Hiya, back with another update! Yay!

-A quick note before reading this chapter is this other small detail that makes a bit of a difference in this story. In this story, Garp had in fact been good at keeping Luffy's secret, so only very very few people know about him. Don't know if this detail is gonna be equally important to everyone, but hey, now you know you at least won't be confused a little later down the line! XD

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 :)

Well, here's... the chapter I guess! Enjoy!

Chapter 8: Garp's here everyone!

A musty smell all around him, making his stomach turn. Dust was everywhere. Stuck in his hair, tacking onto his wet and disgusting clothes - even inside his eyes causing him to constantly blink away the tears that were formed to wash it out.

Despite this, however, Luffy could finally breathe again.

He was relieved, to say the least, to finally have finally gotten away from that corpse. He had been just about to faint because it had been so hot under the jacket - especially when they had gone inside and the temperature around them had changed from below freezing with added frosty winds every now and then to a hellishly hot room temperature.

He had nearly thrown up, only managing to keep it down because at that time still had been pirates around who would have heard and smelled him.

Luffy, however, despite nearly sweating to death, had waited on the corpse. Waited until the voices and footsteps had been gone. And then, of course, just another few extra minutes, just to be sure the coast was clear.

Only then had he finally been able to crawl out from under the suffocating coat. He had damn near ripped Kay's coat to shreds when he had.

Air had never felt so great. Air - just freaking air! - had never once in his life felt as refreshing and pain-relieving as it had at that moment. At first, he had gasped for air. Coughing, choking, his lungs even hurting, in the same way, they also would when he had been submerged underwater for too long and would run out of oxygen.

It had been annoying. Really annoying and also quite painful, in fact.

After his head had stopped hurting (from the unhealthy amount of sudden oxygen intake), Luffy had found himself to be in a strange room. And certainly, one he had immediately found very unsettling.

Everywhere, there had been lumps covered with sheets. Bloodstained sheets, to be even more disgustingly precise.

Luffy hadn't needed to do much imagining to guess what hiding underneath...

Needless to say, he hadn't like it in there. Luffy figured he needed someplace better to hide if he was - hopefully not, though - gonna stay on the ship for an extended period of time.

And like that, he had confined himself to just waiting inside of there, after quickly discovering that, unfortunately, the only door leading out of the room had been locked. That had totally sucked too.

The horrible presence of the corpses was the only thing that had even kept him awake. It was as if, despite flickering awake on multiple occasions and his head feeling incredibly mushy, his body simply refused to rest in a room filled with dead people.

So when, finally, footsteps had sounded and the door had cautiously been unlocked and opened, Luffy had felt so relieved he'd almost forgotten he actually wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. He'd hidden behind the same big guy (Garry?) from before.

The two pirates (honestly, Luffy had already forgotten their faces) who had entered had been completely clueless and had had their attention directed on something entirely different than looking out for intruders.

Luffy thought he'd heard them mumble something about annoying letters that needed to be sent to their families, but he hadn't cared and hadn't paid much attention.

It had taken a surprisingly little amount of effort to successfully sneak out behind their backs, away to someplace that was less unbearable.

And perhaps with some food too...

That's, however, when Luffy, unfortunately, had found out the ship was just as big on the inside as it had appeared from the outside.

It had just been a looooot of hallways and a loooooot of doors. Very very long and confusing passages and all the stupid doors had looked the same. It had been like a maze, except there was no end goal for Luffy to strive for.

He had been aimlessly wandering around, too tired to really pay much attention to his surroundings, or to the fact that it was strange how empty the corridors were. Two guys had nearly caught him by complete surprise this way, and if not for their obnoxiously loud blabbering, Luffy was sure he wouldn't have been able to avoid them in time.

It had turned out alright, though. Luffy had hidden in a gap under a questionably unstable staircase, thus (by accident even!) finding the small trap door leading even further down to where he was currently sitting.

Luffy assumed it was maybe supposed to be some sort of storage room, considering the amounts of random crates and barrels standing in stacks.

Over time, however, apparently something had happened to said storage room, as now, it was just flooding with old rotting furniture and broken equipment simply left there to collect dust.

The horrible condition of the chamber was fine - well, bearable if nothing. Even with the bad smell, the spiders, and even the rustling sound of what Luffy assumed to be rats, this fine little room would do well as a hiding spot for now.

After sloppily brushing a spot for him to sit relatively clean for dust and cobwebs, his legs had finally given up on carrying him any further - and his body begging for rest, had collapsed onto the floor.

