Kae Membrna: Lol I don't want kids either. Keep you gross noisy baby. I was trying to write a naruto crossover, too. But it's totally stalled. And Luffy's face mark is def because he was decapitated. Indeed it would be very traumatic. Both because of what happened, but it would also be a bit scary to be invincible. idk why but it would for me. I have indeed seen KHR! And once I caught up to the anime, I read the manga. Terrible ending lol. First many, many episodes were terrible, but it was a fun anime in the end with an awesome soundtrack!
It didn't take long for thousands of videos to pop up of people filming their own portal making. It was trending everywhere. And not much talked about them, just people finding out about what they never knew. There were no reports of people turning into beasts. But Todoroki hadn't known about that until they told him about it.
Hopefully nobody else would figure it out accidentally. There were at least a few more days until school started again, so they had all day to monitor the situation. The second day was when authorities complained that this would up criminal activity. But four days later, still no instances of theft or crime while using portals had come. The three already knew it wouldn't happen. And it didn't. They were requested to go back on air to explain more, but they didn't really feel like it for at least a few days.
That had been hard for Luffy, to smile like that, it was emotionally exhausting, pushing aside the depression, covering the circles under his eyes. He wanted school to start again soon. It would be a distraction. Though his face mark would be obviously something to talk about. And he decided he'd tell them about it. But not about him eating an enemy.
He touched his tongue lightly. There was no show that he'd ripped it out. It had healed perfectly. It was lunchtime, so he went down, Zoro napping and Sanji reading in the lounge. They agreed to train later. Luffy wasn't sure if he was able to change the size of his beast form. Since he had against Katakuri, it grew to be huge. He hoped it didn't stay like that.
When he got down and walked through the lobby, he was there at just the wrong time when Endeavor stormed in through the glass doors, surprising many. "Endeavor. What are you doing here?" Jozu asked in shock. Never had he come to the Whitebeard agency. He demanded to know where Luffy was.
The demon hid behind the counter and watched with his eyes just barely above the surface. He camouflaged his wings with the transformation power that he didn't really have a use for anymore. "Why? What is you motive for seeing him?" Haruta asked.
"He turned Shoto into a monster! And now all of my children have come out that way!"
Luffy stormed over, and glared up at him, not intimidated at all. "Todoroki isn't a monster. If you can't accept him, then maybe he should go live with one of his siblings that understands him. All you do is shout at him about being your successor. And because of your actions and your attitude, none of your family ever told you. Even those who knew before the world did. You should be ashamed of yourself," Luffy scolded scathingly. It shocked everyone around him and Endeavor. "You may leave, now." And he turned and walked away.
He was huffing as he went into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. Haruta came in and gave Luffy a high five. "You tell him! That was awesome!" Haruta said. A bunch of the others came in, too, and told him it was entertaining or brave.
"I don't like him. Todoroki hates him, too," Luffy replied. "I wonder if he'll tell him. Well, Todoroki would probably find it funny. Maybe I'll tell him when school starts again," he mused while he ate. He touched the mark on his face, honestly not noticing he did that.
Haruta sat down and asked him if the mark bothered him. Luffy nodded. "It reminds me of the fight with Katakuri. I don't like remembering it. And I sometimes I get scared, sick about it. What if my original head is rotting in the mirror world? I don't like it," Luffy muttered at the end. Haruta rubbed his shoulder comfortingly.
"I'm sorry it happened. I can imagine how scary it must be. Feeling like you're not the 'original' you. But I'm glad you're alive. Very glad, we all are," he said. Luffy nodded with a smile. He knew that. He apologized for causing them all any stress. "We're family, we'll always stress about each other."
Thatch came into the kitchen and started laughing about hearing the youngest's encounter with Endeavor. Luffy laughed, too. But he was so angry at the abusive man for hurting his son. Physically or emotionally. Well, whatever. He felt Todoroki couldn't hate him more than he already did.
He felt a change in the air, and looked around to see a portal. Bigger than Todoroki and with a familiar, but rarely seen face. He shoveled the best of the food in his mouth before he went to the training room, the portal locked on him and followed him.
"What are you doing here? I mean, looking here?" Luffy asked curiously. He felt Law didn't like him. Maybe he didn't like anybody but his pack.
"I wanted to see how you were. For once I felt real pity, so I decided for once I'll try and be nice," he said in a clipped voice. Luffy touched his mark. Law asked what it was. Luffy looked down and said he thought it was a consequence of regrowing his head. It made him clench his teeth, the nightmare of his rotting head appearing again. "How are you about Katakuri?"
Luffy sat down on the dirt part of the training room, by the post that he and his pack fought next to a lot. "I don't have nightmares much. But sometimes I taste the mochi in my mouth. Sometimes my tongue hurts, like I pulled it out again, even though I know it isn't real. It's just psychological, I guess."
