OMG! FINALLY DONE WITH THIS! *sobs as I cry from how happy I am*
Sorry for keeping you waiting! This chapter was just really difficult for me to write for multiple reasons and it's also the longest one yet! (Though not the longest you'll get to read, that's for sure)
I swear that I've been working as fast as I could, but this just took time (you'll see why hopefully)... ah well! It's finally ready, sooooooo...
Warning, I repeat, WARNING, this story contains some pretty gruesome explanations regarding injuries and is very heavy on death, even of some beloved characters. A bit of swearing too, but not more than what can be expected for a normal One piece fanfic :)
'Enjoy':
Chapter 4: Buster Call
There really was no polite way of saying it… The agents, armed adults, men who had trained their bodies beyond that of an ordinary human, whose wills were unbreakable at this point… were currently getting their asses kicked by a 14-year old.
Five of them had already been knocked unconscious, all because they had underestimated the kids' combat ability. Luffy was certainly a hell of a lot stronger than any teen they had ever encountered before… probably even stronger than them! Him. A freaking child was stronger than them!
Just what the hell was happening!?
Luffy roared loudly as he leaped off the ground, going in for another attack, his fist raised and clenched tightly. The unfortunate target of Luffy's rage could only stare with fear-filled eyes as the child charged at him… he realized just a second too late that he needed to move out of the way. Luffy pounded his fist into the poor man's face, and possibly shattering the bone in his nose.
That was another one down for the count.
Luffy was angry. Angrier than he had ever before been. These guys had… these bastards had destroyed his home! The treehouse even Sabo had been a big part of constructing!
He felt energy surge throughout his entire body… a burning sensation that would soon start boiling and eventually explode if he didn't get to knock these guys asses out. Even if this feeling was causing his energy level to shoot through the roof, making him stronger and faster, Luffy certainly wasn't used to fighting like this.
For revenge.
Shanks had taught him long ago that revenge was bad. That ultimately, it just led to more blood getting spilled, more people getting hurt or killed, with nothing to be gained… he had strongly discouraged him from ever sinking to that level… sink so low he went over the top and would do something he would later come to regret.
Of course, there was one exception, though. If someone bad hurt somebody dear to you... that's when you show them they've messed with the wrong person, that's what Shanks had told him.
What he was currently doing kinda went against that. They hadn't actually hurt somebody, but they had still taken away something precious to him! Luffy figured this meant he still had the right to be every bit as furious as he currently was, but even if it didn't, he didn't care.
Those jerks needed to pay.
"You little brat! Just stop resisting and-"
The man's growl was cut short when Luffy jumped at him, giving him a knee to the chin. The man nearly bit his tongue of (unfortunately he didn't) but the force sent him to the ground, wrenching in pain, so he was as good as useless now as well.
A couple of the other agents, who were still unhurt, were finally regaining their composure and realized they had to do something (instead of simply standing around like the idiots they were).
One was very quick to raise his gun, taking almost no time to aim before he pulled the trigger. He was, however, careful to only hit Luffy's shoulder. They wanted to capture Luffy, or at least keep him alive until Lucci arrived with orders to do otherwise.
However, the soldiers were in for yet another shock as the bullet made contact with Luffy…Instead of penetrating his flesh and causing bleeding, Luffy's skin stretched. The bullet went fairly way back, and was almost stopped completely…
"That won't…"
Horrified, the soldiers realized what was about to happen.
"WORK!" Luffy screamed. His wrath was still very much clear in his voice… while that particular line was one Luffy had already shouted many times, unlike usual, the playful and cocky tone was missing. He was just mad. And only mad.
The bullet was flung back in the opposite direction and (even if just by pure luck) managed to hit one of the agents in the stomach. The man in question let out a scream of pain and tightly clenched his stomach. Blood was already seeping through his clothes.
The rest, however, ignored their comrade's shrieks, currently having a much bigger and much more troublesome problem on their hands.
"A-a devil fruit!?"
"No way! Y-you're kidding, right!?"
"B-but this is East Blue for Oda's sake! How does he have a devil fruit!? Why does he have a devil fruit...?"
Luffy couldn't care less about their confused cries. He had one goal, and one goal only in mind...
"You guys…. ARE GONNA PAY!"
O-o-O-o-O
The next few minutes were a complete blur to Luffy. His rampage had continued, that much was for certain. Those poor agents never stood a chance against him. Their only weapons were useless, their reaction time too slow, and they were too weak to restrain him with the very small amount of soldiers that had still remained standing. Keyword: had.
It would be clear, even to any outsider... clear that hell had gone down… the agents pathetically laid defeated on the ground, dirty, beaten, and unconscious. Luffy was the only one to still be standing, though the child wasn't in top condition either...
He was panting. His lungs were burning, and his body was aching from exhaustion. Blood was dripping from his knuckles. It was because he had gone a little overboard, punched the agents a bit too hard. He regretted nothing, though. This was his most hard-fought fight to date, but one he had won all on his own.
Luffy, however, didn't feel like celebrating… even if those jerks had gotten what they deserved, his treehouse was still burning behind him. Even if he put out the flames… even if the tree hadn't been damaged that badly… even if he miraculously got all the right material... even then, Luffy would never be able to restore it.
He, Ace, and Sabo had built it together. All three of them. No way could it ever be rebuilt in the same manner… ever.
Luffy gritted his teeth at the thought. His anger had only decreased that much… now that the agents were defeated, Luffy wanted answers.
He stomped over to the nearest fallen soldier (to hell if was conscious or not) getting a tight hold on his dirty black jacket. He forced him into a sitting position…
"Oi… just who the hell are you people!? What have I ever done to you!? Why…?Why!? How could you burn the treehouse I, Ace, and Sabo worked so hard to make!?"
Luffy was viciously shaking the poor man, though not as much a small squeal could be heard from him. Even if he was clearly knocked out, his silence annoyed Luffy to no end.
It truly was quiet now. Or, at least it was very quiet compared to the big mess that had been the hard-fought battle earlier. It was just Luffy and his panting, as well as the crackling sound of the fire still burning brightly behind him.