So now here he was. Sitting in a storage room, too tired to even ransack the barrels or crates for a weapon (a pipe would be nice) or something that could be of use.

Like food perhaps…

*Grumble*

…

Luffy placed one of his numbed hands on his twisting stomach. The empty feeling was painful despite the fact that he'd grown accustomed to it over the last 3 or so weeks. Luffy just really didn't want to deal with it right now. There was finally peace. Finally no blood, no explosions, and no death. He really didn't want to go look for food...

Maybe he could just… not think about being hungry, and then the pain would lessen. Just like how Sabo had told him a wound would hurt less if he stopped paying attention to it.

It was just then, as he stared down on his hurting stomach that Luffy realized one of his buttons had fallen out, leaving small 'hole' for some bandages to peek through.

Huh… when had that happened? Luffy couldn't recall noticing it tearing. He'd probably been too occupied trying to focus his attention on not being discovered and killed.

"Oh well… not that it matters anyway…" He mumbled to himself, as if anybody else would hear.

If not for the fact that he literally could not as much as wiggle his fingers at this point, he would have simply buttoned up the vest and run around like that. Barechested. Or… with a bandaged-wrapped chest, that was. It wouldn't really have made a difference to Luffy.

Instead of straining his fingers like that, Luffy leaned his heavy head against the molding wall behind him (the straw hat was still miraculously hanging around his neck. A little wet, yes, but still in perfectly good condition).

He was delightfully surprised by how not cold it was, much unlike the wall he had gotten so used to leaning against back on the ship. He was still sweating lightly, but it was fine to not have himself cooled by some cold air seeping through. He'd had enough of being both hot and cold for a while.

It was, in fact, very quiet now. Quieter than Luffy had had it for nearly a month.

From where he was sitting, he couldn't even hear the sea. He couldn't even hear the pirates' steps, their loud conversations, or any of the commotions a big group of people should be causing from anywhere around him.

Just quiet. And the sound of his own exhausted breath in and exhaling in a steady matter.

Luffy didn't know how to feel about that.

The peace and quiet were calming, and a nice treatment for his head which now would maybe finally stop spinning. It was, though, also very disturbing to be sitting completely alone in the dark with no sounds to reassure him of otherwise.

That he was in fact not alone. Because now he knew that he wasn't.

"Ace…"

Luffy uttered his name longingly.

Where was his brother now? What was he doing? Having fun? Luffy certainly hoped he was having a better time than him at least.

…

Wait..-

How the hell was he even supposed to find him?

This was the Grand Line. Luffy had never been in the Grand Line before. His sailing and navigation abilities were poor enough as it was, but to make matter worse, he didn't even know where to look. Which town? Which island? Was Ace even in the Grand Line right now!?

'No, calm down Luffy. Remember, Makino told you Ace joined another crew… that means even finding one of Ace's nakama is good enough!' Luffy concluded, proud of how smart he'd gotten.

That's right! He just needed to find them! The Whiteweird pirates!

...

...

No, wait… that wasn't right.

...

White… - White... W-White-cheer pirates? White-sneer? W-W...White-ear..?

...

Luffy couldn't remember. The name Makino had mentioned back then had been unfamiliar, and he'd been too shocked about the whole "Ace is now in another crew" deal to listen more closely.

At least he knew for sure it was white-something. And that something sounded like ear. He'd have to ask someone what crew Portgas D. Ace belonged to once he got the chance to be sure.

Luffy's brows suddenly furrowed into an upset expression.

Wait, how was Ace even gonna react to seeing him? Was he gonna be mad that he broke their promise to first set sail when they were 17? That their own adventures were their own adventures, and that they were supposed to focus on their own goals and dreams separately from the day they set sail?

What if… what if Ace said no? What would he think when he saw his injuries? Saw the massive scar on his chest…? The scar that proved he was weak? Proved that he was truly the reason everyone had to die like that? That proved he still couldn't do a damn thing on his own?

Would he be mad? Would he… w-would he send him away? What if he already had so many so good new friends he had already forgotten about him and wouldn't care when he would come crying and begging for help like he always had?

Luffy bit his lip, suddenly very viciously shaking his head. The world around him began spinning again because he did so.

No! Him and Ace and Sabo made a promise! A promise that no matter where on the seas they might be, their bond as brothers would never be shattered by anything!

Even if… even if he was weak and pathetic and Ace got mad, he was still his brother, and Luffy was the stupid one for thinking Ace would have forgotten that promise.