Law was quiet for a moment, and Luffy wondered what he'd say. "I don't mean to brush off your hurt and pain, but it will fade. Probably be different for you than me, but I bet if you did good shit with your powers, it would help you out." Luffy wondered about his situation.
"Yeah. I assume that'll be what helps. Maybe school starting again will be a good distraction," Luffy mumbled. "I didn't turn you in or give your name. My story had a lot of lies in it, but the hero I gave it to trusts and likes me. So, nobody knows you were there, and I said I didn't know you."
Law thanked him, and asked him how his pack was. "They're fine. Not as bothered as I am, but they're worried about me. I don't mean to worry them or my family." He looked up and asked where Law was now. He was in France. "You didn't go back to America?" Luffy asked in slight surprise.
"No, it's not safe for us there. I left a villain's 'family' and he wants us back. I'm doing everything I can to not get taken back. I don't want your help, it'll just make it worse for everyone," Law said when Luffy opened his mouth to ask if he needed help. He chuckled, amused slightly. The chuckle was dry, but there nonetheless. "So… you told the world, huh?" Law asked.
Luffy nodded. "So far it's been okay. I felt everyone deserved to not have to hide anymore. Unless they still want to," he added. Law said it could have been very risky. "We did research. Looked over criminal logs for the last couple years in a handful of countries and found the majority of them were full humans. So, we took a chance and thought that maybe demons were mostly good."
"Except us." Luffy bit his lip but nodded. It was not good, what they both had done, even if it was necessary, even if there was no other way for them to stay alive. Luffy didn't want to talk anymore. The conversation hadn't helped much, but he appreciated Law going out of his way to talk to Luffy. "I'm gonna go."
Luffy nodded again and thanked him for seeing if he was okay. "Good luck with hiding from the villains. If you need help, contact me, okay?"
Law guaranteed he wouldn't ask for help, but thanked him for the sentiment regardless. Then the conversation was over. Luffy looked at the mirror in the training room, at the black stripe on his face. He walked closer and looked at his neck. Where his head had been severed. There was no mark there, but he could imagine a pink line showing where it had come off and where it had grown back from.
He scratched a line down his face with a clawed finger, but the skin healed to still be black. "Luffy," Thatch said softly, walking in just at the right time to see it. Luffy wiped his eyes, even though he wasn't crying. "C'mere," the chef and hero said. Luffy walked over and Thatch hugged him tightly, his hand on the back of Luffy's head. "It'll be okay. Whatever you don't want to talk about will pass with time."
"You know I'm hiding something?" he asked against Thatch's chest.
"Of course! We've raised you from a baby, of course we can tell. But you're not a baby anymore. And if you have things you don't want to talk about, then that's your choice. We'll support you, even if we don't know why you need us to," Thatch said softly, rubbing Luffy's scalp behind his horns. Luffy smiled and tightened his arms around his family. His uncle. If anyone was the father, it was Marco. Though Luffy didn't see him as a dad.
Well, he'd never had a dad, so he wasn't sure how it would feel in the first place. He didn't need one. Luffy said he was going to go on a trip for a couple hours, suddenly. "I want some time by myself, to be alone with my feelings," he explained. Thatch asked where he'd go.
Luffy opened a portal to an empty beach with crystal clear water. It was somewhere in Australia. He'd seen it in photos before and had wanted to go. It wasn't like anything could hurt him. Thatch looked worried for a moment before his expression softened. "I trust you to be fine by yourself. Better than a snowy mountain, right?"
Luffy smiled and nodded. He went upstairs and got some swim clothes before leaving. He got to the beach area and walked into the clear water, a warm cool. Not cold, but not hot like a hot spring. He dived down, his wings getting soggy, but worth it. He swam deeper, swimming with the fish. But he saw a crocodile in the water, staring at him.
He wasn't afraid, knowing he'd be fine. The thing just stared at him before it seemed uninterested and swam away. Luffy made sure to scout the area and saw that there were no more monsters. No crocodiles or sharks. He was fine. He wondered what crocodile tasted like. He dove through caves, fine to be underwater for a long time, it seemed.
There had never been a real reason to dive like this, since beaches and lakes at home weren't clear like this. He had so much fun. It was so completely relaxing. When he surfaced, he took in deep gasps of air. He saw some more crocodiles come over, and he got a portal ready. They seemed more curious than anything.
He was an idiot, and swam towards one. But they got scared, it seemed, and fled. Luffy checked behind him to see if there was some scary beast behind him scaring them. But they were afraid of him. Luffy hadn't planned to hurt them at all, so he wondered what scared them. Maybe his size, since his wings were fluffed up and spread in the water, making him look much bigger.