Luffy's hands were shaking. Shaking from anger, though it was no longer directed towards the defeated agents... Instead, Luffy felt angry at himself. Guilty that he had simply let these strangers mess everything up that easily... guilty that he hadn't prevented this.
What would Ace say if he was here? Would he be disappointed and get mad at him? What was he thinking, of course, he would. Ace always yelled at him when he was useless and messed up stuff… smacked him across the head and told him how he was incompetent and couldn't do anything…
(Of course, Ace never said those things to in any way hurt Luffy's feelings. In fact, whenever Ace said teased Luffy like that, it would always just lead to an argument between the brothers… Luffy would tell him how wrong he was, how he was strong and could do anything just as well as Ace could, but would ultimately fail to prove otherwise. None of these arguments, however, were serious, and would always be quickly resolved.)
Strangely enough, being yelled at by Ace sounded pretty good right about now… He wished Ace was here… here so it could have been prevented this mess. He was sure Ace could have stopped this… he always somehow seemed to make things right.
Luffy suddenly felt something… a single warm drop of water rolling down his cheek. He hadn't even realized he was starting to cry… that was no good, he had sworn he wouldn't cry… that he would stop being a cryba-
"I think that's quite enough."
The sudden voice caused Luffy to jump in surprise. He had been caught up in his own emotions and thoughts (something which usually never happened) and his guard had been lowered. He immediately turned his head in the direction of the voice, though felt his heart drop from what he saw…
A big group of people had managed to sneak up on him without him noticing… there were a lot of them (more than Luffy could currently count, that's for sure) and they all wore the same black suits as those other jerks that Luffy had just fought hard to defeat. The sight of that group alone was intimidating, though that's not what terrified Luffy…
"MAKINO!"
The woman in question was being held in place by one of those men (Luffy was starting to hate them more and more for each passing second), her arms were forced to her back and a pain-written expression was on her face. She was injured… hurting…!
Even if it didn't look too serious, she was bleeding in multiple places, the most noticeable spot being her forehead where Luffy quickly noticed a giant gash. She was ruffled up... her clothes were dirty and torn as if had she slid or rolled across the ground, and her hair was a completely mess...
Aside from her wounds, however, Luffy noticed one other thing when their eyes met, something that only further infuriated him…
Tears were streaming from Makino's brown eyes… she… she was crying!
"LET HER GO!"
Luffy felt his fury return tenfold… Makino! Those bastards were hurting her!
He was about to jump at them, to charge at those bastards, rip them to shreds and pieces for the crap they had pulled! Unfortunately, he was stopped before he could do so, as a knife was pointed at the shaking woman's neck…
The message was clear: "Move, and we'll kill her."
"RUN AWAY LUFFY! YOU CAN'T FIGHT THESE GUYS!" Makino screamed, her voice filled with distress.
She was, however, immediately silenced as the man restraining her arms greatly tightened his grip, causing Maknot to let out a small anguished cry.
"NO! Let her go! Don't drag Makino into this! Is it me you guys are after!? If that's the case, then don't involve her, she's got nothing to do with anything!"
Luffy caught Lucci's gaze… his eyes were fuming with anger and hatred toward the man… he detested these strangers, despised them with every fiber of his being. His eyes alone very clearly conveyed that message… and yet, despite how frightening Luffy's death stare truly was, Lucci's icy-cold glare didn't falter in the slightest from eye contact.
He soon, however, broke his glance away from Luffy, instead turning to look at Makino. He felt absolutely no sympathy for the suffering and sobbing woman.
"No… you're wrong, Monkey D. Luffy. This woman is guilty of a great crime… that being assisting you, of course," Lucci stated.
….W...what?
That made Luffy freeze on the spot. His anger dissolved, even if just for a moment, being replaced with utter perplexity.
Just… just because Makino had always been there… helped him, cared for him… fed him… helped him bathe… given him new clothes... cheered him up when he felt bad… treated his wounds…
That… that was the reason she was being punished like this!?
Just what kind of BS was that!?
"Screw you! I've never done anything to you guys! I don't even know you!"
"I would certainly hope so. After all, we'd be a pretty pathetic secret organization if people actually knew of our existence... But it doesn't matter what you have and haven't done to us. All that really matters, or I guess, will matter, is what you'll become in the future if nothing is done now… son of Dragon."
Luffy found himself greatly puzzled by that ridiculous explanation.
Son of… Dragon? What was that supposed to mean? His dad was a dragon? Was that even possible? Did that mean he was a dragon too? Wait - did he even have a dad in the first place? And… why exactly was that supposed to matter right now?
"I have no clue what you're talking about! Why does it matter whose son I am? My dad's got absolutely nothing to do with me!"
Lucci's response to this was a sigh. He could already tell that talking to this kid would do no difference… He had met people kind of like him before, whose determination to protect the ones they care about is so great even their own lives matter less, people who challenge the world itself to follow their beliefs or accomplish their dreams…
Those were always the most trouble… chaotic, unpredictable… and to make matters even worse, they were typically also the strongest and hardest to take out. It was always people like that who ended up ruling the current era.
"I guess it's impossible to reason with you… no matter, though, you'll come along...willing or not." Lucci declared, cracking his fingers to ready himself for combat.
The supporting soldiers also pointed their guns at Luffy (little do they know), as a means to cut off his escape, or, at least ensure that he wouldn't run.
Luffy, however, was having none of that. He might still not be as strong as he'd like.. he might still have some years left before he could fight as well as Ace but... he didn't have time to think over small details like that now!
Like hell, he was just gonna turn himself over after everything they had already done!
"Bring it! I'm not scared of you!"
And with those courageous words, Luffy leaped to attack, having only 2 goals on his mind:
1. Free Makino before those bastards could injure her further.
2. Kick their asses all the way to the other end of the Grand Line!
Rubber wasn't a material suited for combat… Ace had said that, but right now, Luffy was determined to prove him wrong!
"Gumo gumo no…!"