No, it was gonna be fine. He would find Ace, and everything would be fine. Just how it always was. Luffy was the weak little brother crying for help, to which Ace usually would accept eventually.

Although he was more reluctant to accept certain requests. Like that one time, Luffy had gotten stuck between two rocks. Ace had laughed and rolled around on the ground for 14 minutes straight, all the while Luffy had been angrily shouting incomprehensible words (most likely the childish 'swears' that Luffy was oh so proud of knowing) before he had then finally wiped away his tears and given a helping hand.

The fond memory did all but make Luffy smile.

Hopefully, Ace would accept him. He wouldn't hide the fact that it was all his fault. That he had been too weak.

Luffy hated weakness. Well, he hated feeling weak. He was sick of it… sick of crying, sick of being helpless, sick of being powerless to do anything. That he wanted to change. And he was gonna.

'Ace… wherever you are, I promise to you, I won't cry! Not until I see you so I can prove I'm not a crybaby anymore! I'll show you that I can still get stronger! No tears, you got that!?'

Of course, his thoughts were met by silence. Luffy didn't mind this time, though. It was a promise, whether it was said aloud or heard by anybody or not!

And promises were not meant to be broken, after all.

Luffy opened his mouth to tell himself those exact words out loud, but instead, what came was a long drowsy unstoppable yawn.

…

Maybe finding Ace could wait just a little longer… just… until he could actually move his body at full will and his eyes would maybe stay open.

Luffy was truly exhausted. More so than he could ever recall having been before. The dark and quiet around him surely didn't help with keeping the drowsy feelings away.

He still didn't want to sleep. He still had nightmares after all, and he feared that now when he was truly all alone with nobody to wake him up (in a gentle or not so gentle manner), that they'd be stronger - worse than ever.

Maybe he could… just sit and think about Ace for a while? About the possible fun he could be having and the stories he could tell him once he got to see him again?

A smile crippled onto the 14-year-olds face at the thought.

Yes, he would do that.

And thus, with a peaceful expression on his face, Luffy lost his control thanks to the relaxing thoughts. His eyes shut close without him realizing, his consciousness soon fading away to a far far darker and uncontrollable land of nightmares.

O-o-O-o-O

Garp stared out at the ocean, reminiscing about the past few days.

The familiar dog-headed battleship had met much opposition on its way. Strong winds pushing them back… a mist so thick they had gone in circles for 3 hours straight… hell, at one point, they'd even been attacked by a full nest of sea kings, despite the fact that they weren't even in the Calm Belt!

Although, the last-mentioned event had only taken up so much damn time because Garp had felt the need to not only defeat, but literally pulverize every single goddamn bone in the poor poor creatures massive bodies.

Not one member of the crew had tried stopping his rage attack, though.

Not when Garp had been as infuriated as just then. The soldiers had simply sent some kind thoughts to the beasts, thankful for their sacrifice so Garp could let out some of his wrath that otherwise would have been aimed at them.

It had been well around a week since they had left HQ. Their voyage had already been set back by a whole day thanks to the terrible weather, a fact that annoyed Garp to no end and caused him to be far grumpier - angry even - even more so than usual when something upset him.

Honestly, Garp didn't have even the slightest clue as to how they had yet to come across another battleship (or five if he knew Sengoku) filled with brats who had been sent out to make him turn back.

There was definitely no way in hell they hadn't noticed he was gone yet, considering he had explicitly been ordered not to take even one step out of HQ.

Garp snickered at that.

The hell if he was gonna listen to such an order after everything that'd happened to his home and family!

After (quite impolitely in fact) excusing himself from Sengoku's office, he'd gone to his own office in order to collect his thoughts, but quickly found sitting still and thinking things over peacefully to be an impossible task.

So he simply hadn't. In the cover of the night, he'd waltzed straight down to the harbor, dragging along the unfortunate souls who had been assigned to 'guard' him, just so they wouldn't snitch on him.

There had been no time to summon his usual crew. They'd had other duties to attend to, or had been sleeping at the time.

So what had Garp done to get around that inconvenience you might ask? Well, although his men might not have been present, a bunch of marines - more than enough for what was needed for a crew to steer a ship the size of a battleship - had been on night watch, ready for action at a second's notice.

Garp had innerly thanked the god above that Sengoku and all the higher ranking marines had kept the whole deal with Dawn Island a secret. It had made it very easy to threate- *cough* convince them to come aboard without much complaint… or maybe they'd simply been too scared of him at the moment to refuse... Garp didn't care either way.

