife. "Hold still, okay?" He then proceed to cut off the ropes, and afterwards, the three boys quickly hid. Not long after, a group of thugs appeared, one of them being a tall man with long, pale rose hair, and behind him were three other men...all of them looking badly beaten.
"Who's that?" asked Aika, nervously.
"He looks pretty scary to me," Kumi said.
"So it was Ace and Sabo?" asked the man. "Those two are notorious around these parts! Your certain it was Ace who beat you guys up and stole the money from you?!"
"Y-yes," said one of the thugs. "I'm embarrassed to admit it, but he caught me off guard."
"That damned brat," cursed the tall brute. "If Captain Bluejam finds out about this, he'll slit our throats!"
"Bluejam?!" whispered Ace. "Ah, crap! I never would've taken the money if I had know those were his goons!"
"And of all people, it's his first-mate, Porchemy!" Sabo whispered. "Dammit, Ace, what were you thinking?! Don't you know what happens to people who piss him off?! When he defeats someone...he scalps them alive!"
Even Zoro had to gag at that.
"Okay, there are only some things I can handle," he said, "but that?! That is just SICK!"
"You're telling me!" Usopp exclaimed.
"Come on," Ace whispered. "Let's get the hell outta here." He then glanced over at Luffy...only to see that he was gone. "Hey...where'd he go?!"
"Uh...Ace...?" Sabo whispered. "I found him...!"
"AAAGH! LEGGO OF ME!" Luffy cried as he struggled to get out of Porchemy's grasp.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sanji questioned.
"Of course he'd get caught!" Nami cried in exasperation. "Luffy ALWAYS gets caught!"
"Oh, no!" cried Aika.
"ACE! HELP ME!" Luffy cried, causing Ace and Sabo to duck under the bush.
"Huh?" Porchemy muttered. "Did you say 'Ace', kid? You know him?"
"Yeah, he's my friend!" Luffy answered. "Although he tried to kill me, just now..."
"Oh, boy," Blizzard muttered.
"Might as well ask," Porchemy said. "Today, Ace stole some money from us and ran off with it...so...do you know where he is?"
A pause...but then Luffy put on his "poker face".
"Nope, not at all," he said as he began to whistle, weakly.
"...God, what a terrible liar is," Sanji muttered.
"Pretty much," Usopp said.
"Where's the treasure?" Porchemy asked. "Talk, boy!"
"Never! I'll never tell!" Luffy shouted.
"...Not talking, eh?" Porchemy asked before a sick grin appeared on his face. "No matter...I have my methods." He then proceed to take Luffy away.
"H-hey, what are you doing?!" Luffy questioned. "Put me down! Where are you taking me?!"
Ace, Sabo, and the Straw Hats gaped in horror as Porchemy continued to carry Luffy off into the forest.
"W...what is he gonna do to him?!" Aika asked.
"...I almost don't wanna know," Nami answered.
"Too bad we're gonna find out," Zoro added, just as uneasy as everyone else.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next time on One Piece: The Fire Within!
Porchemy: Damn brat! Why won't you talk?! *punches Luffy across the face*
Aika: *has tears in her eyes* Stop it...please...! You'll kill him!
Ace and Sabo: *burst through the wall* STOP RIGHT THERE!
Dadan: Now I got another mouth to feed?!
Ace: From now on, these sake cups are a symbol of our brotherhood!
Ace, Sabo, and Luffy: CHEERS!
Next time: Three Brothers
Review, please!