Luffy stretched back his arm as far as he currently could, just to make sure as much force as possible was put into his punch. Fortunately for him, (just like earlier) the agents found themselves stunned by this, which made them perfectly vulnerable targets for Luffy to hit.
'Alright! Even if it's not perfect yet, here's the move I've been practicing for the last 7 years!'
"NO LUFFY! STAY BACK!" Makino begged. She already knew what would happen if Luffy stayed here… she… she had already seen the kind of monster he was up against, and she knew that as strong as Luffy truly had grown, this was a fight he couldn't win…
Luffy, however, chose to ignore Makino's cries… that was a mistake he immediately came to regret.
"PISTOL!" He roared, thrusting forward his arm. For once Luffy's aim was perfect… he was at a point where, around 50% of the time, he would hit his target spot on. The problem this time was that the target he had chosen was Lucci.
It made sense to Luffy… the meanest looking guy must have been the leader, so taking him out would be toughest and was the first thing he needed to do.
The man stood completely unfazed by Luffy's attack, easily catching Luffy's tiny fist with his own hand, despite the massive effort put behind Luffy's punch. He made sure to hold tightly onto Luffy's much smaller hand, leaving the rubber kid with no chance to escape his next attack:
"Rankyaku!"
Lucci kicked a wave of compressed air towards Luffy, who had no choice but to take it head-on. The reaction was instant… it made contact with Luffy's torso, slashing his flesh and giving Luffy a giant wound that without a doubt would leave a scar.
"LUFFY!" Makino screamed, the tears in her eyes only getting bigger and fatter from her fear for Luffy's life. Even if Luffy had been seriously hurt in the past, she was rarely ever the one to patch up his injuries, plus, she was never actually there the exact moment it happened.
Seeing him like this… was something entirely different.
Luffy let out a loud cry of of pain. He snapped back his hand (Lucci saw no point in holding on any longer) and pressed against the bleeding gash as if it would do any difference... Blood was already gushing out, and a dark stain was quickly spreading across his red vest.
His breath became uneven and his knees weak… he fell to the ground, wincing in pain, defeated. Just like that. All his training and hard work had made absolutely no difference.
"Bas...tard…" Luffy snarled weakly from the ground. He kept glaring wrathfully at Lucci, like some kind of wild animal. He wanted no more than to get back up and punch that smug mug of his… to prove that is wasn't this easy to overwhelm him… that he could still keep fighting!
But he couldn't... his body... didn't want to respond!
"No! Let go! Luffy!" Makino struggled (though in vain) harder against the much stronger man restraining her arms. She was weak… no more than an ordinary fragile young woman. That was probably the reason Lucci sent her captor a nod, allowing her to be set free.
She was carelessly tossed across the ground, only further messing up her hair and greatly intensifying the aching feeling from all her bleeding wounds and scratches.
"Ma...Makino!"
Luffy attempted to crawl his way over to the fallen woman, but he didn't get far as Makino (though somewhat wobbly) got up first, not even bothering to brush up the dirt to hurry to Luffy's side.
She took a moment just to take a good look at the boy she had known and still loved with all her heart, despite what Lucci and the others might try to convince her…
His expression told her everything she needed to know about what was going through his head… his usual childish and careless eyes brimming with happiness were gone, instead replaced with a much fear-struck glint, which seemed like they should belong to a frightened brat… not in Luffy's eyes.
But that really what Luffy currently was… scared, scared for what was gonna happen. She wasn't much better herself… she probably would be trembling right now if not for the anger swelling inside.
"Makino, are you ok? You're hurt."
Hearing that specific question from Luffy - the kid with blood gushing out from giant wound on his stomach - Makino couldn't stop a smile from creeping onto her lips.
Luffy still cared so much more about others rather than himself...
"I'll be fine," Makino reassured.
The woman took a good look at the alarmingly big cut on his torso, feeling her own stomach turn from disgust now that she got to see it up close like this.
'You're the one who's truly hurt, Luffy. These guys have already stepped way past the line!'
Makino bit her lip… she felt an outburst of anger was coming. It quite rare for her to get worked up or even raise her voice… but right now… was definitely one of the rare occurrences where she couldn't (and wouldn't even attempt to) keep back her emotions.
Ignoring the pain it caused her, Makino stood up from her spot in the ash and dirt. (yes, she had spotted the burning treehouse way earlier, but had chosen not to comment about it as Luffy's life was more important. Even so, she knew the boy was also currently feeling a great burden for letting it get destroyed like this…).
She turned to glare directly at them. At the… at the… the bastards who just suddenly had shown up out of nowhere! They had been completely minding their own business, and then they had decided to go through all this trouble just to find and hurt Luffy.
Needles to say, the woman was fuming…
"You…! Just who do you think you are!? Aren't you guys supposed to work for the government!? Then why!? How can you be so… so cruel!? Can't you see Luffy's completely innocent!? He's just a child for Oda's sake! An innocent child who's always smiling brightly, always laughing, always just wants to have fun! Even… with Dogra-san and Magra-san earlier…. even if they were mountain bandits, they truly weren't bad people! You overdid it! They didn't deserve-!"
Makino's speech was cut short, as a sudden fist to the stomach cut off her air supply and send her flying and tumbling across the ground with a pain-filled squeal. In fact, she only stopped rolling when a foot pressed itself against her head, threatening to press harder and cause her further pain if she dared to move.
Of course, the attacker was none other than Lucci.
"MAKINO! Oi, you! Get off her!" Luffy's outcry hadn't sounded as threatening as he intentioned, but he was still very clearly pissed at the constant mistreatment of his friend.
With some sudden newfound strength pumping through Luffy's veins, he managed to push past his own pain so he could stand - even managing to take a strong leap at Lucci - before he, unfortunately, was stopped. Those annoying fodder soldiers jumped at Luffy, managing to bring him to the ground and successfully pin him down with relative ease in his weakened state.
"Target restrained, sir!"
"No! Get off me you jerks!" Luffy struggled with all his might… wiggling, screaming, even gave biting them an attempt. It was no use, though… even if he managed to get some of them to let go, more would immediately jump in and take their place.