So here he was, sailing with a crew he had gathered randomly, all of them completely oblivious to the truth or why they were even there.

...

Well… all but one, that was.

Bogard, Garp's entrusted right-hand man had also tagged along. Normally, Garp wouldn't have minded that at all… it kind of was his job to follow him everywhere he went, after all.

Not for this trip, though. And there were multiple reasons as to why.

For the past 7 excruciatingly long days, he'd been constantly telling Garp to turn back. That this was not a good idea, and that he was letting his emotions get the better of him, all the while getting innocent marines involved in a mess that could them killed so they'd keep quiet about Luffy once they returned.

Honestly, it had surprised Garp how much Bogard had talked to him for the past week. It proved how truly desperate he must've been. After all, he was not a man of many words.

But even despite his best efforts, all he had managed was a promise from Garp that he would not kill Lucci on sight, and that his visit would be very brief so unnecessary questions would not have time to be asked. (Unfortunately, only time could would be able to tell whether or not Garp could restrain himself from breaking those promises...)

A week had passed, after all, so the marines had stopped asking about why they were heading out after realizing on day 4 that they weren't gonna receive an answer to that question.

"Garp-san."

The hat-wearing marine (currently also wearing a matching black suit, coincidentally looking awfully similar to the agents) walked up beside his superior, sending him a strict look from underneath the hat.

Garp didn't answer, nor even gaze in his direction to meet Bogard's eyes. He knew, though, that Garp was in fact listening. After a full week, Garp had run out of creative ways to tell him off.

"You know I respect you and acknowledge that you're a great man - one who I, in fact, take great pride in supporting. But you're being unreasonable, Garp-san, don't you see that?"

His tone of voice was harsh, even if it wasn't his intention to sound heartless.

Bogard felt incomprehensibly sorry for Garp. Even if he thought it wasn't a good idea for him to be doing what currently he was, that didn't mean he didn't understand why.

He'd lost his home. He hadn't even been there to witness it. He had had absolutely no control or knowledge of any of it happening. And for what? All just so they could capture his grandson! Heck, he'd only learned of this through a report by some random guy whose name Garp probably didn't even remember.

It was truly no wonder that he was furious. The problem was, the perpetrators were none other than the World Government. An organization that Garp just so happened to be supporting.

True, he was a legendary marine, Garp the fist, Vice-admiral Garp, Gold Roger's rival and all that stuff. Ever since the government had found out the revolutionary Dragon, aka Monkey D. Dragon was his son, those titles of his plus his legacy had been what had protected him from taking full responsibility for Dragon's actions.

But now, with the discovery of a grandson that carried on Dragon's bloodline, the government had become desperate. Desperate enough to burn the home island of the marine hero to the ground.

Honestly, they were the fools if they thought nothing like this would happen by doing so.

True, Garp didn't take crap from them. Not from the Gorosei or the Celestial Dragons. But with this incident, Bogard had to admit he was a little worried on Garp's behalf.

Just the fact that Garp for 14 years straight (and this Bogard fully accepted and was also responsible for. He wasn't heartless after all) had been hiding him, the freakin son of the head of the revolutionary army right under the government's noses was sure to have risen some flags of suspicion amongst the higher ranks.

To make a long story short, neither Garp or the government were at good terms with each other as of right now. What the hell that would lead to, Bogard was scared to know. Nothing good for either party though, that was for sure, and this current little stunt of Garp's would surely do nothing to better their relationship.

Bogard bit his lip. He just didn't want anything bad to happen to his good friend… he'd tried for the past week, but apparently, it was too much to ask that he simply stayed out of trouble.

"How many times do I need to keep telling you that this is a bad idea?" Bogard questioned.

"And how many times do I need to tell you that I don't give a damn?" Garp responded, his voice empty and only slightly angry sounding, though Bogard suspected it was mostly thanks to the annoyance of having to constantly repeat himself more so than actually being mad at him.

"Until the moment you agree with me. Please, Garp, I know you're still hurting after everything that's happened. I understand that you'd want to see your grandson right now, but you could've just waited the remaining week instead of disobeying orders-"

"OI!... Vice-admiral Garp! I see it! Ship #11089 spotted directly at 12 o'clock!" The exerted marine stationed in the crow's reported, as he had been forced to.

'Already!?'

Bogard was surprised, to say the least. All his persuasive talk… pointless.

Garp gritted his teeth, a vein popping on his forehead without him even realizing, at the announcement.

Finally. He was about to go crazy if he had to stand and just gaze the ocean while listening to the whining marines and Bogard's complaints for just one more day.