After getting out of the water, and laid on the huge beach towel and looked at the beautiful horizon. He could get used to taking a break like this all by himself. He felt he could cry as loud as he wanted, but he just didn't feel like doing it when he was this relaxed.
He raised his hand up above him and turned it clawed. He stood up and took his shorts off, transforming into his beast form. Luckily, it wasn't that massive monster it had been when he'd eaten Katakuri. He waded into the water and under it before deciding to go hunting. He'd never tried this before. He felt his senses in his eyes turn better, even in the water. Hearing was a bit hard and he couldn't smell in the water. He swam pretty deep before he saw some sharks. He went straight for them, all of them swimming away. They were a lot faster than he was, but he managed to grab one with his tail and yank it forward, biting into it, spreading blood in the water.
He carried his spoils back to the shore, the other sharks long gone. He dumped it down and ate it. He hadn't had raw meat in a long time, but it had tasted good to him once upon a time. And it tasted even better when he had hunted it for himself. After he ate most of it, leaving the bones, he decided to see what crocodile tasted like.
Saltwater crocodiles were huge, but he was bigger and his teeth sharper. He went into the alcove they were in, and when he arrived, they attempted to climb out of the water before Luffy yanked one in by its tail. The others fled, but his fought back. Luffy bit down on its neck, his jaw strength stronger than the crocs'. So it quickly died.
He dragged this one to the shore and ate it as well. It tasted better than the shark. Maybe he'd make regular trips to go hunting like this. He was incredibly satisfied when he was done, and laid back on the beach, back in human form, and smiled. He was strong. And proud of what he was, even if it sometimes caused him problems.
The demon touched his mark, and thanked his body for keeping him alive, no matter how scary it had been. Being alive was better than being dead in his opinion. He dressed when the sun started to set and went back home, dried off from flying around a bit.
Zoro and Sanji were in the training room when he came in. "Yo, how'd your vacation go?" Zoro asked. Neither were upset he'd left without them and without telling them. He was glad they didn't talk to him while he was gone.
"It was really fun. I found a pretty place somewhere in Australia and dove around. I went hunting and got a shark and a crocodile. They tasted good. I think I'll do that more often. It was satisfying, catching something like that," Luffy said with a smile. Zoro and Sanji said that sounded fun, and Luffy told them he'd take them some time.
Of course, he wasn't hungry, so he just had dessert instead. He told everyone about his short vacation, and they thought it was awesome he'd caught a shark and a crocodile. When they started to leave for the night, Luffy was surprised when Pops approached him, and opened his arms for a hug.
He did so, and asked what was wrong. "There's nothing wrong. I just feel I have been neglecting you during a hard time," the pro-hero said honestly. Luffy assured him he didn't feel that way. Then the man laughed. "Your response to Endeavor was the most entertaining thing I've seen in quite some time."
Luffy laughed, too. He wouldn't let the guy walk all over him when he was mean to his good friend. Whitebeard said his loyal heart was commendable. "Thanks, Pops," Luffy said sincerely, smiling. Whitebeard gave the best hugs. Almost as good as Ace did. He wanted to tell them about his vacation, and knew that he was back, so he told Pops what he was going to do.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow, my son," he said with a fond smile. Luffy grinned and nodded, then hurrying off to tell his brothers about his solo adventure.
-x-
The next day, there was still no school, but they went to the agency. They worked with Hawks, who said his office was much more lively with the demons there being open. There were portals left and right, and many got "kind of lazy", turning things in by creating portals where they needed to go. Luffy laughed and said that there was less movement and it was easier to get around.
"There are no more big cases for now, so you three can enjoy going on patrol," Hawks said happily. Not having any big work to do meant less stress for him and more free time, the best prizes he could get in work. They nodded and got changed before going on patrol.
The three of them competed on who found a problem first, who heard something first. They had waves and shouts of hellos and even thank yous from those below, which they never had before. Those who said the thank yours were mostly demons. They saw people using portals, in varying sizes. None were as big as Luffy and Law could create, but they could fit through them if they crouched and crawled in. It seemed like things were honestly good after what they'd done. What they'd exposed to the world.
Luffy was so happy that the decision hadn't made things worse or bad. It made them better, it seemed. They heard the sound of an explosion, and arrived on the scene of a burning building before any firemen or other heroes. The three rushed into the fire, burning themselves only for it to heal over rapidly.
They managed to get everyone out of the floors above the fire, landing outside with them before going back inside. They didn't have any water quirk, so they couldn't put the fire out. Once they were outside and everyone was evacuated, the upper parts of their costumes were ruined besides Luffy's. He had his pretty much durable for anything besides growing larger.