Luffy only stopped when he had run out of breath and energy to fight back. Surprisingly, that didn't take very long… Luffy's stamina had evolved massively after the many years of constant running day after day, how come it was failing him now?
Also, his vision was getting blurry and his head was spinning. Luffy didn't know anything about medicine or the stuff that doctors did, but he assumed it was because of his wound, even if the agents pinning him down were avoiding touching his back to press on it.
He could, however, still make out Makino and Lucci's figures, and that Makino wasn't even trying to resist any longer…
Damn it! Could he really not do anything!?
"Woman. I'd strongly advise you against arguing with the government's rules." Lucci warned, pressing down his foot harder onto Makino's head.
Her only response to this was a small weak cry. She was obviously already exhausted, too weak to put up much of a fight any longer.
Lucci glared at her, debating his choices for what to do with her. He, however, got to say or do absolutely nothing, as, in the next second, something big and shiny was flung his way, forcing him to spring back, away from Makino.
"DADAN!"
"Dadan-san!"
Luffy and Makino's voices were weak, though so filled with utter relief it sounded like they would break down crying. The orange-haired woman had stepped in between Makino and Lucci, her trusted weapon, an axe, in hand.
"Curly Dadan. You've come to interfere as well?"
It was barely a question. Even if her arrival had surprised Lucci a little, it hadn't been completely unexpected…
"Damn straight I am! I'm that damn brat's foster mother and an acquaintance of this woman you've hurt! I won't ever forgive you after all the crap you've pulled, World Government!"
"Rob Lucci-sama! Bandits are pouring out of the forest and attacking!" A panicking soldier declared.
And true to the man's proclamation, members of the Dadan family were charging at the soldiers, weapons raised and determination exploding after they had gotten a good look at the current situation.
"Fight back. They're mere bandits, which means you have permission to kill." Lucci ordered, for a moment looking like he had the urge to slap his own forehead from how big dimwits these supposed 'top' agents sometimes proved to be.
"No… stay back you guys…" Luffy whimpered. He had fought these guys earlier… even the weakest of them were unusually tough - certainly stronger than any thug you'd find in Gray Terminal or Low Town. The bandits couldn't possibly defeat them, which meant they would lose…. that... they would die fighting for him if Lucci's' order remained unchanged!
The agents immediately raised their guns, (this time) not hesitating for even a second before firing at the offending group.
Luffy could (for the better or worse) not see much from where he was laying. The sound was all he had to go off of. Gunfire… screaming… the sound of metal clanking against metal... the sound of flesh getting cut… even more gunfire… some pretty harsh swearing…
Luffy might not be very smart…. maybe even as far from intelligent as one could get, but.. even he could figure out what was happening…. and he also knew which group was losing the battle.
"Get off of Luffy you bastards!" Luffy heard a voice yell. He couldn't recognize it, but he assumed it must have belonged to one of the bandits.
"Oh no you don't!" Another one shouted.
Luffy heard another gunshot, only this time, it sounded much closer from how loud it was…
No more voices after that…
No…
Luffy bit his lip hard, feeling the tickling sensation of blood running down his chin.
No!
"STOP IT! STOP YOU GUYS, YOU AREN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO WIN THIS!"
Luffy struggled harder… pushed harder to break free. He always hated being restrained or tied up or held down against his will, but now, more than ever he (his own fatigue, blood-loss or exhaustion aside) simply wanted to not be useless by letting some weaklings keep him pushed against the ground!
"Wh-whoa! Keep him down!"
"How can he still have this much strength left!?"
The agents tried desperately to retain their grip on Luffy, but were soon pushed back by the kid's tenacity, eventually thrown off of him completely by one last very powerful push on Luffy's part and literally sent flying in different directions. Those guys weren't heard from again.
Unfortunately, Luffy's breakthrough had happened a tad bit late…
The (currently panting and shaking) 14-year old didn't even get to take a glance at the battle before, suddenly, a big blur of white and orange flew right past him, crashing into the ground with a loud moan. He instantly recognized the bloody and battered figure.
"Dadan!" Luffy cried, about to rush to her side, though was stopped as she raised a hand, signaling that he should stay away.
The woman was panting. Even if she was a criminal, a bandit with a bounty on her head, she wasn't the type who liked getting into fights all the time. Her stamina was quite poor, her reflexes slow, weapon pretty useless against stronger opponents, and Luffy and Ace had since long ago surpassed her in terms of strength…
'It's no good… just like I feared, that guys one of the navy's biggest monsters... DAMN!'
Lucci slowly approached the two. While Dadan had countless bleeding gashes, broken bones, bruises, cuts and wounds all over, Lucci didn't appear to have a single scratch. The most noticeable thing was the blood on his fingers and clothes, but Luffy knew for sure that blood wasn't his own…
He was calm. Or, at least he very much appeared to be. He also seemed to have his sights set solely on Dadan.
"Why...? Why would you go so far for that boy?"
Lucci's question was laughable. Stupid from how obvious the answer should be. Dadan smirked, and (despite her aching body) even let out a small cocky chuckle at Lucci's ignorance.
"You know nothing about Luffy! All you government people care about is control and power… the fact that you're going to this extreme just to catch some 14-year old brat 'cause of his old man proves it! You'd never understand why a mother does crazy things to ensure their kids' safety!"
Lucci's expression tensed from annoyance. While it didn't really matter that Dadan was insulting him, her statement was troubling… it proved how far even ordinary civilians and other criminals were willing to go for him, for Luffy…
"This is exactly the issue we have at hand… "
Lucci switched his attention to Luffy. He received a wrath-filled glare and a small growl in return, but surprisingly, the boy remained quiet.
"Monkey D. Luffy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've concluded, I'd say it's pretty evident that you plan on setting out to sea as a pirate once you're older, correct?"
Luffy's flinch of anger was the answer he needed to that question.