And true to the lookout's word, a small unmoving little black blob soon popped up amidst the blue ocean in the distance - a ship, the one they'd sailed all this way to reach.

"Finally… it's been such a tough week!"

"I hope we at least can get to rest a little before we'll need to head back… and that we won't be attacked by another nest of sea kings when we do. Garp-san's scary…"

The agents began whispering amongst themselves. It had been a difficult journey, sure, but they couldn't help but wonder what was gonna happen now.

"What are your next orders, Garp-san?" A dedicated soldier asked, now more enthusiastically than he would've days prior.

The oblivious soldiers patiently waited for an answer to their question. They... didn't receive one though…

Garp was… strangely quiet considering that they had finally arrived… this was the reason he had set sail, wasn't it? To find that damn boat?

His lack of words especially worried Bogard because he could, in fact, not read Garp's expression. Was he mad? Had his wrath and craving for revenge returned? Or was he truly second-guessing his decision? Probably not… but then what was that glint in his eyes for…?

"Garp-san?" He hesitantly asked, not receiving any more of an answer than the cannon fodder-soldiers (let's be honest, that's what they really were) had.

Suddenly - still without saying a word up to this point - Garp began walking forwards with seemingly to intention to stop. The problem was, they were standing at the end of a ship leading out to sea-king infested waters.

Suddenly, the 72-year old man climbed onto the side of the railing.

"Next order…?" He repeated.

Bogard realized just a second too late what Garp was up too...

"No orders, just some good advice…"

"Don't do it Garp-san!" Bogard shouted, immediately dashing towards the man, fully knowing he could do nothing to stop him at this point.

"Don't get in my way."

With that bloodthirsty statement, Garp took his leap into the icy-cold waters, leaving behind a stunned and panicking crew. He began swimming - faster than their pathetic little warship could ever hope to even in the strongest of winds.

Bogard grabbed onto the railing, nearly shattering the wood with his strong grip as he felt the anger start boiling up inside him.

'Seriously Garp!? And after the promise you made!'

His urge to jump in right after him was immense. But he managed to stop himself, knowing these poor marines (most of them weren't even 20 yet) would be helpless if they were to be left on their own out here.

Like, what if a sea-king came by or something! Garp might be emotionally unstable and irresponsible, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna follow his example.

Bogard could do nothing but swallow a lump that had manifested in his throat. It was more on behalf of the agents on that other warship - those poor souls who had no clue what they had coming.

Hopefully, though, everybody would get through this alive.

O-o-O-o-O

It was dead quiet in the infirmary. If not for the beeping of the machines constantly reading the fallen agents' heart rates, blood pressures, and for some very unlucky victims, brain activity, Kay was sure you'd be able to hear even a pin being dropped onto the floor.

For the past 24 hours, she'd been working her ass off, rushing from patient to patient, treating injury after injury with such speed she had even run out of breath.

Being the only doctor on the ship came with its disadvantages, after all.

Since Lucci was here, it was honestly a rare occurrence that anybody was seriously injured, so they'd never needed more than just one doctor - not even a couple of nurses for assistance.

Unfortunately for Kay, that meant in a special occasion (or emergency she supposed…?) such as this one, she was all on her own.

Yes, she was in fact doing her utmost best to save the lives of the agents. But it was solely thanks to her moral code as a doctor. Not because she actually cared about them (hell, they fully deserved the pain they were currently in). Not even because Lucci had forced her to do this, and was constantly standing no more than 10 feet behind her, daring her to try to do anything she wasn't supposed to.

Of course, she didn't let herself be stressed by his death-glare. If she lost her concentration just because of that, then what kind of doctor would she be?

It had, however, finally reached that 'calm' state where all she had to do was constantly check up on the vitals of the ones in the most critical states, and all others would recover with enough rest.

Those who still been able to stand at the time her treating process had begun had already been put back to work.

All treatment their injuries had needed was a little cleaning (big babies had begun whining about how badly it stung), and then she'd handed them some bandages and told them to wrap their own damn wounds. They were (well, were supposed to be) adult men for Oda's sake, and she had had better and more important things to do.

Lucci had remained completely silent throughout the chaos, almost fading completely into the background.

He, however, hadn't let her forget that he was monitoring her every move. Kay had felt that.

"Just hurry with your damn work you filthy traitor, hurry so we can kill you already." That was the message his eyes were conveying.