The three were covered in soot and ash, but unharmed. Cameras were there, having filmed the fire after it started. They asked if the people from the building were alright, and some had smoke inhalation, so many were taken to the hospital, but nobody had died. While they were trying to wipe the soot off, Endeavor came. He would have been able to go in due to his quirk being fire, but there was no need for him anymore.
Luffy made eye contact with him, and he glared. Luffy used the Sabo-face, and looked back at him, unimpressed. He bristled and stormed away. Luffy sighed and shook his head slightly. "Let's go back and get washed off. Man, your clothes need to be fixed again," he said, touching Zoro's tattered clothes. "At least it didn't burn away the important parts."
Sanji nodded while Zoro said being nude was no big deal. Luffy snorted. "To you only," and they took off, flying back, not wanting to take a portal shortcut. When they got back, Hawks asked what had happened, why they were like that. It was pretty self explanatory, but Sanji told him about the fire regardless.
There were showers there for the workers for things like this, or if a villain was messy. Like slime villains. So they showered, and Zoro and Sanji put their normal clothes on. Their patrol was over, so they went back home and took advantage of their last two days until school finally started again. They got the beach towels and went to Luffy's favorite spot.
Sanji and Zoro hunted while Luffy climbed up the cliffs and stood on the top, looking down. He took a photo of Zoro and Sanji battling crocodiles in their beast forms. Then he started filming as they won the fight and dragged the huge creatures back to the shore to eat, Luffy flying down and landing in front of them in his human form.
They both didn't like the taste of it raw as much as Luffy, but they did both admit that eating food they'd caught was satisfying. "You haven't eaten raw meat in a long time. I forgot you had ever done it in the first place."
Luffy sat down on his towel and said, "Everyone thought it was gross. And it isn't necessary. Though eating it before missions might be a good idea. To make me stronger. Instead of overdosing on coffee. I'll try it sometime if Thatch will let me have some of the meat before it's cooked." The other two nodded. It had been gross the first time. When Luffy ate raw steak and blood dripped down his chin.
He had a feeling it had to do with his beast form, since he acted a like normal human most of the time and normal humans don't usually eat raw meat. He was glad nobody shamed him for it, even if it was disgusting to others.
When they went back, it was dinner time and dark out, but they weren't hungry and went up to the loft to play video games. Luffy touched his face scar, waiting for his turn to play since it was a two player game. Sanji asked if he was going to tell everyone it was from.
"Yeah. I think it will freak some of them out, but I want to be honest." He sighed. "I'm tired of lies." The other two nodded. While they were playing, Sanji's phone rang. He asked to pause it, and Zoro did while he checked it. He scowled at it and ended the call before answering. "Who was it?"
"My mom. She can leave a message," Sanji said sourly. Luffy asked them if they'd ever return home. If they wanted to.
Zoro said his had gone too far. His "mother" threw a beer bottle at him and told him she should have gotten an abortion. There was no possible chance of that moment and her words being forgiven or forgotten. So, he'd stay with them as long as he was welcome and then move somewhere other than with his mother.
Sanji was quiet for a moment before he said, "I don't know. I want to stay here still. And I'm still hurt and angry, about how she talked about you. How she looked at me. It might have been a shock, but she should have known better. We used to be close, but it faded. The more she tried to convince me to give them a second chance, the more she snipped away my good feelings towards her.
"I can see where she was trying to come from, but she knew how cruel they were to me, but still insisted I make up. They tried to kill me, or at least take my freedom away forever. I hope she feels terribly guilty about insisting I be friends with them now," the blonde finished, going back to playing the game while they were all still distracted.
Once his phone beeped about having a new voicemail, Sanji paused it and just sat there for a moment, debating whether to listen or not. He looked down at his phone, looking conflicted before he opened and deleted the voicemail.
"Are you sure?" Luffy asked, a bit shocked that Sanji deleted it.
He nodded and said, "Whatever she has to say, whether it's begging me to come back or being rude, I'm not ready to hear it. I don't want to hear it." Zoro looked a bit sad and Luffy nodded in understanding. "You're lucky, Luffy. Everyone knew what you were from the start and still loved you. Yet my mom found out after years of loving me and still shunned me."
Luffy didn't know what to say, so he just agreed quietly. He was lucky. "And it's lucky everyone is nice enough to welcome you guys completely," he added. The other two smiled and nodded, knowing that was also very true. Sanji smiled and said he'd learned a lot from Thatch on how to cook. Zoro said he liked it here, too. There was a lot of open space and they had a training room and a big yard in the back. And the food was awesome. It was a light and welcome atmosphere.
The smallest was glad they liked it there and didn't regret going. They played the game for a while more before Luffy went to bed.