"The people here fully support your decision… you've already shown yourself able to get anybody to care enough about you to even be willing to die for your sake…"
A quick memory of the picture they had found of Shanks and him in the treehouse earlier flashed before his eyes.
"There's no telling who you might have connections to… anybody who supports you and accepts your existence is just as guilty as any criminal out there. Unfortunately, investigating such things is a problem… any capable liar could easily evade execution, so instead, I've chosen something more...thorough….something 100% guaranteed to hit every single person that might know and care for you…"
Dadan's eyes grew wide.
She had heard from Garp… some of the heinous stuff the government did right under the nose of the civilians - the incomprehensible, wretched things the world was better of not even knowing even could happen in the first place.
"D-don't… don't tell me you…!" She whimpered pathetically.
Luffy ignored her, being a stupidly oblivious kid, he was only being maddened by the parts of Lucci's explanation he understood. Just what in the world was he implying!? That anybody, just because they knew him would be punished!?
"Screw that! I won't let you get away with hurting the people I care about!"
Luffy launched himself towards Lucci, too blinded by his rage to even think things over.
"Luffy don't!" Dadan's voice was commanding… like she was telling Luffy "no" after he had misbehaved, but she was clearly just scared out her mind because Luffy was being delusional.
The 'fight' ended much as it did before. Lucci was more than ready for Luffy, (his attack was already weakened and much slobbier after blood loss) and easily outsped Luffy, grabbing his arms and forcing them to his back while also tightly locking his other arm around his neck, keeping his head in place. (After seeing Luffy would gladly bite if it allowed him a chance to escape, Lucci figured it was a safe move)
Luffy tried struggling, but Lucci wouldn't budge. Not an inch.
"I don't have time to mess around any longer. About an hour ago, I issued an order for a buster call. Under normal circumstances, it would take even the fastest of navy ships weeks to reach this island all the way out here in the East blue. But of course, when we were sent here to investigate, we didn't come unprepared. Battleships have been docked at nearby navy bases, just in case something like this would be deemed necessary…"
"Let me go! I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't care either!" Came another growl from the wiggling Luffy.
Lucci snickered at that.
Oh, he wouldn't be that sure... He knew Luffy would care… his obliviousness was the only thing probably stopping him from reacting in the same manner as Dadan. Lucci wondered how she could possibly know when Luffy didn't but decided it was not worth getting worked up over… Curly Dadan would soon be no more anyway.
"Of course, I've already sent a good portion of my men to evacuate the royal family and nobility (and only the royalty and nobility)… our numbers have been reduced greatly, and yet, your bandits don't and never did stand a chance."
The insult was directed at Dadan, whom Lucci sent a mocking smile. Thanks to Lucci's blabbering, Luffy and Dadan had nearly forgotten about the other struggling family members fighting bravely to defend Luffy.
Actually, now that Lucci mentioned it, the fight had gone completely silent…
Not being able to stop themselves, Dadan and Luffy turned their heads, but were horrified (even if they certainly could have expected this would be the sight they'd be met by) when they saw them…
The corpses… and almost all of them were solely bandits.
Their loss was complete… only a few agents had died, and none of the injuries any of the ones still breathing had received looked severe… it other words, the Dadan family was gone. Wiped out just like that. All the members having died in almost complete vain…
Luffy's body began twitching… trembling… almost went numb from the atrocious sight…
So… so much blood… and… a-and it all belonged t...to the bandits… the o-ones that had t...taken care of him and Ace...
Even if he had seen death before… even if normally, blood was not a rare or particular scary sight, this was just too much.
And what was more, the other agents were even getting back up! Saluting and everything! His heart pounded. His breath quickly became faster. The trembling got stronger. His mind went blank.
"Luffy! Luffy look at me!" Dadan's outcry was all that prevented Luffy from breaking into tears and begin screaming right then and there.
"It's gonna be fine, ok?! The world isn't ending or something, i-it's just couple dead guys, nothing you haven't seen or endured before! W… we all came here to save your sorry ass… th..this is our fault, not yours got that!?"
Tears were streaming down Dadan's face, though, strongly contradicting her own words. She was crying… Luffy had never seen Dadan cry before...
Luffy found himself unable to say anything. He just took it all in. The bodies… Dadan's just as pathetic state on the ground… her words that totally didn't match her broken expression…
Dadan was defenseless. Already beaten, as good as defeated… and yet still… guns were suddenly pointed at her… as if she wasn't already pitiful enough!
"NO!"
Luffy's scream was desperate. He was desperate… desperate to not let anybody else die for his damn sake!
Fortunately, (or not), another person stepped in the way of their fire, protecting Dadan. Makino. Makino who (to her defense had had her body go numb for the last couple of minutes) finally showed herself again by endangering herself like this.
"What are you doing!? Get out of the damn way, Makino!"
Dadan was about to jump up and push Makino out of the way to prevent her from getting herself killed, but the look she immediately sent her way prevented from doing so. She smiled. Even if it was somewhat weak and forced, she was trying her best to look reassuring...
"You protected me earlier, Dadan-san, please allow me to do the same!"
Although her words were confident and unwavering, Dadan could clearly see the woman trembling with fear… she bit her lip yet again, hesitating for only a few seconds before speaking up:
"Please! You gotta stop this madness! Nobody needed to die! Nobody else needs to die from this point on! I… I can't understand why you're even going this far… this is insane, inhumane! They're all dead! And for what!? You can't put the blame of this on a child like Luffy! Please, I beg of you, please stop-"
*BAM*
…
…
…
Too fast. It had happened too fast.
Makino's expression was unreadable… she seemed… frightened… confused… in utter disbelief… not even aware of what had just happened.
Her body fell… to the ground… with a thud that could be heard loud and clear because of the absolute silence that hung in the air…
Makino was… Makino was… Makino was shot. Makino was shot. Through... through the head.
She laid unmoving….
Dead….
The perpetrator had been a random soldier simply deciding he had had enough of Makino's delusional blabbering. Just like that. He had killed her Just. Like .That.
Dadan couldn't believe it. Luffy didn't believe it. The sound of the shot going off still rang loudly in his head, and his mind was still just trying to process the reality of the situation….