Tempting as it was to turn around and glare back with a spiteful look of her own, she knew it would've been a meaningless battle between the two - one that would've surely caused her to lose concentration and accidentally let at least a few of the agents die as a result.

But she knew her hard work wasn't gonna change a damn thing in the end. Sure, the agents might survive, but she knew she sure as hell wouldn't. Not unless a miracle happened.

Then again… she'd wished for something to happen so Luffy could get a chance to escape… who knew, maybe something (but she doubted it, miracles were only miracles because they happened once, after all) would happen. It not, then that was fine too.

"..."

"Woman. Why did you help him?"

Lucci's sudden question nearly started Kay. After he hadn't as much as uttered a word for a whole day, she hadn't expected those words to be the first he would say.

He was asking for her reasons…? Oh, her reasons for doing all of this were pretty damn easy to explain, just not in a way a thick-skulled soulless person like Lucci would understand.

Kay, however, felt absolutely no obligation to answer Lucci and kept her back turned to the man, rudely ignoring his question and instead fiddled a little with some bandages to make sure they were applied just right.

Lucci, though, wasn't gonna accept her silence as a valid answer.

"What could you possibly have gained by doing what you did? You know full well what fate awaits those who betray the government, do you not? Why help out a boy who you barely know? Haven't you realized by now that no matter how much you resist, people like him only have one fate awaiting them?" Lucci persisted.

"What do you mean "people like him?". You think I'm stupid or something? Think I haven't met other criminals who've been in the same boat as him? He's not like those other "people" - the outlaws who I've met, he's a kid. And unlike those other lawbreakers who always end up receiving a punishment far harsher than they deserve, Luffy will get another chance at life. That's what I've made sure of." Kay said raising her voice.

She couldn't help but be angered by Lucci's question.

He didn't know Luffy. In his eyes, he was nothing but the son of an outlaw. That was Monkey D. Luffy. To hell that he was still just 14, to hell that he had done nothing but live on an island where he caused no trouble for the government his entire life.

Sure, she couldn't claim to be a close friend of his either, but she at least knew he had done nothing to deserve this...

She'd seen him cry. She'd seen him be guilty of something he wasn't even responsible for, which in itself was more than any other criminal she'd met could be proud to admit.

She turned away from her sleeping patient, meeting Lucci's blazing eyes with no fear.

"It's not people like him, but rather people like you who are the sinful ones. Your hands have blood on them. Luffy's don't. And that's a true fact." Kay reasoned, her voice stern and her statement not up for debate.

Lucci said nothing to her blabbering. But Kay could tell she was playing with fire…

Lucci's eyes were practically screaming for blood, his body twitching for action, heck, even Hattori (the pigeon) was copying his wrathful features and looked like he was about to fly at her and poke her eyes out or something.

Lucci looked like he wanted to murder her right then and there. And nothing, really, would stop him from doing so if that's what he decided, but Kay couldn't tell if he was actually considering going through with it or not.

Well, whatever was going through Lucci's head at the moment, Kay was fortunate enough to actually never find out.

Just as the leopard Zoan user was about to take a step (probably leap at her, use his Shigan to poke into her heart and kill her if she had to take a lucky guess) the wood beneath them suddenly began… creaking… alarmingly loudly, almost as if something was… trying to break through from underneath…

Lucci and Kay alike turned their attention to the floorboards, momentarily forgetting their resentment as confusion overtook, and slowly, a slight amount of worry crept into Lucci's mind as well.

For some reason, he was getting a very bad feeling about this...

Suddenly, (as they had both feared) the planks between them gave in to the force pushing them from underneath, literally shattering the floorboards and causing wood and nails to go flying all across the room.

Lucci was quick to jump back to safety, but Kay (who unfortunately did not have the reflexes of a super-human), wasn't quite as lucky and got hit in the face by numerous planks as she was sent tumbling backward, resulting in a very painful landing onto her butt and a wave of nausea which took a little while to fade away.

As Lucci stood there, still slightly confused, his mind immediately concluded two things. And unfortunately, neither of them meant good news...

1. There was a person. A person, a man was responsible for this. A man with a very familiar face - one Lucci was horrified to admit that he knew. He stood there, a mere 6 feet away from him, dripping wet, panting, but not as much a scratch to be spotted anywhere on his body.

2. If he was here - if he had swum from wherever, broken through the bottom of their ship which would soon start sinking, and then continued to break his way through the layers until he'd reached them - for the very reason as Lucci feared, then he. was. screwed.

'Garp the fist…' Lucci thought, finding himself unable to say the name aloud for some reason.