The tears instantly found their way into his eyes, and this time, Luffy didn't even attempt to hold them back.
"MAAAKINOOOOOOOOO!"
Makino! Makino! Makino! Makino! MAKINO! The woman who had always just been there… always cared for him more than anybody aside from Ace or Sabo. How? HOW!? Why? No way. No way. NO WAY COULD SHE ACTUALLY BE DEAD!
Luffy fought hard. Fought to break free from the grip holding him back from launching to her side, to check on her and see that his mind was just playing tricks on him - that Makino wasn't actually…
The teen's effort was great… Lucci needed to put in a great amount of effort and strength into keeping him from escaping, (so much so that any non-rubber human would have already suffocated from his grip around his neck).
Ultimately, Luffy's effort proved in vain. That didn't mean he stopped trying though. Screaming and fighting, screaming and fighting, screaming and fighting… those two things seemed to be the only two things his blurry mind could still focus on.
Dadan's reaction wasn't much better… at first, she was doubting her eyes, much like Luffy feeling her body temporarily break down just from pure shock.
Then the anger came.
A rage even greater than when she had seen the dead bodies of the thieves she had lived with and called her family her entire life. Sure, the agents had killed them, but at least they somewhat had had it coming! They were criminals, outlaws...Makino was... Makino was just Makino! A mere innocent loving and caring woman who should have absolutely nothing to do with this, absolute no reason to be assaulted or attacked in the first place!
"YOU BASTARDS! HOW DARE YOU! HOW (insert swear word) DARE YOU!"
Dadan shot up, ready to unleash her full fury onto the bastards that had done that to her friend! Her ax might have broken earlier (Lucci had used some strange move to make his body hard as steel, which in return had completely shattered it when she had hit him full force) but that didn't mean she didn't have some pain left to deliver!
The bandit, however, got a couple of steps ahead of herself, and in her rage, seemed to have forgotten that the agents were very much still armed and pointing their guns at her. Another shot was fired.
This one hit as well.
Even if it was just in the shoulder this time, it was enough to force her to her knees, grasping her shoulder in pain. She was helpless now, could only glare back with utter spite in her eyes at the men responsible for her and Luffy's suffering…
"DADAN!"
Even if she was (well to some degree) alright - still alive if nothing - Luffy called out her name loudly, only crying and screaming harder and harder for each passing second.
How… why…? Why was everybody he cared about getting hurt and killed like this!? Was he really so weak and incompetent that he couldn't prevent anything!? Was he really still this far away from being strong enough to protect everybody...!?
Lucci completely ignored Luffy's outburst (even if they were starting to greatly annoy him). Time was running short, and they needed to get out of there. At least Luffy's piercing shrieks proved the giant bleeding gash of his stomach hadn't affected him as much as he had originally thought.
"Let's go."
And with those words, Luffy was dragged away… leaving behind Dadan, who couldn't do anything but stare with a look of utter defeat plastered all over her pain-written face, leaving Makino, leaving the other bandits, and the treehouse….there was barely anything left of it to indicate it had once been a house… Luffy's home much less…
Luffy was forced to leave it all behind, his screaming, crying, swearing, and attempts at breaking free doing absolutely nothing to change it.
That was the last time ever he got to see either of them…
O-o-O-o-O
Don't ever say that things can't get worse.
Even if you've nearly died. Even if you've just watched basically everything and everyone you love be killed and left to die. Even if you think you've lost everything, don't ever say or think there isn't anything that could make the situation any worse.
Not once since they had left had Luffy stopped fighting. He had been crying out for Dadan, for the bandits, and for Makino. He hadn't stopped squirming in Lucci's grip, even if the strength he had left at this point was very limited thanks to his giant wound.
The agents had merely ignored his shrieking, though had considered knocking him out to prevent him from moving and losing any more blood. Fortunately, they hadn't needed to resort to that…
Luffy was no longer struggling. No longer yelling. No longer even moving. It was as if something had suddenly sucked all life and spirit out of him…
It was, however, no mystery as to why that was. Why Luffy was as devastated as he was.
Honestly, it would be a miracle if the kid lived on after this day without developing some kind of serious fear of fire. He had already watched his home (even if it was just a shabby treehouse) get devoured by flames, and now… Foosha village too was burning.
Luffy's mind was clearly on the verge of breaking down. This horrible night had just been one agonizing event after the other… the sheer amount of brokenness on Luffy's face was nearly enough for even Lucci himself to pity the poor boy.
Especially since Foosha wasn't just burning. If one took a closer look, they'd be able to spot a bunch of bodies flooding the paths. Men, women… even the smallest babies and children… the exact cheery villagers Luffy's had been having the time of his life partying alongside just earlier that night….
Most of them were very clearly dead. The bloodpool underneath them and dead-pale skin proved that. A couple of them weren't, however, and were lying tortured, bleeding, and crying on the ground. A couple had managed to get up and were even going as far as to try and help out other villagers hanging onto dear life.
Luffy knew, though - knew the villagers were screwed without help.
Help they would not receive.
Their houses, along with any medical supply the village might have had, were burning. There was no hope… no hope for the last thing Luffy still had left to care about. He had forgotten even, thanks to what had gone down at his treehouse, he had completely forgotten about Foosha…
Now. It was gone. They were gone. Just like his treehouse. Just like Makino and the bandits. Just like Dadan would soon be unless a miracle occurred.
His body was twitching. His mind was in too much of a shock to even call out to the dying villagers, to tell them this was all his fault, tell them sorry that he let this happen to them, sorry that he couldn't protect Makino, sorry that they had to suffer, sorry that he was so weak and useless…
He couldn't utter a single word. Couldn't cry, couldn't move... not even to look away from the abominable sight.
Lucci took notice of Luffy's sudden change. The kid was a fool. A delusional fool who lived in a world of his own where everybody he cared about magically was protected from ever being harmed. This was truly shattering his reality… and perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing for them.
"Face it, Monkey D. Luffy, this is all your fault. Had you just simply never existed none of this would have been necessary, and they would still be alive. Your relationship with those villagers, however, was no good… they liked you, accepted somebody like you, even after I explained the truth. You brought this upon them, but they sealed their own fates by refusing to tell us your location… it was just a distress call from the agents fighting you the revealed your location."
Luffy's eyes began swelling up with tears from Lucci's words… he said nothing to oppose them, however… almost like… he was starting to accept it instead. It was true. This truly was all his fault. Cp9 had come looking for him. And (even if unintentional) everybody else had to suffer for that.
This exact reaction proved they were close… close to completely shattering the boys iron-tight will...
Lucci had already loosened his grip around Luffy and wasn't even bothering restraining his arms any longer. The only reason they weren't making Luffy walk on his own at this point, really, was thanks to the rubber kids' much weakened and wobbly legs that could give in any minute now.
Luffy didn't even care that he was being dragged along... didn't care what would happen to him if he allowed himself to be captured, didn't care if he was killed or tortured or… or whatever!
All that was even keeping him conscious at this point was the villagers, watching them cling onto life, watching them cry from pain (not just physical, mind you, but from watching their loved ones get slaughtered...), watching them suffer…
He… he didn't want to leave them behind… not now… not like this...
Though it was pathetic, Luffy reached out his hand… it was twitching… shaking… not even close to reaching them, but…
"E-e...everybody… I'm… I'm so-!"
*BAM!*
The thing to interrupt Luffy was an explosion. An explosion that had come out of nowhere. An explosion that caused death and destruction to anything in its path.
An explosion that… that had suddenly struck the already crumbling Foosha village.
There was no doubt really… something of that caliber could easily kill any normal healthy human. The inhabitants of Foosha, however, hadn't been healthy, hadn't been prepared - hadn't even warned about it!
In their states… there was no way they could have survived that.
"Tch! Damn navy! What are they thinking, firing already when we haven't even delivered the target yet! We were supposed to take him alive after all!"
"It's because we're already way past schedule… come on, hurry!"
The agents broke into a sprint, heading straight for the ports where their ship was waiting and ready to take off at a second's notice.
Luffy heard nothing, however… he barely even felt himself get lifted off the ground and tossed across Lucci's shoulder. His own heartbeat and breathing seemed to overpower their stressed-out voices…
He stared. He stared, refusing to believe anything his eyes were seeing or his ears were hearing.
Why?
The question was simple, really. And yet, Luffy's twisting and turning mind couldn't seem to find an answer.
Foosha…. i-it had a...already been...b…b-burning, r-right? T..the inhabitants h-had… a...already b-ben suffering… r...r-right? T-they h-had already… p...paid the...the p-prize… hadn't they!?
THEN WHAT WAS THE MEANING OF THIS!?
Another boom, however, soon interrupted Luffy's panic attack. This time, it had hit the forest. The forest where he had planned to train to become strong enough to become the pirate king. The beasts living there would be the ones to suffer from that.
Another one followed shortly after.
And another.
And another.
And another one after that.
Slowly, everything around him was destroyed. Everything that wasn't became enveloped in merciless flames tearing away at everything…
The 100-year old trees he had climbed and failed to climb countless of times...
The grassy fields he Ace and Sabo had laughed while running through on the most beautiful of summer days…
The otherwise alluring and clear night sky filled with thousands of small blinking stars the three brothers many times had gazed upon, was now being covered up by the dark suffocating smoke from the fires…
And that was it. Luffy's mind couldn't take any more.
"No…"
The tears came quickly, big, fat and unstoppable.
"Stop it…"
His whimpers, however, went unnoticed by anybody… the sounds of the explosions were too loud, so loud even Luffy himself couldn't hear his own words.
"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"
Luffy's sudden scream seemed to scare the heck out of the unprepared agents… it, however, wasn't his words, but something entirely different that shook them to their core… It was… as if some strange invisible shock of energy suddenly burst from Luffy…
It changed nothing about the environment… it did nothing to stop the destruction, the explosions or the fire. But something did stop. That thing was people… and those people were the agents. All of them, aside from Lucci.
Not only did they stop. They fell. To the ground, unconscious.
Lucci stumbled - nearly tripped - and (despite really not having the time) stopped abruptly.
This time, he was the one to stare with wide shook eyes… he felt a shiver run down his spine and was even sweating slightly from nervousness - not just the heat.
Luffy had fallen limp on his shoulder. The kid was unconscious now, and Lucci doubted he would wake up any time soon.
'Conqueror's haki…'
Lucci honestly shouldn't be surprised. Luffy was, after all, not only the son of the revolutionary Dragon but also grandson to Monkey D. Garp and a brother to Portgas D. Ace…
Of course, he would have conqueror's haki, but to utilize it when he was still this young…?
Lucci had met only a very small amount of kids with haki, but not a single one of them had even known what the hell haki was in the first place.
Another nearby explosion was what snapped Lucci out of his thoughts and back to the grim reality of his unfortunate subordinates…
'Tch, he's knocked them all out… there's no saving them…'
Lucci had no time to carry them or attempt to wake them up. This was a buster call. Even if their own top agents were knocked out and unable to move, the navy wouldn't stop… they'd keep firing, keep burning, keep destroying until everything was blown into oblivion.
Man, what a pathetic way to die…
Lucci ran straight through the bodies of the unconscious men. They were replaceable anyway… he certainly wouldn't mourn their deaths.
O-o-O-o-O
"OVER THERE, I SEE HIM!" An agent positioned in the crow's nest exclaimed in relief.
Lucci emerged from the flames. His clothes were a little dirty and a few bruises could be spotted here and there, but ultimately, the man appeared to be in great condition.
The government vessel still held docked at the shore of Dawn Island. This specific area had been deemed a 'safe zone' until Lucci returned with Luffy. The agents had anxiously been awaiting their commander's return amidst the destructing, praying that no cannonball would accidentally be aimed at them.
"Thank goodness! Rob Lucci-sama you have to hurry! We're all ready to sail!"