He felt his throat go completely dry. His body twitched - no, shook this time, his eyes grew wide and he found it impossible to look away from the marine-vice admiral's overwhelming figure. Drops of sweat rolled down his face, and with his petrified body, Lucci couldn't wipe them away.

He... he was scared. Fear-struck. Because he knew he knew his strength was nothing compared to a legend like Garp's. He couldn't fight. Nor could he run.

"So… you're… Rob-Lucci…" Garp huffed, staring at the frozen without feeling even the slightest amount of remorse.

His statement was no question. Merely words of relief for the vice-admiral. Relief that he had finally found the bastard responsible for all this crap.

The vice-admiral clenched his teeth, starting to ever so slowly stomp his way over to where Lucci was standing.

Kay watched the whole scene play out from the ground. Of course, she knew Garp too - he was even Luffy's grandfather to boot.

She hadn't actually ever actually spoken to the man but, she'd seen him at HQ… honestly, she had never believed all the myths and legends surrounding his nearly unrivaled strength, mind-shattering achievements, and outrageous personality. Some of it, yes, but he was still just a vice-admiral after all. Surely, there was no way it could all be true? Right?

That's what she'd thought before, but for some reason, however, she felt that her opinion of him might change now…

Her brows furrowed as the enraged man silently kept walking towards a petrified Lucci…

'Hold on a minute he couldn't possibly want to…-'

*BAM!*

...

One punch. One solid nicely landed punch straight to the face was all that was needed for Lucci to be sent flying.

And not just that… he crashed right through the infirmary's wall… and the next… and the next one after that… and even the fourth wall leading through Lucci's office. Then Lucci ran out of walls to crash through and instead came flying out onto the main deck.

But he kept flying. He was flung into the mast of the ship, though instead of being stopped by the obstacle in his way, the mast broke. In clean half in fact, and crashed over the side of the ship, breaking ropes and nearly crushing a poor group of marines who ran for their dear lives to get out of the way.

Only now did Lucci finally stop his 'flying,' falling to the ground and tumbling across the floor, only coming to a very quick and painful-looking stop when he rolled into the railing of the ship.

That's where he laid. Unmoving. Dead perhaps, or at least Kay could hope that he was.

Kay was speechless. She hadn't seen anything this incredible for years. And what made it all the more satisfying was the fact that she was sure Garp (for some reason) had pulled his punch. It was so damn fantastic to see Lucci be completely helpless like this - to see him be the one to bleed, the one to suffer for a change.

She liked Garp.

"Hmp… brat…" The old vice-admiral snarled, cracking his knuckles.

Garp's anger had eased considerably after that, but he still didn't feel 100% satisfied. He knew he wouldn't ever be before he got to murder Lucci, and luckily, he'd managed to restrain himself from doing so in a single punch.

Lucci was tough (well... hopefully he was. Garp would hate for him to be dead with just a single punch). A fist of hate (the opposite to his fist of love) wouldn't kill him.

Suddenly, the man began walking again. Slowly, just like before, but still with his fists clenched and ready for some more action.

Kay watched him go, knowing very well that he was not done beating Lucci yet. That was fine, though, if he really wanted to kill him, she sure as hell wouldn't go out of her way to try (she'd probably be killed too) to stop him.

Judging from the damage his last attack had caused, she'd say it would only take one more punch for Lucci to be done for good. Hell, he was one lucky bastard if he escaped this without getting some permanent brain damage, even if he was a superhuman.

"W-wait! P-please wait Garp-san, Rob Lucci-sama has had enough!"

"He c-can't even stand, p-please! Stop this!"

A laughably small amount of agents gathered around the enraged vice-admiral in a futile attempt at calming him and protecting their unconscious (yes, he was indeed knocked out) commander.

"I-if, if you're here to see your grandson, t-then I'm sorry to inform you i-it's too late. He's… he's already gone!"

That was a sentence the agent probably should've expressed a little differently.

The agent's reckless use of words, however, succeeded in getting Garp to stop his assault against Lucci. He stopped dead in his track, his mind seemingly taking just a few seconds to actually realize what the agent had just told him.

"What did you just say…?" Garp asked, his voice so angry - so demonic - even Lucci surely would have shuddered in fear, much like how the agents currently were.

He suddenly roughly grabbed the agent who had foolish enough to have said this by his collar, lifting him at least 4 feet up into the air to force their eyes to meet.

"Gone!? What do you mean he's gone?! I heard he was being transported here on this ship, very much still alive!"