Lucci gave the man no reply. Of course, that was pretty damn obvious.
It was then that the agents noticed the small body hanging over Lucci's shoulders.
"S-sir…. is… is that really…?"
"Yeah. There's absolutely no doubt. This is him, the son of the revolutionary Dragon." Lucci confirmed.
He dumped him carelessly onto the floor, completely disregarding the fact he was pretty heavily injured and unconscious. He'd survived this long. He wouldn't die now.
"Get him treated. Even if I made sure to miss his vitals, he's already lost a good amount of blood."
"Yessir."
Some agents carrying a stretcher immediately got to moving him to the infirmary. Their doctors were skilled, but one woman, in particular, wouldn't be happy to see the state of the child...
Of course, the ginormous wound across his torso was what they first noticed, but that certainly wasn't the only injury he had received…
Disregarding the small scratches (those would heal quickly), another notable thing was his fists. For some odd reason, his knuckles were blue and swollen and his hands were covered in dried blood.
How that had happened was as good as anyone's guess.
"Oh, by the way, make sure you use seastone handcuffs after you're done treating him," Lucci mentioned before he would forget.
Leaving devil fruit users with regular cuffs on never led to anything good...That was a mistake he certainly didn't want to have to deal with.
"EH!? W-wait a second…! You mean he's eaten a devil fruit!?"
"Yes. Now, stop fooling around and prepare for departure this instant. The navy's incredibly impatient, after all." Lucci reminded, greatly annoyed and restlessness. They were still docked at an island getting blown to smithereens, and he would like it to not be that way.
The agents suddenly seemed to remember their dire situation, and clumsily raced to get back to their correct positions and get the hell away from there.
"Call the chief of Cp9. Tell him that the mission was a success and that we'll be on our way with Monkey D. Luffy as a prisoner."
"Yessir!"
Another diligent agent ran off to do just that.
"Wait… aren't we still missing a couple of our men? What happened to the rest of the group that assisted you, Rob Lucci-sama?"
This particular comment seemed to interest the ship's entire crew. They didn't stop with their tasks (didn't really feel like dying now) but they couldn't help but turn an eye of curiosity in their commander's direction.
Lucci sighed deeply at their question. It was innocent of the surface, sure, but the answer they would receive wouldn't be as pleasant. There was no reason to lie, though. It had been his call to leave them behind (it had been no difficult choice) and unless they wanted to meet a similar fate, the agents would not complain about his decision.
"They're dead."
His answer was simple. He didn't feel the need to say anymore, as it would require a much longer explanation Lucci really didn't feel like giving them right now.
…
Nobody said a word. These news were quite appalling… sure, as an agent, you always risked your life when going on secret missions like this, and many of them had died that way, but seriously…? All of them? While they had been together with Lucci, the strongest member of Cp9 ever? How, how the hell was that possible...?
Just what the hell had gone down on Dawn Island?
Lucci completely ignored the confused stared his men were giving him, instead glancing back at the burning island right behind them.
The flames were already consuming everything. The giant forest they had entered as the first thing upon arriving was probably the worst… it made sense though, wood burned incredibly well, after all, and to no surprise, the forest had a lot of that.
More fire was also rising above the walls of the city. Lucci knew that, although he could neither see nor hear anything, hundreds - no - thousands of citizens, innocent or not, were currently being cooked alive inside of there.
Lucci, however, didn't feel even the slightest bit of remorse even knowing that. Fire was a merciless force of destruction that spared neither evil nor good people… those unfortunate enough to not have anything to do with this mess were dying needlessly, and he knew that. It was just a necessary sacrifice, unfortunate yes, but necessary…
It seemed completely different from the peaceful, calm, and beautiful hidden gem of an island they had all docked at yesterday. And Lucci knew it would only keep getting worse… it would be even beyond unrecognizable when the marines were done.
Staring into the blinding bright flames slowly consuming Dawn Island and the previously majestic Goa kingdom, Rob Lucci was certain about just one thing:
Luffy. The only way that kid was ever gonna see this place again would be in his nightmares.
So. This is it. This is the night that's gonna set everything else I have planned for this Onefic in motion. I... don't know what to say about it really. Reading it through and correcting this really made me realize how much of a cruel person I am... I swear! I don't enjoy writing about these events that will completely break poor little Luffy's heart o-ok?
A-anyway, now that I have finally completed this chapter, Luffy's 'journey' at sea can finally begin, so sit tight for that!
Oh, and can I just mention how freakin' thankful I am for the reviews I have gotten! Seriously thank you so much, these were a great motivation while writing, even if it's just 6 for now! My story's still starting out, and it's only been out for a few days, so I'm so happy I already have some reviews! To prove my point, here are the answers to you amazing peeps!
-mjscev: I am glad my idea interests you, and yes! I promise I will not give up! Also, I will definitely include Shanks a little later... he's gonna do something, I promise, something I definitely hope you will find exciting.
-Greer123: I am happy to know that!
123: Thanks a bunch! Yes, don't worry, I can at least promise you that Luffy will in fact escape somehow. Unfortunately, I will not be including any of the straw hats in this Onefic (sorry) and yes, Ace is in fact already in the Grand Line, already a part of Whitebeard's crew, and the second division commander. Sorry if this seems a little unbelievable, but as the author, I want to have at least a little plot convenience... as to why I didn't just wait longer than 6 months, well, it's because I freakin' adore 14-year old Luffy, k? Also, happy that you're looking forward to the future of this story :D
CrackPairingsRule: Yes, the beginning of this story is honestly what I was the most anxious about sharing (not much happens until ch4) so I'm happy you at least enjoyed it! Also, knowing there's someone looking forward to reading more is always a great motivation too!
Guest 1: Thanks, glad you like the beginning, but beware, this story is only gonna keep getting more and more intense as we go!
Guest 2: Your review is a lot similar to guest 1s (don't know how that's happened but whatever). Happy to write something you find interesting, I will certainly keep writing more!
That's all for now :D New chappie can be expected within a few days waiting time.
-Cookie