He swore to Oda, if they'd done anything to harm Luffy after all the messed up crap they'd already put him through, then this ship and everybody and everything on it was going down.

Sure he beat Luffy a lot. Sure he yelled at him constantly and wanted him to become a marine against his own wishes. Sure he had left him to grow up with some mountain bandits on a danger-filled mountain...

But he did care about him. He truly did. Currently more than ever thought he would. Luffy had been one of the last things that he still had. A buster call left nothing behind. No matter how much he wanted to deny that fact, he'd seen time and time again just what absolute justice entailed.

Only the ashes of what was once buildings, plants, animals, people… whatever the hell an island might hold of valuables, remained...

Luffy and Ace were the only ones left. The only ones he still had left. How the hell could he accept that Luffy was dead? How could he possibly have let Luffy die? The words Luffy and dead did not belong in the same sentence for crying out loud!

And how could he tell Ace? Without his home - with everything and everyone he'd left behind on Dawn Island gone, would he even have a reason to keep living anymore?

Garp knew how inconceivably little Ace cared about himself, so he'd go blaming this entire thing all on himself, just like he currently was.

"N-no you've got it all wrong Garp-san! Your grandson's gone, yes, but that's because he escaped!" One of the agents cried out in hopes that their lives would now be spared.

…

Garp froze, suddenly losing all strength and thus dropping the agent in his hand.

…

What had he just said?

Poor Garp. Really, he just wanted to go beat Lucci to a pulp and visit poor little Luffy, but in the end, he ended up unintentionally making things worse. Kay's plan is kind of ruined now, since with Garp's arrival followed another battleship which has den-den mushi's that can in fact reach HQ, and thus also the Gorosei who are not gonna be pleased with this :(

Also, quick shout out to all the amazing new favorites and followers! Love you guys so freakin much 3! You're a great motivation to write faster and you help me think harder for the most exciting scenarios!

I don't really have a whole lot to say here at the end... Just that the next chapter will be a long one for sure, and probably the one I will personally come to like the most up until now ;)

Here are the replies to those of you who have left me reviews!

Guest: You are very welcome! It is my pleasure to write for you amazing folks since I am a die hard-fan for these types of fanfics XD. Also, do not fall off your chair, that is very dangerous! (But uh... still glad you found it exciting. More chapters even greater, however, are to be expected for the future, promise!)

PirateYonko: YES! I actually forgot to write that in the AN (oops). And that "I still have my crew!" scene just always shatters my heart into a million pieces, no matter how many times I re-read and rewatch it. And thank you for taking the time to read my fanfic! I promise to do my best not to disappoint!

silverrayn123: I know, I'm really saddened by all this too. Unfortunately, Luffy's not done suffering just yet ;.; (yes I'm horrible I know, but then when Ace comes into the picture, you can imagine what sh*t (sorry for the swear, it's not really my style, but no other word can realistically describe it) is gonna go down!)

Push23: Yes, I just now realized that I lied in my last AN when I said this chapter would provide an answer to Kay's fate. Sorry, that'll have to wait for the next one. And as to not much drama happened before Luffy gets to finally rush to Ace's arms and cry his heart out... well... I'm... just not gonna make any big promise that nothing will happen... *looks the other way nervously*

Luo: Really, there's a whole day of time difference before you can read it? Huh... I never knew. But I'm happy to know that you are willing to wait!

Magic Morgana: Thank you so so so so so so much for your nice compliments! It really helps boost my confidence as an author :D! Also, you described it perfectly yourself... yes, Luffy's gonna lose just a bit of naivety (he's still gonna be a kid at the end of it, though) but he will not be OOC cause that is simply too tragic! And fear not! A chapter involving Shanks is to be released very soon (the next one or the one after that, in fact) and he and Luffy will meet again, that's a promise! And I will not give up! I've dealt with writing really long stories before, but my reason for stopping is really never a burnout, more just that I find another thing I'd like to write about and begin another story, which is why I'm currently, only writing on one story at a time. Plus... all the support from you guys is really motivating too!

Sophia Mendes-Coruja: Glad the chapter was a good one. It was a little tedious to write, but I'm generally very happy with how it turned out! And yes, I have many exciting plans for things Luffy's gonna experience before the fated day where the two brothers reunite! As to Kay... well, just wait and see, next chapter for sure we'll learn of her fate. You go take care of yourself too Sophia, and I wish lots of good things to happen for you while I take my time getting another chapter out 3.

Updates can be expected within a week-ish amount of time.

-Cookie